Renovation: An Eastern Roman Timeline

[Deleted member 67076]

Komnenos002: We've got 80+ years of defense in depth doctrine being the major policy- that idea has been really entrenched by now amongst the establishment. The system needs a good shake up so people realize things are out of date. Pretty much all the complaints in the period come from the armed forces being too small and the equipment being bad/outdated, not 'we need to change up our military strategy'.

Forgive the shortness, I will try to make these updates longer but its just that I haven't really had the time to really sit down and write.

-----

You might be asking yourself, whatever happened to our hero Alexios Apokaukos? What’s he been doing after masterminding the takeover of Eastern Rome and sweeping the forces of reaction out of power?

Here's what happened: Once the Civil War had finished, the admiral had set about to ensure the power of the aristocracy remained broken. For while he had always had plenty of support amongst the reformers in the imperial state apparatus, there was always the fear of stragglers from the old regime launching a countercoup and/or just causing trouble in the future. We must note that since corruption and patronage politics were rampant within Romania at the time, personal loyalties were up in the air whenever a new power came in. Apokaukos had to tread cautiously to make sure his authority remained unchallenged. And that means replacing much of the government bureaucrats with men who shared his views and owed their success to him and him alone (ironic considering he betrayed someone who he in turn owed everything to) in order to make sure that he dominated the patronage system of the court. This process was gradual, as to not cause too much harm to the administration, but over a series of years, the man had cemented control over the state. The church was another matter, but ultimately that branch of government was compliant with the new direction of the state for a variety of reasons (church lands were left alone, Patriarch John XIV had been a major proponent of the Regency forces in the civil war, the social welfare of the current government was pleasing to the church and so forth). This is not to say there were no clashes with the imperial government and the church, but for the most part the two saw eye to eye.

Once control had been cemented Apokaukos ran the government as he saw fit. His ideal of “a merchant republic with Roman characteristics” would be the guiding philosophy behind government decisions. As you likely know, Apokaukos was a western minded reformer who believed copying the Italians and their policies would be the key to success. Its hard to understate this. Any necessary reforms were made to fit this ideal. One of ultimately turning the state into a commercial power, for with the money gained from said businesses and trading, Rome could fund the efforts needed to become a superpower once more. The old school Roman philosophy of land and taxes being the key to a strong state were, in his mind, largely obsolete. However, we mustn't think that Alexios Apokaukos ran the state as simply an extension of a business, but its really important to note he was much more obsessed with commercial matters and finances than any ruler had in centuries.

From then on Megas Domestikos split his time between managing the state run trading company and administrating the nation. This state of affairs worked relatively fine until the aftermath of the Third Genoese-Venetian War for as Venice’s withdrawal from the region paved the way for a massive expansion on the navy and the state trading company. However, Apokaukos’ micromanagement tendencies did not erode over the years; he attempted to both government and business an equal amount of effort in ensuring efficiency and profits. Such policies were increasingly taxing on the man, and so he realized he had to delegate power away from himself. Given the choice between Romania’s administration and the navy, the statesmen chose the latter. The navy had always been Apokaukos’ pet project, he himself was the one to pay out of pocket to rebuild the navy from scratch. To part with it would have been too much for the man. On the other hand, the government was filled with his supporters, was reasonably well managed and of course the young emperor, now a man, had been eager to test the waters of his power.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

I won't answer anything on Orthodoxy yet. Im still doing research with that and consulting a couple experts I know on Orthodox theology and history.

--------

...We know that Alex has started to work on the navy full time again, and has basically delegated running the government to his supporters, which obviously includes John V. So this is the part where the guy finally takes power?

Yep. Its a nice, smooth transition of power where you see John begins to start managing things. At first little by little, but as time goes on Alexios begins to delegate more responsibilities to him and his circle, and by the end of the 1350s John is pretty much running the show unopposed.

Interesting. Was this something Alexios had planned?

Yes. At this point in time, John’s been basically Alex’s personal assistant for a couple years now, he’s been groomed. So obviously he’s the first choice to delegate running the administration. Also, I should note

Ok, so now that John’s in charge, what’s he like? What’s he do?

In a word: Energetic. John's all about action, and he's a very involved ruler. He takes gusto with his job as the Roman Emperor and is very much involved in managing day to day things. Probably something he picked up from Alexios.

And he's like this from day 1. John’s technically been emperor since he was nine, and he’s been raised with that in mind. His entire life up to this point was nothing but a preparation for when he’s calling the shots. So when Alex calls him and starts delegating real power to him, the guy was absolutely anxious to put that newfound power to the test.

With that in mind, the first thing John does is he starts building everywhere. Just like Justinian before him, he goes on a building spree. Roads, aqueducts, forts, grain houses, the arsenal at Constantinople, etc. Everywhere around the empire he starts a series of ambitious building projects, funded by the imperial treasury of course.

Money isn’t an issue?

No, not necessarily. Remember, the empire by this point has started saving up a decent amount of money so this doesn’t strain anyone too much. And of course we have the fact the state is in the middle of an economic boom. That adds up quite a lot.

Oh, ok.

Yeah, so this building spree is mostly concentrated in the recently conquered Duchy of Athens but it does a lot to improve John’s image and integrate the new people. Sure, they might be Orthodox, they might speak Greek and they might have been Roman just a generation ago, but it never hurts to improve the lives of the people. Also makes the guys living just across from the imperials in Epirus realize how good their neighbors in the empire have it, and how bad their own overlords are...

Of course. And this raises another question: Does building up Athens lead into the invasion of Epirus a few years later?

Absolutely. John was very interested in restoring old lands of the empire just like pretty much every ruler in Romania. However, unlike the recent batch of rulers, John preferred to be much more underhanded when it comes to things like this. He liked to plan and he liked to stack the odds in his favor, doing things like weakening the enemy state if he could and getting as much allies as possible.

And here it worked perfectly. In Athens, improving the land did more than just improving the logistics and defensibility of the territory so that armies can move faster; it did a lot to really stir up disapproval amongst the average peasant in Epirus. John hoped that when he invaded, he would get as many defectors as he could to make his job easier.

Along with this there was bribery of the chieftains and other strongmen of Albania into siding with the empire and fermenting revolt, to allow the army to roll over as quickly as possible.

Furthermore, there was with the whole policy that we've mentioned a while back, of weakening the enemies of the state by dumping cheap goods into the region and turning the despotate into an economic satellite. So when the war begins and the supplies stop coming, the enemy state is going to undergo a shock when resources get scarce. With all these factors in play, the empire prepares to invade.

And as we know, it worked perfectly. The empire builds up its armed forces, starts a crisis to justify an invasion and promptly annexes Epirus back into the imperial fold.

[Laughs] I wouldn’t call it perfectly. The Albanians took longer than expected to win over, and sporadic fighting from the former Epirote forces, now brigands, continued the fight from the mountains for a few months after.

Now you’re just being picky.

Its my job as a professor you know?

[Rolls Eyes] Of course it is professor... But yeah, moving on. Its 1362, the Romans have invaded with a flimsy excuse that Epirote tariffs were making trading difficult for their merchants, the recently bloated army rolls in, blah blah, and a combination of all you just said allows the army to seize the land by next year.

...What’s next?

John cements control of Epirus the same way the Romans did Athens. Lowering taxes, building infrastructure, crushing the nobility and other opposing strongmen and divvying up lands amongst supporters. You know the drill by now. Its got multiple benefits: it cements loyalty, it makes a recently conquered region much more profitable, it helps the population grow, and it allows for more people to recruit for the armed forces.

But after that John quits the aggression and starts works hard on diplomacy. The aim is to get Romania be taken seriously as a power again and generally improving relations with other states. So after a few months of planning, he in turn starts delegating power to keep things running smoothly while he's away and embarks on a tour of some nearby states. First off is Hungary, where he and king Louis bond over a mutual dislike of Serbia. Although there is a funny story about Louis refusing to step off his horse to meet the emperor, when John went off his to pay his respects to Louis personally, and the two spent the day arguing over who deserves more respect. Probably apocryphal, but that’s not important. Hungary and Romania agree to trade more as Rome promises Hungary the Dalmatian coast should Venice start something.

After that, the emperor goes off to Bulgaria. There the old Tsar Ivan Alexander and John agree to renew the treaty of alliance signed nearly 20ish years earlier in the civil war of the 1340s. There are also some important trade deals done to cement that, mostly that Romania agrees to start buying more grain from Bulgaria than from anywhere else. If you’re curious, the Romans do follow through with the deal but that’s mostly because right after its signed the Golden Horde goes to hell with civil war and it becomes much easier to get buy Bulgarian. What the emperor doesn't know is that the Tsar is planning to invade Serbia in the coming years and needs to secure his flank. But that isn't important at the time.

Afterwards there comes a set of diplomatic tours of the Italian states, going in order from Naples, Florence, Genoa, Milan and Savoy. Like before, the goal is to make Romania appear better, cement alliances and trade deals. Results here are more… mixed, as Italy is firmly under the Genoese trading dominion but overall its a positive experience. You get things like Genoa and Florence agreeing to set up banks in the empire, a delaying of the inevitable standoff between Genoa and Romania, and an alliance with Savoy in the making.

That’s quite a lot of places. Anywhere else?

It is. And yeah, there’s 2 more places John goes: The Candarid emirate and the Aydinids. This here is a bit different than before: its to negotiate an anti-Ottoman coalition, which if successful would see the partitioning of the Ottoman emirate between the 3 and John would be hailed as the hero who began the reconquest of the Anatolian heartlands. The two emirs agree to it, as they both have their reasons to knock down the Ottomans.

The Balance of power must be maintained and all.

Minor power foreign policy 101.

Would you say these diplomatic tours were a success?

On the whole? Yes. The empire renewed its most important alliances at the time: Bulgaria, the Aydinids and Genoa, and it cemented 2 new ones with Hungary and Savoy. These would prove extremely important in the future. Now it might seem weird that I put Genoa as part of the ‘most important alliances’ group what with hindsight and all we know that Genoa and the empire are going to clash just a few years down the road… but this did quite a lot to ease the growing tensions that were developing from both moving into a zone of competition. The more things are delayed, the more both sides have time to rest and recover.

Then there’s the whole setting up of banks thing which did help the imperials out with their finances as time went on. That’s pretty much the major successes

Oh, ok. That makes sense. Would you say Romania’s reputation improved with this?

Hmm... Not that much, I'd say. I mean, it did for certain countries, but for the general mood in Europe towards the empire… they wouldn’t care too much. Romania hasn’t shown herself as a major power or anything so they won’t put much thought towards ‘that small Greek empire in the east’.

I see. And up next is the war against the Ottomans right?

Not just yet. By the time the emperor is back in Constantinople, it late 1364. The war against the Ottomans starts in 1369, a full 5 years later. Things closer to home take up the attention of the empire before then.

 

[Samuel Von Straßburg]

Hope you don't mind me pinching your map Soverihn.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

Wouldn't Timur's coming be bad for Georgia as well?

Oh yeah. But after that, things can always get better.

----

Countdown to War​

6 Years, 3 months [October of 1364]: Emperor John, Fifth of that Name, arrives in Constantinople after touring the neighbors of Rome in hopes of improving the empire’s diplomatic situation. He is received with much fanfare from the urban mob in the capital. Perceiving the situation in Italy secure, John once more returns his attention to things closer to home. As always, the goals are the expansion of Roman wealth and power.

5 Years: The Roman Empire receives word that Bulgaria has launched an invasion of Serbia with a vast host, apparently with the intent of overrunning the entire kingdom. It appears that Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander had managed to centralize the Bulgarian state and quell the recent independent streak of the Bolyar nobles, thus gaining access to their sizable reserves of levies.

Caught off guard by the sudden invasion of their former allies, the Bulgarians gain immense ground in the initial momentum. As one might expect however, a combination of difficult terrain, contingency plans by the government, and reasonably competent leadership managing to regroup Serbia’s forces have the seemingly implacable advance by the Bulgarian forces slow down to a crawl. This of course, does not end the advances, but turns the invasion into a meatgrinder as Serbian forces resort to their specialty of asymmetrical warfare against a numerically superior forces.

Mid summer however, things go south for the Serbs. When the news reaches Buda that Serbia is under attack, King Louis of Hungary readies his levies and prepares for war. A hasty expedition is sent out to invade Bosnia- mostly to probe the region’s defenses but it of course is a sign of things to come. Louis has come to regain his patrimony and avenge his father.

Emperor John initially does nothing, adopting a wait and see attitude, but puts Macedonian troops on standby in case there is an opportunity.

4 Years: The winter this year is particularly brutal, causing severe attrition amongst Bulgarian forces deep in Serbian territory. It does not stop the Bulgarians, but allows a breather for Serb armies. Come spring, that sense of relief turns to dread; Bosnia is invaded by the Hungarians once more. Unlike before, the Hungarians have not spread their forces thin and take extra precaution with regards to their supply lines. At the same time, Serbia cannot spare as much men as it can thanks to a two front war. Like lava, the Hungarian advance is slow yet unstoppable.

With Serbia quickly crumbling, the Romans act, hoping to capitalize as much as they can. Initially sending several contingents of troops to occupy several border forts, Rome ceases its invasion and sends king Stefan V an ultimatum: A cessation of lands that would total the historic territory of Duklja or Romania would continue its advance. Such demands were harsh and in any other circumstance unreasonable, but faced with the possibility of a third front by what appears to be a regional power, king Stefan acquiesces.

Unfortunately this is not enough to save the poor Serbs, and the kingdom is left a rump of its former self by year’s end. That said, it is worth noting the kingdom fought valiantly against its many invaders, giving both of them a black eye and a mountain of casualties when it was all said and done. In August, peace is restored, but at a heavy cost. Serbia is left at best a buffer state between Hungary and Bulgaria.

3 Years: Romania’s gains are not so easily digested. Unlike before, where the territories gained have been largely Greek speaking, Orthodox and part of the Roman state a mere generation before, the Duklja region is only one of those. But a common religion is not enough to change the common perception that Rome is an invader, not a liberator. This of course doesn’t even go into the empire’s reputation the empire amongst nobility…

And so rebellion begins.

This is put down, but at a surprising cost to Roman forces. Despite what one would think, the establishment sees the issue as one of numbers, not of strategy. Roman doctrine has been the same for nearly a century, and nearly all the complaints on the ground have been that the problem is one of lack of men and equipment. Inertia is a powerful thing, and so when assessing the situation on the ground, it is deemed that these two problems are the root of the issue.

With the money and additional territories gained in the past few years, Rome attempts to rectify this while the crises in Duklja dies down. Issues are given out to increase the size of the armed forces, particularly the standing army that’s is considered to more mobile and reliable than the standard militia troops. By the time war with the Ottomans begins, the Roman army would have numbered to nearly 20,000 troops, albeit only ~9,000 of them would be considered professional troops. The reason being is cost, its far more cheaper to raise militia troops than full on soldiers, (the bulk of the increased income has been delegated to the navy, and John V is too influenced by Alexios Apokaukos to change the payroll for now). That said, one must laud the Romans for their scrupulousness on providing equipment and maintaining logistics.

While the army bloats in size, Duklja is pacified through a combination of bribery, force of arms, land redistribution, investment and old fashioned population exchanges.

1 Year, 5 months: With all Christian territory under control of Muslim elites in Anatolia, the Ottoman Emirate turns its attention at fellow Muslim principalities as targets for expansion. Currently, one of the targets is the nearby Beylik of Saruhan, a small yet relatively prosperous state in the Anatolian coast. For the time being, most 'attempts' of expansion are redirecting allied tribesmen of Anatolia to raid their neighbors in the hopes of weakening the state enough so that when the actual, professional army of the Ottomans is sent in, its mostly cleanup duty. What makes this state particularly of interest to Romania is that it is the northern neighbor of the Aydinid Emirate, and the ruling bey is a close ally of the Aydinids and the Germiyanids. Raids begin in earnest that year, with the intent of weakening the state before the army is sent in to finish the job.

News of Ottoman aggression spread throughout Anatolia. Already unnerved by the massive expansion of the Ottomans in a mere generation, the other emirs begin to prepare their defenses against the northern colossus. Aydin and Saruhan renew their alliances and begin talks with Germiyan and Candar for a potential strike against the Ottomans. Candar agrees, but Germiyan adopts a ‘wait and see’ attitude. The Ottomans are much less a threat to them than the other beyliks, and they do not wish to risk a potentially long and messy war.

Additionally, the emir of Aydin sends out a request to the emperor in Constantinople for aid against the Ottoman threat. Aydin might have a reasonably powerful navy, but its army is small. Romania on the other hand has a numerically impressive army that continues to grow. John agrees to join the makeshift coalition, and begins preparations to fight against the Ottomans. Together with the Saruhan, Aydin and the Candarids an official alliance is formed.

1 Year: As part of the negotiations, Constantinople asks that the Turks delay their war plans for 2 years, as Romania plans to expand her arsenal and finish off her military reorganization. The other states agree to this condition but are still wary of what to come.

In order to mollify the Turks that Rome is not abandoning, John agrees to hire several bands of Italian condottieri to defend against the Ottomans. These troops are stationed in the Saruhan frontier and are do well to counter the raids by various tribesmen. However, they do tend to clash with the locals almost as much as they do with the Ottomans due to issues of culture, religion and language.

3 months: This does not endear the Saruhan state. Protests from locals are common and as increasingly frequent time goes on. Eventually they just have enough of the mercenaries and disband them, despite protests from the Roman officials overseeing them- for good reason. The condottieri, who have not been paid recently, decide to take their dues from the Saruhan and begin pillaging the countryside, causing massive amounts of destruction. Forces are sent in to smash the mercenaries and restore order.

2 months: Ottoman Emir Suleiman I received word from his brother Murad that the Saruhans have disbanded their mercenary army. Taking this as a sign of weakness (as it is likely the emirate didn’t have the money to pay the soldiers, Suleiman orders the army to mobilize and march southwest. The time for campaigning has started.

1 month, ~3 weeks: The government at Constantinople receives word that the mercenary troops have gone rogue and scramble for damage control. A naval squadron is hastily assembled to deal with this issue before it gets out of hand.

10 days: Ottoman troops arrive in Saruhan territory, where they meet up (and clash) with the mercenaries. Exhausted from fighting the Saruhan troops, they are quickly routed by Ottomans.

6 Hours: An Ottoman army encounters the garrison at Demirci, one of the major cities of the Saruhan beylik and attempt to capture the city, beginning the first battle of the War of the Manisa League (named after the Saruhan capital Manisa, where most of the negotiations were conducted).

 

[Deleted member 67076]

I hope so to!

Perhaps after many years of Eastern Roman expansion in Anatolia and good relations with Aydin, maybe some form of peaceful absorption is on the cards. I have no idea if something like that is possible.

All I really know is that we have to pressure Sov to find a way to make Aydin survive in the ERE!!

Nah that's highly unlikely.

Again, always impressed with this timeline. It will be interesting to see how the war against the Ottomans go, and indeed, how Timur plays into this in the years to come...

Hmm, a thought; when the New World is discovered, would Tobacco still catch on?

Maybe.

-----

The War of the Manisa League​

Imagine for a moment you are a high ranking administrator; someone in the upper echelon of the bureaucracy in the Roman Empire as of 1369. Imagine that you’re looking over the reports about the stockpiles of equipment and men and ships; military matters and what not. You know, logistics.

As you peer through the piles and piles of paper (courtesy of those fancy new paper making things the department had recently imported- probably from Egypt or Italy, but you’re not exactly sure. Doesn’t really matter.) you might be feeling good about the state’s prospects.

You see that on paper the empire has a decently sized army of ~16,000 men- of which at least 3, maybe 4 and half thousand or so are professional troops. The specific numbers don't’ matter; they never do. You’ve been working long enough to realize that things on paper never match the reality on the ground. But still, these are numbers that you can take some pride in. Especially when you hear the older workers talk about about how bad things were a mere 20 years ago, or when the civil war was raging on.

You continue looking through the reports. You see the navy has a good 30 or so warships. You see the Marines have over 3,000 men in their service. That the navy, combined with its trading ships totals up to almost 100 vessels. Not bad. Looking at these statistics, you’re confident that the navy is better than anything your neighbors have, or any of your rivals- except for Genoa. But who cares, they’re on our team. That alliance is still ongoing, despite some news about Roman sailors bickering with the Italians over trade or something. Again, doesn’t matter.

All in all though, things look great. And you just know this is the force that’s going to liberate Nicea in a few years, that’s going to retake the Anatolian homeland from the infidels. And of course they will. You’re sure of it. Rumors are everywhere that emperor John is mobilizing and getting ready to strike. The hiring of mercenaries, the alliances, the increase in shipbuilding- all the signs are there. Once emperor John gives the word, Romania is going to march back into Nicea, smash the Turks, and reclaim her lost lands and continue the new Golden Age.

...Imagine your shock two year from now when you read reports that 7,000 men have died trying to support your allies against the Ottoman onslaught. That the Turks are on the verge of overrunning the empire’s Saruhan allies and have routed a Candarid army.

If the first thought in your mind was ‘What the hell just happened?’, you’ve accurately described the mood of Romania a year into the War of the Manisa League. The empire went in with the thought that there would be little challenge; war against the Ottomans would be quick and one sided. And for the first year, they were half right. It would be one sided… in the Ottomans’ favor.

This was not an unreasonable development; the recent upswing in luck of the past 2 decades had seen the empire stop her century long financial crisis, regain territory lost to it since the reign of Andronikos II and finally ended the diplomatic isolation the state faced amongst her neighbors (and replaced it with the near unbelievable rage in the more feudal areas of Europe, but eh, out of sight and out of mind. Who cares what barbarians think?). To nearly every person in the empire, Romania looked like it was invincible. Or close to it.

Of course this image was going to be shattered once reality hit. In hindsight, sending an army that was primarily made up of militia troops into an area far outside their comfort zone in hostile territory against hardened professional troops is insanity. But hey, overconfidence is a hell of a drug. What can you do?

But, lets get into the war itself. As you know, the first year of the war would be a time of nearly unopposed Ottoman expansion. On the western frontiers, the Ottomans had managed to expand against the coalition’s armies. The outnumbered Saruhanids and its allies looked like they could only delay the seeming inevitable push of Ottoman forces. That while the Ottomans hadn’t the manpower to match the coalition, they had superior troops, excellent equipment, excellent commanders, had planned this out, and weren’t plagued by squabbling and half-hearted efforts to mobilize troops.

Now fortunately for the coalition, the Candarids were having much better progress. Having joined the war effort several months after the war proper began, for reasons officially unknown (although one could probably suspect if the Candarids wanted to use the coalition to test the strength of the Ottomans before deciding to commit to this war) Sultan Suleyman wasn’t aware that his northern neighbor had been part of the alliance against him, and was quite shocked aback when Candarid forces began capturing towns in Bithynia. The Candarids, able to amass a force numbering nearly 20,000 soldiers (including cavalrymen) had startled the Beylerbey to recall much of his army and their commander (his brother) Murad from the western front to deal with the Candarids. The remainder were given orders not to press further and instead hold the newly occupied lands, lest they too need to be recalled. This gave the western front the breather it needed to regroup and reorganize.

Within a few months the situation had once more changed and the western coalition was on the offensive. From both Aydin and Romania troops were sent in to reinforce the Aegean front while the navy was hard at work to help coordinate actions between the 3 powers and attempt to choke whatever naval trade the Ottomans received. Needless to say, Genoa was not pleased, but took no real action against the coalition.

As one might expect, Romania had to strip much of her reserves to help support the war effort, in addition to recruit mercenaries- an unpopular decision. Nearly all of the professional troops from back home went in to reinforce the Aegean front, but a few contingents (nothing more than a few hundred) did came to support the Candarids. Meanwhile, the freshly hired mercenaries were sent to the front to attack the Ottomans as quickly as possible.

What followed was a year long stalemate that tested the debate between quality against quantity. One the one hand, the Ottomans may have had superior, well equipped troops and were fighting on familiar terrain but on the other, they were often facing forces more numerous than their own. Well aware of this, Suleyman and Murad attempted to avoid pitched battles, while the Manisa league eagerly tried to force the Ottomans in. Unfortunately, whatever pitched battles that happened were usually victories for the Ottomans and with heavy casualties for the Manisa league.

Things got worse for the League. The next year would see the near decimation of Candarid forces in battle and the fragile stalemate being broken in the north. By August of 1372, Janissaries were sieging the walls of Sinope. Fortunately, a combination of Roman marines and the remainder of the Candarid army were able to help repulse the invaders, with (for once) heavy losses on the Ottomans’ part. This had a galvanizing effect on morale, and the ensuing weeks saw some of the gains by the Ottomans reversed, though the Beylik of Candar would never see her former lands completely restored in this war. Regrettably, the western front was worse, with a grinding and fluid border that saw neither force make much headway. However, unlike the Candarids, the Ottomans at one point did manage to take the Saruhanid capital, razing it and killing the ruling Bey and his family. The realm was briefly turned plunged into anarchy, but Ottoman occupation (and subsequent Imperial and Aydinid co-occupation) managed to restore order quickly, if brutally.

By 1373, it had seemed the Manisa league was exhausted. Roman losses totalled well over 10,000 and the Candarids well over that. Saruhan was still mostly occupied and Aydin wasn’t in much of a position to do anything. Something had to be done to finish the war on favorable terms.

And luckily, was one option available but… well… it was a very uncertain gamble. You see, if one were to look closely, it was known that the Ottomans were also exhausted. Very exhausted. Troops movements were even more cautious and attack forces that once numbered near a thousand were now just a few hundred. Attacks by Janissaries were very rare, if unheard of by this time in the war. Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume that should another major battel be forced with heavy losses for the Ottomans, the league's own armies (whatever remained of them) would be unopposed as they marched to Bursa. But again, a very risky deal.

Emperor John, ever the ambitious man, decided to go for it, despite complaints by his advisors. Regardless of everything that happened, Romania hadn’t really lost much of anything, (discounting men, money and pride) and thus wasn’t in any danger of invasion by the Ottomans. However… the political ramifications of abandoning the allies of the empire in their time of need would be insane, so that couldn’t be done. Again, a very risky and tense situation. Fortunately events conspired to give the empire yet another break.

To the north the aging Tsar Ivan Alexander had died in early 1372 of a recurrence of plague, leaving the Bulgarian empire to his eldest son Michael who faced a potentially dangerous situation. See, under the efforts of his father, the Bulgarian state had managed to reverse its trend of decentralization, bringing the wily nobles under the jackboot of the monarchy. As one might expect, this wasn’t very popular for them, and rebellion was simmering. Ever astute, Tsar Michael knew he had to eliminate or at least neutralize the threat, and he had found an excellent excuse in Romania’s war. Should he offer his services to his brother in law (one John V of Romania), Bulgaria could send its more rowdy elites to die in some far off war and allow Michael the peace of mind needed to continue his father’s work. And should they actually manage to come back, they would find their estates weaker than in when they had left.

And so a message was dispatched to the emperor in Constantinople, informing him that Bulgaria sought to aid against the infidel (as was the popular opinion at the time of John’s war). John readily accepted and sent the messenger off as soon as possible. It was an offer simply too good to refuse. For John, this was an opportunity to attack the Ottomans in pitched battle while having the bulk of his troops out of harm’s way. And of course, refusing the offer of a brother in law to aid him in his service for God would look… difficult, despite the potential complaints that this made Romania look weak.

When the messenger returned to Michael the tsar immediately began preparing an army, using whatever excuse he could to press as many of the Bolyars into joining the war. Some stayed as that was inevitable, but the Tsar was successful in raising a decently sized army, roughly around 7,000 men or so, composed of many nobles and their retainers. By May, the Bulgarian army was ready and amassed at Varna where the Roman fleet was ready to transport them.

Michael’s plan worked masterfully. A combined army of Bulgarians, Romans, and other allied Turks marched from Sinope straight towards the Ottoman capital at Bursa. In desperation, the Ottomans pulled back everything they could and marched towards Bursa to meet the enemy. Once more pitched battle was inevitable, and this was just what the coalition wanted. The ensuing Battle of Bursa was an extremely bloody affair that saw heavy casualties on both sides and the death of the great general Murad, but it was ultimately a victory for the Manisa league. The city was promptly seized and taken in September. Suleyman Bey, knowing he was matched, sued for peace.

Peace saw the return of all unoccupied land and cessions of territory from the Ottomans towards all members of the coalition (sans Bulgaria, who was content with just looting as much as they can). As one might expect, the Empire and the Candarids took the most territory, seeing as they had done the bulk of the work. The Saruhanids, with their ruling bey and his sons having been slain in the defense of their land, had their territory peacefully divided between Romania and Aydin.

The Ottomans may have been crippled, but like many times before in Roman history, the fall of one enemy would lead to the rise of another, more powerful force. Before the ink was even dry, the neighboring Germiyanids launched an offensive against the more powerful Ottomans. Exhausted from a brutal war, the Beylik could do nothing against the onslaught of its new foe. In the years to come the Ottomans would be left a rump state, vassalized and at the mercy of the new power in Anatolia: The Germiyanids.

Once more, on paper the empire seemingly won big. It had regained land in Asia, lost for nearly a century now. But the army had been shredded, a good chunk of its treasury had been spent and her pride torn asunder. Weakness had been shown, and once more Romania was faced with the thought of facing disaster. For while the Ottomans had no chance of realistically invading and conquering, what of the Bulgarians? Or the Neapolitans? Or the Hungarians? Yet again, reform was needed.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

Perhaps Germiyan will destroy Aydin so that Rhomania does not have to do it?

I like this idea. I like it alot. Going to steal this.

while the Aydinids haven't been Romanised to the extent the Germynids have I suspect as a result of their unintentional Romanisation and the effects of Tamerlane's invasion they won't be so much as reconquered by the Byzantines but absorbed instead like Pergamon was by the Roman republic.

Or not.

I feel like an asshole honestly, I overlooked this timeline for whatever reason that I can't think of and now I've steamrolled through it and I'm beyond impressed. You have my thanks for this wonderful work you've created.

Subscribed....

Better late than never.

You know, Sov, you actually have a knack for making social and economic factors sound, well, fun.

Ok here's the map, it shows the important players of the world at c. 1385. Take note of all the various changes that have been going on.

Following this I'm going to talk about world events and skip ahead for a bit. Nothing major will involve Romania until the mid 1380s, hence why I skipped ahead.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

The memes! They are like food to me!

Ok, so I know I said I was going to do France and friends next, but what had happened was I started looking into the direction the ERE's military would go and I got a burst of creativity.

So please forgive me blatantly lying.


------

Romania came out of the war both a winner and a loser. The first step in reclaiming the Anatolian heartland had commenced, with the frontier once more reaching the Sakarya river. Her prestige had swelled with the victory over the Ottoman Beylik. Her major rival in the east had been utterly obliterated. Any threat to the newly gained territories was, at the time being, either pacified or exhausted. And lastly, positive relations had been confirmed with several of the Turkish beyliks, giving new opportunities for business. That’s the good, now here’s the bad: Rome also had her army smashed to bits and military weakness displaced to the whole world; it had her allies battered, her northern neighbor indirectly strengthened, her treasury drained, and her manpower dipping. Despite much posturing about how the empire has improved, it was self evident to nearly everyone of value that Romania would have to undergo a new round of reforms. She had neglected that very thing that made her last for so long against all odds: the army. And so as soon as the ink was dry on the peace treaty, Emperor John V authorized the creation of a vast new army from the ground up. Romania was to have match, no exceed the Ottomans- 20,000 men were to be at her disposal at all times, ready to defend and advance the empire’s interests.

Of this new army was to be a core of professional, full time soldiers. Disciplined troops that would be mobile and on call at all times followed by -like the army of Constantine I before them- a series of supplemental regiments that would be drawn in from a wide variety of sources: Militia troops, mercenaries, auxiliaries, reserve units, allied nomadic Turkish tribes (although this isn’t the case for the first few decades) and even repurposed naval soldiers. But lets slow down for a bit: What’s this new army corps made up of? How are they recruited? How are they paid? What are they equipped with? And most importantly, how are they trained? Essentially, what’s the profile of Rome’s land forces?

The answer is that the army was a mix- a mix of what Romania had seen to be successful on the battlefield in recent times: the Janissaries, the Condottieri, the Heavy Cavalry of the Bulgarians, light cavalry of the Golden Horde and so forth. The bulk of this new army (around ⅔ of the men usually) were infantry units, normally on the heavier side with regards to armor. The ‘standard’ soldier would be protected by lamellar armor and mail that was common amongst Middle Eastern soldiers (mostly the latter). The remainder of the professional forces would be a mix of cavalry and other supplementary units.

One might wonder ‘why Lamellar armor?’ Why not the plate armor that was common in the west?

The answer to that is simple: Money. Or rather, the lack of it. And this is going to be a repeating point with the remainder of the army reforms, so please, forgive the redundancy. Basically, Rome is perennially short on cash. Now I know what you’re thinking: Wait a minute, what about the Renovation? And all that trade money? And then the expanding? That should amount to something, right?!

To which the answer is: "Well... yeah, but that’s not enough." Recent events, both within and outside Romania have done much to prevent the Romans from getting the necessary funds they need.

-First off, the war with the Ottomans. Expensive and long. Ultimately net loss in the treasury for the first few years despite the accomplishments in geopolitics.

-Second, infrastructure and vanity projects in the European part of the empire. Trying to revitalize Greece is also expensive, and long investments that take a while to pay off.

-Three is the recent slowdown in economic growth: Since the mid 1350s the Roman economy has been massively growing thanks to an expansion in imperial trade and manufacturing. With this there has been a feedback loop that has led to (by 14th Century Roman standards) absolutely massive economic growth. The thing is, most of that has been (wisely) reinvested into the empire it doesn’t leave too much on hand. This has been compounded by the fact that the 1360s have been a slowdown in growth (basically, the ‘vacuum left by Venice’ has been more or less completely filled and new opportunities haven’t shown up) and a time of rising prices thanks to instability along the Silk Road, in turn caused by the Golden Horde’s civil wars (and later the war with Timur).

-Fourth, the fortification of the Asian provinces: With the memory of the last outposts in Asia being overrun by the Turk, Romania vowed never again to let such a thing happen, and took steps to enforce this. From the border at the River Sakarya to the Marmara, an extensive series of forts, roads, warehouses and army camps were established to make sure the territory was thoroughly secure. Settlers were also encouraged from back in Europe were encouraged to settle the territory with various tax breaks to ensure the loyalty of the region (Yes the areas is still Hellenic but the empire isn’t taking any chances). Ultimately a short to mid-term money sink.

-Fifth, the Roman army had large amounts of mercenaries: Some lessons are never fully learned it seems. [1] Despite the warnings of many in the older generations about the preference of an entirely native army, the regime once more turned to using large amounts of mercenaries (anywhere between 3-5 thousand at any time) as they’re skilled yet easy to replace soldiers that would help fill in the vacuum on the numerical disparity until the native army is replenished and of course would serve as advisors and trainers in the armed forces. [2]

All of these factors mean that there despite the ambitious goals, there isn’t that much money to divert to this new army. And of course the actual ‘arming’ and ‘training’ part means that the military is a big ticket item that just simply can’t be given a blank cheque. Its worth noting at this point (1370) that while Romania has likely been probably making more than double the money in 1330 [3], that’s still much less than pre Fourth Crusade, which is in turn much less what the state was collecting in the days of Manuel. The new conquests in Asia will very much help alleviate the costs in the future, but again, those fortifications mean that this won’t be within the next few years.

So corners must be cut somehow. The traditional solutions: raising taxes and implementing austerity aren’t considered because A) that would risk upsetting the imperial government’s hard earned popularity thanks to low taxes being the norm and B) the investments are seen as critical to the empire’s future (and also inertia, popularity, wanting to keep up the image of a rich and splendid state- those things)

Now how do they do it? Part of this is in the quality of equipment, as seen above. Part of it is also in payment- about half the payment of the new soldiers is in land, the rest in coin. And another part is in the timing of recruiting- rather than trying to get all 20,000 soldiers at once, the empire goes for gradual increases in its armed forces over the next 2 decades. And finally, the last major thing Romania does is that it starts quietly borrowing money from Italian bankers. The idea is that once the various projects the empire has are completed in the near future, the money no longer going to them will be enough to quickly pay off the loans and Romania will have finished everything nice and quietly. Of course, nothing is ever nice when it comes to finances as the empire would find out when dealing with Genoese Loan sharks...

[1] This isn’t to say the Romans weren’t self aware- Mercenaries were kept highly dispersed amongst native forces to make the likelihood of a Catalan company situation slim to zero and were encouraged to convert to Orthodoxy, to take native wives and settle the country, with the hopes this would increase loyalty. Additionally the numbers of mercenary units were gradually increased along with the armed forces to again, avoid that period critical weakness where the mercenaries might think twice about serving the empire instead of extorting it. Finally, the hired soldiers were almost always given the most dangerous jobs and stationed at the most dangerous posts, like the Macedonian and Anatolian frontiers.

[2]: As you can probably guess, this is where the western influence comes in and we see Romania adopting more western style tactics such as the use of longbows (which work great against horse archers trying to raid) Interestingly, despite the influence amongst the army’s tactics stemming from the Italian Condottieri mercenaries, most of those serving in Romania were of English and French descent. And that’s because the *Hundred Years war between England and France is entering another peace treaty at this time, leaving a glut of soldiers without work and eager for jobs. Romania decided to capitalize on this and hired various mercenary bands.

[3] Definitely less than 1 million Hyperpyra.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

How many years will John V stay in power?

As many as I decide.

Revised map up:

Everything good?

 

[Deleted member 67076]

Okay, tangents. What of Oman?

Being the comfiest Sultanate.

If the Byzantine empire can conquer the Candaroglu Beylik then they can also join up with Trebizond and control the entire southern coast of the Black sea.

Tactically that'd make a lot of sense, but that'd leave a very big border to protect.

Since the Byzantine empire is on good terms with the Aydinoglu Beylik and said beylik is undergoing a thorough hellenisation (Albeit unintentionally) is it more likely that the Byzantine empire will end up absorbing the beylik instead of conquering it?

It would require Romania to be in a much larger position of strength in order effectively 'diplovassalize' and then for something to happen where in which the Emir leaves the kingdom to Romania upon not having any heirs, which I find quite unlikely.

Anyways I know ya'll are waiting for me to continue writing- and don't worry, I haven't (I've just been busy is all, new job and what not). So have a teaser for the time being.

--------

When we last left off the Roman Empire was solidifying its control over its recently reconquered Anatolian holdings. The army had rebuilt from the ground up, an absolutely massive fortification program had been started around the Sakarya frontier and of course, the age old practice of settling the frontier from the heartland was once more in effect. Such methods were expensive and time consuming but the empire was able to pay them off thanks to its sustainable economic growth (despite the slowdown of recent years), its increased tax base and various loans from Italian banks based in Florence and Genoa. This was in 1370.

Let’s fast forward a bit. The year is 1393. Romania is currently reeling from an unprecedented economic recession, thereby being forced to drastically and suddenly put on hold on its construction boom and infrastructure investments of the last few decades. Fortunately, most of such projects have been completed, including the utterly extensive set of fortifications alongside the Anatolian frontier. However, this still leaves a huge problem. The decades since the Second Palaiogoi Civil War had seen spending increase dramatically and now there was not enough money coming in to manage that upkeep. In response, the empire went through hurried attempts at austerity in order to keep a positive balance. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Why is Romania in such drastic straits?

The answer to this (like many other problems in the coming future) is due to the warlord Timur. During the 1380s Timur had spent his time building up his power base with the attempt of preparing an invasion of Persia, supposedly to reunite the Mongol Empire in the wake of the Ilkhanate’s demise. To this end he undertook the task of aiding his northern neighbor reunite the Golden Horde under the Khan Toqtamysh. Now here comes the problem: When Toqtamysh heard of Timur’s planned invasion of Persia Timur went from a loyal ally to a rival that needed to be undercut. Persia was nice, weak and divided. A juicy target for a empire in search of plunder and glory. Toqtamysh could not tolerate competition and promptly declared war, believing the resources of the newly unified Golden Horde would be enough to challenge whatever resources Timur could have amassed. Stupidity in challenging Timur aside, this was a decently sound proposition. The Unified Horde *did* have quite a lot of men it could throw at whatever problem it faced.

Anyways next Toqtamysh attempted to corner the warlord near the Volga in an ambush but predictably this failed. The Golden Horde’s forces were defeated. No that’s not right, more like pummeled, crushed, slaughtered. You get the picture. As expected, Toqtamysh died ignobly resisting the force of nature that was Timur. Casualties were massive on the Golden Horde's side. So massive, that with that the Golden Horde effectively ceased to exist. The head of the snake had been cut off. And with no Khan to rule the steppes, a power vacuum appeared, plunging the steppes into chaos until a power would arise.

More importantly, the massive chaos on the steppes caused a massive disruption to the Silk Road trade, which in turn crippled the Black Sea trade. Goods from the East stopped flowing into the major trade nexuses of Constantinople, Azov, Trebizond and Crimea. This was further aggravated when Timur decided to punish the Golden Horde and go on a sacking spree of the major cities for an additional insult to injury.

But back to Romania.

With the trade routes cut off, income from trade trickled to a crawl, causing a massive fiscal crisis back in Constantinople. While it is indeed true that Rome had pursued commercial activities in many other parts of the world such as the Eastern Mediterranean and the North African Coast, the Black Sea had always been the first and foremost sector of trade and therefore provided the bulk of income from commercial dues. And now that was gone.

Panic ensued.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

@Sov, still as epic as ever. Also, heard elsewhere on AH.com that Dimitri of Russia planned to marry one of his daughters to Jagiello of Lithuania, thus uniting it and Muscovy. That would be an easy Muscovy-wank, wouldn't it?

The fact there won't be a Crimean Khanate to steal thousands upon thousands of slaves would lead to a wank in and of itself.

I think Sov said earlier that he didn't want to do Timur ex Machina with this TL. I really don't care as long as it gets to the scale of my Byzantium in size.

And I won't.

Will Greek Fire ever be rediscovered in this timeline?

Could happen.

Hmm, a thought; should the Europeans try and conquer Egypt, wouldn't it be ironic if the Byzies actively save the latter, due to realpolitik?

Depends on the situation and whether the Byzantines benefit more. I doubt Egypt will be a target in the foreseeable future however.

----

It cannot be underestimated the cutoff of trade in Romania during the crucial period following the effective end of the Golden Horde as a unified state. As much as perhaps 60% of all commercial income was obtained through the vital Black Sea nexus, primarily through ports owned or influenced by the Golden Horde.

Now you might be asking, why didn’t they just trade with Georgia? Or with Trebizond? Well… they did. It just didn’t end up making a large portion of the budget as few Roman traders dared to go there. You can blame the reason on the fact that over the decades the Genoese had gained near absolute monopoly on the commerce of these parts. And they did not tolerate competition. Often a trade ship would find itself prey to ‘pirates’, ‘bad fortune’ or just blatant raids by Genoese ships. Normally this would provoke retaliation, but such was the need to stay on the good graces of Genoa that Romania’s state trading company [1] decided to merely stick to the Golden Horde’s territory. There, The Horde ensured no one state would have a monopoly on commerce, making it a safe place for to invest in commerce.

But now the Horde was in chaos. Timur’s attack and follow up campaign north had majorly disrupted the traditional routes of commercial flow since the establishment of the Mongol Empire over 2 centuries earlier. Less coin stopped filling the coffers of Constantinople.

Ok, so trade has slowed to a crawl. Why not just use the money saved up to whether this crisis? Why is this so bad? The answer is because at the time the empire was on a spending spree. A very big one.

Attempting to undo the economic ruin caused by the Crusader States of Greece, recentralize the state, patronize the cities to ensure the government was still strong, rebuild and repopulate Anatolia while recreating an army from scratch is very expensive. Doing it while keeping taxes low, allowing the Church to remain with a rather loose leash and while generally having a lighter hand on the lower classes is very, very, very expensive. Actually even before the crash such was the spending that Romania began to borrow money from Italian bankers (primarily Genoa and Florence) just to keep up the pace of spending. Economic Growth and internal state revenues were simply not enough to keep pace with costs. Thus the crash was swift and brutal.

In a mere 4 months the coffers were once more near bankrupt. The word panic has been thrown around quite a lot but that’s simply the only way to describe the mood in the state. The aging John V, deeply distressed and inexperienced at managing economic problems, due to his own limited training of economics and simply authorized with slashing spending whenever possible. This impromptu austerity fell overwhelmingly on the civilian sector; John refused to ignore the military (rightly) believing that his soldiers and/or his mercenaries would become a liability should they stop being paid.

This was both a good and bad idea. While the obvious benefit was yes, the government was indeed spending less money -and at first it seemed the budget was becoming manageable- this came with a huge drawback. It increased what we would call unemployment. The vast majority of projects the government employed what ‘day workers’, that is, temporary workers hired from the urban poor or countryside to take part in whatever task was needed to be completed. Could be construction on a building, could be land clearage, could be constructing roads. Also could be workers hired on government owned farms and what not. Point is, whatever projects that were in the making were suddenly and without notice put on hold. Of course, this might have saved the government money but it disenfranchised thousands of people who came to depend on these jobs for their livelihood. Once more, poverty rose. Poverty leads to angry citizens. Angry citizens who like to riot over bread and their livelihood.

That’s not all however. In cutting spending, salaries were slashed on government workers, including bureaucrats. This was perhaps one of the most dangerous policies that the regime decided on. Romania’s bureaucracy since the Second Palaiologoi Civil War had rapidly grown in size, power and reach. The rise of commerce had come with a rise in the need for recording transactions and the last Civil War granted the Bureaucracy a place of unparalleled prestige. Combined with the networks of patronage, clientelism and cronyism, this turned the previously neglected and emasculated institution into the third power bloc of the state, just behind the military and church in its influence. It gets even worse when you realize that the demand for educated workers to managed the endless flow of information gave them an additional bargaining power.

Pissing this off was a bad idea.

Upon receiving the news that salaries were to be cut, the bureaucrats simply ‘re-interpreted’ the order on reducing their salaries to reducing that of the military budget, of whom there was currently an inter factional rivalry thanks to recent government patronage (Yes its stupid and petty but this is Rome). The long story short of this is that soldier were not getting their salaries, receiving much less than promised, there was less money in the budget, military plans were not carried out as effectively, etc. Do note that mercenaries in the service of The Empire were not affected by this as they were paid from the Emperor directly in order to promote loyalty.

But I digress; back to the chaos at hand. When you have such a volatile mixture the situation becomes very hectic. You’ve got angry peasants who are starving, angry soldiers, a worldview of social welfare entrenched into the population and a government that appears to do nothing to alleviate the struggles of the common folk. Add in one of the more brutal winters in the 1394-5 period and it boils over; the Urban Mob in Constantinople explodes into waves of rioting. Out in the countryside we see isolated peasant revolts, and in major cities Zealots of Thessalonica, long since faded into minor radical religious groups (That the Orthodox church had tried to co-opt or get rid of) once more rise into prominence attacking the imperial government and calling for a renewal of the status quo and a redistribution of wealth.

Continuing, things once again get worse. Unpaid soldiers begin to join in with the unorganized mobs and revolts of dissent in European Romania. What was once small, local riots begin to coalesce into rebellion, led by charismatic figures eager to take advantage of the situation. Promising bread, coin and safety, they vow to take the fight against a corrupt government that has forgotten why they were put in power in the first place.

Romania, free of internal civil strife for an unprecedented 53 years, descended into civil war once again.

[1] Recall that the State has a monopoly on external commerce upon following the Venetian model. Therefore, trading is done via a state owned company, not unlike how guilds within a city would dominate a local industry.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

Aren't they lacking the first? and isn't the second undercut by the bureaucracy and so unhappy?

Yes and?

------

The defections and revolts came as a shock to the imperial establishment. Decades of (supposedly) tight control over the establishment had seen the government lose its experience with matters of civil strife and thus the initial response to the defection of field armies was sluggish and taken lightly. In hindsight, this was terrible, as it allowed rebels time to organize their power base and expand.

They number approximately 11,000, the size bolstered by angry, unemployed citizens eager to take arms and plunder to enrich themselves. The profile of this faction is largely based in the western, poorer regions of the empire of Macedonia and northern and inland Hellas and as such this is the region that they quickly seized from imperial authorities. Led by a loose coalition of generals, Zealot affiliated priests and other charismatic individuals, all united in a common hatred of the current economic depression.

Meanwhile in Constantinople, the aging, stress filled and increasingly frail emperor John V abdicated and retired to a monastery, finding it easier to throw this issue to the next generation rather than take control. His rule had seen him with virtually no experience in dealing with military matters. Still, ruling from age 9 up until an impressive 64 years of age, his decision was while unexpected, unquestioned. Entering the throne is emperor Constantine XI, second and eldest surviving son of John V.

Constantine is in no mood to tolerate dissent. Unlike his father, who had been raised and grew up in a position where guile, compromise and diplomacy had been absolutely necessary, the new emperor had been raised secure of his position and his destiny. Unsurprisingly, he has absolutely no tolerance for dissidents, and much less for revolts. When given the reins, the emperor goes out to terminate the revolts with extreme prejudice. The remainder of the armed forces loyal to him (the mercenaries, the navy and about half the pre civil war army; mostly those in Thrace and Asia who can afford a cut in pay thanks to their land holdings) that can be spared are recalled to Thrace in order to march upon the rebels.

However Constantine does not act initially. He is prudent enough to realize that with rebels cutting off revenue of Macedonia and northern Hellas the shrinking imperial budget will be cut once more, leaving the treasury even more stretched. Thus there needed to be new sources of income filling the coffers. To him there are 2 obvious sources, both of which the Viceregent of God chooses to use: The glittering wealth of the church, unmolested by the state for nearly a century- and raising the tax burden.

The current crisis being religiously charged by fringe groups that are nearly heretical sees the first one pass relatively easily. The Patriarch agrees to give the imperial treasury the needed funds for the duration of the war, buying the emperor enough time to pay his troops and regain their confidence. Following that an increase on the current taxes of the common folk are pushed forth. Interestingly, the latter is dealt with with minor complaints. This is for 2 major reasons: Thrace, coastal Greece and Asia Minor are all on average much richer regions where in which taxes were, comparatively speaking rather low. That and whatever hint of revolt is dealt with a very quick, very surgical and above all very ruthless response by the imperial government.

With the necessary funds to secure his position, Constantine resumes his march.

All the while, the powers that be have not been idle as Romania stirs. To the east in Anatolia, the withdrawal of imperial forces from the heavily fortified frontier has the Germiyanids Sultanate -no longer content with being a mere beylik- licking their lips in anticipation. These past years had seen the other beyliks move together in opposition, stunting expansion in the east. But this did not mean Germiyan had been idle, for the Sultan had been merely preparing for the next round of conflict. Reorganizing, rebuilding and fortifying.

The target is not Romania however. It is Aydin. This rich strip of coastal land contained many strategic goals for the Sultanate, and with their patron distracted it is time to act. The Sultan wheels his forces east and begins the march to Smyrna for the Aegean is at hand.

Despite resisting valiantly for 2 years, the small principality was unable to stop the onslaught of a vastly superior and larger force. Due to the war, the Imperials could only spare token forces. But Aydin was not alone, for Candar had take up arms against the sultanate in a pre emptive strike to maintain the current balance of power. This, much to the horror of Smyrna, wasn’t enough to relieve the pressure on Symrna. Candar had not reformed her army, nor had she entirely recovered from war against the Ottomans. A quick, efficient conquest was at hand. As Constantine had retaken Thessalonica for the imperial government, decisively shifted the balance of power back into Imperial hands; Gerimiyanid forces were besieging Smyrna. Knowing fully well there was little chance of relief, the ruling emir, one Nasir Bey, took his family and fled with the navy to his Aegean possessions. From there he rebuilt his court, and ordered his troops to harass the Germiyanid forces while provide support to the Candarids in their counter invasion. Envoys was also sent to the Imperial government pleading with them to aid in the liberation of their conquered lands as soon as possible.

Constantinople agreed with little complaint, though their price was high. Aydin would become a full fledged vassal and the Aydinid navy, the only source of power left for the tiny emirate, was to serve the Roman Navy as auxiliaries. But intervention was not to happen immediately. The Romans were fresh from breaking the back of the rebellion and reintegrating the armies under government command. Now it was time to lick their wounds, implement the needed reforms to balance the budget, make sure their payments to the Italians are met and cement Constantine XI’s unquestioned rule. Government taxation of church funds, despite initially being a temporary measure would continue upon the ‘convincing’ of the upper echelon of the church. Additionally, the end of Thessalonica’s autonomy with its reintegration from Rebel hands would provide another source of income. With great care, a balanced budget was forming. But that was not enough for the Romans to feel secure.

When the Romans felt the ready to intervene once more in 1397, the balance of power in Asia Minor had undergone a transformation. Germiyan was in… an uncomfortable position. The new conquests, while having paid for themselves on the one hand, now caused the Sultanate to be at war with every single one of her neighbors on account of fear of being the next target. From Karaman to Candar to Hamid the beyliks united in opposition to a rising hegemon. Once more war returned.

But Germiyan had prepared. The east had been fortified and with the Aegean secure troops could be shifted east to defend the prepared chokepoints. The smaller beyliks were easily kept at bay, but Candar and Karaman proved to be a different story. The former, while not entirely recovered from the assault on the Ottomans nonetheless pushed forth with their impressive cavalry. That is until the Germiyanids were able to lure Candar into pitched battle, leading to the decimation of their forces and a sharp loss of manpower. Now the tables had turned and Candar was rapidly being pushed back.

It gets worse. Trebizond, Germiyan’s ally of convenience had seized the moment and opened a second front, briskly moving her armies to seize the towns of the regions. The Pontic coast appeared ripe to be divided by these two powers.

On the other hand, Karaman was unfazed. The heirs of Seljuq could throw men into the grinder and have their troops live off the land, granting them far more flexibility in military manners in comparison to their enemies. Karaman raids went off without a hitch and despite the military preparations of their enemies, able to cause damage. We could classify the situation on the ground as a stalemate, but that would only be accurate for up until Candar was crippled. With the other major power rapidly retreating, Germiyan was able to go on the offensive.

That is, until Romania joined the conflict.

Rome’s intervention swiftly tipped the balance of power back into the hands of the coalition. Firstly, by saving Candar. After using Sinope as a launch pad to brutally sacking Trebizond, ransoming its royal family in aftermath of the unexpected attack and eliminating its presence in the current war (and ruining all the work in the past century to build up the country above a third rate power), Romania began to concentrate her forces on the remainder of Candarid territory to defend.

Secondly and simultaneously, via the deployment of troops into the Candarid frontier to roll back the invaders.

Thirdly, with the blockading of Germiyanid territory courtesy of the de facto absorption of the Aydinid fleet. Working in conjunction with the Karamanids, the Romans aim to disperse and fragment enemy forces into more sizable amounts as they occupy land while additionally demoralizing Germiyan.

To their benefit, it does work as planned. The Romans found less resistance than expected as they push down the Meander valley, conquering nearly all in sight with minimal digestible losses. Granted that mostly displays the benefits of a reformed army and exhausted enemies, but we can’t discount all the additional factors in their favor.

Fast forward to 1400. In 7 years Germiyan has gone from the major hegemon in Anatolia to being the plaything of Rome and Karaman (Candar had largely been sidelined by this point as it was clear that Rome had become the dominant power in the partnership) as the two plan out how to carve up their prize. Once more, short sighted greed has become the downfall of a promising state. And though it would be cold comfort to the Sultan and his family, huddling in a castle as a combined Roman/Karaman force pound away at their capital walls, the two powers would not celebrate their victory for long.

Both Constantine XI and Mehmet Beg may believe they have secured their position against an upstart, but that was merely a preview of what will be.

For Timur is coming.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

Hmm, the Alevis today are a sect discriminated against by mainstream Sunnis, with some difference even from other Shias. Wouldn't that make them useful to Byzantium, and Byzantium useful to them?

Maybe. We'll know when we get there.

Anyways, here's the map of 1400. Warning, its big.

Couple of things worth mentioning:

-Montferrat was inherited by Savoy
-Bulgaria is big and striking north, steadily transforming into a gunpowder empire
-I'm actually unsure about Milan; I don't know if they'd still go into a Gian Visconti expansion phase, but I can't rule an attempt like that out. What do you guys think should happen?
-Venice: Closed off by Genoa, I see Venice re-orienting itself into the Italian hinterland much earlier. That doesn't mean they dont focus on trade and the ocean, but the shock of losing the Black Sea, Aegean, and many of their waystations means they'll be re-tooling their strategies. Probably would mean cool things for the arsenal.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

That should be Prusa.

Oh right! I forgot about that.

It would be good if the Byzantine empire can successfully take over the disputed territories in Asia Minor as that would dramatically increase the size of the empire and its tax-base which would put it in the position to take over the beylik of Candar and then reconnect with Trebizond officially rejoining to the empire and controlling the southern coast of the Black sea.

But well, that puts you in Timur's lane. (See what I did there? I'll show myself out)

Any who, just wanted to drop by and say that I'm not dead and still writing. In fact, take this tiny teaser as a sign that I'm not back.

-------

As the Monster of the East approached north, his appetite barely stated even with the conquest of Egypt, let us look for a moment and analyze the situation of our protagonists. In this brief moment following the aftermath of Germiyan's fall, we are at the moment of what seems like immense victory. The first steps in reclaiming the Cappadocian heartlands had been secured; in a single war, Rome has come close to doubling her territory with little loss on her part. The expanded territory had come with expanded wealth and prestige as Rome imposed her hegemony over the Pontic coast and central Anatolia.

Internally, the conquests had fueled a renewed growth of the economy. But more importantly, they provided a relief to the drastic and unpopular austerity while still managing to provide just enough deal with the debt. (God bless plunder economies) You could be mistaken for thinking this would usher in an era of peace and dominance for the empire, but this was tiny gilded age that masked the coming turmoil. Domestically things looked good, but even the foreign situation was optimistic: The Pontic coast had returned to Roman Hegemony; the Lombardian snake was mollified with large and regular payments; Bulgaria had been occupied once more as the Bolyars needed to be reminded what it means to be Tsar; relations were warming up with Naples after half a century of coldness; the Papacy was split; and the expected new rival in Karaman was uncharacteristically warm to the Romans, being content in conquering Germiyan than renewing the eternal conflict of Turk and Greek.

This brief snapshot of joy and pride was utterly smashed when news reached that a Timurid army had been spotted making its way north on the outskirts of Antioch in 1403. The news of the stunning fall of Egypt was not lost on anyone, nor of Timur’s dream of restarting the Mongol Empire. Timur was here, he was close, and more importantly- he won.

And so, the empire reluctantly prepared for war.

Timur’s army arrived in Anatolia in the summer of 1404, but to little activity. The warlord had been content with wintering and preparing in Syria before going for an all out assault. Biding his time until the opportune moment revealed itself. This would be in March of 1405 when a border skirmish between Timurid cavalrymen and Anatolian raiders of the Beylik of Eretna provided the justification for a declaration of war. Late April would see the fated offensive beginning. Like a knife through hot butter, the Timurids carved a swath in Anatolia, annihilating all resistance with little challenge on his part. Despite the best efforts, a coalition of Eastern Beyliks and other various warlords were smashed.

Well, more like annihilated. The cities were sacked, the artisans deported, the herds slaughtered to feed Timur’s army, and of course, the citizens either killed or deported. Stories of horror and turmoil filtered west the terrified masses of non-Timurid Anatolia. This was followed by letters to the governments of whatever state remained, its content straightforward. Like the Mongols of old, Timur was giving them a choice: Submission or death.

As the imperial government scrambled whatever soldiers it could muster to the borderlands, Constantinople received the messenger of Timur and memories of the Mongols crept again. Fear had become the prevailing mood where there had been optimism and joy. Rome was not ignorant of news that a mighty warlord had managed to effortlessly conquer everything from Delhi to Tripoli- far from it. The nature of a state in which its bread and butter was obtained from trade meant that the international situation was of vital concern to Constantinople. But that's beside the point now.

The Empire faced its next existential crisis, a crucial fact she knew all too well. The past centuries had seen amazing victories- but victories that had been gained through cunning, not with brute force. She had been a regional power at best and had been, for better or worse used to the role of reacting rather than creating events.

Which leads back to the current situation: Romania was faced with a difficult situation. She could A) Swallow a very bitter pill and be at the mercy of Timur or B) Face annihilation at the hands of the horde like so many others.

Which would it be?

Constantine XI had always been a proud man, but he was a sane one. Therefore, it would come as little surprise (except to every observer in Europe who expected that Rome would fall next) when he had sent back to the Timurids a note of submission. This would be unpopular, and he might not even survive the fallout (even at their lowest, Rome was always prideful), but at least his empire would have the chance to live another day.

 

[BgKnight]

Hello folks. Its a guest post! With the blessing of Soverihn of course, he wanted some gaps in the Bulgarian Empire filled before shit really hit the fan, so here it is. I hope y'all enjoy, I do apologize for any factual errors or anything I fucked up. Its not Soverihn's fault he got a sub-par author to help him with this.

Before you start, some music to help you along, make sure to listen to it while reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o90fJxfOkkg

-----​

The clatter of hooves striving on the road made of stones was drowned in the noises of the city. Veliko Turnovo had changed massively since Ieremia was last here, for he was naught but a child when his father took him along to the capital of the Tsardom. The sights, sounds and smells had ingrained themselves into the young man as he rode through the streets of this city ten years ago. But it was nothing like it was now, the city was now two or three times bigger, the walls were expanded, the hills on which the city is built were filled with buildings.

The trip here had taken longer then expected, but that is because Ieremia had insisted that he bring his retinue and assistance. He wanted to make a good impression on the Tsar, and at the same time show off his own men who have been so successful in the fending off Magyar raiders and his own Vlach brethren who had refused to pledge themselves to the crown in Turnovo. Unfortunate, as it may be, he had become a master of slaying what he saw as rebellious horse-lords in the north, be them Magyar or Vlach, Cuman or Pecheneg.

Finally, Ieremia's group reached in the beginning of the walls, so far he had been riding through the outskirts, filled with scattered buildings and houses built on top the steep hills or on the banks of the Etar river that cut through the city. The royal residence however was nothing like that, the scattered houses gave way to a single, wide bridge, built out of cut stone and paved, it lead into a giant walled off settlement, deep at the center of Turnovo, surrounded on all sides by the river Etar, built on-top of a steep plateau that had been reinforced additionally with massive walls. They had reached that part of the city, which never changes, Ieremia smiled to himself as his forces stopped in-front of the chiseled lion statues that adorned the entrance of the bridge.

There was already a strong force of men waiting for the Ieremia. Their chainmail shined beyond perfection, with gold lions adorning their breasts and exquisite engravings on their shoulder plates and sword hilts. It wasn't hard to recognize the royal guardsmen, even if you strip away their expensive equipment, they would still easily tower over the short Vlach horsemen. Their leader, a blond, blue eyed Slav, who had removed his helmet and had tucked it under his arm, smiled and spoke first, in Greek, as was customary with Bulgarian aristocracy.

"Voevoda [1] Ieremia" He bowed, slowly "Chief Spătar[2] Klement. I serve the Tsar and his court and from now on my men will protect you."
The Voevoda responded with a short bow of the head and waved to his men. Soon enough the whole group was dismounted.
"What is there to be protected from, Spătar Klement?"
"It is customary, Voevoda, if anything would happen to your men, supplies or your animals, I will be held personally responsible for their safety. Come..." he smiled, a warm friendly smile and pointed with his giant hand towards the bridge. "...join me. My men will show your men where to station themselves and lead the horses to the stables."

-----​

The Tsaritsa was in pain, she had given birth a few days ago and her body was tired. She was lying in her chamber, the only place where she could feel at home. She was born in Constantinople, she was used to the marble streets of the Capital of the Empire, the sprawling warm city filled with life. Turnovo was nothing like this, Turnovo was all made of cut stone, its streets were narrow and any climbing stairs on the almost vertical hills was a daily occurrence. But what she could never get used to, was that damned wind. Due to the elevation of the city, it was constantly blasted with winds, cold winds at that. It brought an eerily feeling of chill.

Perhaps because of that, the people were different as well. They were colder, their songs were always somehow melancholic. They preferred drums, rough male voices and they treated their women a lot harsher then any Roman would dare. She quickly embraced the idea of covering herself up, including her hair, as it was expected from a Bulgarian noblewoman, mainly because of the cold that reached all the way to her bones. There was only one reason she continued to live in this god forsaken place, her family.

She smiled as she saw the Tsar enter the room. As always, he was surrounded by an array of Vatakhs [3] and his own personal Tainik [4], who he dismissed with a wave of his hand. The two guardsmen standing in-front of the heavy wooden door closed it behind his majesty, leaving him and his wife alone. When not in the presence of the rest of the court, Boril Asen, the second of his name, son of Michael Asen, changed dramatically. His harsh bearded face, always wearing a frown, suddenly lit up with a small smile. It was the closest thing this person had to a joyful expression, and it was something the Tsaritsa had grown to adore.

He walked to the small wooden crib that was build for his child, his flesh and blood and the smile remained unwavering. He picked up the child and held it in his large rough hands. This was the third child Agatha had gifted him with, and the second son. The first child, a daughter, Irina, had died after a prolonged sickness. His second child, Todor Asen [5] was frail and many of the court's own physicians, even those brought from Constantinople, were giving the boy a few years more before he passes away.

This child, Gavrail Asen, was what was going to secure the dynasty's continuation. The threat of the Shishman dynasty taking the crown continued to hang over the house of Asen. After Tsar Ivan Alexander, Boril's grandfather, divorced Theodora of Wallachia, forcing her to become a nun, and re-married Sarah-Theodora, a converted jew, producing more offspring, the dynastic conflict has been driving a wedge within the Bulgar aristocracy. Luckily, Mihail, Boril's father and Ivan Alexander's firstborn, had managed to outmaneuver the crafty Tsaritsa and keep the crown within the Asen line, but not before Mihail himself had had to put down a bloody rebellion following his father's death.

Thanks to military skill and diplomatic ingenuity, Mihail had forced a peace with the Shishman dynasty, demoting their head, Ivan Shishman, to a Knyaz, controlling the town of Ihtiman. Unfortunately, he was forced to show leniency, leaving Shishman alive and well. And while this ultimately proved to be a good decision, as Ivan Shishman would never rebel again, Fruzhin Shishman, his second son (the first was killed in one of the daring northern raids) on the other hand is proving to be problematic. With Mihail dead for a while now, and Boril refusing to continue his constant wars northwards, choosing instead to straighten the crown, the Bolyars are now chafing under his authority and looking for someone to lead the charge against the Tsar. Someone with royal legitimacy, a fact Fruzhin has been more then keen to display, as he has hosted elaborate feasts in Ihtiman, wearing royal colors and sending Nakhodniks [6] to rebellious Bolyars.

And all of this had threatened the Tsar and his authority. His majesty, of course, has planned his own response which would soon all come into play and decide if the Tsar will continue to hold Bulgaria in his hands, or will he lose it to the ambitious pretenders. Agatha could see all of that in the face of this man, wounds left over from many a battles and deep wrinkles all combined to give him that harsh expression that had been in a constant state of frowning for as long as she could remember.

Not today. The Tsar had a heir and with that, the deep wrinkles of discontent and pain were gone, and a smile that had rarely shown itself had covered his face. Leaving the child in the crib, he sat down next to the Tsaritsa, clasping her hand, and spoke in his own, slightly accented version of her native Greek. With his closest advisers and allies he used the harsh Bulgar tongue, insisting that his Bolyars used the language "god had given our people", but with her, he compromised.

"My love, we have been blessed." his smile remained, his large hand completely covering her small, white and frail hand. She smiled in response
"God has given us a child." she said, but the words were hard to come out
"Torture yourself not, my love." he said, as one of his hands slowly moved to stroke her hair. She smiled. "This will all be over soon, Agatha." he said in a voice that seemed almost joyful.

-----​

"Your majesty... I... I cannot." Ieremia looked at the man with confusion. "... you ask of me so much."

"And you will be handsomely rewarded, Voevoda." he responded, the wrinkles under his yes tightening

"I fight not for a reward, my lord. I fight for the crown."

"Let us not lie to each-other, Voevoda, you fight for yourself, as any man does. Infiltrate the conspirators for me, Voevoda Ieremia, and I will give you and your family the lands of the traitors. And I will make you a Great Boil [7]. Your father and you have shown your loyalty to the crown. And for this, I cannot even trust my own people. I need someone, who would be considered an outsider for the Bolyars." the Tsar clasped left his cup on the table and his brown eyes stared into those of Ieremia. The Voevoda stood there for a second, not moving, thinking. All the options were laid out in front of him. The rewards were just too good.

"When do I ride out?"

"In a week" the Tsar said, as he clasped his cup and lifted it up high.

-----​

Fruzhin Shishman, or Tsar Fruzhin as he called himself, was riding out. He had gathered those who wish to oppose the Tsar in Ihtiman in the last few months. Including several new additions, a few of the southern Despots and a young Voevoda, Ieremia, with an array of Vlah men. He didn't know how Ieremia managed to slip through the Tsar's loyalists in the North, but was feeling confident in his retinue and had now set his sights on the Vratisa and eventually, Vidin.

Since many settlements in the North had refused to declare for him, he had to capture Vidin and its arrogant despot Ivan Sratsimir, the old and frail brother of former Tsar Mihail, so that he could extend his rule northwards, into the vast Danubian plain which was for all intents and purposes ran by Sratsimir.

Ieremia and his fast horsemen were a godsend for Fruzhin, as that allowed the would-be Tsar to scout faster and further then he would be able with his own men. The Voevoda's men ran ahead of the force and reported any enemy activity, with young Ieremia even volunteering himself to lead the men into dangerous scouting operations. Fruzhin had made a note to award the Vlach's bravery.

Sredets, having joined the revolt, let the men through rather quickly, and soon enough, after many days of riding, they had reached Vratitsa pass. It seems, surprisingly, that in his arrogance, Sratsimir had neglected the defenses of the pass, as the Voevoda reported a very small concentration of men.

This would ultimately be Fruzhin's undoing. Sratsimir did not neglect the defense of the pass. He had masterfully hidden his men, and Ieremia had known about this from the start. The Voevoda had led the would be Tsar by the nose, up until they finally reached the crossing of the river Iskar, close to the town of Vratsa. It is there, when the ambush sprang, as the Tsar was crossing the river, a massive force of men emerged form the woods, catching the force unawares. Ieremia's soldiers instantly turned back, blocking the Tsar's men from the front, while the back was closed off by Sratsimir loyal soldiers. The battle would rage for a while, but the overwhelmed Fruzhin, surprised over the betrayal would die, slain by a stray arrow.

While the rebellion of the Shishman Dynasty would continue to rage for another few years, as the Tsar's own men took every one of the southern fortresses held by the pretenders, it would ultimately be a failure. In the meanwhile however, the restless Serb despots would try and reassert their autonomy, leading to even more fighting, but at the end of it all, it would be all for naught. With history remembering the rule of Boil, with a far more overreaching conflict, one that shook the Balkans to its core.

[1]Medieval title of a ruler, Voevoda had changed over the years. While titles like Knyaz, which used to be the highest rank in the Bulgarian state more then 100 years ago, are now nothing more then a mayor or a ruler of lower stature, Voevoda, or the term for a leader of an army, is now equivalent to a Boil (the title most of the Bulgar aristocracy, or the Bolyars, carries).
[2] Initially the Spătar (from Spatharioi) was the royal armorer, but over time TTL the title developed to mean the head of the royal guard.
[3]Financial and administrative advisers and clerks
[4] Tainik, from the slavic word of Taina (secret), the Tsar's own recorder/clerk. Literally translated to "secrets keeper"
[5] Bulgarian version of Greek given name of Theodore
[6] Messengers
[7] The closest aristocratic advisers to the Tsar, with the Ichirgu-boila (now known as Chargobilya) being the third in line after the Tsar and Sûtsar (if one is present).

 

[Deleted member 67076]

Upon meeting in the the neutral ground of Iconium (the closest Timurid garrison), two monarchs decided the terms of submission. Bearing rich gifts of gold, silk and various precious metals, Constantine entered the garrison hoping that he could soothe the warlord into merely paying tribute until the aging man died, which judging from his reports of Timur’s age, wasn’t that far along the line.

According to historians of the day (both Timurid, Turkmen and Roman) the meeting went along surprisingly well. Timur was, for all his many faults, a cordial intellectual well versed in history and the arts, and frequently surrounded with historians and scholars. Even the highly biased Roman sources had to note that despite being a barbarian from the far off steppes, Timur had an ‘air of civilization’ and ‘a Romanness about him’ (granted this is also their excuse to give damage control over the embarrassment at bending the knee). After an initial chat, the conversation drifted towards business, something Timur was known to smugly comment on how he held the power and could theoretically demolish the Roman Empire whenever he wanted. The emperor was said to have merely grit his teeth and endured the humiliation.

Nonetheless, the demands set forth by Timur were surprisingly light- relatively speaking. Timur had been true to his word to those who showed submission, as with the beylik of Karaman for instance, and held back his fury. There would be no sacking and rampaging, merely a set of demarcations and orders. After a week of bargaining the fate of millions, a treaty was drafted and ratified by the two monarchs. The terms included:

-Formal vassalage would be imposed.

-Romania would pull back her troops and cede territory in her far eastern areas to be reorganized into new Timurid provinces as had been done to Karaman’s central Anatolian region. Perfect for horse archers and other nomads, it would serve as a prime recruiting and training ground for new warriors- and an excellent source to strike at the heart of the Asian regions should the Romans have second thoughts on their relationship with the Timurid empire.

Once again, the Roman frontier shifted from Phrygia to Lydia much like it had been during the Nicene Exile. But more accurately, Claudiopolis would become the empire’s far eastern frontier city along with a chain of cities ‘curving’ around the border. These included Synaos, Philadelphia, Laodicea and Stauropolis, and so forth.

-Additionally, Roman forces in Western Anatolia were not permitted to build new fortifications on the frontier. As a vassal of the Timurid Empire defence was delegated to the Amir, and thus, fortifications were unnecessary.

-In exchange for the ‘leniency’ of keeping the western coastal cities, Romania would be expected to provide a hefty yearly monetary tribute to Timurid authorities. Adding on to the monetary tribute, Timur imposed an intellectual and artistic one. In concordance with previous policy throughout the Timurid empire, the Amir demanded a relocation of hundreds of scholars, artisans, and engineers to be relocated to Samarqand.

-Romania must not interfere with the affairs of states under Timurid vassalage and influence. Effectively, this dramatically curbed Roman presence from her network of clients in the Pontic Coast and allies in the Caucus. To do so would be a tantamount to a declaration of war with the Timurid State.

-Timurid merchants would be able to conduct their businesses within the Roman Empire customs free.

One can see from this that Timur primarily intended to use the empire as another source of income. For all his faults, ignorance was not one of them. The amir knew of Rome’s history, and how she had revived herself into a wealthy state with half the land they once had. He had also been aware of their status as a gateway to western goods through trade. Therefore, the quick, bloodless, and most importantly, willing submission of Romania came at a very pleasant surprise. The meeting at Iconium was merely to shift the current situation into something more favorable to him. Keeping the plateau exposed the Western regions provided a sword of Damocles to threaten the Imperials with, as well as a launchpad for any future invasions. And of course, it added on to his prestige with new acquisitions of engineers, artists, teachers and other priceless works that Constantinople held.

Timur remained in Iconium for a fortnight, before venturing off to his capital, intent on preparing the empire for his successor (right up until the Northern Yuan called for help). The emperor and his party meanwhile returned to Constantinople barely a day after the treaty had been signed, deeply embittered and humiliated, but with a small comfort in knowing he had managed to keep some of the hard won gains of his empire and secure its future (and that Timur would die in a few years, leading to a potential revocation if and when a succession crisis arrives. Also, if he starts another war then that's another excuse to ignore the terms of treaty). The general mood in the court was similar, and contributed to a decline in his popularity. He was now seen as weak by many, especially with several in the military elite who argued for to fight to the death. Conversely, he managed to remain some level of good will with the imperial bureaucracy and the trade monopoly thanks to securing long standing Roman interests in Western Anatolia, with the small price of trading off the (from their perspective) worthless plateau. Issues of tribute and customs were rationalized as being able to be paid off with the rich cities of the coast, and the expanded hinterland. (It also helps the Romans paid less and less each year as they knew Timur was far away and wouldn’t realistically march an army to get them) There was some truth to this, as the increased Roman regions held well an estimated population of well over 1 million people, granting the state a whopping ~30 - ~40% increase in the tax base. Indeed the expanded lands and subjects helped whether the price of freedom with extra to spare.

But what of the third major pillar in Roman politics: the church? How had they taken the deal? The answer was a near universal condemnation. The Patriarch had been furious, monks spoke out condemning the matter- even the Popes, all 3 of them, had voiced disagreement with Constantine’s actions. The reasons are obvious when one thinks about it: Bowing to an infidel barbarian; leaving populations of Christians to the hands of said infidel barbarian; news of massacres of Assyrians and Copts and Nestorians; giving away church memorabilia and workers (icons, painters, gold, etc) and other treasures to placate a madman- all of it was simply unbecoming of a man who held the office of Roman Emperor.

The political isolation of these two major power blocs would see to the downfall of Constantine XI, and tarr his reputation for much of history. But it would not be quick, Constantine was a crafty man who knew how power politics worked and did make attempts to mollify these groups, such as paying less tribute each year, rallying support by presenting himself as the only savior they had against the Neo-Mongols and other such things. But that did not stop conspiracy from brewing. 6 years later, when word of Timur’s death had reached the Empire 6 years later, all bets were off.

Speaking of Timur, you might be wondering what happened to him after cementing redrawing the map of Anatolia. Well, he did whatever any compulsive gambler did and went after a bigger gamble. This time, China. Arriving in early 1406 with a recuperated army fresh from recruiting many Turkmen tribes in Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia, Timurid forces linked up with the remnants of the Northern Yuan to re-establish Mongol control of China. He would never succeed, but he did bloody the nascent Ming and knock them out of the Gansu Corridor. Further Timurid successes include sacking many cities (including Beijing at one point) and inflicting varying defeats. However, the Ming had the advantage in numbers and firepower. After a long string of success, the main Timurid/Mongol army was cornered and massacred in a long, brutal decisive victory. Timur escaped, but succumbed to his wounds shortly after. Meanwhile, the Ming had managed to deal with northern threat, and would quickly recuperate in the coming decades.

Timur’s death was not well received all throughout the Timurid domains. While succession was unquestioned: Timur’s first son Jahangir Mirza was appointed the next Amir and crowned in Samarqand, this would be the highpoint of his reign. For Jahangir was unable to cement control; he lacked Timur’s force of will and military prowess to cement control. Furthermore, his rule was immediately shaken with revolts in trying to hold such a far off empire- one that stretched from Iconium to the Indus and had very few institutions to glue the territory together. Successive revolts would wrack the Jahangir’s domain, and after a few disastrous campaigns, he decided to pull back his forces and cement control of what he could hold. Sogdia, Afghanistan and Baluchistan would remain the Timurid powerbase. The remainder of Iran that was held by the Timurids would be relegated to a series of frontier marches (ironic given Imperial Iran’s treatment of Central Asia) in constant low level war against western invaders. Everything else was lost.

But how did that empire disintegrate?

It started with the Qara Qoyunlu. Initially beaten into submission during Timur’s campaigns into Persia, Syria and Anatolia, they yet again emerged out of the woodwork in rebellion. With most of the Timurid army east and far away, this time they were successful in throwing off the foreign yoke. However, unlike before this dynasty was unable to establish control of its former heartland in Azerbaijan and Armenia- instead these would go to the Chobanids. Qara Qoyunlu would have to content itself with the Levant and Cilicia, and whatever chunk of Anatolia they would try to rend from the Karamanids from time to time. Being that this is a rather unstable geographic position, Qara Qoyunlu would be hampered in its efforts to expand and thrive.

The Chobanids were another Turkic dynasty that had emerged in the aftermath of the Ilkhanate’s collapse. Basing themselves in northeastern Iran, this dynasty would move quickly to establish themselves as the local Iranian hegemon. They invaded south, taking much of Mesopotamia and pushing the then rising Qara Qoyunlu into Syria. From there, they began a push towards Iran, intent on seizing the plateau, and later into India proper. The Chobanids are interesting because like many of the Turkmen descended groups in the region, were Shi’ite. And like another important Shi’a state- the Fatimids, they would be known for constantly shifting their power base east as peripheral groups pushed them out of their former strongholds. But that's another story.

Egypt meanwhile rode out the storm with comparatively little hassle. Timurid Egypt, ruled by Timur’s fourth son Shahrukh Mirza was blessed with having Timurs most capable heir as governor. Ironically it was Timur’s dismissiveness of his fourth son for being, in his words ‘meek’, that cemented his dynasty’s place in history. Shahrukh was in many ways an intellectual like his father, but unlike Timur he had studied the one field Timur ignored: Economics. Shahrukh fully understood the importance of healthy commerce, a well maintained infrastructure, and stability. In response to the news of rebellion, he made no moves against it, realizing that such things would be futile, as Ibn Khaldun predicted on imperial peripheries. Instead he began offering land and gold to whoever would serve in his army, and hunkered down in Cairo, smacking down any attempts at invasion from the Qara Qoyunlu while he took the time to establish authority. Shahrukh’s long, stable, and wise rule would see an Egypt return to its status as regional powerhouse with its infrastructure rebuilt, its army enlarged, its wealth expanded and its status as a major trade zone yet again confirmed.

But that’s quite the tangent. Back to Constantine and his increasingly shaky hold on power.

The few years after Timur had were one of consolidation and an extensive focus on the eastern territory. The events in Egypt had been yet another shock to the market and trade systems. Fortunately, this didn’t hurt the Romans as much as the Silk road trade, which had stabilized, but it did hurt many of their consumers in Italy and beyond. Due to that, revenue based on trade declined and a renewed focus on taxation was set forth. Here, the new territories would play a critical role. Their material wealth (which could be taxed by tolls on inter empire trade) along with huge tax base would cover the deficit in external trade.

Enforcing control however, was something that was more difficult than expected. Local elites did not like Rome’s indiscriminate taxation, far reaching bureaucracy, policy of sending out poor settlers from distant corners of their empire (predominantly from the urban poor), and the chafing imperial authority. Roman policy wasn’t exactly good for ingratiating with local power structures, even when much of the populace was still Christian and Greek, or had elements of traditional Roman culture that one might appeal too. As one might expect, there were more than a few revolts here and there for those who wanted to return the clock back to Turkish rule, but Rome had the superior army and organization. Therefore, the next few years would see a massive military presence in Asia minor, with the bulk of the army (at least 20,000 troops) stationed in Anatolia.

Outside of Asia Minor, Constantinople dealt with the aftermath of their war. The former Aydinid navy had by now been fully integrated with the Roman navy and much of the Germiyanid bureaucracy was slowly being co-opted to serve imperial need (after a period of retraining and shuffling around of course.) The border with Karaman, demarcated by Timur himself remained that way and relations were still cordial. In Europe, the Emperor offered aid to the Tsar in his wars against rebels (mainly using his mercenary troops) and payments to Genoa were begrudgingly continued. (It is worth noting that by now the bulk of payments to Genoa were completed and the merchant empire was reeling from depression caused a disruption in Egyptian trade, thus deeply enjoyed their payments from Rome) This tightened the budget to a nearly unbreakable level, but Constantine held firm. Until Timur died.

After that, all hell broke lose. Without the Mongol boogeyman, the military faction unhappy with Constantine was able to make greater strides. Forging an alliance with the Church and a faction of bureaucrats that were unhappy to pay both Genoa and Timur at once. The groups began maneuvering against the emperor and planning the eventual coup. Through loyal contacts with the bureaucracy, Constantine had become aware of the coup, and managed to flee before he could be captured. Arriving in Savoy in winter of 1410, he vowed to retake his throne.

It is fortunate then a month later he was approached with an official Genoese envoy willing to make a bargain with him...

 

[Deleted member 67076]

Didn't modern estimates believe that Timur fielded an army of 140,000 at Ankara?I would assume that if the expeditionary force was this large,they could indeed stir up the problems you described in China when assisted by the Northern Yuan.If not,I am not sure they would be a challenge for the Ming at all.I mean,the Ming could raise an army of over one million soldiers.

I'll be honest- I don't know. I had to start from scratch while tackling the Timurids, and there's plenty of blindspots. I'm probably completely wrong for my estimates (since I'm basing the values of 'large' and 'small' from the perspective of Western European and Caliphate army sizes in the High Middle Ages, since that's where I'm most familiar with. Which, I'll be the first to admit is a terrible idea. Don't do this timeline writers) so forgive me on that one.

I'll take your word on that and raise the numbers to a more satisfactory amount. Irregardless, it doesn't change the final outcome (I hope) of an invasion and rallying of enemy forces into one group, a campaign south to eliminate the new dynasty, capturing a couple major cities, massive sacking in the country side, attempts at depopulation and property damage before being cornered and beaten in a mountain pass.

------

That aside here's a map I've been working on that describes the major states in the post Timur situation. I've finally been learning how to GIMP, and this is essentially my first map with the software. (and any software outside of MSpaint) Hopefully it looks prettier than before.

What do you guys think? Continue with GIMP or back to paint?

Also do note: That orange you see is Genoa, which has been really busy as Romania moves into Anatolia (and the decade's before) trying to expand everywhere so they can rule all the trade. Timur's activities in the Levant and Egypt have (obviously) majorly disrupted trade here, causing an economic depression in Genoa, who's despite trying to be a great power and entering every European market they can get in*, still gets about a good 60% of their income in dominating the Eastern Mediterranean trade shipping.

In response, they've had to make up in a very Genoese way, namely plunder and conquest so that domestic taxes can cover the budget until trade picks backup. Candia and Cyprus, two very easy targets were early up on the list. Naturally this pisses off Romania, and war breaks out. But Constantine isn't in charge any more.

*Note: As you can imagine by knocking their major rival out as a meaningful competitor nearly 60 years ago, Genoa by now would have been undisputed master of the Eastern Med trade along with being dominant in the Silk Road trade via the Black Sea. Following decades of that monopoly combined with new technologies and financial innovations in banking, Genoese patricians would seek to expand fortunes by moving into new markets. The obvious one would be starting in the Western Med, and then the Bay of Biscay and north. By 1410, they've have wrested the majority of shipping away from Aragon in a series of conflicts, along with taking bits of territory as forward bases (as Venice set the example for). But at the same time as the conflicts with Genoa is happening, the Genoese have had their ships move into the traditional Dutch markets in the Channel and have begun to move in as far the Baltic Sea trade.

Genoa is not to be trifled with.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

Thanks all!

Hmmm....Timurid most unsexy.

Thankfully these borders won't last.

Looks good, although the colouring along the coastlines is a bit "generous" (the best are chobanids' ones)

Yeah, I realize that now.

Looks like the entire Fertile Crescent is Shia-dominated for now.

Most of it- Egypt is still ruled by a Sunni dynasty.

Sorry to bump, but did Al-Ahzar at least get rebuilt?

It will in the future.

Darn it, I thought we had a post Timur update haha

You'll have it soon.

It really is just a blob, isn't it?

Just like all hordes that try to bite off more than they can chew.

------

What causes conflict? What determines the end of a longstanding friendship? Is it greed? Folly? Abuse? Or merely a conflict of interests?

The answer has been pondered for as long as man existed. In this current case study, of the Medieval Roman Empire and her longstanding ally the Most Serene Republic of Genoa, its all of the above. The two, though having been united through a mutual dislike of Venice, and the benefits of cooperation, have had that raison d’etre steadily eroded over the past century.

Tradition dictates this began with Venice’s elimination as the major trading state in the Eastern Mediterranean, although arguably one could this happened with the implementation of the Renovation by Alexios Apokaukos. Genoa now faced another competitor in a limited sector, and one who was far closer to the vital Oriental Markets. But they were small and relegated their activities to areas that Genoa considered marginal at the time, such as the Maghrebian trade or the Black Sea.

But once Venice was removed, this conflicting interest was exacerbated. Genoa found itself at a golden opportunity where in which the Serenissima could dominate all the Eastern Trade. Standing in between that though, was Romania. An irritant at first, but Romania continued to grow, and grow, and grow as the decades passed. Genoa grew more spectacularly, and expanded her markets everywhere- but Romania represented competition and compromise. Something that often didn’t sit well with the Patricians looking at their profit margins. And thus, tension grew, slowly but surely.

Genoa moving her trade zones to the West and North mitigated this somewhat but this could not be ignored once the Ottomans were eliminated. Rome had a foothold across the Bosphorus, had land and shipyards in both sides of the Aegean, and was moving in rapidly to secure the Black Sea trade and overland Silk Road nexuses. Genoa was on alert, and all that was needed was an excuse to take their rivals down a notch. But Romania was compliant in many ways, and tensions managed to simmer, rather than boil. Neither side really trusted each other at this point [Mid 1370s] but they had no reason for war, along with being more concerned with other matters.

But that couldn’t last forever. And in fact, it is quite surprising the detente lasted this long. But when Timur invaded the Levant, deeply disrupting the commerce of such a strategic region, Genoa was forced to act- and quickly, for better or for worse. After Timur’s invasion, Genoa entered a steep recession and needed to find ways to balance its budget.

They did this in the easiest way possible: conquest. This might seem odd- after all, wars are expensive. But the rationale wasn’t that strange. Conquest would bring new taxpayers would make up the deficit. If the war was quick and decisive. Luckily, Genoa had very good targets: Cyprus, throwing off the shackles of the Mamluk government was highly disorganized when the Genoese fleet came into port- and Candia, where Genoese investments had seen much of its economy already tied to and controlled by the Patricians in Italy. All that was needed was regular taxation to formalize the status quo. The former was easy, the latter had come at a cost: Romania.

Romania, predictably protested, but was too busy dealing with the Timurids and their aftermath to take any real action. Genoese rule was effectively unchallenged, to its benefit. Control of Cyprus and Crete did wonders for the Serenissima, giving it a series of naval bases and a healthy, decently sized tax base. But more importantly, it alleviated the worst of the depression and allowed Genoa a quick recovery while the other merchants in the region suffered.

Under Constantine XI, Romania did not take action. Once he and his immediate family fled, this changed. The military clique that dominated the Imperial Government through their puppet emperor (Constantine's much meeker brother Manuel [1]) repudiated Genoa’s illegal annexation of the Duchy of Candia. Genoa promptly refused, and war broke out.

And so here we are, the end of a long and topsy turvy friendship initially based on mutual hate.

When we last off, news of Constantine XI’s appearance in Savoy came as a pleasant surprise to Genoa. A perfect opportunity to install a more compliant leader who had a history of respecting Genoese interests whilst throwing a little turmoil into the empire to knock them down a peg. Constantine XI on the other hand, readily accepted the Genoese offer. Angered and betrayed, he sought to retake his birthright. Or, so the history goes.

Back at the war front, the Genoese had near total dominance. Since the Final Genoese-Venetian War, the city state had been undergoing a naval revolution with a variety of new techniques added to the Genoese arsenal. For example, introducing mounted cannons on ships, better tactics in amphibious assaults, better design in shipbuilding (one sees Carracks coming into use in the very late 1300s, quickly adopted en masse for their ability to carry goods in bulk), naval convoys, an arsenal to mass produce ships, and so forth. Genoa was at the center of a trading empire, and the seas were her veins. Severing control of them meant severing the heart of the state organism. As a corollary to that, Genoese tactics also evolved, focussing much like their former rivals Venice historically did, on extensive shock and awe and overwhelming force. Wars must be ended quickly, on their terms, so that trade is not interrupted. And it worked out pretty well so far.

This was no different. Rome might have had a much larger fleet than before (give or take 80 warships if one is generous along with whatever remnants of the Aydinids) but these were outdated, especially in terms of firepower. While the experience in wars and navigating hostile waters over the decades had seen a respectable naval tradition form- it was not enough. Genoa struck harder, much faster than expected, and outnumbered the Roman fleet by a good margin.

The Genoese were able to command the seas and effectively sever both sides of the Empire in half. This still came at a price, the Romans fought hard and caused more casualties than expected to Genoa. But that didn’t stop the Ligurians; instead the redoubled their efforts in securing the seas and ending war as quickly as possible. The coastal cities were being choked, their trade ended, and communications inside the realm slowed. But that’s not all, a new fleet was dispatched- this time carrying a massive 35,000 man army, primarily composed of mercenary companies and their siege weapons, landing in Gallipoli. Their target? The Queen of Cities, Constantinople herself.

Roman intelligence was, while initially caught off guard at the brazenness of Genoa, quick to react. Genoa may have controlled the seas, but she had little dominance at land, where Rome cemented authority at the hinterland. In Constantinople, the Military Junta gave orders to prepare for the inevitable while dispatching messengers for a counterattack. As much food as possible was hastily brought inside and all troops in the vicinity (professional, militia, and other) were pulled back to Constantinople to prepare for the inevitable. This being in the dead of winter of 1411 was a hasty proposition, but decades of improvements to roads and farming had seen to it that there was a surplus available to be quickly transported.

Meanwhile, the remnants of the Roman Army in Europe were pulled back to Macedonia, regrouped and reorganized as a group of messengers were sent up north to the Tsar’s court to appeal for aid. Another group of messengers were smuggled out to Italy, in the hopes of appealing to the Empire’s dynastic relatives, the Savoyards. And finally, a third were sent out to Asia Minor to inform the Armies of the East in what policies should be taken: A buildup of an emergency 15,000 strong army, an attack on Galata, and the recruitment of all possible ships into an impromptu fleet to break the blockade while a new fleet is under construction to take the fight out of the Aegean. The reader is left to decide the viability of that.

This strategy of course, was a race against time. The longer the response came, the more Romania suffered, either in food shortages and the lack of revenue. And then were the risks of messengers being caught, causing the enemy to change their attack patterns. But fortune was on Romania’s side. Genoa’s efforts were all on securing the coasts, choking Rome while going for a knockout blow in the hopes of quick and decisive victory. Little effort paid to the securing the hinterland and launching a full on occupation. That’s expensive, afterall.

The northern messengers journeyed without struggle. The Tsar, Boril II, welcomed messengers of the South with open arms, and was practically giddy at the news. Romania was to offer them the province of Dalmatia in exchange for their military aid. Like his predecessor before him Bulgaria was quick to take advantage of neighboring conflicts to centralize and expand. Here was the chance to enter into the Adriatic Sea and further eliminate unnecessary landed elites as his predecessor had against the Ottomans. The aftermath of crushing the Shihman rebellion and the various Serb uprisings had managed to cement Boril’s supremacy over the other nobles, but that left the problem of well, many of them are still alive. And plotting. Most likely, once his death comes the monarchy would be in a much stronger position than when it began, but the inevitable pushback should see more bloodshed, along with the possibility of undoing his father and grandfather’s hard work. Here, that could be nipped in the bud. And so Boril rallied his bannermen, particularly from the far, restless corners of his empire and agreed to meet south with the main Byzantine army in Macedonia at the start of Spring.

Those who had been sent east saw less success. As they attempted to move into Anatolia, the messengers were caught by the Genoese blockade, tortured for information, and executed. They cracked, causing the invading force to reshuffle their plans. While news of appealing to Macedonian aid did not break out, the news that Rome was preparing to strike back greatly panicked the Genoese, who wanted this war as quickly as possible. It had been already 3 and a half months since the fighting began in earnest and the Romans refused to come to terms. Once spring would come the any chance of hunger bringing the Imperials on their knees would be a pipe dream. Genoese command reacted fast, sending the news back to the mother city as soon as possible, while starting to recruit from their newly conquered provinces to counter any assembled armies. But additionally, some men were dispatched to Iconium, to the realm of Karaman, with hopes to bribe them into attacking the Romans. Put pressure on both sides the Empire, if you will.

Karaman didn't take much effort to convince. Rome was wealthy, a threat and and the Italians paid well (by Central Anatolian standards). The pastoral tribes, always eager and restless would be kept occupied, and the emir would bring great prestige to the land. Despite being winter, raids began in earnest almost immediately.

We see the beginning of 1412 with the state being split in half, reliant on allies for support and with a massive, well equipped and supplied army on the outskirts of Constantinople. Her cities drained of their lifeblood -the vital trade- by competitors. And at the same time, the hordes of the east begin their attacks once more.

How shall Romania survive this onslaught, one might wonder? The answer: by widening the war.

As winter gives into the spring, a small band of wanderers enter Chambery. They are disguised as Latin priests, but are really messengers of the east, bringing news to the Duke of Savoy. They explain the situation to the east, of their old and loyal allies being besieged from all corners and appeal to his aid. The duke of Savoy, Amadeus VII is moved, and agrees to give aid. His rationale appears sympathetic, but it is really a careful ploy for power. Long defended by their stalwart allies Milan, Savoy has been unable to make moves against Genoa until very recently.

But the Savoyards have pledged their support to the Pope in Avignon, and have secured an alliance with France. Who, in turn, has secured control of all territory from the English, recently expelling them from the continent and freeing up soldiers to be used elsewhere. In short, Savoy has gained both a sword and a shield in the form of France. If Milan reacts, France shall as well.

Now, with the perfect cassus belli, he has no excuse not to invade. The agreement is set and the messengers are sent off. Savoy shall see to it to defend Romania from the Lombards. In early spring, a large Savoyard army moves south and takes Monaco, before wheeling east towards Liguria. Genoa is caught completely off guard.

[1] As a side note the other two siblings are still alive, but middle child Michael has been tonsured and sent off to a monastery at swordpoint and youngest child Andreas is currently governor of Epirus and knows very well he has no army that can challenge Constantinople, so plays along with this, for now.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

Wow.

Sov, are you okay?

I'm great.

Also, the adventure continues:

----

Savoy’s invasion of Genoa came as an absolute shock. Savoy traditionally had held amicable relations with its neighbors (for the most part anyway), and thus Genoa’s was unable to adequately respond to the swift moves of the well trained Savoyard Army. In the subsequent year, much of Liguria was overrun. However, Genoa was not without allies and quickly summoned Milan to its defense. Always the stalwart ally, Milan promptly invaded Savoy, which caused Savoy to call in France. France agreed for 2 reasons: 1) her ambitions in Italy had her wanting for the fabulously wealthy Milanese Duchy, and 2) the current King of France wished to rid himself of the young yet already troublesome Duke of Berry via exiling him to a distant province via appointment. Once he had been dealt with, the French king would continue his path to centralization and expansion of royal authority.

France’s invasion sent shockwaves throughout Christendom. The image of French nobles setting up estates in Italy scared the Urban Burghers, who desperately valued their autonomy, it scared the Papacy in Rome which feared deposition and a solidification of the ‘Babylonian Exile’ of the so called Avignon Papacy (and an end to the Western Schism on the enemy's terms), and of course, the Holy Roman Emperor himself- currently the king of Bohemia- who had his own plans for the peninsula. This sent a number of counter invasions and mobilizations all throughout Europe on a scale unseen in arguably centuries. Bohemia, in the name of the Holy Roman Empire declared war on France ostensibly to protect the Papacy and linked up with Milan and a coalition of Northern Italian states who (rightfully) feared French Aggression.

When news reached Paris, the King of France reacted rather by further broadening the war. Driven by a common dislike of the Papacy and the possibility for mutual gain, he had little difficulty in convincing his ally, the Kingdom of Naples to attack the Papal States with impunity. Naples’ position regarding the current Schism (wholescale support of Avignon) further sweetened the deal. Naples could take as much as she wanted in the Papal States, without repercussion. In all this, Venice maintained armed neutrality and generally tried to play all sides against each other, selling as much arms and equipment as possible while grabbing territory when they could. The recent decades had been relatively generous to them, with an expansion of their Italian holdings. Here presented a chance to open up new opportunities for expansion in the future as the regional powers exhausted themselves.

The bottom line in all this is over the course of a mere year, Italy was in flames, and suddenly Romanian debt was the least of Genoa’s problems. Combined with a brutal decisive loss outside the gates of Constantinople by a combined Roman-Bulgarian force. (Although to be fair the Roman-Bulgarian force suffered heavily as well) Genoa scrambled, withdrawing her Aegean fleet and the remainder of her mercenaries back to the homeland to fight against Savoy. They could always return later after all. The Savoyards were eventually rebuffed from their siege of Genoa thanks to the timely arrival of reinforcements and the enemy’s need to split their forces to fight Milan and company, but much of Liguria lay under Savoyard control.

Seeing the way the wind was blowing, a quick peace treaty was signed and Genoa agreed to give up control of Monaco and the surrounding areas to Savoy in exchange for peace. A small price to pay for stabilizing the situation. Yet it was not the time for Savoy to return to normalcy; Milan had still mobilized her troops, and would not be satisfied with her rival’s improved geostrategic position. And so the war front shifted northeast as Northern Italy’s largest powers battled for supremacy of the Po Valley.

Despite being outnumbered by Milanese forces, Savoy managed to keep a stalemate for the time being until the French soldiers arrived en route to Milan, where in which the tide (briefly) shifted to the favor of the Avignon Alliance. Until of course, reinforcements from the Papal states, Tuscany and Bohemia kicked the French out of Milan where they bunkered down in the Alpines.
France would return with a vengeance the following year after licking their wounds and sending additional reinforcements.

One might wonder why France, heavyweight of Europe, was so tied down rather quickly in Italy despite its massive demographic advantages and military innovations stemming from its decade long struggle with England and her allies. The reason is that frankly, the French still were pretty exhausted from the Hundred Years War. The English may have lost their continental possessions, but decades of warfare, destruction, plague and economic crisis have taken their toll on the country. France had been depopulated, the crown was low on funds and peasant revolts grew increasingly frequent as the decades passed.

Additionally, there was the fact that these military innovations weren’t much of a bonus in Italy. The Condottieri mercenary companies that formed the bulk of the Italian armies during this time period were equally (and arguably in many cases better) equipped and disciplined as their French counterparts. Furthermore, these men knew the Italian terrain much better than the invaders, adding yet another powerful advantage. And then of course was the Holy Roman Emperor’s levies, who were not to be dismissed.

To the south, in Naples the picture was much more different. Naples had been having a very good century -relatively speaking- in contrast to most of the continent. Sure, the plague and other stresses did their damage, but by and large the rule was stability and (a decent amount of) prosperity. It should not come as a surprise that in this time of war, the Neapolitans managed to raise a fairly impressive army and march with little difficulty north. Unlike previous spats with the Papal states, this was a war of conquest, and it showed. Every fortress and every city was a target, and every bit of resistance was to be crushed with extreme force. With the bulk of Papal forces obviously north, there was little that could be done in the initial weeks of this invasion. When Papal forces shifted south (and these were primarily Papal forces- Bohemia and Tuscany and other were far more concerned with kicking the French out) they found a picture very different than the one that they left.

The holy city of Rome, and the broader region of Lazio, had fallen to the Schismatics.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

This just made me laugh out loud, thanks for that, Sov.

I try.

Anyways, I'm gonna go a bit faster following this update in this timeline so as to see if I can move to the 1500s soon enough and wrap up in the 1600s.

Oh and my many, many thanks for being nominated for the Turtledoves. Really appreciate it, and if if ya'll could throw in a vote for Renovation that'd be absolutely excellent.

-----


Back in the Roman Empire, the narrative left of with a turning point in the recent war. Rome had called in her age old ally of Bulgaria in the defense of the motherland after being effectively cut in half from her Asian possessions. Bulgaria agreed, her leadership seeing an easy means to expand and further centralize the state’s power by use of the so called “Carolingian strategy”: extensive conquest of new lands and marshalling of the nobility to provide openings for central state authority to expand. The Roman-Bulgar armies were ultimately successful in their attempt to smash the Genoese troops and relieve the siege of Constantinople- at a heavy cost. Genoa had paid for the best, and they delivered. The comparatively small professional forces of Rome and Bulgaria, and whatever marshalled levies that had been available at the time suffered heavily in attempting to wrest control of Thrace.

While the line had been broken, this didn’t mean Genoa was out of the game. Being that the Genoese had naval supremacy, they were successful in bailing out a decent remainder of their troops engaged in Constantinople via the fleet. Upon reaching the safety of the water, troops were sent to any Genoese controlled islands, where the army could safely lick their wounds and re-organize, returning to the front lines when necessary… until news from back home reached. There, the Genoese started to scramble, and pull their troops and fleet back out to confront the Savoyards.

This gave the Romans some breathing room, but plenty of damage had been done already. Much of Thrace had been plundered; the coast was still under partial blockade; the coastal cities had also suffered raids from the Genoese navy and the Asian provinces were under invasion from the newest horde.

Yet fresh from their victory at Constantinople, imperial resolve had hardened. And with it, the tide was turning. The army had been able to levy emergency taxes from all sectors of the empire, including the church to fund the restoration of the navy and link up with the east. Furthermore, when news reached that the former emperor Constantine had been found dead amongst those at the siege, any of his would be support evaporated. The people, for better or for worse, were rallying under their new regime against the Genoese and any would be collaborator. In practice, this meant the factions that may have been supporting Constantine could no longer do so, and it became politically impossible not to give allegiance to the military junta in Constantinople. Constantine had seared his legacy as a traitor, and anyone who could be associated with him would be branded one as well.

In any case, the empire was firmly under one rule again. While this seems very nice, one must note this didn’t actually amount to anything initially. The realities of exhaustion and logistics set in, and it was necessary to plan before acting. Therefore, other than relaying messages to the eastern command, shipbuilding and rebuilding the army into a coherent force, not much was done in the aftermath of the 1412.

The East was a different story, of course. But the east has always been different. Despite being cut off from Constantinople, it chugged on satisfactorily, even in the face of the renewal of raids by Karaman forces. This was due in part in the ways Roman Asia had been set up. Learning from experience of the dark days of the Seljuq implosion, Roman Asia was allowed a greater amount of autonomy than other provinces, with a heavy emphasis on militia forces and settlement by yeoman farmers who could act as border guards until imperial forces could be deployed. The coastal cities and the fertile plains were of course, able to provide the state enough of a power base to support a rudimentary administration, and a healthy investment in fortifications never hurt anyone. All in all, the grand strategy was to make Anatolia hard to crack and able to take care of itself.

In the long term this might be a bad decision, where in which a rebellion from Anatolia might prove fatal to secession (along with generally being militarily stronger than the Balkan provinces), as of right now, this allowed the state to have a hands off approach when it came to dealing with cross border raids, an annoying yet inevitable reality following the influx of Turkmen tribes during the Mongol invasion of Anatolia.

Here in active wartime, this system had meant Anatolia was prepared for defense. Much like in the initial decades of the Arab expansion, raids were allowed into Roman territory. It was returning home that was the problem, as troops whittled down and harassed on the journey back home. Furthermore, the sheer amount of fortifications that needed to be taken, along with militia resistance, made the Karaman advance slow and painful. Do note, this did not mean the Romans could, (or wanted to for that matter) strike back into Anatolia. The army stationed in Anatolia at the time was under equipped [1] and her leaders too cautious to consider advancing until reinforcements arrived. Nor are militia forces good for offense. They might know their home terrain well, but not the enemy’s. Or be trained for that matter. Particularly against a largely light cavalry based army.

But that’s enough rambling.

Back to the matter at hand. That year the Romans did good, all things considered, and Genoa leaving allowed them to get the breather they needed. Of course, it also brought with it a split in the upper ranks on what to do: Should the Romans grow the navy once more, and drive the Italians out of their backyard in the Aegean? Or should they focus on the Turks and end the threat once and for all?

As befitting, they did both and accomplished less than expected.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

Hi to all I am a new member and have followed this timeline since when I was not a member. I find it full of awesomeness. Congrats to the author on a job absolutely well done.
Cheers.

Thank you so much, I really love that you're enjoying this.

When we will be seeing a new update?

Right now! Its a bit short, but I felt its necessary to give closure and then move on to the next phase.

Dunno; Sov gets busy a lot.

I'll try to aim for at the very least "Once a month".

I have to say, we're actually pretty close to wrapping things up. The ERE has finally picked itself from the dirt over through a century of retooling the administration, economy and society along with fighting its way back into a regional power.

And now we''ll be seeing the culmination of all that investment and change in a government that's just itching to take back its patrimony.

Oh, and map coming soon.

----

Romania immediately moved to broaden the war.

A portion of funds were taken to rebuild the dilapidated navy and train soldiers, while a large contingent of professional troops were shuffled to Anatolia with the intent of punishing the Turks. It is interesting to note that the Romans were able to remobilize much faster than their enemies expected here, as the cumulative experience of decades of naval actions began to show. In imitation of the Venetian arsenal (and thanks to Capital flight from Venice), the Romans had been experiencing with streamlining the system of construction of ships. Now this isn’t an assembly line system that was perfected in Venice, but an increasing shift towards increasing the efficiency in shipbuilding. This meant that after a few months, the Roman Navy was once more in decent shape (40 ish warships), and during this period had begun experimenting with mounting cannons on ships. But more on that later.

The actual war in Asia would go about as one would expect a mildly exhausted state to go. Initial victories over the next year followed by the enemy regrouping and inflicting a number of defeats on the Romans as they got further and further inland over a period of the next 3 years. And like many times before in the Empire’s history, the stalemate is ended with a boring, status quo antebellum the annoys everyone but the soldiers who fought. Yet it is worth noting that in this the Roman army was in a process of learning to blunt and counter the traditional enemy cavalry that had plagued them for decades.

In the Aegean, the war was a bit shorter, but ended no more satisfactory. Although Genoa was distracted due to matters at home in its dash to relieve the capital, the Genoese had such a large advantage in terms of numbers and equipment, the Imperials were quickly forced on the defensive on their home turf. However, the war was costly for both sides, and the Genoese were pragmatic enough to just throw in the towel and sue for peace in exchange for negotiating and reducing debt payments. Battered and bruised, Romania agreed.

The message here is clear to the Imperial Junta. That Rome, despite her successes, is simply not in the big leagues yet. The next decade might seem a quiet period of introspection, with on paper nothing really happening but idle raiding on the borderlands, but in reality Rome is retooling her military and gearing up for the next round of fighting. The militias are drilling, the professional core is expanding their arsenals, and the officers are brushing up on the art of war. With the empire once more back into the sway of the Military administration, the burgeoning Merchant Empire of the Renovation had swiftly returned back into the revanchist stratocracy of centuries past.

-----

To the West: Italy burns. Heresy and hegemony intertwine as France and the pretend Roman Empire battle for influence in heartland of Christendom. The winner will determine the fate of the Western Schism and the Pope’s place in Europe, both literally and physically.

Currently the sides were France her allies (Savoy and Naples) against the a coalition of minor Italian principalities (led by the not so minor Milan) and Bohemia, current crown of the so called Holy Roman Empire.

The wildcard here is Florence. Surrounded north and south by enemies off opposing sides, the Republic was initially against the Avignon forces. Initially. As news of Naples conquest of Rome, the entire situation had changed. The war was brought right to their backyard, and surrounded on multiple sides by opposing forces. Fearful of being caught in the crossfire, Florence acted to secure her independence: She decided to back the winning horse and hedge her bets on what appeared to be the winning team, in exchange for hopefully getting a cut of the future spoils. A delegation was secretly dispatched to the French encampment to negotiate the deal. The French eagerly accepted.

Florence’s betrayal would cement victory in Italy for the Avignon Papacy. The shift in balance altered the numerical balance of the forces, and the secret negotiations meant that Florence was able to a lure a large army of Papacy aligned Condottieri within the Papal states and systematically slaughter them with little effort. Following this, the Florentines were given free reign in Tuscany and the surrounding countryside. Siena and Lucca, with some Neapolitan support, fell to Florence. The Romagna degenerated into a number of bickering warlords. The news of Rome’s fall gave a new elan to the Avignon forces while simultaneously demoralizing the opposition, allowing France and Savoy to enact important, if very costly victories.

Peace returned in Italy in 1406. But this was a peace of exhaustion and bitterness, whereas in the east, the powers that be merely recognized the facts on the ground. Depending on who you asked, heresy had won, the balance of power in Italy was shattered, and the Pope was in permanent exile. The Pope of Rome now resided in Germany. Borders were redrawn, with Naples, Tuscany and Savoy the largest winners.

[1] Armies are expensive. Trying to both expand the army and navy over the decades meant something had to be cut, and Rhomania chose armor, horses and guns.