Homelands: Tales of the Anglo-Prussians
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Good luck in creating the UKGBIP!
(United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland and Prussia)
I am not sure, Ireland seems on the verge of uniting anyways, and it will be the first time I've ever seen the AI form Ireland.
I am also an American who speaks German/Swabian.Yikes, I speak American English natively and a fair bit of German but I have no idea what any of those words are, except for bist.
Excellent update! I had to read the last paragraph twice, I thought at first that it was Morcar who was squirming.
"Hwæt!" Is the first word of Beowulf, it means "Pay Attention" like the German "Achtung!"
"Hú bist þé?" or "Hú bist þee?" means "How are you?" pronounced: "How bist thee?"
I have no idea, normally I would try to make a "Once you go Saxon" pun, but I am not really into that kinda stuff.
"Once you go Saxon, you never go back, son!".
Yes, yes, I should be pun-ished. Nice update. One thing that struck me as odd - Morcar was demoted from earl to count? Isn't that like being demoted from Marquis to Margrave, i.e. the titles are exact equivalents? Or have the Anglo-Prussians changed their titles of nobility? Under whose influence? Polish?
"Once you go Saxon, you never go back, son!".
Yes, yes, I should be pun-ished. Nice update. One thing that struck me as odd - Morcar was demoted from earl to count? Isn't that like being demoted from Marquis to Margrave, i.e. the titles are exact equivalents? Or have the Anglo-Prussians changed their titles of nobility? Under whose influence? Polish?
Eh, Morcar was a duke to begin with (of Northumbria) so I had been slightly confused because now he was a count (in game terms). Nothing to be too concerned with, I believe.
Regardless, rose are roses.
oI have a bit of homework for the week... but I might be able to get one or two updates out tomorrow. Cheers!
Nothing too bad, it's CK's fault in truth for not properly representing anything more than the strict basics of a very complicated system. All Saxon titles should really be Earl, it was the equivalent of both the continental count and Duke.
Homelands
Chapter Two: Prussia Rising
Part 1
Prelude:
In 1074 Marienscír was ruled by Aethelweard Leofricson, son of Morcar Leofricson. Aethelweard was a young boy, only five years of age at the time, so he could not effectively rule the small Saxon enclave. Instead his lands were administered by Aethelstan, Morcar’s trusted friend and general. Marienscír was caught between three powerful Christian nations and several pagan tribes. Within Marienscír itself tensions were growing between the different tribal backgrounds. Prussians, most of home had allied with the Saxons were always looking to extend their power over the Letts in Memelscír. At the same time, conversion of Prussians and Letts was very slow. The Saxons themselves were not as stoutly catholic as the Germans or Italians. Instead they mixed traditional Saxon pagan celebration and culture with Catholic religion. Prussians and Letts saw this half-hearted acceptance of Christianity and widely ignored it as well.
The Baltic Region with the names of the main tribes surrounding Marienscír in Saxon.
April 3rd, 1074
It had been almost a year since the death of Morcar. The Saxons and the Prussians where building a shrine to the Earls of Marienscír. The elaborate building, built mostly underground, would house statues of the likeness of the Earls who had lead the nation. Each statue would be lying down as if on a funeral pyre and beneath them in a small urn sealed away would be their ashes and any remaining armor they had worn on the pyre. Until then, Morcar’s ashes and armor were kept in the royal long house, built from Morcar’s ship. Marienscír itself, as a city and a port had grown slightly. Saxon immigrants brought in by the Saxon’s defeat in England as well as Prussians and Letts drawn by trade and stability. The three cultures, for the most part, functioned in sync with one another. Saxons made up the nobility, Prussians the army and farmers, and Letts the traders and merchants.
Aethelstan worried that his army was becoming too foreign as well as the nation too segregated. If Prussians became unhappy the army would mutiny almost as a whole, if the Saxons became unhappy the nobility would cease to support Aethelweard and a civil war would ensue, if the Letts became unhappy they would likely leave or even poison the goods coming into Marienscír.
“Alfred, you have helped me in the past, and I need your wise council again. I am worried that our lands are too segregated. Tensions are only building and the people quarrel over business and livelihood. Surely no man is born into slavery?”
“Aethelstan, you were born a poor child in Jorvik. Your parents were farmers who rejoiced when you went off in the army to make something of yourself and your family. You understand poverty unlike many Saxons in the court.”
“But can it be done?”
“Yes, I assume it can. The Etruscans were united with the Romans, the Bavarians with the Swabians. But I will warn you. If the people start intermingling, the Saxon culture will die in time.”
“Die?”
“Yes, in England it survived because there were so many of us. Here we are but 3,000 men and women. There are tens of thousands of pagans. Soon our bloodlines will mix with theirs and soon all will be one.”
Aethelstan reflected on this. His duty was to all Saxons alive, dead or those in the future. Or was his duty to the people of the small earldom regardless of their origin?
“I don’t want to throw everything out of sync, but we cannot keep Prussians and Letts in the same walks of life for all eternity!”
Aethelstan passed what he called the “Act of Freemen” which laid down that Letts and Prussians were not forced to be either farmers or soldiers. He also extended freedom to all Saxons who arrived in Marienscír as well as knightly titles to high-ranking Saxons who arrived and Prussian and Lettish chiefs who converted their people to Christianity. These knights were then given small fiefs to farm and rule as members of the nobility.
“Aethelstan, you give power to lesser peoples! What will become of us? Yesterday I even had a Prussian ‘knight’ asking for my daughter’s hand in marriage!”
“Nobles, calm yourselves. I have seen the tides. We cannot possibly survive without these people as our allies! And they will never truly be our allies if they do not believe we trust and respect them!”
Saxon nobles, unhappy with the state of Marienscír, moved around founding small baronets to rule or leaving all together to return to England or to Denmark. Aethelstan had feared an uprising but instead saw some 500 Saxon nobles leave Marienscír, effectively ending any chance for Saxon to survive for more than a hundred or so years. But the Earldom seemed to be headed toward stability for the first time since it was founded.
Chapter Two: Prussia Rising
Part 1
Prelude:
In 1074 Marienscír was ruled by Aethelweard Leofricson, son of Morcar Leofricson. Aethelweard was a young boy, only five years of age at the time, so he could not effectively rule the small Saxon enclave. Instead his lands were administered by Aethelstan, Morcar’s trusted friend and general. Marienscír was caught between three powerful Christian nations and several pagan tribes. Within Marienscír itself tensions were growing between the different tribal backgrounds. Prussians, most of home had allied with the Saxons were always looking to extend their power over the Letts in Memelscír. At the same time, conversion of Prussians and Letts was very slow. The Saxons themselves were not as stoutly catholic as the Germans or Italians. Instead they mixed traditional Saxon pagan celebration and culture with Catholic religion. Prussians and Letts saw this half-hearted acceptance of Christianity and widely ignored it as well.
The Baltic Region with the names of the main tribes surrounding Marienscír in Saxon.
April 3rd, 1074
It had been almost a year since the death of Morcar. The Saxons and the Prussians where building a shrine to the Earls of Marienscír. The elaborate building, built mostly underground, would house statues of the likeness of the Earls who had lead the nation. Each statue would be lying down as if on a funeral pyre and beneath them in a small urn sealed away would be their ashes and any remaining armor they had worn on the pyre. Until then, Morcar’s ashes and armor were kept in the royal long house, built from Morcar’s ship. Marienscír itself, as a city and a port had grown slightly. Saxon immigrants brought in by the Saxon’s defeat in England as well as Prussians and Letts drawn by trade and stability. The three cultures, for the most part, functioned in sync with one another. Saxons made up the nobility, Prussians the army and farmers, and Letts the traders and merchants.
Aethelstan worried that his army was becoming too foreign as well as the nation too segregated. If Prussians became unhappy the army would mutiny almost as a whole, if the Saxons became unhappy the nobility would cease to support Aethelweard and a civil war would ensue, if the Letts became unhappy they would likely leave or even poison the goods coming into Marienscír.
“Alfred, you have helped me in the past, and I need your wise council again. I am worried that our lands are too segregated. Tensions are only building and the people quarrel over business and livelihood. Surely no man is born into slavery?”
“Aethelstan, you were born a poor child in Jorvik. Your parents were farmers who rejoiced when you went off in the army to make something of yourself and your family. You understand poverty unlike many Saxons in the court.”
“But can it be done?”
“Yes, I assume it can. The Etruscans were united with the Romans, the Bavarians with the Swabians. But I will warn you. If the people start intermingling, the Saxon culture will die in time.”
“Die?”
“Yes, in England it survived because there were so many of us. Here we are but 3,000 men and women. There are tens of thousands of pagans. Soon our bloodlines will mix with theirs and soon all will be one.”
Aethelstan reflected on this. His duty was to all Saxons alive, dead or those in the future. Or was his duty to the people of the small earldom regardless of their origin?
“I don’t want to throw everything out of sync, but we cannot keep Prussians and Letts in the same walks of life for all eternity!”
Aethelstan passed what he called the “Act of Freemen” which laid down that Letts and Prussians were not forced to be either farmers or soldiers. He also extended freedom to all Saxons who arrived in Marienscír as well as knightly titles to high-ranking Saxons who arrived and Prussian and Lettish chiefs who converted their people to Christianity. These knights were then given small fiefs to farm and rule as members of the nobility.
“Aethelstan, you give power to lesser peoples! What will become of us? Yesterday I even had a Prussian ‘knight’ asking for my daughter’s hand in marriage!”
“Nobles, calm yourselves. I have seen the tides. We cannot possibly survive without these people as our allies! And they will never truly be our allies if they do not believe we trust and respect them!”
Saxon nobles, unhappy with the state of Marienscír, moved around founding small baronets to rule or leaving all together to return to England or to Denmark. Aethelstan had feared an uprising but instead saw some 500 Saxon nobles leave Marienscír, effectively ending any chance for Saxon to survive for more than a hundred or so years. But the Earldom seemed to be headed toward stability for the first time since it was founded.
Maybe you shall mod a new culture into the game called saxobaltic?
The cultures must merge sooner or later.
The cultures must merge sooner or later.
Maybe you shall mod a new culture into the game called saxobaltic?
The cultures must merge sooner or later.
Not to ruin too much but I and my girlfriend are working on Anglo-Lettish so that I can do a post in with at least the speaking parts in the new language.
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So the name is anglolettic?
Not saxobaltic?
Saxoprussian?
Angloprussian?
lettosaxon?
east-saxon?
Not saxobaltic?
Saxoprussian?
Angloprussian?
lettosaxon?
east-saxon?
Anglo-Lettosaxbaltoprusson! Also, awesome idea with the language mix. I remember an AAR based on a Saxon England that had lovely bits of language development thrown in (Shakespeare in Anglo-Saxon verse!). It'll add color, certainly.
Also, awesome idea with the language mix. I remember an AAR based on a Saxon England that had lovely bits of language development thrown in (Shakespeare in Anglo-Saxon verse!). It'll add color, certainly.
Anglo-Lettosaxbaltoprusson!
That was Judas Maccabeus's England AAR for EU2 I believe (can't remember the exact name), but yes, Anglo-Lettish sounds good!
Anglo-Lettish? For what reason is Lettish more important that Prussian? I think that Prussian would be gradually adopted with a good amount of Saxon vocabulary as the Prussians are the most numerous and perhaps the most important culture in Marienscir. Forming the armed forces as well as the agricultual workers, the Prussians are crucial in surviving in the hostile environment that Morcar's people find themselves in.
Because I have posted up to 1074, I have played to the 1150's.
Edit:
Anyone who is interested in the creation of Anglo-Lettish can read about it in my blog.
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And how can I find your blog? Great concept. I think I'm gonna fire up CK now because of it.
EDIT: Oh, that one. I ignore the paradox blog feature for the most part.
Haha, it is okay... I use the P'dox blog because otherwise I don't need one.
I am glad I got you interested in CK again, honestly it is one of my favourite computer games ever. I eagerly await the day CK2 is announced.
Homelands
Chapter Two: Prussia Rising
Part 2
Prelude:
Aethelstan’s reforms were precursors to later changes in the ideas of religious and racial acceptance. However they were not passed out of a love for other cultures, rather the need for stability and more soldiers. The law in essence allowed Prussians and Letts to get knightly titles, but it mostly allowed the conscription of Letts as well as Prussians. This meant that armies would not be ethnically homogeneous and therefore could not unite against their Saxon masters. However, the law also allowed for Marienscír to field a larger army. With this larger army Aethelstan launched his campaign to defeat the pagan tribes and expand his master’s holdings and prestige.
July 13th, 1075
The armies of Marienscír moved south. The tribes of Yatland had foolishly distracted themselves with petty infighting, and Aethelstan took the chance to invade the neighboring tribe and once again assert the Leofricsons to a position of power. However, with the Saxon nobility weakened, gaining their support would be very hard. He worried without the support of the nobles; the campaign would be a failure. But instead he found both the Letts and the Prussians were more than willing to go to war against the tribe that had once held supremacy over their own lands. Thousands of pagan men flocked to the banner of Aethelweard in hopes of revenge and honor.
In the court, however, Aethelstan was faced to explain himself to the nobles.
“Aethelstan, you war will destroy our nation! You lead crazed, woad-painted warriors into battle and you expect our pledges of allegiance? What kind of psychopath did Morcar put in charge of his Earldom?”
“You shame my husband with your words!” The voice of Gytha, widow of Morcar, rang out. She sat next to Aethelweard and Aethelstan, but now was standing finger extended toward the nobles.
“Sit down, woman! We didn’t address you!”
“Aye, but I don’t need your addressing anymore. We are no longer in Jorvik and I am not this court’s play thing anymore!”
“Shut up the Norman whore!” demanded several nobles.
“No, I refuse to yield to your petty arguments. This campaign starts tomorrow, here in this court if need be!”
No noble spoke out after that, the threat of extermination kept them in line. Plus those that didn’t speak out realized they would probably be compensated with land.
The war against the Yatviags was highly successful and attracted attention from around Europe. The Anglo-Prussian armies successfully conquered the region by the end of the year, with very few casualties. Much of the new territory was quickly divided up amongst lesser nobles and knights, removing them from Aethelstan’s worries. However the biggest move forward for the small realm would come in the spring of 1076.
Prussia and its neighbors in 1076, notice the Tribe of Lithuanians had shrunk due to Russian colonisation.
March 1st, 1076
A bishop from Rome had arrived the week before and had toured the small nation extensively, including the newest settlements in Yatland. Upon his returning to Marienscír he found Aethelweard with Aethelstan and Gytha.
“Young man, I am an emissary from the Pope and I have been sent from afar to serve with you and bestow up you the title of Duke of Prussia, Crusader of the Black Eagle.” The next day, in the middle of the town square of Marienscír the bishop crowned the young boy with a simple crown of iron.
“Aethelstan, my son is a Duke now, but this will not make anything easier.”
“I agree, the Pope is probably trying to extend the power of the Holy Roman Empire here in order to combat the expansion of the Russian princes.”
“I fear we shall soon have to fight for our lives.”
“I will ensure that Prussia will be strong enough to fight off her enemies.”
“You will, Norman Slayer.”
“But for now, we must consolidate. It will be hard holding this many people together.”
“The Prussian people believe in you.”
“I hope so, because I certainly do not have the support of the nobles.”
The Duke of Prussia was a tiny boy, yet he was symbolically leading Catholicism to victory over the pagans of the Baltic. His regent however, was not as sure of himself or the power of Prussia. Soon he would have to deal with the new territories and the eruption of religious tension.
Chapter Two: Prussia Rising
Part 2
Prelude:
Aethelstan’s reforms were precursors to later changes in the ideas of religious and racial acceptance. However they were not passed out of a love for other cultures, rather the need for stability and more soldiers. The law in essence allowed Prussians and Letts to get knightly titles, but it mostly allowed the conscription of Letts as well as Prussians. This meant that armies would not be ethnically homogeneous and therefore could not unite against their Saxon masters. However, the law also allowed for Marienscír to field a larger army. With this larger army Aethelstan launched his campaign to defeat the pagan tribes and expand his master’s holdings and prestige.
July 13th, 1075
The armies of Marienscír moved south. The tribes of Yatland had foolishly distracted themselves with petty infighting, and Aethelstan took the chance to invade the neighboring tribe and once again assert the Leofricsons to a position of power. However, with the Saxon nobility weakened, gaining their support would be very hard. He worried without the support of the nobles; the campaign would be a failure. But instead he found both the Letts and the Prussians were more than willing to go to war against the tribe that had once held supremacy over their own lands. Thousands of pagan men flocked to the banner of Aethelweard in hopes of revenge and honor.
In the court, however, Aethelstan was faced to explain himself to the nobles.
“Aethelstan, you war will destroy our nation! You lead crazed, woad-painted warriors into battle and you expect our pledges of allegiance? What kind of psychopath did Morcar put in charge of his Earldom?”
“You shame my husband with your words!” The voice of Gytha, widow of Morcar, rang out. She sat next to Aethelweard and Aethelstan, but now was standing finger extended toward the nobles.
“Sit down, woman! We didn’t address you!”
“Aye, but I don’t need your addressing anymore. We are no longer in Jorvik and I am not this court’s play thing anymore!”
“Shut up the Norman whore!” demanded several nobles.
“No, I refuse to yield to your petty arguments. This campaign starts tomorrow, here in this court if need be!”
No noble spoke out after that, the threat of extermination kept them in line. Plus those that didn’t speak out realized they would probably be compensated with land.
The war against the Yatviags was highly successful and attracted attention from around Europe. The Anglo-Prussian armies successfully conquered the region by the end of the year, with very few casualties. Much of the new territory was quickly divided up amongst lesser nobles and knights, removing them from Aethelstan’s worries. However the biggest move forward for the small realm would come in the spring of 1076.
Prussia and its neighbors in 1076, notice the Tribe of Lithuanians had shrunk due to Russian colonisation.
March 1st, 1076
A bishop from Rome had arrived the week before and had toured the small nation extensively, including the newest settlements in Yatland. Upon his returning to Marienscír he found Aethelweard with Aethelstan and Gytha.
“Young man, I am an emissary from the Pope and I have been sent from afar to serve with you and bestow up you the title of Duke of Prussia, Crusader of the Black Eagle.” The next day, in the middle of the town square of Marienscír the bishop crowned the young boy with a simple crown of iron.
“Aethelstan, my son is a Duke now, but this will not make anything easier.”
“I agree, the Pope is probably trying to extend the power of the Holy Roman Empire here in order to combat the expansion of the Russian princes.”
“I fear we shall soon have to fight for our lives.”
“I will ensure that Prussia will be strong enough to fight off her enemies.”
“You will, Norman Slayer.”
“But for now, we must consolidate. It will be hard holding this many people together.”
“The Prussian people believe in you.”
“I hope so, because I certainly do not have the support of the nobles.”
The Duke of Prussia was a tiny boy, yet he was symbolically leading Catholicism to victory over the pagans of the Baltic. His regent however, was not as sure of himself or the power of Prussia. Soon he would have to deal with the new territories and the eruption of religious tension.