Thank you for the update. Love Karling restorations. Like crown authority better than Conclave many laws.
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I normally post these every Sunday but due to college stuff I ended up delaying it. I plan to post another chapter on Thursday and another on Sunday as usual
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CHAPTER VIII – WAR AND HEARTBREAK
At first it seemed Guilhem would easily become King, but the power of the Queen in Paris was entrenched enough to deny him the Crown. A surprising, but not unexpected move by Raymond made him the face of opposition, even loyalists, previously allied to Guilhem and Sigismond, supported the man they had overthrown around 25 years ago. Guilhem felt he had to act quick, but his control of Normandie could easily be undermined. His slowness to act made some comment that the ‘Carolingian Restoration’ was nothing more than luck, a simple exception, Guilhem disagreed.
After the new laws had been passed by Sigismond, Guilhem could finally revoke the lands of rebellious vassals, the law made clear those revocations could only happen with just cause, and Guilhem certainly had one, but even with justice on his side, the expansion of lands and riches under him made the other lords of Normandie angry and worried. The spies of Guilhem informed him that another rebellion was being planned. He called his army from Vermandois to gather in Rouen, Orson and Hamelin started to call norman troops, they would soon face Gilbert and his forces.
After turmoil came to France and Normandie, it also came to Guilhem´s marriage. His wife Hermengarda had given him two male sons, she was a counselor in Normandie at first but later lost her position to accommodate norman lords. This irritated her and made their relations worse. It seemed she felt excluded from power, she had no say in the education of her kids, no say in the diplomacy, Guilhem listened only to his lords and generals. With the succession question in France she could have been useful to establish relations between Normandie and France, but her help was not requested.
In a desperate attempt she ordered an assassination of her husband. After it failed and Guilhem discovered it he ordered her arrest. She was quick and escaped Rouen, months later Guilhem found out she went to the court of a relative in Brabant, in the Holy Roman Empire. She would probably never see her sons again, and their marriage existed only in paper.
Duc Guilhem, the creator of 'I hate my wife' jokes
While Guilhem faced Gilbert and his army, and also his wife, Raymond started his war for the French throne, amassing fifteen thousand troops against the boy King´s three thousand. The Comte of Blois joined the war against Guilhem, aiding the rebellious Gilbert. Guilhem was quick in the battlefield and well-studied in strategy, he gathered a small force and marched to intercept the Duc of Blois. In the battlefield he decimated his army, soon turning back to Rouen to gather with his main force. In Authon he faced the army of Gilbert, victory was achieved and soon came the siege of his castle.
Crushing defeat for the traitors
Before his war ended, Raymond already had laid siege to Paris, becoming the new King. He would finally be crowned by the Pope, who recognized his right to rule over France. By now France had been ruled by four different dynasties in less than thirty years, a worrying fact considering how long the Capetians had ruled unopposed. After Guilhem finally imprisoned Gilbert, he had his lands revoked, along with the vassals who aided him. To recognize the good work of Orson and Hamelin he gave each a county, making them loyal vassals. The relations between Normandie and the crown were expected to be complicated at least, but Raymond took a conciliatory approach.
His position was weak, and the same vassals who supported him requested in return for Raymond to repeal some of the laws Sigismond had passed. The Crown had the support of most vassals, but it was also weakened, it faced the opposition of Guilhem and also the last Queen Regent. To avoid war with Guilhem, Roi Raymond decided to grant him the Duchy of Valois, this title was used by Raymond after he was deposed, and signified he had no desire on any kind of animosity between the families. The lands of Valois included everything from Vermandois to Paris, even if Raymond didn´t hold any of those lands, it meant that the Crown supported Guilhem in any war to claim these lands.
This wasn´t all, Guilhem was also made Advisor, his presence wasn´t requested in Orléans, only to urgent matters. The gifts of the Crown were double edged, Raymond calculated that Guilhem wasn´t ready for a war, and with the permission to rule everything from Normandie to Vermandois and Rethel, Guilhem would get busy with the counts and dukes that ruled everything those lands, giving time for Raymond to consolidate power. If Guilhem invaded Paris and annexed it from the deposed young King he would also eliminate another adversary of the Crown.
A deceitful man, Guilhem had no intention to be buddies with Raymond, even if he became Duc of Valois. He used his new position to gather support for a takeover of France.
As you can see Guilhem was disfigured in battle, I simply forgot when, but I guess it was at some point in the last rebellion, so now he wears a mask to hide it.
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King Raymond 'Once Again' is once again the FAKE King of the Francs. Thanks for updating
Lol, he even got the nickname 'the Tyrant' in my game, seems very appropriate
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Hello everyone, I put a Table of Contents in the first chapter, it´s better for the reader and also easier for me whenever I wanna look into a specific chapter. I also decided to change the font of every chapter to something closer that you could find in a history book. I hope you like it!
I wasn´t really expecting this murder attempt, it just came out of nowhere
I guess it´s a very realistic depiction of the time, there was always civil war in the duchies and counties, maybe not so much in France itself because the Capetians eventually took control, but I guess in this timeline it would be a mess with the constant back and fourth between different dynasties.
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CHAPTER IX - ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG
In the custody of Raymond was Raimbaut, only a small child, he had no notion of anything, separated from his mother, orphan of his father. He could barely understand that he had ever been King, and that his ascension caused a civil war. He also didn´t know that his early death would cause another. When Raymond gave Valois to Guilhem he expected him to immediately take Paris, which could stain his image, making him seem like an opportunist. Guilhem did not invade Paris however, he bid his time, waiting for a moment of weakness from Raymond.
The little Raimbaut died in the care of Roi Raymond, historians find it hard to believe he killed him like the Carolingians claimed, it is more probable that he simply died of neglect, perhaps from being away from his own mother and living with strangers. Wet nurses were familiar to people living in the middle ages, but so ere diseases, malnutriction and other afflictions. Since Guilhem was the uncle of Raimbaut he inherited Paris after the boy´s death. He claimed that the young Raimbaut had been murdered by the King, who was paranoid he would come back to claim France when he grew up.
The official Carolingian narrative claimed that Raimbaut had always been the true King, and that Raymond was a usurper, therefore all the lords of France had the duty to depose him. Guilhem and his kids moved their court to Paris, he started styling himself as the real King, inviting foreign dignitaries, promoting constructions and making his own laws. This was seen as treason by Raymond, who demanded Guilhem to stop with his scorn.
At this time an army of children crossed Paris, they were decided to take the Holy land from the Muslims, who had recently taken it back from the crusaders. Guilhem was not particularly zealous, neither he had the time to care about such matters, especially with a laughable host of children, he did not give them support, sending them away. After they left he found out his second daughter Aurengarde joined them, escaping from Paris. He could only pray for her well being in such distant lands.
The young Étienne and his followers arrive in Paris
Guilhem betrothed his oldest son Eudes to Vivian, the daughter of Duc Baldwin of Hainaut-Aquitaine. Baldwin was a councilor of the King and he decided to not antagonize him, but the betrothal at least guaranteed his neutrality in a future civil war. Guilhem gave the county of Maine to the Duc of Anjou, it was land he claimed, giving out land like that was rare, especially from a vassal to another, but it guaranteed the support of the Duke in a civil war. After a lot of gold was gifted to Guillaume of Nevers, he also agreed to join Guilhem in the conflict.
In the Spring of 1124 Guilhem gathered with his commanders in Paris and raised his levies to prepare for war, it wouldn´t be easy, most vassals seemed to be neutral, and Guilhem only had two allies. A letter was sent to Orléans, ordering the King to resign, the expectation was that he would refuse, starting another civil war. When the answer came Guilhem was shocked, Roi Raymond accepted the resignation, with a few requests, that his titles and family would be left unharmed and that there would be no persecution.
Roi Raymond gives in to the demands of Guilhem of Normandie
With all pomp and glory Eudes was crowned by Pope Honorius II in Paris, the Carolingians were back in power and a great celebration ensued. The resignation of Raymond seemed like an act of God, the proof that Guilhem was King by divine providence. The people of France were happy that a bloody civil war was avoided, especially after a recent one still fresh in everyone´s mind.
Roi Guilhem´s first act of diplomacy was betrothing his daughter Agnès to the independent Duke of Parma and his son Eudes to the daughter and heir of the Duke of Provence. Both were breakaway states from the Holy Roman Empire. These betrothals showed the growing influence of France in Western Europe, and were a great victory for Carolingian diplomacy.
Guilhem barely held onto France, but was already thinking about Spain and Burgundy.
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Guilhem has decided that he'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, it appears.
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He is quite optimistic (or stupid) if he thinks all kings will resign without a war as Raymond did...
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An early winning war brings a pack of jackals following you to feast on the carcasses of your enemies, an early losing war brings a flock of vultures circling your head to feast on your carcass. Thanks for the update
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France is just a complete mess, partly of Carolingian making. Now to see if they can build rather than break
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Guilhem has the crown, but I think he'll find it's more trouble than it's worth. The instability will continue.
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The Carolingians have been restored and France has finally her true king. Now, the hardest task begins, to hold onto it.
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Wow - that was a super bleak opening
Great work though - I love restoration AARs. I'm interested to see where this goes.
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