Serbia in AGCPEEP 1.57 base, or Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The Introduction

The Introduction

Our past glory:



The year is 1419, some 60 years have passed since the death of our Emperor, Dushan the Mighty, who conquered much and gave us the first Constitution. (in game terms the provinces of Serbia proper, Bosnia, Ragusa, Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania were his empire). Since then, Empire crumbled into small states or fiefdoms, bitterly playing one off against the other, as was the very nature of feudal haughtiness, while eastern countries and provinces were slowly digested by the eastern menace of arising Muslim Ottomans. Father of our current ruler, Lazar, united what he could, mostly to the north of the ex-empire, but lost his life in the greatest battle of all, on Kosovo field in 1389, aided by the Bosnians against the Turk of the East. He lost his life, but the Sultan lost his, too, that fiend of freemen, and the rising Ottoman Empire was stopped for two decades. Now his son reigns, despot Stefan Lazarevic (I guess an English version of his name would be Stephen Lazarusson), by some the greatest and noblest ruler so far. To save what can be saved, he is a vassal to the mighty Hungarian kingdom, which gave us some land in an area of Macva, and it is some years since despot had moved his capital to Belgrade, making it a fine city of commerce and learning, The White City in Serbian. He invented the new architectural stile and the literature is flourishing, he himself a devout Christian poet, helped by the learned Byzantine refuges. The silver mines are giving us handsome incomes, with which we bribe all and sundry to keep us afloating in this Turkish sea.

Let us strengthen the remains first… Despot Stefan long pondered the question where to engage, whether he should attempt to restore our rule in Zeta/Montenegro/Ragusa province, being held by mighty Venice, or to try his luck with Bosnia, presently an Ottoman vassal. Neither seems plausible at this fragile state. What shall he do?

After the premature death of our beloved emperor, the Bosnian king haughtily stiles himself the King of the Serbs, and that we shall not suffer to pass…

The Boring Management under our Despot (or strengthening the land by doing nothing)

The Boring Management under our Despot (or strengthening the land by doing nothing)

Some years ago, our Despot was a vassal both to the Turks and Hungarians. He was called to help the Turk Sultan in a great battle somewhere in Asia, against the Timerlan, or so people tell me, he helped Bayazid, the Sultan, son of the slain fiend on the flat Kosovo plain of our legendary stand, so much that he released him a free ruler before being slain by that Mongol. On the return home, Despot Stefan reposed briefly in the City of Emperors of Byzant, where, upon hearing the good news of the Turkish demise, he was rewarded the title of despot, the first under the Emperor.

When Stefan Lazarevic swore an oath of vassalage to Emperor Sigismund, seeking protection from our formidable northern neigbour, he was made a noble of the Kingdom of Hungary and granted large personal estates in that Kingdom, including the town of Debrecen. These estates, according to Bertrand de la Broquierre, provided Serbian Desport with annual income of 50,000 ducats (50 gold in the game). Our beloved despot is also a knight of the Order of Dragon (led by Hungarian king Szigismund), a true knight that wins many tournaments abroad and has his coat of arms in western armories. As such an accomplished knight he was given many an estate in Hungary, which gives us profit. You, western reader, might know another member of this order, the so called Dracula… Much was written about him elsewhere. It is no wonder that Despot sent an aristocrat into Hungary to be married, so that our alliance with them would be even stronger.

Although The Hussite Wars started in 1419, our aid was not requested by our Hungarian suzerain, due to the nature of our alliance. Our despot exchanges maps with the Byzantium.

In October 1420, Hungary relinquishes control of Dalmatia over to Venice. That puts an end to our plans of striking Venice to regain control over Zeta, as they’re to strong now. So it’ll have to be Bosnia first…

In 1421 Wallachia, our north-eastern neighbour, joins Hungarian alliance. We finish tax collector in the province of Kosovo. In 1422 we share maps with Trebizond.

In 1421 the Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed I, died. His son, Murad II, ascended the throne. However, the Byzantines were holding Mehmed's brother, Mustafa, prisoner on the island of Lemnos. Hoping for the best, and urged on by his son (John VIII), Manuel II released this pretender to the throne, creating civil war in the Ottoman Empire. The Venetians took the opportunity to attack the Ottoman navy. Mustafa approched Despot of Serbia hoping to gain his support in addition to Byzantine. Stefan helps him, but nothing much happens.

Basically, nothing much happens during his rule concerning wars. He strengthened us, but lacked the guts to strike Bosnia, as it would mean an open war with the Ottomans while the Hungarians were in far-off Bohemia, losing time…

His rein ends with words “no news is good news”. Many news will come now.

Olav said:

Nice presentation so far - I like the style.

Good luck with your game. I think you need it; it's a difficult region to play in, at least with a minor. Playing with AGCEEP doesn't make it easier either.

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thank you, this is by far the most difficult fame I have ever played. Once again kudos to the people of AGCEEP.

Also, my appologies for my terrible spelling, never was able to see any logic in the English spelling. hope you won't find it too troubling

The Despot is dead, long live the Despot

The Despot is dead, long live the Despot

Despot Stefan Lazarevic's health was already failing in 1426. He tried diplomatically to resolve the Zeta question, but ended only with the claim to that land, which cost some 25 gold. As he had no children, the logical choice of his heir was his nephew, Djuradj Brankovic, his close aide and successful general. Despot Stefan announced his decision at the council of Serbian nobles in Srebrenica and met no resistance. However, he still needed Emperor Sisgismund's blessing for this non-direct inheritance. In May 1426, a treaty was signed between Stefan and Sigismund in Hungarian town of Tata according to which Emperor Sigismund would recognize Djuradj as Stefan's heir but Djuradj would have to return the town of Belgrade and surrounding territories, including the fortress of Golubac, to Hungary upon Stefan's death. Emperor Sigismund was also named heir to Serbian Despotate in case of Djuradj's death without heirs. This, however, was only a formality as Djuradj never showed any signs of possibility to leave Serbia without an heir.

Alas, soon our ruler dies and Djuradj Brankovic becomes the despot (for you of the English tongue, his name is pronounced Jooraj). Despot Stefan left strengthened Serbia and 78 gold in our treasury. Immediately the talks with the Hungarians over the fate of Belgrade start and also Bosnia chooses to ally with Hungary, but still remains in Ottoman alliance. Djuradj, being a belligerent ruler, says “We shall equip our army and wait for the opportune moment, if Bosnia and Serbia are both Hungarian vassals soon, perhaps we shall be able to secure Bosnia for us with the Hungarian king!

Djuradj was a member of another mighty family that ruled over south Serbian lands in Kosovo (That the Orcs in RL presently occupy, helped by Saruman), after the death of the Emperor Dushan the Mighty. In the second half of the 14th century, the Brankovics rose to be the rulers of much land that Lazar, the father of our now dead despot, was not able to secure for himself. That all happened in a crumbling Empire under Urosh the Infirm, the last of the imperial line of the Nemanjic dynasty. The Brankovics were Turkish vassals, while Lazar was independent, this should give you some idea that this family revered both military and diplomatic means.

The lands:


After the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 Djuradj tried on many an occasion to overthrow Stefan, but was not successful. Only through the wisdom of late despot Stefan, he was brought back to grace, as he was perceived as a potent man… He was a master of diplomatic intrigue and had good connections with Venice, Hungarians and even the Turks. After the treaty of Tara, a very capable, mature ruler, ascends our throne.

CatKnight said:

Never got to play Serbia in EU2. This definitely looks like a hard nut to crack.

I think you need to look at expansion, depending on the political situation. Bosnia's an obvious target with the core, but keep your eye on Wallachia and Albania as well. You need the extra resources when Hungary and the Ottos come tromping through.

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Annexing them too quickly would imediately mean bad reputation, and with Serbia it means if it is more than -10 everybody and their distant cousins attack Serbia and we kick the bucket.

The Ottos are a nightmare

The War for Bosnia

The War for Bosnia

And so Bosnia becomes Hungarian vassal as Djuradj takes reign. Now’s our time! Djuradj sends diplomats, pulls his family strings, but has to return Belgrade to meet the conditions of the Tata treaty, which impoverishes us greatly. So much gold has been devoted to building the new capital, only now to be handed over… Alas, that small nations should suffer what they must. A costly overture, but this gives Djuradj open hands and he declares was on Bosnia in 1428, in early spring! Hungary even offers help, but we decline, fearing they would take Bosnia for themselves in the clash.

The history of Serbia and Bosnia’s relations is a very complex one. The first Serbian state was created in what is now Bosnia and people in the eastern part of the country considered themselves Serbian from times immemorial. Even our standard language is based on that dialect. But the very heart of Bosnia, in impenetrable mountains that send shivers down the spine at the first glance, was a land out of time and place where a group of people believed in a bogumil’s heresy, some strange mish-mash of faith with social justice, a deviation of our true Orthodox faith, universal, may God be praised and unbelievers punished in the fiery pits of Hell. Anyway, Serbia almost always occupied the lands of Hum, and it was very often that there were skirmishes over Srebrenica, with its rich mines (even in RL Srebrenica is relatively famous for massacres, although conveniently represented that only Serbs did them… ). Often did the Bosnian rulers fashion themselves “king of all the Serbs”. This would be the first time one of the players tried to take it all and unite the people, even if it meant uniting them in death.

Bloody battles ensue, our main army, some 11,000 strong defeats Bosnians near Usora, an army half our size. They retreat, cross the river Drina, where our 1.000 knights also defeat them and chase them off towards Kosovo, but are defeated in turn by a newly gathered Bosnian army, some inexperienced 9.000 people who start meddling around the plains of Kosovo. Thanks to our new despot, the siege in Bosnia ends successfully and quickly, and we are greatly aided by the money from the silver mines, although it also brings about inflation of 1%. Located near Gjilan in Kosovo, the gold and silver mines of Novo Brdo gave Djuradj Brankovic an annual income of about 200,000 Venetian Ducats. According to the French Knight Bertrand de la Broquierre, this made the Despot the richest monarch in Europe, a slightly overexerted claim. With some 200 gold in our treasury, and Bosnia occupied, it was easy to start negotiations with the Bosnian king, or should I say the last Bosnian king. He would become one of the Serbian Nobles and we would attack Venice as one body and he would receive new lands in Zeta, said the deal. Under such conditions, on 3rd December 1428 Bosnia becomes a part of Serbia, for the first time in its entirety. This accord turns out to be a scam of Djuradj’s as only two days later, the ex-Bosnian king gets killed by an assassin and his army of some 6,000 simply disbanded. All Bosnian nobles were slaughtered before Christmas and lands directly given to Djuradj.

From a catholic monastery near Fojnica, the chronicles for that year

And in Anno Dimini 1428, ilustrissime Lord and Despot Georgious Brankovich, or Djuradj in our tongue, put war on this land and claimed it for his person and he gave this monastery protection and let us work the good work.
And beneath that text, in the margins, with quick hand and in Cyrillic alphabet, there says:
The men of war came and plundered all save the books we kept and many were killed.

Thus ends the tale of Bosnia. All who opposed this unification were put to the sword. It was many years until a child’s voice could be heard again in central Bosnia… Our allies take it relatively well, although some Hungarian nobles tried to contest our gains, an effort fallen short due to their costly religious war in Bohemia. Alas, the rest of the Catholics, the sly Latin heretics with their distorted view of our true religion, hate our guts now. Off with our diplomats… beg, beg, beg and marry with them, says Djuradj.

In the meantime, Djuradj also asserts his claim over Albania, which enrages the Turks (we now consider Albania a core province). He also makes sure the medicine gets swallowed well by arranging our entrance into the greater Hungarian alliance, thus securing us from the jealousy of Venice and Wallachia, not a strange thing when our reputation is tarnished (-6.5).

Where’s our tax collector in Bosnia? Start collecting…

The Desperate Years

The Desperate Years​

Now, after the Bosnian unification and the return of Belgrade to the Hungarians, we need a new capital. Much gold goes to the construction of the city of Smederevo, east of Belgrade on the river Danube, a small-scale copy of Constantinopolis. To this day our people remember the tolls imposed upon to complete this task.

But it was all in vain. When Thessalonica, defended by the Republic of Venice, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1430, Djuradj's son Grgur (father to the future King and Despot) lead the unit of Serbian knights provided as part of Serbia's tribute. Due to Grgur's proximity to the field of battle and Djuradj's influence in Sultan's court, Serbian Despot was the first to react when Ottomans offered a number of high-ranking Greek captives for ransom. The tradition continued afterwards and many Greek, Bulgarian and Albanian captives found shelter in Djuradj's court, bringing with them their Byzantine experience and prestige. Seeing this, Turkish Sultan, after taking Candar, turns his attention to Serbia and finds it in a better shape then he would like and declares war on us in November 1430.

Passage from a scroll, written that month in the monastery of Ravanica:
Once again the Lord Christ tests us, surely for the wicked sins committed by our gluttonous nobles of the past, who let our good and godly empire fail & falter, oh, ye friends of justice, and our humble people flock to churches praying for our Christian souls in peril, seeing the end of Serbia, much to delight and joy of demonic enemy, that fiend of freemen, our foe the Sultan and its lowly followers. Amen.

We are totally taken by surprise, and to make things worse, even Albania joins their Turkish masters. Djuradj screams to the entire alliance, and loses very little time praying, but only Hungary and Wallachia respond affirmatively, already exhausted by long wars in Bohemia. Djuradj is desperate, and as the many tens of thousands of Turks, Albanians and other monsters pour into Kosovo, he takes his 11.000 strong army, takes 200 gold coins of treasury and flees Smederevo for Hungarian Croatia, assured of no return while men walk the Earth.

And We see now, yea, that in the year of 6938 from the beginning of the world, Aye, trulie, ye ende is neigh & They pillage & he, ye fiend of east, murdereth & killeth all peasantry, and we are locked, locked, I say unto you, behind what walls of protecsiun we could finden and I learned ye news of a sparrow being found with three arrows on ye morrow of yet another day of siege. Where be our saints, who shall protect Us from the wrath o’ the beast? Oh, brave Serbian archer, may thou aim well and true. And where is king ye Hungarian good Sir, and where is ye past glory… Etc. etc…

Wallachians very bravely launch an offensive into Bulgaria, some 20.000 men are even victorious. Hungarians are only slowly amassing their troupes, taking their sweet Hungarian time... Djuradj is under a lot of pressure and returns to Smederevo where he is attacked by a Turkish scout and he fends him off.

“Let us then die on this good Serbian soil!” says he to the gathered. That is when he decides to risk it all, while the Turks have busied themselves in Bulgaria against the brave Wallachians and departs for Albania, which is relatively undefended, but ends up defeated on Kosovo, cursed Kosovo… A whole year passes with Djuradj trying to pass around the enemy. Wallachia eventually falls totally to the Ottomans in autumn 1431, oh brave cousins of ours, soon I fear we shall join you in the realms beyond. In the bitter cold of winter 1431-32,. Djuradj somehow defeats the Albanians in Duress and starts a siege. Serbia, meanwhile, is literally drowning in Turks besieging - Smederevo and Kosovo fall soon enough in March 1432, ah, the first fall of Smederevo.

From a contemporary song:

Oh, cursed Smederevo and cursed Jerina
Wife of no solace and no grace
That you should cost a Serb so much
You were built in such a pace
Yet end now in a Turkish clutch.

To that, Hungarians cross the river with 40.000 formidable men and defeat the Turks. Well, how do you do, allies? There’s a whole lot of fighting in Serbia, but the Turks keep on coming… Situation is dire. A small Serbian army gets assembled in Bosnia and takes part in Hungarian operations, trying to recapture Smederevo and protecting the walled monasteries where our saints’ and ruler’s holy bones are. In February 1433 Djuradj takes Duresh, but Kosovo is occupied by Albanians and no peace between them and us is possible, He then sets off to Kosovo, cursed Kosovo, our permanent trial. All our forces, including Hungarian 20.000 gather there and suffer great Turkish attacks and in a crucial battle in July 1433 we are defeated and retreat in disarray to Serbia proper where we recapture Smederevo in a matter of three months, as some good rebels of ours were there already, heroes one and all! This gives the Hungarian king the opportunity to negotiate as an alliance leader, and in order to save his Albanian ally, the Ottoman Sultan accepts the Hungarian peace proposal of paying only 6 gold on October 1433 and in such a fashion our despot gets his country back, pillaged, scarred, with 120 gold remaining.

The situation:

The Change of Hearts I-a


This war, that brought us to the brink of annihilation, leaves a tremendous impact on aging Djuradj. Seeing modern Ottoman army simply leveling everything in its path and seeing poor Wallachia being wiped off the face of the Earth, he starts doubting in the power of the ever-divided feudal Hungary to help Serbia prosper. For the first time he entertains assessing his option to strike a permanent deal with the Sultan, if he would only listen… A Pact with the Devil.

In 1434, while scorched Serbia tends to deep and painful wounds and Smederevo gets yet again strengthened, the daughter of Djuradj, Mara (1410-1487), gets sent away to the Ottoman harem, o horrid fate, and thus we can live a bit more secure that they won’t attack us still… So, Djuradj acted and sacrificed his closest daughter to save our skin. A martyr, a saint, she is dubbed all over Serbdom.

A daughter of Djuradj Brankovic, she was married off to Sultan Murâd II (4 April 1434) in an attempt to preserve the fragile peace between Serbia and the Ottoman Empire. Sent back to her father upon the death of Murâd II, she famously refused a proposal from the Byzantine Emperor Konstantinos XI. She will be a crucial figure in the next decade, an instrument of our salvation, as she was a favourite concubine of the Sultan and a step-mother to a future Sultan, that brought about much described forth.

An insecure repose begins for Serbia. All Djuradj’s energy was focused on buying Serbia some time to breathe and recuperate.

From the monastery chronicles of Ravanica:

But, oh cursed be the hearts of disloyal selfish ones, who place their beliefs over the belief of our master and despot, our good Sir, Djuradj the Autocrator! On Kosovo in May of the same year, group of zealots, hearing of Mara’s Christian sacrifice worse than death, raised a revolt and gathered 6.000 men, whom hunger and suffering clouded their Christian souls and against our beloved Orthodoxy they now roam the holy plains of Kosovo, drenched in blood of good our Serbian fallen warriors!

This was a shock, the bane of Serbia threatening to happen all over again. Djuradj gathered all the army and mercilessly punished the revolters on the field of Kosovo, that catena mundi Serbiae, on 25th May 1434. This date marks the consolidation of his unquestionable rule, as now all opposition was silenced for good, as the dead have no say over the matters of the living. May all evil against us fare so.

In July of the said year The Ottomans started preparing for a war with Byzantium. Mara already proves useful as all our diplomatic skills try to persuade the Sultan not to attack the City of Emperors. Djuradj is successful in centralizing his rule, a brief period of instability ensues in 1435.

Uneasy years follow, with a serious incident with Venice in 1437 that almost lead to an open war (RL: in a game that crashed Venice attacked while The Ottomans were at war with Byzantium and we occupied Ragusa/Zeta, but I lost it, which taught me the value of autosave every year. When I played that period again, nothing happened, which is strange, as usually AI wakes up on reload).

Here's the end of the first part of the first part of this chapter, as what follows is much to important

part 2 of part 1

And then, as surely ordained by the heavenly intent, in 1438 Hungary becomes vassals of Austria and leaves our alliance! Albrecht of Habsburg was crowned King of Hungary in Székesfehérvar on January 1st 1438. After the childless Luxemburg emperor's death, Albrecht of Habsburg also succeeded him in Bohemia. The crowns of the Holy Roman Empire, St Stephen and St Wenceslas had all passed from the Luxemburgs to the Habsburgs. Although Bohemia and Hungary were only held for a short time by Austria, this was the beginning of the Habsburg dynasty's rapid rise.

Rise or not of some God-forsaken mountain shepherds, as Djuradj writes to his daughter in the Ottoman harem: we are left defenseless, without an ally or seccour, alone avant-garde of Christianity on that tumultuous trek… I lost all influence with the Hungarians now. Of Little Avail is my effort to fashion our Hosts of Men to the Turkish fighting stile or to strengthen our Spirit if we fight alone, as our truce with your Husband is about to expire, oh my poor daughter! Oh, Mara, in your hands we put the Future of our children! Let not the heathen tramp us… Now that our House has risen so high, let us not be remembered as the last rules, but as the first.

Hungary even cancels military agreement, Djuradj’s lands in Hungary are confiscated and he’s again in a frightful fix, a more desperate situation than ever. On a bitter winter’s day in January 1439, from his high tower in his capital of Smederevo on the Hungarian border, he oversees the nether lands of Banat, where your writer lives in RL, across the ice-covered broad Danube river, and watches beyond the swamps of Hungary, beyond the material world, into grim future that tests the Serbs ever anew, and behold, our despot, an old man of 60, sheds bitter tears.

The Change of Hearts II

The Change of Hearts
Part II

or

The Choice Between Heavenly Kingdom and Earthly Life​

Let’s take a giant step backwards and see what was plaguing our dear Despot so much.


(Real Life)
Thomas Emmert
The Kosovo Legacy

On 28 June, on Vidovdan, 1389 an alliance of Serbian and Bosnian forces engaged a large Ottoman army on the plain of Kosovo in southern Serbia. When the battle was over, Prince Lazar, the commander of the Christian army, and Murad, the ruler of the Ottomans, lay dead. In the years and centuries that followed, the battle and the martyred Prince Lazar became the subjects of a rich literature of popular legend and epic poetry that has profoundly influenced Serbian historical consciousness. The bard, the storyteller, and, eventually, the traditionalist historian depicted the Battle of Kosovo as the catastrophic turning point in the life of Serbia; it marked the end of an independent, united Serbia and the beginning of 500 years of oppressive Ottoman rule. The legend of the battle became the core of what we may call the Kosovo ethic, and the poetry that developed around the defeat contained themes that were to sustain the Serbian people during the long centuries of foreign rule.

A feeling of despair permeated Lazar's lands after the prince's death and his wife's surrender to the Ottomans the following year. Conscious of the need to combat pessimism in Serbia and to provide hope for a bright future, the monastic authors of the day wrote eulogies and sermons in praise of Lazar in which they interpreted the events of this troubled period for their own contemporaries. In their writings Lazar is portrayed as God's favored servant and the Serbian people as the chosen people of the New Testament: the "new Israel." Like the Hebrews in Babylonian captivity, the Serbs would be led out of slavery to freedom. Lazar's death is depicted as a triumph of good over evil: a martyrdom for the faith and the symbol of a new beginning. Serbia and her people would live. Responding to contemporary needs, the medieval writers transformed the defeat into a kind of moral victory for the Serbs and an inspiration for the future. The Serbian epic tradition only developed these ideas further and established them soundly in the consciousness of the Serbian people.

The Serbian people's spiritual choice of Heaven over earth was manifested most fully and evidently in the fateful choice made in 1389. This choice was made by the soldiers and martyrs, who were led and given an example by the Tsar Lazar. Christ's words about the road of suffering which leads to the Kingdom of Heaven reach - through the spiritual self-denials of the first Serbian saints and through the descriptions of the poets reached their culmination in the act of the martyr-deaths at Kosovo.




And our Djuradj is in two minds still…

And thus the letter itself speaks to the Tsar:
'Lazar! Lazar! Tsar of noble family,
Which kingdom is it that you long for most?
Will you choose a heavenly crown today?
Or will you choose an earthly crown?
If you choose the earth then saddle horses,
Tighten girths- have your knights put on
Their swords and make a dawn attack against
The Turks: your enemy will be destroyed.
But if you choose the skies then build a church-
O, not of stone but out of silk and velvet-
Gather up your forces take the bread and wine,
For all shall perish, perish utterly,
And you, O Tsar, shall perish with them."
And when the Tsar has heard those holy words
He meditates, thinks every kind of thought:
"O, Dearest God, what shall I do, and how?
Shall I choose the earth? Shall I choose
The skies? And if I choose the kingdom,
If I choose an earthly kingdom now,
Earthly kingdoms are such passing things-
A heavenly kingdom, raging in the dark, endures eternally."
And Lazarus chose heaven, not the earth,
And tailored there a church at Kosovo-
O not of stone but out of silk and velvet-
And he summoned there the Patriarch of Serbia,
Summoned there the lordly twelve high bishops:
And he gathered up his forces, had them
Take with him the saving bread and wine.
As soon as Lazarus has given out
His orders, then across the level plain
Of Kosovo pour all the Turks.



Lazar was offered a choice between an earthly or a Heavenly kingdom, which would result in a victory or defeat, respectively, at the Battle of Kosovo. Lazar, naturally, opts for the Heavenly kingdom. Lazar, naturally, opts for the Heavenly kingdom. Djuradj’s father, during the battle (see the map in previous chapters, Vuk Brankovic), opted for life and servitude, Lazar was gloriously dead. But who guides the living, if not now the son of a surviving man?

“I will not die thus”, says Djuradj. “I must not.”

And this choice changes the history of the world.
(Well, as all choices do, all the time, in all the universes)

In February 1439 a famous Council of Florence happened. Faced with the terrible onslaught of the Ottoman Turks, representatives of the Byzantine Empire and the Greek Orthodox Church have gone to the Council of Florence in order to negotiate a Union of the Churches. The Byzantines and their patriarch have agreed to great concessions, and Orthodoxy has virtually surrendered to Rome. Now, Byzantium is begging us to support them in their desperate struggle against the Ottomans! Oh, this is indeed the end of our world, to see The Emperor of the Universe, now Emperor of just his once greatest city, an Orthodox champion, convert and bow to that devil’s toy in Rome, usurper and unchristian war-monger! Djuradj is under terrible pressure to convert too and take part in the preparations for a crusade against the Muslim infidels. The Pope sends envoys, and the Sultan frowns at the news from Serbia. Everything reeks of death and surrender of Serbia to memory.

And then a sign signals a glimmer of hope. Not a fortnight passes and news from our province of Bosnia come, that the majority of people are Orthodox there now! Djuradj takes this as a sign from God and sends Papists back to Rome, implores Mara to let him speak with the Sultan.

It took the Ottoman ruler a couple of weeks to come, and when he came to the borders of Serbia near Kosovo, all and their mothers knew he came in all His Glory.


On 1st April 1439, a great Ottoman army of 200.000 men-under-arms (in RL) lead by the Sultan himself approached the borders of Serbia. Murad II demanded Despot Djuradj break all ties with the Christians and commit himself to eternal loyalty to him or be utterly destroyed, thus either way securing Ottoman way to Hungary. Djuradj asks for assurances that all his lands will remain under his rule. Sultan acquiesces to that, no doubt under a lot of influence of Mara, but demands an immediate answer. Let us see what a Serbian nobleman wrote about that meeting, (letter found out in Istanbul later on, this is a modern translation with many prayers omitted):

And we walked, it seemed for ever, through the innumerable lines of Turkish oily faces that stood on that Serbian field panting under their haughty feet, some clad in iron, some in rich attire, glittering as if the angels descended in their glory, but everything just spelled for us the might of this foreigner and our lowness. There was not a place anywhere around us that was not a Turkish face staring, never have I seen so many people, be they so dwarfish in appearance as this brood of East is. Who could fight this number and win? The very music that a veritable small army of their outlandish musicians produced seemed to sunken my heart, melt my dissolve and shatter my sword. We were stopped a long way before a huge tent of Sultan’s and were forced, along with our old Despot, to kneel down and approach Him to some ten paces on our knees, bare headed, unarmed, strapped of any armor. Then Sultan spoke in Greek of the conditions that meant our submission or our death and I felt a long stream of years of servitude fall upon me. But, lo! our lordly Despot rises and speaks back in Greek to the Sultan that he will respect the Sultans will, and that his heart has for years desired the Conversation At Hand, as he’s as a son to him now through his daughter, but that he’s a Serbian Despot and that he’ll rule all of “Despotate” as a Sultan’s Serbian Fist and as an Orthodox, or not live at all. Sultan was silent for what seemed an eternity, and just said “Do you swear so, say now in front of all?” and lord Djuradj knelt and swore so.


…

“Earthly Kingdom”, thought Djuradj, “Saved souls to pray for my lost one.”

Here's the event that made it possible

Thus Serbia broke vassalage with Hungary, entered a Turkish alliance along with Albania and became a Turkish vassal. An Ottoman administrator was sent to every fort, but the deal struck specified that no Turk could live in Serbia, only freely travel through it, as long as Djuradj lives. Also the Turks while in Serbia must not plunder or will be subject to Serbian law. Serbia had to pay for this “little picnic of sultan’s to our borders” in solid cash. The Pope and West took this hard, our relations with Hungary became ice cold and the shock in the country was enormous (-3 stability). It will take Serbia some two years just to come to terms with our new fate.

But life often wins, oh ye of faith, and it is better to be a loyal Muslim-allied vassal then a dead Catholic one, or as some time latter one Greek said 'Better the Sultan's turban than the Cardinal's hat'. And soon, very soon, Djuradj and Mara were hailed as saviours, when orchards were for the second time in blossom and nobody but us ate from them, when our houses were in one piece instead of rubble and our roads safe, albeit full of Turks.
Next year our Land technology increased to Late Medieval (2).

During 1441 Djuradj was very busy saving ungrateful Byzantines yet again from the Ottoman wrath, which was a part of his policy of preserving the Status Quo.

Thus ends this chapter, with Serbia finding a new place for herself, of ye in the distant safety under this unforgiving sky.

CatKnight said:

A difficult decision....but given Serbia's vulnerability, the correct one. So long as the Ottos don't call on you too often, you should have plenty of time to quietly build up and wait for an opportunity.

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thank you for your comment!

Yes, it was a very difficult decision, but all others would just prolong Serbia's existence for a century at the most, as Ottos would attack sooner or later and Hungary would always be in some war west. What's even more interesting, perhaps, is that Djuradj did opt for this optin in RL, but changed his heart as the Ottos were passing through Serbia :wacko: , which lead to massive distruction and the First Fall of Despotate.

Back to the game, it's now Hungarians that are the problem at hand and their ideas of crusade against the Turks...

I'll soon update

Vandervecken said:

Too bad he didn't change his mind AFTER they had already passed, thus cutting supply lines etc. Would've saved the Balkans some trouble.

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Yup, yup! He was amazing, though. In RL, later on a crusade was organized against the Turks and he took part in it, but stopped it as soon as he got back the Despotate. Pope was furious... anyway he was an unbelievably capable man to turn a total disaster into victory, but still only a man. If he lived for a decade more, God knows what would have happened as he was worse than Austra, he married his relations all around...

Can you believe it, he took part in battles aged 80, and activelly so, sword flying all over the place!

anyway, in this game, he'll be worse than Machiavelli (sorry for the spelling, no offense ment). I'm currently finishing his dynasty and the year is 1508. Particularly distusting will be the fall of Constantinople... with serbian aid to the ottos. my stomack was turning to this.

I also just want to add that many directly offensive words against the Catholics and Muslims in this story are not my own, I'm just trying to depict the mood of the times with Orthodox population. We were totally fatalistic (and probably remained to this very day)

Also, you can see how much fighting there was between Christians while the Ottos were pushing on. Just take Srebrenica for example, where Serb forces did a lot of bad things after some Muslim attacks in RL in the previous war in Bosnia. It's already been mentioned in this story as well.

I'll update tomorrow on the crusade, but this time Djuradj will be on opposite side.