Complex sentence: Steiner refuses; knowing that under Christian rule his people would be kept in constant fear, but Vali does so to save his own neck and is taken to a nearby church, while Ivar is castrated for his perversions and foul talk.
Split into simpler sentences: Steiner refuses; knowing that under Christian rule his people would be kept in constant fear. However Vali does so to save his own neck and is taken to a nearby church, while Ivar is castrated for his perversions and foul talk.