High Era - 1300-1492 (Historic Background Research Thread)

[+Marius+]

Big invasions are fun and challenging, and a campaign without one would seem a little dull. Even if it's more appropriate to take it out like you said, maybe we should keep it for the sake of entertainment.

Yes, but in this scenario the Timurids would encounter both Mongol factions during their invasion, they would be fighting the Ilkhanate and the Golden Horde until they reach the line Hungary/Jerusalem, Mongol vs Mongol...which we will already have considering the two mentioned Mongol factions will very probably go to war.

Maybe it should remain ingame, but there is always that extra faction slot that is lost...

[Melooo182]

In fact, you could use the unit roster of the Timurids and give it in its entirety to the Ilkhanate, two problems with one stone.


So, current faction list in my mind;

1) Kingdom of England
2) Kingdom of Scotland
3) Holy Roman Empire
4) Kingdom of France
5) Kingdom of Castile
6) Kingdom of Aragon
7) Kingdom of Hungary
8) Kingdom of Poland
9) Kingdom of Denmark
10) Kingdom of Sweden
11) Teutonic Order
12) Grand duchy of Lithuania
13) Republic of Novgorod
14) The Golden Horde
15) Republic of Venice
16) Kingdom of Serbia
17) The Papal states
18) Kingdom of Naples
19) Marinid Sultanate
20) Hafsid Caliphate
21) Mamluk Sultanate
22) The Crusader states
23) The Roman Empire
24) The Ilkhanate
25) The Ottoman Sultanate/Empire
26) Republic of Genoa



Few faction slots remain, candidates;

Kingdom of Sicily(the island of Sicily, independent since the sicilian vespers until 1409)
Kingdom of Portugal(expanded into current modern borders, a fairly powerful kingdom led by the very capable king Denis "the Farmer/Poet King")
Kingdom of Cilicia(allied with the Mongols and under a sneaky king Sempad, married to the Khan's young daughter)
Kingdom of Georgia(a fierce kingdom in the Caucasus led by a very capable kings David VIII and George V after him, who not only intervened in Mongol affairs but also defeated their invading armies proclaiming independence)
Grand Duchy of Muscovy(recently founded by duke Daniel)

AFAIK Naples and Sicily remained minor states under the influence of Aragon after the Sicilian Vespers
Why Sweden over Norway?

This is my list for 1300:
1) Scotland
2) England
3) HRE
4) France
5) Castile&Leon
6) Aragon
7) Portugal
8) Hungary
9) Poland
10) Norway
11) Denmark
12) Teutonic Order
13) Lithuania
14) Novgorod
15) Muscovy (replacing Kievan Rus)
16) Venice
17) Genoa
18) Serbia (replacing Georgia)
19) Bulgaria (replacing Cumans)
20) Romans
21) Ottomans (replacing Rum)
22) Mamluks
23) Crusaders
24) Golden Horde
25) Ilkhanate (replacing Khwarezm)
26) Marinids (replacing Almohads)
27) Hafsids (replacing Sicily)

28)Sweden? Timurids? Georgia?

29) Papal states
30) Rebels
31) Spawnpool

[+Marius+]

AFAIK Naples and Sicily remained minor states under the influence of Aragon after the Sicilian Vespers

Erm no.

Just because the rulers were related does not mean it was under the influence of the political entity of the same name.

The kingdom of Sicily was completely independent and ruled by a completely separate branch of the House of Barcelona, it was not put under Aragon itself until 1409 when the House of Trastámara united it under their rule.

The kingdom of Naples even more so, as it was ruled by the French noble House of Anjou and Valois and had nothing to do with Aragon until 1442 when Alfonso V made it so.

Why Sweden over Norway?

Because Norway was ruled by Magnus IV of Sweden from 1319, somehow I thought that Norway thus entered a personal union under Sweden, but after reading up on it for a while, it seems that Norway, Sweden and Denmark were just in a ludicrous royal free for all where all three kingdoms were sporadically ruled by monarchs from all three nations whenever they saw it fit to put one on a throne.


So it seems that the decision is mostly because Sweden started becoming actually active on the political scene(crusades in Finland and such) while Norway just stood there...



Regarding the list;

What about the entirety of South Italy?
Just put Aragon everywhere?
The game needs a separate faction either in Naples or in Sicily, if not both then at least one.

The Kingdom of Naples under the Anjou dynasty is obviously the prime candidate with the island of Sicily then being either rebel or, if you cannot avoid it, under Aragon.

[Melooo182]

My bad got confused with Naples aragonese acquisition date
Southern Italy and Siciy divided between France and Aragon respectively then.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Naples
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdo...Angevin_Sicily
not very much info about those kingdoms for 1300, lets see the rulers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_III_of_Sicily
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_Naples

I get that they had independent rulers, but were always in close alliance with the major power those rulers came from...kingdoms of France and Aragon were knee deep in the fate of southern Italy and the islands.
A Inheritable King Titles could be scripted, just like it was done for Crusader States constituents, along some AoR unique sicilian units.

The game needs a separate faction either in Naples or in Sicily, if not both then at least one.

not really a need, sicily island could be put back into 2 regions for Aragon and Southern Italy 2 regions for France...letting them squable each other along the Hafsids.

Because Norway was ruled by Magnus IV of Sweden from 1319, somehow I thought that Norway thus entered a personal union under Sweden, but after reading up on it for a while, it seems that Norway, Sweden and Denmark were just in a ludicrous royal free for all where all three kingdoms were sporadically ruled by monarchs from all three nations whenever they saw it fit to put one on a throne.


So it seems that the decision is mostly because Sweden started becoming actually active on the political scene(crusades in Finland and such) while Norway just stood there...

Hmm I can agree to that.

[+Marius+]

Again, France and Aragon came later into the picture, the influence you speak of came in the 15th century and the fighting for Naples between France and Aragon in 1494.

Maybe give Sicily to Aragon, but Naples was its own kingdom(quite a powerful one) for quite some time, just because its ruling family was French does not mean that the kingdom had anything to do with France.

It may also be of interest to you that, at the same exact period, a branch of that same French family(Anjou), from Naples, managed to get onto the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary with the help of Croatian nobility.

Firstly only titular;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Martel_of_Anjou

then his son actually took rulership;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_Hungary


...again, same family just different branches.

[Melooo182]

And which faction would you remove to have Anjou kingdom of Sicily?
Novgorod or the Timurid Wild Card?

TBH I would like to shorten the map to just deal with a single mongol faction, the golden horde.
but not sure, it would indeed help to spice up more Eastern Europe and North Africa.

[+Marius+]

And which faction would you remove to have Anjou kingdom of Sicily?
Novgorod or the Timurid Wild Card?

Edit: removed wall of text.

Bah, I cannot suggest removing any faction to justify Naples

TBH I would like to shorten the map to just deal with a single mongol faction, the golden horde.
but not sure, it would indeed help to spice up more Eastern Europe and North Africa.

Shorten the map?
What?
How?

The Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate are North and South of each other on map...how would you do this?

The map needs changing though to properly put new factions in, the SSHIP map would be more ideal, especially the Balkan area because of Bulgaria and Serbia;



...also the provinces of central Europe(especially the HRE) are just magnificent in this map.


Edit: stupid advice regarding map removed.

[Melooo182]

I meant shortening it by removing most of asia
the sahara and arabian deserts are part of the same unconquerable province so they arent much of trouble, but yet again there is no real gain in having them except for Mecca which is far to the south of the arabian peninsunla.

Titanium's map is based on SSHIP and HURB maps, ATM High Era map looks almost identical to Early Era with the exception that the balkans have 2 extra provinces (Scopia and Athens) and the island of Rhodes is its own province again at the expense of other regions (Sivas, Van and Wasit)
There is a screen shot in the OP
and just added the regions file

[paleologos]

I meant shortening it by removing most of asia
the sahara and arabian deserts are part of the same unconquerable province so they arent much of trouble, but yet again there is no real gain in having them except for Mecca which is far to the south of the arabian peninsunla.

Titanium's map is based on SSHIP and HURB maps, ATM High Era map looks almost identical to Early Era with the exception that the balkans have 2 extra provinces (Scopia and Athens) and the island of Rhodes is its own province again at the expense of other regions (Sivas, Van and Wasit)
There is a screen shot in the OP
and just added the regions file

That's what happens when you squeeze nine(!) provinces in the scandinavic countries, for crying out loud it isn't like that part of the world had that much of a population, or that much of wealth, or that much of political or military influence on the rest of the world.
My recommendation is to merge a few regions up there and make what you need elsewhere.

[+Marius+]

Titanium's map is based on SSHIP and HURB maps, ATM High Era map looks almost identical to Early Era with the exception that the balkans have 2 extra provinces (Scopia and Athens) and the island of Rhodes is its own province again at the expense of other regions (Sivas, Van and Wasit)
There is a screen shot in the OP
and just added the regions file

I meant shortening it by removing most of asia

But...why?

[Melooo182]

because eastern european factions, namely Rus and Novgorod are kinda boring, i added forts to their giant regions in hope things would get more enjoyable but the stupid AI* just ignores them, I heard DoS guys made the AI actually use forts, perhaps it would be good to know how they did that.

*gsthoed favourite player

[+Marius+]

because eastern european factions, namely Rus and Novgorod are kinda boring, i added forts to their giant regions in hope things would get more enjoyable but the stupid AI* just ignores them, I heard DoS guys made the AI actually use forts, perhaps it would be good to know how they did that.

Yea, people keep saying that the AI ignores forts but in my game build I always make forts free and because of that the AI both creates them and uses them heavily.
Many a times I toggled the fow and saw at least 2-3 forts under siege or the AI laying a fort at a mountain pass.

I posted these long before, but here are the forts the Persians built against the Timurids that held up for about 10-12 turns before falling;



Same thing across map.


As for the chopping of Asia from the map...seems like a bad idea...and the reasoning is not valid for this time period since there will be two large and powerful mongol factions present to add both threat and immersion.
Or would you rather create a much more Europe focused game?




Also, for the regional Knights order submod, here are the knightly order's holdings in the year 1300;


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...uropa_1300.png
http://www.sarahwoodbury.com/wp-cont...aller-1300.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...uropa_1300.png

[+Marius+]

Perhaps we should start with the info posts?


Scotland 1300

TheSecond Interregnum (1296–1306) resulted in Scotland being kingless until 1306, but for gameplay purposes I suggest allowing some leeway for Robert the Bruce;


King; Robert the Bruce, age 26, Guardian of Scotland since 1298, officially crowned 1306

Generals:
William Wallace, age 28-32; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wallace
Sir Simon Fraser, age 54; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Fraser_(d._1306)
William Oliphant, age unknown; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willia...ed_after_1313)
James Douglas, age 14-16; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_...ord_of_Douglas
Thomas Randolph, age 22; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas..._Earl_of_Moray

Priests
William de Lamberton, Bishop of St Andrews; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_de_Lamberton
Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wishart


State of civil war;

Northern most province is to be rebel, an army of rebels is to be led by a rebel general representing John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch.
Another rebel army is to be placed at the western shore of Scotland, led by a rebel general representing John of Argyll, leader of the English loyal clans MacDougall and Macnaghten.


Family tree;

King Robert de Bruce(age 26):

wife; Elizabeth de Burgh(age 17), daughter Marjorie Bruce(age 4) | daughters Margaret(age 1) and Matilda(age 2)
sister; Mary Bruce(age 18) - husband Niall mac Cailein(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niall_mac_Cailein) (age 30ish) - son John Campbell(age 2)
sister; Christina Bruce(age 22) - husband Christopher Seton(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Seton) (age 22)
brother; Edward(age20); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bruce
brother; Thomas(age 16) - wife Helen Erskine(age 17); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_de_Brus
brother Alexander(age 15); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_de_Brus

[+Marius+]

England 1300;


King; Edward I, age 61 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_I_of_England

Generals;
Guy de Beauchamp age 28 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_de...arl_of_Warwick
Henry de Percy, age 27 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_...st_Baron_Percy
Aymer de Valence, age 25 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aymer_...rl_of_Pembroke
Robert de Clifford, age 26 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert...on_de_Clifford
John de Warenne, age 69 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_d...Earl_of_Surrey
John of Brittany, age 34 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_o...rl_of_Richmond



Priests;

Robert Winchelsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, age 55 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Winchelsey
Walter Langton, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, age unknown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Langton


State of war;

Either English armies present in rebel Ireland or Ireland as an English province from the start;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lordship_of_Ireland


Family tree;

King Edward I Plantagenet(age 61): wife; Margaret of France(age 21)(second wife), son from current marriage; Thomas of Brotherton(age 1)

From first marriage:

son; Edward(age 16) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_II_of_England
daughter; Elizabeth(age 18) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_of_Rhuddlan
daughter;Joan of Acre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Acre (age 28)- husband Ralph de Monthermer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_...ron_Monthermer (age 30); children; Gilber(9),Eleanor(8), Margaret(7), Elizabeth(5), Mary(3), Joan(1)
daughter; Mary of Woodstock(21), became a nun at a young age, but she could also be used as a princess.


*other daughters and family members are not listed since they were either married to foreign nobles/rulers.
*I suggest merging children from multiple marriages into one

[+Marius+]

Holy Roman Empire 1300

The Holy Roman Empire experienced a period of Interregnum since 1250 where no one was crowned as the Holy Roman Emperor for decades until Henry VII(1312), however the men who ruled during this period were actual kings of Germany(king of the Romans) and thus can be viewed as rulers of the HRE regardless.


Emperor: Albert I of Germany(House Habsburg), age 45. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_I_of_Germany


Generals:
Henry, age 25 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_..._Roman_Emperor
Rudolf I, age 26 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_I,_Duke_of_Bavaria
Stephen I, age 29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephe...uke_of_Bavaria
Henry, age 45 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_of_Bohemia

Priests;

Baldwin of Luxembourg, age 15 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_of_Luxembourg
Peter of Aspelt, age...old https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_of_Aspelt



Family tree;

Albert I von Habsburg(age 45):

wife; Elizabeth of Carinthia(age 48) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizab...een_of_Germany
son; Rudolf(age 19) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_I_of_Bohemia
son; Frederick(age 11) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_the_Fair
son; Leopold(age 10) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopol...uke_of_Austria
son; Albert(age 2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert...uke_of_Austria
son; Henry the Friendly(age 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_the_Friendly

daughter; Anna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_o...of_Brandenburg (age 25), husband; Herman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman...burg-Salzwedel (age 25), daughters; Agnes(3), Matilda(2)
daughter; Agnes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_...%E2%80%931364) (age 19), became a nun but I suggest keeping her as a princess
daughter; Elisabeth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisab...ss_of_Lorraine (age 15)
daughter; Catherine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cather...ss_of_Calabria (age 5)

[+Marius+]

France 1300

Regarding English holdings;
In May 1286, King Edward I paid homage before the new king, Philip IV of France, for the lands in Gascony. However, in May 1295, Philip "confiscated" the lands. Between 1295 and 1298, Edward sent three expeditionary forces to recover Gascony, but Philip was able to retain most of the territory until the Treaty of Paris in 1303.

England could have land in France, or not.
What I mean is, England did not have land in France at the startdate but had Gascony returned to it already in 1303 so it depends on what is better for gameplay.

Regarding Spain; Philip(and his descendants) ruled Navarre through his marriage to Joan.


King: Philip IV, age 32 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_IV_of_France


Generals;
Robert of Artois, age 50; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert...ount_of_Artois
Jacques de Châtillon, age 44; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_de_Ch%C3%A2tillon
Jean II de Trie, age 75; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_I...t_of_Dammartin
Raoul of Clermont, age 54; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_of_Clermont
Guy of Clermont, age 42; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_I_of_Clermont
Simon de Melun, age 51; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_de_Melun

Priests;
Bernard Saisset, age 68; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Saisset
Jean de Marigny, age 33; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_de_Marigny


Family tree;

Philip IV, House of Capet, age 32:


wife; Joan I of Navarre(age 27); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_I_of_Navarre
son; Louis(age 11); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_X_of_France
son; Philip(age 9); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_V_of_France
son; Charles(age 6); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IV_of_France
son; Robert(age 3);
daughter; Isabella(age 5); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_of_France

[+Marius+]

Kingdom of Castile 1300

Regarding Leon;

From 1296 to 1301 the Kingdom of León was independent under the rebellious Juan I of León, being crowned as King of León, Galicia and Seville.
Juan submitted to Ferdinand IV in 1301, which is just 1 year after the start date.


King; Ferdinand IV of Castile, age 15; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_IV_of_Castile

Generals;

Juan de Castilla y Haro, age 30ish; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_de_Castilla_y_Haro
Garci Lasso de la Vega, age 30ish; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garci_Lasso_de_la_Vega_I
Alonso the Goodman, age 44; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonso...de_Guzm%C3%A1n

Priests;

Cardinal Pedro Rodríguez, age (old); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_...uez_(cardinal)


Family tree;

deceased king Sancho IV; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sancho_IV_of_Castile
his son, current King Ferdinand IV, House of Ivrea, age 15:

mother; María de Molina(age 35) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_de_Molina
brother; Peter(age 10) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_...ord_of_Cameros
brother; Philip(age 8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip...era_and_Ribera
sister; Isabella(age 17) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel...ueen_of_Aragon
sister; Beatrice(age 7) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatri...%E2%80%931359)

[Melooo182]

There could be some forts in Guyenne-Gascogne Province occupied by english troops and maybe a diplomat, offering the player to either try to bribe/buy Bordeaux or take it by force from the french.
Bordeaux garrison could vary depending on campaign difficulty level.

That's what happens when you squeeze nine(!) provinces in the scandinavic countries, for crying out loud it isn't like that part of the world had that much of a population, or that much of wealth, or that much of political or military influence on the rest of the world.
My recommendation is to merge a few regions up there and make what you need elsewhere.

Well we could perhaps merge
Uppsala and Visby into Kalmar region
having 2 provinces free to be assigned elsewhere
I would like to add at least 1 to the Rusland area, most probably Moscow and its surrounding, sure starting as an insignificant town.
the other one for Anatolia or Caucasus...maybe Sivas again although not sure.

Scotland's Aberdeen could also be repurposed for another province elsewhere

[paleologos]

My recommendation is to leave Visby alone and merge the two green regions into one and the two pink into another.
That on the grounds that it was the northernmost areas that were of the least influence.

I agree about Aberdeen.
I think it would be meaningful to have two regions in Ireland instead of one, but I don't feel very strongly about it on the grounds that it only influences the English.

What I do feel strongly about is Egypt: it was too rich and too populous to only have four regions plus Sinai.
North-west Africa could have fewer provinces (at least one less).

Also central Spain and Northern France one less region each (eliminate the landlocked ones).

And then there is the Syrian desert: how many regions do we need there?
Historically the Syrian desert was stragegically significant because it acted as a natural barrier to the adcancement of armies.
Part of the Byzantine strategy against the Persians was to deliberately dismantle settlements near the Syrian desert to create a buffer zone, a large area that would be very difficult to traverse.

I would like to see one more region in Sicily (Syracuse?), as it is a large island, populous and agriculturally significant (grain).

The island of Lesbos was the capital of the Aegean theme and a major naval base for ERE, so maybe there should be a region (but I have no strong feelings about it).

I do have strong feelings about Asia Minor: at least one more province should be added to beef up the difficulty of conquering that part of the map.
Also, please rearrange the regions in Asia Minor, eliminate the landlocked ones (I see three of them in the map in the OP), give those regions access to the sea.

That's what I can think of for now.

[+Marius+]

What I do feel strongly about is Egypt: it was too rich and too populous to only have four regions plus Sinai.
North-west Africa could have fewer provinces (at least one less).

Not at this time it was not, the Mamluks were below average administrators/rulers and they got worse and worse over time.

Kevin Shillington's "History of Africa",

not a particularly amazing read, however I do remember him describing the late medieval decline of some parts of Northern Africa.

As I recall, it had to do with the stagnant nature of Islam itself that became prevalent after the demise of its Golden Age(which pretty much stayed the same to this day) alongside the iqta system which proved to be as disastrous as the Mamluk peacetime rule proved to be incompetent(farm production declined, dams and canals lapsed into disrepair etc.).

It was basically a load of rulers that had an obsolete and backward mindset, pretty much like theoretically giving rulership of renaissance Europe to 9th century feudal lords...it was bound to end badly.

Post Crusader time was Europe's time to shine(apart from the Ottomans ofc), the age of Arabs was over.

Well we could perhaps merge
Uppsala and Visby into Kalmar region

I have edited the map to show some propositions;



Squares from north to south;

1) Merge the two southern Swedish provinces into one to avoid loosing another island province(Visby)
2) Another province in the densely populated and rich Netherlands to represent Friesland, capital city would be Leeuwarden and the coastal port representing Harlingen.
3) Another province to mitigate the stretched province of Bohemia, this would represent Moravia and the capital city would be Brno.

4)
Another province that represents the Duchy of Carniola with the capital city of Laibach() and another coastal port(Rijeka), the province of Istria had its borders corrected and its coastal port moved to the city of Pula.

Alongside that the capital of Croatia has been moved from Zagreb to Bihac and the borders of Dalmatia have been moved to coast to reflect the fact that Dalmatia was nothing but sporadic coastal cities and islands since it did not go inland until the 16th/17th century;

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ubi%C4%87a.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...a_Hrvatska.jpg

...also, Croatia needs to have a coastal port...it had more than 20 coastal cities at the time(see maps above, both are around 1300).

5) Another possibility is putting back Corsica, but examples above seem more immersive to me.
6) Giving back Sicily its 2 provinces back.