Isles of Glory: A Dynastic History

[azatol]

INTRODUCTION



In 1066 A.D., Gudrød Crovan ruled the isolated duchy of Western Isles, off the coast of Scotland. The duchy included two larger islands and many smaller ones, some of which were at the time, still unsettled. Although in formal rank, Gunrød was a Duke, he controlled less land and less gold than many of the counties of England or Continental Europe itself.



The Western Isles were isolated by the same rule of geography that kept England itself safe for so long, until the arrival of William of Normandy. Even that momentous event barely registered in the Isles whereas the peasants continued their daily routine and the nobles made only rare comments on the matter. Gudrød cared little for English affairs, as he served King Olaf of Norway instead. His liege had never visited the Isles but had no worries as to Gudrød's loyalty. Olaf's protection served to insulate him from the worries of Scottish and English politics and his liege asked little of Gudrød in return.



But in 1066, Gudrød was only 17 and still learning the ways of leadership. His wife, Maria, was pregnant with his firstborn, and some travellers were arriving in the ports of his duchy. He listened to the news they carried, and discovered many events and marvels from the wider world he'd never known of before. In particular, Magnus Macdubhsithe told him rumors of bows and other military technologies used by England and France that surpassed those the islanders were using.

Gudrød believed his highest priorities at the time were increasing the ducal coffers and serving the Lord as best he could. But he had plans for the future: the Republic of Iceland was an affront to God. This was something he could fix in due time. With no King nor Duke, the Icelanders had subverted the natural way of things. Patience was needed, but at sea that was always the truth.


Table of Contents:

[size=+1]Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Depressions
Part 3: Growing Pains
Part 4: Flame of the West
Part 5: Steps to Power
Part 6: The First of Many
Part 7: Gudmund's Glory[/size]

 

[Jestor]

Fantastic start. Looking forward to more

 

[Veldmaarschalk]

Ah, yes the 'Lordship of the Isles', one of my favourite CK countries.

What are your long-term goals ?

Even conquering Iceland would already be a big achievement for Gudrod

Good luck with this AAR

 

[azatol]

Ah, yes the 'Lordship of the Isles', one of my favourite CK countries.

What are your long-term goals ?

Even conquering Iceland would already be a big achievement for Gudrod

Good luck with this AAR

I plan on conquering Iceland and the Isle of Man (already have a claim on that), and I'll go from there. I've already played quite a bit ahead, and saved frequently so that a messed up save game won't ruin the AAR like in my last one.

I went to the character map and learned most of the accented characters I'll need. Already starting to memorize the ö (alt-0246). ü å ø

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Good luck with your AAR. Let's see how do you manage to conquer the world

 

[Estonianzulu]

Great start, I'll be following. Capturing Iceland will be a nice boost, just better hope you do it without your boss coming along for the spoils.

 

[stnylan]

A nice little out of the way place to start. Looking forward to it.

 

[azatol]

Wives and Travels

(Under Norwegian rule, the islands were known as Sudðreyjar, the English refer to them as the Western Isles, and the Scottish as Na h-Eileanan Siar. There are indeed many names for this island chain.)



Duke Gudrød Haraldson Crovan of Sudðreyjar,

Having received your letter noting with concern that the county of Sutherland has mustered its forces and prepared them at war, we have uncovered the cause of this action, which was not directed towards us nor our vassals. Denmark declared war, expressing grievances with the duchy of Gwynedd, which was an ally of Scotland. Scotland, in turn, mustered all its forces to ready for war. Before the Danes could land on Scottish soil though, an agreement was reached between all three parties.

Incidentally, we console you over the loss of your wife, and encourage you to view her reprieve from this toil with joy, not sorrow.

~
King Olaf Haraldson Yngling
~

The Court at Western Isles:



The death of Gudrød's wife Ragnhild, during childbirth, was a blow to him, yet he buried himself in his work, making plans to improve the isles, even if the money for such improvements was not yet there. He continued to work with practical wit and skill, planning for what could happen and not straying into wishful thinking.

Nonetheless, he was absorbed in his own world, stuck in his own lands, where he couldn't help but remind himself everyday of his beloved wife. By her children and her diplomacy, he remembered. Like all fathers, he saw his three children growing up quickly. His firstborn, Kristina was now 5, and his heir, Håvard was 4. Youngest daughter Jorunn was almost 3.

Magnus, marshal of the Isles, knew that Gudrød needed to take a reprieve from routine, and wanting to hear the latest news from his home country, proposed a trip to Scotland. Magnus planned to head south before returning to visit the King of Scotland and at last heading home.

The trip went very well, and Gudrød learned much about Scotland from his marshal, plus more from seeing it with his own eyes. But at the court of Galloway, fate had a hand to play. A lady at the court recited the names and deeds of all the saints to her lord, Duke Maldred. Maldred told Gudrød that this lady, who was called Eadburh, knew nearly everything there was to know about the church and theology and was known for frequently getting into debates with the diocese bishop.

Magnus felt it was extremely odd for this woman, who was not a nun but a noble from Cumberland, to know so much. But Gudrød had always been a pious man, much like his liege Olaf. The lady's incredible knowledge of theology impressed and awed him. And so the stay at Galloway was so overextended that there was no time at all to visit the King of Scotland. Before they left, however, Gudrød requested Maldred's permission to marry Eadburh. It was only a few months later that he returned to bring Eadburh Butler to the Isles where they were wed.



Magnus suceeded in taking his liege's mind off the death of the first wife, but he wondered what new insanity Gudrød's second wife would bring to Sudðreyjar.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

A charming leady with an interesting level of intrigue... and master in teology?

well, if she uses the knife I'm sure she'll let them oray their orisons first. :rofl:

 

[Veldmaarschalk]

Some 'impressive' stats on that lady.

 

[stnylan]

A very useful addition to his court.

 

[Estonianzulu]

Nice pick up, though hopefully all that love for things pious wont keep her from giving you even more children.

 

[azatol]

The "Ice" War, Round 1

December 9th, 1074:

The Republic of Iceland was a peaceful and isolated place, separated into two magistrates of Vestisland and Austisland. It's so remote from most of Europe as to be unconcerned about conquest. As a result, they have neither the most advanced, nor the largest army in the region. In fact, their forces consist of about one hundred to two hundred troops, most of them being heavy infantry (a composition similar to that of Sudðreyjar's army).

What they forgot about was their closer neighbors in the Western Isles. Gudrød had his eyes on Iceland for many years now, wishing to claim them as his own and remove the republican government there. So, on December 10th of that same year, Iceland became a lot less peaceful, having received Gudrød's proclamation of war.



In it, Gudrød declared that Iceland should relinquish Austisland to him or face the prospect of war. At the time, Vestisland was held by a bishopric loyal to Iceland, and he did not want to anger the church by invading the vassal as well.

A few weeks later, soon after Gudrød had set out to sea, the declaration of war from Norway came as well. The Icelandic peoples knew they would have a tough time of it if they had to face Norway. In addition, recent developments in weapons of war had given Gudrød a modest, but useful advantage. Specifically, the slinged javelin had been brought to the Isles and put to use immediately.

In late April of 1075, nearing the end of the difficult voyage, the Icelandic coast was spotted. Soon after, Gudrød's forces landed in Austisland. The battle ended quickly as the Duke's forces outnumbered Kolbein's 2 to 1. Then the long siege of Austisland began.



At last in September of 1076, the siege was broken and Kolbein accepted Gudrød's claim. Half of Iceland was now under his control. Soon after, Kolbein took control of Vestisland, eliminating the bishopric there. Amusingly, the King of Norway's forces arrived some time later. They were seen off the coast in early 1077, and they marched on the rest of Kolbein's lands.



Gudrød resigned himself to the fact that Olaf would control the other half of Iceland. But history doesn't always take the straight and obvious path. After traveling all the way from Norway, Olaf accepted peace with Iceland for a trifle: one ducat.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

If Gudrød is ready to go to conquer Iceland and wait a long siege in that isolated and frosty place, he'll conquer the whole world. Just wait and see. I'm awfully sure.

 

[stnylan]

Well, that's not a bad result.

 

[Estonianzulu]

Nicely done, you got Iceland without loosing anything to Norway.

 

[unmerged(9046)]

Nicely done, you got Iceland without loosing anything to Norway.

Except the ducat!

 

[azatol]

The First Crusade

On May 24th of 1077, Margrette was born to the Crovan dynasty, being the third child of Gudrød's second wife Eadburh. The duke's previous wife, Ragnhild, had held the position of chancellor in his court, and he needed someone to take over. Barely a few months into their marriage, Gudrød's appointed the chancellory to Eadburh. The duchess was well versed in Scottish and English politics, which proved to be useful in diplomacy. Many members of the Duke's court felt that she would bear him no children at all, but she proved them wrong.

[i]Children of Gudrød as of September 1078

Children of Ragnhild

Håvard (heir to the duchy)        - 10 years old
Kristina                          - 11 years old
Jorunn                            - 9 years old

Children of Eadburh

Trond                             - 5 years old
Ingebjørg                         - 4 years old
Margrete                          - 1 year old

[/i]

In late 1076, Pope Anselm died, and Hildebrande of Orbetello took his place. The new Pope clearly had plans, as shown in his proclamation of September 17th, 1078. In it, he declared the occupation of Jerusalem by the Fatimid Empire to be unacceptable. He called for all the Catholic powers of the world to join forces in order to retake Jerusalem. The First Crusade had begun.



Few powers immediately responded to the Pope's missive. Scotland did begin a campaign against the Muslims, but not against the Emirate of Jerusalem and their liege. Other powers waited as the call to crusade increased until Sweden and England declared war on the Fatimid Empire in March of 1080. Denmark joined in soon after.



Locally, there was little desire to join the Crusade. Gudrød was planning a second war to take Iceland as a whole, and in the meantime saving money for that campaign. Another, much less known series of events were taking place in Sudðreyjar around that time.

Gudrød's third son, Kolbein, was born in mid 1080. Also the Army of the Isles were training Trond in military ways according to the Duke's wishes (Håvard attended court at the same time). At that time a visiting knight, whose name is unknown to us today, offered to train daughter Jorunn in military matters. She was 11 then and spent quite a bit of time with the knight for several weeks. When the knight showed up at the court seeking payment in return for his training, Gudrød was agape, unsure whether he was wooing Jorunn or honestly seeking to turn her into a knight. The Knight insisted he sought the second option, and the Duke sent him away flummoxed by the offer. Jorunn, for her part, clearly believed the knight had more than military interests in mind and she answered her father's questioning that way.

 

[stnylan]

What a strange occurence!

 

[unmerged(17581)]

Those crazy knights, always wanting to train the girls in the art of war but not the boys!