Records: the Principality of Thrace

## **Byzantium in the Blink of an Eye**

From the moment Aquitaine assumed the Genoese colonies, including the Galata quarter, this was the endgame for the City of Constantinople (once called Byzantium... why they changed it, I can't say; Constantine just liked it better that wayyyyyyyy).

Negotiations had been ongoing under the terms of the treaty, and by February 1383, the House of Palaiologos surrendered the little power and symbolic titles remaining of the Empire of Byzantium to Prince Edmund *of the Aegean*.

### **The Successor**

In place of the Byzantine "Empire," Edmund created the Principality of Thrace, simultaneously removing the anchor of the Ottoman presence from “Rumelia” (thus defaulting the peninsula back to the "Thrace" that it had been for so long).

The military operation took less than 36 hours. The northern border with the newly formed Bulgaria was now the crest of the Balkan Mountains. The bulk of the principality was now within the Thracian Plain. The division with the Macedonia area was the Rhodope Mountains.

### **The Pattern of the Plantagenets**

The strategy of Edmund (and the Ricardian crown alike) was coming clear now: the local refugees had been located and recruited into the Royal Arms. By the time Edmund struck, it wasn't just with one Regiment based out of Galata (their district in Constantinople), it was with the *Orestias Combat Regiment* (Heavy Expeditionary) and the *Burgas Combat Regiment* (Heavy Expeditionary).

Murad was caught flat-footed in "Edirne," though surprisingly, his body wasn't recovered in Adrianople. Rather, it was removed from *Orestias*. The callback to Greek mythos was a *significant*harbinger of Plantagenet power and intention.

Nearby, and caught in the same battle, were his sons Bayezid and Yakub Bey. Several heralds from Murad's house were sent out to contact his embattled lieutenants with the news of the fall of the Sultan's dynasty.

From the Royal Arms, there were simple and clear instructions following to ensure the first-contact survival of the Ottoman soldiers – though make no mistake, they would be subject to *Audit and Rectification*.

### **A Teaching Moment**

Notably, the sultans of the Anatolian Beyliks of Aydin, Karaman and Candar were special guests of Prince Edmund on this offensive. They were on-scene within minutes after the fatal fall of Murad and his sons. The sultans took valuable tactical intelligence back with them, chiefly that *all the rumors were true*. To engage the Regiments in combat was to commit to their last act on earth.

Point of reference: Burgas was on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast at the large Burgas Bay. These Regiments would stabilize the areas as they were repopulated after Murad's genocidal sterilization.

### **The Gentle Assumption of the Byzantine Legacy**

John V Palaiologos and his often-rebellious son Andronikos IV Palaiologos were fully united in the Plantagenet-style re-definition of the House of Palaiologos, and the family was retained as a baronetcy within the city of Constantinople.

It was a nod to the Eastern Greek history that once ruled down through the Levant – and who suffered the rise and conquests of the Rashidun Caliphate.