Lords of Váh and Tatras (1337)

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In 1301 the Hungarian King Andrew III died, and with him ended the Árpád dynasty that ruled Hungary since 10th century. The Hungarian crown was then contested by three candidates - from Bohemia, Bavaria and the Naples branch of the house of Anjou. The Pope's champion, Charles Robert of Anjou, finally drove his foreign opponents out of the country and was crowned in 1310. However, his rule remained nominal in many parts of the Kingdom because several powerful magnates still did not recognize him as the king. King's chief adversary was Máté Csák of Trencín.

Máté Csák of Trencín​

Máté Csák (about 1252 – 1321) created a quasi-independent territory in the western and central part of modern Slovakia. From 1299 he established a centre of his power at the castle of Trencín. Although never being an official king of Slovakia, he – as a very rich and influential Hungarian magnate – de-facto became the ruler of what is today Slovakia. He owned 14 counties and 50 castles and fortresses, had an own army and was conferring the same degrees and functions as are awarded by the Hungarian king. He was called by his contemporaries the Lord of Váh and Tatras, after the river and mountains in the region he ruled.

Trencín Castle​

Following his defeat in the battle near Rozhanovce (at the river Torysa) in 1312, where his army fought against the troops of King Charles Robert of Anjou, his influence started to decrease. In 1318 his only son died and Máté chose his relative István Cseh from Sternberg dynasty as his successor. István Cseh was son of Máté’s sister Anna Csák and seemed to have all the necessary skills to continue in Máté’s expansion in Hungary. However, when Máté died in 1321, the King Charles Robert was already strong enough to strip Csák family of all its possessions except for the County of Trencín.

István Cseh Csák, the Count of Trencín in 1337​

So in 1337, 35-year old István Cseh, the Count of Trencín, was planning ways how to dethrone the foreign usurper of the Hungarian crown, the King Charles Robert of Anjou, and win respect for Csák family again…



TO BE CONTINUED…

 

[Farquharson]

Great to see another Hungarian AAR from you, siekel - and it sounds like an interesting period as well. Good luck to Count István as he rids Hungary of those pesky Angevins!

 

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Thanks, Farquharson!

I returned to CK after three years, mainly because I discovered that Paradox made Deus Vult expansion in the meantime. I really love it; it brought some nice improvements into the gameplay. Let's hope this will be an interesting AAR...

Few things about the game setup:
- Scenario 1337 (obviously)
- Very Hard / Normal
- Deus Vult 2.1 beta patch

 

[uphillarnie]

will follow this one

 

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Well, I am sure to follow this one, the rise of a hungarian count (especially in a relatively poor province) should be interesting

Great to see another Hungarian AAR from you, siekel - and it sounds like an interesting period as well. Good luck to Count István as he rids Hungary of those pesky Angevins!

those Angevins were really admired in Hungary.
Charles Robert was only admired and was considered an able ruler, but he was never loved: he was quite a cruel person, for example he hanged all the family of an assasin*.
On the other hand, his son, Lajos was really loved. He was the prototype knight, with all virtues important to hungarians (except balancing the budget, but that was not important to hungarians then )



*according to the legend, during the meeting of the Polish-Czech-Hungarian
kings, one of the guest kings raped a young hungarian noble woman (Klára Zách), the daughter of Felicián Zách. The father was the 'assasin' he attacked the guest king, and he failed. After this, all of the family was executed by Charles Robert...

 

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uphillarnie: Thanks!

galuska: I know that Angevin kings belonged to the best kings in the Hungarian history but it just doesn't fit into my story... My character (István) hates them... Btw, it's good to have some Hungarian onboard, so I hope you will like my AAR...

 

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uphillarnie: Thanks!

galuska: I know that Angevin kings belonged to the best kings in the Hungarian history but it just doesn't fit into my story... My character (István) hates them...

The story of the rapist guest-king and the assasination attempt might be useful to fuel the hate of the main charachter then


just found this one for you (I guess in Bratislava, you don't learn hungarian? my mates in Kosice speak it quite well)

http://mek.oszk.hu/03900/03966/html/poetry5.htm#bm335

The garden of the queen/ Blooms over night all green/Here a white rose,there a red rose/Brown maids and blonde are seen.

Dame Queen/my sister dear/For heaven I pray thee, hear/This brightest red rose of thy maids/My heart I would hold near.”

Ill is my heart for her/For her doth beat and stir/If I should die. this fairest flower/Hath caused my sepulchre.”

Hear, Casimir, I say;/I cannot give away/Her for a hundred — I am wroth —/some woe I dread to-day.

Now must I wend my way/At early mass to pray./If thou art sick, thy heavy head/Here on my cushion lay.”

The queen thus goeth straight/Unto the church in state;/The lovely flowers, her virgins fair,/Attend on her to wait.

Fain would she pray, but, lo!/She cannot now do so./Her rosary she hath forgot;/Who now for it will go?

Go, bring it Clara dear,/It is my cushion near./Or in the oratory which/My daily prayer doth hear.”

Clara for it hath been/Gone full an hour, I ween;/and in the church, while she doth search,/In vain doth wait the queen.

She cometh back no more/Unto the virgin corps:/rather would she among the dead/Lie cold and shrouded o’er.

Rather into the tomb,/into black earth’s gloom,/Than in her gray-haired father’s hall/Would she her place resume.

My child, my daughter, say./What troubleth thee, I pray;/come to my breast and there confide./And wipe thy tears away.”

Father, it may not be/Ah, what shall come to me!/Let me embrace thy feet, and then/Cast me off utterly.”

The noon bell’s strident peal/Calls to the royal meal;/Just as Felician goes to meet/His King, but not to kneel.

His King indeed to meet,/But not with him to eat./a direful vengeance he hath vowed,/His sword gleams as with heat.

O, Queen Elizabeth!/I come to seek thy death/For my child’s wrong” — her fingers four/He cuts as this he saith;

For mine, thy children twain,/Louis and Andrew, slain/Shall be!” But then Gyulafi stays/The sword from further stain.

Quick to the rescue, men;/Cselényi, come!” and then/Felician soon the minions round/Seize and disarm and pen.

Thy fingers bleed I see,/For naught this shall not be!/What dost them ask, most gracious queen,/For this hurt done to thee?”

For my first finger there/I ask his daughter fair,/And for the next his knightly son’s/Dread death shall be my care.

Then for the other two/His son-in-law shall rue/And daughter; in his race’s blood/My hands I will imbrue.”

An evil day draws nigh;/Ill stars gleam in the sky;/protect our Magyar fatherland/From ill, O God on high!

Btw, it's good to have some Hungarian onboard, so I hope you will like my AAR...

I will definietly follow!

 

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Prologue: Duchy of Nyitra (1337)

Prologue​

Duchy of Nyitra
(1337)​

​

Trencín​

The position of István Cseh in Hungary in 1337 was not enviable. Particularly for someone who would like to dethrone the king, like István Cseh always dreamt. The province of Trencín was quite developed, with Mine, Library, Large Church and Small Castle already built but without School or Training Grounds for its soldiers. The monthly income in his demesne was below one gold and he had only 1,200 men ready to fight. István Cseh realized that some reforms were necessary to increase the strength of his troops and prepare for future battles with his enemies. He decided to establish Royal Prerogative in his demesne and put more power into the hands of nobility (social sliders changed to 20-20-20-40). He ordered his subjects start researching Plate Armour for his knights, and Mine and School techs for development of his province. That was everything István Cseh could do at the moment with one exception – to sire a son.

Anna, István Cseh’s wife​

István Cseh was married to Anna, a beautiful lady from local peasant family. Despite her beauty, she had not been able to give him a son and that worried him. As he was a generous and zealous man, István Cseh prayed to God every day to give him an heir. But he was losing hope because Anna was 27 and her most fertile period had already passed. The fact that irritated him the most was that the King Charles d’Anjou did not have the same problems since he had four sons and a daughter. In spring 1337, István Cseh headed off to Esztergom to worship God in the largest cathedral in Hungary. He met there with the Bishop of Esztergom who shared his view on the King Charles d’Anjou. Like István Cseh, the Bishop believed that Hungary should not be ruled by foreigners when there were many excellent men from Hungarian noble families who could do that. The meeting with the Bishop strengthened István Cseh’s beliefs and also increased a rebellious nature of his personality (new trait: Rebellious).

He returned to Trencín just in time to meet a King’s courier. He was afraid that the King wanted to execute him but could not believe his eyes when he was reading the message. The King Charles d’Anjou decided to award him a ducal title. István Cseh could not understand why his enemy would promote him to Duke of Nyitra. The only explanation was that the King was trying to buy him knowing his rebelliousness. Not only the ducal title was connected with a significant amount of prestige but also he gained two vassals. The Count of Gemer was from Balassa family that his uncle Máté Csák had fought against. The other vassal was Charles d’Anjou, the Bishop of Orava and the eldest King’s son. István Cseh’s first thought was to revoke the title from Charles. The last thing he needed was to have an Anjou heir as his vassal. However, when he tried to revoke his title, Charles d’Anjou Junior simply refused to obey. It was an act that was supposed to be punished but István Cseh decided that it was not the right time yet.

Ducal title, a gift from the King​

Suddenly the prospects of Csák family did not look so bad. István Cseh’s monthly income was now more than 7 golds and his troops counted more than 4,000 men. His promotion to Duke of Nyitra attracted even some new courtiers to his court in Trencín. Until then he had only his mother Anna Csák as Steward and his wife Anna who was the Spy Master of the province. Now he could appoint a new Chancellor and when a noble warrior, Géza von Neuhaus, came to Trencín he gained also a new Marshal. His family was surprised that he gave such an important position to a stranger but István Cseh simply trusted that guy. He could not believe it could be a King’s spy (new trait: Trusting). Just before the winter arrived, István Cseh ordered his servants start working on a new School to support education in the province. It seemed that the year 1337 could end peacefully but then a messenger from Rome arrived that the Pope called all Christian nobles to arms to liberate Antiocheia from Muslim hands.

Hungary and Duchy of Nyitra in 1337​

 

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Chapter I: Mourning, plot and deaths (1338 - 1343)

Chapter I​

Mourning, plot and deaths
(1338 - 1343)​

​

Pope plans to liberate Antiocheia​

István Cseh realised very soon that the Pope’s call for crusade against Muslims would have impact on his duchy. The King decided to listen up and in spring 1338 he declared war on Egypt that Antiocheia belonged to. It did not take a long time and the King asked István Cseh to mobilize his regiments to join him in the crusade. It was a tough decision for István Cseh; on one hand he was a valorous and zealous man but on the other hand he hated the Angevins. So after a couple weeks of thinking he decided not to mobilize his troops and rather to stay in Trencín. There were some things that worried him. The province did not prosper (Event: Propsperity set to poor) and then his wife Anna who got recently pregnant was ill. István Cseh could not believe that; his wife was finally bearing his child but her life was at risk. His worst nightmare came through when in October 1338 Anna died in labour. Soon thereafter also István Cseh's mother died and was beatified. It was a very sad time in Trencín and István Cseh mourned for a couple of weeks. He knew that the life would go on but he loved his wife and mother too much.

The King of Hungary, István Cseh's liege​

At that time István Cseh became friend with Charles Luxembourg, the Duke of Moravia and his neighbour. They became friends during hunting trips in Moravia in which István Cseh was looking for peace for his soul. Charles Luxembourg seemed to be a very capable ruler and his father Jan Luxembourg was supposed to become the next Emperor. István Cseh hoped that the Luxembourgs could help him in the future to defeat the King Charles. But first he needed to strengthen his position in the kingdom. His new Spy Master came up with a plan that was horrible but would enable István Cseh to add the province of Saris to his duchy. The Count of Saris, Miklós Balassa was without an heir and his successor was one of István Cseh's vassals, the Count of Gemer. If something happened to Miklós Balassa, the Count of Gemer could add Saris to István Cseh's duchy. It was a terrible thinking and István Cseh did not want to be involved. He just asked his Spy Master to do everything she felt was necessary to get Saris for him.

Assassination to get the province of Saris​

In winter 1338, the news came to Trencín that István Cseh's vassal, the Count of Gemer inherited the County of Saris. He passed the Saris title to his eldest son but István Cseh did not care; Saris was now under his control. In 1339 another request came from the King to join his army in the Holy Crusade. This time the request was connected with a threat of excommunication and István Cseh did not want to risk that. He obeyed the King’s order and declared war on Antiocheia as well. As part of war preparations he let his servants build a new Training Ground in Trencín which would increase speed of new troops recruiting in the province. The King’s troops had already left Hungary but István Cseh did not hurry to follow them. He saw this as a great opportunity to punish his vassal, the Bishop of Orava Charles d’Anjou, the King’s eldest son. On 5 February 1340 he gathered 4,500 men and attacked Orava. The Bishop’s army was vastly outnumbered, so it did not take a long time and Orava was captured and added to István Cseh’s demesne.

War against Anjou vassal, the Bishop of Orava​

István Cseh feared how the King would react to this attack on his son, especially when he learned that the King ended crusade and was on his way back to Hungary. No response came from the King though and it was probably because of a new threat that appeared in Hungary – the Bubonic plague. In September the plague came to Trencín and in February 1341 also to Orava where it led to drop in prosperity. Trencín which was already not very prosperous at that time was hit by the plague again and the province was struggling. At least the School in Orava that István Cseh had started building before the plague arrived was completed. The Duchy got also a new bishop from Rome and István Cseh hoped his prayers would help to get rid of the plague. Instead, bad news came to Trencín again: István Cseh's vassals demanded cancellation of Royal Prerogative in the duchy and threatened István Cseh with rebellion. István Cseh curtly refused this request which led to a significant drop of their loyalty as he was now perceived as Proud and Reckless (Event: How dare they question me!). Finally, in November 1343 the Bubonic plague retreated from the duchy and István Cseh and his subjects had a good reason to celebrate.

István Cseh refuses his vassals' ultimatum​

 

[Teep]

Don't know much about hungarian history in this time but this AAR is too intriguing not to subscribe to.

 

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(Don't feel bad, Teep; I didn't even know that they had Angevin kings in Hungary.)

From rebellious vassal to dealing with rebellious vassals; defying the Pope and making war on your king's son; assassinations and the plague—you've created a very exciting world here, siekel. Looking forward to more!

 

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Good show with Charles...

If he became king, you would have never gotten back your county!

 

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Teep, It's Amazing: Thank you, guys. I'll try not to disappoint my readers...

galuska: Excatly! The King is quite old, so I tried to avoid losing Orava...

Next update tomorrow...

 

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Chapter II: The Crusader

Chapter II​

The Crusader
(1344 - 1349)​

​

Not only the plague retreated from the Duchy of Nyitra but also the prosperity in Orava returned to normal. The province of Trencín was still struggling but István Cseh hoped it was only a temporary problem. As a zealous man he prayed to God every day and during one of his visits to church he had a very strange inspiration. God urged him to take up the cross and become the Crusader and István Cseh accepted this request (Event: God urges you to take up the cross). In spring 1344 a Frankish family of de Poitiers- Valentinois settled in Trencín. They came from the Kingdom of France where they were stripped off their lands. István Cseh did not know why they chose his duchy but since there were a lot of skilful persons in this family, he was happy to harbour them. Another interesting news came in summer 1344, Jan Luxembourg, father of his friend Charles Luxembourg, became the new German Emperor. And finally in August 1344, the stability of the duchy increased by one as a result of István Cseh’s wise policies.

István Cseh became the Crusader​

In December 1344, the King of Hungary declared a new war on Egypt with the objective to liberate Antiocheia. István Cseh, now Crusader, understood that this was the mission in which had to take part and therefore did not wait until the King asked him to mobilize his troops and in the same month he declared war on Egypt as well. Maybe that was the reason why his neighbour, Louis d’Anjou, the King’s second son and the Count of Nitra, offered him friendship during one of their hunting trips. István Cseh did not, however, head off to Antiocheia immediately. It was seven years now that his wife died and he still did not have an heir. He decided to marry again asking for hand of sister of Polish king, Karol Piast. Elzbieta Piast was an honest and beautiful lady and István Cseh hoped that also fertile enough to give him a plenty of sons and daughters. He married her in March 1346 in Trencín and soon thereafter she got pregnant which was obviously the great news for István Cseh.

István Cseh’s new wife​

In January 1347, the Count of Abauj, István Cseh’s neighbour, declared independence. István Cseh realised that it was a great opportunity to expand borders of his duchy and therefore he sent a vassalization offer to Abauj, which was surprisingly quickly accepted. In June 1347 a great joy came to the duchy, Elzbieta gave a birth to boy named Géza and István Cseh had finally a much longed son. After a few weeks of celebrations, István Cseh decided that it was the right time to sail to Antiocheia to fulfil his Crusader promise and liberate the holy land from Muslim hands. István Cseh gathered four regiments counting 6,500 men and headed to Black Sea where his army was supposed to board a ship to Antiocheia. A long journey was ahead of them but István Cseh was looking forward to that because he hoped a few victories could bring him enough prestige to strengthen his position in Hungary afterwards. In May 1348, after almost one year of travel, István Cseh’s regiments arrived to Antiocheia.

The Battle of Antiocheia​

The province of Antiocheia belonged to a small Sheikdom of Aleppo at that time and the Sheik’s army counted about 4,000 men. The two armies met in Antiocheia in June 1348 and the superiority of István Cseh’s army showed very quickly. The Sheik’s troops were defeated and the province was conquered by István Cseh in July. His men then headed to Aleppo, the other Sheik’s province, where they met the demoralised Sheik’s army again. In September the province of Aleppo was liberated and the Sheik accepted his defeat. He paid 500 gold to István Cseh plus he gave up Antiocheia. It was a great victory for István Cseh connected with a huge amount of prestige. István Cseh created a new Bishopric of Antiocheia and soon thereafter he returned home; his mission was completed. The Kingdom of Hungary continued in the war for some time but when the King realised that Antiocheia was liberated by István Cseh, he signed peace as well. Another great joy came to Trencín soon thereafter, when Jolanta, István Cseh’s daughter was born. In November 1348 István Cseh built a Royal Post in Trencín to celebrate his victories in Middle East and the birth of his daughter. He hoped that more was to come…

The Duchy of Nyitra (in red) in 1349​

 

[Teep]

That is very godd work and it is nice to see an update.

 

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How big is Charles Robert's personal demense?

If you know what I mean

 

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Teep: Many thanks. I'm enjoying this...

galuska: Well, he has 10 provinces but only 5 are in Hungary... the other 5 are new provinces he got in Egypt... I think I'm still too weak to fight him...

 

[Olaus Petrus]

Interesting AAR, most AARs start from 1066 so it's nice to see also the later scenarios represented here.

Anjou king did serious mistake when he made István a duke, that certainly did make István much more powerful man. Without a ducal title István could be still planning how to get a second county.

 

[gooy]

awww that is a thrilling one and i hope 1337 means the mongols are not that big a threat (somehow i never played the 1337 scenario).

goooo slovakia... or go hungary... or go trencin... hmmm i guess it is only the family that matters in those times

 

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Looks very nice. I'll endeavor to keep up.