The City of Water:A Venetian TL (Discontinued: See V2 in Industrial Progress: A Story Of Venetian..)

[Lucius Verus]

Convergent Paths

"The sinews of war are infinite money"
-Marcus Tullius Cicero

1382: Louis I of Hungary dies without a male heir, leaving the kingdom to his senior daughter Mary who is suddenly the most wanted bachelorette in Europe. Prospective claimants and the local nobility prepare to vie for the succession.

1385: Excommunicated by Pope Urban VI for conspiring against his person Charles III of Naples leaves the war torn kingdom of Naples to assert his claim as the most senior Angevin male claimant. Meanwhile Mary is betrothed to Sigismund of Luxemburg

On the Saurian Fields in Albania, a small force of the self-titled Duke of Durazzo is crushed by Ottoman raiders. Self-serving and lacking unity most of the local Albanian and Serbian lords swear vassalage to Murad.

A later Hungarian portrait of the Carnation of the opportunist Charles III of Naples satirically depicted over a mourning Mary.​

1386: A squadron of Venetian galleys sets anchor off the coast of Corfu, the tiny island situated at the mouth of the Adriatic Sea is of great value as a potential military and commercial base. The local aristocrats are given an "offer" of protection from the Venetian Senate, knowing full well that Venice is the most likely source of danger the local aristocrats accept the most "magnanimous" offer of protection. A construction of a local Arsenal for repairs starts immediately as well as stores for cargo. [1]

Later in the year, Charles III of Naples is assassinated by orders of Elizabeth of Bosnia, mother of dowager queen Mary. Despite Mary being the remaining candidate for the throne, local nobles in Hungary manage to imprison both Mary and her mother Elizabeth.

1387: Prince Lazar, the most powerful independent Serbian lord crushes a much smaller Ottoman army near the village of Pločnik in South Eastern Serbia. Suffering heavy losses Murad contemplates his Western ambitions. Encouraged by this victory Bulgaria renounces its vassalage to Murad. [2]

After making numerous concessions to the nobles of the Kingdom of Hungary Sigismund secures the release of his wife and is crowned king of Croatia and Hungary. The temporal powers of the crown are severely limited in Hungary as a result. To the Venetian senate, the coronation of Sigismund only reminds them of the loss of Dalmatia and their insecurity.

Gian Galeazzo Visconti, despot of Milan and the de facto ruler of the Duchy of Milan sign an agreement with Francesco da Carrara to divide the land of Verona in between them. Verona's ruling house of Scaliger is expelled and quickly fades to obscurity.

Yet as is the nature of diplomacy among Italians Visconti ignores the terms of the agreement and seizes the town of Vicenza, leaving Carrara deprived of conquest and in fear of imminent danger. Desperate, Carrara appeals to the Venetian Senate, arguing that Padua is better served as a buffer to the alternative of a Milanese Po valley.

Doge Tommaso Mocenigo is caught in a debacle, while a Milan Po Valley has is potentially a great danger to Venetian trade and security having the expansionist House of Carrara as a neighbour is equally as bad. Despite her weak finances and lack of manpower the Venetian Senate choose to join the treacherous game of Italian politics and ally with Milan against Padua. As usual with the ritualized condottiere warfare in Italy at the time, barely a person was harmed as the forces of Pauda disband in the face of superior enemies or are brought off.Through the use of shrewd diplomacy Venice has regained her mainland territories in Treviso.

As a show of spite for the destruction in Venice , 10 pigs are demanded of Padua with the names of Francesco and his ancestors painted on them. The 10 pigs are then presented by the Padua delegation, greased, and chased throughout the streets of Venice before being served in local restaurants. The pig named Francesco, is interned in a more comfortable cell beside Francesco de Carrara.

In control of the majority of the Po Valley, Gian Galeazzo Visconti is now the most powerful lord in Christendom. A calculating man by nature, Gian knows that lacking natural borders and populated by rebellious cities kingdoms on the Po valley must expand or die. Lacking a navy and nominally allied to the Venetian Republic Gian Galezzo turns his gaze south. To the Venetian republic, it seems that they traded the viper for a lion.

Meanwhile the exiled Francesco Novello Carrara son of Francesco da Carrara, under secret Venetian patronage is traveling the Italian courts, building support for a league.

A Map of Northern Italy by Norwich, Vicenza is highlighted for quick reference

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Very little deviation from OTL so far, but an update on the general state of things in Italy and the Balkans.

[1] With the Venetian navy unaffected as OTL, Corfu will be coerced by the Republic as OTL
[2] Historians differ on the exact date between 1386-1387, nonetheless a Serbian victory will not have the effect of scaring states into Venetian vassalage as later Ottoman victories would. On another vote Murad almost considered going east to consolidate his hold in Antonia instead of the Balkans because of this, of course it was no guarantee that successors would leave the Balkans alone.

 

[TaylorS]

Changes start off small and I might as well unload the rant here, I haven't been able to figure out how to post the technical stuff without boring people to death. IMO the reasons for Venice's relative decline lay in reasons both political and geographical. In OTL when Venetian shipbuilding was declining in the late 1400s due to the depletion of oak in the Veneto region and excessive customs the Venetian council responded by imposing fees on ships from Ragusa, they also banned the moving the Arsenal to their Balkan possessions to relocate closer to sources of hard wood . While the luxury tastes of Europe shifted to the West Venice still had her own industries that she squandered away. In OTL when French silk , Flemish cloth and German glass were trying to compete with Venetian luxuries the council responded by burying its head in the sand insisting that it shall prevail through luxuries, while rival industries received subsidies the Venetian republic created more quality committees that were funded from exports, eventually reaching 50% of export value in the early 16th century. Business law never evolved beyond temporary contracts as the State Galleys made exclusive to the Patricians supplemented all the capital they needed instead of proper limited liability corporations. In OTL the Venetian republic decided ban non-patricians from participating in long range trade, so despite the Venetian trade market reaching Siam in the early 14th century (yes they had agents there) nothing ever developed from it as the patricians treated it as part of their just dues, they never tried hurting their Portuguese or Dutch competitors . They never got around to including aristocrats from the Venetian territories, its why their Crete kept revolting and their Dalmatian territories constantly inviting in foreign monarchs. Despite all of the advantages Venice possessed never in its history did the Venetian Senate ever managed to get their heads out of their asses to compete formulate a proper economic policy that wasn't incredible self-serving and self-destructive. There are plenty of other reason to Venetian decline, those are just the ones which had to do with governance. A wiser Venetian republic could have prospered throughout the ages, instead it decided to shoot itself in the leg.

Very interesting! Could you recommend some good books on the history of Venice?

 

[Imperator Maximilianius]

Very interesting! Could you recommend some good books on the history of Venice?

I'd like to read some too.

 

[Al-numbers]

To the Venetian republic, it seems that they traded the viper for a lion.

At least the Venetians can see the lion from far away instead of having to check the ground for vipers. I guess it's safe to say Milan will be screwed, but in what way, I wonder?

 

[Faeelin]

Hrm. I wonder how much the rise of the Venetian oligarchy was a sympton, not a cause, of the decline. Fundamentally Venice is a Mediterranean power in a Mediterranean dominated by major nation-states and empires, as trade shifts to the Atlantic. Even a more democratic Venice is still facing France, the Turks, and *Spain.

 

[Lucius Verus]

Very interesting! Could you recommend some good books on the history of Venice?

Ahhh well there's the standard bread and butter Norwich history of Venice, in English and a general factual if biased history of Venice.

A more recent one is City of Fortune: How Venice Won and Lost a Naval Empire by Roger Crowley . I have not read this, only heard of good comments from the history department at Waterloo U.

Then there's my special man Fredrick C, Lane, a Historian who devoted the lion share of his time to Venice, unfortunately he passed in 1984. Fredrick published an impressive amount of papers on the nitty-gritty technical details of Venetian commerce and economics. I would recommend "Venice and History: The Collected Papers of Frederic C. Lane" it's a decent incomplete summary of his works, it contains details like how much a Venetian cog carries, why contract law never evolved in Venice, a merchant's account of a commercial trip east and so on.

Another of his works is Venetian ships and shipbuilders of the Renaissance , 1992. Beautiful book on the details of the Venetian merchant navy. Of particular interest is how the book describe Venice coping with the loss of good timber.

Since so much of the Venetian wealth is dependent on trade with the east I would recommend the paper "The Ottoman Administration of the Spice Trade in the Sixteenth-Century Red Sea and Persian Gulf" (2006) from The Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient as well as the book Peasants, Dervishes and Traders in the Ottoman empire.

Medieval land reclamation and the creation of new societies from the journal of Historical Geography explains the agricultural decline of the Po Valley. Take this with a bit of salt, the writer seems to almost exclude political and military aspects with a pure economic focus.

And of these there's Working Women of Early Modern Venice by Monica Chojnacka, beautiful depiction of everyday life from inquisition accounts.

Hrm. I wonder how much the rise of the Venetian oligarchy was a sympton, not a cause, of the decline. Fundamentally Venice is a Mediterranean power in a Mediterranean dominated by major nation-states and empires, as trade shifts to the Atlantic. Even a more democratic Venice is still facing France, the Turks, and *Spain.

Ah yes, and that's why the POD is in the late 14th century. This is a special time when Spain is still Muslim focused Castile and Aragon, when the rising Ottoman hegemony is far from certain, when France is still mired in the hundred years war, the Papacy in its schism with 2 anti-popes, and the HRE emperor weak and about to face the Hussites. As for the rest, well that's what updates are for

The only active power in the region would be Aragon and her Italian ambitions. everyone else has things of their own to worry about.

Domestically Venice is still in her golden age , even if it might soon end. If you look at the time of the first proposals of the Serrata around mid 1200 to the time when they didn't even bother with popular approval at the coronation of Francesco Foscari in 1423 in OTL those were some of the best times of Venice in terms of wealth, it is also the time before major French, German, Flemish, and English imitators started encroaching on Venetian luxuries. I would argue that it is simply the natural tendency of power to accumulate and that lacking severe stress an ineffective regime can keep going for a long time sorta like the Middle East before the Arab Spring.

 

[Lucius Verus]

Collisions

1388: After enforcing vassalage upon Bulgaria, an Ottoman army of 18,000 is crushed by Duke Vlatko leading an army of 7000 Bosnians in southern Bosnia. After recent successes it seems to the lords of the Balkans that the Ottomans will not be a threat to their independence. Unknown to the Balkan lords, the Ottomans dwarf them in manpower, wealth, resources, and a bountiful supply of holy warriors.

1389: Gian Galeazzo Visconti, with the wealth and resources of the Po Valley marches on Florence and Bologna with an army of the finest equipped condottieri. The suggestion of Swiss mercenaries is turned down due to Visconti's desire to keep him free of dependency on the Swiss cantons. The city of Genoa falls and the remaining men of power flee to the Genoese settlements throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

As a typical example of Condottieri military effectiveness a force of 2,000 Condottieri under the employment of Milan engaged a Florentine force of Condottieri of 1,400 near the town of Asola in the Po Valley. Heavily armed, mounted and supplied the two companies of mercenaries fought for an entire week. Unknown to their employers the two companies signed contracts not to excessively harm one and another. The only casualty during the entire week was an Italian knight who fell in mud and drowned. [1]

The Pyrrhic Battle of Kosovo
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Prince Lazar leading an orthodox army of 30,000 meets an Ottoman army of 40,000 led personally by Sultan Murad in the fields of Kosovo. The battle rages on throughout the day, eventually the battle hardened Ottomans edge out an advantage with superior tactics, better discipline, and the great mobility of their Sipahis. The day ends in a bloodbath, the bulk of both armies are killed by sundown and both Prince Lazar and Sultan Murad are both killed in the fighting.

After losing much of the Serbian nobility to battle throughout the year the kingdom of Serbia is left depleted of men and leadership.

Bayezid the I of the House of Osman ​

Upon hearing of his father Murad's death, Bayezid slays his younger brother Yakub Çelebi and becomes the uncontested Sultan of the Ottomans at the age of 29. Shortly upon taking the throne, Bayezid marries Lazar's daughter Olivera Despina vassalizing most of Serbia. Despite her marriage to Bayezid, Olivera never converts to Islam and used her influence on the Sultan to aid her people. Upon her death the Serbian Orthodox church declares her to be a saint.

Meanwhile in Rome, upon the deaths of the previous pope and anti-pope-Piero Tomacelli of Naples was elected as Pope Boniface IX of Christendom. News of the Balkans is ignored as the bitter theological rivalry continues between Rome and the Avignon Pope Clement VII. Central to the feud is the question of Papal or Cardinal Council supremacy is the authority of council or the pope greater? Does the council have any power over the pope once he is elected? If not then what if the council elects another pope? While the debate rages on the monarchs of Europe assert their influence, hoping to gain the grace of the winning pope.

A map of Northern Italy by Norwich​

1390: Leading a small force of loyal retainers Francesco Novello Carrara sneaks into Padua and installs himself as lord protector and ally to the Venetian Republic, tired of war taxes the people of Padua welcome the next new lord In hopes of better days. This revolt spreads into Verona and the pressured forces of Florence are saved as Gian Galeazzo Visconti has to pull back his forces to deal with the growing revolt.

1392: Stalemated against the forces of Padua and Florence, Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan signs a peace treaty with his former enemies. All signatories understand that it is simply a truce to rest and rearm, Gian Galeazzo still holds the richest lands of Europe and further conquest will only be a matter of time and money. For now the lion of the Po Valley is held at bay by Venetian cloak and daggers.

The Venetian senate joins for a new round of elections, citizens are elected by ballot , 20 of which are to be chosen by the existing senate to join the Patricians. The new members of the Senate are introduced to the central issue for the Senate of East or West? Should the Republic focus on the threats to her safety from the mainland? Or should the republic focus on the threats to her trade from the East?

With the memories of the destruction in Venice still fresh and long-range trade now no longer the exclusive domain of the old Patricians, the Council votes overwhelming in favour of intervention on the mainland to safe guard Venice. The simple fact is the worst the Ottomans can do is charge heavier fines as they lack the navy or proximity to threaten Venice directly. [2]

Plans are made for to raise armies to fight on the mainland. Proposals range from imitations of the Roman Military, to the Knights of France, to the colourful Condottieri . John Hawkwood an English veteran of the War of the Breton Succession fought between France and England is chosen as the favoured military organizer, the fact that he fought Genoese mercenaries in the employment of the King of France no doubt raised his esteem in the eyes of the Venetian Senate. [3]

While certain circumstances are different between the battlefields of France and Italy John Hawkwood sets about organizing the new Venetian forces. Despite differences such as the relative lack of longbow men in the Venetian mainland Hawkwood has fought both the Knights of France as well as the various armies of Italy and knows how to improvise. Given a blank check, Hawkwood sets about creating an army based on densely packed groups of disciplined pike men and crossbowmen complemented by light cavalry. A few squads of aqua bruisers are organized but their numbers are limited due to the hideous cost of gunpowder. Privately John Hawkwood makes plans to install himself as the lord protector of Venice once he finishes training his army.

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[1]Warfare between the cities states had by now become something of a farce, no single city was powerful or willing to raise an army of its own citizens who mind you were rich by European standards at the time. Instead the cities preferred to hire mercenaries as they could not raise substantial forces themselves. The problem is that mercenaries are neither loyal nor eager to risk their life to engage decisively to end the war and their wages. On the plus side this problem was noted by many cities by the late 14th century and they were trying to reform their armies.
[2] In OTL, the Republic tried to fight both fronts losing in the East while gaining land in the Po Valley, in this TL a more security conscious Venice opts to focus on one front. One particular note is that much like OTL, the bulk of Venetian manpower came from the Venetian territories which are unaffected in this TL , the main difference is that the loss of life in the political capital of Venice.
[3] Compared to the farce that is the Condottieri, anything is better at this point. That being said John Hawkwood in OTL was an Englishman that served in the Hundred Years War he later went to Italy and amassed a fortune fighting for the various cities. What he brings to Venice is the English style of warfare geared towards defeating knights and operating in rough terrain against the Scottish similar to the the Balkans. Furthermore the Hundred Years war saw the emergence of a permanent professional army in France and England, before this the only reliable soldiers were nobles fighting as knights. The reason was simple, it was originally too expensive to keep permanent militaries over noble and peasant levees; now Italy was a lot richer than France and England at the time, all they lacked was an incentive.

 

[TaylorS]

Ahhh well there's the standard bread and butter Norwich history of Venice, in English and a general factual if biased history of Venice.

A more recent one is City of Fortune: How Venice Won and Lost a Naval Empire by Roger Crowley . I have not read this, only heard of good comments from the history department at Waterloo U.

Then there's my special man Fredrick C, Lane, a Historian who devoted the lion share of his time to Venice, unfortunately he passed in 1984. Fredrick published an impressive amount of papers on the nitty-gritty technical details of Venetian commerce and economics. I would recommend "Venice and History: The Collected Papers of Frederic C. Lane" it's a decent incomplete summary of his works, it contains details like how much a Venetian cog carries, why contract law never evolved in Venice, a merchant's account of a commercial trip east and so on.

Another of his works is Venetian ships and shipbuilders of the Renaissance , 1992. Beautiful book on the details of the Venetian merchant navy. Of particular interest is how the book describe Venice coping with the loss of good timber.

Since so much of the Venetian wealth is dependent on trade with the east I would recommend the paper "The Ottoman Administration of the Spice Trade in the Sixteenth-Century Red Sea and Persian Gulf" (2006) from The Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient as well as the book Peasants, Dervishes and Traders in the Ottoman empire.

Medieval land reclamation and the creation of new societies from the journal of Historical Geography explains the agricultural decline of the Po Valley. Take this with a bit of salt, the writer seems to almost exclude political and military aspects with a pure economic focus.

And of these there's Working Women of Early Modern Venice by Monica Chojnacka, beautiful depiction of everyday life from inquisition accounts.

Thanks!

 

[The Undead Martyr]

Yes, because a foreigner is going to be able to supplant a Republic that lasted a thousand years with remarkable stability...
Venice shall stay a republic. Though a more powerful Doge/executive or Dutch style hybrid would not be hideous.

 

[TaylorS]

Privately John Hawkwood makes plans to install himself as the lord protector of Venice once he finishes training his army.

Uh-Oh!

 

[The Undead Martyr]

Uh-Oh!

On throne hand, th Venetians have just seen their investment turn against them- they could decide that no future innovations are worth the risk. They certainly won't be as trusting of foreigners.

The moral is don't trust English sellswords. They've got too much French in them!

 

[FinalTemplar]

Great tl so far! Hopefully the ottomans will be pushed back somehow and give some breathing room to the Balkans and to an extent Venice

 

[Faeelin]

[3] Compared to the farce that is the Condottieri, anything is better at this point. That being said John Hawkwood in OTL was an Englishman that served in the Hundred Years War he later went to Italy and amassed a fortune fighting for the various cities.

This is really unfair (and one of Norwich's big problems). The Condottieri are not that different from the mercenary forces of France and England; both are mercenary armies that caused problems for rulers everywhere. And the armies that Venice used in the Near East were based on the same type of troops as the army that you're lambasting.

 

[Pio2013]

Just finished reading TTL, i really like it.

Sub'd and waiting more!

 

[Lucius Verus]

This is really unfair (and one of Norwich's big problems). The Condottieri are not that different from the mercenary forces of France and England; both are mercenary armies that caused problems for rulers everywhere. And the armies that Venice used in the Near East were based on the same type of troops as the army that you're lambasting.

Yet by the end of the hundred years war professional armies were clearly dominating. I suppose the impression of a bias against the Condottieri might come from the way I phrased it in isolation, yes mercenaries were generally poor quality troops, and yes they were universally used. My opinion of them as a military force is very poor, my opinion of them as a method for poor peasants and landless lords to gain wealth and influence is great. They can fight , but their motivation is suspect which makes them at best of dubious military value. Historians make a great deal about the victories of the Swiss pikemen or German Landsknechts yet they never talked about the battles they didn't fight or the battles they fought against their employers.

Mind you I agree with the notion that Norwich is not a military historian, I based my opinion from "Castles, battles, & bombs : how economics explains military history" by Brauer Jurgen.

Also, speaking of lamb blasting I now feel the urge to invent a cannon that fires fluffy sheep.

 

[Lucius Verus]

Interlude:

As the armies of Bologna, Mantua, Padua, Florence, and Milan conduct their deadly dance across the mainland, the merchants of Venice carry on with business as usual. Despite increasingly desperate correspondence from Florence and Padua, the Venetian senate remains unwilling to commit. Occasionally even receiving delegates from Milan.

Secretly, Doge Tommaso Mocenigo bids his time for his army to mature as well as for Milan to crush her commercial rivals on the mainland. While concerned for the security of Venice the chance to destroy age old rivals though inaction is too good to pass up. Meanwhile, couriers are sent to Rupert of Palatine, King of the Germany to discuss the coronation of his title; Iron Crown of the Lombard on his way to be crowned emperor by the Pope in Rome. Furthermore delegates are sent to the individual mercenary bands in the employment of Milan, carrying with the offers by "merchants of Padua".

The sheer cost of recruiting a citizen from the wealthiest lands of Europe necessitated the employment of convicts, slaves, Germans , and refugees from the Balkans. The recruited Germans originate from across Germany with little but personal aspirations, special care is taken to avoid large concentrations of Germans.

While recruits are given the prospect of a state pension and Venetian citizenship after 25 years of service the main motivator of German recruits is the poor economic prospects in feudal Germany and feudal Balkans . In addition each man is allowed a fraction of prizes and ransoms. Rarely are first sons recruited as they are often the successors in German and Italian families.*[1]

In an attempt to reduce costs, the sale of commissions is offered. Similar to the system inherited from Hawkwood's time as a Condottieri the sale of commissions exists alongside promotions of merit for all but the highest commands which are selected by the Venetian Senate. Due to the influx of illiterate Germans the Venetian bureaucracy found it necessary to implement a basic education in mathematics, writing, Italian and Venetian for all recruits. Similar to the Venetian bureaucracy, every officer and command had to designate an replacement in case he is ever wounded or killed. Unnoticed by the Venetians, a large amount of the experienced officers consists of men formerly in the employment of John Hawkwood. [2]

Unlike his English experience, the average Venetian was a lot richer than the average Briton. Soldiers often outfitted themselves in addition to the provisions by the state. Crossbows being easier to learn and handle were a lot more common than the longbows of England. The light cavalry envisioned by Hawkwood often manage to acquire enough armour and gear to match that of a knight. The pike men are often armoured partially or fully, it simply isn’t worth losing such an expensive soldier to a lack of armour. Furthermore arming swords and other side arms often find their way into the possession of soldiers often for a peace of mind .

Officially, Hawkwood locates the army camps on rivers outside of major cities ; citing the loss of discipline near the brothels and vices of cities. Unofficially, it is to give Hawkwood the utmost control over the creation of his army.

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[1]While the life expectancy of people in Italy was around 35-40 years at the time, it is a misleading factoid as it includes all the children that died in infancy due to a wide range of reasons. On average a man with good nutrition usually lived to his 50s-60s.

[2] The male literacy rate in Italy at the time was around 20%, higher in northern Italy and most people knew enough for day to day living. Given that and the Venetian bureaucratic tendencies it seems highly likely that basic education would be an requirement of an army, if only to fit the bureaucratic mindset of the Senate.

 

[Lucius Verus]

Roar of the Lion

1393: Fearful of domination by the Sons of Mohammed the minor cities, despots, and bishoprics of the Balkan coast each consider methods of protection. Considered heretics by the Pope, living under the non-existent protection of the Patriarch of Constantinople, constantly raided by Catalan, Turkish, Venetian, and Genoese pirates, and lacking competition from a shattered Genoa there is little choice. Venetian diplomats note that their court receptions are becoming increasingly friendly. [1]

While the bulk of the security focus is on the Po valley, the Venetian navy being of limited in use in potential land wars on the Italian mainland gradually bribe, intimidate, or conquer minor ports in the Aegean, Ionian, and Adriatic seas. While a certain degree of autonomy is tolerated all local laws concerning commercial activities are supplemented by a Venetian administration. [2]

1394: Avignon Pope Clement VII dies, in his place Pedro Martínez of Aragon is elected by French Cardinals as Clement VIII. The Great Western Schism continues.

Despite given a position of unparalleled power, unlimited funds, and the backing of a private army the plot of John Hawkwood fails as he dies of heart failure in one of the many brothels in Treviso. Blissfully unaware of his treachery the Republic of Venice returns him to England at the behest of his son. In Venice, he is honourably remembered as the founder of the first professional Venetian army and is given a grand funeral. [3]

1395: Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan marches on Mantua with a newly raised army. The forces of Bologna, Florence, and Padua respond. Weary of bloodshed and nominally at peace with Milan, the Venetian council decides not to fight Milan and instead continues secretly supporting Visconti's enemies.

Domestically Visconti is gaining strength. Through a steady campaign of intimidation, bureaucracy, violence, and rumour-mongering Visconti is gradually chipping away at the powers of the communes and nobility-replacing them with that of a centralized monarchy.

Separately Visconti commences an ambitious project to redirect the flow of the Minco River from Mantua to expose its defenses and deprive it of its water source in the future. Due to engineering limitations, the project becomes an expensive failure.

1396: With Papal blessing Sigmund assembles a Holy Crusade against the Turkish encroachment upon Christian Europe, enthusiastically manned by 14,000 Hungarian and French knights. Token forces of Venetian galleys are dispatched to profit from supplying the force. Opposing them is an Ottoman force of the same size led by Bayezid, the armies meet near the Bulgarian fortress of Nikopol. Failing to learn against the longbows and pike men of England the Christian forces are crushed as the French knights are lured into a direct attack and subsequently routed. The strongest Christian prince of the Balkans is defeated.

King Sigmund lives through the day as he escapes across the Danube River on a Venetian galley. The already tenuous royal power of Hungary is further reduced by the massive loss of noble life and royal prestige. Sigmund is arrested several times in the next few years by feuding nobles. Meanwhile Bayezid earns his nickname Yıldırım (Ottoman Turkish: ییلدیرم), "The Thunderbolt" as he flies into a rage at his losses, despite the appeals of his advisors stating that mere peasants are worth the exchange against mounted knights Bayezid orders the execution of all prisoners over 20, enslavement of those under 20, and ransom of the nobility.[4]

Mistaken as a member of the Venetian supply galleys in the aftermath of the battle the Venetian merchant Carlo Mocenigo offers the only bargaining chip of any value to the Sultan in hopes of sparing his life; his life in service to the Sultan. Only spared out of practical concerns to Bayezid; Carlo is to leave his eldest son in Edirne as a hostage; he is to provide an annual tribute of two bronze bombards and 200 ducats. In exchange Carlo is considered a subject of Bayezid with safety of travel and trade throughout his lands. (For comparison purposes, 1000 ducats is the annual salary of the Duke of Crete at the time)

Upon his arrival back in Treviso, Carlo Mocenigo sets about with grim determination to regain his honour and his son. With bureaucrats unwilling to be directed associated with the Turks of the failed crusade Carlo Mocenigo is left to his own devices. Needing to provide massive tributes annually Carlo Mocenigo sets about the creation of a perpetual "Colleganza” contract with several other houses. Unlike previous Colleganzas that were terminated as soon as a task is completed-typically a year round trading trip, this contract is long term and only states the liabilities of the partners. The advantage afforded to Carlo is that unlike regular merchants who are at the whims of local despots, Carlo is technically a tributary to the sultan theft from which is equivalent to theft from the Sultan. Many other merchants’ houses are eager to take advantage of Carlo's misfortune and joins his partnership. [5] [6]

1397: The Venetian colony of Tana, located in Azov on the northern shores of the Black Sea is discovered to be deserted and burned to the ground. Unknown to the Venetian sailors the local Khan razed the settlement two months prior to their arrival. Grudgingly, the Venetian sail off to the only remaining Christian trade port on the coast of the Crimea; Genoese Caffa. Despite a strained past, business is still business and a captain still has to pay his crew and his investors.

After a long siege the walls of Mantua are breached and the city stormed by forces of Milan. The Duchy of Milan now stretches from the shores of Genoa in the South to the mountains of the Alps in the North and up to the borders of Ferrara and Padua to the east. At the relatively young age of 46, Gian Galeazzo Visconti is now the de facto king of the Lombards and now looks to acquire the Iron Crown of the Lombards to gain the political rights to the lands.

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[1] Such is life in the Mediterranean coast at the time, if unprotected a settlement is often vulnerable to Muslim and Catholic pirates alike who pillage and enslave. Christians are sold to Muslims, and Muslims sold to Christians. If one is lucky they may be freed by a fellow man of the book or escape to freedom, otherwise it’s a life of hard labour in mines or Venetian sugar plantations. Either way one's life expectancy is short. Otherwise this is happening exactly as OTL.
[2] Much like OTL the Venetians and Ottoman are moving into a vacuum in the politically fragmented Balkans and Greece. Just like OTL the relatively centralized trade of the Venetians and their heavily bureaucratic habits meant that every Venetian settlement/outpost had the same standardized laws, weights, measures, and customs. Whether or not it was a symptom of Venetian commercial success in OTL or a factor of it, the standardization helped commerce greatly. A side effect of this is the sheer amount of Venetian records, in OTL by the 17th century they had 45 kilometers of shelves of hand written ledgers for everyday use.
[3] Short of prolonged and destructive war, there was little chance that an Italian state of the time could gain the experience to build a professional military without resorting to scheming mercenaries. Fortunately poor Hawkwood dies as he did in OTL of heart failure, though he probably didn't die in a brothel in OTL.
[4]A bloodbath just like OTL. That aside the Ottomans historically favoured the usage of impractically large bombards over smaller firearms, one theory is that since they won a good deal of their field battles early in their empire they never felt the need for better firearms, and by the time they started losing the majority of their field battles their economy was wrecked by social disruption. Another theory is that the Ottomans had a preference for cavalry as a sign of status-much like the knights of Europe they resisted change that could affect their station in the military and never really bothered improving the walking peasant, and finally it might just be the male obsession with size .
[5] In OTL There was never a need for the Colleganza to evolve into a limited-liability partnership as the Patricians and state were so interlinked that a good deal of the capital was in essence provided by the state. i.e. the auction of great galleys, which made the capital investment of the ship a cost to state instead of an individual.
[6]Medieval trading, things such as hiring thugs to steal wares ,fixed prices, bribes, arbitrary tolls ,and sometimes outright execution and confiscation are all fair game.

 

[Al-numbers]

Getting a bit anxious about Milan now... an Italian power that big might not be at peace with the Serene Republic for long.

Well, at least now Venice has an armed force, and at least the scheming Englishman who commands it is now dead, though I didn't know he actually died in a brothel IOTL!

 

[Lucius Verus]

Getting a bit anxious about Milan now... an Italian power that big might not be at peace with the Serene Republic for long.

Well, at least now Venice has an armed force, and at least the scheming Englishman who commands it is now dead, though I didn't know he actually died in a brothel IOTL!

Haha, would it be in poor taste to announce that this is actually a Milan TL?

 

[RyuDrago]

A successful Venetian TL could be only with a neutered Milan. OTL when Milan was in French then Spanish domination languished, Venice flourished.