Cyprus- The Last Crusade

[Bismarck]

The two faces of a queen

She is like two different women, one scared of the repercussions of her actions, and the other who is filled with ambition and the need to change things to her liking. What is truly odd is both these attributes are readily apparent at the same time.

Gerhart Lomsky, in his private papers, attributed to the spring of 1665.

With the earthquake's damage already being put behind the country, other domestic matters began to take their effect. The age of pleasantries between the Congress and monarchy was slowly coming to an end, as the nobility became more and more critical of the Queen's reaction to the quake. Josefina tried to quell this dissent by bribery, much to her Chief Administrator's dismay, but alas, it was for naught, as her opponents mounted. Perhaps it was because they sensed weakness in her, or they knew that the time was right for such a display of opinion, but whatever the cause, she was in deep trouble. With every day of criticism, and the fear that she would be yet another victim of the Cyprian political system, and this line of thinking took a lot out of her. She was aware of just how dangerous the job could be, and she just could not let go of the thoughts of her eminent death by assassination. According to some of her contemporaries, she began losing her hair and the hair she managed to keep turned first grey and then white within a matter of months.

Her paranoia also became legendary. She had a rotating pool of food tasters and she rarely went anywhere outside the city, though even leaving the palace became too much for her some days. But with much of her time spent indoors, she did accomplish quite a bit during her waking hours. From revising the tax codes to help her poorer subjects slightly while resting more monetary responsibilities upon the nobility, to beginning a series of reforms on the navy and army to bring them up to and in some areas, beyond the standards set by Western Europe. She was also able to start writing a memoir, which was largely about her early life and marriage to the Crown Prince of Hungary, but as she wrote, she soon began discussing the current political system and her experiences as the Queen of a land full of turmoil. In a strange way, it was a cathartic experience, as she realized that by hiding from her subjects and her opponents, she was letting the worst happen, as she was losing the things she needed to effectively govern, the good will of the people, and the first-hand knowledge of what her counterparts in the Congress were up to.

With this renewed sense of vigor, she became irksome to Congress, as she was able to amend laws and other parts of Cyprian social custom just enough to weaken her noble counterparts, but not enough to force them into a confrontation without seeming petty. From their rights as members of the aristocracy to something as seemingly simple as giving merchants a lower tax rate, her alterations were so numerous and yet each was essentially so minor as to undermine the aristocracy through what could easily be called a torture of a thousand cuts.

One of the chief beneficiaries of these changes was of course the Maceise Trading Company. They had managed to carve a huge empire into Siberia. The Company held a long-term monopoly in the region, and there was very little other merchant families could do about it... aside from trying to built some wealth by acting subordinate to the Maceises and becoming part of his organization. At first, it was a few of the weakest families that used this strategy, but soon it was some of the family's most ardent competitors which were also joining for more lucrative work and better profits as junior partners. By the spring of 1667, there were trading posts are far west as the borders of Selenga and Buriat, both of which were still within the grasp of the company. With the easing of the tax burden on nearly all involved, each individual investor/contributor was bringing home more money and the company could expand even further into the Asian interior, and with this economic expansion came some more responsibility. In May 1666, Count Maceise ascended to dukedom, and was given political control over the lands his trade company had settled, which was many times larger than a majority of the Empire's duchies put together.

Unfortunately, it was about this time that the Queen's health began to deteriorate, first with just general weakness and fatigue, but soon she was encumbered with breathing difficulties and other maladies which were serious and potentially life threatening, but not debilitating enough to prevent her from fulfilling her duties. As her condition worsened, she was still able to do her best work, establishing a charity for some of the needy in her country, though the amount of relief she had in mind was far from sufficient for those who needed it, but the thought was there. She also saw through to the end her military reform programs, which brought the Cyprian army one more step towards total professionalism. However, she was still in dire straits, and she could only live so long in that condition.

Josefina Agneta finally passed away on March 8, 1667, at the age of 47. The throne of Cyprus passed to her second oldest son Lorenz Gabriel, who was 23 and spoke not one word of Cyprian. He was also a total Calvinist, which in a Catholic country was very frightening to the clergy. He had what many of the other great kings of Cyprus had: ambition, and it was this ambition that made him frightening to the Congress, who had become familiar with the political traditions of Hungary, which were very absolutist. He had a somewhat wild look in his eye, as though he were "somehow related to a feral cat," one duke was heard to remark to a colleague upon meeting his new liege. In some ways it was a fitting description, as there was always the sense that at any moment, he could do something unexpectedly vicious, and was just biding his time. Given his childhood, the look in his eye was understandable, as he had been trained to be a soldier rather than a ruler as his older brother had been groomed for power in his homeland, and Lorenz's elevation to one of the most powerful positions in Europe was unexpected to say the least. He clearly looked upon his current situation with a sense of distrust and uneasiness.

For his first few months on the throne, he needed the help of a translator to accomplish anything. Soon, Gerhart Lomsky had a good enough command of the King's improving Cyprian to eliminate the need for translation. Of course, being one of the few people who could directly understand the young king had its advantages, as he was free to give his own interpretations of what the King said. Of course, being in such a position also made Lomsky a hated man by many, as he not only had the king's ear, but command of his mouth as well. Of course, the king was savvy enough to appreciate this, so he allowed the Chief Administrator this luxury for a short time, as he knew as soon as he could speak the language as well as he possibly could under the circumstances, Lomsky would be in line for his comeuppance.

For the moment, he just tried to adjust to the position, and get his bearings in a strange new society. The most troublesome members of the Congress were on their best behavior, as they were unsure of just what to expect from their new king. But the relative calm of the Cyprian political situation was broken abruptly on April 13, 1668 with a Lithuanian declaration of war against Alexis I's Russia. It was a war Lorenz wanted to fight, as the battlefield made more sense to him than the complicated world of diplomacy and court life. He was going to lead men into battle, and show just what kind of king he could be in the right situation.

Maps

Religious map of Europe 1668

Colonial efforts to 1668

M

 

[Languish]

You are absolutely smashing islam, and doing extremely well in your colonial efforts!

I sense with Lorenz Gabriel, that cyprus is heading into a new phase of military conquest...

As always i am watching this with intense interest.

 

[unmerged(8915)]

hurray! maps!

is that reformed fleck in central europe hungary or siebenburgen?

nice job in siberia!

with your landing spot in ceylon, look out india!

 

[Director]

I just wanted to drop you a short note to say that, for me, you conveyed that last chapter with amazing power. It goes beyond merely very nice, sir, and approaches perfection.

That said about the writing style, atmosphere, plot and characters, I do have one question:

Given that Josefina did not remarry, how could Lorenz's ascencion to the throne be unexpected? Were they unprepared for her death or hoping for his brother?

Not a quibble, just asking for more informaton.

Do I sense a parallel between Lorenz and a certain James Stuart?

 

[Sorcerer]

A warrior king, eh? You did a great job describing him. I await his first war with anticipation...

 

[unmerged(6777)]

Very interesting indeed. I sense that the storm that's brewing will end up being far more than knocking heads with the Russians a couple times.

I'm surprised that Cyprus was willing to accept a foreigner as king - whether he was Josephina's son or not. This would have been just about the perfect time for the aristocracy to rise up and replace the throne with something vaguely resembling a fledgeling democracy. Too bad you didn't get a civil war event right about now.

I'm really impressed with that colonial empire you're building. I'd forgotten how large it's become in the past century.

I also must agree with Director's comment: that was an absolutely superbly written instalment.

 

[Bismarck]

Languish: Smashing Islam... well, I don't know about that... reclaiming the holy land... that I can buy....

Colonially, I think the most interesting thing is the growth of Lithuanian interests throughout the world... lot of lavender throughout the world now too....


Ladislav: You have deep seeded issues with India, don't you? But seriously, India looks scary... so many religions and nations in such a small set of provinces...

Siberia was... surprising for me...


Director: How the succession went down. Lorenz's older brother would have assumed the throne of Cyprus had his father not died before the Josefina, however, with his death, he was forced to take his father's place on the throne, leaving Lorenz the only free heir. Of course, if the Queen had lived longer, her heir may have become one of her children's children, but we may never know how it would have happened now.

And the James Stuart thing.... all I'll say is perhaps.... and perhaps not...


Sorcerer: Thank you for your compliment.... it was a tough chapter to write for me.... and in the upcoming war... I don't think you will be disappointed....


MrT: Well considering that they have already had a foreigner as a king many times in the past(its a long a varied history, some of which I've already gone through ), it didn't seem to be that much of a problem.

Oh and in honor of your promotion to a moderator, I made you a custom hanging flag... hope you enjoy...

M

 

[unmerged(6777)]

Originally posted by Bismarck
MrT: Well considering that they have already had a foreigner as a king many times in the past(its a long a varied history, some of which I've already gone through ), it didn't seem to be that much of a problem.

Oh and in honor of your promotion to a moderator, I made you a custom hanging flag... hope you enjoy...

M

LOL! I love it. Maybe I should send it off to Patric?

 

[Bismarck]

Between a rock and a hard place

War is a grim and brutal affair, but sometimes it is the only means to achieve the ambitions of a country, and usually the better side prevails. However, it is also the instrument of those members of our society which thrive on misery and pain, and will use whatever methods to hurt the most people and to feed their basest lusts and desires through these types of activities. It is up to every Christian to make this decision, and remember that just because you are so ordered, does not mean that it is somehow right to break your Lord’s commandments.

Robert Hesek, Archbishop of Nicosia, in a sermon held on Sunday, June 21, 1670

The War of the Steppes had the potential to be a very brutal affair. This war not only brought Russia into conflict with Cyprus and her allies, but also the Ukraine, which was a perennial foe for the Lithuanians. If left to his own devices, King Mikolaj III would have been doomed, as he would be pinned between two technologically and numerically superior foes. With the help of Cyprus and Poland however, it would be a vastly different story, at least on paper. Josefina’s military reforms made the Cyprian army a much better organized fighting force, one which would be capable of being more self-sufficient, and better with supplies. In theory, they would also fight more judiciously, saving ammunition and other necessities.

In practice, this could be vastly different however. Leadership on the field would perhaps be the most telling factor in determining the success of Josefina’s reforms. Lorenz Gabriel was brought up and trained under a different military system, less professional but at the same time a bit more passionate about the causes they were fighting for. Then again, his homeland was beset on all sides by enemies, so it paid to be both vigilant and full of passion when a member of the army, for it could be your lands and kin that you were ultimately defending. Though the situation was vastly different, the king was still quite adamant about giving the war his country’s all, and he prepared to take command of thousands of men stationed in the Tbilisi area for the first northward offensive of the war.

Arriving in the area a month after the declaration of war, the King surveyed his men, with their slightly indifferent stares and their stoic chins and rigid military stances practiced to perfection, and Lorenz believed he could lead these men across the drying steppes of Southern Russia to victory, perhaps even taking them to Moscow. But first things first… they needed to win the war in the south before they could even think about taking the distant capital. The King began his first real campaign into enemy territory by heading northwest towards the Volga, with the goal of linking Georgia with the other Cyprian held lands in the Black Sea area. After a short siege, Kouban fell into his army’s hands, but the King’s forces still had not engaged in battle, much to Lorenz’s chagrin.

But he wouldn’t have to wait long, for the Russians were shifting their attention from Lithuania, which was just about to fold, to their more pressing enemy to the south. Outside the small town of Elista, the Russian forces, under Vladimir Miriktin, met Lorenz’s on June 17, with stunning results. Though they were outnumber and in a bad tactic position, the King’s forces not only held their position in the face of charging Russian cavalry, but ultimately prevailed with moderate losses. It was from that day forward that this army would be known as the Elistanian Muskets to celebrate their great victory.

By this time, additional Cyprian forces had arrived in the area from the west, and the offensive continued, with one army heading further east to try to capture Astrakhan, while another crossed the Volga in an attempt to cut off additional Russian counteroffensives which would put the Empire at risk. However, east of the Volga, the enemy had been preparing for an attack, and had plotted an ambush. Unfortunately, they had expected a force that was less than half their size, so when Lukas Pieriando’s Guns of the Trinity arrived with an army more than three times larger than the ambushers, a tragedy was about to happen. In the span of a few hours, 60% of the Russian troops in the area were killed or wounded, a death sentence in most cases, and the rest were forced to retreat, leaving the major towns in the region unprotected, or so Pieriando thought.

Instead, at every town the Guns of the Trinity approached, a battle would begin, though the forces facing the large, well-equipped army was invariably small and fairly weak, both tactically and technologically, every encounter weakened and delayed the Cyprians, and though the attacks were seemingly random, there was a grand strategy in play. With each passing day, winter grew nearer, and just east of the Volga, the conditions could become hellish, and for the natives, this would not be a problem, as they were based on largely small armies which could move and hide amongst the general population, while the Guns of the Trinity, and virtually all the other Cyprian armies in the war were large and slow, designed for large pitched battles and long engagement, but not suited for fighting against smaller and more mobile forces, so even though these smaller units were being sacrificed in the face of a superior force, they were in the end helping the war cause. But their efforts, while admirable, nevertheless failed, as the Guns of the Trinity were able to take the city of Morozovsk and make a stand there through the winter, while Lorenz’s forces retreated to a well-supplied perimeter to the west to wait out the winter. For four long months, the Cyprians waited for the coming of warmer weather. In the beginning of March, the offensive resumed, driving northward from their current positions, the two armies made respectable gains, but they were plagued by well-timed attacks on their supply lines and the continuing nuisance strategy Alexis’s armies were becoming known for.

In the second year of the war, Donetsk and Lugansk came into Cyprian hands, and another winter was upon them, this one far worse than the previous one. In these poor conditions, the Tsar was able to delay both the movement of enemy reinforcements, and build up a much larger standing army to face his enemies down. Poland had kicked the Russians out of Lithuania, and also looked poised for an offensive, so it was imperative that the Tsar force one of his foes out of the war in a decisive battle. Given the Polish army’s proximity to Moscow, they were a much greater threat, so he deployed his forces to the southwest to fight a winter battle against his most pressing foe. At Kursk, his untested troops did what was needed and utterly destroyed the threat, and with it, he was able to concentrate fully on Lorenz’s forces to the south, and prepared to bring the war to the enemy in a place he knew would be the focus of Cyprian attention.

North of the current Cyprian positions lay the Lithuanian border, which was blocked by a fair sized plot of Russian land. The Tsar suspected that would be the next objective for the ambitious Lorenz, and so his now battle-hardened troops were going to wait in ambush for the warrior king at a crossroads called Borisoglebsk, which was the most likely location to meet the enemy unprepared. To improve his chances, the Tsar ordered that some of his armies which were fighting against Sibir be moved against Kouban to severely compromise the Cyprian supply lines. As events unfolded, the Tsar couldn’t have planned it better. His Siberian forces swept west and took the main roads from Georgia within three days prior to the battle to the north, breaking the supply chain for the Elistanian Musket’s at the most crucial time. Supplies could still reach the army, but they would have to arrive by ship at Azov and move from there across occupied Russian territories, and with the damage done along the southern coast of the Black Sea, such supplies would have to come from the southern side of the Anatolian peninsula. Lorenz was unaware that he would soon be cutoff from supply, and had only an inkling of what was to come.

His army approached the crossroads on April 5, 1671, and just as he arrived at that location to determine the best route to the border, he found his army had been outflanked and outnumbered by a silently approaching foe and was placed in a fight or die situation. Unlike his first battle however, Lorenz realized that his forces were in grave danger, so he ordered a retreat into the town to try to save his army. The town was very old, so its gates were weakened by age, so the King ordered them to be forced closed by any means necessary. Within a matter of hours, a few of the houses in the town had been ripped down and their materials were used to secure the town against the Russian soldiers.

Caught behind enemy lines and besieged in a town with little supplies and amongst a population sympathetic with the soldiers outside, the situation seemed dire. So dire in fact, it was assumed by many inside that these would be their last days amongst the living. Few could even contemplate escape or rescue from the tiny town surrounded by so many men.

M

 

[Bismarck]

I'm glad you like it T.... though I did do a modern Canadian flag last night which also might interest you. I have a feeling though, that you like EU2 so much that you are going to stick with a shield for a while

M

 

[unmerged(6777)]

Yep...for now.

Great instalment BTW, although I vaguely recall saying something to that effect last night...or was that this morning?

 

[Bismarck]

A strange calm filled the town, as if both parties within those walls were sharing the same horror, and knew the other side was to blame. It was a time before the starvation and the coming of summer, when the smell of the recently dead enveloped us all. I am surprised we did not die from the miasma.

Piotr Astacos, The Longest War, 1683


Lorenz was in a terrible position. By bringing his armies into Borisoglebsk, he had basically forced them to either fight their way out, or to starve to death within the town. What was more was the oddity of his soldiers being garrisoned in a town filled with the enemy. For the most part, the two factions got along on decent terms, there were a few incidents which could have been disastrous for the whole enterprise. One was the rape of one of the daughter of one of the wealthiest land owners in the region, but Lorenz was able to smooth over this transgression by having the offending soldier hanged for the offense, though the King did it for a warning to his other men to not cross that line or it could be their neck in the noose the next time. That of course did not stop a few romances from blooming within the walls of the town, though most were developed out of convenience rather than any true feelings. Even these covert romances were tempered by the deep hatred felt by many of the citizens of the town, who wanted to see these strange men killed for invading their town, and who would have gladly helped the Russians outside to breech the walls if they could.

The Russians outside brought their heavy guns to bear against the town, and they relentlessly pursued the surrender of the Cyprian forces inside. Despite the fact that they would also be endangering the lives of their country's civilians, the barrage continued for weeks, as the capture of the Cyprian king would have a great impact on future peace talks in the conclusion of this war. But they didn't know Lorenz and his iron will, or in part his ignorance. As a child, Lorenz had heard grim stories about Ivan the Terrible, and some of the actions of his armies, including the systematic murder of everyone in the town of Novgorod, and he feared that the surrender of his forces would lead to their cold blooded and defenseless murder of his men, so he absolutely could not imagine giving in. But with their supplies gone, and their numbers dwindling from both starvation and the nearly perpetual rain of metal from the sky, it was an option that Lorenz would have to think about, though if he could somehow fight his way out, then perhaps he could save his army from slaughter.

However, this eventuality didn’t have to be played out. The Guns of the Trinity had received no word from their king’s army for quite some time and under Lukas Pieriando’s command, they went to go investigate. They approached Borisoglebsk from the east, and caught the Russians unaware on July 19. In the ensuing battle, the Russians held firm to their position, and looked poised to try to repel Pieriando’s army with a cavalry surge, but it was at that moment that the Elistanian Muskets leapt from the town and the two Cyprian armies together forced the Russians into retreat with heavy casualties. With the town relieved, and the Elistanian Muskets freed from their captivity, it seemed like a good time for the King to return to Nicosia, as he had led his army to great victories, and now that the Russians were retreating, he felt his subordinate, Piotr Astacos, would be able to lead the Cyprians onward to Moscow after the winter.

Pieriando and his army escorted the King towards Azov so the King could retake his place as the head of the Cyprian government, a position that had been ably executed by Gerhart Lomsky in his absence. Following Lorenz Gabriel’s departure from the region, Pieriando then set his sights on reclaiming the area north of Georgia to significantly shorten the supply lines, as the carriages that the Maceises had supplied were slow in coming through the alternate route. After three short and decisive battles, the area was once again safe for supplies and troop movements. But the Siberian troops that had held that area retreated towards other lightly-defended Cyprian-held territories across the Volga, and they had the numbers to take that region easily before the winter.

In the spring of 1672, Astacos and the Elistanian Muskets began their long thrust towards Moscow, taking a route through Eastern Lithuania and approaching the Russian capital from the south. The Tsar’s men had also realized that this way towards his capital would be the easiest for the Cyprians, so he had captured most of Lithuania during his army’s retreat towards Russian territories. This made progress towards Moscow very slow, as each town and city along the way was heavily defended, and even the roads around such ambushes were defended, so each mile was bitterly fought. For months, the Elistanian Muskets pounded the Russians for short gains and small breakthroughs, and even as winter approached, the two armies did not falter, and the fighting continued into the next year. Winter casualties were high, but Astacos was a stubbon commander, and he wanted to see it through. Eventually he had driven his army through Lithuania and into Russian territory, but at this point, the Russians began a furious counterattack which broke the already battle-weakened Cyprians and forced a painful retreat back into Lithuania, but his troops wouldn’t make it out the other side. On May 14, 1673, the Russian surrounded the Elistanian Muskets and forced their surrender, much to the distant Lorenz’s chagrin.

The Russians then took the initiative, launching an attack on the Cyprian-held territories to the south. At first, the defenders would be able to hold their ground, but soon, the Russians would bring a numerically superior force to bear against their enemy and win out. Then the inevitable counteroffensive would push the Russians back, and so on and so on, until both sides were weak. But the Tsar’s forces were relentless, and they pressed for well over a year. The momentum was slowly shifting in the Russians’ favour and if the war progressed for a much longer period of time, they would eventually be able to win outright, perhaps costing Cyprus some of their precious colonial holdings on East Asia which the Tsar would be interested in exploiting for his own nation’s interests. Time was usually always on the Russians side, as they had an almost infinite number of peasants that they could throw at an invading army, and despite their poor quality, their sheer numbers were frightening, as losses did not seem to really effect their ability to attack.

In addition, the Protestants of Northern Europe, with the exception of Sweden were slowly shifting towards Russia as their defender against the aggression of the Catholic countries, who had not yet fully embraced the Treaties of Tolerance. Orthodoxy seemed to be immune from the sectarian divisions which had caused so much strife in the last century. The Emperor, Carlos II of Spain, had vowed to provide military support in the conflict if the more than one Protestant nation allied with Alexis I, but the Tsar was smart and only enlisted the aid of Mecklenburg. Once again, it seemed that the war could end badly for Cyprus if it lasted too long.

The interior politics of Russia would play a staggering role in the ending of the war. The Tsar’s costly war policies had resulted in the deaths of thousands, and as the war seemed to have no end in sight, it was easy for dissent movement to start developing throughout the country. This outrage led to riots in many cities, and a period of political instability. To try to quell the population, the Tsar showed a willingness to discuss peace. Lorenz, worried that the war could end extremely badly for Cyprus if it continued, instructed his diplomats to offer a status quo peace. But upon arriving for negotiations, a peace offer was already on the table.

In the treaty, Moscow offered some of the captured land from the south, along with a large area of land to the far north, a sparsely populated area which was in essence, under nominal Swedish control as Russian forces could not reach it through the Swedish war gains, as a peace settlement to quickly end the war so their armies could attend to bringing order back to the cities. Naturally, the true intent of the Tsar offering land in the far north was to try to bring his two major enemy into conflict, but to the diplomats, it was a far better deal than they could have hoped for, and they quickly finalized the peace. To the King, it was a great sign of international prestige, and a most welcome peace. So it was that the War of the Steppes was ended on April 25, 1675, with Cyprus the seeming winner, but the area around Arkhangelsk was highly sought after by the Swedish and it would eventually become a battleground between these two rising powers.

It wasn’t a question of if, but of when.

Europe 1675

M

 

[Languish]

Another great installment yet again!

Some questions though... what are those two countries at the top of scandinavia? That light patch above stockholm... is that owned by france?

It looks like you overstretched yourself there by accepting archangelsk... however i think that was deliberate

 

[Storey]

Archangelsk?? Are you mad? Were you so bad off that you accepted archangelsk? If this is part of your master plan then all I can say is "Great!" If on the other hand it was a peace treaty forced on you then all I can say is, "This should be very interesting and God help you." Those Swedes can be trouble.

Joe

 

[Sorcerer]

Archangelsk. I don't believe it. Haven't the Cyprian monarchs learned their lesson about Northern Europe in Prussia? This will get interesting...

Btw:

Originally posted by Bismarck
This war not only brought Russia into conflict with Cyprus and her allies, but also the Ukraine, which was a perennial foe for the Ukraine.

Talk about self-hatred...

 

[Bismarck]

Languish: The green bit is Norway, and the brown bit is a possession of Holstein, my vassal ... and yes France does own that bit of Swedish coastline.


Storey: I know the Swedes can be trouble... they have been expanding into a lot of places.... and Archangelsk is less than accessible.... but it should be interesting up there... basically, I got greedy and didn't take a better peace earlier in the war(a peace that didn't include Archangelsk), and I got in a situation where the Russians had the potential to hurt me very badly if I continued the war, and then they offered the 2 provinces in the south and one in the far north and I jumped at it.... just to get out of the war.


Sorcerer: Do monarchs(and players for that matter), ever learn the hard lessons? Thanks for pointing out my dumb mistake as well... shows that I need to do a bit more proofing before I post.... lol... DOH!


M

 

[unmerged(9046)]

Note greed at all. Just part of your master plan....

Well done!

 

[unmerged(6777)]

I think that this is simply a way to give yourself an excuse to conquer all of Russia since, pbviously, you want to have all your territories nicely connected.

Don't you just love those surprise offers by the AI where you're perfectly willing to accept considerably less than it offers but it's too hard to resist something so tasty. If worst comes to worst, Archangelsk is basically a "free" marker you can use to buy off a peace with someone...unless this is really a clever ploy to get a staging area from which to launch your conquest of Scandinavia.

I know you're swamped at work, so take care and come back soon.

 

[Bismarck]

Queen of the Fools

Sometimes, it pays to play the fool, for as is demonstrated by most playwrights, the fool is often the wisest character in the play, knowing everyone’s secret or having a deep and meaningful understanding of the situation before those involved.

Queen Claudia of Cyprus, in her diary, March 18, 1679


The Russians had wisely gotten rid of their wretched and perennially frozen northern port, knowing full well that they would have eventually lost it to the ever expanding Swedish Empire. Lorenz also realized that this was the case, but he felt that the southern territory gained in the war was worth the price of having such a remote outpost. A small garrison was going to have to be stationed in the area, but the conditions and the distances involved made the tours rather long with very little to do, and burdened with the requirement of outside shipments of supplies at great costs. If a war should break out between Sweden and Cyprus, whoever was in the area would suffer, as the Swedish would be able to bring a large number of experienced troops to the area to wipe out what little resistance could be offered. All in all, it was not the best of assignments. But men did volunteer nonetheless, and instead of sending the to this northern wilderness alone, they were able to take their families along, in an effort to "Cyprianize" this area. Of course, they would be the military protection for a very divided people, some who were more or less Russian Orthodox, while others were Scandinavian Protestant, and there were some who were pagan and still followed the old ways of their distant ancestors. It would be three years before the entire area was under Lorenz’s authority, due mainly to the improper mapping of the region.

In Western Europe, Louis XIV decided to extend his realms eastward through the Chambers of Reunion, using his legal and political power, decreed that many estates outside the French borders were French property, including Luxembourg, Cologne, the Southern Netherlands and many of the other small principalities on the coastline of the North Sea. Of course, the rulers of these “French” lands were angry by the claim, and decided to band together for mutual defense, and soon this coalition of nations included Austria and Spain, who wished to counterbalance the power of the French king, a coalition which was to be later known as the League of Augsburg. Venice and Bohemia supported Louis’ claims and if the Sun King was attacked by any one of his numerous enemies, they made assurances that they would fight on his side. Lorenz threw his support behind the League, though he never pledged anything other than his tacit approval of such measures. The English, who had just defeated the last remnants of the ambitious Puritan independence movement, also sided against Louis, and he was effectively boxed in.

It was about this time that Lorenz finally arranged a dynastic marriage between himself and Claudia of Wurtemberg in 1678, which he hoped would help his standing in Central Europe, as there were many families related through that narrow bloodline. Of course, such plans were destined to hit the inevitable problems, mainly because members of the same family often loathed their relatives. His new bride was a slight woman with a brown curls and an ever-so upturned nose. She also had somewhat boorish manners, though due to her blood, no one had really told her of this fault. Cyprus had a rather strict though unwritten set of etiquette, which most of the rulers managed to pick up within a matter of months, but the new queen refused to adapt, and much like her husband's actions towards the Congress, she was immovable from her habits. She would place her elbows on the table, interrupt her guests in midstory and belch loudly after a meal. Suffice it to say, she certainly wasn't a stuffy leader.

She also loved her wine, and there are tales of her out drinking members of her staff in succession some nights. And with Cyprus being one of the major wine-producing countries in the world, there was an ample supply of vintages for the queen to sample. Some historians would like to paint her as a raging alcoholic, while others would rather see her as being exuberant and full of life. It was the common touches that made her almost immediately beloved by her subjects, because even though she was of a better class than them, in many ways she acted in much the same way. Claudia enjoyed bawdy humor, and reveled in listening to tales from her servants about their lives in general, as for the most part they would tell her funny things, as they knew that was what amused her. In general, she was a breath of fresh air to a country which had seen too many dour and proper women gracing the palace.

Lorenz was less than comfortable with his wife's relationships with her new subjects, and he tried on many occasions to change her behavior and demeanor to suit her position, but she was a willful woman who knew what she liked, and willful women have always had a tendency to get their way. Of course, her demeanor led many of her contemporaries to the mistaken impression that she was not very bright and lacked the sophistication to comprehend her power. Naturally, they would soon discover just how sharp she was, but this revelation would have to wait for the right moment. The key to outwitting people, Claudia had learned early in her life, was to let them think that they were smarter than yourself, so those around you would make mistakes.

In February 1680, she blessed the kingdom with a child, which they named Sophia, which was Lorenz’s great-grandmother’s name, and Claudia liked the name because it was Greek for wisdom. Lorenz worried that his first child was too weak to survive, as she had been born entirely too small, but the queen’s nurturing helped to keep her daughter alive and developing normally. She had broken another common tradition, in this case her breastfeeding her child and not using the services of a wet nurse. To the young queen, the whole practice seemed unnatural, but she would not try to pressure her peers into rejecting their way of raising their children. However, she did hope that she could influence a few people by example. It was generally a happy time in Cyprus, full of prosperity and general improvements throughout the country. Even the cities which had been heavily damaged in the earthquake were pretty much back to normal.

But things were not happy everywhere. With the bulk of the European witch burnings in the past, Cyprus seemed all but immune to this movement, as they had more pressing religious enemies than supposed witches, mainly in the form of the Moslem countries which surrounded them. However, the practice began to once again take off in Northern Europe once more, particularly in Sweden and Scotland, both of which burned and beheaded over a hundred men and woman and a mania was once again developing. The Cyprian outpost in Northern Russia was attractive to many who risked persecution at the hands of their countrymen, and so a great migration began to the frigid city by the sea, as they believed they would not have to face inquisition, death or the lingering and hateful feelings between their families and those that made the accusations. These families deemed it better to move away then to face unjustified prejudice. Lorenz didn’t mind the additional population in the region, after all, the more people who lived there, the easier it would be to protect, as those who had recently moved there might be willing to fight for their new homes and the safety of their families. It was a calculated risk of course, but one which the king was willing to take. The Congress had no objections.

But the witch trials followed the refugees, and the Cyprian army was not large enough or conversant enough with the northern society to stop the burnings, or punish those guilty of holding such trials. Lorenz couldn’t afford to have such behavior spread throughout the empire, so he made a decision, along with the Archbishops of Nicosia and Alexandria to send a good number of priests and bishops into that wilderness to act in an ecclesiastical court, and to try to convert more people to Catholicism to try to stamp out this movement before it was too late. So it was that the first Cyprian Inquisition in 100 years began a long journey to the north in the spring of 1682 in an attempt to gain moral authority over a foreign land.

It would be an eventful trip.

M

 

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Now that's one place I'd never move my family to under the circumstances. Who'd want his loved ones placed immediately in harms way? After all, the Swedes are su...oh...of course...I forgot that this would be cheaper than getting a divorce.

Another great instalment. If the missionaries succeed then that's going to be one tiny, tiny little island of Catholicism in a great big sea of Orthodoxy.