Part 28: A Content Reign in Cairo 1424 - 1453
With no further large conquests on the horizon, I allow Malcolm plenty of time to work on domestic issues. The troublesome Italian Duke of Tripolitania has managed to get himself excommunicated, and with no male children in his family, Malcolm is set to inherit them upon his death.
To hasten things along, we send our marshal to his capital and have him thrown into the dungeons. Since he is excommunicated, nobody objects.
A long period of peace gives our vassals a chance to pursue their own ambitions. Our Duke of Aswan declares a holy war against the Shiekh of Hayya with the aim of taking his land.
The Duke of Aswan is a member of our family, and he calls on the other Ua Briain dukes of Egypt to come to his aid. This results in a large invasion by our realm on a foreign power that Malcolm himself is not involved with.
The Duke of Aswan succeeds in his war and expands the borders of Egypt even further south.
Malcolm becomes known as Malcolm the Holy as word of his virtues spreads.
Malcolm's second son, Brian comes of age. Fantastic beards seem to be common in this generation of Ua Briains.
The Duke of Tripolitania dies in our dungeons, and his holding passes into our control and puts us one holding above our demesne cap. Before I can hand his titles over to a new Irish Duke, we get a negative modifier. These events can occur when you lack the ability to properly administrate all of your land. That is, when you are above your demesne limit.
Leptis Magna and the Duchy of Tripolitania are each granted to a new subject, bringing our number of holdings down within our demesne limit once again.
Our third son, Muiredach the Bastard comes of age. He is a schemer, and he is good at it.
After we're back within our demesne limit for a while, King Malcolm is able to stamp out the problems that arose while his attention was divided.
We press a claim for the new Duke of Tripolitania on the county of Tripolitania. Only a single remains in North Africa for us to take, now.
Our kinsman Emperor in Byzantium is not doing well. He is universally hated by his subjects and known as a man of poor character.
His younger brother has a more likable persona though, and would potentially give the Empire a greater chance of recombining. In order to give him a better chance of survival, we invite him to our court and find him a talented bride. I don't plan to war against the Empire to press his claim, but I would like to see him remain safe.
As the years pass, we continue only to see small scale wars and suppression of rebels rather than enormous conflicts. We press a claim for the Duke of Tripoli on the county of Tortosa - held by a rebellious independent Byzantine ex-vassal.
Our brother, the Duke of Damascus, sees a weakness in the Shia Caliphate and launches his own holy war for Nefoud - the region in central Arabia.
Once again, the other vassals of Egypt come to a kinsman's aid. A large force marches on the Shia Caliphate without the involvement of King Malcolm.
Malcolm aids the war in his own way by taking advantage of the situation to launch his own holy war for Arabia Felix. This region of Arabia contains such places as Medina and the Caliph's capital of Mecca.
The Queen of Mauretania dies, and her son succeeds her as King. I failed to notice that her son is the Duke of Tunis, so now Tunis is a part of Mauretania. Tunis is a rich area, but it's also pretty far away. I think that rather than pressing our claim to re-take the duchy, we'll just accept this fact and move on.
The Shia Caliphate's strength wanes. It can no longer put up the same fight that it once could.
Our forces mass in Arabia Felix and assault holdings all the way down the coast.
The Duke of Damascus sees progress in his war as well.
Our series of rapid assaults wins us Arabia Felix, and after another year of fighting the forces of Damascus claim victory as well.
As time marches on, it becomes clear that the current Byzantine Emperor will see no success in reuniting his empire. We attempt to get a more qualified person on the throne by hastening his demise so that his younger brother might charge. Emperor Dungal is still so disliked by his vassals that we're easily capable of finding the necessary amount of co-conspirators.
With far more plot strength than needed, we put the plan into motion.
Our success places his younger brother Conn on the throne. Hopefully he'll see more success than his predecessor.
Egypt is now actually growing much further into Arabia than I had planned to. The combination of Malcolm's war for Arabia Felix along with the war of his brother in Damascus has given us enough land to create the title for the Kingdom of Arabia.
Several years later, King Malcolm moves to remove the last influence of the Italian Dukes of Capua from Northern Italy.
This conquest finally connects the realms of Ua Briain Egypt and Mauretania
Another minor conquest in the north claims a de jure part of the Kingdom of Syria for our realm.
I'm not sure what Malcolm had to be stressed out about, but stress did him in. His son, Malcolm II becomes the new King of Egypt.
To reduce the administrative burden of pleasing so many distant lords, Malcolm II grants the crown of Arabia to his uncle, Prince Domnall. The Lords of Arabia were on the verge of rebellion and I just didn't want to deal with a civil war so close to the end date. Prince Domnall is only too happy to accept, but King Malcolm is not pleased that the new King of Arabia took his old home of Damascus with him.
King Domnall was happy to receive the crown of Arabia, but Syria is ours, and we're going to take Damascus back.
King Domnall of Arabia had already actually launched another holy war against an Arabian Emir. While his forces are occupied in the south, our armies pour into Damascus and reclaim the duchy for Egypt. And this is just about where we run out of time. January 2, 1453 is the end date for Crusader Kings 2. I am planning one final update to post after this one which will include pictures of the world, the spread of the Ua Briain dynasty, and some information on other prominent dynasties in 1453.