Part 7: Crusader Kings: Chapter 7 - Peace and Prosperity: 1104 - 1109

1104-1109: Peace and Prosperity?

1104 begins with a marriage as Emperor Waldemar's widowed sister Osterhild is wed to Adolf, the German Marshal.


What follows the marriage celebrations is far from joyous, as a string of misfortunes descend on the Emperor's lands. First, there is news that Valais is suffering from the after-effects of looting under the war. Much of its population fled to neighbouring counties, and there are not enough peasants to work the fields.


In February, Waldemar's niece and the child of his bastard brother Konrad, comes down with pneumonia.


A short while later, a lady of the court whom Waldemar spent some time with during the victory celebrations reveals that she is pregnant. If Waldemar was the honest and hard-working Duke who accepted the crown during Germany's darkest days, he might well have done the right thing and recognized the child as his. However, Waldemar is now Emperor, with a head swollen from his victories and a habit for getting things done his way. He banishes the woman for spreading lies about him, hoping that will put an end to the affair.


Of course, this arbitrary act only serves to confirm his misdeed in the eyes of the court, and soon enough, the story of Waldemar's bastard child and unjustly banished lover has spread all across the realm, doing significant damage to the Emperor's standing in the eyes of his vassals.


July proves to be a tragic month, as the ill Amalberga dies, shortly followed into the grave by her infant brother, whom the poor child had unwittingly infected while playing.


An even greater tragedy strikes in August, as Waldemar's infant son Ludolf, Duke of Swabia-Baden and heir to the dynasty, is killed in an accident whilst in the care of the ruling council in Wurttemburg. A grieving and enraged Emperor Waldemar first exiles the ruling council, then reclaims the entirety of Swabia-Baden for the crown, revoking the titles of several Counts whom the ruling council had appointed. This is met with outrage from many of Waldemar's vassals, especially following so shortly on the banishment scandal.


A glimmer of good news in the midst of all the tragedy, as in winter of 1104 Adalbert von Hohenzollern, eldest surviving of Friedrich's bastards, regains control of his senses from whatever demonic creature had possessed him. He returns to court from the quiet manor where he had been housed, and is given a prominent position among Waldemar's personal guard.


Two new Dutchies are created in an effort to improve Waldemar's reputation among his vassals: Tuscany in Italy and Thuringia in North Germany.



In early 1105, Empress Eve becomes with child, and in November, she gives birth to a healthy boy, who is given the name Otto von Hohenzollern. Overjoyed and refusing to put the life of another Hohenzollern heir into the hands of petty barons, Waldemar announces that he will raise the boy himself, and that Swabia-Baden will remain under royal administration until Otto reaches majority.


Two years of peace is something Germany hasn't seen in a long time, and slowly but surely its razed and war-torn provinces begin to prosper again.




Adelaide, Waldemar's mother and de facto ruler of Swabia during Waldemar's minority, passes away in the summer of 1105 at the age of 47. During her last years, the burden of losing three of her six children and the strains of rulership had left her a seclusive shadow, and her death goes largely unnoticed, though Waldemar spares no expenses on her funeral and burial place in the Hohenzollern family crypt in Schwaben.


1105 also proves to be a disconcerting year for those German rulers who wish to see the church's influence lessened. Rome has yet to acknowledge Waldemar's title, and in what is seen by many as an attempt to get his vaunted coronation by the Pope, Waldemar has been ruling a number of disputes in the clergy's favor, and has even donated a large part of Swabia-Baden to the Archbishop of Bavaria.



Even an outright attempt by the Pope to stake a claim to the lands of a German vassal goes unanswered.


In 1107, new ideas begin spreading to Germany from the surrounding lands. These ideas state that the nobility should only have one profession, warfare, and that they should be governed by a set of rules and ideals known as 'chivalry'. The ideas quickly find fertile soil among the powerful noble houses of the realm, and Waldemar is faced with an overwhelming demand to revise German's ruling laws into a Feudal Contract between liege and vassal. Being quite taken in by the new ideals himself, Waldemar agrees.


April of 1107 sees the first vassal revolt in four years, as the tiny County of Forcalquier breaks away from Provence.


The end result of such an ill-conceived rebellion is quite inevitable.


Feeling that it's been long enough, and that he is spending far too much gold that could be put to better use elsewhere, Waldemar ends the giving of alms to looted provinces that he instituted at the end of the war.


The people and rulers of Germany are not impressed at such a miserly act by the self-proclaimed 'Chivalric Emperor'.


The power of the Church continues to grow, though a Papal coronation remains elusive...



News reaches the court that Leon has launched a reconquista and taken considerable lands from the muslim rulers of East Iberia. However, this has provoked the Muslim King of al-Murabitids in Morocco into declaring war on Iberia's christians, a war that currently appears to be going badly for Leon.


War has also erupted in the east as Poland has declared war on Bohemia over Bohemia's land grabs in Lower Silesia. Bohemia responds by seizing Upper Silesia from the weakened Silesian Duke.


Only days after its soldiers crosses the border in Boehmia, Poland is in turn attacked by the large and wealthy Principiality of Polotsk, forcing it to fight a war on two fronts.


Within a few weeks, the Poles have been forced to sign a white peace with Bohemia, as slavic soldiers loot their way through the realm.


Germany continues to prosper, an oasis of wealth and stability in a war-torn Europe.


Waldemar's only surviving niece, Sofie, reaches majority. Though she is misshaped and hunchbacked, she is a bright young woman with a sense for finances, and a husband is quickly found for her in Bohemia.



With no serious signs of dissent among his vassals and a treasury filled to the brim with gold, Waldemar begins looking around for an opportunity to gain glory and prestige, and perhaps impress the Pope. He finds what he seeks in the pagan Tribe of Mecklemburg on the baltic coast, who have begun raiding the surrounding German lands.


Waldemar declares that Mecklenburg shall be the target of a German Crusade, intended to incorporate it into the Empire and to convert its pagan populace to the one true belief. Twenty thousand men are drawn together from Waldemar's demesne and war is declared.


As the pagan warriors of Mecklenburg take to the fields to meet them, Waldemar personally leads his knights into the battle, smashing into their midst and reaching the pagan High Chief, who only barely manages to escape impalement on a german lance. The heathens crumble before the unstoppable cavalry charge, scattering in all directions.


Mecklemburg itself falls after a short siege, then Lübeck, then Werle. Nowhere do the pagans manage to mass any significant amount of warriors after their initial costly defeats.


Soon enough, all the lands of High Chief Antoni are held by Waldemar's soldiers, and the heathen ruler has little choice but to surrender to spare his people from further retributions.


Two new duchal titles are created out of the newly acquired lands. The Bishop of Bremen is made Archbishop of Holstein and given Lübeck.


Waldemar's ex-marshal, the devotedly loyal Adolf, is made Duke of Mecklemburg and given the rest of the pagan lands to rule.


Otto von Hohenzollern is old enough to begin considering the form of his education. Waldemar decrees that he shall be raised at the Imperial court, so that he may be instructed in all the aspects of rulership.


Besancon, a Burgundian province with French cultural roots, has become more and more German in culture and tradition with each passing year, and this has now reached the point where the people of Bescanon can be considered proper German subjects.


Ill fortune continues to befall the bastards of Friedrich, as Georg von Hohenzollern becomes severely ill with stomach aches and fever.


As Waldemar is hosting a grand tourney in Bern celebrating the rich harvest of 1108, he is approached by his Diocese Bishop, Ludolf. Ludolf's longstanding and bitter enemy, the spy master of Lower Lorraine, is participating in the tourney and Ludolf wishes to go up against him in a bout with sharp weapons. To deny such a request would be seen as a severe breach of the chivalric code by his vassals, so Waldemar reluctantly allows it. Unfortunately for Ludolf, his rival is far better with a lance than he is, and he is unsaddled in the very first round and carried off the field with severe chest injuries. He dies not long after.


A month later, Georg von Hohenzollern loses the battle with his illness. Out Friedrich's six sons, four have now succumbed to illness or injury, and none have reached the age of thirty.


Waldemar is informed by his spy master that the Adolf of Carinthia, the only Grand Duke to fight on Waldemar's side during the succession war, is secretly plotting a rebellion against him. For now, it appears that he has little support outside his own court, but Waldemar decides to keep Adolf under close watch and have him dealt with'if he becomes a serious thread.


Feeling reasonably certain that whatever demon possesed the bastard Hohenzollern in the past is gone for good, Waldemar appoints his brother Adalbert to the position of Marshal. Adalbert is quick to use the position to enrich himself, proving once and for all that his mind is perfectly sound again.


Some curious news have reached the court. The small Duchy of Sardinia has launched a series of wildly successful wars against their muslim neighbours, conquering Tunisia and most of Sicily, transforming them into a serious mediterrenean power.


The revolts and unrest in France finally reaches a boiling point, as most of Southern France under the Duke of Aquitaine revolts. Shortly thereafter, the Duchy of Flanders joins Aquitaine in rebellion, meaning that more than half the lands in the realm of France are now independent.


The news coming from Iberia are even more concerning - Leon has been utterly defeated by the al-Murabitids and forced to cede most of their land, including their entire border with Navarra. With its christian rulers isolated and badly diminished, Iberia is likely to fall entirely until the sway of Muslim rulers barring help from other parts of Europe.


A crusade seems inevitable.