Furor Normannicus

[The_Archduke]

Gausbert's rightful place? You mean Silvester's. He is the true heir of Bohemond. He should be the second bastard king of the Normans.

 

[Devin Perry]

Gausbert's rightful place? You mean Silvester's. He is the true heir of Bohemond. He should be the second bastard king of the Normans.

Silvester can keep Sicily, Richard son of Serlo will take Africa and Gausbert gets Egypt. Everyone is happy, even Herman since he is the messiah. :rofl:

 

[unmerged(96639)]

Interesting. Here's hoping Herman dies of his injuries. I also vote Gausbert for King - laziness is not a flaw, it's a virtue. Mankind progresses thanks to lazy people thinking up way to reduce the need for labor, not thanks to workaholics!

Also, interesting to see Yolanda getting some Karmic punishment of her own - death by diarrhea would be a fitting punishment for all her copious evildoings.

 

[Eams]

Also, interesting to see Yolanda getting some Karmic punishment of her own - death by diarrhea would be a fitting punishment for all her copious evildoings.

I'm glad that someone else mentioned this. I planned to do so (though I would have used "defecation" rather than "diarrhoea") but figured that I've already called for Yolanda's degrading demise often enough

Again, none of Bohemond's offspring, proper or bastard, is really fit to inherit the throne.
Personally, I'm rooting for however them is the crappiest, simply because that might make this AAR rise to an even higher level of excellence.

 

[General_BT]

Yolanda getting some comeuppance.

Hermann getting some comeuppance.

There is divine justice!

Sad that the Fatimids got their act together quickly, though I thought sure Bohemond would reason that their armies were tired from fighting and he could still snatch a province or two. Good to see he's not as rash as I'd thought he'd be. I have no doubt his roving territorial eye will settle on some pretty piece of land soon...

 

[unmerged(90994)]

Glad to see Yolanda gettting back some of the suffering she's caused, but I can't wait for Bohemond to drop, too. Sorry, but he lost me when he started killing people who were only trying to subdue him at Monreale. It would be lovely for the Calabrians to start wiping out his issue as Yolanda has done to the Montefeltros. Who comes after Bohemond's (legitimate) sons in the succession, now? Roger Borsa and his suddenly-legitimate son?

Wonderfully written as always. Indeed, keep up the good work!

 

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Again, thank you all very much for reading and commenting. You aare, as always, very kind to me and my little story. Let’s just hope I manage to still entertain you in the New Year. Have a happy one, by the way!

The_Archduke: Like yourself, I too do think that a King Silvester would be very interesting from the viewpoint of the story. For better or probaby worse he’d certainly cut a very dynamic figure, unlike his slothful brother Gausbert. But I doubt that Bohemond would exactly view this as a case of history repeating itself. Wheras Silvester is a bastard in the true sense of the word, many, Bohemond most certainly among them, felt that Bohemond was the offspring of a perfectly lawful marriage and unjustly made a bastard by this marriage’s annullment for political reasons. Be this as it may, a line of bastard kings would be a nice twist

Devin_Perry: I can’t see Bohemond standing for splitting that empire he is building. Though he wouldn’t of course be averse to adding the Egyptian crown to the Sicilian one.

coz1: Glad that you liked me showing the aging and some of Serlo’s – now happy – family life. Furor Normannicus does focus on the historical perspective, and even though it does so from the personal viewpoint of people affected by the events or involved in them, the people themselves are cut a bit short. For this reason, I have myself especially enjoyed writing that tiny vignette of Serlo and his son.

And Yolanda dying would certainly leave more of a hole than Herman dying, as unlike him she’s highly capable and active. But more than that it would entail a shift in policy. You might have noted that Bohemond’s rule has taken on a much more sinister aspect with Yolanda his spymistress. An end of her tenure would most probably also mean an end to murder.

Enewald: No crusades yet, strangely. But they are not far away and going to to cast their shadow already in the next update. Actually, the crusade to Jerusalem is very near really.

demoKratickid: (Well, I wouldn’t wanna insult you here in my own thread, would I? )
Thanks for the kind comment. With the storm of the rebellion weathered off for now, Bohemond’s again on the move.

Morsky: Let me hug you! You’r a man after my own taste, you lazy slob!

But considering her bodycount I’d actually consider death by diarrhea a rather mild punishment for Yolanda, really.

Eams: Wait – you’ve called for Yolanda’s degrading demise? Hasn’t this been Bohemond’s degrading demise.

Also, thank you for your kind comment on Furor Normannicus’ quality. If you enjoy portrayals of human selfishness, avarice and callousness, there are of course better places to go than this one here, but also one or two worse, or so I hope.

General_BT Well, the Fatimid civil war was over incredibly soon. When I saw that there was fighting, I immediately started the offensive against Cyrenaika, but the fighting was unfortunately already over sometime during the siege of Tobruk. When Cyrenaika was finally conquered, the Fatimids were already enjoying about three months of peace. And as an attack on Egypt from the west would have entailed attacking Alexandria with its huge resident army and its medium castle, Bohemond and I gritted our teeth and desisted.

It’s Amazing: Hello first-time commenter and welcome aboard! Always a pleasure hearing a new perspective on my yarn.

Bohemond’s issue has by now become very numerous. There’s the bastard Silvester with his son Jordan, then Gausbert and Herman with his son Aubrey, then the two boys Richard and Zeno and her girl-sister Eremberga, and of course childless Yolanda and her sister Matilda, who has by now born a son and heir to her husband, the Prince of Serbia. Wping all of them out would be a feat on par with wiping out the Montefeltros.

And the line of succession is currently thus: Herman – Aubrey (H’s son) – Gausbert – Richard – Zeno – Roger Borsa – Roger (RB’s son) – Boson (Roger’s son) – Massimo

 

[Devin Perry]

Bohemond won't be standing for anything once he's dead. Gavelkind (sp?) is always so much fun.

 

[nette001]

I wouldn't call this a little story anymore.

Would Behemond not be.. erm.. disappointed in his legal male ofspring. Would his considerations therefore not go more towards a more long-term planning for his realm, in which Sylvester, who turned out to have some sense for Realpolitik after all and is the most capable male child?

Would dynastical considerations or imperial considerations rule? Recognising Sylvester would assure (at least temporarily) his loyalty, rule out Herman and Gausbert and punish them for their previous lack of loyalty. I would resent calls by my son to kill me, anyway.

Then the intriguing question arises where Yolanda stands. Is she in league with Sylvester, or with one of the legal brothers? Will she become involved in "helping" in these dynastical matters or will she remain indisposed?

There are so many possibilities that can make so many storylines here :wacko: I'm looking forward to it.

 

[unmerged(81979)]

demoKratickid: (Well, I wouldn’t wanna insult you here in my own thread, would I? )

:rofl: You're too kind!

 

[phargle]

Splendid. I've been unable to keep up, and I'm glad to return to this AAR after my winter break. I'd been wondering about Hoel, and I'm glad to see the fellah back in the AAR even for a moment, even though he was getting pushed around by some messenger. . . at least the messenger brought good news. My highest hope was that Herman was injured in battle instead of victimized by an assassin. Ah, well. At least Yolanda has the poops and may not be long for this world. She was always too much for the lovely Muslim chancellor to handle, it seemed.

I also dig the scenes of Serlo playing with his kid, and his ready ability to defend himself armed only with a butterknife. The training of the boy is familiar to me, as I have had occasion to let nephews or other small children swing fake swords at me. I'm sure they'll grow up to be terrific fake swordsman some day. Like coz, I really like the way Serlo comes across in that scene. Remembering him as a landless adventurer, or as Bohemond's mentor, or backed up into a corner in Capua, or even humiliated and shamed in front of Bohemond, it's all quite cool to put into context with how his life has evolved. All this needs to be perfect is for Bohemond to come to Serlo for advice one last time. Nothing makes me happier than Serlo's astute advice, and Bohemond may need it if he is to cross his Indus and fight Mukhtar. A 14 martial score with a 16-stat martial? Yikes. No wonder he didn't continue.

Yet.

Loves it. Keeps it coming, my precious.

 

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Before I address the last few of your undeservedly kind comments I would like to make some announcements:

First off, people, please vote in the ACAs! It’s not as if you had to cast a vote in every single category for every single subforum, if you happen to read only one or two AARs give your support to them. And don’t worry that your knowledge of AARland might not be sufficient to decide which AAR deserves to be honoured. The ACAs are meant to distinguish the favourite AARs, not necessarily the best ones. So please give your support to your personal favourites.

Then I would like to draw your attention to a collaborative AAR begun yesterday in the CK forum of AARland, Road to Jerusalem. It features different angles on the First Crusade from various writers, among them yours truly. I contribute to the AAR from the viewpoint of my Normans, splitting the story over there off from Furor Normannicus as a kind of alternative history to it in 1096 (that’s right before Bohemond embarks for Africa, where he is supposed to be murdered by Serlo, just so you know). The story over there is told from the viewpoint of Roger Borsa and casts some more light on his personality, which might interest some of you. Or not.

Devin Perry: Ok, you’ve got a point with corpses not standing anymore, I admit. But as long as he’s alive, Bohemond won’t even think of breaking up his realm by use of gravelkind!

nette001: I absolutely agree that there are a bevvy of possibilities for Bohemond’s offspring to ally to each other or stab each other in the back that virtually anything could happen now. Maybe I should hand Furor Normannicus over to General_BT, he’s a master at this type of internecine strife.

But Bohemond is certainly worried. He is very much aware that none of his three adult sons is fit to walk in his shoes, Herman least of all. But in my imagination he is, like all people are at all times, also bound by the social norms imprinted on him culturally. The eldest son inherits. It’s always been so, and it’s always going to be so. Breaking with a tradition tht is ingrained deeply with him isn’t easy for Bohemond. Disowning Herman means gong against his very instincts.

demokratickid: It’s all show, you know. Pop over to Ireland, Awake! to see my real face.

phargle: Yes, Serlo’s come a long way, hasn’t he? It made me very happy when I noticed that another son had been born to him, at 57, when I had already abandoned any hope. It seems as if his life was finally winding down pleasantly and if he could look back on it in contentment.

But then he’s not yet dead, nor is he dying. He may be old, but he’s still got spunk in him. Enough to help Bohemond take on Mukhtar? Time and Furor Normannicus will tell.

 

[unmerged(81979)]

demokratickid: It’s all show, you know. Pop over to Ireland, Awake! to see my real face.

You'll see my response to that "proposal" over there...

 

[unmerged(109735)]

Interlude Two: From W. FitzRoy’s Bohemond. Giant Among Men.​

The following is an unabridged excerpt from William FitzRoy. Bohemond. Giant Among Men. London 1920. The present editor feels that it is his duty to remind the gentle reader that Sir William FitzRoy was himself the scion of an English noble family tracing its roots back to the Norman conquerors and thus highly prejudiced in favour of the subject of his disquisition. His book does moreover still stand in the tradition of 19th century historiography and does thus tend to take its sources at face value, resorting to merest hints of the modern scholarly discipline of source criticism only where unfavourable accounts of Bohemond are extant. Caveat emptor.

A minor occurrence in the second half of 1104 can probably also be counted among the aftermath or immediate repercussions of the war of annexation against the remnants of the Emirate of Cyrenaika. We have related above how Prince Herman de Hauteville has in the course of this campaign been gravely wounded by an assassin who had in all probability been sent by his second cousin Count Henry of Lecce, acting as regent for his nephew, young Duke Massimo of Calabria. Not long after the end of the war, an attempt was now made to end the life of Duke Massimo, at that time a boy no older than ten years, by use of poison. The cowardly attempt failed, and no culprit was ever found or named, even though rumors did abound, varyingly suspecting either the King, Prince Herman, or the boy’s uncle and regent himself responsible. We will not concern us with idle speculations, it shall merely have to suffice to say that Count Henry stood to gain nothing whatsoever from his ward’s demise and that it would be completely out of character for Bohemond to stoop to such low means as murder, so that these two can be safely discounted as instigators of the assault.

​

Of more consequence than the attempt on the life on Duke Massimo was the reorganisation of his realm Bohemond conducted after the war against Cyrenaika. The King’s measures to this end carried forward the rise of the Frankish de Macon family who had proven so instrumental in thwarting the traitors at the ‘Treason of Monreale’. Soon after this event, the family’s patriarch Guy had been made a councillor of the King (see above p. 362) and two of his sons had been elevated into influential offices as well. Géraud had been made archbishop of Siracusa, and Raoul marshal of the realm. Both young de Macons had proven their worth almost immediately. Géraud had instituted final sweeps of his diocese and closed down the last remaining places of Orthodox Christian worship, bringing Sicily finally and firmly into the fold of Catholicism, and Raoul had conducted his commands against the Cyrenaikans to the fullest satisfaction of the King. Sometime early in the year of 1105 AD, the de Macons did reap yet another reward for their outstanding services to the crown when the family head Guy was entrusted with the African county of Bizerte.

​

But it was not this enfiefment that had momentous consequences for the Norman realm, but another one carried out at about the same time, not long after Christmas 1104. The King’s second son Gausbert had also accompanied Bohemond on the campaign into Africa, and the youth had there distinguished himself both by cunning and by prowess in battle and won the favour of his father. While the campaign had not yet been concluded, Bohemond had already sent to Greece, to Ioannes Syraneres, lord of Adrianopolis and a powerful figure at the court of Emperor Kyrilios, to win the Byzantine’s daughter’s hand in marriage for Gausbert. Prince Ioannes consented to the marriage of Sophia, one of the famed beauties of the age, to King Bohemond’s son, and sent her to Palermo, where the matrimony was solemnized around Christmas 1104.

Very soon after the marriage, probably at the same occasion that he granted Bizerte to Guy de Macon, Bohemond did also elevate Gausbert and provide him with suitable holdings to keep his wife in a style befitting a daughter-in-law of his. No sooner than the Mediterranean reopened again for shipping, Bohemond stripped his unworthy brother of the county of Benghazi and conferred it upon Gausbert, together with the counties of Cyrenaica and Tobruk and the duchy of Cyrenaica, which included overlordship over Senoussi. With a single stroke, Gausbert was thus placed among the very greatest lords of the realm.

​

The elevation of Gausbert did eventually prompt the second and final rift between Bohemond and his ungrateful eldest son Herman, but before we turn our attention to these events we need to cast a look over the borders of the Norman realm and at the political developments in the Muslim world, developments that did not bode well for Europe. The civil war in Egypt and the victory of Mukhtar have already been mentioned (see above p. 359), but we have not yet allowed for the repercussions this war had had upon Egypt’s neighbours and ultimately Byzantium.

In 1104, the Seljuk Turks were still beng ruled by aged Malik Sha, that great and terrible sultan whose name struck fear into the hearts of Cristians and heathens alike from Britain to India and beyond. Long had Malik Shah desired to extend his power onto the lovely shores of the Mediterranean, but the double threat of the Byzantine and Fatimid empires had stayed his hand. Now, with his southern flak secured by the Fatimids being weakened by the rebellions in Judea and Arabia and temporarily neutralized by the civil war between young Sabah and the pretender Mukhtar, Malik Shah lost no time. Early in 1104 he mobilized his armies and struck out west, towards Antioch, into Byzantine territory. The Greeks were ill prepared for such a huge assault, and their Syrian holdings were quickly reduced to the city of Antioch herself, besieged by Malik Shah. Emperor Kyrilios in person assembled and led a powerful army to Antioch’s relief while at the same time ordering an assault into Turkish occupied Armenia, hoping to gain the support of the local Christians and to force Malik Shah to react to this invasion and divert some of his forces away from beset Antioch.

Kyrilios plan failed completely. Dissent among the commanders of the Armenian expedition force decreased its effectiveness and eventually led to its complete annihilation, opening up north-central Asia Minor to a devastating Turkish counterattack, and the Emperor’s own army made too slow progress to relieve Antioch in time. On November 4th 1104, after a gruelling siege of six months, the old and famed Syrian metropolis of Antioch did pass out of Christian hands and fall to the Turk. Kyrilios wintered in Cilicia, only three hundred miles from Malik Shah in Antioch, and did launch his offensive into Syria in early 1105. On April 26th 1105, at a place halfway between Aleppo and Antioch called Burzuq, he suffered a clear defeat by the hand of Malik Shah and was subsequently forced to withdraw into Cilicia. With Malik Shah hot in his pursuits and a second Turkish army having advanced far along the coast of the Black Sea towards Sinope and laying siege to the great town, Kyrilios had no option but to come to terms with the Turkish Sultan and accept the loss of his eastern possessions. From now on, Turkish galleys would ply the blue waters of the Mediterranean.

The Byzantine Empire by mid-1105,
and the territorial losses suffered in the war against Malik Shah.​

But Christianity was on the retreat not only in the East, but also in the West, and 1105 was a black year for Spain as well. For over a decade, King Estebe’s Castilians had seen ceaseless warfare against the Muslims of Sevilla. Once, Estebe had foolishly failed to come to the aid of Catalonia when it was being beset by Hussayn of Sevilla and had stood by idly while the wily Arab extended his power over Iberia ever more, and now he was feeling this power himself. For a decade castle after castle and town after town had fallen to Hussayn, until, finally, on June 16th 1105, Soria, the very last town under Castilian control, fell to Sevilla as well. Like Catalonia a dozen years earlier, the kingdom of Castille had thus ceased to exist. The only Christian realm remaining on Iberian soil was now Portugal, tiny and impoverished, its excommunicated monarch Henrique a powerless first among squabbling nobles.

The Iberian peninsula and the western Mediterranean by mid-1105,
after the collapse of the Castilian state.​

While Christendom was beset on both ends of the Christian world, the papacy was powerless. A stroke had killed Pope Honorius II on February 16th 1105, and the new Pope’s authority was questioned. Under the impression of the evil tidings arriving from East and West, Archbishop Francesco of Viterbo had maneuvered to be very quickly, already on February 22nd, elected as new Pope; he assumed the regnal name of Silvester IV, after that first Silvester who had during Emperor Constantine’s days seen the final solemnization of Christian faith throughout the Roman Empire.

Pope Silvester was being opposed and his authority questioned from the first day of his papacy. The conclave that had hastily elected him had failed to meet the quorum of attendants required by canonical law and the election could thus from a strictly legal viewpoint be regarded void. On March 30th, a second conclave fulfilling the legal requirements convened at Florence, declared Silvester IV deposed and elected Archbishop Giovanni of Ostrava to the Holy See.

​

The church was thus torn between two popes. Giovanni, who assumed the regnal name of Clement III, ruled from Florence and had the support of the majority of the bishops, but Silvester held Rome. This state of affairs continued until September 26th 1106, when Silvester IV did finally pass away. In view of the Christians being beset by Muslims in East and West, those bishops who had professed adherence to Silvester did desist from electing a new pope but did instead acknowledge Clement III. On November 7th 1106, Clement was thus finally able to enter Rome and celebrate high mass at St. Peter. Once fimly in control of the church, Clement III should go on to become one of the more dynamic occupants of the Holy See, the instigator of the luckless and largely ignored First Crusade, and the most viscious and determined enemy of Bohemond and the Normans to so far sit the throne of St. Peter.

Here, FitzRoy inserts several paragraphs on the papacy of Clement III before returning to the internal politics of the Norman kingdom after the enfiefment of Prince Gausbert. At this junction we shall for now leave his account and return to the story.

 

[Devin Perry]

Yay, Gausbert gets a hot Greek wife. I love the clash of culture and religion. A Catalan Catholic and a Greek Orthodox ruling over an Arab Muslim realm.
With Seville strong and France weak things look bad for western Europe.

 

[phargle]

The author doesn't seem too biased, and I am fascinated by his accounts of Muslim expansion in the east and west, all this despite (or maybe because of) the collapse of Muslim power in old Africa itself. The first Crusade, will it be to Antioch or Burgos? You do a good job of making the Muslim expansion seem coherent and focused, rather than scattered and insane like it often tends to be in the game.

I'm also curious how this pope can possibly oppose Bohemond, except by excommunicating important members of his fami. . .

. . . maybe Herman gets excommunicated!

That would make the pope a great ally of Bohemond, though. ;-)

 

[unmerged(96639)]

For it is written in the Appendix to the Apocrypha. "Yay, verily I say unto thee, the lazy shall inherit the Earth, and the dilligent shall work it for them." Huzzah for Duke Gausbert. I'm rather optimistic of his prospects for kingship now.

 

[unmerged(75640)]

Very good as always. This is without a doubt getting my votes for the ACAs.

 

[unmerged(81979)]

So, perhaps a little fun in Spain is forthcoming?

 

[The_Archduke]

Well, if Gausbert becomes king, he better keep Silvester around as his marshal.