"Greatness comes not from piety or chivalry, but from the willingness of a man to take advantage of the opportunities given to him."
So spoke Count Sigvard of Kalmar to his tiny court of three just after the year of 1067 dawned upon the world.
Despite being a small county, Sigvard's domain, Kalmar Lan, was a fairly prosperous one and had the added advantage of being beholden to no one. It had been Sigvard himself who only a year earlier waged such a costly rebellion against the Swedish king that Stenkil I agreed, with his laboured and dying breath, to grant the fief its independence.
The newly titled Count swiftly suppressed any sign of insurrection. It had taken almost half a year, but at last, his authority and right of rule in Kalmar Lar was unchallenged. Now greater opportunities awaited the ambitious aristocrat.
None of the three spoke, for they sensed Sigvard's desire to continue his point, and this he did soon enough.
"Our greatest opportunities lie in the frigid north, where small tribes of savages wait for the glory of our armies to put them under our dominion. They are pagans, so the Church will not only allow our campaign without lambasting us from the pulpit, but we will in fact be lauded for 'saving the souls of the heathens and bringing the glory of God and Christ the Saviour to them.' "
"But it is quite far to there", argued Sophia of Kalmar, the Count's distant cousin and steward, "Let us use the prestige we have won in our fight for indepedence to press a claim upon our neighbours in the County of Finnvenden. Their army is even weaker than the pagans and they are next door. We will have a shorter campaign, for they have no allies and they are a free county as well. It is imperative that we strike quickly, before they listen to King Erik of Sweden's entreaties to return to the kingdom."
"Aye, and that Count of theirs, Algot, knows nothing of war. He is a fair diplomat and administrator, but he's as like to impale himself on a spear as an enemy", added Marshal Sigurd of Kalmar.
Sigvard smiled tolerantly at both of his cousins.
"There is merit in what each of you are saying. However, I do not like the idea of upsetting the rest of Europe so soon after we have gained our independence. Cousin Sigurd, you are the match of any man on the islands or the continent, even Rodrigo Vivar of Valencia. Cousin Sophia, we will still flatten his motley army when the time is right. No, I believe that we should go north."
Chancellor Sigtryyd Knoppe cleared his throat.
"If I may, Your Lordship. The influence that you fear to lose can easily be recovered by marrying. Like your dear cousins, I too, support a swift strike against Finnvenden. Adding another county to your demense will give you more men to attack the pagans in the north with. While it is likely Finnvenden will actually decrease the amount of money you earn each month, the extra manpower alone will be worth it, even if it is relatively minor. It will also serve notice to the rest of the peninsula that you are a growing force to be reckoned with."
"I will decide on my own terms what is to be done, Sigtryyd" replied the Count a touch frostily, "Now, court is adjourned. You will be informed of my decision at the appropriate time."
The three courtiers bowed and exited in silence. Once out in the hall, Sophia broke their quiet.
"Do you think he'll listen to us?"
"He didn't say for certain he'd be going north at the end, did he now?" smiled Sigtryyd.
"In any case, we'll have a war on our hands and probably a wedding too", Sigurd remarked.
Indeed, war looked inevitable before anything else. The bloody bride of conquest would be Count Sigvard's first true love in the opening days of the year.
All that remained to be seen was if he would invade her in the west or in the north.
The ambitious new Count
His cousin and Steward
His other cousin and Marshal
No relation, but his Chancellor
Count Algot, a potential target
Kalmar Lan = gold with white border; Finnvenden = green with magenta border; Heathen lands Sigvard presently eyes = red border at the very top of the map
So spoke Count Sigvard of Kalmar to his tiny court of three just after the year of 1067 dawned upon the world.
Despite being a small county, Sigvard's domain, Kalmar Lan, was a fairly prosperous one and had the added advantage of being beholden to no one. It had been Sigvard himself who only a year earlier waged such a costly rebellion against the Swedish king that Stenkil I agreed, with his laboured and dying breath, to grant the fief its independence.
The newly titled Count swiftly suppressed any sign of insurrection. It had taken almost half a year, but at last, his authority and right of rule in Kalmar Lar was unchallenged. Now greater opportunities awaited the ambitious aristocrat.
None of the three spoke, for they sensed Sigvard's desire to continue his point, and this he did soon enough.
"Our greatest opportunities lie in the frigid north, where small tribes of savages wait for the glory of our armies to put them under our dominion. They are pagans, so the Church will not only allow our campaign without lambasting us from the pulpit, but we will in fact be lauded for 'saving the souls of the heathens and bringing the glory of God and Christ the Saviour to them.' "
"But it is quite far to there", argued Sophia of Kalmar, the Count's distant cousin and steward, "Let us use the prestige we have won in our fight for indepedence to press a claim upon our neighbours in the County of Finnvenden. Their army is even weaker than the pagans and they are next door. We will have a shorter campaign, for they have no allies and they are a free county as well. It is imperative that we strike quickly, before they listen to King Erik of Sweden's entreaties to return to the kingdom."
"Aye, and that Count of theirs, Algot, knows nothing of war. He is a fair diplomat and administrator, but he's as like to impale himself on a spear as an enemy", added Marshal Sigurd of Kalmar.
Sigvard smiled tolerantly at both of his cousins.
"There is merit in what each of you are saying. However, I do not like the idea of upsetting the rest of Europe so soon after we have gained our independence. Cousin Sigurd, you are the match of any man on the islands or the continent, even Rodrigo Vivar of Valencia. Cousin Sophia, we will still flatten his motley army when the time is right. No, I believe that we should go north."
Chancellor Sigtryyd Knoppe cleared his throat.
"If I may, Your Lordship. The influence that you fear to lose can easily be recovered by marrying. Like your dear cousins, I too, support a swift strike against Finnvenden. Adding another county to your demense will give you more men to attack the pagans in the north with. While it is likely Finnvenden will actually decrease the amount of money you earn each month, the extra manpower alone will be worth it, even if it is relatively minor. It will also serve notice to the rest of the peninsula that you are a growing force to be reckoned with."
"I will decide on my own terms what is to be done, Sigtryyd" replied the Count a touch frostily, "Now, court is adjourned. You will be informed of my decision at the appropriate time."
The three courtiers bowed and exited in silence. Once out in the hall, Sophia broke their quiet.
"Do you think he'll listen to us?"
"He didn't say for certain he'd be going north at the end, did he now?" smiled Sigtryyd.
"In any case, we'll have a war on our hands and probably a wedding too", Sigurd remarked.
Indeed, war looked inevitable before anything else. The bloody bride of conquest would be Count Sigvard's first true love in the opening days of the year.
All that remained to be seen was if he would invade her in the west or in the north.
The ambitious new Count
His cousin and Steward
His other cousin and Marshal
No relation, but his Chancellor
Count Algot, a potential target
Kalmar Lan = gold with white border; Finnvenden = green with magenta border; Heathen lands Sigvard presently eyes = red border at the very top of the map
I'm hoping this proves even longer-running and better than May Our Reign Be Green and Golden. And yes, I've noticed quite a few Swedish dynasties lately myself. It wasn't intentional, though. I was just looking for an indepedent county that was reasonably close to pagans and didn't have a dreadful economy. Napoli was too popular for my tastes.
