The Land of the Old Saints - A Brittany AAR

[BucketTech]

The Land of Old Saints

The ruins of Landevenneg/Landévennec Abbey
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"On the Kalends of March, Hoel journeyed to the castle of Korle and resided there for a time. On the fifth day of the month, while engaged in hunting, he suddenly took ill. Raced back to the castle and growing ever more sick, he summoned his sons. The eldest of which, Alan, count of Poher, arrived at his father's side. There arrived also the holy bishop of Kemper to whom last confessions would be made; yet, the king's younger son, the count of Naoned, was notably absent. Knowing his death would be soon, he awarded his territories from the sea to the border with the French king to his eldest son, in legitimate and perpetual succession. To his absent son, he offered nothing, disturbed as he was by his absence. Sometime later, on the eleventh day of March, he yielded to his sickness and joined our Lord. Sometime after the following events, the body was transported to Kernev and interred at our abbey where it remains. King Hoel's achievements were many but I waive recounting these achievements, for they have been accounted for previously. Instead, I shall move swiftly onto Brittany's most noble and pious king.

On the Ides of March, after mourning his father, Alan summoned the counts and clergy of Brittany to the castle of Korle; all but the count of Naoned arrived shortly after. It was in council with these noble lords and representatives of the Holy Church that they affirmed his legitimate right to the duchy of Brittany in recognition of his father's wishes; but also in recognition of his courage, temperance, and piety. Thus, he became known as King Alan of Brittany, fourth of his name, in the year of our Lord's incarnation 1078.

At the same time, his brother, Mazhe, count of Naoned, remaining absent from the ceremony, chose not to recognise his brother's legitimacy. While the noble lords of Brittany did fealty to the king, Mazhe resorted to seditious activities in Upper Brittany. With promises of treasure and titles - lacking as he did any true claim - he enticed the castellans of the region to his side. They falsely acclaimed him as king of Brittany, scorning the rights of the nobles and the church to elect the king. Then, these capricious men seized a multitude of castles for themselves, locking up the women and children of the nobles, and ravaging the country, including churches and monasteries - such were the orders of the pretender. When the nobles returned from the coronation to their lands, they saw the signs of devastation and were turned back from their castles by those they had entrusted to keep them. They worried for the safety of their families and appealed to the true king who had since taken the ancestral seat of the kings of Brittany in the impenetrable castle of Kemper. No sooner had he arrived there when the nobles decried the actions of the king's brother and his men.

On hearing of these injustices, the true and noble king of Brittany, Alan IV, collected a vast body of troops to punish the pretender and his mercenaries. He was joined not just by the counts whose lands had been stolen but by them all, out of loyalty to the true heir. The king's army marched through Brittany and rushed against the castle of Naoned where the traitor cowered, surrounded by his band of sycophants and the treasure he had looted. By the Ides of April, the flimsy castle had been stormed and, in the midst of the fighting, the king's brother was slain. His attempt at the throne died with him as the mutinous castellans were captured, surrendered, or preferred death than face the king's punishment. So it was that Alan IV reunited Brittany against perfidious elements and won universal acclaim across his realm."

-- The Chronicler of Landevenneg, Historia rerum Britannicae (The History of Brittany), c.1087
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Hi there, welcome to The Land of Old Saints. I've only done one AAR before and I'm taking an entirely different approach. It's going to be almost entirely text-focused because I didn't plan on making an AAR; I just played a game and thought it was worth sharing. (I may throw in pictures, not necessarily screenshots, that are relevant.)
I'm also aiming for a sort of history book/source-based style because I'm into that style more than narrative styles too; I especially like making up sources so expect me trying to sound like a medieval monk. Hopefully, it's fun to read but, at the very least, I'll get to read a bunch of sources that I'm trying to emulate. Hope you enjoy!

 

[stnylan]

Will try to follow

 

[JSB217118]

Britany is a cool faction. I'll try to keep up with this AAR.

 

[BucketTech]

The Land of the Old Saints: A History of the Kings of Brittany
By L. N. Amberley
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Chapter 1: Now Awakened

News of the old king's sickness travelled fast across his kingdom. Hoel II had been the king of Brittany for 12 years and, for the most part, his reign had been peaceful and prosperous. Crucially, he had eased tensions between the various lords in Brittany, priming the kingdom for his successors’ programs of centralisation. Yet, his greatest failing (not unlike most kings of the time) was failing to handle the succession effectively. With three sons, his kingdom would be split between them with his 18-year-old son, Alan, taking the westernmost part, and his second son, Mazhe (a name roughly translating to Matthew), taking the eastern part (Upper Brittany), on the border with France. The third, Caradoc, was still a child but would be a claimant to the kingdom many years later. King Hoel's chief mistake was failing to cultivate a working relationship between his sons. As he lay in his deathbed in the castle of Korle, he summoned his sons but, at that point, it would be too late to reconcile them.

When Alan received the summons, he rushed to his father’s side. As the count of Poher, Alan was well-placed, Korle being part of his county: he likely received the summons and arrived within a day. In contrast, Matthew, as count of Naoned, was a week away. The Landevennec (Landevenneg in Breton) chronicle heavily criticises Matthew's idleness and failure to respond. However, considering the distance the news had to travel, it seems an unfair criticism. Had he heard the news sooner, he might've been able to check his older brother's swift and ruthless seizure of power.

Eventually, the old king died on the 11th of March 1078. Seizing the initiative, Alan suppressed any attempts to share his father’s will and, contrary to his father’s wishes, declared himself as king of all Brittany. Arthur of Klison, a critic of Alan, records how Alan’s men quickly detained anyone who could attest to the division of territories that Hoel intended: ‘The prince [Alan], possessed by ambition and pride, intimidated and apprehended those that had witnessed his father’s will, before they could share it. Then he claimed that he had been declared the sole inheritor of his father’s kingdom - a claim readily believed by his vassals, seeing the example of the dead king's executors.’ The Landevennec chronicle contradicts this account, justifying Alan's right to the entire kingdom; although, as the chronicle was commissioned by Alan himself, its version of events is questionable. Furthermore, primogeniture was not standard in Brittany: it would only be in Alan’s reign that the succession developed into an elective form which typically favoured the eldest son. Whatever the circumstances, the barons readily - or reluctantly - joined with the young king.

With the barons toeing the line, Alan summoned his troops and marched on Naoned. The supposed devastation wrought by Prince Matthew’s men is recorded by the Landevennec chronicle but, far removed from the action, it is once again unreliable. Upon closer analysis, local chronicles do not make any mention of being raided nor does Arthur of Klison, who, born in 1079, would’ve grown up in the shadow of such devastation. It is clear, therefore, that Alan’s army marched not to restore peace and order but to conquer Naoned and, ultimately, to kill the king’s brother. These goals were achieved swiftly and, with little opposition, Alan conquered the rest of Upper Brittany. In the past, rival claimants had often positioned themselves in this region (or Lower Brittany if the king’s power base was Naoned or Roazhon); Alan would not take that risk. Certainly, he had taken an extreme risk in acting so dangerously but, through intimidating his vassals and murdering one of his brothers, he had secured the kingdom for himself.

In spite of these dubious actions, Alan IV of Brittany's early reign makes him comparable to the greatest monarchs of Europe. His most significant achievements were two administrative reforms (one regarding the power of the king and the second on the succession) he made, his cultural introductions, and, most importantly, the Treaty of Retz in 1106. His administrative reforms truly established the tradition of activist kings in Brittany; a tradition that would be refined to perfection under his successor. Despite all of Alan's achievements, he has not been praised by history, castigated as a tyrant and a brute by Arnaud of Barfleur. Had he died shortly after fulfilling the terms of the Treaty of Retz, perhaps he'd be remembered more fondly.

The first administrative reform occurred in 1081 at the Council of Kemper. As a reform, it was an informal, albeit much needed, change to the structure of power in Brittany. Brittany had always been a splintered region - an inhospitable heartland of mountains prevented significant unification and centralisation. Often, the kingdom passed from dynasty to dynasty as they each placed a claim to it, ruling from different power bases like Kernev (Cornouaille), Roazhon (Rennes), or Naoned (Nantes). To exemplify, Hoel de Kernev had seized the kingdom from an entirely different dynasty, the De Rennes dynasty. The power of the king was therefore quite tenuous as anyone could stake a claim and, with enough force, seize it. The Council of Korle altered this relationship by putting the king firmly at the top of the hierarchy. Fealty, taken from every single vassal, acted as the stick while the introduction of a number of court positions, such as seneschal and an advisory position on his council - all with salaries - acted as the carrot. In effect, Alan IV put an end to the pre-feudal customs of the region, favouring centralisation, patronage, and a more feudal power structure. It was a prudent and enduring policy.

His second reform was decided at the Council of Korle, sometime around 1091. Firstly, Raimond, Alan’s eldest son, was granted the county of Poher at this council but, more importantly, the changes to the succession were devised and ratified. A system not dissimilar from tanistry was adopted, that is an heir-apparent is selected by the barons of the realm to inherit the whole kingdom. In Brittany, annual councils would be called, usually at the capital in Kernev, for the barons to change their choices (if they desired), air any issues directly to the king or tanist, and to reaffirm their fealty to both. The Council of Korle, similar to the Council of Kemper, reinforced the king’s power by instituting regular meetings and oaths of fealty while securing the succession. At the close of the council, the first votes were cast: for this year, the ten-year-old Prince Raimond was cast as the tanist, a position that he ostensibly seemed secure in.

Concurrent to these reforms, Alan IV began his cultural changes, primarily a propaganda campaign. This highlighted a multitude of aspects, mainly focused on promoting Breton culture. As noted earlier, the Landevennec chronicle is one such example. The bishopric and the monastery at Landevennec had always been strong supporters of the De Kernev dynasty and, under Alan’s reign, that position would be strengthened. The chronicle - titled Historia Rerum Britannicae (The History of Brittany) - ostensibly recorded the history of the kingdom, focusing on its great kings like Alan the Great. Its main focus, however, taking up about one-half of the text, was on Alan IV himself, a barely hidden apologia for his kingship. It was a shameless piece of chauvinistic propaganda, commissioned early in his reign around 1081 and finished around 1087, long before his reign ended in 1112. It is unlikely, however, that the distortive chronicle's assessment of Alan would've changed much in his more questionable later years.

Bolstering these cultural changes was an assimilation of French culture. This was possible as Hoel had cooperated with William the Conqueror in the past, meaning that Breton-Norman relations were at an all-time high (a policy Alan IV would undo). Primarily though, with Alan’s conquest of Upper Brittany in subduing his brother, he had authority over Brittany's border with France, allowing him to cultivate connections with French lords and knights. As noted, he adopted feudalism at the Council of Kemper, bringing western Brittany more in line with the more developed east which had long since adopted French customs. Furthermore, knightly culture was cultivated (and would soon experience its golden age) through regular tournaments. All this secured the support of the eastern barons (who appreciated the entrenchment of customs that they’d already adopted) and the western barons (knightly culture would grow intensely popular in the region with the counties of Tregor and Leon, eventually producing two of the most famous knights in Christendom - Edwin of Tregor and Guy the Grey). By highlighting the history of Brittany and co-opting cultural practices from across the border, Alan cleverly created circumstances in Brittany that allowed him to centralise and consolidate his power more effectively than any king before him.

His final grand achievement was the Treaty of Retz in 1106. The tension between England and France had reached a boiling point: war over Normandy had been raging intermittently since 1090. The first invasion in 1090 was a response to the death of William the Conqueror, a seemingly opportune moment. Nevertheless, the French king, Philip, and his army were repelled. Nine years later, the French had recovered and launched a second invasion at a similarly opportune moment as the new king, Robert I, was wrestling with a revolt in the north. In his stead, he bestowed the duchy of Normandy to Ralph the Wise, a distant relative. Ralph, a talented commander, made the most of the duchy's limited resources - most of which had been diverted to suppress the revolt in England - and checked the French king’s invasion. Sullen and defeated, the French army returned to France, straight into a burgeoning rebellion. Angered at the French king’s failure to take Normandy and wasting their resources, the lords of Aquitaine, Maine, and Anjou began to revolt. Now desperate for allies, Philip turned to Brittany. Long seen as a troublesome boil on the side of the glorious kingdom of France, it was now the French king’s last hope.

Ostensibly, it makes little sense why Alan IV would ally with the haughty King Philip; he had been defeated twice in taking Normandy and was currently losing to a considerable rebellion. To all observers, Philip was in a bad position. However, there was something that the French could offer that the English could not: marriage. Indeed, in 1104, Alan’s wife had died, leaving him extremely single, and King Philip had a young, unmarried daughter. For an ascendant king like Alan, marrying into the ancient Capetian monarchy was a tantalising deal but Alan wanted more. With his characteristic arrogance, he made two more demands: the French king to surrender his rights to the county of Retz, a county on Brittany's southern border across the Loire (a long-standing source of contention between Brittany and France) and for the French king to recognise the kingdom of Brittany (the French crown had always considered Brittany a de jure part of their kingdom - nothing more than a duchy or even a county). Maybe Alan didn't expect his demands to be taken seriously but, with the rebels starting to get the better of the weakened French army, Philip was desperate; he agreed.

Soon, in the county of Retz, the treaty was sealed. Arnaud of Barfleur, a French chronicler, claims that ‘the Breton king could barely conceal his smirk’ as the treaty was being sealed. Certainly, Alan had much to smile about: the treaty was a resounding victory. In effect, Alan had dominated the powerful king of France, acquiring Brittany’s independence and sovereignty in the process. In the long-term, the treaty would also give Brittany significant diplomatic influence - if the kingdom of France recognised Brittany’s sovereignty, so would the rest of Europe (and they did). Furthermore, in spite of Philip's recent military failings, France was a formidable military power - a valuable ally to a growing kingdom like Brittany. Yet, there was little time to celebrate these gains as Philip's forces struggled with the rebels in Aquitaine. Readily, Alan IV gathered at the castle of Reze in order to march to the French king’s rescue.
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Definitely going down the history book route, I think; hope you enjoy. This history book and this author will be the vessel for most of the AAR so get used to L. N. Amberley but, for some events during the AAR, it might be more reasonable to have a different author/book theme to describe the event.

 

[JSB217118]

In almost every AAR I read Phillip the first of France has to deal with major rebellions. Usually, he dies a failure. This Alan the Fourth sounds like quite an effective tyrant. If you don't have screenshots just go back into your saves and take them from there.

 

[stnylan]

Well the truth is the King of France ain't so powerful he can't be mastered by a masterful Duke

 

[BucketTech]

In almost every AAR I read Phillip the first of France has to deal with major rebellions. Usually, he dies a failure. This Alan the Fourth sounds like quite an effective tyrant. If you don't have screenshots just go back into your saves and take them from there.

He has really done a bad job; not that the state of England is much better either - the rebellion in the north mentioned is just one of many already.
Because I started playing this just casually (and as an ironman save), I can't really go back and take screenshots but I'll try and get some screenshots that are still relevant. I'll definitely make sure to take any screenshots of very important events when I'm playing in the future.

Well the truth is the King of France ain't so powerful he can't be mastered by a masterful Duke

Philip certainly puts the Kingdom of France to shame; I don't think Alan is complaining though.

 

[RhaegarTelcontarTargaryen]

Brittany is always interesting.