• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

Kuipy

Colonel
62 Badges
Jan 18, 2007
1.130
56
jwrdk.free.fr
  • Europa Universalis IV: Cossacks
  • Victoria 2
  • Victoria 2: A House Divided
  • Victoria 2: Heart of Darkness
  • 200k Club
  • 500k Club
  • Crusader Kings II: Holy Knight (pre-order)
  • Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado
  • Europa Universalis IV: Pre-order
  • Crusader Kings II: Way of Life
  • Pillars of Eternity
  • Europa Universalis IV: Common Sense
  • Crusader Kings II: Horse Lords
  • Semper Fi
  • Crusader Kings II: Conclave
  • Europa Universalis IV: Mare Nostrum
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Cadet
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Colonel
  • Crusader Kings II: Reapers Due
  • Europa Universalis IV: Rights of Man
  • Tyranny: Archon Edition
  • Tyranny: Archon Edition
  • Tyranny: Gold Edition
  • Steel Division: Normandy 44
  • Europa Universalis IV: Mandate of Heaven
  • Europa Universalis 4: Emperor
  • Europa Universalis IV
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Crusader Kings II: Charlemagne
  • Crusader Kings II: Legacy of Rome
  • Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods
  • Crusader Kings II: Rajas of India
  • Crusader Kings II: The Republic
  • Crusader Kings II: Sons of Abraham
  • Crusader Kings II: Sunset Invasion
  • Crusader Kings II: Sword of Islam
  • Deus Vult
  • Europa Universalis III
  • Divine Wind
  • Hearts of Iron II: Armageddon
  • Europa Universalis IV: Art of War
  • Europa Universalis IV: Conquest of Paradise
  • Europa Universalis IV: Wealth of Nations
  • Europa Universalis IV: Call to arms event
  • Hearts of Iron III
  • Heir to the Throne
  • Europa Universalis III Complete
  • Europa Universalis III Complete
  • Europa Universalis IV: Res Publica
  • Victoria: Revolutions
This is my first AAR so any commentary or advice would be appreciated (if not followed). Likewise my knowledge of orthodox religion does not go beyond Google's, and my grasp of Medieval life is somewhat limited, so feel free to point any error that I can correct.

I remember to have read the concept of an AAR told by the player's ennemy somewhere here but I could not find it again, and therefore am unable to give credit to the first proponent of the notion... Anyway I dealt with it from an angle which I think different enough that this is not a simple rip-off.

Technical details :
- Crusader Kings - Deux Vult, 2.1
- Hastings campaign
- Started with Basileios Skleros duke of Vidin
- Limited to twelve rulers, Basileios included
- Normal difficulty

Home rules :
- No more than three king titles simultaneously, the first of which will remain Serbia. If get three titles I cannot create more without relinquishing a previous one ; If I inherit a fourth I will have to discard it in a timely manner.
- No changing any law unless by event

Objectives :
- Ensure that no orthodox ruler remains in charge anywhere.
- Ensure that no orthodox province remains anywhere
- Ensure that no non-catholic province remains anywhere

Table of contents :
Book One : Basileios I 1 2 3 4 5 6
Book Two : Romanos I the Great 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Book Three : Arkadios I the Young 1 2 3 4
Book Four : Zeno I the Ill-fated, the Dispossessed, the Spiteful 1 2 3 4 5 6
Book Five : Manuel I the Scourge of Islam 1 2 3 4 5
Book Six : Arsenios I the Short 1
Book Seven : Mathias I the Fat 1
Book Eight : Bardas I the Cruel 1 2 3 4 5
Book Nine : Ioannes I the Reformer 1


 
Last edited:
Book One : Basileios I

Basileios Skleros was around 30 when the Emperor Konstantinos Dukas named him governor of Vidin. He was a descendant of the most famous and wealthy gens Skleros, who could trace his ancestors to the reign of Michael II. So great was the devotion he had shown from an early age, and so little his experience in the leading of war that Konstantinos had no fear of having him for vassal. Indeed Konstantinos, rightful sovereign over the empire of Byzantium, and a great judge of characters, was quoted to say of him by : " Basil, as a man similar to lambs and small dogs, is a vassal to be trusted, for his gentle nature allows him no courage nor rebelliousness ; and I trust that he will remain my fidel servant, and a dedicated servant of the true Faith as well." In which he was actually mistaken.

001.jpg


The land Konstantinos had deemed him fit to administer, on the recommandation of many a wise councilor among whom the famous , was one of the poorest and least civilized of the whole Empire, bordering the Danube beyond which dwelt coarse and barbaric tribes, never touched by the spirit of christianity. And his demesne itself had no real wealth to speak of. Basil dedicated some effort to improve this state of affairs, and even spent the whole dowry brought by his lady wife and more money from his own coffers besides to have forestries built. Yet his efforts were quite vain, and the land did not grow much richer from his administration.

Looking for a bride which would allow him to be better liked by his slavic subjects he espoused a woman named Efrosina, who was related to the first magistrate of Ragusa. From then on, although in his youth he had professed an undying faith in orthodoxy, he started under the influence of his wife to lean ostensibly toward catholicism. Although he maintained the public demeanor of an orthodox, many subjects saw him prone to embrace the catholic faith. The signs from which they saw that was that he was less than zealous in answering the calls of his liege ; that he neglected the Church and shunned its offices ; that he expressed contempts for saints and spoke lightly of religious matters ; that he refused the presence of churchmen in his court ; that he later allowed and favored usury under his rule ; and that, on the council of his wife (for he let much of state matters into her hands, so great was the trust he had in her) he befriended Michael duke of Dioclea, an outspoken catholic. All of which was interpreted as signs that he was leaning toward catholicism, which would indeed prove true later.
002.jpg
 
Last edited:
A year having passed since his taking possession of Vidin, and nothing of note having meanwhile happened, Konstantinos emperor of Byzantion passed away and was replaced by his son Michael. Wether he still harboured more loyalty toward his rightful sovereign that toward his influential wife, who was with child at the time, or actually feared him even more than her in the meekness of his temperament, he duly paid homage to his new liege. Yet despite the growing menace of muslims in the East, he never answered to the Emperor's pressant call for troops. And in his hall the king of Byzantium was largely a subject of jokes.

A few days later Efrosina died, and the son she was bearing only hours after her. Malicious orthodox priests, on this occasion, spread the tale that this calamity was all his fault for having dealt with heretic catholics and distancing himself from the flock of righteous orthodox. And that the death of his firstborn was divine punishment for that misconduct.

But he paid no heed to such talks, and actually took another catholic spouse, who would prove to have an even greater influence on him. She was Beloslava Dukasin, an ambitious and devout woman who had been lady-in-waiting in the court of his late wife's cousin, Michael. No sooner had he married her than, in front of all her husband's barons gathered for the wedding, that Michael had had Efrosina poisoned and her infant son with her, for fear that he would inherit Ragusa in place of his own bastards. Such claim was regarded with much suspicion by the rest of the nobility, and Basil's allegations were spoken of contemptuously from the halls of Byzantion to the northern castles of the Kings of Hungary and Croatia.

But the Duke of Vidin would not let the matter to rest and swore revenge for this murder. He summoned his own levies and that of his vassal the count of Naissus and, without waiting for help from his friend Michael duke of Dioclea, marched on Ragusa which he besieged in the first days of February, having routed its severely outnumbered host. On the first days of the siege the count Michael fell from one of the battlements. After what a priest of ill repute named Boris Dukasin, who was a cousin of Efrosina, assumed command of the garnison, which he surrendered to Basil after a few months of siege, on the promise that the city was to not to be sacked, and that he would keep the lordship of Ragusa on behalf of his in-law.

Basil, either because he lacked skills in the conduct of such an enterprise as a siege or because he somehow knew this eventual surrender certain, had not show much diligence in submitting the besieged city. Actually, if rumors are to be believed, he had spent much of the duration of the siege hunting boars through the countryside with his faithful vassal Stepjan Nemajic, the count of Naissus and his friend's young son the count Petrislav, leaving in command of his troops some trustful barons and mercenary captains.

003.jpg


Meanwhile a son was born to him of Beloslava, whom he named Romanos. To the utmost displeasure of the local clergy, at the end of 1069, Basil announced that decided to entrust his education to croatian monks of the catholic faith. The rumors this sparked of Basil's uncertain allegiance were even more fueled when in the spring of 1070 he pledged fealty to Petar, the king of Croatia.

004.jpg


Whatever were the Byzantine emperor's opinion at this change of allegiance, the war against muslims, every day more desperate, did no allow him to take the timely measures necessary to repress it. Basil, now third in power in the kingdom of Croatia after the king himself and his crown prince, was theretofore to enjoy much more free reign than as a insignifiant pawn of the Eastern Empire, where he was regarded as a little more than an upjump courtier blessed with some fortuitous success, always at the mercy of an revocation. Enjoying his new freedom, he turned his eyes beyond the Danube, where the pagans under the command of their high chief Kabuksin had left their towns and villages largely undefended, their best warrior having left to succor their bethrens of Kasogs, threatened by the orthodox principalty of Alania. His army, however, had been largely depleted by his campaign against Ragusa. And therefore he deemed more appropriate to wait at least a year before any military enterprise. A year passed so, blessed by the birth of an other son, Theophylaktos ; meanwhile the duchy came to enjoy some prosperity, most of which was due to Basil's master of coin Petros Serblias.

005.jpg
 
Last edited:
Welcome to AAR-writing. At first my only advice is this: to have fun. :)

Good first post.
 
Good luck with your first AAR

I like the 'rules' you have set yourself, though why 'just 12 rulers' ?


One small advice, break your text into paragraphs, that makes it easier to read.
 
Stynlan : Thank you for the advice, I have already started to hee it.

Veldmaarschalk : Thank you for commenting. My paragraphs seem indeed more "bulky" on the board than they looked in Word.
I chose 12 rulers because both the fictional book constituting this AAR is a take on "Life of the Cesars" by Suetonius.

Anyhow, time for some mischief :

In may 1671 Basil's patience proved fruitful, as the kingdom of Hungary declared war on the Danubian clans. Attacking from the south while King Salamon 1st attacked from the North, he seized the provinces of Severin and Turnu, putting pagan priests to the sword and sacred woods to the torch, despite the numerous warning of his liege not to go any further.

His continual disobedience to such orders made him considerably despicable in the eyes of his fellow lords, and the war emptied the Duchy's coffer, yet by its end, Basil's wealth and power rivaled with that of the King himself.

The following years were quite uneventful. Basil, now a man of wealth and power, took great expenses to ensure his court was always filled with singers, poets and guests. He enjoyed feasting and hunting. He let usurers and thieves prosper in his lands. He insulted publicly the Bishop of Ochrid, a man of saintly renown. he crushed several rebellions in blood and he let his wife Beloslava took into her hands most of the daily business of ruling his lands.

He forbid, under death penalty, anybody to sing songs where he was mocked for his greed and drunkenness. And he convinced his friend and ally the duke of Dioclea to pledge allegiance, as he had, to the king of Croatia.
 
On 1077 the pope called all catholics to take the cross and embark on a holy crusade to take Jerusalem from the hands of Muslims, but few rulers answered his call. And when in 1080 Petar king of Croatia ordered a grand mobilization in order to wage war in Syria in preparation for an assault on Jerusalem, Basil did not answer his call, pretending despite his catholic penchants that he was orthodox and therefore did not have to obey the Papacy.

And as Boris, duke of Croatia and a very wealthy man, called him a craven for that and not having taken part in a tourney a few months later, he yelled at him in a fit of rage that he would take his land and see him thrown in the darkest cell under the castle of Vidin, which only the personal intercession of the king delayed. But in November 1082, as Petar and Boris were fighting a particularly fierce rebellion in the Northern province of Slavonia, his troops stormed Boris' castle of Zachlumia and put all the garrison to the sword, keeping only Boris' wife and children as hostages.


006.jpg


This act, performed out of mere spite, seemed so odious that even his friend the Duke of Dioclea and Rashka, who had until remained carefully neutral in his two fellow lords' quarrel, took Boris' side and declared that he would take Boris' castle back even or die at the foot of his walls.


007.jpg


Yet in his mysterious ways our Lord Almighty decided that he would do neither, and he died of exhaustion after too long a ride. His son Marko was unwilling to press the matter any further, and Basileios felt that his good fortune may not last.

Therefore he gave Boris back his castle and family, keeping only the ducal crown of Crotia, essentially an empty title since Boris kept his demesne, but who gave him nominal sovereignty over the count of Veglia, a shrewd and quarrelsome lordling nevertheless held in high esteem by the Pope himself for the public signs of devotion he manifested, an tried to bend the knee to Petar, who proved more untractable than he had thought ; he forced Basileios to relinquish the duchy of Croatia, to kiss his foot and to beg his forgiveness in front of the court.

Few in the following years would forget this public humiliation. Yet Basileios retained fealty over the county of Veglia ; and soon, on some pretext, he chased the count and took possession of his estate. The same year he eventually joined his troops to that of king Petar and together they managed to put down the slavonian rebellion. In this expedition Basileios' forces and his vassals' considerably outnumbered that of the king's. And Petar progressively became all too painfully aware that the ambitious duke was a force to be reckoned with.


008.jpg

 
Last edited:
Another useful expansion.
 
A year passed, and the situation in Croatia took an unexpected turn. The rebellion that had now been raging for several years now was only fueled by the sudden excommunication of king Petar. Nobles high and low took arms and challenged his right to rule. It is surprising, in retrospect, that with him being so powerful and the throne so uncertain, that very few thought Basileios a plausible candidate to it.

Maybe this had to do with the universal despise he was held into, which prevented to lay any serious claim on the titles mere strength of arms might have given him.


009.jpg


Or maybe it stemmed from his awkward religious position. For all his departures from the faith he had been raised in, Basileios still had to openly embrass the Roman religion. Yet he kept hesitating and delaying the time of his public conversion. And ever vain were the exhortations of his wife, his son and Bogoris Frangepan on this subject. The latter was that count of Veglia Basileios had stripped of his lands, and he had entered queen Beloslava's service, helping her to influence her husband, with the hope that, were he to beak the king's reluctance, he might be awarded his fief again, if not for himself, at least for one of his sons. For he considered that a king who would abide the will of a woman in religious matter could even more easily be swayed by the same channel in political matter. And he relentlessly assured his liege that he knew from certain sources that his denuncing the lies and heretical fallacies of the Eastern Church was just what the Pope was waiting for to give him personnaly the crown of Croatia.


010.jpg


 
Last edited:


Or maybe the hour was just not ripe, and he felt unprepared for the Crown. Meek and indecisive, Basileios did not have the daring nature of a Julius Caesar, nor the inspiration which made the latter cast a dice without hesitation and embrace a glorious if perillous fate. He would not cross the Drina as the descendant of Aeneas had crossed the Rubicon, and considered instead that, however questionable his current king's deeds and character, losing his protection would put him at the mercy of his former sovereign, the Emperor of Byzantion.

Yet his death, in the first day of the new year offers some similarity with that of the famous imperator, although it was the aggravating malfunction of his bowels, and not some traitors' daggers who ended his reign. As Julius Caesar had before him, Basileios Skleros died on the verge of obtaining supreme power, never wearing a crown for himself but establishing a regal dynasty. Like him he had subjugated savage people and conquered vast lands. Like him he had fought a civil war and emerged victorious. Like him he had fought a relative by marriage and a very mealthy man, after entertaining with both friendly relations. And like him he took some political measures as he was inspirated by the charms and guile of a woman he loved.


012.jpg


Ruben of Karin, whom the Orthodox knew as Saint Ruben, gave in his lost work On the Death of illustrious rulers an account of Basileios' last moments who may provide yet an other similitude between their two fates : As he lied on his bed, his stomach torn apart by irremittible pain, the Duke said that as he faced death he regretted his many faults and wrongs against God. And that in his pride and blindness he had betrayed the true Faith. His son, who was at his side, replied that he surely meant the betrayal of the Word of God and the fallacies of the Orthodox Church, in which he had partaken in his youth. But that now that he had abjured and reneged such schismatic ideas, he was certain to be forgiven for his sins and to spend the eternity in Heaven. And Basileios, hearing that, give him this blessing as his last words :

"You too, my son."


011.jpg


He died a few moments later and was buried in the church of Vidin which was built under his rule.

 
Last edited:


Book II : Romanos I the Great

Romanos was born during the year 1068. As a young boy he befriended Radoslav, the son of Stepjan Nemanjic, whom the latter had sent to his father's court so that he be instructed in the catholic religion. In 1079 he was sent as a fosterling to the city-state of Ragusa, where Boris of Dukasin had been replaced by a distant relative of the late magistrate Michael, named Vojnomir. Such eloquence and majesty he expressed there that, on his host's death by old age, the townfolks of Ragusa, depiste him being no more than twelve year old, chose him to rule them over Vojnomir's sickly child and all other pretenders, on the condition that he would promise to convert to the catholic faith, which he did on his coming of age.


013.jpg


As a young man he was rather avert to songs, feasts and jokes, preferring study and prayer to the lavish dissipations to which his wife Nest was accustomed, and by which she shocked the goodfolks of Ragusa. She was the daughter of a Welsk duke, prestigious but impoverished, and her lack of manners, her crabbed tastes and scandalous appetites quicly earned quickly averted her both her husband and his people, but such was his disdain for lowly schemes and plots that he let much of them in her hands, as his father before him had done with his own lady wife.


015.jpg


In the first months of his reign he actually refrained from any involvement in the politics of the realm and remained loyal to the aging king Petar despite his excommunication. But he was soon to show a brilliant mind and the qualities that befits a great ruler and the real maker of a great empire. An august contenance, an air of supreme majesty, a wise but courageous temperament and an excellence in all affairs of State easily distinguished him easily from his liege.


014.jpg



 
Last edited:
But what was especially remarkable in him was his deep and fervent catholic faith. While his father, educated in Byzantion by great scholars and patriarchs of great renown, had always been reticent to fully embrace the roman cult, never did Romanos show nor allow the slightest doubt about his beliefs. And above all other matters he always put the zealous defense of Catholicism ; which would prove to be a well-advised and successful stance, for often this defense coincidated with his own interest.

017.jpg

016.jpg


The first manifestation of this pious attitude came in the Fall of 1085, at the return of a tour of his Northern provinces, where he had been acclaimed as duke of Wallachia. Riding by night to the estate of his faithful vassal the count of Naissus, he confered with him, and on the morning both of them called their banners to march on Senj and free Serbia from the rule of an excommunicated king. The instant was indeed propice, for at that time Petar was fighting more or less all of his former vassals.

018.jpg


The war started on favorable auspices, since on the very day his wife gave him a daughter, he attacked and vainquished the king's personal host in Split, and although he did not succeed in rallying all the malcontents around his person, with the help of his seasoned marshall Leo Basic, he scoured Petar's domain to such extent that the latter was forced not only to acknowledge his independance, but to cede him the province of Rama and some holdings he owned on the Black Sea shore, which he bestowed on Bogoris Frangepan in replacement of his fief of Veglia. This gift, however, was as much a relegation as a recompense ; Basileios indeed did not like or trust that man whom his mother nevertheless insisted on having recompensed. Neither did he forget the loyal count Stjepan, to which Petar had to cede the cities of Split and Zadar and the lands they commanded.
 
Last edited:
Ahh, the sideways promotion/reward to get a troublesome noble out of the way :)
 
To give Bogoris credit, he survived no less than 6 weeks to the Cuman proto-blog before disappearing in the mists of history with his wife, his kids, his grandchildren and the somewhat ahistorical 11th century croatian holdfast on the Black Sea.

But the biggest spoil this war remained to be conquered : by the Treaty of Senj Petar had also solemnly abandonned to Romanos all the lands of title owned by the rebellious duke of Dioclea ; a condition which allowed him both to placate his triumphant ennemy and to obtain revenge on the duke. Romanos wasted no time in exploiting his new claims and, summoning additional levies, sacked Hum, Rashka and Zeta, which their lord had left poorly garrisoned. In the spring of 1087 his victory was complete. The same year his beloved brother Theophylaktos married Alberanda de Hauteville, a great-niece of the famous Robert Guiscard, and was named master of coin in replacement of the late Petros Serblias, died of wounds he had recieved at the siege of Senj.

019.jpg


In 1088 he had a son an named him Basileios, in memory of his late father, and married his sister Viola to Leo Basic. Lastly, his land having recovered from the war, and less than three years after his father's demise, he proclaimed himself king of Serbia.

In 1090 he attacked and defeated again Croatia, which he annexed and divided among his partisans. His brother Theophylaktos obtained the duchy of Croatia ; his brother-in-law and marshall, Leo, the Duchy and Slavonia ; and the duchy of Dalmatia went to Stepjen count of Naissus. Of the vassals of Petar only Mirko Draskovic, duke of Bosnia, remained. This duke was a famous warrior, who had also conquered some land near Jerusalem ; and Romanos ensured him that he would keep safe these holdings, who provided for Crusaders a safe foothold in the Holy Land.

021.jpg


He spent the next ten years pacifying the country and making it prosper. He held great tournaments and dispensed a hard but fair justice, and had many librairies built throughout the land. But still he longed to go on a Crusade to free Jerusalem ; for almost thirty years now hungarian lords, scottish adventurers, byzantine princes and brave men from all Europe had fought and perished on the dry hills of the Holy Land. But with the city of Beirut rattached to his personal demesne, he felt that one more attempt may just succeed.

022.jpg


To ensure the backing of his nobles he gave them increased rights ; and after one winter building up and marshalling his forces, he set sail from Ragusa, of which he had been governor.
 
Last edited:
At his arrival in Beirut the Holy Land itself was divided in three powers. First, around Beirut, the weakened and small emirate of Tripoli. Then, the emirate of Damas and its tributory emirate of Jerusalem itself. Beyond them the vaste Seljuk empire spanned from the legendary India to the gates of Byzantium.

023.jpg


Crushing Tripoli alone was no easy task ; the cost in men and gold proved dreary ; and Basileios' bastard brother Nikolaos, a dim and gloomy man whom he had named his commander-in-second, stated he doubted that they could even face one of the two powerful emirates of Jerusalem and Damas. And who doubted that whichever realm he was to attack would immediately call the other to its help ? But Romanos pointed that this strength was the very reason they had to attack ; for if they were to withdraw their troops and reinforce them in Serbia, as the marshall urged him to do, then the combined forces of the two emirates would promptly size what he had so painfully liberated.

Besides good news came from Europe. The King of Danemark and the Grandmaster of the Teutonic order had taken the cross and, with a mighty army, were marching on Damascus. Furthermore, the Order of St John willingly came to the help of such a pious ruler as Romanos. In exchange for their backup in the wars to come he gave them Baalbek and the surrounding lands. The king spent the following year pacifying his new lands, converting heathen his faith and reinforcing his armies with local auxiliaries. He also sent his brother Theophylaktos back in in duchy of Croatia to gather fresh troops.

In september 1100 he attacked the emirate of Jerusalem, took Tiberias and Jerusalem. With a great political sense he refrained from further conquest and accepted the submission of the mir of Jerusalam, on the condition that he would fight at his side the emirate of Damascus, who had already seized most of the land around Beirut and deafeated the king's biggest armies. Leaving Theophylaktos in charge he rushed to his serbian demsnes in order to gather reinforcements.

024.jpg


Theophylaktos proved worthy of his brother's trust. With vastly inferior forces he managed to took Jaffa and defend Jerusalem, bringing the enemy advande to a stop. He strenghten the loyalty of the sheiks by the example of his own virtues and even took upon himself to replace the disgraced Nikolaos by a muslim named Alam Malik, a warrior of great prowess whose knowledge of the land regularly helped him. Finally, avoiding direct conflict with the emirate, he crossed the Jordan and subjugated several of his vassals. Finally he stormed Palmyra and Damas with no more than 4000 veterans just as Romanos arrived in Acre with he force 15 000 strong, which easily defeated the emir's personal army. Against such odds Zajir Yusif had to sign an humiliating peace. By the end of 1101 Romanos' victory was total.

025.jpg

 
Last edited:
Nice victory in the Holy Land.
 
Long time no update, I know... First the situation has taken such a weird and delicate turn that I did not want to upgrade the AAR knowing that I might have to restart from a previous save. And then real life caught up with me pretty bad.

But there are few situations, CK- or real-life-wise, that a man as bright as I cannot handle. :rolleyes: . Problems solved.

Anyway....


Although distant and callous Romanos proved generous in victory. He granted his different lords important tracts of land. He confirmed Alam's appointment and married him to his own daughter Anna, with the promise that their eldest son would be granted a duchy of his own. To his brother, finally, he abandonned the crown of Croatia ; he also confided him his serbian lands, to rule in his name until such time as having definitely settled all matters in Palestine, he could come back to claim them.

026.jpg


The next years were spent improving the sorry state of affairs in his new lands. He took advantage of squabbles among muslims to annex part of the Sinai, where he founded a monastery and granted a small tract of land to his half-brother Nikolaos, despite his many failures in his service. He moved his capital to Damascus, then to Palmyra and offered land to the Templars.

In the year 1104 his daughter Anna denonciated her husband Alam as being in league with the califate of Egypt, and planning to betray the king. On no further proof, and despite his faithful Alam's protest he had him burnt at the stake. Such a pious act earned him the favor of the Pope, but left him without any capable military commander. It is true, however, than a few months later the kingdom of Egypt was to attack Serbia, whose absence of marshall and small armies had made a tempting target.

027.jpg


With the help of Templars and Hospitaliers Romanos crossed the Jordan and sacked many cities, but failed twice to invade Egypt itself. Eventually a compromise was reached by which Egypt would lose almost all its possessions beyond the Jordan but retain the whole Sinai.

028.jpg


No sooner was this war over however that grievious news came from Europe. The Byzantine Empire, hard-pressed on the East by the Seljuks, had gone to war with his brother Thephylaktos over some frontier incident. Little could Romanos conceive of abandonning the childhood companion who had so faithfully fought on his side, and although he could only muster a few thousand men, he declare in turn war on child-Emperor Leo Paleologus. During the following campaign he managed to seize many islands and havens from the greek part of the Empire. However the war costed him his second and prefered son, Michael, a man of great intelligence who had proved his worth against the egyptians at the battle of Palmyra.


029.jpg
 
Last edited: