I have to say this thread is a work of art. My hats off to you sir! You have kept me entertained when I should be working for the last few weeks with your daily updates. You should be proud and are sure to receive a turtledove for your efforts.
The Dead Live: A Hundred Years' War Timeline
- Thread starter Zulfurium
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Update Nineteen: A Hero's Return
This is one of the shortest updates I have had so far, but I really needed to get all the different actors back into place in preparation for the next couple of updates. The updates that come after this one are very long and really get into particularly England and France during and after the Crusade.
As news of the Battles of Sveshtniy first arrived in Europe, the populace was first gripped by shock and horror at the defeat and massacre of French and German knighthood. The victory which followed this tragedy heightened the joy that the following victory brought. Bells were rung across Europe in celebration of the victory, which Bayezid was cursed to the darkest reaches of hell. The news that followed in the next couple of years of victory upon victory and the driving of the Turks from Europe resulted in immense celebrations. On learning of the Fall of Edirne and the following treaty with Süleyman, Pope Honorius V ordered that celebratory masses be held and that the names of the fallen martyrs be published far and wide with prayers ordered said for them for a year - a luxury rarely bestowed on those not able to pay for the privilege. Pope Honorius found himself exalted by European Christendom (1). He used this newfound prestige to institute reforms and restructuring of several religious orders in an effort to streamline and ensure compliance with the dictates of Rome. Using his part of the bounty from the crusade, Honorius set up various facilities to aid the poor and needy in Rome's vicinity. Food was soon distributed and shelters provided while the city found itself experiencing a profound degree of growth, bringing with it artists, composers and writers to raise Rome's status back to the heights it had once held (2).
In the meantime, the crusaders slowly made their way home, returning through Bulgaria - where Ivan Sratsimir feasted them and handed out titles and honors as thanks for their service in saving Bulgaria from the depredations of the Turks. In his train, Edward brought with him the venerable Georgios Gemistos Pletho who he had invited to visit his Kingdom and teach at the University of Oxford for a while, an offer only accepted due to Pletho's regard for Edward and interest in tutoring the young John Lydgate. Pletho would return to Constantinople in 1403 and would become a central part of the Eastern Roman Court. Continuing onward to the Danube, the crusaders returned the way they had come. Arriving at Buda, Sigismund hosted the crusaders for half a year, once more heaping honors and titles on them - and taking the opportunity to offer lands in Croatia to select younger sons to ensure a loyal base of support in the region. Sigismund and Edward spent a long time together, pursuing their shared interests in literature, hunts and martial pursuits (3). A Grand Tournament was held to celebrate the victorious crusade in October 1398 with both crusaders and knights from across Central Europe and Italy turning up for the festivities. In the following Tourney, fought between English, French, German and Hungarian teams the Hungarians were able to emerge victorious, to great celebration and acclaim of the local populace. Sigismund was able to use the presence of the crusaders to force the recalcitrant Hungarian nobility to perform homage at the Grand Tournament to himself, his wife and his son Charles, and was able to end the last remnants of opposition to their rule over Hungary (4).
Wenceslaus IV, King of Bohemia
Once the snows cleared, the crusaders resumed their march homeward along the Danube. In Vienna many of the German contingents peeled off, returning to their homes with great fanfare. Wenceslaus of Bohemia had been King of the Romans since 1376, but on his father Charles's death in 1378, Wenceslaus inherited the Crown of Bohemia and as Emperor-elect assumed the government of the Holy Roman Empire. The problem lay in Wenceslaus lack of a papal coronation, the result of widespread conflict in Germany and Bohemia throughout his reign. In 1387 a quarrel between Frederick, Duke of Bavaria, and the cities of the Swabian League allied with the Archbishop of Salzburg gave the signal for a general war in Swabia, in which the cities, weakened by their isolation, mutual jealousies and internal conflicts, were defeated by the forces of Eberhard II, Count of Württemberg, at Döffingen, near Gafenau, on 24 August 1388. The cities were taken severely and devastated. Most of them quietly acquiesced when King Wenceslaus proclaimed an ambivalent arrangement at Cheb in 1389 that prohibited all leagues between cities, while confirming their political autonomy. This settlement provided a modicum of stability for the next many years, however the cities dropped out as a basis of the central Imperial authority in this period(5).
Even in Bohemia Wenceslaus held a tenuous grip on power at best, as he came into repeated conflicts with the Bohemian nobility led by the House of Rosenberg. On two occasions he was even imprisoned for lengthy spells by rebellious nobles. But the greatest liability for Wenceslaus proved to be his own family. Charles IV had divided his holdings among his sons and other relatives. Although Wenceslaus upon his father's death retained Bohemia, his younger half-brother Sigismund inherited Brandenburg, while John received the newly established Duchy of Görlitz in Upper Lusatia. The March of Moravia was divided between his cousins Jobst and Procopius, and his uncle Wenceslaus I was made Duke of Luxembourg. Hence the young king was left without the resources his father had enjoyed. In 1386, Sigismund became king of Hungary and became involved in affairs further east. Wenceslaus also faced serious opposition from the Bohemian nobles and even from his chancellor, the Prague archbishop Jan of Jenštejn. In a conflict surrounding the investiture of the abbot of Kladruby, the torture and murder of the archbishop's vicar-general John of Nepomuk by royal officials in 1393 sparked a noble rebellion. In 1394 Wenceslaus' cousin Jobst of Moravia was named regent, while Wenceslaus was arrested at Králův Dvůr. King Sigismund of Hungary arranged a truce in 1396, and for his efforts was recognized as heir to Wenceslaus (6).
In view of his troubles in Bohemia, Wenceslaus did not seek a coronation ceremony as Holy Roman Emperor and was long absent from the German lands. Consequently, he faced anger at the Reichstag diets of Nuremberg in 1397 and Frankfurt in 1398. The four Rhenish electors, Count Palatine Rupert III and the Archbishops of Mainz, Cologne and Trier, accused him of failing to maintain the public peace. They demanded that Wenceslaus appear before them to answer to the charges in June 1400. Wenceslaus demurred, in large part because of renewed hostilities in Bohemia. When he failed to appear, the electors meeting at Lahneck Castle declared him deposed on 20 August 1400 on account of "futility, idleness, negligence and ignobility". The next day they chose Rupert as their king at Rhens, though Wenceslaus refused to acknowledge this successor and hoped to crush this revolt against his rule (7).
The crusaders re-entered France in August 1399. They were received at the gates of Dijon with acclamation and gifts of silver presented by the municipality. In Paris the King gave his cousin, Jean Sans Peur, a gift of 20,000 livres. The towns of Burgundy and Flanders vied for the honor of receiving him. On orders of his father, he made a triumphal progress to exhibit himself to the people whose taxes had bought his return. Minstrels preceded him through the gates, fetes and parades greeted him, more gifts of silver and of wine and fish were presented (8). While news of the First Battle of Sveshtniy brought quieter memorials and bitter disappointment, with much blame heaped on the traitorous English and Hungarians - sometimes adding the Burgundians depending on their political persuasions, the majority of the realm's efforts were spent on celebrating a victorious crusade (9). By the end of the celebrations it had become increasingly clear that Enguerrand VII de Coucy's wife Isabelle de Coucy was pregnant - a seeming miracle for the almost 60-year old lord who was without a male heir (10). Edward V found himself in an ambiguous position with many of the French, who admired his role as leader of the crusade but hated him for the First Battle of Sveshtniy and his Englishness. The English contingent left Digenois and marched for Flanders, arriving in Bruges in late September 1399, to further celebrations before setting sail for England.
Procession through London's Streets Celebrating The Turkish Crusade
King Edward V's return to England was an event celebrated across the realm, his arrival brought with it profound hope and joy to the people of the English realm. The return of their pious king from the crusade which they had heard glowing reports of for years was an event like no other. The streets of London were decorated at immense expense and the Parliament was assembled to vote through honors to the returning crusaders. David Stewart, who was heir to the Scottish throne, returned as a twenty-year old veteran crusader heaped with honors by half the courts of Europe and was betrothed to the four-year old Mary of England in preparation for his return to Scotland where he hoped to remove his uncle from power and ensure his own succession to the throne. Edward quickly found himself drawn into the near anarchic conditions that had emerged under his brother's regency, learning with horror of how wrong everything had gone(11).
Footnotes:
(1) Honorius is in a really good position at this point. His election ended the hated schism, he just presided over a successful crusade and is ruling from Rome. His political capital is at a high point at this point in time.
(2) Honorius is beginning his reforms slowly while trying to ensure that his local support is firmed up. Rome is in a much better place than OTL, and is undergoing something like the resurgence it would later in the 15th century IOTL. The beginnings of the Rennaissance are starting to emerge now, somewhat earlier than OTL due to the greater stability of Europe as a whole.
(3) Sigismund is a really fascinating ruler who had the capacity for greatness, but never really reached the heights he could have due to his shifting and uncertain powerbase. Things look much better for him this time around.
(4) IOTL Sigismund returned from the Battle of Nicopolis with his tail between his legs. His authority and prestige at a low point. He experienced further revolts and rebellions, experiencing capture and humiliation. This time he returns with the might of a successful crusading army, his succession secured and his wife as a strong source of legitimacy.
(5) Wenceslaus really didn't have the capacity to rule the HRE at this point in time and was in a much weaker position than his father to begin with.
(6) Wenceslaus really had a hard time of things, probably not helped by his rampant alcoholism. This is all OTL.
(7) I don't have a strong enough grasp of HRE history to know if something like this had been done before - but this is OTL. We are going to get into this entire conflict much more in a later update.
(8) Weirdly enough this was all OTL. When the crusaders returned from Nicopolis, having spent several years imprisoned, they were feasted and feted, with lots of celebrations and festivities. I thought it would be a good base point to work from with the celebrations.
(9) Edward fills this weird place in French consciousness, he is a successful and prolific king who has done well by his subjects and has led a successful crusade, but at the same time he is their greatest enemy and he has brought incredible suffering to their lands. They respect his achievements, but hate him for it.
(10) I couldn't let the Coucy dynasty die out at this point. Their fate IOTL is just so sad and disappointing, with Philippa de Coucy being a repudiated wife while Marie de Coucy found herself fighting for her inheritance while her family died around her and Isabelle de Coucy, née Bar seems to have genuinely grieved the loss of her much older husband and had to fight for her right to the lands. The dispute over the Coucy inheritance went on for years while it was picked apart by the avaricious royal dukes.
(11) We will learn much more about Richard's time as regent in the next update. Things really didn't work out too well.
A Hero's Return
Depiction of the Victorious Crusaders
Depiction of the Victorious Crusaders
As news of the Battles of Sveshtniy first arrived in Europe, the populace was first gripped by shock and horror at the defeat and massacre of French and German knighthood. The victory which followed this tragedy heightened the joy that the following victory brought. Bells were rung across Europe in celebration of the victory, which Bayezid was cursed to the darkest reaches of hell. The news that followed in the next couple of years of victory upon victory and the driving of the Turks from Europe resulted in immense celebrations. On learning of the Fall of Edirne and the following treaty with Süleyman, Pope Honorius V ordered that celebratory masses be held and that the names of the fallen martyrs be published far and wide with prayers ordered said for them for a year - a luxury rarely bestowed on those not able to pay for the privilege. Pope Honorius found himself exalted by European Christendom (1). He used this newfound prestige to institute reforms and restructuring of several religious orders in an effort to streamline and ensure compliance with the dictates of Rome. Using his part of the bounty from the crusade, Honorius set up various facilities to aid the poor and needy in Rome's vicinity. Food was soon distributed and shelters provided while the city found itself experiencing a profound degree of growth, bringing with it artists, composers and writers to raise Rome's status back to the heights it had once held (2).
In the meantime, the crusaders slowly made their way home, returning through Bulgaria - where Ivan Sratsimir feasted them and handed out titles and honors as thanks for their service in saving Bulgaria from the depredations of the Turks. In his train, Edward brought with him the venerable Georgios Gemistos Pletho who he had invited to visit his Kingdom and teach at the University of Oxford for a while, an offer only accepted due to Pletho's regard for Edward and interest in tutoring the young John Lydgate. Pletho would return to Constantinople in 1403 and would become a central part of the Eastern Roman Court. Continuing onward to the Danube, the crusaders returned the way they had come. Arriving at Buda, Sigismund hosted the crusaders for half a year, once more heaping honors and titles on them - and taking the opportunity to offer lands in Croatia to select younger sons to ensure a loyal base of support in the region. Sigismund and Edward spent a long time together, pursuing their shared interests in literature, hunts and martial pursuits (3). A Grand Tournament was held to celebrate the victorious crusade in October 1398 with both crusaders and knights from across Central Europe and Italy turning up for the festivities. In the following Tourney, fought between English, French, German and Hungarian teams the Hungarians were able to emerge victorious, to great celebration and acclaim of the local populace. Sigismund was able to use the presence of the crusaders to force the recalcitrant Hungarian nobility to perform homage at the Grand Tournament to himself, his wife and his son Charles, and was able to end the last remnants of opposition to their rule over Hungary (4).
Wenceslaus IV, King of Bohemia
Even in Bohemia Wenceslaus held a tenuous grip on power at best, as he came into repeated conflicts with the Bohemian nobility led by the House of Rosenberg. On two occasions he was even imprisoned for lengthy spells by rebellious nobles. But the greatest liability for Wenceslaus proved to be his own family. Charles IV had divided his holdings among his sons and other relatives. Although Wenceslaus upon his father's death retained Bohemia, his younger half-brother Sigismund inherited Brandenburg, while John received the newly established Duchy of Görlitz in Upper Lusatia. The March of Moravia was divided between his cousins Jobst and Procopius, and his uncle Wenceslaus I was made Duke of Luxembourg. Hence the young king was left without the resources his father had enjoyed. In 1386, Sigismund became king of Hungary and became involved in affairs further east. Wenceslaus also faced serious opposition from the Bohemian nobles and even from his chancellor, the Prague archbishop Jan of Jenštejn. In a conflict surrounding the investiture of the abbot of Kladruby, the torture and murder of the archbishop's vicar-general John of Nepomuk by royal officials in 1393 sparked a noble rebellion. In 1394 Wenceslaus' cousin Jobst of Moravia was named regent, while Wenceslaus was arrested at Králův Dvůr. King Sigismund of Hungary arranged a truce in 1396, and for his efforts was recognized as heir to Wenceslaus (6).
In view of his troubles in Bohemia, Wenceslaus did not seek a coronation ceremony as Holy Roman Emperor and was long absent from the German lands. Consequently, he faced anger at the Reichstag diets of Nuremberg in 1397 and Frankfurt in 1398. The four Rhenish electors, Count Palatine Rupert III and the Archbishops of Mainz, Cologne and Trier, accused him of failing to maintain the public peace. They demanded that Wenceslaus appear before them to answer to the charges in June 1400. Wenceslaus demurred, in large part because of renewed hostilities in Bohemia. When he failed to appear, the electors meeting at Lahneck Castle declared him deposed on 20 August 1400 on account of "futility, idleness, negligence and ignobility". The next day they chose Rupert as their king at Rhens, though Wenceslaus refused to acknowledge this successor and hoped to crush this revolt against his rule (7).
The crusaders re-entered France in August 1399. They were received at the gates of Dijon with acclamation and gifts of silver presented by the municipality. In Paris the King gave his cousin, Jean Sans Peur, a gift of 20,000 livres. The towns of Burgundy and Flanders vied for the honor of receiving him. On orders of his father, he made a triumphal progress to exhibit himself to the people whose taxes had bought his return. Minstrels preceded him through the gates, fetes and parades greeted him, more gifts of silver and of wine and fish were presented (8). While news of the First Battle of Sveshtniy brought quieter memorials and bitter disappointment, with much blame heaped on the traitorous English and Hungarians - sometimes adding the Burgundians depending on their political persuasions, the majority of the realm's efforts were spent on celebrating a victorious crusade (9). By the end of the celebrations it had become increasingly clear that Enguerrand VII de Coucy's wife Isabelle de Coucy was pregnant - a seeming miracle for the almost 60-year old lord who was without a male heir (10). Edward V found himself in an ambiguous position with many of the French, who admired his role as leader of the crusade but hated him for the First Battle of Sveshtniy and his Englishness. The English contingent left Digenois and marched for Flanders, arriving in Bruges in late September 1399, to further celebrations before setting sail for England.
Procession through London's Streets Celebrating The Turkish Crusade
King Edward V's return to England was an event celebrated across the realm, his arrival brought with it profound hope and joy to the people of the English realm. The return of their pious king from the crusade which they had heard glowing reports of for years was an event like no other. The streets of London were decorated at immense expense and the Parliament was assembled to vote through honors to the returning crusaders. David Stewart, who was heir to the Scottish throne, returned as a twenty-year old veteran crusader heaped with honors by half the courts of Europe and was betrothed to the four-year old Mary of England in preparation for his return to Scotland where he hoped to remove his uncle from power and ensure his own succession to the throne. Edward quickly found himself drawn into the near anarchic conditions that had emerged under his brother's regency, learning with horror of how wrong everything had gone(11).
Footnotes:
(1) Honorius is in a really good position at this point. His election ended the hated schism, he just presided over a successful crusade and is ruling from Rome. His political capital is at a high point at this point in time.
(2) Honorius is beginning his reforms slowly while trying to ensure that his local support is firmed up. Rome is in a much better place than OTL, and is undergoing something like the resurgence it would later in the 15th century IOTL. The beginnings of the Rennaissance are starting to emerge now, somewhat earlier than OTL due to the greater stability of Europe as a whole.
(3) Sigismund is a really fascinating ruler who had the capacity for greatness, but never really reached the heights he could have due to his shifting and uncertain powerbase. Things look much better for him this time around.
(4) IOTL Sigismund returned from the Battle of Nicopolis with his tail between his legs. His authority and prestige at a low point. He experienced further revolts and rebellions, experiencing capture and humiliation. This time he returns with the might of a successful crusading army, his succession secured and his wife as a strong source of legitimacy.
(5) Wenceslaus really didn't have the capacity to rule the HRE at this point in time and was in a much weaker position than his father to begin with.
(6) Wenceslaus really had a hard time of things, probably not helped by his rampant alcoholism. This is all OTL.
(7) I don't have a strong enough grasp of HRE history to know if something like this had been done before - but this is OTL. We are going to get into this entire conflict much more in a later update.
(8) Weirdly enough this was all OTL. When the crusaders returned from Nicopolis, having spent several years imprisoned, they were feasted and feted, with lots of celebrations and festivities. I thought it would be a good base point to work from with the celebrations.
(9) Edward fills this weird place in French consciousness, he is a successful and prolific king who has done well by his subjects and has led a successful crusade, but at the same time he is their greatest enemy and he has brought incredible suffering to their lands. They respect his achievements, but hate him for it.
(10) I couldn't let the Coucy dynasty die out at this point. Their fate IOTL is just so sad and disappointing, with Philippa de Coucy being a repudiated wife while Marie de Coucy found herself fighting for her inheritance while her family died around her and Isabelle de Coucy, née Bar seems to have genuinely grieved the loss of her much older husband and had to fight for her right to the lands. The dispute over the Coucy inheritance went on for years while it was picked apart by the avaricious royal dukes.
(11) We will learn much more about Richard's time as regent in the next update. Things really didn't work out too well.
Update Twenty: The Inner Turmoil
This is the first in a series of enormous updates which cover everything from England and France to China and inbetween. There are a lot of new characters introduced in this one, while we say goodbye to others. I really hope you enjoy them, this is one of my favorite updates so far.
Richard's Regency proved a time of lawlessness and license in which feuds reignited and tyranny blossomed. Richard began by placing his supporters in positions of power. Michael de la Pole (1), whose father had helped finance English wars following the fall of the Bardi and Perruzzi banks, had long held a position of power in the treasury and was pushed to take the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer by Richard while Edward of Norwich became Lord Chancellor. Richard worked hard to push against the intransigence of his uncle the Duke of Gloucester who criticized Richard's actions. Robert de Vere, the Earl of Oxford and childhood rival of King Edward found himself suddenly elevated out of obscurity to Lord Warden of Cinque Ports while his efforts at litigating against his uncle Aubrey de Vere suddenly turned fruitful with the full support of the regent to back him, while Richard richly rewarded Robert for his friendship with lands and titles. Joan of Navarre attempted to calm the situation and tried to push Richard into a more conciliatory position, hoping to take on a care-taker role rather than ruling in the interests of his favorites. Richard married a daughter to Jean V de Montfort, Duke of Brittany during this time, and another to Edward of Norwich. Another daughter would marry Thomas de Montagu, son and heir to the Earl of Salisbury.
As the pressure rose within England and those who had found themselves powerless under Edward rose to the highest positions in government, tempers flared and feuds reemerged. In the mid 1380s John de Holland, Regent and King's half-brother by Joan of Kent, had killed Ralph Stafford, son and heir of the Earl of Stafford, over John's previous murder of one of Ralph's archers (2). Edward had come down hard on his half-brother and confiscated many of his lands, even sending him into exile for a while (3). His return in late 1396 at Richard's invitation, soon after Edward had left, and the public welcome by Richard that followed caused an uproar among the Staffords. Richard restored John de Holland to his lands and considered bringing him into the government as Constable of the Tower. This was too much for the Staffords and their ally Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, whose daughter was married to the Earl of Stafford, Thomas Stafford. While John de Holland was making his way home from a long night of drinking and whoring in London, he was set upon by a band of assassins who butchered John de Holland in a frenzied bloodlust (4). When Holland's body was discovered the next morning it provoked an outraged response from the regent, who immediately ordered the imprisonment of Thomas, Duke of Gloucester and the Stafford brothers, Thomas, William and Edmund under suspicion of murder. Knowing they would not get justice from the enraged Richard, the Staffords scattered into the countryside. The Hollands were quick to react, with the dying Thomas de Holland, brother to the murdered John de Holland, forcing his children to swear an oath of vengeance. The Hollands were soon chasing Stafford supporters and murdering them if they could get their hands on them with the tacit approval of the regent. The Duke of Gloucester was able to force his own release by leveraging his connections to Joan of Navarre and the Duke of Clarence and set about trying to protect his son-in-law and his family. Prince Edward found himself increasingly pushed from the council of state and grew increasingly worried for the safety of his mother and siblings, eventually taking the entire royal family to Wales, where he had spent much of his childhood and had established a deep fount of trust and loyalty in the populace (5). The skirmishes and ambushes launched by Staffords and Hollands against each other developed into a shadow war between the regent and his uncle for control of the regency. The conflict would escalate over the next couple of years, and see William Stafford killed in the fighting alongside John and Edmund de Holland, leaving only Thomas de Holland, Third Earl of Kent from among the male half of the de Holland clan while Thomas Stafford, Third Earl of Stafford and his brother Edmund remained of the Stafford male brood by the time of Edward V's return to England (6).
It was in this environment in early 1398 that Thomas de Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk returned to London from his long-time appointment as Lord Warden of the Scottish Marches. On his arrival he found his wife, Philippa, a distressed and hounded woman. Since Robert de Vere had risen to importance he had used any and every opportunity to harass his one-time betrothed in an effort to take out the hatred he had developed for her and family for their betrayal of him in their childhood. Robert had once been set for high office and a near-royal marriage to Philippa. When that collapsed, following a childish fight with King Edward, and his friends turned on him he grew bitter, his fights with his uncle Aubrey de Vere for the return of his lands turned that bitterness into hatred. The moment he had the opportunity to act on his hatred he did (7). With neither the King nor her Husband present in the capital, Philippa had been forced to accommodate the vicious Robert and accept his abuse when the regent turned down her appeals for it to end. Richard had always felt that his friend Robert was much too harshly treated over a childhood brawl, and that the accusations against him were simply a continuation of the abuse heaped on his friend in the past. This emboldened Robert who took what advantages he could, stalking Philippa and her daughters through the Tower of London where they resided following Robert's promotion to Constable of the Tower. Thomas de Mowbray returned to learn that his second eldest daughter, Mary de Mowbray, had only just escaped rape at the hands of Robert de Vere, saved by the intervention of her young brother Ingleram. In a rage, Thomas de Mowbray hunted through the tower in search of Robert and, on finding him, attacked the man. In the following fight Robert de Vere was able to call for support from the guards of the Tower, who were loyal to him, and proceeded to murder the Duke of Norfolk in a cold rage (8). On realizing how far he had gone, Robert abandoned the Tower and fled for the countryside and safety among his supporters. The discovery of Thomas de Mowbray's body in the office of the Constable of the Tower was a scandal fit to shake the foundations of the realm. The devastated Philippa de Mowbray collapsed completely in grief and horror, while the thirteen-year old son and heir to the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas de Mowbray swore vengeance on the murderer of his father and tormenter of his family (9).
While these two feuds occupied the attentions of the realm, Richard grew ever more autocratic. He found himself trapped in a conflict with the Earl of Arundel and his brother, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This struggle, alongside his feud with the Duke of Gloucester and the aftermath of the murder of the Duke of Norfolk, proved too much for Richard. When information shared by Richard's secretary revealed that Richard was planning to launch a major purge of the upper nobility, it was Richard who found himself pushed from power - his position as regent subjected to a council of great lords led by the Duke of Gloucester until the return of King Edward. The powerlessness of his position led Richard to focus more on his informal conflicts, supporting the efforts of the Hollands in trying to defeat and capture the Staffords - who suddenly found themselves with governmental support, while helping Robert de Vere escape to safety in France and plotting vengeance (10).
The End of Richard's Regency
King Edward returned in the midst of this turmoil and was immediately besieged by the different factions, who all blamed each other for the country's woes. The Dukes of Gloucester and Carlisle were at each other's throats from the moment they were called before the King, shouting recriminations and insults. Unable to ascertain anything beyond the utter catastrophe of Richard's Regency and the murder of Edward's half-brother John de Holland and close friend Thomas de Mowbray, he was left fumbling for answers. Witnessing the devastation of his beloved mistress, Philippa de Mowbray, and the flinty-eyed anger of her children - Edward had Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, tried for the murder of the Duke of Norfolk, attainted him, confiscated his lands and sentenced him to death in absentia (11). The young Thomas de Mowbray and his family were the beneficiaries of the lands, with particularly the young Ingleram de Mowbray benefiting - being elevated to Earl of Oxford as reward for his defense of his sister and, as some whispered, a positioning of the king's bastard in a position of power (12). The Stafford-Holland feud proved more difficult to solve, with no clear proof available as to who murdered John de Holland and plenty of illegal actions on either side. As a result King Edward forced the two sides to end their fighting under threat of sanction and attaintment if that proved unsuccessful. At the same time, he forced the marriage of Edmund Stafford to Joan Holland, the widow of Edmund of Langley, Duke of Cambridge, while Thomas de Holland was forced to marry Katherine Stafford. By joining the two lines to each other by marriage, Edward hoped to ensure that the two clans would become too entangled to feud without breaking many of the rules of chivalry and breaking bonds of loyalty held sacred by feudal society(13).
The Dukes of Carlisle and Gloucester would both receive sanctions for their unbecoming behavior during the Regency. Carlisle found himself ordered to take up the position of Lord Warden of the Western Marches, effectively exiling him from the center of power and placing him under Henry Percy, who had just been elevated to Duke of Northumberland for his services in the crusade, who was placed as Lord Warden of the Scottish Marches, while Ralph Neville became Lord Warden of the Eastern Marches under Percy as well (14). A marriage between the Duke of Northumberland's son Henry and the last remaining daughter of the Duke of Carlisle was also arranged. Thomas, Duke of Gloucester was made regent for Edward over Aquitaine (15). This move left the two main combatants of the feud at opposite ends of the English realm and would hopefully keep them too busy to feud with each other. The only problem with this move turned out to be that Richard was not far enough removed from power. He would stew in his anger and humiliation, blaming Gloucester for his fall from power and the chaos of his time as regent, while slowly growing to hate his brother who continually dismissed him and kept him from power. Richard would begin reaching out to those disappointed with Edward's reign, those who found themselves pushed from the halls of power, and would slowly rebuild the support he enjoyed among the disaffected nobility of England (16). Prince Edward would return to London with the rest of the royal family on learning of his father's return and would increasingly spend his time between Wales, where he was learning to govern as Prince, and London where he participated in his father's council of government.
The return of King Edward brought with it a series of changes to the lands and titles. Edward of Norwich was confirmed in his father's titles as Duke of Cambridge while, as has been mentioned, Henry Percy saw his Earldom raised to a Dukedom while the young Thomas de Mowbray inherited his father's title of Duke of Norfolk. John de Grailly, the Earl of Bedford, who had served first as page and later squire to the King found himself knighted and made Knight of the Garter and member of the Order of the Dragon - an arrangement which had been agreed to by Sigismund and Jean de Nevers at Buda, where the Earl had won both the squire's joust and melee. At the same time Edward started looking for matches for his younger sons, Richard of Kent being betrothed to Anne de Mortimer, eldest daughter of Roger Mortimer the heir to the Dukedom of Clarence, and John of Lincoln being betrothed to Isabella de Mowbray, second eldest daughter of the Mowbray family and half-sister to Edward's bastard children by Philippa de Mowbray. The Mowbray family would join the royal family, to an even greater degree than previously, with Edward seemingly acting as patriarch to the family (17). In the meantime Edward restored many of his men to the positions of the cabinet, but allowed the final Constable of the Tower appointed by his brother, John de la Pole - a younger brother of the Earl of Suffolk - to remain in his post (18).
Charles the Child, Dauphin of Viennois
Alone among the major states of late medieval Europe France had a tax administration capable of appropriating much of the surplus wealth generated by France’s economy to the needs of the Crown without any formal process of consent on behalf of taxpayers. The system dated from the 1360s when a number of financial reforms had been introduced in order to pay the ransom of Charles VI’s grandfather Jean II and to suppress the Great Companies which were then operating under English patronage throughout the country. It was founded on the two principal indirect taxes of the French Monarchy: the aides, a sales tax levied at 5 per cent on most commodities exposed for sale and at 8.3 per cent on wine; and the gabelle, an excise on salt, generally levied at a rate of 10 per cent. During the reign of Charles V these impositions had depended, at least in theory, on the consent of various regional assemblies representing taxpayers. But when, in the crisis which followed Charles V’s death in 1379, it proved impossible to obtain consent to their continuance, the government imposed them by decree and brutally suppressed attempts at concerted opposition. From 1382 the aides and the gabelle were supplemented by a new tax, the taille. Tailles were direct taxes imposed on local communities at unpredictable intervals in order to meet financial emergencies, generally connected with war. There was never any pretense of consent to the taille. Between them the aides and the gabelle raised about two million livres in the average year in addition to the revenues of the royal demesne and the yield of the ‘tenths’ levied on the Church. In the first five years of its existence, between 1382 and 1387, the taille added on average another million livres annually. This represented a heavier burden of taxation than any other European state had been able to impose, both in absolute terms and relative to the country’s wealth and population. The war with England provided the political justification for taxation on this scale and the main reason why, in spite of significant discontent and some localised outbreaks of rebellion, it was tolerated by much of the population for a time. But when the war was suspended in 1383 and was followed by the Second Jacquerie, it was allowed to continue unabated, as war expenditure fell to its lowest levels in half a century by 1387. The aides and the gabelle continued onwards after this, albeit at a reduced rate. The taille was initially abandoned but then revived in 1396 and again in 1397. This created a substantial structural surplus of government revenues over the ordinary demands of peacetime government. Yet from about 1399 onward the treasury was insolvent. The King’s receivers and treasurers were meeting his liabilities with bills of assignment payable three years ahead, many of which were dishonored when the time came (19).
The main reason for the insolvency was that government’s revenues were being appropriated on a large scale by the royal princes and their clients, and by the higher reaches of the civil service. In the first two decades of the fifteenth century the situation deteriorated as a bitter struggle for control of the Crown’s resources was fought out in the council chambers of the royal palaces, in the national and regional assemblies, among the consuls and magistrates of the towns and ultimately on the streets. The essential problem was the incapacity of the King. Charles VI had never had his father’s intelligence or strength of purpose, even in his brief prime at the end of the 1380s. But when his mental health collapsed on the march towards Brittany in the early 1390s things took a turn for the worse. For the next many decades of his long reign the French King lived a life of intermittent sanity, interrupted by ever longer and more frequent ‘absences’, the delicate euphemism used to describe the periods when the King would wander through the corridors of his palaces howling and screaming, tearing and soiling his clothes, breaking the furniture or throwing it on the fire, not knowing who or what he was and unable to recognize his closest friends and kinsmen or even his wife, at times he became convinced he was made of glass, and had to be wrapped tightly and protected from harm for fear he would break. In his intervals of lucidity Charles was capable of picking up traces of his previous political positions. He was gracious and could be articulate, even forceful. He acted out his role. He retained the loyalty and affection of his subjects. But he was no longer capable of governing his realm. Politically he was a spent force, content to allow the factions around him to fight their battles over his head as if he were no more than a distant spectator. The situation was too uncertain to warrant a formal regency, which might have provided a measure of continuity and conserved the strength of the Valois monarchy. So while the King lived everything had to be done in his name. Major decisions were deferred until he recovered his faculties. If a decision could not be put off it was taken in his absence but invariably submitted to him later for his confirmation. Charles was at once indispensable and useless. The day-to-day business of government devolved upon the royal council, a protean body comprising the royal princes, the officers of state, a number of bishops active in the work of government, and a shifting cast of prominent magnates and courtiers. The council became the forum for the rivalries and jealousies of faction as power was uneasily contested between the King’s closest relatives, supported by cliques with no real legitimacy in law or security in fact (20).
The French never contemplated deposing the King, even at the lowest ebb of Charles VI’s fortunes. After three centuries in which the power of the Crown had progressively increased, France had come to identify itself more than any other European society with its monarchy. So far as its ancient and disparate provinces had a sense of common identity, it was the monarchy which had created it. So far as it enjoyed effective government, internal peace and security from its enemies, it owed these things mainly to the monarchy. Almost all of its national myths and symbols were centered upon the monarchy. At the end of the fourteenth century the Provençal jurist Honoré Bonet contrasted the cohesion of his adoptive country with the divided societies all around it. France was ‘the column of Christendom, of nobility and virtue, of well-being, riches and faith’, but, he added, ‘above all else she has a powerful King’. The kings of France were supported by an impressive corps of professional counselors, judges and administrators. But the functioning of the state was never wholly impersonal. It remained critically dependent upon the personality of the monarch. The king was not only a ceremonial figure, a symbol of power, the fount of justice, the source of all secular authority. His was the only authority which could resolve the inevitable political differences among his councilors and ministers. Only he could confer legitimacy on controversial decisions of the state: the making of peace and war, the resolution of the prolonged schism of the Church, major dispositions of the royal demesne, the imposition of tailles or the marriage of his children. Above all the king was the indispensable arbiter in the continual contest for royal favor and largesse among the princes and the top officials and churchmen, the jobbery that served as the grease of every European state. If the king could not perform this function himself it was likely to be taken out of his hands by self-interested groups intent on satisfying their own claims and excluding competitors. The traditional analogy between the state and the human body, which likened the king to the head and mind of the body politic, was more than an arresting metaphor. As Bonet had attributed the prosperity of France in the 1390s to the strength of the Crown, so the next generation of moralists would blame its weakness for social disintegration and civil war that they saw all around them. ‘All is now corrupted, all bent on evil work,’ sang Eustache Deschamps, the poet of a deserted court and a dispirited aristocracy; ‘these are the symptoms of monarchy’s decay.’ (20)
The decline of the Crown and the dispersal of power to the nobility and the civil service would have been plain to anyone who wandered among the courts and gardens of the Hôtel Saint-Pol. The King’s business was still carried on there. But the crowds of provincial officials, ambassadors, petitioners, tradesmen and merrymakers, the display and extravagance, the music, laughter and feasting of the King’s youth had all faded away. Charles himself lived surrounded by a meagre court, accompanied by a dwindling band of loyal retainers and servants of low status. One of these wrote in 1406 a pathetic, perhaps exaggerated account of a King, shuffling unshod though his private apartments, without robes to wear in public, horses to ride out with, or even candles to light his bedroom, his manners mocked and patronized, his authority ignored or manipulated by his former courtiers. The great came before him in search of favors at the first sign of recovery, bustling his loyal attendants out of the way and then turned their backs as soon as he relapsed. When the King was ‘absent’ the greedy, the needy and the ambitious looked for opportunities elsewhere, in the halls of the princely mansions of the capital and the anterooms of prominent bureaucrats. In the two decades which followed the onset of the King’s illness, the Dukes of Berry’s daily household expenditure rose threefold, and the daily consumption of meat substantially exceeded the royal court’s. According to the house biographer of the Duke of Bourbon, those who still called at the Hôtel Saint-Pol found no one to receive them and promptly left. ‘Let us go and dine at the mansion of the Duke of Bourbon,’ they would say; ‘we are sure to find a good welcome there.’ (20)
When it became clear that Charles would not be permanently cured, indeed might not even survive, Isabeau had been given her own household and council. They were eventually installed in the Hôtel Barbette, an imposing mansion beneath the old walls of Philip Augustus a short distance north of the Hôtel St-Pol. She was granted an allowance from the treasury for her children and control of her own dower. She received frequent and increasingly generous grants of money, jewelry and land. By 1406 her income had risen to over 140,000 livres a year, a fourfold increase in twelve years. Isabeau forged a close bond with her elder brother, Louis of Bavaria, an astute and covetous professional courtier, paladin and ladies’ man who made frequent visits to France and settled there in the early years of the fifteenth century. For nearly twenty years Louis served as Isabeau’s political adviser and her eyes and ears at court, supporting himself on the largesse of the King, the Queen and the young Dauphin. A rich marriage came his way together with barrels of jewelry, large gifts of money, and pensions and stipends estimated at about 30,000 francs a year (20).
It was under these circumstances that the children of Charles VI grew up and became pawns in the games of the nobility. Great hopes had been heaped on the young Dauphin Charles, who many thought would be able to take over for his father when he grew of age and thereby save France from the rule of a madman. These hopes were for naught. As Charles grew from a toddler into a boy and neared the age of ten it became increasingly clear that he was simpleminded, unable to understand complex concepts and given to childish tantrums which only grew worse with age, it becoming increasingly clear that he would need a regency to rule on his behalf (21). The possibility of following a mad king with a simple and unstable one provoked a deep sense of horror in the hearts of many Frenchmen, which the royal dukes were quick to leap on. While Isabella of France had been married off to Prince Edward of Wales and the Dauphin was betrothed to the English Princess Catherine, that left the royal family with four daughters and three sons unmatched (22). The eldest of the remaining daughters, Jeanne, was betrothed to Amadeus VIII of Savoy at the insistence of Jean de Berry, who was Amadeus' grandfather. The next daughter, Marie, was betrothed to Jean de Never's son Phillip and the one after that, Michelle, to the second son of Louis II d'Anjou, King of Naples, René d'Anjou. The final daughter, Catherine, was bitterly fought over by the different factions - with Louis d'Orléans emerging victorious, betrothing Catherine to his son and heir Charles d'Orleans (23). The three sons would become puppets in the intrigues of the princes as they were fought over by the different sides. The eldest of the available princes was Louis, who was swiftly married to Margaret de Bourgogne, while the next prince, Jean, would eventually find himself married to the Navarrese princess Aliénor de Navarre, younger daughter of Pedro of Navarre. The final prince, Phillip, was rumored to be the son of Louis d'Orleans and had his support from the beginning. Phillip would eventually marry a daughter of Louis d'Anjou named Jeanne d'Anjou (24).
The Triumph of Death, Depicting the social upheaval and terror that followed the plague
Nine months after the festivities marking the return of the crusaders ended, Enguerrand VIII de Coucy was born (25). The boy stood to inherit one of the largest estates in France. Stretching from Picardy to the Aargau and with marriage ties from the Kings of Aragon to the Kings of England, the Coucy's were at the center of French politics in the region. Under Enguerrand VII de Coucy their lands had grown to include the County of Soisson, Brisgau, Sundgau, parts of the Aargau and Ferrete, not to mention the Duchy of Benevento in Naples. He had served as advisor and ambassador to Kings and Popes, was a noted Crusader and had close ties of blood to English, Barrios and Lorrainer Dukes. His act of freeing the prisoners at the Battles of Sveshtniy also proved fruitful, with William of Ostrevant arranging the betrothal of his newborn daughter Jacqueline of Bavaria (26) to the young Coucy heir. With no other children at the time, this elevated the young Coucy to unforeseen heights, placing potential control of Hainault, Bavaria-Straubing, Frisia and Holland into his hands once his future father-in-law died. Soon after, in 1403, the elderly Enguerrand VII de Coucy died of the plague sweeping France at the time, leaving the regency to his young wife Isabelle de Lorraine who, while grief-stricken, served very capably with the support of William of Ostrevant.
The Plague that swept through France from 1398 to 1403 was the worst instance to hit the country since the initial outbreak in the middle of the fourteenth century and was by far the longest so far (27). The Plague was present in two forms: one that infected the bloodstream, causing the buboes and internal bleeding, and was spread by contact; and a second, more virulent pneumonic type that infected the lungs and was spread by respiratory infection. The presence of both at once caused high mortality and swift spread of contagion. So lethal was the disease that cases were known of persons going to bed well and dying before they woke, of doctors catching the illness at a bedside and dying before the patient. In a given area the plague accomplished its kill within four to six months and then faded, except in the larger cities, where, rooting into the close-quartered population, it abated during the winter, only to reappear in spring and rage for another six months. This process would repeat for years during this long-lasting outbreak. When graveyards filled up, bodies at Avignon were thrown into the Rhône until mass burial pits were dug for dumping the corpses. In Paris such pits corpses piled up in layers until they overflowed. Everywhere reports came of the sick dying too fast for the living to bury. Corpses were dragged out of homes and left in front of doorways. Morning light revealed new piles of bodies. When the efforts to remove the corpses failed because the tenders had all died, the dead lay putrid in the streets for days at a time. When no coffins were to be had, the bodies were laid on boards, two or three at once, to be carried to graveyards or common pits. Families dumped their own relatives into the pits, or buried them so hastily and thinly “that dogs dragged them forth and devoured their bodies.” Amid accumulating death and fear of contagion, people died without last rites and were buried without prayers from the terrified clergy, a prospect that horrified the last hours of the stricken (28).
Flight was the chief recourse of those who could afford it or arrange it. The rich fled to their country places and settled in pastoral palaces removed on every side from the roads with wells of cool water and vaults of rare wines. The urban poor died in their burrows and only the stench of their bodies informed neighbors of their death. That the poor were more heavily afflicted than the rich was clearly remarked at the time, in the north as in the south. The pest attacked especially the and common people, seldom the magnates. The misery and want and hard lives made the poor more susceptible along with close contact and lack of sanitation. It was noticed too that the young died in greater proportion than the old, though not as many as in some previous occurrences. In the countryside peasants dropped dead on the roads, in the fields, in their houses. Survivors in growing helplessness fell into apathy, leaving ripe wheat uncut and livestock untended. Oxen and asses, sheep and goats, pigs and chickens ran wild and they too, according to local reports, succumbed to the pest. In the Alps wolves came down to prey upon sheep and then, “as if alarmed by some invisible warning, turned and fled back into the wilderness.” In the Auvergne, bolder wolves descended upon a plague-stricken city and attacked human survivors. For want of herdsmen, cattle strayed from place to place and died in hedgerows and ditches. Dogs and cats fell like the rest (28).
In all, a quarter of France's population perished over the course of those five years, with many important figures among the dead. The first to die was Antoine de Bourgogne, who was heir to the Duchy of Brabant and half of the marriage alliance between the Dukes of Burgundy and Berry. He was soon followed by the Duchess of Brabant, the woman he was meant to succeed, resulting in Jean de Nevers becoming Duke of Brabant instead (29). Charles d'Anjou, Prince of Taranto and regent for his brother Louis II in France, died soon afterwards with both of his young sons and his wife - his lands and tasks would be taken up by Louis II d'Anjou's second son René when he grew old enough. Louis II, Duc de Bourbon and his son Louis both died as well (30), while Armand Arnaud d'Albret, the Seigneur of Albret, followed soon after (31). Bonne de Bourgogne and Phillip d'Artois, Count of Eu and Constable of France, died in 1401, leaving their seven-year old son Phillip d'Artois as heir and the Constableship once more unfilled and a bone of contention between the royal Dukes (32). Gaston IV de Foix, the count of Foix and Armagnac, died in 1402 along with his wife Beatrix, leaving two sons and three daughters, the eldest of whom would become Gaston V de Foix under the regency of his now-ancient grandmother Agnès de Navarre. He would marry his cousin Princess Bonne de Navarre, daughter of Pedro of Navarre, soon after - cementing Navarrese control of the Foix-Armagnac lands (33). The last spate of deaths included the ancient giants of French politics. First to die was the ever-hardworking peacemaker Enguerrand VII de Coucy, whose son succeeded him in all of his titles. Next to die was the venerable Jean de Berry, called The Magnificent, Duc de Berry and Royal uncle. The final magnate to die of the 1398-1403 plague was Phillip de Bourgogne, called The Bold, Duc de Bourgogne (34). The two dukes were followed by their respective sons, who had none of the childhood friendships that the old dukes had had with their brothers. The next generation of Dukes had taken their seats at the games of power, and they would not leave the field of battle until they were dead or victorious (35).
Footnotes:
(1) The de la Poles never became Earls of Suffolk ITTL, but they do retain important positions in government. The aforementioned father of Michael de la Pole really did take over the financing of the war in France for Edward III and Richard when the Italian banks broke under the strain. That is how the de la Pole family came to power IOTL, rising from rich merchants to Dukes of Suffolk and marriage partners to royalty in a couple generations. It is rather impressive to be honest.
(2) This is an OTL event. The circumstances surrounding the murder of Ralph Stafford are more uncertain, with much pointing towards John being unaware that he was killing the heir to a powerful earldom at the time.
(3) IOTL Richard sanctioned him heavily, but forced the two sides to reconcile. Edward is harsher with his half-brother, banishing him and taking most of his lands. Whether that works out better than OTL is the question.
(4) Without John de Holland trying to make up for things, and in fact returning despite an order of exile, the Staffords don't have the closure they did IOTL which provokes them to taking this drastic action. This sort of thing wouldn't have happened if Edward was present, but he is half-way across Europe at this point in time.
(5) The fact that the situation has become so tense that the royal family seeks safety in Wales should really be an indicator of how badly things are going. The general lawlessness that is gripping England see many of these feuds erupt into bloodshed, as can be seen from what happened under particularly Henry VI IOTL. Richard doesn't have the power or authority he did IOTL, which makes his attempts at crushing his opposition seem more like a personal vendetta rather than a struggle for royal power.
(6) Things really get quite bloody for a while with the Holland-Stafford feud. Here is to hoping that Edward can bring them to peace.
(7) My treatment of Robert de Vere ITTL really isn't very fair, but I think this is a logical end point for him. With all of the abuse and bitterness from the opposition of several kings, the moment he has the license to do so he acts on it.
(8) The irony of Robert de Vere being obsessed with the woman he repudiated IOTL is rather bitter, but when considering the role she played in his fall from grace I think it fits the narrative quite well and he seems the type given to obsession. The murder of the Duke of Norfolk by the Constable of the Tower is a scandal of epic proportions and really sets things turning against Richard, who has sanctioned so much of Robert's behavior. We also get to meet Ingleram de Mowbray who will come to play a much more important role as we go on.
(9) Oaths of vengeance were really in style at the time. On a more serious note, the Mowbray family is really incredibly traumatized by the entire event.
(10) The power struggle in England isn't quite as well developed as in France, and with a competent monarch is somewhat restrained.
(11) This is similar to the punishment exacted against him IOTL, just far more deserved this time around.
(12) The other de Vere's are not going to be happy about these developments. They just lost their hereditary title and are going to want it back.
(13) Whether this solution actually works is rather questionable, and there are many who expect the entire feud to erupt again at any moment, but for now the threats and ties to each other are enough to hold them in place.
(14) Sending him to fight the Scots is about the only thing Edward can come up with to keep his uncle and brother from fighting with each other publicly. Edward is really in a great deal of difficulty, trying to figure out what actually happened and ends up just trying to either bind everyone together with marriages or push them as far apart as possible.
(15) Thomas has spent plenty of time in France already and has administered large swathes of land before, so ruling Aquitaine should be a good opportunity for him, and keeps him far, far away from Richard.
(16) Richard really isn't pleased with how things turns out, and being punished for his work as regent really sits wrongly with him. This is the start of a dark road for him, which really won't end happily. For anyone.
(17) The Mowbray's were already almost part of the royal family, Thomas' death really brings them fully into the fold and sets them up for great things in the future.
(18) This might not be too great of an idea of Edward's part, but there really isn't any reason to remove John de la Pole at this point in time.
(19) The only changes from OTL here is that the taille is implemented two years before OTL and runs for much longer without military conflict to justify it. This should really help people to understand why the French populace is absolutely furious with the nobility constantly.
(20) This is all OTL. I thought it would be interesting to look at the role of the monarchy in France and how Charles' intermittent madness undermined ordinary rule of France.
(21) We don't know much about this Charles because he died quite young. I thought it would be interesting to look at the dynamics is several of Charles' children survive. I know that this is seeming more and more like a France-Screw, but I really wanted to explore the dynamics of what the nobility would do if faced with yet another incapacitated monarch when there are several healthy younger princes with close ties to the different ducal families. The building blocks for the latter parts of Charles' reign are being placed now.
(22) It is really important to remember that not only is the Dauphin "simple", but he is also the son-in-law of the English King. A father-in-law or wife often ends up functioning as regent in situations like this. The French are not liking the implications of that one bit.
(23) The daughters are spread out among the different ducal families. With several powerful ducal families, more than OTL, the competition for royal brides is even fiercer than IOTL and they therefore all end up married into French families.
(24) Each faction now has a Prince to support. Things are going to be soooo fun…
(25) A Coucy heir is going to have a lot of interesting effects on north-eastern France and the Low Countries.
(26) This is the Jacquline, Countess of Hainault who was part of the reason for the Anglo-Burgundian alliance breaking IOTL. This potentially gives the Coucy's control of some of the most prosperous parts of the Netherlands, and directly challenges the Bougogne and Bavarian claims to dominance in the region.
(27) This Plague also hit IOTL, though I haven't been able to find too much about who died of it specifically. This time there are a lot of important people who are going to be affected. It was one of the worst bouts of Plague in France's history.
(28) This is all based on descriptions of the first Black Death outbreak in 1348-49.
(29) The Duchy of Brabant thereby becomes part of the Bourgogne inheritance far quicker than IOTL.
(30) This is the younger son of Louis de Bourbon, his elder son succeeds him like IOTL.
(31) His son Charles d'Albret was Constable at Agincourt IOTL. The Albrets would at one point reach incredible heights as Kings and Queens of Navarre, before marrying into the Bourbon Family. The child born of the Albret-Bourbon union was the man who eventually became King Henri IV of France and founded the Bourbon dynasty which includes Louis XIII through XVIII. It is also worth noting that this is not the René who became King of Naples IOTL due to the marriage of Joanna II of Naples and Louis II d'Anjou providing a different mother than IOTL.
(32) The Constableship is going to be interesting to witness and the factions are going to become increasingly polarised. This also leaves Jean de Nevers as regent to his young grandson and gives him control of parts of Normandy, flanking Orléans lands in the process.
(33) The Navarrese needed to keep hold of the Foix-Armagnac inheritance, and so they do. Gaston V de Foix is not going to be the non-entity his father was. He has more in common with his OTL Armagnac cousins, his Foix grandfather and Navarrese relations.
(34) The death of Jean de Berry and Phillip de Bourgogne really mark the end of an era. Without them events begin to take on a much darker nature - much as it did IOTL. Their heirs are going to be playing rough.
(35) Without the closeness of growing up together and having lived with the incessant feuding of all their parents, the newest generation of Dukes are not going to back down without a fight. They are going to be willing to go further than their parents to get what they want. I have been really fascinated lately with thoughts of why exactly the royal cadet branches, both in France and England, only started fighting each other for real after the progenitors of the lines passed away. It is Louis d'Orléans and Jean Sans Peur who end up murdered, while the Lancaster and York Kings murdered any and every relation they could get their hands on.
The Inner Turmoil
Richard, Duke of Carlisle as Regent of England
Richard, Duke of Carlisle as Regent of England
Richard's Regency proved a time of lawlessness and license in which feuds reignited and tyranny blossomed. Richard began by placing his supporters in positions of power. Michael de la Pole (1), whose father had helped finance English wars following the fall of the Bardi and Perruzzi banks, had long held a position of power in the treasury and was pushed to take the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer by Richard while Edward of Norwich became Lord Chancellor. Richard worked hard to push against the intransigence of his uncle the Duke of Gloucester who criticized Richard's actions. Robert de Vere, the Earl of Oxford and childhood rival of King Edward found himself suddenly elevated out of obscurity to Lord Warden of Cinque Ports while his efforts at litigating against his uncle Aubrey de Vere suddenly turned fruitful with the full support of the regent to back him, while Richard richly rewarded Robert for his friendship with lands and titles. Joan of Navarre attempted to calm the situation and tried to push Richard into a more conciliatory position, hoping to take on a care-taker role rather than ruling in the interests of his favorites. Richard married a daughter to Jean V de Montfort, Duke of Brittany during this time, and another to Edward of Norwich. Another daughter would marry Thomas de Montagu, son and heir to the Earl of Salisbury.
As the pressure rose within England and those who had found themselves powerless under Edward rose to the highest positions in government, tempers flared and feuds reemerged. In the mid 1380s John de Holland, Regent and King's half-brother by Joan of Kent, had killed Ralph Stafford, son and heir of the Earl of Stafford, over John's previous murder of one of Ralph's archers (2). Edward had come down hard on his half-brother and confiscated many of his lands, even sending him into exile for a while (3). His return in late 1396 at Richard's invitation, soon after Edward had left, and the public welcome by Richard that followed caused an uproar among the Staffords. Richard restored John de Holland to his lands and considered bringing him into the government as Constable of the Tower. This was too much for the Staffords and their ally Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, whose daughter was married to the Earl of Stafford, Thomas Stafford. While John de Holland was making his way home from a long night of drinking and whoring in London, he was set upon by a band of assassins who butchered John de Holland in a frenzied bloodlust (4). When Holland's body was discovered the next morning it provoked an outraged response from the regent, who immediately ordered the imprisonment of Thomas, Duke of Gloucester and the Stafford brothers, Thomas, William and Edmund under suspicion of murder. Knowing they would not get justice from the enraged Richard, the Staffords scattered into the countryside. The Hollands were quick to react, with the dying Thomas de Holland, brother to the murdered John de Holland, forcing his children to swear an oath of vengeance. The Hollands were soon chasing Stafford supporters and murdering them if they could get their hands on them with the tacit approval of the regent. The Duke of Gloucester was able to force his own release by leveraging his connections to Joan of Navarre and the Duke of Clarence and set about trying to protect his son-in-law and his family. Prince Edward found himself increasingly pushed from the council of state and grew increasingly worried for the safety of his mother and siblings, eventually taking the entire royal family to Wales, where he had spent much of his childhood and had established a deep fount of trust and loyalty in the populace (5). The skirmishes and ambushes launched by Staffords and Hollands against each other developed into a shadow war between the regent and his uncle for control of the regency. The conflict would escalate over the next couple of years, and see William Stafford killed in the fighting alongside John and Edmund de Holland, leaving only Thomas de Holland, Third Earl of Kent from among the male half of the de Holland clan while Thomas Stafford, Third Earl of Stafford and his brother Edmund remained of the Stafford male brood by the time of Edward V's return to England (6).
It was in this environment in early 1398 that Thomas de Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk returned to London from his long-time appointment as Lord Warden of the Scottish Marches. On his arrival he found his wife, Philippa, a distressed and hounded woman. Since Robert de Vere had risen to importance he had used any and every opportunity to harass his one-time betrothed in an effort to take out the hatred he had developed for her and family for their betrayal of him in their childhood. Robert had once been set for high office and a near-royal marriage to Philippa. When that collapsed, following a childish fight with King Edward, and his friends turned on him he grew bitter, his fights with his uncle Aubrey de Vere for the return of his lands turned that bitterness into hatred. The moment he had the opportunity to act on his hatred he did (7). With neither the King nor her Husband present in the capital, Philippa had been forced to accommodate the vicious Robert and accept his abuse when the regent turned down her appeals for it to end. Richard had always felt that his friend Robert was much too harshly treated over a childhood brawl, and that the accusations against him were simply a continuation of the abuse heaped on his friend in the past. This emboldened Robert who took what advantages he could, stalking Philippa and her daughters through the Tower of London where they resided following Robert's promotion to Constable of the Tower. Thomas de Mowbray returned to learn that his second eldest daughter, Mary de Mowbray, had only just escaped rape at the hands of Robert de Vere, saved by the intervention of her young brother Ingleram. In a rage, Thomas de Mowbray hunted through the tower in search of Robert and, on finding him, attacked the man. In the following fight Robert de Vere was able to call for support from the guards of the Tower, who were loyal to him, and proceeded to murder the Duke of Norfolk in a cold rage (8). On realizing how far he had gone, Robert abandoned the Tower and fled for the countryside and safety among his supporters. The discovery of Thomas de Mowbray's body in the office of the Constable of the Tower was a scandal fit to shake the foundations of the realm. The devastated Philippa de Mowbray collapsed completely in grief and horror, while the thirteen-year old son and heir to the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas de Mowbray swore vengeance on the murderer of his father and tormenter of his family (9).
While these two feuds occupied the attentions of the realm, Richard grew ever more autocratic. He found himself trapped in a conflict with the Earl of Arundel and his brother, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This struggle, alongside his feud with the Duke of Gloucester and the aftermath of the murder of the Duke of Norfolk, proved too much for Richard. When information shared by Richard's secretary revealed that Richard was planning to launch a major purge of the upper nobility, it was Richard who found himself pushed from power - his position as regent subjected to a council of great lords led by the Duke of Gloucester until the return of King Edward. The powerlessness of his position led Richard to focus more on his informal conflicts, supporting the efforts of the Hollands in trying to defeat and capture the Staffords - who suddenly found themselves with governmental support, while helping Robert de Vere escape to safety in France and plotting vengeance (10).
The End of Richard's Regency
The Dukes of Carlisle and Gloucester would both receive sanctions for their unbecoming behavior during the Regency. Carlisle found himself ordered to take up the position of Lord Warden of the Western Marches, effectively exiling him from the center of power and placing him under Henry Percy, who had just been elevated to Duke of Northumberland for his services in the crusade, who was placed as Lord Warden of the Scottish Marches, while Ralph Neville became Lord Warden of the Eastern Marches under Percy as well (14). A marriage between the Duke of Northumberland's son Henry and the last remaining daughter of the Duke of Carlisle was also arranged. Thomas, Duke of Gloucester was made regent for Edward over Aquitaine (15). This move left the two main combatants of the feud at opposite ends of the English realm and would hopefully keep them too busy to feud with each other. The only problem with this move turned out to be that Richard was not far enough removed from power. He would stew in his anger and humiliation, blaming Gloucester for his fall from power and the chaos of his time as regent, while slowly growing to hate his brother who continually dismissed him and kept him from power. Richard would begin reaching out to those disappointed with Edward's reign, those who found themselves pushed from the halls of power, and would slowly rebuild the support he enjoyed among the disaffected nobility of England (16). Prince Edward would return to London with the rest of the royal family on learning of his father's return and would increasingly spend his time between Wales, where he was learning to govern as Prince, and London where he participated in his father's council of government.
The return of King Edward brought with it a series of changes to the lands and titles. Edward of Norwich was confirmed in his father's titles as Duke of Cambridge while, as has been mentioned, Henry Percy saw his Earldom raised to a Dukedom while the young Thomas de Mowbray inherited his father's title of Duke of Norfolk. John de Grailly, the Earl of Bedford, who had served first as page and later squire to the King found himself knighted and made Knight of the Garter and member of the Order of the Dragon - an arrangement which had been agreed to by Sigismund and Jean de Nevers at Buda, where the Earl had won both the squire's joust and melee. At the same time Edward started looking for matches for his younger sons, Richard of Kent being betrothed to Anne de Mortimer, eldest daughter of Roger Mortimer the heir to the Dukedom of Clarence, and John of Lincoln being betrothed to Isabella de Mowbray, second eldest daughter of the Mowbray family and half-sister to Edward's bastard children by Philippa de Mowbray. The Mowbray family would join the royal family, to an even greater degree than previously, with Edward seemingly acting as patriarch to the family (17). In the meantime Edward restored many of his men to the positions of the cabinet, but allowed the final Constable of the Tower appointed by his brother, John de la Pole - a younger brother of the Earl of Suffolk - to remain in his post (18).
Charles the Child, Dauphin of Viennois
Alone among the major states of late medieval Europe France had a tax administration capable of appropriating much of the surplus wealth generated by France’s economy to the needs of the Crown without any formal process of consent on behalf of taxpayers. The system dated from the 1360s when a number of financial reforms had been introduced in order to pay the ransom of Charles VI’s grandfather Jean II and to suppress the Great Companies which were then operating under English patronage throughout the country. It was founded on the two principal indirect taxes of the French Monarchy: the aides, a sales tax levied at 5 per cent on most commodities exposed for sale and at 8.3 per cent on wine; and the gabelle, an excise on salt, generally levied at a rate of 10 per cent. During the reign of Charles V these impositions had depended, at least in theory, on the consent of various regional assemblies representing taxpayers. But when, in the crisis which followed Charles V’s death in 1379, it proved impossible to obtain consent to their continuance, the government imposed them by decree and brutally suppressed attempts at concerted opposition. From 1382 the aides and the gabelle were supplemented by a new tax, the taille. Tailles were direct taxes imposed on local communities at unpredictable intervals in order to meet financial emergencies, generally connected with war. There was never any pretense of consent to the taille. Between them the aides and the gabelle raised about two million livres in the average year in addition to the revenues of the royal demesne and the yield of the ‘tenths’ levied on the Church. In the first five years of its existence, between 1382 and 1387, the taille added on average another million livres annually. This represented a heavier burden of taxation than any other European state had been able to impose, both in absolute terms and relative to the country’s wealth and population. The war with England provided the political justification for taxation on this scale and the main reason why, in spite of significant discontent and some localised outbreaks of rebellion, it was tolerated by much of the population for a time. But when the war was suspended in 1383 and was followed by the Second Jacquerie, it was allowed to continue unabated, as war expenditure fell to its lowest levels in half a century by 1387. The aides and the gabelle continued onwards after this, albeit at a reduced rate. The taille was initially abandoned but then revived in 1396 and again in 1397. This created a substantial structural surplus of government revenues over the ordinary demands of peacetime government. Yet from about 1399 onward the treasury was insolvent. The King’s receivers and treasurers were meeting his liabilities with bills of assignment payable three years ahead, many of which were dishonored when the time came (19).
The main reason for the insolvency was that government’s revenues were being appropriated on a large scale by the royal princes and their clients, and by the higher reaches of the civil service. In the first two decades of the fifteenth century the situation deteriorated as a bitter struggle for control of the Crown’s resources was fought out in the council chambers of the royal palaces, in the national and regional assemblies, among the consuls and magistrates of the towns and ultimately on the streets. The essential problem was the incapacity of the King. Charles VI had never had his father’s intelligence or strength of purpose, even in his brief prime at the end of the 1380s. But when his mental health collapsed on the march towards Brittany in the early 1390s things took a turn for the worse. For the next many decades of his long reign the French King lived a life of intermittent sanity, interrupted by ever longer and more frequent ‘absences’, the delicate euphemism used to describe the periods when the King would wander through the corridors of his palaces howling and screaming, tearing and soiling his clothes, breaking the furniture or throwing it on the fire, not knowing who or what he was and unable to recognize his closest friends and kinsmen or even his wife, at times he became convinced he was made of glass, and had to be wrapped tightly and protected from harm for fear he would break. In his intervals of lucidity Charles was capable of picking up traces of his previous political positions. He was gracious and could be articulate, even forceful. He acted out his role. He retained the loyalty and affection of his subjects. But he was no longer capable of governing his realm. Politically he was a spent force, content to allow the factions around him to fight their battles over his head as if he were no more than a distant spectator. The situation was too uncertain to warrant a formal regency, which might have provided a measure of continuity and conserved the strength of the Valois monarchy. So while the King lived everything had to be done in his name. Major decisions were deferred until he recovered his faculties. If a decision could not be put off it was taken in his absence but invariably submitted to him later for his confirmation. Charles was at once indispensable and useless. The day-to-day business of government devolved upon the royal council, a protean body comprising the royal princes, the officers of state, a number of bishops active in the work of government, and a shifting cast of prominent magnates and courtiers. The council became the forum for the rivalries and jealousies of faction as power was uneasily contested between the King’s closest relatives, supported by cliques with no real legitimacy in law or security in fact (20).
The French never contemplated deposing the King, even at the lowest ebb of Charles VI’s fortunes. After three centuries in which the power of the Crown had progressively increased, France had come to identify itself more than any other European society with its monarchy. So far as its ancient and disparate provinces had a sense of common identity, it was the monarchy which had created it. So far as it enjoyed effective government, internal peace and security from its enemies, it owed these things mainly to the monarchy. Almost all of its national myths and symbols were centered upon the monarchy. At the end of the fourteenth century the Provençal jurist Honoré Bonet contrasted the cohesion of his adoptive country with the divided societies all around it. France was ‘the column of Christendom, of nobility and virtue, of well-being, riches and faith’, but, he added, ‘above all else she has a powerful King’. The kings of France were supported by an impressive corps of professional counselors, judges and administrators. But the functioning of the state was never wholly impersonal. It remained critically dependent upon the personality of the monarch. The king was not only a ceremonial figure, a symbol of power, the fount of justice, the source of all secular authority. His was the only authority which could resolve the inevitable political differences among his councilors and ministers. Only he could confer legitimacy on controversial decisions of the state: the making of peace and war, the resolution of the prolonged schism of the Church, major dispositions of the royal demesne, the imposition of tailles or the marriage of his children. Above all the king was the indispensable arbiter in the continual contest for royal favor and largesse among the princes and the top officials and churchmen, the jobbery that served as the grease of every European state. If the king could not perform this function himself it was likely to be taken out of his hands by self-interested groups intent on satisfying their own claims and excluding competitors. The traditional analogy between the state and the human body, which likened the king to the head and mind of the body politic, was more than an arresting metaphor. As Bonet had attributed the prosperity of France in the 1390s to the strength of the Crown, so the next generation of moralists would blame its weakness for social disintegration and civil war that they saw all around them. ‘All is now corrupted, all bent on evil work,’ sang Eustache Deschamps, the poet of a deserted court and a dispirited aristocracy; ‘these are the symptoms of monarchy’s decay.’ (20)
The decline of the Crown and the dispersal of power to the nobility and the civil service would have been plain to anyone who wandered among the courts and gardens of the Hôtel Saint-Pol. The King’s business was still carried on there. But the crowds of provincial officials, ambassadors, petitioners, tradesmen and merrymakers, the display and extravagance, the music, laughter and feasting of the King’s youth had all faded away. Charles himself lived surrounded by a meagre court, accompanied by a dwindling band of loyal retainers and servants of low status. One of these wrote in 1406 a pathetic, perhaps exaggerated account of a King, shuffling unshod though his private apartments, without robes to wear in public, horses to ride out with, or even candles to light his bedroom, his manners mocked and patronized, his authority ignored or manipulated by his former courtiers. The great came before him in search of favors at the first sign of recovery, bustling his loyal attendants out of the way and then turned their backs as soon as he relapsed. When the King was ‘absent’ the greedy, the needy and the ambitious looked for opportunities elsewhere, in the halls of the princely mansions of the capital and the anterooms of prominent bureaucrats. In the two decades which followed the onset of the King’s illness, the Dukes of Berry’s daily household expenditure rose threefold, and the daily consumption of meat substantially exceeded the royal court’s. According to the house biographer of the Duke of Bourbon, those who still called at the Hôtel Saint-Pol found no one to receive them and promptly left. ‘Let us go and dine at the mansion of the Duke of Bourbon,’ they would say; ‘we are sure to find a good welcome there.’ (20)
When it became clear that Charles would not be permanently cured, indeed might not even survive, Isabeau had been given her own household and council. They were eventually installed in the Hôtel Barbette, an imposing mansion beneath the old walls of Philip Augustus a short distance north of the Hôtel St-Pol. She was granted an allowance from the treasury for her children and control of her own dower. She received frequent and increasingly generous grants of money, jewelry and land. By 1406 her income had risen to over 140,000 livres a year, a fourfold increase in twelve years. Isabeau forged a close bond with her elder brother, Louis of Bavaria, an astute and covetous professional courtier, paladin and ladies’ man who made frequent visits to France and settled there in the early years of the fifteenth century. For nearly twenty years Louis served as Isabeau’s political adviser and her eyes and ears at court, supporting himself on the largesse of the King, the Queen and the young Dauphin. A rich marriage came his way together with barrels of jewelry, large gifts of money, and pensions and stipends estimated at about 30,000 francs a year (20).
It was under these circumstances that the children of Charles VI grew up and became pawns in the games of the nobility. Great hopes had been heaped on the young Dauphin Charles, who many thought would be able to take over for his father when he grew of age and thereby save France from the rule of a madman. These hopes were for naught. As Charles grew from a toddler into a boy and neared the age of ten it became increasingly clear that he was simpleminded, unable to understand complex concepts and given to childish tantrums which only grew worse with age, it becoming increasingly clear that he would need a regency to rule on his behalf (21). The possibility of following a mad king with a simple and unstable one provoked a deep sense of horror in the hearts of many Frenchmen, which the royal dukes were quick to leap on. While Isabella of France had been married off to Prince Edward of Wales and the Dauphin was betrothed to the English Princess Catherine, that left the royal family with four daughters and three sons unmatched (22). The eldest of the remaining daughters, Jeanne, was betrothed to Amadeus VIII of Savoy at the insistence of Jean de Berry, who was Amadeus' grandfather. The next daughter, Marie, was betrothed to Jean de Never's son Phillip and the one after that, Michelle, to the second son of Louis II d'Anjou, King of Naples, René d'Anjou. The final daughter, Catherine, was bitterly fought over by the different factions - with Louis d'Orléans emerging victorious, betrothing Catherine to his son and heir Charles d'Orleans (23). The three sons would become puppets in the intrigues of the princes as they were fought over by the different sides. The eldest of the available princes was Louis, who was swiftly married to Margaret de Bourgogne, while the next prince, Jean, would eventually find himself married to the Navarrese princess Aliénor de Navarre, younger daughter of Pedro of Navarre. The final prince, Phillip, was rumored to be the son of Louis d'Orleans and had his support from the beginning. Phillip would eventually marry a daughter of Louis d'Anjou named Jeanne d'Anjou (24).
The Triumph of Death, Depicting the social upheaval and terror that followed the plague
Nine months after the festivities marking the return of the crusaders ended, Enguerrand VIII de Coucy was born (25). The boy stood to inherit one of the largest estates in France. Stretching from Picardy to the Aargau and with marriage ties from the Kings of Aragon to the Kings of England, the Coucy's were at the center of French politics in the region. Under Enguerrand VII de Coucy their lands had grown to include the County of Soisson, Brisgau, Sundgau, parts of the Aargau and Ferrete, not to mention the Duchy of Benevento in Naples. He had served as advisor and ambassador to Kings and Popes, was a noted Crusader and had close ties of blood to English, Barrios and Lorrainer Dukes. His act of freeing the prisoners at the Battles of Sveshtniy also proved fruitful, with William of Ostrevant arranging the betrothal of his newborn daughter Jacqueline of Bavaria (26) to the young Coucy heir. With no other children at the time, this elevated the young Coucy to unforeseen heights, placing potential control of Hainault, Bavaria-Straubing, Frisia and Holland into his hands once his future father-in-law died. Soon after, in 1403, the elderly Enguerrand VII de Coucy died of the plague sweeping France at the time, leaving the regency to his young wife Isabelle de Lorraine who, while grief-stricken, served very capably with the support of William of Ostrevant.
The Plague that swept through France from 1398 to 1403 was the worst instance to hit the country since the initial outbreak in the middle of the fourteenth century and was by far the longest so far (27). The Plague was present in two forms: one that infected the bloodstream, causing the buboes and internal bleeding, and was spread by contact; and a second, more virulent pneumonic type that infected the lungs and was spread by respiratory infection. The presence of both at once caused high mortality and swift spread of contagion. So lethal was the disease that cases were known of persons going to bed well and dying before they woke, of doctors catching the illness at a bedside and dying before the patient. In a given area the plague accomplished its kill within four to six months and then faded, except in the larger cities, where, rooting into the close-quartered population, it abated during the winter, only to reappear in spring and rage for another six months. This process would repeat for years during this long-lasting outbreak. When graveyards filled up, bodies at Avignon were thrown into the Rhône until mass burial pits were dug for dumping the corpses. In Paris such pits corpses piled up in layers until they overflowed. Everywhere reports came of the sick dying too fast for the living to bury. Corpses were dragged out of homes and left in front of doorways. Morning light revealed new piles of bodies. When the efforts to remove the corpses failed because the tenders had all died, the dead lay putrid in the streets for days at a time. When no coffins were to be had, the bodies were laid on boards, two or three at once, to be carried to graveyards or common pits. Families dumped their own relatives into the pits, or buried them so hastily and thinly “that dogs dragged them forth and devoured their bodies.” Amid accumulating death and fear of contagion, people died without last rites and were buried without prayers from the terrified clergy, a prospect that horrified the last hours of the stricken (28).
Flight was the chief recourse of those who could afford it or arrange it. The rich fled to their country places and settled in pastoral palaces removed on every side from the roads with wells of cool water and vaults of rare wines. The urban poor died in their burrows and only the stench of their bodies informed neighbors of their death. That the poor were more heavily afflicted than the rich was clearly remarked at the time, in the north as in the south. The pest attacked especially the and common people, seldom the magnates. The misery and want and hard lives made the poor more susceptible along with close contact and lack of sanitation. It was noticed too that the young died in greater proportion than the old, though not as many as in some previous occurrences. In the countryside peasants dropped dead on the roads, in the fields, in their houses. Survivors in growing helplessness fell into apathy, leaving ripe wheat uncut and livestock untended. Oxen and asses, sheep and goats, pigs and chickens ran wild and they too, according to local reports, succumbed to the pest. In the Alps wolves came down to prey upon sheep and then, “as if alarmed by some invisible warning, turned and fled back into the wilderness.” In the Auvergne, bolder wolves descended upon a plague-stricken city and attacked human survivors. For want of herdsmen, cattle strayed from place to place and died in hedgerows and ditches. Dogs and cats fell like the rest (28).
In all, a quarter of France's population perished over the course of those five years, with many important figures among the dead. The first to die was Antoine de Bourgogne, who was heir to the Duchy of Brabant and half of the marriage alliance between the Dukes of Burgundy and Berry. He was soon followed by the Duchess of Brabant, the woman he was meant to succeed, resulting in Jean de Nevers becoming Duke of Brabant instead (29). Charles d'Anjou, Prince of Taranto and regent for his brother Louis II in France, died soon afterwards with both of his young sons and his wife - his lands and tasks would be taken up by Louis II d'Anjou's second son René when he grew old enough. Louis II, Duc de Bourbon and his son Louis both died as well (30), while Armand Arnaud d'Albret, the Seigneur of Albret, followed soon after (31). Bonne de Bourgogne and Phillip d'Artois, Count of Eu and Constable of France, died in 1401, leaving their seven-year old son Phillip d'Artois as heir and the Constableship once more unfilled and a bone of contention between the royal Dukes (32). Gaston IV de Foix, the count of Foix and Armagnac, died in 1402 along with his wife Beatrix, leaving two sons and three daughters, the eldest of whom would become Gaston V de Foix under the regency of his now-ancient grandmother Agnès de Navarre. He would marry his cousin Princess Bonne de Navarre, daughter of Pedro of Navarre, soon after - cementing Navarrese control of the Foix-Armagnac lands (33). The last spate of deaths included the ancient giants of French politics. First to die was the ever-hardworking peacemaker Enguerrand VII de Coucy, whose son succeeded him in all of his titles. Next to die was the venerable Jean de Berry, called The Magnificent, Duc de Berry and Royal uncle. The final magnate to die of the 1398-1403 plague was Phillip de Bourgogne, called The Bold, Duc de Bourgogne (34). The two dukes were followed by their respective sons, who had none of the childhood friendships that the old dukes had had with their brothers. The next generation of Dukes had taken their seats at the games of power, and they would not leave the field of battle until they were dead or victorious (35).
Footnotes:
(1) The de la Poles never became Earls of Suffolk ITTL, but they do retain important positions in government. The aforementioned father of Michael de la Pole really did take over the financing of the war in France for Edward III and Richard when the Italian banks broke under the strain. That is how the de la Pole family came to power IOTL, rising from rich merchants to Dukes of Suffolk and marriage partners to royalty in a couple generations. It is rather impressive to be honest.
(2) This is an OTL event. The circumstances surrounding the murder of Ralph Stafford are more uncertain, with much pointing towards John being unaware that he was killing the heir to a powerful earldom at the time.
(3) IOTL Richard sanctioned him heavily, but forced the two sides to reconcile. Edward is harsher with his half-brother, banishing him and taking most of his lands. Whether that works out better than OTL is the question.
(4) Without John de Holland trying to make up for things, and in fact returning despite an order of exile, the Staffords don't have the closure they did IOTL which provokes them to taking this drastic action. This sort of thing wouldn't have happened if Edward was present, but he is half-way across Europe at this point in time.
(5) The fact that the situation has become so tense that the royal family seeks safety in Wales should really be an indicator of how badly things are going. The general lawlessness that is gripping England see many of these feuds erupt into bloodshed, as can be seen from what happened under particularly Henry VI IOTL. Richard doesn't have the power or authority he did IOTL, which makes his attempts at crushing his opposition seem more like a personal vendetta rather than a struggle for royal power.
(6) Things really get quite bloody for a while with the Holland-Stafford feud. Here is to hoping that Edward can bring them to peace.
(7) My treatment of Robert de Vere ITTL really isn't very fair, but I think this is a logical end point for him. With all of the abuse and bitterness from the opposition of several kings, the moment he has the license to do so he acts on it.
(8) The irony of Robert de Vere being obsessed with the woman he repudiated IOTL is rather bitter, but when considering the role she played in his fall from grace I think it fits the narrative quite well and he seems the type given to obsession. The murder of the Duke of Norfolk by the Constable of the Tower is a scandal of epic proportions and really sets things turning against Richard, who has sanctioned so much of Robert's behavior. We also get to meet Ingleram de Mowbray who will come to play a much more important role as we go on.
(9) Oaths of vengeance were really in style at the time. On a more serious note, the Mowbray family is really incredibly traumatized by the entire event.
(10) The power struggle in England isn't quite as well developed as in France, and with a competent monarch is somewhat restrained.
(11) This is similar to the punishment exacted against him IOTL, just far more deserved this time around.
(12) The other de Vere's are not going to be happy about these developments. They just lost their hereditary title and are going to want it back.
(13) Whether this solution actually works is rather questionable, and there are many who expect the entire feud to erupt again at any moment, but for now the threats and ties to each other are enough to hold them in place.
(14) Sending him to fight the Scots is about the only thing Edward can come up with to keep his uncle and brother from fighting with each other publicly. Edward is really in a great deal of difficulty, trying to figure out what actually happened and ends up just trying to either bind everyone together with marriages or push them as far apart as possible.
(15) Thomas has spent plenty of time in France already and has administered large swathes of land before, so ruling Aquitaine should be a good opportunity for him, and keeps him far, far away from Richard.
(16) Richard really isn't pleased with how things turns out, and being punished for his work as regent really sits wrongly with him. This is the start of a dark road for him, which really won't end happily. For anyone.
(17) The Mowbray's were already almost part of the royal family, Thomas' death really brings them fully into the fold and sets them up for great things in the future.
(18) This might not be too great of an idea of Edward's part, but there really isn't any reason to remove John de la Pole at this point in time.
(19) The only changes from OTL here is that the taille is implemented two years before OTL and runs for much longer without military conflict to justify it. This should really help people to understand why the French populace is absolutely furious with the nobility constantly.
(20) This is all OTL. I thought it would be interesting to look at the role of the monarchy in France and how Charles' intermittent madness undermined ordinary rule of France.
(21) We don't know much about this Charles because he died quite young. I thought it would be interesting to look at the dynamics is several of Charles' children survive. I know that this is seeming more and more like a France-Screw, but I really wanted to explore the dynamics of what the nobility would do if faced with yet another incapacitated monarch when there are several healthy younger princes with close ties to the different ducal families. The building blocks for the latter parts of Charles' reign are being placed now.
(22) It is really important to remember that not only is the Dauphin "simple", but he is also the son-in-law of the English King. A father-in-law or wife often ends up functioning as regent in situations like this. The French are not liking the implications of that one bit.
(23) The daughters are spread out among the different ducal families. With several powerful ducal families, more than OTL, the competition for royal brides is even fiercer than IOTL and they therefore all end up married into French families.
(24) Each faction now has a Prince to support. Things are going to be soooo fun…
(25) A Coucy heir is going to have a lot of interesting effects on north-eastern France and the Low Countries.
(26) This is the Jacquline, Countess of Hainault who was part of the reason for the Anglo-Burgundian alliance breaking IOTL. This potentially gives the Coucy's control of some of the most prosperous parts of the Netherlands, and directly challenges the Bougogne and Bavarian claims to dominance in the region.
(27) This Plague also hit IOTL, though I haven't been able to find too much about who died of it specifically. This time there are a lot of important people who are going to be affected. It was one of the worst bouts of Plague in France's history.
(28) This is all based on descriptions of the first Black Death outbreak in 1348-49.
(29) The Duchy of Brabant thereby becomes part of the Bourgogne inheritance far quicker than IOTL.
(30) This is the younger son of Louis de Bourbon, his elder son succeeds him like IOTL.
(31) His son Charles d'Albret was Constable at Agincourt IOTL. The Albrets would at one point reach incredible heights as Kings and Queens of Navarre, before marrying into the Bourbon Family. The child born of the Albret-Bourbon union was the man who eventually became King Henri IV of France and founded the Bourbon dynasty which includes Louis XIII through XVIII. It is also worth noting that this is not the René who became King of Naples IOTL due to the marriage of Joanna II of Naples and Louis II d'Anjou providing a different mother than IOTL.
(32) The Constableship is going to be interesting to witness and the factions are going to become increasingly polarised. This also leaves Jean de Nevers as regent to his young grandson and gives him control of parts of Normandy, flanking Orléans lands in the process.
(33) The Navarrese needed to keep hold of the Foix-Armagnac inheritance, and so they do. Gaston V de Foix is not going to be the non-entity his father was. He has more in common with his OTL Armagnac cousins, his Foix grandfather and Navarrese relations.
(34) The death of Jean de Berry and Phillip de Bourgogne really mark the end of an era. Without them events begin to take on a much darker nature - much as it did IOTL. Their heirs are going to be playing rough.
(35) Without the closeness of growing up together and having lived with the incessant feuding of all their parents, the newest generation of Dukes are not going to back down without a fight. They are going to be willing to go further than their parents to get what they want. I have been really fascinated lately with thoughts of why exactly the royal cadet branches, both in France and England, only started fighting each other for real after the progenitors of the lines passed away. It is Louis d'Orléans and Jean Sans Peur who end up murdered, while the Lancaster and York Kings murdered any and every relation they could get their hands on.
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The next update will cover Timur's conquests, but update after that we see the effects of Richard's Regency in full flower.
And thanks for the praise, keeps me motivated
Lovely updates. First off, I'm surprised at the revival of Frankish Greece. So John de Beaufort controls Athens, Corinth, whats left of Achaea and a few islands? Not bad for a bastard without a legal claim to any of these territories. John's definitely shaping up to be interesting character. I wish I had realized this earlier, but apparently the Artois Comtes d'Eu are the feudal heirs to the Latin Emperors. Shame you couldn't have used that for the Crusade.
Second, I'm really hoping that the Luxembourg dynasty does better than OTL here. If Sigismund can retain control of Brandenburg, then his territory would eventually stretch from the North sea to the Balkans. Of course, it would be better if he could also revive/really the Swabian and Rhenish Leagues with his dynasty. Plus it looks like Sigismund and Mary have reestablished firm control over Hungary. Speaking of Mary, what's the status of her sister Jadwiga-Hedwig of Poland?
Finally, while Richard's regency was a disaster, its effects can thankfully be limited with the King's return. France, on the other hand, is basically screwed for two generations. Unless the Dauphin takes a fall or becomes ill. The Queen and the Dauphin's retainers better keep an eye on him; we've already had one King poisoned so what's a Dauphin at this point? Considering the future Charles VII's status I can easily see the English launching another invasion to "protect" Edward's son-in-law and his lands. Hell we could see a multi-sided civil war between Royalists, the English, the Burgundians, the Navarrese and the Orléanists. Looking forward to the next chapter.
Second, I'm really hoping that the Luxembourg dynasty does better than OTL here. If Sigismund can retain control of Brandenburg, then his territory would eventually stretch from the North sea to the Balkans. Of course, it would be better if he could also revive/really the Swabian and Rhenish Leagues with his dynasty. Plus it looks like Sigismund and Mary have reestablished firm control over Hungary. Speaking of Mary, what's the status of her sister Jadwiga-Hedwig of Poland?
Finally, while Richard's regency was a disaster, its effects can thankfully be limited with the King's return. France, on the other hand, is basically screwed for two generations. Unless the Dauphin takes a fall or becomes ill. The Queen and the Dauphin's retainers better keep an eye on him; we've already had one King poisoned so what's a Dauphin at this point? Considering the future Charles VII's status I can easily see the English launching another invasion to "protect" Edward's son-in-law and his lands. Hell we could see a multi-sided civil war between Royalists, the English, the Burgundians, the Navarrese and the Orléanists. Looking forward to the next chapter.
The Beauforts are getting involved in all sorts of things. Regarding the title of Latin Emperor the Comte d'Eu are only one of several claimants. The other major claimant at this point is Louis II d'Anjou of Naples, whose father bought the title from James of Baux, the last titular claimant. The Anjou's held the title but didn't use it IOTL.
The Luxembourgs are going to take center stage in a couple updates. Jadwiga is part of the next update and details what happens with her.
The impact of Richard's regency is far from over, but in regards to France, they were going to have a hard time of it no matter what with Charles VI in the condition he is in. Who the Queen supports is also going to become important. Things are going to be different from OTL, that doesn't mean they are going to be better.
Update Twenty-One: Tamerlane
This is an insane monstrosity of an update that covers events occuring across Eurasia. I have no idea what came over me with this one, it really should have been two or three updates, but it is mainly a lot of background and then a few divergences in the first half, before we get to the really big changes with Timur near the end. I really hope you enjoy this. I had liked playing around with the different groups that ended up constituting Timur's Empire. Apologies in advance on the butchery of history in this one, it is really a more of a skim of many of these region's histories than any thing else.
Mongol domination of parts of the Russian steppes began to crumble during Dmitry Ivanovich's thirty-year reign. The Golden Horde was severely weakened by civil war and dynastic rivalries. Dmitry took advantage of this lapse in Mongol authority to openly challenge the Tatars. While he kept the Khan's patent to collect taxes for all of Russia, Dmitry's fame stemmed from leading the first Russian military victory over the Mongols. Mamai, a Mongol general and claimant to the throne, tried to punish Dmitry for attempting to increase his power. In 1378 Mamai sent a Mongol army, but it was defeated by Dmitry's forces in the Battle of Vozha River. Two years later Mamai personally led a large force against Moscow. Dmitry met and defeated it at the Battle of Kulikovo. The defeated Mamai was presently dethroned by a rival Mongol general, Tokhtamysh. That khan reasserted Mongol rule over parts of Russia and overran Moscow for Dmitry's resistance to Mamai. Dimitry, however, pledged his loyalty to Tokhtamysh and to the Golden Horde and was reinstated as Mongol principal tax collector and Grand Duke of Vladimir. Upon his death in 1389, Dimitry was the first Grand Duke to bequeath his titles to his son Vasiliy without consulting the Khan. Vasily I continued the process of unification of the Russian lands: in 1392, he annexed the principalities of Nizhny Novgorod and Murom. Nizhny Novgorod was given to Vasily by the Khan of the Golden Horde in exchange for the help Moscow had given against one of his rivals. In 1397–1398 Kaluga, Vologda, Veliki Ustyug and the lands of the Komi peoples were annexed. To prevent Muscovy from being attacked by the Golden Horde, Vasily I entered into an alliance with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1392 and married Sophia of Lithuania, the only daughter of Vytautas Gediminid, regent of Lithuania. The alliance turned out to be fragile, and they waged war against each other in 1406–1408. Timur raided the Slavic lands in 1395; he ruined the Volgan regions but did not penetrate as far as Moscow. Timur's raid was of service to the Russian prince as it damaged the Golden Horde, which for the next twelve years was in a state of anarchy. During the whole of this time no tribute was paid to the khan, Olug Moxammat, though vast sums of money were collected in the Moscow treasury for military purposes (1).
Vytautas' uncle Algirdas had been Grand Duke of Lithuania until his death in 1377. Algirdas and Vytautas' father Kęstutis had practically ruled jointly, with Algirdas governing the east and Kęstutis the west, primarily responsible for defense against the Teutonic Order. Algirdas was succeeded by his son Jogaila, and a struggle for power ensued. In 1380, Jogaila signed the secret Treaty of Dovydiškės with the Teutonic Order against Kęstutis. When Kęstutis discovered this in 1381, he seized Vilnius, imprisoned Jogaila, and made himself Grand Duke. However, Jogaila escaped and raised an army against Kęstutis. The two sides confronted each other but never engaged in battle. Kęstutis was ready to negotiate, but he and Vytautas were arrested and transported to Kreva Castle. One week later, Kęstutis was found dead. Whether he died of natural causes or was murdered would remain a matter of debate for centuries to come. In 1382, Vytautas escaped from Kreva. He sought help from the Teutonic Order, who were negotiating with Jogaila at the time. Jogaila and the Order agreed to the Treaty of Dubysa, by which Jogaila promised to accept Christianity, become an ally of the Order, and give the Order part of Samogitia up to the Dubysa River. However, the treaty was never ratified. In summer 1383, the war between Jogaila and the Order resumed. Vytautas was baptized as a Catholic, receiving the name of Wigand. Vytautas participated in several raids against Jogaila. In January 1384, Vytautas promised to cede part of Samogitia to the Teutonic Order, up to the Nevėžis River in return for recognition as Grand Duke of Lithuania. However, in July of the same year, Vytautas broke with the Order and reconciled with Jogaila. He then burned three important Teutonic castles, and regained all Kęstutis' lands, except for Trakai. In 1385, Jogaila concluded the Union of Krewo with Poland, under which he married Jadwiga of Poland and became King of Poland as Władysław II Jagiełło. Vytautas participated in the Union and in 1386 was re-baptised as a Catholic, receiving the name Alexander. Jogaila left his brother Skirgaila as regent in Lithuania. However, Skirgaila was unpopular with the people and Vytautas saw an opportunity to become Grand Duke. In 1389, he attacked Vilnius but failed. In early 1390, Vytautas again allied with the Teutonic Order. Vytautas had to confirm his agreement of 1384, and cede Samogitia to the Order. His army now invaded Lithuania. Also, to gain more influence, Vytautas married his only daughter Sophia to Vasily I of Russia in 1391. The Polish nobles were unhappy that their new king spent too much time on Lithuanian affairs. It was clear that the war could continue for years and would not bring any benefit to Poland. In 1392, Władysław sent Henry of Masovia with an offer to make Vytautas regent instead of Skirgaila. Vytautas accepted and again broke with the Order. He burned three Teutonic castles and returned to Vilnius. Jagiełło and Vytautas signed the Astrava Treaty in which Vytautas recovered all Kęstutis' lands, including Trakai, and was given more. He would rule Lithuania in the name of Władysław. After Vytautas' death, all his lands and powers would theoretically revert to Władysław (2). The protracted period of war between the Lithuanians and the Teutonic Knights was ended on 12 October 1398 by the Treaty of Salynas, named after the islet in the Neman River where it was signed. Lithuania agreed to cede Samogitia and assist the Teutonic Order in a campaign to seize Pskov, while the Order agreed to assist Lithuania in a campaign to seize Novgorod. Shortly afterwards, Vytautas was crowned as a king by local Lithuanian nobles; but the following year his forces and those of his ally, Khan Tokhtamysh of the White Horde, were crushed by the Timurids at the Battle of the Vorskla River, ending his imperial ambitions in the east and obliging him to submit to Władysław's protection once more (3).
The marriage ties between Russia and the Lithuanian regent were strengthened by the birth of a daughter named Anna of Moscow and two sons, Yuri and Ivan, of whom the eldest, Yuri, died very young. Ivan Vasilievich spent much of his time travelling between Lithuania and Moscow as a child and young man (4). These ties between Lithuania and Russia would prove to be a marked contrast to the children of Władysław II Jagiełło who would all hold their centers of power in Poland. Władysław II Jagiełło had come to rule Poland through the Union of Krewo, and as such derived his claim to the throne through his wife Jadwiga, daughter of Louis the Great of Hungary and Poland. Jadwiga's ascension in 1384 had not been without difficulties, and her early reign had been spent fighting with her councilors over her marriage options. The Polish lords did not want to accept Jadwiga's fourteen-year-old fiancé, William of Habsburg, as their sovereign. They thought that the inexperienced William and his Austrian kinsmen could not safeguard Poland's interests against its powerful neighbors, especially the Luxemburgs which controlled Bohemia and Brandenburg, and had a strong claim on Hungary. The lords of Lesser Poland were the first to suggest that Jadwiga should marry the pagan Jogaila of Lithuania. Jogaila signed the Union of Krewo in 1385, promising Jadwiga's mother, Elizabeth of Bosnia's, representatives and the Polish lords' envoys that he would convert to Catholicism, together with his pagan kinsmen and subjects, if Jadwiga married him. He also pledged to pay 200,000 florins to William of Habsburg in compensation, an offer William never accepted. Two days after the Union of Krewo, the Teutonic Knights invaded Lithuania. The Polish lords' envoys informed Jogaila that they would obey him if he married Jadwiga on the 11th of January 1386. Jogaila went to Lublin where a general assembly unanimously declared him "king and lord of Poland" in early February. Jogaila went on to Kraków where he was baptized, receiving the Christian name, Władysław, in Wawel Cathedral on 15 February. Three days later, 35-year-old Władysław-Jogaila married 12-year-old Jadwiga. Władysław Jogaila styled himself as dominus et tutor regni Poloniae, Lord and Guardian of the Kingdom of Poland, in his first charter issued after the marriage. The pair ruled in conjunction with each other as partners, though Władysław Jogaila would always be the dominant partner, throughout their joint reign - through wars, plagues and famines (5). Jadwiga gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth Bonifacia, on the 22nd of June 1399. Jadwiga and the child survived. Władysław Jogaila would receive an offer of marriage for the young Elizabeth for Valdemar of Helsingborg, heir to the Nordic Union, in mid-1408 marriage was accepted (6). Jadwiga gave birth to a stillborn son in July 1401 and was gripped by a birthing fever (7). She told her husband to marry her cousin Anna of Cilli, another granddaughter of Casimir III the Great, the last Piast King of Poland. In 1402, Jogaila dispatched envoys to Celje to ask Herman II of Cilli for the hand of Anna. In June 1403, Anna arrived to Kraków where she was met by Jogaila at the city gates. However, Jogaila took a strong dislike of his intended bride. Jogaila was furious with the envoys who brought Anna to Poland for several years. The wedding was postponed citing the need for Anna to learn Polish. Anna lived in a monastery while Jogaila traveled in eastern territories of his kingdom. He returned only in January 1404. The wedding ceremony took place on January 29, 1404 in Wawel Cathedral. For unknown reasons, Anna's coronation as Queen of Poland was postponed for a year until February 25, 1405 (8).
The marriage was rather distant. There was an approximately thirty-year age gap between Anna and Jogaila. It was acknowledged that Anna was not a very attractive woman. The King traveled frequently leaving Anna alone in the Wawel Castle. Anna was not very ambitious or politically active. She was known as a religious woman and obedient wife. In the fall 1408, three years after the marriage, Anna was pregnant. Klemens Moskarzewski, Castellan of Wiślica, accused the queen of marital infidelity with Jakub Kobylański and Mikołaj Chrząstowski. Jogaila believed the rumors and imprisoned Jakub. During a congress in Niepołomice, Polish nobles defended the queen and the accusations were dismissed. A year later, Jogaila accused Anna of an affair with Jędrzej Tęczyński, but that case did not reach a public hearing. In 1411, Mikołaj Kurowski, Archbishop of Gniezno, accused Anna again, but he died before the rumors could be investigated. On April 8, 1408, Anna gave birth to a daughter, Jadwiga. It was not a male heir desired by Jogaila or Polish nobles, but it still strengthened Anna's position (9). Anna gave birth to the long awaited son and heir in late 1411, named Władysław of Lwow, but was gripped by birthing fever as well and died in early 1412. This time the 60-year old King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania found a wife in the teenaged daughter of Louis II d'Anjou of Naples, Catherine of Naples. She would give birth to two sons soon after, named Casimir and Alexander. The sudden death of Władysław of Lwow in 1416, a year after the marriage of Elizabeth Bonifacia and Valdemar of Helsingborg, came as a shock to Władysław Jogaila, who suddenly lost his ties to the Piast dynasty and was left with an uncertain succession (10).
Greatest expanse of the Tughlaq Dynasty in 1335
The Khilji dynasty ruled the Delhi Sultanate before 1320. Its last ruler, Khusro Khan was a Hindu who had converted to Islam and then served Delhi Sultanate as the general of its army. Khusro Khan, along with Malik Kafur, had led numerous military campaigns on behalf of Alauddin Khilji, to expand the Sultanate and plunder non-Muslim kingdoms in India. After Alauddin Khilji's death from illness in 1316, a series of palace arrests and assassinations followed, with Khusro Khan coming to power in June 1320 after killing the licentious son of Alauddin Khilji, Mubarak Khilji. However, he lacked the support of the Persian and Afghan nobles and aristocrats in Delhi. The Muslim aristocracy invited the Turkic origined Ghazi Malik, then the governor in Punjab under the Khiljis, to lead a coup in Delhi and remove Khusro Khan. In 1320, Ghazi Malik launched an attack and killed Khusro Khan to assume power. After assuming power, Ghazi Malik rechristened himself as Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq - thus starting and naming the Tughlaq dynasty. He was of Turko-Indian origins, with a Turkic father and a Hindu mother. The dynasty expanded its territorial reach through a military campaign led by Muhammad ibn Tughluq, and reached its zenith between 1330 and 1335. Ghiyasuddin was killed by his son Ulugh Juna Khan in 1325 AD. Juna Khan ascended to power as Muhammad bin Tughlaq, and ruled for 26 years (11).
During Muhammad bin Tughluq's rule, the Delhi Sultanate temporarily expanded to most of the Indian subcontinent, its peak in terms of geographical reach. He attacked and plundered Malwa, Gujarat, Mahratta, Tilang, Kampila, Dhur-samundar, Mabar, Lakhnauti, Chittagong, Sunarganw and Tirhut. His distant campaigns were expensive, although each raid and attack on non-Muslim kingdoms brought new looted wealth and ransom payments from captured people. The extended empire was difficult to rule, and rebellions all over Indian subcontinent became routine. Revolts against Muhammad bin Tughlaq began in 1327, continued over his reign, and over time the geographical reach of the Sultanate shrank, particularly after 1335. The Vijayanagara Empire originated in southern India as a direct response to attacks from the Delhi Sultanate and liberated southern India from the Delhi Sultanate. In 1336 Kapaya Nayak of the Musunuri Nayak defeated the Tughlaq army and reconquered Warangal from the Delhi Sultanate. In 1338 his own nephew rebelled in Malwa, whom he attacked, caught and flayed alive. By 1339, the eastern regions under local Muslim governors and southern parts led by Hindu kings had revolted and declared independence from the Delhi Sultanate. Muhammad bin Tughlaq did not have the resources or support to respond to the shrinking kingdom. By 1347, the Bahmani Sultanate had become an independent and competing Muslim kingdom in the Deccan. Muhammad bin Tughlaq planned an attack Persia and Mesopotamia as well as China to bring these regions under Sunni Islam for most of his life. For the attack on Khorusan, a force of over 300,000 soldiers was gathered near Delhi, for a year at the state treasury's expense, while spies claiming to be from Khurasan collected rewards for information on how to attack and subdue these lands. However, before he could begin the attack on Persian lands in the second year of preparations, the plunder he had collected from Indian subcontinent had emptied, the provinces were too poor to support the large army, and the soldiers refused to remain in his service without pay. For the attack on China, Muhammad bin Tughlaq sent 100,000 soldiers, a significant part of his army, over the Himalayas. However, Hindus closed the passes through the Himalayas and blocked the passage for retreat. The high mountain weather and lack of retreat destroyed that army in the Himalayas. The few soldiers who returned with news of the disaster were executed under orders of the Sultan. During his reign, state revenues collapsed from his policies. To cover state expenses, Muhammad bin Tughlaq sharply raised taxes on his ever shrinking empire. Except in times of war, he did not pay his staff from his treasury. Muhammad bin Tughlaq paid his army, judges, court advisors, wazirs, governors, district officials and others in his service by awarding them the right to forcibly collect taxes on Hindu villages, keeping a portion and transfer rest to his treasury. Those who failed to pay taxes were hunted down and executed. Muhammad bin Tughlaq died in March 1351 while trying to chase and punish people for rebellion and their refusal to pay taxes in Sindh and Gujarat. After Muhammad bin Tughluq died, a relative, Mahmud Ibn Muhammad, ruled for less than a month. Thereafter, Muhammad bin Tughluq's 45-year-old nephew Firuz Shah Tughlaq replaced him and assumed the throne. His rule lasted 37 years (11).
Firuz Shah was, like his grandfather, of Turko-Indian origins. His Turkic father Sipah Rajab became infatuated with a Hindu princess named Naila. She initially refused to marry him while her father refused the marriage proposal as well. Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Sipah Rajab then sent in an army with a demand for one year taxes in advance and a threat of seizure of all property of her family and Dipalpur people. The kingdom was suffering from famines, and could not meet the ransom demand. The princess, after learning about the ransom demands against her family and people, offered herself in sacrifice if the army would stop the misery of her people. Sipah Rajab and the Sultan accepted the proposal. Sipah Rajab and Naila were married and Firoz Shah was their first son. An educated sultan, Firoz Shah left a memoir. In it he wrote that he banned torture, in practice in Delhi Sultanate under his predecessors. Tortures such as amputations, tearing out of eyes, sawing people alive, crushing people's bones as punishment, pouring molten lead into throats, putting people on fire, driving nails into hands and feet, among others. The Sunni Sultan also wrote that he did not tolerate attempts by Rafawiz Shia Muslim and Mahdi sects to proselytize people into their faith, nor did he tolerate Hindus who tried to rebuild their temples after his armies had destroyed those temples. As punishment, wrote the Sultan, he put many Shias, Mahdi and Hindus to death. Shams-i Siraj 'Afif, his court historian, also recorded Firoz Shah Tughlaq burning Hindus alive for secretly following their religion and for refusing to convert to Islam. In his memoirs, Firoz Shah Tughlaq lists his accomplishments to include converting Hindus to Sunni Islam by announcing an exemption from taxes and jizya for those who convert, and by lavishing new converts with presents and honors. Simultaneously, he raised taxes and jizya, assessing it at three levels, and stopping the practice of his predecessors who had historically exempted all Hindu Brahmins from the jizya tax. He also vastly expanded the number of slaves in his service and those of the emirs. Firoz Shah Tughlaq reign was marked by reduction in extreme forms of torture, eliminating favors to select parts of society, but an increased intolerance and persecution of targeted groups. After the death of his heir in 1376 AD, Firuz Shah started strict implementation of Sharia throughout his dominions. Firuz Shah suffered from bodily infirmities, and his rule was considered by his court historians as more merciful than that of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. When Firuz Shah came to power, India was suffering from a collapsed economy, abandoned villages and towns, and frequent famines. He undertook many infrastructure projects including an irrigation canals connecting Yamuna-Ghaggar and Yamuna-Sutlej rivers, bridges, madrasas, mosques and other Islamic buildings. He also undertook the destruction of Hindu temples and suppressed non-Sunni sects by demolishing their structures. Firuz Shah Tughlaq patronized Indo-Islamic architecture, including the installation of lats, ancient Hindu and Buddhist pillars, near mosques. After Feroz died in 1388, the Tughlaq dynasty's power continued to fade, and no more able leaders came to the throne. Firoz Shah Tughlaq's death created anarchy and disintegration of kingdom. In the years preceding his death, internecine strife among his descendants had already erupted (11).
The first civil war broke out in 1384 AD four years before the death of aging Firoz Shah Tughlaq, while the second civil war started in 1394 AD, six years after Firoz Shah was dead. Firuz Shah Tughluq's favorite grandson died in 1376. Thereafter, Firuz Shah sought and followed Sharia more than ever, with the help of his wazirs. He himself fell ill in 1384. By then, Muslim nobility who had installed Firuz Shah Tughluq to power in 1351 had died out, and their descendants had inherited the wealth and rights to extract taxes from non-Muslim peasants. Khan Jahan II, a wazir in Delhi, was the son of Firuz Shah Tughluq's favorite wazir Khan Jahan I, and rose in power after his father died in 1368 AD. The young wazir was in open rivalry with Muhammad Shah, the son of Firuz Shah Tughluq. The wazir's power grew as he appointed more emirs and granted favors. He persuaded the Sultan to name his great grandson as his heir. Then Khan Jahan II tried to convince Firuz Shah Tughlaq to dismiss his only surviving son. Instead of dismissing his son, the Sultan dismissed the wazir. The crisis that followed led to first civil war, the arrest and execution of the wazir, and was followed by a rebellion and civil war in and around Delhi. Muhammad Shah too was expelled in 1387 AD. The Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq died in 1388 AD. Tughluq Khan assumed power, but died in the conflict. In 1389, Abu Bakr Shah assumed power, but he too died within a year. The civil war continued under Sultan Muhammad Shah, and by 1390 AD, it had led to the seizure and execution of all Muslim nobility who were aligned, or suspected of being aligned to Khan Jahan II. While the civil war was in progress, predominantly Hindu populations of the Himalayan foothills of north India rebelled and stopped paying Jizya and Kharaj taxes to the Sultanate's officials. Hindus of the southern Doab region of India joined the rebellion in 1390 AD. Sultan Muhammad Shah attacked Hindus rebelling near Delhi and southern Doab in 1392, with mass executions of peasants, and razed Etawah to the ground. However, by then, most of India had transitioned to a patchwork of smaller Muslim Sultanates and Hindu kingdoms. In 1394, Hindus in Lahore re-asserted self-rule. Muhammad Shah amassed an army to attack them, with his son Humayun Khan as the commander-in-chief. While preparations were in progress in Delhi in January 1394, Sultan Muhammad Shah died. His son, Humayun Khan assumed power, but was murdered within two months. The brother of Humayun Khan, Nasir-al-din Mahmud Shah assumed power - but he enjoyed little support from Muslim nobility, the wazirs and emirs. The Sultanate had lost command over almost all eastern and western provinces of the already shrunken Sultanate. Within Delhi, factions of Muslim nobility formed by October 1394 AD, triggering the second civil war. The Tartar Khan installed a second Sultan, Nasir-al-din Nusrat Shah in Ferozabad, few kilometers from the first Sultan's seat of power in late 1394. The two Sultans claimed to be rightful ruler of South Asia, each with a small army, controlled by a coterie of Muslim nobility. Battles occurred every month, duplicity and switching of sides by emirs became common place, and the civil war between the two Sultan factions continued through 1398, till the invasion by Timur (11).
In 1398, Timur invaded northern India, attacking the Delhi Sultanate. He was opposed by Ahirs and Jats but the Sultanate at Delhi did nothing to stop him. After crossing the Indus river on 30 September 1398, he sacked Tulamba and massacred its inhabitants. Then he advanced and captured Multan by October. Timur crossed the Indus River at Attock on 24 September 1398. His invasion did not go unopposed and he encountered resistance by the Governor of Meerut during the march to Delhi. Timur was still able to continue his approach to Delhi, arriving in 1398, to fight the armies of Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq, who had already been weakened by the succession struggle within the royal family. The battle took place on 17 December 1398. Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq and the army of Mallu Iqbal had war elephants armored with chain mail and poison on their tusks. As his Tatar forces were afraid of the elephants, Timur ordered his men to dig a trench in front of their positions. Timur then loaded his camels with as much wood and hay as they could carry. When the war elephants charged, Timur set the hay on fire and prodded the camels with iron sticks, causing them to charge at the elephants howling in pain: Timur had understood that elephants were easily panicked. Faced with the strange spectacle of camels flying straight at them with flames leaping from their backs, the elephants turned around and stampeded back toward their own lines. Timur capitalized on the subsequent disruption in the forces of Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq, securing an easy victory. Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq fled with the remnants of his forces. Delhi was sacked and left in ruins. Before the battle for Delhi, Timur executed 100,000 captives. The capture of the Delhi Sultanate was one of Timur's greatest victories, some arguing that it surpassed the likes of Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan because of the harsh conditions of the journey and the achievement of taking down one of the richest cities at the time. After Delhi fell to Timur's army, uprisings by its citizens against the Turkic-Mongols began to occur, causing a retaliatory bloody massacre within the city walls. After three days of citizens uprising within Delhi, it was said that the city reeked of the decomposing bodies of its citizens with their heads being erected like structures and the bodies left as food for the birds by Timur's soldiers. Timur's invasion and destruction of Delhi continued the chaos that was still consuming India and led to the fall of the Tughluq Dynasty, as their ambitious neighbors exploited the situation. The two claimant Tughluq Sultans would continue their fighting in a more desultory manner, serving only to keep each other occupied while their neighbors infringed on their territories (11).
The Adina Mosque, Largest Mosque on the Subcontinent
Shamsuddin Ilyas was born into an aristocratic family in the Sistan region of what is today eastern Iran and Afghanistan. He worked in the service of the Delhi Sultanate. He migrated to the Bengal and worked under Izzuddin Yahya, the imperial provincial governor of Satgaon. By the mid-14th century, three Muslim city states had emerged in the Bengal after declaring independence from the Delhi Sultanate: Lakhnauti in North Bengal, Sonargaon in East Bengal and Satgaon in South Bengal. In 1338, after Izzuddin Yahya's death, Ilyas declared himself as the Sultan of Satgaon, with the title Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah. He then waged a long drawn war from 1339 to 1352 against Sultan Alauddin Ali Shah of Lakhnauti and Sultan Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi Shah of Sonargaon. Ilyas Shah emerged victorious after conquering Lakhnauti and Sonargaon. He then proclaimed the establishment of the Sultanate of Bengal in Lakhnauti in 1352. The area was the former capital of the Gauda Kings and the Pala Emperors. He built his capital in nearby Pandua. During the early period of his reign, Ilyas Shah led the first Muslim army into Nepal. He occupied the Tirhut region and made a bold thrust through the Terai plains into the Kathmandu Valley. His army sacked the temple of Svayambhunath. He did not annex any part of Nepal and instead returned to Bengal with an immense booty. Ilyas Shah then invaded Orissa, which was ruled by Bhanudeva II of the Eastern Ganga dynasty. He sacked Jajpur, Cuttack and reached as far as the Chilika Lake. He also led a successful campaign against the Kamarupa kingdom in present-day Assam. In November 1353, the Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq launched an invasion of Bengal. His army occupied Pandua and Ilyas Shah and his forces retreated to the fortress of Ekdala. The Delhi Sultan laid siege to the fortress for two months. The Delhi Sultanate's forces then began withdrawing. Ilyas Shah began to pursue Delhi army and reached as far as Varanasi. The Delhi army formidably fought back. Firuz Shah returned to Delhi in 1355. Ilyas Shah regained control of Bengal and his realm extended up to the Koshi River. The extent of Ilyas Shah's campaigns, including his occupation of major Indian cultural centers, were considered "world-conquering" in the context of medieval India. This led to him being styled as "the second Alexander" (12).
Abul Mujahid Sikandar Shah assumed the throne after the death of his father. He continued to consolidate and expand the territory of the Bengal Sultanate, which had emerged as one of the leading powers in the Indian subcontinent. The most significant event of his reign was the second invasion of Bengal by the Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq in 1359. The Tughluqs declared Zafar Khan Fars, a Persian noble and son-in-law of Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah, as the legitimate ruler of Bengal. Firuz Shah Tughluq led an army consisting of 80,000 cavalry, a large infantry and 470 elephants to Bengal. Sikandar Shah took refuge in the fortress of Ekdala, in the same way his father did earlier. The Delhi forces besieged the fort. The Bengal army strongly defended their stronghold until the start of the monsoon. Eventually, Sikandar Shah and Firuz Shah arranged a peace treaty, in which Delhi recognized Bengal's independence and withdrew its armed forces. The reign of Sikandar Shah lasted for four decades. It was characterized by stability and prosperity. He constructed many grand buildings and mosques, including the Adina Mosque, which was the largest mosque in the subcontinent. The interior of the mosque, a pet project of the sultan, projected an aura of imperial majesty. To the immediate north of the central sanctuary was a raised platform, the “king’s throne”, which enabled the sultan and his entourage to pray at a height elevated above the common people. The mosque was built on a pre-Islamic structure, which was evident in the defaced Hindu and Buddhist sculptures on its exterior walls. Other structures built during his reign were the tomb and mosque of Akhi Sirajuddin, the Kotwali Gateway at the southern entrance of Lakhnauti, a vault at Ganagarampur, Dinajpur and a mosque at Mulla Simla, Hughli. Known as sober and gentle, Sikandar Shah liked the association of learned persons and respected the clergy and Sufis. He continued the liberal and tolerant practices of his father. In 1390, one of Sikandar Shah's eighteen sons revolted and occupied Sonargaon and Satgaon. A war of succession raged (12). At the Battle of Goalpara, near the capital Pandua, Sikandar Shah emerged victorious while his son, Ghiyasuddin Azam was killed in the fighting (13).
Sikander Shah died in 1401 and was succeeded by his grandson Jalaluddin Ilyas Shah without any great difficulty, having been designated heir since the death of Ghiyasuddin Azam (14). Jalaluddin Shah was the third sultan of the early Iliyas Shahi dynasty of Bengal, and devoted himself to ensuring the glory of the Bengal, expanding and consolidating throughout his reign. In the initial period of his reign, Jalaluddin Shah led an expedition against Kamarupa, conquered it and kept it under his control for some years (15). He also successfully took the lands of the Raja of Kamta and several other minor states in Bagelkhand. Jalaluddin Shah warred constantly in Assam, Burma and most famously with Ibrahim Shah of the Jaunpur Sultanate over the course of his thirteen year reign. Beginning early in his reign, Jalaluddin Shah worked to undermine the rule of Sudangphaa, ruler of the Ahom Kingdom of Assam and known as the Brahmin Prince for his efforts to forcibly convert the population, enraging the local Tipam chiefs who turned to Jalaluddin Shah for aid (16). The Bengali armies invaded Ahom and the neighboring Kamata kingdom, and in the fierce fighting forced Sudangphaa to flee into exile alongside him Brahmin supporters. The Khen dynasty found themselves significantly outclassed by the Bengal Sultanate and were forced into vassalage while a Bengali representative was placed to help them govern. The conquest of Assam was more nominal than anything else and would require the continuous efforts of Jalaluddin Shah's successors to accomplish. He next faced an invasion by Ibrahim Shah of the Jaunpur Sultanate, who invaded with a force tens of thousands strong. The resultant conflict lasted until 1410, but the Bengal Sultanate was able to drive out the invaders, who found their own kingdom significantly weakened by the seven-year conflict. Jalaluddin Shah launched raids and attacks into the Shan States and Arakan throughout his reign, until its culmination in his conquest of Arakan in 1414 (17). Jalaluddin Shah died soon after and was succeeded peacefully by his young son Nasiruddin Firuz Shah (18).
Tamerlane Defeat The Mamluks
The decision of Sultan Süleyman Osmanoğlu to submit to Timur Leng, Amir and founder of the Timurid Empire, saved Anatolia from the ravages of his hordes and found him an ally in Qara Yuluq Osman Bey, Ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu, who married a daughter to Süleyman (19). Timur meanwhile turned southwards and marched on the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo, and devastated Aleppo, Damascus and Bagdad as has been previously described. During his initial invasion of 1400 he defeated both the Qara Qoyunlu and the Jalayirids who ruled a swathe of land from the Caucasus to southern Mesopotamia. Qara Yusuf, ruler of the Qara Qoyunlu, and Sultan Ahmed Jalayir both fled and took refuge with the Mamluk Sultan Nasir-ad-Din Faraj (20). Sultan Faraj was the second Sultan of the Burji dynasty to take the throne in Cairo. From 1250 Egypt had been ruled by the first Mamluk dynasty, the mostly Cuman-Kipchak Turkic Bahri dynasty. In 1377 a revolt broke out in Syria which spread to Egypt, and the government was taken over by the Circassians Barakah and Barquq; Barquq was proclaimed sultan in 1382, ending the Bahri dynasty. He was expelled in 1389 but recaptured Cairo in 1390. Early on, the Zahiri Revolt threatened to overthrow Barquq though the conspiracy was discovered before agitators could mobilize. Permanently in power, he founded the Burji dynasty. Faced with a common enemy, Timur, Barquq joined with Qara Yusuf, Sultan Ahmed Jalayir and Toktamysh in a combined resistance and executed Timur's peace envoys (21). In the following months Timur was engaged in Georgia and unable to respond to Barquq's actions, while Barquq died in 1399 and was succeeded by his son Nasir-ad-Din Faraj. Timur marched south through the Levant in early 1402, laying waste to the countryside and spreading terror wherever he went. An army was assembled by the fourteen-year old Sultan Faraj, numbering almost 60,000 against the rapidly advancing Timurid army 80,000 strong. Faraj marched his army through the midsummer heat of 1402. When they arrived at the Fortress of Nimrod on the Jabal Heights between the Levant and Damascus, they were tired and thirsty, but were allowed no time to rest or recuperate. Faraj was advised by his generals to take up defensive positions and, when Timur's forces pushed back the Mamluks, to withdraw into the fortress and force Timur to besiege the castle during the midsummer heat. Faruj instead chose to take an offensive stance and marched eastward towards Damascus. Once Qara Yusuf realized the futility of getting the boy Sultan to listen to reason he reached out to Timur and offered to betray the Mamluks to him in return for a pardon. Timur acquiesced and learned of the approaching Mamluk forces from Qara Yusuf. Timur was thereby able to create an ambush for the Mamluk army at Jabal al'Shaykh, known as Mount Hermon in the west. The Battle of Jabal al'Shaykh was a disaster from start to finish for the Mamluks. First, due to a lack of proper scouts and overeagerness in the command, they were led into the foothills of the mountain and their lead elements ambushed and destroyed. Sultan Faruj thereafter launched an immediate attack at the Timurid contingent immediately visible after the ambush, only to find that the force Faruj had sent was cut off and destroyed by the Timurid horse archers. Reeling in disarray, the already greatly outnumbered Mamluks found themselves under attack across the front by Timurid forces, and when Sultans Faruj and Ahmad Jalayir attempted to flee they found himself taken captive by Qara Yusuf, who handed both of them to Timur on meeting the great conqueror (22). Timur, greatly impressed by Qara Yusuf's handling of the task was detailed to support his third son Miran Shah in taking the rest of the Mamluk Sultanate, which Miran would then rule on his father's behalf, while Timur turned around and marched back to Samarkand to prepare for his invasion of Ming China. By 1368, Han Chinese forces had driven the Mongols out of China. The first of the new Ming dynasty's emperors, the Hongwu Emperor, and his son, the Yongle Emperor, demanded and received homage from many Central Asian states as the political heirs to the former House of Kublai. The Ming emperors' treatment of Timur as a vassal did not sit well with the conqueror. In 1394 Hongwu's ambassadors eventually presented Timur with a letter addressing him as a subject. He summarily had the ambassadors Fu An, Guo Ji, and Liu Wei detained, and had the 1500 guards executed. Neither Hongwu's next ambassador, Chen Dewen in 1397, nor the delegation announcing the accession of the Yongle Emperor fared any better. In the meanwhile Miran Shah and Qara Yusuf marched on Egypt with 20,000 men as well as the Mamluk and Jalayirid Sultans in their train as prisoners. Qara Yusuf was able to draw many of his tribesmen with him in the march southward, swelling the force to 30,000 and ensuring that the Qara Qoyunlu found themselves spread across the Levant. The invasion of the Levant was swiftly accomplished, city after city falling before the Timurid advance, ending with the taking of Gaza. In the meanwhile Egypt descended into chaos and infighting as any leader with an armed retinue launched their bid for power. The Timurids were able to march into Egypt almost uncontested and spread out from there. By mid-1404 Cairo had fallen to their forces, with the remainder of the Sultanate being pacified by early 1405. When Cairo was taken, both Sultan Nasir-ad-Din Faruj and Sultan Ahmad Jalayir were put under the sword and executed - the need for their presence gone. Thus ended the Jalayirid and Mamluk Sultanates (23). The Qara Qoyunlu would largely leave their mountainous homes in the north and migrate into the Levant and Egypt, establishing themselves as Timurid enforcers and governors in the region under Miran Shah. Their rivals, the Aq Qoyunlu would largely fill the void left in the eastern Caucasus.
The Mongols under Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire, a grandson of Genghis Khan, had conquered all of China by eliminating the Southern Song dynasty in 1276 and destroyed the last Chinese resistance in 1279. The Mongol Yuan dynasty ruled all of China for about a century, and had dominated Northern China for more than 140 years, since the time when the Jurchen Jin dynasty was annihilated. As Han Chinese people in the countryside suffered from frequent natural disasters such as droughts, floods and the ensuing famines and plagues since the late 1340s, however, the government's lack of effective policies to stem the damage led to a loss of popular support. In 1351, the Red Turban Rebellion started and grew into a nationwide turmoil. Eventually, Zhu Yuanzhang, a Han Chinese peasant, established the Ming dynasty in Southern China, and sent an army toward the Yuan capital Khanbaliq in 1368. Toghon Temür, the last ruler of the Yuan, fled north to Shangdu from Khanbilaq in 1368 after the approach of the forces of the Míng dynasty. He had tried to regain Khanbilaq, but eventually failed; he died in Yingchang two years later. Yingchang was seized by the Ming shortly after his death. The Yuan remnants retreated to Mongolia after the fall of Yingchang to the Ming dynasty in 1370, where the name Great Yuan was formally carried on. The Genghisid rulers of the Northern Yuan also buttressed their claim on China, and held tenaciously to the title of Emperor of the Great Yuan to resist the Ming who had by this time become the clear rulers of China. According to the traditional Chinese political orthodoxy, there could be only one legitimate dynasty whose rulers were blessed by Heaven to rule as Emperor of China, so the Ming also denied the Yuan remnants' legitimacy as emperors of China, although the Ming did consider the previous Yuan which it had succeeded to be a legitimate dynasty. The Ming army pursued the Mongol forces of the Northern Yuan into Mongolia in 1372, but were defeated by the latter under Ayushridar and his general Köke Temür. In 1375, Naghachu, a Mongol official of Biligtu Khan in Liaoyang province invaded Liaodong with aims of restoring the Mongols to power. Although he continued to hold southern Manchuria, Naghachu finally surrendered to the Ming dynasty in 1387–88 after a successful diplomatic offensive by the latter. The Yuan loyalists under the Kublaid prince Basalawarmi in Yunnan and Guizhou were also destroyed by the Ming in 1381-82 (24). The Ming tried again towards the Northern Yuan in 1380, but were unable to properly get to grips with their enemy - who retreated into the steppe. The Ming sacked and burned the city of Karakorum but even then were unable to find their foes (25). In 1402, Örüg Temür Khan abolished the name Great Yuan; he was however defeated by Öljei Temür Khan, the protege of Tamerlane in 1403 who reestablished the name. Most of the Mongol noblemen under the Arugtai chingsang sided with Öljei Temür (26).
The Hongwu Emperor was long-lived and survived his first heir, Zhu Biao, the Crown Prince. He worried about his succession and issued a series of dynastic instructions for his family, the Huang Ming Zu Xun. These instructions made it clear that the rule would pass only to children from the emperor's primary consort, excluding the Prince of Yan in favor of Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Biao's son. When the Hongwu Emperor died on 24 June 1398, Zhu Yunwen succeeded his grandfather as the Jianwen Emperor. In direct violation of the dynastic instructions, the Prince of Yan attempted to mourn his father in Nanjing, bringing a large armed guard with him. The imperial army was able to block him at Huai'an and, given that three of his sons were serving as hostages in the capital, the prince withdrew in disgrace. The Jianwen Emperor's harsh campaign against his weaker uncles made accommodation much more difficult, however: Zhu Di's full brother, Zhu Su, was arrested and exiled to Yunnan; the Prince of Dai Zhu Gui was reduced to a commoner; the Prince of Xiang Zhu Bai committed suicide under duress; the Princes of Qi and Min, Zhu Fu and Zhu Bian respectively, were demoted all within the latter half of 1398 and the first half of 1399. Faced with certain hostility, Zhu Di pretended to fall ill and then "went mad" for a number of months before achieving his aim of freeing his sons from captivity to visit him in the north in June 1399. On 5 August, Zhu Di declared that the Jianwen Emperor had fallen victim to "evil counselors" and that the Hongwu Emperor's dynastic instructions obliged him to rise in arms to remove them, a conflict known as the Jingnan Campaign. In the first year, Zhu Di survived the initial assaults by superior forces under Geng Bingwen and Li Jinglong thanks to superior tactics and capable Mongol auxiliaries. He also issued numerous justifications for his rebellion, including questionable claims of having been the son of Empress Ma and bold-faced lies that his father had attempted to name him as the rightful heir, only to be thwarted by bureaucrats scheming to empower Zhu Biao's son. Whether because of this propaganda or for personal motives, Zhu Di began to receive a steady stream of turncoat eunuchs and generals who provided him with invaluable intelligence allowing a hit-and-run campaign against the imperial supply depots along the Grand Canal. By 1402, he knew enough to be able to avoid the main hosts of the imperial army while sacking Xuzhou, Suzhou, and Yangzhou. The betrayal of Chen Xuan gave him the imperial army's Yangtze River fleet; the betrayal of Li Jinglong and the prince's half-brother Zhu Hui opened the gates of Nanjing on 13 July. Amid the disorder, the imperial palace quickly caught fire: Zhu Di enabled his own succession by claiming three bodies – charred beyond recognition – as the Jianwen emperor, his consort, and their son. Having captured the capital, Zhu Di now left aside his former arguments about rescuing his nephew from evil counsel and voided the Jianwen Emperor's entire reign, taking 1402 as the 35th year of the Hongwu era. His own brother Zhu Biao, whom the Jianwen Emperor had posthumously elevated to emperor, was now posthumously demoted; Zhu Biao's surviving two sons were demoted to commoners and placed under house arrest; and the Jianwen Emperor's surviving younger son was imprisoned and hidden for the next 55 years. After a brief show of humility where he repeatedly refused offers to take the throne, Zhu Di accepted and proclaimed that the next year would be the first year of the Yongle era. On 17 July 1402, after a brief visit to his father's tomb, Zhu Di was crowned emperor of the Ming Empire at the age of 42. He would spend most of his early years suppressing rumours and outlaws before meeting the Timurid avalanche (27).
Map of The Northern Yuan
Timur Leng launched his invasion of China through the lands of the Northern Yuan with a force estimated to number over 250,000. The army was a composite force of horse, foot and artillery rather than a nomad people in arms. Its centerpiece were the heavy cavalry of armored knights. This was provided by Tamerlane's personal supporters and retinue to whom he made grants of sedentary land for the upkeep of their chargers. Tamerlane, however, continued to use nomadic light cavalry from the Chaghatai oboghs and went to war accompanied by a vast tent city. Sedentary infantry formed part of the expedition as well. Following his campaign in India, Tamerlane acquired an elephant corps and made use of sophisticated artillery weapons in the sieges of Aleppo and Damascus. This was the greatest army Timur had ever brought to bear against a single enemy, and as he marched eastwards he gathered tens of thousands more to his banners (28). While Timur was marching on China, the Yongle Emperor found himself deeply involved in The Ming–Hồ War with the Hồ dynasty of Vietnam. The former ruling dynasty of Đại Việt, the Trần, had relations with the Ming Empire as a tributary. However, in 1400, Hồ Quý Ly deposed and massacred the Tran house before usurping the throne. After taking the throne, Hồ renamed the country from Dai Viet to Dai Ngu. In 1402, he abdicated the throne in favor of his son, Hồ Hán Thương. Eventually, in May 1403, he requested the investiture of his son from the Ming government on the account that the Trần lineage had died out and that his son was a royal nephew. Unaware of the deeds that Hồ had committed against the Tran, the Ming government granted him this request. In October 1404, Trần Thiên Bính arrived at the Ming imperial court in Nanjing, claiming to be a Trần prince. He notified the court of the treacherous events that had taken place and appealed to the court for the restoration of his throne. No action was taken by them until early 1405, when his story was confirmed by a Vietnamese envoy. Afterwards, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Empire issued an edict reprimanding the usurper and demanding the restoration of the Tran throne. Hồ Quý Ly had doubts about the pretender's claims, but nevertheless acknowledged his crimes and agreed to receive the pretender as king. Thus, the nominal king was escorted back by a Ming envoy in a military convoy. On 4 April 1406, as the party crossed the border into Lạng Sơn, where Hồ's forces ambushed them and killed the Trần prince that the Ming convoy were escorting back. As Hồ Quý Ly expected the Ming Empire to retaliate, he prepared the military for the imminent Ming invasion. He also took on a hostile foreign policy, which included harassing the southern border of the Ming Empire (29).
Öljei Temür joined Timur near the ruins of Karakorum with almost 100,000 more men, resulting in an invasion force almost 450,000 strong, which invaded at the start of fall 1406. The Ming were thrown into disarray at Timur's appearance and Yongle Emperor was forced to lead the resistance in person. The command for the Ming–Hồ War was given to Duke Zhu Neng with Marquises Zhang Fu and Mu Sheng as second-in-command. They were ordered to hold back the Hồ with as few troops as possible while the Ming armies massed to repel the Timurid invasion (30). Gathering in Nanjing, the Ming armies marched north as the immediate opposition to Timur was blown away. The Timurids rapidly overran the lands north of the Yellow River, Öljei Temür being declared Great Khan on the ruins of Khanbaliq, before crossing the river near Jinan. The Ming and Timurid armies ran into each other just south of the city in one of the great battles of medieval history. The Battle of Jinan saw almost 200,000 men clash in a head-on collision. Timur was by this time taken ill and was not expected to live long, but he was able to command the battle - utilizing his veteran army to cut the Ming army to pieces and destroy it segment by segment. By the end of the battle almost 50,000 men lay dead on the field and the Ming were in full retreat. Timur released his son Shahrukh Mirza ibn Timur to pursue the enemy, only for him and his force of 20,000 to fall into an ambush in the chase, where they were annihilated. Öljei Temür led an army down from Khanbilaq, numbering 150,000 in all, and began conquering the coastal cities north of the Yangtze River one after the other. Timur's health collapsed on learning of his son's death, and he ordered his troops to destroy the surrounding lands. The devastation of the lands and cities between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers was immense, with the death toll counted in the millions. As Timur fell into a coma, his army found itself increasingly following the commands of Öljei Temür, who exerted what control he could to turn the Timurid army southward. They would cross the Yangtze river and launched themselves into Southern China, looting and pillaging to their hearts content until the Yongle Emperor was able to mount a proper defense and drive them across the river before turning south and making peace with the Hồ, accepting the change of dynasty, but marking a loss of Chinese control over the region. Öljei Temür cemented his command of northern China in the meantime and, when Timur finally died, was able to incorporate many of the Timurid troops into his army (31).
Thus when Timur died in the summer of 1409, China found itself once more split in two. The Great Yuan ruled northern China from a rebuilt Khanbilaq under the rule of the Muslim Öljei Temür, while the Ming were ruled by the Yongle Emperor from Nanjing. The capital of the Ming Empire would eventually move south to Guangzhou, renamed Guangjing on the event, due to the clear and present danger posed by the Great Yuan Empire, whose lands reached the Yangtze river in places (32). During this move the Yongle Emperor would reverse the Hongwu Emperor's sea ban, opening up to foreign trade once more. Due to this southern move, the Ming would find themselves centered in the heartland of Daoist practices which would come to influence their rule more than any other. The incorporation of many Timurid forces by the Great Yuan would ensure that Muslim practices gained a strong foothold in the new regime, though the traditional tolerance of the Yuan would remain a core principle of the dynasty (33). In the meanwhile, the Timurid Empire found itself beset with a succession crisis. The only living son left of Timur's brood was Miran Shah, who had damaged his head in a fall while riding, after the capture of Egypt, leaving Timur with one of his grandsons as his named heir - Pir Muhammed ibn Jahangir. Pir Muhammed ruled from Kandahar in Afghanistan and, on learning of his grandfather's death, marched for Samerkand - arriving before the city in early 1410 only to learn that his cousin, Khalil Sultan ibn Miran Shah, son of Miran Shah, had declared himself successor to Timur Leng while another cousin, Mīrzā Muhammad Tāraghay bin Shāhrukh, would begin plotting in the background. Khalil Shah had control over all the lands from Egypt to western Persia and marched with an assembled army from Bagdad in May 1410. The Timurid War of Succession had begun (34).
Footnotes:
(1) This is all basically OTL to establish what Muscovy looks like in this time period. We are going quite far back in the timeline, which I apologize for, but we really need to bring these regions back into the story.
(2) In case it is unclear, and I really don't have a good grasp of this regions so it is difficult for me to keep track of everything, there are several different revolts and civil wars covered in this part between Jogaila and Vytautas.
(3) The struggles between Jogaila and Vytautas for control of Lithuania are quite interesting, but I have a really hard time condensing the action into a properly understandable format. This is all OTL.
(4) IOTL Vasily and Sophia had almost a dozen children, but all the sons died prematurely resulting in Vasily's youngest son succeeding. This led to a 25-year civil war, the first of its kind for the Grand Principality. This time around there are going to be more brothers to go around.
(5) All of this is basically OTL. I would really suggest reading up on the intrigues surrounding Jadwiga's marriage. I couldn't dig in to them in detail here, but there are a whole number of different interesting aspects to the events occurring at the time.
(6) IOTL both Jadwiga and Elizabeth Bonifacia died either in childbirth or soon after.
(7) This pushes Jadwiga's death a few years, but she still dies giving birth. The Angevin princesses of Louis the Great really got incredibly unlucky in their pregnancies IOTL.
(8) All of this is basically based on OTL, though delayed a few years. Anna of Cilli really didn't get a kind treatment IOTL and died in 1416.
(9) This is all OTL.
(10) Jogaila really got unlucky this time around. I hope that you can see some of the difficulties that he faces from this point onwards. Just to be clear, Vytautas and his successors, including the Muscovites, have claims to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, while Prince Charles of Hungary and his mother Mary of Hungary actually have a better claim to Poland than Jadwiga had to begin with. Add to this that Jadwiga's claim passed to her daughter, who is now married to Valdemar of Helsingborg, who is heir to the Nordic Union. Jogaila's only claims are through having taken the position as husband of claimants. Neither of his two sons has any claim to the throne either, what they do have is marriage ties to Naples and France and control of Poland.
(11) This is all from OTL. This serves basically to build an understanding of what the Delhi Sultanate of the 14th century was like, because I doubt most people have a firm understanding of the region and period. Sorry about the info dump, but I felt it was needed to understand the context of the changes in India.
(12) This is also all from OTL, the divergences are going to start popping up now.
(13) This is a big divergence. Sikander Shah winning the rebellion means that the entire branch of the family that originally collapsed into civil war doesn't come to power, and with the longer reigning Sikander being able to prepare another successor.
(14) I haven't been able to find any information on Sikander Shah's other sons, so I am working without historical aid in this.
(15) Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah did this IOTL but was generally a far more peaceful and relaxed ruler who focused on consolidation.
(16) IOTL Sudangphaa had these tribesmen murdered and successfully imported Brahmin practices wholesale. He consolidated and strengthened the Assamese Kingdom which reigned until the British took over.
(17) Jalaluddin Shah is far more of a conqueror than his OTL counterpart, which I think the Bengal Sultanate of the period was capable of. This does mean they haven't had the opportunity to consolidate their gains, but that is where Jalaluddin Shah hopes his son can take over.
(18) Nasiruddin Firuz Shah is going to be really important for the history of Eastern India.
(19) The Ottomans have really been forced to focus more on the East, and they start their alliance with the Aq Qoyunlu with a marriage.
(20) With the Ottomans as Timurid vassals and Bayezid dead, these two are forced to flee to the Mamluks as the only option friendly to them left.
(21) Bayezid was part of this deal IOTL, but due to the changed circumstances there are fewer supporters of the agreement.
(22) Faruj really had no possible chance of winning this, and Qara Yusuf realizes this quickly. Couple that with his youth and the Mamluks are done for.
(23) This time around the Timurids are causing a lot of changes to the middle-east, somewhat different from OTL. The fall of the Mamluks brings an end to the successive slave-king dynasties which marked the OTL history of Egypt.
(24) This is all OTL.
(25) IOTL the Ming were able to meet and defeat the Northern Yuan at the Battle of Buir Lake. About 70,000 Mongols were taken prisoner and the Mongol capital Karakorum was sacked and destroyed. It effectively destroyed the power of the Khan's Mongols for a long time, and allowed the Western Mongols to become supreme. ITTL the Yuan lose a great deal of prestige but are able to retain their army mostly intact. They face several uprisings and a few princes try to usurp the throne, of which one is notably successful.
(26) This happened IOTL as well.
(27) All of this is OTL.
(28) This is a campaign Timur has been planning for, for a long time. The army described was probably one of the most cohesive and disciplined military forces of the era and had faced every type of enemy imaginable. The forces described are based on those he had IOTL.
(29) This is all from OTL. Timur living long enough to launch his invasion really screws with the Ming, who IOTL dedicated 215,000 troops to this conflict.
(30) This is a godsend to the Vietnamese who get an opportunity to establish themselves properly. They are going to be much harder to drive out than IOTL.
(31) I know that this is a rather horrible description of the conflict. I have already spent way too much time on this update covering all these areas, so I hope you can forgive the brief skim. Just imagine that the conflict is an epic struggle with hundreds of thousands fighting on either side across the length and breadth of China.
(32) I really hope that it makes sense to have Guangzhou as capital, I just can't see how Nanjing would stay capital when it was on the front lines. The split between Muslim and Daoist Chinese Empires is going to be interesting in the long run.
(33) The Timurid army being in China is really going to screw with the Timurid successors. This is going to be so fun!
(34) Things are a bit different without Shahrukh alive. Pir Muhammed is in a much stronger position this time, though Khalil Shah has a lot to bring to the table as well.
Tamerlane
Dmitry Donskoi at the Battle of Kulikovo
Dmitry Donskoi at the Battle of Kulikovo
Mongol domination of parts of the Russian steppes began to crumble during Dmitry Ivanovich's thirty-year reign. The Golden Horde was severely weakened by civil war and dynastic rivalries. Dmitry took advantage of this lapse in Mongol authority to openly challenge the Tatars. While he kept the Khan's patent to collect taxes for all of Russia, Dmitry's fame stemmed from leading the first Russian military victory over the Mongols. Mamai, a Mongol general and claimant to the throne, tried to punish Dmitry for attempting to increase his power. In 1378 Mamai sent a Mongol army, but it was defeated by Dmitry's forces in the Battle of Vozha River. Two years later Mamai personally led a large force against Moscow. Dmitry met and defeated it at the Battle of Kulikovo. The defeated Mamai was presently dethroned by a rival Mongol general, Tokhtamysh. That khan reasserted Mongol rule over parts of Russia and overran Moscow for Dmitry's resistance to Mamai. Dimitry, however, pledged his loyalty to Tokhtamysh and to the Golden Horde and was reinstated as Mongol principal tax collector and Grand Duke of Vladimir. Upon his death in 1389, Dimitry was the first Grand Duke to bequeath his titles to his son Vasiliy without consulting the Khan. Vasily I continued the process of unification of the Russian lands: in 1392, he annexed the principalities of Nizhny Novgorod and Murom. Nizhny Novgorod was given to Vasily by the Khan of the Golden Horde in exchange for the help Moscow had given against one of his rivals. In 1397–1398 Kaluga, Vologda, Veliki Ustyug and the lands of the Komi peoples were annexed. To prevent Muscovy from being attacked by the Golden Horde, Vasily I entered into an alliance with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1392 and married Sophia of Lithuania, the only daughter of Vytautas Gediminid, regent of Lithuania. The alliance turned out to be fragile, and they waged war against each other in 1406–1408. Timur raided the Slavic lands in 1395; he ruined the Volgan regions but did not penetrate as far as Moscow. Timur's raid was of service to the Russian prince as it damaged the Golden Horde, which for the next twelve years was in a state of anarchy. During the whole of this time no tribute was paid to the khan, Olug Moxammat, though vast sums of money were collected in the Moscow treasury for military purposes (1).
Vytautas' uncle Algirdas had been Grand Duke of Lithuania until his death in 1377. Algirdas and Vytautas' father Kęstutis had practically ruled jointly, with Algirdas governing the east and Kęstutis the west, primarily responsible for defense against the Teutonic Order. Algirdas was succeeded by his son Jogaila, and a struggle for power ensued. In 1380, Jogaila signed the secret Treaty of Dovydiškės with the Teutonic Order against Kęstutis. When Kęstutis discovered this in 1381, he seized Vilnius, imprisoned Jogaila, and made himself Grand Duke. However, Jogaila escaped and raised an army against Kęstutis. The two sides confronted each other but never engaged in battle. Kęstutis was ready to negotiate, but he and Vytautas were arrested and transported to Kreva Castle. One week later, Kęstutis was found dead. Whether he died of natural causes or was murdered would remain a matter of debate for centuries to come. In 1382, Vytautas escaped from Kreva. He sought help from the Teutonic Order, who were negotiating with Jogaila at the time. Jogaila and the Order agreed to the Treaty of Dubysa, by which Jogaila promised to accept Christianity, become an ally of the Order, and give the Order part of Samogitia up to the Dubysa River. However, the treaty was never ratified. In summer 1383, the war between Jogaila and the Order resumed. Vytautas was baptized as a Catholic, receiving the name of Wigand. Vytautas participated in several raids against Jogaila. In January 1384, Vytautas promised to cede part of Samogitia to the Teutonic Order, up to the Nevėžis River in return for recognition as Grand Duke of Lithuania. However, in July of the same year, Vytautas broke with the Order and reconciled with Jogaila. He then burned three important Teutonic castles, and regained all Kęstutis' lands, except for Trakai. In 1385, Jogaila concluded the Union of Krewo with Poland, under which he married Jadwiga of Poland and became King of Poland as Władysław II Jagiełło. Vytautas participated in the Union and in 1386 was re-baptised as a Catholic, receiving the name Alexander. Jogaila left his brother Skirgaila as regent in Lithuania. However, Skirgaila was unpopular with the people and Vytautas saw an opportunity to become Grand Duke. In 1389, he attacked Vilnius but failed. In early 1390, Vytautas again allied with the Teutonic Order. Vytautas had to confirm his agreement of 1384, and cede Samogitia to the Order. His army now invaded Lithuania. Also, to gain more influence, Vytautas married his only daughter Sophia to Vasily I of Russia in 1391. The Polish nobles were unhappy that their new king spent too much time on Lithuanian affairs. It was clear that the war could continue for years and would not bring any benefit to Poland. In 1392, Władysław sent Henry of Masovia with an offer to make Vytautas regent instead of Skirgaila. Vytautas accepted and again broke with the Order. He burned three Teutonic castles and returned to Vilnius. Jagiełło and Vytautas signed the Astrava Treaty in which Vytautas recovered all Kęstutis' lands, including Trakai, and was given more. He would rule Lithuania in the name of Władysław. After Vytautas' death, all his lands and powers would theoretically revert to Władysław (2). The protracted period of war between the Lithuanians and the Teutonic Knights was ended on 12 October 1398 by the Treaty of Salynas, named after the islet in the Neman River where it was signed. Lithuania agreed to cede Samogitia and assist the Teutonic Order in a campaign to seize Pskov, while the Order agreed to assist Lithuania in a campaign to seize Novgorod. Shortly afterwards, Vytautas was crowned as a king by local Lithuanian nobles; but the following year his forces and those of his ally, Khan Tokhtamysh of the White Horde, were crushed by the Timurids at the Battle of the Vorskla River, ending his imperial ambitions in the east and obliging him to submit to Władysław's protection once more (3).
The marriage ties between Russia and the Lithuanian regent were strengthened by the birth of a daughter named Anna of Moscow and two sons, Yuri and Ivan, of whom the eldest, Yuri, died very young. Ivan Vasilievich spent much of his time travelling between Lithuania and Moscow as a child and young man (4). These ties between Lithuania and Russia would prove to be a marked contrast to the children of Władysław II Jagiełło who would all hold their centers of power in Poland. Władysław II Jagiełło had come to rule Poland through the Union of Krewo, and as such derived his claim to the throne through his wife Jadwiga, daughter of Louis the Great of Hungary and Poland. Jadwiga's ascension in 1384 had not been without difficulties, and her early reign had been spent fighting with her councilors over her marriage options. The Polish lords did not want to accept Jadwiga's fourteen-year-old fiancé, William of Habsburg, as their sovereign. They thought that the inexperienced William and his Austrian kinsmen could not safeguard Poland's interests against its powerful neighbors, especially the Luxemburgs which controlled Bohemia and Brandenburg, and had a strong claim on Hungary. The lords of Lesser Poland were the first to suggest that Jadwiga should marry the pagan Jogaila of Lithuania. Jogaila signed the Union of Krewo in 1385, promising Jadwiga's mother, Elizabeth of Bosnia's, representatives and the Polish lords' envoys that he would convert to Catholicism, together with his pagan kinsmen and subjects, if Jadwiga married him. He also pledged to pay 200,000 florins to William of Habsburg in compensation, an offer William never accepted. Two days after the Union of Krewo, the Teutonic Knights invaded Lithuania. The Polish lords' envoys informed Jogaila that they would obey him if he married Jadwiga on the 11th of January 1386. Jogaila went to Lublin where a general assembly unanimously declared him "king and lord of Poland" in early February. Jogaila went on to Kraków where he was baptized, receiving the Christian name, Władysław, in Wawel Cathedral on 15 February. Three days later, 35-year-old Władysław-Jogaila married 12-year-old Jadwiga. Władysław Jogaila styled himself as dominus et tutor regni Poloniae, Lord and Guardian of the Kingdom of Poland, in his first charter issued after the marriage. The pair ruled in conjunction with each other as partners, though Władysław Jogaila would always be the dominant partner, throughout their joint reign - through wars, plagues and famines (5). Jadwiga gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth Bonifacia, on the 22nd of June 1399. Jadwiga and the child survived. Władysław Jogaila would receive an offer of marriage for the young Elizabeth for Valdemar of Helsingborg, heir to the Nordic Union, in mid-1408 marriage was accepted (6). Jadwiga gave birth to a stillborn son in July 1401 and was gripped by a birthing fever (7). She told her husband to marry her cousin Anna of Cilli, another granddaughter of Casimir III the Great, the last Piast King of Poland. In 1402, Jogaila dispatched envoys to Celje to ask Herman II of Cilli for the hand of Anna. In June 1403, Anna arrived to Kraków where she was met by Jogaila at the city gates. However, Jogaila took a strong dislike of his intended bride. Jogaila was furious with the envoys who brought Anna to Poland for several years. The wedding was postponed citing the need for Anna to learn Polish. Anna lived in a monastery while Jogaila traveled in eastern territories of his kingdom. He returned only in January 1404. The wedding ceremony took place on January 29, 1404 in Wawel Cathedral. For unknown reasons, Anna's coronation as Queen of Poland was postponed for a year until February 25, 1405 (8).
The marriage was rather distant. There was an approximately thirty-year age gap between Anna and Jogaila. It was acknowledged that Anna was not a very attractive woman. The King traveled frequently leaving Anna alone in the Wawel Castle. Anna was not very ambitious or politically active. She was known as a religious woman and obedient wife. In the fall 1408, three years after the marriage, Anna was pregnant. Klemens Moskarzewski, Castellan of Wiślica, accused the queen of marital infidelity with Jakub Kobylański and Mikołaj Chrząstowski. Jogaila believed the rumors and imprisoned Jakub. During a congress in Niepołomice, Polish nobles defended the queen and the accusations were dismissed. A year later, Jogaila accused Anna of an affair with Jędrzej Tęczyński, but that case did not reach a public hearing. In 1411, Mikołaj Kurowski, Archbishop of Gniezno, accused Anna again, but he died before the rumors could be investigated. On April 8, 1408, Anna gave birth to a daughter, Jadwiga. It was not a male heir desired by Jogaila or Polish nobles, but it still strengthened Anna's position (9). Anna gave birth to the long awaited son and heir in late 1411, named Władysław of Lwow, but was gripped by birthing fever as well and died in early 1412. This time the 60-year old King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania found a wife in the teenaged daughter of Louis II d'Anjou of Naples, Catherine of Naples. She would give birth to two sons soon after, named Casimir and Alexander. The sudden death of Władysław of Lwow in 1416, a year after the marriage of Elizabeth Bonifacia and Valdemar of Helsingborg, came as a shock to Władysław Jogaila, who suddenly lost his ties to the Piast dynasty and was left with an uncertain succession (10).
Greatest expanse of the Tughlaq Dynasty in 1335
During Muhammad bin Tughluq's rule, the Delhi Sultanate temporarily expanded to most of the Indian subcontinent, its peak in terms of geographical reach. He attacked and plundered Malwa, Gujarat, Mahratta, Tilang, Kampila, Dhur-samundar, Mabar, Lakhnauti, Chittagong, Sunarganw and Tirhut. His distant campaigns were expensive, although each raid and attack on non-Muslim kingdoms brought new looted wealth and ransom payments from captured people. The extended empire was difficult to rule, and rebellions all over Indian subcontinent became routine. Revolts against Muhammad bin Tughlaq began in 1327, continued over his reign, and over time the geographical reach of the Sultanate shrank, particularly after 1335. The Vijayanagara Empire originated in southern India as a direct response to attacks from the Delhi Sultanate and liberated southern India from the Delhi Sultanate. In 1336 Kapaya Nayak of the Musunuri Nayak defeated the Tughlaq army and reconquered Warangal from the Delhi Sultanate. In 1338 his own nephew rebelled in Malwa, whom he attacked, caught and flayed alive. By 1339, the eastern regions under local Muslim governors and southern parts led by Hindu kings had revolted and declared independence from the Delhi Sultanate. Muhammad bin Tughlaq did not have the resources or support to respond to the shrinking kingdom. By 1347, the Bahmani Sultanate had become an independent and competing Muslim kingdom in the Deccan. Muhammad bin Tughlaq planned an attack Persia and Mesopotamia as well as China to bring these regions under Sunni Islam for most of his life. For the attack on Khorusan, a force of over 300,000 soldiers was gathered near Delhi, for a year at the state treasury's expense, while spies claiming to be from Khurasan collected rewards for information on how to attack and subdue these lands. However, before he could begin the attack on Persian lands in the second year of preparations, the plunder he had collected from Indian subcontinent had emptied, the provinces were too poor to support the large army, and the soldiers refused to remain in his service without pay. For the attack on China, Muhammad bin Tughlaq sent 100,000 soldiers, a significant part of his army, over the Himalayas. However, Hindus closed the passes through the Himalayas and blocked the passage for retreat. The high mountain weather and lack of retreat destroyed that army in the Himalayas. The few soldiers who returned with news of the disaster were executed under orders of the Sultan. During his reign, state revenues collapsed from his policies. To cover state expenses, Muhammad bin Tughlaq sharply raised taxes on his ever shrinking empire. Except in times of war, he did not pay his staff from his treasury. Muhammad bin Tughlaq paid his army, judges, court advisors, wazirs, governors, district officials and others in his service by awarding them the right to forcibly collect taxes on Hindu villages, keeping a portion and transfer rest to his treasury. Those who failed to pay taxes were hunted down and executed. Muhammad bin Tughlaq died in March 1351 while trying to chase and punish people for rebellion and their refusal to pay taxes in Sindh and Gujarat. After Muhammad bin Tughluq died, a relative, Mahmud Ibn Muhammad, ruled for less than a month. Thereafter, Muhammad bin Tughluq's 45-year-old nephew Firuz Shah Tughlaq replaced him and assumed the throne. His rule lasted 37 years (11).
Firuz Shah was, like his grandfather, of Turko-Indian origins. His Turkic father Sipah Rajab became infatuated with a Hindu princess named Naila. She initially refused to marry him while her father refused the marriage proposal as well. Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Sipah Rajab then sent in an army with a demand for one year taxes in advance and a threat of seizure of all property of her family and Dipalpur people. The kingdom was suffering from famines, and could not meet the ransom demand. The princess, after learning about the ransom demands against her family and people, offered herself in sacrifice if the army would stop the misery of her people. Sipah Rajab and the Sultan accepted the proposal. Sipah Rajab and Naila were married and Firoz Shah was their first son. An educated sultan, Firoz Shah left a memoir. In it he wrote that he banned torture, in practice in Delhi Sultanate under his predecessors. Tortures such as amputations, tearing out of eyes, sawing people alive, crushing people's bones as punishment, pouring molten lead into throats, putting people on fire, driving nails into hands and feet, among others. The Sunni Sultan also wrote that he did not tolerate attempts by Rafawiz Shia Muslim and Mahdi sects to proselytize people into their faith, nor did he tolerate Hindus who tried to rebuild their temples after his armies had destroyed those temples. As punishment, wrote the Sultan, he put many Shias, Mahdi and Hindus to death. Shams-i Siraj 'Afif, his court historian, also recorded Firoz Shah Tughlaq burning Hindus alive for secretly following their religion and for refusing to convert to Islam. In his memoirs, Firoz Shah Tughlaq lists his accomplishments to include converting Hindus to Sunni Islam by announcing an exemption from taxes and jizya for those who convert, and by lavishing new converts with presents and honors. Simultaneously, he raised taxes and jizya, assessing it at three levels, and stopping the practice of his predecessors who had historically exempted all Hindu Brahmins from the jizya tax. He also vastly expanded the number of slaves in his service and those of the emirs. Firoz Shah Tughlaq reign was marked by reduction in extreme forms of torture, eliminating favors to select parts of society, but an increased intolerance and persecution of targeted groups. After the death of his heir in 1376 AD, Firuz Shah started strict implementation of Sharia throughout his dominions. Firuz Shah suffered from bodily infirmities, and his rule was considered by his court historians as more merciful than that of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. When Firuz Shah came to power, India was suffering from a collapsed economy, abandoned villages and towns, and frequent famines. He undertook many infrastructure projects including an irrigation canals connecting Yamuna-Ghaggar and Yamuna-Sutlej rivers, bridges, madrasas, mosques and other Islamic buildings. He also undertook the destruction of Hindu temples and suppressed non-Sunni sects by demolishing their structures. Firuz Shah Tughlaq patronized Indo-Islamic architecture, including the installation of lats, ancient Hindu and Buddhist pillars, near mosques. After Feroz died in 1388, the Tughlaq dynasty's power continued to fade, and no more able leaders came to the throne. Firoz Shah Tughlaq's death created anarchy and disintegration of kingdom. In the years preceding his death, internecine strife among his descendants had already erupted (11).
The first civil war broke out in 1384 AD four years before the death of aging Firoz Shah Tughlaq, while the second civil war started in 1394 AD, six years after Firoz Shah was dead. Firuz Shah Tughluq's favorite grandson died in 1376. Thereafter, Firuz Shah sought and followed Sharia more than ever, with the help of his wazirs. He himself fell ill in 1384. By then, Muslim nobility who had installed Firuz Shah Tughluq to power in 1351 had died out, and their descendants had inherited the wealth and rights to extract taxes from non-Muslim peasants. Khan Jahan II, a wazir in Delhi, was the son of Firuz Shah Tughluq's favorite wazir Khan Jahan I, and rose in power after his father died in 1368 AD. The young wazir was in open rivalry with Muhammad Shah, the son of Firuz Shah Tughluq. The wazir's power grew as he appointed more emirs and granted favors. He persuaded the Sultan to name his great grandson as his heir. Then Khan Jahan II tried to convince Firuz Shah Tughlaq to dismiss his only surviving son. Instead of dismissing his son, the Sultan dismissed the wazir. The crisis that followed led to first civil war, the arrest and execution of the wazir, and was followed by a rebellion and civil war in and around Delhi. Muhammad Shah too was expelled in 1387 AD. The Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq died in 1388 AD. Tughluq Khan assumed power, but died in the conflict. In 1389, Abu Bakr Shah assumed power, but he too died within a year. The civil war continued under Sultan Muhammad Shah, and by 1390 AD, it had led to the seizure and execution of all Muslim nobility who were aligned, or suspected of being aligned to Khan Jahan II. While the civil war was in progress, predominantly Hindu populations of the Himalayan foothills of north India rebelled and stopped paying Jizya and Kharaj taxes to the Sultanate's officials. Hindus of the southern Doab region of India joined the rebellion in 1390 AD. Sultan Muhammad Shah attacked Hindus rebelling near Delhi and southern Doab in 1392, with mass executions of peasants, and razed Etawah to the ground. However, by then, most of India had transitioned to a patchwork of smaller Muslim Sultanates and Hindu kingdoms. In 1394, Hindus in Lahore re-asserted self-rule. Muhammad Shah amassed an army to attack them, with his son Humayun Khan as the commander-in-chief. While preparations were in progress in Delhi in January 1394, Sultan Muhammad Shah died. His son, Humayun Khan assumed power, but was murdered within two months. The brother of Humayun Khan, Nasir-al-din Mahmud Shah assumed power - but he enjoyed little support from Muslim nobility, the wazirs and emirs. The Sultanate had lost command over almost all eastern and western provinces of the already shrunken Sultanate. Within Delhi, factions of Muslim nobility formed by October 1394 AD, triggering the second civil war. The Tartar Khan installed a second Sultan, Nasir-al-din Nusrat Shah in Ferozabad, few kilometers from the first Sultan's seat of power in late 1394. The two Sultans claimed to be rightful ruler of South Asia, each with a small army, controlled by a coterie of Muslim nobility. Battles occurred every month, duplicity and switching of sides by emirs became common place, and the civil war between the two Sultan factions continued through 1398, till the invasion by Timur (11).
In 1398, Timur invaded northern India, attacking the Delhi Sultanate. He was opposed by Ahirs and Jats but the Sultanate at Delhi did nothing to stop him. After crossing the Indus river on 30 September 1398, he sacked Tulamba and massacred its inhabitants. Then he advanced and captured Multan by October. Timur crossed the Indus River at Attock on 24 September 1398. His invasion did not go unopposed and he encountered resistance by the Governor of Meerut during the march to Delhi. Timur was still able to continue his approach to Delhi, arriving in 1398, to fight the armies of Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq, who had already been weakened by the succession struggle within the royal family. The battle took place on 17 December 1398. Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq and the army of Mallu Iqbal had war elephants armored with chain mail and poison on their tusks. As his Tatar forces were afraid of the elephants, Timur ordered his men to dig a trench in front of their positions. Timur then loaded his camels with as much wood and hay as they could carry. When the war elephants charged, Timur set the hay on fire and prodded the camels with iron sticks, causing them to charge at the elephants howling in pain: Timur had understood that elephants were easily panicked. Faced with the strange spectacle of camels flying straight at them with flames leaping from their backs, the elephants turned around and stampeded back toward their own lines. Timur capitalized on the subsequent disruption in the forces of Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq, securing an easy victory. Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq fled with the remnants of his forces. Delhi was sacked and left in ruins. Before the battle for Delhi, Timur executed 100,000 captives. The capture of the Delhi Sultanate was one of Timur's greatest victories, some arguing that it surpassed the likes of Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan because of the harsh conditions of the journey and the achievement of taking down one of the richest cities at the time. After Delhi fell to Timur's army, uprisings by its citizens against the Turkic-Mongols began to occur, causing a retaliatory bloody massacre within the city walls. After three days of citizens uprising within Delhi, it was said that the city reeked of the decomposing bodies of its citizens with their heads being erected like structures and the bodies left as food for the birds by Timur's soldiers. Timur's invasion and destruction of Delhi continued the chaos that was still consuming India and led to the fall of the Tughluq Dynasty, as their ambitious neighbors exploited the situation. The two claimant Tughluq Sultans would continue their fighting in a more desultory manner, serving only to keep each other occupied while their neighbors infringed on their territories (11).
The Adina Mosque, Largest Mosque on the Subcontinent
Shamsuddin Ilyas was born into an aristocratic family in the Sistan region of what is today eastern Iran and Afghanistan. He worked in the service of the Delhi Sultanate. He migrated to the Bengal and worked under Izzuddin Yahya, the imperial provincial governor of Satgaon. By the mid-14th century, three Muslim city states had emerged in the Bengal after declaring independence from the Delhi Sultanate: Lakhnauti in North Bengal, Sonargaon in East Bengal and Satgaon in South Bengal. In 1338, after Izzuddin Yahya's death, Ilyas declared himself as the Sultan of Satgaon, with the title Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah. He then waged a long drawn war from 1339 to 1352 against Sultan Alauddin Ali Shah of Lakhnauti and Sultan Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi Shah of Sonargaon. Ilyas Shah emerged victorious after conquering Lakhnauti and Sonargaon. He then proclaimed the establishment of the Sultanate of Bengal in Lakhnauti in 1352. The area was the former capital of the Gauda Kings and the Pala Emperors. He built his capital in nearby Pandua. During the early period of his reign, Ilyas Shah led the first Muslim army into Nepal. He occupied the Tirhut region and made a bold thrust through the Terai plains into the Kathmandu Valley. His army sacked the temple of Svayambhunath. He did not annex any part of Nepal and instead returned to Bengal with an immense booty. Ilyas Shah then invaded Orissa, which was ruled by Bhanudeva II of the Eastern Ganga dynasty. He sacked Jajpur, Cuttack and reached as far as the Chilika Lake. He also led a successful campaign against the Kamarupa kingdom in present-day Assam. In November 1353, the Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq launched an invasion of Bengal. His army occupied Pandua and Ilyas Shah and his forces retreated to the fortress of Ekdala. The Delhi Sultan laid siege to the fortress for two months. The Delhi Sultanate's forces then began withdrawing. Ilyas Shah began to pursue Delhi army and reached as far as Varanasi. The Delhi army formidably fought back. Firuz Shah returned to Delhi in 1355. Ilyas Shah regained control of Bengal and his realm extended up to the Koshi River. The extent of Ilyas Shah's campaigns, including his occupation of major Indian cultural centers, were considered "world-conquering" in the context of medieval India. This led to him being styled as "the second Alexander" (12).
Abul Mujahid Sikandar Shah assumed the throne after the death of his father. He continued to consolidate and expand the territory of the Bengal Sultanate, which had emerged as one of the leading powers in the Indian subcontinent. The most significant event of his reign was the second invasion of Bengal by the Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq in 1359. The Tughluqs declared Zafar Khan Fars, a Persian noble and son-in-law of Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah, as the legitimate ruler of Bengal. Firuz Shah Tughluq led an army consisting of 80,000 cavalry, a large infantry and 470 elephants to Bengal. Sikandar Shah took refuge in the fortress of Ekdala, in the same way his father did earlier. The Delhi forces besieged the fort. The Bengal army strongly defended their stronghold until the start of the monsoon. Eventually, Sikandar Shah and Firuz Shah arranged a peace treaty, in which Delhi recognized Bengal's independence and withdrew its armed forces. The reign of Sikandar Shah lasted for four decades. It was characterized by stability and prosperity. He constructed many grand buildings and mosques, including the Adina Mosque, which was the largest mosque in the subcontinent. The interior of the mosque, a pet project of the sultan, projected an aura of imperial majesty. To the immediate north of the central sanctuary was a raised platform, the “king’s throne”, which enabled the sultan and his entourage to pray at a height elevated above the common people. The mosque was built on a pre-Islamic structure, which was evident in the defaced Hindu and Buddhist sculptures on its exterior walls. Other structures built during his reign were the tomb and mosque of Akhi Sirajuddin, the Kotwali Gateway at the southern entrance of Lakhnauti, a vault at Ganagarampur, Dinajpur and a mosque at Mulla Simla, Hughli. Known as sober and gentle, Sikandar Shah liked the association of learned persons and respected the clergy and Sufis. He continued the liberal and tolerant practices of his father. In 1390, one of Sikandar Shah's eighteen sons revolted and occupied Sonargaon and Satgaon. A war of succession raged (12). At the Battle of Goalpara, near the capital Pandua, Sikandar Shah emerged victorious while his son, Ghiyasuddin Azam was killed in the fighting (13).
Sikander Shah died in 1401 and was succeeded by his grandson Jalaluddin Ilyas Shah without any great difficulty, having been designated heir since the death of Ghiyasuddin Azam (14). Jalaluddin Shah was the third sultan of the early Iliyas Shahi dynasty of Bengal, and devoted himself to ensuring the glory of the Bengal, expanding and consolidating throughout his reign. In the initial period of his reign, Jalaluddin Shah led an expedition against Kamarupa, conquered it and kept it under his control for some years (15). He also successfully took the lands of the Raja of Kamta and several other minor states in Bagelkhand. Jalaluddin Shah warred constantly in Assam, Burma and most famously with Ibrahim Shah of the Jaunpur Sultanate over the course of his thirteen year reign. Beginning early in his reign, Jalaluddin Shah worked to undermine the rule of Sudangphaa, ruler of the Ahom Kingdom of Assam and known as the Brahmin Prince for his efforts to forcibly convert the population, enraging the local Tipam chiefs who turned to Jalaluddin Shah for aid (16). The Bengali armies invaded Ahom and the neighboring Kamata kingdom, and in the fierce fighting forced Sudangphaa to flee into exile alongside him Brahmin supporters. The Khen dynasty found themselves significantly outclassed by the Bengal Sultanate and were forced into vassalage while a Bengali representative was placed to help them govern. The conquest of Assam was more nominal than anything else and would require the continuous efforts of Jalaluddin Shah's successors to accomplish. He next faced an invasion by Ibrahim Shah of the Jaunpur Sultanate, who invaded with a force tens of thousands strong. The resultant conflict lasted until 1410, but the Bengal Sultanate was able to drive out the invaders, who found their own kingdom significantly weakened by the seven-year conflict. Jalaluddin Shah launched raids and attacks into the Shan States and Arakan throughout his reign, until its culmination in his conquest of Arakan in 1414 (17). Jalaluddin Shah died soon after and was succeeded peacefully by his young son Nasiruddin Firuz Shah (18).
Tamerlane Defeat The Mamluks
The decision of Sultan Süleyman Osmanoğlu to submit to Timur Leng, Amir and founder of the Timurid Empire, saved Anatolia from the ravages of his hordes and found him an ally in Qara Yuluq Osman Bey, Ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu, who married a daughter to Süleyman (19). Timur meanwhile turned southwards and marched on the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo, and devastated Aleppo, Damascus and Bagdad as has been previously described. During his initial invasion of 1400 he defeated both the Qara Qoyunlu and the Jalayirids who ruled a swathe of land from the Caucasus to southern Mesopotamia. Qara Yusuf, ruler of the Qara Qoyunlu, and Sultan Ahmed Jalayir both fled and took refuge with the Mamluk Sultan Nasir-ad-Din Faraj (20). Sultan Faraj was the second Sultan of the Burji dynasty to take the throne in Cairo. From 1250 Egypt had been ruled by the first Mamluk dynasty, the mostly Cuman-Kipchak Turkic Bahri dynasty. In 1377 a revolt broke out in Syria which spread to Egypt, and the government was taken over by the Circassians Barakah and Barquq; Barquq was proclaimed sultan in 1382, ending the Bahri dynasty. He was expelled in 1389 but recaptured Cairo in 1390. Early on, the Zahiri Revolt threatened to overthrow Barquq though the conspiracy was discovered before agitators could mobilize. Permanently in power, he founded the Burji dynasty. Faced with a common enemy, Timur, Barquq joined with Qara Yusuf, Sultan Ahmed Jalayir and Toktamysh in a combined resistance and executed Timur's peace envoys (21). In the following months Timur was engaged in Georgia and unable to respond to Barquq's actions, while Barquq died in 1399 and was succeeded by his son Nasir-ad-Din Faraj. Timur marched south through the Levant in early 1402, laying waste to the countryside and spreading terror wherever he went. An army was assembled by the fourteen-year old Sultan Faraj, numbering almost 60,000 against the rapidly advancing Timurid army 80,000 strong. Faraj marched his army through the midsummer heat of 1402. When they arrived at the Fortress of Nimrod on the Jabal Heights between the Levant and Damascus, they were tired and thirsty, but were allowed no time to rest or recuperate. Faraj was advised by his generals to take up defensive positions and, when Timur's forces pushed back the Mamluks, to withdraw into the fortress and force Timur to besiege the castle during the midsummer heat. Faruj instead chose to take an offensive stance and marched eastward towards Damascus. Once Qara Yusuf realized the futility of getting the boy Sultan to listen to reason he reached out to Timur and offered to betray the Mamluks to him in return for a pardon. Timur acquiesced and learned of the approaching Mamluk forces from Qara Yusuf. Timur was thereby able to create an ambush for the Mamluk army at Jabal al'Shaykh, known as Mount Hermon in the west. The Battle of Jabal al'Shaykh was a disaster from start to finish for the Mamluks. First, due to a lack of proper scouts and overeagerness in the command, they were led into the foothills of the mountain and their lead elements ambushed and destroyed. Sultan Faruj thereafter launched an immediate attack at the Timurid contingent immediately visible after the ambush, only to find that the force Faruj had sent was cut off and destroyed by the Timurid horse archers. Reeling in disarray, the already greatly outnumbered Mamluks found themselves under attack across the front by Timurid forces, and when Sultans Faruj and Ahmad Jalayir attempted to flee they found himself taken captive by Qara Yusuf, who handed both of them to Timur on meeting the great conqueror (22). Timur, greatly impressed by Qara Yusuf's handling of the task was detailed to support his third son Miran Shah in taking the rest of the Mamluk Sultanate, which Miran would then rule on his father's behalf, while Timur turned around and marched back to Samarkand to prepare for his invasion of Ming China. By 1368, Han Chinese forces had driven the Mongols out of China. The first of the new Ming dynasty's emperors, the Hongwu Emperor, and his son, the Yongle Emperor, demanded and received homage from many Central Asian states as the political heirs to the former House of Kublai. The Ming emperors' treatment of Timur as a vassal did not sit well with the conqueror. In 1394 Hongwu's ambassadors eventually presented Timur with a letter addressing him as a subject. He summarily had the ambassadors Fu An, Guo Ji, and Liu Wei detained, and had the 1500 guards executed. Neither Hongwu's next ambassador, Chen Dewen in 1397, nor the delegation announcing the accession of the Yongle Emperor fared any better. In the meanwhile Miran Shah and Qara Yusuf marched on Egypt with 20,000 men as well as the Mamluk and Jalayirid Sultans in their train as prisoners. Qara Yusuf was able to draw many of his tribesmen with him in the march southward, swelling the force to 30,000 and ensuring that the Qara Qoyunlu found themselves spread across the Levant. The invasion of the Levant was swiftly accomplished, city after city falling before the Timurid advance, ending with the taking of Gaza. In the meanwhile Egypt descended into chaos and infighting as any leader with an armed retinue launched their bid for power. The Timurids were able to march into Egypt almost uncontested and spread out from there. By mid-1404 Cairo had fallen to their forces, with the remainder of the Sultanate being pacified by early 1405. When Cairo was taken, both Sultan Nasir-ad-Din Faruj and Sultan Ahmad Jalayir were put under the sword and executed - the need for their presence gone. Thus ended the Jalayirid and Mamluk Sultanates (23). The Qara Qoyunlu would largely leave their mountainous homes in the north and migrate into the Levant and Egypt, establishing themselves as Timurid enforcers and governors in the region under Miran Shah. Their rivals, the Aq Qoyunlu would largely fill the void left in the eastern Caucasus.
The Mongols under Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire, a grandson of Genghis Khan, had conquered all of China by eliminating the Southern Song dynasty in 1276 and destroyed the last Chinese resistance in 1279. The Mongol Yuan dynasty ruled all of China for about a century, and had dominated Northern China for more than 140 years, since the time when the Jurchen Jin dynasty was annihilated. As Han Chinese people in the countryside suffered from frequent natural disasters such as droughts, floods and the ensuing famines and plagues since the late 1340s, however, the government's lack of effective policies to stem the damage led to a loss of popular support. In 1351, the Red Turban Rebellion started and grew into a nationwide turmoil. Eventually, Zhu Yuanzhang, a Han Chinese peasant, established the Ming dynasty in Southern China, and sent an army toward the Yuan capital Khanbaliq in 1368. Toghon Temür, the last ruler of the Yuan, fled north to Shangdu from Khanbilaq in 1368 after the approach of the forces of the Míng dynasty. He had tried to regain Khanbilaq, but eventually failed; he died in Yingchang two years later. Yingchang was seized by the Ming shortly after his death. The Yuan remnants retreated to Mongolia after the fall of Yingchang to the Ming dynasty in 1370, where the name Great Yuan was formally carried on. The Genghisid rulers of the Northern Yuan also buttressed their claim on China, and held tenaciously to the title of Emperor of the Great Yuan to resist the Ming who had by this time become the clear rulers of China. According to the traditional Chinese political orthodoxy, there could be only one legitimate dynasty whose rulers were blessed by Heaven to rule as Emperor of China, so the Ming also denied the Yuan remnants' legitimacy as emperors of China, although the Ming did consider the previous Yuan which it had succeeded to be a legitimate dynasty. The Ming army pursued the Mongol forces of the Northern Yuan into Mongolia in 1372, but were defeated by the latter under Ayushridar and his general Köke Temür. In 1375, Naghachu, a Mongol official of Biligtu Khan in Liaoyang province invaded Liaodong with aims of restoring the Mongols to power. Although he continued to hold southern Manchuria, Naghachu finally surrendered to the Ming dynasty in 1387–88 after a successful diplomatic offensive by the latter. The Yuan loyalists under the Kublaid prince Basalawarmi in Yunnan and Guizhou were also destroyed by the Ming in 1381-82 (24). The Ming tried again towards the Northern Yuan in 1380, but were unable to properly get to grips with their enemy - who retreated into the steppe. The Ming sacked and burned the city of Karakorum but even then were unable to find their foes (25). In 1402, Örüg Temür Khan abolished the name Great Yuan; he was however defeated by Öljei Temür Khan, the protege of Tamerlane in 1403 who reestablished the name. Most of the Mongol noblemen under the Arugtai chingsang sided with Öljei Temür (26).
The Hongwu Emperor was long-lived and survived his first heir, Zhu Biao, the Crown Prince. He worried about his succession and issued a series of dynastic instructions for his family, the Huang Ming Zu Xun. These instructions made it clear that the rule would pass only to children from the emperor's primary consort, excluding the Prince of Yan in favor of Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Biao's son. When the Hongwu Emperor died on 24 June 1398, Zhu Yunwen succeeded his grandfather as the Jianwen Emperor. In direct violation of the dynastic instructions, the Prince of Yan attempted to mourn his father in Nanjing, bringing a large armed guard with him. The imperial army was able to block him at Huai'an and, given that three of his sons were serving as hostages in the capital, the prince withdrew in disgrace. The Jianwen Emperor's harsh campaign against his weaker uncles made accommodation much more difficult, however: Zhu Di's full brother, Zhu Su, was arrested and exiled to Yunnan; the Prince of Dai Zhu Gui was reduced to a commoner; the Prince of Xiang Zhu Bai committed suicide under duress; the Princes of Qi and Min, Zhu Fu and Zhu Bian respectively, were demoted all within the latter half of 1398 and the first half of 1399. Faced with certain hostility, Zhu Di pretended to fall ill and then "went mad" for a number of months before achieving his aim of freeing his sons from captivity to visit him in the north in June 1399. On 5 August, Zhu Di declared that the Jianwen Emperor had fallen victim to "evil counselors" and that the Hongwu Emperor's dynastic instructions obliged him to rise in arms to remove them, a conflict known as the Jingnan Campaign. In the first year, Zhu Di survived the initial assaults by superior forces under Geng Bingwen and Li Jinglong thanks to superior tactics and capable Mongol auxiliaries. He also issued numerous justifications for his rebellion, including questionable claims of having been the son of Empress Ma and bold-faced lies that his father had attempted to name him as the rightful heir, only to be thwarted by bureaucrats scheming to empower Zhu Biao's son. Whether because of this propaganda or for personal motives, Zhu Di began to receive a steady stream of turncoat eunuchs and generals who provided him with invaluable intelligence allowing a hit-and-run campaign against the imperial supply depots along the Grand Canal. By 1402, he knew enough to be able to avoid the main hosts of the imperial army while sacking Xuzhou, Suzhou, and Yangzhou. The betrayal of Chen Xuan gave him the imperial army's Yangtze River fleet; the betrayal of Li Jinglong and the prince's half-brother Zhu Hui opened the gates of Nanjing on 13 July. Amid the disorder, the imperial palace quickly caught fire: Zhu Di enabled his own succession by claiming three bodies – charred beyond recognition – as the Jianwen emperor, his consort, and their son. Having captured the capital, Zhu Di now left aside his former arguments about rescuing his nephew from evil counsel and voided the Jianwen Emperor's entire reign, taking 1402 as the 35th year of the Hongwu era. His own brother Zhu Biao, whom the Jianwen Emperor had posthumously elevated to emperor, was now posthumously demoted; Zhu Biao's surviving two sons were demoted to commoners and placed under house arrest; and the Jianwen Emperor's surviving younger son was imprisoned and hidden for the next 55 years. After a brief show of humility where he repeatedly refused offers to take the throne, Zhu Di accepted and proclaimed that the next year would be the first year of the Yongle era. On 17 July 1402, after a brief visit to his father's tomb, Zhu Di was crowned emperor of the Ming Empire at the age of 42. He would spend most of his early years suppressing rumours and outlaws before meeting the Timurid avalanche (27).
Map of The Northern Yuan
Timur Leng launched his invasion of China through the lands of the Northern Yuan with a force estimated to number over 250,000. The army was a composite force of horse, foot and artillery rather than a nomad people in arms. Its centerpiece were the heavy cavalry of armored knights. This was provided by Tamerlane's personal supporters and retinue to whom he made grants of sedentary land for the upkeep of their chargers. Tamerlane, however, continued to use nomadic light cavalry from the Chaghatai oboghs and went to war accompanied by a vast tent city. Sedentary infantry formed part of the expedition as well. Following his campaign in India, Tamerlane acquired an elephant corps and made use of sophisticated artillery weapons in the sieges of Aleppo and Damascus. This was the greatest army Timur had ever brought to bear against a single enemy, and as he marched eastwards he gathered tens of thousands more to his banners (28). While Timur was marching on China, the Yongle Emperor found himself deeply involved in The Ming–Hồ War with the Hồ dynasty of Vietnam. The former ruling dynasty of Đại Việt, the Trần, had relations with the Ming Empire as a tributary. However, in 1400, Hồ Quý Ly deposed and massacred the Tran house before usurping the throne. After taking the throne, Hồ renamed the country from Dai Viet to Dai Ngu. In 1402, he abdicated the throne in favor of his son, Hồ Hán Thương. Eventually, in May 1403, he requested the investiture of his son from the Ming government on the account that the Trần lineage had died out and that his son was a royal nephew. Unaware of the deeds that Hồ had committed against the Tran, the Ming government granted him this request. In October 1404, Trần Thiên Bính arrived at the Ming imperial court in Nanjing, claiming to be a Trần prince. He notified the court of the treacherous events that had taken place and appealed to the court for the restoration of his throne. No action was taken by them until early 1405, when his story was confirmed by a Vietnamese envoy. Afterwards, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Empire issued an edict reprimanding the usurper and demanding the restoration of the Tran throne. Hồ Quý Ly had doubts about the pretender's claims, but nevertheless acknowledged his crimes and agreed to receive the pretender as king. Thus, the nominal king was escorted back by a Ming envoy in a military convoy. On 4 April 1406, as the party crossed the border into Lạng Sơn, where Hồ's forces ambushed them and killed the Trần prince that the Ming convoy were escorting back. As Hồ Quý Ly expected the Ming Empire to retaliate, he prepared the military for the imminent Ming invasion. He also took on a hostile foreign policy, which included harassing the southern border of the Ming Empire (29).
Öljei Temür joined Timur near the ruins of Karakorum with almost 100,000 more men, resulting in an invasion force almost 450,000 strong, which invaded at the start of fall 1406. The Ming were thrown into disarray at Timur's appearance and Yongle Emperor was forced to lead the resistance in person. The command for the Ming–Hồ War was given to Duke Zhu Neng with Marquises Zhang Fu and Mu Sheng as second-in-command. They were ordered to hold back the Hồ with as few troops as possible while the Ming armies massed to repel the Timurid invasion (30). Gathering in Nanjing, the Ming armies marched north as the immediate opposition to Timur was blown away. The Timurids rapidly overran the lands north of the Yellow River, Öljei Temür being declared Great Khan on the ruins of Khanbaliq, before crossing the river near Jinan. The Ming and Timurid armies ran into each other just south of the city in one of the great battles of medieval history. The Battle of Jinan saw almost 200,000 men clash in a head-on collision. Timur was by this time taken ill and was not expected to live long, but he was able to command the battle - utilizing his veteran army to cut the Ming army to pieces and destroy it segment by segment. By the end of the battle almost 50,000 men lay dead on the field and the Ming were in full retreat. Timur released his son Shahrukh Mirza ibn Timur to pursue the enemy, only for him and his force of 20,000 to fall into an ambush in the chase, where they were annihilated. Öljei Temür led an army down from Khanbilaq, numbering 150,000 in all, and began conquering the coastal cities north of the Yangtze River one after the other. Timur's health collapsed on learning of his son's death, and he ordered his troops to destroy the surrounding lands. The devastation of the lands and cities between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers was immense, with the death toll counted in the millions. As Timur fell into a coma, his army found itself increasingly following the commands of Öljei Temür, who exerted what control he could to turn the Timurid army southward. They would cross the Yangtze river and launched themselves into Southern China, looting and pillaging to their hearts content until the Yongle Emperor was able to mount a proper defense and drive them across the river before turning south and making peace with the Hồ, accepting the change of dynasty, but marking a loss of Chinese control over the region. Öljei Temür cemented his command of northern China in the meantime and, when Timur finally died, was able to incorporate many of the Timurid troops into his army (31).
Thus when Timur died in the summer of 1409, China found itself once more split in two. The Great Yuan ruled northern China from a rebuilt Khanbilaq under the rule of the Muslim Öljei Temür, while the Ming were ruled by the Yongle Emperor from Nanjing. The capital of the Ming Empire would eventually move south to Guangzhou, renamed Guangjing on the event, due to the clear and present danger posed by the Great Yuan Empire, whose lands reached the Yangtze river in places (32). During this move the Yongle Emperor would reverse the Hongwu Emperor's sea ban, opening up to foreign trade once more. Due to this southern move, the Ming would find themselves centered in the heartland of Daoist practices which would come to influence their rule more than any other. The incorporation of many Timurid forces by the Great Yuan would ensure that Muslim practices gained a strong foothold in the new regime, though the traditional tolerance of the Yuan would remain a core principle of the dynasty (33). In the meanwhile, the Timurid Empire found itself beset with a succession crisis. The only living son left of Timur's brood was Miran Shah, who had damaged his head in a fall while riding, after the capture of Egypt, leaving Timur with one of his grandsons as his named heir - Pir Muhammed ibn Jahangir. Pir Muhammed ruled from Kandahar in Afghanistan and, on learning of his grandfather's death, marched for Samerkand - arriving before the city in early 1410 only to learn that his cousin, Khalil Sultan ibn Miran Shah, son of Miran Shah, had declared himself successor to Timur Leng while another cousin, Mīrzā Muhammad Tāraghay bin Shāhrukh, would begin plotting in the background. Khalil Shah had control over all the lands from Egypt to western Persia and marched with an assembled army from Bagdad in May 1410. The Timurid War of Succession had begun (34).
Footnotes:
(1) This is all basically OTL to establish what Muscovy looks like in this time period. We are going quite far back in the timeline, which I apologize for, but we really need to bring these regions back into the story.
(2) In case it is unclear, and I really don't have a good grasp of this regions so it is difficult for me to keep track of everything, there are several different revolts and civil wars covered in this part between Jogaila and Vytautas.
(3) The struggles between Jogaila and Vytautas for control of Lithuania are quite interesting, but I have a really hard time condensing the action into a properly understandable format. This is all OTL.
(4) IOTL Vasily and Sophia had almost a dozen children, but all the sons died prematurely resulting in Vasily's youngest son succeeding. This led to a 25-year civil war, the first of its kind for the Grand Principality. This time around there are going to be more brothers to go around.
(5) All of this is basically OTL. I would really suggest reading up on the intrigues surrounding Jadwiga's marriage. I couldn't dig in to them in detail here, but there are a whole number of different interesting aspects to the events occurring at the time.
(6) IOTL both Jadwiga and Elizabeth Bonifacia died either in childbirth or soon after.
(7) This pushes Jadwiga's death a few years, but she still dies giving birth. The Angevin princesses of Louis the Great really got incredibly unlucky in their pregnancies IOTL.
(8) All of this is basically based on OTL, though delayed a few years. Anna of Cilli really didn't get a kind treatment IOTL and died in 1416.
(9) This is all OTL.
(10) Jogaila really got unlucky this time around. I hope that you can see some of the difficulties that he faces from this point onwards. Just to be clear, Vytautas and his successors, including the Muscovites, have claims to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, while Prince Charles of Hungary and his mother Mary of Hungary actually have a better claim to Poland than Jadwiga had to begin with. Add to this that Jadwiga's claim passed to her daughter, who is now married to Valdemar of Helsingborg, who is heir to the Nordic Union. Jogaila's only claims are through having taken the position as husband of claimants. Neither of his two sons has any claim to the throne either, what they do have is marriage ties to Naples and France and control of Poland.
(11) This is all from OTL. This serves basically to build an understanding of what the Delhi Sultanate of the 14th century was like, because I doubt most people have a firm understanding of the region and period. Sorry about the info dump, but I felt it was needed to understand the context of the changes in India.
(12) This is also all from OTL, the divergences are going to start popping up now.
(13) This is a big divergence. Sikander Shah winning the rebellion means that the entire branch of the family that originally collapsed into civil war doesn't come to power, and with the longer reigning Sikander being able to prepare another successor.
(14) I haven't been able to find any information on Sikander Shah's other sons, so I am working without historical aid in this.
(15) Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah did this IOTL but was generally a far more peaceful and relaxed ruler who focused on consolidation.
(16) IOTL Sudangphaa had these tribesmen murdered and successfully imported Brahmin practices wholesale. He consolidated and strengthened the Assamese Kingdom which reigned until the British took over.
(17) Jalaluddin Shah is far more of a conqueror than his OTL counterpart, which I think the Bengal Sultanate of the period was capable of. This does mean they haven't had the opportunity to consolidate their gains, but that is where Jalaluddin Shah hopes his son can take over.
(18) Nasiruddin Firuz Shah is going to be really important for the history of Eastern India.
(19) The Ottomans have really been forced to focus more on the East, and they start their alliance with the Aq Qoyunlu with a marriage.
(20) With the Ottomans as Timurid vassals and Bayezid dead, these two are forced to flee to the Mamluks as the only option friendly to them left.
(21) Bayezid was part of this deal IOTL, but due to the changed circumstances there are fewer supporters of the agreement.
(22) Faruj really had no possible chance of winning this, and Qara Yusuf realizes this quickly. Couple that with his youth and the Mamluks are done for.
(23) This time around the Timurids are causing a lot of changes to the middle-east, somewhat different from OTL. The fall of the Mamluks brings an end to the successive slave-king dynasties which marked the OTL history of Egypt.
(24) This is all OTL.
(25) IOTL the Ming were able to meet and defeat the Northern Yuan at the Battle of Buir Lake. About 70,000 Mongols were taken prisoner and the Mongol capital Karakorum was sacked and destroyed. It effectively destroyed the power of the Khan's Mongols for a long time, and allowed the Western Mongols to become supreme. ITTL the Yuan lose a great deal of prestige but are able to retain their army mostly intact. They face several uprisings and a few princes try to usurp the throne, of which one is notably successful.
(26) This happened IOTL as well.
(27) All of this is OTL.
(28) This is a campaign Timur has been planning for, for a long time. The army described was probably one of the most cohesive and disciplined military forces of the era and had faced every type of enemy imaginable. The forces described are based on those he had IOTL.
(29) This is all from OTL. Timur living long enough to launch his invasion really screws with the Ming, who IOTL dedicated 215,000 troops to this conflict.
(30) This is a godsend to the Vietnamese who get an opportunity to establish themselves properly. They are going to be much harder to drive out than IOTL.
(31) I know that this is a rather horrible description of the conflict. I have already spent way too much time on this update covering all these areas, so I hope you can forgive the brief skim. Just imagine that the conflict is an epic struggle with hundreds of thousands fighting on either side across the length and breadth of China.
(32) I really hope that it makes sense to have Guangzhou as capital, I just can't see how Nanjing would stay capital when it was on the front lines. The split between Muslim and Daoist Chinese Empires is going to be interesting in the long run.
(33) The Timurid army being in China is really going to screw with the Timurid successors. This is going to be so fun!
(34) Things are a bit different without Shahrukh alive. Pir Muhammed is in a much stronger position this time, though Khalil Shah has a lot to bring to the table as well.
I'm actually not certain if there is more turmoil ITTL compared to OTL, OTL was incredibly unstable IOTL. The big one which probably pushes it over to this side is invasion of China, but the fall of Egypt is far less violent than Timur's Anatolian campaign and IOTL went through a series of civil wars and instability IOTL which they largely evade ITTL.
Update Twenty-Two: Et Tu Brutus?
Things go horribly wrong in England, though I doubt that surprises anyone, and has impacts further from home. Meanwhile a shift in power is underway. I hope you enjoy this one. If anyone has comments, suggestions or anything like that, I would really love to hear them.
By 1404 Richard, Duke of Carlisle was ready to move (1). His cabal of conspirators, including people as prominent as Thomas of Beaufort, who was regent for his brother, Henry of Bolingbroke's, lands in England, Edward of Norwich, Duke of Cambridge, Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland, John Montagu, Earl of Salisbury, John de la Pole, The Constable of the Tower and Aubrey de Vere, claimant Earl of Oxford - who was angered at the loss of his familial title following the actions of his nephew. Numerous lesser barons joined the revolt in the hopes of ascending to a higher station, these included men such as Thomas le Despenser, Baron le Despenser, Richard le Strange, Baron le Strange, John Darcy, Baron Darcy de Knayth and Reginald Grey, Baron Grey de Ruthyn. They would later be joined by Robert de Vere, who brought with him a major mercenary force to bolster their efforts (2).
On the 4th of June 1404 Richard arrived at the Tower of London with a substantial retinue while the Duke of Cambridge and Earl of Salisbury did the same in the following days. They met with King Edward and with the Constable of the Tower, John de la Pole, slowly insinuating themselves into the court. By July most of the court had left the city for their country estates, with the royal family leaving for Caernarfon Castle in Wales to spend time with Prince Edward and his newly arrived bride, Isabella of France, in the principality (3). It was at this point that the conspirators struck, Richard having convinced the Constable to support his efforts. As night fell on the 16th of July 1404 and Edward prepared for bed, he was interrupted by his brother and the Constable with several guards. At first Edward proved unable to comprehend what was happening to him, but when he realized that his brother was launching a coup he grew enraged. Turning to his bedside, where he kept a sword, he launched a violent attack at his brother and the constable who were only saved by the quick thinking of one of the guards they had brought with them. He attacked the king, disarming him and using his armor to overcome any opposition. King Edward was subsequently taken from his quarters and moved to the top of the tower, where he was kept imprisoned - raging at the betrayal of his trust (4). Richard and the other conspirators quickly spread word that Edward had gone mad, attacking his brother with a sword in a violent fit, and that Richard would be taking over as regent on behalf of his brother. London immediately erupted in rage at the claims of the conspirators, but armed contingents were by this time streaming into the city and made short work of the immediate protests of the Londoners (5).
News of the coup spread rapidly to the shock and horror of Edward's partisans, arriving in Caernarfon late in July. After struggling to understand the news Prince Edward moved quickly, the 19-year old sending out a call to arms to his Welsh subjects, who would assemble at Caernarfon under the command of Owain Glyndwr in their thousands. Henry Percy realized the dangerous situation his friend had ended in and raised his supporters in the north, but quickly found himself contending with the assembled forces of Lancaster, Westmoreland and Carlisle, finding himself quickly outnumbered. He was able to attack and destroy a preliminary force of Lancaster and Carlisle troops at the Battle of Richmond, where he caught the Lancaster forces on the march and successfully put them to flight, eventually running into Carlisle troops that were behind the Lancasters. Henry Percy soon found himself under attack from three sides and was forced to abandon Richmond and draw southwards, first to York and later to Lincoln with the northern force following after (6). In the meanwhile, Aubrey de Vere gathered a force and tried to take Oxford by storm, only stopped by the spirited defense of its young Earl Ingleram, who was swiftly reinforced by his elder brother Thomas de Mowbray and drove the de Vere's from Oxfordshire. The Mowbrays were able to establish control of a band of land from Norfolk to Chester, where Prince Edward arrived with his army of Welshmen, while threatening London from nearby Oxford (7). Robert de Vere landed his forces at Cinque Ports in Kent and marched for London while Thomas de Holland fought to hold him back with the surprising support of the Earl of Stafford, eventually being brushed aside and reduced to harrying the Kentish countryside and London's suburbs to slow passage through the region. Thomas le Despenser raised Essex in support of the conspirators, further strengthening their hold on the regions surrounding London. The Battle of St. Albans followed as the forces assembled at London marched for Oxford and where they were met in battle by the Mowbrays. In the fierce fighting that followed John de Mowbray was put down by Robert de Vere, who was in turn killed by the young Ingleram de Mowbray, who thereby avenged his brother and the harms done to his family. With Robert de Vere's death, the conspirators' forces were blown into disarray, with Thomas de Mowbray and his brother falling on the retreating forces with vengeful fury. The Baron le Despenser was captured and the younger son of the Baron le Strange was killed. The Mowbray's attempted to assemble a force to take London, but found themselves forced back by the vicious raids led by the Baron le Strange (8).
The Battle of Wadworth
Prince Edward gathered supporters from the Welsh marches and moved for Lincoln, where he had learned the Duke of Northumberland and Archbishop of York had been driven by the northern conspirators. The force under the Prince and the northern conspirators under Thomas of Beaufort found themselves in the hills west of the River Trent, north of the town of Tickhill and south of Conisborough, when they clashed at the Battle of Wadworth, named for the nearby Wadworth Hall, with almost 20,000 men on either side. The battle took place on a plateau. The region was hilly, with small roads and slopes which limited the maneuverability of the armies. One road ran through the area, the Long Gate Road, which connected Wadworth Hall to Conisborough. The plateau was bisected by a small vale, which ran from south-west to north-east bisecting the battle. Woodlands were scattered across the hills and particularly in a central wood which kept the two forces apart (9). John of Beaufort was initially willing to stand his ground on the northern side of the plateau, but when Prince Edward sent his archers forward under Owain Glyndwr the rebel forces found themselves under a heavy rain of arrows, with further favor providing the welsh archers with wind to their backs. The Beaufort archers found themselves unable to compete with the massed Welsh, and were put to flight. Thomas of Beaufort, realizing that he must move forward quickly to avoid destruction at the hands of the Welsh, ordered his forces forward into the vale. Edward's army rushed forward in turn while the Welsh kept to the high ground and slowed the rebel army. The two forces met at the bottom of the vale, with the fighting in the central woods taking on incredible intensity. Up and down the vale the two armies clashed while archers on either side fired into the melee at close range. For four hours the fighting sawed back and forth with thousands killed on either side. Slowly the Beaufort forces found themselves pushed out of the vale, though this slowed as they were pushed up the slopes, before Ralph Neville launched his cavalry into the prince's left flank, which buckled under the pressure and seemed ready to break. Owain Glyndwr gathered some 1,000 Welsh archers who were tossed into the meatgrinder to stem the flow. Prince Edward eventually realized that the decisive moment had arrived and launched his bodyguard into the frenzied fighting in the woods, breaking the conspirator's forces. Thomas of Beaufort launched multiple small attacks with the remnants of his cavalry to keep back pursuers while his army slowly extricated itself from the fighting. The conspirators would slowly withdraw northwards, eventually finding winter quarters at York while their supporters devastated the lands of their enemies. By the end of the Battle of Wadworth the conspirators had taken 8,000 losses while the Prince's army was reduced by 6,000. Many of those captured by the Princely forces found no quarters given and were butchered out of hand. This included a son of Ralph Neville and Reginald Grey, Baron Grey of Ruthyn (10). Henry Percy and Henry le Despenser would lead an army out of Lincoln, and northward to dislodge the conspirators from York soon after.
In the south, the Duke of Gloucester arrived with a force of Gascons and Bretons to raise Cornwall for King Edward. He was met in combat by the Earl of Salisbury, who worked expertly to cut off raiding parties and scouts before descending on the Earl of Gloucester as his army left Corfe Castle near Southampton. The Battle of Corfe proved to be a stinging defeat for the Duke of Gloucester who saw his Breton's turn traitor following payment by the Earl of Salisbury, and Gloucester was driven from the field and back into Cornwall. The two forces met again at Glastonbury, where reinforcements under Thomas de Mowbray saved the day (11). Gloucester and Thomas de Mowbray subsequently marched across the length of central England to Oxford, where the assembled might of the royal arms gathered in preparation for an attack on London. The Earl of Salisbury hurried back to London, where Richard gathered his supporters to repel the coming assault. The two armies marched on each other, each numbering almost 25,000, and thundered into each other at the Battle of Windsor in October 1404, during a rainy afternoon. The two sides hammered at each other, first with archery and artillery to limited effect, and then later in an all-out assault across the front. The resultant bloodbath turned the nearby streams into rivers of blood which ran into the Thames and would lead to one of the streams gaining the name Red River, while the two sides struggled to come to grips with each other in the mud. Thomas de Mowbray cut through the right wing of the conspirators' army until he ran into the Earl of Salisbury. The following clash ended with Salisbury captured and wounded in the mud by the young Duke after a fierce fight. The Duke of Cambridge led a force of 3,000, making up most of the conspirators' reserves, into the left wing, clashing with the Duke of Gloucester's contingent. The Earl of Gloucester launched himself at his nephew but was borne to the ground in the fierce fighting that followed and drowned in the mud. The pressure on the left wing slowly began to turn the enemy front, but when Baron le Strange led an assault on the forces surrounding the Prince of Wales in the center, and was defeated and captured, the Prince was able to lead a force into stopping the slow push back of the left. The battle slowly but surely turned in favor of the Prince's army, and Richard was forced draw his force under Cambridge back. The retreat turned into a rout when the young Ingleram de Mowbray launched a carefully hoarded cavalry reserve into the Cambridge contingent of the enemy army, which had fallen behind the rest of the conspirators' contingents. The attack splintered the Cambridge men and put them to flight. Ingleram succeeded in attacking and capturing the Duke of Cambridge in an ambitious assault on the duke's personal retinue. This left the rear of the enemy army open, and led the Prince of Wales to launch an all-out chase to catch the enemy. In the following rush thousands of rebels perished, among them Richard, Duke of Carlisle, who was caught trying to escape across the Thames by men under the Earl of Stafford, who fell on the Duke and butchered him, leaving little to bury in the casket at his private funeral (12).
London rose against the conspirators when news arrived of the Battle of Windsor, with John de la Pole fleeing the city for safety in France. King Edward was freed from his cell in the Tower of London by the Londoners, and swiftly prepared to receive the victorious army that had marched straight from Windsor. In the north Henry Percy was able to drive the conspirators from York in early 1405, with many of them sending pleas for mercy to King Edward or escaping across the northern border, and later to France (13). Ingleram de Mowbray, widely considered to have gained the greatest amount of prestige in the conflict, found himself elevated to a Dukedom in thanks for his efforts and received the remaining de Vere lands in thanks, Aubrey de Vere having died of complications from a wound taken at St. Albans while his son had taken refuge in France (14). Thomas de Mowbray would ask for the Earl of Salisbury's life, having agreed to marry Anne de Montagu, the Earl's daughter, in addition to a major ransom from the Earl after meeting the family during the negotiations over the ransom. The Baron le Strange found himself in the weird position of having the man he tried to kill, Prince Edward, ask for le Strange's life, Edward having been impressed by the Baron's prowess in battle. Both of these requests were granted, though the Earl of Salisbury would find himself under close watch for the remainder of his life. Ralph Neville was allowed to retain his position after sending a plea for mercy to Edward, claiming that he had been lied to by the conspirators, an argument Edward accepted in light of their long friendship (15). Thomas of Beaufort found himself forced to flee, while the Lancaster Estates were put under royal control until the degree of involvement of the King of Castile could be determined, an act which would have profound effects on the future relations of the two Kingdoms. The Baron le Spenser found himself confined to the Tower for the remainder of his life, following pleas by his uncle the Archbishop of York, while his son was taken as a ward of the King and his lands were placed under royal control (16). Attainders and confiscations were rampant, with supporters rewarded at the cost of the conspirators, particularly the Duke of Cambridge lost a great deal of land and had his title downgraded to an Earldom, but escaped with his life. The confiscations of the lands held by the Duke of Carlisle proved immensely profitable to the crown, who used the sudden financial gains to pay for the troops that had worked to free Edward (17). The conduct of the Prince of Wales was widely praised by many and hopes for his reign remained high. King Edward would never again stay at the Tower of London and would not spend any longer than necessary in London, instead building a massive palace to the north-west of London, near the village of Battle Bridge, where it was said Boudicea had fought a major battle with the Romans and, as some whispered, she was buried (18). The Battle Palace was an immense construction built around a central fortress, marked with gardens, fountains, churches and chapels. An immense library was built and stocked with books collected from many of the conspirators, boosting the King's already extensive library immensely, particularly from the extensive Lancaster estates. Architects and artists were drawn from across Europe to build the palace where King Edward would feel safe and secure. The construction of the palace would take more than ten years, although the royal family and the rest of the court took up residence two years into the building process, when the central buildings were finished.
Murder and Partisanship Become Endemic in France
At the beginning of the fifteenth century the King’s two paternal uncles between them directly controlled about two-thirds of the territory of France in one form or another and were appropriating something like a quarter of the revenues of the Crown. Yet theirs were very far from being the only demands on the King’s coffers. The other dukes and rulers, the Kings of Navarre and England as well as the Dukes of Orléans, Anjou, Brittany and Bourbon, also enjoyed extensive rights over the proceeds of royal taxes in their domains and received periodic pensions and gifts. A host of lesser noblemen had their own smaller claims. Each of these men had clients, protégés and supporters in their own regions who expected grants and favors. A river of pensions, gifts and pay-rises flowed into the purses of their allies and supporters in the higher reaches of the civil service (19).
By far the most disruptive of these predators, because he had the largest ambitions, was the King’s brother, Louis, Duc d'Orléans. Louis was twenty-eight years old in 1400, two years younger than the King. Orphaned as small children, the two brothers had been brought up together under the distant tutelage of their uncles. For nine years, until Charles’s emancipation in 1388, they had suffered the same frustrating combination of high status and practical impotence. The experience created a lifelong bond between them which survived through all the King’s vicissitudes and gave Louis d'Orléans a large measure of influence during the King’s periods of lucidity. Like his brother, Louis was extrovert, self-indulgent and extravagant. But Louis could never enjoy the respect or the discretion which shielded the King’s excesses. He was widely regarded as vicious: dissolute and unstable, addicted to gambling and womanizing, surrounding himself with wild friends and throwing debauched parties. His obsessive interest in sorcery and the black arts was an open secret. These things overshadowed his undoubted abilities. For Louis was a politician of exceptional ability, charming and gracious, politically astute, highly intelligent and articulate in council, with an outstanding memory and intense powers of concentration. His assets in France originally amounted to little more than the counties of Valois and Beaumont in the Oise valley north-west of Paris, subject to the rights of the elderly royal dowager who currently occupied them for life; the duchy of Touraine, a modest appanage whose revenues barely covered the cost of its administration and which had been granted to him on terms that it was all that he could expect to receive; and the dowry of his wife comprising the county of Vertus in Champagne and 450,000 florins in cash. During the government of the Marmousets, Louis was able to fund his exuberant style of life by borrowing and periodic hand-outs from his brother. But it was a painful reminder of his dependence, especially when compared with the splendid state of his uncles with their rich appanages, their pompous entourages and their tendency to patronize the younger princes about them. In the course of the 1390s Louis of Orléans single-mindedly set about expanding his landed demesne. Early in 1392 he acquired the county of Blois for 200,000 francs. Then in June he exchanged Touraine for the larger and more prestigious duchy of Orléans, one of the King’s last acts of largesse before the onset of his illness. The county of Valois finally came into his hands in 1393. Over the following years Louis embarked on an energetic program of acquisitions in Champagne, buying up lordships from heavily indebted noblemen struggling to make ends meet in the worst agricultural crisis in memory. These purchases were funded partly with cash from his wife’s dowry and partly with grants made by the King before the onset of his illness. They were his last significant acquisitions for several years. The tight control exercised in Paris by the Dukes of Burgundy and Berry more or less stopped the flow of fresh royal grants to their ambitious nephew after they recovered power in 1392. Indeed Louis did not even receive the comparatively modest pension from the Crown that was his due, and in 1399 he claimed to be owed no less than 300,000 in arrears (20).
Louis embarked on a sustained campaign to extend his influence on the marches of the French kingdom at the expense of his uncles. His first target was the strategically critical triangle of German territory between Burgundy, the Burgundian Low Countries and the Rhine. Philip the Bold had had his eye for many years on this region, which lay across the main routes between his domains in Flanders and Burgundy. But Louis got there before him, actively acquiring retainers and allies in the region under Philip’s nose. In June 1398, three months after the embarrassing summit at Reims, Louis achieved his greatest coup by buying for 2,000 livres a year the homage of Charles, Duke of Lorraine, whose vast domains extended from the county of Burgundy to the marches of Wenceslaus’s duchy of Luxembourg. The Duke of Orléans’ opportunity finally came at the beginning of 1399. In February the King recovered his senses after nearly a year of almost continuous ‘absence’. Shortly afterwards a virulent epidemic of bubonic plague hit the capital, causing most of the princes to flee to their suburban mansions or distant domains. It was a critical moment. Louis resolved to stay in Paris and made his bid for power. He took physical control of his enfeebled brother and worked on him in his intervals of coherence. Charles’s official correspondence described the two men as ‘inseparable’. Within a few weeks Louis had achieved a brief ascendancy in the royal council. By the summer no one doubted that he had become the dominant figure in the French government.
The Duc de Berry urged Philip of Bourgogne to reside for a while at court and reclaim his position on the council. Perhaps, he wrote from Paris, the King was not really as submissive as his brother believed: ‘I am sure that when you are next here you will have even more power over the King than you used to have and quite as much as he has.’ Philip took his brother’s advice. In October 1399 he arrived at Rouen, where the royal court was then staying to escape the plague, and returned with it to Paris the following January. For the next eighteen months he remained close to the ailing King as his senses came and went. It was one of the longest continuous periods that Philip had passed in the capital since his succession to the county of Flanders fifteen years before. He recovered some of his old influence in government. But he never regained the unchallenged pre-eminence that he had once enjoyed. Henceforth he was forced to engage in a continual contest for power with his nephew. When he was in Paris his powerful personality usually prevailed. But he could not always be in Paris. His far-flung dominions demanded his presence. His wife and councilors, the relays of mounted messengers who brought him news and papers from Flanders and Burgundy, the devoted clerks and secretaries who managed his administration from the Hôtel de Bourgogne, these things were not enough. The Duc d'Orléans by comparison was almost always present (21).
Louis d'Orléans Unveiling A Mistress
The effect of Louis’ coup was to open the floodgates of royal largesse after seven years in which they had been kept firmly closed by the Dukes of Burgundy and Berry. Périgord was granted to him in January 1400, creating with the county of Angoulême, though only the northern reaches under French control, a solid block of Orléanist territory on the northern march of the English duchy of Guyenne. In May of the same year Louis was granted the strategic fortress of Château-Thierry on the Marne, followed in July by the town and county of Dreux with its imposing castle on the east march of Normandy. In October he bought the county of Porcien, lying between Champagne and the northern border of France. In the result by the turn of the new century the Duc d'Orléans had become the principal territorial magnate in the middle Loire, in Champagne, in the valleys of the Oise and the Aisne north of Paris and on the northern march of Guyenne. By virtue of a privilege granted to him in 1399 all of these territories were treated as part of his appanage and removed from the purview of the King’s officers. In addition he was receiving the whole produce of the gabelle and the taille in his domains and a large part of the royal aides, together with a regular flow of cash loans, gifts and pensions from the royal treasury. The account of the Duke’s Receiver-General for 1404–5, would record total receipts for that year amounting to 453,000 livres, less than a tenth of which came from the ordinary revenues of his demesne. The rest, some 409,000 livres, came directly or indirectly from the Crown. Even at the height of his influence Philip the Bold had never been able to draw subsidies on that scale (22).
The deaths from the plague cemented Louis d'Orléans' power over the throne as his rivals died, one by one. The breaking of the Berry-Bourgogne alliance had already occurred with the childless death of Antoine de Bourgogne, but the deaths of the two royal uncles ensured that Louis would face no immediate challenge to his power. Using his influence over Charles, Louis was able to push Charles d'Albret into the position of Constable, Albret's father having succumb to the plague. Jean d'Alençon joined the Orléans faction soon after as well, being raised to Marshal of France despite his extreme youth following a significant payment to Orléans helping to pay out some of his debts. At the same time Jean de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam joins the Burgundian Faction while Jean VII d'Harcourt joined the Navarrese faction in an effort to regain his lands in Normandy, held by the Navarrese since the early 1380s. Jean II le Maingre, called Boucicaut found himself tied increasingly to the Berry faction (23). Between 1399 and 1401 Louis set about entrenching his position. When the King was coherent he sedulously deployed his influence to refashion the administration in his own image, putting his own clients into critical positions and taking under his wing many who were already there. These changes would stand him in good stead during Charles VI’s ‘absences’ when he had once more to compete with his uncles on the royal council. Significant changes were made in the financial departments, which had hitherto been dominated by protégés of the Duke of Burgundy. The Chambre des Comptes, which served as the audit office of the state, and the Conseil-Général des Aides, which supervised the collection of taxes, were both stuffed with Orléanists. One of Louis’ household staff became receiver of royal revenues in Paris and eventually Treasurer of France. Louis forged a close alliance with the three brothers Montaigu, scions of a formidable administrative dynasty who had previously hitched their fortunes to the star of the Duke of Berry. Jean I de Montaigu, Bishop of Chartres, the eldest of the brothers, who had risen through the financial service of the monarchy, became First President of the Chambre des Comptes. The Duke of Orléans procured the appointment of Jean II de Montaigu, Charles VI’s private secretary, as Master of the Royal Household and effectively the head of the administration (24).
Louis was not popular among the inhabitants of Paris. But he saw to it that his allies were installed in the main centers of power there. Jean II de Montaigu was captain of the Bastille and another ally was captain of the Louvre. Guillaume de Tignonville, one of his chamberlains, became royal Provost and captain of the castle of Monthéry. In the provinces Orléanists gradually migrated into the offices of the royal baillis and seneschals and the principal captaincies. It was at least partly a question of generations. Once the Dukes of Burgundy and Berry realized what was happening they responded by jockeying for patronage and position, provoking an inflationary spiral of corruption. All of the notables of the administration owed their jobs, their political survival and their fortunes to the patronage of one or other of the princes. They shared in the spoils of the monarchy, taking bribes from outsiders and fees, gifts and pensions from the King, augmenting their salaries with ‘extraordinary’ supplements which were in reality permanent and doubled or trebled their value. They developed their own patronage among their subordinates, multiplying posts down to the lowest levels of the civil service, conferring ‘extraordinary supplements’ on their protégés, tacitly endorsing the practice of allowing functionaries to trade their jobs and nominate their successors. The leading administrative families created dense networks of alliances, fortified by judicious dynastic marriages among their own kind. These grandees of the bureaucracy returned the favour of their princely patrons by supporting them in the councils of the state, by complaisantly sealing improvident grants in their favor and allowing the king’s revenues to be diverted to their use. As the wheel of fortune cast down some patrons and raised up others they survived by switching their loyalties as best they could. The dominance exercised by Louis d'Orléans would be maintained for the next several years as his cousins fought to take up the reins of their fathers. Charles de Berry and Jean de Bourgogne would spend years picking up where their fathers had left off and particularly the Berrys found themselves distracted by the rapidly developing conflict in Castile following the death of King Juan II de Lancaster. The uncertainty and confusion regarding who reigned where, would keep the lesser magnates in a constant state of tension, as feuds and banditry were given free reign. The distraction of the great lords led to depredations and chaos as the feared free companies returned from conflicts elsewhere to feed at the trough in France (25).
Footnotes:
(1) Dun Dun Dun! Richard goes for broke.
(2) I know that there are a lot of different people mentioned here with little context. This is mostly to give an idea of the major support Richard has built in the five years since Edward's return from the crusade. You can read up on the different people elsewhere if it interests you. Many of their descendants played important roles in the Wars of the Roses in OTL.
(3) Prince Edward finally has some individuality. How common these trips to Wales are is a question up for debate, Joan of Navarre moves back and forth quite a bit, along with several of her children. Prince Edward spends a lot of time ruling Wales and has a significant following in the region.
(4) There isn't much Edward could have done by this point, the coup is already in motion. He isn't going to play much a role for most of this update, so others get to take the spotlight.
(5) The Londoners are loyal to their King, as they have been since the Great Peasants' Revolt in the early 1380s. There just isn't much they can do at this point.
(6) And things are off. The battles in the north push the royalists out of the region and into central England where their base of power is primarily situated.
(7) This is really what bring Ingleram to the forefront of the conflict. The attempted capture of Oxford, and particularly its failure, ensures that Richard and his cabal are under constant pressure to defend the capital and ties up many of their forces who might otherwise have attacked into Norfolk or towards Lincoln.
(8) The Battle of St. Albans is the first major battle of the conflict and ensures that the reaches north of London remain in royalist hands. A loss in this conflict would have opened up the royalist heartlands to raids by the cabalists.
(9) The landscape shares many similarities to the battlefield of Towton, but is much further south. The hills of the region force the two sides together and limit the maneuverability of the armies.
(10) There really isn't a great deal of tactical genius behind the battle. The battle is a slugging match, pure and simple, which bears some similarities to a number of battles from OTL Wars of the Roses. Both commanders are quite young and inexperienced and that really shows in this battle. The lack of chase following the battle is an example of that inexperience on the Part of the Prince, while Owain Glyndwr is busy trying to put his archers back together and therefore can't suggest it.
(11) The Earl of Gloucester really has a bad run of things in this conflict, then again the Earl of Salisbury is also one of the most experienced and skilled commanders on the side of the cabalists so it is understandable.
(12) This is the big battle that determines the course of the revolt. Richard's death really solves a great number of problems for Edward while several men distinguish themselves in their service. The captures of several central cabalists really turns things around and is a deathblow to the rebel cause. They might have been able to stay in the fight without Richard, but losing Salisbury and Cambridge ensures their fall.
(13) There really isn't much they can do at this point beyond what they are. The rebels are fighting for a lost cause.
(14) Ingleram is a man to watch from this point onwards, as Duke of Oxford and a gifted military leader he will be front and center in England's future conflicts.
(15) It might be surprising to see so many get off easily for their treason, but the people asking for the rebels' lives are literally taking responsibility for any future wrongdoings they may commit. It is also important to remember that Edward gains a great deal of prestige pardoning them and that this is the first serious civil war between nobility in many years, and as such they aren't prepared to punish each other to the fullest just yet. Edward is still sitting strong on his throne and really doesn't have much to prove by this point in time.
(16) We will get into Castile in the next update, but the le Spencers are on thin ice at this point. It will take a miracle for the young le Spencer to remove the blot of treason from his family's record.
(17) The confiscations and attainments really strengthen the crown immensely and ensures that the King is the largest landowner. The Earls of Cambridge are going to remember why they aren't Dukes for quite a while.
(18) This is King's Cross IOTL. It is named for a massive 19th century statue. Before then it was called Battle Bridge. The legend mentioned is from OTL.
(19) This section is going to go into the struggles for power of the French dukes. While England has just crushed most of these internal enemies, France is just starting to experience the chaos they will face for years to come.
(20) I thought it would be a good idea to understand who the Duc d'Orléans was. This is all based on OTL.
(21) Louis could be quite brazen about his grabs at power. He now succeeds and is able to take control of his brother's rule. This is all OTL
(22) Again all OTL. There are some lands that he hasn't gotten a grip on due to the changed circumstances ITTL. Most importantly IOTL he gained the lands of Coucy when Enguerrand VII de Coucy died without a son and Louis was able to buy up the lands from Coucy's wife, who was disputing ownership with her stepdaughter.
(23) The people mentioned here are going to be the military leaders for the different factions for quite some time, so keep track of them. They were all significant IOTL as well.
(24) This is all part of OTL Louis d'Orléans' takeover of power. He is basically doing what Richard will attempt to do four years later in England ITTL. He serves as something of an inspiration to Richard.
(25) Louis really isn't making a lot of friends, and didn't IOTL either. I find the degree of violence directly used against family members contrast wildly between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Sure you have outliers like Charles the Bad and Phillip the Bold using Pierre de Craon against his brother Louis d'Anjou, but on the whole they rarely tried to physically harm each other. Compare that to the fifteenth century where you have assassinations of Orléans, John the Fearless and more with a familial civil war. In England you have the deposition of King Richard and the butchering of numerous family members in revolts and executions lasting throughout the next century, culminating in the Wars of the Roses. I really want to know why such as sharp contrast is present.
Et Tu Brutus?
The Imprisonment of King Edward V
The Imprisonment of King Edward V
By 1404 Richard, Duke of Carlisle was ready to move (1). His cabal of conspirators, including people as prominent as Thomas of Beaufort, who was regent for his brother, Henry of Bolingbroke's, lands in England, Edward of Norwich, Duke of Cambridge, Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland, John Montagu, Earl of Salisbury, John de la Pole, The Constable of the Tower and Aubrey de Vere, claimant Earl of Oxford - who was angered at the loss of his familial title following the actions of his nephew. Numerous lesser barons joined the revolt in the hopes of ascending to a higher station, these included men such as Thomas le Despenser, Baron le Despenser, Richard le Strange, Baron le Strange, John Darcy, Baron Darcy de Knayth and Reginald Grey, Baron Grey de Ruthyn. They would later be joined by Robert de Vere, who brought with him a major mercenary force to bolster their efforts (2).
On the 4th of June 1404 Richard arrived at the Tower of London with a substantial retinue while the Duke of Cambridge and Earl of Salisbury did the same in the following days. They met with King Edward and with the Constable of the Tower, John de la Pole, slowly insinuating themselves into the court. By July most of the court had left the city for their country estates, with the royal family leaving for Caernarfon Castle in Wales to spend time with Prince Edward and his newly arrived bride, Isabella of France, in the principality (3). It was at this point that the conspirators struck, Richard having convinced the Constable to support his efforts. As night fell on the 16th of July 1404 and Edward prepared for bed, he was interrupted by his brother and the Constable with several guards. At first Edward proved unable to comprehend what was happening to him, but when he realized that his brother was launching a coup he grew enraged. Turning to his bedside, where he kept a sword, he launched a violent attack at his brother and the constable who were only saved by the quick thinking of one of the guards they had brought with them. He attacked the king, disarming him and using his armor to overcome any opposition. King Edward was subsequently taken from his quarters and moved to the top of the tower, where he was kept imprisoned - raging at the betrayal of his trust (4). Richard and the other conspirators quickly spread word that Edward had gone mad, attacking his brother with a sword in a violent fit, and that Richard would be taking over as regent on behalf of his brother. London immediately erupted in rage at the claims of the conspirators, but armed contingents were by this time streaming into the city and made short work of the immediate protests of the Londoners (5).
News of the coup spread rapidly to the shock and horror of Edward's partisans, arriving in Caernarfon late in July. After struggling to understand the news Prince Edward moved quickly, the 19-year old sending out a call to arms to his Welsh subjects, who would assemble at Caernarfon under the command of Owain Glyndwr in their thousands. Henry Percy realized the dangerous situation his friend had ended in and raised his supporters in the north, but quickly found himself contending with the assembled forces of Lancaster, Westmoreland and Carlisle, finding himself quickly outnumbered. He was able to attack and destroy a preliminary force of Lancaster and Carlisle troops at the Battle of Richmond, where he caught the Lancaster forces on the march and successfully put them to flight, eventually running into Carlisle troops that were behind the Lancasters. Henry Percy soon found himself under attack from three sides and was forced to abandon Richmond and draw southwards, first to York and later to Lincoln with the northern force following after (6). In the meanwhile, Aubrey de Vere gathered a force and tried to take Oxford by storm, only stopped by the spirited defense of its young Earl Ingleram, who was swiftly reinforced by his elder brother Thomas de Mowbray and drove the de Vere's from Oxfordshire. The Mowbrays were able to establish control of a band of land from Norfolk to Chester, where Prince Edward arrived with his army of Welshmen, while threatening London from nearby Oxford (7). Robert de Vere landed his forces at Cinque Ports in Kent and marched for London while Thomas de Holland fought to hold him back with the surprising support of the Earl of Stafford, eventually being brushed aside and reduced to harrying the Kentish countryside and London's suburbs to slow passage through the region. Thomas le Despenser raised Essex in support of the conspirators, further strengthening their hold on the regions surrounding London. The Battle of St. Albans followed as the forces assembled at London marched for Oxford and where they were met in battle by the Mowbrays. In the fierce fighting that followed John de Mowbray was put down by Robert de Vere, who was in turn killed by the young Ingleram de Mowbray, who thereby avenged his brother and the harms done to his family. With Robert de Vere's death, the conspirators' forces were blown into disarray, with Thomas de Mowbray and his brother falling on the retreating forces with vengeful fury. The Baron le Despenser was captured and the younger son of the Baron le Strange was killed. The Mowbray's attempted to assemble a force to take London, but found themselves forced back by the vicious raids led by the Baron le Strange (8).
The Battle of Wadworth
Prince Edward gathered supporters from the Welsh marches and moved for Lincoln, where he had learned the Duke of Northumberland and Archbishop of York had been driven by the northern conspirators. The force under the Prince and the northern conspirators under Thomas of Beaufort found themselves in the hills west of the River Trent, north of the town of Tickhill and south of Conisborough, when they clashed at the Battle of Wadworth, named for the nearby Wadworth Hall, with almost 20,000 men on either side. The battle took place on a plateau. The region was hilly, with small roads and slopes which limited the maneuverability of the armies. One road ran through the area, the Long Gate Road, which connected Wadworth Hall to Conisborough. The plateau was bisected by a small vale, which ran from south-west to north-east bisecting the battle. Woodlands were scattered across the hills and particularly in a central wood which kept the two forces apart (9). John of Beaufort was initially willing to stand his ground on the northern side of the plateau, but when Prince Edward sent his archers forward under Owain Glyndwr the rebel forces found themselves under a heavy rain of arrows, with further favor providing the welsh archers with wind to their backs. The Beaufort archers found themselves unable to compete with the massed Welsh, and were put to flight. Thomas of Beaufort, realizing that he must move forward quickly to avoid destruction at the hands of the Welsh, ordered his forces forward into the vale. Edward's army rushed forward in turn while the Welsh kept to the high ground and slowed the rebel army. The two forces met at the bottom of the vale, with the fighting in the central woods taking on incredible intensity. Up and down the vale the two armies clashed while archers on either side fired into the melee at close range. For four hours the fighting sawed back and forth with thousands killed on either side. Slowly the Beaufort forces found themselves pushed out of the vale, though this slowed as they were pushed up the slopes, before Ralph Neville launched his cavalry into the prince's left flank, which buckled under the pressure and seemed ready to break. Owain Glyndwr gathered some 1,000 Welsh archers who were tossed into the meatgrinder to stem the flow. Prince Edward eventually realized that the decisive moment had arrived and launched his bodyguard into the frenzied fighting in the woods, breaking the conspirator's forces. Thomas of Beaufort launched multiple small attacks with the remnants of his cavalry to keep back pursuers while his army slowly extricated itself from the fighting. The conspirators would slowly withdraw northwards, eventually finding winter quarters at York while their supporters devastated the lands of their enemies. By the end of the Battle of Wadworth the conspirators had taken 8,000 losses while the Prince's army was reduced by 6,000. Many of those captured by the Princely forces found no quarters given and were butchered out of hand. This included a son of Ralph Neville and Reginald Grey, Baron Grey of Ruthyn (10). Henry Percy and Henry le Despenser would lead an army out of Lincoln, and northward to dislodge the conspirators from York soon after.
In the south, the Duke of Gloucester arrived with a force of Gascons and Bretons to raise Cornwall for King Edward. He was met in combat by the Earl of Salisbury, who worked expertly to cut off raiding parties and scouts before descending on the Earl of Gloucester as his army left Corfe Castle near Southampton. The Battle of Corfe proved to be a stinging defeat for the Duke of Gloucester who saw his Breton's turn traitor following payment by the Earl of Salisbury, and Gloucester was driven from the field and back into Cornwall. The two forces met again at Glastonbury, where reinforcements under Thomas de Mowbray saved the day (11). Gloucester and Thomas de Mowbray subsequently marched across the length of central England to Oxford, where the assembled might of the royal arms gathered in preparation for an attack on London. The Earl of Salisbury hurried back to London, where Richard gathered his supporters to repel the coming assault. The two armies marched on each other, each numbering almost 25,000, and thundered into each other at the Battle of Windsor in October 1404, during a rainy afternoon. The two sides hammered at each other, first with archery and artillery to limited effect, and then later in an all-out assault across the front. The resultant bloodbath turned the nearby streams into rivers of blood which ran into the Thames and would lead to one of the streams gaining the name Red River, while the two sides struggled to come to grips with each other in the mud. Thomas de Mowbray cut through the right wing of the conspirators' army until he ran into the Earl of Salisbury. The following clash ended with Salisbury captured and wounded in the mud by the young Duke after a fierce fight. The Duke of Cambridge led a force of 3,000, making up most of the conspirators' reserves, into the left wing, clashing with the Duke of Gloucester's contingent. The Earl of Gloucester launched himself at his nephew but was borne to the ground in the fierce fighting that followed and drowned in the mud. The pressure on the left wing slowly began to turn the enemy front, but when Baron le Strange led an assault on the forces surrounding the Prince of Wales in the center, and was defeated and captured, the Prince was able to lead a force into stopping the slow push back of the left. The battle slowly but surely turned in favor of the Prince's army, and Richard was forced draw his force under Cambridge back. The retreat turned into a rout when the young Ingleram de Mowbray launched a carefully hoarded cavalry reserve into the Cambridge contingent of the enemy army, which had fallen behind the rest of the conspirators' contingents. The attack splintered the Cambridge men and put them to flight. Ingleram succeeded in attacking and capturing the Duke of Cambridge in an ambitious assault on the duke's personal retinue. This left the rear of the enemy army open, and led the Prince of Wales to launch an all-out chase to catch the enemy. In the following rush thousands of rebels perished, among them Richard, Duke of Carlisle, who was caught trying to escape across the Thames by men under the Earl of Stafford, who fell on the Duke and butchered him, leaving little to bury in the casket at his private funeral (12).
London rose against the conspirators when news arrived of the Battle of Windsor, with John de la Pole fleeing the city for safety in France. King Edward was freed from his cell in the Tower of London by the Londoners, and swiftly prepared to receive the victorious army that had marched straight from Windsor. In the north Henry Percy was able to drive the conspirators from York in early 1405, with many of them sending pleas for mercy to King Edward or escaping across the northern border, and later to France (13). Ingleram de Mowbray, widely considered to have gained the greatest amount of prestige in the conflict, found himself elevated to a Dukedom in thanks for his efforts and received the remaining de Vere lands in thanks, Aubrey de Vere having died of complications from a wound taken at St. Albans while his son had taken refuge in France (14). Thomas de Mowbray would ask for the Earl of Salisbury's life, having agreed to marry Anne de Montagu, the Earl's daughter, in addition to a major ransom from the Earl after meeting the family during the negotiations over the ransom. The Baron le Strange found himself in the weird position of having the man he tried to kill, Prince Edward, ask for le Strange's life, Edward having been impressed by the Baron's prowess in battle. Both of these requests were granted, though the Earl of Salisbury would find himself under close watch for the remainder of his life. Ralph Neville was allowed to retain his position after sending a plea for mercy to Edward, claiming that he had been lied to by the conspirators, an argument Edward accepted in light of their long friendship (15). Thomas of Beaufort found himself forced to flee, while the Lancaster Estates were put under royal control until the degree of involvement of the King of Castile could be determined, an act which would have profound effects on the future relations of the two Kingdoms. The Baron le Spenser found himself confined to the Tower for the remainder of his life, following pleas by his uncle the Archbishop of York, while his son was taken as a ward of the King and his lands were placed under royal control (16). Attainders and confiscations were rampant, with supporters rewarded at the cost of the conspirators, particularly the Duke of Cambridge lost a great deal of land and had his title downgraded to an Earldom, but escaped with his life. The confiscations of the lands held by the Duke of Carlisle proved immensely profitable to the crown, who used the sudden financial gains to pay for the troops that had worked to free Edward (17). The conduct of the Prince of Wales was widely praised by many and hopes for his reign remained high. King Edward would never again stay at the Tower of London and would not spend any longer than necessary in London, instead building a massive palace to the north-west of London, near the village of Battle Bridge, where it was said Boudicea had fought a major battle with the Romans and, as some whispered, she was buried (18). The Battle Palace was an immense construction built around a central fortress, marked with gardens, fountains, churches and chapels. An immense library was built and stocked with books collected from many of the conspirators, boosting the King's already extensive library immensely, particularly from the extensive Lancaster estates. Architects and artists were drawn from across Europe to build the palace where King Edward would feel safe and secure. The construction of the palace would take more than ten years, although the royal family and the rest of the court took up residence two years into the building process, when the central buildings were finished.
Murder and Partisanship Become Endemic in France
At the beginning of the fifteenth century the King’s two paternal uncles between them directly controlled about two-thirds of the territory of France in one form or another and were appropriating something like a quarter of the revenues of the Crown. Yet theirs were very far from being the only demands on the King’s coffers. The other dukes and rulers, the Kings of Navarre and England as well as the Dukes of Orléans, Anjou, Brittany and Bourbon, also enjoyed extensive rights over the proceeds of royal taxes in their domains and received periodic pensions and gifts. A host of lesser noblemen had their own smaller claims. Each of these men had clients, protégés and supporters in their own regions who expected grants and favors. A river of pensions, gifts and pay-rises flowed into the purses of their allies and supporters in the higher reaches of the civil service (19).
By far the most disruptive of these predators, because he had the largest ambitions, was the King’s brother, Louis, Duc d'Orléans. Louis was twenty-eight years old in 1400, two years younger than the King. Orphaned as small children, the two brothers had been brought up together under the distant tutelage of their uncles. For nine years, until Charles’s emancipation in 1388, they had suffered the same frustrating combination of high status and practical impotence. The experience created a lifelong bond between them which survived through all the King’s vicissitudes and gave Louis d'Orléans a large measure of influence during the King’s periods of lucidity. Like his brother, Louis was extrovert, self-indulgent and extravagant. But Louis could never enjoy the respect or the discretion which shielded the King’s excesses. He was widely regarded as vicious: dissolute and unstable, addicted to gambling and womanizing, surrounding himself with wild friends and throwing debauched parties. His obsessive interest in sorcery and the black arts was an open secret. These things overshadowed his undoubted abilities. For Louis was a politician of exceptional ability, charming and gracious, politically astute, highly intelligent and articulate in council, with an outstanding memory and intense powers of concentration. His assets in France originally amounted to little more than the counties of Valois and Beaumont in the Oise valley north-west of Paris, subject to the rights of the elderly royal dowager who currently occupied them for life; the duchy of Touraine, a modest appanage whose revenues barely covered the cost of its administration and which had been granted to him on terms that it was all that he could expect to receive; and the dowry of his wife comprising the county of Vertus in Champagne and 450,000 florins in cash. During the government of the Marmousets, Louis was able to fund his exuberant style of life by borrowing and periodic hand-outs from his brother. But it was a painful reminder of his dependence, especially when compared with the splendid state of his uncles with their rich appanages, their pompous entourages and their tendency to patronize the younger princes about them. In the course of the 1390s Louis of Orléans single-mindedly set about expanding his landed demesne. Early in 1392 he acquired the county of Blois for 200,000 francs. Then in June he exchanged Touraine for the larger and more prestigious duchy of Orléans, one of the King’s last acts of largesse before the onset of his illness. The county of Valois finally came into his hands in 1393. Over the following years Louis embarked on an energetic program of acquisitions in Champagne, buying up lordships from heavily indebted noblemen struggling to make ends meet in the worst agricultural crisis in memory. These purchases were funded partly with cash from his wife’s dowry and partly with grants made by the King before the onset of his illness. They were his last significant acquisitions for several years. The tight control exercised in Paris by the Dukes of Burgundy and Berry more or less stopped the flow of fresh royal grants to their ambitious nephew after they recovered power in 1392. Indeed Louis did not even receive the comparatively modest pension from the Crown that was his due, and in 1399 he claimed to be owed no less than 300,000 in arrears (20).
Louis embarked on a sustained campaign to extend his influence on the marches of the French kingdom at the expense of his uncles. His first target was the strategically critical triangle of German territory between Burgundy, the Burgundian Low Countries and the Rhine. Philip the Bold had had his eye for many years on this region, which lay across the main routes between his domains in Flanders and Burgundy. But Louis got there before him, actively acquiring retainers and allies in the region under Philip’s nose. In June 1398, three months after the embarrassing summit at Reims, Louis achieved his greatest coup by buying for 2,000 livres a year the homage of Charles, Duke of Lorraine, whose vast domains extended from the county of Burgundy to the marches of Wenceslaus’s duchy of Luxembourg. The Duke of Orléans’ opportunity finally came at the beginning of 1399. In February the King recovered his senses after nearly a year of almost continuous ‘absence’. Shortly afterwards a virulent epidemic of bubonic plague hit the capital, causing most of the princes to flee to their suburban mansions or distant domains. It was a critical moment. Louis resolved to stay in Paris and made his bid for power. He took physical control of his enfeebled brother and worked on him in his intervals of coherence. Charles’s official correspondence described the two men as ‘inseparable’. Within a few weeks Louis had achieved a brief ascendancy in the royal council. By the summer no one doubted that he had become the dominant figure in the French government.
The Duc de Berry urged Philip of Bourgogne to reside for a while at court and reclaim his position on the council. Perhaps, he wrote from Paris, the King was not really as submissive as his brother believed: ‘I am sure that when you are next here you will have even more power over the King than you used to have and quite as much as he has.’ Philip took his brother’s advice. In October 1399 he arrived at Rouen, where the royal court was then staying to escape the plague, and returned with it to Paris the following January. For the next eighteen months he remained close to the ailing King as his senses came and went. It was one of the longest continuous periods that Philip had passed in the capital since his succession to the county of Flanders fifteen years before. He recovered some of his old influence in government. But he never regained the unchallenged pre-eminence that he had once enjoyed. Henceforth he was forced to engage in a continual contest for power with his nephew. When he was in Paris his powerful personality usually prevailed. But he could not always be in Paris. His far-flung dominions demanded his presence. His wife and councilors, the relays of mounted messengers who brought him news and papers from Flanders and Burgundy, the devoted clerks and secretaries who managed his administration from the Hôtel de Bourgogne, these things were not enough. The Duc d'Orléans by comparison was almost always present (21).
Louis d'Orléans Unveiling A Mistress
The effect of Louis’ coup was to open the floodgates of royal largesse after seven years in which they had been kept firmly closed by the Dukes of Burgundy and Berry. Périgord was granted to him in January 1400, creating with the county of Angoulême, though only the northern reaches under French control, a solid block of Orléanist territory on the northern march of the English duchy of Guyenne. In May of the same year Louis was granted the strategic fortress of Château-Thierry on the Marne, followed in July by the town and county of Dreux with its imposing castle on the east march of Normandy. In October he bought the county of Porcien, lying between Champagne and the northern border of France. In the result by the turn of the new century the Duc d'Orléans had become the principal territorial magnate in the middle Loire, in Champagne, in the valleys of the Oise and the Aisne north of Paris and on the northern march of Guyenne. By virtue of a privilege granted to him in 1399 all of these territories were treated as part of his appanage and removed from the purview of the King’s officers. In addition he was receiving the whole produce of the gabelle and the taille in his domains and a large part of the royal aides, together with a regular flow of cash loans, gifts and pensions from the royal treasury. The account of the Duke’s Receiver-General for 1404–5, would record total receipts for that year amounting to 453,000 livres, less than a tenth of which came from the ordinary revenues of his demesne. The rest, some 409,000 livres, came directly or indirectly from the Crown. Even at the height of his influence Philip the Bold had never been able to draw subsidies on that scale (22).
The deaths from the plague cemented Louis d'Orléans' power over the throne as his rivals died, one by one. The breaking of the Berry-Bourgogne alliance had already occurred with the childless death of Antoine de Bourgogne, but the deaths of the two royal uncles ensured that Louis would face no immediate challenge to his power. Using his influence over Charles, Louis was able to push Charles d'Albret into the position of Constable, Albret's father having succumb to the plague. Jean d'Alençon joined the Orléans faction soon after as well, being raised to Marshal of France despite his extreme youth following a significant payment to Orléans helping to pay out some of his debts. At the same time Jean de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam joins the Burgundian Faction while Jean VII d'Harcourt joined the Navarrese faction in an effort to regain his lands in Normandy, held by the Navarrese since the early 1380s. Jean II le Maingre, called Boucicaut found himself tied increasingly to the Berry faction (23). Between 1399 and 1401 Louis set about entrenching his position. When the King was coherent he sedulously deployed his influence to refashion the administration in his own image, putting his own clients into critical positions and taking under his wing many who were already there. These changes would stand him in good stead during Charles VI’s ‘absences’ when he had once more to compete with his uncles on the royal council. Significant changes were made in the financial departments, which had hitherto been dominated by protégés of the Duke of Burgundy. The Chambre des Comptes, which served as the audit office of the state, and the Conseil-Général des Aides, which supervised the collection of taxes, were both stuffed with Orléanists. One of Louis’ household staff became receiver of royal revenues in Paris and eventually Treasurer of France. Louis forged a close alliance with the three brothers Montaigu, scions of a formidable administrative dynasty who had previously hitched their fortunes to the star of the Duke of Berry. Jean I de Montaigu, Bishop of Chartres, the eldest of the brothers, who had risen through the financial service of the monarchy, became First President of the Chambre des Comptes. The Duke of Orléans procured the appointment of Jean II de Montaigu, Charles VI’s private secretary, as Master of the Royal Household and effectively the head of the administration (24).
Louis was not popular among the inhabitants of Paris. But he saw to it that his allies were installed in the main centers of power there. Jean II de Montaigu was captain of the Bastille and another ally was captain of the Louvre. Guillaume de Tignonville, one of his chamberlains, became royal Provost and captain of the castle of Monthéry. In the provinces Orléanists gradually migrated into the offices of the royal baillis and seneschals and the principal captaincies. It was at least partly a question of generations. Once the Dukes of Burgundy and Berry realized what was happening they responded by jockeying for patronage and position, provoking an inflationary spiral of corruption. All of the notables of the administration owed their jobs, their political survival and their fortunes to the patronage of one or other of the princes. They shared in the spoils of the monarchy, taking bribes from outsiders and fees, gifts and pensions from the King, augmenting their salaries with ‘extraordinary’ supplements which were in reality permanent and doubled or trebled their value. They developed their own patronage among their subordinates, multiplying posts down to the lowest levels of the civil service, conferring ‘extraordinary supplements’ on their protégés, tacitly endorsing the practice of allowing functionaries to trade their jobs and nominate their successors. The leading administrative families created dense networks of alliances, fortified by judicious dynastic marriages among their own kind. These grandees of the bureaucracy returned the favour of their princely patrons by supporting them in the councils of the state, by complaisantly sealing improvident grants in their favor and allowing the king’s revenues to be diverted to their use. As the wheel of fortune cast down some patrons and raised up others they survived by switching their loyalties as best they could. The dominance exercised by Louis d'Orléans would be maintained for the next several years as his cousins fought to take up the reins of their fathers. Charles de Berry and Jean de Bourgogne would spend years picking up where their fathers had left off and particularly the Berrys found themselves distracted by the rapidly developing conflict in Castile following the death of King Juan II de Lancaster. The uncertainty and confusion regarding who reigned where, would keep the lesser magnates in a constant state of tension, as feuds and banditry were given free reign. The distraction of the great lords led to depredations and chaos as the feared free companies returned from conflicts elsewhere to feed at the trough in France (25).
Footnotes:
(1) Dun Dun Dun! Richard goes for broke.
(2) I know that there are a lot of different people mentioned here with little context. This is mostly to give an idea of the major support Richard has built in the five years since Edward's return from the crusade. You can read up on the different people elsewhere if it interests you. Many of their descendants played important roles in the Wars of the Roses in OTL.
(3) Prince Edward finally has some individuality. How common these trips to Wales are is a question up for debate, Joan of Navarre moves back and forth quite a bit, along with several of her children. Prince Edward spends a lot of time ruling Wales and has a significant following in the region.
(4) There isn't much Edward could have done by this point, the coup is already in motion. He isn't going to play much a role for most of this update, so others get to take the spotlight.
(5) The Londoners are loyal to their King, as they have been since the Great Peasants' Revolt in the early 1380s. There just isn't much they can do at this point.
(6) And things are off. The battles in the north push the royalists out of the region and into central England where their base of power is primarily situated.
(7) This is really what bring Ingleram to the forefront of the conflict. The attempted capture of Oxford, and particularly its failure, ensures that Richard and his cabal are under constant pressure to defend the capital and ties up many of their forces who might otherwise have attacked into Norfolk or towards Lincoln.
(8) The Battle of St. Albans is the first major battle of the conflict and ensures that the reaches north of London remain in royalist hands. A loss in this conflict would have opened up the royalist heartlands to raids by the cabalists.
(9) The landscape shares many similarities to the battlefield of Towton, but is much further south. The hills of the region force the two sides together and limit the maneuverability of the armies.
(10) There really isn't a great deal of tactical genius behind the battle. The battle is a slugging match, pure and simple, which bears some similarities to a number of battles from OTL Wars of the Roses. Both commanders are quite young and inexperienced and that really shows in this battle. The lack of chase following the battle is an example of that inexperience on the Part of the Prince, while Owain Glyndwr is busy trying to put his archers back together and therefore can't suggest it.
(11) The Earl of Gloucester really has a bad run of things in this conflict, then again the Earl of Salisbury is also one of the most experienced and skilled commanders on the side of the cabalists so it is understandable.
(12) This is the big battle that determines the course of the revolt. Richard's death really solves a great number of problems for Edward while several men distinguish themselves in their service. The captures of several central cabalists really turns things around and is a deathblow to the rebel cause. They might have been able to stay in the fight without Richard, but losing Salisbury and Cambridge ensures their fall.
(13) There really isn't much they can do at this point beyond what they are. The rebels are fighting for a lost cause.
(14) Ingleram is a man to watch from this point onwards, as Duke of Oxford and a gifted military leader he will be front and center in England's future conflicts.
(15) It might be surprising to see so many get off easily for their treason, but the people asking for the rebels' lives are literally taking responsibility for any future wrongdoings they may commit. It is also important to remember that Edward gains a great deal of prestige pardoning them and that this is the first serious civil war between nobility in many years, and as such they aren't prepared to punish each other to the fullest just yet. Edward is still sitting strong on his throne and really doesn't have much to prove by this point in time.
(16) We will get into Castile in the next update, but the le Spencers are on thin ice at this point. It will take a miracle for the young le Spencer to remove the blot of treason from his family's record.
(17) The confiscations and attainments really strengthen the crown immensely and ensures that the King is the largest landowner. The Earls of Cambridge are going to remember why they aren't Dukes for quite a while.
(18) This is King's Cross IOTL. It is named for a massive 19th century statue. Before then it was called Battle Bridge. The legend mentioned is from OTL.
(19) This section is going to go into the struggles for power of the French dukes. While England has just crushed most of these internal enemies, France is just starting to experience the chaos they will face for years to come.
(20) I thought it would be a good idea to understand who the Duc d'Orléans was. This is all based on OTL.
(21) Louis could be quite brazen about his grabs at power. He now succeeds and is able to take control of his brother's rule. This is all OTL
(22) Again all OTL. There are some lands that he hasn't gotten a grip on due to the changed circumstances ITTL. Most importantly IOTL he gained the lands of Coucy when Enguerrand VII de Coucy died without a son and Louis was able to buy up the lands from Coucy's wife, who was disputing ownership with her stepdaughter.
(23) The people mentioned here are going to be the military leaders for the different factions for quite some time, so keep track of them. They were all significant IOTL as well.
(24) This is all part of OTL Louis d'Orléans' takeover of power. He is basically doing what Richard will attempt to do four years later in England ITTL. He serves as something of an inspiration to Richard.
(25) Louis really isn't making a lot of friends, and didn't IOTL either. I find the degree of violence directly used against family members contrast wildly between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Sure you have outliers like Charles the Bad and Phillip the Bold using Pierre de Craon against his brother Louis d'Anjou, but on the whole they rarely tried to physically harm each other. Compare that to the fifteenth century where you have assassinations of Orléans, John the Fearless and more with a familial civil war. In England you have the deposition of King Richard and the butchering of numerous family members in revolts and executions lasting throughout the next century, culminating in the Wars of the Roses. I really want to know why such as sharp contrast is present.
Man, you're writing faster than I can read, how do you even do that?! And so excellent, too. Provides us with a fresh perspective on a period I thought i knew well.
Keep up the magnificent work!
Keep up the magnificent work!
Thanks, I am staying at my family's summer house at the moment which means that I have lots of time to write. At the moment I have been cranking out around one update a day, staying around six updates ahead of what is posted. I finished Twenty-Eight today, so that should give you an idea. I am not going to be able to keep up the tempo after July, and I am going on vacation to Norway for around a week in the start of August, so I won't be posting updates during that period. Then I start an internship in mid August, which is going to significantly cut down on the amount of time I have to write, so at the moment I am focused on getting the TL up and running with enough updates to keep people interested. Update speed might slow to something like an update every three days or so, depending on how busy i get.
Thank you for the kind word. It would really help me if you could share what you liked best, or things that you would like me to expand on or elaborate, or maybe the parts you felt were weakest. Constructive criticism would be great.
Update Twenty-Three: The Reconquest
This one is a bit more modest in size, which is something to be grateful for. We return to Spain to see the havoc that results from John of Gaunt's death. This conflict will have a number of after effects that strech across Europe, from Scotland to Cyprus. This one features one of the most decisive battles in Medieval History. I hope you enjoy.
Henry of Bolingbroke was forced to abandon most of central, southern and western Castile, excepting the areas around Villareal and Villahermosa where Beaufort supporters and the pro-Lancaster Order of Calatrava (5) were based, taking refuge in his lands of Asturias. An attempt was made by the Grand Master of the Order of Santiago to raise Galicia in favor of the Trastàmara, but he was prevented by Lancaster partisans who captured Grand Master Lorenzo I Suárez de Figueroa and imprisoned him. He would die soon after, leading to the elevation of Henry of Beaufort to Grand Master of the Order of Santiago (6). Martí, Duke of Blanch, launched a coup in Aragon capturing Yolande de Bar and taking over as Regent for the young Ferran I to allow Enrique III to pass through Aragon and calling on support from his son Martí I, King of Sicily. Henry of Bolingbroke was crowned King Enrique IV of Castile (7) at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, a decision taken once it became clear that Toledo would not be taken any time soon. João of Portugal sent support for Henry, but was himself busy fighting against Barbary Pirates and planning a North African campaign - sending Nuno Álvares Pereira with a force of 3,000 to support his ally (8).
Enrique III arrived at Soria in early 1400 to the wild acclaim of the population. Over the following months he began taking possession of much of central and western Castile, launching a force at Burgos in July 1400 which was turned back by the Lancaster supporters. Navarrese troops launched raids and attacks into northern Aragon, at one point menacing Zaragoza and forcing the Aragonese Regent Martí to focus his forces in combatting the raiders. The two years that followed the attempt at Burgos were marked by raids and counter-raids as well as positional warfare and attempted sieges as the two sides negotiated with the Castilian nobility for support. Particularly the fighting around Villareal took on a particularly brutal character, with four siege attempts being defeated. The Grand Master of the Order of Santiago, Henry of Beaufort, brought many of his forces southward - leading an army to try and reclaim much of the rebellious south-west with limited success. In early 1403, Enrique III tried once again to take Burgos, meeting a joint force under Nuno Álvares Pereira and the young Henry of Monmouth, at the Battle of Palacios de la Sierra. The force under Enrique numbered some 15,000 in all and faced an army 8,000 strong. They met on the road between Burgos and Soria, near the Necropolis of Bañuelos (9). The battle began when the Trastàmara supporters launched an attack on the enemy left wing commanded by the young Henry of Monmouth. This initial clash went well for the Lancasters, who were able to push back their foes - and subsequently caused Henry to launch an assault at the retreating Trastàmara forces. This pulled the Lancaster line out of formation and opened them up to an attack by Enrique's heavy French cavalry. Henry of Monmouth suddenly found himself in danger of being surrounded but was able to rally his forces. Nuno Álvares Pereira launched the army into breaking the encirclement of the left wing while Henry of Monmouth launched his forces back the way they came. In the fierce fighting the followed Henry of Monmouth was wounded badly and had to be carried from the field, but with his bravery and brazen turn was able to break the encirclement. The Lancasters found themselves forced to pull back towards Burgos with the Trastàmara in pursuit. The following Siege of Burgos ran on for several months while Henry of Monmouth recovered under siege conditions, multiple times thought to be near death. The fighting at the Siege of Burgos was incredibly intense but Enrique was again forced to pull back under the menacing approach of Henry of Bolingbroke, who brought an immense force eastward to save his son. Henry of Monmouth would learn greatly from this experience and temper his attitudes (10).
Death of Enrique III de Trastàmara of Castile at the Battle of Toledo
Following the Siege of Burgos the war moved to central Castile and degenerated into a series of skirmishes and raids as both sides tried to gain control of the contested lands. The support of the Bishop of Toledo for Enrique III de Trastàmara put the Lancastrian faction immediately on the back foot, but support in several of the cities was able to somewhat balance the scales. The conflict became increasingly focused on the lands held by Marie de Lusignan (11), heiress to her father Leon V of Armenia who had been gifted with lands and titles to Madrid, Villareal, Guadalajara and Andújar by Juan I of Castile. Marie was betrothed to Thomas of Lancaster, but they had not married yet due to the ten-year age gap - Thomas of Lancaster only nearing eleven when his grandfather died and the war began. Enrique III began pushing for a marriage between Marie and his brother Ferdinand, besieging the Madrid Alcázar (12) where Marie lived for several months before it fell. Marie was spirited away towards Guadalajara where Ferdinand was waiting to marry the unwilling bride. Thomas of Lancaster learned of the plight of his betrothed and gathered a company of his friends and supporters without informing his father, and set out across the war-torn regions of central Castile (13), arriving at the Madrid Alcázar days after its fall. He then gave chase with his young band of followers, catching the Trastàmara force escorting Marie near Alcalá de Henares. The Battle of Alcalá de Henares was really more of a skirmish, but would have a profound impact on the course of the war. Attacking the escort as it passed through a ravine, Thomas of Lancaster and his supporters fell on the escort from both sides and cut it to pieces. Marie was rescued and the rescue party set off back through the chaos of central Castile. The story of the rescue and subsequent chase out of the warzone would become a major propaganda victory for the Lancasters, trumpeted far and wide. On their arrival in Santiago de Compostela Marie and Thomas were married in a lavish ceremony, bringing the support of many central Castilian nobles and turning most of the cities in Lancaster favor (14). This marriage brought not only control over the Castilian towns, but a titular claim to The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, a claim Thomas of Lancaster would on occasion highlight to increase his personal prestige.
It was around this time that news arrived of Richard's Revolt in England and the high level of support provided by Thomas of Beaufort for the usurper. Henry of Bolingbroke was enraged at the misuse of his lands in England by his regent, but was unable to spare the time to act on it. This anger was mostly due to Henry's continued need for the resources of the English Duchy, more than anything else. The subsequent conflict in England cut off much of the financial support Henry had been depending on throughout the conflict and necessitated several tax raises to finance the war effort - a deeply unpopular move. As news of the failure of the rebellion and the confiscation of Lancaster lands arrived, Henry erupted in rage - ranting and raving at the betrayal he felt had been dealt him by his cousins and brother. This dramatically cooled relations between England and the Lancasters, worsened greatly when Thomas of Beaufort arrived with a large part of the English rebel army of the north to support his brother's war in Castile. The addition of almost 5,000 longbowmen changed the calculus faced by Henry of Bolingbroke in his favor, and led the Lancasters to seek a decisive battle from mid-1405 (15).
By September 1405 Henry of Bolingbroke had retaken most of central Castile, leaving only Toledo under the command of its Bishop. Martí, Regent of Aragon and Enrique III de Trastàmara marched for the city, the first arriving on the 15th and the second on the 21st of September. The two forces met just north of the city of Toledo in the decisive battle of the war, The Battle of Toledo. The Lancasters were commanded by the king, with Nuno Álvares Pereira, Henry and Thomas of Beaufort and Henry of Monmouth present. They would find a small hilltop north of Toledo on which they established a defensive position and dared the Trastàmara to dislodge them. In total they numbered some 23,000. Facing them was a combined army of 28,000 made up of French, Aragonese and Castilian forces - with an immensely powerful central force of Hidalgos and French Knights numbering almost 12,000. The Trastàmara marched out of Toledo and arrayed themselves before the Lancaster enemy early on the 28th of September 1405. For the first four hours the two armies skirmished and knights challenged each other to single combat before the assembled might of Castile. Of particular note was Henry of Monmouth's three successive victorious challenges and Thomas of Beaufort's defeat and capture in these initial clashes. The two armies closed with each other just after noon under a sheet of arrows from either side. The two sides clashed in a furious melee, which initially saw the Lancasters pushed back up onto their small hill, the center of the Lancaster formation being pushed back in a bow. Nuno Álvares Pereira immediately became aware of the potential of this position and ordered the young man who had increasingly become his protégé, Henry of Monmouth, to press inwards on the right flank while he would do so on the left. The Trastàmara force pushed further and further into the Lancasters until word began to spread that they were being hit on the flanks by longbows and risked encirclement. Fear ran through the assembled force and Enrique gathered his retinue to counter attack. Enrique III's attack on the enemy right flank found itself hammered by a rain of arrows while Henry of Monmouth led his personal retinue in a counter-attack that stopped the assault dead in its tracks. As the Trastàmara were bunched closer and closer to each other, men began to leave the back of the formation - running for safety. The Trastàmara commanders, particularly the Duke of Blanch continued to search for a way to break the encirclement. On the right Enrique launched another assault but as he launched his charge, the entire front of the formation was raked by arrows. Hit through the gap of his visor, Enrique III de Trastàmara, Claimant King of Castile, fell dead from his horse alongside his banner bearer. Seeing the King's banner fall broke the Trastàmara morale. In the following panic, as the trapped forces all tried to go for the small gap remaining between the Lancaster left and right wings, the Trastàmara army degenerated into a mob at war with itself. Knights rode down their own followers and fought each other to escape as the outer ranks were cut down. By the time the gap closed, more of the Trastàmara were fighting each other than the enemy. Among those killed was Martí, Duke of Blanch, who was pulled from his horse as he tried to escape through the gap by a desperate peasant spearman who murdered him for his horse. The butchery went on for hours on end, as men fell to their knees and begged for mercy from the bloodied Lancaster forces, tried to fight their way out or just waited their turn with death (16). Henry of Bolingbroke had been wounded in the fighting and was not present for the later stages of the battle, which is why his son Henry of Monmouth, realizing that all of his dynasty's enemies were gathered together at his mercy, was able to order his men to murder his dynasty's enemies with impunity, and despite protests from Nuno Álvares Pereira. By nightfall more than 18,000 lay murdered on the field, with only some 4,000 escaping through the gap and 6,000 prisoners from those not considered dangerous to the dynasty who were held for ransom - mostly French knights and various mercenaries (17). Toledo's garrison surrendered soon after, with the Bishop imprisoned while a message was sent to the pope asking for a replacement. The Battle of Toledo decisively ended any chance of a Trastàmara victory in this generation and the great numbers of dead Hidalgos meant that the Lancasters were suddenly able to reward their supporters immensely (18). Martí's death meant that Yolande de Bar was able to retake her place as Regent of Aragon and make peace with Castile, though troubles with Sicily would plague the remainder of her time as regent.
Maria of Sicily, Queen of Sicily
Born in Catania, Maria of Sicily was the daughter and heir of Frederick the Simple by his first wife Constance of Aragon. As she was very young at the time of her father's death in 1377, her government was effectively taken over by four baronial families who styled themselves "vicars". The regent named by Maria's father, Artale Alagona, was initially forced to form a government with the other three Vicars, including Francesco II count of Ventimiglia, Manfredi III Chiaramonte, count of Modica, and Guglielmo Peralta, count of Caltabellotta, with a parity of exponents of the "Sicilian" and "Aragonese" parties. However, the four men ruled in their separate baronial lands alone. In 1379 she was kidnapped by count William Raymond of Montcada, Sicilian nobleman and member of the Aragonese House of Montcada, to prevent her marriage with Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, and was imprisoned for two years at Licata. Montcada's move had been approved by her grandfather King Peter IV of Aragon. In 1382 Maria was rescued by an Aragonese fleet; she was taken first to Sardinia, then, in 1384, to Aragon, where she was married to Martí the Younger, the grandson of Pere IV and nephew of Chuan I by Martí, Duke of Blanch in January 1389 (19). In 1392 Maria and Martí returned with a military force and defeated the opposing barons, the campaign having been a prerequisite for the end of the initial struggle between the elder Martí, Duke of Blanch and Yolande de Bar over the Aragonese Regency (20). The pair ruled jointly and were gifted with a son named Peter in 1398 and a daughter in 1402 named Maria. A final pregnancy would end in tragedy when Maria of Sicily died giving birth to another daughter named Eleanor in mid-1404 (21). By mid-1404 it seemed as though the war in Castile was turning in the favor of the Trastàmara and Aragon was solidly under the control of Martí the Elder. Martí the Younger took up rule as regent in the name of his son Peter, but the death of his wife would prove to be the first in a series of blows that would shake the Sicilian Kingdom. In early 1406 a betrothal was announced marriage of the young Louis d'Anjou, heir to the Kingdom of Naples, and Infanta Yolande d'Aragón elder sister of King Ferran I of Aragon. Soon after a message arrived from Louis II d'Anjou of Naples at the Sicilian Court declaring the Treaty of Villeneuve in breach (22).
The Treaty of Villeneuve of 1372 was the agreement that, for a time, ended the dispute between the House of Anjou and the House of Barcelona over the Kingdom of Sicily that began ninety years earlier in 1282. Its final form was approved by Pope Gregory XI in a bull issued at Villeneuve-lès-Avignon on 20 August 1372, and it was ratified by Queen Joanna I of Naples and King Frederick IV of Sicily on 31 March 1373 at Aversa, in Joanna's kingdom, in front of the papal legate, Jean de Réveillon, Bishop of Sarlat. In 1266, Charles, Count of Anjou, took the Kingdom of Sicily by force at the invitation of the pope. The kingdom at that time included the island of Sicily and all of southern Italy. In 1282, a revolt broke out against the French on Sicily, the so-called Sicilian Vespers. King Peter III of Aragon, who claimed the kingdom as his inheritance through his mother, invaded the island. The protracted War of the Vespers only ended in 1302 with the Peace of Caltabellotta. The treaty divided the kingdom in two: the Kingdom of Sicily "regnum Siciliae" was restricted to the mainland and continued to be ruled by the House of Anjou, while the island of Sicily itself became the Kingdom of Trinacria "regnum Trinacriae" under the rule of Peter's son Frederick III. The treaty dictated that Trinacria was to pass to Anjou after Frederick's death, but it was ignored and the House of Barcelona was still in control of it in 1372, despite decades of intermittent warfare. Contemporaries distinguished between "Sicily on this side of and beyond the lighthouse" (Sicilia citra et ultra Pharum), referring to the Punta del Faro that marked the narrowest width of the Straits of Messina between the island and the mainland. Negotiations to resolve the Sicilian question were resumed in 1371, mediated by the Chiaramonti, the most prominent aristocratic family supporting the Aragonese claim in Sicily. In January 1372, Joanna and Frederick signed a preliminary agreement without the approval of Gregory. In February, King Peter IV of Aragon and his queen, Eleanor, sister of Frederick IV, appealed to Pope Gregory, as suzerain over the old, unified Kingdom of Sicily, to invest Eleanor as queen of the island on the grounds that Frederick was incompetent to rule. The Aragonese monarchs even claimed that the Sicilian barons had requested Elearnor be their queen. Although Gregory feared Aragonese intervention, he was more interested in obtaining the military assistance of Naples against his rival Bernabò Visconti, who was meanwhile seeking the alliance of Frederick of Sicily. In February, the pope proposed that Frederick marry Antoinette des Baux, the daughter of Duke Francis of Andria, one of the leading magnates of Joanna's kingdom, to seal the peace between the rivals (23).
In the second half of 1372, Gregory sent Jean de Réveillon to Naples to sound out Queen Joanna about the proposed settlement. Gregory was trying simultaneously to preserve his right to preside over a regency in Sicily, to preserve the church's freedom from secular interference and to open up Italians markets to Sicilian grain once the papal interdict on Sicily was lifted. He insisted that Frederick should do homage and swear fealty to him as well as to Joanna. In this way, the fiction of a unified Kingdom of Sicily could be retained—since the ruler of the island was a vassal of the ruler of the mainland—and the papacy's independent right to interfere in Sicily prevented its domination by the House of Anjou—to the comfort of Peter and Eleanor of Aragon. The other terms of the treaty approved on 20 August 1372 were that, every year on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on the 29th of June, Frederick was to pay a tribute of three thousand ounces of gold, equivalent to about 15,000 florins; he was to supply ten war galleys to the Neapolitan fleet; and he owed Joanna servitium, military service, which in practice meant a loan of troops to her army. In return, as per the preliminary agreement, Joanna promised not to support or give shelter to any rebel against Frederick, and to intercede with the pope to have the interdict on Sicily lifted and Frederick and his supporters absolved. Gregory's bull of ratification of affirmed the right of Frederick's daughter Mary and her descendants to inherit, but since Sicily was regarded a wholly new kingdom, no other relatives of Frederick ,like his sister, had any rights in it. Frederick was to take the title "King of Trinacria", as in the treaty of 1302, and Joanna had the sole right to the title "Queen of Sicily". The main difference between the agreement confirmed at Villeneuve and that reached at Caltabellotta was that in the former the cession of Sicily was in perpetuity. After the settlement, Bertrand du Mazel was sent to Sicily as papal nuncio. Joan swore to uphold the treaty on 31 March 1373. On 26th November 1373, Frederick married Antoinette at Messina, in his kingdom. On 17th December 1373 he swore to the treaty, and on 17th January 1374 he did homage and swore fealty to the pope through the person of the nuncio, who in turn revoked the interdict in December 1374. Although the pope had taken to calling Frederick regens insule Trincalie "ruler of the island of Trinacria", he could now call him rex. Frederick's subinfeudation—he became a vassal of Joanna, who was a vassal of the Holy See—was seen as humiliating, since by the treaty of Villeneuve he became indisputably sovereign over Sicily. In any case, he soon ignored the annual tribute and the repudiation of the Sicilian title, as did his successors (24). It was the lack of annual tribute and the repudiation of the Sicilian title that would come to serve as casus belli for the coming war (25).
Footnotes:
(1) This is the date he died IOTL as well. Constance of Castile died in 1394, but John of Gaunt decided against marrying Kathrine of Swynford ITTL because he was already on unstable ground claims wise to the Castilian throne. Instead the children have been rewarded richly and become lieutenants for the Lancaster family.
(2) I was actually kind of surprised by exactly how much of a cluster**** I had made of the Castilian succession. It might help to know that Henry III's brother Ferdinand remains in France to support the claim of his brother and his successors, and to ensure French support continues - he will get involved later on.
(3) The Lordship of Viscaya, also called Biscay in some languages, provides a significant coastline to the Navarrese and allows them to completely control the western passages through the Pyrenees. That is worth giving up a crown which Pedro's daughter will get anyway and without the hassle of a fighting a war for it.
(4) The Trastàmara claim lives on. Enrique and his brother have received a number of estates spread across France and have the added support the Duc de Berry.
(5) The Calatrava were quite pro-Trastàmara IOTL, which is precisely why the Beauforts were given lands in the Calatrava heartland. Further, a major purge of the order's rolls was performed to place pro-Lancastrians in positions of power.
(6) Henry Beaufort seems like the type who would thrive in a position like this. With the support of his brother he is quickly catapulted to the top in an effort to ensure the support of the Order. Losing the support of the Order of Santiago would be a disaster due to their position of power in Galicia.
(7) Whether Henry of Bolingbroke is Enrique III or IV is a matter up for debate. He is commonly considered the fourth Henry to take the throne, but due to the limited time Enrique III is on the throne and the opposition of the Lancasters, Bolingbroke is occasionally considered the third Henry with the Trastàmara claimant considered an illegitimate ruler. There are even some Lancaster supporters who think the entire Trastàmara line should be ignored completely and the line of rulers be thought of as Pedro I, Constance I, Juan I and Enrique II. But this is too extreme for most.
(8) I think that with Toledo unavailable Santiago de Compostela might work as coronation site instead. I couldn't very well leave Nuno out of the conflict. He is simply too badass not to be involved.
(9) There are apparently a whole bunch of necropolises in the area, so I thought it would be an interesting location for the battle to occur at.
(10) Henry of Monmouth gets another life threatening wound which gets him to take things a bit more serious. The battle at Palacios and following siege of Burgos is really important for the conflict. If Burgos had fallen not only would the Lancaster heir have been taken prisoner with Nuno, but Asturias would have been laid open for Trastàmara assault.
(11) She was mentioned as surviving in one of the early updates, and therefore succeeds to the lands her father received from Juan I. She suddenly becomes one of the greatest heiresses of the peninsula.
(12) This Alcázar is the one that became the Royal Alcázar of Madrid IOTL. IOTL Leon V actually performed many of the repairs that prepared the place to become the royal residence in the 15th century.
(13) From what I have read, Thomas of Lancaster really comes off as being a hotheaded adventurer who would jump at this ridiculously insane risk. This one time it pays off and he becomes the hero of romances for centuries to come in the doing. It pays to remember that he is around 16 years old at the time, which should help to explain why he would do something as boneheaded as this.
(14) The sheer amount of prestige the Lancasters get out of Thomas' insane ride really helps them out and turns much of central Castile in their favor.
(15) The relations between England and Castile have been greatly damaged, and King Edward is still trying to decide what he is going to do. The Lancasters tried to remove him from power in his view, ignoring that they are bound up in a massive conflict themselves, and is trying to decide if he wants to keep the relationship or not.
(16) This is basically a medieval Cannae. It will be considered Nuno Álvares Pereira's masterpiece militarily, but what happens next will be a dark mark on his record, and will give the Lancasters a very dark reputation in the future.
(17) Henry of Monmouth seems like the type of person who would see the possibilities of having all of your enemies gathered in one place and at your mercy. This really gives him a black reputation but secures his family's reign for as long as they can hold on to it. All their opponents, or at least anyone who counts, dies here at Toledo. The ransoms extracted from the French nobles are also going to go a long way towards rebuilding Castile.
(18) The amount of land that has suddenly opened up really allows the Lancaster dynasty to cement itself.
(19) All of this is basically OTL.
(20) The struggles over Aragon are closely linked to Sicily's future. Now that Martí the Elder is dead, the Sicilians are really in trouble. Yolande de Bar is out for blood and knows that it is either her or them.
(21) Peter of Sicily lives on, for now, but is still a small child, while more children are born to the Maria-Martí match than IOTL.
(22) It has sort of fascinated me how these types of treaties are signed and then just ignored, leaving immense casus belli lying around.
(23) This is all based on OTL. The treaty is OTL.
(24) Again all OTL.
(25) The conflict is going to be the focus of next update.
The Reconquest
Enrique IV of Castile, Second Monarch of the Castilian Lancaster Dynasty
Juan II of Castile died in early 1399 at the age of 59 almost exactly nine years after his ascension. His death triggered a succession crisis in the already crisis-laden kingdom, split as it was between partisans of rival kingdoms and bandit ridden to boot (1). The issue at play was Henry of Bolingbroke's complete lack of claim to the Castilian throne. His father's claim had been provided by his wife Constance of Castile, however Henry was not a son of Constance of Castile, the only child surviving from that union was Catherine of Lancaster who was married to Pedro of Navarre, and the proper heir to the throne would therefore seem to be Catherine of Lancaster and her children by Pedro. Added to these claims was the Trastàmara claim still held by Enrique III who had been driven from the country by the Lancasters in the Spanish Wars and resided in France at the time (2). Thus when Henry of Bolingbroke rode for Castile to his coronation, he found himself barred from the city of Toledo, where the coronation was traditionally held. Uprisings in favor of the Trastàmara broke out across the lands, while particularly the northern reaches of the Kingdom called on Catherine of Lancaster to take the throne. While Pedro of Navarre initially considered pushing his wife's claim, Henry of Bolingbroke was able to convince Pedro to leave off, handing over the Lordship of Viscaya (3) which bordered Navarre to him, and pushed forward the marriage of Henry's heir, Henry of Monmouth, to Joan of Navarre - daughter of Catherine and Pedro of Navarre. This unified the claims of the two Lancaster branches in Henry's son and ensured limited Navarrese support in the conflict, Pedro being more focused on the situation in France for the moment. Charles de Berry, the new Duc de Berry and father-in-law of the Trastàmara claimant, sent his son-in-law Enrique III south to reclaim his throne - leaving a pregnant wife and two young daughters behind, the pregnancy ending in the birth of a son named Juan de Trastàmara after his grandfather and great-grandfather (4).
Enrique IV of Castile, Second Monarch of the Castilian Lancaster Dynasty
Henry of Bolingbroke was forced to abandon most of central, southern and western Castile, excepting the areas around Villareal and Villahermosa where Beaufort supporters and the pro-Lancaster Order of Calatrava (5) were based, taking refuge in his lands of Asturias. An attempt was made by the Grand Master of the Order of Santiago to raise Galicia in favor of the Trastàmara, but he was prevented by Lancaster partisans who captured Grand Master Lorenzo I Suárez de Figueroa and imprisoned him. He would die soon after, leading to the elevation of Henry of Beaufort to Grand Master of the Order of Santiago (6). Martí, Duke of Blanch, launched a coup in Aragon capturing Yolande de Bar and taking over as Regent for the young Ferran I to allow Enrique III to pass through Aragon and calling on support from his son Martí I, King of Sicily. Henry of Bolingbroke was crowned King Enrique IV of Castile (7) at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, a decision taken once it became clear that Toledo would not be taken any time soon. João of Portugal sent support for Henry, but was himself busy fighting against Barbary Pirates and planning a North African campaign - sending Nuno Álvares Pereira with a force of 3,000 to support his ally (8).
Enrique III arrived at Soria in early 1400 to the wild acclaim of the population. Over the following months he began taking possession of much of central and western Castile, launching a force at Burgos in July 1400 which was turned back by the Lancaster supporters. Navarrese troops launched raids and attacks into northern Aragon, at one point menacing Zaragoza and forcing the Aragonese Regent Martí to focus his forces in combatting the raiders. The two years that followed the attempt at Burgos were marked by raids and counter-raids as well as positional warfare and attempted sieges as the two sides negotiated with the Castilian nobility for support. Particularly the fighting around Villareal took on a particularly brutal character, with four siege attempts being defeated. The Grand Master of the Order of Santiago, Henry of Beaufort, brought many of his forces southward - leading an army to try and reclaim much of the rebellious south-west with limited success. In early 1403, Enrique III tried once again to take Burgos, meeting a joint force under Nuno Álvares Pereira and the young Henry of Monmouth, at the Battle of Palacios de la Sierra. The force under Enrique numbered some 15,000 in all and faced an army 8,000 strong. They met on the road between Burgos and Soria, near the Necropolis of Bañuelos (9). The battle began when the Trastàmara supporters launched an attack on the enemy left wing commanded by the young Henry of Monmouth. This initial clash went well for the Lancasters, who were able to push back their foes - and subsequently caused Henry to launch an assault at the retreating Trastàmara forces. This pulled the Lancaster line out of formation and opened them up to an attack by Enrique's heavy French cavalry. Henry of Monmouth suddenly found himself in danger of being surrounded but was able to rally his forces. Nuno Álvares Pereira launched the army into breaking the encirclement of the left wing while Henry of Monmouth launched his forces back the way they came. In the fierce fighting the followed Henry of Monmouth was wounded badly and had to be carried from the field, but with his bravery and brazen turn was able to break the encirclement. The Lancasters found themselves forced to pull back towards Burgos with the Trastàmara in pursuit. The following Siege of Burgos ran on for several months while Henry of Monmouth recovered under siege conditions, multiple times thought to be near death. The fighting at the Siege of Burgos was incredibly intense but Enrique was again forced to pull back under the menacing approach of Henry of Bolingbroke, who brought an immense force eastward to save his son. Henry of Monmouth would learn greatly from this experience and temper his attitudes (10).
Death of Enrique III de Trastàmara of Castile at the Battle of Toledo
It was around this time that news arrived of Richard's Revolt in England and the high level of support provided by Thomas of Beaufort for the usurper. Henry of Bolingbroke was enraged at the misuse of his lands in England by his regent, but was unable to spare the time to act on it. This anger was mostly due to Henry's continued need for the resources of the English Duchy, more than anything else. The subsequent conflict in England cut off much of the financial support Henry had been depending on throughout the conflict and necessitated several tax raises to finance the war effort - a deeply unpopular move. As news of the failure of the rebellion and the confiscation of Lancaster lands arrived, Henry erupted in rage - ranting and raving at the betrayal he felt had been dealt him by his cousins and brother. This dramatically cooled relations between England and the Lancasters, worsened greatly when Thomas of Beaufort arrived with a large part of the English rebel army of the north to support his brother's war in Castile. The addition of almost 5,000 longbowmen changed the calculus faced by Henry of Bolingbroke in his favor, and led the Lancasters to seek a decisive battle from mid-1405 (15).
By September 1405 Henry of Bolingbroke had retaken most of central Castile, leaving only Toledo under the command of its Bishop. Martí, Regent of Aragon and Enrique III de Trastàmara marched for the city, the first arriving on the 15th and the second on the 21st of September. The two forces met just north of the city of Toledo in the decisive battle of the war, The Battle of Toledo. The Lancasters were commanded by the king, with Nuno Álvares Pereira, Henry and Thomas of Beaufort and Henry of Monmouth present. They would find a small hilltop north of Toledo on which they established a defensive position and dared the Trastàmara to dislodge them. In total they numbered some 23,000. Facing them was a combined army of 28,000 made up of French, Aragonese and Castilian forces - with an immensely powerful central force of Hidalgos and French Knights numbering almost 12,000. The Trastàmara marched out of Toledo and arrayed themselves before the Lancaster enemy early on the 28th of September 1405. For the first four hours the two armies skirmished and knights challenged each other to single combat before the assembled might of Castile. Of particular note was Henry of Monmouth's three successive victorious challenges and Thomas of Beaufort's defeat and capture in these initial clashes. The two armies closed with each other just after noon under a sheet of arrows from either side. The two sides clashed in a furious melee, which initially saw the Lancasters pushed back up onto their small hill, the center of the Lancaster formation being pushed back in a bow. Nuno Álvares Pereira immediately became aware of the potential of this position and ordered the young man who had increasingly become his protégé, Henry of Monmouth, to press inwards on the right flank while he would do so on the left. The Trastàmara force pushed further and further into the Lancasters until word began to spread that they were being hit on the flanks by longbows and risked encirclement. Fear ran through the assembled force and Enrique gathered his retinue to counter attack. Enrique III's attack on the enemy right flank found itself hammered by a rain of arrows while Henry of Monmouth led his personal retinue in a counter-attack that stopped the assault dead in its tracks. As the Trastàmara were bunched closer and closer to each other, men began to leave the back of the formation - running for safety. The Trastàmara commanders, particularly the Duke of Blanch continued to search for a way to break the encirclement. On the right Enrique launched another assault but as he launched his charge, the entire front of the formation was raked by arrows. Hit through the gap of his visor, Enrique III de Trastàmara, Claimant King of Castile, fell dead from his horse alongside his banner bearer. Seeing the King's banner fall broke the Trastàmara morale. In the following panic, as the trapped forces all tried to go for the small gap remaining between the Lancaster left and right wings, the Trastàmara army degenerated into a mob at war with itself. Knights rode down their own followers and fought each other to escape as the outer ranks were cut down. By the time the gap closed, more of the Trastàmara were fighting each other than the enemy. Among those killed was Martí, Duke of Blanch, who was pulled from his horse as he tried to escape through the gap by a desperate peasant spearman who murdered him for his horse. The butchery went on for hours on end, as men fell to their knees and begged for mercy from the bloodied Lancaster forces, tried to fight their way out or just waited their turn with death (16). Henry of Bolingbroke had been wounded in the fighting and was not present for the later stages of the battle, which is why his son Henry of Monmouth, realizing that all of his dynasty's enemies were gathered together at his mercy, was able to order his men to murder his dynasty's enemies with impunity, and despite protests from Nuno Álvares Pereira. By nightfall more than 18,000 lay murdered on the field, with only some 4,000 escaping through the gap and 6,000 prisoners from those not considered dangerous to the dynasty who were held for ransom - mostly French knights and various mercenaries (17). Toledo's garrison surrendered soon after, with the Bishop imprisoned while a message was sent to the pope asking for a replacement. The Battle of Toledo decisively ended any chance of a Trastàmara victory in this generation and the great numbers of dead Hidalgos meant that the Lancasters were suddenly able to reward their supporters immensely (18). Martí's death meant that Yolande de Bar was able to retake her place as Regent of Aragon and make peace with Castile, though troubles with Sicily would plague the remainder of her time as regent.
Maria of Sicily, Queen of Sicily
Born in Catania, Maria of Sicily was the daughter and heir of Frederick the Simple by his first wife Constance of Aragon. As she was very young at the time of her father's death in 1377, her government was effectively taken over by four baronial families who styled themselves "vicars". The regent named by Maria's father, Artale Alagona, was initially forced to form a government with the other three Vicars, including Francesco II count of Ventimiglia, Manfredi III Chiaramonte, count of Modica, and Guglielmo Peralta, count of Caltabellotta, with a parity of exponents of the "Sicilian" and "Aragonese" parties. However, the four men ruled in their separate baronial lands alone. In 1379 she was kidnapped by count William Raymond of Montcada, Sicilian nobleman and member of the Aragonese House of Montcada, to prevent her marriage with Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, and was imprisoned for two years at Licata. Montcada's move had been approved by her grandfather King Peter IV of Aragon. In 1382 Maria was rescued by an Aragonese fleet; she was taken first to Sardinia, then, in 1384, to Aragon, where she was married to Martí the Younger, the grandson of Pere IV and nephew of Chuan I by Martí, Duke of Blanch in January 1389 (19). In 1392 Maria and Martí returned with a military force and defeated the opposing barons, the campaign having been a prerequisite for the end of the initial struggle between the elder Martí, Duke of Blanch and Yolande de Bar over the Aragonese Regency (20). The pair ruled jointly and were gifted with a son named Peter in 1398 and a daughter in 1402 named Maria. A final pregnancy would end in tragedy when Maria of Sicily died giving birth to another daughter named Eleanor in mid-1404 (21). By mid-1404 it seemed as though the war in Castile was turning in the favor of the Trastàmara and Aragon was solidly under the control of Martí the Elder. Martí the Younger took up rule as regent in the name of his son Peter, but the death of his wife would prove to be the first in a series of blows that would shake the Sicilian Kingdom. In early 1406 a betrothal was announced marriage of the young Louis d'Anjou, heir to the Kingdom of Naples, and Infanta Yolande d'Aragón elder sister of King Ferran I of Aragon. Soon after a message arrived from Louis II d'Anjou of Naples at the Sicilian Court declaring the Treaty of Villeneuve in breach (22).
The Treaty of Villeneuve of 1372 was the agreement that, for a time, ended the dispute between the House of Anjou and the House of Barcelona over the Kingdom of Sicily that began ninety years earlier in 1282. Its final form was approved by Pope Gregory XI in a bull issued at Villeneuve-lès-Avignon on 20 August 1372, and it was ratified by Queen Joanna I of Naples and King Frederick IV of Sicily on 31 March 1373 at Aversa, in Joanna's kingdom, in front of the papal legate, Jean de Réveillon, Bishop of Sarlat. In 1266, Charles, Count of Anjou, took the Kingdom of Sicily by force at the invitation of the pope. The kingdom at that time included the island of Sicily and all of southern Italy. In 1282, a revolt broke out against the French on Sicily, the so-called Sicilian Vespers. King Peter III of Aragon, who claimed the kingdom as his inheritance through his mother, invaded the island. The protracted War of the Vespers only ended in 1302 with the Peace of Caltabellotta. The treaty divided the kingdom in two: the Kingdom of Sicily "regnum Siciliae" was restricted to the mainland and continued to be ruled by the House of Anjou, while the island of Sicily itself became the Kingdom of Trinacria "regnum Trinacriae" under the rule of Peter's son Frederick III. The treaty dictated that Trinacria was to pass to Anjou after Frederick's death, but it was ignored and the House of Barcelona was still in control of it in 1372, despite decades of intermittent warfare. Contemporaries distinguished between "Sicily on this side of and beyond the lighthouse" (Sicilia citra et ultra Pharum), referring to the Punta del Faro that marked the narrowest width of the Straits of Messina between the island and the mainland. Negotiations to resolve the Sicilian question were resumed in 1371, mediated by the Chiaramonti, the most prominent aristocratic family supporting the Aragonese claim in Sicily. In January 1372, Joanna and Frederick signed a preliminary agreement without the approval of Gregory. In February, King Peter IV of Aragon and his queen, Eleanor, sister of Frederick IV, appealed to Pope Gregory, as suzerain over the old, unified Kingdom of Sicily, to invest Eleanor as queen of the island on the grounds that Frederick was incompetent to rule. The Aragonese monarchs even claimed that the Sicilian barons had requested Elearnor be their queen. Although Gregory feared Aragonese intervention, he was more interested in obtaining the military assistance of Naples against his rival Bernabò Visconti, who was meanwhile seeking the alliance of Frederick of Sicily. In February, the pope proposed that Frederick marry Antoinette des Baux, the daughter of Duke Francis of Andria, one of the leading magnates of Joanna's kingdom, to seal the peace between the rivals (23).
In the second half of 1372, Gregory sent Jean de Réveillon to Naples to sound out Queen Joanna about the proposed settlement. Gregory was trying simultaneously to preserve his right to preside over a regency in Sicily, to preserve the church's freedom from secular interference and to open up Italians markets to Sicilian grain once the papal interdict on Sicily was lifted. He insisted that Frederick should do homage and swear fealty to him as well as to Joanna. In this way, the fiction of a unified Kingdom of Sicily could be retained—since the ruler of the island was a vassal of the ruler of the mainland—and the papacy's independent right to interfere in Sicily prevented its domination by the House of Anjou—to the comfort of Peter and Eleanor of Aragon. The other terms of the treaty approved on 20 August 1372 were that, every year on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on the 29th of June, Frederick was to pay a tribute of three thousand ounces of gold, equivalent to about 15,000 florins; he was to supply ten war galleys to the Neapolitan fleet; and he owed Joanna servitium, military service, which in practice meant a loan of troops to her army. In return, as per the preliminary agreement, Joanna promised not to support or give shelter to any rebel against Frederick, and to intercede with the pope to have the interdict on Sicily lifted and Frederick and his supporters absolved. Gregory's bull of ratification of affirmed the right of Frederick's daughter Mary and her descendants to inherit, but since Sicily was regarded a wholly new kingdom, no other relatives of Frederick ,like his sister, had any rights in it. Frederick was to take the title "King of Trinacria", as in the treaty of 1302, and Joanna had the sole right to the title "Queen of Sicily". The main difference between the agreement confirmed at Villeneuve and that reached at Caltabellotta was that in the former the cession of Sicily was in perpetuity. After the settlement, Bertrand du Mazel was sent to Sicily as papal nuncio. Joan swore to uphold the treaty on 31 March 1373. On 26th November 1373, Frederick married Antoinette at Messina, in his kingdom. On 17th December 1373 he swore to the treaty, and on 17th January 1374 he did homage and swore fealty to the pope through the person of the nuncio, who in turn revoked the interdict in December 1374. Although the pope had taken to calling Frederick regens insule Trincalie "ruler of the island of Trinacria", he could now call him rex. Frederick's subinfeudation—he became a vassal of Joanna, who was a vassal of the Holy See—was seen as humiliating, since by the treaty of Villeneuve he became indisputably sovereign over Sicily. In any case, he soon ignored the annual tribute and the repudiation of the Sicilian title, as did his successors (24). It was the lack of annual tribute and the repudiation of the Sicilian title that would come to serve as casus belli for the coming war (25).
Footnotes:
(1) This is the date he died IOTL as well. Constance of Castile died in 1394, but John of Gaunt decided against marrying Kathrine of Swynford ITTL because he was already on unstable ground claims wise to the Castilian throne. Instead the children have been rewarded richly and become lieutenants for the Lancaster family.
(2) I was actually kind of surprised by exactly how much of a cluster**** I had made of the Castilian succession. It might help to know that Henry III's brother Ferdinand remains in France to support the claim of his brother and his successors, and to ensure French support continues - he will get involved later on.
(3) The Lordship of Viscaya, also called Biscay in some languages, provides a significant coastline to the Navarrese and allows them to completely control the western passages through the Pyrenees. That is worth giving up a crown which Pedro's daughter will get anyway and without the hassle of a fighting a war for it.
(4) The Trastàmara claim lives on. Enrique and his brother have received a number of estates spread across France and have the added support the Duc de Berry.
(5) The Calatrava were quite pro-Trastàmara IOTL, which is precisely why the Beauforts were given lands in the Calatrava heartland. Further, a major purge of the order's rolls was performed to place pro-Lancastrians in positions of power.
(6) Henry Beaufort seems like the type who would thrive in a position like this. With the support of his brother he is quickly catapulted to the top in an effort to ensure the support of the Order. Losing the support of the Order of Santiago would be a disaster due to their position of power in Galicia.
(7) Whether Henry of Bolingbroke is Enrique III or IV is a matter up for debate. He is commonly considered the fourth Henry to take the throne, but due to the limited time Enrique III is on the throne and the opposition of the Lancasters, Bolingbroke is occasionally considered the third Henry with the Trastàmara claimant considered an illegitimate ruler. There are even some Lancaster supporters who think the entire Trastàmara line should be ignored completely and the line of rulers be thought of as Pedro I, Constance I, Juan I and Enrique II. But this is too extreme for most.
(8) I think that with Toledo unavailable Santiago de Compostela might work as coronation site instead. I couldn't very well leave Nuno out of the conflict. He is simply too badass not to be involved.
(9) There are apparently a whole bunch of necropolises in the area, so I thought it would be an interesting location for the battle to occur at.
(10) Henry of Monmouth gets another life threatening wound which gets him to take things a bit more serious. The battle at Palacios and following siege of Burgos is really important for the conflict. If Burgos had fallen not only would the Lancaster heir have been taken prisoner with Nuno, but Asturias would have been laid open for Trastàmara assault.
(11) She was mentioned as surviving in one of the early updates, and therefore succeeds to the lands her father received from Juan I. She suddenly becomes one of the greatest heiresses of the peninsula.
(12) This Alcázar is the one that became the Royal Alcázar of Madrid IOTL. IOTL Leon V actually performed many of the repairs that prepared the place to become the royal residence in the 15th century.
(13) From what I have read, Thomas of Lancaster really comes off as being a hotheaded adventurer who would jump at this ridiculously insane risk. This one time it pays off and he becomes the hero of romances for centuries to come in the doing. It pays to remember that he is around 16 years old at the time, which should help to explain why he would do something as boneheaded as this.
(14) The sheer amount of prestige the Lancasters get out of Thomas' insane ride really helps them out and turns much of central Castile in their favor.
(15) The relations between England and Castile have been greatly damaged, and King Edward is still trying to decide what he is going to do. The Lancasters tried to remove him from power in his view, ignoring that they are bound up in a massive conflict themselves, and is trying to decide if he wants to keep the relationship or not.
(16) This is basically a medieval Cannae. It will be considered Nuno Álvares Pereira's masterpiece militarily, but what happens next will be a dark mark on his record, and will give the Lancasters a very dark reputation in the future.
(17) Henry of Monmouth seems like the type of person who would see the possibilities of having all of your enemies gathered in one place and at your mercy. This really gives him a black reputation but secures his family's reign for as long as they can hold on to it. All their opponents, or at least anyone who counts, dies here at Toledo. The ransoms extracted from the French nobles are also going to go a long way towards rebuilding Castile.
(18) The amount of land that has suddenly opened up really allows the Lancaster dynasty to cement itself.
(19) All of this is basically OTL.
(20) The struggles over Aragon are closely linked to Sicily's future. Now that Martí the Elder is dead, the Sicilians are really in trouble. Yolande de Bar is out for blood and knows that it is either her or them.
(21) Peter of Sicily lives on, for now, but is still a small child, while more children are born to the Maria-Martí match than IOTL.
(22) It has sort of fascinated me how these types of treaties are signed and then just ignored, leaving immense casus belli lying around.
(23) This is all based on OTL. The treaty is OTL.
(24) Again all OTL.
(25) The conflict is going to be the focus of next update.
"Sire! The Portuguese have sent us 3000 men..."
"What, only 3000 in our hour of crisis! Do they want us to perish?"
"...and Pereira."
"Strike that. Victory is ours."
Hehe, I really like that. He is actually a saint, believe it or not. He gave up his lands and titles to become a Carmelite Frair IOTL. He is known as Saint Constable. It doesn't get much more badass.
How exactly are you tracking the word count? I haven't been checking it myself - but it is awesome to set a record like that.
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