Originally Posted by
dome
hi!
since I lived 1 year in spain, I interested in iberia very well
could you draw it on a map? much easier to understand hm?
döme
I will try when I get home, now is the time to work on the GDP of the Hungary
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Actually, it is much easier then I first thought!
The game starts in 1080, and I found a (freely modifyable) map which starts at that time:
maybe a better map for 1080:
You can see that the
- 'imperio almoravide' is limited to North Africa.
- 'reino de leon' (spain in game) is León, Salamanca (in game province north of Toledo) and 'Portugal' is a duchy under Alfonso (it is not an own kingdom until 1139!)
The rest is ruled by independent muslim taifas. While they are so to say Moors, they are not the same.
The North african almoravids are more likely to war and are more orthodox, more strict in their religion.
What happened:
1. Alfonso IV conquers Toledo in 1085 (5 years from start)
2. the almoravids are invited in by the taifas after the fall of Toledo, to defend them from Alfonso
3. the Almoravids (Yussuf ibn Tashfin, aka 'Teshufin') defeat the christian army in 1086 (battle of Sagrajas)
4. the Almoravid co-ruler (Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar) dies during his african jihad (1087), and Yussuf returned to settle the problems
5. Teshufin is back to the former Al-Andalus in 1090
6. after realizing that their lifestyle is not according to the Coran (sic!) Teshufin exiled all taifas, and simply annexes their lands. Those who didn't want to obey, he defeated. (the populace wanted an other ruler, because they were disillusioned after the fall of Toledo)
7. Valencia is conquered by El Cid (Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar) in 1092
Based on this:
El Cid:
He was exiled by Alfonso in 1080. From 1081 to 86 he was serving the taifa of Zaragoza as a mercenary general. In 1086, after the defeat of Alfonso IV by Yussuf ibn Tashfin, the king recalled him from exile. In 1080 he should work for Zaragoza. Maybe a rebel general commanding the defense of Zaragoza, made up mostly from Moorish units.
Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar:
He is the co-ruler next to Yussuf ibn Tashfin. He was supressing revolts in the desert, also spreading religion. What I found is that it is believed, but not proved that he defeated the Ghana empire and added the african west coast to the kingdom, before he died in his desert jihad. Also, if you have to choose a king from the 2 (Abu-Bakr and Yussuf), it was Abu-Bakr first, as he accepted Yussuf as co-ruler not in reverse.
Spain:
Ruler is OK, historically the kingdom should have (from magyar mod map): Salamanca, Leon, Asturia (Asturia is fine as Portugal)
Should have an army to conquer at least Toledo!
Portugal:
Should be not in game, but it would be a waste to remove imho. Fine with Asturia.
Moors:
Should have Marrakesh and Arguín. (Arguín should have a pagan majority and a muslim minority)
Should have 2 armies:
- 1 under Yussuf ibn Tashfin in Granada, to counter Alfonso's army
- 1 under Abu-Bakr to conquer Koumbi Saleh and maybe Timbuktu
These 2 armies should be quite numerous.
This is the full extent of the almoravids. (the western african part is an earlier conquest then the iberian one)
Iberian independent taifas:
This is strange as they didn't have the will and the power to fight either the spanish or the almoravids...
However they did put up a fight when they could. Zaragoza resisted Aragon, and they asked for the help of Yussuf, but later he had to leave (when he returned, he was a conqueror)
I don't know how this could be represented. But if french, german, english provinces are rebels because of the weak central rule, these should be rebel imho too.
Maybe the moorish (almoravid) target cities (especially Granada) should be lightly defended.
Also this requires some balancing. With 2 provinces in Iberia, Spain will be stronger the Moors. Maybe give castle units to Spain (so that they have upkeep problems after getting Toledo), and miltia (free) units to the Moors so that they have to pay less upkeep and can conquer Granada, Valencia, Cordoba...