Anarchy in the UK
Murdering the Kaiser
In August 1277, the war between King Renauld of France and Kaiser Leopold ended. Both sides agreed to as they were proposition. Meanwhile, the authority of Kaiser converted several of his vassals to Cathar faith. It seemed like the great religious rift in Europe was coming to an end and the Cathars would come out winning.
That did not please Adelise. In her mind, the Cathars and Normans were synonymous and she had planned for Cathar Europe, yes. But Norman Cathar Europe. So the Kaiser was not really helping. The simplest solution- Kaiser must die! Adelise sent envoys with gold and gifts to several dignitaries in the Holy Roman Empire, including the Kaiserin Trude. Being a good Catholic as Trude was, she thought it would be best to use the distant Cathars to get rid of the clear and present local Cathar threat and agreed to join. Though the Kaiser was popular, there were still several other high-ranking nobles as well, including King of Bohemia. The best ally was Duke Lambert of Mecklenburg, renowned all over the world for his intrigue skill.
The plot was well underway when the Kaiser Leopold fooled everyone- by dying of natural causes at the age of 66, in January 1278. It was only half a year after the plot was started, planes were only waiting to made and then, the old man just died on his own! Anyways, Bruno I, son of Leopold, took the throne as Kaiser. Being still single and having no heirs, the next one in line was Prince Dietrich, currently held in dungeons of the Hauteville Empire.
Death of the Kaiser
...and the New Kaiser
Kaiser Bruno had his usual suspects testing the strength of the new Kaiser, but in a few years, he achieved peace in the realm. At least, he was Catholic...
Holy War for York
Meanwhile, Norman armies entered the ships and sailed towards England. The truce between King Nicholas of England and Normas was about to end and Normans wanted to continue their adventures in the island. War for York was declared in October 1277.
The sieges continued as planned, but a bit unexpectedly, all the other rulers came to the aid of King Nicholas. Both King Halkjell of Ireland and Queen Mabille of Wales came to aid of England. Though traditional enemies, they all felt threatened by Norman invasion to the islands and thus, the common enemy made them forget old hatreds and combine their forces. They managed to get total 23 000 soldiers under their command. Quite big, but not enough to beat the Normans.
In Battle of St. Peters, in province of York, taking place in February 1278, 30 000 Normans attacked the combined force of British armies. Though the Norman losses were high as well, they beat the combined armies of three rulers, plus they managed to maim King Nicholas.
Normans marching to St. Peters and the result
In March, Nicolas gave up, giving York to Normans.
Holy War for Ulster
King Halkjell of Ireland was next. He still held two provinces of province of Ulster and these were now the targets. War was declared in May 1278. Since bulk of Irish force had perished in battle of St. Peters, King was unable to offer any resistance and was forced to give up the provinces in August 1278.
Holy War for Lothian
One side effect of the battle of St. Peters was the loss of royal troops for all the monarchs in British Isles, making them weaker and thus, luring their vassals to fight for the whatever cause they thought was good idea. For example, Duchess Bethoc of Lothian thought it would be good idea to become independent and started war against Queen Mabille.
Normans also thought it was a good idea and in July, they declared war against Bethoc. The only province of the Duchess was quickly put under siege and by October 1278, Bethoc was reduced from Duchess to a beggar while Normans celebrated in her halls.
Holy War for Hereford
In Summer of 1278, King Nicholas of England died from the wound he received in the battle of St. Peters. He was succeeded by his son, a 14-year old boy now known as King Matthew of England. Normans thought it was too good of an opportunity to pass and in December 1278, they declared war on England, claiming the Duchy of Hereford.
New King and his lands
English still had some fight in them, when they gathered an army of nearly 11 000 soldiers, but the army was soundly defeated at Battle of Droitwich, March 1279. As a result, King Matthew gave up in April 1279. Hereford was Norman and the Crown of England was just one province away. Hereford was given to the third son of Adelise, Prince Radolf.
Holy War for Albany
Meanwhile, the truce with Queen Mabille ended and thus, the Norman forces marched north. The target was Duchy of Albany, a four-province Duchy in the North. War was declared in July 1279. Small Welsh armies were quickly defeated and Normans continued their sieges almost without any opposition. By December, Queen Mabille I gave up, giving the big Scottish Duchy to Normans.
2nd Holy War for Lothian
After the battles of St. Peters and Droitwich, Earl Randolph of Dunbar, subject to King Matthew, thought it was a good idea to fight for his independence. Failing to notice that there were people with bright ideas like he had and they had failed, for Normans came knocking on their doorsteps, he declared independence. In September 1279, the Normans declared Holy War on him and in November, the County was overrun.
Holy War for Connacht
Duke Cellac I of Connacht also thought it would be a good idea to rebel against his King- with an intention to lowering crown authority in Ireland. He was actually winning the war because for now, he was more powerful then the King of Ireland. Until the Normans came. In January 1280, Adelise declared Holy War on Connacht and by May, the Duchy was Norman.
Holy War for Meath
Though the truce between King Halkjell of Ireland and Adelise still existed, the Norman rulers of Ireland saw an opportunity and took it. Both Doges of Leinster and Ulster declared war on Halkjell, claiming the last non-Norman province in the Ireland. By August, the war was over and King Halkjell driven out of Ireland. The only province that was left for the King was the Island of Shetland, where he reigned, still calling himself the King of Ireland.
Holy Wars for Northampton, Oxford and Somerset
A host of English vassals, lead by Earl Nicholas of Northampton, started their fight to lower the crown authority for the Kingdom of England. Normans thought it would be a good chance to intervene once again, and claimed counties of Northampton and Suffolk and Duchy of Somerset in 3 Holy Wars. In August 1280, Normans crossed the English borders once again.
Rebels were strong enough to beat the King of England, but not strong enough to face three armies of Adelise. In January 1281, all three rebels were defeated by Normans, with another 4 provinces claimed.
That was also quite enough to usurp the title of King of England from poor Matthew who had just came of age, thus splintering the realm.
The remains of England
Holy Wars for Cornwall, Gloucester and Bedford
What was left of England was now at the mercy of Normans, except for the Duchy of Bedford that was still under rule of former King Matthew and with whom Normans had the truce. Cornwall, Glouchester and county of Bedford, ruled by Duke of Kent, were still independent, rest were holdings of Matthew.
In January, Normans declared war on the last of independent vassals of England and by July 1281, the wars were over. This was as much as Adelise could gain from British Isles at this time, so the hostilities were ceased. Adelise crowned his own son, Duke Radolf of Hereford, as the new King of England.
King Radolf and Norman British Isles
In total, wars for British Isles lasted for almost four years, from October 1277- July 1281. During that time, Normans fought total 14 wars and gained total 27 provinces. The British Isles were almost Norman.
Crusade of Italy
In November 1280, somehow thinking that Norman forces are busy in Italy, Pope Evaristus II thought it would be good idea to call a Crusade for Italy- yet again. Yet again forgetting that it is not such a good idea when you live in Trapani, Sicily. Though this time, the Pope also had one holding in Auvergne, a bishopric of Aurillac, the Normans took them both by January 1281 and once again, the Crusade failed.
At least they keep on trying
Catholic church was at it’s all-time low. Evaristus took up drinking heavily, further discrediting the Papal institution.
As for the rest of the world, Il-Khanate had converted to Shiite.
Muslims are back on track!