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I've missed a good few Komneni and they've managed to go from impressive highs to shameful lows. As the family are currently on the upswing I am expecting Goszczon Komnenos to make an audacious and impractical lunge for power, somehow succeed, but then throw it all away before the end.
Unless he murders some relatives, I think I'm right in saying the most successful Komneni so far have all been at least involved in some suspicious deaths?
Unless he murders some relatives, I think I'm right in saying the most successful Komneni so far have all been at least involved in some suspicious deaths?
Goszczon (what a number of letters smashed together!) is by far the most powerful vassal of the ERE, that much is true. How popular will he be though, half barbarian as he is?
Påske? Easter? Exactly how popular is Easter before Lent, again?
“In Poland, pączki are eaten especially on Fat Thursday (Tłusty Czwartek), the last Thursday prior to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.” From WikiPåske? Easter? Exactly how popular is Easter before Lent, again?
Nah, they’re jelly doughnuts, mate. Google Translate tells me that the Polish word for Easter is the easily pronounced “Wielkanoc.”Ah, thought it was Polish for Påske, Norwegian for Easter.
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A pity, I liked the idea of such similar words meaning the same, in such different languages!
Despot Goszczon I «the Repulsive» (1245-1272)
Despot Goszczon I «the Repulsive»
(1245-1272)
(1245-1272)
Wives:
- Adelajda
Sired:
- Demetrios
- Kallistos
- Agathe
- Theodosia
Despot Goszczon I «the Repulsive» was, it turns out from contemporary sources as well as his epithet, not a beautiful man. He was cunning, patient and gifted though, and would lay the foundation for his successors to build a magnificent legacy for the Komnenos dynasty and Byzantine power.
He was the most powerful vassal in the Byzantine Empire by far, controlling all of Hungary, most of Egypt and parts of the Balkans and Anatolia. He did not, however, have a valid claim on the Byzantine throne, his family’s claims to the Basileus title being two generations away from the present.
Thus, after having secured his grip on the power he did have, he went to Constantinople in 1247 to pay fealty to the reigning Basileus and in all ways he made it clear that he was but a servant to the Basileus. A just man, Goszczon pointed out, the Basileus also had treated the Komnenoi well during his reign and had even given Goszczon’s late mother additional lands before she died. The Basileus was a true sovereign under Christ, and Goszczon would honor him as well as he could.
Two years later, Goszczon again travelled to Constantinople, petitioning the Basileus for parts of the duchy of Delta in Egypt, lands he did not yet control. The Basileus, swayed by the treatment, agreed, even though other vassals thought this a tyrannical move. The Basileus and Goszczon seemed destined to everlasting friendship. To prove this, the Basileus agreed to marry his daughter to Goszczon’s second son Kallistos!
In 1250 Goszczon had secured such a grip on power that he declared himself despot of not only Hungary, but Egypt as well. And then he went on the offensive, warring for the divided lands of the Muslims in the Levant. Impressed by the zeal of his vassal and friend, the Basileus then in 1253 gifted another vassal, the now reduced doux of Delta, to Goszczon.
With Egypt now firmly in his hands, Goszczon made Egypt his primary title, declaring his protection of Hungary was everlasting, but his focus and powerbase was Egypt. Continuing to wage war into Muslim lands, he got himself declared as despot of Syria as well in 1257, before he went to war with the powerful Musais sultanate, the largest Muslim neighboring nation, for control over Palestine. This war was quickly won, and he kept his expansion into the small Muslim beyliks.
A setback happened in 1262, when his second son Kallistos, the one married to the daughter of the Basileus, mysteriously died. Now he had only one son, which made sure his lands would not be divided after his death, but it also made him and his line vulnerable, and many sorrowful poems was written in this time, found only after his death.
Perhaps did this only enlarge his zealousness, though, for the same year Goszczon declared a holy war for the despotate of Arabia, including the Muslim Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina! The war was won in slightly more than one year, but the struggle was only just beginning… Enraged by the Christians despoiling the Holy Cities and the Kaba – or so rumor had it – a huge Bedouin rebellion rose like waves on the sea, overwhelming Goszczon’s forces and forcing the Basileus and the entirety of the Byzantine Empire to join in the fight. The Bedouins numbered tens of thousands, some said hundred of thousands, and for a while the future of Christian rule in Arabia seemed lost, but after almost five years of fighting, the Bedouins had to admit defeat.
The old Basileus died during the rebellion, but his successor were so thankful for Goszczon’s impressive feats, he offered him a position at his court, as his father had given Goszczon before him, as well as another vassal from the bordering regions of Goszczon’s now impressive realm. Goszczon keept cleaning up the smaller Muslim enclaves still present, including kicking the Caliph out of Sinai, who then only had a one province enclave in the Palestinian hinterlands to his name.
Following this, in 1270, Goszczon declared himself despot of Arabia and Jerusalem, having secured his rule in both regions. Only the southernmost tip of Arabia was now in Muslim hands. In 1271, he declared a war for Muslim lands in Mesopotamia, but before this war was over, he died peacefully in his sleep.
Due to the inheritance laws of his lands, and to relief of the Basileus, Goszczon’s despotates were divided between his 43-year-old son Demetrios, and his grandson from Kallistos, the young Andronikos. Andronikos got Arabia and Jerusalem, with the rest of the despotates inherited by Demetrios. Thus, the two most powerful vassals in the Byzantine Empire were of the line of Alexios. Together, they controlled a good half or more of the Empire.
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Wow, he does look repulsive. But somehow he was able to reproduce anyway? And despite being a Byzantine vassal, he seems to have been relatively trustworthy. Will wonders never cease? Also, a question: why on earth does the Basileus employ dwarves as his guardsmen?
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He does, doesn't he? Seems his reprodictive organs were working despite being ugly, but then again marriage didn't work like that back then! He was trustworthy, didn't kill anyone, didn't go for the throne. He did build a helluva good fundation though, even though he lacked primo and lost two kingdoms in the inheritance after he died. But what an enlargement of the Empire!
As for the dwarf...I guess he has some real good fighing stats?
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Dwarves are usually either Nordic or Scottish in most fantasy settings. But Byzantine dwarves are something I’ve never heard of before!
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He did very well. Is Islam still strong enough to declare a jihad to reclaim Arabia?
I suspect that one of those Komnenoi will want to seize control of the empire. I wonder how they would manage their old lands if they were emperors - maybe they could appoint favorites to rule as despots?
I suspect that one of those Komnenoi will want to seize control of the empire. I wonder how they would manage their old lands if they were emperors - maybe they could appoint favorites to rule as despots?
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He had an ancestor who had leprosy for 30 years, how bad must Goszczon look to be considered 'Repulsive' relative to that?
As has been said a loyal Byzantine vassal is a rare treasure to be admired, so he has at least that going for him. I would suggest the priority for his successor is to change the inheritance laws to stop their holdings being divided up every time, no idea how feasible that is but it would surely be worth the effort.
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Perhaps he was in fact a Varangian?
There are two Muslim major powers, so in theory, yes. Shaybanid is about the strength of the Byzantine empire in raw numbers. Tashfin perhaps between a third and half.
Hah, good question!
Perhaps people forgot. The primogeniture law is not available per now, as the tech is lacking. Whenever it arrives, however…
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A Varangian! I had not considered that. He has descended from his mountain hall to serve in the "city of men's desire."
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Despot Demetrios I (1272-1285) Basileus Demetrios I (1285-1291)
Despot Demetrios I
(1272-1285)
Basileus Demetrios I
(1285-1291)
(1272-1285)
Basileus Demetrios I
(1285-1291)
Wives:
- Tundér
- Queen Juana II of Valencia
- Padmaladevi
Sired:
- Petros
- Parthena
- Goszczon
- Petros
- Petros
- Ionanna
- Eusebios
- Theodotos
- Alexeia
All of Demetrios I’s marriages netted him powerful allies with crucial troop power for his goals. None would be as important for Byzantium and his dynasty as Queen Juana II of Valencia, however, both giving him most of his children as well as a whole kingdom under the Empire’s control on the Queen’s eventual death. That he named a whooping three children Petros is in this light a mere curiosity.
Demetrios I started well, with gaining a quick victory in his father’s legacy war, before he got down to business; gaining the Empire for himself. For this he needed a claim, however, and at first he did not succeed, his co-conspirators being a bit too loose lipped. He would succeed on second try however, in 1282, three years after securing Cyrenaica for the Empire. His gain was also a great personal stress gain, however, as he was deep down a very humble man, only going this route due to the feeling of dynastic destiny and the ineptitude of the reigning Basileus.
Having gained a claim, he did not go for the throne immediately, however, instead amassing greater wealth for the eventual war, as well as securing more support among the other vassals. Another reason, clearly, was that due to his father’s alliance network, he was in fact allied to the reigning Basileus, and turning on him would be seen as a severe flaw in character.
In 1285 Demetrios was convinced by his allies and family to declare war anyways, however, and Demetrios finally went for it. Within a year, his armies, having secured Anatolia for him, marched into Constantinople and crowned him Basileus. Finally, the Komnenos were back at the seat of power!
With his reign secure, Demetrios declared war on the Caliph of the Sunni faith, and his forced captured the Caliph in the first battle. To humiliate the Caliph even further, he was forced to swear fealty to Demetrios I as a vassal to the Empire, and thus keep the one county he ruled over.
In 1289 Demetrios declared war on the Tashfins, who was ruling over much of the North-Western African area, and a powerful foe that he saw the need to break. Demanding the entirety of the despotate of Africa, the war turned out to be easier than first thought, ending in a little over a year. Emboldened, Demetrios sent a smaller detatchment to finish off some smaller beyliks around Carthage, but underestimated the opposing force, sending his armies fleeing for the first time. He quickly sent a much larger force, but just as he finished the war, his old and increasingly frail body gave up the ghost.
At the age of 45, his oldest son Petros I inherited the Empire, as well as the despotates of Egypt, Hungary and Arabia. The other kingdoms went to his siblings. Thus started the sad reign of Petros I.
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