Part 30: Crusader Kings: Chapter 30 - Epilogue: 1391 - 1399

1391 - 1399: Epilogue

After being crowned Emperor, Waldemar spends the next years in fervent activity, traveling through Germany and garnering support among his vassals for some grand scheme. It is evident to all that he is planning something, but only a few know exactly what it is. In 1399, Waldemar convenes the Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire for the first time in centuries, and lays forth his plan for the future of the Empire in a decree called the Golden Bull.

The Golden Bull places the authority of electing an Emperor solely with the Prince-Electors, grants the Emperor sole jurisdiction over both temporal and ecclestical matters in the Empire and grants the Reichstag the authority to created shared laws for the Empire. However, Waldemar has had to make considerable concessions to attain this authority, including the abolishment of the vassalage system. All former vassals of the Emperor are denominated 'Member States', and are obliged to raise a certain number of troops and pay homage to the Emperor in exchange for protection, but are otherwise self-governing in all matters. Thus, Waldemar surrenders much of his temporal power for freedom from the hated church.


Boniface IX's response to Waldemar is a harsh ultimatum - nullify the bill or be excommunicated. Waldemar's response is equally harsh, declaring the Popes to be heretics and to have despoiled the church and caused God's wrath to strike the world with their hunger for temporal power. He vows to free Naples, Tuscany and Urbino from papal rule, and as the 14th century ends and the 15th begins, hostilites erupt outside Florence as Boniface excommunicates Waldemar. The Emperor and the Pope are at war.


As the world slowly recovers from the Great Mortality, a new age is dawning. An age of exploration and colonialism, an age of nation-states, philosophers and merchants, an age where the feudal rule of Kings and Dukes begins to be replaced with the ideas of statecraft.


It is the first stumbling step towards the modern world.


It is Europe's awakening.


The Crusader Kings part of this LP is now complete - Europa Universalis III awaits.