The eagle's left head
- Thread starter Lascaris
- Start date
There is always Visconti Milan, that has just gobbled up Angevin Piedmont with the help of Palaiologos Montferrat. They have a good reason to keep the Angevins down and the Despotate should be a major trade partner by now. Lastly, they won't like the Angevins to recover and return to their previous status of the active defender of Guelphs in northern Italy.
On the plus side, at this point Theodore should be able to collect the tunisian tribute: he controls now all Sicily and thus the tunisian grain supply and he has a more powerful fleet than the OTL Neapolitan Angevins or the OTL Sicilians. The tribute stood at 34,300 gold coins and sometimes the equivalent in gold dust. I am not sure of the weight of the Zirid dinar, but considering that Tunis was one of the main entry point of West African gold dust, I would say that it would have more gold than the OTL byzantine hyperpyron, similar to that of a ducat.
Speaking of Tunis and North Africa, there is one good thing when it comes to papal interdicts: You can trade on a large scale with muslim states. That includes both the Maghreb and Granada. These markets were dominated by Majorcan and Catalan merchants and exported gold, leather and wool. There is a chance that Sicilian merchants will dominate the tunisian market and gain access to the rest of the muslim markets while the Aragonese are at war with the Genoese.
Then there is the development of Basilicata being conquered. It is a central location, that allows Theodore launching multiple chevauchée raids towards Terra di Bari, Capitanata and even Principato Ultra and Citra. The loot would help a bit to maintain the army while most of the remaining angevin regions are devastated with the exception of Terra di Lavoro and Molise. If anything, the Sicilians have the right tools for the job: stradioti light cavalry that can be augmented by Albanians and the remaining few hundred Cumans (between sending half to Greece and the plague I doubt more than a few hundred have survived, unless Istvan's men join them). Considering that Terra di Lavoro and Principato have suffered already by the hungarian army living off the land, the Angevins and their barons will be hard pressed for a coherent response, at least in the short term.
While the remaining angevin holdings are being devastated, Calabria and western Sicily - the Despotate's core, remain untouched from enemy raids. Of course, all Europe is devastated by the plague. Even if Theodore reduces his field army, he can still besiege one apulian holding after the other and I guess Gravina's time is up. I would also expect that the Sicilians would do their best to fortify Ischia and a squadron there can sustain itself by raiding, while causing great damage to the campanian economy.
EDIT: It would make sense that the Siege of Naples will be devastating for the city and perhaps other coastal cities as well. Even in good times, part of the needed grain was imported. I expect that post-plague the need for imported grain is much greater. However, there is a hungarian army eating the produce of Campania for a year now while the Sicilians are blockading the coast - that's a major butterfly compared to OTL. Regardless of the outcome of the siege, Naples and most likely Gaeta, Salerno and Amalfi will starve and the demographic impact will be greater than in OTL.
EDIT 2: According to " Myth and Metrology: The Early Trans-Saharan Gold Trade", the Hafsids produced "heavy" dinars of 4,7g. If we assume a similar purity to the ducat, then the value of the tunisian tribute could have been 46,000 ducats. Nothing to sneeze at.
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Nothing to sneeze at indeed.
But Lascaris mentions 200-300k ducats deficit per annum, but since the Despotate's debt is mentioned standing at 370k in March 1349, I suppose we are nearing 650k into 1351.
There are also the Cuman mercenaries mentioned here and there. Two thousands recruited in the leadup to the battle of the Imera (may-june 1347), one thousand deployed in Greece (march 1349). Since Calabria is easily defensible and the Val di Mazara has been completely conquered, making it one land border less to defend, I don't suppose the Lascarids kept these Cumans on their payroll for the whole two years between Imera and Pharsalus. But since then?
If they keeping paying for these in Thessaly, Michael and Alexandros better seek a decisive engagement with the Serbs soon, before they can't afford the Cumans any longer. If they achieve a decisive victory on the Serbs, they could get Dusan to agree on a status quo ante peace or truce, ie the Serbs retain Byzantine Macedonia and Epirus, but vacate Lascarid Thessaly; that's still leaves the Serbs with something big, and if Lajos is busy against the Lithuanians while still having a foot in Italy, then Bosnia might look more appealing.
The only certain comfort will be that the Joanna and Louis are worse off in Naples, so however it goes with the Hungarians, I'd suppose that they won't refuse Theodore's offer of a truce a second time. Once the Terra di Otranto is properly integrated into the Lascarid empire, it should be strong enough to defend against Neapolitan attacks on its own if we work with Lascaris' demographic figures (though I guess that won't be really possible for another decade or so at least).
Then, it will almost be three years Palermo has opened its gates to Theodore, four since they took Rhodes, five probably since the conquest of Vonitsa, Lepanto, and the whole of Angevin Aetolia/Arcanania with them. The plague has subsided, and these are regions which now have been at relative peace, ie not wartorn anymore, and which should be experiencing new growth, growth which should start to fill again the Despotate's treasury.
Well, the land is depopulated, especially Basilicata. The typical playbook of the Lascarids was to settle mercenaries in pronoias. Actually Ioannis Vatatzes settled Cumans at the Meander valley like that. Theodore can also invite albanian clans to settle Basilicata in return for military service. I mention Albanians because by virtue of being pastoralists instead of farmers they didn't suffer as much from the plague.
Before the plague, settling large numbers of pastoralists (Cumans, Albanians) would have been difficult since the population density was the highest since the roman era. But now that the pastoralist Basilicata has experienced a demographic collapse? Now it is easy and reduces the fiscal burden.
Moreover, the Lascarids don't need to keep all their fleet mobilized as during the first years of the war. They can demobilize part of the fleet and send those galleys to Alexandria to bring spices to Europe. At the same time, conveniently, all the other commercial powers are fighting each other from Bosporus to Sardinia.
There is Rhodes as well. While not as rich as Chios or Lesvos, the island was still wealthy. At 1521, the Hospital's income from the Dodecanese stood at 47,000 ducats. Another source states that in 1330 "The Knights had a theoretical income of 80,000 florins, and a realistic income of about 45,000 or 50,000". What is the realistic income? I would say their income from the Dodecanese. Lascaris has also mentioned that in 1392 the Hospital had an income of 45,000 ducats. So let's say, that post-plague Rhodes can provide around 22,000 ducats.
Corfu is a nice addition as well, although the island is not as rich it would be in the 16th century. I expect though that Gryphon has captured the angevin holdings at the mainland across the island: Bouthroton/Buntrint and the castle of Igoumenitsa. The former has a thriving export business of salted fish and salt. It is not much and these holdings might suffer from Serbian attacks, but I wanted to mention them.
That's the problem with a truce right now: The vast majority of Terra di Otranto belongs to Louis. Theodore would assume that Louis will do his best to recover his Principality, otherwise his internal position will be very precarious. While Theodore is hurting right now, why give Louis the time to recover ? I agree that a truce will be in the cards, but only after Louis has been defanged, meaning Bari hosting Lascarid/Hohenstaufen double-headed eagle banners.
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Well, that does not need to be right now, there is still the campaign seasons of 1351 to see through, but my sense is that a truce come 1352 might be justified since both sides are going to be financially exhausted (the Despotate) or ruined/bankrupt (Naples) at this pace.
From the Venice entry, we know that the Terra di Otranto will be completely taken over before the year's end, so an attack on Bari while the fighting is still ongoing in Naples is in the cards for 1351, but the situation around Naples is unlikely to stay stable in either side's favor, so it's unlikely the Lascarids won't have a free hand beyond 1351.
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On the Cumans I think worth to be noted that even if keeping them on hire and deploying them, would, as already, noted 'd be highly onerous for the Depotate Treasure, it still is a very necessary and worth one. But, it's one that at least to middle term, may if deemed necessary perhap it be reduced. Either with the hiring or raising of their own Turcopoles (mounted archers) units or even if a mor large term with the Vatatzes own version of the Alexios I's Archontopouloi...
Was under the impression that most of their cavalry units are capable of horse archery. The cavalry tradition of Anatolian Romans derived from the need to combat Persian horse archers and later Turkic horse archers.Difference was that horse archery units from sedentary societies were kinda subpar compared to ones raised from nomads.
I think the Cumans were pastoralists? And frankly quite a few ppls (including the Greeks) in the Balkans lead pastoralist lifestyles that would encourage development of horse archers, and they'd still be not bad, especially when you compare them to the heavy knights of Europe.
I'd still think that the Cumans and other ppls who live in the plains and hunt on horseback are still a lot better at being cavalry archers than other ppls tho.
tbf I think in the future Tunis would be a great conquest for the Lascarids when Anatolia is secure. It'd allow them to close the strait of Sicily on anyone they want to, which would really fuck with anyone trying to be the hegemon of the med. The gold and ivory would be very lucrative too, even if they stop the slave trade which will become more prevalent in the future.
I think other than Venice/Aragon attacking the Lascarids the Lascarids would have a free hand in Aquila. Louis of Hungary's armies would be seiging Naples while the Lascarid navy prevents food from going in and Joanna from running. If anything I see Louis of Hungary capturing Joanna and Louis of Taranto and either killing them or taking them to Hungary as prisoners.
This would prob just cause a break down of the Angevin system for the rest of the lands that're not under Lalle and Theodore, bc frankly I don't see Maria and co taking over and leading a resistance as the other nobles wouldn't want to work with her.
By the way, there is another way to fund the war: bonds.
I don't see why not to be honest. Theodore seems to follow on the steps of Ioannis and Alexandros and he acts in a responsible manner. That he raised debt to fund a war for the very preservation of his realm makes sense. Compare him with Robert the Wise who was raising huge amounts of debt so that he could fund at the same time the angevin interventions in north Italy, his wars against Frederick AND maintain at the same time the most opulent court in Europe.
The Venetians have already established a public debt debt policy and institutions. The venetian debt was structured between floating debt and long-term funded debt. The latter was funded through assigned tax revenues. Syracuse can assign the income from the Longobucco silver mines to that end. Lastly, Venice issued life annuities as Holland would do later on. Then there is the genoan paradigm that will take place in 1407: The Casa of San Giorgio that was founded as a creditors’ association that sought to protect the rights of the creditors.
I would think that the venetian route would be the one that a crownless monarch would take. After all, it seems that Gian Galeazzo Visconti tried to float bonds and establish a bond market - I think he had the venetian paradigm in mind. Gian Galeazzo failed to do so, but from a certain point of view he was more despotic than Theodore is and at the same time he yielded less power and had less legitimacy, with more active stakeholders at play. On the other hand, if Theodore asks the burghers of Messina to loan him money, they might try to form a proto-San Giorgio association to make sure they will get repaid. After all, in this proto-modern state political power is shared between the ruler and the communes. Likewise, if Theodore forces his wealthy subjects to buy venetian-style bonds, the communes can demand that the bonds would be transferable and establish a market for them.
Overall, it seems very plausible to me that the Despotate can establish such fiscal tools. Having said that, it is also very plausible that another ruler can royally muck it up. However, Theodore seems to be cut from the same cloth as his father and grandfather.
EDIT: I believe the merchants of Messina would salivate at the idea of controlling the apulian wheat trade ( meaning Taranto, certain parts of Terra di Bari and Capitanata). Already perhaps the most important part of their turnover is from peddling sicilian wheat. If Apulia is part of the Despotate, then they can be the major players in the Mediterranean grain trade.
I don't see why not to be honest. Theodore seems to follow on the steps of Ioannis and Alexandros and he acts in a responsible manner. That he raised debt to fund a war for the very preservation of his realm makes sense. Compare him with Robert the Wise who was raising huge amounts of debt so that he could fund at the same time the angevin interventions in north Italy, his wars against Frederick AND maintain at the same time the most opulent court in Europe.
The Venetians have already established a public debt debt policy and institutions. The venetian debt was structured between floating debt and long-term funded debt. The latter was funded through assigned tax revenues. Syracuse can assign the income from the Longobucco silver mines to that end. Lastly, Venice issued life annuities as Holland would do later on. Then there is the genoan paradigm that will take place in 1407: The Casa of San Giorgio that was founded as a creditors’ association that sought to protect the rights of the creditors.
I would think that the venetian route would be the one that a crownless monarch would take. After all, it seems that Gian Galeazzo Visconti tried to float bonds and establish a bond market - I think he had the venetian paradigm in mind. Gian Galeazzo failed to do so, but from a certain point of view he was more despotic than Theodore is and at the same time he yielded less power and had less legitimacy, with more active stakeholders at play. On the other hand, if Theodore asks the burghers of Messina to loan him money, they might try to form a proto-San Giorgio association to make sure they will get repaid. After all, in this proto-modern state political power is shared between the ruler and the communes. Likewise, if Theodore forces his wealthy subjects to buy venetian-style bonds, the communes can demand that the bonds would be transferable and establish a market for them.
Overall, it seems very plausible to me that the Despotate can establish such fiscal tools. Having said that, it is also very plausible that another ruler can royally muck it up. However, Theodore seems to be cut from the same cloth as his father and grandfather.
EDIT: I believe the merchants of Messina would salivate at the idea of controlling the apulian wheat trade ( meaning Taranto, certain parts of Terra di Bari and Capitanata). Already perhaps the most important part of their turnover is from peddling sicilian wheat. If Apulia is part of the Despotate, then they can be the major players in the Mediterranean grain trade.
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Part 62
Chalkis, November 1350
The city, Negreponte to the Franks, was a Venetian stronghold since the time of the 4th crusade. Back in September it had received a Venetian squadron of 35 galleys, fresh from attacking 14 Genoese ships outside Nauplion and capturing 10 of them, much to the concern of Michael Philanthropenos as the battle had taken place in despotate waters. Now the four surviving Genoese ships, joined with five more from Galata struck back, making a daring raid in the port helped by the Genoese prisoners rising up. The Genoese would set the city of fire, a success that would cost both the Venetian admiral and the Venetian podesta their jobs...
Barcelona, January 1351
Peter IV of Aragon joined the war against Genoa on the side of Venice. Aragon promised to provide 18 galleys to the common war effort, two thirds of which would be paid by Venice. It was a promise Aragon would not just meet but actually exceed, with a fleet of 30 galleys sent only to the Aegean. Come May emperor Ioannis VI would also join the war providing a dozen ships out of which eight would be paid by Venice.
Naples, March 1351
Louis of Taranto led the royal army against the Hungarians besieging Naples. Helped by a not at all popular sale of Avignon to the pope for 80,000 ducats, Louis had managed to bring together am army of 11,000 men. Lackfi was by now actually outnumbered, as Louis had taken his Hungarians and Cumans back to Hungary and with a new war starting against Lithuania needed money back home. But Louis was above all else a stubborn man, even with war against Lithuania, Lackfi had been given just enough money to keep his mercenaries on the field... after squeezing the areas of the regno under Hungarian control white in taxation. But he would be severely defeated by Louis losing 3,000 out of his 8,000 men. Louis would enter relieved Naples in triumph. Then he would march south hoping to deal with the Sicilians now that the Hungarians had been checked.
Thessaloniki, April 1351
The dekarch start berating the unfortunate recruit that had dropped his pike. Little had changed in Thessaloniki since the great city had proclaimed for the despotate the previous year. Alexandros Philanthropenos, Michael's younger son had replaced pro-Serb Palaiologos who had fled the city for Athos as archon, Metochites the other archon had retained his position and a small contingent of despotate soldiers and civil servants had been shipped in to help reorganize the city. The despotate could not afford much more at the moment, Theodore had even demobilized half his fleet to reduce costs, a safe decision after the near destruction of both the Aydinid and Angevin fleets the previous years. If the commune had hoped for more spectacular support it would have to wait.
Bari, April 1351
The Sicilian army and navy placed the city under siege. But with the news of Louis marching against him, Theodore would be forced to raise the siege and march west to meet the Angevin army...
Constantinople, May 1351
What was supposed to be the final synod to solve the hesychast controversy was called. Presided over by Ioannis VI and the new patriarch Callistus a strong Palamite supporter its results were to be expected in advance. Hesychasm was proclaimed official church doctrine, anti-hesychast bishops deposed and Nikephoros Gregoras the most vocal anti-hesychast condemned and excommunicated. Gregoras would not wait for his condemnation taking instead a ship to Athens and ending up with a position in the university of Syracuse where he would die in 1360. But the decisions of the synod would be outright refused both by the strongly Barlaamite church within the despotate and elsewhere outside the empire with metropolitan Theognostus of Kiev calling Palamism "Greek polytheism".
Ofanto river, June 1351
If Louis had hoped to catch the Sicilians by surprise outside Bari, Theodore had been too experienced a commander to fall for that. If Theodore had hoped to join up with the Hungarians neither Louis nor for that matter the Hungarians had cooperated. When the two armies had finally met for battle the Sicilian army was only slightly superior in numbers with 10,000 met to 9,000. Theodore would win a hard fought victory with the Sicilians taking about 1,500 casualties and the Neapolitans slightly over 2,000. As Louis would retreat back to Naples Theodore would turn back east placing Bari again under siege.
Genoa, July 1351
A fleet of 60 galleys under Paganino Doria left the city for the Aegean. Doria would put Chalkis under siege in August, only to be forced to raise it upon news of an approaching Venetian-Aragonese fleet of 52 galleys. Doria would then raid Tenedos and Lesbos and try to attack Heraclea on the cost of Thrace only to be rebuffed by the imperial army, before sailing to Galata to wait out the winter. There the Genoese would receive supplies by both the Ottomans and the Aydinids despite the marriage of Orhan to Theodora Kantakouzene and the earlier alliance with Aydin.
Central Greece, September 1351
The Sicilian army retreated behind mount Othrys. After one more year of campaign the Serbs had managed to push the despotate almost entirely out of Thessaly, only Demetrias was holding out thanks to support from the sea. But Theodore had again refused to sign a peace treaty. The war would go on for one more year. But it would continue without Michael Philanthropenos who would pass out in October.
Bari, October 1351
The town surrendered to the Sicilians. It wasn't good news for the Neapolitans but then besides some minor gains against the Hungarians there were preciously little good news anyway. The Sicilians were by now holding Basilicata, Terra di Otranto and Terra di Bari and the local population whether Greek or Latin speaking was showing little if now discontent about the change of management. In the north, Lalle I Camponeschi was in open revolt, having proclaimed his ostensible support for the Hungarians and was directly controlling two thirds of Abruzzo Ultra. The Hungarians themselves despite their defeat outside Naples were still holding Capitanata, Principato Ultra and parts of Terra di Lavoro and Canto di Molisse. But Louis and Joanna could at least count upon the support of pope Clement VI and hope both the Hungarians and Sicilians would be distracted by their wars against Lithuania and Serbia respectively.
Syracuse, December 1351
Adrienne Doukas Vatatzes Lascaris smiled at the woman holding her in her hands. Her grandmother returned the smile. Life could be good after all. If her son had been here it would had been even better but Alexandros had to hurriedly return to Athens after the death of Michael.
Bosporus, February 1352
The joint fleet of Venice, Aragon and Byzantium gave battle with the Genoese. The allies had numerical superiority with 75 galleys facing 64 but bad coordination between them would lead to them losing twice as many ships as the Genoese who would lose 13 galleys, with the Aragonese taking particularly heavy casualties losing 19 out of their 30 ships. The failure would be made even worse when the Venetians under Niccolo Pisani, instead of staying in Constantinople and attacking Pera as Ioannis VI proposed would instead sail away leaving Ioannis to his own devices.
Messina, February 1352
Alexios Philanthropenos the younger, eldest son of the late Michael Philanthropenos reviewed the 5,000 his uncle had placed under his command. As soon as weather allowed they would be boarding the ships on their way east to join up with the army under Alexandros. The despotate had been forced to retreat again and again before Serb superior numbers. It was time to see how the Serbs liked a more equal fight...
The city, Negreponte to the Franks, was a Venetian stronghold since the time of the 4th crusade. Back in September it had received a Venetian squadron of 35 galleys, fresh from attacking 14 Genoese ships outside Nauplion and capturing 10 of them, much to the concern of Michael Philanthropenos as the battle had taken place in despotate waters. Now the four surviving Genoese ships, joined with five more from Galata struck back, making a daring raid in the port helped by the Genoese prisoners rising up. The Genoese would set the city of fire, a success that would cost both the Venetian admiral and the Venetian podesta their jobs...
Barcelona, January 1351
Peter IV of Aragon joined the war against Genoa on the side of Venice. Aragon promised to provide 18 galleys to the common war effort, two thirds of which would be paid by Venice. It was a promise Aragon would not just meet but actually exceed, with a fleet of 30 galleys sent only to the Aegean. Come May emperor Ioannis VI would also join the war providing a dozen ships out of which eight would be paid by Venice.
Naples, March 1351
Louis of Taranto led the royal army against the Hungarians besieging Naples. Helped by a not at all popular sale of Avignon to the pope for 80,000 ducats, Louis had managed to bring together am army of 11,000 men. Lackfi was by now actually outnumbered, as Louis had taken his Hungarians and Cumans back to Hungary and with a new war starting against Lithuania needed money back home. But Louis was above all else a stubborn man, even with war against Lithuania, Lackfi had been given just enough money to keep his mercenaries on the field... after squeezing the areas of the regno under Hungarian control white in taxation. But he would be severely defeated by Louis losing 3,000 out of his 8,000 men. Louis would enter relieved Naples in triumph. Then he would march south hoping to deal with the Sicilians now that the Hungarians had been checked.
Thessaloniki, April 1351
The dekarch start berating the unfortunate recruit that had dropped his pike. Little had changed in Thessaloniki since the great city had proclaimed for the despotate the previous year. Alexandros Philanthropenos, Michael's younger son had replaced pro-Serb Palaiologos who had fled the city for Athos as archon, Metochites the other archon had retained his position and a small contingent of despotate soldiers and civil servants had been shipped in to help reorganize the city. The despotate could not afford much more at the moment, Theodore had even demobilized half his fleet to reduce costs, a safe decision after the near destruction of both the Aydinid and Angevin fleets the previous years. If the commune had hoped for more spectacular support it would have to wait.
Bari, April 1351
The Sicilian army and navy placed the city under siege. But with the news of Louis marching against him, Theodore would be forced to raise the siege and march west to meet the Angevin army...
Constantinople, May 1351
What was supposed to be the final synod to solve the hesychast controversy was called. Presided over by Ioannis VI and the new patriarch Callistus a strong Palamite supporter its results were to be expected in advance. Hesychasm was proclaimed official church doctrine, anti-hesychast bishops deposed and Nikephoros Gregoras the most vocal anti-hesychast condemned and excommunicated. Gregoras would not wait for his condemnation taking instead a ship to Athens and ending up with a position in the university of Syracuse where he would die in 1360. But the decisions of the synod would be outright refused both by the strongly Barlaamite church within the despotate and elsewhere outside the empire with metropolitan Theognostus of Kiev calling Palamism "Greek polytheism".
Ofanto river, June 1351
If Louis had hoped to catch the Sicilians by surprise outside Bari, Theodore had been too experienced a commander to fall for that. If Theodore had hoped to join up with the Hungarians neither Louis nor for that matter the Hungarians had cooperated. When the two armies had finally met for battle the Sicilian army was only slightly superior in numbers with 10,000 met to 9,000. Theodore would win a hard fought victory with the Sicilians taking about 1,500 casualties and the Neapolitans slightly over 2,000. As Louis would retreat back to Naples Theodore would turn back east placing Bari again under siege.
Genoa, July 1351
A fleet of 60 galleys under Paganino Doria left the city for the Aegean. Doria would put Chalkis under siege in August, only to be forced to raise it upon news of an approaching Venetian-Aragonese fleet of 52 galleys. Doria would then raid Tenedos and Lesbos and try to attack Heraclea on the cost of Thrace only to be rebuffed by the imperial army, before sailing to Galata to wait out the winter. There the Genoese would receive supplies by both the Ottomans and the Aydinids despite the marriage of Orhan to Theodora Kantakouzene and the earlier alliance with Aydin.
Central Greece, September 1351
The Sicilian army retreated behind mount Othrys. After one more year of campaign the Serbs had managed to push the despotate almost entirely out of Thessaly, only Demetrias was holding out thanks to support from the sea. But Theodore had again refused to sign a peace treaty. The war would go on for one more year. But it would continue without Michael Philanthropenos who would pass out in October.
Bari, October 1351
The town surrendered to the Sicilians. It wasn't good news for the Neapolitans but then besides some minor gains against the Hungarians there were preciously little good news anyway. The Sicilians were by now holding Basilicata, Terra di Otranto and Terra di Bari and the local population whether Greek or Latin speaking was showing little if now discontent about the change of management. In the north, Lalle I Camponeschi was in open revolt, having proclaimed his ostensible support for the Hungarians and was directly controlling two thirds of Abruzzo Ultra. The Hungarians themselves despite their defeat outside Naples were still holding Capitanata, Principato Ultra and parts of Terra di Lavoro and Canto di Molisse. But Louis and Joanna could at least count upon the support of pope Clement VI and hope both the Hungarians and Sicilians would be distracted by their wars against Lithuania and Serbia respectively.
Syracuse, December 1351
Adrienne Doukas Vatatzes Lascaris smiled at the woman holding her in her hands. Her grandmother returned the smile. Life could be good after all. If her son had been here it would had been even better but Alexandros had to hurriedly return to Athens after the death of Michael.
Bosporus, February 1352
The joint fleet of Venice, Aragon and Byzantium gave battle with the Genoese. The allies had numerical superiority with 75 galleys facing 64 but bad coordination between them would lead to them losing twice as many ships as the Genoese who would lose 13 galleys, with the Aragonese taking particularly heavy casualties losing 19 out of their 30 ships. The failure would be made even worse when the Venetians under Niccolo Pisani, instead of staying in Constantinople and attacking Pera as Ioannis VI proposed would instead sail away leaving Ioannis to his own devices.
Messina, February 1352
Alexios Philanthropenos the younger, eldest son of the late Michael Philanthropenos reviewed the 5,000 his uncle had placed under his command. As soon as weather allowed they would be boarding the ships on their way east to join up with the army under Alexandros. The despotate had been forced to retreat again and again before Serb superior numbers. It was time to see how the Serbs liked a more equal fight...
I know I don't comment much but I just wanted to say that I'm very much enjoying this story; real interesting to see a byzantine/kingdom of Sicily hybrid nation that's technically not independent and is technically in communion with Rome (or was until this latest war) but in reality is its own thing trying to just survive amidst the turmoil of late medieval politics and religion. Will they take up the mantel of the Basileia tōn Rhōmaiōn? Just how much land will they recover from the Neapolitans, Serbs, Ottomans etc? Idk but it's been a great journey so far finding out 
I am actually thinking whether the despotate would(or could) conquer all of italy or just the southern portions. If the latter, I am just crackling thinking about the future where the Italians nationalists are trying to see if a united Italy includes a very greek southern italy.
Mmmmm why are you jumping the gun in saying that the despotate should conquer all of Italy?
Plus consider that the formation of the concept of Italy was formed in the process of the Risorgimento so probably not .
All the Italian focus would be instead be on bashing the head bleeding toward France or the eventual German monarch depending on the timelines.
Afterward that period I could see nationalist include Campania ,Molise and Puglia alta in dreams of unification .
But not the rest of the south.
Another great update!
In the ATL War of the Straits, the Genoese lack Chios, that provided both manpower and income. The Venetians lack the Cyclades that provided very little income but it was a valuable source of naval manpower. At least the Genoese have access to their tradional recruiting grounds (Liguria, Corsica and Provence). Both italian powers have lost access to attract mercenary crews from the Principality of Achaea and the County Palatine of Cephalonia. As long as the war lasts, the Venetians cannot dare anger Lajos in case he comes back to Dalmatia and then all hope is lost. So I doubt they would attack his allies who are currently fighting Louis.
Louis controls Principato Citra, with Molise and Terra di Lavoro being contested. I doubt he will get much help from the former, sandwiched bewtween Lalle and the Hungarians. At the same time, the Sicilians from Ischia cause a lot of problems to the coastal cities that would need garrisons, It would be rather embarrassing to lose e.g. Gaeta. The economy also will be suffering. Considering the circumstances, I doubt he will be able to field a larger host in the next campaining season. Then there is a political issue: the only powerful nobles that can assist him at this point are the de Baux and de Sabran families, who happen to have parts of their land occupied by Istvan. Other magnates like the Sanseverino are not of much help now since they lost all their land.
I did some reading on Istvan. It seems that Lajos trusted him and considered him competent. Even after the disaster of the first neapolitan campaign, he continued to trust him. During the second neapolitan campaign, he even gave him more fiefs, both in Hungary and in the Regno. In an award certificate, Lajos stresses Istvan's fidelity and exploits. Overall, it seems that at least Istvan was not an idiot. He faces now a much more weakened Louis compared to OTL and he still controls a lot of castles and a sizeable army. I doubt he will go down easily or quickly.
One of the last towns Istvan held in OTL was Troia, Capitanata's border bastion founded by the great Catepan Basil Boioannes. It would be a shame if Greeks returned to ... Troy. This time on destriers, not inside wooden horses.
Interesting information from Stanton's "Medieval Maritime Warfare" :
In the ATL War of the Straits, the Genoese lack Chios, that provided both manpower and income. The Venetians lack the Cyclades that provided very little income but it was a valuable source of naval manpower. At least the Genoese have access to their tradional recruiting grounds (Liguria, Corsica and Provence). Both italian powers have lost access to attract mercenary crews from the Principality of Achaea and the County Palatine of Cephalonia. As long as the war lasts, the Venetians cannot dare anger Lajos in case he comes back to Dalmatia and then all hope is lost. So I doubt they would attack his allies who are currently fighting Louis.
The rate the Venetians were paying was 1,000 ducats per galley per month.
Louis is left with ~7,000 men and more territory occupied by Theodore. Istvan has around 5,000 men and I would expect Theodore to have a field army of at least 5,000 men. He may have incurred casualties and sent a host to Greece, but he has significantly expanded his domain. I wouldn't be surprised if Lalle had 1,500-2,000 men in Abruzzo.
Louis controls Principato Citra, with Molise and Terra di Lavoro being contested. I doubt he will get much help from the former, sandwiched bewtween Lalle and the Hungarians. At the same time, the Sicilians from Ischia cause a lot of problems to the coastal cities that would need garrisons, It would be rather embarrassing to lose e.g. Gaeta. The economy also will be suffering. Considering the circumstances, I doubt he will be able to field a larger host in the next campaining season. Then there is a political issue: the only powerful nobles that can assist him at this point are the de Baux and de Sabran families, who happen to have parts of their land occupied by Istvan. Other magnates like the Sanseverino are not of much help now since they lost all their land.
I did some reading on Istvan. It seems that Lajos trusted him and considered him competent. Even after the disaster of the first neapolitan campaign, he continued to trust him. During the second neapolitan campaign, he even gave him more fiefs, both in Hungary and in the Regno. In an award certificate, Lajos stresses Istvan's fidelity and exploits. Overall, it seems that at least Istvan was not an idiot. He faces now a much more weakened Louis compared to OTL and he still controls a lot of castles and a sizeable army. I doubt he will go down easily or quickly.
One of the last towns Istvan held in OTL was Troia, Capitanata's border bastion founded by the great Catepan Basil Boioannes. It would be a shame if Greeks returned to ... Troy. This time on destriers, not inside wooden horses.
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the Hesychast controversy is going to continue to essentially split the churches between the Despotate and the empire, and with a strong political force (and a university to boot) supporting anti-hesychasm (Barlaamism?) I see Hesychasm quickly becoming less and less popular, and eventually outlawed by the Despotate when they control more and more of what is former empire territory.
Also, I'd imagine there'd be significant brain drain from the Empire to the despotate, with quite a few intellectuals leaving for better pastures. The university of Syracuse would become quite prestigious pretty quickly.
Sad that Micheal Philantropenos dies fighting the scourge that is Stefan Dusan. At this point Theodore's the only one who's fought in a war before, but quite a few have already distinguished themselves, such as Gryphos and co.
And most of Terre di Otranto falls to the Despotate. That would really scare the Venetians, with how the Despotate could block access to the rest of the Med with Corfu and Otranto under Despotate hands, and decrease Louis of Taranto's revenues while adding to the revenue of the Despotate.
I wonder would the despotate directly help Lalle with his rebellion. With the Angevin navy mostly destroyed I can see Theodore sending some soldiers to aid in Lalle's rebellion. Hell, I think the best play for Theodore here is to take the rest of the east and give parts of it to Lalle or Istvan.
ooh, is Agnes pregnant? That would be good news to the despotate indeed...
Forcing Dusan to a fight is a risky thing to do, but with the numbers Alexios and co have now it may be something that they should try. Let's hope it would be a blow that Dusan cannot recover from...
Frankly I don't think that we'd get something akin to an 'Italian identity' from otl.
With significant swathes of Sicily and mainland Italy under the newest iteration of a Greco-Roman empire (even without accounting for the Lascarids conquering all of Naples and calling himself king of Sicily) a lot of discourse would be around the 'greco-roman' identity, especially due to the University of Syracuse and propaganda from the Despotate/Empire. I don't think Southern Italy/Sicily would be as affected by the discovery of the Americas too due to being able to trade in gold and slaves in Africa and the Black Sea trade, and as the heart of a new empire.
I think we're more likely to see a nationalistic version of Italy focused on the Po Valley and Italian as a result, to differentiate themselves from the greeks on the other side of the border, while the Empire focuses on being able to speak greek and not much else.
But I agree in that Theodore won't conquer Italy, and his descendants probably won't to prevent a crusade against them. Conquering Rome probably would be more problem than its worth, and claiming the Sicilian throne rn would be something Theodore would want to prevent for now. I think he'd rather have Joanna and co dead and either have a pliable Neapolitan king, or anarchy so he could take it when Dusan isn't attacking his Greek possessions.
If Istvan and Theodore group their armies to attack Naples once again while the Despotate navy blockades the city I could see things quickly going very bad for Louis of Taranto. They'd basically be overmatched compared to what the Neapolitans could muster.
Add to the fact that Theodore could raise more soldiers at the same time and I think it would be a lot more useful for Theodore and Istvan and Lalle to get rid of Joanna and co (or have them be carted off to Hungary, for that matter).
I think that meant Agnes just gave birth to Alexandros' first child, a daughter named Adrienne as her grandmother.
That was quick, but then, Joan of France was conceived barely a few months into Blanche's marriage with Philippe VI, who was nearly thirty years her senior though. With a younger bride, we can surely expect fast a lot of little Lascarid babies around...
Ah that makes more sense, and I'm not surprised if Agnes and Alexandros II are supposed to be in love and sexually active.
We're going to get five kids for them, and have a few cadet branches be borne from Alexandros II.