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You've got 14 holdings as King of Sicily. Which provinces are they in, besides Palermo, Trapani and Girgenti? Are there any other personal holdings outside Sicily?

I note you're creating the Serene Republic of Venice - at least its territories. Will you be looking to join your Venetian holdings to your Sicilian holdings by conquering the Duchies of Ferrara and Spoletto?
 
You've got 14 holdings as King of Sicily. Which provinces are they in, besides Palermo, Trapani and Girgenti? Are there any other personal holdings outside Sicily?

I note you're creating the Serene Republic of Venice - at least its territories. Will you be looking to join your Venetian holdings to your Sicilian holdings by conquering the Duchies of Ferrara and Spoletto?

To put it simple- i have Sicily and Calabria. Palermo, Trapani, Grigenti, Syracusa and Malta from Sicily and Messina, Reggio and Catanzo from Calabria. No holdings anywhere else. The main bonus for that is that whenever there is war, i have my main army ready in less then a month- buggers are called to service, put on a boat, sailed to Palermo and before anyone realizes, 15 000 soldiers are ready to rain doom upon the enemy. Plus, there will be less dukes whining i want that province you're holding.

Here's a nice picture of holdings as well:

sicily133.jpg


As for Ferrara and Spoleto- yes, yes, yes, and rest of Italian states as well.

grumphie- for getting Midas Touched, i use the following- i personally raise the child, to make sure doesn't get any bad-bad traits, then, when where is less then a month left until he's 16, i give education to someone who has midas touched and hope for the best.
And thanks for the tip- kinda have done it, especially with Venice.
As for the capturing the poor Count- hehe, i got Palermo exactly the same way! Captured the poor sheik! Though i was in better condition then you- mercenaries helped me out. And- don't overstretch too fast, take rest of Sicily and then move to Africa.
 
To put it simple- i have Sicily and Calabria. Palermo, Trapani, Grigenti, Syracusa and Malta from Sicily and Messina, Reggio and Catanzo from Calabria. No holdings anywhere else. The main bonus for that is that whenever there is war, i have my main army ready in less then a month- buggers are called to service, put on a boat, sailed to Palermo and before anyone realizes, 15 000 soldiers are ready to rain doom upon the enemy. Plus, there will be less dukes whining i want that province you're holding.

Here's a nice picture of holdings as well:

sicily133.jpg


As for Ferrara and Spoleto- yes, yes, yes, and rest of Italian states as well.

grumphie- for getting Midas Touched, i use the following- i personally raise the child, to make sure doesn't get any bad-bad traits, then, when where is less then a month left until he's 16, i give education to someone who has midas touched and hope for the best.
And thanks for the tip- kinda have done it, especially with Venice.
As for the capturing the poor Count- hehe, i got Palermo exactly the same way! Captured the poor sheik! Though i was in better condition then you- mercenaries helped me out. And- don't overstretch too fast, take rest of Sicily and then move to Africa.

well, i DID save over 60 gold with that. im now almost in full control of sicily(only malta&another county left) and, due me going over my very small demsne limit, gave one county there to my son and heir. almost the whole realm(save for the stupid prince bishop) is my dynasty and im the father in law of the kign of france. the heir of the initial king, his brother, was unmarried and hated his him. i invited him to my court, married my sister to him, and six days later the king dies in combat against william of normandy, vs a meager 200 man army. sicily is already producing troops(they got converted quite fast) so im basicly ruinign the muslims with my heavy cav financed by a papal 200 gold. im currently still holding palmero and sycrauze(or whatever that city is named), but im probaly giving sycauze away. its abrely making any gold anyway. from reading, i understand taht you have palmero in your own demnse, woudlnt you make MROE money if a vassel had it(45% tax rate+liking you=more than 25%))?

i am ina very good finanacial state though. never needed to hire mercs, and while iw as initially attacked by tripolintia in the middle of a civil war, the HRE cam eto my aid. free money:p

you do have a muchmore centered dmense then me useally. im going to try that out somtimes. hate it when half my army is stuck 100km away while the other half is getting slaughtered.
 
@grumphie

I'd be interested in reading your game as an aar.

@hjarg

Simple is the best way! 15,000 Normans descending on the enemy is a very effective diplomatic device. Bohemond III King of Italy would only be what his ancestors would expect.
 
@grumphie

I'd be interested in reading your game as an aar.

@hjarg

Simple is the best way! 15,000 Normans descending on the enemy is a very effective diplomatic device. Bohemond III King of Italy would only be what his ancestors would expect.

my game as an AAR o_O
maybe another time, and another game. i want to record my game sin those cases to look back at them if required.
im now only needing malta for sicily and snatched napoli and capua. my court is COMPLETLY full though, so there hasnt been any birth here in years. with some luck ill be able to grab sardinia and corsica from tuscany and tripolianta though. i lost my allaince with france because a random duke aquired it. palmero IS making a crapton of cash though. i dont een want to know how much it would without me holding it.
 
Go West!

End of Kabylia, 1177-1178


Sheikh Azam of Ouled Nail was the last remnant of Emirate of Kabylia. Controlling 2 provinces deep inland, next to impassable Sahara desert, he had held on. Mostly because Normans did not care much for the Ouled Nail and Biskra, though the provinces themselves were surprisingly rich and prosperous. But now, it was to take back everything and make Duchy of Algiers complete. Or well, almost complete, Altas Mountains were in the hands of Mauretania.

War was declared in the end of December 1177, Norman troops arrived to Ouled Nail in April 1178 and proceeded to assault the castles. Meanwhile, the Ouled Nail troops had managed to avoid the invading army and moved to Sicilian lands. Second army was brought in and Ouled Nail’s army was beaten in battle in July 1178.

sicily134.jpg

The Sicilian forces battling around remnants of Kabylia.

It was in September 1178 when Sheikh Azam finally surrendered, gave up his lands and flet to Mauretania. With that, every county and holding of the former Emirate of Kabylia, bane of Christians, was safely under Norman control.

After this was, a young man who had shown shrewdness and tactical skill in battle, was appointed as a new marshal. Simon de Hauteville, aged 28 and the best marshal Sicily has ever had.

sicily135.jpg

Now that's what i'd like to call a proper military skill!

More of Foreign News

From Caliphate- Caliph had signed a white peace with Kingdom of Syria in the beginning of 1177. A bit over a year later, Syrians were at it again, declaring yet another independence war on Caliphate.

As for Byzantium. End of the Doukas rule. Basileus Nikolaus I was overthrown by Eudoxia I Doukas, a distant relative and a grandchild of Basileus Konstantios IX, who ruled 1086-1117. She managed to rule for 2 years, before dying, apparently from natural causes. She was married to Eugenius Kometoupoulos, and Byzantine Empire was inherited by her son, Hovhannes II. The Doukas rule was at the end, but nothing was simple in Byzantium. The new ruler, not feeling happy with the corruption and decay of the Constantinople, moved his capital away. Far away. To the coast of Caspian sea, province called Shirvan.

The result: Count Konstantinos of Taron, son of Basileos Nikephoros III (4 rulers ago) and incidentally, son of Mabel de Hauteville, the Empress of Byzantine Empire, had taken up arms with several other Byzantine rulers from the East to take back the throne. While in the west, several Duchies saw their chance for independence. The whole county was in disarray, all fighting amongst each other and Muslims were invading Azerbadian. Is this the end of Byzantines? Time will tell, but they will be certainly weakened by infighting.

sicily136.jpg

The whole map used to be so royally purple...

Holy War for Tlemcen, 1179-1181

Sultanate of Mauretania is the westernmost of Muslim nations, extending beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Ruled by al-Murabitun dynasty from their founding, they were force to be reckoned with. It was from here the Muslims sailed to Spain, defeating the visigoths back in 711 and creating the Kingdom of Al-Andalus. It was from here they watched as Al-Andalus was divided into small bickering states and it was from here they watched as Christians took over the Iberia. They did not only watch, they also interfered- they took their armies across the Strait to Spain, they fought the Christians, they even took some lands from the Christians, but in the end, they were beaten back. Mauretanian’s did not give up though. Even now, they were fighting with Galicia for the control of Seville.

As for Sicilians, Mauretania did not have almost any contact. When Sicily was picking up remnants of Kabylia, they intervened once, but the war was over before the Mauretanians could muster their armies and meet Sicily in the field of battle. But Bohemond was intent to change that one- time for Sicilians to march further west.

In October 1179, war was declared on Mauretania, claiming the Duchy of Tlemcen. Mauretanian forces were busy with Galicia, fighting over Seville. In December, main force of Bohemond, from his personal demesnes, had arrived in Orania. The castle there had nearly 2000 soldiers in garrison, but that did not stop Sicilians. By the end of December, Oran was under Norman control, though the Sicilians lost more then 2000 soldiers of their own sieging it. The rest of the assaults took their time, for Normans needed time to prepare after their last bloody assault, but by March, Orania was under Sicilian control.

sicily137.jpg

The Duchy in question

Normans marched south, to Tlemcen- and were in for a really nasty surprise. The castle of Tlemcen had over 3000 soldiers defending her walls. With only 13 000 Normans left, Bohemond dared not to assault, but instead waited until the castle weakened. A bit of reinforcements were brought from Africa, totalling Sicily’s forces to 18 000 men. And in November 1180, when the castle had been under siege for more then half a year, Normans finally assaulted.

sicily138.jpg

The Castle of Tlemcen- biggest one i've seen yet.

It was bloody. Muslim archers showered Normans with arrows, their boiling water burned Normans, the rocks they threw crushed Norman skulls. The siege ladders were pushed back, the screams of the men falling with them deafening. The huge siege towers on fire and the smell of burning human flesh in the air. The walls of castle red with blood, good Norman blood.

In the end, the Normans broke through. First, one man managed to make it to the walls. Axe in his hands, screaming like his viking forefathers, he was terrifying. The Muslims fell by the numbers as he blindly charged amongst them, swinging his axe like a true berserker. Then, there was other and yet another and soon, this section of the wall was under Norman hands. They charged onwards, to the gatehouse, and managed to open the gates. Now, it was Muslim turn to bleed. Normans, crazed into seeing their brothers, fathers, sons and friends murdered by Muslims, were seeking revenge. Anyone who was a soldier, looked like a soldier, looked like he knew some soldiers and even quite a number of the people who did not look at all like soldiers, or even men or grown-ups were slaughtered. Bohemond let his troops to have fun for 3 days, then gathered the men and marched onwards.

sicily139.jpg

And the bloodiest assault to date.

Their ranks were thinned- nearly half of the army died at the walls of Tlemcen. The survivors rested under the walls of Sidi-bel-Abbes, preparing for the next assault. It was until the end of January 1181 though, when the new assault was made. This time, much less bloody and the city was Sicilian.

It was also time when Nizzamadin I, the Sultan of Mauretania, had enough. His offer for peace arrived in February 1181, and the Duchy of Tlemcen was Sicilian. Normans had already fought two wars with Sultanate of Mauretania, but still there had been no battles.

sicily140.jpg

The end of the war- at least Sicily won!

The Duchy was made a merchant republic and given to yet another de Hauteville.

Coming of Age of Bohemond

It was in June 1180 when Bohemond, the heir to the throne, became 16 years old. He was betrothed to Alienora de Hauteville, daughter of Duke Wymund I of Apulia. A genius child of an imbecile ruler- strange are the ways of God. The children had been betrothed for couple of years now and Alienora, was tutored by King Bohemond himself, so for long time, the children had met on daily basis and had grown fond of each other.

sicily141.jpg

Bohemond and Alienora, future King and Queen of Sicily

The wedding was held in September, when Alienora became 16. The marriage was consummated soon and as a winter turned into spring, the growing belly of Alienora was no secret for anyone. Year after marriage, in September 1181, a son named Turquetil was born to Bohemond and Alienora- and looking at the child, the future of Sicily seemed to be certain.

sicily142.jpg

How do we know Turquetil is a genius? Because he was reciting Vergilius when arriving to this world and proved Pytharogas theorem few hours after his birth!

We go North next!

This time, to Ancona. Concillor Fraunk de Hauteville had managed to forge a claim to city of Ancona, and soon that would fall into Bohemond’s hands. Now though, the sheer cost of money of faking the claim had forced Sicily into debt for the first time in decades. The war would have to wait as well, for the previous peace with Emperor Otto IV still lasts until 1186.

sicily143.jpg

The pure cost of faking claims has gone through the roof.
 
Some proper AAR as well for a change! :)

Chief Ragusa- Bohemond of Italy would be good. But- i have only 7 provinces and i need at least 16 to create the kingdom, so perhaps it would be a job for next Bohemond to finish
grumphie- glad you're doing well! :) And another Hauteville AAR is always a good thing! As for Palermo- the city makes more money for me personally because of 2 things- my stewardship score added to income and my steward collecting taxes from that province- meaning i make tons of more money keeping it to myself then being under mayor.
 
Why settle for King of Italy? The Byzantines falling apart like that, Emperor of Byzantium is one the cards for Bohemond IV. I hope Bohemond III has enough years left to get some royal title added.
A Marshal with military skill of 30 is the reason the Sultan of Mauretania doesn't commit troops. He'd just be sending them to their deaths. Steady progress in north Africa. How close is Bohemond to the title of King of Africa?
 
im doing very well. cristians a tad less well(there is barely any cristian left in iberia), the byzantines are broken in civil war with the seljuks marhcing on them, and im saving up for a king title. only salerno isnt under my control in siciliy.

normas have one BIIIIIIIIG advantage. squire lists. 30 heavy cav for free is always nice. did you go to war with the papacy yet for that barony thats NOT owned by apulia initially?

i wonder, is there anyoen that can even HOPE to defeat you? with all the lands taken and civil wars, i suppose ERE and shia's are in no state to even threatehn you, but hwo about the seljuks and HRE? i wonder how well youll fare if the sunni's go jihading for your lands, with the sejuks, mauritania, and every muslim on the world joinign in. that should be a little setback for even the might de hautvilles. ncie to hear that your doign well though. i wonder how much the genius of sicily will achieve(if there is actually anythign LEFT to achieve)

i might do a AAR later, but first im waiting for SoI and 1.06. no need to break a savegame if youa lready initiated the AAR.

EDIT: im now in control of the full de jure lands of scicily, with all count level holdings in my dynasty. im nwo planning to invade tripoliniata, but im not sure if ill make the conquered holdigs city or castle counties. theyre not exeptionally rich, nor with lots of place for more cities, but on the other hand, it IS a full coastal duchy.
 
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i turned it into a doge duchy. it isnt rich as could be, but itl do the job. i can revoke them later anyway. my heir is quite decent, but half his children are arab portraits(due to the best steward wife that wasnt syphilic or caste was a levantine). the initial duke is still going strong at 70, while i want him to die so i can snatch sardinia from old tripoli(now sardinia) before genoa gets it and make that my rich doge duchy. toscana suprisingly SUCCEEDED in gaining independence in a massive civil war, so now toscana and a random prince bishop next to the capital are independent pf the HRE. so there are lands to be gained in my north. the seljuk turks launched their second attack on armenia and won, and are slowly crawling on the ERE with other islamic duchies due to the byzantines having maybe 3000 men max. my army is still not too large(about 3-4k at max), but sicily is still being clensed from just conquered diffrent religion, and my vassels hate me for switching to progemiture and increasing CA, resulting in a penalty of about 80. so my vassel levies are about as low as possible.

thinking of it, you should try to put some family members ont he throne of france or some other thrones. they could be valuable allies and increase your domination over europe.
 
I'm curious how you've managed to avoid any serious secession crisis. It seems every time my ruler dies, I have to fight half my vassals off. Is there any trick or exploit you are using?
 
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Four Wars and Some Funerals

Being a King is a Ruthless Job


That thought was going on in Bohemond’s head as he ordered death of Bernardo d’Este, a less then a year old toddler. The poor baby, being smothered to death by his accomplice, was unable to offer any resistance and died quietly. His mother, struck by grief and poison, followed him a week after. All that because Azzo d’Este, child’s father and mother’s husband, would be a free man again. It was Azzo who had come to court of Palermo, invited by Bohemond, hoping that King would help him to gain his rightful Duchy. Rightful meaning that someone couldn’t bare the burden of being the second son and was hoping to be called Duke. His dreams were almost true- he was married matrilineally to Lesceline de Hauteville, and when there would be son, he would be the next Duke. Just... Azzo hadn’t realized that he must die to achieve that.

sicily145.jpg

Mother and son, victims of ruthless dynastic wars

The same fate awaited Folkmar von Lenzburg, but this time, luckily, with no babies. Still, he arrived in Palermo, his current wife met an unfortunate accident and he was married matrilineally to another de Hauteville. With these 2 breeding machines in place, at least Lombardia and Corsica would soon be Sicilian and Norman invasion to rich lands of Sicily would continue. After some more blood being shed- some people must die so that others can rule far away lands.

Was it heavenly revenge on baby-killing, bad karma, or just a coincidence, we can never tell. About a month after the death of Bernanrdo, Petronella Branas, Queen of Sicily, took ill and after a few days of struggle, died. Bohemond grieved, but remarried quickly, with another de Hauteville, Cundo, daughter of Duke of Jerusalem and a cousin of Bohemond. Babies arrived later, and none of them had pigs tails, so no inbreeding.

War for Hellas, 1183-1184

It was Petronella’s inheritance that triggered the next war. She had a claim on a county of Hellas, part of the Duchy of Athens, for her mother was the countess and Branas dynasty had ruled there for more then a 100 years. Now, it was time for a change, for Oswulf de Hauteville, second son of King Bohemond and Petronella, had just became 16, wanted a land of his own to govern and the Hellas was just there, ripe for the taking. Few years back, Bohemond perhaps would have not undertaken such a venture, for fighting with the Byzantines for this small tract of land would be pointless and dangerous, but Doux Ioannes, ruler of Athens, had just fought his independence from Empire and was enjoying first signs of freedom.

Half a year after winning the war against Byzantines and gaining his precious freedom, he learned out the hard way that freedom has its consequences. Consequences were 12 000 Normans sailing to Hellas in September 1183 and sieging the castle there.

Same time, Bohemond, firstborn of Bohemond, was given county of Malta to rule until it would be his time to take the throne of Sicily.

Naupaktos, the first castle, was also the strongest. Bohemond did not rush with the siege this time, but waited patiently for half a year and then ordered reinforcements from his demesne and with 17 000 men, he stormed the castle and took it. Last of the castles fell in March 1184 and Norman army marched towards Athens, where they attacked Athenian army of over 2000 men that was soundly beaten. In April, Doux Ioannes finally gave up third of his new freedom. Bohemond had on the other hand taken first step towards the Byzantine lands.

War for Attaleia, 1184-1185

It was more then 100 years ago, when Odo, fourth son of Duke Robert, founder of de Hautevilles, married Chrysogone, sole child of Duke Manuel I of Samos. She had lost his father when she was still a child and she had already agreed to take the hand of Odo in marriage when she was just a small child. Their children were de Hautevilles, though greek to the bone, were still proud of their family and carried de Hauteville name with pride. Isaakios I, current Doux of Samos and grand-grand-grandchild of Odo was already 54 years old.

sicily146.jpg

Duke Isaakios of Samos, grand-grand-grand-grand-grandchild of Robert Guiscard de Hauteville, Duke of Apulia

Just like many other rulers in Byzantine, he had used the situation in Empire to gain freedom and like many others, he used his freedom to do the most sensible thing- attack his neighbours to gain more land. This time, the target was Attaleia, a province in the Anatolia. Since de Hautevilles of Byzantine and Sicily had always gotten on well, he asked King Bohemond for his support- and support was given.

Bohemond joined the war in April 1184, before the Hellas war was even over. When the war ended, Sicilian fleet did not sail the warriors home, but instead, sailed them to Eastern Mediterranean. They arrived in the end of May and sieged the province there. With more then 2000 defenders, Bohemond did not dare to assault at the first possible moment. Only in September, the assault took the city and later, in March 1185, the Normans took another just as well-defended city. Then, the enemy had given up, Attaleia was safely in the hands of Greek de Hautevilles and for time, Bohemond’s adventures in Byzantion came to an end.

sicily147.jpg

... and target of Isaakios's ambitions
War for Istria, 1185

Count Lambert von Zähringen had lost almost everything. In his quest for freedom, he had broken free of the Holy Roman Empire, leaving him a vulnerable target. He was Duke of Carinthia back then, but fighting with his counts and a quick war with the Emperor left him nothing but a Count of Istria- and he was about to lose that as well, for Bohemond has the claim. Or rather, will have the claim after Gottfried von Zähringen, another courtier dies under mysterious circumstances.

In was in June when Gottfried died and his son, Raymond de Hauteville, inherited the claim. It was also the same day when Bohemond declared war on Lambert. 13 000 Normans landed in Istria, took their usual stance when attacking European castles- full assault and in the last day of July, Istria was under Sicilian hands and Lambert had truly lost everything. Raymond on the other hand gained a county and Bohemond took yet another province from sovereign lands of the Holy Roman Empire. The war had lasted only 1,5 month.

sicily148.jpg

The events that started and ended the war

War for Ancona, 1186

Prince Adelard, a third son of Bohemond, came also to an age and was married to Princess Romilda of the Holy Roman Empire. Bohemond did not think that through- it also meant that he and Emperor were allies and the direct result was that Emperor Otto IV asked him to help with the war with Padua- just when Normans were preparing an assault on Empire. Bohemond was forced to agree.

Bohemond did not lift a finger to help the Emperor, but nevertheless, war ended in May 1186. The 10-year truce with Emperor ended in March and as soon as the embarrassing business of being allies was over, Bohemond went to war with the Empire, to make use of his very expensive claim of Ancona.

By the end of June, Norman main force had arrived in Ancona, taken the province and marched on to Spoleto. Bohemond did not use full army of his demesne, for the lands of Italy were not rich enough to sustain such an army- instead, he took only 12 000 from Palermo and rest were kept in reserve. 12 000 Normans was more then enough though to win all the sieges with ease.

In the same time, African troops, bolstered by Genoan forces, landed in Lucca. Thus begun the quick siege game again- province after province fell into Norman hands while the Emperor was gathering troops in the north. By the end of December, the Sicilians held enough land in the Italy to force Emperor to sign peace, making Ancona yet another conquest of the Normans.

sicily149.jpg

Situation in October- Normans running loose on Italy with no Germans to stop them

Prince Adelard was nominated as a doge of Ancona and he moved there with Princess Romilda of the Holy Roman Empire. How the poor Romilda must have felt, moving into land just conquered from her father, history remains silent.

Yet Another War?

The 4 wars had all something in common- no major battles were fought. Either Normans moved so quickly that there would be no time to gather armies or the forces of the enemy were just too small to even mention. Or enemy just feared Normans and tried to avoid open conflict with them.

All the wars were fast, lasting mainly under a year, with quick assaults and rapid expansion. The Germans started to call the Norman way of war Blitzkrieg, for Normans were quick, came unexpected and when need arose, they could gather their armies to pull a deadly blow to the enemy.

It was in November 1186, when the war with the Empire was still underway, when Gerbert I, Duke of Galilee and grandson of the greatest King of Sicily, Asclettin, did something unexpected- and unexpectedly stupid. He raised his flags and his troops, claiming to be rightful King of Sicily and was planning to fight Bohemond for the Kingdom. It was the first time ever Sicily would be caught in civil war.

sicily150.jpg

Wonder if he really hopes to win this war?
 
Cheif Ragusa- as you can see, i started with Byzantion. Perhaps i'll even be an Emperor some day, but it's not easy to usurp the title. As for King of Africa- Bohemond is that since times of Asclettin, but Mauretania is just 2 provinces and 1 war away! :)
alhoward- what grupmhie said! Some bribes, good diplomatic score and well- all my vassals are family. Not much, but it helps. Another thing is- i've personally raised all my Kings from childhood, taking care that they get no bad traits if it is at all possible to avoid them.
grupmpie- as for anyone opposing me- at the moment, i think not anymore. Byzantines are crumbling, i'll talk about the sad fate of Seljuk Turks in an update or two, i'm beating HRE so quickly the buggers don't even understand what is going on and everyone else is a small fish compared to Sicily. Perhaps Mongols will be able to stop the Sicilian war machine?

And i must say, you have done even greater job them myself as de Hautevilles. Oh, and how did you manage to marry a muslim woman? And by gods, Robert has some very impressive stats!
 
Yes, I forgot Asclettin was King of Africa. Good that Bohemond III can become King of Mauretania. It's not a big title, but it fills a space on a page - just as Bohemond does as King of Sicily. A civil war. Bohemond is going to end up with all the Duchies of the Kingdom of Jerusalem under his sway.

The Normans do wage effective warfare. The Byzantines will find that out.
 
Four Wars and Some Funerals
-snip le massive post-
sicily150.jpg

Wonder if he really hopes to win this war?


one thing i do find strange: shouldnt you ahve seen his rebellion coming? unless it was a plot you should have had a notification of it.
also, the mongols SHOULD be able to at least enforce a norman defeat on the field ONCE(though i have no hopes for them winning the whole war). on the other hand, they do have a nasty habit of going to scandinavia or converting catholic
 
What’s So Civil About War Anyway?

War With Gerbert I, Duke of Galilee, for Kingdom of Sicily, 1186-1187


Gerbert I was a fool. If you plan to take on Bohemond, you would need more then just your armies. You need allies- and a lot of them. You need support of other Dukes, some Doges as well perhaps. You need some others to fight for their independence- because if you decide to fight Bohemond alone, you will lose. Of course, someone forgot to tell that all to Gerbert when he raised his flags for rebellion. All alone.

So, it was in November 1186 when Gerbert begun his folly. Bohemond’s main army was still stuck in Italy, finishing the war. That did not mean that Sicily is defenceless- forces from Duchy of Jerusalem, accompanied by some troops from Ascalon and Outlejordain, gathered in Jerusalem, totalling little over 5000 men. Not much, but some parts of the Duchies were still not giving proper levies.

By the end of January, they have gathered, formed up and moved to Tiberias, where they fought 600 soldiers of Gerbert, massacred them and started the siege of the county. By that time, Bohemond was gathering his main force in Palermo and sailed to Holy Land once again.

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The Situation in Holy Land in January

Arriving in Febryuary 1187, they besieged Tyrus, landing straight from the ships outside the fortress of Scandalon. Just like his grandfather had done 50 years ago, but this time, it was the Normans they were fighting, not heathens. And they were more effective too- by March, the province was in the hands of Bohemond and he and his army marched North to Beirut.

Still, there was one thing bothering him- there was no enemy army in sight, and that made Bohemond worry. Of course, there had been some small skirmishes with less then a thousand men against Sicily, but that was too little.

The mystery was solved in the middle of April, when a fleet of unknown ships penetrated the coastline of Monreale, the capital of Palermo and Sicily and laid siege of the fortress. Gerbert had apparently played it all on one card- surprise attack on Palermo. That failed miserably, for Monreale was a marvel of medieval engineering- moats, towers, thick walls, double defences, killing grounds and 1500 men as garrison. The surprise failed, Gerbert thought no better then to siege the city and force them into surrender, hoping that since all the troops from Sicily were in Holy Land, no-one would dare to oppose him.

Gerbert forgot the African Dukes. As soon as the news arrived that Monreale was under siege, they themselves mobilized, met in Tunis- and since most of the provinces of Africa were coastal ones, the mobilization was fast, for they used boats to gather. Dukes of Tunis and Tripolitania, with help of Doge of Kabylya, gathered nearly 10 000 men and sailed to Sicily. In 22nd May 1187, a battle was forced outside Palermo and Gerbert’s forces were utterly crushed. With that were crushed his dreams of Crown.

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The surprise attack on Palermo and the end of it

Same time, Bohemond wasn’t sleeping in Holy Land and had taken Beirut and half of Tiberias. Gerbert was forced to surrender himself, so he came, unarmed, to the gates of Monreale, laid on his knees and begged for mercy. None was given and he now shared a cell with Duke Faramond of Ascalon. Two of four Dukes in Jerusalem were now in dark cells in dungeons below Monreale.

Thus ended the first civil war in Sicily.

War for Pisa, 1188

It was in the beginning of the year, when Emperor Otto IV died. His successor, Leopold II took the throne without any opposition and was preparing to enjoy the life of a Kaiser when the news from South made the situation worse. Bohemond, now not restricted by peace treaty he had signed with Otto, had declared war on Leopold II, demanding Duchy of Pisa.

What a coming-to-throne gift for the Kaiser, right! Congratulations, now we kick your ass!

War begun in March 1188, 16 000 Normans from Sicily and Calabria arrived in Orbetello in the beginning of April, took the province with 15 days and marched north. Next province, Piombino, was taken by mid-May and Pisa in the beginning of June. Volterra, the last castle of Pisa, fell in 7th June 1188.

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Normans steamrolling Pisa

That display of military might was more then enough for poor Leopold, who signed the peace in the end of June, giving Pisa to Bohemond. This was the fastest war Sicily had ever fought against the Empire- in just 3 month, new rich Duchy had changed hands and Roger de Hauteville, a 14-year old boy, took over as a Doge of Pisa. Bohemond himself promised that he would guide the boy until he became of age.

Chaos in the East

Sultan Arslan II of the Seljuk Turks died back in 1184. Having lived to 90 years and having been Sultan for amazing 53 years, he managed to keep the Seljuks powerful, strong and as a dominant force in the east- especially after the Caliphate crumbled. He did make one fatal mistake though- he made his grandson and heir, Danismend, a Caliph of a Shia Caliphate.

The young lad seemed to be a most incapable ruler, losing lands to the left and right. Half of the Shia Caliphate were ruling on their own, with Syria being the last to gain their freedom.

When Danismend inherited most of the Seljuk lands (mind you, some remained as Seljuks Turks, mostly lands in Caspian and Aral seas, ruled by second son of Arslan, Sultan Korkut I), he did not see the need to change his ruling. As a result, his newly acquired Seljuk lands soon saw the same chaos as the lands of a Caliphate. First, it was Arabia Felix of the old Caliphate, proud owner of Mecca and Medina, who raised their arms against Caliph. Then, the rulers of Hormuz, Fars, Kermanshahi and Khorasan followed. The Caliphate was in chaos once again. One must say agree that Danismend is Great- not screwing up one, but two huge and powerful Kingdoms is an accomplishment of its own.

As for Byzantium- the Empire has diminished in size, the civil war still continues, though Shirvan, the throne of the Emperor, was conquered and Emperor Hovhannes was so scared of the Muslims that he moved his capital city to Kuban, across the Black Sea, to the territory of Russia. Several Duchies have become independent, the civil war ravages the rest and Muslims have started their own push to the lands of Byzantines. Luckily for Byzantium, they have their own hands full as well and they can’t mount a proper assault on their lands.

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The Chaos in the East. To make it simple- everyone is fighting someone and some are fighting everyone.
 
Chief Ragusa- not just another title. I have decided that once i reach 4 titles, it is fine time to start thinking about Empire. So Mauretania is kinda milestone.
grumphie- he had a claim, being grandson of Asclettin and all that. You don't get a warning when someone starts making use of their claim. Still, he was stupid to press it. Though he did get to the castle of Monreale.. but only the dungeon part! :p
 
good. now join in and egypt of another royal title and more domination voer the holy land. that claimant thigny is always annoying, especiialy if they plot with half the realm to aquire a title. what are you going to do when 1.06 patch shows up? i do hope youll continue as this is a great AAR and i learned much from it. especially about how to get a large and strong demense. also, how in hecks name do you ebat up the empire so quickly? you'd either need a 3000 diplo chancellor or countless of available fertile women with lots of claimants(also, since when ARE There claimants for doges?)?

if you want a empire title, GET A CALIPHATE. you can call your own personal crusades that way:p
 
Holy Wars are the True Wars!

Holy War for Alexandria, 1189


Actually, Bohemond had 2 choices this spring- to attack Cyrenaica or to attack Shia Caliphate. Cyrenaica had been left alone for all this time to act like kind of buffer zone between Sicily and Caliphate, so when the war started, the Caliphate would attack Holy Lands and leave Sicilian Africa alone- of suffer lot of losses when marching through Cyrenaican lands. Thus far, the plan had worked, but lately, there had been no need for it- Caliphate was no longer a threat.

Plus, Cyrenaicans were fighting Holy War for Crete, yet another recently independent Duchy- so the hopes were that Cyrenaicans would catch it and Bohemond would come next year and grab the island to himself. Plus, Caliphate was still in such a sorry state that Bohemond did not expect much of the resistance.

The war was declared in February 1189. By March, Sicilian troops from Palermo, totalling about 11 000, arrived in Alexandria, bet a small army there and started the siege. Alexandria himself fell to an assault in April, Burg-el-Arab in May. The city of Marabout took longer, for it was more heavily defended, but the assault was not even necessary.

Caliph Danismend had seen more then once what evil things would happen if he would oppose the Normans, so in June, he just gave up, content in losing one of his richest provinces, so he could keep the rest of the realm together. He simply did not have the manpower to deal with the Norman threat.

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Personal record- with just 22% warscore! The morale of the story- always kick a Caliph when he's down

In just 3 month, Bohemond had taken the city of Alexandria, the pyramids of Giza and rest of the Alexandria.

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Sicily has taken over the Pyramids! Take 3 pyramids, get 1 sphinx for free!

Holy War for Tangiers, 1191-1192

The Sultanate of Mauretania had succeeded in their Holy War against Sevilla back in 1190. The newly reconquered Dukedom was given to Emir of Tangiers, the most powerful (and only) emir in the Sultanate. Emir had more lands, more power, more vassals then Sultan- but that would be about to change.

Tangiers of Fez- the choice wasn’t that hard. Tangiers had better lands that were able to support bigger Norman army. The war was declared in April 1191. By May, troops from Palermo landed in Cebta and started the siege of the city there. In June, rest of Sicilian forces started siege of Tangiers. Both cities were heavily defended, so Bohemond decided not to risk an all-out assault.

Meanwhile, Emir of Tangiers was expanding northward- he declared Holy War for Sevilla to Duke of Algrave. Thinking it would be an easy war, armies of Tangiers have marched north, hoping to kick some proper Christian butt- only to meet both Templars and Hospitallers in the field.

While the forces of Tangiers were slaughtered in the north and Sultan of Mauretania gathered his remaining forces in the south, Norman sieges continued unopposed. In August, Tangiers fell to an assault, in November, Cebta. In December, reinforcements from Africa arrived and Tetouan, last holding in Tangiers, was Sicilian. Army moved on to Tangiers and Lariche fell in January. It was then that the Sultan of Mauretania decided to give up, grant Bohemond his Duchy and beg for peace. Bohemond of course agreed and in 13th January, the Holy War for Tangiers ended. Normans had broken free from Mediterranean and had first outposts in Atlantic.

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Situation in October- Sicilians continuing their sieges unopposed while Templars are kicking Muslim butt in the north.

With the conquest of Tangiers, there was no more Sultanate of Mauretania. King Bohemond usurped the title from the Sultan, becoming King Bohemond of Sicily, Africa, Jerusalem and Mauretania, Duke of Sicily and Calabria and Count and Baron of too many provinces to count. It was the second King title that Bohemond added to his collection of titles.

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Here is the Sultan giving up

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And here is the Sultan not being Sultan anymore

Other News

Oswulf of Sicily, second son of Bohemond and a count of Hellas, died in 1190, aged 22. He left behind a 1-year old daughter as a Countess. Bohemond grieved and to keep the County in Norman and de Hauteville hands, he made a betrothal between his youngest son Wymund, who also was ages 1 and with Countess Adelise.

Faramond I, Duke of Ascalon, died in imprisonment and his son, Ranulf I took over. A genius in military and administrative matters, he would prove to be a good successor to the ungrateful Duke.