And Venice's 8 years truce with Hungary has ended in 1356, right?Which I note he has not done TTL since Dusan is still around and kicking.
So, if Dusan is still around, how does Louis find the time to take Zara from Venice then?
And Venice's 8 years truce with Hungary has ended in 1356, right?Which I note he has not done TTL since Dusan is still around and kicking.
I'd guess someone would had noticed that instead of invading Dalmatia Louis spent the year fighting the Serbs?And Venice's 8 years truce with Hungary has ended in 1356, right?
So, if Dusan is still around, how does Louis find the time to take Zara from Venice then?
Orsini is in Naples in TTL, right ?Most likely Nikephoros left him behind when he went off to try reclaiming Epirus. Which I note he has not done TTL since Dusan is still around and kicking.
In that case, all the needed aspects are there for a prosperous wool industry.My question leaned more on long term prospects, that is once the Lascarids have developed a Sicilian Merino breed and on the synergy that derives from the Lascarid empire having an important domestic production of alum, which means a huge competitive advantage, both by reduced cost of import alum and by priority to Lascarid textile manufacturers for purchase.
I am not sure about it. Sicily is integrated with the broad christian trade network and the alum they produce is way too much to be absorbed by the sicilian industry. If I had to guess, Sicily and Calabria have their place in the wool market, but not to the expense of Florence. The impact would be distributed across Valencia, Catalonia, Languedoc, Lombardy and Tuscany, If anything, the aragonese textile industry that seems to have dominated the sicilian market in OTL will face some impact.the papal alum deposits were discovered in 1462 by Giovanni di Castro near the Tolfa mountains, then we have the metalliferous hills in the surroundings of Volterra, which benefited the Florentine industries ( in particular after the Medici obtained control over the extraction of papal alum, allowing them to have a near-total monopoly on the industry ), now in this scenario with the historic Genoese maones falling into the hands of the Lascarides, it is probable that Florence is even more relevant in the textile sector than Otl, especially if the Genoese ousted by the Syracusans put themselves at the service of the city, it is probable that these deposits will be discovered slightly early ( due to quickly finding an alternative in Syracuse )
One year before, or one year after (or more) won't make much difference. The anti-venetian league of Lajos will be in place and all its main actors have the same anti-venetian interests as in OTL. In the end, Lajos is the same and doesn't like losing what he considers his patrimony and he has a history of going after the low-hanging fruit. And he didn't take humiliation well - and the Venetians humiliated him in front of Zara by defeating his larger army. At some point, he will return to Dalmatia.I'd guess someone would had noticed that instead of invading Dalmatia Louis spent the year fighting the Serbs?
Precisely my question.I'd guess someone would had noticed that instead of invading Dalmatia Louis spent the year fighting the Serbs?
Precisely my question.
Can Louis invade Venetian Dalmatia if, because Dusan is not dead, Serbia is still a threat in his back?
Venice might sit out Louis's war with the Serbs, but would Dusan sit out a later Louis's war with Venice?
Especially if Venetian ducats found their way to his pockets...
I also wonder at what point does Venice intercede on the ERE's behalf? We've seen them go to war over the Black Sea Trade (And calling in the ERE in that war like a vassal...), and in OTL they went to war with Genoa over control of Tenedos. Will we see a Venetian-ERE alliance against Alexandros simply because he snaps up the North Aegean Islands from the ERE?"It is only proper that the despot follows my instructions to return Lesbos and Phokaia, which we are grateful he liberated in our name from the usurper Kantakouzenos of course, returns now both to our control. As a reward for his services we will provide him the sum of 100,000 heperpyra."
"I'm under strict orders to insist that the administration of Lesbos and Phokaia will be retained by the despot."
Hm, now that the title of Despot is no longer needed, will we see more Katepano's emerge? Perhaps an establishment of a Katepano of Sicily, one of Magna Graecia (Mainland Italy), and one for the islands of the Aegean (perhaps something like the Kybrrhaeiot theme? But named after a different city, perhaps Rhodos?)? The Katepano's would continue to act like administrators/military commanders as they do now (a continuation of the theme system). I wonder if we will see a Basileus attempt to separate those two powers? Perhaps establishing a 'local' Strategos apart from the Katepano's per province in order to reduce probabilities for rebellion?Syracuse, June 5th, 1357
Interesting thought, the parliament definitely will hold some say in things if a bad basilious takes charge but I could see a philanthropenos take over in such a situation due to their close ties to the LaskaridsBy the way, there has been a discussion on what will happen when - inevitably - an incompetent Doukas Lascaris Vatatzes inherits the crown. As I see it, the political tradition of the Empire of Sicily and Hellas is a hybrid between the traditions of the ERE and the Latin West.
The main institution inherited from the Latin West is that of parliament and avoiding replacing dynasties from within the state. As it has been stated multiple times, due to the special circumstances of Alexandros' rise to power, the main stakeholder within the sicilian parliament is that of the communes.
The main tradition of the ERE is the political thought that exists in the greek part of the realm and has been brought west by Alexandros, his followers from the byzantine elite and successive waves of settlers. The cornerstone of that political thought is that of popular consent as the source of authorizing allocation of power. The concept of the "will of the people" is present in the Novels of Leo VI, where the "people" are the "crew" of the "ship" and the "ship" being the politeia, the state that Kaldellis considers the continuation of the res publica.
So what will happen when an icompetent Lascaris gets the crown ? In the ERE tradition, is it quite possible that an aristocrat or a military commander would replace him. But in Sicily it would be a taboo to replace the Lascarids with a Chrysafis or a Philanthropenos dynasty. Therefore, I find it more plausible that the communes will rise to the challenge of helping steering the helm of the ship. The natural consequense of the marriage of the two traditions, is that of a more powerful parliament, one dominated by burghers and pronoia holders. Certainly, a strong capable Emperor at a later stage might try to restrict the privileges and influence of the Parliament, but even if he is successful, precedence will have been established and a long tug-of-war between Emperor and Parliament will result in a regime with greater resemblance to e.g. Stuart England than e.g. Bourbon Naples or France.
At which point will they hellenize... sorry, romanize the name and start talking of the parliament as of a "Senate" ?
As noted Alexandros II had his own reasons to want to grab Lesbos...Those 57k ducats will help quite a bit when it comes to deleveraging.
Yes.Did he bring his fleet with him or he just arrived with that single ship and his treasure? If it is the latter case, how many galleys were captured by Rallis and Chrysafis ?
Syracuse is not at war with Constantinople. Yet.The islands of Lemnos, Imbros, Skyros, Skiathos, Skopelos, Samothrace and Tenedos are up for grabs and most likely they will welcome Chrysafis in order to be properly protected from the turkish raiders.
While I've been known to have argued that things in the empire went downhill when no ambitious general managed to rid it of Andronikos II, or the Angeloi prior to this there is something to be said about not needing a coup or silk cords to ensure competence...Being able to form a faction and install yourself as ruler is a vital skill as well. If you couldn’t form a faction to propel you to the throne, chances are that you can’t keep the throne either. Making friends and building a core faction of supporters is a vital skill for any ruler. At any rate, a lot of the older princes were made governors during their fathers’ lifetime. If they had the competence, they could by all means crush those factions by military force.There was no set rule on how to become sultan except to survive and purge the other brothers, either through intrigue , military force or even pure luck. Someone like Andronikos II would not have survived such a cut throat fight for the throne. Few people would likely back his attempt to take the throne due to his idiocy.
he'll get into a four way war with the Serbs, Ottomans and Byzantines right after ending a decade long brutal war at home soil?I wonder now how far Alexandros will go? Will he send out an expeditionary force against Adrianople, and isolate Constatinople in an Ottoman-esque campaign before the Ottomans do? Or will we see them snatch Constantinople as Murad (I think Murad is the sultan now?) Snatches the rest of Thrace?
Manuel as despot of the Morea had certainly proven himself a capable man. It's interesting what might have happened if he had descedants.I´m not happy that Kantakouzenos junior lives. That one will bite the young Laskaris in the ass some time
Or is he? He sent of someone who was a hothead, undiplomatic person as ambassador to Constantinople. This can be read in many ways. From being blind to Leo's shortcomings to intentionally sending off Leo in hopes of causing trouble.Addendum: the new Laskaris is a hothead, undiplomatic...and has no male heir. This is not a good combination.
So is the despotate after 80 years of smooth dynastic transitions closer to the western or the eastern model of succession? And isn't that an interesting question?So far, the Vatatzes-Lascarid successions in the Despotate have been rather smooth because the potential heir was already q grown adult, Ioannis was 36 when he succeeded his father, Alexandros the younger was 28. And Ioannis had a loyal brother in Theodore.
Now, what happens with many princesses around, given that in Byzantine tradition, they often proved ambitious women. And many male heirs perhaps? You just have to see what happened everytime the prospective heir was a minor on his father's death and all the turmoil that happened around regencies.
Is he? That's his last whereabouts about 2 decades ago...Orsini is in Naples in TTL, right ?
He can invade but if Serbia is actively at war against it means a major part of his army is tied down facing the Serbs. Now the Venetians weren't overtly well known for their strong armies but they did not win out the terrafirma by buying it...Precisely my question.
Can Louis invade Venetian Dalmatia if, because Dusan is not dead, Serbia is still a threat in his back?
Venice might sit out Louis's war with the Serbs, but would Dusan sit out a later Louis's war with Venice?
Especially if Venetian ducats found their way to his pockets...
If so, then,in the new Despot/Basileus, we might very well to have a Prince, from which Machiavelli would be proud of...Or is he? He sent of someone who was a hothead, undiplomatic person as ambassador to Constantinople. This can be read in many ways. From being blind to Leo's shortcomings to intentionally sending off Leo in hopes of causing trouble.
Syracuse is not at war with Constantinople. Yet.
Ah, no, this is wrong. Syracuse IS at war with Constantinopel. 1) The LD attacked and annexed a part of it´s territory. 2) Any pretense of acknowledging the superiority of the ERE has been put to rest, too.Syracuse is not at war with Constantinople. Yet.
How so? Alexandros was asked by Ioannis V to expell Manuel Kantakouzenos from Lesvos and any dependency he controlled. These were Lascarid boots on the grounds doing the Emperor's dirty work. Then, they just refused to leave or let Ioannis' own governor in.1) The LD attacked and annexed a part of it´s territory
There are....Crete, Negroponte...Time to snap up any Imperial holdings in the Aegean, if there are any left
Indeed ! However, 15th century Venice was much stronger than 1357/58 Venice. And in OTL Lajos did his homework: Padua and the Patriarchate of Aquileia had a larger population than 1358 Terrafirma (Treviso and environs basically). I would argue that Friuli alone had a bigger population than Venice. Nicholas of Luxemburg has also the support of Charles IV and can punch above his own weight. In OTL Lajos recognized Istria as venetian and didn't promote Nicholas' claims in the region. In TTL, Lajos can promise Istria to Nicholas - it is not part of the lands he considers hungarian after all, in order to receive more support from the Luxemburgs. Of course, Nicholas will die in July 1358, but he could entangle Friuli before he passes away. If the Luxemburgs are out then the Habsburgs might be in. After all, they had ambitions in the region, both Albert II and Rudolph IV. These are important allies, even if most of Hungary's strength is focused on Dusan.He can invade but if Serbia is actively at war against it means a major part of his army is tied down facing the Serbs. Now the Venetians weren't overtly well known for their strong armies but they did not win out the terrafirma by buying it...