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Post by TheRomanSlayer on May 6, 2018 15:11:54 GMT
AN: This timeline is of my own creation and is reposted from AltHistoria and Sufficient Velocity.
Case Study #1: Iberia, France and England
Excerpts from “The Rise of the Aviz Dynasty”
Cartagena Printing Press, 2014
Chapter One: One Small Restraint
It is said that major historical shakeups can start with a tiny act of impulse on a part of an obscure figure, which can have major consequences. Other observers may say that births and deaths also play a decisive role, but a few oddballs may say that it isn't one human figure that can move history to a different direction. In this instance, a simple act of restraint on part of the young Prince Afonso of Portugal will have far reaching effects beyond his control, shaping not only his beloved Portugal, but that of its neighbors, its potential allies and enemies, and wholesome peoples of other continents. What was that impulsive action that changed the course of history, you may ask? It all started when the royal family, the ruling Aviz dynasty of Portugal, spent the day relaxing on the River Tagus. The reigning king, John II de Aviz, extended his invitation to his son, Afonso, to come and spend some quality time with him. At first the prince hesitated, as he was scheduled to spar with a couple of knights in preparation for the inevitable war against the Muslims of the declining Emirate of Granada and their final push. However, the king insisted on spending time with his son and even wanted to learn from him the plans he has for the final push in the long, brutal Reconquista.
Thus the prince reluctantly decided to join his father for relaxation in the River Tagus, although the horse he almost took for a ride was unpredictable. It had already injured one horse handler and one of the guards who went along with Prince Afonso was his namesake, one Afonso de Alberquerque, who went on to become one of the most important military figures in the Triune Monarchy's expedition against the Moroccan Sultanate. Afonso de Alberquerque was a good friend of the current king, and it was he who, upon the advice of John II de Aviz, agreed to take Prince Afonso as his apprentice on his education. The connection between the two Afonsos would also become useful in the political maneuvering that would later bring in the other two Iberian kingdoms of Castille and Aragon together to form a united Spain. The trip to the Tagus was uneventful, thanks to Prince Afonso taking a different horse that behaved better than the horse which nearly killed the horse handler. The king and his son observed the ladies in waiting as the knights made an attempt to impress them, only to fail in the end. Though not yet of age, the Prince already showed promise of a future and stable succession should the king die of old age. At the same time however, the prince's fiance, the famous Princess Isabella of Asturias, also attracted attention by the Portuguese people for her well mannered behavior, though there were some controversies surrounding her and the Sephardic Jewish community.
Though intially hostile to the presence of the Jews in most of the Iberian Peninsula, both Afonso and Isabella were unaware of events across the western Mediterrenaean when a young, aspiring friar was making noises alongside such progressive leaders of Florence. Although it was only a couple years before the Savonarolan Heresy would plague not only the Roman Catholic Church, but even the schismatic Eastern Orthodox Church where a like minded individual would warn his people and the clergy he worked with on the dangers of unchecked privilege regarding church ownership of private property, the two future rulers of the Iberian Union were not naive on the dangers of the heresy that threatens the grip of power the current Pope has.
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Excerpts from “A Reformation Attempted: The Savonarolan Revolution”
De Coligny Printing Press, 2015
Chapter Two: Seeds of Reform
Florence was fast becoming a city gripped with fresh new ideas on what to do with the Catholic Church. The sales of indulgences was not the only issue that irritated the more pious of the Catholic public, but Papal corruption and indecisiveness in the face of the Turkish threat had forced one revolutionary to preach the ideas of piety and charity. You see, Girolamo Savonarola to some, was a visionary who saw the injustices committed against the poor. To others, the name 'Savonarola' echoes such radical ideas too dangerous for the ultra-conservative Papacy to even entertain. For whatever reason, Savonarola has inspired his followers to commit to the actions that he has advocated, namely charity and piety for the poor. Though some of Savonarola's supporters had connections to other heretical movements, very few of his followers would go on to spread the ideas that will later be enshrined in the “Savonarolan Creed” emerged in 1503, at the height of Savonarola's power and influence during his exile in France. In response to the growing influence of Savonarola and his followers, Pope Alexander VI implored the devoted Catholic statelets in Italy (many of whom had a fierce rivalry with Florence), as well as the three Iberian kingdoms and the Holy Roman Empire (before the Savonarolist Reformation entered German soil) to band together and nip in the bud what appears to be a growing challenge to Papal authority, corrupt as it may be.
Fearing for the fate of his growing movement, Savonarola traveled to the court of King Charles VIII along with two hundred of his followers. The Valois King grew more interested in what Savonarola was preaching, and combined with his growing ambition to become the arbiter of the Italian states, particularly with his intention to add the Kingdom of Naples to his domain, he hired Savonarola to become his advisor. Savonarola now had the perfect opportunity to make his ideas become a reality. It is also said that Savonarola himself had a huge influence on the development of the Gallican Church, which was in itself the model Savonarolan church that Savonarola craved for. What he could not achieve in Florence, he might as well try to do it in France. It was in the French kingdom that French society would undergo a significant societal and cultural change that was as significant as the later German and Italian unifications, and the rise of industrialization in the 1800s.
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Excerpts from King Charles VIII's Letter to King Henry VII of England, December 30, 1490
“To His Excellency, King Henry VII of England:
I have constantly paid attention to the affairs of my neighbors and seeing as how my ambitions for the Italian States are not exactly what you would call a secret goal, I have decided to put it on hold for now. I have just come across this individual who has appeared in my court, and his words of piety and charity have struck a chord within me. He came from Florence, the stronghold of the Medici family, where some of his followers also lived. A hundred of them came to my kingdom along with him. Should you have a rare opportunity to listen to the words of Girolamo Savonarola, I'm sure you'll learn in time as to why the Catholic Church needs to start reforming or there shall be more heresies arising.
On the main topic at hand, I am in a quandry with regards to the bride I desire. At first I preferred Anne de Bretagne as a suitable bride, but after the debacle surrounding the Hapsburg match and the insufferable Maximillian's desire to acquire the Hungarian throne, I am not keen on having Hapsburg rulers as my neighbors. I am also not keen on being at peace with the Aviz rulers who have the potential to unite the three Iberian kingdoms, and how it may also affect your domain's relationship with Portugal. Could you, in your great wisdom, be able to help me with the search for a suitable bride from among the English royalty?
Sincerely,
His Majesty, King Charles VIII of France”
---
Excerpts from King Henry VII of England's Letter to King Charles VIII of France, February 18, 1491
“To His Excellency, King Charles VIII of France:
I have read your letter with such distress, and while I too would have preferred to see you sweat in fear of having Hapsburg rulers surround your pathetic domains, my finances prevent me from waging wars with you. As for your dilemma with your bride, while I may feel sorry for whoever ends up with such a prestigious princess, even I can't do much anything about it. However, this doesn't mean that I won't help you though. I too, am interested in seeing such animosity between our two kingdoms come to an end in the face of a potential hegemon led by the Hapsburgs and supported by the Roman pope.
As it stands, there is a suitable bride that may be of your interest: the sixth daughter of the late King Edward IV, Catherine of York, has not been matched to any man that I knew, although I thought of arranging her marriage to Sir William Courtenay, but I might have to find another bride for him, now that your lineage may be more valuable than that of a mere knight. As for Anne of Brittany, I suppose I could throw Brittany a bone with either the 17th Earl of Warwick or perhaps even the Duke of Ross would be interested.
However, if said bride doesn't express her interest in marrying you, then I suppose you might not have a choice in the matter. Either you marry the Princess of Brittany or you allow yourself to be surrounded by enemies on all sides. Even as I am writing this letter, I am unsure of what to do with the surviving Yorkists who continue to threaten my legitimacy on the throne of England. Not to mention that the trouble with the Scots in the northern border have always remained troublesome. In all aspects, maybe a Scottish noblewoman or even an Irish noblewoman might make a better match.
On the topic of this Savonarola fellow, while I am still bound by my oath to the Catholic Church, it would be interesting to see how your little experiment with his ideas could go. The Yorkists are far more loyal than my clan, but the common people have also possessed some sort of resentment not seen since the Peasants' Revolt. I wasn't taught the reasons why the common English peasant had chosen to revolt against his lord and liege, but I suspect that they have been incited somehow. Bring this Savonarola fellow to my court and I shall hear him out.
In Salutation,
His Majesty King Henry VII of England”
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lordroel
Administrator
Posts: 68,033 
Likes: 49,439
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Post by lordroel on May 6, 2018 15:18:05 GMT
AN: This timeline is of my own creation and is reposted from AltHistoria and Sufficient Velocity.
Nice to have it hear on Alternate Timelines. |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on May 6, 2018 15:19:42 GMT
Thanks, although the Quarantine posts make me a bit queasy, as if I'm a certain spammer that caused trouble in the past, or is it the norm here?
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lordroel
Administrator
Posts: 68,033
Likes: 49,439
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Post by lordroel on May 6, 2018 15:22:55 GMT
Thanks, although the Quarantine posts make me a bit queasy, as if I'm a certain spammer that caused trouble in the past, or is it the norm here? Sorry, it happens with everybody who post their first post, my apologies if i made you queasy. |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on May 6, 2018 15:23:50 GMT
That's fine.
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James G
Squadron vice admiral
Posts: 7,608
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Post by James G on May 6, 2018 15:43:20 GMT
Thanks, although the Quarantine posts make me a bit queasy, as if I'm a certain spammer that caused trouble in the past, or is it the norm here? It's one of many tools our Admiral uses to keep us free of spammer and trolls. |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on May 6, 2018 16:02:57 GMT
That's fine. I was a bit nervous about it though.
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lordroel
Administrator
Posts: 68,033
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Post by lordroel on May 6, 2018 16:13:38 GMT
That's fine. I was a bit nervous about it though. Well think it like humans in a zombie apocalypse, if there is a chance that they might have been infected they are placed also in quarantine until it is proven that they are not infected. |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on May 6, 2018 22:50:36 GMT
That's okay then. I don't blame the admins and mods for the heightened security in this place. Well, on with the second update:
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Case Study #2: Hungary, Poland and Lithuania
Excerpts from “The Life of Matthias Corvinus”
by: Mirko Frankopan
Frankopan Family Press, published 2012
Chapter Thirteen: Succession Crisis
No one was sure whether or not Matthias Corvinus had established a clear succession upon his death, but his decision not to eat the rotten fig that could have killed him didn't make any difference to his growing problem of the gout he had. At the same time, he also had to find a good use for his illegitimate son, John, who had no legal claim on the Hungarian throne and was often mentioned by his father as a potential candidate for the restoration of the Croatian crown. His offer to the Holy Roman Empire of a withdrawal from Hungarian-occupied Austria in exchange for giving the crown to the Hapsburgs not only gave them an incentive to push their claim on the Hungarian crown, but also to allow Maximillian to boldly lay his claim.
The Jagiellons on the other hand, also staked their claims on the grounds of royal connections. Ladislaus the Posthumous's sister married Casimir IV of Poland, thus confirming their connections as well. However, John Albert was also proposed as another potential claimant, giving rise to a possible conflict within the Jagiellon clan. For the weakened King of Hungary, the competition for his crown soon became deadly, and the War of Hungarian Succession was erupted upon his death in March of 1492, of which proved to be far brutal and crippling to the Hungarian nation. The brutal conflict also gave the Ottoman Empire an opportunity to stage raids into southern Hungary, even menacing the Hungarian held cities of Beograd (now the capital of the restored Despotate of Serbia), Srem and Zemun.
Maximillian von Hapsburg struck the first blow by offering to marry the widowed Beatrice of Naples, in an attempt to win support from the Black Army that her late husband had built for Hungary's conquests and defenses. In the fall of 1492, the wedding between Beatrice and Maximillian became official, but by marrying Beatrice, he had unintentionally renounced his plans to marry Anne of Brittany (Beatrice being far more valuable as a wife of a future Holy Roman Emperor or Hapsburg prince, compared to the minor princess), who eventually married Charles VIII of France. John Corvinus, who feared the Hapsburgs far more than the Jagiellons, reluctantly agreed to drop his claim on the Hungarian throne in exchange for Maximillian's support of his claim on the Croatian crown.
The consequences of the War of Hungarian Succession went far beyond Hungary's borders, as the fight for the Hungarian crown lasted almost six years, by which the Ottomans had plenty to prepare for the possible defense of their conquered lands. Smederevo, Vidin, Veliko Tarnovo and even Burgas experienced the increase in the construction of Ottoman style fortresses, while the hinterlands of Bosnia continued to see Ottoman recruitment of young Bosnian boys and girls for service in the Sultanate. At the same time, the Ottomans also drew up plans for potential conquests of the Ragusan Republic and even plotted to wage a future war with the Venetian Republic. At the same time, Vladislaus Jagiellon's claims on the Hungarian crown received a fatal blow when he led a Polish Army to besiege Debrecen in March of 1493, only to be struck by an arrow while leading the charge against the Hungarian defenders of Debrecen's fortress.
---
Excerpts from “Hapsburg Mitteleuropa: From the Baltic to the Adriatic”
by: Johann Schwartz
Krakow State University Printing Press, 2011
Chapter Seven: Hapsburg Plans for Poland-Lithuania
The unexpected death of Vladislaus Jagiellon in Debrecen had opened up an equally unexpected gift to the Hapsburg dynasty. With the death of the notoriously anti-Hapsburg Polish prince, Maximillian pressed further than simply claiming the Hungarian crown: he thought of having his son, Prince Philip the Fair, married off to one of the Jagiellon princesses (Barbara or Elizabeth), while at the same time making additional plans to ensure a smooth transition to a Hapsburg succession in the Polish-Lithuanian Empire. There was one problem with this plan though: Philip the Fair was engaged to the notorious Joanna the Heretic [2], but her chronic problem of her lack of faith in Christ came back to haunt her when the Inquisition punished the wayward princess. For unknown reasons, the punishment and torture went far beyond the limits of their authority and the Inquisition had accidentally killed Joanna as a result. The premature death of Princess Joanna had nullified the engagement match, thereby freeing Philip the Fair to court one of the Jagiellon princesses.
One of the reasons why the Hapsburg dynasty was vying for the Polish crown was the sudden growth of the Savonarolan heresy. Though it managed to spread into France and some parts of northern Italy, even England was not immune to the heresy, for several sectors of the English society became infiltrated with Savonarolists whose message of charity and piety rang true, in light of several minor peasant revolts over taxes. However, the brief warming of relations between England and France suddenly became cold once again, as Henry VII's newly formed alliance with the Iberian kingdoms of Portugal, Castile and Aragon had allowed its rulers to launch a minor expedition to Brittany, despite the English king's initial promise not to fight the French. However, the absence of a conflict in the Italian states had prompted Charles VIII to not only invade Brittany in return, but to inflict a massive casualty upon an invading English force in the costly Siege of Cherbourg of January of 1493.
The ruthless actions that Charles VIII had undertaken did little to dampen the Hapsburg ambitions to unite most of Europe under their banner. Maximillian, with the support of the Black Army, drove most of the soldiers fighting for John Albert Jagiellon out of northern Hungary by the beginning of 1495. In fact, Maximillian was so confident of his victory that he personally took the Crown of St. Stephen from the guards who worked for the late Matthias Corvinus and had an elaborate ceremony where he was officially crowned King of Hungary. During his coronation, he also ceded the Croatian lands to John Corvinus, a decision that eventually turned out to be a fatal mistake, for John Corvinus proved to be not only inept, but unsuccessful in the face of a hostile Croatian nobility who preferred a legitimate prince instead of an illegitimate bastard.
---
Excerpts from "King Charles VIII's Letter to Louis II de la Tremoille", July 16, 1492
"To My Capable General:
Now that Brittany has been secured, there is something else that we must attend to. The agreement we had with the English where we promised not to back any pretenders to the throne: we're no longer bound by it. As punishment for their tiny expedition against us, we need to start thinking about backing one of the rival claimants on the English throne. It is intolerable of us to even put up with the idiotic excuses that King Henry VII may put up. The fact that the Tudor dynasty has allied itself to our enemies to the south makes me uncomfortable, and even our Auld Alliance with Scotland might not be enough if England actually tries to make a peace treaty with the Scots. Therefore, it is necessary for us to not only pry off England from the influence of the Hapsburgs, and to a lesser extent, the Roman Papacy, but to actually convince this rival claimant whom I would not name for secrecy reasons, that an alliance based on mutual opposition to the Roman Papacy and Hapsburg hegemony will be in our best interests. This doesn't mean that we will turn England into our puppet. Rather, we will have the old Plantagenet dynasty become the dominant ruling dynasty once again, and not the newcomer Tudors.
Sincerely,
King Charles VIII"
---
[1] The alternate name for Joanna the Mad ITTL. IOTL she had a reputation as a some sort of a religious skeptic, not eager to be faithful to her mother's religion.
[2] References the letters exchanged between Henry VII of England and Charles VIII of France.
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lordroel
Administrator
Posts: 68,033
Likes: 49,439
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Post by lordroel on May 7, 2018 3:46:27 GMT
That's okay then. I don't blame the admins and mods for the heightened security in this place. Well, on with the second update: --- Case Study #2: Hungary, Poland and Lithuania
Excerpts from “The Life of Matthias Corvinus”
by: Mirko Frankopan
Frankopan Family Press, published 2012
Chapter Thirteen: Succession Crisis
No one was sure whether or not Matthias Corvinus had established a clear succession upon his death, but his decision not to eat the rotten fig that could have killed him didn't make any difference to his growing problem of the gout he had. At the same time, he also had to find a good use for his illegitimate son, John, who had no legal claim on the Hungarian throne and was often mentioned by his father as a potential candidate for the restoration of the Croatian crown. His offer to the Holy Roman Empire of a withdrawal from Hungarian-occupied Austria in exchange for giving the crown to the Hapsburgs not only gave them an incentive to push their claim on the Hungarian crown, but also to allow Maximillian to boldly lay his claim. The Jagiellons on the other hand, also staked their claims on the grounds of royal connections. Ladislaus the Posthumous's sister married Casimir IV of Poland, thus confirming their connections as well. However, John Albert was also proposed as another potential claimant, giving rise to a possible conflict within the Jagiellon clan. For the weakened King of Hungary, the competition for his crown soon became deadly, and the War of Hungarian Succession was erupted upon his death in March of 1492, of which proved to be far brutal and crippling to the Hungarian nation. The brutal conflict also gave the Ottoman Empire an opportunity to stage raids into southern Hungary, even menacing the Hungarian held cities of Beograd (now the capital of the restored Despotate of Serbia), Srem and Zemun. Maximillian von Hapsburg struck the first blow by offering to marry the widowed Beatrice of Naples, in an attempt to win support from the Black Army that her late husband had built for Hungary's conquests and defenses. In the fall of 1492, the wedding between Beatrice and Maximillian became official, but by marrying Beatrice, he had unintentionally renounced his plans to marry Anne of Brittany (Beatrice being far more valuable as a wife of a future Holy Roman Emperor or Hapsburg prince, compared to the minor princess), who eventually married Charles VIII of France. John Corvinus, who feared the Hapsburgs far more than the Jagiellons, reluctantly agreed to drop his claim on the Hungarian throne in exchange for Maximillian's support of his claim on the Croatian crown. The consequences of the War of Hungarian Succession went far beyond Hungary's borders, as the fight for the Hungarian crown lasted almost six years, by which the Ottomans had plenty to prepare for the possible defense of their conquered lands. Smederevo, Vidin, Veliko Tarnovo and even Burgas experienced the increase in the construction of Ottoman style fortresses, while the hinterlands of Bosnia continued to see Ottoman recruitment of young Bosnian boys and girls for service in the Sultanate. At the same time, the Ottomans also drew up plans for potential conquests of the Ragusan Republic and even plotted to wage a future war with the Venetian Republic. At the same time, Vladislaus Jagiellon's claims on the Hungarian crown received a fatal blow when he led a Polish Army to besiege Debrecen in March of 1493, only to be struck by an arrow while leading the charge against the Hungarian defenders of Debrecen's fortress. ---
Excerpts from “Hapsburg Mitteleuropa: From the Baltic to the Adriatic”
by: Johann Schwartz
Krakow State University Printing Press, 2011
Chapter Seven: Hapsburg Plans for Poland-LithuaniaThe unexpected death of Vladislaus Jagiellon in Debrecen had opened up an equally unexpected gift to the Hapsburg dynasty. With the death of the notoriously anti-Hapsburg Polish prince, Maximillian pressed further than simply claiming the Hungarian crown: he thought of having his son, Prince Philip the Fair, married off to one of the Jagiellon princesses (Barbara or Elizabeth), while at the same time making additional plans to ensure a smooth transition to a Hapsburg succession in the Polish-Lithuanian Empire. There was one problem with this plan though: Philip the Fair was engaged to the notorious Joanna the Heretic [1], but her chronic problem of her lack of faith in Christ came back to haunt her when the Inquisition punished the wayward princess. For unknown reasons, the punishment and torture went far beyond the limits of their authority and by accident the Inquisition had resulted in the accidental death of Joanna in 1496.
One of the reasons why the Hapsburg dynasty was vying for the Polish crown was the sudden growth of the Savonarolan heresy. Though it managed to spread into France and some parts of northern Italy, even England was not immune to the heresy, for several sectors of the English society became infiltrated with Savonarolists whose message of charity and piety rang true, in light of several minor peasant revolts over taxes. However, the brief warming of relations between England and France suddenly became cold once again, as Henry VII's newly formed alliance with the Iberian kingdoms of Portugal, Castile and Aragon had allowed its rulers to launch a minor expedition to Brittany, despite the English king's initial promise not to fight the French [2]. However, the absence of a conflict in the Italian states had prompted Charles VIII to not only invade Brittany in return, but to inflict a massive casualty upon an invading English force in the costly Siege of Cherbourg of January of 1493.
The ruthless actions that Charles VIII had undertaken did little to dampen the Hapsburg ambitions to unite most of Europe under their banner. Maximillian, with the support of the Black Army, drove most of the soldiers fighting for John Albert Jagiellon out of northern Hungary by the beginning of 1495. In fact, Maximillian was so confident of his victory that he personally took the Crown of St. Stephen from the guards who worked for the late Matthias Corvinus and had an elaborate ceremony where he was officially crowned King of Hungary. During his coronation, he also ceded the Croatian lands to John Corvinus, a decision that eventually turned out to be a fatal mistake, for John Corvinus proved to be not only inept, but unsuccessful in the face of a hostile Croatian nobility who preferred a legitimate prince instead of an illegitimate one.
--- Excerpts from "King Charles VIII's Letter to Louis II de la Tremoille", July 16, 1492"To My Capable General:
Now that Brittany has been secured, there is something else that we must attend to. The agreement we had with the English where we promised not to back any pretenders to the throne: we're no longer bound by it. As punishment for their tiny expedition against us, we need to start thinking about backing one of the rival claimants on the English throne. It is intolerable of us to even put up with the idiotic excuses that King Henry VII may put up. The fact that the Tudor dynasty has allied itself to our enemies to the south makes me uncomfortable, and even our Auld Alliance with Scotland might not be enough if England actually tries to make a peace treaty with the Scots. Therefore, it is necessary for us to not only pry off England from the influence of the Hapsburgs, and to a lesser extent, the Roman Papacy, but to actually convince this rival claimant whom I would not name for secrecy reasons, that an alliance based on mutual opposition to the Roman Papacy and Hapsburg hegemony will be in our best interests. This doesn't mean that we will turn England into our puppet. Rather, we will have the old Plantagenet dynasty become the dominant ruling dynasty once again, and not the newcomer Tudors.
Sincerely,
King Charles VIII"
--- [1] The alternate name for Joanna the Mad ITTL. IOTL she had a reputation as a some sort of a religious skeptic, not eager to be faithful to her mother's religion. [2] References the letters exchanged between Henry VII of England and Charles VIII of France. Looking good so far. |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on May 7, 2018 4:11:34 GMT
Thanks. I would have to repost the later updates from the AltHistoria site later on this week.
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on May 7, 2018 14:47:08 GMT
Case Study #3: Ottoman Empire
Within the Islamic world, there were currently two great powers that are fighting for total dominance of the Middle East. While the Mamluk Sultanate still reigned, their decline was noticeable to only a few reliable outside sources. In contrast, the Ottoman Empire has continued to grow stronger, prompting fears of a possible Turkish invasion of southern Europe. Moreover, its reigning sultan, Bayezid II, had faced internal turmoil as a result of intrigues surrounding his brother Cem, who languished in a Neapolitan prison. However, Bayezid II's fortunes changed unexpectedly when its nemesis, the Kingdom of Hungary, had fallen into civil war by 1492, owing to the slower but more agonizing death of Matthias Corvinus. The Ottoman Pashas watched the civil war in Hungary with interest, hoping to see how Hungary will weaken herself long enough to be conquered by the might of the Ottoman Army.
Unfortunately, while the Sultan was pleased that Hungary was tearing herself apart, he was unhappy when he learned of Maximillian's ascension into the Hungarian throne. Because of his support from the Black Army and the upper classes of Hungarian society, the Ottomans now had to contemplate on whether or not they can build another kind of army besides the Janissaries: one that consisted entirely of loyal ethnic Turks, Ottoman Arabs, and Kurds. Fortunately for Bayezid II, Maximillian had entrusted the safety of the Croatian borderlands to an inept, illegitimate bastard in John Corvinus. As it turns out, the self-styled King of Croatia and Prince of Bosnia (John was also encouraged by Maximillian to seek out the Bosnian crown in order to bolster his own legitimacy) was not only indecisive, but he faced a sea of hostile Croatian nobles who aren't interested in being ruled by a bastard. It was his unlucky situation that Bayezid would exploit to his full ability. Thus he authorized a series of raids on the borderlands between Ottoman Bosnia and Slavonia by the beginning of October of 1493 in hopes of provoking the illegitimate King of Croatia into waging war against him, which he predictably did with the declaration of war made on the Ottomans by October 10.
The Ottomans launched the first attack by November 3, against the advises of the Pashas who cautioned Bayezid II on campaigning while winter was approaching, to which the Sultan has said: “seasons come and go, but an opportunity to take advantage of an inept enemy comes once in a blue moon”. Though he didn't join the campaign personally, he appointed Sehzade Ahmet to lead the Croatian campaign, while he sent his youngest son, Sehzade Selim, to guard the Ottoman frontier with the Mamluk Sultanate. Sehzade Ahmet's decision to obey his father's wishes didn't come with complaints: one of his complaints was that he needed light cavalry units that can attack the Croatians whenever they wanted it. Currently, there were the akinci light raiders who lived off the booty they captured from civilians, but most of these raiders were sent to Sehzade Selim. Nevertheless, the Ottoman sipahi heavy cavalry and a few Crimean Tatar cavalry squads were enough for Sehzade Ahmet to throw at the Croatians.
---
Excerpts from “Croatia Under the Ottomans: The Yoke of the Turks”
by: Bruno Olujic
Dubrovnik Petrovci Printing Press, 2014
Chapter Five: The Spearhead Pierces Srem
The unfortunate tragedy that befell the late Ivanis Korvin after he ascended to the throne of Croatia was something that future historians had warned the general public on the dangers of choosing an illegitimate child as king of a minor nation. From the moment he took the Croatian crown, most of the Croatian nobility outright refused to recognized his authority. Therefore, the shaky years when Croatia tasted its independence from the Kingdom of Hungary was brutally cut short with the Ottoman invasion of the unrecognized Kingdom of Croatia (though most of Christian Europe recognized it as an autonomous region of Hungary that is set to become independent) in 1493. Vinkovci was among the first cities in eastern Croatia to be targeted by Turkish cannons, while its main force was led by Prince Ahmet, accompanying the cannons. Another Ottoman army struck at western Croatia, this time at the Lika region, led by Hadim Yakup Pasha and 8,000 of his light cavalry irregulars, or akinci. The timing was bad for raids on the Ottomans' part, but to their surprise, they found the country in a middle of a turmoil as the House of Frankopan and Emerik Derencin formed a truce in opposition to Ivanis Korvin. Unbeknownst to the Croatians, the attack on the Lika region served as a diversion intended to draw the main Croatian force from Zagreb, making it vulnerable to an Ottoman conquest. However, it also served as another diversion for Prince Ahmet, who would then take advantage of the diversion to capture his true target: Vukovar.
Surprisingly, the Ottomans failed each time to breach the defenses of Vinkovci, and as the winter season had set in, the Ottoman forces' morale plummeted. Yet Prince Ahmet was determined to capture Vinkovci before moving towards Vukovar. Thus he sent another trusted commander, Gazi Husrev Beg to capture the nearby town and stronghold of Djakovo in order to cut off the supply route between Zagreb and Vukovar. As the weeks went, on, even the Crown Prince of the Ottoman Empire contemplated on retreating from Vinkovci until reinforcements will arrive, but a letter from Bayezid II had explicitly forbade him from doing so, promising him additional cavalry and Janissaries should he hold the line. To bolster the morale of the Ottoman forces, the sultan would appoint Prince Korkut to lead the relief force intended to reinforce Prince Ahmet's position. On the Croatian side, a spirited defense of Knin led by Franjo Berislavic had successfully dented the Ottoman offensive, but Gazi Husrev Beg responded by attacking the only remaining territory of Bosnia that hasn't fallen to the Turks yet.
By the time spring had arrived, Prince Korkut and his forces had finally joined up with Prince Ahmet and was instrumental in the capture of Vinkovci on April 14, 1494. The fall of Djakovo was best described by fear and terror as the Ottoman forces proceeded to capture any children that were unfortunate enough to be left behind by their parents who fled northwards into the rest of Hungary. Any unfortunate adults who fell under Ottoman captivity were then sold into slavery, and in many cases, the maidens of Djakovo were sent to Topkapi as potential slave girls of the Sultan. With Djakovo under Ottoman control, Prince Ahmet and Prince Korkut launched a two pronged attack on Vinkovci, intending to complete the siege once and for all. The news of Djakovo's fall to the Ottomans sapped morale from the Croatian defenders of the city, who decided to retreat to Vukovar where they made their last stand.
Vukovar's fall to the Turks took a lot longer than Vinkovci's fall mainly because of the secure supply lines the Croatians had enjoyed while being reinforced by Hungarian soldiers seeking to prevent Ottoman troops from descending into Belgrade. This time, both Ottoman princes decided to launch a two pronged attack on the stronghold in order to reduce it, allowing them to capture it. However, the Hungarians chose not to take any chances with the Ottomans and Maximillian immediately sent an additional 9,000 troops commanded by Gyorgy Dozsa to relieve the Croatian defenders at Vukovar. Yet Ottoman cannons continued to pound at the walls around the city while Gazi Husrev Beg moved from occupied Djakovo towards Osijek, using his akinci raiders to destroy any food supplies that the Croatians haven't secured yet. By the time Gazi Husrev Beg's army reached Vukovar, Prince Ahmet tasked him with intercepting any enemy reinforcements that might strengthen the defenders' resolve.
The Hungarian reinforcements reached Osijek, only to find it besieged by the Ottomans as Gyorgy Dozsa's troops met the enemy with an equal determination to stop the Ottoman forces from overruning the city. Not only did he fail to stem the Turkish tide, but three quarters of the Hungarian reinforcements perished in the Hungarian defeat at Osijek. Military theorists often debated at how the Hungarians had failed spectacularly at what was supposed to be a minor or even major victory for them. Those who proposed that Hungary had a chance to win at Osijek pointed out that Gazi Husrev Beg's army was running low on food and ammunition while the reinforcements sent by Maximillian had plenty of those things. However, there were the defeatists who pointed out that as Hungary was rebuilding after a brutal succession war was in no shape to come to the aid of its Croatian subjects and needed to rebuild its army. Furthermore, the growing tensions between the Hungarian nobility and peasantry widened as their share of taxes grew much larger in order to finance and maintain the fighting quality of the Black Army, which Maximillian chose to keep, in part because they were the ones who gave him the support needed to secure the Hungarian crown. One particularly disturbing rumor arose that Dozsa entertained the idea of surrendering and defecting to the Ottoman side in exchange for clemency and a future opportunity to rise within the ranks of the Ottoman hierarchy through conversion to Islam. Whatever rumors were countered, there was a common denominator in most of these arguments that popped up: Dozsa's army consisted of peasant conscripts who were badly trained and hastily equipped while the best weapons and armor went to the knights who served the nobility and the Black Army as well.
By July 15, Vukovar's fall seemed imminent: the city was reduced to ruins and the defenders were running low on ammunition, even as they stood their ground. A breach in the walls of the ruined city gave the Ottomans an opportunity it was waiting for: a major push into the city's interior with the cavalry attacking the demoralized defenders while the Janissaries took out any incoming enemy reinforcements. The inhabitants of Vukovar grew fearful for their lives as the Ottoman princes paraded into the streets of their city and the Croatian soldiers who chose to surrender had dropped their weapons. The fall of Vukovar, Vinkovci and Djakovo had given the Ottomans s valuable position in which they can launch their next target: Belgrade.
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VUKOVAR, KINGDOM OF CROATIA
JULY 16, 1494
The smoke emitting from the burning buildings of the fallen city had intoxicated Sehzade Ahmet greatly, though he had to admit that the Croatian defenders of this strategically important city had put up a much more spirited resistance than he expected. With Sehzade Korkut and Gazi Husrev Bey's help, he had fulfilled the Padishah's order of capturing the three cities that can serve as a spearhead for the next campaign against the Hungarians: the capture of Belgrade. The conquest of the city straddling the Danube and Sava Rivers had eluded even the mighty Sultan Mehmet II, and the Hungarians had invested a lot in its fortifications. Now he had an opportunity to plan for the conquest of Belgrade, and it was all going to be his campaign that will allow his father, Sultan Bayezid II, to allow a smooth transition to power when he dies. Unfortunately, there was Sehzade Selim who still posed a direct challenge: he had an army stationed in the Levant.
One of the pashas who accompanied the Crown Prince winced at the sight of the rotting corpses and threw up on the ground, much to the amusement of the Janissaries and the other pashas who chuckled at the weak hearted nature of their sickened colleague.
“Pasha, even a Gazi cannot steel his resolve at the sight of millions of corpses,” said Ahmet to the second pasha to laughed at the pasha who vomited. “I for one, felt a bit queasy when I had my first campaign.”
“Sehzadem, I only laugh because Yusuf Pasha hasn't gotten used to the stench of death,” the pasha replied back. He pointed at the starving citizens of Vukovar. “If anything, we need to feel pity to the inhabitants that came under our control.”
Sehzade Ahmet nodded. “While I may excuse your conduct, Zehir Pasha, any other prince would have simply taken their anger out on you for even less. Never forget my hotheaded brother who will make a pasha quiver in fear.”
“Sehzadem!” Ahmet turned around to see Gazi Husrev Bey and three Janissaries approaching him. “We have a guest.” Sehzade Ahmet spotted a captured Hungarian soldier whose hands were bound. “This kafir here wanted to say something.”
“Sire, I'm just an envoy from Sir Gyorgy Dozsa's army, but my lord has grown rather angry and disillusioned,” the Hungarian captive explained. The Ottomans' curiosity peaked as they gathered around to listen to the captive. “I'm also a lowly peasant who joined simply because we had no food for our families. Hungary is going to explode with the anger of the peasants who are overtaxed and overworked.”
Gazi Husrev Bey smirked at the captive. “A peasant who joined his lord's army just to eat? What a coward!”
“Husrev Bey!” Ahmet snapped. “Silence your tongue! The cowardly captive, as you called him, has a good reason to fear for his life. A Christian soldier has a different military tradition to the Muslim Gazis who fought for Allah's cause. Do you not forget that the infidels who control the Holy Roman Empire now controls the Hungarian lands? How will we triumph if we have pashas and sanjak beys who cannot think with their brains and uses emotions instead!?”
The shocked bey bowed his head in shame. “I apologize, Sehzadem.”
“You may continue.” Ahmet gestured to the captive.
“I don't know when it will occur, but a peasant revolt in my homeland would surely provoke a war between your empire and that of Maximillian's. I'm frustrated that the food that we've grown are now being confiscated-” Ahmet raised his hand to silence the captive.
“Your complaints are heard. I will relay your concerns to my father, the Padishah himself. His Majesty Sultan Bayezid Khan about it.” The Ottomans gestured for the Hungarian captive to leave.
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lordroel
Administrator
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Post by lordroel on May 8, 2018 3:53:53 GMT
Case Study #3: Ottoman EmpireWithin the Islamic world, there were currently two great powers that are fighting for total dominance of the Middle East. While the Mamluk Sultanate still reigned, their decline was noticeable to only a few reliable outside sources. In contrast, the Ottoman Empire has continued to grow stronger, prompting fears of a possible Turkish invasion of southern Europe. Moreover, its reigning sultan, Bayezid II, had faced internal turmoil as a result of intrigues surrounding his brother Cem, who languished in a Neapolitan prison. However, Bayezid II's fortunes changed unexpectedly when its nemesis, the Kingdom of Hungary, had fallen into civil war by 1492, owing to the slower but more agonizing death of Matthias Corvinus. The Ottoman Pashas watched the civil war in Hungary with interest, hoping to see how Hungary will weaken herself long enough to be conquered by the might of the Ottoman Army. Unfortunately, while the Sultan was pleased that Hungary was tearing herself apart, he was unhappy when he learned of Maximillian's ascension into the Hungarian throne. Because of his support from the Black Army and the upper classes of Hungarian society, the Ottomans now had to contemplate on whether or not they can build another kind of army besides the Janissaries: one that consisted entirely of loyal ethnic Turks, Ottoman Arabs, and Kurds. Fortunately for Bayezid II, Maximillian had entrusted the safety of the Croatian borderlands to an inept, illegitimate bastard in John Corvinus. As it turns out, the self-styled King of Croatia and Prince of Bosnia (John was also encouraged by Maximillian to seek out the Bosnian crown in order to bolster his own legitimacy) was not only indecisive, but he faced a sea of hostile Croatian nobles who aren't interested in being ruled by a bastard. It was his unlucky situation that Bayezid would exploit to his full ability. Thus he authorized a series of raids on the borderlands between Ottoman Bosnia and Slavonia by the beginning of October of 1493 in hopes of provoking the illegitimate King of Croatia into waging war against him, which he predictably did with the declaration of war made on the Ottomans by October 10. The Ottomans launched the first attack by November 3, against the advises of the Pashas who cautioned Bayezid II on campaigning while winter was approaching, to which the Sultan has said: “seasons come and go, but an opportunity to take advantage of an inept enemy comes once in a blue moon”. Though he didn't join the campaign personally, he appointed Sehzade Ahmet to lead the Croatian campaign, while he sent his youngest son, Sehzade Selim, to guard the Ottoman frontier with the Mamluk Sultanate. Sehzade Ahmet's decision to obey his father's wishes didn't come with complaints: one of his complaints was that he needed light cavalry units that can attack the Croatians whenever they wanted it. Currently, there were the akinci light raiders who lived off the booty they captured from civilians, but most of these raiders were sent to Sehzade Selim. Nevertheless, the Ottoman sipahi heavy cavalry and a few Crimean Tatar cavalry squads were enough for Sehzade Ahmet to throw at the Croatians. --- Excerpts from “Croatia Under the Ottomans: The Yoke of the Turks”
by: Bruno Olujic
Dubrovnik Petrovci Printing Press, 2014
Chapter Five: The Spearhead Pierces SremThe unfortunate tragedy that befell the late Ivanis Korvin after he ascended to the throne of Croatia was something that future historians had warned the general public on the dangers of choosing an illegitimate child as king of a minor nation. From the moment he took the Croatian crown, most of the Croatian nobility outright refused to recognized his authority. Therefore, the shaky years when Croatia tasted its independence from the Kingdom of Hungary was brutally cut short with the Ottoman invasion of the unrecognized Kingdom of Croatia (though most of Christian Europe recognized it as an autonomous region of Hungary that is set to become independent) in 1493. Vinkovci was among the first cities in eastern Croatia to be targeted by Turkish cannons, while its main force was led by Prince Ahmet, accompanying the cannons. Another Ottoman army struck at western Croatia, this time at the Lika region, led by Hadim Yakup Pasha and 8,000 of his light cavalry irregulars, or akinci. The timing was bad for raids on the Ottomans' part, but to their surprise, they found the country in a middle of a turmoil as the House of Frankopan and Emerik Derencin formed a truce in opposition to Ivanis Korvin.
Unbeknownst to the Croatians, the attack on the Lika region served as a diversion intended to draw the main Croatian force from Zagreb, making it vulnerable to an Ottoman conquest. However, it also served as another diversion for Prince Ahmet, who would then take advantage of the diversion to capture his true target: Vukovar.
Surprisingly, the Ottomans failed each time to breach the defenses of Vinkovci, and as the winter season had set in, the Ottoman forces' morale plummeted. Yet Prince Ahmet was determined to capture Vinkovci before moving towards Vukovar. Thus he sent another trusted commander, Gazi Husrev Beg to capture the nearby town and stronghold of Djakovo in order to cut off the supply route between Zagreb and Vukovar. As the weeks went, on, even the Crown Prince of the Ottoman Empire contemplated on retreating from Vinkovci until reinforcements will arrive, but a letter from Bayezid II had explicitly forbade him from doing so, promising him additional cavalry and Janissaries should he hold the line. To bolster the morale of the Ottoman forces, the sultan would appoint Prince Korkut to lead the relief force intended to reinforce Prince Ahmet's position. On the Croatian side, a spirited defense of Knin led by Franjo Berislavic had successfully dented the Ottoman offensive, but Gazi Husrev Beg responded by attacking the only remaining territory of Bosnia that hasn't fallen to the Turks yet.
By the time spring had arrived, Prince Korkut and his forces had finally joined up with Prince Ahmet and was instrumental in the capture of Vinkovci on April 14, 1494. The fall of Djakovo was best described by fear and terror as the Ottoman forces proceeded to capture any children that were unfortunate enough to be left behind by their parents who fled northwards into the rest of Hungary. Any unfortunate adults who fell under Ottoman captivity were then sold into slavery, and in many cases, the maidens of Djakovo were sent to Topkapi as potential slave girls of the Sultan. With Djakovo under Ottoman control, Prince Ahmet and Prince Korkut launched a two pronged attack on Vinkovci, intending to complete the siege once and for all. The news of Djakovo's fall to the Ottomans sapped morale from the Croatian defenders of the city, who decided to retreat to Vukovar where they made their last stand.
Vukovar's fall to the Turks took a lot longer than Vinkovci's fall mainly because of the secure supply lines the Croatians had enjoyed while being reinforced by Hungarian soldiers seeking to prevent Ottoman troops from descending into Belgrade. This time, both Ottoman princes decided to launch a two pronged attack on the stronghold in order to reduce it, allowing them to capture it. However, the Hungarians chose not to take any chances with the Ottomans and Maximillian immediately sent an additional 9,000 troops commanded by Gyorgy Dozsa to relieve the Croatian defenders at Vukovar. Yet Ottoman cannons continued to pound at the walls around the city while Gazi Husrev Beg moved from occupied Djakovo towards Osijek, using his akinci raiders to destroy any food supplies that the Croatians haven't secured yet. By the time Gazi Husrev Beg's army reached Vukovar, Prince Ahmet tasked him with intercepting any enemy reinforcements that might strengthen the defenders' resolve.
The Hungarian reinforcements reached Osijek, only to find it besieged by the Ottomans as Gyorgy Dozsa's troops met the enemy with an equal determination to stop the Ottoman forces from overruning the city. Not only did he fail to stem the Turkish tide, but three quarters of the Hungarian reinforcements perished in the Hungarian defeat at Osijek. Military theorists often debated at how the Hungarians had failed spectacularly at what was supposed to be a minor or even major victory for them. Those who proposed that Hungary had a chance to win at Osijek pointed out that Gazi Husrev Beg's army was running low on food and ammunition while the reinforcements sent by Maximillian had plenty of those things. However, there were the defeatists who pointed out that as Hungary was rebuilding after a brutal succession war was in no shape to come to the aid of its Croatian subjects and needed to rebuild its army. Furthermore, the growing tensions between the Hungarian nobility and peasantry widened as their share of taxes grew much larger in order to finance and maintain the fighting quality of the Black Army, which Maximillian chose to keep, in part because they were the ones who gave him the support needed to secure the Hungarian crown. One particularly disturbing rumor arose that Dozsa entertained the idea of surrendering and defecting to the Ottoman side in exchange for clemency and a future opportunity to rise within the ranks of the Ottoman hierarchy through conversion to Islam. Whatever rumors were countered, there was a common denominator in most of these arguments that popped up: Dozsa's army consisted of peasant conscripts who were badly trained and hastily equipped while the best weapons and armor went to the knights who served the nobility and the Black Army as well.
By July 15, Vukovar's fall seemed imminent: the city was reduced to ruins and the defenders were running low on ammunition, even as they stood their ground. A breach in the walls of the ruined city gave the Ottomans an opportunity it was waiting for: a major push into the city's interior with the cavalry attacking the demoralized defenders while the Janissaries took out any incoming enemy reinforcements. The inhabitants of Vukovar grew fearful for their lives as the Ottoman princes paraded into the streets of their city and the Croatian soldiers who chose to surrender had dropped their weapons. The fall of Vukovar, Vinkovci and Djakovo had given the Ottomans s valuable position in which they can launch their next target: Belgrade.
---
VUKOVAR, KINGDOM OF CROATIA
JULY 16, 1494The smoke emitting from the burning buildings of the fallen city had intoxicated Sehzade Ahmet greatly, though he had to admit that the Croatian defenders of this strategically important city had put up a much more spirited resistance than he expected. With Sehzade Korkut and Gazi Husrev Bey's help, he had fulfilled the Padishah's order of capturing the three cities that can serve as a spearhead for the next campaign against the Hungarians: the capture of Belgrade. The conquest of the city straddling the Danube and Sava Rivers had eluded even the mighty Sultan Mehmet II, and the Hungarians had invested a lot in its fortifications. Now he had an opportunity to plan for the conquest of Belgrade, and it was all going to be his campaign that will allow his father, Sultan Bayezid II, to allow a smooth transition to power when he dies. Unfortunately, there was Sehzade Selim who still posed a direct challenge: he had an army stationed in the Levant.
One of the pashas who accompanied the Crown Prince winced at the sight of the rotting corpses and threw up on the ground, much to the amusement of the Janissaries and the other pashas who chuckled at the weak hearted nature of their sickened colleague.
“Pasha, even a Gazi cannot steel his resolve at the sight of millions of corpses,” said Ahmet to the second pasha to laughed at the pasha who vomited. “I for one, felt a bit queasy when I had my first campaign.”
“Sehzadem, I only laugh because Yusuf Pasha hasn't gotten used to the stench of death,” the pasha replied back. He pointed at the starving citizens of Vukovar. “If anything, we need to feel pity to the inhabitants that came under our control.”
Sehzade Ahmet nodded. “While I may excuse your conduct, Zehir Pasha, any other prince would have simply taken their anger out on you for even less. Never forget my hotheaded brother who will make a pasha quiver in fear.”
“Sehzadem!” Ahmet turned around to see Gazi Husrev Bey and three Janissaries approaching him. “We have a guest.” Sehzade Ahmet spotted a captured Hungarian soldier whose hands were bound. “This infidel here wanted to say something.”
“Sire, I'm just an envoy from Sir Gyorgy Dozsa's army, but my lord has grown rather angry and disillusioned,” the Hungarian captive explained. The Ottomans' curiosity peaked as they gathered around to listen to the captive. “I'm also a lowly peasant who joined simply because we had no food for our families. Hungary is going to explode with the anger of the peasants who are overtaxed and overworked.”
Gazi Husrev Bey smirked at the captive. “A peasant who joined his lord's army just to eat? What a coward!”
“Husrev Bey!” Ahmet snapped. “Silence your tongue! The cowardly captive, as you called him, has a good reason to fear for his life. A Christian soldier has a different military tradition to the Muslim Gazis who fought for Allah's cause. Do you not forget that the infidels who control the Holy Roman Empire now controls the Hungarian lands? How will we triumph if we have pashas and sanjak beys who cannot think with their brains and uses emotions instead!?”
The shocked bey bowed his head in shame. “I apologize, Sehzadem.”
“You may continue.” Ahmet gestured to the captive.
“I don't know when it will occur, but a peasant revolt in my homeland would surely provoke a war between your empire and that of Maximillian's. I'm frustrated that the food that we've grown are now being confiscated-” Ahmet raised his hand to silence the captive.
“Your complaints are heard. I will relay your concerns to my father, the Padishah himself. His Majesty Sultan Bayezid Khan about it.” The Ottomans gestured for the Hungarian captive to leave. Looks nice TheRomanSlayer. |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on May 8, 2018 4:05:38 GMT
Thanks.
Maps won't appear here due to it being created in the Munroist form.
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lordroel
Administrator
Posts: 68,033
Likes: 49,439
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Post by lordroel on May 8, 2018 4:37:30 GMT
Thanks. Maps won't appear here due to it being created in the Munroist form. No problem, just glad that you have decided to post your timeline here. |
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