1374:
With the resurgence of trade in the Bosphorus and Asia Minor, Konstantinoupolis is buzzing with activity. Andronicus' is in a good mood, as the strain of reorganising the new territories is finally beginning to slow down, as locally appointed governors are taking up their tasks. Then in July, two incidents happen almost at the same time.
The reinstated Patriarch Philotheus Kokkinos holds a sermon which heavily criticizes Ioannes V, although he also indirectly target Nikephoros and Andronicus, for their dealings with Hungary in Bulgaria. His criticism is mostly targeted at how Ioannes, and Nikephoros, left the Bulgarians, a people so close to the Empire, under the control of a Catholic King. He has the backing of a large part of the Roman clergy, and therefore the issue is a severe prestige hit to Andronicus' regime. Andronicus does not take this criticism lightly, and incite the masses of Konstantinoupolis and the burghers, who is greatly endeared to him for bringing a semblance of control back in the Empire. On the threat of being either killed or thrown out of Konstantinoupolis, Philotheus backs down, but he is henceforth hostile to Andronicus' government and constantly opposes him.
Something he does not oppose, however, is the second incident which happens in July. An Aragonese envoy arrives in Konstantinoupolis demanding the lacking taxes for Athenai to be given to the King of Aragon. He also demands that the old bishop in Athenai be reinstated so that the 'Attican flock' can regain their guidance. In 1367, after the Castillian Civil War came to an end, a rapid set of circumstances left the two countries, Castile and Aragon, in a personal union under James III of Aragon and Matilda I of Castile. James is also the King of Sicily, and through that position have a claim on the Duchy of Athens. Andronicus turns them back emptyhanded, but henceforth Roman merchants have a hard time selling their wares further west than Syracuse.
In September another incident happens, as a corrupt taxman, Ioannes Aaronios, a member of an obscure noble family, is discovered to be cutting taxes. Andronicus is absolutely furious, and Aaronios is blinded and sent to a monastery. The Nobility is angered by this, and a few weeks later they approach Andronicus with several demands, among them greater access to the administration and army, which by this point consists of only appointees made by Andronicus, some from the lower classes. Andronicus refuses to back down, and rather turns more to the Burghers of the Empire's cities for support. Soon the nobility begins hampering with the Empire's military, which causes a few arrests and confiscation of land, but luckily no heads fly. Andronicus knows that there is something brewing, and that the Nobility will not stand by whilst their power within the Empire diminishes. Still, Andronicus is popular and have the backing of the army, so facing him now would be pure suicide for the nobility. Therefore they bide their time, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
1375:
Andronicus' decides to do something about his battered prestige and legitimacy after the incidents of 1374. With an increasingly more stable economy to back him, although there are some loans left from the war with the Ottomans, he begins investing in different projects. First of all, the University of Konstantinoupolis is expanded, with several grants given, an annual support promised. Secondly, he expands his court, strategically offering positions within the new court to more pliable, and skilled, nobles. When they arrive in Konstantinoupolis they are met with a steadily more refurbished palace.
In the north, the Lithuanians are finally ready to advance into the territory of the Principality of Moscow, and alongside them marches the men of Tver. A few miles outside of Moscow they are met by a futile attempt to stop them. There is no longer any question who will win this war. Still, the citizens of Moscow fight with swords, spears, nails and teeth. The Siege is a gruesome event, men are slaughtered, ambushed, pushed out and trapped. When the dust finally settles, the city is down ten thousand of its original thirty. Much of the city is burnt down, with the survivors huddled together outside the city, as they see everything of value stripped in front of them. The Prince of Moscow is captured, and forced to surrender his realm to the invaders. The area is equally split between Tver and Lithuania, with the former receiving Moscow, now a city of only nineteen thousand.
Although Andronicus is somewhat disturbed by the sack of the Orthodox city of Moscow, he is more concerned with what happens near Ancyra in July. What started out as some small-scale raiding between the Ottoman and the Eretna Beyliks soon escalate into a full-scale war. Eretna is the more powerful of the states, but the Ottoman is led by Murad, who has somehow managed to stay in power through his ruthless handling of any opposition. He is an experienced commander, and have learnt from his failures against the Romans.
Still, he is horribly outnumbered, and when the main Eretna army of fourteen thousand lays siege to Ankara he can do nothing to stop them with his small army of eight thousand men. What he can do, however, is make the war as brutal as possible, as a dozen of ambushes and raids on supply lines and foragers take place. When an opportunistic vassal of the Eretna Beylik does not link up with the main army, but heads for Kotyaion instead they are soundly ambushed and defeated by Murad and sent fleeing back into their own lands.
Ancyra falls in October, leaving the main gateway for the new capital of the Ottoman Beylik; Dorylaeum, very exposed. Not wishing to repeat what happened with Prousa, but still not able to confront the Eretna army in a pitched battle, Murad increases the ferocity of his raids, and even begin sending raiding parties into Eretna territory. When the Eretna army heads for Dorylaeum, they are contested the entire way, but still manage to push through. Murad then does something entirely unexpected as he manoeveurs around the army besieging Dorylaeum and recapture Ancyra during one daring assault at night.
This leaves the Eretna army in a very precarious situation, and when several supply convoys are ambushed and winter slowly approaching they are forced to retreat back to their own territory in a highly contested march. When the Eretna army finally manages to retire to their own territory they are exhausted, needing to reorganise and recruit more troops. Still, they plan to invade once more after winter, hopefully with more luck.
1376:
A slightly warier Eretna army enters Ottoman territory once more. The war seems to be a repeat of what happened the year before, as Ancyra falls to the Eretna army, before they begin threatening Dorylaeum once more. This time they do not even manage to get there before they are forced to repeat once more due to Murad's superb guerilla warfare. Still, they have some successes when they manage to annihilate two Ottoman raiding parties who overextend themselves into Eretna territory. After these failures, Murad reigns in his troops, and no raiding parties enter Eretna territory for the rest of the year.
Andronicus wishes to intervene, and begins to lay plans for an effective invasion of the Ottoman Beylik in 1377. His invasion is heavily reliant upon the Murad fighting wars on two fronts, and the superiority of numbers. He does not get the chance to enact his plans, as in December, after two months of no battles, the two beylik agree to peace between the realms once more. Faced with the reality of Murad's now extremely experienced troops and his full focus, Andronicus backs down. The Empire is not in a state where they can extend themselves so heavily in a war, especially with how precarious the Asia Minor provinces are, even though he can win in the long run.
1377:
Andronicus can rejoice in May, as the last of the loans from the war seven years earlier is finally repaid. The Genoese loans had been repaid already in 1374, so that it could not be used as a political tool against him, should they request even more privileges in the Bosphorus and the rest of his country.
There has been an increasing trend for Roman merchants to become more active within the Bosphorus, and they have almost sole access to the Roman markets in Asia Minor. They are beginning to push for their opposition in the area, the Venetians and Genoese, to have their own privileges restrained. Andronicus, not wanting to distance himself from a Republic which has helped the Empire so much, nor see the relations with the Venetians who have never affirmed the conquest of Achaea cool even more, does not act upon this.
What he does, however, is deny requests from the Genoese merchants extend their trading privileges to Asia Minor and its cities, most important Nikomedeia, although Kyzikos is increasing in importance as well as a port. Inland, the city of Nikaia, which have seen some focus from Andronicus when reorganising Anatolia, and the cities of Prousa, Magnesia ad Sipylum and Philadelphia is the most important centers of trade. Philadelphia also sees a major influx of goods coming from trade with Eretna, who are still sour over their humiliating war with Murad I. This have caused them to try to circumnavigate the Ottoman Beylik by increasing the tariffs on merchants wishing to cross the border areas, whilst with Andronicus they have managed to find favourable trade deals for both parties. Andronicus have been even more lenient than he normally would, seeing how this hurts the Ottoman economy much more than the Roman economy, with the formers annual income being much lower than the Roman one.
Bogdan Gingic's active involvement in Albanian affairs finally come to fruition, as he invades the country with an army of 8 000. Albanian Cheiftans, having been heavily bribed, rise up to support the Serbian Invasion. The Albanian Noble council in Vlore needs to force a few hot-headed tribes into submissions, but when blood threatening words are sent to Gingic from Andronicus, he has to denounce them. He does not want to risk a war with the Empire of the Romans, yet. Everything except the city of Dyrrachium is occupied.
Then something surprising which Gingic did not account for happen. A Neapolitan fleet suddenly makes landfall a bit south of Dyrrachium and demand that Bogdan retreat from the unwanted aggression towards the realm of the King of Naples'. Whilst a land blockade had been enforced in Dyrrachium, the Kingdom of Serbia have no fleet to rival that of Dyrrachium's, let alone Naples, and a small Noble's party was able to travel to treat with the King of Naples, Ferdinand I. They submitted themselves to the Kingdom of Naples as a vassal, promising yearly taxes to be given, in return for the Kingdom's intervention in the war and their hereditary rights to be safeguarded.
Bogdan refuses to back down, but is forced to retreat from Dyrrachium. Basing himself out of Kruje, he leads a very well-coordinated war against the Kingdom of Naples, who does not manage to push much further north from Dyrrachium, although southwards is another matter.
1378:
With the lack of progress in Albania, another Neapolitan fleet is dispatched to land another army at the Principality of Zeta, where without the direct involvement of Bogdan they are much more successful. They are finally checked by Lazar Hrejeljaovic in a battle near the North-Eastern end of Lake Skadar.
Further north another war suddenly erupts, as the city of Danzig opposes the Teutonic Knights, calling upon the Hanseatic League, in which they are a member, to defend their trading rights and privileges. The Teutonic Order begins a siege from land, but does not manage to install a blockade as the fleet of the city is reinforced by other Hanseatic vessels. Gradually more and more soldiers and mercenaries trickle into the port, and when the Teutons decide to assault the walls with what siege engines have been built, they are thrown back with severe losses. The siege is continued for a few more days, until the Teutons realise that they cannot take the walls, and with more and more troops gradually arriving they will probably not be able to take it with reinforcements either. Peace is restored, with Danzig retaining its rights as a city of the Hanseatic League, although the Teutons retain a sort of tributary relation with the city.
In the Empire everything is calm, as all its neighbours are either heavily occupied in a war or still recovering from one. The economic boom continues, as trade picks up even more within the Empire. Andronicus is beginning to finally look towards reconquering more lands, and begins planning for how two wars that will likely happen within the next few decades. Helping him, in the absence of Nikephoros Orsini which is travelling to his holdings in Epirus, is his slightly competent, but naive cousin, Matthaios Palailogos. Trusting him with war plans soon turn out to be a mistake, as he spills the beans on their plans for an invasion of the Kingdom of Serbia whilst heavily intoxicated during a feast. Whilst he is never afforded the rights of important matters any longer, he is family after all.
1379:
With the increasing trade going in and out of Konstantinoupolis, Andronicus invests an extensive enlargement of the warehouse district within the city, with quarters rented out mostly to Roman merchants, but also a few to foreign ones. It is mostly Venetians and Genoese merchants which rents these quarters, although there are a few merchants from Siena and Trebizond who rent a warehouse.
In Albania the war finally comes to an end as a Neapolitan army led by the heir to the throne, Louis d'Anjou, lands in Dyrrachium to assert his family's claim as the Kings, or Queen, as Jeanne d'Anjou reigns in Naples, of the Kingdom of Albania. Bogdan Gingic, being heavily outnumbered, decides to retreat once the news of a potential Roman invasion reaches him. Louis soon overrun the entire Albania countryside, scattering whatever Albanian tribes that oppose him, and bribing some into his service. When peace is restored between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Naples, the latter have full control of Albania except the Noble's Principality of Vlore.
But where the d'Anjou family exit one war, another erupts as the Kingdom of France invades Aquitaine with the help of Spanish Mercenaries. At the same time, the Kingdom of Navarre is invaded by the Kingdom of Castile. Poitiers and Nantes fall quickly, but the English are heavily entrenched in Gascony, and Bordeu will take a considerable effort and a long time to fall. The same can be said for the Kingdom of Navarre, as the Basque population fights for every inch of land that the Kingdom of Castile gains.
In the East rumours begin arriving. The decline of the Sultanate of Delhi continue, but the rumours talk about an increasingly powerful Empire to the south. In 1376 the Vijayanagara shattered a Bahmani army near Bijapur, annexing the area surrounding the city. They are now the supreme power in Southern India.
1380:
War is an increasing trend, as consecutive wars erupt across the world. First, the Alps explode into conflict as the Duchy of Milan invades the Bernese League for control of the mountain passes. In Southern Germany Bamberg and the Palatinate fight for control over Oberpfalz, whilst in Eastern Africa the Kingdom of Ethiopia fights the Princedom of Medri Bahri and Funj. Lastly, in Persia a war erupts between the Sultanate of Sistan and the Sultanate of Herat over supremacy in Eastern Persia. Both states are supported by their neighbours, and a gruesome war commence. Meanwhile, the Jalairid begins preparing for an invasion of the Iranian Plateau.
But all these news are overshadowed by the next, as news arrives from Athens. Whilst it first was thought to be a regional matter in Italy, it was soon disproven. With the increase of trade within the Empire and the Italian cities, the Empire is left even more exposed to this threat. For the words carried by the courier boat are dark; "the Plague hath arrived". A few weeks later it is evident; Konstantinoupolis will not be spared.
AN: This chapter actually ending up being longer than I expected. The next one will talk about the effects the plague have on the Empire. The chapter won't be up for another two weeks in all probability, as a vacation abroad has finally caught up with me.
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