EU3 Venice AAR - The Most Serene Empire

[Tani Coyote]

The Most Serene Empire - A Venice EU3 AAR



Hey all, figured I'd give a EU3 AAR a try. Once more, as the Serenissima; Venice.

Before we begin, let me say a few things...

First, this is on my new computer, which is why I'm not working on my Civ III stories, which are on my old one. Now that I have EU3, I may not even think about my EU2 stories, sorry.

Second, the start date is May 30, 1453. Need as much time as possible to conquer the world!

Thirdly, I'll be tweaking this game a bit. I've reduced the cost to Fabricate Claims to 10 ducats. This can be increased with my empire's size as it grows. The rest of the spy actions remain unchanged, including their discover/failure risk. I've made it so it's near-impossible to lose accepted cultures. Finally, I will add in events where I feel they'd be good, due to how EU3 seems to lack a lot of historical events in Vanilla and is more of a "divergence point" from your start date than a recreation of history. The Holy Roman Emperor now gets 1 extra spy a year(he needs to keep an eye on his "subjects", does he not?) while the Curia Controller gets 1 extra missionary a year(c'mon now, why the hell would a good Catholic ruler not be trying to convert people?). War exhaustion decreases slightly faster as well. The Emperorship has been strengthened a little more as the benefits to stability for each member state have been doubled.

Now, let us begin!




Venice is a city of great beauty. It is one of the largest cities in Italy and all of Europe, with many of it's residents being wealthy merchants. A great trade center formed in the lagoon; Venice dominated the trade between the West and East.

But in the turmoil-filled 1400s, Venice, the most serene Republic, could not sit back idly. To the west, Milan, under the tyrant Francesco Sforza, threatened the Republic, and the Honorable Doge Foscari had engaged the Milanese in combat. We would depose the despot to the west, and restore our freedom-loving brothers, the Ambrosian Republic!

To facilitate the war on Sforza, Venice had many resources. We had colonies and vassals stretching all the way to Crete, and a large tax collection base from our center of trade. Our armies were competent, and our homeland stable. With the right application of our strengths, we would drive the tyrant from Milan and secure our fortunes.

To the east, the Ottoman Turks had captured Constantinople and brought the guillotine down on the ancient Roman Empire. They already hungered for our Christian friends in the Balkans. A close eye would need to be kept on them.





The Reign of Francisco Foscarini ( April 5, 1423 - February 20, 1454 )

1453

The Doge saw Sforza has left Milan defended by a mere four regiments, whereas we had seven ready to attack. But wanting to play it safe, he ordered regiments from the East to move to Brescia. A band of mercenaries - one regiment of Medieval Latin Infantry and one regiment of Medieval Latin Cavalry - was commissioned in Brescia. Once the other unit arrived, we would have a solid force of 10,000 troops, and the man to lead this army into battle would be General Gattamaletta.

Within days of our maneuvers, we received news that Sforza himself - being a general - would lead the Milanese Army to defend the capital province. Gattamaletta was promised a handsome bounty if he could bring the head of the tyrant back to Venezia.

The armies engaged in combat in July, and the battle was very bloody. But, Venice's forces were victorious. On July 29, 1453, Sforza fled the battlefield and headed south to Parma, taking his forces with him. Sensing opportunity, Gattamaletta pursued him southwards, while a new mercenary regiment held down the fort in Milan.

Sforza was defeated yet again on August 18, 1453. The Battle of Parma was a great victory, as Venice lost very few troops while the Milanese suffered horrific casualties. Milan's army now had lost nearly 40% of it's strength, while Venice had lost only 10%.

Sforza knew that he could not continue to fight Venice like this, and he ordered a retreat to Modena. Venice, lacking military access, could not follow. But the Doge sent a diplomat to get Modena's favor and earn military access.

A day later, the Modenan King agreed to let the Serenissima's troops enter, knowing such an agreement would protect him from Venice's wrath. The Reaper was coming for Sforza.

Mid-August, Foscari ordered the Venetian Navy's galleys to round the Italian peninsula and attack the Milanese navy, to secure a propoganda victory.

Furthermore in August, the battle of Modena was a minor conflict, as neither side wished to earn the ire of the Modenans for destroying their country.

Shortly after the Battle of Modena, Foscari revealed documents showing that the Parmese desired to join Venice, and thus Venice had legitimate claims to the area:

September saw the second Battle of Parma, which saw the Milanese suffering another huge blow. Sforza once more retreats into Modena, like it will help him. The Fleet managed to finish half of it's journey, now going through the straits of Messina.

Sforza suffered another defeat in October. As a bonus, the Milanese navy lost a ship in battle.

November brought another huge defeat to Milan.

Reduced to 30% of his original force, Sforza's day were numbered. In a suicidal assault, he dared to move back towards Milan itself. Gattamaletta pursued him, knowing that the Sforzan forces would collapse if they were flanked.

Between the battles, an unknown country managed to fabricate claims in Brescia; we imagined it was Sforza, as he was right next door. Despite the official report saying it was unknown, it was indeed Sforza; reports showed that Milan now considered Brescia a core province.

Sforza's desperate assault failed, and he managed to escape. Gattamaletta pursues him like cat would a mouse.



1454



January and February were tense months.

Sforza fled to Milan, and hardpressed the 1,000 soldiers present. As our general tried to reach Milan, he was assaulted by not one, but two regiments that popped out of nowhere, presumably detachments from Sforza's Army. The dictator had assumed he could hold Gatta back long enough to retake Milan and rebuild his empire from there. He was wrong.

In February, General Gattamaletta finally arrived in Milan. And shortly after...

The Milanese Army was COMPLETELY destroyed! All Milan could now be freely occupied. Duke Sforza was dead, and general Gatta briefly returned to Venice and showed the head to the Doge. He was promptly invested with a great estate for defeating Public Enemy Number One.

A table of pwnage in relation to General Sforza's forces:

Duke Ascanio took control of Milan shortly after Sforza was killed, but his reign as Duke was to be shortlived. The Venetian Army split up after Sforza's demise, with most of the cavalry moving southeast to occupy and pillage Parma.

But the Honorable Foscari did not taste victory for long. Soon, he joined Sforza in the next world:

It would fall to his successor, Doge Lorenzo Molin, to defeat Milan.

... And something far worse.

 

[Tani Coyote]

The Reign of Lorenzo Molin ( February 21, 1454 - November 21, 1483 )



Doge Molin was sworn in as Doge shortly after Foscari passed away(since Foscari had been in ill health and old age for some time, a successor Doge was elected some time prior to his demise; this was a reform of Foscari's. Lorenzo was approved by plebiscite and by the Council of Ten once Foscari died, reaffirming that he was still legitimate as Foscari's successor.

Now in control of the Venetian Republic, the new Doge knew he had to finish off the last of Sforza's line. General Gattamaletta had returned to the battlefield, and was personally in charge of the siege of Milan, wanting to be the fortunate one to conquer it.

April 18, 1454, the Habsburgs believed the new Doge to be weak, and declared war on the Republic! Venice's flanks had been left exposed by the conflict, but fortunately, Austria lacked allies. The Doge thus made the insane decision to engage in deficit spending by hiring mercenaries to protect Friuli. This army would be led by General Colleoni, who could hopefully keep the renegade Germans back until a peace treaty was negotiated...

Only able to recruit a single regiment, Colleoni was ordered to take shelter in the capital while 3,000 troops were raised.

Our forces didn't report many Austrian soldiers on the borders, but we were sure they have many inside their large archduchy. We had to be prepared while General Gatta did his work. General Gatta assaulted Milan to speed up the conquest.



May, we captured Milan:

Thanks to that, General Gatta's force of about 8,000 infantry was free to move east against the Austrians, who were besieging Friuli with 5 regiments. Tuscany was offering it's help with a mere 2 regiments, but if it helped to stem the flow of the Austrian juggernaut, Venice was happy. Cavalry would continue to besiege Parma until it surrendered.

To prevent incidents like this in the future, we allied ourselves with Genoa, another maritime power in Italy.



August 1, the realm's stability increased. Though Austria's forces invaded Istria and Friuli, we were confident that we could repel them. 9,000 soldiers marched under General Gattamaletta towards Friuli, which was being besieged by 4,000 soldiers under Ferdinand Sulerzycki. Istria was being assaulted by 2,000 soldiers under Ladislas Postumus - the Habsburg Archduke.

September, Parma finally fell:

With that, the Doge sent an emissary to the Sforza Duke, demanding Parma, and the abolition of the Milanese Monarchy and the restoration of the Ambrosian Republic.

As well, the Milanese Republic was to be put under the "protection" (vassalage) of the Venetian Republic.

The Duke naturally rebuffed our offer.

We handed the Austrians their rear ends in the Battle of Friuli, driving them from our land. While the Doge was interested in acquiring Krain to connect Venice to Istria, he didn't want the Austrians as enemies. Accordingly, he issued an edict that all troops stay within Venice's borders and ward off invaders.

The Austrians also lost a naval battle against the combined Florentine and Venetian fleets. Now, the Doge decided that we had to drive Ladislas from our territory.

Shortly after, the Duke of Milan finally conceded defeat, and abdicated:

He did, however, stipulate that he would not accept the "protection clause" or any of the ducats. Needing to defend against Austria, Doge Molin accepted the offer. As a bonus, the Duke of Milan decides it was best to abandon the claims to Brescia to reduce tension.



With the Ambrosian Republic(Milan's government has changed to Merchant Republic) restored in the West - though strangely, the people "elected" the former Duke as their new Doge - the full attention of Molin could be focused on Austria.

With the Austrian navy reeling from it's last defeat, and the Austrian Army retreating, the opportunity to liberate Istria presented itself. Molin took the opportunity, and dispatched Colleoni with 5,000 soldiers to take out the Habsburg leader. Going back on his previous decree, the Doge ordered Gatta to invade Krain so as to catch Ladislas as he retreated. It was hoped that Ladislas Postumus would be slain, breaking the morale of the Habsburg Armies.

The decision to invade Krain would make the war far bloodier, but far more profitable.

Friday, November 12, 1454, Archduke Ladislas was defeated relatively easy by the numerically-superior Venetians.

With the battle of Istria won, the Austrians were already planning a new invasion of Friuli. But we did not need to worry, as once Ladislas was killed, Ferdinand would be next.

In December, it was discovered that in an elaborate ruse, the Austrian general Ferdinand switched with Ladislas, and he invaded Friuli. A clever bastard indeed. But we caught on, and both Colleoni and Gattamaletta attacked Ladislas from two sides. Observers all over the Republic and Archduchy wondered who would win that battle, as it would determine who won the war.

 

[Tani Coyote]

The Austro-Venetian War and the Collapse of Austria



1455

The battle killed Ladislas in the middle, and a new Archduke called Leopold took over Austria. The battle itself greatly hurt Austria, and our two generals pursued the army into Tirol, where Leopold took command. He didn't learn the mistake of his predecessor, did he?

February, that army was crushed just like the last battle, and our forces chased the Austrian Archduke into their homeland. The Austrians offered a white peace after knowing that this war wouldn''t be as easy as they thought, but knowing that Krain could indeed be Venetian territory, the Doge refused to even look at the offer of a white peace.

To make matters worse, Molin revealed documents that showed Krain as a legitimate part of the maritime Republic of Venice's realm. Now, it became apparent that Venice desired Krain as part of it's realm, and the Austrians would happily hand it over if they wanted peace.

The Battle of Krain ended on May 1st, and the Austrian Archduke was humiliated:

Having lost half his army, many Austrians questioned the effectiveness of Leopold as a ruler.

May 27, General Colleoni died of natural causes, leaving General Gattamaletta unopposed in military command.

November, Friuli was occupied by the Austrians. But the Doge did not fear, for General Gatta would soon control Krain and proceed to clean out the Osterreichers.

Krain was occupied in December, balancing out the odds. Gatta was ordered to invade Istria and drive out the Austrian Archduke.



1456



Karnten was occupied by our troops. With both our main forces free, they were ordered to merge under Gatta's command and liberate Istria.

Soon, Karnten was re-occupied by the Austrians after they attacked us while Gatta was away. But Leopold was defeated in Istria, and a new battle for Krain was to begin.

In March, our Florentine allies liberated Friuli, leaving the war with an Italian advantage.

We managed to defeat the Austrian Archduke - and his General Ferdinand - in a battle at Karnten. They retreated deeper into Austria, leaving us with free reign over the regions bordering Italia.

Shortly later, a minor Austrian force was defeated in Krain, and an army under a new general - Luigi Commachio - was ordered to follow the Austrians around and kill them off in their own country.

Luigi managed to humble Archduke Leopold in battle, but JUST BARELY. Both sides suffered enormous casualties, and Luigi's victory was attributed to the Archduke's somewhat-weakened morale.

July, Karnten was once more retaken, reversing all Austrian gains. Gatta ordered half his army to invade Tirol to seal the Western front against Austria. Meanwhile, Gatta and Luigi caught up with eachother, the novice general naturally being removed from active command.

After claiming Stiermark from the Habsburgs, the Bavarians invaded Tirol, and we withdrew rather than help their own war. With Doge Molin noticing only two provinces remain under effective Habsburg control, General Gattamaleta was ordered to depose another monarch; he was ordered to capture Vienna itself.

Leopold's Army in Linz was obliterated, but he escaped to take control of Austria's last army in Vienna. Luigi Commachio was ordered to kill the Austrian Archduke, or at least rebuff his forces from Stiermark, where he was heading.

Stiermark was re-occupied by Austria, but the Archduke was defeated shortly after. We noticed... Pomeranian... and Hungarian armies invading Austria. It seemed Europe saw opportunity in the collapsing Habsburg Reich.

October 22nd, traitors within the country thought the crown had more time to focus on their mercantile activities than Austria. To curtail the power of the merchants, the Doge instituted more free trade. This was just a taste of things to come...

November 3rd, Leopold lost yet another army to our forces.

A few battles out of the year 1456:

Prior to the New Year, Austria looked like this:

Split between 5 different countries, the Habsburgs seemed to have lost their touch.



1457



Seeing Archduke Leopold on the run, we managed to get a military access treaty from Salzburg, where the Habsburg Archduke was headed. We hoped to surround and kill King Leopold, marking two kings as being slain by the Venetians in a single war.

The Battle of Salzburg in January destroyed Leopold's Army for the hundred trillionth time. Unfortunately, he was not killed. But his entire country sans it's isolated Alsatian province of Breisgau was completely under foreign occupation.

Said province of Breisgau was opened to Venetian forces when Wurtemberg agreed to give Venice access to their lands. Leopold was cornered, and if he was defeated, it would be the end of his rule for sure.

July 22, following the usual trend, Leopold's Army was obliterated anew. But, the Archduke STILL lived. At the very least, Breisgau now was open to Venetian invasion.

Late September, Tuscany finally dropped out of the war, taking the province of Trent with it. So long as Austria's power was weakened, the Doge was sated.

October, Breisgau finally fell to General Gattamaletta. All of Austria was now under foreign occupation. Rather than end the war then, however, the Doge chose to wait until other countries got their share of the pie, so that he could have whatever they spit back out.

Later in October, Bavaria seized Tirol in the peace accords, and Pommerania released it's occupied territories. Our generals immediately rushed to reclaim Stiermark and the capital.

At the same time, Genoa asked us to declare war on Trebizond and Georgia. We agreed to help, on paper anyway.



1458



Before long, Stiermark was under Venetian occupation.

Now, only Vienna remained.

April, to throw more gears in the Austrian Machine...

We managed to produce the documents necessary to say that Stiermark was a legitimate part of the Venetian realm. The merchants of Venice worried about how the Republic was moving away from the trade and sea towards might and land... the former being the basis of their oligopoly over the Republic's politics.

May, the province of Istria was invited to join the Holy Roman Empire. Having designs on Corfu - the seat of the Holy Roman Emperor - the Doge agreed to let Istria join.

June 1, Vienna fell.. The Habsburg Archduke was arrested, and held captive until he agreed to sign a treaty ceding Stiermark and Krain to the Venetian Republic.

Shortly after, Venice accepted peace with the Georgians, having little interest in a Black Sea War at the time; unless the Turks were defeated and their capital re-possessed by the Republic, Venice would not even consider absorbing territories in the region.

And shortly after that, in Mid-June, the Austrians accepted our demands: 50 ducats, Karnten, Krain, and finally Stiermark:

At much cost and much turmoil, the Italian Alliance had finally crushed the Habsburgs. Austria had left all it's wars with over half it's territory swallowed by foreigners. The Serenissima's territorial integrity had been guaranteed for the time being.

But that security was gained by showing the Venetians how vulnerable they really were. Venice had only won the war thanks to the timely German and Hungarian invasions, and a little bit of luck. Doge Molin's term would center on building up security for the Venetian Republic.

 

[Tani Coyote]

A Rejuvenated Republic



Europe was shocked when the Habsburg Archduchy and the Duchy of Milan fell apart within six years. While Venice had initially been pinned against the wall, it had managed to quickly end it's war with Milan(which had lasted thirty years actually) while seizing Parma as a prize, and then pushing the Austrians back out in a long, hard, and bloody campaign. Then, it's Florentine allies got involved and drew the fire of the Habsburgs. Then more and more of Europe began to descend on the Habsburgs, sensing a dogpile and opportunities for wealth. The end result was a greatly-reduced Austrian Empire.

The elites of Venice were surprised at the war's result. When they heard the Doge had claims to Krain, they assumed he meant only the coastline. But he went further inland. Then Stiermark was claimed; the Doge justified this by saying it had large supplies of grain needed to feed the people of Venice and it's colonies. Then Karnten was taken, despite not being claimed at all; the Doge said that this province was rich in the gold needed to strengthen Venetian commercial power.

The Republic was rejuvenated with an influx of people and wealth from the many new provinces. Venice was allies now with it's old rival Genoa, and also with the regional power of Tuscany. Northern Italy was more or less Venice's playground, with huge amounts of territory and allies loyal to the Serenissima. But could the elite hold their power base against the Doge's actions that - intentionally or non - were chipping away at it?



With the war's end, the Doge decided it was time for an era of peace. Venice had fought three separate wars, and had managed to end them all at last. The people were war weary, and the new territories had to be consolidated.

And the Doge began to do just that. On August 2, 1458, the Doge issue the Edict of Austro-Venetian Brotherhood, which said that the Austrian Germans were to be accepted as inhabitants of the Republic, with their culture and language preserved in their home regions. This helped to quell dissent and nationalism amongst their ranks.



Tackling the issue of the Republic moving away from the Adriatic in the eyes of the elites, the Doge eyed Corfu, which was located at the southern end of the Adriatic. Expanding there would enable Venice to more easily protect Crete, which could be threatened by the Turks at any time.

First, the Doge needed legitimacy.

He succeeded at that, as documents were unveiled that displayed Corfu as a legitimate part of a Pan-Adriatic Republic.

Second, the people of Corfu had to accept Venetian overlordship. Already our vassals, they soon agreed to join our alliance, raising relations to +200. Now, the Republic just had to annex them.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Balkan Wars and Tartar Wars


1459



May, we finally adopted a National idea: Scientific Revolution. Thanks to this new idea, we would be able to invest more efficiently in research and thus spur the growth of Venetian power.

Shortly after, the Doge stated that Venice had to become more offensive in foreign policy if it was to protect itself from enemies.



1460



1460 was quiet, as the Doge let the war-weary people go about their normal lives. War exhaustion, after all, would easily destroy Venice's fragile new empire.



1461



In April, Genoa asked for Venice's assistance in a war against Crimea. This was because the Crimeans were backing large amounts of raiders than kept crossing the borders into Genoa's colonies and raiding. Religious rhetoric aside, Crimea desired to occupy Kaffa and Azow to build a Black Sea empire.

Venice agreed to help the Genovese, until the Crimeans sent a reasonable peace offer, anyway.

December, the Crimeans had the nerve to ask Venice to release Crete for peace. The Republic naturally rebuffed them.



1462



Mid-year, a band of Crimeans landed on Crete. They would suffer for such an unwise move; Gattamaletta was sent to the island.

October, the "years of peace" - which mainland Venice had felt even as the Eastern War, so far away, raged - fully came to an end when Ragusa requested our assistance at eliminating Bosnia and Montenegro, who were trying to drive the Ragusines into the sea. Sensing a chance to seize Bosnian Albania, and vassalise Montenegro, the Doge consented to warfare. Venice had no interest in the Black Sea war, and preferred to expend men and resources on territories closer to home.

November, as General Gatta disembarked at Montenegro, Venice discovered that Bosnia had been defeated by Hungary. They lost half their homeland and they were forced to grant Albania independence. Reduced to one province, it would be easy to defeat Bosnia, although their vassalage now belonged to Hungary. But the Doge would change that...

Montenegro itself was ruled by a Regency Council, likely because it's king died against the Pikes of Hungary and Ragusa.



1463



February, Montenegro was fully occupied by our armies. The Doge initially desired to vassalise them, given that they were Orthodox, Serbian, and not a core. However...

We managed to legitimise a claim to the region as it bordered the Adriatic. Deciding to throw popular opinion to the wind, the Doge decreed that we annex Montengro. It would have been swallowed by the Turks anyway. As well, the Doge entered the war for territory, damnit. Not a bunch of vassals suckling on the Venetian buzzum for protection.

Within months, the Serbians' culture and tongue was given respected status within Montenegro. However, the Serbs were encouraged nonetheless to surrender their faith and embrace Catholicism. Stability mattered the most to Molin.

May 1463, Ragusa was annexed by Bosnia. The Ragusan people wondered why their Venetian allies did not save them from the Orthodox Oppression. This was all part of the Doge's plan to conquer the Adriatic; he would let his enemies and allies do the hard work and then pick up the pieces. With Ragusa one with Bosnia, Gattamaletta would invade Bosnia and demand Ragusa as part of the peace terms. The Dalmatian province would soon stretch all the way to Montenegro and form the backbone of a great Venetian Adriatic Empire.

By November, the Ragusan people were liberated. They happily embraced the Venetians as saviors and forgave the Italians for their earlier mistakes. But Gatta had no time for celebrations; he had to conquer Bosnia's capital and guarantee they remained under Venice's heel.



1464



February, Bosnia proper fell into Venetian hands.

They rejected Venice's original demands: the cession of Ragusa, vassalage, and 50 ducats.

But a month later, in exchange for paying only 25 ducats, the Bosnians surrendered. Ragusa was one with Venice anew. While we had forgotten to forge our claims on it - and thus had to deal with pesky nationalism for twenty-five years - the dream of a greater Dalmatia had been achieved.

Seeking to end the drama in the East, the Doge soon sent his trusty general Gatta to invade Crimea and end the pointless war once and for all.

Upon hearing the infamous Gattamaletta - conqueror of Milan, Austria, Bosnia, and Montenegro - was coming for them, the Crimeans accepted peace days after he was sent to Crimea. The Republic was at peace once more, and now had the wonderful trinkets of Ragusa and Montenegro in it's collection.

May 31, Burgundy annexed tiny Mantua to the south. The Doge now knew who his next target would be. Conquering Mantua would link Parma up with the central territories of Venice.

To facilitate this, documents saying the now-exiled Mantovan ruler desired the Venetian doge to liberate Mantua and put it under the personal protection of the Republic were forged:

June and July, a Great Balkan War erupted. The Ottomans and Wallachia went up against Athens, Morea, Naxos, Albania, Hungary, and Bohemia. Venice put it's full moral and vocal support behind the Christian Alliance, of course.

December, Siena committed the ultimate blasphemy: it annexed the Papal States!

The Pope and Church remained independent, of course, though the Sienese released a statement expressing their sentiments: "The Pope's authority in earthly matters ends at the gates of the Vatican." In other words, the Pope had no say in secular decisions. The Middle Ages had truly ended.



1465



January, Albania was once more conquered, being absorbed into the Ottoman Empire. The garrison size in Dalmatia was increased in case the Turks became hungry for Venetian territory.

October, Siena found itself at war with Savoy and Naples. Rome would soon be "liberated."



1466



In a twist of irony, the Habsburgs asked Venice for military access. The Doge granted it, wanting to make Austria less capable of waging honorable war on the Republic.

February, General Gattamaletta died. He served the empire well, having conquered four countries for the Serenissima, while fighting in countless other battles and wars.

May, Florence went to war with Siena, and we joined them. The Doge chose to sit back and let Florence do all the fighting, however.

July, Genoa went to war with the Golden Horde and Qara Koyunlu. We agreed to join this war effort, of course... anything had to be done to preserve Genoa's good relations.

September, Florence/Tuscany annexed Siena. Alas, the states of central Italy had collapsed. But this would make Molin's soon-to-be-revealed ambitions that much easier to pursue.

November, after several failed attempts and shrewd negotiation, Venice managed to become the Papal Controller:

As Venice's prestige was horribly low, influencing the Pope was expected to raise Venice's standing among nations.



1467



Another Eastern War ended in 1467. The Doge believed the Venetian-Genovese alliance was best ended, but he did not want to anger the Genovese, who were one of the 8 electors of the Holy Roman Empire at the time.

In September, a THIRD great cardinal turned pro-Venice. The Curia was, for the time being, monopolised by Venice.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Venetian-Burgundian War



1468



In July, with war weariness down to a manageable level anew, Doge Molin decided it was time to honor his near-15 years in office by unifying distant Parma with the Venetian heartland. How would he go about this? A quick war with Burgundy.

War was declared in July. Tuscany and Corfu honored Venice's alliance, but Genoa did not. That just freed Venice up to invade them at a later date. Damned fools.

With only 1,000 men with no leadership in Mantua, the conquest of the former city-state would not be too hard.

By September, Mantua was occupied by Venice, and the Burgundians were on the retreat. Now, the Doge just had to keep the Burgundian Army from entering Italy.

October, Genoa had the nerve to offer a new alliance. They never came to Venice's aid, they had territories Venice desired, and Venice didn't want anymore Eastern wars. So, the Doge said, "No. Go *BLEEP* yourselves."

December, Parma was occupied by Burgundy.



1469



Mantua was occupied by Burgundy in February.

With the help of the Florentines, however, the province was re-occupied by Venice shortly later.

By April, the Burgundians in Parma were routing, and Parma was re-occupied by Venice anew. General Luigi Commachio was ordered to chase the Burgundian swine into Milanese territory.

Parma was occupied by Burgundy mid-year, but as always, was retaken.

December, the Genovese annexed Milan as part of a massive war it was fighting against Milan and Tuscany. Italy was a mess of alliances and wars at the time.



1470



The North Italian battles continue to rage and destroy territory all across the northern peninsula. Most importantly, a huge column of Lorraine troops was wiped out with very few losses on Venice's part. So far, Venice was able to use regional superiority - and it's allies' troops - to keep the numerically-superior Burgundian Army at bay. The fact most of Burgundy was so far away helped things as well.

As back and forth warfare continued in Italy, rebels rose up in Ragusa.

In December, a boundary dispute with Croatia caused Venice to gain claims in the region. Venice would take advantage of this later on.



1471



With the coming of spring in March, the Doge believed that to end the war, Venice had to bring it to the Burgundians. The enemy armies had slowed to a trickle, so the Doge assumed that the enemy coalition's coffers were depleted for the time being. General Luigi Commachio was ordered to cross the Swiss Alps and enter Burgundy proper, to take all three provinces there. Once that was done - the capital of the Burgundians was located there - they would hopefully surrender Mantua.

Three regiments of Burgundian forces guarded the Western Alps. They were moving East, but Venice tried to cut them off. We engaged them and acquired a decent victory.

In May, Crete was converted to Catholicism, eliminating one source of Orthodoxy in the Republic.



Later in May, we engaged the Burgundian King in battle anew inside his homeland, barely managing to get him to retreat. The battle had very minimal casualties on both sides. But it left both armies severely demoralised.

Another costly battle came in September. We managed to win, but both sides lost over 1,000 men.

We were attacked mid-siege, but we had enough morale left post-battle to...

Occupy Franche-Comte! Once our morale was regained, we would attack the Burgundian capital to get our point across.



November, we bribed the defenders of Bourgogne with surprising ease:

By December, both Lorraine and Baden have dropped out of the war, leaving Burgundy to fend for itself. This would enable us to more easily occupy Burgundy; Lorraine's troops had constantly harassed our forces there.



1472



May, Admiral G. Loredan died. Alas, he had given Venice rule over the waves.

July 7, Bourgogne fell, but Venice still lacked the warscore to take Mantua.

July 10, Luigi Commachio died. He served his country well, though he was no Gattamaletta.



1473

January 11, 1473, the last city of Burgundy proper fell to us. As tempting as it was to attack the Low Countries, Venice dared not imagine what horrors were holed up there.

Two days later, tired of war and fighting other enemies in the north, the Burgundians agreed to part with Mantua when we demanded it's cession:

 

[Tani Coyote]

A New Era for Venice and the Ferraran War



With a new year beginning and the long, drawn out War over Mantua ended, many assumed the Doge would rest; he had now been in power for 20 years, and he had accomplished quite a bit in his time.

But the Doge was not done. He wanted more power for the Serenissima, and he saw opportunities in places such as Morea and Milan.

In February, to celebrate his 19th year of Dogeship and victory over Burgundy, Lorenzo Molin decreed a national holiday.

As the public masses sucked down the opiate fed to them, Molin planned further expansions. He desired to finish off Corfu, a plan which had been put off for many years. With it's Emperorship over and it's prestige and power waning, Corfu would easily become part of the Republic with enough pressure.

April 30 of 1473, an epidemic struck the newly-acquired city of Mantua. Wanting to care for his new citizens, the Doge ordered his best healers and physicians into the city to try and help. He also requested all the people of the Republic donate what they could to help Mantua.

The Doge hated how defiant the people of Corfu were to being annexed. That's why he decided to postpone the annexation even further. Instead, more effort was to be put into building an Italian hegemon. And the Doge had just the right target: Modena.



Modena, like Venice, stretched from East to West across Italy, and thus blocked further expansion south. Crushing Modena and seizing the province of Ferrara was considered essential to further Venetian interests in Terraferma.

Modena had two allies: Brandenburg and Naxos. Naxos was a god-forsaken city-state in the seas around Greece, whereas Brandenburg was far away in Northern Germany. Taking over Modena would be easy. Venice just needed to wait until war weariness became more manageable.

October, the former region of Montenegro had it's Orthodox population converted. This increased our stability even more; Venice had rid itself of Orthodox citizens, for now.



1474



As the months went by, war weariness dried up. Venice acquired a third cardinal, securing it's hegemony in the Curia.

By July, Doge Molin decided the time for a war with Modena - which would gain us Ferrara and a vassal in Naxos - had come.

September, our right of passage in Modena was cancelled, a taste of what was to come.

Shortly later, we got our casus belli, when we revealed documents that showed the Adriatic-bordering province of Ferrara as a legitimate part of the Serenessima:

In October, war was declared. The battle for Ferrara would soon begin.



1475



In January, Ferrara fell to our armies. The Modenese knew what Venice was after, and they offered some ducats and Ferrara. But we refused; we desired their vassalage too. Our troops headed to eject them from Mantua.

Also in January, Hungary annexed Morea and Athens, building a huge Greek Empire.

March 10, the Bavarian Duke became very ambitious:

He actually WARNED Venice! What a fool.

May, our Production Level advanced to 1, enabling Venice to build workshops. We could not construct those in many places as nowhere was safe, though we opted to build them in Dalmatia, Austria, and Crete.

June, the army of Modena was completely obliterated.



With Modena taken care of, we could focus on Naxos. Troops were ordered from Crete - led by a new general, of course - to invade the small chain of islands and claim them for Venezia.

In September, within 2 weeks, Naxos was conquered:

October, the ruler of Naxos agreed to hand over 50 ducats and acknowledge Venice as the suzerain of Naxos.

November, Modena was conquered as well, acknowledging Venice as it's suzerain and ceding Ferrara. Both the actual threats to the Republic had been eliminated.

December, we obtained government level 2.

The Brandenburgers remained hesitant to sign a peace treaty, of course. Did they not realise Venice and Brandenburg could not touch eachother, short of a massive overland or amphibious invasion?



1476



As we awaited a new proposal from Brandenburg, we noticed Aragon was attacking Modena. They were likely to annex it and form a new East-West bridge against Venice. But would Venice risk a war against Aragon, the Venice - in terms of naval power and influence - of the entire Mediterranean?

Knowing that Aragon would have a powerful fleet, Carracks were commissioned wherever possible. Galleys were disbanded to make room for the new ships.

Plans were made to invade Venice's former ally, Genoa. Venice would seize Corsica and Milan from them. Once Genoa was defeated, Venice would gradually work it's way south and defeat the Italian states one by one.

March, peace was made with Brandenburg at last; they demanded no reparations.

 

[Tani Coyote]

The Genovese-Venetian War of 1477



June, claims were fabricated on the island of Corsica, giving Venice the Casus Belli needed to invade and destroy the Genovese Republic.

September 4, in a show of Italian solidarity, the Modenese Duchy was invited to the Venetian alliance. Venice also wanted to protect them from the likes of Aragon and Tuscany, both of whom were hungry predators in the region.

November, a boundary dispute arose over Florentine Trent. This drove the wedge between Tuscany and Venice deeper.

1476 is notable, as it was the first year in a long time where Venice's coffers were near-depleted. This would be attributed to the massive construction projects undertaken during this year that emptied the 300 or so ducats built up by the Republic since 1453.



1477



With the coffers refilled by tax revenue, the Doge was eager for a war with Genoa. But first, he needed naval superiority, and so he waited for the mass construction of Carracks to finish. Once complete, they would all head for Parma, where they could attack the Genovese homeland.

June, Venice cancelled it's military access in Genoa, while it also fabricated claims on Milan. Venice would be able to gain two jewels - Corsica and Milan - once it crushed Genoa.

In the last days of July, Venice declared war on Genoa. Salzburg came to their defense. A detachment of 8,000 soldiers was sent east under one general to beat back the Genovese and Salzburger forces there, while a main force of 14,000 or so soldiers invaded Genoa proper.

The battle of Liguria was a great victory, as Venice wiped out an entire Genovese regiment without losing any men of it's own. As cavalrymen were worthless in assaults, all the cavalry were ordered to leave the army and pursue the Genovese forces that were moving towards Brescia.

Venice defeated the Genovese attackers of Mantua.

Venice nearly suffered a defeat in Karnten. It lost more of it's own troops than the enemy, but the battle was won regardless.

October, Venice won another battle in Liguria, while it also won a small naval battle. Most of the Genovese navy was holed up in the Adriatic blockading Venetian ports, and the Republic had ships heading there to end that.

November, another battle was won in Karnten.

December, Venice LOST the battle of the Ligurian Sea, which claimed four of it's ships, but a Carrack managed to escape. Venice would have it's revenge.

1478



Venice's revenge came in January:

Genoa fell to Venice! With Genoa occupied, Venice was free to get rid of those pesky Genovese troops on her eastern border. The Venetian navy would also be able to eject the Genovese from the Adriatic.

February, the Republic lost the Battle of Krain, which claimed nearly 2,000 troops. But the Genoese had similar casualties. Defeat was attributed to how the Genovese Doge was leading their army.

March, Venice managed to force the Genovese out from the waters around Venice. The Republic destroyed their fleet there, while it also captured two galleys. With the Adriatic clear, the fleet - under Admiral D'Alviano - would go back to Genoa and crush the galleys of their navy in retribution for how Venice lost it's own ships a few months earlier.

In March, Stiermark fell to Salzburg, while Krain fell to Genoa.

Venice soon retaliated by killing all 1000 of the Salzburger troops in Karnten.

General Giuseppe Schio led a force of 16,000 men against the Genovese army in Krain, which was about 13,000 soldiers in size. With superiority in numbers and leadership - and cavalry - Venice was sure to win.

May, as the bloody battle of Krain raged, the Genovese dared to attack Crete. They were repulsed, however, and their army destroyed.

June, the Battle of Krain was over:

The Genovese Doge fled like a coward, and our generals gave chase after leaving 1,000 cavalry to hold down the fort.

July, Krain was retaken for Venice's forces, reversing enemy advances.

With that, General Schio was ordered to invade Karnten, and after that, to invade Stiermark.

Karnten was a quick battle, with no losses on Venice's side and the complete destruction of 1,000 Salzburger troops. Now, Schio was ordered to attack Stiermark and kill the Genovese Doge.

The battle is Steirmark was bloody, but the Serenissima won:

General Schio was ordered to follow the Duke of Salzburg and Doge of Genoa - who naturally managed to escape - into Salzburg. Once they were defeated there, he would lay siege to the city and get Salzburg out of the war.

Venice defeated them in Salzburg, leaving a unit to maintain the siege. Then, Schio's main force followed the enemy back to Steiermark, delivering another crushing blow.

December, Venice captured Corsica:

1479



In January, the main highlight was the massive battle of Karnten, where the armies of Schio and the dual enemy rulers fought to the death.

The foes of Venice were defeated, and they retreated. Oddly, the ruler of Salzburg retreated to Steiermark(probably to prevent the Florentines from liberating it), while the Doge of Genova retreated to Friuli. Venice's forces pursued the Genovese Doge, of course.

The battle of Friuli was quick and had minimal casualties, though most were naturally felt by Genoa. Schio pursued the Doge to Verona.

Also in January, Venice defeated the Genovese navy once more, destroying one ship and stealing another. Venice had rebuilt it lost fleet and redeemed the sailors who gave their lives for the Republic.

Venice defeated the Genovese in Verona, and they began to retreat towards Genoa.

February, the Genovese were defeated in Brescia, and Venetian forces pursued them to Mantua. The Genovese were defeated in Mantua also, and they retreated to Modena. The fools forgot that Venice had access to Modena too.

As well in February, the Archbiship of Salzburg's army was completely destroyed, though he escaped death.

In April, the Genovese Doge lost his sanity and invaded Tuscany, attacking Pisa first, where he was humbled. He retreated towards Florence. He assumed that if he conquered Florence, he would be able to get Tuscany out of the war and thus seal off a huge nuisance.

May, the Genovese Army was obliterated. So much for the glorious Doge's scheme.



With the Doge of Genoa's Army destroyed, many wondered what Venice's next course of action should be. Doge Molin desired to vassalise Genoa, as well as to take Corsica and Milano as prizes; Milan had fallen into Florentine hands, however.

By July, the Salzburger campaign had collapsed. Their army was gone, and their hold on Steiermark had ended. All that remained was Salzburg, which the Venetian military was besieging, and which General Schio was heading towards.



September, despite holding out for nearly a year, Salzburg fell:

Though it held out for almost a year, the Archbishopric was now in Venetian hands. The Archbishop got on his hands and knees before the Venetian Doge, begging for mercy. Doge Molin supposedly responded, "That's a good position for you. Perhaps you should be in it more often." What Molin proposed was vassalage. In exchange for this and an indemnity, the Archbishopric would be spared.

The Archbishop kissed the Doge's feet, and accepted submission.



Genoa was now alone. Italy was dominated by the Venetian Alliance, and there were no armed forces to reclaim territory.

But Doge Molin desired more. He ordered soldiers to board ships and head for the Black Sea.

Molin wanted the Black Sea colonies. He angrily commented how Venice had fought in every one of Genoa's petty eastern wars, and even once tried to send troops to help the Genovese. And Genoa spat on Venice when it asked for help in the Mantovan/Burgundian War.

This was codified when the international community accepted this proposal, and Kaffa was henceforth considered a part of the Republic(Fabricated Claims succeeded).

1480



February, the Florentines dropped out of the conflict, carrying off Milan as a prize. It mattered not... for Venice would take it eventually.

By March, the Turks were surprised to find a massive Venetian navy paying their tolls to cross the Dardanelles. Had that Doge said he would not consider Black Sea territory? They supposed every leader went back on their word if personal interest was involved. And dismantling the Genovese Republic was certainly in Venice's.


Later in March, Agosto Foscarini, with 11,000 soldiers at his side, invaded Genovese Crimea. Opposed to him were 4,000 Genovese troops. Agosto was a cousin of the late Doge Foscarini.

Admiral Alvise d'Alviano was awarded a bonus and a medal for his performance in the Battle of the Gulf of Odessa on March 27:

April, the Genovese forces were defeated, and while only a fraction were killed, the majority were killed shortly later; they couldn't escape the province without their fleet.

July, Kaffa fell to Agosto's forces. The Venetian fleet had already left, however, having retreated to Naxos for supplies. They went even further to Venice, where they were gathering infantry to support an invasion of the last Genovese territory.

August, taking advantage of the turmoil of war, several mayors went to the Doge and demanded old rights:

The Doge rebuffed them, at the cost of more discontent in the Republic. This was actually a PR move on the part of the Doge to hide his real intentions, as would be shown later on.

November, Venice finally reached the last fortress of Genoa - Azow - and laid siege to it.

Within days, Azow fell:

With the last fortifications of Genoa flying the flag of Venezia, the Genovese Doge - in chains and peasant garb - was called to the table.

Azow itself was soon recognised as a core of Venice, when the Doge gave a rousing speech about how the two merchant Republics were truly one(yay, more fabricated claims successes).

November 27, the long Genovese-Venetian War finally ended:

Though they escaped vassalage, the Genovese Republic's pride was greatly hurt when all but Liguria proper was annexed by Venice.



Within days of the Genovese surrender, the Tartar and Mongol cultures were accepted as an integral part of the Republic.

By the time of New Year 1481, the Serenissima was enormously expanded:

In dark blue are the lands that the Republic had when Doge Molin entered the Ducal Palace. In light blue are the territories seized by Doge Molin up to 1480. In aqua-green are territories that were vassalised by the Doge or Foscari(in the case of Corfu). Outlined in black is the combined area of these three entities.

 

[Tani Coyote]

The Demise of the Republic



1481



The year 1481 started as they all do, with fresh tax money being added to the Ducal coffers.

But as the shiny gold flowed into the ducal treasury, dark and sinister plans were unfolding within the Ducal palace.

Doge Molin was a mastermind of politics and diplomacy, with military prowess to boot. His reign had seen many shockers, mainly how Venice managed to repulse - and absorb most of - the Austrians when things looked so bleak for the Republic. He managed to defeat Burgundy and capture countless territories. Venice had more than doubled in size - not including alliances and honors gained - under the wise rule of Lorenzo Molin, and now the expanded Republic was at peace.

The elites of Venice had always feared the Doge's power. They saw numerous campaigns that took Venice away from the sea, the source of trade and thus their power. As more and more money came from gold and other ventures, their power declined. This is why the Doge placated them by focusing on expanding Venice's naval assets, and thus giving them more sway. But still, the elites had wished for Venice to lose a war; a Doge who started a war that Venice lost was to be executed by law. But despite the close calls with the Habsburgs and Burgundians, Venice still stood proud, and the city itself had never been occupied by enemies.

And the elites would have more reason to fear the Doge; he was a schemer. Before the Genovese were crushed, he announced he would be taking a tour of the Republic to examine the many possessions Venice had acquired in the past 3 decades. What the Doge was really doing was hiding as he sent emissaries to all the conquered possessions. There, he worked with the old elites - or crafted new ones - in all these territories, from Parma to Ragusa to Kaffa. He promised them increased autonomy if they gave him full moral, economic and military support. But... for what?

The Doge arrived back in time for New Years festitives, which had expanded to include the victory over Genoa, Venice's age-old foe. The Doge then went up on a podium in front of the Ducal Palace. He naturally did what any leader would, congratulating the commanders of the war, thanking the soldiers, and expressing his sentiments to those who lost loved ones. He praised the great victory and Venice's assured dominance of the merchant arena.

But then his speech shocked people. They turned their heads as he began to go on about how he had singlehandedly transformed Venice into a hegemon in the Adriatic and Northern Italy. How the Ducal position was far too weak to guarantee the stability of the expanded Republic. How that for the sake of stability and prosperity within all the possessions...




He was to become King, and the Republic naturally reorganised into a Kingdom. Many gasped when they heard this, many screaming blasphemy. But the Doge's bodyguards, numerous, stood their guard. Molin announced that just outside Venice's city limits were the armies of many nobles, some from Venice, some from new provinces.

Now with the support of vast armies, all the organs of the Venetian government were abolished as part of the new Kingdom, or greatly curtailed. The Council of Ten became the Chamber of Society, which was formed from the heads of most noble families throughout the Republic. The democracy-esque Major Council remained in place, but it served an advisory role so the King knew what his subjects thought.

As time went by, the monarchy would work to destroy it's noble allies as well, creating a despotic, authoritarian state, governed for the good will of anybody it wished, be it the people or the monarch themselves.

(Venice turns to Feudal Monarchy. It loses 3 stability instead of 4, due to gaining one point of decentralisation thanks to negotiating with the elites to smoothen the transition. Cost to Fabricate Claims increases to 25 ducats)

Now as King in his castle, Molin - now called Lorenzo I as calling a monarch by their last name is shameful - was free to do as he wished.

Of course, first his realm had to recover from the blows of so much drastic change. Oracles said that he was at something called "Negative two stability."

So, the King naturally needed to tackle this issue. He dispatched missionaries to Azow, to help convert the local Muslims to Christianity. The Muslims not only were harder to keep in line, but they also encouraged the bordering Islamic states to engage in "jihads" against Venice.

February, the King managed to bribe an Aragonian Cardinal to put forward the interests of Venice at the curia, giving Venice 2 Cardinals. However, England, also with 2, remained the controller.

Just a few days later, the Sicilians tried to bind the King of Venice to them with a royal marriage, but he refused.

The King rushed to take care of formalities. As most of the Venetian Republic's land were within the HRE, he could not officially call himself "King" due to the laws of the Empire which stated that that the only King inside the Empire was the Holy Roman Emperor. So Lorenzo I worked out an agreement with the Holy Roman Emperor. De jure, the Venetian Republic would be split. Lands inside the Empire would become a country known as the "Duchy of Northern Italy" where Lorenzo was called Duke. Lands outside the empire would be styled the Kingdom of Venice, where Lorenzo could call himself King. It was all formalities, as both realms were joined in nearly every policy with eachother. But Lorenzo did whatever was necessary to improve his image and consolidate his authority.

Now free to engage the world as King, Lorenzo married a member of his family to the crown of Bohemia, wishing to strengthen his ties with the electors. A few more diplomatic missions made it so that he had the plurality of votes for Holy Roman Emperor once the Hungarian King kicked the bucket.

March brought good news:

The death of Cardinal Blake enabled Venice to capture the plurality of the Curia's seats, giving great prestige and power to Venice.

April, the stability of the realm increased to "Negative One."

But April brought bad news; General Giuseppe Schio died.

May, an offer from Lithuania for a royal marriage was accepted.

June, the Swedes were also tied to the Venetian Monarchy.

November, the King finally accomplished his lifelong dream:

He finally annexed Corfu! Thanks to Venice's prestige and power, the Corfuites finally agreed to be absorbed into Venice. The route to Crete was now secure at last.

Most importantly, relations with Venice's friends were not impacted by the annexation, meaning the way to the Holy Roman Emperorship was still open.



1482



May brought interesting news: Savoy had allied with Tuscany. This would mean a war against Savoy could translate into a war against Tuscany and Sicily as well.

September, the Florentines were surprised their military access treaty with Venice was revoked. Had the Venetian King lost his mind?! Not only had he destroyed the Republic, but he had also split the Florentine realm into 3 different segments that couldn't interact.

This was actually all part of Lorenzo's new plan. Instead of invading Savoy and risking an assault from Tuscany, he would invade Tuscany itself. This would keep Sicily out of the war, and the two fronts would easily be closed.

October, the Florentine-Venetian Alliance that had held for so long was dissolved. Some Florentines began to put 2 and 2 together...

November, Venice's land technology level increased to 1.



1483



In January, the province of Azow abandoned Islam and converted to Catholicism:

August, two things occurred. First and most important, Karnten was finally considered to be a core province of the Venetian Kingdom. Second, Avignon sent an offer to become an ally of the Kingdom. Not wanting to fight France, we refused.

Thirdly, Venice lost it's single Cardinal in the Curia, and it's influence there dissipated entirely. But the King made plans to get his power back. Most frightening was this made Hungary the Papal Controller AND Holy Roman Emperor simultaneously.

October, a royal marriage was arranged with Savoy. The purpose of this marriage was to make it that much more painful for Savoy to declare war on the Kingdom when the time to invade Tuscany came.

But...

 

[Tani Coyote]

And... that's all I'll be posting for now. I'll let you guys add some comments to break up the wall of text!

As well, since we get a new monarch in the next chapter and he hasn't died yet, I can't post the next part since it has to show his death date. Do not worry however, his reign is filled with more massive conquests, against powers such as:

Aragon
Sicily
Savoy
Tuscany
Golden Horde
Hungary
Persia

 

[Dumanios]

Neat Story.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Thank you Dumanios! I guess that still qualifies as a comment, and this will help break up the wall of doom above our posts...

 

[Metromonkey]

I was wondering if you were playing with Napoleon's Ambition? I'm guessing you're not playing In Nomine because you started in 1453.

 

[Tani Coyote]

I'm playing Vanilla, unfortunately. I do have plans to get NA and IN of course, given the huge amount of bonuses they add(I can probably mod the game too so that the Fabricated Claims still gives a core, the one thing I don't wish to lose).

 

[IronMan2055]

As always, your trusty foreign minister.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Haahaa, of course!

We just need to wait a few decades until you're inaugurated! ...Since it's 1510 and such in my latest play, and I'm WTFPWN'ing the Turks.

 

[Tani Coyote]

The Reign of Francesco I ( November 22, 1483 - February 22, 1504 )

King Lorenzo died in November 1483, before he could see his plans of destroying Tuscany and Savoy realised. He was succeeded by his son Francesco I, and this was quite an oddity for Venice, which was used to elections - or drawing lots, rather - for their ruler. But, most citizens actually were quite happy that the burden of voting was no longer on their heads.

January of 1484, knowledge of the Mauretanian coastline and Rio De Oro was acquired. Given the hostility of the natives and how hard it was to consolidate was Venice already had, however, King Francesco didn't even think of it.

May, the stability of the realm increased to 0. The most difficult times were past.

Also in May, another Cardinal was bribed to the side of Venice. In addition to that, a spy managed to fabricate claims to Pisa. All of Tuscany's cities but Florence itself now were considered integral parts of the Duchy of Northern Italy.

December, our naval technology increased to 1.

In the last days of the year, Savoy and Genoa went to war. King Francesco hoped the Savoyards would annex the Genovese, giving Venice that much more reason to go to war; it would render Genoa capable of being captured.



1484



March, the short war over Genoa ended with Genoa becoming a vassal of Sicily. The King had most advisors who thought Savoy would annex Genoa executed.



1485



A quiet year. Savoy, however, seemed to have chosen Venice as the state worthy of it's electorate vote for Emperor; Venice now had 3 votes.



1486



January, the Savoyards arranged another royal marriage between themselves and Venice. As the relations continued to rise, the more damage Savoy would suffer if it joined Tuscany in battle.

September, Bohemia proposed an alliance to the Italian state of Venice, knowing that Venice might become the Emperor in the future and grant them enormous benefits if the they were on good terms. Naturally, King Francesco accepted. The Bohemian hordes would be able to storm into Italy to help Venice fight it's wars of unification.

November of 1486, with stability ready to jump and all forces and alliances ready, King Francesco declared war on Tuscany, seeking to end the question of who dominated Northern Italy once and for all.

Savoy broke it's royal marriage with the Serenissima and took up arms against Venice, but the King was positive they wouldn't be able to deal much damage. Meanwhile, as units poured across the border into Florentine Trent, troops under Agostine Foscarini invaded Florence itself.

In December, Venice won 3 battles in a row in the Ligurian Sea she sought to cut off Savoyard reinforcements that tried to occupy Corsica. Shortly before New Year, the combined Florentine and Savoyard fleets lost 5 ships in combat, while 2 more were captured by Venice. We suffered no losses in each of these four battles.



1487

January 1st, the Battle of Florence ended with a huge Venetian victory.

March 17, the province of Trent fell, closing a front against Tuscany and freeing up thousands of Veneto-Bohemian troops to push west and South.

In April, Venice won the battle of Modena as brave soldiers fought to the northwest in the epic Battle of Lombardy against the Savoyard King.

May 3, the Battle of Lombardy finally ended with a Pyhrric victory for the Venetians:

May 29, to keep the Sicilians out of the war, King Francesco agreed to a royal marriage with the Sicilan rulers.

July 7, 1487, the province of Siena fell to the Venetian Army after so long.

August 11, as a band of cavalry was dispatched to Corsica to try and dislodge the Savoyards from the island, the city of Milan fell.

August 29, Florence itself was captured by Venetian forces.

September, the Corsican province was freed from it's Savoyard invaders. Now that Tuscany was for all intents and purposes defeated(albeit, they still had a rogue army running around Modena and Parma that was slowly being whittled down), Savoy could be targeted. But the Savoyards were ambitious, demanding Venice release Ferrara and and renounce claims to Nice. Such an offer was of course, ridiculous. General Mosé Vittorio was ordered to invade the Savoyard homeland and teach the half-breed Francotalians the price of such arrogance.

The Florentine Army that had been harassing our inner provinces also fled towards Piedmont, resulting in both main Venetian Armies joining into one mega Army.

At great loss, the Florentine-Savoyard Army was crushed on November 7:

Wanting vengeance for all the brave Venetians killed, the King ordered the two armies to pursue the enemy into Nice. He also ordered them to kill anybody who got in their way, civilians included. Francesco was shaping up to be a nice ruler.

The usual back-and-forth battles ensued, this time between Piedmont and Nice. Given time, we would annihilate both armies.

1488



By February, several enemy regiments had been destroyed, and the units had retreated to Savoie. Knowing opportunity when he saw it, General Vittorio pursued the Savoyard King and Florentine Doge to the province, leaving some infantry behind to try and take the capital.

Later in February, the capital of Savoy fell. With the Bohemian King arriving soon, General Vittorio abandoned his plans and ordered his Army south to Nice, where they would take what was rightfully Venetian.

March, Nice fell to Vittorio's armies. So much pain and grief had been caused to the Savoyard King by said general, in fact, that the King of Savoy mandated that all people with the last name Vittorio change it to something else.

October of 1468, the realm's stability increased to 0. The worst times were over, and Venice was on the path to victory; only two provinces remained outside of Coalition hands.

November, the last of King Filiberto I of Savoy's Army was completely annihilated. With that done, King Francesco I of Venice's victory was assured. He ordered his men to take the last province of Savoie to end the war once and for all.

The first days of December, the last Florentine city of Pisa fell, as the assault on Savoie's forts began.

2 days before Christmas, the province of Savoie fell. However, Bohemia dropped out of the war shortly before the province was seized by Venice. This left it to Venice to take the last Savoyard province for themselves.



1489



Franche-Comte, the province that once fell to Venice in the Mantovan War, fell to Venice once more in Mid-January. The end result was Savoy and Tuscany were both completely defeated.

January 30, the Savoyards accepted Venice's reasonable demands: Nice and 50 ducats.

February 1, the Florentine Doge accepted Venice's less-reasonable demands: every province but Trent and Florence, AND 50 ducats.

Francesco's reign was glorified in the eyes of many Venetians, as he had conquered most of Northern Italy, finishing what Foscari and Lorenzo I had started. But, just like Lorenzo... he wanted... more.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Italian Domination



With the Savoyards and Florentines crushed, there was no Italian state left in Northern Italy that could threaten Venice. All the north Italian cities together were rich with churches, markets, universities, and workshops, helping to grow the economy of the Kingdom.

But the expanded Duchy wasn't good enough for Francesco. Francesco believed the Venetians had the right to dominate all of Italy. Not just that, but to unify and expand it.

Only two powers remained in Francesco's way: Aragon and Sicily. Allied to eachother, these two powers had a vast amount of energy and resources to draw upon, the former especially. But if Venice was to take over Italy, it would have to face both.

But Francesco was patient and had just finished a war. He knew he would have to do things steadily...



April of 1490, the territory of Ragusa was acknowledged by most as a legitimate part of the Venetian Kingdom. With the last band of nationalists dispersed, the empire's stability and power would increase much more easily.

May, missionaries were dispatched to Corfu to try and convert the local Orthodox population.

August, to improve the stability of the realm, a great artist was hired at the court to commission works that re-assured the people of the power and security offered to them by the Monarchy.



1490



May, after failing to convert one Cardinal, Venice managed to bribe another. Castille retained it's role as Papal Controller, however.

That changed on August 17, 1490:

With three cardinals under his wing, King Francesco controlled the Curia, while he had also managed to rebuild relations with Savoy to the point he had three electoral votes in case the Holy Roman Emperor died.

November, the King noticed something...

Genoa was allied with Sicily! While the Sicilians were smart in allying with Savoy, Aragon, AND Genoa to block Venetian ambitions, the fools had conveniently forgotten how bilateral agreements worked. Venice would attack Genoa in a new war, easily crush the Genovese and vassalise them, and then make it's way down the peninsula. The gates of Rome would be Venetian before long.

On November 8, through misinformation and rhetoric, the world was convinced that Genoa was a legitimate part of the North Italian Duchy.

The King now had his casus belli. Now he just needed to get claims on Rome...

December, Rome was considered a legitimate part of the Venetian Kingdom; the King cited control of the Curia mandated that the Pope be personally protected by the Venetians (I like to make fabricated claims more interesting, mm'kay?).



1491

January 1st, two schools of military thought went to the Monarch, each pleading their case. The nationalist oriented faction wanted a more offensively-themed military to dominate Italy and the surrounding regions, whereas the mercantilists wanted to focus on defensive measures to preserve what the Kingdom already had.

The King sided with the nationalists, of course, wanting to be in his Sunday best when he went to invade Sicily.

March, the Lorenzine province of Corfu was successfully converted to Catholicism, eliminating Orthodoxy from the empire:

That left the province of Kaffa as the only non-Catholic region in the empire, and missionaries were shortly dispatched to it.

In April, one of Castile's cardinals died, leaving Venice with 3 cardinals while everyone else had only 1. There were rumors that the cardinal had been assassinated by the Venetians to secure their power base.

May, the stability of the realm increased to +1, while the Government technology reached level 3.

June, war was declared on Genoa. Bohemia and Modena joined our side, while Sicily joined Genoa's. Everything fell right into place.

July, the battle of Rome was fought, and was equally bloody for both sides, with over 4,000 men killed:

General Vittorio left a small regiment in charge of besieging Rome, while he pursued the King of Sicily back to his capital. And in the north, his counterpart, General Foscarini, was fighting a battle against the Genovese Doge.

August 13, the battle of Naples was won by Venice. Using brilliant tactics, General Vittorio only lost 5 men to Naples' 700 losses. Vittorio left a force to keep the province under control, while he pursued the King to Ancona.

September 1491, a band of nobles and businessmen sent a gift of 200 ducats to the King of Venice, desiring new priveleges and lands in newly-acquired territories post-war.

October, Liguria was occupied, but the King discovered that we could not sign a peace with them so long as Sicily remained at war with us. We pursued them into Nice, where their army had retreated to.

Late October, we defeated the Sicilians in combat for the fifth time, and the Sicilian King retreated across the straits of Messina into Aragonese territory.

By December, the straits of Messina were infested by the Venetian navy.



1492



In January, Calabria fell to General Vittorio. The King decided that besides Rome, he also wanted the strategically-located province, in order to more easily ferry ships between the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas. It would also enable Venice to more easily block Aragonese expansion into Italy.

Using Bohemians as meat shields and pawns, the Venetian Army captured Abruzzi. And then Rome itself. This left Apulia and Napoli as the only free provinces of our enemies.

February, Naples collapsed as the Neopolitan King lay helpless across the straits of Messina. The Sicilian Navy was engaged in battle, and if it was destroyed, there'd be no way of getting back into Italy.

Mid-March, 8 Sicilian ships and 1 Venetian vessel went to the bottom of the ocean near Malta. The Sicilian Navy was destroyed, and the Venetian navy sailed back to block the straits of Messina.

April, the last province of Sicily fell into Venice's hands. But the King would not make peace until he was certain his claims on Southern Italy would remain uncontested.

On April 23, he was able to use rhetoric and documents to claim Calabria as a legitimate part of the Venetian Kingdom.

Just a few days after that, the Genovese Army was completely destroyed at Nice. The war was de facto over.

June, Apulia was also considered a legitimate part of the realm. Peace negotiations could then commence.

But just to tease the Neopolitans, however, Venice's navy stopped blocking the straits and retreated into Calabria. At the same time, however, Venice's army was gathered on the opposite side. It just fell to the enemy to take the bait.

Within days, however, the Sicilians agreed to our terms, ceding every province they had but their capital. The Sicilian threat was at last eliminated.



Celebrations were held all throughout the Kingdom when it was learned that Sicily had surrendered. While the Genovese vassalage was not obtained as desired, Sicily was nonetheless defeated, and Italy was almost entirely under Venetian rule in some way.

July 3, the Pan-Italian Conference was held in Rome. At the Conference - which all Italian countries were invited to - it was announced that a new era of cooperation should begin between all of the states. Furthermore, the culture, language, and overall diversity of all of Italy's cities and provinces was to be respected. The conference made it's motto, "Unity through Diversity." With that in mind, the Umbrian and Sicilian cultures and languages were fully accepted by the Venetian Kingdom.

As that pretty message was spread, however, the King's soldiers were suppressing revolts in Abruzzi, where Venice's claims had not been legitimised.



1493



In January, the authority of Venice in the Curia was re-asserted when a second Cardinal was bribed to Venice's side. Unfortunately, the French were in control of the Curia, but that wasn't going to last long.

February of 1493, the Muslims of Kaffa were converted to Catholicism, rubbing out the last region of non-Catholics in the Kingdom:

Shortly after, one of the Cardinals of France came over to Venice's side of the aisle. This made Venice have three Cardinals, while also making the Kingdom Papal Controller. A fitting position for a country that occupied Rome, no?

February was also the month that King Francesco I put his Pan-Italian Conference's proposals into motion. He began regular shipments of gifts to the Doge of Tuscany, seeking to rebuild them as a friend, and eventually annex them. Once wealthy Tuscany was part of the Duchy of Northern Italy, the greatest specialists of all kinds would serve the King of Venice.

August, as the goodwill missions to Tuscany continued, the Savoyards - reeling from a defeat by the combined forces of Burgundy and Lorraine - asked for an alliance. Citing Italian solidarity, the King agreed to aid the Savoyards in the event of future wars.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Elections and Easterners



1494



January 1, stability increased to +1. As well, a boundary dispute with the Golden Horde ended up giving Venice a core on Georgia in the far east. But that area could be considered another time.

February 1494, the old fart in charge of Hungary finally died, resulting in...

Francesco I of Venice being elected as Holy Roman Emperor. As Emperor and controller of the Curia, the religious and military might of the Venetian Monarch was unquestionable(price to fabricate claims jumps to 50 ducats).

Later in 1494, as Holy Roman Emperor, Francesco tried to enforce his will upon the German states, despite how hopeless this was with anyhing short of force.

While the Emperor tried to consolidate his power over Germany, he was more focused on Italy of course. He increasingly saw Tuscany as part of his realm, legitimised by the Holy Roman Emperorship.

September, the Golden Horde declared war on Venice! They also brought in their ally, Persia. The Venetian fleet was armed to the teeth and ordered to transport soldiers East against the enemy. Wanting to transform the Black Sea colonies into a viable territory, the Emperor decided he would conquer both of the Golden Horde's provinces on the Black Sea, linking up the two colonies Venice possessed.

Shortly later, the Nogai Khanate joined the war on the Christians. But the fleets were already loading up with troops, and would soon deposit a hellstorm upon the heathens.



1495



The forces of Nogai had managed to drive the Venetian troops out of the northern colonies, but reinforcements arrived in January just in time for the Battle of Kaffa against the Golden Horde.

April, the Venetian forces - many of them cavalry to offset the strategy of the Eastern barbarians - crushed the enemy at the Battle of Georgia, an epic and bloody battle:

In May, the province of Georgia collapsed, becoming Venetian-occupied. The army was split; most cavalry would head for the enemy capital, while the infantry would head to invade Kouban.

By July, while Azow lay in the hands of the filthy Nogai, both Georgia and Kouban were controlled by Venice.

On July 12, when the Golden Horde's army was routed, the province of Sarai - lacking a fortress - fell into Venetian hands.

Later in July still, the Nogai Army was routed, allowing the Venetian forces to focus on retaking Azow.

August, to show that the war in the East was of no real drain to manpower or finances, the Emperor ordered that the province of Verona - in the middle of northern Italy - get a huge upgrade in fortifications.

October of 1495, Venice mourned when it was learned that Agosto Foscarini - the general who had fought hard against Savoy and Sicily - was dead. But, knowing one man could not slow the war effort, the King soon made plans to hire a new general to replace Foscarini.

As well, the sad news of Foscarini's death was cancelled out a few days later, when Azow was re-captured by the Venetian Army. This was supplemented by the fact that much of Europe believed that Venice's claims to Kouban were solid, just as much as the claim on Georgia.

On October 6, the war with the Golden Horde ended; they ceded Georgia and Kouban rather than fight the superior Italian armies.

November, the Georgian culture was accepted by Imperial Decree.



1496



January of 1496, we discovered that Aragon and it's allies - Navarra and Sicily - were fighting a massive war against the Castilian Empire(which controlled much of northwest Africa) and Tunisia, as well as Bavaria. Once Venice's stability increased and war weariness went to a manageable level, it would consider fighting the Aragonese for control of their Italian land...

February, Venice stole a Cardinal from Bohemia, and thus became the Papal Controller anew. The King of Venice more or less viewed the Holy Roman Throne and the Curia as his hereditary possessions, given his possession of Rome.

July 13, to bring the fight to the Persians, Venice gained Imereti as a core province thanks to some dirty tactics. Once absorbed, the province would help turn the Black Sea into a Venetian Lake.

By September, Imereti and one other Persian province were occupied by the Venetian Army. Until Persia agreed to part with Imereti, there would be no agreements for peace.

November, Nogai managed to retake Imereti, though their army was swifty repulsed and the Venetian Army made plans to occupy it again. At the same time, Venice's army was following the Nogai army back into it's territory, hoping to gain the necessary advantage to pry Imereti from Persia's grasp.



1497



February 28, Crimea declared war on Venice!

However, their only ally was the one-province Karaman. Once Persia surrendered, Crimea would be an easy meal.

In August, after destroying the Crimean Army some months prior, Crimea was captured by Venice. But rather than waste a good opportunity, it was decided that Venice was to launch an assault on Crimea's ally in Turkey as well, so as to secure a new naval base for the Kingdom.

Late August, after a few more battles against the Nogai - who naturally came out of the Terra Incognita like demons out of Hell - we managed to get enough sway to convince Persia to part with Imereti.

In September, a new Cardinal was bribed to Venice's side, but France remained in control of the Curia, if only temporarily.

In October, the Persians FINALLY agreed to give up Imereti. This came shortly after we learned Candar had declared war on Persia.



With the war on the Golden Horde finally ended, Venice was free to focus it's full attention on bringing down the guillotine on Karaman and Crimea.

December, the Army of Karaman was destroyed with no casualties. The King of Venice decided it was best that the Muslim states be annexed.



1498



January of 1498, Karaman was captured by the victorious Venetians. With both of the allies defeated, most assumed that Venice would keep it's reputation of vassalising small states rather than annexing them. It was not to be so. The Emperor believed that the Muslim states had to be shown a lesson; so many had attacked Venice in the past few years. Besides, Karaman was liable to be eaten by the Turks at any time.

Karaman, it was decided, would be annexed. Crimea would be spared if it gave up it's sovereignity and claims on all Venetian lands.

When Karaman was considered a legitimate national province of the Venetian Kingdom shortly after it's capture, it's fate was sealed. It was annexed immediately. Currently under a Regency Council, the Karaman state wasn't exactly poised to resist Venice. In fact, many nobles embraced their new way of life as governors and administrators for their Italian overlords.

February, the Turkish language and culture was accepted as an integral part of the Kingdom, especially in the Karaman province. As the Ottomans cast a weary eye on the increasing number of Venetian penetrations into Asia Minor, Crimea was targeted.

Within the first week of February, Crimea accepted vassalage. The Tribal leaders were happy that the Venetians had spared them, and relations somehow increased to +103 from -195. Perhaps mercy was indeed the way to go in international relations...



... Nah.



On February 28, shortly after finishing his Turkish campaign, General Mose Vittorio passed away. The realm mourned his loss.

June of 1498, the Kingdom underwent another fortification effort in Siena to show off the military and fiscal health of the Kingdom(and the Holy Roman "Empire" as well).

Late in June, a Cardinal under French control died, enabling Venice to seize the position of Papal Controller. With the war's end, King Francesco put his full support behind Venetian expansion in the Curia.

July of 1498, stability returned to +2. So long after Molin converted to Monarchy, Venice was returning to prosperity... a trend which her enemies dangerously noticed.

September, a band of rebels from Ancona attacked the Venetian garrison in Rome. Venice's last great general was put in charge of a unit that was given the task of crushing the rebels.

By November, the long Aragonese-Castilian War had ended, leaving Aragon damaged and it's people very war-weary. As Venice's own war exhaustion was quite low, it's easy to assume what immediately went through the mind of the Venetian King...

 

[Tani Coyote]

(Before we begin, I apparently forgot to take pictures here... sorry! >.< I blame the fact I stayed up for so long playing EU3)

Onward to Aragon



The Aragonese navy was definitely larger than Venice's, even with all it's defeats. However, Venice had capable admirals and many of it's ships were carracks to Aragon's galleys. This would help balance the scales, and leave the land forces to determine the fate of the Aragonese Empire.

The Aragonese and Venetians were on a collision course since Day One. Like the Carthaginians and Romans, each continued to build up power and influence in and around Italy, so it was natural that conflict would occur eventually. While Venice had focused on the Adriatic and conquered much of the peninsula - as Rome had done - Aragon had built up a vast empire in the Western Mediterranean, as Carthage had done. By the time of the Aragonese-Venetian War, the Aragonese had one of Europe's largest fleets, with control of the islands of Sicily, Sardinia and the Baleares. Aragon proper was large enough, while Switzerland and Tirol had also been acquired north of Italy as a bit of "insurance" against Venetian expansion. Furthermore, Aragon had acquired colonies from Castile after their war ended. And to add to that, Aragon had an ally in Naples, which now ruled Genoa.

It was to be an epic battle between two titans...



December of 1498, with a core on Ancona, the Venetian King made his decision. After acquiring a third cardinal from Bohemia, the King delivered a declaration of war to Aragon.

All the blocks fell into place, though Bohemia dishonored it's alliance with Venice. But the Emperor was confident his forces could handle themselves, and began rebuilding relations with Bohemia anyway.



1499



January 1st of 1499, the Government technology level of Venice increased to 4.

By mid-January, Bohemia had offered to ally with Venice again, and the offer was taken.

A few days later, Aragon had landed a medium-sized force - headed by no one other than the Aragonese King himself - in Nice. For the time being, the Emperor chose to let them remain there so as to let attrition do it's damage; troops could also attack Liguria.

Late January, the Aragonese fleet had a small detachment in the Gulf of Venice that landed troops in Romagna. It was destroyed, causing the Aragonese to lose three vessels.

Liguria fell shortly after the first naval battle of the War.

February, the province of Romagna fell as well.

In March, a battle over Ancona erupted. The Anconites were surprised to find the Venetians - who they had attacked in Rome - had finally returned for vengeance. And what made matters worse was the fact that the Venetians brought CANNONS, or their predecessors anyway.

Within 5 days, the cannons and small garrison combined to make the city fall. Aragon was evicted from Italy proper, and Venice would not settle for peace until that was made permanent.

As March went by, the Aragonese played right into Venice's hands; they sent their ships in separately, and suffered 3 vessels sunk. Each individual vessel sunk to Venice's single, huge fleet, meant that Venice would be able to rule the waves.

Late March, the city of Naples fell. With Sicily defeated, Aragon itself could be dealt with. Troops from Naples were sent towards the island of Sicily, while troops from Liguria were sent to help the Savoyards deflect the Aragonese invasion, which they had bore the brunt of.

April, General Francesco Brasano managed to drive out the Aragonese King from Nice, but just barely. He suffered many troops lost and a greatly depleted morale amongst his troops. To make matters worse, the cowardly King fled into France. But at least Venice was secure for the time being.

May, as the Aragonese fought to retake Liguria after crossing through Savoy, the Neopolitans were brought to the table. May 3, the Neopolitans agreed to Venice's terms. They would abandon all claims to mainland Italy, while they would also cede Liguria.



With Naples out of the war and the legendary trade center of Genoa finally under Venetian domination, Venice was more flexible with it's movements. As troops neared the straits of Messina and the Venetian Navy prepared to harass the Aragonese coastline, troops in Northwestern Italy were fighting to keep the Aragonese Army back. It kept crossing through France.

Mid-May, shortly before a battle in Liguria was won by the Venetian Army, Tuscany - now a feudal monarchy like Venice - offerred a royal marriage, which Venice agreed to. The King would do anything to secure Florence as a part of the Kingdom or it's Duchy.

June, Luneburg offered Venice a white peace, which was accepted. Aragon was left alone.

July 28, Kouban was converted to Catholicism, as the gradual Catholicisation of the Black Sea took place.

Also on July 28, a great Battle occurred in the seas outside Barcelona, and the result was a narrow Venetian victory. Ships were sunk on both sides, and Venice captured a few vessels. Given the sorry state of the surviving ships, however, the fleet had to retreat to Nice for repairs.

August 11, Messina and all of Eastern Sicily fell to the Venetian forces. The Savoyards cowardly made a white peace with the Aragonese, but we were confident we could hold our own.

September 12, Palermo and Western Sicily fell to our armies. But that wasn't enough to get the two Italian provinces we sought. So, the King ordered an invasion of Aragonese Switzerland.

By mid-November, the Aragonese forces in Switzerland had been routed, with the King moving east and his generals moving west towards the center. It was hoped that the Venetian Army could sandwich the King and possibly kill him to leave a lasting mark on Aragon.



1500



Ah, the start of the 16th century CE!

January, the province of Tirol, rich in gold, fell to Venice's forces. Meanwhile, to draw Venice's attention away, the Aragonese had split up and assaulted Brescia and Lombardia. The latter being where the King was located, that's where the main Venetian force went.

March, the Government Level of Venice increased to 5, enabling a new national idea.

April, a godsend arrived.

A war of succession over Foix erupted between France and Luneburg. Luneburg being allied to Aragon, the result was a Franco-Aragonese War. The Aragonese would find their hands full and their armies depleted before long.



June, we learned Savoy had converted to the Protestant Faith. Fearing the spread of this new, unstable faith, the National Idea of Deus Vult was adopted by the Venetian Kingdom. The Venetian King viewed himself as the protector of Catholicism, ruling over the Holy Roman Empire and the Curia.

September, Schwyz fell to Venice.

As well, Aragon demonstrated willingness to cede Ancona and Romagna. But until Romagna was a core of Venice, the King would not accept the agreement.

October 1500, the Government Level of Venice increased to 6, which would enable the construction of Temples to comfort the people and reduce the costs of stability.



1501



January, Aragon strangely chose to try and improve relations with the Holy Roman Emperor rather than have a province leave the empire. Like it would do them any good.

February, the GOLDEN HORDE DECLARED WAR AGAIN! The bastards didn't seem to be easily sated. Fortunately, only Nogai remained allied to it.

Later in February, the last region of Switzerland fell to Venice. Once a core was established on Romagna, the Aragonese War could finally end.

Said core was created in March.

Aragon capitulated, ceding Romagna and Ancona, while also paying 50 ducats. The Aragonese had been evicted from continental Italia.