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Kapt Torbjorn

A bear there was, a bear!
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Jan 3, 2010
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The trailer (of sorts)

The Birth of the Kingdom of Transylvania

Put this on in a background tab (mood music)

The winds swept across the forests of Transylvania in early October as the cold hand of winter crept ever closer. Stibor sat behind a mahogany desk in the council chambers of Tarten.

“You cannot go through with this!”

“Life is not without risks, Ladislau.” Stibor looked up from his writings and eyed the man before him; rotund, sweating, and angry - that was Ladislau, a Count of some pissant strip of land in Banat, but a Count nonetheless.

“This is not life you are speaking of, but betrayal! What makes you think that the Hungarians won’t march their army here and lop all our heads off the second they catch even a whisper of this?”

“Nothing. It’s actually quite likely that that’s exactly what they’ll do.”

“Then for all our sakes you must stop this madness. Or I will stop it for you.”

Stibor's eyes narrowed on Ladislau, “You will stop me?”

“Yes.” Ladislau stood defiantly in front of Stibor, eyes locked with the voivode of Transylvania. He did not even hear the slight rustle as a man stepped out from the curtains behind him, and was dead before he even felt the prick of a knife upon his neck.

Winter was coming.​

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Europe was slowly climbing out of the dark ages and into a new era. Rome had been pushed from its homeland, and clung desperately to its last enclaves near Constantinople. There were new powers in Europe now; France, England, Castille, Austria, Bohemia. These nations would forge a new world, but there was another that would rise even above those, one that even the most wild of oracles could never have predicted: Transylvania.

On the turn of the 14th century, Transylvania stood as a voivodeship of the Kingdom of Hungary, the Magyar nation that dominated the Balkans alongside the Ottomans. Transylvania was ruled by Stibor de Stiboricz, a noble appointed by the Hungarian king Zsigmond the First. Stibor had grown tired of paying homage to the Hungarian King; as a child he had dreamed of being a King himself, and if Transylvania could break the chains of vassalage that tied it to the Magyars then Stibor could fulfill that long lost dream.

Stibor had a number of obstacles he needed to overcome before he could call himself King Stibor though. First and foremost was the support of the nobility, for without them his reign would be short indeed. The problem was that most of Transylvania’s leading nobility had land in both Transylvania and Hungary, and a rebellion against Zsigmond would mean their lands in Hungary would be stripped from them. A fair number of the nobles he managed to draw to his side by promising them lavish new lands across Transylvania, and more to come when the kingdom pushed its borders further. The other hurdle was the support of the peasantry and burghers, who for the most part detested war as it wreaked havoc upon livelihood and trade (at least for most traders). The peasants he managed to win over during the course of his past five years by providing them with food and games, and the burghers by establishing trade houses in Transylvania’s largest cities. Still, it would mean nothing without the allegiance of the majority of the nobility, and so the vote was set to the Council of Nine, the nine leading Counts of Transylvania.

The vote was four for, and four against. The deciding vote was in the hands of a single man, Stephen Támas. Under any other circumstances, Stephen would have voted to stay as a vassal as Hungary, but just two months previously his wife and two children had been murdered while visiting the city of Erlau in Hungary. Stephen had demanded a full investigation and swift justice brought to the murderers, but had been snubbed by the Hungarian noble in charge of the county’s enforcement of law. Stephen was angry, and wanted blood; Stibor presented an offer that Stephen could not refuse – vengeance for the deaths of his family, and so Stephen pledged his support for the new King. Stibor wisely chose not to inform him that it was not the hands of Hungarian brigands that had caused the death of his wife, but that of Transylvanian men, ordered by Stibor himself.


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King Stibor de Stiboricz

And so, as the century turned, the Kingdom of Transylvania was born. Born out of blood, deceit, and betrayal, it would rise higher than even King Stibor could have imagined. Glory, glory, Transylvania!
 
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Brief Overview
This is an AAR that started out as a strictly history-book style AAR, but has sort of grown more into a narrative style. There is a story throughout the AAR, and is not just a telling of what happened in the game; the game is played to further the story, and the story told to further the game.

I've tried to create a tale of betrayal, conquest, deceit, and conflict that hopefully will keep you interested and continue to be a pleasure to write for me, but if you have any suggestions as to writing style or anything else (even criticism!), it is more than welcome.

The first few chapters are rather dull though. It starts to pick up around Part 1, Chapter 6 (Cliffs of Carpathia).

If you are still reading this but want a rough idea of what's in store, here's a collage of the most commonly used words for all the chapters up to Page 25 of this AAR:



Anything denoted in yellow, as so, notes gameplay events that I felt were worth mentioning.
Lime Green is me talking out of character.
Finally, anything in red, as so, provides the historical context to some of the content found within this AAR (mostly pictures/paintings). There will usually be a link to a wikipedia page or something similar provided to accompany it.

Also don't be afraid to post; it's always fun coming to this sub-forum and seeing that this AAR has a new post :)
 
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Table of Contents

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King Stibor 'The Calculated' de Stiboricz


The Birth of the Kingdom of Transylvania
I - A New Beginning
II - Politics & Pride
III - Clash of Arms

King Janos 'The Brash' Durazzo


IV - Will of the Pope
V - Affairs of the State
VI - Cliffs of Carpathia
VII - Nationalism, Scheming, and the Whims of Allies

King István 'Dicey' Kolozsvár


VIII - Imperial Expansion
IX - The Great Crusade
X - The Emperor has no Cores
XI - The Death of a Giant

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King Mihály 'The Bear' Plater

I - The War of the Eagles
II - Conflict in the East
III - Loyalty is a Rare Commodity
IV - Beating Back the Beasts
V - The Wolf Becomes the Prey
VI - A Broken Crescent
VII - The Gates of Christendom

King Samuel 'The Bold' Plater

VIII - Our Brothers in the West
IX - Veto, I Cry!
X - Guardians of the Citadel
XI - Family Ties

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I - Saint István
II - Fire & Brimstone
III - The Game of Thrones
IV - The Transylvanian Empire

Emperor Leopold 'Inkhand' Plater

V - The Reformation
VI - The Fragmentation of Christendom
VII - The Grand Alliance

Emperor Ferenc 'Mudbrain' Plater

VIII - Parental Advisory
IX - World War I
X - The First Pawn
XI - The Gates of Jerusalem
XII - Blood & Glory
XIII - Cairo or Bust
XIV - The End of an Era

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Emperor Ákos 'the Great' Plater

I - Hello New World, Goodbye Old Friends
II - Rising Tide
III - Into Battle
IV - Rotten Fruits of Conquest
V - The Greek War of Independence
VI - Balkan Unity
VII - Religious Destruction
VIII - Dynastic Homeland
IX - Politics
X - Manpower

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Lord Regent Gábor 'the Usurper' Plater

I - Power Vacuum
II - Belvárosi Bridge
III - St. Georgen
IV - Throne room

Emperor Mihály 'the Bastard' II Plater

V - Insults and False Pretenses
VI - The Emperor's Playground
VII - The Holy Roman Wars I
 
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The long history of subservience to greater powers had some benefits to Transylvania. Intent on milking the land for all it was worth, many of Transylvania’s former overlords pushed Transylvania to a policy of centralization of power to the state. Such a move was risky, as the common man had always held a distinct fear of powerful masters, and rightly so. King Stibor knew that the policy should continue, and that a highly centralized state would be better prepared to respond to new threats, and more efficient at generating revenue (slider move towards centralization).

Almost as soon as the proclamation of Transylvania’s independence was sent out to Hungary, King Stibor sent out emissaries to neighbouring countries, seeking alliances with them. Moldavia and Wallachia declined the offer, fully aware that the Hungarian’s could come storming into Transylvania at any given moment. Naples and Aquilea accepted, however. An allied Naples was of very little use to Transylvania, though it might make potential enemies in the Mediterranean think twice before challenging the young state. Aquilea was a strategically important ally, as they bordered Hungary in the west, and could divert their attention should war come. King Stibor knew these allies alone would not save Transylvania from Hungary, though. He slunk into despair for a few short months, as messengers returned bearing ill news of their receptions at foreign courts. Alliances were declined, royal marriages scoffed at. To the world, Translyvania was but a mere speck.

To some, though, it was a speck that might prove to be a very good opportunity. The Hungarians declared that they would guarantee the independence of Transylvania, a move that made the nobility of the state raise their eyebrows. But, it was a mere ploy, designed to gain Hungary the potential to expand within the Balkans, should another nation attack Transylvania. Their guarantee of independence would not protect Transylvania against Hungary itself. Shortly afterwards, two messengers arrived from Poland and Bohemia, each with a grin ear to ear on their faces. Bohemia and Poland both had guaranteed the independence of Transylvania, eyeing Hungarian lands as ripe for expansion. Transylvania now sat quite comfortably, safe in the knowledge that three of Europe’s major powers would march to war by their side if they were attacked.

During this time, Stibor de Stiboricz also passed the resolution of Unio Trium Nationum. The King of Naples also sent to Transylvania a call to arms, against Epirus, who was guaranteed by Byzantium. Stibor rightly assumed that keeping Naples as an ally during this rocky birth of Transylvania was more important than angering the Byzantines, whose power and influence had long been stamped out by the Ottomans. The war was largely ignored by the Transylvanians, though King Stibor did take the opportunity to raise war taxes, to help the fledgling economy get kick started.

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The standing of Transylvania was also increasing. Royal marriages were accepted from Naples and Aquilea, new advisers were hired from distant lands (Lvl 1 Government Tech, Lvl 2 Tax, Lvl 3 Fort Defense), and the army of Transylvania was finally starting to resemble a national force, rather than a ragtag group of peasant levies (Mission completed: Create an Army for our Nation, New Mission: Royal Marriage with Hungary).

Expansion would need to happen soon, though. The people of Transylvania could not stand against the Huns as they were, and so needed more lands, and vassals of their own. Stibor turned his eyes south, to Wallachia. They had denied Transylvania’s offer of an alliance previously, and King Stibor was of the mind that it would be better to attack them before they did the same to us.

Wallachia was allied to Byzantium and Ragusa. Ragusa could not reach Transylvania, and Byzantium was already tied up fighting against Naples in Morea. The time was ripe to strike against Wallachia, and King Stibor arranged for a mercenary regiment to join his forces, even though he knew he did not have the food or weapons to support it for very long (Total force size: 4, Force limit: 3). The War of Transylvanian Aggression started on the 28th of July, 1401, and although the war of aggression forced Naples and Aquilea to abandon their alliance with Transylvania, it was still considered a resounding success by historical standards.

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The forces of Transylvania, led by King Stibor de Stiboricz himself, force marched down into the Wallachian province of Oltenia, and engaged the 2,000 strong Wallachian army. The battle, if it could be even called that by other nation’s reckoning, was decided when King Stibor, at the head of 1,000 Szekely cavalry, crashed into the Wallachian line. Their army crumbled against the assault, and retreated to Wallachia proper, where they were routed and hunted down before they could reach the city walls.

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The Battle of Wallachia, August, 1401
The two provinces came under the firm control of Transylvania in January of 1402, and peace was signed in February. It was a devastating peace for Wallachia, forcing them to cede one of their provinces, empty their treasuries to Transylvania, and become a vassal. But it was a risky gamble, as King Stibor knew. Taking Otlenia, while giving a boost to his land holdings and helping fund the country, opened a border with the ever growing Ottoman Empire; time and history would tell if this was his greatest mistake, or one of his most amazing triumphs.

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A number of missionaries were sent to Oltenia, to convert the Othodox population to Catholicism. It seemed to Stibor that as soon as the missionaries arrived, word was sent back that they were successful. A puzzling thing, but if it was true then the king would've been a very happy man (conversion was only on for a week before it succeeded). It was shortly thereafter that Stibor received an ambassador from the Byzantines. Concerned about the expansionism of the Ottomans, it seems that the Byzantines were willing to turn to any possibility for an ally, even a former rival. Their alliance was accepted, though King Stibor was certain that he could not risk war with the Ottomans…yet.
 
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Good opening moves, you've got a reasonably strong position. :) Are you using a mod?

I'll be following.
 
Good opening moves, you've got a reasonably strong position. :) Are you using a mod?

I'll be following.
Just the hand drawn map mod. I did add some small decisions in there for Transylvania to make it a little less dull.
 
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Jerusalem?

I assume that's up because of the 'holy city of Constantinople' bit, and you're not actually confusing this for a Jerusalem AAR :rofl:

Constantine's foundation gave prestige to the Bishop of Constantinople, who eventually came to be known as the Ecumenical Patriarch, vying for honour with the Pope,[40] a situation which contributed to the Great Schism that divided Western Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy from 1054 onwards.

Not as holy as Jerusalem, but if the centerpiece for Othodox Christianity is turned to Catholicism, what would the effects be?

Constantinople was also a very strategic city during the medieval ages, functioning as a sort of supply depot for the crusades. The crusades pretty much stopped entirely after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, as without the city, the crusaders armies couldn't be shipped food, weapons, or reinforcements.
 
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The alliance from Byzantium was accepted, though King Stibor very much doubted the Byzantines would follow Transylvania in its future conquests. The Byzantines had other worries.

King Stibor de Stiboricz knew that his kingdom needed a port city in order to take part in the growing trade along the Mediterranean. Without a stable port, merchants would have to travel across foreign lands racked by rebellion and war, with guards and protection. Guards would cost money, and even they could not assure the merchants safe arrival. A port was most needed, and King Stibor had a number of options, but only one was plausible.

Moldavia. The tiny kingdom to the East held the province of Budjak, a province that King Stibor very much desired. There was a problem, though. The Kingdom of Moldavia had its independence guaranteed by Hungary. So King Stibor came up with a clever plan. At the start of the year of our lord, 1403, King Stibor began ‘disbanding’ his army. It would look to the Moldavians that the Transylvanians could no longer support their army, and so had to send the men home to till the fields. Instead, the soldiers were hiding in the forests north of Turdem. On the 19th of April, 1403, Transylvania sent a declaration of war to far of Ryazan, a close ally of Moldavia. The Moldavians were undoubtably over-joyed at the news, as here was a golden opportunity to smash the growing state and add its land to their own. Their army marched their way into greater Transylvania.

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I. Deployment of the Transylvanian Army

And ran right into the Transylvanian army. It would be a battle that would go down in Transylvanian history as one of the crowning jewels of King Stibor de Stiboricz’s military career. As the Moldavian army rounded the path out of the forest to the plains in front of the city, the Transylvanian army struck. Szekely cavalry poured out of the forest and smashed into the disorganized Moldavian army, who were unprepared for battle and were still in marching formation. The Transylvanian infantry, armed with axes and maces, went to work at the front and rear of the Moldavian line, and the entire force was nearly destroyed. What little survived routed back to Budjak, where they were persued by the Transylvanians and destroyed utterly.

With the fight sapped from the people of Moldavia, King Stibor set his men to siege the cities across the country. The province of Budjak fell to the Transylvanians in March of 1404, and Bessabaria fell in April. It was another total victory for the growing power of Transylvania. The Moldavians accepted a crushing peace. They would cede Budjak to the victorious army, would become a vassal, and would break their treaties with Ryazan, Pskov, and Tver. In barely a decade, King Stibor de Stiboricz had managed to expand the Kingdom of Transylvania to twice its original size, as well as gaining two key vassals for future wars; Wallachia and Moldavia.

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The Treaty of Turda, 1404

Unfortunately, the Hungarians were not pleased with these recent turn of events. The Huns knew they could not risk war with Transylvania directly, as their independence was still guaranteed by the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, as well as by the Kingdom of Poland. Instead they attacked Transylvania’s newly vassalized Moldavia.

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Hungarian War of Aggression

King Stibor had no option but to allow Hungary to run rampant in Moldavia. The call to arms was declined, the messenger sent back to weave his way between Hungarian armies to give the ill news to his King. Moldavia fell to the Huns in November of 1404, and was officially annexed by December. But the news at the time was not all filled with ill tiding for Transylvania. An alliance offer to Bohemia was accepted, and an old ally, Aquilea, was willing to rekindle the old alliance. Transylvania found itself once again in a position of relative security.

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The Kingdom of Transylvania, December, 1404

I. Picture from the Battle of Saratoga. More information can be found here.
 
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Part 1 - Chapter 3 – A Clash of Arms
This Chapter's Mood Music

The security of Transylvania was secured. King Stibor de Stiboricz sat firmly on the throne of a rising power in the easternmost reaches of Europe. The storm was still brewing, though. To remain strong was Stibor’s goal for Transylvania, and to leave a kingdom of strength, rather than dissent, as his lasting legacy.

To the north, the Hungarians sat as a partner in a coalition of forces arrayed against the Bohemians. King Stibor could attack the Huns while they were distracted, seeking to help their new ally (‘Alliance’ casus belli against Hungary gained). The Huns were still too strong, however. Bohemia’s armies had suffered a number of key defeats in the war; they had been too aggressive, seeking to capture the Hungarian capital city and thus end the war. Their risky gamble had failed, and a beaten and broken Bohemian army had made the long retreat back to their homeland, pursued by the vengeful Hungarians. The war raged for a few more months, but eventually the Hungarians signed a peace with Bohemia, demanding they release their vassal Silesia, and annul their alliance with Transylvania. The Bohemians had no choice but to accept.

Historians at this point have always been puzzled as to why the Hungarians opted for such a paltry peace offer. Numerous theories have been put forth, ranging from bribery all the way to insanity. The truth of the matter, however, is that the Hungarians smelt blood elsewhere; Poland. The Polish-Lithuanian union had dissolved into chaos, and now the two former allies found themselves in a clash of arms against one another. Lithuanian troops ran rampant across Poland, sacking cities and looting and pillaging the Polish countryside. Hungary wanted in on the lucrative war, and declared war on Poland in February of 1407. It would be Hungary’s gravest mistake, and would mark the fall of the Kingdom of Hungary.

The Lithuanian-Polish war ended rather abruptly with a peace deal that was not ideal for either side. Poland would release Mazovia from vassalage, and pay a modest tribute to the Lithuanians. Lithuania had priorities for its armies elsewhere, to guard the ever widening border between it and the rising power of Muscowy. Poland turned its battered armies to face the new Hungarian threat, and Hungary soon found itself outmatched by the Poles. The Huns suffered a notable defeat at the Battle of Krakow, and retreated their armies from the Poles to Pressburg.
The scent of blood had wafted all across Europe, though. The Hungarians, with rising dissent from the peasantry over the warmongering of the upper nobility, had begun to organize rebellions to challenge the mighty Hungarian army. The Austrians struck against the Huns without warning. The army of Austria marched as quickly as it could to engage the disorganized Hungarian army that had retreated to Pressburg to regroup. The battle was a complete disaster for Hungary, and the majority of the Hungarian army was slaughtered, and the province fell a short few weeks afterwards.

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I. The Battle of Pressburg – March, 1407

The stench of blood was now too strong to ignore. Transylvania’s ally, Aquilea, joined the fray, declaring war against the Huns in April of 1407. King Stibor de Stiboricz received a messenger asking for Transylvania’s assistance in the war. However, knowing the potential rebellions Transylvania faced in its newly conquered territories, King Stibor opted to wait. In a month’s time, another messenger arrived from Aquilea, perplexed that no response had been sent back to the call to arms. Now was the moment to strike hard and fast against the Hungarians. With an ally at war with them, Transylvania started the 1st War of Transylvanian Intervention in May of 1407 (Mission failed: Royal Marriage with Hungary, new mission: Accumulate Money).

The Hungarian forces arrayed against the Transylvanians were crippled. They had very little fight left in them, but the potential for disaster was still very much there, as King Stibor knew. The other nations arrayed against the Hungarians had goals of their own, and they would likely not coincide with the goals of Transylvania. King Stibor took command of the army and moved quickly to sieze the provinces of Szolnok and Partium. Engagements with remnants of the Hungarian armies came frequently, but the men of Transylvania stood strong against their former overlords. The Hungarian forces were picked apart one by one, and new mercenaries freshly arriving in Hungary were smashed apart before they could even properly assemble into a force to challenge the enemies of Hungary.

The war continued on, with Transylvania winning nearly every engagement it got into with the broken Hungarian army. Those that did survive retreated to far off Hungarian provinces in the west of their kingdom, and were set upon by the vengeful Austrians. The Poles flooded south into Hungary, and quickly captured Ersekujvar and Carpathia. They had lost interest in the fight, though, and Hungary signed peace with the Polish and ceded the two provinces to them.

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The Treaty of Pressburg

The province of Partium fell to the Transylvanians on August 30th, 1407, but elsewhere, elements of the 1st Transylvanian army was driven from the Hungarian capital city by freshly arrived mercenary regiments and militia units from inside the city itself. The province of Szolnok fell to King Stibor’s men on the 12th of January, 1408, and the regiments that had been besieging Pecs regrouped with these units and made their way to Pecs to drive out the mercenary regiments that had pushed the Transylvanians back a month earlier. The battle was fought for days, with neither side gaining the upper hand, but the Hungarians eventually retreated to Transylvanian-Occupied Partium upon hearing word that the Transylvanian forces besieging Osijek had been successful, and were on their way to the battlefield. The war was winding down now, as the Hungary was slowly being consumed by three separate powers. Unhappiness among the peasants back in Transylvanian forced King Stibor to seek an rapid end to the war (event: Unhappiness Among the Peasantry – choice: Improve the situation, -14.75 ducats). The solution presented itself as the king was sieging Baranyavár, in the province of Pecs. A force of 10,000 Austrian infantry arrived in the province, with orders from the Austrian king to assist the Transylvanians in taking the castle, and by extension, the province. The assault commenced, and through sheer force of will and superior numbers, the Transylvanian-Austrian forces managed to break the defenders and take the castle.

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II. The Assault on Baranyavár, September 2nd, 1408

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King Stibor was now satisfied. He was not an old man in age, but in body. He had seen Transylvania through one of its most turbulent eras, and guided it to emerge stronger than ever. Peace was signed with the Hungarians. They would release Croatia as a sovereign state, they would cede Partium and Szolnok to the victorious Transylvanians, and they would renounce their claims to the province of Banat. It was nothing short of a total victory for the youthful state.

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The Austrians accepted peace with the Hungarians shortly afterwards, demanding they cede Sopron and Pressburg, and release Moldavia as an independent state. Hungary now found itself in a position of utter weakness, reduced to holding just its capital city and the lands closely surrounding it. The alliance between Bohemia and Transylvania was renewed, as the last act of one of the greatest kings in Transylvanian history.

King Stibor de Stiboricz was laid to rest on the 6th of August, year of our Lord 1410. He will be remembered as the strong wind that blew Transylvania towards its first steps to greatness. King Janos I Durazzo was crowned king of Transylvania after the week of mourning.

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III. King Janos I Durazzo

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The Kingdom of Transylvania, August, 1410

I. Painting of the Battle of Lechfeld. More information can be found here.
II. Picture of the assault on Muhu, during the Livonian/Estonian Crusade. More information can be found here.
III. Portrait of Henry I of England. More information can be found here.
 
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Great work with Transylvania. Are you worried of possible aggression by the Golden Horde? Or maybe Poland? I would imagine that Transylvania looks ripe for the taking.
 
Great work with Transylvania. Are you worried of possible aggression by the Golden Horde? Or maybe Poland? I would imagine that Transylvania looks ripe for the taking.

Oh man, I'm worried about possible aggression from everyone. My neighbours are (where I am now, just a little ways ahead): Austria, Poland, Golden Horde, and the Ottomans. Not exactly an ideal location stuck between all of those countries.