This was unexpected. How did Bringas manage to let the situation slip out of his hands like that ? He was the commander of all those soldiers after all, the man who took them to victory. Is there any precedent for this IOTL ?
Hmmm. Remember that Bringas is an old man, who's perhaps a little naive about how these things work. He's not had the opportunity (or indeed seen the need) to do much to win the loyalty of the diverse contingents of men under his control, in the way that his junior commanders have taken pains to do. George of Genoa happened to be the man in the right place at the right time to do that, but there'll be trouble for the new Emperor: there is still Theodore Evagoras to deal with, for one thing, plus the Doukai.
Magnum said:
this felt a bit repetitive:
Indeed. Amended now, thanks for pointing this out!
Nice update as always. So was Ani sacked when it was captured? How is the rest of Armenia at the moment?
No, Ani was not sacked: Smbat portrayed his entry as a liberation. Most of Armenia remains under princelings and native governors, but the majority of these swear loyalty to the Emperor in Constantinople. Over the past few decades Smbat has gradually chipped away at these, to the extent that his domain has more or less doubled in size from the 1130s.
Great update, nice to see you back again.
Thanks!
That was a hell of an update. Muslims attacking, heresies forming, generals being castrated - this is the IE we've all come to know and love. Also, I knew the battle was going to be between Smbat and an Imperial general, but I was stumped as to which Imperial general.
Well, you say that now...
I have enjoyed writing about Smbat as a character: the wily survivor who takes on and wins repeatedly against the great powers. In many ways I based him on Mithridates of Pontus, a man Smbat probably sees as his natural forebear. Roupen II cannot be anything but a shadow of his father, but he's nonetheless an able man who's been brought up well by Smbat. The question for the Armenians is whether they'll be able to maintain their precarious independence with their great warrior prince gone?
I would imagine that in later centuries in the IE-verse Smbat will be a major folk hero comparable to Robin Hood or Joan of Arc IOTL.