Furor Normannicus

[unmerged(81979)]

Excelllent update, sir! Top notch as always!

 

[unmerged(96639)]

Heh, one greek less.
Nice writing!

So Dyrrachhion shall be yours soon... would you only have a son.

Three Greeks less. And yikes. That Yolanda gal seems a few Greeks short of a full phalanx. :wacko: Daddy's girl, I guess. Kudos on the successful assassinations streak and great update, as always.

 

[robw963]

aha! I'm in! After weeks of being unable to post in an CK threads, I finally busted in. Fantastic AAR The_Guiscard! To do this justice, I really need to start reading from the very beginning, but from what I've seen and read in your last several updates Furor Normannicus is really living up to all the buzz I've been hearing. Please know you've now added a new reader

 

[phargle]

Goodbye, Demetrios. I was just starting to like you, and your meanderings reminded me of how hard it is to get chestnuts in this country, so I ordered a few bags. Demetrios suffered a very Byzantine fate, and it makes me wonder how much of that is Bohemond's doing. Murder does not seem to be his way. And the appraisal of the king's new wife sums her up as not a murderer either. . . but the king's daughter is a murderer, and stands to gain nothing from the murders she performs. The logical road takes us to Bohemond, who is finally beginning to execute evil in pursuit of his goals. And yet I still wonder (and suspect) if someone else is behind all of those deaths. A nicely-written update. The hunting locale seems downright primeval, and my sympathy for Demetrios was evoked strongly. I like the Normans, but his thoughts managed to make me dislike them along with him. Well done.

 

[kadvael56]

You could rename your chapter title : In Which A Boar And Three Greeks Are Killed

 

[General_BT]

Well, Zarides to me was a little bit of a bore, so the homonym works. That was a beautifully done murder scene... its weird, I could actually see that as someone's reaction if they had their throat slit - not really panic, just confusion before the darkness comes...

 

[nette001]

I would not be surprised if Yolanda was encouraged to return to the court of her father this way. Maybe this time, they will agree to a political marriage to somebody of their own choice this time. Maybe a German, to isolate the Pope a bit?

 

[unmerged(109735)]

First of all, I would like to thank each and every one of you for your readership and for your kind comments. I am very glad that I am able to entertain with that little story of mine.

Before I have the pleasure of addressing your cooments a word on why I had Demetrios killed, as some of you kight wonder at this. It was in part a role-playing decision in keeping with Yolanda’s established character, and then it was also a gameplay decision as the couple failed to produce any children. Little did I know then what was yet to come…

Enewald: Actually, Dyrrachion isn’t that easy. If Bohemond gets a son off Sophia and if he manages to kill Prince Alexios and his surviving son Manuel, he still needs to make his son a duke before having him inherit Dyrrachion, otherwise Dyrrachion would stay part of the Byzantine empire instead of becoming part of the Norman realm. And then Bohemond isn’t quite ready yet to move against Byzantium, so he’s in no hurry to appropriate himself of Dyrrachion. It was just important to get that the current prince’s two brothers out of the way before they could start to produce sons of their own.

democratickid: Glad that you liked it. I myself am not so sure about it – a bit much internal monologue and reflection and a too little actual action.

Morsky: If you think that that was a successful assassination streak, you ain’t seen nothing yet, bro. There’s one to come that had my own jaw hit the floor!

robw963: Great to finally have you commenting – you must be the reader who went to the greatest troubles to be able to have his say!

I am glad that you like my little story. It’s just a bit of a shame that you started out reading it in the middle – if you do now go on to read the previous chapters you have unfortunately already ruined a few good (that’s at least what I delude myself into believing) cliffhangers and moments of doubt and tension for yourself. Like who’s going to be king after Robert Guiscard, or wether Serlo will be ambushed before the walls of Siracusa, or wether he will survive the siege of Isernia, and so on. But then you will also be able to *dons pompous mien* fully appreciate my instances of foreshadowing Yolanda’s future bloody disposition.

phargle: I’m so happy that my writing gets your culinary juices flowing!

I am pleased that my description of the woodland came across as primeval. I didn’t envision the forest as outright primeval – it was after all a south Italian forest, even though in winter – but I endeavoured to show it with Demetrios’ eyes. And Demetrios was an urbane man from even further south with a dislike for outdoor activities, so I did deliberately overemphasize the wildness of the landscape and the harshness of winter.

It does somehwhat surprise me that you liked Demetrios and did actually dislike the Normans as seen through his eyes – and it pleases me highly. This man, fated for death, afforded me the possibilty to for once show the Normans from another angle without having to introduce a new POV character, and I wanted this view to be hard to categorize. Demetrios is soft and a bit effeminate, but one could excuse this with his age. But I did on purpose refuse to pass judgement wether he was a reasonably able but completely misunderstood man who had run afoul somewhat primitive people who are unable to appreciate him, or if he was simply a man embittered by others not sharing his own overblown assessment of his very mediocre talents and achievements. Has Demetrios’ noble birth thrown him into a world where he was in way over his head or were the Normans simply too crude to value a man like him? Was he a softy or simply more refined than the Normans? Was he an embittered whiner or was he a poor misunderstood soul? I leave the judgement to you.

kadvael56: It would be appropriate. But it would also give away too much. And you will have noticed that my chapter titles are deliberately chosen to give away little and allude to only ever rather inconsequential occurences in the chapters. Don’t quite know why I do this – it just struck me as an idea.

General_BT: That’s a good one with the homonym! :rofl:

I’m glad that you liked the murder scene, especially as you have done a few very good ones yourself. I have actually long been looking forward to writing the scene. And I do also think that the shock of having your throat cut would at first blot out any pain (as is often the case with grave injuries) for long enough to die in the interim. And the same shock might conceivably also very well drown out any panic. Anyway, I feel that confusion in view of your impending death is actually more powerful than outright panic. Or maybe I’m just not able to portray the latter convincingly…

nette001: I have not yet shown it in the narrative (but will do so soon as a kind of backflash), but shortly before the murder of Demetrios another claimholder appeared at the Norman court. The lack of children from the first marriage and the presence of this second attractive claimholder did influence my decision to do away with Demetrios. What I didn’t want to do was marry Yolanda out of my court – Intrigue 14 was just too good to loose.

Ok folks, that’s it for now. Coming up next is not a regular chapter but a world update. Stay tuned!

 

[unmerged(81979)]

democratickid: Glad that you liked it. I myself am not so sure about it – a bit much internal monologue and reflection and a too little actual action.

Well, a like both so I didn't notice the difference too much. Still top notch as always!

 

[unmerged(109735)]

Excursion One: The World At The Dawn Of the Twelfth Century​

In the past thirtyfive years, much has changed in Europe, and much has stayed the same. Of many things the Normans of Italy are completely unaware, and others simply don’t interest them. The following is a look at the world through mostly Norman eyes.

​

Scandinavia may be the ancestral home of the Normans, but even though it is nothing more to them than tales handed down from the times before their grandfathers’ grandfathers. With their move to the Mediterranean, these lands have become too distant to be still of even marginal interest or importance. The Normans know little more than that Scandinavia is largely divided up into the three middingly powerful, peaceful and well consolidated, but hopelessly backwater kingdoms Norway, Sweden and slightly better developed Denmark, ruled by kings Arne Yngling, Bard Stenkilsätten and Harald Svendson Knýtling respectively. The Baltic coast and the lands to the east are little known to the Italian Normans. It is said to be a land of primitive pagans ruled by many petty lords.

​

The Normans have a keen interest in their Norman brother realm of England. This land was conquered over thirty years ago by William the Bastard, and the Normans have consolidated their hold over their Saxon subjects. William’s son Robert, noted for his cruelty, is undisputed king over England and Normandy, but the Gaelic principalities of Wales remain independent, as does Scotland. The Scots, ruled by slothful King Duncan Dunkeld have already many years ago pushed the Norwegians to the Hebrides and erected a strong and unified kingdom that serves as a counterweight to the Normans in the south.

Ireland is still divided politically and the Irish cling to their ages old tradition that every man who owns a dungheap of his own may call himself a king. Their island is of no consequence to the Italian Normans.

​

France has seen quite some changes recently, all of them peaceful, but resulting in quite a loss of power for the royal house of Capet. Some 35 years ago, Normandy broke from the French crown, but quite recently an even more dramatic development ran its course. Decades ago, one Adhémar, brother to the duke of Toulouse, tried to usurp his brother’s office, failed and had to flee. He went to Venice, where he married into one of the Republic’s oldest and most pwerful noble families. In 1094, Enri, his son from this union, was elected Doge of Venice. Only a few short years later, in 1096, Enri’s uncle died, and died childless – meaning that his huge French holdings fell to Enri de Toulouse, Doge of Venice. The notedly cautious French king Pierre Capet was powerless to prevent the entire southwest of his realm breaking away and France being split into a northern and a smaller southern part.
In view of the complacency of both the French and the English sovereigns it seems likely that the nothing much will change in French lands anytime soon. The real beneficiary of the decline of French power is Duke Alain de Cornouaille of Brittany, the independence of whose land seems to be threatened neither by the Normans nor by the the French.

​

The Iberian peninsula has had a very eventful history in those past few decades. At first, the many Christian lordships in the north were unified ever more, with Castille inheriting the crowns of both Leon and Navarre and the Catalans establishing a successful realm in the northeast. The Christians made to push the Muslims out of Iberia, and they were quite successful. Too successful. The menace of a Christian Reconquista created was so palpable that the many fractured Iberian Muslims united once again, under the young diplomatic genius Hussayn ibn Abbad, Emir of Sevilla. Emir Hussayn secured himself of peace with Castille and Portugal and then attacked Catalonia, absorbing it after a few years of intense warfare. A few years ago, Emir Hussayn did abandon his treaty with Castille and opened hostilities with the most powerful Christian state in Iberia. King Estebe Jimenez, who had sat by idly while his rival Catalonia was destroyed by the Emir of Sevilla, is continually loosing gound to the Muslims. He has beseeched King Henrique de Coimbra of Portugal for aid, but Henrique is stalling. His frivolous lifestyle has led to his excommunication, and now Henrique uses his aid for Castille as a bargaining chip, withholding it until the Pope agrees to revoke his excommunication.

The west of North Africa and the Balearic Islands are all held by various Muslim lords. Notable among them, mostly for the past power of his realm, which has been broken by the Normans in several campaigns spread out over twenty years, is King Hashmaddin of the Hammadids, but another power seems on the rise in the distant southwest: The al-Murabitun, recently converted and especially devout Muslims of mixed Black African and Berber ancestry. Their cunning and pious King Abu Bakr bin Taishufin has recently organized his still young kingdom and lifted it from primitive semi-barbarism, and the al-Murabitun do now seem poised to strike out north.

​

The former German Empire has seen difficult thirty years. A quarter century ago, after years of internecine warfare, the old Frankish dynasty has been deplaced by Mathilda of Canossa who was crowned Queen of the Germans at Aachen. But a good many German lords refused to acknowledge Mathilda but gave their loyalty to the boy-king Peter von Franken instead, some out of real devotion to the old dynasty, but most only to play off both soverigns against each other and thereby gain a maximum of independence for themselves. Among the most successful of the lords playing both ends against the middle were the dukes of Eberhard von Zähringen of Carinthia and Friedrich von Rheinfelden of Swabia and also the dukes of Bavaria and Provence, even though they are presently under tight control of King Peter. Generally speaking, Queen Mathilda controls the lowlands of the north, while King Peter, who carries the titles of king of Bohemia, Italy and Burgundy, controls scattered lands to the east, in the area of Austria and Bohemia, and to the soutwest, in Burgundy and northwestern Italy including the islands off the western Italian coast. The Alpine range and the lowlands of northern Italy with their headstong and selfconscious townships retain a large deal of independence from both sovereigns, but especially the latter are increasingly threatened by the Normans from the south.

The situation in Germany is highly instable, and will likely become ever more so. As of the beginning of 1101, Queen Mathilda seems to be on her deathbed, worn out by three decades of ceaseless fighting which together with her piety and stubbornly unmarried state have gained her the sobriquet of “Iron Maiden”. Heir apparent to the German crown is a ver distant relative of Mathilda, a youth called only by his nickname “Ciuccio”. From what little is known of this Ciuccio of Canossa it seems likely that Peter von Franken might finally be able to turn the tide in the struggle for his father’s empire.

​

Eastern central Europe is of little interest to the Normans, at least its northern half. These parts are dominated by the the quite powerful Kings Zygmunt Piast of Poland and Salamon Arpád of Hungary. By marriage and conquest, the Polish kings have acquired quite extensive holdings in Russian lands, but these are scattered and far-flung and in part very distant and thus hard to control directly – the Polish crown’s rule over these lands is more nominal than actual. Hungary on the other hand is a strong and centralized kingdom on the rise. Over twenty years ago, the Hugarians allied with the Croatina and Byzantines to the south, and in a great pincer movement headed by Hungary this coalition did crush the pagan Pechenegs living along the Danube. Hungary profited most from this war, extending its territory even to the shores of the Black Sea.

The second beneficiary of the war against the Pechenegs were the Croatians who obtained some scattered territories to the east of their mainland. They are currently led by a boy-king, seven year old Mirko Tripimirovic, on account of whose youth no activities of the Croatians seem likely for another decade. Still, the Normans have a watchful eye on the Croatians, their neighbours across the Adriatic Sea.

The Principality of Serbia has constituted itself some fifteen years ago by conquering the cosmopolitan coastal trading town of Ragusa. The influx of sophisticated cultural ideas from Ragusa, itself partial to the advanced culture of Byzantium, has propelled the Serbians of the mountainous interior from an almost tribal existence of goatherds into the middle ages. The Normans are keenly interested in Serbia and view it as a potential ally in case of a war against Byzantium. Relations between these two people are compounded by a royal marriage – Prince Mladen Vojislavljevic of Serbia is married to King Bohemond’s eldest daughter Matilda. Princess Matilda has already born her husband three children, unfortunately all of them female.

​

Unlike Germany, the Byzantine Empire is still a power to contend with. Much of this goes to the credit of Nikephoros Argyros. After the Byzantines had suffered a crushing military defeat by the hands of the Seljuk Turks over thirty years ago and the defeated emperor was deposed by an usurper, Nikephoros Argyros led a successful counter-coup and in late 1067 proclaimed himself Roman Emperor. At that time, the Turk was pushing deep into Asia Minor and aal over the Empire local governors and noblemen used the chaos in Constantinople to secede. Emperor Nikephoros stemmed this development by demonstrating the strength of the Empire. He opposed the Seljuks with so much energy that not only no other Byzantine nobles dared to defy their emperor but that he also fought the Turks to a standstill. Nikephoros Argyros might have gone on to become one the greatest emperors ever, but he died young, succumbing to a festering arrow wound in 1070, after little more than two years on the throne. He left the empire to his son Kyrilios, who had not yet seen his first birthday.

Kyrilios had the good fortune to find a loyal and able regent in his uncle who held the reins of the Byzantine Empire for over fifteen years. During this time Constantinople’s show of force deterred the Turks from further offensives and most of the rebellious Greek aristocrats were also brought to heel. Byzantium did even expand its holdings in Europe by joining forces with Hungary and Croatia against the Pechenegs.

For over a dozen years, Kyrilios Argyros does now rule himself and proves a wise and cunning yet treacherous ruler, deeply steeped in the political tradition of Constantinople. The recent years have seen one noticeable deed of the emperor which is better recounted in context of the Levant.

As of the dawning 12th century, two of the regions that had rebelled over thirty years ago are still independent, the Principality of Peloponessos in Europe and the Principality of Lykia in Asia. Both gave their support for Nikephoros Argyros usurpation, for which Nikephoros did in turn forgoe all his claims of lordship over these lands. As of now, it doesn’t seem as if Emperor Kyrilios would renege his father’s promise, but aged Prince Manuel Angelos of Lykia and young Prince Konstantinos Palaiologos of Peloponessos are wary nonetheless.

​

The great tale of success of the Near East are obviously the Seljuk Turks, whose arrival about half a century ago did upset the entire balance of power in the region, but until very recently there was also another tale of success in the region – the Armenians of Cilicia. These Armenians were among the people who broke from Byzantine overlordship at about the time of the usurpation of Nikephoros Argyros, but unlike many others they went on to become a very respectable power. The Armenians expanded slowly but ceaselessly into Muslim territory, taking province after province from the infidels. It was their undoing that their last sovereign started to call himself “king”. The young Byzantine Emperor Kyrilios viewed this as an insult and a direct and blatant challenge to his overlordship. Consequently he negotiated a secret deal with the Seljuks, and in 1097 the tow huge empires attacked the Armenians jointly from east and west. In less than two years the Armenian kingdom was annihilated, its lands divided up between Constantinople and Baghdad. It is beyond a doubt that Emperor Kyrilios has thereby strengthend Byzantium, but he is still censured by many for overally having weakened Christianity.

The great power in the east, and indeed the greatest power in the known world, are the Seljuk Turks, horseman and nomads from central Asia only recently converted to Islam. Their lord is fearsome Malik Shah, protector of the Caliph and Baghdad, who is – nominally – the font of his authority. Malik Shah is not only a warrior of fabled prowess but also a just and pious man, and his praises are sung throughout the Muslim world. Along with the question of predominance in the Levant Malik Shah’s role as protector of Sunnitic Islam is leading to ever more severe tensions between the Seljuks and the Shiite Fatimids who claim that their own lord, twelve year old Sabah, is the one true Caliph and lord of all Muslims. Until quite recently, Fatimids and Seljuks were rather evenly matched, but in the past few years two large regions have broken away from Fatimid rule, centered on the two holiest cities of both Christendom and Islam – Ramadan Ahmed in Jerusalem and Muhammad Hasan in Medina. Emir Muhammad of Medina is said to be a crippled hunchback, but one of the finest political and military minds in all of Islam, and it doesn’t seem likely that this formidable lord should be brought to heel by the Fatimids anytime soon. With the Fatimids wishing to reassert their predominance in the region , the two young realms wanting to retain their independence between their larger neighbours, the Seljuks desiring to gain access to the Mediterranean, the situation in the east seems highly unstable.

The last of the Muslim nations of the east is the tiny Emirate of Cyrenaika. Emir Zeyd banu Suleim’s use of this title is hollow, for the actual region of Cyrenaika is firmly in the grip of King Bohemond. The Italian Normans have reduced the once respectable power Cyrenaika to an insignificant buffer state between themeslves and the Fatimids. King Bohemond’s covetuous gaze is on the remnants of this realm, and with the Fatimids becoming ever less of a threat the days of this small rump state may well be numbered.

​

Italy finally is the very hub of Norman power and Norman political interest. Sicily and most of the peninsula are firmyl controlled by them, and the small but prosperous merchant Republic of Pisa, ruled by King Boheomond’s nephew Osmond Grimaldi, is a close ally of them. The Patrimonium Petri, currently controlled by Honorius II, has in the past lost territories to the Normans, but has seen a recent reemergence after Tuscan lands came under papal control. Apart from its influence and moral authority it is now also a respectable territorial power, but much too isolated to pose a threat to the Normans, to whom it is hostile.

To the north of the Norman kingdom are former German lands. The northwestern Italian coast, around Genoa, and the islands of Sardinia and Corsica pledge their fealty to Peter von Franken, King of Italy, but half the large and fertile alluvial plain of the river Po with its many large towns is loyal to dying Queen Matilda. Two notable regions manage as yet to stay completely independent, the town of Bologna and the county of Ravenna. The latter is ruled by Malacresta Montefeltro, son to Simone Montefeltro, who formerly held the county of Urbino for Queen Matilda before rebelling against her authority and then losing this county to King Bohemond. The Normans have a very keen interest in Ravenna, and King Bohemond has married his bastard son Silvester, Count of Siena, to one of Count Malacresta’s many sisters. Even so, the count has declined when the Norman king demanded his oath of fealty les then three years ago. It is not to be expected that this was the last Norman foray to win control over Ravenna.

The utter northeast of Italy belongs to the duchy of Carinthia which stretches all the way up into the souteastern Alps and holds also some lands in Swabia. Duke Eberhard von Zähringen rules Carinthia, and the Zähringer have the longest tradition og independence from the German king – almost thirthyfive years ago they did rebel agains the authority of Heinrich von Franken and they have retained their independence ever since and even manged to extend their influence. King Bohemond views them with suspicion as Zähringen and Hauteville interests might easily clash in northern Italy.

A tiny Italian power is the former merchant Republic of Venice, but appearances are deceptive. Venice, ruled by Enri de Toulouse, is not only exceedingly wealthy, it has also extensive holdings in the south of France and is thus a power to be reckoned with. In addition, Enri de Toulouse has used his immense wealth from his personal holdings in France to stage a coup in Venice – in 1098 he abolished the office of doge and had himself crowned king of Venice.

​

After addressing territorial issues a glance at the other dynasties and sovereigns and the Hautevilles’ place among them. At first, for your viewing pleasure, the game score as of January 1st 1101:

​

Of greater interest than the vanilla game score are the scores from the Dynastic Glory utility. Here is a look at the 25 most glorious dynasties as of January 1st 1101:

​

The Hautevilles come in second, after the Seljuks. Third are the Jimenez, fighting for their survival against the Emirate of Sevilla, followed rather unaccountably by the Danish Knýtlings and then the Hungarian Arpáds and the Polish Piasts. Seventh is again a Muslim dynasty, the Hana of Egypt, who are currently the ruling house of the Fatimids. The Scottish Dunkelds and the English Normans of Wiliam the Conqueror come in eighth and ninth, and the house de Toulouse, newly-created kings of Venice take place ten in the glory ranking.

Now on to the individual glory ranking of living nobles:

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As with the dynasties, it is again the Seljuks who take first place, with their glorious king Malik Shah. The most glorious Christian sovereign is the Polish King Zgmunt, followed by the English King Robert and the Scottish King Duncan. The overall fifth place goes to King Estebe Jimenez, again somewhat unaccountably, considering that he failed to aid his Catalonian neighbours against the Muslims and seems now to be losing to them himself. Only then, on place six of the glory ranking. He is followed by somebody who is neither king nor even count, but who is thought of the shining paragon of Christian virtues, Heinrich von Nordheim; of him later more.

I want to show you two very special individuals, said Heinrich von Nordheim, and also the Seljuk King Malik Shah, famed far and wide and respected even by his Christian enemies. Here they are:

​

I would like you to take a good look at Heinrich von Nordheim, most pious Christian alive and more famed and glorious than many a king. This paragon of Christian virtue is not only a bedridden invalid, but also a Misguided Warrior, Lazy, Indulgent, Selfish, Arbitrary, Cruel and Deceitful. Oh, yes – and Crazed. :rofl:

That’s it for now. The second installment of the world update is going to look at the house of Hauteville itself, at its members and its Mediterranean realm.

 

[Saithis]

I would like to state for the record that von Nordheim is my new hero.

 

[phargle]

the Irish cling to their ages old tradition that every man who owns a dungheap of his own may call himself a king.

Magnificent.

I also love what has occurred in Venice. A French inheritance. Good! A coup. Bad.... I note that the only area of Christian success in southern Europe along the Spain-France-Italy-Germany-Rome continuum is by the Normans themselves, although Hungary is at least holding the line. Everywhere else it is crumbling and falling.

Crusader Kings offers such nuttiness that, while it's occasionally nice to see the world around, it's also occasionally nice to be ignorant of it - ignorance seems to make the settings so much more believable! But then we would have not seen that awesome development in France, nor heard your assessment of Irish kinghood. Heh.

 

[Enewald]

The pope seems to like him.

Nice nice!
You should conquer north Italy. They have rich provinces.

 

[Jalex]

How powerful, rich and advanced is Naples compared to the other Kingdoms, such as England, France, Germany and King Peters Demesne (for want of a better word), etc?

 

[Eams]

I've caught up, and I remain convinced that Yolanda must have the sort of child who trapped and tortured small animals, probably giggling as she cut them.

That Greek prince must truly be daft if he doesn't realize that the epidemic death of his male relatives is tied to the recent marriage of his sister to a pathological expansionist, who is also the (unjustly bastardized) son of a man who combined marriage with assassinations in his quest to expand his realm.

 

[The Kingmaker]

We really need to meet Heinrich von Nordheim in your story.

Oh, and I'm going to try and read all of this when I get a chance. Looks really good, The_Guiscard!

 

[General_BT]

von Nordheim seriously needs to visit Palermo, if only as a side character for an update!

I really like the world update - the Venetian inheritence of Toulouse is especially interesting. I wonder if this puts Venice as yet another contender for the troubled Holy Roman throne, especially if Peter and Ciuccio bludgeon themselves to death.

 

[unmerged(81979)]

Interesting looking world there...

 

[Eöl]

So are you going to try taking back Iberia for, Rome... I mean, uh, Christendom as the local have done such a dismal job?

 

[Eams]

In medieval Iberia, every ruling faction did a dismal job.