alternatehistory.com
3. Two Collapse to the Benefit of One
Upon his ascension in 763, Valtunk seemed to have a fairly straightforward path laid out ahead of him in the form of his fathers proven strategies. However by 767 the mere continued existence of Carantania was in question.
When discussing the Impairment[1] a few key social matters must first be outlined.
1. The slow process of adopting Christianity: the pagan revolt of 758 was far from conclusive, and there remained large pagan populations throughout Carantania and Carniola.
2. The expansion into Upper Pannonia brought in large numbers of additional Slavic pagans.
3. The weakening of the Avar Kaghanate had to lead Slavic de-facto sub-states forming in western Pannonia.
4. As the Avar raiders began looking elsewhere, the levy that the King could muster was allowed to shrink.
Despite this, the first years of Valtunk’s reign were generally peaceful, and as the Via Gemina came back into use eastern transalpine trade began to pick up to a degree not seen since the fall of Rome in the west. To any observer at the time the Impairment would have happened suddenly and without warning. Nonetheless on the night of June 4th 767 the count of Ljubljana[2], a Christian, was assassinated. As word spread a general revolt by the adherents of the old way took shape. The revolt in the duchies of Carantania and Carniola was subdued with with some hardship even though much of the ruling class and a good portion of the population was Christianized. The frontier regions on the other hand proved much more difficult, though nonetheless progress was being made.
That changed when the rebels made contact with Posavski, a warlord who controlled the most powerful of the aforementioned Slavic de-facto substates. Records of the event claim that he was a charismatic leader who wanted to liberate the Slavs of Carantania from their concubinage to the Italians. He ambushed the forces of Valtunk on the west bank of the Drava, and upon their rout initiated the invasion of Carniola. In a series of battles his forces proved superior to both frontier defenses[3] and the levies of the king and his counts. By 768 Posavski controlled most of the country side and was besieging Ljubliana castle while Valtunk retreated to Carnium.
The defense of Ljubljana fell to no less a man then Julius di Verona, a merchant who had served in Legio I Veronica during Hotimir’s campaign against the Avars and had been tasked with leading the “legion” to Valtunk’s aid. Upon hearing news of Valtunk’s most recent defeat he gave orders to his men to make camp on the hill east of the castle and only attack if they saw smoke rising from the city. He then proceeded to ride ahead with only some cavalrymen to Ljubljana, where he hastily prepared a defense of the earth and wood castle that over looked the boomtown.
Posavski’s army was not well equipped for a siege, and was especially worried by the fact that the first snows had begun to fall, perhaps it is for this reason that he was so eager to claim victory when Julius made a show of burning the crosses of the castle’s chapel and throwing open the gates. Julius also took care to craft an elaborate ceremony of surrendering the city to keep Posavski occupied for over an hour while his men crossed the river and marched up the hill to the castle. A messenger ran up the hill to alert Posavski of the new army they were about to give battle to, however they found the gate firmly shut and the walls once again manned by the castle’s garrison. Those who had gone into the castle to accept the surrender were either dead, or tied up as hostages as Posavski was.
Posavski accepting the surrender of Ljubljana.
The Pagan army pinned between a manned fortress and a smaller army took its chances with the army and the most senior chieftain who had not gone to accept the surrender organized a quick charge, and much to their displeasure found that the men of Verona maintained their dense shield wall and expertly folded back their flanks to counter the broader front presented by their enemies’ larger number. The battle progressed and the Veronese continued to hold, until suddenly the pagan forces collapsed into a general rout, Julius had lead the garrison in a sally.
When news of the victory reached Valtunk he is reported to have broken into tears, regardless of the validity of this claim he was composed enough to make for Ljubljana where he congratulated Julius on his accomplishment and made preparation for the next year’s campaign season.
The first matter of preparation was levying new troops, which of course requires negotiations with the nobles loyal to Valtunk, and more cleverly a proclamation praising the city of Verona, which sufficiently miffed the cities of Padua and Treviso that their merchant ministries established their own legions, Patrizia and Tiziana respectively [4]. The other matter was preparing for peace, and Valtunk had a number of subjects sent to Italy to become priests, theorizing that them being fully fluent in the native tongue and able to better relate to the Slavic way of life would make them more capable of gaining converts.
Troops took time to prepare and as a result it was summer before the campaign season began in earnest, and much of the season was spent in Carniola. Notably Valtunk increasingly differed to Julius on military manners. As the royal army began pushing into the frontier regions they noticed a disturbing trend, Avar horsemen were increasingly being found amongst the ranks of the enemy. This fact was not wasted, and rumours of an impending Avar invasion were intentionally spread, discrediting the pagan cause, pressuring stuborn nobles to lend their levies more freely, and hastening the deployment of the Padovani and Trevisani legions.
None the less the Avar threat turned out to be all too real, as during the campaign season of 770 the King’s army was confronted with an almost exclusively Avar force which proved “easy” to route yet immensely difficult to actually destroy.
To the north east of the kingdom’s boundary near the fortress of Vindobona they were finally able to catch the Avar force trying to cross the Danube near the Lobau, having been refused entry to the fortress that was supposedly tributary to them. Durring the battle the legions made up the center and flanks of the royal army of 12,000 and unlike Aistulf they succeeded in driving their foe into the river.
From this point forward the campaign takes a much more aggressive and morbid turn. The army advanced from the northwest, penetrating deep into Pannonia. By this time the Avars were imploding from revolts and a power struggle within the Avar tribe. The result was that few battles of any note were to be had, and much of the land the army advanced into had already been plundered, many soldiers took out their frustrations on the populations they encountered, a popular tactic being to present their banner (depicting the burning cross of Ljubljana), and to immediately kill any who did not make the sign of the cross, a test that surely many Christians would have failed as well. The collapse of the Avar confederation was made terminal when the army fell upon the Ring of the Avars, which was taken after a quick siege aided by craftsmen from Padua in 774.
Following this triumph it had become apparent that Valtunk would be the new master of Pannonia a group of lesser Avar notables under a man name Bayan came forward to offer their fealty to the King. Posavski, who had converted by this point of his imprisonment, was also eager to swear allegiance to the King in order to reclaim his Pannonian territory. As a result the king and his massive army was no longer needed, as the kings vassals were now capable of handling what remained of organized resistance in Pannonia. With that the King embarked west to prepare for peace and the bitter pill it meant for him.
----
[1] A term used to refer to the revolt and the decentralization of power that it caused (it was the impairment of royal power).
[2] Built on the former site of Emona, it was a “boom town” that had started to develop at the terminus of the Via Gemina.
[3] The blockhouse-esque things I detailed in the previous part.
[4] Confusingly both were also designated “Legio I”.
Seal returns from his exile of many moons
So… I guess the Avars were conquered. Next update will detail the aftermath and implications of that, God knows it’s desperately needed as it goes without saying that this is about as huge as it gets. I’ll also be sure to include a section on the “legions”, since they played such a prominent role in this conflict and I'll also make a new map (for obvious reasons). After that I’ll finally get around to showing how the rest of the world is responding to these pterodactyls butterflies.
As always, please viciously chew me out if I made a mistake.
When discussing the Impairment[1] a few key social matters must first be outlined.
1. The slow process of adopting Christianity: the pagan revolt of 758 was far from conclusive, and there remained large pagan populations throughout Carantania and Carniola.
2. The expansion into Upper Pannonia brought in large numbers of additional Slavic pagans.
3. The weakening of the Avar Kaghanate had to lead Slavic de-facto sub-states forming in western Pannonia.
4. As the Avar raiders began looking elsewhere, the levy that the King could muster was allowed to shrink.
Despite this, the first years of Valtunk’s reign were generally peaceful, and as the Via Gemina came back into use eastern transalpine trade began to pick up to a degree not seen since the fall of Rome in the west. To any observer at the time the Impairment would have happened suddenly and without warning. Nonetheless on the night of June 4th 767 the count of Ljubljana[2], a Christian, was assassinated. As word spread a general revolt by the adherents of the old way took shape. The revolt in the duchies of Carantania and Carniola was subdued with with some hardship even though much of the ruling class and a good portion of the population was Christianized. The frontier regions on the other hand proved much more difficult, though nonetheless progress was being made.
That changed when the rebels made contact with Posavski, a warlord who controlled the most powerful of the aforementioned Slavic de-facto substates. Records of the event claim that he was a charismatic leader who wanted to liberate the Slavs of Carantania from their concubinage to the Italians. He ambushed the forces of Valtunk on the west bank of the Drava, and upon their rout initiated the invasion of Carniola. In a series of battles his forces proved superior to both frontier defenses[3] and the levies of the king and his counts. By 768 Posavski controlled most of the country side and was besieging Ljubliana castle while Valtunk retreated to Carnium.
The defense of Ljubljana fell to no less a man then Julius di Verona, a merchant who had served in Legio I Veronica during Hotimir’s campaign against the Avars and had been tasked with leading the “legion” to Valtunk’s aid. Upon hearing news of Valtunk’s most recent defeat he gave orders to his men to make camp on the hill east of the castle and only attack if they saw smoke rising from the city. He then proceeded to ride ahead with only some cavalrymen to Ljubljana, where he hastily prepared a defense of the earth and wood castle that over looked the boomtown.
Posavski’s army was not well equipped for a siege, and was especially worried by the fact that the first snows had begun to fall, perhaps it is for this reason that he was so eager to claim victory when Julius made a show of burning the crosses of the castle’s chapel and throwing open the gates. Julius also took care to craft an elaborate ceremony of surrendering the city to keep Posavski occupied for over an hour while his men crossed the river and marched up the hill to the castle. A messenger ran up the hill to alert Posavski of the new army they were about to give battle to, however they found the gate firmly shut and the walls once again manned by the castle’s garrison. Those who had gone into the castle to accept the surrender were either dead, or tied up as hostages as Posavski was.
Posavski accepting the surrender of Ljubljana.
The Pagan army pinned between a manned fortress and a smaller army took its chances with the army and the most senior chieftain who had not gone to accept the surrender organized a quick charge, and much to their displeasure found that the men of Verona maintained their dense shield wall and expertly folded back their flanks to counter the broader front presented by their enemies’ larger number. The battle progressed and the Veronese continued to hold, until suddenly the pagan forces collapsed into a general rout, Julius had lead the garrison in a sally.
When news of the victory reached Valtunk he is reported to have broken into tears, regardless of the validity of this claim he was composed enough to make for Ljubljana where he congratulated Julius on his accomplishment and made preparation for the next year’s campaign season.
The first matter of preparation was levying new troops, which of course requires negotiations with the nobles loyal to Valtunk, and more cleverly a proclamation praising the city of Verona, which sufficiently miffed the cities of Padua and Treviso that their merchant ministries established their own legions, Patrizia and Tiziana respectively [4]. The other matter was preparing for peace, and Valtunk had a number of subjects sent to Italy to become priests, theorizing that them being fully fluent in the native tongue and able to better relate to the Slavic way of life would make them more capable of gaining converts.
Troops took time to prepare and as a result it was summer before the campaign season began in earnest, and much of the season was spent in Carniola. Notably Valtunk increasingly differed to Julius on military manners. As the royal army began pushing into the frontier regions they noticed a disturbing trend, Avar horsemen were increasingly being found amongst the ranks of the enemy. This fact was not wasted, and rumours of an impending Avar invasion were intentionally spread, discrediting the pagan cause, pressuring stuborn nobles to lend their levies more freely, and hastening the deployment of the Padovani and Trevisani legions.
None the less the Avar threat turned out to be all too real, as during the campaign season of 770 the King’s army was confronted with an almost exclusively Avar force which proved “easy” to route yet immensely difficult to actually destroy.
To the north east of the kingdom’s boundary near the fortress of Vindobona they were finally able to catch the Avar force trying to cross the Danube near the Lobau, having been refused entry to the fortress that was supposedly tributary to them. Durring the battle the legions made up the center and flanks of the royal army of 12,000 and unlike Aistulf they succeeded in driving their foe into the river.
From this point forward the campaign takes a much more aggressive and morbid turn. The army advanced from the northwest, penetrating deep into Pannonia. By this time the Avars were imploding from revolts and a power struggle within the Avar tribe. The result was that few battles of any note were to be had, and much of the land the army advanced into had already been plundered, many soldiers took out their frustrations on the populations they encountered, a popular tactic being to present their banner (depicting the burning cross of Ljubljana), and to immediately kill any who did not make the sign of the cross, a test that surely many Christians would have failed as well. The collapse of the Avar confederation was made terminal when the army fell upon the Ring of the Avars, which was taken after a quick siege aided by craftsmen from Padua in 774.
Following this triumph it had become apparent that Valtunk would be the new master of Pannonia a group of lesser Avar notables under a man name Bayan came forward to offer their fealty to the King. Posavski, who had converted by this point of his imprisonment, was also eager to swear allegiance to the King in order to reclaim his Pannonian territory. As a result the king and his massive army was no longer needed, as the kings vassals were now capable of handling what remained of organized resistance in Pannonia. With that the King embarked west to prepare for peace and the bitter pill it meant for him.
----
[1] A term used to refer to the revolt and the decentralization of power that it caused (it was the impairment of royal power).
[2] Built on the former site of Emona, it was a “boom town” that had started to develop at the terminus of the Via Gemina.
[3] The blockhouse-esque things I detailed in the previous part.
[4] Confusingly both were also designated “Legio I”.
Seal returns from his exile of many moons
So… I guess the Avars were conquered. Next update will detail the aftermath and implications of that, God knows it’s desperately needed as it goes without saying that this is about as huge as it gets. I’ll also be sure to include a section on the “legions”, since they played such a prominent role in this conflict and I'll also make a new map (for obvious reasons). After that I’ll finally get around to showing how the rest of the world is responding to these pterodactyls butterflies.
As always, please viciously chew me out if I made a mistake.
- SealTheRealDeal
- Word Count: 1.5k