There'll Always be an Angevin: the first Provence AAR

[unmerged(11018)]

Ho! Now that's going a bit too far, isn't it... I think Francois ought to convert to Waldensianism right away!

Cut the Pope down to size I say, and your realm will stretch from Sicily to Brittany (if Genoa will acknowledge you, that is)! Does he have any allies to speak of?

 

[VPeric]

This'll be interesting. Do you plan on taking anything from them?

 

[Farquharson]

TheBee: Tempted as François was, he knew that changing the state religion was not a realistic option. But as for cutting the Pope down to size, that was certainly on his agenda...

VPeric: Yes!

 

[Farquharson]

Chapter 19: 1544 - 1551
The Pope gets Extremely Put Out​

King François I of Provence was stunned. He was shocked. He was flabbergasted. Then he started to laugh. It was October 1544 and Pope Paulus III had just had the audacity to declare war on the Kingdom of Provence. François studied a map of the Papal States - yes, most of the provinces he needed to annex in order to link the two parts of his Kingdom currently belonged to the Pope. Not for long , however, if he had any say in the matter...

The Venetians had been brought into the conflict by the Pope, but they had hardly any armies worth the name after decades of fighting against the Ottoman Turks. Pope Paulus III had a large army stationed in Rome, and in Rome it stayed for most of the war, to guard the Holy See against a surprise landing by Provençal troops. Pope Paulus III did not know that Provence’s navy currently consisted of just one warship and a couple of galleys. François’ allies, Genoa and the Palatinat, had of course come to his aid, and the large Genoese armies were to prove particularly helpful.

In November 1544 a small Venetian army landed near Naples and began pillaging the area. Five days later, however, the Ottomans once more declared war against Venice and their Papal allies, effectively putting an end to any further Venetian involvement in the so-called Waldensian War. Less than a month later the powerful Catholic Alliance of Spain and Austria, horrified at seeing the Pope threatened by his ill-considered war against the invincible Provençal Alliance, themselves declared war on the Palatinat. Once again the Alliance stayed solid, but for a while things looked serious.

In January 1546 the first Provençal troops came into action when Troyes’ Army of Naples fell upon the Venetians in Napoli and wiped them out. Meanwhile the main Provençal Army under Lebl had reached Lombardia and in March they inflicted a defeat on a small Austrian army there, before marching on to Emilia where they began a siege of the provincial capital, Modena.

Then in June 1545 disaster struck. François I of Provence was paying a state visit to the city of Lyon when a popular French-backed revolt suddenly flared up. The King was trapped, taken prisoner by the angry mob, and finally hanged in the town square, having been sentenced to death on charges of “having the same name as the King of France”. His young son Charles now acceded to the throne of Provence. Charles III turned out to be a born statesman and one of the greatest leaders Provence had yet seen, even at the age of two. With the help of his nanny, who could understand him better than anyone else, he began to issue orders.

Provence’s new king - a young but capable leader​

The Reserve Army were sent to Lyon immediately to deal ruthlessly with the treacherous rebels. They then occupied themselves with other pockets of rebels as the revolt spread to Bourgogne and Franche Comté the following month.

Meanwhile in Italy Troyes had swept through the Papal provinces of Marche and Romagna, pillaging and burning as he went, before joining Lebl outside Modena. In August the Spanish landed a small force near Marseille, but this was quickly driven off by a newly raised army there and chased all the way Milan. Finally in January 1546, realizing that they were achieving nothing against the Provençal Alliance, the Austrians extracted 27 ducats from the Palatinat and signed a Peace Treaty.

The remainder of the war was fairly straightforward. The city of Modena fell to the Provençal troops in February 1546, followed by Bologna, provincial capital of Romagna, in July. Two costly and unsuccessful assaults had left the army severely weakened, and the Reserve Army was sent to join the Main Army, joining them at the siege of Ancona in October. This city finally fell in March 1547 and young Charles, dismissing all Pope Paulus’ desperate offers of a monetary settlement, ordered his forces to attack the large Papal Army who were still defending Rome.

The Papal Army was easily defeated and retreated to Marche where they attempted to recapture the city of Ancoma, while the Provençal Army besieged Rome. The Pope was by now getting desperate. In July 1547 he paid the Ottoman Sultan 31 ducats for peace, and then in November he sent an emissary to Charles III of Provence, offering the provinces of Emilia, Romagna and Marche if the Provençal Army would leave without sacking Rome. Charles gurgled with delight and ordered an extra helping of mashed banana to celebrate. Once again the Provençal Armies had proved that there were not to be messed with. By anyone.

Papal propaganda had ensured that everyone in Provence knew what the war was ostensibly about - protecting the Waldensians from Papal persecution. Many Catholics in Provence were dismayed at the number of lives that had been lost in support of this dubious cause, and with the Reserve Army now in Italy there was very little Charles could do to stem the tide of revolts that were now sweeping his Kingdom. Even before the end of the war Bourgogne was in rebel hands, and in the following year, 1548, Orleanais and Franche Comté also fell. And while the bulk of the army moved north to deal with the situation, the newly acquired Italian provinces also rose in revolt.

Finally, by the summer of 1550, all of Charles’ domains were once more under firm control, and he began to look forward to a period of peace and prosperity. Alas this was not to be quite yet. In August of that year the peasants of Provence became unhappy and stability plummeted once more. Why exactly the peasants were unhappy was not clear, but the centre of rebellion was in Sicily of all places, one of Charles’ most loyal provinces. The nearest army was then in Romagna and they only just reached Sicily in time to save Palermo from being captured by the unhappy peasants.

The Kingdom of Provence in 1551
The Papal States have now been vassalized by Siena​

Charles was a great diplomat, especially at this stage of his career, while he was still only seven years old. By offering the doge of Genoa touching gifts of soft toys, drawings of “Mumy” and wilting flowers, he hoped to persuade his neighbour to become his vassal. His first approach, made in 1551 was unsuccessful. Apparently the doge did not want to be the vassal of an eight year old, even if he was the King of Provence. Charles was content to bide his time - he had plenty more gifts to offer.

Charles’ drawing of his mother, Princess Christine of Denmark​

 

[unmerged(11018)]

LOL, what a great update, Farquharson! Who is the little boy posing for Charles III, I wonder?

It is time to tidy some things up, I say: the abuse of proper Royal Provençal Orange by Sardinia and Siena must be stopped!

It looks like the AI is acting wacky... you notice that when you lead a minor to worldpower, the AI sees that as an excuse to monopolize power by a few states? While as playing for example France historically, the AI keeps itself in check.

BTW, what's happened in the Low Countries?

 

[Semi-Lobster]

Great updates! Did you draw the picture of 'mumy' yourself?

 

[unmerged(25190)]

:rofl: Now that's a funny picture. She looks like Miss Piggy in a viking's hat! :rofl: I always love your captions. They're so funny.

 

[unmerged(19936)]

I guess all my bitching and complaining has paid off. TWO updates since I last checked.

Are all your monarchs from now on the same as France's, or is there a made-up list?

I thinks the picture of the boy with the crown is actually Farquharson :rofl:

 

[Van Engel]

Wow 2 updates in 1 day, Aren't we lucky guys :d
Just lombardia to go now before the 2 parts of the Kingdom are united ...........

 

[VPeric]

I think the Austrian menance needs to be dealt with... the sooner, the better, lest they become too strong. Lets hope Genoa starts liking "Mumy" more

 

[unmerged(26934)]

wow, nice stuff. Just found this post and now ill be checking regularly.

 

[coz1]

The image of little Charles in my mind has me rollingon the floor, especially with the photo you provided! :rofl:

Great stuff as usual, sir. Now you must attack Siena with a valid CB if having the same color!

 

[Farquharson]

Well, here we are back after a short break, apparently!

TheBee: Yes, the abuse of Provencal orange is definitely getting annoying, but alas I haven't been able to do anything about it yet... Low Countries is in turmoil - I've now played to 1575 but I don't want to jump ahead!)

Semi-Lobster: Naw - the picture is genuine, and can still be viewed at the Marseille Museum of Historical Documents...

_Arcadian_: Thanks - I wasn't thinking of Miss Piggy but when you mentioned it...

Troggle: Oh no - you discovered my secret! And about the monarch files, from 1480 onwards Provence gets the Dukes of Lorraine monarch files, not the Kings of France. Francois I in both countries was a (completely historical) coincidence. This also explains why any time Lorraine reappears my King will automatically be its ruler as well.

Van Engel: Yes, my immediate goal is definitely the Union of the Two Halves!

VPeric: Well, looking back from 1575 I can say Austria are not really the main threat. And as for Genoa... huh!

rafjorbro: Welcome to the Monkeyhouse!

coz1: I'm scared of Siena! o

Well, all will now be revealed...

 

[Farquharson]

Chapter 20: 1551 - 1562
The Quest for Wholeness​

Charles III of Provence, aged eight-and-a-half, had just extended his Italian domains from Naples up to Modena, and now needed only one more province to join the whole of the Kingdom of Provence into a single geographic entity. The city of Genoa would provide a suitable bridge between the two halves, as would the city of Milan. The doge of Genoa was of course his ally, but so far showed not the slightest interest in being vassalized, never mind annexed. Milan was currently part of the Great White Blobbish Austrian Empire, whose relations with Provence were flagging somewhat due to Charles’ recent exploits in Italy.

Charles was just contemplating whether he could get away with a declaration of war without just cause when an entire decade of almost continuous war hit him smack between the eyes. It all began in June 1551 when the doge of Genoa decided to declare war on Eire. Already in possession of Connaught, he was clearly hoping to bring more of the Emerald Isle under Genoese sovereignty. Charles was casting his greedy eye on Normandie, still officially belonging to Eire’s ally England, but then he noticed that it was currently occupied by Brittany. It looked like this would just be a war to sit out...

In February 1553 Eire generously paid the Provençal Alliance 74 ducats for peace, and the following month the Emperor Karl I of Austria declared war on Provence. This was more like it, thought Charles to himself, and sent the might of his armies into Lombardia to besiege Milan. The city fell in January 1554, while some Pastis Patrols were unleashed on unsuspecting nearby Austrian provinces. The main army now advanced on Innsbruck, currently the Austrian capital. Unfortunately, a large Spanish Army had just landed in Provence and were now besieging Charles’ capital, Marseille.

Innsbruck was captured in September 1554 and Charles, who was getting tired of living under siege in Marseille, slipped past the Spanish siege lines and went to Innsbruck to spend the winter in the Emperor Karl’s Hofburg Palace:

Charles chills out in the Hofburg Palace​

Meanwhile the Spanish Army outside Marseille proved singularly difficult to dislodge, and after two unsuccessful attempts, Charles received a visit in Innsbruck from the Emperor Karl himself:

Charles III, King of Provence: Well, hello there, Karl. Hey - really nice place you’ve got here!

Karl I, Emperor of Austria: Yes, and I’m looking forward to moving back in in the very near future.

Charles III: Well, of course I’ll be sorry to leave, but if you’ve finally seen sense and are ready to hand over Milan to the House of Anjou...

Karl I: Never! Milan rightfully belongs to the Great White Blob!

Charles III: The what?

Karl I: Er - I mean, the Austrian Empire.

Charles III: Pardon me, but last time I checked Milan was an Italian city.

Karl I: Of course it is, dumkopf! We Austrians like Italian cities - and French ones, and Hungarian ones, and Polish ones, and...

Charles III: Hmm, yes, I think I get the picture. The trouble is, you see, we in Provence are on a quest - a quest for wholeness. We need to unite our Kingdom into one piece. And all we need is one little province...

Karl I: But we in Austria are also on a quest for wholeness! A quest to swallow up all of Europe into one gigantic White Blob! All we need is EVERY province in Europe!

Charles III: Well in that case I think you should get yourself a new army, cos the one you’ve got right now is a pushover.

Karl I: Hah! Is that what your allies in the Palatinat thought, when we annexed them six months ago? And what of our faithful Spanish allies? You did not find their army such a pushover, ja? Even now your own capital is about to fall, and our own armies are besieging Milan.

Charles III: Er, yes, well you won’t always have those greasy Spaniards to look after you. In any case, if you haven’t come to hand over Milan, what have you come for?

Karl I: To offer peace. For the moment.

Charles III: On what terms?

Karl I: You will vacate Innsbruck and Milan, and the Spanish will lift their siege of Marseille. And we will pay you 200 ducats in indemnities.

Charles III weighed his options carefully. He was now pessimistic about beating the Spanish in battle and had been unable to buy them out of the war. Moreover, the Genoese were proving to be of little help in this war. He knew that once Marseille fell and perhaps Milan as well he would not receive any more offers as generous as this one. And there was one other factor - irritatingly, Helvetia had declared war on Provence in April. Reluctantly he agreed, and the Treaty of Innsbruck was signed on September 12th 1555. Charles arrived back in Marseille in time to see the Spanish Army loading onto their ships and leaving. We really should build ourselves a navy, he thought to himself.

The main problem in the Helvetian War, which Charles now turned his attention to, was that the Helvetians were far ahead of Provence in military technology, so that their army, while not particularly large, seemed invincible. They were using even more up-to-date CRTs than Provence now had, and when they marched on Besançon and assaulted it, there was little Charles could do to stop them.

A Helvetian CRT - what use were primitive arquebuses against weapons like these?​

Fortunately, once they had occupied Besançon, the Helvetians then returned to their capital Bern, leaving the Provençal Army to retake the city, which they did in March 1557. The war then settled into something of a stalemate, until Charles agreed to pay Helvetia 75 ducats for peace in September 1558.

Meanwhile, momentous events were taking place elsewhere. Charles’ first Catholic Mission to bring the wayward Waldensians of Cévennes back into the Mother Church was a glowing success, the process being completed in 1556. Later that year Provençal settlers successfully founded the first Provençal colony in the New World, in a place called Nova Scotia, although an attempt to expand the colony in 1559 was less successful.

The tiny Provençal colony, with their French and English neighbours​

Back in Milan the restoration of Austrian rule proved to be short-lived, with a revolt led by the charismatic archbishop of Milan, Charles Borromeo (who was also the Pope’s nephew), which succeeded in driving out the Austrians in September 1557. Shortly after this came the disastrous Two Month War, in which Siena, now a member of the French Alliance, declared war on Provence. The Sienese, who were also using the new-design CRTs, and the French succeeded in completely annihilating the Provençal Army, whereupon the Sienese accepted 22 ducats for peace.

In March 1561 Charles Borromeo set up the Milano City Council which immediately declared independence from Austria, and declared war on Austria for good measure. Charles III quickly invited the Milanese to join his alliance, but for some reason Charles Borromeo refused.

Charles III, to his new wife, Claude of France: But why on earth does he not want to join our Alliance?

Claude of France: It must be because he’s a L.O.M.B.A.R.D., dear.

Charles III: A Lombard? What’s that got to do with it?

Claude: A L.O.M.B.A.R.D. - Loads Of Money, But A Real Dork.

Charles III: Oh, I see. Well, I can’t say I’m sorry. After all, the other way to bring Milan into the Kingdom of Provence will be much quicker.

Claude: Oh but darling! You can’t possibly be meaning to go to war against them? You have no just cause - and they are our Catholic brethren - what will people think?

Charles III: People? You mean the Pope? Felipe II of Spain? Karl I of Austria? They couldn’t think much worse of me than they do already, although goodness knows why. Still, we do need to make sure of our domestic security before making such a move.

Claude: Perhaps we should have a burglar alarm installed in the palace?

Charles III: No dear, I mean we must be ready to quell revolts ruthlessly if the people of Provence object to the war.

Claude: Oh, I see. But why would people object? After all, they all know we are on a quest for wholeness.

Charles III: Well, I hope so. We shall see...

In April 1561 Charles Borromeo announced that Milan was now Counter-Reformed Catholic, in other words, so fanatically anti-Waldensian that the Milanese would no longer be considered as Catholic brethren by the people of Provence. In May Charles III announced that he was going to liberate the people of Milan from the tyranny of religious fundamentalism and declared war. Nobody was fooled by this thinly disguised attempt at legitimacy, least of all the Genoese, who refused to honour their long-standing alliance. Nevertheless, within a year, Milan had been annexed into the Kingdom of Provence, and once the war was over, Genoa gladly rejoined the Alliance. At long last the Kingdom of Provence was united!

The fanatical Charles Borromeo fled to Mantua, where he stirred up another revolt, persuading the Mantuans to declare independence and war on Austria and Spain in June 1562. He was, as Claude of France had put it so succinctly, a L.O.M.B.A.R.D. Mantua was soon besieged by a huge Spanish army.

We should now take a look at events in France during this period. Back in 1551 Brittany had taken the French Alliance into a war with England, quickly occupying Normandie. (This is what had prevented Charles of Provence from doing that himself, remember?) This war had dragged on for seven years before France had finally managed to wrest Gascogne from the English in 1558.

Four years later their gains came to nothing, indeed less than nothing, when the Huguenots, a Protestant movement named because of how they tied their shoe-laces, declared themselves an independent and Reformed state comprising Vendée, Gascogne, Guyenne and Limousin. Moreover they claimed the Provençal provinces of Cévennes, Lyonnais and Dauphiné as rightfully theirs as well. They had of course gone to war against the French and by late 1562 they had occupied Poitou. Charles watched the situation carefully, weighing up how he could best turn it to Provence’s profit.

He was meanwhile working hard to modernize the Provençal Army, and in 1561 they were armed with the deadly new CRTs. Not content with that, he also hired another foreign drill instructor in 1562, who turned the Provençal Army into an even deadlier fighting machine. The only question was, who could they test their newly acquired weapons and skills on first?

Europe in 1563, showing the newly united Kingdom of Provence, the sad fate of France,
and the limited progress of the Great White Blob
The Ottomans are top of the VP table, owning all of North Africa as far as Tripolitania​

Sorry about the confusing mess of browns (Provence, Genoa, Siena, Mantua and Sardinia). If anyone can tell me how to change a nation’s colour I will gladly sort it out (pending the time when they will all be part of Provence, of course!)

 

[Languish]

This is a really well presented AAR Farquharson... and it looks like you have made excellent progress as Provence. Are you looking to claim the crown of France - or is it too late to do that?

 

[unmerged(11018)]

I don't have the latest updates & patches, but here's how it works with my EU II. In de DB folder, there's an excel file "country". The first column is the country tag, the second column makes the colour.

Used it once to turn the ugly Palatine orange into beautiful Russian red.

 

[VPeric]

hmm... maybe it was so before, but I noticed just now... Prussia pwned Poland , which has only three provinces. And lets hope the Austrians don't meddle with Italy again. Their allies might be a tad powerfull for ya

 

[Van Engel]

Another great update with joining up the 2 parts of the kingdom and I hope too that the BWB doesn't meddle with you again, spain look pretty strong

Used it once to turn the ugly Palatine orange into beautiful Russian red.

Ur... Isn't the palatine orange the same as the provencal orange.....maybe it isn't so ugly anymore

 

[Farquharson]

I'm going to be naughty here and post without an update . Just wanted to say thanks to TheBee - I have now fixed the brown mess. Genoa is Brandenburg gray, Siena is dark brown, Sardinia is Venetian green and Mantua - ah, Mantua, how could they survive with Charles Borromeo at the helm...? First map with these colours in the next post. Incidentally, there are some odd things in that Excel file - that colour that the Huguenots and Brittany are using that you and I would say was "Green" is actually "LightOrange" :wacko: . And yes, I do believe the "ugly Palatine orange" you refer to is the very same as our beloved Provencal brown.

Languish: Thanks. Yes, it's too late to claim the Crown of France (event expires in 1515) but, phooey, who needs the Crown of France when you've got the Crown of Provence?

VPeric: Hmm, yes - partition of Poland has happened a little early it seems.

Van Engel & VPeric: I fear I haven't seen the last of Austria. In fact I'm finding this game one of the most action-packed I've ever played. I can certainly recommend Provence as a never-a-dull-moment nation. You never know who's going to come DoWing next!

 

[unmerged(19936)]

Good update, I guess I won't have to berate you anymore

Try colonizing Acadie as well (though I'm guessing you're not getting a constant stream of colonists). Lots of low agression natives, and a resource that provides high production incomes (salt). Salt is very under appreciated.

Try changing Provence to purple. Very regal and impressive. You have to change the entry in country.csv to say DarkBrown (sort of counter-intuitive).