Britannia: A Saga of Albion

Enewald - And everyone lived happily ever after.

Marcus Scipio - Glad to have yet another reader.

RGB - Piety? Who cares about piety. What made me decide this would occure was Nero having the following combination of traits : Excommunicated, Heretic, Sceptical, Proud. The only not plausible thing is that he actually succeded in his endavour. But then again, all of Europe is under Mongol yoke so it really might have been possible imo.

Sorry, but no update this week. See you next Saturday.

The aftermath of the civil war brought the 'English Rennesaince' as it was later dubbed by historians. It was a period of economical growth, technological advances and stabilisation that preceded the proper Rennesaince that made Europe stand back up on its feet, as the Golden Horde fell. The economical growth of England was bolstered by immigrants from Europe and mainly Iberia. Many Portuguese and Spanish people escaped the assimilation to the Roman society and came to Britain to join the original 'Spaniards', creating a major Iberian minority in southern England. They would eventually merge into the society but they would leave their mark, even though it was small, on the English melting pot. What's more, the more liberal minded people from Italy started to migrate to Britain as well. As England became the beacon of science, Italy, under the joint rule of the Pope and the Emperor, became a perfect example of the Dark Ages.

Together with the economical revolution came a technological one. Astrolabes, windmills, compasses, spinning wheels and even the first eyeglasses were created in England. And alongside these marvelous, for the time, advances came the Guild System which stabilised the hectic trade and played the biggest part in the economical growth already mentioned. The invention of the magnetic compass is considered the be the beginning of the naval focus of England, but to be honest and not biased by nationalism, it was probably the immigrants from Iberia where the people were always focused on the sea that created the bases for the national idea of naval supremacy.

The advances could also be seen in Ireland and Scotland, but to a lesser extent as the relations between England and the two Anglo-Gaelic states were far from good.

But as everything prospered in the Kingdom of England, the political life became a mess. Nero I was forced to abandon the title of Bretwalda together with the claims for the thrones of Scotland and Ireland. Therefore, the once great list of titles was greatly reduced and the only title greater than that of a prince or duke was the 'King of England'. But the fall of the royal prestige wasn't the main factor of the terrible status of the political sphere of life in England. Noble titles were being thrown away by the crown as they became a way of earning quick money, therefore, any moderately wealthy merchant could buy himself a noble title and become one of the landless nobles that were scattered all over the kingdom. Multiple completely unneeded positions were created and the administration became an unintelligible patchwork.

This would continue on for about 20 years till the death of Nero I de Anglléterre. Apart from the incomprehensible administration and inflation of noble titles, there was another major problem. The few children that Nero sired were all weak and sickly. From his sons : Henry (1193-1195), Edward (1194-1205) and Silvester (1200-), only the last was still alive and he too was far from healthy. The curse on his children eventually led to a depression being added to the kings multiple personal problems. What made the king officially and finally remove himself from day to day life was the death of his wife, Christina al-Qaim.

The queen that was universally admired by everyone in Britain was seen as a saintly and good person which wasn't completely accurate as that opinion was created by propaganda issued by spies ordered by no one other than herself. She supported her husband throughout her life and helpt him keep the realm together on many occasions. She enjoyed semi-rule over the kingdom, but always from the shadow. When the power steering the king from behind the throne disappeared, the council had to move in to control the kingdom as the king refused to deal with everyday life.

Oh, right. I kinda forgot to update.

mayorqw - Not bananas. But he's a very sad, unbelievably rich king.

Enewald - Exactly. Invented.

Iain Wilson - I'm running out of pictures though. After I use up Eva Green from the Kingdom of Heaven I'll be in a bad position in the 'hot queens' department.

AllmyJames - Yes, that would be Silvester II. The Levant? Sure, why not.

RGB - Who knows, maybe we'll have the first bad king of England?

RGB - When I look back at the kings of this AAR, I can't help but think all of them were good and it's completely unrealistic. If it's just me and they weren't that uber, it's very good.

AllmyJames - I mean, look at the Habsburgs!

RGB - Well, they weren't that bad morally were they? I mean, sacking the greatest city of Christendom, killing off people for fun, etc., etc.. Pretty normal european kings.

The update will be out today hopefully.

The Most Holy Kingdom of God in Jerusalem was a peculiar nation led in even more peculiar manners. The Levant under de Payens' rule became an european nation. That statement needs some explaining. After the Mongol invasion, people from all over Europe emmigrated to whatever lands they could find. They had a choice between overpopulated Italy, heretic Spain, destroyed France, Greece and the Crusader States. Seeing as the Greek Empire refused to accept them, their only choice were the Crusader States. And seeing as Egypt was still loyal to the third most despised man in Europe, the only choice was the Most Holy Kingdom of God.

Jerusalem up to this point was ruled with fire and sword. Knights Templar, Knights Hospitallier and the Teutonic Knights all flocked to Levant as it was the only place in which they enjoyed privileges even bigger than european noblemen. The native populace was regularly robbed and converted by the Christian saviours, and soon the muslims simply decided to leave. And when they tried to, they were murdered by the Orders. And the empty place they left was filled by immigrants from Europe. Soon, the arabic populace was an insignificant minority and a Franco-German populace took it's place as the rulers of the land.

Hughes de Payens wasn't an evil man. He was a ruthless, cruel madman blinded by religious fanatism. His hatred and madness grew with age, and even the christians felt relief when Anno Domini 1215, the Grandmaster of the Templar Order, aged 69, died. This brought forward a question of what should happen next.


The Military Orders that were ruling the nation decided that the steward would be chosen from among the Grandmasters. The succesor of the late de Payens would be the Grandmaster of the Teutonic Knights, Hermann von Salza. With this move, the Teutons have decided to pernamently move their headquarters from Athens to the Levant. The rule of von Salza saw a tighter bond established between the Pope and Jerusalem, soon the Orders were enjoying more priviliges as the Pope declared them the defenders of Christianity to great discontent of István Árpád, the Roman Emperor. This would plant the seeds of another rift, this time between catholic rulers and the clergy. Even in this time of crisis, the Pope was able to destroy whatever stability came to Europe and alienate people from outside his environment.

Time would decide if the Apostolic See had a place in the modern world that would emerge.

What's this then?

Enewald - He's not considered a tyrant though. That's religion for you.

RGB - There is no economy. ANARCHY! And mongols killing people. Also, christians killing muslims. Actually, this calls for some people to get up and start a nomadic nation. The Horselords of Euskadi?

Hannibal X - It might evolve into a new culture if they manage to keep the land. If it will, it'll be purely franco-german though. The last thing the templars will allow is letting the arabs have any say.

Baldor Arbanus - Egypt is completely shut down. They're fairly rich so there's no problem in feeding the slightly underpopulated nation. It's about 70% anglican right now, (Anglican as in, they're the same as the christians in England but they still answer to the Pope.) and the, let's say, viceroy keeps the country running till the King returns from Britain. He'll wait till something happens. And something from the south will happen all over Africa eventually.

mayorqw - A protectorate isn't really the best word seeing as the natives are ruled by a foreign elite. Viceroyalty would be best. Colonialism in the XIIIth century! Only in Britannia!

Yes, soon you will have an update.