The Ebony Cross and the Sacred Eagle (Era I)

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It wouldnt be unbeatable.... it would be fun.
As you have united the former Romaion, the khans should unite?
would be fair.

Maybe they will... that is an interesting idea. But right now the Karakoyuns are more than a match for me, and getting the Golden Horde involved would make it slaughter.

How do you make the maps, rcduggan? I'd really like to know, for future AAR's maybe.

Which maps, being more specific would be beneficial. I made three different styles of maps, three different ways.

The update will be coming soon.

 

[Qorten]

All three please, but especially the last one you used looking like parchment.

 

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All three please, but especially the last one you used looking like parchment.

Actually, now that I think about it, I make most of them the same. The world map I just used a base, then drew in the borders of various countries I needed, and colored them in.

For the Great Holy War map, I used the borders of the world map, but then approximated the location of cities, labeled them, and filled in the colors. Then I drew in the campaign arrows in pencil.


The last map was using thrashing_mad's Eu3 map that is very popular, it is blank with the provincial borders of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

To get the old paper effect, I used my old paper template (just google it), put the map on top, and then (in Photoshop) set the layer style to "multiply."

I think that's everything I do.

Update is done, part one of the Reformation retcon. Just have to format the code.

 

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Chapter XI
The “Reformation” Redux (1400s-1508)​

What some would come to call the Reformation of the Catholic Church had its roots in the fourteenth-century Antipapal Schism. For several decades, there were three antipopes all claiming to be the head of the Catholic Church. There was one in Rome, recognized by the Holy Roman Empire, England, the Kalmar Union, Hungary, and Ireland (among others). There was a French antipope in Avignon who was recognized by France, the Hispanic states, Cyprus, Lotharingia, Savoy, Naples, and Scotland. And for a short amount of time there was an antipope in Pisa, recognized only by that small city-state.

Although this schism lasted thirty-nine years, it greatly hurt the prestige and legitimacy of the Papacy. If seemingly any man could claim to be the rightful Pope – and be recognized as such – then how much authority did the Papacy really have? These doubts were further exacerbated by the heretical Lollards and Hussites who emerged in the 14th and 15th centuries. Although the latter movement was violently suppressed and the former persecuted so thoroughly that its members went underground, they sowed the seeds of reformation of the church.

Another catalyst was the Renaissance (from French, meaning “rebirth”) a cultural renewal beginning in 13th-century Italy that soon spread throughout Europe. In the Renaissance, men made great advances in various cultural aspects. In art, the perspective style of painting was developed, which gave works a new sense of realism. Of even more importance were the developments in religion and science. The invention (or at least introduction from Asia) of the printing press by Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg began to break the Catholic Church’s monopoly over the printed literature. The printing press allowed the relatively speedy reproduction of books, which could be translated and then disseminated to large amounts of people. By 1500, the entire Bible and Canon Law had been translated into almost every conceivable language and people throughout Europe could now read it.

When the printing press was introduced into the Teutonic Order-controlled areas of the Mediterranean, they trigged a miniature Renaissance confined to just a few cities there. German scholars, using Greek translators canvassed the libraries of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and other major cities in their lands. They translated countless ancient and medieval documents first into Latin, then German and French. These spread into the Holy Roman Empire, Poland, France, and the rest of Europe. Many of these were on religious topics, such as the history of Christianity and various reform attempts, among other things. There were also tomes on history, mathematics, science, and philosophy. Many of these came under attempts by the Catholic Church to regulate their dissemination to Europe. Because of that, after an initial flurry of printing in the 1470s and 80s the flow had been pacified by the 16th century. By that point there had been a considerable amount of spread of old Greek, Arab, and Indian knowledge into Europe, enough to influence politics there.

Another watershed moment – or rather, watershed week – was the Papal conclave of 1492. It was convened following the death of Pope Innocent VIII in July 1492. Twenty-three cardinals had met in Rome to elect a new pope. From the outset, there were three major candidates: the Castilian Rodrigo Borja, the Savoyard Giuliano della Rovere, and the Neapolitan Oliviero Carafa. The first candidate was a wealthy member of the nepotic; corrupt Borgia family who connived to dominate Italy through trickery and bribery. Giuliano was from the della Rovere family, who although nepotic (which was the norm in wealthy families throughout Europe at the time) were not nearly as corrupt as the Borgias. The third contender was part of the Carafa family, was hardly nepotic, and had been noted for his conscientiousness and faithfulness to the church.

There was also a second area that Oliviero Carafa had taken an interest in, one that began with the Teutonic conquest of Tunis in the 1480s. At the time Carafa still maintained strong ties with his homeland of Naples. After his failed bid for the papacy in 1484, Carafa returned to Naples and began to take an interest in Tunisia. He was well away of his city’s ties to Tunis: the Normans who conquered Naples in the 11th century had proceeded to liberate much of Tunisia until the Saracens reconquered it. It was through the work of Carafa that a Latin Archbishopric of Carthage was established and missionaries were sent to the Saracens of Africa. It also began a friendship between Carafa and the incumbent Hochmeister Martin Truchseß von Wetzhausen.

This friendship would continue to an extent into the reign of Johann von Tiefen. The new Grand Master also made it his priority to retain the support of the Neapolitan clergyman. Furthermore, another Neapolitan, Niccolo de Carraresi was elected to be first the Archbishop of Carthage in 1486. Accompanying him was a wave of Italian settlers who – along with German colonists from Prussia – displaced many Arabs living in Carthage and its environs. This process would be repeated to varying extents in Cyrenaica, Egypt, the Levant, Anatolia, and Greece. Hispania would also emulate it after their success in the Conquista in Morocco and western Tlemcenia.

When the conclave met in 1492, Carafa arrived in Rome with Johann von Tiefen’s full support and financial backing. As the electors met in multiple sessions, the conclave would prove to be one of the most corrupt in papal history. Allegations of simony were in abundance, although most but not all came after the conclave was concluded.

In the proceedings, Rodrigo Borja made it his mission to buy his election in the conclave through any means necessary. He confirmed that the four absent cardinals (Luis Juan de Mila-Borja, Pedro González de Mendoza, André d'Espinay, and Pierre d'Aubusson) would indeed not be attending conclave, and may have bribed them to stop their coming. Then, with the extensive Borja treasury, Rodrigo paid literal tons of silver to those cardinals he knew would vote for Carafa, della Rovere, or any other candidate. Many accepted these bribes and shifted their vote to Borja. When the first rounding of conclave was concluded, there were nine votes for Carafa, seven for Borja, and five for della Rovere. No one had obtained the two-thirds majority needed, so voting would continue.

By time point, Carafa had observed the rampant simony perpetrated by his opponent Rodrigo. Carafa’s good conscience was troubling him greatly. The fact that the office of the pope was being bought by a secular family was not ideal, certainly not what Saint Peter had expected his office to degenerate into. Also, his time spent in the deserts of Carthage had an effect on Carafa’s personality. Seeing how Archbishop Niccolo de Carraresi lived in comparative destitution than his counterparts in Rome, Carafa realized that ecclesiastical offices did not have to be so corrupted. When Rodrigo Borja approached Antonio Pallavicini Gentili – a Carafa supporter – and offered him a mule-cart of silver for his vote, Carafa accosted Gentili and secured his vote. When the second round of balloting went through, Carafa received ten votes, Borja received seven, and five for della Rovere. For a second time, Ascanio Sforza received no votes, and thus began to despair of his chances of ascending to the papacy. So he then became likely to accept Borja’s bribes. They included mule-loads of gold, prestigious positions in Borja’s papacy, and a palace in Nepi (northwest of Rome).

However, at this point Carafa put his foot down and intervened. He accused Sforza of sacrilege, saying: “Do you hold yourself as a second Judas? Would you just as soon sell out your Lord Jesus Christ for money, just as that accursed man did?” Soon afterwards, Sforza refused the bribe and shifted his vote to Carafa. At the same time, Johann von Tiefen exerted pressure on the current Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, his ally Pierre d'Aubusson. Along with the previous Grand Master Giovanni Battista Orsini (both of whom were serving as cardinals in the conclave), Carafa’s vote count increased to thirteen for Carafa, six for Borja, and five for della Rovere. Sensing which way the wind was blowing, most of the cardinals capitulated to support Oliviero Carafa. He had won the conclave and defeated Rodrigo Borja.

On September 17, 1492, Carafa became pope. He took the name Gregorius Tertius Decimus (Gregory XIII) in honor of Gregory VII, the orchestrator of the Gregorian reforms, the hard line against corruption that Carafa hoped to emulate. Gregory’s papacy would be characterized by the lack of questionable practices that had been the norm under past popes. He had no wives, mistresses, children (neither legitimate nor illegitimate), and was celibate. He also had been able to attain the papacy without a great deal of bribery or unlawful coercion.

(One of the few surviving images of Pope Gregory XIII)
​

Within years after his ascension, Gregory began taking measures to stamp out corruption. Heavily influenced by Renaissance ideas, he issued the Christus Reparo bull (literally “Purchase of Christ”) in 1494. The bull attacked the rampant simony and corruption that Gregory found widespread not only in Rome, but throughout the Corpus Christianum. Although the pope stopped short of banning simony – he knew that his power was not great enough yet to do that – it laid the stepping-stones to do so.

Not long after Gregory’s ascension, Italy was plunged into war as Ludovico Sforza incited Charles VIII of France to invade in support of Charles’s claim to Naples. The French advanced south, overrunning Florence before marching on Naples. Despite reassurances by Charles that the Papal States would be respected, Gregory began to feel uneasy with the extended French presence nearby. So he organized the formation of what became known as the League of Venice – an alliance of the Republic of Venice, the Papal States, Milan, and Naples – to combat the French. This was a successful tactic, and by 1495 Charles had been defeated and forced to flee Italy.

Following the end of what was later called the War of the Neapolitan Succession; Gregory renewed his desire to repair the papacy. He issued a second bull in 1500, the Renovatio Pontificium (“the Papal restoration”)which made the institution of simony illegal. The practicing of it in defiance of the papal ban would result in imprisonment, execution, or worse: excommunication. He forbade church officials from accepting any kind of bribe. It also attempted to eliminate the nepotic dynasties that had begun to loom. Unlike his opponent Rodrigo Borja – who even when an ecclesiastic leader had fathered four children with a mistress – Gregory had no wives, consorts, or children. Thus he did not follow the condemnable process of seizing land from rightful owners to grant to his sons, as Borja almost certainly would have done.

The final point of the Renovatio Pontificium was a reformation of the sale of indulgences. Indulgences were originally intended to be a remission granted to a sinner after they had confessed to their sins and received absolution from a priest. Used correctly and legally, they were a valid institution. However, they were often abused by so-called “pardoners,” con men who sold indulgences to innocent Catholics promising absolution from all past and future sins. This was something not intended in the proper distribution of indulgences, but the abusers were looking to make money from an ignorant population by lying and cheating. However, the spread of the Renaissance [1] had created a greater awareness of the wrongfulness of selling indulgences, and people had begun to protest this corruption.

Therefore, the Renovatio Pontificium made the sale of indulgences completely illegal. Like simony, anyone who was tried and convicted of continuing the sale of indulgences would be severely punished. Whether or not this would be enforced thoroughly would depend on the current pope, but for the duration of his rule Gregory XIII would diligently try to root out simony and the sale of indulgences. This greatly impressed many of the monks and scholars throughout France and the Holy Roman Empire. They regained their faith (not literally, they never renounced Catholicism) in the papacy. But the reforms were also to have unforeseen consequences. For the first time, a pope actually placed limits on his power. For the first time, a pope eschewed corruption and racketeering. But not for the first time, the pope had shown that in some matters the secular leaders could triumph over the spiritual ones. That final fact would influence the Reformist movement as it progressed.

Any reformatory ideas would be temporarily halted after the death of Pope Gregory XIII in August 1507. [2] Some alleged that it was actually murder, committed by traditionalist cardinals who did not want their greedy ways interrupted by the reformist. They had no proof whatsoever, and any accusations of foul play were largely ignored. Another conclave was called. This time the winner was Giuliano della Rovere, who had come back from his defeat in 1492 to win the two-thirds majority needed to become Pope. He took the relatively obscure name of Agapetus III, after the strong-willed Roman pope who had tried to end the 10th century Pornocracy. [3] During Gregory’s papacy, della Rovere had been greatly influenced by the two Gregorian Bulls. Upon his ascension in September 1507, Agapetus denounced the nepotism of his family and intended to continue with Gregory’s reforms.

(Pope Agapetus III in prayer.)​

However, he was hindered soon after by the death of Giovanni II Bentivoglio in April 1508. For forty-five years, Giovanni II had ruled as an absolute despot, terrorizing the people of Bologna, which his family ruled. He had a son – Annibale II Bentivoglio – who attempted to exert his rule. However, the people of Bologna had had enough. In late May 1508, they revolted successfully and expelled the Bentivoglio family from the city. Not long after, the rebel factions had fallen into familial infighting. The citizens then turned on those who had liberated them, inviting Doge Leonardo Loredan of Venice to rule the city. He occupied Bologna, but also sent troops into Rimini and Ravenna. The Bentivoglio family had ruled as vassals of the Papal States, but Leonardo assumed that with the ousting of the Bolognese dynasty the papal claim would cease.

This would not be the case. Agapetus III protested at what he claimed was another case of “the secular lords violating the sacred, god-given authority of the Holy See.” The pope demanded that Venice return Bologna to the Papal States and withdraw their troops. The population of Bologna sided with Leonardo, and he refused to obey Agapetus. So the pope called a meeting in Pavia – the old Lombard capital – and invited Louis XII of France, Holy Roman Emperor John II Hunyadi, and Emperor Miguel I of Hispania. The four great leaders made an agreement known as the League of Pavia, which was ostensibly a league of defense against Venice. However, there was also a hidden motive to the pact. The four signers had agreed to divide Venice’s continental holdings amongst themselves. John II would annex Verona, Vicenza, Padua, and Friuli to Austria, of which he was still the duke. [4] Louis XII, who in 1508 was also the Duke of Milan, would annex Bergamo; Cremona; Brescia, and Crema to its current Milanese holdings. Agapetus staked his claim to the cities of Bologna, Rimini, and Ravenna (all three of which had been occupied by Venice). In the last round of negotiations in Padua, John stepped in and overruled Agapetus’s claims, saying they were part of the Holy Roman Empire. He later acquiesced to the pope and in the final agreement; the Papal States would rule the three cities in question as fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire. Hispania would get to place a 100-year tax on all Venetian trades, receiving fifteen percent of the profit. This small concession was all Miguel desired, because at the time he was engrossed in the Conquista of North Africa.

With the specifics of Venice’s dismemberment in writing, the League of Pavia went on the attack. Thus began the War of the League of Pavia. The war would last many years, and herald some of the most chaotic religious turmoil that Europe had not experienced for centuries.


[1] Which happens earlier than in OTL, due to the crusader occupation and spreading of knowledge from the Order’s holdings in the Mediterranean.
[2] Oliviero Carafa in OTL died in 1511, however it is only logical that the great strain of the papacy – only exacerbated by his numerous fights to reform – would decease Carafa’s longevity.
[3] OOC: It’s not what you think.
[4] In OTL Austria demanded Istria too, but since John II is not as focused on expanding Austria as the Hapsburgs were, he does not demand the Peninsula

​

 

[Enewald]

Let us hope that Venice didn't lose so badly... and if would have lost, then the teutons should have demanded something as well.

 

[Qorten]

Very good update. I hope just as Enewald that Venice didn't lose too bad?
Also thanks for the advice on the mapmaking.

 

[Woody Man]

An excellent update and a fascinating look at Papal history

 

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An excellent update and a fascinating look at Papal history

Indeed, good update as always

Now back to the WAR!!!



happy mother's day,
asd

 

[orlanth2000]

Good and interesting update as always.

It does change the picture of Rome a little at least

 

[unmerged(61606)]

Let us hope that Venice didn't lose so badly... and if would have lost, then the teutons should have demanded something as well.

You'll see how Venice fares.... but at this point the Order was still involved in the war with the Mamluks (which did not end until 1512), so like the Hispanics they could not easily commit to a second war.

Very good update. I hope just as Enewald that Venice didn't lose too bad?
Also thanks for the advice on the mapmaking.

Well, Venice will survive the war, but you'll see how the war turns out next update.
You're welcome. I can go into more detail too, if any more would help.

An excellent update and a fascinating look at Papal history

Thanks EP.

Indeed, good update as always

Now back to the WAR!!!



happy mother's day,
asd

Thanks. One more Reformation update, and you shall have your war. Decades of it. Muahahahahhaha!

Good and interesting update as always.

It does change the picture of Rome a little at least

Although the changes seem small - one Pope instead of another -- without Alexander things are going to be changed hugely in the coming decades. Simony is gone and so is the sale of indulgences. This means there will be no Martin Luther ITTL, but there will be a different reformation of sorts.

 

[orlanth2000]

Although the changes seem small - one Pope instead of another -- without Alexander things are going to be changed hugely in the coming decades. Simony is gone and so is the sale of indulgences. This means there will be no Martin Luther ITTL, but there will be a different reformation of sorts.

Hard life being a "Reformer with out a Simony or Indulgency sale"

Almost a hard as one fingered typing on a laptop, due to ones daughter have chosen one as a bed

 

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Hard life being a "Reformer with out a Simony or Indulgency sale"

Almost a hard as one fingered typing on a laptop, due to ones daughter have chosen one as a bed

Huh? Did I make a mistake somewhere?

 

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Sorry for the bump.... o

I have been working on the next update (not about the alt-Reformation, it's a continuation of the War of the League of Pavia)... I hope to finish that tomorrow. Then I'll update the map, and get working on the "reformation" itself. Then, finally I'll continue with the Great Holy War.

Update should be relatively soon (next few days).

 

[Enewald]

aaaah, why spent so much time on secondary things... we want war!
With 'we' I mean me. :rofl:

 

[orlanth2000]

Huh? Did I make a mistake somewhere?

No I think my sense of humor did suffer from being stuck under my daughter as well

 

[unmerged(61606)]

aaaah, why spent so much time on secondary things... we want war!
With 'we' I mean me. :rofl:

Well, there WILL be war, just not the Great Holy variety. The update is mainly about the League of Pavia, so there is a major war going on.

No I think my sense of humor did suffer from being stuck under my daughter as well

I hope she didn't completely kill it?


Update is just about done, I just want to make a map to show the changes after the WotLoP (War of the League of Pavia).... so that should be done for tomorrow.

 

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Update is just about done, I just want to make a map to show the changes after the WotLoP (War of the League of Pavia).... so that should be done for tomorrow.

Excellent! Maps and war!



asd

 

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Chapter XI, Part II
The War of the League of Pavia (1508-1512)​

The War of the League of Pavia began with a Franco-Milanese attack west into the Venetian territory. The army attacked the Venetian city of Bergamo, and in the September 1508 Battle of Bergamo the Venetians were defeated. They were outnumbered two to one and because of this they suffered greatly. The French were lead by Charles d'Amboise, the governor of Milan, who had proved to be a mildly competent military leader.

As the Venetians retreated westward, Agapetus took the opportunity to launch a Papal army against the city of Bologna which had triggered the whole war. It was undefended except for a small Venetian garrison, as most of the troops had been withdrawn to defend the republic itself. What troops remained were led by a Venetian Gonfaloniere of Doge Leonardo Loredan. They numbered around 9,000 countered by 14,000 under the Papal banner. The Venetians retreated into the city and fortified the walls, this beginning the Siege of Bologna.

In November, Leonardo Loredan launched a naval attack in the Aegean Sea against the Papal States. It was beaten back by the small Papal Navy with the aid of the equally puny Austrian one (although the two combined could almost rival Venice) and the help of a timely storm. All the invasion resulted in was the loss of several hundred Venetian shipmen, and an excommunication of the doge by Agapetus III. At the same time, a French army was rampaging throughout the Republican territory, and the hapless doge could do nothing to stop him.

By April 1509, Venice had all but collapsed. Most of its territory was occupied by French troops under Louis XII and to a lesser extend by Ferrarese troops allied to France. Although Emperor John I had claimed northern Venice (Verona, Vicenza, Padua, and Friuli), after occupying those lands France had shown no intention to give them up. As it was Louis controlled all of the continental territory of Venice besides the city itself, which had rebuffed multiple Franco-Milanese attacks.

As the situation stagnated by late summer of 1509, John met with Agapetus III and Miguel I of Hispania in Rome. There the emperor stated that the League of Pavia was effectively useless now: Venice had been destroyed and France was flagrantly disobeying the terms of the pact. John proposed the creation of a Holy League, and alliance of Catholic states (somewhat of a moot point, as that was the only kind of state in Europe) who would band together to drive the French out of Italy. The Holy Roman and Hispanic Empires both supported the formation of the Holy League. After one last ultimatum was rebuffed, Agapetus announced his support for the Holy League as well. The league was formalized in October 1509. Days later, the Holy Roman Empire, the Papal States, and the Hispanic Empire all declared war on France. Not long after, Miguel invoked with Henry VIII of England the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance (which by extension applied to Hispania, because its rulers were originally Portuguese), bringing England into the war with France.

However, England’s entry also activated the Auld Alliance, which was a pact of defense between France, Scotland, and Norway. Thus England’s attack on France due to an alliance with Hispania brought Scotland and Denmark-Norway into the war against the Holy League. However, in 1510 Denmark-Norway entered a war with Sweden and Lübeck, forcing it to exit the War of the League of Pavia.

After receiving word of the radical shift in alliances, Louis XII vowed to “hold all of Venice to the last.” He still had the support of the Milanese population and even some of the population of Naples. He also could field a massive army, much of which was deployed in Venice. However, part of it was withdrawn into France to defend against an expected English attack through Normandy. This came in early January 1511, after Henry VIII had secured the neutrality of the Duke Yann VII of Brittany (also King Joanes III of Navarre). He sent an army of ten thousand Englishmen south to attack Alençon, close to the border of Normandy. They were opposed by Charles IV, Duke of Alençon, who in addition to his own army had the backing of Louis XII. The two combined fielded an army only slightly larger than Henry’s. However, last-minute Norman reinforcements gave Henry the edge he needed. The English men skirmished with and defeated a French army under Charles IV, who retreated south to regroup.

However, this defeat was more than Louis XII was willing to tolerate. He divested Charles IV of his position as commander of the army, and sent him to lead one in Milan. In his place the French king appointed the young Dauphin of Auvergne Charles III. The leader had proved his worth fighting in the War of the Neapolitan Succession [1] He was the victory of many battles, even at his relatively young age of twenty (only a year older than Charles IV). Unfortunately, this appointment would be Charles III’s undoing. For on March 3, 1511, an English army advanced on Charles’s encampment. They were lead by Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk who had been appointed by Henry VIII to be the overall English commander in France. On March 3 he engaged Charles III in battle outside of Le Mans. The result was a complete French rout: Charles broke under pressure and cost the battle. At some point during the hasty French retreat after the line was broken, Dauphin Charles III was killed. Whether his death came by English soldiers or by accident by his own men is still uncertain.

After the devastating loss at Le Mans, King Louis wanted to distract the English. He exhorted King James IV of Scotland to declare war on England and launch an invasion of the country. That he did in May 1511, and an army of Scotsmen surged into England.

Meanwhile, Louis was busy defending his other borders from attack. With the formation of the Holy League, he had found himself best on all sides. Hispanic armies raided across the Pyrenees, and Papal and German armies invaded northern Italy. It was only due to Burgundy’s neutrality in the war (Robert II had fallen ill and was not prepared to lead an army) which prevented Emperor John from attacking France from the northeast. But he kept on the offensive, with mixed results. For the most part the French managed to hold their own in Venice. Their commander, Charles IV of Alençon was a very able commander and defeated armies that had moved into the former republican territory. Agapetus’s papal armies were defeated by local Italian gonfalieres and mercenaries who were paid out of Louis XII’s coffers. The stalemate persisted for many months. The German attackers would win a battle in one area, only to be defeated by a French counterattack. Slowly but surely, the French were being driven out of the Friuli. The population of the city just traded one group of hostile occupants for another, and found the Holy Roman Imperials no better than the French. After several more years of war, both sides looked to be growing tired of the war.

This was not the case on the isle of Britain. England and Scotland had joined the war late, so had not been exhausted by it. James IV had led an army of more than 30,000 Scotsmen south into England. He was opposed by Thomas Stanley, the Early of Derby. Normally the defense would have fallen to Thomas Howard (Duke of Norfolk), but since he was commanding troops in France the job fell to Thomas Stanley. The man was never one to take interest in military affairs, and preferred to spend his time engrossed in theater or music. But he was forced to lead an army against James IV and the Scots outside of the town of Wooler in Northumbria. The armies met on June 15, 1511 in the Battle of Wooler, also known as the Battle of Cheviot Hill. The entire Scottish army of thirty thousand men – reinforced by eight thousand French knights and artillerymen – was arrayed against an army of twenty thousand commanded by Thomas Stanley. The Scots held the high ground on Cheviot Hill, and James had established seventeen cannons facing the approaching English. The battle began with an artillery duel that lasted several hours, before the two armies joined in combat.

The battle stretched on throughout the whole day. By the time the fighting ceased at dusk, the field was strewn with corpses. Most of these were Englishmen. Although Thomas Stanley had escaped death, almost fourteen thousand of his men had not. The Battle of Wooler was a decisive Scottish victory that broke the back of the English army in their own country. James IV was free to rampage throughout northern England. He advanced on and captured Newcastle upon Tyne in August. After a brief battle in which the Scots were again victorious, Carlisle fell to James. He then advanced further south into England, even threatening York.

This whole ordeal sent England into a panic. Henry VIII recalled Thomas Howard from France along with a large portion of his army. Upon his return to England in October, Howard would attempt to stop Scottish expansion in the north. At the same time, King Henry was facing a crisis of his own. His dynasty, the House of Tudor, was illegitimately descended from John of Gaunt, the First Duke of Lancaster, of the Lancastrian dynasty. He was only united to the House of York by his mother Elizabeth’s marriage to his Lancastrian father Henry VII. So the legitimacy of the Tudors in the eyes of the English was hanging by a thread. The Scottish victory at Wooler had almost snipped that thread. Many in England then began to question the ruling Tudors, and look to the York family instead.

After the hurried English withdrawal from the interior of France, Louis XII was free to concentrate on Italy. He reinforced his position in Milan and foiled a plot by Maximilian Sforza to retake the duchy. Most of the western Friuli was recovered, but Imperial troops still held the area north and east of Venice. In March 1512, Louis would launch one final attack on the Holy Roman Empire. The French attacked the city of Treviso, held by Emperor John. There were almost thirty thousand Frenchmen against twenty-five thousand Hungarians and Austrians. However, as the battle commenced a storm appeared and drenched the field with rain. This disheartened the French knights, who took this as a bad omen. Their commander, Charles de Bourbon (the Duke of Vendôme) pressed on the attack regardless of the weather. This proved to be Charles’s final blunder. The heavy rain had turned the field to mud, bogging down both sides as they charged. Although the battle was still met, both sides were exhausted. The fighting did not last long. After several hours and several thousand casualties, the Hungarians retreated. Charles had won the day. However, a man-at-arms who had stabbed him in close combat had wounded him. The bacteria-infested mud infected the duke’s wounds, and he went into a fever. On March 16, 1512, Charles de Bourbon would die in Milan.

After this victory, the powers met in Rome to end the war. They agreed to sign the Treaty of Rome, which ended the War of the League of Pavia. The treaty stipulated that Venice would be divided up as per the original League of Pavia declaration. This was because France still effectively held most of the Republic’s territory, and John knew the Holy Roman Empire had little chance of changing the situation. So France annexed Bergamo, Cremona, Brescia, and Crema. Austria received Verona, Padua, and the Friuli. The aging Agapetus III sent Papal troops to occupy his allotted lands. Venice’s territory in Italy had been almost annihilated. Its holdings were only centered on the city of Venice, and did not expand much farther out than this. It was the smallest amount of territory in Italy that the republic had controlled in over a century. Leonardo Loredan had been disgraced. However, he had fared better than Genoa would later, because Leonardo still kept his capital city intact.

Elsewhere in Europe, borders for the most part did not change. After the English army was destroyed at Wooler, the Scots dominated the isles. In the treaty, England was forced to cede both Newcastle upon Tyne and Carlisle to Scotland. Normandy remained in English hands, because the French had not been able to invade that territory before the treaty was signed.

Although peace had been signed, it did not solve every problem. England now carried and even deeper hatred for both France and Scotland for causing them to lose territory on the home isles. The Republic of Venice was estranged with the Papacy, as Agapetus III did not renounce his excommunication of Leonardo Loredan. French domination of Italy was further reinforced, and Austria (despite gaining more territory than France) remained a weak almost-backwater. Louis XII was nearing the end of his life, and he had been unable to produce any heirs with his wife Jeanne de Berry. [2] His successor Francis I would radically alter the political situation of France and the Holy Roman Empire during his long reign.

But at the same time, the beginning of a religious reformation was brewing. The Renaissance was shedding new light on various past movements, such as the Hussites, the Conciliarist movement, and the Antipapal Schism. More and more people were aware of these groups or events, and of their significant. Many people had begun to notice the shortcomings of the Catholic Church and its often-corrupt popes. There was also a matter of the Dievasite faction in the Lithuanian Civil War, which will be discussed in Part Three of this chapter. But in any case, the catalysts for internal church reformation were there, and the process was already in motion…

(Europe in 1512, after the Treaty of Rome)

[1] The Italian War of 1494-1498 / First Italian War
[2] The less politically-oriented Pope Gregory XIII was reigning at the time Louis XII requested that his marriage with Jeanne be annulled so he could marry Anne of Brittany. He had no ulterior motive to end the marriage, so ruled in Jeanne’s favor. He also stated that the French kings could not determine the marriage of Breton dukes and duchesses (This happened in 1491). So Anne of Brittany married Jean d’Albret when his first wife Catherine of Navarre died giving birth to a stillborn in 1500. This would eventually lead to a Breton union with Navarre-Albret.
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[unmerged(59077)]

Interesting setup...1512 looks very historical, except for the unstoppable Knights.

go Knights!

 

[Qorten]

Due to all these chapters about the Popes I almost forgot that this AAR is about the Teutonic Order! But you describe the various political and religious situations very well. Now let's see how far the Reformation extends. And then back to the Order.