Chapter I - A Crown for a King
Diplomat and close friend to our Duke, Adriano Solaro, traveled to Avignon to finalize the last details of the coronation of Amedeo V di Savoia. The Pope suggested that the coronation ceremony should take place in Avignon. Solaro knew that this proposal was not acceptable for Amedeo and therefore he insisted that his Duke should be crowned in Rome. Innocentius finally gave in to Solaro's request.
The Duke arrived in Rome at the end of November and was only accompanied by his family, friends and closest advisors. Amedeo wanted a small and rather private ceremony. He was old but proud. Proud because on this day he became the first every King of Savoy and his grandson Carlo was about to come of age to rule Savoy.
After the coronation of Amedeo, Savoy was officialy considered a Major Italian Power.
Amedeo always felt that the Pope should reside in Rome and not in Avignon and thought that maybe the fastest way of moving the Pope's residence back to Rome was to take Avignon. Our spies came up with a plan to fabricate a claim on Avignon.
However, the Pope had powerful allies (France) and therefore we had to strengthen our own position first before taking on the Pope. We picked a weaker target: The excommunicated Count of Dauphine. The war goals were to take Gap, Bourg, Lucca and Oristiano. The vassalization of Florence was our second priority.
Dire news spread from Florence to Torino: General Gennaro d'Aragona was killed in battle - A Florentine crossbowman shot d'Aragona in the head! Without a general our forces demoralized abandoned the siege of Florence and retreated to Lucca.
The captains of the regiments held a meeting and elected one of their own as general. The King was in Torino - too far to make an impact on the decision. The only thing that mattered was winning this war! Aimone di Cardé was elected general by the four captains. He was trained by some of the best Italian siege engineers.
While General Cardé was leading the siege of Florence, King Amedeo's administrative skill proved to be once again most impressive. He ordered our people to focus on Government Ideas. He also reformed the administration of our provinces.
Only a few months later, Amedeo passed away. Carlo, the legitimate heir, was not ready to rule the country - he was only 14 years old so his uncle formed a regency council and ruled in his name. The members of the council argued a lot and the people of Savoy were unhappy with the incompetent rule of the regency council. Amedeo V was buried in in the di Savoia family grave in Torino.
Luckily, Carlo turned 15 on January 2nd 1325 and he asked to be crowned King of Savoy the very same day by the bishop of Torino. His first orders were to disband the regency council and to quickly make peace with Dauphine. Carlo was said to be a skill-full administrator and diplomat. Under his rule Savoy quickly recovered from the death of the old king. Vittoria Amedeo, Carlo's younger brother and a fierce militarist, was the new heir to the throne.
The war a success for for Savoy. Gap, Bourg, Lucca and Oristiano were incorporated into the Kingdom and the Republic of Florence swore their allegiance to us. Bourg was known for its strong aristocracy and one the most influential family members of the city published a treatise on military thought as a gift for his new King.
To be continued...