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Tales from Saxony - Chapter XII​

Saxon bureaucracy is something that sometimes seems to have a life of its own, and while it is necessary to make the empire work, sometimes things just get lost in their own labyrinthine laws and corrupt practices, like taxes.
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In the year 1151, Emperor Engelhard starts a Holy War against the Caliph of Spain. Due to the territorial extension of the empire, it takes several months for enough troops to organize themselves on the front, such a problem causes enemy troops to take the opportunity to take Haro.

With troops in hand, King Carmine advances against the enemies in the region of Haro, starting the Battle of Nájera, in which the empire contained 28.000 soldiers, while the Muslims were organized in an army composed of 17.000 soldiers. The battle is won, but the imperial army loses almost twice as many enemy soldiers. King Carmine mourns the loss of 11.500 soldiers in a letter to the Emperor, while the Muslim army loses 6.800 soldiers.

Even with the loss, another 15.500 imperial soldiers arrived in the region and left for the taking of León and Asturias, regions taken until the following year when the Caliph officially surrendered the regions to the Emperor.

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Leaders across the Empire are increasingly satisfied with the Emperor's Steward, Prince Goswin. They say that he has made many decisions that will only benefit the empire, and little in the way of bribery and corruption escapes his notice.
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Sounds like bloody work, but the enemies of this Saxon realm really have to hope it weakens itself from within.
 
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And Christianity expands against Islam once more
 
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stnylan said:
Sounds like bloody work, but the enemies of this Saxon realm really have to hope it weakens itself from within.
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The biggest enemy will appear yet...

HistoryDude said:
And Christianity expands against Islam once more
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And it seems that only I have invested in this, the lords of Sicily occasionally venture into North Africa, but can't keep up.
 
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Tales from Saxony - Chapter XIII
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Emperor Engelhard ends up dying in 1160, at the age of 60 naturally. An inconclusive succession then ensues, a 59-year-old relative is made emperor, Burchard. A crisis continues, and a year later, Burcherd dies after a period of illness, also at age 60. Goswin, the Imperial Steward ends up becoming the new Emperor of Saxony.
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A year after the beginning of Goswin's reign as emperor, Muslims from Toledo and Lugo invade León, imperial territory, dominating several important areas recently handed over to German nobles instituted by the emperor.

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In the years that followed, from 1161 to 1167, the Empire went through a gigantic succession crisis, which completely destabilized Saxony, in those years four emperors ruled. Goswin would die at age 57 in 1162, his successor, Warin, would die the following year at age 55.
And finally, Gunther would be dethroned by King Withgils Metzinger of Lotharingia in 1167 peacefully after several years of Muslim invasion attempts in Iberia, with various Christian armies coming to the aid of the Empire, ranging from troops from the Kingdom of England, the Papal States and the Kingdom of Sicily. Finally, for the first time a minor branch of House Liudolfinger takes over the Empire.​
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That looked like a difficult few years.

You should conquer Swabia and Provence, by the way. It would help the borders look better. You could conquer Sicily for that, too...
 
HistoryDude said:
That looked like a difficult few years.

You should conquer Swabia and Provence, by the way. It would help the borders look better. You could conquer Sicily for that, too...
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Hard to expand through Swabia and Provence, its like county per county sadly, but my vassals are doing the job fairly well... well, not my vassals anymore.
 
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Any succession crisis like that, which does not split the realm, is not too bad.
 
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Tales from Saxony - Chapter XIV
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Gunther, no longer Emperor of Saxony, would live for the rest of his life as the Duke of Westphalia, under the leadership of Hartwig Geronen, King of Saxony, the region's first king of a different family after 15 generations under the leadership of House Liudolfinger. In 1168,inheriting Westphalia, the little one-year-old Ekbert, Gunther's only son.
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Upon Withgils' death, his son would become the Emperor, known as Gunzelin II Metzinger. His reign would last only 1 year, after a faction demanded the coronation of Odo, King of León as the new Emperor. Odo also belonged to a secondary branch of the Liudolfingers, House Liudolfinger-León, with its founder being King Floribert of León, son of Emperor Engelhard 'the Sword of God'.​

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In the year 1176, Gunzelin, demoted to King of Lotharingia and France, decides with other lords of the Empire, such as the King of Saxony and Carinthia to rebel and depose Emperor Odo and again put Gunzelin on the imperial throne. This undertaking would end in 1177, with total victory for the rebels led by Gunzelin.

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In 1180, Gunzelin moves the Empire towards decentralization, leaving the imperial vassals increasingly independent. This policy did not fully generate imperial stability, as a group of some of the most distant lords of the empire had their claims answered favorably after demanding full independence from the Empire. The Kingdom of Lithuania led by Esiko von Poppenburg would be of its own accord, as would the Kingdom of Polotsk, ruled by King Feodor Morozov. Eventually the Republic of Gotland would become independent with Willichin fan Visby leading it from then on. First time the Empire lost a considerable sum of lands.

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Saxony is turning into the alternate Holy Roman Empire.

Hopefully this means that Westphalia can reclaim its former glory!
 
And so the realm begins to wither
 
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Tales from Saxony - Chapter XV
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Duke Ekbert, upon reaching the age of majority, joins a faction within the kingdom, taking advantage of the Duke of Meissen, an avid opponent of King Luder-Udo II who would be in the faction, since Ekbert was already aware that the king would be conspiring with others to revoke the title of Count of Lippe from Duke Ekbert.
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Emperor Gunzelin II died in 1190, he reigned for thirteen years after regaining the throne for himself via civil war. In his place, Hoger Metzinger becomes Emperor, while the son of Gunzelin II becomes the new king of Lotharingia.
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The following year, Ekbert and two other Dukes of Saxony decide to rebel against Adeluuard Geronen. With vast numerical superiority, Ekbert after a year manages to subdue his enemy, and finally become Duke of all Saxony. House Liudolfinger once again held the Duchy (kingdom tier title) of Saxony in 1192.

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It is a start to reclaim the family's heritage.
 
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The Emperors of Saxony and the Dukes of Saxony are now different. Does this mark the beginning of the end for the Saxon Empire?
 
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HistoryDude said:
The Emperors of Saxony and the Dukes of Saxony are now different. Does this mark the beginning of the end for the Saxon Empire?
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It's definitely not in its best condition.
 
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Tales from Saxony - Chapter XVI
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In 1191, Aethelwine of Devon declares himself Emperor of Britannia, a new Catholic empire in the world. Such an event puts a strain on the kings of Ireland and Scotland mainly. Now only the Strait of Dover separates Britannia from Saxony.
Wexford and Wicklow, exclaves of Saxony on the island of Éire, are in danger of the Emperor in Westminster.

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Two years later, the Emperor of Britannia himself invades the Empire of Saxony, with the pretense of taking Saxony for himself on the pretext of being a descendant of the Emperors of Saxony, since his mother was Princess Radegund, daughter of Emperor Bertram.
Aethelwine in 1194 himself leads an army of 8,400 soldiers and heads east instead of south, where the imperial capital of Saxony was. His target would be Lippe, capital of the King of Saxony, Ekbert Liudolfinger.
Due to the Great Fortress of Lippe, Aethelwine's army takes longer than expected in the siege, as Lippe was famous for being the second best fortified place in all of Europe, after Constantinople and its Theodosian Walls.
There was no way to stop Aethelwine and his army, so only a matter of time would Lippe be conquered, and so it did. Ekbert would be captured by Britannia troops and headed for Westminster, luckily none of his sisters and his wife would be caught.
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To the west, the Second Army of Britannia takes Fecamp and Melun, Honfleur and several other important settlements. The Imperial Army of Saxony could not do anything, part of it was still in Iberia trying to contain rebels, mainly Odo, King of León and also former Emperor of Saxony who had been freed for a considerable amount of gold, but who was now leading several lords. empires in order to gain independence.

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The invasion comes to an end soon afterward with the defeat of the Emperor of Saxony without a single battle. Britannia's army simply takes over every settlement it finds, until it succeeds and the Saxon lords recognize the new Emperor as their overlord.​

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Why do I feel like this is the empire's death blow? The Saxon Empire is ruled by foreigners from Britannia, and some people were already revolting.
 
Things were grim before - and then the Britons arrived for a summer holiday excursion. Truly the Saxons are cursed.
 

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Tales from Saxony - Chapter XVII​


Ekbert dies at age 28 in the dungeons of Emperor Aethelwine, the new lord of Empire of Saxony in the year 1195.​

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On Ekbert's death, his lands are inherited by Dethard Liudolfinger, King of Wendland, France and Marshal of the Empire of Saxony who had moved to the court at Westminster. Aethelwine allows Ekbert's lands to be passed to Dethard in the presence of Imperial Chancellor Detmar, King of Italy, who shows how benevolent and peaceful the Emperor is as a suzerain. Factions at court are against such information, and try to convince Dethard of how the Chancellor and the Emperor himself are liars and malicious.​

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In the year 1200, Queen Christina invites some imperial lords to demand from the Emperor a reduction in imperial authority, or the faction would remove the Emperor from the throne. Some of the guests were King Dethard, who chooses to side with Emperor Aethelwine.​

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As the civil war sparked by Queen Christina and her faction comrades, another story unfolded at the imperial court, Dethard would falsify allegations against his rival, Count Balderich de Ziegenhain, who was commanding Imperial troops in the civil war. The Emperor and his advisers would recognize that the allegations are false, and because of this conspiratorial disaster, Ekbert would be thrown into prison by the Imperial Guard, other Imperial Lords having no more reason to argue in Dethard's favor.​

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After a year in prison, Dethard is released from prison, only to learn of Aethelwine's death. The new Emperor Weohstan decides to release Dethard, after having won Queen Christina's insurrection war that began in the reign of his father, Aethelwine. Dethard's troops would be crucial to the victory, which would secure his release from prison.​

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