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Heya guys, I"m back. Sorry about the wait but I was on vacation :) Now, lets just see3 iof the previous Doge is done writting or not!
 
Encyclopedia Venetio

Gritti, Andrea 1475-1538

The Early Years:

Andrea Gritti was born in the city of Venice in the year 1475 to Giovanni Gritti, a rich and powerful merchant in the city. The Gritti family had been a force in Venetian politics since the late 14th Century and it was expected that Andrea would follow the family tradition and enter politics.

Using his influence and finances, Giovanni was able to attain the very best of tutors for his son; the greatest minds in Latin, Greek, History, Mathamatics, Philosophy, Economics and Theology were to pass through the doors of the great Gritti estate. Young Andrea proved to be a receptive and gifted student.

As a young adult in 1492 Andrea toured the Venetian Empire as well as the Middle East and much of Europe. Trained as a scholar he recorded his travels and later published them. These travels, known collectivly as "The Journies of Andrea Gritti" became one of the classic histories in Italian and expertly recorded not jsut the sights and sounds of an era but also touched on many contemporary topics which have been invaluable to modern historians.

Years in the Senate 1502-1525

With the death of Giovanni Gritti in 1495 the entire Gritti clan was thrown into chaos. For years it had been Giovanni who had held the large family together and, if not creating its power, at least sustained it through turmoil and truimph. Although Andrea, as the eldest child of Giovanni, inherited a large amount of the family wealth, an entire gallery of uncles and cousins were in the perfect position to claim their right to rule the family. Using alliances and his own wits Andrea was able to exert his influence and gained total power by 1500.

However, it was not until 1502 when he felt sure enough to run for his father's old seat in the Venetian Republic which had just been vacated by the death of its current occupant. He won easilly that same year and entered into 23 years of service to the Senate.

Gritti was soon to make a name for himself in the Senate as a man who favored economic ideas of free trade as well as a smaller government. He was an outspoken enemy of war, unless the Republic itself was attacked, and came out against the war with Hungary. It was, he was quick to point out, "bad for buissness"

During his years in the Senate he also became close friends with Antonio Grimani and would be one of his most feverant supporters during the man's Dogeship. The two both favored expansion of trade and shared much in common personally as well; Grimani had been a close friend, some even said protege of old Giovanni Gritti.

Grimani often times said that he wished that Gritti was follow him as the next Doge. When the Doge died in 1523 a large block of the Senate sought to honor the Doge's wish and declare Andrea Gritti as Doge of the Venetian Republic. However they soon ran into trouble with a large block of the Senate which favored Marco Barbango III( See Babango, Marco III ). In a stunningly close election Gritti, by then the elder statesman, was chosen as Doge of the Republic. This decision would cause much resentent between the two parties and be one of the contributing factors to the Venetian Civil War.

Barbango, Marco III (1482-1526)

Marco Barbango III was the son to Venetian Senator Marco Barbango II, and was grandson of the Venetian Doge Marco Barbango. A deeply charasmatic and intellegent man he was known as the "Golden Hawk" by both his friends and enemies alike for his utter control of the politics of Southern Italy, Hungary and Greece during his life.

Although born in Venice, Barbango was one of the first Venetian politicians who gained a power base by dirrectly representing the interests of people outside of the normal sphere of Venetian politics. By championing these people, as well as capitalizing upon the memory of his grandfather, still beloved by the commoners of the Republic, he was able to build upon a power base amongst the military and middle classes.

Barbango entered politics upon the death of his father in 1503. The next 20 years saw his meteoric rise to power which made him, by 1520 one of the two most powerful men in the entire Republic. He held onto this power with a firm hand, forcing the appointment of local judges and sheriffs, as well as relying upon his anti-serfdom and pro-intellectual and freetrade rhetoric and his firm grip upon the military.

Barbango reached the zenith of his power in 1523 when he was very nearly elected as Doge. However his heavy handed methods backfired as the Senate chose, instead, the more conservative Andrea Gritti in protest of Barbango. Marco Barbango III was said to have stormed from the Senate chambers declaring he would return. This election would be the contributing factor to the fall of Barbango from pwoer as well as to the Venetian Civil war of 1524-1527

Marco Barbango III has, often times, been compared to Julius and Augustus Ceaser both in the present nd by his contemporaries.

------------------------------------

To be continued.

So, what do you guys think so far?
 
Well Rath he _IS_ a Barbango of the Marco line, those funny ideas just run in their blood. IBesides, all it does is get him power for a short period of time, you'll notice who ends up being Doge and, for that matter, who lives the longest ;)

I hope no one minds me brining in a few supporting characters and linking things up with the past a bit, I like doing a more of an interconnected thing. I also want to give the comming Civil War some background and depth instead of having:

Andrea was sipping his morning coffee when suddenly a messanger ran in. "My Lord", he cried out., "there is a civil war!!"

"how thehell did THAT happen, Doge Gritti wondered :p
 
I like the style; very well done with the cross-references and all... but I am also curious about this so-called "Venetian Civil War"... how the hell did that happen? :eek:

And go for it with the supporting characters/plotlines. I want to know who my next Doge's enemies are going to be. :p
 
Works great for me, but then I love intrigue and back room politics...as long as it ends in a great deal of blood being spilled. Civil war sounds like it might fit the bill. :)


Oh, and...

*gasp*

CIVIL WAR!!!!! :eek:
 
Venetian Civil War.

Arghhhhh!! *bangs head against desk* Beat me to the punch.:) I have the posts all ready to go for my round over on the B side...whenever the game gets to me.:rolleyes:

Very nice writing DanielMcCollum. I'm looking forward to how you force it (or did it just happen?) with your Doge.:)
 
:eek:

civil war!!?


Hmmm, probably not so much of a problem when we have our mighty imperial army(tm) :D

unless of course the entire army decided to join the rebel alliance...
 
Originally posted by kurtbrian
:eek:

civil war!!?


Hmmm, probably not so much of a problem when we have our mighty imperial army(tm) :D

unless of course the entire army decided to join the rebel alliance...

And not even then. In one word: Mercenaries.
 
Originally posted by Peter Ebbesen


And not even then. In one word: Mercenaries.

yes, but its a bit more annoying to recruit mercenaries to kill off your former loyal troops than to just let your loyal troops siege all the rebelious provinces
 
Encyclopedia Venetio

Gritti, Andrea

Years as Doge

Andrea Gritti assumed the position of Doge on May 8th 1523. The Senate and people of Venice expected little change in the policies of the last Doge, and Gritti was happy to comply. His first order of buisness was to make a speach calling for increased efforts of colonization in North and South America.

Doge Gritti was, in practice, a pascifist. He believed that war was unprofitable and mearly hurt trade and the economy which was the life blood of Venice. Although he would, later in life, admit that war had allowed Venice to carve out an Empire for herself and become self substaining, during his reign he never ones instigated a war, even when international opinio nwas on his side.

Another reason which may have lead to his anti-war bias was the terrible state of Venetian diplomacy. Previous Doges had neglected diplomacy in order to expand the Republic, and had left Venice as one of the most hated countries in the world at that time. Doge Gritti feared that any war he undertook would lead to every nation boardering him to declare war to chastise the Venice.

The first year of Gritti's dogeship was rather uneventful as he sent colonists to Seminole and Chesapeak, beat back rebels in Peidmont and generally attempted to rule the Republic well. The Doge also was able to put into practice his views of less governmental control of the economy when he happily abolished a tax which had been causing troubles with local artisans.

Sadly, beneath the calm surface unrest was boiling and about to bubble over. The extremes taken by the inquisition in many Venetian provinces had shooken the faith of many people and pushed them more into the camp of Barbango.

In August of 1524 the Catholic Inquisition in the province of Banat slaughtered an entire village of Orthodox Christians. The result caused the entire province to flare into revolt, and the Catholic priests were slaughtered. The rebellion quickly picked up momentum and spread to other Orthodox provinces, and took on an anti-governmental character and spread to Greece and Italy. In September Marco Barbango III announced that the Senate had been under the influence of "corrupting forces" when it had chosen Gritti as Doge, and that the election was null and void. Barbango declared himself as rightful Doge of the Republic, the Venetian Civil War had begun ( See Venetian Civil War )

Venetian Civil War

The Venetian Civil War is the name given to the war which raged between the forces of Doge Andrea Gritti and those of Marco Barbango III between the years of 1524-1527. The war was brought on by religious, economic and social tensions within the Republic due to its quick expansion during the 15th Century, as well as the idealogies of two men who wished to shape the Republic in their own image.

Although Barbango held the loyalty of well over half of the military, as well as much of Central Italy, all of Greece, much of Hungary and the colonies, Gritti was able to call upon the support of the entire Navy the elite of the military, as well as the core economic provinces of Northern Italy and Dalmatia.

Despite the immence popular support of Marco Barbango III, he was almost fated to loose. Although Barbango controlled over half of the Venetian military, it had become little more than an unrully mob with nearly all athority having been lost when the generals were killed. Furthermore the rebellion itself was badly organized from the beginning and, even though Barbango would take steps to centralize it as time went on, by the end it was to late. Had it not been for the decleration of war by France, Austria and Denmark, the war would have ended a year to two years earlier. The Civil War has often been been divided into three main fazes.

The Initiation

The Initiation is often seen as beginning with Barbango's proclamation, and ended only with Gritti's bringing about peace with France in 1526. It was during this phase that Barbango's had his greatest chance of success and it was widely believed that Gritti would loose to his numerically superior opponents.

With the decleration of war by France and Austria merely a month following the "Barbango Proclamation", things looked grim indeed for the extablished government of Venice. France immediatly attempted to seige Peidmont, while Austria attacked from the North into Steirmarch and Carpathia. The Battles of Peidmont and Steirmarch stand out as stunning defeats for the Venetian forces of Gritti.

However, with the defeat of France in Tirol, the enemies of Venice began to become fearful and signed seperate peaces with both Gritti and Barbango, Austria was payed 75,000 gold and Helvettia agreed to a return to the status qou.

Barbango's armies, at this time, were spreading across the map and, even with the defeat of his main army in Rome, the rebels continued on, although they were obviously loosing greater numbers in the war against France than were those of Gritti who seemed willing to allow his enemies to destroy one another while he picked up the peices.

Following the Second Battle of Peidmont, a Gritti victory over France, France began to sue for peace. Despite the fact that it held Steirmarch, it was obviouse that without allies, control over that provicne was loose at best, and they could end up losing in what many had feld to be the perfect war. In January of 1526 they agreed to accept 25,000 gold from the Gritti government and made peace. With their exist from the war, the only external opponent which remaiend was Denmark, and the war moved into its second phase.

Withdraw

With the existing of her other opponents, Venice was not able to continue war with itself. Unfortuantly, once France and Austria were defeated, Barbango held no hope of winning. The causulties he had substained during the Frence war were two great, and his generals were unable to counter those of Gritti.

Over the next year he suffered great and greater victories, as all of Italy began to revert to the control of Gritti and the Senate in Venice. Trapped on all sides, Barbango's temporarily capital in Emila fell to Gritti's forces on September 22nd 1526. Marco Barbango III was found dead of poison in the capital. The body was returned to Venice were Gritti demanded it be given a burial with full honors.

Endgame

With the death of Marco Barbango III, the rebel movement splintered. In Greece a general came to power, claiming to be a descendant of the Macedonian dynasty, and declared a return of the Roman Empire in the East with its capital in Athens. Across the ocean the short lived Caribean Republic existed for a shrot 6 months before begin destroyed by loyal troops from Haiti. A pretender even rose up in Hungary in reaction to the Kingdom's annexation by Austria in 1526.

There was no hope of victory for these forces. In August of 1527 Thesselonike fell to the Venetian military, bringing the war officially to an end. Throughout the turmoil the Republic lost only one provicne, a small colony in Bayou which defected to Spain in an attem,pt to gain protection from native raids.

The military was a ruin, the land scortched from years of war, but Venice had survived. Andrea Gritti, a self declared enemy of war, had managed to lead his nation through one of the greatest wars in its history, a war against it self. It was now time to rebuild.
 
Originally posted by Prufrock451
Well, THAT could have been worse...

Well done, DM!

Yes it could have been, when I got the "Civil War" event I freaked out, but I just played through, kept my head, and things turned out for the best. By the end of my reign things had pretty much recovered and even surpased prew-war levels.
 
Excellently handled, and a gripping read. Well done indeed!

Out of curiousity, what was the treasury value at the beginning and end of the civil war (roughly)? Did you have to borrow or were the finances nice enough to let you "cruise" through to it's inevitable conclusion?
 
I must join the chorus

you managed that civil war very well! :)

and the story was great too!! :)


that civil war event always freaks me out too, but most of the time is not that hard to recover
 
I can only make a rough estimate, but I believe we were recieving close to 300 a turn before the war and making about 350 at the end of my reign , gold wise. Thanks for the compliments. I'm afraid the rest of my reign isn' nearly as exciting, but that may be a GOOD thing :)