[Bellum Crucis] HISTORIAE REGNUM FRANCORUM (Updated Chapter VII)

[Roman Heritage]

Hello all, and best regards, AAR readers and Medieval addicted! You might remember me from my previous work, the Chronikon ton Basileion, my second and - so it would seem - overall well received AAR. With this new After Action Report I intend to bring a little bit forward the premise and style of the Chronikon, writing things from an "historically plausible", purely narrative point of view; yet, I'd like this to be a little bit more "mature" work. I'll try to depict things and events as they would have been depicted in a real Medieval chronicle, with way less images than the Chronikon, and - I hope - a bigger focus on immersion and roleplaying. My goal is that of restoring the French Crown's authority over all of its legitimate extent, in the meanwhile giving you what I hope would be an entertaining and plausible history of French Middle Ages; as this may take a while, expect this to be a pretty lenghty opera. But before we jump on the real stuff, just let me introduce you to the mod I'm using, Bellum Crucis - an amazing, 100% made in Italy Medieval II modification!


Mod Infos

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Bellum Crucis, currently at its 7.0 version, is a completely fan-made Italian modification for Medieval II Kingdoms. It has, pretty much as Stainless Steel, a big focus on historical autenticity, and realism, yet, in my humble opinion, it surpasses it in scope and lenght.
Bellum Crucis features - obviously - a complete, historically-based and HD rendered roster for 28 factions, somehow reminescent of the first Medieval - ah, such lovely days... - spanning from the peak of the Feudal Era to Proto Renaissance: the official time span, in fact, is from 1155 to 1453, year of the fall of Constantinople and often credited as the real "end" of the Middle Ages.
But let's go to what really matters. Bellum Crucis implements a completely revised economy - yeah, actually, It's pretty tight on money -, improved diplomacy, the mechanics of internal strife and civil war, revolutioned building trees and guilds, implementation of tons of features such as technologies, religious conversions - yeah, you can change your faction's religion, under particular circumstances -, the scripted spawning of historical leaders - Richard the Lionheart, Frederick II Honenstaufen, Othman among many others -, undeniably upped graphics and textures, heraldry, merchantile fleets, acquisition of kingdoms through marriage, and many, many more improvements over both the vanilla and many mods.
Unfortunately, the English version of the mod is currently under development: a WIP translation should be already out, but it is only halfway finished. There are, however, already a Spanish and Polish translation available, so...whoever can, just give it a try. It is worth it, seriously. Even just to take a look at the units, they're just stunning.
I'm playing with the official version of the mod, just with some changes to the descr_strat, the battle_config, the EDB and the EDU as to achieve longer, more realistic and tactical experience on campaign map and in battles - perhaps just a tiny little bit shorter than EB II's battles, just for a comparison; this will sometimes force me to take riskful decisions, as not rarely it will be a battle against time, too; whoever got interested in this mod, and is interested in playing with these files, just PM me!
Anyway, after all of this talking, let's go ahead, and let me introduce the...

Premise


Of what has been of the Kingdom of France in the Era of Charlemagne and Hugues the Great, much has been written. The tales of the Paladins and of their beau geste resound at the four corners of the Christian world, their legacy, perpetuated by bards and troubadors, undying.


But of the tales of the Kings who succeeded Charlemagne, much less has been written. Much less has been written of the Royaume's dark days, of the Kings who forged the Kingdom of France, and, with God's blessing, restored its power through sword, coin and cunning. Yet, it is through the actions of those Kings that the Royaume de France was made as we know it today, and today shines among the Christian powers as a majestic fleur. It is through those Kings, and the blood they shed, les amours they lived, the ambitious and glorious enterprises in which they embarked, that Christ's domain shaped in the way as we know it today.
Therefore, I, Raoul Abbot of Saint-Denis, most humble of the servants of God and the King, dedicate this great opera of chronography to the enduring legacy of the Royaume de France, and the Roi, may God bless Him and His enduring legacy.


Prologue


There has been a time in which the Kingdom of France knew humiliation, surrounded by vicious enemies and hostile powers, a time in which foreign overlords ruled over the very sacred lands which rightfully belonged to Francia, threatening to put an end to its very existence as a sovereign power among the children of God's domains. In these days of grief and despair, the weight and honour of the Frankish Crown was worn by Louis le Jeune, Seventh of His name, second born son of Louis VI, grandson of Philip.


Anointed with the Sacrè Chresme in the Cathedral of Rheims on 1st August of the Year of Our Lord 1137, few days after his marriage with Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, Louis was an ascetical, pious, and cultured, but highly ambitious man. The first fifteen years of his reign saw him embarking in a long series of campaigns to strenghten the power of the Monarchy and consolidate the Royal Demesne, his dinastic holdings around the Ile de France, prosecuting the policy of his father, and of his father before him. Through the marriage of his son and heir Louis with Eleanor, in fact, the deceased King had hoped to add the fertile and rich lands of Aquitaine and Guyane to the Royaume's holdings, as these lands would be inherited by the eventual male offspring of the couple; but God's will must have been different, or the Devil's plottings too hard to overcome, as Louis' marriage with the Duchess proved to be ill-fated since the beginning, and, sadly, unable to produce any offspring but a girl, Marie, whom would grow to be a lady of the noblest heart and highest virtue.





Despite these saddening premises, Louis VII valiantly proved to be a man worthy of his title, and a true Christian King. When, from the see of Rome and through the speeches of Bernard of Clairvaux - blessed be His name, and held high in Heaven his soul - came and spread His Holiness' call for a new Crusade, Louis rallied his vassals and embarked in the Holiest of pilgrimages, leading his mighty host through Europe, determined to fulfill God's will. During his journey, he visited the courts of Gèza King of Hungary and Manuel of Comnenos, Emperor of the Greeks, both of whom he impressed with his gallantry and charisma. After a brief rest at the City of the Straits, Louis and the other great leader of the Crusade, Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III of House Hohenstaufen, joined their forces to march through Anatolia, domain of the Seljuq Saracens, against which they fought their way to Outremer.
In the Holy Lands, Louis and Conrad, together with Baoudouin III, Roi de Jerusalem and the Latins, agreed to join their forces in order to attack the saracens of Damascus, which in their tongue is spoken Dimashq, and subjugate it in Christ's name; yet, surely through the subterraneous intrigues of the Diable, the sands of Syria brought Christ's soldiers nought but defeat. Great was the humiliation which Christ's milites suffered in the very shadows of Damascus' ancient walls, and great was the awe which the Crusaders' failure brought to Europe all; only in the lands of the Spaniards, where the moorish town of Lisbuna was stormed and seized, and a new Christian kingdom established, would there be for God's children and Holy Mother Church a reason to feast and cheer.


The expedition not only came to a great cost in the royal treasury and military; it also precipitated the conflict between Louis and his wife Eleanor, to such a point as to lead to the annulment of their marriage at the Council of Beaugency, in Spring 1152. Less than two months after the annulment, the treacherous Eleanor married the subtle and ambitious Henry Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, bringing him as dowry the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony: this was but the premise for the founding of a long lasting struggle between Louis and his former vassal Henry, a man of keen mind and high hopes. Determined in finding a wife with whom, with God's benediction, produce a rightful heir, Louis married Constance princess of Castile, who bore him two daughters, Marguerite and Alys, and the friendship of the Kingdoms of Castile and Leòn. Allies were sorely needed, as the fragile equilibrium between Louis and his ambitious vassal was about to break.





The last years of the long-lasting Civil War in England, in fact, opened new perspectives for Henry and Eleanor. Being the son of Empress Matilde, legitimate heiress to long-deceased Henry I of the House of Normandy, the Duke of Anjou had a rather solid claim over the English throne, usurped by his uncle Stephen of Blois since the Year of Our Lord 1135. After a long power struggle, which saw Louis' forces, led by his brother Robert, Duke of Berry, directly involved in the war in Normandy and Poitou, in 1154 the Capetian King's heart was struck with grief when his enemy, Henry of Anjou, inherited the English throne as Henry II of England, Duke of Normandy, Anjou, Poitou and Aquitaine, thus founding what would later be called the Angevine Empire. Despite all of its efforts to prevent it, the fragile and divided Royaume de France suddenly saw a powerful enemy rising from within its boundaries, an enemy with the potential to overhwelm its former overlord and put an end to the glorious legacy of the Capetians and Charlemagne...

...and here begins our tale.

[Treaper]

Yes, Roman Heritage writing once more! I'm looking forward to next part and I hope you will sucessfully finish this AAR So poor I don't speak neither Italian, nor Spanish and Polish only a bit, BC seems like a great mod

Edit: Oh, and I found a typo, I think, Richard 'Lyonheart' is supposed to be 'Lionheart'

[Roman Heritage]

Yes, Roman Heritage writing once more! I'm looking forward to next part and I hope you will sucessfully finish this AAR So poor I don't speak neither Italian, nor Spanish and Polish only a bit, BC seems like a great mod

Edit: Oh, and I found a typo, I think, Richard 'Lyonheart' is supposed to be 'Lionheart'

Thank you really much, Treaper - and btw, I had that typo corrected Also, I changed the banner, since it wasn't as big as I expected. What do you guys think of it? It's a little bit handmade, yet in my opinion it's...well, fitting.

As a footnote, Chapter I will probably be out on tomorrow, or the like

[Treaper]

It looks authentic I really think about try Bellum Cruccis, maybe I will learn Italalian a bit from it

[Roman Heritage]

Hello, guys! Here is my first chapter, as promised. I do apologize if it feels a little bit...well, calm, but I assure you, things are moving...you just need to wait a bit

Chapter One - Of the Royaume and its subjects


Around the beginning of the Year of Our Lord 1155, the military, economical and political situation of the Royaume de France was dire, and dangerous. Outside of the boundaries of the Ile de France and the Royal Demesne, Louis' authority was precarious, at best, as, in the East, the fertile lands of Champagne were shaken by a ferocious succession war; on the southern borders of the Champagne, Odo II of Burgundy wielded such power as to challenge the Crown, if he wished so, and reigned almost as a King himself in the lands of his own. Lands such as Auvergne, Rouergue and Savoy were possession of petty lords whose spirits were more akin, as often is for those whose souls are tormented by lust for power, to prosecute their own policies and interests. In the South, where the common langue is that of oc, lands which should rightfully have belonged to Francia were torn within by war and mistrust, with the fiefs of Languedoc, Toulouse, Rossellò and Viviers often struggling against themselves, simply too distant from the glorious citè of Paris for any Royal prerogative to be respected. In the land spanning from the Western Alps to the boundaries of Languedoc, which according to Roman habit is by geographers called Provincia, greatly had Catalan influence grown after the succession war between the Houses of Baux and Berenguer; and the accession of Ramon Berenguer, Fourth of his name, to the thrones of Catalunya and Aragona, had done naught but confirm the Spanyards' hold over this land of skilled sailors and capable traders.


But the most depressing conditions were those in which versed the King's power in the North and West of the feudal holdings of the Royaume. Normandy, Guyane, Gascony, Poitou, Aquitaine and Anjou were only the most prominent among the fiefs which owed fealty to Henry II, of House Plantagenet, or his supporters; isolated and proudly independent, the Duchy of Brittany, formally under an oath of fealty to the Crown and the Capetians, was nothing more than a rump State, doomed to fall into Angevin hands with all of its riches and beauties. In contrast, great was the power of the Country of Flanders, for no foreign law was be applied to its rich cities, whether it came from the Emperor, the Frankish Kings, or the King of England, and pikes and swords raised whenever one such ruler pressed forward his claims; and it is by virtue of such love for freedom that the Flemish have learned the ways of the swords, pike and crossbow, those same skills which they often sell for foreign coin.
And, outside of the boundaries of Francia, the mightiest of Europe's powers lingered, ever hungry for lands and prestige: the Holy Roman Empire, ruled over by a new, ambitious monarch, Frederick I of House Hohenstaufen, nephew of Conrad; his ambition was not a force not to be reckoned with, as his Imperial Crown had been bought with the blood of those followers of Arnaldo of Brescia and the Commune, whose hopes he had crushed.


If the Royaume de France survived, and consolidated, in this incredibly complicated and dangerous situation, merits need be ascrived to Louis VII, too. After his divorce with Eleanor of Aquitaine - and her wedding with Henry Plantagenet, with all of its consequences - Louis immediately counteracted by starting a policy of centralization, seeking to restore the Crown's power over its former vassals. First, he intervened in the Champagne succession war, siding with former crusader companion Henry I of Blois, to whom he betrohed and wed his first-bed daughter, Marie Capet. Backed up by royal troops and provisions, Henry easily overwhelmed the resistance posed by his brothers, whom he anyway forgave, assigning them lands and manors, for hasn't Christ taught us to forgive and embrace those of our own kin?





With the power of the Count of Champagne now at the service of the Crown, Louis set his eyes onto Burgundy, where Odo II recklessly prosecuted into the same habits he had shown a decade earlier, choosing not to depart for the Crusade beside his legitimate overlord. Through a series of meetings in Dijon - and under the threat of the Crown's military might, personified by Louis' warmongering brother Robert le Grand, Duke of Berry - Odo agreed to swear an oath of loyalty to the throne, retaining, however, a certain degree of autonomy. The agreement was marked by Odo's wedding with Henry of Blois' daughter Marie of Blois-Champagne, and determined a much closer alliance between the Capetians, the Champagne and the Duchy of Burgundy, something which would turn instrumental in the later years of his glorious reign.





Nor did Louis' actions consist solely of political maneuvering and scheming. In order to consolidate his hold over the unruly lands of the basin of the Seine, in 1155 AD Louis built the first of a long series of strategically praiseworthy castles, Bar-sur-Seine: a mighty stone-built stronghold, surrounded by a deep moat, placed in such a position as to control one of the most important fords of the Seine to and from the Champagne region: its very stones were naught but an emblem of the Crown's renewed power, and of Louis' granitic determination.


In the Year of Our Lord 1156, things were definitively mature enough for an expedition against the disloyal southern vassals.

[waveman]

Certainly is looking interesting. I must say, when you said that hopefully, at some point, we'd see you possibly writing something again (or something along those lines, ha) I dind't expect for us to be so lucky to have it already!

[Roman Heritage]

Certainly is looking interesting. I must say, when you said that hopefully, at some point, we'd see you possibly writing something again (or something along those lines, ha) I dind't expect for us to be so lucky to have it already!

Yeah, that came quite fast The truth is, I had recently discovered Bellum Crucis, when I found out the Chronikon's files were lost. And so, I decided I might change mod for a while, perhaps I'd find something I liked...and after a few turns of a French campaign I fell in love with it, this mod was simply amazing. And so we got another AAR And I've gotten a new favourite faction, of course.

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

Nice start! And I really like your picture of Bar-sur-Seine castle.

I suspect those southern vassals might start to regret their disloyalty pretty soon...

[Roman Heritage]

Chapter Two - Of the misbehaving of Guigues d'Albon, and the acquisition of his lands


The army which Louis assembled in Bourges was one of great might, such as the Royaume had not seen in years. Men from each corner of the King's holdings answered the call: serjeants and militias from Berry and the Ile de France, squadrons of chevaliers from Champagne, sellswords from the Flanders and Loraine. Even the quarrelsome Odo of Burgundy answered the call, leading in first person a number of militians and lesser knights from his vassals' holdings in the basin of higher Saòne. In all, an host of 12.000 men, whose command the wise Louis took in first person, with the aid and council of prominent warriors such as his brother, the famed and feared Robert le Grand.


Robert was, indeed, a man worthy of his surnom: third born son of King Louis VI and Adelaide de Maurienne, Robert had followed his brother and overlord onto his Crusade, gaining great renown as a fighter and leader. After the disaster of Damascus, and the return in France, he continued accomplishing his royal brother's orders with skill and steadfastness, gaining a certain reputation as a harsh, but capable leader; a reputation which he confirmed during the last acts of the English Civil War, in 1154, when he led the Royaume's forces to victory against the Angevin fortress of Sèez.
Such was the man in which King Louis put his trust for honest and wise council, and who would continue holding such merits and tasks throughout his reign; a man forged in steel, built to fight and lead. In Spring of the Year of Our Lord 1156, while the common folks harvested the gifts of the ever generous sacred soil of France, Louis and Robert sought out in campaign to reap much cruder fruits; they led their host onto crossing the Loire at the height of Nevers, heading South towards the lands of Lyonese and Albon, where chaos ruled and the King's law was not applied.
In the lands of the basin of the Saòne, in fact, a long story of hostilities and rivalries there was between Guigues V, thirty-two years old Comte d'Albon, and Umberto III Count of Savoy. A couple years before, open struggle had ensued between the two lords, culminating in the siege of Montmèlian, resolved through the mediation of Hugues II of Grenoble; and when hostilities again began to rise, their quarrels offered Louis the chance to intervene and restore his authority in the same fashion as he had done by intervening in the Champagne.


The Crown's emissary, Gautier de Chatillon, preceded Louis' march into the region, bringing the King's word to those vassals which refused to acnowledge it; and such were his rhetoric skills, and such was the might of the Crown's army, that even the fierce lords of Grenoble and Savoy chose to bend their knees and acknowledge the Roi as their legitimate overlord, and his law as their own.
Not so did Guigues, who, instigated by his mother Marguerite de Macon, refused to share his table with de Chatillon and openly dispelled him. The die was cast, the slight too great to forgive easily: in March 1157 Louis' host reached Lyon, set its camp in front of it, and began its storming.





The siege did not last long, as Robert himself offered to lead the assault to the town's walls, to which Louis found nothing to dissent. A number of ladders, drapes and rams were built, yet, among the siege park, the most impressive engine was a a mobile siege tower, as high as the wooden walls of Clairmont, through the use of which the army's most skilled and renowned warriors would approach the walls. In this tower, or belfry, Robert placed his highest hopes to resolve the siege.
Great was the defenders' dismail when their attempts to burn the tower proved futile, and through its mobile deck the King's soldiers landed on the walls; and even bigger was the King's soldiers' valour, for they, inspired by Robert, who himself showed great courage by leading the attack from the front ranks, easily broke the city's defenses. The King himself took many risks by leading his knights into the breaches, tramping what remained of Lyon's militias under the hoofs of their steeds. Guigues died in the fightings, killed by Jean de Foix, a tolosan knight at Robert's service; and with his death, ended the resistance of Lyon, and Albon was brought again into the Royaume's possessions.

[Treaper]

It is so... unusually short after Chronikon ton Basileion But still nice

[Roman Heritage]

It is so... unusually short after Chronikon ton Basileion But still nice

I must say it could have been a much bloodier affair if the rebel army led by Umberto of Savoy decided to join the fray, but luckily it didn't...of course, thanks to the King's envoyeès!

Yeah, I know some of the first chapters will feel short, but later chapters are likely to grow in lenght...after all, this particular chapter is based off the fourth turn, and not much has happened yet, but I assure you, the point I've gotten into the playthrough is quite tumultuous But don't you worry, I'll eventually write my way into it, and you'll be riding beside France's finest knights

[Alwyn]

I'm enjoying this . I think that short chapters work well, especially early in a story. They make it easy for readers to introduce themselves to your AAR and leave us wanting more. More please!

[Roman Heritage]

I'm enjoying this . I think that short chapters work well, especially early in a story. They make it easy for readers to introduce themselves to your AAR and leave us wanting more. More please!

Thank you for the appreciation, Alwyn! Well, actually, I too find shorter chapters work in the beginning, so readers don't get showered by informations and characters; and since this was one of my problems with the Chronikon...well, here it is. This one, too, is a short chapter, since it mainly focuses on diplomacy; but I assure you, next ones will be a little lenghtier I'm trying to find the perfect balance.

Chapter Three - Of the Diet of Ratisbon, and the treaty which followed


Having forcefully brought Albon into submission, the Capetian soon had to deal with Frederick Emperor of the Romans, for Guigues had been one of his vassals, and as such German claim could be laid onto such lands; and Louis, who wished no bad blood to run between him and Conrad's nephew, sought to reach an agreement on the matter.


An embassy was sent to Ratisbon, where Frederick had called a Diet of his vassals; and among such envoyeès, were Robert and Henry Capet, and Gautier de Chatillon. At the Diet, which Frederick had called to settle quarrels between his vassals Henry Jasomirgott and Henry of Welf, called the Lion, upon the possession of Bavaria, the Roi's envoyeès had occasion to bring forward Louis' claim over Albon, backed up by Pope Adrian, whose support Louis had gained through the influence his brother, Cardinal Henry of Paris, wielded in the Curia Romae. Pressed on by his advisors, and Henry the Lion himself, whose family's support to the Papacy had never been questionable, the Emperor agreed onto recognizing the French claim over Albon, and Lyonese; and, through the mediation of Cardinal Henry Capet and Arnold von Selenhofen, archbishop of Maguntium, an agreement was reached, and Albon formally recognized as a French fief, in exchange for an economic indemnity; and, as a result of the compromise, both leaders started considering whether it would be proficuous for their kingdoms to develop a mutual friendship.
The two monarchs met in Staufen, the ancestral seat of Frederick's House, and there they agreed onto establishing an alliance, a pact to be sealed with a marriage; in June, 1158 Anno Domine, in the cathedral of Colonia, Frederick Emperor of the Romans wed Alys, daughter of Louis and Constance of Castile; from there on, it was thought, the two rulers would support each other in times of both need and prosperity, as two spouses should.



Yet, even with formal recognization from the Emperor, the matter of Albon was not fully solved. With the death of Guigues of Albon, the legitimate line of Counts had estinguished, and a tough choice had to be undertaken in order to preserve order and stability in the region. Through decades of marriages and adoptions, many Houses had gained the right to pose a claim to the region; and among such claims, the most autoritable would be that of the House of Burgundy, in the person of Odo II, and that of Umberto III, Duke of Savoy.
Between the two, Louis and the Court chose to support Odo, as his blood connections with the House of Albon were the closest, and by virtue of such recognization closer ties would be established between the House of Burgundy and the Capetians; and so, with the presupposition that he would later on resign it in their favour, Odo II, Duke of Burgundy, was claimed Regent of Albon in lieu of his son Hugues, whom would five years later wed Alys, daughter of Robert.
As soon as a legitimate sovereign was established in the person of Odo II and his sons, the Crown's attention was shifted again to Albon by virtue of the preachings which a monk, Henry of the city of Lousanne, had started spreading in its southern landscapes. Already condemned twice by the Church, in 1134 and 1139, Henry had started preaching again after the death of Bernard of Clairvaux, his major opponent, and had since grown even greater fame and following; and since twice had he already been condemned, and great was the unrest which he provoked, the Crown sent him the Justice of God through an Inquisition Tribunal headed by Cardinal Henry. The court's judgement was harsh, and unappealable: the heretic Henry and five of his most important supporters had to be executed, burned at the stake in front of Rheims' cathedral. The fire burned fierce, and it is said that still today one could clearly recognize the spot of the ordalia from the burnings of the stones.

[Roman Heritage]

Chapter Four - Of the campaign of Auvergne, and the battle of Clairmont


As the ashes of Henry's burning cooled, Louis set his eyes onto his southern neighbours, seeking to resume his policy of consolidation and expansion of Royal power.
In the lands of Auvergne, after many a years of skirmishes and chevaucheès, times seemed ripe for a wider-ranging campaign. There ruled Guillaume VIII, Comte de Clairmont, to whom had once swore fealty the lords of Auvergne all, Lesser Dordogne and Rouergue; he had once served the Cross in the East, and there he had shown disdain for peril, and his knightly virtues; but, when he sought to return to his domains, he found much of his powers uxurped by his omonymous uncle, Guillaume of Rodez. Much he fought to regain his lands, but all was made vain when the overlord of Languedoc, Ramon V of Toulose, recognized the usurper and made clear his swords would support his claim.
Left with nothing but his own seat of Clairmont, Guillaume VIII set his eyes onto the marches of South Berry and Western Lyonese, where, despite Louis' efforts of pacification, great bloodshed was between local lords; and so he began consolidating his hold onto such territories, in the same fashion as the King planned to. After a couple years of border skirmishes, conflict sparked open between the Dauphin of Clairmont, as Guillaume VIII was called by his own servants, and the Crown.
This time, the army which the Roi's representatives assembled at the recently completed roquefort of Bar-sur-Seine was even more impressive than the one fielded for the invasion of Albon, as it consisted of fourteen times a thousand men. No milites were sent from Burgundy, as Odo's forces were required to put down dissent in Albon and Savoy, where Umberto III was said to be preparing an uprise; and, similarly, Henry of Blois sent only minimal cavalry forces, as he had to deal with Flemish incursions. Cavalry effectives had to be integrated with the Roi's own meagre forces, Norman mercenaries, and Robert le Grand's vassals; among them, served Robert's firstborn son, ser Simone Capet, recently knighted by Odo of Burgundy, to whom the King entrusted the bearing of the Oriflamme, his battle standard as a vassal of the Abbey of Saint-Denis for a fief in the Vèxin.





From Bar-sur-Seine, Louis and his brother Robert, whom he made his Lord Conestable, led their army southwards, leaving the duty of ruling and defending their capital to their brother Pierre, Comte de Paris and Bouteiller de Senlis. The King's path in Auvergne was at first unopposed, as the bourgues of Varennes-sur-Allier and Vichy joyfully surrendered to his representatives, renewing their fealty to the House of Capet and the throne. Only at the height of the Allier's fords, some three miles from the see of Guillaume, Clairmont-Ferrand, did the vanguards of the Duke of Berry meet a certain resistance: under the Comte's orders, some of his lesser vassals, along with part of the city's militias, vainly tried to defend the wades and postpone the enemy's advance. The King's army finally completed the crossing on 28th of April, one and a half weeks after the beginning of the operations, and in front of the prestigious city of Clairmont, where, some seventy years before, the much illustrious Pope Urbano II - may his soul be held high in Heaven - first called Christendom at arms in a Crusade, the French quickly raised their camp, and began assembling siege works. A belfry was built, and ladders and rams assembled; trenches were dug, to defend the camp from Guillaume's sallies, and in such a fashion a week passed.





On the morning of the 7th of May, however, the besiegers' attempts to reach the walls resolved in failure, much to the King's dismail and dishonour to the arms of France. Inspired by their sovereign, who constantly rode his horse to and from the various sectors of the wall shouting orders and promising rewards, the militians of Clairmont surprisingly succeeded in setting fire to the King's siege tower, shooting flaming arrows and throwing barrels of oil towards it and the assaulting forces.
As the tower quickly burned, and wreaths of dark smoke rose in to the sky, the assaulters, whom had been demoralized by the loss of such fearsome engine, began retreating after an unsuccessful attempt to scale the walls, putting the whole army under the risk of collapse through their untoughtful behaviour; but in such an occasion ser Simone Capet, grasping the King's banner, rushed towards the fleeing men, and encouraged them to sheathe again their swords and prepare another attack to the walls; and inspired by the young knight's elan and valour, they did so. With a sword in his right hand, and the Oriflamme in the other, Simone led the Frenchmen to the walls; and so great was their impetus, that their assault was met with considerably more favour than the previous one.





Inspired by the sight of the Oriflamme nearing the walls, soon the whole French army, led by the King himself, resumed the attack, breached the gates and gained a foothold on the walls by virtue of their renewed valour and force of arms, which is almost unmatched among Christ's children. Guillaume VIII himself led his militians outside the walls for one last sally, only to die at the hands of a Norman sellsword; and with his death, what remained of the defenders' will to fight disappeared, and the defense itself collapsed in a matter of hours. Vainly did the King and his Conestable try to stop the soldiery from sacking the town, for it is in the nature of soldiers, and of mercenaries in particular, to take spoils from their enemies, and rape and loot; and this' the reason why a leader ought to use carefully such forces, for in the outcome of battle the nature of sellswords is often more akin to beasts than men.


After the violences had ended and the ashes cooled, came the time to install a new sovereign, which the King decided to be in the person of the young hero Simone Capet, whom was thus established as Comte d'Auvergne at the age of seventeen. Though recriminations and protests soon raised among the high lords, which would have rather had one of themselves established as Comte, the King nonetheless prosecuted in his will, both to award Simone of his valour, and facilitate the transition of power from the House of Auvergne to the Crown, for rich were the lands of Auvergne, and great revenue would they bring into the State's coffers. In order to recompose the unrest among his disappointed vassals, Louis nonetheless authorized them to launch chevaucheès into Southern Auvergne and Rouergue, where Guillaume the Usurper still ruled; and in such way he cleverly furthered his hold onto such lands by taking advantage of his vassals' greed, tough the Comtè de Rodez was left unscathed, and Guillaume himself left in power; as, shortly thereafter, the King's attention had to be diverted to Albon, where riot had sparked, and war ensued.

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

I see your talent for action has not diminished, Roman Heritage!

Looking forward to more...

(Oh, and personally, I prefer shorter chapters all the way through an AAR - when Real Life intrudes on my reading, I find it's much easier to keep track of where I got up to with short chapters. Other people will no doubt feel differently, though.)

[Lugotorix]

Excellent composition and formatting (I'm a Designer) Great use of the contemporary language and manuscript illustrations-It's good to see someone put on a history lesson while writing an AAR- it's a rare quality. I see you're well versed in French history and geography as well as Italian- Spotted one typo- Eleanor is Duchess of Aquitaine. All together a great start that got some much needed exposure from the ongoing MAARC submissions.

[Roman Heritage]

I see your talent for action has not diminished, Roman Heritage!

Excellent composition and formatting (I'm a Designer) Great use of the contemporary language and manuscript illustrations-It's good to see someone put on a history lesson while writing an AAR- it's a rare quality. I see you're well versed in French history and geography as well as Italian- Spotted one typo- Eleanor is Duchess of Aquitaine. All together a great start that got some much needed exposure from the ongoing MAARC submissions.

Thank you both for your kind words! Lugo, thank you for spotting those things I cared the most in writing this - accuracy and plausibility Trying to use some kind of Middle Ages - ish language is probably the toughest part, I sometimes do feel my writing too modern to be plausible, but hearing good things about it is really, really nice!

As for History and Geography of French and Italian Middle Ages...you know, I love Medieval era, and got a particular penchant for French Middle Ages; and a good atlas and an obsession for geographic details help, too

[Alwyn]

I like the image of the Oriflamme and its significance in the battle. It looks like Simone Capet, the hero of Clairmont and now Comte d'Auvergne, has more battles ahead against Guillaume the Usurper. I look forward to reading about the continuing adventures.

[demagogos nicator]

Glad to see a well written aar featuring my favourite faction in my favourite medieval mod, keep it up

[Roman Heritage]

Thank you both, Alwyn and demagogos, for the praise and nice comments! Here's a little bit short update - I had to replay the first stages of the campaign again, as the pirate spawn rate I chose was so high AI factions had trouble developing a proper navy even after some 50 or so turns. But don't you worry, nothing has changed - just, you'll have to wait a little bit more than expected to see me update next, hope you'll understand

Chapter Five - Of the rebellion of House Savoy, and its failure


As Louis and Robert campaigned in Auvergne, the seeds of treason and evilness began taking roots among those minor lords which ruled over the fiefs of Albon, Savoy and Lyonese, and which owed fealty to the King by right of his conquest; there, supported by local lords whose ambitions had been frustrated by the renewal of Crown's hold over the region, Umberto III, head of House Savoy, whom himself had the King in dislike for his claim to Albon having been put down in Odo of Burgundy's favour, organized a revolt against those very administrators which the Burgundian had installed to assure Louis' law be respected; and by doing so, he openly rejected Louis as his sovereign, committing treason in the eyes of God and men.
Being a Guelph, and therefore a supporter of the Pope's claims against the Emperor, Umberto of Savoy enjoyed great renown among those Piedmontais Communes which were known as hostile to the Hohenstaufen and their supporters, to which the Italians refer to as Ghibellines, a name which is said to derive from the Germanic castle of Waiblingen; and by virtue of his known disliking for the German Emperor, many among said Communes, such as Aosta, Asti and Susa, looked at him as their champion against Imperial claims; and when he assembled his forces, Piedmontais gold and iron flowed into Savoy, and bolstered his army, which was said to be of ten times a thousand.


It was with such mighty host Umberto inflicted a clamorous defeat to Hugues II, lord of Grenoble and a major supporter of French occupation of Albon, in a pitched battle at Lanslebourg, in which many valiant knights lost their lives; and with such army, and those who joined his cause after the battle, the rebel began attacking and harassing the forces of Odo of Burgundy and those who had swore fealty to his administrators, bringing to the region even greater ravage then the King's invasion had.
To such a point grew the threat he posed to Burgundian interests in the region, that Odo was forced to call for his sovereign's aid; and such aid came in the entrustment of the duty to quell the rebellion to Robert le Grand, Conestable of the Royaume, to whom was lended a force of seven thousand men, which he and Odo bolstered by calling up the feudal levy in Burgundy; and by addition of such forces, their army grew of five thousand swords more. The Conestable and the Duke of Burgundy joined their forces in September 1160 Anno Domine, determined to put down Savoy's treacherous rebellion once and for all; and then they led their army eastward, where they met the rebels on a ford of the Saòne.





There, the two hosts clashed, with the French vying to gain a foothold on the rebel-held shore, and the rebels trying to push their enemies back into the waters of the Saòne; and in such a perilous fight, noteworthy was Odo's behaviour, for the Duke of Burgundy collected around him the best knights at his service, and led them to charge the enemy ranks. By a combination of the Royal army's superior numbers, and the Burgundians' impetus, Savoy's lines collapsed, quickly bringing the fightings to an end.
The outcome of battle was one which brought great renown to the Duke, and even greater scorn to the rebels; for six thousand among serjeants, militians and knights were killed, and a couple thousand more captured, among which many of Savoy's relatives and sworn swords; but of those, determined to make an example out of their deaths, the Duke of Burgundy had many killed; and only those rich enough to pay ransom returned their homes, swearing to never take arms against against the Houses of Capet and Burgundy. Umberto of Savoy fled the field and his fiefs, seeking shelter in Piedmont, where numerous where those who supported his House; and there he would slowly rebuild by valour and force of arms at least part of his lost power and regain his honour, establishing a new seat in the fortified town of Cuneo.


In Paris, tough long awaited for, news of Robert and Odo's victory came in times of great wail and lamentation, for on the fourth of October Queen Constance of Castile died of childbirth; six years had her tenure as Queen lasted, and only two daughters, Alys and Marguerite, had been birthed through her union with the King. It was mayhaps due to such dire need for a male heir being generated, rather than love or lust, that Louis soon put aside his grief, and wed Adela, sister of Henry Count of Champagne; but one would say his grief was sincere, for he had Adela not anointed as Queen for four years at least, and took solemn oaths, vowing he would erect the most beautiful cathedral men had ever seen.