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Legolas

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Oct 23, 2001
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Prelude
May 2007


"...and so, in the year 2009, Lithuania has a vision of a prosperous future as member of the European Union, benefiting from this membership, while preserving its own cultural identity."

Narimantas closed the book. "Truly a marvelous read," he thought to himself. He was interested in counterfactual history since he started having history classes at school, and he always searched for new ideas, theories and novels dealing with the topic. Obviously, he was astonished to find this book, printed in 1998, but for some reason escaping his attention until last Yule. When he finally got his hands on the work, he couldn't read it as much as he wanted, because of all the work in his university and other things, but finally he was done with it. And he still couldn't believe the scope of that. The whole history of the world, from the year 1009 onwards, with immense detail, realistic dialogue and logical consequences. Or, at the very least, as logical as the happenings in his world's history.

This apparent logic behind the book made him curious as well as amazed. It was a long time since he last studied the actual history, at least five years. He decided to refresh his memory and try to see for himself whether the world depicted in the novel, with its Conquest of the New World, Napoleon Bonaparte, Rzeczpospolita, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, two World Wars, and other less detailed but no less important events could have actually happened.

For the next few weeks, if not months, Narimantas would spend his days in the library, rummaging through thousand of pages of the world's history, to recall the picture of what led to the Earth he lives in.

***

Some comments are in order, I suppose. Once upon a time, I've been a frequent poster in these forums, but later ceased that, only lurking them from time to time. After the release of EU3, I started lurking more and admiring the AARs some people have made. I was especially inspired by thrashing mad, canonized and coz1, so you can expect me to write in a fashion somewhat similar to theirs. But by no means as good.
As for the game - I'm using CK 1.05, with the Pagan/Muslim mod and no others. Hastings scenario, Tribe of Lithuanians, hard/furious. I have played only a little of the game (some nine years), and you can expect an update this evening. With some luck, the updates should be frequent, and written in a history-book style, with some more vivid interludes or so. And with some more luck, I will be able to complete the campaign and continue playing it in EU3, and who knows what else...
 
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Introduction
Or how it all started

After some initial searches in the library and the virtual networks, Narimantas discovered that the divergence point between the two realities was not that easy to distinguish. Just as it was difficult to date the birth of Lietuva as a country. This wasn’t unexpected, because the history of these lands was hardly documented at the time. For many years, the easternmost outpost of Catholicism was the Kingdom of Poland, while in the east the crumbling realm of Kievan Rus practised the Orthodox faith. Between these two civilisations, there was a large territory inhabited by various peoples representing a multitude of cultures and faiths. Unfortunately, few of them, if any, kept written records of the events in their lands, and the Christian scholars did not pay attention to these realms, denouncing them as “barbarians”, “savages” and “heathens”. Only in the year 1009 things began to change.
Many history books mention at least a small excerpt of the Quedlinburg monastery annals, stating that a certain St. Bruno embarked on a mission to the lands of “Prusia, Semigalia and Lituania” to bring the “one true faith” to the people there. This is the first reported mentioning of the (Latinised) name of the country.
At first, St. Bruno and his comrades resided with a tribe of Jotvingiai, where the local ruler Netimeras was converted to Catholicism. However, many people were opposed to the spreading of this new religion, and tried to kill the missionaries. Some of them were killed, but most managed to escape and found shelter with the tribe of Aukštaičiai, in the town of Kernava. There they spent several years, both preaching and teaching the locals to read and write, among other things. Bruno returned to Poland in 1015 and spent the rest of his life near the eastern borders of the country, participating in less-known missions to non-Christian lands. He died in 1022, being 52 years old. He was canonised by Pope Clement II in 1046.
After this first mention, little is known of Lituania, or, as it is better known, Lietuva, for about a century onwards. There have been documents found, dated to be of 11th century, of an alliance between Aukštaičiai and Žemaičiai tribes to form the tribe of Lietuvans. There is also some evidence pointing to a short-lived alliance between chief Onton (most probably a tartarisation of the name Antanas) of Lietuvans and chief of Mordvins, only a few years prior to the latter’s assimilation into the principality of Pronsk in 1070. There are also the annals of the city of Minsk, which suggest that there was a war between the principality of Polotsk against the tribe of Lietuvans. Apparently, the tribe of Lyvians also joined in the war to support Lietuvans, though it is unclear whether the former gained anything from that. The fact remains that in 1071, the Orthodox world suffered two massive shocks: first of all, the principality of Polotsk fell to the tribe of Lithuanians, and “Anton (once again, probably the same chief Antanas), in mockery of all that is holy, declared himself the High Chief of Polotsk later that year”; and secondly, the tribe of Karelians occupied the city of Novgorod and put an end to the young merchant republic, the remnants of which pledged allegiance to the principality of Kiev.
The first named Chief of the Lietuvan tribe, Antanas, died in 1078, being only 39 years old. He left his only son, young Švarnas, to rule in his stead. Švarnas had been raised by the local krivis and even at this young age was familiar with the art of reading and writing. It was at that time that the first regular written record of Lietuva was started.

***

Again, some notes. The vagueness of this first part is for two reasons – one, I didn’t take detailed noted nor made any screenshots throughout the rule of Antanas; two, as it is said in the above text, written records are scarce of that time, so this is about as much as the historians could piece together from various biased sources available to them.
By the way, quite a lot of the above is closely based on real history. You can read more about St. Bruno here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_of_Querfurt, and about the first mention of Lithuania’s name here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Lithuania.
Concerning person and place names – I will use many Lituanised forms of names appearing in the game and in history books. The reason for that is quite simple – in our history, most information about Lithuania came to the west from either Russian or Polish (sometimes Swedish) sources, only rarely directly from Lithuania. Lithuanian culture and language was heavily influenced by Polish and Russian as well. In the world of this AAR, very little of that happened, thus Lithuanian forms of many locations and people are more prevalent than Slavic ones. On the other hand, I will try not to bend this too much, so that the text becomes incomprehensible without prior knowledge of Lithuanian language and/or culture. If you don’t understand what some place names mean – ask away.
 
Oooh Lithuania.

I'm in.

EDIT: Add this to the Library update.
 
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Glad to see that EU3 has also brought AARs to the other forums as well!
 
Chapter I
Švarnas High Chief of Lietuvans, pt. 1

After about a week-long search, Narimantas finally settled to reading five books that presented the different viewpoints and concentrated on different aspects of High Medieval period in Europe’s history. He hoped that this would let him understand better what actually happened, as opposed to only hearing one side of a biased story. He began to read…

***


The political situation in 1078. The thick black line shows the extent of pagan realms

In 1078, most of the lands along the eastern and southern shores of the Baltic sea were inhabited by pagan people living in tribal federations. At least five such federations are known in the Suomi-Karelia region, eight in the Baltic region; and two prominent tribes existed for a while in Pommern, before the conquest of this region by Denmark, the Holy Roman Empire and Poland.
In the Baltics, the largest and arguably the most developed tribe was that of Lietuvans, already in the late 11th century catching up with the neighbouring Orthodox principalities and Catholic kingdoms in technology. In 1081, a tile factory was built in Kernava, the capital town of the realm, as well as many new roads being paved to ease communication with the recently acquired provinces of Polotsk, West Dvina and Orsha. In 1088, the young Chief Švarnas commissioned the first school to be built in Kernava, thus hoping to give more people access to some elementary tuition. This move, although seemingly hardly important, was, in fact, a major breakthrough for the pagan world as a whole. From that year onwards, Kernava would gradually gain more importance as a cultural centre for all pagans, and with the increase of written word, the cultures of these peoples were preserved even when some of the lands later fell into the dominion of Catholic or Orthodox rulers.

***


Švarnas, his aides and tutors, and the realm overview

The figure of Švarnas High Chief of Lietuvans is important both as a significant historical leader and as a peculiar and nearly unique person to rule. He ascended to the position of his father Antanas, when the latter died in 1078. At that time the boy was only 6 years old. None of his siblings – he had three older and one younger sisters – had reached adulthood yet. Švarnas had been raised by the krivis Lizdeika until that time, from whom he learnt to read and of the ways and traditions of his ancestors. However, after the death of his father, Švarnas moved to the court in Kernava, where he was guided and tutored by his four advisors – Marshall Paksyut, an expatriate from Mountain Cheremisa; chancellor Povilas, an Orthodox raised in the formerly Kievan county of Palesė, and a gifted diplomat; spymistress Balba, a Lyvian woman who seemingly knew everything about all the happenings in the tribes, counties and principalities everywhere; and steward Gundega the Golden, who was born in Latgalia and had always known how to make a profitable deal even in the worst situation.
Švarnas tried to get the most of the experience of his advisors, since he realised the responsibility on his shoulders. It soon became clear, however, that his real talents lay in administering the internal affairs of the realm. Therefore it was a great loss to the country when Povilas was killed by a boar while hunting near Polotsk, and Paksyut died after a long illness four years later in 1084. Even though replacements were found for both positions, they were nowhere as good as the previous ones. Needless to say, the relations between Lietuvans and the neighbouring tribes grew cold, not least because of the relative size of the Lietuvans’ dominion and the small quarrel with Jotvingiai.
In 1080, the Lietuvan annals indicate that an old agreement between Lietuvans and Jotvingiai was discovered. According to it, after the death of the previous High Chief of Jotvingiai, the new one had to pledge his allegiance to the High Chief of Lietuvans. However, Jotvingiai refused to acknowledge the agreement. Since the annals of Lietuvans are the only source of information regarding this issue, it is unclear whether this agreement was actually ever signed by the Chief of Jotvingiai, or if it was only a Lietuvan forgery made in an attempt to unify the Baltic tribes without military force.
Even though the first several years of Švarnas’ rule were a slight decline for the realm, the situation soon turned for the better. In October of 1085, an alliance was formed with the Tribe of Cumans, which at that time controlled vast territories in the Ukrainian steppes, from Vlachs in the west to the Caspian Sea in the east. Since the union between Cumans and Pechenegs sometime around 1075, it was the largest and arguably the strongest pagan realm in Europe. This alliance soon gave beneficial results, when the war with the Principality of Kiev begun.
In 1086, the son of late Paksyut, Onni, was appointed to become the new steward of the realm. His talents in the area surpassed even those of Gundega the Golden, who at that time was growing weary of the work. At the same time, Švarnas’ sister Aušra finished her education and became an astonishing diplomat, a trait for which she was appointed to be the new chancellor.
Švarnas himself reached adulthood in July of 1088. It was then that Lietuvans joined the ongoing war against the Principality of Kiev, while their allies the Cumans started their own war against the Principality of Pronsk. In a few months, during the course of the war, Švarnas finished his learning and proved himself as an intricate webweaver. Less than a year later, March 1089 marked another important event – Švarnas married Duoja of Kolans, daughter of their Chief, who was about the same age as the Lietuvan Chief.

***

The Principality of Kiev, once known as Kievan Rus, was the largest country in Eastern Europe until the beginning of the 11th century AD. Founded by Rurik, a notable Viking warlord, it preserved the same dynasty (known to Slavs as Rurikovich) through the time of its glory and until the final days. In the middle of the 11th century, however, the power of the once huge country was dwindling. Internal strife led to dissolution of a single Rus state, and many principalities and republics – Pronsk, Peryaslavl, Novgorod, later Moskva, Rostov and others have shrugged off the rule of Kiev.
Things seemed to be going well in 1071, when the Republic of Novgorod was attacked and destroyed by the tribes of Karelans and Sames. The remnants of the Republic pledged allegiance to Prince Fedor Rurikovich and thus the country found itself with new possessions of Pskov, Bezhetsky Verh and Staraya Rusia, as well as at war with the weakened tribes of Karelans and Vodi. On top of that, the Prince of Peryaslavl saw it fit to try and reclaim Novgorod from Karelans and declared war.
On the other hand, Boleslaw Piast, the King of Poland, was constantly looking for ways to push his territories eastwards, and decided to use this opportunity to exert his claims on Vladimir Volynski. War was promptly declared and the Polish forces soon decimated the disarrayed Kievan soldiers returning from their battles in the north. After this war, which ended in 1079, the Principality found itself divided into four regions. The former heartland was split into two by the territories ceded to Poland, which included even the city of Kiev itself. Then there was the new administrative centre in Narva, together with the remnants of Republic of Novgorod, and the Sami lands, conquered from their tribe, on the outskirts of the Ural Mountains.
For the next few years, the Principality – or what was left of it – enjoyed a period of peace. This changed in 1085, when a northern tribe of Bjarmia invaded the former Sami lands. Bjarmi forces were small, but the main army of Kiev was slow to reach the enemy, and by the time they arrived, many of those provinces were already besieged. This, followed by several battles lost, caused great turmoil within the country. Counties of Vologda, Chud and Hlynov declared themselves independent of Kievan rule and rose up in arms against their former overlords.
The Bjarmi also found unlikely allies in the tribes of Kurons, Lyvians and Jotvingiai, the latter still begrudging Kiev for the loss of the County of Yatviagi. The combined forces of these tribes numbered some ten thousand men, mostly light infantry and archers, though some cavalry was also present. The total Kievan forces were about 15 thousand, but they were stretched over a wide area, and thus unable to mount any significant defence against the invasion. In less than a year, the Lyvians occupied Pskov, Narva and Vodi, while Jotvingiai reclaimed their land in Yatviagi. To complicate matters further, Lietuvans also joined in the war against Kiev in 1088, mostly to collect the spoils – the counties of Turov, Beresty, Lyubech and Staraya Rusia.
In the south, the Lietuvan allies Cumans began their own campaign against the orthodox principalities. More than twenty thousand hardened steppe warriors utterly defeated the armies of the Principality of Pronsk and laid siege to their major towns and cities. In addition, the once-Kievan counties of Terebovl and Korsun were absorbed by the Cumans. Pronsk managed to achieve peace with Cumans in 1089, having lost six large cities, among them the city of Novgorod-Seversk, their old capitol.

***

The First Crusade was declared in 1076, however it was only 11 years later that the first Catholic armies arrived in Egypt and started the war against the Fatimid kingdom. They were soon joined by English, Scottish and Polish forces, but in the first three years of the war, nothing significant was achieved by either side.

***

The war against Kiev left Chief Švarnas with new lands and without any money. He was unable to control all the newly acquired territories directly, therefore two new chiefdoms were created – the chiefdom of Senrusė (Staraya Rusia) and the Chiefdom of Turov-Liubė (Lyubech). In the meantime, Švarnas’ attention focused on making use of new technologies that spread to the realm during the war. Roads had to be built, foresters and tile-makers encouraged, traders endorsed, and so on.

***

I forgot to take screenshots most of the time, that’s why the lack of them. If I don’t get bored, each update will be about this big
 
Wow, sounds like the pagans gained a lot at the expense of the Russians!
 
Svarnas. I see.

I always wondered why a historical Volhynian Rurikid was called Shvarn, but it was a Lithuanian name.

-----

I hate the "Pronsk" thing. Pronsk was a small Severian town. It ought to be Chernigov or at the very least Novgorod-Seversky as the Principality's seat.

-----

I always wondered what would have been if the Lithuanians, as the last great pagans in Europe, decided to start writing and recording their culture down. Because all we have now is 19th-century reconstruction and conjecture.
 
Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated :) The next update should be done today :)

anonymous4401 - yes, that's true. And weird. Though I haven't played much CK, but I don't think I've ever seen so much coordination of the non-allied AI factions, except in Crusades.

RGB - Švarnas (Š is pronounced as English "sh") is really a Lithuanian name, IIRC there were several nobles with this name in the Middle Ages.
I don't know how it was with Pronsk historically, so I just left it the way the game portrayed everything. But the fact that there is no Novgorod-Seversky as a separate realm is weird, to say the least.
The problem with writing was that the people were too occupied fighting the Christian invaders to have enough time to develop a separate written culture. And afterwards everything non-Christian was neglected.

Victor, Veldmaarschalk, thrashing mad - thanks :)
 
Chapter II
Švarnas High Chief of Lietuvans, pt. 2

The war versus Kiev, although short, left Švarnas with a large debt and a depleted court. The former steward claimed a demesne of his own in Turov-Liubė, and was granted that, if only to avert a possible rebellion. Steps had to be taken to preserve the realm as it was.


Map of Eastern Europe in 1089; the black line indicates the border between Pagan and Christian realms

The first such measure was a calling of a general meeting of all chiefs and significant people in the realm. Just a few months after the war against Kiev ended, the meeting took place in the castle of Kernava. Švarnas managed to persuade the nobles to raise a large sum of money that would cover his debts and allowed him to finance the paving of roads in and around Pinsk and Orsha.



A curious event is documented in the annals. In April of 1090, it is said that “… Švarnas, the revered chief, proved his loyalty to his true wife, showing both great wisdom and chastity…”. It is most probable that such an event would hardly be noticed in the Christian kingdoms, where noblemen frequently enjoyed the pleasuring company of young wenches, and preferred to keep such matters to themselves and out of documents. Therefore even the fact of mentioning this shows a key difference between Christian and pagan cultures.

The closest members and advisors of Švarnas had changed in the years of his adolescence. In 1089, the armies were led by Havu son of Paksyut. Giedrė, an old friend of Švarnas’ mother Laima, was responsible for representing the realm in other courts. His sister Danutė, even though sometimes plagued by a strange mental disease, was the spy mistress. Kielo, Havu’s sister, was helping Švarnas administer the internal affairs of the realm.

Švarnas
Marshal Havu
Chancellor Giedrė
Spy mistress Danutė
Steward Kielo

In December of 1090, a son was born to Švarnas and Duoja. The young heir, Songaila, soon developed a close relationship with marshal Havu and his children, and they were often seen playing together. This helped Švarnas reach a decision to send Songaila train in the army when the boy was five years old.



Even though the debt was covered, the realm was still slowly recovering from the war. In the summer of 1091, a more than usual number of children in Daugpils, West Dvina, contracted smallpox. The disease soon started taking its casualties, and the town fell into disarray. It took a whole year for life to resume normally in the region. Also in the same year, the predominantly Orthodox clergy and noblemen in Brasta (Beresty) and Pinsk took up arms against pagan rule. Harsh measures had to be taken – such as confiscation of church lands and noble property, several public hangings and similar – to quell the rebellion. The confiscated lands were given to the free peasants, together with abolishment of serfdom, while some of the now-empty manors were sold to the city councils. In addition, pagan kriviai and noblemen were given lands in the region, to eradicate any possibility of future revolt. In only a few years, the majority of the population returned to their ancient pagan ways of life.



Another tragic event happened in 1091. For several years, spy mistress Danutė had been affected by schizophrenia, and would often retreat to her quarters without notice, spending days, if not weeks, alone. No one knew what she was doing there, until one day, when it was revealed that she was responsible for the untimely death of her own son. Although with a heavy heart, Švarnas agreed to submit his sister to the court, which found her guilty and sentenced to death. This loss of a close family member alienated Švarnas with his other sisters and, consequently, with the realms where they resided.



Old Balba from Lyvia was once again called to fill the role of spy mistress. However, her days were near their end, and in January of 1093, she also left to meet her ancestors. Duoja herself decided to take the opportunity to become the mistress of intrigues and rumours in the court, a feat for which she was already quite well known.

Late in 1093, more Orthodox bishops managed to stage revolts in the Chiefdoms of Vitebsk and Senrusė. However, they were quickly defeated by a Lietuvan army from Orsha. In 1096, there were mumblings in Orsha against Lietuvan rule, but the men responsible for that were soon put to justice and any uprisings quelled.

In the meantime, Švarnas did his best to strengthen his rule over the demesne. Post offices were built after the manner of those in the Christian world, in order to better convey the orders of the High Chief. Moreover, in an attempt to appease the Orthodox population under his rule, a large orthodox church was built in Pinsk.

In 1097, Švarnas’ mother Laima died.

***

The last few years of the Principality of Kiev were sad for Prince Rostislav, who inherited this title from his father Fedor in 1090. Not only was his realm far away from the actual city of Kiev, but his vassals were discontent with his rule. Moreover, the unified armies of Bjarmia, Lyvians and Cumans were advancing on all fronts. Despite this, Rostislav swore to defend the realm until the last drop of his or his soldiers’ blood. He led the last remnants of the once-glorious army to victory in battles of Chud and Vologda. He also managed to secure a formal peace treaty with Švarnas, Chief of Lietuvans, as well as the Chiefs of Kurons and Jotvingiai.



Unfortunately for him, there was only so much that less than two thousand defenders of the Principality could do against more than ten thousand strong enemy. In February of 1092, the last stronghold in Samoyeds fell to the Cumans, and this was the end of Kievan Rus.
It has been mentioned in several documents of that time that Rostislav committed suicide just before the enemies reached his chambers, but the validity of these claims is uncertain. What is certain is that his branch of the Rurikovich dynasty ended with him, while another branch continued to rule in Peryaslavl.

After the defeat of Kiev, only two major Principalities remained in the Slavic lands – Pronsk and Peryaslavl. The former had recently conquered the lands of the Tribe of Ural, thus slightly averting the effect of losing the rich southern provinces to Cumans only a few years earlier. The latter had subdued the short-lived Principality of Moskva, whose ruling dynasty escaped and joined the court of Lietuvans. By the way, they are famous for being the first recorded noble dynasty to convert from Orthodoxy to Paganism.

The two Russian principalities had their issues in the past. Most notable was the undecided loyalty of the Count of Kolomna. Both rulers had claims on this title, and so a war erupted in August of 1093. The war lasted less than a year – Pronsk, weakened after many years of warfare against pagans, was unprepared to stand up against its new enemies, and was forced to not only give up the title of Kolomna, but also accept that Rostislav Prince of Peryaslavl would be crowned Prince of Vladimir.

***

The pagan tribes living on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea were conquered by Polish, Danish and German knights in the 11th century. The easternmost of those tribes was the tribe of Prussians, who lived around the towns of Danzig and Marienburg. After having conquered these lands, the German knights ever looked further east, eyeing the rich lands around the Nemunas river, especially those of Jotvingiai. When that tribe was just recovering from the war against Kiev, the Germans decided to use the opportunity to bring the Catholic word to them.

War was declared in October of 1093. The local garrison in Danzig, Marienburg and Chelminskie number only about a thousand men, so the initial stage of the struggle favoured Jotvingiai. The tribal army laid siege to Chelminskie and conquered the city before the New Year. But in February, the main force arrived through Poland from Brandenburg and further west. More than ten thousand heavily armed Catholic soldiers utterly destroyed the tribal warriors and re-conquered Chelminskie. In March 1094, they laid siege to the fort of Galindians, and in September of that same year, the fort of Scalvians was surrounded.

Chief Švarnas of Lietuvans decided to use the opportunity to exercise his claim upon the title of Jotvingiai. In less than two months, the dissipated tribe was occupied by Lietuvan soldiers, who quickly incorporated the province of Yotvingen to their realm. Holy Roman Emperor Bertoldo decided that it wasn’t worth pushing further east and agreed to a peace treaty with Švarnas in August of 1094.



***

In the international scene, the situation of Lietuvans was mediocre at best. The only allies were the strong but faraway Cumans, and the realm was squeezed between Orthodox Russian principalities in the east and Catholic Poland and German kingdom in the west. The Catholics, especially the Germans, were constantly eyeing the eastern pagan lands, claiming to be spreading the Word of God, but in fact desiring new lands and subjects to rule upon. These fears came to be true in 1093, when the Holy Roman Empire attacked the tribe of Jotvingiai, weakened after the war against Kiev, a war in which, at least officially, the Empire also participated.

Chief Švarnas of Lietuvans decided to help Jotvingiai as much as he could. He promptly declared war upon the Holy Roman Empire in January 1094 and was able to secure the heartland of Jotvingiai tribe before the Germans occupied it. Unwilling to fight against the growing might of the Lietuvans, German King Bertoldo accepted peace with Švarnas in August of that year. The Germans pushed eastwards a little, subjugating the tribes of Scalvians and Galindians, but the liberation of those was, at that moment, beyond the power of Lietuvans.

The peace treaty with the Holy Roman Empire signified an important moment for Lietuvans – the realm was already accepted as a part of Europe by at least one Catholic ruler, showing the increasing power and influence of the country in the region and in the world.

***

In the middle of 11th century, the Kingdom of Hungary ruled a large territory ranging from Slovakia in the north to Belgrade in the south, and from Vas in the west to Szekelyfold in the east. To the north, their neighbour were the Kingdom of Poland, to the west – the Holy Roman Empire and Croatia, to the south they bordered the Byzantine Empire, and to the east, they were close to the Principality of Kiev and the tribe of Pechenegs.

Of all these neighbours, the Pechenegs proved to cause the most problems for the Hungarian King. For many years they raided the border towns and villages, stealing food, equipment, women and children, and killing the men. In 1075, the city of Szekelyfold fell to an attack by the same Pechenegs, and was declared a pagan Chiefdom. Needless to say, the King of Hungary was outraged and never accepted that. However, he was unable to reclaim the county for several years, since dynastic quarrels threw the country into war against Poland and Germany, which left the realm severely weakened.

In 1092, however, things changed. The chiefdom of Szekelyfold had been independent from Pechenegs (and, later, from their successors Cumans) for some time, so King Geza used an opportunity to reinstate his rule over that land. He easily wiped out the few tribal defenders and the city was swiftly reincorporated into the Hungarian Kingdom.

But this did not end here. King Geza wanted to press his claims further south. In December 1094, he declared war upon the Chiefdom of Tirgoviste. Luck wasn’t on the King’s side, as the tribe of Cumans came to the aid of their vassal chiefdom. The tribe of Lietuvans also joined the war.

While Lietuvans participated in the war only formally, the Cumans fell on Hungary with full force. The initial siege of Tirgoviste was repelled and a massive invasion army fell upon Feher and Szekelyfold. The Hungarian army was largely destroyed in the few ensuing battles, and all the country was soon laid waste by pagan warriors. King Geza was killed defending the outskirts of Feher, and his son, Kalman, assumed the throne. Neither the father nor the son was a brilliant military leader, so the Hungarian armies could not mount any effective resistance to the invaders. Before summer of 1095 started, Feher and Szekelyfold were lost.

Remnants of the Hungarian army managed to take control of the province of Turnu, and a cease-fire was agreed between the two sides. However, only six days later the pagans continued their invasion as if no agreement was ever made. Meeting virtually no resistance, they conquered city after city, until finally stopped only because the Prince of Pronsk invaded their lands in late 1097. A formal peace agreement was finally signed in January of 1098, which accepted Cuman rule over the Hungarian heartland.


War between Cumans and Hungary. Black line indicates pre-war borders; blue line is the border agreed at the first peace treaty; yellow line is Cuman invasion in early 1096; thick red line shows the post-war borders. Three grey dots indicate the provinces which were reconquered by Hungarians at some point in the war. Note that Hungary had lost several provinces to Poland and Germany earlier

***

The Cuman-Hungarian war of 1094-1098 was yet another huge victory for the pagans and a huge loss for the Christian world. Once a great Central European kingdom, Hungary was involved in several disastrous dynastic wars in the second part of the 11th century, notably against Poland and the Holy Roman Empire, which cost King Geza Arpad several rich provinces. On top of that, there were border disputes with the Pechenegs and their later successors, the Cumans. The city of Szekelyfold changed rulers several times, until finally, in 1092, it was incorporated into Hungary proper.

King Geza wanted to expand his lands further at the expense of Cumans, and invaded the Chiefdom of Tirgoviste in December 1094. The initial attack was quickly repelled, and the King’s residence in Feher besieged. The massive Cuman forces were no match for the Hungarian army, which was defeated in a couple of battles, and the cities of Feher and Szekelyfold fell in a few months. A peace treaty was signed between King Kalman Arpad and High Chief Bonyak.

The Hungarians, however, decided not to honour the agreement, as they treated non-Christian rulers as “unworthy of being talked to”. Thus the war resumed only six days later, with Hungary invading Szekelyfold and conquering it before Cumans could react. The Cuman army was quick to come, though, and decimated the Hungarian forces again. The pagans conquered city after city, and only ceased when the Principality of Pronsk declared war, hoping to use the situation to reclaim their lost territories.

The position of Lietuvans in this war is unclear. There is a peace treaty between Švarnas and Kalman Arpad, dated January 1098, though there is no known information of Lithuanian forces participating in the war, except for one. The Chiefdom of Turov-Liubė sent a force of some two thousand men to siege the city of Csanad, and that province went to become a chiefdom under Švarnas’ rule. The annals of cities of Brasta and Pinsk also note that there were bands of Hungarian soldiers pillaging the countryside for several months during this period, but these were quickly dealt with by the Lietuvan army.

***

I tried to portray some events from the perspective of different authors, from different countries and with different views. Feedback on this is really appreciated – most importantly, tell me if I should refrain from doing that, or maybe I should increase the level of bias in these articles?
 
The bias is good. It makes things interesting. Though it would be nice if you could use titles of the books or names or something to show where the biases are coming from.
 
Fine with me, the bias. If you could come up with some sort of national philosophy etc. it would be even better.
 
Chapter III
Interlude

“Oh, my, it’s past ten o’clock already!” Narimantas realised suddenly. He had spent the whole day in the library – not uncommon for him, but, considering he had lectures the day after, it was about time to go home. He got up from the ancient wooden table, collected the books that had been spread out and went to the collection table. While there, he noticed another book that had been just recently returned. The title caught his interest – “Crimean Chronicles”. A quick glance at the back-cover while waiting for his books to be processed revealed that this was a collection of many important excerpts from the chronicles of the Cuman tribe. “Strange that I missed this one”, he wondered and promised to check it out first thing tomorrow afternoon.
The road from the library to his dormitory wasn’t long, but it was raining heavily outside, so by the time he got home, Narimantas was soaked. He hastily took off the damp clothes and went to sleep. He slept well that night, and had an extremely vivid dream…

***

July 6, 1102

The Sun was just rising above the treetops as Švarnas set out from the castle of Kernava to the small town of Trakai. His retinue, some twenty people, trailed behind on their horses. Marshal Havu joined Švarnas at the front of the line.
“Chief, where are we going? Why such secrecy?” he asked, carefully hiding the irritation in his voice.
“You will see, friend. It’s all in due time”, answered Švarnas, and smiled benevolently.
“But I don’t remember you ever being so mysterious about anything. I am worried, chief,” continued Havu.
“Do not. It would be better if you enjoy the trip, it will take a while. And it’s not that often that you travel anywhere without a battle looming somewhere, is it?”
“You are correct. But even so, I wish you told us what this is all about.”
“All in due time!” Švarnas’ voice faded among the trees as he sped up his horse. Havu just shrugged – he wasn’t supposed to question his liege’s orders, unless they concerned the moving of soldiers.

About halfway through their journey they were joined with another procession of similar size – this one led by Antanas, Chief of Vitebsk. Švarnas greeted him and for a while they rode further onwards from the rest, speaking. The others just followed, some immersed in casual chit-chat, others admiring the singing birds and the magnificent trees. Just before entering Trakai, they passed on the side of the sacred oak forest. The kriviai were also seen going to Trakai, in their slow and concentrated manner.

Finally, the town was reached. Men, women, and even children stopped whatever they were doing and watched as the procession marched through the streets, not caring about the dust swirling everywhere. As the riders reached the bridge across the lake to the island fort, a large crowd had gathered around, but were denied passage across the bridge. Yet they were given another attraction, as one more group of riders approached the town from the west. A herald rode in front, announcing that Daumantas arrived from Žemaitija. Švarnas hardly paid attention, and motioned his followers to ride on.

All that day, people were arriving from all over the land. Švarnas’ son Algirdas came from Brasta; Onni arrived from Turov. Kriviai came in, led by their leader Vilkinas, soon followed by several Catholic monks and even the Orthodox bishop from Pinsk. The most curious thing to Havu was that all these people seemed as clueless as he was about what was about to happen. Švarnas retreated to his private quarters as soon as they arrived and was not seen since. Walking around the fort, Havu occupied himself with checking the walls and talking with the guards whom he had not seen for quite some time. The other guests, however, were becoming uneasy, as so far everything seemed to be much ado about nothing.

In the evening, a big feast was prepared. This was some relief to all the visitors, though they were still wondering the reason for this whole event. As Havu walked around the big campfire in the centre of the fort, he picked up some wild rumours.

“You know, I’ve heard that the Chief will step down in favour of Daumantas,” a young woman was passionately explaining to some people who gathered around, her white dress and blonde hair glittering in the firelight. She shook a fat finger at those who mumbled in disagreement. “I am a servant to Švarnas himself, I know all that happens in the court!” Havu just smiled – he had seen this woman before, and she was truly a servant in Kernava, but she worked only in the kitchens, and was ordered to come to this meeting only because Švarnas needed someone to carry the provisions for the journey. Another man was talking in shrill whispers, squinting as he spoke: “Do you know why those Catholics are there? Yes, yes, my friend, Švarnas has abandoned the ways of our ancestors and is going to become a Catholic himself…”. The man coughed and sat down. Somebody gave him a cask of mead, which he started to drink in huge gulps. More similar wild tales could be heard from other people, but few seemed to be convincing.

In the middle of the feast, Švarnas appeared, dressed in the most spectacular robes anyone had ever seen him in. Two heralds blew trumpets and promptly everyone’s attention was focused on the High Chief. Only the crackling sound of burning fires could be heard, as everyone dared not speak, awaiting a speech. And Švarnas began his proclamation.

“My friends, comrades, loyal vassals and servants, thank you all for coming and waiting until this moment.” There was a glint in his eyes, perceptible even from a distance. “I must say that I was also waiting a long time for this day to come.

“It is a great day for all of us. For many years, my father, and his father, and his father, have wanted to unite all our peoples under one banner, one ruler, to make us strong and stand up as equals with the other realms in the world. I have continued on this task, as most of you know very well. I have invited different people to come to us and teach us all that they know, to encourage trade with other countries; I have done my best to unify the Lyvian, Latgalian, Prussian, Jotvingian and Lietuvan tribes into one country. Many times, I succeeded, with all your help. Several times, I failed. But despite these failures, my work had good results.

“As you may well know, three months ago, the last peoples of Samogitia were joined with the Lietuvans under my rule. Many doubted the wisdom of doing that, especially since, I must admit, it was not done as peacefully as it should have. But I am sure that my children, and their children, and the children of those who live in Klaipėda, will see that this change was for the better.

“Now, with all the Lietuvan tribes – Aukštaičiai, Žemaičiai, Samogitians and Jotvingians, united, I feel that the work that my ancestors were willing to do is nearly done. In the last month, I have spoke much with esteemed Vilkinas, also with Fra Bertolino,” at these words, one of the monks rose from his seat and nodded, “and with Papa Aleksei, “the Orthodox bishop also nodded. “Now I will ask Vilkinas to finish this speech for me.”

The old man, dressed in a simple white robe, went up the stairs and turned to look at the crowd. Anticipation could be felt in the air as he spoke:

“After long talks with the Elders of kriviai in all the lands, and similar talks with the reverends representing other beliefs that are present in this ceremony; after consulting with out ancestor spirits and the Gods; I hereby proclaim Švarnas the first King of Lietuva and all Lietuvans!”

For some time, there was a deafening silence in the courtyard. Then a cheer rose from the crowd, gaining volume, but fading at the same time…

***

May 2007

Next morning, Narimantas woke up feeling strangely refreshed. Carefully brushing his hair, he couldn’t help thinking about the dream. “It’s as if I was there, for real,” he wondered. He had never had a dream so life-like. But, to tell the truth, he never remembered dreaming anything about history, which was strange, considering his immense interest in that.

***

My stab at writing something else than a history book; standard narrative will continue today or tomorrow
 
I like your perspective, makes for a very interesting AAR. The chronology is entertaining. That's the kind of dream which would get to me too.
 
Very good writing. It seems that your successful Lithuanian campaigns changed ballance between pagans and christians (Cuman conquest of Magyars). But does crowning for a king means that your ruler converted to christianity? Or is it just a title?
 
thrashing mad - it's just a title. Since the mod allows me to create titles just as Christian countries can, I can become "King of Lithuania". The pagan titles are "Chief" (Count), "High Chief" (Duke) and "King" (King). And I don't think there are ways to make a character convert to another religion (other than giving him ecclesiastical education). I am mainly roleplaying an open religiously-tolerant society, that's why I have Catholic monks and Orthodox bishops participating in the event. I will write a bit more about that in the "regular" update.