Thus lies my problem. It was not a matter of there being a will, or the ability, but of the situation being favorable to such a project. Let us take a good equivalent to your trifecta of excellent Emperors; the Ottomans between 1451 and 1566. They did grow exceptionally, but they were on the cusp of growth, their starting position strong and with plenty of conquerable territory in every direction; they had no real internal threats either, better technology and a more cohesive distance/communication between their core territories, especially at the start (but even at the tail end: losing Algeri or parts of Persia didn't have a major impact).
Unless you add more exceptional individuals and manage to prevent multiple children, the situation you outlined amounts to:
- Germany who is both big and strong/united enough (even if by sole dislike of the Emperor), ripe for rebellion. It will be the first to go.
- Italy is cowed and loyal enough, especially if the Capital is brought back to Rome. Not too much trouble there (though the urban middle class will not be overjoyed). Some threat may come from Africa.
- Latin Empire: it's in huge need of reorganization, probably dislikes the 'frankish pretenders', and their élites will Be happy to offer the Imperial Crown to any Orthodox ruler - Bulgarian, Georgian, Serbian, even Russian, you name it - so long as they kick out the occupiers. An hotbed of trouble and a net drain.
- Jerusalem (+Egypt): even if wank-Frederic wipes the floor with Saladin, there will be some attempt at Jihad (Saladin and Egypt merely being the difference between minor and major challenges). And the Mongols are coming, to test the strength of HRE-Outremer resilience.
Now, any new Emperor would be horribly hard-pressed to keep all of this together - I think fhe first challenge would come from the Latin Empire, only to be followed by unrest in Germany and the arrival of the Mongols from two different ways.
I'm also somewhat skeptic strong emphasis of the Roman-ness would prevent revolts - they'd change the flashpoint and the wording used, but not the underlying causes.
I can understand and see why this empire will eventually collapse. When an individual attains real power, someone will always want to take it from you or part of it at least. Post 1233 it’s all about solving what problems Frederick can, I understand he is not going to prevent peasant uprisings all together. That’s impossible because of the time period he’s living in. I read that the causes of most peasant uprisings are:
- Tax resistance
- Social inequality
- Religious war
- National liberation
- Resistance against serfdom
- Redistribution of land
- External factors such as plague and famine
The best solution is to militarily squash them. In conclusion, it is going to be a military balancing act between Revolts in Germany, Jihad in Jerusalem and then the Mongols. However, with a centralised ‘Italy’ Frederick will have a much larger army normally seen by a Holy Roman Emperor.
The Latin Empire is the problem which requires solving first and foremost but actually, it can be done with relative ease. Because Frederick is the King of Italy, Sicily and Rome, this gives him absolute veto power of the Empire’s subdivisions, making the Latin empire administration power useless. I read this:
“The empire was formed and administered on Western European feudal principles, incorporating some elements of the Byzantine bureaucracy. The emperor was assisted by a council, composed of the various barons, the Venetian podestà and his six-member council. This council had a major voice in the governance of the realm, especially in periods of regency, when the Regent (moderator imperii) was dependent on their consent to rule. The podesta, likewise, was an extremely influential member, being practically independent of the emperor. He exercised authority over the Venetian quarters of Constantinople and Pera and the Venetian dominions within the empire, assisted by a separate set of officials. His role was more that of an ambassador and vicegerent of Venice than a vassal to the empire.”
The solution is to basically ‘outcast’ everyone and consolidate power through legislation.
The only real possible to solution to quashing ‘Frankish pretenders’ and the Latin Empire aristocracy offering the crown to prince candidates is to incorporate the Latin empire into the Holy Roman Empire. Thus officially disbanding the Latin Empire, however, I don’t know if this would create a new claim on this new state, just because it’s got the word ‘Latin’ in it, that is legal, legislative, supreme court territory.
Your mention of the threat from African does not go unnoticed. Although militarily speaking even I would advise against this action because Frederick risks military capitulation between German revolts, Jerusalem Jihad and the Mongols. Frederick’s Norman grandfather, Rodger II actually became the king of Africa. -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Africa
but awesome. I thought the challenge of getting it where the scenario is, was difficult. Those are equally as ‘explosive’, I’ll look into this.
