ENGLAND
Rebirth
1153 - 1170
Philip, King of England had first risen to the throne of England after a succession of short and violent rules that typified this age of the isle. The nation that William had conquered less than 100 years past had grown strong and then crumbled into ashes and flame in just a few generations. The civil war that had ripped the nation apart had claimed many as its casualties. Essex was a plague swept wasteland and the kingdom was in the hands of a multitude of ambitious neighbors and warlords whose control was felt scarcely beyond the walls of their own keeps, each king in order from the great collapse secured yet more of England under their grasp, but died young, their ambitions unfulfilled. It was into the fading embers of this conflict that Philip would find himself thrown.
Philip spent more than the first decade of his reign bringing the kingdom into order. Though the outright rebellion of lords in places such as Gloucester, York and Devon were still a matter of fact, it could not be ignored that only through the reintroduction of the reforms of William could the kingdom survive. In the meantime though Philip watched in shock as the Polish and German monsters smashed Brandenburg between them and sowed dissension and rebellion in the lands of Norway. Seeing as the law abiding peoples seemed to be falling from power everywhere, Philip made a solemn vow before the Almighty himself that a stand would be made to prevent the continued unjust actions of those few privileged. So it was agreed that, even should they not know it themselves, the remnants or Norway (which had risen the flag of Denmark in defiance of their numerous enemies, and Flanders would see the help of England in every crisis, until the wrongs of the past could be removed from the north. Thus Phillip offered his assistance to those beleaguered peoples of Denmark, promising assistance should they again be threatened from the south.
It would not be until 1153 though, that Philip could move forward again with the reunification of England, more than a full decade after his ascension to the throne. Raising his troops and those of nearby nobles, Philip marched his armies north. Declaring war on the rebellion in York as he marched, the forces of England were yet again on the move. The army raised by the rebellious lands though was far beyond what had been imagined, more than 4,000 soldiers issued forth from the city. Never had Philip imagined that this lord controlled the land so strongly. But along the coast battle would be met, as Philip himself led the troops in one of his first engagements. Though the enemy was almost entirely encircled by the superior forces of Philip, they were left but a small area from which they might move. The battle was evenly matched for more than a few days, as the usurper Rolf fought off the English forces with what even we must admit was valour. But when the Duke of Lancaster made his appearance, beginning what would be an earth shaking partnership with his liege Philip, the forces of York were forced to flee. Though they tried to return to York and thus defend the city, they were slaughtered as they ran until none remained and the waves beat against the shore as a bloody tide.
York would fall shortly thereafter, and Philip, seeing the riches of the city, even through the smoke of war, determined that it would forever more remain a part of the English crown lands. He now turned his eyes towards the lord Erik of Durham, who held his lands but by force of threat against those he held sway over. This would not be a battle, but purest rout, as the city fell in no time. Philip had now united the north again under the twin lions, but Philip was not done. He was determined to redress the wrongs of the past and to reestablish the strength of the English crown. Turning his attentions towards the usurper Humphrey in Gwynedd, Philip reorganized his troops and marched west.
Now the peoples of Wales normally would be a fearsome foe. They had given all kings of England pause since time immemorial, but now they were divided, ruled over by an English pretender, who held no real claim to their lands. So it was that when Philip smashed into the lands of Humphrey, he overran the area in no time. Though the lands of the usurper stretched across the entirety of the mountains and highlands of the west, Philip would have no trouble destroying them and the entirety of Wales fell back under the control of England in but a few months.
It was about this time that a second royal army marched with the southern lords, quickly subduing the few rebellious lords of Cornwall. Though Philip was no poised to strike at the Duchess of Debeubarth, other events intervened that would make her and her status as a vassal of Scotland matter but little. Almost before the embers of the first war between Germany and Denmark, and the brutal destruction of Brandenburg, Germany struck yet again, declaring war on the remnants of Denmark. Philip would honour his deal and join the war. Together with a massive coalition, consisting of Flanders, Naples, the Byzantium and even the distant King of Jerusalem, the armies of England would strike back at this belligerent who had caused so much harm. To Flanders and England would come the responsibility of maintaining the north and though Flanders was willing, they bordered Germany on the west and were forced to fight for their lives in those first years.
So it was that Philip reassembled his forces, again with himself in the lead of more than 40,000 men, set out for Denmark and to defend those lands which the German forces had so unjustly invested in their quest for unyielding power. Our forces would be split into three armies, one landed in Denmark proper, relieving the hard pressed forces of Denmark there, the others landed in Jylland and Hamburg, pressing south and forcing the German armies before them. Philip’s army in Jylland would quickly invest Lubeck and Mecklemburg. They would meet up, unbelievably, with the forces of Jerusalem in Brandenburg, where yet another German imperial city would fall. From there they swept south and west liberating the English lands of Abernatch and as far south as the city of Milan.
The war was hard fought though. After more than three years in the field, Philip was forced to return to England and allow his vassals to wage the war for him, for unrest had been steadily rising and Philip needed to suppress it as best he could. And though the forces in the south were said to be surrounded and utterly destroyed by the German armies, the forces of Denmark moved south behind the defenses of Jerusalem and England, seizing Wolgast and Werle, as well as seizing, for their own gain and with the blessings of Philip, the cities of Lubeck and Mecklemburg. When the war finally drew to a close for Denmark in late 1159 and Lubeck and Mecklemburg officially became, as they should be, rightful cities of Denmark, England accepted the requests for peace by the emperor.
The lands of England had been slowly reorganized so that those vassals of Philip did not feel the anger they might have at the continuous wars. And though the various dukes of England were not as strong as their counterparts in other nations, Philip would create many of them, granting the titles those great leaders and warriors in England. Thus did he reduce the unrest in the land. It came to him as a surprise though when news of the disintegration of Scotland arrived. Long had we looked to Scotland as a dangerous northern kingdom, always a threat, if not to the existence of England, then at least to the stability of the kingdom. Philip could not pass up the opportunity to use this unrest in Scotland to his advantage and both strengthen the power of England and to remove a rival within the isle.
Moving north with 20,000 troops, Philip quickly seized the lands of Cumberland and Galloway, bring them under the English crown, but here he was given pause. Though no force left in Scotland could stop even these two armies, the constant warring between the many factions in the northern lands left the king at a loss in how to proceed, for it seemed every land was already under the control of a dozen different warlords and sorting it out would take forever. So it was that after more than two years of waiting, even having disbanded the armies while still at war, Philip had decided on a plan to end the conflicts.
Using the vast prestige he had gained through the wars of unification and with Germany, Philip claimed the throne of England on the right that a crazed man now let that throne be abused and that anarchy could be better stilled under the hands of the King of England. Marching north yet again, this time with just 8,000 men, Philip sacked the twin lands of Argyll and Strathclyde who were as yet still securely under the banner of Scotland. The king of the north, realizing his position capitulated and allowed our king to gain yet another throne. Suddenly and with very little bloodshed the majority of the north was under our control.
It was at this time that the Duke of Mar decided that England would spare him the wars of the past and pled his loyalty to the new Scottish king. And so it was that without more bloodshed, yet another portion of Scotland fell to the armies of England. The problems were far from over though, as the very northern portions of Scotland and the isles beyond were still independent and the remnants of the Scottish king fought on, under the Banner of Strathclyde, against the lands of Carrick and Berwick. We could not advance further until Strathclyde had fallen and their claims reduced to naught but ashes. So that is what we did. Again Philip ventured into the field and again another enemy was humbled, as Strathclyde fell to the English swords. We were now free to turn on Carrick and Berwick, and these war ravaged lands also fell in quick succession. Turning but one more, we set sail for the northern isle of Faereyar, where one of the last independent duchies lay. Seizing his lands and putting his family to the sword, the entirety of his domain was brought into England.
Philip had brought almost the entirety of the rightful lands of England within his grasp. And though only the pretender duke of the Western Isles and Iceland lay outside the control of Londinium, much had been accomplished. But further strengthening of the English crown would have to wait, for in the year 1168 Germany again declared war on Denmark, this time with the assistance of France, making it many thousand man coalition that now threatened the shores of Denmark. Not to be outdone in this greatest crisis the civilized world had seen in generations, Sweden also took the opportunity to declare war Denmark. Though again the right-minded kings of Christendom responded to the threat, the French and Swedish were a problem that Denmark and England would be left to deal with alone.
Though we had already sent 30,000 men over the seas to assist Denmark before the French declaration of war ever reached Philip’s ears, we were not afraid, for within the bounds of our nation was now dozens of great men, leading armies of skilled and valiant Englishmen, each of whom were a match for a hundred of the French soldiers. The French were upon the shores of England before ever we could react though, marching straight through the lands of Philip’s vassals; they reached the outskirts of Londinium itself, where they were met with a hastily drawn army of 10,000 crown soldiers.
The battle arrayed itself along the plains, west of the city and the French found themselves at a disadvantage with the lay of the land. The English soldiers knew this area and were prepared to fight to the death for it and so, though the more than 15,000 French soldiers threw themselves time and time again against the stalwart English soldiers, the battle was over before it had truly begun, with the French army reduced to a mere rabble, none of whom ever returned to their useless king. Now we marched a second army, this time of 40,000 soldiers into France. Quickly taking control of various areas of Brittany, the forces of Philip advanced ever east. It was in Maine that the line would be drawn, as the French king managed to halt the English advancement. And though Philip’s army skirted the borders of the conflict and seized Orleans, the French capitol, the French meanwhile had pushed the English soldiers westward unto the very tip of Brittany.
And so we were forced to raise yet more armies, with an additional 20,000 soldiers sailing across the channel to do battle in France. 10,000 sailed far south to Bordeaux, where they invested the city, while the other 10,000 landed in Brittany and re-established the English lines of battle. Now, as the French forces began to fail before the renewed English offensive, the tyrant in Orleans finally accepted peace and though England asked for nothing, they had gained much for now they were free to turn their attention upon the Germans, and the Swedish if need be. The originally armies that had sailed to Denmark to reinforce the Yngling lines, had since been decimated and merged into one force. And the new offensive from the west could not but help the chance of survival for the English troops and their allies in Denmark alike.
The peace imposed by Sweden on Denmark would cause all manners of small problems. For now Sweden was free to harass the English homeland, almost at will, as the largest parts of the forces of England were now at war in Germany. After defeating Swedish landing parties in both Sussex and York a number of times though, the Swedish king accepted peace and we were free to deal solely with the Germans for once. But that war also was not to last long. Under the protection of English troops, and the new war that had sprung up between the former allies Poland and Germany, Denmark had advanced far south and now claimed much of old Brandenburg for themselves in a grand peace. Philip then allowed himself to be bought out of the war for a paltry sum and England was at peace yet again.
It turned out that more good news was to arrive, for when Philip returned home, he found a prisoner waiting for him. It would seem that the new Scottish nobility had sought to prove their loyalty. Not only had they subdued a rebellion in the far northern isles, but they had also brought the pretender duke of Iceland to his knees and reclaimed the Western Isles for England, as well as the island of Iceland. For now England was at peace. Philip had become the conqueror, engineering the rebirth of England in but his own lifetime. What more would he accomplish should his reign be long? One could only guess, or maybe they could read the signs of glory, that sprung like beacons across the lands of England and shone bright in the eyes of all of Christendom, for all to see.
There is actually another installment coming, but I will wait a few days on that one, so I can finish it up and maybe allow some of the other players to catch up...
