Pro Tip;don't name your heir Niels again.He might be a 6/6/6!But those die anyways,so..
.
Also,what are the stats for the Queen-Regent?
.Also,what are the stats for the Queen-Regent?
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that was a great last chapter. Good writing, and I chuckled quite a few times.
I love AAR with storylines and making the royals "alive".
Nice going.
I love AAR with storylines and making the royals "alive".
Nice going.
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I know, right!? I actually named him Neils because with his 0/3/1 stats I wanted him to go and I figured I could play up the Neils curse to ditch him at some point. But then the game did it for me!Pro Tip;don't name your heir Niels again.He might be a 6/6/6!But those die anyways,so..
Also,what are the stats for the Queen-Regent?
Queen Regent Sofie is a very respectable 6/4/3.
Thanks! This update took about twice as long to write as my previous updates, so I'm very happy to know it was appreciated!
MAY ALL KINGS OF THE WORLD BE LIKE MAXIMILIAN THE GREAT,BLESSED BE HIS REIGN
MAY ALL TALKING TREES BE PUNISHED FOR THEIR INSOLENCE TOWARDS HIS MAJESTY, THE GOD-EMPEROR OF DENMARK,SCOTLAND,ENGLAND,FRANCE,SPAIN, AND POLAND-LITHUANIA! MAY ALL PRINCES KISS HIS FEET, FOR HIS NAME IS THE ONLY NAME IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maximillian would be very pleased to know he has been immortalized in your signature
It has been a tumultuous few decades for Denmark and our poor Kingdom is not out of the woods, yet.That was fantastic.
Can’t wait for more turmoil!
Thank you! I really enjoyed writing it. No one posted a character/direction for Sophie and then I got really busy at work suddenly and decided to put off asking for a reminder until that had passed. And then I just let it slide. I haven't even logged into the forums in weeks.This AAR was going so great, I hope you continue
But I would definitely roll back EU4 and do another update if someone posts about Sophie!
@DensleyBlair and @Crimson Lionheart Thank you for the nominations to the ACA! I should do my civic duty to the community and go read some AARs to nominate in turn...
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Glad to hear this isn’t quite done and dusted yet. I’m pretty certain there was a reason at the time why I didn’t post anything for Sophie, but now cant remember and it doesn’t really feel important.
if no one else wants to come forward, I’ll give it a stab later on.
if no one else wants to come forward, I’ll give it a stab later on.
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I have a rather long description but actually you can just jump to TLDR.
So, according to what we've seen, Sofie has a strong moral compass and a heart of gold. So she will not seek to eliminate the heir altogether, but if she sees the heir isn't going to be at least as good as her, she'll do everything in her power to keep on running the realm. This applies for any subsequent heirs. She does not do it from a psychopathic or power-hungry point, she just wants the best for everybody and if somebody like her late husband is going to run the place, she'll simply not let that happen.
We all know Sofie has good administrative ideas too, and after seeing the horror show of the last monarch, she'll do her best to stabilize the country and prosper the economy. She will not drop the war just to get out of it, as she always seeks what's best for Denmark. She's capable enough to pull the country from the craphole her husband put it in. She's a woman of the people, a friend to even the lowest of classes. A proto-socialist, if you will.
She also has a sense for order. She's obsessive-compulsive about hygiene, cleanliness, and border gore! She wants clean borders.
Lastly, she's very possessive of overseas holdings.
TLDR: She tries to stay in power as long as possible unless there's a great heir with great character. She'll be all about stuff like development, economy, tech, trade, colonies (especially so), culture etc and not warfare. She might still do opportunistic wars if there's a lot to be gained without sacrificing much, and border cleanups.
So, according to what we've seen, Sofie has a strong moral compass and a heart of gold. So she will not seek to eliminate the heir altogether, but if she sees the heir isn't going to be at least as good as her, she'll do everything in her power to keep on running the realm. This applies for any subsequent heirs. She does not do it from a psychopathic or power-hungry point, she just wants the best for everybody and if somebody like her late husband is going to run the place, she'll simply not let that happen.
We all know Sofie has good administrative ideas too, and after seeing the horror show of the last monarch, she'll do her best to stabilize the country and prosper the economy. She will not drop the war just to get out of it, as she always seeks what's best for Denmark. She's capable enough to pull the country from the craphole her husband put it in. She's a woman of the people, a friend to even the lowest of classes. A proto-socialist, if you will.
She also has a sense for order. She's obsessive-compulsive about hygiene, cleanliness, and border gore! She wants clean borders.
Lastly, she's very possessive of overseas holdings.
TLDR: She tries to stay in power as long as possible unless there's a great heir with great character. She'll be all about stuff like development, economy, tech, trade, colonies (especially so), culture etc and not warfare. She might still do opportunistic wars if there's a lot to be gained without sacrificing much, and border cleanups.
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I love the detail! It is making her fun to play so far.
Trying to decide how to manage her relationship with her ward. Based on the rules of the AAR, I won't know what kind of person he is until he takes the throne, but it will impact her actions and relationship with him. Does anyone have thoughts on resolving that conflict? He IS a great heir from a gameplay perspective (5-6-3 if I remember right), but his character could be anything.
Also, I will be a bit slower updating than I was before. I'm going to shoot for 1/week. Expect something by next weekend!
You could go for something along the lines of older systems in France and the Saxon kingdoms, for example, and have them as co-rulers. This would probably just need a sketch of the heir’s character for once they come of age.
A 5/6/3 heir puts one check in a box, but the question about the character is a valid one. We'll not know it until this episode is out and somebody writes for the next ruler (and this not being CK2 there aren't any character traits to go from). Sofie is 6/4/3, right? not so far from the 5/6/3 the heir has. I think maybe I can simplify things and say she'd try to keep the power unless the heir has better stats than her (and hope the next commenter gives the heir a good personality).
Actually he's 5/6/2, I just checked. So 13 points, just like Sophie.
I like this idea a lot.
I think I'll go a bit hybrid on both of these ideas. Thanks for the input!
Chapter 13 - Queen Regent Sophie, 1636 - 1648
On February 20, Queen Sophie Hvide arrives to court in Copenhagen to act as regent for the 2-year-old bastard son of her late husband. She is most known in the modern popular imagination as a just and benevolent ruler.
But her legacy is far more complicated than that. She started wars, played politics, and played for power. Although she has been sidelined from the affairs of the realm by her husband, she has been keeping close watch over the realm while under house arrest. She wastes no time in her efforts to set the country aright.
Eka: [bows] My Queen
Lunge: [bows] My Queen
Queen Sophie: So this is Cassius and Brutus. Pray you meet no Antony here.
Eka: I.... Your husband did not like those plays, your Grace.
Queen Sophie: My husband is not here, and I find them quite stimulating.
Lunge: As you say, your Grace.
Queen Sophie: First, we need to set the realm aright.
Eka: So we end the war?
Queen Sophie: Not without first securing the French throne. But my late husband was obsessed with the goings on in the field. The war will not be won until we are secure within our own borders. Lord Steward, immediately organize relief efforts throughout the realm. We will all have to tighten our belts, but let no one starve. Print fliers and hire criers and distribute them with the relief. Let everyone know that these goods are from their benevolent Queen, who has chosen to share the fruits of victory with her subjects.
Eka: Are these the fruits of victory?
Queen Sophie: Of course not. But we must secure every scrap of support we can. Send criers to every village in the realm, thanking them for the sacrifice of their sons.
Eka: Your Grace, those efforts will require years worth of effort.
Queen Sophie: Make it happen.
Eka: ... Yes, your Grace.
Queen Sophie: Lord Chancellor.
Lunge: Yes, your Grace?
Queen Sophie: Send a diplomat to Constantinople to build mutual trust and understanding between our two realms.
Lunge: To the Ottoman court?
Queen Sophie: Yes! I am different from my husband in many ways, but I do not like to repeat myself any more than he does.
Lunge: As you say, your Grace.
Queen Sophie: If Spain were to intervene on behalf of French independence we would surely lose this war. The only reason they have not done so is that they are currently busy fighting the Turks in the Mediterranean. The situation must stay that way until we can secure peace and garner support in France.
Queen Sophie: Finally, this is our new Martial, Matthew Dampier. He has served my father well and will be responsible for our recruitment efforts and coordinating the war.
Dampier: [bows]
Dampier: We have made good progress these past few months. We are retaking fortresses in the Low Countries. The French pretender has no armies on the mainland and we outnumber them nearly 2:1 on the Isles.
Queen Sophie: Good. Lord Chancellor? Please send a declaration of war to Havana.
Lunge: We are declaring war on Dutch, your Grace?
Queen Sophie: What did I say about repeating myself?
Lunge: Of course... I just... We are already in a grueling war.
Dampier: Lord Chancellor, the Dutch are without allies and fighting in another war alone in the New World. They hold territory that interrupts that of our Vinland colony in Vinland. For the security of the colony, we must seize these lands before someone else does. Especially Spain.
Eka: But do we have the soldiers and resources to fight a second war?
Dampier: Yes. There are thousands of soldiers in the Vinland colonies that were unable to return to Europe since our fleet was sunk. They are no longer needed and will easily overwhelm the Dutch defenses. The defenselessness of those Dutch colonies is one of the reasons we need to conquer them immediately.
Queen Sophie: Thank you for that explanation, Lord Martial. I think that clarifies things nicely. Send the declaration, Lord Chancellor.
[1 month later]
Lunge: Welcome, Lord Ambassador.
French Ambassador: Thank you, Lord Chancellor. [turns to the Queen and bows deeply] Your Grace, we have come to request aid from our most gracious Queen Regent.
Lunge: You have come to recognize the Queen's sovereignty?
French Ambassador: Should we not judge the Queen's sovereignty based on her actions toward her subjects? We have come to request aid, and just recompense for actions against France perpetrated by the Danish Crown. Should she grant these things, we may indeed find her more worthy of our respect than her husband.
Lunge: You have come to recognize the Queen's sovereignty?
Queen Sophie: [interrupting] He has come to request aid and justice from his sovereign, is that not so, Ambassador?
French Ambassador: Quite right, your Grace. We are asking for funds for our debts. 184 ducats will be sufficient.
Queen Sophie: And for which parts of France do you speak, Ambassador?
French Ambassador: I speak for the Lords of Normandie, Val Loire, Occitan, and Auvergne, as well as General Caumont. The Lords of Hauts de France and Gascony are in open rebellion and have declared themselves independent. Although they have not yet been recognized by foreign powers. de Penthierve himself has loyalists predominantly in Northeastern France and Ile de France, although we still hold Paris for now. In total there are perhaps 100,000 to 120,000 rebel soldiers in the field.
Queen Sophie: You will have your justice and your funds, Ambassador. Please inform General Caumont that he is now under the command of General Moltke. I will have Sahested target de Penthierve's loyalists and leave Paris unscathed. Lord Martial? See it done.
Eka: Is that all, your Grace? The war is over?
Queen Sophie: The war is not over. There are 100,000 enemies still in arms in France. But we have made an important step today.
Eka: But surely we can end our efforts at propaganda now?
Queen Sophie: No. The efforts to rebuild Denmark must continue. With malice toward none and with charity for all. With firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, we must strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the kingdom's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.
Eka: So there is to be no revenge?
Queen Sophie: My husband mistook violence for power. But violence is not power; indeed, violence erodes power. Violence is necessary when you have no power to create a space to build true, lasting power. The violence of the past decade has won us an opening. We must use it to rebuild our power in France, the Danelaw, and even Scandinavia itself.
Thus ended Queen Sophie's famous 'first 30 days'. The apparatus of government was extended as it had never been in order to shore up domestic security and improve prosperity throughout the realm. Sophie is most remembered for her so-called 'heart of gold,' for ending the war with France, and for her distinct take on administration and governance. But she was also no stranger to war, as indicated by her willingness to declare war on Holland almost immediately upon taking over the mantle of government, something that even her husband would likely not have been willing to do. Overall, Queen Sophie was a complex character with strong ambitions who took over at an opportune moment - the tail end of a political and diplomatic crisis that allowed her to implement her ideas but had not entirely drained the realm of resources.
Her famous 'peace' was nothing of the sort. General Sahested and French loyalists spent the better part of a year mopping up resistance in France. Not to mention the ongoing war in the New World.
[The French actually dealt with the Gascon separatists on their own. I'm not sure how. The separatists were only a few months from enforcing their demands when I looked at them around the time of the above screenshot and I thought I was going to have a nice ugly border for Sophie to get mad about. But then I looked again a month later and they were over three years from enforcing their demands.]
But overall there was a shift in focus for the Danish crown. Sophie sponsored the construction and renovation of Universities across the realm - in the old Kalmar capitals of Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, the growing eastern Baltic hub in Viborg, and renovating and restoring the University at Oxford.
The diverse locations of these Universities was not an accident. It was part of a longer-term effort to reincorporate the diverse cultures of the realm after decades of uncertainty and instability.
Sophie maintained Maximillian's spy networks, but carefully vetted them of his loyalists, leaving the infrastructure in place but largely replacing the individuals who ran that infrastructure.
She also improved the defenses of Denmark, constructing a new star fort in the marshes of Ditmarchen to protect the approaches to the peninsula.
But Sophie's most important reforms were to Danish trade, as those are what funded the rest of her efforts. When Sophie took over as regent, she inherited a large treasury but also a large budget deficit. Danish trade was at a centuries-long low, despite Denmark's control of some of the most lucrative trading hubs in Europe, with Denmark having lost most of their trade fleet and having been at war with much of continental Europe.
Sophie began a process of reform that would last multiple years. First, she moved the primary infrastructure of Danish trade and tariffs from Copenhagen to London, to better take advantage of trade coming in from the Americas. This had an almost immediate effect on the income the Crown was able to collect from Danish merchants. It would also have long-term consequences for the integration of various parts of the Danish Kingdom.
Sophie also invested heavily in a new Danish merchant marine as well as marketplaces and trade depos around her Kingdom. By the end of her first decade of rule, Danish trade had increased by over 250%.
This cashflow would largely be reinvested into further improving trade, but elements of it were directed toward the security of the realm and of Sophie's rule. In addition to her war with the Dutch to secure the the colony of Vinland, Sophie also annexed the remnants of the Scottish kingdoms to protect Danish merchants in the North Sea and instigated a war between Vinland and the English colony of Massachusetts to expand Danish control of the fur trade. The war with Massachusetts gave Vinland full control of the St. Lawrence watershed (among colonial nations, at least), while the war in Scotland gave Denmark and her tributary state in Munster full control of the British Isles outside of the rump 'English' kingdom centered in Wales and Cornwall.
Her most important investments, however, were probably her dealings with the French nobility. As Danish trade rapidly expanded, Sophie granted them generous export licenses, making the French one of the most important beneficiaries of Danish trade.
Perhaps more importantly, she pressed French claims in Brittany that had gone largely uncontested for decades.
Sophies dealings with the French were not merely a question of a good heart and an effort to patch up a bleeding realm. There was a longer-term motive as well. Sophie was determined not to leave Denmark in the hands of another mad tyrant like her late husband, but she was also conscious of her legitimacy (or lack thereof) in holding the throne for herself. And although by the time Erik was approaching adulthood no one doubted his abilities, there was uncertainty about what kind of king he would be. Thus Queen Sophie took active steps to maintain power following his coronation. And the most obvious place to shore up power was in France and the Danelaw. Both regions had been especially hard hit by the policies of King Maximillian, and neither were especially keen to see the bastard son of the mad bastard king ascend to the throne. So Queen Sophie courted their favor and built a strong personal power base in both regions through trade expansion, privileges, and conquests. Her actions ensured that by the time Erik was crowned King in 1648, she would remain a strong figure at court. At least, a powerful partner in what amounted to a dual monarchy. At most, her broad power base ensured that she would stand a good chance at removing the King if his rule proved not to be to her liking.
And that is the situation when King Erik takes the throne. His Regent has held on to substantial power in Denmark's far-flung realms and the court is also largely loyal to her. But on the bright side, Denmark is stronger than it has ever been, having recovered from the last great war, with a booming trade economy, a powerful ally in Constantinople and a (for now) loyal subject in France as a counterweight against Denmark's many foes on the continent.
What will Erik's reign mean for Denmark? Will he accept dual rulership with Sophie (at least until she dies... She is 60, after all)? Will their goals align? Or will he try to assert himself and risk yet another power struggle within Denmark?
But her legacy is far more complicated than that. She started wars, played politics, and played for power. Although she has been sidelined from the affairs of the realm by her husband, she has been keeping close watch over the realm while under house arrest. She wastes no time in her efforts to set the country aright.
Eka: [bows] My Queen
Lunge: [bows] My Queen
Queen Sophie: So this is Cassius and Brutus. Pray you meet no Antony here.
Eka: I.... Your husband did not like those plays, your Grace.
Queen Sophie: My husband is not here, and I find them quite stimulating.
Lunge: As you say, your Grace.
Queen Sophie: First, we need to set the realm aright.
Eka: So we end the war?
Queen Sophie: Not without first securing the French throne. But my late husband was obsessed with the goings on in the field. The war will not be won until we are secure within our own borders. Lord Steward, immediately organize relief efforts throughout the realm. We will all have to tighten our belts, but let no one starve. Print fliers and hire criers and distribute them with the relief. Let everyone know that these goods are from their benevolent Queen, who has chosen to share the fruits of victory with her subjects.
Eka: Are these the fruits of victory?
Queen Sophie: Of course not. But we must secure every scrap of support we can. Send criers to every village in the realm, thanking them for the sacrifice of their sons.
Eka: Your Grace, those efforts will require years worth of effort.
Queen Sophie: Make it happen.
Eka: ... Yes, your Grace.
Queen Sophie: Lord Chancellor.
Lunge: Yes, your Grace?
Queen Sophie: Send a diplomat to Constantinople to build mutual trust and understanding between our two realms.
Lunge: To the Ottoman court?
Queen Sophie: Yes! I am different from my husband in many ways, but I do not like to repeat myself any more than he does.
Lunge: As you say, your Grace.
Queen Sophie: If Spain were to intervene on behalf of French independence we would surely lose this war. The only reason they have not done so is that they are currently busy fighting the Turks in the Mediterranean. The situation must stay that way until we can secure peace and garner support in France.
Queen Sophie: Finally, this is our new Martial, Matthew Dampier. He has served my father well and will be responsible for our recruitment efforts and coordinating the war.
Dampier: [bows]
Dampier: We have made good progress these past few months. We are retaking fortresses in the Low Countries. The French pretender has no armies on the mainland and we outnumber them nearly 2:1 on the Isles.
Queen Sophie: Good. Lord Chancellor? Please send a declaration of war to Havana.
Lunge: We are declaring war on Dutch, your Grace?
Queen Sophie: What did I say about repeating myself?
Lunge: Of course... I just... We are already in a grueling war.
Dampier: Lord Chancellor, the Dutch are without allies and fighting in another war alone in the New World. They hold territory that interrupts that of our Vinland colony in Vinland. For the security of the colony, we must seize these lands before someone else does. Especially Spain.
Eka: But do we have the soldiers and resources to fight a second war?
Dampier: Yes. There are thousands of soldiers in the Vinland colonies that were unable to return to Europe since our fleet was sunk. They are no longer needed and will easily overwhelm the Dutch defenses. The defenselessness of those Dutch colonies is one of the reasons we need to conquer them immediately.
Queen Sophie: Thank you for that explanation, Lord Martial. I think that clarifies things nicely. Send the declaration, Lord Chancellor.
[1 month later]
Lunge: Welcome, Lord Ambassador.
French Ambassador: Thank you, Lord Chancellor. [turns to the Queen and bows deeply] Your Grace, we have come to request aid from our most gracious Queen Regent.
Lunge: You have come to recognize the Queen's sovereignty?
French Ambassador: Should we not judge the Queen's sovereignty based on her actions toward her subjects? We have come to request aid, and just recompense for actions against France perpetrated by the Danish Crown. Should she grant these things, we may indeed find her more worthy of our respect than her husband.
Lunge: You have come to recognize the Queen's sovereignty?
Queen Sophie: [interrupting] He has come to request aid and justice from his sovereign, is that not so, Ambassador?
French Ambassador: Quite right, your Grace. We are asking for funds for our debts. 184 ducats will be sufficient.
Queen Sophie: And for which parts of France do you speak, Ambassador?
French Ambassador: I speak for the Lords of Normandie, Val Loire, Occitan, and Auvergne, as well as General Caumont. The Lords of Hauts de France and Gascony are in open rebellion and have declared themselves independent. Although they have not yet been recognized by foreign powers. de Penthierve himself has loyalists predominantly in Northeastern France and Ile de France, although we still hold Paris for now. In total there are perhaps 100,000 to 120,000 rebel soldiers in the field.
Queen Sophie: You will have your justice and your funds, Ambassador. Please inform General Caumont that he is now under the command of General Moltke. I will have Sahested target de Penthierve's loyalists and leave Paris unscathed. Lord Martial? See it done.
Eka: Is that all, your Grace? The war is over?
Queen Sophie: The war is not over. There are 100,000 enemies still in arms in France. But we have made an important step today.
Eka: But surely we can end our efforts at propaganda now?
Queen Sophie: No. The efforts to rebuild Denmark must continue. With malice toward none and with charity for all. With firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, we must strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the kingdom's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.
Eka: So there is to be no revenge?
Queen Sophie: My husband mistook violence for power. But violence is not power; indeed, violence erodes power. Violence is necessary when you have no power to create a space to build true, lasting power. The violence of the past decade has won us an opening. We must use it to rebuild our power in France, the Danelaw, and even Scandinavia itself.
Thus ended Queen Sophie's famous 'first 30 days'. The apparatus of government was extended as it had never been in order to shore up domestic security and improve prosperity throughout the realm. Sophie is most remembered for her so-called 'heart of gold,' for ending the war with France, and for her distinct take on administration and governance. But she was also no stranger to war, as indicated by her willingness to declare war on Holland almost immediately upon taking over the mantle of government, something that even her husband would likely not have been willing to do. Overall, Queen Sophie was a complex character with strong ambitions who took over at an opportune moment - the tail end of a political and diplomatic crisis that allowed her to implement her ideas but had not entirely drained the realm of resources.
Her famous 'peace' was nothing of the sort. General Sahested and French loyalists spent the better part of a year mopping up resistance in France. Not to mention the ongoing war in the New World.
[The French actually dealt with the Gascon separatists on their own. I'm not sure how. The separatists were only a few months from enforcing their demands when I looked at them around the time of the above screenshot and I thought I was going to have a nice ugly border for Sophie to get mad about. But then I looked again a month later and they were over three years from enforcing their demands.]
But overall there was a shift in focus for the Danish crown. Sophie sponsored the construction and renovation of Universities across the realm - in the old Kalmar capitals of Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, the growing eastern Baltic hub in Viborg, and renovating and restoring the University at Oxford.
The diverse locations of these Universities was not an accident. It was part of a longer-term effort to reincorporate the diverse cultures of the realm after decades of uncertainty and instability.
Sophie maintained Maximillian's spy networks, but carefully vetted them of his loyalists, leaving the infrastructure in place but largely replacing the individuals who ran that infrastructure.
She also improved the defenses of Denmark, constructing a new star fort in the marshes of Ditmarchen to protect the approaches to the peninsula.
But Sophie's most important reforms were to Danish trade, as those are what funded the rest of her efforts. When Sophie took over as regent, she inherited a large treasury but also a large budget deficit. Danish trade was at a centuries-long low, despite Denmark's control of some of the most lucrative trading hubs in Europe, with Denmark having lost most of their trade fleet and having been at war with much of continental Europe.
Sophie began a process of reform that would last multiple years. First, she moved the primary infrastructure of Danish trade and tariffs from Copenhagen to London, to better take advantage of trade coming in from the Americas. This had an almost immediate effect on the income the Crown was able to collect from Danish merchants. It would also have long-term consequences for the integration of various parts of the Danish Kingdom.
Sophie also invested heavily in a new Danish merchant marine as well as marketplaces and trade depos around her Kingdom. By the end of her first decade of rule, Danish trade had increased by over 250%.
This cashflow would largely be reinvested into further improving trade, but elements of it were directed toward the security of the realm and of Sophie's rule. In addition to her war with the Dutch to secure the the colony of Vinland, Sophie also annexed the remnants of the Scottish kingdoms to protect Danish merchants in the North Sea and instigated a war between Vinland and the English colony of Massachusetts to expand Danish control of the fur trade. The war with Massachusetts gave Vinland full control of the St. Lawrence watershed (among colonial nations, at least), while the war in Scotland gave Denmark and her tributary state in Munster full control of the British Isles outside of the rump 'English' kingdom centered in Wales and Cornwall.
Her most important investments, however, were probably her dealings with the French nobility. As Danish trade rapidly expanded, Sophie granted them generous export licenses, making the French one of the most important beneficiaries of Danish trade.
Perhaps more importantly, she pressed French claims in Brittany that had gone largely uncontested for decades.
Sophies dealings with the French were not merely a question of a good heart and an effort to patch up a bleeding realm. There was a longer-term motive as well. Sophie was determined not to leave Denmark in the hands of another mad tyrant like her late husband, but she was also conscious of her legitimacy (or lack thereof) in holding the throne for herself. And although by the time Erik was approaching adulthood no one doubted his abilities, there was uncertainty about what kind of king he would be. Thus Queen Sophie took active steps to maintain power following his coronation. And the most obvious place to shore up power was in France and the Danelaw. Both regions had been especially hard hit by the policies of King Maximillian, and neither were especially keen to see the bastard son of the mad bastard king ascend to the throne. So Queen Sophie courted their favor and built a strong personal power base in both regions through trade expansion, privileges, and conquests. Her actions ensured that by the time Erik was crowned King in 1648, she would remain a strong figure at court. At least, a powerful partner in what amounted to a dual monarchy. At most, her broad power base ensured that she would stand a good chance at removing the King if his rule proved not to be to her liking.
And that is the situation when King Erik takes the throne. His Regent has held on to substantial power in Denmark's far-flung realms and the court is also largely loyal to her. But on the bright side, Denmark is stronger than it has ever been, having recovered from the last great war, with a booming trade economy, a powerful ally in Constantinople and a (for now) loyal subject in France as a counterweight against Denmark's many foes on the continent.
What will Erik's reign mean for Denmark? Will he accept dual rulership with Sophie (at least until she dies... She is 60, after all)? Will their goals align? Or will he try to assert himself and risk yet another power struggle within Denmark?
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Great episode! I'm also happy the AAR is revived. Keep up the good work!
Sofie was just like I envisioned. She cleaned all the mess her crazy ex husband did. I wonder how will Erik (and she) continue?
Sofie was just like I envisioned. She cleaned all the mess her crazy ex husband did. I wonder how will Erik (and she) continue?
There seems to be some problems with some of the pictures I guess?
Thank you! I'm glad she lived up to your expectations!
I think the images should be fixed now?
Images fixed now
I also liked the alliance with the Ottomans. In fact, that was one of the things I wanted to add to the directives but then forgot, and then didn't add because I already put in plenty. It's been great that it happened organically
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