Part 27 – King Slavek the Proud
King Slavek was 32 when he inherited his father’s Royal titles (King of Serbia and Bulgaria) and was elevated to become Dictator (for life) of the Roman Republic. He was the first of the Uffasons to be born the son of a king, and had a royal mother as well (Princess Richza of Bohemia-Hungary). His mother had died when he was only one year old, so all Slavek had from her was his name and a cold empty place where a mother’s love should have been. He filled this place with a pride in his royal blood, and a desire to be treated with the dignity he felt his birth deserved.
This desire for respect was hindered by a lack of personal bravery. He was no weakling, but when pressed into combat he was overwhelmed by his fears. His hesitation meant he could not effectively lead men in the way a man of his class was supposed to. This was even worse when set against the martial talents of his half-brother Earl Albert of Chortitza. They had never been close, but the way Albert’s achievements in the Byzantine War of 1157 eclipsed Slavek’s own was simply too much. They became bitter rivals.
King Slavek did have his good qualities though. He was eloquent, and (in 16 years as Earl of Epirus) had proved himself to be an honest and energetic ruler. He may have been accused of having a lust for power, but it was acknowledged that his sin was a prideful search for recognition, not greed for money or land in itself.
When Queen Richza died King Leofric stripped the Bohemian influence from the Royal court, so Slavek was raised within the Helleno-Varangian tradition. However he found himself instinctively looking West, not East. He wanted recognition from the other kings of Christendom, and felt he could only gain this by gaining power in the West. In particular in Italy, Germany and Bohemia-Hungary.
He maintained a close interest in Germany throughout his reign and we can see three key steps he took to expand his influence there:
1. In 1162 Slavek accepted the homage of his cousin Ludwig Duke of Austria (son of Slavek’s aunt Ealdgyth). This shifted Austria’s de facto independence within Germany, to de jure submission to the Roman Republic. Nevertheless, it was not a bad deal for the Duke, as nobles within the Republic rarely lost their land. This was very different to the land-grabbing habits of the German Monarchy.
2. In 1163, when his first wife (Queen Zinaida) died Slavek chose a German bride. Adelheid von Babenberg was the daughter of Hugo Duke of Bavaria, who was the heir to the German throne. This started a strong personal bond between Slavek and the German royal family.
3. In 1165 Duke Hugo inherited the German throne, and sealed a formal alliance with the Republic. It saw Slavek intervening repeatedly to help his father-in-law put down rebellious vassals.
The Kings of Croatia had taken an active part in the crusade to free Jerusalem. When the fighting stopped it was they who were left in control of the Holy City itself. In an act of piety they handed temporal control of Jerusalem over to the City’s new Catholic bishop. The Kings of Germany had also campaigned in the Holy Land and one of their vassals ended up as the Bishop of Jerusalem’s neighbour. In 1165, a minor dispute over water rights saw the Bishop of Jerusalem and his German neighbour argue, and then turn to arms to settle their dispute. King Hugo of Germany and King Petar of Croatia met to settle the dispute, but instead of setting peace terms they made matters worse and took their kingdoms to war.
This turned out to be a very bad decision for King Petar. Slavek might have acted honourably in coming to the aid of his Germany ally, but then turned to the sort of trick his grandfather – Prince Aethelwulf – would have played. The Chancellor of the Republic unearthed documents ‘confirming’ Croatia’s status as a part of the old Roman Empire. A part that had been granted short-term autonomy, but never acknowledged as an independent state. In its role as successor to the Empire, the Roman Republic would be obliged to annex Croatia and King Slavek enthusiastically set about enforcing this claim.
When I say that Slavek enforced the claim, I should have said that Slavek ordered key vassals to enforce the claim for him. So Duke Ludwig of Austria invaded from the north, Milos Prince of Rashka from the south, and Earl Albert (Slavek’s brother) invaded Croatia’s Black Sea possessions. Slavek himself remained in Venice, ‘focusing on grand strategy’.
These three armies took the Kingdom of Croatia apart, forcing the individual dukes to accept vassalisation, and hunting down King Petar himself. Much to Slavek’s disgust it was Earl Albert that defeated and captured King Petar, covering himself in glory once more. King Petar was forced to hand over his crown to Slavek and became simply Duke Petar of Dalmatia. He was no longer a king, but retained a demesne of eight provinces and many vassals. Within the Republic only King Slavek had more power.
We have now seen Earl Albert outstrip his half-brother in the Byzantine War of 1157 and the Croatian War of 1165. However at this point the dislike was all one way. Albert saw his half-brother as rather cold, but still sent his children to be fostered at court. In 1166 Albert visited court and found his son and heir doing tasks which he considered demeaning and a blazing row ensued between himself and King Slavek. Bloodshed was only avoided by the Patriarch physically intervening and making them both swear peace.
The feud was held roughly in check by this oath until 1172, when Earl Albert found out that his 17 year old daughter Aethelswyth had been seduced by King Slavek (her uncle) and was living as his mistress at court. Albert had her kidnapped from court and married swiftly to a thegn within his own earldom. It was only strong opposition from the Senate that prevented Slavek from sending an army to reclaim Aethelswyth from her father.
Slavek did not normally listen to the Senate, but even the most ardent members of the Royalist Faction felt that using an army against ones brother to take ones niece back as mistress was simply unacceptable.
This was the only occasion during his rule when the Senate really stood up to King Slavek. Generally he followed a policy of marginalising them. He asked for no legislation. He asked for no extra taxes. He summoned them no more often than he was obliged (Michaelmas and Easter each year) and then used his supporters to prevent any substantive discussion taking place. A favourite trick was asking the Senate to assemble in a building that was too small, so his opponents could not fit in and were left outside in the cold.
Slavek might not have been an absolute monarch, but he was able to rule undisturbed within the letter (though not the spirit) of the constitution.