Disclaimer: This AAR was approved by @Mr. Capiatlist & @Qorten to include mild audience interaction. I've made use of @magnvs1101's Title Manager, @Licarious Fenrir's "More Navigable Rivers" and sought the expert advice of @jonjowett and @Aardvark Bellay to ensure effective usage of console commands to prepare my AAR ahead of posting. This is my first AAR ever, so please be kind in your comments & criticism!
The Papal States extended into the territories of Viviers and Venaissin on the 1st January 1274, having been donated by the last will and testament of Alphonse Capet who had passed away in 21st August 1271 - quickly followed by his wife Joan of Toulouse four days later. The sudden acquisition of new lands to the Church must've come as a surprise for Pope Gregorius X, as he delayed for almost three years the appointed of a now aged Giovanni Orsini to serve in his capacity as both count and duke of the surrounding territories which he now governed from the growing metropole of Avignon.
Giovanni Orsini had been a close friend of the Pope for many years. His father Matteo Rosso Orsini having had loyally defended Rome from the hated Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor was real reason his son was now recompensed with fiefdoms stretching both east and west of the river Rhône. At the grand age of 70 he had not expected to have inherited, being the second eldest son but had instead trained for the priesthood which his family had long maintained effective influence since the days of his predecessor Giacopo Orsini (b.1039-1101) who was awarded Orvieto c.1066.
is first act as Duke of Avignon was to secure a permanent non-aggression pact with the recently crowned Rudolf Habsburg to secure a male heir and send off emissaries for a new court physician so as to ensure his continued longevity of health. The choice was a natural once, his father had been sworn enemies of House Hohenstaufen - yet now the crown had passed to a "count-king" who much like himself appeared from quite modest backgrounds but was guilded by ambition with occasional bouts of pride to achieve more. To the west, Plantagenet and Capetian kings fought to seize France and to the south the House of d'Anjou looked poised to enter the fray as Charles III of Sicily continued to assemble ever greater territory. An alliance with the Holy Roman Empire may, Giovanni felt, be precisely what was required to salve the wounds between Mother Church and the Emperor Gregorius had crowned at Aachen in 1273.
Lastly, Giovanni thought it fit to request his nephew Giordano to Prince-Bishop of neighbouring Viviers as his a loyal vassal, continuing the long practice of nepotism amongst the Roman nobility. His attention now turned to societies - should he join the Benedictines for the extra health benefits? Or perhaps dare to join the alleged heretical yet openly public Hermetic Society - which reputedly also claimed ability to remedy stress.. After ruminating for a few hours, attention turned invariably to his fast approaching marriage - especially the reputed beauty of his future bride.
No sooner had Giovanni begun preparations to receive the Imperial Princess has a messenger from Gregorius X notified him that he was now to be appointed Marshal of the Papacy. "Titles breed titles" he muttered excitedly to himself as he recalled the long list of offices he had acquired seemingly so suddenly. His father was famous for having lead the Guelph faction to decisive victory in 1243 against the Ghibelline lords, and it was without doubt that his son Giovanni was thus appointed.
Whilst the Orsini's had claimed a lineage which his father always claimed had origins with the patricians of ancient Rome, Giovanni knew that his marriage must result in a son. He couldn't entrust his lands to neither his dotard brother - shamefully sharing his illustrious father's name, nor his nephew Bertholdo whose cynical quips during the new year's day celebrations left the newly incumbent Duke reeling and ever cognizant of how his family disappoint him. No, he as lord of these new lands must produce an heir - rather than allow his lands to become mere inheritance for lesser men.
Katherine appeared more beautiful than even his initial reports had claimed when she was unveiled and presented at Avignon at the behest of her father Rudolph Habsburg. Gregorius was requested to oversee the ceremony and serve as best man, which he was only to happy to do. The two had been friends when his great father Matteo had oversawn the defence of Rome in 1243 when Teobaldo, as he was called then was still young noble of the Visconti family training for the priesthood. His long drawn out election as pontiff had lasted from 1268 to 1271, which partially accounted Giovanni felt, as to why it took until 1274 until Venaissin and Vivries were granted to him. All these thoughts were whirring his head suddenly melted upon his lengthy stares at the 17 year-old German maiden clad in white. Choosing to forsake the money, Giovanni opted to garner the prestige of having joined in matrimony a daughter of the rising House Habsburg.
Sicilians had long been renowned for their achievements in medicine, the Schola Medica Salernitana having been an achievement in this area which Giovanni now desperately wanted to either attract to his new dukedom or outshine with his own investments towards a new hospital. Ever mindful of the perils which plagued both pregnant mothers and newborns, his attention in this respect was thus ever mindful on his need for a male heir. As his first judicial decree, after a few bribes Giovanni ensured that he as his land's new duke had the ability to withdraw titles from any potential Occitan troublemakers who may yet contest his rule. As he was smiling at the consensus he had purchased, news arrived that the Mohammadans were embroiled in a internecine struggle over Persia - now should be the precise opportunity to reclaim Jerusalem..
iordano was assured by his uncle that a place for his at the College of Cardinals was all but assured. Having made an elicit donation to his friend Gregorius X that he should receive preferential consideration. Orsini's had bequeathed several cardinals and even a few Popes down the centuries, and Giovanni felt that as these new province would slowly enter Papal State dominion nothing should change now he was a secular vassal of Papal power.
fter much deliberation Giovanni decided that the Hermetic Society was for him, not the Benedictines nor Dominicans who always struck him in his honest assessment as people very much requiring the sort of evenings his wife had treated him to ever since his wedding. Celibacy wasn't for him and he was grateful to have been spared the priesthood. Now with a kingdom, his ability to produce an heir was more critical than ever and he had heard of strange potions which could cleanse stress were freely taught amongst the membership of the Hermetic Society.
ust as the canny duke had suspected, the active hostility between the shattered sects of Islam prompted the Pope to declare a new crusade, this time to Egypt -the location of much fascination for his fellow students of the Hermetica. Giovanni had heard that the land was claimed by Arabs to contain many buried treasures: ancient kings termed "pharoah" buried in what the Greeks claimed were "pyramids". He knew more than Jerusalem, this was a journey he would will himself to actively participate in, after all Katherine confirmed he was now to be a father. The child would likely arrive into the world before he set out East. With his mind made up, he now began sinking ducats into expanding his army and as he lacked a coastline set some aside to purchase Pisan mercenary cogs to transport his rag-tag army across the Mediterranean.
hoosing a beneficiary is where Giovanni's immediate thoughts turned. Perhaps Giovana Orsina his neice, providing she found a suitable matrilineal marriage in time? Or perhaps his brother Rinaldo deserved it? Both were suitable candidates, having particularly quick minds. After deliberation with his family, he decided upon Rinaldo - like himself, he was aged and hadn't been gifted with such opportunities for a fiefdom of his own. Feeling the security that the Orsini name shall strengthen: it was a natural choice.
ust as the excitement over the declared crusade began to disseminate throughout Christendom, news arrived that Giovanni's idiot brother had been excommunicated and sentenced to death by burning by his nephew Bertoldo - making the count of Orvieto a familial kinslayer in the eyes of men and God. Whilst not all especially close to his little brother Matteo, his death made Rinaldo his new heir and thus unsuitable for designation as beneficiary to any successful crusade. Immediately, Giovanni began plotting his nephew's murder. Sending his spymaster Otto Askanien was returned from Constantinople and sent to Bertoldo's court to spy and seek opportunities for assassination, whilst he himself busied himself with writing an antagonising letter challenging him to a duel as a means of avenging Matteo's demise. Meanwhile, to his horror, Giovanna had been haphazardly wed to the German Duke of Spoleto by her father Bertoldo.. The 14-year old Orsina Orsini would have to stand in for Rinaldo as the new crusader beneficiary, her tutorship had been arranged to be carried out by Giovanni personally and a matrilineal marraige had been secured with one of his courtiers - the 80-year old Iacopo Contarini. The geriatric court at Avignon was fast gaining a reputation for finding elderly suitors for young maidens - "Bah! The Orsini name must continue, despite the current crop of its namesake doing their utmost to undermine me." Giovanni said to Rinaldo, as he was being invested with new responsibilities as heir until Katharine's pregnancy yielded a son.
In a surprising turn of events, Margherita the court tutor and occasional lover of the elderly duke suggested a marriage to Giovanni's nephew, Bertoldo. Whilst Katarina's belly swelled he had enjoyed her company being a genius amongst the court of Avignon and between them felt they could reign in the worst of his impulses. The daughter of Caterina Hohenstaufen, herself a bastard sired during Freidrich's Italian Campaign - Giovanni felt the infusion of prodigal royal German blood would benefit his house. After a week's deliberation the bait was taken and the 16-year old Margherita was wed to Bertoldo. Meanwhile, in a totally unexpected turn of events the Golden Horde who had been harrying the borders of Poland suddenly announced to the world their leader's adoption of Orthodox Christianity - "no doubt at the strong encouragement of the ailing Greeks" Giovanni said to himself smugly.
After a long pregnancy Katarina finally gave birth to a new-born baby girl which the mother insisted on naming Beatrice. Slightly disappointed his potency hadn't rewarded him a son, he relented - content at least that his daughter could act as heir instead of his feckless extended family. Plus Margherita reported she too was pregnant, informing Giovanni that the child she carried was indeed his.
Despite having lacked the quickness of his relatives, Bertoldo wasn't fooled when Margherita's belly swelled and tried to deceive him into believing he was the father. Giovanni's love affair was made public and Bertoldo now vowed vengeance for having been cuckolded by his uncle. The Duke's advancement in the Hermetic Society was confirmed when another Mageritha van Vlaanderen as head confirmed Giovanni's theorum paper was approved and accepted by its membership. In this capacity his Prince-Bishop Giordano was appointed apprentice and oversaw the expansion of an observatory at the summit of Mon Ventoux.
Responding to his milksop courtiers claims that the count of Orvieto was really a humble man, Giovanni sought instead to inflame tensions further calling his nephew a pansy to thereby bring about a duel whereby Giovanni could hone his skills ahead of the much awaited crusade for Egypt.
Bertoldo bit the bait..
A celebratory feast was ordered to mark the family patriarch's triumph over the upstart of Orvieto. No sooner had the preparations started that word from his nephew's retainers confirmed that the count had in fact passed away from injuries sustained in combat. "Pest destroyed!" barked Giovanni with glee, "and done without attaining reputation of a kinslayer."
After the petty family squabble was settled during the last month of winter, the Pope announced in his Urbi et Orbi at Rome that the long-awaited date of the crusade for Egypt had finally arrived. Gregorius X's heralds were issuing the Papal decrees throughout the duchy of Avignon and Giovanni ensured he would be amongst the first to respond and ready his men. Having had secured a loan from Provençal Jewry, the now combat-competent duke boarded his Pisan mercenary vessels to begin his campaign against the Saracens. Finally he thought, these strange objects reputedly buried beneath Egypt's endless sand would be readily accessible to him and not merely the stuff of gossip whispered furtively from bookish fellows of the Hermetic Society. Above all this expedition would mark the first real military test to himself, his realm and the Italian and Occitan nobles right down to the dirtiest peasants who called the former French province of Comtat Venaissin their home. Giovanni was thus determined to show his friend now liege-lord and Bishop of Rome Gregorius what the Duchy of Avignon had become. and urged on his compatriots into ecstatic levels of devotion reminding them that the sins and misdemeanours of all participants would be forgiven - not to mention additional if unstated guarantees of glory & lucre all under the expressed sanction of Holy Mother Church.
Giovanni Orsini had been a close friend of the Pope for many years. His father Matteo Rosso Orsini having had loyally defended Rome from the hated Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor was real reason his son was now recompensed with fiefdoms stretching both east and west of the river Rhône. At the grand age of 70 he had not expected to have inherited, being the second eldest son but had instead trained for the priesthood which his family had long maintained effective influence since the days of his predecessor Giacopo Orsini (b.1039-1101) who was awarded Orvieto c.1066.
Lastly, Giovanni thought it fit to request his nephew Giordano to Prince-Bishop of neighbouring Viviers as his a loyal vassal, continuing the long practice of nepotism amongst the Roman nobility. His attention now turned to societies - should he join the Benedictines for the extra health benefits? Or perhaps dare to join the alleged heretical yet openly public Hermetic Society - which reputedly also claimed ability to remedy stress.. After ruminating for a few hours, attention turned invariably to his fast approaching marriage - especially the reputed beauty of his future bride.
No sooner had Giovanni begun preparations to receive the Imperial Princess has a messenger from Gregorius X notified him that he was now to be appointed Marshal of the Papacy. "Titles breed titles" he muttered excitedly to himself as he recalled the long list of offices he had acquired seemingly so suddenly. His father was famous for having lead the Guelph faction to decisive victory in 1243 against the Ghibelline lords, and it was without doubt that his son Giovanni was thus appointed.
Whilst the Orsini's had claimed a lineage which his father always claimed had origins with the patricians of ancient Rome, Giovanni knew that his marriage must result in a son. He couldn't entrust his lands to neither his dotard brother - shamefully sharing his illustrious father's name, nor his nephew Bertholdo whose cynical quips during the new year's day celebrations left the newly incumbent Duke reeling and ever cognizant of how his family disappoint him. No, he as lord of these new lands must produce an heir - rather than allow his lands to become mere inheritance for lesser men.
Katherine appeared more beautiful than even his initial reports had claimed when she was unveiled and presented at Avignon at the behest of her father Rudolph Habsburg. Gregorius was requested to oversee the ceremony and serve as best man, which he was only to happy to do. The two had been friends when his great father Matteo had oversawn the defence of Rome in 1243 when Teobaldo, as he was called then was still young noble of the Visconti family training for the priesthood. His long drawn out election as pontiff had lasted from 1268 to 1271, which partially accounted Giovanni felt, as to why it took until 1274 until Venaissin and Vivries were granted to him. All these thoughts were whirring his head suddenly melted upon his lengthy stares at the 17 year-old German maiden clad in white. Choosing to forsake the money, Giovanni opted to garner the prestige of having joined in matrimony a daughter of the rising House Habsburg.
Sicilians had long been renowned for their achievements in medicine, the Schola Medica Salernitana having been an achievement in this area which Giovanni now desperately wanted to either attract to his new dukedom or outshine with his own investments towards a new hospital. Ever mindful of the perils which plagued both pregnant mothers and newborns, his attention in this respect was thus ever mindful on his need for a male heir. As his first judicial decree, after a few bribes Giovanni ensured that he as his land's new duke had the ability to withdraw titles from any potential Occitan troublemakers who may yet contest his rule. As he was smiling at the consensus he had purchased, news arrived that the Mohammadans were embroiled in a internecine struggle over Persia - now should be the precise opportunity to reclaim Jerusalem..
In a surprising turn of events, Margherita the court tutor and occasional lover of the elderly duke suggested a marriage to Giovanni's nephew, Bertoldo. Whilst Katarina's belly swelled he had enjoyed her company being a genius amongst the court of Avignon and between them felt they could reign in the worst of his impulses. The daughter of Caterina Hohenstaufen, herself a bastard sired during Freidrich's Italian Campaign - Giovanni felt the infusion of prodigal royal German blood would benefit his house. After a week's deliberation the bait was taken and the 16-year old Margherita was wed to Bertoldo. Meanwhile, in a totally unexpected turn of events the Golden Horde who had been harrying the borders of Poland suddenly announced to the world their leader's adoption of Orthodox Christianity - "no doubt at the strong encouragement of the ailing Greeks" Giovanni said to himself smugly.
After a long pregnancy Katarina finally gave birth to a new-born baby girl which the mother insisted on naming Beatrice. Slightly disappointed his potency hadn't rewarded him a son, he relented - content at least that his daughter could act as heir instead of his feckless extended family. Plus Margherita reported she too was pregnant, informing Giovanni that the child she carried was indeed his.
Despite having lacked the quickness of his relatives, Bertoldo wasn't fooled when Margherita's belly swelled and tried to deceive him into believing he was the father. Giovanni's love affair was made public and Bertoldo now vowed vengeance for having been cuckolded by his uncle. The Duke's advancement in the Hermetic Society was confirmed when another Mageritha van Vlaanderen as head confirmed Giovanni's theorum paper was approved and accepted by its membership. In this capacity his Prince-Bishop Giordano was appointed apprentice and oversaw the expansion of an observatory at the summit of Mon Ventoux.
Responding to his milksop courtiers claims that the count of Orvieto was really a humble man, Giovanni sought instead to inflame tensions further calling his nephew a pansy to thereby bring about a duel whereby Giovanni could hone his skills ahead of the much awaited crusade for Egypt.
Bertoldo bit the bait..
A celebratory feast was ordered to mark the family patriarch's triumph over the upstart of Orvieto. No sooner had the preparations started that word from his nephew's retainers confirmed that the count had in fact passed away from injuries sustained in combat. "Pest destroyed!" barked Giovanni with glee, "and done without attaining reputation of a kinslayer."
After the petty family squabble was settled during the last month of winter, the Pope announced in his Urbi et Orbi at Rome that the long-awaited date of the crusade for Egypt had finally arrived. Gregorius X's heralds were issuing the Papal decrees throughout the duchy of Avignon and Giovanni ensured he would be amongst the first to respond and ready his men. Having had secured a loan from Provençal Jewry, the now combat-competent duke boarded his Pisan mercenary vessels to begin his campaign against the Saracens. Finally he thought, these strange objects reputedly buried beneath Egypt's endless sand would be readily accessible to him and not merely the stuff of gossip whispered furtively from bookish fellows of the Hermetic Society. Above all this expedition would mark the first real military test to himself, his realm and the Italian and Occitan nobles right down to the dirtiest peasants who called the former French province of Comtat Venaissin their home. Giovanni was thus determined to show his friend now liege-lord and Bishop of Rome Gregorius what the Duchy of Avignon had become. and urged on his compatriots into ecstatic levels of devotion reminding them that the sins and misdemeanours of all participants would be forgiven - not to mention additional if unstated guarantees of glory & lucre all under the expressed sanction of Holy Mother Church.
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