The Siwards - A Family Story

[Enewald]

Eadbert might soon become the King of Western Europe... Emperor of Iberia, Britannia and Gaul?

[demokratickid]

Originally Posted by Enewald

Eadbert might soon become the King of Western Europe... Emperor of Iberia, Britannia and Gaul?

Sounds like a plan to me!!!

[Clydwich]

How old is he now? I do not see this emperor thing happening in his lifetime.....

[tudor]

Enewald & demokratickid: Eadbert IV. already rules a great part of Western Europe, but in his mind he is foremost King of England (and Wales), Ireland takes second and Normandy third place. The other parts of Gaul are more or less regarded as "parts of France under English administration" and Iberian principalities only get so much attention because they dare to resist.

An imperial crown is not on the horizont. Eadbert's relation with the Popes is always somewhat strained, he has realm duress since his ascention to the throne and the realm's stability is still negative.

Clydwich: That is another point for the unlikelyhood of an imperial crown for Eadbert IV. He was born in February 1130, so he is not a young man anymore.

[tudor]

Sorry for the long delay... and it will even take another week or two before the next "real" update.

Beside being quite busy in my real life job at the moment, I have now a - my - wedding to prepare / organise... and there is the upcoming honeymoon...

Isn't it nice, when one can proof oneself wrong?

[tudor]

Part IX: 1182 – 1183 From Coast to Coast: Pushing the al-Murabitids out of Iberia

In early January 1182 an Arabic noble arrived at Riom, where the King Eadbert and some of his lords had gathered to prepare the war in Iberia. He informed the puzzled assembly about the newly formed Sheikdom of Mallorca, which had just separated from a vassal of the Kingdom of Georgia.
It remains a mystery to the present day why the Sheik of Mallorca deemed it necessary to inform the King of England of his small taifa, but the answer was prompt: Eadbert IV. declared war on Mallorca (January 8th) and dispatched a small part of his army, which had rallied for the intended war with the al-Murabitids to Mallorca.

For a short time it was discussed if the strife with Morocco should be postponed but on February 4th war was declared on two al-Muarabitid vassals and – as intended – King Sa’ud declared war on England to protect them.

Alas his declaration of war was more a symbolic gesture. In February 1182 Morocco was already engaged in three other wars. The al Murabitids were already fighting the newly reformed Emirate of Sevilla in Iberia, in Africa they were in conflict with the Hammadid kingdom and Sa’ud (or better his regency council) had started a war with the Kingdom of Sicily – another reason for Eadbert VI. to attack, as he shared a bond of friendship with the Sicillian King Guy.

With the major part of the al-Murabitid army bound in other battles the invasion went rather smooth in the first months.
The Invasion was based on three columns: the central army – lead by the king himself was ordered to invade Spanish Morocco itself. It was flanked by the army ordered to conquer Mallorca, which should afterwards sail to North Africa and a second flanking army from England, which was destined to land (partly) in Portugal with the main part going for the Moroccan heartland.
Cuenca was conquered in late March, Molina in mid-April.
Some al-Murabitid vassals, who had some fighting power left – like the Sheik of Braganza - decided to pay (enormous sums of) gold for peace (and thus removed any monetary troubles Eadbert IV. might have had) and a few months later he would switch his allegiance to the Emir of Arabia.

In May, after a few skirmishes, the war with Mallorca ended.

The Citadel was taken on May 17th, the country annexed the very same day (and a short time later given to the Bishop of Barcelona). As ordered the army set sail for Snassen, which was part of the al-Murabitid royal demesne.

In late spring and early summer the armies steadily advanced, but in late June King Eadbert complained about pains, headaches and the general inability to fully concentrate (some reports of his doctors have survived to the present day. A modern physician would say he was suffering from stress symptoms).

It was decided, that the royal retinue should travel more slowly, and that they would make a short stop in the province of Molina for the king to hold court.

It was there, at the king’s camp in Molina, during a court session just shortly after the king had granted his support for the clerics of Cuenca were an assassination attempt on his life was made.

The assassin had disguised himself as a lay brother of the clerics but then tried to stab him in front of Eadbert’s assembled court. The king was able to evade the first attack and his assailant was struck down before he could make a second.
At first it was unclear, who of the king’s many enemies would try such a cowardly act, but then some coins were found in the dead man’s possessions. Some newly minted coins spoke of a “MORCAR II. – REX ANGLORUM”, a puzzling notion as there had been only one “official Saxon king” of that name, Morcar Leofricson (1068-1070) during his rebellion against William the Conqueror. Other coins pointed towards an origin from southern France – namely Toulouse. It seemed that again one Siward sideline was plotting to gain the English-Saxon throne.

At this time the Siward family had 11 official sidelines beside the main royal family:
- Siwards of Powys (Waltheof), est. 1086, Earls of Powys
- Siwards of Northumberland (Waltheof), est. 1091, Earls of Northumberland and Cumberland
- Siwards of Derby (Aethelfrith II.), est. 1105, Dukes of Hereford
- Siwards of Lancaster (Aethelfrith II.), est. 1111, Dukes of Bedford
- Siwards of Northampton (Aethelfrith II.), est. 1112, Dukes of Oxford
- Siwards of Leicester (Waltheof), est. 1115, Earls of Leicester
- Aethelfrithsons (Aethelfrith II.), est. 1124, once Princes of Antioch now without title
- Siwards of Burgos (Aethelfrith II.), est. 1143, Dukes of Castile
- Siwards of Armagnac (Aethelfrith II.), est. 1148, Counts of Toulouse-Armagnac
- Siwards of Suffolk (Eadbert IV.), est.1167, Duke of Norfolk
- Siwards of Dublin (Eadbert IV.), est. 1169, Earl of Dublin and Mide

It seemed the Toulouse-Armagnac line tried to seize the crown again. Eadbert IV. ordered some of his men to gather information from the Toulousian court as he had not heard of his uncle Coenred for some years and was unwilling to blunder into an unknown situation.
It was not more than two weeks later, when they returned and informed their liege, that Coenred Siward had died in February and his son Morcar was now ruling the two counties. They reported, that the Toulousian court was quite busy, they were preparing for some kind of coronation and recruiting men for the army.
Eadbert IV. was unwilling to make the first open strike against a family member and also wanted the majority of the army to stay in Iberia. Instead he sent messengers to the court of the de Freysey Counts of Bourbon, to prepare for the eventuality of an Armagnacian rebellion.

The rest of July and August remained rebellion-free and the English conquered Catalayud and occupied the al-Murabitid demesnes in Plasencia and Snassen.

On September 10th Morcar (II.) raised his banner in the awaited rebellion and declared war on his cousin “the man, who robbed his (Morcar’s) father of his rightful throne”. As ordered the de Freyses sent their men to put the troublemaker into place.

The English army in Iberia meanwhile annexed Alcantara and Rioja, somewhat perplexed, that still no real resistance had formed so far.

In late November Eadbert IV. was informed, that the rebellion of Morcar Siward posed no more threat to his rule. The Count-King and some of his men had fought a small skirmish with one of the de Freysey's patrols and Morcar had received a mortal wound during the fight.

The ambitious but luckless Toulouse-Armagnac branch of the Family (excerpt of the Family Tree)

Morcar Siward, Count of Toulouse-Armagnac died November 17th, 1182. Later nicknamed “the Fool” for his ill-fated uprising, he was of course never recognised as official English king. His reign (as count of the combined Toulouse-Armagnac, he was Count of Toulouse before) lasted for only nine months. He was married to Agnes de Bohun, who fled to Paris with her daughters after her husbands death, where one of them (his second daughter Elfleda) was later married to crown prince Meinhard of France. Morcar had no sons, except for an infant bastard named Swithelm (who would soon be welcomed at the English court) and all his daughters were still minors. As he had been his fathers only child his counties fell back to the English crown (so indirectly his rebellion had strengthened Eadbert IV.).

The Toulouse-Armagnac sideline was the first Siward branch to die out in the male line (as Swithelm was not regarded to be a part of it).

In December the English conquered Porto, Evora and Zamora without greater trouble.
At Christmas news reached the court, that King Sa’ud had been assassinated before reaching maturity and had been replaced by his uncle Ghalib. The new king had signed a white peace with Sicily in November – which was good news (from a certain point of view) – and had ordered the now free armies to Iberia.
Soon the conquests in Iberia would become far more difficult

And the al-Murabitids came faster than expected. Already in January they stormed the city of Toledo. In North-Africa the English army had to give up the siege of Orania and was forced back to Snassen by the Moroccans. It was a short lived success for the al-Murabitids, just a few weeks later the province was occupied by Hammadid soldiers and the province was finally ceded to the Hammadid kingdom, during King Ghalib’s attempts to end the various wars and to concentrate his forces.
But January was not all black and bad for the men of King Eadbert IV., in the Moroccan heartland they where able to occupy Massat, while the English were able to defeat another al-Murabitid division in Rioja.

February was as much a mixed blessing as January: the al-Murabitids took control of Molina, while the English annexed Mértola and Coimbra. In open battle the god was in favor of England. Eadbert IV. defeated an al-Murabitid army near Lisboa twice and in northern Iberia a second attempt on Rioja was thwarted.

Something much more memorable (and uncommon for Eadbert's rule) happened this month.

On February 21st, 1183 by the order of Pope Calixt II. the priests and clerics of the entire English realm preached, that the rule of Edbert IV. was blessed by God almighty himself. It was the strongest open support of the English king by the church since the death of pro-Siward Pope Anaklet II. in 1152.

In March the English invasion of Iberia had lost some of its momentum (as it had acquired most targets). Smaller battles were fought in Rioja (victory) and Coimbra (defeat), but the main battles were fought over Lisboa, the last unoccupied al-Murabitid demesne (and so the official residence of King Ghalib).

The citadel fell March 30th and Eadbert IV. and his commanders discussed if they should end the war now, as the main target had been achieved or if they should continue and go for Morocco itself. They had not reached a conclusion, when news from England reached the king: on April 1st another relative of Eadbert IV., Duke William of Bedford had started an uprising.

Eadbert took this as a sign that the war had lasted long enough. On April 18th an agreement with King Ghalib was signed, in which the Moroccan king surrendered all his possessions in Iberia to the English crown. It was an unspectacular ending to a more or less unspectacular war.

With the peace of Lisboa ended the al-Murabitid supremacy over Iberia and Morocco was reduced to its heartland and a small foothold on the island of Sicily (which was not gained from the Norman-French kingdom of Sicily but from a former independent sheik).

Eadbert IV. returned to England to take care of his unruly relative in person.
Back in England he made short process with the rebellion. The province of Lancaster, William’s base of power was occupied by royal troops by June 20th, the duke was taken prisoner and brought to London.
There Duke William was reduced in a public ceremony to Earl of Lancaster on June 29th, as he had spoiled the glory of the Iberian victory in the eyes of Eadbert IV.

After a day of contemplation king and court prepared for a ceremony much more pleasant and glorious.

- To be continued with Part X: 1183 – 1189 Concentrating on the Continental Parts of the Realm -

[Enewald]

Conquer the remaining states in Iberia that are not your vassals!

[tudor]

Part X: 1183 – 1189 Concentrating on the Continental Parts of the Realm

The new CoA was introduced in August 1183. The Welsh Dragon was removed from the shield itself and became a shield surporter instead.

On July 1st, 1183 the citizens of London and Westminster gathered at the banks of the river Thames to watch their king and a major part of the realm’s nobility (most of the lords of the British Isles, some of the French part and even a few from Iberia) embark on several magnificent decorated barques.

Antiocheia Palace and Westminster Abbey in the late 12th Century

The barques were rowed from the Antiocheia Palace to Westminster, there the king and his cortege left the ships and went to the Abbey, where Eadbert IV. was welcomed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of Valencia and most of the other Spanish bishops.

In a glorious ceremony the Archbishop of Canterbury repeated Eadbert’s coronation as King of England and afterwards the Archbishop of Valencia crowned Eadbert as King of Aragon and Castile.

Shortly after the coronation and still during the ceremony Eadbert IV. created two additional archbishoprics for Spain, Leon for the Northwest of Iberia and Beja for the Southwest.

A few days later two further archbishoprics were founded: On July 10th, for Aragon and on July 13th, the Archbishopric of Navarra.
The fact that it was not him, who crowned the new Iberian monarch and these foundations greatly vexed Archbishop Ludwig of Granada as his own diocese was greatly reduced in size by these new creations.

As the last war in Iberia had not only increased the English territory in Iberia but had also filled the king’s coffers with gold. Eadbert IV. was in position to decline a proposed call for the estates general on August 9th.

This refusal seems to have been the last straw for Archbishop Ludwig of Granada, who had made the proposal, as he started a rebellion as soon as he had returned to his diocese (August 21st).

On October 20th the main army of the rebels was already beaten and Granada itself was occupied by royal troops in mid December, but Archbishop Ludwig was able to reorganize his army and continued his resistance from Almeria.

With “only” the Granadian archbishop in open rebellion Eadbert IV. involved himself a little in church policy. For a long time he had been a personal friend of Bishop Skjalg of Ulaid. On January 13th, 1184 the learned cleric had mentioned, that he could see the possibility of becoming pope, in a letter to his royal friend. King Eadbert deemed it his friendly duty to support him with a great election campaign, but his very straightforward approach to the matter greatly irritated the clergy and angered Calixt II. (who disliked the idea of being shown as “almost dead”).

As a result bishop Skjalg’s chances to become the next pope were more diminished than improved and the good relations between England and the Holy See were a matter of the past again.

In February the men of Granada were defeated again and by April, in the light of the changed political situation, archbishop Ludwig saw no other possibility but to seek the grace of his former (and new) liege.

The political change had taken place in March.
Eadbert IV. had still not fully recovered from the (stress) symptoms, he had shown during the Spanish campaign and his physicians had declared that the Southern French climate would be much more becoming for the ageing monarch.
In late March the so called “Declaration of Westminster” was made.
Osred, the Prince of Wales would from now on act as regent in England, Ireland and Wales, while King Eadbert IV. would relocate to Narbonne (he finally preferred Carcassonne) and although he would remain overlord of the whole realm, he would concentrate of the French, Italian and Spanish holdings.
In case of an emergency (war) they would aide each other.

Carcassonne- The preferred Residence of Eadbert IV. in English France

The emergency came in August the very same year.
For reasons till shrouded in mystery to the present day Governor Lois of Pisa declared war on the Earl of Norfolk. Norfolk besides being in the “regnum” of Prince Osred, was also one of his direct vassals, so the Prince declared war on Pisa in return.
As Pisa was in the sphere of interest of King Eadbert he also declared war on Pisa in support of his son.

While Eadbert IV. was preparing for his war against Pisa, the Dukes of Normandy continued their old tradition to betray their liege in the hour of need and Duke Adémar again declared his independence from England (October 19th).

Eadbert IV. decided to use a part of the gathered army to subdue the duke and sent only about half as many soldiers as initially intended against Pisa (which would proof a mistake).
A few days after he had send the respective armies against Normandy and Pisa, the king decided to call reinforcement troops from Spain to Pisa.

In November the Gods of war smiled upon the royal troops as the English soldiers proofed superior against the Norman rebels in Evreux and Eu.
On the Northern front luck stayed on the side of the English as the defeat the Normans again near Evreux and conquered Eu, but in Italy the operation against Pisa seemed to turn into a disaster.
The decision to divide the forces to fight against Normandy and Pisa at the same time and the somewhat disorganized movements led to a series of defeats, when the English divisions tried to land in the center of Pisan might in Livorno (December 25th, January 24th and June 19th).
What made these defeats even more pitiful, was the fact that Pisa was also at war with Duke Eudon of Toscana and his Holiness Pope Calixt II., who both were able to defeat the Pisans on several occasions.
Marshal Godwin Leofricson could not forgive himself his incompetence and fell into a series of fits and depressions, which finally led to some kind of madness (the sources are not very specific). He is last mentioned in historical records in February 1186, when he was given into the medical care of the monks of Whitby – near Godwin’s ancestral home - where he apparently died a few weeks later.

The Norman rebellion was ended in February 1185.
On February 10th, the last castle in Evreux surrendered and one day later Duke Adémar pledged alliegence (again). As he was indirectly responsible for the misadventures in Italy he also had to pay a fee of 500 pounds of gold this time.

In summer 1185 Eadbert IV. changed his strategy against Pisa (partly because Pisa had signed peace with Toscana, ceding Siena while Toscana ended its occupation of Pisan Lucca).
He ordered to ignore the Pisam forces in Livorno and to attack the Pisan possessions in Lucca and Cagliari instead. This change bore first fruit with a victory over the small forces the Pisan had at Cagliari.

The rest of the year was spent in preparing the sieges and finally besieging the fortresses of Lucca and Cagliari.

In November Pope Calixt II. called Christianity to free the holy city of Alexandria from the clutches of the infidels (8th Crusade).

Relations between England and the Holy See still remained in the freezing zone and Eadbert IV. decided not to participate.

King Eadbert IV. foreign policy had – to put it euphoric – beside warfare been only mildly successful, but in January 1186 he was given a very prestigious success.
Duke Garcia of Barcelona, ruler of the remains of the once kingdom sized duchy offered to accept Eadbert IV. as his liege.

The king welcomed his new vassal with open arms at his new residence at Carcassonne on January 7th.
With Barcelona joining the English realm the Galician exclave of Zaragoza was completely surrounded by English territory. A warning sign, of which Emir Fahan of Galicia was well aware.

In February the fortress of Lucca was taken (and oddly enough it was ceded to the Bishop of Barcelona, who had silently joined the war against Pisa, in April) and Cagliari followed in March.

The re-strengthened English troops continued their march towards Pisa and started to besiege the city in May.
In July they were able to defeat a Pisan release force, by late August the Pisan resistance was broken and on September 2nd, a peace treaty was signed in which Pisa ceded (besides Lucca) the Southern part of Sardinia and the Sardinian ducal title to England.

Filled with joy over the end of the war Eadbert IV. showed himself quite generous.
He gave the newly gained Cagliari upon Count Malcolm of Montpellier and elevated him to Duke of Sardinia.
He created a new archbishopric in Southern France from parts of his personal demesne (The Archbishopric of Gascony, with the inherited lands of the Siwards of Armagnac), which he bestowed upon Dirk von Wasserberg. He even forgave William Siward (the Earl of Lancaster) his past rebellion and restored him as duke (not his former title Duke of Bedford, but Duke of Lancaster).

But old habits die slowly. In November Eadbert IV. was promoting his old friend Skjalg of Ulaid as possible next pope again. Although he operated much more subtle this time, he managed to annoy the curia – who disliked his interference in church policy - to a not too small degree again.
The reaction of Calixt II. was much weaker, than the last time. His Holiness was seriously ill and felt, that he had not much time left.

In fact Pope Calixt II. died on August 13th, 1187. The curia elected actually a prelate of King Eadbert’s realm, but not the preferred Skjalg was elected. The cardinals chose Archbishop Dirk of Gascony, who took the name Gregory VIII.
Eadbert IV. accepted the election grumpily and gave the now vacant archbishopric to Daevit von Luxemburg.

Beside annoying the clergy and leading an astonishing correspondence with Sheik Akin of Mosul (a connection initiated by his friend King Guy of Sicily, who had strong ties to the Muslim world), Eadbert IV. was keenly observing the events, which took place at his French borders.
King Sigmund of France and Emir Seyfullah of Cyrenaica had fought an arduous and long war against each other and their respective vassals with changing success. Most prominent victims on the Christian side had been the independent County of Flanders, which had been crushed by the Cyrenaicans in the late 1170s and the Duchy of Aquitaine, which had sought refuge under the rule of France, but had been destroyed nonetheless (1183).
Still clinging to their independence were the Dukes of Toulouse (who had already lost their name giving capital, but had relocated to Bordeaux). But the days of their independence were numbered and in 1189 Duke Florènc decided, that it was saver to seek the protection of France, strengthening the French position in Aquitaine and Languedoc considerable.

On March 2nd, 1188 Eadbert IV. decided it was time to strike.
In the chaos of the battling factions the Sheikdom of La Marche had emerged independent.

Eadbert IV. declared war and set his armies in motion. The Muslims were defeated in La Marche on May 20th and again in Bourges ten days later.
By July the province was under English rule and connected the Northern and Southern French possessions of England.

It was now possible to travel from Boulogne to the Columns of Hercules on land without leaving English territory.

As the campaign had went so smoothly Eadbert IV. saw himself in the position to financially support his friend Guy of Sicily in his fight against the al-Murabitids and to attack the Sheikdom of Lusignan, which had "appeared" in June.

The war was fought as quickly as the one against La Marche and by September Lusignan was English (September 10th).

Eight days later Eadbert IV. was campaigning again for his friend Skjalg of Ulaid, thus alienating Gregory VIII., who understandably showed not much enthusiasm, when envoys of Eadbert IV. presented him the idea of elevating Egbert VI. to the sainthood just five days after their liege had started the campaign for a successor of the relatively young pope.

Adding to Eadbert IV. failing foreign policy with the Holy See was an internal struggle with his own wife Adele.

Adele being a member of the former French Royal dynasty Capet had tried to convince her husband of the necessity to reinstall the Capets on the French throne or at least give them a prominent place among his advisors. Eadbert IV., who had no quarrel with the von Braunschweig dynasty now ruling “France”, had no intention of changing this fact or to increase the Capet holdings in France, considering the duchy of Burgundy reward enough for a failed royal family. And instead of promoting Capets as his advisors he put his trust in the members of the d’Anjou family, who had taken the position the Freyseys once owned, as three of the five chief advisors.

For Christmas Eadbert IV. traveled to Rouen, where he met with his three sons (Osred, Maldred and Ealdred) and spent some weeks with them together. After conferring with his eldest son, Eadbert and Osred proclaimed their decision to bestow upon Ealdred the title of Duke of Meath (January 26th, 1189).

The four men parted their ways when Eadbert IV. turned South again. News reached him that an uprising on the island of Mallorca had taken place in February.
The rebellion was ended in May.
The very same month something quite spectacular happened: The Count of Chalons declared his independence and Eadbert IV. accepted without any resistance.

The news went through the realm like a wildfire and somehow it seemed to have changed the perception of king and realm. For the first time in almost forty years England seemed not to be at the brink of collapsing or falling apart in civil war.

By November 1189 Eadbert IV. showed the first symptoms of an increased health.

- To be continued with Part XI: 1190 – 1193 The old Lion returns to Spain-

[Legiazus]

Great to see this AAR up and running again! Fantastic update, the Siwards are putting their mark on all of Europe

[demokratickid]

Glad to read this one again, great stuff sir!

[Enewald]

The biggest medieval England I've seen.

[kadvael56]

The kingdom seems on a good way, is it thanks to or despite the French coutriers ?

[tudor]

Legiazus & demokratickid: It's good to be back. I will try to keep it regular but I am still quite busy...

Enewald: and some Siwards will try to make it even larger

kadvael56: As this alternative world is missing the traditional English/French rivalry I might say it is because of them

[tudor]

Part XI: 1190 – 1193 The old Lion returns to Spain

In February 1190 Eadbert IV. traveled from Carcassonne to Jaca to meet with his local vassal and convince him to give up the Spanish county.
It had been Eadbert himself, who had installed Eirik Yngling as count of Jaca and the king was bearing no grudge against him. Instead it had more or less administrative reasons.
A few months ago count Eirik had inherited the Scandinavian Duchy of Ostlandet, which came with the provinces of Akershus and (the island) Ostlandet. From own experiences Eadbert knew the difficulties of administrating such widespread possessions and he wanted to avoid the following disturbances and revolts.
To make Eirik the decision easy the king even offered him independence for his other possessions, but Eirik knew the worth of English protection in the face of the rising power of the kingdom of Sweden, which was ruled by the Kalmar Dynasty. The Kalmar family had ended the short Yngling interlude in Sweden (King Hakon 1137-1146) and was conducting an aggressive policy against her neighbors (Torbjörn of Sweden had conquered Denmark in 1180, but Harald IV. of Denmark would be able to regain his kingdom from Torbjörn’s son Magnus in late 1190.)

On March 18th, 1190 Eirik returned Jaca into the possession of Eadbert IV. but remained his loyal vassal for his Scandinavian possessions, thus giving England an - for Eadbert - unwanted presence in that region.

Originally Eadbert had intended to stay only for a short time in Iberia and to continue his voyage to England, where he wanted to be present, when his grandson Sighere would be installed as Earl of Perfeddwlad later this year.
A series of incidents and tragedies would prolong his stay to several years.

Eadbert IV. Residence in Northern Spain

The first incident was a most personal tragedy for the Siward family.
The Spanish branch of the Siward family the Siwards of Burgos had their origin in the marriage of St. Aethelfrith II. (the Great) and the Spanish Princess Sancha Jimenez. They had five children: three daughters, two sons.
The eldest son Osric was made Count of Burgos by his brother St. Egbert VI. in 1143.
Osric had two sons: Offa and Elfweard. Offa had followed his father as Count of Burgos in 1173 and Eadbert IV. had made him Duke of Castile in 1178. In 1181 Offa had installed his only son Athelhere as Count of Soria and in 1183 the family had been blessed with a grandson – young Albert.
On April 4th, 1190 Count Athelhere went hunting with a company of five other men. During the hunt three of them suddenly turned on their companions. They killed one of them instantly, while a second escaped severely wounded (he finally found refuge in a small monastery nearby, alarming the monks – albeit too late to prevent anything). The assassins then turned on the count and killed the young man (the monastery’s chronic states, that 35 stabbing wounds were counted). About an hour later the murderers had returned to the count’s castle, where they found Aethelhere’s son Albert (the tragic “Count of an hour”) and severed the boy’s head from his body in front of his hysterical mother. The men then left castle and country.

Although Count Albert is shown as an Adult in the Historia Siwardensis, he was in fact not Seven Years old

The devastated mother fled to her shocked father in law, who in turn asked his liege and kinsman for support.
Eadbert IV. acted at once and a few days later two of the three men were captured. They refused to reveal their employer and were executed on April 15th.
The king’s attention was then moved to another crisis, when four days later Bishop Amalric of Asturias de Santillana rose in rebellion.

Duke Offa died 1192, a broken and resigned man. He was followed as duke by his younger brother Elfweard, who made his only son Eadwald Count of Soria. A few months later, the survivor of Aethelhere’s assassination accused Eadwald’s steward of being the third assassin. Count Eadwald refused to take this accusation to court and the witness finally fled to the English court in spring 1193, but there had arisen quite different problems at that time.

Meanwhile the war with the rebellious bishop seemed to go well.
The king’s men were victorious in May and early July and Eadbert IV. had even time enough to organize a contingent of soldiers to support his friend Guy of Sicilly against their mutual enemy King Ghalib of the al-Murabitids.

In Mid-July it proofed, that Bishop Amalric was working quite more subtle than the normal rebel, when the entire army Eadbert IV. had standing in (and besieging) Leon was routed by treachery and disbanded.

But the bishop had bought himself only a few more months time (and the king’s anger). The king’s reinforcement troops defeated the bishop’s men in September and November and by January 1191 both provinces fell into the king’s hand (Leon January 26th, Asturias de Santillana January 28th).

January 28th, had another “positive” aspect for the king. His quarreling wife Adèle died this day and with her the political struggle with the Capets ended, as the Dukes of Burgundy had no one of power at the court to promote their agenda for the French crown.
Eadbert IV. decided, that he would not marry again. The royal annals state: He was an old man now and Queen Adèle had cured him of this special illness for all eternity.

In the late afternoon of this day Bishop Amalric was welcomed back as vassal of Eadbert IV., but he had to cede the province of Leon, where the king chose his new residence.

The King's new Residence in Leon

With the rebellion finished and having already a standing army in Northern Spain King Eadbert decided to reduce the number of his neighbors and send envoys with a declaration of war to the small sheikdom of Castelo Branco right after Bishop Amalric’s oath of fealty.

Six days later he added another sheikdom to his list of enemies, when the sheik of Caceres decided to declare war on the archbishopric of Leon.

While the militia sent against Caceres proofed to be too weak in March and April, Eadbert’s men were successful against Castelo Branco. First in April in Zamora and in May in Castelo Branco itself, both times under the direct leadership of the king.
Nonetheless it was Caceres, which fell first (on July 1st), while the English were still besieging Castelo Branco.

On July 4th, 1191 the besieged of Castelo Branco tried to lift the English siege. King Eadbert IV. was involved in a small skirmish, during which he received a deep cut in his left leg and had to be taken from the battle field. Later he was transported back to Leon.

Castelo Branco fell nine days later. By then England was already at war with the sheiks of Calatrava and of Faro.
While the army of Calatrava awaited the English attack in their home province, the men of Faro tried to invade Mertola, where they were beaten by an English division. The defeated retreated to Faro, but before they could properly regroup, the English had reached them again, forced them out of their own country (despite Marshal Leofric’s personal cowardice). The English army overran Faro, which had to surrender in October.

Eadbert IV. wound had meanwhile started to suppurate and he (and his physicians) knew this did not bode well. Before his time was up he wanted to strike a final and decisive blow, so on the day he received the news of Faro’s surrender he declared war on the sheikdom of Asturias de Orviedo, knowing full well, that this would bring the Emir of Galicia into the war as well.

On October 18th, 1191 the attack was ordered.
When ten days later the war with Calatrava ended (by annexing the province) the Galician war was extended the sheikdom of El Bierzo.

In November the English beat a Galician division near Zaragoza, but with El Bierzo the king had overextended his current capabilities. He had too few troops in the region and the men of the Sheik of El Bierzo were able to invade and occupy Leon by December, forcing the English court to flee to Jaca.

A regional revolt of Emrys of Windsor, Count of Perigord did not upset Eadbert IV. the least, he simply ordered the surrounding counts to put it down (which happened in February 1192).

On January 18th, 1192 Christianity had to mourn the loss of another Holy Father.

Gregory VIII. had died. Again the Curia elected a man of the English realm, again it was not Skjalg of Ulaid. This time they chose Archbishop Angus of St. David, who took the name Celestin II.

On February 7th, 3.000 Saxon mercenaries, sent by Guy of Sicily appeared at the English court.

Although the gift helped greatly to solve Eadbert IV. problems it proofed a deadly mistake for the kingdom of Sicily. It weakened the war torn country so much, Guy lost his crown to the Sheik of Beersheb, Murad Ahmed and the major part of the country to the al-Murabitids about six months later.

Only thirty days after their last election, the Curia had to meet again.
Pope Celestin II. had succumbed to the Roman climate and had died of Malaria shortly after his arrival in the Eternal City (February 17th, 1192).

This time the unthinkable happened and the Curia elected Bishop Skjalg. To honor his predecessor Skjalg chose the same name (Celestin III.).
Contend with the election and the following improved relations to the Holy See, Eadbert IV. decided to not reinstall a bishop in Ulaid but to rejoin the province with the duchy of Ulster.

February 1192 saw also the last English defeat in the Galician war, when the men of Asturias de Orviedo were able to repel an English attack on their home province.

In April Emir Farhan was defeated near Porto and the army of Asturias de Orviedo could not repeat their success in Leon, which was freed on April 13th.

May was a complete success for the English side (victories in Asturias de Orviedo and Santiago). In June Asturias de Orviedo was conquered and El Bierzo followed in July.

Also in June, Count Charles of Vendome rebelled against his liege (and father) the Duke of Brittany.

Eadbert IV. ordered the local counts to support the duke (Vendome was reunited with Brittany by November).

In August the war with Galicia was slowly reaching its end during the double sieges of Santiago and Compostela Eadbert IV. received a message from his Italian vassal the Bishop of Ancona.
The Letter said, that the bishop needed his king’s support to fulfill his rightful demands. To strengthen his demands the bishop had already declared war on his sworn enemies, who were no one less than the Holy Roman Emperor Eberhard and his ally Siegmund, the King of France.

Eadbert IV. burst out in anger, that he had no intention to declare war on two of the most powerful rulers of Christendom! And at the same time no less! And for Ancona his most disliked province of all! He asked the messenger if the bishop had lost his senses, if he wanted to turn the Christian world into chaos by asking the most honored princes to declare war on each other. Then he raged on: he will not support Ancona in this stupidity and whoever conquers the province, has his blessing to take it.
Eadbert IV. only stopped his fit of rage because his wound started to pain too much.

By September the Emirate of Galicia was completely annexed and incorporated into the English realm.
Although some preparations were made to crown Eadbert IV. as King of Leon and Portugal, his health was steadily deteriorating. When it became clear, that he was too weak to participate in any ceremony, it was postponed to a later date and only a declaration was made instead.

In December Henry de Cherlton, the Count of Rouergue rebelled. Eadbert IV. almost took no notice of the rebellion. Some local nobles were ordered to put it down, but the king would not see the outcome.

In late January 1193 Eadbert had his first fits of madness and schizophrenia (probably caused by the immense pains of his wounded leg).

In February he would only calm down if a minstrel was playing music and it was decided to bring him to Compostela, for the benefit of his body or his soul.

There in Compostela Eadbert IV. King of England, Ireland, Aragon, Castile, Léon, Portugal and Wales died on March 7th, 1193 after a rule of 43 years. As he had spent his last months in madness, no attempt was made to beatify him. With his father Egbert VI. the line of the holy kings of England had ended for a long time.

A few days later his body was embalmed and prepared for its voyage to England.

The vast English realm went into the hands of his eldest son: Osred III.

- To be continued with Interlude IX: Europe 1193 – After the Death of Eadbert IV. -

[Enewald]

He should have been beatified, the liberator of Northern Spain, Western Protector of Christianity and Slayer of the Infidels.

[demokratickid]

Haha! Lovely wars there, good job! Eagerly awaiting the Interlude...

[tudor]

Interlude IX: Europe 1193 - After the Death of Eadbert IV. The Lion

Europe 1193

The British Isles

The political Situation has remained stable on the British Isles.
Only to the North Iceland has become part of Denmark.


France and Iberia

The Kings of France have won the struggle with the Emirate of Cyrenaica and have in the process started to collect "French soil". Only the future will show if this will turn into a more aggressive policy against England.
In Iberia only a few Muslim exclaves have remained (with Sevilla being the last Spanish taifa).


Scandinavia and Balticum

Under the rule of the Kalmar Dynasty Sweden has become the supreme power of Scandinavia (from 1180-1190 they even controlled Denmark).
Denmarks invasion of Finnland has backfired and the Karelians are now controlling Sleswig and Holstein.
Poland has lost a part of its Northern coast to several small principalities and the Votes have emerged from a civil war against the Eastern Sames.


Russian Principalities

In Russia the Big 3 (Pereyaslavl, Chernigov and Kiev) have consolidated and even increased their position. Especially Chernigov has grown on cost of the Kingdom of Georgia.
It seems only a question of time before at least one of them will form a kingdom.


Central Europe

Emperor Eberhard was able to reestablish control over the greatest part of the old Empire with the exception of Middle-Italy, which is dominated by the Duke of Toskanna (contested by Pisa and the Popes).
The Kingdom of Sicily has fallen prey to the al-Murabitids (while the royal title fell to the Sheik of Beersheb).
Hungary has lost some of its border provinces and King Kornél is involved in a inner-dynastic struggle with his cousin Benedek of Nytria.


Levante and Middle East

The last crusades have drastically changed the political situation.
France and the Empire have founded several exclaves, while the Italian states have drastically lost territory.
Zenata has regained some of its Egyptian provinces (and is holding the Egyptian king title, so I will refer to them as Egypt in the future).
The Empire of the Seldjuks is in a state of change, loosing in Asia minor but regaining provinces in Persia.
Byzantium is for the first time in decades without civil war. They will not gain anything out of this situation and their future looks gloomy.

The Siward Family in 1193

Excerpt of the Siward Family Tree (1193)

- To be continued with Book VI: Osred III. Part I: 1193 – 1196 From the Iberian Kingdoms to the War for the Isles -

[Enewald]

Nice family tree!
The Siwards won't die out for several centuries to come!

Save Byzantium!!!



Remember ACA!

[demokratickid]

A lovely overview, I truly love these kind of updates becuase it's helpful for the reader so we know what's going on outside of your circle of influence... KUTGW, sir!

[tudor]

Sorry for my long silence, but my wife and I had a car accident: a young woman "decided" to use our car as brake (some of the witnesses informed the police, that she was busy telephoning, when she hit our car). She drove so fast, that she literally stopped on our back seats - our car is a total loss.
Luckily my wife remained almost unharmed (thank God) but for whatever reasons I could not use my hands for a time (all time annoying, part time humiliating), but now everything seems back to normal.