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MatthewP

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Feb 8, 2017
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Hi folks! After years of lurking and occasionally commenting while reading pretty much every AAR posted here, I’ve finally decided to try writing one. We’ll be journeying beside the Árpáds of Hungary as they try to decide whose footsteps to follow in. I have some idea where the story will go but no particular goals beyond keeping things interesting and making it to the end date (or beyond – I will definitely convert to EU4 if we get that far and the world is still interesting).

I hope you enjoy it - I certainly enjoyed the light researching and writing that went into the first episode. I think I’ll stick with a more history book style rather than narrative, but I reserve the right to change my mind as I go. I also haven’t done any creative writing to speak of in a decade, so it might be a bit…interesting for a while as I figure out how to do this again! Any suggestions, comments or questions are appreciated.
 
Chapter 1: The Call of the Almighty
Chapter 1: The Call of the Almighty

When King Salamon reached his majority in January 1069, the Kingdom of Hungary was at a turning point. For nearly two centuries, the Magyars and the Árpád Dynasty had ruled over the Carpathian Basin. They had been enemies of the mighty Christian empires to their west and south, raiding, looting and burning at any opportunity. To the Holy Roman and Byzantine emperors, and indeed to all Christian Europe, the increasingly fragmented tribes were nothing but barbarians and heathens.

That had all begun to change 70 years earlier with the rise of Árpád István. István was a gifted leader, and unlike his predecessors a devout Christian as well – he would be canonized in 1083. As such, where his ancestors had been styled as mere Grand Princes, in the year 1000 he would be crowned as the first King of Hungary with the approval of both the Pope and Holy Roman Emperor. King István reigned for nearly four decades and succeeded in uniting the Magyar tribes to a degree not seen for a century as well as creating the young Kingdom’s first true administrative system. When he died in 1038, it appeared Hungary was poised to take its place as one of the greatest and most prosperous realms of the Christian world.

Arpad_Istvan.jpg


However, István’s long reign had created a problem: his children had predeceased him, and there was no clear successor. Hungary would be plunged into a period of chaos and infighting that would produce four different kings before Salamon’s ascension in 1063. Indeed, the prior king Béla had usurped Salamon’s own father in 1060 and ruled for 3 years before a German intervention and a fatal accident conspired to reinstate the 10-year-old Salamon. Even by 1069 Salamon’s rule was far from secure, depending on a precarious balance between the young king and the powerful Árpád Dukes of northern Hungary: Nyitra, Ungvár and Transylvania.

Into this maelstrom would be thrust a young man who in his teenage years had consciously molded himself in the image of Saint István. Charismatic, learned and deeply devout, it seemed Salamon might be just the leader Hungary needed to return to its path of prosperity and righteousness.

Salamon_first.jpg


It might have been expected that Salamon’s first great challenge would be the dangerous internal dynamics of Hungary at the time of his coronation, but in fact it was his faith that was tested. The 1060s were a period of upheaval and conflict between the Papacy and much of the Christian world, in particular the Holy Roman Emperor. Pope Alexander II had been crowned without the emperor’s consent in a departure from previous tradition. In addition, he had made enemies with his push for reforms, both protecting Jews from persecution and attempting to root out the practice of paying for clerical office. Finally, he strictly enforced the exclusive right of the ecclesiastical authority to invest new clergymen. This was especially unpopular among the great houses of Europe who had in many cases become accustomed to choosing their own bishops.

These reforms were met by varying degrees of resistance. In one of the most extreme cases, the King of Aragon had outright refused to accept the rulings of a Papal legate and had abruptly dismissed him from the realm. In response, Alexander declared him excommunicated. When the Spaniard’s defiant response arrived on the same day as a heartfelt missive from Hungary’s teenage ruler declaring his eternal service to God and Church, the Pope took it as a sign. He wrote back, telling Salamon of the blasphemy in Spain and the divine coincidence of his letter’s arrival. He implored the boy to do all he could to bring God’s justice to the troubled land for the sake of all its people’s souls.

Salamon_pope.jpg


For Salamon, this could be nothing but a divine calling. To do less than his upmost was unthinkable. Within a week, the call had gone out to all Hungary to rally the banners. Meanwhile Salamon traveled North for a personal appeal to his powerful uncles to join the fight. Whether convinced themselves or merely afraid of the outcome if they pitted themselves against the fervor their ruler had evoked from the peasantry and lesser nobility alike, they came. In the summer of 1069 Salamon left Hungary at the head of a mighty army for a land so far away that not a single man in that army had ever seen it.
 
That is certainly a dramatic final sentence :)

And what discoveries shall Salamon make in that far distant land?
 
Following...

Ah, the Investiture Controversy... Salamon shall side with the Pope. I assume this means that he will participate on Crusades in the future?
 
Sorry for the slow second update. Unfortunately I suspect this will be more of a pattern than an anomaly; I doubt I'll ever average much more than a post per week. I am committed to finishing it though, however long it may take!

And what discoveries shall Salamon make in that far distant land?

We shall see! Though not entirely in this chapter. Time is moving much more slowly than I expected.

Following...

Ah, the Investiture Controversy... Salamon shall side with the Pope. I assume this means that he will participate on Crusades in the future?

Glad to have you! I've been enjoying your Romano-Mongols AAR, very interesting idea. As far as the crusades, I won't give any spoilers, but it certainly seems in character.

The next chapter is coming as soon as I get the images set. Let me know what you think of this style. It's much more biography than history book at this point, and time is moving very slowly. I'm considering speeding things up and being less zoomed in, so to speak. But I've also enjoyed writing about Salamon's Spanish adventure and being able to try to be more detailed with the narrative. So I haven't made up my mind how to continue, and would be very open to/appreciative of suggestions.
 
Chapter 2: A Hard Road

When King Salamon left Hungary in the early Summer of 1069, every contemporary source agrees he believed himself to be on something of a divine mission. There is little wonder why: only 16, he had been given a holy mission by God’s direct representative on earth. He had rallied a divided country, nobles and commoners alike. He rode at the head of the greatest Magyar army in living memory. In this type of mood, it is a wonder he did not march his army straight at the northern spur of the Adriatic and expect God to roll back the seas in his path.

That certainty was not to last. Salamon had expected that all Christendom would ease his passage; instead he found hostility and impediments. In Salzburg at the border they had no love for the Magyars; generations of raiding had not been forgotten so quickly. But at least Salzburg would sell them food and supplies. As they passed farther into the Holy Roman Empire, a wave of obstructionism seemed to spread before them. This Count was expecting a poor harvest and could spare nothing; the next simply shook his head with a slight air of regret; a merchant somehow could not be made to understand their request in any of a half-dozen languages. As they travelled on through Northern Italy, the shrugs of Salamon’s commanders turned to worried looks. Rations were reduced. The men, still full of holy fervor, did not complain…yet.

As the army neared the great trading port of Genoa, the generals were nearing desperation. Only the young king’s determined refusal to rob his fellow men of God had stopped them from turning bandit long before.

In Genoa, everything changed. For the better, but also for the worst. The Genoese merchants happily took their coin and filled their wagons and packs with supplies. They also shared information. Salamon discovered that the church’s enemies were not confined to the small realm of Aragon. The Genoese merchants had heard rumors of a major falling out between the emperor and the Pope. The details were unclear, but what was sure was that the Polish mission would find no support anywhere in the lands that swore fealty to Heinrich IV.

As the army continued, so did the hostility. France and the independent Duke of Barcelona owed no allegiance to the emperor, but nor did they appreciate a large and – to their eyes – barbarous army appearing on their doorstep. The first few times, Salamon tried earnestly to explain their holy mission through an interpreter, but the suspicion clouding the eyes of the local nobles did not dissipate. The Hungarians were able to buy a little food here and there, enough to see them on their way. But rations were tight, and the men were growing restive. Salamon may not have known it himself, but looting and theft had begun as hunger gnawed and contempt grew for these so-called Christians who turned their backs on God’s army.

Inkedroute_to_aragon_LI.jpg

[The Hungarians' route from Genoa to the borders of Aragon]

Finally, local guides they had hired told them they were nearing the border of Aragon, and their leader, who had learned a bit of Hungarian, casually asked Salamon

“Which Aragon?”

For a moment, the boy was frozen with utter, terrifying confusion. The thoughts were plain on his face: There were more than one? How many? Had he led an army halfway around the known world only to find he did not know who his enemy was? But then he thought of the Pope’s letter and calmed a bit. He pulled it out and carefully unfolded it. He scanned it and turned back with a name.

“Sancho!”

He tried to pronounce the foreign name confidently, desperately hoping it would be recognized.

“Sancho!” The guide seemed amused. “Are you certain you brought enough men?”

He spoke quickly to the rest of the Spanish guides, and most of them broke out laughing. A few looked angry, shocked, even afraid.
It required some back and forth with various interpreters, but Salamon eventually learned that the Pope’s great enemy was “King” of a few small farm villages and a single old castle high in the Pyrenees. Only that remoteness had kept the headstrong young man’s crown safe from the much more powerful Emir of Aragon (or, as the Muslims named it, Zaragosa). Most of the guides had assumed the Hungarians’ holy war was directed at the Muslims occupying most of the Kingdom.

That night, several of the guides slipped out of the camp. The next day, the army began the long climb up into the mountains. They had crossed the Albera Massif near the coast and many of the men who had come with Salamon’s uncles were familiar with the mountains the bounded the northern reaches of the Carpathia basin. But this was a different type of mountain range than anything they had seen. As they marched higher day by grueling day, the air began to grow chill. The Hungarians were no strangers to cold winters, but here they had no snug homes and warm hearths. Their supplies were nearly gone, they had no friends in this strange land, and with every step they walked higher and higher into the dry, dusty mountains. Finally, Sancho’s castle loomed before them.

Castle.PNG

[Sancho's castle in modern times]
 
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There are two Aragons, and Salamon didn’t know it.

Shame about the lack of support from France and Barcelona... although it obviously isn’t needed.

Also, considering that they’re in Spain anyway, what’s stopping them from attacking Muslim Aragon after this?

Thanks for the praise on my Romano-Mongol AAR, by the way.
 
Full of naïve vision and verve, one hopes he does get too bitterly disillusioned.
 
There are two Aragons, and Salamon didn’t know it.

Shame about the lack of support from France and Barcelona... although it obviously isn’t needed.

Also, considering that they’re in Spain anyway, what’s stopping them from attacking Muslim Aragon after this?

It has not been the most well-thought-out expedition overall. Primarily what's stopping them from attacking the Muslims is game mechanics, but you will see there are other reasons.

Full of naïve vision and verve, one hopes he does get too bitterly disillusioned.

Some disillusionment is coming, but it's a form of growth in his case I think.

Always great to see another (potential) megacampaign. I wish you well on your journey!

Hopefully, this long journey and the mountain climb will all be worth it in the end, though it sounds like the Pope has sent Salamon on a bit of a fool's errand.

Great to have you on board! You're not wrong about the errand, there will be words exchanged.

Next update is coming up.
 
Chapter 3: The King and his Pontiff

The Árpád Salamon who finally returned to Hungary at the head of his exhausted, depleted army was very different from the boy who had left. Salamon had not failed in his mission. He had deposed the Spanish King, though Sancho had been well loved by his people and had seemed no monster. But between the snows of the Pyrenees, the knives of the Spanish peasants and the long, harrowing march back through a hostile empire with the Kaiser's men harrying them at every turn, nearly three quarters of the Hungarian army had died or been left behind.

Salamon came back a different man, but far from a broken one. His cool head and quick thinking during the long return journey was the only reason any of them had reached home, and his men knew it. His faith had been shaken, but not abandoned.

Instead, he traded one calling for another. A few months after the army returned, a grateful Pope Alexander arrived to personally crown the young King; a great honor. In one of the great foundational stories of the Hungarian nation, Árpád Salamon is said to have quietly but firmly insisted on a private audience with the pontiff prior to the ceremony. This meeting is memorialized in a famous painting that will be familiar to many readers:

pope2.jpg

[Árpád Salamon at a private meeting with Pope Alexander II]

No others were present at the meeting and it is not known what was said (beyond a few shouted exclamations), but Alexander sent no more armies ranging across Europe in the years to come. He continued many of his reforms, but struck a new tone of peaceful compromise that had never been in evidence before. Hungarian lore maintains that their young king, hardly a man, convinced the seasoned old priest of a better way. Though contemporary sources uniformly depict Alexander as a good, well-intentioned and generally wise man, the idea that a Pope had erred and been corrected by Hungary’s monarch was a powerfully if subtly subversive one. Like an earthquake at sea, the power of this idea was hardly felt at first. Someday its waves would reach a shore, but that time was far in the future and in a Hungary too different to be imagined.

For his part, Salamon was not thinking of any far future. He gave a speech to the nobility assembled for the coronation in which he spoke of a present vision for Hungary: one of piety, prosperity, and above all, peace. Just 18, it seemed the newfound wisdom of Hungary’s monarch would portend a long era of inward-looking prosperity and faith.

20200625213534_1.jpg

[Árpád Salamon's new focus on his domestic responsibilities]


But the world does not run on portents. Just a year later, King Salamon, first of his name, died choking on a piece of food. He was 19, and his hard-won wisdom grew cold under the earth as his brother Dávid led Hungary down a different and darker road.


20200625214117_1.jpg

[The end of Salamon's short, if eventful, reign. Long live the king!]
 
My he packed a whole lot into a short life.
 
Planning does nothing if the planner is dead.

A darker path... that’s ominous...

I imagine many counterfactuals in the parallel universe are based on a longer-lived King Salamon...