A new old dynasty
The years after the great war with Poland passed peacefully. The Pomeranian trade flourished, new technologies and means of training were being adopted for the Royal Army, and even the population of Gdańsk was no more restless. One of the points of the peace deal with the Polish king was that Poland may not inspire any rebellious activities in the lands of Pomerania, and to assure that, the young daughter of Zygmunt (Sigismund) III Waza, Anne-Marie, was to be held as a 'guest' in the royal court of in Szczecin. Despite Anne-Marie being only 3 years old, Zygmunt had no choice, and sent his child as hostage. She was, however, treated very well, for Bogusław XI saw himself obliged to bring her up, hoping to marry the glorious Swedish family of Waza (Vasa) into the Gryfites in the future.
Quite soon after, however, his plans were nullified: the Swedes rejected the catholic Sigismund's rule, offering the throne to his brother, Karl. The siblings hated each other, and only the power of Pomerania between their two countries stopped them from declaring outright war between both states. A war did erupt. However, it was a conflict between Denmark and Sweden, to which the Pomerania was dragged by the latter. Bogusław Gryfita's army was sent to the west and north, onto the Jylland. Several small Dutch detachments were encountered en route there, but were disposed of shortly. Quickly, the cities of the regions of Slesvig and Jutland fell to the superior forces of Pomerania, which were then directed south - through the lands of the princes of Hannover, into the Archbishopric of Cologne, the ally of Denmark.
However, upon arriving at the border with the lands of Cologne, the scouts reported the presence of overwhelmingly large enemy forces gathered near the main cities of the nearby provinces: Münster, Kassel and Paderborn. Combined, they numbered more than 60'000 men, not to mention the large garrisons of the cities themselves: 15'000 men each. Gryfita's own 15'000-strong force looked tiny when compared to those, but he nevertheless decided to attack the weakest of the three armies. The battle was quite short, and moderately successful. Although the enemy was routed from the field, both armies suffered equal casualties, thus reducing the Pomeranian to almost half of it's primary strength. Due to that, Gryfita ordered his troops to withdraw from the Archbishopric, after doing no more than pillaging some villages lying on their path.
That was, however, the last chord of that war: three months later, the Danish king Christian IV sent an envoy across the sea to Szczecin. The deal proposed was quite satisfying for the Pomeranians: the whole of Jutland and Schleswig was to be transferred to them, and the Swedes were to receive the territory around the port of Oslo in Norway. To date, the policy of all Pomeranian kings who fought the Danes was to avoid taking any land from them, in order to avoid having too many different peoples and cultures within our borders. However, with the Danes of Jutland being of the same, true, Protestant confession as the Pomeranians, and also with the will to at last put an end to the endless troubles on the northern border, Bogusław XI decided to accept the Danish proposal, thus leaving all of the northern coast of Germania in the hands of Pomerania.
During the following five years little of note happened: the Pomeranian merchants were once again able to monopolize all Northern European markets, while at the same time opening a completely new one in the settlement in Bogusławiec, in the place we know by the name of 'Newfoundland'. Words were also spreading of some anti-catholic and anti-Austrian movements in Habsburg-owned Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Franconia. It was perhaps due to these news that the Pomeranian peasants in Wielkopolska and Ziemia Chelmińska (Kulmerland) stood up in open revolt against the bad treatment that they suffered. Most of the rebellious serfs (for in Pomerania of that time they were regarded as no more than that) were dealt with with ease. However, crossing Wisła to access Kulmerland would, according to Gryfita, be almost suicidal, which is why the army was to stay around Gdańsk and wait for the revolters to wander away from Chełmno.
Then, as the snow was starting to melt in March...
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As promised, the update is here. I hope you guys will like it. All comments, from readers old and new, responses negative and positive, are welcome!
Read, comment & enjoy!
