Ongetemde Nederlandse Leeuw: The Dutch Lion Rampant - A Greater Netherlands AAR

[WGPower]

A note from the Author​

G'day, welcome to my first AAR. I've been keen to do a History Book AAR for sometime, and finally have begun. I am using DW 5.2 Beta with several small tweaks (removal of FRA's cores on Antwerp and Vlaandaren, and merging the Dutch, Flemish and Walloon cultures into a Netherlands group). I am also using Minefield's terrific Flags.

Briefly, my goals are:

• Be plausible in my goals and motives, presented in a logical and semi-historical fashion
• Form the Greater Netherlands (all Dutch, Flemish and Walloon cultured provinces in the low countries)
• Dominate Global Trade and become the richest Nation in the world
• Discover the New World and colonise realistically
• Round Africa and cut out the Ottomans from the Spice Trade
• Colonise Woiworung, because that's where I live
• Repeat the Raid on the Medway if I can

I play with some house rules:

• No War Without CBs and no taking provinces without proper CB
• No Console (unless intervening to prevent the worst of AI excess)
• No Reloading
• Inflation is off (AI cannot handle it), Difficulty normal, Historical Lucky Nations, AI Agression is low, as I believe this leads to a more difficult and entertaining late game.
• Providing an enjoyable, interesting AAR in an believable context

Lastly, I would like to thank Chris Taylor, and Merrick Chance' for their inspiration in Porta Atlanticum Portus Classis and Lords of France.

So too I must show my unending gratitude to the_hdk for his generous help in translations into native Dutch.

I shall post the first chapter in the next few days.

Table of Contents​

Eberhard van Oranje (1399-)
1: Jantje-durft-niet doet zelden goede zaken : Johhny Dare None Makes Bad Business

2: Een goede naam is beter dan olie : A Good Name is the Best of All Treasures

3: Een bloode hond word zelden velt : Fortune Favours the Bold

 

[UnitRico]

How could I possibly pass up an AAR about my own country?

 

[Rifal]

Definetly following this. Netherlands AARs are always interesting.

 

[v1989]

Good luck.

From which province you want to start?

 

[Omen]

Sounds pretty interesting!

 

[Sethanon]

Another Netherlands AAR! Great My own died due to loss of savegame so I hope to see you succeed!

 

[WGPower]

Chapter One: Jantje-durft-niet doet zelden goede zaken
Johnny-Dare-None makes bad business

The Hook and Cod Wars, lasting from 1350 to 1400, saw the title Count of Holland and Zeeland fall to the young Eberhard van Oranje. The Hooks, generally conservative Noblemen were loyal to the von Wittlesbach dynasty that had ruled from Bavaria and later Hainault from 1345, while the Cods, the emerging middle class, largely supported closer relations with the Dukes of Burgundy, and independence from the Wittlesbachs.

14 October, 1399. Van Oranje, Hollandish envoy to Philip the Bold of Burgundy learns of plans for annexation of the County of Hainault into Burgundian Flanders. Such plans endanger the united counties of Holland and Zeeland, from which Albert von Wittlesbach’s grip is already tenuous.
Eberhard hastily arranges that in return for Burgundian support for his elevation to Count, he will ensure that Dutch goods flow away from the Hanseatic League entrepôt port Lubeck towards Antwerpen as well as neutrality in the coming hostility.

With the agreement being amenable to Burgundian interest in the region, Philip accepts. He wishes to eventually have Eberhard as a vassal, strengthening his ambitions to claim the Kingship of France from his cousin, Charles VI Valois, the mad.

Owing to his network of mercantile associates, and arguable lust for wealth, Eberhard wins the support of the Cods. Secretly communicating with Philip, Eberhard arranges to stall military support to Albert, betraying his nominal liege, but fulfilling the first step in his own ambitions.

17 June, 1400. Mons falls, and Albert, Count of Hainault is slain as Burgundian troops pillage the city.

14 October 1400. Barely three months had passed and Eberhard was confirmed as Count, innumerable in the Holy Roman Empire, and a minor power even within the lowlands region. However, both the Kingdoms of France and England are keen to curtail growing Burgundian influence, as Philip betroths his niece, Joan the Fair, to the new count. So too do the Lancasters and Valois arrange marriages within the van Oranje dynasty, legitimising the ascension of Eberhard. Other smaller noble houses soon follow.

Joan the Fair of Burgundy, betrothed to Eberhard.

​

Joan's Dowry comes with a beautiful Icon for St Nicholas' Cathedral in Amsterdam, generously given by Philip to ingratiate himself further with Eberhard.

The new Count, surrounding himself with wise foreign advisors, is quick to realise several advantages Holland has. Dutch merchants dominate both Antwerp and the Hanseatic Lubeck, due to both the maritime traditions of the merchant marine and the geographic location of the County.

Placed on the crossing of both north-south and east-west seaborne trade routes, and with connection to the German hinterland via the Rhine, Eberhard and his French advisor Maximiliem D’Entraigues, facilitate Dutch participation in foreign trade, from Lisbon to Novgorod, increasing the economy of Holland from 23rd in Europe at the turn of the century, to rival that of Castille, England, France and Burgundy within ten years. A major economic coup is finalised with a free shipping agreement through the Sound with the King of Denmark, who desires to curtail the strength of the Hanseatic League. Of course, such shrewd commercial practices are not agreeable to more mercantile competitors.

​

Dutch Traders are undeterred, simply increasing their efforts to penetrate the baltic markets.

Jealous eye soon turn towards the rising Count, and his lands.

Holland c. 1405
Count Eberhard I van Oranje (ADM:7 DIP:9 MIL:5)

Treasury: 4.4 million pfennigs (44 ducats)
GDP: estimated 40.8 million pfennigs (408.4 ducats)

Army: 3,000 Cavalry (Latin Knights), 2,000 Infantry
Navy: 8 Carracks, 4 Cogs
Discipline: 112.0%
Tradition: Army:0 Navy:0

Prestige: twelfth (21)
Reputation: Honourable (0)
Legitimacy: 40
​

 

[Edlar89]

Good start.

I notice that at the end you call Eberhard a Duke. Does this mean Holland is a vassal, or is it because you're a HRE member?

 

[unmerged(540854)]

Good start.

I notice that at the end you call Eberhard a Duke. Does this mean Holland is a vassal, or is it because you're a HRE member?

Historicly it would be the later I gess, Holland/theNetherlands never had a king before Napoleon in the early 1800's. I believe historicly it should even be a count who rules Holland. Brabant had a Duke and Gelre might have aswell. The Stadtholders followed on this period, with a few regency councils in between untill the conquest of Napoleon.

 

[SgtPepper20]

At this moment in time Zeeland and Holland were ruled by the counts of Holland.

 

[Marcus Scipio]

Subscribed!

And yes, Gruzmog is correct. Eberhard should be a Count, not a Duke. But I am surprised to see him named "Van Oranje", since that name comes in to use in 1544, when a young Wilhelm von Dillenburg inherited the Princedom of Orange form his French cousin.

There are no Van Oranjes in Holland in 1399.

 

[Merrick Chance']

Yeah IIRC the only duchies in the area are Brabant and Burgundy.

How can I not like this AAR? A great first attempt, a great first entry!

 

[WGPower]

Feedback:

How could I possibly pass up an AAR about my own country?

My first readAAR! Thank you for the confidence to think someone would bother to read this! I hope I do your countrymen justice!

Definetly following this. Netherlands AARs are always interesting.

Perhaps not as interesting as a Swedish DW MM AAR, but I shall try! Cheers Rifal.

Good luck.

From which province you want to start?

Thank you, I'll be starting as Holland in 1399, who own the provinces of Holland and Zeeland at game start. I hope to add a few more before long though.

Sounds pretty interesting!

I hope to keep you engrossed for a few chapters yet.

Another Netherlands AAR! Great My own died due to loss of savegame so I hope to see you succeed!

Thank you very much. I read yours from start to finish, but I tend to lurk rather than comment. I really enjoyed it, so I hope you feel the same!

Good start.

I notice that at the end you call Eberhard a Duke. Does this mean Holland is a vassal, or is it because you're a HRE member?

Thank you. Yes, I wrote this at 3am in the morning and meant to type Count, as the only King in the HRE was of Bohemia. Holland is free, but well within the competing spheres of France, England and Burgundy. Even the Duchy of Brabant is threatening.

Historicly it would be the later I gess, Holland/theNetherlands never had a king before Napoleon in the early 1800's. I believe historicly it should even be a count who rules Holland. Brabant had a Duke and Gelre might have aswell. The Stadtholders followed on this period, with a few regency councils in between untill the conquest of Napoleon.

You're right, Eberhard is a Count, although he has grand ambitions for Lower Lotharingia.

At this moment in time Zeeland and Holland were ruled by the counts of Holland.

As above, I'm glad I have you all to keep me honest!

Subscribed!

And yes, Gruzmog is correct. Eberhard should be a Count, not a Duke. But I am surprised to see him named "Van Oranje", since that name comes in to use in 1544, when a young Wilhelm von Dillenburg inherited the Princedom of Orange form his French cousin.


There are no Van Oranjes in Holland in 1399.

I am going to diverge in the lineage of Eberhard in the next update. Medieval inheritance and family trees do my head in though!

Yeah IIRC the only duchies in the area are Brabant and Burgundy.

How can I not like this AAR? A great first attempt, a great first entry!

Thank you for commenting. Eventually I'd like to be at your level but it will be sometime yet. Fortunately though, the AI and events have been very fortuitous, allowing for an easy weaving of history and fiction.

 

[the_hdk]

woot. always love dutchie AARs

will be following. and glad to be of some help

 

[Rifal]

No doubt it would be prudent to raise your monarch to the title of Duke when you form the Nethernlands.

 

[WGPower]

Chapter Two:Een goede naam is beter dan olie
A Good name is the best of all treasures.

Inevitably, the rulers of the surrounding areas, particularly Jeanne of Brabant, questioned the legitimacy of the young Eberhard to be proclaimed Count. Jeanne viewed these developments with disgust, in remembrance of her first husband, William IV of Holland (II of Hainault, III of Zeeland*), who died in battle at Warns against the Frisian tribesman in 1345. Her only issue from the marriage was William, who died as an infant, her own ambition of expanded Brabantian territories foiled.

Jeanne of Brabant, William IV of Holland​

So too do many of the minor Hollandish houses question his leadership, likening his close relationships with both the Burghers and Peasantry to that of his ancestor Floris V (Count of Holland 1254-96), derisively known as the “The Peasant God”.

Floris V, Eberhard’s Great Grandfather. He earned the name because he behaved "as if he were the Good Lord himself with his peasants". He apparently knighted 40 peasants as members of the Order of St. James without permission of the church, provoking the anger of the church and of the 12 existing noble members of that knightly order. It is now known the story is apocryphal. ​

Eberhard knew his Grandfather, Witte van Haamstede, was the bastard son of Floris V by an unknown mistress, and considered himself to be of the ancient House of Holland. However, he knew that while many of the aristocrats sired bastards, they would never recognise one as Count from that lineage alone. John I, the last legitimate patriarch of the House of Holland, had given his half-brother Witte the Lordship of the town of Haamstede in Zeeland.

John I of Holland and Witte van Haamstede​

John had died as a fifteen year old in 1299, officially of dysentery. Questions remained over his Cousins of House Avenses involvement in murder though, suspicions Eberhard saw as truthful. His titles were inherited by his aforementioned cousins, ruling Holland in personal union with Hainault until Eberhard rightfully reclaimed the Countship in 1400**. Such suspicions show an element of revenge in Eberhard’s compliance in Albert’s death at the sacking of Mons, but his ambition to reclaim what he perceives to be his rightful inheritance is no doubt the stronger.

While his father, Charles***, carried the name van Haamstede, Eberhard took the name of his mother, Oranje, for several reasons. Firstly was that his maternal Grandfather, Raymond V of Baux-Orange, in marrying his daughter Mary to Charles, demanded that the issue of the union would take the name of his family. Secondly, as a Prince of Orange, Eberhard was granted Imperial Immediacy, holding Orange as his own free property, not as a fief to any man. Such reputation also distracted from his paternal lineage, which was used by his opponents to demean him.

The Principality of Orange in Provence

Such vile rumours were typical of lowland aristocratic gossip at the time​

The attraction of such a man as a potential vassal is immediately obvious, and was especially to the wily Duke of Burgundy, Philip. In marrying his daughter Joan to Eberhard, he hoped to incorporate the lands of the Count into the Bourgogne Dynasty, furthering his plans for a Kingdom of Burgundy inside the Holy Roman Empire, and eventually to usurp the Kingship of France from the senior line of his Valois family.

Eberhard had been sent by his mother to the Court of the Duke of Burgundy, at that time Philip the Bold. Charles V (r. 1364–80), Louis, duke of Anjou, Jean, duke of Berry, and Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, rivalled each other in magnificence at their courts in Paris, Angers, Bourges, and Dijon. Aware of one another's accomplishments, the four brothers sometimes employed the same artists, such as the sculptor Jean de Liège, the sculptor, illuminator, and glass designer André Beauneveu, and the illuminators Herman, Paul, and Jean de Limbourg. At court, Eberhard soon learned the value of clever wordplay, delighting young maidens with flattery and intriguing foreign diplomats with wisdom and knowledge belying his young age.

Dance in the Burgundian Court​

As a pragmatist and preferring words to swords, Eberhard saw the ideals of Chivalry as a romantic ideal, and nothing more. His famous military engineer, Arthur Middleton (3 Star Mil. Eng.) had supplied reports of defensively placed infantry breaking cavalry charges in the struggles between the Plantagenets and Valois over the Throne of France. Eberhard had no desire to win renown in a charge, but to instead command from a vantage point, directing his infantry to break the initial charge of his opponent, holding his own cavalry in reserve to fall upon the disordered ranks of his enemy. Of course, such defensively minded tactics (slider defensive) caused resent amongst the aristocracy, who no longer wanted to serve, their opportunity for personal renown and wealth in capturing a prisoner lessened, as the focus on decisive counter blows intensified.

Aristocrats don’t want to serve
​

These tactics culminated in widespread adoption of Men at Arms through Holland, professional soldiers who could fight on horse or dismounted, and who were not of noble birth. Of course, this can be tied to Eberhard’s close relations with the lower classes, the burghers and peasants.

Men at Arms​

It was some years before the marriage of Eberhard and Joan bore fruit, although the marriage was undoubtedly a happy one. Joan was frequently seen at her Husband’s side as he visited the important men of his realm, and was an important envoy to her father, and later her brother. Before the birth of his first child, Eberhard at established his brother, Johan, would succeed him. However in 1411, Johan died of fever, at the age of nine. Five years later, Albert was born, precocious even as a toddler.

Johan, Eberhard's younger Brother

Albert van Oranje, ostensibly named after his "beloved cousin"​

Maximiliem d’Entraigues, the wealthy burgher who advised Eberhard in matter of economy, furthered Dutch domination of the herring trade into the Baltic Sea, opening the port city of Cork in the south of Ireland to Dutch fisherman, eager to gain access to the fisheries of the Atlantic Ocean.

Access to the fisheries of the Atlantic from the southern tip of Ireland​

The furthering of Dutch trade throughout Europe results in rapid technological innovation, improving Dutch mercantile techniques and Production practices. Of course, Nobles want their share of ‘traditional’ rents owed. Eberhard is dismissive of such claims.

Technological Advancement

Nobles demand compensation​

To the South, the dispute between the King of France and his upstart relative the Duke of Burgundy has descended into war. Burgundian allies, the Habsburgs Dukes of Austria join the war, forcing the French into a humiliating defeat, after initial victories against the Duke of Burgundy in the North.

Battleground: France

War Treaties​

In neighbouring Brabant, a revolt led by a minor noble over Centralisation by the Duchess Jeanne, leads to her murder in Breda. Eberhard determines to take full advantage of the rapid destabilisation of the Duchy. Through his networks of associates, Eberhard learns that the Burghers of Brabant desire the same opportunities as their counterparts in Holland, resenting the protectionist policies within the Duchy.

Godfried I Loewen​

The Dutch diplomats, furtively plan for territorial expansion. However they do not stop at Brabant, manufacturing claims that would hold up in the Imperial Courts throughout the Low Countries. With well-placed bribes and deft political manoeuvring, their efforts meet success. The Dutch Lion has awoken from its slumber.

Claims on our Rivals****

Holland c. 1416
Count Eberhard I van Oranje (ADM:7 DIP:9 MIL:5)

Treasury: 24.5 million pfennigs (245 ducats)
GDP: estimated 39.6 million pfennigs (390.6 ducats)

Army: 3,000 Cavalry (Latin Knights), 4,000 Infantry (Men at Arms)
Navy: 8 Carracks, 4 Cogs
Discipline: 108.0%
Tradition: Army:0 Navy:0

Prestige: Third (56)
Reputation: Honourable (0)
Legitimacy: 100​

*God I love regnal numbers!
**In reality 1417, when Jacqueline died and it passed to Burgundy.
***In OTL Mary married John III, Lord of Chalon-Arlay, whose son Louis II “the Good”, was Great Great Grandfather to Rene of Chalon, whose death saw the title pass to a man we know as William the Silent, Father of the Fatherland.
****IMO the most OP event in the game. I always seem to get it as Holland?

 

[v1989]

****IMO the most OP event in the game. I always seem to get it as Holland?

It is a privilege for those who got 9 diplomatic skill or got the mission to reunite the Netherlands.

 

[the_hdk]

wow that was one hell of an event! 4 cores!!!

 

[Rifal]

"Claims on our rivals" is the game's way of saying "Just form the Netherlands already!!!"

 

[SgtPepper20]

Yeah that event has to be Divine Providence.