Freedom is Relative: A MegaCampaign Focused on the Balkans

Draskin Trpimirovic was by no means incapable of ruling Croatia, but woe that his reign came on the heels of his father, Momchil. The large and spread out demesne of his father was too difficult to manage. Over the next two years, it was divvied up between his heirs and other important figures, leaving King Draskin with the historical demesne of the Croatian coast, as well as Constantinople and the surrounding area. This was not a perfect situation; as the peace treaties between Croatia and the Byzantine Empire prevented the formation of several Duchies; even though they now lie entirely within the Croatian Kingdom. This lead to a brief war in late 1153, where the Byzantine Emperor, trapped on the island of Corfu, was forced to relinquish the titles in question.

With the situation at home somewhat stabilized, Draskin was able to prepare what he called "His Return". He was born in Barcelona, and according to him, he should be buried there. Barcelona was one of the few Christian-held areas in Spain; the Count of Barcelona swore loyalty to the independent Duke of Toledo, who was at the time away in Morocco. At the time, most of the Moorish lands where held by vassals of the Emir of Granada. The Count of Barcelona at the time, Humbert, was 4th cousin thrice removed from King Draskin; an issue not taken into consideration when he demanded Barcelona be surrendered to him.

This refusal drove the king to madness; he quickly gathered his army and prepared to sail to Barcelona. Using nearly the entire treasury to send the army to Spain, he arrived, unannounced in October 1154, and laid waste to the city. Had he not a stranglehold on the papacy, he surely would have been excommunicated; he ordered a Christian killed for every Muslim, in order to keep Heaven and Hell well balanced. The walls where also torn down, because several of the stones where a very light pink.

Speaking to the nobles and knights that had joined him, he proclaimed "The Muslim is like a fish. It has scales and you have to remove the insides to eat them. Therefore, let my will go forth; there shall no longer be any tax on those who sell fish or clean for a living." The court settled down for a meal of fish chowder, unsure of what the king had in mind next. Many assumed that he wanted to liberate part of Spain; they felt could take a large section of the eastern coast and, as long as Barcelona held, they could receive supplies from Croatia by sea. The king was actually planning to dig a hole straight down, but upon hearing that Poland was not underground he agreed to launch an attack against the Moors.

Despite his obvious illogical thinking, Draskin remained a capable general, to an extent, and won several large battles early on. The war, however, dragged on for several years, wearing down both sides tremendously. The Croatians slowly gained land, however, and by the time a peace was settled in 1161, much of Aragon was under Croatian rule. Leaving unannounced, alone, in a small rowboat, King Draskin left a note giving the Crown of Aragon to his bastard son Slavac. Unfortunately, King Draskin had killed Slavac nearly two years ago for using too many r's in one sentence. The local nobles, confused, elevated the King's other bastard son, Hranislav to the throne. The child was only two years old, so he was literally "elevated" into the actual throne.


Upon his return home, King Draskin was promptly locked into his palace by his son, Dobroslav, who exercised control of Croatia until his father's death. Durring his time under house arrest, the King devoted his time to many tasks, inculding counting the number of angels on the head of a pin (9001, he claimed), writing an entirely new dictionary using only 10 letters, and inventing a new form of calculus that allowed him to "prove" than Poland was, in fact, underground.

King Draskin Trpimirovic the Mad died on June 14, 1162. There was very little mourning.

(Notes: Don't expect another crusade to Iberia anytime soon. Aragon will just have to survive on its own. Next update should take more time.)

Dobroslav Trpimirovic had already been exercising control of Croatia for some time when he was officially crowned king in 1162. He had married a distant relative years earlier; having three sons and six daughters, several severely inbred. Dobroslav was constantly at odds with everyone because he, unlike most of Europe, felt that Christianity and Islam could and should coexist. This hurt his relationship with the pope, but since threats of excommunication where answered with threats of alliance with the other Excommunicated leaders; the Kings of France, Norway, and Denmark, nothing became of it. Threats from inside Croatia where matched with the rebuilt Army of Croatia and the fact that Dobroslav was a brilliant strategist that had literally memorized his grandfather's works on the military arts.

In 1165, the pope called for a Crusade to liberate Burgos from the Emir of Granada. By 1167, France and England joined Castille and the Papal State in their war verses the Emir of Grenada. They made little effort, however, and Castille was crushed in 1169, the King fleeing to his last stronghold in Egypt.


Aragon, the last remaining Christian Spanish Kingdom, declared war the same year. Pressured into helping his younger half-brother, King Dobroslav send some troops strictly to defend Barcelona. While never preforming actual fighting, the escorted the King of Aragon from Barcelona to Denia in 1173. They then returned home, leaving the young king to his fate. Later that year the Emir of Granada died, and the Emir of Hormuz inherited his lands and vassals.

Croatia slowly gained more land through diplomatic means; German Thessalonike in 1174 and eastern Crete in 1175. Aragon, accepting a humiliating peace in 1176, was left with Murcia. The pope was so furious the King was excommunicated. Dobroslav quietly discontinued any relations with Aragon, and the remainder of the kingdom was conquered in 1180, leaving no Christian Spanish kingdoms in existence. Only English Portugal and some Papal holdings remained. However, Moorish Spain continued to break up. In 1181, the Duke of Bosnia inherited southern Sardinia.

King Dobroslav died on April 23, 1183. Remember only for failing to defend his brother in Spain, he is commonly referred to as King Dobroslav the Lazy. The Crown skipped a generation, falling to the infant Georgi. When the time was right, Georgi would shock the world.

(Note: Expect a few days before the next update; there will be plenty to talk about. Any advise and suggestions should be posted here; I "may" take them. I probably wont play CK again today; I'm a little worn out. Feel free to motivate me and pressure me to continue; thats the point of this AAR)

Olaus Petrus said:

Abandoning Iberia was a good move. Why fight against Muslims in some far away country, when you have enemies much closer home.

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The problem is I don't want to become some "Byzantine Empire Reborn" nation. Straying further east than Constantinople is not on my agenda; I would rather prefer a large (historic) Byzantine state in Anatolia, rather than ruling it directly.

Olaus Petrus said:

Then fight on Scythia or Sicily.

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You mean Naples and Eastern Hungary?


You've made me start CK though, so I took a look at everything. I've decided what I'm going to do next. Give me a few days for the next update, I could use a break.

My save file is messed up badly, and I'm going to have to revert to another save. Next update should be on Friday, I hope

I've reverted to a save made just after the old king died, so its not that bad of a problem.

Next update will be later today, but only contain maps for the year 1200, with a regular update on Friday.