Reggio, A Crusader Kings AAR - Chapter 16: For Glory Ride
LJ Cut for Length and Pictures.
For longer than I have reigned, the King of France and the Holy Roman Empire have fought wars in their realms, against one rebellious vassal or another. My own troops, the Spaniard regiments from Jaca and other Iberian lands, have joined the French crown in fighting his rebellious vassals. Thus it came to be that the County of Toulouse and Vermandois passed over to courtiers from my realm. We fought a brief war against the Duke of Sjaelland to preserve the Danish crown. There have been rebellions among the vassals of my vassals. But through it all there have been no major wars fought by Africa since the war against the Emir of Cyrenica.
That war was fought twenty years ago. The legacy of its swift and brutal execution, along with a dead Pope, bought my realm the peace that my Father so desired for it. Trade, learning, and even the peasants were flourishing across the realm. My marshall, my generals, and my sons were the only men not pleased with the state of affairs. My second son wished to be Duke of Spoleto, a logical title to accompany his landhold. Other nobles wished to turn on the newly arisen Kingdom of Aragon and consolidate our Iberian holdings. The Bishop of Skane called repeatedly for a crusade against Sweden and the pagans north and east of that land. All I truly wanted was to watch my grandchildren grow up.
It was the words of my eldest son, the Duke of Sicily, that finally moved me to action. He was always more of a fighter than a thinker, He threatened to lead a revolt and dethrone me if I did not go to war and earn the title Duke of Spoleto. While I'm confident that I would have won any such power struggle, a good King knows when to compromise.
I began my war by having the Pope excommunicate the Holy Roman Emperor. As if his current troubles holding his realm together were not serious enough for any lord to contend with, but as much as I might sympathize with his troubles, having seen them via my eldest or the Duchess of Alger, this was war, and any ally I can gain by any means is worth having.
Though it was during the war preparations that I discovered the distressing news that the Kingdom of Bohemia, once proud and a leader in the Crusade for Jerusalem, had been overrun by Muslim forces. Christendom was too busy with its own wars to intervene and set things right. And alas, such a war was not for me either. A land as far inland as Bohemia, surrounded by the German and Polish lords, would only invite trouble upon my realm. But as long as those Muslims were there, perhaps my son, or his son, would lead the crusade to free Bohemia from the heathens.
Soon after the war was declared, in February of 1136, my beloved died, leaving me alone to face the hardships and perils of this world. It was a dark auger for the war.
The Italian Legion, under Marshall Lionello, soon came into conflict with the first wave of the German army. Numbers were heavily on the German's side with over twenty thousand men to Marshell Lionello's thirteen thousand. He emerged triumphant, every German regimental commander on the field having died in the fighting, leaving their less notable captains to manage the retreat.
The Imperial forces moved to siege Rome, while Marshall Lionello took Firenze from them. Further troops were being mobilized from all over the Empire. As I led the Alexandrian Legion through Venice, I dispatched a courier to the Emperor's court demanding the Dukedom of Spoleto for myself in exchange for ceasing hostilities. His pride forced him to refuse. And thus more men would die for our vanities.
The Italian Legion was ultimately routed, but not before dealing well more than their share of damage to the Imperial forces. Rome fell, but so did several more of the Emperor's cities in Italy. And every day the war drug on, more and more Imperial vassals revolted against their lord. The mighty Duke of Swabia joined the revolt, ripping several vital regiments away from the Imperial forces in Italy - which soon fell back to deal with the sieges Milan had laid upon two of the Emperor's northern cities.
The Spanish and Mauretanian Legions arrived in Rome in January of 1137, and the city was returned to African hands in a month. And with Rome liberated, I petitioned the Emperor again for the title we fought over. He surrendered it to me in short order. Our brief war had claimed tens of thousands of lives, and all for a title.
Ours was the Glory, and the Honor, and the Power. Amen.
For longer than I have reigned, the King of France and the Holy Roman Empire have fought wars in their realms, against one rebellious vassal or another. My own troops, the Spaniard regiments from Jaca and other Iberian lands, have joined the French crown in fighting his rebellious vassals. Thus it came to be that the County of Toulouse and Vermandois passed over to courtiers from my realm. We fought a brief war against the Duke of Sjaelland to preserve the Danish crown. There have been rebellions among the vassals of my vassals. But through it all there have been no major wars fought by Africa since the war against the Emir of Cyrenica.
That war was fought twenty years ago. The legacy of its swift and brutal execution, along with a dead Pope, bought my realm the peace that my Father so desired for it. Trade, learning, and even the peasants were flourishing across the realm. My marshall, my generals, and my sons were the only men not pleased with the state of affairs. My second son wished to be Duke of Spoleto, a logical title to accompany his landhold. Other nobles wished to turn on the newly arisen Kingdom of Aragon and consolidate our Iberian holdings. The Bishop of Skane called repeatedly for a crusade against Sweden and the pagans north and east of that land. All I truly wanted was to watch my grandchildren grow up.
It was the words of my eldest son, the Duke of Sicily, that finally moved me to action. He was always more of a fighter than a thinker, He threatened to lead a revolt and dethrone me if I did not go to war and earn the title Duke of Spoleto. While I'm confident that I would have won any such power struggle, a good King knows when to compromise.
I began my war by having the Pope excommunicate the Holy Roman Emperor. As if his current troubles holding his realm together were not serious enough for any lord to contend with, but as much as I might sympathize with his troubles, having seen them via my eldest or the Duchess of Alger, this was war, and any ally I can gain by any means is worth having.
Though it was during the war preparations that I discovered the distressing news that the Kingdom of Bohemia, once proud and a leader in the Crusade for Jerusalem, had been overrun by Muslim forces. Christendom was too busy with its own wars to intervene and set things right. And alas, such a war was not for me either. A land as far inland as Bohemia, surrounded by the German and Polish lords, would only invite trouble upon my realm. But as long as those Muslims were there, perhaps my son, or his son, would lead the crusade to free Bohemia from the heathens.
Soon after the war was declared, in February of 1136, my beloved died, leaving me alone to face the hardships and perils of this world. It was a dark auger for the war.
The Italian Legion, under Marshall Lionello, soon came into conflict with the first wave of the German army. Numbers were heavily on the German's side with over twenty thousand men to Marshell Lionello's thirteen thousand. He emerged triumphant, every German regimental commander on the field having died in the fighting, leaving their less notable captains to manage the retreat.
The Imperial forces moved to siege Rome, while Marshall Lionello took Firenze from them. Further troops were being mobilized from all over the Empire. As I led the Alexandrian Legion through Venice, I dispatched a courier to the Emperor's court demanding the Dukedom of Spoleto for myself in exchange for ceasing hostilities. His pride forced him to refuse. And thus more men would die for our vanities.
The Italian Legion was ultimately routed, but not before dealing well more than their share of damage to the Imperial forces. Rome fell, but so did several more of the Emperor's cities in Italy. And every day the war drug on, more and more Imperial vassals revolted against their lord. The mighty Duke of Swabia joined the revolt, ripping several vital regiments away from the Imperial forces in Italy - which soon fell back to deal with the sieges Milan had laid upon two of the Emperor's northern cities.
The Spanish and Mauretanian Legions arrived in Rome in January of 1137, and the city was returned to African hands in a month. And with Rome liberated, I petitioned the Emperor again for the title we fought over. He surrendered it to me in short order. Our brief war had claimed tens of thousands of lives, and all for a title.
Ours was the Glory, and the Honor, and the Power. Amen.