Great work, I liked the twist with it being divided the way it was, and I also liked how you followed each of the kingdoms, some ever to thier extenction.
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quote\\“Heed not, dearest brother, the counsels of those incompetent and ravenous physicians who would have thee lie in thy bed all day, covered in furs, while breathing the noxious fumes from candles and fires. Follow rather, I pray thee, the wisdom of the Ancients. For, as Cato wrote, strength of body comes from enduring hardships with temperance. Seek thou fresh air, in open, windy fields; purify thy body with long fasting, and burden thyself not with heavy cloth. And, as Pliny showeth, the most wholesome air is indeed to be found on the high mountain passes, while the snow falleth , cleansing it with its immaculate candor.” //quote
*couldnt quote stupid debugging*
I was laughing after I read this it was so funny. The last lines are a killer .
Great aar especially the start with the so much murder to get inheritance. I was kinda hoping he would kill his wife too but then that twist was a surprise.
Great arr...
*couldnt quote stupid debugging*
I was laughing after I read this it was so funny. The last lines are a killer .
Great aar especially the start with the so much murder to get inheritance. I was kinda hoping he would kill his wife too but then that twist was a surprise.
Great arr...
Thanks again for the support. I just got Vicky and have been playing it for a while. I wouldn't mind taking the game through all the centuries, or at least EU2. We'll see. In that case, it needs a good medieval story to set up the starting EU2 scenario.
As for the kingdoms being extinguished... just leave it to the AI, it does a great job at that
I had been switching back and forth kingdoms for a while, depending on which got into a crisis. But when two or more run into trouble... gotta make a choice.
As for the kingdoms being extinguished... just leave it to the AI, it does a great job at that
I had been switching back and forth kingdoms for a while, depending on which got into a crisis. But when two or more run into trouble... gotta make a choice.
A grumpy old man
For his acquiescence to the Lex Galeatica and his inability to lie, Giovanni was given the nickname of The Honest. The nickname is probably very misleading, as he made virtue out of necessity, without any inclination to do so. In fact, he must have been filled with rage against his father, whose body he insisted be buried on the battlefield of Annaba, instead of being translated to Milano, so that he would never have to pay a visit to his tomb. The legal validity of Galeazzo’s will, was also questionable, since the Grand Duchy had always had a semisalic primogeniture law.
In September (1182), his brother Biagio and his nephew Ludovico returned from Spain after gathering their armies there, and made camp on two hills outside Tunis, that Giovanni was besieging. They made no move to assist in the siege, and sent no emissaries, just watching as a looming threat. It would have been possible for Giovanni to engage in a decisive battle for his rights, as their armies were about equal, especially after taking the city fortifications. On the other hand, a sizable portion of his forces were led by his brother Lorenzo, who also had a stake in the Lex Galeatica, and whose loyalty would therefore be less than dependable. His worries were increased when a bull from pope Leo V reached him with the sanction of the Lex Galeatica, that contained the lines:
“Let no devout son of the Holy Mother Church, be he king or peasant, ever dispute what has been entrusted to and recognized by Her, lest he incur into the wrath of the Lord. And force the Holy Father to do what he shall be displeased to do.”
The threat of excommunication was quite transparent. As was the fact that the pope would not be all that displeased to carry it out, and hopefully destroy the Grand Duchy, ridding himself of a threat that was pressing on his lands from both the north and the south, and had forced him out of Rome.
Under these circumstances, Giovanni decided to yield, and buy time. There would be better chances in the future. He invited his brothers and nephew to Galeazzo’s tomb, upon which he pledged to uphold his father’s will. But, he insisted, their unity should be preserved until the Moors were defeated. It was a reasonable compromise, and the other heirs were threatened by the Muslims as well.
By late 1184, finally, a truce, if not peace, had been reached with the Muslim kingdoms in North Africa. But Giovanni was no longer in the position to challenge his brother and nephew in Spain, who had been fortifying their lands, while his own forces were depleted. A measure of control remained over Lorenzo and his lands in Sicily, open to the continuous threats of the Emir of Sicily. Some believed that Giovanni purposefully encouraged the emir, but it is doubtful that Giovanni The Honest would have conceived such a ploy. In addition , his health was also worsening and he was already old when he inherited.
He returned to Milano, nursing his anger for his forsaken rights, and fostering the same bitterness in his young grandson and heir Lanfranco. There he died, four years later. His last act on his deathbed was to throw a slipper in the face of the emissary from Biagio, by then king of Aragon, yelling profanity about what to do with his proffers of homage; then he succumbed to a fit of cough and a heart attack.
"Liberator of the Holy Sepulchre, nobler than kings"
Lanfranco was 13 when his cantankerous grandfather passed away. His father had died when he was a baby, and his grandfather had instilled in him a sense of being the noblest scion of the noblest family, though he may not be called king. The fact that he had no particular talent, and rather displayed a certain lack of judgment, did not diminish the high opinion he had been taught to have of himself. The crown of Italy should be rightfully his, he reasoned. But that crown was held by the Emperor himself, in a castle in Franconia. And no one could conceive that anyone but the Emperor should wear such a crown.
When his cousin Mario was crowned king of Sicily and Carthage in 1199, Lanfranco’s jealousy for his royal relatives could no longer be controlled. Yet, instead of letting it sour into an envy that would deny others what he could not have for himself, he determined that he must surpass them in glory and valor on his own merit. And while the crown of Italy might be within his grasp, it would not have placed him above his royal relatives. By 1201 therefore, he started preparations to achieve what had eluded even his great-grandfather, for all his victories: liberate Jerusalem.
The timing was opportune. After the defeat at the hands of Galeazzo, the Fatimid kingdom had entered a period of rapid decline, with mounting rebellions and civil wars. By the turn of the century, the once powerful kingdom was broken in a myriad of petty sheikdoms. None of them could have withstood the blow of another full-fledged crusade.
The Holy Lands in 1210
When Lanfranco finally landed in Acre in march 1212, a delegation of notables from Jerusalem immediately came forth to negotiate a peaceful surrender of the city. Their pleas were rejected, amid the applause of the clerics and the disconcertion of his captains:
“For the Divine Justice cannot tolerate that your sins and fornications fouling the Holy Places should go unpunished. And ye harbour the murderous Jews within your walls, who brought this Just Vengeance upon themselves, that is long overdue. But the time has now come that the humiliations of and the wounds of the Lord shall be avenged. Nay! Tell your people that the glory of the Lord of the Hosts shall storm their walls, and they shall see it, and no one living there shall be spared!”
These are his words as reported in the Gloriosissima Chronica. It is rather puzzling that in later centuries great virtues and magnanimity would be attributed to such a character, as in Tasso’s celebrated opening
“I sing the pious arms and the captain
That the Great Sepulchre freed of Christ”
The city was in fact taken in a bloodbath. Those who had not already fled put up a long, desperate resistance, expecting no mercy. And the Jewish population especially staged a heroic fight, and when all hope was lost, in a replica of Masada, most of them preferred a mass suicide than falling into the hands of the crusaders. The tales of such horrors spread through the region, and contributed to inspire a deep hatred of Christians. But the fierce fighting enhanced Lanfranco’s glory and prestige to a degree that a peaceful takeover could never have; probably this, more than religious zeal, was the motivation of his refusal to negotiate. The genocide was so complete, that within a few years, with the settlement of soldiers and merchants, Palestine was transformed into an Italian outpost {cultural change}.
Upon his triumphal return to Italy in 1214, Lanfranco visited the pope in Giglio Castello, and was hailed as “Liberator of the Holy Sepulchre, nobler than kings”, which he added to his official titles, with immense satisfaction. And after thanking God for his success, he revealed of a VI century parchment he had found in Jerusalem, allegedly by emperor Justinian, stating that only the King of Kings was worthy of the crown of Italy, and therefore it should be kept in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. And, he added, he had promised to fulfill this obligation on the hill of Golgotha, and to bring the crown there himself. Although no parchment was actually produced, nobody openly doubted his word, nor the fact that its implications promised trouble for the Emperor. Otto III, in as sarcastic a tone as he dared, wrote him that:
“We shall be honoured to undertake the journey to the Holy Land, and with great humility place Ourselves the crown upon the altar of the Holy Sepulchre. If indeed such was the decree of Our illustrious predecessor Justinian. To ascertain which, We would ask to read the ancient parchment. And the Grand Duke should be assured that it shall be handled with exactly the care it deserves. And yet, We understand not why Your Highness should have committed to undertake this task himself, as that crown is not in his care, nor have We ever presumed to lay such an inconvenient burden upon him.”
Without replying, Lanfranco secured control the city of Siena, faithful to the emperor, and then marched his army through the Brenner pass to meet the imperial army, before all its strength could be gathered from across Germany. It was a wild gamble, as suited Lanfranco’s nature. But the situation was favorable to a man of action and daring.
The main battle took place near Nassau, by a bridge on the Main river. Otto, outnumbered 3 to 1 was a forced to retreat to his keep when knights from Tyrol found a ford upstream and threatened to encircle him. The siege was over before all the emperor’s army could reach him. Otto was forced to capitulate and yield the crown of Italy.
Emperor Otto III, after his surrender
The house of Franconia never recovered from this humiliation, and the very imperial title was disgraced for many years. After Otto’s death no one would be crowned emperor until 1256.But Lanfranco could not fully enjoy his triumph. While leading the charge across the bridge, he had been hit by a crossbow shot point blank, that pierced through his armor and deep into his thigh, causing a bad infection.
Almost a king
The Iron Crown of Italy, said to contain an iron nail from Christ’s cross, was carried in solemn procession from Nassau to Rome for the coronation. A mass was held every morning, after which the procession would set in motion. Heralds and banner holders would walk in front, followed by knights of the Holy Land in white and blue and knights Templars; then walked the hooded members of the Confraternity of the Holy Iron Nails and an assortment of friars, followed by the coach of the bishop of Monza (the crown’s original keeper). Then the crown itself, on an open chariot, held up by a Dominican friar. At its passage, all local peasants or burghers were made to kneel. Finally, the coach carrying Lanfranco, already hailed as king.
The Iron Crown of Italy
But the red curtains in the coach were closed and Lanfranco did not wave to the crowds. During the 42 days of the journey, his conditions steadily deteriorated, until near Treviso his leg had to be amputated. Two days later, on the way to Verona, Lanfranco died.
His son, Dioniso, would be crowned King of Italy, instead, on 23 November in the Lateran Basilica in Rome at the age of 14. The crown never left Rome.
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Well you've gotten through quite a bit in this update. I like your finishing moments.
All in all though, it seems the family remain as quarrelsome as ever.
All in all though, it seems the family remain as quarrelsome as ever.
Beautiful, breathtaking!.. you really manage to capture the medieval atmosphere in your narration, with its heroism and intrigues, murderers and saints. After reading your story four times, I really cannot wait for the next update, the reign of King Dionisio I of Italy. The Grand Duke is dead, long live the King!
Cheers!!
Laur
P.S. What's up with the Greek (and even pagan!) name, Dionisio? Sicilian infuence maybe?
Cheers!!
Laur
P.S. What's up with the Greek (and even pagan!) name, Dionisio? Sicilian infuence maybe?
Carmagnola,
Just so you know, I find this AAR breathtaking!
As you perhaps know, this is up for the CrusadAAR's Chalice award, and out of the five AARs to vote from, I chose this for my vote.
Magnificent style, and sophistication of taletelling! Bravo!
Rensslaer
Just so you know, I find this AAR breathtaking!
As you perhaps know, this is up for the CrusadAAR's Chalice award, and out of the five AARs to vote from, I chose this for my vote.
Magnificent style, and sophistication of taletelling! Bravo!
Rensslaer
I'm amazed that this AAR is still being read, as I had myself entirely forgotten about it till now. So much so that, reading it, I find myself wondering what corner of my mind did I pull out that stuff from.
I can only say Thank You.
Sadly the AAR was left incomplete, and I deeply apologize for it. As I remember, the halt was brought about by long attempts to get the save file to work for long without crashing during a crucial month, leaving me with the plan to resume to trash some of the story and resume from an older save file.
The plan never materialized due to RL events that took over my life at that point; I was gone from the boards for a while and by the time I came back I had forgotten about this story.
I rediscovered some notes from back then. They are fragmentary writings, and they don't provide the closure my kind readers would have deserved. Yet they may give an insight into the later events that I never wrote about. It seems, in the original development, there was much war in the middle east, with stubborn resistance by the Persian rulers that almost wiped out the fragile crusader kingdom in the Near East. And dynastic involvment with France.
I can only say Thank You.
Sadly the AAR was left incomplete, and I deeply apologize for it. As I remember, the halt was brought about by long attempts to get the save file to work for long without crashing during a crucial month, leaving me with the plan to resume to trash some of the story and resume from an older save file.
The plan never materialized due to RL events that took over my life at that point; I was gone from the boards for a while and by the time I came back I had forgotten about this story.
I rediscovered some notes from back then. They are fragmentary writings, and they don't provide the closure my kind readers would have deserved. Yet they may give an insight into the later events that I never wrote about. It seems, in the original development, there was much war in the middle east, with stubborn resistance by the Persian rulers that almost wiped out the fragile crusader kingdom in the Near East. And dynastic involvment with France.
Rediscovered notes
Dioniso was son of Adelaide de Longwy, and grandson of St Louis de Longwy, duke of upper Lorraine. Lanfranco had hoped to join their domains, but alas, the Duke died only a few weeks before Dioniso was born.
Dioniso was trusting and midas touched , good diplomat, poor intrigue. Dioniso moves capital to Rome upon death of the (anti)pope Giacomo Visconti. and marries local lady, Berta, non noble, against all judgments. He dies in 1227 at 27 years of age. Baldassarre was 5. He conquers Mecca and Medina.
To heal the wounds of the past, the intriguing queen Berta had her son Baldassarre engaged (at 11) with Dorottya, eldest daughter of the king of Germany, who had no sons.
Baldassarre: just modest wise coward on battlefield, wounded. Baldassare died young (26) in 1248. Made saint. Another victim of the legendary short-lived , referred to as the Curse of the House of Este (Maledictio Gentis Estensis). Lives through Countercrusade
Emperor Adalberto
Inherits the kingdom of Italy from his father at age 7. Inherits the crowns of Germany and Burgundy from grandfather in 1254.
He is crowned emperor 2 years later. [I made the event]
...
In Syria, Augusto, entrusted by his father Adalberto with the kingdom of Syria, managed to ruin it completely and died there. It was observed that the name did not bide well for members of this family.
When king Aymar Capet of France died, some of the nobles refused to recognize a 4-yr old child in a besieged castle in Outremer as king of France. But that child had all the support of the emperor, who was already enjoying a considerable influence even in France, not to mention the power he wielded outside of it. Adalberto contrived to rescue his grandson Amedeo and his mother from Syria, and had them escorted to Paris. Shortly after, news of his father’s heroic death in Kerak reached Paris, together with the bloodstained crown of Syria. And so, on the morning of All Saints’s day, Amedeo received in Notre Dame both the crown of France from his grandfather, and the crown of Syria from his father. And the emperor, holding up the boy in one arm and the bloodstained crown with the other, swore to take them both to Damascus, to exact their just revenge.
...
Amedeo, by the grace of God Emperor of the Romans, always Augustus, king of France, Germany, Italy, Burgundy, Egypt and Syria, and of the Holy City of Jerusalem, Grand Duke of Milano, Duke of Francia, Franconia and Genova, Protector of the Holy See
Here the notes come to an end. And maybe it is best so.
Thank you to all my readers.
I've also recently read this AAR due to it being amongst the nominees for the CrusadAAR chalice award, and I enjoyed it immensly. Although I haven't finished reading all the other candidates, this is my favourite for now.
There was some discussion on was the AAR finished or abandoned. Gaining the king of Italy title seemed a natural place to end it, so most people thought it was done. But this little addon about the future of the d'Este family is most welcome.
I can't really believe you had forgotten about it.
I hope you find the time to write another CK AAR. (providing a link in your signature to some other work, if you have any, would be most welcome)
There was some discussion on was the AAR finished or abandoned. Gaining the king of Italy title seemed a natural place to end it, so most people thought it was done. But this little addon about the future of the d'Este family is most welcome.
I can't really believe you had forgotten about it.
I hope you find the time to write another CK AAR. (providing a link in your signature to some other work, if you have any, would be most welcome)
Great stuff, Carmagnola!
You're only 1 vote behind for the CrusadAAR's Chalice Award. I do really hope you pull it out with a Gold win. I believe you deserve it!
Rensslaer
You're only 1 vote behind for the CrusadAAR's Chalice Award. I do really hope you pull it out with a Gold win. I believe you deserve it!
Rensslaer
Rensslaer said:
... and now he's level
Really fine AAR, Carmagnola. A pleasure to read - and an excellent example of how to get mediaeval on the flavour text!
Now this was a great story to read! Merging History book format with Novelic format was done extrodinary.
P.S. Sorry for making a comment in two years old tread
P.S. Sorry for making a comment in two years old tread