January 24, 1204

It's also surprising that the Romans went for an open field battle rather than waiting the assault.

Well there are many examples of the ERE sallying out of a besieged city. Sometimes it produced miracles (Rome), other times disasters (Alexandria), but I think it was pretty entrenched in their military doctrine. This also happened OTL with Mourtzouphlos. However, with no greek fire, the crusaders failed to panic and beat the Romans back, even capuring their standart and a holy icon (which, as you can guess, did wonders for morale...)

I love these images
thanks. I was getting frustrated at one point by not getting a decent screenshot, but fortunately it all worked out.

Broken Crescent and Stainless Steel, right? :D
How do you people recognize these things ?!:p
 
I've enjoyed this so far, but I am slightly surprised that the Empire has not made overtures to Bulgaria to get Kaloyan to fight the Franks too.
 
[FONT=&quot]As the first crusaders on horseback reached the camp, they brought with them tales of how fire-breathing dragons had attacked them alongside the Greeks and how the enemy threw countless men at them with the fury of Satan himself. Dandolo however, was not at all impressed by this. From what he could read, it was only the rearguard that suffered any losses, and the Greeks had not set out in pursuit. That meant that the biggest loss was the spoils they were supposed to collect. On the other hand, this presented a huge opportunity, since apparently a significant number of the enemy army had left the city. "Now is no time for despair", he thought to himself. "If we move swiftly, victory will be ours..."[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]2 hours later...[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The assault was not going as planned. It had been a debacle from the start, with over-eager nobles pushing their galleys to be the first ones at the walls and with general confusion as to the overall plan of attack, since everything was organized on such a short notice. The forces available were also pretty meagre, whereas the enemy seemed to have countless archers at the walls. As the flurry of projectiles continued to fly overhead, with no quick victory in sight and reports that the enemy army had returned to the city reaching him, Doge Dandolo, with a heavy heart, ordered a retreat. Already, he was thinking of the next assault, one who would be coordinated and bring the full force of God's pilgrims to bare on the treacherous Greeks.[/FONT]




[FONT=&quot]April 8th, 1204[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]April saw the big, all-out assault that Dandolo had been planning finally take place. The currents were favorable and morale was high. Preparations included banishing prostitutes from the camp, repairs on damaged vessels, mangonels, petraries and other weapons of war mounted on the warships and transports and ladders were raised from the yards and masts of the vessels.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Prior to it the crusaders had agreed on the spoils. 12 Men would elect an emperor, who would get a quarter of the spoils. The rest would be divided up evenly between the Venetians and the Franks. 24 elected men would also divide fiefs and honours following the victory and act as a sort of council, subject to the emperor.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The assault, however, did not go as planned. The weather changed and the wind began to blow from the shore towards the sea, preventing ships from even reaching the walls in many places. Even worse, the sea walls had been strengthened by adding a wooden supra-structure, making it very difficult for the crusaders to reach the top with their relatively shorter ladders. Fighting continued for a couple of hours, but its eventual outcome was clear from the start. By noon, a retreat had been ordered.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]

After much deliberation, the crusaders resolved to attack in the same place the following Monday, should the weather allow it. Until then, the ladders would be heightened, ships repaired and bound together in pairs, with each pair set to attack a tower so as to provide local numerical superiority.
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Also discussed, this time among the clergy, was the message that was to be spread the following day to the demoralized army. In order to prevent the sentiment that this new defeat was God's judgment on a sinful enterprise, they argued that the events were merely the Lord testing the faith of Crusaders. Inflammatory messages, such as "the Greeks are worse than the Jews" were the order of the day, with the authority of the Pope and God Allmighty also being constantly invoked.

[/FONT] priest.jpg

priest.jpg
 
I've enjoyed this so far

thanks

but I am slightly surprised that the Empire has not made overtures to Bulgaria to get Kaloyan to fight the Franks too.


Probably because he had offered his assistance to the crusaders, who had turned him down, or because they had been at war only years previously, with the chronicler Choniates writing something like "not one battle was won by the Romans", or because they hadn't had time or thought it wise. Or maybe they did, but were turned down, as it was not it Kaloyans interest to engage the crusaders at this point. Better to wait and see who comes out on top...


Also, sorry for the looong interruption in the story. I hope to get it back on track however, and hope you guys enjoy reading it. Comments appreciated, as always.
 
And we approach the point where the siege will succeed or fail...

Holy Theotokos, desert not the city of Constantine!
 
And it's back!

If I were you I'd ban every man named Constantine from the city. The prophecy was fulfilled twice: firstly with Constantine Laskaris in 1204 and then with Constantine XI Palaiologos! Thank God this Emperor is named Nikolaos...
 

MAlexMatt

Banned
Interesting- though using the term "nation" for the ERE isn't correct, it should either be "Empire" or simply "state". It wasn't a nation in any way.

It wasn't a nation in the sense we use the word today: A unitary ethnic and cultural block with a sense of common ancestry and history.

However, it was a nation in a somewhat more contemporary sense: It was a religious nation, which found 'Rhomaoi'ness and Orthodoxy to be one and the same. It's telling that some Greek speakers were calling themselves Romans into the 20th century. This sense of identity was no doubt reinforced by the Ottoman conquest and the millet system, but those were only building on a sense of identity that had existed since at least the 4th century AD. Especially the more broadly aware city dwellers would certainly consider themselves part of something that might be thought of as a 'Roman nationality'.

Anyway, having read the whole topic of responses except the actual story post (just the first one in the OP), I'd like to react a bit:

First off, others are right to note that this is highly implausible. Of course, implausible isn't impossible and you've managed to accomplish things in a way that is at least a bit possible. However, I'd like to throw in a few caveats:

1. One of the things which helps this scenario along is that Constantinople did experience significant social instability since about the end of the mainline Komnenoi. While the unrest was mostly anti-nobility, something as comparatively revolutionary as the end of the office of Emperor isn't completely fantastic. I think you might be better served by keeping some of the religious functions of the Emperorship, but it's your TL.

2. Despite that, anyone who didn't directly witness the 'miracle' is going to range from extremely skeptical to outright hostile to the regime change. Even people who were there and saw it happen are going to have serious mis-givings. I imagine prospective noble candidates for the Imperial Throne are going to begin immediately scheming to overthrow the new republic, although this can, paradoxically, result in more stability for the new government than there would otherwise be: Multiple groups of plotters are going to act to cancel each other's efforts.

However, should some subset of these groups decide to cooperate around one candidate, beware.

3. The Church WILL NOT LIKE THIS. The idea of the head of the Church being a body filled with nobles and, especially, commoners is anathema to the Church's pretensions of itself. This is another reason why I highly suggest back-editing the religious functions of the office of Emperor back into existence. Besides the profanity of the Church being ruled by a whole body of men instead of just one man, being God's anointed representative on Earth, the idea of the Patriarch being elected or appointed by that kind of body is going to smack of Papism to them.

Also, coincidentally, the continued existence of a religious Emperorship that has some level of constitutional and political continuity with the old regime would have some level of forestalling effect on attempts to unseat the new regime. A regime with no Emperor at all is extremely vulnerable to conservative inertia having people believing the next person with an army to declare himself Emperor being the sole legitimate one, whereas a regime that has a continued Imperial Office has no such shortcoming.

4. This new regime will lean heavily on its successes. Especially early on, unless they can throw the Latins out and get things running again more and more people are going to turn against them. The whole schema depends on everybody believing God is On Their Side. Without obvious Divine Favor there will be increased push back from outside the regime and increased dissension and decreased morale within it. I hope you've written it as such in the posts I haven't read, because anything else really gets into the realm of the impossible.
 
A man could hardly see through the heavy fog that morning, yet, for Nikolaos, the shapes of the enemy galleys were as clear as day. They had struck twice before in the previous days, but, this time, there was something about them that seemed out of place. They were approaching the walls in good order. Before long, he could see from atop his tower the first volley of projectiles hurled at his walls by these monsters of doom. His own archers responded, and, before long, volley after volley of arrows and projectiles of all sorts covered the sky, lighting it up when the projectiles where covered in fire and turning it pitch-dark when they weren’t.

The enemy’s floating towers soon reached the walls, and fierce fighting began. Swords and shields, maces, clubs, daggers, spears and pikes clashed as if the day of Armageddon had come. His men though, most of them inexperienced, quickly began to give ground, even as he entered the fray. All around him, friends and comrades fell, even his horse was cut down from under him once the fighting took to the streets. Yet, he persevered and set up barrier after barrier before the approaching barbarians, only to see it pushed back again and again.

Through the dust, he caught a glimpse at the enemy, and saw them led by a knight of terrifying height, with a helmet that seemed to strike fear into the heart of any Roman as if it was crafted in the workshop of the Devil himself. Sensing that killing him would turn the tide, he charged forward with all the fury and rage of a lion, cutting down man after man, until he reached him, the devil’s spawn. Lifting his sword, he tried to strike him, but felt unable to, as all around him his men were running in fear, leaving him alone amongst the enemy.

The next thing he knew, he was near the altar of the Great Church. His family, friends and brothers in arms were there, as were the patriarch, most of the senators. Soldiers he couldn’t see that many around, only a couple here and there. Among them, Ecgbert and Gudrik, who, along with a few other Varangians, were at his side. Then came the noise. The cries of women and children, the screams of those injured and, most importantly, the constant battering of the churches large doors. He felt trapped in this golden cage, filled with the scent of death as well as that of fire and burning flesh coming from outside.

His men were trying to hold the doors in place, but with every knock it became clearer and clearer that death would pay them all a visit that day. As the gates were finally battered open, his men fell back. A shield wall was attempted, as every man capable of standing drew some weapon. Behind them, others were praying to God for a miracle, for deliverance, for anything. Yet the miracle failed to come, and Nikolaos saw the barbarians tear through Rhomania's last line of defense, killing everyone in cold blood, as no one was spared: not bishop, priest, nun, man, woman or child. Only he was left, bleeding on the floor, with the blood-stained barbarians around him, who made him watch as they desecrated the bodies of his loved ones, broke up the altar for its gold content, smashed the icons, threw the Holy Gifts to the floor and tore mosaics and tapestries from the walls. Horses and mules were brought into the church the better to carry off the sacred vessels, gold, silver, and whatever else they could gather. Drunken soldiers drank from chalices and ate from patens while riding asses were draped with priestly vestments and even a mocking prostitute was placed on the Patriarch's chair to dance and sing obscene songs.

He could then feel them taking him, carrying him all the way atop the column of Theodosius. Muttering something in a language he could not understand, the demons pushed him off the top. Falling towards the ground, he saw everything grow bigger and bigger. With his heart racing, he screamed from the top of his lungs, a scream which was heard across the palace, waking everyone and scaring to death his beloved wife who was, until then, sleeping peacefully beside him.
 
I'd like to thank everyone for their comments thus far and hope you enjoyed this new chapter as well.

Sadly, because of work, writing is going slower than expected, though I do hope to pick up the pace a little bit this week.

@ MAlexMatt:

you raise some fair points, and have also given me an idea. Stay tuned though, for more is yet to come. I also suggest you read the story. Who knows, you might like it thus far.
 
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