Introduction
The Red Prince
000:00:00:00
- Location
- Everywhere, at the end of time.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Hello, and welcome to A Tale of Five Romes.
What is this?
A fairly standard Let's Play of CK2, all things considered. I could make up some profound bullshit about how CK2 is better than CK3 but I'm just gonna be honest - the only reason this is in CK2 is because my Mac crashes whenever I've tried to run CK3 so far. Although to be fair, even if I could run CK3, I might do this in CK2 anyway since it has more stuff/mods already out even if in the long term CK3 will probably be better.
As always in these kinds of games, you will get to vote on the direction the realm takes every few years, although since CK2 is unlike other Paradox games in that it revolves around the person of the ruler instead of the country being played, trying to get a Content ruler to launch a great conquest of X is going to be an uphill battle - keep the ruler's personality in mind when voting.
Like most of these games, I won't be trying to blob or act OOC - if my ruler is a moron who couldn't manage your local Walmart, let alone an Empire, I will act accordingly. I can't promise a conversion to EU4 or something like that, but if I manage to ward off my depression long enough to finish this (and learn how to actually play EU4), it's not impossible.
This game is being played with all major DLC (and all of the portrait DLC) and with the Historical Immersion Project modpack. HIP makes the game a more immersive (and difficult) experience, and hopefully more enjoyable to read than every ruler being a literal god amongst men with no internal difficulties and constantly annihilating their enemies with armies that would make Napoleon blush. I will be using every mod in the modpack, including English Localization.
Who/when are we playing?
We will be using the Alexios Komnenos of Trebizond (January 1st, 1205) bookmark added by HIP, though Alexios Komnenos is only one of five potential rulers in that region you will have the choice of voting for.
The Fourth Crusade - much bemoaned by irony-poisoned Crusader meme posters and Byzantophiles who will not shut up about Ottoman and Venetian war crimes but never once mention those done by Based Rome - has just come to an end, and has established a Crusader kingdom in Constantinople and Greece proper. However, there are multiple successor states throughout the remnant of the former Byzantine territories that are now jockeying for power. What better place for a CK2 game?
crusade mechanic too strong, please nerf
The Fourth Crusade is a hilarious clusterfuck where literally every person involved sucks and contrary to popular belief, was not from day one a Venetian plot to destroy Based Imperium Romanum - but is just complicated enough that I can't write an essay about it in an intro post like this. Maybe in the future I'll make a supplementary post elaborating on how the fuck this happened. In the meantime, here are the various rump/Crusader states that have emerged after the collapse of the Byzantine Empire before the Latin onslaught.
Before the Crusade, Baudouin ruled the County of Flanders and the County of Hainaut under the Capetian kings of France. His brother-in-law ruled as King of Jerusalem during the 1190s and his uncle died in Acre in the Third Crusade, so it's not surprising the young Baudouin pledged his support to the Fourth, leaving behind his pregnant wife to rule as regent for their young daughter. Baudouin quickly became popular for his charisma and virtue, and when the Queen of Cities fell to the Crusaders, he was proclaimed Emperor of Rome by a council of six Venetians and six French nobles, defeating the Crusade leader Bonifacio of Montferrat in his own bid for the throne.
Crowned in an extravagant, semi-Byzantine ceremony on May 16th, 1204, Baudouin immediately set out to claim the lands that were his by right of conquest. In this regard he quickly came into conflict with Boniface who had been granted Thessaloniki and wished to establish his own independent kingdom there. A civil war was narrowly avoided with a compromise agreement that saw Bonifacio become Baudouin's vassal-king and commander of his armies charged with conquering Greece. Baudouin has managed to extend his control over most of Greece, but now risks coming into conflict with the powerful Tsar Kaloyan of Bulgaria and Theodoros Laskaris in Nicaea. One wrong move could end his rule as soon as it begins…
To sweeten the deal, note that Baudouin has six thousand event troops that are not subject to attrition/cost, but also will not respawn if they die. To bitter it, if they do die his realm will probably explode as his Latin vassals and the Greek populace rise against him. So you know, you win some, you lose some.
Theodoros Laskaris, Basileus in Nicaea
Theodoros was born to a minor noble father possibly named Nicholaus, and an unknown Komnenoi mother. Starting from a small estate in Asia Minor near Constantinople, he rose to prominence due to his Komnenoi blood and his diligent character, achieving command of a unit of Imperial bodyguards. Alexios III Angelos, having no male children, married his two daughters to Alexios Palaiologos and Theodoros - when Alexios died, Theodoros became heir-apparent to the Empire in 1203. All this changed when the Crusaders placed Alexios IV on the throne, and Theodoros was arrested, though he managed to escape the city with his family in September 1203.
Initially, Theodoros's family settled in Nicaea while the man himself moved around Asia Minor to avoid traps laid for him by enemies he refused to name. When the Latins conquered Constantinople, Theodoros resurfaced and began to secure the towns of Asia Minor in the name of his father-in-law, becoming recognized as strategos of the area by the local nobility. Gradually Theodoros also gained control over local finances and when the news reached Nicaea that both Alexios III and V had been captured by the Latins, he proclaimed himself Basileus in his own right, with no major opposition. It will be an uphill battle to survive, being surrounded by Latins, Turks and the perfidious Komnenoi, but should Theodoros hold on, perhaps he or his children will rule from Constantinople again.
In almost the inverse of the Latins, Theodoros will have difficulty surviving in the short term, but is the best positioned in the long term to retake Constantinople - which Nicaea *did* do irl
historically, albeit under the Palaiologos dynasty, the last to rule Byzantium before it was snuffed out for good by the Ottomans in 1453.
Michael Komnenos Doukas, ruler of Epirus
If one were to describe Michael Komnenos Doukas in a single word, it would be "opportunist." Michael was born a bastard, but a bastard of noble birth - his paternal grandparents being Theodora Komnenos and Constantine Angelos (founder of the Angeloi dynasty), and his father was one John Doukas, a powerful court official and general under the Angeloi Emperors. Michael would be taken as a hostage by Kaiser Friedrich so that his armies could cross Byzantine territory during the Third Crusade, and he would later be appointed governor of a theme in southwest Anatolia during the last years of Isaac II's first reign, and would be reconfirmed by Alexios III. For reasons known only to himself, Michael revolted against Alexios in 1201 and lost, going into exile in the Seljuk court.
Michael would spend a few years raiding the Byzantine frontier under the Rumanian banner before returning to Constantinople after the proclamation of the Latin Empire. He swore himself to Bonifacio's services and left with him in September 1204 to conquer Macedonia. Boniface trusted Michael, and was shocked when he and his men defected and crossed over to Epirus, where he installed himself as local ruler, though he did not claim any Imperial or even kingly title. Michael is bordered by two strong and ambitious rivals - the Latin Empire and the Bulgarian Empire - and it will take complex maneuvering in order for Michael to consolidate and expand his rule. But Michael is nothing if not an opportunist, and should he manage to establish a firm base in power, perhaps he or his children could claim Constantinople for themselves.
Contrary to popular belief, Michael did not crown himself despot of Epirus - in fact, his son would crown himself Basileus after he took the city of Thessaloniki from the Latins in 1224, before getting fucked up by the Bulgarians, after which Epirus would be annexed by Nicaea in the 1240s. Maybe this time, things will be different?
Alexios Megas Komnenos, Basileus in Trebizond
Alexios was the eldest son of Manuel Komnenos and grandson of the short-lived Andronikos I, the last Komnenoi emperor before the Angeloi dynasty took power. When Andronikos fell from the throne, Manuel was blinded and probably died from the procedure - while his sons Alexios and David were evacuated to the court of their aunt, Queen Tamari "the Great" of Georgia, where they were raised and waited in exile - just as Andronikos had - for a time to strike. That opportunity presented itself when Alexios IV was crowned by the Crusaders - Alexios and David marched on Trebizond with the backing of Tamari and proclaimed themselves co-Emperors of Rome, promising to expel the Latins from Constantinople should they take the city.
Alexios IV was too busy scrambling to appease his Crusader backers to dislodge the Komnenoi brothers and when the Latins proclaimed their own Empire, David was able to seize Sinope and Paphlagonia for his brother - Paphlagonia being the traditional base of the Komnenoi family. Alexios has managed to take control of Byzantine Crimea as well, giving him a trading post on the Silk Road. Though Alexios is bordered by the powerful Sultanate of Rum, he also has an alliance with the equally powerful Queen of Georgia, and should Theodoros be defeated by the Latins, Alexios can easily seize what is left and prepare for his own war with the Crusaders. This may be the best - and last - chance for the Komnenoi to return to Constantinople…
Alexios and David actually briefly became the most powerful contender for the Byzantine throne in 1207, but their descendants lost many of their gains to the Seljuks and eventually renounced their claim to the throne after the Nicaean capture of Constantinople. However, Trebizond actually outlasted Constantinople another decade - guess they got the last laugh?
Kaykhusraw Seljuk, Sultan of Rum
The Sultanate of Rum was carved out of formerly Byzantine lands after the Battle of Manzikert, and quickly established itself as an independent Seljuk state. Though the Sultans of this newborn state were pushed into the Anatolian heartland, they put down deep roots, aided by Turkish settlers from the steppe and it's prime position along the Middle Eastern trade routes. The Seljuk have spent the past century recovering their past losses and have annexed their breakaway vassals once again. Now, with the Byzantine Empire shattered, they are in a prime position to complete the conquest of Anatolia… and with the eastern bulwark of Christianity broken, could perhaps found a new Seljuk Empire centered on Constantinople.
Kaykhusraw had already been Seljuk sultan once before, succeeding his father in 1192, but lost a civil war to his brother Suleiman shortly after and had to go into exile. Suleiman tried and failed to wage a holy war against the powerful Georgian kingdom and was succeeded by his young son, Kilij Arslan III. Kaykhusraw returned from exile and deposed his nephew, and now rules what is perhaps the most powerful state in the region. However, Kaykhusraw is content with his current lands, and as he is descended from nomads, he should perhaps be concerned by rumors of a great horse lord in Mongolia…
I mean, I could have chosen Bulgaria or Serbia since they also came pretty close to restoring/usurping the Byzantine Empire, but I love the idea of an early Alt!Ottoman Empire more than either of those. Not sorry.
Your first vote shall be for which of these kingdoms we shall steer into reforging Rome (or should we be so inclined, something entirely new…) - after which I'll post a more in depth analysis of the starting situation and let you go from there:
[ ] Baudouin de Flandres, Latin Emperor (The Crusader-Emperors)
[ ] Theodoros Laskaris, Nicaean Emperor (The True Heir)
[ ] Michael Komnenos Doukas, ruler of Epirus (Chaos Is A Ladder)
[ ] Alexios Megas Komnenos, Trebizondian Emperor (The Last Komnenos)
[ ] Kaykhusraw Seljuk, Sultan of Rum (God, Rumania, Kaykhusraw)
What is this?
A fairly standard Let's Play of CK2, all things considered. I could make up some profound bullshit about how CK2 is better than CK3 but I'm just gonna be honest - the only reason this is in CK2 is because my Mac crashes whenever I've tried to run CK3 so far. Although to be fair, even if I could run CK3, I might do this in CK2 anyway since it has more stuff/mods already out even if in the long term CK3 will probably be better.
As always in these kinds of games, you will get to vote on the direction the realm takes every few years, although since CK2 is unlike other Paradox games in that it revolves around the person of the ruler instead of the country being played, trying to get a Content ruler to launch a great conquest of X is going to be an uphill battle - keep the ruler's personality in mind when voting.
Like most of these games, I won't be trying to blob or act OOC - if my ruler is a moron who couldn't manage your local Walmart, let alone an Empire, I will act accordingly. I can't promise a conversion to EU4 or something like that, but if I manage to ward off my depression long enough to finish this (and learn how to actually play EU4), it's not impossible.
This game is being played with all major DLC (and all of the portrait DLC) and with the Historical Immersion Project modpack. HIP makes the game a more immersive (and difficult) experience, and hopefully more enjoyable to read than every ruler being a literal god amongst men with no internal difficulties and constantly annihilating their enemies with armies that would make Napoleon blush. I will be using every mod in the modpack, including English Localization.
Who/when are we playing?
We will be using the Alexios Komnenos of Trebizond (January 1st, 1205) bookmark added by HIP, though Alexios Komnenos is only one of five potential rulers in that region you will have the choice of voting for.
The Fourth Crusade - much bemoaned by irony-poisoned Crusader meme posters and Byzantophiles who will not shut up about Ottoman and Venetian war crimes but never once mention those done by Based Rome - has just come to an end, and has established a Crusader kingdom in Constantinople and Greece proper. However, there are multiple successor states throughout the remnant of the former Byzantine territories that are now jockeying for power. What better place for a CK2 game?
crusade mechanic too strong, please nerf
The Fourth Crusade is a hilarious clusterfuck where literally every person involved sucks and contrary to popular belief, was not from day one a Venetian plot to destroy Based Imperium Romanum - but is just complicated enough that I can't write an essay about it in an intro post like this. Maybe in the future I'll make a supplementary post elaborating on how the fuck this happened. In the meantime, here are the various rump/Crusader states that have emerged after the collapse of the Byzantine Empire before the Latin onslaught.
Baudouin de Flandres, "Latin" Emperor of Constantinople
Before the Crusade, Baudouin ruled the County of Flanders and the County of Hainaut under the Capetian kings of France. His brother-in-law ruled as King of Jerusalem during the 1190s and his uncle died in Acre in the Third Crusade, so it's not surprising the young Baudouin pledged his support to the Fourth, leaving behind his pregnant wife to rule as regent for their young daughter. Baudouin quickly became popular for his charisma and virtue, and when the Queen of Cities fell to the Crusaders, he was proclaimed Emperor of Rome by a council of six Venetians and six French nobles, defeating the Crusade leader Bonifacio of Montferrat in his own bid for the throne.
Crowned in an extravagant, semi-Byzantine ceremony on May 16th, 1204, Baudouin immediately set out to claim the lands that were his by right of conquest. In this regard he quickly came into conflict with Boniface who had been granted Thessaloniki and wished to establish his own independent kingdom there. A civil war was narrowly avoided with a compromise agreement that saw Bonifacio become Baudouin's vassal-king and commander of his armies charged with conquering Greece. Baudouin has managed to extend his control over most of Greece, but now risks coming into conflict with the powerful Tsar Kaloyan of Bulgaria and Theodoros Laskaris in Nicaea. One wrong move could end his rule as soon as it begins…
To sweeten the deal, note that Baudouin has six thousand event troops that are not subject to attrition/cost, but also will not respawn if they die. To bitter it, if they do die his realm will probably explode as his Latin vassals and the Greek populace rise against him. So you know, you win some, you lose some.
Theodoros Laskaris, Basileus in Nicaea
Theodoros was born to a minor noble father possibly named Nicholaus, and an unknown Komnenoi mother. Starting from a small estate in Asia Minor near Constantinople, he rose to prominence due to his Komnenoi blood and his diligent character, achieving command of a unit of Imperial bodyguards. Alexios III Angelos, having no male children, married his two daughters to Alexios Palaiologos and Theodoros - when Alexios died, Theodoros became heir-apparent to the Empire in 1203. All this changed when the Crusaders placed Alexios IV on the throne, and Theodoros was arrested, though he managed to escape the city with his family in September 1203.
Initially, Theodoros's family settled in Nicaea while the man himself moved around Asia Minor to avoid traps laid for him by enemies he refused to name. When the Latins conquered Constantinople, Theodoros resurfaced and began to secure the towns of Asia Minor in the name of his father-in-law, becoming recognized as strategos of the area by the local nobility. Gradually Theodoros also gained control over local finances and when the news reached Nicaea that both Alexios III and V had been captured by the Latins, he proclaimed himself Basileus in his own right, with no major opposition. It will be an uphill battle to survive, being surrounded by Latins, Turks and the perfidious Komnenoi, but should Theodoros hold on, perhaps he or his children will rule from Constantinople again.
In almost the inverse of the Latins, Theodoros will have difficulty surviving in the short term, but is the best positioned in the long term to retake Constantinople - which Nicaea *did* do irl
historically, albeit under the Palaiologos dynasty, the last to rule Byzantium before it was snuffed out for good by the Ottomans in 1453.
Michael Komnenos Doukas, ruler of Epirus
If one were to describe Michael Komnenos Doukas in a single word, it would be "opportunist." Michael was born a bastard, but a bastard of noble birth - his paternal grandparents being Theodora Komnenos and Constantine Angelos (founder of the Angeloi dynasty), and his father was one John Doukas, a powerful court official and general under the Angeloi Emperors. Michael would be taken as a hostage by Kaiser Friedrich so that his armies could cross Byzantine territory during the Third Crusade, and he would later be appointed governor of a theme in southwest Anatolia during the last years of Isaac II's first reign, and would be reconfirmed by Alexios III. For reasons known only to himself, Michael revolted against Alexios in 1201 and lost, going into exile in the Seljuk court.
Michael would spend a few years raiding the Byzantine frontier under the Rumanian banner before returning to Constantinople after the proclamation of the Latin Empire. He swore himself to Bonifacio's services and left with him in September 1204 to conquer Macedonia. Boniface trusted Michael, and was shocked when he and his men defected and crossed over to Epirus, where he installed himself as local ruler, though he did not claim any Imperial or even kingly title. Michael is bordered by two strong and ambitious rivals - the Latin Empire and the Bulgarian Empire - and it will take complex maneuvering in order for Michael to consolidate and expand his rule. But Michael is nothing if not an opportunist, and should he manage to establish a firm base in power, perhaps he or his children could claim Constantinople for themselves.
Contrary to popular belief, Michael did not crown himself despot of Epirus - in fact, his son would crown himself Basileus after he took the city of Thessaloniki from the Latins in 1224, before getting fucked up by the Bulgarians, after which Epirus would be annexed by Nicaea in the 1240s. Maybe this time, things will be different?
Alexios Megas Komnenos, Basileus in Trebizond
Alexios was the eldest son of Manuel Komnenos and grandson of the short-lived Andronikos I, the last Komnenoi emperor before the Angeloi dynasty took power. When Andronikos fell from the throne, Manuel was blinded and probably died from the procedure - while his sons Alexios and David were evacuated to the court of their aunt, Queen Tamari "the Great" of Georgia, where they were raised and waited in exile - just as Andronikos had - for a time to strike. That opportunity presented itself when Alexios IV was crowned by the Crusaders - Alexios and David marched on Trebizond with the backing of Tamari and proclaimed themselves co-Emperors of Rome, promising to expel the Latins from Constantinople should they take the city.
Alexios IV was too busy scrambling to appease his Crusader backers to dislodge the Komnenoi brothers and when the Latins proclaimed their own Empire, David was able to seize Sinope and Paphlagonia for his brother - Paphlagonia being the traditional base of the Komnenoi family. Alexios has managed to take control of Byzantine Crimea as well, giving him a trading post on the Silk Road. Though Alexios is bordered by the powerful Sultanate of Rum, he also has an alliance with the equally powerful Queen of Georgia, and should Theodoros be defeated by the Latins, Alexios can easily seize what is left and prepare for his own war with the Crusaders. This may be the best - and last - chance for the Komnenoi to return to Constantinople…
Alexios and David actually briefly became the most powerful contender for the Byzantine throne in 1207, but their descendants lost many of their gains to the Seljuks and eventually renounced their claim to the throne after the Nicaean capture of Constantinople. However, Trebizond actually outlasted Constantinople another decade - guess they got the last laugh?
Kaykhusraw Seljuk, Sultan of Rum
The Sultanate of Rum was carved out of formerly Byzantine lands after the Battle of Manzikert, and quickly established itself as an independent Seljuk state. Though the Sultans of this newborn state were pushed into the Anatolian heartland, they put down deep roots, aided by Turkish settlers from the steppe and it's prime position along the Middle Eastern trade routes. The Seljuk have spent the past century recovering their past losses and have annexed their breakaway vassals once again. Now, with the Byzantine Empire shattered, they are in a prime position to complete the conquest of Anatolia… and with the eastern bulwark of Christianity broken, could perhaps found a new Seljuk Empire centered on Constantinople.
Kaykhusraw had already been Seljuk sultan once before, succeeding his father in 1192, but lost a civil war to his brother Suleiman shortly after and had to go into exile. Suleiman tried and failed to wage a holy war against the powerful Georgian kingdom and was succeeded by his young son, Kilij Arslan III. Kaykhusraw returned from exile and deposed his nephew, and now rules what is perhaps the most powerful state in the region. However, Kaykhusraw is content with his current lands, and as he is descended from nomads, he should perhaps be concerned by rumors of a great horse lord in Mongolia…
I mean, I could have chosen Bulgaria or Serbia since they also came pretty close to restoring/usurping the Byzantine Empire, but I love the idea of an early Alt!Ottoman Empire more than either of those. Not sorry.
Your first vote shall be for which of these kingdoms we shall steer into reforging Rome (or should we be so inclined, something entirely new…) - after which I'll post a more in depth analysis of the starting situation and let you go from there:
[ ] Baudouin de Flandres, Latin Emperor (The Crusader-Emperors)
[ ] Theodoros Laskaris, Nicaean Emperor (The True Heir)
[ ] Michael Komnenos Doukas, ruler of Epirus (Chaos Is A Ladder)
[ ] Alexios Megas Komnenos, Trebizondian Emperor (The Last Komnenos)
[ ] Kaykhusraw Seljuk, Sultan of Rum (God, Rumania, Kaykhusraw)
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