Cuman's Anatolia

It is my the second TL here.
Some time ago I asked “What if Boris, the son of Calman, becomes the King of Hungary in 1132?” Now I will try to write a TL and to find an answer

Honestly, it is an English copy of the Russian TL
There are two authors of the Russian version:
Georg (Byzantium and Near East are his main areas)
and me (Rus and Eastern Europe are mine).
Western Europe is our common area.
I do not know well the Western Europe (now) so any help is appropriate.

P.S. And sorry for my English, if it will too... In other words, if you do not understand, what I say - please, ask

POD is temper of the Russian prince, Iziaslav II Mstislavich (1097 - 1154? (in OTL)).

In TTL he is more dutiful, less self-willed.
It is not much difference, I think, and it is possibly without any big changes and problems. Maybe, he had different teachers. Or something happened and Iziaslav became more dutiful.

The exact reason is not important for me and the TL And I hope for readers too

First effect will be visible at summer, 1127.

Map from Penguin Atlas


There were about 20 Principalities at this time. All rulers (they call them “princes”) were descendants of Vladimir Sviatoslavich the Great. The main principality was Kievan, and the ruler of Kiev was called the Grand Prince of Kiev. Vladimir the Great was the Grand Prince in 978-1015.

Most of his sons were killed during the Civil War 1015-1019 years, other died without heirs. So, after 1036 only two branches were still alive: the one branch ruled at Polotsk, another one ruled all other Principalities.

Vseslav of Polotsk, the great-grandson of Vladimir, ruled in 1044-1101, and it was the best time of the principality. After his death, his six sons begun fight. The oldest son died in exile without heirs. The second was captured by the Prince of Kiev and died in a prison, his sons fled to Poland.
So, at summer 1127, four branches ruled in the principality:

Polotsk – Davyd Vseslavich, his son Bryachislav ruled in Lahoysk.
Vitebsk – Sviatoslav Vseslavich.
Lukoml – Rostislav Vseslavich.
Drutsk – Rogvolod, the grandson of Vseslav.


Yaroslav, the son of Vladimir, was the Grand Prince of Kiev in 1019-1054 years. He had six sons (yes, he too).

The oldest son died while Yaroslav was alive. By Russian traditions, his descendents lost their claims for Kiev – they ruled Halich Rus.
In 1127 were four descendents:

brothers:
Volodymyrko (Zvenigorod)
Rostyslav (Peremyshl);
and two another brothers:
Ivan (Halych)
Rostyslav (Terebovl).
They also were at war often.
Volodymyrko was supported from Hungary, three others – from Kiev, and, maybe, from Poland.

The second son of Yaroslav, Iziaslav, was the Grand Prince of Kiev in 1054-68 (fled, he returned with Poland’s help), 1069-73 (fled, he returned, when his brother died), 1077-1078.
One of his son died early, the second one was killed, and the third was the Grand Prince of Kiev in 1093-1113. After his death, some of descendents of Iziaslav were killed in dynastic wars, some were incarcerated, and some died without heirs.
So, at summer 1127 only two of them, brothers, were alive:

Viacheslav Yaroslavich (Kletsk)
Yurij Yaroslavich (we don’t know, where he ruled. May be, with brother).

The third son of Yaroslav, Sviatoslav, captured Kiev in 1073, but he died in 1076.
From his five sons two were killed early. Three other:
Davydwas loyal to Kiev, he died in 1123, his sons ruled in Novhorod-Siverskyi.
Olegtried to capture Kiev several times, but he could not. He died in 1115 and firstly his sons ruled in Murom and Ryzan.
Yaroslav was the youngest of all brothers and he was still alive in 1127. He ruled in Chernigov from 1123, but in 1127, before summer, Vsevolod Olgovich captured Chernigov and Yaroslav fled to Murom. Vsevolod was had to give Kursk to Kiev to save his new principality.
So, at summer:

Chernigov – Vsevolod Olgovich with brothers;
Novhorod-Siverskyi – sons of Davyd;
Murom – Yaroslav Sviatoslavich.

The next son of Yaroslav was Vsevolod, but we will see on them some lately.
Viacheslav, the son of Yaroslav, died early, his only son was killed in 1078.
Igor, the youngest son, left son, and at summer 1127 his descendent Vsevolod ruled at Hrodno.


Now return to Vsevolod. He was the Grand Prince of Kiev in 1078-1093. His only son Vladimir Monomakh, was the Grand Prince in 1113-1125. He fought against descendents of Iziaslav and against Oleg, the son of Sviatoslav. Vladimir won.
After his death, his son Mstislav became the Grand Prince of Kiev and he still ruled all Rus at summer 1127.
His brothers and sons ruled in principalities:

Pereyaslavl – Jaropolk, the brother.
Turov – Viacheslav, the brother.
Rostov-Suzdal – Juri, the brother.
Volodimir – Andrey, the brother.
Novgorod – Vsevolod, the son.
Smolensk – Rostislav, the son.
Kursk – Iziaslav (the hero of TTL), the son.

So, now the whole map:


And I want to say several words about allies and enemies in Rus and abroad.
Almost all Russian princes were loyal to Mstislav, except princes of Polock and Volodymyrko of Halich.
Mstislav was in very good relations with Denmark and Byzantium.
Magnus, the son of the king of Denmark, was the king of Gothenland and was in war with Swea (Northern Sweden), and Rus supported him.
Poland fought against Rus in 1123 and relations between states were not warm.
Hungary also fought against Rus in 1123. Moreover, Hungary supported Volodymyrko of Halich against allies of Kiev. Moreover, in 1127 Hungary begun the war against Byzantium. Mstislav was planning to help Byzantium in next year.
The Civil war lasted in Germany. The son of Mstislav, Iziaslav (our hero) was married a relative of Conrad Staufen, who was elected as an antiking in December 1127.

It is a pity, I don’t much about relations of Rus and France, or and England and Spain.

We do not know much about this state. Its borders are doubt.

Bulgars were rich. Many hoards are known from the state. Bulgars were rather strong. There were several big cities in the state and many small towns. Bulgars were cultural. Several scientists are known.
And Bulgars were rivals of Rus.
First war was in 985-997, then in 1006 a trade agreement was signed.
New conflicts are known from 1088, when Bulgars captured Murom for several years. In 1107 Bulgars besieged Suzdal, but unsuccessfully. Or successfully, if we read Russian chronics. In 1120 Juri of Suzdal attacked Bulgars, but it was not a big war. In 1152 Bulgars attacked Yaroslavl, a city in the Suzdal Principality.
So, Bulgars often warred against Rus in the first half of the XII century. Probably they had a good relations with Central Asia.



Cumans came to Russian steppes around 1050 year. Soon they attacked Kiev (1068) and about 40 years they again and again attacked different Southern Principalities. Sometimes peace agreements were concluded, but peace usually lasted not much time. Also cumans banish pechenegs until Danube, where last pechenegs were defeated and killed in 1122 by Byzantines (it is only five years “ago”). Survived pechenegs fled to Hungary.
Kievan princes counterattacked cumans after 1100 year. Vladimir Monomakh several times leads troops against cumans of the left bank of Dnepr, defeated them, burned their camps and banish cumans until the river Don.
On the right bank of Dnepr, near Danube, Bonjak, the khan, ruled several tribes. Probably, he helped Hungarians and Volodymyrko in their war against Byzantium in 1127.



In XI century Georgia was suffered from wars with Byzantium, Seljuks and civil wars.
But in 1089 David the Builder became the king. He reformed the state and army, united the state again (you can see what he had at the beginning and years when the state increased).

It was golden time of Georgia.
One important thing for TL – in 1118-1120 (7-10 years “ago”) David resettled a Cuman tribe of 14,000 families from the Northern Caucasus in Georgia. It was refugees who was defeated by Russians and fled to Don and to Caucasus.
David died in 1125, but his son Demetre was a rather successful king. At least, in 1127.
Georgia was a close ally of Byzantium in this time. Relations with Rus are unclear, but in 1154 the Georgian princess married Iziaslv (yes, he is our hero again).

Canute the Great ruled Denmark, England and Norway until 1035 year. His brother Olof ruled Sweden until 1022.

In Sweden, two sons of Olaf ruled one by another. They both had no sons, but the last has a daughter and her husband Steinkel became the king in 1060. After death of Steinkel there were rebels, riots, murders, but at the last his son Inge the Older become the king in 1087. His daughter married Russian Great Prince of Kiev, Mstislav the Great – and she was the mother of Iziaslav Mstislavich, who is the main hero of TL. Another daughter of Inge, Margaret, married firstly Olaf III of Norway and then married the king of Denmark Niels. So, it was the reason of very warm relations between Denmark and Rus. Margaret and Niels ruled in 1127, when we start the TL.

The last son of Inge died in 1125 without hires, and Magnus, the son of Margaret and Niels was elected as the king of the Southern Sweden. He warred with kings of the Northern Sweden and probably he had support from Rus.

In Norway ruled Sigurd the Crusader and Harald Gille, sons of Olaf III of Noway, who was the husband of Margaret, but both were illegitimate sons.

In England, sons of Canute the Great died without heirs. Edward the Confessor, the son of last Anglo-Saxon king and the wife of Canute, ruled after them. When he died and Harold was killed, William the Conqueror became the king of England.

By the way, the daughter of Harold married Vladimir Monomakh, who was the Grand Prince of Kiev in 1113-1125. So, she was the mother of Mstislav the Great and grand mother of Iziaslav Mstislavich, who is the main hero of TL.

William died in 1087, and three sons begun the war. Firstly, William II controlled England and his brother Robert, who was the duke of Normandy. William II was killed in 1100, Henry I became the king of England and in 1106 imprisoned Robert. In 1127 his son, William Clito, still alive. And Henry in 1127 still the king of England.

Stephen II ruled in Hungary and Croatia in 1127. He was an ally of Bohemia, the duke Sobeslav married his niece. Stephen was also a close ally of Sicily – he was a nephew of Roger II and he married a princess of Capua. He had one more friend – Volodymyrko of Volyn, Stephen supported him in about 1125-26 and helped save his Principality.
Other neighbors were his enemies.
Stephen and Boleslav of Poland invaded Rus in 1123, but the prince, who they supported, was killed. Moreover, in 1125, when Stephen supported Volodymyrko, he quarreled with Mstislav again, because Mstislav supported cousins of Volodymyrko. Boleslav of Poland also supported these cousins – and Stephan attacked Poland too.
Venetia captured Dalmatian seacoast in two wars, 1116-1118 and 1124.
In 1126, the uncle of Stephan, Almos, fled to Byzantium. In 1127, Stephan invaded Byzantium.
Stephan II had no heirs in 1127. Moreover, only four descendants of Stephan the Great were alive in 1127:
Stephan II, the king.
Almos, the uncle of the king, who fled to Byzantium in 1126 and then Stephan II attacked Byzantium.
Bela, the son of Almos, who was hidden in an Abbey near the border with Byzantium. Both, Almos and Bela were blinded in about 1114 by Coloman, the father of Stephan II.
Boris, who was the son of Coloman and the daughter of Volodimir Monomakh. Coloman married her in 1112, but in 1113 or 1114 “the queen was taken in the sin of adultery” and was soon sent back to Kiev. She gave birth to her son, Boris, who was living in Rus in 1127.

Sobeslav of Bohemia defeated and captured Lothar, the king of Germany in “last year” (1126), but then freed him and became his good, maybe, the best ally. In the same battle, Sobeslav killed Otto II of Olomouc, his rival. The son of Otto II fled to Rus’.
There were several more princes in Bohemia in 1127.
Bretislaus I, who died in 1055, had four sons.
One died without heirs, second – Vratislaus, had four sons, who were princes of Bohemia one by one. Sobeslav, the Prince since 1125, was the youngest. He had several nephews, who had no power, but one of them, Vladislaus, wanted to became the Duke of Bohemia. His mother, the sister of Poland queen, supported him. So, Sobeslav did not like Poland in 1127.
Two other sons of Vratislaus ruled in Brno (Conrad) and Olomuc (Otto). Grandsons of Conrad ruled in 1127 in Brno (Vratislaus) and Znojmo (Conrad II). Son of Otto, also Otto was the same Otto of Olomuc who was killed in the battle in 1126 and whose son fled to Rus. Another son of Otto I already died, and his son, Wencealsus, became the Prince of Olomuc in 1125.

In 1127, the Polish king Boleslaw III was looking for new allies.
He had quarrel with Germany – about lands near Elba.
He had quarrel with Rus – because he attacked Rus in 1123 (four years “ago”).
He had had quarrel with Bohemia since 1125 – because he supported the Pretender and not Sobeslav.
He had quarrel with Hungary – because Hungary attacked Poland in 1126.
So, he WAS looking for new allies.

The civil war lasted in Germany.
Lothar, the king and the duke of Saxony, and Henry the Proud, his son-on-law, the duke of Bavaria, were on the one side.
Brothers of Staufen, dukes of Franconia and Swabia, did not recognize Lothar as the king of Germany.
Austria was neutral, the Lower Lorraine, Burgundy and Northern Italy were more independent than German and did not take part in the civil war.

I am not sure about Germany – and I will be thankful, if anybody advises a book about Germany of XII century.

In France, the king Louis was not the truly king. He had some territories and some strength, but counts of Blois, Anjou and Toulouse had the same power. And the duke of Aquitaine was the most powerful.

Mstislav the Great planned to crash Polock in August of 6635 year.
We don’t know the exact reason of this campaign. Annals says, that “grandsons of Rogvolod always hated sons of Yaroslav”, but it is only a legend. Probably, Mstislav wanted to control all Rus. Maybe, princes of Polock refused to execute an order.
In general, it is not too important.

Eight armies from all sides of Polock attacked the Principality.


On august 11, four princes besieged Zaslavl. Iziaslav attacked Lahoysk, his brother Rostislav attacked Drutck, Vsevolod of Chernigov with all his brothers besieged Borisov. [2]

Druck was captured in 1116 – less then ten years “ago”. Town was not be able to fight with Rostislav and opened the gates. Both princes, Rogvolod-Boris and his son Rogvolod-Vasil, were taken prisoner. [3]



Borisov was a small town, and when Rostislav came (on August 13), citizens surrendered too.

While other princes besieged Izaslavl and Lahoysk, Vsevolod and Rostislav went to Lukoml and besieged the town on August 15.



In Polock, citizens organized the veche (a popular assembly). They wanted to expel Davyd, elect a new Prince and sent ambassadors to Kievan forces to ask peace. [4] Davyd attacked the veche and killed many of them. [5]
Citizens of Polock understood that they needed help. Two princes can help – Rostislav of Lukoml and Sviatoslav of Vitebsk. But Vitebsk is placed on Dvina – as same as Polock. Ambassadors were able reach Vitebsk sooner, and stronger army was able sail. Moreover, Vitebsk was not attacked. This means that Sviatoslav had a good relation with Kiev.

In Lukoml, Rostislav tried to keep moral of his warriors (they thought that Lukoml was too weak for the fighting [6]). The prince fought on walls as a simple warrior, and he was killed on the second day of besieging.
Citizens opened the gates immediately and gave as much silver [7] as they could. It was the win, but the winners were sad. Princes did not like to kill one another, especially a brave one. Rogvolod-Boris, the prisoner of Rostislav, cried over the body of his brother.

It was August 17. Zaslavl was besieged a week already, and Zaslavl was captured. Town was burned, citizens enslaved. Forces of princes went to Lahoysk.



Sviatoslav of Vitebsk came with a strong guard. Citizens of Polock helped him, and Davyd was defeated. Sviatoslav did not want to kill the brother, but the citizens did.
When the castle was captured, both, Davyd and his son, were killed.
Ambassadors were sent immediately to all princes and to Kiev.
Rogvolod-Boris died, when he knew news.[8]

The campaign ended.
Vsevolod of Novgorod was late.

Mstislav approved Sviatoslav as the Prince of Polock. Lukoml was added to Polock, Druck – to Smolensk, Lahoysk – to Minsk.
Rogvolod-Vasil was imprisoned in Smolensk.



[1] – thanks to Monopolist. I like the idea to use local numbers of years. Russian annals used Years Form Creating the World. Year 6635 begun Marth, 1 1127 and ended February, 28 1128.

[2] – In OTL, Iziaslav attacked Lahoysk a day early. He captured the Prince – Bryachislav, who went to Polock, and the town surrendered.
In TTL, Bryachislav had a day to reach Polock or to be far from the enemies. So, Lahoysk tried to fight.

[3] – In OTL princes, probably, escaped to Polock, because they heard that Lahoysk was attacked. In TTL he didn’t hear anything, because Iziaslav executed the order exactly. So, princes were captured.

[4] – in OTL, they were success and the campaign ended. But in TTL Bryachislav and his guard came to Polock, so Davyd had enough forces to fight.

[5] – Yaroslav the Wise did the same way in about 1015.

[6] – It’s a pity, they were right.

[7] – In Rus, the silver is used instead of money sometimes.

[8] – in OTL, he died in half an year.

In Hungary, Stephen broke into Byzantium in the summer. His troops sacked Belgrade, Braničevo and Niš, and plundered the regions around Serdica (Sofia, Bulgaria) and Philippopolis (Plovdiv, Bulgaria), before returning to Hungary.

In Poland pagan rebellion in Pomerania. Prince Wartislaw I confronted these uprisings with some success, but was not able to prevent several insurgent raids into Polish territory.

More important – Boleslaw created the alliance with Denmark. Magnus, the son of Danish king, married Richeza, daughter of Boleslaw III of Poland.
Because Denmark was the close ally of Rus, relations between Poland and Rus became more warm.

In Norway, Haral Gilly went to Norway and declared he was an illegitimate son of the former King Magnus Barefoot, who had visited Ireland just before his death in 1103. Harald appears to have submitted successfully to the ordeal by fire. The alleged relationship was acknowledged by Sigurd on condition that Harald did not claim any share in the government of the kingdom during his lifetime or that of his son Magnus.

In Germany the civil war lasted.
Lothar, the king, married his daughter Gertrude to Henry the Proud, the duke of Bavaria, on May 29.
Lothar besieged Nuremberg, but Frederick Staufen relieved the siege. The Staufens, who had the support of their own lands plus support in many imperial cities, Austria and the Duchy of Swabia, raised Conrad as anti-king Conrad III.

In the same year, William III, Count of Burgundy, was assassinated. Conrad, Duke of Zähringen, came into conflict with new Count of Burgundy, Renaud III. Lothar, the king, urgently needed support against his Staufen rivals, and he supported Conrad's claim. Conrad received the title Rector of Burgundy, but not the real power.

In the same year, Charles I, Count of Flanders, the nephew of Niels, the king of Denmark, was murdered on 2 March. King Louis of France marched into Flanders at the head of an army and on 30 March got the barons of the province to accept William Clito as their new count. William did well, securing most of the county by the end of May.

In England and Anjou, Henry of England betrothed his daughter Matilda to Fulk's eldest son, Geoffrey. It is unknown whether Henry intended Geoffrey to have any future claim on England or Normandy, and he was probably keeping his son-in-law's status deliberately uncertain. Similarly, although Matilda was granted a number of Normandy castles as part of her dowry, it was not specified when the couple would actually take possession of them.

In Italy, Roger became the Duke of Apulia and Calabria.

In Spain, the Peace of Támara signed in Támara de Campos in June which delimited the territorial domains of Alfonso I of Aragón (el Batallador) and Alfonso VII of Castile (el Emperador).

Mstislav the Great planned the campaign for year 6636 with two main goals: to help Byzantium against Hungary and to crash the last powerful tribe (or horde) of cumans.
But the weather was too bad.
In the autumn, 6635 the winter came too early and winter crops were frost. The spring 6636 was cold, the snow melted away only in May, then flood destroyed both crops and houses. The famine begun, and then the epidemic begun. Even rich people died – the grandson of Mstislav the Great, the governor of Novgorod, the abbot of the large monastery…
Mstislav was not able to start the campaign. He sent his messenger to Byzantium, and the emperor waited for the next year.

Rus' sources mention that in 1128 Sevinch, son of Khan Boniak, expressed the desire to plant his sword "in the Golden gate of Kiev" as his father had done before him

Sbiten was first mentioned in Slavonic chronicles in 1128

Spain
Portuguese forces led by Afonso Henriques defeated forces led by his mother Teresa of Portugal and her lover Fernão Peres de Trava on 24 June, 1128. Following São Mamede, the future king styled himself "Prince of Portugal".

The Santiago de Compostela cathedral was consecrated in 1128 in the presence of king Alfonso IX of Leon.


England
The earliest sunspot was drawing in 1128, by John of Worcester.


France
Angouleme Cathedral finished in 1128.


Flanders
Charles the Good, the childless Count of Flanders, was murdered on 2 March 1127, creating a local succession crisis. Louis VI of France marched into Flanders at the head of an army and on 30 March got the barons of the province to accept William as their new count. Initially, William did well, securing most of the county by the end of May.

This development potentially threatened Normandy, and Henry I of England began to finance a proxy war in Flanders, promoting the claims of William's Flemish rivals. Thierry of Alsace, the brother of Simon I, Duke of Lorraine, and the uncle of Dirk VI, Count of Holland, claimed the county of Flanders as grandson of Robert I.

English money and the emergence of a rival in Thierry of Alsace led to a deterioration in William's position. In February 1128 Saint-Omer and Ghent declared against him, as did Bruges in March. In May 1128 Lille too welcomed Thierry, leaving William controlling little more than the southern fringe of Flanders. Thierry's supporters came from the Imperial faction of Flanders, and upon his arrival he engaged in battle against William. Louis VI of France had Raymond of Martigné, the Archbishop of Reims, excommunicate Thierry. Louis VI then besieged Lille. In an effort to disrupt the French alliance with William, Henry I of Engalnd mounted an attack into France in 1128, forcing Louis to cut his aid to William. Louis VI was forced to retire.

However, Thierry was defeated at Tielt and Oostkamp and fled to Brugge. He was forced to flee Brugge as well, and went to Aalst. At this point William was joined by his father-in-law, Duke Godfrey of Brabant, and together their armies besieged Aalst on 12 July, with the probable intention of going on from there to reduce Ghent. The city was about to be captured when William was wounded in the arm in a scuffle with a foot soldier. The wound became gangrenous and William died at the age of twenty-five on 28 July 1128, leaving Thierry as the only claimant to the seat.

Thierry set up his government in Ghent and was recognized by all the Flemish cities as well as King Henry, who had his Flemish lords in England swear fealty to him.

Without William, the baronial opposition in Normandy lacked a leader. A fresh peace was made with France, and the King Henry I was finally able to release the remaining prisoners from the revolt of 1123, including Waleran of Meulan, who was rehabilitated into the royal court.

Meanwhile, Henry rebuilt his alliance with Fulk of Anjou, this time by marrying Matilda to Fulk's eldest son, Geoffrey. The pair were betrothed in 1127 and married on June 17, 1128. The wedding was celebrated in Le Mans. It is unknown whether Henry intended Geoffrey to have any future claim on England or Normandy, and he was probably keeping his son-in-law's status deliberately uncertain. Similarly, although Matilda was granted a number of Normandy castles as part of her dowry, it was not specified when the couple would actually take possession of them.

Germany
Civil war lasted.

In 1128 Conrad was crowned King of Italy by the Anselm V, Archbishop of Milan. Lothair took advantage of Conrad's expedition into Italy and his lack of resources by attacking the Staufens in Germany. King Lothar and Archbishop Adalbert put Speyer, which by then must have been totally surrounded by walls, under siege and it had to surrender short of starvation. The German bishops, again led by Adalbert of Mainz, excommunicated Conrad, an act that was confirmed by Honorius in a synod held in Rome at Easter (22 April 1128). Honorius also sent Cardinal John of Crema to Pisa to hold another synod that excommunicated Archbishop Anselm of Milan, who had crowned Conrad king. Conrad found little help in Italy and with Honorius’ support, Lothair was able to keep his throne.

In 1125, Godfrey, duke of Lower Lorraine supported Conrad of Hohenstaufen, the duke of Franconia, against Lothair of Supplinburg. In 1128 Lothair withdrew the duchy of Lower Lorraine and granted it to Waleran of Limburg , the son of Henry, whom Henry V had deprived in 1106. Nonetheless, Godfrey maintained the margraviate of Antwerp and retained the ducal title (which would in 1183 become Duke of Brabant).

Albert the Bear, after the death of his brother-in-law, Henry II, margrave of a small area on the Elbe called the Saxon Northern March, in 1128, disappointed at not receiving this fief himself, attacked Udo, the heir, and was consequently deprived of Lusatia by Lothar.

Henry of Groitzsch was appointed Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark

Pomerania

Lübeck was burned down in 1128 by the pagan Rani from Rügen.

Lutici: Henry's sons, Canute and Sventipolk (also Svatopluk or Zwentibold), fought over their inheritance. When Canute was killed in 1128 at Lütjenburg, Sventipolk succeeded in taking over the entire country. Vicelinus finally sent priests to Liubice, but after this was conquered by the Rani and destroyed, the priests fled to Faldera (Neumünster). Sventipolk was killed in the same year.

In 1128, Demmin, the County of Gützkow and Wolgast were already incorporated into Wartislaw I's realm, yet warfare was still going on. Captured Lutici and other war loot, including livestock, money, and clothes were apportioned among the victorious. After Wartislaw's Lutician conquests, his duchy lay between the Bay of Greifswald to the north, Circipania, including Güstrow (Ostrów), to the west, Kolobrzeg in the east, and possibly as far as the Havel and Spree rivers in the south.

These gains were not subject to Polish over lordship, but were placed under over lordship of Nordmark margrave Albrecht the Bear a dedicated enemy of Slavs, by Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor. Thus, the western territories contributed to making Wartislaw significantly independent from the Polish dukes. Wartislaw was not the only one campaigning in these areas.

Wartislaw managed to expand his duchy westward, thereby forming the territorial body of the later Duchy of Pomerania, and organized the second visit of Otto of Bamberg in 1128.

Otto of Bamberg came on 19 April 1128, invited by duke Wartislaw I himself, aided by the emperor Holy Roman Emperor Lothar II, to convert the Slavs of Western Pomerania just incorporated into the Pomeranian duchy, and to strengthen the Christian faith of the inhabitants of Stettin and Wollin, who fell back into heathen practices and idolatry. Otto visited primarily Western Pomeranian burghs, had the temples of Gützkow and Wolgast torn down and on their sites erected the predecessors of today's St Nikolai and St Petri churches, respectively. The nobility assembled to a congress in Usedom, where they accepted Christianity on June 10, 1128.

Otto aborted the mission in November 1128 on behalf of the emperor, after he had sought to mediate the conflicts between the Pomeranian and Polish dukes

Hungary
Stephen was "sickly in body and was recuperating someplace in the midst of his land", according to John Kinnamos. The Illuminated Chronicle said that his illness was so serious that "all expected his death." The chronicle added that "traitors" went so far as to elect two kings, the "Counts Bors and Ivan". Upon regaining his health, Stephen had Ivan executed and expelled Bors from his kingdom.

Italy
In the twelfth century Gaetan trade expanded, while the duchy's Norman dukes took less interest in the city itself. In 1128 Gaeta is recorded as baying less, only twelve denarii, for docking a ship at Genoa than any other city (Amalfi, Naples, Rome, or Salerno), perhaps suggesting longstanding relations with Genoa.

In 1128, members of the Athen family, perhaps seeking to usurp the throne of Sardinia, or perhaps just the regency, made an attempt to harm the young Gonario II of Logudoro. His regent, Ittocorre Gambella, quickly whisked him away to Porto Torres and the protection of the Pisans, who took him to Pisa and the house of Ugo da Parlascio Ebriaco.

Lighthouse of Genoa was built around 1128.


Florence Baptistery was finished in 1128.


In July 1127, Duke William II of Apulia died. Count Roger II of Sicily believed that the duchy passed to him. However, this was opposed by many of the largely Norman nobility on the mainland, and in this they had the support of Pope Honorius II. Honorius stated that William had left his territory to the Holy See. A rallying-point for this opposition might have been the only other independent prince in southern Italy, Count Jordan of Ariano, but he also died on 12 August 1127. His heir was the short-lived Prince Jordan II but, on his death in November, his son Robert II of Capua became Prince. His leading lord was Ranulf of Alife.

Honorius received word that Roger had landed in Italy. He rushed to Benevento to prevent the local Normans from reaching an agreement with Roger. Roger in the meantime had rapidly overrun the duchy of Apulia and had sent Honorius lavish gifts, asking the Pope to recognise him as the new duke and promising to hand over Troia and Montefusco in exchange. Honorius, fearing the expansion of Norman power to the south under one dominating ruler, threatened to excommunicate Roger if he persisted. In the meantime, many of the local Norman nobles, fearful of Roger’s power, allied themselves with Honorius, as Honorius formally excommunicated Roger in November 1127. Roger left his armies threatening Benevento, while he returned to Sicily for reinforcements.

In December, Honorius visited Capua, a longtime papal ally, and there organised the resistance to Roger's claim, recruiting both Ranulf and Robert to his cause. He promised them that all who took part in the campaign against Roger would earn remission of their sins. On 30 December 1127, Honorius preached a crusade against Roger II after having anointed Robert as Prince of Capua.

Robert's leadership was less than stellar and Ranulf was soon the effective military leader of the opposition. When Roger arrived on the peninsula with an army, Ranulf tried to organise resistance, especially in Troia, but gave up when Roger threatened to invade his lands.

Roger returned in May 1128 and continued to harass papal strongholds while avoiding any direct confrontation with Honorius’ forces. In July 1128, the two armies came in contact with each other on the banks of the Bradano, but Roger refused to engage, believing that the papal armies would soon fall apart, and soon enough some of the Pope’s allies began deserting to Roger. Trying to salvage something of the situation, Honorius sent his trusted advisor Cardinal Aymeric together with Cencio II Frangipane to negotiate with Roger secretly. Honorius agreed to invest Roger with the duchy of Apulia in exchange for an oath of faith and homage by Roger.

Honorius travelled to Benevento, and after safeguarding the interests of Robert of Capua, he met Roger on the Pons Major, the bridge which crosses the Sabbato river near Benevento, on 22 August 1128. There, he formally invested Roger with the duchy of Apulia and both agreed to a peace between the Kingdom of Sicily and the Papal States. Unfortunately, Honorius had just returned to Rome when he was informed that the nobles of Benevento had overthrown and killed the rector (or papal governor) of the city and established a Commune. Furious, he declared he would wreak a terrible vengeance on the city, whereupon the residents asked Honorius for forgiveness and to send another governor.

East
Jerusalem
Stephen of La Ferté was Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1128 until his death in 1130. He was a French priest, abbot of Saint-Jean-en-Vallée at Chartres, and related to Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem.
His predecessor, Warmund, had been a close ally of Baldwin, but Stephen was much less ready to cooperate, reviving claims made by Patriarch Dagobert for church power. He sought to revive an agreement in 1100 between Dagobert and Godfrey of Bouillon, the first ruler of Jerusalem, for possession of Jaffa as an autonomous possession, and even of Jerusalem itself. Baldwin would not agree, and relations between the court and the patriarchate grew worse and worse.

Antioch
The Latin Patriarch of Antioch placed an interdict over the County of Edessa.
In 1128, Roger II invaded and conquered Taranto, claiming it as the heir of William II of Apulia. Being away, Bohemond could do nothing to prevent this. That year, Baldwin II marched north to mediate in the dispute, and Joscelin abandoned his claims. Meanwhile, the atabeg Zengi consolidated his power over Aleppo and Mosul.