I agree, Rome is the capital of the heretics and Constantinople shall benefit the reapings of Ibrahim. Though, his death (even by age) will surely cause the Emperor's dreams to faulter.VILenin said:
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I still think it's a bad idea to meddle with the catholics. Most strategic descision for The Empire would be to go south in order to secure the east. Controlling the black sea trade, the kaukasus, venice, the entire levant awsell as alexandria means a total control of euro-asian trade if you mnage to keep the portuguese and english out. Not to mention the religioius matter of bringing in the poor christians in karthoum and Abyssinia under the glorious empire (Cause mixing the turks, greeks and on top of that take in a massive catholic element is a sure way of having a religious war backfiring).
No, down to zanzibar, then oman and the India, Ceylon, filippines, and China.
To use your position as the dominant sea power in the eastern med to your advantage you only have to seccure a dominance in the Indian ocean. Then all the wealth of asia is your. Let the Euros squabble over thier catholic heresys, let them cripple themselves in war over the barbaric wastes of "america".
You just have to make sure that you seal of the arabs and Persians from the trade by securing the ports of Arabia, and maybe expand your realm in mesopotamia to secure basra.
No, down to zanzibar, then oman and the India, Ceylon, filippines, and China.
To use your position as the dominant sea power in the eastern med to your advantage you only have to seccure a dominance in the Indian ocean. Then all the wealth of asia is your. Let the Euros squabble over thier catholic heresys, let them cripple themselves in war over the barbaric wastes of "america".
You just have to make sure that you seal of the arabs and Persians from the trade by securing the ports of Arabia, and maybe expand your realm in mesopotamia to secure basra.
A very interesting reconquest of Italy. It does not surprise me that Luther does not wish to entreat. I'd have to agree with the last poster, at least after you have cleaned up Italy. I would not meddle too much further with Western Europe while they destroy each other.
Feh. Don't move the capital. Burn Rome to the Ground. Put together an event where if you control Rome you lose a stability.... and they lose about half their population, income, and any province improvements.
Bwahahahaha!
Bwahahahaha!
I'll second that one! Then convert it to Orthodoxy, and crown yourself "anti-pope!" Hahaha!CatKnight said:
After taking Rome, release it as a new vassal for the Patriarch! Repay the gift of Constantine!
With southern-most tip of Italy firmly in Roman hands, Pope Paulus III asked for a meeting of the Dukes of all the Italian city states to access the threat posed by the much larger Empire. The current Roman Emperor, like his predecessor Ioannes IX, was ambitious, and sought to conquer the entire Italian peninsula. In order to bring the invasion to a quick and efficient end, Ibrahim advised the Emperor not to accept any peace offers from any of the individual Italian city states until the wars conclusion, namely, the one that war is first declared upon. Ibrahim planned to steamroll the Kingdom of Naples with overwhelming force, and then move to directly capture Rome itself. Ibrahim theorized that with Rome once again in Imperial hands, the entire unity of the Papal States would unravel, and they would submit to the victorious Emperor. By late 1537, a large Greek army of 40,000 men strong landed in Apulia and was prepared to storm across Italy at Ibrahim’s behest.
On October 1st, 1537, the Roman Empire formally declared that they and the nation of Naples were in a state of war, stressing their supposed ancient claim on the region and the fact that Naples had recently enacted a trade embargo against the Empire as their reason for war. After the declaration, Ibrahim wasted no time as his army stormed across the plains of Napoli. The King of Naples, Carlo IV, attempted to raise an army to defend his small kingdom against the Imperial onslaught, but his army of 14,000 men was no match for Ibrahim, and he was decisively defeated. The capital fell on November 17th. The Holy Roman Emperor, also King of Naples,was enraged at the loss of this land, and erged the other Italian city states to rise up against the Greeks. Rather than annex the small kingdom outright, Ibrahim appointed one of his most trusted officers, Annius Gabalus, to watch over the newly conquered territory while he marched on towards Rome.
The other Italian city states were horrified at the actions of the Greeks, and under Pope Paulus III agreed to unite against their common foe in what would later be known as the Union of Montferrat. To lead their united army, they chose the by now wealthy mercenary general Antonio De Leyva, who had gained an enormous reputation thanks to his innumerable victories working for the various Italian city states, and his reputation as the man who defeated Ibrahim still rang strong. De Leyva leaped at the opportunity to face his greatest rival once more, and began to plan his strategy for expelling the Greeks from the Italian peninsula once and for all. However, Ibrahim had not sat idle while the Union was formed, and while the Pope was away in Montferrat, he launched an assault on the heart of Italy itself - Rome. The Papal army defending the Holy See was 36,000 strong, but poorly lead by inexperienced generals. Using his favorite tactic, Ibrahim isolated and surrounded large sections of the Papal army, decimating them and leaving Rome in the hands of its small garrison.
Since the withdrawal of the Normans and Muslim invaders in the past centuries, Rome had seen less and less need for a strong defensive fortress or garrison. With the rapid Imperial advance onto the Italian peninsula, the current Pope had little time to construct adequate defensives against the Imperial onslaught. After defeating the Papal army defending Rome, Ibrahim began a bloody assault upon the city itself. Though its garrison was small, they fought valiantly, and defended their holy city with all of the religious fervor and conviction one would expect from the defenders of the Holy See. Rumors suggest that Ibrahim, ironically enough, began the siege at 12 PM December 24th, although most modern historians believe this is merely propaganda to build Ibrahim’s already mighty reputation. In any case, the city fell on January 11th, and despite his soldiers desire to loot the vast riches contained with the Holy See, Ibrahim reined them in and refused to allow the valuable city to be damaged by looters.
After the capture of the seat of the Papacy and Catholic Church, the Emperor had a difficult choice to make. There was nothing he could do that would please everybody, and he did not wish to earn the entire Catholic worlds ire. So, in an effort to expand his realm and yet still remain on friendly terms with his Catholic allies, he allowed the Pope to flee to Avignon, France, where he reestablished the Papacy. The Empire inherited all of the Papal States former Italian holdings and their military, which remained loyal to the holders of the Holy See. Though the Schismatic Pope and his followers still remained, Rome was now once again in the hands of the Empire. There were Celebrations held in Constantinople, and January 11th was declared a national holiday. Rome was ruled by Romans once more, and no one could argue their legitimacy as the true inheritors of the Roman Empire any longer.
Perhaps as a result of old age, Ibrahim did not immediately press on after the capture of Rome, rather, he and his soldiers remained within and around the city for over a month. This proved to be a mistake, as it gave De Leyva the chance to organize the Italian armies which had been morally devastated after the fall of Rome. However, it is understandable to an extent, after the capture of Rome, Ibrahim had a vast army at his command, and likely thought nothing could harm his position. 50,000 men now loyal to the Emperor were ready to strike against the Italian city states. De Leyva, even with the combined might of all the city states had barely over 40,000, the great cities of Italy having been weakened by the years of constant warfare, in no small part due to De Leyva himself. Hoping to take Ibrahim by surprise, De Leyva threw almost all of his weight against the relatively small army of 16,000 in Romagna. Overwhelmed, the army fled into Marche to escape the Italians.
Reacting instantly, Ibrahim immediately marched on the city of Modena in order to drive De Leyva out. However, as Ibrahim’s army engaged his, rather than face Ibrahim’s over all superior force, De Leyva pulled back from Romagna and marched into Firenze. Quickly moving through Siena, De Leyva out maneuvered Ibrahim and laid siege to the city of Rome. The surprised Ibrahim quickly marched back towards Rome to lift the siege, but when he arrived, De Leyva had already looted the lands around the Holy City, and fled. This was all part of a trap however to lure Ibrahim into a confrontation in the plains of Siena, where De Leyva’s superior cavalry force could defeat Ibrahim’s army, which was mostly comprised of arquebusiers. De Leyva, however, over confident after his previous success against the aging general underestimated Ibrahim, who before marching on Siena had his army reequipped so that the majority now carried pikes, and the remaining arquebusiers simply acted as ranged support. This method of fighting would set the grounds for most future conflicts throughout the 16th and early 17th centuries.
When their two armies met on the battlefield on July, 28th, 1538, De Leyva was shocked to find that Ibrahim had reformed his army so rapidly, and was prepared to meet his cavalry head on. The battle, though still hard fought, with heavy losses on both sides, ended with De Leyva being forced to retreat, and the city of Siena being conquered by the armies of Rome. De Leyva’s army suffered some 8,000 losses, while Ibrahim’s suffered close to 6,000. After capturing Siena, Ibrahim sent a request for reinforcements back to Constantinople, which the Emperor granted. However, as Ibrahim awaited his reinforcements, De Leyva saw his chance to strike. He sent an army of 15,000 into Marche, and then into Naples. In his haste to pursue De Leyva, Ibrahim had left this rout unguarded, and allowed Antonio to slip a force behind his lines. The Italian army assaulted the city of Napoli, and captured Ibrahim’s good friend Annius. In order to provoke Ibrahim into a rash counterattack, De Leyva had ordered him to be tortured and beaten publicly, before he was hung above the cities ramparts. Word of this spread rapidly to Ibrahim, who was indeed enraged at the dishonorable treatment and death of his friend, and marched immediately on Naples, leaving only 5,000 men to guard Siena.
The attack on Naples was merely a decoy, however, as De Leyva had in fact remained in Firenze the whole time. As Ibrahim marched to confront “De Leyva” in Naples, the true De Leyva moved to recapture Siena. Easily crushing the small army guarding the region, the city itself was not far behind. Rome was now vulnerable to De Leyva and his armies once again, and with Ibrahim still tied down in Naples, it seemed as if the tide of the war could indeed turn against the Empire. De Leyva knew that if he took Rome, he could call the Pope out of exile in Avignon, and return him to the Holy See. If he restored the Papacy, much of Ibrahim’s current army would rebel against him and join his side once more. This would give him the ability to not only defeat Ibrahim once and for all, but also to push the Greeks out of Italy once and for all. Confident of his plans success, De Leyva marched the rest of his army on Rome. By the time Ibrahim had subdued De Leyva’s decoy army and recaptured Naples, the city of Rome was already under assault by the Spanish mercenary.
Ibrahim quickly marched his army back to Rome, in hopes of stopping the assault. He marched his men day and night in order to quickly reach the city before it fell to the Italians, and while his Italian soldiers began to have mutinous feelings, his native Greek and Turkish soldiers kept them in line, still fiercely loyal to their general. Despite unfavorable weather and being deprived of sleep, Ibrahim’s army confronted De Leyva at Rome whilst he was still in the midst of breaching its walls. The sudden appearance of Ibrahim’s army surprised De Leyva, as he had estimated that it would take Ibrahim at least twice the amount of time to reach him. Thanks to his forced march towards Rome, however, and the fierce loyalty of his soldiers, Ibrahim was able to flank De Leyva and his army as they were tied down in their battle against Rome’s garrison and force them to retreat back to Siena. It was at this moment that the loyalty of Ibrahim’s soldiers were tested the most, as without hardly any rest he marched them into Siena to once again confront De Leyva, where despite his soldiers exhaustion, he once again succeeded in driving him back into Firenze.
Though Ibrahim was eager to continue his forward advance, he knew that he had already asked so much from his men, and thus allowed them to rest for three days. De Leyva was unable to reorganize his soldiers for a counteroffensive after two devastating defeats such as that, and was also forced to rest his men. By the time Ibrahim’s men were ready to march onwards, his reinforcements from mainland Greece had arrived. With his army now over 60,000 men strong, Ibrahim marched into Firenze, and thus started the beginning of the end of independent Italy. Antonio De Leyva fought valiantly against Ibrahim’s forward advance, but it was a fighting retreat at best, first Firenze, then Emilia. Against the unstoppable force of the Imperial army all resistance rapidly crumbled. Finally, in the province of Mantua, the final battle between Ibrahim and the battered Italian armies under Antonio De Leyva took place. Ibrahim’s army, still 48,000 men strong fought against Antonio’s 14,000 exhausted soldiers just outside the city of Mantova, and despite being out numbered, they fought with all of their might, and all of their hatred for their Greek invaders.
The battle lasted an impressive three days, as the remnants of the once mighty united Italian army fought its enemy to the last man. At the end of the battle, De Leyva himself lay dead amongst the thousands of bodies from both sides. It was said that the grass itself was stained with the blood of the dead, and the wretched smell of rotting corpses extended for miles. There was one notable Roman casualty however, yet he did not die during the battle…
Rather than annex the Italian city states right away, which the Emperor feared would cause too much political turmoil, he made them Roman vassal states for the time being. This still made them the effective rulers of Italy, and would hopefully prevent any future wars from breaking out among the petty dukes.
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For as far as his tired eyes could see, piles of dead bodies littered the ground, both friend and foe. Upon his horse he slowly rode forward, gazing at the corpses that lay beneath him and to either side. It had been the most bloody battle in his long history as a general, so many dead, all merely for a piece of land. Closely behind him rode his loyal bodyguards, who had accompanied him throughout the campaign. Annius was once the Captain of this bodyguard, once his most trusted friend and advisor. He too was a casualty of this war. He had seen so many friends die in his lifetime, so much death. And almost always, it was simply for the sake of acquiring land. How strange the world was, when an ancient claim to a piece of dirt could inspire men to strike down their brethren without a second thought. Glancing around his shoulder at his loyal guards, he smiled slightly at them and ordered his horse to halt.
He had found what he was looking for. Climbing from his horse with the aid of his men, he slowly walked over to a single body that stood apart from the fields of dead. Kneeling down before it as much as his body would allow, he picked up the fallen mans sword. “De Leyva” he uttered quietly to himself. The one man in his entire life who truly proved to be a worthy foe. Stabbing his sword firmly in the ground beside his corpse, Ibrahim smiled once more at the soldiers around him. “You shall burry both he and I here, do you understand?” asking no one in particular. When one of his guards nodded slightly in acknowledgment, Ibrahim’s smile only grew wider, as he slowly turned his head towards the sky. “I have spent my life killing my fellow man for the simple prize of land, how strange it is…that one…as horrid as I should only meet…his destiny at the hands…of time…” The once proud Turk’s aging body fell over on its side, prompting his guards to rush to his side. “Domestikos!” They shouted to him, but his gaze was hollow, and finally, his eyes close. Screams of sorrow soon echoed across the plains, as Ibrahim’s loyal core of soldiers mourned their general, and friends death.
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Maybe I got a bit dramatic towards the end, but I thought it suited the story well.
I’m really sorry it took so long for me to update, but I promise the next will be out much sooner. Sorry again, for the long wait, but I hope you enjoyed that.
On October 1st, 1537, the Roman Empire formally declared that they and the nation of Naples were in a state of war, stressing their supposed ancient claim on the region and the fact that Naples had recently enacted a trade embargo against the Empire as their reason for war. After the declaration, Ibrahim wasted no time as his army stormed across the plains of Napoli. The King of Naples, Carlo IV, attempted to raise an army to defend his small kingdom against the Imperial onslaught, but his army of 14,000 men was no match for Ibrahim, and he was decisively defeated. The capital fell on November 17th. The Holy Roman Emperor, also King of Naples,was enraged at the loss of this land, and erged the other Italian city states to rise up against the Greeks. Rather than annex the small kingdom outright, Ibrahim appointed one of his most trusted officers, Annius Gabalus, to watch over the newly conquered territory while he marched on towards Rome.
The other Italian city states were horrified at the actions of the Greeks, and under Pope Paulus III agreed to unite against their common foe in what would later be known as the Union of Montferrat. To lead their united army, they chose the by now wealthy mercenary general Antonio De Leyva, who had gained an enormous reputation thanks to his innumerable victories working for the various Italian city states, and his reputation as the man who defeated Ibrahim still rang strong. De Leyva leaped at the opportunity to face his greatest rival once more, and began to plan his strategy for expelling the Greeks from the Italian peninsula once and for all. However, Ibrahim had not sat idle while the Union was formed, and while the Pope was away in Montferrat, he launched an assault on the heart of Italy itself - Rome. The Papal army defending the Holy See was 36,000 strong, but poorly lead by inexperienced generals. Using his favorite tactic, Ibrahim isolated and surrounded large sections of the Papal army, decimating them and leaving Rome in the hands of its small garrison.
Since the withdrawal of the Normans and Muslim invaders in the past centuries, Rome had seen less and less need for a strong defensive fortress or garrison. With the rapid Imperial advance onto the Italian peninsula, the current Pope had little time to construct adequate defensives against the Imperial onslaught. After defeating the Papal army defending Rome, Ibrahim began a bloody assault upon the city itself. Though its garrison was small, they fought valiantly, and defended their holy city with all of the religious fervor and conviction one would expect from the defenders of the Holy See. Rumors suggest that Ibrahim, ironically enough, began the siege at 12 PM December 24th, although most modern historians believe this is merely propaganda to build Ibrahim’s already mighty reputation. In any case, the city fell on January 11th, and despite his soldiers desire to loot the vast riches contained with the Holy See, Ibrahim reined them in and refused to allow the valuable city to be damaged by looters.
After the capture of the seat of the Papacy and Catholic Church, the Emperor had a difficult choice to make. There was nothing he could do that would please everybody, and he did not wish to earn the entire Catholic worlds ire. So, in an effort to expand his realm and yet still remain on friendly terms with his Catholic allies, he allowed the Pope to flee to Avignon, France, where he reestablished the Papacy. The Empire inherited all of the Papal States former Italian holdings and their military, which remained loyal to the holders of the Holy See. Though the Schismatic Pope and his followers still remained, Rome was now once again in the hands of the Empire. There were Celebrations held in Constantinople, and January 11th was declared a national holiday. Rome was ruled by Romans once more, and no one could argue their legitimacy as the true inheritors of the Roman Empire any longer.
Perhaps as a result of old age, Ibrahim did not immediately press on after the capture of Rome, rather, he and his soldiers remained within and around the city for over a month. This proved to be a mistake, as it gave De Leyva the chance to organize the Italian armies which had been morally devastated after the fall of Rome. However, it is understandable to an extent, after the capture of Rome, Ibrahim had a vast army at his command, and likely thought nothing could harm his position. 50,000 men now loyal to the Emperor were ready to strike against the Italian city states. De Leyva, even with the combined might of all the city states had barely over 40,000, the great cities of Italy having been weakened by the years of constant warfare, in no small part due to De Leyva himself. Hoping to take Ibrahim by surprise, De Leyva threw almost all of his weight against the relatively small army of 16,000 in Romagna. Overwhelmed, the army fled into Marche to escape the Italians.
Reacting instantly, Ibrahim immediately marched on the city of Modena in order to drive De Leyva out. However, as Ibrahim’s army engaged his, rather than face Ibrahim’s over all superior force, De Leyva pulled back from Romagna and marched into Firenze. Quickly moving through Siena, De Leyva out maneuvered Ibrahim and laid siege to the city of Rome. The surprised Ibrahim quickly marched back towards Rome to lift the siege, but when he arrived, De Leyva had already looted the lands around the Holy City, and fled. This was all part of a trap however to lure Ibrahim into a confrontation in the plains of Siena, where De Leyva’s superior cavalry force could defeat Ibrahim’s army, which was mostly comprised of arquebusiers. De Leyva, however, over confident after his previous success against the aging general underestimated Ibrahim, who before marching on Siena had his army reequipped so that the majority now carried pikes, and the remaining arquebusiers simply acted as ranged support. This method of fighting would set the grounds for most future conflicts throughout the 16th and early 17th centuries.
When their two armies met on the battlefield on July, 28th, 1538, De Leyva was shocked to find that Ibrahim had reformed his army so rapidly, and was prepared to meet his cavalry head on. The battle, though still hard fought, with heavy losses on both sides, ended with De Leyva being forced to retreat, and the city of Siena being conquered by the armies of Rome. De Leyva’s army suffered some 8,000 losses, while Ibrahim’s suffered close to 6,000. After capturing Siena, Ibrahim sent a request for reinforcements back to Constantinople, which the Emperor granted. However, as Ibrahim awaited his reinforcements, De Leyva saw his chance to strike. He sent an army of 15,000 into Marche, and then into Naples. In his haste to pursue De Leyva, Ibrahim had left this rout unguarded, and allowed Antonio to slip a force behind his lines. The Italian army assaulted the city of Napoli, and captured Ibrahim’s good friend Annius. In order to provoke Ibrahim into a rash counterattack, De Leyva had ordered him to be tortured and beaten publicly, before he was hung above the cities ramparts. Word of this spread rapidly to Ibrahim, who was indeed enraged at the dishonorable treatment and death of his friend, and marched immediately on Naples, leaving only 5,000 men to guard Siena.
The attack on Naples was merely a decoy, however, as De Leyva had in fact remained in Firenze the whole time. As Ibrahim marched to confront “De Leyva” in Naples, the true De Leyva moved to recapture Siena. Easily crushing the small army guarding the region, the city itself was not far behind. Rome was now vulnerable to De Leyva and his armies once again, and with Ibrahim still tied down in Naples, it seemed as if the tide of the war could indeed turn against the Empire. De Leyva knew that if he took Rome, he could call the Pope out of exile in Avignon, and return him to the Holy See. If he restored the Papacy, much of Ibrahim’s current army would rebel against him and join his side once more. This would give him the ability to not only defeat Ibrahim once and for all, but also to push the Greeks out of Italy once and for all. Confident of his plans success, De Leyva marched the rest of his army on Rome. By the time Ibrahim had subdued De Leyva’s decoy army and recaptured Naples, the city of Rome was already under assault by the Spanish mercenary.
Ibrahim quickly marched his army back to Rome, in hopes of stopping the assault. He marched his men day and night in order to quickly reach the city before it fell to the Italians, and while his Italian soldiers began to have mutinous feelings, his native Greek and Turkish soldiers kept them in line, still fiercely loyal to their general. Despite unfavorable weather and being deprived of sleep, Ibrahim’s army confronted De Leyva at Rome whilst he was still in the midst of breaching its walls. The sudden appearance of Ibrahim’s army surprised De Leyva, as he had estimated that it would take Ibrahim at least twice the amount of time to reach him. Thanks to his forced march towards Rome, however, and the fierce loyalty of his soldiers, Ibrahim was able to flank De Leyva and his army as they were tied down in their battle against Rome’s garrison and force them to retreat back to Siena. It was at this moment that the loyalty of Ibrahim’s soldiers were tested the most, as without hardly any rest he marched them into Siena to once again confront De Leyva, where despite his soldiers exhaustion, he once again succeeded in driving him back into Firenze.
Though Ibrahim was eager to continue his forward advance, he knew that he had already asked so much from his men, and thus allowed them to rest for three days. De Leyva was unable to reorganize his soldiers for a counteroffensive after two devastating defeats such as that, and was also forced to rest his men. By the time Ibrahim’s men were ready to march onwards, his reinforcements from mainland Greece had arrived. With his army now over 60,000 men strong, Ibrahim marched into Firenze, and thus started the beginning of the end of independent Italy. Antonio De Leyva fought valiantly against Ibrahim’s forward advance, but it was a fighting retreat at best, first Firenze, then Emilia. Against the unstoppable force of the Imperial army all resistance rapidly crumbled. Finally, in the province of Mantua, the final battle between Ibrahim and the battered Italian armies under Antonio De Leyva took place. Ibrahim’s army, still 48,000 men strong fought against Antonio’s 14,000 exhausted soldiers just outside the city of Mantova, and despite being out numbered, they fought with all of their might, and all of their hatred for their Greek invaders.
The battle lasted an impressive three days, as the remnants of the once mighty united Italian army fought its enemy to the last man. At the end of the battle, De Leyva himself lay dead amongst the thousands of bodies from both sides. It was said that the grass itself was stained with the blood of the dead, and the wretched smell of rotting corpses extended for miles. There was one notable Roman casualty however, yet he did not die during the battle…
Rather than annex the Italian city states right away, which the Emperor feared would cause too much political turmoil, he made them Roman vassal states for the time being. This still made them the effective rulers of Italy, and would hopefully prevent any future wars from breaking out among the petty dukes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For as far as his tired eyes could see, piles of dead bodies littered the ground, both friend and foe. Upon his horse he slowly rode forward, gazing at the corpses that lay beneath him and to either side. It had been the most bloody battle in his long history as a general, so many dead, all merely for a piece of land. Closely behind him rode his loyal bodyguards, who had accompanied him throughout the campaign. Annius was once the Captain of this bodyguard, once his most trusted friend and advisor. He too was a casualty of this war. He had seen so many friends die in his lifetime, so much death. And almost always, it was simply for the sake of acquiring land. How strange the world was, when an ancient claim to a piece of dirt could inspire men to strike down their brethren without a second thought. Glancing around his shoulder at his loyal guards, he smiled slightly at them and ordered his horse to halt.
He had found what he was looking for. Climbing from his horse with the aid of his men, he slowly walked over to a single body that stood apart from the fields of dead. Kneeling down before it as much as his body would allow, he picked up the fallen mans sword. “De Leyva” he uttered quietly to himself. The one man in his entire life who truly proved to be a worthy foe. Stabbing his sword firmly in the ground beside his corpse, Ibrahim smiled once more at the soldiers around him. “You shall burry both he and I here, do you understand?” asking no one in particular. When one of his guards nodded slightly in acknowledgment, Ibrahim’s smile only grew wider, as he slowly turned his head towards the sky. “I have spent my life killing my fellow man for the simple prize of land, how strange it is…that one…as horrid as I should only meet…his destiny at the hands…of time…” The once proud Turk’s aging body fell over on its side, prompting his guards to rush to his side. “Domestikos!” They shouted to him, but his gaze was hollow, and finally, his eyes close. Screams of sorrow soon echoed across the plains, as Ibrahim’s loyal core of soldiers mourned their general, and friends death.
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Maybe I got a bit dramatic towards the end, but I thought it suited the story well.
I’m really sorry it took so long for me to update, but I promise the next will be out much sooner. Sorry again, for the long wait, but I hope you enjoyed that.
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That was a close call, every expensive for the Empire. Maybe you should try to expand your colonies to gain the resources, then trade them for money so you can finance a larger army to conquer the old Empire back.
Expensive, pah! What matters the human cost so longer as the empire grows.
Soon Iberia and Gaul will be within the Empires reach!
Soon Iberia and Gaul will be within the Empires reach!
Great going SeanB!!!
It is a fantastic thing you did over there, SeanB, getting back at the catholic heretics
So, what now, you think you 're ready for the blob? If so, do it before it eats up Hungary. Then it would be really difficult.
Great going so far, it is amazing to imagine a re-established byzantium going strong in the 1500's! Do keep up the good work.
It is a fantastic thing you did over there, SeanB, getting back at the catholic heretics
So, what now, you think you 're ready for the blob? If so, do it before it eats up Hungary. Then it would be really difficult.
Great going so far, it is amazing to imagine a re-established byzantium going strong in the 1500's! Do keep up the good work.
BTW, you might want to change that about the king of Naples beeing imprisoned in Constantinople, since that would mean imprisoning the king of Aragon, Majorca, Valencia, Castille, Leon and Sicily, archduke of Austria, duke of Brabant, Geldre, Limburg, Lotiers, Luxemburg, Styria, Carinthia and Carnolia, count of Barcelona, Artois, Burgundy, Flanders, Hainaut, Holland, Namur, Zeeland, Zutphen and Tyrol, aswell as the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire...
Great work as always!
Great work as always!
That looks like the title of my King in CK after playing for about two hundred years or so! :rofl:Zuckergußgebäck said:
SeanB said:Woah...Ibrahim hit the jackpot with him...
But seriously, I changed it. Thanks.
Enough with the chat!! Update Now!!
nice work in Italy... wonder how long it will take you to get to Hadrians Wall...
Sir Clive
Dominion of Rome and all of Italy had been achieved. Although the largest portion of the Italian city states remained semi-autonomous, they were all vassals of The Empire. The rest of Europe was horrified by this action, as not only was it a strike against the Catholic faith itself, it greatly upset the balance of power. Rome was becoming far too powerful in the eyes of most of the nations of Europe, and yet, with the growing hostility between the Lutheran Protestants and Catholic Church, most did not dare even think of directly going to war, lest they give their enemies the advantage they had been waiting for. Emperor Mikhael X Palaiologos in the meantime worked towards breaking the ice between The Empire and its new vassals, so that one day they might come to fully accept Imperial rule. Not all was well within the Empire, however. The Emperor, though having only ruled since 1535, was already in poor health. To make matters worse, constant revolts were breaking out across Italy and in the Balkans as a result of the Pope’s exile from Rome. The Knights of Saint John had also began to step up their pirating against Imperial shipping as a result of Rome’s capture.
With the Empire’s greatest general and hero Ibrahim now dead, the sickly Mikhael X feared that his Empire’s hard fought success was unraveling around him. His two sons, Ioannes and Nikolaos, were bitter rivals, and he feared that civil war could erupt upon his death as a result of this. A civil war was the last thing the Empire needed at this point. While to the people, and to the rest of Europe, the conquest of Italy may have seemed like a great show of might and power, the truth was that the Empire, like him, was dieing. The decades of constant warring had taken its toll on the economy, and Mikhael knew it. Even if their own people did not see it, he, and many other members of the Imperial Court did. The great army that they had raised to conquer Italy, the army that all of Europe feared, had cost them dearly, and if things continued down this rout, the Empire that had been built upon the sweat and blood of countless men would collapse in on itself. There had to be peace, and more than just 10 years this time, long enough for the Empire to truly heal its wounds.
Emperor Mikhael began to instruct his eldest son and chosen heir, Ioannes X Palaiologos, on how to save the Empire. He instructed Ioannes to maintain the peace at all costs for at least 15 years so that the economy could recover, and to devote all remaining Imperial funds into consolidating their rule in Italy, so that they might one day directly govern it from Constantinople, as they did with the rest of the Empire. Mikhael continued to rule until February 1542, when he suffered a severe stroke, and died a week later. Ioannes X Palaiologos’ coronation happened in Constantinople on March 3rd, where he was crowned Emperor. However, among those not attending the coronation were his younger brother Nikolaos, as well as several prominent noble families. Ioannes was a strong upholder of the Meritocracy, and wished to reign in the Nobility and further centralized the Empire around the Emperor. His brother, on the other hand lived the typical Aristocratic life of leisure, and desired to make war on his neighbors in Hungary and Persia, regardless of the Empire’s economic troubles.
It was not long before Nikolaos began encouraging the nobility to rise up against the current Emperor, and place himself upon the throne. Under fear of losing their estates and power, the nobility flocked to the banner of the young would-be Emperor. Amassing an army of 35,000, Nikolaos marched on Constantinople to secure the throne and depose his brother. Ioannes however, had anticipated such an action, especially after his brothers absence at his coronation, and a loyalist army of 50,000 men awaited Nikolaos in Thrace. With the element of surprise that he so counted on ruined, he and his army were utterly broken and routed. However, Nikolaos escaped to Smyrna where another large dynatoi revolt was taking place, while another had sprung up in Thessaloniki. Determined not to have a repeat of the revolt of 1474, Ioannes raised another 10,000 soldiers from Thrace and split them into two forces of 30,000. Emperor Ioannes led his army into Smyrna where he confronted his brother outside the city of Izmir.
Nikolaos however, was prepared for his brothers assault, and though the fighting was fierce and bloody for both sides, he managed to drive Ioannes back into Thrace in the end. The rebel army in Thessaloniki was not so fortunate, however, as it was utterly decimated by the new Megas Domestikos, Callinicus Berhoiotes. Immediately returning to Constantinople once word of the Emperors defeat reached him, he was given command of what remained of the Emperors army and marched on Thrace to take care of the rebellious Nikolaos himself. When the two met on the battlefield on October 3rd, 1542, Nikolaos was surprised to not see his brother at the head of this army, and mistook it as cowardice on the Emperors part. Underestimating the new Megas Domestikos, Nikolaos ordered his army to march directly on the enemy and “crush them utterly and completely”. However, it was Nikolaos who found his army crushed, as his forces were encircled by Berhoiotes, following Ibrahim’s strategy of isolating the enemies army into pieces and crushing them one at a time.
Nikolaos managed to flee the battlefield however, and after making his way to Anatalya, sailed to Alexandria in hopes of escaping his brothers wrath. Upon arriving in the city however, he was captured by a group of soldiers who happened to recognize him, and brought back to Constantinople to be punished for the crime of trying usurp the throne. He was blinded in the central square of Constantinople and imprisoned beneath the palace. Emperor Ioannes X Palaiologos, enraged with the betrayal of the Dynatoi reigned them in with a vengeance. The meritocracy was further enforced, and all noble families who participated in the rebellion had their estates and wealth stripped from them. The Emperor, determined to follow his fathers plans for peace and economic recovery, worked to promote peace with their neighbors, improving relations with Hungary and Persia in particular. The Emperor also instated a new tax program which he hoped in time would bring much wealth to the Imperial treasury. State sanctioned tax collectors were distributed across the Empire, even in newly conquered Italian territories. The garrison in the peninsula was kept strong in case of a revolt breaking out as a result of the taxes.
Despite being vassals of The Empire, the Italian city states did not sit idle, in particular, Naples. Over the past 50 years, Naples and the nation of Tripoli to its south had warred, with neither being able to gain the upper hand against the other for any extended period of time. Both had, at different points, managed to land soldiers on their foes shore, notably in the 3rd Napoli-Tripolitania war in 1542, when the Arabic soldiers of Tripoli came close to conquering all of Naples, and once again gaining the Islamic faith a foothold in Italy. It was only the intervention of the Emperor that drove the Muslims from Italy once and for all. Barely five years later, however, the two rivals were at war once again. Naples was able to seek it’s revenge when it sunk the entire Tripolitanian fleet at The Battle of Cape Bon. The Muslims in Tripoli soon found themselves besieged by Italian soldiers, however, with the Mameluk Sultanate but a faint memory, it had no larger nation to fall back upon. Soon, the entire region was conquered by Naples, and brought into the Empire. Celebrations were held in Napoli after the defeat of this 50 year old rival.
In other parts of Europe, the Holy Roman Emperor continued to expand his realm, incorporating the Kingdom of Bohemia into his growing lands. Many duchies in the Holy Roman Empire feared that the Habsburgs planned to eventually engulf all of Germany, a prospect which horrified many, in particular the mostly protestant northern duchies. In France, religious tensions began to build, as the teachings of John Calvin spread throughout the country. The Pope in Avignon strongly encouraged the King of France to persecute these ‘heretics’, and return them to the Holy Church. In the Middle East, Persia was finally able to achieve total victory of Afghanistan, and began to turn its attention towards Transaxonia in the north east, and Arabia in the south west. Poland began to rapidly expand its borders in eastern Europe, at the expense of Russia especially, but also at expense of Moldavia and Hungary. And England began its first steps towards its future overseas empire.
As relations between The Empire and it’s vassals in Italy gradually grew warmer, it began to directly take control of their provinces one by one. Though this would often result in fear from the other city states, they each eventually came to accept full Imperial rule, the last being Naples, which, now free from Habsburg rule, was finally incorporated into the Empire on August 11th, 1560. This brought with it Tripoli, and in order to further consolidate his rule in the mostly Sunni Muslim Tripolitania, he purchased the city of Benghazi and the surrounding province of Cyrenacia from France for 50,000 gold pieces. With the Empire now having vast amounts of land in Europe, Emperor Ioannes began looking towards further colonial expansion in India, as well as the Caribbean. However, before this could be done, the Empire would need to secure the entire northern coast of Africa, as well as capture either Tangiers or Gibraltar. With either of these major ports secured, the Imperial fleet would be able to pass unmolested into the Atlantic.
Ioannes X would never live to see his dream of a colonial Empire, however, as he passed away on June 2nd, 1667. His son, Andronikos V Palaiologos, succeeded him. Andronikos shared his fathers ambitions, but knew of the potential cost of a war for the Barbary Coast, as it would mean confronting Spain once more. Despite the loss of its Italian provinces, Spain continued to grow ever richer and more powerful, and was indeed a very formidable opponent. However, the Empire had been at peace since 1542 when it helped to drive the Arabs from Naples, and its wounded economy had made a full recovery in these 25 years of consolidation. Andronikos knew that it was not the time for rash actions, however, and chose to observe Spain and it’s defense of the Barbary before any assault was attempted. They would strike when Spain was distracted, and unable to muster a proper defense.
The Roman Empire and Europe near the start of Andronikos’ reign.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, there you go. I hope you like my attempt at a fairly historical Europe. It took me a while and more than one headache to get it there, but tell me what you honestly think. I hope you enjoyed reading.
With the Empire’s greatest general and hero Ibrahim now dead, the sickly Mikhael X feared that his Empire’s hard fought success was unraveling around him. His two sons, Ioannes and Nikolaos, were bitter rivals, and he feared that civil war could erupt upon his death as a result of this. A civil war was the last thing the Empire needed at this point. While to the people, and to the rest of Europe, the conquest of Italy may have seemed like a great show of might and power, the truth was that the Empire, like him, was dieing. The decades of constant warring had taken its toll on the economy, and Mikhael knew it. Even if their own people did not see it, he, and many other members of the Imperial Court did. The great army that they had raised to conquer Italy, the army that all of Europe feared, had cost them dearly, and if things continued down this rout, the Empire that had been built upon the sweat and blood of countless men would collapse in on itself. There had to be peace, and more than just 10 years this time, long enough for the Empire to truly heal its wounds.
Emperor Mikhael began to instruct his eldest son and chosen heir, Ioannes X Palaiologos, on how to save the Empire. He instructed Ioannes to maintain the peace at all costs for at least 15 years so that the economy could recover, and to devote all remaining Imperial funds into consolidating their rule in Italy, so that they might one day directly govern it from Constantinople, as they did with the rest of the Empire. Mikhael continued to rule until February 1542, when he suffered a severe stroke, and died a week later. Ioannes X Palaiologos’ coronation happened in Constantinople on March 3rd, where he was crowned Emperor. However, among those not attending the coronation were his younger brother Nikolaos, as well as several prominent noble families. Ioannes was a strong upholder of the Meritocracy, and wished to reign in the Nobility and further centralized the Empire around the Emperor. His brother, on the other hand lived the typical Aristocratic life of leisure, and desired to make war on his neighbors in Hungary and Persia, regardless of the Empire’s economic troubles.
It was not long before Nikolaos began encouraging the nobility to rise up against the current Emperor, and place himself upon the throne. Under fear of losing their estates and power, the nobility flocked to the banner of the young would-be Emperor. Amassing an army of 35,000, Nikolaos marched on Constantinople to secure the throne and depose his brother. Ioannes however, had anticipated such an action, especially after his brothers absence at his coronation, and a loyalist army of 50,000 men awaited Nikolaos in Thrace. With the element of surprise that he so counted on ruined, he and his army were utterly broken and routed. However, Nikolaos escaped to Smyrna where another large dynatoi revolt was taking place, while another had sprung up in Thessaloniki. Determined not to have a repeat of the revolt of 1474, Ioannes raised another 10,000 soldiers from Thrace and split them into two forces of 30,000. Emperor Ioannes led his army into Smyrna where he confronted his brother outside the city of Izmir.
Nikolaos however, was prepared for his brothers assault, and though the fighting was fierce and bloody for both sides, he managed to drive Ioannes back into Thrace in the end. The rebel army in Thessaloniki was not so fortunate, however, as it was utterly decimated by the new Megas Domestikos, Callinicus Berhoiotes. Immediately returning to Constantinople once word of the Emperors defeat reached him, he was given command of what remained of the Emperors army and marched on Thrace to take care of the rebellious Nikolaos himself. When the two met on the battlefield on October 3rd, 1542, Nikolaos was surprised to not see his brother at the head of this army, and mistook it as cowardice on the Emperors part. Underestimating the new Megas Domestikos, Nikolaos ordered his army to march directly on the enemy and “crush them utterly and completely”. However, it was Nikolaos who found his army crushed, as his forces were encircled by Berhoiotes, following Ibrahim’s strategy of isolating the enemies army into pieces and crushing them one at a time.
Nikolaos managed to flee the battlefield however, and after making his way to Anatalya, sailed to Alexandria in hopes of escaping his brothers wrath. Upon arriving in the city however, he was captured by a group of soldiers who happened to recognize him, and brought back to Constantinople to be punished for the crime of trying usurp the throne. He was blinded in the central square of Constantinople and imprisoned beneath the palace. Emperor Ioannes X Palaiologos, enraged with the betrayal of the Dynatoi reigned them in with a vengeance. The meritocracy was further enforced, and all noble families who participated in the rebellion had their estates and wealth stripped from them. The Emperor, determined to follow his fathers plans for peace and economic recovery, worked to promote peace with their neighbors, improving relations with Hungary and Persia in particular. The Emperor also instated a new tax program which he hoped in time would bring much wealth to the Imperial treasury. State sanctioned tax collectors were distributed across the Empire, even in newly conquered Italian territories. The garrison in the peninsula was kept strong in case of a revolt breaking out as a result of the taxes.
Despite being vassals of The Empire, the Italian city states did not sit idle, in particular, Naples. Over the past 50 years, Naples and the nation of Tripoli to its south had warred, with neither being able to gain the upper hand against the other for any extended period of time. Both had, at different points, managed to land soldiers on their foes shore, notably in the 3rd Napoli-Tripolitania war in 1542, when the Arabic soldiers of Tripoli came close to conquering all of Naples, and once again gaining the Islamic faith a foothold in Italy. It was only the intervention of the Emperor that drove the Muslims from Italy once and for all. Barely five years later, however, the two rivals were at war once again. Naples was able to seek it’s revenge when it sunk the entire Tripolitanian fleet at The Battle of Cape Bon. The Muslims in Tripoli soon found themselves besieged by Italian soldiers, however, with the Mameluk Sultanate but a faint memory, it had no larger nation to fall back upon. Soon, the entire region was conquered by Naples, and brought into the Empire. Celebrations were held in Napoli after the defeat of this 50 year old rival.
In other parts of Europe, the Holy Roman Emperor continued to expand his realm, incorporating the Kingdom of Bohemia into his growing lands. Many duchies in the Holy Roman Empire feared that the Habsburgs planned to eventually engulf all of Germany, a prospect which horrified many, in particular the mostly protestant northern duchies. In France, religious tensions began to build, as the teachings of John Calvin spread throughout the country. The Pope in Avignon strongly encouraged the King of France to persecute these ‘heretics’, and return them to the Holy Church. In the Middle East, Persia was finally able to achieve total victory of Afghanistan, and began to turn its attention towards Transaxonia in the north east, and Arabia in the south west. Poland began to rapidly expand its borders in eastern Europe, at the expense of Russia especially, but also at expense of Moldavia and Hungary. And England began its first steps towards its future overseas empire.
As relations between The Empire and it’s vassals in Italy gradually grew warmer, it began to directly take control of their provinces one by one. Though this would often result in fear from the other city states, they each eventually came to accept full Imperial rule, the last being Naples, which, now free from Habsburg rule, was finally incorporated into the Empire on August 11th, 1560. This brought with it Tripoli, and in order to further consolidate his rule in the mostly Sunni Muslim Tripolitania, he purchased the city of Benghazi and the surrounding province of Cyrenacia from France for 50,000 gold pieces. With the Empire now having vast amounts of land in Europe, Emperor Ioannes began looking towards further colonial expansion in India, as well as the Caribbean. However, before this could be done, the Empire would need to secure the entire northern coast of Africa, as well as capture either Tangiers or Gibraltar. With either of these major ports secured, the Imperial fleet would be able to pass unmolested into the Atlantic.
Ioannes X would never live to see his dream of a colonial Empire, however, as he passed away on June 2nd, 1667. His son, Andronikos V Palaiologos, succeeded him. Andronikos shared his fathers ambitions, but knew of the potential cost of a war for the Barbary Coast, as it would mean confronting Spain once more. Despite the loss of its Italian provinces, Spain continued to grow ever richer and more powerful, and was indeed a very formidable opponent. However, the Empire had been at peace since 1542 when it helped to drive the Arabs from Naples, and its wounded economy had made a full recovery in these 25 years of consolidation. Andronikos knew that it was not the time for rash actions, however, and chose to observe Spain and it’s defense of the Barbary before any assault was attempted. They would strike when Spain was distracted, and unable to muster a proper defense.
The Roman Empire and Europe near the start of Andronikos’ reign.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, there you go. I hope you like my attempt at a fairly historical Europe. It took me a while and more than one headache to get it there, but tell me what you honestly think.
I hope you enjoyed reading.