A Tuscan Adventure

The First war of Tuscan Agression

The defining moment of Doge Cosimo di Medici’s life, The first Tuscany war of aggression, came not long after the arrival of my own forebearers. As you may know this started when Tuscany declared war on Siena, without provocation, Tuscany, our homeland, was abandoned by her allies whilst Siena’s allies didn’t hesitate to respond to the call to arms, or so the history’s claimed. Letters in the archive suggest however that the cause of war was to be blunt, asinine, I think the following shows the reality of this.


May 1454

“ It seems the Doges sense of humour didn’t play to well with the Stadholder of Siena, a letter was written, a misunderstanding was made and suddenly the Stadholder feels he has been insulted, it was simply a jest does he not understand”

Diary First advisor’s to the Republic The Triad of trade

June 1454

“ The Doge wrote again and apoligised, he made it plain the comments were about the Stadholders wife not himself, now the Stadholder is doubly insulted and our Doge is growing annoyed with the tiresome man with no sense of humour, after all its true she does look like an ass”

Diary First advisor’s to the Republic The Triad of trade

July 1454

“ Once more he wrote, once more our relations fell, I feel war is coming and have ordered a new Regiment to form”

Diary First advisor’s to the Republic The Triad of trade

August 1454

“ Apparently the Doge feels the need to explain his letters in person to the Stadholder of Siena”

Diary First advisor’s to the Republic The Triad of trade

September 1454

“War is declared and the soldier marches, going were his master commands, it’s the job I’m paid to do and God willing I will do it well. I heard rumours the Doge himself will lead us into Battle, with him at our head we cannot lose”

Unknown Soldier 1st Army

September 1454

“ Mantua, Switzerland, Hamburg did they hesitate when the call came ? If only our own allies had been so stout of heart, Genoa, Rugusa your betrayal shall never be forgotten as long as Tuscany live's”

Doge Cosimo di Medici, eve of battle, Upon hearing Siena’s allies had stood firm.

War has come. Tuscany against Siena, Mantua, Switzerland and Hamburg. Allied with Papel states 1 month after the war started.

With no available generals Doge Cosimo de Medici took to the field himself, an astounding move for a Merchant Prince and yet just the first of many more to come.

The first stage of the war the conquest of Siena was swift and brutal, the army crushed and the city besieged. With reports that the army of Mantua was on the march the army was split in two, a man of no consequence left to continue the siege whilst the main force moved north. A 3rd regiment was raised as the army passed through Firenze and merged with the Medici host. Battle came in the state of Mantua and the enemy led by the king himself, Lodovicio III il turco, was driven from the field. The siege of Mantua was left in the hands of a company of passing mercenary infantry while the Doge chased down the King’s army. Siena fell into our hands releasing the 1st army to a forced march on Mantua, arriving to take over the seige from the 4th mercenary infantry who were then released from contract being to great a burden on our end of year finances.

November 1454 a year to remember, The King of Mantua fell in battle, a Regency council took power and the seige of mantua was over, vassalage and 50 ducats the price of a separate peace.




With the Succesful sieges of Siena and Mantua to some it seemed the war was almost won. Yet this was not the case as events were soon to show.

Thanks

As to becoming Italy Lets just say things get interesting over the next decade or so

The Swiss Campaign and Onwards





The new army 3 regiments of infantry and 2 of mercenary cavalry marched north to meet the new threat, battle was met and the enemy was annihilated, 4000 enemy casualties in the space of a few days with barely a man lost. Siege was laid on Bern and Schwyz by our two mercenary regiments, and the remaining enemy forces chased down as a training exercise for Tuscanys finest son’s. During this period the Doge also arranged access treaty’s with Brittany, Bremen and Denmark, seemingly unnecessary complications at the time but all soon became clear. With the Swiss forces defeated 1/3rd of the Tuscan navy set sail to scout out the State of Hamburg and judge its military forces, news soon arrived that the Hamburg army was only 2 unit of regular infantry.

The month of October 1455 saw in quick succession the fall of both Swiss provinces followed by the destruction of the last of the Swiss military with the subsequent release from contract of the 4th merc cavalry.



Over the coming months troops were shipped to Denmark and a new regiment of Tuscan cavalry was raised. It was during this period of relative calm that the Triad of trade moved forward our trade research and the descision was finally taken to Annex Siena, leaving Switzerland subjugated and the conquest of Hamburg about to begin. The invasion of Hamburg began in May 1456, overland through Denmark and by sea with the fleet. The forces of the Stadholder were soon routed and retreated by sea, to be harassed by the Tuscan navy with no chance to retreat home.


The Doge satisfied with progress took a short hunting trip leaving the siege of Hamburg in progress, the one mistake he regretted to his grave.

“ They tell me Reports arrived of rising disturbances in the recently conquered provinces whilst I was hunting. The fools assaulted the city, 600 good men lost and for what gain ? Fury took me then“
Doge Cosimo di Medici’s, letter to his wife August 1456

The Doge was furious when he arrived back but upon consultation he decided perhaps assault was the way forward. October saw the second assault on Hamburg, led by the Doge himself once more, the men having seen him fight so many times before rallied to his call and the city fell on the 7th of October after 111 days.



The army’s returned home just before christmas and the decision was taken to raise one final war tax to reward our fine soldiers prior to peace being declared. 35ducats was collected in the 1456/1457 census tax and distributed amongst the men. The symbolic surrender of the final member of the alliance the Swiss occurred on the 1st of Jan 1457, vassalage and 50gc the price.




So ended the 1st war of Tuscan aggression, 3 years of warfare and many thousands of deaths all for the sake of a misunderstanding it would seem. A second defining moment in the rise of the Republic of Merchant princes occurred at the start of the war though few recognised it for what it was back then. The re-signing of an alliance with Genoa shortly after the end of the war seemed to put the past in the past where it belonged. The betrayal, that bone of contention, forgotten. Or so the Genoese believed, how little they knew what the future held for them.

coz1 i was surprised myself, i though a few cavalry would help but not that much. As for the sieges to have both provinces fall so quickly was a pleasent surprise.

Grundius yep, i only took Hamburg because i could, an extra vassel for income with no BB and more prestige, not quite sure what that does yet but it must be good.

Kurek wish i'd be there to record it, i can promise you things will take a machivellian twist later.

Duke thanks for your kind words, glad you enjoy it.

stnylan they've been good so far, quite a bit further in they're still vassels provding a bit of income and no trouble, what more can you ask for.

As a quick summary before my next update


Leader: Doge Cosimo di Medici: 9 Admin, 8 DIP, 8 Military
Initial advisors: Stability +12, Stability +12, Merchants +0.8

1 year after the game starts inital unhired advisors become available to all, the best ones are gone but some good ones are still up for grabs.

3 new advisors hired 30th May 1454: Trade +6, Trade +6, Trade +6
Initial Army: 1 unit infantry now have 3 infantry and 1 cavalry
Initial Navy: 1 galley, 2 Cogs built a big ship whatever they’re called.
Manpower Base: approx 1000 maximum approx 2000, recover 85 troops per month
Techs:
lvl 1 trade start
Lvl 1 gov 1454 National idea taken Shrewd commerce advice +10% compete chance
Lvl 2 trade 1456
12 merchants placed and none have been competed out

Doge Doge Cosimo di Medici was a great man the nation wept at his death, his successor, Evangelista Lanzi, was not. Lanzi was a nephew of Cosimo, somehow he managed to rise to power after the Doges death even though he consistently showed a complete lack of ability in almost all fields, something that is no less common today than it was back then. This may be a harsh judgment but history without truth is merely a fable.

How this distinctive lack of talent came to be is unknown, considering the success’s of Cosimo, he had the best tutors that Europe could provide, some of the finest swordsmen in Europe to train him in warfare but put a sword in his right hand and he would more likely hit himself than the opponent. Worse perhaps, with such poor diplomacy skills he could do more damage to the nation with a stylus in his left hand than a sword in his right.


“ So were does trade come from, what separates the lowly merchant from the merchant prince. There are many areas that affect our trade revenues and allow our merchants to win those coveted trading rights in foreign lands, can some be of more worth than others ?
We were employed by Doge Cosimo to look into this matter we would say the stability of a reputable nation has more effect than all else on trade, which should not surprise you. Boost your stability to the highest level to reap the rewards of trade, lets us say 15% from neutrality to utmost stability. Our ability to trade is also directly affected by our administration ability on a point for point basis.
In Tuscany we are blessed with a Doge of wisdom, NO LAUGHING AT THE BACK, his policy’s have guided our nation as his forbearers did, some nations are not so blessed. Doge Cosimo, upon our advice, installed some “shrewd market practices” within government which boosted our competitiveness by a further 10%.
It should also come as no surprise that the reputation of our Republic can influence our ability to trade and compete in foreign centres of trade. If our reputation should drop by 10% in foreign lands our ability to trade would drop likewise, it is true a warmonger and annexer of lands is no trader. Time after time we have been approached by diplomats of other nations offering trade agreement, our advice remember Troy, hidden inside this gift is surely a nasty surprise. What use embargoes you say with no trade centre of our own, directly non, however consider this if France has 5 merchants in Vlanndern and Burgundy embargoes them then what better time to dispatch more merchants to Vlanndern.

Finally and perhaps least for sheer competitive advantage comes our level of technology, In all modesty the Doge’s descion to hire us has most certainly influenced our trade technology and our ability to trade and we would hope it will continue to do so, Our most recent advances being trade lvl 3 in April of this year “

First advisors to the republic, Triad of trade, exert of lecture to the scholars of Pisa university 1460





Under Doge Evangelista Lanzi Tuscany prospered, a simple man with hidden depths he cared greatly for his people and spent his reign improving their lot, though it would seem that he mainly did this by avoiding doing anything. Perhaps not the most exciting of reigns but over the next few years the people would look back on this period of calm with fondness.

With the death of the Doge in the year of 1463 the future of Tuscany was uncertain the larger picture showed the truth though. In an ideal world Tuscany and her people could prosper and flourish, in the real world, sadly, what hope could there be. To the North the german states amalgamated, to the East the orthodox church fell into line, to the west mighty France and castile dominated the world and to the south, across our azure seas, the lands of the moor, looking to spread their view of god against that of holy mother church.

What hope left to create the kingdom of merchant Princes from the ashes of Doge Cosimo di Medici’s dying dreams.










State of the Nation 1457 - 1463


Leader: Doge Evangelista Lanzi: 5 Admin, 5 DIP, 3 Military
Triad of trade: Trade +6, Trade +6, Trade +6
Army: 3 infantry and 1 cavalry
Navy: 1 galley, 1 carrack, 1 cog
Manpower Base: approx 2000, recover approx 120 troops per month
Techs: lvl 3 trade april 1460
17 merchants placed a couple knocked out.

As an aside thanks to Rensslaer for his strategy guide with the CE edition, the way I managed trade in EU2 was to kill all the market place competitors, I’m taking a slightly more subtle approach now

Sapphire the next update definetly moves me closer to that goal.

Grundius, i'm glad to say that is what happened

Duke, i think your right, my trade seems to be going very well about 40% of the merchants i send stay in the COT's they're sent to because the stability gave me a great competative edge.

stnyln, Indeed though to much of doing nothing makes the game a bit to dull, after the last update i felt the need for a bit of warfare

coz1, trade is great, my monthly income is about 17gc here, 12 from trade and 5 from provinces, so adventure is what i did.

Rensslaer: thanks its my first attempt at an AAR, though i did read more than a few when i played EU2.

I got lucky with the advisors, i paused the game on the last day of the first year and there were 2 star tech advisors in all areas. I haven't seen one since.

With the rise to power of Pasquale Tonelli the Republic was reborn and hope with it, he was a man who filled the shoes that Medici had left behind. To some Doge Evangelista Lanzi was a simple man, to others he was merely subtle. There was no mistaking the type of man Doge Pasquale Tonelli was and would be, this was not a man interested in the mere trappings of power, he was not a man interested in the day to day running of a nation, to him administration was for clerks and hirelings, trade was a job best left to his advisors. It was not long before Doge Tonelli took on the mantle of general and was seen on the training fields of Firenza with his regiments.



At the death of Doge Evangelista Lanzi the position of Tuscany was precarious. Although allied with Mantua and Genoa and 3 vassal’s under our rule Tuscany was still barely a local power, this needed to change. Throughout 1463 plans were laid and regiments raised. The question on the nation’s lips was not, “would Doge Tonelli turn his attentions abroad ? ”, the real question was where would he focus them. The first clues to the answering of this question came not long after the Doge took power when he choose to cancel the military access treaty with the state of Modena in May of 1463, he followed this with letters of state in April and June of that year. Truth be told it took our Doge barely three months to undo decades of patient diplomacy. Truly he was man who knew where he wanted to be and did not care who he stepped on to get there. A fact he made clear, in his letters, to the King of Modena, something about cockroaches and lice



In December of 1463, the same day as the birth of our most holy lord and saviour, the nation of Venice declared war upon Bavaria, its ally Ragusa responded to the call to arms, Genoa did not.


Being the man he was many were surprised that we did not take this opportunity to cancel our alliance with Genoa and avenge the betrayal, Genoa standing alone, her only ally Tuscany. They did not have the benefit of hindsight and could see no connection between the Venetian war of aggression and our political machinations in Modena. Many mistake a man who’s only interest is the sword a fool. In the same way they mistake a man who has no interest in the sword, a coward.

The year of 1464 started with crisp skies and a heavy snow fall in the southern Alps, In the 2 nd week of February the Doge signed a treaty of military access with the Papal states, bringing them into our sphere of influence. Two days later, on a clear and calm day, with the sun shining down war was declared our allies, all but one, met the call. In his final days, before his death, the Doge is recorded as making the following comments


Although the Doge had no interest in economics his advisors did, war taxes were swiftly raised and money was poured into recovering the stability of the Republic in order to protect our merchant enterprises. Going to war without an adequate Casus Belli had hurt our nations stability.


Whilst the troops of Milan wandered in confusion at the sudden onset of war the troops of Modena did not hesitate to attack, putting our forces on the back foot. The first battle of the war occurred in Pisa from the 2nd to the 10th of march. Casualties on the Modena side were large.


The forces of Modena were routed and retreated to Firenza, where our forces once more caught them unprepared.


The few troops remaining to the King of Modena retreated home to Modena and most of our forces followed to destroy them leaving 1 regiment of 900 men in Modena to lay siege.


Whilst the army’s of Modina and Milan were no match for the Tuscan soldier, at sea the opposite was true. A brief battle at sea soon led to the realisation of an inadequacy in our fleets.


Our ally Mantua had not hesitated in responding to the call and their forces had quickly marched on the Modena state of Ferrara. Unfortunately the typical Mantuan, not being of a strategic mindset, forgot to leave any troops to defend their own capital. With over 7000 Milanese troops on their doorstep, this was a small oversight.

Milan dispatched troops to Mantua, with the intention of annexing the country. The Doge understanding the real danger of an assault upon the capital of Mantua, followed by the potential annexation of the province, quickly, dispatched 2000 cavalry to relieve the siege. His orders to head for Parma when the battle was done.


Victory in Mantua was quicker than expected the Cavalry, following orders, moved to Parma, In a single head on charge they broke and routed the few remaining troops of Modina. The Doge’s troops arrived in Parma a few days later expecting to fight a battle and instead found only their comrades in arms waiting with no sign of King Borso of Modena. The war had started well, the armies of Modena almost crushed in the first months of battle, the real challenge was yet to come though. Milan that great trading nation had a standing army several thousand larger than our own.