Sicilia citra et ultra Pharum - A MEIOU and Taxes Two Sicilies AAR

[Draconic Mantis]

Authors Note: I started this game several days ago, with no intention of doing an AAR up until now, as such the AAR will be starting about 20-30 years in from the MEIOU start date.

Will be my first AAR posted so hopefully this'll turn out well enough.

Prologue: The Queen is dead, Long live the Queen!​

The heavy clang of the bells in the Naples Cathedral could be heard throughout the city, reverberating through the still air of the cool winter morning. Throughout the city the usual bustle of the morning had been reduced to a faint trickle with only the children and rural peasantry making their way through the thoroughfares of the city, their pace slackened by the poor and dilapidated roads of the city and worsened by the mud deposited by the December rains.

Slowly the gates of the Castel Nuovo raised, a dour procession leaving the gates on their path to the cathedral, the former queens body ensconced in a fine wooden coffin on its way to the royal mausoleum, and for a blessing by the bishop of the city.

Under the old Queen Joan Naples had grown significantly with the war of Sicilian Succession against the bastard claimants of the Kingdom of Trinacria going decidedly in Neapolitan favor, with the whole island conquered and returned back to the Sicilian fold. Meanwhile the collapse of the Hafsid dynasty in Tunis allowed for the short conquest of Tunis and its surrounding territories as well as the opportunistic seizure of Umbria. However, despite these strong successes in the field the Black Plague, newly arrived from Crimea, would render the kingdom decrepit and heavily depopulated, with the population of the capital of Naples dropping to a mere thirty thousand within the city walls. Despite the devastation caused by the plague and the death of her only son and heir to the disease the Queen continued strong in her reign. Aiding in the reconstruction after the plagues end and educating her only daughter and heir, Eufemia in the ways of diplomacy and administration, while the erstwhile princess learned of the ways of warfare from the esteemed generals and nobility of the kingdom.

The State of the World after the death of Queen Joan​

Only a week after the death of her mother and with the majority of the nobility of the realm in attendance, the Crown Princess was crowned as Queen Eufemia I d'Anjou, Queen of Sicily and Trinacria and Countess of Corfu and Provence.

It is here that the story of the Two Sicilies begins.

 

[stnylan]

Welcome to AAR writing. Hope you enjoy yourself.

A nice grand setup.

 

[Draconic Mantis]

Well after a two month absence and a whole lot of wasting time doing nothing hard work in between, here's the second part!

Part 1: The Life and Times of Queen Eufemia of Sicily
​

Only a scant few months after her coronation in the Castel Nuovo in the heart of Napoli, Eufemia found herself in a strong, if perilous situation. With the Pope and the lands under his control to the north, the kingdom would have to go to war with the holy father himself, embittering much of Christendom for what would be but a scant territorial gains. The lands to the west and south however hold more potential for the upstart kingdom, as the slow collapse of the Hafsid Dynasty in Tunis offers an opportunity for greater expansion, building off of the small yet prosperous conquests of her mother.

Meanwhile to the west the Aragonese naval dominion sits ripe for the taking as the navy of the Iberian Kingdom was near annihilated by the Neapolitan Armada, leaving their eastern holdings largely undefended.

Deciding to strengthen the connections between Naples and its subjects ruled in personal union under her crown, Eufemia began to institute new legislature, opening up the lands of Provence and Corfu to Sicilian Merchants and slowly granting much of the land to loyal vassals.

The second issue for her consideration is the lack of a suitable husband for the Queen, and so as such Queen Eufemia offers her hand to the brother of the Marquis of Saluzzo, and offers her cousins hand to the Marquis.

However, shortly after the establishment of these marriages, the Marquis annuls his marriage to Eufemia's Cousin due to pressure by the pope.

With the annulment of her families marriage, Eufemia decides to instead begin working on the state of her current kingdom, reworking several unused laws and beginning to centralise the state. Meanwhile, with the city somewhat depopulated, the Queen offered to establish an artistic quarter, inviting a variety of lesser known scientists and artists to her court, as well as ordering the construction of a grand statue of her mother to be constructed in the courtyard of the palace.

During this time a variety of minor nobles were found to be working closely with the pope, to hopefully put her cousin on the throne, learning of this her cousin was apprehended and the nobles executed.

In retaliation for the blatant attack on the her sovereignty, Eufemia called the greater nobles to the capital, collecting a grand army in addition to the crowns standing army.

Only a mere 4 months after the plot Queen Eufemia declared war on the Commune of Perugia and the Papal Territories, a web of a land under the popes administration.

In the midst of the long war against the pope and his dependencies, the piety of the Queen was called into question, with many among the clergy greatly against the war.

Making a fair showing of her repentance, the Queen continues on with the war nonetheless, suffering a variety of setbacks and minor victories against the papal forces.

In the end, in the year 1378, nearly a full year after the beginning of the campaign, and after a heavy push into central Italy, Perugia surrendered and was annexed into the kingdom.

Unsurprisingly, the further expansion into the peninsula has left the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies somewhat of a pariah diplomatically.

Meanwhile, disappointed by the lack of support by the nobility in aiding the Queen in her war, a edict was put in place to restrict noble autonomy over their owned lands and several nobles had their lands fully revoked.

However, bearing a strong army and with her closest supporters still in her support, the reforms were taken without overly much problem.

With the loss of much of his land, and sick in his later years, the pope passed in April of 1379. However, this would prove rather grim, as the new pope, a former clergy man working in the administration of the papal lands was not on good terms with the queen, or her supporters.

Only a scant week later, a messenger ran their way into Napoli, bearing a sealed note from the Pope himself.

Opening the letter, the Queens worst fears were put into motion.

The Queen and her whole domain had been excommunicated.

 

[stnylan]

Excommunication is never good.

 

[Empire of Ming]

Oh...
Excommunication..
Never good..
Any counters planned?

 

[Southernpride]

The pope will pay for these actions!

 

[The Number 9]

Welcome to AAR writing.

Your story started well with this victory and annexation, but with the excommunication... Maybe keeping a low profile for the time being ? (I'm not really familiar with M&T, so I don't know if excommunication is more a problem than in vanilla).