The Kings and Emperors of Italia (AAR)

[Alan104]

Hello. I'm a relatively new player to CK2, and recently became quite interested in this game's RP aspects. So I want to try out an AAR of the Kings of Italia.
I'm starting out in 867 bookmark as King Louis II of Italy, and am aiming to form the Empire of Italia.
DLCs that I'm using: TOG (Obviously) and LoR.
I might buy the Way of Life DLC in the Dynasty Starter Pack, but I'm not sure whether I can use that on an old savegame.

I'm using an ironman savegame because I find that non-ironman tends to be quite buggy for some reason.

Mods I'm playing with:
Christian Immersion
Improved Genetics
Cities of Wonders
Community Patch
Historical Events Pack
Improved Genetics 2.0
Patrum Scuta
Rich Childhood
Sketchy Traits
Your Personal Castle
--
This AAR aims to tell the tales of the Kings of Italy (and hopefully the Emperors of Italia). It's partially inspired by a WtWSMS AAR (WtWSMS: Chronicles of The Emperors' That Never Were) that I saw on the forums (Sorry, I can't post links yet). I would do it like a encyclopedia-esque and chronicle-eque AAR.
I hope for this to be mildly interactive, with me asking some input from you guys here and now, but I haven't got the permission from the mods yet. (I messaged a mod yesterday, but he hasn't responded yet).
So, let's start.

 

[Alan104]

King Louis II 'The Magnanimous'
"From One to Four to One"
835 - 891 (r. 855 - 891)

(Fig. 1: Portrait Taken in 885 at age 49)​

Louis II ascended to the throne in 855 after his father's death.
In 867, he was fighting a reconquest wars against the Muslims for Bari. He succeeded in doing so in the next year, gaining the Duchy of Apulia.

(Fig. 0: Italy in 867)
Whilst preparing for his next conquest of Sicily from the Muslim infidels, he received a surprise inheritance from his brother, King Lothaire of Lotharingia, who died heirless from disease. While many had suspected Louis, the beneficiary from his brother's death, of murdering his brother for his inheritance, Louis was occupied on the conquest of Bari, and thus had no time plotting an assassination. However, many still suspected his involvement, and defensive pacts of the three religion groups (Christian, Muslim and Pagans) of the area formed against him.
This forced Louis to take his focus away from external conquest towards internal realm matters. This proved beneficial for his rule, as employing a myriad of tactics, including bribery, granting land to vassals, and the use of several skilled spymasters, made his vassals content, if not happy. An interesting tactic that he used was to send his discontent Prince-Bishops, as Court Chaplains, to spread Christianity to the northern lands.

In the 870s, however, his rule was challenged. His nephew, Hugues Carolingian, the bastard son of King Lothaire, formed an army to claim the Kingdom of Burgundy, which Louis inherited from Lothaire. However, due to superior numbers and some luck, Louis was able to defeat Hugues in a string of battles in Dauphiné and Franche-Comté, placing his nephew under house arrest.
However, he was unwilling to execute his nephew, and after a stint of 9 years in captivity, Hugues was released with no ransom. For this , Louis received the nickname 'The Magnanimous'.

Until this point, King Louis had always failed to sire a son, which was required for succession as the 3 Kingdoms (Italy, Burgundy and Lotharingia) all practiced Agnatic Gavelkind succession. Perhaps it was because that his court did not have much women. Perhaps it was that his wife, Engelberga, was appointed as the Mayor of Bari, leading to them often separating. As such, his successor was his cousin, King Karlmann of East Francia and Bavaria. While Louis initially welcomed such consolidation of the Carolingian realms, he quickly realized that Karlmann reign would, in effect, tear up his realm, as Karlmann had 4 sons. He therefore made the decision to switch all 3 kingdoms to elective succession, angering dynasty member but pleasing his vassals. He originally still wanted to appoint Karlmann as his heir. However, he proved unpopular with his vassals, especially after he became infirm several year later.

In the early 880s however, conflict began between the Kingdom and the Papacy. Although the previous pope Eugenius III had been appreciative of Louis' monetary donations to the church, the Kingdom faced financial troubles in the latter half of the 870s, due to a combination of forming duchies to give to discontent vassals and financial contributions to the neighboring of Kingdom Bavaria to fight an invasion by West Francia. With the election of Ioannes VIII in 874, Papal relations with the Kingdom took a downturn, culminating in the excommunication of Louis in 881 over church taxation and the control over the Duchy of Spoleto.

King Louis, a gregarious monarch, did not wish to see his excommunication resulting in damaged relations with his vassals. He therefore issued a Declaration of Repentance, and agreed to go on a humiliating pilgrimage. During this time, he also sponsored a monastery, ordered by a supposed holy maid, to avoid further damaging papal relations. Due to these actions he was readmitted to the church again that very same year.

However, Louis was extremely angry about the humiliation he had suffered during and after his pilgrimage to Rome. The humiliation gave him a depression that would stay with him for the rest of his life. One night, after having an extremely bad dream concerning his pilgrimage, an enraged Louis ordered for the usurption of the Papal States, taking on the title of the King of Romagna, making Louis the King of Four Kingdoms. This further strained Papal relations. Still angry, Louis conjured up a retinue of a thousand men and stationed them in Orvieto. Then, seeing that the defensive pact against him had disbanded, declared war on the Papacy for the County of Rome. Despite hiring mercenaries, the Papacy lost, and Louis entered Rome on the fifth of July, 885, declaring the city the captial of Italy. Even though Louis was excommunicated for a second time and the Pope declared a failed second war to take back Rome, Louis had done his revenge to the Papacy, and prepared his conquests of Capua and Napoli by pressing his vassal's claim.

However, during this time, Louis was getting increasingly worried about his sucession. His vassals had disagreed with him as to his sucessor, and it seemed to him that his realm would be broken up upon his death without decisive action. Therefore, several days after his conquest of Rome, he decided to destroy all of his Kingdom titles but Italy. This made his vassals extremely angry, but Louis was able to hold them off until his death. This made picking a dynastic successor challenging, but Louis was finally able to convince his vassals to support Herbert, the Chancellor in the County of Vermandois, and his second cousin once removed. (Refer to Fig. 2 for a family tree).

(Fig. 2: Family Tree of Louis II. Persons of Interests are Highlighted in Yellow)

However, Louis finally sired off a bastard son, Lothaire, with a courtier in 888, and he immediately legitimized him. However, it was too late to change his succession law, and his vassals were not willing to accept a legitimized bastard baby to be their successor. As such, Herbert remained the successor.

Louis prepared his invasion of Capua and Napoli in the late 880s, hoping to incorporate them into his realm. He was successful with Capua in 887, and after a hiatus from conquest, invaded Napoli in 890. However, this invasion proved especially troubling for Louis, as the similar landscape constantly reminded him of the humiliation he received during his pilgrimage. He died of his depression whilst besieging the City of Portici on the seventeenth of July, 891, leaving Herbert to take the throne as Herbert III. He remained excommunicated from the church due to his conquest of Rome.

(Fig. 3: Italy at Louis' Death)​

 

[Alan104]

King Herbert III
"Inspiring, But at What Cost?"
850 - 902 (r. 891 - 902)

(Fig. 1: Posthumous Portrait)

When Herbert III took control of Italy, he was taking control of a country amidst a war for Napoli and a factional crisis. While he was able to take care of the war with great competence, he, being trusting, had a harder time dealing with his dangerous vassals. However, it was over a succession dispute that inextricably helped him. As Italy still practiced an elective monarchy, he could not guarantee a throne for his son, Gauthier. Two electors supported the Duke of Milan, Ambrosio's bid for King (including the Duke himself), vexing Herbert in the process. Herbert was further annoyed when his spymaster brought him news that Ambrosio had been plotting to gain a claim on his kingdom. Infuriated, Herbert immediately ordered the arrest of Ambrosio, leading him to rebel against him. Ultimately, Herbert, with his superior numbers, won easily, and the duchy was revoked and given to a loyalist, Duke Jourdain de Morteau, who promptly supported Gauthier as Herbert's successor.

In the south, the Shia Caliphate now had control over Sicily and parts of the Peninsula. Herbert, wanting to bring the Italian people together, declared a Holy War for Sicily in 898. Although he faced military defeat at the beginning, he was able to occupy all Muslim holdings in Sicily, and had began to besiege Reggio when he received intelligence of an enemy force in the North. Hoping to gain a combat momentum, Herbert ordered his troops to march North, catching up the Shias at Taranto. It was in this battle that Herbert gained his notoriety for inspiration.

However, Herbert overestimated the enemy force, as nearby reinforcements trickled in, his forces were overwhelmed, resulting in defeat. Herbert was killed by African mercenaries. Having secured his son's sucession a few years prior, Gautheir, at age 12, became the new king.

(Fig. 2: Italy at Herbert's Death)
Meanwhile, the Hungarians to the east has consolidated their troops and conquered both Bavaria and East Francia. Although the king has converted to Christianity, his successor still practices Tengri. Will there be clashes betwen Italy and Hungary? Only time will tell.​

 

[Nikolai]

I love this. Great start on your AAR.

 

[Alan104]

@Nikolai
Thanks! I appreciate it!

 

[Alan104]

King Gauthier
"Quick, Perhaps too Quick"
889 - 906 (r. 902 - 906)

(Fig. 1: Posthumous Portrait)

When Gauthier inherited the throne at just 12, Italy was in a more precarious position than it had been under Herbert III. It had a factional crisis, and it had just suffered a great defeat from the Muslim forces at the Battle of Taranto. His regent, Prince Archbishop Wilibert the Handsome, being a patient man, decided to sign a white peace with the Muslim infidels, and urged Gauthier to take revenge when he himself is more capable.

However, after a few years, a group of nobles finally formed their faction to demand independence. Although the King and his Regent originally resisted the ultimatum at first, such resistance was futile, as Italy was both financially and demographically devastated by the failed Holy War for Sicily. This ultimatum resulted in several duchies in Burgundy and Lotharingia becoming independent. Although some duchies still remained loyal to the king and none of the independent duchies were in Italy proper, King Gauthier vowed to strike back and reconquer his former vassals.

(Fig. 2: Italy and Its Holdings After the Independence of the Northern Duchies)

However, in 904, the Muslims in the south lauched for a Holy War for Apuila and Bari, claiming it to be a 'reconquest' of such lands. An army was immediately gathered, and many nations, including his former vassals, offered to help. Seeing this as the only way to victory, Regent Wilibert accepted.

The next year, Gauthier finally turned old enough to rule by himself. He proved himself to be a quick-witted monarch. However, he soon learned of a Viking expedition to conquer Lotharingia. Before marching away, however, he ensured that his successor would be of his dynasty, as he knew that the Vikings were extremely fierce in their fighting. This successor turned out to be Lothaire, King Louis II's legitimized bastard son.

However, diseases of the Northern Lands proved much harsher than the Vikings. Although Gauthier had some military successes against the Vikings, he succumbed to his diseases while marching his army North, dying in February 906.​

 

[Nikolai]

That is an unfortunate turn of events.

 

[Alan104]

King Lothaire II
"Incompetent, Yet Lucky"
888 - 943 (r. 906 - 943)

(Fig.1: Portrait Taken in 943, Weeks Before His Death)

The Italian Kingdom was failing at King Lothaire's coronation. In the south, the Muslims had declared a jihad for Apuila and Bari, and the Vikings of the North had invaded Lothairingia, assisted by the power vacuum created by the independence of the Northern Duchies: Provence, Franche-Comté, Brabant, Alsace, Trier, West Frisia, and Chamavia. Lothaire, who refrained from military command as he was both physically unfit (being a weak and delicate man) and craven, was able to defeat the Vikings due to the use of competent generals. However, his troops was overextended despite the help of adjacent allies and former vassals, and he was forced to relinquish Italian holdings in Apulia and Bari to the Muslims.

Lothaire, after a few years of hiatus from warfare, set off to reconquer the former vassals of Italy. While he did most of the duchies, leaving only Trier and Chamavia independent at the time of his death, the other kings of the region, namely West Francia, Aquitaine, and Hungary took advantage of the power vacuum and partitioned the region through both conquest and political marriages. In the end, Lothaire was able to achieve his goals of territorial contiguity, though only through a small strip of land in Lorraine. In addition, as a result of his conquests, a large defensive pact containing the still independent dukes of the region formed against, and Lothaire, like his father, was forced to focus on the internal affairs of the realm.

Barred from conquest, Lothaire then turned attention to his succession. He had failed to sire off a male heir, despite living an extremely hedonistic lifestyle for many years. As such, he began to suspect that it was the fault of his wife, Queen Yolande de Semur, and a rift began to form between them. This rift deepened as Yolande contracted the great pox and became a lunatic, decimating any chance of siring a healthy male heir. As such, Lothaire, being too craven to blatantly execute his wife, began plotting with courtiers and vassals to see her dead. Although the plot succeeded, his compliticity in Yolande's death was discovered, which, alongside his identity of being an legitimized bastard, led to a deterioration of relations with his vassals and courtiers, contributing negatively to his mental health in his middle ages.

With Yolande's death, he immediately married a debutante, Ide de Conte 'The Loyal', from which he sired seven children, six of them male, though the firstborn, Boson Carolingian died a sickly infant.

With an male heir, Lothaire immediately took to getting his oldest son, Louis, elected as his successor. To furnish Louis a good education, he appointed the Occitan Duke of Dauphiné as Louis' ward. This backfired, however, as Louis, due to his ward, spoke Occitan instead of French, which the Carolingians had spoken for centuries. This angered many of Lothaire's vassals, who were discontent that his heir spoke a foreign language. This motivated his electors to select another man as his successor, Norbert, the Duke of Friuli. When Lothaire learned of a plot against his life backed by Norbert, he immediately ordered his arrest, sparking a rebellion (which Duke Alessandro of Milan joined) that lasted for eight years. Although the war was extremely brutal for both sides, compounded by Venetian ambitions in the Adriatic, Lothaire ultimately won, imprisoning Norbert's son Alarich, as Norbert had died from his battle wounds a few years prior in 930.

However, tensions within the realm still remained high, as Louis still failed to convince his vassals to elect his son as his successor. It was at this time that Lothaire began to show his lunatical tendencies, often making peculiar and arbitrary decisions at his whims and going into fits of wroth and barbarity. It was at this time that he, receiving evidence on the Duke of Milan backing a trivial plot, that Lothaire order for Alessandro's arrest and revocation of his ducal titles. He subsequently granted Louis the title, installing Louis as an elector and thereby guaranteeing his succession. However, perhaps due to the convolutions of his lunatical mind, the former duke was released, thereby allowing him to usurp Louis' new title. Furious, Lothaire ordered for the revokation of Alessandro's title, and after overcoming his futile resistance, was able to imprison him.

Seeing the vast amounts of trouble his vassals have caused him, Lothaire seeked to weaken them by elevating their own vassals. Seeing that Count Chiano under Duke Thomas had a claim on the Duchy of Benevento, a tributary state of Italy, Lothaire released the tributary state and immediately press Chiano's claim. In preparation of this campaign, Lothaire entered another of his lunatical fits, in which he accidentally triped on the stairs and fell to his death at the age of 55 in 943. His son Louis ascended to the throne as Louis III (known in Occitan as Loïs III).

Lothaire, while owning a legacy of being a great monarch, especially surrounding his reconquest and his (somewhat) successful subjugation of his vassal's ambition, was actually grossly incompetent and craven. However, through the employment of skilled counselors and generals, he was able to manage Italy effectively and recover some of its former glory.

(Fig. 2: Italy in 943. [Note: Benevento was not conquered until shortly after Lothaire's death])​

 

[Alan104]

Shit, something weird happened to the forums. My bad.

 

[JSB217118]

Well, this is one epic clusterfuck of a campaign. You seem to have the basics of AAR down.

 

[Nikolai]

Perhaps it’s time to implement primo soon.

 

[guillec87]

subbed!

 

[Alan104]

@Nikolai I agree. Although succession now is actually quite stable, as I can grant my heir the Duchy of Milan, who would vote for himself as heir. I do plan to switch to primogeniture sometime in the future, but I currently have crown authority at low, and Primo needs high.
@guillec87 Thanks!
@JSB217118 I agree, the aar has been quite eventful. Perhaps it's the way that I play this game.

 

[Alan104]

King Louis III
"The Occitan King"
923 - 956 (r. 943 - 956)

(Fig. 1: Posthumous Portrait)

When Louis III took the throne in 943 at only the age of 21, Italy was beginning its resurgence towards its former power. With Louis III, this continued. Under Louis III's leadership, the war for Beneveto was quickly won through the employment of competent generals. Then, seeking to further Italy's reach into its former vassals, declared war on the Duke of Trier for Duchess' Héloise's claim on Metz. Not only did conquest expand the realm, it also pleased Héloise, ensuring her loyalty for decades to come.

However, other than this case, Louis was less able to neutralize his vassal's ambitions against him. As he was educated by the Occitan Duke of Dauphiné, he primarily spoke Occitan, constantly referring the language as his "lingua operandi". Often times, he would refused to speak French or Italian, relying on his Occitan courtiers to translate into the pertinent language. This alienated many of his vassals, who were mostly either Italians or French. As a result, factionalism ran rampant within the Kingdom, and Louis spent much of his time and effort after the Metz campaign on curtailing them through bribery and coercion. Although they never were powerful enough to successfully challenge the King's authority, they were often on the brink of becoming so. Hoping to mitigate concerns over the royal family's foreignness, Louis III, who had only sired a daughter due to his queen being 20 years his senior, nominated his Italian brother, Raimbaut, as his heir. In addition, he granted Raimbaut the Duchy of Milan, beginning a tradition of using the Duchy as a way for the designated heir to hone and sharpen their skills at governance before their ascendance to the throne.

The presence of this constant threat eventually made Louis weary of his power, in turn causing him to feel a sense of unreality from holding his Kingly power. His unreality and disillusion with power eventually made him depressed and gloomy. To distract him from such depression, Louis turned to a life of gluttony, increasing his body weight and eventually deteriorating his health.

However, Louis remained in depression after months of extreme gluttony. Hoping to lighten him by distracting him with warfare, his advisers began to encourage Louis to declare a second Holy War for Sicily, in order to avenge Herbert III's death at the Battle of Taranto. Louis, being incompetent at warfare and having relied on his competent generals for military success before, decided to prepare for the conquest by vigorously studying and mastering the art of war. After a few months, he gathered his troops and began to march south for Sicily, leading the army personally

Louis, with the help of English mercenaries, was undefeated in the war. Battle after battle, siege after siege, Louis' army was able to defeated the Shiite muslim armies. The Caliph, Uways, hearing this, diverted troops away from a civil war and personally lead an army, which, once landing in Rome, immediately besieged the capital city. Louis, fearing for the safety of his people and family, hurried his troops North from Sicily to defeat the enemy once in for all. At the Battle of Rome in 953, the Caliph himself was captured. Legends say that it was Louis himself who subdued and subjugated Uways by killing his horse and grabbing his torso. Originally, Louis, being arbitrary, wanted to determine Uways' fate with a roll of a die. His advisers, however, talked him out of it, and convinced him to free the Caliph in exchange for enforcing his demands on Sicily.

With Sicily under his control (except for Syracuse under the Byzantines), Louis started to hand to titles to men with claims on nearby territories, with the intent to press them in order to expand his realm. However, many other nations were concerned with the balance of power in the region. The Doge of Amalfi, concerned with Italian territorial gains, formed a defensive pact with the remaining former vassals of Italy ("The Northern Duchies"). The placed a leash on Louis' aggression, who had planned to resubjugate these former vassals.

Louis then turned attention to the Balearic Islands, specifically the County of Mallorca. After granting the brother of the current Count a city in Sicily, Louis pressed his claims in 956, and won after overcoming futile resistance. Although he would later justify this conquest as "strategic" and "necessary for the realm", rumors persist that Louis simply threw a dart at a map of the region to decide the next county to conquer for glory and distractions from his well-known depression, coinciding with his arbitrarity.

At the same time, Louis news intelligence that Nordic raiders had arrived to pillage Genoa. After raising up soldiers and preparing for himself to leave Mallorca for Italy, Louis unexpectedly died at the age 33. Although many suspected for Raimbaut's complicity, we now know that Louis suffered from a heart attack due to overeating. Raimbaut, Louis' heir and brother one year his junior, took the throne.

(Fig. 2: Italy at the Death of Louis III)

Louis III's legacy is mixed. While he did continue the resurgence of Italian power that began under his father, Lothaire II, and even bringing it to new heights by successfully conquering Sicily and capturing the Shia Caliph, his rejection of French and Italian culture, as well as his mishandling of vassal relations and his arbitrary alienated, if not angered many of his vassals, courtiers, and subjects alike. Although he was extremely lucky to hold off vassal factions until his death, he left to his brother a nation in a complicated situation.​

 

[Nikolai]

Hopefully his brother is not Occitan...

 

[King Of Ice]

subbed!

 

[guillec87]

those merchants of Amalfi... such wealth...

 

[Alan104]

King Raimbaut I "The Sword of God"
"Furious but Powerless"
924 - 987 (r. 956 - 987)

(Fig. 1: Portrait Taken in 980 at age 55)
When Raimbaut took the throne, Italy was riddle with factionalism and internal strife. Raimbaut, being Italian, was able to please his vassals and convince them to be loyal to him. With his realm united, Raimbaut set off to further reconquer Italy's former lands. Within a few years, he had conquer Hamaland from Chamavia, Vienne from Aquitaine, and Sundgau from Magyar, taking advantage from weakening of these realms due to external or internal warfare.

When the Pope called for a crusade for Egypt, Raimbaut, seeking to protect the realm from the southern infidel threat, immediately joined in. After an unsuccessful campaign in Egypt for the initial three years, his army was completely overran in the Battle of Siwah, and Raimbaut headed back to Italy to prepare for a second phase. However, when he arrived back at Rome, what was waiting for him was a ultimatum from his vassals demanding for the restoration of their rights, most importantly the right to be autonomous and protections from title revocations. Having both his financial resources and manpower exhausted by the disastrous campaign in Egypt, Raimbaut agreed to their demands. However, because of this, Raimbaut chose to remain in Rome instead of sending out another expedition for the Crusade, citing irreconcilable differences in military strategy with the Papacy and other prominent participants in the Crusade, most notably Venice. Amazingly, Raimbaut was not excommunicated by the Pope for his rhetoric. Some say it was because they both shared Italian culture.

However, after a hiatus of a few years, Raimbaut gathered his men again and set sail for Egypt. Some say that it was due to a threat from the Papacy, others theorized that he was unwilling for Venice to become the primary contributor to the Crusade. Regardless, with Raimbaut's fresh troops and competent leadership, the tides were finally turned towards the Crusaders, and the Kingdom of Egypt was granted to Raimbaut brother, Lodovico, in 972. Egypt was overwhelmed with jihad a mere five years later.

Returning to Italy, Raimbaut sought to further grow Italy. Having his eyes set on Sardinia, Louis made a disgruntled brother of its King and Duke his vassal, and promptly pressed his claim, succeeding after a difficult war against Sardinia's Aquitaine and Epirius allies.

His succession, however, was much more turbulent. Being a lustful man, Raimbaut had ten children, of no more than five were born into wedlock. When he ascended to the throne, he granted the Duchy of Milan to his only son at the time, the legitimized Tedaldo. However, after ten years, the ambitious Obizzo, the Count of Como, successfully usurped the Duchy and imprisoned him in his dungeon. Unable to anything due to the ultimatum, Raimbaut was forced to just pray for his son's safety. God apparently was deaf, as Tedaldo died malnourished in the dungeons of Obizzo. Furious but powerless, Raimbaut urged his children for revenge.

Raimbaut then granted the County of Milan, which he had inherited from the heirless Tedaldo, to his second son, Raimbaut. Intitially, his son was popular among his vassals. However, many gradually chose other candidates. Raimbaut, wanting to keep the realm in Carolingian hands, offered Obizzo the control over Milan and Brescia in exchange for his support of his son. However, Obizzo broke the promise and immediately revoked Raimbaut of Milan.

Raimbaut's reign also saw more vassals becoming eligible electors, complicating the electoral process. Wanting more support, Raimbaut granted duchies to local counts, but these nobles, whilst initially supportive of his son, were eventually alienated from him due to the regression of the son's mental state and possession by the devil.

Although his vassals offered to vouch for Lothaire, the king's French nephew, Raimbaut, wanting his successor Italian, refused, and gained support for his son purely from bribery and diplomatic intervention. By 986, the heir apparent was switching from his son to one of his vassals constantly every few months, making some to call this succession volans inhereditandi, or "flying succession" in Latin. Many in the realm wondered who would be the next king.

It was finally a peasant's revolt in Nice that sealed the deal. Raimbaut, who immediately gathered his men to march north, had been stressed for months over the succession crisis. The revolt put just enough stress on Raimbaut's old body to, as modern physician had found out, a fatal heart attack in the fifteenth of April, 987, as he was hurrying his troops north to face the revolt.

(Fig. 2: Italy in 987, Shortly after King Raimbaut's Death)

After some debates and infighting, Duke Alessandro of Milan of the House di Bergamo, the son of the late Duke Obizzo, was elected king. Raimbaut the younger, although intitially retaining the his father's Duchy of Sicily, relinquished the title a few months in his rule when he faced an ultimatum during one of his possessed fits.
The Carolingian Hegemony had been broken.

However, this would not be the last time we hear of the Italian Carolingian, as an ambitious Napoleone awaits for his chance to become the Emperor of Italia...​

 

[Alan104]

Note: I plan to break my ironman to play as Alessandro, so stay tuned!

 

[Nikolai]

Note: I plan to break my ironman to play as Alessandro, so stay tuned!

Nice