[Alternate History] 1598: Italian Tempest RPG

[Inkie]

Il Popolo dei Cinque Pasti

July 1599





The Veneto-Lombard Alliance

Just as the Italic League emerged as a challenge to the now defunct Treaty of Amity and Peace, a new Veneto-Lombard alliance has emerged as a challenge to the Italic League. In the Treaty of Belluno, signed before the city itself, the two states have committed to an alliance, which stipulates that the province of Belluno is now a part of the Most Serene Republic of Venice. Furthermore, the Duchess Konstanze I has made a statement to the following effect:

"His Serene Highness, the Doge Poosano of Venice and Her Durchlaucht, Duchess Konstanze of Lombardy, hereby formally, and in the eyes of God, declare an alliance between their respective realms, in order to restore and permanently secure peace in Italy. The Pope has decreed that peace be maintained in Italy, and we wish to follow his command, for it is the will of God. We oppose those who oppose the will of His Holiness. Therefore, Tuscany must be brought back into the fold of reason and be made to understand the Pope's command. Tuscany's "crusade" is illegitimate by all accounts. Not only has the Pope decreed peace, but His Holiness has himself converted the Duchess Konstanze of Lombardy onto the One True Faith. It is a great evil for a man to think himself above the Pope and launch a "crusade" against Catholic sovereigns. This evil shall be punished with God on our side. Both Tuscany and Milan will be pacified and their aggressive, anti-Papal politics will be terminated. The Venetian-Lombard Alliance shall finally bring peace to Italy."

King Jaume III officially proclaims ownership of Corsica

King Jaume III of Catalonia has proclaimed his ownership of the island of Corsica, legitimizing the earlier statement of his vassal, Signore Malaparte. This would appear to obstruct one of the clauses of the Treaty of Recco recently signed between the Republics of Tuscany and Genoa.

Peace brokered between Savoy and the Valdesi

Duchess Regent Margaret of Savoy has recently brokered a peace with the Valdesi, allowing them to return to their homes safely in return for standing their forces down and a sizeable one-off payment of tribute. The army recently paraded through Turin in celebration of the end of hostilities.

New Papal Secretary of State

Pope Celestine VI has just released an announcement that Cardinal Farnese will be replacing Cardinal Barberini as Secretary of State, which comes following rumours of corruption and incompetence during the latter's tenure. His Holiness has also officially announced that as a result of his infirmity, he will share the reigns of Papal office with the new Secretary of State, who “speaks with the full authority and consent of the Holy Father himself, and whose word is to be respected by all who sincerely call themselves followers of the One True Faith.”

[Inkie]

New territorial map of Italy.


Lyra no longer represents the Papal States, now represented by ScarletRose.

Portrait and biography added to OP.

[Scarletrose]

On that day, the holy father would show his presence to the people of Rome. Weakened in body but strong in the faith, his appearance would be brief, he would not speak and he needed continuous assistance but his presence reminded all Christendom that even though bedridden, the almighty lord's representative on earth still resides in the holy see and will still make sure that the heavens will is fulfilled on earth.

Later on that same day, the new Secretary of State, Cardinal Farnese, will address the Italian peninsula in his stead for the first time in a lengthy note.

"De pontificis condicio

As the news that already traveled through the peninsula already anticipated, the pope is ill.
He is experiencing high fever and in his weakened state he remains asleep and resting for most of the day.
the greatest minds of Christendom are tending to his needs now and the only thing he needs most is the prayers of the faithful.
During his absence from the office of the Holy See I, as the secretary of state, will make sure to let his voice ad will to be heard and executed in his stead.

Despite the sorry state in which his malady reduced his body, the holy father confesses that he finds the fate of the Italian people a way more grievous concern to him than his personal condition.

Most concerning to him is the violent sentiments that could have been aroused by his previous speech and he feared his illness would allow the misinterpretation of his words to go unchallenged.
His holiness did indeed condemned the reformist practices for that pushes away from the goal of Unam sanctam ecclesiam catholicam which is undoubtedly the greater good for all the children of god, unity under the holy church; nonetheless he never suggested to arm the children of the lord and have them raise their swords on their brother upon minor acts of defiance.
His holiness will not suffer to see the people of Italy killing each other and have it called god's work.
Excommunication awaits the christian lord who raises his sword over a fellow Italian and calls it a sacred crusade.

His holiness and I read the bible together in the few hours he was awake and reasoned on how the words of Jesus Christ are, even centuries after they are spoken, an infallible source of wisdom, and in this hour most bleak, a simple phrase of our lord could be the guidance that we need on these troubled times.
"Redde Caesari quae sunt Caesaris, et quae sunt Dei Deo"

We stand by these wise words and declare:

I. No Caesar can take upon himself to represent the will of the god almighty, for that is the role of Saint Peter and his successors upon this earth and of the allmighty himself in the realm beyond.

II. All the legitimate Italian lords are recognized by the holy see as the rightful lords of their lands. The spiritual divisions of the people of Italy does not condone the violence perpetrated by rebellious masses against their power.

III. In the same way the Italian lords have the temporal authority to act upon the lawless people who populates their land and have no need nor right to deem holy and sacred the mere exercise of politics and temporal power.

IV. Just as the Pope has all Christendom as his flock, lords have a flock to tend to as well in their subjects; banditry plagues Italy as we speak and is the duty of every lord to take upon himself the safety of their flock.

so the Pontifex spoke for all Christendom to work ad maiorem Dei gloriam

Amen

[Spartan999]

Hold on got to talk to the GM first

[Ace_General]

A message by carrier pigeon arrives in Florence and is spread by pigeon to all the major cities to Italy

The perfidious Venetians have marched their armies into Milanese territory and our currently investing Verona. The Tuscan army is now in the field, and we send this message out to lay bare the perfidiousness and bare aggression of the Venetians. The Virgin witch has stated time and time again how the Borgia are the warmongers of Italy, but it is the witch herself and her allies that are the true aggressors. So nay, the might of the Tuscan army marches not for conquest, not for greed, but to liberate Italy of the German menace of the Virgin witch and her peridious venetian ally who time and time again has backstabbed and betrayed his erstwhile "Allies"

Signed,
Princeps Aldalfo Borgia,
Cmdr., Armata di Tuscana

[Diamat]

Yet more pigeons arrive in the various cities throughout Italy carrying the following message:

The Tuscans have started this war under the audacious pretense of a "crusade." They have incited rebellions and have conducted nefarious activities within Lombard territory. Yet Tuscany calls Lombardy the aggressor? Lombardy has never done anything to them, but simply wanted to be left alone. But no, the Borgia had to launch their illegitimate "crusade," which they did not even cease after His Holiness converted the Duchess Konstanze to the One True Faith. Lombardy has obeyed the Pope's commands! Lombardy has made peace with the rebels in its territory, and graciously gifted control of rebel cities to Venice, in order to avoid Christian bloodshed. Lombardy wants nothing more than religious peace. Tuscany, to the contrary, continues to defy the Pope's will, unwilling to stand down their forces, and continuing their illegitimate "crusade." To all Christians of Italy: beware the Borgia menace! Defend the Holy Sea!

[Ace_General]

Yet more pigeons arrive in the various cities throughout Italy carrying the following message:

The Borgia laugh and state

Yet it is the forces of Venice that are in the lands of the Italic league. And your forces and the Venetians killed the leader my Milanese allies. And we have not once use the word crusade. We state that we think you are a which, but we also have state time and time again that we wish to remove your German occupation of Italian soil, and your foreign ideas that are immical to the good order and traditional way of life of the Italian states. When my catholic Italian brothers rose up, I aided them. I doubt if my armies were in say Wuttenburg or Zürich and I was occupying Germans, and enforcing my Italian ways upon them, I would expect the German princes, at least those with pride and honor to do the same.

[Spartan999]

The city of Rieti belongs to the Umbrian republic once more!

With the siege over, the Signore ordered the Umbrian forces to

march towards north. The Umbrian force of 8,000 not only manage to

passed through Tuscany, they are almost at Milan, ready

to strike at any moment.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

As you can all see our great host vastly outclasses that of you renegades.
Now with Verona relieved we are preparing to lay siege to the cities of Pavia and Lodi with the aid of our Umbrian allies. With 22 regiments we march to avenge our martyred ruler.
I say this for the last time. We are willing to negotiate an end to this undeclared and unprovoked war upon the people of Milan by the treacherous forces of Doge Poosano and Duchess Konstanze.

Our demands are that Venice cede to us the cities of Lodi, Pavia and Alessandria and that Lombardy pay us an indemnity for the loss of every Milanese soldier, twenty times that for the loss of our ruler and his two vassals and their bodies returned to us (of course this is not a fixed rate and we will negotiate with the Lombards if they are unwilling to pay that much).
If these demands are not met we will not only capture Pavia and Lodi but all Venetian lands to the West of Milan within a matter of weeks.

[Scarletrose]

As the festivities of Ferragosto approaches and the church prepares to celebrate the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven, we cannot refrain ourselves from considering the dangerous situation that is developing in northern Italy and the massed armies ready to bathe the Italian soil with it's children blood.

As an attempt to prevent the waste of human lives that would result from that, I present to you the plead of the holy father to uphold a temporary truce and have the lords of Venice, Savoy, Milano, Lombardy, Toscana and Umbria to gather in the city of Viterbo and, bound to a sacred oath before god to not use violence upon one another, to make a last attempt to resolve their differences and let the reason take the place of swords and pikes in resolving their grievances.

May the mercy of god prevent another massacre of Christian souls.

Cardinal Demetrio Farnese
Bishop of Parma
Secretary of the Papal State

[Diamat]

The Duchess Konstanze of Lombardy declares that the Pope is absolutely correct! Let us call a truce and meet in the city of Viterbo! End the aggression!

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Only if it is made clear that these renegades admit defeat and are willing to give concessions. We shall negotiate on those terms, these two renegades killed our ruler and two lords of Milan without provocation. What sort of person would I be if I did not have something to return to the people so that I might shield them from this loss. The loss of their ruler has not made the people weak, instead they are angry and demand that we settle the score. A fire as big as that cannot be put down easily.

We have given the lives of three noble men and a thousand more sons of Milan. It is essential that something be given in return.

[Scarletrose]

We are not indifferent to the suffering that the Milanese people endured and we understand the sentiment of the people.
Nonetheless, to walk the path of war would only ensure more tragedies to occur, more wrong to be avenged and the beginning of a spiral of violence that wouldn't be easy to quell.
Which is why we deem the meeting at Viterbo necessary.
There, Milan would be able to negotiate terms with the other rulers on the field of debate and reason rather than blood and strife, and ensure a brighter and more peaceful future not only for the Milanese people but for all Italy.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

We understand but Milan did not start this war. It seems more like Poosano's puppet wishes to extricate themselves from a difficult all around situation whilst their alliance tries to walk away like a dog with their tail between their legs now that we have pinned them down in every location. How could they possibly defeat us now that the three of us have taken to the field.
But we wish to accomplish our aims with minimal bloodshed we shall speak to our colleagues and return with a response.

[Spartan999]

As the festivities of Ferragosto approaches and the church prepares to celebrate the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven, we cannot refrain ourselves from considering the dangerous situation that is developing in northern Italy and the massed armies ready to bathe the Italian soil with it's children blood.

As an attempt to prevent the waste of human lives that would result from that, I present to you the plead of the holy father to uphold a temporary truce and have the lords of Venice, Savoy, Milano, Lombardy, Toscana and Umbria to gather in the city of Viterbo and, bound to a sacred oath before god to not use violence upon one another, to make a last attempt to resolve their differences and let the reason take the place of swords and pikes in resolving their grievances.

May the mercy of god prevent another massacre of Christian souls.

Cardinal Demetrio Farnese
Bishop of Parma
Secretary of the Papal State

Shouldn't you try to stop the southern war too?

BTW I am literately there for defensive purpose. Otherwise I would have joined ace

and his army already.

[Diamat]

We are not indifferent to the suffering that the Milanese people endured and we understand the sentiment of the people.
Nonetheless, to walk the path of war would only ensure more tragedies to occur, more wrong to be avenged and the beginning of a spiral of violence that wouldn't be easy to quell.
Which is why we deem the meeting at Viterbo necessary.
There, Milan would be able to negotiate terms with the other rulers on the field of debate and reason rather than blood and strife, and ensure a brighter and more peaceful future not only for the Milanese people but for all Italy.

We, again, agree with His Holiness wishes. An unconditional truce would be in Italy's best interests. However, it seems Milan does not want an unconditional truce. In other words, they think that their conditions are higher than the Pope's wishes. Once again they show their true face: the face of war and aggression. Lombardy simply wants peace; it wanted peace all along. But Tuscany continued to attack, no matter how hard we tried to maintain the peace. Please, your Holiness, make them see Reason!

And, by the way, Lombardy finds it audacious of Milan to be making such arrogant demands. After all, Milan is losing this war. We have defeated the treacherous Milanese forces and now they want concessions? We are offering peace, yet Milan rejects? Milan rejects peace even though it is WE who ought to demand indemnities? Has Milan completely lost its sense of good reason?

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Why should Lombardy receive any indemnities? We sent our troops to help you fight rebels and you attacked our army and joined forces with Venice! Killed the Grand Duke no less!
Besides I hardly call 22 Milanese and Umbrian regiments a defeat. We could easily capture all of the Venetian cities to our west.

[Diamat]

You're out of your mind! First of all, you betrayed us and joined the Tuscans! You broke the religious peace in the North! Second, your forces are minimal. We can easily withstand, as our forces are just as strong. If you seek battle, we shall meet. However, we wish to follow the Pope's command. If you do not wish to follow the Pope's command, then God have mercy on your soul.

OOC: I'm still in character, so I'm not trying to insult anyone. Just for the record.

[Ace_General]

The Tuscans remind their allies of the terms of the Italic League and the clause about not singing separate peaces

The Borgia also state that the Venetians have invaded the Milanese and that their armies must be defeated and they must suffer territorial losses for their aggression before any Italic league member Delegation will meet with them.

We also would like to re-iterate the absolutely ludicrous ideas of the Virgin witch, as well at the impossibility of her conversion by teleportation through Tuscan territory. Also we would like to remind the holy father that now is the time when the German Heritic reigme lead by an actual witch is weakest. To negotiate with them with terms aside from sending them north of the Alps and restoring the Archbishopric of Trent in their area is a surrender in and of itself

[Derpy Hooves]

It seems all this talk of being the most Catholic Italian state was just that, talk. One should not disobey His Holiness lightly. His Holiness has also yet to recognize Duchess Kostanze as a witch, and until He does, Duchess Konstanze of Lombardy will remain a Catholic sovereign in the eyes of the Kingdoms of Syracuse and the Lower Italy.