The story so far.
The marriage of
Duke Amédée II of Savoy and
Duchess Filomena of Provence was supposed to provide an easy path to greatness. Nevertheless, there is many a slip betwixt cup and lip and it took
Richard de Savoie many years to finally secure his inheritance and then crown himself King of Burgundy. The realm is not yet secure, however, as Richard is 63 and his heir
Gilbert only a babe in arms
Part VI – A little rash
It was only a little rash or so it seemed. But a little rash can bring down many a man. It brings down the sailors visiting foreign ports and ladies of ill repute. And it brings down Kings sitting on their lofty thrones in their cold castles. It wasn't supposed to end like this.
I was born the son of a Duke, although most people forget that as within 4 months of my birth my father was raised up as the first King of Burgundy for many years, as Good King Richard.
What I remember the most about my father was how old he was. The other boys all had young and handsome fathers, while mine at 63 was more like a grandfather and newly thrust into the kingship. He had little time for me.
His first act in 1153 was to try to increase the authority of the crown and to show that a mere Duke was fit to wear a higher crown. There was resistance to this and so he went to war against the independent vassals of Lyon and Bourgogne. He also went and rode in the tourney to prove himself. That was a mistake at his advanced age as it ended shamefully at the hands of a younger man.
In 1155, Bourgogne and Lyon were both won and became my father's vassals. However, my father's plans for the succession were thrown into disarray. He had planned that his younger brother Jaufré would succeed him and then name me as heir in turn so avoiding a lengthy regency. However, both Jaufré and his wife died within the month. My half-sister Julienne also died around this time so my other half-sister Pernette was nominated as heir.
My father tried to distract himself from his grief by meddling in the affairs of France. The Duke of Orleans started a succession war for France and my father backed him. However, the war ended badly and the Duke lost.
My father would have his revenge the next year by plotting against King Othon. The plot was revealed but the King died leaving a child was on the throne. It may or may not be a coincidence but around this time my father's first wife, the Parisienne countess also died.
In 1157, the Muslims attacked the Genoese in Provence with a holy war but were pushed back. This was a pity as it might have made it easier to take back my grandmother's castle. Later that year, the Kaiser died aged only 27. The new Kaiser was only 9 years old. My father backed Martin, Duke of Verona's plot to lower crown authority but this didn't go very far.
In 1159 the Kaiser named my father master of the hunt and my father finally named me his heir.
In 1160 the truce with Upper Burgundy expired so my father attacked them for Chalons
In Jan 1162, he took Chalons and then immediately broke his truce to attack them again for Aargau. At 72 years of age my father no longer cared about his good reputation. After that the vassals finally recognised a limited crown authority over Burgundy. My father used his authority to attack an old enemy - Forcalquier. Unfortunately the count escaped arrest and rebelled. Two other things happened that year to affect the succession. My brother Louis was born but my father was concerned we were both underage. He decided on a backup plan by inviting his half-brother Amedee's grandson Amedee of Tecklenburg and giving him the newly conquered fief of Aargau
In June 1164 my father finally laid down his weary sword aged 74 of natural causes, having created and then secured a realm. I became King Gilbert I at only 11 years of age.
My regent was the court chaplain Angelo d'Este, a cunning and ambitious man. I nominated my brother Prince Louis as heir, leaving 2 children as all that stood between the great throne of Burgundy and disaster.
My regent understood well that the vassals might start to scheme and so decided to keep them busy at war. Once Forcalquier had been revoked, we attacked the Duke of Upper Burgundy for his last county Schwyz.
In December 1164 my mother died. She had always been a sickly lady and had never recovered from Louis' birth. Widowhood had not suited her well and she had continued to ail before passing on. At 12 years old I was now an orphan, although at least I had known my parents a little unlike poor Louis.
In January, we won the war and I recreated the Duchy of Upper Burgundy. I gave Schwyz to Angelo d'Este as a reward for his loyal service.
In 1168, my regent asked for the Duchy of Upper Burgundy. I was now nearing my majority and felt confident enough to refuse him. However, he had a claim on the Duchy of Lombardy and I promised to press that in due course. In April that year the Kaiser declared war on Genoa for my claim on Provence. I was already at war in that Duchy for Vivarais, which I took in the August. In October another Crusade was called against Jerusalem but I was still a minor and had no port.
In December my regency ended and I was married to Kunegunda, Princess of Poland.
My first goal as a King in my own right was try and absorb the last remaining part of the ancient Kingdom of Burgundy. Unfortunately the current Dukes had long sworn fealty to France.
I tried to influence matters by killing the heir to the current Duke but without success so in early 1169 I made a bold move and attacked France directly for the county of Macon. This was not as foolish as it sounded as France was already fighting an independence war with Aquitaine and the Muslims in Spain. Nevertheless I hired lots of mercenaries to be sure and to assault the walls of Macon if required.
My war started well as the French were tied up in Spain. The Kaiser helped by winning his war with the Genoese for Provence. By the following year the King of France's vassals were becoming increasingly bold and Gascony, Limousin, Auvergne and Poitou also declared independence.
Later in 1170, I had some internal problems as my vassals were concerned by my young heir and they were threatening to elect someone else as King. I decided to counter this by raising my distant kinsman Amedee of Aaargau to the Duchy of Upper Burgundy and making him my heir. Around this time the Crusade for Jerusalem was successfully completed and the lands given to the King of England
By August 1171, Bourbon and Badajoz had also declared independence. I now had a larger army than the rump of France. I just had to be careful not to run out of funds to pay my mercenaries, which I managed by organised a massive assault on the walls of my current siege target.
In February 1173, the French King finally sued for peace and I received Macon. It was not all of the Duchy of Burgundy but I had laid down an important marker. Later that year my first son was born. I named him Richard after my father.
After this there were several years of peace as I rebuilt my forces from the French war. In November 1176 my chancellor fabricated a claim on Brescia and the next July I went to war for it. Since Brescia had been reabsorbed into the Empire following its short lived independence it had been handed to the Duke of Ferrara, a cousin of the Kaiser. Cremona joined me in the war. Ferrara was allied with Lower Lorraine and the King of Naples but they were unwilling to come to war against me.
By June 1178, the war was won. I had also recently inherited Gevaudan after my maternal grandfather was slain in a duel and so I usurped the Duchy of Auvergne. Also around this time, my brother Louis came of age which meant I no longer needed my kinsman Upper Burgundy. Rather than having to also disinherit Louis in turn when Richard came of age I decided a better solution was to change the succession law to Gavelkind succession. As consolation for Louis I Married him to the heiress to the Duchy of Calabria.
In December 1178, I decided to stamp my authority on the realm further by raising Crown Authority. It was much more straightforward than my father's attempt to do so had been.
The next year I betrothed Richard to the Countess of Furstenberg.
In 1180, I decided it was time to get involved in the affairs of Poland. My wife's sister had inherited as Queen. I had her only son Prince Wanko of Poland killed so that my wife would be the heir. I also became involved in Lombardy, where a civil war had just ended. I decided to press the Count of Schwyz' claims to the Duchy (the son of my former regent).
In May 1181, I had some bad personal news. My marriage has always been a diplomatic arrangement rather than a love affair. We are polite and courteous but there is no affection. She has her ladies who speak and plot in Polish and I have my wars. Consequently I have always had to look elsewhere for affection. I now had a most unpleasant lesion in my most privy parts. The court physician says I have the Spanish disease.
The next few years were most unpleasant. I won the Lombardy war in 1182 but the new Duke was still independent. There was a revolt in Forez. I gained Santois through a fabricated claim in 1184. The Polish situation was still problematic as my wife was plotting to kill her sister the Queen, while the youngest sister wished to kill my wife. And yet. None of this mattered to me.
I now seem to have become increasingly unwell as time goes by. First there was the unpleasant rash. My physician gave me mercury but this has not helped. Lately I have been unsteady on my feet and sometimes I feel as if I am going mad.
I have heard the rumours at court. They say it is my punishment for having the Polish boy killed. God has struck me down for my wickedness. Even the bishop has said I must restore myself to God's grace to have any chance of salvation.
And so I have but one chance to rid myself of this little rash that has started to consume me. I will go to war for the church. The Muslims are strong in Spain but I will claim Barcelona in a Holy war. May it cure me one way or the other.
