1173-1174
Throughout history certain men have created golden ages for their nations or dynasties. Their names live on immortalized in books and in the minds of people who would give anything to be like them. However, these men do not work alone. Behind every great man there are friends and lieutenants who aid and assist them. When their masters die these people are often forgotten by the majority of people and the work they did is credited to the man they served. The lieutenants of King Donat were no exception to this. Aptoni the Duke of Tunis died of natural causes on May 16, 1173. Coming from a minor noble family in Languedoc he originally met Donat during the first Iberian Crusade. He became friends with his overlord and was rewarded with Tunis for his friendship after spending years as Donat's marshal. He had been a great friend and loyal supporter to his king. After the death of Donat, much to the chagrin of the Priory he had remained loyal to Vianc. Few people outside of the nobility and court knew of him. Few people knew that his support of Vianc probably saved the man's life and throne. As for his own subjects they were indifferent to him. His policies favored the towns which is where his support came from. The land was home to countless nomad bands who were not affected at all. The nobility cared little for their lands and lived in the towns and cities leaving the peasants to their own devices. Most people who had no contact with the "urban" areas weren't even aware they had a duke and those who were, their descendants didn't even know Aptoni had died until a later century. As his son had died fighting insurrections his grandson,Bardos, took over as duke.
The Kingdom had defeated many enemies and given itself breathing space. However, these enemies were not done with Jerusalem. On September 4, Tunisia declared war upon the County of Biskra. Even though they had already been defeated in a war they were not completely subjugated. Several of their lands had been taken from them but not all. The County of Biskra was a small land and a direct vassal to the King himself. Of course Vianc saw this as and attack not just on his vassal but on him and demanded that no mercy be shown to Tunisia this time. The King demanded full conquest of the small North African Kingdom and the army, who finally did not have any revolts to put down, obeyed and marched straight for Tunisia. The new Duke of Tunis, Bardos, realized the enemy would either have to sail by boat or go through his lands to reach Egypt and Biskra and thus he declared war himself and mobilized his armies. By the time the crown's own armies arrived Bardos was personally leading the siege of a Tunisian province that was also considered part of Tunis. The kings generals learned this and did not interfer but marched straight for Tunisia's main lands defeating small bands of raiders along the way.
The simple fact was Tunisia was broken before the war started and they were facing a very powerful foe. Their ruler's own court betrayed him and handed him to the army in exchange for their lives and minor titles. On February 8 word spread through the Jerusalem that Tunisia was no more and that the former king was now on display in the capital being humiliated by the peasants before he was finally executed. The peasants did many things to him. They threw rotten food at him, urinated on him and even allowed their animals to do the same. The only time the peasants were restrained by the guards was when they tried to use the former king as a punching bag. They were just happy to see someone having a worse life than them. Vianc only met with the man once, in the dungeons, but left soon after because he could not handle the smell. Finally after several days of this the king was executed by simple hanging, an indignity to a former monarch. Fours days later Vianc was named King of Tunisia.
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My post describing the first war with Tunisia was very badly worded. To clarify things I didn't take them over completely, just grabbed a few places and some money. Basically they had some crap lands spread all over North Africa that I didn't want to waste my time going after. Of course when they attacked my vassal I just decided to wipe them out completely.
Throughout history certain men have created golden ages for their nations or dynasties. Their names live on immortalized in books and in the minds of people who would give anything to be like them. However, these men do not work alone. Behind every great man there are friends and lieutenants who aid and assist them. When their masters die these people are often forgotten by the majority of people and the work they did is credited to the man they served. The lieutenants of King Donat were no exception to this. Aptoni the Duke of Tunis died of natural causes on May 16, 1173. Coming from a minor noble family in Languedoc he originally met Donat during the first Iberian Crusade. He became friends with his overlord and was rewarded with Tunis for his friendship after spending years as Donat's marshal. He had been a great friend and loyal supporter to his king. After the death of Donat, much to the chagrin of the Priory he had remained loyal to Vianc. Few people outside of the nobility and court knew of him. Few people knew that his support of Vianc probably saved the man's life and throne. As for his own subjects they were indifferent to him. His policies favored the towns which is where his support came from. The land was home to countless nomad bands who were not affected at all. The nobility cared little for their lands and lived in the towns and cities leaving the peasants to their own devices. Most people who had no contact with the "urban" areas weren't even aware they had a duke and those who were, their descendants didn't even know Aptoni had died until a later century. As his son had died fighting insurrections his grandson,Bardos, took over as duke.
The Kingdom had defeated many enemies and given itself breathing space. However, these enemies were not done with Jerusalem. On September 4, Tunisia declared war upon the County of Biskra. Even though they had already been defeated in a war they were not completely subjugated. Several of their lands had been taken from them but not all. The County of Biskra was a small land and a direct vassal to the King himself. Of course Vianc saw this as and attack not just on his vassal but on him and demanded that no mercy be shown to Tunisia this time. The King demanded full conquest of the small North African Kingdom and the army, who finally did not have any revolts to put down, obeyed and marched straight for Tunisia. The new Duke of Tunis, Bardos, realized the enemy would either have to sail by boat or go through his lands to reach Egypt and Biskra and thus he declared war himself and mobilized his armies. By the time the crown's own armies arrived Bardos was personally leading the siege of a Tunisian province that was also considered part of Tunis. The kings generals learned this and did not interfer but marched straight for Tunisia's main lands defeating small bands of raiders along the way.
The simple fact was Tunisia was broken before the war started and they were facing a very powerful foe. Their ruler's own court betrayed him and handed him to the army in exchange for their lives and minor titles. On February 8 word spread through the Jerusalem that Tunisia was no more and that the former king was now on display in the capital being humiliated by the peasants before he was finally executed. The peasants did many things to him. They threw rotten food at him, urinated on him and even allowed their animals to do the same. The only time the peasants were restrained by the guards was when they tried to use the former king as a punching bag. They were just happy to see someone having a worse life than them. Vianc only met with the man once, in the dungeons, but left soon after because he could not handle the smell. Finally after several days of this the king was executed by simple hanging, an indignity to a former monarch. Fours days later Vianc was named King of Tunisia.
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My post describing the first war with Tunisia was very badly worded. To clarify things I didn't take them over completely, just grabbed a few places and some money. Basically they had some crap lands spread all over North Africa that I didn't want to waste my time going after. Of course when they attacked my vassal I just decided to wipe them out completely.