After forty years of Turkish domination, the memory of Byzantium was still fresh in the minds of the Greek peoples, and all adherents to the Orthodox faith. After so brutal a subjugation of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmet II, few could have ever expected that the heathens would have so short a tenure, but indeed, as God willed, the wages of sin were, as always, death ...
In January of the year 1492 by the Gregorian calendar, Austria annexed Hungary, bringing Catholic Europe to the very throat of the Turks. A mere month later, after several fits of rage and indignation, Sultan Bayezid II fell ill, and by the end of the month was dead. A black and insidious fluid invaded his lungs, persuaded onward by his constant bellicose raging. In March, his innards ruptured, and the murderous fiend perished, choking upon his own blood. Scrambling for power, emirs and viziers raised local levies to consolidate their own power and wage war against their neighbours. Chaos bred on chaos, and revolts sparked and raged: Macedonia, Hellas, Morea, Albania, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Bujak, and Obrudja all rose in opposition to the regency installed, Rumela and Thrace the sole holdings in Eastern Europe which remained calm. The unstable government proved unable to cope with the turmoil raging across its most valued provinces.
The conflict did not remain isolated to the domain of the heathen, either. In January 1493, rebels full of bloodlust and forgetful of the holy impetus behind their Crusade, to wrest the provinces of the Eastern Empire from the taloned clutch of the Turk, and formented revolt in the Cyclades, bidding the Orthodox population there to throw off the yoke of Catholic rule under the Serene Republic of Venice. The isolated Venetians had levied heavy taxes upon this remote province, and the people were anxious for bloodletting. As the governor and local nobility were murdered, drug from their castles and palaces, mothers forced to watch the dashing of their babes' brains before they too were put to sword. Thousands perished in this Greek tragedy, but the rebels would not have long to enjoy their murderous fruits.
The exiled family of the Paleologi, last dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, rose amidst this time of turmoil to quell the rebellion and bring the restless provinces under Christian rule once more. As cities fell without objection to the glorious sight of Joachim, arrayed in the purple and gold pageantry of a line stretching back to Constantine and beyond, this man their sole hope for the future, a shining beacon in the darkness of heathen Turkey, the restoration of Joachim to his throne and Constantinople to Christendom a cause worth dying for.
Thusly, on November 22, 1494, Joachim made his triumphal progress into Athens, the lifting of his standard a declaration of independent for the Greek penninsula. Macedonia, Hellas, Morea, and the Cyclades all subjugated themselves to this new Imperator to restore a Byzantine state.
On December 3, Joachim met with delegations from foreign kingdoms and an Eastern League was established, comprised of Greece, Ragusa, Moldovia, and Georgia, in the common interests of pushing the Turks back into Asia Minor and returning Byzantium to its rightful lord. As well, it was at this conference that the leaders of the Naxos Rebellion were tried for their crimes against Christendom, their summary execution following shortly thereafter.
Joachim was unable to rest upon his laurels, however, for a yet strong Turkey remained in a state of war against what it saw as no more than rebels. To gain true recognition in the courts of Europe, he would have to force a peace, and dispatched at once armies to Bulgaria, Albania, and Constantinople itself, he to lead the vanguard against the city which he claimed to be his own.
From the declaration of independence in 1494 until January 1496, the war raged, but the Turks were still busy subjugating less dangerous rebels in other provinces, and had not the resources to expend against this new Grecian power. When Constantinople capitulated to Joachim on January 1, the regency was forced into a peace, and ceded Bulgaria and Albania in order to end the conflict. Joachim, distraught at being unable to take Constantinople for his own and to leave the city rightfully besieged in the hands of those who had less than fifty years before taken it in like bloodshed, nonetheless withdrew, this victory enough to cement his hold in Greece and to gain immediate recognition and respect from Europe's kingdoms and pricipalities. The future, hitherto so dark and uncertain, now bright and promising. Turkey yet reeling in chaos and anarchy, could still be defeated, and Joachim was willing to bide his time and wait for such an opportunity to present itself. Constantinople -would- be his, and a new Eastern Empire would rise from the ashes of the heathen's funeral pyre which would be stronger and more glorious than its predecessor. The process had already begun.
(OOC: Hope you enjoy reading this. I 'engineered' Bayezid's death, but the revolts and the ensuing independence of Greece were mere happenstance. After they declared independence, I took control of the fledgeling state and foresook my former observatory role in nearby Austria, and am enjoying it immensely. Will update as I proceed through the game. Greece looks to hold a tremendous amount of potential against a drastically weakened Turkey ripe for the conquest!)
In January of the year 1492 by the Gregorian calendar, Austria annexed Hungary, bringing Catholic Europe to the very throat of the Turks. A mere month later, after several fits of rage and indignation, Sultan Bayezid II fell ill, and by the end of the month was dead. A black and insidious fluid invaded his lungs, persuaded onward by his constant bellicose raging. In March, his innards ruptured, and the murderous fiend perished, choking upon his own blood. Scrambling for power, emirs and viziers raised local levies to consolidate their own power and wage war against their neighbours. Chaos bred on chaos, and revolts sparked and raged: Macedonia, Hellas, Morea, Albania, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Bujak, and Obrudja all rose in opposition to the regency installed, Rumela and Thrace the sole holdings in Eastern Europe which remained calm. The unstable government proved unable to cope with the turmoil raging across its most valued provinces.
The conflict did not remain isolated to the domain of the heathen, either. In January 1493, rebels full of bloodlust and forgetful of the holy impetus behind their Crusade, to wrest the provinces of the Eastern Empire from the taloned clutch of the Turk, and formented revolt in the Cyclades, bidding the Orthodox population there to throw off the yoke of Catholic rule under the Serene Republic of Venice. The isolated Venetians had levied heavy taxes upon this remote province, and the people were anxious for bloodletting. As the governor and local nobility were murdered, drug from their castles and palaces, mothers forced to watch the dashing of their babes' brains before they too were put to sword. Thousands perished in this Greek tragedy, but the rebels would not have long to enjoy their murderous fruits.
The exiled family of the Paleologi, last dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, rose amidst this time of turmoil to quell the rebellion and bring the restless provinces under Christian rule once more. As cities fell without objection to the glorious sight of Joachim, arrayed in the purple and gold pageantry of a line stretching back to Constantine and beyond, this man their sole hope for the future, a shining beacon in the darkness of heathen Turkey, the restoration of Joachim to his throne and Constantinople to Christendom a cause worth dying for.
Thusly, on November 22, 1494, Joachim made his triumphal progress into Athens, the lifting of his standard a declaration of independent for the Greek penninsula. Macedonia, Hellas, Morea, and the Cyclades all subjugated themselves to this new Imperator to restore a Byzantine state.
On December 3, Joachim met with delegations from foreign kingdoms and an Eastern League was established, comprised of Greece, Ragusa, Moldovia, and Georgia, in the common interests of pushing the Turks back into Asia Minor and returning Byzantium to its rightful lord. As well, it was at this conference that the leaders of the Naxos Rebellion were tried for their crimes against Christendom, their summary execution following shortly thereafter.
Joachim was unable to rest upon his laurels, however, for a yet strong Turkey remained in a state of war against what it saw as no more than rebels. To gain true recognition in the courts of Europe, he would have to force a peace, and dispatched at once armies to Bulgaria, Albania, and Constantinople itself, he to lead the vanguard against the city which he claimed to be his own.
From the declaration of independence in 1494 until January 1496, the war raged, but the Turks were still busy subjugating less dangerous rebels in other provinces, and had not the resources to expend against this new Grecian power. When Constantinople capitulated to Joachim on January 1, the regency was forced into a peace, and ceded Bulgaria and Albania in order to end the conflict. Joachim, distraught at being unable to take Constantinople for his own and to leave the city rightfully besieged in the hands of those who had less than fifty years before taken it in like bloodshed, nonetheless withdrew, this victory enough to cement his hold in Greece and to gain immediate recognition and respect from Europe's kingdoms and pricipalities. The future, hitherto so dark and uncertain, now bright and promising. Turkey yet reeling in chaos and anarchy, could still be defeated, and Joachim was willing to bide his time and wait for such an opportunity to present itself. Constantinople -would- be his, and a new Eastern Empire would rise from the ashes of the heathen's funeral pyre which would be stronger and more glorious than its predecessor. The process had already begun.
(OOC: Hope you enjoy reading this. I 'engineered' Bayezid's death, but the revolts and the ensuing independence of Greece were mere happenstance. After they declared independence, I took control of the fledgeling state and foresook my former observatory role in nearby Austria, and am enjoying it immensely. Will update as I proceed through the game. Greece looks to hold a tremendous amount of potential against a drastically weakened Turkey ripe for the conquest!)
