Timur didn't get a chance to act in the Golden Horde - he died before he could intervene. Oh, and Temur and Timur are not the same person if you are confused.
Well, Constantinople won't live to see the 1500s, that's for sure
The Silver Knight, a Lithuania Timeline
- Thread starter Augenis
- Start date
Well, Constantinople won't live to see the 1500s, that's for sure
It is going quite smoothly...
This is a vast territory to hold; could imagine Lithuania fracturin soon.
This is a vast territory to hold; could imagine Lithuania fracturin soon.
Actually, if Siemowit became the King of Poland, Silesia would be returned by the older brother of Sigismund, Wenceslaus...and Siemowit and Wenceslaus will fight against Sigismund..
Chapter 7: The Lithuanian Golden Age?
"Vasily Vorskloy Charges at the Tatars", Pavel Rychenko
"Battle of Ilava", Tadas Popylis and Žygimantas Rodžauskis
Part 7: The Lithuanian Golden Age? (1400-1434)
After the successful Battle of Vorskla as well as the annexation of the Principality of Muscovy, the era of military expansion under Jogaila's rule had come to an end. It was time to try to hold onto the things already subjugated instead of trying to expand further, like, say, into Livonia, which was still held by the hostile Livonian Order. The 15th century had begun, an era of a slowly, but surely rising Renaissance. In Lithuania, though, this century meant the end of the "hundred years' war" against the Christian orders - after the crushing Battle of Ilava, the Teutonic Order was no longer a threat. The lands of Lithuania could rest, and redirect all of the energy it used to spend on a life-or-death battle to defend it's state into more constructive work. Like art. And literature. And sciences. But a Lithuanian Renaissance was still decades away from Jogaila's rule...
Upon returning to Vilnius, one of the very first things the Grand Duke did was settle 500 families of captured Crimean Karaites near his capital, in Trakai, captured during the march to the Black Sea. The Karaites, or Karaims, were an isolated and hardy ethnic group, living in Crimea, and they followed their own branch of Judaism - Karaism, or Karaite Judaism, which rejected the Talmud. Karaites were known as capable warriors and great statesmen, both in the Golden Horde and the preceding Khazar Khanate, and their skills were deemed useful to Jogaila. After settling this branch in Trakai, he granted the Karaites quite a few privileges, including the right to own land outside of cities and work in the administration and city councils of the cities they inhabit. The legend of how the Grand Duke of Lithuania saved the Karaites from the Tatar yoke still travels across this niche community to this day, which still clings on in a few villages and locations in Trakai region.
Religion in general was a big issue in Lithuania in the first decade of the 15th century. After Ilava, Lithuania annexed the port of Memel, renamed Klaipėda after the original Curonian name, as well as some territory in Scalovia, whose inhabitants, despite being Baltic, were for the most part Catholics. And after Vorskla, Lithuania gained territories across the northern coast of the Black Sea, which were inhabited by Tatars, followers of Islam. Jews were widespread across the nation, too, and some Orthodox priests called for harsh measures against these "crucifiers of Christ", much like what was happening in Western nations. Jogaila picked the path of tolerance. In 1409, the Grand Duke released an official document, approving the right of the Roman Catholics to follow their rites and respond to the Pope in Rome as their supreme religious figure, as long as they agree to pay taxes to the Duchy and the Patriarchate. In 1410, Jogaila approved the Privileges of Brest - a set of rights to be held by the Jewish minority in the cities of the nation. Jews were exempt from taxes and service in the army, as well as the right to worshipping "God in their own ways", and, of course, the right to practice artisanship and trade.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, itself having once been a pagan state surrounded by various other religions, developed a level of religious and cultural tolerance phenomenal compared to the rest of Europe way before Jogaila, though. In the Letters of Gediminas in 1323, for example, the pagan Gediminas invited artisans and merchants all across Europe, regardless of their religion, to work in his new capital Vilnius and freely express their beliefs in churches he himself built in the nation. Lithuania has been one of the prime targets for Jews fleeing persecution across Europe for centuries, too. In a way, the Privileges of Brest and similar documents were just a reaffirmation of the rights that religious minorities had for centuries.
However, speaking of religion, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania gained a massive achievement, too. Ever since the annexation of Muscovy, the office of the Metropolitan of All Rus' has been in de facto limbo. Jogaila wanted to move the location of this important religious office closer to his court as well as replace him with a more loyal priest, while a response from the Patriarch was delayed as always. Constantinople was repulsing a major Ottoman attack at the time, thus the situation pretty much forced Lithuania to hurry. Finally, in 1411, when the Turks retreated, unable to yet punch through the city's walls, a message arrived from the ERE, confirming that Sergius is removed from the office of Metropolitan and the location of the new one shall be in Vilnius. Jogaila was quick to place Mihail, a diocese bishop from Chernigov, as his Metropolitan. The control over the Russian Orthodox Church fell into the hands of the Grand Duke of Lithuania - a major achievement in the Baltic nation's quest to unite all of Rus' under one banner.
Family matters were not to be forgotten, though. 1409 marked the birth of Jogaila's first son, baptized as Teodoras (Fiodor, Theodore). Celebrations were held across the nation for the birth of the future Grand Duke - who, luckily, survived. The heir to the throne was secure! Unfortunately, Teodoras was the only male child of the Grand Duke - behind that, he and Sophia of Moscow could only produce daughters.
Central Europe exploded into action in the second decade of the 15th century! A peculiar adherent of Wycliffism and Humanist figure from the Kingdom of Bohemia, Jan Hus, was captured and burned at the stake while travelling to the ongoing Council of Constance for heresy, which prompted an immediate revolt by his followers, the Hussites. Frustrated at German dominance in Czech lands and what they perceived as corruption in the Catholic Church, these militant heretics repulsed one Crusade after another with innovative tactics and a great commander - Jan Žižka. Lithuania under Jogaila watched the events unfold with little interest to actually participate as the Hussite Wars began to engulf Central Europe by storm...
Something else, while not important to the political history of Europe, but considered to be a great moment in Lithuanian literary and cultural tradition, happened in Lithuania closing in on the end of Jogaila's long and bountiful reign - the creation of the Chronicle of Lithuania (Lietuvos kronika), first released in 1425, in Smolensk, in the Ruthenian language. This was the first set of historical literary works composed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, most importantly as an alternative to the local Russian chronicles, many of which portrayed Lithuanians negatively. The Chronicle extended from the creation of the Lithuanian state to present day, and was extremely pro-Lithuanian in it's contents. A lot of focus was on Jogaila's reign and the crushing victories in Ilava and Vorskla, while the defeats in, say, Rudau were for the most part shoved under the rug, or at least presented as not that bad of a defeat after all. However, that was not the most important thing. In 1432, according to the orders of Jogaila, the Chronicle of Lithuania was translated into the Lithuanian language, adapted to the Cyrilic script.
This year is celebrated as the beginning of Lithuanian literature as we know it.
Military matters were not forgotten, too, and even though the last thirty years of Jogaila's reign were known as exceptionally peaceful, he did not forget the long withstanding Lithuanian ambition to see all of the Kievan Rus' under one banner - their banner. In 1408, the Lithuanian hegemon annexed and incorporated Ryazan, and after numerous attack and treaties on the remaining Russian principalities, they entered a weird limbo situation of "independent dominance". Nominally, principalities like the slowly expanding Tver, Yaroslavl and Novgorod were independent, but they paid various levels of tribute to the Grand Duke and, even if they were not obliged to do so, provided soldiers and material for military campaigns, mostly out of fear and hoping to receive Lithuanian support in any of their own matters. This weird false vassalage system could only really work if Lithuania was led by a strong and capable ruler, though, one who is active enough to keep the Rus'ians in check.
And just when this was said, in 1434, Nikolai I Jogaila 'the Great', Grand Duke of Lithuania, Samogitia and Muscovy died, calmly in his bed. Already over 80 years old, this noble and ambitious ruler laid the grounds for what can truly be called a "Lithuanian Golden Age". Under him, the dream of his father to unite all of Rus', whether as a hegemon or a single state, was pretty much accomplished. Trade and culture flourished. Lithuania established itself as one of the major powers of Europe. While still pretty much a decentralized feudal state on a lower civilization level than, say, England-France or Italy, it was very well willing to learn from the West. Truly, a man worthy of his epithet.
The throne of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was inherited by his son, now crowned as Teodoras I. 25 years old at the time of his coronation, he was a ruler instantly bombarded with great expectations - strengthen the nation, keep his father's accomplishments secure, or even surpass them...
Not easy to achieve. Not when soon after his father's death, one of his relatives suddenly raised the banner of civil war, yet again...
And what about the West? In 1432, merely two years before Jogaila's death, the Council of Florence began. While it's biggest topic was the ongoing Hussite Wars and the split of the Catholic Church, an important part of this convention was the East-West Schism, in light of the ongoing death of the Byzantine Empire. Representatives from the Eastern Church, mostly from the ERE, but also some from other Orthodox nations and even one - Viktoras of Gardinas - from Lithuania began open discussion with the Catholics on a possible mending of the great Schism. Surely, Lithuania should have a say in this, right? And what will this mean for the great Eastern nation?
It is clear - the story of Lithuania has only begun.
Teodoras I, Grand Duke of Lithuania, 1434-
Map of Lithuania upon the ascension of Teodoras I
(I made a mistake, Poland is no longer under Hungary, ignore that)
So yeah, sorry for not posting for a while.
Great TL! Understandably I'm curious whether there will be some "Florentine Compactata".
And who rebels?
And who rebels?
I'd have to disagree on the ability of Lithuania to control the Crimean steppe unless they only rule that in name only, and somehow butterflying away the battle of Ankara. Ankara was a battle long in coming between both Timur and Bayezid unless for some reason via butterflies Bayezid doesn't try to extract tribute from on one of Timur's tributaries in Anatolia.
The control over the steppe that you see in the map is de jure only. Really, Lithuania only holds Khadjibey and a few strategic forts within the territory. Having fixed borders in medieval times is not accurate anyway..
Battle of Ankara was not butterflied, I just didn't write about it.
Chapter 8: The New Meets The Old
Part 8: The New Meets the Old (1434-1450)
Teodoras Jogailaitis was a man quite different from his father. While Jogaila the Great was a timid and patient man, trying to avoid reckless attacks without carefully thinking them through, and was often reliant on the rising nobility and magnates in his day-to-day affairs, Teodoras was a stubborn and headstrong boy, indulgent in earthly pleasures like drinking and lust, and ambitious and self-centered enough to set a goal of achieving more than his dear old daddy - of course, for his own, not his country's benefit. Despite his flaws, the new Grand Duke of Lithuania excelled as a military commander - groomed in the military at a young age, he considered it to be the only path to his glory, to the dismay of what he perceived as "boring" arts of rulership, like culture, administration and sciences.
From the very start, Teodoras I faced against great challenges. His uncle and Jogaila's cousin, son of Kęstutis, Žygimantas Kęstutaitis (Zhigmunt Kiestutovich, Sigismund Kęstutaitis) raised his banners in Starodub and Moscow in revolt, hoping to obtain the throne for himself. While having been a supporter of his father in the three-way Lithuanian Civil War of 1377-1381, Žygimantas was the first to realize the desperation and likely failure of the conflict, and surrendered to Jogaila soon after his baptism, later being granted Starodub as gratitude. Now, after his suzerain's death, this 70 year old duke, last remaining son of Kęstutis, supported by the city of Moscow and his cousin Švitrigaila, as well as some Orthodox dukes and most notably the Livonian Order, declared his war to claim the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for himself. Žygimantas represented the more conservative parts of the Lithuanian nobility, who viewed the developments during Jogaila's rule, like Western laws and centralization measures, with suspicion, as threats to their wealth and rule. They hoped that this claimant would revert these reforms and restore "the regime of the old days".
Teodoras I was having none of that, though. Much like his father fifty years ago, he immediately raised his own levies and troops, organizing them in Vilnius, and marched East. Polotsk fell on January of 1435, followed by Vitebsk, Smolensk and Bryansk. The young lord's armies began to approach Starodub, Žygimantas's capital, and that's where the decisive battle of the campaign began. The Battle of Starodub began on July 3rd, 1435, between the loyalists of Teodoras I and the pretender armies of Žygimantas and Švitrigaila. The Lithuanian Chronicle provides a laconic description of the battle, one that we will be using: "After the sun rose, the armies of the noble King met the hordes of the traitorous Žygimantas near Starodub. The rebels charged the positions, hoping to scare Teodoras with their numbers, but the young ruler was well prepared. The enemy spears and wild attacks had no effect on the organized, lined up and disciplined loyalist troops, and as soon as the enemy attacked our lines directly, the cavalry surrounded them. Thousands were slain and the traitors were captured". While historians agree that the description of Žygimantas's armies as undisciplined and completely incapable of understanding modern tactics is overblown, it is agreed that the Loyalist armies were better organized and won the battle fairly easily. It was, in a way, a battle between the old, Paganism influenced ways and the new modern and European ideas. The fate of Žygimantas and Švitrigaila after imprisonment is not known. Moscow still stood in revolt, and Teodoras was quick to march against it and pillage it a fourth time since 1368. The regions of the city were depopulated once more, and many remaining nobles and peasants fled north, to Tver'.
While the Grand Duke of Lithuania solidfied control over his nation, managed to acquire loyalty from the underling Russian principalities like Tver' - whose princes still clung on the idea of possibly reuniting the Rus' under the Russians, and carefully expanded under Lithuanian hegemony - as well as Novgorod and Pskov, the son of Žygimantas - Mykolas Žygimantaitis (Mikhail Zhigmuntovich, Michael Žygimantaitis) managed to flee his home country to the Livonian Order, the last ally of the revolters, and declared that he alone, not the "little Emperor in Vilnius", is the legitimate Grand Duke and will fight for the throne, "no matter how much blood is spilled". Here, in Livonia, he surrendered to the Catholic faith and was re-Christianized with the new Baptismal name Alexander, and using him as a figurehead and "reason for war", the Crusader knights organized a massive army in Riga and marched south. This was not a normal raiding trip - it was, indeed, an active effort to place a loyal man on the throne of Lithuania. Master Franco Kerskoff even sent an envoy to the Pope in Rome, hoping to call a Crusade against the Schismatics in the East - not a good sign when said Pope was trying to negotiate a mending to the East-West Schism at the same time... As such, it was swiftly denied.
Nevertheless, Kerskoff marched to Lithuania anyway, declaring his own "little Crusade", and while Teodoras was busy far in the East, his army began pillaging the northern parts of the ethnic Baltic lands, with ferocity comparable to the raids against pagan Lithuanians over a century ago. Entire villages were often burned and completely looted of anything of value, from grain and food supplies to the clothes of the peasants. Pandėlys, Pasvalys, Biržai were destroyed and occupied, and the Livonians marched south, towards the Nevėžis river, to take Upytė, a major population and political center in northeast Lietuva Land (ethnic Lithuania). Expecting no resistance, Kerskoff planned to reach Vilnius within the year, place Mykolas on the throne and face off against Teodoras there, but he miscalculated. The Elder of Samogitia, Jonas Goštautas, along with the Volvodes of Trakai and Vilnius, began organizing an army from the remainders that they had after the rest marched off to Moscow. The Lithuanian defenders rallied in Kaunas, and marched north as fast as they possibly could while desperately trying to get Teodoras I to come to Lithuania proper sooner.
The forces of the Livonian Order and the defender Lithuanians, mostly from Samogitia, met near the river Lėvuo, only about 20 kilometers away from Upytė.
The Battle of Lėvuo River later took the spot among Battle of Saule, Durbe and Aizkraukle in 1236, 1260 and 1279 respectively as one of the numerous Livonian failures against an inferior "pagan" foe. The battlefield was a forested marsh - foreign terrain for the Knights, quite a few of whom had visited Lithuania for the first time of their live, but a native and very well known battlefield for the Lithuanians. While the locals were poorly armed, many without any armor and weaponry resembling the equipment of their pagan ancestors, they were familiar with the location, and - most importantly - they knew the local kūlgrinda. Vital in the defense of Lithuania during the 13th and 14th centuries, the kūlgrinda were hidden stone, wood or ground paths across swamps, used as shortcuts between villages and in the battlefield. While many of such paths were abandoned during the peaceful times of Jogaila the Great, this particular one through the swamp at Lėvuo survived, and was the last documented case of a tactical use of one.
The Livonian knights moved across the forests, trying to avoid the numerous local swamps, but the thickness of the woods started to slowly separate them into numerous smaller groups, which were starting to get picked off by the local troops, who had reached the battlefield beforehand and prepared for an attack. Heavy cavalry was practically useless in the field, horses often knocked their riders off and scurred away in panic, and before they realized what was going on, the Westerners were surrounded. Franco Kerskoff's personal guard in the left flank attacked the closest Lithuanian detachment, overpowering them with superior weaponry and organization, but they were unable to bring reinforcements in time, while Jonas Goštautas sent troops from the right through the kūlgrinda to replenish the losses. In a last ditch effort, Kerskoff ordered his troops to light the forest on fire, but it only worsened their chances in the long term - covered in thick armor, the Knights could hardly bear the heat of the fire, and having lost their horses, many of them couldn't escape the fire in time, while the agile and lightly armored Lithuanians had a much better time.
From the very start, Teodoras I faced against great challenges. His uncle and Jogaila's cousin, son of Kęstutis, Žygimantas Kęstutaitis (Zhigmunt Kiestutovich, Sigismund Kęstutaitis) raised his banners in Starodub and Moscow in revolt, hoping to obtain the throne for himself. While having been a supporter of his father in the three-way Lithuanian Civil War of 1377-1381, Žygimantas was the first to realize the desperation and likely failure of the conflict, and surrendered to Jogaila soon after his baptism, later being granted Starodub as gratitude. Now, after his suzerain's death, this 70 year old duke, last remaining son of Kęstutis, supported by the city of Moscow and his cousin Švitrigaila, as well as some Orthodox dukes and most notably the Livonian Order, declared his war to claim the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for himself. Žygimantas represented the more conservative parts of the Lithuanian nobility, who viewed the developments during Jogaila's rule, like Western laws and centralization measures, with suspicion, as threats to their wealth and rule. They hoped that this claimant would revert these reforms and restore "the regime of the old days".
Teodoras I was having none of that, though. Much like his father fifty years ago, he immediately raised his own levies and troops, organizing them in Vilnius, and marched East. Polotsk fell on January of 1435, followed by Vitebsk, Smolensk and Bryansk. The young lord's armies began to approach Starodub, Žygimantas's capital, and that's where the decisive battle of the campaign began. The Battle of Starodub began on July 3rd, 1435, between the loyalists of Teodoras I and the pretender armies of Žygimantas and Švitrigaila. The Lithuanian Chronicle provides a laconic description of the battle, one that we will be using: "After the sun rose, the armies of the noble King met the hordes of the traitorous Žygimantas near Starodub. The rebels charged the positions, hoping to scare Teodoras with their numbers, but the young ruler was well prepared. The enemy spears and wild attacks had no effect on the organized, lined up and disciplined loyalist troops, and as soon as the enemy attacked our lines directly, the cavalry surrounded them. Thousands were slain and the traitors were captured". While historians agree that the description of Žygimantas's armies as undisciplined and completely incapable of understanding modern tactics is overblown, it is agreed that the Loyalist armies were better organized and won the battle fairly easily. It was, in a way, a battle between the old, Paganism influenced ways and the new modern and European ideas. The fate of Žygimantas and Švitrigaila after imprisonment is not known. Moscow still stood in revolt, and Teodoras was quick to march against it and pillage it a fourth time since 1368. The regions of the city were depopulated once more, and many remaining nobles and peasants fled north, to Tver'.
While the Grand Duke of Lithuania solidfied control over his nation, managed to acquire loyalty from the underling Russian principalities like Tver' - whose princes still clung on the idea of possibly reuniting the Rus' under the Russians, and carefully expanded under Lithuanian hegemony - as well as Novgorod and Pskov, the son of Žygimantas - Mykolas Žygimantaitis (Mikhail Zhigmuntovich, Michael Žygimantaitis) managed to flee his home country to the Livonian Order, the last ally of the revolters, and declared that he alone, not the "little Emperor in Vilnius", is the legitimate Grand Duke and will fight for the throne, "no matter how much blood is spilled". Here, in Livonia, he surrendered to the Catholic faith and was re-Christianized with the new Baptismal name Alexander, and using him as a figurehead and "reason for war", the Crusader knights organized a massive army in Riga and marched south. This was not a normal raiding trip - it was, indeed, an active effort to place a loyal man on the throne of Lithuania. Master Franco Kerskoff even sent an envoy to the Pope in Rome, hoping to call a Crusade against the Schismatics in the East - not a good sign when said Pope was trying to negotiate a mending to the East-West Schism at the same time... As such, it was swiftly denied.
Nevertheless, Kerskoff marched to Lithuania anyway, declaring his own "little Crusade", and while Teodoras was busy far in the East, his army began pillaging the northern parts of the ethnic Baltic lands, with ferocity comparable to the raids against pagan Lithuanians over a century ago. Entire villages were often burned and completely looted of anything of value, from grain and food supplies to the clothes of the peasants. Pandėlys, Pasvalys, Biržai were destroyed and occupied, and the Livonians marched south, towards the Nevėžis river, to take Upytė, a major population and political center in northeast Lietuva Land (ethnic Lithuania). Expecting no resistance, Kerskoff planned to reach Vilnius within the year, place Mykolas on the throne and face off against Teodoras there, but he miscalculated. The Elder of Samogitia, Jonas Goštautas, along with the Volvodes of Trakai and Vilnius, began organizing an army from the remainders that they had after the rest marched off to Moscow. The Lithuanian defenders rallied in Kaunas, and marched north as fast as they possibly could while desperately trying to get Teodoras I to come to Lithuania proper sooner.
The forces of the Livonian Order and the defender Lithuanians, mostly from Samogitia, met near the river Lėvuo, only about 20 kilometers away from Upytė.
The Battle of Lėvuo River later took the spot among Battle of Saule, Durbe and Aizkraukle in 1236, 1260 and 1279 respectively as one of the numerous Livonian failures against an inferior "pagan" foe. The battlefield was a forested marsh - foreign terrain for the Knights, quite a few of whom had visited Lithuania for the first time of their live, but a native and very well known battlefield for the Lithuanians. While the locals were poorly armed, many without any armor and weaponry resembling the equipment of their pagan ancestors, they were familiar with the location, and - most importantly - they knew the local kūlgrinda. Vital in the defense of Lithuania during the 13th and 14th centuries, the kūlgrinda were hidden stone, wood or ground paths across swamps, used as shortcuts between villages and in the battlefield. While many of such paths were abandoned during the peaceful times of Jogaila the Great, this particular one through the swamp at Lėvuo survived, and was the last documented case of a tactical use of one.
The Livonian knights moved across the forests, trying to avoid the numerous local swamps, but the thickness of the woods started to slowly separate them into numerous smaller groups, which were starting to get picked off by the local troops, who had reached the battlefield beforehand and prepared for an attack. Heavy cavalry was practically useless in the field, horses often knocked their riders off and scurred away in panic, and before they realized what was going on, the Westerners were surrounded. Franco Kerskoff's personal guard in the left flank attacked the closest Lithuanian detachment, overpowering them with superior weaponry and organization, but they were unable to bring reinforcements in time, while Jonas Goštautas sent troops from the right through the kūlgrinda to replenish the losses. In a last ditch effort, Kerskoff ordered his troops to light the forest on fire, but it only worsened their chances in the long term - covered in thick armor, the Knights could hardly bear the heat of the fire, and having lost their horses, many of them couldn't escape the fire in time, while the agile and lightly armored Lithuanians had a much better time.
Memorial to the Battle of Lėvuo, built in the suspected location of the battle in 1981
In the end of the day, Franco Kerskoff had lost a third of his army and many of the Order's knights, though he himself and the core of his troops survived. The Lithuanians also suffered heavy losses, but they managed to drag the Westerners out of the region. Reorganizing in Biržai, the Livonians planned for a counterattack, but their plans were halted by the news of Teodoras I's army returning to Vilnius. Knowing that with his armies weakened, he stood no chance against the army of the Grand Duke himself, the Master of the Livonian Order immediately sued for peace, offering to return all of the loot his armies gathered in the raid as well as the captured towns. While reluctant and willing to "pillage Terra Mariana from Windau to Narva", Teodoras followed the will of the nobility and agreed.
Mykolas Žygimantaitis, knowing that peace would mean his extradition to Lithuania and thus the same fate as his father, escaped the Livonian camp on a horse right before the peace proposal, this time fleeing to Riga, and then to the West. The struggles of this Catholic claimant to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania have just begun...
Meanwhile, Teodoras Jogailaitis began to slowly, but surely, now that all of his rivals for the throne were beaten, establish his rule over the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. His rule was most remarkable by the constant increase of the rights of the nobility - hoping to acquire a strong base of knights for the military, Teodoras was willing to sacrifice some of his own power to compensate. His rule was full of military campaigns from East to West from the very beginning - in 1440, he marched against the newly established Crimean Khanate to make them pay tribute, and a few years later attacked Sarai to obtain loyalty from the Khan of the Golden Horde, then almost two years later, he attacked Novgorod over trade rights. While all of these were big campaigns, the war that would mark this warlike king's place in history was yet to come.
Teodoras I's first son was born in 1438, to him and Sofija Alšėniškė (Sofija Halshanskaya, Sophia of Halshany), whom he married immediately upon his coronation. Baptized as Algirdas (Oleg Teodorovich, Algirdas/Olgierd), he immediately became the heir apparent of Lithuania. The succession was safe.
Meanwhile, interesting developments were happening in the West. The Council of Florence went on a great headstart, thanks to both the Byzantine Emperor and the Pope being in agreement that a reunion was necessary - of course, both had completely different reasoning for this action. The Emperor desperately needed help against the Ottoman Turks, while the Pope wanted to once again reign over all of Christendom. While negotiations were taking place, the Pope and the Hussite revolters finally managed to acquire peace, reinstating Sigismund as the King, but at what cost! Bohemia, formerly the heart of Central Europe, was completely ravaged by the constant Crusades, and the fractured Hussites, even if given religious freedom, were no longer as invincible as they were before due to the death of Jan Žižka almost a decade earlier. Still, this marked a restoration of the House of Luxemburg to the throne of the nation, and no matter how destroyed it was, it could still recover... Many of the combat innovations made by the Hussites, like their famous war wagon, were soon adopted by the Luxemburgian Bohemia-Hungary, especially due to the initiative of their military commander, Janos Hunyadi.
Sigismund I died in 1437, with the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia being inherited by his only son Charles (Karol), an underage boy, while Brandenburg was given to his loyal ally Frederick of Habsburg. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire as well as the Kingdom of Germany was now without a ruler, entering a state of interregnum, and the loss of one of the biggest proponents of a mending to the East-West Schism dealt a serious blow to the unionists in Florence. Soon enough, numerous Orthodox priests declared that the Schism shall not be mended, and upon the Patriarch of Constantinople taking the matters to a vote, Mark of Ephesus cancelled the Mend by voting against, soon followed by numerous other Orthodox priests who hailed him as the leader of their cause. While the Emperor was still trying to settle matters down and get Mark of Ephesus to change his mind, Teodoras I of Lithuania, as the second person in the "hierarchy" of secular Orthodox rulers, declared that he will not accept Papal supremacy - this coming from his desire to control the Lithuanian Orthodox Church and it's Metropolitan by himself. Civil conflict in the Byzantine Empire did not help the matters, not at all...
While this was happening, the Ottoman Turks continued their steady push into Europe, with their goals being to control all land south of the Danube. Taking advantage of the recovery after the Hussite Wars and the ensuing dynastic struggles in Bohemia-Hungary, as well as the schism of the Catholic Church, Murad II sieged and captured Belgrade and threatened to move even further north, even seizing the weakened Hungary. Janos Hunyadi, who was responsible for defending Hungary's frontier, urged the regency council in Prague for military action, and some even discussed the possibility of calling a Crusade against the Turks to save the Balkans and Constantinople from impending doom... However, the situation was not favoring the possibility of a "Turkish Crusade" - Poland was experiencing problems of their own, with their king Siemowit II nearing death, and thus was unable to participate, while the West was busy with their own wars and the Council of Florence. Reluctantly, the Bohemo-Hungarians thus accepted Murad's proposal of peace and giving up Serbia to the Muslims. Was the Turkish pressure north over?..
Central Europe was a very volatile region in the 15th century, and one of it's biggest conflicts were set off by a spark in nowhere else but Poland... After fighting an unknown disease for a few years, Siemowit II Piast, the son of the victorious Siemowit I, finally died in 1445, succeeded by his son Siemowit III. Unlike both his father and grandfather, both of which were capable rulers that managed to extend the Golden Age started by Casimir the Great, Siemowit III was - for reasons still unknown to modern historians, though the most likely suspect being a genetic disorder - practically incapable of leading the country. He couldn't even spell and say his name properly, as clearly depicted by Jan Dlugosz. Under this incapable king, a permanent regency of Polish szlachta had to be created to rule the country, and the weakness of the King led to numerous people raising a claim to the throne of Poland. Siemowit III's uncle Wladyslaw, Duke of Mazovia, was the obvious candidate, seeing as the King had no brothers and only a single sister. However, this "interregnum" of sorts presented Poland's southern neighbor, Bohemia-Hungary, an opportunity. Before the installation of Siemowit I by the Poles, the nation was led by the Angevin, especially Louis I, and said branch of the dynasty merged into the House of Luxemburg through Sigismund I, so the Bohemo-Hungarians had all the rights to present Charles I of Bohemia-Hungary as the next successor. However, still devastated by the Hussite Wars and numerous pretender revolts under the underage Charles, this union couldn't really project it's power for such a jump.
Meanwhile, to the east of Poland, the rising Grand Duchy of Lithuania was perfectly fine with the current situation in Poland as it is - a weak, szlachta-ruled Poland presented a good buffer between this Empire in the East and the Western world, and even though Poland and Lithuania had since parted their ways after the Battle of Ilava, they still held at the very least tepid feelings towards each other. So, Central Europe was looking into a possible three-way war between the supporters of Wladyslaw Piast, Lithuania and the Polish szlachta who saw the "Siemowit interregnum" as the chance to increase their rights, and Bohemia-Hungary...
However, any and all plans for war were suddenly turned inside out in 1450 by an event that shocked the Western world to it's core - the Ottoman Turks, led by Murad II, used this chaos among Christians to attack the eternal capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople. Even though the city thwarted Muslim attacks for centuries, this time the invaders were well prepared. New and improved Turkish cannons overpowered anything the Byzantines could bring out, and after successfully capturing the city and slaughtering the defenders, the Muslims looted and pillaged this jewel of Southern Europe, this bridge between Europe and Asia, this last bastion of the glory that once was the Roman Empire... The Eastern Roman Empire fell, thousands fled the burning city by boats or caravans, many of them bureaucrats, artists and engineers bringing with themselves the spirit of the Antique times, and the rest of the Christian world witnessed with horror as a new era slowly ticked it's first hours...
"Murad the Conqueror Enters Constantinople", Enrique Zonaro, 1905
Sorry for not posting in a while.
No spoilers :X
However, what I can say is the Renaissance is not going anywhere. Shocking!
Chapter 9: Fear and Loathing in Central Europe
Part 9: Fear and Loathing in Central Europe (1450-1463)
The conquest of Constantinople saw numerous developments that would impact the history of Europe for centuries to come. While it had started before the Turkish siege, the exodus of Greek refugees, mostly scholars, artists and writers, reached a record high immediately after the war. Fearing for their life and bringing numerous saved great works from Antiquity and the Byzantine Golden Age period with them, these refugees had numerous paths to take. Some fled into the Aegean, arriving to Morea or Venetian colonies and trade posts in the islands, and from there fleeing to Western Europe, most notably Italy, where a contingent of Greek figures had already established themselves. Many were caught by Ottoman troops or ships and sent back to the mainland, often ending up executed for treason. Finally, some reached Khadjibey, Lithuania's Black Sea port, and appealed to the Grand Duke to grant them protection. Teodoras I, while not particularly interested in those old books they were carrying, agreed, and settled them down near his capital in Vilnius. The effect of this action are still visible today in location names - the towns of Graikamiestis (Lith. "Greek City"), Trakiečiai (Lith. "Thracians") and Šimto Graikų Kaimas (Lith. "The town of a hundred Greeks") tell their visitors about their glorious past.
Greek settlements in Lietuva Land, even though the original inhabitants were quickly assimilated into the population, later became the centers of Lithuanian Renaissance thought and development. According to the census of 2010, approximately 15 people in the Vilnius Region today identify as "Lithuanian Greek" - even after 600 years, this important minority of Lithuanian history still clings on and is sure to remind those who ask about their impact on Lithuanian culture. Greeks brought olive oil into some dishes of the Lithuanian cuisine, for example.
However, neither delicious dishes nor ancient books were on the mind of the Grand Duke of Lithuania upon the conquest of Constantinople. His glory-hungry mind focused on far more prestigious matters. Teodoras I was quick to declare that "now that the thousand years of Eastern Roman reign upon the eternal throne of the Empire are over, the seat of Rome needs to be moved to a successor of it's traditions". Which, according to him, must be Lithuania - the last standing powerful Eastern Orthodox nation, one that received the voice of Christ in the Roman, rather than the Latin, way. Such declarations of successorship weren't widely accepted in the Christian world, at least for the time being, but Teodoras I was determined in that regard.
Historians notice that this period of Lithuanian historiography, as in, immediately after the fall of Byzantium, saw a sudden change in the interpretation of the nation's past in the Chronicle of Lithuania - in an edited rewrite in 1460, a much greater emphasis is put on Lithuania after Jogaila's baptism, glorifying his fight against the Western Schismatics and Eastern Mahometons as a defense of Orthodoxy in Eastern Europe - which couldn't be farther from the truth. This exemplifies Teodoras's quest to legitimize his claim on declaring Vilnius and his nation "The Third Rome", a title which had more claimants than ever - the Ottomans, whose new ruler Mehmed even declared himself Kaiser-i-Rum to lock down his claim, as well as Venice, the Holy Roman Empire, and even Tver.
Yet another case of twisting history for a political agenda.
Traders across Western Europe suffered a blow of their own. The conquest of Constantinople greatly severed the trade link between Europe and the Middle East that went through the city. Now held by hostile Muslims, this important city for trade was turned into a stronghold of theirs, and Europe soon witnessed a massive increase in prices of Eastern goods, most importantly spices. Spices grew more and more demanding in the Western World, and this coupled with many, many political and tariff barriers in the Silk Road, Constantinople being the newest one in the chain, meant that the prices of all goods travelling increased by up to 500 times from start to finish in extreme cases. Some navigators and traders in Western Europe, most notably in the Iberian peninsula and the massive England-France, started arguing in favor of finding a sea route to India to bypass the Muslims and their tariffs.
How? Around Africa, of course! But is it the only way? Can't we just sail directly to the west? The world is round, after all... Such discussions were still a long way from bearing any fruits, though.
In Central Europe, a far different crisis was brewing. The conquest of Constantinople didn't put a stop to the rising tensions between two rising great powers, Bohemia-Hungary and Lithuania, only temporarily paused them. Meanwhile, what was already known as the "Polish Succession Crisis" or the "Siemowitian Interregnum", was escalating to never before seen heights. Mikhail Ignacy Lubomirski, the head regent of the incapable Siemowit III, was, in essence, the ruler of the Kingdom of Poland along with the Council of Krakow, a gathering of szlachta who would collectively decide in the kingdom's matters while the King was unable to rule. Of course, Lubomirski was quick to use this power to further his and his class's power in the already decentralized Kingdom. In 1455, Siemowit III "signed" the Convention Pact, declaring the official establishment of elective monarchy in Poland. The office of "King of Poland" was no longer hereditary, but rather elected by all Polish nobles upon the last King's death. The powers of the King were also drastically cut, and the nobility - gathered in the Sejm - had their powers in the ruling process greatly expanded.
Poland entered a state of chaos. The lands of the King were divided up between the biggest families of the szlachta. There was almost no centralized rule, the nobles avoided serving in the army, instead keeping their own small forces and feuding across the nation. Jan Dlugosz, one of the most well known Polish historians of the Medieval Era, and a contemporary of the Siemowitian Interregnum, described it in his works as "the downfall of Poland; it is no longer a free nation, no matter how many titles and rights Lubomirski adds to his clan". Wladyslaw I, the uncle of the reigning King, and one of the last major supporters of keeping Poland centralized, died in 1455. His son Janusz, only 16 years old upon his father's death, continued on the efforts to take the crown, but the numbers of his supporters dwindled. A Januszist uprising in Lesser Poland was taken down by a surprise Lithuanian intervention - Teodoras I wanted a weak, fractured Poland as a buffer between his nation and the Holy Roman Empire and Bohemia-Hungary.
In 1457, Charles I of Bohemia-Hungary came to age, bringing the regency to an end. A capable ruler, Charles was groomed in the court by an Italian humanist, passing on the ideas of the springing Renaissance to the young King. Charles I soon adopted the military ideas proposed by the now deceased John Hunyadi, succeeded by Matthias Corvinus, a Hungarian general and voivode just as capable as his father. Both knowing that war was coming near and that his reign over two countries was not the most stable, Charles I went in an effort to innovate the military of the Dual Crown. Charles I supported Corvinus's proposal to create a professional mercenary force - the Black Army of Bohemia and Hungary - whose organization and modernized composition soon became the model of the Bohemo-Hungarian army.
In 1461, civil conflict erupted in the Teutonic Order between the Grand Master and a confederation of burghers and cities, centered in Elbing, the Prussian Confederation, and Lithuania was quick to intervene, supporting the Confederates. Charles I used this as an opportunity to gain influence in Poland - he stationed a regiment of about 500 men in Krakow to oversee the regency, and offered sizable bribes to numerous Polish nobles in exchange for support. Teodoras I of Lithuania immediately saw this as an intrusion into his sphere of influence, and after attacking the outskirts of Konigsberg and looting the province, he sent a letter to the court in Esztergom, demanding them to move back. Charles I ignored the letter.
While Lithuania prepared for straightforward military action, gathering resources like food and weapons for a campaign, Bohemia-Hungary was more secretive - they hoped to influence the szlachta to obtain the crown from their hands. This is where they clashed with Janusz - Siemowit III's cousin, and a claimant to the throne, supported by Lithuania. Poland started to appear more and more like a piece of cloth, tugged into two sides by two giants. And when such a tug of war begins, it can take only a single tap to rip the whole thing apart...
And then, in 1463, the King of Poland, Siemowit III, died softly in his bed.
The reasons for his death are still uncertain. It's likely that his mental condition dramatically lowered his lifespan, but the possibility of an assassination by the Januszites or the supporters of Charles I is not pushed away to the side. After all, even to Mikhail Lubomirski the King was starting to become a thorn at the side... Nevertheless, while Poland under Siemowit III was chaotic and on a straight trip down, this was nothing compared to what happened when the poor man finally kicked the bucket.
Janusz Piast, now stylizing himself as Janusz I of Poland, immediately declared his claim to the throne via the old succession law, but the Convention Pact declared that a gathering of szlachta will choose the new King - and it, despite oh so much foreign influence against it, elected Mikhail Ignacy Lubomirski as the new King of Poland, on the promise of keeping the new rights of the nobility sacred. Both Charles and Janusz seemed "threateningly pro-centralization" to them. Bohemia-Hungary immediately responded with military action, the Januszites rose up in favor of the "legitimate claimant", and Lithuania, who was carefully watching the events unfold in Poland, was quick to intervene. A string of war declarations followed - Janusz I against Poland, Bohemia-Hungary and Charles I's supporters in Poland against Poland and Janusz, and Lithuania, supporting Janusz I, against both Poland and Bohemia-Hungary.
The flaming match has fallen into the gasoline soaked house, and now Poland once again burns.
---
Now we also have a poll at the top of the thread! Isn't this innovation? Make sure to answer it!
Oh, and I have realized that I am not a fairly good OP. I don't really interact much with you guys. Maybe it puts some of you off. Hopefully this can be the start of a better friendship.
Brief introduction to England-France
Because Lithuania accepted Christianity seven years earlier than OTL and Vytautas died in captivity, there was no Teutonic intervention in the Lithuanian Civil War of 1389-92, as that conflict never happened. This campaign was notable in that the future Henry IV of England participated in it with an English regiment.
Since this campaign "against Pagans" never happened, Henry IV's zealousy develops less than OTL, he mostly stays home rather than, say, conducting a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which only worsens his already weak health and, while still taking the throne from Richard II, he dies earlier than OTL. His successor, Henry V, renews the Hundred Years' War, the equivalent of the Battle of Agincourt and other campaigns happens earlier and thus England manages to successfully win the Hundred Years' War before the French can bounce back.
One of the butterflies that developed from the POD, basically - while not a hugely sensible one, Rule of Cool applies. I was going to talk about it and explain it in some later chapter, but you were the first to notice, so here you go
longsword14
Banned
Oh well,I expect it all to become France soon enough or break off when the Lancaster gets the same problem with over-mighty overlords that the others did.Because Lithuania accepted Christianity seven years earlier than OTL and Vytautas died in captivity, there was no Teutonic intervention in the Lithuanian Civil War of 1389-92, as that conflict never happened. This campaign was notable in that the future Henry IV of England participated in it with an English regiment.
Since this campaign "against Pagans" never happened, Henry IV's zealousy develops less than OTL, he mostly stays home rather than, say, conducting a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which only worsens his already weak health and, while still taking the throne from Richard II, he dies earlier than OTL. His successor, Henry V, renews the Hundred Years' War, the equivalent of the Battle of Agincourt and other campaigns happens earlier and thus England manages to successfully win the Hundred Years' War before the French can bounce back.
One of the butterflies that developed from the POD, basically - while not a hugely sensible one, Rule of Cool applies. I was going to talk about it and explain it in some later chapter, but you were the first to notice, so here you go
Oh, I already have the outcome of this unstable juggernaut planned, with quite a few butterflies to develop from it, tooOh well,I expect it all to become France soon enough or break off when the Lancaster gets the same problem with over-mighty overlords that the others did.
But right now, England-France is THE powerhouse of Western Europe.