The Grand History of Croatia - A Mega Campaign AAR

@ Cecasander - Yeah, but I don't think my BadBoy could handle it. I was at a Tarnished Reputation by this point.

@ Japume - Yeah, but unfortunately King Trpimir has a grand total of 0 Intrigue, so I have no other options. Also, next update today, not long to wait

Chapter 5 – 1112 to 1115

Magnus rex Trpimir scelestum senem tangit, et senex Deum sentit.
The great King Trpimr touched the wicked old man, and the old man felt God. – Baron Francois, Historia Magni Regis

The years 1112 through to 1115 were a time of peaceful consolidation. King Trpimir knew that he was on the verge of a civil war, and one more conquest in his name would push him over that brink. For this reason it was thought best to work on ensuring the loyalty of the vassals. A civil war was likely to see at least half of the Kingdom declare independence at one point or another, as shall be seen.

The newly appointed Duke of Carniola was particularly disloyal and had made an alliance with the County of Varadzin, which resided outside of the Kingdom. This was far worse than the alliances that the Duke of Bosnia and Crotia had forged durign the reign of King Petar. Duke Frankopan must have been considering bringing in foreign soldiers. He was in a position of great importance and his lands were easily defensible. He had all of the north western holdings of the Kingdom and as such he need only defend from an attack coming from one direction. For the moment, however, he made no moves.

In an effort to peacefully expand the Kingdom, King Trpimir sent out an envoy to the child who had newly risen to the throne in Dkulja, Boric Vojilslavljevic. At the time they were a part of the Byzantine Empire, but with the west fracturing again and with a weak Emperor at the throne, the timing was ripe. On May 24th 1112, however, a rejection of the offer was delivered to the King. The Duke of Dkulja simply was not sure that Croatia would be able to stand up to the Byzantines in a war. He was probably correct.


The Duke of Dkulja declines vassalisation.

During July 1112 the King of France started a new war with the Seljuks, in an effort to seize Jerusalem and to help to remove the Seljuks from the British Isles. Though this promised to be a successful venture, given the manpower available to the French forces, King Trpimir turned down the offer. He needed every available man on guard against civil war. Unfortunately for the King the timing of this decision happened to occur at the same time as a rare meteor sighting.

This omen occurred on July 20th and it was at the time believed to be a bad omen. It was said that the Meteor was flying in the direction of Jerusalem and hence the King should follow it, and France, to seize the Holy City for Croatia once again. However, the King declared that it was in fact a good omen, and that the tail of the comet had horns like the devil. Hence to follow it would be to damn the Kingdom to hell. Though many of the peasants and minor nobles, weary of war, were inclined to agree with the King, the upper nobility preferred to follow what the Church had decreed – that this was a sign that the Kingdom should be going to war. Going against the church was to have disastrous consequences down the line and it would lead to a series of events that were to damage the Kingdom for the next decade. This shall be discussed in the next chapter.


King Trpimir disagrees with the Church’s decree that he should go to war.

By way of apology, when the church called for alms to be given to the poor in January of 1113 King Trpimir agreed. Of course, his actions were not particularly noted at the time, for this was what all the Kings were doing in an effort to impress the Pope. It did go some way towards mollifying the local clergy, however. Whatever good will was gained from this was lost in June of 1113.

On June of 1113 one of Ambrosia’s ladies-in-waiting by the name of Barbara fell pregnant and claimed that the child was King Trpimir’s. Baron Francois of course rejects this offhand, which is unsurprising given that he is writing a glowing biography of King Trpimir which paints him as Saint (Whereas he was very cynical about religion and indeed there are indications that he was Agnostic) and he paints over the many sinful things he does. What Baron Francois refuses to acknowledge is that King Trpimir recognised the child as his own. Indeed Dmitar, the child born of the two, would grow up in the court as if he were one of the King’s own children.


King Trpimir has another bastard with one of Ambrosia’ ladies-in-waiting.

August 1113 had in store another religious issue for King Trpimir to negotiate. Several of his own bishops had approached him about having Jawdat, the King’s Marshal, in such a high position of authority. The Church explicitly forbid a heathen holding this much sway, particularly at a time of Crusading. King Trpimir ignored them at first, but when an envoy from the Pope came to his court he was forced to take action. It was requested that he simply exile the man, yet King Trpimir took it to a new extreme.


King Trpimir decides to execute his Marshal instead of exiling him.

He decided that execution would be a much better idea. He assumed that the Pope and his own clergy would be happy with this idea, but indeed just two weeks after the execution, on September 12th, another message from the Pope arrived expressing severe disappointment at the King’s transgression. A threat of excommunication was made, though nothing would come of this. Regardless, King Trpimir had now firmly set himself up as opposed to the Catholic Church. In later years Protestants across Croatia would adopt him as one of their precursors, despite that fact that Protestantism was several centuries from its creation.


King Trpimir is threatened with excommunication.

Now that the King had lost the love of the clergy, he needed to solidify his rule somewhat, and for this reason he decided to further increase the power of the nobility across the land. This would reduce the size of his armed forces, but increase the proportion of knights in them, giving him a clear advantage against his vassals if civil war to spring up. This would occur throughout February of 1114.

By the end of 1114 it seemed that any immediate threat of Civil War had passed and King Trpimir breathed a sigh of relief. He still could not afford to keep his finger off the button or to expand in any direction. However, he could rest assured that the Duchy of Carniola would remain in the Kingdom. Ambrosia appeared pregnant on September 21st 1114 once again and the son would be born on June 18th 1115 and he would be named Kresimir.

The next chapter will take us up to the end of 1117 and we shall see the first example of civil war in the reign of King Tprimir, as well as a further increase in Croatia’s land.

@ IamWhoa - Thanks, I was quite pleased with how that came out.

@ stnylan - Yeah another war would be great... but not for my BB

@ Enewald - I don't believe that there is coding in the engine to allow for the reformation.

Chapter 6 – 1116 and 1117

February of 1116 saw what would be the first step towards a civil war. On the 6th of February King Trpimir put forward his claim to the Count of Ancona; then held by Count von Urslingen. War was declared the very same day and the regiments of Zadar and Senj were ferried across the Adriatic Sea into Ancona.


The war over Ancona.

Of course, the battle went well for the Croatians. They had 4600 men and the Italians only had 1600. By June 1st the campaign was over and the siege of Ancona began. The people in the city knew that they would not stand a chance, and for this reason some of them decided that it was in the best interest of the city if they handed the city over to their enemy. They got in contact with King Trpimir directly and arranged for an assault to occur on the night of June 22nd. On that same night they took over the gatehouses and opened all of the gates. The city was completely taken by morning.

King Trpimir decided that he would grant the city to his wife Ambrosia as celebration for all the sons that she had bore for him. Further, she was a native Italian and hence far more acceptable to the people of the city. Two problems would come from this. One was that the vassals of King Trpimir became jealous and started to seriously consider revolt. The second consequence shall be seen in October of 1116.


Croatia after seizing Ancona.

The next step on King Trpimir’s clash with the Papacy came on August 30th. The Pope was disappointed with King Trpimir’s new choice of Marshal – who was another Muslim named Kerameddin. King Trpimir this time decided not to execute him. He had, after all acquitted himself well during the war with Ancona, and there were no other men who could fulfil the same role. Instead, the King decided to beg forgiveness from the Pope, in exchange for Papal indulgences.

This was naturally a mistake from the beginning. The Kingdom was still in debt from the war with Ancona, which had required the mobilisation of several thousand Croatian soldiers. He had clearly misjudged what the Pope would demand. When the total came through it is said that King Trpimir almost fainted – the demand was over 2000 florins. The Kingdom could not achieve that level of income over the course of 20 years and this would severely restrict the Kingdom’s activities in that time.

Instead of simply refusing to pay, King Trpimir decided that a compromise was for the best. He offered to pay 300 florins, which would still place the Kingdom in crippling debt for several years, especially on top of the debt that the Kingdom already had. The Pope was less than impressed with this, though he still accepted the money. Within three days the Pope had declared King Trpimir a heretic. This was clearly motivated by Papal greed and it was completely unfounded in truth.


King Trpimir is declared a Heretic.

This declaration had an immediate effect on the Kingdom. People stopped viewing King Trpimir as a great King, and instead they started to mutter amongst themselves, hoping that one or another of the King’s vassals would take up arms against this heretic. Many of the vassals started to plot with each other, forming alliances and generally assuring each other of their mutual support. Meanwhile, King Trpimir doubled the guard at his door, ensuring that only Muslims and the few remaining members of the original Regency Council were part of his closest guards. They were probably the only people he could trust. He also announced the abolition of Scutage, which helped to mollify several of the less rebellious vassals. These were the vassals he would need to have on his side when civil war erupted.

Meanwhile, King Trpimir took the sudden break from the Church to improve his Kingdoms in some ways. When a demand came for the cessation of commerce in areas that had been claimed by the Papacy, King Trpimir refused. He had a large debt to pay off and could ill-afford to set himself up against the Burghers in addition to the clergy. Ultimately, what would get King Trpimir to the end of his reign was an alliance of the Burghers and the minor nobility. They were the people who had money and soldiers respectively.


King Trpimir opposes the Church without fear now.

At the beginning of January 1117 King Trpimir realised that a civil war was inevitable. He started to raise taxes, and cut a lot of donations that he had previously given to the church (Though it should be noted that he retained some donations in an effort to still appear as if he were Catholic, which he indeed was). It was widely believed that the first person to break from the Kingdom would be Drzislav Frankopan, the Duke of Carniola. This was surprising because he owed his position to King Trpimir. On the other hand, he had been raised by monks and hence he had a strong religious streak.

Ambrosia fell pregnant during May, again, though this was of little concern to King Trpimir. Though she was a Countess, she still spent most of her time in King Trpimir’s court and instead she preferred to let her own Courtiers deal with the internal issues in her block of land.

Duke Drzislav openly began mobilising his forces during the Summer months and he arranged an alliance with the County of Varadzin. They were not a powerful force and indeed nothing came from their promises. Regardless, when August came around, the 21st to be precise, the Duke of Carniola declared himself independent and began the first civil war that Croatia had witnessed in many years.


The civil war begins.


Croatia on August 21st 1117.

Looking over the reactions of the other vassals, we get a strange mix. Duke Drzislav in Slavonia remained loyal and was quite content to wait and see what would happen. Duke Antal of Bosnia was in a similar position. The Counts of Zachlumina and Usora both remained conspicuously quiet when it came to the civil war and many suspected they were considering joining the conflict. Countess Ambrosia remained loyal to her husband; however she by no means expressed confidence in King Trpimir’s ability to hold onto his own throne. The Bishop of Csanad and Bacs remained completely loyal to King Trpimir. He clearly did not believe the Pope’s word when it came to the claims that King Trpimir was a heretic, and he understood that the needed to remain loyal to King Trpimir in order to ensure that his own lands in southern Hungary remained well protected.

The forces of Senj, Zadar and Split were mobilised, plunging the Kingdom into even deeper debt. All of them were sent to the rebellious lands, in the hope that with the war ending quickly other vassals would not be as willing to declare themselves independent. King Trpimir was offered an easier way out of his predicament by none other than the Pope who had declared him a heretic.

The Crusade for Jerusalem that had begun in King Petar’s day was still ongoing, with very little progress being made. The Pope realised that what was needed was a strong regional power with many soldiers at its disposal. The only power which fit that description was Croatia. An offer was sent to King Trpimir. Amazingly, some of the message has survived and has come down to us. It reads:

“King Trpimir, we both know that at this time your Kingdom is in turmoil, with brother spilling the blood of brother. Undoubtedly this has been caused by your heathen ways and unwillingness to accept the authority of The Lord’s Church in religious matters. I am willing to offer you a way out of this. You will join my Crusade for the Holy city of Jerusalem, just as your father did. He was a great man and it is the role of all good sons to live up to what their father has done. I remember once he tol…”

The letter breaks off there. At this point, though King Trpimir had set himself up as one who opposes church authority, he decided to join the Crusade. As we shall see, it was for the sake of political convenience and he did very little in the way of acting upon this. Yet, for now, he was redeemed in the eye of the clergy, and it helped to ensure the loyal of some of his other vassals – for a short time at least.


King Trpimir is absolved, yet must join the Crusade.

The campaign for Veglia, which was the key to the entire Duchy of Carniola, began on September 11th1117, as King Trpimir personally led 1700 soldiers into the County, which had been deserted by those who defended it. The soldiers of Istria and Krain retaliated and marched into the province, meaning that by the 21st the numbers comprising both armies were roughly even, with more soldiers promised to King Trpimir. Eventually his army would number 4000 men, which ensured victory. The casualty figures were approximately 1200 lost for the Duchy and only 400 lost for the King. The siege of Veglia would begin on October 3rd, and it was clear that the Duchy would fall within 6 months.

Meanwhile, now that King Trpimir was part of the Crusade, the Pope sent an envoy requesting that Marshal Kerameddin be converted, or killed. Fortunately Marshal Kerameddin decided that conversion was a much better idea and decided that he would recant his old faith. That said, there is some evidence from his own writings that he still retained his old Muslim beliefs, though he obviously was not able to practice them. A few later writers say that he continued to pray to Mecca, though this has no real backing in primary sources. Regardless of the truth, the Pope was impressed with King Trpimir and seemed to believe that he had come back into the faith.


King Trpimir converts Kerameddin and the Pope is impressed.

On October 24th Veglia was taken, and the army was split in two. Each army was tasked with capturing a separate County. Kerameddin lead the army west into Istria, and King Trpimir lead his army north into Krain. There was no serious resistance at either location, with the scattered remnants barely bothering to put up a fight. The Duke knew that the war was over and on December 7th he offered to recognise King Trpimir’s claim on the County of Krain, as well as remove his own claim on Split. King Trpimir refused. This was going to be a war to set an example.

However, the example it set was not to be the one he planned. Countess Ambrosia, outraged at her husband’s absolute refusal to negotiate had her Courtiers declare war on King Trpimir. It should be noted that she remained in Senj with King Trpimir’s court, so that it would appear that she was not being disloyal, yet all the time she was sending messages to her Courtiers with instructions. It is likely that Trpimir would have killed her without a second thought if he knew what she was doing. We do know that she was constantly reassuring him that she had nothing to do with what was going on – she claimed that they were rebels who had taken control in her absence.


The King’s own wife has her Courtiers declare war on him.

The Kingdom of France began a war with Byzantium at this time and they asked King Trpimir whether he would consider joining. It was a poorly thought out request, clearly, and King Trpimir started raging at the diplomat. The diplomat took leave as soon as he possibly could and when (according to some much later sources) he was asked by the King of France what the answer to the call to arms was, he simply said, “The King declines your invitation and would like to take the chance to remind you to… how would the English put it?… ‘Shove it.’”

The year 1117 drew to a close with the King fighting two wars. He was still laying siege to the Counties in Krain, and he was going to have to fight in Ancona. This was only the beginning to what would be one of the most drawn out and bloody conflicts that Croatia would have to deal with. More blood would be shed that the war with Byzantium and more Croatians would die than had in the entire Hungarian war. 1118 promised to be an interesting year.

Haha yeah, and fortunately King Trpimir is cynical enough to make it work (he has the Deceitful trait, which for the purpose of my role playing is good enough for me ).

@ Enewald - Yeah, we haven't got too many friends left in the World.

@ IamWhoa - Yeah I hate that Pope. I am seriously considering going Protestant in EUIII just to pay him back for this!

Chapter 7 – 1118 and 1119

The civil war went into its second year with the King fighting a war against what remained of the Duchy of Carniola, as well as a war against his wife’s county. At the same time there were stirrings in Usora and Zachlumina.

The war with the Duchy of Carniola was not destined to last much longer, however, as Krain was taken on January 11th, cutting the Duchy off from any potential help that could be brought in from the Holy Roman Empire to the North. On January 28th, the capital of Istria fell and King Trpimir met personally with the Duke. The resulting peace treaty that was signed on the 30th saw King Trpimir named as the Duke of Carniola, as well as the Count of Krain and Istria. The now-shamed former Duke was allowed to keep his independence in the County of Veglia. However, it was a hollow victory because there were no future prospects here and he would live the rest of his life fearful that the Croatian King would return to reclaim the lands.


The peace treaty grants the County of Veglia independence.

February 2nd brought news of the birth of Iljko, another son for King Trpimir. He would forever bear an epithet, “the war-born”, due to his Mother technically being at war with his father at the time of his birth. Other than this very little would come of his life – he was simply born too far down the order of succession to stand any chance of inheriting, or even being granted, any land at all.

February also brought more news to King Trpimir – this time of a more sombre note. On February 20th the Count of Zachlumina declared independence. The King’s armies were off to the north, resting after their war in Carniola. Nevertheless, King Trpimir swore swift vengeance.


The County of Zachlumina declares independence.

King Trpimir decided to split his armies once again. He would lead the force south into Ancona, and Kerameddin would lead his army against Zachlumina. Both campaigns promised to be swift, seeing as neither County had any allies willing to support them, and each could only muster some 300 men for battle. Compared to this King Trpimir led 1500 men, and Kerameddin about 2000 (some accounts put it at 2500, and others as low as 1200, but 2000 is the commonly accepted number).

As it happened, both armies engaged their respective enemies during May, and as predicted they each won decisive victories, almost destroying their enemies entirely. Both capitals were under siege by May 19th. They had to be quick though, because Duke Drzislav Trpimirovic in Slavonia was starting to stockpile resources for a campaign that would be sure to decide the fate of the Kingdom.


The twin victories in May 1118.

Despite being in complete control in Ancona, King Trpimir decided to leave the fate of the County to his wife. He clearly believed that she was genuine when she said that she had nothing to do with the civil war. Further, he knew that annexing Ancona into his Kingdom would simply lead to revolts in the province and this was something he could not afford at the same time as the coming clash with Slavonia. Peace was signed officially with his wife on July 8th. On that same day Kerameddin signed a deal in the King’s name that turned over the County of Zachlumina over to King Trpimir. These were clearly his orders, and as such King Trpimir was not unhappy with the result.


The war-stricken parts of the Kingdom at the end of July 1118.

Meanwhile it was thought best to grant the title Count of Zachlumina to Count Borna of Usora. This ensured his loyalty, and it meant that there was one less vassal that King Trpimir would have to deal with. It also meant that he did not have to have the disloyalty in his own Court that naturally comes when one of the peers is promoted ahead of others.

By now it was clear that King Trpimir was a force to be reckoned with when it came to defending his Kingdom. However, two things were undoubtedly noticed by his remaining vassals. For one, the Counties of Veglia and Ancona had won their freedom through the war, despite losing the war in both cases. Secondly, King Trpimir now owed a total of 600 florins in back-pay to his men, as well as those who supplied his army with fodder (Though oftentimes he simply took what he wanted without permission. Truly those with an army at their back have the upper hand in negotiations.).

Indeed by October this second problem had become so severe that King Trpimir could not afford much-needed repairs to the hill fort in Senj proper. Indeed the King was forced to temporarily relocate his Court to Zadar, where the fort was still functional. It was only some fifteen years later, when the economic crisis had resolved itself, that the fort was able to be re-built.


The monetary problems of the Kingdom became more apparent as the year wore on.

So the year 1118 came to a close, yet King Trpimir realised that the civil war was by no means at an end. Even the relatively peaceful year 1119 continued with tensions slowly mounting between the King and his Duke in Slavonia (who was clearly annoyed by the annexations of Carnolia). However, that is not to say that 1119 was totally uneventful.

For one, the King’s son Nikola came of age in April, meaning that King Trpimir had another man who he could trust. After arranging for a marriage with Zoltana, Chancellor in the Duchy of Bosnia, King Trpimir gave him the titles Count of Istria and Duke of Carniola. Krain was retained for King Trpimir though. This was because, in November 1119, King Trpimir took a bishop into his Court at the request of the Pope, and named him Bishop of Krain.

One thing that must have been in the back of King Trpimir’s mind the entire length of the civil war was what would happen if the Emperor of Byzantium were to intervene. This threat was removed in May as a wave of rebellions swept the west of the Empire, with Ragusa and Dkulja both rising up against the Emperor. This meant that King Trpimir could breath a sigh of relief – the Emperor was too busy with his own civil wars to worry about the civil wars of his neighbours.


The Western Byzantine Empire in May of 1119.

That brings us to the close of 1119. Though the civil war had not progressed any further it was obvious that it was far from over. Up until now only Counties had revolted – but in 1120 that was to change.

Enewald said:

So no attacking into Ragusa?
noes, why keep the old disloyal wife?
She shall only rebel again....

Click to expand...

You really should see my BB. Not a good site.

As for the wife, she's fully independent now and I removed my claim on Ancona. I had no choice but to given my BB.