The Rules:
Denmark
EU2 v. 1.07 11/5 beta
EEP v. 3.1
Difficulty is Very Hard/Normal
King Erik was a happy man. The Union of Kalmar was strong and healthy and stretched from Sjælland and as further north than any other Kingdom on God’s earth. The three brother peoples, the Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians, were getting along, firmly guided by decrees from King Erik in the Kalmar Union’s natural centre of power, the glorious city of Copenhagen.
The time of bitterness 1419-1440
It all started when our noblest king Erik decided to consecrate the position of Copenhagen by centralizing his power further. This most just reform was taken ill up by our brothers in Sweden which resulted in a scandal at the court when the Swedish emissaries raised their voices to the king to whom they had sworn allegiance. However King Erik as the tolerant man that he is decided to let the matter slip.
However, only a few years later the Swedish subjects dragged the Union of Kalmar into a war with the savage easterners. Seeing that his subjects would surely fail without the assistance of the superior Danish armies, King Erik reluctantly decided to help his brothers in arms. The war raged for almost three long years and the harsh winters of the north claims many lives on both sides. As the tides of war tilted back and forth the parties reached a point where they could no longer keep up with the sacrifices demanded by the war effort. To the severe dismay of King Erik the Swedes decided to extract a small monetary reparation from the warlords of Novogorod instead of pushing on to gain valuable fur hunting grounds for the Union of Kalmar. Countless Scandinavians had frozen and starved to death during those three long years and to almost no avail. The mothers screamed for events and reprisals but the Kingdom was powerless to intervene.
In order to cope with these massive losses King Erik wisely decreed that every ship passing through the Sund should pay a fee to the Danish crown. While this toll strained the friendships of the nations around the Sund it secured a never end stream of ducats into the Danish coffers. Unexpectedly the Swedes turned against the due and protested heavily at the court in Copenhagen. These bickerings with the Swedes were becoming more and more frequent and this burdened King Erik much.
The reason for the Swedish protests would soon become evident to all however, as Sweden issued yet another call to arms, this time against the neutral state of Oldenburg. Denmark agreed to join the war but still suffering from the war in the east the kingdom participated in name only. The Swedes had more success on this remote front, however, and quickly managed to seize the lands of Geldre and have the germans swear allegiance to the Union of Kalmar. King Erik did not see the point of this conquest but kept quiet to avoid straining inter-union relations further.
The next episode in the Danish annals is very painful to speak of. And Swede by the name of Engelbrekt petitioned Erik so replace his sheriff in Sweden due to multiply accounts outright robbery. A reasonable man, Erik agreed to Engelbrekt’s petition only to learn that the bastard had returned to start a rebellion of massive proportions in Sweden! The king was chocked to learn that the population of Sweden supported such a while man and almost suffered a collapse when he learned that the Swedes had decided to break the Union of Kalmar! King Erik saw no other solution but to expel Sweden from the alliance-in-arms as well and turn on his traitorous subjects. Raising massive war taxes and hiring expert German mercenaries the king prepared to fight the bitterest war in the entire history of his kingdom. Although the Danes and their loyal Norwegian allies were technologically superior the hordes of Swedish-Finnish militia would surely even out this advantage.
Barely had the war started before hordes of peasants poured into Skaane, laying siege to the proud Danish city. Something had to be done and quickly! The Norwegians directed an attack at Bergslagen while the entire Danish army landed at Vestergötland and a small detachment of cavalry was immediately detached to ride north. The sieges continued throughout the whole of that year taking a heavy toll on the Danish economy which was far from able to support the enormous army in Sweden. All of the sieges ended about one month within each other and the armies of Scandinavia were poised to turn on each other. Inconsiderate of the consequences, King Erik raised more war taxes and commanded the mints to work overtime. Whatever the Swedes had done in the past they were not getting away with treason. Yet another army was raised in Sjælland, diverting all of the Danish resources to maintaining this large force. As soon as the Swedes left Skaane, this freshly-raised army arrived to liberate it. This would be a bitter war indeed.
Suffering a series of defeats in actual combat the Norwegians slowly retracted themselves from the war, no longer caring nor contributing to the war effort, thus leaving Denmark in a pressed situation. The situation war favourable at the moment, but Erik, as well as Engelbrekt knew that Denmark could not sustain its large armies for long. After five long years of fighter brother versus brother Erik accepted a measly payment from the Swedes in exchange for peace. The Danish economy was shattered, the army beaten and worse yet Sweden was no longer part of the Kalmar Union. The look on King Eriks face had gone from one of happiness to one of grave despair…
Aristocracy 8 8
Centralization 5 8
Innovative 4 4
Mercantilism 8 10
Offensive Doctrine 5 5
Land 4 4
Quality 4 4
Serfdom 4 4
Denmark
EU2 v. 1.07 11/5 beta
EEP v. 3.1
Difficulty is Very Hard/Normal
King Erik was a happy man. The Union of Kalmar was strong and healthy and stretched from Sjælland and as further north than any other Kingdom on God’s earth. The three brother peoples, the Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians, were getting along, firmly guided by decrees from King Erik in the Kalmar Union’s natural centre of power, the glorious city of Copenhagen.
The time of bitterness 1419-1440
It all started when our noblest king Erik decided to consecrate the position of Copenhagen by centralizing his power further. This most just reform was taken ill up by our brothers in Sweden which resulted in a scandal at the court when the Swedish emissaries raised their voices to the king to whom they had sworn allegiance. However King Erik as the tolerant man that he is decided to let the matter slip.
However, only a few years later the Swedish subjects dragged the Union of Kalmar into a war with the savage easterners. Seeing that his subjects would surely fail without the assistance of the superior Danish armies, King Erik reluctantly decided to help his brothers in arms. The war raged for almost three long years and the harsh winters of the north claims many lives on both sides. As the tides of war tilted back and forth the parties reached a point where they could no longer keep up with the sacrifices demanded by the war effort. To the severe dismay of King Erik the Swedes decided to extract a small monetary reparation from the warlords of Novogorod instead of pushing on to gain valuable fur hunting grounds for the Union of Kalmar. Countless Scandinavians had frozen and starved to death during those three long years and to almost no avail. The mothers screamed for events and reprisals but the Kingdom was powerless to intervene.
In order to cope with these massive losses King Erik wisely decreed that every ship passing through the Sund should pay a fee to the Danish crown. While this toll strained the friendships of the nations around the Sund it secured a never end stream of ducats into the Danish coffers. Unexpectedly the Swedes turned against the due and protested heavily at the court in Copenhagen. These bickerings with the Swedes were becoming more and more frequent and this burdened King Erik much.
The reason for the Swedish protests would soon become evident to all however, as Sweden issued yet another call to arms, this time against the neutral state of Oldenburg. Denmark agreed to join the war but still suffering from the war in the east the kingdom participated in name only. The Swedes had more success on this remote front, however, and quickly managed to seize the lands of Geldre and have the germans swear allegiance to the Union of Kalmar. King Erik did not see the point of this conquest but kept quiet to avoid straining inter-union relations further.
The next episode in the Danish annals is very painful to speak of. And Swede by the name of Engelbrekt petitioned Erik so replace his sheriff in Sweden due to multiply accounts outright robbery. A reasonable man, Erik agreed to Engelbrekt’s petition only to learn that the bastard had returned to start a rebellion of massive proportions in Sweden! The king was chocked to learn that the population of Sweden supported such a while man and almost suffered a collapse when he learned that the Swedes had decided to break the Union of Kalmar! King Erik saw no other solution but to expel Sweden from the alliance-in-arms as well and turn on his traitorous subjects. Raising massive war taxes and hiring expert German mercenaries the king prepared to fight the bitterest war in the entire history of his kingdom. Although the Danes and their loyal Norwegian allies were technologically superior the hordes of Swedish-Finnish militia would surely even out this advantage.
Barely had the war started before hordes of peasants poured into Skaane, laying siege to the proud Danish city. Something had to be done and quickly! The Norwegians directed an attack at Bergslagen while the entire Danish army landed at Vestergötland and a small detachment of cavalry was immediately detached to ride north. The sieges continued throughout the whole of that year taking a heavy toll on the Danish economy which was far from able to support the enormous army in Sweden. All of the sieges ended about one month within each other and the armies of Scandinavia were poised to turn on each other. Inconsiderate of the consequences, King Erik raised more war taxes and commanded the mints to work overtime. Whatever the Swedes had done in the past they were not getting away with treason. Yet another army was raised in Sjælland, diverting all of the Danish resources to maintaining this large force. As soon as the Swedes left Skaane, this freshly-raised army arrived to liberate it. This would be a bitter war indeed.
Suffering a series of defeats in actual combat the Norwegians slowly retracted themselves from the war, no longer caring nor contributing to the war effort, thus leaving Denmark in a pressed situation. The situation war favourable at the moment, but Erik, as well as Engelbrekt knew that Denmark could not sustain its large armies for long. After five long years of fighter brother versus brother Erik accepted a measly payment from the Swedes in exchange for peace. The Danish economy was shattered, the army beaten and worse yet Sweden was no longer part of the Kalmar Union. The look on King Eriks face had gone from one of happiness to one of grave despair…
Aristocracy 8 8
Centralization 5 8
Innovative 4 4
Mercantilism 8 10
Offensive Doctrine 5 5
Land 4 4
Quality 4 4
Serfdom 4 4
One suggestion though, break up the text because it is easier to read then
