Well after almost a week of work, here it is:
3rd Preview - Western Europe:
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Western Europe would see the rise and fall of several Germanic, Roman and Celtic kingdoms, from Syagrius and Odoacer's to the Franks and Bretons.
- Francia:
Francia was the dominant power in Western Europe from the beggining of the 6th century, all the way to the 9th century, firstly with the Merovingian Kings and later with the Carolingians, whose Empire would be the base of Medieval Europe. By 632 the Merovingians where about to start their one century long decline, as all kings after Dagobert would be merelt figure-heads (or "do-nothing kings") in the shadow of the Mayors of the Palace, who would be the de facto rulers of the Franks. This trend started with Pepin of Landen, whose daughter, Begga, would marry into the Arnulfing clan, giving origin to the founders of the Carolingian legions.
Most of Francia is held by future (or past, at least the ones that didn't died) Mayors of the Palace, which have just been given some land in the Kingdom where they served, with some exceptions such as the Victorids of Rhaetia, House de Luxeil in Transjurania, Willebad in Cisjurania, Radulf in Thuringia, the guy in Alamannia which I forgot the name, Pepin and the dukes in Aquitaine, these were given lands which they actually holded.
As you can see below, King Dagobert is King of all the sub-kingdoms of Francia, which, de-jure, encompasses Neustria (k_france), Austrasia (k_lotharingia), Burgundy (k_burgundy) and Aquitaine (k_aquitaine). Though I've been thinking about giving Aquitaine to one of it's dukes, having him independent, but giving Dagobert a claim to it, which would also be given to the Visigothic King, I might do this if the Franks prove to be too strong (that is, they go all Blobassid on Europe and Africa).
As a plus, you can play as a bavarian/thuringian pagan and try to restore the old ways to Francia, or carve your own kingdom in Germania!
- Brittany:
Brittany was colonized by Britons fleeing Britannia from the Saxons, by 632, it was ruled by King Iudicael (which was already dead by the history files, so I contacted a mage I know from some time ago to bring him back), he has 2 sons, Alan and Gradlon, which is the first member of House de Cornauille. The Sucession is gavelkind, so you might get some rivals for the throne.
Also, I made Brittany a Kingdom for 2 reasons. 1 - Iudicael was supposedly High King of Brittany (I could change the localisation to reflect this, maybe make them tribal too?), so it represents that. And 2 - The Kingdom color is better than the duchy one.
- Frisia:
Frisia is the land of the Frisian (duh), and by the 600s was ruled by a certain Audulf, only information I found about him was that he coined coins with the inscriptions "AUDULF VICTOR"(?), meaning he won a war over someone, probably the Franks over control of the Rhine Delta. Anyway, I made him father of Aldgisl, the first recorded Frisian ruler, so that the boy has somewhere to stay.
- Saxony:
The Saxons where a tribal confederation in nothern Germany, their leader at this time was Berthoald, who was "Duke of the Saxons" and a Frankish vassal, he rebelled against his masters and was killed in 622. After him the only recorded rulers of the Saxons appear a century later, so I took some inspiration from Rome Total War and created a ruler for them.
His vassals are also made up, I was also inspired by RTW in the case of the Chatti:
Out of the Saxon confederacy are two independent realms, Anglia and the Chiefdom of Rostock. Anglia the de-jure Duchy of Holstein (which is part of Saxony) with saxon localisation.
- Bavaria:
Bavaria was ruled by the Agilolfings, which were nominal vassals of the Merovingians. They where usually left in peace, until some of them married into the Lombard royal family. Current ruler is Theodo I, only a teenager, and the last member of his dynasty, can he and his small duchy survive?
- Cultures and Religions:
Culturally, Western Europe is dominated by Germanic peoples, Franks and Burgundians in Gaul and Frisians, Saxons, Suebi and Bavarians in Germania. Bretons, Gallo-Romans and Basques remain in the more peripherical areas.
Religiously, Gaul is entirely Catholic, with the exception of a few pagan Basques in the southwest. Germania is mostly pagan, though it's almost entirely ruled by Christians, with pagan realms only lingering in the north.
That was it for now, next preview, Southern Europe. If you see any historical innacuracies, please tell.
3rd Preview - Western Europe:
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Western Europe would see the rise and fall of several Germanic, Roman and Celtic kingdoms, from Syagrius and Odoacer's to the Franks and Bretons.
- Francia:
Francia was the dominant power in Western Europe from the beggining of the 6th century, all the way to the 9th century, firstly with the Merovingian Kings and later with the Carolingians, whose Empire would be the base of Medieval Europe. By 632 the Merovingians where about to start their one century long decline, as all kings after Dagobert would be merelt figure-heads (or "do-nothing kings") in the shadow of the Mayors of the Palace, who would be the de facto rulers of the Franks. This trend started with Pepin of Landen, whose daughter, Begga, would marry into the Arnulfing clan, giving origin to the founders of the Carolingian legions.
Most of Francia is held by future (or past, at least the ones that didn't died) Mayors of the Palace, which have just been given some land in the Kingdom where they served, with some exceptions such as the Victorids of Rhaetia, House de Luxeil in Transjurania, Willebad in Cisjurania, Radulf in Thuringia, the guy in Alamannia which I forgot the name, Pepin and the dukes in Aquitaine, these were given lands which they actually holded.
As you can see below, King Dagobert is King of all the sub-kingdoms of Francia, which, de-jure, encompasses Neustria (k_france), Austrasia (k_lotharingia), Burgundy (k_burgundy) and Aquitaine (k_aquitaine). Though I've been thinking about giving Aquitaine to one of it's dukes, having him independent, but giving Dagobert a claim to it, which would also be given to the Visigothic King, I might do this if the Franks prove to be too strong (that is, they go all Blobassid on Europe and Africa).
As a plus, you can play as a bavarian/thuringian pagan and try to restore the old ways to Francia, or carve your own kingdom in Germania!
- Brittany:
Brittany was colonized by Britons fleeing Britannia from the Saxons, by 632, it was ruled by King Iudicael (which was already dead by the history files, so I contacted a mage I know from some time ago to bring him back), he has 2 sons, Alan and Gradlon, which is the first member of House de Cornauille. The Sucession is gavelkind, so you might get some rivals for the throne.
Also, I made Brittany a Kingdom for 2 reasons. 1 - Iudicael was supposedly High King of Brittany (I could change the localisation to reflect this, maybe make them tribal too?), so it represents that. And 2 - The Kingdom color is better than the duchy one.
- Frisia:
Frisia is the land of the Frisian (duh), and by the 600s was ruled by a certain Audulf, only information I found about him was that he coined coins with the inscriptions "AUDULF VICTOR"(?), meaning he won a war over someone, probably the Franks over control of the Rhine Delta. Anyway, I made him father of Aldgisl, the first recorded Frisian ruler, so that the boy has somewhere to stay.
- Saxony:
The Saxons where a tribal confederation in nothern Germany, their leader at this time was Berthoald, who was "Duke of the Saxons" and a Frankish vassal, he rebelled against his masters and was killed in 622. After him the only recorded rulers of the Saxons appear a century later, so I took some inspiration from Rome Total War and created a ruler for them.
His vassals are also made up, I was also inspired by RTW in the case of the Chatti:
Out of the Saxon confederacy are two independent realms, Anglia and the Chiefdom of Rostock. Anglia the de-jure Duchy of Holstein (which is part of Saxony) with saxon localisation.
- Bavaria:
Bavaria was ruled by the Agilolfings, which were nominal vassals of the Merovingians. They where usually left in peace, until some of them married into the Lombard royal family. Current ruler is Theodo I, only a teenager, and the last member of his dynasty, can he and his small duchy survive?
- Cultures and Religions:
Culturally, Western Europe is dominated by Germanic peoples, Franks and Burgundians in Gaul and Frisians, Saxons, Suebi and Bavarians in Germania. Bretons, Gallo-Romans and Basques remain in the more peripherical areas.
Religiously, Gaul is entirely Catholic, with the exception of a few pagan Basques in the southwest. Germania is mostly pagan, though it's almost entirely ruled by Christians, with pagan realms only lingering in the north.
That was it for now, next preview, Southern Europe. If you see any historical innacuracies, please tell.
