The New Emperor
Meanwhile dies Eulalia Komnena, once considered a potential bride for my father or even for me, and possibly any of her children as potential marriage partners for a future Polish monarch. She was the last offspring of the elder Komnenos brother, as opposed to the younger from whom proceed the current Komnenoi, who are surnamed Piast due to his matrilineal marriage. She was also the last person surnamed Komnenos, there are none any more, although the Greek 'Piasts' are, in reality, patrilineal Komnenoi. She did not manage to get grey and was still rather pretty when she died at age 49.
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The idea had been to unite the Komnenos claim to the Polish crown, then enforce the claim, or, in other words, to produce a ruler of Poland, or heir of a ruler of Poland, with a Komnenos claim. That did not work out, as you can see, and we also opposed the idea of invading the Byzantine empire and causing a massive loss of life to impose a foreign-cultured ruler with a matrilineal claim inherited from a deposed dynasty that had not actually acceded to the throne in clearly legitimate circumstances, and did lose the throne in rather incriminating ones. It seems all to be irrelevant now unless perhaps those Greek Komnenos Piasts leave a female senior heir at some point, in which case it would be logical to forego other marriage opportunities.
On a different note, here are some current statistics (note the size difference):
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As you can see, things have changed. This is even more clearly so:
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Here is the bigger map (Holy Roman Empire are cousins, by the way):
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Look at my new vassal:
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I have a new capital, too:
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Well, it really is logical in terms of distance to places. Never mind it is a backwards Mongol province with a Muslim religious majority. But otherwise I would be facing large revolt risks from fiefs too far away.
Look also at the armies of my vassals, real, veritable doomstacks:
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Ioseph of Kiev (and Galich and Adrianopolis) has other 12K. The ruler of Cherson is sporting nearly a 16K contingent at the Azov Sea and the Duke of Abkhazia, out of four entire provinces for all I can recall, has over 14K. And look the Duke of Cyprus, eighteen thousand together:
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And he's not a particularly large fief holder, either.
This is going to be a difficult relationship, I guess:
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Although perhaps not an untenable one.
I transfer the loyalty of the City of Galata, finally, to the Komnenos Piasts. This is what they are going to get of Constantinople for now:
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For my brother, I recreate and hand down the Kingdom of Ruthenia (his is the red shield with a white eagle head, the Duchy of Lesser Poland, in which he holds no land but oversees one vassal, the Prince-Bishop):
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...And there goes my reputation for piety. Had I waited a while longer, I would have fulfilled my ambition to become known as the 'Holy', first ruler in my line to be so called.
I raise Marshal Manfred to Count in the feudal hierarchy. He is now the level his family had generally been, barring the junior who has recently usurped the Duchy of Courland. Fittingly for a Marshal, Manfred receives a county (namely the Lower Don) near the front lines:
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With a bit of a strange feeling, I white-peace out of my mother's holy war for Sarkel. I conclude that the lands are Tengri or so, they are not Christian, haven't really been before, we have had no quarrel with the High Chieftainess, so I don't want to fight that fight. (Look at the rebellions for Novgorod-Seversk, the last three counties of the 'Possessed Tengri Girl' or her descendant if she's not alive any more.)
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As Emperor, I can now vassalise dukes. The first one is the Duchess of Epirus:
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She is also the reason I have so far withheld the title of King of Greece from the Komnenos-Piasts. Having two titles that are her de iure lieges, I am probably all the more convincing. She seems to be the last independent in Greece, so after taking her oath, I will pass it all down.
The Duke of Cyprus did not wait, however. My elevation allowed him to go one tier up as well and he had the capital of a titular kingdom within his borders.
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Titular does mean he gets no ducal vassals from the get go.
As the Byzantine Emperor, I face a new deal of plotting:
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...As well as the old deal, from guess whom:
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She won't get that kingdom. The Kingdom of Bulgaria is meant for the Terters of Karvuna.
Meanwhile the Duchess of Epirus swears her loyalty. This means the last days for me as King of Greece:
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Speaking of which:
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And that one does get quite a lot of ducal vassals. Well, he is the dynastically senior-most of them all. I still can't believe I'm a half-Palaiologos myself (now, if you consider that my father was actually a half-Premyslid and Premyslid was the dynastic house of Vaclaw of Bohemia...).
My brother, on the other hand, is already proving to be a rather energetic King of Ruthenia:
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That is higher than I have my current new primary title (although it was High in Poland, which prevented land from falling outside in inheritance).
Meanwhile dies Eulalia Komnena, once considered a potential bride for my father or even for me, and possibly any of her children as potential marriage partners for a future Polish monarch. She was the last offspring of the elder Komnenos brother, as opposed to the younger from whom proceed the current Komnenoi, who are surnamed Piast due to his matrilineal marriage. She was also the last person surnamed Komnenos, there are none any more, although the Greek 'Piasts' are, in reality, patrilineal Komnenoi. She did not manage to get grey and was still rather pretty when she died at age 49.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
The idea had been to unite the Komnenos claim to the Polish crown, then enforce the claim, or, in other words, to produce a ruler of Poland, or heir of a ruler of Poland, with a Komnenos claim. That did not work out, as you can see, and we also opposed the idea of invading the Byzantine empire and causing a massive loss of life to impose a foreign-cultured ruler with a matrilineal claim inherited from a deposed dynasty that had not actually acceded to the throne in clearly legitimate circumstances, and did lose the throne in rather incriminating ones. It seems all to be irrelevant now unless perhaps those Greek Komnenos Piasts leave a female senior heir at some point, in which case it would be logical to forego other marriage opportunities.
On a different note, here are some current statistics (note the size difference):
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
As you can see, things have changed. This is even more clearly so:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Here is the bigger map (Holy Roman Empire are cousins, by the way):
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Look at my new vassal:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I have a new capital, too:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Well, it really is logical in terms of distance to places. Never mind it is a backwards Mongol province with a Muslim religious majority. But otherwise I would be facing large revolt risks from fiefs too far away.
Look also at the armies of my vassals, real, veritable doomstacks:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Ioseph of Kiev (and Galich and Adrianopolis) has other 12K. The ruler of Cherson is sporting nearly a 16K contingent at the Azov Sea and the Duke of Abkhazia, out of four entire provinces for all I can recall, has over 14K. And look the Duke of Cyprus, eighteen thousand together:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
And he's not a particularly large fief holder, either.
This is going to be a difficult relationship, I guess:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Although perhaps not an untenable one.
I transfer the loyalty of the City of Galata, finally, to the Komnenos Piasts. This is what they are going to get of Constantinople for now:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
For my brother, I recreate and hand down the Kingdom of Ruthenia (his is the red shield with a white eagle head, the Duchy of Lesser Poland, in which he holds no land but oversees one vassal, the Prince-Bishop):
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
...And there goes my reputation for piety. Had I waited a while longer, I would have fulfilled my ambition to become known as the 'Holy', first ruler in my line to be so called.
I raise Marshal Manfred to Count in the feudal hierarchy. He is now the level his family had generally been, barring the junior who has recently usurped the Duchy of Courland. Fittingly for a Marshal, Manfred receives a county (namely the Lower Don) near the front lines:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
With a bit of a strange feeling, I white-peace out of my mother's holy war for Sarkel. I conclude that the lands are Tengri or so, they are not Christian, haven't really been before, we have had no quarrel with the High Chieftainess, so I don't want to fight that fight. (Look at the rebellions for Novgorod-Seversk, the last three counties of the 'Possessed Tengri Girl' or her descendant if she's not alive any more.)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
As Emperor, I can now vassalise dukes. The first one is the Duchess of Epirus:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
She is also the reason I have so far withheld the title of King of Greece from the Komnenos-Piasts. Having two titles that are her de iure lieges, I am probably all the more convincing. She seems to be the last independent in Greece, so after taking her oath, I will pass it all down.
The Duke of Cyprus did not wait, however. My elevation allowed him to go one tier up as well and he had the capital of a titular kingdom within his borders.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Titular does mean he gets no ducal vassals from the get go.
As the Byzantine Emperor, I face a new deal of plotting:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
...As well as the old deal, from guess whom:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
She won't get that kingdom. The Kingdom of Bulgaria is meant for the Terters of Karvuna.
Meanwhile the Duchess of Epirus swears her loyalty. This means the last days for me as King of Greece:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Speaking of which:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
And that one does get quite a lot of ducal vassals. Well, he is the dynastically senior-most of them all. I still can't believe I'm a half-Palaiologos myself (now, if you consider that my father was actually a half-Premyslid and Premyslid was the dynastic house of Vaclaw of Bohemia...).
My brother, on the other hand, is already proving to be a rather energetic King of Ruthenia:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
That is higher than I have my current new primary title (although it was High in Poland, which prevented land from falling outside in inheritance).
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