1288-1289

The following is the turn report covering the years of 1288 and 1289, which took place from 6 May to 22 May 2017. It marked the beginning of a new epoch and the seventh volume of the Arthurverse, named Before the Fall.
== Epoch Start: Before the Fall ==
As the 13th century comes to a close, Europe as a whole can look back on a century of prosperity. While there has been great destruction by the hands of Mongols, Imperial candidates, ravaging Scots and proud nobles, overall it was a century of plenty. Rich harvests were had thanks to mild winters and warm summers. Trade prospered as never before, as did education supported by Emperors and religious figures. Yet, below the surface Latin Europe is rotting. The ever expanding economy is dependent on an ever increasing work force and hence ever increasing harvests. Financing of wars and of great projects of state and construction have been backed by loans as confidence in the continuing expansion reigns. This leads to the massing of influence by key institutions, while many states are dependent on continuing prosperity on all levels of society. Yet, for now Europe holds. There are flames breaking out, yes, rebellions, fights and ideas that would indeed dominate the next century, but for now they are but the harbingers of an epoch to come, as they pale in comparison to the upheavals of the 14th century, where plague and societal struggle dominated the world. One later historian would quip that it was as if a vengeful god was bored with the prosperity and stability that dominated Europe and gave a them a massive challenge with the later colonial expansions into all edges of the world as reward.
Whatever the truth of such idle thought, it is clear that with the plucking of an apple the first cracks started to show in this age of great Eurasian expansion, cracks that would only really break when decades later a rich bowl was being collected.
A new time has started.
== The British Isles ==
In the British Isles not much is felt of this for now as the old order is being reestablished.
In Ireland Prince Richard scored almost complete victory as Connacht fell and John of Ireland gained complete control of the island as king Aedh fled to France with a large coffer of gold and many retainers at his back (along allegedly also with a bunch of witches).
Back in England following a triumphal return of young Prince Richard preparations are already under way for his coronation, as few expect the king to live long into the year 1290. The signs are good for his early reign as the government is lead capably by Burnell and the barons for now have been convinced to postpone all their complaints a few years or at least months into Richard's reign in the hopes that the new administration will be better posed to give them more power or at the very least participation in government as it is after all often their second and third sons that keep the government going.
Yet even in the lands of House Plantagenet echoes of the future time are heard as the alchemist Roger Bacon presents his royal grace with a small metal device on top of a long pole, what he calls a "hand cannon". For now there is yet no ability to mass produce them, but Richard has been quite impressed with first demonstrations even though he sees the Longbow as still far superior.
And in faraway Dublin Prince John has in celebration of the victory started construction of a new castle by the sea. As the local Anglo-Irish often cannot pronounce it's French name they have taken to call it "Castamere".
In Scotland meanwhile some first winds of change could be felt as the nobles and burghs welcomed the king's summoning of them in chambers reminiscent of the bodies in Navarre, but soon issues arose, as there were disputes over seating as rival houses and clans could not be seated next to each other creating a quite complex sitting order, as well as the issue over titles, superiority and seniority as various chieftains, Mormaers and other naturally wished to have greater weight or at least the privilege of sitting at the front of sitting down first. This has pretty quickly ground discussions to a halt as the chamber of lords often takes very long to have sessions, which often break into verbal arguments between rivals. The Burghs meanwhile have been more efficient, but this has also not been necessarily a good thing as they now ask that how their time here in these meetings would be compensated and if these bodies that after all ruled over their own countries, should then not also get a say on raising taxes.
Note that while this is problematic, it is also quite typical of Scottish nobles of this age and indeed the warm praise that a formal kiss between father and son in Edinburgh drew shows that this so far is not a crisis of the monarchy.
== France ==
In France these movements of time, thanks to the prestige of king Louis and his capable handling of the societal dissent was funneled into the preparation of a large force lead by Templars as well as many French nobles. Some are even suggesting that a French prince could join, some even dreaming of the king leading them once again in Crusade.
In Provence the cathedral continues to grow. A sense of common Burgundianism spreads in French Burgundy, while non-French Burgundy is more and more fearful of French expansion.
However with the events in Italy drawing France possibly into other conflict through proxies France is not untouched by the harbingers of the new age.
== The Holy Roman Empire ==
In the Empire reconstruction continued, but more and more it was felt that there was no king present in the realm, as aged Henry could only do so much before his passing and Dietrich is still caught up in Italy. As such a few minor conflicts have flared up across the realm.
In Lüneburg great measures were taken to both boost the migration of labour as well as repelling cultists. The result is a mixed bag, as many choose to travel on to Thuringia and Imperial Meissen as there they see more lax religious enforcement thanks to the absence of their rulers. The efforts of supporting philosophy have in the last few months seemingly aided to slowly convert the now working refugees to the doctrine of the church.
In Thuringia the many refugees found work in the duchy's mines, but soon became a problem as the issue of Godfrey of Limburg arose.
In the west, the Habsburg lands are continuing to prosper especially as work in the new Habsburg Vogteis in the Alsace have given a further rise to trade in the region. One of the many men, who during this time has come to Habsburg is a young French monk of great academic background who has been hired as young Albert's tutor. Of the events in Switzerland one can read elsewhere.
The most notable conflict in the empire was the end of the war of Limburg Succession, as Count Waleran of Luxembourg secured for his ally Godfrey Reginar the entire western side of the Rhine, while the Counts of Wassenburg held on to the eastern side. While a good year was spent with raids across the river, many now expect peace to be made, with the river as border, as there is not much sense to continue fighting, especially as the thieves movement still spreads.
Young Henri of Luxembourg has killed his first man in this war and is now aching on his father to either give aid to the rebels in Switzerland or let him ride to the aid of Godfrey of Reginar, who has departed with a small court to the County of Anhalt while sending letters to the Emperor's new friends the Sienan bankers send him letters of debt which he used to spread word that he was hiring mercenaries. For what purpose is of yet unsure, though many think he may press his claims on Thuringia as cognatic heir of the murdered Landgrave Hermann II (d.1230). Many are however resentful of such a move as they see it as overreach, especially as Godfrey has not yet even been confirmed as Duke of Limburg.
Yet, there is nobody to address this, as the king is absent and no other king elected. Thus in the last months of the year 1289 letters have flown back and forth from Saxony to Cologne (reconquered by the Archbishop during the Limburg war) to Heidelberg, to Brandenburg, to Trier and Magdeburg. The non imperial electors, animated by the Emperor's own request for a co-monarch and seeing the wisdom in electing Heinrich in the past (or not wanting to admit it was a mistake) thus brought a new name into the game: Otto III Welf, brother-in-law to the Emperor.
The first one to propose the name seems from the remaining sources to be the Elector of Saxony, whose own father had once been supported by the Welfs as king. The Archbishop of Magdeburg, already favourable to the idea seems to have taken to it quite quickly, the Margrave of Brandenburg being more reluctant, but seeing it as a possible avenue to act together against Denmark and Sweden, a region where both had long held interests, but had lost much influence of late.
The Elector of Cologne was more reluctant it seems, as from our sources we know he had not made any intentions known by the start of 1290 and started in secret sending letters to his brother the Counts of Luxembourg what he proposed. From what we can gleam Henri himself seemed to have quite partial to the idea as a split monarchy could be conductive to Luxembourg interests, while a peace between the long rivals of the Welfs and Wittelsbachs and a splitting of influence between north and south would create more stability for the realm as a whole. He however also saw the potential that this could jeoperdize attempts to take Thuringia, thus forcing Luxembourg to make do with their Rhinish inheritances.
The Archbishop of Trier also seemed to remain sceptical as he saw Otto's marriage to a quite lowly Brandenburgian noble woman (some rumoured she was even Slavian) as beneath the royal dignity and also wanted apparently a bit more dominance in his region in return for such a vote.
Lastly, the Elector of Habsburg has so far not responded to overtures from his Saxon ally, preferring to see the events unfold, especially with the situation in Switzerland however, it may be wise to allow Dietrich greater leave to be absent and make war in the south.
In Austria meanwhile little of the strains of the outside world were felt for now as the courier system reached full sophistication in Austria and reached the outer limits of what was possible in the mountainous Tirol. However in the further souther regions, due to the lesser development of the infastructure there and the thinner population and supply of ready horses have made it a bit expansive and slow to built the courier system there.
Also in matters of faith Austria must not fear cults or such, especially as king Ottokar manages to unite many secular church titles of various local bishoprics in himself or his son. Only the Bishop of Regensburg and the Archbishop of Salzburg, being big enough to be of equal status to imperial lords remain outside direct Austrian control.
The efforts of war drilling for the Prince's elite guard has also been succesful. Though attempts to truly expand it into a standing army have to now be considered in the face of the need of near constant fluent currency to pay such a standing force. Some have suggested maybe taking money from Sienan bankers so to not give money to the Venician foe to have more currency, others have suggested trying to get a more direct influence on the silver mines in Meissen or expansion of trade or maybe even somehow convincing the nobles of raising more money.
Meanwhile legal work to try claiming an electoral title, have so far not found enough to make a good substantive claim. Some avenues have arisen, but they are for now patchy at best and/or could be potentially politically damaging (one potential avenue for example would claim that by the raising of Austria to a Duchy and the legal ongoings of the raising and deposing of Babenberg even to the title of Bavaria, the electoral title of the Emperor himself is actually that of Austria, which for obvious reasons apart from the for now patchy documentation could be quite problematic).
== Und Frei Erklär Ich All Meine Knechte? ==
There is a legend which cannot be confirmed of what started the rebellion of the Swiss.
In it Rudolf of Habsburg, young heir of the Habsburg titles was riding out hunting, when he came upon a peasant boy, who was working the land with his father for their lord, the Count of Kyburg. Rudolf proceeded to then mock the workers, mocking one man for carrying a bow, saying the man could not even hit his own leg. This ended with the peasant seizing the boy in a blind rage, fed up with years of servitude (and inspired by these new preachings) and mocking him, by having the peasant shoot an apple off his head. This tale is most likely a later invention, but the image has survived as it exemplifies the Swiss nature and culture.
What indeed can be confirmed that the strain of being an avenue for marauding armies had put greater and greater strain on the Swiss regions, making it fertile ground for the thieves' movement. Soon various peasant rebellions broke out across the region, with various leaders, some being peasants in Habsburg lands rebelling against their local nobles, but not the Habsburgs, others were Kyburg judges, local circles and free peasants demonstrating for freedom and their old rights through refusal to house soldiers and pay taxes (though they curiously started to send taxes to the Imperial treasury in Landshut). All in all about seven different rebellions have sprung up across the Swiss alps of various tenacity strength and cohesion.
== King Dietrich's War ==
These events were mere backdrops though in Italy, where history was written, for good or for ill.
Dietrich in mid 1288 took the city of Milan, his mercenary armies, basically plundering it to its very bones, burning down nearly a quarter of it. Dietrich, distrustful of the Mercenaries he hired, left behind a small force of Imperial troops to saveguard the rebuilding efforts. He hoped to link up with Bavarian reinforcements, but a harsh winter had frozen the passes of Tirol, forcing making them only arrive in upper Venetia in late 1289.
Thus Dietrich was forced to march alone southwards, defeating the Florentines in a battle in northwest Tuscany, before finally razing the city of Tuscany in January 1289. Dietrich had achieved complete victory as he marched southwards to Rome, both have audience with the pope and to adress the problems in Sicily, when Martin IV died, leaving Dietrich in a city in the middle of an election as his army, by now consisting by nearly eight out of ten of mercenaries, became uneasy, especially with other venues offering greater rewards, such as Sicily. Already a few troops have broken off, while those that remain now hungrily look at the riches of the holy city. For now, King Dietrich has however managed to keep his army together.
== The Neapolitan Vespers ==
In Sicily, full on rebellion has broken out across the southern peninsula.
Over the year of 1288 the displeasure of the local population rose, as religious discontentment and economic hardship came together to create a perfect storm, that erupted when in January 1289 the population of Naples seized the viceroy and took control of the city. Soon rebellion spread, eventually enveloping most of the mainland. The rebels are for now without leader, sending a message to Frederick of Hohenstaufen asking him to be their anti-king against his cousins. Meanwhile in Rome pope Martin IV before his death send letters to both the Lord of Brienne and the Count of Anjou, as well as the king of France offering to raise one of those two to the kingship over the kingdom of Sicily.
Two former imperial mercenary bands have already broken off from Dietrich and joined a contract under the Neapolitans.​
== Iberia ==
The Portuguese monarchy continued to prosper in these years as work started to be made to link Galicia to Portugal via road an sea. However, the kings of House Burgundy soon discovered that Galicia's mountainous lands and lesser development were not quite conductive to the projects the had been creating back home.
Meanwhile however, the port of Seville is slowly expanding as a trade centre and the army of Portugal has rarely been in better maintenance.
== The North ==
In the cold north meanwhile live moved on as only in Pommerania and Mecklenburg could there be felt real resentment of the royal excommunications.
In Sweden colonization in the east continued and a suitable tutor has been found for Prince Eric, who seems to grow into a diligent young lad, though he has to particular bodily strength.
In Livonia meanwhile the integration of the new lands into Novgorod and Sweden are doing well enough, though the common peasants are no more loyal or disloyal to them, then they were to the Templars, as they remain mostly pagans.
Back in the Republic itself meanwhile the renewed pressures of Alexander Nevsky for greater central control have been met by the age old resistance by boyars and other special interests that fear for their status.
In Stockholm meanwhile work has begun on a large Swedish fleet using Novgorod lumber to built the ships. Meany Poles, but also Danes are disquieted by this built up of power in the east.
== Poland ==
King Wladylaw passes in early 1290 following a hunting trip with his grandson. Casimir notes in his diary "I need an apprentice".
== The East ==
In the east meanwhile great changes were going on, true harbingers of the future, even in front of the west in development, be it now in virtue or malice.
In Bulgaria wholesale slaughter reigned as the Teutonic order murdered the local Orthodox population. While many were at first relieved as the relative lack of rape due to the monk's chastity, they were all the more appalled by the brutality with which the Germans waged war. This eventually lead to something fateful: The first widespread adoption of slavery by a Latin culture. The monks, seeing the Orthodox as little better than pagans(in fact many saw them as worse, as instruments of the antichrist, the jews of the new age), reduced the Orthodox population to personal property of the military units they were attached to, as they were forced to rebuilt under the whip the country the conquerors had destroyed.
Burchard von Schwanden, Grand Master of the Order proudly wrote back to Rome: "I have created in the name of Christ a new Sparta righteous in her state and unbreakable in her task."
In Outremer meanwhile a small recovery was felt as they went mostly unaffected by the war in Anatolia, but still their overall economic situation was still dire. For now the country regressed into trying to find some way to deal with the current state of affairs and move on as harvests were brought in and plans were lain. But sadly, Prince Leo would only get the year of 1289 to rule in moderate peace as, when the year 1290 dawned news came that in Pisa force was gathering. it was lead by the Almans and consisted of two small mercenary bands which had come to Italy, only to find that Emperor Dietrich was no longer hiring. The Almans declared themselves king and queen of Jerusalem once again, claiming all of the lands Bohemond and Leo held as compensation for their loss of the Holy Lands, and declared that with this new army they would conquer back the Christian lands of Outremer back as their rightful rulers.
From the lands of the infidels it is heard that Solamish has been named Sultan Barakah's heir, and was granted Baghdad. This has been received with little more than approval by majority of the realm.
Barakah's rule back home meanwhile is regarded as fair and prosperous as the spoils of war were brought in both to Egypt as the centre of the realm to built great celebrations of Islam, but also to rebuilt the desolate Mesopotamia, most of all Bagdad, the Queen of Islamic though.
If this shall see a new golden age of Islamic culture one cannot say for now.
There are however also clouds in the realms of the Mamluks.
Firstly there is the war in Anatolia. The Mamluks and their Outremer allies had entered the mountainous plateau with a clear goal and strategy and indeed as they marched they tried to drill the overall battle plan into the soldiers. But when the battle itself came and half of the army was required to try and stay hidden in the mountainous terrain, the allied forces of the Sultan found themselves thoroughly outmatched by the Turks familiarity with the terrain.
Osman knew for a long time they were coming, partly from rebels against him, some of whom were not taken by the idea of being ruled from Egypt. When the day of battle came his army was prepared and fresh and traveled far faster through the passes of the country familiar with the land as they were. Still a pitched battle developed as the Mamluks and Syrians brought their superior numbers into the mix, soon Osman found himself outmatched and surrounded on almost all sides. However, this was also how many a Mamluk found himself as they were disoriented in the pitched battles or pressed tightly together by their own gigantic numbers.
Then came the guns. The Sultan of Mamluks had acquired a new weapon and he would be damned if he would not use it. He would however find that it was easy to hand a man a weapon, but hard for him to use it. The firing of the guns only created missfires and wounds to their own army, before a spark send off a gigantic explosion. Panic spread as men fled in all directions, friend and foe, nobody knew as Turk fought Turk, Persian fought Latin, Mamluk fought Armenian and all fled. Nobody would be able to claim the Battle of the Arc as true victor, though both did, what is a fact is that Bohemond of Syria would be among the dead of that day.
The Mamluk army had to retreat into Mesopotamia, but Osman's realm was disintegrating as he send message to his allies in Constantinople to send him an army or at least give him money to hire mercenaries.
From the further east I have heard news that the Khan of China has conquered a new group of islands. I do not think this is however true news, as the same news came a few years back. So it is probably just the same set of islands? Or could these be different ones?
Category:Turns