The Noble Lives: A Chronicle of the Kingdom of Castile

[Secret Master]

By 1433, King Juan been working his messengers and diplomatic corps to the bone. Castile's newfound prestige and power meant more political marriages in the Christian world. Also, he began a new trade policy under the advice of the Duke of North Africa, Alvaro de Luna. The policy was that Castile would sign trade agreements with anyone who would do so. Luna's idea was simple: Rather than be overly greedy, it was cheaper in the long run to sign enough trade agreements so that Castilian merchants would cover roughly 25% of the trade somewhere, and then would stay put. With enough trade agreements signed, Castilian merchants would stay in business forever. Alternatively, if anyone had the gall to cancel the agreement, Castile would punish them in a war. Juan figured it was a win-win situation.

Unfortunately, other members of the nobility thought otherwise.

They did not hate the trade policy pre se, rather they hated the growing influence and power of Alvaro de Luna. In particular, the Duke of Murcia had been breeding hate and discontent. King Juan had been brushing it all aside, for he could really care less about his nobles.

But, all of Castile's diplomatic actions would grind to a halt on July 22nd, 1433. On that day, word was received that Navarra, Castile's ally, had declared war on England because of England's weakness in fighting the French. Juan supports this measure, and war is joined....

 

[Secret Master]

"My most favored Duke of North Africa, I have your marching orders."

"Yes, my liege? Shall I march into Gascogne to begin a siege against the English?"

The king laughed.

"No, gallant Luna. Navarra will deal with the English. I have a better task for you. If you recall, the English have a goodly sized navy. Theoretically, they might land troops anywhere."

"Yes, that is true. So, where shall I post myself?"

"Luna, your orders are to march to Bearn and to hold position. Your task will be to keep the English out of our ally's back door, so to speak."

The king stopped speaking when a messenger came running in, out of breathe. He bowed to the floor, catching his breathe as he spoke.

"My king, I bear a message from King Henri of Navarra. The matter is most urgent, yet I do not wish to say it for fear of your anger."

"No, you shall tell me what Henri wants. Speak up, man. Deliver the message, or you shall be delivering it from the rack!"

The messenger remained bowed.

"My own lord, the King of Navarra, regrets to inform you that the filthy bastards of Aragon have declared war on him, along with their allies Naples, Venice, and Albania. He begs you to honor the terms of your alliance with him, for he fears that he could never withstand such a coalition."

The king and Luna stood dumbfounded.

"My Duke of North Africa, what shall we do?"

"My dreaded liege, we must honor our alliance, both on principle and for practical reasons. The principle is obvious: our honor demands keeping our promise to Henri. On the other hand, Aragon cannot be allows to rampage all over the Pyrenees. That would be unacceptable."

"You are right, Luna. But we must still confer with the nobility. You, messenger, go now to your master and tell him he has our support. Luna, assemble the nobles for a meeting. Your marching orders are canceled."

"Of course, my king." Luna bowed and withdrew.

When the message of war reached the Duke of Murcia, he smiled. He wrote a letter of his own to the sons of Ferdinand. Ostensibly, it was to congratulate them on their recent marriage into Castilian nobility. But the sub-text was clear to anyone who could read Latin. The sum of money he enclosed with the letter was truly meant to "thank" them for convincing their father to go to war with Navarra.

The Duke of Murcia mentally noted that the first part of his plans to assume the throne was a success...........

 

[Secret Master]

With the turn of the new year, there has been precious little fighting in the war on Castile's part. Luna's army has been playing hide-and-seek with the Aragonese. The Aragonese have been trying to avoid fighting Castilians on good defensive ground, but Luna has also been avoiding fighting the Aragonese on their good defensive ground.

By January, the Aragonese army has committed to an invasion of Cantabria, and Luna moves to intercept. Unfortunately, he miscalculated the marching time and they arrived there first, to initiate a siege. Luna drives on anyway, despite the numerical superiority of the Aragonese. He hopes to crush them through better knowledge of the woods in Cantabria.

By the 27th, Luna meets them in battle.

Form the start, things go wrong for both sides. The woods in Cantabria are thick and dark, so Luna's knights continually fumble around and lose their way, even as the Aragonese knights mount, then dismount, then mount again in confusion. Luna's archers draw their swords because the trees effectively render their bows impotent. One whole wing of the Aragonese army wandered to the wrong place on the battlefield, causing the battle to begin early. They mistook the standard for Luna's knights for their own, and gave battle when they realized the mistake.

At first, the confusion created heavy losses on both sides. A small detachment of Aragonese knights stumbled on Luna's archers and decimated them, even as the standard bearer for the Aragonese knights was being chased from the field of battle. Luna stayed at the front of fighting, trying to rally his men as best he could. For a time, the Aragonese seemed to begin falling apart in the face of confusion, but then fate intervened again when all of the Aragonese army stumbled to the same point on the battlefield at the same moment. Luna found himself outnumbered and sounded the retreat. It was not until later that he rallied enough men to have compensated for the Aragonese numbers he faced. Luna was angry, but there was little he could do.

Losses that cold January day were high. Luna lost over 8,000 men, even as Araogn lost 10,000. Still, it was the first in a series of Aragonese victories that would plague the aptly named Bearn-Gascogne War of 1433.

 

[Secret Master]

By April, Luna has reformed the army and marches again to lift the siege of Cantabria. Aragon has made much progress in the siege, and it is only a matter of time before all castles in the province are sacked.

By April 15th, he engages the Aragonese again. Once again, the woods in Cantabria create confusion. Despite Luna's explicit orders, parts of his army fail to form up for the battle. Over 1,500 knights never even fight in this Second Battle of Cantabria Wood because they get lost. On the Aragonese side, lack of food is taking its toll and they meet the battle on empty stomachs. Yet, the Aragonese army has been in the area for some time, and they are less disorganized.

When the battle is finally joined, Luna takes care to hang back from the fighting, keeping his army organized from the middle. Things seem to go well, but casualties continue to mount. Then, disaster strikes when the standard bearer for Luna's army trips and breaks his ankle. When part of the army suddenly lost sight of the standard, they assumed he had been killed meaning the entire army was in jeopardy of being destroyed. The wings of his army began to fall apart, and Luna had no choice but to sound a retreat.

In the confusing pursuit, Luna lost many men. But losses for Aragon remained high as well. Luna lost over 10,000 horse, but Aragon's army was down to 1.4 of its former size. As Luna withdrew, he looted Castile's own lands for the remaining food they had, denying them from the enemy.

Thus the Second Battle of Cantabria Wood was lost by Luna.

 

[unmerged(6603)]

the great general is suffering some hardships, no? Well, he is still alive, so I am sure the tables will turn

 

[unmerged(6777)]

Perhaps he should start a really big fire and smoke the enemy out of the woods

Nice updates. I'm sure Luna will pull through in the end though. Those dastardly Aragonese are up to no good I tell ya. No good at all. The sooner they are exterminated, the better.

 

[Sharur]

And the scouts can run around in front of them, taunting them and calling them "Silly Aragon pig-dogs"

SM, you have the ability to transfer those battles from screen to paper very well. Great stuff

 

[Secret Master]

Meanwhile, at Madrid, there is grumbling from some of the nobility about the progress of the war. The Duke of North Africa's failings at Cantabria have called the effort of the war into serious question. King Juan sends desperate letters to Luna, urging him to victory, even as he forestalls the nobility at home.

The only welcome news comes within a week of Luna's second defeat at Cantabria. The Castilian navy routs the Venetians at the Battle of Almeria Gulf. For the moment, Castilian shores are safe.

Luna obliges his master, and reorganizes the army for another march into Cantabria.

By July, just two months after his last defeat, he desperately marches north to put the Aragonese to rout. Once again, he fails, and once again, it is a pyrrhic victory for Aragon. They have too few men left to continue the siege. Within days of their "victory", the broken Aragonese army withdraws home.

It was on this day that Cantabria Woods was renamed the Cursed Woods, in "honor" of Luna's defeats there.

But there was no joking at the court of the king. Even with the immediate threat ended with the withdrawal of the Aragonese armies, the king finds things growing worse at home. The war taxes he has levied have damaged the stability of the country, even as he abandons plans for a fine arts academy and purchases more troops for the war.

The Duke of Murcia took note of all this, and he began to talk to the other nobility about Luna's failings. He even went so far as to say that Luna was too intimate with the king and had clouded his judgement. Luna's greed for land, it was said, had caused him to provoke the war.

By January, 1435, Juan pulls off a diplomatic success and signs a separate peace with Albania. Castile is now no longer tied to Navarra for peace with Aragon. With this news, he orders Luna to prepare the army to invade Valencia.

By July, while Luna is marching on Valencia, the English land an army in the Cursed Woods. Luna marches to crush them.

On August 27th, Luna faces the hated English in battle in the Cursed Woods. The day dawned with miserable weather. The rain began just as the troops assembled into marching formation. As they marched to where they English laid siege, he had a Franciscan monk say a blessing on the men as they marched by. Perhaps the blessing would help them attain victory.

Then again, perhaps not.

As Luna maneuvered into position, the English formed their own battle lines. They put their pikemen up front, and their archers were in the rear. Luna ordered his 30,000 knights (which is all he had) to charge headlong into the line of pikemen, while a small detachment would take the archers from the rear. It was a simple plan that relied on overwhelming cavalry advantage over the English.

Yet, once again the curse of the woods would be upon Luna. The field they were to charge across was like quagmire, and the horses got bogged down and tripped up. English longbowmen did to the Castilians what Luna did to the Algerians before. Rather than be completely butchered, Luna sounded the retreat once again.

Thus, Luna lost the fourth Battle of the Cursed Woods.

 

[Secret Master]

By November, Luna is very aware that the precarious balance of the war means that if he does not get a victory soon, Castile will have to fold and sue for peace. Luna is determined for that not to happen. So, for yet another time, he marches into the Cursed Woods to give battle.

On the 18th, his army meets them on the same field of battle they lost on before. This day is bright and sunny. Luna retains his army of knights versus the English foot soldiers. Once again, he orders the frontal charge with the small detachment to take the rear of the English.

This time, the field was dry and sturdy for hooves to gallop across.

The overconfident English were surprised when the full brunt of the Castilian charge hit their lines. They tried to hold for almost half an hour. But, when the small detachment of knights found the rear of the English lines, they broke. Luna's knights began to cut them down as they ran away. The retreat became a general rout, as Luna's knights put all the English longbowmen to the sword. The pikemen were to weighed down to run fast. The few who tried to flee were put to the sword. The few who tried to hold the line were also put to the sword. Within an hour, no Englishmen were alive in Iberia.

The way was now open to invade Aragon. Luna began his march towards Valencia.

 

[Secret Master]

By January, 1436, the upper-hand seems to have been gained by Alvaro de Luna, the Duke of North Africa. His army sieges Valencia. Still, the court is alive with murmurings. Juan raised more war taxes, and the nobility have seriously balked at having to finance the war further.

The sturdy Enrique was helping his father in any way he could. For the moment, that meant keeping an ear open fir any news, good or ill. Other than Luna's victories, the news was all ill.

In April, Valencia is sacked by Luna. This bit of news does little to deter the grumbling of the nobles. They ask Juan to take peace with Aragon, but he refuses. Juan wants to get something out of the war. So far, the tables are roughly even.

For Luna, the sacking of Valencia left him with serious options. He could march on Sargosa, the capital of Aragon; however, the Aragonese had just formed an army in Catalonia. With his advisors split on the matter, Luna decides to crush the Aragonese army in the field before laying any sieges. Luna stood at the head of 16,000 knights as they left the castles in Valencia, marching north into Catalonia.

June 16th saw a slightly overcast day fall across the plains in Catalonia. Luna's army was only a few miles from Barcelona wen his scouts reported a confirmed sighting of the Aragonese army not 10 miles hither. Luna ordered his knights into battle formations, and advanced with all due speed. Within a few hours, the Aragonese came into view.

Luna noted they had a good position on the field of battle. Not wanting to charge into a possible ambush, he devised a cunning plan to lure them across the plain into his armies ranks. After conferencing with his advisors, his knights dismounted from their horses. They began uncoupling parts of their armor, squires helping. When they were ready, Luna gave the order.

At his command, 16,000 Castilian knights turned away from their enemies, and lowered their trousers, revealing the largest obscene gesture recorded in European history. While doing this, the young squires made certain crude remarks about the mothers of the Aragonese knights and how they were the sons of silly people. For a moment, the Aragonese stood there, confused. When the words of the squires reached them, they formed into a charging line and began to move towards Luna's men.

Promptly, the Castilians refastened their armor, not bothering with their trousers to save time, and remounted their horses. By the time the Aragonese were close, they ave resumed their battle formation. Luna gave his own charge order, and Castile's finest knights charged into the middle of the enraged Aragonese.

It took two hours, but when it was finished, over 10,000 Aragonese lay dead on the field. For Luna, he only lost 3,000 of his own men. The few remaining Aragonese fled the field, leaving Luna another victory. One of his squires remarked, "They must really be a bunch of pig-dogs. I thought we were just joking, but what we did today proved our jests to be true!"

With the field clear, Luna leaves a besieging force behind in Catalonia, while he personally marches on Sargosa to lay siege to Aragon's capital.

 

[unmerged(6603)]

Stay out of the damn woods!

excellent read SM... my god man, this AAR is going to be a thousand posts before you hit 1500

 

[Sharur]

Can I get a copyright on that last segment?

You continue to do a fabulous job with this AAR. I personally think this is your best yet

 

[unmerged(6777)]

I hope their saddles were well-oiled

Perhaps you should recruit 1000 woodsmen with big sharp axes and hack the wood down. It obviously rains there far too often to try burning it.

I really enjoyed this installment and agree with Sharur ...the best yet.

 

[Secret Master]

Thanks for the support, gentlemen.

I wouldnt worry about this being too long. Castile goes through a few periods of not doing anything other than sending missionaries and marrying off relatives. For some reason, I spent the first century fighting war after war. And half of them weren't even my fault! Just wait until this one is finished and the next one brews. I had to make up a bunch of stuff just to give it some sense... When you read it, you'll understand.

Yeah, you guys are right about one thing. I wish I had a "Chop down woods" option along with missionaries. The Cursed Woods go on to haunt Castile for several more wars over the 350 year period covered by the game. It gets so bad, I decided to do a historical abstract just on them. Some historian has to explain why Castile keeps losing on her home ground there!

 

[unmerged(6603)]

Forests are the dark green provinces? So your talking about Cantabria?... I wasn't sure if that was actually a reflection of fighting in the forrest, or an ingenius sub-plot.

 

[Blademonkey]

That was some series of Teddy Bear's Picnics. Luna must hate the furry little buggers now.

Keep it up SM. Having a blast.

 

[Secret Master]

Within a year, Castilian armies sack Gerona and Sargosa. Luna proudly leads his men into the capital of Aragon, even as Castile's ally, Navarra, clears out the newly formed Aragonese armies in the north.

On October 27th, 1437, Luna negotiates a peace treaty with the full authority of King Juan. Aragon cedes Valencia to the crown of Castile, and pays war damages totaling 100 ducats. With this part of the war over, Luna can begin maneuvering to deal with the English.

Still, the country tires of the war. The war taxes have stretched Castile's resources to the breaking point and the nobility still grumble. The king still wishes to support his ally in Navarra, for should he not, the English may wipe them out completely, leaving the mighty English on Castile's door step. Still, the result is outbreaks of revolt by peasants in various provinces.

Of no surprise is the "peasant" revolt in Murcia. Even as the Duke of Murcia begged Juan to recall the troops home to put it down, it was noted that the peasants avoided most of his valuable property. Despite this, he found much support among his brethren and they became vocal that the wars should end.

In March, just as Luna put down some of the peasant revolts, the English land a force in the Cursed Woods. Luna positions to observe the English, wary of charging into the hated place of so many defeats.

By July, it is clear that the English are dying off due to lack of food. Luna gathers the army and moves to strike them.

On August 1st, 1438, Alvaro de Luna, Duke of North Africa, meets the Duke of Gloucester in combat. The day dawned sunny and warm as Luna's knights advanced. Gloucester's forces were tired and hungry, and barely had the strength to mount their horses. The Castilian defenders inside the Cursed Castle (so renamed in "honor" of the woods of the province) looked on from the battlements, hoping that Luna would break the English and rescue them.

They wouldn't have long to wait.

Luna had timed the attack well. His men had been given a few days rest, while a small detachment of his knights had continually harassed the English. Thus, Gloucester's men were tired from having to reorganize into battle lines for the past few days. They were in no mood to hustle as the Castilian knights bore down upon them.

Luna made the decision to charge his fresh knights uphill against the tired English. They hadn o pikemen, so they would have no line to hide behind to blunt Luna's charge. Luna, at the head of his men, urged them on, hacking his way into the English like a madman. His men, inspired, did likewise, and a bloodbath ensued.

Luna, not content with the twenty English knights he killed in personal combat, actively sought for the Duke of Gloucester. When he found the duke, the Duke of North Africa put him to the sword quickly. By then, it was too late for the English to beat a hasty retreat. As Luna's half-crazed men hacked and stabbed into Gloucester's caving battle line, they managed to surround the English. Within half an hour, all of them were put to the sword. Luna was said to have remarked at the end, while surveying the carnage, "Not since the sacking of Jericho has such a slaughter been seen. May the English hear of this, and quake in their boots."

The English king would indeed hear of it, but only through French messengers that were intercepted in his war with the hated French. It explained to him why 23,000 of his knights never sent another messenger after the 1st of August......

 

[Secret Master]

However, even as the Duke of North Africa was winning one of his greatest victories, Juan found himself besieged politically at home. In August, while Luna was marching against Gloucester, the nobility called a meeting in Madrid. Their intent was clearly hostile.

"My dreaded liege," began the Duke of Leon, "we have called this meeting to urge you take action. The country is on the brink of anarchy!"

"And what would you have us do? End the war and leave out ally Navarra hanging in the wind. You ask us to act like a coward!" Juan was clearly angry, and his words verged on yelling.

"Navarra is not worth losing the whole of our gains in the Reconquista. The Moors are up in arms.We must mind our own backyard." The Duke of Murcia was quite calm, and felt like letting others be angry.

"Agreed. Even if we gain the whole of southern France, it is not worth our farms being destroyed at home." The Duke of Galacia spoke with no reverence for the king.

"And what of the bastard Luna? Marching our armies around without regard for the safety of our lands. Losing battle after battle while our homes burn. I hate the upstart, and wish him to be chastised." The Marquis of Asturias voiced exactly the sentiment that Murcia was hoping for, and so he chimed in with his own remark.

"Yes, I agree with you. I think the king is not to blame, so much as the charlatan Luna. Give him a dukedom and look what happens. The whole country goes to hell."

"Here here!" the assembled dukes thumped their fists on the table.

"Luna has done well for our kingdom and you all know that! He has won for our crown lands in Aragon. He is marching to beat the English from our lands even as we speak. How can you have the gall to say these things about him?"

"Then perhaps our dreaded liege has had a greater hand in the recent occurances than has his servant Luna..." Murcia let his voice trail off.

King Juan new that Murcia had won this round of political maneuvering. He could not afford a civil war right now. As such, he decided to capitulate for the moment.

"Alright, you can have your way. I will revoke Luna's fief as Duke of North Africa and no longer keep him as my advisor. Murcia, you will now hold the title Duke of North Africa. So I have decreed, let it be done."

The assembled nobles nodded in agreement, and Murcia smiled. He had just won round two.

Within a few minutes, Juan was alone in the chamber. A messenger ran in to deliver news. Juan took the note and read it. It was signed by Luna, and it was a detailed account of his great victory in the Cursed Woods against the English.

Juan crumpled the note in disgust, and began to repeat to himself over and over again, "My God, what have I done this day?"

 

[Secret Master]

OOC Notes: Ahistorical choice #1

Ok folks, here is the first ahistorical thing I did, though this is not one of the things I planned. When the Civil War in Casitle event came up, I chose to NOT support Alvaro de Luna.

I really had no choice. Stability was in the toilet, I had revolts in half of my provinces, and my army had dwindled in size. It was just really poor timing, and I paid the price for it. My choice left me without Luna's monarch bonuses. Had I chosen to support Luna, I would have ended up with even more revolts in my provinces, and it was a good bet my government would have fallen. Curses!

This has been part of the whole reason behind the Duke of Murcia sub-plot. I had to find a damn good reason not to support my dear Luna.

Interestingly enough, not supporting Luna in the civil war does not kill him as a leader. So, I get to keep him around for awhile longer. Hmmmm, I wonder if Luna can make a come back?

 

[unmerged(6603)]

Very interesting... more to come i am sure... what of the Enlglish in France, how goes the 100 years war?