Flower of the Lilly
A Comprehensive look at the Creation of Modern France
Chapter Nine
One Empire, One Emperor
With the death of Emperor François II von Bamberg Jagello his son Heinrich von Bamberg Jagello took the throne of France in 1635 as Emperor Henri III. With few competitors, Henri III stands as the single greatest Emperor of the French Empire. Assuming the throne at a young age, he was immediately recognized for not only his beauty, but also his diplomatic and administrative abilities. Born Heinrich Otto Franz von Bamberg-Habsburg duc de Kulmbach d’Albret-Bourgogne Jagello to the then Duke Franz of Kulmbach and Duchess Maria Theresa, the small boy was raised in Bamberg by his father. He maintained a strong relationship with both of his parents, who made up much of his world as a small child. As a small boy he was sick and small, and thus spent much of his time inside, and away from the sunlight. Many modern sources indicate that young Heinrich suffered from porphyria, thus forcing him to remain inside except at night or on cloudy days. The disease would linger in the French blood-line striking from time to time, and in the royal houses of the other European nations.
At the age of 14, young Heinrich was upset by his move from Bamberg to Bordeaux. Moved quickly, and concealed by heavy canvas tarps from the sun, the royal family moved into the French Imperial Capital to avoid the armies of Saxony and their allies. After arriving in the capital, Heinrich became very popular with the local nobility. Hugely intelligent, handsome and talented at music he was often found at Imperial parties playing piano and mingling with other nobles and discussing the current state of affairs. He once told a group of nobles that, “the reason my father doesn’t simply unite the Empire now is that Poland is too stubborn. But they can enjoy their stubbornness for now, I will deal with them come my age.” The crowd laughed, but his words would later be very prophetic.
At the age of 16, two years before rising to the rank of Emperor, Heinrich became the Duke of Kulmbach, as well the Dauphin of France. He was wed to the daughter of the Duke of Brittany, Princess Anne Montfort who was 14 at the time. The two had been friends since the royal family had arrived in Bordeaux, but their marriage was arranged by their parents, especially the Duke of Brittany, who had no heir, and thus feared his title would be usurped by an up-and-rising noble.
In 1635, Emperor François II was dead, and his son was the new Emperor. As was the style, he was crowned Emperor of France in Bordeaux and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in Köln. He was known to be lively, especially at night, and was a great entertainer at parties. He was vastly popular amongst the Electors and the Counts and Dukes of the Empire. Specifically he was good friends with King Fryderyk II, who had been reigning as King of Poland since 1618. The older King replaced Emperor François II for Emperor Henri III, and often gave Henri II guidance when he sought it. It was this relationship that made Emperor Henri II’s most ambitious plan possible.
The Act of Total Union
Uniting the Holy Roman Empire
In January 1, 1637 gave way to the grandest reformation of the Holy Roman Empire since its creation. Drafted between King Fryderyk II and Emperor Henri III throughout 1636 and most of 1635 the reform would drastically alter the face of Europe permanently. Henri II was forced to find a way to compromise with the aging King without compromising his vision of a single Holy Roman Empire. When he delivered the Act to the Electors and read it aloud, the dignitaries of the Empire were in shock and awe.
“I foresee a Holy Roman Empire no longer plagued by inefficiencies due to the decentralized nature of the system. So, I am immediately enacting the following reforms. First, no member of the Holy Roman Empire will hold a title greater than King. Any member of the Holy Roman Empire claiming a title greater than King must do one of the following: they could surrender the title and accept the title Archduke and accept submission to the Emperor, they could surrender all territory within the Holy Roman Empire and maintain the title of King, or they could confront the Imperial Armies on the field of battle, and lose everything. Second, all members of the Holy Roman Empire are directly subservient to the Emperor. As Emperor, I am the master of all people within the Empire, and thusly I will be treated as a master and not a figure head. Third, the territories of Italy and France are to be added as Imperial territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Fourth, the Livonian Order is hereby dishonorably disbanded, their land impounded and all territories of the Order removed from the Holy Roman Empire. Lastly, the Imperial line will become hereditary and shared with the Empire of France. The Empires are no longer considered simply in Union, rather are now a single functioning state.”
Emperor Henri III stood by his Act, confiscating all Polish lands within the Holy Roman Empire, as per his agreements with Fryderyk II before the announcement. As compensation for his losses Henri II granted his friend all the territories of the Livonian Order, allowed Lithuanian territory to be added to the Crown Lands of Poland, recognized Fryderyk II as King of Hungary, recognized Fryderyk II as King of Constantinople, and guaranteed the Lithuanian throne to the Polish.
The only resistance to the Act came from the Livonian Order, who refused to recognize Polish rule over Livonia, and went to Russia seeking funding and support. In June of 1637 the Order converted to Russian Orthodoxy, and revolted in Estland, Ösel, and Riga. The revolts, however, were quickly exterminated by Polish forces, which no longer had to occupy unruly portions of Germany, specifically Bohemia, Salzburg and Brandenburg. Some top members of the Order fled from Europe and landed in the Order’s colony in North America.
Orange - Territories officially added to the Holy Roman Empire
Dark Blue - Territories confiscated from Poland and added to France
Blue - Other territories of the Holy Roman Empire
Dark Green - Territories confiscated from the Livonian Order and added to Poland
Green - Territories attached to Crown Poland from Lithuania
The Livonian Order in exile in North America
The Empire Flag, adopted by France in 1638
East and West
Two Powers
In 1640 King Fryderyk II died, leaving his son Zygmunt III as King of Poland. King Zygmunt III immediately took Emperor Henri III up on his offer, and merged Poland and Lithuania. The two massive nations stood toe to toe with eat other, Defender of the West and Defender of the East. The two nations never had issues with one another though much of their history, but the issue arose that now nations had to pick from their favorite and their sides. Poland ruled Eastern Europe and was favored by nations such as Sweden. France ruled Western Europe, and was favored by nations such as England and Castile. Some nations could not find protection with either such as Aragon and Hungary. A polar Europe created some rifts amongst the people. Westerners were progressive, irreligious and tended to be wealthier. Easterners tended to be traditional, devout and relied more heavily on agriculture for income.
But beyond the cultures differences began to arise between the nobility in the two countries. Imperial nobles often competed with merchants and wealthy craftsmen, store owners and Jewish bankers for rank. Styles were simplistic, but still highly expensive. Emperor Henri III did not wear the fake military badges as did his Eastern counterpart. As the Empire modernized and globalized, only the Emperor seemed to maintain a position of blood-linked authority. Western Nobles did not wear the fancy clothing because their wealth was real, and they did not need to pretend otherwise.
In the East the styles favored extravagance. It is reported than once at a Polish ball that Emperor Henri III was asked to fetch a glass by a Polish noblewoman who mistook him for a servant. Nobles in Poland were protected from, and separated from, the wealthiest merchants and bankers. But in many ways it was all faked. Polish nobles were not even as wealthy as the second-tier nobles and merchants of France. It was claimed, once, that the Emperor of France personally wielded more wealth than all of Poland. There was some legitimacy to the claim. When Poland’s western territory was removed, Emperor Henri III also compensated them with $75,000 (now worth several trillion dollars), which was more than Poland generated in the remainder of the century.
But when you look deep into the two countries, you can see where many of these differences came from. France ruled its portion of Europe with very limited resistance. France’s will was done, and no one objected. In Poland, raids from Russia and the steppe Turks left a culture and government very oriented toward war. Poland had adopted very Russian styled military tactics, using horsemen to circle groups of soldiers and hit and run tactics. Meanwhile, France’s army used pure numbers and might to crush its enemies. Counties would be invaded by armies larger than the entire population of that country. France spared nothing in crushing their enemies utterly, while Poland wished to preserve their wealth while still accomplishing their aims.
Emperor Henri III of France and the Holy Roman Empire
King Zygmunt III of Poland-Lithuania and Constantinople
Unification
The First War of Unification
1642 saw the first resistances to Henri III’s single Empire vision of the Holy Roman Emperor. Several of the Imperial Cities in the north experienced revolts of Anti-Imperial citizens and merchants who wished for a return to the decentralized Empire. Governments were toppled and legitimate Dukes and Princes forced to flee into France. The most ardent of the nay-sayers was the Republic of Switzerland. Switzerland picked up the Papacy’s place in constantly being a torn in France’s side. So when France invaded two of the Imperial Cities in an attempt to return French authority to the region, Switzerland invaded France from the south.
In 1643 the First War of Unification had begun. Emperor Henri III’s generals fielded France’s armies into the Imperial Cities, and through the mountains and valleys of Switzerland. In the north, the armies of the Imperial Cities were quickly crushed and the cities rapidly crushed. Princes and Mayors who had assumed that their cities would be returned to them were very wrong, and Imperial France expanded. In the south, Switzerland made the mistake of splitting their army in half in a futile attempt to protect more of the nation. Weakened by this move, neither half of the Swiss Army proved able to hold off the French onslaught; which forced the Swiss army to retreat into neutral Venice. Switzerland was quickly occupied and much of its northern territories annexed to the Imperial Realm.
The Imperial Army occupies Switzerland
Colonial Expansion by Force
The Xhosa War and Oranje Atrocities
After a period of peace between 1644 and 1650, France was moving to war again, but in a fashion that European nations had never really done before. France was going to war for colonial territory in Africa. The Colonies of Namibia, Cape Colony and Natal Colony made up the Commonwealth of Southern Africa. Since the founding of the Commonwealth, France had laid claims on surrounding territories and tribes, looking to expand their hold on the Gem and Diamond trade in the region. The interior region had been colonized by a local tribal power called Xhosa. For much of a century, the two powers dealt with each other quite well simply by ignoring each other. But in 1650, Imperial settlers began probing the Xhosa border, looking for ways to settle the region and basically usurp it from the local chieftains.
Xhosa responded by slaughtering any Imperial settlers within their territories. Though unhappy with this, there was little Emperor Henri III could do because they were no longer in the Commonwealth’s territory. In early 1651, Xhosa raiders crossed into the Commonwealth and burned several villages down. Local militias responded by slaughtering any native with Xhosa ties or heritage. Natal colony was hit the hardest, losing some 3,000 settlers and native Zulus. Emperor Henri III responded by having 10,000 men organized into 2 colonial armies in the Commonwealth. He then also sent another 10,000 from France to back up the colonial army.
The Imperial and colonial armies started in the west and moved east, slaughtering some 5,000 Xhosa outright in the combat. Poorly armed and poorly armored the Xhosa soldiers were cannon fodder. Even so, after a year of conflict, the Xhosa maintained hit and run tactics, keeping their civilians safe as they migrated northward. In the regions bordering Natal, some 10,000 Xhosa women and children were forcibly marched out of the region, and another 3,000 killed in conflict and as a reaction to the original raids that started the conflict. The forced migrations and deaths of Xhosa civilians were dubbed the Oranje Atrocities, in reference to the perpetrators being Dutch and German settlers. The region seized by German settlers became the Oranje River Colony and the region seized by Dutch settlers became the Transvaal Colony.
In 1654 the war had advanced so that the Xhosa had mostly been forced out of their previous territories. Those allowed to remain in their homelands were under constant watch from the local militias and often captured and moved anyways by tribes allied to the French such as the Bantu and Zulu. The state of things worsened until the point in 1655 when Emperor Henri III stepped in, ended the wars and declared that the entire Commonwealth was under Imperial martial law until stability was returned. In the after math of the war, some 2,000 Imperial and colonial officers were tried and hanged for the Oranje Atrocities and general ‘Crimes against Humanity.’ The martial law would last several decades after the death of Emperor Henri III.
The Commonwealth of South Africa in 1651
The Commonwealth of South Africa in 1655
End of the Era
One Empire, One Emperor
Emperor Henri III d’Albret-Bourgogne Jagello died in August of 1656 at the young age of 39. His battles with porphyria had caught up with him and left him weak and sick. Between the years of 1654 and his death, Henri III stopped appearing at Imperial conventions. Instead his son Henri IV acted as a sort of Regent but usually more as a middle man between the Empire and the Emperor. With his health failing, Emperor Henri III stepped down in favor of his son in June, and retired quietly to a palace in the Bavarian Alps with his wife Anne. When he died two months later, it was said all people of Europe mourned the loss of the greatest monarch who would ever grace the planet. His son, Emperor Henri IV, would add on to his father’s legacy with a series of wars in Europe to complete his father’s vision.
Imperial territory in 1656
South American territory in 1656
North American territory in 1656
African territory in 1656