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The sound of nearly 100,000 men moving across the plains of Bulgaria echoed across the landscape. Fearing for their lives, the population of the lands surrounding Sofia had attempted to take refuge inside the city. While at first they attempted to accommodate the fleeing peasants, they soon found their streets thronged with the massive intake of people, forcing them to close their gates to any further refugees, forcefully if necessary.
The city of Sofia had declared itself neutral upon hearing of the two massive armies that approached them, hoping to avoid the wrath of whichever side won the conflict. As people outside the prosperous cities gates continued to attempt to batter their way inside, the guards were forced to often resort to lethal methods of control, going as far as to dump pots of hot oil on a group of peasants that had banded together beneath the gates in an attempt to force them open.
As Sofia slowly began to fall into chaos, Andreas II Palaeologus marched at the head of his army, eager to win a decisive victory against the rebel army. The Brotherhood of Athens was throwing everything they had into this battle, as were the loyalist forces. The loss of either army would be a crippling blow to not only the manpower of either side, but also their nationwide moral. It would appear as a sign to the highly superstitious peasants that God was indeed on the side of their enemies, and could cause revolts to spread like wildfire.
It was a fact both sides were well aware of. This battle would determine the course of the entire war, and victory would be certain to follow whoever won. On April 8th, 1474, roughly 50,000 Athenian rebels marched against an army of 45,000 loyalist, personally lead by the Emperor. At dawn, the two armies stood only miles apart, gazing at one another from across the field. Allegedly, The Autocrator and a small group of his closest bodyguards rode ahead of the main army to meet the rebel strategos Gennadios Lascaris, where they exchanged words before the battle was fought.
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Looking the Emperor in the eyes, Gennadios began to speak, “It is with great sorrow that we meet as enemies today, Autocrator, but we do so with little choice. Your crimes against the Patriarch and God can not go unpunished.” He said firmly to the Emperor in his deep baritone voice. Andreas, remaining calm, responded, “It was he who cast the first stone, who attempted to murder me. He sent his assassins to strike at me as I lay down to sleep. I had little other choice but to-” Gennadios quickly interrupted, “You could have asked the Dynatoi their thoughts, there is no excuse for dragging him from the halls of the Hagia Sophia, striping him in public and then desecrating his body, spilling his blood in front of thousands of faithful Christians!” He barked at Andreas, almost shouting.
And yet, Andreas remained calm, merely sighing, “Perhaps my actions were rash, but the end result would have been the same. The Patriarch had to die, he was a traitor to the Empire, and treachery always ends…with death. Though your fate and that of the rebel leadership is sealed, if you surrender now, I shall spare the peasants under you, who no doubt follow you out of some misguided religious fervor.” Andreas finished, knowing with almost certainty that his offer would be refused.
Gennadios simply shook his head slowly, “We have committed ourselves to this cause, and we shall stand by it till the bitter end if need be. Farewell, Autocrator, I doubt we shall meet again.” With that, both Gennadios and Andreas returned to their respective armies, and prepared for the battle ahead.
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The terrain that surrounded Sofia was mostly lowlands, the city being built a distance away from the mountains of Bulgaria. With the terrain providing little advantage to either side, the Loyalist forces chose to take a more defensive approach, and force the rebels to come to them, taking full advantage of their superior training and equipment. The Loyalist army was armed with 30 canon, as apposed to the rebels mere 7, and boasted a great many soldiers armed with the matchlock arquebus.
In stark contrast, the most common weapon in the rebel armies arsenal was a simple farming pitchfork, wielded by its many peasant ‘soldiers’. Despite this, however, the rebel cavalry were highly trained, and well armed. Many of the more religious Dynatoi had sided with the Athenians, giving them a formidable force of Kataphractoi. Though Andreas’ promise of restored lands had drawn many of the nobility from the rebels cause, most chose to stay neutral at best, only a select number joining him.
In an attempt to compensate for the low quality of their light infantry, the rebels had sent additional reinforcements into Bulgaria, giving them a small numerical advantage against the Loyalists, an advantage that Gennadios intended to exploit to the fullest. In order to compensate for the superior cavalry of the rebels, Andreas had positioned the portion of his pikemen on his flanks, confident that any charge that the enemy attempted on the center of his line would be halted by a withering hail of gun and canon fire.
As the morning slowly became the afternoon, without any action taken by either army, Gennadios knew he would be the one who would have to make the first move. Gennadios, having served in the Roman Army as a young man against the Ottoman Turks, was familiar with the tactics of his day, however, in the past 20 years, gunpowder technology had advanced rapidly within the Empire and all across Europe, greatly changing battle tactics.
Andreas, on the other hand, had little or no actual combat experience, and yet he had studied modern warfare enough to understand how to properly command his army in the field. As the Emperor watched the rebel army slowly begin its advance, he ordered that his canon be targeted at the position of the enemies own artillery. The rebel army, unsure of their own weapons maximum range were hit with a withering fire from the loyalist’s artillery.
Even as they attempted to return fire, many of the rebels poorly kept canon exploded, causing chaos within their ranks, setting many already frightened peasants aflame, and tarnishing moral even before the lines came close to one another. Seeing this, and seeing Andreas pikes on the flanks, he fell into the Emperors trap by ordering his cavalry to charge the center of the loyalists line. As the rebel cavalry moved towards the front of the army, Andreas ordered his canon to concentrate their fire upon the charging rebel Kataphractoi.
Andreas also instructed that all arquebusiers fire upon the charging horsemen once they were within 100 yards. As his gallopers rushed to transfer his orders, Andreas ordered his own cavalry closer to the front of his army, though still behind the front lines.
Oblivious, the rebel Dynatoi continued their charge upon the loyalists center. As they closed to within 500 yards, Andreas canon opened fire upon them, panicking many of their horses, and yet, the withering fire did not deter the cavalry, who despite their increasing losses continued on, pushing themselves and their horses ever harder as they grew closer to the loyalist line. By the time they had made it to 100 yards, their once powerful charge had began to look tattered, gaps forming in their formation.
Refusing to stop after coming so far, however, the Dynatoi continued on, and were rewarded with a solid wall of gunfire. The screams of their fallen horses filled the air, the blood soaked grass beneath them splashing as their bodies fell. In order to deal a final coup de grace on the battered and beleaguered rebel kataphractoi, Andreas ordered his cavalry to charge what remained of their ranks.
Slaughtered ensued, as the loyalist cavalry quickly butchered what remained of the rebel horsemen. The “Charge of the Brotherhood” would go down in history as one of the most brutal and bloody failed charges in history. The blood of the men and the horses literally soaked the ground, and the sheer amount of gore caused many of the loyalists battle hardened soldiers to fall ill.
Despite the horrendous failure of his charge, Gennadios had used it as a screen in order to advance the rest of his army. As they drew closer, many of the peasants within the rebel army vomited at the sight of the charged and blown apart bodies of their fallen comrades, at the sight of heads that had been blown open by gunshots, at the sheer amount of blood around them. When the peasants came within 100 yards they were met with the same volley of arquebus fire. Already horrendously demoralized, many of the rebels began to break ranks and flee.
It was then that Andreas knew the battle was his. He ordered his cavalry forward once more, and ordered the entire line to advance. The few rebels that had the stomach to remain and fight were butchered by the overwhelming force of the loyalist army, while many of the routers were ran down by the loyalist Kataphractoi. Grennadios himself had been killed as he attempted to make a last stand with his remaining loyal soldiers, shot through the head by an unknown soldier.
With the loyalists scoring a devastating victory against the rebel Athenians, Sofia declared its loyalty to the Emperor. When news reached the 15,000 rebels besieging Kosovo, they quickly broke off their siege and made their way towards Athens. The Emperor would not give the Brotherhood even a second to rest however. After quickly shattering the defenses of Thessaloniki, and reclaiming the city, he sent detachments of 5,000 men across the Aegean sea to secure both Ionia and Morea, while an army of 15,000 marched on Albania.
Within six days, all of the targeted rebel strongholds had surrendered, the brotherhood no longer being able to afford a proper garrison for them. Andreas quickly marched on Athens, determined to end this rebellion once and for all. On April 16th, 1474, loyalist forces under Emperor Andreas Palaeologus besieged the rebel capital of Athens. Within its walls waited 15,000 soldiers still loyal to the cause, even though they knew they stood no chance of victory.
For nearly two days straight Andreas would hammer Athens with canon fire, and still they refused to surrender. Becoming frustrated at their will to fight on, Andreas ordered the city be directly assaulted. The ensuing street fighting would cost the loyalists nearly 8,000 men, and completely annihilate the 11,000 remaining rebels. Storming the council chambers of Athens, the loyalist army captured the rebel council that still waited inside.
Athens was now in loyalist hands, and the One Month Rebellion had ended. With the Roman Empire now reunited after this quick but bloody civil war, Andreas chose to make an example of the Athenians. Though the Emperor had been extremely merciful to the other captured rebel cities, forbidding his army from looting or pillaging them, he saw Athens as willfully joining and spreading the Rebellion to the rest of Greece. He ordered that a quarter of all of Athens population be executed as a punishment for their treachery.
In addition, he had the captured members of the rebel council beheaded in the great market of Athens, leaving their bodies to rot in the center of the town square. Piles of “rebels” burned in the streets of Athens, the stench of burning flesh filling its every corridor. The Rebellion was over, and Emperor Andreas was the victor…
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Well, that’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed my little rebellion.
The results of it are not quite over yet, but in the next post you’ll get to see some more in game progress, I promise. Sorry I couldn’t find any pictures to properly animate it…I don’t know where CSL finds all of those. O.O
The city of Sofia had declared itself neutral upon hearing of the two massive armies that approached them, hoping to avoid the wrath of whichever side won the conflict. As people outside the prosperous cities gates continued to attempt to batter their way inside, the guards were forced to often resort to lethal methods of control, going as far as to dump pots of hot oil on a group of peasants that had banded together beneath the gates in an attempt to force them open.
As Sofia slowly began to fall into chaos, Andreas II Palaeologus marched at the head of his army, eager to win a decisive victory against the rebel army. The Brotherhood of Athens was throwing everything they had into this battle, as were the loyalist forces. The loss of either army would be a crippling blow to not only the manpower of either side, but also their nationwide moral. It would appear as a sign to the highly superstitious peasants that God was indeed on the side of their enemies, and could cause revolts to spread like wildfire.
It was a fact both sides were well aware of. This battle would determine the course of the entire war, and victory would be certain to follow whoever won. On April 8th, 1474, roughly 50,000 Athenian rebels marched against an army of 45,000 loyalist, personally lead by the Emperor. At dawn, the two armies stood only miles apart, gazing at one another from across the field. Allegedly, The Autocrator and a small group of his closest bodyguards rode ahead of the main army to meet the rebel strategos Gennadios Lascaris, where they exchanged words before the battle was fought.
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Looking the Emperor in the eyes, Gennadios began to speak, “It is with great sorrow that we meet as enemies today, Autocrator, but we do so with little choice. Your crimes against the Patriarch and God can not go unpunished.” He said firmly to the Emperor in his deep baritone voice. Andreas, remaining calm, responded, “It was he who cast the first stone, who attempted to murder me. He sent his assassins to strike at me as I lay down to sleep. I had little other choice but to-” Gennadios quickly interrupted, “You could have asked the Dynatoi their thoughts, there is no excuse for dragging him from the halls of the Hagia Sophia, striping him in public and then desecrating his body, spilling his blood in front of thousands of faithful Christians!” He barked at Andreas, almost shouting.
And yet, Andreas remained calm, merely sighing, “Perhaps my actions were rash, but the end result would have been the same. The Patriarch had to die, he was a traitor to the Empire, and treachery always ends…with death. Though your fate and that of the rebel leadership is sealed, if you surrender now, I shall spare the peasants under you, who no doubt follow you out of some misguided religious fervor.” Andreas finished, knowing with almost certainty that his offer would be refused.
Gennadios simply shook his head slowly, “We have committed ourselves to this cause, and we shall stand by it till the bitter end if need be. Farewell, Autocrator, I doubt we shall meet again.” With that, both Gennadios and Andreas returned to their respective armies, and prepared for the battle ahead.
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The terrain that surrounded Sofia was mostly lowlands, the city being built a distance away from the mountains of Bulgaria. With the terrain providing little advantage to either side, the Loyalist forces chose to take a more defensive approach, and force the rebels to come to them, taking full advantage of their superior training and equipment. The Loyalist army was armed with 30 canon, as apposed to the rebels mere 7, and boasted a great many soldiers armed with the matchlock arquebus.
In stark contrast, the most common weapon in the rebel armies arsenal was a simple farming pitchfork, wielded by its many peasant ‘soldiers’. Despite this, however, the rebel cavalry were highly trained, and well armed. Many of the more religious Dynatoi had sided with the Athenians, giving them a formidable force of Kataphractoi. Though Andreas’ promise of restored lands had drawn many of the nobility from the rebels cause, most chose to stay neutral at best, only a select number joining him.
In an attempt to compensate for the low quality of their light infantry, the rebels had sent additional reinforcements into Bulgaria, giving them a small numerical advantage against the Loyalists, an advantage that Gennadios intended to exploit to the fullest. In order to compensate for the superior cavalry of the rebels, Andreas had positioned the portion of his pikemen on his flanks, confident that any charge that the enemy attempted on the center of his line would be halted by a withering hail of gun and canon fire.
As the morning slowly became the afternoon, without any action taken by either army, Gennadios knew he would be the one who would have to make the first move. Gennadios, having served in the Roman Army as a young man against the Ottoman Turks, was familiar with the tactics of his day, however, in the past 20 years, gunpowder technology had advanced rapidly within the Empire and all across Europe, greatly changing battle tactics.
Andreas, on the other hand, had little or no actual combat experience, and yet he had studied modern warfare enough to understand how to properly command his army in the field. As the Emperor watched the rebel army slowly begin its advance, he ordered that his canon be targeted at the position of the enemies own artillery. The rebel army, unsure of their own weapons maximum range were hit with a withering fire from the loyalist’s artillery.
Even as they attempted to return fire, many of the rebels poorly kept canon exploded, causing chaos within their ranks, setting many already frightened peasants aflame, and tarnishing moral even before the lines came close to one another. Seeing this, and seeing Andreas pikes on the flanks, he fell into the Emperors trap by ordering his cavalry to charge the center of the loyalists line. As the rebel cavalry moved towards the front of the army, Andreas ordered his canon to concentrate their fire upon the charging rebel Kataphractoi.
Andreas also instructed that all arquebusiers fire upon the charging horsemen once they were within 100 yards. As his gallopers rushed to transfer his orders, Andreas ordered his own cavalry closer to the front of his army, though still behind the front lines.
Oblivious, the rebel Dynatoi continued their charge upon the loyalists center. As they closed to within 500 yards, Andreas canon opened fire upon them, panicking many of their horses, and yet, the withering fire did not deter the cavalry, who despite their increasing losses continued on, pushing themselves and their horses ever harder as they grew closer to the loyalist line. By the time they had made it to 100 yards, their once powerful charge had began to look tattered, gaps forming in their formation.
Refusing to stop after coming so far, however, the Dynatoi continued on, and were rewarded with a solid wall of gunfire. The screams of their fallen horses filled the air, the blood soaked grass beneath them splashing as their bodies fell. In order to deal a final coup de grace on the battered and beleaguered rebel kataphractoi, Andreas ordered his cavalry to charge what remained of their ranks.
Slaughtered ensued, as the loyalist cavalry quickly butchered what remained of the rebel horsemen. The “Charge of the Brotherhood” would go down in history as one of the most brutal and bloody failed charges in history. The blood of the men and the horses literally soaked the ground, and the sheer amount of gore caused many of the loyalists battle hardened soldiers to fall ill.
Despite the horrendous failure of his charge, Gennadios had used it as a screen in order to advance the rest of his army. As they drew closer, many of the peasants within the rebel army vomited at the sight of the charged and blown apart bodies of their fallen comrades, at the sight of heads that had been blown open by gunshots, at the sheer amount of blood around them. When the peasants came within 100 yards they were met with the same volley of arquebus fire. Already horrendously demoralized, many of the rebels began to break ranks and flee.
It was then that Andreas knew the battle was his. He ordered his cavalry forward once more, and ordered the entire line to advance. The few rebels that had the stomach to remain and fight were butchered by the overwhelming force of the loyalist army, while many of the routers were ran down by the loyalist Kataphractoi. Grennadios himself had been killed as he attempted to make a last stand with his remaining loyal soldiers, shot through the head by an unknown soldier.
With the loyalists scoring a devastating victory against the rebel Athenians, Sofia declared its loyalty to the Emperor. When news reached the 15,000 rebels besieging Kosovo, they quickly broke off their siege and made their way towards Athens. The Emperor would not give the Brotherhood even a second to rest however. After quickly shattering the defenses of Thessaloniki, and reclaiming the city, he sent detachments of 5,000 men across the Aegean sea to secure both Ionia and Morea, while an army of 15,000 marched on Albania.
Within six days, all of the targeted rebel strongholds had surrendered, the brotherhood no longer being able to afford a proper garrison for them. Andreas quickly marched on Athens, determined to end this rebellion once and for all. On April 16th, 1474, loyalist forces under Emperor Andreas Palaeologus besieged the rebel capital of Athens. Within its walls waited 15,000 soldiers still loyal to the cause, even though they knew they stood no chance of victory.
For nearly two days straight Andreas would hammer Athens with canon fire, and still they refused to surrender. Becoming frustrated at their will to fight on, Andreas ordered the city be directly assaulted. The ensuing street fighting would cost the loyalists nearly 8,000 men, and completely annihilate the 11,000 remaining rebels. Storming the council chambers of Athens, the loyalist army captured the rebel council that still waited inside.
Athens was now in loyalist hands, and the One Month Rebellion had ended. With the Roman Empire now reunited after this quick but bloody civil war, Andreas chose to make an example of the Athenians. Though the Emperor had been extremely merciful to the other captured rebel cities, forbidding his army from looting or pillaging them, he saw Athens as willfully joining and spreading the Rebellion to the rest of Greece. He ordered that a quarter of all of Athens population be executed as a punishment for their treachery.
In addition, he had the captured members of the rebel council beheaded in the great market of Athens, leaving their bodies to rot in the center of the town square. Piles of “rebels” burned in the streets of Athens, the stench of burning flesh filling its every corridor. The Rebellion was over, and Emperor Andreas was the victor…
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Well, that’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed my little rebellion.
The results of it are not quite over yet, but in the next post you’ll get to see some more in game progress, I promise. Sorry I couldn’t find any pictures to properly animate it…I don’t know where CSL finds all of those. O.O
Man that was harsh, but knowing Andreas, I am surprised that he did not level the city and sow the fields with salt.
Great update!
Great update!
By the end of April, 1474, the victorious loyalist forces under Emperor Andreas had fully suppressed the rebellion, for the time at least. The Emperor knew it was but a temporary victory, and with greater Russia growing ever more hostile, his time was growing short. Following the advice of a trusted member of his loyal Kataphractoi bodyguard, ( Thanks Cat Knight ) The Emperor decided he would step down, allowing his son, Manoel, to take over the Throne. His mother and the members of the royal court would act as regent until he came of age.
Andreas became a Monk, serving in the Hagia Sophia under the new Patriarch. However, alleged rumors suggest that he was in fact far more than a mere monk. Some historians suspect that Andreas indeed still held a great amount of sway within the Imperial Court. Evidence suggests that the Patriarch himself had a hand in ensuring that Andreas remained in power, albeit hidden from the public eye. As the Orthodox world began to slowly settle down, the Roman Empire continued with Andreas plan for 10 years of peace, though the first two had not exactly been peaceful.
Acting as Regent, Theodora Palaeologus worked to heal the wounds that her mighty Empire had suffered from the constant wars of the past two decades. Though her husband had massacred much of the population of Athens, Theodora worked to rebuild the great city, and restore it to its former glory before the Latin occupation. It was also during this time that many of the small Ghazi tribes that still inhabited Roman lands were annexed, adding to the wealth and prosperity of its provinces. As instructed by her husband, the young Manoel Palaeologus was educated by the Megas Domestikos in military strategies and tactics, in preparation for Andreas planned Balkan invasions.
The Empire’s relations with the other Orthodox nations of the world would gradually be healed now that the hated Andreas was no longer on the throne. Eventually, even the Empire’s tarnished relations with greater Russia would recover. However, despite her husbands plans to bring the Balkans into the Empire, she knew that the political damage that this would inflict would only bring further harm to the Empire so soon.
Instead, Theodora pushed the campaign back to 1492, hoping that this would give the Empire time to fully repair its relations with the other Xianist nations, and perhaps gain allies for the upcoming war. There was conflict within the Imperial Court regarding this decision, however. The Megas Domestikos stressed that setting such a far off starting date for the campaign was unwise. Rather, it was better to be prepared for war at all times should an opportunity present itself. Relations between Venice and Hungary continued to decline, and many hoped that a war would break out between the two nations, offering an opportunity to strike at them after they had exhausted their resources.
However, political and economical reforms were not all that took place within this period. In 1478, a law was passed that allowed all sanctioned Mosques to collect ties from the followers of Islam under their jurisdiction. While this law was for the most part restricted to Anatolia, it still offered a great amount of religious freedom to the Turkish population. While the Patriarch was displeased, to say the least, he made no attempt to directly appose the law.
By 1480 the Empire had made a near complete economic recovery, and its military potential was higher than it had ever been since the start of the renaissance, the now accepted Turkish population bolstering the amount of troops the Empire could support. Military technology also began to progress in leaps and bounds with the discovery of a way to mass produce canon in higher quantity. The royal court, and the Empire as a whole had began to forget their plans for the Balkans however, after these many years of peace. They threatened to fall into the defensive thinking that had threatened to rip their Empire apart in the first place.
On may 18th, 1487, Manoel Palaeologus was given the full, rightful powers of the Roman Emperor. In his years serving under his mother and the royal court, he had learned of his fathers secret hold on the Empire. Determined to be the sole Emperor of the Romans, Manoel had Andreas poisoned during a privet communion in the Hagia Sophia, which the former Emperor frequently took part in as atonement for his past sins. The poisoned worked quickly, fortunately preventing most of the other monks from sipping of it. Never the less, the Patriarch was horrified at the sight of the sacrilege being committed within the walls of the Church of the holy Wisdom.
Finding evidence planted by the Emperor’s assassins that lead to the Archbishop of Athens, the Patriarch angrily had the Archbishop excommunicated after which he was exiled to Hungary. Now free of his fathers influence, Manoel planned to finally consolidate the Empire’s holdings, beginning with the construction of a large wall that stretched across the border of Syria/Lebanon, and Samaria/Jordan.
Old enemies would not allow the last survivor of Antiquity to sleep quietly, however. On March 14th, 1489, the Republic of Venice declared war on the Kingdom of Cyprus, when despite being offered a handsome sum of gold, the still fiercely independent Queen Catherine Cornaro refused to sell her island Kingdom to the Venetians. Enraged, the current Doge, Augostin Barbarigo, threatened war should the Queen not reconsider their offer. The desperate queen turned to the Roman Empire, who had guaranteed Cyprus’ independence should hostilities break out between them and the Republic. Unwilling to dishonor his promise to the small island nation, the Emperor threatened war against the Venetians should they attempt to forcefully annex Cyprus.
The Doge, fearing a loss of prestige on his part should he back down, declared war on Cyprus, blatantly ignoring the Roman Empire’s warning. Unable to avoid a war any longer, the Roman Empire promptly declared their support for Cyprus against the Republic of Venice. Little did either side know, that this war would be one of the most bloody in either Empire’s history, and end with the near destruction of one.
The now aged Megas Domestikos Eudaemon Maleinus planned to send the majority of the Imperial Army into Ragusa and Dalmatia, while the Imperial Fleet, and a limited but well equipped band of soldiers worked to defend Cyprus and take the Venetian held island of Krete. After Ragusa and Dalmatia were secured, the Imperial army would move into Istria, while the navy worked to engage the Venetian fleet in a decisive battle that would cripple them, and thus deny the republic their greatest strength. When both objectives were accomplished, both forces would converge on Venice for a joint attack.
This plan of course assumed everything would go right, which was the first mistake of the war. However, Venetian strategists were hardly better, assuming their fleet would crush that of the Roman’s, and after securing Cyprus, Ionia, Corfu, and Lesbos, they planned to launch an attack on Constantinople itself, capturing the Queen of Cities and once again breaking the Empire into a group of successor states.
Both sides had drastically underestimated one another, thinking their respective war machines would easily crush their foes and secure them a great victory. Reasons for why this was may have to do with the fact that in their last war with one another, though the Roman Empire won, Venice had to concentrate the portion of their army and navy to fighting against the Genoese-Hungarian alliance, who at the time was considered a far greater military threat than the Empire.
Treating the Roman Empire as they would any “minor” nation, Venice sent whatever wasn’t needed against Genoa/Hungary. Even this, however, seemed more than a match for what the small remnants of the Roman Empire. However, under the leadership of Emperor Konstantinos and his strategos, both on land and sea, the Roman Empire managed to defeat the Venetian army, and sink the small fleet sent to stop them from landing on Ionia and Corfu.
With the situation against Genoa-Hungary becoming ever more desperate, the current Doge decided it was better to simply cede Athens and the two islands to the Romans, so that all of their resources could be committed towards defeating the larger threat at hand. To the Romans, it was a great victory, even though they only fought a quarter of the Republics strength, it did not matter. The typical Roman attitude of the time was: “If we could defeat them then, we should easily be able to now.”
On the side of Venice, though they were forced to cede land to the Greeks, the great Venetian admiral Venerio lo Grato scored a decisive victory against a Genoese fleet, sinking over 25 ships, and sending the badly wounded navy of Genoa limping home. On land, fortune once again favored the Venetians, their army finally decisively defeating Hungary at the Battle of Pest, capturing the Hungarian Diet, and forcing Hungary to surrender Dalmatia to the Republic in exchange for the Diet’s safe return.
With their strongest ally taken out of the war, and with their fleet crippled, Genoa was soon to follow, surrendering the isles of Samos, and paying Venice over 500,000 gold in indemnities. Though the isles of Samos would soon be lost to the Ottoman Empire, which would in turn exchange hands again to the Roman Empire, the Republic of Venice counted it as a great victory never the less. Had Venice not been occupied by a far more deadly foe at the time, most in the Venetian Republic believed that they would have easily defeated the small Roman Empire.
Though throughout history, the Republic of Venice had been a naval power, it was clear to the Romans that they had not neglected their army either. During the early part of their war with Hungary, Venice had learned the hard way what the price was for concentrating too heavily on only one aspect of war.
The Roman Empire had the potential to raise nearly 100,000 soldiers for during a war, quite a feet at the time. While Venice, with its smaller population could manage only around 40,000, they were confident that it would be sufficient to simply prevent the enemy from claiming their land. Taking land wasn’t the armies job, it was up to the Venetian navy to land small groups of soldiers at key positions, from where they would be able to strike easily at the weak points in the Empire’s defenses, and then quickly withdrawal if need be. The Venetian navy had a great number of warships, some sources claim over 150 ready warships and galley, while the Roman navy held barely over 100 of the same.
The Roman Empire’s goal in the war was to force Venice to cede Krete, Ragusa and Dalmatia to the Empire. Though, it is said that the Megas Domestikos also planned from the start a way to ensure Venice would never be a threat to the Empire of the Romans again. In a similar manner, Venice proclaimed that they only wished for the Romans to allow the annexation of Cyprus, as well as cede the provinces of Morea, Ionia, and Corfu to the republic, while in privet they dreamed of capturing Constantinople, and causing the Empire to fracture as it once had immediately following the fourth crusade.
With the great risk that losing the war held for all involved, the stage was set for the bloodiest conflict of the 15th century.
The Roman Empire and Republic of Venice in 1482.
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Though I was going to do the events leading up to the war, and the actual war itself in one post, I decided it would be better to post the first part now.
) The Emperor decided he would step down, allowing his son, Manoel, to take over the Throne. His mother and the members of the royal court would act as regent until he came of age.Andreas became a Monk, serving in the Hagia Sophia under the new Patriarch. However, alleged rumors suggest that he was in fact far more than a mere monk. Some historians suspect that Andreas indeed still held a great amount of sway within the Imperial Court. Evidence suggests that the Patriarch himself had a hand in ensuring that Andreas remained in power, albeit hidden from the public eye. As the Orthodox world began to slowly settle down, the Roman Empire continued with Andreas plan for 10 years of peace, though the first two had not exactly been peaceful.
Acting as Regent, Theodora Palaeologus worked to heal the wounds that her mighty Empire had suffered from the constant wars of the past two decades. Though her husband had massacred much of the population of Athens, Theodora worked to rebuild the great city, and restore it to its former glory before the Latin occupation. It was also during this time that many of the small Ghazi tribes that still inhabited Roman lands were annexed, adding to the wealth and prosperity of its provinces. As instructed by her husband, the young Manoel Palaeologus was educated by the Megas Domestikos in military strategies and tactics, in preparation for Andreas planned Balkan invasions.
The Empire’s relations with the other Orthodox nations of the world would gradually be healed now that the hated Andreas was no longer on the throne. Eventually, even the Empire’s tarnished relations with greater Russia would recover. However, despite her husbands plans to bring the Balkans into the Empire, she knew that the political damage that this would inflict would only bring further harm to the Empire so soon.
Instead, Theodora pushed the campaign back to 1492, hoping that this would give the Empire time to fully repair its relations with the other Xianist nations, and perhaps gain allies for the upcoming war. There was conflict within the Imperial Court regarding this decision, however. The Megas Domestikos stressed that setting such a far off starting date for the campaign was unwise. Rather, it was better to be prepared for war at all times should an opportunity present itself. Relations between Venice and Hungary continued to decline, and many hoped that a war would break out between the two nations, offering an opportunity to strike at them after they had exhausted their resources.
However, political and economical reforms were not all that took place within this period. In 1478, a law was passed that allowed all sanctioned Mosques to collect ties from the followers of Islam under their jurisdiction. While this law was for the most part restricted to Anatolia, it still offered a great amount of religious freedom to the Turkish population. While the Patriarch was displeased, to say the least, he made no attempt to directly appose the law.
By 1480 the Empire had made a near complete economic recovery, and its military potential was higher than it had ever been since the start of the renaissance, the now accepted Turkish population bolstering the amount of troops the Empire could support. Military technology also began to progress in leaps and bounds with the discovery of a way to mass produce canon in higher quantity. The royal court, and the Empire as a whole had began to forget their plans for the Balkans however, after these many years of peace. They threatened to fall into the defensive thinking that had threatened to rip their Empire apart in the first place.
On may 18th, 1487, Manoel Palaeologus was given the full, rightful powers of the Roman Emperor. In his years serving under his mother and the royal court, he had learned of his fathers secret hold on the Empire. Determined to be the sole Emperor of the Romans, Manoel had Andreas poisoned during a privet communion in the Hagia Sophia, which the former Emperor frequently took part in as atonement for his past sins. The poisoned worked quickly, fortunately preventing most of the other monks from sipping of it. Never the less, the Patriarch was horrified at the sight of the sacrilege being committed within the walls of the Church of the holy Wisdom.
Finding evidence planted by the Emperor’s assassins that lead to the Archbishop of Athens, the Patriarch angrily had the Archbishop excommunicated after which he was exiled to Hungary. Now free of his fathers influence, Manoel planned to finally consolidate the Empire’s holdings, beginning with the construction of a large wall that stretched across the border of Syria/Lebanon, and Samaria/Jordan.
Old enemies would not allow the last survivor of Antiquity to sleep quietly, however. On March 14th, 1489, the Republic of Venice declared war on the Kingdom of Cyprus, when despite being offered a handsome sum of gold, the still fiercely independent Queen Catherine Cornaro refused to sell her island Kingdom to the Venetians. Enraged, the current Doge, Augostin Barbarigo, threatened war should the Queen not reconsider their offer. The desperate queen turned to the Roman Empire, who had guaranteed Cyprus’ independence should hostilities break out between them and the Republic. Unwilling to dishonor his promise to the small island nation, the Emperor threatened war against the Venetians should they attempt to forcefully annex Cyprus.
The Doge, fearing a loss of prestige on his part should he back down, declared war on Cyprus, blatantly ignoring the Roman Empire’s warning. Unable to avoid a war any longer, the Roman Empire promptly declared their support for Cyprus against the Republic of Venice. Little did either side know, that this war would be one of the most bloody in either Empire’s history, and end with the near destruction of one.
The now aged Megas Domestikos Eudaemon Maleinus planned to send the majority of the Imperial Army into Ragusa and Dalmatia, while the Imperial Fleet, and a limited but well equipped band of soldiers worked to defend Cyprus and take the Venetian held island of Krete. After Ragusa and Dalmatia were secured, the Imperial army would move into Istria, while the navy worked to engage the Venetian fleet in a decisive battle that would cripple them, and thus deny the republic their greatest strength. When both objectives were accomplished, both forces would converge on Venice for a joint attack.
This plan of course assumed everything would go right, which was the first mistake of the war. However, Venetian strategists were hardly better, assuming their fleet would crush that of the Roman’s, and after securing Cyprus, Ionia, Corfu, and Lesbos, they planned to launch an attack on Constantinople itself, capturing the Queen of Cities and once again breaking the Empire into a group of successor states.
Both sides had drastically underestimated one another, thinking their respective war machines would easily crush their foes and secure them a great victory. Reasons for why this was may have to do with the fact that in their last war with one another, though the Roman Empire won, Venice had to concentrate the portion of their army and navy to fighting against the Genoese-Hungarian alliance, who at the time was considered a far greater military threat than the Empire.
Treating the Roman Empire as they would any “minor” nation, Venice sent whatever wasn’t needed against Genoa/Hungary. Even this, however, seemed more than a match for what the small remnants of the Roman Empire. However, under the leadership of Emperor Konstantinos and his strategos, both on land and sea, the Roman Empire managed to defeat the Venetian army, and sink the small fleet sent to stop them from landing on Ionia and Corfu.
With the situation against Genoa-Hungary becoming ever more desperate, the current Doge decided it was better to simply cede Athens and the two islands to the Romans, so that all of their resources could be committed towards defeating the larger threat at hand. To the Romans, it was a great victory, even though they only fought a quarter of the Republics strength, it did not matter. The typical Roman attitude of the time was: “If we could defeat them then, we should easily be able to now.”
On the side of Venice, though they were forced to cede land to the Greeks, the great Venetian admiral Venerio lo Grato scored a decisive victory against a Genoese fleet, sinking over 25 ships, and sending the badly wounded navy of Genoa limping home. On land, fortune once again favored the Venetians, their army finally decisively defeating Hungary at the Battle of Pest, capturing the Hungarian Diet, and forcing Hungary to surrender Dalmatia to the Republic in exchange for the Diet’s safe return.
With their strongest ally taken out of the war, and with their fleet crippled, Genoa was soon to follow, surrendering the isles of Samos, and paying Venice over 500,000 gold in indemnities. Though the isles of Samos would soon be lost to the Ottoman Empire, which would in turn exchange hands again to the Roman Empire, the Republic of Venice counted it as a great victory never the less. Had Venice not been occupied by a far more deadly foe at the time, most in the Venetian Republic believed that they would have easily defeated the small Roman Empire.
Though throughout history, the Republic of Venice had been a naval power, it was clear to the Romans that they had not neglected their army either. During the early part of their war with Hungary, Venice had learned the hard way what the price was for concentrating too heavily on only one aspect of war.
The Roman Empire had the potential to raise nearly 100,000 soldiers for during a war, quite a feet at the time. While Venice, with its smaller population could manage only around 40,000, they were confident that it would be sufficient to simply prevent the enemy from claiming their land. Taking land wasn’t the armies job, it was up to the Venetian navy to land small groups of soldiers at key positions, from where they would be able to strike easily at the weak points in the Empire’s defenses, and then quickly withdrawal if need be. The Venetian navy had a great number of warships, some sources claim over 150 ready warships and galley, while the Roman navy held barely over 100 of the same.
The Roman Empire’s goal in the war was to force Venice to cede Krete, Ragusa and Dalmatia to the Empire. Though, it is said that the Megas Domestikos also planned from the start a way to ensure Venice would never be a threat to the Empire of the Romans again. In a similar manner, Venice proclaimed that they only wished for the Romans to allow the annexation of Cyprus, as well as cede the provinces of Morea, Ionia, and Corfu to the republic, while in privet they dreamed of capturing Constantinople, and causing the Empire to fracture as it once had immediately following the fourth crusade.
With the great risk that losing the war held for all involved, the stage was set for the bloodiest conflict of the 15th century.
The Roman Empire and Republic of Venice in 1482.
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Though I was going to do the events leading up to the war, and the actual war itself in one post, I decided it would be better to post the first part now.
Rome looks alot like the Ottoman Empire .
Good luck against Venice, you'll need it. Just make sure they remember the old latin proverb, "Never trust Greeks bearing gifts."
.Good luck against Venice, you'll need it. Just make sure they remember the old latin proverb, "Never trust Greeks bearing gifts."
Look forward to the war, especially with another vicious emperor on the throne. I wonder if all your Emperors will turn to the dark side.
At the onset of the war between the two eastern Mediterranean powers, the Doge of Venice was determined to make the first move by taking out the Roman Empire’s only ally in the war. Setting out from Veneto, a fleet of over 180 ships made it way towards the island of Cyprus. Anticipating such an action, the Imperial Fleet, as well as the fleet of Cyprus waited for their arrival. The combined fleet contained around 140 ships. Though it might have seemed as if the Romano-Cyprus fleet was greatly outnumbered, most historians doubt this. The Venetian fleet contained many transport ships, loaded with soldiers ready to take the small island for the republic.
The Romano-Cyprus fleet, on the other hand, was made up almost completely of combat-worthy vessels, so it was more than likely that the two fleets were on an equal footing in terms of numbers and equipment. The Venetians had one important advantage, however. At the head of the Venetian fleet was Admiral Alberto Da Cimento. During the recent war against Napoli, Alberto had proven himself to be a capable and highly skilled Admiral. At the battle of Titograd, Alberto, with a fleet of only 47 ships, defeated an allied Nalpes-Tuscany-Modina fleet of over 90 war ready vessels. His great victory resulted in the defeat of Nalpes only two months later, effectively ending their ambitions to conquer Krete.
In command of the Romano-Cyprus fleet was the little known Admiral, Hadrianus Dukas. Though he had fought against the Mameluk Sultanate in the war for Syria, the Mameluk’s outdated galleys were simply no match for the canon of the Roman Warships, very little strategic skill was required to defeat them. This was not the case here, however, by any means. The Venetian ships were the equal to any of their Roman counterparts, and more than a match for the fleet of Cyprus.
Alberto had originally planned on launching the invasion of Cyprus at dawn on the 4th of August, however, a violent storm off the northern coast of Krete prevented the fleet from obtaining much needed supplies, forcing the Venetian admiral to instead attempt the invasion during the night of the 3rd. Though this was a risky maneuver, Alberto’s fleet was already almost completely out of supplies, and the crews and marines both starving. Waiting till dawn would only mean his men would be that much weaker.
Meeting just off the southern coast of the island, the night sky was soon lit up by the blaze of canon fire, as ships maneuvered towards one another, exchanging fire, and attempting to ram one another when possible, the entire battle became marred in confusion and panic, with neither side being able to determine friend from foe with any certainty once the sides had became blurred in the haze of combat.
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The sound of canon fire filled the ears of the crew of the Andronikos, the night sky obscuring their line of sight. Captain Anthemius Psellos paced slowly on the deck of his galley, glancing to either side he could only see the flashes of the other vessel’s canon, though for the most part, the allegiance of the ships around him remained a mystery. He had little time to consider his targets, however, as a shot from a Venetian galley tore into the side of his ship’s hull, rocking the vessel violently, knocking many of the Andronikos’ startled crew off of their feet.
Spinning on his heel, he turned towards the direction the attack came from; the Venetians by now had brought all of their canon to bare, and were preparing to level a full volley into the side of the Andronikos. Anthemius quickly turned and shouted, “Rotate us 45 degrees, quickly! Prepare to return fire!” obeying their Captain dutifully, the Roman sailors moved their ship into firing position. The Venetians were not willing to wait however, and opened fire. Though Anthemius had anticipated this, and moved his ship accordingly, a single canon still struck the bow of the Andronikos, causing the ship to once again shudder violently under the blast.
“Open fire!” Anthemius shouted once more as his vessel’s canon were finally in position. As the Andronikos fired it’s main canon along with 10 smaller guns on its stern at the smaller ship, Anthemius could see pieces of the Venetian vessel being blown apart by the powerful volley. Several fires had broken out below deck, and the young Captain saw his chance to capture an enemy caravel, and win much prestige. “Close with the enemy! Prepare the boarding parties!” As they grew closer, the fog of night gradually giving way, he noticed that the central mast had fallen, “We’ve got them now…” He said quietly under his breath.
Lowering the corvus of his galley, the advancing marines were met with a volley of arrow fire, caught off guard, the entire front line was shot down, falling into the water. Anthemius would not be denied this victory, however, and the soldiers eventually set foot on the deck of the Venetian ship. Anthemius at first ignored their plea for him to stop, but it soon donned on him - they were shouting in Greek! Glancing down at the fallen mast of the galley, he saw a soaked and bloody flag, bearing the double eagle. They had been slaughtering their own men! Anthemius fell to his knees, slowly gazing towards the sky, “God…have mercy on my soul for what I have done…”
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The two great fleets continue to struggle with one another under the night sky, the fighting becoming increasingly bloody, many ships sinking to the bottom of the Mediterranean, as the sun began to creep above the horizon, the two mighty fleets continued to fight on. Despite the losses suffered by both sides, defeat was simply too costly to back down. Many opposing ships had been boarded, where intense hand to hand fighting determined the course of the battle.
As another hour drew on, however, all of the galleys sent by Cyprus had been sunk or were captured by the Venetians, both the Imperial and Venetian Navies had sustained high losses, yet the smaller size of the Roman Fleet finally gave way, and Hadrianus was forced to retreat back to Ionia. At the end of the battle, the entire fleet of Cyprus, around 20 ships, had been sunk or captured, while the Imperial Fleet lost over 40 ships. The Venetian fleet suffered its own high losses, losing 58 ships. A costly victory for Venice.
Though the victory had been at a high cost, and many of the men in the Venetian fleet wish to turn back, being low on supplies and exhausted from the previous battle, the Doge demanded that Cyprus be taken immediately. Alberto Da Cimento, though he was apparently angered by this, kept silent and obeyed the orders he was given. Landing on the eastern tip of Cyprus, Venetian soldiers numbering around 20,000 men encountered the army of Cyprus, a mere 10,000 men. After much hard fighting, the Venetians broke the Crusader army, and sent the survivors fleeing behind the walls of Famagusta. The Roman navy, undergoing repairs in Ionia while more ships were being constructed in Constantinople could do little to assist their allies.
However, though the Empire had met with defeat on the seas, things had not gone universally bad. The Imperial army under the command of the young, but brilliant general Husen Adu Ibrahim dealt a devastating to defeat to the army of Venice in Ragusa, the fortress quickly falling to his superior forces. Upon hearing of this defeat, the enraged Doge sent an army of 50,000 men to uproot Ibrahim’s mere 35,000. However, despite being outnumbered, Ibrahim ordered his army be split into a main force of 25,000, and a second force of 10,000, mostly Kataphractoi and personally lead by him. Meeting the enemy from the front, this force of 25,000 managed to hold their foes at bay using the naturally defensive terrain of Ragusa to their advantage.
As the Venetians were preparing to throw all they had at Ibrahim’s position, a blizzard overtook the region. It had already been a unusually bad winter for the Balkans, but the blizzard further complicated matters, as the Venetian’s attack was made more difficult by the bad weather. Ibrahim, seeing his opportunity launch a daring charge on the left flank of the Venetian Army. With the wind to his back, his cavalry forces stormed the beleaguered Venetians, as they strained to reorganize as the harsh cold blew in their faces. Seeing their Strategos charge the main enemy line, the main body of the Imperial Army moved forward to engage the Venetians.
Surprised and demoralized by the harsh winter, the Venetian army broke and ran. Ibrahim’s army lost roughly 5,000 men, while the Venetians had over 20,000 dead or captured, and many more wounded. This was a devastating defeat for the Republic of Venice, and a great victory for the Empire. However, not every Strategos was as competent as Ibrahim. A Roman army of 30,000 men had been soundly defeated in Dalmatia by an army of only around 22,000. The Stretegos in command of the army, Hypatius Tagarus had lead his army foolishly into a direct assault on the castle guarding the city of Split. As his army began to falter during the assault, a Venetian army showed up to lift the siege, and soundly defeated him, sending the Strategos and his tattered army fleeing back to Constantinople.
Angered at the failing of Hypatius, and the loss of so many brave Romans, he had the already disgraced general beheaded. Word soon reached him, however, of Ibrahim’s success in Ragusa. Seeing the potential for victory in this young individual, he sent the remainder of Hypatius’ army to reinforce Ibrahim, and gave him new orders to take Dalmatia from the Venetians. Eager to gain the favor of the Autocrator, Ibrahim eagerly lead his army into Dalmatia, where he met with the force that defeated Hypatius. Ibrahim, now having a superior force, quickly defeated the Venetians, allegedly sending over 10,000 captives to Constantinople.
It was not long before Split fell before the young Turkish prodigy, and the province of Dalmatia was secured. The Emperor, seeing Ibrahim’s great success, and seeing that his other generals had constantly failed to take Istria, Manoel chose to place Ibrahim in command of the entire western army. Manoel asked Ibrahim to draw up a grand battle plan for the entire war, hoping Ibrahim’s skill as a General would also carry over to being a skilled Admiral. Ibrahim quickly went to work devising a way for the Roman Navy to defeat the Venetian armada, which held a decisive advantage over them currently.
As the war went on, the Venetian forces in Cyprus eventually broke through the defenses of Famagusta, taking the city, and capturing Queen Catherine Cornaro. With a broken heart, she surrendered her kingdom to the Venetians, and was herself, imprisoned in a monastery as a Nun. Though Manoel was enraged by the annexation of his ally, Ibrahim counseled him to not take immediate action against Cyprus. A direct attack against the Venetian Armada would almost assuredly fail. Rather, Ibrahim suggested that they exploit the fact that they still controlled the largest part of the eastern Mediterranean sea.
Following his plan, the Imperial Navy would set off from Constantinople, and briefly engage the Venetian Armada at Cyprus. They would then make an organized retreat to friendly Rhodes. Being the rash sort that they are, the Venetians will pursue, thinking they had them on the run. The Imperial Navy would then quickly move into the Aegean Sea, causing the Venetians to chase them yet further. They would continue up the narrow strait, all the while being resupplied by friendly Roman ports, while leading the Venetian Armada on a wild goose chase. They would enter into the Black Sea, with the Venetian Armada always close behind. Meanwhile, a fleet of caravel transport ships would set out from Ionia, and deploy an army of 20,000 men onto the shores of Krete. If all went well, the city would fall quickly.
Seeing this, the Venetian armada would not doubt attempt to sail back to Krete in order to retake the island, however, the Imperial fleet would by then have circled around the Venetian fleet and reentered the Aegean Sea. The Imperial fleet would briefly stand their ground, allowing the transport fleet to deploy troops on Cyprus, and quickly liberate the city from Venice. By now, the Imperial fleet would have made an organized retreat back to the port of Ionia, where they would allow the Venetian Armada to move to Krete. However, after having chased the Imperial navy all over the eastern Mediterranean, they would likely no longer have enough healthy soldiers to take the sturdy fortress guarding Candia.
With attrition setting in, the Venetian navy would be forced attempt a retreat back to Venice. However, by now, the replacement ships being built at Constantinople should have joined the main bulk of the Imperial navy waiting for the Venetians in the Ionian sea. The Venetian navy, exhausted and demoralized, could then be crushed by a strengthened and fresh Imperial navy. Ibrahim’s plan was complex and risky, and things would need to fall into place perfectly for it to succeed, but it seemed to be their only hope at the time. Manoel agreed to go through with the plan.
As Ibrahim, taking command of the Imperial navy set out for Constantinople, the outcome of the war looked uncertain. But if God was with them, the Roman Empire would send these Venetians back across the Adriatic screaming for their lives.
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There you go. Hoped you enjoyed part I of the Venetian war.
The Romano-Cyprus fleet, on the other hand, was made up almost completely of combat-worthy vessels, so it was more than likely that the two fleets were on an equal footing in terms of numbers and equipment. The Venetians had one important advantage, however. At the head of the Venetian fleet was Admiral Alberto Da Cimento. During the recent war against Napoli, Alberto had proven himself to be a capable and highly skilled Admiral. At the battle of Titograd, Alberto, with a fleet of only 47 ships, defeated an allied Nalpes-Tuscany-Modina fleet of over 90 war ready vessels. His great victory resulted in the defeat of Nalpes only two months later, effectively ending their ambitions to conquer Krete.
In command of the Romano-Cyprus fleet was the little known Admiral, Hadrianus Dukas. Though he had fought against the Mameluk Sultanate in the war for Syria, the Mameluk’s outdated galleys were simply no match for the canon of the Roman Warships, very little strategic skill was required to defeat them. This was not the case here, however, by any means. The Venetian ships were the equal to any of their Roman counterparts, and more than a match for the fleet of Cyprus.
Alberto had originally planned on launching the invasion of Cyprus at dawn on the 4th of August, however, a violent storm off the northern coast of Krete prevented the fleet from obtaining much needed supplies, forcing the Venetian admiral to instead attempt the invasion during the night of the 3rd. Though this was a risky maneuver, Alberto’s fleet was already almost completely out of supplies, and the crews and marines both starving. Waiting till dawn would only mean his men would be that much weaker.
Meeting just off the southern coast of the island, the night sky was soon lit up by the blaze of canon fire, as ships maneuvered towards one another, exchanging fire, and attempting to ram one another when possible, the entire battle became marred in confusion and panic, with neither side being able to determine friend from foe with any certainty once the sides had became blurred in the haze of combat.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sound of canon fire filled the ears of the crew of the Andronikos, the night sky obscuring their line of sight. Captain Anthemius Psellos paced slowly on the deck of his galley, glancing to either side he could only see the flashes of the other vessel’s canon, though for the most part, the allegiance of the ships around him remained a mystery. He had little time to consider his targets, however, as a shot from a Venetian galley tore into the side of his ship’s hull, rocking the vessel violently, knocking many of the Andronikos’ startled crew off of their feet.
Spinning on his heel, he turned towards the direction the attack came from; the Venetians by now had brought all of their canon to bare, and were preparing to level a full volley into the side of the Andronikos. Anthemius quickly turned and shouted, “Rotate us 45 degrees, quickly! Prepare to return fire!” obeying their Captain dutifully, the Roman sailors moved their ship into firing position. The Venetians were not willing to wait however, and opened fire. Though Anthemius had anticipated this, and moved his ship accordingly, a single canon still struck the bow of the Andronikos, causing the ship to once again shudder violently under the blast.
“Open fire!” Anthemius shouted once more as his vessel’s canon were finally in position. As the Andronikos fired it’s main canon along with 10 smaller guns on its stern at the smaller ship, Anthemius could see pieces of the Venetian vessel being blown apart by the powerful volley. Several fires had broken out below deck, and the young Captain saw his chance to capture an enemy caravel, and win much prestige. “Close with the enemy! Prepare the boarding parties!” As they grew closer, the fog of night gradually giving way, he noticed that the central mast had fallen, “We’ve got them now…” He said quietly under his breath.
Lowering the corvus of his galley, the advancing marines were met with a volley of arrow fire, caught off guard, the entire front line was shot down, falling into the water. Anthemius would not be denied this victory, however, and the soldiers eventually set foot on the deck of the Venetian ship. Anthemius at first ignored their plea for him to stop, but it soon donned on him - they were shouting in Greek! Glancing down at the fallen mast of the galley, he saw a soaked and bloody flag, bearing the double eagle. They had been slaughtering their own men! Anthemius fell to his knees, slowly gazing towards the sky, “God…have mercy on my soul for what I have done…”
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The two great fleets continue to struggle with one another under the night sky, the fighting becoming increasingly bloody, many ships sinking to the bottom of the Mediterranean, as the sun began to creep above the horizon, the two mighty fleets continued to fight on. Despite the losses suffered by both sides, defeat was simply too costly to back down. Many opposing ships had been boarded, where intense hand to hand fighting determined the course of the battle.
As another hour drew on, however, all of the galleys sent by Cyprus had been sunk or were captured by the Venetians, both the Imperial and Venetian Navies had sustained high losses, yet the smaller size of the Roman Fleet finally gave way, and Hadrianus was forced to retreat back to Ionia. At the end of the battle, the entire fleet of Cyprus, around 20 ships, had been sunk or captured, while the Imperial Fleet lost over 40 ships. The Venetian fleet suffered its own high losses, losing 58 ships. A costly victory for Venice.
Though the victory had been at a high cost, and many of the men in the Venetian fleet wish to turn back, being low on supplies and exhausted from the previous battle, the Doge demanded that Cyprus be taken immediately. Alberto Da Cimento, though he was apparently angered by this, kept silent and obeyed the orders he was given. Landing on the eastern tip of Cyprus, Venetian soldiers numbering around 20,000 men encountered the army of Cyprus, a mere 10,000 men. After much hard fighting, the Venetians broke the Crusader army, and sent the survivors fleeing behind the walls of Famagusta. The Roman navy, undergoing repairs in Ionia while more ships were being constructed in Constantinople could do little to assist their allies.
However, though the Empire had met with defeat on the seas, things had not gone universally bad. The Imperial army under the command of the young, but brilliant general Husen Adu Ibrahim dealt a devastating to defeat to the army of Venice in Ragusa, the fortress quickly falling to his superior forces. Upon hearing of this defeat, the enraged Doge sent an army of 50,000 men to uproot Ibrahim’s mere 35,000. However, despite being outnumbered, Ibrahim ordered his army be split into a main force of 25,000, and a second force of 10,000, mostly Kataphractoi and personally lead by him. Meeting the enemy from the front, this force of 25,000 managed to hold their foes at bay using the naturally defensive terrain of Ragusa to their advantage.
As the Venetians were preparing to throw all they had at Ibrahim’s position, a blizzard overtook the region. It had already been a unusually bad winter for the Balkans, but the blizzard further complicated matters, as the Venetian’s attack was made more difficult by the bad weather. Ibrahim, seeing his opportunity launch a daring charge on the left flank of the Venetian Army. With the wind to his back, his cavalry forces stormed the beleaguered Venetians, as they strained to reorganize as the harsh cold blew in their faces. Seeing their Strategos charge the main enemy line, the main body of the Imperial Army moved forward to engage the Venetians.
Surprised and demoralized by the harsh winter, the Venetian army broke and ran. Ibrahim’s army lost roughly 5,000 men, while the Venetians had over 20,000 dead or captured, and many more wounded. This was a devastating defeat for the Republic of Venice, and a great victory for the Empire. However, not every Strategos was as competent as Ibrahim. A Roman army of 30,000 men had been soundly defeated in Dalmatia by an army of only around 22,000. The Stretegos in command of the army, Hypatius Tagarus had lead his army foolishly into a direct assault on the castle guarding the city of Split. As his army began to falter during the assault, a Venetian army showed up to lift the siege, and soundly defeated him, sending the Strategos and his tattered army fleeing back to Constantinople.
Angered at the failing of Hypatius, and the loss of so many brave Romans, he had the already disgraced general beheaded. Word soon reached him, however, of Ibrahim’s success in Ragusa. Seeing the potential for victory in this young individual, he sent the remainder of Hypatius’ army to reinforce Ibrahim, and gave him new orders to take Dalmatia from the Venetians. Eager to gain the favor of the Autocrator, Ibrahim eagerly lead his army into Dalmatia, where he met with the force that defeated Hypatius. Ibrahim, now having a superior force, quickly defeated the Venetians, allegedly sending over 10,000 captives to Constantinople.
It was not long before Split fell before the young Turkish prodigy, and the province of Dalmatia was secured. The Emperor, seeing Ibrahim’s great success, and seeing that his other generals had constantly failed to take Istria, Manoel chose to place Ibrahim in command of the entire western army. Manoel asked Ibrahim to draw up a grand battle plan for the entire war, hoping Ibrahim’s skill as a General would also carry over to being a skilled Admiral. Ibrahim quickly went to work devising a way for the Roman Navy to defeat the Venetian armada, which held a decisive advantage over them currently.
As the war went on, the Venetian forces in Cyprus eventually broke through the defenses of Famagusta, taking the city, and capturing Queen Catherine Cornaro. With a broken heart, she surrendered her kingdom to the Venetians, and was herself, imprisoned in a monastery as a Nun. Though Manoel was enraged by the annexation of his ally, Ibrahim counseled him to not take immediate action against Cyprus. A direct attack against the Venetian Armada would almost assuredly fail. Rather, Ibrahim suggested that they exploit the fact that they still controlled the largest part of the eastern Mediterranean sea.
Following his plan, the Imperial Navy would set off from Constantinople, and briefly engage the Venetian Armada at Cyprus. They would then make an organized retreat to friendly Rhodes. Being the rash sort that they are, the Venetians will pursue, thinking they had them on the run. The Imperial Navy would then quickly move into the Aegean Sea, causing the Venetians to chase them yet further. They would continue up the narrow strait, all the while being resupplied by friendly Roman ports, while leading the Venetian Armada on a wild goose chase. They would enter into the Black Sea, with the Venetian Armada always close behind. Meanwhile, a fleet of caravel transport ships would set out from Ionia, and deploy an army of 20,000 men onto the shores of Krete. If all went well, the city would fall quickly.
Seeing this, the Venetian armada would not doubt attempt to sail back to Krete in order to retake the island, however, the Imperial fleet would by then have circled around the Venetian fleet and reentered the Aegean Sea. The Imperial fleet would briefly stand their ground, allowing the transport fleet to deploy troops on Cyprus, and quickly liberate the city from Venice. By now, the Imperial fleet would have made an organized retreat back to the port of Ionia, where they would allow the Venetian Armada to move to Krete. However, after having chased the Imperial navy all over the eastern Mediterranean, they would likely no longer have enough healthy soldiers to take the sturdy fortress guarding Candia.
With attrition setting in, the Venetian navy would be forced attempt a retreat back to Venice. However, by now, the replacement ships being built at Constantinople should have joined the main bulk of the Imperial navy waiting for the Venetians in the Ionian sea. The Venetian navy, exhausted and demoralized, could then be crushed by a strengthened and fresh Imperial navy. Ibrahim’s plan was complex and risky, and things would need to fall into place perfectly for it to succeed, but it seemed to be their only hope at the time. Manoel agreed to go through with the plan.
As Ibrahim, taking command of the Imperial navy set out for Constantinople, the outcome of the war looked uncertain. But if God was with them, the Roman Empire would send these Venetians back across the Adriatic screaming for their lives.
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There you go. Hoped you enjoyed part I of the Venetian war.
Yes, it seems very chancy, if the venetians do not follow your transports will be slaughtered.
But wonderful update
But wonderful update
Dude, telepathy! I was just thinking that as I read down! Wow.... GET OUT OF MY BRAIN! <Puts on tink-foil line helmet>hurricanehunter said:
The turks seem to be coming in handy... watch out though.... Turks can be shifty at critical times.... take the Crimean War....
Edit: Nevermind, I actually had the AGCEEP install hidden away on my computer, and I managed to find it.
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On November 14th, 1490, over a year after the war had began, outcome was still unclear. While the Roman Empire had managed to take Ragusa and Dalmatia from the Republic of Venice, Venice had recently annexed Cyprus, the entire reason this war was being fought in the first place, and the republic also currently dominated the Mediterranean with its powerful Armada, having defeated the Imperial Fleet at Cyprus. Losses had been high on both sides, Venice losing around 35,000 men to the Roman Strategos Husen Adu Ibrahim, while nearly 40,000 Roman lives had been wasted in attempts to take Istria by less competent generals.
With a new year already close at hand, the people of Constantinople were beginning to become angered at the high losses the Empire continued to suffer, many of their families and loved ones having died on the battlefield in vain. Manouel III was indeed beginning to feel the sting of this costly war, the Imperial treasury constantly shrinking from the cost of raising more soldiers to fight against the Venetians. On top of this, many of the Imperial Armies were bordering on mutiny, some even refusing to set foot in enemy territory, having already lost some of their dearest friends to the war.
Things were little better in Venice. Though the Doge still had plenty of riches flowing into his coffers, Augostin knew that he had a very limited supply of soldiers compared to the Romans. Venice supposedly could only raise around 40,000 men in a war, and he had already lost nearly 35,000 of that. He had strained his population to its limits by recruiting 10,000 more soldiers to help defend Istria from the advancing Romans, and the people of Venice were close to open revolt.
With both sides desperate for a quick end to the war, no plan truly seemed to risky. Manouel III turned to Ibrahim, who he considered to be his greatest general after his decisive victories in the war, and asked him to cripple the Venetian Armada. Quickly drawing up a plan that at first glance seemed overly complex and risky at best, he was given command of the Imperial navy. Immediately the young Strategos chose to send his fleet of roughly 85 ships to confront the Venetian Armada, which currently held around 100 combat ready vessels.
Meeting with the great fleet that had been docked at Cyprus, it was clear that the Venetians had the advantage, just as Ibrahim had suspected. Alberto Da Cemento, believing this action was a desperate move on the Romans part, threw everything he had at the Imperial fleet. Ibrahim quickly gave the order to withdraw back to the Coast of Rhodes, hoping the typically hotheaded Venetians would give chase, taking it as a sign of weakness. No ships were sunk on either side during the engagement, with only minor damage being suffered by Roman vessels.
Though surprised by Ibrahim’s quick retreat, Alberto felt he could not pass up an opportunity to break the back of the Imperial Navy. If he could score one more decisive victory against the Romans, it would be enough to guarantee Venetian dominance of the Mediterranean for at least a half a century. Giving chase to the fleeing Vyzantiki, Alberto planned to dispatch a smaller force to intercept the Romans and hold them in place while the main fleet caught up. However, Ibrahim, seemingly predicting such an action bribed off a group of privateers from the Knights of Saint John. Surprised by the sudden appearance of these pirates, the detachment of Venetians were forced to retreat back to the main body of the fleet.
By the time they reached Rhodes, the Imperial fleet was well on its way to the Aegean. After capturing a group of the pirates that had been hired by the Romans, and after a quick interrogation that involved shooting the subject in the shoulder and applying pressure to the wound, the pirates revealed that the Imperial Fleet was hoping to retreat to the safety of the port of Constantinople before the Venetians could reach them, and they were hired to simply hold them off. It was later obvious that Ibrahim had purposely fed the pirates false information on their plans in order to encourage the Venetians into pursuing them further.
As both fleets made their way into the Aegean Sea, Ibrahim purposefully had the Imperial fleet slow their pace slightly as to allow for a confrontation outside the sea of Marmara, thus creating the illusion that the Venetians had only barely caught them. Once again, the Roman and Venetian fleets clashed in an indecisive battle, however, in order to not raise suspicion, Ibrahim waited to call a retreat until casualties had been inflicted to both sides, thus having the Venetians believe they were actually trying to win. The end result was the same however: The Imperial fleet withdrew to the Gulf of Varna, with the Venetians in pursuit.
It was during this confrontation, however, that the second part of Ibrahim’s plan was put into action. When word reached Morea that the Venetian Armada was sufficiently out to sea, a group of 13 caravel, transporting roughly 20,000 men and 30 canon set off for Krete. As the Imperial fleet led Venice on a wild goose chase into the Black Sea, the transports hastily unloaded their troops on the coast of Krete. With only a modest fortress guarding the city of Candia, it did not take long before Krete fell to the Roman Army. However, the Strategos in charge of the amphibious operation knew time was of the essence and that celebrations would have to wait.
The soldiers were quickly loaded onto their transports once more, and the fleet set out for Cyprus. By now, word of Krete’s fall had reached Alberto, and it quickly donned on him that he had been deceived by the dishonorable Greeks and their heretic admiral. Quickly turning his vast Armada around, he quickly set sail for the eastern Mediterranean. However, his path would not be peaceful, for Ibrahim, also hearing of his plans success, had ordered his fleet to swing back around towards Constantinople and the Aegean sea. Moving ahead of Alberto’s larger fleet, Ibraham once against met with his rival in combat. Though he gradually gave way as they fought down the Aegean seaboard, he knew his goal was to merely delay the Armada until Cyprus was in Roman hands.
Though they had quickly overwhelmed the defenses of Candia, Famagusta, protected by the same fortress that had given Venice so much difficulty, was proving harder to break through. However, even though their first assault had failed, it had weakened the fortresses defenders so, that on the second attempt, the Romans penetrated the fortress, and entered into the great capital of Cyprus. Word reached Ibrahim shortly after, and he ordered the Imperial fleet to retreat back to Morea. The final phase of his plan was almost ready.
As Alberto scrambled to deploy his soldiers onto Krete, and liberate the city from the Roman Empire, he soon realized the cost of pursuing his foe across hostile waters for so long. Many of his soldiers were simply too sick to fight, and many more had died of starvation, as his fleets ever depleting supplies were unable to support so many men. By now, his powerful army of 25,000 men had been drained to a mere 7,000, if that. Though Alberto had attempted to force the soldiers to march on Candia, many had refused, stating that they had not the strength, nor the food, nor the canon to breach the fortress that guarded the city.
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Alberto Da Cemento paced furiously on the deck of his galley, The Isabella. Everyone was on edge, they had been at sea for almost five months without docking for supplies, and the entire fleet was bordering on mutiny. Alberto was still confident they could defeat the Roman Empire if only they would be willing to go a little further. The remaining soldiers had demanded to return to Venice after they had found the land around Candia looted from the previous siege, while the sailors had simply fallen pray to a lack of rations and supplies, many had resorted to drinking sea water and had gone mad as a result.
“Admiral!” A voice interrupted his train of thought, “We have visitors…” said Cornaro, the first mate of the Isabella as he lead several elaborately dressed men towards Alberto. Surprised, Alberto gazed at the men, they were clearly Venetian, he even recognized some of them as captains serving in the fleet. “What is the meaning of this?!” Alberto barked at the approaching men. “We are selling home,” one said plainly “Our rations are gone, our crews near mutiny, and half of the fleet is stricken with the Scurvy and madness.” The front most man shouted back.
Alberto gritted his teeth and threw his hat down onto the deck, “Damnit man! We’re only miles from Krete! With one assault we could take it! I will not turn around when victory is staring us in the face!” the Admiral ranted, as he stomped his foot on the deck of the ship. But he did not understand the situation fully, throughout the fleet, men were dieing of disease and starvation. Doctors and nurses attempted to tend to them, but they were often stricken with the same ailments. Many of the crews, desperate for food had taken to eating the Nubian slaves that the Sultan of the Mameluk’s had traded to them for so much gold, their cracked bones, long having the marrow sucked from them littered the decks of many a galley in the fleet.
Madness had set in on some ships completely, sailors, desperate for water would often resort to drinking from the sea itself, and go completely insane as a result, often murdering their peers in the process. Many ships were damaged from previous engagements with the Romans, some even taking water that constantly had to be bailed out of the ships. The captains of many of these ships had finally snapped, killing themselves during the night to escape from the sight of their men’s suffering, and their own personal pain. Angered with the complete lack of consideration the Admiral had shown, several had banded together, planning to force him to return them to Venice.
“Victory? VICTORY?!” One of the Captains shouted in rage, turning and gesturing to several men on his ship who had been stricken with Scurvy, desperately being tended to by a nurse who likely was none to healthy herself “If this is what you call victory Admiral, I would gladly take defeat any day!” the other Captains nodded in agreement. Alberto continued to protest, stating that what they were suggesting was treason, and that they would be hung for it. Yet in their desperate state, they no longer cared. “Take us home NOW!” Another Captain shouted, “No! We will stay until the orders we have been given are carried out to their fullest damnit!” Alberto returned, but as he stepped forward, the forward most captain unsheathed his blade, slicing the aging Alberto across the neck.
As the Admiral lay on the deck in a pool of his own blood, slowly dieing of suffocation, the captain took his hat from his head, and placed it upon his own. “We sail home.” He stated plainly. The captains returned to their ships, and prepared to change their course for Venice itself. Turning to the first mate, the new Admiral of the fleet smirked slightly, “Clean up this mess, will you?”
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So far, Ibrahim’s plan had gone exactly has he had hoped it would. With the Venetian Armada scrambling back towards Venice, it was time for him to set the final step of his plan in motion. While the Venetians had been busy sailing towards Krete, the new ships being constructed at the port of Constantinople had finally been completed, and had been sent to meet with the many fleet. Together, they sailed from Morea into the Straits of Otranto, to await the fleeting armada. When the Venetians reached the fleet, they were horrified to see the sheer amount of vessels awaiting them in the narrow channel. The Imperial fleet allegedly had 132 combat worthy vessels, to the battered armada’s 127.
Ibrahim wasted no time in ordering his ships to lay waste the starving armada of Venice. Running low on ammunition, and with half their crew already dead from disease, the armada was utterly crushed by the well rested and supplied Imperial navy. The Imperial fleet lost 11 ships during the battle, while Venice lost over 30. When word reached the Emperor of the Imperial fleets defeat on the armada, he personally took command of the Roman army at the Dalmatia-Istria border, leading a massive force of 40,000 men against the meager 15,000 defenders of Istria. The moral of the Venetians quickly collapsed after the death of around 5,000 men, and the remainder retreated back to Venice in order to mount a last ditch defense.
With Pula falling into Roman hands shortly after, Venice itself was vulnerable to attack. Summoning the Imperial fleet to the port of the city of Pula, Manouel III met with his victorious Strategos. He asked him to draw up one last plan in order to finish the Venetians off, and forever break their power in the Mediterranean. Ibrahim believed a simultaneous assault from both land and sea would prove to be the wisest course of action against Venice, for though they had only 10,000 soldiers stationed outside the walls of the city, they were well entrenched in the defenses of their homeland.
Trusting his greatest general to bring him victory, Manouel agreed with this plan, and gave Ibrahim a force of 20,000 veteran soldiers. It would not be long now, Manouel could taste the blood of the Doge upon his lips, and he could see the fire burning high into the heavens as Venice succumbed to a sea of flame. It was time to seek revenge upon those who nearly destroyed their great Empire at the onset of the fourth Crusade.
The great assault began on August 17th, when Roman Autocrator Manouel III lead a force of 40,000 men up through Istria and into the heart of the Venetian Republic, while Ibrahim, with a force of 20,000 hardened Veterans from the Spring Time Rebellion and the current war, invaded from the Adriatic Sea. Unable to stand against such a massive force, the meager 10,000 soldiers protecting Venice were utterly crushed by the overwhelming might of Rome. All 10,000 were either killed or captured, none being able to retreat back to Venice, as Ibrahim had cut them off.
Thus, the siege of Venice had begun.
Siege of Venice, 1492
The walls of Venice were mighty indeed, for inside the city were over 140,000 people, the majority of the population of the Republic. Defending these walls was over 20,000 elite guard, highly trained soldiers specifically tasked with defending the capital from foreign invasion. The combined Roman Army consisted of over 60,000 men, 45,000 infantry, 15,000 cavalry, and 80 canon. Though Ibrahim had counseled against it, Manouel was eager to take the city and reek vengeance for the sack of Constantinople. Ordering that the city be assaulted, the Roman army quickly moved to capture the city.
The Autocrator soon found that the elite guard were not to be underestimated, however. In his first assault they managed to hold the walls against the attacking Romans, and the walls proved to be resistant to even the great amount of canon fire being brought against them. At the end of the day, after the assault had been called off due to collapsing moral, the Romans had lost roughly 8,000 men, while the Venetians had only lost 6,000. Manouel III was infuriated at this failure, and demanded Ibrahim find a way to bring the walls of Venice crashing down.
Ibrahim responded by telling him that there was no grand strategy that would breech Venice as quickly as he wished, the only option would be to bring fresh troops in and try once more. Though irritated by this, Manoeul would not be denied his prize, and sent orders back to Constantinople for 20,000 fresh soldiers. As the months passed while they waited, Venice continued to hold out against the Romans. When the fresh troops finally arrived, the situation had changed little. Manouel was determined not to fail in this assault however, not matter what the cost.
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The sound of canon could once again be heard in the distance, as the Doge sat quietly on the seat of power. His chambers were dark, the light of the day slowly dropping behind the horizon. He knew it was but a matter of time now before the Romans would breach the walls and lay waste to his great city. Standing, the Doge turned to his advisor, “Prepare the passageway, I shall retreat to Austria and garner support against these fiends. Keep my departure a secret, tell no one. Now go!” the advisor bowed and quickly made his way out of the chambers.
The sheer power of the Roman canon had began to wear on the great walls of Venice, soon causing the utter collapse of the walls due to structural damage. The elite guard bravely fought against the tide of Roman infantry, but was eventually overwhelmed. The city had been torn wide open, and was left defenseless against the Imperial Army.
“Behind you! To your right soldier!” Shouted a Captain to the soldier about to be stabbed in the back by one of the last remaining guards of Venice. Quickly whirling, the soldier manages to catch his thrust with his shield, and deal one of his own to the gut of the guard, quickly tearing his blade losing and leaving the guard to bleed to death in the street. The Captain turn to his men, “Lets find something to fill our pockets with, shall we?” His men responded with grins and eager nods all around. Moving towards the closest house, they quickly kicked in the door, entering to find a mother and her two daughters hiding in the corner. “Looks like Burghers…” The captain muttered, his eye quickly being drawn to ornamental box setting on a wooden desk.
Moving towards the box, the mother quickly shouted out for him to, which caused her to be stabbed through the chest by one of his soldiers. Scoffing at the dead woman, he continued to open the box, finding several pieces of well made jewelry. “These will fetch a fine price, I imagine.” He stated to himself. Eventually, after looting the house from top to bottom, going as far as to tear up parts of floor in case something valuable be hidden underneath, the Captain and his soldiers turned to two remaining girls cowering in the corner. One looked about 14, the other 12. They were huddled, their arms around one another in the corner. The Captain and his men approached them, “What’s wrong? The Captain questioned menacingly in accented Latin, “Are you cold? Don’t worry, we’ll help you get warm…” He said, beginning to approach to two girls, both of which closed their eyes in fear. As the Captain took another step forward, his entire world went black, as to his soldiers horror, his head was sliced clean off by an attack from behind.
Thinking it was an enemy, they drew their weapons, but quickly stopped dead in the tracks when the mans familiar face was revealed. “I-Ibrahim…” One managed to force past his lips. The imposing young General simply glared at the men around him, “Go now, and help the others secure the city.” The soldiers saluted and fled the house with out hesitation. Ibrahim, picking up the box of jewels tossed it towards the two still cowering young women, before turning and exiting the house, leaving the dead captain inside.
A great Cathedral stood near the center of Venice. As the Gaziantep Tagma stormed up the churches steep incline of stairs, a Catholic Bishop stood at the top, awaiting them, “Stop! This is a place of God! How dare you set foot upon it in armor soaked with the blood of Christians!” The bishop shouted to them in rage, but soon found himself seized from behind. “Have you paid your ties, “Father”?” The Turkish captain asked in heavily accented Latin, before slicing the Bishops throat with his blade. The two men holding him let his limp body fall to the ground, and continued inside the Cathedral.
The Bishop, bleeding and barely alive gazed up into the heavens as his life slowly drained away. A small boy looked over him, it was little Apulio, his alter boy…the bishop slowly reached up towards him, as if to ask for his help, gritting his teeth, however, the young boy let out a scream of rage, and brought the golden head of the Bishops staff down on the elderly mans head, killing him.
As the council chambers were being looted, Manouel stood laughing in the center of the senatorial fountain. Dancing the Enteka wildly around the fountain, he shouted into the night, “Burn Venice to the ground! Sell them all to the Kahn! Burn it! Burn it all!” And continued to do so into the night as the great city was pillaged and looted for nearly a month. The great walls of Venice were torn down, the shipyard that had produced its great Armada was burnt, over 80,000 Venetians were taken captive and sold to the Kahn of the Kazak Horde. By the end of the looting, the city looked to be a mere shadow of its former glory, as Constantinople had nearly 300 years earlier.
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Shortly following the horrific sack of Venice by the Greeks, they signed a peace with what few officials remained. Venice ceded Krete, Cyprus, Ragusa, and Dalmatia to the Empire, were forced to swear fealty to the Emperor of the Romans, agreeing to pay him half of their yearly income. Though this had been a great victory for the Roman Empire, it had been a costly war in both gold and men, and their sack of Venice had outraged the Catholic world. But for now, the Empire was at peace, and their greatest enemy had been subdued.
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Phew…okay, there you go, an update. Sorry if the quality dropped later on in the story, it was 7 AM when I finished this - I had been working on it all night.
With a new year already close at hand, the people of Constantinople were beginning to become angered at the high losses the Empire continued to suffer, many of their families and loved ones having died on the battlefield in vain. Manouel III was indeed beginning to feel the sting of this costly war, the Imperial treasury constantly shrinking from the cost of raising more soldiers to fight against the Venetians. On top of this, many of the Imperial Armies were bordering on mutiny, some even refusing to set foot in enemy territory, having already lost some of their dearest friends to the war.
Things were little better in Venice. Though the Doge still had plenty of riches flowing into his coffers, Augostin knew that he had a very limited supply of soldiers compared to the Romans. Venice supposedly could only raise around 40,000 men in a war, and he had already lost nearly 35,000 of that. He had strained his population to its limits by recruiting 10,000 more soldiers to help defend Istria from the advancing Romans, and the people of Venice were close to open revolt.
With both sides desperate for a quick end to the war, no plan truly seemed to risky. Manouel III turned to Ibrahim, who he considered to be his greatest general after his decisive victories in the war, and asked him to cripple the Venetian Armada. Quickly drawing up a plan that at first glance seemed overly complex and risky at best, he was given command of the Imperial navy. Immediately the young Strategos chose to send his fleet of roughly 85 ships to confront the Venetian Armada, which currently held around 100 combat ready vessels.
Meeting with the great fleet that had been docked at Cyprus, it was clear that the Venetians had the advantage, just as Ibrahim had suspected. Alberto Da Cemento, believing this action was a desperate move on the Romans part, threw everything he had at the Imperial fleet. Ibrahim quickly gave the order to withdraw back to the Coast of Rhodes, hoping the typically hotheaded Venetians would give chase, taking it as a sign of weakness. No ships were sunk on either side during the engagement, with only minor damage being suffered by Roman vessels.
Though surprised by Ibrahim’s quick retreat, Alberto felt he could not pass up an opportunity to break the back of the Imperial Navy. If he could score one more decisive victory against the Romans, it would be enough to guarantee Venetian dominance of the Mediterranean for at least a half a century. Giving chase to the fleeing Vyzantiki, Alberto planned to dispatch a smaller force to intercept the Romans and hold them in place while the main fleet caught up. However, Ibrahim, seemingly predicting such an action bribed off a group of privateers from the Knights of Saint John. Surprised by the sudden appearance of these pirates, the detachment of Venetians were forced to retreat back to the main body of the fleet.
By the time they reached Rhodes, the Imperial fleet was well on its way to the Aegean. After capturing a group of the pirates that had been hired by the Romans, and after a quick interrogation that involved shooting the subject in the shoulder and applying pressure to the wound, the pirates revealed that the Imperial Fleet was hoping to retreat to the safety of the port of Constantinople before the Venetians could reach them, and they were hired to simply hold them off. It was later obvious that Ibrahim had purposely fed the pirates false information on their plans in order to encourage the Venetians into pursuing them further.
As both fleets made their way into the Aegean Sea, Ibrahim purposefully had the Imperial fleet slow their pace slightly as to allow for a confrontation outside the sea of Marmara, thus creating the illusion that the Venetians had only barely caught them. Once again, the Roman and Venetian fleets clashed in an indecisive battle, however, in order to not raise suspicion, Ibrahim waited to call a retreat until casualties had been inflicted to both sides, thus having the Venetians believe they were actually trying to win. The end result was the same however: The Imperial fleet withdrew to the Gulf of Varna, with the Venetians in pursuit.
It was during this confrontation, however, that the second part of Ibrahim’s plan was put into action. When word reached Morea that the Venetian Armada was sufficiently out to sea, a group of 13 caravel, transporting roughly 20,000 men and 30 canon set off for Krete. As the Imperial fleet led Venice on a wild goose chase into the Black Sea, the transports hastily unloaded their troops on the coast of Krete. With only a modest fortress guarding the city of Candia, it did not take long before Krete fell to the Roman Army. However, the Strategos in charge of the amphibious operation knew time was of the essence and that celebrations would have to wait.
The soldiers were quickly loaded onto their transports once more, and the fleet set out for Cyprus. By now, word of Krete’s fall had reached Alberto, and it quickly donned on him that he had been deceived by the dishonorable Greeks and their heretic admiral. Quickly turning his vast Armada around, he quickly set sail for the eastern Mediterranean. However, his path would not be peaceful, for Ibrahim, also hearing of his plans success, had ordered his fleet to swing back around towards Constantinople and the Aegean sea. Moving ahead of Alberto’s larger fleet, Ibraham once against met with his rival in combat. Though he gradually gave way as they fought down the Aegean seaboard, he knew his goal was to merely delay the Armada until Cyprus was in Roman hands.
Though they had quickly overwhelmed the defenses of Candia, Famagusta, protected by the same fortress that had given Venice so much difficulty, was proving harder to break through. However, even though their first assault had failed, it had weakened the fortresses defenders so, that on the second attempt, the Romans penetrated the fortress, and entered into the great capital of Cyprus. Word reached Ibrahim shortly after, and he ordered the Imperial fleet to retreat back to Morea. The final phase of his plan was almost ready.
As Alberto scrambled to deploy his soldiers onto Krete, and liberate the city from the Roman Empire, he soon realized the cost of pursuing his foe across hostile waters for so long. Many of his soldiers were simply too sick to fight, and many more had died of starvation, as his fleets ever depleting supplies were unable to support so many men. By now, his powerful army of 25,000 men had been drained to a mere 7,000, if that. Though Alberto had attempted to force the soldiers to march on Candia, many had refused, stating that they had not the strength, nor the food, nor the canon to breach the fortress that guarded the city.
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Alberto Da Cemento paced furiously on the deck of his galley, The Isabella. Everyone was on edge, they had been at sea for almost five months without docking for supplies, and the entire fleet was bordering on mutiny. Alberto was still confident they could defeat the Roman Empire if only they would be willing to go a little further. The remaining soldiers had demanded to return to Venice after they had found the land around Candia looted from the previous siege, while the sailors had simply fallen pray to a lack of rations and supplies, many had resorted to drinking sea water and had gone mad as a result.
“Admiral!” A voice interrupted his train of thought, “We have visitors…” said Cornaro, the first mate of the Isabella as he lead several elaborately dressed men towards Alberto. Surprised, Alberto gazed at the men, they were clearly Venetian, he even recognized some of them as captains serving in the fleet. “What is the meaning of this?!” Alberto barked at the approaching men. “We are selling home,” one said plainly “Our rations are gone, our crews near mutiny, and half of the fleet is stricken with the Scurvy and madness.” The front most man shouted back.
Alberto gritted his teeth and threw his hat down onto the deck, “Damnit man! We’re only miles from Krete! With one assault we could take it! I will not turn around when victory is staring us in the face!” the Admiral ranted, as he stomped his foot on the deck of the ship. But he did not understand the situation fully, throughout the fleet, men were dieing of disease and starvation. Doctors and nurses attempted to tend to them, but they were often stricken with the same ailments. Many of the crews, desperate for food had taken to eating the Nubian slaves that the Sultan of the Mameluk’s had traded to them for so much gold, their cracked bones, long having the marrow sucked from them littered the decks of many a galley in the fleet.
Madness had set in on some ships completely, sailors, desperate for water would often resort to drinking from the sea itself, and go completely insane as a result, often murdering their peers in the process. Many ships were damaged from previous engagements with the Romans, some even taking water that constantly had to be bailed out of the ships. The captains of many of these ships had finally snapped, killing themselves during the night to escape from the sight of their men’s suffering, and their own personal pain. Angered with the complete lack of consideration the Admiral had shown, several had banded together, planning to force him to return them to Venice.
“Victory? VICTORY?!” One of the Captains shouted in rage, turning and gesturing to several men on his ship who had been stricken with Scurvy, desperately being tended to by a nurse who likely was none to healthy herself “If this is what you call victory Admiral, I would gladly take defeat any day!” the other Captains nodded in agreement. Alberto continued to protest, stating that what they were suggesting was treason, and that they would be hung for it. Yet in their desperate state, they no longer cared. “Take us home NOW!” Another Captain shouted, “No! We will stay until the orders we have been given are carried out to their fullest damnit!” Alberto returned, but as he stepped forward, the forward most captain unsheathed his blade, slicing the aging Alberto across the neck.
As the Admiral lay on the deck in a pool of his own blood, slowly dieing of suffocation, the captain took his hat from his head, and placed it upon his own. “We sail home.” He stated plainly. The captains returned to their ships, and prepared to change their course for Venice itself. Turning to the first mate, the new Admiral of the fleet smirked slightly, “Clean up this mess, will you?”
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So far, Ibrahim’s plan had gone exactly has he had hoped it would. With the Venetian Armada scrambling back towards Venice, it was time for him to set the final step of his plan in motion. While the Venetians had been busy sailing towards Krete, the new ships being constructed at the port of Constantinople had finally been completed, and had been sent to meet with the many fleet. Together, they sailed from Morea into the Straits of Otranto, to await the fleeting armada. When the Venetians reached the fleet, they were horrified to see the sheer amount of vessels awaiting them in the narrow channel. The Imperial fleet allegedly had 132 combat worthy vessels, to the battered armada’s 127.
Ibrahim wasted no time in ordering his ships to lay waste the starving armada of Venice. Running low on ammunition, and with half their crew already dead from disease, the armada was utterly crushed by the well rested and supplied Imperial navy. The Imperial fleet lost 11 ships during the battle, while Venice lost over 30. When word reached the Emperor of the Imperial fleets defeat on the armada, he personally took command of the Roman army at the Dalmatia-Istria border, leading a massive force of 40,000 men against the meager 15,000 defenders of Istria. The moral of the Venetians quickly collapsed after the death of around 5,000 men, and the remainder retreated back to Venice in order to mount a last ditch defense.
With Pula falling into Roman hands shortly after, Venice itself was vulnerable to attack. Summoning the Imperial fleet to the port of the city of Pula, Manouel III met with his victorious Strategos. He asked him to draw up one last plan in order to finish the Venetians off, and forever break their power in the Mediterranean. Ibrahim believed a simultaneous assault from both land and sea would prove to be the wisest course of action against Venice, for though they had only 10,000 soldiers stationed outside the walls of the city, they were well entrenched in the defenses of their homeland.
Trusting his greatest general to bring him victory, Manouel agreed with this plan, and gave Ibrahim a force of 20,000 veteran soldiers. It would not be long now, Manouel could taste the blood of the Doge upon his lips, and he could see the fire burning high into the heavens as Venice succumbed to a sea of flame. It was time to seek revenge upon those who nearly destroyed their great Empire at the onset of the fourth Crusade.
The great assault began on August 17th, when Roman Autocrator Manouel III lead a force of 40,000 men up through Istria and into the heart of the Venetian Republic, while Ibrahim, with a force of 20,000 hardened Veterans from the Spring Time Rebellion and the current war, invaded from the Adriatic Sea. Unable to stand against such a massive force, the meager 10,000 soldiers protecting Venice were utterly crushed by the overwhelming might of Rome. All 10,000 were either killed or captured, none being able to retreat back to Venice, as Ibrahim had cut them off.
Thus, the siege of Venice had begun.
Siege of Venice, 1492
The walls of Venice were mighty indeed, for inside the city were over 140,000 people, the majority of the population of the Republic. Defending these walls was over 20,000 elite guard, highly trained soldiers specifically tasked with defending the capital from foreign invasion. The combined Roman Army consisted of over 60,000 men, 45,000 infantry, 15,000 cavalry, and 80 canon. Though Ibrahim had counseled against it, Manouel was eager to take the city and reek vengeance for the sack of Constantinople. Ordering that the city be assaulted, the Roman army quickly moved to capture the city.
The Autocrator soon found that the elite guard were not to be underestimated, however. In his first assault they managed to hold the walls against the attacking Romans, and the walls proved to be resistant to even the great amount of canon fire being brought against them. At the end of the day, after the assault had been called off due to collapsing moral, the Romans had lost roughly 8,000 men, while the Venetians had only lost 6,000. Manouel III was infuriated at this failure, and demanded Ibrahim find a way to bring the walls of Venice crashing down.
Ibrahim responded by telling him that there was no grand strategy that would breech Venice as quickly as he wished, the only option would be to bring fresh troops in and try once more. Though irritated by this, Manoeul would not be denied his prize, and sent orders back to Constantinople for 20,000 fresh soldiers. As the months passed while they waited, Venice continued to hold out against the Romans. When the fresh troops finally arrived, the situation had changed little. Manouel was determined not to fail in this assault however, not matter what the cost.
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The sound of canon could once again be heard in the distance, as the Doge sat quietly on the seat of power. His chambers were dark, the light of the day slowly dropping behind the horizon. He knew it was but a matter of time now before the Romans would breach the walls and lay waste to his great city. Standing, the Doge turned to his advisor, “Prepare the passageway, I shall retreat to Austria and garner support against these fiends. Keep my departure a secret, tell no one. Now go!” the advisor bowed and quickly made his way out of the chambers.
The sheer power of the Roman canon had began to wear on the great walls of Venice, soon causing the utter collapse of the walls due to structural damage. The elite guard bravely fought against the tide of Roman infantry, but was eventually overwhelmed. The city had been torn wide open, and was left defenseless against the Imperial Army.
“Behind you! To your right soldier!” Shouted a Captain to the soldier about to be stabbed in the back by one of the last remaining guards of Venice. Quickly whirling, the soldier manages to catch his thrust with his shield, and deal one of his own to the gut of the guard, quickly tearing his blade losing and leaving the guard to bleed to death in the street. The Captain turn to his men, “Lets find something to fill our pockets with, shall we?” His men responded with grins and eager nods all around. Moving towards the closest house, they quickly kicked in the door, entering to find a mother and her two daughters hiding in the corner. “Looks like Burghers…” The captain muttered, his eye quickly being drawn to ornamental box setting on a wooden desk.
Moving towards the box, the mother quickly shouted out for him to, which caused her to be stabbed through the chest by one of his soldiers. Scoffing at the dead woman, he continued to open the box, finding several pieces of well made jewelry. “These will fetch a fine price, I imagine.” He stated to himself. Eventually, after looting the house from top to bottom, going as far as to tear up parts of floor in case something valuable be hidden underneath, the Captain and his soldiers turned to two remaining girls cowering in the corner. One looked about 14, the other 12. They were huddled, their arms around one another in the corner. The Captain and his men approached them, “What’s wrong? The Captain questioned menacingly in accented Latin, “Are you cold? Don’t worry, we’ll help you get warm…” He said, beginning to approach to two girls, both of which closed their eyes in fear. As the Captain took another step forward, his entire world went black, as to his soldiers horror, his head was sliced clean off by an attack from behind.
Thinking it was an enemy, they drew their weapons, but quickly stopped dead in the tracks when the mans familiar face was revealed. “I-Ibrahim…” One managed to force past his lips. The imposing young General simply glared at the men around him, “Go now, and help the others secure the city.” The soldiers saluted and fled the house with out hesitation. Ibrahim, picking up the box of jewels tossed it towards the two still cowering young women, before turning and exiting the house, leaving the dead captain inside.
A great Cathedral stood near the center of Venice. As the Gaziantep Tagma stormed up the churches steep incline of stairs, a Catholic Bishop stood at the top, awaiting them, “Stop! This is a place of God! How dare you set foot upon it in armor soaked with the blood of Christians!” The bishop shouted to them in rage, but soon found himself seized from behind. “Have you paid your ties, “Father”?” The Turkish captain asked in heavily accented Latin, before slicing the Bishops throat with his blade. The two men holding him let his limp body fall to the ground, and continued inside the Cathedral.
The Bishop, bleeding and barely alive gazed up into the heavens as his life slowly drained away. A small boy looked over him, it was little Apulio, his alter boy…the bishop slowly reached up towards him, as if to ask for his help, gritting his teeth, however, the young boy let out a scream of rage, and brought the golden head of the Bishops staff down on the elderly mans head, killing him.
As the council chambers were being looted, Manouel stood laughing in the center of the senatorial fountain. Dancing the Enteka wildly around the fountain, he shouted into the night, “Burn Venice to the ground! Sell them all to the Kahn! Burn it! Burn it all!” And continued to do so into the night as the great city was pillaged and looted for nearly a month. The great walls of Venice were torn down, the shipyard that had produced its great Armada was burnt, over 80,000 Venetians were taken captive and sold to the Kahn of the Kazak Horde. By the end of the looting, the city looked to be a mere shadow of its former glory, as Constantinople had nearly 300 years earlier.
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Shortly following the horrific sack of Venice by the Greeks, they signed a peace with what few officials remained. Venice ceded Krete, Cyprus, Ragusa, and Dalmatia to the Empire, were forced to swear fealty to the Emperor of the Romans, agreeing to pay him half of their yearly income. Though this had been a great victory for the Roman Empire, it had been a costly war in both gold and men, and their sack of Venice had outraged the Catholic world. But for now, the Empire was at peace, and their greatest enemy had been subdued.
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Phew…okay, there you go, an update.
Sorry if the quality dropped later on in the story, it was 7 AM when I finished this - I had been working on it all night.
Great update, as always... I've been following this one for quite some time now, and it is excellent... make the Mediterranean into "Mare Nostrum" again!
Good! Good! Now that Venice owes its very existance to Rome, the entire world shall trembel at the Imperiator's will! Long live the Empire!
SeanB, I have spent a portion of the morning reading through this tale of yours and I must say I am very impressed. Both by your fine work at taking out the Turk and then Venice, but also by your excellent storytelling abilities.
There is a nice mix between fictional narrative and historical narrative, and the entire series of updates dealing with a civil war (that never actually existed in-game) was truly impressive. Glad I got the chance to catch up here since I look forward to seeing what you do with the mighty empire of the Romans.
I will suggest this - if you have any designs on Hungary, I would act fast before they get swallowed by the Big White Blob. Good luck!
There is a nice mix between fictional narrative and historical narrative, and the entire series of updates dealing with a civil war (that never actually existed in-game) was truly impressive. Glad I got the chance to catch up here since I look forward to seeing what you do with the mighty empire of the Romans.
I will suggest this - if you have any designs on Hungary, I would act fast before they get swallowed by the Big White Blob. Good luck!
After the costly war with Venice, Emperor Manouel III Palaeologus sat down for another long period of recovery. Though minor conquests would still happen in Anatolia, the annexation of the small Ghazi states that still roamed its plains, for example, for the most part, the period was one of economic and military recovery. The Imperial army had suffered horrendous losses against Venice, some historians estimating as many as 65,000 dead for the Roman Empire alone. Compared to Venice however, this loss was but a scratch. By the end of the war, most of the territory of the old republic of Venice had been seized by the Romans, and Venice itself had nearly been destroyed. Estimates off the amount of Venetian lives lost in the war are as high as 200,000.
The city of Venice itself was now under the rule of a Greek Doge, put into power through a rigged election. Its once vibrant streets were desolate in comparison to what they once were. The population of the city had been reduced to a mere 60,000, a shadow of its former glory. The Venetian Armada had been devastated in its last confrontation with the Imperial Navy. As it struggled to return to Venice, it was met, and soundly defeated by the Empire. It was cast out to sea, unable to return to a friendly port, tragedy was inevitable.
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Fog blanketed the water and sky above them, the Bepalonius, a merchant caravel, sailed across the Gulf of Sirte towards the great city of Tunis, along with three other vessels of similar class and size. They were carrying wine from the island of Cyprus, and planned to exchange it for precious silk, slaves, wool and gold of course. Tunis was a great center of trade on the Mediterranean, and supplied merchants with an excellent opportunity to buy and sell wears from all across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Their benefactor, the Duke of Cyprus Rusticius Koresses had been in fierce competition for the Emperors attention with Dorotheus Sarantenos, Duke of Krete.
Rusticius felt that by securing the Empire such a lucrative trade deal with Tunis, he would gain much prestige with the Emperor, and be given that fool Dorotheus’ land. Rusticius dreamed of being known as the Arch Duke of Cyprus-Krete. Sending four merchant ships guaranteed that at least one would reach Tunis unharmed. The waters in general where not too active at this time of the year, it was the pirates that concerned the men of these vessels. Mameluk pirates primarily, but also those of the Knights of Saint John.
As the small fleet of ships began to move into the open sea, the fog only became denser. Though they stayed their course, praying that it would lead them safely to Tunis, many feared that they had strayed off course in the fog, and with the stars hidden by the thick clouds directly above them, they had no way of determining if this was indeed the case or not. Turning back could prove just as dangerous, if not more so. Fortunately, though confused and often frightened, the small fleet survived the night intact, and as the sun rose into the sky, they managed to properly correct their course, pleased to find that they had lost hardly any time.
Several miles away from the island of Malta, however, the merchant fleet caught sight of what appeared to be a tattered looking fleet of warships. The first thought that went through the minds of the crews of these vessels was pirates, but after a short period of cautious observation, they realized that these ships indeed seemed to be uninhabited. What made this even strange was the sheer number of battered vessels that littered the straits of Malta, nearly 40 vessels as far as they could tell. Though wishing to quickly carry out their assigned task and return home quickly, curiosity overwhelmed the crew and they moved their ships in closer, preparing boarding parties to investigate several, hoping to perhaps find something of value within their battered hulls.
Taking several small rowing boats to the closest vessel, the crew of the Bepalonius climbed the damaged bow of the ship, finally reaching the deck. It was clear now that this was indeed a war galley, though the ores were no where in sight, most likely at the bottom of the ocean. Though the prospect of treasure now seemed low, they were already there, so it would be foolish to turn back without a proper inspection. The entire ship had the stench of gunpowder about it, arrows were stuck in various parts of the hull and various swords and armor had been carelessly thrown across the deck.
“Damnit Cap’n, we ain’t gonna find no treasure on this ol’ ship.” One of Captain Tagaris’ men suddenly spoke up. “Quiet! If nothing else, we can take all of this armor and sell it when we reach Tunis.” Barked the disgruntle Captain. Armenius Targaris had been working for the Duke of Cyprus for over 8 years. Originally he had been a dock worker on the port of Famagusta, but when he married and began to raise a family, he had quickly found that his meager pay was simply not enough to support his families needs. When he was offered a job shipping trade goods for a prominent noble, he leaped at the job, hoping it would put food on the table, and perhaps then some.
For 7 years he had worked, and though he was able to support his family, he rarely saw them for any extended period of time. When the Empire defeated Venice, the Emperor had seen potential in the prestigious Rusticius and granted him authority over Cyprus under the condition that he use his wealth to rebuild the war ravaged island. This brought both greater wealth, and harder work to Armenius. He was content when his benefactor was merely a wealthy noble, now, he hardly saw his family at all.
The crew continued to search the ship, and as they moved deeper into its hull, they begin to find human bones littered across the floors, most crack and drained of their marrow. The men began to feel sick, and Armenius felt it was time to go back to the Bepalonius - quickly. As they began to ascend the stairs, however, the heard a quiet murmur from one of the side cabins. Approaching slowly, Armenius opened the door, and to his horror, he found a blood covered man quivering in the far corner of the room. He held a cracked bone in his hand, his eyes were bloodshot, and his eyes were glazed over.
Seeing the men before him, the stranger managed to squeeze out four words… “I…had…no…choice…” As the crew of the Bepalonius stood horrified at the sight before them, Armenius caught sight of a symbol on the far wall…it was the insignia of the Venetian Armada… “Oh God…” Armenius managed to strain out before he promptly threw up were he stood.
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Word reached Tunis about the grizzly fate of the Armada when a Roman Merchant fleet encountered the remnants just off the coast of Malta. The fleet had been unable to find a port willing to take so many ships, and reports from coastal fortresses between the Battle of the Adriatic and the fleets discovery spoke of having to repel mysterious invasion fleets that struck without warning and seemingly without cause. The entire crew of the fleet save one had either been eaten by the other crew members, or had starved to death when there were no others to feast on. From the one survivor who still lived to tell the tale, a horrific picture was portrayed. The men had began to draw straws to determine who would be the next to be killed and eaten after their defeat against the Roman fleet.
Eventually, as insanity began to set in amongst the crews of the various ships, small battles between the ships within the armada began to break out, one ship raiding the other for “food”. Finally, after a seemingly endless cycle of this bloodshed and cannibalism, only this last survivors ship and crew were left. Violence finally ensued among the men of that ship, consuming all but one. Once reports of this incident reached Constantinople, the Patriarch was horrified, and demanded Manouel offer penance for his sins against his fellow man and ask forgiveness. The Emperor, not wanting the trouble his father experienced, accepted the Patriarchs decree and donated a large sum of gold to the Orthodox Church.
This, however, was not enough in the eyes of the Catholic Nations. With the near destruction of Venice, the current Doge, Augostin Barbarigo had fled his city just before it fell into Greek hands, escaping into Austria. Though at first the Emperor had ordered a search for the fugitive Doge, after failing to locate him, he eventually decided he was not worth all the effort, and turned to dealing with more pressing matters. It was during this time of neglect that Augostin secretly met with the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna to ask for his support in retaking his lost overseas empire.
While the Western Emperor refused to directly become involved in his struggle, stating that his power and influence in the Western Empire was not what it once was, he did sympathize with the Doge’s cry for help. The Holy Roman Emperor wrote a personal letter for the Hungarian Diet, and gave it to Augostin, telling him to seek Hungary’s aid in reclaiming his lost lands and throne. Augostin eagerly rode to meet with the Diet, praying that this last attempt would bare fruit.
Upon meeting the Diet, he presented the Emperors letter to him, pleaded for support against the Greeks. He offered his services as a general, and his Republic as a vassal of the Diet himself. Better to be under fellow Catholics, after all. Though the Diet did not wish to come into conflict with the Roman Empire after seeing the devastation they brought to Venice, he feared angering the Holy Roman Emperor even more so. Reluctantly, the Diet accepted his offer, and began mobilizing his forces. Though it had been roughly four years since the end of the second Venetian War, the memory of Greek atrocities still rang fresh in every faithful Catholics heart and soul.
With thousands of troops flocking to his banner, the Diet prepared to start another great war, that he feared would once bathe the Balkans in a sea of blood.
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There, a short before war post. We'll see if I can't stomp out Hungary without so many losses on my side.
The city of Venice itself was now under the rule of a Greek Doge, put into power through a rigged election. Its once vibrant streets were desolate in comparison to what they once were. The population of the city had been reduced to a mere 60,000, a shadow of its former glory. The Venetian Armada had been devastated in its last confrontation with the Imperial Navy. As it struggled to return to Venice, it was met, and soundly defeated by the Empire. It was cast out to sea, unable to return to a friendly port, tragedy was inevitable.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fog blanketed the water and sky above them, the Bepalonius, a merchant caravel, sailed across the Gulf of Sirte towards the great city of Tunis, along with three other vessels of similar class and size. They were carrying wine from the island of Cyprus, and planned to exchange it for precious silk, slaves, wool and gold of course. Tunis was a great center of trade on the Mediterranean, and supplied merchants with an excellent opportunity to buy and sell wears from all across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Their benefactor, the Duke of Cyprus Rusticius Koresses had been in fierce competition for the Emperors attention with Dorotheus Sarantenos, Duke of Krete.
Rusticius felt that by securing the Empire such a lucrative trade deal with Tunis, he would gain much prestige with the Emperor, and be given that fool Dorotheus’ land. Rusticius dreamed of being known as the Arch Duke of Cyprus-Krete. Sending four merchant ships guaranteed that at least one would reach Tunis unharmed. The waters in general where not too active at this time of the year, it was the pirates that concerned the men of these vessels. Mameluk pirates primarily, but also those of the Knights of Saint John.
As the small fleet of ships began to move into the open sea, the fog only became denser. Though they stayed their course, praying that it would lead them safely to Tunis, many feared that they had strayed off course in the fog, and with the stars hidden by the thick clouds directly above them, they had no way of determining if this was indeed the case or not. Turning back could prove just as dangerous, if not more so. Fortunately, though confused and often frightened, the small fleet survived the night intact, and as the sun rose into the sky, they managed to properly correct their course, pleased to find that they had lost hardly any time.
Several miles away from the island of Malta, however, the merchant fleet caught sight of what appeared to be a tattered looking fleet of warships. The first thought that went through the minds of the crews of these vessels was pirates, but after a short period of cautious observation, they realized that these ships indeed seemed to be uninhabited. What made this even strange was the sheer number of battered vessels that littered the straits of Malta, nearly 40 vessels as far as they could tell. Though wishing to quickly carry out their assigned task and return home quickly, curiosity overwhelmed the crew and they moved their ships in closer, preparing boarding parties to investigate several, hoping to perhaps find something of value within their battered hulls.
Taking several small rowing boats to the closest vessel, the crew of the Bepalonius climbed the damaged bow of the ship, finally reaching the deck. It was clear now that this was indeed a war galley, though the ores were no where in sight, most likely at the bottom of the ocean. Though the prospect of treasure now seemed low, they were already there, so it would be foolish to turn back without a proper inspection. The entire ship had the stench of gunpowder about it, arrows were stuck in various parts of the hull and various swords and armor had been carelessly thrown across the deck.
“Damnit Cap’n, we ain’t gonna find no treasure on this ol’ ship.” One of Captain Tagaris’ men suddenly spoke up. “Quiet! If nothing else, we can take all of this armor and sell it when we reach Tunis.” Barked the disgruntle Captain. Armenius Targaris had been working for the Duke of Cyprus for over 8 years. Originally he had been a dock worker on the port of Famagusta, but when he married and began to raise a family, he had quickly found that his meager pay was simply not enough to support his families needs. When he was offered a job shipping trade goods for a prominent noble, he leaped at the job, hoping it would put food on the table, and perhaps then some.
For 7 years he had worked, and though he was able to support his family, he rarely saw them for any extended period of time. When the Empire defeated Venice, the Emperor had seen potential in the prestigious Rusticius and granted him authority over Cyprus under the condition that he use his wealth to rebuild the war ravaged island. This brought both greater wealth, and harder work to Armenius. He was content when his benefactor was merely a wealthy noble, now, he hardly saw his family at all.
The crew continued to search the ship, and as they moved deeper into its hull, they begin to find human bones littered across the floors, most crack and drained of their marrow. The men began to feel sick, and Armenius felt it was time to go back to the Bepalonius - quickly. As they began to ascend the stairs, however, the heard a quiet murmur from one of the side cabins. Approaching slowly, Armenius opened the door, and to his horror, he found a blood covered man quivering in the far corner of the room. He held a cracked bone in his hand, his eyes were bloodshot, and his eyes were glazed over.
Seeing the men before him, the stranger managed to squeeze out four words… “I…had…no…choice…” As the crew of the Bepalonius stood horrified at the sight before them, Armenius caught sight of a symbol on the far wall…it was the insignia of the Venetian Armada… “Oh God…” Armenius managed to strain out before he promptly threw up were he stood.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Word reached Tunis about the grizzly fate of the Armada when a Roman Merchant fleet encountered the remnants just off the coast of Malta. The fleet had been unable to find a port willing to take so many ships, and reports from coastal fortresses between the Battle of the Adriatic and the fleets discovery spoke of having to repel mysterious invasion fleets that struck without warning and seemingly without cause. The entire crew of the fleet save one had either been eaten by the other crew members, or had starved to death when there were no others to feast on. From the one survivor who still lived to tell the tale, a horrific picture was portrayed. The men had began to draw straws to determine who would be the next to be killed and eaten after their defeat against the Roman fleet.
Eventually, as insanity began to set in amongst the crews of the various ships, small battles between the ships within the armada began to break out, one ship raiding the other for “food”. Finally, after a seemingly endless cycle of this bloodshed and cannibalism, only this last survivors ship and crew were left. Violence finally ensued among the men of that ship, consuming all but one. Once reports of this incident reached Constantinople, the Patriarch was horrified, and demanded Manouel offer penance for his sins against his fellow man and ask forgiveness. The Emperor, not wanting the trouble his father experienced, accepted the Patriarchs decree and donated a large sum of gold to the Orthodox Church.
This, however, was not enough in the eyes of the Catholic Nations. With the near destruction of Venice, the current Doge, Augostin Barbarigo had fled his city just before it fell into Greek hands, escaping into Austria. Though at first the Emperor had ordered a search for the fugitive Doge, after failing to locate him, he eventually decided he was not worth all the effort, and turned to dealing with more pressing matters. It was during this time of neglect that Augostin secretly met with the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna to ask for his support in retaking his lost overseas empire.
While the Western Emperor refused to directly become involved in his struggle, stating that his power and influence in the Western Empire was not what it once was, he did sympathize with the Doge’s cry for help. The Holy Roman Emperor wrote a personal letter for the Hungarian Diet, and gave it to Augostin, telling him to seek Hungary’s aid in reclaiming his lost lands and throne. Augostin eagerly rode to meet with the Diet, praying that this last attempt would bare fruit.
Upon meeting the Diet, he presented the Emperors letter to him, pleaded for support against the Greeks. He offered his services as a general, and his Republic as a vassal of the Diet himself. Better to be under fellow Catholics, after all. Though the Diet did not wish to come into conflict with the Roman Empire after seeing the devastation they brought to Venice, he feared angering the Holy Roman Emperor even more so. Reluctantly, the Diet accepted his offer, and began mobilizing his forces. Though it had been roughly four years since the end of the second Venetian War, the memory of Greek atrocities still rang fresh in every faithful Catholics heart and soul.
With thousands of troops flocking to his banner, the Diet prepared to start another great war, that he feared would once bathe the Balkans in a sea of blood.
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There, a short before war post. We'll see if I can't stomp out Hungary without so many losses on my side.
Great AAR I must say... It does seem that The Empire seems intent on descrasing itself in the eyes of all the religions thouge Keep up the good work and bring Roman mastery back to the world!!
Keep up the good work and bring Roman mastery back to the world!!