Our Ambition Shall Never Falter – a House of Graziano AAR (Part 1)

[Tommy4ever]

In this AAR I shall be telling the story of my game as the House of Graziano. You may be thinking ''House of Graziano? I can't think of what lands they start with''. Well I shall allay your confusion - I started the game as Apulia, founded the Kingdom of Sicily, went on Crusade, took nothing but Acre and granted the County to a random Norman courtier whose name was William Graziano. I start as the Count of Acre, all alone with a strong Egypt to the right of me and a powerful Kingdom to the left.

I won't be staying in one place through the early part of the game, within the first hundred years I shall use 5 different primary titles .

After the Introduction, which will set everything up, things shall continue in the style that will be familiar to you if you've read my other AARs in this format: the D'Albon one and the Habsburg one.

I hope this will be successful and I'm excited about this new project but don't worry if your enjoying the Habsburgs as that AAR shall continue as I do this.

I have place a (Part 1) in the title as I intend to continue this, atleast, into EUIII and depending upon my modding ability it may go into Vicki/Vicki2 and mabye even HoI. However I can't promise a full megacampaign so I didn't but that in there.

Anyway on with the show, I'm uploading the pics now and the update will be up shortly.

[Tommy4ever]

Introduction – History of the Italo-Normans



It is believed that the first Normans arrived in Southern Italy in the year 999 as a group of pilgrims returning from the Holy Land agreed to fight as mercenaries in the army of the Prince of Salerno. A steady wave of adventurous Norman migrants continued to come to Southern Italy where they fought as mercenaries in the armies of the Lombards, who were in revolt against the Byzantine Empire, and indeed in the Greek armies as well. In 1042 the Normans made the jump from mercenaries to landowners when William Iron Arm was granted a small fief and named Count of Melfi – he was soon recognised as the leader of the Italo-Normans.

The Normans, being the most fearsome warriors in the region, quickly expanded their holdings in Southern Italy until they were a dominant power in the region. The new power to the South of Rome distressed both Pope and German Emperor alike and in 1053 Pope Leo IX led a mixture of his own troops and soldiers from the Empire into battle in hopes of quashing the Norman threat.



The Norman Humphrey de Hauteville led his people to a great victory at the Battle of Civitate as the Pope’s army was crushed and Pope Leo imprisoned. This battle led to the recognition of the Norman state in Southern Italy as independent by both King and Emperor.

Over the course of the next few years the Normans went on a major wave of campaigns, conquering much of Italy from Greek and Lombard.



In 1057 Robert Guiscard de Hauteville, the most famous of the Italo-Normans, became their Count. Just two years later he made an alliance with the Pope, effectively blocking the Emperor from influence in Southern Italy, in exchange for being promoted from a Count to a Duke. Robert became Duke of Apulia, Calabria and (nominally) Sicily. His title became "by the Grace of God and St Peter duke of Apulia and Calabria and, if either aid me, future lord of Sicily" The Pope hoped that by making the Norman the official ruler of Sicily he would encourage him to remove the Moors from the Isle.



Robert Guiscard then launched a series of campaigns with the aim of forcing the Byzantines from Italy entirely. However in 1061 he decided to invade Sicily, Messina easily fell but this move left the Norman lands in Italy under threat and Robert was forced to withdraw back to Italy to deal with a Byzantine attack leaving him with just a small foothold on Sicily.

The Greeks were repulsed and soon thrown back to their small fortress at Bari. In 1067 Guiscard launched an attack on the small, independent, rulers of Naples and then Salerno. With the subjugation of these small Counties Robert Guiscard made himself Duke of Salerno. In 1071 the Byzantines were finally defeated in Italy when Robert Guiscard had Bari raised to the ground – now all of Southern Italy was under Norman rule.

Finally in 1073 Robert Guiscard led a second invasion of Sicily which this time secured real success as he took the major Greek city of Syracuse in the South-East and the great city of Palermo, where he subsequently moved his capital.



Seeing an opportunity to further strengthen his alliance with the Normans Pope Urban II crowned Robert Guiscard King of Sicily shortly after the fall of Palermo.



Urban had good reason to secure Guiscard’s support as on March 3rd 1075 he delivered the Sermon at Clermont, in France, in which he called for a Crusade to liberate the Holy Land from the Infidel. In May of 1075 Urban met Robert Guiscard personally in Rome and convinced him to take up the cross and vow to reclaim Jerusalem the Golden. It would be through this conflict that the House of Graziano was born.

Urban’s reasons for calling the First Crusade are often brought into question, being seen as a terrible overreaction to events. In 1070 the Egyptians and Turks had invaded the Byzantine Empire simultaneously. In 1070 the Egyptians were crushed at the Battle of Antioch and the following year the Turks faced a serious defeat at Manzikert – these twin victories left the Byzantine heartland in Anatolia totally safe for over a century but invoked a back lash of anti-Christian feeling in Palestine (much of which was ravaged by a Byzantine attack that brought an end to the war and restored the status quo). The people of Palestine grew increasingly dissatisfied with the growing presence of Christian pilgrims in the region who caused trouble and were believed to be in league with the Emperor in Constantinople. In 1174 a group of Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem raped and murdered a Muslim woman from the minor nobility. This caused a major riot in Jerusalem in which Christians clashed with Muslims and hundreds were killed. In an effort to restore stability to the region the Fatimid King made the unwise move of banning Christian pilgrims from Jerusalem until things settled down. This caused widespread outrage throughout Europe, outrage that Urban harnessed into the Crusading movement which would increase his power and remove bad elements from Europe (such as the belligerent Norman knights who lay in wait near Rome).



Whatever the higher ideals and causes of the Crusade Robert Guiscard sailed to Palestine in 1075 with an impressive army of 20,000 men (including his son and heir Roger Borsa) with the sole aim of retaking Jerusalem for Christ. In September he arrived outside of Acre – perhaps the most important port in Palestine.



Robert opted to storm the fortress immediately and despite some significant losses the city fell and the Normans gained a foothold in the Levant.

With victory at Acre Robert marched inland, towards Jerusalem with around 12,000 men leaving about 4,000 in Acre. The Egyptian King Ismail Fatamid met the Norman Crusaders in battle near the small fortress of Beit Nuba, just 12 miles from Jerusalem, with 20,000 soldiers.



In the resulting Battle of Beit Nuba the Crusaders suffered a serious defeat. Their army fought hard and inflicted far more casualties than it received but all that truly mattered was that Robert Guiscard – the greatest of the Italo-Norman adventurers – was killed in battle. Without its figure of inspiration and its leader the Norma army could never hope to defeat such a powerful foe and shortly after the news of the King’s death started to spread through the ranks the Normans withdrew.

The young Roger Borsa, still only in his mid-teens, then took up the position as King and successfully defeated Ismail Fatamid just outside of Acre to guarantee its security. King Roger may have stayed in Palestine and awaited reinforcements had news not arrived in Acre in November that the King’s elder, but illegitimate, brother Bohemund had risen in rebellion and alongside his supporters was attempting to secure the Kingdom for himself. Roger then desperately looked to make peace with the Egyptians.



Egypt agreed to cede Acre, give up all claim to the city and allow Christian pilgrims free access to Jerusalem once again in return for the promise that Roger never ally himself with the powerful Byzantine Empire. Immediately after this peace treaty was signed in December 1075 Roger looked to return to Italy however he needed a man to take over his new city. The man chosen was William Graziano – a Norman knight of some fame who had served in Norman armies since the Battle of Civitate and had managed to rescue the King’s body at Jerusalem from the Saracen enemy. William was granted funds for the bolstering of Acre’s defences and around 100 knights before Roger Borsa left his lonely vassal. Little did anyone know what William’s ancestors would go on to achieve – the House of Graziano was born.

[Marco Oliverio]

Yeah! Very nice setup and I can't wait to see what the House of Graziano manage to do, especially in the early years while surrounded by hostile (but noble!) Muslim territories.

[FlyingDutchie]

Good to see you return to Crusader Kings Tommy.

Looks like simply surviving would be a heroic exploit.

[Enewald]

And the origins of Grazianis?
Italians, Norman-normans, French-normans?
Or pure Scandinavian blood?

[FelixMajor]

Wonderful start. I'm eager to follow you here.

[DjMangus]

Count me in. Subscribed

[Hastu Neon]

Wow, very appealing parallel history, with Robert Guiscard sailing for the First Crusade almost 20 years before RL...

William Graziano (an Italo-Norman, I suppose, looking at his name) must feel very lonely there, surrounded by Muslims.

[loki100]

neat set up ... fascinating to see how this develops

[JDMS]

Great writing, as usual. Consider me subscribed.

[Sweboy]

After your glorious Austrian AAR I have to follow this.

[Tommy4ever]

William I, the Valiant
Lived: 1031-1080
Head of House of Graziano: 1075-1080
Count of Acre: 1075-1080



William I is the traditional founding father of the House of Graziano which would later go on to such incredible feats. William spent most of his life as a minor knight in the Italo-Norman armies. His history before the First Crusade is rather vague and this history shall rely heavily upon the account of Alexander of Naples – an Italian born Catholic priest of Greek ancestry who wrote the most trustworthy account of the Sicilian Crusade and who later stayed on in Acre where he wrote the story of William’s life (it appears mostly from information given to him by William and other Norman knights who stayed in Acre). Therefore throughout history William has become known as the Valiant for his exploits whilst just a knight but perhaps these stories must be taken with a pinch of salt. Nether the less William was clearly an extraordinary character who catapulted the House of Graziano from utter obscurity to worldwide fame as the bastion of Christianity in Palestine.



It is unclear exactly who William Graziano’s parent’s were but it seems he was among the first generation of Normans to be born in Italy. His first major appearance in history occurred in 1053 when – at the age of just 22 – he fought as a knight at the Battle of Civitate for the Italo-Normans against the combined might of both Pope and Emperor and helped his people to glorious victory. William is indeed mentioned in some of the accounts of the Battle made during the 1050s as a knight who ‘’fought hard and fought bravely’’.



Alexander of Naples gives various accounts of how in the two decades following William’s baptism of fire into the knighthood at Civitate the penniless knight would go on to fight in countless campaigns in Italy and Sicily in the Norman armies as the entire region was conquered. Alexander speaks of the great battles and sieges in which William fought, the piety with which he lived and the heroics with which he made his name in the unforgiving world of 11th century Italy.



It matters little what is true and what is exaggeration as by 1075 William Graziano was a famous warrior. Over his years of battle he had made a name for valour and incredible skill in combat. He had amassed a small fortune from nothing (more than enough to pay his way to Palestine for the Crusade) and most importantly of all had gained exclusive access to King Robert Guiscard’s personal circle.

When the King of Sicily set out for Palestine in mid 1075 as the first wave of the First Crusade William Graziano was given a place of seniority in the King’s personal bodyguard.



When the Normans first arrived in Palestine their King, Robert Guiscard, looked to immediately take the invaluable port city of Acre which was defended by high walls. Luckily the Normans received a shipment of lumber from a group of Italian traders from Venice (the Venetians perhaps already noting financial the possibilities a Christian port in the Levant would provide) and the Normans constructed siege towers. William Graziano was given command of one of the towers as the King stayed out of the battle itself. Alexander of Naples claims William was the first man on the walls of Acre and several other Chroniclers substantiate his claim – therefore William can be credited with playing a significant role in the capture of the important city perhaps pointing to another reason he was later granted it.

However it is not the siege of Acre but the Battle of Beit Nuba (12 miles form Jerusalem) that William is most famous for.



At Beit Nuba the Normans faced defeat after the King’s own bodyguard was overwhelmed but the actions of William at that Battle forever left an imprint on the psyche of the Crusading movement and perhaps just as importantly gave the House of Graziano a sense of identity. In the infamous engagement Robert Guiscard foolishly sought battle against an army nearly twice the size of his own against a commander even more skilled than himself in an army in which his force was out of its own and his adversary was at home. Worse still Robert, seeking personal glory, led the Norman cavalry in a disastrous charge against the more nimble Egyptian cavalry. This charge was simply evaded by the Muslim cavalry who pulled back and allowed the Norman horses to tire whilst many fell to the Egyptian arrows. With his priceless knights tired and demoralised Robert pulled back to a small hill where the Egyptians attacked from all sides. Here the Normans fought incredibly and here William made his name. Outnumbered and seemingly broken the brave Crusaders fought ‘’their entire bodies became drenched in the blood of the infidel’’ and they continued to fight. The entire Crusading movement might have died that day had men like William not fought tooth and nail to preserve the Norman army from annihilation. Of all the knights at Beit Nuba William fought the bravest sometimes charging alone into entire ranks of Muslim attackers and holding them at bay. However the King was struck down by an Egyptian arrow – at this moment it seemed that all was lost and the army would be destroyed yet William stepped up to the moment. First the valiant knight managed to save the King’s body from capture, this in itself was important as had the King’s body not been tended to his soul would have gone to hell something that would further demoralise the army due to Robert’s popularity. With things starting to crumble it was not the new King Roger Borsa but William Graziano who rallied the men and raised the banner of Christ in a rallying cry to fight on. Indeed William kept the Crusader army from collapsing for long enough for the Egyptians to tire and allow them to escape.

After Beit Nuba the Crusaders withdrew back towards Acre and, obviously, command of the army was turned over to the teenage King Roger Borsa who had been brought on Crusade by his father in hope that they could both adore at the Sepulchre of Christ. Yet that dream was over, this situation would need pragmatism not idealism.

The Egyptian King pursued the Normans to Acre, hoping to return the city to Egyptian hands, putting the city under siege just after King Roger returned to it. However the men who had escaped Beit Nuba (around 10 of the original 12 thousand) were able to join with the 4,000 men who had been left in Acre as well as at least 1,000 eager men who had come to Acre for the Crusade independently. That gave the Normans 15,000 men to oppose the Egyptian army now some 16,000 strong. After realising the strength of the Crusaders King Ismail Fatimid withdrew from his siege and set up a defensive position a few miles from the city. Roger, now desperate to return home due to his brother Bohemund’s rebellion, marched out to meet the Egyptians and won a stinging victory that forced the Egyptian withdrawal.

For several weeks after the engagement the Norman Crusade lingered in Acre, strong enough to hold the city but not strong enough to march on Jerusalem. Whilst every day Bohemund grew stronger in Italy. The Norman camp was divided about what to do and it seems William was a strong supporter of the King’s wish to negotiate with the Muslims – it is perhaps this less idealistic approach that made King Roger think William would be better able to survive in the East. Whatever William’s input into the decision a peace was signed with Ismail Fatimid in November which recognised Norman rule of Acre and promised to respect this control, Ismail also agreed to end the foolish restrictions put in place against Christian pilgrims hoping to enter the Holy Land (these restrictions were a major reason for the birth of the Crusading movement). Many had mixed feelings – for intensive purposes the Crusade was a failure as Jerusalem and the majority of the Holy Land remained in Muslim hands however the Latins now had a base in the east for trade, pilgrims and future expeditions whilst pilgrimage could return to normal.

As King Roger looked to return to Italy to deal with his brother he took the extraordinary decision to raise William Graziano from the status as a minor noble but important knight to Count of Acre and Lord of the only Latin city in the East. King Roger granted William funds for the bolstering of Acre’s defences and around 100 knights to defend the city before leaving William all alone in a dangerous world.



In a difficult situation William was able to transform Acre into an endangered and rather poor city into a strong, outward looking and rather wealthy one.

Firstly the work on Acre’s city walls was extensive and was helpful but there was no use in city walls if there was no one to defend them. William tried desperately to encourage immigration to Acre from Europe in the form of soldiers; in particular knights (William obviously had a preference for Normans). The Count of Acre went so far as to send a request to the Pope for encouragement of immigration to Acre. Yet despite this the number of immigrants remained small and even by 1078 the city’s population of resident knights had swollen to just 500, not nearly enough to defned the city should Ismail Fatimid tire of its existence. So in that year William looked to make an agreement with the Hospital Order of St John of Jerusalem.



The Hospitaller Order, as they were better known, had been founded in the early 11th century simply as a group of monks providing a hospital in Jerusalem for Christian pilgrims. However after Ismail Fatimid expelled the Christians from Jerusalem following tensions between pilgrims and Muslims the order radicalised. After its expulsion from Jerusalem many of its members moved to other properties in Palestine and began a rapid transformation into a militant group. By the time it was returned to Jerusalem following the Norman Crusade in 1075 many had started to call the group an Order of Knights rather than of Monks. By 1078 the militant actions of these ‘Knights’ had put heavy pressure upon the Grandmaster, Bladwin Thom, to leave the Egyptian ruled city. The Knights had grown rather numerous and in 1078 William found an end to his problems when he requested that Baldwin bring the Hospitallers to Acre – in one fell swoop 1,000 additional, highly trained, knights had given Acre the security it needed.

The next problem William solved in his short tenure was the economic one. This was easily solved through an alliance with the Venetians agreed in 1079. The Venetians were granted a reasonably large district within Acre along with a section of the harbour in return for a small toll charged by the city on their trading activities which would within a few years balloon in frequency as the Venetians greedily gobbled up all the wares of the East, becoming wealthy beyond belief. This agreement also benefited William’s defensive support for Acre as the Venetians left a permanent force of a few hundred soldiers along with a few ships to defend Acre. But should the city come under threat they would most certainly use their naval and economic power to defend the city.

Yet for all his success in this brief rule William was not long for this earth and his death in 1080 (under suspicious circumstances) left the city in a major crisis. William had had two children by two different wives (one in Italy, one in Acre) but both were totally unsuited to rule and could be used as puppets of their respective supporters. The Norman faction backed William’s 3 year old son Jordan who had been born in the East to a daughter of a Count. The Venetians, meanwhile, backed William’s 18 year old son to his unknown wife back in Italy (thought to be dead), however Richard had the mind of a very small child and could barely take care of himself never mind his country (making perhaps even more malleable than baby Jordan). However the Venetian candidate, despite being older, had the disadvantage of actually being written out of the will left by William Graziano in which the Count requested that all his holdings be passed to his younger boy Jordan. Thus in 1080 the 3 year old Jordan Graziano was made the 2nd Count of Acre and 2nd Head of the newly forged House.

[Enewald]

Jordan shall rule for century.
Or at least for a half.

Kingdom of Jordania!

[SplendidTuesday]

Quite an auspicious start; saving the Guiscard's efforts in Palestine from utter destruction, fending off the Egyptian war machine; and revitalizing Acre. This family seems to be a formidable house, and this AAR a great one.

I'll be sure to follow it.

[JDMS]

A three-year-old head of house? This can't possibly end well. Good update.

[Tommy4ever]

Jordan, the Infant
Lived: 1077-1082
Head of House of Graziano: 1080-1082
Count of Acre: 1080-1082



The babe Jordan succeeded to the Head of the House of Graziano in 1080 ahead of his elder half brother Richard. Jordan’s short rule would be defined by internal squabbles between the dominant factions in the city of Acre whilst he lived his short life as little more than a pawn of the Norman faction.

When Jordan was made Count in 1080 he rose at the expense of Richard, the claimant backed by the Venetians. Whilst the Venetians desired nothing more than to guide Acre in a way more beneficial for their mercantile interests the Normans were a simpler lot – they wanted lands. This desire for land from the Normans clicked together nicely with the third major faction in Acre – the Hospitaller Order (a force that contributed a substantial portion of the city’s military).



In the year immediately following Jordan’s ascension the city of Acre seemed to be in cold stalemate. Jordan’s regency council had been packed with Norman knights and these knights seemed to be eager to reduce the heavy influence the Venetians had over the city. This ambition caused serious strife and greatly hampered Acre’s route to prosperity that had been set up by William. The Venetian quarter of the city was slowly reduced, yet the most crucial mistake of the regency came in early 1081 when the tariff of Venetian trade through Acre was doubled. Quickly trade began to dry up (the Venetians hoped to use economic blackmail to return their previous concessions) and Acre’s once comfortable finances were placed in all sorts of woe. Luckily for the regents directly to the East the petty Sheik of Tiberias (who ruled the lands between Acre, Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee) broke free from the Kingdom of Egypt. Seeing an opportunity to galvanise its support among the now rather numerous Norman knights of the city, improve the County’s finances and perhaps most importantly improve the already straining relations with the Hospitallers (the Grandmaster did not take kindly to the squabbling with the Venetians and was eager for a more united front against the Muslims) the regency went to war.

However even taking over Tiberias provided its problems for the knights. It was clear that the Venetians were itching for a change of government and if the Normans left Acre in force they may well have launched an armed coup, however the Sheikdom’s army was still rather powerful when compared to Acre’s meaning that the Normans would be unable to defeat it if they split their forces. So they decided to find a compromise with their Hospitaller allies – Grandmaster Baldwin Thom was given the responsibility of leading Acre’s army to war. The total force that marched out from Acre was relatively modest: 200 mounted knights (around half were Norman and half were Hospitaller), 400 knights on foot (almost entirely Hospitaller) and about 1,000 local levies (a mixture of Muslims and recently converted Christians).

The Sheik decided to pull back towards his citadel of Tiberias right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, forcing the Latins to march through miles of desert and giving himself time to form an army. By the time Grandmaster Thom had arrived outside Tiberias itself the Sheik had assembled an impressive army – around 500 horse and 2,500 foot soldiers of varying quality. The Sheik’s army was almost twice the size of the Latin force but was severely lacking in quality.



The Battle of Tiberias was a rather cagey affair for the most part. Traditionally armies of Latin knights charged head on into the thick of battle looking to use their incredible power and resilience to win victory, not at Tiberias. Baldwin realised his weaknesses and decided to set up a defensive stance that forced the Sheik into action. The Sheik was no military genius but still tried to use the Eastern tactic of using horse archers to harass a stronger but less mobile force. However they were lacking number and were ineffectual against the tight ranks of the knights. Hoping to use his infantry to at least force the Latins to withdraw by inflicting serious casualties the Sheik sent his foot soldiers into a melee with the weakest part of the Latin line (the right flank which was dominated by the Muslim levees of Acre’s army). Although this attack did force the Latin flank to buckle Baldwin was able to quickly send his Hospitaller infantry into the fray, pinning the Muslims and allowing the knights on horse to position themselves. With little to no control left over his infantry the Sheik decided to cut his losses and pull back to his town (Tiberias was defended only by wooden walls) with his cavalry and the few hundred infantrymen he had kept in reserve. Back outside in the battle the charge of the Christian knights brought the battle to an end as the Muslim enemy were slaughtered. Victory was won.

Baldwin then brought his troops up to the town of Tiberias however this presented him with a new problem. Although its defences were rather weak the Latin army would likely suffer heavy losses in a direct assault, something Baldwin was eager to avoid, yet Tiberias was a port and was being supplied by friendly Muslim leaders from across the Sea of Galilee meaning it could not be starved into submission. Instead Baldwin looked to use his powers of negotiation to coax the Sheik into surrender.



Baldwin met with the Sheik and promised safe passage away from Tiberias for him and his entourage, Baldwin was also forced to promise that the town’s inhabitants would not be harmed after its surrender. Baldwin accepted and the Sheik was allowed to leave Tiberias, travelling to Syria, however Baldwin would not keep to both his promises. As soon as his army entered Tiberias he let it loose to murder, pillage and destroy all it could find. Over the course of two days much of Tiberias’ population was killed whilst the town was raised to the ground and what little wealth it had seized for the city of Acre. This betrayal would set the tone for the relationship between the Latins and the Muslim rulers of the Levant for many decades – the Muslims were hardly new to the ideas of treachery and extreme brutality yet these barbarian migrants seemed many more times as vicious even as the hated Turks.



Baldwin then returned to Acre with wealth, glory and most importantly lands for the incoming Norman knightly migrants. The Hospitaller themselves had no need for lands – acting more as a group of urban knights as they stuck to their monastery-barracks earning funds through donations and church functions but the new migrant knights desperately needed lands to continue to bear arms for Acre. It may have been poor land but it was enough for the knights to survive off. King Roger of Sicily (the nominal liege of Acre) praised the city was its ingenuity in expanding its borders whilst it private he grew anxious over the fact he knew nothing of the plan to attack Tiberias. But most worried of all by the event were the Venetians. The Italian merchants had hoped that the income would grow poor and divided with their absence but now the city coffers were healthy and the factions were united. Thus they returned to Acre after their brief embargo of the city and re-entered Acre politics in a big way as the promoted Richard more than ever before. The infant Count, Jordan, was had grown ill in early 1082 and this was regarded by the Venetians as a golden opportunity.

It is still not known whether it was merely the 5 year old Count’s illness that claimed his life or whether it was given a helping hand by Venetian intrigue but whatever the truth in the Spring of 1082 Jordan passed away after just 2 years as Count. The Venetians then launched a blistering campaign to ensure Richard’s steady ascension without a regency council, despite his disabilities. The Normans were quickly and abruptly shunted out of their positions of power whilst the Venetians looked to secure their dominance in Acre by aligning themselves with the Hospitallers just as the Normans had done. Richard’s personal council and the government of Acre was quickly packed with Venetian figures or men loyal to Venice whilst Richard was given the daughter of a wealthy Venetian merchant based in Acre as a wife (Adiliza de Breutil). Within a couple of weeks the Norman faction had gone from the height of their power to weak also-rans.

[Enewald]

Norman era finished?
No way!

[DjMangus]

Wow that was a short rule. I think you should change the name of the AAR cause I have my doubts this dynasty will last especially with a mentally challenged count in charge. But other than that brilliant update.

[JDMS]

Dominated by the Venetians? Something tells me the Normans won't stand for that. Great update.

[Tommy4ever]

Enewald:

Your prediction of how long Jordan would rule was slightly off.
Anyway the Normans will still be in Acre, indeed they are rather numerous and are an important faction, but they won't have any real power over the Count.

DJMagnus:

O ye of little faith.

I'll admit that at this point I was worried for the future of the Grazianos:

If Richard died it would be game over (he's the only surviving Graziano) and Egypt was still looking very strong.

Richard doesn't actually have any specific traits saying that he is lacking in his mental facilities but his stats speak for themselves:

Martial: 3
Diplomacy: 1
Stewardshiop: 0
Intrigue: 0

Those are the worst stats I've ever seen was a character who isn't inbred or plague inflicted.

JDMS: The Normans won't stand for anything if there isn't the accquisition of land involved.



Update Later today so watch this space.