List of monarchs III

POD: Maria Komnene has a twin brother

Emperors and Autocrats of the Romans
1143-1180: Manuel I (House of Komnenos)
1180-1222: Romanos V (House of Komnenos) [1]
1222-1239: Leo VII (House of Komnenos) [2]
1239-1268: Alexios II (House of Komnenos) [3]
1268-1270: Michael VIII (House of Komnenos) [4]
1270-1294: Constantine XI (House of Mongolikí) [5]
1294-1308: Alexander II (House of Mongolikí) [6]



[1] Romanos Komnenos was born in 1152 with a twin sister, Maria, being born with him and would grow up to be an intelligent and competent young man, distinguishing himself as the heir to the throne during his period as the heir to throne and proving himself a worthy heir to the legacy of his father as Emperor. As such, when Manuel Komnenos died in 1180, his son Romanos would prove to be a worthy heir to the throne of Rhomania, especially with the Sultanate of Rum looming in the East.

As Emperor, Romanos Komnenos' reign would in many ways see the House of Komnenos reach new heights as he defeated and humbled the Sultanate of Rum, dealt with coup attempts by his uncle Andronikos Komnenos and the Angeloi, and presided over a period of peace and prosperity with many historians arguing his reign was the height of the Komnenian Restoration.

Romanos Komnenos would marry the daughter of a prominent noble family with Romanos and his wife having four children. Romanos V would die in 1222 with a smile on his face, with his son, Leo, as the new Emperor.

[2] Leo, the little lion as his family and friends would affectionately called him, was born in 1173, the first child of his parents. As he grew older, his best friend was his uncle Alexios who was only four years his senior. In 1178, Leo's grandfather, Emperor Manuel arranged for his grandson to marry Agnes of France, the youngest daughter of King Louis VII. However, the match would not be finalized until his father, Romanos became Emperor and officially declared Leo as his heir. In 1181, Agnes, renamed Anna, would travel from France to Constantinople. They would not be officially married until the groom was fifteen and the bride was seventeen in 1188. They would go on to have nine children.

When the Fourth Crusade started, Leo was eager to join, believing that that with a common enemy, the East and the West of Christianity could start an equal cohabitation. His father choose to focus on dealing with the attacks by Sultanate of Rum. Father and son fought side by side as they conquered the lands of the Muslims. Meanwhile the fourth crusade would fail and many people felt it was the fault of the the Komnenos.

In 1222, just days after he was crowned, Leo learned that French, Italian and Venetian mercenaries were plotting to attack Constantinople. The source was his wife, Anna of France. Legend has it, she had dream from God, warning her by sending her a vision of Constantinople burning. Others suspect, she herself was warned by a sympathetic friend in France and instead of fleeing with her children, she chose to inform her husband.

Whatever story was true, Leo did his best to build the defense for his city, even sending his wife and children in hiding. He decided to launch a preemptive attack on the Republic of Veince, having his troops storm the beaches, sacking the city in the process.

That backfired badly. The Pope had not been happy with a Crusade being started without his consent and when he heard of it, he had drawn up a bill threatening excommunication to anyone who marched on Constantinople, the sacking of Venice, however, was a affront and he demanded now fully endorsed the proposed attack.

Upon hearing of this, Leo wanted to attack Rome in retaliation to what he felt was a betrayal, only to be talked out of it by his wife. "They will forgive Venice in time, but you will always be known as the man who raped the holiest city in all of Christindom," she wrote to him. His other advisors, including his uncle agreed with her and counseled him, just to focus on expanding their Italian properties.

Instead Leo would focus on reclaiming the country of Ravenna. With the Franks fighting with the English and the Republic of Venice still recovering from the damage done, Emperor Leo's troops were met by the Papal and Italian troops. At first the Empire of the Romans was winning, until the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary got involved.

Leo realized that he would soon be outnumbered and outmatched so he decided to end the war in white peace, returning the spoils of his war with Venice (most of it anyway) and signing a peace treaty.

In 1230, he turned his sights towards Bulgaria, deciding that if he could not have his lands in Italy, he take them from Bulgaria. He allied himself with Hungary as they agreed to split the lands of Bulgaria. To make the alliance official, it was agreed that his granddaughter would marry King Béla IV. The war would end in 1237 after the defeat of the Tsar of Bulgaria who was struck down by Leo himself.

Leo would die two years from food posioning after eating some bad fished. He left his empire to his grandson, Alexios the II.


[3] Alexios Komnenos was Leo's eldest grandson by his eldest son, Manuel, and was born either in the year 1217 or 1218, although it is still to this day uncertain. Weak of stature, Alexios would have a weak relationship with his grandfather who prefered his younger siblings and cousins, but would still rise to be Emperor after his death due to the close support of his siblings.

Alexios' mark on the Roman Empire would be his cofidication of the Codex Iulia, named after his wife, Julia of Sicily which he would marry in 1227. The Codex would set up a permanet law of succession for the Roman Empire, wiping away "republicanisms" and setting up a pure male-preferable hereditary monarchy. Otherwise, Alexios' would be famous supporter of architecture and infrastructure - his great works in Thessalonica, Iconium, Corinth, Constantinople and Smyrna, and his investment in new fortifications, roads and ports, would permanently alter the military and economic capabilities of the Empire for future generations. In Anatolia, with Leo's great achievement of a frontier in the Taurus mountains, Alexios' would inert a program of converting both turks and Islamized greeks, all the while re-settling the interior with Bulgarian, Greeks, Cumas and Pechenegs.

There was only one war during his reign - the fifth crusade. Alexios would become a patron due to his extremely good relations with the west and would help organize it - Two crusader armies would linger in Roman territorry awaiting a third that would invade Egypt by surprise after the initial advance into Syria and Palestine - the first one, led by Andrew of Hungary, with Frederick of Austria as sub-commander, would be stationed in Iconium, and would advance through Cilicia into Syria, storming Antioch by surprise and, unexpectedly, marching down the coastal levant. William of Brabant would lead a second one, that through the use of the Roman Navy, would depart Smyrna later, landing in Palestine as Andrew's army left Antioch. The two would accidentally surround the armies of As-Salih, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and would give him a through trashing in the battle of Beirut, all the while, the third crusader army, led by Alphonse of Poitou, Count of Poitou and Toulouse, Prince of France, landed in Damietta with 15000 men.

Alexios' logistics and supplying of the Crusaders would lead to the inevitable conquest of Egypt, as the disciplined army of Alphonse of France stormed through the Nile Delta and conquered most of it - while the new Sultan, All-Muazzam, would retreat to Damascus, fighting William and Andrew through the use of guerilla warfare. Nonetheless, the advance of the two leaders would see most of coastal Levant conquered, although both men would soon get in arguments with Hugh of Cyprus and Jerusalem as to how the spoils were to be divided. With Alphonse of France distracted as he conquered the leaderless Egypt, William and Andrew would turn on each other, with the death of Andrew in battle seeing most of the central european contingent leaving, William of Brabant would soon also leave, leaving Hugh of Cyprus with two many Crusaders to handle and Al-Muazzam to face in Damascus.

Alexios would quickly attempt to spread his influence in both Egypt and the Levant, but Alphonse's quick storming of Egypt (Alphone of Poitou, the first Crusader King of Egypt, would, as a show of faith to God, leave all his European properties to his brother, the King of France, keeping much of Egypt's delta as his personal demesne in the highly contested land-grab that was the conquest of Egypt) would rebuke him, while Hugh would only swear fealty to him if he intervened in his favour.

Alexios, riddled with sickness and indecision, would die in 1268, leaving the question of what to do with the victorious crusaders to his heir, Michael.

[4] Michael VIII Komnenos was born in 1249 to Alexios II and his wife and would grow up to be an intelligent and strong young man, a worthy heir to his father's throne with a reign full of energy and competence as Michael VIII would make deals with the Crusader States, continue the policies of reclamation in Anatolia, and continue to reform the administration. His reign would be a reign marked by great vigor and competent rule over the Empire but tragically, his reign would only be two years.

However, all of Michael VIII's efforts as Emperor would be cut short in 1270 as the Mongols, having forged the largest empire up until then, would invade the Empire of Rhomania with Emperor Michael VIII dying with most of his army in the Battle of Theodosiopolis in Eastern Anatolia. With Anatolia and the Levant open to Mongol invasion, the throne of Rhomania would fall to Mongke Temur, the conqueror.

[5] The eldest son of Hulagu, Ilkhan of the Mongols of Iran and Khorasan, Mongke Temur would be the leader of the Mongol invasion force that could have brought down the whole Eastern Roman Empire, but he didn't. In one of history's most ironic moments, the aftermath of the battle of Theodosiopolis would see much of the Mongol army (And most of it's leaders) dead, but a strong force of twenty-five thousand would remain. Despite this, Mongke Temur, whose succession in Persia was very shadowy, decided to continue to advance, and, just as the Seljuks before them, carve for himself his own land from the corpse of Rome. Instead, life would take a funny trajectory that would permantly alter the nature of the land.

The death of Michael the VIII left his underaged (and possibly mentally ill) nephew, Andronikos, as the rightful inheritor to the Roman throne, but as the Roman state saw itself under so much pressure, the regency of Michael's only sister living in Roman land still, Irene, was in danger. In was thus that a treaty would be forged that would permanently alter the face of the Roman Empire. Mongke Temur, as he neared Iconium in what was a mostly desperate push as the Mongol army faced disentry and was forced to sack the land to survive, was aproached by Irene's emissaries. Irene would marry him, and if Mongke Temur (and his forces) converted to Orthodoxy, he would have an empire of his own. Despite the enormous pressure, the offer was just too good for Mongke Temur to pass by. As he was allowed entry into Constantinople by Irene, Mongke Temur would fall under the shadow of the Hagia Sophia and would kneel. In one of history's most romantized moments, the would be destroyer of Rome knelt before the church of the almighty, and rose as Constantine XI.

Having left behind his pagan wives and concubines behind, Mongke Temur, or as he was now, Constantine, fell into a deep love for his new Empire. The great works of the Roman, their culture and their history took him, and with the force of the remnants of his army and the Romans own, Constantine would become one of the most powerful rulers of the world. He and his opportunistic wife, Irene, would have more than seven children.

Constantine's decision to take over the reigns of Rome and betray his family was not taken lightly, his father and remaining brothers would launch a new invasion of Rome that would be trashed by Constantine in what is now known as the Second Battle of Manzikert. The Romans, doubtful of their barbarian Emperor, rallied around the victorious foreigner. A sense of arrogance and strenght took Constantine, and for the first time in ages Roman armies would cross into Mesopotamia, and in classic Mongol fashion, Constantine and his very much varied army would sack much of Jazira and northern Mesopotamia, and would see the Romans annex Aleppo and Antioch, regaining a foothold in Syria. The Romans, for years doubtful of their new Emperor, would turn worship the mongol-turned-romans feet, as he would lead them to victory after victory.

Rebellions in both Anatolia and the Balkans would be crushed, wars with Hungary would be won and the Dacian lands and the Serbian Kingdom subdued in lightning-like fashion. Constantine would turn inwards - his deep piety would make him one of the church's greatest patrons, and his wars in Crimea, Georgia and against his own brothers and cousins of both the Golden horde and the Ilkhans would see Rome reach a zenith it had not reached for generations. With Serbia, Wallachia and Moldavia, Georgia and Circassia as vassals and tributaries, and with an Empire that stretched from Greece, Albania and Bulgaria in Europe to Shirvan in the East and Northern Syria, the Mongol Emperor would be called a new "Macedonius".

The battle of Jaffa, fought by Louis of Egypt and Jerusalem, ruler of Egypt, Cyrenaica and Palestine in what was one of the Mongol's largest attempts to conquer the Levant once and for all, would see the Mongol army devastated in what would forever break (At least in the west and near east) break the belief of Mongol invincibility. With his grudging brothers humiliated, and their ambitions of claiming justice from Constantine for his betrayal, Constantine the "Prosperous" would rule a great Empire from the city of the World's desire.

It was really in the end, though, that the danger of Mongol rome finally shook. Aged and sick, the sons of Andronikos the ill would take up arms against Constantine and his sons, starting a civil war that sought to cleanse the Empire of it's new Mongolo-Roman rulers. In the end, disease took him, and Constantine would die just at the onset of the war. The victor of the civil war, Alexander, would inherit the Empire he left behind.

[6] Born in 1271 as the first child of Emperor Constantine XI and Empress Irene, Alexander grew up to be a intelligent and strong man, and ascended the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire on the eve of the Second Roman War of Succession (the first happened between 1071 and 1072) and lasted from 1294 to 1300, where he fought and killed almost all of the sons of Andronikos the ill, expect for his youngest, Michael.

For the rest of his reign, Alexander worked on consoildating the territory that was conquered during his father;s reign as Emperor. In his personal life, Alexander married Princess Eleanor of Aragon in 1293, whom he had four children with. Alexander's reign was cut short in 1308 when he was killed in his sleep by Michael (who styled himself as "Michael IX"), leaving _________, as the new Roman Emperor.
 
What if Henry Plantagenet, son of Edward I, survives childhood to become king.

Kings and Queens of England
1216–1272: Henry III (House of Plantagenet)
1272-1307: Edward I (House of Plantagenet)
1307-1335: Henry IV (House of Plantagenet) [1]
1335-1366: John II ''the Bald'' (House of Plantagenet) [2]
1366-1371: Alphonse I ''the Arbiter'' (House of Plantagenet) [3]
1371-1373: John III "the Tragic" (House of Plantagenet) [4]
1373-1380: Edward II "the Uncrowned" (House of Plantagenet) [5]
1380-1389: Alphonse II "the Believer" (House of Plantagenet) [6]
1389-1397: Thomas I "the Kinslayer" "the Usurper" "the Bloody" (House of Plantagenet) [7]
1397-1398: Arthur I "the Luckless" (House of Plantagenet) [8]
1398-1426: Henry V "the Avenger" (House of Plantagenet) [9]
1426-1500: Eleanor I (House of Plantagenet) [10]
1500-1512: Richard II (House of Plantagenet) [11]
1512-1531: Anne I (House of Armagnac) [12]
1531-1544: Succession Crisis [13]
1544-1553: Kathryn I (House of Wales-Burgundy) [14]
1553-1562: John V (House of Burgundy) [15]

Kings of England, Duke of Burgundy & Brittany
1562-1584: John V, IV and VII (House of Burgundy) [15]
1584-1619: Arthur II, I, and III (House of Burgundy) [16]

Emperors & Empresses of the Isles
1603-1619: Arthur I (House of Burgundy) [16]
1619-1631: Charles I (House of Burgundy) [17]
1631-1666: Elizabeth I (House of Burgundy) [18]
1666-1689: Arthur II (House of Vasa) [19]
1689-1728: Alexandria I (House of Wessex) [20]
1728-1735: Francis I (House of Wessex) [21]
1735-1749: Diana I (House of Wessex) [22]
1749-1790: Alexander I (House of Wessex) [23]
1790-1826: Arthur III "The Great" (House of Wessex) [24]
1826-1839: Richard III (House of Wessex) [25]
1839-1915: Arthur IV (House of Wessex) [26]
1915-1951: William III (House of Wessex) [27]


[1] Henry was born on 6th May 1268, in Windsor Castle during the reign of his paternal grandfather, Henry III of England and was the fifth child and second son of Lord Edward, by his first wife, Eleanor of Castile.
Because of his place of birth, he was known in his early life as Henry of Windsor.

On 3 August 1271, Henry's older brother John died in the custody of their paternal granduncle Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall. His death left Henry the eldest surviving child of Edward and second-in-line to the throne of England.
When his grandfather, Henry III died on 16 November 1272, Edward became King of England and Henry his heir apparent.
In 1273, Henry was betrothed to Joan I of Navarre.

Joan was born in Bar-sur-Seine, Champagne on 14 January 1273 as a princess of the House of Blois.
The following year, upon the death of her father, she became Countess of Champagne and Queen of Navarre. Due to her age, her mother, Blanche, was her guardian and regent in Navarre.

Various powers, both foreign and Navarrese, sought to take advantage of the minority of the heiress and the "weakness" of the female regent, which caused Joan and her mother to seek protection at the court of Philip III of France. Her mother arrived in France in 1274, Philip would late arrange for the Pope to declare Joan and Henry’s betrothal to be voided and by the Treaty of Orléans in 1275, Joan was betrothed to Philip's son, Philip.
Blanche, therefore, placed her daughter and the government of Navarre under the protection of the King of France. After this, Joan was brought up with her betrothed, Philip.

Henry became gravely ill at Guildford in 1274, neither of his parents made the short journey from London to see him. He was tended by his grandmother, Eleanor of Provence, who had raised him during the four years his parents were on Crusade. The queen dowager was thus at that moment more familiar to him than his parents, and the better able to comfort him in his illness.
Henry was known for being a sickly child and he was lucky to survive into adulthood.

Following the voiding of Henry’s betrothing, in 1276, Edward arranged for his son to be betrothed to Henry’s cousin, Blanche of Brittany (b. 1271) daughter of John II, Duke of Brittany, and his wife Beatrice of England, (daughter of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence)

The pair were married in Winchester in December 1281 and the couple would go on to have eight children. As a wedding gift, Edward created his son, Earl of Winchester, which had gone extinct following the death of Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester in 1265.

Between 1297 and 1298, Henry was left as regent in charge of England while his father campaigned in Flanders against Philip IV, who had occupied part of the English king's lands in Gascony.

Edward I would perform a second campaign into Scotland in 1300, and this time took his son with him, making him the commander of the rearguard at the siege of Caerlavrock Castle.

In the spring of 1301, the king declared Henry, the Prince of Wales, granting him the earldom of Chester and lands across North Wales; hoping that this would help pacify the region and that it would give his son some extra financial independence.

Edward I mobilized another army for the Scottish campaign in 1307, which Prince Edward was due to join that summer, but the elderly King had been increasingly unwell and on 7 July 1307, died, meaning Henry became King Henry IV.
Henry IV would carry on with his father's planned campaign into Scotland and on 4 August received homage from his Scottish supporters at Dumfries and would name his younger brother, Edward of Caernarfon, whom had came up with him as Constable of Scotland. With a strong English army presence in Scotland, kept Robert the Bruce from getting too powerful.

Much of Henry’s reign was peaceful, with him having a good working relationship with the many earls and barons within his kingdom.

A major set back was an environmental event, problems in English agriculture, part of a wider phenomenon in northern Europe known as the Great War, which began with torrential rains in late 1314, followed by a very cold winter and heavy rains the following spring that killed many sheep and cattle. The bad weather continued, almost unabated, into 1321, resulting in a string of bad harvests.
Revenues from the exports of wool plummeted but Henry was lucky to be able to import grain and move food about internally.

Henry’s wife, Blanche died on 19 March 1327 and was buried at Westminster Abbey.
On 5th April 1328, 59-year-old Henry married for a second time to another cousin, Lady Isabel Plantagenet of Lancaster, (b. before 1317), daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth, and a descendant of Henry III, through his son, son of Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, Earl of Leicester.
This marriage only saw three children born, before Henry’s death on 31st May 1335 aged 67 years old, was succeeded by his son, John.

[2] John became king in his late forties. He had started to loose his hair sometime in his thirties, hence the nickname. He was a serious man who rarely smiled. His wife was Elizabeth of Austria who he married shortly before his father became king. Despite the sourness of the groom, they had a happy marriage with Elizabeth being able to get a rare laugh from her husband. They would have eight children, on which only two lived to adulthood.

In 1335, the Thousand Days War broke out. Robert the Bruce of Scotland had married Isabella of France in hopes of obtaining help against the English. When Robert II gained his father's throne, his mother proclaimed him the King of France as well, entreating England to join forces.

King John disagreed. He saw nothing to gain by helping either side and in fact, felt it would be far easier to take advantage of the war to increase his holdings in both of the realm. It was seen as a dishonorable move by his enemies. His allies who reaped the benefits saw it as prudent move.

In 1340, after the war had ended, King Philip arranged for his grandson to marry the granddaughter of King John, and his granddaughter to marry the Prince of Wales' son. France and England signed an agreement to end all hostilities. This would be in effect for almost three decades while both of the monarchs were alive.

For the next twenties years until his death, John went to work on consolidating the monarch's power in England, wanting Parliament to have a greater voice without having to loose his authority. He wanted to work alongside Parliament, feeling they should be treated as a partner instead of a restriction.

He died in his sleep, nearly eighty and would be succeeded by King Alphonse I.

[3] Born in 1317, Alphonse was named for his great-uncle, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who played a large part in raising him, particularly given his parents were often busy traveling around their vast domains, especially once his father had gained full sovereignty over Gascony as part of the treaty that ended the Thousand Days War. Indeed, Alphonse was named Duke of Gascony in 1343, after the region had been fully integrated into the Plantagenet domains. He spent much of his time as heir to the throne anglicising Gascony's legal code and enforcing the terms of the treaty his father had coerced the French and Scots into agreeing to, which is what gave rise to his nickname of 'the Arbiter'. It was in this role that he stood as chief witness to the marriage of Robert II's of Scotland's only daughter, Isabel, to Philip V of France's son and heir, Charles, Dauphin of France, who was granted the Scottish Crown Matrimonial immediately following the ceremony in May 1350. France and Scotland were thus united in the lines of both claimants to the French throne, as John of England had suggested as a compromise twelve years earlier, three years before he agreed to betroth his - at that point theoretical - grandchildren to the equally as yet unborn grandchildren of Phillip of France.

The treaty also declared that should Isabel and Charles have two sons, the eldest would inherit France and the second Scotland. All the same, however, Alphonse was more than a little concerned that circumstances would conspire to encircle the Plantagenet Empire with the new Franco-Scottish Kingdom, so he urged his father to seek matches for him and his younger sister Eleanor that would give the Plantagenets allies in central Europe should such a thing look like it might occur.

John, who shared his son's fears, though he wouldn't admit it, promptly married Alphonse to Margaret of Bavaria, the second daughter of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, who was eight years Alphonse's junior. Eleanor, meanwhile, was affianced to Peter I of Portugal and wed him in November 1339, just after her nineteenth birthday.

Despite the age difference between Alphonse and Margaret, their marriage seems to have been something of a meeting of minds, and they were happily wed for almost twenty years until Margaret's death from plague in 1362. They had twelve children, seven of whom survived to adulthood, and the eldest of whom married Blanche of France, as John and Phillip had arranged all those years ago.

By the time Alphonse succeeded his father in April 1366, he was already forty-nine and still shattered by the death of his beloved partner Margaret. A shadow of his former self, he was happy to be a figurehead monarch, spending most of his time in the sanctuary of Flaran Abbey, where Margaret was buried, and leaving his heir to manage much of the day-to-day business of the Plantagenet Empire. So unassuming a monarch was he, in fact, that his death in October 1371 went almost unremarked by the vast majority of his subjects - though they all enjoyed the holiday granted for his heir's coronation the following March!






Henry V Tomb - Shefalitayal








The tombstone of King John III, even though it does not contain his remains, was placed right next to the one of his father, Alphonse I.


[4] The first son of Duke Alphonse and Margaret of Bavaria, John, was named after his grandfather and at that time the current king, John II. Ever since his young age, the young John was the kind of person who was overly pessimistic. Not that, but, he was rather socially isolated due to his quirks, which caused the Prince to have frequent bouts of insecurity and melancholy. Despite his father's several attempts, John's moods remained mostly the same. And, as John continued to grow, the reminders of his marriage, which had been arranged by his grandfather, would be brought up increasingly more often, causing more unease for the Prince.

When Alphonse succeeded to the throne after the death of John II, he left most of his royal duties to the new Prince of Wales. This occurs even though John attempted on several occasions to give the task of administration to his younger brothers, who he viewed as more capable compared to him. A year later, upon her coming of age, John married Blanche, daughter of the Dauphin of France. And, although one of John's fears were not realized, the marriage was not a terrible one, at least, it would be a childless one, as well. When his father died, John was devastated and he became even more saddened when he became aware of the fact that most of the pheasants of London did not commemorate the passing of the King. Many people of high status would later remark that the atmosphere of King John III's coronation was rather depressing, with the King not showing up until late in the day.

Merely, two years after his ascension to the throne, John III on one day vanished and was never seen again, despite the efforts of his successor to find him. Some suggest that the King might have killed himself, however, others point out that the many writings of John III may suggest differently. Either way, in 1373, the English throne now belonged to his brother, Edward.

[5] Edward was the third son of Alphonse and Margaret. His older brother, Henry died at age five. He married a wealthy Irish heiress named Maud de Ulford, never expecting to become king.

He was in Ireland, celebrating the birth of his fifth child when he heard the news that his brother had vanished. He immediately headed to London, ready to lead the search for John, refusing to even be called king until they were certain that his brother was truly lost to them. He would not hold his coronation until five years had passed, still holding onto hope that they would recover John even after he and his wife were crowned.

Despite not being close to his older brother, Edward fell into a depression as the years went on, feeling that he had somehow failed him. He also grew paranoid that this was some sort of plot against his family and would keep his seven children close to him, in fear that whoever took their uncle would take them as well.

His depression and parnionoa caused his health to fail, not to mention how much time he spent combing the countryside for his brother, and after just seven years on the throne, he died of pneumonia after chasing a rumor that John had been spotted in Wiltshire, refusing to stop the search even though it was raining, leaving his son Alphonse to succeed him.

[6] Named after his grandfather, Alphonse was born in 1366 as the eldest child of Edward II and Maud de Ulford, and grew up in Ireland where he had a happy childhood. But following the disappearance of his uncle John and subsequent ascension of his father as King of England, Alphonse became paranoid and would help his father look for John, as well as collecting everything he can on his life.

Alphonse became King in 1380 following the death of his father Edward, but had an regency lead by his mother until he turned 18 in 1384. During his short reign, Alphonse continued to expand his collection and grew became more naive as he started to believe everything that people said about the fate his uncle to be true. This resulted in him accepting an offer from relative who said they knew what happened to John. So while waiting for their arrival at the Tower of London, Alphonse was stabbed in the back by an assassin who was working for the person he was meeting with, his Uncle Thomas, who was proclaimed as the new King of England.

[7] Thomas was the fourth son of King Alphonse and Queen Margaret. Fed up by the weakness of his predecessors, Thomas, Duke of Normandy plotted their downfall. He also arranged for the deaths of the seven children of Edward II with only his twelve-year-old son and his nine-year-old daughter (born six months after her father's death) managing to be smuggled out of the country. It is said upon learning of their flight, Thomas strangled Maud de Ulford in a rage.

Thomas' supporters covered up the mess, proclaiming that French and Scottish assassins were the true culprits, as they hoped to weaken the Plantagenets and reclaim their land. They rounded up a few scapegoats to present as the conspirators in the massacre, torturing them into making a confession before hanging drawing and quartering them.

However, while this fooled only some people (mostly the ones who wanted to believe it), Thomas was largely unpopular. He ruled with an iron fist and his enemies would often die in "accidents".

In his personal life, he had married Isabel of Brittany, daughter of the Duke of Brittany in 1379. Although their marriage was unhappy, mostly because of Thomas violate nature which was worse when he drank, the couple had ten children, six of whom would live to adulthood.

Eager to expand his lands, Thomas decided to subjugate the rest of Ireland, starting a campaign in 1395, leading his army to ravish the Irish countryside. It would be in Ireland where he met his end.

In 1397, Thomas was fighting with the last of the Irish Chieftains when a horn would sound and another army would come racing down the hill. Even worse, some of his own men started turning on their allies. The monarch was captured and brought to the head of the attacking army, a ghost from his past who had returned to enact bloody vengeance.

"This is for my mother and my siblings," Henry declared as the sword swung down, separating the tyrant's head from his shoulders.

After the death of King Thomas (who was mourned by virtually no one), his allies and sycophants rallied around his oldest son while his enemies supported the newly recovered child of King Edward II causing a civil war to break out.









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[8] Arthur "the Luckless" is a tragic if unknown figure in English history. The eldest son of Thomas I, he was a quiet and religiously-inclined boy who supposedly aspired to be a bishop one day, he was thrust upon the throne at the age of fourteen in horrible circumstances, with revolts in support of Henry, Edward's son, blossoming across the country and his only supporters men so depraved that they would have been killed or banished if captured. Despairing of victory, he hurried all of his siblings into exile in Brittany and tried to muster an army in the Home Counties, only scrounging a few dozen men to face off the thousands that supported his cousin, and rather than trying to defeat him in battle he decided his best option was to flee to the continent after buying time for his siblings. As such, he set about preparing defenses for London throughout autumn 1397 and into the spring of 1398, when the primarily northern Henrain army approached the capital. However, on 2 May most of his men defected and an angry mob stormed the palace, nearly lynched Arthur and dragged him out to Henry's camp, whence he was thrown into the Tower of London. On 28 May he was hung, drawn, and quartered, his last words supposedly being "I have loved the Lord with all my heart and soul and mind, may He let me pass from this world quickly."

After Arthur's overthrow, the son of Edward II, Henry V took the throne.


[9] The man who would one day be known as Henry V was a boy shaped by tragedy and uncertainty. His father died when he was just three years old. Then nine years later, his uncle slaughtered most of his family. He and his youngest sister were smuggled out of their home in Surrey by a Welsh man, known only as Griffin (suspected to the son of Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri who disappeared around the same time). This mysterious Griffin took Henry and his sister Margaret through England and to Wales, by pretending to be a wealthy merchant widower, traveling with his two children. Once in Wales, he got safe passage and brought them to Portugal where the descendants of Peter of Portugal and Eleanor of England would welcome them. Unfortunately, their ship would be blow off course and land in France, causing them to make another perilous journey, dodging the agents of Thomas along the way. Once they reached Lisbon, Griffin would vanish from history again, the only proof of his existence would be the letters exchanged between Henry and his sister Margaret. These letters were later used for basis of many books and movies chronicling the epic journey from England to the Portuguese court, some more accurate then others. It is long suspected that Griffin returned to Wales, so he could start a rebellion against the tyrant Thomas, but was captured and executed or died of an illness as he made his way home.

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Griffin and Henry as they are portrayed in the 2009 film: My Travels with Griffin.

At age fifteen, Henry left Portugal and traveled around Europe, seeking friends to help reclaim his stolen throne. He used the tricks Griffin taught him to keep himself hidden in plain sight, often calling himself Harri Griffin, much to the amusement of many. It was on his travels he met the love of his life, Princess Ursula of Denmark, the She-Bear of the Kalmar Union. She was a fierce and witty woman, and was Henry's most ardent supporter.

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Portrait of Princess Ursula.

At eighteen, he returned to Portugal to see his sister marry Prince Alfonso of Portugal and he would introduce her to his new wife, Ursula.

Using the same subterfuge that had gotten him out of England, Henry snuck back in, pretending to be a merchant. He went to Wales first, winning over many nobles (it is suspected that he had some personal item of Griffin that he showed as proof of the man's heritage) before meeting with the last Irish chief. Managing to supertenously contact nobles and gentlemen who had chafed under Thomas's rule. With them, he arranged a trap.

It is said that he smiled upon seeing his family's murder in chains. "This is for my mother and my siblings!" Henry declared as he swung the sword separating the tyrant's head from his shoulders.

Afterwards, King Henry made a speech, declaring that anyone who surrendered to him would receive a pardon, but for those who continued to serve the reign that was created by spilling the blood of innocents then they would suffer his uncle's fate.

A year later, he arrived in London to cheering crowds. Henry was known to be kind to his allies, but brutal to his enemies. His cousin, Arthur would learn this first hand. He was crowned with his wife, Ursula who gave birth to the first of their fourteen children in 1400. Eager to make more alliances, Henry would seek marriages from the various European countries.

Henry accepted the last of Irish chiefs' surrender and now called himself, the King of England, Ireland and Wales.

He spent many years trying to bring stability back to his kingdom, rooting out the corruption that had allowed the failure of his father and brother's reigns as well as allowing the monstrosity of Thomas to happen as well as dealing with attempted rebellions from his uncle's children who wanted the crown for himself.

He died in 1426, aged forty-nine, having fallen sick with a fever. It is said, his last words were: "We did it, Griffin."









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[10] Queen Eleanor I would be born on March 5, 1421 to the "King Who Never Was", Prince Edward and his wife, Matilda of Scotland as his only daughter and child, becoming heir to the throne after her father died in 1424 from a bout of the plague with Henry never really recovering from the loss of his son contributing to his death two years later. Owing to how she became Queen at a young age, Eleanor's early reign would be marked by how her uncles, grandmother, and mother all fought for control over her regency with her being witness to the power struggles for her regency being something that would shape her reign after she assumed the position of Queen in practice and not de jure.

During her reign, Queen Eleanor I would spend much of her reign on reforms to centralize the realm her grandfather had left her, continuing the reforms her grandfather had instituted to eliminate corruption with a major portion of this reforms being how she emphasized merit over connections in the administration and military. These reforms, in addition to eliminating corruption, would strengthen the gentry and the nascent proto-bourgeois at the expense of the old nobility, who Eleanor never fully trusted owing to her experiences as a young woman. In her foreign policy, Eleanor I would be a ruler who would ally with the Holy Roman Empire against France and Scotland, seeking to contain France owing to England's control over Gascony and the French Crown's desire to gain Gascony.

In her personal life, Queen Eleanor I would end up marrying a distant cousin of hers to maintain the dynasty with said marriage producing eight children, five of which made it to adulthood. She would also bring forth the English Renaissance with her patronage of culture and the arts as well, inviting many polymaths, artists, and scholars to her court.

During the last years of her reign, Queen Eleanor I would patronize an expedition which landed in a brave new world which the explorer then named Eleanoria in honor of the Queen which had sponsored the expedition. Eleanor I would die on the final day of 1500 at the age of 79 with a smile on her face, knowing the realm would be in stable hands after a reign of 74 years. She would be succeeded by her grandson, Richard.


[11] Richard was named after his ancestor the Lionheart. Much like his grandmother, his father died when he was young, fighting a noble rebellion that had risen in protest to Eleanor's policies. Afterwards Queen Eleanor banned private armies.

He was raised by his grandfather's family who was descended from the second marriage of King Henry IV. He also loved the stories of his great-great-great grandfather and had the letters between King Henry of England and his sister, Queen Margaret of Portugal about their adventures with the mysterious Griffin so much that as a birthday present, his wife, Isabel of Navarre, had copies of the letters published in a book dedicated to the new king.

Richard adored the chilviric romances, and had a series of portraits made of King Arthur and the knights of the round table. He spent a lot of money on jousts and tourneys, giving a bit of a headache for his advisors who were tried to keep a firm hand on his wasteful spending and keeping the affairs of the kingdom in order.

In the spring of 1512, Richard was injured during the joust with a lance to his eye. He was dead before he hit the ground, cutting his reign short and forcing his young niece to succeed him.








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Anne I d'Armagnac, Queen of England, Ireland and Wales (c.1520). Miniature carried by her husband.

[12] Anne, Mademoiselle d'Armagnac was just 13 when her world changed forever. Born to Elizabeth Plantagenet, Richard's only surviving sister, during her marriage to the elderly Count of Armagnac in France, Anne was the eldest of 6 daughters. Her mother, widowed at 17 while pregnant with her second child (a stillborn son) had returned to England to marry the Earl of Suffolk against her grandmother's wishes. Anne, initially abandoned in France, was brought to England in 1504, at Queen Eleanor's demand, to marry a cousin, Duke Richard of Somerset, Eleanor's favourite grandson, who she hoped would become an ally to the future King. The fact Anne was, in 1504, 5 years old, meant little. It was a formality to tidy inheritances and enrich Eleanor's favourite. When Duke Richard died at sea 2 years later, Eleanor quickly married the child off a second time to the Earl of Beaumont, in order to prevent Anne from being returned to France into the new Count of Armagnac's care, as he wished for Anne to marry his own son to tidy up inheritances. When this husband, a sickly child, also died prior to Eleanor's death (in 1507), Anne was married off a final time prior to her uncle's accession to Edmund Beaumont, second son to the Earl of Dorset, who essentially bought Anne from the Queen. Anne's third husband did not die, but instead, in 1511, her uncle the King had the match annulled on the basis of age (Anne was, at this time, 12, and her husband was 8) and returned, finally, to her mother's care.

Elizabeth Plantagenet was, in 1511, suddenly very rich, very powerful, and had all her daughters in her care (Anne's 5 younger sisters had been removed from their mother by the Dowager Countess of Suffolk in 1506 at Eleanor's command due to "Elizabeth's sinful behaviour", after the widow was rumoured to have seduced a priest). It was a miracle. 9 months later, she was dead of smallpox, her brother was dead, her daughters was Queen in a court full of would-be Queens. Anne would later have her mother buried in a full royal ceremony, despite her scandal, and would write that the world had been very harsh to such a kind woman.

Eleanor Plantagenet, Queen of England, Ireland and Wales had had 5 sons and 13 grandsons. At the time of Anne d'Armagnac's succession, she had one surviving male-line descendent, who was legally unable to inherit the throne. Some of it had been war, some had been poor fertility (two of Eleanor's sons had had no children at all, and 4 of her granddaughters were never to concieve), and much had been luck. Anne's cousin, the King of Portugal, was her only male rival, son of her great-aunt Catherine Plantagenet, but even he was to have his own fertility issues, with only 2 children across 4 wives. The Plantagenets were essentially dying out. There were cousins, off course (Anne's second husband was a Plantaganet via a long line) but many were just struggling to continue on their families. Anne, the daughter of two dying Houses (Anne's potential betrothed in France would die childless in 1516, and his brother would follow in 1545 with no sons), saw this as a punishment. They were sinful. They needed saving. Anne's main contender for the throne was, of course, her sisters. The daughters of Elizabeth Plantagenet and Guy Manners, Earl of Suffolk, were all just as legitimate as her, just as royal as her, but English. And so, she sent them to convents. But not local convents. She sent them across the continent. Supposedly to prove the religious piety she wanted to project, Anne sent "her Princesses" to France, Hungary, Poland, Denmark and Barcelona in order to spread the good word. Her youngest sister, Constance Manners, apparently begged to stay in England and had to be given "much wine" to board the ship that took her away. e.

There was a Regency, of course, ruled by Henry Pembroke, Duke of Devon, who's own familial issues (his son had married a pirate queen, and thus had been disinherited) meant her had no close male relatives to marry the Queen off to. Most assumed one of her distant cousins would get the part of King. Much of the Regency was spent in negotiations to establish Anne's marriage and succession. But the intelligent young woman knew that she had time on her hand. No one could agree who she should marry. Thus, at 18, released from the Regency, she made a ploy. She wrote to the Pope and asked who he thought she should marry. She only asked that she not marry a cousin, or a fellow King. She wanted a partner, not a lord. And of course, as she suspected, he suggested her own personal choice, his nephew. Anne thus married, in 1519 at 20 years old, Ludovico Augustus Colonna, Duke of Bari, a 33 year old widower with no money, 7 illegitimate sons, and absolutely no recorded relation to the Plantagenets. Her court balked at the match. Anne granted him relatively poor lands in Ireland and granted him the duty of landscaping the gardens of her palace in London. She had a husband who never bothered her, who made the Pope happy, and soon enough, she needed it. Because the Queen probably murdered someone.

Anne's sisters had, for the most part, gone quietly into their vocations once it was clear there was no sympathy from the Queen. Two would die young and Joan, the eldest sister after Anne herself, would have 3 children by a local lord as his mistress in France. Then there was Constance. The young girl who had begged to remain in England all those years prior was able to argue her way out of her convent in 1518, at the age of 12, with the argument that she'd been too young to consent to her position, and in fact, hadn't consented at all. Free but destitute, Constance traveled to the court of Duke Diego of Barcelona, who in turn brought her to Ferdinand I of Navarre, who sent her to Portugal. That's where things get tricky. By this time it was 1521, and a 15 year old Constance was trying to find a pension for herself at her cousin's court. Instead, she was given a husband. Duarte, Duke of Beja, was the King's favoured nephew, and had been married to his daughter for a time, until her death in childbirth. Constance was thus in the pit of Portuguese snakes. That's when she received invitation to travel to England and meet with her sister. Pregnant, she sailed back home, never to return.

Anne's reign had, for the most part, been smooth since her marriage. The Kingdom had no major wars, France had focused it's attentions against an invasion from Lorraine, and Scotland was amidst a civil war that she was able to play against itself to secure the border. But her sister, a rival, was a problem for Anne. Which everyone knew. It was rumoured that Anne's 1521 miscarriage was due to stress about the arrival of Constance of Beja. Thus, when the Duchess of Beja was stabbed in an inn while travelling to London, the blame was at the Queen's feet. An inquest proved unsatisfactory. The country was in shambles. Her throne was in danger. It took 17 trials to determine the (alleged) truth: that Francisco Lopez, a Castilian spy, had had Constance killed to ensure the Portuguese succession fell in favour of the King of Castile. Few believed it. Anne's throne was only saved by the Pope's recognition of her innocence. Her husband died of pneumonia from digging weeds the next year. She hurriedly remarried Prince Charles of Scotland, Duke of Ross, to try and prevent more drama. Her children by Charles all died in infancy. By 1530, the succession was up in the air, France had begun to war on her for Normandy and other English continental holdings, and in 1531 she collapsed while at mass, and died of what was likely a heart attack.

Anne's reign is historically defined by the murder of Constance Manners, and the guilt is regularly laid at her feet. The Castilian conspiracy is considered a weak excuse, she failed to appropriately defend either her own or her country's honour, and lost the Portuguese alliance that helped protect English trade. But Anne's successes outside of this should be considered to. She produced a currency standard that helped solve inflation in her domains, oversaw a court filled with some of the greatest minds in Europe, rebuilt the roads in Northern England, and managed to do so while maintaining a surplus in the treasury. Had she lived another decade, she might have seen even greater stability within her country and implemented further progressive policies.


[13] The death of Queen Anne left England without a clear heir as the King of Portugal had died with his children proceeding him, leaving Portugal to its own succession crisis. Five contenders put themselves forth for the English throne.

1. Robert Plantagenet, 12th Duke of Cumberland. He was a descendant of the male line of John II of England, his great-uncle was Queen Eleanor's faithful husband. Although, his claim was weak as there were several people ahead of him and his father had taken part in the Noble Rebellion, he was still one of the last male descendants who was of age (twenty-five) and he had three sons of his own. This made him quite an attractive option. He has sent envoys to the King of Castile, offering support for their subjection of Portugal in exchange for helping him win the war.

2. Thomas Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. He was a descendant of King Edward I's daughter and had close ties to the royal family. He was loyal to a fault, being Queen Eleanor's fiercest supporter during the Noble rebellion. He had served as Lord Chancellor for Richard's reign, before retiring. As he was eighty-three, he died in the middle of the war, passing his claim on to his son, also named Thomas. Thanks to his ties to the Butlers and the Fitzgerlds of Ireland, the Norfolks has the support of the Irish in exchange for better treatment.

3. Philippe Augustus de Paris, bastard of Joan Manners, the half-sister of Queen Anne. His claim was backed by the French who were eager to use their support to take back their ancestral lands. He was not seen as a serious contender for once thing, his bastardy and the other, he was completely French and suspected to be a mere puppet. However, he does have some support in England mainly the Earls of Suffolk.

4. Catrin of Wales. She was the youngest granddaughter of Queen Eleanor, married to Rhys ap Gruffydd, Earl of Monmouth. She was backed by Henry Pembroke, Duke of Devon, the grandson of the previous duke, along with the rest of the Welsh nobility. However, the rest of the domains were harder to convince, not only was she a woman (despite the proof of Eleanor and Anne, there was still grumbling of a women ruling), she was only eighteen and had no heirs unlike her rivals beside Philip Augustus.

5. Elizabeth, Duchess of Brittany. The last living descendant of the wicked King Thomas I. Her brother had died young, making her inherit the duchy at age twenty where she married the Duke John of Burgundy. When Queen Anne died, she was thirty and had three children, one of them a healthy son. Eager to offshoot the French influences, she and her husband have joined together with the Duke of Gosceny, and the Duke of Normandy to claim the throne.

Although there were other claimants around Europe, these five were seen the main ones because of their manpower and the influence of their supporters. The war would last for twelve years until two of the claimants, Elizabeth, Duchess of Brittany, and Thomas Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk, decided to drop their claims and back Catrin of Wales instead. Their combined forces ended the war.

[14] Catrin of Wales, or Kathryn as she would be known in the annuals of history, would find her life full of ironies.

She would lose her beloved 1st husband, Rhys ap Gruffydd in one of the earliest battles of the Succession Crisis, but this would leave her available to wed the son of Elizabeth, Duchess of Brittany, the fourteen year old John of Burgundy. With the might of both Brittany and Burgundy behind her, Catrin would find herself one of the main players in the Succession Crisis.

Then as Catrin's forces won battle after battle, Catrin found herself often on the battle front where subpar medical recourses are believed to have caused her first two children to have died young.

Then, when after 12 years of battle, Catrin was crowned Queen of England, her only surviving child at the time, John of Saint-Malo, was made Prince of Wales and sent South to govern Wales, and Mother and child would rarely meet again.

Additionally, Catrin found herself in something of a Cold War with her husband, John of Burgundy who saw himself as rightfully King Regent instead of King Consort.

After 8 short years of ruling, Catrin would die in childbirth, leaving Prince John of Wales to rule.



[15] John was born in the Brittany town of Saint-Malo in 1533, to Catrin of Wales and John of Burgundy, heir of both Brittany and Burgundy, his birth came nine months after their wedding. Catrin had hoped to give birth in England, however terrible storms had delayed their travel.

While his father and mother went to fight in England, John of Saint-Malo would stay with his paternal grandmother, Elizabeth, Duchess of Brittany, for the first eleven years of his life, be raised with his cousins, Henri, second son of Philip Duke of Gascony and his wife Mary of Brittany, and Robert, third son of William of Normandy and his wife, Catherine of Brittany, this family connection would come in handy in future endeavors.
In early 1543, with victory in her sights, Catrin arranged for loyalist to her cause to collect him from Brittany and be brought to her side. John was united with the woman who gave birth to him, but felt no warmth.

A year after the war was won, his mother named him, Prince of Wales and sent him south to govern the land, it was a rare occasion if the two were ever at the same event and when it did happen the two were very distant.

For the next nine years, John served as a fair ruler in Wales, working closely with the Welsh nobility on tax income, with merchants on trade and local lords to build up farming harvest and villages.

In 1552, nineteen year old John married Lady Anne Mowbray, grand daughter of Thomas Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, who had yielded early on in the Succession crisis to Catryn, via his son and heir, Henry, Earl of King’s Lynn, whom under Catryn has served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, working with his family ties to the Butlers and the Fitzgerlds. It was through the trade talks between Ireland and Wales that John met Lady Mowbray.

When his mother died, 1553, twenty year old John was proclaimed as king, he took the regal number “V” to represent his father was King John IV, even if he was never crowned as King Regent rather than just a consort.
With no real power left in England, his father returned to the continent and remarried to Anne, Princess of France.

For another nine years, John served as King of England, performing a similar standard of rule as he had in Wales. His father-in-law, whom recently became the new Duke, became lord chancellor and other members of the Mowbray family served in high offices, including his second brother-in-law, John Mowbray, who was made Earl of Suffolk, following the traitorous death of Philippe Augustus de Paris’s supporters.

Upon the death of his father John V of Burgundy and VI of Brittany died, John would inherit both duchies, to the annoyance of King of France, who had hoped that John would have sired a second son with his second wife, allowing France to fight for their right to the Duchies, however a bloody stillborn left her unable to carry a single child to term.

The last twenty two years of his life was spent navigating the toxic politics of mainland Europe, with France pushing for a war, leading to John signing an alliance treaty with his cousins in Normandy and Gascony, supporting each other should France’s aggression get worse.
His death aged 61 came following a short illness in the winter of 1584. He was succeeded by his son, Arthur.


[16] Little by little, England had been breaking off bits of the Scottish land and digesting them into their domain over the past three hundred years. It finally came to a head when the King of Scots died in 1597 with no clear heir. As Arthur was a descendant of Matilda of Scotland who had been Queen Eleanor's mother, he decided to declare himself as the new Scottish monarch.

King Arthur was born in 1565, the third son of King John and Anne Mowbray. His two older brothers died in early childhood, one of smallpox and the other of frail health before he was born. His parents named him in hopes that he would be different. Thankfully he was a robust child, with a bit of a rebellious streak thanks to the coddling he received as a result of his brothers' early death.

His father died when he was nineteen and he spent the early years expanding the trade and exploration routes. He sought to claim more territory in the new world, taking the riches that were discovered. He sponsored the famous playwright William Shakespeare, being the first to view his masterpiece Excalibur whose King Arthur had a lot in comment with the current monarch----a mere coincidence obviously. Arthur seemed to have very little interest in battle, only taking care to forfitfy the defenses of his lands in Europe, least France take his peacefulness as weakness,

In 1597, that all changed. No sooner had King James of Scots died, Arthur marched from London to Stirling, proclaiming himself the new ruler. The war was not a long one as Scotland's usual allies, the French, were busy with their own wars against the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Castile and Portugal.

Arthur married Arabella Stewart, daughter of the Duke of Lennox who was the niece of the late king. They would go on to have four children. In 1603, he had himself declared Emperor, feeling it was the natural conclusion to being monarch over so many lands.

He spent the rest of his reign, trying to appease those in Scotland, Ireland and Brittany who were very independent minded. Alas, he would die in 1619 with tensions still bubbling, leaving his son Charles to deal with it.



[17] Prince Charles was born in 1599 as the first child of Arthur I and Arabella Stewart and became Emperor of the Isles at the young age of 20. During his reign, Charles continued the policies of his father in governing the Empire, and married a Burgundian noblewoman in 1621, whom he had three children with. He was assassinated in 1631 when he was poisoned while having a feast. He was succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth.



[18] Elizabeth was born in 1622. Her mother would go on to have two more children, both daughters (Mary in 1625 and Charlotte in 1627). In 1631, when Emperor Charles was assassinated, it was discovered the Dowager Empress was pregnant for a fourth time, so nine-year-old Elizabeth was forced to wait seven months to see if she would rule at all. However, during that time, a regency council was assembled, headed by the Duke of Norfolk and the Duke of Brittany---her uncle Edward.

First thing the regency council did was search for the culprits behind the regicide. They uncovered a conspiracy by the Duke of Lennox who felt that Scotland had been stolen from the Stewarts by Emperor Arthur. He and his accomplices had plotted to kidnap the new Empress force her to marry Lennox's son, therefore allowing the Stewarts to be the royal dynasty, they were denied. Instead, the conspirators were lead into a trap, arrested and executed.

While all this was happening, Elizabeth stayed at her mother's side along with her younger sisters. She later wrote in her dairy, that if she had a brother, it would please her as she knew it would give her grieving mother some happiness. However, in December of 1631, the dowager Empress would give birth to another girl, named Catherine after Elizabeth's favorite Queen Regent.

Just days after Catherine's christening, nine-year-old Elizabeth was crowned Empress in a lavish ceremony. She was a born show woman, blowing kisses to the crowds as she passed them. England's delight, they called her.

Elizabeth had been her father's heir for most of her life and therefore was taught to rule from when she turned six. When she was eighteen, it was decided she could govern for herself and the regency council was disbanded, although, Elizabeth would give her regents much praise for keeping her empire running smoothly during those nine years.

It was during her reign, that Elizabeth began to focus on giving her subjects a greater voice, believing that the best way to counter rebellion and strife was to listen as much as command. She created a post of Grand Minister for England, Wales, Ireland, Burgundy, Scotland, Brittany and her lands in the new world. The Grand Minster would be voted on by the people themselves and would act as both an ambassador and a speaker of the House of Commons.

Elizabeth tried to balance her moderate views with the more conservative nature of the members of the privy council, make a set of strict rules for the minsters to adhere to, not wanting to be seen as giving her power away least she was seen weak and flighty. Additionally she noted in her diary, she could not afford to give the minsters as much powers as she would like for they were men and would seek to control her.

The empress for all her moderate views, believed in the divine right of kings and emperors and would not allow anyone to take some of her power. This made finding a husband for herself tricky. She needed to marry a man befitting her station, but at the same time one who would not try to name themselves her equal or her better.

For her sisters, it was a bit easier. The youngest Catherine, who Elizabeth doted on like she was her daughter, was married to the Duke of Segorbe the second son of the King of Iberia, making a new treaty to replace the long forgotten one between Portugal and England. Her second youngest sister, Charlotte was married to the King of France's nephew, the Duke of Orleans. As for Mary, she was married to the Duke of Norfolk's son, a distant cousin.

All marriages seemed rather low for the daughters of an Emperor with some of Elizabeth's detractors painting her as a woman, jealous of her sisters and wanting to humiliate them by refusing to let any of them become queens. In truth, Elizabeth knew that if she were to die childless, one of her sisters would succeed her and so she wanted them to marry men who were unlikely to gain a throne, putting their empire under the rule of a foreign ruler. She even vetted the prospective husbands herself, to be sure they were worthy of her sisters.

As for Mary, Charlotte and Catherine, they understood their sister's motives and were quite happy with their chosen husbands. The four sisters maintained a close relationship for the rest of their lives with Mary often acting as Elizabeth's chief advisor.

It was only after she had arranged her sisters marriages, did Elizabeth search for a husband for herself, making it clear to her advisors that she would not marry any man who sought to rule her or rule through her. As a woman, who learned from a young age how to spot ambitious men or men who spoke honey while thinking poison, she would demand to met her perspective suitors in person she could judge their characters. Some members of her council and her own family feared this would turn any prospective husbands off. It had the opposite effect, with several princes and dukes traveling to England, determined to win over the "Empress of Steel" as some called her.

Elizabeth would soon regret her policy as she found she could barely walk anywhere without a prospective groom popping out of the bushes or around the corners, wanting to speak to her. "I have become so paranoid that I have my maids checking under my bed and in my closets," she wrote to her sister. Mary was less than sympathetic. "You issued a challenge. Do not be surprised when the bull charges after you wave a red sheet in front of its face."

Perhaps in hopes of ending almost two years of an endless line of suitors coming to England to woo her, Elizabeth married in 1647 at age twenty-five, to fifth son of King Sigsmund of Poland, Prince Andrew Jagiellon. His brothers were already married and had sons of their own making him the perfect candidate. Andrew had from to England, a year earlier (officially to act as his father's envoy, not that anyone believed that) and so Elizabeth's policy of getting to know her prospective groom and born fruit. Even better as the fifth son, Andrew was not taught to govern anything bigger than a duchy (Elizabeth made him the Duke of Wessex) and therefore did not have any objections to his wife ruling.

The couple hard a harmonious relationship even if it wasn't a particularly loving one. However, their marriage would be cut short in 1650 when the Irish people would rise up in rebellion, after the discovery that some Englishmen were rigging the Grand Minster Elections so that only men who supported English polices were elected.

It was a slap in the face to the Irish people who had long felt their culture was under attack by the English for thousand of years. Elizabeth for her part was enraged when she learned of the corruption, arresting the men involved and having them tried and sentenced to imprisonment, but the damage had been done and the rebellion was in fully swing.

Duke Andrew lead the troops himself as they meet the Irish in Dublin. The battle was bloody and although, England emerged victorious, it was a pyrrhic one with many men including Andrew himself dying of their wounds.

"In the end, there was no winner," Elizabeth noted sadly in her diary. With her husband's death, Elizabeth felt she had no choice, but to execute the leaders of the rebellion, stating she sympathized with their plight, and would see justice done, but she could not allow them to go unpunished for rebelling against the crown.

She had the Earl of Tyrone, Conor O' Neil (the descendant of the last Irish Chieftain whose family had held onto their Irish roots stubbornly) as Lord Deputy of Ireland, allowing him to make changes to the government as long as they did not contradiction the English laws. She also gave him leave to investigate the alleged corruption. Oddly Hugh seemed to spend more time in England then in Ireland, often in the company of the Empress who he became fast friends with. Although there was never any suggestions of marriage (even before the rebellion, the Earl would have been a poor match for the Empress), many rumors flew that he and Elizabeth were lovers.

Despite this, or perhaps consequentially, Elizabeth married for a second time in 1653 to Erik Vasa, brother to the King of Sweden. Unlike her first marriage, this own was anything but harmonious. Erik tried to throw his weight around by banishing Conor from court. The Earl of Tyrone actually had the nerve to laugh at the other man, "My lord, I answer to no one, but the Empress. If she wants me gone, I will leave. If she does not, I won't be parted with her." When Erik went to the Empress to complain, Elizabeth was furious. "Who do you think you are? There are my subjects, husband, not yours. You command nothing. Not them and certainly not me."

In 1663, at age forty-one, Elizabeth would miscarry twins which took a terrible toll on her health. After hanging on for three more years, Elizabeth would die in her bed, holding her beloved Coner's hand, leaving her son Arthur to rule.

[19] At his birth in 1658, Arthur replaced his elder half-sisters as Queen Elizabeth’s heir. He greatly resembled his great-grandfather and namesake, Arthur I. The lack of any paternal influence in Arthur’s appearance did spark a minor rumor that perhaps his father was the Earl of Tyrone, not Erik Vasa.

But any rumor of Arthur’s alternate paternity died with his mother in 1666. Erik Vasa strongly pushed his position as Arthur’s father to try and gain influence in the regency council. And Erik Vasa would be appointed to the regency council, but found his power checked by his step-daughter, Anne, Duchess of Wessex, who was easily the most influential member of the regency council.

Anne would work hard to shield Arthur from the conflict in the regency council and the rest of his childhood was spent with his nieces and nephews (Anne’s children). And while it must be said, Arthur had a happy childhood, it left him unprepared for actual ruling.

So, upon the dissolving of the regency council, Arthur would appoint many of his former regents (but not his father) to positions of power, so that they could continue ruling on his behalf. Leaving his responsibilities to others, Arthur would spend his time traveling around his empire, seeking fun and new experiences. Funnily enough, this pressing of the flesh, would make Arthur one of the most beloved Emperors, each of his lands seeing him as “A True Welsh/Scot/Burgundian/Breton/Insert Ethnicity Here.”

During one of his visits to Wales, Arthur would meet one Gwyneth ferch Thomas, the daughter of a minor Welsh nobleman. To the shock of his sister, Arthur would announce his intention to wed Gwyneth, saying “What is Arthur without his Guinevere?” (When Anne of Wessex pointed out the fact that the legendary Arthur without Guinevere probably would have been better off, Arthur ignored her). So the marriage went on ahead.

Arthur’s romantic marriage further endeared him to his people, and as now Queen Gwyneth joined him on his travels, people would come to love her just as much if not more than Arthur. Unfortunately, this fairy tale was short lived as Arthur and Gwyneth would both perish when their ship went down traveling back from Brittany. Arthur would be succeeded by his half sister, Anne.

[20] Anne Jagiellon was her mother's daughter. Strong, opinionated and fierce. At age three, her mother had given her the Duchy of Wessex, making her a duchess in her own right. At nineteen, she maintained control of her brother and of the regency council, competing against her stepfather at every step. When she was twenty, she married William Stamford, the Marquess of Lincoln. The births of her first three children did little to slow her down during the eight years of regency.

While her half brother spent his time, being adored and loved by his people, she would continue ruling in his absence. Although, she was unhappy with her brother for choosing to marry Gwneth, instead of making a dynastic match, she got along with the girl during the short time she knew her.

Everything changed in 1689 when her brother and his wife would drown in a ship wreck between Brittany and England. Even worse the reason they were coming back was because Gwenth had just announced her pregnancy and they were traveling back to ensure she gave birth in London.

To say Anne was devastated was an understatement. She had been the one who insisted that the royal baby be born in London. For years to come, she would blame herself for their deaths.

Anne had been her brother's heir and considering she had practically running the Empire for the past three decades, there was no question that she would succeed him. However, Anne decided to choose a regal name, feeling Anne would bring up too many memories of the previous Queen Anne. So she became Empress Alexandria.

She spent the end of the 17th Century, strengthening the position of Grand Minister, making sure there were a few checks and balances to stop what happened in Ireland from happening again. She was good friends with the Earl of Tyrone's son (as was her husband, shutting down any rumors of an affair) and was quick to name him Lord Deputy after the death of his father. She also chose Lord Deputies for Wales, Scotland, and Burgundy, trusting them to keep watch over her domains.

In February 1700, Explorer William Dampier found an large Island which he decided to call Alexandria (RL New Britain) for his empress. Anne jokingly scolded him for not finding something bigger to name for her. "Queen Eleanora got a continent, why shouldn't an Empress get one too?" To make up for her teasing, she promised to knight him when he returned. Unfortunately, when he did return to England, he was court martial for cruelty and found guilty. Thus he received no reward for his deeds.

Tensions between France had grown heated over the last century and soon enough war broke out in 1703. France was backed by the Holy Roman Empire who wished to gain access to the English trade routes in Burgundy and the King of Iberia who used his sister-in-law, Anne's own Aunt Catherine, to claim Gascony.

The war would last eleven years and in the end, Anne would loose Gascony (although she got some form of revenge posthumously when France and Iberia would fight over that Duchy), parts of Brittany and Burgundy, two of her sons and three of her grandsons.

Anne was eighty-years-old before she died in her sleep. The nation wept for their Empress Alexandria who had served them even before her reign. Her great-grandson, Francis, Prince of Wales was next to take the imperial crown.

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Francis of Wessex, Emperor the Isles (c.1734)

[21] Francis of Wessex, Prince of Wales was barely 15 years old when his great grandmother died. Born the second son of Arthur of Wales, Duke of Normandy and the Princess Maria of Cleves, his father, mother and elder brother died in a wave of smallpox that ran through England's continental possessions in 1720, leaving him in the care of his grandfather, Andrew of Wessex, the Prince of Wales, who took the loss of his only son and heir very hard. After his death in 1721, he was left in the care of Alexandrina of Bohemia, his step-grandmother. Francis spent much of his youth in the county of Anjou, where her dower lands were, and upon the news of the Empress' death, took almost a month to travel to London for his official coronation, languishing in Calais, where he acquired the man who would ultimately kill him, Bernard Carey, Baron Carey. The two were lovers at this time.

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Bernard Carey, Baron Carey (c.1728).

Francis was young, vigorous and excited to retake Gascony for his Empire. But first he needed an ally. Loath to treat with any of the Iberian kingdoms, who had broken treaties to claim Gascony, or France, he decided to ally himself with the Holy Roman Empire in order to break their backing of France. His only female cousin, Mary of Maine, was married in 1730 to the widower Ernest III, Holy Roman Emperor, who had only daughters from his first marriage. He then, to break off the main source of Iberian backing, married himself to Germaine Colonna, daughter of the Duke of Valentois, and granddaughter to the King of Naples, who, among other things, was in the process of invading Barcelona. This was when tensions began to set in with his lover, Lord Carey.

View attachment 682583

Germaine Colonna, Empress of the Isles (c.1732).

Germaine Colonna was a very proud woman, very Catholic woman, and extremely beautiful. Francis, who had taken lovers of both men and women, became infatuated with her, and in 1731 sent his former lover away in order to please her. However, Lord Carey was among his most experienced soldiers, and in 1732 he returned as Francis began his campaign in Gascony. The first took back lands in Brittany, then Burgundy, and as they travelled through France, the Emperor began to pine for his wife. Germaine travelled to the Palace de Poitiers, a pleasure palace built in the times of the Emperor Arthur I, recently renovated. It is then that tensions began to rise. Francis spent little time as leisure, and what he did was with her. Lord Carey, increasingly upset at his displacement, loudly called the Emperor a cuckhold, and claimed his uncle, George of Wessex, Duke of Ross had seduced the Empress. By early 1735, no matter how valuable he was to the war efforts, the Emperor knew his former lover had to go. But when he gave him his marching orders personally, sending him to negotiate with the Count of Flanders in order to further diminish French power, Lord Carey stabbed him 16 times. Francis was found bleeding 5 hours later, while Lord Carey was discovered hiding in the Empress' powder room, with a gun and the bloody weapon. He was executed after confessing, and his lands were granted to the Empress directly.

Francis died before his 22nd birthday. Young and full of hope, the Empire had been in his hands and had fallen to petty interpersonal squabbling gone violent. His uncle, the supposed lover of the Empress, travelled with his body to London, where it was lain next to the other Emperors and Empresses. His heart, however, was buried in Poitiers. Germaine would never remarry. He was succeeded by Diana, his sister, amidst the war.
800px-Princess_Amelia_of_Great_Britain_%281711-1786%29_by_Jean-Baptiste_van_Loo.jpg


[22] Empress Diana was born on March 1, 1712, being the oldest daughter of Prince Arthur and therefore named the Princess of Wales when her younger brother Francis was named Emperor as a "placeholder". However, fate would force the young Crown Princess to become Empress of the Isles as a result of her brother's assassination with Diana being named Empress of the Isles after her brother's death.

As Empress, Diana would preside over an inconclusive result to the war her brother had started with a status quo ante bellum peace enacted in 1738 as a result of the war ending in a stalemate. In the aftermath of said war, she would preside over a golden age of relative peace and prosperity as the Empire of the Isles would return to a period of "splendid isolation" for the rest of her reign, with Diana more focused on internal improvements and colonial ventures than on adventures in Europe.

Empress Diana would marry a distant cousin of hers with a goal of maintaining the Wessex Dynasty with said cousin and the Empress enjoying a close relationship. However, it would all turn sour as Empress Diana would die in childbirth on December 3, 1749, two days after giving birth to her sixth and youngest child. She was succeeded by her son, Alexander.

[23] Emperor Alexander was the eldest son of Empress Diana and was only fourteen. After almost a year of squabbles over who should be on the regency council, Alexander pushed for and was granted recognition as ruler in his own right. The largest empire on Earth was now in the hands of a teenager. Alexander dearly loved to travel and used the scattered colonies as an excuse. Alexander would visit the sundry colonies multiple times and had circumvented the globe twice by his 18 birthday.

At each colony, Alexander found himself a mistress or two, usually a native but 'civilized' (By Alexander's definition, meaning fluent in English and capable of following English cultural norms) woman several years older than him. Many of his mistresses bore him children. Alexander appears to have been a doting if distant father to his bastards.

After several years of many many mistresses, Alexander was pressured into marrying and chose Alice of Monmouth, the heiress of the Earl of Monmouth, the particular friend of Alexander's sister Kathryn. (Kathryn never married). While Alexander and Alice only had two children, Alice would make arrangements for all of Alexander's many bastards to come to England where they were raised all raised together. The children, legitimate and illegitimate, would primarily be in the care of Alice and Kathryn, with Alexander continuing to parent at a distance.

Alexander continued to travel throughout his reign, sending his bastards home to Alice and Kathryn. He would die at age 54 from a fever during one of his travels. He would be succeeded by his son, Arthur.

[24] Arthur III was born in 1761 as the eldest legitimate child of Alexander I and Alice of Monmouth. Growing up he was always treated just the same as his bastard half-siblings, but he came to resent this. The only one of his siblings he was close to was his "full" sister Kathryn, and he was devastated when she died in childbirth in 1798. At first Arthur idolized his distant father and dreamed of going on adventures of his own, but as he grew he came to resent him as well, for his distance from his children, his many mistresses, almost all of whom were foreign and "inferior", his treatment of Alice—but most of all, for his weakness (at least in Arthur's eyes). While Alexander was traveling Britain itself had largely been left to its nobles, and on foreign policy, while he had carefully avoided major wars, he hadn't bothered to do much else.

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View attachment 683135

Arthur and Amelia

At age 20, Arthur married Amelia of Luxemburg, the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, to strengthen the empire's ties with its strongest ally. The marriage, although not particularly romantic, would be stable and generally happy. Arthur avoided any relationships with other women, and while there were rumors of Amelia having an affair with a royal guard, he chose to ignore them as slander created by his political enemies, of which there would be many. The couple had three children. He would spend far more time with them than his father had with him, but early on, at least, they did not exactly live up to expectations.

Despite being the heir to throne Arthur was largely excluded from actual rulership until in 1790, news arrived from distant lands that Emperor Alexander had died. The first decade or so of Arthur's reign would be spent struggling for power with the de facto regency council that had usually ruled during Alexander's absence. Arthur's hatred of them would only be reinforced by the first of his wars, fought with Iberia in 1794-96 over a minor trade dispute. The war ended in stalemate, but was generally disappointing for Britain. By 1800 he had largely crushed any opposition, at least within the Isles themselves, even imprisoning his own grandfather, the Duke of Monmouth, for a time, before he was released (on account of his declining health, or apocryphally because Kathryn had asked for it just before she died). And, of course, all of Emperor Alexander's mistresses stopped receiving their regular payments from London.

In 1806, Britain and the Holy Roman Empire went to war with the Franco-Iberian alliance once again—but this time, the British army was a well-drilled, professional fighting force, with the most modern muskets and cannon money could buy. (The Navy had seen less reforms, partly because it was still the best in Europe anyways, partly because Arthur disliked the branch that his father had favored.) Emperor Arthur's War ended in 1813 and would reshape Europe. Britain retook Gascony, the Holy Roman Empire annexed land from a now greatly weakened France and Denmark, and the British colonial empire expanded yet again.

The last 15 or so years of Arthur's reign would be spent attempting to encourage economic reforms and bring Britain into the Industrial Age, although this would grow increasingly difficult due to Arthur's weakening health and a major distraction to the west. Under Alexander, the Eleanoran colonies had grown used to a loose leash and an emperor willing to listen to their requests. Arthur was... different, and a variety of radical ideas had found open ears across the Atlantic. In 1816, the Great Eleanorian Revolt broke out. It never really had a fixed end date, as while the British defeated the colonials in almost every open battle, and Arthur hanged any leaders of the rebellion he could get his hands on, the scattered resistance retreated into the backwoods and kept fighting until supplies or luck ran out. In contrast to his predecessor's outstretched hand, Arthur ruled Eleanoria (and other colonies as well, even those with mostly British settlers, or where the native upper class had at least partially Anglicized) with an iron first.

In 1821 Dowager Empress Alice died peacefully in her sleep, having lived to a ripe old age. Two years later, Empress Amelia was accused of a more-intimate-than-socially-acceptable relationship with the Duchess of Somerset, which Arthur again refused to believe. It's unclear if these rumors were true or not, as Amelia died suddenly a few months later (historians don't believe it was poisoning, although that didn't stop the speculation...) and the Duchess then burned any letters that could have proved anything either way. After a long period of illnesses (thought to be either kidney failure or tuberculosis), Arthur died in 1827, leaving to his heir ____ the largest empire in the world, but also one deeply divided and facing a century of social change.


[25] Richard III was born on March 3, 1783 as the first-born son of Emperor Arthur the Great and as such would inherit the throne after his father's death in 1827 at the age of 44. While he inherited a great empire which was the largest and most powerful in the world, it would be an Empire which was shaky upon further inspection. The colonies in Eleanoria were resentful of the central authority in London and the Industrial Revolution was something that had started to lead to social turmoil and political upheval. The rising middle class demanded more political say as suffrage was restricted to the wealthy and landed.

Richard III would respond to this by refusing to make major reforms which could have saved his rule with how he allied himself with powerful conservatives and rejected proposals for suffrage for the middle class or creating Devolved Viceroyalties out of the colonies. However, his reign would initially see potential as Richard III would be someone who would support economic development during his reign with said economic revolution putting off revolutionary activiity for over a decade.

Richard III's reign would culminate in the British Revolution of 1839, triggered by the Panic of 1838, which saw him being forced to flee the country into exile to avoid being seized by revolutionary mobs or elements of the army which had joined the revolutionaries. In the aftermath of him being overthrown, while more radical elements within Parliament would push for a Republic, more moderate elements would win out in the post-revolutionary power struggle, with Arthur IV being enthroned after the Revolution.


[26] Arthur, the eldest grandson of Richard III, was born just before the British Revolution of 1839. Since he was an infant, he was the prefect figurehead. (His grandfather would retire to a country estate and his father, Alexander, would flee first to France and then to Russia, where he would make repeated declarations regarding the legitimacy of his son's reign until dying from syphilis when Arthur was 6).

As Arthur reached maturity, a law was added (to extended the regency) stating that before a monarch could rule in their own right, they must serve in the Royal Military. Arthur would join the Royal Navy at age 18, and serve for 4 years. Finally at age 22, Arthur would gain some control of the government. It was, of course, much less than his ancestors enjoyed, but Arthur saw the wisdom in not pushing his boundaries.

So instead of trying to push back against Parliament and the various Colonial Viceroys, Arthur would, at any opportunity, appoint a cousin (And due to his grandfather's many siblings, Arthur had many many many cousins) to a Viceroyalty, or support another cousin's running for parliament. By the end of his reign the government was chock-full of members of the House of Wessex.

Partially to separate himself from his ancestors, Arthur would marry a non-royal, non-noble gentlewoman, Miss Hester Crewe. The two had a happy marriage, with 5 children.

Arthur would pass away at age 77 from pneumonia. He would be succeeded by his son, William I.

[27] Born in 1860, he was the oldest of his parents' five children. Popular legend has him, at age twelve, getting a job as a newspaper boy or as a shoeshine boy, under an assumed name, wanting to have his first taste of work. While it is unlikely that this actually happened as William would go on to write a detailed memoir of his life and he would have certainly mentioned it if it was true, this anecdote would foretell the type of prince, William was.

At age eighteen, he followed his father's new rule and joined the military under the name Leonard Fitzroy, making sure he did not get any special treatment. It worked for his commander, Captain Matthew James pulled him in his office one day and berated him for not informing his superior officer of his real name for it was a felony to lie on official documents, regardless of the reasons. In his memoirs, William would call Captain James a credit to his profession, being honorable and blunt.

In the end, it was agreed that William's papers would be classified and only his direct superiors would learn of his true identity. He later would ask his father if he was the one who ratted him out. Emperor Arthur who had served in the military for four years, pointed out that his cover had been shoddy to begin with as Leonard Fitzroy had no prior history and William's face had been shown in the newspaper plenty of times for someone to realize he looked just like Fitzroy.

After that slight hiccup, William's time as a solider went much more smoothly with him making several lifelong friends in his squadron. One of those friends was Patrick Conner who introduced William to his sister, Sally Conner. Unlike her brother, Sally had no idea that the man she met was the Prince of Wales and the future Emperor. That is until 1881, when William confessed to her on their second date. According to William, Sally thought he was joking until her brother confirmed it.

Sally despite loving the prince, felt she could not handle the restrictions that would come long with her relationship with him and broke things off. At first, William would not accept this and tried numerous times to change her mind. When the newspapers caught wind of this, they published a story that slut shamed Sally, making her into a golddigger slut. William was enraged and sent a blistering letter to that newspaper, telling them if they did not print a retraction, he would use his influence to shut them down.

The damage was done and Sally received much hate letters and harassment before she finally had enough and committed suicide in 1885. William was devastated and he would always blame himself for what happened to her, citing she was the love of his life and he should have accepted her wishes. He also gained a deep hatred of the press that many historians note was well before the times of tabloids.

In 1893, after being honorable discharged from the army, William would marry a daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh, Lucy Stewart, a distant cousin. In public, they acted like a couple in love. In private, they were essentially just good friends, who married each other because they could not marry the people, they truly wanted to. Although, William never mentions the name of who Lucy wanted to marry, many suspected it was her best friend and lady-in-waiting, Margaret "Peggy" Benson. William's deliberate avoidance of using pronouns whenever he mentioned Lucy's lover in his memoirs, and the fact that Peggy doted on Lucy's children gave the theory much credence. William and Lucy would have three children.

Three years after William became emperor, the Great World War broke out, lasting from 1918 to 1935. It was a devastating war with William seeing many of his family dying. One of the worst moments was when a bomb hit Flanders, where his brother was visiting his grandchildren. William all but collapsed when he learned there were no survivors.

When the war ended, William was one of the many world leaders calling for the end of nuculer warfare, beliving the cost was too high.

One of his last noteble acts was to start a fund for vetrens, calling it the Sally Conor Foundations. In 1951, he would die of a stroke at age ninety-one. He was succeeded by____
 
What if Henry Plantagenet, son of Edward I, survives childhood to become king.

Kings and Queens of England
1216–1272: Henry III (House of Plantagenet)
1272-1307: Edward I (House of Plantagenet)
1307-1335: Henry IV (House of Plantagenet) [1]
1335-1366: John II ''the Bald'' (House of Plantagenet) [2]
1366-1371: Alphonse I ''the Arbiter'' (House of Plantagenet) [3]
1371-1373: John III "the Tragic" (House of Plantagenet) [4]
1373-1380: Edward II "the Uncrowned" (House of Plantagenet) [5]
1380-1389: Alphonse II "the Believer" (House of Plantagenet) [6]
1389-1397: Thomas I "the Kinslayer" "the Usurper" "the Bloody" (House of Plantagenet) [7]
1397-1398: Arthur I "the Luckless" (House of Plantagenet) [8]
1398-1426: Henry V "the Avenger" (House of Plantagenet) [9]
1426-1500: Eleanor I (House of Plantagenet) [10]
1500-1512: Richard II (House of Plantagenet) [11]
1512-1531: Anne I (House of Armagnac) [12]
1531-1544: Succession Crisis [13]
1544-1553: Kathryn I (House of Wales-Burgundy) [14]
1553-1562: John V (House of Burgundy) [15]

Kings of England, Duke of Burgundy & Brittany
1562-1584: John V, IV and VII (House of Burgundy) [15]
1584-1619: Arthur II, I, and III (House of Burgundy) [16]

Emperors & Empresses of the Isles
1603-1619: Arthur I (House of Burgundy) [16]
1619-1631: Charles I (House of Burgundy) [17]
1631-1666: Elizabeth I (House of Burgundy) [18]
1666-1689: Arthur II (House of Vasa) [19]
1689-1728: Alexandria I (House of Wessex) [20]
1728-1735: Francis I (House of Wessex) [21]
1735-1749: Diana I (House of Wessex) [22]
1749-1790: Alexander I (House of Wessex) [23]
1790-1826: Arthur III "The Great" (House of Wessex) [24]
1826-1839: Richard III (House of Wessex) [25]
1839-1915: Arthur IV (House of Wessex) [26]
1915-1951: William (House of Wessex) [27]
1951-1989: Eleanor II (House of Wessex) [28]


[1] Henry was born on 6th May 1268, in Windsor Castle during the reign of his paternal grandfather, Henry III of England and was the fifth child and second son of Lord Edward, by his first wife, Eleanor of Castile.
Because of his place of birth, he was known in his early life as Henry of Windsor.

On 3 August 1271, Henry's older brother John died in the custody of their paternal granduncle Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall. His death left Henry the eldest surviving child of Edward and second-in-line to the throne of England.
When his grandfather, Henry III died on 16 November 1272, Edward became King of England and Henry his heir apparent.
In 1273, Henry was betrothed to Joan I of Navarre.

Joan was born in Bar-sur-Seine, Champagne on 14 January 1273 as a princess of the House of Blois.
The following year, upon the death of her father, she became Countess of Champagne and Queen of Navarre. Due to her age, her mother, Blanche, was her guardian and regent in Navarre.

Various powers, both foreign and Navarrese, sought to take advantage of the minority of the heiress and the "weakness" of the female regent, which caused Joan and her mother to seek protection at the court of Philip III of France. Her mother arrived in France in 1274, Philip would late arrange for the Pope to declare Joan and Henry’s betrothal to be voided and by the Treaty of Orléans in 1275, Joan was betrothed to Philip's son, Philip.
Blanche, therefore, placed her daughter and the government of Navarre under the protection of the King of France. After this, Joan was brought up with her betrothed, Philip.

Henry became gravely ill at Guildford in 1274, neither of his parents made the short journey from London to see him. He was tended by his grandmother, Eleanor of Provence, who had raised him during the four years his parents were on Crusade. The queen dowager was thus at that moment more familiar to him than his parents, and the better able to comfort him in his illness.
Henry was known for being a sickly child and he was lucky to survive into adulthood.

Following the voiding of Henry’s betrothing, in 1276, Edward arranged for his son to be betrothed to Henry’s cousin, Blanche of Brittany (b. 1271) daughter of John II, Duke of Brittany, and his wife Beatrice of England, (daughter of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence)

The pair were married in Winchester in December 1281 and the couple would go on to have eight children. As a wedding gift, Edward created his son, Earl of Winchester, which had gone extinct following the death of Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester in 1265.

Between 1297 and 1298, Henry was left as regent in charge of England while his father campaigned in Flanders against Philip IV, who had occupied part of the English king's lands in Gascony.

Edward I would perform a second campaign into Scotland in 1300, and this time took his son with him, making him the commander of the rearguard at the siege of Caerlavrock Castle.

In the spring of 1301, the king declared Henry, the Prince of Wales, granting him the earldom of Chester and lands across North Wales; hoping that this would help pacify the region and that it would give his son some extra financial independence.

Edward I mobilized another army for the Scottish campaign in 1307, which Prince Edward was due to join that summer, but the elderly King had been increasingly unwell and on 7 July 1307, died, meaning Henry became King Henry IV.
Henry IV would carry on with his father's planned campaign into Scotland and on 4 August received homage from his Scottish supporters at Dumfries and would name his younger brother, Edward of Caernarfon, whom had came up with him as Constable of Scotland. With a strong English army presence in Scotland, kept Robert the Bruce from getting too powerful.

Much of Henry’s reign was peaceful, with him having a good working relationship with the many earls and barons within his kingdom.

A major set back was an environmental event, problems in English agriculture, part of a wider phenomenon in northern Europe known as the Great War, which began with torrential rains in late 1314, followed by a very cold winter and heavy rains the following spring that killed many sheep and cattle. The bad weather continued, almost unabated, into 1321, resulting in a string of bad harvests.
Revenues from the exports of wool plummeted but Henry was lucky to be able to import grain and move food about internally.

Henry’s wife, Blanche died on 19 March 1327 and was buried at Westminster Abbey.
On 5th April 1328, 59-year-old Henry married for a second time to another cousin, Lady Isabel Plantagenet of Lancaster, (b. before 1317), daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth, and a descendant of Henry III, through his son, son of Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, Earl of Leicester.
This marriage only saw three children born, before Henry’s death on 31st May 1335 aged 67 years old, was succeeded by his son, John.

[2] John became king in his late forties. He had started to loose his hair sometime in his thirties, hence the nickname. He was a serious man who rarely smiled. His wife was Elizabeth of Austria who he married shortly before his father became king. Despite the sourness of the groom, they had a happy marriage with Elizabeth being able to get a rare laugh from her husband. They would have eight children, on which only two lived to adulthood.

In 1335, the Thousand Days War broke out. Robert the Bruce of Scotland had married Isabella of France in hopes of obtaining help against the English. When Robert II gained his father's throne, his mother proclaimed him the King of France as well, entreating England to join forces.

King John disagreed. He saw nothing to gain by helping either side and in fact, felt it would be far easier to take advantage of the war to increase his holdings in both of the realm. It was seen as a dishonorable move by his enemies. His allies who reaped the benefits saw it as prudent move.

In 1340, after the war had ended, King Philip arranged for his grandson to marry the granddaughter of King John, and his granddaughter to marry the Prince of Wales' son. France and England signed an agreement to end all hostilities. This would be in effect for almost three decades while both of the monarchs were alive.

For the next twenties years until his death, John went to work on consolidating the monarch's power in England, wanting Parliament to have a greater voice without having to loose his authority. He wanted to work alongside Parliament, feeling they should be treated as a partner instead of a restriction.

He died in his sleep, nearly eighty and would be succeeded by King Alphonse I.

[3] Born in 1317, Alphonse was named for his great-uncle, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who played a large part in raising him, particularly given his parents were often busy traveling around their vast domains, especially once his father had gained full sovereignty over Gascony as part of the treaty that ended the Thousand Days War. Indeed, Alphonse was named Duke of Gascony in 1343, after the region had been fully integrated into the Plantagenet domains. He spent much of his time as heir to the throne anglicising Gascony's legal code and enforcing the terms of the treaty his father had coerced the French and Scots into agreeing to, which is what gave rise to his nickname of 'the Arbiter'. It was in this role that he stood as chief witness to the marriage of Robert II's of Scotland's only daughter, Isabel, to Philip V of France's son and heir, Charles, Dauphin of France, who was granted the Scottish Crown Matrimonial immediately following the ceremony in May 1350. France and Scotland were thus united in the lines of both claimants to the French throne, as John of England had suggested as a compromise twelve years earlier, three years before he agreed to betroth his - at that point theoretical - grandchildren to the equally as yet unborn grandchildren of Phillip of France.

The treaty also declared that should Isabel and Charles have two sons, the eldest would inherit France and the second Scotland. All the same, however, Alphonse was more than a little concerned that circumstances would conspire to encircle the Plantagenet Empire with the new Franco-Scottish Kingdom, so he urged his father to seek matches for him and his younger sister Eleanor that would give the Plantagenets allies in central Europe should such a thing look like it might occur.

John, who shared his son's fears, though he wouldn't admit it, promptly married Alphonse to Margaret of Bavaria, the second daughter of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, who was eight years Alphonse's junior. Eleanor, meanwhile, was affianced to Peter I of Portugal and wed him in November 1339, just after her nineteenth birthday.

Despite the age difference between Alphonse and Margaret, their marriage seems to have been something of a meeting of minds, and they were happily wed for almost twenty years until Margaret's death from plague in 1362. They had twelve children, seven of whom survived to adulthood, and the eldest of whom married Blanche of France, as John and Phillip had arranged all those years ago.

By the time Alphonse succeeded his father in April 1366, he was already forty-nine and still shattered by the death of his beloved partner Margaret. A shadow of his former self, he was happy to be a figurehead monarch, spending most of his time in the sanctuary of Flaran Abbey, where Margaret was buried, and leaving his heir to manage much of the day-to-day business of the Plantagenet Empire. So unassuming a monarch was he, in fact, that his death in October 1371 went almost unremarked by the vast majority of his subjects - though they all enjoyed the holiday granted for his heir's coronation the following March!






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The tombstone of King John III, even though it does not contain his remains, was placed right next to the one of his father, Alphonse I.


[4] The first son of Duke Alphonse and Margaret of Bavaria, John, was named after his grandfather and at that time the current king, John II. Ever since his young age, the young John was the kind of person who was overly pessimistic. Not that, but, he was rather socially isolated due to his quirks, which caused the Prince to have frequent bouts of insecurity and melancholy. Despite his father's several attempts, John's moods remained mostly the same. And, as John continued to grow, the reminders of his marriage, which had been arranged by his grandfather, would be brought up increasingly more often, causing more unease for the Prince.

When Alphonse succeeded to the throne after the death of John II, he left most of his royal duties to the new Prince of Wales. This occurs even though John attempted on several occasions to give the task of administration to his younger brothers, who he viewed as more capable compared to him. A year later, upon her coming of age, John married Blanche, daughter of the Dauphin of France. And, although one of John's fears were not realized, the marriage was not a terrible one, at least, it would be a childless one, as well. When his father died, John was devastated and he became even more saddened when he became aware of the fact that most of the pheasants of London did not commemorate the passing of the King. Many people of high status would later remark that the atmosphere of King John III's coronation was rather depressing, with the King not showing up until late in the day.

Merely, two years after his ascension to the throne, John III on one day vanished and was never seen again, despite the efforts of his successor to find him. Some suggest that the King might have killed himself, however, others point out that the many writings of John III may suggest differently. Either way, in 1373, the English throne now belonged to his brother, Edward.

[5] Edward was the third son of Alphonse and Margaret. His older brother, Henry died at age five. He married a wealthy Irish heiress named Maud de Ulford, never expecting to become king.

He was in Ireland, celebrating the birth of his fifth child when he heard the news that his brother had vanished. He immediately headed to London, ready to lead the search for John, refusing to even be called king until they were certain that his brother was truly lost to them. He would not hold his coronation until five years had passed, still holding onto hope that they would recover John even after he and his wife were crowned.

Despite not being close to his older brother, Edward fell into a depression as the years went on, feeling that he had somehow failed him. He also grew paranoid that this was some sort of plot against his family and would keep his seven children close to him, in fear that whoever took their uncle would take them as well.

His depression and parnionoa caused his health to fail, not to mention how much time he spent combing the countryside for his brother, and after just seven years on the throne, he died of pneumonia after chasing a rumor that John had been spotted in Wiltshire, refusing to stop the search even though it was raining, leaving his son Alphonse to succeed him.

[6] Named after his grandfather, Alphonse was born in 1366 as the eldest child of Edward II and Maud de Ulford, and grew up in Ireland where he had a happy childhood. But following the disappearance of his uncle John and subsequent ascension of his father as King of England, Alphonse became paranoid and would help his father look for John, as well as collecting everything he can on his life.

Alphonse became King in 1380 following the death of his father Edward, but had an regency lead by his mother until he turned 18 in 1384. During his short reign, Alphonse continued to expand his collection and grew became more naive as he started to believe everything that people said about the fate his uncle to be true. This resulted in him accepting an offer from relative who said they knew what happened to John. So while waiting for their arrival at the Tower of London, Alphonse was stabbed in the back by an assassin who was working for the person he was meeting with, his Uncle Thomas, who was proclaimed as the new King of England.

[7] Thomas was the fourth son of King Alphonse and Queen Margaret. Fed up by the weakness of his predecessors, Thomas, Duke of Normandy plotted their downfall. He also arranged for the deaths of the seven children of Edward II with only his twelve-year-old son and his nine-year-old daughter (born six months after her father's death) managing to be smuggled out of the country. It is said upon learning of their flight, Thomas strangled Maud de Ulford in a rage.

Thomas' supporters covered up the mess, proclaiming that French and Scottish assassins were the true culprits, as they hoped to weaken the Plantagenets and reclaim their land. They rounded up a few scapegoats to present as the conspirators in the massacre, torturing them into making a confession before hanging drawing and quartering them.

However, while this fooled only some people (mostly the ones who wanted to believe it), Thomas was largely unpopular. He ruled with an iron fist and his enemies would often die in "accidents".

In his personal life, he had married Isabel of Brittany, daughter of the Duke of Brittany in 1379. Although their marriage was unhappy, mostly because of Thomas violate nature which was worse when he drank, the couple had ten children, six of whom would live to adulthood.

Eager to expand his lands, Thomas decided to subjugate the rest of Ireland, starting a campaign in 1395, leading his army to ravish the Irish countryside. It would be in Ireland where he met his end.

In 1397, Thomas was fighting with the last of the Irish Chieftains when a horn would sound and another army would come racing down the hill. Even worse, some of his own men started turning on their allies. The monarch was captured and brought to the head of the attacking army, a ghost from his past who had returned to enact bloody vengeance.

"This is for my mother and my siblings," Henry declared as the sword swung down, separating the tyrant's head from his shoulders.

After the death of King Thomas (who was mourned by virtually no one), his allies and sycophants rallied around his oldest son while his enemies supported the newly recovered child of King Edward II causing a civil war to break out.









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[8] Arthur "the Luckless" is a tragic if unknown figure in English history. The eldest son of Thomas I, he was a quiet and religiously-inclined boy who supposedly aspired to be a bishop one day, he was thrust upon the throne at the age of fourteen in horrible circumstances, with revolts in support of Henry, Edward's son, blossoming across the country and his only supporters men so depraved that they would have been killed or banished if captured. Despairing of victory, he hurried all of his siblings into exile in Brittany and tried to muster an army in the Home Counties, only scrounging a few dozen men to face off the thousands that supported his cousin, and rather than trying to defeat him in battle he decided his best option was to flee to the continent after buying time for his siblings. As such, he set about preparing defenses for London throughout autumn 1397 and into the spring of 1398, when the primarily northern Henrain army approached the capital. However, on 2 May most of his men defected and an angry mob stormed the palace, nearly lynched Arthur and dragged him out to Henry's camp, whence he was thrown into the Tower of London. On 28 May he was hung, drawn, and quartered, his last words supposedly being "I have loved the Lord with all my heart and soul and mind, may He let me pass from this world quickly."

After Arthur's overthrow, the son of Edward II, Henry V took the throne.


[9] The man who would one day be known as Henry V was a boy shaped by tragedy and uncertainty. His father died when he was just three years old. Then nine years later, his uncle slaughtered most of his family. He and his youngest sister were smuggled out of their home in Surrey by a Welsh man, known only as Griffin (suspected to the son of Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri who disappeared around the same time). This mysterious Griffin took Henry and his sister Margaret through England and to Wales, by pretending to be a wealthy merchant widower, traveling with his two children. Once in Wales, he got safe passage and brought them to Portugal where the descendants of Peter of Portugal and Eleanor of England would welcome them. Unfortunately, their ship would be blow off course and land in France, causing them to make another perilous journey, dodging the agents of Thomas along the way. Once they reached Lisbon, Griffin would vanish from history again, the only proof of his existence would be the letters exchanged between Henry and his sister Margaret. These letters were later used for basis of many books and movies chronicling the epic journey from England to the Portuguese court, some more accurate then others. It is long suspected that Griffin returned to Wales, so he could start a rebellion against the tyrant Thomas, but was captured and executed or died of an illness as he made his way home.

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Griffin and Henry as they are portrayed in the 2009 film: My Travels with Griffin.

At age fifteen, Henry left Portugal and traveled around Europe, seeking friends to help reclaim his stolen throne. He used the tricks Griffin taught him to keep himself hidden in plain sight, often calling himself Harri Griffin, much to the amusement of many. It was on his travels he met the love of his life, Princess Ursula of Denmark, the She-Bear of the Kalmar Union. She was a fierce and witty woman, and was Henry's most ardent supporter.

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Portrait of Princess Ursula.

At eighteen, he returned to Portugal to see his sister marry Prince Alfonso of Portugal and he would introduce her to his new wife, Ursula.

Using the same subterfuge that had gotten him out of England, Henry snuck back in, pretending to be a merchant. He went to Wales first, winning over many nobles (it is suspected that he had some personal item of Griffin that he showed as proof of the man's heritage) before meeting with the last Irish chief. Managing to supertenously contact nobles and gentlemen who had chafed under Thomas's rule. With them, he arranged a trap.

It is said that he smiled upon seeing his family's murder in chains. "This is for my mother and my siblings!" Henry declared as he swung the sword separating the tyrant's head from his shoulders.

Afterwards, King Henry made a speech, declaring that anyone who surrendered to him would receive a pardon, but for those who continued to serve the reign that was created by spilling the blood of innocents then they would suffer his uncle's fate.

A year later, he arrived in London to cheering crowds. Henry was known to be kind to his allies, but brutal to his enemies. His cousin, Arthur would learn this first hand. He was crowned with his wife, Ursula who gave birth to the first of their fourteen children in 1400. Eager to make more alliances, Henry would seek marriages from the various European countries.

Henry accepted the last of Irish chiefs' surrender and now called himself, the King of England, Ireland and Wales.

He spent many years trying to bring stability back to his kingdom, rooting out the corruption that had allowed the failure of his father and brother's reigns as well as allowing the monstrosity of Thomas to happen as well as dealing with attempted rebellions from his uncle's children who wanted the crown for himself.

He died in 1426, aged forty-nine, having fallen sick with a fever. It is said, his last words were: "We did it, Griffin."









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[10] Queen Eleanor I would be born on March 5, 1421 to the "King Who Never Was", Prince Edward and his wife, Matilda of Scotland as his only daughter and child, becoming heir to the throne after her father died in 1424 from a bout of the plague with Henry never really recovering from the loss of his son contributing to his death two years later. Owing to how she became Queen at a young age, Eleanor's early reign would be marked by how her uncles, grandmother, and mother all fought for control over her regency with her being witness to the power struggles for her regency being something that would shape her reign after she assumed the position of Queen in practice and not de jure.

During her reign, Queen Eleanor I would spend much of her reign on reforms to centralize the realm her grandfather had left her, continuing the reforms her grandfather had instituted to eliminate corruption with a major portion of this reforms being how she emphasized merit over connections in the administration and military. These reforms, in addition to eliminating corruption, would strengthen the gentry and the nascent proto-bourgeois at the expense of the old nobility, who Eleanor never fully trusted owing to her experiences as a young woman. In her foreign policy, Eleanor I would be a ruler who would ally with the Holy Roman Empire against France and Scotland, seeking to contain France owing to England's control over Gascony and the French Crown's desire to gain Gascony.

In her personal life, Queen Eleanor I would end up marrying a distant cousin of hers to maintain the dynasty with said marriage producing eight children, five of which made it to adulthood. She would also bring forth the English Renaissance with her patronage of culture and the arts as well, inviting many polymaths, artists, and scholars to her court.

During the last years of her reign, Queen Eleanor I would patronize an expedition which landed in a brave new world which the explorer then named Eleanoria in honor of the Queen which had sponsored the expedition. Eleanor I would die on the final day of 1500 at the age of 79 with a smile on her face, knowing the realm would be in stable hands after a reign of 74 years. She would be succeeded by her grandson, Richard.


[11] Richard was named after his ancestor the Lionheart. Much like his grandmother, his father died when he was young, fighting a noble rebellion that had risen in protest to Eleanor's policies. Afterwards Queen Eleanor banned private armies.

He was raised by his grandfather's family who was descended from the second marriage of King Henry IV. He also loved the stories of his great-great-great grandfather and had the letters between King Henry of England and his sister, Queen Margaret of Portugal about their adventures with the mysterious Griffin so much that as a birthday present, his wife, Isabel of Navarre, had copies of the letters published in a book dedicated to the new king.

Richard adored the chilviric romances, and had a series of portraits made of King Arthur and the knights of the round table. He spent a lot of money on jousts and tourneys, giving a bit of a headache for his advisors who were tried to keep a firm hand on his wasteful spending and keeping the affairs of the kingdom in order.

In the spring of 1512, Richard was injured during the joust with a lance to his eye. He was dead before he hit the ground, cutting his reign short and forcing his young niece to succeed him.








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Anne I d'Armagnac, Queen of England, Ireland and Wales (c.1520). Miniature carried by her husband.

[12] Anne, Mademoiselle d'Armagnac was just 13 when her world changed forever. Born to Elizabeth Plantagenet, Richard's only surviving sister, during her marriage to the elderly Count of Armagnac in France, Anne was the eldest of 6 daughters. Her mother, widowed at 17 while pregnant with her second child (a stillborn son) had returned to England to marry the Earl of Suffolk against her grandmother's wishes. Anne, initially abandoned in France, was brought to England in 1504, at Queen Eleanor's demand, to marry a cousin, Duke Richard of Somerset, Eleanor's favourite grandson, who she hoped would become an ally to the future King. The fact Anne was, in 1504, 5 years old, meant little. It was a formality to tidy inheritances and enrich Eleanor's favourite. When Duke Richard died at sea 2 years later, Eleanor quickly married the child off a second time to the Earl of Beaumont, in order to prevent Anne from being returned to France into the new Count of Armagnac's care, as he wished for Anne to marry his own son to tidy up inheritances. When this husband, a sickly child, also died prior to Eleanor's death (in 1507), Anne was married off a final time prior to her uncle's accession to Edmund Beaumont, second son to the Earl of Dorset, who essentially bought Anne from the Queen. Anne's third husband did not die, but instead, in 1511, her uncle the King had the match annulled on the basis of age (Anne was, at this time, 12, and her husband was 8) and returned, finally, to her mother's care.

Elizabeth Plantagenet was, in 1511, suddenly very rich, very powerful, and had all her daughters in her care (Anne's 5 younger sisters had been removed from their mother by the Dowager Countess of Suffolk in 1506 at Eleanor's command due to "Elizabeth's sinful behaviour", after the widow was rumoured to have seduced a priest). It was a miracle. 9 months later, she was dead of smallpox, her brother was dead, her daughters was Queen in a court full of would-be Queens. Anne would later have her mother buried in a full royal ceremony, despite her scandal, and would write that the world had been very harsh to such a kind woman.

Eleanor Plantagenet, Queen of England, Ireland and Wales had had 5 sons and 13 grandsons. At the time of Anne d'Armagnac's succession, she had one surviving male-line descendent, who was legally unable to inherit the throne. Some of it had been war, some had been poor fertility (two of Eleanor's sons had had no children at all, and 4 of her granddaughters were never to concieve), and much had been luck. Anne's cousin, the King of Portugal, was her only male rival, son of her great-aunt Catherine Plantagenet, but even he was to have his own fertility issues, with only 2 children across 4 wives. The Plantagenets were essentially dying out. There were cousins, off course (Anne's second husband was a Plantaganet via a long line) but many were just struggling to continue on their families. Anne, the daughter of two dying Houses (Anne's potential betrothed in France would die childless in 1516, and his brother would follow in 1545 with no sons), saw this as a punishment. They were sinful. They needed saving. Anne's main contender for the throne was, of course, her sisters. The daughters of Elizabeth Plantagenet and Guy Manners, Earl of Suffolk, were all just as legitimate as her, just as royal as her, but English. And so, she sent them to convents. But not local convents. She sent them across the continent. Supposedly to prove the religious piety she wanted to project, Anne sent "her Princesses" to France, Hungary, Poland, Denmark and Barcelona in order to spread the good word. Her youngest sister, Constance Manners, apparently begged to stay in England and had to be given "much wine" to board the ship that took her away. e.

There was a Regency, of course, ruled by Henry Pembroke, Duke of Devon, who's own familial issues (his son had married a pirate queen, and thus had been disinherited) meant her had no close male relatives to marry the Queen off to. Most assumed one of her distant cousins would get the part of King. Much of the Regency was spent in negotiations to establish Anne's marriage and succession. But the intelligent young woman knew that she had time on her hand. No one could agree who she should marry. Thus, at 18, released from the Regency, she made a ploy. She wrote to the Pope and asked who he thought she should marry. She only asked that she not marry a cousin, or a fellow King. She wanted a partner, not a lord. And of course, as she suspected, he suggested her own personal choice, his nephew. Anne thus married, in 1519 at 20 years old, Ludovico Augustus Colonna, Duke of Bari, a 33 year old widower with no money, 7 illegitimate sons, and absolutely no recorded relation to the Plantagenets. Her court balked at the match. Anne granted him relatively poor lands in Ireland and granted him the duty of landscaping the gardens of her palace in London. She had a husband who never bothered her, who made the Pope happy, and soon enough, she needed it. Because the Queen probably murdered someone.

Anne's sisters had, for the most part, gone quietly into their vocations once it was clear there was no sympathy from the Queen. Two would die young and Joan, the eldest sister after Anne herself, would have 3 children by a local lord as his mistress in France. Then there was Constance. The young girl who had begged to remain in England all those years prior was able to argue her way out of her convent in 1518, at the age of 12, with the argument that she'd been too young to consent to her position, and in fact, hadn't consented at all. Free but destitute, Constance traveled to the court of Duke Diego of Barcelona, who in turn brought her to Ferdinand I of Navarre, who sent her to Portugal. That's where things get tricky. By this time it was 1521, and a 15 year old Constance was trying to find a pension for herself at her cousin's court. Instead, she was given a husband. Duarte, Duke of Beja, was the King's favoured nephew, and had been married to his daughter for a time, until her death in childbirth. Constance was thus in the pit of Portuguese snakes. That's when she received invitation to travel to England and meet with her sister. Pregnant, she sailed back home, never to return.

Anne's reign had, for the most part, been smooth since her marriage. The Kingdom had no major wars, France had focused it's attentions against an invasion from Lorraine, and Scotland was amidst a civil war that she was able to play against itself to secure the border. But her sister, a rival, was a problem for Anne. Which everyone knew. It was rumoured that Anne's 1521 miscarriage was due to stress about the arrival of Constance of Beja. Thus, when the Duchess of Beja was stabbed in an inn while travelling to London, the blame was at the Queen's feet. An inquest proved unsatisfactory. The country was in shambles. Her throne was in danger. It took 17 trials to determine the (alleged) truth: that Francisco Lopez, a Castilian spy, had had Constance killed to ensure the Portuguese succession fell in favour of the King of Castile. Few believed it. Anne's throne was only saved by the Pope's recognition of her innocence. Her husband died of pneumonia from digging weeds the next year. She hurriedly remarried Prince Charles of Scotland, Duke of Ross, to try and prevent more drama. Her children by Charles all died in infancy. By 1530, the succession was up in the air, France had begun to war on her for Normandy and other English continental holdings, and in 1531 she collapsed while at mass, and died of what was likely a heart attack.

Anne's reign is historically defined by the murder of Constance Manners, and the guilt is regularly laid at her feet. The Castilian conspiracy is considered a weak excuse, she failed to appropriately defend either her own or her country's honour, and lost the Portuguese alliance that helped protect English trade. But Anne's successes outside of this should be considered to. She produced a currency standard that helped solve inflation in her domains, oversaw a court filled with some of the greatest minds in Europe, rebuilt the roads in Northern England, and managed to do so while maintaining a surplus in the treasury. Had she lived another decade, she might have seen even greater stability within her country and implemented further progressive policies.


[13] The death of Queen Anne left England without a clear heir as the King of Portugal had died with his children proceeding him, leaving Portugal to its own succession crisis. Five contenders put themselves forth for the English throne.

1. Robert Plantagenet, 12th Duke of Cumberland. He was a descendant of the male line of John II of England, his great-uncle was Queen Eleanor's faithful husband. Although, his claim was weak as there were several people ahead of him and his father had taken part in the Noble Rebellion, he was still one of the last male descendants who was of age (twenty-five) and he had three sons of his own. This made him quite an attractive option. He has sent envoys to the King of Castile, offering support for their subjection of Portugal in exchange for helping him win the war.

2. Thomas Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. He was a descendant of King Edward I's daughter and had close ties to the royal family. He was loyal to a fault, being Queen Eleanor's fiercest supporter during the Noble rebellion. He had served as Lord Chancellor for Richard's reign, before retiring. As he was eighty-three, he died in the middle of the war, passing his claim on to his son, also named Thomas. Thanks to his ties to the Butlers and the Fitzgerlds of Ireland, the Norfolks has the support of the Irish in exchange for better treatment.

3. Philippe Augustus de Paris, bastard of Joan Manners, the half-sister of Queen Anne. His claim was backed by the French who were eager to use their support to take back their ancestral lands. He was not seen as a serious contender for once thing, his bastardy and the other, he was completely French and suspected to be a mere puppet. However, he does have some support in England mainly the Earls of Suffolk.

4. Catrin of Wales. She was the youngest granddaughter of Queen Eleanor, married to Rhys ap Gruffydd, Earl of Monmouth. She was backed by Henry Pembroke, Duke of Devon, the grandson of the previous duke, along with the rest of the Welsh nobility. However, the rest of the domains were harder to convince, not only was she a woman (despite the proof of Eleanor and Anne, there was still grumbling of a women ruling), she was only eighteen and had no heirs unlike her rivals beside Philip Augustus.

5. Elizabeth, Duchess of Brittany. The last living descendant of the wicked King Thomas I. Her brother had died young, making her inherit the duchy at age twenty where she married the Duke John of Burgundy. When Queen Anne died, she was thirty and had three children, one of them a healthy son. Eager to offshoot the French influences, she and her husband have joined together with the Duke of Gosceny, and the Duke of Normandy to claim the throne.

Although there were other claimants around Europe, these five were seen the main ones because of their manpower and the influence of their supporters. The war would last for twelve years until two of the claimants, Elizabeth, Duchess of Brittany, and Thomas Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk, decided to drop their claims and back Catrin of Wales instead. Their combined forces ended the war.

[14] Catrin of Wales, or Kathryn as she would be known in the annuals of history, would find her life full of ironies.

She would lose her beloved 1st husband, Rhys ap Gruffydd in one of the earliest battles of the Succession Crisis, but this would leave her available to wed the son of Elizabeth, Duchess of Brittany, the fourteen year old John of Burgundy. With the might of both Brittany and Burgundy behind her, Catrin would find herself one of the main players in the Succession Crisis.

Then as Catrin's forces won battle after battle, Catrin found herself often on the battle front where subpar medical recourses are believed to have caused her first two children to have died young.

Then, when after 12 years of battle, Catrin was crowned Queen of England, her only surviving child at the time, John of Saint-Malo, was made Prince of Wales and sent South to govern Wales, and Mother and child would rarely meet again.

Additionally, Catrin found herself in something of a Cold War with her husband, John of Burgundy who saw himself as rightfully King Regent instead of King Consort.

After 8 short years of ruling, Catrin would die in childbirth, leaving Prince John of Wales to rule.



[15] John was born in the Brittany town of Saint-Malo in 1533, to Catrin of Wales and John of Burgundy, heir of both Brittany and Burgundy, his birth came nine months after their wedding. Catrin had hoped to give birth in England, however terrible storms had delayed their travel.

While his father and mother went to fight in England, John of Saint-Malo would stay with his paternal grandmother, Elizabeth, Duchess of Brittany, for the first eleven years of his life, be raised with his cousins, Henri, second son of Philip Duke of Gascony and his wife Mary of Brittany, and Robert, third son of William of Normandy and his wife, Catherine of Brittany, this family connection would come in handy in future endeavors.
In early 1543, with victory in her sights, Catrin arranged for loyalist to her cause to collect him from Brittany and be brought to her side. John was united with the woman who gave birth to him, but felt no warmth.

A year after the war was won, his mother named him, Prince of Wales and sent him south to govern the land, it was a rare occasion if the two were ever at the same event and when it did happen the two were very distant.

For the next nine years, John served as a fair ruler in Wales, working closely with the Welsh nobility on tax income, with merchants on trade and local lords to build up farming harvest and villages.

In 1552, nineteen year old John married Lady Anne Mowbray, grand daughter of Thomas Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, who had yielded early on in the Succession crisis to Catryn, via his son and heir, Henry, Earl of King’s Lynn, whom under Catryn has served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, working with his family ties to the Butlers and the Fitzgerlds. It was through the trade talks between Ireland and Wales that John met Lady Mowbray.

When his mother died, 1553, twenty year old John was proclaimed as king, he took the regal number “V” to represent his father was King John IV, even if he was never crowned as King Regent rather than just a consort.
With no real power left in England, his father returned to the continent and remarried to Anne, Princess of France.

For another nine years, John served as King of England, performing a similar standard of rule as he had in Wales. His father-in-law, whom recently became the new Duke, became lord chancellor and other members of the Mowbray family served in high offices, including his second brother-in-law, John Mowbray, who was made Earl of Suffolk, following the traitorous death of Philippe Augustus de Paris’s supporters.

Upon the death of his father John V of Burgundy and VI of Brittany died, John would inherit both duchies, to the annoyance of King of France, who had hoped that John would have sired a second son with his second wife, allowing France to fight for their right to the Duchies, however a bloody stillborn left her unable to carry a single child to term.

The last twenty two years of his life was spent navigating the toxic politics of mainland Europe, with France pushing for a war, leading to John signing an alliance treaty with his cousins in Normandy and Gascony, supporting each other should France’s aggression get worse.
His death aged 61 came following a short illness in the winter of 1584. He was succeeded by his son, Arthur.


[16] Little by little, England had been breaking off bits of the Scottish land and digesting them into their domain over the past three hundred years. It finally came to a head when the King of Scots died in 1597 with no clear heir. As Arthur was a descendant of Matilda of Scotland who had been Queen Eleanor's mother, he decided to declare himself as the new Scottish monarch.

King Arthur was born in 1565, the third son of King John and Anne Mowbray. His two older brothers died in early childhood, one of smallpox and the other of frail health before he was born. His parents named him in hopes that he would be different. Thankfully he was a robust child, with a bit of a rebellious streak thanks to the coddling he received as a result of his brothers' early death.

His father died when he was nineteen and he spent the early years expanding the trade and exploration routes. He sought to claim more territory in the new world, taking the riches that were discovered. He sponsored the famous playwright William Shakespeare, being the first to view his masterpiece Excalibur whose King Arthur had a lot in comment with the current monarch----a mere coincidence obviously. Arthur seemed to have very little interest in battle, only taking care to forfitfy the defenses of his lands in Europe, least France take his peacefulness as weakness,

In 1597, that all changed. No sooner had King James of Scots died, Arthur marched from London to Stirling, proclaiming himself the new ruler. The war was not a long one as Scotland's usual allies, the French, were busy with their own wars against the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Castile and Portugal.

Arthur married Arabella Stewart, daughter of the Duke of Lennox who was the niece of the late king. They would go on to have four children. In 1603, he had himself declared Emperor, feeling it was the natural conclusion to being monarch over so many lands.

He spent the rest of his reign, trying to appease those in Scotland, Ireland and Brittany who were very independent minded. Alas, he would die in 1619 with tensions still bubbling, leaving his son Charles to deal with it.



[17] Prince Charles was born in 1599 as the first child of Arthur I and Arabella Stewart and became Emperor of the Isles at the young age of 20. During his reign, Charles continued the policies of his father in governing the Empire, and married a Burgundian noblewoman in 1621, whom he had three children with. He was assassinated in 1631 when he was poisoned while having a feast. He was succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth.



[18] Elizabeth was born in 1622. Her mother would go on to have two more children, both daughters (Mary in 1625 and Charlotte in 1627). In 1631, when Emperor Charles was assassinated, it was discovered the Dowager Empress was pregnant for a fourth time, so nine-year-old Elizabeth was forced to wait seven months to see if she would rule at all. However, during that time, a regency council was assembled, headed by the Duke of Norfolk and the Duke of Brittany---her uncle Edward.

First thing the regency council did was search for the culprits behind the regicide. They uncovered a conspiracy by the Duke of Lennox who felt that Scotland had been stolen from the Stewarts by Emperor Arthur. He and his accomplices had plotted to kidnap the new Empress force her to marry Lennox's son, therefore allowing the Stewarts to be the royal dynasty, they were denied. Instead, the conspirators were lead into a trap, arrested and executed.

While all this was happening, Elizabeth stayed at her mother's side along with her younger sisters. She later wrote in her dairy, that if she had a brother, it would please her as she knew it would give her grieving mother some happiness. However, in December of 1631, the dowager Empress would give birth to another girl, named Catherine after Elizabeth's favorite Queen Regent.

Just days after Catherine's christening, nine-year-old Elizabeth was crowned Empress in a lavish ceremony. She was a born show woman, blowing kisses to the crowds as she passed them. England's delight, they called her.

Elizabeth had been her father's heir for most of her life and therefore was taught to rule from when she turned six. When she was eighteen, it was decided she could govern for herself and the regency council was disbanded, although, Elizabeth would give her regents much praise for keeping her empire running smoothly during those nine years.

It was during her reign, that Elizabeth began to focus on giving her subjects a greater voice, believing that the best way to counter rebellion and strife was to listen as much as command. She created a post of Grand Minister for England, Wales, Ireland, Burgundy, Scotland, Brittany and her lands in the new world. The Grand Minster would be voted on by the people themselves and would act as both an ambassador and a speaker of the House of Commons.

Elizabeth tried to balance her moderate views with the more conservative nature of the members of the privy council, make a set of strict rules for the minsters to adhere to, not wanting to be seen as giving her power away least she was seen weak and flighty. Additionally she noted in her diary, she could not afford to give the minsters as much powers as she would like for they were men and would seek to control her.

The empress for all her moderate views, believed in the divine right of kings and emperors and would not allow anyone to take some of her power. This made finding a husband for herself tricky. She needed to marry a man befitting her station, but at the same time one who would not try to name themselves her equal or her better.

For her sisters, it was a bit easier. The youngest Catherine, who Elizabeth doted on like she was her daughter, was married to the Duke of Segorbe the second son of the King of Iberia, making a new treaty to replace the long forgotten one between Portugal and England. Her second youngest sister, Charlotte was married to the King of France's nephew, the Duke of Orleans. As for Mary, she was married to the Duke of Norfolk's son, a distant cousin.

All marriages seemed rather low for the daughters of an Emperor with some of Elizabeth's detractors painting her as a woman, jealous of her sisters and wanting to humiliate them by refusing to let any of them become queens. In truth, Elizabeth knew that if she were to die childless, one of her sisters would succeed her and so she wanted them to marry men who were unlikely to gain a throne, putting their empire under the rule of a foreign ruler. She even vetted the prospective husbands herself, to be sure they were worthy of her sisters.

As for Mary, Charlotte and Catherine, they understood their sister's motives and were quite happy with their chosen husbands. The four sisters maintained a close relationship for the rest of their lives with Mary often acting as Elizabeth's chief advisor.

It was only after she had arranged her sisters marriages, did Elizabeth search for a husband for herself, making it clear to her advisors that she would not marry any man who sought to rule her or rule through her. As a woman, who learned from a young age how to spot ambitious men or men who spoke honey while thinking poison, she would demand to met her perspective suitors in person she could judge their characters. Some members of her council and her own family feared this would turn any prospective husbands off. It had the opposite effect, with several princes and dukes traveling to England, determined to win over the "Empress of Steel" as some called her.

Elizabeth would soon regret her policy as she found she could barely walk anywhere without a prospective groom popping out of the bushes or around the corners, wanting to speak to her. "I have become so paranoid that I have my maids checking under my bed and in my closets," she wrote to her sister. Mary was less than sympathetic. "You issued a challenge. Do not be surprised when the bull charges after you wave a red sheet in front of its face."

Perhaps in hopes of ending almost two years of an endless line of suitors coming to England to woo her, Elizabeth married in 1647 at age twenty-five, to fifth son of King Sigsmund of Poland, Prince Andrew Jagiellon. His brothers were already married and had sons of their own making him the perfect candidate. Andrew had from to England, a year earlier (officially to act as his father's envoy, not that anyone believed that) and so Elizabeth's policy of getting to know her prospective groom and born fruit. Even better as the fifth son, Andrew was not taught to govern anything bigger than a duchy (Elizabeth made him the Duke of Wessex) and therefore did not have any objections to his wife ruling.

The couple hard a harmonious relationship even if it wasn't a particularly loving one. However, their marriage would be cut short in 1650 when the Irish people would rise up in rebellion, after the discovery that some Englishmen were rigging the Grand Minster Elections so that only men who supported English polices were elected.

It was a slap in the face to the Irish people who had long felt their culture was under attack by the English for thousand of years. Elizabeth for her part was enraged when she learned of the corruption, arresting the men involved and having them tried and sentenced to imprisonment, but the damage had been done and the rebellion was in fully swing.

Duke Andrew lead the troops himself as they meet the Irish in Dublin. The battle was bloody and although, England emerged victorious, it was a pyrrhic one with many men including Andrew himself dying of their wounds.

"In the end, there was no winner," Elizabeth noted sadly in her diary. With her husband's death, Elizabeth felt she had no choice, but to execute the leaders of the rebellion, stating she sympathized with their plight, and would see justice done, but she could not allow them to go unpunished for rebelling against the crown.

She had the Earl of Tyrone, Conor O' Neil (the descendant of the last Irish Chieftain whose family had held onto their Irish roots stubbornly) as Lord Deputy of Ireland, allowing him to make changes to the government as long as they did not contradiction the English laws. She also gave him leave to investigate the alleged corruption. Oddly Hugh seemed to spend more time in England then in Ireland, often in the company of the Empress who he became fast friends with. Although there was never any suggestions of marriage (even before the rebellion, the Earl would have been a poor match for the Empress), many rumors flew that he and Elizabeth were lovers.

Despite this, or perhaps consequentially, Elizabeth married for a second time in 1653 to Erik Vasa, brother to the King of Sweden. Unlike her first marriage, this own was anything but harmonious. Erik tried to throw his weight around by banishing Conor from court. The Earl of Tyrone actually had the nerve to laugh at the other man, "My lord, I answer to no one, but the Empress. If she wants me gone, I will leave. If she does not, I won't be parted with her." When Erik went to the Empress to complain, Elizabeth was furious. "Who do you think you are? There are my subjects, husband, not yours. You command nothing. Not them and certainly not me."

In 1663, at age forty-one, Elizabeth would miscarry twins which took a terrible toll on her health. After hanging on for three more years, Elizabeth would die in her bed, holding her beloved Coner's hand, leaving her son Arthur to rule.

[19] At his birth in 1658, Arthur replaced his elder half-sisters as Queen Elizabeth’s heir. He greatly resembled his great-grandfather and namesake, Arthur I. The lack of any paternal influence in Arthur’s appearance did spark a minor rumor that perhaps his father was the Earl of Tyrone, not Erik Vasa.

But any rumor of Arthur’s alternate paternity died with his mother in 1666. Erik Vasa strongly pushed his position as Arthur’s father to try and gain influence in the regency council. And Erik Vasa would be appointed to the regency council, but found his power checked by his step-daughter, Anne, Duchess of Wessex, who was easily the most influential member of the regency council.

Anne would work hard to shield Arthur from the conflict in the regency council and the rest of his childhood was spent with his nieces and nephews (Anne’s children). And while it must be said, Arthur had a happy childhood, it left him unprepared for actual ruling.

So, upon the dissolving of the regency council, Arthur would appoint many of his former regents (but not his father) to positions of power, so that they could continue ruling on his behalf. Leaving his responsibilities to others, Arthur would spend his time traveling around his empire, seeking fun and new experiences. Funnily enough, this pressing of the flesh, would make Arthur one of the most beloved Emperors, each of his lands seeing him as “A True Welsh/Scot/Burgundian/Breton/Insert Ethnicity Here.”

During one of his visits to Wales, Arthur would meet one Gwyneth ferch Thomas, the daughter of a minor Welsh nobleman. To the shock of his sister, Arthur would announce his intention to wed Gwyneth, saying “What is Arthur without his Guinevere?” (When Anne of Wessex pointed out the fact that the legendary Arthur without Guinevere probably would have been better off, Arthur ignored her). So the marriage went on ahead.

Arthur’s romantic marriage further endeared him to his people, and as now Queen Gwyneth joined him on his travels, people would come to love her just as much if not more than Arthur. Unfortunately, this fairy tale was short lived as Arthur and Gwyneth would both perish when their ship went down traveling back from Brittany. Arthur would be succeeded by his half sister, Anne.

[20] Anne Jagiellon was her mother's daughter. Strong, opinionated and fierce. At age three, her mother had given her the Duchy of Wessex, making her a duchess in her own right. At nineteen, she maintained control of her brother and of the regency council, competing against her stepfather at every step. When she was twenty, she married William Stamford, the Marquess of Lincoln. The births of her first three children did little to slow her down during the eight years of regency.

While her half brother spent his time, being adored and loved by his people, she would continue ruling in his absence. Although, she was unhappy with her brother for choosing to marry Gwneth, instead of making a dynastic match, she got along with the girl during the short time she knew her.

Everything changed in 1689 when her brother and his wife would drown in a ship wreck between Brittany and England. Even worse the reason they were coming back was because Gwenth had just announced her pregnancy and they were traveling back to ensure she gave birth in London.

To say Anne was devastated was an understatement. She had been the one who insisted that the royal baby be born in London. For years to come, she would blame herself for their deaths.

Anne had been her brother's heir and considering she had practically running the Empire for the past three decades, there was no question that she would succeed him. However, Anne decided to choose a regal name, feeling Anne would bring up too many memories of the previous Queen Anne. So she became Empress Alexandria.

She spent the end of the 17th Century, strengthening the position of Grand Minister, making sure there were a few checks and balances to stop what happened in Ireland from happening again. She was good friends with the Earl of Tyrone's son (as was her husband, shutting down any rumors of an affair) and was quick to name him Lord Deputy after the death of his father. She also chose Lord Deputies for Wales, Scotland, and Burgundy, trusting them to keep watch over her domains.

In February 1700, Explorer William Dampier found an large Island which he decided to call Alexandria (RL New Britain) for his empress. Anne jokingly scolded him for not finding something bigger to name for her. "Queen Eleanora got a continent, why shouldn't an Empress get one too?" To make up for her teasing, she promised to knight him when he returned. Unfortunately, when he did return to England, he was court martial for cruelty and found guilty. Thus he received no reward for his deeds.

Tensions between France had grown heated over the last century and soon enough war broke out in 1703. France was backed by the Holy Roman Empire who wished to gain access to the English trade routes in Burgundy and the King of Iberia who used his sister-in-law, Anne's own Aunt Catherine, to claim Gascony.

The war would last eleven years and in the end, Anne would loose Gascony (although she got some form of revenge posthumously when France and Iberia would fight over that Duchy), parts of Brittany and Burgundy, two of her sons and three of her grandsons.

Anne was eighty-years-old before she died in her sleep. The nation wept for their Empress Alexandria who had served them even before her reign. Her great-grandson, Francis, Prince of Wales was next to take the imperial crown.

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Francis of Wessex, Emperor the Isles (c.1734)

[21] Francis of Wessex, Prince of Wales was barely 15 years old when his great grandmother died. Born the second son of Arthur of Wales, Duke of Normandy and the Princess Maria of Cleves, his father, mother and elder brother died in a wave of smallpox that ran through England's continental possessions in 1720, leaving him in the care of his grandfather, Andrew of Wessex, the Prince of Wales, who took the loss of his only son and heir very hard. After his death in 1721, he was left in the care of Alexandrina of Bohemia, his step-grandmother. Francis spent much of his youth in the county of Anjou, where her dower lands were, and upon the news of the Empress' death, took almost a month to travel to London for his official coronation, languishing in Calais, where he acquired the man who would ultimately kill him, Bernard Carey, Baron Carey. The two were lovers at this time.

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Bernard Carey, Baron Carey (c.1728).

Francis was young, vigorous and excited to retake Gascony for his Empire. But first he needed an ally. Loath to treat with any of the Iberian kingdoms, who had broken treaties to claim Gascony, or France, he decided to ally himself with the Holy Roman Empire in order to break their backing of France. His only female cousin, Mary of Maine, was married in 1730 to the widower Ernest III, Holy Roman Emperor, who had only daughters from his first marriage. He then, to break off the main source of Iberian backing, married himself to Germaine Colonna, daughter of the Duke of Valentois, and granddaughter to the King of Naples, who, among other things, was in the process of invading Barcelona. This was when tensions began to set in with his lover, Lord Carey.

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Germaine Colonna, Empress of the Isles (c.1732).

Germaine Colonna was a very proud woman, very Catholic woman, and extremely beautiful. Francis, who had taken lovers of both men and women, became infatuated with her, and in 1731 sent his former lover away in order to please her. However, Lord Carey was among his most experienced soldiers, and in 1732 he returned as Francis began his campaign in Gascony. The first took back lands in Brittany, then Burgundy, and as they travelled through France, the Emperor began to pine for his wife. Germaine travelled to the Palace de Poitiers, a pleasure palace built in the times of the Emperor Arthur I, recently renovated. It is then that tensions began to rise. Francis spent little time as leisure, and what he did was with her. Lord Carey, increasingly upset at his displacement, loudly called the Emperor a cuckhold, and claimed his uncle, George of Wessex, Duke of Ross had seduced the Empress. By early 1735, no matter how valuable he was to the war efforts, the Emperor knew his former lover had to go. But when he gave him his marching orders personally, sending him to negotiate with the Count of Flanders in order to further diminish French power, Lord Carey stabbed him 16 times. Francis was found bleeding 5 hours later, while Lord Carey was discovered hiding in the Empress' powder room, with a gun and the bloody weapon. He was executed after confessing, and his lands were granted to the Empress directly.

Francis died before his 22nd birthday. Young and full of hope, the Empire had been in his hands and had fallen to petty interpersonal squabbling gone violent. His uncle, the supposed lover of the Empress, travelled with his body to London, where it was lain next to the other Emperors and Empresses. His heart, however, was buried in Poitiers. Germaine would never remarry. He was succeeded by Diana, his sister, amidst the war.
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[22] Empress Diana was born on March 1, 1712, being the oldest daughter of Prince Arthur and therefore named the Princess of Wales when her younger brother Francis was named Emperor as a "placeholder". However, fate would force the young Crown Princess to become Empress of the Isles as a result of her brother's assassination with Diana being named Empress of the Isles after her brother's death.

As Empress, Diana would preside over an inconclusive result to the war her brother had started with a status quo ante bellum peace enacted in 1738 as a result of the war ending in a stalemate. In the aftermath of said war, she would preside over a golden age of relative peace and prosperity as the Empire of the Isles would return to a period of "splendid isolation" for the rest of her reign, with Diana more focused on internal improvements and colonial ventures than on adventures in Europe.

Empress Diana would marry a distant cousin of hers with a goal of maintaining the Wessex Dynasty with said cousin and the Empress enjoying a close relationship. However, it would all turn sour as Empress Diana would die in childbirth on December 3, 1749, two days after giving birth to her sixth and youngest child. She was succeeded by her son, Alexander.

[23] Emperor Alexander was the eldest son of Empress Diana and was only fourteen. After almost a year of squabbles over who should be on the regency council, Alexander pushed for and was granted recognition as ruler in his own right. The largest empire on Earth was now in the hands of a teenager. Alexander dearly loved to travel and used the scattered colonies as an excuse. Alexander would visit the sundry colonies multiple times and had circumvented the globe twice by his 18 birthday.

At each colony, Alexander found himself a mistress or two, usually a native but 'civilized' (By Alexander's definition, meaning fluent in English and capable of following English cultural norms) woman several years older than him. Many of his mistresses bore him children. Alexander appears to have been a doting if distant father to his bastards.

After several years of many many mistresses, Alexander was pressured into marrying and chose Alice of Monmouth, the heiress of the Earl of Monmouth, the particular friend of Alexander's sister Kathryn. (Kathryn never married). While Alexander and Alice only had two children, Alice would make arrangements for all of Alexander's many bastards to come to England where they were raised all raised together. The children, legitimate and illegitimate, would primarily be in the care of Alice and Kathryn, with Alexander continuing to parent at a distance.

Alexander continued to travel throughout his reign, sending his bastards home to Alice and Kathryn. He would die at age 54 from a fever during one of his travels. He would be succeeded by his son, Arthur.

[24] Arthur III was born in 1761 as the eldest legitimate child of Alexander I and Alice of Monmouth. Growing up he was always treated just the same as his bastard half-siblings, but he came to resent this. The only one of his siblings he was close to was his "full" sister Kathryn, and he was devastated when she died in childbirth in 1798. At first Arthur idolized his distant father and dreamed of going on adventures of his own, but as he grew he came to resent him as well, for his distance from his children, his many mistresses, almost all of whom were foreign and "inferior", his treatment of Alice—but most of all, for his weakness (at least in Arthur's eyes). While Alexander was traveling Britain itself had largely been left to its nobles, and on foreign policy, while he had carefully avoided major wars, he hadn't bothered to do much else.

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Arthur and Amelia

At age 20, Arthur married Amelia of Luxemburg, the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, to strengthen the empire's ties with its strongest ally. The marriage, although not particularly romantic, would be stable and generally happy. Arthur avoided any relationships with other women, and while there were rumors of Amelia having an affair with a royal guard, he chose to ignore them as slander created by his political enemies, of which there would be many. The couple had three children. He would spend far more time with them than his father had with him, but early on, at least, they did not exactly live up to expectations.

Despite being the heir to throne Arthur was largely excluded from actual rulership until in 1790, news arrived from distant lands that Emperor Alexander had died. The first decade or so of Arthur's reign would be spent struggling for power with the de facto regency council that had usually ruled during Alexander's absence. Arthur's hatred of them would only be reinforced by the first of his wars, fought with Iberia in 1794-96 over a minor trade dispute. The war ended in stalemate, but was generally disappointing for Britain. By 1800 he had largely crushed any opposition, at least within the Isles themselves, even imprisoning his own grandfather, the Duke of Monmouth, for a time, before he was released (on account of his declining health, or apocryphally because Kathryn had asked for it just before she died). And, of course, all of Emperor Alexander's mistresses stopped receiving their regular payments from London.

In 1806, Britain and the Holy Roman Empire went to war with the Franco-Iberian alliance once again—but this time, the British army was a well-drilled, professional fighting force, with the most modern muskets and cannon money could buy. (The Navy had seen less reforms, partly because it was still the best in Europe anyways, partly because Arthur disliked the branch that his father had favored.) Emperor Arthur's War ended in 1813 and would reshape Europe. Britain retook Gascony, the Holy Roman Empire annexed land from a now greatly weakened France and Denmark, and the British colonial empire expanded yet again.

The last 15 or so years of Arthur's reign would be spent attempting to encourage economic reforms and bring Britain into the Industrial Age, although this would grow increasingly difficult due to Arthur's weakening health and a major distraction to the west. Under Alexander, the Eleanoran colonies had grown used to a loose leash and an emperor willing to listen to their requests. Arthur was... different, and a variety of radical ideas had found open ears across the Atlantic. In 1816, the Great Eleanorian Revolt broke out. It never really had a fixed end date, as while the British defeated the colonials in almost every open battle, and Arthur hanged any leaders of the rebellion he could get his hands on, the scattered resistance retreated into the backwoods and kept fighting until supplies or luck ran out. In contrast to his predecessor's outstretched hand, Arthur ruled Eleanoria (and other colonies as well, even those with mostly British settlers, or where the native upper class had at least partially Anglicized) with an iron first.

In 1821 Dowager Empress Alice died peacefully in her sleep, having lived to a ripe old age. Two years later, Empress Amelia was accused of a more-intimate-than-socially-acceptable relationship with the Duchess of Somerset, which Arthur again refused to believe. It's unclear if these rumors were true or not, as Amelia died suddenly a few months later (historians don't believe it was poisoning, although that didn't stop the speculation...) and the Duchess then burned any letters that could have proved anything either way. After a long period of illnesses (thought to be either kidney failure or tuberculosis), Arthur died in 1827, leaving to his heir ____ the largest empire in the world, but also one deeply divided and facing a century of social change.


[25] Richard III was born on March 3, 1783 as the first-born son of Emperor Arthur the Great and as such would inherit the throne after his father's death in 1827 at the age of 44. While he inherited a great empire which was the largest and most powerful in the world, it would be an Empire which was shaky upon further inspection. The colonies in Eleanoria were resentful of the central authority in London and the Industrial Revolution was something that had started to lead to social turmoil and political upheval. The rising middle class demanded more political say as suffrage was restricted to the wealthy and landed.

Richard III would respond to this by refusing to make major reforms which could have saved his rule with how he allied himself with powerful conservatives and rejected proposals for suffrage for the middle class or creating Devolved Viceroyalties out of the colonies. However, his reign would initially see potential as Richard III would be someone who would support economic development during his reign with said economic revolution putting off revolutionary activiity for over a decade.

Richard III's reign would culminate in the British Revolution of 1839, triggered by the Panic of 1838, which saw him being forced to flee the country into exile to avoid being seized by revolutionary mobs or elements of the army which had joined the revolutionaries. In the aftermath of him being overthrown, while more radical elements within Parliament would push for a Republic, more moderate elements would win out in the post-revolutionary power struggle, with Arthur IV being enthroned after the Revolution.


[26] Arthur, the eldest grandson of Richard III, was born just before the British Revolution of 1839. Since he was an infant, he was the prefect figurehead. (His grandfather would retire to a country estate and his father, Alexander, would flee first to France and then to Russia, where he would make repeated declarations regarding the legitimacy of his son's reign until dying from syphilis when Arthur was 6).

As Arthur reached maturity, a law was added (to extended the regency) stating that before a monarch could rule in their own right, they must serve in the Royal Military. Arthur would join the Royal Navy at age 18, and serve for 4 years. Finally at age 22, Arthur would gain some control of the government. It was, of course, much less than his ancestors enjoyed, but Arthur saw the wisdom in not pushing his boundaries.

So instead of trying to push back against Parliament and the various Colonial Viceroys, Arthur would, at any opportunity, appoint a cousin (And due to his grandfather's many siblings, Arthur had many many many cousins) to a Viceroyalty, or support another cousin's running for parliament. By the end of his reign the government was chock-full of members of the House of Wessex.

Partially to separate himself from his ancestors, Arthur would marry a non-royal, non-noble gentlewoman, Miss Hester Crewe. The two had a happy marriage, with 5 children.

Arthur would pass away at age 77 from pneumonia. He would be succeeded by his son, William I.



[27] Born in 1860, he was the oldest of his parents' five children. Popular legend has him, at age twelve, getting a job as a newspaper boy or as a shoeshine boy, under an assumed name, wanting to have his first taste of work. While it is unlikely that this actually happened as William would go on to write a detailed memoir of his life and he would have certainly mentioned it if it was true, this anecdote would foretell the type of prince, William was.

At age eighteen, he followed his father's new rule and joined the military under the name Leonard Fitzroy, making sure he did not get any special treatment. It worked for his commander, Captain Matthew James pulled him in his office one day and berated him for not informing his superior officer of his real name for it was a felony to lie on official documents, regardless of the reasons. In his memoirs, William would call Captain James a credit to his profession, being honorable and blunt.

In the end, it was agreed that William's papers would be classified and only his direct superiors would learn of his true identity. He later would ask his father if he was the one who ratted him out. Emperor Arthur who had served in the military for four years, pointed out that his cover had been shoddy to begin with as Leonard Fitzroy had no prior history and William's face had been shown in the newspaper plenty of times for someone to realize he looked just like Fitzroy.

After that slight hiccup, William's time as a solider went much more smoothly with him making several lifelong friends in his squadron. One of those friends was Patrick Conner who introduced William to his sister, Sally Conner. Unlike her brother, Sally had no idea that the man she met was the Prince of Wales and the future Emperor. That is until 1881, when William confessed to her on their second date. According to William, Sally thought he was joking until her brother confirmed it.

Sally despite loving the prince, felt she could not handle the restrictions that would come long with her relationship with him and broke things off. At first, William would not accept this and tried numerous times to change her mind. When the newspapers caught wind of this, they published a story that slut shamed Sally, making her into a golddigger slut. William was enraged and sent a blistering letter to that newspaper, telling them if they did not print a retraction, he would use his influence to shut them down.

The damage was done and Sally received much hate letters and harassment before she finally had enough and committed suicide in 1885. William was devastated and he would always blame himself for what happened to her, citing she was the love of his life and he should have accepted her wishes. He also gained a deep hatred of the press that many historians note was well before the times of tabloids.

In 1893, after being honorable discharged from the army, William would marry a daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh, Lucy Stewart, a distant cousin. In public, they acted like a couple in love. In private, they were essentially just good friends, who married each other because they could not marry the people, they truly wanted to. Although, William never mentions the name of who Lucy wanted to marry, many suspected it was her best friend and lady-in-waiting, Margaret "Peggy" Benson. William's deliberate avoidance of using pronouns whenever he mentioned Lucy's lover in his memoirs, and the fact that Peggy doted on Lucy's children gave the theory much credence. William and Lucy would have three children.

Three years after William became emperor, the Great World War broke out, lasting from 1918 to 1935. It was a devastating war with William seeing many of his family dying. One of the worst moments was when a bomb hit Flanders, where his brother was visiting his grandchildren. William all but collapsed when he learned there were no survivors.

When the war ended, William was one of the many world leaders calling for the end of nuculer warfare, beliving the cost was too high.

One of his last noteble acts was to start a fund for vetrens, calling it the Sally Conor Foundations. In 1951, he would die of a stroke at age ninety-one. He was succeeded by____
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[28] Princess Eleanor was the granddaughter of Emperor William, being born on March 5, 1913 as the only child of Crown Prince Arthur and his wife, Princess Catherine of Hungary. Princess Eleanor would grow up to be the heir to the throne, especially after Crown Prince Arthur died in 1935 during the final months of the Great World War. After her grandfather died, Eleanor would become Empress of the Isles in 1951 at the age of thirty-eight.

As Empress, Eleanor would be a woman who would largely be detached from politics, especially as the Empire turned into a multi-national Imperial Federation with the Viceroyalties being equal partners in the Federation. The Empress would be a monarch more interested in astronomy than politics and would largely be content with being a figurehead, with her main political involvement being in supporting humanitarian causes and opening major public events which required her prescence.

Empress Eleanor would marry Prince Alexander of Ruthenia in 1940 with the couple having six children. When Eleanor died in 1989 from cancer, she would be surrounded by her family, including her successor, ________________.
 
What if Henry Plantagenet, son of Edward I, survives childhood to become king.

Kings and Queens of England
1216–1272: Henry III (House of Plantagenet)
1272-1307: Edward I (House of Plantagenet)
1307-1335: Henry IV (House of Plantagenet) [1]
1335-1366: John II ''the Bald'' (House of Plantagenet) [2]
1366-1371: Alphonse I ''the Arbiter'' (House of Plantagenet) [3]
1371-1373: John III "the Tragic" (House of Plantagenet) [4]
1373-1380: Edward II "the Uncrowned" (House of Plantagenet) [5]
1380-1389: Alphonse II "the Believer" (House of Plantagenet) [6]
1389-1397: Thomas I "the Kinslayer" "the Usurper" "the Bloody" (House of Plantagenet) [7]
1397-1398: Arthur I "the Luckless" (House of Plantagenet) [8]
1398-1426: Henry V "the Avenger" (House of Plantagenet) [9]
1426-1500: Eleanor I (House of Plantagenet) [10]
1500-1512: Richard II (House of Plantagenet) [11]
1512-1531: Anne I (House of Armagnac) [12]
1531-1544: Succession Crisis [13]
1544-1553: Kathryn I (House of Wales-Burgundy) [14]
1553-1562: John V (House of Burgundy) [15]

Kings of England, Duke of Burgundy & Brittany
1562-1584: John V, IV and VII (House of Burgundy) [15]
1584-1619: Arthur II, I, and III (House of Burgundy) [16]

Emperors & Empresses of the Isles
1603-1619: Arthur I (House of Burgundy) [16]
1619-1631: Charles I (House of Burgundy) [17]
1631-1666: Elizabeth I (House of Burgundy) [18]
1666-1689: Arthur II (House of Vasa) [19]
1689-1728: Alexandria I (House of Wessex) [20]
1728-1735: Francis I (House of Wessex) [21]
1735-1749: Diana I (House of Wessex) [22]
1749-1790: Alexander I (House of Wessex) [23]
1790-1826: Arthur III "The Great" (House of Wessex) [24]
1826-1839: Richard III (House of Wessex) [25]
1839-1915: Arthur IV (House of Wessex) [26]
1915-1951: William III (House of Wessex) [27]
1951-1989: Eleanor II (House of Wessex) [28]
1989-Present: Victoria I (House of Wessex) [29]



[1] Henry was born on 6th May 1268, in Windsor Castle during the reign of his paternal grandfather, Henry III of England and was the fifth child and second son of Lord Edward, by his first wife, Eleanor of Castile.
Because of his place of birth, he was known in his early life as Henry of Windsor.

On 3 August 1271, Henry's older brother John died in the custody of their paternal granduncle Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall. His death left Henry the eldest surviving child of Edward and second-in-line to the throne of England.
When his grandfather, Henry III died on 16 November 1272, Edward became King of England and Henry his heir apparent.
In 1273, Henry was betrothed to Joan I of Navarre.

Joan was born in Bar-sur-Seine, Champagne on 14 January 1273 as a princess of the House of Blois.
The following year, upon the death of her father, she became Countess of Champagne and Queen of Navarre. Due to her age, her mother, Blanche, was her guardian and regent in Navarre.

Various powers, both foreign and Navarrese, sought to take advantage of the minority of the heiress and the "weakness" of the female regent, which caused Joan and her mother to seek protection at the court of Philip III of France. Her mother arrived in France in 1274, Philip would late arrange for the Pope to declare Joan and Henry’s betrothal to be voided and by the Treaty of Orléans in 1275, Joan was betrothed to Philip's son, Philip.
Blanche, therefore, placed her daughter and the government of Navarre under the protection of the King of France. After this, Joan was brought up with her betrothed, Philip.

Henry became gravely ill at Guildford in 1274, neither of his parents made the short journey from London to see him. He was tended by his grandmother, Eleanor of Provence, who had raised him during the four years his parents were on Crusade. The queen dowager was thus at that moment more familiar to him than his parents, and the better able to comfort him in his illness.
Henry was known for being a sickly child and he was lucky to survive into adulthood.

Following the voiding of Henry’s betrothing, in 1276, Edward arranged for his son to be betrothed to Henry’s cousin, Blanche of Brittany (b. 1271) daughter of John II, Duke of Brittany, and his wife Beatrice of England, (daughter of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence)

The pair were married in Winchester in December 1281 and the couple would go on to have eight children. As a wedding gift, Edward created his son, Earl of Winchester, which had gone extinct following the death of Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester in 1265.

Between 1297 and 1298, Henry was left as regent in charge of England while his father campaigned in Flanders against Philip IV, who had occupied part of the English king's lands in Gascony.

Edward I would perform a second campaign into Scotland in 1300, and this time took his son with him, making him the commander of the rearguard at the siege of Caerlavrock Castle.

In the spring of 1301, the king declared Henry, the Prince of Wales, granting him the earldom of Chester and lands across North Wales; hoping that this would help pacify the region and that it would give his son some extra financial independence.

Edward I mobilized another army for the Scottish campaign in 1307, which Prince Edward was due to join that summer, but the elderly King had been increasingly unwell and on 7 July 1307, died, meaning Henry became King Henry IV.
Henry IV would carry on with his father's planned campaign into Scotland and on 4 August received homage from his Scottish supporters at Dumfries and would name his younger brother, Edward of Caernarfon, whom had came up with him as Constable of Scotland. With a strong English army presence in Scotland, kept Robert the Bruce from getting too powerful.

Much of Henry’s reign was peaceful, with him having a good working relationship with the many earls and barons within his kingdom.

A major set back was an environmental event, problems in English agriculture, part of a wider phenomenon in northern Europe known as the Great War, which began with torrential rains in late 1314, followed by a very cold winter and heavy rains the following spring that killed many sheep and cattle. The bad weather continued, almost unabated, into 1321, resulting in a string of bad harvests.
Revenues from the exports of wool plummeted but Henry was lucky to be able to import grain and move food about internally.

Henry’s wife, Blanche died on 19 March 1327 and was buried at Westminster Abbey.
On 5th April 1328, 59-year-old Henry married for a second time to another cousin, Lady Isabel Plantagenet of Lancaster, (b. before 1317), daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth, and a descendant of Henry III, through his son, son of Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, Earl of Leicester.
This marriage only saw three children born, before Henry’s death on 31st May 1335 aged 67 years old, was succeeded by his son, John.

[2] John became king in his late forties. He had started to loose his hair sometime in his thirties, hence the nickname. He was a serious man who rarely smiled. His wife was Elizabeth of Austria who he married shortly before his father became king. Despite the sourness of the groom, they had a happy marriage with Elizabeth being able to get a rare laugh from her husband. They would have eight children, on which only two lived to adulthood.

In 1335, the Thousand Days War broke out. Robert the Bruce of Scotland had married Isabella of France in hopes of obtaining help against the English. When Robert II gained his father's throne, his mother proclaimed him the King of France as well, entreating England to join forces.

King John disagreed. He saw nothing to gain by helping either side and in fact, felt it would be far easier to take advantage of the war to increase his holdings in both of the realm. It was seen as a dishonorable move by his enemies. His allies who reaped the benefits saw it as prudent move.

In 1340, after the war had ended, King Philip arranged for his grandson to marry the granddaughter of King John, and his granddaughter to marry the Prince of Wales' son. France and England signed an agreement to end all hostilities. This would be in effect for almost three decades while both of the monarchs were alive.

For the next twenties years until his death, John went to work on consolidating the monarch's power in England, wanting Parliament to have a greater voice without having to loose his authority. He wanted to work alongside Parliament, feeling they should be treated as a partner instead of a restriction.

He died in his sleep, nearly eighty and would be succeeded by King Alphonse I.

[3] Born in 1317, Alphonse was named for his great-uncle, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who played a large part in raising him, particularly given his parents were often busy traveling around their vast domains, especially once his father had gained full sovereignty over Gascony as part of the treaty that ended the Thousand Days War. Indeed, Alphonse was named Duke of Gascony in 1343, after the region had been fully integrated into the Plantagenet domains. He spent much of his time as heir to the throne anglicising Gascony's legal code and enforcing the terms of the treaty his father had coerced the French and Scots into agreeing to, which is what gave rise to his nickname of 'the Arbiter'. It was in this role that he stood as chief witness to the marriage of Robert II's of Scotland's only daughter, Isabel, to Philip V of France's son and heir, Charles, Dauphin of France, who was granted the Scottish Crown Matrimonial immediately following the ceremony in May 1350. France and Scotland were thus united in the lines of both claimants to the French throne, as John of England had suggested as a compromise twelve years earlier, three years before he agreed to betroth his - at that point theoretical - grandchildren to the equally as yet unborn grandchildren of Phillip of France.

The treaty also declared that should Isabel and Charles have two sons, the eldest would inherit France and the second Scotland. All the same, however, Alphonse was more than a little concerned that circumstances would conspire to encircle the Plantagenet Empire with the new Franco-Scottish Kingdom, so he urged his father to seek matches for him and his younger sister Eleanor that would give the Plantagenets allies in central Europe should such a thing look like it might occur.

John, who shared his son's fears, though he wouldn't admit it, promptly married Alphonse to Margaret of Bavaria, the second daughter of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, who was eight years Alphonse's junior. Eleanor, meanwhile, was affianced to Peter I of Portugal and wed him in November 1339, just after her nineteenth birthday.

Despite the age difference between Alphonse and Margaret, their marriage seems to have been something of a meeting of minds, and they were happily wed for almost twenty years until Margaret's death from plague in 1362. They had twelve children, seven of whom survived to adulthood, and the eldest of whom married Blanche of France, as John and Phillip had arranged all those years ago.

By the time Alphonse succeeded his father in April 1366, he was already forty-nine and still shattered by the death of his beloved partner Margaret. A shadow of his former self, he was happy to be a figurehead monarch, spending most of his time in the sanctuary of Flaran Abbey, where Margaret was buried, and leaving his heir to manage much of the day-to-day business of the Plantagenet Empire. So unassuming a monarch was he, in fact, that his death in October 1371 went almost unremarked by the vast majority of his subjects - though they all enjoyed the holiday granted for his heir's coronation the following March!







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The tombstone of King John III, even though it does not contain his remains, was placed right next to the one of his father, Alphonse I.


[4]
The first son of Duke Alphonse and Margaret of Bavaria, John, was named after his grandfather and at that time the current king, John II. Ever since his young age, the young John was the kind of person who was overly pessimistic. Not that, but, he was rather socially isolated due to his quirks, which caused the Prince to have frequent bouts of insecurity and melancholy. Despite his father's several attempts, John's moods remained mostly the same. And, as John continued to grow, the reminders of his marriage, which had been arranged by his grandfather, would be brought up increasingly more often, causing more unease for the Prince.

When Alphonse succeeded to the throne after the death of John II, he left most of his royal duties to the new Prince of Wales. This occurs even though John attempted on several occasions to give the task of administration to his younger brothers, who he viewed as more capable compared to him. A year later, upon her coming of age, John married Blanche, daughter of the Dauphin of France. And, although one of John's fears were not realized, the marriage was not a terrible one, at least, it would be a childless one, as well. When his father died, John was devastated and he became even more saddened when he became aware of the fact that most of the pheasants of London did not commemorate the passing of the King. Many people of high status would later remark that the atmosphere of King John III's coronation was rather depressing, with the King not showing up until late in the day.

Merely, two years after his ascension to the throne, John III on one day vanished and was never seen again, despite the efforts of his successor to find him. Some suggest that the King might have killed himself, however, others point out that the many writings of John III may suggest differently. Either way, in 1373, the English throne now belonged to his brother, Edward.

[5] Edward was the third son of Alphonse and Margaret. His older brother, Henry died at age five. He married a wealthy Irish heiress named Maud de Ulford, never expecting to become king.

He was in Ireland, celebrating the birth of his fifth child when he heard the news that his brother had vanished. He immediately headed to London, ready to lead the search for John, refusing to even be called king until they were certain that his brother was truly lost to them. He would not hold his coronation until five years had passed, still holding onto hope that they would recover John even after he and his wife were crowned.

Despite not being close to his older brother, Edward fell into a depression as the years went on, feeling that he had somehow failed him. He also grew paranoid that this was some sort of plot against his family and would keep his seven children close to him, in fear that whoever took their uncle would take them as well.

His depression and parnionoa caused his health to fail, not to mention how much time he spent combing the countryside for his brother, and after just seven years on the throne, he died of pneumonia after chasing a rumor that John had been spotted in Wiltshire, refusing to stop the search even though it was raining, leaving his son Alphonse to succeed him.

[6] Named after his grandfather, Alphonse was born in 1366 as the eldest child of Edward II and Maud de Ulford, and grew up in Ireland where he had a happy childhood. But following the disappearance of his uncle John and subsequent ascension of his father as King of England, Alphonse became paranoid and would help his father look for John, as well as collecting everything he can on his life.

Alphonse became King in 1380 following the death of his father Edward, but had an regency lead by his mother until he turned 18 in 1384. During his short reign, Alphonse continued to expand his collection and grew became more naive as he started to believe everything that people said about the fate his uncle to be true. This resulted in him accepting an offer from relative who said they knew what happened to John. So while waiting for their arrival at the Tower of London, Alphonse was stabbed in the back by an assassin who was working for the person he was meeting with, his Uncle Thomas, who was proclaimed as the new King of England.

[7] Thomas was the fourth son of King Alphonse and Queen Margaret. Fed up by the weakness of his predecessors, Thomas, Duke of Normandy plotted their downfall. He also arranged for the deaths of the seven children of Edward II with only his twelve-year-old son and his nine-year-old daughter (born six months after her father's death) managing to be smuggled out of the country. It is said upon learning of their flight, Thomas strangled Maud de Ulford in a rage.

Thomas' supporters covered up the mess, proclaiming that French and Scottish assassins were the true culprits, as they hoped to weaken the Plantagenets and reclaim their land. They rounded up a few scapegoats to present as the conspirators in the massacre, torturing them into making a confession before hanging drawing and quartering them.

However, while this fooled only some people (mostly the ones who wanted to believe it), Thomas was largely unpopular. He ruled with an iron fist and his enemies would often die in "accidents".

In his personal life, he had married Isabel of Brittany, daughter of the Duke of Brittany in 1379. Although their marriage was unhappy, mostly because of Thomas violate nature which was worse when he drank, the couple had ten children, six of whom would live to adulthood.

Eager to expand his lands, Thomas decided to subjugate the rest of Ireland, starting a campaign in 1395, leading his army to ravish the Irish countryside. It would be in Ireland where he met his end.

In 1397, Thomas was fighting with the last of the Irish Chieftains when a horn would sound and another army would come racing down the hill. Even worse, some of his own men started turning on their allies. The monarch was captured and brought to the head of the attacking army, a ghost from his past who had returned to enact bloody vengeance.

"This is for my mother and my siblings," Henry declared as the sword swung down, separating the tyrant's head from his shoulders.

After the death of King Thomas (who was mourned by virtually no one), his allies and sycophants rallied around his oldest son while his enemies supported the newly recovered child of King Edward II causing a civil war to break out.










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[8] Arthur "the Luckless" is a tragic if unknown figure in English history. The eldest son of Thomas I, he was a quiet and religiously-inclined boy who supposedly aspired to be a bishop one day, he was thrust upon the throne at the age of fourteen in horrible circumstances, with revolts in support of Henry, Edward's son, blossoming across the country and his only supporters men so depraved that they would have been killed or banished if captured. Despairing of victory, he hurried all of his siblings into exile in Brittany and tried to muster an army in the Home Counties, only scrounging a few dozen men to face off the thousands that supported his cousin, and rather than trying to defeat him in battle he decided his best option was to flee to the continent after buying time for his siblings. As such, he set about preparing defenses for London throughout autumn 1397 and into the spring of 1398, when the primarily northern Henrain army approached the capital. However, on 2 May most of his men defected and an angry mob stormed the palace, nearly lynched Arthur and dragged him out to Henry's camp, whence he was thrown into the Tower of London. On 28 May he was hung, drawn, and quartered, his last words supposedly being "I have loved the Lord with all my heart and soul and mind, may He let me pass from this world quickly."

After Arthur's overthrow, the son of Edward II, Henry V took the throne.


[9] The man who would one day be known as Henry V was a boy shaped by tragedy and uncertainty. His father died when he was just three years old. Then nine years later, his uncle slaughtered most of his family. He and his youngest sister were smuggled out of their home in Surrey by a Welsh man, known only as Griffin (suspected to the son of Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri who disappeared around the same time). This mysterious Griffin took Henry and his sister Margaret through England and to Wales, by pretending to be a wealthy merchant widower, traveling with his two children. Once in Wales, he got safe passage and brought them to Portugal where the descendants of Peter of Portugal and Eleanor of England would welcome them. Unfortunately, their ship would be blow off course and land in France, causing them to make another perilous journey, dodging the agents of Thomas along the way. Once they reached Lisbon, Griffin would vanish from history again, the only proof of his existence would be the letters exchanged between Henry and his sister Margaret. These letters were later used for basis of many books and movies chronicling the epic journey from England to the Portuguese court, some more accurate then others. It is long suspected that Griffin returned to Wales, so he could start a rebellion against the tyrant Thomas, but was captured and executed or died of an illness as he made his way home.

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Griffin and Henry as they are portrayed in the 2009 film: My Travels with Griffin.

At age fifteen, Henry left Portugal and traveled around Europe, seeking friends to help reclaim his stolen throne. He used the tricks Griffin taught him to keep himself hidden in plain sight, often calling himself Harri Griffin, much to the amusement of many. It was on his travels he met the love of his life, Princess Ursula of Denmark, the She-Bear of the Kalmar Union. She was a fierce and witty woman, and was Henry's most ardent supporter.

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Portrait of Princess Ursula.

At eighteen, he returned to Portugal to see his sister marry Prince Alfonso of Portugal and he would introduce her to his new wife, Ursula.

Using the same subterfuge that had gotten him out of England, Henry snuck back in, pretending to be a merchant. He went to Wales first, winning over many nobles (it is suspected that he had some personal item of Griffin that he showed as proof of the man's heritage) before meeting with the last Irish chief. Managing to supertenously contact nobles and gentlemen who had chafed under Thomas's rule. With them, he arranged a trap.

It is said that he smiled upon seeing his family's murder in chains. "This is for my mother and my siblings!" Henry declared as he swung the sword separating the tyrant's head from his shoulders.

Afterwards, King Henry made a speech, declaring that anyone who surrendered to him would receive a pardon, but for those who continued to serve the reign that was created by spilling the blood of innocents then they would suffer his uncle's fate.

A year later, he arrived in London to cheering crowds. Henry was known to be kind to his allies, but brutal to his enemies. His cousin, Arthur would learn this first hand. He was crowned with his wife, Ursula who gave birth to the first of their fourteen children in 1400. Eager to make more alliances, Henry would seek marriages from the various European countries.

Henry accepted the last of Irish chiefs' surrender and now called himself, the King of England, Ireland and Wales.

He spent many years trying to bring stability back to his kingdom, rooting out the corruption that had allowed the failure of his father and brother's reigns as well as allowing the monstrosity of Thomas to happen as well as dealing with attempted rebellions from his uncle's children who wanted the crown for himself.

He died in 1426, aged forty-nine, having fallen sick with a fever. It is said, his last words were: "We did it, Griffin."










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[10] Queen Eleanor I would be born on March 5, 1421 to the "King Who Never Was", Prince Edward and his wife, Matilda of Scotland as his only daughter and child, becoming heir to the throne after her father died in 1424 from a bout of the plague with Henry never really recovering from the loss of his son contributing to his death two years later. Owing to how she became Queen at a young age, Eleanor's early reign would be marked by how her uncles, grandmother, and mother all fought for control over her regency with her being witness to the power struggles for her regency being something that would shape her reign after she assumed the position of Queen in practice and not de jure.

During her reign, Queen Eleanor I would spend much of her reign on reforms to centralize the realm her grandfather had left her, continuing the reforms her grandfather had instituted to eliminate corruption with a major portion of this reforms being how she emphasized merit over connections in the administration and military. These reforms, in addition to eliminating corruption, would strengthen the gentry and the nascent proto-bourgeois at the expense of the old nobility, who Eleanor never fully trusted owing to her experiences as a young woman. In her foreign policy, Eleanor I would be a ruler who would ally with the Holy Roman Empire against France and Scotland, seeking to contain France owing to England's control over Gascony and the French Crown's desire to gain Gascony.

In her personal life, Queen Eleanor I would end up marrying a distant cousin of hers to maintain the dynasty with said marriage producing eight children, five of which made it to adulthood. She would also bring forth the English Renaissance with her patronage of culture and the arts as well, inviting many polymaths, artists, and scholars to her court.

During the last years of her reign, Queen Eleanor I would patronize an expedition which landed in a brave new world which the explorer then named Eleanoria in honor of the Queen which had sponsored the expedition. Eleanor I would die on the final day of 1500 at the age of 79 with a smile on her face, knowing the realm would be in stable hands after a reign of 74 years. She would be succeeded by her grandson, Richard.


[11] Richard was named after his ancestor the Lionheart. Much like his grandmother, his father died when he was young, fighting a noble rebellion that had risen in protest to Eleanor's policies. Afterwards Queen Eleanor banned private armies.

He was raised by his grandfather's family who was descended from the second marriage of King Henry IV. He also loved the stories of his great-great-great grandfather and had the letters between King Henry of England and his sister, Queen Margaret of Portugal about their adventures with the mysterious Griffin so much that as a birthday present, his wife, Isabel of Navarre, had copies of the letters published in a book dedicated to the new king.

Richard adored the chilviric romances, and had a series of portraits made of King Arthur and the knights of the round table. He spent a lot of money on jousts and tourneys, giving a bit of a headache for his advisors who were tried to keep a firm hand on his wasteful spending and keeping the affairs of the kingdom in order.

In the spring of 1512, Richard was injured during the joust with a lance to his eye. He was dead before he hit the ground, cutting his reign short and forcing his young niece to succeed him.









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Anne I d'Armagnac, Queen of England, Ireland and Wales (c.1520). Miniature carried by her husband.

[12] Anne, Mademoiselle d'Armagnac was just 13 when her world changed forever. Born to Elizabeth Plantagenet, Richard's only surviving sister, during her marriage to the elderly Count of Armagnac in France, Anne was the eldest of 6 daughters. Her mother, widowed at 17 while pregnant with her second child (a stillborn son) had returned to England to marry the Earl of Suffolk against her grandmother's wishes. Anne, initially abandoned in France, was brought to England in 1504, at Queen Eleanor's demand, to marry a cousin, Duke Richard of Somerset, Eleanor's favourite grandson, who she hoped would become an ally to the future King. The fact Anne was, in 1504, 5 years old, meant little. It was a formality to tidy inheritances and enrich Eleanor's favourite. When Duke Richard died at sea 2 years later, Eleanor quickly married the child off a second time to the Earl of Beaumont, in order to prevent Anne from being returned to France into the new Count of Armagnac's care, as he wished for Anne to marry his own son to tidy up inheritances. When this husband, a sickly child, also died prior to Eleanor's death (in 1507), Anne was married off a final time prior to her uncle's accession to Edmund Beaumont, second son to the Earl of Dorset, who essentially bought Anne from the Queen. Anne's third husband did not die, but instead, in 1511, her uncle the King had the match annulled on the basis of age (Anne was, at this time, 12, and her husband was 8) and returned, finally, to her mother's care.

Elizabeth Plantagenet was, in 1511, suddenly very rich, very powerful, and had all her daughters in her care (Anne's 5 younger sisters had been removed from their mother by the Dowager Countess of Suffolk in 1506 at Eleanor's command due to "Elizabeth's sinful behaviour", after the widow was rumoured to have seduced a priest). It was a miracle. 9 months later, she was dead of smallpox, her brother was dead, her daughters was Queen in a court full of would-be Queens. Anne would later have her mother buried in a full royal ceremony, despite her scandal, and would write that the world had been very harsh to such a kind woman.

Eleanor Plantagenet, Queen of England, Ireland and Wales had had 5 sons and 13 grandsons. At the time of Anne d'Armagnac's succession, she had one surviving male-line descendent, who was legally unable to inherit the throne. Some of it had been war, some had been poor fertility (two of Eleanor's sons had had no children at all, and 4 of her granddaughters were never to concieve), and much had been luck. Anne's cousin, the King of Portugal, was her only male rival, son of her great-aunt Catherine Plantagenet, but even he was to have his own fertility issues, with only 2 children across 4 wives. The Plantagenets were essentially dying out. There were cousins, off course (Anne's second husband was a Plantaganet via a long line) but many were just struggling to continue on their families. Anne, the daughter of two dying Houses (Anne's potential betrothed in France would die childless in 1516, and his brother would follow in 1545 with no sons), saw this as a punishment. They were sinful. They needed saving. Anne's main contender for the throne was, of course, her sisters. The daughters of Elizabeth Plantagenet and Guy Manners, Earl of Suffolk, were all just as legitimate as her, just as royal as her, but English. And so, she sent them to convents. But not local convents. She sent them across the continent. Supposedly to prove the religious piety she wanted to project, Anne sent "her Princesses" to France, Hungary, Poland, Denmark and Barcelona in order to spread the good word. Her youngest sister, Constance Manners, apparently begged to stay in England and had to be given "much wine" to board the ship that took her away. e.

There was a Regency, of course, ruled by Henry Pembroke, Duke of Devon, who's own familial issues (his son had married a pirate queen, and thus had been disinherited) meant her had no close male relatives to marry the Queen off to. Most assumed one of her distant cousins would get the part of King. Much of the Regency was spent in negotiations to establish Anne's marriage and succession. But the intelligent young woman knew that she had time on her hand. No one could agree who she should marry. Thus, at 18, released from the Regency, she made a ploy. She wrote to the Pope and asked who he thought she should marry. She only asked that she not marry a cousin, or a fellow King. She wanted a partner, not a lord. And of course, as she suspected, he suggested her own personal choice, his nephew. Anne thus married, in 1519 at 20 years old, Ludovico Augustus Colonna, Duke of Bari, a 33 year old widower with no money, 7 illegitimate sons, and absolutely no recorded relation to the Plantagenets. Her court balked at the match. Anne granted him relatively poor lands in Ireland and granted him the duty of landscaping the gardens of her palace in London. She had a husband who never bothered her, who made the Pope happy, and soon enough, she needed it. Because the Queen probably murdered someone.

Anne's sisters had, for the most part, gone quietly into their vocations once it was clear there was no sympathy from the Queen. Two would die young and Joan, the eldest sister after Anne herself, would have 3 children by a local lord as his mistress in France. Then there was Constance. The young girl who had begged to remain in England all those years prior was able to argue her way out of her convent in 1518, at the age of 12, with the argument that she'd been too young to consent to her position, and in fact, hadn't consented at all. Free but destitute, Constance traveled to the court of Duke Diego of Barcelona, who in turn brought her to Ferdinand I of Navarre, who sent her to Portugal. That's where things get tricky. By this time it was 1521, and a 15 year old Constance was trying to find a pension for herself at her cousin's court. Instead, she was given a husband. Duarte, Duke of Beja, was the King's favoured nephew, and had been married to his daughter for a time, until her death in childbirth. Constance was thus in the pit of Portuguese snakes. That's when she received invitation to travel to England and meet with her sister. Pregnant, she sailed back home, never to return.

Anne's reign had, for the most part, been smooth since her marriage. The Kingdom had no major wars, France had focused it's attentions against an invasion from Lorraine, and Scotland was amidst a civil war that she was able to play against itself to secure the border. But her sister, a rival, was a problem for Anne. Which everyone knew. It was rumoured that Anne's 1521 miscarriage was due to stress about the arrival of Constance of Beja. Thus, when the Duchess of Beja was stabbed in an inn while travelling to London, the blame was at the Queen's feet. An inquest proved unsatisfactory. The country was in shambles. Her throne was in danger. It took 17 trials to determine the (alleged) truth: that Francisco Lopez, a Castilian spy, had had Constance killed to ensure the Portuguese succession fell in favour of the King of Castile. Few believed it. Anne's throne was only saved by the Pope's recognition of her innocence. Her husband died of pneumonia from digging weeds the next year. She hurriedly remarried Prince Charles of Scotland, Duke of Ross, to try and prevent more drama. Her children by Charles all died in infancy. By 1530, the succession was up in the air, France had begun to war on her for Normandy and other English continental holdings, and in 1531 she collapsed while at mass, and died of what was likely a heart attack.

Anne's reign is historically defined by the murder of Constance Manners, and the guilt is regularly laid at her feet. The Castilian conspiracy is considered a weak excuse, she failed to appropriately defend either her own or her country's honour, and lost the Portuguese alliance that helped protect English trade. But Anne's successes outside of this should be considered to. She produced a currency standard that helped solve inflation in her domains, oversaw a court filled with some of the greatest minds in Europe, rebuilt the roads in Northern England, and managed to do so while maintaining a surplus in the treasury. Had she lived another decade, she might have seen even greater stability within her country and implemented further progressive policies.


[13] The death of Queen Anne left England without a clear heir as the King of Portugal had died with his children proceeding him, leaving Portugal to its own succession crisis. Five contenders put themselves forth for the English throne.

1. Robert Plantagenet, 12th Duke of Cumberland. He was a descendant of the male line of John II of England, his great-uncle was Queen Eleanor's faithful husband. Although, his claim was weak as there were several people ahead of him and his father had taken part in the Noble Rebellion, he was still one of the last male descendants who was of age (twenty-five) and he had three sons of his own. This made him quite an attractive option. He has sent envoys to the King of Castile, offering support for their subjection of Portugal in exchange for helping him win the war.

2. Thomas Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. He was a descendant of King Edward I's daughter and had close ties to the royal family. He was loyal to a fault, being Queen Eleanor's fiercest supporter during the Noble rebellion. He had served as Lord Chancellor for Richard's reign, before retiring. As he was eighty-three, he died in the middle of the war, passing his claim on to his son, also named Thomas. Thanks to his ties to the Butlers and the Fitzgerlds of Ireland, the Norfolks has the support of the Irish in exchange for better treatment.

3. Philippe Augustus de Paris, bastard of Joan Manners, the half-sister of Queen Anne. His claim was backed by the French who were eager to use their support to take back their ancestral lands. He was not seen as a serious contender for once thing, his bastardy and the other, he was completely French and suspected to be a mere puppet. However, he does have some support in England mainly the Earls of Suffolk.

4. Catrin of Wales. She was the youngest granddaughter of Queen Eleanor, married to Rhys ap Gruffydd, Earl of Monmouth. She was backed by Henry Pembroke, Duke of Devon, the grandson of the previous duke, along with the rest of the Welsh nobility. However, the rest of the domains were harder to convince, not only was she a woman (despite the proof of Eleanor and Anne, there was still grumbling of a women ruling), she was only eighteen and had no heirs unlike her rivals beside Philip Augustus.

5. Elizabeth, Duchess of Brittany. The last living descendant of the wicked King Thomas I. Her brother had died young, making her inherit the duchy at age twenty where she married the Duke John of Burgundy. When Queen Anne died, she was thirty and had three children, one of them a healthy son. Eager to offshoot the French influences, she and her husband have joined together with the Duke of Gosceny, and the Duke of Normandy to claim the throne.

Although there were other claimants around Europe, these five were seen the main ones because of their manpower and the influence of their supporters. The war would last for twelve years until two of the claimants, Elizabeth, Duchess of Brittany, and Thomas Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk, decided to drop their claims and back Catrin of Wales instead. Their combined forces ended the war.

[14] Catrin of Wales, or Kathryn as she would be known in the annuals of history, would find her life full of ironies.

She would lose her beloved 1st husband, Rhys ap Gruffydd in one of the earliest battles of the Succession Crisis, but this would leave her available to wed the son of Elizabeth, Duchess of Brittany, the fourteen year old John of Burgundy. With the might of both Brittany and Burgundy behind her, Catrin would find herself one of the main players in the Succession Crisis.

Then as Catrin's forces won battle after battle, Catrin found herself often on the battle front where subpar medical recourses are believed to have caused her first two children to have died young.

Then, when after 12 years of battle, Catrin was crowned Queen of England, her only surviving child at the time, John of Saint-Malo, was made Prince of Wales and sent South to govern Wales, and Mother and child would rarely meet again.

Additionally, Catrin found herself in something of a Cold War with her husband, John of Burgundy who saw himself as rightfully King Regent instead of King Consort.

After 8 short years of ruling, Catrin would die in childbirth, leaving Prince John of Wales to rule.



[15] John was born in the Brittany town of Saint-Malo in 1533, to Catrin of Wales and John of Burgundy, heir of both Brittany and Burgundy, his birth came nine months after their wedding. Catrin had hoped to give birth in England, however terrible storms had delayed their travel.

While his father and mother went to fight in England, John of Saint-Malo would stay with his paternal grandmother, Elizabeth, Duchess of Brittany, for the first eleven years of his life, be raised with his cousins, Henri, second son of Philip Duke of Gascony and his wife Mary of Brittany, and Robert, third son of William of Normandy and his wife, Catherine of Brittany, this family connection would come in handy in future endeavors.
In early 1543, with victory in her sights, Catrin arranged for loyalist to her cause to collect him from Brittany and be brought to her side. John was united with the woman who gave birth to him, but felt no warmth.

A year after the war was won, his mother named him, Prince of Wales and sent him south to govern the land, it was a rare occasion if the two were ever at the same event and when it did happen the two were very distant.

For the next nine years, John served as a fair ruler in Wales, working closely with the Welsh nobility on tax income, with merchants on trade and local lords to build up farming harvest and villages.

In 1552, nineteen year old John married Lady Anne Mowbray, grand daughter of Thomas Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, who had yielded early on in the Succession crisis to Catryn, via his son and heir, Henry, Earl of King’s Lynn, whom under Catryn has served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, working with his family ties to the Butlers and the Fitzgerlds. It was through the trade talks between Ireland and Wales that John met Lady Mowbray.

When his mother died, 1553, twenty year old John was proclaimed as king, he took the regal number “V” to represent his father was King John IV, even if he was never crowned as King Regent rather than just a consort.
With no real power left in England, his father returned to the continent and remarried to Anne, Princess of France.

For another nine years, John served as King of England, performing a similar standard of rule as he had in Wales. His father-in-law, whom recently became the new Duke, became lord chancellor and other members of the Mowbray family served in high offices, including his second brother-in-law, John Mowbray, who was made Earl of Suffolk, following the traitorous death of Philippe Augustus de Paris’s supporters.

Upon the death of his father John V of Burgundy and VI of Brittany died, John would inherit both duchies, to the annoyance of King of France, who had hoped that John would have sired a second son with his second wife, allowing France to fight for their right to the Duchies, however a bloody stillborn left her unable to carry a single child to term.

The last twenty two years of his life was spent navigating the toxic politics of mainland Europe, with France pushing for a war, leading to John signing an alliance treaty with his cousins in Normandy and Gascony, supporting each other should France’s aggression get worse.
His death aged 61 came following a short illness in the winter of 1584. He was succeeded by his son, Arthur.


[16] Little by little, England had been breaking off bits of the Scottish land and digesting them into their domain over the past three hundred years. It finally came to a head when the King of Scots died in 1597 with no clear heir. As Arthur was a descendant of Matilda of Scotland who had been Queen Eleanor's mother, he decided to declare himself as the new Scottish monarch.

King Arthur was born in 1565, the third son of King John and Anne Mowbray. His two older brothers died in early childhood, one of smallpox and the other of frail health before he was born. His parents named him in hopes that he would be different. Thankfully he was a robust child, with a bit of a rebellious streak thanks to the coddling he received as a result of his brothers' early death.

His father died when he was nineteen and he spent the early years expanding the trade and exploration routes. He sought to claim more territory in the new world, taking the riches that were discovered. He sponsored the famous playwright William Shakespeare, being the first to view his masterpiece Excalibur whose King Arthur had a lot in comment with the current monarch----a mere coincidence obviously. Arthur seemed to have very little interest in battle, only taking care to forfitfy the defenses of his lands in Europe, least France take his peacefulness as weakness,

In 1597, that all changed. No sooner had King James of Scots died, Arthur marched from London to Stirling, proclaiming himself the new ruler. The war was not a long one as Scotland's usual allies, the French, were busy with their own wars against the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Castile and Portugal.

Arthur married Arabella Stewart, daughter of the Duke of Lennox who was the niece of the late king. They would go on to have four children. In 1603, he had himself declared Emperor, feeling it was the natural conclusion to being monarch over so many lands.

He spent the rest of his reign, trying to appease those in Scotland, Ireland and Brittany who were very independent minded. Alas, he would die in 1619 with tensions still bubbling, leaving his son Charles to deal with it.



[17] Prince Charles was born in 1599 as the first child of Arthur I and Arabella Stewart and became Emperor of the Isles at the young age of 20. During his reign, Charles continued the policies of his father in governing the Empire, and married a Burgundian noblewoman in 1621, whom he had three children with. He was assassinated in 1631 when he was poisoned while having a feast. He was succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth.



[18] Elizabeth was born in 1622. Her mother would go on to have two more children, both daughters (Mary in 1625 and Charlotte in 1627). In 1631, when Emperor Charles was assassinated, it was discovered the Dowager Empress was pregnant for a fourth time, so nine-year-old Elizabeth was forced to wait seven months to see if she would rule at all. However, during that time, a regency council was assembled, headed by the Duke of Norfolk and the Duke of Brittany---her uncle Edward.

First thing the regency council did was search for the culprits behind the regicide. They uncovered a conspiracy by the Duke of Lennox who felt that Scotland had been stolen from the Stewarts by Emperor Arthur. He and his accomplices had plotted to kidnap the new Empress force her to marry Lennox's son, therefore allowing the Stewarts to be the royal dynasty, they were denied. Instead, the conspirators were lead into a trap, arrested and executed.

While all this was happening, Elizabeth stayed at her mother's side along with her younger sisters. She later wrote in her dairy, that if she had a brother, it would please her as she knew it would give her grieving mother some happiness. However, in December of 1631, the dowager Empress would give birth to another girl, named Catherine after Elizabeth's favorite Queen Regent.

Just days after Catherine's christening, nine-year-old Elizabeth was crowned Empress in a lavish ceremony. She was a born show woman, blowing kisses to the crowds as she passed them. England's delight, they called her.

Elizabeth had been her father's heir for most of her life and therefore was taught to rule from when she turned six. When she was eighteen, it was decided she could govern for herself and the regency council was disbanded, although, Elizabeth would give her regents much praise for keeping her empire running smoothly during those nine years.

It was during her reign, that Elizabeth began to focus on giving her subjects a greater voice, believing that the best way to counter rebellion and strife was to listen as much as command. She created a post of Grand Minister for England, Wales, Ireland, Burgundy, Scotland, Brittany and her lands in the new world. The Grand Minster would be voted on by the people themselves and would act as both an ambassador and a speaker of the House of Commons.

Elizabeth tried to balance her moderate views with the more conservative nature of the members of the privy council, make a set of strict rules for the minsters to adhere to, not wanting to be seen as giving her power away least she was seen weak and flighty. Additionally she noted in her diary, she could not afford to give the minsters as much powers as she would like for they were men and would seek to control her.

The empress for all her moderate views, believed in the divine right of kings and emperors and would not allow anyone to take some of her power. This made finding a husband for herself tricky. She needed to marry a man befitting her station, but at the same time one who would not try to name themselves her equal or her better.

For her sisters, it was a bit easier. The youngest Catherine, who Elizabeth doted on like she was her daughter, was married to the Duke of Segorbe the second son of the King of Iberia, making a new treaty to replace the long forgotten one between Portugal and England. Her second youngest sister, Charlotte was married to the King of France's nephew, the Duke of Orleans. As for Mary, she was married to the Duke of Norfolk's son, a distant cousin.

All marriages seemed rather low for the daughters of an Emperor with some of Elizabeth's detractors painting her as a woman, jealous of her sisters and wanting to humiliate them by refusing to let any of them become queens. In truth, Elizabeth knew that if she were to die childless, one of her sisters would succeed her and so she wanted them to marry men who were unlikely to gain a throne, putting their empire under the rule of a foreign ruler. She even vetted the prospective husbands herself, to be sure they were worthy of her sisters.

As for Mary, Charlotte and Catherine, they understood their sister's motives and were quite happy with their chosen husbands. The four sisters maintained a close relationship for the rest of their lives with Mary often acting as Elizabeth's chief advisor.

It was only after she had arranged her sisters marriages, did Elizabeth search for a husband for herself, making it clear to her advisors that she would not marry any man who sought to rule her or rule through her. As a woman, who learned from a young age how to spot ambitious men or men who spoke honey while thinking poison, she would demand to met her perspective suitors in person she could judge their characters. Some members of her council and her own family feared this would turn any prospective husbands off. It had the opposite effect, with several princes and dukes traveling to England, determined to win over the "Empress of Steel" as some called her.

Elizabeth would soon regret her policy as she found she could barely walk anywhere without a prospective groom popping out of the bushes or around the corners, wanting to speak to her. "I have become so paranoid that I have my maids checking under my bed and in my closets," she wrote to her sister. Mary was less than sympathetic. "You issued a challenge. Do not be surprised when the bull charges after you wave a red sheet in front of its face."

Perhaps in hopes of ending almost two years of an endless line of suitors coming to England to woo her, Elizabeth married in 1647 at age twenty-five, to fifth son of King Sigsmund of Poland, Prince Andrew Jagiellon. His brothers were already married and had sons of their own making him the perfect candidate. Andrew had from to England, a year earlier (officially to act as his father's envoy, not that anyone believed that) and so Elizabeth's policy of getting to know her prospective groom and born fruit. Even better as the fifth son, Andrew was not taught to govern anything bigger than a duchy (Elizabeth made him the Duke of Wessex) and therefore did not have any objections to his wife ruling.

The couple hard a harmonious relationship even if it wasn't a particularly loving one. However, their marriage would be cut short in 1650 when the Irish people would rise up in rebellion, after the discovery that some Englishmen were rigging the Grand Minster Elections so that only men who supported English polices were elected.

It was a slap in the face to the Irish people who had long felt their culture was under attack by the English for thousand of years. Elizabeth for her part was enraged when she learned of the corruption, arresting the men involved and having them tried and sentenced to imprisonment, but the damage had been done and the rebellion was in fully swing.

Duke Andrew lead the troops himself as they meet the Irish in Dublin. The battle was bloody and although, England emerged victorious, it was a pyrrhic one with many men including Andrew himself dying of their wounds.

"In the end, there was no winner," Elizabeth noted sadly in her diary. With her husband's death, Elizabeth felt she had no choice, but to execute the leaders of the rebellion, stating she sympathized with their plight, and would see justice done, but she could not allow them to go unpunished for rebelling against the crown.

She had the Earl of Tyrone, Conor O' Neil (the descendant of the last Irish Chieftain whose family had held onto their Irish roots stubbornly) as Lord Deputy of Ireland, allowing him to make changes to the government as long as they did not contradiction the English laws. She also gave him leave to investigate the alleged corruption. Oddly Hugh seemed to spend more time in England then in Ireland, often in the company of the Empress who he became fast friends with. Although there was never any suggestions of marriage (even before the rebellion, the Earl would have been a poor match for the Empress), many rumors flew that he and Elizabeth were lovers.

Despite this, or perhaps consequentially, Elizabeth married for a second time in 1653 to Erik Vasa, brother to the King of Sweden. Unlike her first marriage, this own was anything but harmonious. Erik tried to throw his weight around by banishing Conor from court. The Earl of Tyrone actually had the nerve to laugh at the other man, "My lord, I answer to no one, but the Empress. If she wants me gone, I will leave. If she does not, I won't be parted with her." When Erik went to the Empress to complain, Elizabeth was furious. "Who do you think you are? There are my subjects, husband, not yours. You command nothing. Not them and certainly not me."

In 1663, at age forty-one, Elizabeth would miscarry twins which took a terrible toll on her health. After hanging on for three more years, Elizabeth would die in her bed, holding her beloved Coner's hand, leaving her son Arthur to rule.

[19] At his birth in 1658, Arthur replaced his elder half-sisters as Queen Elizabeth’s heir. He greatly resembled his great-grandfather and namesake, Arthur I. The lack of any paternal influence in Arthur’s appearance did spark a minor rumor that perhaps his father was the Earl of Tyrone, not Erik Vasa.

But any rumor of Arthur’s alternate paternity died with his mother in 1666. Erik Vasa strongly pushed his position as Arthur’s father to try and gain influence in the regency council. And Erik Vasa would be appointed to the regency council, but found his power checked by his step-daughter, Anne, Duchess of Wessex, who was easily the most influential member of the regency council.

Anne would work hard to shield Arthur from the conflict in the regency council and the rest of his childhood was spent with his nieces and nephews (Anne’s children). And while it must be said, Arthur had a happy childhood, it left him unprepared for actual ruling.

So, upon the dissolving of the regency council, Arthur would appoint many of his former regents (but not his father) to positions of power, so that they could continue ruling on his behalf. Leaving his responsibilities to others, Arthur would spend his time traveling around his empire, seeking fun and new experiences. Funnily enough, this pressing of the flesh, would make Arthur one of the most beloved Emperors, each of his lands seeing him as “A True Welsh/Scot/Burgundian/Breton/Insert Ethnicity Here.”

During one of his visits to Wales, Arthur would meet one Gwyneth ferch Thomas, the daughter of a minor Welsh nobleman. To the shock of his sister, Arthur would announce his intention to wed Gwyneth, saying “What is Arthur without his Guinevere?” (When Anne of Wessex pointed out the fact that the legendary Arthur without Guinevere probably would have been better off, Arthur ignored her). So the marriage went on ahead.

Arthur’s romantic marriage further endeared him to his people, and as now Queen Gwyneth joined him on his travels, people would come to love her just as much if not more than Arthur. Unfortunately, this fairy tale was short lived as Arthur and Gwyneth would both perish when their ship went down traveling back from Brittany. Arthur would be succeeded by his half sister, Anne.

[20] Anne Jagiellon was her mother's daughter. Strong, opinionated and fierce. At age three, her mother had given her the Duchy of Wessex, making her a duchess in her own right. At nineteen, she maintained control of her brother and of the regency council, competing against her stepfather at every step. When she was twenty, she married William Stamford, the Marquess of Lincoln. The births of her first three children did little to slow her down during the eight years of regency.

While her half brother spent his time, being adored and loved by his people, she would continue ruling in his absence. Although, she was unhappy with her brother for choosing to marry Gwneth, instead of making a dynastic match, she got along with the girl during the short time she knew her.

Everything changed in 1689 when her brother and his wife would drown in a ship wreck between Brittany and England. Even worse the reason they were coming back was because Gwenth had just announced her pregnancy and they were traveling back to ensure she gave birth in London.

To say Anne was devastated was an understatement. She had been the one who insisted that the royal baby be born in London. For years to come, she would blame herself for their deaths.

Anne had been her brother's heir and considering she had practically running the Empire for the past three decades, there was no question that she would succeed him. However, Anne decided to choose a regal name, feeling Anne would bring up too many memories of the previous Queen Anne. So she became Empress Alexandria.

She spent the end of the 17th Century, strengthening the position of Grand Minister, making sure there were a few checks and balances to stop what happened in Ireland from happening again. She was good friends with the Earl of Tyrone's son (as was her husband, shutting down any rumors of an affair) and was quick to name him Lord Deputy after the death of his father. She also chose Lord Deputies for Wales, Scotland, and Burgundy, trusting them to keep watch over her domains.

In February 1700, Explorer William Dampier found an large Island which he decided to call Alexandria (RL New Britain) for his empress. Anne jokingly scolded him for not finding something bigger to name for her. "Queen Eleanora got a continent, why shouldn't an Empress get one too?" To make up for her teasing, she promised to knight him when he returned. Unfortunately, when he did return to England, he was court martial for cruelty and found guilty. Thus he received no reward for his deeds.

Tensions between France had grown heated over the last century and soon enough war broke out in 1703. France was backed by the Holy Roman Empire who wished to gain access to the English trade routes in Burgundy and the King of Iberia who used his sister-in-law, Anne's own Aunt Catherine, to claim Gascony.

The war would last eleven years and in the end, Anne would loose Gascony (although she got some form of revenge posthumously when France and Iberia would fight over that Duchy), parts of Brittany and Burgundy, two of her sons and three of her grandsons.

Anne was eighty-years-old before she died in her sleep. The nation wept for their Empress Alexandria who had served them even before her reign. Her great-grandson, Francis, Prince of Wales was next to take the imperial crown.

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Francis of Wessex, Emperor the Isles (c.1734)

[21] Francis of Wessex, Prince of Wales was barely 15 years old when his great grandmother died. Born the second son of Arthur of Wales, Duke of Normandy and the Princess Maria of Cleves, his father, mother and elder brother died in a wave of smallpox that ran through England's continental possessions in 1720, leaving him in the care of his grandfather, Andrew of Wessex, the Prince of Wales, who took the loss of his only son and heir very hard. After his death in 1721, he was left in the care of Alexandrina of Bohemia, his step-grandmother. Francis spent much of his youth in the county of Anjou, where her dower lands were, and upon the news of the Empress' death, took almost a month to travel to London for his official coronation, languishing in Calais, where he acquired the man who would ultimately kill him, Bernard Carey, Baron Carey. The two were lovers at this time.

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Bernard Carey, Baron Carey (c.1728).

Francis was young, vigorous and excited to retake Gascony for his Empire. But first he needed an ally. Loath to treat with any of the Iberian kingdoms, who had broken treaties to claim Gascony, or France, he decided to ally himself with the Holy Roman Empire in order to break their backing of France. His only female cousin, Mary of Maine, was married in 1730 to the widower Ernest III, Holy Roman Emperor, who had only daughters from his first marriage. He then, to break off the main source of Iberian backing, married himself to Germaine Colonna, daughter of the Duke of Valentois, and granddaughter to the King of Naples, who, among other things, was in the process of invading Barcelona. This was when tensions began to set in with his lover, Lord Carey.

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Germaine Colonna, Empress of the Isles (c.1732).

Germaine Colonna was a very proud woman, very Catholic woman, and extremely beautiful. Francis, who had taken lovers of both men and women, became infatuated with her, and in 1731 sent his former lover away in order to please her. However, Lord Carey was among his most experienced soldiers, and in 1732 he returned as Francis began his campaign in Gascony. The first took back lands in Brittany, then Burgundy, and as they travelled through France, the Emperor began to pine for his wife. Germaine travelled to the Palace de Poitiers, a pleasure palace built in the times of the Emperor Arthur I, recently renovated. It is then that tensions began to rise. Francis spent little time as leisure, and what he did was with her. Lord Carey, increasingly upset at his displacement, loudly called the Emperor a cuckhold, and claimed his uncle, George of Wessex, Duke of Ross had seduced the Empress. By early 1735, no matter how valuable he was to the war efforts, the Emperor knew his former lover had to go. But when he gave him his marching orders personally, sending him to negotiate with the Count of Flanders in order to further diminish French power, Lord Carey stabbed him 16 times. Francis was found bleeding 5 hours later, while Lord Carey was discovered hiding in the Empress' powder room, with a gun and the bloody weapon. He was executed after confessing, and his lands were granted to the Empress directly.

Francis died before his 22nd birthday. Young and full of hope, the Empire had been in his hands and had fallen to petty interpersonal squabbling gone violent. His uncle, the supposed lover of the Empress, travelled with his body to London, where it was lain next to the other Emperors and Empresses. His heart, however, was buried in Poitiers. Germaine would never remarry. He was succeeded by Diana, his sister, amidst the war.

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[22] Empress Diana was born on March 1, 1712, being the oldest daughter of Prince Arthur and therefore named the Princess of Wales when her younger brother Francis was named Emperor as a "placeholder". However, fate would force the young Crown Princess to become Empress of the Isles as a result of her brother's assassination with Diana being named Empress of the Isles after her brother's death.

As Empress, Diana would preside over an inconclusive result to the war her brother had started with a status quo ante bellum peace enacted in 1738 as a result of the war ending in a stalemate. In the aftermath of said war, she would preside over a golden age of relative peace and prosperity as the Empire of the Isles would return to a period of "splendid isolation" for the rest of her reign, with Diana more focused on internal improvements and colonial ventures than on adventures in Europe.

Empress Diana would marry a distant cousin of hers with a goal of maintaining the Wessex Dynasty with said cousin and the Empress enjoying a close relationship. However, it would all turn sour as Empress Diana would die in childbirth on December 3, 1749, two days after giving birth to her sixth and youngest child. She was succeeded by her son, Alexander.

[23] Emperor Alexander was the eldest son of Empress Diana and was only fourteen. After almost a year of squabbles over who should be on the regency council, Alexander pushed for and was granted recognition as ruler in his own right. The largest empire on Earth was now in the hands of a teenager. Alexander dearly loved to travel and used the scattered colonies as an excuse. Alexander would visit the sundry colonies multiple times and had circumvented the globe twice by his 18 birthday.

At each colony, Alexander found himself a mistress or two, usually a native but 'civilized' (By Alexander's definition, meaning fluent in English and capable of following English cultural norms) woman several years older than him. Many of his mistresses bore him children. Alexander appears to have been a doting if distant father to his bastards.

After several years of many many mistresses, Alexander was pressured into marrying and chose Alice of Monmouth, the heiress of the Earl of Monmouth, the particular friend of Alexander's sister Kathryn. (Kathryn never married). While Alexander and Alice only had two children, Alice would make arrangements for all of Alexander's many bastards to come to England where they were raised all raised together. The children, legitimate and illegitimate, would primarily be in the care of Alice and Kathryn, with Alexander continuing to parent at a distance.

Alexander continued to travel throughout his reign, sending his bastards home to Alice and Kathryn. He would die at age 54 from a fever during one of his travels. He would be succeeded by his son, Arthur.

[24] Arthur III was born in 1761 as the eldest legitimate child of Alexander I and Alice of Monmouth. Growing up he was always treated just the same as his bastard half-siblings, but he came to resent this. The only one of his siblings he was close to was his "full" sister Kathryn, and he was devastated when she died in childbirth in 1798. At first Arthur idolized his distant father and dreamed of going on adventures of his own, but as he grew he came to resent him as well, for his distance from his children, his many mistresses, almost all of whom were foreign and "inferior", his treatment of Alice—but most of all, for his weakness (at least in Arthur's eyes). While Alexander was traveling Britain itself had largely been left to its nobles, and on foreign policy, while he had carefully avoided major wars, he hadn't bothered to do much else.

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Arthur and Amelia

At age 20, Arthur married Amelia of Luxemburg, the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, to strengthen the empire's ties with its strongest ally. The marriage, although not particularly romantic, would be stable and generally happy. Arthur avoided any relationships with other women, and while there were rumors of Amelia having an affair with a royal guard, he chose to ignore them as slander created by his political enemies, of which there would be many. The couple had three children. He would spend far more time with them than his father had with him, but early on, at least, they did not exactly live up to expectations.

Despite being the heir to throne Arthur was largely excluded from actual rulership until in 1790, news arrived from distant lands that Emperor Alexander had died. The first decade or so of Arthur's reign would be spent struggling for power with the de facto regency council that had usually ruled during Alexander's absence. Arthur's hatred of them would only be reinforced by the first of his wars, fought with Iberia in 1794-96 over a minor trade dispute. The war ended in stalemate, but was generally disappointing for Britain. By 1800 he had largely crushed any opposition, at least within the Isles themselves, even imprisoning his own grandfather, the Duke of Monmouth, for a time, before he was released (on account of his declining health, or apocryphally because Kathryn had asked for it just before she died). And, of course, all of Emperor Alexander's mistresses stopped receiving their regular payments from London.

In 1806, Britain and the Holy Roman Empire went to war with the Franco-Iberian alliance once again—but this time, the British army was a well-drilled, professional fighting force, with the most modern muskets and cannon money could buy. (The Navy had seen less reforms, partly because it was still the best in Europe anyways, partly because Arthur disliked the branch that his father had favored.) Emperor Arthur's War ended in 1813 and would reshape Europe. Britain retook Gascony, the Holy Roman Empire annexed land from a now greatly weakened France and Denmark, and the British colonial empire expanded yet again.

The last 15 or so years of Arthur's reign would be spent attempting to encourage economic reforms and bring Britain into the Industrial Age, although this would grow increasingly difficult due to Arthur's weakening health and a major distraction to the west. Under Alexander, the Eleanoran colonies had grown used to a loose leash and an emperor willing to listen to their requests. Arthur was... different, and a variety of radical ideas had found open ears across the Atlantic. In 1816, the Great Eleanorian Revolt broke out. It never really had a fixed end date, as while the British defeated the colonials in almost every open battle, and Arthur hanged any leaders of the rebellion he could get his hands on, the scattered resistance retreated into the backwoods and kept fighting until supplies or luck ran out. In contrast to his predecessor's outstretched hand, Arthur ruled Eleanoria (and other colonies as well, even those with mostly British settlers, or where the native upper class had at least partially Anglicized) with an iron first.

In 1821 Dowager Empress Alice died peacefully in her sleep, having lived to a ripe old age. Two years later, Empress Amelia was accused of a more-intimate-than-socially-acceptable relationship with the Duchess of Somerset, which Arthur again refused to believe. It's unclear if these rumors were true or not, as Amelia died suddenly a few months later (historians don't believe it was poisoning, although that didn't stop the speculation...) and the Duchess then burned any letters that could have proved anything either way. After a long period of illnesses (thought to be either kidney failure or tuberculosis), Arthur died in 1827, leaving to his heir ____ the largest empire in the world, but also one deeply divided and facing a century of social change.


[25] Richard III was born on March 3, 1783 as the first-born son of Emperor Arthur the Great and as such would inherit the throne after his father's death in 1827 at the age of 44. While he inherited a great empire which was the largest and most powerful in the world, it would be an Empire which was shaky upon further inspection. The colonies in Eleanoria were resentful of the central authority in London and the Industrial Revolution was something that had started to lead to social turmoil and political upheval. The rising middle class demanded more political say as suffrage was restricted to the wealthy and landed.

Richard III would respond to this by refusing to make major reforms which could have saved his rule with how he allied himself with powerful conservatives and rejected proposals for suffrage for the middle class or creating Devolved Viceroyalties out of the colonies. However, his reign would initially see potential as Richard III would be someone who would support economic development during his reign with said economic revolution putting off revolutionary activiity for over a decade.

Richard III's reign would culminate in the British Revolution of 1839, triggered by the Panic of 1838, which saw him being forced to flee the country into exile to avoid being seized by revolutionary mobs or elements of the army which had joined the revolutionaries. In the aftermath of him being overthrown, while more radical elements within Parliament would push for a Republic, more moderate elements would win out in the post-revolutionary power struggle, with Arthur IV being enthroned after the Revolution.


[26] Arthur, the eldest grandson of Richard III, was born just before the British Revolution of 1839. Since he was an infant, he was the prefect figurehead. (His grandfather would retire to a country estate and his father, Alexander, would flee first to France and then to Russia, where he would make repeated declarations regarding the legitimacy of his son's reign until dying from syphilis when Arthur was 6).

As Arthur reached maturity, a law was added (to extended the regency) stating that before a monarch could rule in their own right, they must serve in the Royal Military. Arthur would join the Royal Navy at age 18, and serve for 4 years. Finally at age 22, Arthur would gain some control of the government. It was, of course, much less than his ancestors enjoyed, but Arthur saw the wisdom in not pushing his boundaries.

So instead of trying to push back against Parliament and the various Colonial Viceroys, Arthur would, at any opportunity, appoint a cousin (And due to his grandfather's many siblings, Arthur had many many many cousins) to a Viceroyalty, or support another cousin's running for parliament. By the end of his reign the government was chock-full of members of the House of Wessex.

Partially to separate himself from his ancestors, Arthur would marry a non-royal, non-noble gentlewoman, Miss Hester Crewe. The two had a happy marriage, with 5 children.

Arthur would pass away at age 77 from pneumonia. He would be succeeded by his son, William I.



[27] Born in 1860, he was the oldest of his parents' five children. Popular legend has him, at age twelve, getting a job as a newspaper boy or as a shoeshine boy, under an assumed name, wanting to have his first taste of work. While it is unlikely that this actually happened as William would go on to write a detailed memoir of his life and he would have certainly mentioned it if it was true, this anecdote would foretell the type of prince, William was.

At age eighteen, he followed his father's new rule and joined the military under the name Leonard Fitzroy, making sure he did not get any special treatment. It worked for his commander, Captain Matthew James pulled him in his office one day and berated him for not informing his superior officer of his real name for it was a felony to lie on official documents, regardless of the reasons. In his memoirs, William would call Captain James a credit to his profession, being honorable and blunt.

In the end, it was agreed that William's papers would be classified and only his direct superiors would learn of his true identity. He later would ask his father if he was the one who ratted him out. Emperor Arthur who had served in the military for four years, pointed out that his cover had been shoddy to begin with as Leonard Fitzroy had no prior history and William's face had been shown in the newspaper plenty of times for someone to realize he looked just like Fitzroy.

After that slight hiccup, William's time as a solider went much more smoothly with him making several lifelong friends in his squadron. One of those friends was Patrick Conner who introduced William to his sister, Sally Conner. Unlike her brother, Sally had no idea that the man she met was the Prince of Wales and the future Emperor. That is until 1881, when William confessed to her on their second date. According to William, Sally thought he was joking until her brother confirmed it.

Sally despite loving the prince, felt she could not handle the restrictions that would come long with her relationship with him and broke things off. At first, William would not accept this and tried numerous times to change her mind. When the newspapers caught wind of this, they published a story that slut shamed Sally, making her into a golddigger slut. William was enraged and sent a blistering letter to that newspaper, telling them if they did not print a retraction, he would use his influence to shut them down.

The damage was done and Sally received much hate letters and harassment before she finally had enough and committed suicide in 1885. William was devastated and he would always blame himself for what happened to her, citing she was the love of his life and he should have accepted her wishes. He also gained a deep hatred of the press that many historians note was well before the times of tabloids.

In 1893, after being honorable discharged from the army, William would marry a daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh, Lucy Stewart, a distant cousin. In public, they acted like a couple in love. In private, they were essentially just good friends, who married each other because they could not marry the people, they truly wanted to. Although, William never mentions the name of who Lucy wanted to marry, many suspected it was her best friend and lady-in-waiting, Margaret "Peggy" Benson. William's deliberate avoidance of using pronouns whenever he mentioned Lucy's lover in his memoirs, and the fact that Peggy doted on Lucy's children gave the theory much credence. William and Lucy would have three children.

Three years after William became emperor, the Great World War broke out, lasting from 1918 to 1935. It was a devastating war with William seeing many of his family dying. One of the worst moments was when a bomb hit Flanders, where his brother was visiting his grandchildren. William all but collapsed when he learned there were no survivors.

When the war ended, William was one of the many world leaders calling for the end of nuclear warfare, believing the cost was too high.

One of his last notable acts was to start a fund for veterans, calling it the Sally Connor Foundations. In 1951, he would die of a stroke at age ninety-one. He was succeeded by his granddaughter, Eleanor.


HRH_Princess_Frederica_of_Hanover.jpg



[28] Princess Eleanor was the granddaughter of Emperor William, being born on March 5, 1913 as the only child of Crown Prince Arthur and his wife, Princess Catherine of Hungary. Princess Eleanor would grow up to be the heir to the throne, especially after Crown Prince Arthur died in 1935 during the final months of the Great World War. After her grandfather died, Eleanor would become Empress of the Isles in 1951 at the age of thirty-eight.

As Empress, Eleanor would be a woman who would largely be detached from politics, especially as the Empire turned into a multi-national Imperial Federation with the Viceroyalties being equal partners in the Federation. The Empress would be a monarch more interested in astronomy than politics and would largely be content with being a figurehead, with her main political involvement being in supporting humanitarian causes and opening major public events which required her presence.

Empress Eleanor would marry Prince Alexander of Ruthenia in 1940 with the couple having six children. When Eleanor died in 1989 from cancer, she would be surrounded by her family, including her successor, her granddaughter, Victoria.

[29] At the time of Victoria's birth in 1974, her grandmother changed the succession law to have the eldest child inherit regardless of gender. This would not matter as Victoria's father died of lung cancer in her early childhood.

When Empress Eleanor died in 1989, Victoria was fifteen. A fiercely independent and clever woman, she refused to hear a word of having a regent, noting that as long as she had capable advisors to work with her, there would be no trouble. She also decided to keep the house name of Wessex.

Although, she was far more interested in politics than her predecessor and far more opinionated, Victoria continued Eleanor's efforts of supporting humanitarian causes, often working alongside them, building houses or serving in food kitchens.

She met her future husband on one of those ventures, a son of a Portuguese duke. Afonso and she shared many of the same interests. They married after six years of dating in 1997. They have five children, Arthur (born in 1999). Diana (2002), Catherine (2003) and the twins Henry and Margaret (2008).

Victoria has mentioned that she plans to abdicate in 2050, allowing her son to become Emperor Arthur V when she retires.
 
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POD: Maria Komnene has a twin brother

Emperors and Autocrats of the Romans
1143-1180: Manuel I (House of Komnenos)
1180-1222: Romanos V (House of Komnenos) [1]
1222-1239: Leo VII (House of Komnenos) [2]
1239-1268: Alexios II (House of Komnenos) [3]
1268-1270: Michael VIII (House of Komnenos) [4]
1270-1294: Constantine XI (House of Mongolikí) [5]
1294-1308: Alexander II (House of Mongolikí) [6]
1308-1319: Civil War [7]


[1]
Romanos Komnenos was born in 1152 with a twin sister, Maria, being born with him and would grow up to be an intelligent and competent young man, distinguishing himself as the heir to the throne during his period as the heir to throne and proving himself a worthy heir to the legacy of his father as Emperor. As such, when Manuel Komnenos died in 1180, his son Romanos would prove to be a worthy heir to the throne of Rhomania, especially with the Sultanate of Rum looming in the East.

As Emperor, Romanos Komnenos' reign would in many ways see the House of Komnenos reach new heights as he defeated and humbled the Sultanate of Rum, dealt with coup attempts by his uncle Andronikos Komnenos and the Angeloi, and presided over a period of peace and prosperity with many historians arguing his reign was the height of the Komnenian Restoration.

Romanos Komnenos would marry the daughter of a prominent noble family with Romanos and his wife having four children. Romanos V would die in 1222 with a smile on his face, with his son, Leo, as the new Emperor.

[2] Leo, the little lion as his family and friends would affectionately called him, was born in 1173, the first child of his parents. As he grew older, his best friend was his uncle Alexios who was only four years his senior. In 1178, Leo's grandfather, Emperor Manuel arranged for his grandson to marry Agnes of France, the youngest daughter of King Louis VII. However, the match would not be finalized until his father, Romanos became Emperor and officially declared Leo as his heir. In 1181, Agnes, renamed Anna, would travel from France to Constantinople. They would not be officially married until the groom was fifteen and the bride was seventeen in 1188. They would go on to have nine children.

When the Fourth Crusade started, Leo was eager to join, believing that that with a common enemy, the East and the West of Christianity could start an equal cohabitation. His father choose to focus on dealing with the attacks by Sultanate of Rum. Father and son fought side by side as they conquered the lands of the Muslims. Meanwhile the fourth crusade would fail and many people felt it was the fault of the the Komnenos.

In 1222, just days after he was crowned, Leo learned that French, Italian and Venetian mercenaries were plotting to attack Constantinople. The source was his wife, Anna of France. Legend has it, she had dream from God, warning her by sending her a vision of Constantinople burning. Others suspect, she herself was warned by a sympathetic friend in France and instead of fleeing with her children, she chose to inform her husband.

Whatever story was true, Leo did his best to build the defense for his city, even sending his wife and children in hiding. He decided to launch a preemptive attack on the Republic of Veince, having his troops storm the beaches, sacking the city in the process.

That backfired badly. The Pope had not been happy with a Crusade being started without his consent and when he heard of it, he had drawn up a bill threatening excommunication to anyone who marched on Constantinople, the sacking of Venice, however, was a affront and he demanded now fully endorsed the proposed attack.

Upon hearing of this, Leo wanted to attack Rome in retaliation to what he felt was a betrayal, only to be talked out of it by his wife. "They will forgive Venice in time, but you will always be known as the man who raped the holiest city in all of Christindom," she wrote to him. His other advisors, including his uncle agreed with her and counseled him, just to focus on expanding their Italian properties.

Instead Leo would focus on reclaiming the country of Ravenna. With the Franks fighting with the English and the Republic of Venice still recovering from the damage done, Emperor Leo's troops were met by the Papal and Italian troops. At first the Empire of the Romans was winning, until the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary got involved.

Leo realized that he would soon be outnumbered and outmatched so he decided to end the war in white peace, returning the spoils of his war with Venice (most of it anyway) and signing a peace treaty.

In 1230, he turned his sights towards Bulgaria, deciding that if he could not have his lands in Italy, he take them from Bulgaria. He allied himself with Hungary as they agreed to split the lands of Bulgaria. To make the alliance official, it was agreed that his granddaughter would marry King Béla IV. The war would end in 1237 after the defeat of the Tsar of Bulgaria who was struck down by Leo himself.

Leo would die two years from food posioning after eating some bad fished. He left his empire to his grandson, Alexios the II.


[3] Alexios Komnenos was Leo's eldest grandson by his eldest son, Manuel, and was born either in the year 1217 or 1218, although it is still to this day uncertain. Weak of stature, Alexios would have a weak relationship with his grandfather who prefered his younger siblings and cousins, but would still rise to be Emperor after his death due to the close support of his siblings.

Alexios' mark on the Roman Empire would be his cofidication of the Codex Iulia, named after his wife, Julia of Sicily which he would marry in 1227. The Codex would set up a permanet law of succession for the Roman Empire, wiping away "republicanisms" and setting up a pure male-preferable hereditary monarchy. Otherwise, Alexios' would be famous supporter of architecture and infrastructure - his great works in Thessalonica, Iconium, Corinth, Constantinople and Smyrna, and his investment in new fortifications, roads and ports, would permanently alter the military and economic capabilities of the Empire for future generations. In Anatolia, with Leo's great achievement of a frontier in the Taurus mountains, Alexios' would inert a program of converting both turks and Islamized greeks, all the while re-settling the interior with Bulgarian, Greeks, Cumas and Pechenegs.

There was only one war during his reign - the fifth crusade. Alexios would become a patron due to his extremely good relations with the west and would help organize it - Two crusader armies would linger in Roman territorry awaiting a third that would invade Egypt by surprise after the initial advance into Syria and Palestine - the first one, led by Andrew of Hungary, with Frederick of Austria as sub-commander, would be stationed in Iconium, and would advance through Cilicia into Syria, storming Antioch by surprise and, unexpectedly, marching down the coastal levant. William of Brabant would lead a second one, that through the use of the Roman Navy, would depart Smyrna later, landing in Palestine as Andrew's army left Antioch. The two would accidentally surround the armies of As-Salih, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and would give him a through trashing in the battle of Beirut, all the while, the third crusader army, led by Alphonse of Poitou, Count of Poitou and Toulouse, Prince of France, landed in Damietta with 15000 men.

Alexios' logistics and supplying of the Crusaders would lead to the inevitable conquest of Egypt, as the disciplined army of Alphonse of France stormed through the Nile Delta and conquered most of it - while the new Sultan, All-Muazzam, would retreat to Damascus, fighting William and Andrew through the use of guerilla warfare. Nonetheless, the advance of the two leaders would see most of coastal Levant conquered, although both men would soon get in arguments with Hugh of Cyprus and Jerusalem as to how the spoils were to be divided. With Alphonse of France distracted as he conquered the leaderless Egypt, William and Andrew would turn on each other, with the death of Andrew in battle seeing most of the central European contingent leaving, William of Brabant would soon also leave, leaving Hugh of Cyprus with two many Crusaders to handle and Al-Muazzam to face in Damascus.

Alexios would quickly attempt to spread his influence in both Egypt and the Levant, but Alphonse's quick storming of Egypt (Alphone of Poitou, the first Crusader King of Egypt, would, as a show of faith to God, leave all his European properties to his brother, the King of France, keeping much of Egypt's delta as his personal demesne in the highly contested land-grab that was the conquest of Egypt) would rebuke him, while Hugh would only swear fealty to him if he intervened in his favour.

Alexios, riddled with sickness and indecision, would die in 1268, leaving the question of what to do with the victorious crusaders to his heir, Michael.

[4] Michael VIII Komnenos was born in 1249 to Alexios II and his wife and would grow up to be an intelligent and strong young man, a worthy heir to his father's throne with a reign full of energy and competence as Michael VIII would make deals with the Crusader States, continue the policies of reclamation in Anatolia, and continue to reform the administration. His reign would be a reign marked by great vigor and competent rule over the Empire but tragically, his reign would only be two years.

However, all of Michael VIII's efforts as Emperor would be cut short in 1270 as the Mongols, having forged the largest empire up until then, would invade the Empire of Rhomania with Emperor Michael VIII dying with most of his army in the Battle of Theodosiopolis in Eastern Anatolia. With Anatolia and the Levant open to Mongol invasion, the throne of Rhomania would fall to Mongke Temur, the conqueror.

[5] The eldest son of Hulagu, Ilkhan of the Mongols of Iran and Khorasan, Mongke Temur would be the leader of the Mongol invasion force that could have brought down the whole Eastern Roman Empire, but he didn't. In one of history's most ironic moments, the aftermath of the battle of Theodosiopolis would see much of the Mongol army (And most of it's leaders) dead, but a strong force of twenty-five thousand would remain. Despite this, Mongke Temur, whose succession in Persia was very shadowy, decided to continue to advance, and, just as the Seljuks before them, carve for himself his own land from the corpse of Rome. Instead, life would take a funny trajectory that would permantly alter the nature of the land.

The death of Michael the VIII left his underaged (and possibly mentally ill) nephew, Andronikos, as the rightful inheritor to the Roman throne, but as the Roman state saw itself under so much pressure, the regency of Michael's only sister living in Roman land still, Irene, was in danger. In was thus that a treaty would be forged that would permanently alter the face of the Roman Empire. Mongke Temur, as he neared Iconium in what was a mostly desperate push as the Mongol army faced disentry and was forced to sack the land to survive, was aproached by Irene's emissaries. Irene would marry him, and if Mongke Temur (and his forces) converted to Orthodoxy, he would have an empire of his own. Despite the enormous pressure, the offer was just too good for Mongke Temur to pass by. As he was allowed entry into Constantinople by Irene, Mongke Temur would fall under the shadow of the Hagia Sophia and would kneel. In one of history's most romantized moments, the would be destroyer of Rome knelt before the church of the almighty, and rose as Constantine XI.

Having left behind his pagan wives and concubines behind, Mongke Temur, or as he was now, Constantine, fell into a deep love for his new Empire. The great works of the Roman, their culture and their history took him, and with the force of the remnants of his army and the Romans own, Constantine would become one of the most powerful rulers of the world. He and his opportunistic wife, Irene, would have more than seven children.

Constantine's decision to take over the reigns of Rome and betray his family was not taken lightly, his father and remaining brothers would launch a new invasion of Rome that would be trashed by Constantine in what is now known as the Second Battle of Manzikert. The Romans, doubtful of their barbarian Emperor, rallied around the victorious foreigner. A sense of arrogance and strenght took Constantine, and for the first time in ages Roman armies would cross into Mesopotamia, and in classic Mongol fashion, Constantine and his very much varied army would sack much of Jazira and northern Mesopotamia, and would see the Romans annex Aleppo and Antioch, regaining a foothold in Syria. The Romans, for years doubtful of their new Emperor, would turn worship the mongol-turned-romans feet, as he would lead them to victory after victory.

Rebellions in both Anatolia and the Balkans would be crushed, wars with Hungary would be won and the Dacian lands and the Serbian Kingdom subdued in lightning-like fashion. Constantine would turn inwards - his deep piety would make him one of the church's greatest patrons, and his wars in Crimea, Georgia and against his own brothers and cousins of both the Golden horde and the Ilkhans would see Rome reach a zenith it had not reached for generations. With Serbia, Wallachia and Moldavia, Georgia and Circassia as vassals and tributaries, and with an Empire that stretched from Greece, Albania and Bulgaria in Europe to Shirvan in the East and Northern Syria, the Mongol Emperor would be called a new "Macedonius".

The battle of Jaffa, fought by Louis of Egypt and Jerusalem, ruler of Egypt, Cyrenaica and Palestine in what was one of the Mongol's largest attempts to conquer the Levant once and for all, would see the Mongol army devastated in what would forever break (At least in the west and near east) break the belief of Mongol invincibility. With his grudging brothers humiliated, and their ambitions of claiming justice from Constantine for his betrayal, Constantine the "Prosperous" would rule a great Empire from the city of the World's desire.

It was really in the end, though, that the danger of Mongol, Rome finally shook. Aged and sick, the sons of Andronikos the ill would take up arms against Constantine and his sons, starting a civil war that sought to cleanse the Empire of it's new Mongolo-Roman rulers. In the end, disease took him, and Constantine would die just at the onset of the war. The victor of the civil war, Alexander, would inherit the Empire he left behind.



[6] Born in 1271 as the first child of Emperor Constantine XI and Empress Irene, Alexander grew up to be a intelligent and strong man, and ascended the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire on the eve of the Second Roman War of Succession (the first happened between 1071 and 1072) and lasted from 1294 to 1300, where he fought and killed almost all of the sons of Andronikos the ill, expect for his youngest, Michael.

For the rest of his reign, Alexander worked on consolidating the territory that was conquered during his father's reign as Emperor. In his personal life, Alexander married Princess Eleanor of Aragon in 1293, whom he had four children with. Alexander's reign was cut short in 1308 when he was killed in his sleep by Michael (who styled himself as "Michael IX"), leaving a civil war to determine the new Roman Emperor.


[7] Upon learning of the Emperor's death by the hands of Michael Komnenos, those loyal to Alexander would quickly grab his underage children, hiding them away as they fought for them. Alexander's oldest son was only five years old with his oldest daughter being ten.

Unfortunately, the loyalist (or Mongol lovers as their enemies would call them) became divvied as some would try and put Constantine's second son, on the throne.

However, his enemies fighting among himself did not help the so-called Emperor Michael IX for even those who saw Alexander as a Mongol mutt detested the way he was murdered and many just preferred to watch to see who would win. Others went looking for a descendant of a Komnenos' female line.

It soon became a four-way war:

1. Alexander III, five-year-old son of the murdered Emperor Alexander. He is a dour boy, perhaps because despite his young age, he realized the amount of danger he is in. His current heir is his two-year-old brother, Constantine and after him, his sister Irene who is known to be an intelligent girl, wise beyond her years.

2. Augustus (born Alexois), the second son of Constantine. He is a military minded man who has a secret fondness for his Mongol heritage, knowing to be quite brutal to his enemies. He believes that him taking his nephew's crown is necessary and has made it clear he bears no ill will towards nephews and nieces. Or so he says. Many doubt the truth of his words, considering he was a big advocate of destroying the houses of their enemies whether they were children or not.

3. Michael IX. Seen to seem as righteous man who killed his father and brothers' murderer for justice and self-defense. He hopes to take advantage of the squabbling between Alexander III and his uncle, to end the Mongol rule once and for all.

4. Antonina Doukas, granddaughter of Maria Komnene. She is twenty-years-old. The people who flock to her, see her as a compromise between the Mongol descendants, but also not associated with the unhonorable deeds of Michael. She is a known to be a brave and charismatic leader, inspiring those to follow her with grand speeches, often leading the troops herself.

The war lasted eleven years before a side emerged victorious, those who supported______
 
POD: High King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair managed to repel the Norman Invaders.

High Kings of Ireland
1166-1198 Ruaidrí I the Great [O'Conor]
1198-1221 Conchobar I [O'Conor] [1]

[1]
Ruaidri (Rory or Roderic is the Anglicized version) was known as the great for his feat of ending the Norman invasion (for a while anyway as they would keep coming back). Conchobar was the eldest of his father's eight sons and took part in the defeating of Norman soldiers, earning a name for himself as a skilled fighter. He is called the butcher over in England for how many villages he pillaged and burned.

Once Conchobar returned to Ireland, he found himself fighting for his place as his father's heir, avoiding an assassination attempt and fighting against his own own uncle. But in the end, he fought just as he did against the Normans, viciously and ruthlessly.

When his father died, he traveled to Rome, almost emptying his coffers in order to be crowned by the pope himself. While he was there, he met King Philip II of France who suggested they make an alliance against the English. Having a deep hatred for those who attempted to take his country, Conchobar agreed. The two men, despite coming from vastly different cultures, would become unlikely friends, visiting each other's country twice and exchanging many letters.

King John of England tried to reach out to him, in hopes he would support John's war against the English barons. Conchobar who had fought with John's father and then his brother Richard, laughed at him, telling him, the only way Ireland would get itself involved with the English, it would be to stop any invaders.

In his personal life, Conchobar was married to a woman named Áine, who he had seven sons with. There are a few records of his daughters, only a scant few mentions of two of his girls who were either his daughters or nieces who married two of his political rivals.

For a man who lived most of his adult life, fighting for one reason or another, he died peacefully in his bed at age seventy. After his death, ____would become the new High King of Ireland.
 
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POD: High King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair managed to repel the Norman Invaders.

High Kings of Ireland
1166-1198 Ruaidrí I the Great [O'Conor]
1198-1221 Conchobar I [O'Conor] [1]
1221-1230 Ruaidrí II [O’Conor] [2]


[1] Ruaidri (Rory or Roderic is the Anglicized version) was known as the great for his feat of ending the Norman invasion (for a while anyway as they would keep coming back). Conchobar was the eldest of his father's eight sons and took part in the defeating of Norman soldiers, earning a name for himself as a skilled fighter. He is called the butcher over in England for how many villages he pillaged and burned.

Once Conchobar returned to Ireland, he found himself fighting for his place as his father's heir, avoiding an assassination attempt and fighting against his own own uncle. But in the end, he fought just as he did against the Normans, viciously and ruthlessly.

When his father died, he traveled to Rome, almost emptying his coffers in order to be crowned by the pope himself. While he was there, he met King Philip II of France who suggested they make an alliance against the English. Having a deep hatred for those who attempted to take his country, Conchobar agreed. The two men, despite coming from vastly different cultures, would become unlikely friends, visiting each other's country twice and exchanging many letters.

King John of England tried to reach out to him, in hopes he would support John's war against the English barons. Conchobar who had fought with John's father and then his brother Richard, laughed at him, telling him, the only way Ireland would get itself involved with the English, it would be to stop any invaders.

In his personal life, Conchobar was married to a woman named Áine, who he had seven sons with. There are a few records of his daughters, only a scant few mentions of two of his girls who were either his daughters or nieces who married two of his political rivals.

For a man who lived most of his adult life, fighting for one reason or another, he died peacefully in his bed at age seventy. After his death, his son, Ruaidrí would become the new High King of Ireland.

[2] Ruadrí II was the third son of King Conchobar I. Born in 1195, he was originally destined for the Church, but two events changed his fate. The first was the untimely death of his older brother, and then Tanaiste, Brian, in 1210. Brian died in a horse-riding accident, though many suspect he was murdered by his brother, Seamus. Seamus was beyond ambitious and was noted for his cruelty, which led to many contemporaries accusing him of murdering Brian. It didn't help Seamus that he was his Father's least favourite son. Thus, Conchobar, would see to it that in 1218, Ruaidrí was elected the Taniaste. Seamus was angered by this and led a short-lived result, which was defeated, and he was exiled to England. In 1221, Conchobar died and Ruaidrí ascended the throne as Ruaidrí II, and held a splendorous coronation in Dublin.

In 1222, Ruaidrí would negotiate his marriage to the King of Alba’s niece, Lady Isabella Stuart, in a bid to create an alliance against England. The marriage would be agreed to in 1223. Isabela would be given a warm welcoming in Ireland, with a ceremony being held in her honour in Dublin, one which was remarked for it's great pomp. Ruaidrí would also be quite devoted to his wife, with no sources even speculating that he had an extramarital affair. The two would share ten kids, though only a few survived.

In 1224, Ireland and Alba launched a joint campaign against the Kingdom of Norway. The two Kingdoms hoped to conquer multiple small islands held by Norway, such as the Isle of Mann. Ruaidrí would lead his armies in person, and was noted to be a capable commander. After 4 long and bloody years, the Irish and Scots emerged victorious, defeating Norway and dividing the spoils of war between them. Ireland would gain the Isle of Man and the Islands of Iona, Islay and Arran. Ruaidrí would quickly install his favourite, Eoin O'Súilleabháin as the new Archbishop of Iona in 1227.

In 1228, Ruadrí's exiled brother, Seamus returned from exile in England with a force of 3,000 men, comprised mostly of mercenaries. The group would lay siege to Waterford that same year. Ruadrí rallied veterans from his recent war with Norway and march south to defeat his enemies. Annoyingly, they would scatter across the south, and utilises Guerrilla warfare tactics against him for the next year. After months of trial and error, Ruaidrí successfully lured Seamus's force into battle, at the Skirmish of Skibbereen, where Ruaidrí would emerge victorious, massacring the enemy force and capturing the enemy force. Ruaidrí would return to Dublin with his brother and had him kept under tight watch in his Castle.

In the final months of his life, Ruaidrí passed the Hereditary Act, which decreed that the King was to choose his successor before his death, and should he die prior to naming an heir, the crown would go to the nearest blood relative. Only a few weeks after this act passed, Ruaidrí fell ill with tuberculosis and died. He would be succeeded by _____.
 
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@RedKing You keep writing 1100s when I think you mean the 1200s. Also isn't the 13th century too early for the Stuarts?
Oops, my bad, I’ll go fix that! I think there were Stuarts running around in the 1200s though.
House Stewart existed (and it wouldn't become Stuart until the 1500s, so it would be Stewart) but didn't have the throne of Scotland until 1300s. I don't think we have a match between a sister of the Scottish King and a Stewart around this time though, so I'm not sure a niece is possible. Especially since at the time the Stewarts didn't seem to have any land. (They weren't earls or dukes or anything besides steward).
 
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POD: High King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair managed to repel the Norman Invaders.

High Kings of Ireland
1166-1198 Ruaidrí I the Great [O'Conor]
1198-1221 Conchobar I [O'Conor] [1]
1221-1230 Ruaidrí II [O’Conor] [2]
1230-1289 Toirdhealbhach II [O’Conor] [2]


[1] Ruaidri (Rory or Roderic is the Anglicized version) was known as the great for his feat of ending the Norman invasion (for a while anyway as they would keep coming back). Conchobar was the eldest of his father's eight sons and took part in the defeating of Norman soldiers, earning a name for himself as a skilled fighter. He is called the butcher over in England for how many villages he pillaged and burned.

Once Conchobar returned to Ireland, he found himself fighting for his place as his father's heir, avoiding an assassination attempt and fighting against his own own uncle. But in the end, he fought just as he did against the Normans, viciously and ruthlessly.

When his father died, he traveled to Rome, almost emptying his coffers in order to be crowned by the pope himself. While he was there, he met King Philip II of France who suggested they make an alliance against the English. Having a deep hatred for those who attempted to take his country, Conchobar agreed. The two men, despite coming from vastly different cultures, would become unlikely friends, visiting each other's country twice and exchanging many letters.

King John of England tried to reach out to him, in hopes he would support John's war against the English barons. Conchobar who had fought with John's father and then his brother Richard, laughed at him, telling him, the only way Ireland would get itself involved with the English, it would be to stop any invaders.

In his personal life, Conchobar was married to a woman named Áine, who he had seven sons with. There are a few records of his daughters, only a scant few mentions of two of his girls who were either his daughters or nieces who married two of his political rivals.

For a man who lived most of his adult life, fighting for one reason or another, he died peacefully in his bed at age seventy. After his death, his son, Ruaidrí would become the new High King of Ireland.

[2] Ruadrí II was the third son of King Conchobar I. Born in 1195, he was originally destined for the Church, but two events changed his fate. The first was the untimely death of his older brother, and then Tanaiste, Brian, in 1210. Brian died in a horse-riding accident, though many suspect he was murdered by his brother, Seamus. Seamus was beyond ambitious and was noted for his cruelty, which led to many contemporaries accusing him of murdering Brian. It didn't help Seamus that he was his Father's least favourite son. Thus, Conchobar, would see to it that in 1218, Ruaidrí was elected the Taniaste. Seamus was angered by this and led a short-lived result, which was defeated, and he was exiled to England. In 1221, Conchobar died and Ruaidrí ascended the throne as Ruaidrí II, and held a splendorous coronation in Dublin.

In 1222, Ruaidrí would negotiate his marriage to the King of Alba’s niece, Lady Isabella Stewart, in a bid to create an alliance against England. The marriage would be agreed to in 1223. Isabela would be given a warm welcoming in Ireland, with a ceremony being held in her honour in Dublin, one which was remarked for it's great pomp. Ruaidrí would also be quite devoted to his wife, with no sources even speculating that he had an extramarital affair. The two would share ten kids, though only a few survived.

In 1224, Ireland and Alba launched a joint campaign against the Kingdom of Norway. The two Kingdoms hoped to conquer multiple small islands held by Norway, such as the Isle of Mann. Ruaidrí would lead his armies in person, and was noted to be a capable commander. After 4 long and bloody years, the Irish and Scots emerged victorious, defeating Norway and dividing the spoils of war between them. Ireland would gain the Isle of Man and the Islands of Iona, Islay and Arran. Ruaidrí would quickly install his favourite, Eoin O'Súilleabháin as the new Archbishop of Iona in 1227.

In 1228, Ruadrí's exiled brother, Seamus returned from exile in England with a force of 3,000 men, comprised mostly of mercenaries. The group would lay siege to Waterford that same year. Ruadrí rallied veterans from his recent war with Norway and march south to defeat his enemies. Annoyingly, they would scatter across the south, and utilises Guerrilla warfare tactics against him for the next year. After months of trial and error, Ruaidrí successfully lured Seamus's force into battle, at the Skirmish of Skibbereen, where Ruaidrí would emerge victorious, massacring the enemy force and capturing the enemy force. Ruaidrí would return to Dublin with his brother and had him kept under tight watch in his Castle.

In the final months of his life, Ruaidrí passed the Hereditary Act, which decreed that the King was to choose his successor before his death, and should he die prior to naming an heir, the crown would go to the nearest blood relative. Only a few weeks after this act passed, Ruaidrí fell ill with tuberculosis and died. He would be succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Turlough.

[3] Born in 1227, Turlough was the first child of Ruadr and Isabella to live past his first birthday. (Turlough’s seven older siblings, including a set of twins, each died young from a range of childhood illnesses. Before Turlough’s birth, Isabella wrote home saying “All he (Rory) has every given me is dead children”). Though only three years old at his father’s death, Turlough was legally his father’s heir due to Hereditary Act. This was challenged by several different claimants, all of which found Isabella an able opponent. She was able to secure her son a throne while being pregnant with her husband’s posthumous children. (She would give birth to twins some 5 months after the death of Rory)

Turlough would be forced to grow up fast. His early kingship shaped Turlough: Ireland was always his first priority and he would bring an intensity to ruling that impressed and intimidated his subjects.

He would marry a succession of Irish princesses: Muadhnait Ní Dhomhnaill (Maud O’Donnell) Princess of Tyrconnell, Labhaoise Nic Cárthaigh (Louise MacCarthy) Princess of Desmond, Eibhilín Ní Brian (Eileen O’Brian) Princess of Thomond, Ornóra Ní Néill (Honour O’Niell) Princess of Tyrone. And had an untold number of children. Turlough would use these marriages to bind the various lesser kingdoms closer to him and his dynasty.

Turlough brought that same single minded focus to choosing a successor that he brought to ruling. Several different sons and grandsons were examined and discarded before settling on _________ late in the 1270s.

Turlough would pass away at age 62 from a winter chill. He was succeeded by ________
 
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POD: Maria Komnene has a twin brother

Emperors and Autocrats of the Romans
1143-1180: Manuel I (House of Komnenos)
1180-1222: Romanos V (House of Komnenos) [1]
1222-1239: Leo VII (House of Komnenos) [2]
1239-1268: Alexios II (House of Komnenos) [3]
1268-1270: Michael VIII (House of Komnenos) [4]
1270-1294: Constantine XI (House of Mongolikí) [5]
1294-1308: Alexander II (House of Mongolikí) [6]
1308-1319: Civil War [7]
1319-1343: Manuel II (House of Komnenos-Doukas)[8]

[1]
Romanos Komnenos was born in 1152 with a twin sister, Maria, being born with him and would grow up to be an intelligent and competent young man, distinguishing himself as the heir to the throne during his period as the heir to throne and proving himself a worthy heir to the legacy of his father as Emperor. As such, when Manuel Komnenos died in 1180, his son Romanos would prove to be a worthy heir to the throne of Rhomania, especially with the Sultanate of Rum looming in the East.

As Emperor, Romanos Komnenos' reign would in many ways see the House of Komnenos reach new heights as he defeated and humbled the Sultanate of Rum, dealt with coup attempts by his uncle Andronikos Komnenos and the Angeloi, and presided over a period of peace and prosperity with many historians arguing his reign was the height of the Komnenian Restoration.

Romanos Komnenos would marry the daughter of a prominent noble family with Romanos and his wife having four children. Romanos V would die in 1222 with a smile on his face, with his son, Leo, as the new Emperor.

[2] Leo, the little lion as his family and friends would affectionately called him, was born in 1173, the first child of his parents. As he grew older, his best friend was his uncle Alexios who was only four years his senior. In 1178, Leo's grandfather, Emperor Manuel arranged for his grandson to marry Agnes of France, the youngest daughter of King Louis VII. However, the match would not be finalized until his father, Romanos became Emperor and officially declared Leo as his heir. In 1181, Agnes, renamed Anna, would travel from France to Constantinople. They would not be officially married until the groom was fifteen and the bride was seventeen in 1188. They would go on to have nine children.

When the Fourth Crusade started, Leo was eager to join, believing that that with a common enemy, the East and the West of Christianity could start an equal cohabitation. His father choose to focus on dealing with the attacks by Sultanate of Rum. Father and son fought side by side as they conquered the lands of the Muslims. Meanwhile the fourth crusade would fail and many people felt it was the fault of the the Komnenos.

In 1222, just days after he was crowned, Leo learned that French, Italian and Venetian mercenaries were plotting to attack Constantinople. The source was his wife, Anna of France. Legend has it, she had dream from God, warning her by sending her a vision of Constantinople burning. Others suspect, she herself was warned by a sympathetic friend in France and instead of fleeing with her children, she chose to inform her husband.

Whatever story was true, Leo did his best to build the defense for his city, even sending his wife and children in hiding. He decided to launch a preemptive attack on the Republic of Veince, having his troops storm the beaches, sacking the city in the process.

That backfired badly. The Pope had not been happy with a Crusade being started without his consent and when he heard of it, he had drawn up a bill threatening excommunication to anyone who marched on Constantinople, the sacking of Venice, however, was a affront and he demanded now fully endorsed the proposed attack.

Upon hearing of this, Leo wanted to attack Rome in retaliation to what he felt was a betrayal, only to be talked out of it by his wife. "They will forgive Venice in time, but you will always be known as the man who raped the holiest city in all of Christindom," she wrote to him. His other advisors, including his uncle agreed with her and counseled him, just to focus on expanding their Italian properties.

Instead Leo would focus on reclaiming the country of Ravenna. With the Franks fighting with the English and the Republic of Venice still recovering from the damage done, Emperor Leo's troops were met by the Papal and Italian troops. At first the Empire of the Romans was winning, until the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary got involved.

Leo realized that he would soon be outnumbered and outmatched so he decided to end the war in white peace, returning the spoils of his war with Venice (most of it anyway) and signing a peace treaty.

In 1230, he turned his sights towards Bulgaria, deciding that if he could not have his lands in Italy, he take them from Bulgaria. He allied himself with Hungary as they agreed to split the lands of Bulgaria. To make the alliance official, it was agreed that his granddaughter would marry King Béla IV. The war would end in 1237 after the defeat of the Tsar of Bulgaria who was struck down by Leo himself.

Leo would die two years from food posioning after eating some bad fished. He left his empire to his grandson, Alexios the II.


[3] Alexios Komnenos was Leo's eldest grandson by his eldest son, Manuel, and was born either in the year 1217 or 1218, although it is still to this day uncertain. Weak of stature, Alexios would have a weak relationship with his grandfather who prefered his younger siblings and cousins, but would still rise to be Emperor after his death due to the close support of his siblings.

Alexios' mark on the Roman Empire would be his cofidication of the Codex Iulia, named after his wife, Julia of Sicily which he would marry in 1227. The Codex would set up a permanet law of succession for the Roman Empire, wiping away "republicanisms" and setting up a pure male-preferable hereditary monarchy. Otherwise, Alexios' would be famous supporter of architecture and infrastructure - his great works in Thessalonica, Iconium, Corinth, Constantinople and Smyrna, and his investment in new fortifications, roads and ports, would permanently alter the military and economic capabilities of the Empire for future generations. In Anatolia, with Leo's great achievement of a frontier in the Taurus mountains, Alexios' would inert a program of converting both turks and Islamized greeks, all the while re-settling the interior with Bulgarian, Greeks, Cumas and Pechenegs.

There was only one war during his reign - the fifth crusade. Alexios would become a patron due to his extremely good relations with the west and would help organize it - Two crusader armies would linger in Roman territorry awaiting a third that would invade Egypt by surprise after the initial advance into Syria and Palestine - the first one, led by Andrew of Hungary, with Frederick of Austria as sub-commander, would be stationed in Iconium, and would advance through Cilicia into Syria, storming Antioch by surprise and, unexpectedly, marching down the coastal levant. William of Brabant would lead a second one, that through the use of the Roman Navy, would depart Smyrna later, landing in Palestine as Andrew's army left Antioch. The two would accidentally surround the armies of As-Salih, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and would give him a through trashing in the battle of Beirut, all the while, the third crusader army, led by Alphonse of Poitou, Count of Poitou and Toulouse, Prince of France, landed in Damietta with 15000 men.

Alexios' logistics and supplying of the Crusaders would lead to the inevitable conquest of Egypt, as the disciplined army of Alphonse of France stormed through the Nile Delta and conquered most of it - while the new Sultan, All-Muazzam, would retreat to Damascus, fighting William and Andrew through the use of guerilla warfare. Nonetheless, the advance of the two leaders would see most of coastal Levant conquered, although both men would soon get in arguments with Hugh of Cyprus and Jerusalem as to how the spoils were to be divided. With Alphonse of France distracted as he conquered the leaderless Egypt, William and Andrew would turn on each other, with the death of Andrew in battle seeing most of the central European contingent leaving, William of Brabant would soon also leave, leaving Hugh of Cyprus with two many Crusaders to handle and Al-Muazzam to face in Damascus.

Alexios would quickly attempt to spread his influence in both Egypt and the Levant, but Alphonse's quick storming of Egypt (Alphone of Poitou, the first Crusader King of Egypt, would, as a show of faith to God, leave all his European properties to his brother, the King of France, keeping much of Egypt's delta as his personal demesne in the highly contested land-grab that was the conquest of Egypt) would rebuke him, while Hugh would only swear fealty to him if he intervened in his favour.

Alexios, riddled with sickness and indecision, would die in 1268, leaving the question of what to do with the victorious crusaders to his heir, Michael.

[4] Michael VIII Komnenos was born in 1249 to Alexios II and his wife and would grow up to be an intelligent and strong young man, a worthy heir to his father's throne with a reign full of energy and competence as Michael VIII would make deals with the Crusader States, continue the policies of reclamation in Anatolia, and continue to reform the administration. His reign would be a reign marked by great vigor and competent rule over the Empire but tragically, his reign would only be two years.

However, all of Michael VIII's efforts as Emperor would be cut short in 1270 as the Mongols, having forged the largest empire up until then, would invade the Empire of Rhomania with Emperor Michael VIII dying with most of his army in the Battle of Theodosiopolis in Eastern Anatolia. With Anatolia and the Levant open to Mongol invasion, the throne of Rhomania would fall to Mongke Temur, the conqueror.

[5] The eldest son of Hulagu, Ilkhan of the Mongols of Iran and Khorasan, Mongke Temur would be the leader of the Mongol invasion force that could have brought down the whole Eastern Roman Empire, but he didn't. In one of history's most ironic moments, the aftermath of the battle of Theodosiopolis would see much of the Mongol army (And most of it's leaders) dead, but a strong force of twenty-five thousand would remain. Despite this, Mongke Temur, whose succession in Persia was very shadowy, decided to continue to advance, and, just as the Seljuks before them, carve for himself his own land from the corpse of Rome. Instead, life would take a funny trajectory that would permantly alter the nature of the land.

The death of Michael the VIII left his underaged (and possibly mentally ill) nephew, Andronikos, as the rightful inheritor to the Roman throne, but as the Roman state saw itself under so much pressure, the regency of Michael's only sister living in Roman land still, Irene, was in danger. In was thus that a treaty would be forged that would permanently alter the face of the Roman Empire. Mongke Temur, as he neared Iconium in what was a mostly desperate push as the Mongol army faced disentry and was forced to sack the land to survive, was aproached by Irene's emissaries. Irene would marry him, and if Mongke Temur (and his forces) converted to Orthodoxy, he would have an empire of his own. Despite the enormous pressure, the offer was just too good for Mongke Temur to pass by. As he was allowed entry into Constantinople by Irene, Mongke Temur would fall under the shadow of the Hagia Sophia and would kneel. In one of history's most romantized moments, the would be destroyer of Rome knelt before the church of the almighty, and rose as Constantine XI.

Having left behind his pagan wives and concubines behind, Mongke Temur, or as he was now, Constantine, fell into a deep love for his new Empire. The great works of the Roman, their culture and their history took him, and with the force of the remnants of his army and the Romans own, Constantine would become one of the most powerful rulers of the world. He and his opportunistic wife, Irene, would have more than seven children.

Constantine's decision to take over the reigns of Rome and betray his family was not taken lightly, his father and remaining brothers would launch a new invasion of Rome that would be trashed by Constantine in what is now known as the Second Battle of Manzikert. The Romans, doubtful of their barbarian Emperor, rallied around the victorious foreigner. A sense of arrogance and strenght took Constantine, and for the first time in ages Roman armies would cross into Mesopotamia, and in classic Mongol fashion, Constantine and his very much varied army would sack much of Jazira and northern Mesopotamia, and would see the Romans annex Aleppo and Antioch, regaining a foothold in Syria. The Romans, for years doubtful of their new Emperor, would turn worship the mongol-turned-romans feet, as he would lead them to victory after victory.

Rebellions in both Anatolia and the Balkans would be crushed, wars with Hungary would be won and the Dacian lands and the Serbian Kingdom subdued in lightning-like fashion. Constantine would turn inwards - his deep piety would make him one of the church's greatest patrons, and his wars in Crimea, Georgia and against his own brothers and cousins of both the Golden horde and the Ilkhans would see Rome reach a zenith it had not reached for generations. With Serbia, Wallachia and Moldavia, Georgia and Circassia as vassals and tributaries, and with an Empire that stretched from Greece, Albania and Bulgaria in Europe to Shirvan in the East and Northern Syria, the Mongol Emperor would be called a new "Macedonius".

The battle of Jaffa, fought by Louis of Egypt and Jerusalem, ruler of Egypt, Cyrenaica and Palestine in what was one of the Mongol's largest attempts to conquer the Levant once and for all, would see the Mongol army devastated in what would forever break (At least in the west and near east) break the belief of Mongol invincibility. With his grudging brothers humiliated, and their ambitions of claiming justice from Constantine for his betrayal, Constantine the "Prosperous" would rule a great Empire from the city of the World's desire.

It was really in the end, though, that the danger of Mongol, Rome finally shook. Aged and sick, the sons of Andronikos the ill would take up arms against Constantine and his sons, starting a civil war that sought to cleanse the Empire of it's new Mongolo-Roman rulers. In the end, disease took him, and Constantine would die just at the onset of the war. The victor of the civil war, Alexander, would inherit the Empire he left behind.



[6] Born in 1271 as the first child of Emperor Constantine XI and Empress Irene, Alexander grew up to be a intelligent and strong man, and ascended the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire on the eve of the Second Roman War of Succession (the first happened between 1071 and 1072) and lasted from 1294 to 1300, where he fought and killed almost all of the sons of Andronikos the ill, expect for his youngest, Michael.

For the rest of his reign, Alexander worked on consolidating the territory that was conquered during his father's reign as Emperor. In his personal life, Alexander married Princess Eleanor of Aragon in 1293, whom he had four children with. Alexander's reign was cut short in 1308 when he was killed in his sleep by Michael (who styled himself as "Michael IX"), leaving a civil war to determine the new Roman Emperor.


[7] Upon learning of the Emperor's death by the hands of Michael Komnenos, those loyal to Alexander would quickly grab his underage children, hiding them away as they fought for them. Alexander's oldest son was only five years old with his oldest daughter being ten.

Unfortunately, the loyalist (or Mongol lovers as their enemies would call them) became divvied as some would try and put Constantine's second son, on the throne.

However, his enemies fighting among himself did not help the so-called Emperor Michael IX for even those who saw Alexander as a Mongol mutt detested the way he was murdered and many just preferred to watch to see who would win. Others went looking for a descendant of a Komnenos' female line.

It soon became a four-way war:

1. Alexander III, five-year-old son of the murdered Emperor Alexander. He is a dour boy, perhaps because despite his young age, he realized the amount of danger he is in. His current heir is his two-year-old brother, Constantine and after him, his sister Irene who is known to be an intelligent girl, wise beyond her years.

2. Augustus (born Alexois), the second son of Constantine. He is a military minded man who has a secret fondness for his Mongol heritage, knowing to be quite brutal to his enemies. He believes that him taking his nephew's crown is necessary and has made it clear he bears no ill will towards nephews and nieces. Or so he says. Many doubt the truth of his words, considering he was a big advocate of destroying the houses of their enemies whether they were children or not.

3. Michael IX. Seen to seem as righteous man who killed his father and brothers' murderer for justice and self-defense. He hopes to take advantage of the squabbling between Alexander III and his uncle, to end the Mongol rule once and for all.

4. Antonina Doukas, granddaughter of Maria Komnene. She is twenty-years-old. The people who flock to her, see her as a compromise between the Mongol descendants, but also not associated with the unhonorable deeds of Michael. She is a known to be a brave and charismatic leader, inspiring those to follow her with grand speeches, often leading the troops herself.

The war lasted eleven years before a side emerged victorious, those who supported Michael and Antonina would emerge victorious.

[8] The son of the last of the Komnenoi, Michael of Thessalonica, the killer of the Alexander the II and Antonina Doukas, the favourite of Rhoma's nobility, he was born in 1314 of the desperate alliance between the supporters of the Komnenoi and the compromising parties of Southern Greece and the Anatolian Coast that supported Antonina Doukaina. Still, Augustus' of Cappadocia quaint capture of Constantinople and the death of Alexander the III of the "plague" and the subsequent death of Sebastos Constantine by lynching outside of Blacharnae palace saw the "mongol" faction of the Empire coalesce around Augustus. The war would drag on for a few years, but it would come to an explosive end in 1319 as the "Battle for Nicaea" saw Michael die in the middle of the battle, but a counter charge led by Michael's Megas Domestikos and greatest ally, Alexios Konstantephanos, surrounded Augustus' honour guard of Turkish and Tartar slave-soldiers butchered and Augustus himself struck down.

The Michaeline party, through Alexios' desperate attempt, had won the field. The remainder of the Komnenid army, twelve thousand soldiers out of twenty-one thousand that had taken to the field under Michael, took more than seven thousand of their Roman bretheren prisioner, and so, Antonina, despaired with grief but content with victory, ordered the march to Constantinople, and her army would indeed have the gates of the city opened to them, as the only remainder Mongolikí, Maria of Adrianople, was barely eleven, and her strongest supporters had either died with her uncle Augustus or had deserted her after his death. Still, Antonina, desiring vengeance and her rise to the purple, would never see it - As she and her retinue traveled to Constantinople by ship from Smyrna, her greatest bastion, an assassin disguised as a sailor would throw Antonina overboard, and the almost-empress, wearing most of her jewels and a heavy dress with mail underneath, would drown.

It was thus that all major contenders of the civil war were dead - and only two remained - Manuel himself, and his future wife, Maria Mongolikí. Manuel would be hurried to Constantinople by the Megas Domestikos turned regent, Konstantephanos, and the children - aged five and eleven respectivelly, were quickly married by the Ecumenical Patriarch.

Constantinople and the whole Empire then, erupted into celebration. After years of war - peace had been found, and for now the Empire could once more begin to heal. And heal it would.


images


A modern recreation of a paiting of Emperor Manuel the II by Milanese artist Federico Galleazo Chiella.
The regency of Manuel the II, is, by Byzantine standards, perhaps one of the best in history. Headed by Megas Domestikos, leader of the Byzantine army and famous for it's modernization during this same time, establishing a system of training of cavalry especially in Anatolia and in Northern Bulgaria, making the use of the crossbow widespread in Byzantium's military, the developing of more establishments of Greek fire, and a refurbishment and adaptation of the Rhoman navy using the adoption of many Levantine and Italian techniques and their upgrading, Alexios Konstantephanos and his coleagues in the regency would manage to both secure the Empire's frontiers and break down an almost-rebellion in Bulgaria.

Manuel would only come into his own when he was eighteen, as Konstantephanos, now aged and having casted a large shadow over the young Emperor, retired to his estates in Anatolikon and stayed there until he died, forgotten. Manuel, however, was grateful. His reign started in earnest - with the birth of his first child seen as a blessing, as the Empire would sorely need it. The civil war fought by his father and mother had left the Empire lacking in Tributaries, and while the frontiers had been mostly re-established in their security, Georgia and Circassia had both been taken by the Golden Horde, who threatened Rhome's last remaining vassals in Wallachia and Moldavia. It was thus, that after many years of recovery that Manuel would lead the only war of his reign - as the age old alliance between Rhomania and the Rus was re-established, Manuel and his Megas Domestikos, Bardas of the Angeloi, would lead a double invasion from the Caucasus and through an army that would land in Crimea and push north to join with the forces of the resurgent Kiev under Danilo Siverski and possibly Ivan of Moscow. Manuel himself, would lead a large contigent of Anatolian soldiers that would march through the Black sea Coast through Georgia and Circassia, collecting many of these levies along the way. Muhammed Uzbeg Khan, who did not expect Byzantine intervention after years of decadence, found himself unable to decide which enemy to face, Manuel's large Caucasian army, Angelos and Sievierki's combined army that marched to join it or the many revolting princes led by the Danilovich princes. Eventually, the Khan, perhaps too late, would turn to face Manuel, with the intention of cutting the head of the snake, but the by now seasened emperor tricked the aged Khan into faltering, defeating him and imprisioning him in battle. To the great shame of all Tatars of the Golden Horde, Manuel had his wife, who was regent for him in Constantinople, sail to Tanais (OTL Rostov-on-Don), the newly built fort-town built to secure the newly adquired outpost of Azov, and Uzbeg Khan, a muslim, was forced to recognized Maria, a Christian, as rightful ruler of all the Mongols. Manuel, content with Crimea and with guaranteing the safety of Georgia and his Circassian vassals and other allies North of the Caucasus Mountains, returned to Constantinople.

Manuel would celebrate his great victory over the Mongols by building both a new palace for the royal family in the center of Constantinople and by building a great Hippodrome (Two projects which he would never see to completion), dreaming of returning to the old days of great games in it. He would become a famed patron of artists, scientists, engineers, arquitects, tacticians and inventors, and he himself would sponsor a few major projects, like the restoration of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, or the Hagia Sophia of Iconium, or the great Aqueduct of Attica to ensure the growing cities of the southern Aegean had plenty of supply. Manuel would sponsor a religious renewal that would see Orthodoxy and Catholicism attempt to fix the bridges between the two, gaining Manuel many friends in the west. It was at this time, that he would recognize the papal legate to Palestine, Alphone of Naples, as Patriarch of Jerusalem on his own right, as long as the ever-developing Empire of Egypt recognized the restored Patriarchy in Antioch.

The growth of Crusader Egypt under the Capetian Poitevins, had, however, eclipsed the Rhoman Empire both in terms of political and socio-military influence, however. The Alphonsines, as they were known by the Franks of the west, had established a ruthless autocracy centered in Menefer (The Frankish rename for Cairo) and Alexandria, and from there exerted deep influence all over the Eastern mediterranean, Levant and North Africa. The Rhoman economy saw a slight hit as the italian republics would turn towards Egypt for profit, but the two states, despite contesting claims to each other's territory in Northern Syria, were on friendly grounds with Emperor Lothaire of Poitous marrying Manuel's remaining sister.

Manuel would suffer a crippling injury in 1342, however, as the Imperial family travelled through Kastamone, falling from his horse. The Emperor would never reach the intended destination of Trebizond, dying in the arms of his wife a few months later, his senses taken from him. He and Maria Mongolikí, despite having been enemies, truly loved each other, and shared more than seven children by Manuel's death. He would be suceeded by ____________.




 
POD: Maria Komnene has a twin brother

Emperors and Autocrats of the Romans
1143-1180: Manuel I (House of Komnenos)
1180-1222: Romanos V (House of Komnenos) [1]
1222-1239: Leo VII (House of Komnenos) [2]
1239-1268: Alexios II (House of Komnenos) [3]
1268-1270: Michael VIII (House of Komnenos) [4]
1270-1294: Constantine XI (House of Mongolikí) [5]
1294-1308: Alexander II (House of Mongolikí) [6]
1308-1319: Civil War [7]
1319-1343: Manuel II (House of Komnenos-Doukas)[8]
1343-1348: Alexios III (House of Komnenos-Doukas) [9]

[1] Romanos Komnenos was born in 1152 with a twin sister, Maria, being born with him and would grow up to be an intelligent and competent young man, distinguishing himself as the heir to the throne during his period as the heir to throne and proving himself a worthy heir to the legacy of his father as Emperor. As such, when Manuel Komnenos died in 1180, his son Romanos would prove to be a worthy heir to the throne of Rhomania, especially with the Sultanate of Rum looming in the East.

As Emperor, Romanos Komnenos' reign would in many ways see the House of Komnenos reach new heights as he defeated and humbled the Sultanate of Rum, dealt with coup attempts by his uncle Andronikos Komnenos and the Angeloi, and presided over a period of peace and prosperity with many historians arguing his reign was the height of the Komnenian Restoration.

Romanos Komnenos would marry the daughter of a prominent noble family with Romanos and his wife having four children. Romanos V would die in 1222 with a smile on his face, with his son, Leo, as the new Emperor.

[2] Leo, the little lion as his family and friends would affectionately called him, was born in 1173, the first child of his parents. As he grew older, his best friend was his uncle Alexios who was only four years his senior. In 1178, Leo's grandfather, Emperor Manuel arranged for his grandson to marry Agnes of France, the youngest daughter of King Louis VII. However, the match would not be finalized until his father, Romanos became Emperor and officially declared Leo as his heir. In 1181, Agnes, renamed Anna, would travel from France to Constantinople. They would not be officially married until the groom was fifteen and the bride was seventeen in 1188. They would go on to have nine children.

When the Fourth Crusade started, Leo was eager to join, believing that that with a common enemy, the East and the West of Christianity could start an equal cohabitation. His father choose to focus on dealing with the attacks by Sultanate of Rum. Father and son fought side by side as they conquered the lands of the Muslims. Meanwhile the fourth crusade would fail and many people felt it was the fault of the the Komnenos.

In 1222, just days after he was crowned, Leo learned that French, Italian and Venetian mercenaries were plotting to attack Constantinople. The source was his wife, Anna of France. Legend has it, she had dream from God, warning her by sending her a vision of Constantinople burning. Others suspect, she herself was warned by a sympathetic friend in France and instead of fleeing with her children, she chose to inform her husband.

Whatever story was true, Leo did his best to build the defense for his city, even sending his wife and children in hiding. He decided to launch a preemptive attack on the Republic of Veince, having his troops storm the beaches, sacking the city in the process.

That backfired badly. The Pope had not been happy with a Crusade being started without his consent and when he heard of it, he had drawn up a bill threatening excommunication to anyone who marched on Constantinople, the sacking of Venice, however, was a affront and he demanded now fully endorsed the proposed attack.

Upon hearing of this, Leo wanted to attack Rome in retaliation to what he felt was a betrayal, only to be talked out of it by his wife. "They will forgive Venice in time, but you will always be known as the man who raped the holiest city in all of Christindom," she wrote to him. His other advisors, including his uncle agreed with her and counseled him, just to focus on expanding their Italian properties.

Instead Leo would focus on reclaiming the country of Ravenna. With the Franks fighting with the English and the Republic of Venice still recovering from the damage done, Emperor Leo's troops were met by the Papal and Italian troops. At first the Empire of the Romans was winning, until the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary got involved.

Leo realized that he would soon be outnumbered and outmatched so he decided to end the war in white peace, returning the spoils of his war with Venice (most of it anyway) and signing a peace treaty.

In 1230, he turned his sights towards Bulgaria, deciding that if he could not have his lands in Italy, he take them from Bulgaria. He allied himself with Hungary as they agreed to split the lands of Bulgaria. To make the alliance official, it was agreed that his granddaughter would marry King Béla IV. The war would end in 1237 after the defeat of the Tsar of Bulgaria who was struck down by Leo himself.

Leo would die two years from food posioning after eating some bad fished. He left his empire to his grandson, Alexios the II.


[3] Alexios Komnenos was Leo's eldest grandson by his eldest son, Manuel, and was born either in the year 1217 or 1218, although it is still to this day uncertain. Weak of stature, Alexios would have a weak relationship with his grandfather who prefered his younger siblings and cousins, but would still rise to be Emperor after his death due to the close support of his siblings.

Alexios' mark on the Roman Empire would be his cofidication of the Codex Iulia, named after his wife, Julia of Sicily which he would marry in 1227. The Codex would set up a permanet law of succession for the Roman Empire, wiping away "republicanisms" and setting up a pure male-preferable hereditary monarchy. Otherwise, Alexios' would be famous supporter of architecture and infrastructure - his great works in Thessalonica, Iconium, Corinth, Constantinople and Smyrna, and his investment in new fortifications, roads and ports, would permanently alter the military and economic capabilities of the Empire for future generations. In Anatolia, with Leo's great achievement of a frontier in the Taurus mountains, Alexios' would inert a program of converting both turks and Islamized greeks, all the while re-settling the interior with Bulgarian, Greeks, Cumas and Pechenegs.

There was only one war during his reign - the fifth crusade. Alexios would become a patron due to his extremely good relations with the west and would help organize it - Two crusader armies would linger in Roman territorry awaiting a third that would invade Egypt by surprise after the initial advance into Syria and Palestine - the first one, led by Andrew of Hungary, with Frederick of Austria as sub-commander, would be stationed in Iconium, and would advance through Cilicia into Syria, storming Antioch by surprise and, unexpectedly, marching down the coastal levant. William of Brabant would lead a second one, that through the use of the Roman Navy, would depart Smyrna later, landing in Palestine as Andrew's army left Antioch. The two would accidentally surround the armies of As-Salih, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and would give him a through trashing in the battle of Beirut, all the while, the third crusader army, led by Alphonse of Poitou, Count of Poitou and Toulouse, Prince of France, landed in Damietta with 15000 men.

Alexios' logistics and supplying of the Crusaders would lead to the inevitable conquest of Egypt, as the disciplined army of Alphonse of France stormed through the Nile Delta and conquered most of it - while the new Sultan, All-Muazzam, would retreat to Damascus, fighting William and Andrew through the use of guerilla warfare. Nonetheless, the advance of the two leaders would see most of coastal Levant conquered, although both men would soon get in arguments with Hugh of Cyprus and Jerusalem as to how the spoils were to be divided. With Alphonse of France distracted as he conquered the leaderless Egypt, William and Andrew would turn on each other, with the death of Andrew in battle seeing most of the central European contingent leaving, William of Brabant would soon also leave, leaving Hugh of Cyprus with two many Crusaders to handle and Al-Muazzam to face in Damascus.

Alexios would quickly attempt to spread his influence in both Egypt and the Levant, but Alphonse's quick storming of Egypt (Alphone of Poitou, the first Crusader King of Egypt, would, as a show of faith to God, leave all his European properties to his brother, the King of France, keeping much of Egypt's delta as his personal demesne in the highly contested land-grab that was the conquest of Egypt) would rebuke him, while Hugh would only swear fealty to him if he intervened in his favour.

Alexios, riddled with sickness and indecision, would die in 1268, leaving the question of what to do with the victorious crusaders to his heir, Michael.

[4] Michael VIII Komnenos was born in 1249 to Alexios II and his wife and would grow up to be an intelligent and strong young man, a worthy heir to his father's throne with a reign full of energy and competence as Michael VIII would make deals with the Crusader States, continue the policies of reclamation in Anatolia, and continue to reform the administration. His reign would be a reign marked by great vigor and competent rule over the Empire but tragically, his reign would only be two years.

However, all of Michael VIII's efforts as Emperor would be cut short in 1270 as the Mongols, having forged the largest empire up until then, would invade the Empire of Rhomania with Emperor Michael VIII dying with most of his army in the Battle of Theodosiopolis in Eastern Anatolia. With Anatolia and the Levant open to Mongol invasion, the throne of Rhomania would fall to Mongke Temur, the conqueror.

[5] The eldest son of Hulagu, Ilkhan of the Mongols of Iran and Khorasan, Mongke Temur would be the leader of the Mongol invasion force that could have brought down the whole Eastern Roman Empire, but he didn't. In one of history's most ironic moments, the aftermath of the battle of Theodosiopolis would see much of the Mongol army (And most of it's leaders) dead, but a strong force of twenty-five thousand would remain. Despite this, Mongke Temur, whose succession in Persia was very shadowy, decided to continue to advance, and, just as the Seljuks before them, carve for himself his own land from the corpse of Rome. Instead, life would take a funny trajectory that would permantly alter the nature of the land.

The death of Michael the VIII left his underaged (and possibly mentally ill) nephew, Andronikos, as the rightful inheritor to the Roman throne, but as the Roman state saw itself under so much pressure, the regency of Michael's only sister living in Roman land still, Irene, was in danger. In was thus that a treaty would be forged that would permanently alter the face of the Roman Empire. Mongke Temur, as he neared Iconium in what was a mostly desperate push as the Mongol army faced disentry and was forced to sack the land to survive, was aproached by Irene's emissaries. Irene would marry him, and if Mongke Temur (and his forces) converted to Orthodoxy, he would have an empire of his own. Despite the enormous pressure, the offer was just too good for Mongke Temur to pass by. As he was allowed entry into Constantinople by Irene, Mongke Temur would fall under the shadow of the Hagia Sophia and would kneel. In one of history's most romantized moments, the would be destroyer of Rome knelt before the church of the almighty, and rose as Constantine XI.

Having left behind his pagan wives and concubines behind, Mongke Temur, or as he was now, Constantine, fell into a deep love for his new Empire. The great works of the Roman, their culture and their history took him, and with the force of the remnants of his army and the Romans own, Constantine would become one of the most powerful rulers of the world. He and his opportunistic wife, Irene, would have more than seven children.

Constantine's decision to take over the reigns of Rome and betray his family was not taken lightly, his father and remaining brothers would launch a new invasion of Rome that would be trashed by Constantine in what is now known as the Second Battle of Manzikert. The Romans, doubtful of their barbarian Emperor, rallied around the victorious foreigner. A sense of arrogance and strenght took Constantine, and for the first time in ages Roman armies would cross into Mesopotamia, and in classic Mongol fashion, Constantine and his very much varied army would sack much of Jazira and northern Mesopotamia, and would see the Romans annex Aleppo and Antioch, regaining a foothold in Syria. The Romans, for years doubtful of their new Emperor, would turn worship the mongol-turned-romans feet, as he would lead them to victory after victory.

Rebellions in both Anatolia and the Balkans would be crushed, wars with Hungary would be won and the Dacian lands and the Serbian Kingdom subdued in lightning-like fashion. Constantine would turn inwards - his deep piety would make him one of the church's greatest patrons, and his wars in Crimea, Georgia and against his own brothers and cousins of both the Golden horde and the Ilkhans would see Rome reach a zenith it had not reached for generations. With Serbia, Wallachia and Moldavia, Georgia and Circassia as vassals and tributaries, and with an Empire that stretched from Greece, Albania and Bulgaria in Europe to Shirvan in the East and Northern Syria, the Mongol Emperor would be called a new "Macedonius".

The battle of Jaffa, fought by Louis of Egypt and Jerusalem, ruler of Egypt, Cyrenaica and Palestine in what was one of the Mongol's largest attempts to conquer the Levant once and for all, would see the Mongol army devastated in what would forever break (At least in the west and near east) break the belief of Mongol invincibility. With his grudging brothers humiliated, and their ambitions of claiming justice from Constantine for his betrayal, Constantine the "Prosperous" would rule a great Empire from the city of the World's desire.

It was really in the end, though, that the danger of Mongol, Rome finally shook. Aged and sick, the sons of Andronikos the ill would take up arms against Constantine and his sons, starting a civil war that sought to cleanse the Empire of it's new Mongolo-Roman rulers. In the end, disease took him, and Constantine would die just at the onset of the war. The victor of the civil war, Alexander, would inherit the Empire he left behind.



[6] Born in 1271 as the first child of Emperor Constantine XI and Empress Irene, Alexander grew up to be a intelligent and strong man, and ascended the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire on the eve of the Second Roman War of Succession (the first happened between 1071 and 1072) and lasted from 1294 to 1300, where he fought and killed almost all of the sons of Andronikos the ill, expect for his youngest, Michael.

For the rest of his reign, Alexander worked on consolidating the territory that was conquered during his father's reign as Emperor. In his personal life, Alexander married Princess Eleanor of Aragon in 1293, whom he had four children with. Alexander's reign was cut short in 1308 when he was killed in his sleep by Michael (who styled himself as "Michael IX"), leaving a civil war to determine the new Roman Emperor.


[7] Upon learning of the Emperor's death by the hands of Michael Komnenos, those loyal to Alexander would quickly grab his underage children, hiding them away as they fought for them. Alexander's oldest son was only five years old with his oldest daughter being ten.

Unfortunately, the loyalist (or Mongol lovers as their enemies would call them) became divvied as some would try and put Constantine's second son, on the throne.

However, his enemies fighting among himself did not help the so-called Emperor Michael IX for even those who saw Alexander as a Mongol mutt detested the way he was murdered and many just preferred to watch to see who would win. Others went looking for a descendant of a Komnenos' female line.

It soon became a four-way war:

1. Alexander III, five-year-old son of the murdered Emperor Alexander. He is a dour boy, perhaps because despite his young age, he realized the amount of danger he is in. His current heir is his two-year-old brother, Constantine and after him, his sister Irene who is known to be an intelligent girl, wise beyond her years.

2. Augustus (born Alexois), the second son of Constantine. He is a military minded man who has a secret fondness for his Mongol heritage, knowing to be quite brutal to his enemies. He believes that him taking his nephew's crown is necessary and has made it clear he bears no ill will towards nephews and nieces. Or so he says. Many doubt the truth of his words, considering he was a big advocate of destroying the houses of their enemies whether they were children or not.

3. Michael IX. Seen to seem as righteous man who killed his father and brothers' murderer for justice and self-defense. He hopes to take advantage of the squabbling between Alexander III and his uncle, to end the Mongol rule once and for all.

4. Antonina Doukas, granddaughter of Maria Komnene. She is twenty-years-old. The people who flock to her, see her as a compromise between the Mongol descendants, but also not associated with the unhonorable deeds of Michael. She is a known to be a brave and charismatic leader, inspiring those to follow her with grand speeches, often leading the troops herself.

The war lasted eleven years before a side emerged victorious, those who supported Michael and Antonina would emerge victorious.


[8] The son of the last of the Komnenoi, Michael of Thessalonica, the killer of the Alexander the II and Antonina Doukas, the favourite of Rhoma's nobility, he was born in 1314 of the desperate alliance between the supporters of the Komnenoi and the compromising parties of Southern Greece and the Anatolian Coast that supported Antonina Doukaina. Still, Augustus' of Cappadocia quaint capture of Constantinople and the death of Alexander the III of the "plague" and the subsequent death of Sebastos Constantine by lynching outside of Blacharnae palace saw the "mongol" faction of the Empire coalesce around Augustus. The war would drag on for a few years, but it would come to an explosive end in 1319 as the "Battle for Nicaea" saw Michael die in the middle of the battle, but a counter charge led by Michael's Megas Domestikos and greatest ally, Alexios Konstantephanos, surrounded Augustus' honour guard of Turkish and Tartar slave-soldiers butchered and Augustus himself struck down.

The Michaeline party, through Alexios' desperate attempt, had won the field. The remainder of the Komnenid army, twelve thousand soldiers out of twenty-one thousand that had taken to the field under Michael, took more than seven thousand of their Roman bretheren prisioner, and so, Antonina, despaired with grief but content with victory, ordered the march to Constantinople, and her army would indeed have the gates of the city opened to them, as the only remainder Mongolikí, Maria of Adrianople, was barely eleven, and her strongest supporters had either died with her uncle Augustus or had deserted her after his death. Still, Antonina, desiring vengeance and her rise to the purple, would never see it - As she and her retinue traveled to Constantinople by ship from Smyrna, her greatest bastion, an assassin disguised as a sailor would throw Antonina overboard, and the almost-empress, wearing most of her jewels and a heavy dress with mail underneath, would drown.

It was thus that all major contenders of the civil war were dead - and only two remained - Manuel himself, and his future wife, Maria Mongolikí. Manuel would be hurried to Constantinople by the Megas Domestikos turned regent, Konstantephanos, and the children - aged five and eleven respectivelly, were quickly married by the Ecumenical Patriarch.

Constantinople and the whole Empire then, erupted into celebration. After years of war - peace had been found, and for now the Empire could once more begin to heal. And heal it would.


images


A modern recreation of a paiting of Emperor Manuel the II by Milanese artist Federico Galleazo Chiella.
The regency of Manuel the II, is, by Byzantine standards, perhaps one of the best in history. Headed by Megas Domestikos, leader of the Byzantine army and famous for it's modernization during this same time, establishing a system of training of cavalry especially in Anatolia and in Northern Bulgaria, making the use of the crossbow widespread in Byzantium's military, the developing of more establishments of Greek fire, and a refurbishment and adaptation of the Rhoman navy using the adoption of many Levantine and Italian techniques and their upgrading, Alexios Konstantephanos and his coleagues in the regency would manage to both secure the Empire's frontiers and break down an almost-rebellion in Bulgaria.

Manuel would only come into his own when he was eighteen, as Konstantephanos, now aged and having casted a large shadow over the young Emperor, retired to his estates in Anatolikon and stayed there until he died, forgotten. Manuel, however, was grateful. His reign started in earnest - with the birth of his first child seen as a blessing, as the Empire would sorely need it. The civil war fought by his father and mother had left the Empire lacking in Tributaries, and while the frontiers had been mostly re-established in their security, Georgia and Circassia had both been taken by the Golden Horde, who threatened Rhome's last remaining vassals in Wallachia and Moldavia. It was thus, that after many years of recovery that Manuel would lead the only war of his reign - as the age old alliance between Rhomania and the Rus was re-established, Manuel and his Megas Domestikos, Bardas of the Angeloi, would lead a double invasion from the Caucasus and through an army that would land in Crimea and push north to join with the forces of the resurgent Kiev under Danilo Siverski and possibly Ivan of Moscow. Manuel himself, would lead a large contigent of Anatolian soldiers that would march through the Black sea Coast through Georgia and Circassia, collecting many of these levies along the way. Muhammed Uzbeg Khan, who did not expect Byzantine intervention after years of decadence, found himself unable to decide which enemy to face, Manuel's large Caucasian army, Angelos and Sievierki's combined army that marched to join it or the many revolting princes led by the Danilovich princes. Eventually, the Khan, perhaps too late, would turn to face Manuel, with the intention of cutting the head of the snake, but the by now seasened emperor tricked the aged Khan into faltering, defeating him and imprisioning him in battle. To the great shame of all Tatars of the Golden Horde, Manuel had his wife, who was regent for him in Constantinople, sail to Tanais (OTL Rostov-on-Don), the newly built fort-town built to secure the newly adquired outpost of Azov, and Uzbeg Khan, a muslim, was forced to recognized Maria, a Christian, as rightful ruler of all the Mongols. Manuel, content with Crimea and with guaranteing the safety of Georgia and his Circassian vassals and other allies North of the Caucasus Mountains, returned to Constantinople.

Manuel would celebrate his great victory over the Mongols by building both a new palace for the royal family in the center of Constantinople and by building a great Hippodrome (Two projects which he would never see to completion), dreaming of returning to the old days of great games in it. He would become a famed patron of artists, scientists, engineers, arquitects, tacticians and inventors, and he himself would sponsor a few major projects, like the restoration of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, or the Hagia Sophia of Iconium, or the great Aqueduct of Attica to ensure the growing cities of the southern Aegean had plenty of supply. Manuel would sponsor a religious renewal that would see Orthodoxy and Catholicism attempt to fix the bridges between the two, gaining Manuel many friends in the west. It was at this time, that he would recognize the papal legate to Palestine, Alphone of Naples, as Patriarch of Jerusalem on his own right, as long as the ever-developing Empire of Egypt recognized the restored Patriarchy in Antioch.

The growth of Crusader Egypt under the Capetian Poitevins, had, however, eclipsed the Rhoman Empire both in terms of political and socio-military influence, however. The Alphonsines, as they were known by the Franks of the west, had established a ruthless autocracy centered in Menefer (The Frankish rename for Cairo) and Alexandria, and from there exerted deep influence all over the Eastern mediterranean, Levant and North Africa. The Rhoman economy saw a slight hit as the italian republics would turn towards Egypt for profit, but the two states, despite contesting claims to each other's territory in Northern Syria, were on friendly grounds with Emperor Lothaire of Poitous marrying Manuel's remaining sister.

Manuel would suffer a crippling injury in 1342, however, as the Imperial family travelled through Kastamone, falling from his horse. The Emperor would never reach the intended destination of Trebizond, dying in the arms of his wife a few months later, his senses taken from him. He and Maria Mongolikí, despite having been enemies, truly loved each other, and shared more than seven children by Manuel's death. He would be suceeded by ____________.
[9] Emperor Alexios III was born as the first-born son and heir of Emperor Manuel II and would be someone who would gain a reputation as a precocious and talented young boy who would become Emperor at the age of eleven after his father's death. Most of his reign would be marked by how he would be under the regency of his mother with Alexios III only becoming Emperor in his own right in 1348. However, later that year, tragedy would strike the young and intelligent Emperor.

Alexios III's reign would be cut short when the bubonic plague reached Constantinople with the young Emperor being cut down in his prime as a result of the bubonic plague. His successor would be, owing to his early death from the plague before he could marry, _______________
 
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