Duchy of Braganza v. 1.02 Normal/agressive
The Slow Growing Decade - Part I
This story starts in the year of the Lord 1066, December 26th, to be exact. The place is Porto where the ducal court of Nuno de Portugal is situated.
He was Duke for 10 years, he did not have a big court, it only had two members, his wife and his faithfull cousin and unofficial marchal Vasco. Nuno was 45 and his wife was 41. They had a 21 years old dauther named Loba, she was married with the count of Coimbra a faitfull vassal of Nuno.
Nuno was not a indepent duke, he was a Vassal of the Jimenez of Galicia, member of the Jimenez dinasty, that controled all of Iberia but the lands of the infidel and Portugal, the soon to be born Kingdom!
Nuno was tired of beeing under the control of the his liege. Nuno had spend the last 10 years creating the dream of his father...
be King of Portugal and uniting all the lands south of the Douro under the Portuguese banner!To do that Nuno needed to expand, expand as quicklly as he could, before the other could do the same, before some bigger kingdom would try to conquer his lands...
But to start cruzading he needed some reforms and he needed to have a court with the size this of Nunos vision.
***
It was the first day of the Lord's year 1067 when the first reforms happen. The first one would be the power of the church, Nuno was tired of beeing under the supreme papal influence, he knew the pope could be a good ally, but he also knew, the pope and all of the clerk would perfere Nuno to conquer muslem land, insted for giving donations
Next he needed to have good advisors, so Nuno invited the great people of Braganza and Porto to join his court, Every important person of the duchy was there.
Nuno was a man of great vison he could look to the people's eyes and see what they were good at. So he quicky chose his advisors. Vasco de Portugal his cousion in second degree became officially his marchal, to everybody this was a clear sign of great conquests in the future!
Next he chose his Chancellor, that person would be a Women, some of the people present were socked, with that choice but Sancha of the Porto's Dinasty was the best person.
For his Spy master he chose an other Vasco, but this time Vasco of Borgone a man from a distance country that was there, so they said, to help in the crusades of the Iberian countries, he seemed to chose a good Duchy to do that, soon his hability as Spy master would be used.
The for the final advisor position ( Stewarship ), Nuno chose Henrique Martins a man of the People, he was really the best man for the position, comming from where he commed. So now, everything was ready to start the Portuguese Cruzade, but something should be done before that!
note: Vasco has 10 Martial; Sancha 12 Diplomacy; Vasco has 11 Intrigue; Henrique has 8 Stewardship
***
Everything was ready to go, when Disaster happend in the Court of Porto, Gonçinha, Nuno's wife was found dead in her bed, nobody knew what happen, some said "poison", some said "illness" ( even if nobody have see a sign of it ), Nuno said "the Infidel had assassinated his Wife", so he promised he would attack the infidels in that moment even if the troops or the anything was ready.
Not everyone belived in what Nuno said, because they knew Gonçinha as becaming more and more old and she was not the most fertile women...
here you ca see what really happen 
When Nuno was about to go to call for arms, Vasco his cousin, friend and Marchal adviced him to marry before gooing to war. Relutant so he did follow the advice of Vasco and made plans to marry, the war would need to wait.
To his wife Nuno chose a Frankish women ( after Vasco de Borgone talked so much about the beauty of those women ) she was just 16, she was daughter of the Duke of Poitou, for some this was the best married he could get, because his son could one day be the duke of Poitou, this way joining this two great dinasties...
So now Nuno could go in a cruzade, but before he would need to have once again some money, because it all disapeared when Gonçinha died. No-one knows why, and who could know was silent. Also with the prospering of Porto dropping to Poor, he would need to wait even more time!
In the mid time Nuno was suprised seeing that his wife had became more and more interrested in religion, she now passed hours alone with this Catalan priest, she brought from Poitou. She passed to much time alone tought the Duke, but he had no time to think about that now. War was comming!!!
***
It was in the beggining of the 9th month when Nuno gather all his men and the men of his vassals to go to war. They were all in castelo Branco, ready to wage war on the target, untill then no-one knew who that target would be.
Maybe Badajoz, they were there nearest but only with all Cristian Iberians united Braganza could win, or so Nuno Tought. the Emir of Badajoz would need to wait...
The other Great emirates where all to big to be defeated, so Nuno chose
Granada the smallest and less powerfull of All, even if it was not on the Braganzantin Border, still he target was chosen, Granada was a small but rich Emirate... And soon would be Braganzantin!
September 16th was the beggining of the End for Muslem Granada
