The
PRIVATE COMMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS
on the
STATE OF THE HOUSE OF HWICCE
and the
NOBLE HISTORY AND SITUATION OF ENGLAND
by the will and tongue of
EANBEHRT, REX ANGLII
King of the Wales, Duke of York, Duke of Deheubarth, Duke of Lothian
Inscribed by his faithful court confessor
Hereward Onlafsson Wake
On the Morning, Afternoon and Evening of the Fifteenth of February
The Year of Our Lord 1157
PRIVATE COMMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS
on the
STATE OF THE HOUSE OF HWICCE
and the
NOBLE HISTORY AND SITUATION OF ENGLAND
by the will and tongue of
EANBEHRT, REX ANGLII
King of the Wales, Duke of York, Duke of Deheubarth, Duke of Lothian
Inscribed by his faithful court confessor
Hereward Onlafsson Wake
On the Morning, Afternoon and Evening of the Fifteenth of February
The Year of Our Lord 1157
I hereby commit to posterity a full and frank submission of the total history of my life and that of my noble house, as it stands today in this momentous year. It is committed to parchment roll by my appointed confessor and scribe. It is intended to be passed onto my successors and their heirs forever to solemnly provide a record, so often lost in these volatile times, of myself and my predecessors, that those who come after might more fully comprehend their position and role in God's plan and the history of the Anglo-Saxon race.
The two intentions of this work are to describe the arc of my noble House of Hwicce and England, which are by God's grace irretrievably and happily intertwined, and to explain the state of the realm as it now stands on the Day of the Feast of Faustinus and Jovita, the wondrous saints martyred by brutal Hadrian whose Acts have inspired this chronicle.
Morcar
The rise of the House of Hwicce begins in 1066. On the Day of the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ that year, my great-great-grandfather Morcar of the Hwicce was confirmed in the rank and position of Duke of York by Harold Godwinson, replacing by God's justice the evil Tostig Godwinson. Morcar's brother Eadwin was Duke of Mercia and Lancaster and all was well. The Normans bayed for blood but could not cross the Channel separating Britannia from Europa, and those vikings were kept across the water. Morcar was a good Duke, and therefore God saw fit to strike down Eadwin through an unattributed assassination, leaving his infant son ruler of the Mercians and Lancastrians. However, Uthraed was unready, and at the age of three was sent to heaven by another mysterious blade. As the sons of Godwin argued and fought amongst themselves in the south, the House of Hwicce were forming into one family ruling the north and west of the country.
Harold Godwinson, later called 'the Great', died a natural death in 1070, and his third son Magnus succeeded him, by election of the peers of the realm. Magnus had a daughter, Cynethryth, who became Duchess of Essex.
Morcar died after only six years on the throne, two years after King Harold. Now, Morcar had many children. His eldest son, Aelfgar, married King Magnus' daughter before inherited the triple ducal coronet. His second son was a bastard called Cenwulf, who founded the lesser House of York with Saethryth and ruled as Duke of Northumberland; his son, Waltheof, succeeded him to Northumberland, and is an aged martial of mine, fifty-nine years on this earth and most in battle. His first daughter, Eanswith, married a Norfolk noble and sired marshalcy. His second daughter, Aelgifu, married Aeflgar Godwinson, Duke of East Anglia, whose son and successor Aethelraed still rules that place as my vassal. His third son, Cenfus, was a troubled man who lusted after power which Morcar and Aelfgar as patres familiarum denied him; after having three sons, he was forced into a Church career, becoming Bishop of Monmouth, for a long time the most learned man in the realm and court confessor to Aelfgar and his successor. His third daughter, Saethyrth, I have mentioned, as she married her half-brother to found the House of York. His fourth and final son was Aethelfrith, who married Cynehild Godwinson, who begot Saethryth Cynehildsdotor, my mother.
Aelgar Morcarson
Aelfgar was a fiercely ambitious ruler and would not accept any obstacles in his path. Ascending to the Duchies of York, Mercia and Lancaster in 1072, he knew the way to increase his power - alliances with the other powers within the realm. He followed his father's example and had many children: two daughters, Leofgifu and Balthild, his only son Ealdhun, and a final daughter, Hextilda. Leofgidu was immediately married to the heir of the Duke of Northumberland, Waltheof, solidifying relations with the bastard branch of the family. Bathild and Hextilda would not be married until after Aelfgar's death. Ealdhun was wed to the daughter of Harold Godwinson, Duke of Cornwall, who was himself the eldest son of King Harold the Great. He did not come to rule because of incapability, but before that time he was able to produce many daughters and one son, who produced Cynethryth, Duchess of Cornwall, Ealdhun's wife.
Towards the end of the year 1097, the ambitions of Aelfgar had come to fruition, and an opportunity presented itself. First as a guise to lower the authority of the crown and restore the ancient liberties enjoyed by the Angles to them, Aelfgar led a full-scale revolt against the decrepit Magnus. The Hwicce and their followers were strong and fought in concert; confused by contrary marriage allegiances, the House of Godwin fell from grace. Their House retains many lands in the realm, and their noble blood is much mingled with mine own, but they would never hold the crown again. In June 1098, Aelfgar proclaimed himself King of the Angles and executed Magnus Godwinson. But that was only the start of his ambition. He spent time on pilgrimage to Rome around this time and was forgiven his sins by the Holy Father himself, who accepted a donation in Christ's name for the absolution; and it is said that on that visit, Pope Nicolas III agreed with Aelfgar that his personal vocation from God, and thereafter the mission of the House of Hwicce, was to unite Bretannia under one Imperial Crown.
Aelfgar set about his task with the zeal befitting a warrior of God. The crusade was immediately launched and in May 1101, Gwent fell to the Hwicce. In 1112, Powys followed. The great moment came in July 1125, when Glamorgan succumbed, and Aelfgar created the Duchy of Deheubarth. Two months later, the newly-installed Bishop of Monmouth, Aelfgar's brother Cenfus, presided over the greatest moment in Welsh history since the arrival of Christianity: the coronation of the King of Wales. But Aelfgar, though he had won his title by right of conquest, was not a brute. A true scholar, the King took an unparalleled interest in the writings and customs of the local people. Though the majority of the populations of the conquered territories slowly turned to Anglo-Saxon, the good King never turned his back on the learning of the ancients that lay atop those mountains, which he felt it was his duty to know as King. Sadly, he was not able to complete his vision, for the scheming of the Suffolk lords.
As mentioned before, Aelfgar Morcarson's sister, Aelgifu, married Aelfgar Godwinson, Duke of East Anglia. They were married after the death of Morcar but before the death of the first Duke of East Anglia, Aethelraed I, in February 1101. The passing of Aethelraed represented the passing of the last true and good son of Godwin, though it was not immediately apparent - the two Aelfgars were fast friends, brothers-in-law and shared the prosperity of England under Hwicce. However, during the Welsh campaigns in which the East Anglian Duke fought alongside the King, the Duke's wife (and the King's sister) Aelgifu died due to ill health. The year 1127 saw a great shadow cast over the mind of Aelfgar Godwinson, and he no longer trusted Aelfgar Morcarson or his plans to unite the islands of Britain. After the death of Aelgifu, he sought to damage the authority of the English crown and arranged for the new Pope, Valentine II sometimes falsely called the Just, who in 1125 succeeded Formosus the Fat who had in turn replaced Nicolas III who sanctioned the Welsh conquests, to excommunicate Aelfgar Morcarson from the Church. This was a great blow to the King who had always fought for Christ, and had to cease his campaigning while focusing on attempting to right this wrong. The justification for this excommunication was that his obsession with Welsh literature had seen him accepting, condoning, embracing and spreading heresies from the valleys eastwards into Christ-loving England. Sadly, his financial resources and once-great mental energies sapped from the near-constant wars of the preceding decades, Aelfgar was unable to be brought back into the fold of the Church, though in God's almighty mercy may he be brought into heaven still. He died peacefully in 1131 and was recognised by the epithet 'the Wise' for his scholarship.
Ealdhun
Ealdhun's reign lasted from 1131 until 1154, and though shorter than those of his predecessors it was fraught with difficulties as well as opportunities. Initially he continued the good work of his father in conquering and subjugating the northern Duchy of Wales, Gwynedd, by 1136. In November 1136, Ealdhun gave control of Deheubarth to his eldest son Aelfwig, my father, who was by this time married to my mother, Saethryth Cynehildsdotor, progeny of Morcar's fourth son Aethelfrith, who by tricks of inheritance had become Duchess of Hwicce. So my mortal situation was brought into conception on the banks of the Severn estuary. Ealdhun had a further four daughters: Ealhflaed, whose role shall be expounded below; Eadburg, who matrilineally married my current court confessor, Hereward Wake, in order to produce more males of the Hwicce line; Cynethryth, who died immediately after birth; and Hextilda Ealdhunsdohtor, who married under my reign.
However, his wife suffered significant rebellion trouble and while the King attempted to bring the authority of the crown higher and higher, it was not enough to bring the Cornish rebels to heel. Viking raids exacerbated financial woes as Northumberland and Kent were the subject of frequent sieges. Fraticelli heretics were combatted bravely by Cenfus, Bishop of Monmouth until his passing in 1150, but kept resurfacing in Hereford. This was surely the consequence of the evil worked by the Duke of East Anglia - it is known that no heresy actually occured in Wales or Gywnedd, but only the areas of England close by, where agitators might excite the peasants using the heightened tension of the late great King's excommunication to their advantage.
The three great peace-time strokes of Ealdhun were these. First, the establishment of a Merchant Republic under Hwicce, within the realm. Ealdhun established a new city at great expense at Chelsea in 1143 and gave it to a businessman, along with rights to the trade of the county of Middlesex and the entire Duchy of Essex. In 1145 the Grand City of Middlesex and the Republic of Essex were simultaneously brought into existence, to confound the traders of other lands such as Gotland and Pisa who threatened the revenue of the English crown. It was a great success, with merchant families immediately establishing themselves in competition for trade along the coast of Normandy and the Low Countries, as well as England herself. The second great achievement was the attempt to place a Hwicce on the throne of France. The Queen of France, Cécile 'le Juste' Capet, was soon to die with only young infant issue - a single son. Ealdhun rushed his best negotiators to secure some wardship or regency, with a mask of maintaining the stability of France through an external and objective ruler, but came back with something greater: a matrilineal betrothal between her son, Brian Capet, and Hextilda Aelfsgardohtor. Though sadly Hextilda only produced two female children before her untimely death - which many attributed to an assassination - in 1145, the amount of influence this alliance yielded was considerable. It also led Ealdhun to make short interventions in French politics, defending their Brettish and Zeelander conquests from rebels during a phase of divided government between the Kingdoms of Aquitane and France proper. It has been rumoured that the death of his two sons of another regular marriage was due to plots by Ealdhun to kill any other non-Hwicce issue, but these are mere accusations. The third achievement was further marital scheming which took place in Lotharingia, where King Wolfram II ascended the throne in late 1146. Needing a fertile wife with good political placement, naturally a letter was sent to the King of England and Wales, and a mutually profitable agreement was reached whereby Ealhflaed Ealdhunsdohtor was married to the 16-year-old King. This produced a single child of the d'Este line, Anselm, who became ruling monarch under the Regency of Duke Hugo of Upper Lorraine when Wolfram was poisoned only a year later.
Ealdhun was however also a man of war. Though he was maritally politicking at this time, in 1145 my father was killed under the orders of Waltheof, Duke of Northumberland, a martial man of great repute who has since done penance for this terrible act. The death of his only son caused a change in my grandfather - he no longer looked to long-term projects, because they could be frustrated by the flick of a knife or the right dab of poison. I had become the heir to the throne, but it was not clear that Ealdhun cared. While his relationships with his vassals was such that he could not openly punish Waltheof, he could frustrate his aims in turn. Waltheof's grandfather, Cenwulf the Bastard of the House of York, had exploited a short term collapse in Scottish authority by taking control of the county of Teviotdale in 1097. Ealdhun therefore decided to preclude any further Northumberlander expansion by claiming the Duchy of Lothian, of which Teviotdale was an integral part. Unfortunately his diplomatic agents were only able to produce documents claiming the sole county of Lothian, but nonetheless in 1153 Ealdhun engaged in a colossal and bloody struggle in the lowlands for the right to Lothian. Scotland resisted with all their might, but it could not stand up to that of England, even with the men from conquered Ulster and their ally, the King of Norway. The war took its mental and physical toll on my ageing grandfather - old prestigious scars yielded new wounds, he became stressed, then progressively ill, and in May 1154 died.
Eanbehrt
As I came to the throne, the English realm was at a fork in its destiny. If I chose wrong, the House might fall, England might fall. I had the benefit of my entire council of advisors as well as a duly appointed regent - Ealdhun's lacklustre, though talented, chancellor - but aged 14, I was old enough to take matters of state seriously and in dealing with them, be taking seriously. I immediately demanded fealty of all my vassals, and in response gave out much of the House wealth to receive favour and approval from the grisled old men whom Ealdhun, and even Aelfgar, had led into battle. My battle commanders were exceptional, my heavy cavalry retinues numerous and the plans set out by Ealdhun meticulous. The war against the Scots was won, and by October 1154 they had been forced to concede rights to Lothian. Sadly, their cunning King Ranald II was spared the humiliation of losing the Siege of Scone and being captured, but as God dispenses justice, he died two years later from stress and illness.
With war complete, and my coffers empty, I set about learning the laws and administration of the realm. One regent passed - he had been my guiding mentor - only to be replaced by another one of lesser quality. I chose no longer to be tutored by my chancellor, but my steward, perceiving diplomacy to be subject to pecuniary matters. I was assisted by Eadulf, Baron of Richmond in my final years of tutelage, whose father Aelfmaer and had also served as English Treasurer during the reign of King Ealdhun. On turning sixteen in 1156, I was declared to be a fortune builder. One of the many lessons I learned in Richmond was that marriage is an essential part of any state's economic strategy. I carefully examined the options available and selected the infant Queen of Denmark, ruling with no family to support her at 14. We are still betrothed, but I am sure our arrangement will come to fruition. Should I not marry her, and the throne passes from her by mortal accident, she will be succeeded by Duke Edvard of Ostlandet, one of those in the running for the throne of Norway should King Kolbein the Fat finally die. This would be a matter of grave concern given the Norweigian alliance with the Scots.
The matter of King Brian of France is drawing some attention - I have commissioned the assassination of one child, but they are constantly being produced, and he has married off one of his Hwicce daughters to a Castilian prince. I am closely attending the issue of King Anselm of Lotharingia, which ties England to the powerful Holy Roman Empire and grants us some influence there, but I have little hope for a child so young in a pit of vipers as Europa is. Still, I am hopeful. I am yet to prove myself, but my vassals now accept me, especially after a very successful Grand Tournament to celebrate my coming of age. My chancellor has drawn up a claim to the county of Galloway, which means war with the Scots will come eventually.
Read this history, regard this line I have sketched here for you, and know that the architecture of it was laid down in a time before time by God himself.
in nomine patris, et filii, et avo, et proavo, et familia, amen.
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... are pictures necessary? Please let me know if the wall of text is unbearable. Thanks. This might be a series, or a one-off. 
I've just really been enjoying the story of this game and wanted to share it with you all.
