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Chapter XVI - Consolidating Grandmother's Land

Now that I had taken the helm as leader of Tuscan forces the tide seemed to shift in our favor in our war for Ferrara, and it seemed that I may yet gain one more Duchal title that had once belonged to my grandmother Matilda. I was hellbent on cleaning out Central Italy's Bohemian overlords, I mean who but a true Italian should rule over these provinces anyway?

However I needed help in these matters and had plenty of gold saved up due to the great diligence of Anselmo di Cappanori. We elected to hire some mercenaries several months ago and marched them straight away to Bologna to lay siege to that illustrious Italian city.

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Meanwhile my forces engaged a small group of raiders in Pienza under the leadership of Count Oberto of Parma. The same Count who had been my grandfather Anselmo's target for hopeful expansion some forty odd years ago. Seeing my chance to gain the upper hand I engage my soldiers against his, come away with a grand victory that even the Hero of Tuscany Theodorich von Cascina would have been proud of.

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More word from my mercenary captain streams in as they have successfully liberated yet another Bohemian holding in Bologna.

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As my forces begin their march to unite with the mercenaries a man in exile from the far away Iberian province of Portucale, finds me and my men, requesting he be considered to be appointed Spymaster. His name is Egas Sanches Velasquez and it seems he may be a grand fit. In fact, it would be a great boon to strip mother of her official role as Spymaster. Probably be one way to keep myself and my lovely wife Carla nice and safe, and actually allow me to have someone I could trust to undertake intriguing missions in hostile territory. Seeing that the benefits far outweigh any of the possible negatives I appoint him to the post he so desires. And once more sentence my mother to her prison of a townhouse in Lucca.

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More good news this time from the Barony of Bentivoglio, that our mercenaries had stormed the castle and were welcomed warmly by a pregnant woman who would eventually give birth to one Alessio di Bentivoglio. But sadly the babe's father would not survive the liberation of his barony, for he had died by a stray arrow that somehow found that soft hole of his eye.

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The mercenaries then marched to Ferrara itself, the heart of little cousin Raimondo's dukedom, his chosen capital, where I met up with the mercenary captain at long last. We had a great time together outside the walls of Ferrara, and successfully watched it fall only to discover the babe had ran away to a nearby village of Tresigallo, which we were more than happy to lay siege to as well.

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After the fall of Tresigallo, and seeing that he had lost all of his territories in Ferrara and saw no point in holding up in the local monastery, Duke Raimondo and his father the Regent Herman (former Duke, before my mother so happily stole Tuscany) rode out surrendering all their territories and requested safe passage to Parma where Raimondo would take up his one and only title as Duke of Modena, which was sadly also being contested by the Prince Udo Salian of Mecklenburg.

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That night we celebrated the victory having brought in one of Matilda's titles back to its rightful Italian owner. Now it seemed that there was only the Duchy of Modena left to claim, and I already had the Duke of Parma in prison. In fact, Duke Raimondo had just now officially stripped Oberto of his county, leaving the Duke with only the tiny unhappy island of Corsica to his name.

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A few weeks later still celebrating in Ferrara, I call a meeting of my councilors, well the ones that readily available to attend that is and requested their thoughts on what our next move should be.

"I think we should let the levies return home, your grace," Zdirak the Marshal states.

"Yes that would be a nice thing wouldn't it?" I say mildly and sarcastically. "But it seems our consolidation of Grandmother Matilda's old titles is yet to be completed, in fact we are only two thirds of the way done Zdirak. Perhaps its your Bohemian sensibilities talking though."

He bristles at that, when Bishop Camillo speaks up, "Zdirak is merely suggesting because we have to obey a 10 year long truce by not attacking the Duke Raimondo Premyslid, Bernardo. If we declare war before the ink on this treaty even dries we will bring hellfire down upon ourselves!"

I smile I like this argument, but it is my one and only chance to make the rulers of Europe look at me and think twice before crossing my path. "And who would dare rain fire upon me, the Grandson of Matilda, and Grandson of Saint Anselmo Patron Saint of Lucca?"

Bishop Camillo blushes, "The Holy Father may well sign a bull of excommunication."

"Good then it makes sense to send you back to Rome straight away then doesn't it?" I ask. "In fact take Steward Anselmo di Cappanori along with it would seem he will be needed to give our Vicar of Christ a suitable amount of gold to prevent such an atrocity?"

Camillo looks visibly shaken and the rest of the courtiers no longer look pleased enough to continue in the night's festivities. It seems everyone is quite afraid of the dark path I will be taking in my reign.

And so that night I declare war, pressing my claim for the Duchy of Modena, hoping to beat out the Mecklenburgian Duke Udo Salian, and hoping beyond a hope that the members of my court may perhaps be able to persuade the pope from excommunicating me.
 
Chapter XVII - Judita's Crimes Are Punished

Several weeks after my formal declaration of war for the Duchy of Modena officially breaking my truce with the pests Premyslids and drawing the anger of every Christian ruler in Europe, even receiving word of my excommunication and that the Lords of the Holy Roman Empire were amassing a mighty host to depose me. I thought that perhaps I had reached too far. But thankfully the treasury was full of coin, and my Chaplain was competent and my Steward liberal with the use of my money, for after being excommunicated from the Holy mother church I received word from Rome that the Pope, Holy Father of Christendom had rescinded his bull and welcomed me back with open arms so long as I repent and work to make Italy Italian again.

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With that minor inconvenience out of the way the mercenaries that had thus far served my cause to their utmost marched on Parma and began to lay siege to the county seat that had been desired since the days of Saint Anselmo. Finally, I felt I was achieving my grandfather's dreams, and accomplishing something that he would be proud of.

Not long after the siege began Parma would fall, sending Duke Raimondo and his father fleeing for safe haven once more, this time to the island county of Corsica, the final refuge of the di Parma family that had been our rivals for such a long long time. In fact the elder di Parma that had been my grandfather's rival so many years ago sat wasting slowly away in a dungeon in Lucca. Odd how fate and time sometimes catches up with the elderly.

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After the siege I retired to Lucca, feeling that the my men no longer truly needed my diligent guidance in the matters of war, and mercenaries, well were not to be trusted to begin with. So I returned home to my beautiful young bride and proceeded to impregnate her for the first time. Hopefully the fruit of this labor would bear forth a young strong blooded Italian bull.

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But my time in Lucca was not all fun and games in the marital bed. For word came from the country side where my Marshal Zdirad Vitkovec was training the future soldiers of Lucca's grand army, that he had died in his bed of severe stress. It would seem the years of constant war against his Bohemian brethren was too much for his old heart to bear. And so the Count of Aprutium was laid to rest passing that coastal Italian county on to his young Bohemian son Svatopluk Vitkovec.

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Unfortunately I had to turn his son down as Marshal, Svatopluk was none too happy about this decision feeling the post should more or less be hereditary. I guess Bohemians have yet to grasp that I'm trying to forge a powerful state in Central Italy, a state that will restore the power of Matilda's Toscana. So the search went on for a new Marshal and would fall upon a familiar family. In fact the man I would name Marshal of Tuscany was the son of the former Luccan Marshal Alcide di Cappanori, even better that the new Marshal's brother was my Steward. It seems the Cappanori's will be an up and coming family in Tuscany, and so without much ceremony I invest all the regalia of the office of Marshal upon Aleramo di Cappanori.

It is after the funeral of Zdirad that Egas Sanches Velasquez comes to my study bearing disturbing news.

"Duke Bernardo," Egas begins thick with his sometimes disturbing Portuguese accent. "I have discovered a rather disturbing plot in Siena."

I frown not really sure what to make of this, could my brother Martin be plotting against me already? "And what would my dear brother Martin be plotting?"

My Spymaster shakes his head even more disturbed, "My grace, it is not your brother that is the plotter, but rather the target. It seems that your mother the former Regent and Spymaster is plotting to assassinate her own SON!"

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I shake my head, how on earth could my own mother be plotting against my brother? Even worse how could she possibly be orchestrating a bloody plot such as that from her house of which she is imprisoned in Lucca? I had even replaced all of her servants and hired only locals I knew to be completely loyal to me. Such is the way of Italy though, always plotting always killing. "How could she do this?" I mumble. I could kind of see her reasoning behind this, Martin's death would allow my nephew to ascend as Siena's Count which could help mother out, should the young child be led to believe that his grandmother was of a saintly disposition. But it could also be a move in a long series of moves in her attempt to kill off that entire line leaving only me the sole di Lucca in Tuscany, and that was a sad fact I could not readily ignore.

"What are our options, Mr. Velasquez?"

"I already notified Aleramo di Cappanori to increase the amount of guards around her house in Lucca, your Grace," he started. "She can easily be arrested and brought to face your justice."

I nod. Between these sinister plots of murdering her own child, and stealing from my treasury when I was a wee lad, I cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that Judita truly had no care for anyone but herself. "Arrest her scheming ass, Egas, and lock her away in the dungeons while I ponder what to do with her."

"Yes your grace."

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Shortly after mother's imprisonment my sister Isabella contracts Consumption and her fate looks incredibly dire, and the local monks who study these sorts of things begin to warn me that this could end up as a disastrous epidemic should we not contain it. But I sadly decide to entrust in God a bit more than these weird diseases and ignore their dire warnings, and continue about my day. Only to receive word that grandfather Anselmo's rival Count Oberto di Parma former Count of Parma before Raimondo and his father stripped him of that title and now the lowly Count of Corsica had finally given up his struggle in the dungeons of Lucca and had died.

Finally some good news though, well not the best news, my wife gave birth to a daughter Abelina di Lucca. I'm a bit distraught that it wasn't a boy, I need a son! But oh well, we are both young and as long as I don't die studying books like my father at a young age I am sure we will have several young Italian studs harassing the courtiers of Tuscany around our growing Castle in Lucca.

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Next on the list of horrible things, comes the brother's di Cappanori, both Steward and Marshal Aleramo and Anselmo.

"Sire, we are running out of coin to pay the mercenaries. If we continue down this path they may turn around and attack us!" Steward Anselmo states the minute he sits down.

I look about the room and sigh, oh the life of a Duke never ends does it? I pour myself some wine and pour the brothers some as well, hopefully alcohol will make this a bit more pleasant. "So then we need to get more money?"

Aleramo looks at me in an odd way before speaking, "We have no access to money, the mercenaries after sacking Parma, never relinquished their loot, the towns people no longer even want to come and train, your grace. They're all tired of constant war."

"It is true Bernardo, if things don't change soon we will completely collapse," Anselmo states matter of factly.

Okay well what to do then I think to myself and then eye my Marshal once more, "Judita? How much does that snake of a mother I have in her townhouse stashed away with her ignorant husband?"

"I would imagine enough..."

I smile, "Good I suppose we know what needs to be done then."

Aleramo and Anselmo both look at each other strikingly dumbfounded, and here I thought they were intelligent. "Bring her out of her dungeon, it is time we hold Court gentleman."

Aleramo nods and stands throwing back the wine, and marches out presumably to go grab my shackled mother. And I waltz on out to my wonderful Ducal Throne with the banner of Toscana draped ceremoniously as its backdrop. Twenty minutes later after the courtiers had gathered and all the men that were of note that were not currently on the battlefields stood to watch as Judita, former Regent of Lucca and former Duchess of Toscana was ushered in by armed guards.

She immediately went to her knees in tears, "My son, my liege, my sovereign, I know not what I have done!" She cried.

I shake my head, I have no earthly idea how this creature that bore me could be so incredibly vile. "Enough of that my dear mother for today is your day of judgment, and I dare say you will be most pleased with my punishment. For it has come to my decision that you should not waste away in some dark dank dungeon as Count Oberto had. In fact I have come to the conclusion that it is best if you go back to Bohemia, that land of your father, and seek asylum there. I have decided that through your carelessness and hatred for Italy that you no longer deserve to live here nor call it home. For you have committed so many different treasonous plots and ambitions against us Italians that you shall never be forgiven. Especially after you decided it best to have your own son my brother Count Martin of Siena killed.

"So it is decision to hereby banish you from Lucca, from Toscana, from all of Italy. And may any Italian ruler that offers you asylum fear my wrath as my soldiers rain hellfire upon them. You will also forfeit all your wealth, and your annual salary, and your husband, yes your own husband shall remain behind in his prison of a house where he will eventually take the cloth when the next bishopric opens up. But you my mother Judita Premyslid, I hope to never ever hear from you again."

And with that she was dragged from court in the rags she now was clad in and would be escorted from Tuscany on her way to faraway Bohemia, and I could only hope that some German army would dispose of her for me.

In a way though I fear I have yet to hear the last of my treacherous mother Judita Premyslid.

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I must apologize for how long its taken me to update, RL has once more grabbed me by the ears and taken most of my time this last month. I will try my best to remain active and give updates on a regular basis but do forgive me should I disappear at times.