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Awful news everyone!
On Friday my PC broke down and I had to bring it to my local PC store. Today I received a e-mail from the company which is good in one way and bad in another. The problems are not serious but they will have to send in the defective part and wait for a replacement. This will take 2-3 weeks!
Quite naturally it will be impossible for me to continue my AARs for the duration of this time since all my pics and notes are on my PC.

I am sorry about this annoying delay but I fear there is little I can do about it. However since I am quite addicted to AARwritting by now I am allready playing with the thougth of perhaps making a short Deus Vult AAR while I wait for my PC. After all my father still has a PC...
Anyway wait and see. Hopefully everything will go well and you will soon be able to read the continuation of Scotland's quest for glory. :)

~Lord Valentine~
 
Ouch.
 
That's awful! At least they have an idea of whats wrong and its recoverable... but still... 2-3 weeks is a LONG time...
 
Ranald I "the Conquerer"​

Born 1135 - Died 1183
Ruled 1140-1183

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The Regency Years
1140-1152​


Part One: The Regency seizes Power


The Cast:


Lord Gilleroth, Duke of Mar, brother of Malcolm IV and uncle to Ranald I and head of the regency council
Roger Dunkeld, Duke of Strathclyde and Atholl, member of the regency council
Sir Magnus of Västmanland, Marshal of the Royal Armies and member of the regency council
Nuala Ui Mórdha, Mother of Ranald I
Geoffroy I, King of France​

The death of Malcolm IV left Scotland more powerful than ever before in it's history both internally and externally. Outwards he had greatly extended Scottish power southwards, driving the Norwegians off the British Isles and giving his kingdom a powerbase from which it would be able to face any English challenge on far more equal terms. At home he had strengthened royal authority through several measures. His intelligent financial reforms and the addition of the Northern English counties to the royal domain had greatly increased the wealth and power of the monarch, to such an degree that even the most powerful noble of the realm Lord Roger had to feel dwarfed and humbled. Also the successful wars and Malcolm's just and prosperous rule had created a bond between the people of the realm and their ruling dynasty. In the time of the two Gospatricks (1100-1125) there still had been a considerable amount of hostility towards the "usurpation" of house of Atholl and signs of the old loyalties for the house of Dunkeld, but in Malcolm's reign they slowly evaporated.

In spite of these awe inspiring achievements it was rather Ranald I than Malcolm IV which our medieval chronicles mark out as the greatest Scottish monarch of the high middle ages. If it was Malcolm "the Great" who laid the foundation for the "First Scottish Empire" (commonly dated from the from King David I (1198) to it's collapse under Edward I in 1350), it was Ranald "the Conquerer" who built it through his joint diplomatic and military exploits.

But in 1140 Ranald was still a boy of 5 and quite logically an unknown quantity. That a regency was needed was therefore never doubted and quite quickly the most significant figures at court and in the kingdom came to an agreement. The regency council would be headed by Lord Gilleroth of Mar, the young kings uncle with Lord Roger Dunkeld, Duke of Strathclyde and Atholl and Sir Magnus of Västmanland, the royal marshal, as it's constant members while two other posts where to rotate between the most important nobles of the realm. This arrangement naturally upset a few persons of importance, which felt they had been unjustly excluded and as soon as September there was a plot which involved Lord Enna Ui Mórdha, Duke of Meath, three earls and 20 knights. Their plan was to kill the young kings and take control of his mad grandfather Guthred, whom they believed to be held in a keep in Ulster, and reinstate him as the "rightful ruler of the realm". The main aim of course was to seize power by ruling in the insane kings name.

Fortunately the plot was uncovered and all the traitors sentenced to death, the punishment being executed publicly in the capital on October 20th 1140. In spite of this the members of the regency became aware of the fragility of their grip on power. In quickly drawing conclusions it was probably in late 1140 that the council secretly ordered the death of the old ex-king Guthred. This demented old fool could not be allowed to undermine royal authority any longer.

In 1141 another shift in power accrued as the leading member of regency, the kings uncle Lord Gilleroth, died of fever in February. At once a debate arose on who was to be the new supreme head of council and therefore (and this was the real issue) would have the right to appoint the new member replacing the deceased duke. Lord Roger off course saw himself as the logical candidate, he was after all the mightiest subject of the king and had given many years of service to the crown. However his authoritarian regiment had earned him many enemies and so most opted for the Queen mother Nuala to take over the council. In the end after painfully long arguments a compromise was reached. Nuala would become head of the council, but Lord Roger would be granted the right to appoint a new permanent member of the council, while the young king was to be handed over to the Marshal of the Royal Armies Sir Magnus for education in arms.

Top item on the agenda of the new regency (which now also included Sir David Bruce, a loyal friend of Lord Roger) was the redistribution of titles and lands. The Duchy of Mar, which had fallen back to the crown since Gilleroth had died heirless, was granted to the kings younger brother Éichnechán, while the youngest son of Malcolm IV Ruaidrí was awarded the title and lands of an Earl of Connacht.

In France however the death of Phillip II had lead to a development that would later enable Ranald I's expansionist foreign policy. Phillip II's son Geoffroy I had always been an unstable youth but his mental stability rapidly decreased after taking the crown in 1141, so that by 1143 at the mere age of 24 he began regularly falling into phases of complete insanity. In one of his sane moments however he proposed an alliance to the council which was gladly accepted since this lead to an dangerous encirclement of Scotland ancient enemy England.


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King Geoffroy I "the Mad" (ruled 1141-1157), last French king out of the Capet Dynasty.

In the same year another highly important moment in Western history accrued, as the Pope Urban IV left the Holy City of Rome for the East. Italy had become increasingly unsafe over the last few decades with petty city states, the Normans in the south and German lords and emperors fighting for supremacy. After Rome had been sacked twice in just 8 years and the Popes live threatened several times the Holy Father decided to "emigrate". The new Holy See was set up in the city of Krakau in modern day Poland, where it would remain for the next few centuries.

The first years of the regency had thereby passed fairly peacefully but the next years would lead to the greatest conflict on British soil since ancient days...


OOC:So as you can see my PC is back again and so is this AAR. I apologize for the short length of this update but I didn't find time for more. But still better than nothing I hope. :p
Anyway there will be at least two more updates on Ranald I and I can already promise that they will be eventful.

~Lord Valentine~
 
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The first empire...*drools*
 
Spothisto said:
That is cool. Already waiting for "the greatest conflict on British soil since ancient days..."

The same here...
 
Craziness is just so ill-advised for dynasty longevity. Should be a great war.
 
I know it's already been said, but since I just caught up I think it can be said again...great AAR, I like the use of pictures and you are doing a great job with the History Book format. You've done a brilliant job of incorporating the rulers' traits within the format of the story
 
Time for some Feedback (actually I am very happy that I still have some readers after such a long time :p):

Spothisto: Well, although I have to say it won't be the longest conflict in the history of the isles. It will be more like a volcanic explosion, quick, vast and devastating.

Fulcrumvale: The Empires making and unmaking will be the main theme of the rest of the CK period of this AAR. So there's still a lot to come. :cool:

JimboIX: Actually all my major neighbours have insane kings. Not only Geoffroy I of France but also Centule I of England has been a maniac for quite some time...

Elm0: Well but the kings of Poland are true sons of the church. They where probably happy to have the Pope on their doorstep. This might be a way of establishing Warsaw as Poland's capital a lot earlier than in reality.

Alfred Packer: Ah more tender strokes for my ego. :D
But seriously thanks for the praise. I am glad you enjoy the AAR (just like I do yours if you should have failed to notice it) and will try to keep on developing it. :)

~Lord Valentine~
 
Elm0 said:
Hah maybe right... :) but Warsaw was found few centuries later. Anyway, where's the capital of polish king now? :)
To be honest I didn't look. Poland is far away from the sphere of my political influence. :p
But wait now I remember. Prepare yourself for a shock!
Poland doesn't exist as an independent kingdom anymore. It was absorbed by the Kings of Bohemia, who are struggling against the Holy Roman Empire with their eastern Empire.

~Lord Valentine~
 
With risk of repeating others, you're doing a really good thing out of the history-book format. Good work.

Just for interest, in the first update of the state of the world, which empty maps have you used to make those?
 
Glad to hear your computer's up and running again, and so is this AAR. Krakau's quite a long place for the pope to run to... I just hope the Mongols don't nab him or something...
 
Well I suppose it's time I try to justify my laziness again. Well at least laziness where my non-real live is concerned. Just to put things into perspective:

I have written three exams in the last 1 1/2 weeks.

I am working on three 45 minute talks (topics: "Theological debates in early Christendom, "The EU's policies for the Western Balkans" and one on "Augustus").

Furthermore I am working on a smaller project concerning this community, about which I do not want to get more specific at the moment. If things don't go bad you'll hear about it in the next 2-3 weeks.

And on Saturday I took the liberty of hanging out with some friends at a local disco, and after coming back at 7 am decided to dedicate Sunday to recreation.

Anyway so far I have little planned for the weekend and I am determined to update this AAR on either Saturday or Sunday.

Elm0: Don't worry mate. Your countries been through worse. I am sure Poland will be back on the European stage in no time. :)

Scotticus:Well I am glad you know how to make the best of things. Hopefully I will get to update more regularly again, so that you don't have to reread it too often. ;)

Snugglie:Don't worry about repeating yourself. I am such a vain person, that such kind praise is always welcome to me. :p
Where the maps are concerned I am not sure where I got them from. I think someone once posted a blank CK-Map in the AARs and Fanfiction - General Discussions part of the board. But if you want to I can upload the maps.

General_BT:Actually I as a protestant would find that quite funny (no offense to all you catholic chaps out their). Running away from the Mongols might prove trickier than evading the "Landsknechte" of a Holy Roman Emperor. :D