I - João, Duke of Porto
João, as some may know, was an uncommon child. Sisnando afterall raised it in a way rarely seen these days with important men, and many of them just sent them to the baron's court or had nannies to take care of them. João, however, saw his father and had good memories about him. But when Sisnando died, he cried for the whole day. Later on he would become arbitrary, not trusting anyone but himself (he trusted only his father). And so, João, already viewed with suspicious eyes since he killed his own brother, would inherit the Duchy of Porto and would become duke of all the christian Western Iberian lands.
Finally the old woman who controlled the Duchy of Porto died of her age. João, as expected, inherited everything and started distributing counties to loyal nobles in the court. But there was trouble arising...
In the County of Braganza, the old count had died and now his successor was a Castillian. Actually he was the son of the count of El Bierzo, who was looking greedily to expand into rightful portuguese lands. When the count of El Bierzo dies, then all the lands of the county of Braganza would go under Castillian sovereignity, or so thought João. So he revoked the title of Count of Braganza from his owner, and as a reply received a letter where the count refused to give away his lands. The result was a quick war when Braganza was crushed and their lands annexed by the Duke of Porto, who would make them part of his demesne.
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After watching scary reports about Moors who could walk over the water, and thinking this could be very well reality, João then made efforts to bring all of Portugal back to his hands. He offered vassalization to the duchess of Evora, who accepted. A few months later she died, and was replaced supposedly by her bastard son. Meanwhile, the local clergy offered João to atone for his sins, but he refused to do anything more than visiting the local church. The clergy repeated this offer, but received the same reply from the Duke of Porto.
In Novemeber 6, 1083, João instituted the Act of Supremacy giving the Church supremacy over all the ecclesiastical affairs in the kingdom. João was a pious man, and he recognized that giving power to the church was the best way to convert the heathens under his rule. Lisboa, after several rebellions, was converted by force to the Christian faith. The nobles helped the clergy during this process, and were rewarded with questionable indulgences and guarantees that they would go safely to heaven. They did not revolt only because the Duke of Porto offered to reward them generously.
Later on João received the news that a bishop became a heretic and was trying to apply his heresy to all the people in his lands. This heretic bishop, however, soon changed his mind when João threatened to send him to the Inquisition.
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When João completed sixteen years he arranged a marriage between him and Ines de Bragança, a daughter of the old count of Braganza and his wife, who were now both dead since a long time. Ines was not exactly a brilliant person, but she was young, and João personally loved her intensely. The two had first a daughter, then a son, who was named Henrique. João hoped Henrique would be a worthy successor to him and one who could realise his dreams about an united Iberia.
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In the political scenario, Castile managed to be unified by their brave king. But this lasted shortly, as the emir of Mallorca delcared war upon them and took most of their northern lands, losing all Eastern Spain in the process. Portugal intervened, and João took most of Galicia from heathen hands. Apart from that, not many wars happened and peace ruled over Iberia. In the south, the sleeping giant of Sevilla did not give any signs of trying to expand further. This way João could not attack them in the possibility of Sevilla being at war with one of his neighbors. But at the same time, the lands of Portugal were safe from Moorish invasion for now. João hoped that he would be able to take many lands from the Muslims while they were distracted, and Sevilla looked suspiciously at Portugal. The question is, who would win the war for the iberian unification? Sevilla, or Portugal?
João, as some may know, was an uncommon child. Sisnando afterall raised it in a way rarely seen these days with important men, and many of them just sent them to the baron's court or had nannies to take care of them. João, however, saw his father and had good memories about him. But when Sisnando died, he cried for the whole day. Later on he would become arbitrary, not trusting anyone but himself (he trusted only his father). And so, João, already viewed with suspicious eyes since he killed his own brother, would inherit the Duchy of Porto and would become duke of all the christian Western Iberian lands.
Finally the old woman who controlled the Duchy of Porto died of her age. João, as expected, inherited everything and started distributing counties to loyal nobles in the court. But there was trouble arising...
In the County of Braganza, the old count had died and now his successor was a Castillian. Actually he was the son of the count of El Bierzo, who was looking greedily to expand into rightful portuguese lands. When the count of El Bierzo dies, then all the lands of the county of Braganza would go under Castillian sovereignity, or so thought João. So he revoked the title of Count of Braganza from his owner, and as a reply received a letter where the count refused to give away his lands. The result was a quick war when Braganza was crushed and their lands annexed by the Duke of Porto, who would make them part of his demesne.
----------
After watching scary reports about Moors who could walk over the water, and thinking this could be very well reality, João then made efforts to bring all of Portugal back to his hands. He offered vassalization to the duchess of Evora, who accepted. A few months later she died, and was replaced supposedly by her bastard son. Meanwhile, the local clergy offered João to atone for his sins, but he refused to do anything more than visiting the local church. The clergy repeated this offer, but received the same reply from the Duke of Porto.
In Novemeber 6, 1083, João instituted the Act of Supremacy giving the Church supremacy over all the ecclesiastical affairs in the kingdom. João was a pious man, and he recognized that giving power to the church was the best way to convert the heathens under his rule. Lisboa, after several rebellions, was converted by force to the Christian faith. The nobles helped the clergy during this process, and were rewarded with questionable indulgences and guarantees that they would go safely to heaven. They did not revolt only because the Duke of Porto offered to reward them generously.
Later on João received the news that a bishop became a heretic and was trying to apply his heresy to all the people in his lands. This heretic bishop, however, soon changed his mind when João threatened to send him to the Inquisition.
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When João completed sixteen years he arranged a marriage between him and Ines de Bragança, a daughter of the old count of Braganza and his wife, who were now both dead since a long time. Ines was not exactly a brilliant person, but she was young, and João personally loved her intensely. The two had first a daughter, then a son, who was named Henrique. João hoped Henrique would be a worthy successor to him and one who could realise his dreams about an united Iberia.
-----
In the political scenario, Castile managed to be unified by their brave king. But this lasted shortly, as the emir of Mallorca delcared war upon them and took most of their northern lands, losing all Eastern Spain in the process. Portugal intervened, and João took most of Galicia from heathen hands. Apart from that, not many wars happened and peace ruled over Iberia. In the south, the sleeping giant of Sevilla did not give any signs of trying to expand further. This way João could not attack them in the possibility of Sevilla being at war with one of his neighbors. But at the same time, the lands of Portugal were safe from Moorish invasion for now. João hoped that he would be able to take many lands from the Muslims while they were distracted, and Sevilla looked suspiciously at Portugal. The question is, who would win the war for the iberian unification? Sevilla, or Portugal?
)... Then in the middle of the war I had a CTD. Well, I think this was the end for me. I usually had successful games as Portugal, and in this game Castille could very well cooperate with me to destroy Sevilla. But then, they are the AI, and they are too dumb to make any difference, so I quit