Three castles?
Well I guess not...Charles II was apparently a much better person than his father. But he and Alexander would have experiences to relate with each other...
The eagle's left head
- Thread starter Lascaris
- Start date
Well I guess not...
Never liked Charles, not just because I like the Hohenstaufens more or because he was such a nuisance to the empire but because he genuinely seemed to me an awful person/ruler to just be around.
Hence, reading this timeline is like catching two birds with one stone.
Part 11
Reggio, August 3rd, 1284
Alexandros had taken a risk when he had decided to defend Reggio in person. It had paid off far faster than anyone might had expected. Charles of Anjou had advanced with a large army, chroniclers likely exaggerating spoke of over 40,000 men expecting to capture Reggio without much of a fight and then land in Sicily. The defenders had fended off the first assaults. Charles while maintaining the siege of Reggio had tried a landing at Messina only to be driven back to the sea. Then a squadron of 14 Aragonese galleys had come to the aid of Roger de Lauria and the reinforced Sicilian-Aragonese fleet had start raiding Angevin shipping and landing raiding parties in Charles rear. With Charles soldiers, many of them mercenaries, starting to grumble, Charles had promised an invasion of Sicily not a lengthy siege of Reggio. Charles had decided to lift the siege. With the ever present Roget making sea transport difficult, he had retreated back over Calabria and then east into Apulia.
Brindisi, August 28th, 1284
Charles of Anjoy ended his retreat at the coast of the Adriatic. Apulia was a rich province, not subject to constant naval raids, nor eaten out by his own armies like Calabria. His army needed somewhere to winter and Apulia was the best area to do so, not least due to its proximity to its hard pressed eastern possessions. Of the so called kingdom of Albania only Dyrrachium was surviving and Byzantine armies were pressing on it. The Principality of Achaea was for now secure, but his governors there, local barons themselves claimed that they could provide no reinforcements in Italy due to the threat from the Greeks at Mystra. Where his forces had retreated Vatatzes Sicilians had followed closely behind. The Calabrian population still for the most part Greek and perhaps more importantly heavily oppressed by Charles for the past two decades had risen up to join the Sicilians. Soon all of Calabria to the south of Basilicata was in Sicilian hands. The line of garrisons Charles had left behind from the gulf of Policastro in the west to that of Taranto in the East for now held and Alexandros had not pressed all too hard to dislodge them. After all his army was still much weaker than that the Angevins, if Charles marched back to the south he would have to retreat before him. Securing Calabria, not just for the kingdom of Sicily but as part of the Despotate of Sicily under one Alexandros Doukas Vatatzes in particular mattered more than seeking even more land up north.
Longobucco, Calabria, September 1284
Alexandros Doukas Vatatzes thought himself lucky. Charles of Anjou might not have cared for either Calabria or its unruly subjects. That his army had not bothered to hold the silver mines here had left Vatatzes incredulous but he had no intention of making the same mistake, if Charles had multiple kingdoms and papal subsidies to draw upon he did not. The his incredulity went overboard when he read the letters his wife had forwarded to him from Constantinople. Andronikos advisers had convinced the emperor to disband the fleet as it was deemed unnecessary to pay for it after the revolt of Sicily? And for good measure had convinced the emperor to reduce the army as well? He did know of course Andronikos was hardly as capable as his father, the old bastard had been many things but stupid he was not, but this went from hardly as capable to utter stupidity. It didn't matter, he could not convince Andronikos to change his mind and he wasn't even certain he wanted to, under Michael imperial ships had been anything but shy to attack the Italian coast, he was living proof of that. An Andronikos without a fleet was an Andronikos who could not put any kind of pressure on him. But if come spring Andronikos was disbanding the fleet and reducing the army what was to become of the men and ships. He knew of many of them personally and his wife's family of even more. His despotate fragile as it was was underpopulated, he had just gotten his hands on several silver mines and Andronikos had just made available thousands of veteran crews and soldiers. He start drafting some urgent letters for Constantinople...
Messina, November 1284
Alaimo di Lentini was not a happy man. It was true that he had been made grand justiciar of the kingdom. But the Aragonese were systematically placing their own or Italians loyal only to Constance in positions of power. Of the three Sicilian barons who had led the revolution Gualtiero di Castiglione had been executed the previous year, Palmiero Abbate marginalised and only he retained a position of power. Meanwhile Sicily was being burdened by Aragonese mercenaries interested only in loot and money, Roger de Lauria had recently taken his fleet away from Sicily in order to go loot Jerba in the African coast. As if that was not enough that damn Greek schismatic had seized control of a third of the island. And his wife had a personal feud with the queen of all people, insulting her on every opportunity. Perhaps the revolution was after all a mistake. And thus he had begun to clandestinely communicate with Charles, to switch sides again. Only to be found apparently and infante James had given him orders to leave for Aragon immediately. Enough was enough. If the Aragonese, or the Greek wanted his head they could damn well come and take it he wouldn't offer it to them on a platter. He rose up.
Messina, December 1284
Queen Constance was troubled. Alaimo's revolt had failed in less than a month as Roger De Lauria and her cousin had fallen upon him immediately and the Sicilians upon realizing he was in contact with the hated Anjous had abandoned him. Alaimo had been captured and executed. Roger had perhaps played the most important role in the short unfortunate episode. But the besieged Messinese had opened their gates to Alexander, not Roger, probably fearing the reputation of Roger's men. And now Alexander was insisting that he could not abandon people who had voluntarily joined him while Roger was insisting that Messina was his and the treasonous Greeks had denuded him of his rightful spoils. The last thing she needed was a civil war between her cousin and her foster brother. She chose to compromise, short of. Messina would be kept by Alexander but Alexander would have to surrender Charles of Salerno to the crown. Roger would be given yet more land around Palermo and Trapani and her promise that he would receive a hefty amount from Charles ransom. The crisis had been averted. At least for now...
Alexandros had taken a risk when he had decided to defend Reggio in person. It had paid off far faster than anyone might had expected. Charles of Anjou had advanced with a large army, chroniclers likely exaggerating spoke of over 40,000 men expecting to capture Reggio without much of a fight and then land in Sicily. The defenders had fended off the first assaults. Charles while maintaining the siege of Reggio had tried a landing at Messina only to be driven back to the sea. Then a squadron of 14 Aragonese galleys had come to the aid of Roger de Lauria and the reinforced Sicilian-Aragonese fleet had start raiding Angevin shipping and landing raiding parties in Charles rear. With Charles soldiers, many of them mercenaries, starting to grumble, Charles had promised an invasion of Sicily not a lengthy siege of Reggio. Charles had decided to lift the siege. With the ever present Roget making sea transport difficult, he had retreated back over Calabria and then east into Apulia.
Brindisi, August 28th, 1284
Charles of Anjoy ended his retreat at the coast of the Adriatic. Apulia was a rich province, not subject to constant naval raids, nor eaten out by his own armies like Calabria. His army needed somewhere to winter and Apulia was the best area to do so, not least due to its proximity to its hard pressed eastern possessions. Of the so called kingdom of Albania only Dyrrachium was surviving and Byzantine armies were pressing on it. The Principality of Achaea was for now secure, but his governors there, local barons themselves claimed that they could provide no reinforcements in Italy due to the threat from the Greeks at Mystra. Where his forces had retreated Vatatzes Sicilians had followed closely behind. The Calabrian population still for the most part Greek and perhaps more importantly heavily oppressed by Charles for the past two decades had risen up to join the Sicilians. Soon all of Calabria to the south of Basilicata was in Sicilian hands. The line of garrisons Charles had left behind from the gulf of Policastro in the west to that of Taranto in the East for now held and Alexandros had not pressed all too hard to dislodge them. After all his army was still much weaker than that the Angevins, if Charles marched back to the south he would have to retreat before him. Securing Calabria, not just for the kingdom of Sicily but as part of the Despotate of Sicily under one Alexandros Doukas Vatatzes in particular mattered more than seeking even more land up north.
Longobucco, Calabria, September 1284
Alexandros Doukas Vatatzes thought himself lucky. Charles of Anjou might not have cared for either Calabria or its unruly subjects. That his army had not bothered to hold the silver mines here had left Vatatzes incredulous but he had no intention of making the same mistake, if Charles had multiple kingdoms and papal subsidies to draw upon he did not. The his incredulity went overboard when he read the letters his wife had forwarded to him from Constantinople. Andronikos advisers had convinced the emperor to disband the fleet as it was deemed unnecessary to pay for it after the revolt of Sicily? And for good measure had convinced the emperor to reduce the army as well? He did know of course Andronikos was hardly as capable as his father, the old bastard had been many things but stupid he was not, but this went from hardly as capable to utter stupidity. It didn't matter, he could not convince Andronikos to change his mind and he wasn't even certain he wanted to, under Michael imperial ships had been anything but shy to attack the Italian coast, he was living proof of that. An Andronikos without a fleet was an Andronikos who could not put any kind of pressure on him. But if come spring Andronikos was disbanding the fleet and reducing the army what was to become of the men and ships. He knew of many of them personally and his wife's family of even more. His despotate fragile as it was was underpopulated, he had just gotten his hands on several silver mines and Andronikos had just made available thousands of veteran crews and soldiers. He start drafting some urgent letters for Constantinople...
Messina, November 1284
Alaimo di Lentini was not a happy man. It was true that he had been made grand justiciar of the kingdom. But the Aragonese were systematically placing their own or Italians loyal only to Constance in positions of power. Of the three Sicilian barons who had led the revolution Gualtiero di Castiglione had been executed the previous year, Palmiero Abbate marginalised and only he retained a position of power. Meanwhile Sicily was being burdened by Aragonese mercenaries interested only in loot and money, Roger de Lauria had recently taken his fleet away from Sicily in order to go loot Jerba in the African coast. As if that was not enough that damn Greek schismatic had seized control of a third of the island. And his wife had a personal feud with the queen of all people, insulting her on every opportunity. Perhaps the revolution was after all a mistake. And thus he had begun to clandestinely communicate with Charles, to switch sides again. Only to be found apparently and infante James had given him orders to leave for Aragon immediately. Enough was enough. If the Aragonese, or the Greek wanted his head they could damn well come and take it he wouldn't offer it to them on a platter. He rose up.
Messina, December 1284
Queen Constance was troubled. Alaimo's revolt had failed in less than a month as Roger De Lauria and her cousin had fallen upon him immediately and the Sicilians upon realizing he was in contact with the hated Anjous had abandoned him. Alaimo had been captured and executed. Roger had perhaps played the most important role in the short unfortunate episode. But the besieged Messinese had opened their gates to Alexander, not Roger, probably fearing the reputation of Roger's men. And now Alexander was insisting that he could not abandon people who had voluntarily joined him while Roger was insisting that Messina was his and the treasonous Greeks had denuded him of his rightful spoils. The last thing she needed was a civil war between her cousin and her foster brother. She chose to compromise, short of. Messina would be kept by Alexander but Alexander would have to surrender Charles of Salerno to the crown. Roger would be given yet more land around Palermo and Trapani and her promise that he would receive a hefty amount from Charles ransom. The crisis had been averted. At least for now...
So, while Vatatzes, won't get ransom from Anjou, but he has got more than compensate for it, with Messina and his de facto control of the Messina Strait, by controlling both sides...
Also, thank to Andronicos near incomprehensible mistake, now has the chance to get a fleet with their trained crews to rival with the Aragonese. He, also might have secured both the defense and communication between his own Sicilian lands and the strategically crucial Calabrian mines.
Without mention what both his friendship with the Anjou heir and keeping, seemingly, most of the former Byzantine navy ships and crews. Both invaluable resources, available in case of crisis. And what it would imply as potential for the future of both Sicily and even perhaps the Byzantine Empire.
Things really are looking quite good for Alexandros now; more or less full control of the east of Sicily and Calabria with a population that being Greek and orthodox, is loyal to him. Adding on top he has the silver mines of Calabria plus the potential to recruit his own navy and more desperately needed soldiers from Andronikas' demobilisation. He's in position to do almost whatever he likes: continue under nominal Sicilian/Aragonese suzerainty, try for full independence, flip his lands to Byzantine suzerainty. Excited to see which way he decides to go
Just how rich are those Calabrian mines to employ a large part of the Roman navy and army? I would guess the Italian banks won't lend a schismatic money, till he proves more helpful, and the taxes wouldn't be enough I would guess from a war-torn area.
The imperial fleet alone is one of the biggest fleets in the Mediterranean. There were 80 galleys. At the same period, the Battle of Meloria was the biggest naval battle of the 13th century and it involved 88 genoese and 72 pisanese galleys. We also know that during the Vespers, the Messenians alone had 12 galleys. Later on, when Aragon attacked Sicily, the Sicilians had at least 48 galleys and the Aragonese 59. At this point in 1283-1285 it seems that de Lauria seems to have a maximum of 48 galleys available for battle. By 1285, Alexandros Vatatzes will have more warships than both the Angevins and the Aragonese.
It seems that in the OTL War of the Vespers, de Lauria was sustaining his fleet by raiding. The same strategy can be employed by Vatatzes. If he conquers Corfu , then he will have the perfect base to raid Apulia, a province rich in grain, olive oil and cattle and thriving with commerce.
Now what about part of the army that is disbanded?
An important part of the imperial army were the "Latins". By the 1280s, the Westerners in byzantine employment were either standing army mercenaries or pronoiars, who would act as reservists. I think it makes sense to keep for the time being the pronoiars and disband the standing mercenaries. Said soldiers would almost certainly be heavy cavalry in the western fashion.
A potential source of soldiers are the Cumans that John Vatatzes settles in Asia Minor. It seems that the Cumans were used both as a local light cavalry reserve at the Asia Minor border - to counter the Turkoman horse-archers with similar tactics, or employed as light cavalry of the field army. How many Cumans took part in the field army's campaigns in Europe? We know there were three mentions of groups of 300, 800 and 2,000. These were warriors that did not have strong bonds with the land, since there were settled in Asia Minor only a generation before the Vespers. If Vatatzes is able to attract a part of them, then he will have the best light cavalry in the region - true horse archers.
Other than the part of the Latins and Cumans of the standing army, I think there will be a continuous stream of Asia Minor small-holders that will continue to arrive in the Despotate. Overall, it seems that in 1285 Vatatzes will get a smallish but veteran army of both heavy and light cavalry. The decomissioned Imperials will be certainly much fewer than the armies of Aragon and even more of Anjou, but they would be quite possibly more numerous than the individual armies of the Guelph and Ghibelline cities of Italy. Now if you combine them with the troops Vatazes already has...
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Vatatzes has had so far good timing and a fair bi of luck, which probably amounts to the same thing. Had he not shown at Syracuse at the very time of the Sicilian vespers his prospects would had been far more problematic. He's running on said luck so far.
Directly confronting the Aragonese would be too risky at the moment. That said for the Aragonese crown an all too powerful vassal in Sicily is a problem. Then of course the house of Barcelona still had this tendency about splitting the country among the heirs, as done with the kingdom of Majorca for example.
Uncertain on the former I did not find any source with definite numbers. Extending up to Messina may well be more significant, it has added ~90,000 more people to the despotate. The other advantage is that Val di Noto, around which the despotate is centred combined both the lowest population density of Sicily, which means available land for settlement, with a very significant fraction of the island's agricultural production. Many of the crews of the imperial fleet were serving in exchange for land and Vatatzes has land to provide... The table below is from Epstein an Island for itself for 1283 taxation, Val de Noto is the second column
Messine also had a population of about 30,000. The 12 galleys at roughly 250 men per galley mean 10% of the total population.
There are population limitations. At the very least. Aside from economic ones and for that matter not everyone would be willing to go and set up shop in Sicily. On the other hand large numbers found employ with Genoa, Venice, or just went pirate. Even a fraction ending with Vatatzes means both a fleet for free and just as importantly a population boost. Prior to gaining Messina, the despotate had around 160,000 people. With Messina it is up to ~250,000 when the total population is ~850,000 (data from Epstein and the 1277 census) Which puts uper limits to the army and navy that can be sustained. Of course there is also Calabria, ~131,000 people more based on the 1320 tax list (from Sakellariou Southern Italy in the Late Middle Ages)
It won't be all that if subject to constant raiding, never mind alienating cities that were switching sides. Of course Roger also went raiding Byzantine territory in the Aegean... oh wait.
I think its reasonable to assume a trickle of immigrants from Asia Minor as the situation there keeps deteriorating. There was apparently a flow towards the European provinces and good king John was very popular for centuries after his death. Of course given the greater distances involved only a smallish fraction of the people leaving Asia Minor would have the ability to make it all the way to Sicily...
One thought occurred to me just now. The Renaissance (later on) was spurred in part by Roman thinkers migrating West from the falling empire. Perhaps some of these end up in the Despotate, which would surely seem somewhat more friendly and familiar to them.
It may be a little early for this, as I believe this migration largely started to pick up a few decades later in the 14th century, but it could leave the Despotate a serious center of learning, assuming Vatazes or his descendants don't end up marching back to Constantinople with an army of Sicilians at their backs.
It may be a little early for this, as I believe this migration largely started to pick up a few decades later in the 14th century, but it could leave the Despotate a serious center of learning, assuming Vatazes or his descendants don't end up marching back to Constantinople with an army of Sicilians at their backs.
Neither I, but I find that the Aragonese crown considered it as the more important/richer of their kingdoms.
Val de Noto was rich in agricultural production, but the Despotate has other resources as well. I am under the impression that at this point Calabria was the biggest producer of raw silk in Italy with Sicily perhaps being the second. Cotton was also a major sicilian export- and at this age it was a luxury commodity. Salt taxes were also a major soource of income: 1/10 of all indirect taxes in the Kingdom came from salt. While the great saltpans of Trapani are not under his control, he still controls many saltworks.
If he gets the imperial fleet then Vatatzes has other options as well: ever since the Norman times it was regular business for the rulers of Sicily to bully the rulers of Ifriqiya. Basically ... piracy, something the the Gasmouloi and Tzakones of the imperial fleet were familiar with. He might try to extract a tribute from Tunis in order to provide "protection". The original tribute that was imposed by Roger II was 34,300 gold besants. Of course Vatatzes has not behind him the full power of the Regno to be able to demand such large sum. But even half of it would be a very significant source of specie.
Last but not least, when it comes to new pronoiae for his men, there are also the Ionian Islands. With the imperial fleet both Corfu and the County Palatine of Cephalonia are at his mercy. In any case, they are fiefs of the King of Sicily, so they are "lawful" targets for Vatatzes.
It doesn't mean that all the crews were from Messina. I mean, certainly the ships belonged to Messine - a rich commercial center and the officers would be Messenians, but part of the crews may have been from other parts of Sicily or even not Sicilians at all.
So he can raid against the Principality of Achaea as well. By holding the Straight, his ships can also raid Campania and the shipping of Guelphs that support the Angevins.
I would add also Crete: after the Chortatzes Brothers' Revolt, their warriors found service in the Empire. However, they were settled in Asia Minor only in 1292 by Andronikos. So there is the possibility that part of them might migrate west. Later on, there will be also the Alexios Kallergis Revolt with another (I think smaller) exodus of Cretan warriors.
Edit: According to "The Italian Cotton Industry in the Late Middle Ages", sicilian cotton was of the lowest quality but Sicily was the largest source of supply after the Levant. Even so, it seems that cotton was very expensive.
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Part 12
Naples, January 1285
Charles I of Anjou had died at Foggia early in the month. With his heir Charles prince of Salerno still in Aragonese captivity his will had left the kingdom to his grandson, Charles Martel with Robert of Artois as regent till either Charles of Salerno was liberated or Charles Martel came of age. As if the trouble caused by Charles death was not enough, pope Martin had decided to meddle in the kingdom's affairs not accepting the ascendancy of the imprisoned Charles to the throne and placing his legate cardinal Gerard as co-regent with Robert.
Messina, January 17th, 1285
Delegates from the town of Gallipoli in Apulia reached Messina with news of the death of Charles and asking to be placed under the Sicilian crown. Soon they would be joined by representatives from more Apulian communes. Alexander and Roger di Laurua would be stupid not to take advantage of the opportunity offered to them. The Sicilian fleet would sail for Apulia as soon as weather permitted. Roger would not be able to remain for long. With a French invasion of Aragon underway he would soon be recalled to Iberian waters with his fleet to help defend Aragon.
Perpignan, October 5th, 1285
King Philip III of France died. His campaign against Aragon had been a complete disaster. The invading French army, per the chroniclers over 100,000 men strong had laid siege to Gerona till late June only for the town to stubbornly fight back. Then Roger's fleet had defeated the French at Las Formigas in early September cutting off the French line of supply. Gerona had fallen a day after the defeat at Las Formigas but it was too late for the French invasion. With half the army, Philip included wracked by fevers and its lines of supply cut off from Lauria's fleet. Philip had ordered his army to retreat in mid September. He would succumb himself to the illness three weeks later.
Sicily, November 1285
It was not a good year for the life expectancy of princes either secular or spiritual. The deaths of Philip III of France, Charles of Anjou and pope Martin IV were followed by that of Peter III of Aragon. Infante Alfonso would succeed him to the throne of Aragon while his second son Jaime would become king of Sicily. There had been some concern in the royal court of Palermo about the stance Alexandros Vatatzes would take, but he had quickly confirmed his loyalty to the throne. Of course that had come at the cost of confirming anew his control of Eastern Sicily and Calabria but one could not have everything...
Rome, March 1286
Pope Honorius IV had initiated numerous reforms to what he still called the kingdom of Sicily, that in his opinion removed any reason to continue in revolt. The Sicilians and Calabrians, and for that matter the Apulians appeared to be of a different opinion refusing to submit to the house of Anjou, Jaime had been officially crowned James II of Sicily back in February by the bishops of Cefalu and Nicastro. The new king had promptly sent an embassy to the Holy See to offer homage and ask for confirmation to the throne while earlier he had returned unharmed Papist agents sent to foment rebellion. Honorius would have none of it, summoning the bishops who had performed the coronation to Rome to apologize and excommunicating Jaime, Constance, Alexander and for good measure all the people of Sicily and Calabria.
Paris, July 1286
A truce was signed between France and Aragon, while the imprisoned Charles II signed a treaty of his own surrendering his claim to Sicily and Calabria in exchange for his liberty. But the later was totally unacceptable to pope Honorius who refused to accept the agreement. The war went on and Charles II remained in captivity.
Constantinople, December 1286
The dismissal of the fleet and reductions to the army caused issues Andronikos had not anticipated. The fleet his father had created had relied on the Prosalentai, rowrs given land for their service, the Tzakones, Greeks from Laconia and the Peloponnese and the Gasmouloi, originally descendants of mixed Greek and Latin marriages. The first group had not been entirely affected. The other two groups which relied on imperial wages had been especially hard hit with many threatened with outright starvation. They had reacted by taking service with anyone from Venice to even the Turkish emirates in Anatolia while many had just turned from corsair to pirate. It could had been even worse had Alexandros Vatatzes not stepped forward and recruiting many of the dismissed sailors. Nobody was entirely certain how many exactly had chosen his service, but it appeared that Alexandros had no more than two dozen galleys available. Andronikos was not particularly fond of Alexandros since the days they were both growing up in Michael's court but he had to grudgingly admit that his presence in Sicily was becoming useful in more than one ways...
Charles I of Anjou had died at Foggia early in the month. With his heir Charles prince of Salerno still in Aragonese captivity his will had left the kingdom to his grandson, Charles Martel with Robert of Artois as regent till either Charles of Salerno was liberated or Charles Martel came of age. As if the trouble caused by Charles death was not enough, pope Martin had decided to meddle in the kingdom's affairs not accepting the ascendancy of the imprisoned Charles to the throne and placing his legate cardinal Gerard as co-regent with Robert.
Messina, January 17th, 1285
Delegates from the town of Gallipoli in Apulia reached Messina with news of the death of Charles and asking to be placed under the Sicilian crown. Soon they would be joined by representatives from more Apulian communes. Alexander and Roger di Laurua would be stupid not to take advantage of the opportunity offered to them. The Sicilian fleet would sail for Apulia as soon as weather permitted. Roger would not be able to remain for long. With a French invasion of Aragon underway he would soon be recalled to Iberian waters with his fleet to help defend Aragon.
Perpignan, October 5th, 1285
King Philip III of France died. His campaign against Aragon had been a complete disaster. The invading French army, per the chroniclers over 100,000 men strong had laid siege to Gerona till late June only for the town to stubbornly fight back. Then Roger's fleet had defeated the French at Las Formigas in early September cutting off the French line of supply. Gerona had fallen a day after the defeat at Las Formigas but it was too late for the French invasion. With half the army, Philip included wracked by fevers and its lines of supply cut off from Lauria's fleet. Philip had ordered his army to retreat in mid September. He would succumb himself to the illness three weeks later.
Sicily, November 1285
It was not a good year for the life expectancy of princes either secular or spiritual. The deaths of Philip III of France, Charles of Anjou and pope Martin IV were followed by that of Peter III of Aragon. Infante Alfonso would succeed him to the throne of Aragon while his second son Jaime would become king of Sicily. There had been some concern in the royal court of Palermo about the stance Alexandros Vatatzes would take, but he had quickly confirmed his loyalty to the throne. Of course that had come at the cost of confirming anew his control of Eastern Sicily and Calabria but one could not have everything...
Rome, March 1286
Pope Honorius IV had initiated numerous reforms to what he still called the kingdom of Sicily, that in his opinion removed any reason to continue in revolt. The Sicilians and Calabrians, and for that matter the Apulians appeared to be of a different opinion refusing to submit to the house of Anjou, Jaime had been officially crowned James II of Sicily back in February by the bishops of Cefalu and Nicastro. The new king had promptly sent an embassy to the Holy See to offer homage and ask for confirmation to the throne while earlier he had returned unharmed Papist agents sent to foment rebellion. Honorius would have none of it, summoning the bishops who had performed the coronation to Rome to apologize and excommunicating Jaime, Constance, Alexander and for good measure all the people of Sicily and Calabria.
Paris, July 1286
A truce was signed between France and Aragon, while the imprisoned Charles II signed a treaty of his own surrendering his claim to Sicily and Calabria in exchange for his liberty. But the later was totally unacceptable to pope Honorius who refused to accept the agreement. The war went on and Charles II remained in captivity.
Constantinople, December 1286
The dismissal of the fleet and reductions to the army caused issues Andronikos had not anticipated. The fleet his father had created had relied on the Prosalentai, rowrs given land for their service, the Tzakones, Greeks from Laconia and the Peloponnese and the Gasmouloi, originally descendants of mixed Greek and Latin marriages. The first group had not been entirely affected. The other two groups which relied on imperial wages had been especially hard hit with many threatened with outright starvation. They had reacted by taking service with anyone from Venice to even the Turkish emirates in Anatolia while many had just turned from corsair to pirate. It could had been even worse had Alexandros Vatatzes not stepped forward and recruiting many of the dismissed sailors. Nobody was entirely certain how many exactly had chosen his service, but it appeared that Alexandros had no more than two dozen galleys available. Andronikos was not particularly fond of Alexandros since the days they were both growing up in Michael's court but he had to grudgingly admit that his presence in Sicily was becoming useful in more than one ways...
So Alexandros basically controls roughly (if not greater than) half of the Aragonese kingdom of Sicily? Nice
If you include Calabria he controls roughly 39% of the population. Excluding Calabria he controls a bit below 30%.
Part 13
Augusta, May 1st, 1287
The Angevin fleet, 40 galleys strong carrying an army of 5,000 foot soldiers and 500 horse under Rainald d'Avella descended upon the town. As luck would have it most of the adult population of the town was away on a fair at nearby Lentini leaving the town mostly defenceless, with only the old the young and the infirm left behind. Coupled with support for the Angevins from within, not everyone was happy for the ascend of Greek schismatics in Eastern Sicily, the Angevin forces were able to quickly take over the town despite its handful of defenders putting up a desperate resistance. The fleet went on south to unite with the second fleet that out of Sorento was to attack Western Sicily.
Augusta, May 10th, 1287
Alexandros Doukas Vatatzes had been caught by surprise by the Angevins. He had still reacted with commendable speed, assembling an army of 5,000 men [1] and a fleet of 30 galleys before the walls of Augusta within a week storming the town and putting its castle under siege. The Angevin commander despite being caught by surprise by the speed of Sicilian reaction had refused to surrender and fought on. Within a week Alexander would be joined by king James with yet more troops from western Sicily but the siege would go on into June despite the Apulians in the garrison attempting to rise up and then being forced out of the walls, Vatatzes would readily welcome them despite James misgivings that they could be just pretending to defect. But the town would finally surrender despite the discomfit of minority of the catholic priests that preferred the Angevins to Vatatzes and were not at all happy for his support of the Basilian monks despite the latter being technically catholic too.
Off Naples, June 23rd, 1287
Roger di Lauria had brought outside Naples 60 galleys, a third of them Syracusan. The five counts in command of the Angevin fleet, confident in their numerical superiority had come out to fight bringing 60 galleys of their own. The result was the worst disaster sufferer by Angevin arms since the start of the war with 53 galleys and nearly 7000 men captured. Between ransoms and spoils the Sicilian crews would not be short of money for a long time... [2]
Canfranc, October 1288
Charles II of Anjou was finally free. He would have to pay 50,000 silver marks and offer three of his sons as hostage till he secured an acceptable peace. But this mattered little. And a peace looked to be coming, een with Sicily a two years truce had been agreed even though Calabria was excempted from it...
[1] Sources vary but James apparently would recruit 3,000 foot and 700 horse from Eastern Sicily on the same occasion. Alexander has in addition military settlers from Greece and more small smallholders giving military service. On the other hand at least some of his army will be in Calabria...
[2] Battle of the counts but even worse than OTL...
The Angevin fleet, 40 galleys strong carrying an army of 5,000 foot soldiers and 500 horse under Rainald d'Avella descended upon the town. As luck would have it most of the adult population of the town was away on a fair at nearby Lentini leaving the town mostly defenceless, with only the old the young and the infirm left behind. Coupled with support for the Angevins from within, not everyone was happy for the ascend of Greek schismatics in Eastern Sicily, the Angevin forces were able to quickly take over the town despite its handful of defenders putting up a desperate resistance. The fleet went on south to unite with the second fleet that out of Sorento was to attack Western Sicily.
Augusta, May 10th, 1287
Alexandros Doukas Vatatzes had been caught by surprise by the Angevins. He had still reacted with commendable speed, assembling an army of 5,000 men [1] and a fleet of 30 galleys before the walls of Augusta within a week storming the town and putting its castle under siege. The Angevin commander despite being caught by surprise by the speed of Sicilian reaction had refused to surrender and fought on. Within a week Alexander would be joined by king James with yet more troops from western Sicily but the siege would go on into June despite the Apulians in the garrison attempting to rise up and then being forced out of the walls, Vatatzes would readily welcome them despite James misgivings that they could be just pretending to defect. But the town would finally surrender despite the discomfit of minority of the catholic priests that preferred the Angevins to Vatatzes and were not at all happy for his support of the Basilian monks despite the latter being technically catholic too.
Off Naples, June 23rd, 1287
Roger di Lauria had brought outside Naples 60 galleys, a third of them Syracusan. The five counts in command of the Angevin fleet, confident in their numerical superiority had come out to fight bringing 60 galleys of their own. The result was the worst disaster sufferer by Angevin arms since the start of the war with 53 galleys and nearly 7000 men captured. Between ransoms and spoils the Sicilian crews would not be short of money for a long time... [2]
Canfranc, October 1288
Charles II of Anjou was finally free. He would have to pay 50,000 silver marks and offer three of his sons as hostage till he secured an acceptable peace. But this mattered little. And a peace looked to be coming, een with Sicily a two years truce had been agreed even though Calabria was excempted from it...
[1] Sources vary but James apparently would recruit 3,000 foot and 700 horse from Eastern Sicily on the same occasion. Alexander has in addition military settlers from Greece and more small smallholders giving military service. On the other hand at least some of his army will be in Calabria...
[2] Battle of the counts but even worse than OTL...
The Sicilians, the Despotate is directly in control of Eastern Sicily and Calabria but the Angevins are on the attack. Vatatzes in person has every reason to concentrate forces in Calabria.
Part 14
Rieti, June 5th, 1289
Pope Nicholas crowned Charles II of Anjou king of Sicily and assigned to him a tithe of all church properties in Italy to continue the war against Aragon and Sicily. Charles who as part of the treaty of Canfranc the previous year had promised to bring peace with Aragon and actually was taking his own word seriously was not entirely happy with this. But being a loyal son of the Church and loyal to his family could do little about it for the the time being. But he would soon have his chance when a few months later Alfonso of Aragon and Roger de Lauria tried to besiege Gaeta and Charles army managed to entrap the Aragonese army between their own army and the walls of Gaeta. Charles ignored the papal instructions and the orders from the cardinals Nicholas had sent to him to force him to adhere to papal policy and instead signed a truce with Aragon. Then he'd left for France to convince Philip IV to agree to peace as well.
Brignoles, Februry 19th, 1291
Peace was finally concluded between the kingdom of Aragon, France, the Papacy and the kingdom of Sicily. But importantly the kingdom of Sicily was the Angevin Sicily. War against the actual Sicily was to go on, with Philip offering the papacy 200,000 pounds to finance the war against Sicily. But faith was to intervene when four months earlier Alfonso III of Aragon fell ill and died of his way to Rome. His brother James, already ruling over Sicily would inherit Aragon as well. James would quickly leave Sicily for Aragon but would refuse to give up his claim on Sicily. The pope promptly excommunicated James once more and for good measure the entire population of Sicily. But despite the excommunications and the rhetoric, James ever practical would start hinting that if sufficiently compensated he was willing to give up Sicily and come to terms. His new Aragonese subjects were not happy with continuing the war.
Messina, October 1292
The war had fallen into something of a hiatus following the death of pope Nicholas IV in April 1292 as everyone from Charles to James waited for the new pope to be elected and hoped for a peace settlement. Roger de Lauria having little to do with his fleet and piracy not being beneath him had taken thirty galleys in the Aegean in the summer, ostensibly aimed at the Angevin possessions in Greece. With the imperial fleet dismantled by Andronicus in his wisdom or lack of such, Roger had looted the coasts at his leisure attacking Greek and Frank alike, looting Chios, Lesvos, Lemnos, Tenos, Mykonos and Monemvasia among others. The only serious combat against the Angevins had taken combat by accident when Roger had stopped at Achaea to water his fleet and the local barons had attacked the Aragonese. Then Roger had completed his raid by looting Corfu, Cephallonia and the coast of Epirus before returning to Messina.
Alexandros could not let the subjects of his father get carried away to slavery. He could not attack Roger either. Thus he ransomed Roger's Greek prisoners. Going back to Greece was of course difficult if not impossible for the majority of them. Alexandros would settle them to unused land within the despotate.
Syracuse, February 1293
John Doukas Vatatzes, walked by the side of his father as the despot inspected the new fortifications being raised at the Epipolae, the eldest son of Alexandros and Maria Tarchaneiotes had just turned thirteen this month. Syracuse was reasonably well fortified already, but nowhere near the vast scale that had beaten back multiple Carthagian sieges and held the Romans at bay fifteen centuries earlier. But Alexander was both well read and paranoid. The fortifications of Syracuse were being steadily improved little by little over the past decade, with the work peaking up pace now that there was a lull in the war.
Constantinople, March 1293
Pinkernes Alexios Philanthropenos was made commander of the imperial army in Asia Minor and governor of all Asia Minor provinces aside from the coast of Ionia. Philanthropenos had been given vast authority, probably more than his uncle the emperor was comfortable with, but the challenge he was facing was no less vast. After three decades of neglect, with the empire's efforts directed west, heavy taxation and bad blood between the Asia Minor provinces and their Lascarid loyalist populations and the crown the position of the empire in the east was collapsing and the pressure of the Turkish emirates on its border.
Rome, December 1294
Celestine V, became the first pope in history to resign. Within a day he would be succeeded by Boniface VIII. The new pope, helped by James II and Philip IV of France would set at once at work for a final peace with Aragon, along the lines of the truce of Figueras the previous year.
Anagni, June 1295
Peace had finally come. James II would give up Sicily in exchange for Sardinia and marry Blanche, Charles II daughter. John of Procida and Roger de Lauria would be granted yet more land, titles and wealth to follow their master James in giving up Sicily. Frederick, James younger brother and governor of Sicily at the moment would marry Catherine de Courtenay the titular empress of the Latin empire of Constantinople. The excommunications would be lifted. Charles II would get back Sicily. Everyone was happy. Everyone but the Sicilians who offered Frederick the throne of Sicily and informed him in no uncertain terms that they were going to fight on with or without him. That was a sentiment Alexandros Doukas Vatatzes was more than willing to share. He was not going to give up his hard won land at the say so of no pope.
Pope Nicholas crowned Charles II of Anjou king of Sicily and assigned to him a tithe of all church properties in Italy to continue the war against Aragon and Sicily. Charles who as part of the treaty of Canfranc the previous year had promised to bring peace with Aragon and actually was taking his own word seriously was not entirely happy with this. But being a loyal son of the Church and loyal to his family could do little about it for the the time being. But he would soon have his chance when a few months later Alfonso of Aragon and Roger de Lauria tried to besiege Gaeta and Charles army managed to entrap the Aragonese army between their own army and the walls of Gaeta. Charles ignored the papal instructions and the orders from the cardinals Nicholas had sent to him to force him to adhere to papal policy and instead signed a truce with Aragon. Then he'd left for France to convince Philip IV to agree to peace as well.
Brignoles, Februry 19th, 1291
Peace was finally concluded between the kingdom of Aragon, France, the Papacy and the kingdom of Sicily. But importantly the kingdom of Sicily was the Angevin Sicily. War against the actual Sicily was to go on, with Philip offering the papacy 200,000 pounds to finance the war against Sicily. But faith was to intervene when four months earlier Alfonso III of Aragon fell ill and died of his way to Rome. His brother James, already ruling over Sicily would inherit Aragon as well. James would quickly leave Sicily for Aragon but would refuse to give up his claim on Sicily. The pope promptly excommunicated James once more and for good measure the entire population of Sicily. But despite the excommunications and the rhetoric, James ever practical would start hinting that if sufficiently compensated he was willing to give up Sicily and come to terms. His new Aragonese subjects were not happy with continuing the war.
Messina, October 1292
The war had fallen into something of a hiatus following the death of pope Nicholas IV in April 1292 as everyone from Charles to James waited for the new pope to be elected and hoped for a peace settlement. Roger de Lauria having little to do with his fleet and piracy not being beneath him had taken thirty galleys in the Aegean in the summer, ostensibly aimed at the Angevin possessions in Greece. With the imperial fleet dismantled by Andronicus in his wisdom or lack of such, Roger had looted the coasts at his leisure attacking Greek and Frank alike, looting Chios, Lesvos, Lemnos, Tenos, Mykonos and Monemvasia among others. The only serious combat against the Angevins had taken combat by accident when Roger had stopped at Achaea to water his fleet and the local barons had attacked the Aragonese. Then Roger had completed his raid by looting Corfu, Cephallonia and the coast of Epirus before returning to Messina.
Alexandros could not let the subjects of his father get carried away to slavery. He could not attack Roger either. Thus he ransomed Roger's Greek prisoners. Going back to Greece was of course difficult if not impossible for the majority of them. Alexandros would settle them to unused land within the despotate.
Syracuse, February 1293
John Doukas Vatatzes, walked by the side of his father as the despot inspected the new fortifications being raised at the Epipolae, the eldest son of Alexandros and Maria Tarchaneiotes had just turned thirteen this month. Syracuse was reasonably well fortified already, but nowhere near the vast scale that had beaten back multiple Carthagian sieges and held the Romans at bay fifteen centuries earlier. But Alexander was both well read and paranoid. The fortifications of Syracuse were being steadily improved little by little over the past decade, with the work peaking up pace now that there was a lull in the war.
Constantinople, March 1293
Pinkernes Alexios Philanthropenos was made commander of the imperial army in Asia Minor and governor of all Asia Minor provinces aside from the coast of Ionia. Philanthropenos had been given vast authority, probably more than his uncle the emperor was comfortable with, but the challenge he was facing was no less vast. After three decades of neglect, with the empire's efforts directed west, heavy taxation and bad blood between the Asia Minor provinces and their Lascarid loyalist populations and the crown the position of the empire in the east was collapsing and the pressure of the Turkish emirates on its border.
Rome, December 1294
Celestine V, became the first pope in history to resign. Within a day he would be succeeded by Boniface VIII. The new pope, helped by James II and Philip IV of France would set at once at work for a final peace with Aragon, along the lines of the truce of Figueras the previous year.
Anagni, June 1295
Peace had finally come. James II would give up Sicily in exchange for Sardinia and marry Blanche, Charles II daughter. John of Procida and Roger de Lauria would be granted yet more land, titles and wealth to follow their master James in giving up Sicily. Frederick, James younger brother and governor of Sicily at the moment would marry Catherine de Courtenay the titular empress of the Latin empire of Constantinople. The excommunications would be lifted. Charles II would get back Sicily. Everyone was happy. Everyone but the Sicilians who offered Frederick the throne of Sicily and informed him in no uncertain terms that they were going to fight on with or without him. That was a sentiment Alexandros Doukas Vatatzes was more than willing to share. He was not going to give up his hard won land at the say so of no pope.
At this point it seems Alexandros is the only realistic option for the people of Sicily with everyone else willing to sell them to the Pope/Angevins. What is the reason here for the Aragonese to relinquish their claim to Sicily? Historically they managed to keep the island for themselves and sign a favourable peace.