The Swiss War of Pope Defense
@Dafool: Yes indeed. Actually, that gives me an idea for casus bellis, since I have the best relations with the Pope than anyone else right now.
@dinofs: Yes they will, as you will see in this next post
As a side note, I had no idea when I wrote “elections are being prepared” that someone would really take power in the next screenshot. I had not played to this point yet.
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On March 31, 1402, the elections were held and the Tagsatzung voted in André Gasenzer as the new Syndic. The Syndic would represent Switzerland on the world stage and play a large role in government affairs, although he did not have as much power as a monarch. He was also the Supreme Commander of the Military. André was not a great leader, that much was certain. He was elected only for his popularity among the Swiss people. He presented himself as a man that appealed to both the low class and the high class, a hard worker with style. In actuality, he was terrible with money and couldn’t lead the military well. However, his stylish hat was always a great asset for diplomatic confrontations.
André sent a letter to the Papal States, informing them of his election. Soon after, he received a letter not from the Pope, but from Urbino. It read:
“Dear Mr. Gasenzer,
Your stinkin’ lot have no business in Italy. The Pope belongs to us now, ya hear? Now bug off and take that fancy hat o’yerz with yeh.
Sincerely,
Urbino”
André was furious. He quickly sent a few spies to see what was going on. Sure enough, Urbino had taken control of the city of Rome.
He was prepared to take action. Not only were the Papal States under his protection, but he did not like how the king or duke or whatever of Urbino signed his letter with the nation’s name. That was just silly and would not do. André decided he would take the fight in his own hands and lead his army into the Rome to take it back. He renamed the Swiss army the Gasenzer Regiment and proclaimed himself its General.
But the problem was, André couldn’t just declare war on Urbino without angering the rest of the world and the Swiss citizens. They had just come back from another war in Italy and would be sceptical if another happened. He couldn’t for the life of him think of a reason to enter it. He stumbled on this problem for over a year. Then on September 4, 1403, a man called Nicolas Heberlin von Zweibrücken suggested that Switzerland form an alliance with the Papal States and use that as a reason to enter a war.
The idea was greeted with great applause by the Tagsatzung. So much in fact, that when the elections rolled around in October, not even André’s fancy hat could stop Nicolas from being voted in as the new Syndic.
Despite Nicolas being less adept at leading an army of any kind than André, he relished the idea of war. He quickly made himself the new general of the renamed Hiberlin Regiment.
Afterwards, he declared war on Urbino, using the Alliance with the Papal States as an excuse.
The declaration of war prompted the Swiss Tagsatzung to quickly change its goals from having a larger army than Savoy to accumulating money. Perhaps the war would give a chance to stockpile some wealth.
The declaration of war on Urbino divided the Italian allies of Switzerland. Ferrera had some harsh words in their letter, while Milan merely stated that they were too preoccupied with their own wars to enter yet another. Tuscany, on the other hand, agreed to send its troops to the aid of Switzerland in its conquest.
Right after breaking its alliance with Switzerland, Milan quickly asked to rejoin. Switzerland understood that they couldn’t join the war because of their own problems. Besides, without Milan, Switzerland had a larger chance of more rewards for itself. They agreed to enter into the alliance again, but warned Milan that they might do the same to them one day. The Palatinate also sent an offer for an alliance, and Switzerland accepted as well. They had guaranteed Switzerland’s independence a few months previously, so they surely meant well with their alliance.
The Swiss troops led by Heberlin were already positioned in Ferrara when war was declared. They moved in on the only province of Urbino, Ancona, quickly. The result was a bloody massacre. Urbino’s infantry was cornered in a keep and refused to surrender, so the Swiss had no choice but to fire a constant stream of arrows into the doorway. No one survived, including their leader, the King of Urbino. 60 Swiss men died in the attack, most of them from Heberlin’s axe-waving. He was a very, very poor leader.
However poor he was at war, he always saw a chance to increase taxes and revenue for the state. He decided to use the war as an excuse this time.
His regiment then split up, the infantry staying behind to take Ancona, and the cavalry going in to siege Roma again.
Again, Hiberlin wasn’t the best leader in a war, but to his credit, he still managed to increase revenues in his own state. From the forefront of the Roma siege, he passed a Land Reform act, giving Schwyz better land to produce on while also increasing its tax value.
The siege of Ancona was won in 94 days, mostly because Hiberlin had gone to siege Roma and wasn’t close enough to Ancona to mess up the siege.
Urbino quickly requested peace to give Switzerland 7 measly ducats. Hiberlin laughed and declined.
Finally, the siege of Roma was won after 243 days. Switzerland had yet again conquered the previously unconquerable. They had won a total victory over Urbino.
Hiberlin’s cavalry quickly regrouped with the infantry in Ancona. The nation of Urbino was now leaderless. Hiberlin smiled gleefully as he realized yet another opportunity to increase taxes: increase the size of Switzerland! His poor diplomatic skills failed to give him the sense that annexing Urbino would be frowned upon by the rest of the world. And thus, Ancona became a province of Switzerland.
Hiberlin also made it part of the Holy Roman Empire.
It would take a while for the citizens of Urbino to get used to being under the control of the Swiss, especially since the population of Ancona greatly outnumbered that of Schwyz and Bern combined. However, Hiberlin guessed that everyone would recognize Ancona as part of Switzerland in about 50 years or so. Perhaps then they could build boats, too, and conquer some great vacation spots…