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Very good AAr, Etzel, as usual of course! I really like the classroom approach as well.

As for your question, I say you skip over to the Balog's first King. That is when it get's really exciting! ;)
 
I follow this because of the style and the story so what actually happens in the game is 'just' an equal part beside those two - all I want to say is I wouldn't mind skipping the parts up until the first king but I am also interested in the story of the other branch(es) of the family.

and yeah, I know this doesn't answer your question :)
 
Well it's only six more chapters until that event. Domotor only has five and the count after him only has one.
 
Chapter 11: Wars come to an End​

(1120-1121)

"Welcome everybody. On this Friday we will discuss the end of the wars in Hungary and talk a little about the new Count of Gemer. Domotor Tamasfi Balog or as he would become known as Domotor the Lesser or Domotor the Drunk.

"Following his father's death at the age of 74, Domotor inherited two things. The first was the lands of Gemer. The other was a rebellion he had no interest in. You see Domotor believed that Tamas had been led to this war by the Polish. He could not see that it was for the best of the land, and only thought it was some plot to weaken his country. Even though he thought the rebellion was a Polish plot he still followed through with it. For you see if his father thought it was a good idea then he would see it through to the end. He had great love for his father and believed him to be a smart man.

"With Domotor behind the reigns of the Gemer army it started to flounder. These men did not have the same kind of respect for him as they did his father. Because of this the rebellion slowed and it took Domotor eight months after his father's death before he was able to capture Zilina. This was nearly a year longer then it took Tamas to take Trencsen. As Domotor led his men to take the next territory he was set upon by an enemy army. These two forces were evenly matched but the Gemer army did not trust Domotor and because of this Gemer tasted its first loss in the rebellion. They lost nearly their entire army of two hundred men and only killed a little more then half the enemy.

"Since winter was setting in Domotor returned to his castle Gomor. This winter he would replenish his number and try to gain his soldiers' respect. These men would not have fought with his father and would follow his command. This loss was actually a turning point in the war. Domotor would build an army of three hundred men that were loyal to him. That would follow his command as they saw him as their Count and not his deceased father. These men would lead north to do battle against Duke Almos who had two hundred men left under his command. This battle would go in Domotor's favor and though he would lose half of his men in the conflict his enemy army was finished.

"With this victory he decided to end this war. He knew he did not have enough men to take the enemies capitol though. Luckily though word came of an army of twenty-three hundred mercenaries travelling through the area which Domotor was happy to pay for their services. These men were known as 'The Rus Band' and they were happy to join a paying liege in his work. With these well trained warriors at his call the rebellion was all but over. As the mercenaries arrived outside of Almos' castle on the 30th of June 1120 he quickly surrendered and gave his position to his younger brother. Mihaly also became the new Regent of Hungary for the Child-King.

"Domotor had succeeded in his father's goal. This is the most common occurence for Domotor. His father had something planned and Domotor reaped the rewards for carrying them out or just reaped the rewards by doing nothing. Following this victory he went to the new Duke himself and told him the news. They spent the autumn hunting and enjoying each others company. It was on one of these hunts that word came that the Hungarian army succeeded in taking the County of Galaz. They now had territory on the sea and could begin constructing their very own fleet.

"As winter began to set in Count Domotor fell ill from all the drinking and returned to his own castle. It took the majority of the winter before he was fully recovered. This illness did not stop his drinking however. With the soldiers returning from the war in the east teh King's men were able to quickly defeat and put down the Pesti rebellion. The Duke of Pest was not punished for his crimes and allowed to keep his position as he Duke Mihaly had his own position of power because of a rebellion. He was leniant and the lands of Hungary returned to how they were. The Child-King was also reaching the age of sixteen and the need for a Regent would be over as he would take up the full responsibilities of being a King. Only time would tell though if he would be ready for this or if he would be swept away like so many other men and women in this age.

"I believe that will be all for today. I hope you all have a good weekend and I can't wait for Monday's class. I'm certain you will all find it fascinating. As this is the Age of the Crusader Kings."
 
Chapter 12: Balog's come to Power
(1122-1124)

Following the weekend the teacher made his way into class expecting to see the Balog, Jacob, and Anna. Instead he saw an empty classroom. Where were they? I thought they had agreed to have a discussion before every Monday, but it seemed that they decided not to attend. That was okay he guessed, he would just spend the time reading instead.

After a half an hour the students started making their way into the room and oddly enough all three students were not there. Where could they be? He could not hold up the class for them and so he made his way to the podium with a huge smile. "Welcome back students. I hope you are all doing well and you had a good weekend. We left off with the end of two rebellions, the Hungarians gaining territory along the sea, and Domotor taking control of Gemer.

"Following the Pesti rebellion the lands were in peace until the King Salamon II came of age. The winter was coming to an end and he needed to find a way to gain more power. He suggested to the council of nobles to give him even more control of the laws and governance of the Hungarian lands, as well as a larger force of soldiers he could call upon from all the nobles. Worried that the nobles would not listen to him, the King tried to do the same thing that his father had done. He started a war in an attempt to gain more power. So on the 5th of March 1122 he declared the Hungarian Holy War for Bohemia. This war would have made Hungary's position in the east equal to none except the Byzantine Empire. Before the Hungarians could even begin calling up their levies the war was over. Bohemia had surrendered it's land to the Holy Roman Empire. They were now one of the many states in this great Empire and Salamon lost his chance to play off the war.

"So the one thing I can say about Domotor the Lesser is that he was a great warrior. That same winter after the failed attack against Bohemia he went on a hunt. While he was out he was set upon by a pack of seven angry and hungry wolves. With his spear in hand he cut down four of the wolves before the rest broke and ran away. He was truly a mighty warrior. And those wolves pelts he turned one into a cloak and the others into a blanket. Both of which he had until the day he died.

"Around the same time as he was fighting those wolves hie neice was being crowned Empress Consort of the Byzantine Empire. Though her technical position was Countess of Bacs and was a Hungarian vassal, she exercised her power through her husband. He was a weak-willed man and would do nearly anything she asked of him. This is the first of the Balogs to sit on a throne. Only not in her own name. That would not come for nearly another hundred years I fear."

Pointing at the student with the hand raised the teacher gave her permission to speak. "Will you be telling us more about the Empress Ibolya?"

"I won't be going into as much detail about her as you would like, but I will mention a little about her family. This I will not do until Jacbo is here though. I'm certain he will want to learn about his own ancestors." Moving over to the map on the wall of Europe the teacher pointed to an area in northern Poland. "This is the Count of Plock. On the 19th of Februrary 1124 it fell under the rule of a Balog as well when the Countess Aechte of Plock died. She was married to Jeno Palfi Balog, grandson of Ince Altmannfi Balog. Their daughter Virag Balog became the new Countess. This region is the first time that a Balog rule outside of Hungary and the province would stay in the Balog's hands for many more generations.

"The following month though was a sad time in northern Hungary. After only four years as Duke of Nyitra, Mihaly passed away. Like he had done with his own brother Mihaly's sons each took a Duchy for themselves. The elder Levente became the Duke of Nyitra while the younger Trivadar became Duke of Slovakia.

"Now the last of the Balogs to come to power in this time was Domotor's son Konrad. You see Domotor's wife was the Countess of Feher. This untion Domotor did not wish, but in the end his father forced him into it. Because of this Konrad Domotorfi Balog became Count of Feher on the 22nd of June 1124 and would eventually inherit the County of Gemer. Feher was still a weak province though since they were still rebuilding from the destruction King Luckacs had committed in the year 1111. The Balogs would fix this though in due time with their wealth from Gemer once Konrad recieved his father's land in the years to come.

"So now the Counties of Bacs, Feher, and Gemer in Hungary are all under the Balog's rule. As well as the County of Plock in Poland and we have an Empress of the Byzantines which is a Balog as well. It might not seem like a lot but everybody has to start somewhere and this is pretty good in less then sixty years. Tamas had paved the way well for his families future." Looking up at the clock the teacher nodded his head. "Well that is as good as a place as any to stop for today. Tomorrow's class Domotor will be going to war again."
 
Chapter 13: Domotor goes on a Crusade​

(1124-1127)

Looking at the children's faces the teacher noticed that the three were still missing. Where were they? It could not be a coincidence that all three had gone missing. Could it? It did not matter though he had a class to teach. "First off Jacob is not here again so we will not be talking about the Empress Ibolya. Last class we left off with the County of Feher going to Konrad Domotorfi Balog. The very next day the King found a new plan to gain the nobles support. This time he would join the Crusade to take back the province of Barcelona on the Iberian peninsula. The King of Hungary however had a different aproach then the other Kings and Queens in this Crusade. Instead of marching their men to Iberia he would lead them across the Mediteranian and strike the people who controlled that lands, homeland in Northern Africa.

"Before joining the Hungarian army though Domotor decided to marry Katrina Regnvaldsdotter. This woman was the Aunt of the King of Sweden and if he died Domotor believed his children with her would inherit the throne. He did not think about the fact that the King had three younger brothers who were in line for the throne following the King's death. This was one of the many stupid moves Domotor had made in an attempt to further his families name. He proved that he did not know what he was doing at this momement.

"Over the next three months 5100 Hungarians met up in Bihar before moving on to their new province of Galaz. They had access to the sea, but they had only just begun working on their fleet. Because of this they only had enough ships to ferry three hundred men at a time across the Mediteranian. This meant seventeen trips between the lands of Hungary and Africa. During his time in Galaz, Domotor had his new wife with him to keep him company. It was not until August of 1126 that Domotor was finally put on the ships to go to Africa. Katrina had two daughters in that time named Jozsa and Czanzi. On the 16th of October Domotor landed in Africa." Picking up the book the teacher flipped through pages. "There is a part of Domotor the Lesser's journal in here shortly after his landing in Africa. It's a bit graphic but we are all adults."

After flipping through a few more pages the teacher finally started reading. "We have landed on the godless land of Africa. Though it is starting to turn witner this horrible place is still warm. This could only mean that this place is closwer to hell and the people who live here deserve no mercy. We must cut off the heads of all the men and shove red hot pockers into all the women's gaps to ensure these hethen fucks can not ruin our land anymore."

Setting the book down the teacher looked out at the class. "The sad thing is, is that Domotor did this to anybody he captured." Giving a low sigh the teacher went on, "It's sad to see how far different a son could be from his father. Tamas was a good man, a man of the church. His son was a violent, horrible man. But there is nothing that we can do about it. And there are very few Balog's who were like Domotor the Lesser. Though there is a King who was quite crazy. We'll get to him in time.

"Now as I was saying Domotor arrived in Africa in October and a few days later him and his men joined the siege of Constatine. This was a mighty fortress and was the symbol of power in Africa. Many believed on both sides of the siege that Constatine could not fall to any army. And they were right, at least about this siege. For on the 2nd of February 1127 the Pope declared the Crusade over when the Duke of Brunswick captured Barcelona.

"The Hungarians were forced to return home. However, they were still looking for battle. King Salamon II decided to hold his Grand Tournament at this time since all his nobles were wanting to fight. Unlike his father Domotor was an outstanding warrior. He ended up taking second place in the Tournament. The Tournament was not enough though for the Hungarians. They wanted real battle and so..." Seeing what time it was the teacher smiled and said, "We will continue this discussion tomorrow."
 
Chater 14: Hungary vs Poland/Novgord​

(1127-1132)

Where in god's name were they? This was the third day in a row that they had missed. Why would they miss of all people? Were they skipping class? That didn't make any sense. Of all his students those three cared more then all the rest combined. Well at least Jacob started caring once he learned that he was a descendant of a Hungarian noble family and his family were once Emperors of the Byzantines.

"The Hungarians wanted real battle and so the King obliged his men. On the 5th of December 1127 he declared war against the Polish for their southern County of Sacz. Domotor joined the eight thousand men who came together and even offered his lands for them to prepare at. This was yet another attempt to gain favor for his family, but all it did was help bankrupt his land and the majority of his crops were eaten. In return he recieved nothing.

"The Hungarians then moved north to begin laying siege to the lands of Poland. At the same time the Holy Roman Empire was also moving against the Polish but along their northern border. This kept the Polish army distracted while the Hungarians made quick work of the southern lands. For four years the Hungarians moved, layed siege to, captured, and moved again without ever facing any opposition by the Polish forces. This was forced to end though once Novgord decided to use the same tactics against Hungary as it used against Poland. While they are busy on one front, attack from the other. The only problem with this however was the fact that the Polish were losing on the other war front while the Hungarians were winning. So the month after the Novgordians declared war over Birlad the Hungarians made peace with the Polish. Their northern border was now Sacz and the Duchy of Nyitra grew.

"With the war in the north over the King marched his men south to face the five thousand men at Birlad. For nearly two weeks in the month of June 1131 these two armies fought. And inch by inch the Novgordians were forced out of Hungary. The sheer numbers of the Hungarians is what ended up winning the Battle of Jeroslav. The Hungarians lost close to 1500 men while the Novgordians lost nearly four thousand men of their five thousand. It looked like the Hungarians would end up winning this war as well except word then came of two other Novgord armies moving into northern Hungary. These armies numbered in the tens of thousands each and Hungary stood no chance against them. Unable to march against the armies they tried to recapture the provinces that fell to the Novgords. At first this worked until the Novgords got smart. One army was used to capture while the other was used to ensure the Hungarians were not able to reclaim the land they had lost."

Looking to where Anna usually sat the teacher wished she was here today. "Though Anna is not here I will tell the rest of you. So on the 12th of August 1132 Saint Andras passed away. At the time he was living in Rome and because of Domotor's actions during the Crusade Andras requested to not return to the lands of Gemer until their was a good man ruling Gemer again. And so Andras was buried in Rome." He knew that was not the end of the story but he would get to the rest later.

"King Salamon II realized that he could not defeat the Novgordians towards the end of that year. There were just to many of them and they were now counteracting his plans. The only option was to surrender. So on the 21st of October he surrendered the County of Birlad to Novgord. Though he did keep Galaz and still had an outlet to the sea. This land was just not connected to their homeland." Chuckling the teacher said, "Much like Alaska is not connected to the rest of the states.

"Now then we will discuss tomorrow the end of Domotor and the rise of his son Konrad of Feher."
 
this story gets more and more interesting :) however I think Africa should have been Dömötör's grave - such a man does not deserve anything more than that!
 
I love it. I actually REALLY love the character of the professor and his students. I want to see more of them as much as I want to see more Balogs!
 
Hells yeah. :D
 
Chapter 15: Konrad claims Gemer and a Balog becomes Queen of Hungary
(1133-1139)

"Today you will get to learn why Domotor Tamasfi Balog is known as Domotor the Drunk. As I said before he was a very avid drinker and this grew worse and worse as he grew older. In time it got so bad that he would fall ill for weeks form it. This had happened back in February of 1132 and it was so bad this time he was bed ridden for days. This most recent on set would not get better, even when he would hold off drinking for a month at a time. Since it would not get better he decided to then drink his problems away. This in turn back fired. He was drinking so much that his brain cells were nearly completely fried. He was unable to do anything for himself anymore and on the 12th of July 1133 he was declared incapable and his wife Katrina acted as his Regent.

"This went on for nearly a year. However, at last on the 28th of February 1134 he passed away at the age of 56. With his death Konrad Domotorfi Balog, Count of Feher and his only son, became the new Count of Gemer. Konrad had only one child at this time, a little girl named Eszter. With no other children besides her he named her his heir which upset many of the lords in both lands. Konrad was married to Jolan Aba the youngest daughter of the Count of Pecs. Konrad had not wished the union and he like her less and less as the years went on. She continued to fail to give him a true heir which grew even more animosity from Konrad. So he decided if she continued to fail in her duties he would have the Pope annul their marriage and he would find a better wife. He was not heartless though. He gave her time to give him a son.

"Then on the 1st of February 1135 a revlot of five hundred peasants broke out in Feher. Though they were his people Konrad had difficult with them because he was spending so much time in his new lands of Gemer. The person he left in charge of his lands were not doing things the way he had so the people revolted to get his attention. Taking the army of nearly five hundred people from Gemer, Konrad made his way south to put down the peasants revolt. Upons his arrival back in the city the peasants surrendered on the condition that he stay. Agreeing to these terms he instead sent officials north to govern Gemer while he lived in his estates in Feher.

"As the years went by it was not until the end of 1137 that Konrad finally felt that he would be forced to make his divorce final. It had been nearly four years since taking the additional mantle of Count of Gemer and head of the House Balog and his wife still had not given him an heir for either position or even another child since little Eszter. The annulment was quick and the following month Konrad married Justizia Flamens, sister to the Duke of Mecklenburg. This union was very fruitfal and within a month his wife was showing signs of pregnancy. Sadly though she gave birth to a little girl name Emoke. Konrad was disappointed but it was obvious the woman was fertile. He just had to hope that she didn't have only one pregnancy in her like his last wife.

"Now I had told one of your classmates about this, but now we have reached the second ruler of Europe among the Balogs. This was Konrad's eldest daughter Eszter. In the year 1139 two huge events in the Balog history happened. The first was the death of Empress Ibolya Balog on the 26th of May. The second was the death of Queen Jutte, wife of King Salamon Arpad the Second. With her death Konrad saw an oppertunity to increase his families prestige in his own lands and took it. So on the 30th of July the King remarried Eszter Balog. The King already had four sons with his previous wife so Eszter's children would not inherit the throne, but the Balog's now had a person sitting as a ruler of Hungary. This would also make another tie between the two great families of Hungary the Arpads and Balogs."
 
Chapter 16: Konrad dies Young, Child named Count​

(1140-1152)

"Welcome class. After today we will be finishing our third week on the Balog family. The upcoming classes are all going to follow a longer amount of years then our beginning classes because we are running out of time. This Friday we will see a new head of the Balog family, Domotor the Great.

"Following Eszters rise to the position of Queen of Hungary, Konrad enjoyed his new found power of being father to the Queen. He used this influence to gain more wealth and even convinced Salamon II to declare his support in the Crusade to take the lands of Antioch. Unlike his father Konrad was a Holy man. His personal motto was 'God, Duty, Family'. For these were all that was important to him. Before leaving for the Holy lands he impregnated his wife again. This child though would also be another girl named Erika, but more importantly Konrad found yet another way to ensure his families rise in station. His half-sister Czenzi he married off to Prince Herbert the heir to the Kingdom of Bohemia. This would be yet another important and smart decision made by Konrad, proving himself to be far more effective at increasing his families prestige than his father had been.

"Konrad had his wife brought to him following the immediate conflict in taking the region around Antioch. During the siege of the city itself Justizia had two more baby girls named Etel and Gizella. She had failed to give him a son but she had given birth to four beautiful baby girls for him. On the 21st of June 1145 Dietrich Billung passed away and Herbert was crowned the new King of Bohemia alongside his wife Czenzi the Queen of Bohemia. With this crowning three of the five major powers of Eastern Europe had all held a Balog on the throne. All that remained was Poland and Croatia. One of these Domotor the Great would see to.

"Though no major battles were fought in the Hungarian Crusade, it was still considered a victory. They had captured the County of Anticheia from the heretics and were seen as Champions of God in the eyes of the Church and the other Kingdoms. This was the second Crusade fought by the Hungarian in the last twenty years and both ended in resounding victory. For his hard work Konrad recieved two gifts. Let me read you an exerpt from one of his letters to his friend, son-in-law and King of Bohemia, Herbert Billung." Taking up the book the teacher opened it to the page which was marked off.

'Following my victory in the Holy Lands of Antioch, I returned hom and was blessed with two things. The first was a rise in my station. I am now known as Count Konrad Domotorfi Balog, Lord of the lands of Feher and Gemer, Master of the Horse, Defender of the Church and Marshal of Transylvania. The second and far more important is that God has answered my prayers and given me a son. This child I have named after my father as it was his inspiration I looked to when I convinced Salamon Arpad, King of Hungary, to issue the Crusade. I only hope that he will be a good man and follow in my footsteps.'

Setting the book down the teacher looked out over his class. "And that is the birth of Domotor the Great. Following his birth Konrad caught some disease which would eventually kill him. Though a son is all he wanted in life he would only get four years with the boy before his untimely death on the 23 of March 1152." Looking up at the clock the teacher saw that he had a half an hour still. "I know we still have a long time left but I think I'm going to let you guys go. I want you to enjoy the weekend and I will see you on Monday."

Just as he said this a student rose his hand and when called upon he said, "Sir, we don't have class on Monday. It's a holiday remember?"

"Oh yeah, well then I will see you all on Tuesday then. Enjoy your long weekend." Watching all the kids leave the teacher saw that the three still had not returned. If they were not back by Tuesday he would be forced to drop them from the class.
 
Chapter 17: Count Imprisoned and Hungary fights for Birlad
(1153-1163)

Making his way into class for the third Tuesday, the teacher was shocked to see that Jacob, Anna, and the last Balog were standing around his desk chatting. They were so distracted by each other they did not see him enter and they all jumped when he said, "I thought the three of you dropped my class. Where have you been this past week?"

It was Jacob who jumped forward and answered. "Europe, sir. We saw so many things. It was incredible."

"We saw the resting place of the Saint Andras, the Shield of Ibolya, and the Crown of Croatia. The last has not been worn since the Balog's wore it all those years ago."

The last to speak was the Balog, "Where are you now in the class?"

"We have just reached the death of Konrad of Feher and the beginning years of..."

Before he could finish all three said, "Domotor the Greater." The Balog took the lead and added, "We saw the picture he painted of his father. It was a true masterpiece. That man deserves the name 'The Great'."

"It's hard to believe with all he did, he never rose above the position of a Count. Even though nearly a quarter of Hungary fell under his rule during that era." Moving forward Jacob smiled at his teacher and added, "The children of Ibolya, my ancestors were..."

Lifting his hand the teacher just smiled. "You may tell the class today when they get here." Glancing at the clock the teacher added, "For now take your seats and we will continue after class. Okay?"

Giving a quick nod Jacob and the two girls made their way to their seats and continued to talk amongst themselves while the teacher got ready for class. It didn’t take long for the other students to make their way into the room and a few of them stopped and chatted with the three kids who had just returned. Before they got to telling them to much about what they saw the teacher made his way up to the podium and said, “Yes, it appears that three of our classmates have returned from a trip to Europe. More specifically from what I have heard they have traveled through the region of Hungary and the other Balkan states. So as I promised I will be telling you about Ibolya’s children. Well I won’t be, but Jacob will. If you will Jacob.”

Rising from his chair Jacob looked around the class and said, “Ibolya as we know was the first person of the Balog’s to wear a crown upon her head. She was not a vastly important person in history but she is known for a few things. First, was that she was a warrior. She fought in three battles dressed as a man and her shield is still in the Balog museum in Gemer. Secondly, she was married to an idiot. Her husband was weak, lazy and overall just useless so she was the person who was really ruling the lands. Here she proved herself a very capable stateswoman as well as a warrior. But her children were very skilled as well. Following her husband, Baileus the Fat’s death, her son Konstantinos became Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. This man was the first Emperor in years to push back against the Muslim hordes. He went on to reclaim all the lost territory of the Byzantines that had been lost over the past few years. He would become known as Konstantinos the Great while his son and Ibolya’s grandson was Zoltan the Holy. He was a very religious man and was able to keep the territory that his father had claimed from the Muslims but he often had trouble with insurrection and rebellions.” Returning to his seat Jacob kept the next part to himself. The teacher knew what happened next and it seemed that Jacob wanted for the class to learn in time as well.

So with Jacob finished the teacher nodded his head and said, “Thank you, Jacob. That is all you guys need to know of the children of Ibolya for the time being. Today in class we will be going over Domotor’s rule. He had been Count for a little over a year now and he had already turned five. He didn’t really do much except study and learn but Domotor was a very bright child. Even at that age he understood the importance of gaining power for ones family. His first act was that on the 17th of April 1153 he married his mother off to the Duke of Poplogonia so that he was not seen being told what to do by his mother until he turned sixteen years of age. Next he betrothed Zsofia Arpad, Countess of Bihar, and sent his sister Emoke to the Isle of Rhodes.

“While this was going on King Salamon was waging a war for Birlad but it failed to gain any real momentum. In the end they called off the war to recoup. A year following that he went on another campaign to reclaim the province but again he was forced to end the war because of failure of proper supply lines. It would not be until 1159 that King Salamon would declare yet another war to reclaim Birlad.

“The following year Domotor was invited to take part in a feast by the Duke of Transylvania, his soon to be father-in-law. This man greatly hated the Balogs and so during the feast he took the twelve year old Count hostage. Placing the young man in the dungeons the boy could do nothing but think. From the first of January 1160 to the twenty-second of September of that same year he was a prisoner to this man. All the while he kept himself sane by working out strategy and plans. He went over battles he had studied in his head and whatever else he could think of to keep his mind distracted.

“Upon his release many thought he would immediately call for war against the man who imprisoned him. This child did not press for war though. Instead he knew the only real option was to be calm and to take things slow. The best way to hurt this family would be to take the crown from them. So he would do just that he promised. Over the next three years very little happened in the lands of Hungary. The war was fought but the Balogs did not take part in the war. Instead they built up their forces and strength. Which was a good thing because the war was not going in Hungary’s favor. Just as the year 1163 was coming to an end the King accepted defeat and gave up all ambitions on returning the province to his control.”
 
Chapter 18: Domotor's Early Years​

(1164-1178)

"With the coming of the year 1164, Domotor found himself in true control of his lands. Though in reality he had been running his lands in his Regent's name ever since he sent his mother away at the age of five. His first action following his adulthood ceremony was to marry Zsofia Arpad, whom he had been betrothed to since he was six. This marriage added the Count of Bihard to his titles.

"Though Domotor was a very intelligent man he also had a few problems in his youth. The first was his unfaithfulness to his wife. There was a woman named Zsuzsa of Feher in his court, a woman of unsurpassing beauty that he was infatuated with. Unable to control himself he often found himself in her chambers while his wife was doing her duties in Bihar. These nightly meetings mattered little at first until she gave birth to a young boy, who would become known as Peter the Bastard. Ashamed with his action Domotor admitted to the affair and acknowledged the child as his own. Though he would not make the boy his heir. Instead he broke off all contact with his mistress.

"It is after the affair ended that Domotor found solice and peace of mind in painting. He was quite skilled in the art and there is one of his father that they say is his masterpiece. Would you not agree?" This question was directed at the three students sitting togehter at the front of the classroom.

Both of the girls nodded but Jacob said, "Personally I prefered his painting of Antioch. It was increadible how detailed it was."

Nodding his head the teacher replied, "That was an impressive work as well. Now as I was saying he felt shamed by his actions but in time Zsofia forgave him and she had their first son which Domotor named after his father.

"At the same time Salamon II decided to go on yet another Crusade. This was to return the lands of Antioch back to Hungarian control. Following Konrad's death the region fell back to Muslim rule, which the King could not allow. So he built an army of 14,000 men to reclaim the territory. Among those to go was Domotor and a little more then a thousand men from his lands. Before he left he betrothed Konrad to Sophia Hontpazmony the Countess of Fejer. This would ensure that his son would control a large portion of Hungary and could even claim the title of Duke of Transylvania should he choose to. He also went and spoke with Amalia Arpad, younger sister of his wife. He knew that with the birth of his son Bihar would fall to the Balog's and she would fight this. So he went and spoke with her, which following the meeting she became a strong supporter of young Konrad.

"Just as Domotor arrived in Antioch the crusade ended and the province returned to Hungarian control for the time being. It was then that he made the Burning City or his Antioch painting. Upon his return to Feher he found another child waiting for him. This was a little girl who was named after her mother. Young Zsofia was a beautiful little girl but Domotor saw her not as his daughter but a pawn to be used. So a year after her birth he betrothed her to Kristof Arpad the Count of Vas and the grandson of the man who imprisoned him Tamas Arpad, Duke of Transylvania. The man who brought the arrangement to Kristof was Mayor Samuel of Gyulafchervar. Upon his return trip to Feher he was kidnapped. Two days after Domotor was able to hunt down the men who kidnapped his friend and sent the offenders to the Sheriff to be dealt with by the law.

"Then in 1172 brought two more changes, the first was that Duke Tamas I had decided to name him Chancellor of Transylvania. No longer did he want his head or his lands. It was obvious that Domotor was not a man to try and outplay as he was certain he would lose. Instead he chose to make peace with the man and use him. The second was that his wife became pregnant and the following year gave birth to yet another son. This had never happened before in the Balog line. Two boys by the head of the family. By law they were supposed to split the holdings between each other. That would mean that Gemer would go to his second son, Levente, and Konrad would become Count of Feher. This Domotor could not allow. After gaining so much power in Hungary to split it up between his children. So the day after his second son's birth he redrafted the law and now all territory would go to the eldest male child of the line. To ensure that Levente was not completely left out though he had him betrothed to Ibolya Arpad, Countess of Pressburg and granddaughter of King Salamon II.

"Over the next four years Zsofia gave birth to another son they named Lorinc and Ibolya was found stealing from her people. This enraged the people of Pressburg and brought down the wrath of her grandfather. So on the 23 of February 1178 Ibolya was imprisoned and later executed by King Salamon II for crimes against the people of Hungary. Some say the crimes were actually fabricated and she had done no such thing. The King saw that the Balog's were becoming a power that he may not be able to match and so attempted to prevent them from gaining anymore power. I tend to believe this as this prevented Domotor's children a very vital province in central Hungary."
 
...and sent the offenders to the Sheriff to be dealt with by the law.

ah, Sheriff is just so... English :) in medieval Hungary there were three major jurisdictional category: the ispán (equal to count, though his position wasn't hereditary - as there wasn't 'true' feudalism in Hungary - he was appointed by the king) was judge on the lands of the king, the main landholders were judges on their own lands and the autonomous towns and cities had their own judges.

well... just in case :)