An Age of Miracles Continues: The Empire of Rhomania
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In 1618, a small Arletian expedition led by one Gaston Coligny accomplished this, sailing through the Magellan Strait (which is named for Coligny instead ITTL), meeting David III of Mexico in Cuzco just as he was conquering the Incas. David put Coligny up to sailing across the Pacific to get to China, which is how the trans-Pacific Pyrgos galleon trade route began. Thereafter Coligny, down to two ships, made it across the Pacific to Pyrgos, and thence to Arletian factories in India, and then presumably back to Arles itself.
This is one of the reasons I love this timeline. The fanbase can be so incredibly attentive and knowledgeable.
Chihuahuas: So the reason for that whole bit is it’s an expression of my frustration of having to deal with the bad behavior of people’s dogs while out on walks. I’m on public footpaths, minding my own business, and these dogs come charging out of nowhere and making like they’re going to attack until I bellow really angrily at them repeatedly until they back off. It’s really annoying. My “favorite” is the dog that ran across the street right in front of cars to charge at me; if those cars hadn’t slammed on the brakes it would’ve gotten run over and if those cars had had any vehicles following them there easily could’ve been an accident. (And these are aggressive charges, not ‘hi, new friend, want to play?’ approaches. I’ve had some of those, especially that adorable golden retriever puppy, but not nearly as many.)
As for the focus here on Chihuahuas, well, most of the time the gratuitous unprovoked aggression seems to be because of the personality of the dogs, rather than breed. Except for Chihuahuas. I’ve never encountered one that did not engage in gratuitous unprovoked aggression, including one that attacked me from behind. I’m not scared of them, but I’m sick and tired of the little shits and their unprovoked shittiness.
Athena stands in for me. I go on these walks for fresh air, sunshine, a little exercise, and relaxation. I’m minding my own business and just want to be left alone; that is extremely little to ask, I think. As such, I’m really not in the mood for creatures who apparently object to the fact that I exist.
Short answer: No.
I have a longer answer relating to the current canal coming up once we get to ‘Rhomania and the Little Ice Age’.
If the westerners just claimed descent or inspiration from Rome, the Byzantines wouldn’t be bothered by that. It’s the West’s habit of saying ‘we’re Romans and you’re not; you’re Greeks’. Which isn’t going to go away, even if it’s not said as loudly or as often. (Because even today IOTL, people are still saying the Byzantines weren’t Romans.)
No to cacao. That’s all imports. Yet another reason for the Romans to not anger the Spanish
A lot of the transplanting of crops, not just cacao but the likes of cloves and nutmeg, seems to be a product of the 1800s. It makes sense to me it didn’t happen earlier, since the slowness of transportation and lack of preservation would make transplanting extremely difficult. Getting a cacao plant to Indonesia would require a 6 month (or longer) sea voyage across the Pacific, just for starters.
Herakleios and Sophia: Herakleios is the heir (eldest child of Odysseus) but he is being married to Sophia to unite the bloodlines.
It is interesting that people are making Catherine and Peter references, which hadn’t crossed my mind, but makes sense. The relationship between Herakleios and Anastasia is heavily based on Henri II and Diana di Poitiers, including the ‘beautiful boy’ and ‘they looked like mother and child rather than lovers’ which are both taken from OTL.
Demetrios the Younger: Oh, keep an eye on him. I have plans. Although they’d be more obvious to people if they knew what I’d been reading that gave me the ideas. (Funnily enough, some of it was while having a lunch break during those walks that have the dog issues. And speaking of that, what kind of deli doesn’t have fried rice?)
Yeah, that was a case of me having no idea what to do with the character anymore. His narrative purpose had been to be a credible alternative to Demetrios (III) Sideros for the Night of the Tocsins. And upcoming plot arcs didn’t have a spot for him, so it was easiest to just kill him off.
Denying their Roman-ness by calling them Greek won’t be a thing east of Rhomania, since denying their Roman-ness lacks cultural cachet in lands ‘out of the shadow of Rome’. The Vijayanagara or Mataramese or Japanese have no yearning for Roman-ness themselves. This whole issue is completely irrelevant to them.
This is from OTL. The Arabs and Turks had no hesitation about calling the Byzantines the Romans. See the Sultanate of Rum as exhibit A, called such because it was comprised of land taken from the Rum (Romans). Even well into the 1300s, when Byzantium was…underwhelming, the Turkish beys still recognized the Basileus as the Emperor of the Romans and at least in person treated him as such.
Roman falconry has a really good year. (Seriously, we have eagles here. How are these little rat dogs not getting eaten?)
Perhaps not Alexandros, but his kids are going to be raised Muslim. That would help win him support he needs. Mesopotamia is a vassal state and the Byzantines historically, while caring very much about the religious affiliation of people in territory they controlled directly, didn’t care one bit about the religion of vassal states. So that would apply here.
Mercenary army is really the only option at this point, since the locals can’t be trusted to not overthrow him if they’re well-armed. It’s an issue that will only go away once the royal family is less foreign and more local. As for cash, that is a serious issue, but since Rhomania and Persia are both guaranteeing its foreign security, he only needs an army big enough to keep internal order, so at least it’s not a big mercenary army.
As for the focus here on Chihuahuas, well, most of the time the gratuitous unprovoked aggression seems to be because of the personality of the dogs, rather than breed. Except for Chihuahuas. I’ve never encountered one that did not engage in gratuitous unprovoked aggression, including one that attacked me from behind. I’m not scared of them, but I’m sick and tired of the little shits and their unprovoked shittiness.
Athena stands in for me. I go on these walks for fresh air, sunshine, a little exercise, and relaxation. I’m minding my own business and just want to be left alone; that is extremely little to ask, I think. As such, I’m really not in the mood for creatures who apparently object to the fact that I exist.
Short answer: No.
I have a longer answer relating to the current canal coming up once we get to ‘Rhomania and the Little Ice Age’.
If the westerners just claimed descent or inspiration from Rome, the Byzantines wouldn’t be bothered by that. It’s the West’s habit of saying ‘we’re Romans and you’re not; you’re Greeks’. Which isn’t going to go away, even if it’s not said as loudly or as often. (Because even today IOTL, people are still saying the Byzantines weren’t Romans.)
No to cacao. That’s all imports. Yet another reason for the Romans to not anger the Spanish
A lot of the transplanting of crops, not just cacao but the likes of cloves and nutmeg, seems to be a product of the 1800s. It makes sense to me it didn’t happen earlier, since the slowness of transportation and lack of preservation would make transplanting extremely difficult. Getting a cacao plant to Indonesia would require a 6 month (or longer) sea voyage across the Pacific, just for starters.
Herakleios and Sophia: Herakleios is the heir (eldest child of Odysseus) but he is being married to Sophia to unite the bloodlines.
It is interesting that people are making Catherine and Peter references, which hadn’t crossed my mind, but makes sense. The relationship between Herakleios and Anastasia is heavily based on Henri II and Diana di Poitiers, including the ‘beautiful boy’ and ‘they looked like mother and child rather than lovers’ which are both taken from OTL.
Demetrios the Younger: Oh, keep an eye on him. I have plans. Although they’d be more obvious to people if they knew what I’d been reading that gave me the ideas. (Funnily enough, some of it was while having a lunch break during those walks that have the dog issues. And speaking of that, what kind of deli doesn’t have fried rice?)
Yeah, that was a case of me having no idea what to do with the character anymore. His narrative purpose had been to be a credible alternative to Demetrios (III) Sideros for the Night of the Tocsins. And upcoming plot arcs didn’t have a spot for him, so it was easiest to just kill him off.
Denying their Roman-ness by calling them Greek won’t be a thing east of Rhomania, since denying their Roman-ness lacks cultural cachet in lands ‘out of the shadow of Rome’. The Vijayanagara or Mataramese or Japanese have no yearning for Roman-ness themselves. This whole issue is completely irrelevant to them.
This is from OTL. The Arabs and Turks had no hesitation about calling the Byzantines the Romans. See the Sultanate of Rum as exhibit A, called such because it was comprised of land taken from the Rum (Romans). Even well into the 1300s, when Byzantium was…underwhelming, the Turkish beys still recognized the Basileus as the Emperor of the Romans and at least in person treated him as such.
Roman falconry has a really good year. (Seriously, we have eagles here. How are these little rat dogs not getting eaten?)
Perhaps not Alexandros, but his kids are going to be raised Muslim. That would help win him support he needs. Mesopotamia is a vassal state and the Byzantines historically, while caring very much about the religious affiliation of people in territory they controlled directly, didn’t care one bit about the religion of vassal states. So that would apply here.
Mercenary army is really the only option at this point, since the locals can’t be trusted to not overthrow him if they’re well-armed. It’s an issue that will only go away once the royal family is less foreign and more local. As for cash, that is a serious issue, but since Rhomania and Persia are both guaranteeing its foreign security, he only needs an army big enough to keep internal order, so at least it’s not a big mercenary army.
Chihuahuas are indeed annoying little f******, my neighbour who got fed up with their Chihuahua, actually used a sock to cover the non-stop screaming over all who passed their house. I can't help but laugh when I heard the whimper of a bark from those annoying twats.
Evilprodigy
Donor
Never once been a deli with fried rice myself. Unless you're making some sort of Delhi pun.
I might be reading too much into this, but you're probably right. Demetrios going towards RITE or India as an adventurer or even an Exarch seems like a pretty fair assessment.
Personally I would've preferred if he went towards Terra Australis just so we can get an update on post-Wu societies and make a name for himself as the one that reconnected the land to the outside world but that's pretty unlikely, so him conquering a piece of India is a close second.
This is so unbelievably petty that I have no choice but to love it.
It'll be interesting to see how Rhomania functions in the modern day, with the rise of state-owned companies for utilities, but it does depress me that Roman society doesn't tolerate learning disabilities, which means it could extend to stuff like mental illness. They might have a robust public health system due to centralized state control but it's likely they won't have any treatments for stuff like ADHD, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and autism, due to societal disdain or ignorance towards those kinds of people.
On the bright side, even if the state does not provide such help towards those kinds of people, private or even religious Orthodox organizations might pick up the pace and provide assistance, though it might not be a great help compared to the support that the state would've given out.
The Lands of Germany, 1640-42
The Lands of Germany, 1640-42:
After the Ravens had settled in Magdeburg, Germany had settled down somewhat. The heat was still on, but the water was at a simmer, not a boil. Henri II was supreme in the west but unable to force a legal settlement on Ottokar, meaning his position relied solely on naked force. Ottokar was too far away and too strong in his local base to be coerced, but the Bohemian monarch was too weak to cross swords directly with Henri II with any hope of prevailing. However the impasse could not endure forever.
* * *
Near Munich, May 17, 1640:
Theodor could feel it, them, simmering in the dark corner of his mind, thrumming like the sound of the wings of dragonflies. He knew what they were, or at least he knew what he thought they were. They were his madness, lurking, ever present, waiting to seize him at any unexpected moment. Perhaps. Or he was imagining it. Perhaps there was nothing there. He was crazy after all.
But not at the moment. At the moment he was sane, at least by the standards of the world, a standard which impressed him less nowadays. These lucid moments however were, in their own way, worse than the bouts of madness. At least in the bouts he did not know or care. But in these moments he knew what lay in store for him, and it haunted him. Were he not already insane, the suspense would’ve driven him mad years ago.
He looked out the glass door. He was in the west wing of the Summer Palace, built on the outskirts of Munich. Because it had been used as a command post during the siege of Munich by the Hungarians and Romans, it hadn’t been damaged. After the peace it had become his abode, his gilded cage, the corner into which he had been shoved, the awkward object that couldn’t be disposed but nobody wanted to keep around.
He was on the top story, the large glass doors opening out onto a stone balcony which overlooked a fine garden, just starting to flower in a riot of colors. He opened them, stepping outside to feel the warmth of the sun and the caress of a cool breeze, the two perfectly balancing each other. Birdsong carried in the air, along with the rustle of some small creatures hopping about in the garden. In the distance was the indistinct sound of Munich, of farmers working their lands outside the city, of carters moving goods, of the call to pray from a nearby small monastery.
It felt…good.
Here, for now, the thrumming stopped.
But it would just be for a moment. That was all he was given, now. Unless…It was an extreme choice, but then he was down to extreme measures. The world would condemn it, but then the world was stupid. Its condemnation meant nothing. And God was merciful; he would understand.
Was he sorry? He was sorry about how things had turned out, but he was not sorry for what he had done. He had had the right; that was plain and clear. God, in his infinite and admittedly confusing wisdom, had chosen not to back the right. That was his purview, but that did not change the fact. The death of the usurper in a pile of his own excrement was at least some small vindication. And it was a far better thing to have sought the right, and to have failed, then to have never to have sought the right at all.
He stepped up onto the stone railing, standing there, enjoying the gentle caress of sun and wind. It was not fear that held him there; death, but death in soundness of mind, had no terrors for him compared to the madness thrumming in the recesses of the mind. It was just…it felt nice.
“Your Majesty!” a voice exclaimed, the sudden noise startling him and nearly making him fall off. He turned his head to see a servant staring at him in shock. The man yelled back into the hallway. “Help! His Majesty is trying to kill himself!”
Theodor sighed. He’d been wanting a few more moments and then a quiet end, but that was apparently too much to ask. He heard the sound of footsteps, pounding on the tiled floor. If they had their way, it would be restraints, and treatments. He didn’t remember much, thankfully, from his episodes of insanity, but he remembered some of the treatments. He wouldn’t use those techniques on Greek spies to extract information, on the grounds of Christian mercy. They wanted to keep him from taking his life, by making his life worth nothing. But then, the world was stupid.
Some servants and guards entered the chamber, gingerly approaching the balcony. “Your Majesty, come down from there,” one of them said.
Theodor’s nostrils flared. He knew what people called him, a madman, a fool, an imbecile. Well, they could say what they liked, but that didn’t change the fact that they were small and insignificant. The world barely noticed their birth, and it would notice even less their deaths, and they would not be remembered afterwards. Yet God has chosen to place him here, now, one of those few that did matter. And he was not going to have such insults here, and now, of all places and times.
“DOGS!” he bellowed, his voice thundering like a Triune cannon. “You would dare command US?! I am Theodor von Wittelsbach, by the Grace of God and not of men, Emperor of all the Romans. Say what you will about me, but at least I KNOW who I am.” He sneered. “How many of you can say likewise?”
He turned back around to face the horizon, savoring the sun and wind for one last precious moment, and calmly took one step forward.
* * *
The suicide of Theodor comes as a shock to Europe and is the shock that breaks the deadlock in the lands of the Holy Roman Empire. The Duke of Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Marburg, Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, and Hildesheim (Hesse-Brunswick for short) Philip Sigismund II, head of the House of Welf/Guelph, the most powerful prince of the Empire after the once-mighty Wittelsbachs and the Premyslids, has been largely quiet since the war against Rhomania. But during his silence he has been carefully nurturing the recovery of his lands, populace, treasury, and army, with impressive results. In theory he could put, as a maximum effort, forty thousand men into the field (drawing substantially on mercenaries admittedly), although how long he could fund such an effort is questionable.
After the death of Theodor he finally begins to speak, arguing that Ottokar really isn’t a legitimate Holy Roman Emperor, having taken the title while Theodor was still alive, and thus the Imperial title is actually vacant. If so, one Philip Sigismund II is an obvious candidate. Furthermore, even if Ottokar is Holy Roman Emperor, the chief responsibility of the Emperor is to defend the Empire against foreign aggression, and that he has singularly failed to do. Plus there is the whole issue of the Ravens.
Ottokar, who is suffering from ill health and old age, snaps back that the support of the princes, even in areas of common interest, has been noticeable by its absence. Philip however undercuts this by promising his full support and recognition of Ottokar as Emperor, providing he actually act in full force against Henri’s aggression. He claims prior failure to do so to be because of lack of resources, a problem that has been made good. Given his allies and connections with many of the minor princes, he can also bring far more support than just what his own domains can provide.
Ottokar is suspicious of Philip Sigismund’s sudden offering of honey, but his hands are tied. If he doesn’t act now against the Triunes with these offers of support, he will absolutely destroy his legitimacy as Holy Roman Emperor, and the Duke’s legal arguments do have a point.
It isn’t until 1642 that things really begin moving in earnest due to the difficulty of organizing large armies and the supplies and moneys to sustain them. However then Crown Prince Vaclav leads forth an army 40,000 strong, comprised of Bohemians with some German, Polish, and Hungarian mercenary contingents. (Ottokar’s continued ill health means he is in no condition to lead an army.) It links up with a Reichsarmee of comparable size commanded by Duke Philip Sigismund II, with 25000 from the Duke’s domains and the remainder from smaller German princes.
The objective of the combined force, the largest the Holy Roman Empire has fielded since Thessaloniki, is Cologne. It is a bold choice, perhaps too bold, but the times demand something dramatic. Seizing the wealthy and prominent city, seat of one of the Imperial-Electors, would be a prestigious victory. Such a blow would surely galvanize the Princes to provide even more support, necessary to drive the Triunes out, while providing an ideal base with which to do so. From Cologne they could strike at Liege, a key armaments manufacturing area, the greatest in Western Europe, and possibly convince the rump Kingdom of Lotharingia to enter the lists on their side.
The Triune forces in the path of the juggernaut scatter, hopelessly outmatched in numbers and firepower. Still the Reichsarmee’s march is slow due to the constraints of supply, especially with the need to gather equipment to cross the Rhine. On August 14, the Reichsarmee runs into the Duc d’Orleans, with a Triune army of comparable size, near Wiehl, east of the Rhine, and both deploy for battle.
The battlefield is huge, sprawling across the area of the modern park with its many hiking trails. Although fighting is confused, the terrain hampering communication which is not helped by the incessant noise and gun smoke, honors seem about even until midday. At that point though Philip Sigismund orders his forces to withdraw, retreating eastward.
With the confusion, Prince Vaclav doesn’t realize his flank is exposed until Triune cuirassiers slam into and annihilate it. What follows afterwards is utter carnage as the Bohemian and attached contingents are wrecked by a Triune force that now has a two-to-one material advantage and even greater morale ascendancy. Vaclav tries to organize an orderly withdrawal but Triune cavalry are everywhere and around 3:30 PM he is hit by a musket ball. He orders his men to tie him to his saddle so he won’t fall off, propping himself on a raised lance, and continues trying to lead his men out of danger. Forty five minutes he is struck by a cannonball, this shot killing him.
It is an utter rout, the Bohemian force losing half its number. Triune losses are around 3000, with the casualties in Philip Sigismund’s contingent slightly more than half that.
That is not the only blow to befall the Bohemians. When Ottokar hears the news, including the death of his son and heir, he seems to go into shock. On August 20, he has a heart attack, and then another two days later. On August 24, he too perishes. The Imperial crown is truly vacant.
As is the Bohemian crown. Vaclav had no living children of his own (he had three, but all had died before their third birthday) and with the death of Ottokar and Vaclav the House of Premyslid is extinct in the royal male line. Ottokar has another child, his daughter Mary, married to King Stephan VII of Hungary. The Bohemian nobles, while not happy about a foreign overlord, agree that Hungary would be preferable to a likely-to-turn-violent argument over which Bohemian noble has the best claim to the throne. A significant factor in this decision is Ottokar’s wife, Queen Zoe of Prussia, who is determined to protect the rights of her daughter.
On October 10, Stephan and Mary are crowned King and Queen of Bohemia, with a personal union now in effect between Bohemia and Hungary. The couple agree to only use Bohemian officials in Bohemia, and to spend twelve out of every twenty-four months in the Kingdom of Bohemia. When they are absent, the Queen Mother Zoe will be Regent.
The Imperial crown is another matter. Stephan VII as Holy Roman Emperor is absolutely not an option. The Hungarian history with the Holy Roman Empire is too bloody for that. The Wittelsbach option is Karl Manfred, the Lady Elizabeth’s son and nephew of Theodor, except he is only just about to turn eight.
And so it seems Philip Sigismund is the only real choice, despite it being clear he is in collusion with Henri II. The retreat at Wiehl could’ve been a mistake, but the Duke removes all doubt when he publicly negotiates with Henri to arrange safe passage for himself and the electors to hold the election in Mainz. That will give the decision they make more legitimacy.
They make the expected decision. On Christmas Day 1642 Duke Philip Sigismund II is crowned King of the Romans in Mainz by the Archbishop-Elector (the office of Pope is currently vacant due to the death of the incumbent, and papal coronation is, theoretically, required to assume the Imperial title).
Vince
Monthly Donor
Dante would be sending Phillip straight to the 9th circle for his actions if he were around. Though I suppose it was worth it to him for the Empire's crown.
Looks like this war will finally come to a close with Henri getting his Rhine border.
Well there goes the HRE. If there was any hope of any German resistance against the Triunes, those were dashed when Vaclav died at Wiehl. With Ottokar dead and Philip Augustus having neither the resources nor the interest to defend against Henri II (plus the Ravens mucking about), the Germans have very little hope of taking the Rhine, at least for now.
Man, it's going to be really satisfying when Henri II and Philip Augustus dies, and I think the Germans will enjoy the latter, considering the rather obvious backstab that he pulled off and him openly being a Triune collaborator.
Man, it's going to be really satisfying when Henri II and Philip Augustus dies, and I think the Germans will enjoy the latter, considering the rather obvious backstab that he pulled off and him openly being a Triune collaborator.
Cryostorm
Monthly Donor
Wow, Theodore just couldn't accept that the whole thing was a mistake, even at the end. Also sad to see the Premyslids die out, I think they were one of the last pre-Christian dynasties still standing.
Going to be fun to see how badly this blows up in Phillip's face because we know this isn't over and that bit of a non-Papal coronation is probably going to give a lot of legitimacy to any faction opposing him.
Going to be fun to see how badly this blows up in Phillip's face because we know this isn't over and that bit of a non-Papal coronation is probably going to give a lot of legitimacy to any faction opposing him.
Hungary has had a good few years (isn't it basically Great Moravia at this point territorially). With them co-ruling Bohemia that would mean that effectively the HRE is Germany. No alt-Netherlands in Lotharingia. I'm not sure if Italy is effectively independent of the HRE, but if it is then the HRE is in an unexpected place. It's now the smallest it has been in a long time - almost entirely Germany.
I wonder if we're going to see the HRE replaced by a proto-Germany soon?
I wonder if we're going to see the HRE replaced by a proto-Germany soon?
I actually think the idea of a early unified Germany could be a more realistic possibility due to the rise of Hungary, the loss of the Rhineland/Lotharingia, and the unifying factor of a shared hatred towards the Triunes and the Romans. With the HRE left as the core German states, it would theoretically be easier for an Emperor to slowly accrue power and centralize the HRE into a more effective state, though we'll see if that actually happens once Philip Augustus is dead.
Shucks, and here we thought the HRE was in a mire before hand. I wonder how many of the Premyslids former allies will be grinding axes, and how much Henri trusts the new Emperor. He can't really press too much of his luck, now can he? Sure, he has his boarder, and even a rich trade vassal with the Dutch, but Germany should still be seething.
A sneaky Roman regent of their fathers acumen could see an opportunity in the east too. Hungary is already lightly in the Roman camp, with how the new HREmperor went about removing his strongest opponent to get the job, I would imagine there are plenty in the court of Prague that have a severe distaste for the Germans, that could be exploited. The odd agent listening and seeding properly, Bohemia could be turned to having a better view towards Constantinople. I wouldn't dare say ally or friend, but Not An Enemy, is just as good at this time in Eastern Europe. A thin blade is more dangerous than a wide sword more often than not imo.
And then there's Poland.
A sneaky Roman regent of their fathers acumen could see an opportunity in the east too. Hungary is already lightly in the Roman camp, with how the new HREmperor went about removing his strongest opponent to get the job, I would imagine there are plenty in the court of Prague that have a severe distaste for the Germans, that could be exploited. The odd agent listening and seeding properly, Bohemia could be turned to having a better view towards Constantinople. I wouldn't dare say ally or friend, but Not An Enemy, is just as good at this time in Eastern Europe. A thin blade is more dangerous than a wide sword more often than not imo.
And then there's Poland.