- ARCHIVE - Ducal Court of Savoy

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Ducal Court of Savoy

Duchy of Savoy

Savoyian Coat of Arms

A map of Savoy and Piedmont


History of Savoy

Established in the south of the lake Léman, the family of the counts de Savoie, in competition with the counts of Geneva and the dolphins, goes up with Xe century. Successors of Humbert Ier to the White Hands (1003 - about 1048) - in particular, until XVe century, the large sovereigns Pierre II, Amédée V the Large one, Amédée VI the count Vert, Amédée VII the count Rouge, Amédée VIII the duke-pope - increase the family inheritance . As of XIe century, they become marquis in Italy. At XIIIe century, the capital is fixed in Chambéry while the counts of Savoy, who obtain the title of imperial vicar for Italy of North, acquire the Bresse, the country of Vaud, and extend their domination on Piedmont and Were worth it. At the next century, counts, from now on princes d' Empire, control Canavais, conquer the country of Gex and the Beaujolais wine of Empire, and constitute large Savoyard Chablais. But the territorial progression, due especially to the control of the collars and the road of Italy which the sovereigns do not cease of monnayer, is slowed down by the power of France and the Empire habsbourgeois. After the signature with the king Jean II the Good of the treaties of Paris (1354 - 1355), where Savoy yields the Viennese in exchange of Faucigny and the country of Beaufort, the Savoyard expansion is directed towards Italy. The purchase of the county of Nice in 1388 gives to the States of Savoy a maritime outlet. Amédée VIII, which acquired Genevois in 1401, obtains from the emperor the erection of the county of Savoy in duchy (1416), dominates Saluces and Montferrat, and definitively incorporates (1419) Piedmont in its States which know their apogee in XVe century.



Royalty of Savoy

Amédée VIII le Paisible, Duke of Savoy

Son of Amedée VII (1360 – 1391) and Bonne de Berry (1362 - ).
He was 8 years old when his father died. His grandmother Bonne de Bourbon became his regent.
The Duke of Burgundy, Philippe le Hardi, took advantage of that to hasten his daughter’s marriage, Marie de Bourgogne, with the young Amédée. The lavish wedding is celebrated in 1393 in Chalons-sur-Saône. The young husband and wife are ten and seven years old and they will be separated for 10 years… Amédée then felt under the duke of Burgundy supervision. But Philipe le Hardi died in 1404. At that time, Amédée VIII revealed himself a ruler.
In 1416, the Holy Roman Emperor gave him the rank of prince of the HRE with the title of Duke of Savoy.
In 1419, after the death (in 1418) of his brother in law Louis of Achaie, he annexed the county of Piemont to the House of Savoy.

Marie de Bourgogne (1386 - ), duchesse de Savoie

Daughter of Philippe le Hardi (son of the King of France Jean II le Bon), sister of Jean Sans Peur and aunt of his grace Philipp, duke of Burgundy. She get married to Amédée VIII in 1393 but lives with him since 1401. Until now, she gave eight children to her husband. Five managed to survive.

Marie (1411 - ) Currently in Savoie
Amédée (1412 - ) Currently in Savoie
Louis (1413 - ) Currently in Luxembourg
Bonne (1415 - ) Currently in Savoie
Philippe (1417 - ) Currently in Savoie

 

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Diplomacy

Diplomatic status of Savoy

Friendly
Burgundy
Byzantium
England
Genoa
Ottoman Empire


Enemy
Golden Horde
Duchy of Athens

Allied

Byzantium

Savoy is a member of the Holy Roman Empire, and sends an elector to the diet.
Savoy is a vassal of Burgundy.



Ambassadors to the Savoyian Court

Count Alain de Pignon, from Burgundy
Alexious Adrianopolis, from Byzantium

Ambassadors from the Savoyian Court

Count Charles le Paisible, to Burgundy
Robert Guiscard, to the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire

 

[Fireblade]

Nation: Savoy
Head of State: Amédée VIII le Paisible, Duke of Savoy
Religion: Catholic
Culture: French, Italian
Stats: 1/1/4/4/2(1) --> [1/1/4/4/1]
Provinces: 2
Ports: 1
Owned: Savoie, Piemonte
Burgundian vassal -1 economy

Claims:
Throne of Helvetia

 

[BusterBunny]

A letter comes in bearing the seal of Burgundy.

"Your Grace,

As future Queen of Lotharingia, and duchesse of Burgundy, it is my honor to welcome you within our large Burgundian familly which includes Haute Lorraine, Basse Lorraine, Haute Bourgogne, Basse Bourgogne, and vassals like Brabant and Savoie.

As a member of the Empire, you must oay respect to your Emperor, Victor Von Blommenstein, first of the name, and myself (as a duchesse, and not a Queen).

We have had the chance to negotiate with each other before, in Aragon, regarding some French issues. Of course, at that time, I was duchesse of Auvergne.

My sister is married to you, Duke of Savoie, and I hope she is well. I know she can be... hard-headed sometimes, but at least I can see she is as beautiful as she was when you married her.

I welcome any comments you can have about the situation of Savoie. In these troubled times, it is important to be open to each other. Even as we speak, France is menacing the whole Burgundian realm for reasons which leaves to many interpretation. Of course, it will be some times before France has an army worthy of that name.

I hope to see your representative in the Diet soon. You represent both the French and the Italians, and this is a most delicate position to have.

Sincerly yours, in God,

Marie de Berri, duchesse de Bourgogne.

 

[BusterBunny]

A man, definitely Italian, enters the ducal court.

"Your Grace,

it is Her Grace Marie de Berri's hope that you will accept me, Count Alain de Pignon, as an ambassador to your Court. I bring with me two kegs of whine, 50 years old, which we hope will allow you to impress whoever guests you decide to receive in your lands."

 

[unmerged(3110)]

A letter from England arrives

The messanger is an English Knight who waits to see if there is a message for him to pass back through the war zone.

He walks with the swagger a soldier has when confident and well fed. One might say the joy of a victorious youth is apparent in his bearing.

The letter is sealed and passed to the Dukes officials alone.

 

[Fireblade]

A scene inside in Savoyian court..

An urgent letter from the Diet arrives in the court. Opening it, Duke Amédée VIII reads of the urgent calls for help from the Eastern Roman Empire, and how Constantinople itself may fall.

"Damn it.. what of my cousin living there? I wonder if she's safe?" The Duke wonders. After pondering for a moment more, Duke Amédée sends for a captain in the fleet, who is in the capital for business.

After an hour and a half, the captain enters the court.

"Captain, are there any ships in the fleet that can sail to say.. Constantinople?"

The captain thinks for a moment and says "Yes, several of our ships can reach it easily. We can, of course, stop for repairs and provisions at several of the Italian ports. Yes, we can. Why, my lord, do you ask?"

"Constantinople is in danger of falling to the infidels. Go gather 50 of our best men, and sail to the city. Then deliver this note to the Emperor." Duke Amédée gives a note to the captain. "Tell him that Savoy will offer refuge to the Emperor and his court, should they decide to evacuate. Captain, dangerous times are ahead. I fear that the clouds of war are brewing on the horizon. Either way, Savoy must do it's part. I expect you to treat the Emperor and the Patriarch with the utmost respect. Go now."

The captain bows, then goes off to do his duty.

 

[unmerged(8303)]

In Constantinople

Emperor Ioannes, hearing the words of his messenger Alexius in the Diet in Frankfurt decides to evacuate the city for Rome. He gathers his family and closest advisors. He rushes to the Savoyard captain on the shipyards of the Golden Horn.

"Captain, in the name of God, Constantinople and Savoy, I pray thee! Take me to Rome!"

 

[unmerged(9384)]

A large man in dressed in poor clothes but obviously military passed the captain a note with the Albanian seal.
It read
"Dear captian
I King Gjon I Kastrioti will send an envoy allowng with a small squad of soilders, they will be assigned as personal bodygaurds to the empoeror fear not they have protected me for years they are Albania's best warriors some say they would be better on the battlefield but I say the whole reson for war is the Constantioples protection what if the empoeror dies it would be in vain. I trust your loyal soilders they are some of the greats as stories prove true also a Albanian warship will accompany you but I fear it is of low caliber we Albanians invest little in our navy but I must go I am due for battle

- KingGjon I Kastrioti"
The leader store back though obviously lacking funds looking at his eyes he is oobviously trustworthy

 

[unmerged(10239)]

wrong thread, sorry.

 

[BusterBunny]

"Noble Amédée VIII,

your implication in this war in the east is unnaceptable. I demand that you stop your involvment at the moment. You are not only destabilizing our potential trade with Genoa, but you are also compromising the peace in our region. If you support Constantinople, you are at war with Genoa. And if you are at war with Genoa, you are going against the interests of Burgundy.

And you DON'T want to go against the interests of Burgundy.

Comte Henri d'Artois, Commander of the Armée Ducale de Bourgogne."

 

[unmerged(10239)]

A letter arrives from Athens.

Foolish leader,

You may enter into war with us, but bear in mind that on our side, we have the Ottoman Empire. Also, the Golden Horde are unfriendly with the Byzantines. It may also be of value to you to listen to the wise Burgundian.

I think it good to at least let you know that every Savoyan citizen in Athens has been imprisoned, and some await execution.

Duke Constantinidis

 

[driftwood]

With both the Sultan and Grand Vizier in Constantinople, the Sultan's cousin Suleiman is presiding over the court. He is widely known as a militaristic zealot, whose support comes from the frontier beys of Anatolia and the radical mullahs. He sneers at the bickering Franks.

"Lieutenant, are you saying your duke felt so threatened by some Greek fishing boats that you now must declare war?"

Before the Athenian could even begin to feel smug, Suleiman turned on him. "And you, are you so cowardly that your fleet must cower in port?"

The two ambassadors gaped at him for a moment, completely taken aback at his rudeness. Into the silence, Isander Bey spoke.

"The Athenian looks quite fierce, m'lord, and the Savoyard is no coward if he stands forth boldly to make such claims. I know the Sultan has expressed high opinions of both of them when talking to me."

The converted Muslim locked eyes with the radical Muslim across the room. The janisseries, however, looked only to their commander, Iskander Bey.

At last, his thin greasy goatee twitching upon his lip, Suleiman relented. "Of course. Perhaps we can clear up this misunderstanding?"

 

[unmerged(10239)]

A letter arrives from Athens:

A group of our soldiers, containing the Duke of Athens and the General Commander of the Army were ambushed by some men during a return journey from Constantinople in Blizzard conditions. We have reason to believe that at least SOME of the men were Savoyards, possibly those that we let free on Burgundy's request not long ago.

We are under this impression, because, after we defeated the band, suffering severe losses to our ranks, we discovered Savoyard crests on a few of the attackers clothing and armour.

Please note that Athens does not look at this as an attack by Savoy on our city, as it is obvious that wherever these men were from, they were acting independently.

I thought that I should also point out that, should those men have been from Savoy, they were killed in self defence, and were not known to be anyone other than bandits at the time.

On behalf of Duke Constantinidis, Stelios Amanatidis, Mayor of Athens

 

[unmerged(10239)]

Another letter from Athens

Noble lord

I am glad to hear that it was not your nation who ordered this horrible attack. I have it in good word from the Duke that he would like to repair relations between our two glorious nations. At this point the issue was handed on to me and the high council, for the Duke needed to rest.

We hope that making this move will increase our relations greatly.

The nation of Athens offers a return to peace between our two nations, however, we regret that due to commitments with our friends the Ottomans, we cannot pull out of our war with Byzantium yet.

I hope you see it in your heart to accept our agreement, I feel it will do good for both our nations.

The Mayor of Athens

 

[unmerged(9384)]

A courier arrives promptly with a response to the letter. The letter from ALbainia is decorated with the twin-eagle Albanian seal

 

[unmerged(3110)]

A letter from England adressed to the Duke of Savoy

Duke Amedee VIII

The sacking of Constantinople raises our anger and indignation. As it should with all good christians.

However, as you point out we are far from those lands and access is impossible to us. The matter of the threats to us in the west does not excape us, as it seems to with you. The federation was formed to defend it's members and spread the word of Christ and all it's members would willingly help if it were possible but alas it is not.

Threats from your Emperor and the continuing resistance of France make it impossible to consider joining any alliances outside our imediate interests.

So we respectfully decline your offer but offer our blessing in your rightious cause instead. I send a copy to your court and to Venices as you requested

Frederick De Cryer (Royal Steward and Chamberlain at Warwick)

Post Script.. Feel free to inform our Venician freinds that we regret being unable to join the alliance as much as they did when invited to join the Federation the year before last.

 

[driftwood]

A Greek refugee, relatively well-fed and clothed, comes bearing a notice from the east.

 

[unmerged(8272)]

King Daniel of Naples Approaches the Duke of Savoy

'Greeting sir I must apoligise for not informing you of my visit but it is only a quick one for I leave tomorrow.

After seeing that support was given by the leader of the federation I also give my support. I present you with righ of passage through Naples and will loan you one eco for your efforts against the heathens.

I suggest and Alliance of marrage into your family But at the moment I cannot decide which member to marry off.'

After delivering his message Daniel waits for the Dukes response.

 

[Txini]

The House of Trastamara, reigning over Aragon and the House of Sforza reigning over Naples, invites you to the wedding between Pere d'Aragon, brother of the King of Aragon and Giovanna, niece of the King of Naples, the act will be celebrated in Barcelona in two months(Thursday), we will like you to assist.