III. 2. Good Morning, Breizh !
I wish to claim the county of Domnonia for my son-in-law Guinhoiarn de Penthièvre so that my grandson, second in line to my titles, can inherit. The Count of Domnonia is a vassal of the Duke of Breizh, so my declaration of war is addressed to the latter. I call on my allies to join in. They do. The response of the King of England, as a matte of fact, rather overwhelms me.
All the King’s men fighting for me !
With such numbers, victory is a foregone conclusion, right ? Except that six months into the war, I am served with notice from the Duke of Powys that he’s declaring war on me ! He’s not gotten over losing Gwynedd to me seven years ago.
A war on two fronts ! I am obliged to petition my allies for support yet again. England agrees, but Alured, Count of Kernev -- my own brother -- declines.
Breizh can afford meagre support for his vassal Domnonia. He calls his own allies in, but only one of them shows up. January 1124, the game is up. Breizh surrenders. Guinhoiarn de Penthièvre, once a refugee in my Court, can return to the home from whence he, his parents and siblings had been evicted one-and-twenty years earlier. And he is independent, not a vassal of Breizh.
I immediately gather my troops and send them off to fight Powys in Wales.
England, who hadn’t needed to cross the Channel to engage Powys, has been politely waiting for me to start the offensive. The Welsh Duke commands more men than the Duke of Breizh, but still not nearly as many as the Godwins of England. I march into Powys and besiege the ducal castle.
Which is when the Count of Léon declares war on my son-in-law : he wants the County of Domnonia !
“Hang in there !” I write to Guinhoiarn. “Together we’ll beat back Léon.”
But Powys cannot be undone in a day. We manage to expel him from Gwynedd. The siege of his home counties takes much longer. Even with England’s assistance, I abandon the Welsh front too late. Domnonia has not the strength to withstand Léon. My son-in-law “the Usurper” is evicted in September 1125.
“Twice chased out of Domnonia and twice a refugee in Broërec ? Got to be some kind of record.”
“Very unchivalrous of Léon to attack a man who has no troops.”
I pursue the Welsh offensive. As if to add insult to injury, Powys capitulates in October, only one month after the fall of Domnonia.
Five years of war. And all for nothing. We are back where we started, except that Léon is now richer by one more county, for which I hate my brother Alured in Kernev.
But hope springs eternal, and all is not lost for other members of the family. I had betrothed Papa’s posthumously born son Andreas to Mauda, an Irish lassie, heiress to the independent county of Airgialla. When Andreas comes of age at the time Domnonia is lost, a wedding is celebrated in Broërec. Excellent military training has turned him into a Brilliant Strategist, therefore a potential Lord Marshal. He also has a claim on Urmhumhain (Ireland) inherited from his late mother.
Further east, Charlemagne’s descendant the Kaiser is
not happy. Imprudent marital unions have resulted in a bizarre transfer of titles : four or five German counties smack in the middle of the HRE have integrated the demesne of the Kingdom of Hungary.
Over the next three years, I rebuild my army. I still have two (fabricated) claims of my own, Connachta and Breifne, who together form the
de jure Petty Kingdom of Connachta. Since becoming Duke of Gwynedd I’m able to make technological discoveries in my own name, but my Spymaster also brings us science from Mainz and Provence.
* Derrien de Rohan, first-born son of my brother Hilaire and grandson of the King of England, is wed to the Baroness of Este.
* Summer, 1127 : the Duke of Breizh goes to his Maker.
* Winter, same year : Alured’s first-born son dies of pneumonia ; the heir to Kernev is now my widowed niece Dreanu, whose first-born son is already Count of Cill Dara in Ireland.
* January 1128 : the Pope declares an ill-advised Crusade for Jerusalem.
Then in May of that year, that upstart the Count of Léon-Domnonia rebels against his liege lord, the new Duke of Breizh. He wants independence. To his surprise, his move signals the start of a seven-year war that will involve several Irish Earls, the King of France, the King of England and the Duc d’Orléans, and from which
we shall emerge as champions.
Leaving Léon and Breizh to work out their differences, I declare war on Breifne in August 1128. Why Breifne ? Because its Earl is an ally of the Count of Léon. Of course, Breifne is landlocked and can’t get to its ally’s war anyway. And I doubt Léon will abandon his war with Breizh to come and help his ally Breifne.
Also, I believe that even without my allies, I can take Breifne. Events confirm my calculations -- almost. Three battles -- January, February, March 1129 -- and the war is three-quarters won.
Final phase : the siege of the Earl’s castle. That’s when I realize I have lost too many troops. Poor as I am, I hire Irish mercenaries, without whom I shall not be able to take Briefne. Four months suffice. 25 September 1129, Breifne surrenders.
I now have three counties to my name : Broërec, Gwynedd, Breifne. In three different regions : Breizh, Wales, Ireland.
Meanwhile, the tables have been turned for both Léon and Breizh. Ildegarde de Penthièvre, a former refugee in my Court and for whom I had arranged marriage to Monsieur le Comte de Blois, has fabricated a claim on the Duchy of Breizh. In the time it takes me to conquer Breifne, she, with back-up from her ally the King of France, has usurped the title to Breizh (which is now called Bretagne). And since she is the sister of my son-in-law Guinhoiarn, Ildegarde Duchesse de Bretagne is now my ally !
Whereupon the tables are turned for the audacious Duchess. In November 1130, Ildegarde de Penthièvre goes to her Maker, as does her husband the Comte. Her eight-year-old son, Sigismond de Blois, is now Duc de Bretagne and Comte de Blois.
A Regency is set up.
Not to be outdone, Adelinde de Penthièvre, another former refugee but now Countess of Roazhon, sister of the deceased Duchess, rebels against her nephew Sigismond. The Regency gives her a weak claim on the Duchy of Bretagne-Breizh because she has a son. In February 1311, she goes off to lay siege to her nephew’s castle in Naoned.
But the same Regency also gives my luckless son-in-law Guinhoiarn a claim on the Duchy of Breizh !
“To arms ! For Breizh !”
I need a few more weeks before my army is in top form. In April, I declare war on Sigismond de Blois, claiming Breizh for Guinhoiarn -- again, only because he is the father of my grandson Edouarzh, second in line to my titles.
The rebellious Adelinde is booted out of the way by September, leaving me with only Léon-Domnonia to deal with, plus the siege of Naoned. Brother Alured agrees to help. The King of England has also promised help....
Then, in December 1131, the Duc d’Orléans and his merry band of allies declare war on Sigismond de Blois, claiming the County of Blois.
England eventually rouses itself. For some reason, they send hardly anybody, and even manage to sustain two ridiculous defeats. I am unconcerned. The war lasts four years. In March 1135, Sigismond surrenders.
Since poor Sigismond has lost his primary title, Orléans’ war becomes invalid. All hostilities cease.
I am drunk on the nectar of victory.
*
