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Sylas

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Mar 30, 2011
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In 1301 Hungary was in a state of constant anarchy. András III of Hungary died without an heir, and with his death House of Árpád became extinct. After this unexpected happening, the royals, who had Árpád blood in their veins, started to plot for the hungarian crown. There was three contestant:

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Wenceslaus Premyslid, the 11 year old son of Wenceslaus II of Bohemia. His great-great-grandmother was the daughter of Béla IV of Hungary. He was betrohed to Erzsébet, who was the only daughter of the late András III. And he had the support of Máté Csák, who was the lord of Upper Hungary. He was crowned in 1301 as the King of Hungary. But you must know, if you want to be the legitimate King of Hungary, you must fulfill three condition:

1. You must be crowned in Fehérvár
2. By the Archbishop of Esztergom
3. With the Holy Crown

But the Archbishop of Esztergom didn't support Wenceslaus, so the Archbishop of Kalocsa performed the cerenomy. Because of this, his coronation was illegitimate. Pope Boniface didn't favoured him also, and threated Wenceslaus and his supporters with excommunication, if he don't resign from the hungarian throne. An international coalition started to form against him led by Albert of Germany, who wanted to prevent the union of Bohemia, Poland and Hungary, despite the fact, that Wenceslaus was his son-in-law. The intervention was a success. King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia died and the newly crowned Wenceslaus III resigned from the hungarian throne in 1305. But he didn't give the crown to the Pope's favourite candidate, instead he gave it to Otto von Wittelsbach.

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Otto von Wittelsbach, the 40 year old duke of Lower Bavaria. His mother was Erzsébet, another daughter of Béla IV of Hungary, so he had a claim to the hungarian throne too. He also was a participant in the coalition against Wenceslaus. Originally he didn't want to crown himself, but one of the oligarch, Iván Kőszegi convinced him. So the bishops of Veszprém and Csanád crowned him in Fehérvár in 1305. But we already spoke about the three conditions, so we already know, that this coronation wasn't legitimate also. Otto only ruled 2 years, and his rule ended with shame. He wanted to team up with László Kán, the oligarch of Transilvania, but according to the legends, Otto was cocky and arrogant, so László captured him, took the Holy Crown and simply threw him out from the country. After this, only one contestant remained.

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Charles d'Anjou from Naples, the 13 year old grandson of Charles the Lame. His great-grandmother, Mária was the daughter of the late king István V of Hungary. He had the support of the croatian lords like the Subic and the Babonic family, and Pope Boniface also favoured him. During the Interregnum, he was crowned twice, but without the Holy Crown he couldn't be the legitimate king of Hungary. After Otto was kicked out from the country by László Kán, the oligarch kept the crown, so the Pope threatened him with excommunication, if he won't give it to Charles. After some negotiation Charles got the crown and finally on 27 August 1307 he was crowned as the only legitimate king of Hungary.​
 
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Interesting time and location.

Good luck with the AAR, starting your first one is a terrifying experience (it was for me at least) but everyone here is super supportive. Based on your opener it's looking good and I'm excited to read more.
 
Chapter I - The first steps of consolidation (1307-1309)
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Chapter I - The first steps of consolidation
(1307-1309)

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When Charles finally ascended to the throne, he was already 19 year old. The constant struggle for the crown made him a trained, tough figthter on the battlefield. He was a kind person with a high sense of justice, who never forget the peoples, who help him to achieve his goal. He was always a chaste person too, but after the coronation, he started to act a little bit cocky. Afterall, he got the hungarian crown.

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In 1307 Hungary was much bigger in territory, when Árpád and his magyars arrived to the Carpathian Basin. Saint Ladislaus (László) captured the croatian throne, after the last king died without an heir in 1091. His son, Kálmán the Bookish, finished the conquer, when he occupied Dalmatia. Bosnia or Ráma in hungarian, also became the part of Hungary, when Béla the Blind captured the most important castles in the region. The last territorial growth happened in 1247, when Litovoi, the voivode of Wallachia accepted Béla IV as his overlord. But the country wasn't unified. Although László Kán, the oligarch of Transylvania gave back the crown to Charles, he declared his own independency in the same time.

The country was between the HRE and the ERE geopolitically. And the Kingdom of Hungary shared a big chunk of border with the germans. In the north, there was king Wladyslaw's Poland and the Grand Principality of Galich. Latter was threated by the mongols from the east. They usually liked to raid Transylvania and Wallachia too. With the last territorial growth Hungary came direct contact with the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the little Voivodeship of Vidin. Then in south, there were Konstantin, king of Serbia, who didn't like the growing hungarian dominance in the Balkan. And he also had some imperial ambition too. In the Adriatic coastline there were two little state: the Republic of Ragusa and the county of Berberi, which was a venetian vassal state.

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Internally the kingdom was divided between the oligarchs. Charles only had the Duchy of Visegrád, the Duchy of Bács, and some rarely populated province in western Wallachia.

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To consolidate his power, the king needed new aristocrats, who where loyal to the crown. So Charles appointed one of his loyal general as the new lord of Oltenia.

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Charles tried to negotiate with the oligarch of Transylvania, but he refused any attempt. According to the legends, László sad: 'How do this foreign-born boy want to rule Hungary, if he can't order a proper hungarian wine in his subjects language?' The question of Transylvania remained unsettled.

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So Charles didnt count to László Kán, therefore he appointed the new royal council without him. His councillors were the most dominant lords of Hungary and his loyal educator from Naples. In the first council meeting, Charles specified the main missions. The duke of Nyitra was sent to Belgrad to explore the city. Belgrad or Nándorfehérvár was one of the most fortified castle in the Balkan. If Hungary can occupy the city, that'd be a big step toward the dominance of the peninsula. The duke of Somogyország and the count of Somogy remained in the capital. Henrik started to train new soldiers for the royal army, while Tamás was resposible for the local economy. The spymaster sent his people to Vienna. Charles wanted to know everything about his uncle, Emperor Albrecht's plans. And lastly Bishop Loup was sent to Bosnia. In this region bogomilism, that filthy heretical religion was quite popular among the peasants. So it was time to shepherd them back to the catholic herd.

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After Charles made the first important decisions about the country, it was time to focus on his dynasty. According to his original plan, he wanted to make dynastic ties with the HRE or the ERE. But his uncle didn't approve the betrohal with his cousin, and the Byzantine Emperor wasn't too enthusiastic neither.

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So Plan B. With the death of Wenceslaus III, House Meinhardiner ascended to the throne of Bohemia. To settle the feud once for all between the two country, Charles married with Inge, the daughter of Henrik II of Bohemia. And to make a new possible ally in the south Charles agreed to a marriage between his sister Clémence and Prince Georgi, son of Tsar Todor of Bulgaria.

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To celebrate his wedding Charles organized a big Summer Fair for the people of Buda. He invited merchants and entertainers from Naples and France, so the locals could experiance a little western culture.

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To utilize the opportunity, the Duke of Croatia and the Duke of Somogyország petitioned some changes with some lower rank vassals. The king was in a good mood, so he accepted they requests.

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Only a couple of month passed after the wedding, when a messenger from the Vatican arrived to Charles's court. The Pope request all true christians help against the infidels. Charles didn't have much choice. Pope Boniface supported his claim years ago, so it was the time for the repayment.

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Queen Inge was a very talented diplomat, therefore she volunteered to visit the neighbouring courts and speechify for the Crusade. She spent the next couple of months in Bohemia, Austria and Northern Italy. Her journey was so successful, that the Count of Ravenna offered a non-aggression pact to King Charles.

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While his queen was abroad, Charles decided to support his aunt, Marie, if the Crusade'd successful and the Pope offer some land for the d'Anjou dynasty.

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After Queen Inge arrived back from her journey, she started to show symptoms. She was pregnant. Charles prayed for a boy and God listened his praying. A half year later Inge gave birth a twin. The firstborn Louis was a healthy, agile child. But his brother, Henri born with clubfoot. He will never walk on his foot properly.

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Finally in the fall of 1309 the Pope declared the Tenth Crusade for the Holy Land.​
 
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No crises yet for King Charles, but I imagine Transylvania will continue to be a thorn in his side for some time yet. Hopefully they won't be so impious as to strike while the faithful are away on crusade...
 
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Chapter II - The Tenth Crusade (1309-1311)
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Chapter II - The Tenth Crusade
(1309-1311)

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The hungarian crusaders assembled around the castle of Valkóvár. The army, led by Nándor Bátorfy, the french knight Savary, and King Charles himself, concluded more than 11.000 men, and it was very balanced. When the winter gone, the hungarians started their long journey to the Holy Land.

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After the hungarians crossed over the Bosporus, they met more and more armies onward to Jerusalem. One night they shared a camp with the Knights of Santiago. Their leader Grandmaster Ansur was a pious man, and he spent the night in the king's tent as the guest of King Charles. They stood up all night and conversed with each other. After that day, the Knights continued their journey in the company of the hungarians.

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After a long and hard journey King Charles finally arrived to the northern part of the Holy Land. He was the second hungarian king, after András II, who was participated in a crusade.

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Charles soul was burned. Finally he reached the Holy Land, so he wanted to prove himself before God as a pious warrior.

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When the Royal Army pushed forward to Jerusalem Charles met with a man named Waldwiko Naudiota and his small army. He was a minor lord in Prussia. He wanted to invite the hungarian king to his camp, but Charles refused the offer. He was too close to the walls of Jerusalem, so he didn't want to waste his time with unnecessary diplomacy.

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But the haste not always rewarding. Around Sayda King Charles was ambushed by the muslims, led by Mehrab of Sistán. The Knights of Santiago and the Count of Nürnberg teamed up with the hungarians but the infidels had the upper hand.

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At the end of the day Charles and his allies lost the battle. The defeat was so devastating, almost two-thirds of the christian soldiers remained on the battlefield.

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The Battle of Sayda was the toughest and the bloodiest battle, what Charles experienced in his life. It wasn't close to the guerilla battles during the hungarian crown wars. Maybe he lost, but at least Charles got a lifetime experience from this battle.

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After the battle Charles was in a really bad mood of course. Unluckily, because some muslim theologist decided to visit the king's camp. But Charles didn't have the patience in that situation. He listened the infidels, but later he gave order for their execution.

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A couple of days later King Charles got shocking news from Rome. While the rest of the christian armies were in the Holy Land, a daring muslim lord, Abu'l-Baqa Khalid of Kabylia hired some berber pirates and with their help he infiltrated into the Holy City, kidnapped the Pope and burned the Apostolic Palace. The whole christian world was shocked.

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After the news reached the christian armies in the Holy Land, the people turned to desperate and the offensives collapsed. The Tenth Crusade ended after one and half year with the biggest shame, what the christians could imagine.

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Despite the devastating defeat, there were some positive changing about Charles. During the campaign he spent all of his days in the company of his men. And his hungarian started to be more confident day by day. On the way home he decided, if he want to rule these brave men, he must to be one of them. So he started to wear hungarian clothes and adapted the name Károly, which was the hungarian version of Charles.

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On the way he got message from László Kán, the oligarch of Transylvania. According to the message, he was in a realy bad shape and requested a meeting with the king. So Charles, or now Károly stopped in Kolozsvár. And indeed, the old László was very ill. He only had a daughter and he feared, that his vassals will try to threat her, after he die. It was a tough choice, but he decided to swear fealty to Károly, if he promise, he'll protect his daughter and her heritage. László astonished, when the king answer to him with almost perfect hungarian.

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When Károly finally arrived to Visegrád, Hungary was whole again after almost a decade.​
 
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greater Hungary!
 
Yet another crusade ends in disaster. The sudden loss of so many able-bodied men must put King Charles and his realm in a rather precarious position.

On the other hand, it's good to see the realm grow nevertheless, and better to see an old rival finally brought around.
 
This is intriguing. Late starts always are.