Bonus Update #1
Nobility of the 11th Century said:
Everyone knows that mice like cheese. Except they don't: It has been scientifically proven that mice prefer peanut butter, but the combination of pop culture and availability has convinced everyone of the idea that a mouse will greedily devour any morsel of cheese placed in front of it.
Switch around the terminology, and you can understand why trying to figure out the roles that specific nobility played in 11th century Napoli is a headache.
When Sergios swore allegiance to the Byzantine Empire, one of the things he did was switch around the titles of his local nobillity for Greek ones. Unfortunately, over 230 years of independence meant that none of the positions corresponded, so Sergios just ended up assigning titles that he heard at the Emperor's court to his knights and influential families. Of course, this caused even more confusion, as it meant that the nobles not only had meaningless titles, but meaningless titles that corresponded to the highest ranks in Byzantine government. Eventually the whole system was scrapped when Sergios...
On December 28, 1072, four of the most influential men in Napoli met in a mansion in the countryside of the capital province to discuss business. They are as follows:
Magistros Constantinios Chrysos
(A Greek nobleman from Napoli, and the unofficial leader amongst the noblemen who recieved the salt contract from Sergios.)
Magistros Leo Spartenos
(A member of the Count's extended family, also from Napoli.)
Anthypatos Abu Kharim Andraos ibn Jad al Siqilli
(Shortened to "Andraos al Siqilli" outside of the Arabic community, an Arab businessman from Trapani who converted immediately after the siege of Trapani and was made a nobleman to set an example to the other Arabs.)
Vestarches Giovanni Buonarotti
(One of the nobleman organizing a defense against the rebels in Capua, also the only non-Orthodox Christian in the whole group, as he refused to convert from Catholicism when the revolutions came.)
_________________________________________________________________
"What do you mean we have to get out of the business?!" Giovanni shouted: "What could possibly be wrong with selling salt?"
With that, Leo cleared his throat and weakly responded: "The Count's been worrying that the economy's changing too fast, and that we're the final straw. In other words, he's afraid that our interests are becoming too similar to the burghers, who have been gaining power themselves. And he wishes for us to give the royal family greater influence on how decisions are made before... drastic measures have to be taken."
Giovanni shrugged: "You mean calling in the army? All of Capua's forces are in my pocket, and with a little bit of money, so are the rest of the military leaders except for those belonging to the royal guard. And Sergios isn't that awesome of a military leader..."
But at this point Andraos popped in: "I think Leo was referring to the clergymen. We have all seen that an enemy of God has no place among the people of Napoli, especially if he is also an enemy of the Count."
Across the table, Constantinios nodded his head: "Very wise Andraos, and maybe we should be willing to compromise a little bit on the issue. But I think the exact nature of the matter shall have to wait until tomorrow, as the hour is late."
_________________________________________________________________
With that, each of the four men retired to their own rooms for the night, only to be awoken early the following morning by a blood-curdling scream. At one point during the night, an assassin had creeped into Andraos room and killed him, leaving a bloody mess that had just been discovered by a servant girl. A meeting was called immediately, at which point Constantinios spoke:
"Andraos was murdered last night. Now, I would be heavily inclined to believe that this was the threat that the Count spoke of... except for the fact that this would imply that the Count could hear our discussion from several miles off AND discounting the fact that the person slain was among those who supported handing him partial control of the salt refineries. Therefore it must have been one of the Anthypatos' enemies who arranged the dirty deed."
While there were a number of noblemen who had been upset by the promotion of the Arab to nobility, a large number of them had themselves been recently promoted and thus wouldn't have as much reason to complain. Contemplation over who would have the motivation steadily decreased in scope, until eventually both Leo and Constantinios began to stare at Giovanni. Horrified, the noble shouted:
"I know what it looks like, but would I have killed him?! The worst case scenario would be the loss of a small amount of money, not anything worth killing a man over..."
Leo interrupted: "But of the three of us, you were the only one opposed to the proposal. You were even willing to call down the army to keep things out of Sergios' hands!"
Shocked, Giovanni pointed at Leo and started speaking like a madman.
"How do we know it wasn't you, Leo? After all, you would stand to profit the most from the Spartenos' family taking control of the salt trade. You're on the Count's payroll!"
With those very words, Constantinios fell to the floor short of breath. Grasping at the air, it became obvious that he too was the victim of assassination, albeit one that was slow and unnoticeable until it was far too late for the Magistros. But neither Leo or Giovanni cared, they were at each others' throats with one thought in mind: "
He wants me dead. I have to make sure that I am the one who is getting out of here, not
him.
________________________________________________________________
Eventually Giovanni won out: having been the only one of the four nobles with any military experience, it was easy for him to get out of Leo's grip and strangle the Magistros. The Italian noble then began to run towards the exit of the mansion in the hopes that he could make it back to the safety of Capua...
"Count Sergios was definitely behind all of this," Giovanni thought "and I will not feel safe until I have 4 stone walls and 50 guards protecting me."
But when the Vestarches finally reached the entrance to the stables, he saw that his horse was nowhere to be found. In fact, all of the horses had somehow vanished. Knowing that his fate was now unavoidable, Giovanni screamed:
"How could this happen!"
And before he could say another word, a man in a dark grey hooded cloak stabbed Giovanni in the back.
"You messed with the Count. And when you do, he sends in the Tagliabues."
________________________________________________________________
It was announced on January 1st, 1074 that due to the mysterious deaths of the four nobles who owned the salt refineries, the industry would be transferred to royal control, to ensure that the profits from the industry would be used only for the benefit of Napoli.
