@Von Acturus: Quite so! Prokop's a rather decisive sort--one might almost say brash. Unfortunately he also has a bit of a tendency to run his mouth. Again, my apologies for not showing that in gameplay: I'm using the RoM DLC in a rather heterodox way.
TEN.
The Ivan Žerotínov Act
17 October 1490 – 26 October 1493
‘Milord,’ the
maršal Bedřich Pospisil got the king’s attention, ‘we need to discuss the situation on the western march. We can’t simply allow the tensions between the Bavarians and the Nordgauers to continue to build while the East Franks keep breathing down our necks!’
Prokop considered, and then shrugged. ‘I’m afraid there isn’t much to discuss, let alone to do. Bayern and Nordgau have been at each other’s throats for decades now, since Nordgau’s bid for independence. If we intervene, the East Franks will see it and use it as proof that we are indeed meddling in the affairs of the Germanic peoples.’
‘And if we do nothing,’ Pospisil intimated darkly, ‘then it will be the fate of our Orthodox brethren in the west to be swallowed up by the Latin powers. Would you have that on your conscience? Already Drážďany has fallen into their clutches, and the Orthodox faithful in Milčané suffer persecution.’
Prokop turned and clasped Pospisil by the shoulders. ‘I know that. But the Lord says to possess our souls in patience. I turn to His wisdom. At times we must abide injustices, even cruel injustices, with the forbearance of Job. I have not forgotten Drážďany. And I am not indifferent to the strife between Bayern and Nordgau. But while we are still so heavily dependent on a carefully-built string of northeast alliances, so that we are
not cut off from our own fleet, we simply
can’t extend ourselves too far to the west.’
Bedřich Pospisil checked his stride. ‘I understand, my liege.’
It was to the young
Kráľ Prokop’s credit, and a testament to his native intelligence and understanding, that he did not allow himself to be easily swayed and blown about every which-way by his advisors. The king had learned, very early on, that the advisors who truly had the best interests of the realm at heart were few and far between. Even a man like Boleslav Stibor, who had served him so faithfully and for so long as Regent while he was only a child, had certain prejudices and weaknesses of temper which he occasionally allowed to surface, and which produced crises in the realm. The trick, the new king was quickly learning, was to understand his advisors’ weaknesses, and then to ‘overlook’ them until they became a problem. The rest could be handled with a sympathetic ear and a careful tongue.
With regard to the fleet, there was considerable impetus to encourage the building of a shipyard in Luleå, now that there was enough talent and manpower to make it possible. But to Prokop, the fleet still felt like… well, a temperamental kite tethered to him only by the barest strand of twine. If he didn’t keep a firm hold of his alliances with the Khovanských in Great Ruthenia and the Oskyldrs in White Rus’, the winds of fate would pick up that fleet and blow the whole thing off-course!
‘
Môj milý—are you working on those Northeastern Initiatives again?’ asked Helene one night—her belly now swollen with their third child. ‘Would you like any help with them?’
Prokop ran a hand through his sandy hair and chuckled bleakly. ‘You know, I could use all the help I can get,’ he owned. ‘This web of alliances we’ve built with Great Rus’ and White Rus’, as well as the more tenuous one with Sápmi up north—it’s putting rather a strain on our diplomatic corps.’
‘And why is that a problem?’ asked Helene, massaging her husband’s shoulders. ‘I haven’t yet met the foreign dignitary you couldn’t outtalk and outcharm.’
Prokop grimaced. ‘In the ballroom? Perhaps, Helene, perhaps. But Moravia doesn’t need yet another diplomat wearing a crown right now—what Moravia needs is
organisation, and that’s… something I’ve never been particularly good at.’
‘As anyone who’s seen the inside of your wardrobe might attest! Mind if I have a look?’ asked his queen. ‘One never knows when the experience of an old chambermaid might come in handy.’
That much turned out to be true. Helene at once sorted the various paperwork and various orders into their proper piles, and moreover figured out another way to delegate the diplomatic missions to the northeast.
‘You ought to have leaned a bit more on your grandmother’s old contacts, as well as your mother’s,’ said Helene knowingly. ‘I should hardly have to remind a king who’s half-Belarusian, but you have plenty of uncles and aunts
inside White Rus’. I know it’s not the “done thing” anymore to appeal to the family honour in order to accomplish your goals, but in this case I think you could ease the burden on the Olomouc end by calling in a couple of favours.’
‘Do you think so?’ Prokop glowed. ‘You’re a lifesaver, Helene,
moja láska! I knew I made the right decision, marrying you!’
‘Oh, stop,’ a slight smile crossed the handsome square face of the queen.
His wife’s deft hands, however,
had made it far easier for Prokop to imagine some potential new avenues to pursue in his Northeastern Initiatives. Placing more emphasis on the organisation of the diplomatic corps
would make Moravia’s position a good deal more secure. He might have to look into the possibility of calling on his extended family in White Rus’, and seeing if any of them might be willing to undertake certain ambassadorial duties on Moravia’s behalf.
On the domestic front, too, Prokop felt the weight of a long injustice that needed to be redressed. He had been preparing for precisely this moment since his accession to the throne. With the help of his valet he adjusted his mantle, and then strode out into the bailey of Olomouc Castle. It was the fifth of December in the Year of the World 7002. He gave the following speech:
‘Fellow Moravians—We greet you on this December day, upon which we are beginning our journey in the light fast of Advent, and looking forward to the Nativity of Our Lord. The first men to recognise the Lord, the Word of God in human flesh, were, so Holy Writ tells us, the wise men of the East and the poor shepherds around Bethlehem who were tending their flocks by night.
‘We Moravians have enjoyed prosperity without bounds in these past years. In the wake of this autumn we have reaped another year’s bounty and stored it for the winter. It has been a long time since We have had dearth. And yet We have brothers and sisters… shepherds like those whom the angels visited upon the Nativity… within our lands, who have not always been so fortunate.
‘Yes. We speak of the Russians who live within Our borders. Moravia has been a
safe haven for persecuted peoples ever since our first King Bohodar. And ever since the mistress of Podkarpatská, Čestislava Pavelková, first
swore fealty to Eustach the Church-Builder in 6541, the Russians of Podkarpatská have lived and died within our kingdom and sworn to serve God and the Crown. For four hundred and sixty years, the Rus’ have contributed their blood and their labour to our great kingdom—alongside Moravians, Bohemians, Silesians and Nitrans.
‘For all that time, men and women of Carpatho-Russian extraction have rendered great services to the Moravian state—including most prominently the noble Pavelkov and Koceľuk families.
Knieža Grigorii Rostislavič Koceľuk fought valiantly in the Adamite Wars, and he made an honourable mark upon our kingdom as
kancelár for the mighty
Kráľ Kaloján.
Kňažná Praksida Koceľová was, contrary to the limitations of her sex, a
maršalka of the most formidable calibre for my ancestor Radomír 4., and her sister, my ancestress
Kráľovná Ekaterína, was his loyal and affectionate consort.
‘Which brings Us, today, to our departed
Esaul Ivan Olegovič Žerotínov.
‘Ivan Olegovič, a native of Snina, was the son of poor bowers in the hard Carpathian
polonina. The Žerotínovcov had little wealth: but they had their honour, they had their neighbours, and they had each other. It was a long tradition for the Žerotínovcov to send their sons with their wood-axes and makeshift armour into the service of the Koceľukovci, and were as loyal to the Koceľuk banner as the Koceľukovci were to Moravia’s. Ivan’s father Oleg was among the
zbrojnošov of Podkarpatská who fought in Syria, Mesopotamia and Armenia during the Thessaly Wars.
‘Ivan himself, however, came up the ranks the hard way. In his youth, rather than rallying to the Koceľuk standard, he absconded himself and joined a band of
opriški in the south. Do not be so quick to blame those who turn to banditry! We here in Olomouc cannot hope to judge them. We cannot know the chaos and the injustices faced by the Russians who lived along that Carpathian borderland, in a state which saw seven Emperors overthrown within as many years. Even those on our Moravian side often faced the terror of rogue nobles who extorted food, plunder and women from the villages of Podkarpatská. In a lawless state such as that—who can blame a boy like Ivan for taking up his axe and turning to banditry in defence of his friends?
‘Ivan grew up considering himself more Carpathian than Moravian: this much is true. It is true, in fact, for many of the Russians who live in that land, and whose loyalties are torn by the four directions: between the Galicians to the north and the Carpathian Empire to their south; between the Great Rus’ to their east, and we Moravians to their west. Long have they said of themselves that they have
no friends but the mountains. Ivan spent his youthful years together with the
opriški fighting the injustice and plunder of the Carpathian nobles, as well as the encroachments of the Galicians with their lies and false promises. His family claims he even briefly joined a band of Cossacks from Great Rus’. He left Moravia as a young boy, and returned—though for that long Moravia had been at peace—as a seasoned fighter in the asymmetric warfare of the Carpathian foothills.
‘He eagerly joined
Moravia’s war against Galicia, and some might say that his ferocity in battle and his zeal in our cause were doubled, having seen the depredations upon his people by those Galicians who claimed amity and friendship with them. And coming out of that war a veteran, he climbed the ranks to become a
preškapitán. He was an expert in training new recruits, and his experience in the improvised warfare of the Carpathian border made him uniquely suited to studying and adapting new technologies. His keen mind was able to grasp the battlefield dynamics and subtleties of gunpowder and shot, and its impact upon armour. He continued his services to the Moravian state, improving our military and adapting new tactics as long as he was alive. The reason Moravia
has an up-to-date army these days, is due in no small part to the efforts of Ivan Žerotínov.
‘But it is to Our shame, that the Moravians have not always appreciated the Russians’ contributions to Our realm, as substantial as they are. Indeed, even Ivan Olegovič
himself came under suspicion for his Carpathian ties during our late war with that Empire. He was very nearly taken for a traitor. But he called in his favours with his fellow
opriški, and provided the Moravian crown with a line of intelligence that led us to a swifter victory, and likely saved many of our young men from death.
‘Come forth, Paraskeva Ivanovná Žerotínová! Accept, from Our hands, this honour for your noble father’s many and selfless services to Our realm: the Order of Saint Adalbert, deserved many times over and far too long unjustly delayed.’
With this, a slender, narrow-faced woman of middle years stepped forward out of the assemblage in the bailey, and approached the young King. There were tears of gratitude and happy remembrance in her eyes, and with a watery smile she lowered her neck before him and received around her neck the heavy gold medal and the ribbon of Saint Adalbert which should have been given to her father many years ago. She stepped gravely several steps back into the crowd as the King continued his address.
‘In light of this history, We find it utterly intolerable that many of us still continue to regard the Carpatho-Russians as lesser subjects, when in fact they have proven by their bravery and loyalty to the realm that they are worthy of Our consideration as a people with the full rights and privileges enjoyed by Moravians, Silesians, Bohemians and Nitrans. We propose, with this bill presented to the
Zhromaždenie in the name of Ivan Žerotínov: that a philological commission be assembled for the study and standardisation of the Rusiňsk language; that all Crown documents shall be published and promulgated in this speech as well as in the Slovak and Czech languages; that parochial schools in Podkarpatská shall provide instruction for Carpatho-Russian youth in their own language; and that appointments to military and civil service posts shall be made without prejudice or distinction to place of origin within the borders of the Our realm!’
The Ivan Žerotínov Act passed the
Stavovské Zhromaždenie two weeks afterward. The vote was not unanimous—indeed, it was far closer than
Kráľ Prokop would have liked, and it took a great deal more bargaining and favour-exchanging than he first thought it might. But at last, the Carpatho-Russian people were on an equal footing with the other members of the Moravian realm.
Unfortunately, the
Kráľ didn’t have to deal only with a reticent
Zhromaždenie. He had to deal with the fact that Bayern had once again declared war upon Nordgau just on the western border—Germans were warring upon Germans once again, and the East Frankish king licking his chops the whole time. And he also had to deal with another pretender’s uprising—this time, it was the old Regent’s nephew Cyril Stibor, whose main estate was in Spiš. The elderly Boleslav did not support his nephew’s uprising—indeed, he sent his own
zbrojnošov to Olomouc to aid the king in putting Cyril’s rebellion down.
Once again the Moravian army was called up from Olomouc and Bratislava, and the division led by Kaloján z Boskovic once again took the foremost position. Unfortunately, Boskovic had to make his assault across the Váh, placing him in a squeeze. Cyril Stibor had the benefit of position for his troops, and used it. Once again the time-honoured tactic of catching the opposing army in a pincer with reinforcements coming in on the flank proved to be a costly one: nearly a third of Boskovic’s troops were killed or fled—and it was left to the reinforcements from Bratislava to demolish the remainder late in February of 7002 by the old calendar, 1493 by the Western one.
When Cyril Stibor was brought back to Olomouc in irons,
Kráľ Prokop was briefly tempted to have him destroyed by the same excruciating methods that Ján Zajič had been. However—particularly after pleas for clemency not only from the Church but also from Cyril’s uncle—Prokop was moved to commute the rebel’s sentence to mere imprisonment. In truth, although Prokop was bold and energetic of personality, he wasn’t resentful, nor was he even particularly vicious. He found that he didn’t quite have the heart to put to death a man who was wholly within his power and at his mercy.
It was at the beginning of the following year when the
Veliky Knyaz Lev 2. of Great Rus’ once again called upon the Moravians for their martial aid. This time, Rus’ was under attack from within. They were facing an uprising centred on the town of Černigov, but which involved provinces scattered throughout the Ruthenian kingdom. Moreover, it was soon clear that Černigov was not acting on its own initiative, but was being supported by the Carpathian Empire as well as by Thessaly. Prokop was honour-bound to join, not only on behalf of a faithful ally, but also on account of his Northeast Initiatives which had been so carefully placed.
