Bagricula - Eh, for any Christian power to take and hold Persia, they're going to
have to have a series of exceptional and/or brilliant rulers. If not, the whole thing collapses like so many other groups that have invaded the region. I'm working on another update as we speak--an interim on trade and the slightly underappreciated Roman Navy... new flag btw?
Leviathan07 - All true points. It doesn't change the fact that over time, for various reasons (personal, political, economic, what have you) people can and do convert, priestly class or no. Additionally, there are very large bodies of Nestorian and other Christian minorities floating around still throughout Persia proper, as well as all sorts of other minor religious groups that persisted despite requiring a priestly caste. In our timeline, most of these groups were wiped out during the invasions and purges of Timur--that hasn't happened (yet at least) in this timeline, so there are boatloads of possibilities.
Now you are right that the Gabrielids are going to have to do some interesting dancing--the coalition of Muslims and Romans that was forged by Gabriel to stop the Mongols has no use anymore, and its inevitable that religious questions will begin to crop up (we saw the start of this with the Aionites in Mesopotamia), despite the brilliance or amiability of the rulers. Persia's future isn't set staying Muslim--neither is it set going Orthodox Christian, or set doing something else. It's what'll make telling the story of Persia in the EU3 timeframe so interesting.
Though I did misspeak when I listed the choices Persia would face in the EU3 mod. It should have been go
Muslim, go "Christian" (Orthodox isn't the only branch available, nor the wisest), or go a third way. There will by no means a simple dichotomy going on there...
As for France, that whole thing is a situation ripe to turn sour quick. Except under Drogo it never had the centralized, powerful monarchy it needed to be an empire, but its simply too large for any those dukes to control, at least right now. The Roman 'viceroy' is probably going to be ruling in name only, while the dukes fight each other to a standstill... considering Andronikios' main goal was simply keeping France down, it gets the job done short term, even if its messy. If someone could unite France again though...
This is all, of course, assuming the campaign even succeeds. If Makrinokomnenos fails, its a rather moot point!
Ah, and finally on colonization, EU3: That's part of the reason I'd like to play Mali, or one of the smaller Roman successor states. The big guns--Egypt, Persia, Syria, etc.--are likely for the next fifty or hundred years after the fall to be gazing
inward, at the Med, trying to either stake their own claim to being imperial, or outright take Constantinople to try to restore "their" empire. This will leave all sorts of openings for others--Mahgrebis, Malians, the Roman Spaniards, the French successors, Burgundy, Scotland, the list goes on, to explore the New World while the Komnenoi are duking things out amongst each other. The interesting fight (where I might go back to taking a successor heavyweight) is in the 17th/18th century, when the Komnenoi of the East Med finally realize they're behind and have to play catchup... if they survive that is...
von Sachsen - His bastard brother Gaston, yes. Hugues also has a rather formidable son we might meet, if there's time...
AlexanderPrimus - I think I sum up everyone's opinion by shouting "Hooray!"
The_Archduke - There was a blurb from a modern historian in the update immediately after Basil's death who called Andronikos II 'tyrannical,' then oddly defended him by saying the fault for the empire's fall lay with Basil, not Andronikos II or a later Anastasios II. Though just because there's a possible child named Andronikos doesn't mean he'll inherit. I do throw out lots of red herrings, I admit.
Carlstadt Boy - The proper question is "When did functioning brains figure out how to overrule King Hugues?"
As for the 'Reconquista' "control" is a very loose word here. Andronikos doesn't intend on ever really ruling in France proper--his plan is more to make it broken and fractious (with Romanion looming to keep the pot stirring) so as to make sure another Capetian threat never rises again.
Hannibal X - Haha! I'm glad someone recognized Leonard Nimoy! Incidentally, Alexandros has no sons of his own--his heir is his brother Isaakios, who has no less than five by this point (if I remember right)...
asd21593 - Imperial overreach? What's that? Never can happen...ever...
vadermath - Anatolia is still under the command of Ioannis Angelos, its decidedly loyal. The Basilikon is under Tatikios, friend of Andronikos' father and also decidedly loyal, however he's very old (in his mid 60s) and will likely retire or die soon. Whoever replaces him will have command of the most powerful imperial armies, arguably with more power than the Megas Domestikos. As for Alexandros, Andronikos is definitely in a pickle. Word by this point is reaching Konstantinopolis of how far he's progressed, and amongst the populace there's definitely going to be calls for the Persian to receive a triumph--possibly the ultimate slap to Andronikos' pride, not to mention
bringing Alex into Konstantinopolis if he goes along with it...
Qorten - Flanders at this point is technically split--the northern half of the region is under Burgundian control (part of the royal demense) if I remember correctly, while the southern half is a 'Duchy of Flanders' as a vassal of France. Andronikos plans to taking the Duchy into his own slew of vassals, but its unlikely in the short term at least the two parts will be unified. There's 100 years left to go, though, so plenty of things could happen...
TC Pilot - I've thought about that actually. Coordinating playing times would be a puzzle, but if I could line up people to play,
and find a common time to play, that'd be the perfect solution. There'd be plenty of spots--and at that point, I'd definitely be claiming Mali for my own!
Nikolai - No middlemen and tariffs, and also more economy--its cheaper to send goods in bulk by ship than by land (as well as faster). So if a sea route can be found, it could be reasoned to be faster possibly, considering the land route by caravan still takes ages...
Zzzzz... - There'd still be the search for fewer middlemen, as well as a larger profit-margin through a sea route. Add to that by EU3 the Middle Eastern route isn't necessarily open (there
is a massive civil war going on amongst successor states
) then you've got all sorts of reasons to look for an alternative...
And yes, if Andronikos' plan works, you will have a series of semi-autonomy duchies in France under Roman protection, and a French King ruling the rump
Royaume d'Angleterre from London...
cezar87 - Gottfried is following through on his analysis that the Empire
will fall, and he wants himself and/or his children to be in position, ready to take advantage of the situation when it does. Considering the Emperor's sworn enemy is making friends and money like crazy, the war in the West is dragging, and the Emperor's health is starting to decline, Gottfried is starting to hedge his bets that chaos is coming sooner rather than later.
RGB 1 - I thought at least one reader would catch the reference to the Notched Sword!
2 - Nikephoros knows he's got leprosy, partly its because he often doesn't know he's wounded, and partly its he knows his legacy's on the line, he's trying to look extra brave and good for the army.
3 - Potentially, though Isaakios is a different cut from a military man bent on unifying an empire...
4 - It just would make logical sense for a Komnenid Egyptian family, especially one who's main goal so far has been to enrich themselves, to avoid dynastic Med squabbles and instead secure the Red Sea trade. Now the Egyptian Komnenids are wealthy as Croesus--will they start spending that cash to make their own bid for fame?
5 - It's hard to find someone modeling armor that looks serious...
6 - Not all eternity by all means...
7 - Considering its a political marriage, probably. Considering Phillipos, probably not.
Enewald - Awww, now you're assuming! He could just be inviting Nizam into the palace for milk and cookies!
He could have entirely pure intentions, but yes, knowing the history of this AAR...
ray243 - There's a definite possibility states ruled by Komnenoi could survive a long long period. To the 20th century would be stretching it, but its conceivable. Architecturally you'd likely see a nice mix of ideas--Byzantine and Islamic architecture would likely become mainstays, but there'd be Gothic sprinkled in as well (thanks to Thomas III and his love of flying buttresses
). Intellectually, I've been playing things that scholasticism has followed much the same course, in different locations with different people. Many of the root questions it dealt with would still exist in this timeline, and its probable that future questions of the Reniassance would still be brought up--perhaps not in the same timeframe, or in the same locations. I'm wrestling with the idea of much of the 'Old Empire' intellectually ossifying for a period... the "We've been the center of the world for hundreds of years, why don't you change to be like
us?" syndrome...