The Norse Kings of England
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Good work of Aslak keeping the Normans at bay and thus clearing the road for what seems to be one of the best and long ruling kings of England.
Roll on the Iron King. 
Does he adopt a more anglophone regnal name or is he to be known as 'Skule' to his English subjects?
Does he adopt a more anglophone regnal name or is he to be known as 'Skule' to his English subjects?
He certainly will be
Keep in mind, this is unfortunately Crusades version 1.03
He is certainly one of the most active of my kings, it helped that I wasn't bogged down by 30 years of internal strife to kick things off.
Well, English culture doesn't really emerge for a good long while. There will be one king who has a non-anglicized name who will need to adjust to his homeland.
Skule is an awesome name (for bad puns and uninspired wordplay)
Think of the headstone 'Skule's out forever'
Think of the headstone 'Skule's out forever'
Really one of the best CK II AARs. I had lost track of the more recent updates and have just caught up reading.
Two questions if I may: Did you switch dynasties after the death of Harald Hardrada's daughter? What about the crownland in England? Did the English part go to the av Hoves or did those counties stay in Queen Haldora's possession?
Two questions if I may: Did you switch dynasties after the death of Harald Hardrada's daughter? What about the crownland in England? Did the English part go to the av Hoves or did those counties stay in Queen Haldora's possession?
Welcome back! To answer your questions:
1. Yes, When Maria died I switched over. Haldora was already old and married and had non-dynasty children. Harald's line died in her generation so there was really no point in playing a strange Spain-Norway hybrid if it wouldn't really survive and there was a Norse king in England.
2. No, I'll be honest I took the gamey route and gave all my English land to Skule right before I died. Its a really annoying trick with the game that if you are a king and yyou lose, you get to keep your land. Its why the Godwins are still around.
PrawnStar: Little known historical fact. There were missives sent out to all the Earls of England at the time which read "Be Cool, Stay with Skule"
This AAR is really good. I like how you explain events from the game and I especially like your battle descriptions.
I even like your version of English history more than real life English medieval history from 1066 and onward. To be fair I don't really like the Normans, I don't know why. But your version of history is really good.
I even like your version of English history more than real life English medieval history from 1066 and onward
. To be fair I don't really like the Normans, I don't know why. But your version of history is really good.
This AAR is really good. I like how you explain events from the game and I especially like your battle descriptions.
I even like your version of English history more than real life English medieval history from 1066 and onward
Thanks! And welcome aboard, I'm not a fan of the Normans, at least in this AAR, either. Hopefully I can keep you entertained.
Part i: The Clean Succession
Upon his succession to the throne, Skule I immediately set about remaking his seat of power. Though Skule would spend a vast majority of his reign ruling from his seat in York, he would not be entirely without a presence in Westminster. He traveled there quickly upon his father's death to be crowned, and to finish his father's wars against the wayward vassals who still looked to the line of Harald the Conqueror. He also began to work around the power of the Witan. This struggle between king and council would be one which followed Skule for much of his reign. The first victory would go to the Witan, as it retained the right to name an heir for Skule, in this case, Hartman, Earl of Somerset, was selected. He was chosen over Skule's brother Halkjell who had come of age as well. For this decision, Skule would hold a long resentment.
On the day of his coronation, Skule immediately set about splitting apart the alliances which held the Witan unified. Skule had learned from his father the arts of counting coins and using money to move the wheels of power, he had also learned to be patient. Skule began setting out a series of gifts and promises, buying friends and influence among the most powerful of the Witan's council. This earned Skule two things, first, the groundwork for future revolutionary change and second, a steady growth in royal authority. As more and more of the great lords of England fell into line, Skule's power grew in turn. By the end of his first decade in power, Skule in practice ruled with more authority than any monarch since Alfred the Great. The importance of this rise of royal power can not be understated as it changed the face of English monarchs for the next century.
With his plans laid out and his course of action set, Skule returned to York to begin the true ruling of his new realm. Since the invasion, York had become an even more important city in England and a focus point of many of the monarch's. During the 9 years of Aslak's reign a town and port had risen to some prominence in Hull on the North Sea shore in the south of Yorkshire. This port had provided Aslak with a good supply of wealth and material, and Skule sought to develop it further. It soon became, outside of London, the most fiscally powerful region of England. And its growth brought wealth both to the Northern lords of England and to Skule himself. By 1140 the King was the richest man in the realm by his own right. And with little need of taxation to maintain the realm, Skule was able to further curtail the influence of the nobles of the Witan.
One of the first great changes Skule brought about to the realm was to reorganize the nobility. Harald had not really cared for order and structure, and both Maria and Aslak had been far to busy in conflict to make any great politcal change. But Skule's rule was one of (relative) peace. Given the opportunity, he set about restructuring the English realm to better reflect the realities of the medieval world. The constant civil wars had reduced the great nobility of the realm in power and scope, and further conflicts under Skule would continue this trend. So the King reorganized as he saw fit. He took the larger Earldoms and broke them apart (a practice first done by Harald during the conquest with the northern lords specifically). Then, rather than horde land and power as Maria had, he returned it to the great lords of the realm.
Skule established a code of 11 English “Hertigs” (A Frankish equivalent would be Duke), who would oversee the Earls and Jarls of the various localities, while all unassociated local lords would pay homage and be answerable directly to the King. While the King would still be final arbiter, and would keep by rights of his title the largest of household guards, it would allow for the distribution of management and the faster administration of justice. No longer would the king need to be in all places at once. Of the 11 Hertigs, most were already well respected lords and members of the Witan's rulling council. Gyrth of Norfolk, Elfrida of Lancaster, Eadwin of Yorkshire, Leofwine (of the house of Godwin) of Cornwall, Hartmann of Somerset and Sawald of Oxford were all Saxon lords. Meanwhile the King's brother Halkjell of Bedford, Haldor of Northumberland, Eldrid of Kent, Gudrod of Gloucester, and Olver of Hereford were all Norse. It presented a balance of power between the old lords and the new, with the Norse king Skule presiding over them all.
Very interesting setup (and good to see the Godwins clinging on!) Could we get a screenshot of England with the new vassal layout?
Oh, nice to see you have those damned Hwicce super-duchies broken up well and good. How well do the Norse and Saxon lords mingle with each other by the way?
Exceptionally well for the most part. The only Saxon family that didn't get heavily norsified were the Godwins. The Hwicce's do eventually become Norse in culture thanks to very aggressive breeding on my part.
Interlude #1- Maps of 12th Century Europe
(England prior to the granting of Bedford and the county of Leicester to the King's brother)
In the 100 years after the Conquest, Europe was relatively unchanged. While Skule managed a series of reforms and changes to his personal realm, as did other kings of Europe, the large political borders in Europe were still stable. In England, the rebuilt feudal-like system Skule designed left England with many powerful lords, but none so powerful as to threaten the King alone. It was a dangerous game of give and take for Skule who designed his new England as a way to trim the Witan of its growing power over the throne.
Europe was relatively unchanged in the 100 years after the conquest. The Holy Roman Empire was still the single strongest collection of power in Europe. Its successful expansion of power into Southern Italy and France and North towards the Baltic left it in control of a significant amount of land and power. And the Emperors had held their crowns together despite the threats of war and civil strife. The same can not be said for France, who had fallen into chaos as the Normans and northern Franks fought against the King in a on and off civil war for the better part of 40 years. In Spain, Christianity was falling to the Moors. In the East; Sweden, Poland and the Russian principalities had collapsed as the Pagan Cumans roared into ascendency in the Far East. The Roman Empire still stood strong in Anatolia as the Turks and Arabs fought among themselves.
Catholicism was still the dominant religion in Europe. But for the Pagan Fins (and small pockets of Norse Pagans in Sweden, and Romuva Pagans in northern Europe),Christianity was unquestioned in Europe. The Conversion of Novgorod to Catholicism gave the Holy See a new foothold into usually Orthodox Eastern Europe. Islam was growing in strength in the Iberian peninsula and was still strong in Southern Italy. In the East, Orthodoxy was under threat from the rise of Islam in Asia, and the arrival of the Cuman pagans in Central Asia.
In the 100 years after the Conquest, Europe was relatively unchanged. While Skule managed a series of reforms and changes to his personal realm, as did other kings of Europe, the large political borders in Europe were still stable. In England, the rebuilt feudal-like system Skule designed left England with many powerful lords, but none so powerful as to threaten the King alone. It was a dangerous game of give and take for Skule who designed his new England as a way to trim the Witan of its growing power over the throne.
Europe was relatively unchanged in the 100 years after the conquest. The Holy Roman Empire was still the single strongest collection of power in Europe. Its successful expansion of power into Southern Italy and France and North towards the Baltic left it in control of a significant amount of land and power. And the Emperors had held their crowns together despite the threats of war and civil strife. The same can not be said for France, who had fallen into chaos as the Normans and northern Franks fought against the King in a on and off civil war for the better part of 40 years. In Spain, Christianity was falling to the Moors. In the East; Sweden, Poland and the Russian principalities had collapsed as the Pagan Cumans roared into ascendency in the Far East. The Roman Empire still stood strong in Anatolia as the Turks and Arabs fought among themselves.
Catholicism was still the dominant religion in Europe. But for the Pagan Fins (and small pockets of Norse Pagans in Sweden, and Romuva Pagans in northern Europe),Christianity was unquestioned in Europe. The Conversion of Novgorod to Catholicism gave the Holy See a new foothold into usually Orthodox Eastern Europe. Islam was growing in strength in the Iberian peninsula and was still strong in Southern Italy. In the East, Orthodoxy was under threat from the rise of Islam in Asia, and the arrival of the Cuman pagans in Central Asia.
great update, nice to see the wider world and the potential threats and challenges you'll be facing
Is that Castille alive and kicking (if loosing Burgos though) in Spain or is it the Dhunnunids?
Castille, though they are on the receiving end of a good walloping. Castille is ruled by Haldora's son.