Have another one as an apology. Fixed the previous chapter.
Swiss Arms
Chapter 132
-VB-
A student's thesis.
Understanding the Political Landscape of early 14th century Eastern Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary
By Konrad Duponte, 2nd Catholic University of Zurich
…
…the effect of the death of Vaclav III, the King of Bohemia, to tuberculosis should have created a scenario in which three of the biggest players in the eastern Holy Roman Empire should have gone to war with each other for.
Rudolf the Good of Habsburgs had married Elizabeth Richeza of Poland, the former Queen Consort of the deceased king and the mother of Princess Agnes of Bohemia. He was the son of Albert I, the "King of the Romans" - a.k.a. the unofficial Holy Roman Emperor - at the time of Vaclav III's death. This gave him the best military backing out of the three contenders. However, having married the queen consort and not a true member of the Premyslid Dynasty, he had the weakest claim and the Czech nobility did not like the Habsburgs, whose lands were directly south of the Kingdom of Bohemia and who they saw as intruding upon their lands through a weak claim.
John the Blind of Luxembourg had been betrothed to Elizabeth of Bohemia, sister to Anna of Bohemia and the deceased king. He was the son of Henry VII, the Holy Roman Emperor who would be elected two years after Albert I's deaths a year after Vaclav III's death. He had both the second best claim and backing as the House of Luxembourg, though not strong as the Habsburgs, were still politically influential and militarily sufficient to support John's claim to the Bohemian Crown.
Henry of Gorizia had married Anna of Bohemia (Anna Premyslovna), the deceased king's other sister. As the one who married the eldest sister of the Premyslid siblings while the king was alive with his blessing, Henry of Gorizia (of Tyrol, Carinthia, and Carniola) had the best claim. However, he was militarily the weakest of the three. What he did have, however, was a direct connection with Emperor Albert I, who had married his eldest sister. This allowed both him and Albert I to establish a line of communication and trust that prevented and outright war breaking out. Perhaps a war might have broken out had it not been for Henry's other ally: Hans von Fluelaberg, the rising star of the Alps. Though Count Hans of the Compact, an alliance of smaller towns, villages, and nobles, did not possess a powerful military, he did possess a
sufficiently powerful military, a lucrative trade network, and alliance network of his own that Albert I could not outright attack Henry without causing Hans to be called in on Henry's side and pulling in his allies, even though Hans was Albert I's direct vassal.
Hans's military presence only grew in size when the Bavarian-Tyrolian War of 1305 came to an abrupt and overwhelming victory for the Tyrolians when led by Count Hans von Fluelaberg. The news of the latter's limited loss of soldiers and so-called rangers sent a powerful enough message that rivaling powers like Milan began to recruit and train more soldiers.
With his lands so close to the "Count Killer," the emperor could not afford to attack, especially after a second Fluelaberg-Compact-related news spread: Count Montfort of House Montfort chose to join the Compact. This brought both the size and population of the Compact to the same level as that of Habsburg's Swiss holdings. The emperor also worried in his private journal that he knew of Count Hans's connection with the Forest Cantons (precursor to Old Swiss Confederacy), and feared that an attack on the Compact may lead to the Forest Cantons joining on the side of the Compact. This would have put the best mercenaries of the Alps with the best elite fighting force of the Alps on the same side of a war.
This forced the emperor to the negotiation table to hash out who should become the next King of Bohemia.
Alas, it was this very negotiation - or rather the travel to this negotiation - that led to the emperor's death.
The emperor's nephew, John of Swabia, chose one night to strike his uncle. All evidences point to John of Swabia's dissatisfaction about a lack of land holdings bestowed to him by his uncle as the motive of his parricide.
With the death of Emperor Albert I, the empire descended into a brief period of mourning and election, which further prevented a war from breaking out.
---
*Note: as requested by the European Historical Association, no copies of this thesis were to remain in our files.
-Professor Susanna Ertsteilmann, 2nd Catholic University of Zurich
*Note 2: acknowledged
-Dean Vincent von Aurian, 2nd Catholic University of Zurich, Department of History
-VB-
Hans von Fluelaberg
"What?" I asked incredulously.
The envoy from the House of Habsburg remained kneeling where he had fallen from exhaustion in our castle's grand hall.
"T-The emperor has been slain by his own nephew, Duke Johann of Swabia!" he proclaimed to my entire court.
It's only been a few months since the end of the war against Upper Bavaria, but there was apparently another problem in the empire!
"Is he headed towards the Compact?" I asked.
He shook his head. "The sightings on the Parricide have him heading south towards Milan through the Forest Canton."
"How long ago was this?" I asked.
"A week ago, milord."
A week.
Then this duke was already through the Forest Canton. Hell, he could already be deep inside Milan, if he wasn't fleeing even further south.
I leaned back.
"Then it is a matter out of my hands."
But I also had to worry about what all of this meant.
The emperor was dead.
It meant that the College of Electors would be called upon to elect a new emperor, and Henry, as the new King of Bohemia, would be one of those electors.
… Which ultimately meant that this wasn't my problem.
Or was it?
Henry held a position currently wanted by the big names of the empire. The Habsburgs wanted it, and being the emperor (again) would give them the position to pursue it. Henry, thus, needed to support anyone that wasn't a Habsburg but at the same time, there weren't that many candidates.
Who was he going to support, the fucking Wittelsbach? Who he just had a war with?
"Someone get him a room and refreshments," I said before looking at the messenger. "Thank you. I will be sure this is known across the entire Compact."
The messenger nodded and staggered away, led by a maidservant.
It also said a lot of things if the messenger came to me instead of Chur or any other member of the Compact that was closer to Habsburg lands and where the attack took place.
Had my influence grown that large without me noticing?
"The court is adjourned today," I said as I stood up.
After that, I made my way briskly toward my office to draft up letters.
The Compact needed to come together to discuss what we needed to do in this turbulent time.
Isabella met me on the way to my office.
"Is it true?" she asked me as she walked by my side.
"According to the messenger."
"Dear God. Elizabeth will be devastated…" she muttered. "And that's going to cause us problems, too."
"How?" I asked without stopping.
"Her eldest son, Rudolf. He wants the Bohemian Crown for himself. This will make it his second attempt, and he sees Henry as being weak after our latest war."
I grunted. "There's always more problems, isn't there?" I muttered.
"We don't have to get involved," she whispered.
I raised an eyebrow. "Isn't this your cousins you're talking about?" Both Henry and Rudolf von Habsburg were her cousins.
"Yes, but the emperor and empress were very keen on where you would stand."
That did bring me to a stop. "Me?"
Isabella looked at me as if I was the idiot who didn't get the situation at hand. "Honey, you killed a duke this time while conducting a lightning campaign across Bavarian lands. You're someone they equate to ten thousand swords and spears."
"They do? I mean… I can probably take on a few hundred soldiers. Maybe even a thousand. Ten thousand's a bit much, isn't it?"
She stared at me for a bit longer before just shaking her head.
"What?" I asked her as she moved toward my office first. I chased after her. "Honey, did I say something stupid?"