The Timeline Without A Name
(Because I don’t know what to call it)
By AmericanAdam
(Because I don’t know what to call it)
By AmericanAdam
Just going to put some notes in here. The POD of the timeline is the foundation of the von Rot dynasty, which, despite being the overthrowing of an extremely minor title, has huge butterflies that ripple all over the world. Also, the general idea of this timeline is basically nonexistent, so I shall come up with ideas as we go, and also try taking as many of you guys' ideas!
Part 1 - Introduction
The tale of the von Rot dynasty has its origins in the countryside surrounding Zurich, Winterthur, and Kloten. These three cities bred an isolated lifestyle, similar to much of the rest of "Switzerland", or the land in between Burgundy and Tirol. The citizens of the various cities stayed tucked away within the walls, feeling safe. However, on the outer regions of the walls, there were still farmers and laborers. Among these were the Rots, who were serfs that remained on their master's soil, farming and the like. It stayed much like this for the von Rot children for many years. However, in the Holy Roman Empire, in the little county of Schwyz, on the fields of Gottschalk Wigmar's manor, in the year 900, the many peasants of the manor had been making conversation over the lowering rewards they had gotten for working there. The most militant of the peasantry, in accordance with the history of our dynasty, was Wilfried von Rot. Over the course of several days, Wilfried organized an open rebellion, which would utilize their personal farm tools. Plans were made to organize at the back of the home of Gottschalk's house at around 3 AM, and begin setting up ladders and makeshift siege weapons. Wilfried had a whole lot of expertise in the field of strategy, and war. He had learned much of this by sitting, and watching battles occur between the various counts fighting for titles and the like.
Finally, the day had come for organized rebellion. Wilfried marched to the back of the castle undetected with his allies, as planned. By dawn, everything was set up, and the plans began. Peasants flooded into the windows of the castle from the ladders, and Gottschalk was killed in the chaos. His few guards were also overwhelmed, most being stabbed to death with rusty scythes, and others being thrown off the roof. Finally, the entire manor had been cleared, and that evening, the peasants all celebrated their great victory with a feast from the noble's food supply. They decided their new leader would be Wilfried himself, the one who had organized the rebellion. The von Rots had just been catapulted to a title. So began the von Roth Dynasty.
Part 2: The New Leadership
Now, not all that has gone differently in this world is related to southern Germany, many other changes shall happen.
But, for now, we will focus on our friends in Zurich. Wilfried’s somewhat benevolent rule has begun, in the year of 900 A.D. He passed some small reforms lifting taxes somewhat on his new subjects, and began policies of militarization. He had plans for his land holdings. The city that grew around his manor, which originally was deemed so small it didn’t have a name, now bore the name “Rotenberg”. His plans, anyway, were to attack the neighboring city of Kloten, which was chaotic at the moment, due to civil unrest. He established a regiment of about 150 men, who were given basic training and were allowed to continue their lives as usual when not at war.
In his personal life, he had recently reached the age of 35. Friends described him as “friendly to people who don’t dislike him, but hateful towards his enemies”. His policies were somewhat outwardly hostile, except to the few who he liked, and whose policies he agreed with. He worked a lot on developing the land within his holdings, putting a lot of money into defenses for the manor. However, he still had to pay his tax every once and a while to the count of Schwyz. And with this, all was well in Rotenberg, as Wilfried prepared for war with his neighbors in order to gain more land and power. In 904, war would begin between the two cities of Rotenberg and Kloten. The two armies of the cities finally met on the battlefield. Rotenberg had 150 undersupplied men, albeit, but they were tremendously trained for combat. Kloten, on the other hand, had somewhat better supplied men, but they were mostly peasants from the country who had absolutely no knowledge of combat. It was made up of around 125 soldiers. Both sides had no cavalry or archers.
The ensuing fight was quite the bloodbath. Each side slaughtered the other, but in the end, the Rosenberger regiment was able to effectively supply their right flank enough to surround the enemies on 3 sides, killing most of the enemy soldiers. The losses of Rotenberg were still heavy, though, at only 102 surviving soldiers. Kloten took far higher losses, however. They had only 33 remaining soldiers, who surrendered the city, finally. The new leadership finally brought stability to the city, which was suffering from revolts and civil unrest. The winning of the “First War” was celebrated magnificently in Rotenberg, which now integrated the city of Kloten into greater Rotenberg. However, an event that would soon happen would further catapult the von Rots to power.
The county of Zurichgau was a vassal of duke Erchanger, in the newly created “Duchy of Swabia”. Its current ruler, Udalrich I, was aging in 914. He had no children, and was unable to procreate due to a… problem. This led to a dynastical issue, in which he didn’t have an heir. Various nobles of Zurichgau had contested for the rank. Among them was good ol’ Wilfried. He began getting lots of support due to his younger age, and his many children. With this, he was brought forward to the forefront of the succession. He grew his military power, primarily via his newfound allies supporting him. When the time was right, he finally assembled his full regiment and began leading them. His army marched into the capital, Zurich, taking control of the government. He was celebrated by the nobles of the land. With this, the von Rot dynasty expanded their land holdings significantly. Now, he also had children of his own at 37 years old. His first child is a 12 year old boy, his second is a 10 year old girl, another 7 year old girl, and finally a 2 year old boy. The 12 year old’s name is Wilfried, the first girl’s name is Adolfa, the second’s name is Ishilde, and the 2 year old boy’s name is Archibald. All was well in the dynasty, and succession was guaranteed. Things in Zurichgau stayed much the same for many years. Many, many years.
This is a bit different from what I usually do for timelines, and YES I KNOW I HAVE OTHER TIMELINES RUNNING IT'S A BAD HABIT! Thank you, any constructive criticism is, as always, very helpful!
Update coming late tonight or tomorrow!