An Unsuspected Pregnancy 2.0: A Plantagenet Timeline

An Unsuspected Pregnancy 2.0: A Plantagenet Timeline

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Wedding of James I of Scotland and Seban Maccarthy

In early 1411 James I finally found a solution to getting Tadhg to aid him in his quest to return to Scotland: marriage. James proposed the union of himself and the King's youngest child and only daughter, Sebán (Joanne in English, in honor of her mother). Though Tadhg had been initially reluctant to help the young King, the thought of his daughter as Queen of the Scots excited him and he enthusiastically accepted. In Dublin on February 7th the young couple was joined in the rite of matrimony. James was just 15 and his bride was only 14, as Tadhg had refused to wait for the marriage until after he had aided James, not entirely trusting the boy and his advisers. The wedding feast afterwards was to be the most extravagant affair yet held in the newly established Irish Royal Court. The marriage was duly consummated, and within weeks the Irish King began to quietly assemble an army. Though he had no intention of leaving his realm, fearing revolts in his absence, he was willing to provide his young son-in-law with troops and commanders, which included his sons Donall and Cormac.

Meanwhile, the English continued to fight their war against France. Edward IV began a renewed offensive in March, with winter finally beginning to thaw, and moved south out of Normandy, towards Paris. Panic struck the French capital as it was relatively undefended, with the nearest army in the east unable to march back without allowing the Duke of Burgundy to make further gains into French territory. The Duke of Orleans was just a young boy, and yet the hopes of his side in the civil war rested on his shoulders. Charles proved fit for the task and surprised many individuals with the calmness he responded to the news. He quietly sent out envoys to Edward, while ordering the Orleanist army to slightly move to the west, back towards Paris. When his envoys arrived at the camp of Edward IV they offered the King generous terms in return for a treaty of peace, or at very least a truce. Edward, who was growing concerned by reports from his north that parts of Normandy were up in arms, agreed. The head of the party of envoys had in fact been the Duke of Berry, the last son of John II and a widely respected figure in France and it was whispered without him, negotiations would have failed. He remembered the defeat of his father at the hands of the English at Poitiers and believed a second defeat on that magnitude, especially after the disaster that was the Battle of Rouen, would spell the end for Valois rule in France.

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Marie Valois hears her fate (1607)

The Dukes of Orleans and Berry were to offer Edward generous peace terms. They promised to acknowledge English control over both Normandy and Guyenne, and also agreed to numerous territorial cessations. England was to take vast tracts of land on the edges of both duchies. In return, Edward IV agreed to marry the French Princess Marie. Marie had been educated to be a nun, but she was the child of the closest age to Edward and was unceremoniously removed from her convent and sent back to Paris. Legend had it she clung to the altar, crying when she heard the news, and had to be pulled from the Church by the Orleanist soldiers. By March she had returned to the Capitol and was reunited with her parents for several hours before being sent with an escort to the English camp at Dreux. She and Edward were married that same evening, where she was reportedly weeping heavily, and the following morning the Orleanists and English signed a treaty. Edward agreed to refuse to fight in France for 10 years and happily turned back to Normandy with his new, unhappy wife. Though the marriage was quite unhappy at first, with Edward complaining of Marie's constant crying and dismal attitude, both soon came to at very least respect one another as Marie came to accept her situation. In April the Dauphin was released and sent back to Paris, though his imprisonment had been hard on him and he died en route. France had yet another Dauphin.

The Duke of Burgundy was furious about Edward's repudiation of their alliance (one of the clauses in the Treaty of Dreux) and, understanding it was no longer practical to take Paris, moved south with his army from Reims to Champagne. The French Civil War began to look more and more like a stalemate as both armies refused to give battle for the time being, instead contenting themselves with raiding the countryside of their enemies. For several months civilians in territories belonging to both sides faced wretched conditions as raiders seized their food, clothing, and livestock while also ruining their crops and raping local women. Public order began to break down in Eastern France, where most of the soldiers were located, though conditions were not much better in the west as citizens tried to recover from the English invasions over the past two years.

On May 5th James and his army departed from Ireland, sailing north and landing at Carrick, which was hereditary land of the King and where he held widespread support. With James was his new wife Seban, who was now pregnant despite her still young age of 15, as well as Seban's brothers, who had both commanded men in their father's war for the Irish throne. The Irish army was reinforced by James' own personal levies and the young King began to march North, claiming he had returned just to assume his personal rule, not to battle his uncle. No one believed this claim and so the Duke of Albany and the Earl of Douglas organized their own forces. Within a couple of weeks James moved so far east however, his much larger force sat in between the two men's armies. En route James had strictly enforced his command that no looting or raping of his subjects would be tolerated and, while this endeared him to the common people, it did damage his reputation amongst his soldiers.

The Duke of Albany found no widespread support amongst the magnates or the common people, and therefore had a tough time assembling an army. His only major ally in Scotland were the Black Douglases and he knew the Earl of Douglas would abandon him on a moment's notice if the King were to offer him a pardon. Albany therefore sent envoys to his nephew, promising to lay down his arms and return to his estates in return for peace, knowing full well he was James' heir and the King could be easily assassinated if need be. The King initially contemplated this offer, but eventually refused. He had been in exile for most of his life due to his uncle's murder of his elder brother and he knew that he would never be able to fully trust or forgive him. The envoys were imprisoned by the King who now marched north to do battle with Robert Stewart.

The Duke of Albany's army melted away when news reached the camp that James was marching North, but the Duke dug in to fight anyways. He and his nephew's forces encountered each other just to the south of Edinburgh on June 20th, and battle commenced the following morning. In a somewhat expected result, Robert Stewart's men were quickly routed and the Duke attempted to flee north and raise a second host. Before he could however, him and his guards were encountered by chance by several English scouts, captured, and taken before James. The King did not hesitate. The following morning Robert Stewart, the Duke of Albany was beheaded alongside his two sons Murdoch and John. While some decried James as a kinslayer, most viewed the killings as justified. James marched on Scone several days later and within a week was crowned King of Scotland. He offered peace to Douglas, who hastily agreed and disbanded his forces. James had finally achieved his long sought for aim, he was now King in his own right of the Scots. He was to ultimately hold onto a resentment of the magnates of Scotland due to the fact they had been slow in supporting his cause, something which would prove crucial during his reign and would make him very much a "common-man's king". Within two months of his coronation, Seban gave birth to a baby girl, christened Annabella in honor of James' late mother. The King was elated, even though the child was not a male heir, and the birth brought the couple much closer together.

The following weeks saw Edward return to England with his new wife, leaving behind Edmund Mortimer and John Holland as governors of Normandy and Guyenne respectively. In June 1411 the King reentered London in triumph and had the highest popularity of any monarch since his great-grandfather following the victory at Poitiers. For the first time since he had regained his throne 4 years prior, Edward finally ruled a realm at peace. James and Scotland were being cautious towards England, though relations at best could be described as cold, and with France in civil war there was no real threat to English stability. That being said, Edward would still continue to rattle his sabre, something which highlighted to his contemporaries he was not a capable administrator, regardless of how great a military commander he was. By August England had begun to send monetary aid to the Duke of Burgundy, who was willing to forgive Edward's peace with the Orleanists in exchange for the gold, in direct violation of the treaty of Dreux. The Orleanists did not object however, not wanting to provoke another war with England so soon after a peace had been crafted. Furthermore with Marie now Edward's Queen, they hoped his sympathies to the Duke of Burgundy would begin to fade.

Marie was coronated in Westminster Abbey in an amazing show of English extravagance. veterans of the King's campaign escorted the new Queen in a grand procession through London with much of the crowd being dazzled by the display of power. Surprisingly, Queen Marie proved to be initially quite popular with the common people throughout the realm. Many saw her as a symbol of English victory in France and her piety, having been a nun, was genuine enough that she enjoyed support in the Church as well. Under Marie alms-giving tripled to the extent there were times early in their marriage Edward complained about his wife's excessive generousity. These complaints would soon be silenced however, when word reached the King in February 1412 that Queen Marie was pregnant.

In Ireland Tadhg continued his process of updating the country to match other feudal realms. Unlike Edward in England, Tadhg showed himself to be both a capable soldier and administrator. He was highly regarded by most of his new subjects, with his their only complaint being his excessive fondness for wine. Local assemblies were established throughout Ireland on the King's orders beginning in 1411. These assemblies gathered taxes and conducted local law enforcement on the King's behalf. After this Tadhg also created a small assembly (called the General Council) of his newly-created Dukes and Earls. While the local assemblies collected taxes and conducted day-to-day governance, the Council was to advise the King on a variety of issues including how much to tax, what laws to pass, and where money should be appropriated. The King held final say on most matters, and in early years ignored the advice of the Council on many occasions, but over time came to use his Council as a tool for governing the realm. It was the Council which conducted business with the local assemblies (as the King viewed himself as too important to deal with them) and settled disputes over jurisdiction. In 1413 at the Pope's insistance, the King added several clergymen to the Council, which roughly held 10-15 individuals at any given time (numbers varied based on who was at Court as well as who was presently in the King's favor).

Ireland had changed a lot during Tadhg's reign, as his early policies show, but these extensive changes to government were not all positively received. Many peasants resented the new system of local assemblies as they meant for the first time, widespread and effective taxation. In the past, Chiefs and Kings had been unable to collect their dues from all of their subjects, but Tadhg had created the infrastructure allowing everyone to be taxed nationwide at once. Furthermore many citizens of the lower class disliked Tadhg's policy of moving the Church in Ireland from being based to monasticism, to one based on bishoprics. Monastaries had been present in Ireland since the earliest days of conversion on the Island and provided support for many communities spiritually. Therefore when Tadhg and the General Council announced in the summer of 1413 an expansion of powers for local bishops, as well as the creation of several new ones, people in central Ireland took up arms. Though the revolt collapsed before Tadhg had even left the Capitol, it unsettled the King and he pursued a more cautious religious policy for the remainder of his reign, leaving his successor to deal with ecclesiastical matters.

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Jan Hus

Religious matters came to a head in Bohemia during this period as well. Jan Hus, a preacher and a man committed to reforming the Church, began to gain a wide base of followers during the early fifteenth century. He had supported the Council of Constance and the elevation of Alexander V to the Papal Throne as well as the Pope's early reforms, but as his base grew he attracted the opposition from conservative clergymen (namely Archbishop Zajíc) in Bohemia. Hus had a wide range of followers and his numbers were growing steadily in Bohemia and among his supporters numbered even King Wenceclaus IV, a brother to Sigismund and the uncle of Edward IV. Naturally the conservatives in Bohemia appealed directly to the Pope, seeing they would receive no aid from the government and Alexander V, despite being a reformer, took a strong stance against the Hussites and declared them heretical. They were even threatened with excommunication. The reasons behind Alexander's opposition to Hus were initially unclear, though with Europe having just begun to recover from the schism, he likely wanted to enforce and maintain doctrinal unity throughout the continent. King Wencelaus, who was planning to be coronated Holy Roman Empreror, was furious at the Pope and refused to move against Hus. This feud began to gradually escalate to the point where, in 1414, Sigismund sided with the Pope against his brother. The two had feuded for quite some time in the past, so this was not particularly suprising to most observers, but with Sigismund as Wencelaus' heir it meant the Hussites knew that the next in line to the throne was opposed to them.

In October 1414 Wencelaus died suddenly, and naturally some whispered of poisoning and pointed the finger at the King of Hungary. While Sigismund technically became the King of Bohemia upon the death of his brother, the people refused to acclaim him and it looked as though war would soon be approaching. Cooler heads prevailed however, and Pope Alexander V hastily dispatched mediators to Bohemia were they were received by several nobles and Jan Hus. Another group went to Sigismund in Hungary where he supposedly was preparing for war. The Pope wished to compromise with the Hussites in order to prevent their views from deviating further from mainstream Catholicism, but also wanted Sigismund to have a peaceful ascension so he could crown him Holy Roman Emperor. Sigismund, Hus, and the Church all left negotiations dissapointed, but peace was achieved. Alexander V agreed to prohibit in perpetuity the sale of indulgences in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Hus and the Hussites to allow Sigismund to ascend to the throne and to reaffirm loyalty to the Vatican, and Sigismund to allow the Hussites to continue to have relative autonomy. The Peace of Prague prevailed and Sigismund arrived in Bohemia a month after the agreement was signed. As a result of the Peace of Prague, Bohemia was to remain in the Catholic fold, in full communion with Rome, though it's doctrine and practices would deviate slightly. Alexander V had prevented a war, though reportedly insiders in the Vatican and religious conservatives were highly unhappy. Therefore when Alexander died in March 1415, quite a few individuals were suspicious.
 
This is great.

Will follow.

Thanks so much!

I'm already roughly halfway through the next update, though I don't want to make any concrete promises about when it will be out, seeing as I forgot about this TL quite some time :D;)
 
An Unsuspected Pregnancy 2.0: A Plantagenet Timeline


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Elizabeth Percy

In 1412 many magnate's worst fears were to come true when Henry Percy, the son of Hotspur and one of the most significant landholders in north England, died after falling off horseback at the age of nineteen. This meant that Edmund Mortimer, who was also heir to the throne until the birth of Edward IV's child, was now able to control the Northern Percy lands in addition to his already extensive possessions on the Welsh border. This was possible due to his marriage to Henry's sister, Elizabeth, who was heir to the vast tracts of land. Though there was some hope when Eleanor Neville, the wife of the late earl, began to show signs of pregnancy, her stomach soon receded and it was clear she had miscarried. Mortimer was unable to immediately govern his new estates however, being in Normandy to serve as governor and hold back any raids into English France and therefore sent his wife and the couple's two young sons Henry (age 3) and Edmund (age 1) north to hold the land in his stead. This would be a significant move, as it reinforced the loyalty of many northerners to Elizabeth rather than her southern husband. In future years some locals would argue Elizabeth alone was their rightful ruler and this would limit Edmund's ability to govern his wife's territories after his eventual return to England in 1416. Elizabeth, for the most part, was happy to rule and did not object when some of her new subjects referred to her as their sole ruler.

Edward IV was somewhat alarmed by the death of Henry Percy and, though he trusted Mortimer, he resented having over-powerful vassals. In an attempt to keep the Mortimer-Percy lands permanently separate and in order to gain an ally in case Mortimer moved against him, the King quietly restored Humphrey of Lancaster, his childhood friend and longtime courtier, to several of his titles. Though he was not given the title of Duke, and many of his lands remained confiscated, he was highly grateful towards the King. Edward knew he could not act against Mortimer due to the fact the Earl of March had the backing of the Duke of York, who was his brother-in-law. The Duke of York was another one of Edward's resented "over-powerful" vassals as he had never truly forgiven that branch of the family for not acting faster to restore him the the throne when he had first invaded the country.

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The Birth of Prince Richard

On August 2nd, 1412 Marie gave birth to a baby boy. Edward and the Royal Court were elated and celebrations ensued nationwide. The child was named Richard, in honor of his grandfather, with Charles VI and Sigismund serving as godfathers and Isabeau of Bavaria and Barbara of Cilli serving as godmothers. It was rather uncreative choices, considering the arrangement consisted of two couples, but had occurred because Edward and Marie were each allowed to chose two of the four godparents. The christening was an elaborate ceremony and began the royal couple's process of reconciliation. Within several weeks Edward began to quit seeing his mistress, which he had done so discretely for the previous several years, and became more devoted to his French wife. Edward and Marie's relationship did not yet consist of love, instead it was at this time founded on respect. Joy would spread throughout the English Court again when it was announced that Barbara of Cilli, the wife of Sigismund, had given birth to a second daughter, named Barbara, just 8 months later in March 1413. Barbara had one older sister Elizabeth, but even so remained an attractive bride for any family looking to gain influence in the Holy Roman Empire. Sigismund was present at the birth of his second daughter, and expressed great joy. But he would not see much of her early childhood due to the tension in Bohemia.

Following the Hussite Crisis and the Peace of Prague, it was clear to most of Europe Sigismund would soon be crowned Emperor, even after the death of Alexander V. Otto Colonna was elected to succeed the Pope after a quiet conclave and took the name John XXIII upon his ascension. Pope John XXIII had been a supporter of Alexander V and his family had profited brilliantly from it. Though he lacked the reforming zeal of his predecessor, he accepted the changes which had been enacted under Alexander's rule and even opened up an investigation of the late Pope's death within hours of his election and the closing of the conclave. It ultimately decided there had been no foul play in the death of the Pope, though whispers of poison remained. His second action was to send for Sigismund, something the Alexander had been on the verge of doing before his sudden death. The "King of the Romans" arrived within the month and, as was coronated on March 27th, 1415. There was once more a Holy Roman Emperor in Europe.

The Burgundians and the Orleanists continued to wage war throughout France, with fighting finally occurring throughout 1415. At Champagne on May 9th, 1415 the outnumbered forces of the Duke of Burgundy met a larger contingent led by the Duke of Orleans. John the Fearless had a surprising advantage however, in the form of the new Dauphin of France. John Valois, the next in line for the throne and fourth son of the King sympathized with the Burgundian faction and hurried south from Hainhault after the death of his brother to join John the Fearless' army. While his father-in-law had refused to allow him to leave Hainhault earlier in the war, he had been killed by a heart attack and John's wife Jacqueline inherited the territories, meaning the Dauphin could go where he pleased. He had therefore taken a portion of her men and marched south the join the Burgundians.

The Battle was against all odds a Burgundian victory. Though his lines had wavered and begun to break in several places after a cavalry charge commanded by the Duke of Orleans himself, Burgundy had calmly ordered a counter-charge. The two Dukes apparently met face to face several times in the battle, though never engaged one another. Roughly three hours into the fighting Orleans fell to an arrow and had to be removed from the field (where it was discovered his wound was not as bad as thought). Despite this, a rumor spread through the Orleanist and Armagnac lines that the Duke had been killed and his men began to retreat. The Burgundians had maintained control of Champagne and won a decisive victory to boot. The road to Paris was now free and it looked increasingly likely Burgundy would seize the capitol, place himself as regent, and put an end to the Orleanist branch of the family.

The support of the Dauphin greatly aided the Burgundian cause but Burgundy knew however, that it would not necessarily win the war. The Duke of Orleans was third in line to the throne after Dauphin John and Prince Charles and Burgundy was well aware of this, making plans in case the Orleanists gained the throne for themselves. He quietly exchanged letters with Emperor Sigismund, who agreed to support John's right to independence if Charles of Orleans gained the throne, under the condition he swear fealty for all of his lands to the Holy Roman Empire. Though this was at the time entirely hypothetical, it gave John the assurances he needed in order to continue to fight a war in France. In the aftermath of the decisive victory, the civil war began to tilt in the Burgundians favor. Within weeks of hearing news of the Battle, John VI of Brittany (son-in-law of the King) announced his intentions to join the Burgundians and sent his army on the border with France to seize several strategically located castles. In Paris, where John the Fearless enjoyed high popularity, the people broke out in revolt and killed numerous Orleanist soldiers. Instead of returning to the capitol to fight the rebels, the defeated Duke of Orleans moved his men southwest towards his primary lands. John the Fearless and the Dauphin entered Paris in triumph and within the evening the Duke of Burgundy assumed the regency, with the Dauphin being given a seat on the Council.

Isabeau of Bavaria was treated well enough by the Burgundians, though they never forgot her rumored support of the Orleanists. She held no political power and her relationship with the Dauphin was almost nonexistent, as he had been raised since childhood in Hainhault, far from the French Court. The King himself lingered on in insanity. Order would begin to return to Paris within several weeks of John's assumption of the regency. He began plans for a lavish marriage between his son Philip and the Princess Michele, all the while preparing restored public order through harsh penalties to criminals which had been largely nonexistent since the revolt in the city. Philip and Michele were married in the Cathedral of Notre Dame on July 20th, 1515 with the King and Queen in attendance. Though the Burgundians held the regency however, stories began to move come from the south that the Duke of Orleans was marching north with his father-in-law the Count of Armagnac.

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The 4th Earl of Douglas

In Scotland James I began his reign by alienating much of the nobility. The Earl of Douglas, who had been promised forgiveness in exchange for laying down his arms, mysteriously died in June 1414 and his son and heir Archibald alleged his father had been poisoned by the King. Naturally, while James denied the rumor, there were quite a few magnates who believed it and the King saw his popularity much reduced among the nobility. Not even the birth of a second child, and a son nonetheless, in September (the child was named James) was able to ease the tensions. Some nobles wanted to replace the King with his infant son, others wished just for assurances that they would maintain their lands and titles. Ultimately no revolt broke out, as tensions following the death of Douglas began to subside, though the mistrust between King and nobles remained. Archibald Douglas left the realm for France, where he joined the Orleanist faction, and with him went many nobles who either opposed James' rule or were just simply looking for glory in battle. The Scottish contingent was one of the few groups to emerge from the Battle of Champagne with minimal losses.

Tadhg, meanwhile, continued his policy of quiet governmental reform, though he gradually gave up many of his powers to the Great Council as time went on, prefering instead to spend his time in leisure. His two sons returned from Scotland after aiding James I in 1412 and found the realm continuing to show increasing signs of unity. It is a testament to the political and administrative skill of the King that within a generation or two a majority of his subjects would consider themselves as "Irish" rather than by their regional identity. The treasury was full and taxes were lowered nationwide, thereby easing some of the grumbling of citizens resenting the creation of local assemblies. The only military goal of the King and his government was the acquistion of English Ulster, which would mean the unification of the entire island under the crown, but the Maccarthys were frustrated at every turn. It was clear to the government in Dublin that if an invasion of the territory were ordered, England could seize and sack the entire kingdom (not to mention dismantle it), and Tadhg's frequent offers of purchasing the Earldom were ignored by Edward. Therefore the Irish waited, biding their time until England would fall into either civil war or rebellion.

Marie of France gave birth to a second son in December 1415, and the child survived. The boy was named Edward, in honor of his father, and christened in a much less public and extravagant ceremony than the one for Prince Richard. Historians agree this is what established Edward's fondness for his wife, as she had seemingly secured the survival of the senior line of the House of Plantagenet, and she responded in turn by adoring him. The royal couple was happy, England was at peace, and it appeared on the ascent. Rebellion was on the horizon however, in both Wales and Cornwall. Following the defeat of Glendower and the betrayal of his family by the Irish, the English Parliament had enacted heavy taxes upon the Welsh and Cornish people, viewing it as punishment for their defeat. Initially the people accepted these taxes, with the brutal treatment of the country at the hands of Edward IV and Prince Henry Lancaster still remembered, but as time went by and memories became more distant, dissent grew. The Welsh were among the poorest people in the Kingdom and yet were taxed the heaviest. Naturally they resented the peace and prosperity in England following victory in France and, encouraged by agents of Tadhg (who wanted Ulster) began to organize a revolt. Some support still existed for Glendower's family, for while Owen himself had been executed by the English shotly after his imprisonment his widow and children remained imprisoned in the Tower of London, though other Welshmen resented them for abandoning the country in the face of English invasion and so no official leader was established for the new movement.

It was in February 1416 when the Welsh officially rose up in revolt. Eight years had passed since Edward's victory over Glendower and sixteen since the first revolt had begun. Many of the rebels, being of the ages of twenty to thirty, had little memory of the time before fighting had begun against England. Word of the new rebellion spread rapidly throughout Wales and farmers rose throughout the country, joining the rebels. English people in rebel territory faced murder or imprisonment as the revolt spread throughout the region. Local sheriffs were easily defeated and hanged by the rebel force which arose, with some estimating its size as roughly 6,000 just by the end of March.

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The English Army returns to Hereford

Edward was quick to react, eager to play the role of commander once more. Security over the Glendower family in London was increased while a large army was assembled at Shrewsbury. As a courtesy (the English army was camping on his lands) Edmund Mortimer was invited to join the King on his campaign and returned from Normandy where he was replaced as governor by the elderly John Holland. Edmund and the King entered Wales in the South by April, and wasted no time searching for the rebel army. En route, Edward allowed his men to have free reign over the territory as he had during the last campaign, only this time they were to be even more out of control. Not only were women raped and men slaughtered, but Welsh monasteries were sacked and stories about the rape of nuns circulated. Needless to say, the Vatican was not pleased and Pope John XXIII was furious. By allowing his men to slaughter, rape, and pillage the Welsh Edward again highlighted the fact he was not a capable administrator as he failed to address Welsh grievances and in the process alienated the Church. John XXIII considered excommunicating the King (something which French, Scottish, and even some Castilian Cardinals were urging), but took no concrete steps. Tadhg, on the other hand, did. Under the pretext of avenging the slain monks and raped nuns, he announced the invasion of Ulster. Irish forces were mobilized and the Earldom was caught of guard, falling quickly to Irish troops with the Earl away campaigning in Wales alongside the King. While Edward was furious, he understood there was little he could do. Though English ships did raid off the Irish coast during this period as a result of the seizure of Ulster, little other fighting occurred.

The Welsh melted into the hills and forests whenever Edward's army attempted to do battle. He was continually thwarted, and his losses to sudden lighting attacks grew the further he marched into Welsh territory. His brutal treatment of the civilians in the region further alienated many Welshmen who would've otherwise aided the King and also incited revolts in Cornwall, which decreed it did not want to be under a King they called "the spawn of the devil himself". Edward correctly deduced however, that there would come a point when the rebels would have no choice but to do battle, namely if the English army was to threaten a major city. While most in Wales had remained in English control at the start of the revolt, which had begun in the countryside, several had been seized and Edward turned his attention and army to them.

The strategy worked. As his men moved south towards Cardiff, one of the rebel strongholds, scouts reported the English were being followed by a Welsh force. Two days later Edward found ground he was satisfied with, set up his camp, and waited. On April 11th a substantial Welsh army appeared and, though armed with old weapons and without a King in command, possessed higher morale, determination, and numbers than the English. Continual looting and raids had ruined the discipline of the English army, and there were a fair number of troops who fled the camp the night before the battle after seeing the size of the Welsh army. Edward ordered anyone captured deserting to be executed on the spot but it this point it was too late.

The following morning battle commenced just outside of the town of Brecon, with the Welsh launching a surprise dawn attack on the forming English lines, thereby preventing early use of the English longbow. Rhys Gethin, a lieutenant of Glendower, led the men and killed a fair number of English, before they organized a counter attack. For several hours the battle continued until, suddenly, the Welsh ordered a retreat. Despite the best efforts of Edward and his soldiers the vast majority of rebels escaped into the Brecon Beacons and out of English reach. The battle could be best described as a phyrric victory, but Edward would remember it for the rest of his life as a defeat, and his first major one at that. The English sustained much more casualties than the Welsh and it was clear the army would not be able to press on to Cardiff, as the Welsh now occupied the Brecon Beacons and moving around the range would take time and lead to further desertion and disease within the army, as well as death from additional Welsh raids. The English forces turned east and crossed the into England several weeks later, stopping at Hereford. It was here Edward intended to remain until the rebellion had been crushed, and the Welsh subdued once more. For the time being Edward also elected to ignore the Irish and Cornish attacks.

The Welsh victory at Brecon galvanized support just as the victory at Shropshire had done several years prior. For his command of the army, as well as his success in pushing the English out of Wales, Rhys Gethin was acclaimed the new Prince of Wales by his soldiers and enjoyed the support of the vast majority of the rebel movement. A quick, impromptu coronation was held in the forests of the Brecon Beacons for the new Prince. Gethin had no royal blood, with the exception of the rumor that he was the illegitimate great-grandson of Dafydd ap Gruffydd, but the rebels did not care because he had led them to victory. With the retreat of the English army temporarily from Wales, peace briefly returned to the land. Though there were occasional skirmishes, including the capture of several larger, English-held towns, the status quo generally reigned. Edward IV meanwhile, plotted and planned a new invasion of Wales, understanding subduing the realm was going to be one of his greatest challenges in his reign.
 
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I just got caught up with this and I love it.

Pity there isn't a Henry V (or the future play by Shakespeare) but you can't have everything. :D

But Edward really needs to get around to marrying and having a couple kids, otherwise it'll be King Edmund I time!

Got a feeling he might do a Henry V, marry a French princess after capturing Charles and becoming heir to a diminished France (Burgundy will want stuff)
 
An Unsuspected Pregnancy 2.0: A Plantagenet Timeline

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The English Return to Wales

King Edward IV called for his family to join him and his army at Hereford. Queen Marie and the couples two sons would to remain near him for the rest of the war, partially to ensure their safety from scheming in the rest of the Kingdom but also because he wanted to ensure his sons would be backed by an army if he were to be killed. The King also called on Parliament to assemble at Hereford, and then pushed through a series of acts increasing taxes, organizing more forces, and assembling more nobles. Unlike past rulers however, Edward IV did not rely primarily on noble levies, preferring mercenaries and his personal troops because he resented the role of the nobility in his father's death and his own exile. This resentment induced him to curb some aspects of noble rights during the next few sessions of Parliament in the name of defeating the Welsh. While some nobles did resent these reforms, led by Edmund Mortimer, there was no revolt because they expected to be rewarded following the rebellion with Welsh lands and titles. In effect they were willing to give up power in the name of profit.

There seemed to be no shortage of men in England willing to fight following the defeat at the Battle of Brecon, as thousands joined armies out of a new sense of national duty. This was another example of the proto-nationalism that developed throughout England during this period, seen previously during the Hundred Years War. Edward stationed armies all along the Welsh border throughout the summer, setting up supply routes and reinforcing his defenses. English forces remained on the border throughout the fall and winter under orders of the King as Edward patiently waited for spring to come and campaigning to resume. He now feared rushing into action after his recent defeat and so it was only when spring finally arrived he crossed back into Wales, hoping the new year would mean a change in the tide of the war. He relied on his earlier strategy of sending multiple armies into Wales believing that the Welsh would be defeated based on the manpower disparity alone.

Wales experienced independence once more from the summer of 1416 and into the new year. The Battle of Brecon further helped reawaken the cause of rebellion throughout the whole of Wales. Support for Rhys Gethin was almost universal as the Welsh people sought to turn their back on the legacy of Owen Glendower. Like in England, Welsh men rose up to fight and formed militias. They were joined by several thousand Irish troops sent by Taghd. After hearing of Edward's fury following the seizure of Ulster, Taghd understood that further fighting against England would be necessary in order to keep Edward from retaking Ireland once Wales was subdued. The Irish also provided much needed food and supplies in a region that had been isolated from the rest of Europe since the beginning of the rebellion.

The Welsh had an army in the south, near where Edward IV crossed back into Wales, and Gethin ordered a quick rapid attack, hoping to scare the English away yet again and give the Welsh more time to prepare. The two armies first encountered each other near the town of Newport, which was in Edward's path to Cardiff. Despite an aggressive push by the Welsh, they were defeated. Many of the veterans of the Battle of Brecon were slaughtered charging towards the English longbowmen. The battle wasn't seen as a total victory for the English however, as the forces in the south were only a fraction of the rebel army. Gethin raced towards the English at the head of a half Welsh, half Irish army determined to keep Edward out of his lands. This second second army was massive, as the Welsh forces were able to converge relatively rapidly while Edward's other armies were making minimal progress in the north due to intense guerrilla resistance. The English army was also still damaged from the earlier Battle of Newport, but Edward insisted on fighting, determined to show his strength to the rebels. The Welsh were too confident about their numerical advantage, assuming the sheer size of their army ensured the English would be defeated. They took risky moves on the battlefield, attacking aggressively and directly, not recognizing their numerical advantage was being diminished by the English longbow. In the Battle of Cardiff, which became the largest battle of the rebellion, Edward eventually emerged victorious as the Welsh forces were repeatedly repelled, so much so that desertion spiked and Gethin was forced to humiliatingly retreat. Even worse, during the retreat Gethin and his bodyguards were captured by English horsemen. The Welsh rebellion was decapitated as the “King” of Wales was spirited out of his country into captivity. Irish troops fled back to Ireland and they were joined by a substantial number of Welsh citizens fleeing English punishment.

It would be these refugees who would establish a thriving Welsh population in the city of Dublin, with the small city at times seeming to grow too rapidly, as water and food shortages became somewhat common. Tadhg refused to turn the refugees back over to the English government, even when Edward IV offered peace for them. He still felt guilty for having handed over Glendower over following the first Welsh rebellion, something he was undoubtedly reminded of when he heard news from London that Edward IV had ordered the execution of both Gethin and Glendower, who had been in captivity since the first rebellion.

For the rest of Wales the defeat at the Battle of Newport was a calamity. The English returned once more to the Welsh countryside sacking, burning, raping, and pillaging the lands. So many Welsh were killed by the King and his armies that Pope John XXIII began proceedings for excommunication and some villages had to be completely abandoned due to population loss. Edward was merciless on his new subjects despite pleas from his wife to act otherwise. He entered Cardiff the day following his victory, ordering his men to sack the city before it could prepare a siege. Due to Edward's ferocious tactics many compared him to his great-great-great grandfather, King Edward I. It was during this period quite a few English chroniclers titled Edward IV the nickname the “Hammer of the Welsh” for his part in crushing two rebellions in that region.

Famine followed Edward's troops who ripped through crops and fields, helping themselves and burning the leftovers so the locals would starve. The last remnants of Welsh resistance surrendered in late 1417, after a year of slowly being pushed back. The men were executed by the English King shortly afterwards for treason. England technically remained at war with Ireland, though neither side actively prosecuted the war during this period. Edward eventually announced in October of 1417 that he would be willing to cede Ulster to Ireland in return for a sizable monetary contribution from the Irish and favorable trade rights. Tadhg quickly agreed, eager to be the undisputed holder of the island of Ireland and happy at not having to turn over the Welsh refugees. It was also stipulated in the peace treaty, signed in Cardiff at the insistence of Edward, that Tadhg recognized Edward's rights to Wales and denounced Gethin and other Welsh leaders.

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The Sack of Wales

Edward gained somewhat of a black reputation in Europe following his crushing of the Second Welsh Rebellion. The royal court in Paris worried for the safety of Marie in her husband's kingdom. The governments of Castile and Aragon watched in horror from afar, with Portugal debating ending its alliance with the English, though they would ultimately decide otherwise. Even James I, who had killed his own uncle and likewise resented the power of the nobility, was shocked by the cruelty of the English King, lamenting to some at his court that he should have declared war in order to help the Welsh.

Emperor Sigismund, on the other hand, was reported to have mildly disapproved of Edward's actions, but was beginning to ponder closer ties with his nephew anyways, so he refused to openly condemn him. His eldest daughter Elizabeth had tragically died of illness and it looked as though more children would not come to him and his wife. It was during this period Sigismund began to ponder what would have the potential to be one of the most important marriages in European History, his remaining daughter Princess Barbara of Luxembourg to the son of Edward IV, the young Prince Edward Plantagenet. He did not want his crown to fall into the hands of any of his scheming vassals, nor did he want the chaos of a sole female succession, especially considering many of his lands followed the Salic form of inheritance. Also, there was actually historical precedent for his idea, as Richard Plantagenet, the son of the English King John, had been named King of the Romans in 1257. Sigismund took no concrete action at this point however, understanding both children were still quite young.

Following the defeat of the Second Welsh Rebellion, England entered a somewhat unique period of peace. In a century that was to be dominated by civil war and dynastic disputes Edward's reign following the rebellion proved to be a long, prosperous period of calm before the chaos. For the next several decades England itself would not be attacked with the exception of the occasional border wars with the Scots. This meant, while Wales was recovering from the destruction inflicted upon it with lowered population, English population was booming. In the years following the brutal sack of Wales, Edward IV ordered thousands of English families to settle the lands, much of which had been confiscated by him and distributed to a few close allies. This was a tactic to dilute the discontent in Wales, though it would only have varied success. Often times the English and Welsh segregated from one another, living in separate towns and neighborhoods, meaning the region was now filled with a new source of tension, differing national origins and cultures. It would be several decades before real integration began, though once it did, Welsh nationalism was dealt a major blow.

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Emperor Sigismund

In early 1418 Queen Marie gave birth to yet another child after several years of miscarriages and stillbirths. This time the child was a girl, being christened Anne by the King shortly after her birth in order to honor her late grandmother. Edward doted upon the child, and she was said to resemble the King most in appearance. The succession was now secure so Edward and Sigismund agreed in this period that there would be a marriage between two of their children, Sigismund's potential future son and Princess Anne or Prince Edward and Princess Barbara. The idea of a Plantagenet Holy Roman Empire appealed to Edward IV, who began to push agressively for a marriage, even going so far as to offer Sigismund the chance to educate Prince Edward. Representatives from both sides eventually met in Brussels, where months of negotiation and communication between the two sovereigns began.

In France the civil war continued to rage as the Duke of Orleans refused to do battle with the Burgundian Army sent to face him. He hurried to the east to attack the personal holdings of the Duke of Burgundy, Burgundy itself. The government in Paris had expected him to attack the capitol and, as such, were caught off guard. In an embarrassment for the Duke of Burgundy, his personal subjects fell victim to occupation and looting. The Duke of Orleans was especially harsh on the local civilian population which he partially blamed for the actions of their liege. The Orleanists began a brutal occupation of Burgundy, which continued for several months. Eventually, once it was clear the attack was not enough to get the Duke of Burgundy himself to leave Paris, the Duke of Orleans ordered his men to acquire the wealth they could from the land, and then destroy it. Acres of farmland were burned throughout the region as even churches fell victim to looting. The Orleanist forces moved back to their personal holdings, pockets full and morale high.

In a tremendous oversight the Duke of Orleans and his men missed the signs of an ambush in the town of Gien. The army sent several months prior to originally do battle with the army had waited for them to return. As they began to enter friendly territory swarms of Burgundian troops flooded the field, killing the shocked men. Some blamed the oversight of Orleans' inexperience, others the over-confidence of his armies. Ultimately with the defeat of Charles, the Duke of Orleans at the Battle of Gien, the civil war seemed to finally be concluding after 11 long years. John the Fearless offered peace several days later, promising to allow Charles of Orleans to retain his lands and titles in exchange for recognizing the Burgundian regency, renouncing the throne, and light captivity at court. Charles was forced to accept, not having the money or support to continue to wage war. He meekly turned himself over the custody of the Crown in March 1418 as peace finally settled on war-ravaged France.

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Surrender of the Duke of Orleans and allies

The collapse of the Orleanists and the somewhat sudden end to the war greatly improved France's standing among its fellow European nations. No longer could the nation be easily preyed upon, and it was during this time raids from English-held France greatly decreased. France finally began to look abroad once more during this period. With news of a potentially permanent English-Imperial Alliance, France looked for potential counter-weight allies in Iberia, Italy, and the east. Castile and Aragon, with the former under the regency of the latter, were not inclined to support France at this time however, and the Italian peninsula was too divided to provide any strong backing. Thus, once again, France decided to look north and pursue the Auld Alliance. The Duke of Burgundy opened talks with King James I of Scotland in mid 1418 with the intent of securing a defensive agreement. James, who held a grudge with the Duke of Orleans for the refusal of his government to return him to Scotland, was more than happy to accept a Burgundian alliance and put aside his bad feelings with Charles VI. He agreed that his son Prince James be betrothed to the granddaughter of Charles VI, and eldest child of the Dauphin John and his wife Jacqueline, Margaret, who was born in early 1418 just prior to the end of the civil war. Unlike in the past, the French now also had another potential ally in the British Isles with the rise of Ireland. John the Fearless and Taghd also formed a defensive agreement during this time, through the deal was private and was only directed against England. The French were delighted by the instability on the British Isles during the past few years, and viewed it as revenge for the English gains in Normandy and Guyenne.

The birth of Margaret to the Dauphin and his wife greatly changed the ambitions of the heir to the throne. John was now more demanding of the Duke of Burgundy and began quietly pushing to be named sole regent of France. The majority of the Kingdom did see the title as his right, as he was now of age and undisputed heir to the French crown, but few were willing to go to war over it. Thus John was forced to take a somewhat deferential position. Frustrated with this, and fearing assassination, he made his resentment of John the Fearless public and left Paris in a hurry, returning to his wife's lands by the end of the year. He decided he would wait for his father's death before he would root out his Burgundian relatives.

The Treaty of Ghent was signed on January 3rd, 1419 between Edward IV and Sigismund. The young Prince Edward was to formally renounce the English throne, travel to Hungary within the year, and be educated by his uncle and married to his cousin, Princess Barbara of Luxembourg, within the next ten years. It was agreed that, in the event of the death of Prince Richard prior to his ascension to the throne, Prince Edward would have the option of choosing either the Imperial or English Crowns. While some questioned Edward's decision to hand his son over to his uncle, especially in the wake of a miscarriage by Queen Marie in April 1419, Edward remained confident he would have more sons and his house would remain secure on the English throne. He also quietly reported to several favorites that he believed the title of Holy Roman Emperor was far more prestigious than King of England and was willing to gamble a bit if it ensured a Plantagenet Holy Roman Empire.

France was not the only nation that was horrified by the treaty, as many of Sigismund's German vassals made clear. Several dukes threatened to revolt unless the Emperor renounced the treaty, though their complaints ultimately resulted in little change, as they understood English aid to Sigismund would ensure their defeat. Prince Edward bade a tearful goodbye to his parents on June 11th, 1419, signed a prepared statement renouncing the throne, and sailed for the Low Countries with an entourage of over 100 Englishmen, mostly consisting of the younger sons of some English families who were expected to be rewarded by Prince Edward with lands and titles upon his assumption of the throne. Sigismund met his grandnephew in Bohemia, having helped foil several kidnapping attempts en route, and assumed guardianship over the boy. The child was just four, roughly the age of his father when he had first arrived in Bohemia many years earlier. Unlike with Edward IV, who Sigismund had allowed to access English culture and courtiers as he was going to be the future King of England, the Emperor sought to block off all English influences on Prince Edward. With the exception of the younger sons of the English nobility and a few servants, much of the Prince's entourage was dismissed from Prague and replaced with Germans, Bohemians, and Hungarians. Luckily for Edward, he had been raised speaking many languages (primarily English, French, and German) so the adjustment was not entirely painful, though undoubtedly he had to have felt somewhat isolated, having been taken away from everything he had ever known at the mere age of 4.

After acquiring Prince Edward, Sigismund began to seek papal dispensation for a marriage. Pope John XXIII however, was reluctant. Edward's actions against the Welsh left the Pope furious and he was still contemplating moving forward with a formal excommunication. Only after Sigismund began to have the clergy from his lands start pushing in the Vatican, did the Pope reluctantly consent. The Papal Decree had been secured, but the Pope's initial reluctance offended Sigismund and relations between the Emperor and this specific Pope would no longer be nearly as friendly.

The departure of Prince Edward so soon after the miscarriage took its toll on Marie's health, both physical and mental. By mid-July she had taken to bed and the kingdom anxiously awaited news of her condition. Edward IV, who was isolated from her for fear of catching any illness, sunk deep into prayer and the at the royal court in Paris a somber mood developed as the royal family anxiously awaited news. Then, as September began to pass, her condition began to seemingly miraculously improve. She resumed her functions at court a
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]nd made a shocking announcement in early 1420. She was pregnant once more. In hindsight her reaction to the departure of Prince Edward and the miscarriage was probably an outbreak of extreme depression or anxiety. Or it may even have been an outbreak of the same mental illness that plagued her father. Regardless, the pregnancy undoubtedly brought her back to good spirits. For the next few months she returned to her old self, though many close to her noted a rise in her devotion to religion. Queen Marie immersed herself even deeper in the Catholic faith, making a pilgrimage to the shrine of [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk during her sixth month. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Another son was born to the couple on October 4[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]th[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif], 1420. The boy was quickly named William by his proud father. As he was not the first-born heir, the celebrations were somewhat more subdued and the christening was a largely quiet affair. Nonetheless both parents doted on their three remaining children. Edward, in the aftermath of his victory against the Second Welsh Rebellion, named his son and heir Richard as the Prince of Wales and sent him to rule the province with the aid of many of the King's advisors. William was then granted in early 1421 the title of Duke of Somerset. The previous holders, the Beauforts, had been forced by Edward to give up their lands and titles in Somerset by Edward following the Second Welsh Rebellion in exchange for larger estates in Wales. While John Beaufort was initially reluctant, he agreed when the King's requests became more serious. [/FONT]
 
An Unsuspected Pregnancy 2.0: A Plantagenet Timeline

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Wedding of James I of Scotland and Seban Maccarthy
The Duke of Orleans was just a young boy, and yet the hopes of his side in the civil war rested on his shoulders. Charles proved fit for the task and surprised many individuals with the calmness he responded to the news. He quietly sent out envoys to Edward, while ordering the Orleanist army to slightly move to the west, back towards Paris. When his envoys arrived at the camp of Edward IV they offered the King generous terms in return for a treaty of peace, or at very least a truce. Edward, who was growing concerned by reports from his north that parts of Normandy were up in arms, agreed. The head of the party of envoys had in fact been the Duke of Berry, the last son of John II and a widely respected figure in France and it was whispered without him, negotiations would have failed. He remembered the defeat of his father at the hands of the English at Poitiers and believed a second defeat on that magnitude, especially after the disaster that was the Battle of Rouen, would spell the end for Valois rule in France.

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Marie Valois hears her fate (1607)

The Dukes of Orleans and Berry were to offer Edward generous peace terms. They promised to acknowledge English control over both Normandy and Guyenne, and also agreed to numerous territorial cessations. England was to take vast tracts of land on the edges of both duchies. In return, Edward IV agreed to marry the French Princess Marie. Marie had been educated to be a nun, but she was the child of the closest age to Edward and was unceremoniously removed from her convent and sent back to Paris. Legend had it she clung to the altar, crying when she heard the news, and had to be pulled from the Church by the Orleanist soldiers. By March she had returned to the Capitol and was reunited with her parents for several hours before being sent with an escort to the English camp at Dreux. She and Edward were married that same evening, where she was reportedly weeping heavily, and the following morning the Orleanists and English signed a treaty. Edward agreed to refuse to fight in France for 10 years and happily turned back to Normandy with his new, unhappy wife. Though the marriage was quite unhappy at first, with Edward complaining of Marie's constant crying and dismal attitude, both soon came to at very least respect one another as Marie came to accept her situation. In April the Dauphin was released and sent back to Paris, though his imprisonment had been hard on him and he died en route. France had yet another Dauphin.

Did this treaty acknowledge him as Duke of Normandy and Duke of Guyenne? Did this formally release fealty for his lands? Was he Lord and Duke of Normandy and Guyenne? Could he incorporate them into England? He was in a Strong position an a French King once offered King John a similar deal for Brittany, I believe.
 
Edward was given the Duchies and recognized by the French as ruler of them, with Charles VI's government releasing their fealty. This is one of the factors driving the growing rift between the Dauphin and the regent in France however, as John wants the lands back.
 
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