It was a snowy winter day when I arrived at the court of Duke Albrect IV. Having a reputation a mysterious yet gallant and upright young man no one knew quite what to expect of me. At the time, neither did I, but like I said it was a snowy winter day. Snowy winter days tend to call forth a certain aspect of my personality, pragmatism. There is, of course, another driving force that competes for control somewhere inside, but we won't go into it because that snowy winter day seemed to colour my behaviour for centuries to come.
Perhaps a bit more preface before disposing of this narrative and beginning to describe the course of our history. That snowy winter day did not occur when the reader might presume, but rather in 1495. In that year 1495 the Duke was extremely concerned about the developing climate in the region, and justifiably. So happy accident that I should arrive, and that it should be a snowy winter day, and that that snowy winter day should incite a streak of cold realism in me.
Two years earlier a war had erupted which would begin a series of events that greatly disrupted the balance of power in this region. France decided that Lorraine should be annexed into their kingdom. So the alliance of France, Savoy, the Papal States, Britanny, Helvetia, and Scotland poured into the tiny state. Sadly, the Austrian Emperor and his flunky in Wurttemburg answered the pleading of the beseiged prince in Lorraine. By the end of 1494 it had all gone wrong, France aided by its allies had quickly absorbed Lorraine, then Wurttemburg, from where hostilities spread into Thuringen which was also annexed. The war concluded with Austria losing Styria and 100d to the French for peace. In two years France and its alliance had projected itself into the premier power in the region, it was a disaster.
Albrech sat gloomily considering what his role was to be in this new climate. Before the calamity, in which he had played absolutely no part, relations with the French had been positive but when they destroyed his friends and neighbours any trace of a previous understanding vanished, but royal marriages lingered with Savoy, Britanny, France itself, and the Spanish. That was no consolation to Albrecht who found himself surrounded not only by the French, but the Austrians who had allied themselves to the Bohemians after their castration. He considered what to do, and it seemed his options were as such: First become a French lackey and protect himself from the humiliated Emperor who would be looking for a weak target he could grab and rebuiled his shattered power. And second, join up with the Austrians and perhaps be drawn into gainless conflicts in the East or get run over by the more powerful French coalition. There was, however, one bright spot in that Albrecht had bolstered his forces and now had a total of forty-thousand men and fifty cannon divided between his two armies, while the neighbouring powers, having been bled somewhat by the war, had no force or even garrison of mentionable size. Still, dim enough a situation to drive him to his wits' end, so when a lad was announced coming in out of the snow he was desperate enough to ask, "You, what would you do with this situation?"
To which I replied, "With the two obvious courses looking so dark, I would suggest a third option, if I might. I would take a path of my own design, of course..."
Perhaps a bit more preface before disposing of this narrative and beginning to describe the course of our history. That snowy winter day did not occur when the reader might presume, but rather in 1495. In that year 1495 the Duke was extremely concerned about the developing climate in the region, and justifiably. So happy accident that I should arrive, and that it should be a snowy winter day, and that that snowy winter day should incite a streak of cold realism in me.
Two years earlier a war had erupted which would begin a series of events that greatly disrupted the balance of power in this region. France decided that Lorraine should be annexed into their kingdom. So the alliance of France, Savoy, the Papal States, Britanny, Helvetia, and Scotland poured into the tiny state. Sadly, the Austrian Emperor and his flunky in Wurttemburg answered the pleading of the beseiged prince in Lorraine. By the end of 1494 it had all gone wrong, France aided by its allies had quickly absorbed Lorraine, then Wurttemburg, from where hostilities spread into Thuringen which was also annexed. The war concluded with Austria losing Styria and 100d to the French for peace. In two years France and its alliance had projected itself into the premier power in the region, it was a disaster.
Albrech sat gloomily considering what his role was to be in this new climate. Before the calamity, in which he had played absolutely no part, relations with the French had been positive but when they destroyed his friends and neighbours any trace of a previous understanding vanished, but royal marriages lingered with Savoy, Britanny, France itself, and the Spanish. That was no consolation to Albrecht who found himself surrounded not only by the French, but the Austrians who had allied themselves to the Bohemians after their castration. He considered what to do, and it seemed his options were as such: First become a French lackey and protect himself from the humiliated Emperor who would be looking for a weak target he could grab and rebuiled his shattered power. And second, join up with the Austrians and perhaps be drawn into gainless conflicts in the East or get run over by the more powerful French coalition. There was, however, one bright spot in that Albrecht had bolstered his forces and now had a total of forty-thousand men and fifty cannon divided between his two armies, while the neighbouring powers, having been bled somewhat by the war, had no force or even garrison of mentionable size. Still, dim enough a situation to drive him to his wits' end, so when a lad was announced coming in out of the snow he was desperate enough to ask, "You, what would you do with this situation?"
To which I replied, "With the two obvious courses looking so dark, I would suggest a third option, if I might. I would take a path of my own design, of course..."
