Peace
1344 was not without allies calling upon King Ulitis of Denmark and Lithuania’s assistance in various wars, but he kept out of wars with the other kingdoms in northern Europe to maintain peace. He also kept focus on the happiness of his vassals. 1347 he held a grand feast at the capital of Dalova and invited every lord in Denmark. He sent notice that he planned on doing the following in 1348 with the lords of Lithuania. There, news came up about the changing of religion in the northern parts of Europe. Christianity was becoming abandoned. Tensions rose on the borders of Sweden and Norge. The Holy Roman Empire had been table to take some territory and convert the heathens. It sought to take over the remaining parts of Scandinavia of House Sieth couldn’t do it first. It would break the peace between the two nations if a dispute occurred.
Peace broke for King Ulitis, but not without first arranging a betrothal between his firstborn son, Artian, and the Kaiser’s granddaughter, Brunhilde. Scotland called the king into war. Soon after, King Arne of Norge declared a pitiful war against the king as well. The man was described as an imbecile, so it was little surprise that he would succumb to defeat by 1350. Before that war ended, Sweden rose up in arms and Denmark responded by waging war against them for additional territory. The taste of victory was sweet, and was not forgotten.
Peace resumed once more. A new castle was built in celebration of Ulitis’s son’s birthday. The fiefdom was given to him as a present to prove if he would be worthy of becoming more. Another birthday came, but for the second son, Alastor. He was betrothed to the Duchess of York, extending an olive branch with the King of England. He was also given a city to manage in the conquered Swedish area. All while this happened, since 1350, King Ulitis had sent his chancellor, Count Fadrique, over to Ireland to fabricate claims on the divided territory. He was successful by 1360, to claim enough territory to convince his royal council that they should wage war in the relatively unknown territory.
In the council chambers sat the chancellor and the king discussing matters of the meeting. One by one, the other members of the council came in. Everyone’s attention was directed to the map that was laid out on the table.
“Once we conquer this small kingdom,” the king pointed on the map, “we’ll have begun taking new territory that is out of the way of the Holy Roman Empire and we’ll be able to expand the kingdom even further!” The council nodded in approval and the chancellor smiled. He reminded the king that there was “one more thing, if events stayed their course.” A different face had come over the Ulitis. He sighed and announced, “I will have an important announcement to make that will change the course of House Sieth’s history.”
Up, Up, to the Apex
1361. An important year. King Ulitis the Merry of Denmark and Lithuania declared war on the small kingdom of Mumu and its territories in present day Ireland. It was successful in summer 1364. With that, an election was to be held in favor of the king’s daughter – Mila as the heir to the thrones of Denmark and Lithuania! Some of the high lords between the two kingdoms had disagreed whether or not the previously elected heir was suitable for the throne. A narrow margin between the two kingdoms had selected the young administrator. Bitterness grew from that.
Afterwards, news came that Duchess Dagmar, an opposer to the wars and the upcoming election, declared a revolt against King Ulitis and those on the royal council. This was a grievous mistake, but it was a problem that lasted two years. After the 58 year old king ended the revolt, he stripped her titles and gave them to his new heir to secure her future on the throne!
It was not enough for him. There was news that the King of England had taken over France and was moving in on Aquitaine. Soon there could be a number of superpowers vying for control of Europe besides the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. For his final years, he looked to the other tribal areas of northern Europe and the remnants of Norge and Sweden. To his surprise, Sweden declared war on Denmark! Ulitis responded with declaring war and claiming the Kingdom of Sweden! It was even recorded that upon hearing Sweden’s declaration, the king roared, “enough is enough! I will claim Sweden as mine and end the line of ridiculous kings!” Finally, in 1371, he found his claim on Sweden and became ruler of three kingdoms!
A Legacy Divided
King Ulitis did not enjoy the title of three kingdoms for long. In a few months, he died from old age after an impressive 40-year reign. To take over the two older kingdoms was the elected Queen Mila, her half-brother King Alastor ruled over Sweden. Mila did not bicker over the loss of the title that was meant to be hers. Sweden had become broken and fragmented. Two territorial dukes ruled the remainder of the old kingdom while Alastor ruled a small part of it in addition to the small, conquered Kingdom of Mumu.
The two rulers had agreed to keep things civil, though Queen Mila had enough power to seize King Alastor’s Sweden plus the independent nations that spawned in 1371. King Alastor had sworn that he intended to expand upon the Mumu territories as the island was divided by a number of lords. His alliance with Scotland may prove difficult, but he also assured the new ruler of Denmark and Lithuania that he had little to no interest in forming an alliance with her. Mila then diverted her attention from her sibling’s kingdom to the possibility of expanding her own.
By the time of his death, Ulitis had grown quite notorious as he was aggressive at taking over territories. He shared his plans with his newly intended heir, Mila, during the 1360s, noting that it was his desire to craft an empire for House Sieth. He had no concrete plan how, but he used his favored member of the royal council, Chancellor Fadrique, to travel to Catholic fiefdoms that held little power and could be conquered within a year. While he waited, he’d start Holy Wars with the tribal leaders who didn’t worship the one true God. It would have worked out if he had lived another ten years or so.
Mila somewhat shared her father’s dream, but she was not a major believer in religion. She favored her books, solid evidence, and leaned heavily on her diplomatic talents when such matters were brought up. She avoided the Pope and it did seem that the Pope for the most part avoided her. Being a woman, she was met with enough challenges. In the 14th century, being a ruler was met with sexist criticism. She had to be married to a man who she needed to produce her own heir. 24 years of age, taken the throne, and not a single child, yet. Many of the male lords within the two kingdoms did not like her just for the fact that a woman is ruling over them, despite a majority vote by the high lords electing her to be their queen. With that, even the Pope did not have too high of a regard for her.
Despite all this, she held the two kingdoms together and pursued her own agenda that could have been criticized all just because she was a woman. She gained her family’s favor by first taking over tribal lands and handing their governance to her youngest brother, Jaeger. She also gave him one of the distant provinces to manage over in Ireland. Her other brother, Budo, was having issues finding a suitable wife. She set him up with a countess in the Spanish peninsula. All of this within five years. Additionally, she claimed the Kingdom of Finland to give reason for ruling over a larger amount of territory without invoking a religious casus belli. This would be held off for a remainder of time as she soon gave birth to a daughter at the end of 1376.
A Feast and an Election
Queen Mila began to focus on her relationship with her vassals and high lords in the following years. In 1378, she invited them to a feast where elections may be discussed and held. Nearly fifty lords and ladies gathered in a large stone hall; tapestries of Denmark and Lithuania lined the hall and a few small Finnish flags had been strategically placed. It was warm and welcoming as they all found their seats. The queen took her seat in front of the large shield with the colors and emblem of House Sieth and addressed the hall.
“Welcome to my feast! I have invited you here to enjoy fine food and wine and to discuss an important matter.” The Queen looked around to see if she had their full attention. Her husband sat quietly by her side. She had asked him not to say anything until discussions had begun. “House Sieth has held elections for nearly 200 years. I intend to keep it this way. As long as the heir apparent lives, we cast votes every decade or so.”
The crowd mumbled. They weren’t sure who the Queen had in mind for election. She had replaced Duke Artian Sieth as the heir to Ulitis’s legacy. That changed as he fell out of favor with the other lords and Mila had gained popularity.
“Tonight though,” she started, “will be a night of celebration and feasting. Please, catch up and get to know each other once again. I would like to know each of you better. Tomorrow shall be our day to share opinions and cast votes at moon rise.”
Conversation flowed throughout the room. The Queen took her seat with a concerned look on her face, but smiled through it. Just because she was a woman holding a powerful seat, it mattered little now. With her being elected to bear the burden, she felt, no, she KNEW that the lords would want to place Duke Artian as their backup and never stray again from having a rightful king take his throne. She needed time. Though she couldn’t quite hear them, she’d make her doubters eat their words.
Crusader Kings 2 Stories 