The Wincentene War

The Wincentene War is a civil war being fought within the Kingdom of Metina between the Wincentenes and the combined forces of the Cister Cartian church and the King of Metina, Sigmund IV. General unrest within Metina began when the Cister Cartian Bishop Yan Wincentene was executed by the church in 1415 for heresy.

## The Initial Conflict

After King Vladislav died of natural causes in 1419, his widow Sephina of Magiore took over as regent for Vladislav's brother, Sigmund IV, who was in Magiore at the time, and hurriedly collected a force of mercenaries' to try and gain control of Pirahn, which led to the Wincentenes fighting back. After a considerable part of the city had been damaged, the parties declared a temporary truce. Negotiations began to find a compromise, while the Wincentene Amanda Maroor, disapproving of these negotiations, left Pirahn for Flannen where she gathered a force and marched on the Margraviate of South Metina and defeated the Cister Cartians on March 25th 1420, which succeeded in prolonging negotiations in Pirahn. She then moved to Korim, but not considering its defences sufficiently strong, she settled herself in the neighbouring city of Grimmen, which became the new Wincentene stronghold.

## The First Crusade

After the death of his childless brother Vladislav, Sigmund IV became King of Metina, although only by right, for he had yet failed to return to Metina in the wake of the rising Wincentene conflict. He had claimed the throne, but the Margraves of Metina, many of whom were Wincentene sympathisers, raised the question of whether Metina was a hereditary monarchy, as per the traditions of Vichin, or an elective monarchy, as per the traditions of old. Many therefore claimed, that Sigmund could not accept the crown before the nobles had sworn fealty to him in a ceremony in Pirahn, hoping that the Magioran nobleman would not be able to enter the country.

A firm ally of the Church, Sigmund IV was aided by the Pontiff of Vichin, who allowed Sigmund to lead a crusade, the first in history, to destroy the Wincentenes and all other heretics in Metina. On the 30th of June, 1420, his army laid siege to Pirahn as Amanda Maroor marched on them, and Sigmund attempted a settlement, wherein the Wincentenes stated their demands, called the Four Scriptures. Sigmund, who had taken refuge in Vyserad Castle within Pirahn, rejected their demands and hostilities continued. He marched on Amanda, but was beaten back during the Battle of Viskov Hill in late July and while his troops held Castle Vyserad, the citizens of Pirahn laid siege to the castle. In October, the garrison was on the verge of famine and forced to capitulate. Sigmund was beaten a final time on the 1st of November and retreated to Magiore, whereafter almost all of Metina fell into the hands of the Wincentenes.

## The Second Crusade

The Wincentenes failed to fully capitalize on their victory as internal struggles began to threaten their unity. In Pirahn, a group of Wincentenes abandoned the fourth scripture regarding alcohol and vices, and became known as the Everymen, condemned by other Wincentene leaders. They managed to crown the Margrave Joanna the Blind Queen of Metina to oppose King Sigmund, but Amanda Maroor rejected the Queen seeing as she had been elected by the Everymen. She was simultaneously forced to suppress a democratic movement of Wincentenes in her own city of Grimmen. In August of 1421, a large Maegar army entered Metina and laid siege to Korim. After an unsuccessful attempt at storming the city, the crusaders retreated, hearing Amanda was marching on them. Sigmund IV did not arrive in Metina until the end of 1421 and was immediately defeated in the passes near the town of Yivla.

## Third and Fourth Crusade

After the second crusade, Sigmund could not return to Magiore because of the Golden War and failed to rouse the Vichinian forces he had hoped. Free for a time from foreign invasions, the Everymen invaded Korim in the name of Queen Joanna, causing the City of Korim to call to Amanda Maroor for aid. After several military successes in 1423 and 1424, a treaty of piece between the Wincentene factions was concluded on the 13th of September.

In 1426, the Wincentenes were attacked again by Sigmund, but this third crusade proved to be an utter failure. Despite this result, the Pontiff of Vichin believed the Wincentenes had been greatly weakened and immediately approved a fourth crusade against the country, which ended abruptly with the death of the Vichinian Pontiff during the Western War. In 1430, Sigmund was killed in battle and his son Albert tried but failed to gain control in the fragmented Magiore. The Wincentenes under Queen Joanna also attempted to establish a footing in Magiore until they were chased from the country by Robert Angevin in 1431. A few months later, the leader of the Everymen, Kyburn, was expelled from the country for allegedly conspiring to offer Metina to Robert Angevin and began to muster a force in Magiore.