Porta Atlanticum, Portus Classis / An England MMU AAR

[Chris Taylor]

Just wanted to put in a fast status update—I didn't mean to go on unannounced hiatus, but Christmas and related activities took up more time than I anticipated. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy New Year, and so forth.

Regrettably I discovered the GamersGate sale, and I could not resist the offer of 50% off other strategy titles, like Victoria II and Hearts of Iron III. Because of the ah, educational value that is in it. And of course these new games were no distraction whatsoever. No sir.

Also having a little bit of trouble crafting the next update; I don't think I've ever sweated through a war like I did with that one. Having one's nearest reinforcements some two and a half months away begs for a certain amount of caution in strategy and maneuver. And the battles were frequent—once (and sometimes twice) a month throughout the duration. The sheer volume of events means I am having to edit aggressively in order to avoid having 30 ponderous pages of war activity.

So, I said all that to say this: the next official update is about 25% complete and, Lord willing, will get posted within the next day or two. Thanks for your patience!

 

[blsteen]

Regrettably I discovered the GamersGate sale, and I could not resist the offer of 50% off other strategy titles, like Victoria II and Hearts of Iron III. Because of the ah, educational value that is in it. And of course these new games were no distraction whatsoever. No sir.

Now you have gone and done it

Also having a little bit of trouble crafting the next update; I don't think I've ever sweated through a war like I did with that one. Having one's nearest reinforcements some two and a half months away begs for a certain amount of caution in strategy and maneuver. And the battles were frequent—once (and sometimes twice) a month throughout the duration. The sheer volume of events means I am having to edit aggressively in order to avoid having 30 ponderous pages of war activity.

Yes, the battling in the Med while keeping a wary eye on the home front would be quite and undertaking

So, I said all that to say this: the next official update is about 25% complete and, Lord willing, will get posted within the next day or two. Thanks for your patience!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
And update soon on the Greek War of not getting our ass kicked and annexed by the heathen Turk

 

[unmerged(90806)]

Glad to see you back (and don't abandon EU3! ). Looking forward to the update.

 

[unmerged(175897)]

Just caught up with this fantastic AAR - I hope to see the results of the Jihad!

Incidentally, how do you calculate the value of England's GDP?

 

[Chris Taylor]

Incidentally, how do you calculate the value of England's GDP?

I have been reporting the "Income" figure from the Nation Statistics page of the ledger. Nothing fancy.

 

[Dewirix]

I did exactly the same with Christmas sales. I've got the last update of my AAR to write, but keep being distracted.

 

[Chris Taylor]

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Capitulum XII.
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand
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While the First Crusade could be counted a momentous—even miraculous—success, almost every following effort ended in failure. A united Christendom might well have been invincible, but for three and a half centuries Latin and Orthodox Europe could not bring themselves to cooperate in meaningful ways. The Greeks assumed that crusaders would function as mercenaries under Byzantine command, while the crusaders tended to act independently under their own national commanders. Relations reached their nadir during the Fourth Crusade's sack of Constantinople (1204), which critically weakened the Byzantine state.

Over the centuries, the Greeks had learned that the Catholic West exacted a high price for any military protection—but without that protection, the end of their Empire was only a matter of time. Several emperors (Michael VIII, John V, John VIII) had attempted to gain military aid by agreeing to a reunification of the Catholic and Orthodox faiths, but all attempts had thus far been blocked by clerical or aristocratic intransigence on one side or the other. When Emperor Manuel III proposed the same ecumenical reconciliation in 1447, Pope Paul II readily agreed, but the effort was sunk when the Latin kingdoms (England excepted) failed to provide even a token military alliance. Indeed, if it had not been for Queen Jane's personal connection with the man who would become Manuel's successor, it is unlikely that England would ever have sought or honoured an Anglo-Greek treaty.

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THE ENGLISH CRUSADE​

The Archbishop of Canterbury preaches an emotional sermon exhorting the barons of England to take up the Cross in defence of Christian Europe. He is joined by two Orthodox envoys who speak of impossible odds and tearfully tell the crowd that they are Greece's only hope; a call that is repeated by clergy throughout the kingdom. It is a wildly successful appeal, instilling an almost messianic sense of destiny in the crusaders.

Such enthusiasm can be dangerous, too; Queen Jane is aware of the deep enmity that prior crusades have bred in the Greek provinces—and she is determined not to repeat their failures. The Sovereign's instructions to George Saunders and the departing lords are specific: the goal of this crusade is the survival of the Greek state—not wealth or new territory for the crusaders. Honour the Emperor and obey his direction as they would Jane's own command; treat Greece with the care and respect one would show his own fiefdom. Above all else, exhibit humility—for as Saint James wrote, "God withstandeth proud men, but to meek men he giveth grace." [James 4:6, Wyclif Bible, c.1380.]

London and the Cinque Ports become hubs of frenetic activity as thousands of men and horses are embarked for the two-and-a-half month voyage to Greece. After a few days of activity, the Lord High Admiral soon realises that port infrastructure is inadequate. The nation's anchorages are not large or efficient enough to sustain the vast inflow and outflow of goods needed to keep the Crusade provisioned. Over the next several years, a harbour improvement program will see ports in key locations (Deptford, Chatham, Bristol, Woolwich, Portsmouth and Plymouth) expanded and enhanced.

Rather than cower behind Constantinople's formidable Theodosian Walls, the Greeks go on the offensive. In mid-July, Emperor Constantine leaves the capital with a force of 18,000 men to strike at a 12,000-strong Turkish army assembling in neighbouring Adrianople (Edirne). Though the Greeks suffer three times as many casualties as the Turks (6,000 Byzantine losses versus 2,000 Ottoman), they are able to drive off the defenders and mount a siege of the Turkish capital.

In English France, Parliament's wisdom in preserving Continental forces is demonstrated in September, when a French nationalist revolt in Cambray is handily suppressed in just five days by the Pas-de-Calais garrison. As a hedge against French adventurism, the Gascony garrison is doubled from 3,000 men to regular army strength (2,000 knights and 4,000 footsoldiers).

During the two-and-a-half month voyage to Greece, the English lords struggle with the challenge of planning an adequate defence. The temptation is to concentrate the entire force in Constantinople, and while this might be symbolically powerful to their Greek allies, it would leave the English army at a marked disadvantage. Thrace is surrounded by Turkish territory, and once outside the walls of Constantinople, it is too easily overrun. If the capital is to survive the inevitable Turkish siege, it must be constantly resupplied with food, men and matériel from Morea and Thessaly. Defending the Greek heartland is paramount.

In September, the arriving Navy Royal sweeps a 3-galley scout force from the Aegean, and Saunders sends messengers inland to establish communication with the Greeks. Communication and coordination between the allies is good at the upper echelons, as most noblemen on both sides have a functional grasp of Latin, and a few of the well-educated Anglo-Irish and Anglo-Norman lords can even speak Greek. The common soldiers tend not to have these advantages, however, and the language barrier is an inhibition to the mingling of lower classes.

Saunders is careful to observe the Queen's instructions, agreeing to fight under a Byzantine commander. At the end of the month, a joint Anglo-Greek force engages in a vicious slugfest with a small Turkish army in Epiros. Though the Turks are obliterated and casualties are light, the hard fighting on difficult terrain is a shock to the crusaders. The battle is also the only time that Byzantine and English armies will fight side by side.

By late October, the Crusade's two other English contingents arrive. Edmund Davis' Royal Army disembarks in Euboea and sweeps aside the 1,000 Turkish defenders without any losses. James Button's Army of Ireland arrives in Athens and soon receives word of 7,000 Turkish troops to the north. By combining forces with Saunders' Invasion Army, Button is able to lift the siege of Larissa and drive the Turks back to Thessalonica.

In November, Emperor Constantine is forced to abandon the siege of Adrianople in order to lift the siege of his own capital; once that's done, however, he soon returns to besieging the Turks. Saunders pursues the Ottoman army ejected from Thessaly, forcing the surrender of the entire 4,200-man force outside Thessalonica. Soon after he's engaged by another group of 6,000 Turks, and though victorious the constant fighting, marching and lack of rest drains English morale further.

The war then settles into an almost predictable ebb and flow. Turkish armies are mustered in Anatolia, then funneled through Thrace into a Rumelian baptism by fire. In Adrianople they will encounter Constantine's attrition-ravaged but still potent Greek army, which no Turks have yet been able to defeat. Bloodied but not broken, the Turks may retreat west to Salonica or Macedonia, where they attack (or are attacked by) the combined English armies. This one-two punch also helps to prolong the survival of the Greek capital, as the large Turkish armies inevitably focus on destroying the invaders rather than besieging Constantinople. There is no time for English armies to besiege Turkish towns in return; the westward flow of attackers never lessens, and all three English armies must stay together or be overwhelmed.

In the winter, the Ottomans begin a major effort to wear down the allied armies. A series of battles outside Adrianople whittle Constantine's forces down to just 8,300 horses and men, while Sultan Ahmet I Osmanli and 10,000 Turks try to crush the 14,300 English (who have retreated to safe territory in Larissa, hoping for rest).

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Back at home, there are innovations in the composition of military field forces. Cavalry was naturally the dominant battlefield force in the Middle Ages. Medieval knights were noblemen, supported by the work of others, and had ample time for combat training. They also ate better, making them larger and stronger than the common footsoldier. And most importantly, their horses, weapons and armour amplified the knights' capabilities. Of course, this military might did not come cheaply; the extremely high cost of a knight's equipment (which was the equivalent of over ten years' wages for an archer!) tended to limit the number of knights and men-at-arms in medieval armies.

Nations like France—gifted with a large population and vast agricultural wealth—could afford to muster large numbers of men-at-arms despite the cost; and by the 15th century, French men-at-arms were generally regarded as the finest in the world. Realising they could not compete in absolute numbers, the English tried to equalise the odds by employing greater numbers of cheaper infantry—such as archers (Land Technology level 6, Land Morale increased by +0.05; enables Longbowmen, Men at Arms, Condotta).

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The large and dangerous Ottoman navy has thus far been conspicuous by its absence. Scouts have reported seeing about forty-odd galleys moored in Christoupolis (Kavala), but the Turks seem reluctant to venture out. Initially the Navy Royal keeps a close eye on the port, but as ships are drawn off for patrols or blockades in the Hellespont, Bosporus and the adjacent seas, vigilance weakens. In time, English supply ships even become accustomed to traversing the Aegean unescorted. It is then that the Turks strike.

On the morning of January 18th, 1457, two flotillas of English cogs are ambushed by Turkish galleys in the western Aegean, off the Pelion peninsula. As the cogs fight desperately, a passing Navy Royal patrol spots the battle and moves to engage—but as the English pour more ships into the fight, they are matched by a seemingly endless supply of galleys. In desperation, a fast pinnace is dispatched to summon the bulk of the fleet as the cogs try to fight their way into the Pagasetic Gulf. The battle rages on into the night and following day, with the Turkish galleys blocking the entrance to Volos, the nearest Greek port. The English cogs and patrol squadron are forced to stand off until the 21st, when two squadrons of carracks and their escorts force the surrender of the Ottoman fleet.

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Meanwhile Saunders has managed to prevent the Sultan from capturing Larissa; but despite the English commander's larger force, the Sultan's superior tactics and leadership result in an almost equal number of casualties. Hoping to finish off the enemy, Saunders pushes his exhausted men to pursue the retreating Turkish army into Macedonia. The 12,400 English ought to make short work of the 6,100 Ottomans, but once again the Sultan manages to inflict roughly equal losses.

Despite the Navy Royal's best efforts, Turkish troops are still able to cross the Bosporus into Greece. Every day Saunders, Button and Davis receive new and dispiriting reports of Ottoman field armies marching westward. Every fortnight, the ragged English armies march to another city, fight off the enemy, and then march on to the next destination. Turkish forces gather periodically in Scupi and Thessalonica, sometimes raiding Larissa; if the English don't keep patrolling through these areas, the Turks will have enough time to gather overwhelming numbers and employ a coordinated attack.

By the spring of 1457, the crusader armies in Greece have lost over 52% of their strength, shrinking from 18,000 to a mere 8,800. Morale is dangerously low.
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Every Lancastrian monarch since Henry IV has sought to centralise increasing power in the office of the Sovereign, slowly draining away the authority that ought to be exercised by Parliament. Several decades of encroaching royal power has made some lords extremely sensitive to any trespass on their traditional rights, and now that many of the Queen's key Parliamentary supporters are absent due to the crusade, an opportunity presents itself. The dissenting lords are able to force through legislation re-confirming Magna Carta, limiting the Queen's royal prerogatives and ceding some of her accumulated powers back to the feudal barons.

(right) King John signs the "Articles of the Barons"—the basis of Magna Carta—in the meadow of Runnymede, c. 1215. [1]
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The war is taking a toll on the Greeks as well. In February, an Ottoman force numbering 5,500 finally manages to defeat the Greek army of 7,500 men, lifting the siege of Adrianople (Edirne). An entire regiment of the Greek army is sacrificed to allow Constantine and his men to retreat to Philippopolis (Plovdiv). A contingent of Turks pursue the Greeks to Philippopolis and are eventually defeated, but at a horrific cost in lives. By May of 1457, Constantine's army has been reduced to just 4,600 men.

The Anglo-Greek armies have fought nineteen major engagements over the course of a year, but it's apparent that they are now strained to the breaking point.

Major engagements of the English Crusade. Battles indicated by crossed swords followed by flag of victor.
Note: Position/movement of several smaller Greek armies (1000 men or less) not indicated on map.​

Spies in Anatolia report that a Turkish force of 9,000 sipahi and janissaries have just crossed the Hellespont, intending to overwhelm the Emperor and his much-reduced army. Once the Byzantines are subdued there will be nothing to prevent every man and horse in the Turkish army from descending on Greece and assailing the weary, demoralised English crusaders.

Messengers are sent to Emperor Constantine, warning of the impending onslaught and seeking permission to negotiate terms with the enemy. Now aware of plummeting English morale and his own precarious tactical situation, Constantine agrees.

Saunders wonders if he can bluff grandly—implying that the 18,000 men in the French garrisons are already embarked and en route—but there is no need. The Turks have been stung by their land forces' failure to make any gains, and most especially by the loss of every last fighting galley (and the thousands of men who crewed them). The Sultan is ready to seek peace, but the Emperor wants impossibly ambitious concessions. Turkish garrisons in Epirus, Salonica and Corfu are still intact and effective; there is little chance of negotiating their surrender. In the end, the Greeks settle for Macedonia while the Turks denounce Queen Jane as a sorceress—having engineered the ignominious defeat of the Sultan's invincible armies via nefarious black magic.

​

But in actuality it is the dark arts of diplomacy which Jane practices best. A long, low-key campaign to bring rapprochement between the rival claimants to the Roman legacy eventually bears fruit. In late spring of 1457, the Austrian Holy Roman Emperor and the Greek Eastern Roman Emperor forge a military alliance.

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At home, there is a minor shuffling of the Privy Council; Lord High Admiral Rudolf Laporte of Bremen (2-star Grand Admiral, +0.4 yearly naval tradition, -8.0% ship cost, active 32 years) is replaced by Helmfried Rohde (another 2-star Grand Admiral), also of Bremen.

In the Levant, the largely Catholic Arabic population of Beirut rises in an anti-Jewish revolt, which will take a full three years for the Mameluk garrisons to quell. Many Jews (and Catholics) flee the violence in Lebanon and settle elsewhere in the Mediterranean.

Shortly after returning home from the wars, a lion of the battlefield goes to rest with his fathers. The nation mourns the passing of Edmund, Baron Davis, having succumbed to a lingering injury sustained in the English Crusade. He was a veteran of the campaigns in Denmark (1434-35, 1448-50), the Low Countries (1439-41), Aragon (1441-43), France (1445-46) and Greece (1456-57).

​

Baron George Saunders—perhaps the nation's most consistently victorious commander—is hailed as a hero for his exceptional service in Greece; Queen Jane elevates him to the Earldom of Arran in the Irish peerage.

In November of 1457, Pope Paul II punishes King Louis XI de Valois for attempting to recover the Dauphiny and Avignon; France is excommunicated.

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By early 1458 the English peers have returned from crusading, and now the Parliamentary balance of power appears to be aligned in favour of the Queen. Jane persuades a majority of pliant clergy and noblemen to revoke the previous year's limiting legislation (+1 toward Plutocracy)—unwittingly reducing their own statute authority in the process. Opponents claim that many lords have been bribed with promises of additional money, land or titles. One of the leading dissenters—Lord Mayor of London Phillip Talbot (4-star Alderman: Trade Efficiency +2.0%, Production Efficiency +4.0%)—dies from a sudden and mysterious ailment, rumoured to be poison. Talbot's spot on the Privy Council will remain vacant for four months, eventually being filled by new Chancellor of the Exchequer Horatio Carleton (3-star Banker: Inflation reduction -0.01, Interest -4.5%).

Queen and Parliament face off again when the House of Lords sits to consider administrative matters for the former Burgundian provinces of the Pas-de-Calais. For some lords, the border dispute used to gain the lands was a flimsy argument at best; worse, because a cadet branch of Lancasters rule Burgundy, it was akin to stealing from one's own noble brethren. The barons wonder—with some justification—whether a queen that usurps lands to which she is not entitled might not someday do the same to her own peers at home?

It is a scenario even die-hard Lancastrian loyalists have trouble refuting, given the sheer number of territories England has absorbed since Jane's accession. Parliament soon makes its displeasure known, limiting manpower levies for the army and tax collection for the royal treasury. Though the lords are still—in the main—loyal to the Queen, they are increasingly at odds with her domestic and foreign policies.

To add insult to injury, Parliament also cancels the funding it had provisionally approved for Jane's long-desired, long-deferred Mediterranean trip.

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The Burgundian Lancasters are canny enough to know that a successful war of reconquest against England is highly unlikely, if not impossible. Much more possible is the reconquest of the Low Countries—provided the Holy Roman Emperor is distracted elsewhere.

In January of 1459, Duke of Burgundy Philippe IV attacks the Duchy of Guelders. The invasion is opposed by neighbouring states and other concerned parties; principally Brabant, Cologne, Switzerland and—regrettably—Austria. In just six months time, Philippe's armies are repelled and Burgundy itself is swiftly occupied. In negotiations with Guelders, Philippe is forced to release his northernmost territory, Friesland.

Over the next decade, Friesland's ruling van Oranje family will manage to unite most of the Low Countries into a much more prominent political entity—the Duchy of the Netherlands.

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The 1397 Treaty of Kalmar was always a contentious document for the Scandinavian kingdoms. The Swedes were not particularly fond of Denmark's many wars against the Holy Roman Empire, and neither they nor the Norwegians were pleased with the Danes' superior political clout. Had they been left to their own devices, the noble peers of the three kingdoms would have eyed each other with growing distrust and resentment, until inevitably tensions swelled to a breaking point. But certain fateful decisions in London had unforeseen and unintended consequences, drastically altering Scandinavian politics.

In the grand sweep of English history, Jane's interventions in Denmark's 1434 and 1448 wars against Lübeck and Holstein were minor, dispassionate affairs to protect trade income. No enemy fleets menaced the English coastline; no foreign troops landed on the home islands. For the Scandinavians, however, the wars had an entirely different tone. English carracks prowled the coast, and thousands of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish sailors lost their lives in combat with the Navy Royal. Norway was forced to cede her island outpost off the Scottish Highlands; Denmark lost thousands of sons fighting within sight of their own homes and hearths, only to suffer the indignity of foreign occupation; Sweden lost her entire navy in less than a week. And in the end, the three kingdoms could do nothing but seethe, offer terms, and wait for the invaders to leave.

The wars imparted a harsh lesson, but it was quickly absorbed: where the English fleet went, it would inevitably deposit soldiers; and even a Nordic peninsula bound in personal union was not powerful enough to keep the Navy Royal at bay. Scandinavia's inner turmoil was thus becalmed in the shadow of this fearsome and unassailable external threat; a more congruent marshaling of purposes and resources was desired. The three kingdoms' great noble houses and governments—which might otherwise have schemed against each other—instead sought new strength in fraternity and cooperation. By the summer of 1459, pan-Scandinavian amity had improved enough for the newly-crowned King Christian III to formally unite his three realms under the Danish throne.

London, on the other hand, views the rise of a potential rival with some trepidation.
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Many historic market towns throughout England and Wales were established by a royal charter granted by the monarch to a local nobleman. The charter gave the local nobility the right to hold a market in a specified place and on a particular day (or days); often these grants formalised an earlier right to trade that originated in Roman times. Market charters served two primary purposes: first to regulate the market and maximise income by preventing a rival market from being set up nearby; second, to grant privileges to the town and its traders—such as exemptions from tolls and taxes—which rival towns/markets might not enjoy. The net effect was that chartered markets imposed fewer tolls—resulting in cheaper goods; traders using unchartered markets paid greater costs taking goods to and from the market, as well as extra taxes within the town.

Chartered towns also benefited simply by being more advantageous places to live, thereby attracting larger populations. The geographic extent of the town's powers was clearly defined, known as the borough. By becoming a free borough, a town could gain additional authority to hold a court, levy fines and create local laws.

For the first time since the deposition of Richard II, new market charters are issued to some of the country's fastest-growing urban centres.​

On the Continent, the assimilation of an expanded Pas-de-Calais proceeds apace. Thanks to the deft governance of the Captain of Calais, the former County of Artois appears to be just as happy under English Lancastrians as it was under their Burgundian cousins.

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But not all news from the Continent is so benign. Ominously, the French have more than doubled the size of their garrisons opposite Cambray and Gascony—giving them the largest army in all of Europe.

​

On the advice of her Marshal, the Queen seeks funds from Parliament to raise another 6,000-man army (for 42,000 men under arms, in total). While relations with the legislature have been less than harmonious of late, the lords are sufficiently awed by the sheer size of the French army and tax increases are quickly approved.

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In the spring of 1460, Denmark's King Christian III makes it clear that England will pay for her sins against his peoples. English merchants are barred from trading in Stockholm, and though the move is more symbolic than substantive, it feeds worries that the Danes may even try to close the Øresund to English vessels—strangling trade with the Hanseatic League.

Further from home, a succession of Danish cardinals have gained employment in the Roman Curia, gradually squeezing out their English counterparts. The elderly Pope Paul II still professes loyalty to patroness Jane, but his future Danish-backed successor will probably not be nearly so pliant or agreeable. The slow erosion of English influence in Rome raises the unpleasant spectre of excommunication; the thought is enough to make the Privy Council—and the Queen herself—blanch. England has enough rivals without giving every Catholic power in Europe a reason to go on the offensive; King Christian and Denmark will have to be placated.

Denmark has the will—and soon, the ability—to do real damage to England's diplomacy and reputation.​

Bowing to strategic necessity, Jane does her best to appear contrite. She pens an apologetic note, sends Christian a lavish (if belated) coronation gift, and orders the refit and repatriation of some captured Scandinavian warships.

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Archduke of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I von Askanien is no stranger to the luxuries, privileges and vices available to a senior nobleman of a prestigious house. Though married in 1449 to Eleanor of Scotland—who has also borne him a son—Joseph now finds himself in love with a young widow, Katharina of Saxony. The Emperor and his mistress have even gone on a pilgrimage together, with other high-ranking nobility in attendance.

Medieval princes looking to dispose of a wife have few legitimate options, so in the summer Joseph leans on a Habsburg cousin married to a certain Princess of Wales. His timing is exquisite; with both France and Denmark presenting themselves as credible threats, Queen Jane cannot afford to alienate her Austrian ally. Despite deep personal misgivings, Jane must—as a matter of strategic necessity—make Joseph's cause her own.

In June of 1460, Joseph I succeeds in having his marriage to Eleanor annulled on the specious grounds that the couple had expressly renounced their vows at puberty, but had been “forced by blows to cohabit, so that a son was born.” History does not record whether Pope Paul II had any doubts as to why the Emperor waited more than a decade after his son's birth before attempting to secure an annulment; it does, however, note that an annulment was granted. Though tardy in extricating himself from his first marriage, Joseph waits only a few months to marry Katharina; his son by Eleanor is declared illegitimate and disinherited.[2]

Though successful, English manipulation of the Roman curia leads to calls for a church council and anti-corruption reforms.​

In August, Joseph secures the consent of the Imperial Diet in passing the first of several key acts defining criminal acts and their punishments. Collectively, they would become known as the Criminal Code of the Empire (Emperor gains +2 Yearly Legitimacy, Imperial Authority currently 37%).

Thankful for Jane's intercession with the Pope, the Emperor expresses his gratitude.

​

Having been preoccupied with other matters, the Holy Roman Emperor now turns his attention to the county of Provence. A fierce diplomatic row erupts between Paris and Vienna after the King of France flatly refuses to restore the province to its rightful lord (France gets "Laws of the Empire"). In London, scheming minds see opportunity in the sudden chill in Franco-Austrian relations. Perhaps now the Emperor might be persuaded to back English claims to the Duchy of Normandy.

Unfortunately there are still plenty of English baronial peers who are unhappy about the acquisition of territory for which the Queen and Privy Council can offer no basis beyond right of conquest (England gets "Our occupation of Cambray", -1 prestige).

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Finally, the four-year-long war between France and the Papal States grinds to an inconclusive halt. Though French armies had managed to occupy the Papal provinces of Dauphiné and Avignon, they were less successful trying to gain a foothold in Italy. In the end, the Pope concedes a mere 500,000 livres (5 million ducats) but keeps all of his territories.

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In April of 1461 a confidential message for the Queen arrives from Constantinople; it is delivered not by the Greek ambassador, but by a trusted personal servant of Emperor Constantine XIII. Upon reading the missive, anguish and desolation sweep across the Queen's normally tranquil visage. Hot tears run down her cheeks and fall upon the page, blurring the words inscribed upon it. A distraught Jane immediately retreats to her private apartments in the palace; refusing to let anyone else read the note, she doesn't appear in public again for several days. When questioned gently by her ladies-in-waiting, the taciturn Queen admits to nothing more than a profound sense of regret; she has reigned for three decades and is now forty-five, well beyond her child-rearing years.

In a private conversation with her sister, Jane speaks guardedly about the machinations of Parliament and the Privy Council—who have more or less destroyed her own chance at marital happiness. Though the Queen would dearly love to purge Parliament of its more intractable members, to do so without just cause would create great civil unrest. The life of the Sovereign must by necessity be one of personal sacrifice and forbearance. To pursue those things that are in the country's bests interests, and where no good choice exists, to choose the lesser of many evils. In this case, rather than give in to dark desires to prune the peerage of England, Jane elects to divert herself from bitter regret by touring her realm in style and luxury.

A liquour tax is imposed to help recoup the considerable cost of the tour.
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After a 23-year tenure as Bishop of Rome, Pope Paul II passes away in July of 1461. With him dies England's influence in the Roman Curia. The new pope is a Danish-backed Sienese cardinal by the name of Enea Silvio Piccolomini; he will take the regnal name Pius II.

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Even though the rulers of Vienna and Constantinople are nominal friends and allies, Latin-Orthodox tensions have not eased everywhere in the Mediterranean. In the Aegean Sea, Venice and the Knights Hospitallers possess territory taken from the Greeks decades (or even a century) ago. Though Hospitaller vessels routinely prey on Muslim pirates and merchants, they are not above intercepting Christian merchants too; and as Greek trade grows, incidents of accidental or purposeful Hospitaller piracy increase. Events reach a flashpoint in November of 1461, after a squadron of Greek galleys interdict and sink a Hospitaller flotilla lurking off Athens. Greek ambassadors in London and Vienna seek the assistance of their allies for the declaration of war that will soon issue from Constantinople's Palace of Blachernae.

Unfortunately there are few positives to such a war (-2 stability for lacking a casus belli). Despite their occasional predation on other Mediterranean shipping, the Knights are a useful cudgel against Turkish and Berber piracy. And no Catholic power likes to war against a crusading order that still carries the blessing of Rome. In the end, both England and Austria dishonour their alliance with Byzantium (-25 prestige).

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By early 1462, several decades of research and innovation have considerably refined the art of professional seamanship. The average sailor (in either naval or merchant service) can now maneuver their vessel with enough accuracy and precision to make blockades an effective socioeconomic weapon (Naval Technology level 7, can blockade ports, max. colonial range 85, naval morale increased by +0.06). Military theorists at the Royal Naval College posit that this tactic could allow the Navy Royal to play an even more decisive role in future conflicts.[3]

Another key component to any good war strategy is having reliable allies. With the demise of the Anglo-Greek alliance, England can focus on attracting confederates closer to home, who might be able to help her with ambitions in France. Parliament is eager to reclaim the long-lost Duchy of Normandy, and the best possible assistance for that would be a well-armed nation that also borders France. To the south, there reigns another Jane who might be a useful ally—the Queen of Castile and Leon, Juana I de Trastámara, who is a little more than a decade younger than England's monarch. English envoys ply the Castilian queen with gifts and adulation, carefully emphasising that France—the natural rival of both Castile and England—can be easily brought to heel through joint effort. Buoyed with enthusiasm and grandiose dreams, it doesn't take long for the governments of both countries to ratify a military alliance.

Shortly thereafter, the English ambassador to the Court of St. Denis reports even better news: France's sole ally is her vassal Auvergne. This changes England's security outlook dramatically, and the opportunity is simply too tempting for Jane and the Council to pass up. Parliament immediately moves to put the nation on a wartime footing. England's armies are assembled at her newly-expanded ports and rapidly shipped to Picardy and Gascony. Carracks and pinnaces of the Navy Royal move out into the Channel and Bay of Biscay, ready to take up blockade duty off French ports.

In mid-May, English and Austrian ultimatums are delivered to King Louis XI de Valois, demanding the return of Normandy and the release of Provence; the petitions are laughed off with typical Valois insouciance. The following week, allied armies cross the frontier; Queen Jane intends to reclaim the ancient ducal lands of her ancestors.

_________________________

ENGLAND c. 1462

Jane I Lancaster (ADM 7/DIP 7/MIL 8)
By the Grace of God, Queen of England and France and Lady of Ireland
Duchess of Aquitaine, Countess of Artois, Cambray and Picardy​

Dynastic Links:
~ Burgundy (Duke Henri II Lancaster-Valois-Bourgogne {Regency})
~ Cyprus (Basileus Jacques II Lancaster-Lusignan)
~ Lüneburg (Duke August I Lancaster-Brunswick-Lüneburg)

Treasury: £15.8 million (158m ducats)
GDP (estimated): £98.95 million (989.m ducats)
Domestic CoTs: London £40.04 million (400.42m ducats)

Army: 14,000 Knights (Chevauchée), 28,000 Longbowmen
Reserves (potential levies): 20,780
Navy: 18 Carracks, 19 Pinnaces, 21 Cogs
Discipline: 119.60%
Tradition: Army 24.00% Navy 40.70%

Prestige: Eighteenth (36.10)
Reputation: Honourable (0.00/23.50)
Legitimacy: 100

Footnotes:

[1] The basis of Magna Carta is the "Articles of the Barons", signed at Runnymede in 1215. It contained an unpalatable 61st clause—establishing a committee of 25 barons who could meet and overrule the will of the King if he defied the provisions of the Charter, seizing his castles and possessions if necessary. Both King and Pope rejected the 61st clause, a civil war was fought, and subsequent versions of the document (reissued in 1216, 1225, and 1297) eliminated the offending clause. The statute that remains in force today (albeit with most of its articles repealed) is the 1297 charter; its Latin long title roughly translated "The Great Charter of the Liberties of England, and of the Liberties of the Forest."

[2] The annulment of Emperor Joseph's marriage to Eleanor of Scotland is patterned after the real-life example of Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel, and Isabella le Despenser. Yes, the Earl really did claim that his relatives beat him until he had fathered a child with his wife, and a Papal annulment was granted on those grounds.

[3] Blockades had been an effective naval tactic since at least the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), my pet peeve is that the game doesn't allow us to use it (depending on one's naval tech research) until AD 1450-60.

Nota auctoris: My apologies for taking longer than expected with this update; it required a lot of writing and probably much more editing than it got. This AAR should be returning to a once-a-week update schedule now.

 

[blsteen]

Whooo
good job keeping the Byz alive
Plus nice to see that French are going to get their privilege of having English armies running amok renewed

 

[Dewirix]

An excellent update! I particularly enjoyed the English crusade and the destruction of the Turkish fleet. It was like an early Lepanto. Were you tempted to ship in the garrison armies to bolster the expeditionary forces? Surely not even the French would attack while your armies were engaged on a crusade.

Did Castille honour the alliance and declare war on France? I should think they'd be more help than Austria or Holstein.

 

[Omen]

That was a fantastic update. Well written, and the layout was superb.

I can't help but feel for Jane, constrained by her nobles and the circumstances against what she wanted.

 

[unmerged(175897)]

As Dewirix said - who are the other allies in the war on France? Good luck with it!

 

[Chris Taylor]

good job keeping the Byz alive
Plus nice to see that French are going to get their privilege of having English armies running amok renewed

Thanks. The Normandy situation has to be resolved, one way or another. As well as the claim on France itself—eventually.

Were you tempted to ship in the garrison armies to bolster the expeditionary forces? Surely not even the French would attack while your armies were engaged on a crusade.

I was sorely tempted to rotate the expeditionary guys out and put the garrison forces in, but the thing that ultimately kept me from doing so was that the expeditionary forces got attrited by half in all the fighting. I figured taking 18,000 fresh guys from France and replacing them with 9,000 weak guys from Greece would be enough of a force imbalance to trigger continental mayhem.

Did Castille honour the alliance and declare war on France? I should think they'd be more help than Austria or Holstein.

As Dewirix said - who are the other allies in the war on France? Good luck with it!

All of the English allies honoured the call to war—for the first time ever in this game. The French and Auvergnois have to face off against England, Portugal, Austria, Castile and Holstein.

I can't help but feel for Jane, constrained by her nobles and the circumstances against what she wanted.

One of the potential pitfalls in writing (AARs or anything, really) is to make one of the characters the dreaded "Mary Sue"—the overly idealised archetype who's good at everything (even the stuff they ought not to be) and invariably succeeds. I had it in mind very early on to give Jane a semi-tragic quality (although I didn't then know what it would be) to offset her great stats. The game obliged me a little by making my aristocrats more or less permanently annoyed (and my economic choices, unfortunately, can only exacerbate this). I wanted Jane to be recognisably human—good at some things, but also completely incapable of getting her way in others. The next chapter should elaborate on this even more.

 

[unmerged(90806)]

Your capitulum XII made my evening (after a very hectic day this was just what I needed! )

The survival of the Eastern Empire should by credited to Jane, and her loyal subjects. It's interesting how difficult OE is to subdue without vanilla EUIII block-the-Marmara exploit. But admit your navy advantage cannot be questioned. One way of forcing OE to the negotiation table is taking out their islands. Sad it was England that had to take 3 points of bb for Macedonia.

I think it's a folly to attack the Knights and risk losing such powerful allies. But I suppose as the Emperor had (re-)married (what else might be there in the letter?), Queen Jane, feeling herself betrayed, let him fend hor fimself and went on this Progress of hers. (Interesting, how random events somehow fit and fill up the story. )
Btw, your map of military operations is beautiful.

I would not worry that much about Scaninavians; they're usually have their hands full either with Russia or get bogged in Northern Germany. (And somehow Denmark tends to get crappy rulers, an evil plan by Paradox? ) The depopulated prov in Finland is an irritating recurring minor issue. Let's bet who'll colonise it!

Netherlands on the other hand may become a rival. In those games they form relatively early, I observe that even when they stay small in Europe, they forge a successful colonial empire. They might beat you to the New World. Watch their NIs!

The Emperor's antics are preposterous. Shame on him. And just to think Lancastrians are related to Askanians through Jane's sister's marriage! I shudder to think what sort of man her husband must be. Will a Lancastrian girl be ever romanctically happy?

That was a long-ruling Pope! A rare thing in those days. And he managed to keep the Papal conquests intact. What a feat! I'm not sure but this aggressive expansion might strengthen the future demands for reform.

Jane is bound to come out victorious from this French adventure. France is alone, has already some w.e. and stability 0, is pbly still excommunicated, which means penalties. You might consider using spies to soften them even more. Your navy will smother them for the duration of the war. Also, there are Austria (with unlimited manpower) and Spain (which gets free troops to fight France) on your side; and Holstein (so what could go wrong?!)

A weekly dose of this delicious aar? Yes please!

 

[Salik]

Wonderful, long chapter. I love to see Denmark thrive, I hope you won't go too hard on them . It seems as though they should be able to fend for themselves, though. And poor Queen Jane, I'm glad to see that she is finally sick of all the repetition- maybe she should have her mother send back all her invitations?

 

[blsteen]

Wonderful, long chapter. I love to see Denmark thrive, I hope you won't go too hard on them . It seems as though they should be able to fend for themselves, though. And poor Queen Jane, I'm glad to see that she is finally sick of all the repetition- maybe she should have her mother send back all her invitations?

Crush the Danes. Then annihilate the French...Business before pleasure.
And yes depleting your forces in France would have screamed blood in the water for the AI, but now with Castille and Austria and the Portugese (who sometimes do nothing and other times do nothing but kick ass), the French should feel some major pain.

 

[Chris Taylor]

It's interesting how difficult OE is to subdue without vanilla EUIII block-the-Marmara exploit.

I have never tried to bushwhack the Ottomans in MMU without also being the Holy Roman Emperor. And having just barely pulled it off (thanks to the Byzantines having an unholy amount of cavalry), I don't ever want to do it again.

...But I suppose as the Emperor had (re-)married (what else might be there in the letter?), Queen Jane, feeling herself betrayed, let him fend for fimself and went on this Progress of hers. (Interesting, how random events somehow fit and fill up the story. )

You have come tantalisingly close to the truth! The specifics are a bit more complicated, but you have more or less captured the emotional arc.

The depopulated prov in Finland is an irritating recurring minor issue. Let's bet who'll colonise it!

Lol. It is irritating, isn't it? I wish I had something cool to give away as this would be a fun betting game for minor stakes. I can tell you now that it won't be Portugal, so with them out of the way, my money's on... France.

The Emperor's antics are preposterous. Shame on him. And just to think Lancastrians are related to Askanians through Jane's sister's marriage! I shudder to think what sort of man her husband must be.

To quote a 20th century politician, "he may be a bastard, but he's our bastard." Austria's way too valuable to kick in the pants, even when behaving badly. :rofl:

That was a long-ruling Pope! A rare thing in those days. And he managed to keep the Papal conquests intact. What a feat!

Paul II was definitely the Über-Robo-Pope of his era. Sort of an eerie synchronicity, with a relatively successful queen backing an enormously successful pope. Unfortunately, his successors are not nearly as gifted.

Wonderful, long chapter. I love to see Denmark thrive, I hope you won't go too hard on them . It seems as though they should be able to fend for themselves, though. And poor Queen Jane, I'm glad to see that she is finally sick of all the repetition- maybe she should have her mother send back all her invitations?

Haha. Truth be told, I am doing my level best to make nice and suck up to Denmark. I emphatically do not want a large, hostile maritime power to my immediate east. They can eat the Teutonic Order or all of Poland-Lithuania if they want to—just not the expensive bits of northern Germany where a good chunk of my money comes from.

 

[Sweboy]

Despite your decision to be nice to the Evil Danes (I have to say this as a Swede ), this is a very well written AAR. A true joy to behold. Been reading it almost back to back whilst recovering from flu.

Keep up the excellent work And kill those pesky French (and Danes!).

 

[Dewirix]

I was sorely tempted to rotate the expeditionary guys out and put the garrison forces in, but the thing that ultimately kept me from doing so was that the expeditionary forces got attrited by half in all the fighting. I figured taking 18,000 fresh guys from France and replacing them with 9,000 weak guys from Greece would be enough of a force imbalance to trigger continental mayhem.

Almost certainly would have, but that's the fun of it! The other consideration would be the shipping times. You'd have had to leave either France or Greece un-/lightly-defended while you shipped forces between them.

I have to say I'm a fan of fighting wars to support an ally where I have no territorial ambitions of my own. Shame about the Byzantine decision to attack the Knights. I'd imagine in reality such a thing might be settled by negotiation, but can't see how it would work in the framework of EUIII.

 

[Chris Taylor]

Almost certainly would have, but that's the fun of it! The other consideration would be the shipping times. You'd have had to leave either France or Greece un-/lightly-defended while you shipped forces between them.

The other thing was that both Byzantium and the Ottomans had WE through the roof, and it was an open question as to which of them would collapse first. The 9,000-man Ottoman army headed for the 4,000-odd Byzantine army was the deciding factor; I thought chances were good the BYZ army would be destroyed before I could reinforce them, and that made me settle for whatever I could get, then and there.

I have to say I'm a fan of fighting wars to support an ally where I have no territorial ambitions of my own. Shame about the Byzantine decision to attack the Knights. I'd imagine in reality such a thing might be settled by negotiation, but can't see how it would work in the framework of EUIII.

If it were anyone but the Knights I would probably have stuck with the Byzantines. if they wanted to gobble up Crete from Venice, I would have supported that. But in the end I didn't want to eat a 6 BB hit from annexing a one-province minor on behalf of an ally—and then have to deal with the inevitable Knights respawn elsewhere in the Med.

Despite your decision to be nice to the Evil Danes (I have to say this as a Swede ), this is a very well written AAR. A true joy to behold. Been reading it almost back to back whilst recovering from flu.

Keep up the excellent work And kill those pesky French (and Danes!).

Thanks! Hope you're feeling better soon. I forgot to get a flu shot this year, so I'm hoping to run out the clock on flu season without falling ill.

The French situation will be exciting in the next two updates and I'm looking forward to writing them.

 

[wolfcity]

I just read this and it is FANTASTIC! Not to take away from other AARs but the MMU history book AARs blow me away with their amazingness. Axzhang's Genoa, or Vishaing's A Tale of 2 Germanies are 2 among many that are great.