De Hautevilles- Can Anyone Stop the Norman Invasion?

[hjarg]

Last Duchy of Italy

War for Lombardy

Count Luitpold von Nordheim, brother of Kaiser Leopold, was in luck. Not only did he got his grubby little fingers on County of Lombardia, one of the richest counties in the Italy- and in the whole world. Plus, for some strange reason, he managed to become free. No strings attached, no wars required. Luitpold couldn’t believe his luck... and so couldn’t Normans. Free conquest, no strings attached. Guess Luitpold wasn’t the Kaiser’s favourite brother...

Luitpold and his land. Plus, notice Norman armies gathering below.

Granting someone a free county next to Norman lands means conquest. From July 1262 to September 1262, Normans waged war for Lombardia, kicking count Luitpold out of his holdings and sending him back to Germany, much poorer, with his reputation tarnished. Was it clever ploy of Kaiser Leopold or just blind chance? Anyways, Luitpold was destroyed, Lombardia given to her rightful ruler, Duke Geoffrey I de Hauteville and German presence in Italy was again one province less.

War for Susa

The holdings of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy were down to 6 provinces. The Island of Corsica; Brescia, part of the Duchy of Lombardy; Urbino, part of Duchy of Ancona and provinces of Monferrato, Saluzzo and Piedmonte, part of Duchy of Susa. This Duchy was the target for Normans this time. As for resistance- Leopold III was still fighting Queen of Leon and King of Bohemia, plus some new fights under the Duke of Holstein, where independence was the key. So, overall, it was well expected the Kaiser to be too busy to really care about losing the last Duchy in Italy.

As soon as Luitpold was sent nicely back across the Alps, Adelise declared war on Kaiser Leopold III, claiming the Duchy of Susa. By October, all three of Adelise’s armies have sieged the three provinces of Susa. By January 1263, Monferrato and Saluzzo had fallen to Normans. One of the armies was sent to Piedmonte to help with assaults there and by February 1263, all the provinces in Susa were under Norman control. It seemed like the war was about to end.

Normans swarming the Duchy

Meanwhile, Leopold had mustered help from King Istvan of Hungary and Hungarian troops were marching over Hauteville lands to Italy. Two armies were sent to fight the threat, and the armies met in Cremona in June 1263. Hungarians were utterly defeated, only over 2000 of their 12 000 strong army survived the battle. Task of mopping up the remnants was set to local vassals, for there was another crises in Susa.

In June 1263, while Norman armies were fighting Hungarians, a Holy Roman army of 13 000 soldiers crossed the Alps from Savoie and sieged freshly conquered province of Piedmonte. Not wasting much time, Germans assaulted and by August, the province was back in Kaiser’s hands. Only Norman army left in the area was a bit too small to risk a frontal assault, and so the Kaiser’s troops marched unopposed to Saluzzo... only to find the Norman army of 12 000 soldiers waiting in the province, trying to slow down their passage. Normans tried to avoid direct confrontation, instead they did their best to delay the enemy. Small skirmishes, night-battles, all that- until two armies sent to hunt down Hungarians arrived.

While Normans are fighting Hungarians in lower right corner, the dastarly Kaiser managed to sneak some troops in

Of course, they arrived. Smaller one was sent to Piedmonte to regain the castles there, while the larger one was ordered to aid against Kaiser’s army. The battle took place in fields outside Saluzzo in September 1263, and German army suffered the fate similar to all German armies sent across the Alps to fight Normans- they were defeated. This time, their fall was final- not a single German was left of the army, only scattered fools trying to survive. And of course, corpses.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-hr1_nIghvPk/UPQCGpnvaDI/AAAAAAAADH0/7jndKotDGsc/s484/sicily367.jpg]/img]
[I]The Battle of Saluzzo[/I]

As a bonus, Price Diether, third son of the Kaiser Leopold III was captured in battle and was now held in dungeons of Palermo. There will be no plans to ransom him, but perhaps he will be released upon Kaiser's death- to give him a chance to contest the throne and make the lands of Holy Roman Empire engulfed in civil war once again.

[img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vS1iY1UEPs4/UPQCHVFUiHI/AAAAAAAADH8/fEtNem4bVBw/s479/sicily368.jpg
The Captured Prince

That was the end of the war. Normans quickly regained their control of Piedmonte and soon, the Kaiser saw no other chance but to give up yet again. The Duchy of Suse, last Duchy in Italy held by the Kaiser, was Norman. The rest of Kaiser’s Italian holdings were down to 3 provinces. Basically, this meant that German dream of the Holy Roman Empire, an unified land of Germany and Italy, had came to an end. The remaining provinces were drowning in Hauteville green, and though nominally subjects to the Kaiser, in reality Leopold had no power over these lands.

Conquest forecast for this century- Italy will be full green, with sparks of grey!

 

[hjarg]

Another decade, another war with HRE won. Traditions...

grumphie, Nikolai- don't want to stop either, but most of the wars will end up like- i came, i saw, i conquered, next war please. I'll keep on writing for a while and we'll see how this turns out. And Mongols have something coming for sure!
GhostWriter- I'm waiting for 10 year truce (yes, CK2 has 10 years) mostly because there is enough of other targets to conquer. Why concentrate on poor HRE when you have all the world left to conquer
Chief Ragusa - working hard to get there part was more interesting though.

 

[Remitonov]

I see the Pope in Urbino. How convenient... >:}

 

[alhoward]

You should at least conquer all the territories once a part of the Roman Empire before calling it quits. Admittedly the continual blobbing isn't especially interesting, but you need some sort of good stopping point. Can you take the Mongols one on one yet?

 

[cyrileom]

He could probably take both Mongols simultaneously. Mongols have destroyed their granted Hordes fighting with each other, and the Hauteville empire has over 180k troops, vassals, retinues, and personal levies. They also have heavy cavalry as their culture building. There is no possibility that Mongols would have even a fraction of a chance against a force like that.

 

[hjarg]

And again, it's promotion time!

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As you can see, yours truly got an article in, so go and check it out!


Remitonov- Great Scott, you are right! Thanks for the tip, Urbino was always HRE and didn't notice the change. Time to come knocking on Papal door!
alhoward- Gaul and Iberia are owned by HRE, that takes time. Greece and Anatolia are owned by Byzantines, that also takes time. I predict about 100 years or so more before all Roman territories are mine. I don't get the Roman Empire event, right? As for mongols, what cyrileom said- doubt they'd be much of an enemy. I'm still waiting for them to conquer something i really want though.
cyrileom - they fought for about a year, don't know how big toll that took out of their armies. Only problem is that i suffer attrition, so i'd fight them in coastal areas if possible. If the bastards only came and took some nice provinces from example Byzantion...

 

[cyrileom]

One year? They most likely killed off at least half of their remaining troops then. Their stacks must've met over a 1 year period. Though their own levies might be quite powerful. Can you post the ledger log of armies?

 

[hjarg]

You know, you are right. I'm unstoppable! Mwhahahhahahahhahaaaaaaaaaa!

More soldiers then my most powerful enemies combined, more provinces... but i really need to get the HRE toned down, it's still too bloody big (notice, screenshot taken a few years from now, when the HRE is united and the wars over).
Still, i've managed to carve out one very nice Norman Empire

 

[unmerged(58610)]

I see the Aegean Islands and Thessaloniki are independent and small. On the Normans' menu. Those Mogol forces aren't as high as I thought they'd be. If you just fight with the personal retinue it would be interesting. Not really realistic though.

 

[cyrileom]

Actually, I do have an interesting idea: Load up as a bunch of your different vassals, start a faction for one of the kings that has a weak claim, and have a war like that. You'd probably still win, but it would be a great send off.

 

[hjarg]

Back to Iberia and Other Matters

Holy War for Navarre

It was in January 1264, when armies of Adelise had taken a refreshing Mediterranean cruise and sailed from Genoa to Barcelona. It was quite a task- to get all the ships needed to transport such a big army. All the nearby vassals were required to send some ships and the gathering fleet of 500 ships was quite a sight.

Anyways, the troops were in Barcelona and started their march north, where a price known as Duchy of Navarra waited them. Aragonata the Kind, they called the Duchess. She might be Kind, but life for sure hadn’t treated her kindly. Most de Castilla lands, extending to Aragon, Barcelona, Navarra, Murcia and making de Castillas the biggest landowners in the peninsula were now in Norman hands. She had only 4 provinces left, 2 in Navarre, 1 in Castille and 1 in Murcia. Currently, she was in progress of gaining second province in Murcia from Queen of Leon, but she was also about to lose 2 of her remaining ones- for Normans thought Navarre would be a good addition to their lands.

Aragonata only held Viscaya and Najera, the province of Navarra itself was under Leonese control. But that was enough for Normans- so, in January 1264, Adelise declared Holy War for Navarra on Duchess Aragonata.

Since most of the troops of Aragonata were fighting in the Murcia (well, let’s be honest, if they were there, they would have hidden in castles, not coming to open field to meet the Normans), there was no resistance at all.

3 Norman armies had each their own province- one took Viscaya, one took Najera and final army took Murcia- with strict orders not to mess with Navarran conquests. Slowly but surely, the cities fell to assaults and the war was over by June 1264, and Normans had yet again extended their influence over the Iberian peninsula, still leaving Aragonata 2 provinces and 1 to be gained. Yet two more wars before de Castilla family would live on only in history books.

The Doom of Navarre standing and sieging the provinces​

Death of the Emperor

Emperor Skjalg could only enjoy being Emperor for less then 3 years. Young boy, coming for as far away land as Iceland, coming from rather poor conditions to the heart of de Hauteville famed wealth, well- that was too much for him. He ate sweets, he ate meat, he drunk fine wine- and in the nights, it was his duty to keep the lustful Adelise satisfied. Add heat and scorching sun of Sicily to that formula and it was no wonder the boy couldn't handle it. Soon, exhaustion and overeating and -drinking made him ill, the climate didn’t make things better and at the age of 20, he died. Quite happily though, for almost 3 years, he was on top of the world. He died in April 1264, only feeling sorry not being able to live the good life a bit more.

Skjalg I died of exhaustion. Tough when your wife is a lustful Empress​

We all know though- the Empress cannot be without a husband. That is unheard of! The search begun when Skjalg was still alive, in order to replace the Emperor as soon as possible. They searched far and wide, until in Byzantine Empire, man named Nikolaos Kantakouzenos was found. Simple courtier from Mesembria, province bordering Norman Thrace. Nikolaos was distant relative of current count, Evangelos of Kantakouzenos. Distant enough not to have any claims on the province, so Count Evangelos could release him without expecting him to come back in a few days with several thousand Normans.

Nikolaos was an educated man. Brilliant, brave, adventurous. Financial genius, but also kind and charitable, he was a true renaissance man, if you pardon me for skipping a few centuries in order to describe him. A scholar, a fighter, a poet. Well-versed in everything he did. A true find- with only one but...

Nikolaos was a truly brilliand, albeit a bit stubborn man​

He did not agree to be married matrilineally. He wanted his children to bear the name of Kantakouzenos. Both Count Evangelos and Nikolaos were adamant on that part, and no negotiation skill of Norman envoys could sway their mind. No gifts, no pleas, nothing could change their stubborn minds- until Adelise gave in.

After all, she had 3 male sons, all with good attributes- so the chance of her extra babies gaining the throne of the Empire and ruling under the Kantakouzenos name was out of the question. Especially when Normans would be sure to resist- who would want to live in Kantakouzenos Empire when they can’t even pronounce the name? So, agreement was reached, Nikolaos was put on a ship and shipped to Palermo.

He and Adelise married just 4 days after the death of poor Skjalg. The lavish fest in Palermo lasted for a week, and the last guests left after two month. The couple seemed to get on well, even though the first time they saw each other was at the wedding. Soon, Adelise walked around with round belly, carrying Kantakouzenos inside her. As for Nikolaos, he got promoted to steward of the Empire was was a very happy man.

The Marriage of Adelise and Nikolaos.​

Brotherly Love

King Walther II of Egypt was a kind man. He loved his family, especially his younger brother Joscelin. Their father Walther I had left both of them with plenty of lands- and Walther increased Joscelins holdings even further.

Egypt had been pushing steadily south, first to the lands of southern Egypt, Duchy of Aswan, and then to the lands of Abyssinia, conquering Axum. Joscelin had been one of the prime benefactors of these conquests- owning half of Axum. But to him, that was not enough. With Dukes of Damietta and Cairo, he conspired against his own brother, finally giving him an ultimatum and forcing him to give up the throne of Egypt.

Old and New Kings of Egypt​

Now, lands of Egypt were divided into two- Joscelin controlled half of Axum, Cairo and Damietta; while Walter I controlled Alexandria, Aswan and the southern half of Axum. Since Walther had another King title, a titular Kingdom of Nubia, created by former Sultan of Egypt after he lost his sultanate to Normans, Egypt was now divided by two Norman kings. Feuding, but at least not fighting each other.

And the division of Egypt​

Other Norman Conquests

When Duchess Melusine II of Badajoz (owning only one province of the title, mind you) revolted against his liege, Kaiser Leopold III of the Holy Roman Empire, she knew she was going to have a hard time. But, she could not expect the worse- Duke Fruela I de Hauteville of Cordoba took advantage of her situation and took the province of Badajoz from her, leaving her almost defenceless against Leopold.

The Sheikdom of Marrakech was all that was left from once strong Muslim states of Africa. North Africa, that was once full of Muslim nations that terrorized the Christians all over Western Mediterranean, was now thoroughly catharized, normanized and pacified. Marrakech was the only Muslim state left in the area, too distant for anyone to care. Until Doge Raymond of Fes decided it would be a good time to kick the Muslims out. Other nearby rulers joined the war, gathered their forces and joined a good Muslim-hunt not seen around here for hundred years. Soon, the fortresses of Marrakech fell and all Africa was Norman.

 

[hjarg]

And no promotions this time, but an actual update! Rejoice! For a change, less wars and more internal affairs!

Chief Ragusa- both will be taken. Eventually. Unfortunately, Byzantine lands require me to get proper CBs, simple Holy War isn't enough.
cyrileom - good idea! But i think i'll use it for the grand finale

 

[Nikolai]

I certainly hope no "accidents" happen to those 3 sons...

 

[hjarg]

Free Trade Zone of Ireland

Bit of History

Ireland was normally divided into different warring clans. Small clan-wars made the life unstable and the people unhappy. And occasionally, either dead or horribly mutilated. That changed back in 1121, over 150 years ago. Murchad, Duke of Meath, of Ua Cheinnselaig clan, managed to claim enough power to declare himself King of all Ireland. Some clans resisted, but with wars happening during the next decades, they were also beaten into submission and Ireland was united against all the enemies. Even better, they managed to push the Irish influence over the sea and Mabille I, current queen of Wales, calls herself proudly Ua Cheinnselaig. To make matters more interesting, she is also Queen of Scotland. In addition, Ireland also owns lands in both Wales and Scotland.

All was fine in Ireland, until current King Diarmait I came to throne. It was when his grandfather, King Gilla-Coluim marries his eldest son of to Duchess Svanhild of Orkney, of Norwegian origins. As a result, Ireland gained Island of Shetland to the personal demesne of the King- but also, Diarmait took too much into her mother and considered himself more Norwegian then Irish.

Gilla-Coluim was the King of Ireland for over 50 years and died back in 1250 at the age of 83. He was a legendary ruler, dubbed Great by historians and his subjects alike. He held the Ireland in his iron grip and all was well in the Kingdom. Matudan, his eldest son and husband to Duchess of Orkney didn’t even live that long to inherit, so the throne was passed to eldest son of Matudan, Demman I. He was a strange fellow. Didn’t want to get married, was obsessed with wars and him being the greatest warrior ever and all that. He ruled for 8 years, until he died in battlefield, leaving no heirs behind.

First King of Ireland, the Greatest king of Ireland, Queen of Wales, granddaughter of Gilla-Coluim and finally, mother of current King of Ireland

His second brother, Diarmait I came to throne then. Being more Norwegian then Irish created tensions between himself and his vassals. But when he introduced Rakfish, the traditional Norwegian dish (take a fish, ferment if for a few month, serve raw and eat while holding your nose so you don’t feel the smell), as main course in his Royal feasts, the vassals exploded. Well, puked first, then stormed out to get some fresh air and then exploded.

Rakfish, the cause of Irish civil war

Soon, all of Ireland was in rebellion, trying to dethrone Diarmait and get his second son, Skjalg, as a King. Though Skjalg considered himself as a Norwegian too, he promised to ban Rakfish from all the Ireland. That was enough that all vassals rebelled and Ireland was thrown into chaos once again.

King of Ireland and his rebellious son

Holy Wars for Ireland

Normans were not above using the situation to their advantage. The green, lush and rich island was something that would make a fine jewel to the Empire of Hautevilles and well, the situation was just to be good not to exploit.

Duchess Lann I of Leinster was the first target. Fully owning a 2-province Duchy, her armies away in war and all that- would make a perfect target to get a bridgehead to Ireland. Was was declared in July 1264. Armies of Adelise were idling in Navarre, and fleets were recruited from local vassals to ship them to Ireland.

In the beginning of August, Norman fleet, with 2 armies onboard, arrived at the shores of Ireland. Lann had been quick to ask for help of Teutonic knights and when the Normans arrived in Leinster, the combined Irish-Teutonic force was there to meet them. Though they fought bravely, Normans outnumbered them over 5:1 and of course, the battle of Ferns was won, with almost no casualties from Normans.

The Norman invasion of Ireland begins

Then, one army was beginning the siege, while another chased the enemies to Ossory, then to Kildare, where armies of Lann and Teutons were completely annihilated. Meanwhile, the first army took the holdings of Leighlin, Ferns and Wexford in quick series of assaults. Guess the Irish had not learned the first lesson of fighting the Normans- if you don’t want the war to be over too quick, build better castles. Loss of her armies and brutal Norman assaults made Lann to give up and by October 1264, Normans were proud owners of Leinster.

Kildare, a province belonging to Duke Finnsneshate II of Munster, was formally part of Duchy of Meath, so unfortunately, this war would only net one province to the Normans. War was declared in October 1264. Normans marched there, but the province was heavily defended and didn’t fall until January 1267. Normans moved on to Munster.

Even though Munster well, Duke Finnsneshate was not ready to give up quite yet, so to pass the time, Normans declared war on Muiredach I of Ulster in May 1267. Though Ulster controlled only 2 counties from his 4-county Duchy, rest were property of the King, it was deemed “good enough” by Normans and soon, Norman armies were in his holdings. Meanwhile, Duke of Munster gave up, ceding province of Kildare. Normans celebrated it with finally declaring war on King Diarmait I, claiming the lands of Munster.

The situation in summer of 1267

The third Army of Adelise was shipped in to celebrate and in August 1267, a year after the first two armies landed on soil of Ireland, the army landed in Desmond, sieging the southern Ireland.

In October, Duke Miredach I of Ulster gave up, giving all his lands to Normans. That also meant that the Dukes of Ireland had been defeated, now was time for the King to take the Norman beating. But- King Diarmait I had recruited help of King Nicholas III of England, and fearful of his new Norman neighbours, King decided to help out the Irish. In November, an army of 23 000 English crossed the sea and landed in Ireland, promptly attacking Norman army of 14 000 soldiers. The other army nearby marched to help and soon, it was the English time to be outnumbered. To make things even better, third army was quickly loaded into ships and Battle of Armagh soon turned into English panic. English Normans were suddenly facing 40 000 Sicilian Normans instead of 14 000. As a result, 14 000 English was also the number of their fatalities in the battlefield when the battle of Armagh ended in December 1265. Normans started to chase the English survivors, when everything changed.

English Intervention in the beginning- and it's sad end.

King Diarmait I had died at the end of the year, choking while eating his loved Rakfish. His son and heir, King Halkjell II, a proper Irish, banned the food and ended the civil war, forgiving his brother Skjalg. Ireland was united again, but it was too little too late. Plus, it was good timing form Normans, for Duke of Connacht held some holdings in Munster that were now also automatically part of the Holy War against the Duchy.

Realizing the futility of the fight, Halkjell II signed the peace in January 1266. He could not undo the damage his father had done to the kingdom. In their campaign lasting 1,5 years, Normans had taken control of most of Ireland, gaining 8 provinces (while Kingdom of Ireland has 5), destroying 2 Dukes, curbing power of one and taking one Duchy from personal demesne of the King. Ireland was de facto Norman, and all that thanks to Rakfish. Incidentally, the first law king Halkjell II passed was banning Rakfish from all Ireland, under threat of severe death- if one would be found in the possession of Rakfish, he will be fed Rakfish until he dies of it.

The New King of Ireland- what a time to come to throne...

Norman Ireland was declared Free Trade Zone. All the occupied land was given to different de Hautevilles as Republic holdings. Normans were expecting great profits from Ireland in just 20-30 years, when things have calmed down and Ireland pacified.

The Brittish Isles after Norman Conquest. Scotland is in disarray and Ireland has still some nice holdings in the main island.

Other News

There was finally peace in the Holy Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. Doux Aveidis, who had been trying to force elective monarchy on the Empire, had came to agreement with Basileous Ioannikos I and the hostilities were ceased. Of course, that didn't last for long as Doux Eugenios of Damascus started his war for the Empire, backed by Doux of Paphalgonia. The Empire was traditionally engulfed in a civil war yet again. As for Kaiser Leopold and Queen Peronelle of Leon, the war ended in more unfriendly terms. Peronelle, now aged 13, was captured by the Emperor and put to prison. What a way to start your teenage life- when all the boys around you are old, smelly and otherwise useless prison guards...

A young girl waiting for his prince to save him from the dungeon...

 

[hjarg]

Oh my, the poor AAR almost fell to the third page. Anyways, back up here again Here we go- yet another Kingdom under Norman power!

Nikolai- if it happens, heads will roll! I'm pretty sure it's all safe though.

 

[DensleyBlair]

Nice landgrab with Ireland - I'm sure the Emerald Isle will make a nice addition to the Norman Crown.

 

[unmerged(58610)]

When the Irish are pacified... good luck with that - come back in a thousand years and let me know how that went.
Poor Queen Peronelle waiting for her prince to rescue her from prison.

What's the biggest duchy in England? Time for it to become Norman.

Egypt is a bit of a mess. Anything Adelise can do to help out?

Since the Pope's gained himself lands outside of Norman control, there's no real reason to let him keep those cities any more.

Is it time to play with the Germans again? The Byzantines are having all those civil wars without invitingthe Normans to join in. Most remiss of them, I say.



...

 

[unmerged(366901)]

Good luck with Ireland. We Brits have had less than an easy time with them.

 

[cyrileom]

Normans aren't Brits. They don't tolerate revolts. You revolt, they murder you and all your cousins. They'll kill all the Irish if necessary.

 

[Last_Revanant]

Having read the entire AAR thus far in the past two days, I eagerly await the next update!