Pirates and Usurpers: a Barcelona AAR

[Jon F. Zeigler]

Playing as the Duke of Catalonia - although not for long . . .

Vital statistics:
- Crusader Kings v. 1.04a
- Normal/Aggressive
- 1066 "bugfix" scenario with Solmyr's SECK events package

Goals:
- Become a King.
- Unify as much of the Iberian peninsula as possible.
- Build a maritime empire at least as impressive as the one the Catalans built in real history.
- Whatever comes next . . .

I plan to play with moderate historicity, and I hope to play at least through 1200 (although if the game gets too ahistorical my suspension of disbelief will kick in).

 

[Jon F. Zeigler]

In 801, Charlemagne's son Louis took Barcelona from a Moorish emir, establishing a buffer zone between the Frankish kingdoms and the Moors. This region eventually became the Marca Hispanica or "Spanish Marches," a region of small holdings, each governed by a lesser warlord with his armed retainers, each of whom theoretically owed allegiance to the Frankish emperor. Each was the catlá ("castellan" or lord of the castle) in his own small territory, the region dotted with small fortified strongholds. Like Castile, the region eventually became known by these castles: Catalunya.

By the 11th century after Christ, Catalunya was barely a political entity. Its overlord was the Count of Barcelona, who still owed nominal fealty to the German emperor, but in practice was an independent potentate. His rule over the nearby castellans was tenuous, although in time of crisis they could usually be relied upon to support him.

As the nucleus for a future Great Power, it was unpromising . . .

Catalonia in 1066

 

[Jon F. Zeigler]

Roman Berenguer, Count of Barcelona, in 1066

RAMON BERENGUER, called the Usurper
- Born 1024
- Hereditary Count of Barcelona, accession 1035
- Prince of the Kingdom of Aragon, accession 1076
- Died 1078 (Prestige 258 – Piety 155)

Ramon Berenguer was the fourth hereditary and independent Count of Barcelona. His father, Berenguer Ramon, was a weak Count who lost control of the other magnates of Catalunya very early in his reign. The castellans seized control of the county’s administrative and legal systems, corrupting old institutions of Visigothic origin in pursuit of their own ambitions.

In this climate, Ramon Berenguer became the new Count at the tender age of 11 years. He struggled for years to assert his authority, eventually recognizing many of the privileges the castellans had seized. In return, the magnates agreed to recognize the Count as the principal leader of Catalunya, as his allies rather than as his subordinates. Ramon Berenguer was then able to gather a new core of loyal nobles, forming his mannada or “household,” to govern the pacified realm.

One step in the process relied on the Count’s extensive legal and ecclesiastical education. Ramon Berenguer began writing the Usages of Barcelona, a legal document which eventually became the first full compilation of feudal law in Western Europe. Catalunya was rapidly becoming a feudal state; the process had begun under Roman Berenguer’s father and was far too advanced to be stopped. The Count hoped to control the process and bind his allied magnates into a stable social structure.

Meanwhile, Roman Berenguer led his restive magnates on raids against the Moorish lords of the region. He extended his authority as far west as Barbastro on the Chica River, and levied heavy tribute (parias) on many Moorish towns and cities. These tributes brought a great deal of wealth into Catalunya, and helped the Count convince his allies to reduce their tax levies on the peasantry.

By the late 1060s, Ramon Berenguer had largely succeeded in his plans. Catalunya was internally at peace, the nobles reconciled to the Count’s leadership. The Moorish tributes had brought real prosperity for the first time in decades. If the Count was to expand his domain any further, it was time to look further afield.

 

[Jon F. Zeigler]

Barcelona, Christmas Eve, in the Year of Our Lord 1066:

Pere Ramon stood in the doorway, watching as his father worked among books and parchments.

Roman Berenguer, Count of Barcelona, wore a simple black cossack, resembling a religious habit. In the dim candlelight, he peered at documents, tugged at his beard in thought, and then made notes. The room was utterly silent, except for the faint scratching of pen on parchment.

"Father?"

The Count turned. "Ah, Pere. Please, come in."

The young man entered the room obediently, but didn’t sit down. Indeed, looking about quickly he could identify no place to sit.

"It’s almost time for Compline, Father. You should get some rest. Tomorrow is the Christmas mass, and then Court."

Roman Berenguer sighed. "There never seems to be enough time. Very well, I’ll come. But first there are some things I must discuss with you."

Pere Ramon waited.

"I'm pleased with the reports I have received from your instructors, son," the Count began. "Your instructors in arms and tactics are quite satisfied with your progress."

"I’ll never make a great soldier, Father."

"Perhaps not," the Count agreed. "You do know how to plan a battle, and how to lead men. You're brave enough on the field, without being reckless. A lord needs to be competent with sword, lance, and bow. He doesn’t need to be a master."

"As you say, Father."

"I do say." The Count watched his son, considering. "I have a difficulty. I have no captain-marshal at the moment. There are several candidates for the office. I can trust none of them."

Pere Ramon blinked. "Me?"

"You." The Count waited. It took less than a minute.

"Domine, non sum dignis," said the young man. "But I will do my best."

"I expect you to," said Ramon Berenguer, smiling to himself. "Very good. The announcement will be made at Christmas Court, tomorrow. See the chamberlain in the morning and have him get you something appropriate to wear. You are my heir, and the best candidate I have for captain-marshal. See that you look like it."

"I will, Father."

The Count rose, blew out his candle, and came to clap his son on the shoulder as they left the library. "Very good. Now for the other thing. You’re a man now. We need to find you a wife . . ."

 

[Jon F. Zeigler]

At Christmas Court in 1066 - ironically, the same day that William "the Bastard" was being crowned King of England in Winchester - Count Ramon Berenguer revealed his plans for the coming year. The spring would bring a new campaign against the Moors, one which would push Catalan power farther than it had ever before gone. The target: Zaragoza on the Ebro, capital of the northernmost of the Moorish emirates.

Eager to share in the loot of Zaragoza, Ramon Berenguer's nobles went back to their castles and began careful preparations. Meanwhile, the Count made a secret agreement with an unlikely ally - the Moorish Emir of Murcia. The Emir was uninterested in providing soldiers, as he had his own campaign to pursue against the pirate-sheiks of the Balearic Islands. However, the alliance would help keep the powerful Emir of Toledo in check, less likely to respond to a sudden surge of Catalan assertiveness.

The campaign was launched in March of 1067, the first target the Moorish city of Tarragona. The Count's war chest was thin, and he hoped to take the city quickly so that the loot would keep his lords content to stay in the field. Unfortunately, the city stood fast for over two months, by which time the Count was deep in debt and facing unrest among his captains.

Meanwhile, the Emir of Zaragoza launched a counteroffensive, sending an army into the foothills of the Pyrenees to attack as many Catalan strongholds as possible. Ramon Berenguer faced ruin.

Fortunately, Tarragona fell to a stratagem in late May, after which the Count was able to distribute the city's loot and pull his army together. A forced march north met the Moorish invasion force near Manresa in early August, where Ramon Berenguer handed the Moors their first decisive defeat. The Catalan army pursued the Moors westward, winning another decisive battle a few miles from Zaragoza in September.

It was at this point that the Catalans discovered their plans had gone awry. While they pinned down the bulk of the Emir's forces in the east, King Sancho of Castile had invaded the emirate from the west. Already in September, the Castilian forces had captured Calatayud. Now, as the Catalan army reached the walls of Zaragoza, they found the Castilian army already investing the city.

The Catalans were a welcome addition to the Christian army, but they were not so welcome that King Sancho planned to yield pride of place. When Zaragoza finally fell in November of 1067, it was Sancho of Castile who accepted the submission of the former Emir, and Sancho of Castile who distributed the city's plunder. Zaragoza became an eastern outpost of the Kingdom of Castile.

Many of the Catalan lords resented the Castilian maneuver. They felt they had done most of the fighting (and dying) of the war, and were being sent home with little of the plunder. Count Ramon Berenguer kept his own counsel. He led his army in a final attack on the Sheik of Albarracin, adding that territory to his own domain and providing his captains with a final dose of Moorish gold. Yet even while his war spun down, he took pains to encourage resentment against Castile. He had been given his own reasons to hate and distrust the Jimenez clan.

 

[Jon F. Zeigler]

Command tent, outside Zaragoza, early November 1067:

"Blast them, one and all! May the Almighty consign Fernando Jimenez and all his brood to perdition! Arrogant - high-handed - serpents, the lot of them!"

Count Ramon Berenguer rarely raised his voice. Decades of dealing with the fractious lords of Catalunya had taught him how to persuade rather than coerce. He wasn't raising his voice now. Yet the sheer venom in his tone brought Pere Ramon up short as he worked to remove his chainmail shirt.

"What's wrong, Father?" asked the Count's heir.

Ramon Berenguer dropped a parchment on his camp desk with a hiss of disgust, then turned to his son, anger but also apology in his face.

"You know I've been working to arrange a good marriage for you, son." The Count made a helpless gesture. "I'd thought that since our Catalans were here, doing good service to the King, he might consider forging closer ties. A Jimenez bride would be a fine connection for our house, and with a little luck it might even put your son on a throne."

Pere Ramon frowned. "No luck, eh?"

"There's the response to my latest missive," said the Count, pointing at the parchment he had just discarded. "Very polite, very carefully worded . . . and very definite on the fact that a mere Count's son can't aspire to the hand of a Jimenez."

Pere Ramon shrugged. "All right. The clan's a large one, though. Surely somewhere there's a second or third daughter they can spare."

The Count sighed, and watched his heir for a long moment. "This is the fifth refusal, son. I sent my heralds to make the rounds. Aragon, Navarra, Leon, Galicia, and now Castile. Some of them don't have women of the right age at the moment. The ones that do aren't interested in a tie to our house."

"They're not interested in me," Pere Ramon said flatly, beginning to look affronted. "God's blood, Father, I've been at your side in every battle this year. I even fought today beside that Castilian captain, de Vivar. A greater soldier you will not find anywhere in Christendom, and he had a word of praise for me. But our blood, my blood, isn't good enough for them?"

"It would appear so."

Pere Ramon spat on the ground, and went back to tending his armor.

"Don't take it to heart, son," advised the Count. "When we return home, seek out some winsome maiden from among the nobles of the household. It's important that you have an heir, and that soon. Even if it's not an heir of Jimenez blood."

The younger man looked back up at that. "Why, Father? Is something wrong?"

"No, no," said Ramon Berenguer. "Nothing wrong. With any luck it will be many years before you take up my coronet."

The Count turned back to his desk, cluttered with maps and dispatches. He shifted one parchment aside, knocking the Castilian missive on the ground unheeded, and peered at a document Pere Ramon could not see.

"In any case," murmured the Count, "there's more than one place to find a throne."

Pere Ramon watched his father, but he knew better than to ask what the older man was thinking.

 

[Murmurandus]

Good start, keep it up...

 

[unmerged(35381)]

Well, I'd think you'd place piracy in an island setting, but I guess its okay considering the catalons, go for the canaries and make it fun

 

[unmerged(23127)]

Very good Start there...

I really like it!
I was getting a little confused with the map and the Picture from 1066, where Ramon ONLY was count in Barcelona but also Duke of Catalonia!?
Is he both Duke of Catalonia and count of Barcelona and Lleida...??
Doen't think it's because your confusing! It's just that you use SO many good english words and sentaces, which I have a tiny little problem with understanding it correct! You can sayyou right that Good, so Dumm me, can't read it...

Anyway... I got most of it and I think it's good...
I once played the Duke of Catalonia myself but was crushed very early!
I hope you are better and have some more luck than I did...

 

[Jon F. Zeigler]

Ah, readers!

Carbiner: the Catalans aren't necessarily the pirates. I find that in real-world history they built quite an empire on the basis sea-going trade. I suspect my Catalans will be fighting pirates a lot. (On the other hand, "Usurpers" will certainly fit the de Barcelona clan . . . they're an opportunistic lot, especially with me at the helm.)

Northern Viking: It's not surprising you're confused. It turns out that in real-world history, Roman Berenguer was never a Duke - he was the Count of Barcelona. But the level of power he held, including command over a number of lesser nobles, more resembles what the game calls a Duke. Hence the game makes him a Duke. I'm trying to translate the results of the game into something resembling the real history, so in the AAR I'll normally use the titles people actually held rather than the ones used by the game system.

 

[Jon F. Zeigler]

If Count Ramon Berenguer had a plan for revenge on the Jimenez clan, he showed no sign of it for many years. In any case, his great campaign against the Moors had stretched his resources to the limit. He was heavily in debt to Jewish moneylenders, and his native sense of honor forbade him to treat the Jews as many other Christian nobles did. He therefore invested prudently to develop his domains, cultivated the loyalty of his subordinates, distributed careful propaganda against the Jimenez clan, and waited.

One benefit of the Moorish campaign was the arrival of Muhammad de Cardona. De Cardona was from a muladi family, descended from Romans and Visigoths who had converted to Islam during the Moorish conquest. A distant kinsman of the Sheik of Albarracin, he had abandoned his lord before his fall in order to swear fealty to the Count of Barcelona. For his part, the Count was only too happy to have de Cardona on hand, knowing his reputation as a soldier, captain, and peerless knight. Ramon Berenguer welcomed de Cardona, who was to be a fixture of the Catalan court for many years.

The Count made some judicious dynastic moves over the next few years. Having failed to find a foreign bride for his heir Pere Ramon, he encouraged the younger man to find a well-born bride among the nobles of Catalunya. Soon Pere Ramon was successful. In the spring of 1068 he married Estefania de Besalu, daughter of the Count of Besalu. This marriage tied the de Besalu family closely to the Counts of Barcelona, shoring up a relationship that had not always been friendly in the past. Safely married, Pere Ramon was sent to serve as the Count of Lleida, a position designed to bring him experience and prestige against the day that he inherited his father's domain.

Meanwhile, the Count's own daughter, Agnes de Barcelona, had reached marriageable age. She was physically attractive, well-connected, and extremely intelligent. She had excelled in her education, could read and write fluently in both Latin and the vernacular, and was well-versed in theology and the classics. After her presentation at Court, suitors fairly swarmed around her, and her father had a superb opportunity to pick and choose.

In the end, the young woman was bestowed in an unlikely place. In late 1068, Muhammad de Cardona was named captain-marshal of the Count's army, having proved his loyalty and skill over the past year. He soon approached Count Ramon Berenguer privately, pressing his own suit for the hand of Agnes de Barcelona.

At first, the Count was speechless. His daughter, wed to a Moor? Yet the proposition was not as absurd as it first seemed. De Cardona was an invaluable aide. He had no loyalties to any of the other noble clans of Catalunya, and no chance of building a following among them. He was young, stong, handsome, and a master of the field of battle. His sons by any woman would doubtless be a credit to the court. More to the point, Agnes de Barcelona was fond of him, preferring him to any of her Christian suitors.

Finally, the Count issued his ultimatum. Muhammad de Cardona could have his daughter's hand - but first he would have to place himself under the guidance of the Bishop of Barcelona, who would supervise the muladi's conversion to Christianity. If the Bishop was satisfied, and de Cardona continued to serve loyally, the marriage would be permitted.

Muhammad de Cardona agreed eagerly. By the spring of 1069 he had completed his conversion, taking the Christian name of Benedict. That summer, he married Agnes de Barcelona in a magnificent ceremony. Luck and Divine Providence seemed certain to favor the happy couple.

Alas, Fate had yet to show her own hand.

 

[Deaghaidh]

Wait, can you DO that? I've wanted to many a time!

Did you script some sort of event or edit the save file or something to make a Christian of him?

BTW, if you did, kudos to you, it's completely historical and reasonable IMHO. I just hope it ends better than Othello

 

[Jon F. Zeigler]

Heh. No, as far as the game was concerned he stayed a Muslim. I just married him to Agnes in hopes of some good offspring, since as courtiers it wouldn't make any difference whether they were Christians or not. (I'm not playing the beta, with the events to eject non-Christian courtiers during a crusade.)

Unfortunately, it didn't make much difference in the long run, as you'll see.

 

[Jon F. Zeigler]

In 1070, Ramon Berenguer began to see opportunities unfolding. Tensions in the Jimenez clan were leading to border skirmishes among the northern Iberian kingdoms.

A vicious quarrel between Garcia and Alfonso Jimenez soon led to open war between Galicia and Leon, in which the armies of King Alfonso soon folded. The Kingdom of Leon collapsed, and by the end of 1070 Alfonso Jimenez was forced to cede his crown to his brother in exchange for independence as the Duke of Salamanca.

In Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer watched and waited.

Of course, other opportunities were also appearing. In 1070 the Emir of Murcia was at war with the pirate-sheiks of the Balearic Islands, and had already captured Mallorca. In the spring, Ramon Bereguer scraped together the gold necessary to fund a sea-expedition, and declared war on the Sheik of Menorca. The Count himself led the expedition. When his ships reached the island in March, they found themselves three days ahead of a similar expedition sent by the Emir of Murcia. Quick negotiations prevented the two forces from coming to blows. The combined force smashed the Sheik's tiny army and soon captured the citadel. Ramon Berenguer paid a nominal fee to the Emir and took over Menorca as a Catalan possession.

In the end, the Sheik's ill-gotten loot was captured and distributed, and the Count found that he had actually made a small profit on the venture. With Menorca in Christian hands, piracy off the Catalan coast was substantially reduced, and merchants from Barcelona began to enjoy modest prosperity. By Christmas of 1070, Count Ramon felt secure enough to make a bold move: he created the Duchy of the Spanish Marche and claimed the title for himself. The added prestige of his new ducal honors were an important milestone in Ramon Berenguer's long-term plans.

Duke Ramon Berenguer had two younger sons, the twins Ramon Berenguer and Berenguer Ramon. Making his eldest son his heir, the Duke granted the position of Governor of Menorca to the older twin, Ramon Berenguer. Unfortunately, before the young man could travel to the island to take up his responsibilities, he died of a sudden illness. Menorca remained under the Duke's direct control until early 1073, when the younger twin was appointed Count of Menorca after his marriage to Guillelma Najjar. Berenguer Ramon prospered in Menorca, and established the first major cadet line of the de Barcelona dynasty - his descendants were later Dukes of Mallorca and Overlords of the Balearic Islands.

 

[Vandelay]

A very well written AAR!!! I enjoy playing the Counts of Barcelona myself - an excellent choice!

 

[Jon F. Zeigler]

Barcelona, mid-April 1072:

Duke Ramon evaluated the three courtiers he had summoned.

Benedict de Cardona stood, leaning against the back wall of the library, his eyes hooded as he toyed with his beard. A pale scar, earned at the capture of Menorca, gave his Moorish face a saturnine look. Agnes de Cardona, the Duke's daughter, sat calmly on a settee, her pale beauty a marked contrast to her Moorish husband. Adelaida de Borja sat nearby, her silvering hair confined under a veil, her fingers making a nervous drumming in her lap.

The Duke knew all of them were talented, and under ordinary circumstances he could trust all three. The plan he was about to unfold, however, was far from ordinary.

Enough dithering. The Duke leaned forward, capturing his spymistress' eyes. "Lady Adelaida. What can you report about the fighting in the Pyrenees?"

De Borja cleared her throat. "I assume you refer to the feud between the two Jimenez princes."

"Of course. Continue."

A few months before, the "war of the Two Sanchos" had broken out. Sancho Jimenez, king of Navarra, had quarreled with his cousin - also named Sancho - who held the throne of Aragon. Navarrese troops had mounted a large-scale raid into the lowlands of the Pyrenees, quickly defeating the Aragonese army in the field. Cracking the Aragonese fortress at Jaca had turned out to be much more difficult. So far the Navarrese had been forced to pillage the countryside and then retire for the winter, leaving the King of Aragon impoverished but still in command of his realm.

"The Navarrese army has returned to lay seige to Jaca," reported de Borja. "My agents claim that they are having no better luck this year than they did in the fall. The Aragonese have been able to keep Jaca supplied, and there are royalist bandits operating from redoubts in the Pyrenees, attacking the Navarrese supply lines. Basques, many of them."

The Duke's smile became thin. Basques had a fearful reputation. Even Charles the Great had taken a bloody nose from a Basque ambush at Roncesvalles.

"I must ask all of you, then: is it your opinion that Navarra will be able to take Jaca?"

The two women looked at each other, then at the brooding Moor, who shook his head. "One can never rule out treachery, my lord Duke," Benedict pointed out. "So long as Aragon's men remain loyal to him, the Navarrese have no way to pry him out of his castle. They lack the men and the equipment."

The Duke nodded. "I see. Of course, Jimenez stubbornness means that the war will go on for months. Perhaps for years. Killing men and wasting treasure on both sides."

"Such is war, my lord Duke."

Ramon Berenguer tapped his desk. "Of course, when we march on Jaca, we will not be so foolish as to take years about it and then fail in the end. Am I understood?"

Their reactions were gratifying. De Borja stopped her nervous fidgeting, and even Benedict de Cardona's eyes widened in shock. Only Agnes de Cardona seemed unsurprised, her catlike smile indicating that she had deduced her father's plans. Deduced them, and approved.

"Let me be clear," the Duke continued. "Not a word of this is to go beyond the four of us until we are ready. Sooner or later, the Navarrese will give up and go home. With any luck, they will take years to realize that their efforts are doomed to failure. They will exhaust themselves, and they will exhaust the King of Aragon as well. When this occurs - no matter how long it takes - we will be ready. We will march on Jaca. We will take the castle, and seize the person of Sancho Jimenez. And when we have accomplished all of this, the King of Aragon will bend to our will."

"Difficult, my lord," said Benedict de Cardona.

"That is your province, sir," said the Duke. "Prepare our armies for the effort. In the meantime, your wife and the lady de Borja have other work."

"Yes, Father. I understand," Agnes agreed.

"I'm sure you do. The two of you must work on Aragon's supporters, preparing them to respond properly when the time comes. Good Catalan men, most of them. Give them a choice of two arrogant Castilian princes, and they'll stay with the evil they know. Give them an alternative . . ."

"If any treachery occurs in Jaca, you want it to be to your benefit," observed Benedict.

"Of course," said the Duke.