Well, after reading several AAR's I have been influenced to attempt my own. I have a very fun game going on as the d'Este Family, and thought I would share it.
I have to admit it is a bit ahistorical from the beginning, but I wanted to play something a bit different and had the kingom of italy released to Azzo d'Este.
I will attempt to go back to my old save games and post some screenshots.
I apologize for the rather rough writing style, I hope to polish it as I go along and really start finding out how exactly I want to write this AAR.
****************************************************In the years prior to the push of the d'Este family for control of a northern Italy independent of the von Franken's in germany, Azzo d'Este was a trusted friend and advisor to the German King, Hermann von Franken. Azzo was Hermann's tutor through much of his youth and had a profound influence upon the young prince. The elderly duke had left central Germany to return to Milan to watch over his lands and prepare his favorite son, Hughes d'Este, for the duchy. Yet in 1064, leading nobles in northern Italy,excluding the Duchess of Toscana, and the Magistrate of Bologna and Genoa met with Azzo to discuss the elderly duke's claim upon the Kingdom of Italy. At first the Duke would have no part of it, but after a visit to Rome, and a discussion with the pope, who backed the ancient claims the the d'Este family upon the Kingdom of Italy, he decided to prepare to fight for his claim.
There would be no war though, for his influence upon the the King of Germany and papal pressure convinced the young german king to make and unprecedented move and grant the title of King of Italy to the elderly Azzo d'Este. So in 1066 Azzo, at 59 years of age, gained the crown of Italy without a fight. His fight now rested with the powerful Duchess of Toscana. The newly crowned King would spend his final 3 years combating internal strife with the Duchess. It was said that the stress of intrigue in keeping the new kingdom together caused the illness that lead to Azzo's death in 1069 at the age of 62.
His short reign can be thought of as a relative calm before the storm. No wars were fought, the old King never unsheathed his sword, but the demand of dealing with the Duchess was more than enough for Azzo's weakening strength. Azzo's implemented a new taxation system which would cause problem for his son and successor Hughes d'Este. The heavy taxation that peasant and bugher felt alike would lead to the rebellions that took his son's life. That was unknown as of yet though, and money began to flow into the royal coffers. Azzo is judged harshly as not having prepared for the regency that his kingdom would deal with when he was gone. When he died, he left young, 13 year old Hughes in a situation that would tear the kingdom apart.
Azzo's character was not what one would choose when pushing for an independent kingdom from Germany, it appears that a rare set of circumstances attribute to his donning the crown of Italy, his tutorship of the young german king, and that the Papacy was looking for a way to curb german power in italy. The eldery d'Este was a tall gangly fellow, whose whispy beard and pale skin gave indications that he was constantly sick, but it most likely can be attributed to the amount of wine he drank. His dabbling in the affairs of his realm was sincere, yet very misguided, doing little to curb the future conflict his son's regents would deal with at his passing.
I have to admit it is a bit ahistorical from the beginning, but I wanted to play something a bit different and had the kingom of italy released to Azzo d'Este.
I will attempt to go back to my old save games and post some screenshots.
I apologize for the rather rough writing style, I hope to polish it as I go along and really start finding out how exactly I want to write this AAR.
****************************************************
There would be no war though, for his influence upon the the King of Germany and papal pressure convinced the young german king to make and unprecedented move and grant the title of King of Italy to the elderly Azzo d'Este. So in 1066 Azzo, at 59 years of age, gained the crown of Italy without a fight. His fight now rested with the powerful Duchess of Toscana. The newly crowned King would spend his final 3 years combating internal strife with the Duchess. It was said that the stress of intrigue in keeping the new kingdom together caused the illness that lead to Azzo's death in 1069 at the age of 62.
His short reign can be thought of as a relative calm before the storm. No wars were fought, the old King never unsheathed his sword, but the demand of dealing with the Duchess was more than enough for Azzo's weakening strength. Azzo's implemented a new taxation system which would cause problem for his son and successor Hughes d'Este. The heavy taxation that peasant and bugher felt alike would lead to the rebellions that took his son's life. That was unknown as of yet though, and money began to flow into the royal coffers. Azzo is judged harshly as not having prepared for the regency that his kingdom would deal with when he was gone. When he died, he left young, 13 year old Hughes in a situation that would tear the kingdom apart.
Azzo's character was not what one would choose when pushing for an independent kingdom from Germany, it appears that a rare set of circumstances attribute to his donning the crown of Italy, his tutorship of the young german king, and that the Papacy was looking for a way to curb german power in italy. The eldery d'Este was a tall gangly fellow, whose whispy beard and pale skin gave indications that he was constantly sick, but it most likely can be attributed to the amount of wine he drank. His dabbling in the affairs of his realm was sincere, yet very misguided, doing little to curb the future conflict his son's regents would deal with at his passing.
