Pax Saxonia (Blessed Be The Eagle)

*This is the opening A4 page of the 3rd chapter in a story I'm trying to write about Germany in the 1150's (only based partly on fact) and I'm sort of worried that it may be...a lot to take on board. Granted, there'll be a lot of things unexplained about it seeing as the previous two chapters have been ommited, but in any case I'd really appreciate someone's opinion as to whether or not it's all...too much to take in in one sitting. Thanks :) *


Pax Saxonia
February, The Hohenstaufen Court

To commemorate the arrival of the seven Prince-Electors, the Princes charged with the election of the King of the Romans, Conrad V, Holy Roman Emperor held an exquisite banquet in his halls at Frankfurt. For the occasion he brought out a band of fifty men and boys, had a feast prepared by one hundred and fifty of the Empire’s finest cooks, allowed seating in his hall for three hundred and room still for an extra five hundred to stand.
The main hall itself was laid out according to family. The Nobility of all the Empire had flocked to Frankfurt for the banquet, so tables had been laid out, each one ordained with the heraldic banner of each dynasty and family under the unity of the Empire. The Montfort Dynasty, who now held heraldic claim to the Duchy of Swabia since the election of Conrad as Emperor, were given the table closest to the centre floor. They were ancient rivals of the Hohenstaufen, who were, however, appeased by the fact that their own Athalwolf of Bavaria was favoured by Conrad to become King. On an elevated platform in front of the main tables was set one long table for the seven Electors, each of their places marked by their historic symbols. From left to right, they sat the three Archbishops of Mainz, Trier and Cologne; the Duke of Saxony; the Count Palatine of the Rhine; the Margraf of Brandenburg and finally the King of Bohemia. The latter had, before Conrad’s being crowned Holy Roman Emperor, persecuted a brief but destructive war against Swabia and its Hohenstaufen overlords. The result was a deep bitterness between the two crowns, which Conrad knew would result in Athalwolf, as an ally of the Hohenstaufen, losing the King of Bohemia’s vote. Set on an even higher platform, behind the Prince-Electors, were the two thrones of the Holy Roman Empire. The first belonging to the Emperor Conrad, and a little below it, the throne of the ‘Raven Prince’, Frederick von Schwaben.
Aside from the German and Italian nobility, poets; scholars; musicians and writers from all four corners of the Empire had flocked to the Court to take in the historic decision by the Electors. News of the Mainz Controversy had travelled fast around Christendom, as had news that the Pope in Rome had expressed great concern, and bitter outrage, over Cardinal Wilhelm of Mainz’s disintegration of the German church. Behind Wilhelm’s struggle, unprecedented by either himself or Conrad, the monasteries had pledged allegiance to the reformation. They had been established, decades prior, by Irish monks and priests who had come to France from England, and from there spread their monastic ideas to Spain, Germany and beyond. The Irish descendants of these scholars shared a bitterness towards the Pope for allowing the Normans to invade their island nation. It left Adrian IV, Pope, in a position where he could do nothing but watch events in Germany unfold before him.
Frederick had dressed that night in a black tunic, trimmed in golden cloth, a silver raven stitched on the front. It had been a Christmas gift from Eva Gretchen, the girl whom he’d met the year prior with Vinne. By the time he made his way into the main hall, it was already packed with diners, merrymakers and dancers, all filling the room with an excited, cheerful ambience that almost drowned out Francis’ announcement of “My Lords and Ladies! Might I present to you Frederick, the Raven Prince of Swabia and the Holy Roman Empire!”
Frederick felt himself blush as all eyes of the room fell on him, and he nodded graciously to Francis before quickly making his way towards his throne, next to which sat his father, who was deep in discussion with a grey haired man dressed in green and gold cloth as Frederick approached.