The Knautschlings - part 3
Dark Arts
As Harald orders almost every soldier in his realm to march towards Västergotland the King of Scandinavia
accepts his defeat before any actual battle is done. He agrees to give back unrightfully stolen Halland
to Harald and also offers the lands of Västergotland as an apology for his theft some years ago.
Harald is for the moment quite content with the map of his realm
which does not include the Bishopric of Belgorod -still stupidly paying taxes-
and also with his collection of titles.
But what else if not being content shall he do when every noble in the area thinks he has expanded enough for now ?
Harald knows he must lay low and influence politics in a more subtle way.
He examines the strength of his neighbors to isolate any threats.
There is the King of Scandinavia, recently defeated and now much less powerful than Harald and the King of Norway,
a regional power at best. Both of these are also not very ambitious* and thus not much of a threat.
* AI-controlled
The King of Poland has a vast demesne
and is also an enemy to the Pruthenians which makes him a natural ally.
Harald is confident that his own interests and those of Poland do not collide much thus being in a good position
for a friendly relationship. At least for now.
The Duke of Saxony bothers Harald, though.
Geographically there is little reason for tension with the Saxons, maybe even less so than with the Polish.
But Karl von Goldstrand*, the Duke of Saxony, has a grandson called Anselm.
And Anselm is not only the Duke´s grandson but also heir to Heinrich von Franken, the Holy Roman Emperor
who controls huge areas of land and fearsome armies.
As was already said Harald does not have any quarrels with the von Goldstrand*s per se, but the possibility
of having a neighbor of such power that he can bully Harald around at will is not pleasant.
Harald decides to get rid of the problem.
The first attempt in January 1097
fails, but the second in April
succeeds. Unfortunately the assassin is caught and confesses that his orders came from Harald.
Following Harald´s trail someone else assassinates Georg von Goldstrand*,
Anselm´s father.
This leaves Saxony still in a position more powerful than Denmark,
especially if one takes into account their more southern holdings which are not visible on this map,
but puts all Goldstrand* ambitions for von Franken´s titles at rest for now.
Karl von Goldstrand* does not immediately declare war, which is good.
It is unclear though, how von Goldstrand*´s stance towards Harald is now.
Harald obviously only wishes for peace.
Changing the subject I also have to tell you that in 1100 Harald decides to crusade the Baltic for a gain in prestige
and on a totally unrelated note I will tell you how Harald once more spectacularly fails in a military campaign
in the next chapter of this tale.