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Deleted member 67076
Yup, I've just been quite busy these past few months, wrapping up school courses and being close to obtaining my degree and some general work related things that have sort of put this timeline on the back burner. Forgive me on that.
That and I really wanted to do a Congo timeline after reading a book on the Congo, so I focused for a month or so on that, which naturally took some time away. (I will try to finish that some time, although judging from some of the reactions I might just have to make it a full timeline so I can explain all the events in detail to make things look more plausible and flesh out Afro-Baathism)
Nontheless, Ive not forgotten Renovation and Im gonna return to this when I can.
And also, while I loved West Africa, alas I am back in the New World, so no worries about internet.
Dragos Cel Mare
Banned
Wait, if the Aydinids are in Naxos, wouldn't they have been wiped out by the Genoese forces when the latter took the Aegean?
Deleted member 67076
Yes. You don't ever attack Constantinople without securing the islands first. Well except for Sassanid Persia, but they had no Navy.
They had a navy, just one that could probably be beat by fishing boats. And stuck in the Persian Gulf.
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Deleted member 67076
Still around as a weird anachronism. They'll almost certainly be gone soon enough.
And I'm back. Bit of a transitional chapter here, but I wanted to set up the counter reaction to the military reaction that will define the state's struggles.
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What comes next in the immediate history of the empire is a period of quietness, followed by yet another shock that no one in the palace saw coming. The following decade and a half within Romania saw another shift in government, or more bluntly, another palace coup against the reactionary military dominated government.
In 1417, a bout of plague had broken out in Greece. The casualties weren’t much in overall population, but they did have an important victim: ruling emperor Manuel II (and his wife). Manuel had been a man of weak constitution and meekness, one more cut out to be a theologian than a politician and as such was unable to stand against the tide of an increasingly powerful and upset military. He was dominated effortlessly by his generals, hard men of high birth who seeked to return the empire into their vision of an idealized Roman Empire dominated by the military. A society of virtue and austerity, beholden to the Classical ideals which they viewed as having been corrupted by the past near century of greedy bureaucratic and naval dominance.
Ironically, they weren’t far off to the Classical Roman ideals, and were in some ways justified. The cultural shifts following the effective decapitation of the Dynatoi in the 1330s meant the court had been dominated primarily by middle class urbanites, who were viewed by the remnants of the traditional aristocracy as too decadent, too western looking and straying too from the traditional ways (in addition to just being salty from not being included in the patronage system). Yet they could not hope to challenge this while their lands were small, and the navy was the dominant military organ.
But as Rome recovered both economically and territorially, these old school landed families (and plenty of new men who joined the Dynatoi) were able to claw their way back into power via capitalizing on the new land. The government focus on urban areas and the navy meant that often the countryside was more often than not ignored, thus once more creating the conditions for an aristocracy, albeit one far weaker than it was a century ago.
Yet still, strong enough to take advantage of public outcry following the fiasco with Timur and install themselves as the dominant faction of government. For as Constantine XI was discredited for surrendering, so too was the faction in power- the commercial elites. However, with their puppet emperor now gone, this position became tenuous.The ruling sovereign was a child, and a girl at that. One Maria Palaiologina. Thus a regency would immediately have been declared.
But who was to head that regency, and thus the empire until the child came of age?
We have 3 main actors in this crisis, each more or less corresponding to a faction of imperial politics. The Dynatoi (represented by the army), the Bureaucracy (who for the sake of convenience will be labeled as that despite also including most of the navy and the imperial state companies), the Church and Bulgaria, who for obvious reasons has a keen interest in a Roman state that benefits them.
For the first and the 3rd, enter Constantine XI’s /other/ siblings- the previously unimportant Michael and Andreas. During the brief military domination, both of these men attempted to work around the limits imposed to them (as potential threats to the new regime were) by allying themselves with a powerful faction of the Roman Court. Michael with the bureaucracy and thus the commercial elites, and Andreas with the church.
The past 2 decades has not served either men kindly, but they were able to cling on to some semblance of influence among their respective sectors (and amongst the nobility, given that they still are members of the royal family and know quite a lot of important people) and keep their heads down. While an annoyance, there was not much the military junta could do, given their initial focus on dealing with war against the Italians and the Turks. But now that there was an opening they are eager to stake a claim on the imperial throne, and the two had to be monitored. However, the factions each of the men have decided to endorse causes a rift between the two that will never fully heal.
Representing the military and the magnates was no one person, given the group dynamic of both of these organizations (who were keen to fight amongst themselves just as much as the other court factions), but perhaps their ‘representative’ could best be thought of as Manuel II’s Mesazon (Prime Minister) Basil (who was given the nicknamed “the Spaniard”, for his family’s origin the formerly Catalan controlled principality. Despite not actually having known or probable ancestry from the Iberian peninsula. One of the funny quirks of history) Nonetheless, Basil was very much a standard landed Aristocrat in the mold of the day, and was pushing to keep the direction of the empire flowing to a more hardline, oligarchal stance.
Up north, we've got the new Bulgarian Tsar, Simeon, who is also technically of the Palaiologoi family through maternal descent and who possesses a considerable amount clout in internal affairs, considering it is his grain that more often than not feeds the cities of Rome. This has been another reason for the reaction against the Commerce oriented policies of the Renovation Period, as many traders are seen as too friendly to foreigners. His stance on things is to keep Rome as friendly and docile as possible, and thus the return to a more hardline approach back in the capital was perceived as a threat.
And last but not least, is the current Patriarch of Constantinople, Nicephorus III, representing a rejuvenated Orthodox Church that has issues with both the Military-Aristocratic Faction and the Middle Classes. The Church is a myriad of different voices, but generally they seem to take a middle ground in the land vs commerce dispute, viewing both as avarice. Here at least, Nicephorus mostly stays in the background, using Andreas as his liaison between the Church and the Empress, hoping to sway the next generation into a more pious, Christian ruler.
And so the 4 sides scramble to deal with the vacuum of power. The Bulgarians make the first overt moves, doing some saber rattling across the border and declaring young Maria is under the protection of her “uncle”, the Tsar. While in practice this means nothing, it does signal that any attempts against the Empresses’ life will not be taken kindly, possibly (though very unlikely) inciting military action that would most certainly spiral into civil war (given that a good faction of the Roman court would support the Bulgarians in restoring the pre Junta status quo).
Nobody wants this but especially not Basil the Spaniard. He knows the state’s strength is focused on Anatolia, and the Bulgarians have been growing far stronger than anyone wants to admit. Thus, he is forced to make hold off any attempts on installing a client in power- or himself- and keep the regency council at bay. This hesitation amongst the Military Faction allows the other factions, principally the Commercial one to make a de facto alliance with the Bulgarians, and politically strong arm the Military into allowing several representatives into the Regency Council, and as key players in the young Empresses life. Critically Andreas, who will serve as her main tutor.
This does not mean the military is out of power, but it does mean that they no longer hold the monopoly on who gets to control the empress. Basil remains Mesazon, but other key government positions now have to be divided amongst the varying factions. It’s a tightrope, but one he and his colleagues are willing to walk to get the best deal that ends in the least amount of Roman bloodshed. Of course, this is Eastern Rome. None of this happened without a few assassinations, excommunications and exiles, but the state avoided imploding into civil war, if at the cost of being somewhat paralyzed between its own factions.
And that’s a happy ending.
Political intrigue aside, there’s another noticeable event that is occurring in Romania in the decade of the 1410s- the introduction of the cannon into the military. Initially imported from Westerners, the Romans have been quick at work modifying and exporting the machinery for their own uses. Its an excellent anti seige and all around anti cavalry weapon, which makes it perfect for defending against the raiding of various nomads in the Anatolian frontier. Combined with the general military presence on the frontier beginning to adapt to nomadic tactics in the same vein as the Germans and the Magyars a few centuries earlier, raiding has become less and less profitable. The tide is slowly but surely turning in Anatolia, even if to contemporaries this doesn’t seem the case.
This is in turn replicated to the north, where Timur’s destruction of the Golden Horde and a number of weak remnant states has left a vacuum that is beginning to be filled by Muscovy. While at the time, Muscovy is still weak, the 1380s-1410s have allowed it to begin pushing south and enter regular contact with Byzantium. Again, not much considering the time, but the future will speak about the natural alliance between Rome and Russia.
Quick! Sound the horns, light the fires, and prepare the feast! This TL has returned; this calls for celebration!
Early Russian expansion southwards eh? This could be interesting indeed.
Glad to see the TL back!
Glad to see the TL back!
Dragos Cel Mare
Banned
I hope Maria Palaiologina learns from her long minority and adversity to become an Elizabeth I-like figure...
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