Through Rivers of Blood and Mountains of Gold - The Story of The House of D'Albon

[Tommy4ever]

Mongols or Timur?
You can simply create new patriarchates?
That's unfair!

What of the seat of Carthage?

The last sentence was about plague ....
Plenty of new Patriachates were just created eg Patriachate of East Asia
I don't think Carthage was ever an official Patriachate and by the 11th Century there wasn't even a Bishop fo Carthage so there is no real reason to raise a random Patriach there when there is an incredibly powerful clergyman in Croatia.

EDIT: Interim update on previous page about rest of world

 

[Enewald]

Anatolia lies between two Christian powers, but for how long...
Soon the Pope shall sail for America? :rofl:

 

[Marco Oliverio]

Awesome! Thanks.

 

[Tommy4ever]

I'm now just 20 years from the end in game and have just finished a ruler I'm calling ''the magnificent lech''. One to look out for . He takes an unusual route to world conquest through the vaginas of his inbred cousins . He also ends up having 3 children with his sisters and becomes the ultimate inheritor as all those inbred babies seem to die off fast leaving 'the magnificent lech' with more lands.

Anyway tommorow shall be about 2nd half of Alderic II's reign and will largely focus on the Black Death but there will be a big war at the end to appease everyone.

 

[Tommy4ever]

Intterim

King Death

The Great Plague of the early 14th Century remains one of the most cataclysmic events in world history. For many years historians have believed that the Plague wiped away around 1/3 of Europe’s population but more recent investigation has revealed that the death toll lies around 50%-60% of the entire European populace. The Plague brought down an Empire, near enough caused the collapse of both the Catholic and Lain Churches, proved to be the salvation of Orthodoxy and directly led to the decline and fall of the serfdom which dominated the Medieval period.

The Great Plague arrived from the East along the Mongol-Bulgar trade routes, reaching the Bulgar heartland on the Eastern bank of the Volga in 1329, from their it spread Southward to the Turkic tribes of Central Asia before Winter cut short its advance. One crucial and ultimately devastating policy employed by the Bulgar Empire at this time was to ban all trade across the Volga, this prevented the Plague spreading into the Bulgar dominated Russian heartland for many years thus shielding the Russians from the destruction experienced by the recently settled Bulgars. Meanwhile in1329 the Black Death managed to pass into the Muslim dominated Bulgar territories just to the North of the Caucuses through Caspian trade whilst at the same time it advanced into the Eastern portion of the Seljuk Persian Empire. In 1330 the Plague would make its first contact with the Christian world as after the West of the Seljuk Persian Empire along with the Emirates of the Persian Gulf and the Caucuses were overwhelmed the city of Palmyra suffered from its first cases of Plague. Luckily by the time it reached Palmyra it was late December and the disease soon halted for Winter. In the North the sailors making the short trip across the Sea of Azov brought the disease to the Crimean Khanate around the same time. The following year the closely knit European trade network would cause utter destruction for the Continent. As the disease spread from the Crimea to Constantinople and from the Middle East to the Levantine trading cities it was quickly exported to all of the Mediterranean’s major trading hubs as Alexandria, Tunis, Palermo, Pisa, Genoa and Venice all suffered from cases of the Plague. In 1332 it then exploded across both the Latin and Roman Empires and also the Islamic states of Spain and North Africa. During this short period when the newly founded Latin Church suffered whilst the Catholics remained untouched the Pope issued a proclamation claiming that this was a punishment for the Schism on the Latins. This few was held by many in the Latin Empire and soon chaos began to ensue. However in the following year the Catholic world saw the disastrous Plague spread into their realms as half of Germany, Hungary, England and Ireland the disease spread to their lands. Meanwhile Scandinavian ships travelling back home from Ulster introduced the disease to the Blatic trading network and by the end of the year every major Baltic port had reported cases of Plague. In the same year, 1333, the Plague finally crossed over into the Russian heartlands. Finally in 1334 the Plague spread to the last untouched areas of the world where temperatures and population were high enough to support it.

It is somewhat hard to imagine what it must have felt like in those years of Hell when there were more dead than there were living. Bodies were left to rot in the streets and in their homes, in places where they were buried they were thrown into mass graves without the Holy sacraments (thus leaving them condemned to Hell). Many believed that the end of times had come in the final page of a diary kept by the Irish chronicler in the Pope’s court, John of Clyn, it was written ‘’I leave the parchment for the work to be continued, in case in the future any of the race of Adam should be able to escape this plague and continue what I have begun’’. This widely held belief that the world was coming to an end effected people in many different ways.

Some turned to ‘’unbridled lust’’ as people lived by the motto ‘’eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die’’. This caused a total breakdown in society. Why should a worker obey his Lord when neither might be alive in the morning? Why fear retribution for crime when you will not live to see punishment? In the Kingdom of Jerusalem the murder rate trebled whilst thousands deserted the army and work on building projects quickly ground to a halt. Large areas of housing was left to collapse leaving huge derelict regions within the once large cities, wild animals were said to have roamed the streets feasting on the dead and the dying.

Just as seems to happen in every great disaster many more men searched for scapegoats to blame as Ziegler explains ‘’when ignorant men are overwhelmed by forced far beyond their control, it is natural that they will search for an explanation within their group’’. Throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Jews, lepers, Muslims and Schismatic (Latins in the Catholic world Catholics in the Latin Empire) were tortured and killed by angry mobs. Emperor Alderic declared that the Jewish and Muslim populations within the entire Latin Empire were under his protection and ordered an end to the pogroms. Yet during 1333 a units of the Imperial Army destroyed the Jewish quarters in Damascus, Antioch, Alexandria and Cairo.

Whilst the above mentioned reactions to the Plague provided some terrible short term effects for Europe it was the religious response that was to be much more damaging. It is unsurprising that contemporary Christians saw the Plague as a punishment for the Great Western Schism. From 1332 a powerful anti-Latin religious cult known as the Flagellants (due to their ritualistic marches featuring self-flagellation) spread quickly to every corner of the Empire. They aimed to ‘’destroy the impure and sinful Latin Church’’. The Heretical group became immensely popular throughout the Empire and in 1338 it is estimated that there were as many practising Flagellants as there were Latins. The Flagellants raided Latin Churches and refused to pay taxes to the government. Their most infamous action during the period was when a march through Antioch turned violent following clashes with loyal Latin Christians. The scuffles soon erupted into a pitched battle within the city and after slaughtering many thousands of Latins within the city the Flagellant mob took the Patriarch of Antioch and beat him to death. Whilst the group quickly faded after the Plague began to clear in the early 1340s the memory of its effect on the Latin world would linger for Centuries.

Meanwhile in the Catholic world, less than a year after his confident declaration that the Plague was a punishment on the Schismatic Latins, Pope Boniface XI was claimed by the Black Death. Many saw this as a sign from God that the entire Western Church was to blame and whilst no single dominant movement like the Flagellants emerged there were dozens of smaller but no less damaging heretical groups roaming the Catholic world.

In the Orthodox world no major heretical force emerged, instead the Church stood firmly beside its people and whilst Latin and Catholic priests were fleeing from cities and avoiding giving Last Rites Orthodox priests remained put and helped their flock through the disaster. Strangely immunity to the Plague spread very quickly, in Russia for example the Plague lasted from 1333-1338 whilst most European states suffered for as much as twice that long. But the most important effect was the difference between the Russians and the Bulgars. In the Bulgar heartland the Plague lingered for 30 years between 1328 and 1358, whilst around 20% of Russians died estimates of the effect on the Bulgar populations show that around 80% of Bulgars were killed in the extended disaster. But in Russia itself the movements of the Plague seemed to point to divine intervention on behalf of the Russians. Whilst, as was previously mentioned, the Plague left the Russian populace around 1338 it lingered among the Bulgar elite (who remained completely separated from the Russians) for around 10 years longer. In the mid-1340 most of the Bulgar occupying population left Russia. With their enemies being crushed by the Plague whilst they were only lightly effected the Russians seemed to come to the conclusion that God willed for them to rise up. This ideal would lead to the Great Crusade of the 1360s.

Compared to all else the most lasting impact of the Black Death was the way in which it destroyed the old institution of serfdom. Before the Plague Europe was dangerously overpopulated and men willingly and eagerly gave up their freedom in exchange for some land (they became serfs). During this time labour was being over supplied and so Lords could purchase it at a very low price. However after the Plague there was a shortage of labourers. Seeing now that their Lords needed them more than they needed their Lords labourers demanded higher wages. The establishment tried desperately to hold back the waves of social change in what is now known as the seynorial reaction through legislation like the Ordinance of Labourers (1340) and the Statute of Labourers (1341) which attempted to limit wages the cost of labour rose significantly (note: both pieces of legislation mentioned were used in the Kingdom of Jerusalem). The reason for the failure of this legislation is explained by Hatcher ‘’although as a body they [the nobility] supported the enactment of labour legislation, they lacked the solidarity necessary to ensure its effective enforcement’’. Essentially if one Lord remained true to the law and refused to raise his peasant’s wages the peasant would simply move and find a master who would. This situation is displayed through a petition that was put before Emperor Alderic in 1341 ‘’a greater mischief is the receiving of such vagrant labourers and servants when they have fled from their masters’ service; for they are taken into servie immediately in new places, at such dear wages that example and encouragement is afforded to all servants to depart into fresh places and go from master to master as soon as they are displeased.’’ It was now clear to everyone that it was better to be a freeman than a serf whilst previously this had not been the case. If peasants were not relieved of their bondage they simply left their masters. Coincidently around the same time many Lords had discovered that it was more profitable to rent out land to peasants than to keep serfs, this combined with the pressure coming from the peasantry themselves effectively brought an end to the old institution.

 

[Tommy4ever]

OK, I'm going to do the tiny bit left of Alderic II this afternoon. All it is is one war and his succession so I decided not to tack it on to the end of this wopper.

I charted the spread of the disease (roughly in game) and thats were I got its movements from. It serious did stay in the Bulgar lands for 30 years whilst leaving the rest of the world.

I'm also studying BD at the moment at school so thats how I know so much about it and have all those quotes (almost all in this passage are real).

EDIT to answer Enewald: After defeating Mongols and becoming extremely rich through trade and Empire the Bulgar settled down into large cities along the eastern bank of the Volga. Plague destroyed these cities.

Also plague easily spread through countryside as well (although not as devestating as in cities)

 

[Enewald]

I cannot understand how that is possible on the Bulgarian steppes.
Plague needs rats and other vermin to spread, that would mean that the bulgars all live in big cities?
Aren't they steppe-peoples?
Russia, Finland and Scandinavia would have been left nearly untouched since there were not that many big cities that are needed for the plague.

 

[Tommy4ever]

Alderic II, The Reformer (Part 2)
Lived: 1301-1350
Head of House of D’Albon: 1314-1350
Holy Roman Emperor: 1314-1329
Latin Emperor: 1329-1350
King of Jerusalem, Syria and Araby: 1314-1350
King of Egypt: 1327-1350

Throughout the Great Plague Alderic and the Imperial family remained locked up in their palace in Jerusalem. Alderic refused to speak directly with anyone from the outside, instead he had messengers write letters to him which were delivered through a series of intermediaries. Thanks to these measures the Imperial family never suffered over the course of the Great Plague. Only when it began to recede in the late 1330s did Alderic again leave the palace.

In 1339 Alderic decided to take advantage of the chaotic situation in neighbouring Islamic states by annexing several small, recently made independent, sheikdoms to the North-East of the Kingdom.

In Spain the legendary Sultan Mohammed Firouz of Zenata waged war again the Christian powers of the Latin Empire and between 1340 and his death in 1349 he conquered a huge swath of territory. However upon his death his great Islamic state became a Christian one. The De Semur family were English, they had come to Spain and settled in Galicia during the 12th Century. Once the Muslims reconquered Galicia the De Semur family stayed and retained their Christian faith. After the Schism they became Latin Christians. The Great Sultan Mohammed Firouz had died without an heir, his one and only child (a daughter named Fatima) had married Stephen De Semur. Upon the Sultan’s death Stephen and Fatima’s son Henry became King of Zenata. Now what had once been a powerful Islamic enemy in Spain was now an equally strong Latin Christian ally to the D’Albons.

After the passing of the Plague Alderic and the Byzantine Emperor, Philipos Lakarakis, began to discuss future joint military operations. The Greeks were extremely eager to reclaim the long lost lands of Asia Minor which were still populated mostly by Greeks (although many of these Greeks were now Muslims). After the two Empires had assembled some 200,000 men the invasion of the Seljuk Empire began in 1347. The Turks were quickly overwhelmed by the numerous Christian armies. On July 3rd 1349 the Turks made their last bid to save Anatolia and Armenia when the Sultan himself marched 60,000 men from Persia into battle.

The Battle of Lake Van saw the Seljuk Sultan’s 60,000 Persian conscripts face Grand Master Rashid of Baalbek the Head of the Hospitaller Order (a 2nd generation Christian convert) and his 20,000 man force consisting largely of Hospitaller troops but also including a considerable force of the professional Imperial Army.

Rashid set up his much smaller army on a defensive position on a peninsula that protrudes into the Lake. He allowed the Sultan’s large, ill disciplined and poorly equipped army to come in to attack his army from the only direction they could. The elite Hospitaller knights coupled with the Imperial infantry made short work of the Persian conscripts. After suffering heavy losses the Persians began to retreat and at this point Rashid unleashed his cavalry.

Rashid, at the head of his cavalry charge, was soon joined by light horse units from the East and West that had been sent as reinforcements. Together with his additional horsemen Rashid was able to utterly destroy the Turkish army and even capture the Sultan. The Seljuk Sultan was then brought before two Emperors and forced to sign a humiliating peace.

All of Turkish Armenia was ceded to the Kingdom of Jerusalem whilst all the Seljuk lands in Western Anatolia with the exception of the lands of the Emir of Ankara (who had refused to go to war) were ceded to the Roman Empire. Following the victory all that remained of Turkish Anatolia ere the minor Sheikdoms of the North East and the Emir of Ankara in the centre of the region.

Just a few months after returning to Jerusalem victorious Alderic was assassinated whilst on his way to Church. After a lengthy chase through the city streets the culprit was captured and after 7 days in Jerusalem’s torture chambers he revealed his paymaster; the Emir of Medina. By this point Hugues (the eldest of Alderic’s 4 sons) had taken the throne. Upon being told whom the culprits for his father’s assignation were Hugues called upon his Generals to ready the armies and prepare for war. In the Islamic world Hugues is remembered as Hugues, The Terrible for his actions in the resulting conflict whilst in the Latin world he has gone down in history as Hugues, The Wrathful.

 

[Enewald]

Someone failed in escaping whilst playing Assassins Creed?

 

[Tommy4ever]

Hugues, The Wrathful
Lived: 1323-1353
Head of House of D’Albon: 1350-1353
Latin Emperor: 1350-1353
King of Jerusalem, Egypt, Syria and Araby: 1350-1353

Hugues’ short reign was dominated by one thing: warfare. For barely a few weeks after his cornation the nation was at peace, but only as it prepared for war with Medina. The conflict with Medina and the resulting Civil War would end the many long years of Latin tolerance in the East as Hugues exacted his vengeance on the Muslim Holy Cities in Hedjaz and against the tolerant parts of his own Kingdom.

Hugues, like so many in the Latin Empire, idolised Alderic as a titan amongst men. So his rage against his father’s murders is in many ways understandable. After assembling a great army in Tabuk Hugues declared war on the Emirate of Medina, Hugues marched into the Hejaz with 20,000 men whilst smaller armies moved to occupy the many small enclaves of Medina rule.

One of the first actions of the Emir was to send out a call to the large Muslim population in Jerusalem (around 1/3 of the state) to rise up against their Christian overlords and fight for Islam. Yet the Muslim populace within Jerusalem remained loyal to their Emperor, in fact many of the prominent Muslim religious leaders within the nation received guarantees from the government that in exchange for loyalty the Holy Cities would not be harmed.

The city of Medina itself was abandoned without much of a fight from the Emir as at that stage they had yet to fully organise their host. After seizing Medina Hugues did not sack it, instead he simply occupied it. This made it seem to his Muslim subjects that he would be true to his word and not harm the Holy Cities. After moving Southward he met the Arab host in battle just to the North of Mecca itself.

20,000 trained Christian soldiers (5,000 of them knights) simply charged down the makeshift Arab army that was some 14,000 men strong. However during the charge, that Hugues led himself, the eldest son of the Emperor, Renald, was killed. With Medina’s army broken Hugues marched into Mecca itself.

The very presence of a non-Muslim within Mecca was a grievous sin, the sacred nature of the city to Muslims cannot be underestimated. Yet in an immortal exchange Hugues ordered its destruction:

When one of his Generals asked what he should do with the city after its surrender to the Emperor Hugues simply replied ‘’Burn it. Burn it all’’.

For an entire week Hugues’ army was given free reign over the city to do as they wished. During this time what few people were not slaughtered by the Latin army managed to flee from the city. After his men had finished having their way with Mecca Hugues had his men totally demolish every single building.

Whilst Hugues expected to return home to a jubilant nation celebrating a quick and glorious victory he returned to a Civil War.

Large portions of the Kingdom rose up in revolt as the Muslim of Egypt, Sinai, Armenia and much of Arabia looked to overthrow their treacherous King. Meanwhile a large scale noble rebellion emerged with the aim of overthrowing Hugues and placing his 11 year old son, Amaury, on the throne. Strangely the noble rebellion was focussed in areas that had long been Christian and had few Muslims in them, yet these rulers seemed to take great offence at the Rape of Mecca committed by Hugues’ army.

In the early part of the war the nobles in Egypt quickly began to work alongside the Muslim rebels to crush the loyalist fortresses in Cairo and Alexandria, thus cutting Hugues off from the wealth of Egypt. However the nobles faced a crushing defeat at Jerusalem where Hugues personally led a large army to victory. This battle saw 2/3 of the rebel Levantine army destroyed. Over the following years Hugues took the Levantine cities one by one, exacting terrible revenge on each on as: Jaffa, Ascalon, Acre, Tyre, Beirut, Baalbek, Tripoli and Alexandretta all fell. When Grandmaster Albert de Leon of the Templar led out the tattered remnants of the noble rebellion (around 9,000 men) onto the field at Antioch few saw any hope against the 25,000 men of Hugues’ battle hardened legions.

Quickly the rebel army became enveloped by Hugues’ much larger force and as he had in every battle Hugues charged into the thick of the battle. At some stage his mount was taken away from under him but the warrior King continued to fight. Then he met Grandmaster Albert de Leon in personal combat.

Albert slew the King in personal combat and in doing so he saved the Kingdom. The loyalist army, seeing their King dead, withdrew from combat and accepted Amaury as the new King. As Albert travelled to Jerusalem with the new Monarch (who had been hiding in Antioch) the rebellions throughout the Kingdom began to die away. Shortly after entering the city Amaury was elected Emperor. So began the reign of Amaury, The Mighty.

 

[Enewald]

Bah, a silly end for a civil war.
How can armoured knights survive in Arabian deserts?

 

[Tommy4ever]

Bah, a silly end for a civil war.
How can armoured knights survive in Arabian deserts?

In game what happen was after I finished my war with Medina a got LOTS of rebellions and realm duress. For 2 years I went around squashing them and by 1353 had them all but beat. Then one Grandmaster Albert de Leon meets my King in battle with his tiny army and kills Hugues straight out. Amaury comes to throne but rebels are already destroyed.

Meanwhile I see no reason the knights can't survive. They did in the Crusades, also surely at some point the Romans must have used their heavy cataraphacts in the deserts (not sure on that one though). Also these armies would be very well supplied and thus would have no water/food problems. It would be very uncomfortable though

 

[Enewald]

Meanwhile I see no reason the knights can't survive. They did in the Crusades, also surely at some point the Romans must have used their heavy cataraphacts in the deserts (not sure on that one though). Also these armies would be very well supplied and thus would have no water/food problems. It would be very uncomfortable though

Saladdin overcame the crusaders actually with more light armoured mobile troops.
Light, swift horse archers are more deadly than knights in the east.
Romans did not waste cataphracts in the deserts, they could not allow that kind of silliness.
Where be your local auxilias, horse archers and such?

 

[Tommy4ever]

Knights were still very effective in the Crusades. So long as they don't go off chasing the lighter horse archers heavy cav was still very effective due to its shear power. ''a knight could punch through a wall'' (Anna Comnena).

ANYWAYS almost finished todays update and you'll be pleased to see horse archers beating knights.

Also does anyone like MONGOLS? There will be some in this next update (only briefly at the end).

 

[Enewald]

Knights were still very effective in the Crusades. So long as they don't go off chasing the lighter horse archers heavy cav was still very effective due to its shear power. ''a knight could punch through a wall'' (Anna Comnena).

ANYWAYS almost finished todays update and you'll be pleased to see horse archers beating knights.

Also does anyone like MONGOLS? There will be some in this next update (only briefly at the end).

Anna Komnenus is right, but what if the wall keeps moving?
<3 mongols!

 

[unmerged(169228)]

Well, good job building several empires in one AAR. Especially since you started with a small county .
Any ambition on making the Latin Emperor the Roman Emperor (taking Constantinople)?

 

[Tommy4ever]

Amaury, The Mighty (Part 1)
Lived: 1339-1394
Head of House of D’Albon: 1353-1394
Latin Emperor: 1353-1394
Roman Emperor: 1381-1394
Vice Gerent of Christ: 1359-1394
King of Jerusalem, Egypt, Syria and Araby: 1353-1394
King of the Armenians: 1373-1394
King of Africa: 1378-1394
King of Croatia 1381-1394
King of Babylon: 1393-1394

Amaury is one of the best examples in history of how a man of limited talents can secure a legacy of greatness. Amaury was neither particularly intelligent, nor a strong warrior, nor a great schemer, nor war he diplomatically astute. Amaury however possessed two great assets: ambition and the ability to surround himself with men much more capable than he was. With these two assets he would go on to unify the two Christian Empires and conquer great tracts of land from Muslim and Christian alike.

In the first few years of Amaury’s reign it seemed that the Europe was in grave danger from the Turks who had only recently faced defeat in Anatolia. In 1354 the Turks finished their conquest of Poland. In 1355 they invaded Papal Bohemia. The Pope request help from the Catholic rulers of Europe but only the Duchy of Silesia answered the call and they too were invaded. By 1358 both Silesia and Papal Bohemia were under Turkish control. On January 8th 1359 30,000 Turkish warriors landed near the Papal seat in Dublin to begin their invasion of Ireland. With the Catholic Kings of Northern Europe seemingly apathetic to his plight the Pope turned to Amaury, the Latin Emperor, for assistance.

In mid 1359 the Pope arrived in Jerusalem for negotiations. Both Amaury and the Pope seemed to regard this as the first step in ending the Schism between the Western Churches. Yet doing so much as allowing the Pope to enter the Latin Empire was extremely unpopular as the Latin Church preached that the Pope was barely one step better than Lucifer himself. So when Amaury allowed made an agreement with his holiness and even allowed the Pope to bestow a title upon the Emperor there was uproar across the Latin Empire. The results of the meeting were simple: Amaury would invaded Persia to try to relieve the Turkish pressure on the Catholics and in return the Pope would declare Amaury Vice Gerent of Christ. The Vice Gerent of Christ is a title that refers to its holder as the steward of God, the man left to rule the earth for God in heaven. This gave Amaury implied power over all of Christendom and indeed the world.

The campaign itself was merely a formality. Amaury sent 120,000 men to invade Persia whilst the Turks could barely muster 40,000 in response. Just 3 months into the conflict Baghdad fell, here Amaury won a great religious victory as when the Abbasid Caliph was given a choice between torture followed by execution and conversion to Latin Christianity followed by elevation to Patriarchal status he chose the latter. 4 months after the fall of Baghdad and the Imperial armies reached the Seljuk capital at Shiraz. This was further East than even the armies of Trajan trod. However Amaury was unable to gain quite as much land as he would have liked as by the time Shiraz fell another civil war was brewing in the Levant. After the loss of his capital the Turkish Sultan gratefully agreed to the relatively light peace enforced on him by Amaury in which Baghdad was surrendered.

When Amaury and his Generals returned to the Levant they found the nobility (the same nobility that had so recently overthrown his father in favour of him) up in arms. Many felt that Amaury had effectively sold the Empire’s soul for little more than a title by signing his agreement with the Pope, worse still by assuming a title long held by the Roman Emperors he had alienated the Latin Empire’s only real foreign ally and brought the Pact of God to an end. The result for Amaury was almost every Levantine Duke in a single revolt with support also coming from Egypt and the other member Kingdoms of the Latin Empire.

In two separate battles the rebels triumphed by using their lighter, more mobile, Arab horse archers (recruited from the local Arab Christians) to slaughter the Emperor’s heavily armoured knights. Despite these defeats Amaury had his army march directly for the rebel capital at Antioch.

There he unleashed his secret weapon. Cannons had been seen before in the Latin Empire but sparingly as they were ineffective, unreliable and weak. However the cannons used by the loyalist army at Antioch, taken from the Turks in the recent war, were able to easily punch through the city’s legendary defences and force its surrender within a weak. Realising that there was little hope of victory against these powerful new weapons the rebels came to the negotiating table. The Dukes would return to their previous situation as vassals but be allowed to keep all their lands and receive no persecution for participation in the rebellion, Amaury would retain his title Vice Gerent of Christ but any and all future negotiations with the Pope would be cancelled and all current agreements revoked. Effectively both sides agreed to keep things as they were and to not allow the Schism to end.

What followed the civil war was a comparatively peaceful period in which Jerusalem slowly expanded by praying on independent Sheiks. The only significant conflict occurred between 1372 and 1373 when Amaury’s armies invaded the Emirate of Mosul. The powerful Emir’s armies were crushed and following the victory Amaury had himself proclaimed King of the Armenians.

In the mid 1300s all was not well in the Bulgar Empire. Plague had near enough wiped out the Islamic Bulgar nations and their Orthodox subjects in Russia were becoming increasingly restless. When the Great Russian Revolt (centred on Moscow) began in 1360 the Empire looked ready to collapse. Seeing this opportunity the young Byzantine Emperor Konstantinos Lakarikis invited the surviving Russians Princes (Cherginov and Novgorod) and the leaders of the Russian revolt to Constantinople. There he hastily made the Muscovite revolutionary leader Prince of Muscovy and had the leaders agree to a grand invasion of the Bulgar Empire. The Patriarch of Constantinople preached the invasion as the Great Crusade and the name has stuck throughout history.

Initially the forces of Orthodoxy were triumphant as in the first years the Bulgars marched from defeat to defeat. By 1363 they had been forced onto the Eastern bank of the Volga. Just as defeat seemed certain for the Bulgar the Bulgar Empire made a momentous decision.

Ever since the defeats of the Mongols in the 13th Century there had been an uneasy peace between the Mongol and Bulgar Empires as both grew rich from trade along the Silk Road. By 1363 however the Mongol Empire was no more, only a few hordes remained and they were living on increasingly smaller and lower quality tracts of land. When the Bulgar Emperor promised Aqba Khan the wealth of the fertile European planes in return for military service in just one war the last great Mongol Khan could hardly refuse.

Despite having barely 40,000 warriors Aqba’s campaigns made an immediate and very significant impact. In late 1363 an entire Byzantine army of 50,000 men was destroyed near the Sea of Azov, in the Spring of 1364 the combined army of the Russian Princes (supported by Roman troops) was crushed in the Battle of Rostov. Over the course of 1364 and 1365 Aqba burned Novgorod, Moscow, Rostov, Vladimir, Tver and Smolensk to the ground.

In 1366 the Roman Emperor, Konstantinos, decided to personally lead a mixed army of Romans and the remnants of the Russians into battle against Aqba. In the battle of the Blue Mountain (fought in the Caucuses region) Konstantinos, despite having superior numbers set up his army in a very defensive position. Aqba tried to force the Emperor to attack him, by taunting him with feinted attacks and barrages of arrows from his cavalry, so he could spring a trap similar to those that had destroyed his previous Orthodox opponents. Yet the Emperor kept his troops in position. Eventually Aqba felt he had to attack and in the resulting charge against the Orthodox army his was killed along with most of his horde. The surviving Mongols turned around and headed home. The following year the Orthodox powers made peace with the Bulgar.

 

[Enewald]

It's Vice Regent of Christ on earth.
Not Gerent. Don't you use a spell-check program?

And only the Pontifex Maximus, aka heirs of Ceasar and Augustus can use the that title.
You know, the last pontifex maximus that was elected into the office was Ceasar.

 

[Tommy4ever]

It's Vice Regent of Christ on earth.
Not Gerent. Don't you use a spell-check program?

And only the Pontifex Maximus, aka heirs of Ceasar and Augustus can use the that title.
You know, the last pontifex maximus that was elected into the office was Ceasar.

Has General_BT failed me?

I've been reading RomeAARisen and he clearly said it was proper title.

Here's a wikipedia stub article about the title: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicegerent

It is my explanation for Emperor trait in game. It makes sense anyway as it gives implied power without actually having to give in real power.

EDIT: Isn't Pontifex Maximus the Pope?

 

[unmerged(169228)]

The pope can be called pontifex, even if it isn't one of his titles. But before the rise of Christianity Pontifex Maximus was the title of the highest Roman priest. Yet like any official function, many Romans held it for political gain, including Julius Caesar and Octavian.

On-topic: thats the second time that you build an empire within a few generations. Thats jut unfair .