The Stuff of Kings - A House of Burgundy AAR

[Tommy4ever]

William I, the Unlucky
Lived: 1173-1199
Head of the House of Burgundy: 1191-1199
Duke of Modena: 1177-1197
King of France and Aquitaine: 1191-1199

William I, or Guillaume in his native Italian, for the first of the Williamine rulers who oversaw France's Golden Age of the Medieval Period. Looking at his tumultuous and short lived reign in isolation, it certainly does not appear to be a Golden Age by any stretch of the imagination. Yet in the face of intense internal opposition William, the Unlucky, maintained the centralised Monarchy forged by the first two Burgundian rulers of France and defeated the bulwark of the opposition to Dijon's authority. He also set up a series of trends that peristed throughout the Williamine period – the change of the language of court to Italian rather than the native French, the beginning of the tradition of part of every year of peace time being spent at a court in Modena, the inseperable relationship between the King of France and the Pope in Rome, and of course the taking of the name William – the name of all French Kings for the next 100 years.

Light Blue – Modena
Green – Lost 1180-1189
Yellow – Lost 1196
Orange – Held 1190-1196​

William I is known to history as the Unlucky, not especially incompetent he faced harsh circumstances and was often surrounded by incompetent advisors. The loss of the entire dominion of Modena, including the Ducal title, with the exception of the eponymous city itself over the course of just two decades. When William's grandfather, Eudes, left Modena in 1178 to become King of France and Aquitaine he handed of the Regency of the powerful Duchy to a collection of city elders. These men were extremely Modenocentric, looking upon William's Duchy as an Empire subservient to the city. Attempts were made to direct commerce away from the cities under Modena's rule to the capital itself whilst the provinces were heavily taxed in order to pay for the aggrandisement of the city in building projects and the upkeep of its military forces. Unsuprisngly the wealthy Italian cities under Modena's rule deeply resented this and under the leadership of Tuscan began a revolt in 1180. Later supported by the Republic of Genoa the revolt succeeded in destroying William's inheritance. By the end of the war in 1189 only Spoleto remained tied to the Duchy, the following year a small German County was added to William's holdings through inheritance but was quickly set up as a distant vassal under a local German lord. After William left for France in 1191 the remains of the Duchy initially remained loyal before Spoleto and Nassau joined the second wave of the revolt against William in 1194 – unlike the contiguous provinces of France these Counties were allowed to go free a they were swallowed up by local Imperial magnates whilst in revolt. By the restoration of peace in William's realm in 1196 only the capital city remained of his old Duchy, the final humiliating chapter of the Burgundian Duchy of Modena was written the following year when the Emperor stripped William of the Ducal title of Modena and handed it to the Count of Parma – one of the leading figures in the revolt against William's regents in the 1180s.

When William turned up in Dijon in 1191 at the humble age of 18 he was widely loathed by the French nobility. Here had arrived a beardless, effeminate and foreign boy who had never governed in his own right and under whose rule a powerful realm had been shattered. Untested in battle or in governance he expected to fill the boots of giant in the form of his grandfather and great-grandmother. When he arrived in Dijon William brought with him a large troops of Italian favourites whom quickly moved to occupy the loftiest positions in government, shunning Frenchmen. The French nobility smelt an opportunity to roll back the powers of the Monarchy that had advanced so far under the first two Burgundian Monarchs, kick out the foreigners and reduce this apparently weak king to their puppet.

Light Blue – Royal Demesne
Blue – Loyalists
Red – Rebelled in 1191
Orange – Rebelled in 1194​

Within weeks of William's coronation Civil War had broken out. The war would later become known as the 'Parlement War' due to the demands of the rebels that a council of leading magnates be formed with the power to limit royal authority, later regarded by some as an early battle in the long march towards democratisation, in reality it was a more simple clash between the centre and the provinces – a conflict within the ruling class rather than between the classes. The rebellion's most powerful backers were the Dukes of Potiou (who also held the Duchies of Auvergne and Bourbon) and the Duke of Toulouse. However there was widespread sympthay amongst wider parts of the upper nobility who seem to remain poised, waiting to see if the rebels could take the initiative.

To his credit, William moved with decisiveness and cunning to quickly secure allies with which he could defeat the rebellion and ensure his position. Firstly, the Prince-Bishop of Champagne (who ruled from Rheims) was granted the other two Counties of the Duchy that had been long held by the crown, secondly the talented Duke of Brabant, one of France's richest men, was made Chancellor (the only non-Italian in the King's innermost governmental circle) and finally he insinuated to his kinsman, the Duke of Burgundy, that some of the Royal lands within the Duchy might be passed over to the Duke after the war. With this and the strength of the Royal Demesne a solid powerbloc was forged in the North-East, whilst in the South the pre-existing regional enemies of Potiou and Toulouse ensured significant backers for the King. The rest of the nobility might swing either way depending on the outcome of the war on the field of battle.

With the two opposing sides emerging the five bloody years of the Parlement War commenced with a Royalist offensive. Although William would spend the majority of the war closer to his comfort zone, at court in Dijon, he did realise the need for a how of force from himself and initially led the Royalist army. Hoping to strike quickly before the rebel armies could unite together William led the Royalists to crush the army of Orleans before scoring a victory against Potiou that prevented the Southern rebels from relieving the city of Orleans itself. After the city fell in early 1192 and the Duke surrendered William decided to return to Dijon, leaving the rest of the war to his martials. These commanders proved quite confident and by 1193 the superior numbers of the Royalist armies had led to the end of rebel incursions beyond their own territories, the besieging of their fortresses having commenced. When the Duke of Toulouse died of dysentery at the siege of Lusignan in 1193 his pro-William brother inherited his lands and withdrew Toulouse from the war – leaving Potiou isolated and alone. The rebellion received a second wind in 1194, the Duke of Flanders had attempted a Palace coup in Dijon involving the city guard, however the King's spy master discovered the Flanders' plot forcing the Duke and his co-conspirators to flee Dijon and join the rebellion or face the dungeon. Nonetheless, whilst the new wave of rebellions did prolong the war they proved far less enthusiastic than the initial rebels and when the King offered a general amnesty in return for submission it was universally accepted by those still fighting. The Parlement War had ended.

Light Blue – Royal Demesne
Blue – France
Green – Vexin, Annexed 1197
Yellow – Duchy of Normandy​

In a classic example of how to heal a fractured political body William found a common enemy by waging a short war against the Duchy of Normandy (which had recently successfully won its independence form England, although at the cost of Rouen which remained in the hands of the Duke of Somerset) for the Norman Vexin. The Vexin a long coveted province due to its proximity to the old capital in Paris.

Seeking an escape from the fractious atmosphere in France and homesick for Italy William travelled to Modena with his wife, baby son and royal council in the winter of 1197. The presence of the King of France in Northern Italy was obviously a great attraction for many of Italy's best and brightest with large numbers of Italian coming to the King's court in Modena, as William returned in 1198 and 1199 a small but noticeable flow of Italians would follow him back to Dijon creating an ever growing Italian population at the home of the French government. Whilst in Italy William was also able to build up a substantial network of contacts and supporters amongst the Italian clergy – with the two most important centres of the Catholic clergy under his influence, William was able to get his long term ally the Prince-Bishop of Champagne elected Pope in 1198. This was his crowning accomplishment as a diplomat.

In 1199 the harvest in Po Valley of Northern Italy failed dramatically. As the cities and landed nobility failed to offer support, long term antagonism between the peasantry, landowners and urban elites erupted into the largest peasant insurrection in the region through the entire Medieval era. With local leaders barely able to keep the peasants out of the cities William saw an ideal opportunity to assert a leadership role within Italy and perhaps even undermine the Emperor's position as the country's sovereign. He led an army himself into the Po Valley with the aim of crushing the revolt. Near Brescia William's forces came into contact with the largest of the peasant band and were to win an easy victory over the disorganised rabble. However, during the heat of the battle William himself killed as he was knocked from his horse and put upon by a swarm of peasants. Just as his Kingdom was returning to stability and his outward ambitions were starting to be fulfilled William I, the Unlucky, was cut down at the age of just 26 leaving his 4 year old son to take the French throne.

 

[Aetherius]

So, you made 2 horrible mistakes.
The first : You transformed Guillaume in William ! An english name ! Our hereditary enemy ! Burn in hell, rosbeef !
The second : You give to a weak ruler Phillipe le Bel's portrait ...
You're doomed.

Oh, and, subscribed.

 

[Tommy4ever]

William II, the Lionheart
Lived: 1195-1226
Head of the House of Burgundy: 1199-1226
King of France and Aquitaine: 1199-1226
King of Jerusalem: 1212-1226
Prince Consort of Croatia: 1222-1226

Under the reign of the second William the manifestations of the Williamine Golden Age became clear – the French King and his nobility were wealthier than ever before, Dijon, Paris and Modena joining the greatest cultural centres of Christendom, the French Kingdom expanded its holdings and influences abroad and under the personal leadership of the Lionheart himself brought the Holy Land under Christian Rule for the first time since the Arab Conquest half a millennium before. The good times had certainly begun to roll.

Robert of Brabant (Left) Queen Mother Maria (Centre) Godfrey of Toulouse (Right)​

With a child on the throne the French government passed under the control of a Regency Council consisting of two of France's most powerful magnates and the King's widowed mother. The experienced Duke of Brabant had become a close backer of the Royal family during the brief reign of William I and, so long as given a free hand to pursue his localised territorial ambitions against his cousins in Flanders, was more than willing to back the powers of the crown. The Queen Mother too wished to preserve the government formed by her late husband, retaining the crown's authority as well as the influence of the Italians, herself being amongst them, at court and in government. The third member of the regency council was slightly trickier. In order to appease the powerful Occitan nobility of the South it was felt that one amongst them had to be given a position on the Council. Potiou was instantly ruled out due to his recent rebellion whilst Aquitaine seemed unwilling to give unreserved backing to the 'Williamine Way' of government. With this in mind Maria and Robert invited the perfidious Duke Godfrey of Toulouse to the council. Becoming Duke after his brother's death during the Parlement War Godfrey had switched sides to join the King, but was always an unenthusiastic ally. In the latter year of William I's reign he had even started to actively plot against the King himself, seeking to expand Toulousian power.

Light Blue – Royal Demesne
Blue – France
Dark Green – Toulouse
Light Green – Vassals transferred to Toulouse
Red – Eu, Annexed 1200​

Godrey, however, was in a uniquely promising position to be won over. Firstly, the exeptional legal position of his Duchy meant that it was not actually a part of the Kingdom of France, rather it belonged the Kingdom of Aquitaine – in practise this meant Godfrey was granted a slight relaxation of regal authority within his own realm, whilst at the same time he was an unswerving supporter of the maintenance of royal power in the rest of the Kingdom, and even some expansions of it (notably in increasing taxes on the cities and calling upon the Church to provide levies). On top of this, Godfrey used his influence within the Council to restore the Counts of Eastern Toulouse as his vassals whilst also becoming the sovereign over the Count of Vienne. In the North the Frankish lords were appeased by a second brief war with the independent Duchy of Normandy that saw Eu transferred to French control – the steady expansion into Normandy provided peace of mind to a region that had not forgotten the destruction the Normans had more than once meted out upon the North.

Over the course of the next decade the Regency led France forward on a peaceful path, ensuring internal stability and avoiding foreign entanglements. However, to the South East, in Italy at event occurred that would shake the order of the Medieval World. In a now famous open air sermon in the city of Verona Pope Adrian IV resurrected the spirit of Urban II who just over a century before had called upon the world of Latin Christendom to liberate the Holy Land from its Muslim rulers – crying for a new Crusade to reclaim Palestine for the Christian world. The First Crusade of the 1090s had ended in disaster, initially fighting under Byzantine command in Syria the Crusaders had participated in the reclamation of Antioch before turning on their Roman allies as they demanded that the city be granted to them, after facing defeat the battered Crusader army had marched Southward towards Jerusalem, being utterly annihilated in the Lebanon by and Egyptian army. The Latins had not made another attempt to exert influence in the Eastern Mediterranean since. Now in 1209 Adrian IV resurrected the dream, calling for a Second Crusade.

The popular message eminated from Italy at quick spread as preachers travelled throughout the Catholic world building enthusiasm for a new attempt on the Holy Land. By the start of 1210 the first wave of Crusaders had set out from the port city of Genoa, bound for the Holy Land. Amongst the early enthusiasts for the Crusade was a teenage William II who promised the take the cross as soon as he achieved his majority. Just as promised, his first act after assuming full royal powers in 1211 was to announce that he intended to take the cross and liberate the Holy Land from the infidel. Whilst in both the First Crusade and the first part of the Second, the call had only been answered by a handful of Dukes and no Monarchs, now the most powerful King in the Catholic world was bound for the Levant. Forming a huge army, some 30,000 strong William set sail for Palestine.

Arriving near the city of Acre, on the Northern frontier of the Egyptian realm, William quickly ordered the assault upon the city in order to secure a French controlled base through which supplie could be channelled for the campaign. After its massively outnumbered defenders were overwhelmed William then began a dash Southward along the Palestinian coast – breaking of numerous detachments from his army to begin the siege of several smaller Muslim bastions on the coast. Although they had enjoyed initial successes, by now the first wave of Crusaders had been forced back into the city of Jaffa. At the arrival of the French they were nearing the point of surrender, only continuing their ever weakening resistance in the hope of relief from William. Following a brief skirmish with the vanguard of the French army the Egyptians withdrew from Jaffa, awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from Egypt before they engaged the large French Crusader army. This saved the Crusaders from surrender, but also forced them to recognise William as the undisputed leader of the Crusade.

After the relief of Jaffa the Crusaders now held two major ports on the Palestinian coast, enough to keep William's army supplied and even to support a thrust towards Jerusalem itself. However, much to the dismay of his men, William refused to launch the final assault upon the Holy City so long as the main Egyptian Army remained un-engaged – he reasoned that if he moved inland towards Jerusalem at this stage the Egyptians could simply overrun the coast, cut his supply lines and destroy the Crusader army in the desert. He could not allow this to happen and instead wait.

It wasn't until January 1212 that the defining battle of the Second Crusade occurred. At the Battle of Gaza a Crusader army some 27,000 strong (19,000 of whom were French) met with the main Egyptian force roughly 24,000 strong. Showing incredible zeal the Crusader core of heavy cavalry, led by young King of France himself, shattered the Egyptians. They were not just defeated but utterly shattered – following their crushing defeat they were pursued into the desert and completely destroyed whilst William led a detachment back to the coastline in preparation for the final assault on the Holy City.

With the Palestinian Coast indisputably under William's control and the Egyptian Army beaten the Crusader Army finally made its way inland toward Jerusalem. In February the Holy City, a formidable fortress in itself, was assailed and the Muslim defenders were again overwhelmed. What followed was celebrated as one of the greatest moments in Christian history as for the first time since the Arab Conquest half a millennia before the Holiest City of earth, the site of the Crucifiction itself, belonged to a Christian ruler. In reality it was a much dirtier business as the Crusader Army, ecstatic after its final victory, and eager for plunder proceeded to pillage the city. A wholesale slaughter the the Muslim and Jewish population followed, with the significant Christian community also facing attacks, whilst the conquering troops moved to secure what plunder they could. Realising that he could not intervene without risking full scale mutiny, and likely believing that the Heathens deserved this punishment, William did little to prevent the rape of the city – merely moving disciplined detachments to protect the Christian Holy sites and strategic positions within the city.

The loss of Jerusalem and the atrocities committed by the Christians after its capture had enraged the populace back in Egypt – forcing the Caliphate's hand into resisting despite its crushing defeat at Gaza, the outbreak of rebellion from the Christians of East Africa and its lack of both manpower and gold to create an army capable of retaking Palestine. Nonetheless the Egyptians marched a second army, this time around 18,000 strong, into Paletine in late April – travelling through the interior where Christian power was far less secure. This last Muslim Army met with William's Crusaders at Massada, on the shores of the Dead Sea and was again totally defeated.

With that the Second Crusade was essentially over. Although sparadic fighting continued for some months (mostly involving the Crusaders capturing fortresses in the Palestinian interior) William moved to make peace, the exhausted Shia Caliphate forced to agree to the humiliation of losing the Holy Land. On Christmas Day 1212 William had himself crowned King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem himself and swore to protect Christian rule in the Holy Land and ensured that Christian pilgrims would forever be safe to travel there. Now master of a small Kingdom stretching from the Jordan to the Mediterranean William set sail from Acre, never to return to the Holy Land. He was now the most awed figure in the Christian world, all before his 18th birthday.

When William returned to Europe his first major move was to secure a bride and the continuation of his line. With every heiress on the continent desperate to secure the marriage of the most powerful ruler, richest man, and most famous knight in the Christian world William opted for the hand of the bewitching Duchess of Deheurbarth – Queen of Wales in everything but name. Thus began the long history of the French in Wales.

Although a prodigious military talent William had a flare for few of the other duties of a Monarch. Leaving his Italian favourites in charge of the affairs of state William spent most of his time in leisure at his Palaces of Modena or hunting in his Royal Forests in Burgundy. He also struggled to form effective personal relationships – mistreating his vassals frequently and keeping them in line almost exclusively by playing up his limitless prestige.

Light Blue – Royal Demesne
Blue – France
Yellow – Annexed 1215
Red – Duchy of Deheurbarth, Inherited by Arthur 1217, by William II 1220
Rose – Duchy of Deheurbarth '' - Royal Demesne from 1220
Orange – Annexed 1220
Purple – Kingdom of Croatia, William Prince Consort from 1222
Green – Annexed to Royal Demesne 1226​

William quickly grew restless in peacetime – launching a lightning campaign against the Duchy of Normandy in 1215. With the entire Duchy, with the exception of Rouen, now under French ruler William granted Normandy to his brother, Bernardo whose descendants would later grow in power to rival the primary Burgundian line itself, being known as the Bernardine Burgundians. Two years later William's beloved wife passed away, with his only child becoming the infant Duke of Deheurbarth. Only weeks prior to this William had been badly injured during a Tournament, these injuries plagued his health for his remaining years. In 1220 Arthur passed away at the age of 6 after falling ill, leaving William's only child dead but also with the Duchy of Deheurbarth. Desperate to distract himself from his grief William travelled to his new possessions in Wales and wage a short campaign to capture the only County independent from Deheurbarth along the English border. In 1222 the King's second wife died during her first pregnancy and William again looked for a bride – this time marrying the most powerful heiress in Europe in the Queen of Croatia.

Across the sea in Outremer, the recently created Kingdom of Jerusalem was experiencing a series of tumultuous social changes. Many of the surviving Crusaders chose to remain in the newly conquered Kingdom after the Crusade whilst there was a sustained flow of immigrants – mostly from Italy and France, into the Holy Land. Holy Orders founded castles in the North and around Jerusalem, significant portions of the Arab population converted – although almost exclusively in the North. In the most Christianised and cosmopolitan city of the new Kingdom, Acre, Italian had become the main language of discourse for all but the poorest whilst large communities of Europeans existed in every major city. In the sparsely Negev Desert the German population concentrated itself along the border with the Egyptians, forming a majority of the desolate province's populace by the end of 1220s. However the changes in Palestine caused serious friction between the conquerors and native Muslim population – in both 1219 and 1222 major Arab revolts broke out that required the assistance of reinforcements from Europe to put down. Jerusalem was proving a difficult land to rule from the far away French Kingdom.

William rode to war one last time in 1223. The presence of the wealthy, Francophone, city of Lyon jutting into French territory and appetisingly close to the Burgundian heartland of the Royal Demesne William decided that the city had to be won. However it was under the protection of the Holy Roman Empire – a power the French and never confronted since the rise of the House of Burgundy to the French throne. Over the course of the three year conflict William once again proved himself to be a peerless tactician whilst France's vast reserves of wealth and manpower ensured that the German were doomed to defeat. It was also during this conflict that William ensured that his line was continued when his second child, a son also named William, was born in 1225, yet the strain of three years of war on the King's body that had never recovered from his injury in 1217 effectively sealed his fate.

When William returned to Dijon triumphant in early 1226 his days were quite obviously numbered. But there was one last dramatic series of events that the dying Monarch would have to contend with before the end. The birth of baby William – heir to both France and Croatia – the previous year meant that William's brother and throughout his reign closest ally and advisor, Bernard, would not longer inherit the throne upon his death. Bernard was incensed by this, having become convinced that his brother's failure to sire a living heir by 1225 would mean that he never would, when he did succeed Bernard hatched a plot to remove baby William from the equation. In April 1226 an assassin was apprehended just before he reached the room of the Crown Prince and, under examination, revealed that he had been contracted by Prince Bernard to bring an end to the life of the King's only surviving progeny. It is said that the news of his brother's involvement in such a scheme took the last of William's will to carry on living from him. Shortly after sentencing his brother to a life's imprisonment in Dijon's dungeons he passed away, leaving the Kingdom of France, Aquitaine and Jerusalem to pass over to a babe not yet 2 years old.

 

[Tommy4ever]

So, you made 2 horrible mistakes.
The first : You transformed Guillaume in William ! An english name ! Our hereditary enemy ! Burn in hell, rosbeef !
The second : You give to a weak ruler Phillipe le Bel's portrait ...
You're doomed.

Oh, and, subscribed.

Anglicised the names to make it easier for me . Luckily though I'm Scottish rather than English so the perhaps ''Burn in hell, haggis!'' would be more appropriate.

I wanted a beardless guy to insinuate youth and a degree of 'softness' (atleast by medieval standards), and he was the first guy i could think of who would fit the bill in terms of appearanace.

Hope you keep reading. Enjoy the French Crusade!

 

[Qorten]

A Golden Age indeed, at least as far as raw power goes. It'll be interesting to see what you're going to do with all those shattered lands.

 

[unmerged(127999)]

I really love when a character gets the title of "The Lionheart"; it's just so awesome when it happens. The reign of the Williamine rulers seem to be rather turbulent; first an unlucky and not-quite-competent-enough ruler, then a ridiculously martially competent crusading hero, and now a small child whose reign seems destined to be chaotic.

I really like the narrative history-book style you've got going as well; it's my favorite AAR style. This is fantastic, and again, it inspires me to play CK2.

 

[RossN]

A great read, though I agree the name 'William' seems off for the King of France.

Bad luck on having an infant take the throne but interested in seeing what happens next.

 

[Tommy4ever]

William III
Lived: 1225-1273
Head of House of Burgundy: 1226-1273
King of France and Aquitaine: 1226-1273
King of Jerusalem: 1226-1227
King of Croatia: 1248-1273
Part One

During the reign of the 3rd, and longest lived, of the Williamine rulers France continued to expand territorially – reaching heights of power not seen since Charlemagne whilst the strong Monarchical powers of the centre were preserved and Dijon grew even more independent from the nobility. Yet the seeds of rot in the Williamine system where already in place as large swathes of land were consolidated under the Cadet Bernadine branch of the House of Burgundy – rivals to the primary branch for the crown itself – and the territorial magnates of the realm were ever more alienated from the King and his court.

During the regency of William III's father it had been two powerful territorial magnates alongside the Queen Mother who ran the regency council and government, under the 3rd William's regency it was instead a cabal of Italians who had run the government through much of the previous King's reign who maintained their authority. This cabal was committed to the idea of the strong central Monarchy and resisted the strong calls from the provinces for greater powers to be delineated to the nobles. Having been unable to press their issues during the reign of the previous King, due to the tremendous prestige of the Lionheart, the nobility were desperate to take advantage of the ascension of a one year child to the throne. The refusal of a government of foreigners with few landed ties within France itself provoked fury and in some quarters rebellion.

In Wales the upper nobility was part Italian and French settlers and part native Welsh, whilst the majority of the lower nobility and, of course, the populace as a whole was solidly Welsh. With the ascension of the Regency the Welsh lords attempted to force through a proposal that would make Wales a separate political entity from France with substantial degrees of self governance and a promise to end foreign settlement. These proposals were roundly rejected – spurring the Welsh lords to rile up their people in a general nationalist insurrection that was not finally quelled until 1230. In France itself the rebellion were rather more limited, bickering amongst the lords prevented a great degree of cooperation the support of the Dukes of Brabant and Burgundy for the government, alongside the powerful Royal Demesne and the nominal rule of the Regency in Normandy (Duke Bernardo being under arrest) meant that Dijon had a near unchallengeable powerbase within France regardless. Only a few overly bold Dukes rebelled and they soon found themselves as hostages in Dijon alongside Bernardo.

In Outremer, the Regency decided that Jerusalem would be better administered under a locally based Monarch under French protection rather than directly by the Council. They therefore granted the crown of Jerusalem to Adriano Pirovano in 1227. Adriano, now 60, had come to the Holy Land with William, the Lionheart 16 years before. Then a minor knight with a great military mind he served as a close general and great warrior throughout the Second Crusade. Having impressed the young King he was rewarded with the city of Acre and the title Duke of Jerusalem. Having proven himself as the most respected, powerful and competent of all the Latin lords settled in the Crusader Kingdom in the years following the Crusade he was an obvious choice to lead the new Kingdom.

Just one year into Adriano's reign the rejuvinated Shia Caliphate chose to strike out – with the aim of crushing the Latins in the East. Forming a not unformidable army Adriano successfully drove back the first Egyptian attacks, but being clearly outnumbered he sent out a plea to France. The Regents answered the call by amassing some 25,000 men, despite the ongoing war in Wales and the disturbances in France proper. Once in Outremer the French army joined with the Jerusalem – it seemed that the Egyptians would struggle to retake Palestine. However, eager for glory, the commanders of the French army disobeyed Adriano and struck out on their own to face an Egyptian force of roughly even size at Giza. The French were utterly crushed. Most of the troops who attempted to retreat were outflanked and captured. A poultry 4,000 men escaped to rejoin Adriano – effectively ending the French role in the defence of Jerusalem. For the next four years Adriano fought desperately to save his Holy city – in spite of all this Jerusalem fell in 1234, Acre the following year. Only in Tiberias did a small enclave of Latins hold on, eventually finding an accomodations with the Egyptians who were not eager to assault the powerful Templar run fortresses of the region. King Adriano returned to France to beg for assistance in reclaiming his Kingdom, with such aid unforthcoming from the Regents he died a broken old man in 1237.

Blue – Frankish Crusader Holdings
Orange – Danish Crusader Holdings​

It took 11 years from the fall of Jerusalem for a new Crusade to be launched – from 1244 until 1247 the brutal Third Crusade was waged. The majority of troops came from Germany, the Denmark (and Danish ruled Hungary) with smaller contingents coming from France, Scotland and England. Of all these it was the last army to arrive, and the only one backed by a King in person, that achieved any lasting success. The other, smaller, Crusader armies of the Third Crusade had at times managed to capture a port or two, but always the superior numbers of the Caliph's forces had defeated them. Yet the King of Denmark, arriving at Acre in 1245, successfully fought the Egyptians to a standstill and captured significant amounts of land. Yet he was unable to capture the Holy City. Faced with rebellions in Hungary he decided to cut his losses and make peace in early 1247. The Caliph guaranteed Jerusalem would be free to pilgrims, and allowed for the creation of Danish Crusader fiefdoms in Acre and the East bank of the Jordan, also respecting the sovereignty of the Franks at Tiberias.

Light Blue – Royal Demesne
Blue – France
Green – Annexed 1232
Yellow – Annexed 1235
Purple – Inherited 1248
Pink – Inherited, kept in Royal Demesne, 1248​

Back in Europe the Regency Council waged two brief wars in the rebellious Imperial border lands during the 1230s at the behest of noble supporters of the Council's power. Brabant gaining the eponymous County, Upper Burgundy capturing another Alpine territory. After William came to the throne he proved similar to his father in that he was largely uninterested in taking an active role in government, leaving that to the same cabal who had run the Regency Council for the most part, but unlike his father he had no passion for warfare either. Nonetheless he added a great swathe of land to the French Kingdom in 1248 when he inherited Croatia from his mother. King William's mother had created a powerful and centralised state in which 75% of the land was ruled directly by the crown and the existing nobility were kept firmly under the absolute power of the royal thumb – much more so than in France. Having little desire to rule vast tracts of land far away from Dijon and even Modena William freely granted lands to his court favourties and assorted flatterers in a great bonanza of noble settlement the majority of Croatia came under the authority of previously landless Frenchmen and Italians. Understandably this caused some friction, in later years Croats would build a strong resentment for their non-Slavic master, but respect for the crown had been deeply ingrained by William's predecessors and as of yet the new Kingdom remained tranquil, and a great source of income for France.

 

[Aetherius]

A french croatia ?
A mediaval illyrian province ?

 

[Qorten]

Lots of problems for those Italians to solve. I'd say it's time someone ousts the Italians from the French court.

 

[Jedrek]

Just caught up with this story. I've always thought the Burgundian France would be a blast to watch... And I can't say I got disappointed It's a shame you had to give up the Holy Land so easily... But there is hope, however, good luck!

 

[unmerged(127999)]

Down with the Italo-Franks! Up with the Bernardines! (by this I mean, great writing, keep it up; I'd like to see the continuing adventures of the French Kings)

 

[Tommy4ever]

William III
Lived: 1225-1273
Head of House of Burgundy: 1226-1273
King of France and Aquitaine: 1226-1273
King of Jerusalem: 1226-1227
King of Croatia: 1248-1273
King of Burgundy: 1265-1273
Part Two

One of the emerging trends of the Williamine era which reached a frankly ridiculous height under William III was the practise of hostage taking and imprisonment of the upper nobility in order to ensure that they did not rebel. Whilst the stories of torture in the dungeons of Dijon that circulated around the country were frankly gross exaggerations (the majority of the imprisoned Dukes and Counts were merely under house arrest in comfortable apartments in the capital) the practise only added further frictions between the nobles and the royal court. Whilst at the time the additional power and security that the court enjoyed as of its oppressive measures against the nobility made the Williamine Monarchy appear unassailable in its power, in reality the contradictions between the court were building up at an unprecidented rate – finally exploding in the Anarchy that brought the Williamine era crashing down.

During the 1250s two boys were born who would go on to become the two most powerful men in France. One was William, the new Crown Prince and first male heir of William III, born in 1253 to the King's second wife. William's first marriage had borne him two daughters, but no sons. This placed his very line and the unity of his Kingdom at grave risk. Firstly Croatia had a different law of succession to France and Aquitaine, meaning that women could inherit – this would see the Croat Kingdom go to his eldest daughter. Meanwhile, France and Aquitaine would have gone to Bernardo II of Normandy. Two years before Bernardo had had a son of his own, Cuicco, who was heir to more than 1/3 of the lands of France. The Bernadines had hoped that the vast territoral domains they were due to inherit might be united with the throne. But William's birth scuppered those hopes. Nonetheless, in 1258 Cuicco, now 3rd in line to the throne behind Prince William and his father, inherited the Grand Duchy of Toulouse that included the Duchies of Flanders, Potiou, Auvergne and Bourbon. With his father holding Normandy and ruling as his regent the Bernardine Burgundians had become a power to rival the primary branch.

Light Blue – Royal Demesne
Blue – France
Light Green – Cuicco's inheritance, 1258
Dark Green – Bernardo II of Normandy (father of Cuicco)
Yellow – Removed from Demesne 1248
Orange – Removed from Demesne 1269
Purple – Annexed 1264
Red – Annexed 1265
Pink – Annexed 1267​

The Bernardine inheritance shook the Kingdom. Not only were Cuiccio's new lands vast and rich, the accord made between the Dukes of Toulouse and the French Monarchy over their special legal status (being legally within Aquitaine rather than France and therefore enjoying noticeably greater freedoms from Dijon) meant that the Bernardines enjoyed even greater powers within the Grand Duchy than the rest of the French nobility. It seemed the Bernardines could potentially unite France's nobles in a war to topple the primary Burgundian line.

William was to spend the rest of his reign politicking, both to keep the Bernardines as passive as possible and to build allegiances. Relations between the crown and the Dukes of Burgundy and Upper Burgundy were strengthened as Macon (South of Dijon) was granted to Upper Burgundy and Nevers (West of Dijon) to Ducal Burgundy. Finally Aargau was captured from a rebel Imperial Count and granted to Upper Burgundy. After this success William crowned himself King of Burgundy – another move to enhance his prestige and give the nobility direction through promises of conquests in the South East. The first of these conquests was secured following a war with the Republic of Capua (formerly the Republic of Genoa, its capital was relocated to Southern Italy after the fall of Genoa to Pisa, but Provence remained under its control). After overrunning Provence the Republic had been expected to surrender Venaissan, however instead the Doge launched an invasion of Croatia. At a decisive battle near Ragusa the Doge was captured and had to agree to cede 1/3 of Provence to France.

During the 1250s and 1260s France faced another major threat from heresy. This time from the Waldenesians. The Waldenesian heresy was incubated in the Alpine valleys between France proper and and the lowlands of Northern Italy and Germany. In this region of fragile Imperial authority and frequent warfare the heresy grew a strong following through the 1240s – claiming to be a truer representation of the ancient Christian Church. After several Waldenesian texts made their way into France via Lyon (a city with a famous Cathar past) the movement started to grow in popularity. In Paris in particular it became a major threat with large parts of the population embracing the faith. In response to this William instituted a large scale repression of heresy that resulted in at least 30,000 deaths over the two decade period, some estimates putting the death toll as high as 100,000. By William's death in 1273 Waldenesians had been again limited to their mountainous origins.

William III lived just long enough for his son to reach maturity, thus avoiding the need for another Regency Council. When he died his son, the last of the Williamine Monarchs, was 20 and would bring an end to many of the traditions that had defined the era in French history.

 

[Tommy4ever]

A french croatia ?
A mediaval illyrian province ?

Indeed. I like having Croatia, makes me feel like such a superpower, stradling so much of Europe.

Lots of problems for those Italians to solve. I'd say it's time someone ousts the Italians from the French court.

The Italians' days of power in France are numbered. But for how much longer will they rule so dominantly? :O

Just caught up with this story. I've always thought the Burgundian France would be a blast to watch... And I can't say I got disappointed It's a shame you had to give up the Holy Land so easily... But there is hope, however, good luck!

Thanks.

Holding Jerusalem was a bit of a pain. No one could raise regements and revolts were frequent so I kept having to end troops from France to quell the rebels so the provs didn't go Muslim again. I thought an independent King could handle himself ... guess I was wrong. :/ I did actaully send a really big army to defend Jerusalem - just made silly errors and got crushed.

Down with the Italo-Franks! Up with the Bernardines! (by this I mean, great writing, keep it up; I'd like to see the continuing adventures of the French Kings)

But the Bernadines are Italo-Franks too, perhaps even more Italian - look at their outrageously Italian names!

 

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But the Bernadines are Italo-Franks too, perhaps even more Italian - look at their outrageously Italian names!

Yeah, but it's funnier this way. :laugh:

 

[Jedrek]

I wonder what disaster shall William IV's reign bring ^^'

 

[Qorten]

2 competing branches with about equal strenght? I see a civil war looming on the horizon!

 

[Fish095]

Just read through all of this and it's really great.

Can't wait to see the end of the Williamine era and which branch of the House comes on top. Also interested to see if you maintain a steady expansion or try to gain a new Kingdom, perhaps even Jerusalem again.

 

[Tommy4ever]

William IV
Lived: 1253-1300
Head of House of Burgundy: 1273-1300
King of France, Aquitaine and Burgundy: 1273-1300

William IV was the last of the Williamine rulers and that last French King before the outbreak of the Anarchy. William's greatest success was his delaying of the full scale civil war that had been made inevitable by the abuses of the Williamine Monarchy. On top of this he began the transition away from the Italian dominated court towards a more domestically focused government but also saw the beginning of the process of decentralisation.

Upon coming to power William IV move swiftly to secure his position. Within a month of his coronation he had scored the greatest victory of his reign by imprisoning his cousin Cuiccio in Dijon. Having discovered evidence of Cuiccio's plotting with his father to secure the throne, William placed Cuiccio under house arrest, where he remained until his death, and exiled his now desperately ill father to his lands in Normandy. In 1277 he died, with Cuiccio imprisoned his lands instead passed to his daughter Laura – the Bernardine inheritance had been divided.

Light Blue – Royal Demesne
Blue – France
Orange – Annexed 1281
Rose – Annexed to Demsense 1283
Yellow – Annexed 1295​

Elsewhere William still faced sporadic revolts in France from 1273-76 and in Croatia until 1280. From 1280-81 France marched to war against the Republic of Capua – eliminating their presence in the Provence and creating a territorial base for William's brother. Two years later the Duchy of Savoy was attacked during a rebellion against the Emperor and Geneva captured. Finally France marched to war again to capture Nice in 1295 from the Republic of Pisa.

Languages of France​

Blue – Frankish
Yellow – Occitan
Dark Green – Italian
Light Green – Basque
Grey – German
Orange – Flemish
Red – Croat
Purple – Breton
Brown – Welsh
Mustard Yellow - Norman​

By the end of the 13th century the old balance between the dominant culture groups in France – Occitan and Frankish – had come to an end. This century marked Northward drive of the Occitan language that culminated in the gradual transformation of Paris into an Occitan speaking city approximately during the reign of William IV. The impartiality of the Italians in the rivalry been the Franks and Occitans had long been a important justification of their power, but the decline of the former and rise of the latter undermined this justification. William IV was, quite frankly, not a strong enough ruler to resist the demands of the nobility to end the ruler of the Italians. In the early years of his reign the King would break with the traditions of his predecessors by appointing great territorial magnates to the most important positions in government. In his first decade of power William slowly weaned the Italians from their positions of power, although not going so far as to expel them from court. William also ended the practise of spending part of the year in Modena – leading to a sharp decline in the prominence of the city.

Around 1284 King William grew very ill after contracting the disease syphilis. This significantly reduced his ability to control government and facilitated the rebirth of the power of the nobility at the expense of the centre. In the past noble protectors and the strength of the Italian administrators, whose interests did not lie with the nobility but with an empowered crown, had managed to protect the Williamine Monarchy's power. Yet over the course of the past century the Monarchy had almost totally alienated the upper nobility whilst the protection of the Italians had now also been removed. With their hands on the reigns of government and only a sickly ruler to stand against them the French aristocracy began the process of restoring their ancient privileges and powers.

In 1258 the last of the Doukid rulers of the Roman Empire, Empress Antipatria the Unready, who had controlled the Empire since the mid 11th century – leading it through its great Medieval revival – died. The Imperial purple was then passed over to Marcus Melissenos, when he himself died in 1286 the throne of Caesars passed into the hands of a barbarian. Marcus had had no sons and only one daughter, that daughter married the Tsar of all the Russians. With the death of Marcus the Tsardom of Russia and the Roman Empire were united into an incredibly vast, rich and powerful state stretching from the White Sea to the Lebanon. However the Greek dynatoi were horrified by the presence of a barbarian on the throne and began a mass rebellion against the new Emperor. Between 1281 and 1283 the French launched a campaign into the chaotic Balkans with the aim of plundering Roman loot and perhaps capturing more lands. The escapade ended in disaster with the French army crushed near Belgrade – ending French participation in the long Roman Civil War.

From 1290 until 1294 the Fourth Crusade was launched with the aim of recapturing Jerusalem, a task the Third had failed to accomplish. With the nobility of Germany, Italy, Denmark and France all contributing large armies this Crusade was to be a great success, resulting in the reclamation of the Holy City around half a century after its loss along with the rest of Palestine. It would also have great importance for the Kingdom of France. The largest single contributor to the Crusade was Cuiccio of Burgundy – the imprisoned cousin of the King. Cuiccio used his great resources of money and manpower to send the largest single Crusade army to Palestine, under the command of his son Bernardo. Bernardo defeated the main Egyptian army and captured a series of coastal cities.

Blue – Lands of Cuiccio of Burgundy (Kingdom of France)
Light Blue – Independent Frankish
Orange – Denmark
Brown – Independent Danish
Red – Independent German
Grey – Holy Roman Empire (City of Jerusalem only)​

The result of the Crusade created a rather convoluted Holy Land. The coastline South of Acre belonged to Cuiccio, Acre and the Christian lands East of the Jordan to Denmark and there were several independent counties ruled by Crusaders of varying nationalities. Finally the city of Jerusalem itself was controlled by the Holy Roman Emperor – however all the baronies around the city were under the sovereignty of the King of Denmark. It might not have been united, but the Holy Land was Christian once more.

In 1299 Cuiccio passed – leaving his lands to his son the Crusading hero who had participated in the second liberation of Jerusalem. Within a year William IV had joined him. As one of the greatest Bernadine Dukes came to power William left the throne to his eldest son Eudes – a man who was to become known as 'the Cruel' and who would lead France into the desperate period of 'the Anarchy'.

 

[Shaytana]

A very entertaining read! Keep it up!