Burg Hohenzollen

[Orjasmo]

On September 15th, 1066, Rudolf von Rheinfelden, Herzog of the venerable Duchy of Swabia, through the ancient traditions of patronage, passed down to the Empire of Germany by the Romans themselves, granted Friedrich von Hohenzollern the title of Graf, lordship over Fürstenberg as well as the castle itself and vassalage over the Bishop of Hirsau, in accordance with Imperial custom of sovereign power over investiture.

Rumors grew in the dark corners of Ulm that Friedrich had paid for the title in gold, or threats, or witchcraft, but none were true. Friedrich had risen up simply because of a need for capable men in high positions to manage Swabia while the Herzog was away, fighting the Kaiser's wars.

Friedrich's ascendancy is not the interesting part. No, the interesting part is what happened after...

Chapters
Chapter I: Four Years of War
(1066-1070)
​

NEXT UPDATE: January 23rd




PS: This is going to be the thread for the restart so it doesn't get confusing. If the mods want to kill the previous one, you're welcome to it.

 

[DKM]

subbed

 

[guillec87]

subbed!

 

[blklizard]

Where's the update ? subbed!

 

[Orjasmo]

Four Years of War (1066-1070)​

For what it was worth, Graf Friedrich von Hohenzollern was very pleased with his sudden and unexpected rise up the feudal hierarchy. He had worked hard for his barony of Burg Hohenzollern and receiving the county of Fürstenberg was a good step towards making a name for himself and his family within the Empire and, perhaps, even beyond. He still wanted more, of course what man doesn't, but he trusted in the will of God that it would come in due time.

For now, he simply had to show that Herzog Rudolph’s judgment was not poor when he placed the county in his hands. To set about doing this he established Folkhard, Bischof of Hirsau, as his Hofprediger (Court Chaplain) and temporary Kanzler (Chancellor), as there was no one else to fill the extra role in court.

After hours of discussion on how to prove himself a worth vassal with Bischof Folkhard, the two finally settled on two primary courses of action. Firstly, Friedrich would begin expanding his focus on hunting to hone his tracking, leading and fighting skills should his arm be needed for war. Secondly, he would make a public pledge that Fürstenberg would be at peace for fifteen years, showing himself a man of his word should the pledge be maintained.

In addition to assisting Friedrich in matters of state and spirituality, Bischof Folkhard also made it his personal mission to find a suitable wife for him. After a few months of searching, picking and choosing, the two finally settled on the Signora Gaita, daughter of Principe Gisulf of Salerno. Despite its troubles in recent years, the Principato of Salerno was still rich and a valuable ally to a lowly German count.

Word spread across Germany quickly of the new Gräfin's arrival. A host of sycophants filled the halls of Burg Hohenzollern. The talent a few managed to shine amongst the others, however, and Friedrich's council was quickly filled. The position of Kanzler was taken back from Bischof Folkhard, so that he could return to his spiritual duties, and given to a young man named Ernst von Haslach. He was barely competent but enthusiastic and there was no one else to replace him, so he stayed.

The position of Marschall was given to a northerner by the name of Meinhard. He was a veteran of many Nordic wars and was only too happy to get a job after losing his arm in a fight with a wolf. Rutger von Donaueschingen, a retired German burgher who was sent up with Gaita, took up as Meier (Steward) and Gaita herself was quietly given an informal position as Spionmeister (Spy Master).

The quiet peace that the Reich had been maintaining over many decades was shattered when Kaiser Heinrich IV demanded that the duchy of Flanders be returned to the Reich. The French king, a boy named Phillipe Capet obstinately refused and dragged the two mighty behemoths to war.

After only a month of fighting, the boy king was proving himself to be Heinrich's equal and the war was not going the Reich's way. The smell of blood wafted in the air and caught the nose of an opportunist named Yves. A veteran of the war, he had broken off from the French to liberate his home of Lotharingia from Kaiserlich hands.

Friedrich contemplated the new war in the not too far away north and quickly worried that it might come south for Swabia and Fürstenberg. He had recently received joyous news that Gaita was with child and the stresses of siege are not something that a pregnant woman should have to hold out under.

Thankfully, the wars never came anywhere near Burg Hohenzollern and Gaita passed through her pregnancy without trouble, giving birth to a beautiful baby girl named Hildeburg.

Heinrich's warlike nature had gotten the best of him and he proved to be no match for the rebel Yves, who had quickly outmaneuvered the Reich's sluggish armies, cutting off supply lines and wiping them out in combat. To save his campaign in France, Heinrich quickly made a peace with Yves and the kingdom of Lotharingia was independent once more.

This news rippled throughout the Reich, leaving shock and disgust in its wake. Friedrich himself was so surprised when he heard the news, whilst taking a leak during a hunt, he had a lapse of concentration and pissed all over himself.

Friedrich had grown to enjoy hunting quite considerably. So much so that he ordered a grand hunt to take place at the beginning of the autumn season. The hunt went well for the first two weeks, with plentiful game caught. Friedrich became so confident in his abilities as a hunter that one day he decided to sneak off and hunt by himself.

He quickly found himself in trouble, however, as he became surrounded by a pack of wolves. Hopping down from his horse, he sent it to return to the party and drew his sword to kill the beasts but they took him down with ease. Were it not for the rapid intervention Marschall Meinhard, he had saw the Graf sneaking off and kept him in sight, Friedrich would have been killed.

Meinhard slew the wolves and rode back to the hunting party with Friedrich on his back. They patched him up and the hunt was called off as they rode to Burg Hohenzollern for the castle's doctor.

It was a good three weeks before Friedrich was back on his feet again. He didn't know how many times he had thanked Meinhard, but to him it would never be enough. To celebrate the Graf's renewed health, Gräfin Gaita gave Friedrich a hound puppy, so that next time he decided to hunt without his retinue, at least he'd have some backup.

For good luck, the hound was named Faithful.

The years went by and Swabia sat stagnant. The duchy did not grow, nor prosper, nor thrive. It was simply allowed to waste away while its neighbors grew in power. This, to Friedrich, was unforgivable. If Swabia didn't expand in power, the he was shackled to a sinking ship. He consulted his council about what course of action to take.

After much deliberation and consultation of the tomes of genealogy, it was decided that Friedrich should find allies at court in Ulm to place the ambitious Austrian, Gebhard of Babenberg, onto the throne. If he ruled Swabia, the duchy would rival even Bavaria and Bohemia in might.

As the wars came to a close, even with Friedrich's intrigue in Ulm, life began to return to normal. Faithful grew into a full grown hound. He was fast on foot, had a keen nose and gave a nice strong chomp to those he did not like.

Hildeburg grew as well, from baby to child in no time. She grew up so fast that Friedrich barely recognized her when they dined one evening. This upset her so much that she threw up violently, much to her father's disgust.

The peace was not to last, sadly. Heinrich, after two disastrous wars, had gotten into a spat with the Pope, who questioned his right to rule the Reich. In retribution, Heinrich established an Anti-Pope and creating a schism between the Reich and Rome.

Tired Heinrich's poor ruling and fearing the fate of being ensnared in an investiture crisis, a majority of the Italian and Burgundian states rose up in revolt against the Kaiser, seeking independence from the Reich like Lotharingia before them.

With the war taking Herzog Rudolph’s attention away from home, Friedrich decided the time was right and began to make his move. He pushed one more time for allies, finding only one in Graf Berthold of Baden.

With over 2000 men behind his cause, Friedrich sent word to Rudolf, who was fighting in Italy, demanding that he step down from power and hand over Swabia to Gebhart. There was no response from Rudolf himself, only word that the duke was rushing home to mobilize his levies. There would be civil war.

Friedrich's pledge for peace was broken. He called a group of mercenaries, by the name of The Swiss Band, to his banner and began the march to Ulm, where he hoped to stop the bulk of Rudolph’s forces from crossing the Danube.

Rudolph’s forces were took quick Friedrich, however, and managed to get across the Danube before he had even left Fürstenberg. He then switched direction and made a forced march to Würtemberg to try and wipe out a unit trapped there.

The 780 of the Herzog's men were no match for Friedrich and his 3100 soldiers and mercenaries, and were crushed down to a more acceptable size and chased north, out of Swabia. Friedrich, could not waste time in Würtemberg, however, as Burg Hohenzollern was under siege by the Herzog's men.

By the time Friedrich arrived in Fürstenberg, Rudolph had already begun to pull out. He made it to Hirsau before his and Friedrich's forced clashed on the hilly slopes outside the small town. The battle was long and brutal, but in the end despite the Herzog's terrain advantage, numbers won out.

While just over 550 of Friedrich's men were killed in the battle, over double that number were lost on the Herzog's side. Even worse still for the Swabian defenders, Rudolph himself had gotten separated from his knights and killed during the battle. To top everything off, Friedrich had managed to capture Graf Friedrich of Schwaben, Graf Berthold of Schwyz and Bischof Manfred of Zweifalten.

The war was as good as Friedrich's, all he had to do now was ride to Ulm victorious and sue the Rudolph's five year old son for peace.

The next morning, Friedrich found his camp under attack from Italian separatists who had mistaken his army for the Kaiser's. As he searched desperately for his generals and knights amongst the chaos, a giant of a man stepped in front of him. He knew instantly it was the famed Tuscan swordsman, Dietmar von Montepulciano.

Dietmar slowly began to walk towards Friedrich, swinging his great sword to-and-fro. Friedrich raised his shield and sword, readying himself for defense and desperately looking for a weakness in von Montepulciano's form.

Dietmar raised his sword and clang, it came clattering down up on Friedrich's shield. Again, he raised and again, clang. Over and over, Dietmar assaulted Friedrich and over and over Friedrich held his shield firm, but slowly weakening with every blow.

Finally, after more strikes than Friedrich could count, he fell to his knees and the shield to the ground. Dietmar pulled back and, in a seamless motion, impaled Friedrich upon his sword, lifting him into the air as Friedrich sputtered and gasped.

Hildeburg and Gaita wailed over Friedrich's corpse as it was brought through the walls of Burg Hohenzollern. Friedrich's council and generals desperately tried to comfort them but it was no use. Graf Friedrich was dead. Long live Gräfin Hildeburg!

 

[Orjasmo]

Where's the update ?

Gimp is hard to use, ok! It takes longer to do things on there than on Photoshop.

 

[Korona]

What mods are you using? Subbed btw.

 

[Orjasmo]

What mods are you using? Subbed btw.

Just HIP without SWMH. I'd use more but I don't want to have to worry about my save dying after updates.

Edit:I lied, I'll be using a handful of HIP approved mods. I'll list them when they're installed so I have them on hand.

 

[blklizard]

Gimp is hard to use, ok! It takes longer to do things on there than on Photoshop.

I understand your pain . I use Paint instead of Photoshop. Making maps can be so painful.

 

[DKM]

Well that was a quick death.

 

[metalinvader665]

You sure did kill/capture a lot of noteworthy men in that battle, a shame you got yourself killed not long after.

An independent Lotharingia should be interesting, although I expect that once the Holy Roman Emperor finds himself in a better position he'll be chipping away at it.

 

[guillec87]

great update! I want moAAr!

 

[Orjasmo]

So, my laptop killed itself again. I'm now working to get the save and pictures off, then I can continue with the story on a spare. I'll keep everyone updated.