Julia Navarro - The Brotherhood Of The Holy Shroud

"Is this the way you receive the emperor?" de Molesmes interrupted him.

"Calm yourself, Your Excellency," Balduino said. "I have come to visit you, as has long been my intention. I regret not having announced my arrival ahead of time, but matters of state prevented me."

Balduino's smile did not calm the bishop, who remained silent as he backed away from them.

"May we sit down?" the emperor asked.

The bishop finally found his voice. "Yes, of course, come in, come in," he stammered. "Your unexpected visit has surprised me, my lord. I will call my servants to bring us wine. I will have them light more lamps, and-"

"No," de Molesmes broke in again. "There is no need for you to do anything. The emperor honors you with his presence. Hear him." He turned to the servants now clustered anxiously in the hall and dismissed them with reassuring words. Ordering the soldiers to stand by outside the bishop's apartment, he then followed Balduino and the giant inside, closing the heavy doors behind him.

The emperor took a seat in a comfortable armchair and sighed heavily. Constantinople must be saved. Pascal de Molesmes had convinced him that he had no option but to proceed.

Now recovered from his initial alarm, and taking a seat himself, the bishop addressed the emperor in a tone that bordered perilously close to insolence:

"What matter is of such importance that you find it necessary to disturb the peace of this house at this hour? Is it your soul that needs succor, or are you concerned by some matter at court?"

"My good bishop, I have come as a child of the Church to seek your counsel with respect to the empire's problems. Generally, sir, you care for our souls, but those who have souls have bodies, too, and it is regarding earthly problems that I wish to speak to you, for if the kingdom suffers, men suffer."

Balduino looked toward Pascal de Molesmes for approval of his approach so far. De Molesmes, with a barely perceptible nod, signaled him to continue.

"You know the dire straits of Constantinople as well as I. One need not be privy to the secrets of the court to know that there is no money left in the treasury and that the constant incursions of our neighbors have weakened us terribly. It has been months since our soldiers were paid all they are owed, and that is true also of my courtiers and ambassadors. I am grieved not to be able to contribute to the Church, of which I am, as you know, a loyal and faithful son."

At this point, Balduino fell silent, fearing that at any moment the bishop would react in anger. But while the tension in the room was palpable, the bishop simply listened-clearly weighing how to respond.

'Although I am not in the confessional," Balduino went on, "I wish to share with you my tribulations. I must save the empire, and the only solution is to sell the Mandylion to my uncle the king of France, may God protect him. Louis is willing to give us enough gold to pay the debts that hound us. If I deliver the Mandylion to him I will save Constantinople. And that is why, Your Excellency, as your emperor I am telling you that you must surrender the shroud to me. It will be in good Christian hands, like our own."

The bishop looked at Balduino fixedly and cleared his throat before speaking.

"My lord, you come as emperor to demand a sacred relic of the Church. You say that in this way you will save Constantinople, but for how long? I cannot give you what does not belong to me; the Mandylion belongs to the Church, and thus to all Christianity. It would be a sacrilege to put such an object in your hands so that you might sell it. The faithful of Constantinople would not countenance it, for they worship the miraculous image of Christ. You have seen the devotion with which they pray to it, Friday after Friday. You must not confuse the things of earth with the things of heaven. Our interests are those of Christianity. My flock would never allow you to sell the relic or to send it to France, however well guarded it may be by good King Louis. Understand that it is not in my power to give you the Holy Shroud of our Savior."

"I have not come to argue, Your Excellency, and I am not meekly requesting that you give me the Mandylion. I am ordering you to do so."

Balduino was pleased with having spoken these last words so resoundingly and once again sought the approval of de Molesmes. But the bishop was not to be commanded so easily.

"I must respect you as emperor, my lord, but you owe me obedience as your bishop."

"Your Excellency, I will not allow what remains of the empire to bleed to death because you insist upon retaining possession of a holy relic. As a Christian I regret having to be separated from the Mandylion, but now my duty is to act as emperor. I ask that you turn over the Mandylion… willingly."

The bishop shot out of his chair and, raising his voice, cried out, "You dare to threaten me? I warn you, if you rise up against the Church, Innocent will excommunicate you!"

'And will he also excommunicate the king of France for buying the Mandylion?" the emperor asked him, his voice rising.

"I will not give you the shroud. It belongs to the Church, and only the pope can dispose of the most sacred of relics-"

"No, it does not belong to the Church, as you well know. It was the emperor Lecapenus who rescued it from Edessa and brought it to Constantinople. It belongs to the empire; it belongs to the emperor. The Church has been but its faithful keeper, and now it shall be the empire that assumes custody."

"You shall comply with the pope's decision-we shall write to him. You may argue your reasons, and I will bow to his decision."

Balduino hesitated. He knew that the bishop was trying to buy time, but how was he to refuse what seemed a fair compromise?

Pascal de Molesmes stepped to Balduino's side and glared at the bishop.

"I think, Your Excellency, that you have not understood the emperor."

"Seigneur de Molesmes, I beg you not to interfere!" shouted the prelate.

"You will not let me speak? On what authority? I, like you, am a subject of Emperor Balduino, and my duty is to protect the interests of the empire. Return the Mandylion to its rightful owner, and we can bring this dispute to a peaceful end."

"How dare you speak to me in that way! My lord, bid your chancellor be silent!"

"Calm yourselves, both of you," ordered Balduino, recovered now from his momentary hesitation. "Your Excellency, Seigneur de Molesmes has spoken rightly- we have come to demand that you return what belongs to me. Delay not a moment longer, or I shall send my soldiers to seize the Mandylion by force."

With swift steps the bishop strode to the door of his apartments and called out to his guard. When they heard the shouting, a platoon came running.

Emboldened by their presence, the bishop turned back to his inopportune visitors.

"If you dare touch a thread of the Holy Shroud I shall write to the pope and insist that he excommunicate you. Now off with you!" he roared.

Balduino did not move from his chair, but Pascal de Molesmes, equally enraged, leapt to the open doorway.

"Soldiers!" he cried.

In seconds a squad from the imperial guard ran up the stairs and entered the bishop's apartments, while the prelate's own guards stood by in shock.

"You will defy the emperor? I shall have you arrested for treason, and for that, the penalty is death," exclaimed de Molesmes.

A shiver ran through the bishop's body. He looked in desperation at his soldiers, waiting for them to intervene. But they did not move.

Pascal de Molesmes addressed the frozen Balduino.

"My lord, I beg you give the order for His Excellency to accompany me to St. Mary of Blachernae and turn over to me the Mandylion, which I will carry to the palace for you."

Balduino rose and, summoning up all his imperial dignity, strode toward the bishop.