Syracuse, December 1355
Alexandros II was tempted. Sorely tempted to fight on now that Serbia finally was on the back foot having to also face the Hungarians in the north. But the despotate had had to deal with all out war for the past decade, with the black death ravaging the land on top of it. Hundreds of thousands had died, debt was in excess of 1.5 million florins and threatened to get out of control. The country needed peace to catch up its breath.
Messina, April 1356
Ioannis Buas brought three thousand men from Greece. Some of were Sicilians and Calabrians Theodore had brought with him east, although Alexandros what taken most of them back to Italy the previous year. Most of them were Greeks, Albanians, Vlachs and surviving Cuman mercenaries that would be given pronoias to settle in Apulia and Basilicata in return for military service.
Molyvos, Lesbos, April 1356
The castle garrison was taken by surprise at the sight of two dozen war galleys and even more merchant ships bearing the double headed eagle of House Vatatzes out of the morning fog. With over six thousand soldiers under Michael Rallis landing in the island, the castle garrison would surrender after only token resistance and Rallis would march south towards Mytiline. Ioannis V had not taken well to Manuel rejecting his orders and killing his new brother in law in battle. Being nearly bankrupt and having no fleet of his own he had turned west for aid. Alexandros was all too happy to oblige him for his own reasons. After all Lesbos and Phokaia thanks to their alum mines were rich...
Zagreb, April 1356
King Louis of Hungary had gathered an army of 35,000 men for the invasion of Serbia. With pope Innocent VI having conveniently proclaimed a crusade in support of the Hungarian invasion, Louis begun his march east. It was time for Stefan Dusan to be dealt with...
Kragujevac, July 1356
Stefan Dusan had prudently tried to avoid battle in the face of superior Hungarian numbers. Just as practically Louis had unleashed his light cavalry to loot, nurn and rape, all in the name of bringing Serbia back to the true church of course. And thus Stefan had been forced to give battle despite his army of 25,000 men being outnumbered by the Hungarians. Dusan had by now enough experience in big field battles to extricate himself when things start turning wrong but his army still lost nearly 4,500 men. But the Hungarians would also lose about three thousand men, shockingly high casualties for Louis who was not accustomed to such losses in his previous wars...
Kyreneia, August 1356
Manuel Kantakouzenos disembarked from the ship bringing him and his wife Isabella de Lusignan to Cyprus. Trying to hold at bay the far larger Lascarid army had proven impossible back in Lesbos the army and fleet Alexandros II had sent after him had outnumbered his own by four to one. He had to give it to Vatatzes he was not doing things by halves unlike his father. So when Alexandros, through the new katepano of Hellas, George Chrysafis, a diplomat not a general he noted, had offered him to surrender on terms he had taken him up on the offer instead continuing what appeared to be a futile fight. And then he had probably surprised Chrysafis in turn when instead of sailing north for Thrace where his brother still held Adrianople he had instead sailed south for Cyprus. But it made sense. He did not much fancy the chances of his brother. Better Cyprus where Isabella was lady of Aradippou and as the granddaughter of king Hugh III and daughter of the king of Armenia Constantine IV would have a fair bit of influence. After all Cyprus was prospering and he was not coming to the island penniless...
Poitiers, September 1356
It was not true that English longbowment were invincible. But when things went as the English wanted them then casualties were disproportionately in their favor, a not uncommon occurrence when an army got routed. And the French despite coming close to breaking the English defensive lines and this time fighting mostly as dismounted infantry had been routed when a small English force had managed to attack them in the rear. Thousand of men at arms and common soldiers would end up either dead or captured, with Walter VI of Brienne who had exchanged Neapolitan for French service dying in action and the French king John II being captured by the English.
Syracuse, October 1356
The third daughter of Alexandros II and Agnes of Navarre, born back in January was christened Anna after Alexandros great grandmother Anna of Hohenstauffen. And if there was any discomfort at the ruling couple having only daughters so far, these were subdued lest they reach them or worse Adrienne who was very fond of her daughter in law. After all Agnes was barely 25. Surely more children would come...
Constantinople, April 1357
His serenity, basileus of the Romans Ioannis V looked at the old man in front of him in frustration. Leo Kalothetos had been born in Chios. So was his subject. If one forgot that Chios was directly ruled from Syracuse for the past two generations. Of course the empire maintained the fiction that the despotate of Sicily was rightful imperial territory, something the despots recognized when they found convenient and ignored when they did not. To exacerbate things while the previous despot was a friend of his late father, which had proven useful during the two civil wars against Kantakouzenos he had never met Alexandros in person.
"It is only proper that the despot follows my instructions to return Lesbos and Phokaia, which we are grateful he liberated in our name from the usurper Kantakouzenos of course, returns now both to our control. As a reward for his services we will provide him the sum of 100,000 heperpyra."
"I'm under strict orders to insist that the administration of Lesbos and Phokaia will be retained by the despot."
"That is not acceptable. I order both you and him as our imperial subjects to surrender them immediately to the governor we will appoint."
"This is out of the question. The island and Phokaia remain with us. Assign them to Alexandros as governor so that you can retain the fiction of ruling over him."
"That is intolerable. YOU are intolerable. You are a subject of the basileus and will behave as such! Or else."
Kalothetos was a capable man. None had ever accused him of not being a prideful man who would not back down easily though. The elder Alexandros, Ioannis and Theodore had carefully cultivated him over half a century lest he cause them trouble in their control of the ever important Chios, giving him high office as far away from Chios and as close to their eyes as they could. Alexandros II had done the same making him his mesazon and sending him as his envoy to deal with Ioannis V over Lesbos. Perhaps he should had chosen a more diplomatic man. Now Kalothetos outright sneered at Ioannis.
"Last time your great-grandfather got such ideas Theodore took away Peloponnese. I'm not giving up Lesbos so that you can lose it to some Turkish emir or hand it over to a Genoese pirate. YOU should be grateful Manuel isn't a danger any more."
"Intolerable I say. I'M the basileus!" Kalothetos just sneered again. In front of what was not a private audience. The last thing Ioannis needed was his imperial authority being outright flaunted in such a way in front of his entire court. His hold on the purple was still shaky after all...
"Throw that treasonous scum to a cell."
Kalothetos for the first time was properly startled. "I'm an envoy!"
"You are my subject. Bearing messages from another of my subjects. Refusing my orders. Take this scum away I said!" Kalothetos would be literally dragged out of the court by imperial guards and thrown to the prison of Anemas. In his sixties he would die there a week later.
Syracuse, June 5th, 1357
Alexandros II despot of Sicily and Hellas had initially been taken aback from the news from Constantinople. From the reports he had received Leo Kalothetos had behaved... less than diplomatically. But this didn't mean he could afford the joke playing at being basileus of the Romans treating his envoys this way or thinking he could give him orders. After all his grandfather had more rights to the purple. He and his father had not pursued them for the good of the empire and that what he what his family was getting in return? Something had to be done and this properly viewed was as much an opportunity as a problem. He would not claim the purple outright, his mother was right to advise this was liable to cause more trouble than it was worth at the moment. Taking a page from Stefan Dusan, instead Alexandros was crowned on the day of the pentecost basileus of Sicily and Hellas by the archbishop of Syracuse, with the imperial crown jewels pawned by Anna of Savoy to Alexandros uncle, used for the coronation...
