[Lux Invicta 0.5B] The View from Land's End

[richvh]

King Tegius' reign started quietly, as his regent distributed counties and duchies which King Ithelus the Brilliant had accumulated to mollify restive vassals, leaving Tegius with direct control of the ancient core of Cornovia/Brythonia, to wit, the duchies of Dumnonia and Somerset, and all constituent counties.

This peace would be shattered in the autumn of 1394, when King Cadogus of Kent started a holy war for Northumberland against the Alban realm, and invited Brythonia to join in. Brythonia joined this war, eager to weaken their northern cousins (for the kings of Alba, like Brythonia, boasted of descent from Lucius Artorius, who had been appointed Supreme Military Commander of Britannia in the year 212 by Roman emperor Alexandros III, and whose descendants had been influential in Britannian politics ever since. However the Albans traced their descent through the Welsh branch of the family, which had also spawned the kings of Cambria, who had become the kings of Neustria after Cambria's incorporation into Brythonia.)

No sooner had this war been brought to a successful conclusion on Dec. 13, 1396, than a call to arms from Sparta, once more menaced by a holy war waged by the Tulunids, arrived. King Tegius' regent accepted on his behalf on New Years Day, 1397, as also did King Cadogus of Kent, but war plans were interrupted when on Januray 7, the ambitious Duke of York, not wanting his men and fortune to be frittered away in yet another war on behalf of a foreign monarch, announced his intention to depose King Tegius even as the Brythonian levies, returning from Northumberland for muster out, marched south toward his home county of Ligeraceaster. The Duke of York was joined in his revolt by the Dukes of Kent, Bedford and Lancaster.

With both wars still raging, King Tegius came of age on June 29, 1399, and started shopping around for a queen to share his throne. After considering and rejecting Spartan and Lombardian princesses, Tegius finally settled on Petiliana Severan, youngest daughter of King Lucas the Pious of Gothia. As dowry, King Lucas sent a call to arms for assistance against the Umayyads, who once more were attempting to conquer Saguntum.

Tegius didn't turn out too bad. Nowhere near as good as his genius father, of course.
Let's hope he lives longer than average for a Brythonian monarch.​

 

[Dovahkiing]

Wow, another few updates and you've reached 1453!
In any case, long live Tegius (long live really is something Brythonian kings need)

 

[richvh]

Wow, another few updates and you've reached 1453!

Yes, but that needn't end the AAR, as Lux Invicta doesn't have an end date. I could continue this up through the HOI era without changing game engines or needing to use a converter.

 

[Stuyvesant]

Did you honor the call to arms from Tegius's father-in-law? That would make three concurrent wars, perhaps a bit of a strain... I imagine the rebellion will face the same fate as the ones before it (i.e. utter failure and a repopulation of the Royal dungeons), but the holy war and the Umayyads could keep you busy for a while.

Given the past record of Artorian rulers to get maimed/crippled/killed on the battlefield, it might be a good idea to keep Tegius at home, at least until he produces an heir or two.

So, without an end date to the mod, you could keep going with basically an eternal Middle Ages (they can't really be Middle Ages if there's nothing after them, but let's save the semantics for another day). Kind of a dreary prospect, but hey! Do whatever works for your AAR.

 

[DisgruntledLemming]

Yes, but that needn't end the AAR, as Lux Invicta doesn't have an end date. I could continue this up through the HOI era without changing game engines or needing to use a converter.

World War 2...

With catapults...

I approve.

 

[richvh]

Yes, Tegius honored the call to arms from the Visigothic king, but didn't send any immediate aid, deciding to put his domestic house in order first. (Sparta hasn't seen any Brythonian troops yet at this point, either, and they need the help more.)

Ash'ari, the state religion of the Tulunids, is a Muslim sect whose worship is pretty much restricted to the Tulunid state, so there is no worry of having half the Mediterranean coastline descend on the Peloponessus, but the Tulunids outclass Sparta + Kent combined. Their siege army in Lakedaimon has repelled all Spartan attempts to dislodge it up to this point; the saving grace is that virtually all holdings have massive walls with sizeable garrisons, so sieges take a long time unless you have a huge stack that would rather take the assault losses than the attrition losses. Warscore has been climbing in favor of the Tulunids.

The kingdom of Gothia and the Umayyad caliphate are more closely matched despite the size disparity between the two, and the Umayyads have been ignoring Saguntum (their putative war goal) in favor of trying to dislodge a Visigothic siege army from the mountains of Soria. Warscore (at the time of Brythonian entry into the war) slightly favored the caliphate.

 

[richvh]

Annales Gentis Artorii
Being the Chronicle of those Kings reigning
between the years 1066 and 1399 who claimed
descent from Lucius Artorius Castus,
appointed Supreme Military Commander
of Britannia by Emperor Alexandros III​

House Pendragon
Kings of Brythonia
Arturus I 'the Scarred', 1049-1112, king 1060-1112
Kozyron I 'the Fat', 1079-1141, king 1112-1124 (Arturus I)
Arturus II 'the Bold', 1095-1152, king 1124-1144 (Urianos, Arturus I)

House Artorius, Welsh branch
Kings of Cymru
Maximus I 'the Cruel', 1046-1132, Duke of Deheubarth 1060-1132, King of Cymru 1111-1132
Iorwerth I, 1088-1141, king 1132-1141 (Dafydd, Maximus I)
Dafydd I 'the Blind', 1135-1187, king 1141-1187 (Iorwerth I, Dafydd, Maximus I)
Drystan I 'the Confessor', 1167-1232, king 1187-1232 (Dafydd I, Iorwerth I, Dafydd, Maximus I)
Dafydd II 'the Hunter', 1189-1260, king 1232-1240 (Drystan I, Dafydd I, Iorwerth I, Dafydd, Maximus I) see also: Kings of Neustria

Kings of Alba
Custennin I 'the Proud', 1219-1285, king 1226-1285 (Asa, Drystan, Dafydd, Iorwerth, Dafydd, Maximus)
Ferchar II 'the Bold', 1275-1328, king 1285-1328 (Custennin, Custennin I, Asa, Drystan, Dafydd, Iorwerth, Dafydd, Maximus)
Fergus I 'Ironside', 1297-1369, king 1328-1369 (Ferchar II, Custennin, Custennin I, Asa, Drystan, Dafydd, Iorwerth, Dafydd, Maximus)
Fergus II 'the Scarred', 1345-1389, king 1369-1389 (Hugh, Fergus I, Ferchar II, Custennin, Custennin I, Asa, Drystan, Dafydd, Iorwerth, Dafydd, Maximus)
Hugh I "the Wise', 1369-1394, king 1389-1394 (Fergus II, Hugh, Fergus I, Ferchar II, Custennin, Custennin I, Asa, Drystan, Dafydd, Iorwerth, Dafydd, Maximus)
Gilbert I, 1387-, king 1394- (Hugh I, Fergus II, Hugh, Fergus I, Ferchar II, Custennin, Custennin I, Asa, Drystan, Dafydd, Iorwerth, Dafydd, Maximus)

Kings of Neustria
Dafydd I 'the Hunter', 1189-1260, king 1241-1260 (Drystan, Dafydd, Iorwerth, Dafydd, Maximus)
Cadell I 'the Great', 1231-1288, king 1260-1288 (Gronw, Drystan, Dafydd, Iorwerth, Dafydd, Maximus)
Gruffydd I, 1248-1293, king 1288-1293 (Cadell I, Gronw, Drystan, Dafydd, Iorwerth, Dafydd, Maximus)
Cadell II 'Half-Hand', 1276-1325, king 1293-1325 (Grufydd I, Cadell I, Gronw, Drystan, Dafydd, Iorwerth, Dafydd, Maximus)
Grufydd II 'the Just', 1294-1361, king 1325-1361 (Cadell II, Grufydd I, Cadell I, Gronw, Drystan, Dafydd, Iorwerth, Dafydd, Maximus)
Gruffydd II 'the Theologian', 1337-, king 1361- (Caradog, Gruffydd II, Cadell II, Grufydd I, Cadell I, Gronw, Drystan, Dafydd, Iorwerth, Dafydd, Maximus)

House Artorius, Cornish branch
Kings of Cornovia
Magnus I 'the Fanged', 1048-1110, king 1060-1110
Eludus I, 1085-1130, king 1110-1130 (Aeronwyn, Magnus I)
Magnus II, 1090-1138, king 1130-1138 (Justin, Magnus I)
Morganus I, 1113-1139, king 1138-1139 (Eludus I, Aeronwyn, Magnus I)
Ieuanus I 'the Great', 1114-1171, king of Cornovia 1139-1171, king of Brythonia 1146-1171 (Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Kings of Brythonia and Cornovia
Justin I 'the Bold', 1116-1172, king 1171-1172 (Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Tegonius I 'the Great', 1134-1206, king 1201-1206 (Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Ysfaelos I, 1134-1206, king 1201-1206 (Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Uther I, 1150-1208, king 1206-1208 (Justin I, Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Thomos I 'the Monk', 1185-1235, king 1208-1235 (Uther I, Justin I, Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Uther II, 1202-1250, king of Brythonia and Cornovia 1235-1250, king of Cambria 1240-1250 (Thomos I, Uther I, Justin I, Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Kings of Brythonia, Cambria and Cornovia
Cadwalus I, 1212-1268, king 1250-1268 (Thomos I, Uther I, Justin I, Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Idwalus I 'Ironside', 1198-1269, king 1268-1269 (Idwalus, Einion, Iago, Ceredigus, Ynyrus, Magnus I)
Cynwallus I 'the Pious', 1233-1298, king 1269-1298 (Idwalus I, Idwalus, Einion, Iago, Ceredigus, Ynyrus, Magnus I)
Iforus I, 1270-1304, king 1298-1304 (Cynwallus I, Idwalus I, Idwalus, Einion, Iago, Ceredigus, Ynyrus, Magnus I)
Cynfarus I, 1282-1312, king 1304-1312 (Cynwallus I, Idwalus I, Idwalus, Einion, Iago, Ceredigus, Ynyrus, Magnus I)
Ithelus I, 1303-1321, king 1312-1321 (Cynfarus I, Cynwallus I, Idwalus I, Idwalus, Einion, Iago, Ceredigus, Ynyrus, Magnus I)
Dafydd I, 1304-1322, king 1321-1322 (Cynwallus I, Idwalus I, Idwalus, Einion, Iago, Ceredigus, Ynyrus, Magnus I)
Arthfaelus I, 1259-1323, king 1322-1323 (Eudocia, Maelrys, Maelrys, Tegonius I, Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Paulus I 'the Monk', 1284-1350, king of Brythonia, Cambria and Cornovia 1323-1350, king of Anglia 1337-1350, king of Northanhymbra 1349-1350 (Arthfaelus I, Eudocia, Maelrys, Maelrys, Tegonius I, Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Kings of Brythonia, Cambria, Anglia, Northanhymbra and Cornovia
Arthfaelus II, 1306-1351, king 1350-1351 (Paulus I,Arthfaelus I, Eudocia, Maelrys, Maelrys, Tegonius I, Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Kings of Brythonia, Northanhymbra and Cornovia
Cadwgan I 'the Pious', 1339-1381, king of Brythonia, Northanhymbra and Cornovia 1351-1381, king of Cantia 1368-1381 (Petronius, Cadwgan, Arthfaelus I, Eudocia, Maelrys, Maelrys, Tegonius I, Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Kings of Cambria and Anglia
Essyllt I 'the Pious', 1327-1369, queen 1351-1369 (Arthfaelos II, Paulus I,Arthfaelus I, Eudocia, Maelrys, Maelrys, Tegonius I, Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Ithelus II 'the Brilliant', 1359-1390, king of Cambria and Anglia 1369-1390, king of Brythonia, Northanhymbra, Cantia and Cornovia 1381-1390 (Essyllt I, Arthfaelos II, Paulus I,Arthfaelus I, Eudocia, Maelrys, Maelrys, Tegonius I, Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Kings of Brythonia, Cambria, Anglia, Northanhymbra and Cornovia
Tegius I, 1384-, king 1390- (Ithelus II, Essyllt I, Arthfaelos II, Paulus I,Arthfaelus I, Eudocia, Maelrys, Maelrys, Tegonius I, Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)
Kings of Cantia
Cadogus I 'the Young', 1350-, king 1390- (Kallinikos, Cadogus, Iolos, Cerie, Iorwerthus, Cadwalus I, Thomos I, Uther I, Justin I, Magnus II, Justin, Magnus I)

Kings of Sparta
Julianus I, 1158-1195, king 1181-1195 (Ffelis, Magnus, Justin, Magnus)
Sion I, 1189-1230, king 1195-1230 (Julianus I, Ffelis, Magnus, Justin, Magnus)
Hippostratos I, 1213-1266, king 1230-1266 (Sion I, Ffelis, Magnus, Justin, Magnus)
Megistos I 'the Fat', 1238-1300, king 1266-1300 (Hippostratos I, Sion I, Ffelis, Magnus, Justin, Magnus)
Hippostratos II, 1264-1302, king 1300-1302 (Megistos I, Hippostratos I, Sion I, Ffelis, Magnus, Justin, Magnus)
Gregoras I 'the Theologian', 1281-1315, king 1302-1315 (Antialcidas, Niketas, Sion I, Ffelis, Magnus, Justin, Magnus)
Eusebios I 'the Just', 1310-1348, king 1315-1348 (Gregoras I, Antialcidas, Niketas, Sion I, Ffelis, Magnus, Justin, Magnus)
Iakobos I, 1331-1350, king 1348-1350 (Eusebios I, Gregoras I, Antialcidas, Niketas, Sion I, Ffelis, Magnus, Justin, Magnus)
Nikephoros I, 1333-1371, king 1350-1371 (Eusebios I, Gregoras I, Antialcidas, Niketas, Sion I, Ffelis, Magnus, Justin, Magnus)
Loukas I 'the Blessed', 1356-, king 1371- (Nikephoros I, Eusebios I, Gregoras I, Antialcidas, Niketas, Sion I, Ffelis, Magnus, Justin, Magnus)

Notes:
1) People in this color are women married matrilinearly or within their dynasty.
2) In cases where kings have multiple lines of descent from the dynasty founder, only the senior line is shown.
3) Ancestors without a regnal number were not monarchs. In the case of cadet branches, only monarchs of that realm are given regnal numbers. Splinter states of Brythonia are treated as sharing regnal numbers.

 

[Dovahkiing]

whoa, how many kings did you go through?
Now that's some serious street cred.

 

[richvh]

whoa, how many kings did you go through?
Now that's some serious street cred.

I count 24. In contrast, the Welsh line in Cymru and Neustria has only had 10 over the same time span (though the first started out as a duke, not a king.)

 

[Stuyvesant]

I'm nitpicking here, but it appears that Magnus I 'The Fanged' ruled as king for 38 years after his death. Hm... 'The Fanged' - was he Nosferatu?

 

[richvh]

Good catch, corrected.

Working on the next update, which will feature Brythonia's darkest hour.

 

[Dovahkiing]

year of the twelve one-month kings?

 

[DisgruntledLemming]

The reign of the king that actually lived to life expectancy?!

 

[Dovahkiing]

The reign of the king that actually lived to life expectancy?!

Timeline reset destroys all of the Artorious dynasty's achievements and relegates them to one mythical king?

 

[richvh]

The reign of the king that actually lived to life expectancy?!

We've had a few of those (some of the short reign kings were elderly when they came to the throne.) Ysfaelos holds the age record at 72, Idwalus lived to 71, several others lived into their 60s... most recently Paulus.

Timeline reset destroys all of the Artorious dynasty's achievements and relegates them to one mythical king?

Isn't that our timeline?

 

[richvh]

Despite being formally part of 3 wars, Tegius had chosen to keep his forces at home to combat the effort to depose him, but finally, after the fall of Leicester in 1400, he decided that the revolt was well in hand and shipped the greater part of his forces to Greece, where the Spartans were in danger of losing to the Tulunids.

The siege force in Lakedaimon were soon routed by the superior numbers of the Brythons, and the fortress of Sparta itself liberated by assault in January of 1401. An attempt by a fresh Tulunid force to dislodge the Brythons as they were prepared Arkadia was repelled, and the Spartans and Tulunids entered into negotiations for a peace settlement, with the principal parties agreeing to a white peace on May 24, 1401.

In the meantime, the Duke of York was finally forced to realize the futility of his cause, and surrendered on May 27, 1401. With two of the three fronts settled, Brythonia's attention turned to Hispania, where the Visigothic forces had concentrated for a siege in the mountains of Soria, resisting efforts to dislodge them. In order to reduce the pressure on the Visigoths, King Tegius landed forces in two adjacent Umayyad ruled coastal provinces just south of Saguntum - Valentia and Dianum.

The single province state surrounded by the Umayyad caliphate near the border
Gothia is La Mancha... which is attacking the Umayyads with an invasion CB. This
may be a decadence revolt... if so, it is failing miserably (~-55 warscore), but
probably took a lot of heat off the Visigoths.​

On January 29, 1402, Queen Petiliana delivered the royal couple's first born child - a son, named Ithelus, assuring a succession without further division, despite the still conflicting inheritance laws of the various kingdoms comprising Brythonia.

Despite reverses, Tegius was able to evacuate battle-weary units to Brythonia for rest and reinforcement, and return them to the war theatre with renewed vigor. Although the war dragged on for years, the Umayyads finally admitted defeat on November 14, 1405.

With the kingdom at peace for the first time since his teens, Tegius returned home and devoted himself to inheritance law reform, assuring that there would never again be a division on inheritance of the 5 kingdoms currently ruled from Tintagel.

That accomplished, King Tegius turned to unfinished business - while the former Duke of York, now reduced to the rank of Count, still resided in the Tintagel dungeon, and the Duke of Lancaster had died, there were still two traitors at large - the Dukes of Bedford and Kent. The king sent his magister militi to arrest the Duke of Bedford in February of 1406 - an act he would soon deeply regret. For not only did the Duke of Bedford raise the flag of rebellion, but he was joined by most of the peers of the realm, including the captains of all the companies sworn to the exclusive service of the Brython crown. Desperate, Tegius appealed to his father-in-law, the King of Gothia, for aid.

The Duke of Bedford's allies are, from left to right:
Captain of the Ala Artorii Invicti (unlanded)
Duke of Gloucester
Duke of Dalmatia
Duke of Kent
Duke of Deheubarth
Captain of the Heimthegar Hersir and the Northanhymbran
Thegns and Duke of Hereford, Tegius' own grandfather
Captain of the Powys Bwauhirion (count of Powys)
Captain of the Demethian Sagitarii (count of Gwynedd)
Only 4 dukes remained loyal to Tegius: Gwynedd, Lancaster, York and Apulia​

The crown lands in the south now isolated from the loyal vassals in the north, Tegius decided to concentrate the loyalist levies in Lincylene, where they would be joined by the crown levies sent by sea for a march on the Duke of Bedford's stronghold in Eastseaxe. However the rebels got wind of this plan, and even as the crown levies were arriving in Boston harbor the loyalists were being overwhelmed by the superior numbers of the rebel forces converging on Lincelyne.

These forces were too great in number for even the arrival of the crown levies to turn the tide, and the Brythonian army was harried from Lincelyne into Hamtun and finally Bedasforda, where it was destroyed. Overlooked in the confusion, King Tegius returned to Tintagel. Desperate for any ally, in May of 1406 he cynically agreed to aid the Kingdom of Kent in its holy war to gain Lancaster ducal lands from Galloway during its rebellion from Alba in hopes that the Kentish royal army would clash with the rebels.

Tegius also raised a new army of mercenaries 10,000 strong which, supplemented by the small Apulian force which had arrived by sea too late to participate in the recent disaster, was shipped directly to Eastseaxe.

Once again the rebel army bore down on the royal army. Once again its numbers were too great for even the professional, battle-scarred fighting men Tegius had hired to withstand. Ejected from Eastseaxe and harried through Middelseaxe into Suthrige, his army facing near certain destruction while the available levies were exhausted and available mercenary pool was nearly empty, Tegius could not help but despair when he saw another large force bearing down on his position from the west.

Until he saw the banners they carried.

A red cross on a gold field.

The King of Gothia had arrived.

The fresh Visigothic troops shattered the rebel line. While the much diminished rebel army licked its wounds and set off to the west, King Tegius led his and the Visigothic armies back to Eastseaxe, where the fortress of Colchester was taken by assault before the army settled down for the siege of Maldon.

While the royal siege of Maldon and the rebel siege of Bath dragged on, the vultures were gathering. The King of Kent, frustrated of his ambitions in the north when the duke of Galloway won his war for the throne of Alba in late 1407, lashed out against Powys Bwauhirion in alliance with Sparta. Neustria looked eagerly north across the channel for easy prey, attacking ducal Kent in alliance with Alba. And unbeknownst to Tegius, distant Singisdunum once again was looking on Dalmatia with avarice, seeking to separate the county of Salona from that duchy.

Desperate to end the war before the kingdom was permanently dismembered, Tegius sent peace feelers to the Duke of Bedford. At first the Duke was reluctant, but after the fall of Maldon he finally agreed on terms, and on January 27, 1409 the rebellion came to an end. Unfortunately, Powys had surrendered to royal Kent on October 11, 1408. The county of Ligeraceaster had also peacefully joined the Kingdom of Kent when its count, formerly the Duke of York and still imprisoned, inherited the Duchy of Norfolk from his mother on January 4, 1409.

http://www.citlink.net/~richvh/CK2screenshots/revolt_vs_tegius.jpg[/img]​

However Brythonia would not know peace for long. On February 18, 1409, King Tegius received a formal request from his father-in-law for aid against Al Murabitun. Intending to block the land route into Hispania from Africa, Tegius laid siege to Murabitid owned mosque of Ronda in the otherwise Umayyad controlled province of Algeciras, but it turned out that the main action was in the Balearic Islands, where Visigothic forces dislodged a Murabitid force.

After the fall of Ronda, Tegius set sail with his army for the coast of Gothia where a Murabitid force had landed, but fell ill and died aboard ship on September 17, 1410, leaving behind two young sons and a pregnant wife. Once more Brythonia was facing a long regency.

 

[Stuyvesant]

Tegius survived the rebellion, which was no mean feat. Too bad he continued the trend of Brythonian kings dying prematurely. A long regency, restless vassals... It does not bode well, methinks.

 

[Dovahkiing]

Isn't that our timeline?

yes it is

 

[richvh]

While the death of King Tegius ended Brythonia's involvement in the war in Hispania, the kingdom did not long remain at peace, for on December 7, 1410, Singisdunum once more was on the warpath, intending to carve Iadera off of Dalmatia. Brythonia successfykkt used their usual coastal defense and amphibious raid strategy once again, and accepted Singisdunum's surrender on June 27, 1413.

Seeking to take advantage of the fighting between the duchy of Norfolk and the kingdom of Kent, King Ithelus's regent declared war on both, though the rebel duke soon made peace with the liege he had been trying to displace. The aged King Cadogus the Young surrendered Llanlliena to Brythonia on November 5, 1415, and died 3 years after, allowing an early rematch without breaking a truce, with Nordfolc being ceded to Brythonia on January 11, 1420.

On September 7, 1421, King Ithelus III declared war on Alba to gain Westmereland. This war proved to be much more difficult than had been expected, partly due to the death of the childless King Ithelus III on July 28, 1423 and that of his brother Thomos II less than a year later, on June 15, 1424, leaving the throne to Thomos' infant son Pyrus. The War of Three Kings, as it came to be called, finally ended on October 16, 1425.

Continuing in the fine Brythonian tradition of short reigns

 

[richvh]

In 1425, the truce with King Bryanus of Kent having come to an end, war was declared to regain the county of Suthfolc. Seeing the realm of Brythonia torn by war in the midst of a regency, in February of 1427 King Cauanos of Singisdunum sought to take advantage of the chaos, gambling that he could pare Iadera away from Dalmatia before Brythonia could turn its attention away from the home front. Unfortunately for him, he had struck too late, for the war with Kent came to an end with Queen Cicely's surrender two months later. Freed from other commitments, the full fury of Brythonia's might fell on whatever Singisdunian units ventured within sight of the coast. King Cauanos was forced to surrender on June 6, 1429.

In 1436 the covetous eyes of Brythonia turned once more to the north, where the defenses of Castle Burgh in Rheged were in serious disrepair after being conquered by Kent and reconquered by Alba in recent years. The onslaught of the Brythons was so fierce that by June, all of Rheged was in their hands, and the Alban king was seeking terms.

Early the next year, the truce with Queen Cicely of Kent having come to an end, war was declared to regain Oxenaforda. Overwhelmed by Brythonia's superior numbers, Queen Cicely surrendered on July 1, 1438. This gave Brythonia control of 3 of the 5 counties recognized as de jure part of the Kingdom of Kent, allowing King Pyrus to regain the throne lost to the Brythonian monarchy on the death of his great-grandfather, Ithelus II.

Brythonia almost immediately turned its attention to the now independent duchy of Oxford, seeking to carve Hamtun off of it. His former queen Cicely, now reduced to Duchess of Northumberland, joined the war in his defense, but the might of Brythonia was such that all the scattered holdings of both the Duke and the Duchess were able to be sieged simultaneously.

The end seemed near when on November 23, 1420, the Duke of York revolted, seeking to depose King Pyrus. The Duke had been outraged that King Pyrus, but recently come of age and married to a Spartan princess, had been caught in flagrante delicto with a page boy on his wedding night, and proclaimed that no boy lover was fit to sit on the Brythonian throne.

Like the previous attempt to depose his grandfather Tegius, this revolt attracted the participation of most of the peers of the realm. Unlike that time, Pyrus had no powerful ally able to come to his aid, but on the other hand his troops were already mustered, and though somewhat scattered most were close enough to the sea that they could quickly be evacuated.

Spending lavishly on mercenaries, Pyrus was able to concentrate his forces and destroy the rebel forces in the south, ignoring the considerable rebel force in the north that had rallied to the defense of Duchess Cecily of Northumberland against the predations of the Alban duke of Lothian.

The main rebel forces menacing the monarchy destroyed, King Pyrus settled down to beseige the Duke of York's lone county of Lincylene. Eventually, the Duke of York proposed a white peace, which King Pyrus eagerly agreed to, as the funds to keep the mercenaries in the field had dried up. With access to all the levies of Brythonia once more, the surrender of the Duke of Oxford was inevitable and came on January 9, 1444.

Allied to the Duke of York, left to right:
Duke of Kent
Duke of Gwynedd
Duke of Dalmatia
Duke of Lancaster
Count of Rheged
Duke of Apulia
Captain of Demetia Sagitarii
Duke of Gloucester
Duke of Hereford
Duke of Deheubarth​

The end of this war was followed almost immediately by the start of another, for on January 14, a plea for aid against the encroachment of Makedonia arrived from Pyrus' brother-in-law, the king of Sparta, and about the same time another came from Duchess Cicely seeking aid in her ongoing war defending against Lothian. Seeing that the fighting spirit of Lothian was already ebbing and that Sparta was facing desperate odds, King Pyrus elected to send the full fighting force of Brythonia to Greece, a wise decision as the Lothian-Northumberland war came to an agreeable conclusion on June 11, 1444 without direct Brythonian involvement.

Princess Ffelis, King Pyrus' aunt and heir presumptive, had died from illness on January 30, 1443 Legal experts were making a strong case that the new heir presumptive was not Ffelis's young son and only child, but rather Princess Essyllt, the King's elderly great aunt who had a single living granddaughter. This raised very real concerns that the throne of Brythonia would pass to the children of Princess Essyllt's twin sister, the late Queen Maelrys of Galatia, and to the Galatian royal house.

Spoiler

This is due to a bug introduced in patch 1.06 that sometimes produces unexpected results for agnatic-cognatic primogeniture and gavelkind inheritance. Hopefully this will be fixed with patch 1.07 and the release of Legacy of Rome.

It was about this time that the council, fueled by these concerns and by the King's increasingly eccentric behavior, conspired with the Queen, who herself was upset that the King spent too much time with page boys and almost no time in her bedchamber. Together they worked to arrange for the Queen to spend more time with the King. Rumors that the King's trysts with his page boy lovers now occured in the Queen's bed, and that the son she eventually bore on August 4, 1447 (just 3 months after the war in Greece ended) as well the daughter she would bear 6 years later were fathered by one of the King's lovers were officially denied.

Spoiler

Eccentric... a polite term for "mad as a hatter."

While the war in Greece had dragged on, Duchess Cicely of Northumberland had been waging war against the Count of Weirwick (the former Duke of Oxford) to regain that county for her shrunken realm, but when her truce with King Pyrus expired in September of 1448, Brythonia intervened to enforce the elderly Countess of Jorvik's claim on Cicely's duchy. This war came to an end on March 16, 1452, adding the counties of Dun Holm and Northanhymbra as well as the style Duchess of Northumberland to Countess Glynys. The vassalage of Ligeraceaster was also transfered to her, leaving the county of Powys as Cicely's only remaining holding. Of the formerly independent Kingdom of Kent, only Powys, Weirwick and a few scattered baronies beholden to the Count of Weirwick remained.

This had the unexpected consequence of making a real powerhouse in the north when the Duke of Lancaster inherited Duchess Glynys' lands soon afterwards.

While all this was happening, a coalition of Brython vassals was waging a more successful than expected war against Ragusa, which was revolting from Singidunum. King Pyrus decided to intervene in January of 1454, declaring his intention to attach the Singidunian held county of Senj to his kingdom. This war was brought to a successful conclusion on September 15, 1455, and Ragusa surrendered to the Count of Salona and his allies on October 10. Singidunum was now landlocked.

Another diarama from the Cornovian Royal Museum in Tintagel, this one showing the situation
in the Balkans on the eve of King Pyrus' declaration of war against Singidunum.
One of the two holdings in Ragusa is about to fall to resurgent Singidunian forces, who have
ejected the allies from that province forcing them to retreat to and regroup in Salona.
A Ragusan force near the Singidunian capital is too small to be effective.