Thanks for the praise! And fair enough, lol.
As far as I know 'sorde eretico' is the Medieval Genoese/Ligurian dialect of it, but I could be wrong in the sources I used.
Our Fractured Crown: An Eastern Roman Timeline
- Thread starter Averious
- Start date
As far as I know 'sorde eretico' is the Medieval Genoese/Ligurian dialect of it, but I could be wrong in the sources I used.
Selfishly, as a Habsburg fan myself--and in-line with my attempts to mostly keep things as 'canonical' as I can (although I'm still flakey in terms of that often, lol)--the Habsburgs will eventually rise to the position of Emperor, although needless to say their relationship with the Romans will be a tenous one that only over time leads into mutual respect and then friendship--as unlike the Ottomans the two don't have an inherent struggle wherein the one has the goal of outright conquering the other.
Rome, realistically, develops a sense of what one might consider 'Natural Border' syndrome--they want to expand to what they consider is natural, and then cushion themselves with Clients and allies. In this, Vienna and Constantinople do conflict, but not in terms of Rome's idea of Natural Borders--more-so in terms of the 'cushion'.
THANK YOU! AEIOU!
And yeah, that makes sense to clash from time to time about "cushions" hopefully nothing too bloody
Book 2 Letters; the Black Prince - Dearest John
My Dearest John,
I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. Allow me to extend my warmest congratulations on your ascension as Emperor of the Romans. It brings me both great joy to hear of the stability and restoration that your reign promises for your noble realm, and great sorrow for it too comes with the passing of your noble father, and pious mother, into the arms of God. May the blessings of the Almighty be upon you as you undertake the weighty responsibilities of rulership.
It is with both anticipation and humility that I write to you on a matter of great importance. Recently, I received word from my father, the noble King of England, regarding a proposal that has filled me with both surprise and delight. It appears that my esteemed father has sought the hand of your sister, Maria, in marriage for me, while too proposing a match between your son, Andronikos, and my own sister, Margaret.
The prospect of such a union fills me with a profound sense of honour and gratitude. To unite our two esteemed Houses in marriage would not only bring great joy to my heart but also serve to strengthen the bonds of friendship and alliance between our two great realms. I cannot help but marvel at the idea that such a union would make us in particular, brothers--twins born of different mothers, yet bound by the ties of kinship and shared purpose.
As I contemplate this proposal, I am reminded of the profound significance of the bonds that connect us, not only as rulers of our respective realms but also as individuals bound by the common threads of duty, honour, and destiny.
I look forward to the opportunity to meet with you in person, should fate allow, to discuss this matter further and to strengthen the ties of friendship and alliance between our realms.
In closing, please accept my warmest wishes for your continued success and prosperity as Emperor of Rome. May your reign be blessed with wisdom, strength, and prosperity, and may our friendship endure for generations to come.
With kindest regards and deepest respect,
Edward, Prince of Wales, By the Grace of God
I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. Allow me to extend my warmest congratulations on your ascension as Emperor of the Romans. It brings me both great joy to hear of the stability and restoration that your reign promises for your noble realm, and great sorrow for it too comes with the passing of your noble father, and pious mother, into the arms of God. May the blessings of the Almighty be upon you as you undertake the weighty responsibilities of rulership.
It is with both anticipation and humility that I write to you on a matter of great importance. Recently, I received word from my father, the noble King of England, regarding a proposal that has filled me with both surprise and delight. It appears that my esteemed father has sought the hand of your sister, Maria, in marriage for me, while too proposing a match between your son, Andronikos, and my own sister, Margaret.
The prospect of such a union fills me with a profound sense of honour and gratitude. To unite our two esteemed Houses in marriage would not only bring great joy to my heart but also serve to strengthen the bonds of friendship and alliance between our two great realms. I cannot help but marvel at the idea that such a union would make us in particular, brothers--twins born of different mothers, yet bound by the ties of kinship and shared purpose.
As I contemplate this proposal, I am reminded of the profound significance of the bonds that connect us, not only as rulers of our respective realms but also as individuals bound by the common threads of duty, honour, and destiny.
I look forward to the opportunity to meet with you in person, should fate allow, to discuss this matter further and to strengthen the ties of friendship and alliance between our realms.
In closing, please accept my warmest wishes for your continued success and prosperity as Emperor of Rome. May your reign be blessed with wisdom, strength, and prosperity, and may our friendship endure for generations to come.
With kindest regards and deepest respect,
Edward, Prince of Wales, By the Grace of God
Can't take all the credit, there's quite a few letters in this style between monarchs in this era and beyond--hell, even the final attempts at peace before WW1 had a similar tone, so it felt it appropriate and 'wholesome'.
Being a fan of the Habsburg dynasty too, I'm happy to hear it, now it will actually be interesting to see what the Habsburgs can do with a HRE profoundly different from Otl ( given the natural differences created with what happened historically, including hopefully a Expanded Golden Bull, which would also include Italian representatives and perhaps from Lotharingia / Arelate, so as to strengthen imperial power and state cohesion, compared to the 7 Electors of Otl, but which would still allow for the maintenance of collegial government ( albeit simplified ) and would facilitate the defense of the Italian and "French" regions of the Empire, thanks to the fact that there would be fellow electors in those areas, and therefore protecting them would be a collective task rather than a purely imperial interest
Yeah, the willy and nicky letters. Such a shame they didnt work.
Still you did an amazing work
That was an amazing letter that the Black Prince wrote, it'll surely be remembered in the national mythos of Britain. I hope John accepts the marriage proposal between Edward/Maria and Andronikos/Margaret. An Imperial Princess married to England's finest warrior prince will surely be a great thing, IIRC Edward was very faithful to his OTL wife Joan of Kent and sired no illegitimate children during said marriage. Hopefully their children live up to their lineage. Keep up the great work 👍👍👍
The world will tremble at the union of the Palaiologos and Plantagenet houses!Make the marriage happen!!! 👍👍😍😍
Edward Plantagenet
Maria Palaiologos
Funnily enough I initially mistook the picture for a picture of a different Palaiologoi Princess
Book 2; 1356 to 1357
"You'd have me marry some Saxon barbarian?!" Maria pressed, looking towards her brother, the Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans, with a hazel-brown gaze that spoke of indignance.
He had, after all, been the one to dissuade their noble father from organising for her a marriage of 'convenience'--at her begging; now he did this? Put her aside, for a similar 'convenience'?
John's own blue-eyed gaze met hers, and in it she saw the twisting of a brother at war with the spider that was the Emperor.
The Emperor eased himself from his seat so they both stood there, in the Boukoleon courtyard; he had come here for peace, but in truth it had been in part an attempt to avoid her.
He was tall, taking inherently after their mother more than their father; copper-red hair, fairer skin, and blue eyes were his--Maria had inherited their father's darker complexions in eyes, hair and skin.
She was the Roman, he the Latin.
"Father is dead Maria," John pressed, cutting clean through the issue, and striking her silent, "Here isn't safe, not with the tides coming, and I'd rather you be safe, and away, in the arms of a man of merit than be forced later to marry you off here," the Emperor explained, before letting a sigh leave him.
Maria noticed then, as he traced a hand through his beard, that he was older than her now--not just as he had been, by a scant few years, but by rule; he had changed.
"You are not a piece to move around on some lesser board; this isn't a 'convenience'--it is a powerplay, and one which puts you as a Queen-to-be in your own right as you deserve,"
A silence held, and Maria looked away with a sigh of her own, before finally speaking, "Is he a good man?" was all she asked, and in that John eased back, and away--towards a small side table, covered in letters, and writing materials.
Even here--this place of peace, he had the tools of rule glued to him--never truly at 'peace'.
A beat later, and he handed her a letter, "See for yourself,"
1356 to 1357
The early year of 1356 had been encapsulated by much in the way of preparations; his sister deserved the best was the mindset of the Emperor, and with her, when she finally departed from the shores of Constantinople for Montferrat, went a hand-picked guard, her favourite priest, several gifts, and money for herself.
Maria Palaiologina had left Rome in March of 1356, never to return.
Her journey took her to Montferrat, where John II Palaeologus-Montferrat welcomed her with appropriate pomp and familial care; John V having ensured as such via letter, and accompanying 'donation'. Her time there while brief, would serve as an introduction to a more closely 'Latin' way of life than she had experienced, even with the influences her mother had left her.
It was thus that when she departed from the lands of her kin by ship once more, thereafter landing in the Gascony-oriented port-city of Narbonne wherein she would meet, for the first time, Edward of Woodstock; the Black Prince, in April of 1356.
Her husband-to-be.
Edward cut a dashing figure--one which, in its own way, reminded her of her brother.
Thereafter, with Edward leading the way, the two would make for the river Garonne; taking travel by river-ships directly from Edward's fief city of Bordeaux, to Bordeaux. It was a pleasant enough journey, and one in which the two would get to know each other well; his character in his own letters to her brother showed to be truthful, as did his reputation as a whole.
Of course, upon their arrival in Bordeaux late that April there was pomp; enough so that for the first time it finally clicked for her what it meant to be a future Queen, alongside how prized she was as the daughter and sister of Emperors.
By June, after months of journeying, and spending time together, the two would be married in England--within the Chapel of St. Nicholas of Windsor Castle, and therefrom would bonds of dynastic kinship be formed that still exist into the modern age.
Even as this went on, so did other changes in Europe.
In Germany, as Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, rallied the princes of the realm in a diet at Nuremberg, the merchants of the north would begin to meet in droves first the first time; establishing what would evolve into the Hanseatic League.
By August the newly-wed Edward the Black Prince, and his bride would return to Bordeaux, and from there, in September, the Black Prince would lead a stunning victory, outnumbered, against the French at Poitiers; shattering the French army, and capturing as hostages the King of France himself, John II, alongside his youngest son Philip.
Thereafter the two would be afforded chivalric honour, and sent to treat with Edward III in England in what would evolve into an ongoing issue... as John II's heir, the Dauphin Charles, would continue to resist the English as 'Regent of France' thereafter.
The fact that the effects of the Death still clung on, with regular wage-riots, and banditry, across the Known World, but especially in France, made things all the harder for the English, who had to contend with both Charles' armies and the duties of subduing these 'effects' in the land they administered on the continent.
That December 1356, the diet of Charles IV would end in the Golden Bull of 1356--effectively the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire; defining several key notions around the Electors, and in equal measure bringing stability and strife in confirming the privileges of some, alienating others [1], and consolidating the Imperial Power around Germany and it's Princes.
Italy had, in all but name, been cut loose.
In Cairo, around this time, Bahri Sultan An-Nasir Hasan would die suddenly of a stroke following orders given to deface the Great Pyramid of Giza; his orders would not be completed.
Come February of 1357 the Estates General of France would convene; attempting to capitalise on the loss of John II to the English, and the Dauphin Charles' hamstringing as 'Regent', to lessen the powers of the King at their own gain--angling to achieve similar Baronial Powers over fiscal & monetary matters as plagued the English.
Of course, this would go nowhere, but it did in its way cause further strife and disunity within the remaining lands of the Kingdom of France itself.
In 1357 too would the Shroud of Turin first be exhibited by the clergy of France, although it was quickly denounced as a fraud; with Maria Palaiologina in particular incensed at this, as the Shroud itself had been stolen from Constantinople in the 4th Crusade.
1357 would end with the Treaty of Berwick, which put an end to Scotland's own wars with the English for now.
---
[1] The Golden Bull of 1356 notably refused an Electorate to the Habsburgs, snubbing them, and in turn starting their path to Emperorship themselves with the forging of the Privilegium Maius in retaliation; giving to themselves the status of Archdukes, and the right of primogeniture.
He had, after all, been the one to dissuade their noble father from organising for her a marriage of 'convenience'--at her begging; now he did this? Put her aside, for a similar 'convenience'?
John's own blue-eyed gaze met hers, and in it she saw the twisting of a brother at war with the spider that was the Emperor.
The Emperor eased himself from his seat so they both stood there, in the Boukoleon courtyard; he had come here for peace, but in truth it had been in part an attempt to avoid her.
He was tall, taking inherently after their mother more than their father; copper-red hair, fairer skin, and blue eyes were his--Maria had inherited their father's darker complexions in eyes, hair and skin.
She was the Roman, he the Latin.
"Father is dead Maria," John pressed, cutting clean through the issue, and striking her silent, "Here isn't safe, not with the tides coming, and I'd rather you be safe, and away, in the arms of a man of merit than be forced later to marry you off here," the Emperor explained, before letting a sigh leave him.
Maria noticed then, as he traced a hand through his beard, that he was older than her now--not just as he had been, by a scant few years, but by rule; he had changed.
"You are not a piece to move around on some lesser board; this isn't a 'convenience'--it is a powerplay, and one which puts you as a Queen-to-be in your own right as you deserve,"
A silence held, and Maria looked away with a sigh of her own, before finally speaking, "Is he a good man?" was all she asked, and in that John eased back, and away--towards a small side table, covered in letters, and writing materials.
Even here--this place of peace, he had the tools of rule glued to him--never truly at 'peace'.
A beat later, and he handed her a letter, "See for yourself,"
1356 to 1357
The early year of 1356 had been encapsulated by much in the way of preparations; his sister deserved the best was the mindset of the Emperor, and with her, when she finally departed from the shores of Constantinople for Montferrat, went a hand-picked guard, her favourite priest, several gifts, and money for herself.
Maria Palaiologina had left Rome in March of 1356, never to return.
Her journey took her to Montferrat, where John II Palaeologus-Montferrat welcomed her with appropriate pomp and familial care; John V having ensured as such via letter, and accompanying 'donation'. Her time there while brief, would serve as an introduction to a more closely 'Latin' way of life than she had experienced, even with the influences her mother had left her.
It was thus that when she departed from the lands of her kin by ship once more, thereafter landing in the Gascony-oriented port-city of Narbonne wherein she would meet, for the first time, Edward of Woodstock; the Black Prince, in April of 1356.
Her husband-to-be.
Edward cut a dashing figure--one which, in its own way, reminded her of her brother.
Thereafter, with Edward leading the way, the two would make for the river Garonne; taking travel by river-ships directly from Edward's fief city of Bordeaux, to Bordeaux. It was a pleasant enough journey, and one in which the two would get to know each other well; his character in his own letters to her brother showed to be truthful, as did his reputation as a whole.
Of course, upon their arrival in Bordeaux late that April there was pomp; enough so that for the first time it finally clicked for her what it meant to be a future Queen, alongside how prized she was as the daughter and sister of Emperors.
By June, after months of journeying, and spending time together, the two would be married in England--within the Chapel of St. Nicholas of Windsor Castle, and therefrom would bonds of dynastic kinship be formed that still exist into the modern age.
Even as this went on, so did other changes in Europe.
In Germany, as Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, rallied the princes of the realm in a diet at Nuremberg, the merchants of the north would begin to meet in droves first the first time; establishing what would evolve into the Hanseatic League.
By August the newly-wed Edward the Black Prince, and his bride would return to Bordeaux, and from there, in September, the Black Prince would lead a stunning victory, outnumbered, against the French at Poitiers; shattering the French army, and capturing as hostages the King of France himself, John II, alongside his youngest son Philip.
Thereafter the two would be afforded chivalric honour, and sent to treat with Edward III in England in what would evolve into an ongoing issue... as John II's heir, the Dauphin Charles, would continue to resist the English as 'Regent of France' thereafter.
The fact that the effects of the Death still clung on, with regular wage-riots, and banditry, across the Known World, but especially in France, made things all the harder for the English, who had to contend with both Charles' armies and the duties of subduing these 'effects' in the land they administered on the continent.
That December 1356, the diet of Charles IV would end in the Golden Bull of 1356--effectively the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire; defining several key notions around the Electors, and in equal measure bringing stability and strife in confirming the privileges of some, alienating others [1], and consolidating the Imperial Power around Germany and it's Princes.
Italy had, in all but name, been cut loose.
In Cairo, around this time, Bahri Sultan An-Nasir Hasan would die suddenly of a stroke following orders given to deface the Great Pyramid of Giza; his orders would not be completed.
Come February of 1357 the Estates General of France would convene; attempting to capitalise on the loss of John II to the English, and the Dauphin Charles' hamstringing as 'Regent', to lessen the powers of the King at their own gain--angling to achieve similar Baronial Powers over fiscal & monetary matters as plagued the English.
Of course, this would go nowhere, but it did in its way cause further strife and disunity within the remaining lands of the Kingdom of France itself.
In 1357 too would the Shroud of Turin first be exhibited by the clergy of France, although it was quickly denounced as a fraud; with Maria Palaiologina in particular incensed at this, as the Shroud itself had been stolen from Constantinople in the 4th Crusade.
1357 would end with the Treaty of Berwick, which put an end to Scotland's own wars with the English for now.
---
[1] The Golden Bull of 1356 notably refused an Electorate to the Habsburgs, snubbing them, and in turn starting their path to Emperorship themselves with the forging of the Privilegium Maius in retaliation; giving to themselves the status of Archdukes, and the right of primogeniture.
Last edited:
Great chapter, interesting contrast between John (more Latin minded) and Maria (more Roman minded). I suspect the iron willed Maria will make both friends and enemies with her personality, especially if her children gain her character. Nice that Edward showed his true intentions and graced Maria with a grand victory upon the battlefield. Can't wait to see how the Habsburgs rise to power. Keep up the great work 👍 👍 👍
I read on Wikipedia that he oversaw the building of the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan, apparently he got the funding by appropriating property from victims of the Black Death. Safe to say we won't have such a building TTL. He apparently oversaw many great works during his time as Sultan.