Raol, The Bold (Part 2)
Lived: 1201-1250
Head of House of D’Albon: 1214-1250
King of Burgundy and Africa: 1214-1250
King of Jerusalem: 1221-1250
King of Sicily: 1230-1250
The immediate period after Raol’s claim to the Empire did not bring about the joyous reunification of the German Princes as the Burgundian King had hoped. Instead they preferred to continue their long and bloody Civil War. Yet around one year after Raol’s declaration Burgundy did begin to find new vassals, extremely eager to join the Kingdom of the would be Emperor. These states were not form the core of the Empire in Central Germany but from the border between the Burgundian Netherlands and Germany (a comparatively peaceful Imperial region) and from Italy (where the German Emperors had not ruled for more than a Century.
Things had got going in 1226 when the free city of Modena agreed to swear allegiance to the Burgundian crown. Over the course of the following year several counts along the Northern portion of Burgundy’s border with the Empire agreed to become the vassals of the Dutch Dukedoms of Gelre and Holland. Then in 1228 Raol secured one of his most amazing achievements. He managed to convince the largest, wealthiest and most powerful landowner in Northern Italy, the Duke of Tuscany, to become his vassal. Even though Tuscany had not been a part of the Empire since the late 11th Century the then Duke had a great desire to see the Holy Roman Empire reunified and respected that only Burgundy could accomplish this. So he gave up his independence and brought his realm into the Burgundian fold. From now on Raol would concentrate all his energies on securing the Italian peninsula. Early in 1229 the overconfident Count of Istria declared war on the Burgundian vassal of Kleves. The Count of Kleves had impregnated the Count of Istria’s only daughter on a visit their a few months previously and Istria wanted vengeance. Unwilling to pass up the opportunity to gain more land in Italy Raol dispatched a small force to subjugate the Count. Whilst the Burgundian army passed through the city of Ravenna (the only territory of the Duchy of Ferrara) they sacked the cities suburbs. This led to a war which saw the Duchy vassalised, meanwhile the Istrian Count soon saw the error of his ways and declared allegiance to Raol after the Burgundians besieged his home. In 1229 another Dutch Count joined Burgundy.
The Grand Duchy of Apulia had been carved out over the course of nearly 200 years by the Italo-Norman dynasties and was now ruled by the scion of William the Conqueror: Roger De Normandie. In the late 11th Century the Italo-Normans had conquered the entire Southern half of the peninsula, defeating Moors, Greeks and Lombards to secure their Kingdom. In the early 1180s the Egyptians invaded Southern Italy and took much of the Western part of the Norman Duchy. In 1184 the Egyptians took Rome itself, however a rejuvenated Italo-Norman army managed to finally crush the Egyptian invasion and even secure Rome for the Duchy. Since then the Duchy had become gradually more Italian and much wealthier, largely due to the conquest of Rome. The Duke had reacted very badly to the Burgundian expansion into Italy in the late 1220s and, fearing that they would soon be forced to fight anyway, decided to declare war on Burgundy in October 1229.
The Burgundian response was incredible. Somewhere in excess of 100 thousand men invaded the Norman Grand Duchy. The Norman armies were utterly destroyed within a month and over the course of 1230 all of Roger De Normandie’s castles were taken by Raol’s horde. On June 19th 1230 Roger signed a devastating peace: Rome was integrated into Raol personal demesne, Roger was forced to cede the Ducal titles of Calabria, Benevento and Apulia (he retained his lands in the Bay of Naples and remained as the Duke of Salerno) finally Roger, and all his vassals swore allegiance to Raol. The Victorious Raol celebrated his great victory by having himself crowned King of Sicily in his new city of Rome.
During the 2nd half of Raol’s reign several very important events occurred in other areas of Europe.
On the Eastern fringes of the Continent the great Mongol horde arrived in 1226. Over the course of the next 5 years the Mongols would fight a desperate struggle with the Volga Bulgars who dominated all the lands East of Moscow and West of the Urals. At the height of their power the Mongols were able to reach Kazan, on the Volga river, but in the end faced a crushing defeat. Throughout the rest of the 13th Century Mongol hordes, of ever decreasing size, would continue to come from the East and invade the Volga Bulgar domain but each time they faced utter defeat. These events carried great significance for the rest of Europe as once the Bulgars finally emerged from their struggles with the Mongols they would turn Westward against the divided Russian Principalities.
This period saw the quite spectacular rise of the House of Leon. During the 11th and early 12th centuries the Leons had fought alongside their Spanish brethren in the great struggle for Iberia. However after the defeat of the Spanish the family split in two. One half travelled to France, eventually coming to rule Champagne and Anjou. The other half went to Wales, eventually becoming Dukes in the English Kingdom. Between 1215 and 1223 a great Civil War waged in France, eventually after years of chaos the French Leons were successful in deposing the Capets and elevating themselves to Kings of France. Meanwhile, only 6 years later, the Welsh Leons became Kings of England through inheritance. An incredible story of rags to riches by the 1230s the two nations had formed a mighty alliance block that could have stood toe to toe with Burgundy. This was one of the main reasons why Raol never looked to expand into France.
In Germany, the seemingly endless Civil war continued at an ever slowing pace as the country began to simply run out of men. In 1229 the Frankens were able to secure, at least temporarily, a moment of peace for themselves as they surrendered the Iron crown of Germany to the Hohenfels. The von Frankens would remain Kings of Italy (ruling from the Swiss Alps) but no new Holy Roman Emperor was crowned and the Imperial Throne went empty. This event also led to the Miessen D’Albons pulling out of the war leaving the Hohenfels and Veringens to fight it out. It took another decade but by 1241 the Veringens had managed to utterly destroy the Hohenfel demesne and seized all their titles, including the German crown. However peace was only temporary and in 1249 the Civil war erupted once more as the Veringens, von Frankens and Meissen D’Albons through themselves into yet another war.
Back in Burgundy, the majority of the rest of Raol’s reign would be spent in peaceful prosperity as the Burgundian King drew untold riches from Flanders and Italy. Burgundy also continued to expand during this period, consolidating the Burgundian dominion over Italy.
In 1237 the Swiss town of Grisons sought Burgundian protection in return for vassalage. In 1240 the Croatian vassal of Ypres chose to switch its allegiance from Raol’s son (the King of Croatia) to Raol himself. In the year 1242 Burgundy conquered the Italian lands of the Pisan Republic (the Republic then relocated itself to Spain as the Republic of Viscay). Then in 1244 Verona joined Burgundy.
As Burgundy enjoyed one of the most prosperous periods in its history Raol’s son in Croatia was in trouble. The Hungarian King Boleslaw Arpad (he was of Polish origin) was eager to unify the two halves of Hungary and had assembled a huge army. The Hungarian host outnumbered Geruad’s Croatian army by 5 to 1. On March 4th 1248 Boleslaw declared war, confident of victory. Geruad then sent a desperate plea for help to his father. Raol promised to aid his son and took personal command of the first wave of Burgundian troops (around 40,000 men in three separate armies) and marched for the Italian Adriatic ports. The Hungarian Civil had begun.
By the time Raol’s army had reached the frontline Geruad had lost 2 provinces of his personal demesne along the border. It would be here where the first major battle of the war took place.
The Battle of Pecs was both the largest and most decisive battle of the entire Hungarian Civil War. It was also the only battle in which all three Kings were on the field. Around 30,000 Burgundians (under Raol) together with 7,000 Croatians (under Geruad) faced around 45,000 Hungarians (under Boleslaw). The Hungarians initially had the advantage after they defeat the D’Albonite infantry using their heavier, better equipped units. However, just as his army was starting to waver Raol led a great cavalry charge with 6,000 knights and 4,000 light horsemen. The Hungarians were thrown back and then at this key moment Geruad charged the Hungarian flank with his 1,000 horsemen. Boleslaw fled the field and soon his army began to rout. The Croatian and Burgundian cavalry then pursued the fleeing Hungarian army, slaughtering hundreds and capturing thousands.
Soon the Hungarians were forced to withdraw from Croatia and the D’Albonites invaded Hungary. Over the following few years the Burgundian army captured city after city in Hungary but suffered extremely steady casualties and had to rely upon the thousands of reinforcements that arrived from every part of the Empire. After sacking the Hungarian capital at Pressburg December 1249 Raol demanded the Hungarian crown for his son. But then the war reached a major turning point. On January 11th Boleslaw met Geruad at Bacs with a 30,000 man strong army.
Geruad’s puny 10,000 man army was utterly annihilated by Boleslaw and Geruad himself was killed after an arrow went through his eye. Geruad’s son, Charles, was then crowned King of Croatia.
However the war was not yet over and Boleslaw, now with just 26,000 men met Raol’s 33,000 man army at Nytria (near Pressburg). In this battle Boleslaw organised a great charge against the Burgundian ranks. Raol, being a warrior at heart, waded into the fray. A Hungarian pike man was able to thrust his spear into the heart of the Burgundian King, killing him instantly. Despite the loss of their liege the Burgundians went on to crush Boleslaw’s army.
Significant events of the Hungarian Civil War.
Even with the Hungarian Civil War still raging the 14 year old Charles, who had only become King of Croatia 2 months before, inherited all the realms of his grandfather as he was catapulted into a magnificent position of power. Sadly for his Kingdom Charles was not half the man his father and indeed grandfather had been. History would remember him as Charles, The Weak.
