Vladjo IV
Part Five 1503-1510
Part Five 1503-1510
~In which two and two are four~
Poland finally dragged itself heaving from the pit of religious conflicts with the sudden conversion of Protestant Krakow back to Catholicism in early 1503. Fortunately, this reprieve in Poland came too late to help Hungary in the war versus Slovakia. So, instead of going toe-to-toe with the Slovaks, the Poles settled into a restless peace fighting protestant incursions from the Baltic. Speaking of the Baltic, Norway declared independence from Pommerania in December 1503. Now, the only territory left over from the great inheritance of 1488 was the western coast of Finland, the rest being held by the increasingly powerful Muscovites. In other eastern news, Lithuania had finished her first war against the vast tribes of the Steppe and had tied them in a 2 year war filled with blood and destruction.
In Slovakia, the aforementioned artists took up residence in the court and began their paintings. In addition, commerce finally took a priority again. Several attempts had been made decades before to turn Bratislava into the trade capital of the Danube. However, the first three Vladjos only met with limited success. The strength of the markets in Venice and Danzig were simply too much. However, war had brought the city of Danzig to its knees. Also, it was controlled by the Pommeranians who also controlled Mecklenburg, where the latter was favored over the former. With the sudden vacuum of trade in central Europe, Slovakia stood up and placed Bratislava as a new market open for business. At first, little trade trickled in. However, by 1506, the market was as strong as Danzig used to be and almost rivaling the market in Paris.
The market place in its early days across the river from Bratislava. In later years it grew so big it was incorporated within the city as the borough of Městys.
A new Golden Age it had seemed fell on Slovakia. The artists were painting and sculpting and their number was growing, and the traders had gone far and wide. In exploratory news, Slovakia had heard rumors about a new world beyond the seas and didn't believe them until maps were brought to the King in 1509 which showed the islands of the Antilles and part of some unknown landmass to the south. Also, explorers had found a route to India which had gone through the Red Sea and around Arabia to India. The very first vestiges of democracy in Slovakia can be seen from this age as well. In 1507, Vladjo IV called representatives from the noble class, the peasant class, the burgher class and the religious class to discuss tax policy. Most suggestions went unheeded, though a small decrease in tax on the sale of products from farm animals was seen as a huge step forward for the peasants of the country.
The golden age, like most do, came to a rather abrupt halt after seven splendid years of sanctity in 1510. In that year, King Vladjo IV, aged 59, died in his sleep. The whole nation mourned his passing and waited in anticipation for the new heir to assume the throne. The next King, like is grandfather, was not a Vladjo and never took the name. Methodius Marian Presovksy took the throne as Methodius I in 1510 aged 20. He was like Vladjo II in many ways... This cannot end well.
Methodius I, King of All the Slovaks
Ask and ye shall recieve:
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