EU3 Aragon AAR: Los Reyes de la Tierra, el Mar y el Mundo

Seeing my partial Portuguese heritage, this might be an excellent place for me to enter the story.

Capítulo VIII: La Tercera Guerra Ibérica (Chapter VIII: The Third Iberian War)





Febrero de 1429, the Rey agreed to give the nobility more priveleges, in exchange for more knights being recruited to serve in the armies...

Julio de 1429, the Rey was pleased to learn that at long last, the stability of the entire realm had finally returned to +3, and peace and prosperity had become the main themes of life kingdom-wide.

But that was not to last. With his realm at it's prime, the Rey ordered his soldiers to surround the Castellano capital, in preparation for a massive offensive. Troops were also ordered West to prepare for an assault on Portugal.

Though Aragón had been warned by Francia in the north, the Rey was confident he could hold his own against the French Army; Francia was engaged in a war with Burgundy and Lorraine, while Castilla and Portugal had practically no forces to defend themselves with.

War was declared in Agosto, with a full alliance of Castilla, Francia and Portugal forming against Aragón. But with Portugal and Castilla weak and France distracted with a foreign war, the Rey knew that with the right timing and speed, he would crush both the Iberian countries and could then focus his full attention on the renegade northerners.

By Septiembre, the Portuguese Army in North Africa had been annihilated, while the Portuguese capital was under siege. Troops were immediately dispatched to exterminate the Portuguese Army in Iberia, as well as deal a devestating blow to the rebels from Cadiz, who had chosen to march on Andalucia as soon as hostilities began.

The French had the nerve to attack the border region of Rousillon in Septiembre, and plans were made to drive out the all-infantry force of about 6,000 soldiers once the Iberian peninsula was secured.

The chance to do that came soon in late Septiembre, when a low-casualty assault conquered Castilla's capital of Toledo anew.



Diciembre 1429, the land technology of Aragón advanced to level 5, enabling new types of troops to be trained. It was decided to convert all infantry divisions to Men-At-Arms, so as to better fight the French.

Mid-Diciembre, France accepted peace with Burgundy. But Burgundy had already been fatally wounded by Bavaria anyway, so Francia's attention would be focused on Lorraine instead. Knowing Lorraine could not last on it's own, Rey Ferran I's personal force rushed towards the border, knowing the need to penetrate Francia was growing.



El Año 1430





Enero, the dual victories of Rousillon and Andalucia reinforced Aragón's position in the war, especially the devestating loss inflicted upon France. As the Rey's cavalry were more lethal on the attack, he ordered a retreat to nearby Girona, so that any French invaders of Rousillon would be slaughtered by a cavalry charge.

Febrero, 1,000 Frenchmen were slaughtered in another battle at Rousillon.

Marzo, Portuguese Braganca fell to Aragón's victorious military.

Abril, Portugal's own capital fell to the Aragonese, signifying the de facto defeat of both Iberian powers.

Abril brought another surprise: the Mamluks, backed up by Hedjaz and the Kazakh Horde, declared war upon Aragón! Fortunately, the jackasses were considered too far away to be a threat, but the Aragonese fleet was nonetheless ordered eastwards to prevent any landings in Africa.

Agosto de 1431 saw the capture of Algarve, leaving Portugal without a stake in Europe. The French also were repulsed several times in the months prior to Agosto, though with less smashing success as there had been in the beginning. But still, Rousillon remained impenetrable thanks to the Rey's hard work.

Octubre, Tangiers was occupied, leaving the Portuguese with an undiscovered possession.

Diciembre, the province of León was occupied by the Aragonese military, while the naval and trade technologies increased to 5 simultaneously.

Late Diciembre saw Cadiz captured for Aragón, thus leaving Castilla with a single province unoccupied - Galicia. And that in itself was ruled by the Galician nationalists, who had taken control after Castilla's Iberian Wars caused the collapse of all real central authority.



El Año 1431



Enero saw the collapse of Lorraine, which lost four of it's five provinces to the French. As a result, the Rey knew playtime was over and that the war with Portugal and Castilla had to end quickly before France managed to summon it's full military might against the peninsula.

Marzo, after another victory against France, we received word our army had become larger than theirs, thanks to the completion of the mission "Protect Against France." In it's place, we once more received the goal of vassalising Navarre... of course.

Late Marzo, the ruler of the Palatinate became the Holy Roman Emperor.

The last day of Marzo, Aragón was warned by the OTTOMAN TURKS. This would make for interesting future campaigns, and the idea of allying with Hungary once more had appeal.

Mayo de 1431, the Rey once more was unlucky; Galicia declared independence from Castilla! This did, however, place all of Castilla fully under Aragonese control. And so the deals could begin...

But the Rey's luck returned when peace was negotiated with Castilla:



The capital of Toledo, rich in gold, was ceded to Aragón. The Castellanos set up a new capital in Cadiz, their sole remaining port, while they also accepted vassalage to Aragón. Rey Ferran I was more or less the Rey of both Aragón and Castilla now, controlling most of Castilla's territory, while he also ruled all the core provinces of Iberia. Apart from France, no other country in the region could hope to challenge Aragón.

Even later in Mayo, the Portuguese managed to land a surprise attack force on the Baleares.

Julio, weary of battles against France, the Rey sent emissaries to the Portuguese Rey, desiring the province of Tangiers, which was a propoganda province for the Portuguese realm.



The Rey de Portugal agreed to part with his province, which symbolised - Portugual's part in it, anyway - the Iberian victory over the Muslims of North Africa.

And so, the Third Iberian War ended. France had been held off until the last minute - where an army of nearly 20,000+ approached the border with more likely to come - and Castilla had been permanently humiliated with it's capital seized. Portugal had been forced to part with a strategic province, and forced to abandon claims to much of it's old homeland. More or less, the Third Iberian War was a war of propoganda rather than results, due to the minimal land gains. But the morale boosts from the expansion of Aragón to cover all of central Iberia were felt by people throughout the empire.

Castellanos began to shed their loyalty to their old Rey and embrace Rey Ferran I. This was for a multitude of reasons, such as the fact the Aragonese had long accepted Castellano culture. Or maybe the fact that the Aragonese Reino had managed to hold together despite being so widespread, to the point of conquering many infidels, whereas Castilla had collapsed several times and had surrendered land - Catholic-dominated even - to infidels. The fact tiny Galicia could not be kept in the Castellano Reino indicated the illegitimacy of Castilla's own ruler. And, another reason was that as all Castellanos were subjects of the Rey de Castilla, and the Rey de Castilla was a subject of Rey Ferran I de Aragón, common sense meant that Ferran was the indirect sovereign of all Castilla.

The list of reasons went on, but many people, over the years, would come to accept that Castilla and Aragón, no, all of the Iberian states, were one. Rey Ferran and his descendants would do their best to make sure this feeling was well-founded in reality.

Capítulo IX: La Cuarta Guerra Ibérica (Chapter IX: The Fourth Iberian War )


The Slavs, good Christians - be they Catholic or heretical Orthodoxists - had long groaned beneath the Turkish heel. And with the Ottomans having the nerve to warn Aragón, the Rey knew he would have to beat back the Turks - who bordered the Austrian provinces - if he was to do as he pleased.

But for the moment, the Rey was occupied fighting the Mamluks and other infidels further east. Rather than engage in outright occupation and conquest - which would be too difficult given the distances and enemy soldiers involved - the Rey ordered his entire fleet eastwards to attack the Mamluk fleet. Fortunately, the nearby Venetian settlements at Crete would enable Aragón to more easily refuel it's vessels.



Agosto, sore over not gaining any victories in the Third Iberian War, France embargoed Aragón anew.

Burgundy came for an alliance, but given their distance and weakness, the Rey declined. Instead, the Rey wanted valuable allies in any future war against the Ottomans, such as Milan, Venice, Austria and Hungary.



Octubre, probably hoping to reverse it's fortunes, Portugal declared war on the city-state of Tripoli, a vassal of Aragón.

The Rey naturally backed up his ally, loving the idea of being able to hit Portugal again so soon. As well, Portugal had chosen Aquileia - one of the first states ever dismantled by Aragón - as it's ally. After nearly 30 years, Aragón would have the chance to seize Istria and subjugate Aquileia.

Octubre 27, the Portuguese besieged the northernmost ex-Portuguese province. But the Rey's personal force was on it's way, and Portugal would soon be driven off the continent.

The last day of Octubre, Halloween, the Mamluks refused to negotiate a peace treaty.

Noviembre, the battle of Istria was won by Aragón, which meant that Aquileia was as good as finished unless they built more troops. Aragón had 2,000 soldiers in the region to Aquileia's 1,000, but Aragón had cavalry whereas Aquileia did not.

Diciembre, we received word that Venice had declared war upon Aquileia, as graphically shown by the fact they invaded Aquileia's capital. It was hoped that Istria could be captured fast enough to ensure that Aquileia was fully annexed by the Serenissima.

In the last days of Diciembre, the Aquileian Army was completely obliterated, allowing Istria to be besieged. With one front sealed, the Rey was able to focus his full attention on Iberia and Africa.



El Año 1432



Enero, Aragón's lone Cardinal at the Curia was influenced by Inglaterra(England), leaving the Anglos with 4 out of 10 cardinals under their sway. Fortunately, 3 of those were nearing the seniority in the group.

Marzo, the capital of Portugal was captured as soldiers marched in Libya towards Portuguese Sirt, and as Rey Ferran - the commander of the large infantry stack assigned the task of assaulting and taking cities - moved southwards towards Algarve.

Mayo, Qara Koyunlu - an ally of the Mamluks - offered a white peace to the Rey, which was graciously accepted. It was hoped the trickle could become a flood, convincing the Mamluks to accept peace with Aragón.

And it did become a trickle in Junio, when the Kazakhs asked for a white peace as well.

Agosto, the province of Braganca was seized, leaving Portugal with two provinces, Sirt in Libya, and an unknown province.

Octubre, Sirt was captured, banishing the Portuguese from Libya.

Noviembre, the province of Istria was seized from Aquileia. Strangely, it was predicted the ruler of Aquileia would not submit despite his dire circumstances, due to the fact the capital remained free.

Later in Noviembre, the province of Friuli fell to Venice, and this convinced the Aquileians to surrender:



Aquileia was defeated and was left at the mercy of Venice. The "Austrian Provinces" had extended to include one Croatian province, reinforcing the position of Aragón in the region. The Rey then demanded Portugal's surrender...

On Noviembre 29, the Portuguese Rey - having been completely defeated with all his territories occupied(they seemed to have lost their unknown territory) - accepted Aragón's terms for every province he owned:

Diciembre 1, the Rey de Portugal surrendered, giving Aragón everything:



A little more than a year after his last defeat, the Portuguese ruler had been humbled yet again, and this time reduced to a single province. Wealthy as Lisboa was, Portugal was considered to be like Castilla: A single-province country, incapable of harming the great Reino that Rey Martí I and his son Ferran I had constructed.

El 15 de Diciembre de 1432, Venice annexed Aquileia, ending the former Italian power forever. Venice was quickly shaping up to be a power, and would possibly be able to challenge Milan some day.

Capítulo X : Ayudando los Eslavos (Chapter X: Assisting the Slavs)



El Año 1433



Febrero de 1433, the Mamluks finally caved in and offered a white peace, which the Rey accepted.

After so long, Aragón finally was at peace anew, though the Rey was now planning aggressive campaigns against the Ottomans and Italians.



Italy was a mess of alliances and wars, with the Milanese and Venetian powers in the north fighting a large-scale conflict against the Pope and Naples.

The Rey knew that since Iberia was empty, new alliances would have to be forged in Italia. First, he went to Venice, which had a powerful navy that would be an asset against the Ottoman Turks in any war.

The Venetians accepted the Rey's offer, knowing the power of Aragón's fleet would help them in turn.

With a mutually-beneficial alliance established, the Rey ordered all his soldiers to the Austrian provinces. A gradual north-south campaign would take place into the heart of the Ottoman Empire, while the combined Aragonese and Venetian fleets would wipe out the Turkish forces and disconnect the Eastern and Western halves of the Empire.

By Mayo, a force of 12,000 troops was assembled in the Austrian provinces, and the Rey planned to send over 10,000 more in the form of infantrymen. All these troops, combined with periodic refinforcements and the Venetian Army, would do an excellent job at humbling the Turks.

Noviembre, the Ottomans were rallied around their Sultan - 18,000 of them - in Croatia, seeking to retake it from the rebels who had recently occupied it. Possessing a slight advantage in numbers, the Rey prepared to attack the Turks... after making sure his army was in good condition by making preferred unit changes and retraining all his men into Men-At-Arms.



El Año 1434



New Years Day, war was declared. The Turkish force had swollen to 21,000 soldiers and retaken Croatia, but a quick and decisive blow to the Ottoman Sultan would do wonders. After all, if the main Turkish military division was wiped out, it would be easy to pursue them and continue fighting until nothing was left.

Febrero 1, the first battle of Croatia ended with an Aragonese victory. The Rey pursued the Ottoman Sultan into Bosnia.

Near the end of Febrero, a great victory occurred in Bosnia. The enemy force split, with the Turks heading towards Croatia and the Bosnians further South. The Rey naturally pursued the Turkish force.

Mayo had more victories at Bosnia and Croatia.

Julio, as another battle raged in Bosnia, Qara Koyunlu - an ally of the Turks - agreed to a white peace.

That battle of Bosnia ended soon, and it was a huge victory, with nearly 1/3 of the combined Ottoman-Bosnian forces exterminated..



Agosto 5, Aragón's stability finally returned to +3, meaning wars against Catholic countries were once more on the table.

Septiembre, after another defeat in Bosnia, the Ottoman Sultan fled, heading towards Serbia where a somewhat-larger Serbian force could reinforce him. The Rey pursued the Sultan, knowing that the chance to get rid of the main Turkish army had presented itself. The main Turkish army was composed of 19 regiments, who were so worn down and destroyed that they composed about 600 soldiers but together, down from 19,000.

Septiembre also brought good news; the Venetians sent 5,000 soldiers towards Bosnia.

Octubre, the Battle of Serbia erupted, with the Serbian King taking charge of the entire combined force; the Turks were increasingly being bullied by their so-called "vassals", due to the fact their military might was crippled.

A few days later, the Turks fled, and their multiple regiments strangely continued to march despite having no soldiers in them... but the Rey gave chase anyway.

The Battle of Halloween saw the complete destruction of all the Turkish regiments in Montenegro. While it was a great victory, the Rey had no time for rest. His enemy, the Ottoman Sultan Yakub I, had escaped to Corfu, where he was in command of the force trying to take the strategic Venetian possession. Furthermore, he still had to try and cover the whole Ottoman Empire. Which he made plans to do. First by severing the Bosnian and Serbian territories.

Diciembre 1, the Serbian military was completely destroyed. Leaving soldiers to secure the provinces, the Rey retreated his main force to Bosnia.



El Año 1435



Enero, the province of Croatia was liberated by the Aragonese, making it easier to push into Bosnia.

Febrero, the Serbian Army was destroyed anew, leaving the country helpless.



Abril de 1435 was a month of great celebration; the Austrian provinces considered themselves part of Aragón!

To celebrate, the Rey hired a Missionary to supervise the conversion efforts of Aragón. And thus he dispatched more missionaries to the former Granada.

Mayo, Austrian culture was accepted as a legitimate part of Aragón's heritage.

Junio, Hum was captured, while a revolt broke out in the Turkish province of Nis.

Julio, the entire Bosnian army was finally destroyed. As well, Bosnia was fully occupied by the Aragonese alliance, with Venice seizing control of the north.

Early Agosto, Serbia's capital was occupied by Aragón. Venice was left to take the other province of Kosovo. Kosovo fell near the end of the month.

Octubre, Nogai demanded that Aragón pay 150 ducats and end Castilla's submission in return for peace. The Rey naturally refused. Nogai hadn't even engaged in the conflict and was too far away to even try.

Diciembre, Montenegro was occupied by Aragón, thus beginning the first penetration into enemy territory. The city of Athens, however, had already been occupied by the Turks.



El Año 1436



Enero, Venetian Corfu was occupied by the Turks. But while the Greek provinces collapsed, Venice still held on to the key island of Crete, and help was on the way.

Marzo, the Rey recruited Tomás de Gotor as a general, so as to better be able to fight on multiple fronts. Tomás was ordered to attack smaller Ottoman forces in the Balkans.

Tomás carved out a path of death and destruction, going from Serbia to Edirne, and then turning east to strike at Thrace, the former capital of the Byzantine Empire. If routed there, the Turks would be in horrible shape, as the straits had finally been blocked by the Aragonese fleet.

Junio, the Battle of Thrace ended with an Aragonese victory.

By Julio, the Turkish force that the general had been pursuing had been destroyed.

Agosto, Granada's people finally accepted the legitimacy of Rey Ferran I as their ruler:





El Año 1437



Enero, the province of Janina was occupied by the Aragonese realm. Troops were dispatched to liberate Corfu.

Febrero, the province of Nis was occupied, seized by Orthodox rebels. The Orthodox Revolt was actually funded by the Turks' "ally", Serbia.



Mayo, the province of Thrace fell to Aragón. This came shortly after a great victory over the forces of Nogai.

Octubre, the Orthodox Rebels were driven out of Macedonia, and soon Larissa as well, extinguishing the Orthodox Rebellion.

Noviembre, Oman accepted a white peace with the Turks, but that alone would not save the Ottoman Empire.

Burgas fell later in Noviembre.



El Año 1438



Febrero, Corfu was recaptured by Aragón and control was turned back over to Venice. The Turks, meanwhile, were launching one last offensive against the Aragonese in Thrace and Edirne, hoping to drive out the foreigners. However, Venice chose to partake in the great battles as well.


Abril, as the battles continued to rage further northeast, Algerians in the city of Algiers began to consider themselves residents of Aragón, rather than the non-existent city-state they used to be part of.

Mayo, the Ottoman province of Silistria was taken, leaving the Turks with only their capital of Edirne free from occupation by another power(Morea was fully occupied by nationalists).

Junio, the Turkish army under Sultan Yakub was completely destroyed, and the naval blockade in the Dardanelles made it impossible for the Turks to reinforce their position in Edirne. It was official: the Turks had lost control over the entire western half of their empire.

Julio, Edirne was captured! With the Turkish capital in Aragonese hands, the Turks no longer controlled any provinces in Europa. It was a great propoganda victory for all Christendom, Catholic or Orthodox.



Mere days later, the Ottoman Sultan accepted humiliating peace terms, granting the jewel of the Ottoman Empire - Thrace - to the Catholics. In addition, four more provinces were lost when Bulgaria was recreated. While the Rey initially wanted to free Serbia and Bosnia, he reasoned that one Orthodox state was just as good as another, and Bulgaria would be fanatically loyal in addition.

The Bulgarians immediately espoused strong opinions towards Aragón, even after the Aragonese Rey made sure the ruler of Bulgaria was baptised Catholic and installed several Catholic pro-Aragón advisors in the government.

The Catalan Company was reborn after decades of absence in Thrace, being granted full control of the city of Constantinople. However, the Catalan Company was more-or-less a state organisation, rather than a business, this time around. That said, whoever was in charge enjoyed great autonomy and wealth, almost like a mini-Rey within the borders of Thrace.



And so, with a friendly puppet state installed in the Balkans and the Turks humiliated, Chapter X ends. However, the Rey was already planning a second unofficial crusade against the Turks, knowing his position was far from secure with Venice being the maker or breaker of Aragón's influence in the region. This would be complicated for one reason:

The Mamluks were guaranteeing the independence of their brother in Turkey.

The future events would certainly be interesting.

Capítulo XI: Los Años de Paz (The Years of Peace)



With the war with the Turks over and Aragón's image a bit tarnished, the Rey decided it was time to temporarily slip into obscurity, if only for a while. The Reino had neglected it's pursuits such as development of the economy. It had forgotten to try and preserve it's power in the Curia, hence why Inglaterra had swallowed it whole. But a few años of Paz, peace, would change all that.

And being peaceful immediately had rewards. Cardinal Poll of Vienna was soon bribed, leaving Aragón in control of the two youngest Cardinals. Two to Inglaterra's three.

The rest of the year was quiet.



El Año 1439





Mayo de 1439 was joyous for the infidels in Gibraltar were finally converted to Catholicism!

Julio, radical Sunni rebels rose up in Almeria. Though they lost 1/3 of their following in battle, they marched on Granada.

It was soon discovered that the rebels were sponsored by the Turks, apparently trying to destabilise Aragón in retribution for the earlier offenses.

But those efforts were for naught, as the religious rebels were finally exterminated in Agosto.



Septiembre, the people of the former Tunisian Empire began to accept Aragón as their rightful overlords.

Octubre, it came to the Rey's attention that all of the Peloponessian peninsula and the island of Rhodes had broken free under the flag of Morea, and was fighting a desperate war for independence against the Turks. Lacking a huge warchest, the Rey was not able to subsidise the war effort.



El Año 1440



Marzo, Francia warned Aragón in a typical upstart activity.

Following that, the Mamluks embargoed Aragón.

The year was quiet, though a Cathedral was commissioned in Algiers.



El Año 1441



Enero, a Neopolitan cardinal was swayed to Aragón's side, and Inglaterra's cardinals were specifically targeted next, as they controlled the Curia.

Febrero, missionaries were dispatched to gold-rich Sus.



But the Court's chief theologian, Enric de Algón, did not believe it was enough.

Abril, a new band of Sunni rebels - once more commissioned by the Turks - rose up in Almeria. They were defeated, and retreated to La Mancha.



And in Mayo, they met the same fate as the last band of rebels.

Julio, the Mamluks repealed their embargo.



Octubre, the people of Almeria were converted to Catholicism, reducing the number of Muslim provinces in Iberia to 1.



El Año 1442



Enero, the Rey sacked his chief diplomatic advisor - Sancho Pimentel, a meager one star diplomat who provided -.05 reputation and had been serving the court for 40+ years - for a much better one. This new diplomatic advisor, an ambassador, was Gaspar Domenec, who greatly enhanced the monarch's diplomatic skills and could thus greatly improve Aragón's reputation. Sancho was fired and put on a pension at a luxurious retirement home in Africa as thanks for his efforts.


Marzo 23, we received word that Naples had committed the most horrific blasphemy...

THEY ANNEXED THE PAPAL STATES! The Pope was deprived of his last vestige of secular authority, being confined to the Vatican and being a priest, not a king. The Rey wondered if he could take advantage of this is any way.

Mayo, Croatian nationalists besieged the province of Istria, desiring it to be part of the new Croat nation. But the Rey would not let them have it, naturally.

Junio, another Italian War broke out; Milan, Venice and France went against Urbino and Naples.

More importantly, a boundary dispute erupted with Fez over the province of Aures:



In the last days of Julio, Galicia was annexed by Navarre, eliminating the tiny state from the peninsula and leaving Navarre as Aragón's main rival in Iberia.

Agosto, Aragón's production technology advanced to level 6.

Noviembre, the ruler of Inglaterra had the King of Francia excommunicated! This would enable wars without consequence. But fortunately for the Rey de Francia, Rey Ferran I was more focused on attacking the Turks at the moment.



Noviembre 11, the Rey ordered a great centralisation reform, desiring to improve Aragón's tax base. Whereas Aragón previously lost 20% of it's potential revenue to local interests, the centralisation reform reduced this to 16%.



El Año 1443



Enero, Aragón's trade technology rose to 6.

Marzo, France and Venice's war against Naples ended, with Venice taking the strategic island of Malta as part of the peace deal. This was arranged by the Franco-Venetian coalition as a French territory in Italy would likely provoke panic - and unity - amongst the Italian princes.



Marzo also had the passing of the Advancement of the True Religion Act, so as to improve Aragón's ability to Catholicise heathens and heretics. The Act made it possible for only the clery and nobility to read the Bible(though this rule wasn't really enforced), but it's main side effects were a more discontent population(+1 revolt risk nationwide) and better missionary work(-4 ducats to missionary costs, and +8.0% to their chances of success). The Act, it was hoped, would more easily convert the Sunni people in Granada, thus making the Iberian Peninsula more stable.

Abril, the truce with the heathen Turks neared expiration. General Tomás de Gotor was currently in Croatia readying for an offensive against the Croat nationalists, but he would soon be sent east in preparation for the Second War against the Turks.

Mayo, Istria was freed from the marauding Croat Nationalists, who retreated into Croatia to recover. The general was not free to follow them due to being at peace with the Turks, though that wouldn't be so in a few months.

Also in Mayo, it came to the Rey's attention that Venice had turned on it's former ally, France, for some reason. Scotland, England and Venice had all joined together in one large alliance to attack the French. At the very least, this would distract the French from attacking Aragón proper - which was ill-defended by about 16,000 soldiers - in the event they decided to carry out their warning.

Julio, with the expiration of the truce, the Rey prepared to attack. He also discovered that the Pope had set up a new capital in Utrecht all the way in the Low Countries.

But alas, war was declared on Julio 28. The Years of Peace had finally ended.

Capítulo XI : El Imperio Bizantino y el Gran Guerra del Este (Chapter XI: The Byzantine Empire and the Great Eastern War )



With war declared, the Rey set out a new plan for a new conflict: elimination of the Turks from Europe. And he believed that restoring the ancient Byzantine Empire after a decade or two of absence was the way of going about that. A Catholic Byzantine realm, working alongside Aragón and Bulgaria, would guarantee Aragonese dominance of the East.

The Rey also had a strong desire to aid the Moreans, cousins of the Byzantines.

Julio 30 de 1443, both the Bulgarians and Venetians agreed to back up the Aragonese Rey.

But the Turks had even more luck. They were backed up by their own grand alliance of Nogai, Bosnia, Serbia and the Kazakhs, and they also had Mamluk and French help.

All together, Aragón's alliance had 30,000 cavalry and 25,000 infantry. By contrast, the Turkish Alliance had a massive 33,000 cavalry and 75,000 infantry.

Many questioned the sanity of the Rey in going against a force twice the size of his own, but the Rey assured his allies that the Mamluks would be mostly harmless, while Nogai and the Kazakhs would be rather easy to keep at bay due to their distance. As well, Nogai and Qara Koyunlu's forces - likely sizeable due to their vast territories - were to be cut off from any real fighting thanks to Aragón blocking the only routes into Europe.

Septiembre, the French invaded Rousillon with a minor force of 4,000 cavalry, while the Croat Nationalist Army was completely destroyed.

The French would continue their periodic incursions into Rousillon, and the military would use the same tactic of letting the French enter, only to repel them with an offensive push. So long as England and her allies kept Francia busy, the French would be somewhat weakened. Further east, the French were also devouring Savoy's last city, and so that would also buy time.

Noviembre, part of the Serbian Army was destroyed in Bulgarian territory. At the same time, a Cardinal died, and was immediately replaced by a cardinal from Murcia, loyal to Aragón.

Diciembre, Morea agreed to allow Aragonese troops in her territory, thus allowing Aragón's soldiers the honor of retaking Peloponesseus from the Turkish scum.

The Rey also noticed that the former Ottoman provinces in Wallachia, as well as the Moldavian provinces of Hungary had both broken away to reform Wallachia, with a grand total of FOUR provinces.



El Año 1444



Febrero 19, Francia agreed to a white peace, thus leaving the Aragonese homeland safe from foreigners:



To put it into perspective, the withdrawal of Francia alone left the Aragonese Alliance with 31,000+ cavalry and 27,000+ infantry. The Islamic Alliance was left with 15,000+ cavalry and 40,000+ infantry.

Marzo, a new Cardinal was appointed, yet another from Aragón. This tied the English and Aragonese for top position in the Curia.

Mayo, the province of Larissa was captured, while 2/3 of the Bosnian Army was destroyed, while the remaining 1/3 was also nearing it's demise.

Junio, the Croatian independence movement died, as Croatia was occupied by Aragón and Venice.

Late Junio, the Bosnian Army was completely destroyed. The Bosnian province of Hum was also seized.

Julio, the Battle of the Sea of Marmara finally ended after several months of intense combat. Despite being led by an admiral, the Turkish fleet suffered huge losses, but so did the Aragonese. Aragón entered with 5 carracks and 17 galleys, and in the battle, 9 galleys were lost. However, Aragón captured 2 Turkish galleys at the end of the battle, partially recouping it's losses. The Turks had similar losses, losing half their fleet of 20+ ships, all galleys.



Agosto, the Rey's propoganda efforts to revitalise the navy met with great success.

Septiembre, both Serbia and Achaea were liberated, with Serbia being taken by Bulgaria and Achaea by Morea.

Octubre, the province of Bosnia was occupied by Venice, leaving all Bosnia under coalition control.

Noviembre, Albania was occupied by Aragón.

Diciembre, Montenegro was occupied by Aragón.



On the first day of Winter, el 21 de Diciembre, the Rey was pleased to know that his agents now dominated the Curia, thanks to a Cardinal from the Baleares being appointed.



El Año 1445



Marzo, both Macedonia and Morea were captured, though Morea's administration was immediately turned over to it's rightful owners. More importantly, all that together meant the Turks controlled not a single square inch of land in Europe. It was decided to let Morea - which had acquired control of several Turkish provinces - to make the first peace deal, and then the Aragonese Coalition would move in.



Agosto, three provinces in the former Castilla accepted Aragonese hegemony.

Also in Agosto, the province of Kosovo was captured, leaving all of Serbia under occupation. Bithynia was invaded from across the Dardanelles, as it was viewed as necessary to bring the fight to the Turkish homeland if there was to be any hope of freeing Europe.

Octubre, the stability of the realm returned to maximum.

Late Octubre, the ruler of the Palatinate was elected Emperor, making the ruler of the Palatinate the third in a successive line of Holy Roman Emperors.



El Año 1446



Enero, Bithynia was seized, giving the Coalition a stake in Asia. The Turks' days were numbered.

Marzo, Bithynia was assaulted by the forces of Qara Koyunlu. The Rey led his personal force to drive them back, offering a chance for peace en route.

By Abril, they regretted their decision to not accept a white peace, as their forces were routed.

Mayo, the forces of Qara Koyunlu were once more repulsed from Bithynia.

Junio, Anataloia was seized.

Octubre brought a double whammy to any enemies of Aragón:



Sus was Catholicised, while the province of Larissa decided to revolt against the Turks and swear loyalty to the Aragonese Rey.

Octubre was also important, for Qara Koyunlu finally caved in and offered a white peace, which the Rey accepted.

Octubre 27, the epic battle of Konya finally ended thanks to the timely arrival of several Aragonese cavalry, exterminating the 21,000+ soldiers that were employed by the Ottoman Peasant Uprising. This left the Coalition without opponents in Asia Minor. It was now a competition between the Coalition and Morea for occupied territories and therefore significance at the table with the Turks.

Diciembre, the province of Konya was occupied by Rey Ferran I's forces.



El Año 1447





Abril brought excellent news, as Granada was finally converted to Catholicism, driving Islam off the Iberian peninsula for good. Now embracing both the Rey's politics as well as his religion, the inhabitants of Granada were rapidly starting to be considered true citizens of the Aragonese realm, not conquered people.

To compensate for the religious security in Iberia, missionaries were ordered to move onward to Tangier.

Mayo 24, Smyrna was occupied by Aragón.

Junio, Karaman was occupied, leaving the Turks with three provinces outside Coalition Control...

Julio, Angora fell, bringing the heart of Asia Minor under Aragonese control. Mere days later, Sivas fell, reducing the Turks to one province.

Septiembre 1, Rey Ferran I arrived at Antalya, wishing to assault the last stronghold of the Turks himself, and return home to luxury.

...But he was not to have the chance. The Turkish Sultan, desperate to hamper the Aragonese war effort, had managed to bribe a few of the Aragonese troops. Just as the Rey was to give the command to assault the city, his small personal bodyguard division was struck down, and the Rey himself soon dismounted and beaten and stabbed by a mixture of Aragonese traitors and Turkish soldiers. Most of the scum were soon killed by the majority of soldiers - who remained loyal - and the loyalists soon scrambled to find their leader among the bodies.

Rey Ferran I was found, dead. Much like his father, the Rey had appeared mediocre, but he had brought Aragón great wealth and power, having humbled great powers in ways that never would have been concievable.



Rey Ferran II, the late Rey's eldest son, took the throne. Continuing the family tradition, Rey Ferran II was lackluster on the surface. But half a century of "lackluster" rulers had shown the Aragonese people that there was more to a Rey than what met the eye. Rey Ferran II promised to avenge his father and make the Turks pay.

As Rey Ferran I had been nearing "ripeness", the new Rey had been travelling not too far from his father, as a medium-level commander(he was a low enough level commander to avoid alerting the enemy to who he was and thus becoming a target, and high enough to avoid being killed in combat). He took charge of 1,000 cavalrymen in Karaman, and went westwards to Antalya. By Christmas Day, Rey Ferran II declared, the war would be over and the Turks vanquished.

Octubre, Nogai offered a white peace, which was accepted by the Rey. This left him alone with the two Muslim states and their two Orthodox puppets.

Diciembre 4, after just 2 days, the Rey proved his worth by capturing Antalya. The Ottoman Empire was fully under Aragonese control, and the time had come for the Sultan to suffer...



Diciembre 5, the Ottoman Empire surrendered. Short of it's capital province of Edirne and it's two vassal states Bosnia and Serbia, the Turks were eliminated from Europe.

With the Turks beaten, it was decided to go after their two vassals, who still were in the war...

Having acquired Zeta, the Rey developed a fascination with Slavs and the Serbian culture in the Balkans. He went to the Mamluks, demanding the provinces of Hum from Bosnia and Kosovo from Serbia.



Diciembre 6, the Great Eastern War ended. Despite fighting so many powers against such horrible odds, Aragón and it's allies had prevailed. The French and Mamluks had been held back, while the Turks had been horribly scarred by their defeat.

The Great Eastern War greatly redrew the borders of the Balkans and Asia Minor. A neo-Byzantine Empire was carved out between Aragón and it's allies. Venice had lost the island of Crete to the upcoming Morean state, but it was compensated with a ton of land in Greece that linked Athens to the island of Corfu. Bulgaria and Aragón gained territories in Asia Minor, splitting the Ottoman Empire in half while also securing control of the Aegean.

The Great Eastern War had made all the victors great. And Rey Ferran II, freshly inaugurated as Rey of the Aragonese realm, was ready to make his state even greater.

Capítulo XII : Rey Ferran II (Chapter XII: King Ferran II )



El Año 1448



Enero, Andalusian and Berber were accepted as integral cultures of the Aragonese realm.

The Rey made plans for war with Portugal. By making Aragón out as the most devout Catholic country - having spread Catholicism to Bulgaria and parts of Africa - the Rey intended to use the Pope's power of excommunication to let him devour the two-province state.

Also in Enero, the Ottoman Sultan formally abandoned Europe by changing his capital to Karaman.

To make preparations for war and to better secure the Western half of the realm, the Rey commissioned two Carracks and 5,000 Men-At-Arms in Aragón. The Rey had acquired a large warchest - around 400 ducats - thanks to the war with the Turks and their allies.

Abril, yet another missionary was dispatched, this time to Ceuta.

Julio, another missionary was sent to Safi in the former Morocco. This left Aragón with a total of 4 missionaries active throughout the realm, all converting Muslims.

Agosto, to commemorate the Granadans accepting Aragonese rule, the Rey ordered the construction of several temples throughout the province of Granada.

Septiembre, the Rey de Portugal was excommunicated by the Aragonese-influenced Pope.

War was declared on Octubre 2. Portugal was aligned with Naples, and the Rey hoped the foolish Neopolitans - who had been shattered by the Milanese and French - would join the war on Aragón, and thus facilitate new gains in Italia.

Bulgaria loyally followed it's Aragonese allies into combat, while the Venetians deserted Aragón. This put Venice in Aragón's crosshairs, for they owned quite a bit of valuable bases in Greece and the Mediterranean...

Naples backed up Portugal, and so plans were made to invade Naples once Portugal was finished off.

Reports showed that Portugal and Naples together had a mere 6,000 soldiers, while Bulgaria and Aragón together had 59,000. Oh, the times sure had changed... of course, Portugal still maintained a stronger navy, but it wouldn't help them any.

Octubre 19, with only 4 Aragonese deaths, all 1,000 soldiers of Portugal's capital defense force were killed. The Iberian front was closed de facto.

Portugal's response to the large amount of pain dealt to them was a simple embargo of the Aragonese traders to Lisboa, which had been reduced to a very minor center of trade by that point in time. Portugal truly had no real options besides to submit.

Noviembre, the Neopolitans landed a small force of 1,000 soldiers to besiege Cerdeña.



El Año 1449



Febrero, Algerian nationalists from Neopolitan territory in Africa moved westwards and invaded Aragonese territory. More importantly, the Neopolitans were humbled and lost 2 galleys to the Aragonese fleet.



Also in Febrero, three more provinces in Africa joined the family of ex-Islamic territories that considered themselves legitimate parts of Aragón.

Marzo, as 7,000 soldiers under one of Aragón's generals assaulted a garrison of 970 soldiers in Portugal's capital, 4,000 troops were loaded onto transports bound for Cerdeña.

Abril, the Bulgarians abandoned the Rey and made peace with Naples. But it mattered not, as the Bulgarians did not have anything of value in the war.

Better news in Abril was the fact Lisboa was captured, driving Portugal off the continent.

So on Abril 7, diplomats were deployed to see the Portuguese Rey.



Abril 8, the Rey de Portugal accepted the terms presented. Aragón gained 250 ducats, Portugal renounced all claims on Aragonese territory, and finally the Portuguese Rey accepted vassalage. Rey Ferran II made a pledge to appeal to the Pope to lift the excommunication of Portugal, now that Portugal had good relations with Aragón.

Many of Portugal's domestic and military decisions, however, were soon transferred to a representative from Aragón, codenamed El Hombre de Hierro, the Man of Iron.

In the last days of Abril, Naples was repelled from Cerdeña, and all 1,000 troops were hunted down and captured or killed after fleeing the battlefield.

With Aragón's territorial integrity preserved and Portugal subdued, the Rey made full plans to invade Naples and seize every inch of territory in their possession. While Sicily had managed to prevent itself from falling under Aragonese rule, the fact Naples ruled Sicily as a territory would mean the island would indirectly become Aragonese.

Naples had 7,000 soldiers prior to the invasion.


Mayo 1, Tomás de Gotor led 5,000 cavalry and 1,000 infantry against the Algerian nationalists, seeking to repel them from Aragonese territory for his Rey.

Meanwhile, an invasion force was assembled under the personal command of Ferran II, and sent to attack Sicily.

Junio, the Rey of Portugal found his excommunication lifted. This boosted his relations with Aragón to +175.

The Algerian nationalists were defeated shortly after(though they retreated into their occupied Neopolitan province), as if a sign from God that it was good idea to reintegrate the Portuguese into the Catholic community.


Julio, with 200 deaths, 2,000 Neopolitan soldiers were eliminated in Sicily.



Octubre 1449, the efforts to convert the province of Sirt - dating back to the start of the Great Eastern War - were successful. Yet another African province had been reclaimed by Christianity. The fact Sirt itself had been fought for despite it's low value during the Great Eastern War was the fact that the conversion effort was occurring, and the Rey did not wish to lose souls (or money, for that matter).

Late Octubre, the Algerian nationalists were finally crushed, and efforts began to focus on taking Naples' lone African province, which it had inherited from Sicily.



El Año 1450



Enero, the Rey made plans to land in Rome. This was because the Neopolitans had their full force of 7,000 soldiers protecting their capital. It was thus necessary to land in Neutral Milanese territory and go from there.

Febrero, the Rey commanded a unified army of 2,000 cavalry and 10,000 Infantry in Rome. His force marched on the Neopolitan capital, which possessed 2,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry.

Marzo, the unfortunate death of a Cardinal left Aragón with six of the ten Cardinals in the Curia under it's influence.

Marzo 12, the Neopolitan ruler's army was defeated, and retreated further east. The Rey ordered most of his army to pursue.

Marzo 20, just after Aragón had gained it's possession of six Cardinals, one finally croaked, reducing the Aragonese influence to five cardinals.

Junio, another Aragonese Cardinal died.

Julio, yet another cardinal died.



Octubre, as the battle for southern Italy raged, all of the former Granada apart from Murcia swore loyalty to Rey Ferran II.



El Año 1451



Enero, the stability of the entire realm surged upwards to +3 at long last, guaranteeing peace and prosperity - at least the latter - throughout Aragón.

Enero 5, a battle at Abruzzi eliminated all of Naples' cavalry, reducing them to mere demoralised infantry. It was expected that the battle of Rome would completely destroy Naples' military and give Aragón full control of the southern Italian peninsula.

But the Neopolitan forces survived the Battle of Rome. However, they were reduced to 800 men filling the role of 8 regiments of 1,000 men. The Neopolitan Army's time was coming to an end.

Mayo, as Milan attacked Urbino in the north - triggering a war with Naples and Venice in the process - the Neopolitan Army was destroyed. Fortunately, Aragón would reap the spoils of Naples, not Milan.

Junio, Constantine in North Africa was occupied.

More importantly, Urbino was annexed by Milan, leaving Milan in charge of the core of Italy - Ancona, Tuscany, Roma, and Siena. Having cores on all four, it was only predictable what Milan would soon do.

Julio, thanks to the use of the Milanese as meat shields, Aragón successfully assaulted Western Sicily and occupied it.

Julio 18, the capital of Naples itself was occupied.

Agosto 21, Apulia was occupied, leaving only one province under Neopolitan control.



Agosto 24, Safi in Africa was converted to Catholicism. Safi's conversion guaranteed that the gold of Sus - also Catholicised - would have a secure Catholic route to the sea, so the gold could more easily be delivered to Aragón.

Noviembre, Abruzzi was seized, meaning all Neopolitan territories were occupied by the Reino.

On the 24 de Noviembre, the Rey bribed a fifth Cardinal to support Aragonese interests in the Curia, while he also sent a peace offer to Naples demanding every province besides their capital.



The ruler of Naples agreed to Aragón's terms, but now he would be at the mercy of other states like Milan instead. And Milan was by all means the strongest country in Italy, even though a war with France had resulted in Genoa being freed as a city-state and thus crippling Milan's economy by removing it's center of trade from their power.

With one of the "Great Two" of the Italian peninsula down for the count, the Rey's efforts focused on isolating and weakening Milan. Francia had already done it's part by severing Milan's precious center of trade from them by freeing the Genovese. But Milan still remained dominant, and in a position to proclaim itself ruler of all Italy if it wished. And it was likely to grow even stronger thanks to wars with Venice and Naples that it would surely win.

The Rey decided Venice was a natural target. It controlled key bases in the Mediterranean, including the former Sicilian(and therefore considered a rightful part of Aragón by some) province of Malta. It ruled Greek provinces adjacent to the Aragonese territories there, while the homeland of the Venetians was rich in traders and bordered the Austrian provinces. Provided Aragón played it's cards right, it would be easy to destroy and conquer it's ex-allies.

First, however, the Rey wished to pay a visit to his friends, the Turks.



El Año 1452





Febrero, the province of Toubkhal was converted to Catholicism, eliminating Islam from one of the two "branches" of the Aragonese empire that formed from the straits of Gibraltar. Now, the northern branch, rather than the Western, would be the full focus of all conversion efforts.



Junio, three Portuguese provinces accepted Aragonese rule after so many decades.

Late Junio, the Rey offered 5.5 ducats a month for 12 months to the ruler of Naples in war subsidies. He believes that for the security of his own territory, he would need to strengthen Naples and allow them to gain Milanese territory.

Julio, Portuguese culture was accepted by the Rey's court, thus helping to boost tax incomes in the former Portugal.



El Año 1453



It was a new year in 1453, and the truce with the accursed Turks had expired! Once troops were in position around Bosnia - which would be used as to trigger the war - hostilities were to resume.

El 13 de Febrero de 1453, war was declared on Bosnia. The Turks were expected to fall into the trap.

Marzo 6, the Bosnian Army was exterminated.

Abril, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet I was humbled by General de Gotor, who proceeded to pursue him around Turkish territory. The Ottoman Army numbered approximately 7,000 soldiers in all.

Junio, the Sultan was humbled again at his capital, and he retreated to Angora to meet up with 2,000 more soldiers.

When the forces of the Sultan and General de Gotor met in late Junio for the Battle of Angora, they were evenly matched, with each side having about the same amount of cavalry and infantry. But unfortunately for the Sultan, reinforcements came from the West, and the infantry tilted the battle in favor of de Gotor. The General pursued the Sultan back to his capital at Karaman.

The Battle of Karaman in Julio showed the weakening of the Sultan's forces, as much heavier losses were inflicted upon the Turks. The General continued his pursuit, knowing the destruction of the Sultan's personal army would leave the Ottoman "Empire" without any soldiers.

Konya fell in late Julio, freeing up several thousand infantry to go elsewhere.

Agosto, Bosnia was seized, ending the puppet's role in the war.



But more importantly, four former Castellano provinces accepted the Rey de Aragón as their lawful sovereign. Most of the former Castilla had been assimilated into Aragonese society.

Septiembre, 4 Turkish regiments were wiped out entirely. The Sultan had escaped to his last free province of Sivas, and all soldiers in the area were directed to go and try to kill the Sultan.

The Sultan was defeated in late Septiembre, but managed to avoid his scrape with death. He continued the usual back-and-forth warfare tactics that Aragón used to whittle down armies.

Octubre, the former Turkish capital of Edirne was occupied by Aragón's forces.

The Battle of Angora ended on Octubre 20, resulting in the complete annihilation of the Sultan's forces. The Sultan managed to survive, however, and go into hiding.

Diciembre, Anatolia was occupied. Bithynia fell shortly after.



El Año 1454





Marzo de 1454 had the triumphant Battle of the Sea of Marmara, where no Coalition ships were lost while the Turks lost an entire force of 7 galleys. This stung their naval power and the morale of the Turkish people. And naval power was important, considering the Turks had no land troops left; only a force of 8 galleys composed their entire military.

Sivas was taken in Abril.

Mayo, the Hungarians took the liberty of disposing of Croatian Nationalists in the province of Croatia for us. After all, if the Croats succeeded there, they would likely move on to the Hungarian-held Croatian provinces.

More importantly, the Milanese annexed Naples and made peace with Austria. As a result...



They formed Italy. Now enlarged and glorified, the former Milanese Empire was on a quest to unify the Italian peoples. Aragón would have the fortune of being the one to stop them.

Junio, the province of Angora was taken, while the Hungarians defeated the nationalists and exterminated them all. Antalya was soon occupied by the Aragonese realm as well, leaving only the Turkish capital of Karaman under Ottoman rule.

While the Rey had enough clout to get all the provinces he needed, he still desired to cripple the Ottomans perpetually. He assaulted Karaman, taking it and forcing the Turkish navy of 8 galleys out to the sea... where the Aragonese fleet of 10 galleys and 5 Carracks was waiting.

The battle ended in Septiembre, with 2 Turkish vessels sunk and another 2 captured. The Aragonese fleet lost no ships.

Octubre, the Turkish fleet seemed to have vanished, as it could not be located. The Rey, satisfied by the large damage he had done to the Sultan's realm, decided it was time to bring peace between the East and West.



But before doing that, Rey Ferran II was pleased to know that the province of Ceuta had joined the list of regions Catholicised by the Aragonese.



And so, desperate to save his own skin, the Ottoman Sultan capitulated. He sold out his faithful vassal and ally, Bosnia, which he agreed to let Aragón annex into it's "Serbian Territories."

With the Ottomans defeated yet again by the victorious Aragonese Alliance, the map was drastically redrawn. The Aragonese colonies in Asia Minor continued to grow in size, gradually spilling across the so-called border thanks to the lawlessness of the Ottoman state. One could walk all the way from the Austrian territories to Constantinople without ever leaving Aragón's borders. Rey Ferran II was a true successor of his father and grandfather, having built a great empire despite his personal shortcomings.

And much like his predecessors, he was also very cunning and always hungry for more prey. And he had Italy - both the official political entity and the region - in his line of vision. Soon, the Aragonese titan would let loose a deafening roar heard by all the world as it's armies stormed across Europe...

Oh, you think that's the end of this chapter do you? Not quite. There's more!



Later in Octubre, the province of Tangiers was converted to Catholicism, and conversion efforts were pushed eastwards across the Maghreb.

But more importantly, the Bulgarians declared war upon Serbia! The Rey suddenly found himself with a chance to restart the Turkish War just after it had ended. Being greedy for more territory and eager to hit the Turks again while they were down, the Rey agreed to support his puppet state.

Noviembre was a race to Serbia, with the forces of Bulgaria, Wallachia and Aragón converging on it's central location.

Noviembre also had Karaman retaken shortly after it had been turned back over to the Ottoman Sultan.



El Año 1455



Enero, Konya was retaken by the Aragonese military. As well, the Ottoman Navy engaged in battle with the Aragonese in the Gulf of Cyprus.

Marzo, the Turkish fleet fled to Mamluk Aleppo, while the regions of Serbia and Angora were captured.

Agosto, Oran was converted to Catholicism, eliminating another Sunni province in Africa.

Septiembre, Sivas was captured, reducing the Turks to a single province.



El Año 1456



Enero 1, the last bastion of the Ottoman Empire was seized. Aragón called the Sultan to the table, little over a year since the last time.

El 2 de Enero, the brief continuation of the War ended.



Coincidentally enough, the combined warscore of all provinces seized was exactly 100%. Like a sign from God that Aragón had been destined from Día Uno to destroy the Turks.

And now, with the start of a New Year, Aragón was once more at peace. All the Serbian provinces were unified under Aragonese rule, and the Turks had been reduced to a single backwater province on the Mediterranean shore. The Byzantine Empire had truly been reborn, as a component of the greater Aragonese Reino.

...But now, as predicted before, the Aragonese titan was ready to storm across Europe. Every Rey from London and Paris to Warsaw and Stockholm would acknowledge Aragonese supremacy.

Holy crap...

Does anybody actually read this? This page is a huge wall of text and images, and apart from IronMan, it doesn't seem anybody is interested...

For any lurkers and readers... is there anything you would like to see for this story?

I'm reading.

take out france, as soon as possible, I say.

or expand east wards.

thomas.berubeg said:

I'm reading.

take out france, as soon as possible, I say.

or expand east wards.

Click to expand...

As this update will show, we fulfilled your second request, while plans are already being made to assault Francia once the Navarrese possessions are taken(Since I have cores on all of Navarre now)!




Capítulo XIII: Las Guerras Italianas (Chapter XIII: The Italian Wars )



Abril 1456, the Rey cancelled his military access treaty inside Venetian territory. The Venetian Doge had a good idea what was to come... Venice was already in three different wars, fighting powers from Morea to France. Parts of the country were already occupied by foreigners, and the Rey wanted to get in to minimise any chance of Venice losing property to the likes of France.

Also in Abril, the Rey decided to centralise the country further, improving tax revenue and the efficiency of government overall, but causing the whole Reino to lose stability.

Mayo, relations with Venice were permanently crippled when the Doge was excommunicated.

Julio 24, with soldiers in full position all across the realm, war was declared on Venice. It was hoped that the Venetians' Navarrese allies would join in the conflict, enabling the Rey to expand his dominion on two fronts.

Or not, as the declaration of war revealed that Venice's only remaining friend was Switzerland, a one-province state that was constantly besieged by the Habsburgs.

July 24 was also the day where the Bulgarian Empire annexed the Ottomans(somehow, the Bulgarians were the leaders in the last Turkish War, thus allowing them to keep fighting after Aragón dropped out). Another Islamic state had met it's demise at the hands of the Christians.

It was soon discovered the Venetians no longer possessed Carracks in their fleet from what military analysts could deduce. This meant Aragón was free to control the sea lanes and block Venetian movement across straits.

Bulgaria dishonored it's alliance with the Aragonese, but Rey Ferran II was okay with that. The Bulgarians had served their purpose as an anti-Turkish crusader state and would be dismantled at a later date. The stakes between the two enemy sides, however, were 67,000 on the Aragonese side, while there were only 17,000 on the Venetian side. The Aragonese fleet also had 8 Carracks to Venice's 0, while it also outnumbered them in terms of galleys. Times sure had changed...

Agosto, the city of Venice itself was attacked by the Aragonese military. The battle resulted in victory, with the Venetians losing 5,000 soldiers.

There was bad news as well, however. Morea surrendered the province of Achaea to Venice, while also being forced to release Crete as part of it's peace deal. The Rey did not care, for he simply ordered soldiers south to invade Achaea as well.

The Aragonese navy was ordered to block the straits between Corfu and mainland Greece. This way, when the Aragonese military defeated the Venetians at Corfu, they wouldn't be able to escape the island and would disband.

Septiembre, the Venetians ceded Friuli and Malta to France. This meant that Venice's homeland was gone sans the very island it's capital was on.

Octubre, the Battle of Corfu raged. Victory would determine if the Venetian military was forever dismantled or not.

Noviembre, the Battle of Corfu ended with Aragonese victory, and all TEN Venetian regiments on the island were wiped out, leaving all of Venice's territory defenseless.



El Año 1457



(A note: I added events during this year. They allow Italy to annex any Italian state that has grown extremely weak(less than 3 provinces). So it's easy to foresee the destruction of all Italian minors soon. I also made it so that the Spanish receive cores on former historical Aragonese possessions like Corsica and Athens, as well as the territories the real Aragón had when Spain was formed. An event also now fires for Spain where Aragón and Castille are annexed if either still is around.)

Enero, the province of Toubkhal was considered a core province of Aragón by the wider international community.

Even better, the province of Athens was captured.

Febrero, the last batch of Venetian soldiers was eliminated, leaving Switzerland with 3,000 troops to defend the whole alliance.

Mayo, Achaea was captured, while an alliance offer from Italy was rebuffed(the Rey wanted to capture parts of Italy first to neutralise them), while Bulgaria was granted military access.

Junio, Janina was captured, leaving all of Venetian Greece besides Corfu under Aragonese occupation.

Agosto, as the Venetian Cog Fleet - 4 vessels strong - was attacked off Greece, the city of Venice itself was captured, prompting the Doge to flee to Corfu.

Agosto 7, Italy annexed Savoy when the people decided to join the pan-Italian nation, thus developing a full border with Francia. Due to the fact Francia was growing exponentially - having seized parts of Navarre, taking Malta and part of the Venetian homeland, and having annexed Burgundy - the Rey believed that it was better for Italia to grow it's borders.

Agosto 14, Corfu was assaulted, and it fell to the victorious Aragonese army. This left the pitiful remnants of the Venetian fleet without a port to sail to.

Septiembre, as Aragón did it's best to wipe out the Venetian navy, the province of Croatia was besieged by nationalists, who once more came from Hungary.

Noviembre 20, the Venetian fleet was completely destroyed. It was decided to wait until the New Year to negotiate, however, so that Aragón could collect census taxes from the Venetian territories.

Diciembre 14, the people of Genoa submitted to Italy and as a result, the state was annexed and reunified with Italy anew.

Christmas Day, the Croatian Nationalists were finally repelled, and they marched on Hungarian Osijeck, a Croat-dominated province.



El Año 1458



Enero, with census taxes collected, the Rey sent diplomats to the Venetian Doge's palace.



Enero 2, the Venetian Empire in Greece came to an end.

Febrero, Sus and Safi in Africa became core provinces of the Aragonese realm.



Mid-Febrero, the court philosopher Frederic Villarroya became well-known throughout the country. Due to the confidence in the court being able to hire such well-educated men, the stability of the entire realm increased.

Marzo, 3,000 Sunni rebels rose up in Tlemcen, but they were swiftly wiped out.

Agosto, Austria's attempt to try and conquer Switzerland ended in failure, with the state being forced to pay Italy 400 ducats and cede the province of Trent.

Septiembre, the Italianos tried to bribe an Aragonese Cardinal, but were foiled.

Octubre, a new Emperor was elected, once more from the Palatinate's royal line.



El Año 1459



Enero, the Cardinal who had so defiantly resisted the Italianos in their last attempt was successfully influenced. The growing Italo-Aragonese tensions started to accelerate.

In retaliation, the Rey cancelled Aragón's military access rights in Italia.

Febrero, we received word that Francia had declared war on Inglaterra, yet again trying to seize it's rightful territories such as Calais. French victory would finally lay the legacy of the Hundred Years War to rest.

The usual diplomacy check showed that Francia's war with Inglaterra had resulted in Navarre and Italia going to war with them. This meant France was to fight on three main fronts and a few smaller ones. The Rey hoped for Francia to get dealt a fatal blow in the conflict, though he intend to - unwillingly - help the French by invading Italia later in the year.

Marzo, Murcia was accepted as a rightful territory of Aragón. The Granadan nationalists were finally put to rest.


In addition, Marzo had the conversion of Tlemcen to Catholicism. To celebrate, missionaries were dispatched to Bosnia to try and get rid of Orthodoxy there.

Mayo 19, Aragón entered an alliance with Bohemia, the hegemon of Germany. And on the same day, the Pope excommunicated King Gian Galeazzo III of Italia.

Junio 22, war was declared on the Italian Kingdom. Thanks to that, Bohemia went to war with the Italianos as well, while the English desserted their Italian allies. Provided the Bohemians got their forces in order and the right military access treaties, the Italianos would be fighting on three fronts against three great powers.



The initial war situation was interesting. 117,000 soldiers were in the employ of the powerful Aragonese-Bohemian Alliance. By contrast, Italia had only about 38,000.

Italia's main advantage was the sea. Their navy had fewer Carracks than Aragón, but it had far more galleys, almost three times the size of the Aragonese galley fleet.


Julio, Frederic Villarroya died. His loss was mourned, as he had maxed out Aragonese prestige.

By Agosto, 7 Italian provinces were besieged, but none of the Italiano troops were encountered yet. It was expected they were further west, or maybe still trapped on the island of Malta(where they had deposited troops to attack France).

Sure enough, the last days of Agosto revealed a whopping 32 divisions of Italian soldiers located in Piedmont. However, the French had done some serious damage to the units(only 15,000 soldiers were actually inside the force)., and so plans were made to assault the Italian army.

Septiembre, the Mamluks warned the Rey. Did they not learn their lesson last time?

Octubre, the French were surprised to find that their Aragonese foes - especially General de Gotor - had arrived in Piedmont to reinforce their position.

Noviembre, the French dropped out of the war with Italia, but they claimed the province of Piedmont. Alas, the French had done their part by weakening the Italian Army. It would be up to Aragón to finish the job.

Noviembre 21, maybe as thanks for helping them expand and take over Piedmont, the French lifted their embargo on Aragón. But the Rey wasn't going to hold his breath.



El Año 1460



Enero, 33 Italian divisions were all bound to meet up in Liguria. 15 divisions under General De Gotor was to meet up with them. But the General was not afraid, for his forces had high morale, and his regiments were almost entirely full.

Enero 26, Aragonese soldiers were routed in the battle of Messina by a slightly larger force. The Italians won by merit of being sneaky about their sudden approach.

Marzo, rebels in Brescia repelled the Aragonese forces there.

Abril, a battle at Lombardia was lost, while the city of Florence in central Italia was seized.

Mayo, Verona was occupied by Aragón. And soon, Rome, the capital of the Italian Kingdom, was captured as well.

Junio, Napoli was occupied.

Agosto, Ancona, the former heart of Urbino, was captured.



Agosto also had the end of the very long Battle of Lombardia.

Septiembre, the government technology level of the realm rose to 9, and thus a new national idea was possible. It was decided to place emphasis on exploration and colonisation, a quest for a New World for Aragón to claim as it's own.

Noviembre, at long last, a second Batte of Lombardia was won, exterminating all 30 regiments the Italians had in the province. This left Italia with 2 regiments - harassing Apulia in the South - and a few being trained.

Noviembre 9, Mantua was finally captured.

Then, the Italian Army was wiped out at Apulia, leaving the Aragonese with free reign over most of the peninsula.

Then, Trent was occupied.



And again in Noviembre, Madrid embraced Catalan culture. (Oh, if only Gangleri was following this story... )

Diciembre, both Modena and Romagna were seized by the Aragonese military.



El Año 1461



Febrero, Lombardia - the homeland of the ruling Italian dynasty - was occupied.

Marzo, to help the numerous conversion efforts going on nationwide, the court hired yet another Theologian, though he was not as useful as his counterpart.

Siena and Calabria both fell later in Marzo, bringing a large chunk of Italia under Aragonese control. Ferrara followed shortly after.

Abril, Messina was occupied.

May 11, Pisa was occupied.



Junio, Toledo was at long last considered a core province of the Aragonese Reino.

Junio 15, Liguria was captured. Not a single inch of land in Italia remained under the Italian Kingdom's rule. The only area not under foreign control was a province occupied by Hussites.

The Italian Rey was called to the table...



And like a good pet, he surrendered to his Aragonese masters.

The Rey issued an edict that celebrations be held all throughout the Reino to celebrate the victory, and the fact that Aragón's rightful claims in Italy had been realised. One could now go from Palermo to Abruzzi without leaving royal territory, while the province of Tuscany - the heart of the Renaissance - would provide plenty of artists, thinkers and other great individuals to the crown.



But the Rey surprised his subjects - Portuguese, Castellano, Catalan, Arabic, Berber, Italian, Greek, Serbian, Croatian, German, Slavic, Turkish or otherwise - by saying the age of Aragón had come to an end. It was time for a new union between the provinces of Iberia to come into effect, an Iberian Union. Called España, named after the Roman Hispania. Anglophones would call the new land "Spain."

The Rey Ferran II, now the first Rey de España, also believed that the title of Reino (Kingdom) was unfitting for such a majestic entity like España. Spain's territories covered Castilla and Aragón's, including much of the Aragonese lands which were lost prior to Rey Martí's reign(Sicily, Naples, Corsica, and Athens). It was time for the Reino to become something else...



An Imperio.

The Rey's decision to become El Emperador del Iberia(The Emperor of Iberia) was not taken lightly by many local authorities, especially those on the other side of the Mediterranean, where the empire hastily constructed mostly by Rey Ferran II's campaigns was under very shaky rule due to constant nationalist sentiment. As a result, the new Imperio Ibérico naturally had stability issues... it would be a tough road ahead, but the Emperador was sure España would emerge far stronger thanks to his reforms.



(Please understand that I am merely roleplaying and do not actually have anything against Muslims or Arabs, and the comments in the dark part of Africa are meant in good humor)

I'm the shadow despot of a Portuguese city state? Cool. =)

The rest of Iberia must be brought into our fold. Mainly for name sake, being the "Iberian Empire" and all.

IronMan2055 said:

I'm the shadow despot of a Portuguese city state? Cool. =)

The rest of Iberia must be brought into our fold. Mainly for name sake, being the "Iberian Empire" and all.

Click to expand...

Given that el Imperador can excommunicate his enemies thanks to the "help" of the Pope... and the fact all of the provinces of Navarre are now considered core provinces of España... I foresee much blood in the future.

The only downside is Navarre, being a medium-scale power(it was a pretty strong country before France attacked it and seized 2 provinces + freed Galicia; it's power was mitigated by the fact it had two giants on both borders) has managed to align with Inglaterra and a few other countries. They had three allies last I checked, not counting guarantees. However, given my regional superiority (and the fact Inglaterra deserted it's last ally - Italy ) I should be able to defeat Navarre before the English or any other state land forces.

I think everyone will be happy to know that to make the game more interesting, I'm finetuning it by adding new events to somewhat simulate history. For instance, in 1482, the Austrians gain all claims/territory that Burgundy had at that time, just as they did in real history. They also inherit Burgundy and any other states that inhabit the area they get cores on. Should make for an interesting game... or at least next time around.

The English are having trouble in Ireland?

Perhaps you could promote a pan-Irish state.

Definitely need to turn the Iberian Peninsula completely yellow.

Worry not, my fair Court! ¡El Imperio estará en guerra con Navarre en el futuro próximo! (The Empire will be at war with Navarre in the near future!)

at Madrid becoming Catalan.

I think that the "Spanish" empire is a bit of a mis-nomer for what you have going on here.... All you need is a few more provinces and to duly kick France's sorry ass, and you'll have the ROMAN empire!

Hikaro Takayama said:

at Madrid becoming Catalan.

Click to expand...

My advisor Franco ( ) has done well in convincing the Castellanos to accept Catalan culture...

I think that the "Spanish" empire is a bit of a mis-nomer for what you have going on here.... All you need is a few more provinces and to duly kick France's sorry ass, and you'll have the ROMAN empire!

Click to expand...

Darn! You're onto me!

The funny thing is the whole Roman Empire bit was more or less a coincidence... I started out as an Iberian country, and conquered a few African states(coincidentally the same way Rome accidentally became an empire, by conquering a large part of Africa). From there, as you can tell, I gradually weaned down Castille, liberated Thrace from the heathens, and gradually spread from Austria to Greece... so my whole empire is pretty much an accident, though now the desire to form Rome is strong!

I think I'll add an event that lets a player become a Catholic Byzantine Empire, actually, provided the player control key areas of the former Roman Empire - Madrid(since it's the heart of Iberia), Paris (heart of Gallia/Gaul), Rome(this one is obvious), Thrace(obvious, again), Ankara(heart of Asia Minor), Alexandria(key trade center), and Jerusalem(for historicalness, not to mention the can of religious theocracy unleashed will demand control of the Holy Land).

Of course, to be more fair to the AI - as fair as a 5-star-in-every-category superpower can be, anyway - I will require cores on these territories and not just control. So a New Rome will have to wait at least 100 years likely... Simply because I have to somehow bludgeon the Mamluk and French into bits. Hopefully, I won't have to fight them at the same time like in the Great Eastern War... I must say, that was the most epic alliance ever - the Turks, French, Mamluks, two minor puppet countries, PLUS two large Asian countries...

But when I do form New Rome, if I get around to making the event, what should the benefits be? Cores on every ex-Roman province? (Considering the fact that by the time you can form New Rome, most of the old Roman Empire will already be your cores, this actually isn't too unbalancing) And of course, a moving of the capital to Rome.

I should probably also do some sort of event that causes hostility by the German countries - especially the Emperor - as they'd feel unhappy of there being another Roman Empire in the region...

Hello dear readers! I don't have an update on the game, unfortunately, but I can tell you I'm having quite a bit of fun modding.

I have made it possible to become the Roman Empire provided you do well enough as a conqueror. This is done through an event decision, and has a few requirements:

A. There must not be a Byzantine Empire(since the Byzantine Empire actually was the Roman Empire).

B. The country wanting to become the New Rome must not be at war. This is due to the fact the game can crash if countries change who they are while at war.

C. The country must control and own the hearts of the regions historically integral to the Roman Empire in it's early days - Tunis(Carthage), Granada, Madrid, Barcelona(Hispania), Roma, Palermo, Milan(Italia) and Macedonia and Thrace(Greece/Achaea). The main reason for these city choices is to make it harder for a player to become New Rome, as they will need to conquer the CAPITALS of several great powers, such as Milan, Aragon and Castille. In addition to that, you have the massive amount of badboy that will be accrued by this process, which in itself can be a bit harmful if it becomes too high.

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But the benefits of forming New Rome are enormous, of course. Thanks to reviving the ancient empire, you will suddenly find yourself with cores on all of Iberia(including Portugal), all of North Africa's Mediterranean provinces from Tangiers to Tripoli(the approximate extent of Carthage if my memory serves), all of Italy(self-explanatory), and all of the Balkans south of the Danube. The heart of the empire will now be under the player's control, and they will more or less be a superpower.

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But declaring the empire obviously has challenges. First of all, you will get an automatic +15 badboy due to the fact not many countries would probably want such an omnipotent power back...

As well, since the Germans with their Holy Roman "Empire" considered themselves somewhat as successors to the actual Rome(not to mention they wouldn't tolerate a second Emperor in their territory), the main powers of Germany - Bohemia, Bavaria, Austria, Brandenburg - all get a casus belli on New Rome. (Should I extend this to give casus belli to the Ottomans, Hungarians, French and Mamluks as well, since they would likely feel threatened?)

But besides that issue, there is the fact that being the Roman Empire has enormous benefits.

The key one is it's perfect for a conqueror(as it should be, given you'll likely need to be a warmonger to form it).

How it does this is there will be several events revolving around the Empire(these will also be given to the normal Byzantine Empire, so they can revive themselves without going through the formation decision). If the Roman Empire manages to claim a historic part of it's territory, an event will fire that will give them cores in the region for a badboy cost. This badboy cost will vary, and there will only be one chance to accept the cores or deny them, so choose wisely.

An example. Take France. Say you control Britanny's capital. New Rome will receive an event that allows you to claim all of Britanny's cores for a mere 1 badboy. The same would go for a tiny region like Dauphine or Gascogne. Now, let's go to a more grand scale.

Say you want ALL of France as a core. This will be far more difficult. You will need to control key French provinces everywhere, along their borders, in their center, and above all, Paris itself. After that momentous, long and painful task, the player could choose to gain cores on all of France... but given that it's such a huge territory, the badboy cost would be enormous, at say, 10 badboy.

In the end, the player can choose to take smaller regions for less badboy, or a whole country for a larger badboy cost, though that larger badboy cost would usually save you a lot less badboy in the long run(i.e. no more declaring wars to seize regions and get claims on them). Remember, these claims revolve around CONTROL, not ownership. If you could take a province by military force, there's a chance you could rule it by civil government as well.

Overall, any questions, comments?

Sounds interesting.... I've never played Europa Universalis (except for a few rounds in EU2 I think it was, couldn't understand how things were supposed to work and ditched it in favor of Civ II & Civ III), so I don't know how this all fits together exactly.....