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Never under-estimate a woman, full-stop. A great description of the paranoia about the Turk.
I'm liking out young Empress. She has great intestinaly fortitude!
So sad it is that I'm forced to withdrawl my proposal of marriage, I feel we could have made a strong dynasty. Oh well, the temperate climes of the yet to be discovered New World await me to carve a new kingdom from the wild. I dare home she's not to crushed by my departure!
So sad it is that I'm forced to withdrawl my proposal of marriage, I feel we could have made a strong dynasty. Oh well, the temperate climes of the yet to be discovered New World await me to carve a new kingdom from the wild. I dare home she's not to crushed by my departure!
This is a wonderful day. The Byzantines now merely have to invade Hell to prove that they are the greatest.
Hurrah, my long-fostered dreams of a revived Byzantine state crushing the Turk are approaching completion! Now all that's left is the long-awaited coup de grace (granted, to be drawn out over a series of years, but still...).
Now all that's left is the long-awaited coup de grace (granted, to be drawn out over a series of years, but still...).
Well done installing Catarina on the throne finally, and dealing with potential pretenders. And she seems to have great ability, as seen in the decision and victory against the Turk. Things seem to be going well for the Empress. But once again, we see the hand of a suitor become the issue.
King of Men: Heh, thank you!
prussiablue & stnylan: Indeed, well said!
Draco Rexus: Heh, the New World has already been discovered! I believe there is currently land available in Trinidad and Tobago...
J. Passepartout: That's all?!
Specialist290: Glad to be of service - I'm getting there in the end!
coz1: Indeed, like all Falconi's she suffers from the well known Chinese curse.
Above: Giani Falieri, Count of Korinthos
Part 26
By 1536 it was widely thought that the Empress intended to marry a Latin nobleman in order both to avoid foreign entanglements. Most of those who speculated assumed that Caterina would marry Bartolome Malipiero, now Prince of Salonica.
He was certainly the obvious candidate; the richest and most powerful aristocrat in the Empire, a clever, handsome and brave commander and a close friend of the Empress from childhood. Besides - or so rumour held - the two had been romantically close as teenager. All in all everyone expected Caterina to chose Prince Bartolome.
It was therefore quite a shock when the Empress announced her intention to marry Giani Falieri, the Count of Korinthos in Febuary of that year. Giani was at 39 more than a decade and a half older than the Empress and very different from her personality. Though by no means stupid he was possessed of a rather stolid might quite unlike Caterina's quick wit and cleverness. Brave, taciturn and loyal the Count of Korinthos was certainly stable, if dull. To Prince Bartolome though it was a total slap in the face to have this obviously inferior man chosen over himself.
"Bartolome," she explained patiently, "surely you can see why I chose Giani?"
He could: Giani was stable, dependable, safe. No doubt who would wear the doublet in that relationshhip! Caterina was cleverer than Giani, more strong willed than Giani and immensely more powerful than Giani. A Prince of Salonica might be tempted to use his own great status to form a seperate powerbase from the Empress. No chance for a mere count.
Though the Imperial Family might bear the Falieri name the Falconi element would still retain control. Things might be very different under a Malipiero dynasty...
"You must realise what I did is for the stability of the Roman Empire."
"For the Empire read the Falcoi dynasty," said Bartolome bitterly. He instantly regretted it.
The Empress eyed him cooly: "Naturally. We are one in the same Prince Bartolome."
Whatever the case Caterina was certainly committed to the union, for she fell pregnant at once and bore a son in December. Crown Prince Antonio was given a title as a present: Prince of the newly created Principality of Smyrna.
prussiablue & stnylan: Indeed, well said!
Draco Rexus: Heh, the New World has already been discovered! I believe there is currently land available in Trinidad and Tobago...
J. Passepartout: That's all?!
Specialist290: Glad to be of service - I'm getting there in the end!
coz1: Indeed, like all Falconi's she suffers from the well known Chinese curse.
Above: Giani Falieri, Count of Korinthos
Part 26
By 1536 it was widely thought that the Empress intended to marry a Latin nobleman in order both to avoid foreign entanglements. Most of those who speculated assumed that Caterina would marry Bartolome Malipiero, now Prince of Salonica.
He was certainly the obvious candidate; the richest and most powerful aristocrat in the Empire, a clever, handsome and brave commander and a close friend of the Empress from childhood. Besides - or so rumour held - the two had been romantically close as teenager. All in all everyone expected Caterina to chose Prince Bartolome.
It was therefore quite a shock when the Empress announced her intention to marry Giani Falieri, the Count of Korinthos in Febuary of that year. Giani was at 39 more than a decade and a half older than the Empress and very different from her personality. Though by no means stupid he was possessed of a rather stolid might quite unlike Caterina's quick wit and cleverness. Brave, taciturn and loyal the Count of Korinthos was certainly stable, if dull. To Prince Bartolome though it was a total slap in the face to have this obviously inferior man chosen over himself.
"Bartolome," she explained patiently, "surely you can see why I chose Giani?"
He could: Giani was stable, dependable, safe. No doubt who would wear the doublet in that relationshhip! Caterina was cleverer than Giani, more strong willed than Giani and immensely more powerful than Giani. A Prince of Salonica might be tempted to use his own great status to form a seperate powerbase from the Empress. No chance for a mere count.
Though the Imperial Family might bear the Falieri name the Falconi element would still retain control. Things might be very different under a Malipiero dynasty...
"You must realise what I did is for the stability of the Roman Empire."
"For the Empire read the Falcoi dynasty," said Bartolome bitterly. He instantly regretted it.
The Empress eyed him cooly: "Naturally. We are one in the same Prince Bartolome."
Whatever the case Caterina was certainly committed to the union, for she fell pregnant at once and bore a son in December. Crown Prince Antonio was given a title as a present: Prince of the newly created Principality of Smyrna.
Greetings from Trinidad! I congratulate the Empress on her nupitals AND the birth of her son and heir!
How soon before the Empire falls on troubled times again? Hopefully not before the Empress is able to produce more sons and more importantly, led the Empire to new exploits!
How soon before the Empire falls on troubled times again? Hopefully not before the Empress is able to produce more sons and more importantly, led the Empire to new exploits!
Prince Bartolome might take cold comfort from the fact that, he married her he would be like Icarus flying too close to the sun. However, will his disappointment drive him into treason? Does he have the courage to be loyal?
I would suggest giving Bartolome a commission in the army and posting him far away.
And even better than that, you can send him over the Turkish border and kill two birds (mine and yours) w/ one stone
Hail the new prince. You know RossN, the path taken by Empress Catarina reminds me of a certain Empress north of America not too distance ago....
Sorry for the lack of updates guys, but I'm snowed under with applying to a new college.
On a brighter note things will be much easier next week and holidays are right around the corner, so I'll have much more time to devote to this. Please stayed tuned guys.
On a brighter note things will be much easier next week and holidays are right around the corner, so I'll have much more time to devote to this. Please stayed tuned guys.
One wonders if the snubbed Prince will ever act on his anger if given the opportunity. Things can never be truly peaceful, you know.
Draco Rexus: Hope you enjoy Trinidad! I expect lots of cash...
stnylan: Sound thoughts. I guess time - and the next major crisis will tell.
J. Passepartout, King of Men & Specialist290: What was Siberia unavailable? :rofl: I'm sure something will come up for our Prince...
prussiablue: I guess so.o Guess something about the character just appeals to me...
coz1: Believe me I know! :wacko:
Vincent Julien: Cool. Hope you like it!
Sorry I was gone for so long guys - I'll try and bring up the pace!o
Part 27
The Basileía Romaíon ('Roman Empire') had suffered greatly from one war or another for many years. Indeed later historians would call the first quarter of the 16th century the 'Crisis of the Three Emperors' (a reference to the extended dynastic crisis between the Legitamists and the Sofian/de Bellièvre claimants). In the late 1530's with the hated Turks at bay, however temporarily and the Imperial succession on a safer foundation than previously the hope was that a period of peace, prosperity and recovery would follo.
The court of Empress Caterina attracted many poets, writers, adventurers and artists attracted by the intellectual atmosphere promoted by Caterina. A voracious scholar and biblophile she was never happier than in conversation with the learned and the witty - she had little taste for those intellectuals grown too serious for translations of Plautus or Aristophanes. Though some huffed that it was rather undignified for an Empress to have so much as a sense of humour it was popular with the public and conrasted richly with Prince-Consort Giani who for all his sterling qualities was a dull dog - strong but silent and silent simply because he had little to say. Then again the Falconi's were descended from city based merchants and politicians while the Falieri were stolid Tuscan rural aristocracy. Perhaps there was something in that.
During this time art and literature flourished in Constantinople, much encouraged by the Empress. Though often later termed a Golden Age for Greek thought and culture, and though Caterina's court for the first time spoke as much in Greek as Italian the defining writer and philosopher of the age Ivaylo Chernozemski of Sofia was inspired by a writer from the Falconi homeland: Niccolo Machiavelli.
Much impressed by The Prince, published in 1532 (five years after Machiavelli's death) Chernozemski had worked further on these thoughts and in 1541 produced his own work The Diadem (named after the white ribbon used as the symbol of Hellenic kingship). Chernozemski strongly advocated an absolutist monarchy, believing that only by concretating power in the hands of a single ruler, chosen by God could a nation surive in an orderly path. Naturally this did not go down very well amongst the senators and great nobles and even Caterina as a pius Catholic was uncomfortable with a theory that by omission placed the sovereign above the Pope in being under God. Nevertheless Chernozemski continued to freely write and correspond.
In the second half of the 1530's interest had grown up in the New World. Though the Empire had not produced any great explorers or conquistadors and though their knowledge of the New World could not compare with either the Spanish or the Portugese the Athenian merchant Draco Rexus successfully lobbied to establish a trading post on uncolonised Trindad and Tobago and take advantage of the islands sugar crop. Time would tell whether or not this humble effort would prove something more...
stnylan: Sound thoughts. I guess time - and the next major crisis will tell.
J. Passepartout, King of Men & Specialist290: What was Siberia unavailable? :rofl: I'm sure something will come up for our Prince...
prussiablue: I guess so.
o Guess something about the character just appeals to me...coz1: Believe me I know! :wacko:
Vincent Julien: Cool. Hope you like it!
Sorry I was gone for so long guys - I'll try and bring up the pace!
o
Above: Draco Rexus and his men land on Trinidad, 19th August 1537
Part 27
The Basileía Romaíon ('Roman Empire') had suffered greatly from one war or another for many years. Indeed later historians would call the first quarter of the 16th century the 'Crisis of the Three Emperors' (a reference to the extended dynastic crisis between the Legitamists and the Sofian/de Bellièvre claimants). In the late 1530's with the hated Turks at bay, however temporarily and the Imperial succession on a safer foundation than previously the hope was that a period of peace, prosperity and recovery would follo.
The court of Empress Caterina attracted many poets, writers, adventurers and artists attracted by the intellectual atmosphere promoted by Caterina. A voracious scholar and biblophile she was never happier than in conversation with the learned and the witty - she had little taste for those intellectuals grown too serious for translations of Plautus or Aristophanes. Though some huffed that it was rather undignified for an Empress to have so much as a sense of humour it was popular with the public and conrasted richly with Prince-Consort Giani who for all his sterling qualities was a dull dog - strong but silent and silent simply because he had little to say. Then again the Falconi's were descended from city based merchants and politicians while the Falieri were stolid Tuscan rural aristocracy. Perhaps there was something in that.
During this time art and literature flourished in Constantinople, much encouraged by the Empress. Though often later termed a Golden Age for Greek thought and culture, and though Caterina's court for the first time spoke as much in Greek as Italian the defining writer and philosopher of the age Ivaylo Chernozemski of Sofia was inspired by a writer from the Falconi homeland: Niccolo Machiavelli.
Much impressed by The Prince, published in 1532 (five years after Machiavelli's death) Chernozemski had worked further on these thoughts and in 1541 produced his own work The Diadem (named after the white ribbon used as the symbol of Hellenic kingship). Chernozemski strongly advocated an absolutist monarchy, believing that only by concretating power in the hands of a single ruler, chosen by God could a nation surive in an orderly path. Naturally this did not go down very well amongst the senators and great nobles and even Caterina as a pius Catholic was uncomfortable with a theory that by omission placed the sovereign above the Pope in being under God. Nevertheless Chernozemski continued to freely write and correspond.
In the second half of the 1530's interest had grown up in the New World. Though the Empire had not produced any great explorers or conquistadors and though their knowledge of the New World could not compare with either the Spanish or the Portugese the Athenian merchant Draco Rexus successfully lobbied to establish a trading post on uncolonised Trindad and Tobago and take advantage of the islands sugar crop. Time would tell whether or not this humble effort would prove something more...
So the Italians court is starting to be subsumed, to some degree, by the local culture. Indeed, it sounds like those thoughts echoed in The Diadem are pretty similar to the thoughts of the Roman Emperors of old (Theodosius the Great say, or Justinian).
Interesting developments. I wonder if Constantinople is going to be a major seat of the late Renaissance. Also most interesting to see a Greek colony in the New World--I wonder if it'll be used as a staging point for further enterprises.
Re Siberia: The Byzantines usually didn't exile people to far-away places (except occasionally to northern Asia Minor or the shores of Crimea); they typically dealt with their enemies in, shall we say, much more interesting ways
Re Siberia: The Byzantines usually didn't exile people to far-away places (except occasionally to northern Asia Minor or the shores of Crimea); they typically dealt with their enemies in, shall we say, much more interesting ways