Regency councils were the bane of monarchies during the time. The entire country’s foreign policies and diplomatic options ground to a halt as the regent(s) were normally stripped of the powers that could potentially allow them to seize the crown from its rightful holder. There was no such possibility in Transylvania, however. Samuel was around 8 years old when his father died, and already he was shaping up to be another of Transylvania’s great kings. He possessed a sharp mind, a keen wit, and paid close attention to every detail of the state. He was hardly a master diplomat, but such was the norm in Transylvania during the time; boys were trained for war, not for words.
In the west, the Austrians remained locked in war against the French, with much of the fighting taking place in Austria’s Italian holdings, removed from both country’s homelands. Nevertheless, both kingdoms felt the harsh sting of loss and grief that war always brings, but both sides refused to give ground to the other, and so the conflict dragged on. And in the east, the beast had been brought to its knees, awaiting the final death blow of the executioner. New countries spilled out from the wounded belly of the Horde; Murom, Yaroslavl, Crimea. Still rebels fought against their masters, seeking independence, gold, glory, or just bloodshed. And south, into the Greek lands, the Turks fared no better. Deprived of their navy, rebels had taken over much of their Greek possessions, threatening to tip the Ottomans off the brink of the chasm of destruction they stood before. The enemies of Transylvania weakened, while the people caught their breath for another round of bloody conquest, and limitless glory.
The Horde continues its decline, December, 1482
Rebellions in Greece, October, 1483
The next two years passed with little of any note. Utrecht proved itself as the rising Dutch power, conquering numerous tiny states in Western Europe, but closer home the kingdom merely waited. A centre of trade was established in Constantinople to further the wealth of the state, as well as the enactment of a settlement policy to force the Turkish populace out of the city and see them replaced with Hungarian families.
In 1485 the rebellions in Greece finally came to a close. Despite numerous attempts to crush the rebellions by the Turks, Greece declared independence in June, claiming the lands of Larissa, Janina, and Athens as theirs, and sparking their war of independence against their former overlords. Transylvania was unable to jump upon this situation as it normally would, still trapped within the regent’s stunted grasp. The men grew weak; such an extended period of peace was virtually unknown to Transylvania during the time. The desires of the bloodthirsty and glory seekers would be answered soon enough though. Castille had annexed their long time rival of Portugal, and the Swedes cut swaths through the Horde’s Russian possessions; yes, there would be blood soon enough.
In January of 1488, the call was finally raised. The Austrians sent word, seeking their help in a conflict against Castille. The excommunication of Karl I von Habsburg stood as the casus belli for the war, with Castille being the aggressor. Naturally, Transylvania honoured the allegiance, and Transylvanian soldiers made their way to Austria’s Croatian lands, where soldiers from the Kingdom of Aragon, who stood as the junior partner in a personal union with Castille, were trying to make a beachhead for their overlord. They were soundly crushed by Transylvanian troops, too long from war and thirsty for blood. The Austrians left their ally to deal with the Spaniards, as France was finally making headway into Italy in their war that had been raging for nearly a decade now.
The Castilian Queen was smart. She knew that if the Bosporous strait were to be blocked by her vastly superior navy, Transylvania would be cut off from its possessions in Asia minor, leaving the lands open to either a Castilian invasion force, or a Turkish rebellion. Recently conquered peoples have a tendency to feel hate towards their new overlords, and as the warships of the Castilian navy sat upon the Bosporus, the streets of Bursa and Bithynia ran with blood. Turkish rebels murdered the local missionaries, plundered the cities, and wrecked havoc across the land. Count Dénes Aba, the leading Regent for the young king Samuel, knew that if the rebellions were not crushed, they would soon turn back to Turkish hands. He was unwilling to lose those lands, and face the wrath of Mihály from beyond the grave, and so in February of 1490, two years after the war began, Transylvania settled for peace with the Castillian, for a tiny tribute.
The Treaty of Verona, February, 1490
As the treaty was finalized, Transylvanian troops poured across the Bosporous, with a figure at its head that would grow to stand among Transylvania’s giants. Astride a warhorse of pure white, Samuel wore the Crown of Blood; Transylvania had its new king. His decisions would forever shape Transylvania for the rest of its history, and he was bold in his decisions; abandoning the old traditions of a Transylvania long lost to memory, and forging a new country from its ashes, laying the foundations for an empire that would eventually shake Europe to its core.
I.
Coronation of King Samuel ‘the Bold’ Plater, 1490
(Bulgaria and 3 other provinces core)
It was ill news in the west that met Samuel’s coronation, for the French were pushing deeper and deeper into Austrian lands. The Austrians could no longer hold back the tidal wave that crashed against their front. With manpower reserves having run dry despite the pledges of support from within the states of the Holy Roman Empire, Austria was in deep plight. Samuel would not later earn the nickname ‘The Bold’ for nothing though, and a short three years after he first donned the Crown of Blood, the axes and blades of Transylvania stood sharp as the declaration of war was sent to one of Europe’s greatest powers.
There is an unending debate as to when exactly the time was that Transylvania became a true European power. Some believe it to be when the King of Poland was forced to kneel to Transylvanian overlordship, others believe it was when Constantinople returned to Christian hands; Transylvanian hands. But even then, Transylvania had been the silent prowler, the wolf in the night that killed and fled before the Sheppard could exact his revenge. Never before had Transylvania dared to challenge one greater than itself in open warfare…until now.
The eagle rose ever higher.
King Samuel ‘The Bold’ Plater
I.
Painting of the coronation of Charles VII of France More information can be found here.