Reggio, A Crusader Kings AAR - Chapter 10: The Last Days
LJ Cut for Length and Pictures.
Duke Roger stubbornly refused to die. Rome was occupied by secular forces. And his own son, who had grown somewhat estranged over the years first reconciled with his father, and then declared himself a valid heir to the Ducal throne based upon his successful rule as Count Reggio.
The Pope sent a Bishop to the court of Roger to ensure that his passing was peaceful. The Bishop stayed, and waited, and for his trouble was made the Diocese Bishop, something the Duchy had been without for some time.
Relocated to Orbatello, the Papacy was again at peace, though Rome was in the hands of the King of Germany instead of the Church as it should be.
As the months went by, Roger remained bedridden and vassals of the Holy Roman Empire began to declare independence. One such vassal was the Republic of Genoa, which quickly signed a treaty of alliance with the Duchy of Sicily. Duke Roger's plan was to use Genoa as a lightning rod while his own troops marched on and liberated Rome. But Roger's injury kept him bedridden, and he refused to send his men to die when he himself could not join in the risk.
The Duke of Apulia meanwhile warred against Salerno and Napoli, which brought Venice in against him. The Duke annexed Napoli, only to turn it and two other counties over to the Venetian republic. Wars raged in Europe, but the Crusade for Jerusalem continued to stall.
In March of 1095, Duke Roger, already in poor health from his wounds of the last war, caught an illness that left him even more bedridden than before. Most of the affairs of state were seen to by his eldest daughter. War soon came to the Duchy again, this time led by the brown tide of Hammadids. The fighting was vicious, but with his court overseas warring, the Duke's vigor returned and he was able to retake his place in government if not the field - just in time for the Countess of Gabes to revolt against his rightful rule.
With one army dispatched to take the last Hammadid holding in Spain, another marched on Gabes. The Hammadid King surrendered, and after a brutal series of battles and cruel sieges the Countess of Gabes submitted to the Duke's rightful authority and relinquished her titles and her claims. That same day, March 16, 1098, Roger had himself crowned King of North Africa. The very next day he had to be laid to bed in his new castle in Constantine. His illness had worsened into full pneumonia.
And thus it was that early in July of 1098, King Roger de Hauteville died, and his son, the self-proclaimed Scipio, became King of North Africa.
Duke Roger stubbornly refused to die. Rome was occupied by secular forces. And his own son, who had grown somewhat estranged over the years first reconciled with his father, and then declared himself a valid heir to the Ducal throne based upon his successful rule as Count Reggio.
The Pope sent a Bishop to the court of Roger to ensure that his passing was peaceful. The Bishop stayed, and waited, and for his trouble was made the Diocese Bishop, something the Duchy had been without for some time.
Relocated to Orbatello, the Papacy was again at peace, though Rome was in the hands of the King of Germany instead of the Church as it should be.
As the months went by, Roger remained bedridden and vassals of the Holy Roman Empire began to declare independence. One such vassal was the Republic of Genoa, which quickly signed a treaty of alliance with the Duchy of Sicily. Duke Roger's plan was to use Genoa as a lightning rod while his own troops marched on and liberated Rome. But Roger's injury kept him bedridden, and he refused to send his men to die when he himself could not join in the risk.
The Duke of Apulia meanwhile warred against Salerno and Napoli, which brought Venice in against him. The Duke annexed Napoli, only to turn it and two other counties over to the Venetian republic. Wars raged in Europe, but the Crusade for Jerusalem continued to stall.
In March of 1095, Duke Roger, already in poor health from his wounds of the last war, caught an illness that left him even more bedridden than before. Most of the affairs of state were seen to by his eldest daughter. War soon came to the Duchy again, this time led by the brown tide of Hammadids. The fighting was vicious, but with his court overseas warring, the Duke's vigor returned and he was able to retake his place in government if not the field - just in time for the Countess of Gabes to revolt against his rightful rule.
With one army dispatched to take the last Hammadid holding in Spain, another marched on Gabes. The Hammadid King surrendered, and after a brutal series of battles and cruel sieges the Countess of Gabes submitted to the Duke's rightful authority and relinquished her titles and her claims. That same day, March 16, 1098, Roger had himself crowned King of North Africa. The very next day he had to be laid to bed in his new castle in Constantine. His illness had worsened into full pneumonia.
And thus it was that early in July of 1098, King Roger de Hauteville died, and his son, the self-proclaimed Scipio, became King of North Africa.