Interesting. I might downgrade my EU install to check out the map. I'm ambivalent on the succession method, the challenge idea sounds interesting but might get overly complicated.
(Forums appear to still do terribly during peak times, but we'll roll with it anyway.)
It is 1399 and the world is changing.
Vermandois is led by the Carolingian descendant Nicholas I, who contends with the shell of an empire stricken by Ducal revolts and power-hungry noble councils, and xenophobia. In the west decentralization and factionalism have led to a collection of fragmented states, despite the German emperor's recent bid for more power. Symeon I has recently proclaimed his confederation of Greek states as the true Byzantine successor state, despite the machinations of neighboring Greek and Slavic states. The once powerful nation of Sweden has collapsed into petty kingdoms, surrounded by decentralized and bankrupted neighbors. Only the decentralized Pagan Karelian Empire has managed to carve out a functioning state in the frozen steppe of Russia. In the East word spreads of a powerful Chinese empire, taking advantage of fractured Mongolian khanates. The powerful Muslim states of Morocco and Zenata split northern Africa with Christian Egypt.
A corrupt Papacy attempts to maintain control over the Catholic masses, but humanist thought is spreading from the universities in Italy and an entrepeneurial spirit engulfes the merchants and explorers of Europe...
The Frankish Mainland
In the early months of Nicholas' reign his tenuous hold on lands in central France slipped away. The prosperous realm of Aquitaine does not openly challenge the Frankish monarch, but opportunistically snatched up the rebellious vassals and now threatens to rival Vermandois in size and power. Nicholas' claim to the antiquated throne of Burgundy still gives him a tenuous link of the lands of Bourgogne to the south. But Franconian and French cultures are diverging, and links to the southern portion of Gallia may be slipping away.
By September 1399, Nicholas was confident enough in the stability of the realm to institute country-wide reforms increasing the authority of his representatives throughout the land. While much of the populace looked favorably on the centralization of powers over the preceeding years of petty wars and economic inefficiency, populations from the Burgundian minorities in the South reacted violently.
Claiming to be the true King of Burgundy, the rebel leader openly challenged Nicholas' authority and managed to muster an army a few thousand strong. Nicholas selected the prominent leader Eugéne de Donzy from among his sergeants and had him marshall forces to combat the threat. The Kapitelarmee harried the rebels in Champagne and eventually forced them north, where Franconian supporters helped thin the rebel numbers.
In order to completely eliminate an enemy army it often needs to be chased to neighboring provinces (potentially multiple times). An opposing army can only be eliminated through overwhelming numbers, defeating them when they have very low morale, or slaughtering the enemy to the last man in glorious combat.
General de Donzy assured the king of forthcoming victory, and trusting the general at his word Nicholas spent time with more civil affairs. He conversed with theologians, merchants, advisors and educated courtiers to examine the state of his realm within the world.
The merchants suggested that they could bring riches to the Frankish realm, so Nicholas paid for excursions to the Aquitanian trade center of Gascogne.
Advisors and courtiers argued before the king for which of them was best fit to help govern the realm. The king employed a recruiter to better manage the forces and a prominent artist also piqued Nicholas' interest.
For the third position, a theologian who advised the former king Johannes I stepped forward to proclaim his suitability in making sure the realm had the best understanding of modern theology, such as the position of the firmament in the sky and the expanses of the flat earth. The snickers of the court interrupted his tirade, and prominent natural scientist Henri Olbers felt obliged to educate the backwards cleric on the spherality of the world and the state of the country on God's Earth.
The fact that a 6 star natural scientist appeared with a name similar to a famous German astronomer is completely coincidental...but awesome
The Invasion of Brabant
Diplomacy-related meetings took up a significant portion of Nicholas' first years in office. Although the realm of Aquitaine battled with Occitans in the south, England and Scotland already feuded, and the heaten empire of Zenata had already diminished the crusader realm of Cyprus at Damascus. But the most harrowing news was of the Oriental War. A series of alliancs had pitted Poland-Lithuania, Baden and Bavaria against Brandenburg, Saxony, Prussia and the Bohemian emperor. The emperor had also found himself at war with Brabant.
Since Slavic masses would keep the Bohemian busy in the East, advisors suggested that Nicholas attempt to reclaim the province of Brabant and the historical lands surrounding the former Frankish capital at Aachen. After years of hearing his father moan about the nobles' fear of expansion and xenophobia this turn of events piqued Nicholas' interest. He immediately set about preparing an invasion force.
The Bohemian emperor pressed his attack on Brabant, as did Nicholas I's Frankish forces. By June 1401 de Donzy had managed to capture Brabant. September saw the capture of Maastricht in Limburg. Contending with the overwhelming Bohemian forces, Brabant willingly gave up the lands to the Franks in the hopes that the Bohemian emperor would be lenient.
The Holy Roman Empire
Emperor Heinrich I Gozdawa, King of Germany and Bohemia had recently used his rich possessions in the lowlands to finance political reform of the defunct Holy Roman Empire. The recent promulgation of the Golden Bull of 1398 has consolidated the Emperor's authority, but has relegated the Throne of Germany to an elected office. The Bohemian hopes to maintain control of the crown, but other German states vie for the title.
The Scottish throne had issued war taxes to combat the growing threat of the consolidating English states, but the Brandenburg nobles revolted against the one-sided aims of the Scottish king. The union of Brandenburg and Scotland had collapsed, leaving a powerful, independent Brandenburg. Bavaria's tenuous alliance with Bohemia has collapsed from the strongarm politics that brought about the Golden Bull. And Austria had maneuvered for independence from the Frankish Empire mere decades ago. All may prove viable candidates for the elected emperorship.
As it were, the Bohemian invasion of Brabant was too much for Heinrich I Gozdawa. His aspiration of forcing hereditary limits on the German throne passed away when he did, on January 23rd, 1402.
By 1405 de Dozny had passed away. The Flemish occupants of Brabant and Limburg sensed weakness and began to demand autonomy or a return to Brabant. A group of Flemish rebels soon formed and attacked the Frankish forces in Brügge.
Annexing a province that is not a core causes Nationalism (a type of Revolt Risk), which lasts for decades. Only holding the province for a significant portion of time can alleviate these revolts. If the rebels manage to capture the fort in a city they will increase the duration of nationalism by 10 years.
The Flemish army temporarily forced the occupiers out of Brabant and into neighboring Vlaanderen. Their quick capture of the fort at Brügge surprised the Frankish court, who were relegated to quickly levying troops to force out the rebels. Military agreements were passed with the trading state of Holland to ensure Vermandois' troops could pursue the rebel scum across national borders. Nationalism had rallied the Flemish populace, but a reinforced (albeit more expensive) army occupied the province.
The Importance of Trade
As part of his peace treaties during the Ducal Wars, Johannes I had been forced into the Dutch trade league out of Antwerpen. Although seemingly repressive at the treaty's signing, the compact proved mutually beneficial. Dutch and Frankish merchants began cooperating and built trading stations around Vermandois. This prompted greater interest in mercantile affairs throughout the Frankish kingdom.
Of course, other trade leagues vied for Vermandois' wealth of cloth, grain and wine. But the proximity of Antwerpen, and the treaty in place limited Frankish options. Recent reports from Italy claimed that the trading city of Liguria had become a more autocratic kingdom, and no longer cared for the backhanded dealings of a merchant republic.
Trade league are a means of putting all of a country's production goods through one center of trade. Members of trade leagues get bonuses to merchant competitiveness and compete chance (and are less likely to compete away others in the league). In the early game this greatly benefits you as your merchants can compete in league COTs better and your trade is more centralized. Eventually trade leagues fall apart (like they historically did) when trade technology advances to allow monopolies, as being part of a trade league makes it impossible to break a monopoly.
Trade centers give some pretty massive income, population and trade bonuses, so they're fairly important.
By March of 1406 the state of the realm had improved substantially - to the point that the nobles began demanding better compensation from the state. Rather than risk lower stability across the realm, Nicholas proffered gifts from the treasury. Unfortunately, this threatened to send the kingdom into debt, as the large number of nobles required a significant portion of recently collected taxes.
Budget allocations to the military were slashed and the treasury began minting an inordinate number of ducats to cover the shortfall.
On August 23rd, 1406 the nobles of the realm invoked the Magna Carta signed under Nicholas I's father Johannes I. With the mutual understanding that led to the war with Brabant and the capture of Brabant and Limburg, Nicholas was willing to grant the noble's the chance to parley on national policy.
The nobles debated between directions for the country:
A model similar to that used in Vermandois in decades passed - focusing on decentralized vassalage and controlling the peasantry.
A more theocratic model in contrast to Henri Olber's recent speech against the theologian in the court.
A more mercantile model on par with Vermandois' Dutch rival to the north.
A centralized model with a stronger government oriented towards protecting the homeland.
Many of the nobles saw the execution of the Magna Carta as a confirmation of their historical right to autonomy with loose ties to a liege. The general consensus was to adopt more feudalistic policies for the government.
This is the beginning of the Carolingian Governance series of events. It's likely best to watch the Government tab for slider changes when these happen, although the first one here has much less control than later ones).
The parley's decision was infuriating for Nicholas. It virtually erased the progress he had made since his father's death years ago. In order to consoldiate his own power, he mandated that government officials better manage the province of Vermandois. He instituted land enclosures - discarding the antiquated system of common land in favor of better tax management and deterring the peasantry from using the king's land. He also ordered a census of Vermandois, which found that many peasants and burghers had moved to the province's capital city.
By the beginning of 1410 Nicholas' advisors had formed a consensus that the state was aimless and needed more dedicated goals to better ensure the centralization of the state and Frankish dominance over the neighboring realms. They clamored for the adoption of a National Idea to drive the country forward...
Information on the National Ideas can be found a few posts back, or in post #4 of this thread. Feel free to way in on our means of determining successors, too (and mention if you'd like a turn).
Nice to see this picking back up. I'll have to confirm that my version of EU3 will run this (probably should be fine, if I'm reading correctly), but assuming that it works, I'll happily sign up for turn at some point.
And I'm taking the copout vote of National Bank. If we're minting to make up for what the nobles aren't paying us any more, we'll need to find a way to cut inflation.
Most of BUR/CRL-related decisions are related to artsy type things. Unfortunately cultural tradition usually isn't too hard to come by, so the CT requirements probably won't be much of a challenge to meet (but we would get to spend officials on censuses and road networks instead of random festivals).
I'd recommend people choose Ideas they want based on where they think the country should go, rather than what is 'best' for the country. If you want us to have a chance at becoming an enlightened despotism at some point we'll need at least one humanist idea. And if you want us to be early colonizers we'll need colonial ideas (most preferably QFTNW, which we can't pick yet).
But if sliders and the state of our realm on January 1st, 1410 is of interest:
Henri Olbers is a beast; dude is like the Isaac Newton of our realm. Also yes, I still have an artist because I keep getting shafted with stability drop events. Also also, the maintenance drop was an emergency measure, but I left it there for the last 3 years to afford a boat.
I was considering intervening on Scotland's behalf against England, but by the time I noticed they were in trouble they had already lost the war and England has a crapload of Carracks (...e.g about 15 to our 5). Which is why I just blew 2 years of savings buying 1 Carrack. Apparently "Defender of the Faith" means "beat the crap out of other Catholics." Jerks.
I vote [strike]Press Gangs[/strike] Grand Navy, so that we can aim to control the lands and the seas. And harass the evil English.
I'd recommend people pick 3 or 5-ish National Ideas to help avoid stopping the game every few years for a vote. That way we can just cull the 3 most popular options each time - basically pick our ideas a century at a time.
Also, I retract my Press Gangs choice. I believe we should be more enlightened and not reduced to impressing our populace into military service. So I will vote for
Grand Navy (since we have limited coastal provinces and are already near our naval forcelimits) Grand Army (because it's grand, you see) Military Drill (nothing says "we will destroy you" like an army of hardened, battle-ready soldiers) Bureaucracy (to combat small government! Also money.) National Bank (to combat inflation)
Merchant Adventures (Because money) Espionage (Because spies are awesome) Military Drill (All the better to crush our enemies) Grand Navy (Big fleets are nice to have) National Bank (Can never go too far wrong with this)
Votes: Patron of the Arts - Let's start a cultural revolution National Bank - Inflation is bad National Trade Policy - Money is good Bureaucracy - We need a strong, efficient government Military Drill - I anticipate plenty of need for trained troops
Patron of the Arts - need a middle class of artists and thinkers Bureaucracy - Need to establish a strong tradition of government Merchant Adventures - more middle class creation
enlightenedbum on
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
Looks like a lot of love for Bureaucracy and Patron of (the) Arts so far, with Military Drill and National Bank filling out the backend.
I'll also note again that we could use people signing up for succession slots.
Then we can just use challenges for people who want to earn some additional in-game content in the future (e.g. king names, province names, events related to your success).
I'll take a turn when needed, if nobody else will volunteer. I took two turns in CK though, so I'm happy to be at the back of the queue behind newcomers to get some fresh blood into this
I'm defintely up for playing a turn - I've just never played this particular game before, so I want to get some practice time under my belt before taking over (e.g., I should have a general idea what all the sliders do before I start moving them).
We'll see how the votes tally up tomorrow and then continue on our mighty quest to [strike]rescue the princess![/strike]...[strike]save the world[/strike]... unite an ancient empire!
Well, voting is somewhat awkwardly tallied (differences pre and post idea changes and the like make it a bit strange). The first idea looks like it'll be Bureaucracy.
5 - Bureaucracy
4 - National Bank [weighted tie breaker]
4 - Military Drill
3 - Patron of the Arts [weighted tie breaker]
3 - National Trade Policy
Based on weighted votees for tie-breakers, National Bank is the runner up at the moment with Military Drill close behind. If you voted before the idea changes I used the votes for weighting but not as actual tallies.
Feel free to vote if you haven't. I'm sure that through some magic of vote weighting and [strike]manipulating the numbers[/i] statistical magic we can apply those votes to the other ideas for this century. The next idea comes in around 1455. I'm sure Nicholas will be dead by then.
The Flemish of Brabant are not fans of occupational forces. At this rate Brügge will be a ghost town in 15 years. Bids for the Burgundian lands to the South go East. The government formalizes its positions and Vermandois intervenes in some affairs abroad.
At the behest of the nobles - fearing a very inefficient government - the Vermandois' parliament introduced a series of national policies designed to recruit experienced personnel. Legislation then delineated government officials' duties and authority. Power would be concentrated with these appointed officials in the Vermandois' Bureaucracy.
Formalizing the Government
On April 2nd a large step in the formalization of the national parley took place. The attendees began to organize themselves based on qualities of wealth and noble rank.
The validity of the Magna Carta has been upheld. While the original document delegated authority solely to the dukes of the realm, the intervening years have expanded membership and factionalism.
Majority power still remains with the Lehnsherren, which comprises the wealthy high-ranking nobles of the disappearing feudal era. Dukes, counts and the wealthiest margraves join their ranks. On secular matters the Geistlichen, the high clergy - including archbishops and cardinals - also follow the conservative leanings of the Lehnsherren.
The Juncherren were originally lower nobles granted admittance to the parley as the knights and noble sergeants of the dukes during the Ducal Wars. As the age of exploration and merchant adventures continue to strip wealth from the older high nobility in favor of a growing middle class, the Juncherren grow in power. Urbanization and a burgeoning middle class have also increased the number of Burghers in the land, many of whom have gained power through administrative duty instead of nobility.
At the moment the Lehnsherren monopolize power and direct the affairs of the state with Nicholas I leading the parley.
Later in 1410, the eminent court natural scienist Henri Olbers published his treatise De stellae caeli (On the stars in the heavens). Once again proving his value to the enlightenment of the court. Nicholas I boasted of his scientist's exploits to any foreign dignitaries that visited the royal palace.
By 1411 Nicholas once again felt confident in his ability to exert authority over the realm and made a bid for greater centralization of the government. Once again the Burgundian minority in Champagne revolted. The Flemish in Brabant - not content to ever sit out a good revolt - also raised an army.
Despite revolts the state of the realm was in excellent shape. Stability was high and Nicholas' bold actions impressed a vast majority of the noble Lehnsherren and the more populist Juncherren. The parliament found itself content to follow Nicholas' lead on policy matters.
Perhaps they were contented by the completion of a new carrack for the fleet. His majesty's Herbert IV sailed out of Vlaanderen to meet with the main fleet in Picardie.
The Second and Third Flemish Revolts
But despite the parliament's confidence in Nicholas I, the revolters were causing trouble. Maintenance cutbacks had sapped military morale. The sad state of the men allowed the Flemish rebels to force a retreat near Brügge, and the nationalists occupied Brabant. Since the main army was occupied longer than expected in Brabant, the Burgundian particularists in Champagne were able to overwhelm the garrison at the fort outside of Reims.
Things began to turn around in early March of 1412. Nicholas hired one of the duke's prominent leaders, Pierre de Rochebaron. Rochebaron proved to be a subpar commander, but a substantial levy of soldiers and persistent attack allowed the Frankish army to eventually displace the brunt of the Flemish forces.
The soldiers fled to Antwerpen, where they were intercepted by a joint Dutch-Frankish force. The army quickly headed south and manhandled the disorganized Burgundian rebels.
The cooperative action at Antwerpen and consistently positive diplomatic relations led Nicholas to offer the neighboring Dutch merchant republic an alliance. They would prove useful allies even within the next few years.
However, the Flemish rebels - threatened by the oppression of an alliance between the two nations that had destroyed their parent country of Brabant - once again rebelled. This time de Rochebaron was ready with a sizable force outside of Brügge.
The rebels were massacred to the last man.
War Sideways
With the realm once again secure, Nicholas set his sights on lands abroad.
With the Crown of Burgundy in hand (or atop his head - one can never be sure), Nicholas I de Vermandois set up a diplomatic appointment with Louis IV de Donzy of Bourgogne - the pretender kingdom of Burgundy. Nicholas' demands of his rightful lands in Bourgogne were rebuked with threats of involving the Emperor, the federation of minor French nations, and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Nicholas had enough of Louis' disingenous assertions and bellicose attitude. The tête-à-tête was immediately ended. A declaration of war followed within days. Nicholas sent diplomatic dispatches to his recent Dutch allies, who confirmed their support of the war - come hell or Holy Roman Emperor.
The ordeal brought Vermandois (and their vassal of Hainaut) and Holland against the belligerent alliance of Luxembourg, Bourgogne (their vassal Auvergne), and the Emperor (leading Brandenburg). Nicholas had hoped that at least some allies would abandon the false Burgundian, but was forced into confrontation with potentially overwhelming numbers. To the benefit of Nicholas, Bourgogne found itself at war with Orleanais. To help finance the war Nicholas levied taxes to finance new regiments.
A moderate force of 6,000 men went south to occupy Burgundian Nevers. Enemy troops entered Frankish lands and began to lay waste to towns in Nemours and Burgundian forces invaded Champagne. The Kapitelarmee stationed in Brabant to subdue the Flemish rebels was immediately called south in a bid to intercept the Luxembourgish army in Liege. Luxembourg's forces managed to reach Valenciennes, and the 19,000 strong Frankish army relegated itself to sieging Liége.
The auxiliary army at Limburg was called in to siege the unoccupied capital of Luxembourg. Seeing the nearby strife, Köln intervened against her hated enemies to the west and aided the Frankish forces surrounding city. Vermandois' allies to the North fought valiantly against the Emperor's tyranny. They stalled Brandenburg's forces at Friesland for many months, before they were forced to disband their bloodied main army.
Poor uniform quality drained the morale of the men (and would probably be a precursor to even more rampant corruption in the centuries to come), but Vermandois managed to occupy Nevers, while Bourgogne occupied Champagne. With Brandenburg momentarily bogged down in Friesland, Vermandois gambled to assault the fortress at Lüttich in Liege and Luxembourg. The fortress were captured with moderate losses, and the surrounding countryside was occupied.
With such a stunning display of force, the leader of the belligerent alliance - Luxembourg - sent out peace terms. While Nicholas' aims of reoccupying his rightful Burgundian lands went to the wayside, the sad state of the Dutch to the north and the overwhelming numbers of Brandenburg's armies prompted the monarch to accept the peace deal.
Liége was granted to Vermandois.
Stability and International Affairs
With the realm once again at peace Nicholas reviewed the court advisors. Henri Olbers was a shoo-in, but some accrued debt and the poor state of military technology compared to Vermandois' neighbors required a reassessment of the country's direction.
Vermandois remained at peace with her neighbors into the following years. Denmark managed to reclaim her boundaries from years earlier. Brandenburg - holding the Emperorship - managed to reclaim Neumark from the Polish, who were contending with widespread peasant uprisings and a war with Bohemia. The Venetian Trade league snatched up Genoa's former trading realm and Novogorod began to send out more trade compacts with the Russian minors. The aristocrats in Kandalaksha - the capital of Karelia - had recently converted to Orthodox and the oppression of the widespread Finnish Paganism had begun.
More close to home, the growing state of Aquitaine offered an alliance to Vermandois, which was accepted in the hopes of countering Bourgogne's expansionist policies.
The following years were filled with expansion of trade stations in the realm and the enactment of land reform in various provinces, as well as a census of the province of Vermandois. The population of Compiègne (in Vermandois) threatens to overtake Paris' (in Ile-de-France). Nicholas also attempted to annex Hainaut, but the duke was reluctant to agree.
England once again attacked the peaceful Scots to the north. In order to assist against the tyrannical English, Nicholas financed some backroom support for the Scottish armies. Substantial war subsidies were sent to Scotland to help combat English agression.
The world is once again on the brink of war. Nicholas' truce with Bourgogne is set to expire within the year.
A series of great alliances once again imperils the East as Poland and Bavaria are poised to attack Brandenburg, Austria and Bohemia. Nicholas' truce with Bourgogne is set to expire within the year. And war once again ravages the Scottish countryside.
So much for Karelian paganism. Looks like we'll end up with an orthodox Russia anyway. The alliance with Aquitaine is good news, between us we hold most of France.
For the mod update: I hadn't post a link yet because I'm hoping to correct minor things that still appear. As it is I've caught about 3 localization typos and a misplaced flag that fired an event that shouldn't have fired (and made me correct it and revert 2 months back). I'll put up the current version in my first post on the first page (the 4th post in the thread); otherwise here's the current version I'm running with.
I would recommend saving often; feel free to report anything abnormal to me and I can look into fixing it. Modest playtesting can't catch everything.
Karelian conversion got 'lucky' early. The event has a base 200 year MTTH. Some of the provinces are not particularly happy about the change.
I believe that was Northumberland helping England invade Scotland. Despite my subsidies it did not end particularly well for the Scottish.
1420-1430: A little bit more conquering. A national hero dies. A monarch seems to just keep on living.
The treaty with Bourgogne was set to expire in months. With the sting of Louis IV's rebuke to Nicholas' rightful claims still fresh, the Frankish generals prepared an attack. Belligerent as they were, Bourgogne - with tenuous allies in northern Italy - had attacked Vermandois' ally, Aquitaine.
Not yet willing to commit to a large scale conflict in the Mediterranean and bound by a peace treaty with Bourgogne, Nicholas abstained from Erbart I's offer to join the war. Vermandois' did, however, begin to mass troops on its southern border.
Months later in August the treaty had expired and intentions of war were delivered south. But Nicholas' diplomats were intercepted by an envoy from the Holy Roman Emperor, who intended to intercede on belligerent Bourgogne's behalf. Vermandois' stalwart allies to the north in Holland readily took up the mantle of justice and camraderie.
The Frankish occupational forces moved quickly across the border. Louis IV - warmongerer that he was - was still bogged down amongst the honorable soldiers of Aquitaine. Frankish forces were quickly able to march into of Nevers and Bourgogne proper. The Frankish reserve force had to contend with a quick-moving force from Orleanais, and had to leave the northern flank open to help protect Paris.
Fortunately, Dutch allies intercepted the Emperor's initial 9,000 man army with their own significant force of 18,000 men near Hannover. Brandenburg quickly shuffled in reinforcements from Ruppin and nearby Magdeburg.
But Bourgogne's forces were spread too thin over Aquitaine, and Nicholas was able to encourage Louis IV to recognize his claims to the lands of Upper Burgundy in Nevers and Burgogne. He also insisted that one of the Frankish nobles with claims to lands near Auvergne be installed as the new Duke of Auvergne.
With the southern front closed, Nicholas immediately rendered assistance to Aquitaine, which now found itself also at war with Egypt and Castille. The surreptitiously provided funds were designed to allow Aquitaine to continue harrying Bourgogne in Bourbon.
Despite Dutch resistance to the North, eventually the overwhelming wave of Brandenburgian soldiers poured through the German lines near Limburg. The Flemish rebels - bled dry through constant revolts - could not muster an army to assist the invaders, but Brandenburg had no trouble beiseging Brussels in Brabant and Liége by itself.
Vermandois' brought almost all the manpower it could bear to turn back the wall of invaders. With conflicts erupting in Pommerania and Poland the emperor settled for a white peace and giving Nicholas a stern talking to about not violating the sovereignty of fellow states in the empire - no longer how beliigerent and annoying they may be.
Recent tactical discoveries involving longbows and better armored infantry were immediately implemented at war's end.
Our land technology advanced to the point that we could select Men at Arms or Longbowmen (in the middle of the war) as our preferred infantry unit. Unfortunately, switching mid-war will drop morale for any unit that is upgrading to 0, so it's best done at peace.
Officially Owner and Other Occupations
While the Crown of Burgundy granted Nicholas I authority over Upper Burgundy to the south, it did not give him complete sovereignty over the Burgundian people. When revolts erupted throughout southern France, the Burgundian population of Nevers was among the revolters.
With a substantial portion of the lands of the Burgundian Crown restored, Nicholas once again set about improving the centralization and defensiveness of the realm - although cost-saving measures necessitated disbanding many of the additional regiments raised to combat the German emperor.
One could say that if the emperor had taken more care of core German states, Bohemia would not have annexed Thuringia and Saxony.
In the East the Polish monarch Wladyslaw II was excommunicated by the pope. But the massive Polish Empire seemed capable of withstanding the horde of Bohemian, Brandenburgian and Pommeranian soldiers. Wars between Crete and Illyria and the Byzantine Empire saw Byzantium successful and able to recover portions of the Asia Minor coast.
'
In the frozen North Karelia had begun to besiege the merchant traders of Novgorod. The Swedish kingdoms exchanged occasional insults. Rebels siezed control of a substantial portion of Norway - including in Iceland, where Icelandic nobles proclaimed an independent government.
Realm at Peace
But idle hands are the devil's plaything. Soon scandal over the occupation of Nevers shook the Frankish court and threatened Nicholas' reputation, so the blame was shifted to some lower court officials.
Money saving efforts were undertaken to prepare loan repayments from the conquest of Upper Burgundy.
Then on an overcast Sunday in December 1427 a terrible event struck the realm. Man of the people, man of knowledge - Henri Olbers passed away, leaving a great void in the Frankish court.
Vermandois' still remained far ahead of her competitors in the realm of scientific thought and inventiveness, but that lead would surely shrink in the future. A spectacular class of graduates left the university in Brussels New Years Eve, but none seemed on par with Olbers, though they would surely prove valuable in the administration.
Cost-saving measures throughout the year allowed Vermandois to repay the last of its loans from the Reconquest of Bourgogne.
Mere months later another terrible atrocity struck the realm (one might begin to yearn for the days of widespread war with all these calamities). The tomb of Michael I outside the capital was violated by vile graverobbers, who inadvertently unleashed a plague upon the capital.
This is one of the persistence events that can fire. Hooray for Michael and his plague-ridden corpse!
Prelude to War
Holland had intervened in Aquitaine's affairs, and temporarily withdrew from the Frankish-Dutch alliance. At the beginning of 1429 the alliance was renewed and Vermandois was pushed to intercede in the south.
For nearly a decade Egyptian fanatics had run rampant in Southern France, aided by their despicable Castilian allies. In order to aid their friendly neighbors the Frankish king soon decided to intervene on Aquitaine and Holland's behalf.
Languedoc, Egypt, and Castile engaged the might of Holland, Vermandois and Hainaut. This would begin a grueling exercise in uncertain, violent and bloody war.
By 1430 the war was well underway and massive armies marched across southern France to engage eachother near Languedoc. Dutch armies landed at Alexandria to try to put down the Egyptian fanatics in their homeland.
This actually puts us about where the initial CK setup had us (before a replacement Burgundy got Bourgogne and Franche-Comte). But I'm much more interested in holding Limburg/Liege (Aachen) that invading all sorts of people.
Also the lack of an announcement for Karelia's switch to Orthodoxy prompted me to add in events that function as announcements whenever a major new nation is formed (e.g. if Aquitaine manages to form Occitania or someone manages to form Sweden or the Spanish minors get their act together and make Spain). I don't think there are any other events that might warrant an announcement.
Tentative succession list is:
1. Phyphor
2. Elevenshae
3. Zedar
Let me know if I missed someone/this doesn't work for you/you want a spot.
1430-1440: War - what is it good for? Absolutely nothing...
...if you judge the value of your country solely on the number of provinces it owns.
The Mediterranean War lasts nearly seven years and results in no change to Vermandois' physical holdings, but provides additional vassals and promotes León to the prominent (if somewhat displaced) kingdom on the Iberian peninsula. Franks plunder the crap out of Castile's treasury. Holland and Vermandois enjoy quality partnerships, and Aquitaine is less burdened by Egyptian reverse-crusade pressure.
Sure over 25,000 Frankish men were lost, but it's a small price to pay for regional stability and oodles and oodles of [strike]noodles[/strike] prestige.
Egypt and Castile sought to control the Mediterranean sea and impose harsh fanatical dogma upon the secularizing masses of mainland Europe. In many ways the Mediterranean War was a Civil War between Carolingian decendants. Until recent trouble brought the downfall of the dynasty, Castile had been ruled by Fadrique I de Vermandois, a 2nd cousin of Nicholas I.
Harkening back centuries to the Frankish crusades in the 12th Century, Egypt was ruled by a distant branch of Carolingian ancestors, contemporarily referred to as the de Vermandois-Outremer dynasty. Their association with Southern France lent their Levantine culture a closer association with the French culture of Southern Gallia than the Franks of Vermandois in the North. With a strengthening Papacy and a sect of powerful heretics in Septimania, the Egyptian fanatics once again launched a crusade - this time against mainland Europe and the Cathari of Southern France.
By the 1420s they had captured Rousillon and vassalized Languedoc - the nucleus of Cathari religious fervor. By 1430 they had turned against the honorable Catholics of Aquitaine, and Nicholas and his Dutch allies found this unacceptable.
The Mediterranean War
Nicholas I appointed a well-kwown military commander of the Bourgogne Reconquest to lead the main army - Eudes van Atrecht - skilled with cavalry and siege tactics. With recent defeats in the region of Languedoc, van Atrect was sent to reinforce the Frankish military.
With a clever feint attack near Perpignan in Rousillon, van Atrect captured Montpellier from a token force of Languedoc's soldiers. Dutch forces under Pieter Overijssel mounted a valiant attack in the hills of Rousillon. But van Atrecht was unable to reinforce them in time to drive the Egyptians out before Castile's reinforcements arrived.
By mid-1430 joint Castilian-Egyptian fanatics had engaged the pretigious Frankish army in Languedoc once again. Van Atrecht mounted a stalwart defense facing an army twice the size of the Frankish forces, but persistent Spanish attack eventually drove him to abandon his position and retreat to neutral Toulouse.
In order to draw off the multitude of Castilian regiments, the Murcian Feint was concocted. Using Dutch naval support (which kept the Castilian navy in port), the modest Frankish navy would transport a sizable force to Southern Castile in order to occupy territory and open a new staging area.
Unfortunately, the Frankish marshall underestimated the manpower of the Castilian military. Although the army was able to besiege Murcia, soon tens of thousands of Castilians poured down upon them.
Their valiant sacrifice was not without benefit. The Castilians had temporarily pulled their forces out of Septimania, allowing van Atrect to fully occupy the major towns in Languedoc and garrison them with Frankish loyalists.
The Dutch subsequently used their navy to mount an attack on the Egyptian homeland. For months the Dutch army marched across Lower Egypt unchecked, sacking Alexandria and Cairo.
Without support from their Spanish allies the backward Egyptian fanatics had trouble matching van Atrect man-for-man. Eventually van Atrecht split the army and managed to encircle and eliminate the Egyptians in Rousillon.
The war with Aquitaine had been bleeding Castile and Egypt dry; Vermandois' timely intervention had caught them in a weak position - despite their superior numbers. The Egyptians placated the Dutch with promises of money and political support, and soon the Dutch forces left Egypt - smoldering and bloodied as it was.
But the heavy drain on manpower and the lack of the people's continued resolve could not reversed so easily.
Dutch intervention in Egypt and the Murcian Feint had turned the tide of war against Castile and Egypt.
Van Atrecht had transformed the Frankish military into a most impressive force. Foreign dignitaries complimented Nicholas I on the superior marching step and uniform quality of his army. The horses, too, seemed exceptionally healthy.
Treaties with Nicholas' 3rd cousin Alfons VI of Catalunya permitted Vermandois to march her forces through Barcelona and Aragon. Nicholas utilized mercenaries to harass the Castilians at Valencia, while van Atrecht's main force slowly rolled southward across Navarre. In order to circle behind the Castilian forces van Atrecht utilized this new treaty and attacked the retreating Castilian army at Madrid.
Soon the Spanish forces were exhausted and defeated at Toledo, allowing van Atrecht to plunder and occupy much of Castile with impunity. By December of 1436 the Castilian monarchy had fallen and a regency council had selected a new noble to lead the country. The council also agreed to relinquish the throne of Navarre, which Nicholas granted to a supporter in Vizcaya to form the Kingdom of Navarra.
The Egyptians, still unable to muster an assault on mainland Europe after over a decade of war capitulated, and agreed to relinquish Rousillon, which Nicholas then granted to Aquitaine for a modest sum.
War Profiteering
The sack of wealthy Castilian cities, and massive war settlements had given Vermandois a sizable fortune. Nicholas set this aside to slowly control the nation's money supply, which had spiraled into sizable inflation during the war (if we can call 0.8 sizable inflation).
With a sizable military force on hand and peace in the future, Nicholas also made another bid to further centralize the state, which did not sit well with some outlying provinces.
Soon the glory days of peacefulness were at hand. Nicholas' advisor Grünewaldt managed to complete a prominent treatise of philisophical matters. Unfortunately, aspirin will not be discovered for another few centuries, so he'll just have to contend with his perpetual headache.
The Pope canonized one of Nicholas' ancestors. This ancestor gets to joint the vaunted Saint Henri I as a very prestigious ancestor recognized throughout all of Catholicism.
Abroad Holland continued their expansion, occupyiing Gelre. Svealand finally began making headway in the Swedish succession, annexing Jämtland and portions of Dalecarlia. Sicily also fought back against the Kingdom of Naples, which had been greatly weakened by Morocco's conquest of her African holdings. Morocco - aside from taking Naples' African provinces - annexed Algeria to become the only major Muslim nation in North Africa.
Aquitaine used the acquisition of Rousillon as a sign from the Lord and began further conquests of southern Gallia - as well as occupying Norman Caux on the English Channel.
In 1431 the Brandenburgian monarch had died and the electors selected Jindrich II Fridrich to be Emperor. This not only returned the crown to Bohemia, but would prove to be a point of contention in the future, as by 1440 the Bohemian had annexed Thuringia and begun expansion westward and southward, without doing much to thwart the excommunicated, expansionist Polish monarch to the East.
1440-1443: War and Death
War in the Rhineland
The Dutch periodically engaged in warfare abroad - harassing Scotland and small principalities in Northern Germany. Nicholas was content to allow them to exercise their desires over the North sea areas. However, Elsass challenged Dutch authority, and had recently expanded through claims on Breisgau and Baden.
Sensing a need to defend the Frankish political sphere, Nicholas coordinated with the Dutch to curb Alsatian expansion in the Rhineland. In September of 1440 the Dutch pressed their attack. The Alsatians had supported the Bohemian king's grandfather in efforts to institute the Golden Bull of 1398, and so the Bohemian Emperor was very much willing to come to Elsass' aid.
Shortly thereafter, Nicholas declared war on Elsass and also received a declaration of war from the Emperor.
The allegorical and literal Battle of Worms opened the war in the Rhineland. It took place in November of 1440, and proved van Atrecht's capabilities once again. In a battle of 13,000 men to 11,000 the Franks came away the definitive victors and soon occupied Worms.
Bohemian soldiers poured through the Lowlands and attacked Brussels and Lüttich. The Frankish reserve army was forced to retreat to allied Hainaut while waiting for reinforcements from the south.
Van Atrecht pushed hard through the Rhineland and forced the Alsatian Duke to reinstate the disenfranchised nobles of Baden and Breisgau.
The army quickly moved north to stamp out Köln's interference. Soon the German archbishop was swearing fealty to Nicholas. But by that time the vile Bohemian had sacked Lüttich and was moving into the Hennegau. The Hainauters mounted a defense with the Frankish reserve army, but they were defeated.
But days later - with the Bohemian army still bloodied - van Atrecht arrived from the South. The wave of Bohemian soldiers skirmished for months with the Frankish army, but length supply lines and local attrition eventually whittled their forces down to 10,000 men. Van Atrecht focused on their heavy cavalry - elite soldiers, but also a source of emergency food for the force. With his cavalry numbers dwindling, the Bohemian commander reluctantly retreated westward Liége and captured Lüttich.
By then the Frankish reserves had taken up positions in the Liégian countryside. The moment the Bohemian marching column came into view the Frankish cavalry charged - unchecked by the - now non-existent - Bohemian cavalry. The Bohemians surrendered within hours.
Weeks later the Frankish army recaptured Lüttich from the Bohemian fort garrison. With the Frankish homelands once again secured, and Bohemia apparently busy with Brandenburg and Pommerania to the West, Nicholas commanded van Atrecht to move against the Bohemia homeland.
Vermandois' forces began to siege areas of Thuringia.
They were soon met with Thuringian nobles, who insisted on claiming their homelands themselves. To this van Atrecht was not opposed. He marched southward to the formerly Bavarian lands of Bamberg.
By the summer of 1443 word had come of Brandenburg's capitulation to Bohemia. Word came of hordes of Bohemian soldiers heading south.
But by this time Nicholas had become gravely ill. Military duties were slowly transitioning to his soon Isaac.
In October of 1443 Nicholas - ruler of Vermandois for over 44 years - died in his bed at the age of 64.
Feel free to comment on who you think should be canonized. It seems like Jordan, Centule and Bjorn are the big crusading types.
Also Zenata has apparently been fighting Ming. I'm not sure if this is a good or a terrible, terrible sign.
Hopefully Nicholas is not a vampire, because it seems like my Photobucket account will die before he does. And no need to worry Elvenshae - even if you happen to do terribly it will still benefit the narrative.
Apparently Nicholas' immortality was less permanent than we may have been led to believe. Phyphor has ...an interesting situation ahead. Isaac is 43 or 44 at the time of succession, I think. The heir at the moment is Louis, who's 21.
(Save file's away; I'll get an update of the last few years in about 15 hours after I sleep and work).
The link on the first page is updated, but you can also download v1.0 here. Hopefully the LP is out of my hands for 350 years.
[edit] Ah, yes - Egypt. They likely decided to attack southern France because they share a culture group and had guaranteed Languedoc (and subsequently conquered Rousillon from Catalunya). I think their actual mission target at the moment is Tripoli. [/edit]
What year was this? If you could just add those to your previous post so I don't have to link in that little post just for him to die it would make the second post cleaner.
enlightenedbum on
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
1440-1443: War and Death
(I'll append my above post with this same stuff so you won't have to link another in the OP)
The Dutch periodically engaged in warfare abroad - harassing Scotland and small principalities in Northern Germany. Nicholas was content to allow them to exercise their desires over the North sea areas. However, Elsass challenged Dutch authority, and had recently expanded through claims on Breisgau and Baden.
Sensing a need to defend the Frankish political sphere, Nicholas coordinated with the Dutch to curb Alsatian expansion in the Rhineland. In September of 1440 the Dutch pressed their attack. The Alsatians had supported the Bohemian king's grandfather in efforts to institute the Golden Bull of 1398, and so the Bohemian Emperor was very much willing to come to Elsass' aid.
Shortly thereafter, Nicholas declared war on Elsass and also received a declaration of war from the Emperor.
The allegorical and literal Battle of Worms opened the war in the Rhineland. It took place in November of 1440, and proved van Atrecht's capabilities once again. In a battle of 13,000 men to 11,000 the Franks came away the definitive victors and soon occupied Worms.
Bohemian soldiers poured through the Lowlands and attacked Brussels and Lüttich. The Frankish reserve army was forced to retreat to allied Hainaut while waiting for reinforcements from the south.
Van Atrecht pushed hard through the Rhineland and forced the Alsatian Duke to reinstate the disenfranchised nobles of Baden and Breisgau.
The army quickly moved north to stamp out Köln's interference. Soon the German archbishop was swearing fealty to Nicholas. But by that time the vile Bohemian had sacked Lüttich and was moving into the Hennegau. The Hainauters mounted a defense with the Frankish reserve army, but they were defeated.
But days later - with the Bohemian army still bloodied - van Atrecht arrived from the South. The wave of Bohemian soldiers skirmished for months with the Frankish army, but length supply lines and local attrition eventually whittled their forces down to 10,000 men. Van Atrecht focused on their heavy cavalry - elite soldiers, but also a source of emergency food for the force. With his cavalry numbers dwindling, the Bohemian commander reluctantly retreated westward Liége and captured Lüttich.
By then the Frankish reserves had taken up positions in the Liégian countryside. The moment the Bohemian marching column came into view the Frankish cavalry charged - unchecked by the - now non-existent - Bohemian cavalry. The Bohemians surrendered within hours.
Weeks later the Frankish army recaptured Lüttich from the Bohemian fort garrison. With the Frankish homelands once again secured, and Bohemia apparently busy with Brandenburg and Pommerania to the West, Nicholas commanded van Atrecht to move against the Bohemia homeland.
Vermandois' forces began to siege areas of Thuringia.
They were soon met with Thuringian nobles, who insisted on claiming their homelands themselves. To this van Atrecht was not opposed. He marched southward to the formerly Bavarian lands of Bamberg.
By the summer of 1443 word had come of Brandenburg's capitulation to Bohemia. Word came of hordes of Bohemian soldiers heading south.
But by this time Nicholas had become gravely ill. Military duties were slowly transitioning to his soon Isaac.
In October of 1443 Nicholas - ruler of Vermandois for over 44 years - died in his bed at the age of 64.
National Bank and Military Drill were the next NIs in line for the 1400s. The voting for ideas had
5 - Bureaucracy
4 - National Bank [weighted tie breaker]
4 - Military Drill
3 - Patron of the Arts [weighted tie breaker]
3 - National Trade Policy
Unless we don't want to vote by century. I just figured voting 2 or 3 at a time instead of for every one would be easiest. Although feel free to deviate if it seems easier to vote any time a new one is unlocked.
National Ideas based on approximate government tech years:
1410
1455
1485
1518
1565
1610
1655
1690
1730
1765
1803
1811
Feel free to comment on who you think should be canonized. It seems like Jordan, Centule and Bjorn are the big crusading types.
Not that it matters except for flavor, but I've gotta go with Bjorn - retaking Rome from Muslim hands and pushing the heathens off the Italian peninsula for good puts him over the top. Besides, I'm sort of amused by the idea of a "St. Bjorn's Day".
We're also going to need another national idea vote, but this time with Quest for the New World as I'll have 11 gov / 11 trade (if we want it) in a year or two
With his father's death, Isaac was left to continue he father's war with the Emperor. Being badly outnumbered, both in Bamberg and overall, it was imperative that he retreat and regroup his forces, creating a new plan as taking the war to Bohemia at this time appears to have backfired substantially.
Additionally, seeing little reason to try to annex Hainaut at this time, he redirected his efforts into subjugating Bar, another key eastern province
Furthermore, solidifying diplomatic relations and ensuring a strong claim to the throne, marriages were arranged with neighbouring powers.
Isaac spent the next few months taking stock of the state of the realm, while the Imerial army was content on sieging Bamberg. One of his ministers brought reports of the people being tired of the constant warring and higher taxes, slowing recruitment and adding to rebellious sentiment, although it has not reached a level that would affect the realm yet.
Isaac immediately responded by giving the people a quick victory to raise the prestige of the nation: showing how unafraid of the Emperor he was, preparations for attacking Bar were immediately planned out, the plan being quite simple: send all of our forces to attault their only city and force a quick concession.
While several of Bar's allies responded to their call, they posed little threat to Isaac and Bar quickly fell. A second was with Bourgogne was started, in order to enforce our ancient rights on France Comte.
That did not last very long either
A quick assault on Savoy was enough to end the war with one of the alliances
With this series of decisive victories achieved, the Imperial troops finally began a second assault on Vermandois soil with a massive army. General van Atrecht knew that not every victory was a win, not every defeat a loss. Despite losing a battle in Limburg, the enemy took far higher losses.
A second Imperial force arrives and attempts to siege Liege, but General Pape, in a more even match, dealt a significant blow.
Limburg has been captured, but hopefully not for long as General van Atrecht leads his army to reclaim it. General Pape scorches the land as he leaves, hoping to starve the enemy out, unfortunately it has no effect.
I saved & loaded up as Bohemia and they were taking normal attrition from the province during the siege, naturally when I reclaim it later on I get the scorched effect still there...
Liege is captured and the main part of the Imperial force moves on to Hainaut, even though they have played almost no part in the war thus far. The token force left at Liege is attacked by General Pape. Munster, being occupied by Holland, tires of the war and offers some money for peace, which is accepted.
Even though the war drags on, a glorious monument to our indomnitable spirit was erected today. It shall stand forever, a symbol of Frankish might!
IMT:31
However, such confidence may prove to be short lived, incensed with the new menument, the Imperial troops quickly lay siege to the capital itself, though the walls are strong enough to hold them off for the moment, there are simply so many of them that we dare not attack yet. Still, their lesser armies are falling, news which is very welcome.
Still, the matters of the realm continue unabated. The people are feeling more secure, despite the invading army, and the newly convened parliament is attempting to assert its authority. Isaac directs them to look at the diplomatic situation. After a long meeting, they decide that Isaac has the situation well in hand and that they don't need to do anything more.
I'm pretty sure I got the +stab, but since the day that this popped up I got back up to +3 anyway, it was useless
Text in spoiler as I forgot it would be unreadable
The validity of the Magna Carta has been upheld and once again the nobles of the land have convened in a policy-oriented parliament. Wealthy mercantile nobles continue to voice concerns about our actions abroad, while some of our Germanophile nobility wonder about our diplomatic actions abroad. The focus of the parliament seems to be trending towards international affairs and diplomacy. As the ruler of the realm, Isaac I may attend the proceedings, but unfortunately the Magna Carta prevents discrimination against the nobility for their actions during the parley. As a legal tenet of our realm the wishes of the parley must be followed, but Isaac I could perhaps direct the nobles' efforts if desired.
The force attacking Vermandois has finally begun to starve and General van Atrecht launches an assault, catching them in between the advancing Frankish troops and the walls of their capital. The Emperor, having received intelligence on the poor state of his forces, attempts to sue for peace, but Isaac rejects this and announces that the Emperor's invasion must be repaid in kind.
Overall, the AI fights wars really badly. Against the Emperor (which means almost unlimited manpower) with practically no manpower ourselves and less than half the troops, the AI got demolished. Most of that is not having a commander on the 40k doomstack though!
With the enemy in Vermandois crumbling, Isaac took advantage of the Emperor's weakness and resumed his assault of Cleves (who had been declared war on earlier, but I forgot about), vassalizing the duke.
Seeing that Frankish power was ascendent, Aquitaine sent an emissary to Vermandois, inquiring after an alliance. Despite wishing for control over the Occitanian territories, Isaac agreed to the alliance, recognizing that having the two most powerful western Europe nations as allies would make for a very powerful alliance.
Finally, the siege of Vermandois, and with it, the Emperor's power, is broken.
The Emperor agrees to a humilating peace, he will release Thuringia, acknowledging that the conquest of these territories was unjust and that he had been beaten, reducing his authority in the eyes of the Princes of the Empire.
With the conclusion of the war, the Frankish people settled down, ready for peace. In 1448, Isaac directed the parliament to reduce some of the remaining serfdom laws, promulgating the theory that serf and freeman alike are both people and deserve to be treated equally. This is not well received, several serfs, upon being freed, start riots throughout the realm because of their treatment, destabilizing the situation.
Later that year, the veretans of the war with the Emperor approach the crown and ask that proper medical care be provided, even to conscripts. Isaac agreed and immediately ordered the establishment of a veteran's home in Cambray.
The start of December brings good news, not only have the riots of the serfs finally died down, but the scribes make a new discovery of a type of government, one that sounds awfully familiar to Isaac, but progress is progress.
The parliament also sends word that it is in session, if the monarch would like to attend. Isaac attends and gives a speech on diplomatic initatives; parliament continues having a heated discussion aout the current state of diplomacy, but as before, ultimately decides to do nothing
Got the + diplomat option while at full!
In 1450, Thuringia decides to start reclaiming it's territory, expecting Isaac to assist them due to their alliance (you're allied to anyone you force another country to release automatically); Isaac agrees, but only to avoid the diplomatic penalties, as he had no interest in an actual war with Brandenburg.
Our cardinals in Rome have been influencing the Pope, finally acheving some influence with the Holy Father. Isaac takes advantage of this news and quickly arranges for Queen Elizabeth I of Luxembourg to be excommunicated.
Once the truce with Luxembourg had expired, a swift invasion is arranged, lasting only a month. Luxembourg is a key territory and must be under Frankish control.
Research into government continues, developing the idea that directly funding artists will make Frankish culture something amazing and enduring.
(I switched my vote to Patron giving it a tie/lead because both Military Drill and National Bank are boring. NB also has the distinction of being almost useless too)
Later that year a massive grain depot was erected in Nemours; a massive quantity of locally produced grain is diverted from trade, but we can support many more troops in the field.
A new building has been developed that increases tax revenues! Our treasury is emptied to construct as many of these as we can.
Production 9 is a key tech, one well worth rushing ASAP (almost worth more than the NI), giving +2 tax to each province for a one-time investment of $46 or so
However, not everything is going well, an outbreak of typhus kills off one out of every twenty people. There's nothing we can do but bury the dead and continue on.
We have been bribing our vassals on the side, purchasing temporary loyalty in order to make some significant changes.
We have issued an ultimatum to the Duchy of Bar, either integrate into the nation peaceably, or be forced in militarily; they chose the easier option.
Diplomatic annexation causes a shift of 1 point decentralization, regardless of how many provinces your vassal has; normally I'd never diploannex, if only because centralization is so good, but it keeps the emperor off our backs, doesn't cause badboy and it's more along the lines of being not a total warmonger
By 1456, Limburg and Brabrant have been owned by Vermandois for such a long time that it only seems natural that they will continue being part of our territory in perpetuity. The Flemish people of Limburg have become such a common sight among the nation that they have become a part of the culture.
Accepted cultures are gained when the tax output of cored provinces with that culture exceeds a cartain threshold. Non-accepted cultures have a 30% penalty to them. I'm actually surprised Flemish wasn't already accepted as Vlaanderen is Flemish
Our national focus was switched away from the capital to Liege, hopefully this will allow the region to develop quickly!
National focuses are kinda neat, they provide a lot of bonuses to a province and all adjacent provicnes, but they also heavily restrict provincial decisions - most can only be taken on a province that is affected by NF
The pope is dead! Long live the pope!
Our diplomatic relations with the Holy See have taken a major hit with the new pope, we must correct this immediately. Isaac sends diplomats with gifts to win His Holiness' favour.
Isaac continues to direct parliament to relax the laws permitting serfdon, freeing the peasants of his country; in response a large group of peasants have left their homes in Brabrant, conscription manpower has been reduced.
In 1459 the new pope, in an attempt to cement his authority as the spritual leader of Catholicism, launched a crusade against Morocco. Driving the heathens out of the known parts of Africa would prevent any further possibility of a Muslim invasion of Europe, in addition to allowing the people of Africa to be converted.
Isaac answered the call, loading up troops and seeting sail on crusade, just like his forefathers.
Scouts reported several high value provinces that a quick, decisive strike should be able to take, the immediate goals being the trade port of Tangiers and the rumored gold mines of Sus. Lacking any native gold access, Isaac was eager to get access to the precious metal.
Back in Europe, the ruler of Metz was excommunicated. Seeing an opportunity to further grab key territories in the Empire, Isaac led the remainder of his troops in an attack, fortunately both Holland and Aquitaine joined the war against the Emperor as Metz fell quickly.
The parliament, as is customary during major wars, convenes again. This time, Isaac directs the discussion to cultural affairs, reminding parliament of the recent cultural achievements that patronizing the arts has given them. As a result, the parliament issued the Edict of 1460, a set of laws recognizing the cultural and scientific achievements of the nation and funding several well known artists even more. This would result in a some innovation in the years to come.
On the heels of the parliamentary meeting, messengers arrive from Morocco, indicating that the majority of heather forces have been wiped out and that the country is all but taken. Pleased by the good news, Isaac orders the generals to continue occupation of the country.
Several months later, reports of religious assemblies have reached the palace, heretics are apparently meeting openly, in public.
Having studied the family histories as a boy, Isaac was quite familiar with his own line having had heretical periods and after all, everyone was still Christian after all, even if they did disagree. Overrulling his councillors, Isaac decided to permit the free assembly of the peasants.
This event really seems off - the Protestant splinter religions haven't formed yet and allowing free assembly is narrowminded? I've played a couple years past it but it's easy enough to edit the safe to be 1 innovative instead of 3 narrowminded if we want to change it
Posts
It is 1399 and the world is changing.
Vermandois is led by the Carolingian descendant Nicholas I, who contends with the shell of an empire stricken by Ducal revolts and power-hungry noble councils, and xenophobia. In the west decentralization and factionalism have led to a collection of fragmented states, despite the German emperor's recent bid for more power. Symeon I has recently proclaimed his confederation of Greek states as the true Byzantine successor state, despite the machinations of neighboring Greek and Slavic states. The once powerful nation of Sweden has collapsed into petty kingdoms, surrounded by decentralized and bankrupted neighbors. Only the decentralized Pagan Karelian Empire has managed to carve out a functioning state in the frozen steppe of Russia. In the East word spreads of a powerful Chinese empire, taking advantage of fractured Mongolian khanates. The powerful Muslim states of Morocco and Zenata split northern Africa with Christian Egypt.
A corrupt Papacy attempts to maintain control over the Catholic masses, but humanist thought is spreading from the universities in Italy and an entrepeneurial spirit engulfes the merchants and explorers of Europe...
The Frankish Mainland
In the early months of Nicholas' reign his tenuous hold on lands in central France slipped away. The prosperous realm of Aquitaine does not openly challenge the Frankish monarch, but opportunistically snatched up the rebellious vassals and now threatens to rival Vermandois in size and power. Nicholas' claim to the antiquated throne of Burgundy still gives him a tenuous link of the lands of Bourgogne to the south. But Franconian and French cultures are diverging, and links to the southern portion of Gallia may be slipping away.
By September 1399, Nicholas was confident enough in the stability of the realm to institute country-wide reforms increasing the authority of his representatives throughout the land. While much of the populace looked favorably on the centralization of powers over the preceeding years of petty wars and economic inefficiency, populations from the Burgundian minorities in the South reacted violently.
Claiming to be the true King of Burgundy, the rebel leader openly challenged Nicholas' authority and managed to muster an army a few thousand strong. Nicholas selected the prominent leader Eugéne de Donzy from among his sergeants and had him marshall forces to combat the threat. The Kapitelarmee harried the rebels in Champagne and eventually forced them north, where Franconian supporters helped thin the rebel numbers.
In order to completely eliminate an enemy army it often needs to be chased to neighboring provinces (potentially multiple times). An opposing army can only be eliminated through overwhelming numbers, defeating them when they have very low morale, or slaughtering the enemy to the last man in glorious combat.
General de Donzy assured the king of forthcoming victory, and trusting the general at his word Nicholas spent time with more civil affairs. He conversed with theologians, merchants, advisors and educated courtiers to examine the state of his realm within the world.
The merchants suggested that they could bring riches to the Frankish realm, so Nicholas paid for excursions to the Aquitanian trade center of Gascogne.
Advisors and courtiers argued before the king for which of them was best fit to help govern the realm. The king employed a recruiter to better manage the forces and a prominent artist also piqued Nicholas' interest.
For the third position, a theologian who advised the former king Johannes I stepped forward to proclaim his suitability in making sure the realm had the best understanding of modern theology, such as the position of the firmament in the sky and the expanses of the flat earth. The snickers of the court interrupted his tirade, and prominent natural scientist Henri Olbers felt obliged to educate the backwards cleric on the spherality of the world and the state of the country on God's Earth.
The Invasion of Brabant
Diplomacy-related meetings took up a significant portion of Nicholas' first years in office. Although the realm of Aquitaine battled with Occitans in the south, England and Scotland already feuded, and the heaten empire of Zenata had already diminished the crusader realm of Cyprus at Damascus. But the most harrowing news was of the Oriental War. A series of alliancs had pitted Poland-Lithuania, Baden and Bavaria against Brandenburg, Saxony, Prussia and the Bohemian emperor. The emperor had also found himself at war with Brabant.
Since Slavic masses would keep the Bohemian busy in the East, advisors suggested that Nicholas attempt to reclaim the province of Brabant and the historical lands surrounding the former Frankish capital at Aachen. After years of hearing his father moan about the nobles' fear of expansion and xenophobia this turn of events piqued Nicholas' interest. He immediately set about preparing an invasion force.
The Bohemian emperor pressed his attack on Brabant, as did Nicholas I's Frankish forces. By June 1401 de Donzy had managed to capture Brabant. September saw the capture of Maastricht in Limburg. Contending with the overwhelming Bohemian forces, Brabant willingly gave up the lands to the Franks in the hopes that the Bohemian emperor would be lenient.
The Holy Roman Empire
Emperor Heinrich I Gozdawa, King of Germany and Bohemia had recently used his rich possessions in the lowlands to finance political reform of the defunct Holy Roman Empire. The recent promulgation of the Golden Bull of 1398 has consolidated the Emperor's authority, but has relegated the Throne of Germany to an elected office. The Bohemian hopes to maintain control of the crown, but other German states vie for the title.
The Scottish throne had issued war taxes to combat the growing threat of the consolidating English states, but the Brandenburg nobles revolted against the one-sided aims of the Scottish king. The union of Brandenburg and Scotland had collapsed, leaving a powerful, independent Brandenburg. Bavaria's tenuous alliance with Bohemia has collapsed from the strongarm politics that brought about the Golden Bull. And Austria had maneuvered for independence from the Frankish Empire mere decades ago. All may prove viable candidates for the elected emperorship.
As it were, the Bohemian invasion of Brabant was too much for Heinrich I Gozdawa. His aspiration of forcing hereditary limits on the German throne passed away when he did, on January 23rd, 1402.
By 1405 de Dozny had passed away. The Flemish occupants of Brabant and Limburg sensed weakness and began to demand autonomy or a return to Brabant. A group of Flemish rebels soon formed and attacked the Frankish forces in Brügge.
Annexing a province that is not a core causes Nationalism (a type of Revolt Risk), which lasts for decades. Only holding the province for a significant portion of time can alleviate these revolts. If the rebels manage to capture the fort in a city they will increase the duration of nationalism by 10 years.
The Flemish army temporarily forced the occupiers out of Brabant and into neighboring Vlaanderen. Their quick capture of the fort at Brügge surprised the Frankish court, who were relegated to quickly levying troops to force out the rebels. Military agreements were passed with the trading state of Holland to ensure Vermandois' troops could pursue the rebel scum across national borders. Nationalism had rallied the Flemish populace, but a reinforced (albeit more expensive) army occupied the province.
The Importance of Trade
As part of his peace treaties during the Ducal Wars, Johannes I had been forced into the Dutch trade league out of Antwerpen. Although seemingly repressive at the treaty's signing, the compact proved mutually beneficial. Dutch and Frankish merchants began cooperating and built trading stations around Vermandois. This prompted greater interest in mercantile affairs throughout the Frankish kingdom.
Of course, other trade leagues vied for Vermandois' wealth of cloth, grain and wine. But the proximity of Antwerpen, and the treaty in place limited Frankish options. Recent reports from Italy claimed that the trading city of Liguria had become a more autocratic kingdom, and no longer cared for the backhanded dealings of a merchant republic.
Trade league are a means of putting all of a country's production goods through one center of trade. Members of trade leagues get bonuses to merchant competitiveness and compete chance (and are less likely to compete away others in the league). In the early game this greatly benefits you as your merchants can compete in league COTs better and your trade is more centralized. Eventually trade leagues fall apart (like they historically did) when trade technology advances to allow monopolies, as being part of a trade league makes it impossible to break a monopoly.
Trade centers give some pretty massive income, population and trade bonuses, so they're fairly important.
By March of 1406 the state of the realm had improved substantially - to the point that the nobles began demanding better compensation from the state. Rather than risk lower stability across the realm, Nicholas proffered gifts from the treasury. Unfortunately, this threatened to send the kingdom into debt, as the large number of nobles required a significant portion of recently collected taxes.
Budget allocations to the military were slashed and the treasury began minting an inordinate number of ducats to cover the shortfall.
On August 23rd, 1406 the nobles of the realm invoked the Magna Carta signed under Nicholas I's father Johannes I. With the mutual understanding that led to the war with Brabant and the capture of Brabant and Limburg, Nicholas was willing to grant the noble's the chance to parley on national policy.
The nobles debated between directions for the country:
- A model similar to that used in Vermandois in decades passed - focusing on decentralized vassalage and controlling the peasantry.
- A more theocratic model in contrast to Henri Olber's recent speech against the theologian in the court.
- A more mercantile model on par with Vermandois' Dutch rival to the north.
- A centralized model with a stronger government oriented towards protecting the homeland.
Many of the nobles saw the execution of the Magna Carta as a confirmation of their historical right to autonomy with loose ties to a liege. The general consensus was to adopt more feudalistic policies for the government.This is the beginning of the Carolingian Governance series of events. It's likely best to watch the Government tab for slider changes when these happen, although the first one here has much less control than later ones).
The parley's decision was infuriating for Nicholas. It virtually erased the progress he had made since his father's death years ago. In order to consoldiate his own power, he mandated that government officials better manage the province of Vermandois. He instituted land enclosures - discarding the antiquated system of common land in favor of better tax management and deterring the peasantry from using the king's land. He also ordered a census of Vermandois, which found that many peasants and burghers had moved to the province's capital city.
By the beginning of 1410 Nicholas' advisors had formed a consensus that the state was aimless and needed more dedicated goals to better ensure the centralization of the state and Frankish dominance over the neighboring realms. They clamored for the adoption of a National Idea to drive the country forward...
Information on the National Ideas can be found a few posts back, or in post #4 of this thread. Feel free to way in on our means of determining successors, too (and mention if you'd like a turn).
Slow forums shouldn't be a problem, just make sure to keep a copy of your post in the clipboard so it doesn't get eaten.
I'll vote for Battlefield Commissions, decent generals are always good to have.
And I'm taking the copout vote of National Bank. If we're minting to make up for what the nobles aren't paying us any more, we'll need to find a way to cut inflation.
I'm gonna be crazy busy for a while so I won't sign up for a turn, but I'm glad this is back up and running.
I'd recommend people choose Ideas they want based on where they think the country should go, rather than what is 'best' for the country. If you want us to have a chance at becoming an enlightened despotism at some point we'll need at least one humanist idea. And if you want us to be early colonizers we'll need colonial ideas (most preferably QFTNW, which we can't pick yet).
But if sliders and the state of our realm on January 1st, 1410 is of interest:
Henri Olbers is a beast; dude is like the Isaac Newton of our realm. Also yes, I still have an artist because I keep getting shafted with stability drop events. Also also, the maintenance drop was an emergency measure, but I left it there for the last 3 years to afford a boat.
I was considering intervening on Scotland's behalf against England, but by the time I noticed they were in trouble they had already lost the war and England has a crapload of Carracks (...e.g about 15 to our 5). Which is why I just blew 2 years of savings buying 1 Carrack. Apparently "Defender of the Faith" means "beat the crap out of other Catholics." Jerks.
I vote [strike]Press Gangs[/strike] Grand Navy, so that we can aim to control the lands and the seas. And harass the evil English.
Also, I retract my Press Gangs choice. I believe we should be more enlightened and not reduced to impressing our populace into military service. So I will vote for
Grand Navy (since we have limited coastal provinces and are already near our naval forcelimits)
Grand Army (because it's grand, you see)
Military Drill (nothing says "we will destroy you" like an army of hardened, battle-ready soldiers)
Bureaucracy (to combat small government! Also money.)
National Bank (to combat inflation)
Merchant Adventures (Because money)
Espionage (Because spies are awesome)
Military Drill (All the better to crush our enemies)
Grand Navy (Big fleets are nice to have)
National Bank (Can never go too far wrong with this)
Patron of the Arts - Let's start a cultural revolution
National Bank - Inflation is bad
National Trade Policy - Money is good
Bureaucracy - We need a strong, efficient government
Military Drill - I anticipate plenty of need for trained troops
Bureaucracy - Need to establish a strong tradition of government
Merchant Adventures - more middle class creation
Bureaucracy Money from taxes
Patron of the Arts Second Carolingian Renaissance
I'll also note again that we could use people signing up for succession slots.
Then we can just use challenges for people who want to earn some additional in-game content in the future (e.g. king names, province names, events related to your success).
I'll lob my votes in later today.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
National Bank
Military Drill
National Trade Policy
And, just to be contrary:
Church Attendance Duty
5 - Bureaucracy
4 - National Bank [weighted tie breaker]
4 - Military Drill
3 - Patron of the Arts [weighted tie breaker]
3 - National Trade Policy
Based on weighted votees for tie-breakers, National Bank is the runner up at the moment with Military Drill close behind. If you voted before the idea changes I used the votes for weighting but not as actual tallies.
Feel free to vote if you haven't. I'm sure that through some magic of vote weighting and [strike]manipulating the numbers[/i] statistical magic we can apply those votes to the other ideas for this century. The next idea comes in around 1455. I'm sure Nicholas will be dead by then.
The Flemish of Brabant are not fans of occupational forces. At this rate Brügge will be a ghost town in 15 years. Bids for the Burgundian lands to the South go East. The government formalizes its positions and Vermandois intervenes in some affairs abroad.
At the behest of the nobles - fearing a very inefficient government - the Vermandois' parliament introduced a series of national policies designed to recruit experienced personnel. Legislation then delineated government officials' duties and authority. Power would be concentrated with these appointed officials in the Vermandois' Bureaucracy.
Formalizing the Government
On April 2nd a large step in the formalization of the national parley took place. The attendees began to organize themselves based on qualities of wealth and noble rank.
The validity of the Magna Carta has been upheld. While the original document delegated authority solely to the dukes of the realm, the intervening years have expanded membership and factionalism.
Majority power still remains with the Lehnsherren, which comprises the wealthy high-ranking nobles of the disappearing feudal era. Dukes, counts and the wealthiest margraves join their ranks. On secular matters the Geistlichen, the high clergy - including archbishops and cardinals - also follow the conservative leanings of the Lehnsherren.
The Juncherren were originally lower nobles granted admittance to the parley as the knights and noble sergeants of the dukes during the Ducal Wars. As the age of exploration and merchant adventures continue to strip wealth from the older high nobility in favor of a growing middle class, the Juncherren grow in power. Urbanization and a burgeoning middle class have also increased the number of Burghers in the land, many of whom have gained power through administrative duty instead of nobility.
At the moment the Lehnsherren monopolize power and direct the affairs of the state with Nicholas I leading the parley.
Later in 1410, the eminent court natural scienist Henri Olbers published his treatise De stellae caeli (On the stars in the heavens). Once again proving his value to the enlightenment of the court. Nicholas I boasted of his scientist's exploits to any foreign dignitaries that visited the royal palace.
By 1411 Nicholas once again felt confident in his ability to exert authority over the realm and made a bid for greater centralization of the government. Once again the Burgundian minority in Champagne revolted. The Flemish in Brabant - not content to ever sit out a good revolt - also raised an army.
Despite revolts the state of the realm was in excellent shape. Stability was high and Nicholas' bold actions impressed a vast majority of the noble Lehnsherren and the more populist Juncherren. The parliament found itself content to follow Nicholas' lead on policy matters.
Perhaps they were contented by the completion of a new carrack for the fleet. His majesty's Herbert IV sailed out of Vlaanderen to meet with the main fleet in Picardie.
The Second and Third Flemish Revolts
But despite the parliament's confidence in Nicholas I, the revolters were causing trouble. Maintenance cutbacks had sapped military morale. The sad state of the men allowed the Flemish rebels to force a retreat near Brügge, and the nationalists occupied Brabant. Since the main army was occupied longer than expected in Brabant, the Burgundian particularists in Champagne were able to overwhelm the garrison at the fort outside of Reims.
Things began to turn around in early March of 1412. Nicholas hired one of the duke's prominent leaders, Pierre de Rochebaron. Rochebaron proved to be a subpar commander, but a substantial levy of soldiers and persistent attack allowed the Frankish army to eventually displace the brunt of the Flemish forces.
The soldiers fled to Antwerpen, where they were intercepted by a joint Dutch-Frankish force. The army quickly headed south and manhandled the disorganized Burgundian rebels.
The cooperative action at Antwerpen and consistently positive diplomatic relations led Nicholas to offer the neighboring Dutch merchant republic an alliance. They would prove useful allies even within the next few years.
However, the Flemish rebels - threatened by the oppression of an alliance between the two nations that had destroyed their parent country of Brabant - once again rebelled. This time de Rochebaron was ready with a sizable force outside of Brügge.
The rebels were massacred to the last man.
War Sideways
With the realm once again secure, Nicholas set his sights on lands abroad.
With the Crown of Burgundy in hand (or atop his head - one can never be sure), Nicholas I de Vermandois set up a diplomatic appointment with Louis IV de Donzy of Bourgogne - the pretender kingdom of Burgundy. Nicholas' demands of his rightful lands in Bourgogne were rebuked with threats of involving the Emperor, the federation of minor French nations, and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Nicholas had enough of Louis' disingenous assertions and bellicose attitude. The tête-à-tête was immediately ended. A declaration of war followed within days. Nicholas sent diplomatic dispatches to his recent Dutch allies, who confirmed their support of the war - come hell or Holy Roman Emperor.
The ordeal brought Vermandois (and their vassal of Hainaut) and Holland against the belligerent alliance of Luxembourg, Bourgogne (their vassal Auvergne), and the Emperor (leading Brandenburg). Nicholas had hoped that at least some allies would abandon the false Burgundian, but was forced into confrontation with potentially overwhelming numbers. To the benefit of Nicholas, Bourgogne found itself at war with Orleanais. To help finance the war Nicholas levied taxes to finance new regiments.
A moderate force of 6,000 men went south to occupy Burgundian Nevers. Enemy troops entered Frankish lands and began to lay waste to towns in Nemours and Burgundian forces invaded Champagne. The Kapitelarmee stationed in Brabant to subdue the Flemish rebels was immediately called south in a bid to intercept the Luxembourgish army in Liege. Luxembourg's forces managed to reach Valenciennes, and the 19,000 strong Frankish army relegated itself to sieging Liége.
The auxiliary army at Limburg was called in to siege the unoccupied capital of Luxembourg. Seeing the nearby strife, Köln intervened against her hated enemies to the west and aided the Frankish forces surrounding city. Vermandois' allies to the North fought valiantly against the Emperor's tyranny. They stalled Brandenburg's forces at Friesland for many months, before they were forced to disband their bloodied main army.
Poor uniform quality drained the morale of the men (and would probably be a precursor to even more rampant corruption in the centuries to come), but Vermandois managed to occupy Nevers, while Bourgogne occupied Champagne. With Brandenburg momentarily bogged down in Friesland, Vermandois gambled to assault the fortress at Lüttich in Liege and Luxembourg. The fortress were captured with moderate losses, and the surrounding countryside was occupied.
With such a stunning display of force, the leader of the belligerent alliance - Luxembourg - sent out peace terms. While Nicholas' aims of reoccupying his rightful Burgundian lands went to the wayside, the sad state of the Dutch to the north and the overwhelming numbers of Brandenburg's armies prompted the monarch to accept the peace deal.
Liége was granted to Vermandois.
Stability and International Affairs
With the realm once again at peace Nicholas reviewed the court advisors. Henri Olbers was a shoo-in, but some accrued debt and the poor state of military technology compared to Vermandois' neighbors required a reassessment of the country's direction.
Vermandois remained at peace with her neighbors into the following years. Denmark managed to reclaim her boundaries from years earlier. Brandenburg - holding the Emperorship - managed to reclaim Neumark from the Polish, who were contending with widespread peasant uprisings and a war with Bohemia. The Venetian Trade league snatched up Genoa's former trading realm and Novogorod began to send out more trade compacts with the Russian minors. The aristocrats in Kandalaksha - the capital of Karelia - had recently converted to Orthodox and the oppression of the widespread Finnish Paganism had begun.
More close to home, the growing state of Aquitaine offered an alliance to Vermandois, which was accepted in the hopes of countering Bourgogne's expansionist policies.
The following years were filled with expansion of trade stations in the realm and the enactment of land reform in various provinces, as well as a census of the province of Vermandois. The population of Compiègne (in Vermandois) threatens to overtake Paris' (in Ile-de-France). Nicholas also attempted to annex Hainaut, but the duke was reluctant to agree.
England once again attacked the peaceful Scots to the north. In order to assist against the tyrannical English, Nicholas financed some backroom support for the Scottish armies. Substantial war subsidies were sent to Scotland to help combat English agression.
The world is once again on the brink of war. Nicholas' truce with Bourgogne is set to expire within the year.
A series of great alliances once again imperils the East as Poland and Bavaria are poised to attack Brandenburg, Austria and Bohemia. Nicholas' truce with Bourgogne is set to expire within the year. And war once again ravages the Scottish countryside.
I would recommend saving often; feel free to report anything abnormal to me and I can look into fixing it. Modest playtesting can't catch everything.
Karelian conversion got 'lucky' early. The event has a base 200 year MTTH. Some of the provinces are not particularly happy about the change.
I believe that was Northumberland helping England invade Scotland. Despite my subsidies it did not end particularly well for the Scottish.
The treaty with Bourgogne was set to expire in months. With the sting of Louis IV's rebuke to Nicholas' rightful claims still fresh, the Frankish generals prepared an attack. Belligerent as they were, Bourgogne - with tenuous allies in northern Italy - had attacked Vermandois' ally, Aquitaine.
Not yet willing to commit to a large scale conflict in the Mediterranean and bound by a peace treaty with Bourgogne, Nicholas abstained from Erbart I's offer to join the war. Vermandois' did, however, begin to mass troops on its southern border.
Months later in August the treaty had expired and intentions of war were delivered south. But Nicholas' diplomats were intercepted by an envoy from the Holy Roman Emperor, who intended to intercede on belligerent Bourgogne's behalf. Vermandois' stalwart allies to the north in Holland readily took up the mantle of justice and camraderie.
The Frankish occupational forces moved quickly across the border. Louis IV - warmongerer that he was - was still bogged down amongst the honorable soldiers of Aquitaine. Frankish forces were quickly able to march into of Nevers and Bourgogne proper. The Frankish reserve force had to contend with a quick-moving force from Orleanais, and had to leave the northern flank open to help protect Paris.
Fortunately, Dutch allies intercepted the Emperor's initial 9,000 man army with their own significant force of 18,000 men near Hannover. Brandenburg quickly shuffled in reinforcements from Ruppin and nearby Magdeburg.
But Bourgogne's forces were spread too thin over Aquitaine, and Nicholas was able to encourage Louis IV to recognize his claims to the lands of Upper Burgundy in Nevers and Burgogne. He also insisted that one of the Frankish nobles with claims to lands near Auvergne be installed as the new Duke of Auvergne.
With the southern front closed, Nicholas immediately rendered assistance to Aquitaine, which now found itself also at war with Egypt and Castille. The surreptitiously provided funds were designed to allow Aquitaine to continue harrying Bourgogne in Bourbon.
Despite Dutch resistance to the North, eventually the overwhelming wave of Brandenburgian soldiers poured through the German lines near Limburg. The Flemish rebels - bled dry through constant revolts - could not muster an army to assist the invaders, but Brandenburg had no trouble beiseging Brussels in Brabant and Liége by itself.
Vermandois' brought almost all the manpower it could bear to turn back the wall of invaders. With conflicts erupting in Pommerania and Poland the emperor settled for a white peace and giving Nicholas a stern talking to about not violating the sovereignty of fellow states in the empire - no longer how beliigerent and annoying they may be.
Recent tactical discoveries involving longbows and better armored infantry were immediately implemented at war's end.
Our land technology advanced to the point that we could select Men at Arms or Longbowmen (in the middle of the war) as our preferred infantry unit. Unfortunately, switching mid-war will drop morale for any unit that is upgrading to 0, so it's best done at peace.
Officially Owner and Other Occupations
While the Crown of Burgundy granted Nicholas I authority over Upper Burgundy to the south, it did not give him complete sovereignty over the Burgundian people. When revolts erupted throughout southern France, the Burgundian population of Nevers was among the revolters.
With a substantial portion of the lands of the Burgundian Crown restored, Nicholas once again set about improving the centralization and defensiveness of the realm - although cost-saving measures necessitated disbanding many of the additional regiments raised to combat the German emperor.
One could say that if the emperor had taken more care of core German states, Bohemia would not have annexed Thuringia and Saxony.
In the East the Polish monarch Wladyslaw II was excommunicated by the pope. But the massive Polish Empire seemed capable of withstanding the horde of Bohemian, Brandenburgian and Pommeranian soldiers. Wars between Crete and Illyria and the Byzantine Empire saw Byzantium successful and able to recover portions of the Asia Minor coast.
In the frozen North Karelia had begun to besiege the merchant traders of Novgorod. The Swedish kingdoms exchanged occasional insults. Rebels siezed control of a substantial portion of Norway - including in Iceland, where Icelandic nobles proclaimed an independent government.
Realm at Peace
But idle hands are the devil's plaything. Soon scandal over the occupation of Nevers shook the Frankish court and threatened Nicholas' reputation, so the blame was shifted to some lower court officials.
Money saving efforts were undertaken to prepare loan repayments from the conquest of Upper Burgundy.
Then on an overcast Sunday in December 1427 a terrible event struck the realm. Man of the people, man of knowledge - Henri Olbers passed away, leaving a great void in the Frankish court.
Vermandois' still remained far ahead of her competitors in the realm of scientific thought and inventiveness, but that lead would surely shrink in the future. A spectacular class of graduates left the university in Brussels New Years Eve, but none seemed on par with Olbers, though they would surely prove valuable in the administration.
Cost-saving measures throughout the year allowed Vermandois to repay the last of its loans from the Reconquest of Bourgogne.
Mere months later another terrible atrocity struck the realm (one might begin to yearn for the days of widespread war with all these calamities). The tomb of Michael I outside the capital was violated by vile graverobbers, who inadvertently unleashed a plague upon the capital.
This is one of the persistence events that can fire. Hooray for Michael and his plague-ridden corpse!
Prelude to War
Holland had intervened in Aquitaine's affairs, and temporarily withdrew from the Frankish-Dutch alliance. At the beginning of 1429 the alliance was renewed and Vermandois was pushed to intercede in the south.
For nearly a decade Egyptian fanatics had run rampant in Southern France, aided by their despicable Castilian allies. In order to aid their friendly neighbors the Frankish king soon decided to intervene on Aquitaine and Holland's behalf.
Languedoc, Egypt, and Castile engaged the might of Holland, Vermandois and Hainaut. This would begin a grueling exercise in uncertain, violent and bloody war.
By 1430 the war was well underway and massive armies marched across southern France to engage eachother near Languedoc. Dutch armies landed at Alexandria to try to put down the Egyptian fanatics in their homeland.
This actually puts us about where the initial CK setup had us (before a replacement Burgundy got Bourgogne and Franche-Comte). But I'm much more interested in holding Limburg/Liege (Aachen) that invading all sorts of people.
Also the lack of an announcement for Karelia's switch to Orthodoxy prompted me to add in events that function as announcements whenever a major new nation is formed (e.g. if Aquitaine manages to form Occitania or someone manages to form Sweden or the Spanish minors get their act together and make Spain). I don't think there are any other events that might warrant an announcement.
Tentative succession list is:
1. Phyphor
2. Elevenshae
3. Zedar
Let me know if I missed someone/this doesn't work for you/you want a spot.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
...if you judge the value of your country solely on the number of provinces it owns.
The Mediterranean War lasts nearly seven years and results in no change to Vermandois' physical holdings, but provides additional vassals and promotes León to the prominent (if somewhat displaced) kingdom on the Iberian peninsula. Franks plunder the crap out of Castile's treasury. Holland and Vermandois enjoy quality partnerships, and Aquitaine is less burdened by Egyptian reverse-crusade pressure.
Sure over 25,000 Frankish men were lost, but it's a small price to pay for regional stability and oodles and oodles of [strike]noodles[/strike] prestige.
Harkening back centuries to the Frankish crusades in the 12th Century, Egypt was ruled by a distant branch of Carolingian ancestors, contemporarily referred to as the de Vermandois-Outremer dynasty. Their association with Southern France lent their Levantine culture a closer association with the French culture of Southern Gallia than the Franks of Vermandois in the North. With a strengthening Papacy and a sect of powerful heretics in Septimania, the Egyptian fanatics once again launched a crusade - this time against mainland Europe and the Cathari of Southern France.
By the 1420s they had captured Rousillon and vassalized Languedoc - the nucleus of Cathari religious fervor. By 1430 they had turned against the honorable Catholics of Aquitaine, and Nicholas and his Dutch allies found this unacceptable.
The Mediterranean War
Nicholas I appointed a well-kwown military commander of the Bourgogne Reconquest to lead the main army - Eudes van Atrecht - skilled with cavalry and siege tactics. With recent defeats in the region of Languedoc, van Atrect was sent to reinforce the Frankish military.
With a clever feint attack near Perpignan in Rousillon, van Atrect captured Montpellier from a token force of Languedoc's soldiers. Dutch forces under Pieter Overijssel mounted a valiant attack in the hills of Rousillon. But van Atrecht was unable to reinforce them in time to drive the Egyptians out before Castile's reinforcements arrived.
By mid-1430 joint Castilian-Egyptian fanatics had engaged the pretigious Frankish army in Languedoc once again. Van Atrecht mounted a stalwart defense facing an army twice the size of the Frankish forces, but persistent Spanish attack eventually drove him to abandon his position and retreat to neutral Toulouse.
In order to draw off the multitude of Castilian regiments, the Murcian Feint was concocted. Using Dutch naval support (which kept the Castilian navy in port), the modest Frankish navy would transport a sizable force to Southern Castile in order to occupy territory and open a new staging area.
Unfortunately, the Frankish marshall underestimated the manpower of the Castilian military. Although the army was able to besiege Murcia, soon tens of thousands of Castilians poured down upon them.
Their valiant sacrifice was not without benefit. The Castilians had temporarily pulled their forces out of Septimania, allowing van Atrect to fully occupy the major towns in Languedoc and garrison them with Frankish loyalists.
The Dutch subsequently used their navy to mount an attack on the Egyptian homeland. For months the Dutch army marched across Lower Egypt unchecked, sacking Alexandria and Cairo.
Without support from their Spanish allies the backward Egyptian fanatics had trouble matching van Atrect man-for-man. Eventually van Atrecht split the army and managed to encircle and eliminate the Egyptians in Rousillon.
The war with Aquitaine had been bleeding Castile and Egypt dry; Vermandois' timely intervention had caught them in a weak position - despite their superior numbers. The Egyptians placated the Dutch with promises of money and political support, and soon the Dutch forces left Egypt - smoldering and bloodied as it was.
But the heavy drain on manpower and the lack of the people's continued resolve could not reversed so easily.
Dutch intervention in Egypt and the Murcian Feint had turned the tide of war against Castile and Egypt.
Van Atrecht had transformed the Frankish military into a most impressive force. Foreign dignitaries complimented Nicholas I on the superior marching step and uniform quality of his army. The horses, too, seemed exceptionally healthy.
Treaties with Nicholas' 3rd cousin Alfons VI of Catalunya permitted Vermandois to march her forces through Barcelona and Aragon. Nicholas utilized mercenaries to harass the Castilians at Valencia, while van Atrecht's main force slowly rolled southward across Navarre. In order to circle behind the Castilian forces van Atrecht utilized this new treaty and attacked the retreating Castilian army at Madrid.
Soon the Spanish forces were exhausted and defeated at Toledo, allowing van Atrecht to plunder and occupy much of Castile with impunity. By December of 1436 the Castilian monarchy had fallen and a regency council had selected a new noble to lead the country. The council also agreed to relinquish the throne of Navarre, which Nicholas granted to a supporter in Vizcaya to form the Kingdom of Navarra.
The Egyptians, still unable to muster an assault on mainland Europe after over a decade of war capitulated, and agreed to relinquish Rousillon, which Nicholas then granted to Aquitaine for a modest sum.
War Profiteering
The sack of wealthy Castilian cities, and massive war settlements had given Vermandois a sizable fortune. Nicholas set this aside to slowly control the nation's money supply, which had spiraled into sizable inflation during the war (if we can call 0.8 sizable inflation).
With a sizable military force on hand and peace in the future, Nicholas also made another bid to further centralize the state, which did not sit well with some outlying provinces.
Soon the glory days of peacefulness were at hand. Nicholas' advisor Grünewaldt managed to complete a prominent treatise of philisophical matters. Unfortunately, aspirin will not be discovered for another few centuries, so he'll just have to contend with his perpetual headache.
The Pope canonized one of Nicholas' ancestors. This ancestor gets to joint the vaunted Saint Henri I as a very prestigious ancestor recognized throughout all of Catholicism.
Abroad Holland continued their expansion, occupyiing Gelre. Svealand finally began making headway in the Swedish succession, annexing Jämtland and portions of Dalecarlia. Sicily also fought back against the Kingdom of Naples, which had been greatly weakened by Morocco's conquest of her African holdings. Morocco - aside from taking Naples' African provinces - annexed Algeria to become the only major Muslim nation in North Africa.
Aquitaine used the acquisition of Rousillon as a sign from the Lord and began further conquests of southern Gallia - as well as occupying Norman Caux on the English Channel.
In 1431 the Brandenburgian monarch had died and the electors selected Jindrich II Fridrich to be Emperor. This not only returned the crown to Bohemia, but would prove to be a point of contention in the future, as by 1440 the Bohemian had annexed Thuringia and begun expansion westward and southward, without doing much to thwart the excommunicated, expansionist Polish monarch to the East.
1440-1443: War and Death
War in the Rhineland
The Dutch periodically engaged in warfare abroad - harassing Scotland and small principalities in Northern Germany. Nicholas was content to allow them to exercise their desires over the North sea areas. However, Elsass challenged Dutch authority, and had recently expanded through claims on Breisgau and Baden.
Sensing a need to defend the Frankish political sphere, Nicholas coordinated with the Dutch to curb Alsatian expansion in the Rhineland. In September of 1440 the Dutch pressed their attack. The Alsatians had supported the Bohemian king's grandfather in efforts to institute the Golden Bull of 1398, and so the Bohemian Emperor was very much willing to come to Elsass' aid.
Shortly thereafter, Nicholas declared war on Elsass and also received a declaration of war from the Emperor.
The allegorical and literal Battle of Worms opened the war in the Rhineland. It took place in November of 1440, and proved van Atrecht's capabilities once again. In a battle of 13,000 men to 11,000 the Franks came away the definitive victors and soon occupied Worms.
Bohemian soldiers poured through the Lowlands and attacked Brussels and Lüttich. The Frankish reserve army was forced to retreat to allied Hainaut while waiting for reinforcements from the south.
Van Atrecht pushed hard through the Rhineland and forced the Alsatian Duke to reinstate the disenfranchised nobles of Baden and Breisgau.
The army quickly moved north to stamp out Köln's interference. Soon the German archbishop was swearing fealty to Nicholas. But by that time the vile Bohemian had sacked Lüttich and was moving into the Hennegau. The Hainauters mounted a defense with the Frankish reserve army, but they were defeated.
But days later - with the Bohemian army still bloodied - van Atrecht arrived from the South. The wave of Bohemian soldiers skirmished for months with the Frankish army, but length supply lines and local attrition eventually whittled their forces down to 10,000 men. Van Atrecht focused on their heavy cavalry - elite soldiers, but also a source of emergency food for the force. With his cavalry numbers dwindling, the Bohemian commander reluctantly retreated westward Liége and captured Lüttich.
By then the Frankish reserves had taken up positions in the Liégian countryside. The moment the Bohemian marching column came into view the Frankish cavalry charged - unchecked by the - now non-existent - Bohemian cavalry. The Bohemians surrendered within hours.
Weeks later the Frankish army recaptured Lüttich from the Bohemian fort garrison. With the Frankish homelands once again secured, and Bohemia apparently busy with Brandenburg and Pommerania to the West, Nicholas commanded van Atrecht to move against the Bohemia homeland.
Vermandois' forces began to siege areas of Thuringia.
They were soon met with Thuringian nobles, who insisted on claiming their homelands themselves. To this van Atrecht was not opposed. He marched southward to the formerly Bavarian lands of Bamberg.
By the summer of 1443 word had come of Brandenburg's capitulation to Bohemia. Word came of hordes of Bohemian soldiers heading south.
But by this time Nicholas had become gravely ill. Military duties were slowly transitioning to his soon Isaac.
In October of 1443 Nicholas - ruler of Vermandois for over 44 years - died in his bed at the age of 64.
Feel free to comment on who you think should be canonized. It seems like Jordan, Centule and Bjorn are the big crusading types.
Also Zenata has apparently been fighting Ming. I'm not sure if this is a good or a terrible, terrible sign.
Hopefully Nicholas is not a vampire, because it seems like my Photobucket account will die before he does. And no need to worry Elvenshae - even if you happen to do terribly it will still benefit the narrative.
(Save file's away; I'll get an update of the last few years in about 15 hours after I sleep and work).
The link on the first page is updated, but you can also download v1.0 here. Hopefully the LP is out of my hands for 350 years.
[edit] Ah, yes - Egypt. They likely decided to attack southern France because they share a culture group and had guaranteed Languedoc (and subsequently conquered Rousillon from Catalunya). I think their actual mission target at the moment is Tripoli. [/edit]
Espionage: Because this is way more fun.
Patron of the arts: Because dammit, a spy state needs important backers!
Patron of the Arts
National Bank
National Trade Policy
Military Drill
(I'll append my above post with this same stuff so you won't have to link another in the OP)
Sensing a need to defend the Frankish political sphere, Nicholas coordinated with the Dutch to curb Alsatian expansion in the Rhineland. In September of 1440 the Dutch pressed their attack. The Alsatians had supported the Bohemian king's grandfather in efforts to institute the Golden Bull of 1398, and so the Bohemian Emperor was very much willing to come to Elsass' aid.
Shortly thereafter, Nicholas declared war on Elsass and also received a declaration of war from the Emperor.
The allegorical and literal Battle of Worms opened the war in the Rhineland. It took place in November of 1440, and proved van Atrecht's capabilities once again. In a battle of 13,000 men to 11,000 the Franks came away the definitive victors and soon occupied Worms.
Bohemian soldiers poured through the Lowlands and attacked Brussels and Lüttich. The Frankish reserve army was forced to retreat to allied Hainaut while waiting for reinforcements from the south.
Van Atrecht pushed hard through the Rhineland and forced the Alsatian Duke to reinstate the disenfranchised nobles of Baden and Breisgau.
The army quickly moved north to stamp out Köln's interference. Soon the German archbishop was swearing fealty to Nicholas. But by that time the vile Bohemian had sacked Lüttich and was moving into the Hennegau. The Hainauters mounted a defense with the Frankish reserve army, but they were defeated.
But days later - with the Bohemian army still bloodied - van Atrecht arrived from the South. The wave of Bohemian soldiers skirmished for months with the Frankish army, but length supply lines and local attrition eventually whittled their forces down to 10,000 men. Van Atrecht focused on their heavy cavalry - elite soldiers, but also a source of emergency food for the force. With his cavalry numbers dwindling, the Bohemian commander reluctantly retreated westward Liége and captured Lüttich.
By then the Frankish reserves had taken up positions in the Liégian countryside. The moment the Bohemian marching column came into view the Frankish cavalry charged - unchecked by the - now non-existent - Bohemian cavalry. The Bohemians surrendered within hours.
Weeks later the Frankish army recaptured Lüttich from the Bohemian fort garrison. With the Frankish homelands once again secured, and Bohemia apparently busy with Brandenburg and Pommerania to the West, Nicholas commanded van Atrecht to move against the Bohemia homeland.
Vermandois' forces began to siege areas of Thuringia.
They were soon met with Thuringian nobles, who insisted on claiming their homelands themselves. To this van Atrecht was not opposed. He marched southward to the formerly Bavarian lands of Bamberg.
By the summer of 1443 word had come of Brandenburg's capitulation to Bohemia. Word came of hordes of Bohemian soldiers heading south.
But by this time Nicholas had become gravely ill. Military duties were slowly transitioning to his soon Isaac.
In October of 1443 Nicholas - ruler of Vermandois for over 44 years - died in his bed at the age of 64.
National Bank and Military Drill were the next NIs in line for the 1400s. The voting for ideas had
5 - Bureaucracy
4 - National Bank [weighted tie breaker]
4 - Military Drill
3 - Patron of the Arts [weighted tie breaker]
3 - National Trade Policy
Unless we don't want to vote by century. I just figured voting 2 or 3 at a time instead of for every one would be easiest. Although feel free to deviate if it seems easier to vote any time a new one is unlocked.
1410
1455
1485
1518
1565
1610
1655
1690
1730
1765
1803
1811
edit: or not, ran into an event that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, checking with Rex
Not that it matters except for flavor, but I've gotta go with Bjorn - retaking Rome from Muslim hands and pushing the heathens off the Italian peninsula for good puts him over the top. Besides, I'm sort of amused by the idea of a "St. Bjorn's Day".
We're also going to need another national idea vote, but this time with Quest for the New World as I'll have 11 gov / 11 trade (if we want it) in a year or two
Additionally, seeing little reason to try to annex Hainaut at this time, he redirected his efforts into subjugating Bar, another key eastern province
Furthermore, solidifying diplomatic relations and ensuring a strong claim to the throne, marriages were arranged with neighbouring powers.
Isaac spent the next few months taking stock of the state of the realm, while the Imerial army was content on sieging Bamberg. One of his ministers brought reports of the people being tired of the constant warring and higher taxes, slowing recruitment and adding to rebellious sentiment, although it has not reached a level that would affect the realm yet.
Isaac immediately responded by giving the people a quick victory to raise the prestige of the nation: showing how unafraid of the Emperor he was, preparations for attacking Bar were immediately planned out, the plan being quite simple: send all of our forces to attault their only city and force a quick concession.
While several of Bar's allies responded to their call, they posed little threat to Isaac and Bar quickly fell. A second was with Bourgogne was started, in order to enforce our ancient rights on France Comte.
That did not last very long either
A quick assault on Savoy was enough to end the war with one of the alliances
With this series of decisive victories achieved, the Imperial troops finally began a second assault on Vermandois soil with a massive army. General van Atrecht knew that not every victory was a win, not every defeat a loss. Despite losing a battle in Limburg, the enemy took far higher losses.
A second Imperial force arrives and attempts to siege Liege, but General Pape, in a more even match, dealt a significant blow.
Limburg has been captured, but hopefully not for long as General van Atrecht leads his army to reclaim it. General Pape scorches the land as he leaves, hoping to starve the enemy out, unfortunately it has no effect.
Liege is captured and the main part of the Imperial force moves on to Hainaut, even though they have played almost no part in the war thus far. The token force left at Liege is attacked by General Pape. Munster, being occupied by Holland, tires of the war and offers some money for peace, which is accepted.
Even though the war drags on, a glorious monument to our indomnitable spirit was erected today. It shall stand forever, a symbol of Frankish might!
IMT:31
However, such confidence may prove to be short lived, incensed with the new menument, the Imperial troops quickly lay siege to the capital itself, though the walls are strong enough to hold them off for the moment, there are simply so many of them that we dare not attack yet. Still, their lesser armies are falling, news which is very welcome.
Still, the matters of the realm continue unabated. The people are feeling more secure, despite the invading army, and the newly convened parliament is attempting to assert its authority. Isaac directs them to look at the diplomatic situation. After a long meeting, they decide that Isaac has the situation well in hand and that they don't need to do anything more.
Text in spoiler as I forgot it would be unreadable
The force attacking Vermandois has finally begun to starve and General van Atrecht launches an assault, catching them in between the advancing Frankish troops and the walls of their capital. The Emperor, having received intelligence on the poor state of his forces, attempts to sue for peace, but Isaac rejects this and announces that the Emperor's invasion must be repaid in kind.
With the enemy in Vermandois crumbling, Isaac took advantage of the Emperor's weakness and resumed his assault of Cleves (who had been declared war on earlier, but I forgot about), vassalizing the duke.
Seeing that Frankish power was ascendent, Aquitaine sent an emissary to Vermandois, inquiring after an alliance. Despite wishing for control over the Occitanian territories, Isaac agreed to the alliance, recognizing that having the two most powerful western Europe nations as allies would make for a very powerful alliance.
Finally, the siege of Vermandois, and with it, the Emperor's power, is broken.
The Emperor agrees to a humilating peace, he will release Thuringia, acknowledging that the conquest of these territories was unjust and that he had been beaten, reducing his authority in the eyes of the Princes of the Empire.
With the conclusion of the war, the Frankish people settled down, ready for peace. In 1448, Isaac directed the parliament to reduce some of the remaining serfdom laws, promulgating the theory that serf and freeman alike are both people and deserve to be treated equally. This is not well received, several serfs, upon being freed, start riots throughout the realm because of their treatment, destabilizing the situation.
Later that year, the veretans of the war with the Emperor approach the crown and ask that proper medical care be provided, even to conscripts. Isaac agreed and immediately ordered the establishment of a veteran's home in Cambray.
The start of December brings good news, not only have the riots of the serfs finally died down, but the scribes make a new discovery of a type of government, one that sounds awfully familiar to Isaac, but progress is progress.
The parliament also sends word that it is in session, if the monarch would like to attend. Isaac attends and gives a speech on diplomatic initatives; parliament continues having a heated discussion aout the current state of diplomacy, but as before, ultimately decides to do nothing
In 1450, Thuringia decides to start reclaiming it's territory, expecting Isaac to assist them due to their alliance (you're allied to anyone you force another country to release automatically); Isaac agrees, but only to avoid the diplomatic penalties, as he had no interest in an actual war with Brandenburg.
Our cardinals in Rome have been influencing the Pope, finally acheving some influence with the Holy Father. Isaac takes advantage of this news and quickly arranges for Queen Elizabeth I of Luxembourg to be excommunicated.
Once the truce with Luxembourg had expired, a swift invasion is arranged, lasting only a month. Luxembourg is a key territory and must be under Frankish control.
Research into government continues, developing the idea that directly funding artists will make Frankish culture something amazing and enduring.
(I switched my vote to Patron giving it a tie/lead because both Military Drill and National Bank are boring. NB also has the distinction of being almost useless too)
Later that year a massive grain depot was erected in Nemours; a massive quantity of locally produced grain is diverted from trade, but we can support many more troops in the field.
A new building has been developed that increases tax revenues! Our treasury is emptied to construct as many of these as we can.
However, not everything is going well, an outbreak of typhus kills off one out of every twenty people. There's nothing we can do but bury the dead and continue on.
We have been bribing our vassals on the side, purchasing temporary loyalty in order to make some significant changes.
We have issued an ultimatum to the Duchy of Bar, either integrate into the nation peaceably, or be forced in militarily; they chose the easier option.
By 1456, Limburg and Brabrant have been owned by Vermandois for such a long time that it only seems natural that they will continue being part of our territory in perpetuity. The Flemish people of Limburg have become such a common sight among the nation that they have become a part of the culture.
Our national focus was switched away from the capital to Liege, hopefully this will allow the region to develop quickly!
The pope is dead! Long live the pope!
Our diplomatic relations with the Holy See have taken a major hit with the new pope, we must correct this immediately. Isaac sends diplomats with gifts to win His Holiness' favour.
Isaac continues to direct parliament to relax the laws permitting serfdon, freeing the peasants of his country; in response a large group of peasants have left their homes in Brabrant, conscription manpower has been reduced.
In 1459 the new pope, in an attempt to cement his authority as the spritual leader of Catholicism, launched a crusade against Morocco. Driving the heathens out of the known parts of Africa would prevent any further possibility of a Muslim invasion of Europe, in addition to allowing the people of Africa to be converted.
Isaac answered the call, loading up troops and seeting sail on crusade, just like his forefathers.
Scouts reported several high value provinces that a quick, decisive strike should be able to take, the immediate goals being the trade port of Tangiers and the rumored gold mines of Sus. Lacking any native gold access, Isaac was eager to get access to the precious metal.
Back in Europe, the ruler of Metz was excommunicated. Seeing an opportunity to further grab key territories in the Empire, Isaac led the remainder of his troops in an attack, fortunately both Holland and Aquitaine joined the war against the Emperor as Metz fell quickly.
The parliament, as is customary during major wars, convenes again. This time, Isaac directs the discussion to cultural affairs, reminding parliament of the recent cultural achievements that patronizing the arts has given them. As a result, the parliament issued the Edict of 1460, a set of laws recognizing the cultural and scientific achievements of the nation and funding several well known artists even more. This would result in a some innovation in the years to come.
On the heels of the parliamentary meeting, messengers arrive from Morocco, indicating that the majority of heather forces have been wiped out and that the country is all but taken. Pleased by the good news, Isaac orders the generals to continue occupation of the country.
Several months later, reports of religious assemblies have reached the palace, heretics are apparently meeting openly, in public.
Having studied the family histories as a boy, Isaac was quite familiar with his own line having had heretical periods and after all, everyone was still Christian after all, even if they did disagree. Overrulling his councillors, Isaac decided to permit the free assembly of the peasants.