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Gesta Hungarorum (Deeds of the Hungarians)

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Excerpt from "The History of the House of Árpád"


In the year 1255 AD, the King had for years been receiving reports of evil tidings from outside the borders of Hungary. Yet content at last to have his peace, the King chose to ignore them, sending instead money to his allies in order to support them. Yet as he increased in years, he grew more pious and lost his taste for administration. Turning larger powers over to his son, György, King Antal spent more time in consultation with bishops and other clergy, often receiving the Holy Father at his numerous palaces. Under the guidance of György, the Kingdom grew at the expense of the loyalty and peace which it had obtained. To gain increasing sums for the royal treasury, tax-collectors, often little more than bandits, were sent out to extort greater sums from the peasantry. The scutage for vassals of the Kingdom, having been little more than a traditional formality, now became once more a large burden on the nobility. Whereby the nobles would set before the King a treasure chest containing a single coin in the past, to show their devotion, now large chests of gold and silver arrived amidst the discontent of the nobility. Having grown accustomed to the illusion of payment, the vassals did not find the renewed payments to be a grand honour, rather a futile submission. Thus in 1255 AD, the appointed heir and guardian of the Kingdom, György, died of a mysterious cause. King Antal, deeply disturbed by such tragic events after having lived a life of war, turned increasingly to the clergy for guidance. In the place of his dead heir, Antal appointed his third-born son, Álmos, to succeed him. As the laws of the realm decreed, his second-born son should have now become heir, yet tragically, young István died of an illness soon after he was brought into the world.


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The heir who suffered a mysterious death

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The new heir
 
It seems that world is restless even when Hungary is in peace. Soon you might notice that infidels surround you and your last bastion of christian civilization.
 
You must push them back eventually. After all isolation is not an option - NOT at all .

Hopefully , you will begin your second wave of expansion when the heatherns squabble among themselves.

Reclaim Europe for Christanity! Fully re establish the Roman Empire!
 
Olaus Petrus: Perhaps....I had 3 allies, I have 2 now...but I've learned from my errors, so I send them plenty of money now.

Novea: True, but the characters don't know that yet :p
Besides, Antal clings to his dreams of peace, after his lifetime of war
Well, we'll have to see. I still need stuff to do for 3 games :)
 
It really appears that between you and Sweden and England that's all that's left of Christendom. Interesting...
 
RGB: That's one way of describing it. We're the only Christian Kingdoms left, that's for sure. Jerusalem and Germany exist on paper....but not really. Christianity itself isn't that badly off. There's Russians to the east, a few Italians, a few French and the Germans, aside from the huge territory that just our 3 Kingdoms control....
 
Chapter XXXII: The Pax Hungarorum Continued



The lands of Hungary, thus endowed with peace, turned to peaceful pursuits and strove to ignore the perils beyond the borders of the realm. Yet soon after he set about to bring peace, King Antal died and was succeeded by his son, Álmos. In Egypt, the vassals of the Kingdom sought power for themselves, and thus to bring about war with the infidel, raided the caravans traversing the vast deserts belonging to their states. These raids, often gaining vast sums of gold, proved enough to bring about war with all the enemies in Egypt, save for the Fatamids, a most powerful foe. At the head of these vassals, Gáspár Hédervári. appointed by King Antal as his strong right arm in Egypt, abused the trust placed in him by the most pious Antal, and actively encouraged these raids and set the Hungarian nobles against the Egyptian infidel hordes. Through their neglect, by failing to pass the matter before the new King Álmos and judging him to be too concerned with matters pertaining to his rule in Hungary, these vassals had to their number but few men on which to call. A mixture of landless Hungarian knights and soldiers who had wandered to Egypt on one crusade or another and had chosen to remain, and local converts to the Christian faith, placed in the ranks of the crusader armies were all that were available for this quest. With these men, the vassals, led by Hédervári, thus conquered untold lands with which to build their empire, sending a part of the plunder to the new King, in respect to his position of power over them. Time and again, as the crusaders met the armies of the infidel, they were victorious in part, owing to their new crossbows and heavy armour, both of which the infidel were unused to. Soon Cairo and other large cities fell to the crusaders, until after many battles, most of Egypt lay in their hands.


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The beautified King Antal


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King Álmos, 15th King of Hungary


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The leader of the vassals


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Battle of Gizeh


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Battle of Cairo


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Battle of Manpuria


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Battle of Sudan


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Gains made by the vassals


Thus the vassals, having firmly decided on Hédervári to be their leader and holding most of Egypt in their hands, petitioned King Álmos to grant them independence as had been the right of every vassal of the Kingdom for years. Yet King Álmos, new to the throne as he was, decreed that the Kingdom of Egypt would henceforth be created. In ceding this Kingdom to a local noble and distant relative in the Árpád family, the King infuriated the vassals, who at once expected Hédervári to be crowned King. Yet though aware of maintaining the power of the Árpáds, the King was not ungrateful, for he rewarded Hédervári with the Duchy of Alexandria, the jewel of Egypt.


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The First King of Egypt

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The Kingdom of Egypt, County of Antioch not shown.


The ceremony, crowning Zsigmond King of Egypt, was carried out in Székesfehérvár as per the tradition of Hungarian Kings. Recently added to the royal estates, the ceremony was carried out in much celebration for both the King and the people of the lands of Egypt, for the King was now relieved of a great burden and the people were relieved of heavy taxation to provide scutage for the King. Though in Hungary itself, the scutage had long been since a formality, the full payments were still demanded from all those vassals of the Kingdom outside of Hungary. Thus having been crowned at Székesfehérvár, King Zsigmond of Egypt travelled to his lands after bidding the King of Hungary farewell and sealing an agreement whereby the Kingdom of Egypt would never raise arms against the Kingdom of Hungary.
 

Yet as the lands in Egypt were freed from the direct rule of Hungary, so too arose the question of lands in the east and north. It was decided, therefore, by King Álmos that the Kingdom would be reorganized at once, and the vassals east of the Dneiper were to be given their immediate independence and joined together to the Duchy of Moskva. The vassals in Finland were to join the Kingdom of Sweden, and the vassals in the lands of Estonia were to remain within the Kingdom of Hungary, joined to the Kingdom of Lithuania which was in personal union with Hungary. Thus with all lands residing outside of the realm free from it, there remained only the core. With these borders firmly affixed, wars would be out-dated, being necessary only to protect these remaining lands to the last. Yet as this was being done, further evil tidings confronted King Álmos from both east and west. In the east, the evil Il-Khanate had now reduced the Principalities of Pronsk and Ryzan, the two self-appointed guardians of Hungary's eastern border, to mere footholds and now seemed certain to break through to the west. From the west itself, the Kingdom of Germany found itself renewed as the Duke of Upper Lorraine took the German throne for himself, and died shortly after of wounds gained in battle. From the ally of Hungary, in England, came news of a landing on their island realm by the Emirate of Toledo from their new holdings in Brittany. Thence from Italy, news of a revival in the south began to spread, of the County of Reggio expanding. The King thus resolved that if they should become a power in southern Italy, it would be worthwhile to keep them strong as an anchor against renewed Muslim advances into Europe from Italy.


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Il-Khanate expanding


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Russian Prince, father killed in battle against Il-Khanate


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Other Russian Prince, father killed in battle against Golden Horde


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London gone


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New German King


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Italy expansion


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Hungary after the reorganization of King Álmos


Excerpt from "The History of the House of Árpád"


Having thus reached the pinnacle of his power in 1255 AD, King Antal died peacefully in his sleep, after a lifetime of war. The assembled clergy, meanwhile, attested to the Holy Father that they witnessed a blind nobleman approach the King, who having lost his sight due to his wounds in battle against the infidel, thus found the workings of his eyes restored when the ailing King laid his noble hand upon the man's shoulder. For this, he was acknowledged for his piety and this miracle by the Papacy. Yet to add to the growing concerns of his son, Álmos would have to contend now with the disobedient vassals of Egypt, who had thus sought a war. Though he could not punish them outright for their refusal to observe the Pax Hungarorum as decreed by King Antal, he decided that he would punish their efforts by having an Árpád crowned King of Egypt instead of the expectant Hédervári. Thus with the issue of Egypt and the other reorganizations of the Kingdom settled, he was now free to intervene in acquiring for his father, the rite of sainthood. Through the intervention of his son, Álmos, the Pope was thus convinced that the miracle and numerous other acts of Christian charity merited Antal a sainthood. Thereupon it was confirmed in 1258 AD that henceforth, Antal Árpád of Hungary would be Szent Antal, protector of the Kingdom.


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The gentle intervention of Álmos convinced the Papacy.

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Szent Antal (St. Antal)
 
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It will be an interesting task to maintain that kingdom; hope your Zsigmod is up to it.

If Egypt gets in trouble will Hungary support it?
 
RGB: Well, as is explained in the chapter, it gets rid of both a headache for the King and sort of punishes the vassals for not asking permission first. Although to the game, it appears that the peace has been broken, in terms of the story, Hungary proper has been at peace all this time (so to reflect that, I used only the troops of the Egyptian vassals to get Egypt).

Maybe...it would certainly be cool to have them around in Victoria or HOI2 DD time period....but so far I'm just content to give them independence and a few thousand coin to start with and see how they do. Although it is interesting that the King of Egypt is such a bad character. He was the only local Árpád though, so I had to place family above efficiency.

Olaus Petrus: Glad you approve. :)

Novea: North Africa is still held by the Kingdoms of Zirid and Hammid, the guys who are taking lands in Italy, France and Germany. I will have to fight them eventually, but I don't want to take the war to them and get more vassals in far-flung places.

Not really. I had a bunch of vassals I didn't want, who wouldn't rebel no matter how hard I tried. I finally had to edit the save-game to reorganize the Kingdom, because I had those places in Finland, Georgia, Libya that were tied to the Bulgarian or Polish King titles, and that I couldn't get rid of. Having a ton of vassals to get rid of would probably be even harder to reorganize.


Second half of the chapter update done as well.
 
Chapter XXXIII: The Expansion of the Infidels



Whereupon in the year of our Lord, one-thousand two-hundred and fifty-nine, the Kingdom of Hungary was still engaged in the glorious Pax Hungarorum, the peace which King Antal had sought all his life, and which would keep safe the realm of Hungary from the depravations of war and destruction for a hundred years. Yet it fell out that all places outside the realm were soon beset by the infidel or the wars which are the ruin of kingdoms. From the east came joyous news intended for King Álmos. The infamous Il-Khanate, bent on destruction and soon to near the lands of Hungary, suffered the death of their ruler and thus unable to settle who would remain the overlord of the Khanate, broke apart into smaller and weaker realms. Thereupon the infidel in Italy, taking fortune in the isolation of the Hungarian Kingdom, declared war upon the Papacy with the intent of taking the city of Rome. With their greater hordes overwhelming the guardians of the Holy Father, the Pope was unable to flee before the infidel captured his person and city. The King of Zirid, although an infidel, recognized that to execute the Pope would bring about the swift intervention of King Álmos, and thus permitted the Pope to remain on his Papal Estates, though devoid of any official status or authority.


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The Khan of the Il-Khanate, young, crazy and divided

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Kingdom of Zirid took Rome

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The Pope, in effective imprisonment


Yet of further benefit to Hungary was the news from Germany, whereby the Duchy of Saxony would war with the Kingdom of Germany, until only one would remain. The fighting between Germans could only benefit Hungary, and thus King Álmos sent emissaries to each side, promising Hungarian aid and entreating each ruler to remain fighting for only a while longer, until the aid would arrive. Thus the war, which would have nominally ended in but a short time and consume few lives, was a bitter battle to the end, with the Duchy of Saxony completely destroyed and the Kingdom of Germany suffering heavy losses of men and horse.


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The middle phase of the war between the Germans


Yet though the Germans were weakened by their feud, so too the English, allies of Hungary, made war, one upon the other, until there was the Kingdom of England, defending itself from the Duchy of Hampshire, the County of York and the County of Cornwall. The Emirate of Toledo, eager to regain the parts of Spain taken by the English, took advantage of this fight to seize larger tracts of land, until half of Spain once more belonged to the infidel.


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English losing control of Spain


Thus with the infidel occupied both in Italy and Spain, the ambitious Duke of Sardinia, a recent pledged vassal of Hungary, sought to expand his influence over the whole island by taking the southern region. This he did against the wishes of the King and in secret, until the invasion could not be undone. The King, though angered at first at this insolence, much like the insolence of the vassals in Egypt, thus foresaw that such vassals could greatly increase the power of Hungary on the islands of Europe, and thus gave his permission for those troops outside the lands of the Hungarian Kingdom itself to be used to gain islands.


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The campaign against the infidel on Sardinia


Yet from the east, came news most disturbing. The lands of the Il-Khanate, ever shrinking, were being retaken partly by the Russian princes, and partly the Sultanate of the Seljuk Turks. Such was their power that they would soon border the lands of Hungary on a second frontier, apart from the Bulgarian. Yet as the power of the Il-Khanate shrank, so too did the power of the Kingdom of Egypt. From the lands thereof, news came of the ineffective King, unable to rule his realm in such a way to ensure it's prosperity or to keep his vassals obedient. Soon, the ambitious Hédervári, seeking to eradicate his past shame of not having gained the throne of Egypt, sought to place himself on that throne in an act of open rebellion. With his control over half the lands of the Kingdom of Egypt, the civil war between the Egyptians would be a worthy contest. Yet from the English, news came of their civil war, still ongoing in much the same manner as years before.


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Seljuks expanding

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Il-Khanate shrinking

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Egyptian Civil War

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English Civil War




Excerpt from "The History of the House of Árpád"


In 1259 AD, King Álmos of Hungary received and sent a great many emissaries abroad to gain news. On each frontier of the Kingdom, chaos and disorder ruled, yet the Kingdom under his rule stood firm and intact. The years for the King's reign were not without event, as many in the Kingdom too sought to create chaos and disorder. Yet the King, with his able Marshal and Spymaster, gained and kept the loyalty of each vassal of the Kingdom, allowing the Pax Hungarorum to continue. Only in the matter of the Kingdom of Egypt did King Álmos consider a war, for the Duke of Alexandria would no longer serve the King of Egypt as a loyal vassal, but sought to drive him from the land or else destroy him. Though the heart of the King rested with that of the King of Egypt, Álmos knew he could not violate this golden peace for the sake of a mere crusader state and thus was content only to send money to aid his distant relative.
 
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Losing of Rome was sad news for the Christendom. I think that at some point you have to kick infidels out from Italy. Crusade against Rome will be likely, but that would also open opportunity to liberate kingdom of Naples at the same time. Leaving Christian king to rule Naples as be buffer could be wise move, it would mean that you don't have to liberate Rome again any time soon.
 
Have you thought of bringing all of Europe under your rule , with your territories administered by dukes.

Ofcourse , after you are done , you could allow your empire to disintegrate , spicing things up.
 
Olaus Petrus: Well, it's been lost many times before, although I imagine the Papal servants must be tired of moving the Pope out and moving him back in two weeks later. You're right in that it would be good to finally be done with it, but until Hungary itself is threatened, the King is pledged to continue the isolation. Besides, this way I can get alot of extra piety, constantly taking back Rome.

Novea: I will have to do that eventually, but if I do take most of Europe, I'm just going to edit the savegame to give them independence. My goals still remain roughly the same as before (keeping Hungary's new borders intact), except now I'm going to try and grab as many Med islands as I can with just the troops of local vassals. I was sort of hoping the Il-Khanate would continue to drive forward and threaten me so I could break the isolationist policy, but then their King died in battle against the Russians, and their empire splintered.
 
Or perhaps you could attempt to trigger a dramatic ingame collapse of your empire after conquering Europe , while attempting to preserve Hungary Proper and some of it's mediterranian outposts.
 
Chapter XXXIV: The Second Roman Crusade



Thereupon with the Holy Father of Rome held captive in his apartments, King Álmos embarked a small contingent of the Royal Army with the intent of freeing the Pope from his captivity by the King of Zirid, and hence restore him to his position at the head of the Papacy. To this end the King, at the head of an army of thirty-five thousand pious knights, men-at arms and crossbowmen, embarked this host upon the ships of the Royal Navy and made for the landing at Spoleto. Finding only the forces of the Principality of Pronsk there to welcome them, the army of the King passed unhindered, onwards toward Rome. The walls of the city, bearing a great many gaps from the numerous seiges it had been subjected to without fail, fell easily to the army of the King, with the garrison retreating shortly after. Thus with the city secured, the King returned home, having put a new Pope in power in the Papacy. Yet though the King returned Rome to the Holy Church, he was still lowly regarded by all Christians, having been denied the title of Crusader.


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Army sets out

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Took Rome in battle

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Gave the city to the Pope, but for some reason, didn't get the 250 piety

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The new Pope


Having returned to his beloved palace at Pest, on the right bank of the Danube, the King received troubling news from both allies of Hungary, England and Sweden. From England, news came of a full civil war being brought against the throne, with more duchies joining the rebellion. From Sweden, the old King who had faced a war of his own had died, to be replaced by a Dane. Never before in the history of the united Kingdom of Sweden, Denmark and Norway had a Dane sat on the throne and yet, being the strongest, it was he who was elected. From the east came news of the Russian principalities having won many a great victory over the Il-Khanate, only to be met by once more by the Golden Horde. Thus under attack from both tribes of Mongols, and an emerging Sheikdom of the Don from the south, the Russian princes struggled to survive.


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Swedish King

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English King

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Situation in Russia

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Golden Horde arrives



Yet though this turmoil and war continued in all realms, from the Kingdom of Egypt came further calls for help. To add to the growing woes, the second greatest vassal of the Egyptian King, the Duke of Cairo and a cousin of the rebellious Hédervári, now joined the rebellion. Beset by his two greatest vassals, the King of Egypt sent more and more appeals for aid to the Kingdom of Hungary, yet King Álmos would not abandon the peace for which Hungary had paid so dearly in blood.


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Rebel Duke of Cairo, wounded in battle by his just liege, the King of Egypt

Excerpt from "The History of the House of Árpád"


In 1262 AD, the men of the Royal Army embarked once more on a crusade to free the holy city of Rome from the grasp of the infidel, and finding himself on campaign, the King welcomed the break from the leisurely lifestyle of which he had grown weary. Having been on foreign soil for a year, he rreturned to his court, to find many emissaries, each with a dispatch pleading for aid. From the Kingdoms of Egypt, England and Sweden, each in turn wished the King of Hungary to send aid, yet aside from gold, the King refused to commit the troops of the Kingdom and instead pondered how much longer this "Pax Hungarorum" would last. For twelve years had the peace endured and was to last a thousand, yet Álmos could see that sooner or later, the enemies of the Kingdom would have gained sufficient strength to test the arms of Hungary in battle once more.
 
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Novea: That would be interesting, but would still require some form of outside editing to accomplish. Probably more than I am capable of. If you're looking for action though, don't worry, there will be alot of it, soon enough. :)
 
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