3. Narrative Flavor - 100 Years War
Status quo in april 1337:
Ever since 1297, several revolts and conflicts occurred between Flanders and France, where the cities tried to limit the power influenced by France, pushing for free trade with the English for their wool exports, but France painstakingly oppressed these revolts, with varying degrees of success.
In 1337,Flanders is ruled by Lodewijk (Louis) I of Dampierre, who publicly declared his loyalty to France in 1336. This was not a surprise as he grew up at the courts of Nevers and Paris. This angered the burghers, laborers and commoners alike, as the English answered with a wool embargo on Flanders. This resulted in the cloth industry grinding to a halt, with widespread unemployment as 50 to 65% of working adults were employed in this sector. The Flemish count did nothing to resolve this major economic crisis.
King Edward III was trying to gather support against the French, and to maintain naval superiority in order to reliably be able to land English troops onto the French mainland. He already had Gelre, Brabant and Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut in his alliance. He was very much aware of the pro-English, anti-French sentiment of the Flemish populace, and purposefully set the wool embargo to pressure the Flemish count into aligning with England. He also declared interest in declaring Antwerp into the staple port for wool, which would enable Brabant to develop into the major cloth producer if the Flemish would not fall in line.
What happened historically in the first years of the game:
On the 28th of December 1337, the burghers and laborers of Ghent convened and declared a State of Exception, with a council of “Five Headmen”, of which Jacob van Artevelde was the most prominent Figure. By June 1338 their authority was recognised throughout the entire County of Flanders, where the main cities now dictated how the County should be governed. This new de facto government could perhaps be seen as a sort of regency council. The Flemish count was still held in high regard, but his power was circumvented. The French-aligned Leliaarts were stripped from their excessive privileges, and a neutral stance was declared in the French-English conflict. The continuous push for alliances with England and Brabant eventually led Count Louis to flee to France in 1340.
Initially, in 1338, van Artevelde’s policy was to maintain neutrality between England and France, in order to maximise the potential benefits each side had to offer. With the English, this allowed him to negotiate the restart of the wool trade and lift the embargo, but the wool staple port was now in Dordrecht. This was purposefully very inefficient for the Flemish. The French responded by abolishing the fines and punishments that were imposed in the conflicts of the decades prior, and relieved levy duties from Flanders, in order to pull the Flemish back to their side.
The English urged the counties of the low countries to seek friendly relations among themselves, all the while using the wool staple as a tool to nudge the counties and duchies in the right direction. The counts and dukes of Holland, Flanders, Brabant and Gelre were negotiating alliances in order to secure their autonomy in the French-English conflict, and procured defensive alliances by 1339.
The English rewarded the Flemish by designating Bruges as the staple port for wool for 15 years, and reserved 140.000 pounds for use in negotiations with the French to return Artois, Roman Flanders and Tournai back to Flanders.
Van Artevelde turned to France to discuss the return of Lille, Douai and Orchies in 1340, but the French king refused to return these now crown provinces. Upon this news, Van Artevelde formally declared an alliance with the English, and crowned Edward III as king of France in Ghent, swearing fealty ‘to the French crown’.
At this point the English successfully secured the Low Countries as allies in the conflict versus the French.
Van Artevelde was a guildmaster of the weaver’s laborer guild, which after years of forced suppression were now the top dogs in Ghent. Conflict between the weavers and the fullers was inevitable. There were rumors going around that Van Artevelde was trying to designate The Black Prince, heir apparent to the English Throne, as the new Count of Flanders, as the current count still resided in exile in France. But when he did some concessions to the fullers he was eventually lynched by one of his own guild members in 1345. After his death, the council remained in place for quite a while, but slowly succumbed to internal disagreements, as the industrial cities of Ypres and Ghent had other interests than the commercially oriented Bruges. In 1349, the more competent count Lodewijk II de Dampierre finally was able to settle the difference, and maintain a neutral posture in the 100 years war.
100 years war: dynamic conditions:
As long as the following conditions are fulfilled, Flanders will drift towards the extreme of France (-100) vs England (+100).
- Drift towards France:
- Count Louis I de Dampierre is the uncontested count of Flanders: +2.0%/month
- Rivaled with England: +0.5%/month
- Rivaled with an ally of England: +0.1%/month
- Positive relations with France: +0.2%/month per +100 relations
- Flanders is a loyal vassal: +0.1% for every 10% loyalty below threshold
- Flanders owns Lille: +0.3%/month
- Flanders owns Douai: +0.2%/month
- Drift towards England:
- Embargoed by England: +0.5%/month (positive because the pops want trade with England)
- Positive relations with an ally of England: +0.1%/month per +100 relations
- Positive relations with England: +0.2%/month per +100 relations
- Flanders has ‘French sanctions’: 0.5%/month
- Flanders is a disloyal vassal: +0.1% for every 10% disloyalty above threshold
- Flanders does not own Lille: +0.3%/month
- Flanders does not own Douai: +0.2%/month
- Rivaled to France: +0.5%/month
Rough sketch of the events and conditions stated below
Events and conditions for the situation - static modifier impact
Rising Tensions (Setup in 1337)
FLANDERS:
- Wool embargo from England → cloth production is down / ineffective
- Aligned with France (will be called into war of overlord)
- Starts at 100% alignment to France
- Modifier: French sanctions
- Min tax rate set to high
- Allows troop levying for overlord
- Feudal tax obligations +100%
- Liberty desire +50%
- Loyalty -50%
- Prosperity -0.05
- High unrest & Low stability (great peasant revolt levels)
ENGLAND:
- Allied with Holland, Gelre
- Proclaiming guarantee on Brabant
- Costly wool embargo → price tariffs for wool are greatly increased (unfavorable)
- Can be re-activated whenever Flanders has <1% alignment towards England.
- Will be automatically removed when Flanders has >10% alignment with England.
FRANCE:
- Holds heavy sanctions on Flanders.
Sequence of events
- The Council of Ghent (28th of December 1337)
- Conditions (one of):
- Flanders is embargoed by England
- French sanctions are in place
- Effects:
- Send a declaration of neutrality to England
- England receives event: “The proposal from Ghent”
- Triggered by: “The Council of Ghent”
- Options:
- (historical) This will pry Flanders out of French hands!
- Effects:
- Flanders receives event: “Good news from England”
- Flanders will drift towards English alignment by +100% (net 0)
- Removes the costly wool embargo on Flanders
- Proclaims guarantee on Flanders
- We’ll find a different buyer for our wool…
- Effects:
- Flanders receives event: “Bad news from England”
- Flanders receives news from England
- Good news from England:
- Effects
- Installs a (70 80 40) plutocratic republic, “The Five Headmen”
- Ghent becomes the capital
- Court language changes to Dutch
- Flanders leans towards England in the 100 years war (50% alignment with England)
- Removes the costly wool embargo on Flanders
- Bad news from England:
- Effects
- Installs a (70 80 40) plutocratic republic, “The Five Headmen”
- Ghent becomes the capital
- Court language changes to Dutch
- Flanders becomes neutral in the 100 years war (0% alignment)
- France negotiates with Flanders:
- Trigger: has occurred - ‘News from England’
- Options:
- (Historical) “Relieving their sanctions is sure to win them over”
- Flanders receives event: “A great proposal from the King”
- Will remove “French sanctions”
- Will drift Flanders towards French alignment (+50%)
- Good news from England => 0% alignment to France
- Bad news from England => 50% alignment to France
- England receives event:
- “Do not yield one inch!”
- Flanders receives event: “No word from the King”
- Increase liberty desire by +50%
- Flanders: Seek friends in the Low Countries [edit: not happy with this one, any suggestions?]
- Condition: Brabant is aligned to England
- Options:
- “Demonstrate good will”
- Sends an offer to negotiate amicable relations.
- Accepted:
- +50 relations between Flanders and Brabant
- Adds truce between Flanders and Brabant for 10 years (defensive pact)
- +25 alignment with England.
- Gain claim on Artois and Tournai provinces.
- Refused:
- -50 relations between Flanders and Brabant
- Adds diplomatic insult casus belli on Brabant.
- “The heinous Brabantians will not outshine us!”
- Send an insult to Brabant as an act of disdain
- -50 relations with Brabant
- Brabant gains diplomatic insult casus belli
- +25 alignment to France
- A bold request to France
- Conditions:
- does not own Lille or Douai
- Options:
- “Negotiate Roman Flanders”
- Sends a request to France to return the locations of Lille and Douai.
- Handle the acceptance or refusal of the proposal.
- “Do not dare to speak of it”
- Nothing happens.
- The Flemish request the return of Roman Flanders
- If we return their land, we are sure to retain our influence in Flanders
- Lille and Douaiare returned to Flanders.
- +100 alignment to France
- Yes, but the council will stand down.
- Lille and Douaiare returned to Flanders
- +50 alignment to France
- The count returns to Flanders, abolishing the three
- Flanders remains a vassal with levy duties
- Your hubris knows no bounds!
- Refuse to return the land
- +25 alignment to England
End result in 1340:
- Flanders has >25 alignment towards England.
- King Edward III is crowned King of France in Ghent, all hail the king of France!
- Flanders becomes 100% aligned to England.
- Flanders becomes an ally of England and cannot refuse call to arms.
- Flanders gains +200% liberty desire as long as it is aligned to England. (so it cannot be integrated by France)
- Flanders has >25 alignment towards France.
- The council of Ghent has conceded, all is well!
- Flanders becomes 100% aligned to France
- Flanders will lose the council government and reinstate the count
- Flanders remains a vassal, with levy duties
- Flanders gains -100% liberty desire as long as it is aligned to France.
- Flanders has no particular alignment
- Our future is uncertain, what avenues can we pursue?
- Flanders remains neutral
- Flanders remains a French vassal, without levy duties.
English alignment ending: - allow for the Flemish to negotiate the Black prince to become the count of Flanders.
- MTTH: 5 years after English alignment
- Effect: become vassal of England instead of France, with the Black prince as Count; dissolve the headmen government
- Later: If The Black Prince becomes King of England, Flanders becomes a fief/personal union
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