“It is better to cure a sick man than to kill him.” A Northumbrian Survival Timeline

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That evening the prone figure in the torn cassock lay gasping ever more hoarsely. The attending priest concluded his last rites. The dying man breathed stertorously on for a few minutes then shuddered and gave up his soul in one last, long sigh. His attendants crossed themselves sorrowfully. Young Father Imre began quietly to sob. The body was covered and carried out of the building to the Vatican. The crowd groaned as they saw the prone figure covered by the shroud.
 
The second priest
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    Two days later the haggard figure on the hospital bed stirred. One of the attendants said “he awakes. Hallelujah!” The prone figure groaned, looked around and gasped for liquid. Fr Istvan held up his head and helped him to sip some watered wine. The man thanked him and asked “Where is Fr Florian?”

    Fr Istvan replied “He died of the poison, your Holiness. You yourself have been in a coma for two days. Thank God you have awoken.”

    “Alas for my true friend, Fr Florian. We will say a requiem mass for him. The assassin?”

    “Slain, your holiness.”

    Stephen X shook his head feebly and said “We will pray for his soul!”

    Later in the Spring, the Pope excommunicated the Medici family and defrocked Cardinal Medici. The cardinal refused to accept this pronouncement and called for the Pope to be deposed. The Medici then prepared for all-out war. They received no support from anyone and the ultras quietly distanced themselves. Cardinal Rodriguez of Toledo began to lay claim to leadership of the faction.
     
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    • Colonna strikes
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    Bologna: Gianluca Colonna cursed the Venetian ambassador as he delivered his Prince’s declaration of war. Colonna’s occupation of Faenza had alarmed the great trading city and threatened its hold on Ravenna. Nonetheless, he pressed ahead with his military advance. He fought the Venetians at Forli, but was checked in his advance and unable to overcome the Venetian defences. He countered with raids and a war of attrition throughout the Spring while he gathered condottiere.
     
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    • An Italian postscript
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    Savoia: Philippe of Provence invaded Nizza early in the Spring and overran the entire hinterland behind the port city defeating the small forces arrayed against him. Then the cannon were brought into position and pounded the city walls. The bombardment was devastatingly effective. When Philippe’s troops assaulted the breaches, they swiftly seized them and stormed into the city. By morning resistance had ended and Nizza was in French hands. Philippe was ecstatic at the capture of the small, but strategically important County of Nice and promptly declared himself ruler. He consolidated his position there politically and militarily in May and June.
     
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    • Spring 1532 in French affairs
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    Strasbourg: The Duc de Maine once again led his forces against Metz. Numerous scouts deployed around the column and bodyguards protected the military leaders tightly. The supply train had a double watch. This time there would be no chances taken which would allow the heretic fanatics a victory. Nonetheless, the scouts soon ran into ambushing parties. The first bridge exploded under the vanguard. Attrition began to nibble at scouts and the vanguard alike though the Elders of God too took their losses. But the Radicals saw their deaths as glorious ascents to heavenly reward whereas French morale was fragile after their previous campaigns. Though the French commander had forbidden reprisals, he was soon powerless to prevent them and faced with a conspiracy of silence in the midst of them. He soon gave up hanging soldiers for it. Morale was bad enough. For all the attrition though there was little the Elders of God could do with their limited numbers to prevent the French from reaching Strasbourg once again. The site of their camp was wholly new and several attempts to raid it or bomb it were frustrated. Soon, the Duke was able to deploy his artillery and begin his bombardment of the city. It was long. The Elders of God frequently resorted to nighttime sorties, but none succeeded in breaking into the well-fortified camp. Still, French casualties continued to rise. But the city held.

    France: The political balance continues to rest on a fine edge, but the truce held. The regent’s brother and deputy, Armand, was irritated that his brother of Provence had won Nizza while his own family were making only slow progress at Strasbourg. All eyes were on the city and much would depend on the outcome of the siege. Gabriel D’Annebault set sail with two ships in the early Spring and crossed the Atlantic without incident. But he was ordered out of the sea of many islands by the Spanish governor whose strong squadron enforced his wish. D’Annebault sailed north and soon came to the mighty landmass. It seemed rather far south for Vinland, but he persevered and the weather in time became less warm. By June, he was in more northerly climes. Then, alas, the Rose of Nantes struck shoals and was irreparably damaged. The sailors soon had to make landfall to alleviate the crowding on the remaining ship and desperately to seek supplies.
     
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