The Legacy of Charles: The Story of The Kingdom of Burgundy

[DjBaraca]

Okay so I have decided to start a new timeline, after losing interest in my last one which fell through (it way to ambitious of me to start). It is about a creation of the Kingdom of Lotharingria and its rise to power, and its role as a major power. It will be in a history book style, and will compile hopeful accurate style of histroy for the time. It will focus on Francis King's (a fictional prof at Oxford) book detailing the history of Lotharingria from its conception to the modern day, and will combine the works of various fictional authors to give the feel of authenticity, as well as some fictional cut out of some documentaries. It is based on this thread https://www.alternatehistory.com/Discussion/showthread.php?t=156490. Please comment, all of your criticisms, suggestions, and various comments will help me write and engaging timeline and is encouraged. Please enjoy

Story of Lortharingria
By Francis King PHD in history at Oxford

It is often said the course of history was changed with the birth of Phillip III, or Charles the Bold victories at Morat, Grandson and Nancy. It hard to imagine history with out Lotharingria. Without Charles the bold, Phillip the Mighty, Charles III the Conquer, William Casimir, William II Augustus, Peter I, or the many other great kings of Lotharingaria. The sudden rise of Burgundy to a fief of France to major rival of France and world power. Which makes the recent alliance and cooperative domination of the EC between it, France, and Germany, all the more shocking. But to understand the makings of modern day Lotharingaria we must look at it’s history. What better place then to start then with the birth of Phillip III and the coronation of Charles the Bold.

Charles I 'the Bold' by Louis Venton

The Birth of Phillip III is often considered part of a wider series of events surrounding the coronation of Charles. Charles had traveled to the city of Trier with the rest of his family including his heavily pregnant wife Maragert of York. At Trier he meet the Emperor Fredrick III to discuss the marriage of their children Mary and Maximillan, and hopefully the coronation of Charles as King. During one of their negotiations Maragert went into labour about 2 weeks before she was due.

Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick III. The man that would pave the way for the creation of the kingdom of Lotharingria

From the accounts of Yves de Tongres [1]’ chronicles of Historie de Lotharingria: “ Charles and Fredrick sprinted to Margaret chamber. When they arrived she had just given birth to a strong healthy baby boy. Margaret now turned over to face her husband and asked quietly in his ear what they would name him. Charles now holding his baby son in arms said how about Phillip, Phillip Fredrick de Valois. Margaret said to him that she loved it. Then Fredrick confused by choice of the name ask, “Why Fredrick, Charles?”, “For the man that will one day make him a King” was the answer he gave him.

It did not take long for the negotiations to reach the desired end. The two monarchs hit it off and became friends after getting to know each other. Shortly after the birth Phillip the two monarchs agreed to the marriage of Mary the only daughter of Charles and Maximillan merging the house Habsburg with the House Valois. Then the most critical part of the negotiations began the coronation of Chalres as a king. Fredrick only had the power to make him king in his own realm. This force Charles swallow his pride and accept this, after months of negotiations the two kings finally agree to make Charles King of Lotharingria. Why did Charles choose Lotharingria manly for three reasons one to revive the added prestige of reviving a prestigious throne, to separate himself from France in which claimed Burgundian lands as a fief to theirs, thus by choosing the name Lotharingria cuts ties with the French, and finally to appease the Dutch by creating a new nationality.

On a chilly day in mid-February Charles was to crowned by the Archbishop of Trier Johann II of Baden. On February 15 1474 Charles was finally crowned King Charles I. To this day the coronation of Charles is celebrated as its Independence Day in modern day Lotharingria. In this moment the history of the world would forever change. But before the young nation could rise it must avoid being killed in the cradle and survive the turbulent period, now know as the Burgandian wars or the Lotharingrian wars of independence.

The Coronation of Charles I by Petr van Brejek

[1]: Yves de Tongres is one of the primary historians and chroniclers of the time. He was a minor count in the court of Charles I, Phillip IV, and Charles II. Yves would serve as court historian after making himself known for his bravery at Morat and his account of the war. He would write the Historie de Lotharingria, Regunum Charles Bold, and Historie de Angloterre war et Union de Oxford. He would ultimately become a advisor too both Phillip IV and Charles II. He would die in 1518 of a fever. He serves as the primary source for the early days of Lotharingria, and the reigns of Charles I, and Phillip IV. Though it is not a secret that his accounts are biased.

Yves de Tongres

 

[Mirza Khan]

Good start-it will be interesting to see how history goes with a surviving Burgundy!

 

[Xavier]

Okay, we now can officially throw away our history books as nothing will resemble OTL in the 16th century and after. May these be interesting ATL times.
I assume that the kings of Lotharingia will set their eyes on Lorraine & Bar first now, to get territorial continuity. Charles did it in OTL, if he avoids the Swiss he might keep it this time. Secondly I assume the Rhineland and Frisia should watch out for Lotharingian expansion as well.
Now we only need to see how this Lotharingia will survive squeezed between France and the HRE, if it manages well, we will have one seriously powerful and rich nation by modern times. And if it doesn't, I suspect it will have borders suspiciously resembling those of the Low Countries, after the southern appendix, Lorraine, Burgundy and Franche Comté, has been cut off by France, Germany or both.
That said, kings with names as Phillip the Mighty and Charles the Conqueror sound very promising.

 

[Falastur]

Charles had traveled to the city of Trier with the rest of his family including his heavily pregnant wife Maragert of York.

What was Margaret doing travelling while pregnant? Pregnant noble women would be bedded and prevented from travelling further than around the house during their final couple of months of labour

But aside from enjoying my little part-time job as a nit-picker, this looks cool. A lot of people talk about an independent Burgundy but I don't remember reading a proper TL about it happening, so I'll be following this with interest. Am enjoying contemplating where you will go with this.

 

[Saya Aensland]

Lortharingria

Lotharingria

Lotharingaria

Lo-thar-ing-ia.

 

[Cuāuhtemōc]

Interesting start.

 

[Zioneer]

Excellent. Lets hope the Lotharingrian (boy that's a mouthful) state can stay strong and neutral between the HRE and France.

 

[DjBaraca]

Xavier: Good guess about the where Lotharingria will expand first. But he won't be avoiding the Swiss, or for that matter the French in the upcoming war (but don't worry HRE has got his back). As for the future kings both are going to be really good kings (though Philip might be a bit short lived, and Charles the Conqueror won't be around till the reformation is in full swing).
Falastur: I don't know why realistically she would be Trier, but I felt it was appropriate place for the baby to be born.
Saya Aensland: Sorry about that. I will get better at that overtime.
SplendidTuesday: Neutral hardly, what does Lotharingria look like the Swiss. And yeah Lotharingria is a bit of a mouthfull.

Glad to see you guys all like it. Sorry it took me so long to write a update but I have been in exams and I just finished . So without further a due.

Part 2: The Beginning of the Burgundian wars.

The Coronation of Charles I received mixed reactions from throughout Europe. Though perhaps the most important reactions came from France, Switzerland, Further Austria (Tyrol), and the duchies Bar and Lorraine. A very cold atmosphere settled over the area, as each did not know what to do about each other. Then after signing peace with the Swiss cantons, Archduke Sigismund of lower Austria demanded his leased land in Alsace back from Charles. Charles not only refused but executed the Tyrolean appointed commander Peter von Hagenbach for war crimes (it was well known at that time that von Hagenbach was a war criminal and thus this could be justifies), and appointed a Lotharingian governor in its place. Sigismund was furious joined in with duchies of Bar, Lorraine, various Swiss cantons declared war against the Kingdom of Lotharingian.

Archduke Sigismund

Charles quickly gathered his forces at Nassius, which they were besieging and headed south as fast as they could. Swiss were able to defeat small Lotharingian armies at Hericourt and Plata. Seeing that such a war could bring down this upstart state once and for all, Louis XI declared war on Lotharingia.

Now Charles the Bold was facing a two front war against the powerful French Army and Anti-Lotharingia collation as they were now being called. He began to appeal to his allies for help. England could not assist due to the ongoing War of English Succession despite both factions being avid supporters of his coronation. So he turned to Aragon, Castille and the Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick III. Both Aragon and Castille refused to act unless the Emperor Fredrick III acted. So it all boiled down to the support of the Holy Roman Emperor. The support of Fredrick III was tenuous at best. As Austria he gave full support behind Charles and his new kingdom, yet he could not muster the full support of the Holy Roman Empire as many of the German states refused to support Charles unless victory could be assured. So Fredrick sent a message to Charles saying he could get the full support of the Empire if he could decisively defeat the collation in battle, the empire would commit full support of the war against France and the collation.

It would only be days later when on March 2 1474 that Charles the Bold would engage two Swiss armies in the town of Grandson. Yves de Tongres a veteran from the battle provides us with the account “I had been serving in the cavalry for a couple of months now when we saw are first action at Grandson. Charles was no fool seeing the army he ordered our men to attack, so we pray to god and said our Hail Mary’s and attacked. The commander of the cavalry unit the young noble Louis de Chalon screamed at the Swiss ‘You will get no mercy; you must all die.’ We all began to chant and scream this; It instilled fear into the eyes of the usually brave Swiss. We surrounded the Swiss army and massacred them to the last man. Then as if out of nowhere a entire Swiss army appeared on the edge of the forest. Now with his entire arterially bombard the Swiss army, and weakened them deeply. He then ordered us the cavalry along with some infantry to strike, right into the weakened flank of the enemy. They scattered instantly with their commander Hans von Hallwyl dead, the Swiss ran back into the forest. A great victory had been won.”

The Battle of Grandson

With Charles decisive victory at Grandson he had finally gained the support of the Holy Roman Empire who declared war on the collation and the French (who were just beginning to muster troops). Within days the Emperor had decisively beat Sigismund at the Battle of Rattenburg, and had begun to besiege the Innsbruck were Sigismund trapped. The victory at Grandson had destroyed the Swiss army, which suffered up to 9000 causalities, while the Lothargians only suffered 150. Charles ordered that all of the prisoners (including those of the fortress that was captured before the fight) be executed and the bodies were to be hanged in trees or thrown in the lake. The head of the commander Hans von Hallwyl was sent to Swiss army with the message surrender or you will join your friends. The now supreme commander of the Swiss forces Adrian von Bubenberg refused. So Charles gathered his army and marched to Morat where the decisive battle against the collation would be fought.

The Lothargrian army before the Battle of Morat

 

[Zioneer]

The poor Swiss! I feel sorry for them, being smashed around by the army of Burgundy.

I hope that they are pivotal in either Burgundy's rise to power (ala Welsh bowman regiments in English armies), or stick around as Burgundy's eternal rivals.

Still, Charles has destroyed a massive army, so will he gain the support of the Emperor in his struggle to survive?

 

[Faeelin]

I don't understand; how did hte battle's outcome change?

Fascinating, though.

 

[DjBaraca]

SplendidTuesday: They will Play a key part in rise Lotharingria. They will play both of those roles, Swiss Pikemen (mostly from Bern) will become something of a shock troops for Lotharingria in coming years, and eventually along with the Frisian will become the strongest troops of the Empire, While Swiss Confederacy/Kingdom (spoiler alert) will be a constant throne in the side of Lotharingria as they will establish themselves as a powerful presence in southern Germany and Northern Italy, and become a key French ally. He actually has Charles support, After the victory at Grandson Fredrick realized that the war was winnable and quickly struck and surprised Sigismund at Rattenberg and is besieging Innsbruck(he hopes to gain all of Tyrol in the war) at the time of the Battle of Morat.

Faeelin: IRL Charles ordered his cavalry which was winning the battle to fall back and wait till the artillery does some more damage by the time they retreated the second Swiss army appeared and made quick-work of the already falling back Burgundian army (the Infantry believed the cavalry was fleeing and routed). But in ATL Charles does not order his cavalry back but presses on defeating the first army, then bombards on side of the Swiss army that came out of the forest and attacked with all his cavalry on the weakened flank causing the swiss to break and rout.

 

[DjBaraca]

Sorry for taking so long for update. I decided to try something new for this update, A battle report by a renown TV show. I was think about doing this for the major conflict in timeline, but it takes a while to write out. Tell me if you guys think this a good Idea, or if I should just stick to the old style (see update about the beginning of the war.)
Part 3 the Battle of Morat

The Great Battles of History with Charles Goodwin

Charles Goodwin: Hello, and welcome to another exciting episode of The Great Battle of History.

Cue opening credit and cut to Charles walking on the field

Goodwin: today we look at The Battle of Morat, one of the most important battles in the earlier Lotharingria history. In the year 1476 a bloody war was being fought between Lotharingria, Austrian led Holy Roman Empire against France, Siwtzerland, Tyrol, and Duchies of Lorraine and Bar. The War strated over a small piece of land in Alasce, but that had served only as reason to fight. In reality it was the Ambition of the newly crowned king Charles I and his desire to be a king a unite his lands, while the French and their allies were seeking to put Charles I in his place. But the war had been going badly for the coalition. Charles had defeated a large army at Grandson only weeks prior to the battle and Tyrol had been utterly defeated by Emperor Fredrick III at Rattenberg. But Coalltion was building a large army made up of troops from the various Swiss canton, and troops levied from the duchies of Bar, and Lorraine. They were led by the Swiss born general and powerful noble Adrian von Bubenberg. The Lotharingrian army arrived mid day out side Morat and set up camp.

[a group of men are setting up a camp, when a Charles walk in]
Charles: Jean come here for a second.
Jean: Yes my lord.
Charles: I need you to take a team of men to scout the beyond that River there (points at the river)
Jean: sir the men aren’t going to like that sir, they are expecting to get paid today, well they will get paid once they get back, I need to know where the army is now.

[Jean grabs some of the men and heads off on some horses]

Goodwin: Charles arrived at the camp and immediately sent out scouts beyond the nearby river to see where the Swiss army was. The scouts proved their value immediately they quickly spotted the Swiss army in the nearby forest and more importantly the location of poorly trained over eager Lorraine.

[Charles standing next to a group of nobles]
Charles: (pointing to the flank) that is where we will focused our attack, Louis you will take our cavalry and stay behind our flanks till I give the signal, then you will strike right into Lorraine division and break them into pieces. Jacques you in the mean time will launch your forces into the other flanks and draw the Swiss into your position, draw them into your position so Louis’s cavalry can hit them where it hurts.

Meanwhile in the Swiss army Adrian von Bubenberg who is the nearby town of Murten and attempting to coordinate with General Hans Waldmann, and Duke Rene II of Lorraine.
[cut to Adrian walking on the wall of the fort]
Adrian: Where in God’s name is Hans?
Solider: It appears that they are just coming out of the forest
Adrian: Where?
Solider: Over there my liege, and it looks like Duke Charles is ready for him.
Adrian: Prepare the Men, We will march out and take their camp will they are distracted by Hans army then take them in the rear.

Charles was in a very precarious position, with the large coalition army in front of him and the large garrison to the rear he need to defeat booth quickly. It did not take much longer for the battle to begin. Charles in customary fashion order his artillery to fire upon Swiss army in particular the left where the Lorraine division were. Swiss pressed on showing no signs of stopping, when Charles realized something.
[Charles stands on a hill looking down upon the battlefield, surrounded by his generals and advisors]
Louis: Sir why have you called us here we need to be at the front leading are men
Jacques: I agree with Louis we have a plan lets stick with it.
Charles: Don’t you see, something is wrong. I am the only one concered that the swiss cavalry has not made a move, or the garrison has not joined the fight.
[Jean rushes up towards the king on a horse and dismounts]
Jean: Sire, we have found the cavalry
Charles: Where?
Jean: It is sitting on the right flank in a small wood waiting, they appear to be waiting for an opportunity to attack.
Charles: What troops do you have over there?
Jacques: Just a regiment of cavalry sir, all of are infantry is enganged
Charles: Okay we need some infantry on that flank now, and we need it hidden. Have we committed our reserves yet.
Jacques: Yes all of are reserves are guarding our rear for the garrison.
Charles: Jacques go to every regiment a take every 5th man from the back rows of the troops and brings them over and hide them besides the Cavalry in the tall grass.
Jacques: I are you trying what I think your trying
Charles: Yes.
Jean: And what’s that?
Charles: A Pharsalus
Jacques: I will get on it
[Jacques leaves on a horse surrounded by a small body guard]
Louis: what about me
Charles: your part doesn’t change when Jacques repulses the Swiss cavalry you will attack wait for my signal though.

the Swiss Cavalry charging the flanks

Goodwin: Charles realizing the danger of the Swiss cavalry faced grabbed the every 5th man and hid it in the tall grass. But by doing so he weakened his lines, if any of the lines broke the battle would be over. But Charles’ gamble paid off the Swiss charged the flank, and the result was deveasting, the Swiss cavalry were trapped by the a wall of pikes that surrounded them, completely wiping them out they then turned on the flanks of the pike wall. That is when two devises things happen one when the cavalry charged Adrian von Bubenberg charged forward and took the camp, only to be meet with the fresh reserves and was not able to reorganize and the garrison was for most part being ripped apart by the Reserves, yet Bubenberg was unaware of what was going on the battlefield. It was at that moment when Jacques and his Savoyean regiments attack the right flank, that Louis charged with his Cavalry against the left flank, this broke the resolve of the Lorrainean regiments entirely. Duke Rene II fled for his life on horseback to escape them Swiss.

Now the entire Lotharigian army completely surrounded the Swiss, but Swiss fought on like they were possed by the devil, it was here at Murten that the Swiss established themselves as some of the toughest solider in the world. They refused to surrender.

[cuts to Adrian regrouping, and gathering a large group of men around him]
Adrian:We need to break through and get out of this camp
Solider: But how
Adrian: We focus our efforts were they are weakest which I guess is there. Soldier of Bern, Brave men of Switzerland Charge.

Goodwin: so that is what the Swiss garrison did they charge and broke through the garrison and smashed right into the rear of army, and cut their way to the main Swiss. This allowed a Channel of escape. Gathering the leaderless men, as Hans had been killed in the fighting, He cut his way out and escaped, this soon turned into a massive fighting retreat and eventually a rout. This is where the remarkable happen.

[Charles is riding a horse in front of the army]
Charles: Stop! everyone stop!
[The men stop in their tracts]
Charles: Enough blood has been shed, they have been defeated and they will not fight us again they are too weak to. They have fought brave as I am sure many of you can agree, almost as good as you brave men. But lets us take the town instead like we planed from the beginning, let us collect our dead, let us collect our pay for a great victory, and our countries future.

Charles I at Morat

Goodwin: Charles had quite un-characteristically showed mercy and had stooped his army from chasing down the Swiss. The Battle of Murten was a decisive victory for Charles, which cemented the legend of his military prowess. The Colltion had all but been defeated all that remain was to defeat the French and unite his lands. But the battle would have much more far reaching effects on the Swiss as well. Much of the Swiss nobility had been killed in the battle. This would leave a massive power vacuum among the various Swiss Cantons. Peace was quickly made between the Swiss and Charles. Adrian von Bubenberg would return to Bern a hero as many saw the defeat as the Hans’s fault. Slowly Adrian would begin to absorber the various Swiss cantons who was leaderless. He would make his large western Canton hereditary, and the House Bubenberg was born. This house would one day create a mighty a powerful dynasty that would dominate Switzerland and pave the way for the Swiss to become a major player on the world stage. While Charles would make his way to Nancy after the battle of Morat to fight the French and geographically merge his land in the final stage of the Burgundian War

 

[Janprimus]

A great Tl, although IMO Philip the Good is more competent than Charles the Bold. Anyway I like any TL which keeps Brabant united (no division between the Northern and Southern Netherlands, I'm from Brabant after all; from a Brabantian point of view the OTL 80y war was a disaster, because it (Brussels was the capital of the Burgundian Netherlands and Antwerp was the most important port of the low countries) abruptly ended the Brabantian Golden Age, which was good news for (the county of) Holland, but obviously not for Brabant).

 

[Xavier]

A great Tl, although IMO Philip the Good is more competent than Charles the Bold. Anyway I like any TL which keeps Brabant united (no division between the Northern and Southern Netherlands, I'm from Brabant after all; from a Brabantian point of view the OTL 80y war was a disaster, because it (Brussels was the capital of the Burgundian Netherlands and Antwerp was the most important port of the low countries) abruptly ended the Brabantian Golden Age, which was good news for (the county of) Holland, but obviously not for Brabant).

I know exactly how you feel. 1585 is about the most hated year in history for me. (Though I certainly do not like calvinists either. At least they were Dutch instead of foreigners.)

 

[DjBaraca]

Hey guys what's up. Sorry it taking me so long to finish an update, but RL has been intervening in the most inopportune ways. But i am writing an update now and expected it by the end of today or early tomorrow

Janprimus and Xavier: I have something special in mind for Brabant. I was thinking of making the title Duke of Brabant something like the title Prince of Wales is. And eventually the Captail might move into Antwerp, Amsterdam, or Brussels ( one of the more famous kings is going the Captail to more important and richer Dutch areas, and cut the association with the french since Dijon is made up of mostly French.

In the next update expect, the end of the war, the unifying of Lothargian Flanders and Lothargian Burgundy, and the rise of a new dynasty in Iberia.

 

[DjBaraca]

Charles I ‘the bold’ Part 4 the final stage of the Burgundian Wars

After the Battle of Morat the Coalition was for the most part defeated, the Swiss sued for peace a couple of days later at Bern forcing the Swiss confederacy to pay reparations and recognize their status as kings, the Swiss agreed. Charles than rushed his army as fast he could north to towards Nancy. Making the journey in only 1 month just in time as the French forces had just arrived under the personal command of Louis XI himself. Charles placed himself on top of hill with a forest to his east and river to his west. He decided to divide his forces in two bodies, One force lead by Jacques Duke of Savoy would hide in the forest a wait till the most opportune time to strike at the French. While the other force lead by Charles himself would draw the French in and engage him. When the French army arrived Rene wasted no time convincing Louis to strike what appeared to be a weakened Lotharingrian army. As soon as Louis army arrived Charles bombarded the French lines. The army remained strong, and kept marching they engaged the Charles army on top of the cliff. But the journey had tired out the heavily equipped French soliders. Jacques rode out of the forest and enveloped the left flank.

During the charge Duke Rene II was killed his body was mutilated (it took days to find his body, and could only be a scar on his chest that he sustained at Morat), the loss of their beloved duke caused the Lorrainian troops to flee, without their support the flanks collapsed. Louis realizing the battle was lost retreated with as much as his force as possible, but the French lost good many troops. Unknown to both sides this was the last major battle of the war.

Death of Rene II

Events in the Iberian Pensuiala was heating up the King of Castile died and did not designate a successor, his half sister named Isabella had fallen out with him after she married the prince of Aragon Ferdinand, the King of Portugal, Afonso V realized that if Isabella merged the two kingdoms together it would spell doom for Portugal and backed the only other candidate Juanna. He quickly married her, despite being her uncle, and decided to get the throne for her. Afonso decided to appeal to France, that a strong united Spain was against his interests. This appealed to Louis XI who need to recapture some lost prestige after losing the battle at Nancy, but that would force him to fight a two front war. Then Charles the bold took his opportunity. He offered a peace to Louis. In exchange for peace Louis would recognize him as independent of France (though not as a kingdom but as a duchy), would pay some small reparations, and recognize any land that Charles took from the Duchies of Bar and Lorraine. Louis reluctantly accepted and singed the treaty. He gathered his force and marched south towards the border where they defeated the main Aragonnese army at the battle of Foix, and at the Battle of Besalu. At the Battle of Besalu, King John was killed and his son Ferdinand was captured. Louis forced him to sign a treaty that proclaimed Juanna the rightful Queen of Castille, and that he would give up all claims to Navarre, and Castille. Ferdinand was realized a dully crowned King of Aragon. In Castile the Portuguese king was having a joyous time he was now the king consort of the newly crowned Queen of Castille, until he recived some unpleasant news the Pope Sixtus IV annulled the marriage due to the two being to closely related. Afonso was furious and threaten war if the Pope didn’t back down.

Queen Juanna

This cause Louis XI to step in he threaten war with Portugal if Afonso refused the recognize the annulment of his marriage to Juanna. Afonso reluctantly agreed, and he would die not long after, leaving his kingdom to his John II. But this left Juana as the most sought after Queen in Europe, and many courted her. But unlike other highly sought after female nobles, she was a queen of a unstable country, and without much support both locally and internationally, she needed a husband that would bring stability to the kingdom. She found it in the form of the young Duke Diego Juan de la Cerda. Diego charmed the queen and both fell for each other, the couple was married in the August 12 1478 in a elaborate ceremony. The couple quickly gave Birth to a child, a child name Diego, he would give birth to a new dynasty the House de la Cerda.

Diego de la Cerda

Things in Lotharingria were looking bright too it didn’t take much longer for Lorraine to fall after the battle of Nancy. Without Rene II to lead them the Duchy was in chaos and no one to lead them. The capital fell after a short 2 month siege. Charles quickly moved on to suppress the Duchy of Bar, the last remaining member of the coalition, which promptly fell. With the annexations of duchies of Lorraine and Bar the war came to the end. In the east Fredrick had annexed Duchy of Further Austria, and agree to give up all claims to Alsace. The war had been a huge success for Lotharingria and its allies, Lotharingria had geographically united its realm and proved to the world that it was here to stay. While Austria had finally put down the last of the rebellious states and united Austria into a force to not to be trifled with. Charles had stared into the eyes of the French monster and had won and prospered. Mary daughter of Charles and Maximillian had proved fruitful, the couple had given birth to a son named Phillip named after Mary’s grandfather. He decided give his young son a title to designate him as his successor, and gave up his title as Duke of Brabant to his son, starting a tradition that would exist to this day in which the heir would be designated by receiving the title of Duke of Brabant. Yves de Tongres began to make a splash in the court, and became the court historian and began to write the firsts parts of his famous book Historie de Lotharingria, Regunum Charles le Téméraire on of most famous books. He reported that the days after the wars where some of the happiest of the Kings life, and the inspiration of his reforms that help untie and establish the kingdom were made during these peaceful days.

 

[DjBaraca]

I just update

 

[Xavier]

Hey guys what's up. Sorry it taking me so long to finish an update, but RL has been intervening in the most inopportune ways. But i am writing an update now and expected it by the end of today or early tomorrow

Janprimus and Xavier: I have something special in mind for Brabant. I was thinking of making the title Duke of Brabant something like the title Prince of Wales is. And eventually the Captail might move into Antwerp, Amsterdam, or Brussels ( one of the more famous kings is going the Captail to more important and richer Dutch areas, and cut the association with the french since Dijon is made up of mostly French.

In the next update expect, the end of the war, the unifying of Lothargian Flanders and Lothargian Burgundy, and the rise of a new dynasty in Iberia.

Nice, though Brussels would easily make the most sense for a capital. It is the capital of Brabant, most important province of the Low Countries and it was used as one of the residences of the Dukes of Burgundy. (who turnded the coudenberg into a great palace) Antwerp has no history of being the seat of anything or residence of anyone. It will however become (with 99% certainty) THE economic powerhouse of Lotharingia and the cultural centre of the Dutch-speaking world. So I would be eternally grateful if you keep Antwerp from being sacked and the Scheldt from being closed, thus preserving Antwerp as the most important city in the Low Countries for eternity.
Without the fall of Antwerp Amsterdam would never have become anything more than an important city & port. As in, one amongst several others, perhaps the most important of those, but still far, far below Antwerp & Brussels. (as it should be)


P.S. Yes, people from Antwerp tend to be quite chauvinistic, without remorse. (in Flemish: Een dikke nek hebben. i.e. Having a fat neck.)

 

[DjBaraca]

Charles I ‘the bold’ establishing foundations of the kingdom of Lotaringria

The years after the Burgandian wars and the Iberia war were unusually peacefull. In France Louis XI force the various dukes under his thumb, and began a massive campaign to centralize France. But Charles I went down a very different path. He had created a great kingdom after years of war, but it needed to be rebuilt bit by bit. First he need to decentralize his realm to make it more manageable, which was quite the opposite of Louis XI problem. His way to do this by giving out land to the various supporters who had supported his dream of a kingdom. First he gave land to his military commanders the Louis de Chalons the title of Duke of Lorraine, to his other lieutenant he gave the control some of the lands in the south as a count. Many nobles who supported Charles gained lands in this way, including Yves de Tongres who was made count of Tongres, and Earl of Hasselt. But he soon then implement the Decree of Lordship, which would severely limit the power of the nobles by making Charles the direct authority in the Kingdom, It limited the amount of troops each noble could have (200-1500 men). He also forced the nobles and their sons to swear an oath of loyalty to Charles and his descendants, some say this oath was signed in blood, but most historians agree that is not true, but the name stuck and the Oath of Blood was the name given to these pacts of loyalty.

Some Nobles swearing the oath of blood

The Next thing he did was establish an alliance with Holy Roman Empire, but more specifically the Fredrick III’s Austria, and one with Savoy. He then implement a massive reform of the army, he decided that the old system of creating the army has out of date and needed reform. The feudal system decreed that the army was to made of troops leived from the nobles, but this left to much power in their hands and Charles was not willing to make the same mistake many other countries made. Charles decided that he was going to make the army fully professional. All soldiers would be recruited, and trained to fight. They were to be paid for their services either by small plots of land or by money. This firmly keep the power out the nobles hands and into the hands of the kings. It also lead to the highly professional Lotharingrian army that would become one the best discipline and well trained armed forces in the world. It is said that is at this time he began to look at England with Great interest.

A massive civil war was going on over control of England between the two houses the house Lancaster and the house Tudor. The current King Edward IV passed away in Fall of 1483 and passed his kingdom on to his young son Edward V. But Edward V was only a boy of 15 years old, thus A powerful noble and Edward IV brother named Richard Duke of Gloucester became regent. But Richard was a very ambitious man, he wanted the throne for himself. So he began a massive publicity campaign to disown the young King and his family by claiming that Edward IV marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid and their children including the young King Edward IV illegitimate and could not take the throne. This would of course make Richard the next in line for the throne. This campaign was wildly successful and a group of nobles and commoners proclaimed him King Richard III.

the portrait of Richard III by Scott Paston

This sent outrage through out Europe and in particular Lotharingria. Charles the Bold was a close friend to King Edward IV, though Richard III was his brother-in-law he was still outraged. Then rumors came in from England that Richard had killed Edward IV and his brother the Duke of York. Europe was shocked, by the news. Charles began petitioning his to the nobles to levee troops for war, and began to prepare for an invasion. Charles began to talk about placing his own son Phillip on the throne, Since Charles had legitimate claim through both sides of the civil war. Then Important news came from France Louis XI had died, leaving his young son Charles VIII on throne, and being force to rely on his the two regents his elder sister Anne and her husband the Duke of Bourbon. Charles took the opportunity immediately, He proclaimed his son Phillip the rightfully Kings of England and the vowed in the main church in Brussels that he would avenge Edward V and put Edward’s line back on the throne of England. This immediately gained support from the various anti-Richard factions including the Henry Tudor and The House Stanley, and various other Yorkist and Lancaster nobles. With in months of his oath he had landed at Milford Haven. The War for English Succession had begun.

 

[DjBaraca]

Charles the Bold Pt5: The War of English Succession Pt 1

Charles the Bold’s landing at Milfrod Haven sent England into complete chaos. England had never been invaded since the days of William the Conquer. Richard III hastily assembled a large army of 13 000 to fight of Charles. But secretly Lancastrian forces led by Henry Tudor headed east to join up Charles and dethrown Richard III. Henry meet up with Charles at Cardiff with a force of 5000 and a promise from the Stanley Brother (Thomas, and William) to bring 6000 men and fight for him. But unkown to both Henry and Charles was that the Brothers had promised to fight for Richard III as well. Charles would march his force east towards the strategic town Nuneaton in the West Eatons. Richard arrived in the town a day before and began to prepare for battle, with the Stanley brothers a day behind. Charles and his force arrived the next day on June 6, 1484.

The battle of Nuneaton began with the arrival of Charles and Henry’s army at mid-day. Charles immediately engaged his infantry against the core of Richard’s army.

Charles ordering his artillery to attack

Using his artillery to bombard his lines, but with little effect. The focus of the bombardment was focused on the Earl of Northumberland Henry Percy forces, in which the Duke was killed by cannon ball exploding next to him ripping him to pieces. The Battle continued for while till the Brothers Stanley arrived on the south of the battle on the flanks of both sides. Earl of Northymberland’s forces routed on news of their commanders, Richard realized he turn the battle in his favoured led a desperate charge into Charles forces with the goal of killing both Charles and Henry Tudor. Richard was hoping with their deaths that the battle would turn in his favour.

Charge of Richard III by Thomas Raze

It was a foolish mistake. The Brothers Stanley saw their chance and with their entire force smashed in the flanks of Richard III army trapping him in between Charles’ forces and the Brother’s. But he refused to admit defeat and continued to charge and push towards Charles. His horse was cut from under him, and yet he refuse to stop fighting. Cutting down the Charles’ personal Standard Bearer, and cutting the right arm off Charles de Chalons. As described in the accounts of Yves de Tongres and the famous playwright William Shakespeare play ‘Richard III’ (which is part of a tiology of play called the war of succession with Edward VI, Richard III, and Henry Tudor)Richard III meet with Charles the bold on the battlefield, after a short duel Richard III was killed saying with last breath “I have become what Harlod Godwinson was, a fallen Englishman at the foot of a foreigner, a martyr to true Englad”. Though historian doubt that the deal ever occurred, or though those were last words of Richard III, It was undeniably that he was killed leading at the Battle of Nuneaton, his death sent ripples of shock around the army.

The duel between Charles and Richard

Their was brief fight for the body, which was moved by a group of knights closer towards Stanley’s forces. But his forces shocked by his death scattered in all directions, The Duke of Norfolk tried to rally the army but he was cut down. The a very iconic moment occurred, the Brothers Stately with the possession of Richard III, gave the crown of England to Henry Tudor proclaiming him the true king of England instead of the foreign imposter Charles the Bold.

Lord Stanley gives Henry the crown.

Gathering his forces he attacked Charles, Charles shocked by what just happened order his cannons fire upon Henry’s line, but in the confusion they did not fire and were attacked by Henry’s forces. Charles realizing if they stayed order a fighting withdrawl from the battle. The rear guard led by Earl of Namur Denis Etienne was able to hold as Charles main body of the army retreat Northeast of the town.

Earl Etienne holds off the Tudor advance

That battle is often seen as a Tudor-Stanely victory, and de facto Lotharingrian pyrrhic victory. But the battle of Nuneaton changed the game of the War of English succession, the heir of Lancastrian fell to a noble named John de la Pole founder of the House de la Pole , but John had little support and fled to France with what was left of Richard supports and army. But Henry was now seen as the rightful king of England by much of the population, many former Lancastrian nobles join him seeing him as a better alternative then a foreign king. Charles lost a lot of support for the local population, but he realized that he still had time, quickly gathering his rather depleted force of 8200 (he arrived with a force 10 000) and raced towards London, if he could reach it before Henry could he could force the nobles and the parliament to crown Phillip king of England instead of Henry. Henry realizing this to also raced his force of 10 000 south towards London. They would both meet in the small town of Stevenage north of London one last time for the decisive and final battle of the war. The Battle of Stevenage is considered one of the crucial moments in English history along the line of the Battles of Hasting, Crecy, and Agincourt.