Chapter 18 - 1202 to 1211: The 4th Crusade
King Æthelstan II, former Duke of Hwicce, has inherited the Kingdom of Lloegyr from his distant relative Breselueu 'the Usurper'. Æthelstan II is son of the first de Gael King, Loup the Fowler. what he lacks in diplomatic skills that he predecessor possessed, he makes up for in his administrative talent. He is also a brave soldier, although an average leader. He is, unlike Breselueu, fulling Anglo-Saxon, his side of the family having lost its Breton culture since King Loup. He also has a claim on the Kingdom of Scotland, seeing as his grandfather was King Angus of Scotland, ruling in the 1160s to 80s. However, he may not be able to press this claim, at least not until he has restrengthened the kingdom, which is divided along the current ruling house de Gael and the previous one of Godwin.
Before any decisions to do with the Crusade, Æthelstan decides to deal with his vassals. Some are quite unhappy, especially because of the vast about of land held by the King. He therefore gives away his inherited duchy of York to the Count of York. In addition, he rechristens the Kingdom as England, removing the Breton name that was so unpopular among the Anglo-Saxon vassals.
Æthelstan then turns his attention to the 4th Crusade. Jerusalem is currently controlled by the Fatimid Sultanate, and they alone appose the crusaders. As many of the English vassals have already joined independent of their liege, he merely raises his own personal levies of 5 thousand men, along with a further 4 thousand from Mercia. They are sent to Wessex to board the fleet that will carry them to war.
They are loaded onto the ships in July of 1202 and set sail for the Holy Land. They land in the small Syrian enclave of the Fatimid Sultanate in January of 1203. There they engage a small defense force of 2 thousand Arabs.
They easily defeat the enemy, but word of a massive army of 16 thousand Arabs approaching from the south sends the English army back to their ships. They sail instead to Tripolitania, landing on the beaches in May. They set siege to Tripoli.
In November, word arrives from England that Æthelstan's son and heir Beorhtwine has died.
The siege a Tripoli ends a few days after the news arrives, and the army moves next to take the city of Sabratah.
The city is taken in March of 1204, but the past year of crusading has taken a toll on the army. Despite only a single battle on the fields, the sieges and disease have killed off over 1 thousand English men, and the occupation of Tripoli is more of a distraction than anything, as the Crusade in the east is going poorly for Christianity.
The city of Bani Waled is also occupied, but news of yet another massive army from the east sends the crusaders once more to their ships.
They land in the Holy Land itself, in the county of Asqalan. Finally, Æthelstan has arrived in the Holy Lands, he is a crusader.
The siege ends in May of 1205, but the arrival of the Arab army forces the English onto their ships for a third time.
They land in Tripoli again, far away from the main Arab army. Æthelstan sends word back to England to raise the rest of the levies from the entire Kingdom and send them to join him. Despite a few protests from the vassals, it is done, and the army of 12 thousand arrives in Tripoli on February 9th, 1206.
In June, Æthelstan's daughter and son, twins, come of age. The boy, Æthelstan III, is his heir and is one of the most gifted administrators in the Kingdom. He will make a fine ruler. His sister, Ealhswith, has a knowledge of diplomacy not often seen in this branch of the family. With the news of their coming of age, he also receives a letter from the King of France, who happens to be married to Jerkera, daughter of the former King Breselueu. He requests the Ealhswith marries his second youngest son. Æthelstan agrees to the marriage, and decides to not find his own son a wife until he returns from the Crusade.
With the additional 12 thousand troops, the armies are loaded onto their fleets and land back in the Holy Land in January of 1207. There they engage a small army of 8 thousand enemies on the Sinai Peninsula.
It is an easy victory and 10 thousand troops are left in Farama to block the Fatimid's access to the Holy Lands from North Africa.
In the preceding years, several more infidel castles and and cities fall to the crusaders in Sinai. Despite the earlier misgivings of the war, the English armies have thoroughly pushed the advantage to the crusaders.
In April of 1208, another messenger finds Æthelstan, this time it is from his son. Young Æthelstan III is obviously lonely, and he requests his father find him a wife. Resigning to his son's will, Æthelstan accepts.
His son is married to a Princess of Brittany, daughter of King Konan II. At the same time, his youngest sons, also twins, reach manhood.
England continues to besiege and capture many cities in the Holy Land, while battling small armies of Arabs until, near the end of the year 1210, the Fatimid Sultanate capitulates. The 4th Crusade is a success!
All of the Holy Land formerly controlled by the Fatimids is handed back to King Konan II of Brittany, who is perceived as the true ruler. Jerusalem, however, ironically remains with the Seljuk Sultanate, which holds only a small portion of the Holy Lands along with the Holy City.
NOTE:
-I noticed when my army first landed that Jerusalem wasn't even owned by the Fatimids... Pretty silly that the Seljuks didn't get pulled into the war.
-I swear to god that that 3900 man army was an 8 thousand man army right before I engaged them. I assume it said 8 thousand because of something to do with Fatimid's allies' armies being in the same province (much of Islam was also at war in a Jihad for Sicily).
-I will do more detailed updates on Æthelstan's family soon. This update was becoming too long and I wanted to finish the Crusade.
-The reason Brittany got the Kingdom of Jerusalem and not England is that King Konan II of Brittany still held the title of Kingdom of Jerusalem despite losing all of its land to the infidels.
Considering my plans in a certain Interactive AAR it makes it all the more funny.
