Paris ne vaut pas une messe! - A Huguenot IN AAR

[Enewald]

Hehe, lucky bastard!
Shall he live as long os Luis XIV?
France would own Europe officially if he rules enough long.

[Lord Strange]

I wish i got kings like that. I once had a series of 5/4/3, then a 3/3/3 then a 6/6/6. A dreadful line of monarchs.

[Grubnessul]

o.O awesome new kick!

[Throne]

@ Throne: Who then?

Probably just France.

[asd21593]

Your maps never cease to amaze me!

Wonderful update!



asd

[naggy]

Your save game is reading your AAR. It was a secret upgrade in IN.

[Robmel]

A truly inspiring AAR, great reading.

[Irenicus]

A player French king blessed by God...

This is ridiculous...in a good way! Mind, I was a little anxious as to where you'll take France in the epic 17th century without Cardinals Richelieu, Mazarin, and the very long reign of Louis XIV to liven up the epoch. But it looks like France is in good hands and interesting times ahead for the rest of Europe with a French monarch worth his salt on the throne.

I'm a little sad to see Spain fall so low. I thought they'd put up a little more fight with the massive HRE manpower behind them. Instead, with Spain's failure and Austria deprived of the Imperial Army, the Catholic cause seems doomed.

In any case, Vive le Roi! I hope Nicolas Henri actually lives a full life rather than the ridiculous EUIII's seven years reigns and three years generalship careers. It really puts a damper on things if you have to write out every good monarch's short reign with a "he fell from a horse," "it was the pox," "an assassin (again!?)," "a nosebleed killed the king," and "God just hates good monarchs."

[Milites]

@ Enewald: I sure hope that he'll live as long as dear Louis.

@ Lord Strange: I think we all experience such times every one in a while. It sucks big time.

@ mandead: Thanks again mandead! Barcelona was worth 46 % WS (46!!) and as I had 78 % it was a bit hard to press that claim. Even though the offer I gave them was worth 86 %. Never the less it definitely is on my list of provinces needed.

@ Grubnessul: Kick? Nicolas Henri of France doesn't deal in drugs

@ Throne: Time for a switch in player nations?
Boy didn't that sound awkward.

@ naggy: *splits computer apart* Where are you, where!? At least that would explain the number of views..

@ Robmel: Thanks!

@ mandead2: I'm confused, you mean an alternate history of England not converting to protestantism and then an alternative story about what would have happened had England not converted to Catholicism?




@ Irenicus: They had it coming those Spanish cowards. I was also extremely surprised when I rushed Spain and met no opposition. I had created a new army of 20,000 men just to be on the safe side when taking Iberia, and then they all just flee over the sea to America..

[Grubnessul]

Of course, I meant King >.<

[Winner]

[Writer's note] You can't even believe my excitement when the game handed me a kickass monarch with a name I easely could incorporate into the story. Sometimes I wonder if this game is just a game..

It helps when the game cooperates with the writer Great update, so, a new era of absolutism?

[Deamon]

Just read this in one go and I really liked it! Your maps are awesome, Your graphics are Awesome, And your writing is great! So you can certainly considerme suscribed!

[Milites]

Miltes, son of God, if you change '4 #_CDEF_MONARCH_DEATH_' in defines.txt, you can make your monarchs live longer.

Ooh, I got to look into that. Thanks!

Also, did you inherit Burgundy or something along those lines? And why isn't France blood red yet?

Of course, I meant King >.<

It helps when the game cooperates with the writer Great update, so, a new era of absolutism?

And a golden one, hopefully.

Just read this in one go and I really liked it! Your maps are awesome, Your graphics are Awesome, And your writing is great! So you can certainly considerme suscribed!

Thank you very much

[Milites]

How on earth could you vassalize Burgundy!?

Promises of classless equality?

[Rastar]

Very nice peace deal. Should take Spain a very long time to recover from the beating you gave them.

[Milites]

Nah, I vassalised them pretty early on, then they inherited both Lorraine & Holland and went on the usual conquest spree. Pretty lucky, really, though less so with Naples, which is now split between the excommunicated king of Naples and two armies of Sicilian nationalists, who have already taken Sicily and Aprulia.

That's great

Very nice peace deal. Should take Spain a very long time to recover from the beating you gave them.

With a RR of 5,5 in their Iberian core provinces I sure hope so. Means more time for me to take on Austria.

[Milites]

Chapter XXXI – King Nicolas


The Pyrenees are no more.

- Nicolas I Henri on the concluded war against Habsburg Spain.


***
The Honour of the Estates
***

With the treaty of Valladolid and the following resignation of the marshals, Nicolas hastened back to Paris. Europe in the second half of the 17th century was a continent vastly more inhospitable to travellers than it is today and as such a trip from the Ebro to Calais could take more than a week by horse. Having been away from court for so long had undoubtedly worried the young king greatly as it would leave him open for potential plots and hostile scheming. Thus the sooner Nicolas could be in Paris the better he would be off.

After a stressful tour de force, the king arrived in Paris no less than a fortnight after the ink had dried on the peace treaties with Spain. Alongside his Conceil des Affaires [1] Nicolas entered the capital without much ado and immediately went on to issue a proclamation that stated that the three estates of the realm were to assemble in Paris within a month in order for them to acknowledge him as their sovereign. The estates of the gentry, ministers and peasantry all duly did send their representatives to the royal court and after a day’s worth of bowing and thanking, Nicolas found himself safely on the French throne.

Allegorical painting in neo-classical style from the 19th century depicting the oath of loyalty of the French estates as a troika of ancient Roman legionaries. The representative of the noble gentry can be identified as the man standing closest to the viewer. In his hand he wields a spear (as a symbol of power and superiority). In the middle stands the second estate (that of the ministers and Huguenot preachers) as a fitting image of the religion that provided the bond tying gentry and peasantry together. The last of the soldiers stands partially in shadow reflecting the obscurity of the lower classes and their roles both as necessary pillars of society and expendable pawns. Nicolas Henri is shown wearing a laurel crown (symbolizes royalty and imperial power) and red and blue garments (colours of bravery, divinity – as in a divine blessing – and nobility). In his left hand he holds the swords (symbol of authority) of the estates as a symbol of their submission and his acceptance of their recognition. Although Nicolas Henri only was in his early twenties at the time of the historical event, he is painted as an old and wise ruler, the father of the nation.

***
The Foreign Puzzle
***


Following his successful ascension in Paris, Nicolas began together with Rohan to forge the international prestige won through the militant feats into useful propaganda for use in foreign affairs. First and foremost a message had to be sent to Austria as a warning that future Habsburg provocations would be met with the same complete wrath that Spain had experienced. The best way to do this, Nicolas thought, would be to push the Huguenot bloc across the Rhine and into the very Holy Roman Empire itself. To understand this decision one has to understand the importance of the Rhine to the French people. The river had been the natural border between the Catholic-dominated Empire and Protestant France for many years, but the princes of the Rhine had practiced their Calvinist and Lutheran faiths ever since the reformation. As such, there was a linguistic barrier in the river’s waters, but a bridge could quite possible be found in the religious doctrines. It was known far and wide that the Habsburg Emperors disliked the open practice of the reformed faiths and as such, to extend friendship and protection to the protestant princes of the Rhine would be the equivalent to planting the fleur-de-lis banner in the Catholic backyard. A better gesture couldn’t have been found and the diplomats of France immediately began their work on the international opinion.

Diplomatic progress under Nicolas I Henri

The French envoys soon discovered that the key to opening the door to the Rhine would be the principality of Alsace. After a series of conferences between the prince’s envoys and Rohan (who had been made first minister for foreign affairs) where the French showed indisputable proof that many of the by Alsace controlled fortresses on the Rhine actually belonged to France, the prince finally relinquished control of his military and internal powers to the French governor of Lorraine. The vassalisation of Alsace showed the prince of Baden that the new French monarch deeply cared for the cause of the German reformation and as such, he gladly accepted a French proposal for cooperation and friendship.

All the protestant states of the Rhineland were offered protection by the French court and none rejected it[2]. Switzerland, the Palatinate of the Rhine and Trier all fell into the Huguenot web of alliances and clientele. Even the Venetian Republic who had held on to the reformed faith pressed on them by Sully asked for French protection against possible assaults from both the Muslim Turks and the Catholic Italian states. Besides strengthening the French position within the Empire, the aggressive foreign policy also greatly undermined the Emperor’s authority. In some cases to such a degree that minor states backed by France coerced other minor principalities supported by Austria into submission before their cases had even been brought before the Imperial Court.







[1]See Chapter X
[2]Issues of guarantee

[Qorten]

Another great installment Milties! Your explanation for the famous painting in your timeline is quite ingenious and obviously well thought over. Also great graphics on diplomacy.

[balkanite]

Another good update. I liked the "Diplomatic progress under Nicolas I Henri".
<>*closing*

[phargle]

I find great delight in your maps and in those grim Protestant jerks. France seems unstoppable in its conflict with the Holy Church. . . I saw awhile back you stamped out Catholicism in the center and west of France. How is the east?