Of Hooks and Cods. The Count and the Empress

Chapter 12, Holland, Summer 1348- fall 1348

William had turned 18, the right age to be crowned. William felt the clock ticking and frustrated himself thinking about his mother. She was the direct daughter of a previous Count, however also a woman. The only better option was Beaumont, but he was too old and without an heir. William would eventually get the crown but he feared how long his mother would linger. Should he let the states of Holland crown him before his mother could abdicate? How would she feel about that, and would the nobility of Hainaut follow? What if it would unleash a war between the two realms?

He had written a letter to his mother writing that he wished her to come home soon because he missed her at his birthdays. He also added that the states of Holland are becoming very restless and urge direction from a ruler, suggesting that his mother should come back and take matters back in her own hands but actually insinuating that it is time that he had to become that ruler.

She wrote back claiming that she couldn't travel north now the lands were plagued with sickness. She feared for her own health if she would leave the castle. For a time William started to believe that his mother only came up with this story about a plaque as an excuse not to come back and to strengthen her force in Hainaut. It drove him crazy, but then it happened.

News of Dordrecht reached The Haque. First the sea merchants fell ill, then the riverboat traders, the cart drivers, the journeymen, bankers, craftsmen, the poor, Jews, the clergy and eventually the nobility. Hundreds died within a week, another hundred remained sick for months, still dying afterwards. Only a few restore to health but why was unclear. Because at first only the traders, the bankers and the Jews became sick the clergy claimed that they had abandoned God's teachings and this was their punishment, but soon also they fell ill and died just like the rest.

The Bishop of Haarlem wrote to William: "Everyone with sins should fear this punishment of God. It is clear that not even the clergy is pure. This is all because of the foulness that sprouts in Babylon (meaning the pope in Avignon). The church is without direction and the clergy is falling into decay. Those who follow these corrupted priests will face the same consequences. Only those who still cherish the true faith in their hearths will be spared. Don't trust your confessions and prayers to any priest, my lord, because only God knows their true intentions. Isolate yourself and pray in solitude and confess to God directly. As the keeper of your people, you have the authority to do so. When this is over it will be clear who was pure and who was not, because those who are will still be alive and things can return to normal."

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William treasured his friends and held them near for as long the Plaque haunted through his realm. After Dordrecht Delft soon followed, Gertrudeberg, then The Haque, Leiden, Utrecht, Naarden, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Alkmaar, Egmont and into Frisia. Claus, Gilbert and Wolter stayed permanently at court. They tried to entertain each other while they were locked in William's castle. During the summer they did spend some time in the gardens but only with absolute guarantee that no peasant would be closer than 5 meters from the castle grounds, also any guard that came in touch with a peasant or burgher was to be removed from the premises and garrison the city.

At first, the friends could talk about politics and the other nobles' businesses. But when time went by, nothing new could be said. They plaid cards, read books, played instruments, drank the innards of the castle's wine and beer stock and enjoyed the company of the house maidens, dropping the formalities more and more knowing that the castle was abandoned except for them and the household staff. Sometimes the castle seemed to have turned into a pleasure house. Ladies running naked true the halls while the boys chased them. Fucking in groups on the tables of the great halls, turning it into one big orgy, but not William. Even though he did not shy away from public lovemaking in his own castle, he remained only interested in Hedwig. Only she could give him what he wanted. She wasn't just some plaything for him to visit every now and then. He was in love. She was his first, and no one knew his body better than she did.