Chronicles of Poland

[Nikolai]

Emperor Janislaw

(1189-1196)

Emperor Janislaw’s short reign would see him murder close family to secure his power, only to be murdered himself when he finally had it all.



Family

Emperor Janislaw was married to a Polish noblewoman, Zwinislawa, who bore him five children. One of them would inherit the throne:

Bozena

Piskla

Zwinislawa

Janislaw

Katarzyna

His reign

With the title of Emperor secure, Janislaw proclaimed the creation of a new cadet dynasty, his dynasty. It would be named Szeliga and would reign forever and ever. Or so he claimed.

The claim was quickly set to the test when his brother, the once Emperor, Wit – who now was by far the strongest vassal in the realm, rivalling the Emperor and his loyal vassals by himself – began amassing support for a return to the throne.

Janislaw now did the unthinkable and began plotting to kill his own brother, by any means necessary. Meanwhile, his own powerbase crumbled as Wit gained support by more and more of the vassals of the realm. In 1190, Wit demanded the throne and when Janislaw refused, he marched against his brother.

Janislaw had now almost the entire realm against himself and was outnumbered enormously. But he had one final ace in his sleeve: a poisonous spider who conveniently was placed in the bed of would-be Emperor Wit. With his brother dead, the opposition crumbed, and an uneasy peace returned to the Empire.

Uneasy not the least because while the war petered out, the vassals who supported Wit soon began to coalesce behind his heir, the underage king Czcibór. As long as Poland was under control of someone not the Emperor, the Wendish Empire was doomed to be unstable. Janislaw thus began plotting to kill his nephew too, but he also demanded the boy to relinquish his titles peacefully.

This demand was refused, and yet again the Empire was embroiled in civil war. Emperor Janislaw was yet again outnumbered, and he was doomed to lose the war if he could not present another ace from his sleeve.

He did. First, he retreated, avoiding the battles he knew he was doomed to lose. Then, he was intercepted by his enemies, and lost most of his army. But he slipped away, biding his time as well as he could. Soon, news came that his nephew had vanished from camp and found dead in the woods. His assassins were never found.

The civil war was over yet again, but the problem remained. Poland was now in the hands of king Jakusz, the younger brother of the deceased boy king. Again, Emperor Janislaw demanded the kingdom and the core royal domain, rich as it was, for himself. And this time, the boy king and his supporters caved in. Poland and her richest parts were under Janislaw’s control.

With the Empire stabilized and money flowing in, Janislaw received news that the Pope had announced a new crusade, this time for Syria. Not willing to leave the Empire he had just consolidated himself, nor send off valuable troops to faraway lands, the Emperor pledged his monetary support, emptying the royal coffers, but soon filling them again with the riches of Poland.

Which was wise enough, as the king of Denmark, believing the Empire to be weakened after the constant civil wars, declared war for the county of Baria. The Danish king was not totally wrong, as his available troops were higher in number than the depleted forces of Janislaw, but the latter refused to meet the king in battle, sending his army to the well defended capital of Copenhagen while the Danish king roamed his less defended lands to the south-east.

Copenhagen was indeed very well defended, and before it was finally taken by Janslaw’s forces, much land had been taken by the Danes. The war was even, but slowly, Janislaw was losing. Then, what Janislaw had hoped for, happened. The claimant the Danes pushes for as count of Baria was old. And he died. With that, there was no valid claim to press, and the war ended with no land changing hands.

Emperor Janislaw would not have much time to celebrate, though, as he was found in his bed a few weeks after the war was over with a dagger in his heart. The assassins were never found. His seven-year-old son was crowned as Emperor Janislaw II. The Empire was now ruled by a minor and his regency council.

Aftermath

Emperor Janislaw was a kinslayer, twice over. He was widely despised by his contemporaries, as well as modern day Poles. Who likes a kinslayer after all? But he has one thing for him; his legacy is the stabilization of the realm. When he died, while his son was a minor, the throne was much more secure than when he had taken power.

That is not to say all was well, only better. The regency council and the boy king had much to do if the royal dynasty of Szeliga was to remain on top. They needed allies, fast.

 

[Specialist290]

Harsh times sometimes call for harsh solutions. Emperor Janislaw is perhaps not a man I would want to have tea and biscuits with, but he had the resolve to play the long game and do what had to be done.

That said, it is perhaps fitting that a man who ruled through knives in the dark perished by that same means himself. What goes around, comes around, as they say.

 

[Nikolai]

Harsh times sometimes call for harsh solutions. Emperor Janislaw is perhaps not a man I would want to have tea and biscuits with, but he had the resolve to play the long game and do what had to be done.

That said, it is perhaps fitting that a man who ruled through knives in the dark perished by that same means himself. What goes around, comes around, as they say.

It is so sad he was cut short just as he had reached the top and stabilized the realm. Question now is, is the Time of Troubles over?

 

[Midnite Duke]

Two short reigns and a regency! This is the not the @Nikolai that I am used to. I expect Janislaw II to rule 70 years and pass it to a grandson. This may be my favorite @Nikolai AAR is it more ebb and flow and less straight line dominance.

 

[Cora Giantkiller]

A short brutal reign followed by a long regency: hard to see how the troubles end.

 

[Revan86]

It's all fun and cloak-and-dagger games until somebody gets stabbed. Or poisoned. Or trampled to death by a mob.

A short-but-exciting reign for Janisław I. Hope that Janisław II ends up ruling longer, but it's still going to be an exhilarating faction-filled ride for the first few years at least.

 

[Nikolai]

Two short reigns and a regency! This is the not the @Nikolai that I am used to. I expect Janislaw II to rule 70 years and pass it to a grandson. This may be my favorite @Nikolai AAR is it more ebb and flow and less straight line dominance.

Cut short by non natural means, though. Just wait until someone is NOT killed by someone. Glad you enjoy it!

A short brutal reign followed by a long regency: hard to see how the troubles end.

It's all fun and cloak-and-dagger games until somebody gets stabbed. Or poisoned. Or trampled to death by a mob.

A short-but-exciting reign for Janisław I. Hope that Janisław II ends up ruling longer, but it's still going to be an exhilarating faction-filled ride for the first few years at least.

Indeed. I did have a plan to avoid the worst of it. Did it succeed? The next chapter (not coming today) will show.

 

[filcat]

Emperor Janislaw the usurper, the ruler to be cursed forever, let his pain be in eternity ever greater, let his fame be known as disaster, let his legacy be spoken as kin slayer; now left his ugly spawn with the same name as successor, and we will NEVER obey him, NEVER!

- Team Jakusz (-100 opinion (capped))

Err... anyways, what happened to Jakusz, then? Wandering in ethiopia?

 

[Nikolai]

Emperor Janislaw the usurper, the ruler to be cursed forever, let his pain be in eternity ever greater, let his fame be known as disaster, let his legacy be spoken as kin slayer; now left his ugly spawn with the same name as successor, and we will NEVER obey him, NEVER!

- Team Jakusz (-100 opinion (capped))

Err... anyways, what happened to Jakusz, then? Wandering in ethiopia?

Jakusz is still a count, living along the Baltic coast. He still has a claim...

 

[Silverio90]

Emperor Janislaw the usurper, the ruler to be cursed forever, let his pain be in eternity ever greater, let his fame be known as disaster, let his legacy be spoken as kin slayer

A bit too much XD

 

[Nikolai]

A bit too much XD

Haha, just wait for Janislaw II.

 

[Nikolai]

Emperor Janislaw II

(1196-1227)

The reign of Emperor Janislaw II was marred by civil war and his and his regency’s cruelty.



Family

Emperor Janislaw II was married to a French princess, Valence. Together they got four children, of which two would inherit:

Siemowit

Kenna

Miroslaw

Jolanta



His reign

The underage Janislaw II started his reign in a precarious situation. His regency council quickly moved to marry off relatives of his to the Byzantine and English royal family, to secure valuable alliances in case of war – a war all saw as inevitable. Janislaw himself was bethrothed to a relative of the French king himself, thus securing another alliance.

Aside from these alliances, the regency also managed to secure an alliance with the neighboring realm of Ruthenia. The throne seemed more secure than it did merely months before when he inherited.

But the threat of Wit’s kin was not over. With the old Emperor dead and the son of Wit, prince Jakusz, an adult, support for the latter grew. It was soon apparent that Jakusz might get so much support that he could win the throne by force if he wanted. And it seemed like he did.

Quickly, the regency council devised a plan. How much part of it the now ten-year-old Janislaw had, is uncertain, but due to later events, one suspect he was in on it to some degree, even at this young age. Prince Jakusz was tricked into meeting with what he thought was a supporter of his, where he was promptly taken into custody, imprisoned and then executed. No longer a threat to the throne, his death would still mar the legacy of Janislaw II, whose young person was by many personally held accountable, his age notwithstanding.

But the problems were not over. Prince Siemomysl, prince Jakusz’ youngest brother and last survivor of Wit’s children, took up the mantle and gained support for his bid for the throne day by day. As the support of this pretender growing by the day, the regency council and the now almost adult Janislaw – he was beyond all doubt in on it this time – tried to repeat its success from a few years back.

But Siemomysl did not fall for the same trick as his older brother, escaped his would-be captors and raised his flag in rebellion. A rebellion so big, that only the support of England, Byzantium and Ruthenia together would hold Janislaw II on the throne. And then only barely, with the end of the war resulting in a while peace where Siemomysl kept his life and his supporters their freedom.

Janislaw II now needed a clear victory to prove his worth, and he found it in Denmark. Declaring war on the kingdom for the duchy of Samogitia, he quickly won a decisive victory. He then moved to the duchy of Prussia for their Prussian lands, and won this war as well. Meanwhile, rumors of a great warrior on the far away steppes uniting the Mongols were heard, but dismissed as of little to no consequence to the Wendish realm.

In Ruthenia, the king who had allied with Janislaw II was dead and his successor did not wish to renew their alliance. Rumors came that this king rather planned to attack the Wendish Empire, and Emperor Janislaw II decided to strike first. Demanding the principality of Volhynia, Janislaw’s forces invaded the neighboring kingdom.

And then, his cousin Siemomysl and his supporters struck again. Demanding the throne once again, Janislaw refused, and the realm now was in both a civil war and an offensive war at once. To add insult to injury the duchy of Mecklemburg and the duchy of the Chechen Cities used this apparent weakness to demand independence, a demand Janislaw also refused in a rage of fury.

With three wars raging, the Emperor would prove his worth as he slowly moved towards victory on all fronts. The civil war was soon on the brink of victory for his forces, the independence war too, and the Ruthenian war was slowly going well as well.

Then, disaster struck. The Emperor, touring the capital before moving east towards an enemy army sieging, was overwhelmed by a mob of peasants and killed before his guard could save him. Unknown forces were surely behind it, possibly the forces of Siemomysl, but we do not know for sure.

In his place, his fourteen-year-old son Siemowit inherited the Empire and Poland, with his second son, the eight-year-old Miroslaw, inheriting the kingdoms of Pomerania and Galicia-Volhylnia. All the while, the three wars still raged through the country.

Aftermath

The reign of Emperor Janislaw II was marred by war, deceit and disasters. Had he lived, the story might have looked differently, but as it stands, he was but a thirty year long quagmire of problems. His legacy is rather his successful offspring. But not his immediate successor.

 

[filcat]

Fare-hell, janislaw the hideous, and let the festivities begin in his dishonour, let everyone dance on his carrion's burial!

- Team Siemomysl

the regency also managed to secure an alliance with the neighboring realm of Ruthenia

In Ruthenia, the king who had allied with Janislaw II was dead and his successor did not wish to renew their alliance.

...and there goes dreams for an early commonwealth



(Back to Your friendly watchdog from fact-checkers of fictional lores for its latest report:

the duchy of the Chechen Cities

Contesting the supposed toponym Chechen Cities; even though the maps in the chronicle do not provide clear image of the political situation between the polish and the rus lands, the name is possibly a mistranslation for Cherven Cities - Grody Czerwieńskie, as mentioned in Повѣсть времѧньныхъ лѣтъ - Tale of Bygone Years, from 12. century ce.

thank you friendly watchdog. Coming next our news segment Inconclusive Studies: Who really won the battle: Muwatalli the second of Hittite, or Ramesses the second of Egypt?)

 

[Cora Giantkiller]

As I thought--Jainslaw II has had to manage a lot of instability and internecine warfare while on the throne, only to leave a young heir to inherit (although the regency should be much shorter). May Siemowit fare better.

 

[Nikolai]

Fare-hell, janislaw the hideous, and let the festivities begin in his dishonour, let everyone dance on his carrion's burial!

- Team Siemomysl

My oh my, what a hatred.

Contesting the supposed toponym Chechen Cities; even though the maps in the chronicle do not provide clear image of the political situation between the polish and the rus lands, the name is possibly a mistranslation for Cherven Cities - Grody Czerwieńskie, as mentioned in Повѣсть времѧньныхъ лѣтъ - Tale of Bygone Years, from 12. century ce.

thank you friendly watchdog. Coming next our news segment Inconclusive Studies: Who really won the battle: Muwatalli the second of Hittite, or Ramesses the second of Egypt?)

It seems my notes was wrong here, I can find the Cherven Cities on the map, but not the Chechen Cities. One point to you.

As I thought--Jainslaw II has had to manage a lot of instability and internecine warfare while on the throne, only to leave a young heir to inherit (although the regency should be much shorter). May Siemowit fare better.

As I said, Janislaw II has two children who will inherit the throne. Make of that what you will.

 

[Nikolai]

I've played a lot today and have come to the late 1300s. My, does it contain much civil war. Also, the bubonic plague. It hit two of my Emperors....

 

[Midnite Duke]

Another Regency, Oh My! If you Live by the Dagger, one will surely find your Heart!

 

[Nikolai]

Another Regency, Oh My! If you Live by the Dagger, one will surely find your Heart!

Not the last regency I had to endure, either. But this is a thing that CK3 lacks, proper regencies.

 

[Nikolai]

The ACAs are back, please go here to vote for your favorite AARs updated in Q2 2021! It goes without saying it does not need to be mine, but please vote.

 

[Nikolai]

Emperor Siemowit

(1227-1234)

The reign of Emperor Siemowit was short and mostly uneventful. His was a short intermesso before the glorious reign of his sister began.

Family

Emperor Siemowit did not marry before he died, as his intended was still a minor when he perished. Nor did he sire any children outside wedlock.



His reign

The first two years of his reign was spent waging the wars he inherited from his father. In 1229, the war with Ruthenia was finally won, and two years after that, the civil war that had plagued his reign was finally over.

The same year, his brother king Miroslaw, the mightiest vassal in the realm, was found dead in the woods after having disappeared during a hunt with his closest friends. No proof of foul play was ever found, but people, of course, spoke. For it was mightily convenient for the king’s older brother, who now inherited all his titles, thus strengthening himself and losing a potential contender to the throne.

His brother, or rather his regency council, had shortly before his unfortunate death got involved in an offensive war with the Holy Roman Empire. The war did go well, and the Emperor now inherited this war. He quickly sent his forces into Germany, occupying much land in a short amount of time.

As the war was close to finishing in favor of the Wendish Empire however, disaster struck. The Emperor was found dead in his tent, a poisonous spider sitting on his face, a look of fear and pain in his face. Who was behind the assassination was never determined.

Inheriting the throne was his sister Kenna, the first ever Empress of the Wendish Empire. Hers would be a highly successful and stable reign, after decades of unstability.

Aftermath

Emperor Siemowit reigned for a short time and did little to impact anything. He is not well remembered by anyone except historians of the time period, a parenthesis in every way compared to his famous sister.