Okay guys ive decided to necro this thread and revive the tl. Hope its alright.
The War of the Three Sovereigns: The Byzantine Counteroffensive
After suffering a crushing defeat on the Danube planes the Hungarian army was for the most part broken. Pressing his advantage Branas soon drove the Elite imperial forces into Bacs, Csnad, and Pecs.
At the same time he sent envoys to the Cuman khan and after paying a handsome sum of gold, the Cumans invaded Transylvania after declaring war on Hungary.
What little hope Hungary had to stalling the rhoman offensive had evaporated. With the Cumans pouring into Transylvania which was ideal for steppe warfare quickly fell to the nomads with only the fortified cities holding out. Meanwhile in Hungary with Emeric dead, his wife Constance had a regency council in place for the young king Ladislaus.
Constance desperately appealed to Fredrick for reinforcements. However Fredrick was facing issues of his own.
Many of the German princes were chafing under the increasingly centralized rule of the Hohenstuafens. It appeared whenever the emperor dealt with his Italian provinces the german princes would plot to overthrow him. With Fredrick occupied in Italy, a coalition of princes lead by Otto IV of Brunswick the son of Henry the Lion convinced a group of German princes in the north to rise in revolt against the emperor. At Aachen they convened a council and sent a list of demands to Fredrick demanding him to restore privileges that he had deprived them of previously.
Fredrick of course who had the ambition of centralizing the HRE refused their demands and the German princes rose up in revolt.
Facing the lombards in Italy and the German princes in the north.Fredrick's army was preoccupied on both fronts and he was unable to send aid to his Hungarian allies.
With no help coming, a bankrupt state, and no real army left the Hungarian regency council realized that victory was impossible. Envoys were sent to the imperial court by the Hungarians offering to surrender. But at Branas urging to push into Hungary, Emperor Michael refused to negotiate and instead demanded the Hungarians surrender and become vassals of the Roman empire, in return for the Romans to cease their invasion of Hungary proper and aid the Hungarian in driving out the Cumans.
When the reply to their peace offer was sent back to Constance, it was said the Hungarian court was in an uproar. Not since Manuel Komnenos had the Hungarians been forced into such a desperate position. Finally after much discussion and with imperial troops pouring into the Hungarian heartland and Cumans ravaging Carpathia and Transylvania, the Hungarians accepted the Roman demands.
In August of 1207 after nearly two years of fierce fighting.(Mostly involving the rhomans besieging the well fortified Hungarian cities, castles, and citadels, and dealing with local revolts and rebellions) the Hungarians and the rhomans signed the treaty of Buda, which declared the Kingdom of Hungary was a rhoman vassal and young king Ladislaus and his mother were forced to swear loyalty to the Emperor of the Rhomans Michael.
Branas had by this point become what one would call a hero. It can be said that Branas was the main reason for imperial success in the west.
With Hungary under imperial thumb Branas turned his attention on the Cumans. In December 1207 the Cumans were sent envoys demanding they retreat back to their homeland. When the Cumans revelling in their ransacking of the Caprathian basin refused, Imperial soldiers declared war. On the outskirts of Braslav the Cuman and Imperial forces met.
Normally a steppe army could use tactics that would prove difficult for most European armies at the time to counter such as encircling and swarming.
However the Rhoman army lead by Branas had seasoned troops who had experienced fighting the Turkish soldiers and so knew how to handle Horse archers. Thus the imperial forces contrary to Cumanian expectations did not break free from their sheildwall when the Cumans retreated and run at them madly like most of their enemies. Rather it advanced slowly and methodically under the orders of Branas. Meanwhile the Imperial archers and turkish levies fired back at the cuman troops.
Meanwhile a smaller force of imperial latinkon had broken off from the main army and attacked the cumans from behind as they retreated. Hemmed between the heavy cavalry and the troops in shieldwall and facing a constrant stream of arrows fired by skill turkish horse archers and imperial archers the Cuman army was decimated. The Cuman Khan himself who had participated in the assault was captured by Imperial forces. After the battle was over he was brought before Branas.
In return for keeping his life, the Cumans would withdraw from Hungarian and Imperial territory and pay tribute to the Romans.
Now Branas could have chosen to also annex or vassalize the cumans but decided against it. After all Hungary had proved to be disloyal in the past and maintaning imperial control over it was already going to be a handful. He and of course Michael did not want a repeat of what happened when Manuel had died. Not to mention now with the Hungarians no longer a threat he had to contend with a far more deadly and capable force. The Imperial army under Fredrick Hohenstaufen.
By mid 1207 Fredrick signed the treaty of Milan with the Lombard states. In it the Lombards ceased their revolt and after being defeated by Imperial forces were revoked of the previous privileges they had enjoyed and were forced albeit unwillingly back into imperial fold.
Fredrick had won a string of victories in Italy. His forces overran Mantua, destroyed the Milanese mercenary armies and were laying siege to Milan. Meanwhile against Ferrara and Tuscany he had destroyed their armies as well during his siege of Mantua when they attempted to aid the beleaugered city.
The reason for such a string of victories had to do with the fact that the large army Fredrick had assembled to face the rhomans he turned against Italy. Facing such overwhelming odds lead by the brilliant emperor himself, their was little the Italian states could do. They put up stiff resistance but eventually crumbled.
With Italy pacified Fredrick turned his army on the Northern German princes. Throughout 1207-1208 for over a year his forces battled Otto's and in Trier the two forces met. The decisive battle of Trier in July of 1208 ended in complete imperial victory. The Northern army was crushed. Otto was captured, and the power of the revolting princes broken.
In the ensuing treaty of Worms signed in August, the Imperial princes were forced to give up more of their privileges.
And as a warning to any other would be revolters, Fredrick had the princes who opposed him deprived of their lands, which were then handed out to his loyal supporters and rival families to the deposed dynasties. This in turn ensured that many of the northern german electors were in the Hohenstaufen pocket since the new families owed their station to Hohenstaufen favour.
Across the rest of Germany and even in Italy, the princes and kings of the HRE slowly realized that Fredrick was serious. When he proclaimed his desire to centralize the HRE, he actually meant to follow through with it.
Of course trouble was still brewing but the example set by Fredrick at the Treaty of worms sent one clear message to imperial princes. They were free to rule as they wished within their own states provided their decrees did not conflict with Imperial laws, but if they revolted against the emperor or his dynasty, their very lands would be forfeit to their rivals and opponents.
Though Fredrick had temporarily pacified Italy and Germany, he knew that eventually the tenuous peace would not last.
The pope in Rome would be furious at his actions and would no doubt scheme to set up a coalition against him. He also knew that some of the more powerful imperial princes were angered by this display of what they considered Imperial tyranny and would no doubt eventually scheme to revolt.
On top of that he knew that the French in the west and the Poles to the East would also circle around his state if they found that his armies were depleted or bogged down in wars against the rhomans. Not to mention he was wary of the rapid growth in power of the imperial free cities in the baltic and the Danes.
He also knew that given that the greeks were formidable opponents, he was sure that regardless of his triumph, he would suffer many casualties and the prolonged conflict would deplete his treasury. So in 1208 his diplomats arrived at the court of the Emperor and after convincing the emperor of the fruitlessness of continuing the war and the ramifications it would cause on both their Empires convinced him to sign a status quo peace.
In late 1208 the two Emperors met in Trent where the treay of Trent was signed. It declared status quo of the current situation and Fredrick recognized Hungary as being an imperial vassal state in return for the Emperor of the Romans ending his involvement in the affairs of the HRE.
In 1209 Branas returned a hero. He was known as the conqueror of Hungary. Michael was pleased with his most astute general and soon promoted him to the rank of Grand Domesticos ton Scholon. Branas was now made commander of Imperial armies.
ue to this rapid rise in rank Branas loyalty towards Michael grew even more. Historians would tell how the two were instrumental in causing major ramifications that would eventually shake the empire to its very core.
Yet for all the pomp and celebration a storm was brewing within the empire.
For centuries the Imperial govt had been at odds with the landed nobility. Since the time of Nokephoros Phokas and his decrees empowering the landed aristocracy, to the Angelii and their rapid decentralisation of the Imperial state, it appeared power was being concentrated increasingly among a few powerful families and the previous pillar of the imperial nation, the small soldier farmer was losing his place in the new society. The battle for supremacy beetween the Emperor and his nobles was slanted heavily towards the aristocracy
With his borders secure for the time being and a genius commander by his side, Michael decided it was time to turn his attention to domestic matters. His target the increasingly decadent civil aristocracy.