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Great to hear that you got it to work.
 
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This is wonderful news indeed!

Looking forward to seeing Christian's further adventures in pyromania-tinged imperialism. Smithers, release the hounds!
 
Excellent. It would have been a shame to see another of your AARs cut short.
 
Excellent news! I look forward to see how, for example, Christian would deal with the Inquisition (speaking of the Inquisition, whose AAR featured "No-one expects... the Swedish Inquisition!"... I can't remember anymore. Anyway, I'm sure Christian would be thrilled to match his wits with the inquisition, Swedish or otherwise).
 
Concerning the absence of religious decisions in MEIOU 4.2, I think it's just no WAD that it doesn't work like that. Thanks a lot for telling how to fix it though, I also did the change in the save for my AAR.

Now that you've given Bohemia the emperor_may_strategize though will it work properly? I can see it sticking to them even if the HRE changes.

Oh, and, ERG probably means HRE. The country tag for a unified HRE is ERG, at least.
 
General Feedback:

Morrell8: Krakow will rebuild. Stronger. Better. EU3 cities are like that. :)

Vandervecken: Good point! I'd forgotten about Vijaya. He was fun to write for.

Enewald: Warsaw became capital by event after Poland annexed Masovia.

Chief Ragusa: Unfortunately I set up Pomerania nicely for someone else. Christian doesn't want to remarry and, as long as Christian II lives, he doesn't need to.

gabor: I was saddened to see Poland so soundly thrashed. While researching Krakow to find a church that could 'ring its bells mournfully' I came across the Hejnal legend and thought it especially appropriate.

Malurous: Christian II has been away from his father most of his life. Whether this will ultimately turn out to be good or bad remains to be seen.

Qorten: At the time you wrote that I wasn't sure what you were talking about. I learned quickly.

Boris ze Spider: Hm. In that case we better expand!

Stuyvesant: The Horsehead Nebula is my favorite. Granted, they always seem to show up when half the countries in the world are already involved, but they have awesome cavalry. :)

morningSIDEr: The son is different from his father, though how much so remains to be seen. Christian's weakened, but he's not out.

Storey: Stability wasn't much of an issue (I think it was +1 when the Friar event fired). However, Christian thinks he has better things to do with his time then bicker with a whiny council. As you'll see in a few moments, he doesn't think he lost that much.

dinofs: My problem is I'm having trouble depicting Christian's rages without him seeing supervillianish. At least he hasn't burned down Copenhagen lately.

Religious Issues

blsteen: Not having religious decisions would have nearly been a gamebreaker. The only alternative would have been to stop every 5 years, manually check to see if any country needed to convert to Protestantism, and force the issue via save game edit. That would have been....probably not worth it.

Chief Ragusa: Very frustrating. My games seem to go on the blink a lot.

Chris Taylor: You had a good idea and I tinkered with it a bit. Unfortunately I had very bad experiences reinstalling EU3 from scratch. (Currently I have a HttT 4.1b copy for this game, DW 5.0 as a base, and DW 5.1b for tinkering around.)

I DID learn that for yet another unknown reason, the vanilla HttT game is no longer functioning. So long as MEIOU does its job I don't care.

Malurous: My idea was to reinstall MEIOU 4.2, or even try to go back to MEIOU 4.1 and hope it was save game compatible. As you know I found another solution.

Resolution

Malurous: I was pleased too. I'd downloaded SRI for DW contemplating possibly having to restart. Denmark being part of Lubeck's trade league at game start was too painful to contemplate.

Avindian: It will continue after a few more messages. :)

GulMacet: Thank you!

Chris Taylor: Hm... you gave me an idea. Would Christian send dogs, protected by some kind of flame resistant armor and lit on fire, to attack his enemies?

Hm...

Chief Ragusa: Yep, Christian is good for at least another 5 years on the throne.

dinofs: Agreed.

Stuyvesant: We might just find out.

blsteen: I dunno, Christian's not an idiot. He's poorly educated, obsessed with fire, goes ballistic when things don't go his way, and a little too prone to random wars, but he's not an idiot.

YF-23: I'm glad I could help with your save game. I wonder if it's some sort of bug in 4.2 - I can't imagine it's intentional.

The 'emperor' flag concerns me as well. I'll probably stop the game if another country becomes HRE and see what the save game does. I'm not too worried about this. If it's clear this isn't working or is causing too much of a pain, I'll probably just remove the flag. There are worse things that can happen than a weak Empire.
 
Lords of the Danemark

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Chapter II: Christian I
Part 4: The Humanist Revolution (1385-1390)


Danish Renaissance

In November 1385 Marti Amic, Bishop of Roskilde and the leading member of the Rigsraadet, appeared to have won. He'd compelled Christian to respect his coronation charter and forgive any 'transgressions' made by council members over the last fifteen years. His only concession worth noting was to renew his support for the king. In Amic's eyes this cost him nothing: He had no wish to become a pretender and fight a civil war.

Christian didn't consider himself defeated. As far as he was concerned, he'd forced the Rigsraadet to respect his authority at the cost of a coronation charter he'd proven he could successfully ignore and letting the Church raise his son: Something that had been true for over a decade anyway.

If he was to successfully take on a hostile and frightened council however, Christian would need to build his own power base. The clergy were of course out of the question while the nobles generally supported Amic as more likely to respect their rights. Despite the 'gentlemen's agreement created when the Rigsraadet was reformed in 1372 they'd slowly pushed the burghers out. After Copenhagen burned and Lubeck lost significant strength they didn't have the means to fight back ... until Christian offered a deal.

Under the terms of the 1372 reform, the king alone appointed six of eighteen seats on the privy council, while all eighteen members could appoint extra 'at large' seats. He appointed guildmasters and their representatives to these positions which gave them the opportunity to influence policy and find (bribe) allies. Markus Granntinger, the Lubeck banker who pulled Denmark out of a severe recession early in Christian's reign, had no interest in leadership but did serve as a liaison between mercantile interests and their sovereign.

Christian's 'alliance' brought more traders to Copenhagen and Lubeck. This meant increased contact with the Italian merchant republics of Genoa and Venice who brought with them the works of Petrarch.

Francisco Petrarca was an Italian priest and philosopher. Early in his life Petrarca championed the recovery of Greek and Roman writings including those of Homer and Cicero. He disdained the relative ignorance of the intervening years after Rome's fall and became the first to refer to this era as the 'Dark Ages.'

He traveled Europe in his youth, but after climbing Mont Ventoux in 1336 turned inward writing a number of treatises on religious virtue and life as well as letters to friends both alive and dead (such as Roman scholars) and translated a number of works. His poetry dedicated to Laura, a woman he couldn't have, (she was married) spoke eloquently of the difficulty of living a virtuous life, while his realistic portrayal of her blasted the stereotypes favored by troubadours and courtly romance.

Ultimately Petrarch argued the secular achievements did not preclude a relationship with God. He said that God gave humans reason and creativity to be used to their fullest. He turned to ancient writings as a practical study on human thought and action (psychology) and so insight into how to reach the potential God intended for His creation. All told his philosophy and introspective, sometimes insightful and painfully honest writings, sparked interest in studying the here and now as opposed to the afterlife. In time, as Wycliffe and Hus had already done, people would apply new contemplative, rational standards to Church dogma.

Christian had long known subconsciously that his violent impulses and pyromania made him 'unusual.' Petrarch's arguments gave him somewhere to focus his manic energies. Christian couldn't read nor understand Latin, but he had advisors that could do both. After learning the contents of Secretum, an intensely personal, guilt-ridden imaginary dialogue with St. Augustine, he reached two conclusions:

All people have (sometimes serious) flaws: Even priests like Petrarch.
These flaws could be mastered.

In November 1385 he began exploring his mania starting with In Vis Incendia, 'On the Nature of Fire.'

138511Humanism.jpg


Amic dismissed Christian's attempts at learning as 'delusional, misguided and egoist' but ultimately harmless. He thought it a useful distraction however, and focused on the more obvious threat: His appointing several hostile burghers to the Rigsraadet. Amic acted swiftly to limit their influence by vetoing a number of lucrative deals to subsidize guild controlled merchant fleets.

138511NavalResearch.jpg


Christian's treatises weren't very good. First, though he could be an eloquent speaker if he chose, his words lost much of their effect when penned in written form by sometimes indifferent, sometimes horrified scribes. It suffered more when translated from Danish into Latin. Second, his singular obsession with fire made his work unpopular and even banned in some dioceses. Nonetheless his efforts along with newly available translations of ancient works gave permission to others to try their luck. Over the next year the tidal wave of humanist thought washed over Denmark and beyond. (Feb 1386: Humanism arrived in Blekinge. +1.5 Gvt investment for 1 month, +60d. Over the next year the same event fires for Halland, Sjaelland, Slesvig, Fyn, Lubeck, Jylland and Oerne.)

It's important to note that while humanism encouraged a practical look at such issues as Church dogma, and through reference to classical works even questioned some long held traditions, it was not hostile to Catholicism. Many of humanism's early champions were clergy including Petrarch, and in the coming century popes would come to support it as well. Renewed interest in the ancient world brought copies of the earliest church gospels while Roman Imperial records gave insight into the lives of Jesus' disciples. In time future clergy hoped to use these writings, as well as 'heathen' works along the same vein, to build a bridge between different churches and so achieve 'universal agreement' under the Christian banner.

Though Bishop Amic was late to the game he released his own treatise in 1387: Insania (Folly) sharply condemned (Western) Romans as pagans and for their barbaric treatment of early Christians, but credited them with some advanced ideas on morality and philosophy 'which one must consider allied to Church teachings', and that while all Romans were predestined to Hell...

Marti Amic said:
... we must acknowledge (our) debt to Rome, whose concepts of truth, justice and fidelity survived the Dark Years and shaped the culture of all (Western) Europe.

138512Continental.jpg



The Teuton Menace

While Danes struggled with the ramifications of strange new (ancient) ideas arriving from Italy, Teuton Hochmeister Karl Joseph von Aderkas worked tirelessly to make his order the dominant force in the Baltic region. Over a single season he completely overthrew the delicate balance of power.

As we've discussed, the Teutonic Order declared war on Poland in late 1381. For four years Teutons, Livonians and several other armies ravaged the Polish countryside. In August 1383 Denmark joined the fighting, and a year later forced King Stanislaw to release Pommeranian nobles from their oaths of fealty.

War with Poland meant war with her vassals, and even after Christian withdrew, Teuton armies still ravaged Pommerania. In January 1386 von Aderkas forced the duke to pay homage to the Deutschmeister, the master of Teuton holdings within Germany beholden only to the Hochmeister or the Pope. (Vassalage. I knew freeing Pommerania was going to backfire.)

Next von Aderkas sent several missives to Pope Pius II. In light of 'ongoing threats from the schismatics' and Lithuania's huge size and uncertain religious future, he argued that the Baltic holy orders needed to unify.

In many ways the Livonian and Teutonic Orders were already unified. After the Livonians suffered a catastrophic defeat against pagan Samogitians in 1236 their remnants joined the Teutons as a semi-autonomous force. Their Landmeister, along with the previously mentioned Deutschmeister and Hochmeister, led the Order. Though the Hochmeister was considered 'first among equals,' the Landmeister held veto power when it came to decisions made concerning Livonian property and people.

Von Aderkas argued that this divided hierarchy could backfire if and when the Teutons/Livonians met a new opponent worthy of their mettle. He cited Christian's attack on Osel, and that even though the Livonians held him back on their own the Teutons hadn't been able to offer meaningful assistance.

Karl Joseph von Aderkas said:
(A)nd even if we had crossed through Samogitia to engage the Danes in force on Livonian soil, the Charter and Rule are by no means clear which master would be in charge of the ensuing campaign.

Von Aderkas had the support of a Livonian conclave as well as the landmeister. In early March Pius II answered giving permission for the two orders to unify under the Teuton banner as well as sending legates to help work out any necessary changes to the Order's charter. (Teutons diploannex Livonians)

As said legates went to work, the Polish war finally wound down. The beaten and broken power who'd brought down one emperor and fought another to a standstill could no longer field an army worthy of the title. Whereas Poland's other enemies simply divested them of their vassals, von Aderkas wanted blood. (Teutons gain 2 provinces in the resulting peace)

138603Teutons.jpg


This alarmed Christian enough to attend a meeting of the Rigsraadet and strongly urge an alliance with the Lithuanians, ostensibly against Rus aggression against Ingria. For once Amic agreed citing Kazimieras I's conversion to Catholicism in 1372.

Marti Amic said:
For my lords can see that we must stand with a Christian (Catholic) state against schismatics. Kazimieras' people are divided with too many worshipping idols or demons while the rest are torn between Greece and Rome. Let us stand with him as he unites his people and brings the light of God to those who have endangered their soul by listening to falsehoods.

Amic suspected the true reason for Christian's 'alliance' but felt confident that the Rigsraadet, under his control, could keep Denmark out of any mischief with the Teutons, while Lithuania could become a legitimate ally in the event of any further Russian campaigns. As an added twist, when he contacted the Lithuanian grand duke he encouraged Kazimieras to seal the alliance with a bride.

Marti Amic said:
After all, if our king is serious about an ongoing relationship with your people, it seems fitting he should bring your houses closer together.

Kazimieras agreed, and when Christian politely rebuffed the arrangement he grew angry.

Kazimieras I said:
If my daughter is not good enough for you, then perhaps your proposed alliance will not suit you either.


Lithuanian Minion

Christian married Saule of House Gediminai in a solemn ceremony at St. Mary's Cathedral in Copenhagen. She was twenty years old to his thirty, with long black hair and a dark Slavic complexion. (Yep, RM followed by alliance)

The marriage did not suit. Saule spoke no Danish nor German, so for six months the two communicated through translator. Her husband's reputation frightened her, and any notions of a happy marriage faded as Christian's attitude shifted from polite, through cold to finally settle on indifferent and somewhat cruel.

Christian did not need nor want her distracting him from his fiery obsession. He instinctively compared her to Brigit at every turn - an idealized version of Brigit that no woman living could ever hope to attain - and found her wanting. The required translator frustrated and angered him. He couldn't confide in her and found her romantic ideals shallow. She was a doe, a frightened, barbaric doe little removed from her equally barbaric father, and ultimately his only joy came out of inviting her to Copenhagen's lighthouse and letting her wonder if it would be for the last time.

If Kazimieras knew of this, he didn't publicly react. Instead, when Pius II finally went to God in April 1487 he petitioned his successor, Urbanus V (ne' Cardinal Ascheberg of the Teutonic Order) to crown him as king.

Urbanus had no interest in legitimizing Lithuania so easily. On the other hand, he didn't want to start off his reign by appearing to discourage the newest (and one of the largest) Catholic states. He replied that if Kazimieras showed his zeal and faith by subjugating and converting the Rus people ... then a crown could be considered.

The Lithuanian obeyed and immediately dragged his new ally into a war. (LITHUANIA, Denmark, Sweden, Genoa vs. MUSCOWY, Karachev)

Christian hoped to honor the alliance for the sake of preserving it without actually having to fight. Amic agreed to the extent Denmark couldn't benefit from seizing lands which officials in Ingria couldn't manage. He therefore convinced the Rigsraadet to support Lithuania's war and sent Gunnar Reventlow to Ingria to take command of the banners stationed there. (I'm at minimum land/naval maintenance at this stage as I assumed Lithuania would take care of business.)

Reventlow arrived in April 1387 to find three thousand dispirited, hungry soldiers. They were a disparate lot: Veterans from Maxmillian Goye's days fighting Novgorod, nobles hoping to complete their obligation to the crown as quickly and quietly as possible, and freemen hoping to improve their lot in life or perhaps be granted land in exchange for service. In Ingria they met an unfriendly populace who stubbornly clung to their schismatic faith and charged exorbitant prices for the simplest food. Supplies from home only came infrequently and while none had starved, several sold off parts of their equipment to make ends meet. Though it wasn't part of Danish policy, service in Ingria was seen as a punishment and morale plummeted.

Reventlow had a plan to address his supply problems: Requisition what he needed and hang whoever disagreed. He didn't want to get involved in what he considered local problems, but he insisted on his own creature comforts. Once Ingrians realized this and kept him happy the hangings stopped while his soldiers continued to barter equipment and meager earnings for supplies.

Six weeks after he arrived, Reventlow woke from an afternoon nap to church bells ringing and the sound of running feet. He emerged and learned from city officials that a Muscovite force of four thousand was approaching Koporye.

Reventlow deployed in the fields south of the city with infantry blocking the road and one thousand knights in reserve. The Muscovite force replied with over three thousand horse, split between noble boyars and steppe horsemen serving as their bodyguards. A number of these men were horse archers who rained volley after volley on Reventlow's infantry. When the knights emerged to engage the lightly armored druzhina cavalry simply dodged. Eventually the Danish horse pinned them down leading to a fierce, swirling battle between broadsword and sabre. After several hours Reventlow retreated in good order maneuvering his soldiers around the Rus and towards Lithuania. He lost 1,900 men in the battle to 900 Muscovites.

Now the Rigsraadet did what they should have in the first place. Ships full of fresh meat and fruit, armor, weapons and ammunition departed for the Lithuanian border. Marshal Vandervecken 'rented' a number of levies from willing nobles and sent them as well with promises of land and wealth when they succeeded.

138706Vandervecken.jpg


By August 1387 Reventlow was ready to try again. His army once more numbered about three thousand, but again a lack of quality and resolve proved fatal. He'd proven unequal to the task of rallying his men after years of neglect and a single bad battle. They therefore completed simple basic tasks like fortifying their camp or scouting in a haphazard manner, and they paid by blundered into a Muscovite army reinforced to ten thousand. (I didn't see them send any more men in, so I thought this would be another close battle...and with me on full maintenance with a leader, a winnable one.)

The result was a massacre. The Rus now enjoyed a 5-1 advantage in horse and enveloped the weaker force. They drove the Danish infantry into row upon row of Muscovite halberdiers and spearmen. When Reventlow's knights tried to intervene the druzhina enveloped them as well. Within two hours his army ceased to exist with a large number of prisoners. For the second time in his career Reventlow waited out a war as a 'guest' of his rival.

Christian's rage once more mastered him. Saule may have been many things, but she wasn't stupid and decided this would be an excellent time to tour the width and breadth of 'her' kingdom surrounded by personal bodyguards. By the time he realized she'd left, Saule was already thirty miles (about fifty kilometers) away by ship. He tried to soothe himself with a mummer's play involving St. Knud (Canute IV (r 1080-1086)) and an unnamed Russian knight.

Mummers plays date to medieval Britain. Many, including this performance, centered around three characters: A hero, a fool/villain, and a doctor. These were generally comedies that revolved around the concepts of duality (good vs. evil) and resurrection, as the doctor's primary job was to magically resuscitate one of the characters.

During this particular performance the Russian 'killed' St. Knud, who the doctor healed.

Doctor said:
Pray good saint, take this cure,
For that which has struck you down.
Rise again to lead your kin,
And take back your heavy crown.

For it is written plain
On the tableau of hist'ry.
No matter who stands against,
A Dane shall rise in vict'ry.

At that point Christian stood and asked if the doctor's cure would work on the 'knight' as well. Thinking this a jest the doctor stayed in character and announced:

Doctor said:
(My vial) Can cure all your ills
Both unholy and mundane,
From the grievest wound,
To the tiniest pain.

Christian I said:
Excellent.

He ordered the 'Russian' bound and taken to his lighthouse. After executing him for 'lack of humor' he commanded the doctor to cure him. When the stammering actor pointed out this wasn't possible, he executed the doctor for lying, then 'Knud' for impersonating one of Denmark's greatest kings.

Christian then ordered Vandervecken to invade Ingria with one of the 'home' armies and destroy the Russians. The marshal landed in northern Lithuania in September and, realizing time was of the essence if he wanted to placate his king, threw his army recklessly at the force besieging Korporye.

He lost.

It was a close, hard fought battle between two well matched armies. The Danes fought with grim determination, fueled by desire to avenge their fallen comrades, national and religious pride, and their commander's sense of urgency. The Russians fed on news of Lithuanian atrocities in their homeland and the hope that, with Korporye taken, they could force favorable terms on the Catholic states. Knights and boyars fought private battles on either flank as Danish and Russian footsoldiers engaged in the battle's center. Unfortunately Vandervecken's deployment was a little too haphazard and disorganized with the Rus in command of favorable terrain and the Danes retreated around nightfall.

138711Vandloses.jpg


After much debate he (wisely) chose not to tell Christian of his defeat, instead asking for reinforcements so as to 'force a decisive battle' and assuring him that victory was imminent. The king believed what he wanted to believe and praised Vandervecken's efforts to destroy the enemy.

In the end General Winter did what the Danes couldn't. The Muscovites were certainly clever fighters in the bitter conditions of northern Russia, however it didn't help them while trying to keep Korporye under siege. In January three separate blizzards struck almost back to back burying the Muscovites under two feet (about 0.7 meters) of snow. The Lithuanians successfully intercepted two convoys sending much needed food and furs. When Vandervecken returned in March he'd reinforced to about 6,700 soldiers, while the Russians answered with 1,600 combatants who surrendered after purely token resistance.

The war ended in June with Karachev's destruction and Muscowy humbled. Kazimieras didn't even wait for his armies to return home before declaring war on Kiev. The Muscovites declared this a war for the survival of the Rus people and immediately reengaged, while Petru III of Moldavia considered this a war of religion. (LITHUANIA, Denmark, Sweden, Genoa vs. MOLDAVIA, Kiev, Muscowy)

This time there would be no fighting. Vandervecken stayed with part of his army in Ingria while the rest returned home.


Christian Gambles

Like before Christian joined the Lithuanian war only to maintain his alliance. Like before the Rigsraadet reached similar conclusions regarding their king's true motives. Amic sent a message to Urbanus V urging him to 'counsel' Christian on Baltic politics.

In fact Christian had reached the conclusion that going to war with the Teutonic Order would be a long, costly affair. Instead he turned covetous eyes on Sweden. He hadn't entirely forgiven Gustav I Adolph for failing to come to his aid against Mecklenburg, and the Swede had made a costly, possibly fatal error.

138904Swedentrouble.jpg


Over half of Sweden's standing banners were based in her colonies east of the Novgorod border alternatively negotiating with and fighting local tribesmen. The merchant prince of Novgorod meanwhile asserted his territorial integrity and refused passage for all but basic supplies - and those with a sizeable 'transit fee.'

Gustav Adolf didn't have the means to argue the point, as four banners of the six based in Scandinavia were fighting a bitter guerilla war against Finns looking for greater autonomy leading to formal independence. He wasn't a popular king (Stab -3) and needed the last two banners at home policing against local troublemakers.

Christian thought this the perfect opportunity to establish Scandinavian dominance. He hoped to convince Kazimieras of Lithuania to stay on the 'winning side' and support his efforts, but even if that failed he felt certain the Danish fleet could keep Kazimieras from interfering directly outside of Ingria.

Through 1388-89, while still technically involved in the Kiev war, Christian began sending funds, equipment and other supplies to Finn rebels hoping to take advantage of the chaos. He hoped to keep those four thousand Swedes bottled up, and if the Finns happened to win and permanently weaken Sweden, so much the better. (Break RM)

139001FinnishRebels.jpg


Word reached the Rigsraadet that Christian was once more making enemies without their consent and Amic issued a rousing condemnation of 'reckless policies' aimed at a 'Catholic brother' which could only destabilize the region and lead to unnecessary bloodshed. He asked the Privy Council to join him in his 'outrage' and cut off all monies to the crown.

This was a different Council compared to even five years ago however. Christian's burgher allies won many converts, sometimes through cajoling, reason and appealing to mutual interests, and sometimes through outright bribery. In the end the Rigsraadet voted 12-8 for a mild censure asserting the Council's right to be heard in any matter involving foreign policy and suggesting that antagonizing Sweden was not in the crown's best interests.

Christian's allies understood trying to tell their king not to go to war was probably a futile gesture, so they encouraged a different target. The masters of the leading hanse in Copenhagen and Lubeck penned a letter reminding Christian that Denmark's economic health depended on dominating Baltic trade. The two cities together controlled most of the trade in the western Baltic, while Absalon's Castle in Copenhagen allowed Christian to enforce the Sound Due. One major rival remained: The so called 'Eastern Hanseatic League' based in the merchant cities of Danzig and Riga. Subjugating them would give the Baltic over to Danish interests and perhaps push Venetian traders out of Sweden as well. (Cancel mission: Vassalize Mecklenburg. New mission: Conquer Osel. Again.)

Before he could act,Amic contacted Cardinal Thomsen, Denmark's representative on the Curia, complaining about the 'unprovoked' attack on a fellow Catholic state. Thomsen met with Urbanus V who concluded that Christian needed a lesson in respect.

In a bull dated December 1389, Urbanus V harshly condemned Christian's actions regarding Sweden.

Urbanus V said:
And we are compelled to note with displeasure your continued violence against fellow brothers in Christ. Your sinful actions do not befit a king appointed by God to oversee part of His Earth and force us to ponder the continued legitimacy of your claim...

...This being a reasonable account of the damages suffered through your actions, it is only right that you be held to account for this. Therefore we command you to remit the following services and monies to the Swedish crown for the duration of the crisis in ... Finland.....

138908PopevsUs.jpg

(This happened right after my spy was 'caught.' If you'll recall, way back during Valdemar's reign the Bishop of Bremen brought a matter for judgement before the Pope. I didn't receive any ruling right away so winged it and assumed the mod forgot about me. I think this is actually the second half of that event. Does it really take 30 years and a new pope to reach a decision? Wow!)

When Christian received the Papal Bull he visited Saule and civilly asked her about the different faiths vying for control in Lithuania including Orthodoxy and animist practices. He then issued his own decree echoing his own father and a generation of Danish nobles who'd adopted the catchphrase as a symbol of defiance.

Christian I said:
 
Seems Christian is going to war with Sweden, whether his nobles want him to or not. His treatment of Saule is reprehensible. His backing of humanism is goingbring the Church down on him again.

His wars against Muscovy weren't an unqualified success. A good victorious war against Sweden would be popular somewhere. I fear Danish nobles at Swedish behest may well seek to take the life of their King.
 
Wow, what an excellent update! I can't help but feel bad for that poor doctor. :p
 
It's good to see that Christian has managed to weaken the Rigsraadet, at least enough to give him some freedom of action. Other than that, it's hard to see much positive in this update. Christian continues to make enemies, fails to achieve his larger goals, abuses his wife (he would do well to remember that he was foisted on her as much as she was foisted on him) and continues to show those 'adorable' character flaws that reveal him for what he really is: a homicidal maniac with control issues.

Regarding your query about flame-engulfed, fire-retardant hounds... Rome: Total War has taught me that the Romans utilized burning pigs to demoralize their enemies. I could certainly see Christian using that bit of knowledge from the Ancients (and it fits perfectly with the whole humanism thing!).
 
Very good that you managed to get the game to work again. It would have been a shame if you had to abandon yet another AAR due to savegame failure.

How old is Christian right now and will he have time enough to make successful war on Sweden. I'd say Denmark can take on Sweden alone, but if Gustav has even just a few small allies it may become difficult. How's the heir progressing?
 
Just caught up. Great AAR, Catknight! Are you worried about the Swedes taking Ingermanland? And what are your war aims?
 
Christian's rage once more mastered him. Saule may have been many things, but she wasn't stupid and decided this would be an excellent time to tour the width and breadth of 'her' kingdom surrounded by personal bodyguards.

Just goes to show you that you shouldn’t make a snap judgment about someone. Up to now I thought she was on the slow side but I was clearly wrong.

I’m a bit surprised that someone with a temper as volatile as Christian’s would not have smoke coming out of his ears with the constant military frustrations and insist on leading his armies in person. What are his stats? I assume his military rating is so low that you’ve decided not to use him? Or can’t you convert him to a general in MEIOU?

I say enough of your adventures in Russia hit Sweden and hit them hard!