Interlude
(The known world in the middle of the 14th century)
The British Isles
At the beginning of the century the Kingdom of
England was the absolute leading power under House Plantagenet. But after Edward II died childless, the kingdom, which almost ruled two-thirds of the Isles, started to disintegrate. With the extinction of House Plantagenet's male line, two of his half-brother were the most likely candidate for the throne: Edmund de Kent, Prince of York and Thomas de Norfolk, Prince of Gwynedd. At last Edmund ascended to the throne as Edmund III. He reigned 18 years, until in 1329 his throne broke beneath him and he died after a couple of days. The Prince of Gwynedd announced his claim again, because Edmund only had an underaged daughter. But this time Prince Thomas was backed by Louis X, King of France. The local lords feared about the growing french influence, so they decided to stand with Edmund's daughter and elected Adelaide as the first Queen of England. Based on an agreement, what the lords made with Prince Thomas, he became the forth king of
Wales. But he wasn't been fully independent. King Thomas was closely influenced by the french king.
In the next decade various regents ruled in the name of the young Queen, but she could never rule as her own. In 1337 Jan Reginar, Prince of Brabant launched an invasion against the Isles with the approval of the Emperor. He wanted to claim the english throne as the grandson of the late Edward I Plantagenet. He conquered London in a short time and crowned himself as John II of England. Taking the opportunity, John de Bohun, Prince of Hereford declared independence from the crown and became the first king of
Ireland.
In the middle of the 14th century, the only stable point in the Isles was the Kingdom of
Scotland. Queen Maud ruled the kingdom, since his father, the legendary Robert de Brus died in 1336. But she'll be the last ruler of her dynasty. After her death, the Douglas Clan'll lead Scotland.
Northern-Europe
The political situation in Northern-Europe didn't change too much. In
Norway, after the heirless death of Hakon V in 1312, four king reigned from four different dynasty. In
Sweden, King Birger, heavily influenced by his russian wife, decided to rebaptise as an orthodox christian. But his efforts to proselytize his subjects weren't so popular. He was mercilessly murdered during an assembly in 1318. The new king, Erik VI made extra efforts to repair the damaged reputation of the af Bjalbo dynasty. He built new churches around Finland and with his help, the last pagan sami tribes converted to catholicism. To strenghten his power over his finnish subjects, he created the Kingdom of Österland. But after his death in 1333, his realm was divided between his sons. Brynjolf became the King of Sweden, while Erik II became King of Österland. In
Denmark House Estrid still held the kingdom since 1047. In the Baltic region, the
Teutons and the Prince-bishopric of
Livonia was present beside the danish. At last, in the east Novgorod ruled the banks of the White-sea. The kingdom slowly lost control over his pagan subjects but still was a prominent player in the region.
Eastern-Europe
Eastern-Europe was dominated by the Golden Horde, without a question. The Empire was in the state of disintegration, when King Károly and the bulgarians beat them during the Moldavian Holy War, but after the ascension of Khagan Temür a new golden age started. Temür conquered the Kingdom of Galych, the eastern part of Poland, and most of his neighbour became his tributary. Beside the mongols, only a few little russian princedom, and some pagan tribes remained independent in the region.
Western- and Middle-Europe
In Western, the Kingdom of
France was still a stable point under the Capets. Philippe IV conquered Brittany and Savoy and thanks to his schemes, Wales became a tributary under his kingdom. When he died in 1325, his son Louis X inherited one of the most stable realm in Europe.
As I already mentioned before, the
Holy Roman Empire was quite unstable these times. During the first half of the 14th century, 8 different emperor ruled the Empire and neither of them could found a proper ruling dynasty. Engelbert von Berg who became Emperor in 1333, with the help of King Károly, only reigned 4 years and his successor, Rudolf III wasn't luckier eather. The situation was so chaotic, that first time in the Empire's history a non-german became the Emperor. That person was King Mikulás of Bohemia. In
Bohemia, the circumstances were favorable for the Anjou dynasty. Because the local lords supported Károly's son, István, or Stepan now over Mikulás' son as the heir of the bohemian crown.
For the Kingdom of
Poland, the future wasn't so bright. The old Leszek III ruled the country almost 20 years and he witnessed the slowly atrophy of his realm. The german princes in western, the lithuanians in eastern and after his death, the mongols also attacked the country. Leszek's son, Krzeslaw tried to stand against the waves but he soon died in a battle against Khagan Temür. His brother, King Gierolt is trying to defend the country now.
In the east, Gediminas II lead the
lithianians. Despite the fact, that Lithuania is one of the last pagan country in the continent, the realm is quite stable and in the last couple of years Gediminas led successful campaigns against Poland.
Iberia
In the beginning of the century, Fernando IV's
Leon was the dominant power in the peninsula. But his realm shattered between his sons in 1321. Now Leon,
Castille and
Aragon represent almost the same power. Despite their difficult situation, the muslims didn't disappear from Iberia. Although they lost Cordoba and Granada, but with the emergence of the Marrakech based
Galaid dynasty, they made a counterattack and conquered Algarve and Alentejo from the portugals. In the north,
Navarra became part of the Holy Roman Empire, because the Luxembourg dynasty inherited the kingdom.
Italy
In Italy, the Anjou led
Sicilia was the dominate power, particularly, after they inherit the Duchy of Provance. After Károly's grandfather, King Charles died, his uncle Robert successed on the throne. Until now his descendants sit on the sicilian throne. Beside Sicilia, there are three another player who are still present in the peninsula. The Duchy of
Milano and the Republic of
Genova in the north and the catalan ruled
Trinacrian Kingdom in the south.
The Balkan and Anatolia
In the southern part of the Balkan,
Byzantium held his leading power. Despite their defeat against the Ilkhanates, the empire didn't shattered and under Emperor Anthimos Palailogos they are trying to reclaim their past glory. Northern the Kingdom of
Serbia was in a hopelessness situation between the hungarians and the bulgarians. In
Bulgaria, Tsar Georgi II still ruled the country, but he faced against a succession crisis. Despite he remarried after his wife Clemance, Károly's sister died, he didnt have any sons. Thus he appointed Dietpold of Wittelsbach, one of his grandson as his heir. But with this move he angried some of the local lords, who rebelled against him with the leadership of Prince Shishman, Duke of Vidin.
In Anatolia, after the Ilkhanate shattered, a couple of turko-mongol successor state appeared like the
Ramazans, the
Chupanids or the
Alkans. Only two christian state remaned there,
Cilicia in the south and Trebizond in the north. But both state was the tributary of
Hayk, just like
Georgia too.
The Middle-East
(Missing description)
The Steppes
(Missing description)