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Basilissa Eustathia I (1292-1313)
Basilissa Eustathia I
(1292-1313)
(1292-1313)
Husbands:
- Theodosios
- Pran
Sired:
- Markia
- Viviana
- Petros
- Athanasios
- Eirene
- Barbara
- Pantoleon
- Alexeia
- Romane
When her father left the world in a drunken stupor, Eustathia was merely 22 years old. She was young, she was a woman, and the nobility hated her father’s guts and wanted anything other than her on the throne. Her grandfather had amassed a considerable sum of money in the imperial treasury though, and the economy was – and had been for a long time – booming. So Eustathia did what any rich person would: She tried to buy herself out of her troubles. Her diplomatical skills together with all her riches did actually work to a large extent, though.
When the rebellion eventually came, in 1293, it was much smaller than it originally looked to become. Many of her detractors became her ardent supporters. The rebels did on paper have about 50% more troops than her loyalist forces, but they were scattered, and they had no Basilissa Eustathia I to lead them. The Basilissa personally led her troops in the field and gained respect among her troops and vassals. And, soon, also from her enemies. The rebellion was over before a year had gone by.
It has been said that the Basilissa were made of sterner stuff than her father. This was proven in the field, but also in other matters. The term “The Bit Amir Nights” still make people in the Middle East shiver. The county of Bir Amir was a hotbed of sedition and potential rebellion. The county were a Muslim county, and rumors had it much of the enormous Bedouin rebellion of her grandfather’s time had been planned here. When Komitas Katotikos came forward to plead his case for a “final solution” to this problem, the Basilissa were all too eager to hear. She ordered Komitas to take command over the county as its new leader, and slaughter all alims, all local leaders and all Muslim faithful who did not obey the command to convert on the spot. And their wives and children. It is said she was delighted to hear of the immense pain and suffering these heathens endured.
After this incident, there were no more rebellions during her rule. But there were many wars. First smaller wars to clean up the borders. Then with the last Eastern Anatolian beyliks. Then Georgia. In 1297 she crowned herself as despotissa of Armenia, having finished the wars in the east.
Then, she went north and west. Croatia lost a third of her lands. Poland lost a whole duchy. Africa was next, and in 1302 she declared herself despotissa of Africa. Not content with that, she declared a war for the entirety of the despotate of Tahert. She won after two years, in 1306.
The same year, she subjugated the entirety of the despotate of Georgia as a Byzantine vassal. Then, she turned on Croatia again, taking another duchy. Smaller wars in Caucasus continued after this. Then she sent armies into Mesopotamia.
She would never see the end of this last war. In 1313, a murder attempt was barely stopped, the culprit gone in the shadows. And then, a month later, as she was parading through Constantinople, her horse got spooked for unclear reasons. She did not manage to get the horse under control, fell and got trampled to death. Signs point to this being a successful assassination attempt.
In any case her oldest son Athanasios, only 15 years old, was the new Basileus. His siblings got some of the despotates, with him remaining in control of the Empire, Egypt, Hungary and Arabia.
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Well, well. I was going to say, a strong ruler at last. Except she also happens to be an intolerant, genocidal maniac. Yikes!
@Nikolai: I mean... if the shoe fits. If telling a lie is being a liar, stealing a candy bar is being a thief, and listening to Nickelback is being a philistine...
Well, tbh... I never made it as a wise man, and I definitely couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing. And I am tired of living like a blind man, not to mention I'm sick of sight without a sense of feeling. And this is how you remind me, my friend.
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She was a great conqueror... but the intolerance might be taking things a little too far.
On another note, the existence of despots is ominous. Will civil wars between members of the Komnenid dynasty over the Roman throne occur... or will the dynasty forsake the grand Eastern Roman tradition of backstabbing and remain loyalists?
On another note, the existence of despots is ominous. Will civil wars between members of the Komnenid dynasty over the Roman throne occur... or will the dynasty forsake the grand Eastern Roman tradition of backstabbing and remain loyalists?
Yeah, well we are closing in on the primo tech now. Until then, certain uncles, brothers etc just might be, have been, and will become a problem.
Basically about a third of my territory is ruled by vassal kings at this point I think.
FYI: Just started a mini-AAR in the Victoria 3 section. This AAR will not be affected.
forum.paradoxplaza.com
The Great War - A German Mini-AAR
Hello there, AARland! I am doing a game as Prussia, to NGF to Germany here. It's been a fun game, if a bit unstable, due to 1.5's issues, so I never planned on doing an AAR on it. But then came this one war, that I want to cover. It will not...
Basileus Athanasios I «the Just» (1313-1351)
Basileus Athanasios I «the Just»
(1313-1351)
(1313-1351)
Wives:
- Nattadevi
Sired:
- Gerasimos
- Ioannes
- Simonis
- Pankratios
- Athanasios
- Basillike
- Margarita
- Eudoxia
- Boethios
As soon as the immediate threat of rebellion was over, he convinced the realm to adopt what had been needed for so long; primogeniture succession of the Empire and the Basileus’ held titles. From now on, only the oldest son, or – if no son was available – daughter, of the reigning Basileus would inherit.
With this important law implemented, Athanasios set out on a reign of conquest. In 1316, the entirety of Croatia was made a vassal, and two years later the Qubaybids had to give him several border regions. Between 1320 and 1322, several small wars in the Caucasus cleaned up the borders, before the entirety of Crimea were forced to bend the knee as vassals of Byzantium in 1323.
Meanwhile, the HRE were in a civil war, and parts of the Empire splintered off. Athanasios quickly sent in troops to secure the splinter countries bordering Byzantium. Chief amongst the spoils were Venice, in 1325.
Afterwards peace reigned for four years, as the country needed peace to quiet the nobles, who had become tired of being on campaign for years on end. But in 1329 the despotate of Zaphorizhia was usurped by the Basileus, who held much of the despotate’s de jure lands, and the resulting splintering of the realm made it possible for the Basileus to, step by step, vassalize much of the lands peacefully over the next few years.
These years he used to over the next few years build an impressive number of castle towns, cities and church towns – a total of 30 were ordered built in 1332 alone!
And then, in 1334, the invasion of Russia truly began. The despotate of Blemmyia were conquered in 1337, as was several smaller duchies and counties all over the Russian plains. From 1337 on, the areas in Yemen were conquered one by one. And in 1343 the despotate of Yemen were declared and given to one of Athanasios’ younger sons.
The same year the Basileus declared himself ruler of the despotates of Pontus, Caucasus, Thessalonica, Serbia, Epirus, Hellas, Anatolicon, Jazira, Bulgaria and Nicea, greatly improving his prestige. Then he went to war in Russia again, to secure the claims of his vassals for the despotate of Ruthenia and despotate of White Rus, thus gaining two kingdom level vassals.
In 1347 he declared himself despot of Galicia-Volhynia, before the great happening for the Komnenos dynasty during his reign occurred in 1349. The Ecumenical Patriarch declared the Komnenos bloodline holy, consecrated and as close to divine as humanly possible.
Two years later his reign ended in assassination like his mother, as his entourage was attacked by “peasants” in the streets of Constantinople. He was ripped to shreds. His 32-year-old son Gerasimos I «the Hunchback» was declared Basileus hours later.
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Well, your monarchy seems to have struck an unpleasant precedent, with sequential rulers suffering violent deaths. Hopefully the next ruler breaks the cycle!
Two competent leaders in a row? Who are these people and have have they done with Line of Alexios?
Neither of them seem nice, that is doubtless why they both got assassinated, but they were at least able to defeat enemies, not go bankrupt and generally not make everything worse. Gerasimos may well be a return to form, certainly the nickname is promising.
Neither of them seem nice, that is doubtless why they both got assassinated, but they were at least able to defeat enemies, not go bankrupt and generally not make everything worse. Gerasimos may well be a return to form, certainly the nickname is promising.
That would be good, if so...
I know, right?!
Gerasimos will be the last character I will post about, I think. I have played to his death, but by this point I am very powerful, and if a rebellion loses me the Empire, I will still have basically all of the Empire under me, only I will be an immensely powerful vassal. Not sure I find any use of continuing the story after that.
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The Komnenoi have truly done well... Alexios would be proud, I think.
The institution of primogeniture basically means that the empire won't become feudal, so that's good for the Komnenoi and bad for pretty much everyone else...
The institution of primogeniture basically means that the empire won't become feudal, so that's good for the Komnenoi and bad for pretty much everyone else...
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Even if they lose the Imperial title, they will be despots of basically half the Empire.
Basileus Gerasimos I «the Hunchback» (1351-1369)
Basileus Gerasimos I «the Hunchback»
(1351-1369)
(1351-1369)
Wives:
- Kalayandevi
Sired:
- Athanasios
- Eirene
- Germanos
- Thomas
- Konstantinos
- Maurikios
- Parthena
- Pulcheria
The reign of the questionable Basileus Gerasimos I «the Hunchback» marks the end of our journey, as the line of Alexios by this point were everywhere to be found both inside the Empire and in the blood lineage of both the Indian principalities and the HRE.
His reign started shakily, with a huge independence war stretching his forces thin, but after three bloody years of fighting, he managed to fight the rebels to a standstill and a white peace was negotiated. During the ensuing peace, Gerasimos built up both his own domain as well as his empire, with new cities, castles and churches popping up everywhere.
The most notable of these new buildings were the Grand Cathedral of Alexandrian, named after the Apostle of Egypt himself, Mark. This huge church, built in 1360, rivalled the Hagia Sophia herself in splendor and is in many ways the crowning achievement of Gerasimos’ reign.
Around the same time Gerasimos crowned himself the despot of Badajoz and entered a war to defend his ally Britanny from rebels. This war would prove costly in men, and rebellious forces within the Empire say their chance to start a second independence war, as big as the previous one, in 1363. But this time there would be no mercy, and in 1365 the rebels had to give up and got imprisoned in Constantinople.
The Basileus had become a drunkard at this time though, enjoying his parties with his brother and best friend more than anything else. As the Empire was largely governed by the bureaucracy, no one was particularly surprised when Gerasimos was discovered to be an adulterer as well – his parties were the talk of Constantinople after all.
In 1367 he joined the Emperor of the HRE, his ally, and sent a large contingent of men into Germany. But soon he realized his ally was facing an entirely disintegration of his realm, as the HRE weas ripped by the seams of a number of powerful rebellions. Instead of risking his own forces, Gerasimos then recalled his men to the Byzantine border. Meanwhile he continued his partying.
It would cost him his life, when in 1369he choked on his own food, dying a disgraceful death in a orgy of food, women and what else is not to be mentioned here. His twelve-year-old son Konstantinos XIII rose to the throne. What would become of Byzantium in the now emerging renaissance is another story, not to be told here.
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It is a tribute to what they dynasty has built that they can have a leader as inept as Gerasimos and come out the other side stronger. It is also appropriate to end on an inept drunkard as that is very much in-keeping with the majority of the Line of Alexios. My memory is that most of them were similarly awful (if in different ways), it's just the good ones were so good they managed to drag the dynasty to the top.
In any event I think you are wise to draw things to a close here and congratulations on reaching "The End".
In any event I think you are wise to draw things to a close here and congratulations on reaching "The End".
Well done, @Nikolai and congratulations indeed on the conclusion of your AAR. This has been a rousing read, and it has been remarkable watching your empire thrive despite a long stretch of truly terrible monarchs. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done!