Rise of the British Empire

Disclaimer: Oh no, not another RFCE++ story! Don't worry, I can support this reckless action! One day, I was up reading the Kingdoms of Europe by Gene Gurney and I decided to fresh up on my British history. And I forgot how awesome it was! So, I decided to play an RFC game of Britain and I realized I could do an epic job, but it had to be RFCE++. Not regular RFC, not DoC, but RFCE++ 'cuz I'm the best at it! But I promise, this will be the last RFCE++ story for a while. Season 3 of my civ stories won't contain anymore eurocentric countries, I promise!

Prelude:

It is the year 1066. Edward the Confessor has passed away, but as a traitor and a liar. The Angle king had promised to pass the crown to its rightful heir, Duke William of Normandy. William never forgot this pledge, but the incompetent Edward disregarded this pledge. And on his deathbed, the weak king, despite his promise, recommended the barbarian Harold, earl of Wessex, as the successor to the king of England. And this treacherous act was carried out, as the Angles had made the savage their king.



The day is September 27, 1066. Justice must be served. The true king of England must be crowned. William the Bastard's fleet set sail across the English Channel. Harold had been offered to restore William to the crown peacefully but the arrogant brute refused. William, Duke of Normandy, now had to conquer his kingdom and become its rightful king. William's vessel led the fleet into the horizon on that September, 27. The Norman banner fluttered overhead, carrying his massive force over over 50,000 soldiers.

I can't find out where to download RFCE++. Is it under RFCE, or RFC?

subbed

EDIT:here is RFCE++ mr.random, though i must warn you that it's still in beta stages and is a tiny bit...unstable

Subbed, and I can't believe your doing three stories at once!

This story is definitely the longest and the one I will update the least. I think I've got 800 pictures for it. I'm also going to be including RL photos like in the Prelude.

800 is a very big number. :O

that's freaking huge!(if ANYONE says that's what she said i swear...) considering that i can only count to 799

Moai_Spammer said:

that's freaking huge!(if ANYONE says that's what she said i swear...) considering that i can only count to 799

Click to expand...

I have over 1000, maybe even 2000 photos for my Tamil narrative.

Then again, most of my updates have 10-25 pictures, which is a bit on the short side.

YES! More constantinople awesomeness!

Chapter I: The Norman Conquests

Unbeknownst to Harold Hardrada, the Norman army was sailing to his kingdom to seize it to its rightful owner, William. Harold had been quite satisfied with his victory over the Norwegians at Stanford Bridge, and celebrated with a magnificent feast in York. The merriment was halted when a messenger warned the Norseman about William's landfall at Pevensey. Harold was startled by this announcement, but wasn't surprised, and expanded William to be an arrogant, selfish demanding Britain for himself. Harold was forced to gather an army. Meanwhile, the Normans succeeded in plundering the countryside and recruiting dissatisfied farmers and civilians to join his cause against the barbaric Vikings.
On October 14, 1066, the two forces clashed. The Normans sang and boasted of their military skills which increased morale. The Normans were pushed back twice and rumors of William's death spread through the air. William tossed off his helmet and led his soldiers to prove he was far from dead and could not accept defeat. He threatened to death to anyone who dared to leave his army. The Normans rained arrows down upon the Anglo-Saxons. Harold was killed, his brain severed by one such arrow.
The battle was not yet over, but it was clear the Normans had a firm chance. William's most trusted and deadly soldiers led the fight and valiantly charged into enemy lines, forcing the Anglo-Saxons to scatter. The only Anglo-Saxons left were the bludgeoned and dead ones.



The Norman duke entered the city of London and met little resistance. He was officially crowned on Christmas Day, 1066. His army rejoiced, it was still in one piece. William was not done yet. The Gauls of the north had unified to form "Alba" and the Welsh of the east would become a problem. It was obvious he needed to subdue the most deadly power, the Scots.



So William led his forces north to Alba, which was a desolate, mountainous place with strong defenses. A majority of soldiers still walked, untouched by the Norse. William's first task was to take York, a fairly large city that was in Alba's interests as well.



To the king's surprise, the Scots managed to conquer York. The natives had fled the city into the countryside. The Scottish were wounded, but still had secured part of the city's defenses. Malcolm III had succeeded in plundering and capturing Northumbria.
Now, Malcolm III's army wasn't too special, it was fairly irregular and untrained. William suspected he would be able to take the city with ease. Actually, it was even easier than he suspected. The people of York revolted against the Gaelic conquest and expelled the Scottish garrison. By time William arrived at the city, both sides and obliverated each other and the king could sweep in and claim the city as Normandy's.



After trekking in the forests for years, William finally arrived outside of Edinburgh, the center of Alba's government. Malcolm III looked out of his palace window and nearly had a heart attack just looking at the massive Norman army. William's soldiers charged and routed the Scottish forces. The Normans suffered heavy casualties, but had plenty of reserves. Edinburgh fell to Norman hands. Malcolm III was captured and beheaded, but the Scottish refused to surrender.
In the west, other Norman soldiers managed to claim southeastern Wales and expelled the Welsh garrisons. But the Welsh resisted and the famous Welsh longbowmen rose up. The Normans won a stupendous battle and secured control of Wales for another few decades.



William's forces approached Inverness, but as they got to the city's gates, it was clear this was a battle they could not win. William was embarrassed to say he had to retreat to Edinburgh so he could recruit more soldiers. But he would never be able to see the city's fall, for on the way back, he drowned in the River Tay. The reasons for this are unknown. Robert Curthose, William's eldest son, succeeded him as the king of England. Robert resided in Normandy, and ordered the continuation of the invasion of Scotland. Robert was a mischievous man, and had no intention of becoming a general or living in England.



Robert is remembered for opposing the Crusades. He himself always wanted to journey to the Holy Land, but believed Normandy should focus on strengthening itself; also, so his brother Rufus could not claim or take the throne. As a result, he is not known for his piety.
The king did manage to conquer Inverness in 1113. He did not personally see the battle, but was quite proud of this accomplishment and completing his father's goal of controlling Alba and England.



The king had to now focus on other problems such as the restless Welsh. The Normans had built many forts in Wales, but they were constantly terrorized by the Gaelic warriors. William also sought out to make administrative reforms, but had been too busy distracted with his conquests. Robert had been slacking off on this, but does deserve credit for creating a supreme court composed of his secretaries and royal ministers, at the request of his brother Henry.
Robert also decided he would fulfill one of his father's greatest dreams, to control the French monarchy. And the kingdom of the Franks, due to internal problems and pressure from the Germans to the east, collapsed into several small, weak kingdoms. Now was the perfect time to capture Paris, and all of Gaul. The Norman conquests had just begun

Nice start!

Not bad

Very good.

A.Caesar said:

Not bad

Click to expand...

Of course its not - it's a constantinople story!

it's better than an istanbul or byzantion story

Chapter II: Expansion into France

King Robert Curthose's greatest internal problem was the Welsh. They did not appreciate the Norman government's fierce power over their land and rebellions became a large issue. Robert frequently sent out soldiers to the quell the revolting savages.



Robert's eyes turned to France, which collapsed into smaller governments which further divided due to conflicts. Burgundy, which was wedged in between the Franks and Lombardy, had all ready begun expanding into French territory and managed to seize the Seine and Paris itself. As a result, Burgundy became the most powerful country in Western Europe. Nevertheless, the nation had over expanded and several governors of Frankish territories threatened to secede. England supported this which led to a strain in relations with Burgundy. Robert did not fear the Burgundians at all and was readying his forces to beseige the important port of Calais and the city of Le Mans. Robert wished to completely unite his home of Normandy and the neighboring regions of Ile-de-France and Aquitaine with England.



Alas, before he could organize a reasonably large army, Robert was murdered on April 13, 1135. William's third oldest son, Henry I, succeeded him. Henry continued the search for a large force to invade France. After two years of preparation, Norman knights ferociously charged into Calais, which was in a state of anarchy caused by English spies.



Henry died of natural causes in 1141, but not before declaring his daughter, Matilda, as the successor to the English throne. However, the barons had no intention on allowing a women to succeed to the throne and declared Henry's nephew, Stephen, the rightful king of England. A brief civil war took place but it was short because Matilda lacked support. Stephen won with ease and inherited the English throne and the Kingdom of Maine, which was administrated from Le Mans.



Stephen used Le Mans as a base for expanding into other French territories. Norman soldiers quickly set out to take the Kingdom of Brittany, a small, weak kingdom to the west of Normandy. Brittany had to deal with debt and a Viking incursion to the northwest.



The king's soldiers successfully conquered Nantes and the government of Nantes. Now, the Vikings were England's problem.





Near the end of Stephen's reign, the English fleet defeated renegade Frankish ships in the English Channel, who were allied with Calais.



That same year, the Vikings prepared to besiege Nantes, which they claimed was theirs. Stephen rejected these absurd claims and was ready to fight the savages to the death.
The Vikings set a small force of soldiers to terrorize Normandy. This was first on the king's agenda.





Stephen died in 1159, the last Norman king. Henry II became the first Plantagenet to rule England. Henry II wished to take the key port of Brest ordered the seizure of all of Brittany.



The next period of Henry's reign is marked with economic and political reform. He did everything to ensure England total control of northern France and its subjects, whether Anglo or Frankish. Burgundy was gone leaving France virtually in England's hands. But, while focused on France and the south, the kings of England ignored the most important territories of England: the Isles. Another nation was continuing its colonization of the British Isles, which England claimed as its own.



Something had to be done. Although the residents of England feared another Viking attack, the small islands to the north weren't as important as the bigger game to the west, Ireland.

that was a very good update

Vikings...

They're crazy.

Chapter III: Dublin

Henry II came to pass in 1190. His son, the chivalrous Richard I, Coeur de Lion, succeeded Henry. Richard's ships mapped out eastern Ireland and the king vowed to make landfall in Dublin and take the city. It was a key port and would guarantee control over the Irish Sea.



Eventually, the Pope once again called for a crusade. Richard took up the offer but did not allow any other Englishmen to serve, as he wanted them to maintain their posts for a future attack of Ireland.



Although he was a great ruler and a credit to Normandy and England, Richard died during the Crusade in 1199. His brother, John, succeeded the Lionheart. John was a scoundrel of a king but was blessed to have controlled the biggest military power in Europe.



John was a cowardly man and he greatly criticized the Catholic Church for ridiculous reasons. This forced Pope Innocent III to lay England under an interdict, which forbade religious service. John learned his lesson, but only after a few days of religious silence.
John is credited for annexing Ile-de-France and the great city of Paris in 1215, which succeeded from the teetering nation of Burgundy years earlier.



Near the end of his reign, John stupidly sent a small force of Englishmen to scout on Aquitaine, the second largest Frankish state at the time. The soldiers were ambushed and this can be blamed on John.



In 1219, once again, a new king came to power: Henry III. Henry could be considered as degenerate and pathetic as his father but Henry did make some very important changes for England. Henry ordered the invasion of Ireland, which was very successful.




Henry also summoned a large force of soldiers to take Bordeaux from the Franks.





The pagan Irish refused to give up and it was obvious the roaming Celts would be a problem.





Nevertheless, Henry continued with the attack on Bordeaux.



Clearly, the city was a tough nut to crack. And the Irish were going to be a problem too. Their skirmishers plundered the countryside, but, incidentally, they were killing their own people, the Irish farmers.




In the end, Bordeaux was united with England. Around this time, Henry fell ill and withdrew from politics. Actually, he was too scared to show himself in public out of fear of an assassination. Mainly because his reign was disputed. The claimant, Simon de Montfort, virtually took over. Henry was never captured and the English nobles were divided on the ruler of England. Really, it was Simon who exerted control over the throne. Simon is famous for establishing the Great Council, which would evolve into Parliament.
Simon quickly acted on the Viking situation and declared war on the savage Norsemen. The English caught the Norse by surprise and landed in the Isles of the north.



The English won a battle in the Irish Sea by Wales but at humiliating costs. Simon began to have his doubts on the war.



Still, the English defeated the Norse and captured the city known to them as Lewis.



This was all Simon wanted so he negotiated a treaty with the Vikings. The English got to keep the captured land and the Norse had to pay up a small lump of money.



Now, Simon spotted another key city held by a foreign country.



Bayona was heavily fortified and the only Spanish stronghold in France. But, it was key to English domination over Aquitaine. It was not a key priority, but a priority nonetheless. Without the Franks to stop them, France might as well be part of England.