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Dec 8, 2001
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-I speak to you today of a great injustice. I speak to you today with a heart that is at once both sad and yet hopeful. We, the center of the Catholic world, have seen our country become a pawn in the international game of realpotik. Nothing more than a strictly secular nation. Certainly nothing to be afraid of. Yet little more than a thousand years ago, our hallowed ancestors made the world tremble before the might of Rome. The words Roman Empire were whispered in reverence and in fear all over the known world. Yet our country had been reduced to a shadow of what it once was. I say no more with our nation be slaves to the whims of the Napoli, Genovese and Venetian traders who seek to take every single ducat our peasants have toiled in the dusty field to make. No more will the Italian city-states regard us as their benevolat guardian. We will make Europe tremble before us. We will, once again take our place among the Empires of yore -transcript of Pope Martinus V's speech in front of the Senate on Janaury 1, 1419

Okay in case you haven't already figured I'm doing the Papacy from my next AAR
Settings: Very Hard/Furious
Version: 1.05, EEP v1.1a
OOC note: In the EEP there is a CoT in Napoli, just to clear things up

In order to understand the country that we now live in today, we need to take a look back. History has almost as much relevance to the present as the present itself has. So it is crucial, therefore to examine the History of the Papal States. In particular the period between 1419-1820, for it is in this period that the foundation is laid for the country that we now know as the Roman Empire. Now I assume that you've all taken World History in primary school, so there's no need to talk about Papal History before 1419.
So without further ado, the tale begins

The Reign of Pope Martinus V
In order to examine the events that shaped our nation during Martinus's reign it is necesscary to look at the state of the nation on Jan 1, 1419
The Papal States, occupied a small three-province strip of land in Central Italy. To the north and west were the three small Italian city-states:Tuscany, Siena and Modena. To the north were two more small one-province states: Milan and Mantua. And finally to the south lay the two-province country of Naples. Even though on one hand the Papacy was very weak economically,on the other it did possess the most powerful army on the Italien penisula. As well it wielded the most influence. Venice, although many times more powerful than the Papacy economically, stayed for the most part out of Italian politics, it's attention more focussed on Balkan affairs. As well Genoa, the other major trading nation was content to remain, for the most part, neutral. So basically what all this boiled down to, was that there was a power vacuum on the Italian penisula. On paper, the Papacy seemed weak, but it was surrounded by even weaker nations and it was in a region where most of the other major European nations didn't exert much influence. The only other nation to exert influence in this region was Aragon by virtue that it controlled Sicily, Malta and Sardinia. But their attention was drawn toward the last stages of the reconquista. As well the Pope, being the secular head of Europe, could get away with more than the average European nation could in terms of expansion.

In 1419, the Papal treasury numbered 300 ducats. The three provinces it controlled were Romagna, Marche and its capital province Roma. Romagna produced large quantities of salt, Marche produced wool and Roma produced grain. The Papacy was a very aristocractic nation ( +8 )
was quite decentralized ( +1 ), was narrowminded (+4 ), was very merchantilistic (+8 ). Its military was defensive in nature (+4 ), more funds were diverted to the army ([COLOR=crimson+4)[/COLOR]) , Quality was empthasized more than quantity ( +6) Finally the Papacy was a nation of serfs ( +7) ) It's one army was the Army of the Holy Cross commanded by a Col. Asti. It numbered 10 000 men (9k inf/1k cav) and it's only navy was docked in Ancona Harbour, the Papal Fleet, commanded by Commodore Medicis and consisted of 10 warships.

So that was the nation. It's been said that every great nation needs a great ruler and Pop Martinus V was just that. ( 5/5/4 ). A very charismatic speaker, he lived to preach to the crowd. He was the first pope to think in the European mindset of the time, which was to conquer, pillage and do it all over again. All of the popes before him, never seriously tried to expand the Papal State's borders, but Martinus did. It was a revoluntinary idea to have a Pope who cared just as much about conquest as they did about prayer
It's hard to say whether he actually believed in the idea of a New Rome as much as he let on, or whether he was just trying to shock the normally staid and conservative men in the Senate. All accounts though portray him as a man of great vision and who had the unique ability to think both in terms of the present and in the future.

Martinus knew the first step in his dream was the conquest of the Italian penisula, and that would have to start with Naples. More specifically, the Napoli Centre of Trade. However his options were slighty limited, because the Papacy as a by-product of years of peace and neutrality had no CBs, or legimiate causes to go to war with any nation. Any expansion would be met with resistance both at home and aboard. So first, Martnus concentrated on improving the economony and the infrastructure of his country. To that end he centralized the government further ( =+2) ). He entered into the Liguria Accord which was a military alliance with the countries of Savoy, Genoa, Milan and Modena. His hope was to perhaps gain chances for war with other Italian countries. As well he knew that he would need allies if the time came. He also began sending merchants to the Napoli CoT, and soon established a foothold there. In Decemeber 1419, his hard work began to pay off as the infrastructure of the country improved. As well the research into naval pratices also improved ( Naval Tech =1 ).
He immeditaly started to reform the corrupt tax collection system by promoting tax collectors. Intially this plan met with resistance because of its cost, the fact that peasants would be taxed further, and that the Senators and other nobles that had been profiting from the corruption saw their second source of income dry up. However the thrill of more money excited them and the plan was approved. Immeditaly a tax collecter was promoted in Roma.

In Janaury 1421, a skilled new leader who was named Muzio Sforza emerged to take command of the Army of the Holy Cross which had been expanded to include 24 000 men (20k inf/4k cav).
As soon after a dominant position had been reached in Napoli, more merchants had been sent to Liguria. In Janaury 1422,after an incident at a party where a diplomat from the small German one-province minor Wurtemberg insulted the Pope's mother, or lack thereof, a legimiate cause to go to war with the offending nation emerged. However the country could not be reached or neither could their allies, so the CB remained unused. In August of 1423 trade resarch. paid off as Papal merchants found out a way to establish trading posts in unclaimed terrorities ( Tech Tech=2 ). In Janaury, Muzio died of complications from a goat kick to the stomach and the command of the army passed back to Col. Asti. In July of 1425 the infrastructure of the country improved again (IT=lvl 2 ). As apperciation for the advances in technology, the nobles chipped in and donated 100 ducats to the national treasury. Fianlly by Janaury 1426, Martinus had had enough of sitting on his hands. Even though hae had no CB, on Jan 4, 1426 he attacked Naples

The Naples War

The first Naples War was a necassacary evil. In order to get at the Napoli CoT, Martinus needed to gain Naples's other province, Apulia first. He declared war, but didn't call in allies, instead prclaiming the Papacy's self-sufficiency. Naples called in her ally, Albania
The stage was set.
Next Chapter: The Naples War and the botched Milanese War

OOC Note: Sorry no screen shots, I couldn't get them working
I 'll continue to try
 
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I have to ask... how did you start with 300 on Very Hard... everytime I play, that damned, stingy 1419 setup only gives me 150... :)

also, Are the telling me there are 3(!) CoTs in Italy. Ick... I don't think I will download the EEP, that seems a bit unbalenced. All the same I will be following your AAR with great interest.

How many leaders will you be getting now?

It certainly makes the game a bit easier playing as any italian minor though, because the Cots in Genoa and Venice are considerably harder to get then Naples...

Continue :)
 
Originally posted by Lord Joseph

Are the telling me there are 3(!) CoTs in Italy. Ick... I don't think I will download the EEP, that seems a bit unbalenced. All the same I will be following your AAR with great interest.

It certainly makes the game a bit easier playing as any italian minor though, because the Cots in Genoa and Venice are considerably harder to get then Naples...

Continue :)

I'm with LJ on the EEP issue, but I look forward to your AAR.

I appreciate your quick start and like the straight forward style you're using. Keep it up!

One nit-picky little suggestion though - can you please use a different color other than black to highlight your policy and research values. Kind of tough on the eyes to read. Thanks!
 
Just an OT comment about the CoTs again:

I've played an EEP game up to about 1490 as the Ottomans. Once the Thrace CoT sets in, Naples quickly loses its value, thus evens things out. The CoT is set up to prevent a Über-Venice from dominating everything in the Med, and mainly interferes with Venice's Black Sea trade. I thought it looked rather nice, actually.

Okay, back on topic. Go papacy! :)

Oh, and mr. Ebbesen's scripted a nice event about foreign aid to the Papacy. :D
See The Righteous BastAARds for details. ;)
 
The Naples War

OOC Notes:
LJ: Yeah I was wondering that too, I think it was a bug or something... ;)
Heagarty: I'll to fix that sooon, it didn't turn out as well as I planned


"I admit, I was overconfident. We the Army blessed by God had stormed through Naples easily. Oh sure I saw death and carnage and that changed me in a profound way. I thought I had seen everything. I thought that after the Apulia War we were invincible. I was wrong. Horribly, sickeningly wrong. As I stared at the bloody battlefield of Bologna with so many corpses strewn on the blood-soaked ground and so heart-breakingly many of them wearing the yellow uniforms of the Papacy, I reflected that nothing could have prepared me for this. I wept. I wept at the loss of innoence of me, of my comrades and of our country. Blessed by God indeed. -Except from letter by unknown Papal soldier after the Battle of Bologna Janaury 12, 1428

The Apulia War (Janaury 4, 1426-June 16, 1427)

The Apulia War was as, I said, a war of necessity. It was necessecary to gain the far southern province of Apulia with its salt mines, before the Papacy could take Napoli and its CoT. Martinus had waited patiently for a chance to make the war legitimate. That is to gain a CB first. However by 1426, aware that time was running out and tired of waiting, he declared war on Naples. Naples's only ally was the extraordinarily poor one-province minor country of Albania, which lay across the Adriatic Sea. No danger there. As well the Papal army commanded by Col. Asti, numbered 24 000 men (21k inf 3k cav), and the Napoli Army numbered only 8 000 men. Feeling quite confident therefore, Martinus declared war on Naples on Janaury 4. He felt confident that the Papacy could be self-sufficient and so thus didn't call in his allies. On Janaury 2 he raised war taxes. There was some mild grumbling among the peasantry, but nothing that a few fervant speeches about the glory that awaited the Army blessed by God, couldn't handle. After giving the Army his blessing, the troops rode off

It was a cakewalk. The only major battle of the war occurred on Janaury 22. The Papacy, thorugh overwhelming manpower won the Battle of Napoli, losing just 509 men, while utterly desroying tthe Napoli 8 000 force. Immeditaly Napoli was under siege. While Martinus was waiting, he granted military access to Austria, hoping he could keep the war out of Austria's earshot. He also scrambled the navy, who on August 21 suffered the Papacy's only military defeat in the Apulia War, losing 2 warships in the Battle of the Bay of Naples and sinking no Napoli warships. Unwelcome news though, came from Romagna on August 23 when it was revealed that Albania had beseiged the province. Intial estimates put the force at at least 50 000 grizzled troops. But when more reliable information surfaced of only 1 000 troops, mostly prisoners and malcontents who had been exiled from Albania, the Pope relaxed. On October 23 more good news reached him when Napoli fell. The army then moved to besiege the ultimate objective, Apulia. On November 1, a white peace was conducted with Albania. Curiously the 1 000 troops besieging Romangna disappeared overnight, chanting something about non-expediated countries. In November with an influx of ductas, a Tax Collector was promoted in Marche, and in December another tax collector was promoted in Romagna. In Janaury of 1427, another bonus was gained when a fine military leader named Gattamelata ( 3/3/4 ) arrived on the siege. He was immeditaly promoted to General and sent to take charge of the siege of Taranto, the capital of Apulia. On February 9, after facing pressure from the nobles, Martinus gave some Church functions to the Nobility. This decreased the tax value in Romagna, however it added 100 ducats to the treasury. On June 2, Apulia fell and on June 16, the Apulia War came to an end with the Treaty of Taranto, which ceded to the Papacy 135 ducats and the province of Apulia. The Apulia War was over and it was a resounding sucess. Only losing one naval battle, the Papacy, tore Naples apart in a quick and easy war that was resoundingly popular. Losing only 5 000 men, the dream of New Rome had begun. Immeditaly after, Martinus made a fateful decision, though he would not know about its importance until some time later. He decided to leave the Army of the Holy Cross and Gen. Gattlemata in Apulia to guard against any nationalisitic revolts. There was no land corrider between Apulia and the rest of the realm and Martinus didn't want to risk losing Apulia to defection. He raised 14 000 men in Roma to create a new army to guard the rest of the realm.

The Milanese War (August 20, 1427-September 10 1430)

The Milanese War was the worst debacle in Papal history up to that point. Martinus, after, making several brillant decisions, made a string of horrible decisions that nearly destroyed the nation, that cost him his job and destroyed the invincibility of the Army of the Holy Cross.
The events that led up to the Milanese War, began quietly on June 20, 1427. A mere four days after the Treaty of Taranto was signed, the Papacy was called on by Genoa, Savoy, and Modena to help in a war with Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Not seeing the point of the war since these countries were unknown to many Italian cartographers, but not seeing the point of angering his allies and withdrawing from the Liguria Accord, the Papacy duitfully followed them and declared war on the 20th against the Kalmar Union. Almost unnoticed by the Pope was Milan's withdrawal from the alliance. Milan was an insignificent one-province power to the extreme north of the Papacy, whose only significence was to act as a bufffer between Austria and the Italian penisula. The Pope who lived to regret this casual judgement. On August 20, Milan declared war on the Papacy. Perhaps jealous over the Papacy's recent victory, perhaps a by-product of old grudges or maybe plain old-fashioned expansionism. No one knew and were as baffled as the Pope was. Martinus, though noting that his army outnumbered Milan's 14 000 to 8 000, and seeing that Milan was a one-province easily-annexable country, was gleeful at the prospect of more expansion. Little did he know that this one-province country would soon bring the Papacy to its knees. The Pope then made his fateful decision not to call in his allies. Now history, by its very nature provides 20/20 hindsight, so it is easy to judge Martinus's decision as stupid and rash. However things might have looked differently from his point of view. Nevertheless it was a colassal mistake. What could have been a rather brutal, unbalanced war of 4 countries to 1, become a direct one-on-one war. War taxes were raised, and the newly-christened Roma Regiment went off to do battle. On September 14, Romagna was out under siege by Milan. On Janaury 12, 1428, the Papal Army was completly and utterly shredded by Milan's secret weapon: Gen. Niccolo Piccinino. 90% of the Papal Army, died 8 000 in all, and Milan lost less than 1 000 men. The defeat was shocking and hit Rome with the force of a thunderclap. Troops were raised in Roma, but morale was low. On March 15 Romagna fell to the Milanese. Now Martinus cannot really be blamed for the next military disaster, but he is often blamed by default. The plan was to withdraw the shattered-but-newly-reinforced Marche Regiment to Rome and hope that the Milanese over-extend themselves. However a failure in communication led to 4 000 new recruits and a few shell-shocked veterens facing now 18 000 Milanese troops. Needless to say it was a slaughter, nearly rivalling that in the vinyards of Romagna. All but 25 Papal soldiers died. With no money, troops or allies, Martinus and his staff prepared for the worst. With the shouts of enraged and uprooted peasants ringing in their ears they hunkered down to await the final end, looking for any way out of this mess.
New Rome had died

Next Installment: The suprising end of the Milanese War and Pope Eugenius IV
 
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LJ: Nope. I mean I hoped that Milan, would but they didn't oblige. You'll see :) I'll give you a hint: It has something to do with Gen. Gattlemata and his 10 000 men all the way down there in Apulia
Heagarty: Fixed the values, should be more readable now
 
Looks interesting indeed...good start Saint.

BTW, don't want to contradict your story but the EEP has something strange going on in their leaders....

You might be interested to know that Muzio Sforza actually drowned crossing a swolen and flooded river in January '23. Why you only get him in '21 is anyone's guess since he'd been the most powerful condottieri in southern Italy for at least 25 years (if not more) by then. Also he was, at that point in history, helping Joanna try to hold on to her crown in Naples.

To further the fun, Niccolo Piccinino (mentioned in your second instalment) was originally a Braccio supporter, then went to work for the Sforzas for a while, and eventually ended up forming his own condottieri company, but I *think* (not sure) that this wasn't until the mid-to-late 1430's.

IIRC, it was Francesco Sforza who filled a contract with the Pope in '21-23, helping to defend him from the attack from a Braccio-led force operating on behalf of Sienna or someone...

Fun, eh?

Looking forward to seeing how you deal with Milan in the game.
 
MrT: Hmm interesting. I guess the EEP leaders are really screwed up, then? Makes me wonder what other suprises the EEP has in store for me


- I witnessed a very strange event today. I think my master has gone mad. For weeks and weeks I saw my master distraught. He sat in his room all day with nary a window open save for the window facing east. He said he could see the banners of the Milanese Army in the distance.He said he could see a thousand evil demons surrounding the city of Rome. condemning it to fiery death. Yet today he came running down the stairs and into his office when I was sleeping, dressed in nothing but his nightgrown screaming something about Gen. Gattlemata and 10 000 troops in Apulia. He was ecstatic. I must admit, I am no longer confident in my master's mental state
-except from diary of Pope Martinus V's valet on May 25, 1428

In the summer of 1428, the Papacy was in dire straits. Ever since the Milanese War began, the once-invincible Papal Army had known nothing but death and defeat. Only 25 soldiers survived. Romagna and Marche were in the hands of the Milanese, who were banging down the door with peace demands for Romagna and Marche. The treasury was empty, only 6 000 troops0 could be raised in Roma, but there wasn't the funds to raise them. The Papacy had no allies. It seemed that the dream of a New Rome had died.

Then Martinus had a flash of inspiration. He remebered that at the conclusion of the Apulia War he had placed 10 000 men under the command of Gen. Gattlemata in the province of Apulia to guard against a revolt that had never come. These 10 000 troops under the command of a military leader the equal of the feared Milanese general Gen. Piccinino could turn the tide of the war. The only problem was that the country of Naples lay between the Papal Army and the Milanese Army. Relations between the Papacy and the Kingdom of Naples were understandably very poor and the Papacy had neither the money or the time to bribe them. The only conclusion was to therefore, declare war against Naples again, march the army through Napoli and attack the Milanese Army. Naples still hadn't bulit back their military after their humilitating defeat and so Napoli was undefended. However there was one hitch. A peace treaty still existed between Naples and the Papacy. In addition, the Papal States still had no CB on Naples. Any declaration of war would create massive destability and would incur the wrath of other European nations. But the treaty didn't ran out until 1432 and Martinus had no time. The MIlanese Army was preparing to march on Rome and once Rome fell, as it surely would, Martinus would not be able to resist peace demands and would have to cede the provinces of Marche and Romagna, half the nation! Besides it wasn't like the Papacy had very many provinces under their control that were left to rebel. So Martinus did it. On September 3, 1428 he declared war against Naples. As was the case last time, Albania followed suit and joined the war with Naples. Instantly the stability of the country dropped to unimaginable levels. Still Martinus had what he wanted, a land route to the Milanese Army.

On December 14, as the snow blew and as the cold winds raked across the landscape, Gen. Gattlemata won an astonshing victory over the Milanese Army, destroying their invincibility.Over 5000 Milanese died and only 700 Papal soldiers died. It was an incredible victory and immeditaly the siege of Ancona began.On Janaury 14 he won again. On Janaury 29 however, news came that Albania had landed another penal platoon of 2 000 men in Apulia and lay siege to the province. 6 000 new troops had been raised in Roma and were sent to the siege of Ancona. And finally, on March 29, the decisive battle was fought. The Milanese tried for the third time to relieve the siege of Ancona and for a thrid time Gen. Gattlemata drove them back. The casulities thoough were the decisive factor in this battle. All 9 000 Milanese soldiers died and the much-vaunted Gen. Picciolo was killed. The Papacy had paid a high price, losing 5 000 men, but it was worth it. On June 14, Marche was re-captured and the army moved on Romagna. Both the Papacy and Milan knew the war was over. Milan had pratically bankrupted itself paying for the war in hopes of a lucrative peace settlement and was in no position to raise more troops. The Milanese diplomats still kept demanding paltry sums of money from the Papacy as a means of saving face, but by this time Martinus was infected with the killer instinct and wanted to end the war with nothing else than the full annexation of Milan. On August 1, the prisoners from Albania finally prove their worth, putting down a rebellion in APulia.By this time, Martinus is sorely tepted to annex Naples and seize the Napoli CoT, but resists, knowing the severe diplomatic reprecussions of this massive faux pas. On August 9, amid all the hysterical diplomats from Milan, a diplomat from Norway arrives proposing a White Peace between the two countries. Martinus is baffled, but agrees.

On February 1, another revolt in Apulia is put down by the Albanian prisoners. Secretly Martinus applauds the skill of these prisoners as they won despite facing 10:1 odds. On the 18th, an Internal Trade Ordinance in Marche is approved by Martinus, boosting the tax value of the province by 1. On the 27th more good news comes as Romagna is recaptured. The Army of the Holy Cross moves to Lombardia for the kill. In June, the stability of the nation has recovered sufficiently enough that Martinus makes a domestic policy decision, improving the quality of the army ( +7 )
In July the enigeers at the Papal Miltary Academy research a better, stronger type of fortification (MT=2, lvl 2 forts )
Finally on August 25, Lombardia falls and Milan is annexed into the Papacy.
The war is over
October 17 the alliance of Tuscany, Siena and the Duchy of Athens (newly independant from Venice) declares war on the Papacy. This time Martinus calls in his allies and is relieved when Genoa, Modena and Savoy pitch in

And here we go again

However Pope Martinus will not be given the chance to lead the Papacy through a third war. The Senate impeaches him for misconduct and incomptentcy during the Milanese War.
They vote in a man from Venice, named Eugenius who becomes Pope Eugenius IV. He isn't as skilled as Martnius was (, so what his impact on the Papacy will not be evident 3/3/2 )

Next installment: The Reign of Pope Eugenius IV and the Tuscan War
 
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Very well done, Saint. You may be interested to know that 'Gattamelata' was a nickname. His real name was Erasmo da Narni. I'm surprised he kept the nickname, unless he had weird tendencies, or it was used behind his back. ;) (It means 'Honeyed Cat')
 
Nice AAR Saint. It looks much like Papal AAR I did in May and never finished because my computer crashed :(

Be wary of Austria and Venice in the north and Aragon in the west. They are quick to intervene in Italian matters when things do not go their way! Also try to eradicate the puny Italian city states in the west (Sienna, Tuscany and Modena) at the earliest opportunity. They will challenge you at every decision that leads you to war. Getting rid of them early in the game will help you a lot ;)

Also you have realised by now that either Genoa or Venice make excellent allies, keep them close to you at all costs! They function as a buffer between Italy and France (Genoa) or Austria (Venice). They also provide your alliance with a powerful navy to protect the shores of Italy against Muslim invaders (in my case it were Algeria and Tunis who began invading the Italian mainland).

Oh and popes cannot be impeached by a senate, they are elected for life amongst a college of cardinals...Martinus V died peacefully in his sleep ;)

Nevertheless you’re going on the right path so far. I am looking forward to see how you progress!

Dyluk