80 In Rome

I stayed in Vienna for a few more days, the preparation of my award was not difficult, but it took time. I also sent most of my people to Jazłowiec, only Ivan, Saddat and a few Tatars remained with me. After reaching home, Ilya was supposed to fill the gaps in my army, and pay the rest annual salaries for the service, they could also keep what they robbed.

"Everything you asked for is here. Many people have served me ... Many have done it out of love, many for money or ambition ... It is not my business, but you are truly a faithful friend." (Emperor Ferdinand II)

"Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty. As they say, value loyalty above all else." (MC)

"A messenger from Albrecht von Wallenstein arrived yesterday, peace with the Kingdom of Denmark has been concluded." (Emperor Ferdinand II)

"May I know the details of this peace treaty?" (MC)

"Yes, it is no secret. The Danes have been forced to sever alliances in North Germany, renounce their claims to the bishoprics in Lower Saxony and not interfere in the affairs of the Empire and the Catholic League." (Emperor Ferdinand II)

"That's all?" (MC)

This idiot did it again, he didn't limit the Danish fleet as I advised him ... but not only my suggestions were rejected. Tilly wanted the Danes to pay compensation for the war, and the Elector of Bavaria wanted Christian VI to stop supporting Frederick V, Elector of Palatine... Wallenstein did not gain many allies by concluding this peace, I wondered whether I should mention it to the Emperor ... but I decided to remain silent. Although Denmark has not been weakened as much as I would have liked, this peace treaty causes some problems for the Empire.

We talked for a dozen more minutes and I said goodbye to the Emperor, on the same day I set off on my way to Rome ... another thousand kilometers and another 40 days in the saddle ... I was beginning to miss cars and planes.

Rome was just the first stop, the second stop was supposed to be Venice. In the first, I was going to meet Cardinal Francesco Barberini, one of the future judges in the Galileo trial.

The person of Galileo itself did not interest me, I read his works, the trial was unfair, but it was the 17th century... Francesco Barberini was too valuable to waste his influence to help one scholar, he was one of the most trusted people of Pope Urban VIII... I knew about his family problems and I was going to use this knowledge to gain his support in several matters.

I arrived in Rome on January 8, 1628. After renting and checking into the inn, I went on a little sightseeing ... but I was a bit disappointed. Rome is one of the oldest, most important and largest cities in history. In fact, the city was dirty and crowded and there was an unpleasant smell in the air... Thus, sightseeing ceased to be a pleasure, it was a problem for many large cities in this century, and even later, Rome was no exception Warsaw has similar problems, and it was similar with the inhabitants, noisy, not pleasant to handle and with a superiority complex, but it was always the domain of capitals and large cities. However, neither the inhabitants of Rome nor its architecture were the reason for my visit. After spending a few hours in the Vatican and talking to numerous priests, officials and assistants, I was able to meet the Cardinal.

Francesco Barberini was a man in his thirties, dark hair, not fat, which was rather rare among senior church officials, he gave the impression of a learned philosopher, not a politician. His library where we met was further evidence that the cardinal was a scholar, or at least a well-read man ... I haven't seen so many books in one place for a long time.

"Prince Jazłowiecki, I do not often have the opportunity to host such a distinguished person." (Cardinal Barberini)

Barberini held out his hand with the ring for me to bow and kiss her ... Could the Cardinal belong to BLM? ... I wasn't going to do it, I didn't have the habit of falling to my knees in front of other men, but I couldn't be rude either.

I pretended to bend down to kiss his ring, staggered and fell ... The cardinal seemed surprised by what had happened.

"Excellency, please forgive me, I was recently shot while fighting on the side of the Empire against the Danes." (MC)

I pretended to get up with difficulty, even Barberini himself gave me his hand and indicated the chair for me to sit down. He also called a servant to bring us wine.

"Prince, how are you feeling? Maybe you need a medic?" (Cardinal Barberini)

"No, there is no need. My wound, long journey from Vienna to Rome, I just need rest." (MC)

The cardinal sat down in front of me, a servant appeared with a tray and poured us wine. I took a sip ... it was tasty but too sweet for my taste, it had the aftertaste of some herb, but I wasn't sure if it was ginger or cinnamon or something like that.

"I wonder what the Prince brings to Rome? Are you looking for inspiration for a new book?" (Cardinal Barberini)

The cardinal got up, went to one of the shelves and took two books, one was "Quo Vadis", the other was "The Count of Monte Cristo" ... two of them in Italian ... copyright did not exist at that time.

"No, I stopped writing books. Literature is a beautiful thing, but when Europe is at war, the Ottoman Empire is a threat, and so is the Principality of Moscow ... it's not the time to write books." (MC)

"It's a pity ... so what brings the Prince to Rome?" (Cardinal Barberini)

"My deceased friend... or rather his last will. He wanted his son to become a priest. Now his son is under my care and I care about his education, but in the future I would like him to be looked after by someone experienced and influential." (MC)

"Why me?" (Cardinal Barberini)

"If I must be honest, there are two reasons for this. The first reason, the cardinal has a very good reputation, is a patron of the arts, and someone who pays a lot of attention to education. The second reason, you are the Pope's nephew. Of course, I was also thinking of going to your brother, but I found out that he does not have your abilities and talents." (MC)

I knew about the conflict between the two brothers, even Urban VIII had to intervene several times when things were going bad ... The cardinal looked at me, drank some wine.

"Your Excellency, please do not think that I am coming to ask for a favor, but I will not offer anything in return. We can announce that after talking to the Cardinal I agreed to open several Jesuit colleges in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Certainly such a thing will make the Cardinal win in the eyes of others." (MC)