Hedwig, Mother of Austria - A 14th Century TL
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Chapter 6: The Duke and the Emperor
Prague, 16 August 1365: The court of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV is sent into disarray with the arrival of a messenger boy one fine summer day.
"Sire, a messenger from Vienna," one of the Emperor's advisors announces.
The grim-faced messenger bows deeply before the aged Emperor. "I bring news from Vienna, Your Imperial Majesty."
"Go on," Charles urges when the young man pauses.
"Your daughter, the Duchess Katharina, passed off the plague earlier in the spring," the messenger says.
For a moment, it seems as if Charles' face is frozen in despair. Then, he recovers and crosses himself. "May God rest her soul, the sweet child."
"And--" the messenger begins, before stopping.
"Speak," Charles says harshly.
"This is merely hearsay, Your Imperial Majesty, but it pertains to Duke Rudolf."
"Get it out, or say nothing at all," Charles replies, his composure slipping.
"The Duke's brothers also perished in the same plague that killed your Imperial Majesty's daughter, so Elisabeth of Slavonia, the niece of the Hungarian king, is left without a bridegroom. It is said that Duke Rudolf is spending much time with the Hungarian ambassador in his court as of late," the messenger says.
"You're all dismissed," Charles says with a wave of his hand.
The messenger and the Emperor's advisors file out of the room silently, but even when the doors close behind them, they can hear the crash and anguished scream coming from within.
Free City of Nuremburg, 15 February 1368-2 April 1368: Empress Elisabeth gives birth to her second child and first son. Emperor Charles, overjoyed at finally having a healthy spare, christens the robust baby boy in honor of his favorite saint, St. Sigismund of Burgundy. And, to the shock of his inner circle, Charles summons his former son-in-law, Duke Rudolf of Austria, to his court, and embraces Rudolf as his son.
"My son," Charles says, pulling Rudolf into an embrace.
"Father," Rudolf replies, carefully masking his surprise.
"Come, come, I have something to show you." Charles leads the younger man through the castle, until they reach a hall where loud cries are heard from the end of it.
It is a nursery that the Emperor leads the Duke to.
"This is my son, Sigismund." Charles takes a large baby from a nurse and presents him to Rudolf. The boy is clearly robust, judging by the volume of his wails, with a thick head of red hair. Charles hands the baby back to his nurse with a jolly laugh. "He screams like a lion, and eats like one too. I had to hire another two wetnurses, or he would tire the first one out completely."
"He is a credit to you, Father," Rudolf answers politely.
Charles grabs Rudolf's shoulder and pulls him close. "He is, isn't he? I've begun seeking a bride for him, though my wife, and her gentle heart, believes he's too young."
"The Empress is a good mother," Rudolf says.
"Yes, yes, but I must do what is best for my house. How fortunate then, that I've heard rumors that the Queen of Hungary is with child," Charles says, and his cold stare is so pointed that Rudolf easily understands why he had been called there in the first place.
"Sire, a messenger from Vienna," one of the Emperor's advisors announces.
The grim-faced messenger bows deeply before the aged Emperor. "I bring news from Vienna, Your Imperial Majesty."
"Go on," Charles urges when the young man pauses.
"Your daughter, the Duchess Katharina, passed off the plague earlier in the spring," the messenger says.
For a moment, it seems as if Charles' face is frozen in despair. Then, he recovers and crosses himself. "May God rest her soul, the sweet child."
"And--" the messenger begins, before stopping.
"Speak," Charles says harshly.
"This is merely hearsay, Your Imperial Majesty, but it pertains to Duke Rudolf."
"Get it out, or say nothing at all," Charles replies, his composure slipping.
"The Duke's brothers also perished in the same plague that killed your Imperial Majesty's daughter, so Elisabeth of Slavonia, the niece of the Hungarian king, is left without a bridegroom. It is said that Duke Rudolf is spending much time with the Hungarian ambassador in his court as of late," the messenger says.
"You're all dismissed," Charles says with a wave of his hand.
The messenger and the Emperor's advisors file out of the room silently, but even when the doors close behind them, they can hear the crash and anguished scream coming from within.
Free City of Nuremburg, 15 February 1368-2 April 1368: Empress Elisabeth gives birth to her second child and first son. Emperor Charles, overjoyed at finally having a healthy spare, christens the robust baby boy in honor of his favorite saint, St. Sigismund of Burgundy. And, to the shock of his inner circle, Charles summons his former son-in-law, Duke Rudolf of Austria, to his court, and embraces Rudolf as his son.
"My son," Charles says, pulling Rudolf into an embrace.
"Father," Rudolf replies, carefully masking his surprise.
"Come, come, I have something to show you." Charles leads the younger man through the castle, until they reach a hall where loud cries are heard from the end of it.
It is a nursery that the Emperor leads the Duke to.
"This is my son, Sigismund." Charles takes a large baby from a nurse and presents him to Rudolf. The boy is clearly robust, judging by the volume of his wails, with a thick head of red hair. Charles hands the baby back to his nurse with a jolly laugh. "He screams like a lion, and eats like one too. I had to hire another two wetnurses, or he would tire the first one out completely."
"He is a credit to you, Father," Rudolf answers politely.
Charles grabs Rudolf's shoulder and pulls him close. "He is, isn't he? I've begun seeking a bride for him, though my wife, and her gentle heart, believes he's too young."
"The Empress is a good mother," Rudolf says.
"Yes, yes, but I must do what is best for my house. How fortunate then, that I've heard rumors that the Queen of Hungary is with child," Charles says, and his cold stare is so pointed that Rudolf easily understands why he had been called there in the first place.
I agree, it's a very beautiful and interesting dynamic, considering that in OTL Charles was terribly wary of Rudolph and his brothers, I really see him using Sigismund's birth to make them a subtle threat
Chapter 7: A New Danish King
King Olaf II of Denmark and IV of Norway was hunting with friends in a forest in Jutland, on 29 June 1406. It had been raining heavily the previous couple of days. The horse the king was riding drowned while trying to cross a swollen stream. The king was also drowned.
Olaf's son, Valdemar, succeeded to the thrones of Denmark and Norway, as Valdemar IV of Denmark and of Norway. He was only 17 years old. Though he was idealistic and something of a dreamer, he was determined and had excellent interpersonal skills, He was a handsome young man, but not interested in women, or men. Though he knew he would have to get married and become the father of at least one child, preferably more.
Olaf's son, Valdemar, succeeded to the thrones of Denmark and Norway, as Valdemar IV of Denmark and of Norway. He was only 17 years old. Though he was idealistic and something of a dreamer, he was determined and had excellent interpersonal skills, He was a handsome young man, but not interested in women, or men. Though he knew he would have to get married and become the father of at least one child, preferably more.
Chapter 8: Italian Affairs II
welcome back to the studio, dear viewers, we stopped with the continuation of our documentary, after having given a first look at the general situation in which the author of the Chronica moves, in particular after seeing what the atmosphere is like in the city of Rome, with many of the plebs regret the government of tribune Cola di Rienzo ( avid enemy of the nobility ), but the time has come to return to Avignon to see how our pontifical notary is preparing to take part in the delicate diplomatic mission, so let's leave let him guide us on our journey again
the preparations were now complete, all that was missing were the documents that would have identified us as direct papal ambassadors so as to be able to obtain permission to pass through the various territories of different princes that we would have to cross, along the way to Rome, at the head of the mission is the distinguished the prelate Arnaud Aubert ( papal chamberlain and vicar general of the see of Avignon ), besides me and our boss, there were 17 participants on this trip, when we finally obtained all the necessary documents to travel in relative safety, we could begin our journey across the Alps, which was only the first obstacle of a route that would see us pass through Savoy, Genoa and Tuscany, most of us they are originally from France ( except for me, who have Capitoline origins, of which I am proud ), so they have never had the need to leave the kingdom, except on rare occasions like this, crossing all these places took us at least 3 months, but they were really well spent, I cannot describe the experience I had when we found ourselves completely surrounded by enormous bastions of rocks, cliffs whose bottom we could not see and above all snow and ice, all interspersed with sudden lush pastures full of life, before finding ourselves in front of the first territories belonging to the Marquis of Saluzzo and then to the Savoy family, from here on the journey was easier but much more treacherous because we had to make our way through territories devastated by war, with the risk of becoming at any moment a target of the political aims of the intriguing lord of Milan and his subordinates, but fortunately for us, Archbishop Roberto ( 1 ) interceded with his lord ( and relative ) to guarantee us permission to pass in complete safety, they finally enter Tuscany, an area considered relatively protected in case the tyrant Bernabó has possible second thoughts about us, near Florence we decide to stop a little, so as to refresh ourselves properly and warn the provisional government in Rome of our imminent arrival, we send via a courier, the papers that His Holiness wanted to be immediately delivered to Cardinal Albornoz, once they arrived near the papal possessions, but days went by, without any replies to our correspondence arriving from the vicar, in the end Monsignor Aubert was no longer able to wait for news from the city, and ordered us to set off again, after a week of walking, finally the long-awaited news from the cardinal, while we were in the vicinity of Siena, thanks to a young Roman knight who had been sent to intercept us and subsequently escort us ( because he told us that in these countryside there were bad people wandering around and potentially hostile to Holy Father and consequence also to us, who represented him ), once we finally arrived in the Lazio countryside north of the eternal city, we almost deluded ourselves that we had found ourselves in a magical land, full of timeless wonders, some of us already imagined being proclaimed as heroes for having successfully accomplished this that generations of soldiers, diplomats, sovereigns and even other pontiffs had failed to accomplish, bringing the papacy back to its place of origin, is all this without firing a shot, but our daydream was about to transform into one of the worst moments of my earthly existence, never before had I been assailed by the fear of dying and the irrepressible desire to escape, my sense of honor still finds it difficult to accept that day, let alone talking about it publicly, but the diabolical facts of those disastrous hours must be told, when a group of simple officials on a diplomatic visit were surrounded and then attacked by armed bandits, threatened with weapons and finally decimated, it all happened a few steps from the Leonine gate, when from afar we saw some people coming out of it to meet us, at first we thought it was the people who were coming to welcome us, but we understood too late that it wasn't like that
thinking about it now, it seemed too good to be true, the clues were all there, an excessively quiet journey in an area notoriously devastated by raids and conflicts, the lord of Milan who let us pass without saying or making any requests, communications that they were slow in arriving from Rome ( especially if we take into account that the cardinal is a well-known perfectionist and always dutiful ), a noble Roman scoundrel who had personally come to look for us ( this in itself should have given rise to some legitimate doubts ) to escort us to the our trip, but we had been stupidly blinded by the naivety and temporary good fortune that had been accompanying us from the beginning of our journey, this is what condemned us to what subsequently happens....
particularly when our guard ( until then cordial and affable ) moved with his steed to block our path, then he drew his sword and pointed it at us, threatening to make us suffer like dogs if we didn't listen to him, a very dear acquaintance of mine, didn't welcomed and to teach us a lesson, the noble ( certainly became a servant of the devil ) I behead him on the spot, but unfortunately our misfortunes did not end, on the contrary they got worse, when our tormentor was joined by his other companions in misdeeds, the swindlers thought they could cheat us by speaking in the language of the city, but they didn't know that I could partially understand them, but this didn't make me it would have been of great help against fully armed men, technically we had soldiers following us for defensive purposes, but they were clearly outnumbered, they were taken out in a few moments, but I took advantage of that opportunity to try to look for help, knowing that it would be difficult for some mercenary to worry about a simple notary on the run, especially when he could get his hands on an important figure in the papal government, I couldn't let them get away with it, I rushed into the city streets, trying to make myself understood by the population , at the beginning it was a total failure and the only thing I heard were the screams of my companions who were trying to resist, but it seemed that those desperate voices had somehow struck the curiosity of the Romans, in the end I instinctively decided to focus on that, trying to make it clear that those poor wretches came from Avignon and that they were bringing news from the Pope himself, I don't know how all this degenerated so quickly, as it is I don't understand how the rabble got so heated in their minds, to immediately organize a punitive expedition against our attackers, the only thing I could understand was a confused but increasingly cry, on par with the ferocity of the Romans, those criminals who I later discovered to be thugs of the nobility came torn to pieces by the angry crowd and their cries were overwhelmed by the screams of the people " death to the loan sharks, freedom for the city, you will pay dearly, the cardinal will not save you, long live the pope who is about to return " it was a chilling sight ....
1 ) Otl died of the plague, after catching it in 1361, but this doesn't happen here and he lives slightly longer
well with this I can say that the first year is definitively over, see you soon in 1366, with the reactions of the Italian political actors to this macabre event ( especially on the part of the prefect Giovanni and cardinal Albernoz ) and hopefully the arrival of Urban V in the territories of the papal state
the preparations were now complete, all that was missing were the documents that would have identified us as direct papal ambassadors so as to be able to obtain permission to pass through the various territories of different princes that we would have to cross, along the way to Rome, at the head of the mission is the distinguished the prelate Arnaud Aubert ( papal chamberlain and vicar general of the see of Avignon ), besides me and our boss, there were 17 participants on this trip, when we finally obtained all the necessary documents to travel in relative safety, we could begin our journey across the Alps, which was only the first obstacle of a route that would see us pass through Savoy, Genoa and Tuscany, most of us they are originally from France ( except for me, who have Capitoline origins, of which I am proud ), so they have never had the need to leave the kingdom, except on rare occasions like this, crossing all these places took us at least 3 months, but they were really well spent, I cannot describe the experience I had when we found ourselves completely surrounded by enormous bastions of rocks, cliffs whose bottom we could not see and above all snow and ice, all interspersed with sudden lush pastures full of life, before finding ourselves in front of the first territories belonging to the Marquis of Saluzzo and then to the Savoy family, from here on the journey was easier but much more treacherous because we had to make our way through territories devastated by war, with the risk of becoming at any moment a target of the political aims of the intriguing lord of Milan and his subordinates, but fortunately for us, Archbishop Roberto ( 1 ) interceded with his lord ( and relative ) to guarantee us permission to pass in complete safety, they finally enter Tuscany, an area considered relatively protected in case the tyrant Bernabó has possible second thoughts about us, near Florence we decide to stop a little, so as to refresh ourselves properly and warn the provisional government in Rome of our imminent arrival, we send via a courier, the papers that His Holiness wanted to be immediately delivered to Cardinal Albornoz, once they arrived near the papal possessions, but days went by, without any replies to our correspondence arriving from the vicar, in the end Monsignor Aubert was no longer able to wait for news from the city, and ordered us to set off again, after a week of walking, finally the long-awaited news from the cardinal, while we were in the vicinity of Siena, thanks to a young Roman knight who had been sent to intercept us and subsequently escort us ( because he told us that in these countryside there were bad people wandering around and potentially hostile to Holy Father and consequence also to us, who represented him ), once we finally arrived in the Lazio countryside north of the eternal city, we almost deluded ourselves that we had found ourselves in a magical land, full of timeless wonders, some of us already imagined being proclaimed as heroes for having successfully accomplished this that generations of soldiers, diplomats, sovereigns and even other pontiffs had failed to accomplish, bringing the papacy back to its place of origin, is all this without firing a shot, but our daydream was about to transform into one of the worst moments of my earthly existence, never before had I been assailed by the fear of dying and the irrepressible desire to escape, my sense of honor still finds it difficult to accept that day, let alone talking about it publicly, but the diabolical facts of those disastrous hours must be told, when a group of simple officials on a diplomatic visit were surrounded and then attacked by armed bandits, threatened with weapons and finally decimated, it all happened a few steps from the Leonine gate, when from afar we saw some people coming out of it to meet us, at first we thought it was the people who were coming to welcome us, but we understood too late that it wasn't like that
thinking about it now, it seemed too good to be true, the clues were all there, an excessively quiet journey in an area notoriously devastated by raids and conflicts, the lord of Milan who let us pass without saying or making any requests, communications that they were slow in arriving from Rome ( especially if we take into account that the cardinal is a well-known perfectionist and always dutiful ), a noble Roman scoundrel who had personally come to look for us ( this in itself should have given rise to some legitimate doubts ) to escort us to the our trip, but we had been stupidly blinded by the naivety and temporary good fortune that had been accompanying us from the beginning of our journey, this is what condemned us to what subsequently happens....
particularly when our guard ( until then cordial and affable ) moved with his steed to block our path, then he drew his sword and pointed it at us, threatening to make us suffer like dogs if we didn't listen to him, a very dear acquaintance of mine, didn't welcomed and to teach us a lesson, the noble ( certainly became a servant of the devil ) I behead him on the spot, but unfortunately our misfortunes did not end, on the contrary they got worse, when our tormentor was joined by his other companions in misdeeds, the swindlers thought they could cheat us by speaking in the language of the city, but they didn't know that I could partially understand them, but this didn't make me it would have been of great help against fully armed men, technically we had soldiers following us for defensive purposes, but they were clearly outnumbered, they were taken out in a few moments, but I took advantage of that opportunity to try to look for help, knowing that it would be difficult for some mercenary to worry about a simple notary on the run, especially when he could get his hands on an important figure in the papal government, I couldn't let them get away with it, I rushed into the city streets, trying to make myself understood by the population , at the beginning it was a total failure and the only thing I heard were the screams of my companions who were trying to resist, but it seemed that those desperate voices had somehow struck the curiosity of the Romans, in the end I instinctively decided to focus on that, trying to make it clear that those poor wretches came from Avignon and that they were bringing news from the Pope himself, I don't know how all this degenerated so quickly, as it is I don't understand how the rabble got so heated in their minds, to immediately organize a punitive expedition against our attackers, the only thing I could understand was a confused but increasingly cry, on par with the ferocity of the Romans, those criminals who I later discovered to be thugs of the nobility came torn to pieces by the angry crowd and their cries were overwhelmed by the screams of the people " death to the loan sharks, freedom for the city, you will pay dearly, the cardinal will not save you, long live the pope who is about to return " it was a chilling sight ....
1 ) Otl died of the plague, after catching it in 1361, but this doesn't happen here and he lives slightly longer
well with this I can say that the first year is definitively over, see you soon in 1366, with the reactions of the Italian political actors to this macabre event ( especially on the part of the prefect Giovanni and cardinal Albernoz ) and hopefully the arrival of Urban V in the territories of the papal state
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Eli you are too kind, and I'm serious 😅, well in reality this was originally supposed to be part of one of the events of 1366, but a heavy inspiration took me a few minutes ago, so I totally deleted the part already written, to be able to start again from scratch, and the result is what you just have read, because I want it to become an important point for the future development of the city of Rome and for the fate of all the characters connected to it
Chapter 9: The Danish King's Marriage
King Valdemar IV strongly agreed with his nobles' desire for a union of the crowns of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. But Albert of Meclenburg, who styled himself King of Sweden, though he had been deposed in 1389, was in the way. However he abdicated in June 1405. Stockholm, which was a member of the Hanseatic League, was won over by trade concessions.
On 10 July 1407, the feast of St. Bridget, patron saint of Sweden, the document which united the crowns of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (which included a large part of Finland), was signed in the Swedish city of Kalmar. Also in the Kalmar Union were the Norwegian colonies of Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Orkney, and Shetland.
King Valdemar married Janet Stewart, daughter of Robert III, King of Scots, and Annebella Drummond (born December 1394), on 8 May 1411. She was this timeline's sibling of OTL James, second son of Annabella and Robert. They had two children, A girl born on 23 April 1412, and a boy born on 27 July 1413. They named their children Margaret and Olaf, After the birth of Olaf they decided by mutual agreement to have no more children.
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On 10 July 1407, the feast of St. Bridget, patron saint of Sweden, the document which united the crowns of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (which included a large part of Finland), was signed in the Swedish city of Kalmar. Also in the Kalmar Union were the Norwegian colonies of Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Orkney, and Shetland.
King Valdemar married Janet Stewart, daughter of Robert III, King of Scots, and Annebella Drummond (born December 1394), on 8 May 1411. She was this timeline's sibling of OTL James, second son of Annabella and Robert. They had two children, A girl born on 23 April 1412, and a boy born on 27 July 1413. They named their children Margaret and Olaf, After the birth of Olaf they decided by mutual agreement to have no more children.
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