Lol. We'll see how they get along. One of Ricciarda's brother's is kind, the other is content, I think the youngest is zealous and she is content. It did king of go horribly when Henry the 2nd of england died and when Isabella of Castile died, so we'll see if his brood and their spouses are any less dysfunctional than the families that I already mentioned.
Of Coast and Coin (Venice AAR)
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Lol. We'll see how they get along. One of Ricciarda's brother's is kind, the other is content, I think the youngest is zealous and she is content. It did king of go horribly when Henry the 2nd of england died and when Isabella of Castile died, so we'll see if his brood and their spouses are any less dysfunctional than the families that I already mentioned.
That's true, and he's lucky that he was already Serene Doge and had no unfinished business.
In fairness to Henry II... it was already going badly before he died.
(Arguably his own doing of course)But I admit to never having Republics in CK2, so I don't know what will happen next... or even how to read the dynamics at play. So we'll see how it all shakes out.
In fairness to Henry II... it was already going badly before he died.
But I admit to never having Republics in CK2, so I don't know what will happen next... or even how to read the dynamics at play. So we'll see how it all shakes out.
It generally depends on how much respect a patrician family has amongst their peers, though it helps to siphon money into a campaign fund. I agree that Henry the 2nd already had problems beforw he died. Isabella of Castile was in fact in a similar situation as her two eldest (and arguably most competent) children died without survivng children of their own and Her middle child Juana was not as willing to defy the expectation that women at the time should be (mostly)submissive to their husband's wishes. It didn't help that Juana was married to an abusive, power hungry son of a bitch. Speaking of that time period a new historical drama is coming out on strarz this spring called the Spanish Princess which is about Catherine of Aragon. Anyways all my rambling aside, thank you so much for reading and commenting and I love the new installment of your own aar.
4
September 1067
Ludovico shook his head in dismay while meeting with his council,”Why would he declare war on the Serbians?”
“Well the Serbian king can muster few men of his own, perhaps the Serene Doge seeks to prove himself.”Boris responded.
“Well he is also notoriously greedy and through seeking tribute from King Mihajlo would increase his coffers substantially.”Vitale added.
“One would think that it would be better for him and his fellow patricians, such as myself, were able to build up enough coin for such a war?”
Ricciarda smirked“He seems to lack the wisdom of his predecessor, he is far too rash and is unworthy of the name that he shares with my late father. Let’s hope this doesn't go too horribly.”
“Indeed your wife has a valid point, if you were Serene Doge we would be raking in plenty of coin peacefully, enough to prepare ourselves should the Croatian king seek to attack us.” Boris said after sipping some wine.
“An interesting opinion given that you are Croatian yourself my marshal.”
“Well I happen to believe that being ruled over by a Serene Doge gives the merchants and common people more freedom and opportunities than any feudal king has to offer, besides you are my liege so I owe you my loyalty, regardless of our cultural differences.”
“Good to hear.” He raised his own goblet of wine,”A toast then, to our continuing prosperity.”
Every member of his council, along with his wife, who despite not having an outward role other than being his designated regent raised the goblets, over their recently finished dinner of seafood the clinking reverberating throughout the room. After the toast Ludovico left their seats and retired to their chambers. Shortly after shutting the door, Ludovico leaned in to kiss her, and reached for the laces of her dark blue dress, she accepted the kiss but stopped him from proceeding further,”I’m sorry but we can’t.”
He backed away towards an adjacent wall, slightly confused,”Why not my dear?”
She, after sitting down on their bed, smiled, one of true joy,”It seems that you will, god willing, have an heir in the months to come.”
A smile nearly split his face in half and he then sat by her running his hands through her golden curls,”Darling, our child is a sign of the love and devotion we have for each other, thank you so much for being a great wife.”
She blushed,”I merely do what is expected of me my dear.”
“Well in truth you do more than that, just make sure you get plenty of rest Ricciarda and listen to Averado. I would be heartbroken if anything happened to you or our child;”
“Don’t worry, I will not overexert myself Ludovico.”
Ludovico shook his head in dismay while meeting with his council,”Why would he declare war on the Serbians?”
“Well the Serbian king can muster few men of his own, perhaps the Serene Doge seeks to prove himself.”Boris responded.
“Well he is also notoriously greedy and through seeking tribute from King Mihajlo would increase his coffers substantially.”Vitale added.
“One would think that it would be better for him and his fellow patricians, such as myself, were able to build up enough coin for such a war?”
Ricciarda smirked“He seems to lack the wisdom of his predecessor, he is far too rash and is unworthy of the name that he shares with my late father. Let’s hope this doesn't go too horribly.”
“Indeed your wife has a valid point, if you were Serene Doge we would be raking in plenty of coin peacefully, enough to prepare ourselves should the Croatian king seek to attack us.” Boris said after sipping some wine.
“An interesting opinion given that you are Croatian yourself my marshal.”
“Well I happen to believe that being ruled over by a Serene Doge gives the merchants and common people more freedom and opportunities than any feudal king has to offer, besides you are my liege so I owe you my loyalty, regardless of our cultural differences.”
“Good to hear.” He raised his own goblet of wine,”A toast then, to our continuing prosperity.”
Every member of his council, along with his wife, who despite not having an outward role other than being his designated regent raised the goblets, over their recently finished dinner of seafood the clinking reverberating throughout the room. After the toast Ludovico left their seats and retired to their chambers. Shortly after shutting the door, Ludovico leaned in to kiss her, and reached for the laces of her dark blue dress, she accepted the kiss but stopped him from proceeding further,”I’m sorry but we can’t.”
He backed away towards an adjacent wall, slightly confused,”Why not my dear?”
She, after sitting down on their bed, smiled, one of true joy,”It seems that you will, god willing, have an heir in the months to come.”
A smile nearly split his face in half and he then sat by her running his hands through her golden curls,”Darling, our child is a sign of the love and devotion we have for each other, thank you so much for being a great wife.”
She blushed,”I merely do what is expected of me my dear.”
“Well in truth you do more than that, just make sure you get plenty of rest Ricciarda and listen to Averado. I would be heartbroken if anything happened to you or our child;”
“Don’t worry, I will not overexert myself Ludovico.”
A child! What a joy for Ludovico. Best wishes to the couple.
And the doge is indeed greedy. If the other Patricians doesn't watch out, that guy could throw them into even bigger war. I'll keep an eye on this guy.
And the doge is indeed greedy. If the other Patricians doesn't watch out, that guy could throw them into even bigger war. I'll keep an eye on this guy.
Try to raise your prestige and become serene doge. After that, kill the partician family with least number of male heirs so that you inherit all their money. And keep doing that for infinite money.
Thank you, my primary concern is that we will be open to some sort of dejure war from Croatia.
Well if something bad happens thanks to the current Doge he may suffer an "unforunate accident."
A greedy Doge? Never happens
True enough, it just annoys me that he isn't focusing on defending the realm from a potential Croatian attack.
5
January 1068
Ludovico and his council were in the midst of a relatively uneventful meeting when a courier dashed through the wooden double doors and came to a stop, panting,”My lord, I came as fast as I could, King Kresimir ‘The Great’, has declared war upon us, over what he claims to be his rightful ownership of Veglia.”
The room was filled with silence as Ludovico scowled,”Damn that foolish, greedy oaf, I knew the King of Croatia would attack us. We’ll see how long our fool of a doge is able to fight two wars at the same time, he may have occupied Serbia’s northwestern coast, but now his army will be marooned there while King Kresimir will be able to lay siege to Veglia with little opposition. I’m sorry for my mood, you are merely the bearer of bad news, you may rest at whatever inn you choose to.”
Boris finished chewing on the skin of a chicken,“Ludovico, the situation is not completely hopeless, while we can only raise about 800 men, we may be able to hire mercenaries who could help turn the tide of this war.”
Feeling somewhat relieved Ludovico sighed,”Vitale, since our coffers will need to be prepared to bear the cost of war. I request that you contact some of the wealthier jewish merchants and see if you may borrow some money from them, Veglia is their home too. We’ll so how ‘great’ Kresimir truly is, William the ‘Conqueror’ the new king of England after all is struggling to fight off a Norwegian invasion. Anyways, I have some good news Ricciarda is doing well with her pregnancy, Averado reports that he has never seen a woman so pleased with the prospect of lying in, and is reading all she can.”
As he dismissed his council he thought to himself,”I just hope that she will be able to give birth here, instead of in a dungeon, or at our quarters in Venice.”
Sorry I didn't update last week. I was very busy applying for scholarships and finishing some projects for some of my classes. As I am less busy this week I will try to update another time this week to try to make up for it.
6
April 1068
On the third of April 1068 Ludovico was distracted from his bookkeeping by the faint sound of a scream. Alarm caused him to nearly jumped out of his seat, the wooden chair skidding back from his desk. He bolted out the door not bothering to push the chair back in and nearly ran in to an aging maid in the middle of the hallway,”Your wife is giving birth Patrician Ludovico.”
“What are you doing then? Aren’t you supposed to be attending to her.”
“I’ll have you know that’s exactly what I’m doing, you see I’m fetching some towels to help clean her and the baby up after the birth.”
Ludovico sheepishly smiled,”I’m sorry to question you, she is in her chambers right?”
“Yes she is my lord, I must forewarn you that she may not be very friendly. Giving birth can be very painful, I should know, I’ve done it five times myself.”
Ludovico murmured a”Thank you.”as he walked past her. After a minute of walking through the corridor, he after hearing another scream, stopped before the door and prayed,”God, I know that this is much to ask, but please let them both live, the child is an innocent and has committed no sin. Ricciarda despite her slothfulness is a honest woman and a most dutiful wife. I am told that she has spent her seclusion reading the bible and works of St.Augustine.” He then crossed himself and passed through the door. After bypassing the surprised midwives and the court physician, he rushed to Ricciarda’s side who despite her labour managed a faint smile,”My dear, it seems that our child is a bit stubborn when it comes to joining us in this world.” She chuckled lightly,”I wonder who he could’ve gotten that from?”
Ludovico held her left hand,”Why do you assume it is a boy, my darling?”
“It must be my maternal intuition, now we must bring him into this world.”
After a few hours of what was the most intense part of a labour, Ricciarda had finally expelled the baby from her womb and it let out a cry as it was picked up and swaddled by a midwife. Ricciarda apologized as she finally had let go of her husband’s aching hand. The maid whom Ludovico had encountered earlier let out a whoop as she brought the child to its mother,”It’s a boy, you were right my lady!”
Ricciarda smiled when she received their son and cradled him in her arms, slowly calming him. Ludovico for his part stroked his wife’s hair and bent down to kiss his son’s pink forehead,”He may grow to be a more valiant man than I, Ricciarda I think we shall call him Alfontso.”
She looked up into her husband’s eyes,”He will be lucky if he is half the man that you are.”
Ludovico beamed at this,’Hopefully he will have his mother’s grace and wisdom as well.”
He then turned for a moment,”Averado, you are man who has knowledge of a great many things. I give you the opportunity, once he is old enough to educate my son.”
Averado turned away from his work,”I of course accept this honor my lord, and thank you for it.”
Shortly after the couple and their baby went to their bedchamber for some much needed sleep, for even Alfontso who was initial fussy after being born, was exhausted.
7
October 1069
Ludovico stood thinking about how he got into this situation, over a thousand troops at his command, a stormy sky overhead. Eight months ago Veglia had fallen to the Croatians but Ludovico and his court, as well as his 2800 strong army(Roughly 800 of which were levies while the rest were members of the Pecheneg company which was composed mostly of light infantry with about 253 light cavalry and most importantly to Ludovico, 285 horse archers) were able to escape to Venice.
Four months after that his army joined that of Serene Doge Domenico the third, which then retook Veglia from the Croatians. In the months prior to this impending battle The Venetian army had managed to lay siege to the other settlements within the county of Veglia, and had even captured the Croatian capital Senj, taking King Kresimir the fourth’s wife Miroslava and, crucially also took his heiress, the five year old princess Neda and his infant daughter princess Jadranka as hostages.
While Ludovico felt great sympathy for Kresimir, given that he would kill for his own son Alfontso(Whom he and Ricciarda called their angel, a claim which they believed was especially true during his first few months of infancy.), he also realized that the quicker this war was over the better off everyone involved would be. (Especially as his coffers, even after borrowing, 300 florins from Veglia’s small yet resourceful Jewish population, were strained by maintaining both levies and the mercenaries he so desperately needed). In spite of this he had, a few months ago even hosted a lavish feast
for a group of hedge knights and provided medical care for one that was injured in a minor tournament.
Ludovico, commanding the centre of his army started a speech,”Men of Venice, today we fight for our lands, our honor but most of all we fight for our freedom. Freedom from the tyranny of kings and the freedom to pick our leaders based on their abilities and experience. Throughout history our Serene Doge’s and patricians have earned their positions through shrewd management, unlike kings, who merely inherit leadership through being fortunate enough to be the oldest surviving male. Now let’s send these goatherds back to the cesspit that they inhabit!”
Many but not all of the soldiers cheered, something he had not foreseen as he considered himself to be better skilled in the art of administration than that of crafting speeches. Shortly afterwards the two armies started to clash, archers exchanging arrows, and the battlefield soon became a noisy place of chaos. The battle, eventually reached Ludovico himself for while the Venetians had an advantage in numbers, the more numerous Croatian heavy infantry clashed with the Venetian line.
While many of his soldiers were distracted he soon would have to defend himself. He rushed in front a young soldier pushing him out of the way in an effort to save his life. His opponent a grim faced middle aged man charged at him, easily deflecting the swing of Ludovico’s sword with his shield, sending him stumbling back. In retaliation he brought his mace down on his ankle. Ludovico let out a grunt of pain, tears filling his eyes, and responded with a shield bash to the man’s chest and while he was dazed Ludovico cleaved his sword through the side of his neck.
The rest of the battle continued with little in the way of threats to Ludovico’s life, it soon turned out that hiring the Pechenegs was a wise decision for while the left flank of the army commanded by Mayor Domenico of Lido was after a stubborn defense, forced to retreat, the troops of the Croatian center and right were shot to pieces by pecheneg horse archers.
Also a desperate charge of the Croatian right flank, spearheaded by King Kresimir and his light cavalry floundered as they engaged charging pikemen lead by the captain of the Pecheneg band Tyrach “The cruel” who earned his sobriquet through his treatment of deserters on prior occasions.
The Croatian right and center though supported by what was left of their left flank soon fled the field. The Croatian left, was meanwhile left to their own devices and after fighting Ludovico’s men for a short while lost heart and retreated.
Hours later….
The young man Ludovico had saved earlier chirped as he walked beside him, the sun setting over the Venetian camp“I’d like to thank you wholeheartedly for saving my life sir.”
“I owe you this young soldier. As a patrician I should at least have the decency to fight alongside the fighting men of Venice.”
“It is I who owe you milord, if not for you I could have been one of the 868 men that were killed or seriously hurt in this battle.”
Ludovico looked crestfallen as he heard that figure”How many did the enemy lose?”
“1632 men milord, nearly twice the amount we lost.”
“I’d like to thank you for your service young man, we have just discovered how devastating war can be. What is your name?”
“Matteo, sir.”
As Ludovico limped on and Matteo continued to walk with his youthful energy they encountered a young woman perhaps 17 years old, with similar ginger looks standing outside Ludovico’s command tent. She smiled and ran towards Matteo who she nearly tackled in an embrace,”Matteo brother, I am so happy that you are alive”
He grinned,”Me too Matilda. But we owe our gratitude to Patrician Ludovico of House Strazzi, he took a blow to the ankle to save my life.”
Matilda left her brother’s embrace and approached Ludovico smiling,” You saved my twin brother milord, we are all we have left. How could I ever thank you, your bed must grow cold while on campaign, would you like me to warm it?”
While the proposal seemed aroused him, given that she was such a pretty young thing, and he had not laid with his wife for over a month. Ludovico felt like such a thing would ruin his perfectly happy marriage and in that moment he vowed to himself that he would never betray Ricciarda,”I’m sorry young lady but I intend to be faithful to my wife, the look of happiness on both of your faces is all the repayment that I need.”
One day later….
Ludovico and Ricciarda passionately embraced as they met in the dining hall,”I missed you so much my love, I am so glad that you are alive.”
He ran his hair through her blonde curls,” I suppose we are lucky, poor Bianca has been widowed twice now, and has just remarried once more.”
“Irregardless of that, she seems to be settling in nicely, you know even though she was my stepmother we might as well be sisters. The Catalan Guillem de Cerdanya is the second of your commanders that she has married.
Anyways, it seems as if Alfontso will soon have a brother or sister.”
A smile nearly split Ludovico’s face in half,”That must be a result of the activity we took part in the night before I left.”
She nodded,”It will be nice to have another child like Alfontso, I wonder who he will resemble most when he grows up. As of right now he has my hair color but it may darken as he gets older.”
“Indeed, no matter what our children will inherit your charm and grace.”
“Our little court is expanding my dear. As you know Benedetto’s wife Elena gave birth to a girl named Beatrice and I have it on good authority that Marshal Boris’s wife Adelaida is with child.”
 Screenshot.PNG "Beatrice (Benedetto's daughter) Screenshot.PNG")
“It’s not surprising, the too could barely keep their hands off each other during their wedding.
 screenshot.PNG "Adelaida (Boris's pregnant wife) screenshot.PNG")
Is the eunuch Manding-Bory doing well?”
“Yes actually, in spite of his origins and skin most of the court seems to be accepting of him.”
“Good, he may make a fine counselor should none of our current one’s have children competent enough to succeed them.”
Ricciarda caressed Ludovico’s beard“I know there is a war to be fought my love but please don’t leave if you can help it.”
“I won’t. Guillem will earn his keep by commanding the men left over after we dismissed the mercenaries, we now only have to fight the Serbians that are laying siege to Venice, hopefully the Serene Doge will make an advantageous peace with his cousin King Kresimir.”
“I hope that happens too.”
The two spent the rest of the day with their somewhat pudgy son, who, much to the joy of his parents and the court, managed to take his first steps.
PS:Sorry that I wasn’t able to update last week and that this week’s post is a little late. I’ve been pretty busy with essays and projects during the past two weeks.
Ludovico stood thinking about how he got into this situation, over a thousand troops at his command, a stormy sky overhead. Eight months ago Veglia had fallen to the Croatians but Ludovico and his court, as well as his 2800 strong army(Roughly 800 of which were levies while the rest were members of the Pecheneg company which was composed mostly of light infantry with about 253 light cavalry and most importantly to Ludovico, 285 horse archers) were able to escape to Venice.
Four months after that his army joined that of Serene Doge Domenico the third, which then retook Veglia from the Croatians. In the months prior to this impending battle The Venetian army had managed to lay siege to the other settlements within the county of Veglia, and had even captured the Croatian capital Senj, taking King Kresimir the fourth’s wife Miroslava and, crucially also took his heiress, the five year old princess Neda and his infant daughter princess Jadranka as hostages.
While Ludovico felt great sympathy for Kresimir, given that he would kill for his own son Alfontso(Whom he and Ricciarda called their angel, a claim which they believed was especially true during his first few months of infancy.), he also realized that the quicker this war was over the better off everyone involved would be. (Especially as his coffers, even after borrowing, 300 florins from Veglia’s small yet resourceful Jewish population, were strained by maintaining both levies and the mercenaries he so desperately needed). In spite of this he had, a few months ago even hosted a lavish feast
for a group of hedge knights and provided medical care for one that was injured in a minor tournament.
Ludovico, commanding the centre of his army started a speech,”Men of Venice, today we fight for our lands, our honor but most of all we fight for our freedom. Freedom from the tyranny of kings and the freedom to pick our leaders based on their abilities and experience. Throughout history our Serene Doge’s and patricians have earned their positions through shrewd management, unlike kings, who merely inherit leadership through being fortunate enough to be the oldest surviving male. Now let’s send these goatherds back to the cesspit that they inhabit!”
Many but not all of the soldiers cheered, something he had not foreseen as he considered himself to be better skilled in the art of administration than that of crafting speeches. Shortly afterwards the two armies started to clash, archers exchanging arrows, and the battlefield soon became a noisy place of chaos. The battle, eventually reached Ludovico himself for while the Venetians had an advantage in numbers, the more numerous Croatian heavy infantry clashed with the Venetian line.
While many of his soldiers were distracted he soon would have to defend himself. He rushed in front a young soldier pushing him out of the way in an effort to save his life. His opponent a grim faced middle aged man charged at him, easily deflecting the swing of Ludovico’s sword with his shield, sending him stumbling back. In retaliation he brought his mace down on his ankle. Ludovico let out a grunt of pain, tears filling his eyes, and responded with a shield bash to the man’s chest and while he was dazed Ludovico cleaved his sword through the side of his neck.
The rest of the battle continued with little in the way of threats to Ludovico’s life, it soon turned out that hiring the Pechenegs was a wise decision for while the left flank of the army commanded by Mayor Domenico of Lido was after a stubborn defense, forced to retreat, the troops of the Croatian center and right were shot to pieces by pecheneg horse archers.
Also a desperate charge of the Croatian right flank, spearheaded by King Kresimir and his light cavalry floundered as they engaged charging pikemen lead by the captain of the Pecheneg band Tyrach “The cruel” who earned his sobriquet through his treatment of deserters on prior occasions.
The Croatian right and center though supported by what was left of their left flank soon fled the field. The Croatian left, was meanwhile left to their own devices and after fighting Ludovico’s men for a short while lost heart and retreated.
Hours later….
The young man Ludovico had saved earlier chirped as he walked beside him, the sun setting over the Venetian camp“I’d like to thank you wholeheartedly for saving my life sir.”
“I owe you this young soldier. As a patrician I should at least have the decency to fight alongside the fighting men of Venice.”
“It is I who owe you milord, if not for you I could have been one of the 868 men that were killed or seriously hurt in this battle.”
Ludovico looked crestfallen as he heard that figure”How many did the enemy lose?”
“1632 men milord, nearly twice the amount we lost.”
“I’d like to thank you for your service young man, we have just discovered how devastating war can be. What is your name?”
“Matteo, sir.”
As Ludovico limped on and Matteo continued to walk with his youthful energy they encountered a young woman perhaps 17 years old, with similar ginger looks standing outside Ludovico’s command tent. She smiled and ran towards Matteo who she nearly tackled in an embrace,”Matteo brother, I am so happy that you are alive”
He grinned,”Me too Matilda. But we owe our gratitude to Patrician Ludovico of House Strazzi, he took a blow to the ankle to save my life.”
Matilda left her brother’s embrace and approached Ludovico smiling,” You saved my twin brother milord, we are all we have left. How could I ever thank you, your bed must grow cold while on campaign, would you like me to warm it?”
While the proposal seemed aroused him, given that she was such a pretty young thing, and he had not laid with his wife for over a month. Ludovico felt like such a thing would ruin his perfectly happy marriage and in that moment he vowed to himself that he would never betray Ricciarda,”I’m sorry young lady but I intend to be faithful to my wife, the look of happiness on both of your faces is all the repayment that I need.”
One day later….
Ludovico and Ricciarda passionately embraced as they met in the dining hall,”I missed you so much my love, I am so glad that you are alive.”
He ran his hair through her blonde curls,” I suppose we are lucky, poor Bianca has been widowed twice now, and has just remarried once more.”
“Irregardless of that, she seems to be settling in nicely, you know even though she was my stepmother we might as well be sisters. The Catalan Guillem de Cerdanya is the second of your commanders that she has married.
Anyways, it seems as if Alfontso will soon have a brother or sister.”
A smile nearly split Ludovico’s face in half,”That must be a result of the activity we took part in the night before I left.”
She nodded,”It will be nice to have another child like Alfontso, I wonder who he will resemble most when he grows up. As of right now he has my hair color but it may darken as he gets older.”
“Indeed, no matter what our children will inherit your charm and grace.”
“Our little court is expanding my dear. As you know Benedetto’s wife Elena gave birth to a girl named Beatrice and I have it on good authority that Marshal Boris’s wife Adelaida is with child.”
“It’s not surprising, the too could barely keep their hands off each other during their wedding.
Is the eunuch Manding-Bory doing well?”
“Yes actually, in spite of his origins and skin most of the court seems to be accepting of him.”
“Good, he may make a fine counselor should none of our current one’s have children competent enough to succeed them.”
Ricciarda caressed Ludovico’s beard“I know there is a war to be fought my love but please don’t leave if you can help it.”
“I won’t. Guillem will earn his keep by commanding the men left over after we dismissed the mercenaries, we now only have to fight the Serbians that are laying siege to Venice, hopefully the Serene Doge will make an advantageous peace with his cousin King Kresimir.”
“I hope that happens too.”
The two spent the rest of the day with their somewhat pudgy son, who, much to the joy of his parents and the court, managed to take his first steps.
PS:Sorry that I wasn’t able to update last week and that this week’s post is a little late. I’ve been pretty busy with essays and projects during the past two weeks.
