I am about to post a substantial update on Italy. Later in the week, Klio volente, I will add an update about Strasbourg, France and Germany. I haven't yet written the latter, but can promise high drama.
“It is better to cure a sick man than to kill him.” A Northumbrian Survival Timeline
- Thread starter clem attlee
- Start date
Summer 1532 in Italy: Resolutions
Summer 1532:
Campania: Umberto, Prince of Campania marched against the lords Teano and Morcone, dividing his forces. He led the forces against Teano and personally stormed the walls of the town. The garrison died bravely and the lord fell in battle. His family was spared, but disinherited and exiled. Vincenzo Galmarini became the new lord. He was a cadet son of one of Umberto’s personal knights. Meanwhile, the siege of the formidable castle at Morcone took longer. But an ambitious squire betrayed the town to Umberto’s lieutenant Raimondo de Monte Albano after two months of attrition. Morcone’s lord was executed. Once again, a trusted member of the Prince’s court became the new lord of Morcone. Umberto took care to spare the towns from the worst excesses of a sack in order to secure his position in the principality yet further. By mid August of 1532, the Prince defeated the three rebellions, but too little time remained to march on Calabria once again.
Latium and Tuscany: Stephen X blessed the army of the Principality of Latium as it marched out of Rome to give battle to the renewed Medici invasion. Aegidio Sforza led his soldiers personally. They marched rapidly to the Tuscan border making use of the supply depots that the quartermasters had collected just beforehand. Prince Giovanni and Cardinal Ettore Medici were encamped just across the border. They were unprepared for this sudden ascent. Not all of their forces had yet arrived. On 2nd July, Prince Aegidio led his army to force a battle. The Medici could not afford to ignore the challenge. Their troops were hurried out of their tents and sent into battle without breakfast. Cardinal Ettore led the right wing, armoured and with his attendants bearing a fragment of the true cross and the banner of the Archangel Michael. Prince Giovanni held the centre with strong reserves. The opening cannonade caused heavy casualties on both sides. Prince Aegidio then probed tentatively at the Tuscan left. After some initial success with cavalry, Sforza committed infantry and pushed back the weaker flank before him. This led the Cardinal to advance against his other wing. The Tuscan assault faltered quickly as the tired and dispirited troops began to take casualties. But they retreated again in good order. Prince Giovanni then committed his reserves to his Left in an attempt to stem its retreat. The Latins in their turn were halted and the fighting turned into a dogged, inconclusive slog. Unobtrusively, Prince Aegidio withdrew from his Right and led three regiments of horse behind his lines to the opposite wing. There they charged rapidly against Cardinal Medici’s personal troops. Infantry followed in their wake. The Prince and his knights sought out the Cardinal personally and the two entourages engaged in a deadly duel while the cavalry around them breached the line of the supporting Tuscan infantry. Suddenly, the Tuscan morale broke and the Cardinal was encircled. He fought with determined and dogged bravery but was struck down with his whole entourage. The Latins then wheeled against the centre, now deprived of its reserves and hit it hard, curving around its rear. As morning turned into afternoon, the Tuscans were slowly pushed back and ground down. Surrounded now on three sides, the army finally retreated after the capture of Prince Giovanni by Prince Aegidio himself. Tuscany lost two thirds of its forces for a quarter of the Latin Army. The victory was total. Wealthy Tuscany paid a heavy price to ransom its Prince. The cities began to assert their independence thereafter which further weakened the Medici. They played little part in Italian affairs for the rest of the decade.
Bologna: Gianluca Colonna too staked all on a pitched battle at Forli against Venice and the hastily gathered forces of leaderless Romagna. His large army fought hard and bravely in the battle. For three days the Venetians and the men of Romagna held against aggressive assaults. Though they were outnumbered, their strong defensive positions allowed them to inflict notable casualties. By the third day, they had decimated Colonna’s officers. The great back-breaking charge struck the defensive positions at 3 p.m. Small groups of soldiers began to penetrate Venetian lines here and there. Then the tide turned as the defenders committed their last reserves. Cavalry swept around the flanks and turned them after brutal melee. At 4 p.m. Gianluca Colonna fell from his horse wounded and the rout began. One of his own men slew him as he lay broken in revenge for his father’s death in the night of the festivities. Bologna rejoiced quietly at the death of its tyrant. His son Aufidio Postumo was born a month later. His mother held a regency for him but heeded the counsel of the city fathers. Peace was made with Venice.
Rome: In September as the Summer heat was beginning to abate, Stephen X knelt in prayer mourning the dead of Europe but rejoicing at the decisive turn of events in Italy as war began to recede. He allowed himself to contemplate a possible future path for peace and reconciliation. He began to see the possibility of the church reforming itself as the servant not the mistress of Christendom, championing the weak against the strong feeding the poor and healing the sick. Suddenly, the sun blazed through the chapel windows in a golden halo filling Pope Stephen with exaltation. His heart stopped and his soul rose aloft. Bitterly did the people of Rome grieve their new champion. Greatly did the Ultras rejoice the death of their erstwhile leader.
Savoia: Philippe of Provence left a holding force to maintain his siege against Monaco. The principality was holding out stoutly. He marched north and took Imperial forces by surprise around Chambery and Aix les Bains. In a rapid campaign, he seized the towns and took control of the surrounding countryside. His successes added lustre to a growing military reputation. In truth though the opposition he faced was small as the German Empire had withdrawn many troops to reinforce more beleaguered fronts.
Campania: Umberto, Prince of Campania marched against the lords Teano and Morcone, dividing his forces. He led the forces against Teano and personally stormed the walls of the town. The garrison died bravely and the lord fell in battle. His family was spared, but disinherited and exiled. Vincenzo Galmarini became the new lord. He was a cadet son of one of Umberto’s personal knights. Meanwhile, the siege of the formidable castle at Morcone took longer. But an ambitious squire betrayed the town to Umberto’s lieutenant Raimondo de Monte Albano after two months of attrition. Morcone’s lord was executed. Once again, a trusted member of the Prince’s court became the new lord of Morcone. Umberto took care to spare the towns from the worst excesses of a sack in order to secure his position in the principality yet further. By mid August of 1532, the Prince defeated the three rebellions, but too little time remained to march on Calabria once again.
Latium and Tuscany: Stephen X blessed the army of the Principality of Latium as it marched out of Rome to give battle to the renewed Medici invasion. Aegidio Sforza led his soldiers personally. They marched rapidly to the Tuscan border making use of the supply depots that the quartermasters had collected just beforehand. Prince Giovanni and Cardinal Ettore Medici were encamped just across the border. They were unprepared for this sudden ascent. Not all of their forces had yet arrived. On 2nd July, Prince Aegidio led his army to force a battle. The Medici could not afford to ignore the challenge. Their troops were hurried out of their tents and sent into battle without breakfast. Cardinal Ettore led the right wing, armoured and with his attendants bearing a fragment of the true cross and the banner of the Archangel Michael. Prince Giovanni held the centre with strong reserves. The opening cannonade caused heavy casualties on both sides. Prince Aegidio then probed tentatively at the Tuscan left. After some initial success with cavalry, Sforza committed infantry and pushed back the weaker flank before him. This led the Cardinal to advance against his other wing. The Tuscan assault faltered quickly as the tired and dispirited troops began to take casualties. But they retreated again in good order. Prince Giovanni then committed his reserves to his Left in an attempt to stem its retreat. The Latins in their turn were halted and the fighting turned into a dogged, inconclusive slog. Unobtrusively, Prince Aegidio withdrew from his Right and led three regiments of horse behind his lines to the opposite wing. There they charged rapidly against Cardinal Medici’s personal troops. Infantry followed in their wake. The Prince and his knights sought out the Cardinal personally and the two entourages engaged in a deadly duel while the cavalry around them breached the line of the supporting Tuscan infantry. Suddenly, the Tuscan morale broke and the Cardinal was encircled. He fought with determined and dogged bravery but was struck down with his whole entourage. The Latins then wheeled against the centre, now deprived of its reserves and hit it hard, curving around its rear. As morning turned into afternoon, the Tuscans were slowly pushed back and ground down. Surrounded now on three sides, the army finally retreated after the capture of Prince Giovanni by Prince Aegidio himself. Tuscany lost two thirds of its forces for a quarter of the Latin Army. The victory was total. Wealthy Tuscany paid a heavy price to ransom its Prince. The cities began to assert their independence thereafter which further weakened the Medici. They played little part in Italian affairs for the rest of the decade.
Bologna: Gianluca Colonna too staked all on a pitched battle at Forli against Venice and the hastily gathered forces of leaderless Romagna. His large army fought hard and bravely in the battle. For three days the Venetians and the men of Romagna held against aggressive assaults. Though they were outnumbered, their strong defensive positions allowed them to inflict notable casualties. By the third day, they had decimated Colonna’s officers. The great back-breaking charge struck the defensive positions at 3 p.m. Small groups of soldiers began to penetrate Venetian lines here and there. Then the tide turned as the defenders committed their last reserves. Cavalry swept around the flanks and turned them after brutal melee. At 4 p.m. Gianluca Colonna fell from his horse wounded and the rout began. One of his own men slew him as he lay broken in revenge for his father’s death in the night of the festivities. Bologna rejoiced quietly at the death of its tyrant. His son Aufidio Postumo was born a month later. His mother held a regency for him but heeded the counsel of the city fathers. Peace was made with Venice.
Rome: In September as the Summer heat was beginning to abate, Stephen X knelt in prayer mourning the dead of Europe but rejoicing at the decisive turn of events in Italy as war began to recede. He allowed himself to contemplate a possible future path for peace and reconciliation. He began to see the possibility of the church reforming itself as the servant not the mistress of Christendom, championing the weak against the strong feeding the poor and healing the sick. Suddenly, the sun blazed through the chapel windows in a golden halo filling Pope Stephen with exaltation. His heart stopped and his soul rose aloft. Bitterly did the people of Rome grieve their new champion. Greatly did the Ultras rejoice the death of their erstwhile leader.
Savoia: Philippe of Provence left a holding force to maintain his siege against Monaco. The principality was holding out stoutly. He marched north and took Imperial forces by surprise around Chambery and Aix les Bains. In a rapid campaign, he seized the towns and took control of the surrounding countryside. His successes added lustre to a growing military reputation. In truth though the opposition he faced was small as the German Empire had withdrawn many troops to reinforce more beleaguered fronts.
I just marked eighty midterm essays in two days - about three more hours off my time in Purgatory - and should now be able to update very soon, assuming that Alternate Klio smiles on me.
RodentRevolution
Banned
Well I am looking forwards to more of this, also good to know you have survived your marking Tartarus.
Any reactions to the death of Stephen X? His 10% chance of snuffing it finally came through.
RodentRevolution
Banned
Yes, I had been rooting for him to go on a bit longer. Be interesting to see how well the Roman factions hold together without him.
As had I. Well, the Conclave will be fascinating. The only thing I can guarantee is that the next Pope won't be Magyar.
The fateful day
Strasbourg/Strassburg: The French army had finally broken large breaches into the walls of Calvin’s Evangelical redoubt. The Duc de Maine finally saw victory approaching and ordered his troops to ready for a massive assault on the morrow. The Elders of God launched a massive raid that night but were decimated. Calvin whipped up his troops to fanatical devotion in the dawn light. They would conquer the French or become martyrs in heaven. The day would decide. Then the French artillery opened fire one last time. Dust and masonry choked the defenders as the French assault troops moved quickly forward. Then …
Well, I was too tired to write much, but wanted to put something up. Any guesses on the cliffhanger?
Just trying to recall the 'history' - I forget which side of the Franco-German border Strasburg is but iirc Calvinism gets suppressed 100 odd years after this point so this seems a bit too early... unless the creation of a city of martyrs gives their evangelism an injection... but that seems to obvious and now I'm just double guessing myself.
OK, my guess Strasburg wiped out.
If memory serves, Louis XIV seized it after a bloody sack in 1680s. It was imperial before that. My Calvin is much more radical and violent than otl. Think Protestant Taliban. I have a dramatic update planned with a twist. I hope that it will be plausible though. My readers are welcome to comment on that.
Strassburg
Then, a dusty and disheveled French officer galloped up to the Duc de Maine. “Your Grace, an army approaches. They are Imperials.” The Regent of France groaned and ordered most of his army to reposition itself. But the assault on the breaches continued. The battle that followed was brutal and stubborn. It ebbed and flowed thrice before the army of the Emperor finally thrust the French back from the walls. The French commander met his death with open eyes at the end of the battle, determined not to live through a second such humiliation.
Karl IV rode to the breaches in joy at this personal victory. His guard accompanied him into poor starved and battered Strassburg. The French had laid waste much of the city before being ejected. Calvin himself was dead they said. Well, at least he wouldn’t have to be suppressed. Just ahead was a small knot of austere and bloodied soldiers.
Colonel Willibrord looked up to see the elderly officer ride up. Another godless heretic he growled at the sturdy figure beside him. Damn the Papists and damn the Lutherans. They’ll all burn. He was one of the last of the Elders of God. Joachim Vogel had ascended to his heavenly reward earlier that day impaled by a French pike-man. His sergeant suddenly bowed before the emperor and red fury seized the Zealot. Colonel Willibrord Schlegel raised his pistol at the spawn of Satan and destroyed it. As His Imperial majesty, Karl IV, fell to his death, Sergeant Klaus Vorster thrust the assassin back and ran him through with his sword. Neither man survived. Strassberg drowned in blood that night. The Elders of God and their followers were largely slaughtered. Few survived to form the basis of a despised and clandestine cult. Elders, Anabaptists and all such heterodox groups were hanged over the next decades.
Karl IV rode to the breaches in joy at this personal victory. His guard accompanied him into poor starved and battered Strassburg. The French had laid waste much of the city before being ejected. Calvin himself was dead they said. Well, at least he wouldn’t have to be suppressed. Just ahead was a small knot of austere and bloodied soldiers.
Colonel Willibrord looked up to see the elderly officer ride up. Another godless heretic he growled at the sturdy figure beside him. Damn the Papists and damn the Lutherans. They’ll all burn. He was one of the last of the Elders of God. Joachim Vogel had ascended to his heavenly reward earlier that day impaled by a French pike-man. His sergeant suddenly bowed before the emperor and red fury seized the Zealot. Colonel Willibrord Schlegel raised his pistol at the spawn of Satan and destroyed it. As His Imperial majesty, Karl IV, fell to his death, Sergeant Klaus Vorster thrust the assassin back and ran him through with his sword. Neither man survived. Strassberg drowned in blood that night. The Elders of God and their followers were largely slaughtered. Few survived to form the basis of a despised and clandestine cult. Elders, Anabaptists and all such heterodox groups were hanged over the next decades.
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It has been a very busy and productive time with my monograph, but I'll try to write and post an update by this evening.
The Siege of Vienna
Vienna: Archduke von Frundsberg watched as the last designated stretch of wall fell. His Imperial troops then advanced against the Magyars and their Bohemian allies. The fighting lasted for days and progressed street by street. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, but civilians died in yet greater numbers. In the end though Frundsberg took the city and forced the surrender of the enemy forces. Wenceslaus IV and Prince Bela had both survived the fighting, but their forces were shattered. They became prisoners of the new Kaiser, Friedrich V. He began negotiations which would lead to a two year truce between League Forces and the Empire. After both kingdoms paid a ransom, their Heads of State went free and returned, chastened to their capitals.
Summer 1532 in France and Vinland
France: The eleven year old Henri IV had yet another new Regent, his ambitious uncle Philippe of Provence. After yet another disaster in Alsace-Lorraine and the defeat of other League forces, France was badly outnumbered. Philippe made peace with Friedrich V, giving up Metz in return for Imperial recognition of French control of Nice and Haute Savoie and the cession of the coast as far of Menton, including the Principality of Monaco. Neither side wanted peace in their hearts and soon plotted again for war, but current circumstances demanded it. Meanwhile, Gabriel D’Annebault was continuing to suffer ill fortune in his explorations. His overcrowded ship soon foundered just off the coast of North Vinland. The Captain and his men built a village as refuge but died in great numbers from disease and malnutrition. The last dozen married into the local Skraeling tribe and never saw Europe again.
RL still extremely busy, but I'd like to round this out and may manage an update this evening.