Part 34: Europa Universalis III: Chapter 4 - No Rest for the Wicked: 1410 - 1421

1410 - 1421: No Rest for the Wicked

At the onset of the Second War of the Golden Bull, Swabia is still reeling from its conflict with France, and there is widespread discontent among both commoners and nobles over the decision to attack the Papacy. However, Waldemar expects the war will be a short one - between the Imperial army and his allies, he can muster three times the forces of the Papacy and the Italian states aligned with it.


Waldemar's goals for South Italy remains the same - partition the Papal States between Urbino, Naples and Sicily, allowing the Pope to keep only Rome. The last war saw some of those goals fulfilled, but Abruzzi, Napoli and Apulia are still in the Pope's hands.


The King of Hungary, who has just lost a war to Austria, approaches Waldemar with the offer of an alliance, though with the condition that Hungary remain neutral in Waldemar's current war. Eager for a powerful ally to balance out Austria's influence in the Balkans, Waldemar agrees.


Swabian troops enter the borders of the Papal ally Modena in autumn of 1410, sweeping aside its weak army, and beginning to lay siege to Parma. Waldemar wants the Pope's allies dealt with as quick as possible, and sends an agent to "negotiate a surrender" with Parma's garrison commander.


The ploy succeeds, and the commander defects along with a large number of garrison troops, weakening the city's ability to effectively defend against the siege.


Parma falls in the summer of 1411, and the Duke of Modena is forced to sign a harsh peace, swearing vassalage to Waldemar.



By autumn of 1411, Rome is in Swabian hands as well, and the Papal army is in wild retreat. Its allies have all signed separate peace with Waldemar, and Pope Clemens VII stands alone.


Disaster strikes in the winter siege camp at Abruzzi, as Waldemar falls ill with a bad cough. The cough quickly develops into lung fever, and Emperor Waldemar passes away on December 20th. His eldest son Konrad, crowned Konrad II, succeeds him on the Swabian throne. He is an antagonistic man who has spend his youth in the Imperial army. Though he is an incompetent administration and a lacklustre diplomat, he is a brilliant cavalry commander, and certainly the right man to take the throne during the midst of a war.

After news of Waldemar's death reach the courts of the Empire, the Electors convene in Mainz. Only Sudety and Tuscany favor Konrad, but the other electors are split, and so Konrad is elected Holy Roman Emperor with only two of the eight votes in his favor.


Clemens VII wastes no time excommunicating Konrad, and Swabia remains under interdict.


By summer of 1412, the Papal troops have rallied, and Clemens VII succeeds in driving the Swabian armies from the countryside around Rome, though the city itself remains in Konrad's hands. The change in fortune does not last, however, as Konrad returns with reinforcements and attacks Clemens, driving his army back down south.


Napoli falls in 1413, followed by Apulia in 1414. With all of his lands occupied, the Pope has little choice but to accept a peace on Konrad's terms, ceding almost all of his lands.



Peace is formally signed in November of 1414.


The truce with France has almost run out, and the French King has issued a strongly worded condemndation of the Hohenzollerns' attack on the church, warning Konrad that any further belligerence on the part of Swabia will result in war.


Brushing off the French threats, Konrad sets about restoring Abruzzia, Napoli and Apulia to a grateful King of Naples, who in return agrees to make Naples a member state in the Holy Roman Empire.


Waldemar's ambition has finally been fulfilled, though he did not live to see it. The Papacy has been humiliated and chased back to Rome, and almost the entire Italian penisula is now part of the Empire.


With such a prestigious victory comes many rewards, and among them is a de facto acceptance among the rules of Europe of Hohenzollern dominance within the Empire, which greatly strengthens Swabia's diplomatic influence.



Far from every ruler is happy to see the Hohenzollern star in ascendance, and Konrad barely has time to return to Mainz before news arrive that French troops are crossing the border into Pfalz. It seems Swabia is destined to know no peace, and Konrad quickly begins to assemble his army and call on his allies.


The prospects for victory are looking bleak - while Konrad's alliance slightly outnumbers the French forces, a full half of those troops are in Hungary. Hungary is landlocked, and its only route to the theater goes through Austria, which is refusing to let through Hungarian troops. Unless something can be done to bring the Hungarians in, Swabia is badly outnumbered.


French and Swabian troops clash along the border in summer of 1415, and the outnumbered and war-tired Swabians are quickly routed, falling back deeper into Swabia as the French begin to besiege Mainz and Pfalz. Pfalz falls to a French assault only two months into the siege.



French troops also invade Swabia's ally the Duchy of Alsace, routing the Duke's troops and forcing them to retreat into Baden.


Konrad musters a counter-offensive in autumn, leading the Imperial army against the French troops besieging Mainz. The attack fails, and the Swabians retreat with heavy losses.



Another offensive against Pfalz initially succeeds in recapturing the city, but is driven out by a French counter-attack.


The war is going badly in every theater, and Konrad decides to pull his troops back to reorganize. A large French force is spotted advancing on Ansbach, and Konrad ruthlessly orders his cavalry to scorch the countryside, denying the French the ability to forage for supplies.



Alsace is still holding out with help from Tirol and Baden, and Mainz continues to resist its besiegers. After initially attacking into the scorched Ansbach, the French army pulls out after suffering harsh attrition, leaving inner Swabia secure for the moment.


Having once again reinforced his armies with fresh recruits from neighbouring member states, Konrad sends Karl Breitmayer into Alsace with orders to engage the French army and try to draw the bulk of their forces there. The French army besieging Lothringen is routed, and as predicted French troops are sent from Pfalz into Alsace to deal with Breitmayer.


Before Konrad can exploit this opening, however, Mainz finally surrenders in June of 1416. The French King offers peace in exchange for its wealthy lands, but Konrad naturally refuses to give the very heart of the Holy Roman Empire itself over to the foreign invaders.


Instead, he leads his army into the occupied territories, encircling and destroying the French troops defending it, and seizing Mainz by storm. Pfalz is besieged by help troops from Tirol, and is retaken after a lengthy siege.




1416 turns to 1417, and 1417 turns to 1418, 1419 and 1420, as the war rages back and forth. In Italy, France occupies Konrad's vassals Modena and Urbino, and Alsace is falling piece by piece, despite sorties from Tirol and Swabia to save their ally.



Neither France nor Swabia lacks for reserves, and fresh recruits are sent to replace the ever growing number of dead as the two sides clash again and again, neither side able to break the other's back.




Uprisisings by the war-tired populaces are spreading like wildfire in both France and Swabia, and Konrad makes several attempts at peace, offering tracts of land in Alsace, but the French King stubbornly refuses, countering with renewed demands for the ceding of Mainz.


Realizing that he needs a victory to force France to the negotiations table, Konrad leads a joint army of troops from Swabia, Tirol and Alsace into occupied Alsace in autumn of 1420, achieving a brilliant victory against the large French army present there, and successfully retaking all of its occupied territories. A French counter-attack forces him to retreat again, but by now, the French King has finally come to realize that the war is going nowhere.


Negotiations finally begin for real, and France is offered the territory of Franche-Comte in Alsace and a moderate sum of ducats in exchange for peace. The French King accepts.

The war is over, and while all Konrad has to show for it is empty coffers and a devastated countryside, Swabia has rode out the storm intact.