Deleted member 67076
This thread is to serve as the story only version for the timeline. The discussion thread is here.
“One of the most curious quirks of history is what the late Medieval Roman Empire refers to as ‘The Renovation’; this period of massive social, political and economic change that starts a new chapter in the empire. A fresh start if you will, where the slow, humiliating decline of the past 140 or so years is halted and the slate is wiped clean! This newer, stronger, healthier empire emerges from this period of restructuring better than it has been in ages. Its like a house getting refurbished -hence the name- and, like that refurbished house, it weathers the storms and the earthquakes and all other problems much better than it otherwise would have, so that the people residing in that house can live in peace.”
The 14th century was not kind a kind one to the Roman Empire. Following the aftermath of the infamous Fourth Crusade, the remnants of Rome become a shadow of their once glorious self. They are fractured, stagnant and handicapped by a myriad of issues that impede renewal. Despite numerous attempts on setting the empire on the road to recovery, to keep the empire afloat, it all appears in vain. This new era is one of a slow, painful and seemingly irreversible decline.
On all sides, the empire is under siege. To the east, Turkish incursions renew their offense clawing apart at Byzantium’s important Asian provinces, the first in a century since the mighty Komnenoi emperors had pushed them back, stalling the seemingly inevitable advance. Multitudes of tribes have poured in and begun carving out their own small fiefdoms. Most worrying are the nascent Ottoman Beylik, under the rule of the ambitious and frighteningly competent Orhan. In the North, the rising power of Serbia and the Second Bulgarian Empire threaten the European holdings. And to the west are the Latin states. They exploit rather than aid. They fracture instead of unify. They harm when they should heal. Caught between all sides and weakened by generations of war, Rome is in a precarious place. But the worst comes from within the empire.
Following the ascension of the Palaiologoi dynasty the balance of power has drastically swung in favor of the aristocracy. While this is not a new thing; (the aristocratic favoritism is something deeply Roman, going back to the days of the ancient republic) since the Komnenoi era this trend has dramatically accelerated. The meritocracy of the previous Macedonian dynasty has been eroded with time, as has their care for the lower classes; the smallholders and the urban mob. This trend further continues with the new dynasty, perhaps continuing to its logical extreme. It is this favoritism that has in part hastened the decay of the empire, as the aristocracy has been given freer rein to expand their power. The aristocracy, rich and bloated at the expense of the state and the poor, further bleed the empire dry. The government, struggling to reform is unable to fix the underlying problems of the state nor alleviate the problems faced by the peasants. Impoverishment and misrule have become depressingly common.
In reaction, there is anger and resentment. Justifiably so. The people toil and yet there is no respite. No end to the staggering amount of problems that plague their homeland. It is fertile ground for those who wish to gain support for change… or for those seeking power. Some wish for reform, and others revolution. Either one has their merits in the people’s eyes. As the years pass and the situation grows ever more bleak, the more sway these advocates for change have… and the more the people wish to fight. To strike back at their tormentors.
In 1341, the straw that breaks the camel’s back came with the death of emperor Andronikos, third of that name. In the ensuing power struggle there emerged two power blocs gunning for control: The camp of John Kantakouzenos, who fought to continue the Ancien Regime of aristocratic rule and traditionalism that the state has come to known, and the camp of Alexios Apokaukos, led by those who had wished for change to come to Rhomania. And so bloody civil war had once again broken out, further sapping what precious few resources remain.
Currently, the year is 1341. The empire stands broken, battered and bloody. But it is far from beaten.
To track the roots of the Renovation, one must go back to the era directly preceding it: the final years and death of the emperor Andronicus III and the culmination of a long dynastic rule. We must analyze the state of affairs, the trends and the geopolitics in and surrounding the Roman Empire during his era that led to its nadir of power. As such, let us briefly return to two different time periods. The year of our Lord 1204, at the dreaded Fourth Crusade, and directly following the imperial restoration at the reconquest of Constantinople from the Latin Empire in 1261.
Now, when the Latin Empire captured the great city of Constantinople, the Imperial court relocated to the lakeside city of Nicaea in Asia Minor with the hopes of eventually retaking the capital when the time was right. Initially command was held by Theodore Lascaris whose reforms to accommodate the new position of the empire alienated many of nobles who had grown accustomed to the Komnenoi policies favoring those of high rank and social stature. However, his victory against the empire’s enemies and restoration of imperial territorial integrity allowed him to lead without much difficulty at home. But when he died he left the empire in a regency under his son John. This in turn created a vacuum of power which allowed the conservative aristocrats to plan and make a bid for power. Rallying around Michael Palaeologus, a confident, charismatic man who was head of one of the largest noble clans, this aristocratic faction conspired against the young emperor and launched a coup. Installing himself as John IV’s Regent and Co-Emperor, young John IV was soon deposed by his supposedly junior-emperor, who then crowned himself as Michael VIII. This is where the trouble begins.
Now Michael did rule successfully. Constantinople was liberated in 1261, the Empire was re-established in Greece proper (with a few exceptions), all the pressing enemies were defeated and it once more became a (borderline) great power. And yet, with his grab for power Michael VII set the stage for a conservative, aristocratic minded dynasty with increasingly limited resources. Despite energetic campaigning, the Byzantine state was simply too exhausted and too cash-strapped to fully take advantage of the opportunities granted to them. Additionally, they were undermined in commerce (a potentially large source of income to supplement taxes on land) by the Italian city states. The policy of “Europe first” had opened the empire to attacks by Charles I of Sicily (who dealt the empire a heavy blow) and renewed raids by the Turkish statelets of the east. With hindsight we can see the faults in this policy but few at the time could have predicted that. Constantinople was of course the pride and joy of the empire and retaking territory from the weak and divided Latin Barons who ruled over the unhappy masses of Greeks must have seemed like the easier and wiser thing to do than waste resources to retake land in Anatolia, where the previous dynasty had tried but failed to secure the former heartlands despite almost a century of effort.
Now then let’s fast forward several decades- its been almost a full century since the reconquest of Constantinople: The Empire has steadily been eroded on all fronts, too weak to retake its lost lands and too stubborn and unable to find effective means of solving their problems. Problems that were dealt with the method and mindset that their forbearers used- with mixed to limited results. At the same time the aristocratic favoritism that has begun under the Komenoi has continued unopposed, granting new privileges to an already bloated nobility. This erosion of the tax base, weakening of the central government, loss of land, money and prestige has left an incredibly dissatisfied and enraged outlook on the masses while the elite increased their wealth, power and influence in the empire to levels that had not been seen since the Principate. The cause of this shift was in response to the loss of territory; the tax burden had to be raised in order to maintain the same level of effectiveness as before yet from a much smaller pool of tax payers. But the current government, in coordination and domination by rural elites created many an exemption for the nobility to pay taxes. Thus, the burden was placed onto the poor.
To make it worse, the stubborn and conservative government refuse to adapt to potential new solutions, most prominently the refusal to invest in commerce and mercantile matters as a way to generate wealth like that of the great Merchant Republics. Commerce was seen as ‘un-Roman’ and ‘beneath’ the elite who preferred to place their investments into great landholding estates. (It's also this factor that made the noble dominated state less receptive to defending their territories; one can always move to another estate if they have more land after all, but the poor who have everything to lose if that small plot is taken from them will fight to the death) These two factions grew increasingly radicalized and ideologically inflexible as time went by from either the lack of meaningful change or the growing ungratefulness of restless masses (take your pick), eventually believing that only force would get them what they wanted.
Thus the stage was set for a massive conflict of interests and worldviews. All that would need to spark this war was a power vacuum where the reformists and lower classes could finally make their respective bids for power. In 1341, with the death of Andronicus III the reformists got their wish.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”
-The Gospel of Matthew; Chapter 7, Verses 24 and 25.
[Transcript of a Podcast, 15 Byzantine Rulers]
“....What happens next? The war is won, but obviously the job’s not done yet. And this is where I think it gets really interesting. Because Alex has totally eliminated his opponents and is basically left in absolute control. Sure, the empress is regent for a few years until her death by plague but he’s still in charge of most day to day things. There’s no one group that can really stop him, and he knows that. The nobility just got a brutal mauling and the guy’s at the height of his popularity!”
“(Laughs) He rebuilds is what’s next. Then he starts changing things: the economy, the navy, important things. There’s a huge amount of fallout from the war and so many questions being ask of what’s going to happen, but first everybody agrees that the empire has to rebuild. And that isn’t exactly true. Alex can’t just shape the entire country in his own image no questions asked, he’ gotta play by the rules. Remember, he really wants to focus on what he wants; commerce, the economy and the navy, but at the same he needs to make sure that no one can undermine that. From inside and outside. And that means making sure he remains popular and the country stays stronger. So he can’t focus on what he wants just yet.”
“Ok so what does he do?”
“Like I said, he rebuilds and tries to keep the peace. I can’t underestimate just how important this is. It is of the utmost priority. The countryside has been damaged by the war, especially in Macedonia. But at the same time, he reforms. Land is parceled out. Tax rates are changed. The Bureaucracy is reformed. Peasants are encouraged to rebuild the dilapidated cloth industry, which had been in steep decline the last century. But its really that first part that’s the most important, I’d say. Because in the aftermath of the civil war, the imperial state just ended up with the largest increase of land under direct government control in decades. That means they can give out that land to their supporters in small, controllable plots rather than huge estates. So we see the big landed estates of the traitors being cut up and given to his supporters under a modified version of the old Pronoia system. Also helps in keeping the army he made around.”
“Now, what’s this about reform? How deep do the changes go? What’s the imperial policy to the defectors and old nobles?”
“Oh yeah. Alright, so the initial set of reforms basically deal with the bureaucratic and fiscal policy of the empire. Now this did begin during the war but as it continued until after the end of the war I’m including it within the set of reforms that were commonly characterize the Apokaukan reforms. The bureaucracy is given a bit of an overhaul. And by that I mean purge. Much of the old guard with ties to the old establishment is fired, exiled, murdered- whatever is needed to get them out of power. Then, they get replaced by more loyal elements. This is not only with officials, but also to governors and officers in the army. The only exception is Thessalonica, but we’ll get back to that later.
Second is the money situation. Being close to bankruptcy is something the empire has had to deal with on-off for the past century, and one that Alex, as a businessman, is not happy with it at all. How does he try to fix this? First he tries to get more trading going on. Second, he makes more taxpayers by basically giving away land. Giving out land does well to endear the people to the new boss, but that won’t last long if they don’t solve this one huge problem: The Tax Rate. Under the old government, taxes on the lower class were huge. So huge they drove many people to poverty and serfdom. Obviously, that’s not exactly popular, so Alex has to lower the tax rate to a more manageable level. This is, by all accounts a huge reduction in what they paid. Not exactly good for the budget. Thankfully, and this is where the leftover nobles and defectors come in. Alexius is able to raise taxes on what’s left of the big landowners and the nobles and really squeeze them in an attempt to make up the difference. He closes the legal loopholes, most of their financial privileges and tax exemptions and what not. They don’t like it, but he’s at the top of his game now and so they can’t really do anything about it. But most are thankful they still get to keep their lands. Despite all this, its unfortunately, that’s not enough to make up the difference. This isn’t a real reform.”
“Wait. But what about taxing the Church? Taxing them was usually how many people raised money in this time period. Also, why isn’t this enough? The state is taxing more people than it did a decade ago and more efficiently too. We know that small plots of land are easier to tax than big landowners”
“See, the thing is, he can’t do that. The Church, or rather the Patriarch was a supporter of him and his policies, interestingly enough. He can’t alienate that big of a support base. They helped out, and in return, he’s gotta do them a favor. That means not taxing them, restricting their influence in government, things like that. Second, its not enough because Alex isn’t just interested in making things more fair. He wants Rome to be able to compete with Venice, with Genoa, with all the other merchant powers. And that means building up a huge fleet. Only problem is a navy is really expensive. But he’s spending all his money on repairs and reforms and fortifications and what not, there’s not much, if any left over.”
“And how do they deal with that?”
(Laughs) “They don’t really. The Romans just pretty much wait and see for opportunities, quietly saving up money and fortifying until they can find an opportunity to expand their trading, little by little building up their navy and trying to defend against raids from Turkish pirates. Fortunately, they do get a few pretty soon. Grain prices start rising after the Golden Horde closes its ports to foreign merchants in 1343, so the Italians, particularly Venice are forced to buy more of their grain in the empire. Then the Aydinids, their old allies turned enemies, had really annoyed the wrong people with their raids on Christian shipping in the Aegean. It got to the point where eventually the Pope called a crusade to deal with them. Which really speaks more about how cheap crusades were than anything else, but this did elition a coalition of Christian mercenaries to attack the main Aydinid port of Smyrna. The coalition forces smash the Aydinid navy and take the city, denying them naval access for the better part of a year. This is where the Romans get their opening.”
“Mhm?”
“Right. Let me explain; while the Crusaders did take the city, they were never able to advance much further and take over the Beylik. At the same time, the Aydinids weren’t strong enough to push them out. That’s when the Romans come in and offer to help them out. Around 1346 or so- the records kinda sketchy- the Romans send out a message offering their support to capture the city of Smyrna and return it to the Bey in exchange for 2 things: A renewal of the old alliance during the reign of Andronikos III, an opening of Smyrna to Roman trade with similar trading quarters like the Italians merchants and tax exemptions for Roman merchants. Umar Bey, the current emir, accepts readily. And so in a few months the city is retaken and the Aydinids now have sea access once more while the Romans leave with a fancy new trade port.”
“That’s amazing. But can we back this up a bit; since you mentioned the importance of the navy, this raises another set of questions: What happened to the armed forces? What’s the navy doing in all this? And the army of the Civil War? Where’s that gone?”
“Couple of things. First off, they get downsized. Now this may seem weird, considering how useful having a large army was in the civil war, but you have to remember, that army was a bloated mess. And an expensive one. So it gets streamlined into a more manageable size. The extra lands are used to help re-institute pronoia and give the empire a steady supply of militia troops. These were mostly set in the border to defend and stall enemies until the main force of professional troops comes in. Nothing too radical per se, standard Early Palaiologoi doctrine. What really changes is the composition. Most of the new officers aren’t nobles with connections in the government, they’re recruited from the lowest classes that served well and were promoted on the basis of merit. As well, the mercenary forces that so categorized Andronicus were paid, disbanded and sent home. Alex hated, hated, hated mercenaries.”
"That’s weird, didn’t he use them as well?"
“He did in the war, but from his writings he seems to have a huge distaste of using mercenaries, considering them both absurdly expensive and disloyal. It was more efficient to just use militia in his opinion. With that said we do see mercenary use continue, just on a smaller scale. Now, continuing on with the army changes, there’s a bit of a change in army equipment, mostly some standardization, things like more crossbows being used. Now, on to the navy. This is where the things really change. Its upgraded, expanded and just improved overall. By around 1350, there’s a new shiny new fleet of around 35 to 40 warships. Compare this with the 20 or so in 1340. Interestingly enough, much of this is being paid out of pocket by Alexios himself. At one point he spends something like 50,000 hyperpyra on new ships. And it was a wise investment if I say so. Led to the reconquest of reconquest of Naxos and other Aegean islands in the near future. Also paid for itself pretty quickly during the joint raiding operations with the Aydinids and later the Saruhans. Unfortunately, this really annoyed Venice, Genoa and the Latin Crusader states in Greece, but you can’t win them all. Aside from raids, the navy was used to project power, which is why you start seeing things like interferences in Trebizond affairs and deals with Georgia and the Golden Horde.
"Alright, last question and this goes back to the peasants: What did the government do with the Zealots of Thessalonica and other radical movements? I mean they were large enough to possibly be considered a threat and were insanely influential. The governments got to have reacted to this somehow."
“This may seem weird, but not much actually- at least in the first decade or two. And there’s two main theories as to why. The first one is, they are too busy essentially. Basically, as the regime was for the most part too busy reorganizing the state, bureaucracy and the military to pay attention to what is for the most part is just peasants organizing in councils at the municipal level, forming militias to defend the border and occasionally pooling their resources together. It didn’t really hurt anything, and as most of them the radicals were willing to work with the government and pay their taxes, so there was a ‘live and let live’ attitude going around. It does make sense though. As I’ve implied this was a state that in the aftermath of a brutal civil war was organized around Alexious Apokaukos and his aids. Most of the people who would be against this, have been made -for the time being- politically irrelevant; the new people in charge are far more sympathetic to the lowest classes and their position, and in fact you sometimes could see the new government actually help out the peasants just to undermine the status of local aristocrats even more. But even that’s an insane amount of work. Trying to have each and every little group that forms loyal or sidelined was too much for the demands of the state, and they just ignored it until it was too big to ignore.
The second theory -and one that I lean towards too more, but both sides have their merits-, is that the government went along with it because it couldn’t do anything to stop it. Fresh from a civil war and busy trying to recover from a decades long decline, that doesn’t leave a lot of resources to impose Constantinople’s will outside of the bare minimum. And that would just make the empire look even more weak, potentially leading to more invaders coming in and ruining the progress that’s been made so far. Along with that, the army itself is probably stretched thin and made up of people who might just side with the peasants if said peasants get too popular. Due to all of the above, the imperial government took the path of least resistance and let things be. And there’s a huge piece of evidence that supports this view: Thessalonica itself, with the Zealots and their council being in charge for a very long time after being re-instituted in the empire. I mean, the nominal governor, John Apokaukos, was basically a figurehead at worst, a liason at best. Thessalonica did what it wanted and there was almost nothing the government could do to stop it."
"Professor, thank you for your time."
"Happy to be of service. It was great being here."
It is 1344. After 3 years of a grueling, intense, brutal conflict, the Second Palaiologoi Civil war is finally over. Peace however brief it may be, returns to the Empire of the Romans. And though bloodied from the time of war, the imperium stands united and optimistic; a new era is dawning with fresh minds in charge, ready to meet the needs of a changing world. When the world moves on, Rhomania will not be left behind.
Let us look forward a decade later. We see that after the dramatic upheavals faced in the past few decades that saw catastrophic loss in wealth and men in the empire, things are finally starting to cool down and settle into a more acceptable pace. With popular support, a competent government, and neighbors that were more preoccupied with their own affairs than disrupting the imperials, the Roman empire would finally enter a period of brief, yet vital rest and recovery. During this period, the crucial reforms that had been at the minds of many would be laid out to the benefit of the empire. Said reforms were primarily focused on rooting out the more pressing issues that plagued the state: a weak economy, an impoverished tax base, a demolished industry and a nearly nonexistent commercial sector. By the time conflict once again broke out and the empire intervened in the Third Venetian-Genoese War, a new creature had replaced the one the world had come to know.
Nearly every facet of the empire would come to be altered in the decade that had passed since the end of the Second Palaiologian Civil War: Economics, living standards, finances, military readiness, manpower, the navy, the cities, diplomacy, the guilds, and even the church. The Apokaoukan reforms, implemented swiftly in the end of 1343 had done much to restructure the empire in a positive way. Imperial finances had noticeably increased and the destitution that so very much characterized the late empire began to give way little by little. A glimmer of hope appeared in the empire. Please note however, that despite the large progress these changes had, it was still too early for Constantinople to have bounced back to her former glory. The army was tiny, the navy equally so and it was with great difficulty that the imperial coffers were able to be filled. Like a patient just coming into rehabilitation, there was still much more progress to be made, but the worst had passed.
To better grasp at the multitude of development that had occurred, it has been decided to categorize the internal and external modifications of the state by category. Therefore, this update will tackle what has changed on a subject by subject basis.
Finances:
In the efforts at achieving their most pressing needs- a means to increase the wealth of the empire- the Apokaukan reforms were largely successful in achieving that. The policies put in place, such as the establishment of the Imperial Roman Trading Company (a state owned enterprise that ensured government monopoly on external trading) [1] and the expansion of the merchant navy did well to bring in much needed coin.
Especially the latter. The Roman naval expansion (both in terms of warships and the merchant navy) over the past decade was critical in bringing in what Apokaukos had promised:a taste of the wealth that Venice and Genoa enjoyed from trade (and of course, loot from joining in pirate raids- one mustn’t forget about that). This was done by not only increasing the size of the navy and its personnel but also by expanding the presence of Roman merchants primarily in the Aegean and Black Seas. (Roman merchants, like the Venetians in the 11th century seemed to have had a fear of going into places they didn’t know too well) As well, the diplomatic arrangements with the Aydinid Emirate (and by proxy the beylik of Saruhan) ensured that piracy against Roman vessels was at an all time low while providing another excellent source of wealth: Piracy. Roman sailors often joined in with the emirates on raids against Christian shipping in the Aegean. (Later on as the Aydinids grew rich from their plunder and gained better fleets and naval bases of their own, these raids expanded their operations into the Eastern Mediterranean.) A risky yet rewarding proposition.
One must note that yes, this did infuriate the Italian merchants in the region as competition increased, but it thankfully did not lead to war with the Venetians or the Genoese or whoever due to a fortunate combination of external factors. Beginning with the expulsion of the Venetians from the Golden Horde in 1341, relations between the two states had yet again started to plummet and a state of low level undeclared war started up. It was seen as inevitable that a proper war would form, so the two attempted to avoid as many ‘unnecessary distractions’ until the next round of conflict began. In any case, Rome had found her trade presence began to increase, and with the additional money flowing into imperial coffers from this trade, efforts at improving infrastructure, internal trade, industry and agricultural yields.
However, there was another source of important income that came throughout the decade, ironically enough from the Merchant republics that were so often accused of taking away what money should be flowing into Constantinople's coffers.
Much like the Regency victory of the Regency faction in the Second Palaiologian civil war, this was not due to any imperial efforts, but rather a pleasant source of international affairs; in 1341, the Khanate of the Golden Horde had banished Venetian Merchants from its realm after a diplomatic crises that resulted in the Venetian Navy attempting to firebomb the Genoese Colonies at the Crimea. While they were largely successful in their goal, many important nobles in the Khanate had been killed. Enraged, the Khan banned all Venetian merchants from his realm and forbid any sales to the merchant republic. [2] What this meant that Venice’s primary source of cheap grain had been cut off, and prices skyrocketed in the city. In response, Venice had to obtain grain from different sources: Egypt noticeably, but also in fertile areas of Greece and Thrace. Much to the delight of farmers and merchants within the empire, demand for grain had grown considerably, and so had their profits in time. Profits which then flowed into the cities to the eventual benefit of all.
This admittedly raises the question of how did the average person benefit from all this? The answer is very much. As previously stated, the average peasant in the Late Roman Empire was much more poorer than his counterpart in say, 1000 AD. Crippling high taxes, frequent wars that led to economic disruption, poor infrastructure, and reduction in average field sizes had led a very sizable reduction in GDP per capita. With the ease in the tax burden and generous land reform policy, the troubles that had plagued the peasants began to go away. To the average peasant, this was a Godsend and easily the greatest period to be living in for a lower class Roman since the Late Komnenoi, maybe even the Macedonian Dynasty. With their tax rate finally decreased (although not that much, lowering taxes to a non oppressive rate would bankrupt the state, still it was a noticeable decrease that allowed them to save some coins) and a generous land reform policy sponsored by the imperial government, the chance of renting and owning land skyrocketed. But there lies one more benefit in this period, and that is a rise in wages. Because just like nearly everywhere else in Europe, with the passing of the Black Plague came a labor shortage that meant demand for labor increased. And when demand increases, prices rise. [3] The culmination of all these factors meant an increase in the standard of living for the oppressed masses.
Apokaukos’ government had gambled that having access to a larger tax base via land distribution, confiscation of property, land sales and trade increases would be enough to make up for the ease in the tax burden in the long run. And in this case, it worked out. Rising grain prices, shrinking poverty, a tightening of legal loopholes and tax exemptions, and the increase in trade both in the empire and outside it allowed the empire to managed to obtain much needed funds in ways that did not involve brutalizing the lower classes. And with the government placated for the time being (and still fearful of revolution against the new boss) the lower classes were left alone to prosper. And slowly yet surely they did. These effects would take decades to be fully realized, but every year led to more and more growth, and therefore more and more wealth piling up.
The government on the other hand was a bit less enthusiastic. The simple reason for that is despite all of the new laws and strategies and government actions, there simply wasn’t as much of a gain for the empire as originally expected. While yes, the initial phase of the Renovation did great with land reform and establishing the navy, as well as increasing the amount of troops these things didn’t give the government what it really wanted: a larger treasury. State funds were indeed higher, but due to a myriad of factors (mainly rising costs in supporting the navy and attempting to refortify) they weren’t that much higher than the last days of Andronikos II, and therefore, criminally underfunded. The Black Death and its robbing of taxpayers would see to that. Combined with all the other projects that the state had in mind meant that the Roman state was increasingly desperate for cash and had to resort to more... unorthodox methods of obtaining wealth. Mainly, this was done through looting; either from attacking shipping, or raiding someone else like a beylik or Latin crusader states.
This does in turn raise of could the empire get away with that? The answer is with some ingenious diplomacy and underhanded tactics. Recall that after the Smyrniote Crusade, the Beylik of Aydin had once more regained control of Smyrna thanks to Roman aid. In exchange for this, the alliance between the two powers was renewed and trading rights were obtained. Thanks to this, Roman sailors and ships would be able to join in on Aydinid raids all across the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, bringing in some much needed coin to the coffers back in Constantinople. Even better, thanks to often joining in the Aydinids, Byzantine sailors were able to walk away from the raids without Constantinople being suspected of involvement in many cases. This of course was a highly risky proposition and at several times inflicted retribution from other powers, but the Romans managed to stay under the radar most of the time. Anyways, thanks to the combination of all the above factors, imperial finances managed to be *relatively* stable for the next decade.
Diplomacy and Foreign Policy:
Alexios Apokaukos had always been an intelligent man; someone who was usually savvy enough to know where the wind was blowing. Therefore, when he started undertaking his massive overhauls to the imperial state, it was with the knowledge that he had to make sure that the empire was secure enough to undergo its metamorphosis without any... unnecessary distractions. Not a single hyperpyra must be wasted on any wars of defense. Here diplomacy and soft power were the key to obtaining imperial security. Steps must be taken to ensure the peace needed for reform. With that in mind, let us look to how the empire dealt with her neighbors and rivals in the immediate years following the war.
Despite how we now know the greatest threat to the empire were the Turkish Beyliks and the Italian merchant republics, the peoples at the empire lacked the benefit of hindsight. They believed that it was the traditional neighbors of the empire in the Balkans were the largest potential damage and thus, received the largest bits of immediate attention and placating.
As such, a reaffirmation of the treaty with Bulgaria under the Tsar Ivan Alexander was confirmed and a marriage alliance was negotiated with young John V to be wed to Ivan Alexander’s daughter, Kera Tamara (when both came of age, of course). The Bulgarian Tsar accepted these terms relatively easily due to growing conspiracy in his own nation that he need to turn his attention towards- where in which the Bolyars of his realm had been planning to revolt. With Serbia fearing Hungarian invasion under their new king Louis and a friendly Wallachia to the North, Rhomania was the only potential source of aggression, and with this treaty that would be taken care of. But the treaty did more than merely secure peace: trade between the empires once more began to reach a respectable level, and the peace ensured allowed for easier development of the frontier regions.
The other important threat to the empire (on land at least), Serbia, was dealt with very carefully. Serbia, under the great king Stefan Dusan, had managed to rapidly expand northwards at the expense of Hungary, carving out a small sphere of influence in Croatia, Dalmatia and the unannexed parts of Bosnia. These additional resources and the appearance of a well trained Serbian military stemming from reports of Hungarian losses promulgated by Serbian propaganda led to Constantinople to treat the Serbs as a very dangerous threat. Should Stefan Dusan at any time decide to march south, when Rome had not yet recovered from her decline, the results would be disastrous. Countermeasures must be taken to ensure the stability of the realm. For the time being this meant do as little as possible to not antagonize the Serbs at any cost while trying to find a good partner to counter them. Partners such as Hungary, being the obvious choice, but also Bulgaria were considered.
Now, that leaves a few other states that bordered the empire: Epirus, which in the chaos of war had managed to partially break free from imperial domination; the Duchy of Athens currently under the control of a Catalan aristocracy; and the principality of Achaea. (For our purposes the Aegean is not being considered in this case, rest assured the Duchy of Naxos has not been forgotten) All 4 were, collectively speaking, small, decentralized principalities with weak economies and under the control of an elite that was mostly unpopular amongst its subjects. In theory, they should have been prime subjects for conquest. But reality has never been that simple. Repeat attempts and raids against the Latin Crusader states of Greece has taught the Romans that despite their weakness, they were still powerful enough to withstand full on invasions, yearly raids and a rapidly shrinking pool of soldiers, a testament to their stubbornness and how terrible the imperial military was at the time.
So another direct round of campaigns to reconquer former territory was discarded- at least for the time being. Instead Eastern Rome would try a more roundabout approach following the years after second Palaiologian war. Weakening their opponents as much as possible, using whatever means it can, before attempting to attack them. This was, curiously enough, not a conscious set of policies but more of a reaction to attempting to copy the Italian states, who also dominated the region using economic and political leverage. Roman travellers would note that Italian merchants frequently sold goods in Greece proper at very low prices, often lower than what it would cost if consumers bought locally. Economics dictated that these practices of dumping led to an undermining of native industries and a good deal of money entering the coffers of the merchant states. And if tariffs were ever decreed, the Italian states would intervene and ‘convince’ the rulers to see the status quo was for the best.
Thus, the Eastern Roman Empire did what they could over the years to bring back a similar level of hegemony for the time being. Peace was secured with the states (sans Athens), under a similar level of friendship the late Kantakouzenos had planned, but this time with an emphasis on opening up trade rather than levying soldiers in the time of need. The states did agree to the deal, viewing it as nothing that could really harm them too much. Little did they know that this further hollowed out their debased economies as the Romans could just as easily dump goods into their region and at even lower prices than what the merchant republics offered thanks to smaller shipping and transportation costs. And since the Roman economy had undergone a tremendous amount of damage and debasement, any and all goods sold still made a profit. (This of course, one must note, was not a sustainable policy. As time went on, the costs of labor rose such that economic sectors were losing money in selling their goods at lower prices than they what they cost to make and people began to agitate to the government in ceasing this. But by then the Crusader states had outlived their usefulness anyway...)
The next major group Roman diplomacy focused a large part following the implementation of the Renovation was the two Italian Merchant Republics: Genoa and Venice. Both sides straddled the Eastern Mediterranean as giants, sapping up as much wealth and trade as they could sense and intervening whenever they could to obtain the best outcome for themselves. Here in the Aegean, this was not different, and in fact their success in the realm of commerce was what prompted the Renovation in the first place. Genoa and Venice controlled the bulk of the revenue that came in from the Silk Road terminals this far east, and as such the new regime viewed them with respect and with fear. Apokaukos, keenly aware of the power of the two realized that antagonizing any one of them was suicide.
Roman policy was, in word: Mollify. The new regime, in a drastic change from their predecessors realized they were no longer the big fish in the small pond. To antagonize any one of the two major powers, especially at their own game, would be tantamount to suicide and a drastic blow to any plans of reviving imperial power. Such is that the Romans did all they could to stay on the two Italians good sides. Keeping tariffs low (or nonexistent), trading in places where the Italians tended to avoid/had less of a presence in (places like Aydin, Candar, Georgia and Circassia, and as the Romans got bolder Tunis and the Maghreb), and trading much less where in which the Romans and the Italians both frequented as such to not undermine their profit margin. As one would expect this was a policy that was costly for the imperials and perhaps unnecessary, but in the aftermath of a brutal civil war combined the state feeling insecure of itself in commercial endeavors, this was seen as the safe option. And perhaps, to an extent- it worked. Once more, the goal of peace was achieved: War did not break out until the Roman intervention in the Third Venetian-Genoese trade war. But at the same time, going out to lesser places did have a nice impact of giving the merchants new contacts and new markets. The trading between the Marinids and the Romans following the former’s conquest of Ifriqiya was a large boon to both, giving to the Romans buyers as far south as the Sahelian states and the Berbers a healthy profit being the middlemen between the two.
Finally, we move on the last major recipients of Roman diplomatic policy worth being discussed: The Anatolian Beyliks. As the conquerors of the former heartlands of the empire, there was a special… distaste towards these particular states. Normally the initial response would be to send in troops and reconquer the region. But dire circumstances force upon a necessary pragmaticism, and this was certainly no different a time. The Beyliks of Anatolia, much like the rest of the Saracens in occupied Roman territory, were agents the needed to be dealt with on a case by case basis depending on what would best aid the empire. Here, it was money and security that was needed. And allies are the greatest suppliers of both. Let us look then to the coastal beyliks, the ones in which the imperials have had the most contact with and to be honest, the ones they care about most. Here we have two in which deserve distinction: The Aydinids, and the Ottomans.
One might already know that in 1347 the so called Smyrniote Crusade was launched at the Aydinids to end their pirate raids and though briefly successful, Roman intervention put an end to that dream. The Aydinids got back their port, and the Emir was thankful enough to resume diplomatic relations with the man who killed his best friend. Trade began anew, as did the piracy raids, this time with the Romans offering to join in. Perhaps the greatest foreign policy decision of its time, with this a highly value ally was obtained that provided free experience for its sailors, a bulwark against the Ottomans and in the words of one Venetian admiral in the late 14th century “A loyal and vicious attack dog” (no doubt a reference to Roman diplomacy often having quite the impact on who the Aydinids decided who was their next raiding target). The Empire fostered excellent relations with this state whenever it could and eagerly directed its raids to whoever it hated, along with encouraging the Aydinids to increase their fleet and naval prowess as much as it could. The ramifications of these actions would not be seen for quite a while, and can be rightly criticized as short sided but for the time being, it was of immensely beneficial to both sides. Certainly highly useful in the future clashes with the Ottoman Beylik.
Which leads us into our next topic of relations: The Ottoman Beylik. One of the largest, most recent and perhaps most importantly, well organized states in Anatolia, this had been the greatest thorn in the side to the Roman Empire during the reign of Andronicus III. They had taken the tremendously lands of Western Anatolia where the largest source of tax revenue was generated. The great cities of Nicea, Nicomedia and Bursa had all been stolen from the imperials by the Ottomans. Rome harbored an immense hatred of this state, and this reflected in its policy. When not fortifying their half of the straits, Rome did all it could to sabotage the Ottomans. Using its relations with the nearby Saruhan, Aydin and Candar, the Imperial government formed an unofficial coalition against Ottoman aggression. Initially met with some skepticism, the conquest of the Karesids altered the emirs that despite the Ghazis having run out of Christian land to take, war was far from over. Following a period of consolidation and organization, Muslim lands, their lands, would be next. It is by that fear (along with recent economic prowess and a rise in prestige) in which the Romans, bound and isolated the Ottomans from most of her immediate neighbors, attempting to sap as much strength and goodwill before starting up a war of conquest where at the time all sides would go and receive a slice of the beylik. A tempting offer indeed: a plan of mutual protection, co-operation and eventual prospering of eliminating a common foe, but as a certain allohistorical poet would say, ‘the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.’
[1] The Roman Empire had a disdain for capitalism in general, but overall it seemed to have an avid distaste for what we would call corporations; judging on how hostile writers were to the Genoese, who ran their trading as private enterprise. Because of this, combined with a government that is paranoid on keeping its monopoly on wealth and power, it stands to reason that should they try to expand into the realm of capitalism, would do so in a manner they’d feel safest about.
[2]: Happened in OTL and yes the Venetians did start buying from the Empire. Also ITTL, the rather brutal purge of nobility, their drastic weakening in terms of monetary assets and general population loss means people in the empire just aren’t spending as much money on Venetian luxury goods such as cloth and spices (a major source of income for Venice OTL). This means that in addition to having to spend more money on their enemies, the Venetians are making less of a profit from the Romans. Not a favorable trade balance and not one they can really rectify with war.
[3] This also has the wonderful effect of slowing down old displaced nobles from bouncing back so quickly as their would be serfs and tenants now have much more bargaining power.
-----
Renovation
Renovation
The 14th century was not kind a kind one to the Roman Empire. Following the aftermath of the infamous Fourth Crusade, the remnants of Rome become a shadow of their once glorious self. They are fractured, stagnant and handicapped by a myriad of issues that impede renewal. Despite numerous attempts on setting the empire on the road to recovery, to keep the empire afloat, it all appears in vain. This new era is one of a slow, painful and seemingly irreversible decline.
On all sides, the empire is under siege. To the east, Turkish incursions renew their offense clawing apart at Byzantium’s important Asian provinces, the first in a century since the mighty Komnenoi emperors had pushed them back, stalling the seemingly inevitable advance. Multitudes of tribes have poured in and begun carving out their own small fiefdoms. Most worrying are the nascent Ottoman Beylik, under the rule of the ambitious and frighteningly competent Orhan. In the North, the rising power of Serbia and the Second Bulgarian Empire threaten the European holdings. And to the west are the Latin states. They exploit rather than aid. They fracture instead of unify. They harm when they should heal. Caught between all sides and weakened by generations of war, Rome is in a precarious place. But the worst comes from within the empire.
Following the ascension of the Palaiologoi dynasty the balance of power has drastically swung in favor of the aristocracy. While this is not a new thing; (the aristocratic favoritism is something deeply Roman, going back to the days of the ancient republic) since the Komnenoi era this trend has dramatically accelerated. The meritocracy of the previous Macedonian dynasty has been eroded with time, as has their care for the lower classes; the smallholders and the urban mob. This trend further continues with the new dynasty, perhaps continuing to its logical extreme. It is this favoritism that has in part hastened the decay of the empire, as the aristocracy has been given freer rein to expand their power. The aristocracy, rich and bloated at the expense of the state and the poor, further bleed the empire dry. The government, struggling to reform is unable to fix the underlying problems of the state nor alleviate the problems faced by the peasants. Impoverishment and misrule have become depressingly common.
In reaction, there is anger and resentment. Justifiably so. The people toil and yet there is no respite. No end to the staggering amount of problems that plague their homeland. It is fertile ground for those who wish to gain support for change… or for those seeking power. Some wish for reform, and others revolution. Either one has their merits in the people’s eyes. As the years pass and the situation grows ever more bleak, the more sway these advocates for change have… and the more the people wish to fight. To strike back at their tormentors.
In 1341, the straw that breaks the camel’s back came with the death of emperor Andronikos, third of that name. In the ensuing power struggle there emerged two power blocs gunning for control: The camp of John Kantakouzenos, who fought to continue the Ancien Regime of aristocratic rule and traditionalism that the state has come to known, and the camp of Alexios Apokaukos, led by those who had wished for change to come to Rhomania. And so bloody civil war had once again broken out, further sapping what precious few resources remain.
Currently, the year is 1341. The empire stands broken, battered and bloody. But it is far from beaten.
-----
“… [The Restoration is] A period where reality kinda looks stranger than fiction, I mean, the story plays out like a cliche ridden fantasy when you read it: It starts off with the land in chaos. The bloated nobility has grown rich and decadent, and their abuse of the people they’re supposed to have managed has weakened the empire at all corners and just caused all sorts of problems. Meanwhile, the common people are angry, they are mistreated, they are overtaxed, invaded, their lands are taken from them… all sorts of humiliations. Eventually they have enough of it. They pray for a hero to come to them and deliver them from their problems and inflict righteous justice on the upper classes that mistreated them… sure enough, they get one! In 1341, this confident, forward looking, virtuous man comes on stage and he takes charge. and challenges the nobility for rule of the empire. He leads this... crusade against their decadence with the people rising up and joining him, where they proceed to crush and expel their abusers and usher in a time of peace and prosperity. At the same time, the hero stays, overseeing that his efforts are not in vain, with the future emperor raised under the guidance of their hero to make sure the future is in good hands, and after the hero dies, this new emperor takes over and leads his people into a Golden Age…. That’s the regular story. The truth is, of course, a hell of a lot more darker and murky.”
To track the roots of the Renovation, one must go back to the era directly preceding it: the final years and death of the emperor Andronicus III and the culmination of a long dynastic rule. We must analyze the state of affairs, the trends and the geopolitics in and surrounding the Roman Empire during his era that led to its nadir of power. As such, let us briefly return to two different time periods. The year of our Lord 1204, at the dreaded Fourth Crusade, and directly following the imperial restoration at the reconquest of Constantinople from the Latin Empire in 1261.
Now, when the Latin Empire captured the great city of Constantinople, the Imperial court relocated to the lakeside city of Nicaea in Asia Minor with the hopes of eventually retaking the capital when the time was right. Initially command was held by Theodore Lascaris whose reforms to accommodate the new position of the empire alienated many of nobles who had grown accustomed to the Komnenoi policies favoring those of high rank and social stature. However, his victory against the empire’s enemies and restoration of imperial territorial integrity allowed him to lead without much difficulty at home. But when he died he left the empire in a regency under his son John. This in turn created a vacuum of power which allowed the conservative aristocrats to plan and make a bid for power. Rallying around Michael Palaeologus, a confident, charismatic man who was head of one of the largest noble clans, this aristocratic faction conspired against the young emperor and launched a coup. Installing himself as John IV’s Regent and Co-Emperor, young John IV was soon deposed by his supposedly junior-emperor, who then crowned himself as Michael VIII. This is where the trouble begins.
Now Michael did rule successfully. Constantinople was liberated in 1261, the Empire was re-established in Greece proper (with a few exceptions), all the pressing enemies were defeated and it once more became a (borderline) great power. And yet, with his grab for power Michael VII set the stage for a conservative, aristocratic minded dynasty with increasingly limited resources. Despite energetic campaigning, the Byzantine state was simply too exhausted and too cash-strapped to fully take advantage of the opportunities granted to them. Additionally, they were undermined in commerce (a potentially large source of income to supplement taxes on land) by the Italian city states. The policy of “Europe first” had opened the empire to attacks by Charles I of Sicily (who dealt the empire a heavy blow) and renewed raids by the Turkish statelets of the east. With hindsight we can see the faults in this policy but few at the time could have predicted that. Constantinople was of course the pride and joy of the empire and retaking territory from the weak and divided Latin Barons who ruled over the unhappy masses of Greeks must have seemed like the easier and wiser thing to do than waste resources to retake land in Anatolia, where the previous dynasty had tried but failed to secure the former heartlands despite almost a century of effort.
Now then let’s fast forward several decades- its been almost a full century since the reconquest of Constantinople: The Empire has steadily been eroded on all fronts, too weak to retake its lost lands and too stubborn and unable to find effective means of solving their problems. Problems that were dealt with the method and mindset that their forbearers used- with mixed to limited results. At the same time the aristocratic favoritism that has begun under the Komenoi has continued unopposed, granting new privileges to an already bloated nobility. This erosion of the tax base, weakening of the central government, loss of land, money and prestige has left an incredibly dissatisfied and enraged outlook on the masses while the elite increased their wealth, power and influence in the empire to levels that had not been seen since the Principate. The cause of this shift was in response to the loss of territory; the tax burden had to be raised in order to maintain the same level of effectiveness as before yet from a much smaller pool of tax payers. But the current government, in coordination and domination by rural elites created many an exemption for the nobility to pay taxes. Thus, the burden was placed onto the poor.
To make it worse, the stubborn and conservative government refuse to adapt to potential new solutions, most prominently the refusal to invest in commerce and mercantile matters as a way to generate wealth like that of the great Merchant Republics. Commerce was seen as ‘un-Roman’ and ‘beneath’ the elite who preferred to place their investments into great landholding estates. (It's also this factor that made the noble dominated state less receptive to defending their territories; one can always move to another estate if they have more land after all, but the poor who have everything to lose if that small plot is taken from them will fight to the death) These two factions grew increasingly radicalized and ideologically inflexible as time went by from either the lack of meaningful change or the growing ungratefulness of restless masses (take your pick), eventually believing that only force would get them what they wanted.
Thus the stage was set for a massive conflict of interests and worldviews. All that would need to spark this war was a power vacuum where the reformists and lower classes could finally make their respective bids for power. In 1341, with the death of Andronicus III the reformists got their wish.
-----
In most circumstances, having the rich and powerful of a society against you is a death sentence. For one Alexios Apokaukos, its an opportunity to eliminate your opposition in one go and cement control. For while John could pull a good bluff, Alexios knew how to counter that with the use of an excellent propaganda campaign. Upon hearing the news that many nobles publically announced their support for John, Apokaukos’ first decision was simply to officially confiscate the oppositions’ assets (estates, properties, businesses, etc), and any wealth they left in the capital and the surrounding countryside that had been under Regency control. Following that, he made the fortunes, whatever they may be, of whatever opposition that remained outside his control (most of Macedonia and Greece) public knowledge, with heralds being paid to focus on spreading this news in the poorest areas under regency control. [2] (As a highly influential player in the bureaucracy, the man had access to the records of nearly every landowner. Where the land was, how much it was worth, and who owned what.)Following that, he declared each and every one of them an enemy of the state and declare their lands all confiscated and that the lands would be given to the loyal people of the empire, with a preference to the loyal soldiers of the regency.
The result was exactly as he expected. The poor, destitute from the abuses of the aristocracy flocked to his side in droves, swelling the army to numbers that would have been unfathomable a few years ago. Within a few weeks, Alexios gained an army. An angry, bloated, undisciplined, untrained, and under equipped army, but an army nonetheless.
This spread of knowledge continued outside the countryside. Both by herald and word of mouth, the imperial decrees that told the landowners were free game spread far and wide. The Regency forced had hoped to fan the flames of rebellion however way they could. Thus they began to up their message, painting the aristocracy as abusive, greedy, out of touch and disloyal denizens who would seek to take away the one true emperor who was willing and able to aid his subjects. This was followed by Alexios pressuring Patriarch John into excommunicating the Regency’s opponents and using the church as a tool of mobilization. The likening to the aristocracy to hated figures such as Judas, for example, was common. All of this worked… better than it should have.
What began as a method to bolster their numbers and demoralize their opponent's base soon became a full fledged revolution. Anti Aristocratic revolts popped up left and right in the coming years. Mobs of peasants and urban workers demanding change attacked landed estates, seizing their land dividing it among themselves. Extreme polarization of the population occurred on an unprecedented scale. Either one was with us or with them. ‘Anti-Kantakouzenism’ became the rallying cry of many, and anyone who was accused of it would face their wrath. They took to the streets, demanding change. And if they cannot be given it… they took it.
Alexios had hoped to direct the rage and repression of the urban masses to support his position by providing a cheap source of soldiers. Instead he ignited a revolution. [3]
[1] All of this is OTL.
[2] Alright I want to clear this up right now. When the term ‘Revolution’ is used, it's best for you the reader not to think “Russian Revolution”. Better you think “German Peasants revolt of 1524”. There are going to be similarities with both but please do not think this is just having Socialism in the 1300s. I use revolution because purple prose is fun.
However, Rome’s unmolested metamorphosis could only be allowed thanks to events that prevented the intervention of its neighbors. Thus, while not the catalyst of this events, a good deal of responsibility for the events that unfolded following the death of Andronikos were the actions of the then king of Hungary, Charles. Therefore, let us turn the clock back a few years to 1336. Hungary (or more accurately its king Charles) was at the time embroiled in war with its neighbors and vassals. Yet again.
At the time the Hungarians were at war with the Serbians to the south due to the latter’s clash with the Banate of Bosnia, a Hungarian satellite state. During the year, Charles decided to invade Serbia to aid his Bosnian vassal/ally. Initially successful in invading the Serbian state, his advanced crawled to a halt as the terrain grew more and more rugged the further south he went, allowing the Serbs to reorganize and pull off a successful guerilla defense. With the Serbs striking at supply lines, launching ambushes and grinding down the morale, the Hungarians were in a tight spot. Growing ever more bolder, the Serbs began to launch raids at high profile targets, attempting to kill captains, nobles and even King Charles himself at one point. During that fateful attempt, the king was unfortunately struck by an arrow. Charles was forced into a hasty retreat back north where the bulk of his forces resided. Despite the best treatment of the day, the close call forced Charles died of infection several days afterword. [1] When the news reached the capital, turmoil reigned.
Hungary had been left in the hands of his ten year old son Louis. A regency council was cobbled together, but the damage had already been done. Serbia has taken the incentive and pushed onwards into Bosnia with the attempt of taking the disputed region of Hum. Capturing town after town, the Serbs progressed with little initial difficulty, forcing peace with the Bosnians by the spring of 1337. Hum would be ceded to Serbia and the Serbian friendly Vladislav Nikolic, lord of Popovo Polje was put to rule the Banate of Bosnia. But that’s not it, in the midst of Hungary’s chaos, one Mladen Subic of Croatia rebels and seizes the Banate of Croatia for himself to restore his family’s power. Despite claiming loyalty to the Hungarian king, the actual Hungarian influence of the sub-kingdom was removed, leaving Croatia de facto independent for the time being. And to add to the list of troubles, Venice jumps in attacking and capturing segments of Dalmatia.
Back on the domestic front, the various nobles who had been chafing under Charles’ centralization of the state rise up once more. Although drastically diminished in power, they hope that the disorganization of home would aid them in their endeavor. At the same time, they seek a pretender to give legitimacy for their claim. John of Luxemburg, the current king of Bohemia with ties to the Hungarian throne fits that criteria nicely. With a bit of convincing, he agrees to challenge Louis. Bohemia promptly invades opening yet another front.
WIth all this on his plate, young Louis had his work cut out for him. In the ensuing remainder of the decade Hungary’s massive army (the majority of which loyal to the establishment) worked to quash revolts, enforce vassalage, repel invaders and keep the peace as much as it could, with mixed results. The ensuing civil war, seen as the most pressing issue by the king’s mother and de facto ruler, was ended relatively quickly after 3 years of fighting thanks to the results of the previous rounds of reforms. Said reforms did wonders in ensuring the royal family would always have an advantage in resources over the nobility in terms of land, money and manpower in addition to dramatically weakening the people’s loyalty to any baron via the former’s honor system.
The Magyar kingdom would eventually overcome it obstacles and restore order in the homefront by 1342 followed by pushing out the Bohemians and making a favorable peace but exhaustion and near bankruptcy had set in before it could do anything else. The government knew it could not afford another war in Wallachia, let alone with Serbia and Venice so it conceded defeat. Hum was recognized as Serbian territory and various ports and islands on the Dalmatian coast were tentatively recognized as Venetian territory followed by a truce being signed by all parties. Hungary had whethered the storm, despite leaving the war weaker than at its start. It would be time for the wounds to heal, but for now the kingdom had earned its rest.
[1] This is our POD. IOTL Charles was wounded by an arrow but survived. Here, he does not, throwing Hungary into chaos and prompting Stefan Dusan to focus his energies north into Bosnia. This has repercussions down the road that prevent Dusan from interfering with in the upcoming Roman Civil War.
“Alexios has unleashed a lion; let us see if he can tame it.”- Reportedly attributed to John Kantakouzenos upon being captured and tried in Constantinople, 1343.
Knowing his gamble had failed, John attempted to salvage the situation using one other trick up his sleeve: Diplomacy. Stuck in Macedonia, he decided to appeal to the Serbian king Stefan Dusan for aid, promising in return land in Macedonia. This was a sound idea. Serbian forces were talented and well disciplined and could grant him the numbers needed to crush the rabble that rebelled against his authority. Unfortunately for him however the Serbs were busy dealing with keeping peace in the recently annexed Hum and attempting to put on a strong front against the Banate of Croatia, of which relations had briefly deteriorated with and the threat of war loomed. Thus Dusan politely declined despite John’s tempting offer.
After that failure, he attempted to appeal to Bulgaria with a similar offer, only to learn the Ivan Alexander had already established relations with the Regency and recognized them as the true Roman government. Thus, he went south and managed to obtain the support of the Latin Barons, gaining an extra 1,000 or so men to aid his campaign. John had also offered the prospect of securing a diplomatic annexation, in which the Latin Barons of Achaea (who had been suffering defeats from the Catalonian controlled Duchy of Athens) agreeing to submit to the Romans as vassals in exchange for a future assault on Athens some time in the future. [1] One final message was sent out to the emir of Aydin, the old friend of John in hopes that he may intervene on John’s end.
With that in mind, the campaign began in earnest in mid to late 1341. Both sides marched towards their opponents, as they were for practically directly opposite from each power base thanks to the reduced state of the empire (essentially reduced to a roughly straight band from Macedonia to Constantinople; not counting the southern portion of the Morea and a small bit of Thessaly). Alexius and his forces moving towards Macedonia where the great estates and the main recruiting ground of Byzantine soldiers lay, and John making his way towards the what has traditionally been a city filled with strong nobility, Thessalonica. Intent on capturing the great city, John makes haste. With his army of roughly 4,000 infantry units backed up by 2,000 cavalry, John and his men start besieging the city in autumn and never letting go, the Pretenders manage to put a good siege. Unfortunately for the attackers, they never manage to crack the walls. On the other hand, Kantakozenos' troops did effectively cut off land access in and out of the city. This is nullified to a degree as the Byzantine navy does its best to supply Thessalonica and their supporters within the city.
Thessalonica was important to both sides for many a reason, but especially to Kantakouzenos and his men. It was, following the Imperial restoration in 1261 increasingly filled and dominated by provincial aristocracy, -making it a potentially loyal city-, but more importantly was the second largest city in the empire at the time. It’s population rivaled Constantinople, overflowing with 50,000 residents.[2] It was (despite Italian domination) an important center of trade and had a massive shipyard that could potentially be put to use in building a navy to counter Alexios. (Where John will get the money to do so God only knows, but hey its an option!) along with still being relatively wealthy in comparison to most of the empire. Thus it was critical for both sides to secure. And while the siege of the Pretender began, the Regency forces had used the navy to supply the city for now. Unfortunately this did not last, as the tiny Roman Navy was recalled to protect imperial territory from Aydinid raids in the Aegean, leaving Thessalonica with at most a token garrison. The City was- while officially part of the Regency camp- effectively left alone to deal with its problems.
At the same time, when the navy had entered the city, it brings with it Alexios’ anti-noble propaganda, leading to the establishment of the Zealots of Thessalonica as the major power in the city. Despite Alexius installing his own son John as governor, John only had nominal power and in fact had to share with the city council and the Zealot's leaders. He was given the title of Archon by the city’s residents and made a member of their council to resolve disputes and dictate policy. But any thoughts of absolute control were brutally and swiftly dashed. Meanwhile, the Zealots, fired up by the “Kantakouzenosism” rhetoric, massacre the city’s nobility, before taking their wealth and setting up what was effectively a de facto independent city-state due to lack of Imperial power projection. With the Zealots under control of their own statelet, their rhetoric would be given a testing ground to put into practice…[3]
Following the debacle at Thessalonica, the Civil War further turned into the favor of the Regency forces as the year went on. By June, Regency forces had taken most of Western Macedonia, and by October they had managed to end the siege of Thessalonica and were launching raids into Epirus and Thessaly. Kantakouzenos’ forces, outnumbered and exhausted, were finally broken in outside the ruins of the ancient town of Pella in March of 1343, removing any substantial resistance to Apokaukos’ makeshift army. Sporadic fighting continued up until the end of the year, but all major fighting had ended by the Midsummer. John Kantakouzenos himself was captured at Pella and sent back to Constantinople, where he was tried and summarily executed in the following year.
Why did Alexius’ army, who by all accounts were mostly peasant militia bolstered by the occasional mercenary unit and defectors from the old regime able to crush the Byzantine army, a far more disciplined and well equipped force? There are several reasons for this. The first was numerical disparity. Alexios used his primitive propaganda machine to recruit from the lowest of society, those eager for any chance to improve their standing. Thanks to the general state of impoverishment of his empire, gave him access to a ready pool of soldiers eager to gain land and wealth for them and their families. This was by the time period a rare chance to quickly improve their standing in life and society and many were eager to take it. Thanks to this willing pool of soldiers, the Regency forces were able to absorb losses far, far better than their opponents, who were a relatively small force of less than 10,000 men. Regency forces were able to regularly match, and later on, surpass their enemies in number. As well, this numerical disparity and ability to tank losses let the regency forces strike hard and fast, barely giving the rebels a chance to rest.
The second was psychology. The army of the regency forces was one noted for its zeal and fanaticism, where the thought of obtaining a slice of the wealth of their enemies appealed to poorest of society and made them eager fighters. Whatever discipline their enemies might have had was matched in its effectiveness by the fanaticism of their opponents. It was as they say, a cornered animal is the most dangerous. It also enjoyed a large amount of support in the countryside, thanks to breaking up many a latifundia, killing hated nobles and other wealthy citizens and looting their enemies lands and distributing it to the people. On the other hand, as the war dragged on and news of defeat and the prospect of their estates being ransacked and taken from then, Kantakouzenos’ army struggled to stay focused to their goal. By the second year of fighting, dissertations were a growing problem. Noble officers feared more for their property than the cause they were fighting for, and many made a deal with the new regime, promising their support in exchange for having their lands secured (which, in most cases, Alexios was pragmatic enough to spare them the mob’s fury). Such things further hollowed out the strength of their camp, leading to more victories by the Regency forces, more seizures of land and massacres of nobles, and more desertions in a desperate attempt to starve off the mob. Quite the vicious cycle. Third and lastly were more obvious and boring reasons such as the Regency army being interestingly enough more organized due to having control of the bulk of the imperial bureaucracy back in Constantinople and Thrace, better supplies thanks to the imperial navy, and of course having access to the state funds directly from the imperial treasury.
[1] Yet another OTL thing that he did after getting Serbian support IOTL as a back up plan; a testament of his diplomatic prowess. Unfortunately, IOTL he was not able to get Ivan Alexander’s support, who adamantly supported the Regency forces. (As a big 'fuck you' to the guy. I honestly forgot why, but the Tsar had a huge personal hatred of John Kantakouzenos. Probably due to getting the Turks to direct their naval raids into Bulgaria)
[2] Interestingly most of the nobility in Thessalonica seemed to have stayed loyal, which is why they didn’t immediately open the gates for John and his men. Unfortunately, that was not enough to save them.
[3] The Zealots did a similar thing in OTL due to effectively being cut off by both sides of the civil war for a few years despite nominally being part of the Regency side.
-----
As the stage was being set for war, we see in this period the rise of the brilliant man who would orchestrate one of the most drastic reformations of the imperial state: The, competent, ambitious and forward thinking Alexios Apokaukos. A man of humble birth, who through combination of ambition, skill and knowing the right people rose to the positions of Chamberlain (Parakoimomenos)[1], Mesazon [2], and shortly before the death of Andronicus, Grand Admiral of the Byzantine Navy (Megas Doux), all while amassing great wealth. (Whether he got that money from successful business deals or plundering the treasury is up for debate; either way you shouldn’t care)
Alexios, due to his origins as a non-aristocrat held drastically different views than that of the ruling elite, believing that the path to reclaim greatness lay in not copying the efforts of older generations, but moving towards the future in a completely new direction. Rather than focusing on military might, he believed the empire should use soft power. Instead of wealth through great landed estates, Apokaukos preferred commercial ventures. He was in heart, a reformist and made no effort to hide his view the empire should be more in line with that of city states of Venice and Genoa. And through the visible success of Italian merchants being literally everywhere in the former lands of the Byzantine empire, he made a very convincing case. As a firm pro western advocate, Apokaukos did all he could to have the empire start mimicking the policies of the Italian city states. He was a huge promoter of the navy, at one point paying out of his pocket over 100,000 hyperpyra to repair and re-equip the fleet, which had now shrunk to a paltry sum of less than 30 ships, most of them reclassified transport ships.
Now, as time went on and his position in the imperial government grew, he and like minded reformists (driven from the ranks of the bureaucrats and non nobles for the most part) worked to gain influence with the emperor and by extension, imperial policies. He succeeded, (partially) eventually becoming part of the regime's inner circle and gaining allies in the Patriarch John and the Empress, Anne of Savoy. Unfortunately this came at the cost of his relationship with his former mentor and friend, the equally brilliant John Kantakouzenos.
With Andronikos’ death, there began a power struggle for control over the regency of his heir, John. We see two main blocs form, one initially led by Patriarch John XIV (although quickly sidelined by the younger and more ambitious Apokaukos), and the other led by another brilliant statesman, John Kantakouzenos.
Kantakouzenos, in contrast to Apokaukos was the more stereotypical old money. Coming from a long line of government officials, he strove to become someone important in his life. Raised in wealth and privilege, the man became connected with the intricacies of the court from a young age and was distantly related to the ruling house through his mother. Like his father (the former governor of the Morea) before him, he joined the government bureaucracy, eventually became a close friend of Andronicus III, and helping to orchestrate the latter’s rise to the throne against his grandfather and predecessor, Andronicus II. An excellent diplomat, he secured an alliance with the Aydinid Beylik based in Smyrna and was a personal friend with its leader Umar, whom the latter referred to as “My Brother” (a testament of the close friendship the two enjoyed.) Umar frequently aided the Byzantines in many an endeavor, often bailing them out from raids and invasions from their many neighbors. Kantakouzenos was very popular back home, both among the nobility and the common man, but his position as a noble often alienated him from lower class bureaucrats unlike Apokaukos. Speaking of Apokaukos, John Kantakouzenos was indeed at one point the close friend and mentor of his future belligerent, aiding the former in his rise to power through good use of patronage and introducing the younger statesmen to powerful friends shortly after discovering the talented worker.
Unfortunately, Kantakouzenos was extensively pressured by the nobility to disassociate himself from his protege. The nobility resented the commoner’s humble origins and his quick rise in the imperial state apparatus, and wanted no part of his schemes. Thus they shunned John, forcing him to cut off his patronage little by little to Apokaukos, a blatant and aggressive move [3]. This understandably caused something a rift between the two which only grew as time went on.
[1] Chamberlain in the late Byzantine Empire occupied a position similar to a minister in the modern day UK government.
[2] Literally “Intermediary”. Essentially, Mesazon referred to one of the chief aids of the Emperor, working as both a secretary and a government minister.’
[3] I need to point out just how important patronage was to the Byzantine Empire at this time. With the establishment of a government run by a rather closed off group such as the nobility, patronage served as a way to introduce new people into the system. Who you knew was much more important that what you know. Good patrons and client system would ensure that you would gain access to high paying jobs, good land, business deals, etc. Thus it was a huge honor to be taken in by an aristocrat and shown the high society. Conversely, it was a very big insult to stop that patronage and recommendation, as it showed that the patron has lost all faith in the client.
Alexios, due to his origins as a non-aristocrat held drastically different views than that of the ruling elite, believing that the path to reclaim greatness lay in not copying the efforts of older generations, but moving towards the future in a completely new direction. Rather than focusing on military might, he believed the empire should use soft power. Instead of wealth through great landed estates, Apokaukos preferred commercial ventures. He was in heart, a reformist and made no effort to hide his view the empire should be more in line with that of city states of Venice and Genoa. And through the visible success of Italian merchants being literally everywhere in the former lands of the Byzantine empire, he made a very convincing case. As a firm pro western advocate, Apokaukos did all he could to have the empire start mimicking the policies of the Italian city states. He was a huge promoter of the navy, at one point paying out of his pocket over 100,000 hyperpyra to repair and re-equip the fleet, which had now shrunk to a paltry sum of less than 30 ships, most of them reclassified transport ships.
Now, as time went on and his position in the imperial government grew, he and like minded reformists (driven from the ranks of the bureaucrats and non nobles for the most part) worked to gain influence with the emperor and by extension, imperial policies. He succeeded, (partially) eventually becoming part of the regime's inner circle and gaining allies in the Patriarch John and the Empress, Anne of Savoy. Unfortunately this came at the cost of his relationship with his former mentor and friend, the equally brilliant John Kantakouzenos.
With Andronikos’ death, there began a power struggle for control over the regency of his heir, John. We see two main blocs form, one initially led by Patriarch John XIV (although quickly sidelined by the younger and more ambitious Apokaukos), and the other led by another brilliant statesman, John Kantakouzenos.
Kantakouzenos, in contrast to Apokaukos was the more stereotypical old money. Coming from a long line of government officials, he strove to become someone important in his life. Raised in wealth and privilege, the man became connected with the intricacies of the court from a young age and was distantly related to the ruling house through his mother. Like his father (the former governor of the Morea) before him, he joined the government bureaucracy, eventually became a close friend of Andronicus III, and helping to orchestrate the latter’s rise to the throne against his grandfather and predecessor, Andronicus II. An excellent diplomat, he secured an alliance with the Aydinid Beylik based in Smyrna and was a personal friend with its leader Umar, whom the latter referred to as “My Brother” (a testament of the close friendship the two enjoyed.) Umar frequently aided the Byzantines in many an endeavor, often bailing them out from raids and invasions from their many neighbors. Kantakouzenos was very popular back home, both among the nobility and the common man, but his position as a noble often alienated him from lower class bureaucrats unlike Apokaukos. Speaking of Apokaukos, John Kantakouzenos was indeed at one point the close friend and mentor of his future belligerent, aiding the former in his rise to power through good use of patronage and introducing the younger statesmen to powerful friends shortly after discovering the talented worker.
Unfortunately, Kantakouzenos was extensively pressured by the nobility to disassociate himself from his protege. The nobility resented the commoner’s humble origins and his quick rise in the imperial state apparatus, and wanted no part of his schemes. Thus they shunned John, forcing him to cut off his patronage little by little to Apokaukos, a blatant and aggressive move [3]. This understandably caused something a rift between the two which only grew as time went on.
[1] Chamberlain in the late Byzantine Empire occupied a position similar to a minister in the modern day UK government.
[2] Literally “Intermediary”. Essentially, Mesazon referred to one of the chief aids of the Emperor, working as both a secretary and a government minister.’
[3] I need to point out just how important patronage was to the Byzantine Empire at this time. With the establishment of a government run by a rather closed off group such as the nobility, patronage served as a way to introduce new people into the system. Who you knew was much more important that what you know. Good patrons and client system would ensure that you would gain access to high paying jobs, good land, business deals, etc. Thus it was a huge honor to be taken in by an aristocrat and shown the high society. Conversely, it was a very big insult to stop that patronage and recommendation, as it showed that the patron has lost all faith in the client.
-----
“Our Lord once said said in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 7, Verse 24, the wise man built his house upon the rock. That this rock was the foundation of his house. That the foundation was pivotal in allowing it to endure the challenges it must face. My friends, Rome is an old house. A old, durable house with the most perfect foundation. A foundation that has allowed us for over 1,000 years to have stood strong, withstanding every tribulation, every storm, every tremor that would dare threaten our house! ...But, my fellow Romans, like every old house there comes a time where it needs renovation.”
-Excerpt of a speech by Patriarch John XIV of Constantinople (1343)
June 1341: The Emperor is dead. Long live the Emperor.
With Andronikos’ death begins the ascension of his son as John V Palaiologos. The crowing is a relatively simple affair and John is crowned without much hassle. There’s only one problem: The Emperor is a 9 year old boy. The question of who is to be his regent is asked by the regime’s inner circle. Multiple arguments are given for who deserves the coveted position. One is for Kantakouzenos. John Kantakouzenos was the emperor’s best friend and ally for decades. He is a brilliant and educated man with experience and a successful career as a statesman. The alliance with the Aydinids and the recent success in Epirus was his doing. Logically he should raise the child. Yet custom dictated the Empress was to head the regency. A boy should be with his mother no? Especially with her being such a prestigious woman from the Savoyard family.
In any case, almost immediately after her husband’s death Anna stakes her claim. She is backed by the Patriarch, who also points out a document from 1334 that states the care of John was to be dictated by a member of the imperial family. Being the boy’s mother and the closest living relative, she makes the argument that no one is better suited than her. John and his supporters disagree. They are many and they are influential. The opposing side claims she is a foreigner, unfit to teach the boy to be a proper Roman and that her influence may be corrosive. That she lacks experience in foreign policy and the domestic situation of the empire. But the family refuses to budge. Arguments brew in response. The ordeal soon becomes public knowledge. Displays of loyalty to the old emperor intensify. Appeal to his memory on both sides. Which one was closer to Andronikos? The Wife or the Friend?
The tension grows as the days pass. Appeals turn into altercations. Fights in the street break out over supporters. A noble here is beaten by bureaucrats, a bureaucrat there is harassed by army officers there. Eventually a demonstration of the army is called in. The Polarization increases, yet nothing is resolved, and so John Kantakouzenos begins to pursue a new strategy. He leaves to rally support from both the international scene and the army in hopes this can pressure the opposing side into accepting his claim. He does not want war, but he knows he must show force.
In all this Apokaukos keeps quiet. He has secretly switched sides; no one but the Patriarch knows this as of yet. The reason being is the growing rift between the two has become unbearable. Once again denied a new position of power by John Kantakouzenos, and the increasing ways Kantakouzenos goes out to avoid his protege have done a number on their friendship. The realization that he will not be able to dictate policy and start his reforms under the regency of his old mentor is too much. Whether for his own personal ambition or for his country’s well being is the debate of centuries for historians to follow, but it is certain that Alexious harbored extreme dissatisfaction with John and his potential policies.
As John flees to the Macedonian countryside to rally his supporters, he manages to gain the favor of the Aydinid Beylik and the Latin Barons in Thessaly, Achaea and Athens. He attempts to also gain the recognition of Serbia and Bulgaria, but both sides were currently embroiled in war against the Hungarians to provide any meaningful support. [1] However, the army, drawn mostly from the ranks of the nobility and large landowners, enthusiastically supports him. With such prominent forces, John issues a proclamation demanding entrance to the city or face the wrath of the combined forces of his support. Despite the seemingly large numbers of support, it is a bluff- and Alexios knows it. The Latin Barons don’t have enough men to spare to create an army that can capture the city and Alexios, as the chief admiral of the navy commands the fleet's loyalty. Provided the Aydinids don't grant an alternative fleet, Constantinople remains impregnable. Thus he feels it is the perfect time to make his play. A message is dispatched to the Macedonian camp of Kantakouzenos’ army, denying his entrance into the capitol. John’s most overt supporters in the city are quietly reassigned, killed or exiled and the imperial bureaucracy proclaims the emperor’s mother as his regent with the emperor “promoting” Apokaukos to John’s old position. John himself is barred from entry and his army is told to disband.
Word quickly reaches Kantakouzenos that he is no longer allowed in the city, that Anna of Savoy has been proclaimed regent and that he has been replaced by his apprentice. Infuriated by this response, and realizing that Alexios has betrayed him, John proclaims himself co-emperor and with the army’s support begin’s a march to the city, hoping that with a show of force he can pressure the Regency forces to submit. His declaration is taken as a pretender to the throne, and war is formally declared. Lines are drawn, supporters rally to their sides and the empire holds its breath as the conflict begins.
Quickly, most of the powerful and large landowners (collectively known as the dynatoi) throw their lot with Kantakouzenos, seeing in him as ‘their own’ fighting to protect their interests against the ‘upstart’, Alexios Apokaukos, while the cities back the regency. This has the curious effect in which many of the ordinary peasants begin to rally around the regency. Perhaps it is the notion of “a Good emperor” who will deliver them from their toils? Perhaps because “One of them” is finally at the top? Maybe because its a chance to strike against their abusers? Perhaps a mixture of all. Whatever the reason, Alexius’ popularity grows in response- something he quickly takes note. War has begun and the fate of the empire rest of his hands.
[1] This event here is our POD. Without Serbian support, Kantakouzenos’ position is drastically weakened. In addition, it is worth noting that John struck a deal with the barons, integrating their lands under the Byzantine state in exchange for respecting their lands and rights. A testament to his diplomatic prowess that he would have been able to restore most of Greece to Byzantine control with a stroke of a pen in a year when the state had been trying the same for almost 200 years
-Excerpt of a speech by Patriarch John XIV of Constantinople (1343)
June 1341: The Emperor is dead. Long live the Emperor.
With Andronikos’ death begins the ascension of his son as John V Palaiologos. The crowing is a relatively simple affair and John is crowned without much hassle. There’s only one problem: The Emperor is a 9 year old boy. The question of who is to be his regent is asked by the regime’s inner circle. Multiple arguments are given for who deserves the coveted position. One is for Kantakouzenos. John Kantakouzenos was the emperor’s best friend and ally for decades. He is a brilliant and educated man with experience and a successful career as a statesman. The alliance with the Aydinids and the recent success in Epirus was his doing. Logically he should raise the child. Yet custom dictated the Empress was to head the regency. A boy should be with his mother no? Especially with her being such a prestigious woman from the Savoyard family.
In any case, almost immediately after her husband’s death Anna stakes her claim. She is backed by the Patriarch, who also points out a document from 1334 that states the care of John was to be dictated by a member of the imperial family. Being the boy’s mother and the closest living relative, she makes the argument that no one is better suited than her. John and his supporters disagree. They are many and they are influential. The opposing side claims she is a foreigner, unfit to teach the boy to be a proper Roman and that her influence may be corrosive. That she lacks experience in foreign policy and the domestic situation of the empire. But the family refuses to budge. Arguments brew in response. The ordeal soon becomes public knowledge. Displays of loyalty to the old emperor intensify. Appeal to his memory on both sides. Which one was closer to Andronikos? The Wife or the Friend?
The tension grows as the days pass. Appeals turn into altercations. Fights in the street break out over supporters. A noble here is beaten by bureaucrats, a bureaucrat there is harassed by army officers there. Eventually a demonstration of the army is called in. The Polarization increases, yet nothing is resolved, and so John Kantakouzenos begins to pursue a new strategy. He leaves to rally support from both the international scene and the army in hopes this can pressure the opposing side into accepting his claim. He does not want war, but he knows he must show force.
In all this Apokaukos keeps quiet. He has secretly switched sides; no one but the Patriarch knows this as of yet. The reason being is the growing rift between the two has become unbearable. Once again denied a new position of power by John Kantakouzenos, and the increasing ways Kantakouzenos goes out to avoid his protege have done a number on their friendship. The realization that he will not be able to dictate policy and start his reforms under the regency of his old mentor is too much. Whether for his own personal ambition or for his country’s well being is the debate of centuries for historians to follow, but it is certain that Alexious harbored extreme dissatisfaction with John and his potential policies.
As John flees to the Macedonian countryside to rally his supporters, he manages to gain the favor of the Aydinid Beylik and the Latin Barons in Thessaly, Achaea and Athens. He attempts to also gain the recognition of Serbia and Bulgaria, but both sides were currently embroiled in war against the Hungarians to provide any meaningful support. [1] However, the army, drawn mostly from the ranks of the nobility and large landowners, enthusiastically supports him. With such prominent forces, John issues a proclamation demanding entrance to the city or face the wrath of the combined forces of his support. Despite the seemingly large numbers of support, it is a bluff- and Alexios knows it. The Latin Barons don’t have enough men to spare to create an army that can capture the city and Alexios, as the chief admiral of the navy commands the fleet's loyalty. Provided the Aydinids don't grant an alternative fleet, Constantinople remains impregnable. Thus he feels it is the perfect time to make his play. A message is dispatched to the Macedonian camp of Kantakouzenos’ army, denying his entrance into the capitol. John’s most overt supporters in the city are quietly reassigned, killed or exiled and the imperial bureaucracy proclaims the emperor’s mother as his regent with the emperor “promoting” Apokaukos to John’s old position. John himself is barred from entry and his army is told to disband.
Word quickly reaches Kantakouzenos that he is no longer allowed in the city, that Anna of Savoy has been proclaimed regent and that he has been replaced by his apprentice. Infuriated by this response, and realizing that Alexios has betrayed him, John proclaims himself co-emperor and with the army’s support begin’s a march to the city, hoping that with a show of force he can pressure the Regency forces to submit. His declaration is taken as a pretender to the throne, and war is formally declared. Lines are drawn, supporters rally to their sides and the empire holds its breath as the conflict begins.
Quickly, most of the powerful and large landowners (collectively known as the dynatoi) throw their lot with Kantakouzenos, seeing in him as ‘their own’ fighting to protect their interests against the ‘upstart’, Alexios Apokaukos, while the cities back the regency. This has the curious effect in which many of the ordinary peasants begin to rally around the regency. Perhaps it is the notion of “a Good emperor” who will deliver them from their toils? Perhaps because “One of them” is finally at the top? Maybe because its a chance to strike against their abusers? Perhaps a mixture of all. Whatever the reason, Alexius’ popularity grows in response- something he quickly takes note. War has begun and the fate of the empire rest of his hands.
[1] This event here is our POD. Without Serbian support, Kantakouzenos’ position is drastically weakened. In addition, it is worth noting that John struck a deal with the barons, integrating their lands under the Byzantine state in exchange for respecting their lands and rights. A testament to his diplomatic prowess that he would have been able to restore most of Greece to Byzantine control with a stroke of a pen in a year when the state had been trying the same for almost 200 years
-----
In most circumstances, having the rich and powerful of a society against you is a death sentence. For one Alexios Apokaukos, its an opportunity to eliminate your opposition in one go and cement control. For while John could pull a good bluff, Alexios knew how to counter that with the use of an excellent propaganda campaign. Upon hearing the news that many nobles publically announced their support for John, Apokaukos’ first decision was simply to officially confiscate the oppositions’ assets (estates, properties, businesses, etc), and any wealth they left in the capital and the surrounding countryside that had been under Regency control. Following that, he made the fortunes, whatever they may be, of whatever opposition that remained outside his control (most of Macedonia and Greece) public knowledge, with heralds being paid to focus on spreading this news in the poorest areas under regency control. [2] (As a highly influential player in the bureaucracy, the man had access to the records of nearly every landowner. Where the land was, how much it was worth, and who owned what.)Following that, he declared each and every one of them an enemy of the state and declare their lands all confiscated and that the lands would be given to the loyal people of the empire, with a preference to the loyal soldiers of the regency.
The result was exactly as he expected. The poor, destitute from the abuses of the aristocracy flocked to his side in droves, swelling the army to numbers that would have been unfathomable a few years ago. Within a few weeks, Alexios gained an army. An angry, bloated, undisciplined, untrained, and under equipped army, but an army nonetheless.
This spread of knowledge continued outside the countryside. Both by herald and word of mouth, the imperial decrees that told the landowners were free game spread far and wide. The Regency forced had hoped to fan the flames of rebellion however way they could. Thus they began to up their message, painting the aristocracy as abusive, greedy, out of touch and disloyal denizens who would seek to take away the one true emperor who was willing and able to aid his subjects. This was followed by Alexios pressuring Patriarch John into excommunicating the Regency’s opponents and using the church as a tool of mobilization. The likening to the aristocracy to hated figures such as Judas, for example, was common. All of this worked… better than it should have.
What began as a method to bolster their numbers and demoralize their opponent's base soon became a full fledged revolution. Anti Aristocratic revolts popped up left and right in the coming years. Mobs of peasants and urban workers demanding change attacked landed estates, seizing their land dividing it among themselves. Extreme polarization of the population occurred on an unprecedented scale. Either one was with us or with them. ‘Anti-Kantakouzenism’ became the rallying cry of many, and anyone who was accused of it would face their wrath. They took to the streets, demanding change. And if they cannot be given it… they took it.
Alexios had hoped to direct the rage and repression of the urban masses to support his position by providing a cheap source of soldiers. Instead he ignited a revolution. [3]
[1] All of this is OTL.
[2] Alright I want to clear this up right now. When the term ‘Revolution’ is used, it's best for you the reader not to think “Russian Revolution”. Better you think “German Peasants revolt of 1524”. There are going to be similarities with both but please do not think this is just having Socialism in the 1300s. I use revolution because purple prose is fun.
-----
However, Rome’s unmolested metamorphosis could only be allowed thanks to events that prevented the intervention of its neighbors. Thus, while not the catalyst of this events, a good deal of responsibility for the events that unfolded following the death of Andronikos were the actions of the then king of Hungary, Charles. Therefore, let us turn the clock back a few years to 1336. Hungary (or more accurately its king Charles) was at the time embroiled in war with its neighbors and vassals. Yet again.
At the time the Hungarians were at war with the Serbians to the south due to the latter’s clash with the Banate of Bosnia, a Hungarian satellite state. During the year, Charles decided to invade Serbia to aid his Bosnian vassal/ally. Initially successful in invading the Serbian state, his advanced crawled to a halt as the terrain grew more and more rugged the further south he went, allowing the Serbs to reorganize and pull off a successful guerilla defense. With the Serbs striking at supply lines, launching ambushes and grinding down the morale, the Hungarians were in a tight spot. Growing ever more bolder, the Serbs began to launch raids at high profile targets, attempting to kill captains, nobles and even King Charles himself at one point. During that fateful attempt, the king was unfortunately struck by an arrow. Charles was forced into a hasty retreat back north where the bulk of his forces resided. Despite the best treatment of the day, the close call forced Charles died of infection several days afterword. [1] When the news reached the capital, turmoil reigned.
Hungary had been left in the hands of his ten year old son Louis. A regency council was cobbled together, but the damage had already been done. Serbia has taken the incentive and pushed onwards into Bosnia with the attempt of taking the disputed region of Hum. Capturing town after town, the Serbs progressed with little initial difficulty, forcing peace with the Bosnians by the spring of 1337. Hum would be ceded to Serbia and the Serbian friendly Vladislav Nikolic, lord of Popovo Polje was put to rule the Banate of Bosnia. But that’s not it, in the midst of Hungary’s chaos, one Mladen Subic of Croatia rebels and seizes the Banate of Croatia for himself to restore his family’s power. Despite claiming loyalty to the Hungarian king, the actual Hungarian influence of the sub-kingdom was removed, leaving Croatia de facto independent for the time being. And to add to the list of troubles, Venice jumps in attacking and capturing segments of Dalmatia.
Back on the domestic front, the various nobles who had been chafing under Charles’ centralization of the state rise up once more. Although drastically diminished in power, they hope that the disorganization of home would aid them in their endeavor. At the same time, they seek a pretender to give legitimacy for their claim. John of Luxemburg, the current king of Bohemia with ties to the Hungarian throne fits that criteria nicely. With a bit of convincing, he agrees to challenge Louis. Bohemia promptly invades opening yet another front.
WIth all this on his plate, young Louis had his work cut out for him. In the ensuing remainder of the decade Hungary’s massive army (the majority of which loyal to the establishment) worked to quash revolts, enforce vassalage, repel invaders and keep the peace as much as it could, with mixed results. The ensuing civil war, seen as the most pressing issue by the king’s mother and de facto ruler, was ended relatively quickly after 3 years of fighting thanks to the results of the previous rounds of reforms. Said reforms did wonders in ensuring the royal family would always have an advantage in resources over the nobility in terms of land, money and manpower in addition to dramatically weakening the people’s loyalty to any baron via the former’s honor system.
The Magyar kingdom would eventually overcome it obstacles and restore order in the homefront by 1342 followed by pushing out the Bohemians and making a favorable peace but exhaustion and near bankruptcy had set in before it could do anything else. The government knew it could not afford another war in Wallachia, let alone with Serbia and Venice so it conceded defeat. Hum was recognized as Serbian territory and various ports and islands on the Dalmatian coast were tentatively recognized as Venetian territory followed by a truce being signed by all parties. Hungary had whethered the storm, despite leaving the war weaker than at its start. It would be time for the wounds to heal, but for now the kingdom had earned its rest.
[1] This is our POD. IOTL Charles was wounded by an arrow but survived. Here, he does not, throwing Hungary into chaos and prompting Stefan Dusan to focus his energies north into Bosnia. This has repercussions down the road that prevent Dusan from interfering with in the upcoming Roman Civil War.
-----
“Alexios has unleashed a lion; let us see if he can tame it.”- Reportedly attributed to John Kantakouzenos upon being captured and tried in Constantinople, 1343.
Knowing his gamble had failed, John attempted to salvage the situation using one other trick up his sleeve: Diplomacy. Stuck in Macedonia, he decided to appeal to the Serbian king Stefan Dusan for aid, promising in return land in Macedonia. This was a sound idea. Serbian forces were talented and well disciplined and could grant him the numbers needed to crush the rabble that rebelled against his authority. Unfortunately for him however the Serbs were busy dealing with keeping peace in the recently annexed Hum and attempting to put on a strong front against the Banate of Croatia, of which relations had briefly deteriorated with and the threat of war loomed. Thus Dusan politely declined despite John’s tempting offer.
After that failure, he attempted to appeal to Bulgaria with a similar offer, only to learn the Ivan Alexander had already established relations with the Regency and recognized them as the true Roman government. Thus, he went south and managed to obtain the support of the Latin Barons, gaining an extra 1,000 or so men to aid his campaign. John had also offered the prospect of securing a diplomatic annexation, in which the Latin Barons of Achaea (who had been suffering defeats from the Catalonian controlled Duchy of Athens) agreeing to submit to the Romans as vassals in exchange for a future assault on Athens some time in the future. [1] One final message was sent out to the emir of Aydin, the old friend of John in hopes that he may intervene on John’s end.
With that in mind, the campaign began in earnest in mid to late 1341. Both sides marched towards their opponents, as they were for practically directly opposite from each power base thanks to the reduced state of the empire (essentially reduced to a roughly straight band from Macedonia to Constantinople; not counting the southern portion of the Morea and a small bit of Thessaly). Alexius and his forces moving towards Macedonia where the great estates and the main recruiting ground of Byzantine soldiers lay, and John making his way towards the what has traditionally been a city filled with strong nobility, Thessalonica. Intent on capturing the great city, John makes haste. With his army of roughly 4,000 infantry units backed up by 2,000 cavalry, John and his men start besieging the city in autumn and never letting go, the Pretenders manage to put a good siege. Unfortunately for the attackers, they never manage to crack the walls. On the other hand, Kantakozenos' troops did effectively cut off land access in and out of the city. This is nullified to a degree as the Byzantine navy does its best to supply Thessalonica and their supporters within the city.
Thessalonica was important to both sides for many a reason, but especially to Kantakouzenos and his men. It was, following the Imperial restoration in 1261 increasingly filled and dominated by provincial aristocracy, -making it a potentially loyal city-, but more importantly was the second largest city in the empire at the time. It’s population rivaled Constantinople, overflowing with 50,000 residents.[2] It was (despite Italian domination) an important center of trade and had a massive shipyard that could potentially be put to use in building a navy to counter Alexios. (Where John will get the money to do so God only knows, but hey its an option!) along with still being relatively wealthy in comparison to most of the empire. Thus it was critical for both sides to secure. And while the siege of the Pretender began, the Regency forces had used the navy to supply the city for now. Unfortunately this did not last, as the tiny Roman Navy was recalled to protect imperial territory from Aydinid raids in the Aegean, leaving Thessalonica with at most a token garrison. The City was- while officially part of the Regency camp- effectively left alone to deal with its problems.
At the same time, when the navy had entered the city, it brings with it Alexios’ anti-noble propaganda, leading to the establishment of the Zealots of Thessalonica as the major power in the city. Despite Alexius installing his own son John as governor, John only had nominal power and in fact had to share with the city council and the Zealot's leaders. He was given the title of Archon by the city’s residents and made a member of their council to resolve disputes and dictate policy. But any thoughts of absolute control were brutally and swiftly dashed. Meanwhile, the Zealots, fired up by the “Kantakouzenosism” rhetoric, massacre the city’s nobility, before taking their wealth and setting up what was effectively a de facto independent city-state due to lack of Imperial power projection. With the Zealots under control of their own statelet, their rhetoric would be given a testing ground to put into practice…[3]
Following the debacle at Thessalonica, the Civil War further turned into the favor of the Regency forces as the year went on. By June, Regency forces had taken most of Western Macedonia, and by October they had managed to end the siege of Thessalonica and were launching raids into Epirus and Thessaly. Kantakouzenos’ forces, outnumbered and exhausted, were finally broken in outside the ruins of the ancient town of Pella in March of 1343, removing any substantial resistance to Apokaukos’ makeshift army. Sporadic fighting continued up until the end of the year, but all major fighting had ended by the Midsummer. John Kantakouzenos himself was captured at Pella and sent back to Constantinople, where he was tried and summarily executed in the following year.
Why did Alexius’ army, who by all accounts were mostly peasant militia bolstered by the occasional mercenary unit and defectors from the old regime able to crush the Byzantine army, a far more disciplined and well equipped force? There are several reasons for this. The first was numerical disparity. Alexios used his primitive propaganda machine to recruit from the lowest of society, those eager for any chance to improve their standing. Thanks to the general state of impoverishment of his empire, gave him access to a ready pool of soldiers eager to gain land and wealth for them and their families. This was by the time period a rare chance to quickly improve their standing in life and society and many were eager to take it. Thanks to this willing pool of soldiers, the Regency forces were able to absorb losses far, far better than their opponents, who were a relatively small force of less than 10,000 men. Regency forces were able to regularly match, and later on, surpass their enemies in number. As well, this numerical disparity and ability to tank losses let the regency forces strike hard and fast, barely giving the rebels a chance to rest.
The second was psychology. The army of the regency forces was one noted for its zeal and fanaticism, where the thought of obtaining a slice of the wealth of their enemies appealed to poorest of society and made them eager fighters. Whatever discipline their enemies might have had was matched in its effectiveness by the fanaticism of their opponents. It was as they say, a cornered animal is the most dangerous. It also enjoyed a large amount of support in the countryside, thanks to breaking up many a latifundia, killing hated nobles and other wealthy citizens and looting their enemies lands and distributing it to the people. On the other hand, as the war dragged on and news of defeat and the prospect of their estates being ransacked and taken from then, Kantakouzenos’ army struggled to stay focused to their goal. By the second year of fighting, dissertations were a growing problem. Noble officers feared more for their property than the cause they were fighting for, and many made a deal with the new regime, promising their support in exchange for having their lands secured (which, in most cases, Alexios was pragmatic enough to spare them the mob’s fury). Such things further hollowed out the strength of their camp, leading to more victories by the Regency forces, more seizures of land and massacres of nobles, and more desertions in a desperate attempt to starve off the mob. Quite the vicious cycle. Third and lastly were more obvious and boring reasons such as the Regency army being interestingly enough more organized due to having control of the bulk of the imperial bureaucracy back in Constantinople and Thrace, better supplies thanks to the imperial navy, and of course having access to the state funds directly from the imperial treasury.
[1] Yet another OTL thing that he did after getting Serbian support IOTL as a back up plan; a testament of his diplomatic prowess. Unfortunately, IOTL he was not able to get Ivan Alexander’s support, who adamantly supported the Regency forces. (As a big 'fuck you' to the guy. I honestly forgot why, but the Tsar had a huge personal hatred of John Kantakouzenos. Probably due to getting the Turks to direct their naval raids into Bulgaria)
[2] Interestingly most of the nobility in Thessalonica seemed to have stayed loyal, which is why they didn’t immediately open the gates for John and his men. Unfortunately, that was not enough to save them.
[3] The Zealots did a similar thing in OTL due to effectively being cut off by both sides of the civil war for a few years despite nominally being part of the Regency side.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”
-The Gospel of Matthew; Chapter 7, Verses 24 and 25.
[Transcript of a Podcast, 15 Byzantine Rulers]
“....What happens next? The war is won, but obviously the job’s not done yet. And this is where I think it gets really interesting. Because Alex has totally eliminated his opponents and is basically left in absolute control. Sure, the empress is regent for a few years until her death by plague but he’s still in charge of most day to day things. There’s no one group that can really stop him, and he knows that. The nobility just got a brutal mauling and the guy’s at the height of his popularity!”
“(Laughs) He rebuilds is what’s next. Then he starts changing things: the economy, the navy, important things. There’s a huge amount of fallout from the war and so many questions being ask of what’s going to happen, but first everybody agrees that the empire has to rebuild. And that isn’t exactly true. Alex can’t just shape the entire country in his own image no questions asked, he’ gotta play by the rules. Remember, he really wants to focus on what he wants; commerce, the economy and the navy, but at the same he needs to make sure that no one can undermine that. From inside and outside. And that means making sure he remains popular and the country stays stronger. So he can’t focus on what he wants just yet.”
“Ok so what does he do?”
“Like I said, he rebuilds and tries to keep the peace. I can’t underestimate just how important this is. It is of the utmost priority. The countryside has been damaged by the war, especially in Macedonia. But at the same time, he reforms. Land is parceled out. Tax rates are changed. The Bureaucracy is reformed. Peasants are encouraged to rebuild the dilapidated cloth industry, which had been in steep decline the last century. But its really that first part that’s the most important, I’d say. Because in the aftermath of the civil war, the imperial state just ended up with the largest increase of land under direct government control in decades. That means they can give out that land to their supporters in small, controllable plots rather than huge estates. So we see the big landed estates of the traitors being cut up and given to his supporters under a modified version of the old Pronoia system. Also helps in keeping the army he made around.”
“Now, what’s this about reform? How deep do the changes go? What’s the imperial policy to the defectors and old nobles?”
“Oh yeah. Alright, so the initial set of reforms basically deal with the bureaucratic and fiscal policy of the empire. Now this did begin during the war but as it continued until after the end of the war I’m including it within the set of reforms that were commonly characterize the Apokaukan reforms. The bureaucracy is given a bit of an overhaul. And by that I mean purge. Much of the old guard with ties to the old establishment is fired, exiled, murdered- whatever is needed to get them out of power. Then, they get replaced by more loyal elements. This is not only with officials, but also to governors and officers in the army. The only exception is Thessalonica, but we’ll get back to that later.
Second is the money situation. Being close to bankruptcy is something the empire has had to deal with on-off for the past century, and one that Alex, as a businessman, is not happy with it at all. How does he try to fix this? First he tries to get more trading going on. Second, he makes more taxpayers by basically giving away land. Giving out land does well to endear the people to the new boss, but that won’t last long if they don’t solve this one huge problem: The Tax Rate. Under the old government, taxes on the lower class were huge. So huge they drove many people to poverty and serfdom. Obviously, that’s not exactly popular, so Alex has to lower the tax rate to a more manageable level. This is, by all accounts a huge reduction in what they paid. Not exactly good for the budget. Thankfully, and this is where the leftover nobles and defectors come in. Alexius is able to raise taxes on what’s left of the big landowners and the nobles and really squeeze them in an attempt to make up the difference. He closes the legal loopholes, most of their financial privileges and tax exemptions and what not. They don’t like it, but he’s at the top of his game now and so they can’t really do anything about it. But most are thankful they still get to keep their lands. Despite all this, its unfortunately, that’s not enough to make up the difference. This isn’t a real reform.”
“Wait. But what about taxing the Church? Taxing them was usually how many people raised money in this time period. Also, why isn’t this enough? The state is taxing more people than it did a decade ago and more efficiently too. We know that small plots of land are easier to tax than big landowners”
“See, the thing is, he can’t do that. The Church, or rather the Patriarch was a supporter of him and his policies, interestingly enough. He can’t alienate that big of a support base. They helped out, and in return, he’s gotta do them a favor. That means not taxing them, restricting their influence in government, things like that. Second, its not enough because Alex isn’t just interested in making things more fair. He wants Rome to be able to compete with Venice, with Genoa, with all the other merchant powers. And that means building up a huge fleet. Only problem is a navy is really expensive. But he’s spending all his money on repairs and reforms and fortifications and what not, there’s not much, if any left over.”
“And how do they deal with that?”
(Laughs) “They don’t really. The Romans just pretty much wait and see for opportunities, quietly saving up money and fortifying until they can find an opportunity to expand their trading, little by little building up their navy and trying to defend against raids from Turkish pirates. Fortunately, they do get a few pretty soon. Grain prices start rising after the Golden Horde closes its ports to foreign merchants in 1343, so the Italians, particularly Venice are forced to buy more of their grain in the empire. Then the Aydinids, their old allies turned enemies, had really annoyed the wrong people with their raids on Christian shipping in the Aegean. It got to the point where eventually the Pope called a crusade to deal with them. Which really speaks more about how cheap crusades were than anything else, but this did elition a coalition of Christian mercenaries to attack the main Aydinid port of Smyrna. The coalition forces smash the Aydinid navy and take the city, denying them naval access for the better part of a year. This is where the Romans get their opening.”
“Mhm?”
“Right. Let me explain; while the Crusaders did take the city, they were never able to advance much further and take over the Beylik. At the same time, the Aydinids weren’t strong enough to push them out. That’s when the Romans come in and offer to help them out. Around 1346 or so- the records kinda sketchy- the Romans send out a message offering their support to capture the city of Smyrna and return it to the Bey in exchange for 2 things: A renewal of the old alliance during the reign of Andronikos III, an opening of Smyrna to Roman trade with similar trading quarters like the Italians merchants and tax exemptions for Roman merchants. Umar Bey, the current emir, accepts readily. And so in a few months the city is retaken and the Aydinids now have sea access once more while the Romans leave with a fancy new trade port.”
“That’s amazing. But can we back this up a bit; since you mentioned the importance of the navy, this raises another set of questions: What happened to the armed forces? What’s the navy doing in all this? And the army of the Civil War? Where’s that gone?”
“Couple of things. First off, they get downsized. Now this may seem weird, considering how useful having a large army was in the civil war, but you have to remember, that army was a bloated mess. And an expensive one. So it gets streamlined into a more manageable size. The extra lands are used to help re-institute pronoia and give the empire a steady supply of militia troops. These were mostly set in the border to defend and stall enemies until the main force of professional troops comes in. Nothing too radical per se, standard Early Palaiologoi doctrine. What really changes is the composition. Most of the new officers aren’t nobles with connections in the government, they’re recruited from the lowest classes that served well and were promoted on the basis of merit. As well, the mercenary forces that so categorized Andronicus were paid, disbanded and sent home. Alex hated, hated, hated mercenaries.”
"That’s weird, didn’t he use them as well?"
“He did in the war, but from his writings he seems to have a huge distaste of using mercenaries, considering them both absurdly expensive and disloyal. It was more efficient to just use militia in his opinion. With that said we do see mercenary use continue, just on a smaller scale. Now, continuing on with the army changes, there’s a bit of a change in army equipment, mostly some standardization, things like more crossbows being used. Now, on to the navy. This is where the things really change. Its upgraded, expanded and just improved overall. By around 1350, there’s a new shiny new fleet of around 35 to 40 warships. Compare this with the 20 or so in 1340. Interestingly enough, much of this is being paid out of pocket by Alexios himself. At one point he spends something like 50,000 hyperpyra on new ships. And it was a wise investment if I say so. Led to the reconquest of reconquest of Naxos and other Aegean islands in the near future. Also paid for itself pretty quickly during the joint raiding operations with the Aydinids and later the Saruhans. Unfortunately, this really annoyed Venice, Genoa and the Latin Crusader states in Greece, but you can’t win them all. Aside from raids, the navy was used to project power, which is why you start seeing things like interferences in Trebizond affairs and deals with Georgia and the Golden Horde.
"Alright, last question and this goes back to the peasants: What did the government do with the Zealots of Thessalonica and other radical movements? I mean they were large enough to possibly be considered a threat and were insanely influential. The governments got to have reacted to this somehow."
“This may seem weird, but not much actually- at least in the first decade or two. And there’s two main theories as to why. The first one is, they are too busy essentially. Basically, as the regime was for the most part too busy reorganizing the state, bureaucracy and the military to pay attention to what is for the most part is just peasants organizing in councils at the municipal level, forming militias to defend the border and occasionally pooling their resources together. It didn’t really hurt anything, and as most of them the radicals were willing to work with the government and pay their taxes, so there was a ‘live and let live’ attitude going around. It does make sense though. As I’ve implied this was a state that in the aftermath of a brutal civil war was organized around Alexious Apokaukos and his aids. Most of the people who would be against this, have been made -for the time being- politically irrelevant; the new people in charge are far more sympathetic to the lowest classes and their position, and in fact you sometimes could see the new government actually help out the peasants just to undermine the status of local aristocrats even more. But even that’s an insane amount of work. Trying to have each and every little group that forms loyal or sidelined was too much for the demands of the state, and they just ignored it until it was too big to ignore.
The second theory -and one that I lean towards too more, but both sides have their merits-, is that the government went along with it because it couldn’t do anything to stop it. Fresh from a civil war and busy trying to recover from a decades long decline, that doesn’t leave a lot of resources to impose Constantinople’s will outside of the bare minimum. And that would just make the empire look even more weak, potentially leading to more invaders coming in and ruining the progress that’s been made so far. Along with that, the army itself is probably stretched thin and made up of people who might just side with the peasants if said peasants get too popular. Due to all of the above, the imperial government took the path of least resistance and let things be. And there’s a huge piece of evidence that supports this view: Thessalonica itself, with the Zealots and their council being in charge for a very long time after being re-instituted in the empire. I mean, the nominal governor, John Apokaukos, was basically a figurehead at worst, a liason at best. Thessalonica did what it wanted and there was almost nothing the government could do to stop it."
"Professor, thank you for your time."
"Happy to be of service. It was great being here."
-----
It is 1344. After 3 years of a grueling, intense, brutal conflict, the Second Palaiologoi Civil war is finally over. Peace however brief it may be, returns to the Empire of the Romans. And though bloodied from the time of war, the imperium stands united and optimistic; a new era is dawning with fresh minds in charge, ready to meet the needs of a changing world. When the world moves on, Rhomania will not be left behind.
Let us look forward a decade later. We see that after the dramatic upheavals faced in the past few decades that saw catastrophic loss in wealth and men in the empire, things are finally starting to cool down and settle into a more acceptable pace. With popular support, a competent government, and neighbors that were more preoccupied with their own affairs than disrupting the imperials, the Roman empire would finally enter a period of brief, yet vital rest and recovery. During this period, the crucial reforms that had been at the minds of many would be laid out to the benefit of the empire. Said reforms were primarily focused on rooting out the more pressing issues that plagued the state: a weak economy, an impoverished tax base, a demolished industry and a nearly nonexistent commercial sector. By the time conflict once again broke out and the empire intervened in the Third Venetian-Genoese War, a new creature had replaced the one the world had come to know.
Nearly every facet of the empire would come to be altered in the decade that had passed since the end of the Second Palaiologian Civil War: Economics, living standards, finances, military readiness, manpower, the navy, the cities, diplomacy, the guilds, and even the church. The Apokaoukan reforms, implemented swiftly in the end of 1343 had done much to restructure the empire in a positive way. Imperial finances had noticeably increased and the destitution that so very much characterized the late empire began to give way little by little. A glimmer of hope appeared in the empire. Please note however, that despite the large progress these changes had, it was still too early for Constantinople to have bounced back to her former glory. The army was tiny, the navy equally so and it was with great difficulty that the imperial coffers were able to be filled. Like a patient just coming into rehabilitation, there was still much more progress to be made, but the worst had passed.
To better grasp at the multitude of development that had occurred, it has been decided to categorize the internal and external modifications of the state by category. Therefore, this update will tackle what has changed on a subject by subject basis.
Finances:
In the efforts at achieving their most pressing needs- a means to increase the wealth of the empire- the Apokaukan reforms were largely successful in achieving that. The policies put in place, such as the establishment of the Imperial Roman Trading Company (a state owned enterprise that ensured government monopoly on external trading) [1] and the expansion of the merchant navy did well to bring in much needed coin.
Especially the latter. The Roman naval expansion (both in terms of warships and the merchant navy) over the past decade was critical in bringing in what Apokaukos had promised:a taste of the wealth that Venice and Genoa enjoyed from trade (and of course, loot from joining in pirate raids- one mustn’t forget about that). This was done by not only increasing the size of the navy and its personnel but also by expanding the presence of Roman merchants primarily in the Aegean and Black Seas. (Roman merchants, like the Venetians in the 11th century seemed to have had a fear of going into places they didn’t know too well) As well, the diplomatic arrangements with the Aydinid Emirate (and by proxy the beylik of Saruhan) ensured that piracy against Roman vessels was at an all time low while providing another excellent source of wealth: Piracy. Roman sailors often joined in with the emirates on raids against Christian shipping in the Aegean. (Later on as the Aydinids grew rich from their plunder and gained better fleets and naval bases of their own, these raids expanded their operations into the Eastern Mediterranean.) A risky yet rewarding proposition.
One must note that yes, this did infuriate the Italian merchants in the region as competition increased, but it thankfully did not lead to war with the Venetians or the Genoese or whoever due to a fortunate combination of external factors. Beginning with the expulsion of the Venetians from the Golden Horde in 1341, relations between the two states had yet again started to plummet and a state of low level undeclared war started up. It was seen as inevitable that a proper war would form, so the two attempted to avoid as many ‘unnecessary distractions’ until the next round of conflict began. In any case, Rome had found her trade presence began to increase, and with the additional money flowing into imperial coffers from this trade, efforts at improving infrastructure, internal trade, industry and agricultural yields.
However, there was another source of important income that came throughout the decade, ironically enough from the Merchant republics that were so often accused of taking away what money should be flowing into Constantinople's coffers.
Much like the Regency victory of the Regency faction in the Second Palaiologian civil war, this was not due to any imperial efforts, but rather a pleasant source of international affairs; in 1341, the Khanate of the Golden Horde had banished Venetian Merchants from its realm after a diplomatic crises that resulted in the Venetian Navy attempting to firebomb the Genoese Colonies at the Crimea. While they were largely successful in their goal, many important nobles in the Khanate had been killed. Enraged, the Khan banned all Venetian merchants from his realm and forbid any sales to the merchant republic. [2] What this meant that Venice’s primary source of cheap grain had been cut off, and prices skyrocketed in the city. In response, Venice had to obtain grain from different sources: Egypt noticeably, but also in fertile areas of Greece and Thrace. Much to the delight of farmers and merchants within the empire, demand for grain had grown considerably, and so had their profits in time. Profits which then flowed into the cities to the eventual benefit of all.
This admittedly raises the question of how did the average person benefit from all this? The answer is very much. As previously stated, the average peasant in the Late Roman Empire was much more poorer than his counterpart in say, 1000 AD. Crippling high taxes, frequent wars that led to economic disruption, poor infrastructure, and reduction in average field sizes had led a very sizable reduction in GDP per capita. With the ease in the tax burden and generous land reform policy, the troubles that had plagued the peasants began to go away. To the average peasant, this was a Godsend and easily the greatest period to be living in for a lower class Roman since the Late Komnenoi, maybe even the Macedonian Dynasty. With their tax rate finally decreased (although not that much, lowering taxes to a non oppressive rate would bankrupt the state, still it was a noticeable decrease that allowed them to save some coins) and a generous land reform policy sponsored by the imperial government, the chance of renting and owning land skyrocketed. But there lies one more benefit in this period, and that is a rise in wages. Because just like nearly everywhere else in Europe, with the passing of the Black Plague came a labor shortage that meant demand for labor increased. And when demand increases, prices rise. [3] The culmination of all these factors meant an increase in the standard of living for the oppressed masses.
Apokaukos’ government had gambled that having access to a larger tax base via land distribution, confiscation of property, land sales and trade increases would be enough to make up for the ease in the tax burden in the long run. And in this case, it worked out. Rising grain prices, shrinking poverty, a tightening of legal loopholes and tax exemptions, and the increase in trade both in the empire and outside it allowed the empire to managed to obtain much needed funds in ways that did not involve brutalizing the lower classes. And with the government placated for the time being (and still fearful of revolution against the new boss) the lower classes were left alone to prosper. And slowly yet surely they did. These effects would take decades to be fully realized, but every year led to more and more growth, and therefore more and more wealth piling up.
The government on the other hand was a bit less enthusiastic. The simple reason for that is despite all of the new laws and strategies and government actions, there simply wasn’t as much of a gain for the empire as originally expected. While yes, the initial phase of the Renovation did great with land reform and establishing the navy, as well as increasing the amount of troops these things didn’t give the government what it really wanted: a larger treasury. State funds were indeed higher, but due to a myriad of factors (mainly rising costs in supporting the navy and attempting to refortify) they weren’t that much higher than the last days of Andronikos II, and therefore, criminally underfunded. The Black Death and its robbing of taxpayers would see to that. Combined with all the other projects that the state had in mind meant that the Roman state was increasingly desperate for cash and had to resort to more... unorthodox methods of obtaining wealth. Mainly, this was done through looting; either from attacking shipping, or raiding someone else like a beylik or Latin crusader states.
This does in turn raise of could the empire get away with that? The answer is with some ingenious diplomacy and underhanded tactics. Recall that after the Smyrniote Crusade, the Beylik of Aydin had once more regained control of Smyrna thanks to Roman aid. In exchange for this, the alliance between the two powers was renewed and trading rights were obtained. Thanks to this, Roman sailors and ships would be able to join in on Aydinid raids all across the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, bringing in some much needed coin to the coffers back in Constantinople. Even better, thanks to often joining in the Aydinids, Byzantine sailors were able to walk away from the raids without Constantinople being suspected of involvement in many cases. This of course was a highly risky proposition and at several times inflicted retribution from other powers, but the Romans managed to stay under the radar most of the time. Anyways, thanks to the combination of all the above factors, imperial finances managed to be *relatively* stable for the next decade.
Diplomacy and Foreign Policy:
Alexios Apokaukos had always been an intelligent man; someone who was usually savvy enough to know where the wind was blowing. Therefore, when he started undertaking his massive overhauls to the imperial state, it was with the knowledge that he had to make sure that the empire was secure enough to undergo its metamorphosis without any... unnecessary distractions. Not a single hyperpyra must be wasted on any wars of defense. Here diplomacy and soft power were the key to obtaining imperial security. Steps must be taken to ensure the peace needed for reform. With that in mind, let us look to how the empire dealt with her neighbors and rivals in the immediate years following the war.
Despite how we now know the greatest threat to the empire were the Turkish Beyliks and the Italian merchant republics, the peoples at the empire lacked the benefit of hindsight. They believed that it was the traditional neighbors of the empire in the Balkans were the largest potential damage and thus, received the largest bits of immediate attention and placating.
As such, a reaffirmation of the treaty with Bulgaria under the Tsar Ivan Alexander was confirmed and a marriage alliance was negotiated with young John V to be wed to Ivan Alexander’s daughter, Kera Tamara (when both came of age, of course). The Bulgarian Tsar accepted these terms relatively easily due to growing conspiracy in his own nation that he need to turn his attention towards- where in which the Bolyars of his realm had been planning to revolt. With Serbia fearing Hungarian invasion under their new king Louis and a friendly Wallachia to the North, Rhomania was the only potential source of aggression, and with this treaty that would be taken care of. But the treaty did more than merely secure peace: trade between the empires once more began to reach a respectable level, and the peace ensured allowed for easier development of the frontier regions.
The other important threat to the empire (on land at least), Serbia, was dealt with very carefully. Serbia, under the great king Stefan Dusan, had managed to rapidly expand northwards at the expense of Hungary, carving out a small sphere of influence in Croatia, Dalmatia and the unannexed parts of Bosnia. These additional resources and the appearance of a well trained Serbian military stemming from reports of Hungarian losses promulgated by Serbian propaganda led to Constantinople to treat the Serbs as a very dangerous threat. Should Stefan Dusan at any time decide to march south, when Rome had not yet recovered from her decline, the results would be disastrous. Countermeasures must be taken to ensure the stability of the realm. For the time being this meant do as little as possible to not antagonize the Serbs at any cost while trying to find a good partner to counter them. Partners such as Hungary, being the obvious choice, but also Bulgaria were considered.
Now, that leaves a few other states that bordered the empire: Epirus, which in the chaos of war had managed to partially break free from imperial domination; the Duchy of Athens currently under the control of a Catalan aristocracy; and the principality of Achaea. (For our purposes the Aegean is not being considered in this case, rest assured the Duchy of Naxos has not been forgotten) All 4 were, collectively speaking, small, decentralized principalities with weak economies and under the control of an elite that was mostly unpopular amongst its subjects. In theory, they should have been prime subjects for conquest. But reality has never been that simple. Repeat attempts and raids against the Latin Crusader states of Greece has taught the Romans that despite their weakness, they were still powerful enough to withstand full on invasions, yearly raids and a rapidly shrinking pool of soldiers, a testament to their stubbornness and how terrible the imperial military was at the time.
So another direct round of campaigns to reconquer former territory was discarded- at least for the time being. Instead Eastern Rome would try a more roundabout approach following the years after second Palaiologian war. Weakening their opponents as much as possible, using whatever means it can, before attempting to attack them. This was, curiously enough, not a conscious set of policies but more of a reaction to attempting to copy the Italian states, who also dominated the region using economic and political leverage. Roman travellers would note that Italian merchants frequently sold goods in Greece proper at very low prices, often lower than what it would cost if consumers bought locally. Economics dictated that these practices of dumping led to an undermining of native industries and a good deal of money entering the coffers of the merchant states. And if tariffs were ever decreed, the Italian states would intervene and ‘convince’ the rulers to see the status quo was for the best.
Thus, the Eastern Roman Empire did what they could over the years to bring back a similar level of hegemony for the time being. Peace was secured with the states (sans Athens), under a similar level of friendship the late Kantakouzenos had planned, but this time with an emphasis on opening up trade rather than levying soldiers in the time of need. The states did agree to the deal, viewing it as nothing that could really harm them too much. Little did they know that this further hollowed out their debased economies as the Romans could just as easily dump goods into their region and at even lower prices than what the merchant republics offered thanks to smaller shipping and transportation costs. And since the Roman economy had undergone a tremendous amount of damage and debasement, any and all goods sold still made a profit. (This of course, one must note, was not a sustainable policy. As time went on, the costs of labor rose such that economic sectors were losing money in selling their goods at lower prices than they what they cost to make and people began to agitate to the government in ceasing this. But by then the Crusader states had outlived their usefulness anyway...)
The next major group Roman diplomacy focused a large part following the implementation of the Renovation was the two Italian Merchant Republics: Genoa and Venice. Both sides straddled the Eastern Mediterranean as giants, sapping up as much wealth and trade as they could sense and intervening whenever they could to obtain the best outcome for themselves. Here in the Aegean, this was not different, and in fact their success in the realm of commerce was what prompted the Renovation in the first place. Genoa and Venice controlled the bulk of the revenue that came in from the Silk Road terminals this far east, and as such the new regime viewed them with respect and with fear. Apokaukos, keenly aware of the power of the two realized that antagonizing any one of them was suicide.
Roman policy was, in word: Mollify. The new regime, in a drastic change from their predecessors realized they were no longer the big fish in the small pond. To antagonize any one of the two major powers, especially at their own game, would be tantamount to suicide and a drastic blow to any plans of reviving imperial power. Such is that the Romans did all they could to stay on the two Italians good sides. Keeping tariffs low (or nonexistent), trading in places where the Italians tended to avoid/had less of a presence in (places like Aydin, Candar, Georgia and Circassia, and as the Romans got bolder Tunis and the Maghreb), and trading much less where in which the Romans and the Italians both frequented as such to not undermine their profit margin. As one would expect this was a policy that was costly for the imperials and perhaps unnecessary, but in the aftermath of a brutal civil war combined the state feeling insecure of itself in commercial endeavors, this was seen as the safe option. And perhaps, to an extent- it worked. Once more, the goal of peace was achieved: War did not break out until the Roman intervention in the Third Venetian-Genoese trade war. But at the same time, going out to lesser places did have a nice impact of giving the merchants new contacts and new markets. The trading between the Marinids and the Romans following the former’s conquest of Ifriqiya was a large boon to both, giving to the Romans buyers as far south as the Sahelian states and the Berbers a healthy profit being the middlemen between the two.
Finally, we move on the last major recipients of Roman diplomatic policy worth being discussed: The Anatolian Beyliks. As the conquerors of the former heartlands of the empire, there was a special… distaste towards these particular states. Normally the initial response would be to send in troops and reconquer the region. But dire circumstances force upon a necessary pragmaticism, and this was certainly no different a time. The Beyliks of Anatolia, much like the rest of the Saracens in occupied Roman territory, were agents the needed to be dealt with on a case by case basis depending on what would best aid the empire. Here, it was money and security that was needed. And allies are the greatest suppliers of both. Let us look then to the coastal beyliks, the ones in which the imperials have had the most contact with and to be honest, the ones they care about most. Here we have two in which deserve distinction: The Aydinids, and the Ottomans.
One might already know that in 1347 the so called Smyrniote Crusade was launched at the Aydinids to end their pirate raids and though briefly successful, Roman intervention put an end to that dream. The Aydinids got back their port, and the Emir was thankful enough to resume diplomatic relations with the man who killed his best friend. Trade began anew, as did the piracy raids, this time with the Romans offering to join in. Perhaps the greatest foreign policy decision of its time, with this a highly value ally was obtained that provided free experience for its sailors, a bulwark against the Ottomans and in the words of one Venetian admiral in the late 14th century “A loyal and vicious attack dog” (no doubt a reference to Roman diplomacy often having quite the impact on who the Aydinids decided who was their next raiding target). The Empire fostered excellent relations with this state whenever it could and eagerly directed its raids to whoever it hated, along with encouraging the Aydinids to increase their fleet and naval prowess as much as it could. The ramifications of these actions would not be seen for quite a while, and can be rightly criticized as short sided but for the time being, it was of immensely beneficial to both sides. Certainly highly useful in the future clashes with the Ottoman Beylik.
Which leads us into our next topic of relations: The Ottoman Beylik. One of the largest, most recent and perhaps most importantly, well organized states in Anatolia, this had been the greatest thorn in the side to the Roman Empire during the reign of Andronicus III. They had taken the tremendously lands of Western Anatolia where the largest source of tax revenue was generated. The great cities of Nicea, Nicomedia and Bursa had all been stolen from the imperials by the Ottomans. Rome harbored an immense hatred of this state, and this reflected in its policy. When not fortifying their half of the straits, Rome did all it could to sabotage the Ottomans. Using its relations with the nearby Saruhan, Aydin and Candar, the Imperial government formed an unofficial coalition against Ottoman aggression. Initially met with some skepticism, the conquest of the Karesids altered the emirs that despite the Ghazis having run out of Christian land to take, war was far from over. Following a period of consolidation and organization, Muslim lands, their lands, would be next. It is by that fear (along with recent economic prowess and a rise in prestige) in which the Romans, bound and isolated the Ottomans from most of her immediate neighbors, attempting to sap as much strength and goodwill before starting up a war of conquest where at the time all sides would go and receive a slice of the beylik. A tempting offer indeed: a plan of mutual protection, co-operation and eventual prospering of eliminating a common foe, but as a certain allohistorical poet would say, ‘the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.’
[1] The Roman Empire had a disdain for capitalism in general, but overall it seemed to have an avid distaste for what we would call corporations; judging on how hostile writers were to the Genoese, who ran their trading as private enterprise. Because of this, combined with a government that is paranoid on keeping its monopoly on wealth and power, it stands to reason that should they try to expand into the realm of capitalism, would do so in a manner they’d feel safest about.
[2]: Happened in OTL and yes the Venetians did start buying from the Empire. Also ITTL, the rather brutal purge of nobility, their drastic weakening in terms of monetary assets and general population loss means people in the empire just aren’t spending as much money on Venetian luxury goods such as cloth and spices (a major source of income for Venice OTL). This means that in addition to having to spend more money on their enemies, the Venetians are making less of a profit from the Romans. Not a favorable trade balance and not one they can really rectify with war.
[3] This also has the wonderful effect of slowing down old displaced nobles from bouncing back so quickly as their would be serfs and tenants now have much more bargaining power.