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ou may not have gained much by way of territory, but you have set up several potentials. The Duchy of Antioch for one. The Duchy of Porto for another and the prize of another vassal kingdom of Portugal in the not too distant future. The muslim kingdom of Marracech needs a Norman visit. The county of Ragusa in the Byzantine empire is another future target. You can attack the Byzantine empire from three different directions by yourself and in support of the Byzantine vassal de Hauteville from inside as well.

The Mongols are close now. I can't the Shia Caliphate lasting that much longer. You wars with them will be your sternest test.

What's the largest Duchy in the HRE that you can get to?
 
To War with the Kaiser in the Name of Free France

Peace


After the peace was signed with Galicia back in 1229, Normans did not go to war for almost 3 years. Reason for it was simple- there was no-one left to go to war with. Every ruler nearby was either at 10-year peace with the Normans or conquered by the Normans. With the exception of Byzantines, who were a bit splintered, but against whom Normans lacked proper Casus Bellis.

As for the rest of the world, things happened. Most important was the demise of King Eudes and rise of his son, King Arnaud I. It had happened a few years ago already, but now, Arnaud did something unexpected- he broke free of the Emperor’s rule and declared himself independent. King Eudes and Kaiser Leopold had agreed to vassalization because of the Norman threat (and rightfully so- if they hadn’t joined forces, Normans would control much more Ibera and had landed in France). Young King Arnaud didn’t seem to care about that though- he wanted to be a King of his own, not first amongst the vassals of Kaiser Leopold. Oh, and Leopold was aged 72, still healthy and still kicking. The war between Arnaud and Leopold also meant that anything west of the French border, including all the holdings in Iberia, were not part of the Holy Roman Empire anymore, making the Europe less covered with gray tones.

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The King and the Kaiser

Also, Caliph Söbuk of the Shia Caliphate died in May 1231. He reached the age of 65, he lived through violent civil war and 2 wars with Mongols. He did his best, but he could not stop the decline of the Shia Caliphate. His successor was his son Mehmed, aged 2. Traditionally, several rulers in the Caliphate rose against their new master and Caliphate was soon engulfed in series of small civil wars. One of them, Bey Tein of Nishapur, right next to Mongol borders, soon found out that it was not such a good idea as he thought: soon, Mongols came knocking on his door.

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The new Caliph and his revolting lands. Notice Nishaphur near the border of the Il-Khanate- mongols are coming.

Finally, in 1231 King Asclettin II of Jerusalem finished his conquest of Sinai. It was special because Sinai was the last Muslim stronghold in Mediterranean area. A threat to Europe was eliminated and most of the Muslim lands were now safely under de Hauteville rule.

To the French Rescue!

Free France was the the thing Normans wholeheartedly endorsed. After all, free France means that Holy Roman Empire, nemesis of Normans, would be cut down half the size and the future wars with Kaisers would be easier. Plus, the expansion into French lands can begin. But the war was not favoring the French this time- Kaiser’s troops were all over the French lands, Paris was taken, Iberian lands were swarmed by the Germans.

So, in January 1232, Turquetil declared war on Kaiser Leopold, demanding the Duchy of Modena. But it was not a simple war of conquest this time...

It started as a simple conquest though. Modena, a 2-province Duchy, totally surrounded by Norman lands, was swarmed by small armies of nearby vassals while Norman main army gathered in Sicily. Soon, both provinces were sieged by 5000 soldiers. Of his personal levies, Turquetil gathered 34 000 soldiers, 20 000 of them were shipped to Italy. Rest- well, Kaiser brought in the Pope and rest of the soldiers swarmed the Papal holdings in Trapani, making the Pope first conquest of this war.

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Nearby Norman vassals swarming the Duchy

Turquetil also raised soldiers of Tlemcen and Algiers, gathered them, joined them with rest of his personal levies and an army of 18 000 soldiers was ready. They sailed to Iberia, where 8000 Germans had been sighted- sieging Salamanca, a French province.

Meanwhile in Italy, Modena fell to assaults. The local vassals had prepared it, and Turquetil and his soldiers marched in and took the province. Parma was still holding.

Adventures in Iberia

In July 1232, Normans reached Salamanca. 8000 Germans had run back to Zamora, and to Normans shock, there was more then 8000. Total army of 25 000 Germans was marching to Salamanca, with task to kill these Norman upstarts and scatter their army.

Turquetil hired mercenaries when he heard of it, a total 15 000 of them, plus 200 ships to carry them. Luckily, he had more then 3000 gold in reserve. But of course, the mercenaries were too far to reach the Normans on time, so the battle did not go too well. Normans were defeated, but they inflicted quite a number of casualties on Germans as well.

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Normans swarmed by Germans in Salamanca

Normans retreated back to Evora, with 7000 troops from nearby vassals of Seville and Tangiers and Fez waiting to reinforce them. Germans had split their army into two, one of 14 000 soldiers stayed in Salamanca, while another, with 7000 soldiers, marched back to Zamora.

Reinforced Norman army marched to Salamanca again, with mercenary army in their tail. The Second Battle of Salamanca, fought in October 1232, was much more successful. Enemy fled towards Placencia, with Normans hot in their tails, while mercenary army was approaching Salamanca. In November, Normans took out the remnants of the enemy army in Placencia, and mercenaries reached Zamora, where they defeated the enemy, took the castle held by Germans and followed the retreating enemy towards Leon. In the end of December, enemy was annihilated and Leon was taken from Holy Roman Emperor. Iberia was free of Germans.

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Germans swarmed by Normans in Salamanca

Situation in Italy

Kaiser Leopold had asked the help of Poland against the Normans, and Polish main army of 15 000 soldiers war marching to Italy. When the Polish reached Treviso in September 1232, the Norman main army surprised them, sailing to the province and cutting them off. Polish had no other choice but to fight and were defeated in a battle outside Oderzo. Remnants fled to Verona, with Normans hot in their tails.

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Polish defeated by Normans in Italy

They were defeated in October, and Norman main army marched on to clear Italy from rest of Polish troops who had arrived by boats. 2 small armies, both near 3000 soldiers, were busily marching over the Italy. Siege of Parma was still ongoing.

Homecoming

It had been nearly 200 years ago when de Hauteville brothers had left their home in Normandy behind and went to search fame and fortune in a wide world. There had been some contacts over the centuries, but not much. There was not much in common anymore with de Hautevilles and other Normans who stayed in Normandy or sailed to England.

Now, in March 1233, de Hautevilles were back. The forces engaged in Iberia had hit the boats and sailed across the Bay of Biscay to the English channel. Local Normans almost had a heart attack when the sea was filled with hundreds of ships and when soldiers started pouring aground. To their relief, they weren’t the enemy, they were the long-lost cousins. Though Sicilian Norman language had evolved further, taking loan words from Arabic, Italian and Greek, they could still understand each other and there was much celebrating and drinking of the fine cider. de Hautevilles had returned, if only for a brief moment. And they had returned en masse- when Hauteville brothers had left Normandy, they had a band of merry men about 200 of size. Now, they arrived with nearly 30 000 soldiers.

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We're coming home!

After saying hello, Normans marched on. One army to Paris, another to Amiens, where Germans troops had been spotted. By April 1233, the Paris and surrounding lands were temporarily under Norman command and both armies marched to border of the Holy Roman Empire and France, to keep guard and keep the Germans away from France.

Same time in Italy- Parma had fallen and the Duchy of Modena was now in Norman hands. Turquetil and his main army was busy fighting small armies that had crossed the border, but nothing serious. Biggest battle was when Turquetil caught 10 000 Germans in Nice in October 1233 and defeated them.

In September 1233, Normans found out that large German army of 15 000 soldiers was gathering in Verdun. Both armies crossed the border to Holy Roman Empire and attacked them. This was the first time in Norman history when the fight had been taken across the Alps and into Germany. Germans were defeated and marched to Reims, with Normans on their tail. Next was Sens- Germans and French were fighting in that province, and in January, Norman troops descended upon Germans. They defeated the Germans... but meanwhile, in 3rd January 1234, King Arnaud had signed white peace with the Germans, giving up his independence.

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Norman troops marching to the Germany for the first time- and the result of them marching

Normans marched back to Normandy and to their ships. The war was over, and they had failed to achieve their goal. Or rather, French were unable to keep up . Despite the fact that they were given Normans who were willing to fight by their side, they did not manage to keep their independence. Oh well, at least the Normans got they Duchy of Modena, further extending their holdings in Italy.

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At least Italy looks more and more green and less gray
 
We will fight them in Italy, we will fight them in Iberia, we will fight them in France and we will fight them in Germany! That is the war with most geographic diversity that i have fought yet.

Chief Ragusa- Antioch will need some CB-s to set up and they are getting expensive. Porto is in the plans. As for Marrakesh- Duke of Algrave conquered that one, now it is proper catholic. And actually, my vassal, mayor of Ifni (nearby province) already declared war on him, bringing half of the Hautevilles in the Empire with him. As for Hautevilles, Doux of Samos- matrilineal marriage :( That branch had died out. I have distant cousin as a Doux of Abhkazia though. :) Largest Duchy would be Toulose, but more on that on the next chapter! :p
 
too bad france didnt break free. on the other hand, you returned to normandy. any chance youre going to make you homelands properly norman and kick the germans out of it?
 
Why are you ignoring England? Didn't the Normans win in England way back in the beginning of the game? I don't think the English would mind one Norman replacing another.
 
Two Mistakes of Kaiser Leopold

Mistake Number One, or Anti-Albigensian Crusade


In April 1234, just four month after signing white peace with King Arnauld, Kaiser Leopold tried to revoke the County of Zamora from King Arnauld. The King declined and declared war against the tyranny of Leopold. Just 4 month after the peace, Holy Roman Empire was at war again.

Turquetil couldn’t believe his luck. Though this time, he decided not to help the French, but use the confusion to grab himself a duchy. And not just any duchy, but Duchy of Toulouse. A special Duchy in a way- for it was the place where Catharism was born. French Kings were quick to react, and in Albigensian Crusade, the Cathars were destroyed. Pyers were burning and screams of the righteous had filled the air, when Catharism was rooted out of Toulouse. But now, it was time for payback. In April, just a few days later when the war between French and Germans was rekindled, Turquetil declared war on France.

Hauteville main army, reinforced by some of vassals, did their arrived to Toulouse unopposed. In July, Narbonne and Melgueil, both coastal provinces of Toulouse, were under siege by Normans. By the beginning of August, both provinces were Norman. Last to fall was the Bishopric of Albi, last stronghold of the Cathars. To show what Normans did think of the oppression of Cathars, Bishop of Albi was stripped naked and thrown out of the castle windows. He died in pain.

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Normans landing in Toulouse

In September, Normans moved on to inland, targeting Toulouse itself and Rouergue. Toulouse fell in November, and in that time, Arnaud gave up, ceding the Duchy to Normans. Not a single battle was fought in that war.

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And soon, the letter came

Mistake Number Two

The Normans did their quick intervention of French-German war, and were satisfied with the result. After all, they gained a rich Duchy without any opposition. But Kaiser had another pleasant surprise for Normans. In October 1334, Kaiser Leopold asked Pope Hilarius II to excommunicate Arnaud, King of France. Pope agreed and issued the bulla.

The result of excommunication was total splintering of French. Duke Matheu I of Granada (owner of two provinces, in the middle of Ibera, in the Duchy of Badajoz, another in Bourges, middle of France ), nephew of King Arnauld, started his own war to rise to the throne of France. He was supported by Dukes of Anjou, Normandy, Aquitaine, Valencia, Berry and Orleans, plus some Counts. In addition, Dukes of Auvergne and Asturies, and Counts of Angouleme and Nevers decided it was prime time to get rid of rulers and become their own masters. To put it shortly, France was a mess. A mess that could be really well exploited.

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Oh dear, that is a mess. A real mess.

Holy War for Gascogne

Gascogne was the next logical target. Also part of Aquitane, the Duchy would cut Empire into half and make the Iberian holdings of the Empire more or less self-sustained and independent. It also would drive a Norman lance through the France.

War was declared on Duke Ives IV of Aquitane in January 1235. The beginning of the war was uneventful. Norman troops were siegning Armagnac and Foix, while stronger army was waiting nearby, to come in when the castle was weakened enough. Then, the army moved in and Armagnac was taken in June and Foix in September. The smaller army sieging Armagnac marched on to Marsan. There, 5000 Normans were attacked by 6500 Aquitanian soldiers. The battle was not going Norman way- until the bigger army arrived and beat the Aquitanians back to kingdom come.

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The only scary moment during the war. And no worries, main army marched in there just in time

The rest of the war was uneventful, until in October 1235, Duke Ives IV gave up and Duchy of Gascogne to Normans. All of Gascogne, with the exception of Bearn that remained loyal vassal of France, was Norman. Turquetil was pretty sure that when King Arnauld would think about it, he would actually be thankful- after all, Normans curbed the power of his most powerful vassal. Still, Arnauld was enraged over the loss of Toulouse, so most likely no such happy thoughts from him. Ives on the other hand remained Duke of Aquitaine, Poitou and Bourbon.

Holy War for Valencia

The same day when Turquetil signed peace with Aquitaine, he declared war on the other co-conspirator of Duke of Granada, Duke Nicolas II of Valencia. The Valencian forces were out in France, fighting King Arnauld and leaving the counties poorly defended. They were far enough that they could not march home back in time- by the time news reached Duke Nicolas, fighting somewhere in France (not easy to track, you know- and sending a courier though Norman Gascoigne can be a bad idea).

Combined forces of Turquetil and Merchant Republics of Algiers, Fez and Tlemcen meant that garrisons back in Valencia would offer minimal resistance. War was declared in October 1235 and in April 1236, the Duchy was Norman.

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Normans are having a vacation.

Holy War for Asturias

Asturias, a small Duchy in Northern Iberia, was bravely fighting for their freedom. Not for long though- in April 1236, the Normans were coming. Duchess Dulce I would rue the day she decided to become independent, for in current Europe, independent means target.

Duchess Dolce cried out in desperation and Kaiser Leopold heard her please. But the Emperor was involved in war with France, and could not offer much resistance. And he didn’t have the time for it as well. Dolce’s forces were also fighting somewhere in France, so when Normans landed in the end of June, the resistance was meager. Two counties were Norman in the middle of the September, and Dolce gave up.

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Normans are marching in unopposed yet again

The Result

Overall, Kaiser Leopold’s greed resulted with four successful Holy Wars for Normans, with overall four Duchies and 15 provinces gained. It could have been even five Duchies and 16 provinces, but the Duke of Auvergne was Stefen I de Hauteville, a very distant relative, but still de Hauteville. Plus, he controlled just one province of the two-province Duchy, and the King of Aquitaine title would have required two provinces- so Turquetil let him be free, with hopes of luring Stefen or his heirs to the Empire later on.

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Norman gains in French wars. Conquests are surrounded by badly-drawn red circles

Totally unexpected conquest made the Kaiser angry and the Normans very happy.

Conquest of Marrakesh

Oswulf II de Hauteville was a mayor of Infa, a county in the province of Tangiers. Few years ago, he decided to test his luck and declared Holy War on Duke of Marrakesh. Dukes of Marrakesh were originally from Spain, taking the remnants of the Mauretanian Sultanate. Recently, they had lost all their holdings to Iberia, especially Algarve. They lost their power-base in Iberia and their lands if Africa were not fully conquered, so they offered almost no resistance. de Hautevilles from all over the Empire came to help Oswulf, so Turquetil managed to get another powerful merchant republic to his Empire without any troubles.

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With the conquest of Marrakesh, Normans reached the borders of the known world

King Walter of Egypt also expanded south, taking 2 province from former Sultan of Egypt.

The Mongols

The Mongols took the Emirate of Basra, who revolted against the new Caliph. Then, they turned their attention North, to the Sultanate of Cumans. By January 1237, the Sultanate fell, the Sultan and his family killed brutally, the lands in ruins and Mongols ruling the Easter map. They are becoming more and more threat every year, but they still had no common lands with Normans. Mongol lands reached to the borders of Abkhazia, a Duchy ruled by Doux Ioannes II de Hauteville, from Byzantine branch of de Hautevilles...

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This picture looks scary... And Basra down South didn't fit in
 
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The fastest, most successful use of enemy downfall yet! I'm quite proud of myself! :)

grumphie- As you can see, i still got France. About Normandy- yes, it will be mine again. But not until southern France is mine!
cyrileom- because England is yet far off. I'll get France first. Also, because England works as a melting pot for Normans- as soon as they try to walk in the lands of Albion, they are whacked in the head and turned English!
 
that were some hell successfull wars. you could try to get a claim on france itself if the grey blob unites again by marriage and quickly take over huge amounts of territory that way. also, the mongols are looking REALLY scary now, even more thinking they dont even get a relligion modifier to their holdings in cumania. i fear the byzantines will be a target in the near future, but that may be positive. if they take over asia minor you can holy war them to take it back(unless they convert orthodox ofcourse)
 
An excellent expansion. The Kaiser sure knows how to weaken himslef. He excommunicates the French King via the Pope. What does he expect? The French King to just accept his inevitable removal and replacement or does he declare independence and suffer the consequenes of those revolts. You've split the French possessions in Iberia off from what's left of northern France. The Kingdom of Aragon neatly joins your northern Iberian holdings. Would make a goofd addition. Can the French Iberian possession revolt away as the Kingdom of Leon? Liked what you did in Albi.

Only one county of Marrakeesh is not wearing the De Hauteville green livery. There's always next time. The de Hauteville cousin in Abkhazia shares a border with the sick Khans. A showdown between the mongols and Europe's premier military machine is in the offing. What's the next bit of France you will be going after? Brittany? Is the Byzantine empire next on your target list?
 
Ok, this AAR is not dead. I'm just a busy-busy-busy at the moment. Next update most likely in November.

grumphie- too late, they already got back to the loving arm of the Empire. Still, the Empire is weakened. More of that in next update. As for mongols- i look more scary! :p
Chief Ragusa- yeah, French happenings were golden opportunity for me to gain more lands then i ever imagined. :) As for Abkhazia, i think there is the magic place where Mongols and Hautevilles meet for the first time. :)
 
Ok, this AAR is not dead. I'm just a busy-busy-busy at the moment. Next update most likely in November.

grumphie- too late, they already got back to the loving arm of the Empire. Still, the Empire is weakened. More of that in next update. As for mongols- i look more scary! :p
Chief Ragusa- yeah, French happenings were golden opportunity for me to gain more lands then i ever imagined. :) As for Abkhazia, i think there is the magic place where Mongols and Hautevilles meet for the first time. :)

was mainly talking about you getting a "regular" claim on the KINGDOM of france, and press that claim. instanly takes half the HRE at the cost of having a ubervassel and religious unrest due their rulers still being filthy catholics.
 
was mainly talking about you getting a "regular" claim on the KINGDOM of france, and press that claim. instanly takes half the HRE at the cost of having a ubervassel and religious unrest due their rulers still being filthy catholics.
As long as France has Med Crown authority, you can just manually revoke it all. Or you can destroy France for kicks and use Sicily's/Empire's Crown authority! Actually, that makes me wonder. If you became an emperor and destroyed all the kingdom titles under you, would they remain and not integrate?
 
So much progress since I last read this! Plenty of warfare, the change from Kingdom to Empire, a bit more warfare, embracing heresy, yet more warfare, massive expansion and a tad more warfare. Cracking stuff! A particular highlight is definitely the long and hard-fought Crusader against Pope Simplicius II. Truly a most epic war.

Now that I have caught up once again I eagerly await the next update.
 
I've read a few AARs during my time, but have never felt inclined to reply (or was it that I forgot I had signed up? :))

I must say, I am enjoying this one a lot. I read it all in one sitting a few days ago, and find your writing style really good, with a nice balance of pictures.

Regarding the conversion to heresy - a great idea (I resisted putting 'divine'...) If I wasn't playing as a French duke at the moment, I would give it a go. The free CBs on everyone sure does look nice!

Anyway, good stuff, and I look forward to more. Consider me subscribed :)

- Densley
 
And the Wars go on

War for Crete


In July 1238, Turquettil decided it was good time to use the claim Oswulf de Hauteville had on Duchy of Crete. Byzantine Empire was yet again busy fighting both inside and with outside enemy, so not much resistance was expected.

The provinces of Crete were heavily defended, but the armies of Hautevilles were numerous. Over 35 000 soldiers were employed on that campaign. Armies of 10 000 soldiers were sent to two provinces of Crete, Kaneia and Chandax and there, they prepared sieges. When the garrisons were weakened, main army sailed in and helped with assaults.

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Normans taking the Island

Still, the war was going on extremely slow. By the end of the year, only Kandia and Iraklio, capitals of both provinces, were taken and it seemed that the war would continue for years. The castles and cities of Crete were staffed with garrisons numbering over 2000 soldiers, they were built with latest fortification standards, so even assaults took over a month to prepare and the war was still years from finished- when in December 1238, Empress Anna I Doukas caved in. Not seeking to fight powerful de Hautevilles from the West, she preferred to keep her realm in order and give away the Duchy.

To everyone’s great surprise, Oswulf de Hauteville did not only gain Duchy of Crete, but also a county, called Derbent, located on the shores of the Caspian Sea. And even more to everyones surprise, Count Kyros I Komenos, de facto ruler of Crete and owner of all the provinces and titles of that Duchy, still was in power and laughed as Oswulf moved to a court so far away. Well, time will rectify that mistake and Hautevilles sure have power to expel Kyros from the Island.

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The peace offer... and the very strange county gained. Normans reach Caspian sea! Totally by accident...

Holy War for Cordoba

Duke Aldebert II of Cordoba thought it was good idea to kick monarch when he’s down. So, in his infinite wisdom, in summer 1238, he joined the league to dethrone King Arnauld I, ruler of France. Or what’s left of France. Some people never learn...

As soon as the war with Byzantion was over, Turquettil turned his eyes west again and on the same day peace was signed with Empress Anna I, the war was declared on Aldebert.

War was fought with Norman style- fast, ruthless and without mercy. In May, province of Cordoba was under Norman hands, while another army was besieging La Mancha. After fall of Cordoba, the main army was split into two- half of army to help out in La Mancha, second army to siege Calatrava.

The assaults on La Mancha begun in June and by July 1239, half of the counties were under Norman control. It was then Aldebert realized there is no hope left for him and he gave up his ducal titles and run back over the Pyrenees. Normans had gained yet another Duchy in Iberia.

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Normans swarming Cordoba and the result

End (and fresh beginning) of Kingdom of Galicia

By 1238, the Kingdom of Galicia was reduced to two provinces in the Iberian peninsula. It was then, when King Teobaldo I died and his son, Alfonso VI came to power. The result- his only vassal, Duke Enrique of Galicia, owner of the second province, decided to go to war against his liege. The next result- Normans come knocking on your door.

In two wars, first against King Alfonso and second against Duke Enrique, Normans crushed their enemies and by the beginning of 1240, Normans controlled both provinces and Kingdom of Galicia was recreated, making Ferant de Hauteville, a Norman noble from Oriveto, both the King and the Duke. Ferant III de Hauteville, a new King of Galicia, became King-Vassal of Turquetil number 5.

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The new King of Galicia

Death of Enemies, Old and New

In November 1239, Kagan Khorilatai I the wise died. The world breathed in relief as he was succeeded by Boroghul I, a boy at age of 15. Of course, that resulted in some of the civil wars and slowed the expansion of Mongols, but soon, Boroghul was in full power once again.

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The new Kagan

In May 1240, the Kaiser Leopold finally kicked the bucket, living to age of 82 and being the arch-enemy of de Hautevilles for the most of the time. He was Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire for 53 years. During his time, he managed to more then double the lands of the Empire by convincing King Eudes of France to become his vassal. Together, they stand a better chance to stand against Normans, he said and Eudes listened. Leopold was present in most of the wars fought by Turquetil in Europe, even when the wars weren’t against him. Conquests of Croatia and Iberia were hampered by Leopold joining in the side of the enemies of Normans. Still, he never managed to win a single war against the Normans and he lost most of Italy to Normans, plus half of Iberia and France. The war with France was still raging when his son, Otto V, took the throne.

There was much cheering and celebrating in the lands south of the Alps when the news of Kaiser’s death reached the Normans. Death of Leopold meant that there was cheering in North of the Alps as well and some of his vassals, most importantly King Bretislav IV of Bohemia, took up arms against enemies.

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The New Kaiser and some of his happy vassals

All that made question Turquetil his own mortality. After all, he was also reaching 60, and death would come sooner then later. He had grown old with his enemies and Leopold was just first to leave. Grim Reaper was knocking in his door as well.
 
And I'm back! Hallelujah! Prepare for more Norman conquests!

grumphie- that might be a good idea. Or not. Point 1- i'm not in particular hurry. Point 2- Holy Wars give me nice carte blance on a conquered provinces. All the holdings are mine to begin with and i can choose what to give to whom. Any other CB doesn't give me that luxury.
cyrileom- holding too many King titles already. So i tend to give the ones i get away and leave the revocation to future rules. But... it's much easier to stop vassal from becoming too strong if he can't revoke titles! ;) Don't want uberkings...
morningSIDEr- welcome back. And as you want- more warfare! Lots more! And yes, the Crusade was fun. Shame the Pope never tried that again.
DensleyBlair- welcome aboard. Herecy is nice- but you have to be strong enough to survive it! Wouldn't have taken it before Turquetil for the simple reason- i'd be crushed by Holy Wars. When you get it though, it's steamrolling time!
 
yay! update!

the new mongol ruler DOES seem scary. humble, dilligent, brave. result? a stable empire.

and while i agree, carte blanche IS great, the fact that they are filthy catholics allows you to freely revoke their titles(heck, raise the new king a catholic and revoke france as well) enables you to do the same on a MUCH larger scale.
 
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Another fantastic update! Nice to see that the empire is still growing steadily :)

As grumpie says, the new khan does look scary - let's hope he doesn't bother you too much (although, who's to say you wouldn't be able to deal with him?)
 
More of Iberia falls to the Normans and the highly fortified Crete. The Empire still has a chunk of Italy to take. Perhaps the new HRE will face revolts from his Italian vassals. I particularly like the way you mention that Turquetil has 35,000 personal retainers. 100,000 by game end? How's the spread of Morman culture and Cathar eligion going?

I see France retains Iberian territory. Is that next on the list or will you be going to add the Kingdom of France to the list of your King-vassals?