Well the first two short attempts failed miserably. This time here is my third attempt. Hope it is more plausible.
In the year 1262 Michael VIII Paleologos became emperor of the Romans. However the once mighty empire was but a mere shadow of its former self. Beset by Turks to the east, the Slavs of Bulgaria and Serbia to the north, the Sicilians and the Latins to the west and in Greece, the situation of the empire was indeed very bleak and hopeless. Michael realized he needed allies. He decided to gain the support of Hungary. On July of 1262 the ERE forged an alliance with the kingdom of Hungary. This was twofold, one it would counter the Slavic threat to the north, and two it would provide the Romans with an ally in the West. For Hungary It meant easier chance to establish control in Croatia and the eastern Balkans.
Next Michael engineered an alliance between Abaqua Khan of the Il-khanite by marrying Maria to the great Khan. The iikhan would help to keep the Turkic beyliks in check.
Michael knew the empire couldn’t face threats from all sides. Thus he decided to focus on one region at a time.
The Pope of Rome Urban IV had encouraged the west to take up arms against the Romans. He wanted the schism to end. But he had one enemy, HRE Manfried.
Manfried had always been a longtime enemy of Michael but in 1263 Michael sent envoys to Manfried. He argued that both sides had a lot in common. Although the two had been enemies both faced a common threat, the Pope of Rome. Michael promised to revoke all Roman claims in Sicily and recognize Manfried as the true Western Roman emperor. Manfried at this time had been wary of the increasing power of Charles, agreed. Thus peace was gained in the west temporarily. With the alliance between the HRE and the Roman Empire the Venetians did not dare try any invasions of the Romans The Pope, was outraged that his plans had been foiled.
Meanwhile Michael VIII paid 100 pounds of gold to Manfried in return for selling the province of Athens. Manfried accepted the deal, because with 100 pounds he could easily continue to fund his costly wars against the Papacy. However this act led to a great depletion of resources in the Roman treasury. Michael decided that the Roman generals were weak, so he personally led an army of 5000 Seljuk mercenaries and 10000 Roman troops to conquer Thessaly and Epirus. Epirus had been under the rule of the despot Michael II. Michael and his
brother John launched a two-fronted assault on Epirus. The Venetians intervened in favor of the epirots and declared war. Sadly the Venetians suffered a crushing defeat at the battle of Settepozi in the gulf of Naupolia the Venetian fleet was crushed by the Genoeans.
In 1264 at the battle of Makry Plagy the Epirot forces were destroyed. Unfortunately even with all the successes the Roman treasury was draining. Michael soon launched the final invasion. In 1264 after fierce fighting Epirus fell to the Romans and the despot Michael was killed. Epirus was completely looted and sacked for gold. With the gold taken from Epirus Michael paid off the Turks. You see the Turks had fought for no pay so far and were contemplating on withdrawing their services but Michael promised them that once the campaign is over he would pay them with money. Thus the Turkish soldiers did not defect. Michael fought through harsh terrain as he battled the forces of the Epirot Michael II. Epirus harsh terrain made it difficult to conquer. However as luck would have it Michael II was killed by a poisoned arrow in battle. His wife Theodora of arta became despotess. But she was the daughter of John petraliphs the governor of thessaly which was under Roman rule. Thus in an ingenious move Petraliphs convinced her daughter to crown hm despot. Once he became despot he surrendered to Michael VIII suzeranity. He was made the Megas Domesticos of the West and soon petraliphs would be one of Johns greateast advisors.
With Epirus crushed Michael turned his attention to Thessaly. Michael II bastard son John took power in Thessaly, Petraliph was overthrown effectivly because he was a man hated by the populace who welcomed John. Michael wanted Thessaly back, so with his army he marched upon Thessaly. In the ensuing fighting John was killed. With his death Thessaly fell and was sacked by the Romans.
Meanwhile Charles of Anjou launched an invasion of Napoli at the urging of the pope. This invasion failed. At the battle of Calabria Manfred’s forces crushed Charles forces and Charles himself was killed in the battle. Charles invasion had failed and Manfried retained Sicily and Napoli. The Pope of Rome was stunned at the blow and realized his hope of a union between West and east under western terms had fallen apart.
While Michael was out campaigning the tartars of Southern Russia with the Bulgars launched a fierce invasion in 1264. You see the near east Mongol empire faced off against its two major rivals the Mamelukes and the golden horde. Due to its alliance with the Romans the Golden horde grew furious. So in 1264 the southern Tatars allied with Bulgaria launched a fierce attack. Unfortunately this attack failed miserably. At the battle for Thrace Alexius decisively defeated the
combined Bulgarian-Tatar army. The conqueror of Constantinople. Also the Kingdom of Hungary true to its word declared war on Bulgaria. The Bulgarians were decimated. Unfortunately Hungary suffered heavy losses against the Mongols. A white peace was then announced in 1265
Michael had by 1267 taken most of Greece under his control. Due to his ingenious use of diplomacy Michael
averted a potential union between the west and east churches. He also managed to check the Slavs in the Balkans. Plus he formed alliances with the Iikhanite allowing him to secure a powerful ally in the east. Michael was a brilliant diplomat. Although Rome was in a terrible position, he managed to bring the phoenix back from the ashes. A lot of work still needed to be done, but for now Michael could focus on consolidation.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In otl Byzantium faced multiple wars on multiple fronts. This was a very foolish move by Michael. In this Tl Michael decides to focus on one region at a time.
Otl the Romans initially won superb victories against the Epirots but unfortunately for Michael due to the multiple fronted wars on all sides the empires treasury was drained. Matters were made worse because of the 5k Turkish mercenaries. These mercenaries received no pay and in otl defected to the franks. This Tl they are promised loot from Epirus and thus stay to help the Romans. Unlike otl Michael takes a very active role in campaigning. Although his generals were horrible Michael himself was an adept commander.
In OTL Manfried had fallout with the pope but the relations between him and Rome were horrible. In this Tl Michael exploits the rift between the HRE and papacy and is thus able to secure an alliance.
In Otl at Settepozi the Genoa fleet was crushed. In this Tl Venice suffers that fate. Thus Michel does not view Genoa as weak and still keeps the alliance between the two countries.
Otl due to the civil war in Bulgaria Romans invaded. However this was disastrous. In this Tl that does not happen.
Otl due to good relations with the Iikhan the southern tatars allied with Bulgaria and actually invaded the Byzantines in 1264. In this Tl they are defeated and due to the alliance with Hungary, Hungary intervenes in Bulgaria. Thus although Hungary suffers losses against Mongols due to its victories against Bulgaria white peace is secured.
In otl in 1280s Michael II son establishes a renegade government in Thessally that crushes the Romans. In this Tl he is the one crushed albeit much earlier.
Due to alliance with Iikhan the Turks don’t dare try to invade Roman territory in fear of an Iikhanite invasion of their beylik.
Anyway this is much more plausible then before. This I actually researched. My source comes from the book History of the Byzantine State by George Ostrogorsky in his chapter on Michael VIII. Thus most of what I have written is plausible.
Chapter I:
In the year 1262 Michael VIII Paleologos became emperor of the Romans. However the once mighty empire was but a mere shadow of its former self. Beset by Turks to the east, the Slavs of Bulgaria and Serbia to the north, the Sicilians and the Latins to the west and in Greece, the situation of the empire was indeed very bleak and hopeless. Michael realized he needed allies. He decided to gain the support of Hungary. On July of 1262 the ERE forged an alliance with the kingdom of Hungary. This was twofold, one it would counter the Slavic threat to the north, and two it would provide the Romans with an ally in the West. For Hungary It meant easier chance to establish control in Croatia and the eastern Balkans.
Next Michael engineered an alliance between Abaqua Khan of the Il-khanite by marrying Maria to the great Khan. The iikhan would help to keep the Turkic beyliks in check.
Michael knew the empire couldn’t face threats from all sides. Thus he decided to focus on one region at a time.
The Pope of Rome Urban IV had encouraged the west to take up arms against the Romans. He wanted the schism to end. But he had one enemy, HRE Manfried.
Manfried had always been a longtime enemy of Michael but in 1263 Michael sent envoys to Manfried. He argued that both sides had a lot in common. Although the two had been enemies both faced a common threat, the Pope of Rome. Michael promised to revoke all Roman claims in Sicily and recognize Manfried as the true Western Roman emperor. Manfried at this time had been wary of the increasing power of Charles, agreed. Thus peace was gained in the west temporarily. With the alliance between the HRE and the Roman Empire the Venetians did not dare try any invasions of the Romans The Pope, was outraged that his plans had been foiled.
Meanwhile Michael VIII paid 100 pounds of gold to Manfried in return for selling the province of Athens. Manfried accepted the deal, because with 100 pounds he could easily continue to fund his costly wars against the Papacy. However this act led to a great depletion of resources in the Roman treasury. Michael decided that the Roman generals were weak, so he personally led an army of 5000 Seljuk mercenaries and 10000 Roman troops to conquer Thessaly and Epirus. Epirus had been under the rule of the despot Michael II. Michael and his
brother John launched a two-fronted assault on Epirus. The Venetians intervened in favor of the epirots and declared war. Sadly the Venetians suffered a crushing defeat at the battle of Settepozi in the gulf of Naupolia the Venetian fleet was crushed by the Genoeans.
In 1264 at the battle of Makry Plagy the Epirot forces were destroyed. Unfortunately even with all the successes the Roman treasury was draining. Michael soon launched the final invasion. In 1264 after fierce fighting Epirus fell to the Romans and the despot Michael was killed. Epirus was completely looted and sacked for gold. With the gold taken from Epirus Michael paid off the Turks. You see the Turks had fought for no pay so far and were contemplating on withdrawing their services but Michael promised them that once the campaign is over he would pay them with money. Thus the Turkish soldiers did not defect. Michael fought through harsh terrain as he battled the forces of the Epirot Michael II. Epirus harsh terrain made it difficult to conquer. However as luck would have it Michael II was killed by a poisoned arrow in battle. His wife Theodora of arta became despotess. But she was the daughter of John petraliphs the governor of thessaly which was under Roman rule. Thus in an ingenious move Petraliphs convinced her daughter to crown hm despot. Once he became despot he surrendered to Michael VIII suzeranity. He was made the Megas Domesticos of the West and soon petraliphs would be one of Johns greateast advisors.
With Epirus crushed Michael turned his attention to Thessaly. Michael II bastard son John took power in Thessaly, Petraliph was overthrown effectivly because he was a man hated by the populace who welcomed John. Michael wanted Thessaly back, so with his army he marched upon Thessaly. In the ensuing fighting John was killed. With his death Thessaly fell and was sacked by the Romans.
Meanwhile Charles of Anjou launched an invasion of Napoli at the urging of the pope. This invasion failed. At the battle of Calabria Manfred’s forces crushed Charles forces and Charles himself was killed in the battle. Charles invasion had failed and Manfried retained Sicily and Napoli. The Pope of Rome was stunned at the blow and realized his hope of a union between West and east under western terms had fallen apart.
While Michael was out campaigning the tartars of Southern Russia with the Bulgars launched a fierce invasion in 1264. You see the near east Mongol empire faced off against its two major rivals the Mamelukes and the golden horde. Due to its alliance with the Romans the Golden horde grew furious. So in 1264 the southern Tatars allied with Bulgaria launched a fierce attack. Unfortunately this attack failed miserably. At the battle for Thrace Alexius decisively defeated the
combined Bulgarian-Tatar army. The conqueror of Constantinople. Also the Kingdom of Hungary true to its word declared war on Bulgaria. The Bulgarians were decimated. Unfortunately Hungary suffered heavy losses against the Mongols. A white peace was then announced in 1265
Michael had by 1267 taken most of Greece under his control. Due to his ingenious use of diplomacy Michael
averted a potential union between the west and east churches. He also managed to check the Slavs in the Balkans. Plus he formed alliances with the Iikhanite allowing him to secure a powerful ally in the east. Michael was a brilliant diplomat. Although Rome was in a terrible position, he managed to bring the phoenix back from the ashes. A lot of work still needed to be done, but for now Michael could focus on consolidation.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In otl Byzantium faced multiple wars on multiple fronts. This was a very foolish move by Michael. In this Tl Michael decides to focus on one region at a time.
Otl the Romans initially won superb victories against the Epirots but unfortunately for Michael due to the multiple fronted wars on all sides the empires treasury was drained. Matters were made worse because of the 5k Turkish mercenaries. These mercenaries received no pay and in otl defected to the franks. This Tl they are promised loot from Epirus and thus stay to help the Romans. Unlike otl Michael takes a very active role in campaigning. Although his generals were horrible Michael himself was an adept commander.
In OTL Manfried had fallout with the pope but the relations between him and Rome were horrible. In this Tl Michael exploits the rift between the HRE and papacy and is thus able to secure an alliance.
In Otl at Settepozi the Genoa fleet was crushed. In this Tl Venice suffers that fate. Thus Michel does not view Genoa as weak and still keeps the alliance between the two countries.
Otl due to the civil war in Bulgaria Romans invaded. However this was disastrous. In this Tl that does not happen.
Otl due to good relations with the Iikhan the southern tatars allied with Bulgaria and actually invaded the Byzantines in 1264. In this Tl they are defeated and due to the alliance with Hungary, Hungary intervenes in Bulgaria. Thus although Hungary suffers losses against Mongols due to its victories against Bulgaria white peace is secured.
In otl in 1280s Michael II son establishes a renegade government in Thessally that crushes the Romans. In this Tl he is the one crushed albeit much earlier.
Due to alliance with Iikhan the Turks don’t dare try to invade Roman territory in fear of an Iikhanite invasion of their beylik.
Anyway this is much more plausible then before. This I actually researched. My source comes from the book History of the Byzantine State by George Ostrogorsky in his chapter on Michael VIII. Thus most of what I have written is plausible.
Last edited: