Vaduz - LIECHTENSTEIN The Year of Our Lord 1444
The date is April 4, 1444. It is a time of chaos and death. The New World has not yet been discovered, and the Old World is awash in blood. The Crusades have come to a disastrous end for Christendom. The final Christian stronghold in the Holy Land fell 150 years ago, and subsequent Crusades have been utter failures. Suffering deep humiliation, Christendom turns inward. Like a trapped animal desperately gnawing on its own flesh, it unleashes a torrent of new Inquisitions, attempting to purge itself of unwanted elements.
The Italian Renaissance has not yet reached the dark heart of Europe, and the Protestant Reformation is still almost a century away. As the Holy Roman Empire declines, the Turkish Empire ascends. The Moslem religious wars meet with triumph and solidify the Turks’ power base in the Holy Lands. In 1453, less than a decade after this story occurs, the Turks topple the Eastern Orthodox Church and capture Constantinople, the holiest city in Christendom. They will be indirectly aided by the calculating indifference of a Western papacy eager to see the fall of its only rival for authority over the Christian world. From the newly seized holy city, the Turks will threaten all of Europe: a land devastated by Hundred Years’ War and the Black Death.
But that is still 10 years away. For now, in 1444, Western Europe is a fool’s paradise, and people enjoy a false sense of security.
People such as yourselves.
It seems that the efforts you have made in life have gotten you noticed! You each receive an offer that you cannot refuse, an invitation to a dinner with a wealthy and powerful Earl. The print is beautiful, this must be the movable type print that has become such the rage the last few years. The invitation reads:
The Honor of Your Company is Most Requested for a Late Dinner at the Home of
LORD CLAUDIUS GIOVANNI
EARL OF LIECHTENSTEIN
The Fourth Day of April
The Year of Our Lord 1444
A Couch Will Be Sent Round to Collect Yu and Provide All Necessary Traveling Arrangements for the Feast.
Do Not Arrive Early