Within months of his accession to the throne, Sigfried faced grumblings and conspiracies from underneath. The numerous vassals of his father did not all hold his heir in such high regard; after all, Sigfried’s young grip on the throne was certainly less deft than his father’s. He had much to learn about ruling the Swabians in very little time – yet his style was uncouth, sometimes coarse, some said.
By autumn, unrest was in the air among the baronial courts. The first vassal to attempt revolt was the Count of Wurttemburg, in September, 1234. His allies in conspiracy clearly backed out at the last moment, leaving his small army out to hang for the might of Sigfried’s experienced regiments.
By October, the revolt had been crushed by Sigfried’s swift, firm response.
At home from the battlefield, that winter Sigfried stewed by his hearth over another threat to his dynasty – his lack of an heir. He had been married to his loyal Bavarian wife, Anne dePenthievre, since before he became the Count of Leiningen but she had only produced for him a daughter. Year after year had passed with no promise of an heir, especially as Anne was increasingly given over to her chaste moods.
As of February 1235, this was the only heir to our Swabian dynasty:
A son of the German kingdom. This would mean the end of our line. Something had to be done.
Fitting Sigfried’s dark nature, he made his decision in the depths of a cold winter. She had to be rid of. The lineage was at stake!
Well, it wasn’t hard to slay her, but a confusion derailed the scheme.
The news caused an uproar among Sigfried’s court. As word spread, trouble brewed amongst the courts of Swabia. Some nobles saw this as a chance to ally Sigfried’s numerous detractors against him, not to alleviate an outraged moral conscience, but to overthrow the unsteady young Duke while he was inundated with an outrageous scandal dividing his supporters.
The morally perturbed were shocked further when Sigfried boldly remarried not two month’s after Anne’s murder. To another Bavarian, actually. The marriage in the very same Schwaben Castle was simply scandalous. Sigfried’s by now apparent lack of tact would cost him, and his realm, dearly.
Sigfried was forced to make concessions to his nobles, but it was not enough to stem the tide of outrage among the nobility. He slashed his taxation rates and made gifts to his vassals, but it was simply insufficient. Civil war was on the horizon, and everyone knew it.
First to secede was the Count of Aargau, in midsummer 1236.
Rather than be foolish enough to risk the same fate as the late Count of Wurttemburg, this Count used his connections in Rome to safeguard his independence.
But the realm’s duresses had only just begun. What became known as “Anne’s War” broke out one year later, in October of 1237 when the Counties of Besancon and Leiningen simultaneously revolted. A strong army under the Count of Besancon marched east into the prized province of Sundgau and seized it. Sigfried called upon his armies and immediately set out into the crisp fall weather to crush the rebellion.
The bulk of his armies still marching west, Sigfried had scarcely crossed the river Main with his columns when the Count of Besancon launched a surprise attack. It was a long and bloody battle. The Duke himself was toppled from his horse with a severe injury late in the fight.
The rebels took the field after overcoming the loyalists with their superior numbers. Nearly four thousand men had been slain – many of the dead had composed core regiments of Sigfried’s proud forces.
It was an unexpected loss.
During the onslaught of the first winter snows, the rebels of Leiningen also surprised Sigfried’s generals by going on the offensive, into the county of Baden. Thousands of troops headed for the Sundgau front were diverted to Baden to engage the rebels there and swiftly resolve the affair.
By January of the new year, Sigfried with the rest of his forces were busy liberating Sundgau. The rebels had retreated into Besancon to wait out the winter. The Count of Aargau broke his neutrality, attempting to intervene on the rebel’s behalf.
I’ve lost the records (screens) but Besancon was occupied by springtime 1238, the combined counteroffensive having crumbled before the strengthened loyalist army. But caught up in the rebel tide, Bern joined the revolt and seceded from Sigfried’s rule.
As of 1238, “Anne’s War” has seemingly been concluded. The consequences of losing so many rebellious nobles to the sword, the noose and exile means Sigfried’s demesne is dearly stretched thin. With so many of our provinces under his direct rule our efficiency has plummeted to 20%. There’s simply not enough loyal up-and-comers currently to replace the thrones of those counties. Cash flow is much lower than in the past, but we’re not really in any monetary woes anyway. It all goes into castles, generally.
Sigfried has to regain the loyalty and stability of his courts before he can rest again. These first five years have been very tumultuous for him.
Though many of the Alpine gains of Markward were lost in Anne’s war, perhaps it somehow might have been necessary: Sigfried was blessed at last with an heir in the summer of 1239.
But his glee was tempered within the week when news from the East reached Schwaben castle. The Earl of Kempten bloodlessly seceded from the realm – well, to hell with him. There’s likely much more trouble ahead for our new Duke, already infamous in his throne.
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Well, I've emailed the files, and will keep fingers crossed until I get home and find out. I'll have to reorganize my life a bit before I can jump back on this, so consider this Intermission!
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Topic: Let´s play Crusader Kings, Deus Vult - Swabian Ascendancy (Read 8430 times)