Pulad Ephraimid Part III
.... and that is all that I will say about your results. Now you are allowed to send me confused and unhappy emails about why you did poorly on this test you didn't revise for. Alright, we desperately need to finish Pulad this week, so lets begin in earnest.
We left off with King Pulad facing two seperate threats, one north along the river and one south. He splits his force and sends an estimated 4,000 men under the command of a Kuluk Osseita to try to hold the Bulgars in the north, whilst he himself rode south and sent word to call up more men to face the Russ. Although this Ossetian does fail in his task and allows the north to be overrun with Bulgars on their way to the Cuman lands, he does represent an early mention of the Ossetian family which will weisel their way into more power from this point onwards. Content that the north was dealt with as best as possible, Pulad rode hard for the south to meet with the Russian army of Prince Simeon of Cheringov.
The Russians by this point had overrun the base of the Don and, finding much more resistance than expected, had marched round to the Tmutarakan region for resupply. The sources tell us that the port which they were headed, was completely unfortified at this point- Hey! You at the front, Mr too lazy to listen! Answer me this: If an army's only route of retreat is to an unfortified port, and their enemy is pushing for battle, what can they do? ... No, they can't do that, they are not the goddamn Pisan Marine Corps. Ladies and Gentlemen, they can do bugger all but let themselves be dragged into this battle they don't want. The Alans and their King have a reputation for successful conquest, they are fully mounted in familiar terrain, and their enemy has no more defences to fall back upon than some houses and a ditch. So yes, they commit to a battle.
I have some later depictions of the battle which I'll put online after this lecture, but for now we shall make do with words.
Fog fell over the battlefield, and coupled with the reputation of their foe, the Russian soldiers began to falter. The battle is brief but bloody, with sources saying 4,000 Russians fell before the rest began to flee from the relentless charges by the Alanian cavalry. Early on in the retreat the Prince of Cheringov came under the control of Pulad himself and, convinced that his soldiers were fully routed, agreed to terms. The gains: a small fortune, the respect of the Russian Principalities, and the fortified city of Beleya Vazha (once Sarkal), which came under the control Prince Simeon only a decade ago via marriage pacts amongst the Rurikovich dynasty . Not bad if I say so myself. Quickly turning his army north, he managed to force the Bulgars back across of the river in a series of small but decisive battles and negotiated a treaty which would stop assaults on the Cumans in the short term. He returned home in triumph, with chests of gold in tow, to see his stone walls at Maghas almost completed at last - and spent some of his new found wealth building two more forts in the Alanian realm, at Samander and Adghyt.
Map of the Stone Fortifications in Alania. Beleya Vezha's walls have been there since the 9th Century, whereas the rest are in various states of construction, proving an indicator of the rising sedentary nature of the realm.
This campaign was a great victory for the realm but it also had far reaching and long term ramifications. The devastated region at the mouth of the Don spread refugee monks throughout the realm and began a long process of monastery building outside of those areas explicitly owned by the Patriarch, thus expanding his reach. The political landscape of Russia was somewhat effected in that the Principalities, who had previously had little interest or respect for the nomadic 'Kipchak' peoples to the south, found that at least someone in the region were strong enough to resist their influence. This alarmed some, but the Prince of Ryazan (a clever and creative man) found an interesting opportunity to exploit. I really wish I could talk about this now, but we shall have to leave it for another class. Finally, the Prince of Cheringov was left with a bloody nose and an angry heart. Simeon was young, and held a personal grudge against the Alans which would come back to haunt them in the future.
At home however, there is only one problem for King Pulad. His wife. In summer of 1111, after the crisis had fully subsided, he took a leisurely tour of his realm, overseeing construction, inspecting local forces, and putting down a Jewish revolt. The usual Kingly duties. When he returned in October, he found his treasury completely empty. That's right, empty. Turns out he was too distracted on his new found power and wealth to pay attention to what his scheming wife was up to. Alexandria had been at breaking point already, and the death of one of their sons (natural causes) pushed her over the edge: she pursuaded her mother in law, the sadly by now mad Irina Ephraimid to bribe key members of the court, and allow the treasure to be moved at night to her own estates. Alexandria, boyed up with her own triumph, decided to see what her husbands wrath looked like face to face... which is as horrible an idea as it sounds. He stormed into the great hall - I like to imagine she had grin which fell as soon as she saw his face - and attempted to kill her himself. After a dramatic escape she managed flee on horseback to Irina's personal estates, which seemed to make up a large portion of the North of Alania. Pulad made do with executing those bribed members of the court.
Wow we are running out of time. Okay, so Pulad is extremely angry throughout the Fall, until in the depths of Winter he receives news that the Jews are rebelling again. They seemed to believe that by killing the garrison in Winter, Pulad would wait until summer before trying to retaliate. His mood was such that he set out with a small army as soon as he heard the news, leaving behind his trusted marshall Yasynya and a man named Sangipar Ossetia to run the realm in his absence. Remember those names, they'll be important next week. So he rides to Itil, and decides to be more thorough in his reprisals this time. He settles in and orchestrates a series of executions and terror campaigns throughout the season. Whilst overseeing the start of a proper stone fort in Itil for the garrison (not paid for in gold but built by the locals on threat of execution for refusal), he received a visit from a young maiden from court. She was apparently Russian and had been received by the court during her minority, and was now seeking to return home to find a husband. All the frustration, the great victories and the copious amounts of snow cannot redeem him from his next actions: he took full advantage of her that night.
The implications we immediate and devastating. Whilst taking advantage of camp followers was not unknown, everyone present knew the pure sin of taking advantage of a maiden princess guest. His soldiers were up in arms, the religious leaders sent him furious letters and the Patriarch effectively excommunicated the Kingdom (although this was never an offical Othadox action). Things got even worse when the poor girl was found attempting to take her own life outside the local church in shame, prompting the whole town rioting once more and the soldiers deserting back to their tribes. He put a minor noble in charge of the town and fled home to Maghas. His reputation ruined, he tried to keep his kingdom intact over the next year, despite (according to the one of the last journel entries of Alexandria) courting an Armenian girl during the last few months. I am sorry we are out of time, but the long story short is he was murdered on May 8th, 1113, leaving his minority son Aspar on the throne.
I shall put the story about his death online, and shall proceed with the first of two regencies over Aspar next week. Any quick questions?
