The Scottish Blog Page 2
Winter 1112 The Battle of Taunton
In the winter of 1112, Edward decided to deal once and for all with the English army which was still skulking in woods and villages of Gloucestershire despite demands that it should either disperse or withdraw to Normandy.
Edward instructed one of the newly appointed diplomats Roy of Sowlis to give them one last option to vacate the soil of the United Kingdom peacefully or simply disperse and go home. But Ralph their captain refused to accept either option and so Edward gathered 150 crossbowmen and 160 knights from the fortress of Nottingham and drove them out of Gloucestershire into Somerset before forcing them to give battle near the town of Taunton.
Edward drew his army up on a low ridge overlooking the English army which then attempted to attack and drive off his crossbowmen, allowing the Scottish knights to envelope their formations and destroy them piecemeal with well time charges in the flanks and rear.
With the last English troops removed from the United Kingdom Edward returned to Nottingham Castle.
1115: Know your enemies, know your friends.
Edmund had done as Edward requested recruiting three more diplomats and an additional spy to monitor the potential threats along Scotland’s trade route to Africa.
So, by 1115 Scotland had established five foreign embassies each with a resident diplomat.
Diplomat
Embassy
Location
Patrick MacDougall
The Papal States
Rome.
Angus Stewart
Denmark
The Low Countries.
Allan of Berwickshire
Spain
Leon.
Algune of Fife
Portugal
Lisbon/Cordoba.
Micheil of Argyll
Moors
Algiers.
Each of these diplomats had submitted their initial reports and having dealt with the English at the Battle of Taunton Edward settled down with his council of ministers to analyse the information which had been provided.
Faction
Status
Relations
Reputation
Power
Settlements
Wealth
England
Enemy
Very Poor
Mixed
Average
1
Bankrupt
France
Allied
Outstanding
Reliable
Supreme
7
Meagre
Denmark
Neutral
Reasonable
Relaible
Average
4
Very Poor
Spain
Neutral
Poor
Reliable
Supreme
4
Bankrupt
Portugal
Neutral
Amiable
Untrustworthy
Supreme
6
Meagre
Moors
Neutral
Amiable
Mixed
Modest
?
Bankrupt
Papal States
Allied
Very Good
Reliable
Respectable
3
Modest
HRE
Neutral
Amiable
Relaible
Supreme
8
Meagre
The first re-assurance Edward gained from this information was that Scotland and her ally France were both supremely powerful and with seven settlements each were much larger than their immediate enemies England and Spain.
Only the Holy Roman Emperor held more territory than Scotland though He was currently ex-communicated and so might not hold onto it for very long.
Economically, both England and Spain have drained their treasuries dry hiring troops to fight their respective wars and only Scotland and the Papal states seem to have any significant wealth.
In addition to the comparison of power and wealth, Edward had a chart drawn up to help him understand the diplomatic and military relationships between the various kingdoms.
This clearly showed that Spain was the centre and of an alliance of five factions, Spain, England, Portugal, HRE and Milan. Together this alliance could call upon the resources of at least 20 provinces.
Opposed to this loose coalition was Scotland and France with 14 provinces but with the potential support of the Papal States and the Pope. It was also clear that Denmark through its alliance with Venice ought to be a potential ally of France and Scotland, as Venice was already at war with the HRE.
However, for the moment, Denmark seemed determined to remain neutral. But there was no doubt from the chart where its friends ought to reside and with Denmark came to possible support of Poland.
Once more the council proposed that Scotland should continue its war against the English by capturing the city of Caen. This would not only swing the balance of power in favour of the Franco-Scottish alliance but remove a potential threat to France allowing it to concentrate all its resources against Spain and would give Scotland a base of operations on the other side of the channel should they need to assist France actively against the Spanish.
Edward recognized that this might well be a sensible course of action. However, Micheil of Argyll had revealed the worrying information that Portugal has already captured the city of Madagascar from the Moors and Edward is now torn between the desire to beat the Portuguese to Timbuktu or finishing off the English. If Caen was to be attacked then it would need to be a quick siege, and that required catapults which Edward did not have. “Give me a catapult and I will give you Caen.” he muttered
In the meantime Edward decided to extend his network of embassies to include Venice, Poland and Milan, as he was keen to discover if Venice wished to join the Franco-Scottish Alliance and what if any power Milan and Poland might be able to contribute to their friends.
Summer 1114: Barbecue Time at Last
One down four to go….the Pope has also sent yet another inquisitor to Scotland, and this guy actually looks like he might know what he’s doing.
Hopefully, this will be the turning point in the war against heresy.
Summer 1115: Another new Pope.
News from Rome: Patrick MacDougall sends word that Pope Alexius died last year (1114) and the Pope is now Petrus of Hungary.
However, Patrick confirms that this change of leadership has done nothing to diminish Scotland’s special relationship with his holiness. [Pope-o-meter Rating 10/10]. In fact, only Hungary itself can match Scotland in the favour by which it is seen in the eyes of the Pope.
Summer 1115-1116: The African Trade
Trade with the Dark Continent is growing rapidly, Scotland now has five merchant houses operating from Timbuktu, realising a net income of 5,480 florins per annum for the Scottish treasury, in gold and ivory.
The only minor setback recently has been the death by natural causes of the merchant Gille Patrick of Shetland and he will need to be replaced before income can be restored to its full potential.
Summer 1114-Winter 1117: Feeding the fires, the war against heresy gains momentum.
Following the successful denouncement and burning of Isaac by Father Macgoulchane, his convert the former priest Ranald the Unorthodox fled northwards abandoning East Anglia and heading towards Yorkshire.
However, he did not make it very far, Stuart Macgoulchane and his fellow priests managed to corner Ranald near Nottingham and after a brief examination Ranald joined his mentor on the purification fires in the Summer of 1115.
Impressed by this devotion to the faith Pope Petrus immediately promoted Father Macgoulchane to the college of cardinals. Cardinal Macgoulchane and his supporting priests then decided to head for Ireland where David Canmore had reported that Mataad Nevel was still at large and causing trouble.
The Inquisition strikes
Meanwhile, in Scotland the inquisitor Pierus de Canpo manages to track down the elusive heretic Primus and this time there is no escape for the 'hairy nun' and he burns on the pruification fies in Edinburgh's market square. His convert Feradac Besat is currently no where to be seen and seems to have gone to ground, as has Mataad Nevel.
Frustrated at not being able to find the remaining two heretic's inquisitor de Canpo decided to examine Cardinal Macgooulchane's priests and in doing so discovers that Father Micheil Menzies does not meet his exacting standards of christian devotion. Word is sent to London that a replacement priest is needed.
Two heretic's remain at large but there exact whereabouts is currently unknown.
Lucky in war, unlucky in love
Whilst his fortune in battle has been unblemished Edward’s attempts to gain a victory through courtly love is proving much more of a challenge. Princess Mariot has had a fruitless journey to Cordoba and now returns to Spain in the hope of attracting a suitor from amongst the Spanish nobility.
However, her first attempt was a disaster the Spanish Nobleman Goncaluo el Valiente rejected her advances, and now infuriated and desperate she is heading further north to seek out the Spanish noblemen Valdez the Saint she met on her journey south.
In the meantime Nottingham castle is receiving regular visits from suitors hoping to persuade Edward to grant them the hand of his daughter in return for his Royal favours, but so far Edward has rejected them all in the hope of gaining some political or military advantage from his daughter’s hand.
His latest idea is to send Mariot east again, this time to Venice in the hope that an Italian Prince might be available and interested.
Winter 1116 Makmartane sails South.
At last after years of delay Makmartane has sailed with an army to secure Scotlands trading empire in the Africa. Even so, the demands made on the Scottish treasury to support the war against heresy and Prince Kyles Crusade mean that Makmartane's army is hardly of the quality needed to ensure an easy victory, and the fleet transporting it is equality understrength.
However, with Gods blessing both the fleet and the army will survive and acheive their goals.
Admiral Dougall's fleet collects Makmartane and his rapidly assembled army from the Welsh coast and heads south.
The plan is to land Makmartane and his troops on the coast of Morocco where they will make a quick dash across Portuguese territory into the Sahara and then head south for Timbuktu. The hope is that Makmartane will be able to hire friendly natives locally to bolster his numbers and make up for his lack of foot soldiers before he reaches his goal.
Having landed Makmartane's Army, Admiral Dougall’s fleet will continue eastwards into the Mediterranean and will rendezvous with Prince Kyle’s crusade somewhere along the Adriatic coast. Then, hopefully reinfoced by additional mercenary ships, Dougall will load the Prince’s Crusaders and carry them on to Jerusalem.
It was an ambitious plan, woefully under resourced but at least it was underway.
Summer 1116: The collapse of the Spanish Coalition
Just as Edward had predicted the ex-communication of The Holy Roman Emperor triggered hostile interest from a number of other christian factions. France ended its war with Spain to attack the HRE and they were joined by both Venice and Denmark.
More interestingly Spain decided that it no longer wished to be associated with the HRE. probably on the direction of the Pope, and cancelled their alliance leaving the Spanish coalition with only England and Portugal as its other members.
The HRE now became the centre of its own coalition consisting of the other ex-communicated Christian faction Milan, plus the Byzantine Empire, and much to Edwards surprise, Hungary.
The impact that this reshuffle of the political cards might have on Scotlands trade route to Africa was not yet clear. Portugal was still allied with both Spain and the HRE and thus in theory unlikely to be friendly towards Scotland or France. However, England was now far more isolated politically than it had been when Spain and France were at war and a lot would depend on what Spain did next.
Winter 1117: Prince Lulach comes of age.
King Edward’s youngest son Lulach comes of age
Winter 1117 - Winter 1119: All is being done that can be done.
This was a relatively quiet time for the Kingdom. Prince Kyle and his crusade was busy getting lost in central Germany and costing the treasury a fortune in mercenary and equipment expenses trying to replace the large numbers of crusaders and pilgrims who were abandoning Prince Kyle on a daily basis due to his appalling navigation skills.
In the meantime Makmartane's expedition was sailing steadily south across the Bay of Biscay and down the west coast of Spain towards an uncertain future in Africa.
The most annoying thing Edward had to deal with were the suitors seeking the hand of Alexanders daughter Raghnailt.
Edward is in no real mood for dealing with these power hungry minor nobles and refuses to grant any of their proposals. The result is that poor Alexander is left with four unmarried daughters, a situation bound to drive any man to drink.
Edward takes more interest in the approaches of The Guild of Theologian's who wish to build a guild house and college in London. Edward had deliberately rescinded the charter of the Thieves Guild in London a few years ago in the hope of attracting something more useful to the city and he was quick to grant the Theologian's a charter to do so when they requested one.
The war against heresy seems to have been largely successful. In the summer of 1119, Cardinal Macgoulchane discovered a minor new cult leader in Ireland leader by a man called Buchan and had him executed. However, the major ring leader Mataad Nevel remains at large and speculation is that he may have died or taken his own life.
The only other notable event was a minor rebellion led by the Earl of Lincoln, which Edward was forced to disperse with his customary ruthlessness earning himself an even more fearful reputation (+1 dread)
The important thing is that life is returning to normal in the kingdom, heresy levels and religious unrest are dropping and tax levels are high suggesting that the ‘war on heresy’ has been successful and the people are reasonably content.
Bit boring really.
1120: The Unholy Alliance
Whilst life in the United Kingdom was reasonably peaceful, mainland Europe was wracked by war. The ex-communicated Holy Roman Emperor and his ally the ex-communicated Doge of Milan had formed an unholy alliance to try and fend off attacks by almost all their neighbouring princes.
Despite this alliance Arcill Vissman reports that The Holy Roman Emperor has already lost two cities.
Faction
Status
Relations
Reputation
Power
Settlements
Wealth
HRE
Neutral
Amiable
Reliable
Supreme
8-2=6
Meagre
Milan
Neutral
Amiable
Very Reliable
Supreme
7
Meagre
The chart below gives some indication of the pressure that the Unholy Alliance were under at this time, and Scotlands relationship to the main participants.
.
Surprisingly Scotlands relationship with The Holy Roman Empire actually improved over this period though Edward had no idea why they felt he was being co-operative.
It was through this maelstrom of warring armies that Prince Kyle was trying to march his crusade and it was proving extremely difficult to force a passage through the narrow passes and defiles of alpine Germany and Italy with so many armies marching and countermarching around him. There were times when the Prince was seriously tempted to smash his way through by force, but he kept his peace despite the desertions that such delays caused and eventually emerged into the relatively clear terrain around Zagreb.
Winter 1120: The Death of Edmund Canmore, Duke of Edinburgh.
Edmund Canmore, the Duke of Edinburgh and brother of the King has died peacefully at Caenarvon Castle in Wales. Edmund was a loyal and dutiful brother to the King whose skills were invaluable in keeping order and justice alive in Scotland during the periods of religious unrest which racked the province between 1108 and 1119.
Summer 1120: Morgunn Canmore comes of Age
Morgunn Canmore the only son of David Canmore comes of age, appointed Duke of Northumberland and made governor of York .
Winter 1120: Marriage prevails over Papal politic's.
In an unexpected edict Pope Petrus the Unorthodox instructs Edward to cancel his alliance with France. Edward can see no reason why this should be necessary but complies anyway rather than risk the wrath of the Pope.
However, having satisfied the Pope, Edward wasted no time in re-establishing the close ties between France and Scotland. He was aware that King Phillipe had a number of daughters and he immediately proposed that a marriage be netogiated between the Frenchy Princess Loyse and Prince Kyle his eldest son and now heir to the Scottish Throne.
King Phillipe was not terribly keen on the match but when it was sweetened with a payment of 3,000 florin's to be paid over two years the agreement was struck and wedding plans put in motion.
The immediate political consequence of this marriage was that France renewed its alliance with Scotland and in doing so was forced to make peace with Scotland's ally Sicily.
Author Note: The above images answer an earlier question about how the game refers to foriegn Princesses involved in marriages, as you can see it quite incorrectly refers to them by their married name, even before they are married. From a purely roleplaying point of view it would have been better if wives were referred to by their maiden names so that family ties could be determined from the family tree. End note
Prince Kyle gains a SMART WIFE
A wife that actually increases all trade and tax income by 10%, rather than draining your credit card balance. Very novel.
Summer 1120: The King is Dead, Long live the King.
The marriage of Prince Kyle and Princess Loyse turned out to be the last act of King Edward to secure the future of the Scottish crown. A few months later he died peacefully at Nottingham Castle.
He had acheived his goal of uniting Scotland, England Ireland and Wales into a single Kingdom under Scottish rule and had set the pattern for its future prosperity through trade and secure alliances. Whilst, not the most pious of Malcolm Canmores children, Edwards belief in his own destiny had never faultered, nor had his appreciation of gods support ever waivered.
Kyle was notified of his fathers death just as crusading army emerged from the alpine passes onto the adriatic coast. “Hey'll be sorely missed, fur ha'll guard th' pasture noo th' viscious dug is deid.”
He sent word to Scotland that his Uncle Alexander should assume the responsibility for the running of the country until his return from the crusade.
Makmartane is informed of the Kings death just as his army is preparing to march south into the desert having been landed on the coast of Morocco by Dougall's fleet. “God grant that th' next hain oan th' tiller is as sure an' steadfest as his.” was his only comment.
Summer 1120: More French Totty
Still excited by the success he had in negotiating the marriage of the newly crowned King, Roy Randall discovers that the French King has another daughter of marriagable age and immediately suggests a second potential match. This time with David Canmores only son the 16 year old Morgunn Canmore. The French princess is far from enthusiastic, Mahault de Valence is a celebrated beauty and considers herself worthy of better than a minor prince in the same court as her less attractive sister.
Nevertheless, the French King is desperate for cash and an offer of a further 5,600 florins soon persuades him to accept the match despite his daughters angry objections.
And so in the space of a few months a second Royal Wedding is announced and two French princesses make their way reluctantly across the channel to take up their new duties.
Their acquisition had been an expensive investment, but Princess (now Queen) Loyse proved to be a smart wife and Princess Hahault though lacking her sisters intellect was both fair and admirable promising a good chance of giving Morgunn a large family and boosting his popularity. Unfortunately, Princess Mahault proved to be a little bit too fair for Morgunn's own peace of mind and it was not long before rumours were circulating that his wife had other interests and that Morgunn had 'Trouble at home'.
Winter 1121: Macdougall Dies
Patrick Macdougall, the Ambassador to Rome has died of natural causes and Roy Randall is instructed to replace him. Another African merchant dies and needs to be replaced from Edinburgh.
Summer 1121: France and Portugal declare war.
In an escalation of the ongoing conflict between the HRE and France it now appears that the HRE's ally Portugal has been drawn into the war. Hopefully, this will distract Portugals attention away from Makmartane's expedition to Africa though it seems unlikely that in the long term Scotland's relationship with Portugal will be helped, either the agressive actions of its ally France, or the tresspassing of its army over hundreds of miles of Portuguese territory, even though it is nothing but desert for the most part.
Summer 1123 The old power block begins to reform.
Allan of Berwicksire, the ambassador to Spain reports that Spain has once more allied itself to The Holy Roman Emperor effectively reforming the old power block which existed eight years ago. It is doubful that this poses any immediate threat to Scotland but France will now be under severe pressure from the HRE. Portugal and Spain.
Kyles Crusade is making better progress
Dougall's fleet reached the Adriatic only to be told that King Kyle and his Crusade had already marched east towards Constantinople.
By the summer of 1123 the crusade had crossed the Dardanelles and was heading eastwards along the Aegean coast. Dougall's fleet raced to catch up and collect the crusading army to carry it across the Mediteranean to Jerusalem.
They eventually meet just beyond Rhodes in the Winter of 1124 and after hiring some additional ships locally they head off across the Mediteranean for their final destination.
Winter 1125: France is in trouble again.
It looks as though France has upset the Pope again.
None of my diplomats have reported any trouble between France and the Papal States and as far as I know France has not been ex-communicated but nevertheless his holiness seems determined to drive a wedge between Scotland and France.
However, for the time being Alexander decides (on behalf of King Kyle) not to act on the Popes orders. The Popes edict has a five year expiry date and a lot can happen in that time.
Winter 1125: The Seige of Jerusalem
Kyles Crusade reaches to coast of Egypt only to discover the city of Jerusalem already under seige by a Crusading Army of 1,311 men from Sicily commanded by Prince Ciapo. Unperturbed the King joins the seige.
The assault commences though it is hardly a serious challenge. The city is only defended by the Egyptian Prince Mostafa and his 28 personal bodyguards.
A small relief force of 273 men under Captain Ghandour was due to assist but failed to turn up and so the assault on the city was largely a race between the Sicilians and the Scots to see who could reach the city centre first.
The Scilicians scale the walls unopposed whilst their rams smashes down the Northern Gate. The Scots scale the western walls of the city using ladder and seige towers.
Realising that having battered down the north gate, the Sicilians will reach the city centre before him, King Kyle abandons his infantry to continue the assault on the East wall alone and rides with all his knights to enter the city via the north gate.
Kyle forces his way through the Sicilian troops heading for the city centre determined to be the first to meet Mustafa and his bodyguard and accept the surrender of the city.
A fierce cavalry melee ensues in the city centre, until Musatfa and his bodyguard are struck down.
The Egyptians surrender the city. Though they gave a good account of themselves in the brief fight. Losses amongst the Scots being particularly high.
The Crusade is a success and Scotland is awarded 1,479 florins by the Pope.
However, Kyle is disgusted to be told that the defence of the city will be given over to the Sicilians and Prince Caipo. His objections on the grounds that more Scottish that Sicilian blood was sacrificed in its capture and that a King ought to take precedence over a mere Prince were brushed aside.
It was a bitter end to the campaign and it was a dejected Kyle who decided to load his army back on their ships and sail for home.
Winter 1125: Women trouble.
Back in the United Kingdom Uncle Alex has his own problems to deal with. Not only are his own four daughters, Raghnailt Aged 30, Anabella Aged 23, Afraig Aged 22 and Ethelred Aged 22 still unmarried and rapidly exceeding their sell-by date. But Edward's daughter Mariot Aged 34 is still wandering aimless around Europe unable to find a suitor and now he is told that Edward's youngest daughter Agnes has done a runner with some minor Danish nobleman.
Its enough to drive any man to drink and Alexander is no exception.
Winter 1125: Another minor rebellion crushed
Another rebellion in Lincolnshire is crushed by David Canmore and the troops from Nottingham Castle.
Summer 1125: Another Pope meets his maker
On hearing that Jerusalem was safe in Christian hands the Pope became over excited and after a heavy celebratory feast passed away suddenly.
There are three candidates to replace him but its pretty obvious who the successful candidate will be and so Scotland votes for Abony the Unorthodox from Hungary. As expected it was a one horse race, and Abony the Unorthodox becomes Pope Strenna of Hungary.
A quick check of the Pope-o-meter confirms that Scotlands is still top of the pops with the Pope.
Summer 1125: Constantinople Falls
Pope Strenna's backside has hardly warmed the Papal Throne when news arrives that a Muslim Jihad has captured Constantinople. Speculation begins to circulate as to whether this will trigger another Crusade.
In the meantime the Pope announces that France, Portugal and Milan are once more reconciled with the Catholic Church and that its war with Milan is over. However, there appears to no such clemency for The Holy Roman Emperor who, as far as Scotland is aware, remains an outcast.
Summer 1125: Sun, Sand and more sand
While the rest of the world goes about its many and varied activities Makmartanes world has become nothing more than one seemingly never ending stretch of sand.
He has been fortunate in having managed to recruit five local tribes to join his army, but the ballista's are proving a real drag to move through the desert and it will be at least another four years before he emerges near Timbuktu. The march has given him more than enough time to consider his options when he does so.
His current plan is to try and avoid Timbuktu and march westwards to the coast. The spy Domnall the Broiss claims that there is another native settlement there which if true could provide Makmartane and his army with a firm base from which to launch any future campaigns.
However, a lot will depend up the reactions of the Portuguese when he reaches Timbuktu. If they prove aggressive then he might be forced to give battle and destroy them and capture the settlement.
Winter 1126: A hatred shared is a divine blessing.
Alexander Canmore smiled when he received the latest Papal edict.
It seems his hatred of the English is shared by Pope Strenna and this was the perfect excuse to escalate the war.
He had fumed in frustration when his carefully engineered council demands to take Caen had been ignored by his brother Edward on every occassion, but now at last he had cause to act against them. He immediately ordered the channel fleet to blockade Caen and put the United Kingdoms beacon defences on alert to watch for invasion.
He then conveniently forgot to recall the fleet when the mission was deemed successful. He figured that at the very least the so called King Robert, Duke of Normandy would be forced to build a fleet to drive off the blockade. And with luck he would also send an army across the channel too, in which case perhaps there would be a chance to kill a few more English barstards before he joined his maker and rid himself of all these damned women. It was a gamble but Alexander liked a wager, and in truth he had little to lose, with no sons his family line was about to become extinct, all that remained was to decide how many Englishmen would precede him into hell.
Winter 1127: Sadness and Frustration
Raudri Wallace 'The spy who could not count.' but who had done so much to keep Edward informed of the English movements during the early years has died peacefully in York. He served his country well despite being numerically challenged and his reports will be missed.
In the Eastern Mediterrean Kyle's crusading army sailed slowly homeward and the King fretted. This was not the glorious start to his reign that he had imagained. The Crusade had been a success but Scotland had little to show for it 1,479 florins from a dead Pope hardly covered the expenses of one year and Kyle began to regret not wiped the smirk of Prince Ciapo's face with his gauntlet when he had the chance. The Sicilian's had stolen his glory and the fact that they were long standing allies merely made it worse.
Had God finally foresaken the Scots?
Was his fathers death to mark a change in fortune for the Scottish cause?
Was he cursed with misfortune?
He frowned remembering the frustration of trying to direct his army through alpine germany, if only he had reached Jerusalem earlier, if only Dougall had met him on the Adriatic coast, had that all been his fault, or was God testing his metal, and if so did he pass or fail?
Now he was heading home. supposedly truimphant, and yet it felt like a defeat. What would Scotland think of him, coming back empty handed?
He had deliberately not disbanded his army, hoping that there would yet be an opportunity to put it to good use. But two years later and all it had done was cost him more money. He should at least have discharged the pilgrim's and let them pay for their own passage home. “Every mickle makes a muckle” as his father would have said and the Scottish treasury was dwindling under the additional pressure of having to pay for these crusaders and pilgrims.
Kyle prayed for an opportunity to prove his worth and snatch glory for Scotland. He needed a victory to prove to Scotland and himself that God was still on his side, and he needed cash to offset against the cost of this Crusade. He considered sailing to Morrocco and assisting Makmartane to subdue Africa, but realised that quite apart from the time this would take, it would also mean certain war with Portugal and that was hardly a good omen for the start of his new reign. He had no doubt that war with Portugal would eventually come but like his father it had to be on Scotlands terms and Scotland had to be seen to be in the right.
His prayers were answered as Dougall's fleet sailed along the southern coast of Crete. The City of Iraklion was heavily guarded, but it looks as though it has recently rebelled against its Byzantine masters and is now controlled by Greek rebels.
Kyle thanked God and ordered Dougall to put the army ashore, he would deliver Scotland a victory or die trying.
Winter 1127: The Conquest of Crete
The pilgrims begin the assault by pushing four siege towers towards the south western corner of the city. Greek archer fire proves ineffective and all four towers reach the walls.
More pilgrims are sent forward with scaling ladders to expand the width of the wall assault.
Pilgrim’s prove pretty effective against the Greek Archers and begin to clear the wall. Eventually the Greeks rout and take heavy casualties trying to escape.
Greek cavalry sally from the cities western gate and attempt to disrupt the assault troops. However, rapid deployment of the mercenary crossbowmen and crusader spearmen drive them back into the city with heavy losses.
Crossbow men position themselves on the walls and begin raining deadly fire down on the Greek infantry in the streets below.
As the Greeks give ground and fall back towards the city centre Kyle’s crossbowmen backed up by Crusader spearmen push forward along the narrow streets peppering them with crossbow bolts. Eventually, with nowhere else to run the Greeks turn at bay in the town centre and are slaughtered where they stand by concentrated crossbow fire. Kyle rides into the City Centre to claim the City and province of Crete for God , Saint Andrew and Scotland.
That’s more like it. 12,500 Florin’s are added to the Scottish Treasury. Plus 333 florin’s for the destruction of the Thieves guild which Kyle decides is surplus to requirements.
Kyle gains a reputation for putting Winning First and gains +1 Dread. He immediately dismisses the surviving pilgrims from his army leaving them to find their own passage home.
Winter 1127: A Gift from God
It is hard to underplay the reaction of Kyle to the conquest of Crete. He had prayed for an opportunity to prove himself and his crusade and God had given him that opportunity. The gift of Crete had proven not only that God still favoured the Scottish cause but that Kyle had inherited his fathers divine support.
Equally important it meant that Kyle could return home with something tangible and measurable to show for the faith that his father and the nation had put in him. The despondency and anger which had hung over the King like a dark cloud since leaving Jerusalem was gone, in its stead was something akin to ecstacy. The king was both overjoyed and relieved, showering his men with gifts and spending long hours on his knee's giving thanks to God.
The only time his brow became furrowed was when the question of what to do with this gift from God was mentioned. Could Scotland really hope to retain control of this island in the middle of nowhere?
Should he perhaps gift the island to the Pope?
On the other hand possession of an island so close to the holy land would be a real benefit for future crusades and produce a decent amount of revenue if its trade lanes could be kept open.
In the end the decision was that God had meant Scotland to have this island and it was not for him a mere servant to refuse such a gift. He decided to leave the Crusaders to garrison the city and let God decide whether it was to remain in their hands or be taken from them by the heathens.
Summer 1128: Spain spins again
Diplomatic reports confirm that Spain has once again cancelled its alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor, and has declared war on Milan the HRE's ally instead.
Also, that France our loyal and trusted ally has upset the Pope yet again and been ex-communicated. One wishes that one had some influence over the activities of your allies, or at least the ability to placate the Pope on their behalf. France has been a good and loyal friend to Scotland but politically they are embarrassing to say the least.
Meanwhile
Kyle says farewell to his army and after a last tour of the island boards Dougall's ships and together with the first of the local jewish merchants sails for Morrocco and eventually home.
In the desert Makmartane ignores the small Portuguese army sent to block his advance and manages to slip past them and continue his march south. The local spy moves to join him and provide additional scouting services. Both the assassin and the inquisitor have been checked and shown to be incompetent, so hopefully they will pose little threat. The main concern at the moment is that Makmartane might die of old age before he completes his mission.
Summer 1128: The defence of Crete.
The King had ordered the Thieves Guild on Crete destroyed almost as soon as the city of Iraklion had fallen to his assault. Kyle had a clear vision of Crete as a centre for trade in the eastern Mediterranean and he recognised that the existence of a den of thieves in the city would dissuade merchants from establishing their own guild houses.
Since then Iraklion had produced one merchant who had sailed for Africa with the King on Dougall’s fleet and had constructed a port to increase its trade income by exporting local timber.
These efforts were rewarded when a guild of merchants requested permission to establish a merchants’ guild in the city and things seemed to be going well.
However, the King had also predicted that Scottish occupation of Crete would not go unchallenged and in the winter of 1128 this proved to be true when a Byzantine fleet blockaded the newly constructed port.
There had been a small force of Byzantine knights on the island since before its capture a year ago and it was assumed that this force was the remnants of the former city garrison which had been ejected by the rebels when they took over the island. The knights were commanded by Prince Volkanos, the Byzantine faction heir and Kyle had spoken with him several times before he left the island and had assumed that eventually the Prince would call on a fleet to collect himself and his men and return to the mainland.
He had therefore left instructions with the Crusader garrison that no action was to be taken against the Prince or his army and that any Byzantine ships approaching the island were to be left in peace unless they were clearly carrying an invasion force.
However, having let a fleet approach only to have it blockade the islands only port convinced the garrison that the Byzantine intentions were far from honourable and unable to strike back at the blockade due to a lack of ships they chose instead to vent their wrath on the unfortunate Prince and his knights.
In a short but bloody battle the crusader garrison first drove Prince Volkanos and his knights to the far eastern tip of the island and then forced them to give battle.
The Prince fought bravely leading several effective charges against the crusader spear wall. But a combination of accurate crossbow fire and resolute spear walls eventually wore his numbers down and he eventually fell along with all his knights. No quarter was asked or given, the Prince and every one of his 82 knights died on the field.
The Crusaders carefully collected the Princes body and carried it out to the fleet blockading the harbour. The death of their Prince did little to improve relations between Scotland and the Byzantine Empire which were now at their lowest ebb.
The garrison expected to be besieged by a Byzantine Army at any moment, but instead a year later in the winter of 1129 they found unexpected relief with the arrival of a Venetian fleet which scared off the blockade and landed a small Venetian army on the island.
The garrison were wary of the newcomers assuming that Venice also had desires to capture the island. However, they did nothing to provoke the Venetian Army allowing it to camp outside the city walls without hindrance. Over this period the garrison of Crete had not been idle. By the end of 1129 they had already constructed the first of the holks needed to defend the port and had recruited a diplomat called Brain of Caithness who sailed immediately to try and negotiate a truce with the Byzantines.
In the summer of 1130 Venice declared war of the Byzantine Empire and in the same season Brain met with Emperor Alexius and agreed a ceasefire with the Byzantine’s in return for extending trade rights with the island and the rest of the Scotland.
The defenders also sent an emissary to the commander of the Venetian Army which was still camped on Crete to discuss a possible alliance particularly as Venice was already allied with both France and Sicily, two of Scotland’s loyalist friends. These negotiations did not go well. Whether the Venetians were upset that Scotland had not aided them in their war against the Byzantine or whether they were merely waiting for their reconciliation with the Pope is not clear, but whatever they reason four years later in the winter of 1134 the Venetian’s decided to blockade Iraklion.
However, this proved to be a very short war. Almost immediately the diplomat Donnchadh Broune requested an audience with Clario Selvo and pointing out the somewhat unfavourable situation which both his army and fleet would find themselves in should the Cretan fleet and army choose to attack he quickly secured a ceasefire in return for trade rights. This action effectively ended the crisis without a shot being fired, the Venetian blockade was immediately lifted, and the fleet sailed away leaving Clario and his army stranded on the island.
Crete was left in peace, albeit with some unwanted Venetian squatters who seem to have nothing better to do. The ceasefires negotiated with the Byzantines and Venetians were destined to hold for the next six years and no further threats have been made to the island.
So, perhaps God meant for Scotland to keep it after all.
1128: All's quiet on the home front
Back in the United Kingdoms life was continuing in a relatively peaceful manner. Uncle Alexander’s attempt to provoke the English into open hostility by blockading Caen continued but so far has been unsuccessful.
Alexander was disappointed not just by the failure of his blockade scheme, but even more so by the failure of Pope Strenna to live up to his expectations as a hater of the English.
When Pope Petrus had died in 1125 AD and Pope Strenna had been elected, Alexander thought he had found a kindred spirit with as much hatred of the English as he had. He had assumed that Strenna’s initial edict of 1126 requiring Scotland to blockade the English port of Caen would be the start of a long and hopefully bloody persecution of the English based on this mutual hatred and he was keen to comply with the expected Papal Edicts requesting Scotlands assistance to do so.
But it hadn’t happened instead two years later Strenna seems to have forgotten whatever grudge he had against the English and has reverted to the same habits as his predecessor Pope Petrus in demanding persecution of the French.
Alexander was not happy, he was getting old and there were still too many Englishmen still alive. With growing irritation he sent the Papal Envoys back to their master with ill concealed demands that something be done about the English and their evil existence.
But the English were keeping a low profile and the Pope now had too many other problems.
Winter 1129: Aidan Makmartane is a credit to his father
In the winter of 1129 Aidan Makmartane, the second of Makmartanes brood, finally reached manhood and accepted his spurs. He was little short of a child prodigy and even before seeing battle was considered by most to be the greatest of all Scotlands warrior nobles.
This merely made Alexander even more morose, with five daughters to find husband's for the fact that Makmartane had three sons, at least one of whom showed such promise seemed to be a cruel mockery of fate and he took it out on his female family as often as opportunity allowed.
Summer 1129: The diplomatic cards are shuffled and new hands are dealt.
It appears that France has finally made its peace with Pope Strenna and been reconciled yet again. How long this will last is difficult to say as Scotland's French allies seem to have a lemming like determination to destroy themselves by whatever means are at their disposal.
Meanwhile, the Pope has turned the attention of his holy wrath on the Iberian factions of Portugal and Spain. Spain has been excommunicated and Portugal has not only been excommunicated but is openly at war with Rome.
Were Scotland in a position to do so this would be a perfect opportunity to wrest control of Morocco from the Portuguese, but alas there are no troops close enough to exploit Portugal’s poor judgement.
Makmartanes army is literally halfway across the Sahara desert in the middle of nowhere, King Kyle’s Crusading army is on Crete and fresh troops from the United Kingdom would take years to assemble and ship to Madagascar.
One can only hope that this is the beginning of a trend and that Portugal and Spain will continue to decline in Papal opinion.
The only other news of interest from Europe is that the Holy Roman Emperor has finally surrendered his sovereignty and accepted an offer of protection from the King of Denmark.
This could be serious news as Denmark might be tempted to use the extra strength it now has to pursue its long standing claim on Northumberland and the Castle of Nottingham. It has no other enemies now that the Holy Roman Empire has surrendered and its standing with the Pope is sound despite the war.
The Danish King therefore has little to distract him from contemplation of the lands his father lost at Stamford Bridge and Scotland must begin to watch the sea's along its coast once again in search of Danish raiders.
Winter 1129: An act of desperation
Mariot Canmore’s quest to find a suitable husband which had begun with such high expectations twenty years ago was now little more than a desperate hunt. Mariot was now 36 years old and time had almost run out if she were to have children.
Since the death of her father Edward, not only had her status as a Princess suffered, but all diplomatic assistance in tracing likely candidates had also ceased. It appears that Uncle Alex had enough trouble trying to find suitable husbands for his own four daughters without the added burden of finding one for a left over Princess on the verge of becoming an old maid.
Thus it was a tired and dispirited Mariot who wandering northwards again after a fruitless trip to Sicily, bumped into a minor Sicilian nobleman called Teofilatto di Martamo.
Twenty years ago neither Mariot or her father would have given such a man a second glance but this was not twenty years ago and Mariot considered herself lucky to find any man willing to consider her as a wife this late in the day. She threw herself at him pulling out all the stops in a last desperate chance of happiness and in doing so completely discarded any loyalty she still had to the Scottish cause or her family.
Not that anybody back home seemed to care, for Alexander this just resulted in one less woman to worry about and her brother Kyle was much too busy playing soldiers on Crete to pay much attention.
Summer 1130: Oxfords Revolt.
In the summer of 1130 AD the resentment of the dispossessed Anglo- Saxon nobility once more festered into open revolt. Godwine, the former Earl of Oxford, who had been stripped of most of his estates by William, Duke of Normandy, had hoped to have his lands restored when the Scots kicked the Normans out of England. But instead the Norman squatters had merely been replaced by Scottish ones and as time had passed and his fortunes dwindled it became obvious that he must do something to try and reclaim what was rightfully his.
He raised a small army and marched north gathering additional support as he went and hoping to raise enough men to either force the Scots to negotiate or, if not, to seize the city of York as a bargaining chip. By this time Godwine had an army of some 680 men, including a small core of 200 English Knights and 240 longbowmen from Cheshire. The rest of the force were mostly local levies consisting of a mixture of archers and spearmen.
However, if Godwine really hoped for a negotiated settlement his timing could not have been worse. With King Kyle still on his way back from the Holyland the only person available to negotiate with was his uncle, Alexander the Mean, and he was not likely to be reasonable about anything least of all giving money to an Englishman.
News of the English revolt reached Alexander at Nottingham just as Godwine’s army reached the Great North Road and Alexander lost no time in mustering a force to confront them. At 59 Alexander was somewhat old to be going into battle, but with the prospect of Englishmen to kill nobody dared suggest that he did not lead the army himself.
Nevertheless, some concern was expressed when Alexander announced that all he would be taking to crush the revolt was his own personal retinue and 240 knights.
The city of Nottingham was full of troops, but Alexander was adamant that he would not need them to deal with a bunch of English rebels. He had already decided that this would most likely be his last chance of battle and he wanted it to be glorious. He imagined himself leading the charge that would crush the English under its hooves. It was only when he was politely reminded that the English might not co-operate in this vision and that longbowmen with their stakes were notoriously good at frustrating mounted charges that Alexander was finally persuaded to take some crossbowmen, 2 ballistae and 120 men at arms along just in case.
Summer 1130: The Battle of Tickhill Castle
Alexander caught up with Godwine, the Earl of Oxford's, rebel army at Tickhill Castle just south of Doncaster on the Great North Road. Alexander’s Army was slightly smaller numerically but was the slightly more powerful of the two.
Godwine immediately withdrew his troops onto a nearby wooded hill to the west of the Great North Road and sent emissaries requesting a parley with the Alexander. However, Alexander was in no mood to talk and sent the men back with a demand that Godwine and his rebels stop skulking in the tree’s and meet him in the open like real men.
In the meantime, Alexander tried to conceal as much of the strength of his force as possible so as to encourage the English to come out into the open. Initially he deployed his dismounted men-at-arms and crossbowmen in the grounds of Tickhill Castle along with the two ballistae and kept his mounted knights and his personal retinue hidden behind the castle mound.
However, when it became apparent that the English rebels were not stupid enough to fall for this ruse he ordered the men at arms to advance further down the Great North Road in the hope that this would draw the English out.
The English were still too canny to fall for the bait and so Alexander decided that the only option was to flush them out. He sent two parties of his knights to circle west and north with the intention of driving the English out of the woods and into the open where he and his remaining knights could deal with them.
In the meantime he ordered the crossbowmen and the ballista’s to keep the English occupied so that they did not slip away deeper into the forest and disappear completely.
The plan seemed to work and the two groups of knights charged through the woods into the rear of the English archers driving them out of the trees and into the open. Alexander and the remaining Knights immediately advanced intending to crush the English archers between them.
Meanwhile, the western group of Scottish knights had run directly into Godwine and his personal retinue catching them by surprise and a fierce melee ensued. Alexander immediately broke off his attacks on the English archers and charged in to assist in the capture of the rebel Earl.
The fighting around Godwine was fierce and the western group of knights were almost annihilated before Godwine and his bodyguards finally broke off the battle and escaped to the north leaving the rest of his army to its fate.
Left alone the English Longbowmen that had initially been driven from the wood by the attack of the knights had been taking a heavy toll on the crossbowmen and ballista crews deployed further down the hill.
However, as soon as the Scottish Knights emerged from the trees behind them they realised that their fate was sealed and threw down their weapons or ran.
242 out of Godwine’s original army of 710 men surrendered only 107 including Godwine himself managing to avoid capture.