Faith and Fire: An EU3 Carthage AAR

[Grimecraft]

Faith and Fire: The Tale of The Order of Carthage

In the Year of our Lord 1240 AD, The Kingdom of France with backing from the Papacy launched The Seventh Crusade, however unlike previous quests to Jerusalem and the Holy Land the eyes of France's King Philip II where fixed upon the lands of The Hafsid Dynasty[1], whose capital of Tunis was a breeding ground for piracy in the Mediterranean and a threat to Christian Sicillia and Naples.
A huge army was assembled of some 50,000 infantry and 16,000 cavalry, the army was transported to Sardinia.
Here as the Army slept and amassed supplies throughout the Winter, the Pope played his hand; his agent took ship along with his retinue of nearly 400 knights of the Papacy. Armed with a Papal Bull, Gilles de Lyon arrived at the French camp and announced in a moment of deft diplomacy that France was too Crusade into the Hafsid realm and upon the defeat of the Hafsid's was to establish a new Christian Kingdom.
This Kingdom would be a new Crusading Order and would keep the sea-lanes clear of Muslim pirates and be a forward bastion in the ever present war between the Cross and the Crescent.

Gilles was the First Grand Master of the Order of Carthage and while was not the most talented of men with words or administration it is uncontested that he was a man of brilliant martial skill and tactical ability.


Painting of Gilles de Lyon, romantic image painted in the 1600's

Gilles French backed Army swept into the regions formerly controlled by the Norman, Kingdom of Africa[2] and captured dozens of towns and ports within the opening months of the Crusade, the local Tunisian and Hafsid rulers lacked the strength to oppose the Crusade without support from the Hafsid rulers, the Hafsid did indeed muster their own army. However their forces where far inferior to the Crusader forces and by the close of 1240 the Crusaders had established a firm control and foothold in the Hafsid Kingdom


Crusaders in Blue; Hafsid in Green. 1240 AD

Gilles luck continued in 1241 as his forces moved into southern Tunisia and brought the area under their control, here the Hafsid now sent their army to besiege the town of Gabes.
At the Battle of Gabes the Crusader Army slaughtered some 9000 Hafsid Berber's and utterly broke the ability of the Hafsid dynasty to fight back, retreating with their tails between their legs back into their Castles and fortified towns the Hafsid's fled. There would never be another engagement to match the brutality of Gabes


A highly romanticised image of Gabes painted sometime in the early 1400's

It would take a further two years after Gabes to completely bring the country under Crusader control however the Crusader was a major success and would establish a new power along the coast of the Mediterranean.
And thus was founded the Order of Carthage, known to many simply as Carthage. The last and greatest of the Crusader states.

The Dusk of the Medieval Age- 1340 AD



Jean-Baptiste I could trace his lineage back to The Crusade (which in Carthage meant what was known in Europe as the Seventh Crusade) his family had been prominent soldiers and traders protecting the land routes from Berber tribes and the Sea routes from Egyptian and Algerian pirates. And so when the Council of Tunis, had convened to elect a new Grand Master in 1340 he had been the obvious choice, he had just spent the last three years campaigning against Magreb raiders from the Sahara.
All this was not important now though, the Cathedral of Carthage was filled with the nobles and aristocratic families of Carthage. Representatives from France, Castille, Aragon, Naples, The Papacy and Portugal where also amongst the crowd. Jean-Baptiste was dressed in the simple black tabbard of the Order of Carthage, the white cross on the blue shield emblazoned upon the front. A small golden crucifix hung around his neck as he knelt before the Alter of Christ. the Bishop of Carthage was nearby holding the simple Iron crown that would transform Jean from one of the most powerful nobles into Grand Master.
The weight of one hundred years of history and pride was now hovering above his head, in the hands of the elderly Bishop. all his life he'd fought for Carthage, spilled blood for Carthage and now he would rule, by the Grace of God, for Carthage.
Many challenges awaited him, this he knew. But as the bishop lowered his hands and Jean felt the cold iron touch his head, Jean was content to simply revel in his newly found power.

"Arise, Jean-Baptiste de Carthage, By the Grace of God and Will of the Council of Tunis; Grand Master of the Order of Carthage. May your rule be Just, Fair and Strong. In the name of the Father, Holy Spirit and the Son. Long Live the Grand Master."

Jean-Baptiste the First climbed to his feet to thunderous applause. and Jean-Baptiste allowed himself a smile.







[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafsid_dynasty - For those of you who may desire further reading upon a truly remarkable dynasty.

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Africa - An interesting period of history for those interested in it.

[Mortality]

Sounds very interesting. I love EU:3 and I hope to see more from this.

[Grimecraft]

Sounds very interesting. I love EU:3 and I hope to see more from this.

I have a serious addiction to it, over 300 hours logged on steam and thats only when i play online.
Well I only just recently made this mod for Carthage so I'm dying to try them out

[Grimecraft]

Dusk Of The Medieval Age- 1356 AD

Grand Master Jean-Baptiste, or as he styled himself, Grand Master John I, sat in his throne room. Unlike the kingdom of Jerusalem, Carthage had remained firmly in the hands of the Crusaders who had carved out the realm.
The Grand Masters ruled and lived like Kings of Europe and always had done. They ruled until their deaths and then a successor was elected from the nobles.
And so it was that Jean-Baptiste sat upon his gilded throne, a gift from the King of Aragon for the added protection Carthaginian fleets brought to his shipping across the Mediterranean, the traditional Iron Crown, presented to the original Grand Master by the Pope as a symbol of the strength of arms needed to with-hold the borders, upon his brow and pondered.

The doors to the long and narrow throne room opened, a man emblazoned in the coat of arms and colours of his House.
"My Lord, General Guillemot wishes an audience." The guard barked.

"Of course, let him in"

The great oak doors scrapped close, only to be reopened moments later. General Guillemot de Sousse, second son of the De Sousse family and personal liaison to the Grand Master.

"Good afternoon sire, I trust I find you well?"

"Yes Guillemot, for now though that dour look on your face may dampen my spirit."

"Aye sire it's not good news. Rebellion is brewing in the outer provinces. The Berber's and nomads grow restless and the people refuse to pay taxes. Local Christian lords and local Muslim lords are engaged in practically all out warfare, raiding, counter-raiding the usual flow and ebb of low level warfare. things are getting out of hand down there. Latest report to reach me says that one local Lord butchered some 45 people in small farming village."

It was grim news indeed, the tension festering in the outer regions had been growing throughout Jean's sixteen year long rule, but never had it been this bad.

"Well Guillemot I have a task for you then, select one of your captains and charge him with a thousand men-at-arms and have him march to restore order. Confiscate the lands of any Muslim Lord who breaches my peace, and hang any and all Berber raiders. These insolent Arabs and desert wanderers dare to disturb the Peace, well they shall shortly see what a mistake they have made." The Grand Master grew weary of the dissent and knew a swift and limited campaign would restore order at least for the moment.



Guillemot frowned quickly, as per usual the Grand Master was striking hard against the native Muslims, this wouldn't settle the dissent, the last batch of seizures and exiles was the reason for this particular round of trouble, but the Grand Master would hear nothing of it, and so he conceded the point.

"What else General?"

"Well sire, your recent opening of the Port to non-Catholic Christians has had an unexpected downside. A large amount of orthodox Christian merchants have arrived, a significant amount, and they bring with them thousands more, it's quite the emigration."

"How many?"

"Several thousand at least, they erect churches across the city and are out-competing local Merchants who leave the city for ports still closed to the heretics." Guillemot shuffled his feet and looked at the floor.

"Out with it General" Jean snapped, this was much more worrying news, it directly affected his policies and worse was much closer to home.

"Well sire the Catholics of Carthage are for all intents and purposes a minority. The City is heavily Orthodox."

"Do you mean to tell me, that in the Pope's chosen land, carved out by the blood of the crusaders, our ancestors. That there is not even one BLOODY CATHOLIC PROVINCE!" the Grand Master was loosing his temper, this would be a massive blow to his prestige. The first Grand Master to loose control of his countries faith

"Yes sire, The council, god-damn their eyes, has called for immediate missionary activity within the city. And the nobles who are loosing their profits are paying for their own missionaries. Of course the Order must now step, we cannot be seen to not care." Guillemot tentatively suggested, he carefully didn't add in that the de Sousse family had also sent twenty and four missionaries.

"Yes of course, I'll have the Bishop organise the effort" Jean was rubbing his temples now, two loads of bad news.

"Sire I must organise the troops for the march south, I beg my leave Grand Master."

"Yes of course Guillemot."



General Guillemot gave a low bow and walked from the room.
Grand Master Jean-Baptiste realised his realm was in a shaky position and that meant his own power was slipping.

[Akar]

Nice start .

[Grimecraft]

Religion In Carthage

Carthage may have been the target of the Crusade but in 1356 AD only the capital city of Carthage was in any way shape or form, Christian. Upon the total conquest of the Muslim Hafsid Dynasty the Crusaders sent out hundreds of priests and missionaries into the surrounding lands. Yet it was in vain. The fire and brimstone Catholicism pushed by the Crusaders along with the harsh methods, church taxes and general bigotry that entailed Christian missionaries did nothing to lend any sort of support to the Church.
As time wore on the Muslims of the realm grew more and more restless. In 1270 a massive revolt broke out in the outlying provinces. This was no mere rising of the peasants but a mass revolt against the new state. 50 monasteries which had been constructed in the provinces and more often than not contained the entire Christian population where burned to the ground and their inhabitants slaughtered or sold over the borders to Moroccan, Algerian or Egyptian slavers.
The Crusaders under their new Grand Master, Grand Master Montague launched a massive counter attack, several thousands Muslims where killed, hundreds of Imam's where burnt at the stake. Crusader vengeance was swift and the revolt buckled and splintered, the warlords of the revolt fled into the Sahara or over the boards and would plague the border lands for decades to come.
The religious conflict reached it's dramatic peak when the Bishop of New Bordeaux, a province to the south-west of the capital was stoned to death in the towns central square. the church and the towns Christian population was not spared either, 190 people died in a night of butchery and violence. Even though intelligence from survivors suggested that the killings where committed by Algerian raiders from over the border Grand Master Montague would hear none of it. Taking personal command of 2000 mounted knights the Order struck hard and fast.

On 24th of August 1276 AD, New Bordeaux was encircled and it's Muslim population put to the sword and their homes burnt. The Sack of New Bordeaux did however lead to a lasting peace and understanding.
The Treaty of Gabes was signed the next year between Muslim religious leaders and the Council of Tunis (a council of the 5 most important men in the Order of Carthage)

Montague realised that the efforts of conversion had left deep scars in his new realm and that he couldn't meet every rising with force, many suspected that Montague, now an old man was simply tired of fighting, the last 7 years had seen almost all out civil war and had destroy the Order's treasury and ability to support itself outside the Capital city. Conversion of the Muslims would cease, on the condition that any who did convert of their own free-will would not be harmed.

Over the years since then the treaty has gradually been put aside, more churches have been constructed and missionaries occasionally venture out of the province of Carthage to seek converts, however the realm remains divided. A Catholic nobility centred in and around Carthage ruling over a Muslim people.

As of 1356 the treaty has only been violated once, Jean-Baptiste's predecessor, Alexander II attempted to spread Catholicism outside of the County of Carthage. The result was the death of the Grand Master while campaigning against armed Muslim militants in the deep south of the nation.

Since then Jean-Baptiste has respected the treaty and won the support of many Muslims for doing so.