Ioannes Rex - A Plantagenet AAR

[Kurt_Steiner]

Great stuff! I thought I recognized that picture. It's good to see the old boy back in action again! Still no Sibylla though? I can only hope you're saving the old girl for something really big...

Well, to start with, I've married her with John -we shall see more about it later, due to family ties- and, once the bad news have been dealt with, she's going to give a wonderful surprise to everybody...

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Ioannes Rex

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A Plantagenet AAR​

Chapter Five: A wedding a some funerals.

To say that I was astonished would be an understatement. Prince John had managed to win Sibylla's heart to such a degree that she was the one to ask him for marriage and, together, obtained the blessing from the Pope and the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Furthermore, with the blessing came a dispensal for their marriage, as they had a common ancestor in Fulk of Jerusalem, who happened to be the paternal grandfather of both Henry II of England and queen Sibylle herself.

Usually the simple idea that Prince John had married his auntie would had amused me, but not that day. Not with that lady. I felt some kind of cold feeling running down my spine and my heart ache when I was told the news. And the ache was not caused by the future of the kingdom under such a noble ruler, of course, althought it was a good reason to be pained. Anyway, had I been worried about that, the queen herself was quite able to take make out of that doubts. True, Prince John had married her, and true, he was to help her to rule the kingdom...

Me... the king...​

...but just as Consort of the Queen. The Crown was hers and so the right to rule. I can imagine the despair and anger of the now Prince Consort of Jerusalem, but I felt awfully relieved by this news, although I had to hide it from my lord and master, of course. So close to power, but so far away...

John: D'oh!
Anonymous voice: Ha ha!​

Worse was to come. Good old king Henry was dead and Richard was not the annointed king of England -dunno which of the two pieces of news were more painful for the Prince, but I had a slight idea....

And, a few weeks after the marriage, he had become a royal uncle, when his sister-in-law- Isabelle and her husband, Humphrey de Toron, had had a healthy son. There were some gossiping about the actual role of the "affeminate" Humphrey had in the conception, but no one decided to dwell to much on that. And then, hardly a month after the marriage, Sibylle was pregnant.

All in one stroke, as they say.

By then my lord and master was slightly more calmed, as my lady the Queen managed to keep him with a constant smile in his face -well, bearing in mind the beauty of my lady, who wouldn't habe been happy by her side? It was not to last, thought.

Then, news from England caused a bout of anger in John. King Richard was not only married, but also had managed to get have a lovely daughter which, despite of being lovelier that the goddess Aphrodite herself, terrified my lord.

-Just imagine if it had been a boy...

With no more words I was told what was to take place: I was to depart at once to Brittany and manage to way to send prince Arthur -heir apparent of Richard- and his mother to join, in the fastest way possible, the ranks of angels and seraphins of our Lord. Then, we shall wait and see for any further developments in England.

To fulfill it I was send, along with sir Guy of Gisborne to fulfill such "delicate assignment". He had no troubles with her target, the Duchess, Constance of Penthieve. Nothing, I was told, that some Muslim poison coudln't manage. The problem came when it was my time to "act".

​

Someone got my target first. And bearing in mind that Richard I of England became the new Duke of Brittany, I had no doubts about who had outwitted me...

Thus we came back to Jerusalem, hoping for more Christian duties. And there...

 

[The Kingmaker]

John's only Prince Consort instead of King Consort? I guess the Queens of Jerusalem are getting tired of being pushed around by their hubbies. Too bad for Johnnie though. Was nice to finally see Eva make an appearance though.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

John's only Prince Consort instead of King Consort? I guess the Queens of Jerusalem are getting tired of being pushed around by their hubbies. Too bad for Johnnie though. Was nice to finally see Eva make an appearance though.

That's the idea. After "experiencing" Guido, Sibylla is tired of charming husbands than can do little but look lovely. And, just in case, she wants to keep John at hand, but not too much. Eva is bound to appear more, of course. Any single excuse that I can imagine will be enough.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Ioannes Rex

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A Plantagenet AAR​

Chapter Six: Saracen onslaught, Crusade alarum.

Guillaume de Hauteville, King of Sicily and Duke of Campania, had knew better days. Now he ride on his horse in full battle armour, with his host deployed in battle order under a scorching heat to meet the doom of his kingdom.

The Norman county of Benghazi​

The disaster began with a Sicilian raid against the Morish pirates in Libya, which, eventually grew in size and led to the conquest of Bengazhi in the early days of the summer of 1189 . Saladin's revenge came sooner than expected. The Sultan were not for the tail of the snake, but for his head: al-Adin, his son, landed in Southern Italy with a huge army in November 1189. Disaster followed and, by February 1190 the Saracens were fully established in Italy while Guillaume's armies were defeated and crushed. Then the Pope had come to the fore. A Crusade, aimed to free Alexandria, meant that thousands of German crusaders poured over Southern Italy on the way to Egypt. There they found Guillaume, besieged by the Muslims at his own castle at Naples, while his marshal, Margaritone of Malta, had retreated with the remnats of his army to Sicily.

The German crusaders had purged the land of Saracens with cruelty and blood. By late May they had conquered Lecce and Taranto, and he had managed to recover Benevento, only to have his armies slaughtered again in the disaster of Barletta. But the overwhelming numbers of the German host was slowly annhilating the Ayyubid armies, which were operating at the end of a long supply line under the constant harassment of the Bizantine navy, which was eager to take revenge for past defeats.

The beginning of Guillaume's nightmares​

And now, he, Guillaume, was to meet the man who had saved him for the final defeat at Saladin's hand, the German Emperor, Heinrich, king of the Germans, of Burgundy, Bohemia and Italy who, for his effort, was to rule his former domains in Southern Italy. How he hated him... If he only could kill that bastard...

The answer from the Hohenstaufen Emperor


--​

Meawnhile, Leon of Cilicia was facing a similar horrible fate: the whole might of the Sultanate of Rum was comming against his kingdom. His armies had tasted defeat in the first encounters with the vast Muslim army and he was desperate for any kind of help that may come from anywhere.

The noble Kingdom of Cilicia at the height of its glory, which is long past.
​

Sibylla was suffering from an awful headache while her nobles shouted at the top of their voices:

-Edessa! blurted Jocelyn with his usual enthusiasm towards his favourite topic.

"How unexpected...", mused the angered queen, hardly surprised by the claim of his uncle. She gazed for a second the smiling face of her husband. She could not understand how John could sit there and watch the whole kingdom going mad and remain so calm and happy. He noticed that Sibylla was looking at him and he moved his hand to touch hers. It had the usual effect of calming and arousing her at the same time. How could he...

-No! - shouted Bohemond. "There we go again". Sibylla looked at the the former Prince of Antioch still resented his defeat and following disgrace. However, he hated still more the idea of going to war with Aleppo and Syria for Edessa, as it would only benefit, in the best of the cases, to Jocelyn, the uncle of the queen that had defeated him. - We are not yet ready to face the Sarracens!

-Blasphemy! -came the reply from Gerard de Ridefort, the Master of the Temple, who was cut short by the bulky figure of Reynald, who shouted, too.

-Egypt! -said the ruthless adventurer with his eyes gilltering at the thought of the gold of Alexandria and the caravans to Mecca. "You old bastard... as predictable as my noble uncle...". Sibylla, as always, keep all facts in her mind.

-Damned fool -muttered Balian d'Ibelin, with his usual respect to the reckless warrior.

Raymond of Tripoli moved beside the queen with a message in his hand and a grave expression on his face. Sibylla read it carefully and a sad smile appared on her face. She rose and Raymond called (he shouted, actually) for silence.

"A holidays... my kindom for a holidays... Tiberias, I'm the queen, I can have all them beheaded, can't I" "Erm..."​

-Well, my Lords, there is no need to further arguments -she began, with the half smile still on her lips. She looked at them carefully, one by one-. King Leon of Cilicia is under attack from the sultanate of Rum and asks us for help...

Another eruption of shouting reduced the queen to silence. Raymond, seeing the anger in her eyes, turned to the quarrel and shouted again for silence.

-Leon has asked too to the Bizantine Empire for help and Isaac Angelus has agreed to go to war against Rum. In fact, Isaak had declared war against any Saracen kingdom he had at hand... -she followed, with a tired voice then-. As we are allied with Byzantium, we are obliged by our honour to fulfill our promises.

Then the change came. Ridefort, with his face transfigured by some kind of inner light shouted:

-Deus Vult!

"What a..." John thought, with a disdainful smile. Raymond rose at his side, with an akward expression on his face. Then John noticed something wrong. Sibylla had turned pale, awfully pale. She sat again, with her hand on her beely and, then, when Bohemod was to speak again, she felt the pain. "Oh no, not now..." John had one of those rare moments of common sense shouted first:

-Call the doctors! The baby is comming!

Those simple words caused real havoc among the gathering, as all the men in the room went paler than the queen herself. "Men... pah!", she muttered between clinched teeth as the pain came in waves.

The boy
​

A few hours later, prince Amalric, the first son of Sibylla and John came to the world. Jerusalem had an heir. And John a war to prove himself.

... and the wars​

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Ioannes Rex

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A Plantagenet AAR​

Chapter Seven: To the gates of Egypt.

With six hundred knights and six thousand footmen (bowmen, crossbowmen and foot soldiers alike), Balian d'Ibelin departed in late April 1189 towards Darum, where he was to meet Shamsaddin, atabeg of Saladin, who had the misfortune of led a tiny force which was brutally brushed aside by the armoured charge of the Christian knights led by the restless Reynald de Châtillon, who, as it was usual in him, was devoted to his old vices and 'virtues'. After this, it was just a question of resorting to the long a boring siege of the Muslim fortress. It was a short siege, as it ended hardly two weeks later, as soon as the inhabitants of Darum heard Reynald shouting and swearing that he was to kill and rape all the Muslims and animal (though not in that order, of course) being living in the city if they dared to resist the Christian forces for too long.

The good and reliable Christian heavy cavalry to the rescue!​

El Arish did dare to resist for long, even if its citadel was smaller and less sophisticated that the Muslim fortress at Darum. The trebuchets laid wastage upon the walls of the city and then Balian ordered the assault. It was a short but bloody affair. Most of the main leaders of the Saracen garrison felt in the ramparts and the Mulsim force was decimated in the first minutes of the attack and Balian had to fight to restrain his men from ransacking the city. It was hard, but it was done. Damaged but not completely destroyed, El-Arish fell to Balian on July 1st.

Balian led his host then towards Cairo but found Abdul Raham blocking his way. Again, Reynald reacted first and led his personal retinue against the Muslim soldiers. The rest of the Christian knights followed. The slaugther of Farama, as calling it a battle would be too much, proved to be the outdoing of the Hierosolamite effort against Egypt, as it ended there due to the deep hatred harboured between the Christian leaders, Balian and Reynald. The former blasted the latter's foolhardy attitude. Reynald, with his pride hurted by Balian's right words, swore that he was not to fight under the command of as coward and departed to fight in the Eastern fringes. Thus deprived of a great part of his forces, Balian, who could hardly have been able to fight Saladin in equal terms on the battlefield with his whole host, had to conclude his raid towards Egypt in Farama.

During the campaign, the relations between Balian and Reynald were, at best, quite unfriendly. From now on, both regarded each other as enemies.

"Reynaud, some prisoners to ransom would be nice, next time, you know, gold and so on".
"Darn it... I'm a warrior, not an accountant, you punny...!!!!"​

In some way Reynald acted following his instinct of self-preservation, as Oultrejordain was under siege by an Abbasid army. Thus he returned with all his forces, ready to fight with the devil himself if needed. That the lord of Baghdad had forgot his old rivalry with Saladin only meant troubles for Jerusalem.

Darned and treacherous Saracens... I only have two hands to slaughter them all!!!!​

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Ioannes Rex

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A Plantagenet AAR​

Chapter Eight: From Edward Longshanks to John Longhands.

While neither Balian nor Reynald had too many troubles to conquer the enemy castles and redoubts in the south, Sibylle was having hard times in the north. To begin with, she was under siege. Her husband was in a dangerous mood those days, not willing to get out of her bed, so she had to find some polite ways to attend the matters of state without neither offending him nor playing for too long among the war sheets or the royal bed. And now the urgency was higher than ever: Ahmad al-Nasir had happeared with a huge army near Irbid and was moving, without a single trace of a doubt, towards Jerusalem when Jocelyn of Courtenay had blocked his way. And the earl of Beirut had done more than that, as he had crushed with huge casualties the enemy host. The usual heavy cavalry charge had proved his power, but the Muslim mounted archers have proved themselves as serious problem -provided that the knights did not gave them chase, which rarely happened, though.

​

Everybody in Jerusalem was surprised by the sudden discovery of the martial capabilities of the queen's uncle -and no more than herself-. It was such the glory that Jocelyn won that Sibylle rewarded him by making him duke of Tyre, which seemed to keep the ambitions of his uncle at bay. At least, for a while. Such was the beating that the emir of Damascus begged for peace.

The Templars's actions were also rewarded. They had doubled their efforts and managed to furnish the defense of the kingdom and the southern offensive, too, with men and equipments. Thus, they were awarded not with castles, as it was usual thing, but with a whole province, as it had happened with the Hospitaliers. Jaffa was theirs now, and Ridefort was filled with pride and so moved by the received honour that reacted in the most unexpected way: he gave up as Grand Master of the Templars to devote himself to serve the Kindom of Jerusalem. Amedée de Richefort was to replace him leading the Ierosolamite chapter of the Templars, while Robert de Sablé became the Grand Master of the whole order. Two days later, Reynald stormed Maan in his usual display of courage, but he was wounded in the most unglorious part of his body, his bottom.

Meanwhile Abdul-Jaleel, sheik of Deir, gave another chance for glory to Jocelyn. Again at Irbid, which was becoming some kind of lucky place for him, the duke of Tyre defeated a strong army, stronger than his own. It was not an easy victory, and the battle had a double edge, as the shortcommings of Jocelyn as field commander began to appear. Thankfully, Raymond of Tripoli was to arrive in a short while.

Then the Greek Basileus died, leaving his emprie to a heir still under age, something that opened the way for the palatine intrigues at Byzantium. Meanwhile...