Chapter III: “The Death”
After more than a century of relative peace in Europe, the entire continent was influenced by English culture. The Death was able to spread through Europe due to the weakening of The Roman Empire. When the Imperator Romulus II died of poisoning, most likely by his wife, his son was unable to rule as he hadn’t come of age yet. Seeing this discontent amongst the Roman nobles, the Muslim tribes of the east formed a grand coalition and with their intrigue were able to start a bloody Civil war in Rome. Sultan Emir IV of the Rum Caliphate was able to steal the Holy Land from Rome and release the Mamluks in the “Roman-Muslim war for Jerusalem”.
After arriving at the gates of Jerusalem in 1052 Emir IV proclaimed:
See this? This is the Kingdom of God! He who holds Jerusalem, holds the world.
Sultan Emir IV of the Rum Caliphate
Following this Emperor Charles II of Brittain proclaimed Holy war on the Saracens, which was followed by Pope Titus II proclamation of the First Crusade. All of Christendom arrived at Constantinople to take back Jerusalem. The two sides were evenly matched in the “Battle of Dungldir” with each side having about 200.000 men. After hours of battle, the Christian forces prevailed and slew their captives to appease our Lord. Sultan Emir did not take kindly to this and gathered what men he had left in Jerusalem. The city was besieged within the fortnight, with the Muslim army inside. After 3 months of siege, the Sultan could not handle it any longer. In a last ditch effort he ordered all sick men and women to be executed and catapulted over the City’s walls. This didn’t prove as effective as he would have hoped for, at least for now. Jerusalem fell the next day, with Sultan Emir barely escaping the Europeans. The Pope arrived in Jerusalem in one week’s time and held a grand feast. All was well until some of the men reported feeling ill. Upon further inspection it was found that their bodies were covered in a blistering rash. Their health only declined as the days passed, with them dying one week later. Royal physician Dennis Antwood described the disease in his memoir:
I’ve never seen anything like this. The disease seems to be transmitted by bodily fluid as well as contact to any infected parts. Rats, birds and even snakes were found to carry the disease. After contracting the disease you would not notice it for 5-7 days. The skin heats up and sweats until a rash forms around it. The skin blisters and dries up. In 2-3 days the organs will have been infected causing internal bleeding. First the kidneys would fail, following the internal bleeding of the lungs and finally paralysis of every muscle, including the heart. All the while the victim is well aware of everything, it’s a horrible way to die. The last signs of life are bleeding through the facial orifices. I dub this sickness “the Death”.
Dennis Antwood, Physician to the Imperial Court of Britain
The world was quick to react and quarantined the Middle East as best they could. By the month, thousands were infected and begging for aid. In the past century, trade had blossomed, and what proved a positive change 50 years ago, will prove to be the downfall of Europe now. Traders, soldiers, and survivors claiming to be healthy died weeks after their arrival in Europe. The very act of removing their bodies would be infectious. The outbreak happened in Constantinople after 100 men were reported dead from the Death, an entire portion of the city was burned in order to prevent any further spread. However, the illness would become airborne in the ash and spread through the rest of the city. Within a weak 70% of the population had reported symptoms of the Death. Pope Benedict III had this to say:
“This is the work of Muslim dark magic, they are trying to defy the word of our Lord and poison our lands. Europa mustn’t fall.“
Unknown
By 1053 the plague had engulfed the Balkans and 1.000.000 corpses filled the streets. Emperor Charles II forbade any and all trade outside of England and destroyed any ship that would approach the mainland. The Frankish governor Maximilian claimed this was an outrage and proceeded to secede from the Empire, and named himself King of France. All of the English sub-states would follow his example except Ireland. By 1054 the Plague had reached Alparis and Berlin claiming 10.000.000. Some cities were even burned in hopes of halting the Plague. Thousands were executed, the bodies would be wrapped in cloth and thrown in the rivers, lakes, and seas, further poisoning the continent. By 1055 all of continental Europe was infected. A staggering 30.000.000 men, women, and children lay dead. Rome, Constantinople, Belgrade, Bech, Venice, Alparis, Berlin were filled with people with blood tears running down their cheeks, begging to die. Some would even rather take their own lives in order to avoid losing their minds to the sickness. By 1057, 40.000.000 lay dead, with only the British Isles void of any plague. On the day of the birth of Christ, a man named Ahimoth appeared before the Emperor’s throne claiming to possess a cure to the Death. All he asked was one ship and he would sail back in one year with good news, bearing a red flag. The Emperor allowed this, thinking the madman would be infected and die. Exactly one year later a ship was seen entering the London harbor and it waived a blood-red flag. The Emperor couldn’t believe his eyes and ordered to let it dock. As soon as they went to the ship, they found it empty, no food, clothing, people, or anything aboard except a single Bible opened on Psalm 62:5
“Yes my soul finds rest in God, my hope comes from Him”.
Psalm 62:5
The flag which was blood-red was in fact stained in blood, blood which was infected with the Death. The British Empire fell by 1058 and the plague ceased to be. Some forms of the illness remained but they were nothing compared to the Death. All the progress seen in 200 years was undone by a plague which saw the deaths of 47.000.000 people. Pope Gregor V claimed it to be “God’s way of cleansing the Earth from sin”.
