Leoni Belgio - The lions of Belgium a medieval TL

Our timeline diverges in 1345 when William IV. Count of Holland, Zeeland and Hainault survives a battle he did not in OTL. His death destroyed a plan to unite the lowlands in one principality. This doesn't happen here because he survives

The battle of Warns

In 1345 William IV. Count of Holland, Zeeland and Hainault led a military expedition in Middle Frisia together with his uncle John of Beaumont. They planned to use the Sint-Odolphus monastery as a fortress, from there they wanted to subjugate the countryside. However the Hollandic knights had no horses because there was no space on the ships William used to get to Middle Frisia. The expedition advanced to Stavoren a city in Frisia but around Warns they were attacked by the native frisians. The frisians beat the hollandic forces. William and John could only escape with some knights back to the ships.

The Aftermath

Back in Den Hague William scrapped all plans to subjugate Middle Frisia because he wanted to focus on his domains and his wife Joanna, daughter and heir (since 1352 with the death of her brother Godfrey) of the Duke of Brabant John III. This plan proved right when Joanna had fallen pregnant in November 1352 and gave birth to their son William on the 5th July 1353. William would be the only surviving child of the marriage with his older brother William and his two older sisters Joanna and Marie born in 46 and 49 dying early. William was a healthy child and was always eager to learn. William IV. bastards Adam van Berwaerde and Johan van Vlissingen were given an heerlijkheid (like an english barony) making them nobels. William went back to Prussia in 1347 where he fought against the heathens in Prussia with the Teutonic order like he did earlier in his reign.

The Brabantic Inheritance
John III of Brabant died in Brussel in 1355 leaving his first born daughter Joanna as Duchess of Brabant Lothier and Limburg. Her son William was now heir presumptive to the duchies as he was to the counties of his father. He would inherit both later. However not everyone accepted her inheritance. Louis II. Count of Flanders husband of her sister Margaret invaded the duchy. Louis could capture Antwerp and Malines and advanced with great success until Joannas husband William IV. arrived with his forces and beat the flemish back recapturing territory they had occupied. Louis and William agreed to make peace when the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. intervened and Louis had to accept Joannas inheritance while William had to pay a tribute to Charles so he decided on his favour.
 
So this is my first TL which explores the possibility of united netherlands way earlier and its impact on the world. Please criticize me and comment. How do I upload pictures?
 
An interesting premise, and I'll be following your TL. :)

Though TBH I would have preferred a United Netherlands under the house of Brabant (Leuven/Reginar) than the house of Avesnes, then again I'm a Brabantian:).
 
I'm sorry to be a dick here.. but I think it's Leones Belgicae if you want to say the Lions of Belgium. Or Leones Beligici for Belgian Lions. If this is wrong, I'm sorry for criticizing your title needlessly. :(

I like your idea, though. Should prove interesting.
 
The hundred years’ war (part one)
The hundred years’ war was not one hundred year long war as the name suggest but a bunch of different wars and not everyone took place in France but the conflict between the de Valois and the Plantagenet about the kingship in France. The war is very significant because feudal armies were replaced with standing armies and the aristocracy lost dominance to new tactics. Even though it was a dynastic conflict it gave impetus to french, navarrese and english nationalism and splitted Navarre, France and England into three different states without overlapping sovereignty (in case of Navarra this isn’t true, Navarra’s independence and all territories and fiefs which were associated with the king of Navarre were confirmed with the treaty of Nantes). At the end of the war the english nobles were dissatisfied because they lost their continental holdings, in France the royal power was strengthened but the kingdom was reduced in size and modern Navarra owes it entire existence to it.

The origin of the conflict lays in the dynastic turmoil in France before the war. The legitimate heir to the french throne was the king of England Edward III. because he was the nearest male relative to Charles IV. However the french nobility supported a different claimant because they didn´t want to be ruled by the king of England. The assemblies of the nobles and the university of Paris decided that pretenders who derive their claim from their mothers shouldn’t be included. The heir to the throne was no Charles first cousin Philip, Count of Valois, and he was crowned Philip VI.. The Avignon Papacy decided that according to salic law males could not inherit through their mothers.
The war began in 1340 when Guy half-brother of the Count of Flanders paid homage to Edward and Ghent, Bruges and Ypres declared that they were loyal to the true king of France, Edward I. Plantagenet of France. The English Fleet beat the French at the battle of Sluys. William IV. of Holland was allied with England but he didn't intervene so Edward plundered Hainault. William changed alliances and allied himself with Philip VI. This lasted until the English beat the French at Sluys. Edward invaded France proper resulting in the battle of Crécy which was a disaster for the french and the english longbowmen beat the french knights. Philip appealed to his northern scottish ally and king David of Scotland responded with invading England and getting captured at the battle of Neville's cross. This reduced the scottish threat.
After England recovered, from the first outbreak of the black death, english forces invaded again under woodstock prince the son and heir and namesake of Edward III and later king Edward IV. from Gascony. Woodstock won a great victory at the battle of Poitiers where a gascon noble cutted the king of France John II. the good from his forces leading to his capturing. This lead to chaos in the realm as there was no king or regent who held the peace. Robbers robbed on the streets and the nobles who despised one another could do what they wanted.

Charles II. King of Navarre challenged the Dauphins leadership as regent of France. This lead to Edwards third invasion of France hoping to seize power in France while the Charles fought each other. This lead to the treaty of Brétigny where Edward renounced the french kingship, Normandy, Touraine, Anjou and Maine and reducing the ransom for king John to three million crowns in return for bigger gains in Aquitaine. It was signed in 1360.

William IV. largely ignored the war and repeatedly switched sides but never did something what changed the outcome of the first phase of the war.

Meanwhile in the Balkans
In the Balkans the Ottomans suffered a great defeat at the battle Sırp Sındığı in 1364 to the Bulgarian, Serbian empires and Wallachia and Hungary. The Ottomans were overwhelmed by these forces in an surprise attack. This lead to the Bulgarian seizure of Adrianopel 1365 and the turks were expelled from europe the first time in late 1365.
 
And I have a problem right now who can marry Wenceslaus of Luxembourg who IOTL married Joanna of Brabant? Also my new update is right above this post.
 
The Armagnacs
Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac married Marie d’Evreux daughter of Charles II ‘the bad’ of Navarra[1]. As a leading french general politician and noble he could amass much land and titles. The Marriage with Marie d’Evreux and his conquered provinces were the headstone of the later kingdom of Navarre. His son would inherit Navarre and his father's possessions.

The hundred years’ war (part two)
The second phase of the hundred years war was branded with the reconquest of France by the Valois but also by the Armagnacs and the acquisition of Flanders by the House of Avesnes. The war began when Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales later Edward IV. of England refused to go to Paris. Bernard VII. Count of Armagnac and Bertrand du Guesclin were the greatest french generals while Edward III. was too old to participate and his son had to fight for him. Woodstock began his offensive with an attack on Anjou and Maine, this allowed the Armagnacs to push into Aquitaine while Edward was occupied with the main french forces. The french beat the english on the sea and England wasn’t winning so some called for peace but Woodstock now king of England didn’t want peace and so the war lasted until 1389. The english retained Calais, Bordeaux, Bayonne and Brest in Brittany. Edward IV. had to return to England defeated.

Flanders
During the second phase of the war William IV. of Holland participated on the English side because his sister was Queen. Flanders was invaded by him. The flemish count supported the Valois. Williams conquest was costly and long and he only achieved his goal because his wife supported him. The war devastated Flanders which was benefiting for Brabant because many English merchants buyed and sold their goods in Brussel, Leuven and Antwerpen instead in Brugge, Ghent and Ypres. At the end of the war the flemish count had to relocate to the franche comte as free count of Burgundy.

Here's a map I made with a wikipedia basemap (This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license. )

[1]:in OTL he married Bonne of Berry and Marie married an Aragonese Duke ITTL Bonne did not remarry and the Duke fell from horse.

500dsfpx-Apanages.jpg
 
Well the houses of Avesnes and Dampierre had disputed the succession in Flanders and Hainaut.

Bouchard IV of Avesnes (from a Hainaut noble family) had married Margaret (in 1212) the young heiress of Flanders and Hainaut (from the Hainaut branch of the house of Flanders) without the permission of her elder sister Joanna (who's marriages had remained childless). When Bouchard eventually got captured, Margaret agreed to her sisters demand to dissolve the marriage in order to get Bouchard released. Bouchard additionally needed to seek absolution by the Pope in Rome.

While Bouchard was in Rome, Joanna convinced Margaret to remarry (in 1223) William of Dampierre (from the Champagne region), this marriage might have been bigamous.

However Margaret had sons from both her marriages, so eventually a succession dispute and eventual war arose; the king of France eventually acted as arbitrator and decided that Dampierre inherited Flanders and Avesnes Hainaut.
The first Avesnes count of Hainaut (John I) married Adelaide from Holland, and through this marriage the Avesnes eventually inherited Holland & Zeeland.

In other words the Avesnes might have brought up old claims on Flanders. However the last Dampierre heiress had married the duke of Burgundy and this duchess of Burgundy, but she was also countess palatine of Burgundy, countess of Artois, countess of Nevers and countess of Rethel.

Also a junior branch of the house of Dampierre was margrave of Namur.
 
Well the houses of Avesnes and Dampierre had disputed the succession in Flanders and Hainaut.

Bouchard IV of Avesnes (from a Hainaut noble family) had married Margaret (in 1212) the young heiress of Flanders and Hainaut (from the Hainaut branch of the house of Flanders) without the permission of her elder sister Joanna (who's marriages had remained childless). When Bouchard eventually got captured, Margaret agreed to her sisters demand to dissolve the marriage in order to get Bouchard released. Bouchard additionally needed to seek absolution by the Pope in Rome.

While Bouchard was in Rome, Joanna convinced Margaret to remarry (in 1223) William of Dampierre (from the Champagne region), this marriage might have been bigamous.

However Margaret had sons from both her marriages, so eventually a succession dispute and eventual war arose; the king of France eventually acted as arbitrator and decided that Dampierre inherited Flanders and Avesnes Hainaut.
The first Avesnes count of Hainaut (John I) married Adelaide from Holland, and through this marriage the Avesnes eventually inherited Holland & Zeeland.

In other words the Avesnes might have brought up old claims on Flanders. However the last Dampierre heiress had married the duke of Burgundy and this duchess of Burgundy, but she was also countess palatine of Burgundy, countess of Artois, countess of Nevers and countess of Rethel.

Also a junior branch of the house of Dampierre was margrave of Namur.
I know this. The House of Avesnes brought this up after they invaded Flanders in support of the English.
Also here is a new update:

The Luxembourgians
Wenceslaus I. of Luxembourg married Isabella von Jülich[1] daughter of William I. Duke of Jülich in 1352. To strengthen the power of the Luxembourg family because the marriage between William Avesnes and Joanna Reginar raised suspicion in Prague and Luxembourg. She gave birth to a son in 1353 named Charles. Wenceslaus is seen as founder of the Luxembourgian branch of the House of Luxembourg the other one being the Bohemian branch of his half-brother Charles IV.
Wenceslaus I. of Luxembourg married to Isabella von Jülich
-Charles von Luxembourg 1353
-Isabella von Luxembourg 1354
-William von Luxembourg 1357



[1]:Married in OTL John Plantagenet 3rd Earl of Kent
Is Wenceslaus marriage plausible?

And a happy new year
 
I'm not so sure everyone else is well versed in the dynastic rivalries within the Medieval Low Countries.:) Besides IMHO the origins of the Avesnes-Dampierre rivalry seemed like good background information.

The house of Luxembourg was rather pro-French. IOTL Wenceslaus was more pro-French than Charles IV. I wouldn't call Charles IV anti-French, but since he was also Holy Roman Emperor and king of Bohemia, he also had interests and ambitions of his own, which might not always have been the same of those of France.
Then again Wenceslaus his mother was a member of the house of Bourbon.

The mother of Isabella of Jülich (or Gulik) was Joanna of Hainaut a younger sister of Philippa of Hainaut (married to Edward III of England), so they were from the house of Avesnes. OTOH after the death of Edward III, duke William I of Jülich eventually ended up supporting the house of Luxembourg (though he also had supported the house of Wittelsbach and Habsburg (sometimes against the house of Luxembourg)).
So if there isn't any high ranking French noblewoman (or royal (either a younger daughter/sister or princess, who's available to remarry), then that match is plausible.

Especially since their Avesnes relatives ITTL control Lothier, Brabant, Limburg, Flanders, Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland. OTOH it doesn't mean the house of Jülich won't switch sides ever again.
 
From Janprimus I'm not so sure everyone else is well versed in the dynastic rivalries within the Medieval Low Countries. Besides IMHO the origins of the Avesnes-Dampierre rivalry seemed like good background information.
Well I forgot that I hadn't published that part at the time

A new Update tada

Brabantic-Jülicher Trade war
The Brabantic-Jülicher Trade happened in 1371[1]. The conflict arose when Brabantic merchants were attacked in Jülich and Jülich didn’t pay reparations. The duchy of Jülich was originally friendly with the House of Avesnes and Holland but with the marriage alliance with the Luxembourg's and the unification of Brabant and Holland William II. von Jülich decided to go against the Avesnes.
William IV. assembled a force in Holland and Brabant and begun to attack Jülich. His son William participated in the war as a commander. On the Jülichen side a number of illustrious allies assembled. The duke of Guelders and the Duke of Luxembourg both joined on their side. William IV. lead his force from Maastricht towards the enemy capital Jülich while his enemies came together near Aachen waiting for an attack on the duchy. The forces were equal but Williams troops had experience from the Hundred years’ war. Near the town of Baesweiler near Aachen the armies met and the battle begun. The battle was a clear Brabantic victory until the Luxembourgians arrived and attacked from the other side effectively surrounding the Brabantic forces. Knowing that getting captured would be bad William and his son William managed to fight themselves out and killing the duke of Guelders in a duel between William jr. and Edward of Guelders.
After the battle William IV. had to assemble a new force because most troops died or fled after the battle. Wenceslaus and William von Jülich proceeded to advance in Brabant but they overstretched themselves and William jr could beat them one after the other because they split their armies. Not willing to lose ground in Flanders, where Louis II. of Flanders had great success, William IV. sued for peace.
The peace was essentially a white peace but to prevent loss of face William I von Jülich had to make a pledge to protect the rights of brabantic merchants. What these rights were was not in the peace treaty so he had to do nothing.

The Golden Bull of 1356
After Charles IV. was crowned Roman emperor in 1355 in Rome he came back to Germany where he convened a Hoftag (literally court diet/ day) in Nürnberg (Nuremberg). He wanted to stabilize the realm so he made new laws and wrote them down. The most important law was the succession law. The Golden Bull made it’s uniform. From then on there would be seven electors who elected the emperor. Three ecclesial four secular rulers would be electors. The Electors were:

The Archbishop of Trier as chancellor of Burgundy

The Archbishop of Köln as archchancellor of Italy, he also crowned the emperor becasue Aachen falls in his ecclesial district

The King of Bohemia as crowned secular prince

The Count Palatinate of the Rhine, Regent in all parts of the empire where saxon law wasn’t the law

The Duke of Saxony, Regent in all parts of the empire where saxon law was the law

The Margrave of Brandenburg

The Archbishop of Mainz the highest ranked prince after the emperor because he was the chancellor of the german lands of the empire.

Later other electors were added. It was not allowed to split the electorates on inheritance. The Golden Bull outlawed alliances and the elector had the duty to protect the Jews.

William I. Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg, Count of Holland, Zeeland and Hainault
William IV. died in 1375 at the age of 57 his titles were inherited by his only living son William V. Count of Holland, Zeeland and Hainault later he inherited his mom’s possessions and he became William I. Duke of Brabant et cetera.
He finished the conquest of Flanders and was made Count of Flanders by Edward IV. in 1380 and in 1389 accepted as Count of Flanders by the Valois after he sweared fealty to the french king. This insulted the de Dampierre and de Burgundy-Valois family the legitimate holders of the county. The feud between the Dampierres now the Burgundians wouldn’t be over yet. The original feud arose in the 13th century and was about the inheritance of Flanders and Hainault. The Dampierres and Avesnes both directly descendants of the last countess of Flanders and the Latin Emperor claimed both titles and these titles were eventually split between the families.
William lived the knightly ideal and participated like his father in the Prussian Crusades of the Teutonic order.


[1]:Happened in OTL between Luxembourg-Brabant and Jülich this time it's the other way around
 
Looks like the Avesnes and Dampierre/Valois-Burgundy are heading towards a war. Best case the Avesnes conquer Artois and Rethel; I don't see them threatening the duchy of Burgundy, Count Palatine of Burgundy or the county of Nevers though. OTOH being recognized as count of Flanders by Dampierre/Valois-Burgundy would already be a good outcome. There might be a future marriage to seal any treaty.

I do have a longer post about the other part of the update. :)

It always struck me as very odd, that the former Swabian and (initially also) Bavarian stem duchies didn't end up with a noble with the electoral dignity.

Turned out the Prince Electors, who managed to exclude the other Imperial Princes (which in medieval times weren't that many) from the election, also were the ones holding an arch-office.

The ecclesiastic electors Mainz, Cologne and Trier were (as you wrote) the arch-chancellors of Germany, Italy and Burgundy respectively. The king of Bohemia was arch-cupbearer, the elector Palatine was arch-seneshal the elector of Saxony was arch-marshal and the elector of Brandenburg was arch-chamberlain.
There also was the arch-office of the master of the hunt, which was claimed by some (Meissen, Austria/Carinthia etc.) it ended up being granted to Meissen without an electoral dignity though.

IIRC it turns out that the duke of Bavaria did once held the arch-office of arch-cupbearer and the duke of Swabia once held the office of arch-chamberlain. AFAIK the Hohenstaufen Emperors granted the latter dignity (originally theirs as duke of Swabia) to the margrave of Brandenburg to settle a dispute with Saxony.
I'm not sure what happened with Bavaria though. I do know that for a while Bavaria and Bohemia (before 1355) disputed the right to be an elector.

Anyway I do know, that the Golden Bull was in part (some like Mainz, Cologne, Trier, County Palatine by Rhine and Saxony weren't disputed*) also dynastic politics and thus not well received by rival dynasties, which were passed over.
In some ways the Habsburg Privilegium Maius (by Rudolf IV, the son in law of Charles IV) is a direct response to them not gaining an electoral dignity and the privileges, which accompanied that dignity; in fact they claim similar privileges.

(*= not counting the various branches of for instance the dukes of Saxony)

@ Caoster: Utrecht, like Liege was a Prince-bishopric, so if the Avesnes play their cards right, they should be able to help to decide, who'll be the next Prince-bishop, either younger sons/brothers or (dynastic) bastards. Namur was held by a junior branch of the house of Dampierre.
 
I know this, but if Avesnes is going for a House of Burgundy play, they will need to aquire them at some point, by either force or purchase.

The house of Valois-Burgundy managed to get relatives as bishops in Liege and Utrecht, and they did buy Namur IOTL. ITTL the latter might be hard, unless the main Dampierre branch, or its' heir give their blessing and/or they give something in exchange.

A very successful house of Avesnes might be able to exchange Rethel (French Fief) for Namur (Imperial Fief).
 
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I'm not so sure everyone else is well versed in the dynastic rivalries within the Medieval Low Countries.:) Besides IMHO the origins of the Avesnes-Dampierre rivalry seemed like good background information.

The house of Luxembourg was rather pro-French. IOTL Wenceslaus was more pro-French than Charles IV. I wouldn't call Charles IV anti-French, but since he was also Holy Roman Emperor and king of Bohemia, he also had interests and ambitions of his own, which might not always have been the same of those of France.
Then again Wenceslaus his mother was a member of the house of Bourbon.
Charles IV's ambition is directed on Poland, basically - he married the later de jure heiress of Casimir III after his grandson, Casimir of Slupsk died - this is a marriage that should have not happened in the first place.
 
Charles IV's ambition is directed on Poland, basically - he married the later de jure heiress of Casimir III after his grandson, Casimir of Slupsk died - this is a marriage that should have not happened in the first place.

I was referring to the house of Luxembourg in general, which was generally speaking pro-French.

And a monarch of Bohemia being interested in Poland, Hungary and the Empire makes a lot of sense. In fact Charles IV maternal ancestors the Premyslids already were interested in Poland.
 
The first Flemish war
The first Flemish war was like the Breton succesion war a Proxy war between France and England and is seen as part of the hundred years’ war even though England and France never declared War. The belligerents were the Burgundians under Philip the Bold rightful Count of Flanders through his wife Margaret de Dampierre, Countess of Flanders, Artois and Palatine Burgundy, and the house of Avesnes Counts of Holland, Hainaut, Zeeland and through marriage Dukes of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg and since the Treaty of Bretigny 1389 also Counts of Flanders. The County of Namur was also ruled by a branch of the Dampierres and supported them.

The war broke out in 1392 three years after the treaty of Bretigny when the cities of Flanders under the lead of Brugge, Ghent and Ypres rose up and formed the flemish league since the Avesnes preffered Brabant and Holland. The Flemish League send letters to Philip the Bold and his wife saying that they were the rightful Counts of Flanders and William V. (later William I.) was just an ursurper and his claims invalid.

William assembled an army in Antwerp in March 1392 and lead it into Flanders attacking the rebels and defeating them in the battle of Sint-Niklaas (literally Santa Claus). Sint-Niklaas had no wall and the rebel army rested in the city while William surrounded the city and stormed it with his knights and burned the city down. The rebels didn’t expect this and most of them was still sleeping but they woke up pretty quickly and climbed on the roofs of the houses and shot the knights. The battle was very bloody while the rebel army was destroyed, the Avesnes had very high casualties and William decided to not siege Ghent and wait on reinforcements from his mothers duchy and his own holdings.

The Flemish League feared that William would subjugate them again and appealed again to Philip the Good who finally accepted and the Flemish league now openly declared for Philip of Burgundy and Margaret of Flanders. The French King Charles VI. the Mad or rather his regents supported the Burgundians and the English King Richard II. who inherited the throne after his father died in 1390 supported the Avesnes even though he wanted to end the hundred years’ war with France because he thought it would be improve his cause if he was winning at the negotiation table. Richards and Charles negotiations would also decide the fate of Flanders but that happened later.

The Burgundian army lead by Philip the Bold and John the Fearless entered Flanders in June 1392 from Artois and were greeted by the Flemish as liberators and rightful rulers. Philip and Margaret held court in Ypres in August while William remained in Sint-Niklaas where he was save and near Brabant and Holland. In early September he finally laid siege to Ghent one of the biggest cities in Flanders and one of the leaders of the rebellion and main supporters of the Burgundians. Philip avoided direct combant with William and only some skirmishes and raids happened until October when he came to rescue Ghent from the Brabantic/Hollandic Siege.
 
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