Szaman-Cesarz Katarzyna of the Gryfita Empire - The Unsteady (1380-1381)
"The empire of my ancestors shall not be undone, this I swear." - Katarzyna Gryfita, upon her ascent to the throne as empress, 1381.
Katarzyna Gryfita is often seen as a tragic figure. As hinted at in the last entry on Strasz, she would do much to stabilise the realm after her father's madness, but would ultimately fail to save it from further decline.
On 21 November 1380, she was formally crowned as the second Empress of the Gryfita Empire. Having done much to secure her succession in the last years of her father's life, her ascension was unchallenged. There had been fears that disgruntled members of her family, having failed to secure power through the elders, would take up arms against her. No such challenge ever materialised, which was a relief in itself, but the idea that such a thing was possible was unprecedented up to that point in the Empire's history.
Her first act was to have her father's body cremated and interned, as was customary, but she rather tactfully decided against the royal, public ceremonies of her ancestors. While her own love for her father is well documented, this act suggests that it would have been in poor taste to 'celebrate' him. His ashes were interned with the Sanctuary of the Gods, and few other records would ever mention the man again from that point on. Whether such a fate was deserved or tragic in itself is a matter of personal opinion.
With this duty fulfilled, Katarzyna would formally begin her reign as Empress. As always, we will pause here to briefly summarise her life and personality. Her childhood is not well documented, and it is only later in her adult life that she is formally mentioned in records, with increasing frequency as her status as heir apparent became more accepted. The biggest turning point in her historical visibility was when she joined the Champions of Perun in 1374, where she quickly rose through the ranks and became known as a talented warrior. This won her the support of the warriors in the lodge, often nobles themselves, which then trickled down to support from nobles outside the lodge.
As Strasz's condition deteriorated in his later years, she also had the unique advantage of being one of the few people the Emperor would confide in. This began her rise to unofficial heir to the Empire, for although not documented, it is widely believed that she was the power behind the throne when Strasz was mentally incapacitated. Her popularity and cunning gave her soft power, while her martial talents (befitting a daughter of Strasz, some would say) kept others in line.
She had to work behind the scenes to secure her formal appointment to the Elders Council, along with a bribe, but this had the benefit of avoiding civil war or further bloodshed within the Gryfita family. Her willingness to cooperate and her humble nature won her many admirers without her father's use of force, though some would argue that this was her greatest failing.
Nevertheless, her position as empress was secure and she would take steps to further secure it by linking herself to her ancestors, in this case Wojslawa. She was already a devout follower of Morana, the goddess of death, wisdom, medicine and winter, and as is a common tactic in history, associating oneself with a famous relative was an effective way of gaining support. This association would soon prove to be very astute indeed.
Despite this, there was an indirect challenge to her authority in early 1381. Her efforts to secure her position had prevented full-scale civil war, but the instability caused by Strasz had not been fully dealt with. Two revolts had broken out in the eastern territories of Novgorod and Chernigov, but these were against their respective rulers rather than the Empress. In both cases, factions within the local courts had erupted into open conflict.
Although these revolts were local and not a direct challenge to Katarzyna, she moved swiftly to deal with them. She demanded that each of the rebel leaders lay down their arms or face punishment, though the response was not what she had hoped for. Each 'demanded' compensation for the loss of face that surrender would bring. One can only imagine how Strasz would have reacted to such a 'request' in his heyday, but she was not her father, nor did she inherit the Empire at the height of its power as he did. The question of her position in relation to her vassals would have to be answered one way or the other for the sake of stability, but at the moment her ability to maintain or increase her power was uncertain. This, combined with the geographical distance of the revolts, made forceful action difficult and a headache she clearly wanted to avoid.
Payments were made to each of the rebel leaders, who then laid down their arms. Peace had been maintained, but at a literal and figurative cost. It did not bode well for imperial power that rebellious vassals could demand peace payments without repercussion, no matter how small the rebellion. When it is said that Katarzyna would do everything right and still fail to halt the decline of the empire, the above is such an instance. War over such a minor internal conflict so early in her reign would have strengthened her authority at the cost of unnerving the nobility, who might see such a move as a threat and attempt to undermine her authority in response. Payment was the sure, if short-term, way of ending the conflict quickly, and even if this in turn damaged her authority, it did so without upsetting her vassals.
Kaiser Aldrich, who had come to power within a week of Strasz's death, was intent on reclaiming Bohemia for his own empire and securing his own position. He had formally asked the Pope to declare another crusade against the Gryfita Empire, arguing, correctly, that Katarzyna's ascension would be the most opportune time to strike. This request was denied, with Pope Eugenius arguing, again correctly, that this was an act of opportunism on the part of the Kaiser, who intended to rally the entire Catholic world for his personal benefit rather than for any religious good.
The unofficial reason for this refusal was that the HRE and the Papacy had now been wrestling for centuries over control of religion, politics and investigation, and Pope Eugenius did not want to risk the Kaiser becoming too powerful or popular. The HRE was still the most powerful Christian nation in Europe and although it was tenuous, it had influence across the continent, able to command vast amounts of resources from German, African, Italian and Spanish lands. Moreover, the Black Death had also shaken the previously ironclad control of the Catholic Church, cemented in the previous century by the collapse of the infastrucute and the decemiation of the papal class. Aldrich resented this control and wanted to reverse it. Eugenius did not go so far as to forbid the war, only to 'strongly discourage' it. It was a veiled threat, but it did not deter Aldrich from invading, and the so-called 'Great Conquest of Bohemia' began.
Once again, Bohemia had to be defended. Once again, an Empress would have to deal with an invasion from the Holy Roman Empire. Once again, the armies of the Empire would march with a woman at their head.
