Part 15: Crusader Kings: Chapter 15 - Status Quo: 1180 - 1192

1180 - 1192: Status Quo

Konstantinos' and Katerina's second son is born in October of 1181.


As christmas approaches, Barbara comes to her brother with a plot to assassinate the Duke of Lower Lorraine, who has claims on Swabia, citing the need to act pre-emptively to protect the dynasty. Konstatinos is appalled, and rebuffs the idea.


Determined to be the father to his sons that Aingeru never was to him, Konstatinos takes young Isaakios under his wing, helping him pass the stumbling blocks of early childhood.


The Duke of Upper Lorraine, who has held on to the Swabian province Furstenberg for decades, appoints a bishop to rule it in his place. Within a year, the Bishop declares independence, and Upper Lorraine does not seem to be interested in getting the province back.


Tragedy strikes in 1182 as Katerina dies in childbed.


After the requisite mourning period, Konstatinos remarries, choosing an amiable young woman from Austria as his bride.



The fires of revolt are still burning in Ulm, and Konstatinos is forced to agree to a lowering of taxes on peasants to end the revolt, an action that hurts his standing in the eyes of his peers.


War has erupted between Germany on one side, and Burgundy-Italy and Bohemia on the other. Konstatinos declares himself neutral in the conflict, but makes a secret pact with Walram to keep German troops moving through Swabia supplied and provide material support.


Burgundy is slow to mobilize, and North German armies quickly seize the Burgundian demesne, forcing Almerich to ask for peace. In the peace agreement, Germany gets Salzburg and several Italian provinces.


After defeating Burgundy, Germany turns on Bohemia. The Czechs suffer a stinging defeat and are forced to cede Liberec.


The marriage to Katharina proves to be a fruitful one, and she bears him five sons and one daughter over the course of the decade.



The Pope, fearful of the muslim hordes standing at the gates of Navarra, calls a crusade against Cordoba. The various catholic rulers answer the call with a shrug - the only one to even send troops to Iberia is the King of Sweden. Like many of his fellow lords, Konstatinos dares not bleed Swabia of manpower in the current political situation. Though North Germany is emerging as the top dog, Burgundy is far from out of the game, and Germany is still split in two camps.
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Polotsk, still mired in war with Poland, opens a second front against Finland and quickly takes control of several of their provinces.


In 1186, after several years of good relations, the Bishop of Furstenberg requests to become a part of Swabia. Konstatinos gladly accepts.


Having become a neutral center of commerce for both sides in the conflict, Swabia is prospering and its armies now number over thirty thousand men.


The youngest of Konstatinos' sons dies shortly after his birth in in 1190, and while his parents mourn, such things happen, and Konstatinos has six other sons who can inherit.


Several more years of peace and stability in Germany follow. In 1192, however, King Walram is grievously injured in a hunting accident. He quickly falls ill, and seems close to death.


North Germany stands without a strong successor - the electoral support lies with the Duke of Brandenburg, an incompetent fop who would likely tear down everything Walram had built up. Desperate to see his dream fulfilled, Walram turns to Konstatinos - offering to back him in the succession to the crown if Swabia joins North Germany. Konstantinos deliberates for a long time - Swabia has prospered as an independent realm, and though the Hohenzollerns would rule North Germany until his death, there might come another Nikolaus after him. Still, if North Germany falls, that means the heretical and brutal Burgundian King might eventually seize the crown.

That is something Konstatinos can not permit.