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Imperium Romanum Sacrum
1394 saw the release of Liege as a vassal state
King Antoine decided to give the Prince-bishopric of Liege back its independence. Rumours of the emperor in Prague going to demand the release of the nation made him act before an official request could be issued. A loyal Dutch duke was placed on the throne, ensuring that the state would remain loyal to their growing kingdom.
Prince Jean had a little too much to drink
'S-Hertogenbosch, Royal Palace, 12-04-1394
''Brother, you cannot simply bring some random merchant's daughter to a state event!'' king Antoine exclaimed. ''There is a level of etiquette all of us have to live up to. No one cares about your little adventures but you cannot just rub it into everyone's face. Some of the nobles openly complained about it.''
Jean sighed. ''They just want me to marry one of their daughters instead of having a little fun with that city girl. You know I mean nothing with it.''
''I may know, brother, and so do these nobles. That's not what they care about though. Marrying the heir to the throne of Brabant is very prestigious for a lot of the smaller houses. It cost our loyal staff quite a bit to compensate for your... adventurous attitude ''
''You're right, I know you are. Let's just hope we'll find ourselves some brides soon. Ahh, I miss the life as a young and free prince already.'' Jean said dramatically.
Antoine raised his eyebrows in surprise. ''You're not that young anymore!''
Jean looked puzzled for a moment. ''What do you mean?! Are you saying I am old? I'm only.. ohh. You're joking!''
Antoine laughed at his brother who desperately tried to act grieved but couldn't help laughing along.
An unexpected turn of events
'S-Hertogenbosch, Royal Palace, 03-06-1394
Bishop Maximilian Franz of Cologne and Bishop Johan Ludwig of Trier entered the Royal Palace. A servant led the two bishops to the throne room where King Antoine and his brother were waiting. The two bishops bowed for their liege lord, although a little reluctantly. In their opinion the Pope in Rome was their only real master.
''My king, we have come with news from the Imperial Diet in Speyer. The Prince-Electorates have seen it fit to elect you the Holy Roman Emperor.'' said bishop Maximilian.
''What? How?'' King Antoine asked surprised.
Jean looked as astonished as his brother did. How could the Prince-Electorates elect Antoine as their emperor?
Johan Ludwig answered the question. ''After Ferdinand I of Bohemia passed away the Diet reached a stalemate. Take a look at the election results yourself, you will see.''
Maximilian gestured at one of his servants who quickly turned up a piece of parchment.
The Holy Roman Empire
''Look at that. Those egocentric fools. First they even use our mothers funeral to gain the favour of the Emperor but as soon as he dies they all choose for themselves. All but the two of you and now I am stuck with ruling an entire Empire instead of just my kingdom.'' Antoine spoke.
''We pledged fealty to you, my King.'' Maximilian said. ''We had no choice but to vote for you in the election.''
''I suppose that's true. This puts us at an interesting position.'' the king replied.
''The Empire is not as united as it once was, brother. Most of the nobles are squabbling amongst themselves. Those who aren't are busy fighting the heathens in the Baltic.''
''Well said, but still.. at least we won't be bothered anymore with the Emperor demanding things from us. Perhaps we could have kept Liege after all.. but it's too late for that now.'' The king turned to the bishops.
''Bishops, thank you for this news. I would like the two of you to stay here for now. We have much to do.''
The bishops glanced at each other for a second. ''Of course, my king. The honour is ours.'' Johan Ludwig replied.
A new General was hired for the war against Friesland
Even though ruling the Empire meant a lot of new work, the unification of the Low Lands still had a priority. In order to successfully subdue the Frisians a new general was hired. Guillaume Leschwein had fought in the wars against Belgium and The Hansa, rising through the ranks quickly.
Now he was put in charge of the entire army to lead the upcoming assault.
Holstein, Belgium and Pomerania rush to the defense
The armies of Brabant marched through a frozen world. Winter had come unexpectedly early and hit hard. King Antoine had still ordered the armies to march north. Friesland had expected the assault for some years now and forged alliances with surrounding nations. Belgium, looking for revenge after their humiliating defeat immediately ordered its armies to march across the border into Brabant proper.
Cologne leads the assault against Holstein
Bishop Maximilian Franz had ordered his troops to march against Holstein while the rest of the allied nations kept Belgium at bay. If the little nation could be knocked out of the war the full might of the armies would have no trouble with taking the Belgiums down.
While Brabant's army sits in front of the gates of Leeuwarden, their allies fight
Meanwhile Brabant's armies had an easier task. The Frisian army got beaten badly and retreated into the neighboring nation of Oldenburg. This made the siege of Leeuwarden a fairly uninteresting event. Brabant's allies fighting Belgium had a difficult time though. With so many armies in the field it was hard to coordinate a coherent attack against the Belgian army. This resulted in a series of small defeats for the allies.
Leschwein leads a small detachment against the Belgiums. Brussels falls
However things would not stay that calm. The Belgian army managed to take Brussels once again and quickly moved on to besiege the capital. King Antoine was not pleased with this turn of events at all. Prince Jean was in command of 's Hertogenbosch while he was in the field with general Leschwein. Therefore he ordered Leschwein to take half the army and march south to aid in the fighting. The army would be too small to take on the Belgian army at 's Hertogenbosch but perhaps it could distract them enough to buy the city more time.
Holstein leaves the war, freeing up additional forces to take down Belgium
Bishop Maximilian Franz had managed to force Holstein into a favourable peace agreement. They were forced to annul all treaties with their allies in the vicinity. This freed up enough additional forces to be able to take the Belgians head on. Something which was desperately needed since the expeditionary forces under general Leschwein were beaten badly. The remaining men and the general had linked up with the main army in Friesland again.
King Antoine refuses to give in to noble demands
With the war dragging on longer than expected the nobles became unruly. They saw their crops go to waste since all the farmers had taken up arms for their liege lords to fight yet another war. Because of this loss of revenue the nobles started looking for other ways to fill their treasuries.
They approached king Antoine with the demand to get control over several important church lands in Brabant. They promised to give the king more funds for the war in exchange for the control. King Antoine wanted to know nothing of it though. The church lands provided a steady flow of wealth into the treasury. Something that would be needed in the future.
The Scots come looking for revenge
May 1396 brought more interesting news to the frontline. Scotland had honoured a call for aid from the Belgians and declared war on Brabant. They hadn't forgotten how they lost control of Holland. This brought a chance for revenge which they had to take.
Friesland get's vassalized
A month later, on June 22nd of 1396, Friesland had to surrender to Brabant. The siege had taken well over a year. There was simply nothing edible left within the city walls. The Frisian king swore loyalty to Brabant and vowed never to rebel against their overlords.
This meant that only the foolish Belgians and their Scottish allies were left to fight. Even with Friesland out of the war they refused to surrender, vowing to liberate the nation from Brabant's greediness. King Antoine gathered his host of men and marched to the rescue, through Gelre.
His home city had fallen two months ago and he hadn't heard of his brother since. It was about time he'd find out what happened in the south!
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I was a bit surprised when a pop up told me they saw it fit to elect me the emperor. I hadn't paid attention to it at all! Well, now all we need to own Friesland and get a core on it! Might take a while though...
