Finnaly the 15th century comes to an end. I always find myself hating the 1399-1499 period for some reason. However you have undeniably made them seem amazing.
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First let me say sorry everyone, I know I'm late with the update. Big surprise. 
There was too much to write about and it became gargantuan. (My apologies to those of you who don't like the huge updates). I will have it up before Friday night.
Everybody has a game like that... conquer Europe, but don't get beyond tech level 15... then the westernised Timurids walk all over you.
I wish the AI were smarter about how it spends its money. Even in the late game, when you have a super-sized economy and can UltraMegaFund a couple of friendly nations in their wars, rarely does the AI do anything more useful than buy peace for a couple hundred ducats. Makes you want to grab it by the collar and shout "No! Not that! Buy Cannons! Men! Beer and strippers! Something useful, for once..." You should be able to ship them whole mercenary armies from your own manpower and ducats, because the AI has no clue about what to do with money.
:rofl:
I demand that you write an AAR about this, right now.
No, I have never seen something that epic. I would probably laugh until I pulled a muscle.
Edirne's been under occupation from the first few months of the war, so V-E day is only a couple years away.
I can't comment on Greece directly, as it will be covered in one of the updates following the one being worked on right now. No sales are involved in its final disposition, though.
I haven't thought a great deal about France, except that I probably won't enter a cataclysmic fight with it until the 18th century... I want an epic worldwide struggle à la the Seven Years War. Castile may end up taking that coveted "Final Boss" title though, as it is getting a serious amount of colonies, and has sufficient military heft.
Really? I always enjoy the anticipation of the early game because a lot of one's would-be history is still unrevealed. You don't know whether Spain is going to form, whether the Kalmar Union is going to crack up, whether Russia will form, or whether Austria will eat the Balkans. Okay, that's not true, Austria always eats the Balkans. But I grant that in terms of units and warfare, 1399-1499 is not that wonderful. Everybody is stuck with knights and men-at-arms for a hundred years.
Thanks for the compliment, though!
There was too much to write about and it became gargantuan. (My apologies to those of you who don't like the huge updates). I will have it up before Friday night.Everybody has a game like that... conquer Europe, but don't get beyond tech level 15... then the westernised Timurids walk all over you.
I wish the AI were smarter about how it spends its money. Even in the late game, when you have a super-sized economy and can UltraMegaFund a couple of friendly nations in their wars, rarely does the AI do anything more useful than buy peace for a couple hundred ducats. Makes you want to grab it by the collar and shout "No! Not that! Buy Cannons! Men! Beer and strippers! Something useful, for once..." You should be able to ship them whole mercenary armies from your own manpower and ducats, because the AI has no clue about what to do with money.
:rofl:I demand that you write an AAR about this, right now.
No, I have never seen something that epic. I would probably laugh until I pulled a muscle.
Edirne's been under occupation from the first few months of the war, so V-E day is only a couple years away.
I can't comment on Greece directly, as it will be covered in one of the updates following the one being worked on right now. No sales are involved in its final disposition, though.
I haven't thought a great deal about France, except that I probably won't enter a cataclysmic fight with it until the 18th century... I want an epic worldwide struggle à la the Seven Years War. Castile may end up taking that coveted "Final Boss" title though, as it is getting a serious amount of colonies, and has sufficient military heft.
Really? I always enjoy the anticipation of the early game because a lot of one's would-be history is still unrevealed. You don't know whether Spain is going to form, whether the Kalmar Union is going to crack up, whether Russia will form, or whether Austria will eat the Balkans. Okay, that's not true, Austria always eats the Balkans. But I grant that in terms of units and warfare, 1399-1499 is not that wonderful. Everybody is stuck with knights and men-at-arms for a hundred years.
Thanks for the compliment, though!
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It can't be for keeping promises, but some other virtues, that your friends and family love you.First let me say sorry everyone, I know I'm late with the update. Big surprise.
It can't be for keeping promises, but some other virtues, that your friends and family love you.
:rofl:
Everyone's a comedian, eh? Well I can hardly argue, under the circumstances.
After much delay, here it is! Enjoy.
XIX. William III Lancaster - 1494-1497: Barbary Pirates raid Malta ~ Lord Aberdour's Rebellion ~ New Spain and Brazil
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Capitulum XIX.
These that survive let Rome reward with love
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OCCASIO FACIT FUREM
Capitulum XIX.
These that survive let Rome reward with love
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OCCASIO FACIT FUREM
The Castilian Reconquista of the early 15th century seemed to herald the end of Christian-Muslim conflict in western Europe, but it would in fact give rise to centuries more. Moors expelled from Castilian Granada suddenly found themselves homeless, jobless and thirsting for revenge; many were happy to gain new purpose and prosperity through piracy against the Iberian coast. In response, Castile and Portugal undertook ill-fated efforts to conquer coastal towns in Morocco, Algiers and Tunis.
Gibraltar and Malta had largely been spared pirate assaults for two very good reasons. First, the Gibraltar colony had not bothered to expel its Moors, resulting in less fodder for pirate recruiting—but much more frequent local unrest. Second, Gibraltar and Malta were primarily military possessions, generally well-defended by a naval presence and garrisons ashore. For pirates they presented much riskier targets than the easy pickings of lightly-defended Iberian seaside towns.
Inevitably, Malta's blessed exception gave rise to complacency and corruption. Funds that should have been spent on local fortifications and patrolling squadrons somehow found their way into the coffers of Malta's governors and military leaders. The Grand Crusade only amplified the neglect; due to the sheer number of participating European navies, the crusaders were able to fully blockade Turkey without the addition of a single English squadron. In fact, virtually all of the Navy Royal's fighting ships rode out the war at anchor; only the transports made the long voyage to Greece. Meanwhile, English merchants in the Mediterranean happily took advantage of the protection afforded by the abundance of foreign navies. As crusaders make peace with the Turks, however, the number of foreign warships dwindle—but the admiral commanding the Malta Station fails to ask for additional ships from England.
The illusion of safety is finally dispelled on July 1st, 1494. Just before dawn, a well-organised fleet of Barbary corsairs enter Malta's twin harbours on either side of the Sciberras Peninsula. A small Navy Royal patrol squadron is set alight at its moorings, and unwary sentries are quickly subdued. The rest of the port garrison is slaughtered in its sleep, while the corsairs set about their robbery and rapine. Those that resist are killed; those that do not are taken captive.
Over three hundred captives (including the governor and his family) are taken from a half-dozen towns surrounding the Grand and Marsaxmett Harbours. The gentlemen will be paraded through the streets of Salé, Tripoli, and Tunis; destined to live out their days as galley slaves chained to the oars. The young daughters of the governor of Malta are dispatched to serve in the Sultan of Morocco's harem. Less than a half-dozen captives will ever see England again.
London's reaction to the raid is swift and pragmatic. Malta's surviving leadership is dismissed from their posts, and more than a few will be tried and convicted of embezzlement and treason. To protect the twin harbours a trio of castles is commissioned (Fort St. Elmo, Fort St. Angelo and Fort St. Michael), and a new, heavily fortified city will be founded upon the Sciberras Peninsula. Initially known just as Il-Belt (Maltese for "The City"), it will eventually be called Valletta, after the Anglo-Gascon knight who supervised its construction. [1]
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ACERRIMA PROXIMORA ODIA
ACERRIMA PROXIMORA ODIA
Few political observers of the Late Medieval era would have bet on the survival and ultimate success of the Kalmar Union. That the House of Griffins was able to inherit the thrones of all three kingdoms, integrate them politically, socially and culturally—and do it all without resorting to force of arms—was nothing short of miraculous.
Prior to political union, Norway and Sweden were governed by regents selected from each realm's privy council, ruling on behalf of the Danish king in Copenhagen. Perhaps it was inevitable that one viceroy—being a scion of local nobility, from a family of longevity and great deeds in his own country—would develop exalted ambitions of his own. His name was Sten Gustafsson; history remembers him as Sten Sture the Elder.
Sture wanted Sweden to be free once more, and after being elected Regent in 1470, he began advocating Swedish secession from the union. The Riksråd, however, was not entirely on board with this idea. Most Swedish nobles desired increased autonomy, but few wanted to sever all political ties with Denmark. Sture's main opponent within the Riksråd was his distant kinsman Svante Nilsson Natt och Dag, who was a staunch supporter of the Danish king. Despite much aristocratic opposition, Sture campaigned and agitated relentlessly for a decade, and he gained significant support amongst the commons. Especially zealous were the miners, who sold most of their iron to northern German states—and who had the most to lose when tensions flared between Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire.
Intending to seize Stockholm for himself, Sture raised an army of 2,000 knights and 10,000 peasants in October of 1486. But the regent's dreams were crushed at the Battle of Brunkeberg, where Sture's army was countered by loyalist Svante Nilsson, commanding 3,000 Danes, 6,000 Swedes and 3,000 German mercenaries. Shortly afterward, the Riksråd demanded Sture's resignation and elected Svante Nilsson to replace him. Almost immediately, regent Nilsson began seeking closer integration between Sweden and Denmark. To increase his influence in Copenhagen, in 1488 Nilsson married the daughter of the king's marshal—one Dorothea Haraldsdatter, recently returned from the English court. Nilsson's new wife wasted no time in providing her husband with an heir, Sten Svantesson Natt och Dag (though some wags on the council referred to the child sotto voce as Sten Henriksson).
Following Scandinavian political union in late 1493, regents were no longer required in Norway and Sweden, and Nilsson consequently resigned his post. But in the summer of 1494, Scandinavia's King Frederik dies suddenly, and his heir Karl I is a mere infant. On the strength of his prior faithful service, Svante Nilsson is re-elected regent by his peers; but this time there are subtle signs that something is amiss. Nilsson's first regency was marked by probity, even-handedness and sound judgment, but his second is mired in favouritism and nepotism—to the point where much of the government is now run by members of his wife's family. This trend alarms the remaining Griffin nobility, who demand increased representation on the regency council.
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Meanwhile the Grand Crusade grinds onward, with sieges underway in Circassia, Bithynia and Muş. After much contemplation, William III will try to seek a middle way; balancing the desires of territory-hungry Greek magnates against skittish Catholic Europeans fearful of an England-Byzantium behemoth. To the delight of the Greeks, the King-Emperor is in agreement with their foremost demand—that Byzantium must be contiguous; Constantinople ought to be reconnected with the Greek heartland. Unfortunately, the Turks are reluctant to concede their own capital in any peace negotiation, and so the war drags on. (At this point I decided to wait out the "Occupation" timers on Byzantine-held Edirne and Epirus, having them gain the territories via MM's "long wait" mechanic. This is not something I would do to gain territory for England, as it is contrary to my starting AAR guidelines, but I reason that a Byzantium on the winning end of such a wildly successful crusade would accept no lesser result.)
On September 23rd, the Ottoman city of Sohumkale (Circassia) falls after a 323-day siege. One month later the Ottoman Divan accepts peace with Serbia, renouncing a claim on Moravian Serbia and agreeing on a schedule to pay 22 million ducats in reparations.
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Throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had experienced a tumultuous relationship. The two countries had at various times been allied in personal union, at war with each other, then re-unified under succeeding kings of the Jagiellon dynasty.
By the autumn of 1494, there is a growing sense in both nations that past quarrels should be set aside. The strength of Russia looms ominously in the east, and Lithuania has already lost territory to the Tsar. In October, Polish and Lithuanian noblemen meet to discuss terms of a more formal political union.
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In the "Model Parliament" of 1295, England's legislature was still unicameral, and the knights and burgesses summoned to represent the common people had a thankless task. In contrast to our modern perception, there was little prestige or respect involved. The job of these early parliamentarians was simply to be coerced into granting taxes for the government—then to return home and explain the unwelcome developments to their constituents.
In 1341 (during the reign of Edward III), the knights and burgesses began meeting separately from the nobility and clergy, resulting in the now-familiar division of Upper and Lower Chambers; the House of Lords and House of Commons. Though subordinate to the Crown and Lords, over the following decades the Commons grew increasingly bold. Through its spokesman the Speaker, the Lower House complained about high taxes, demanded audits of royal expenditures, and even criticised the Sovereign's management of the military. During the reign of Richard II, the Commons had even managed to impeach some of the King's ministers.
And it is impeachment that the Commons pursues in the autumn of 1494. Popular anger over the pirate raid on Malta is still running high; the House of Commons holds the Lord High Admiral, Samuel de Clifford, responsible for the neglect and complacency that made it possible. Queen Regent Eleanor does nothing to save the embattled de Clifford, essentially confirming the House's prerogative to impeach wayward ministers of the Crown. (Slider moved toward Free Subjects, results in Social Discontent event; lose 10.00 prestige, advisor Samuel de Clifford dies.)
The downfall of de Clifford is part of wider changes in the Privy Council. Lord Treasurer John Wolfe (1-star Master of Mint) retires, and a new arrival to the council, Charles Button (3-star Statesman), is appointed Lord Chancellor; de Clifford's successor as Lord High Admiral is Anthony Boscawen (1-star Naval Reformer). Boscawen's changes to naval administration will, in a few short months, see a reduction in pirate attacks in the Straits of Malta (pirate activity subsides, event "Shipping Activity Normal").
In the new year, Parliament notes that the heavily-used roads between London and its surrounding counties are in poor states of repair. They are not adequate to accommodate the high volume of traffic that flows into and out of the city—traffic that sustains the capital's economic vitality. After remarkably brief parliamentary debates, the Queen Regent gives royal assent to bills funding road improvements in London, Oxfordshire, East Anglia, Kent and Sussex.
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On the Continent, there is a surprising development in the Empire's College of Electors. Though the House of Ascania has been deposed from the ducal throne of Austria, it survives in its ancestral lands of Saxony and Anhalt. On January 21st, the Elector Palatine—Johann Friedrich I von Nauheim—passes away, all of his children having pre-deceased him. The Electoral Palatinate is subsequently inherited by his brother-in-law, the Duke of Saxony, Christian I von Askanien. The Duke is already a prince-elector on behalf of his own realm, and is now in the unique position of being eligible to cast two votes.
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FRATER, AVE ATQUE VALE
From mere Baronet of Alton (county Wiltshire), Charles Button has climbed to the lofty political height of Lord Chancellor of England. Charles is a capable administrator, but he (like all Great Officers of State) has a small galaxy of family members, courtiers and hangers-on orbiting his ascendant star; all of them hoping for rewards of patronage and largesse.
Of particular concern is Charles' younger brother Hugh, a luckless mercenary who has fallen in love with the daughter of Scotland's Lord Sinclair. Hugh has spent every penny that he had (and more than a few that he hadn't) in a vain attempt to impress Sinclair, but the girl's father is adamant that she will not marry below her station. With his younger brother leaning on him for a bailout, the Chancellor decides to go one better—dropping many subtle hints to the queen about vacant peerages in Scotland.
As a mark of favour to her Lord Chancellor, the Queen Regent elevates the younger Button to the barony of Aberdour in the peerage of Scotland. It is an elegant solution which Charles is justifiably proud of; income from the Aberdour estates will cover Hugh's debts, and the baronial title satisfies Lord Sinclair's requirement for equal social rank. It will also result in Hugh's undoing, for his bride is a fervent supporter of Scottish independence; the newlywed baron will soon decide that he loves his wife more than his country.
When the annual feudal dues arrive from Scotland, Lord Aberdour's remittance is conspicuously absent. Notified by the Exchequer, the Lord Chancellor writes several queries to his brother—all of which go unanswered. Without exculpatory circumstances on record, this is not an offence the Lord Chancellor can paper over, and in due course Aberdour is summoned to appear before the Privy Council. The summons is ignored, but Hugh Button does send a reply of sorts; on the 2nd of April he leads a rebellion of 6,000 persons in Dundee.
The revolt creates increased scrutiny of Hugh's elder brother; enemies at court watch for any sign of treason from the Lord Chancellor. Though it pains him, Charles Button has no alternative but to send soldiers from Edinburgh to crush his rebellious brother.
The outcome is never really in doubt. Many Scots have reservations about union with England, but few are willing to risk their necks in an English turncoat's quixotic campaign for independence. Unable to gain popular support from either the Highland clans or Lowland aristocracy, Lord Aberdour's Scottish rebellion is thoroughly suppressed in less than thirty days.
The Lord Chancellor doesn't escape without reprimand either. Following Hugh's conviction for treason, Charles is commanded by the Queen Regent to personally draft his brother's death warrant. Lord Aberdour will be executed at Broughty Castle in the summer of 1495, suffering the usual traitor's death of hanging, drawing and quartering.
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CORRUPTIO OPTIMI PESSIMA
CORRUPTIO OPTIMI PESSIMA
In Scandinavia, the regency council continues its descent into chaos. Though Regent Nilsson still professes allegiance to the infant Karl I, this claim is increasingly belied by his wife's behaviour. Lately, Dorothea has insisted on regal honours and precedence for herself and her husband; on a few occasions she has even referred to their own child—Sten Svantesson—as "the Crown Prince".
Nilsson soon adopts the nationalist mantle and rhetoric of his former enemy, Sten Sture—but this regent doesn't want to dissolve the union, he merely wants Swedes to lead it. By mid-April, all pretense of loyalty to the House of Griffins has been abandoned; Svante and Dorothea clearly intend to take the throne for themselves. The regent's supporters (known as the Sture party) comprise a bare majority of the Scandinavian Rigsraadet.
The infant King Karl I is securely ensconced in Copenhagen Castle with Griffin loyalists, but his chances of survival—to say nothing of ultimate success—are unknown.
The Sture party controls the levers of government, but only exercises unchallenged authority in a relatively small part of southwestern Scandinavia.
When news of the attempted deposition reaches Princess Christina of Wales, she is understandably distraught. But Christina's entreaties to the Privy Council on behalf of nephew Karl I fail to yield the intervention she desires. There are a number of good reasons why England ought not to get involved. Two-thirds of the army is still involved in the occupations and sieges of the Grand Crusade. Drawing upon the remaining forces would present the French with certain temptation, and no one is anxious to enter that fight without having the whole of the army available. Then there are political realities; although English and Danish forces cooperated informally during the Grand Crusade, they were never officially allied. Moreover, if England backs the Griffins but the Sture party succeeds, diplomatic relations with Scandinavia will be poisoned for years.
Events elsewhere in Europe would soon rob the Council of its greatest excuse, but even so, the lords remain unmoved.
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RADIX MALORUM EST CUPIDITAS
RADIX MALORUM EST CUPIDITAS
Queen Juana of Castile had passed away in October of 1494, and her son Alfonso XIII inherited her grand ambitions. One of Juana's unfulfilled goals was the unification of the Iberian kingdoms; a project Alfonso quickly undertakes for himself. On May 29th, 1495, the Kingdom of Castile and León declares war on Aragon, its weakened neighbour. The Castilians are aided by their Burgundian allies, while Aragon is defended by France and Lorraine. At the same time, Castile is also fighting a war of conquest against the Aztlán nations in the New World. While many monarchs might blanch at the prospect of two wars happening half a world apart, Alfonso has no need to worry. The Castilian economy is quite prosperous, and its army is large and well-equipped.
The overriding question in the courts of Europe is what, precisely, is funding Castile's meteoric ascension. Castile has a burgeoning colonial empire, certainly, but its network of small towns is an unlikely setting for sailors' stories of vast New World riches.
Merchantmen in Cadiz claim to have seen a half-dozen ships fully laden with hundreds of pounds of pearls, cases of gold and silver ingots, chests of jewels and gold masks; but no matter how credible the source, Castilian ambassadors invariably laugh off the stories as wild exaggerations. (Castile selects "Extractive Prerogative" as its colonial policy.)
The Portuguese, on the other hand, are far less secretive about the wealth of their New World settlements. They trade mainly in brazilwood, from which the colony derives its name. The dye derived from brazilwood is valuable in Europe, but not as valuable as sugarcane, which is cultivated in the fields where the harvested trees once stood. Initially the sugarcane plantations are worked by indentured servants from Europe, but the settlers have a regrettable tendency to contract tropical diseases and die quickly. In an effort to cut costs, this comparatively expensive labour is phased out in favour of slaves captured from indigenous tribes. Later, the Portuguese will import vast numbers of slaves from their African colonies, creating the classic plantation economy that will be adopted and exploited by every other European colonial empire.
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As Christmas approaches, there are rumblings of discontent in the County of Artois. Some English continental possessions—such as Calais and Normandy—enjoy representation in Parliament, while most others do not. Those Anglo-French counties without burgesses in London are instead administered by a military governor, the Captain of Calais. The Captain is advised by an executive body—the Council of Calais—to which the counties can send representatives; but unlike Parliament, the governor is not required to abide by the council's decisions and can overrule it at his discretion.
The majority of the population in Calais is Flemish (who speak a dialect of Dutch), with a sizeable minority of Walloons (who speak a dialect of French). Because they make up the majority of the merchant class, it is usually Flemish burgesses that have the greatest influence on the Council of Calais. The County of Artois has a majority of Walloons, however, and their concerns tend to be overlooked by the English aristocats and Flemish burgesses focused on satisfying the mercantile interests of the Staple Port.
By Christmas of 1495 the situation in Artois has become acute, and a Walloon revolt is in the offing. Rather than precipitate a Yuletide massacre sure to be mourned for generations, the Captain of Calais agrees to rebel demands for more equitable representation.
(I reasoned that the administration would show the rebels clemency due to it being Christmas Day, in game-time. Otherwise they would have met a nasty and unlamented end.)
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CREDITE POSTERI
"And no wondur, for Sathanas hym silf transfigurith hym in to an aungel of light."
— 2 Corinthians 11: 14, Wyclif Bible, c.1380.
CREDITE POSTERI
"And no wondur, for Sathanas hym silf transfigurith hym in to an aungel of light."
— 2 Corinthians 11: 14, Wyclif Bible, c.1380.
When Pope Alexander VII succeeded the universally reviled Celestine VI, hopes ran high for the spiritual and moral rebirth of the Roman church. Like Celestine before him, Alexander was backed by the power and wealth of the Castilian crown, but this time the Cortes in Valladolid had picked a much more devout man of the cloth.
Or so it had seemed, at first.
Alexander had begun his reign with humility, rescinding the excommunications dealt out to the Papal State's recent enemies. He had established committees to examine longstanding grievances, like simony, absenteeism and the sale of indulgences. But Alexander was in some ways too naïve; he still thought one man could live in a city peopled by the corrupt, yet escape being corrupted himself. In the end, his conscience was drowned in the tides of Roman politics and bureaucratic inertia. Whatever reformist zeal was in him had died by his second year in office; in many ways it was as if Celestine had never left.
The most striking example of Alexander's transformation is Rome's Twelfth Night celebrations of 1496, held in his apartments within the Apostolic Palace. More commonly called the Ballet of Chestnuts, the feast was attended by many ecclesiastical luminaries—and over fifty local ladies of the night. After the dinner, candles were lit and placed about the room; then chestnuts were strewn across the floor, and the naked prostitutes were encouraged to crawl about and pick up them up. The guests, of course, were encouraged to have their way with the women [2].
Though Alexander did not share Celestine's insatiable desire for territorial expansion, his abandonment of reform further devalued Europe's respect for the authority of the Papacy.
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The closing years of the 15th century were also the waning years of the Baltic crusading orders. The Livonian Brothers of the Sword had been subsumed into the Teutonic Order, and then pushed out of Estonia, Livonia and Courland by Muscovy (now Russia) and Lithuania. The Teutons had managed to hold on to East Prussia and Samogitia, but the Order continued to exist only at the pleasure of the Polish-Lithuanian coalition. In due time, however, the Lithuanians' forbearance gave way to expansionist dreams. The resulting war lasted just over a month.
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Peace negotiations with the Turks were crawling toward a conclusion, as was the interminable siege of Muş. The Sultan was still resistant to Byzantine demands to cede his capital, and still doggedly determined to hold out until the bitter end.
Fortunately, the people of Adrianople were not nearly as stubborn as their former sovereign. The Greek military governor had been tolerant and benign; he had very shrewdly made a point of levying lighter taxes than the old Ottoman regime, made extensive improvements to the city, and even allowed the formation of a local civil government to handle non-military matters. After seven years of relative peace and prosperity, the point is made. In August of 1496, the civil council petitions William III to lift military occupation, and grant the city a charter as a fief of the Eastern Roman Emperor.
The petition and subsequent charter are duly forwarded to Muş, where they are waved in the face of the Ottoman delegation as a fait accompli.
In late summer, the Sultan reaches an agreement for peace status quo ante bellum with the Austrians and Portuguese. The withdrawal of allied forces creates a stir in occupied Bulgaria, whose populace has grown quite impatient with English prevarication over the fate of their own lands. Due to William's indecision the occupation government has been forced to walk a fine line; never stating categorically whether Bulgaria will become a free nation, a province of the Greek empire, or handed back to the Turks. Rumours and speculation are rampant, and major nationalist uprisings occur in Plovdiv and Burgas; the rebels number 10,000 in total.
When Byzantine soldiers move in to police the disturbances, it only adds fuel to ugly rumours that Bulgaria will never be free.
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Whatever the ultimate disposition of the Balkans, the lack of Turkish encroachment has given some rulers unlikely dreams.
Sandwiched between Ottoman and Hungarian military strength, Wallachia has never had much opportunity to expand. Now, with the nearest Ottoman janissaries hundreds of miles away, and only sparse Latin garrisons to the south, the time is ripe with possibilities.
In mid-October, Voivode Mattia I Basarab invades the Scandinavian province of Silistria. It's an exceedingly shrewd choice, as Scandinavia has no local allies, and any reinforcements are a lengthy two-month sailing voyage away.
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There is trouble enough in the Baltic, too, as Pomerania fights an ill-considered war against Mecklenburg. Though initially successful, the Pomeranians will be forced to release their new acquisition by the leader of the local Imperial Circuit.
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CINERI GLORIA SERA EST
Encamped outside Muş, King-Emperor William collapses heavily into a chair. Heaven knows how the Turks are capable of supplying themselves for this long a siege. The English are well enough provisioned, but exhausted by the environment, the slow and arduous construction of mines, the boredom and squalor of siege-camp life. And if that were not enough, the whole countryside is full of Egypt's plagues; more than a third of the men are invalided by sickness. Though the able are rotated out and replaced by fresh men, many of the sick are simply too ill to move. At night, one can hear their convulsive coughing, hacking, retching and moaning. William is sick too, with some kind of fever; some nights he awakes drenched in sweat, others he is racked by coughing until his mucus is streaked with blood. Evil business, this place.
If only Selim and his holdouts would concede, then—God be praised—Turk and Englishman and Greek could all be bound for home. Home—how distant in time and space it seems! The rolling hills of the Cotswolds, the stark cliffs of Dover, and the bustle of London all seem like fading memories from a lifetime ago.
Sighing heavily, William reads his wife's latest missive from London; it concerns a slight change to English jurisprudence.
England had long ago established justices of the peace—local gentry who were commissioned by the Crown to traverse their counties and punish minor offences. More serious criminals could be committed to the Courts of Assize, a senior court usually held at Westminster, with juries summoned periodically. Now, Queen Eleanor writes that some of these cases might be tried more rapidly and efficiently if senior courts existed in some of the larger counties. To that end, she has committed funds for their establishment (Government Technology level 13, allows construction of Courthouse).
Wiliam cannot help but smile at his wife's diligence and wisdom. What a blessing it is to have found her; beauty, grace, wisdom and industry so rarely cohabit in a single soul. In some ways she is a better monarch than he is. The king reads on, but fatigue overwhelms his senses; soon he is sleeping awkwardly in his chair.
Awakened suddenly by a trumpet blast, the still-clothed William wanders outside into the cool night air. The sentries outside his pavilion bring their pikes to attention in salute. Some fifty feet away, a cloaked rider is galloping toward him; it must be some important dispatch from London or Constantinople. Most of the campfires have been extinguished, only the light of the stars and moon cast any illumination. As the rider draws nearer his pace does not slow; a tiny sliver of fear creeps into William's thoughts. He glances sidelong at the sentries, who stare straight ahead and show not the least concern. There is no livery on the horse or rider; surely the man must be English or Greek to have gotten past the camp's perimeter sentries, and then again past the retainers whose pavillions surround his own.
As the rider closes to within thirty feet, time slows down. Each hoofbeat echoes like a thunderclap; droplets of sweat streak down the horse's shoulders and flanks; the rider brandishes a gleaming sword. The king draws his own weapon in response, tensing for action. The sentries are strangely unmoved, and some are even facing the wrong direction. William grips the nearest one by the shoulder and spins him round to face the rider.
"To arms!" cries the king. The men begin to rally in front of him, but the points of their pikes are still held high—evidently they are having trouble distinguishing the rider from the darkness. It is too late in any event; both man and horse slip through the piked cordon with nary a scratch.
As the rider closes to within striking distance, William gets a look at his face. The man wears a gruesome death-mask, a skull grinning sightlessly at its prey. Fear seizes the king, but he is determined not to show it. William lowers his sword; better to accept one's fate with equanimity. The rider's blade sweeps down toward the king in a killing arc [3].
"Give my love to the Queen," says William at the moment before impact. Then darkness and excruciating pain overtake him.
William's body is discovered the following morning by gentlemen of his bedchamber; still slumped in its chair, clutching a letter from Queen Eleanor. He was 52 years old.
Regency aside, William III had reigned for 13 years, 4 months and 3 days. For the successful campaign in Turkey, contemporaries and historians will bestow upon him the appellation "the Crusader". And like that other famous crusader, Richard the Lionheart, William spent more of his reign away from England than in it.
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ENGLAND c. 1497
Henry VII Lancaster (ADM 6/DIP 8/MIL 3)
By the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland and France and Lord of Ireland
True Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine,
Earl of Artois, Cambray, Picardy and Malta
ENGLAND c. 1497
Henry VII Lancaster (ADM 6/DIP 8/MIL 3)
By the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland and France and Lord of Ireland
True Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine,
Earl of Artois, Cambray, Picardy and Malta
Dynastic Links:
~ Burgundy (Duke Henri III Lancaster-Valois-Bourgogne)
~ Cyprus (Basilissa Charlotte I Lancaster-Lusignan)
~ Lüneburg (Duke Friedrich III Lancaster-Brunswick-Lüneburg)
Treasury: £13.3 million (133m ducats)
GDP (estimated): £116.72 million (1,167.2m ducats)
Domestic CoTs: London £41.46 million (414.64m ducats), Constantinople £22.78 million (227.87m ducats)
Army: 12,000 Knights (Chevauchée), 36,000 Gallóglaigh
Reserves (potential levies): 14,892
Navy: 24 Carracks, 24 Pinnaces, 21 Cogs
Discipline: 113.50%
Tradition: Army 23.10% Navy 9.50%
Prestige: Ninety-second (3.30)
Reputation: Respectable (0.59/15.00)
Legitimacy: 100
Footnotes:
[1] The founder of Malta's real-life city of Valletta was Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller. He was descended from a Provençal family of Quercy, and is believed to have been born in 1494—too young to have founded the city in this AAR. I have conjectured that his grandfather, Bernard de Valette (also a Knight Hospitaller), may have emigrated to Gascony to participate in the 1456 English Crusade, and either Bernard or his son may be the city's founder in this story.
[2] Everyone (I hope) knows that the Ballet of Chestnuts actually occurred in 1501 (though not on Twelfth Night). Apparently you have to know the illegitimate son of a pope to get invited to all the best parties.
[3] Yes, the cloaked death's-head rider is a direct homage to one of the closing scenes of The Tudors. Because it was awesome. And every king should go out like that.
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Well, death waits for no man I suppose. Shame too, it would've been nice if William could've at least seen one of his two capitols to be heralded as a hero/legend. Still, his legacy won't go to waste. Soon the Ottoman Turk will be greatly humbled and, if the English Crusade does not finish off the heathen once and for all, then the war exhaustion and revolts that are sure to follow will keep the Turks crippled for others to pick apart at the corpse.
Its a shame that the return of Gascony to the English realms was not to be in William's history. Still, Castille and France are heading for a smack-down brawl. Give them a few years to exhaust themselves (and to help replenish your own economy) and then go for the illegitimate Duke of the Aquitaine! May both father and son be remembered as great warriors who returned vast amounts of territory to their legitimate owners, both Greek and English!
Hopefully that higher Admin on Henry's part will get your AE back up to a good point. It'd be nice if you could get to 'Good' in time for the Formalization of Weights, Scales and Measurements, just for the huge boon it'd bring to the economy.
It also looks like we'll be getting and Eliza from a Henry much sooner than how it happened in history. Tell me, does this Elizabeth mirror or historical namesake, or is she a pale imitation to the Virgin Queen?
Its a shame that the return of Gascony to the English realms was not to be in William's history. Still, Castille and France are heading for a smack-down brawl. Give them a few years to exhaust themselves (and to help replenish your own economy) and then go for the illegitimate Duke of the Aquitaine! May both father and son be remembered as great warriors who returned vast amounts of territory to their legitimate owners, both Greek and English!
Hopefully that higher Admin on Henry's part will get your AE back up to a good point. It'd be nice if you could get to 'Good' in time for the Formalization of Weights, Scales and Measurements, just for the huge boon it'd bring to the economy.
It also looks like we'll be getting and Eliza from a Henry much sooner than how it happened in history. Tell me, does this Elizabeth mirror or historical namesake, or is she a pale imitation to the Virgin Queen?
The words: Amazing, Awesome and Unbeliavable does not do you justice. This is undeniably the best AAR around.
2 Questions
About how long until colonisation gets under way?
What happened to Wallachias war against Scandinavia?
2 Questions
About how long until colonisation gets under way?
What happened to Wallachias war against Scandinavia?
thanks
Thanks for the update!
Looking forward to the restoration of the Byzantine empire, especially if you inherit... tha owuld make for a fascinating historical diversion...
...and also for the settlement of the new world
Thanks for the update!
Looking forward to the restoration of the Byzantine empire, especially if you inherit... tha owuld make for a fascinating historical diversion...
...and also for the settlement of the new world
Indeed, although I think if he does inherit the Byzantine Empire he should probably either release them as a vassal or mod the save game so they're released with a member of the Lancaster lineage on the throne and allied to England. Then again, it's all up to Chris I suppose.
Ah, the Crusader. Truly a worthy title. As always, a fantastic update and well worth the wait.
Time to cut looses and go back to Blighty. To hell with Byzantium and the Moors!
I knew that the last words of William were familiar to me...
Yes, this is a direct homage to one of the closing scenes of The Tudors. Because it was awesome. And every king should go out like that.
I knew that the last words of William were familiar to me...
How nice to see a reverse Brunkeberg. I hope Sture got his head chopped off and a pike plunged into it. However, I think the current insurgency against Griffin rule isn't going to make it. For one it is led by Swedes who seek Swedish supremacy inside the union, but its base of support is apparently southern Norway. If the pretender Svante is so confused, I think wonderful Copenhagen has very little to fear ^^
Indeed, I half-heartedly hoped for him to order some last minute regicide of the Queen
Indeed, I half-heartedly hoped for him to order some last minute regicide of the Queen
I know, I know.
You can blame that on my general lack of knowledge regarding Scandinavian history. It's relatively easy to dig up period-appropriate rebels for Sweden. Not so easy for Norway, who by and large went along to get along, rather than rock the PU boat.I don't actually know how the rebellion panned out, I didn't pay close attention to it as there was enough going on in England's neck of the woods. I'll have to check the save.
Well ladies and gents, this is the time where I once again appeal for votes in the AARland Choice AwAARds 2011, Round 2!
If you can take a few minutes of time to cast a ballot for this AAR (or for whichever AARs happen to be your favourites), I would be extremely grateful. Please note that in order to be valid, the ballot has to contain links back to the AARs themselves. That makes voting a little bit more time-consuming than just listing your favourites, but it's all for a good cause.
There's no money or babes in writing AARs, and aside from reader comments, the various awards are the only glory and reward the authors get. So as always, even if you don't vote for me, there's got to be some other writer out there who deserves your plaudits. And I'm sure he or she would appreciate the recognition as well.
Good advice about the "Formalization of Weights, Scales and Measurements"; I'll be keeping that in mind.
Regarding Elizabeth, it's hard to say. The geopolitical environment is so much different for this Elizabeth than for the real one. My gut tells me it's probably closer to pale imitation than mirror image, but then I haven't fully finished playing out her reign. There may be some undiscovered greatness in it.
Well, as you can see colonisation is already underway for the Iberians. England's colonisation will still be a couple of decades away due to 1) more warfare and 2) me waiting for naval tech 16 in order to get the Middle Point discovery chain.
You'll be able to see what happens to Scandinavia's Black Sea territory in the next update.
If you can take a few minutes of time to cast a ballot for this AAR (or for whichever AARs happen to be your favourites), I would be extremely grateful. Please note that in order to be valid, the ballot has to contain links back to the AARs themselves. That makes voting a little bit more time-consuming than just listing your favourites, but it's all for a good cause.
There's no money or babes in writing AARs, and aside from reader comments, the various awards are the only glory and reward the authors get. So as always, even if you don't vote for me, there's got to be some other writer out there who deserves your plaudits. And I'm sure he or she would appreciate the recognition as well.
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Good advice about the "Formalization of Weights, Scales and Measurements"; I'll be keeping that in mind.
Regarding Elizabeth, it's hard to say. The geopolitical environment is so much different for this Elizabeth than for the real one. My gut tells me it's probably closer to pale imitation than mirror image, but then I haven't fully finished playing out her reign. There may be some undiscovered greatness in it.
Well, as you can see colonisation is already underway for the Iberians. England's colonisation will still be a couple of decades away due to 1) more warfare and 2) me waiting for naval tech 16 in order to get the Middle Point discovery chain.
You'll be able to see what happens to Scandinavia's Black Sea territory in the next update.
Well if history has taught us anything it is that Swedes always defeat Danes.
Go easy now, we're all friends here.
It was not meant to sound like I was being spiteful against Danes. I love alternate history even if my native country gets the short straw.
As I am neither Danish nor Swedish, let me volunteer to protect from any possible war all the ladies of this two wonderful nations
Rifal: No harm done! Hard to tell how people mean something online, when there's just text and no other contextual clues.
Kurt_Steiner: I uh, think you're going to have to fight your way through a long lineup for that honour.
Kurt_Steiner: I uh, think you're going to have to fight your way through a long lineup for that honour.
Is it possible to keep a Personal Union without ever inheriting in MM? I love the idea of England/Britain and Rome against the world. It'd be a shame if you had to either inherit or release them as a vassal later. Unions > Vassalage.
Anyway, loved the update! Can't wait for the next installment.
Anyway, loved the update! Can't wait for the next installment.