1160: Nothing of note, just building up my army some. Also, begins some new projects.
1) Recruiting priests and building churches in many cities, mainly the former Byzantine ones.
"I didn't know you were so religious Doge." Barbus
"I'm not. But heretics are a major pain in the neck, and so are whiny Orthodox people. Add to that a Pope that isn't happy until everyone's Catholic, and you have major incentives to spread religion." Cristiano.
2) Benasuto is heading back to Venice to prepare for the next war.
"Leaving Nicosia is a minor risk, but the fact was it was never all that important anyway. Only reason we took it was to eliminate the Byzantines, and to create a base of operations near the Holy Land. Whether we keep it or not is irrelevant. Plus, I want to make sure Cristiano hasn't burned the capital down." Benasuto.
3) Zaneta is heading north, towards the Denmark border past the Holy Roman Empire. More allies can't be bad, and a royal marriage would help immensely.
"Alright, destroying a failing empire, playing off enemies against each other, all that I can live with. But marrying off your niece in a political marriage to enhance your position....have you no shame?" Pecina.
"Lady, you've been married to me for 20 years. You should know the answer is a resounding NO." Doge Cristiano.
1162
Jerusalem has been capture, by the English!
"I seek the..." English General.
"Finish that sentence, and I'll forget you have a sword pointed at me." Local Jerusalimite.
"Interesting. And bad. Taking a city from fellow Christians is always problematic." Doge Cristiano.
Lucus Selvo born to Benasuto. And Benasuto's been on a ship for a few years!
"If it's not morning sickness, it's sea sickness." Genite.
"It's a miracle." Benasuto, cooing over his new son.
"We could debate THAT point." Genite.
2 Armoured Sergeants and 1 Sergeant Spears are recruited in Corinth.
"3 new units, what are you planning Cristiano?" Barbus.
"Wouldn't you like to know." Doge Cristiano.
"Yeah, that's why I asked." Barbus.
"You'll see soon enough." Doge Cristiano, walking away chuckling darkly.
"I sleeping with my sword for the next week or so." Barbus.
Poland and Russia declare war on each other. Poland should be divided amongst the other nations by next week. (If that sounds harsh....you haven't studied history much. That was a weekly occurence for awhile)
1164
A messenger explodes into the dining room where the Doge is eating roast bird from Corinth.
"This better be good...is that the Papal seal?" He asks, seeing the message.
"Yes. His emmenacy, Pope Gregory the First....has died my lord!" Messenger.
"What? Are you sure?" Cristiano asks, grabbing the message. "By God it's true. Giannis!" The Venetian Cardinal appears. "Yes?"
"You need to go to Rome. The Pope is dead, they need to elect a new one."
The vote in Rome is swift and sure. Giannis is elected to the Holy Seat! His first act is to reconcile Portugal to the fold.
"I don't know what they did to earn excommunication. Couldn't have been that important." Giannis.
Venice now controls Rome, the Catholic Church, the Greek cities....Venice is one of the most influential nations in Europe.
Florogentina is born to Benasuto. For someone on ship, he's rather fecundant.
"It's easy to get bored around here." Benasuto.
"I hate ships." Genite, tossing more bad food overboard in a rather inventive way.
Zasta born to Barbus. I'm guessing he did that so I won't forget about him. Easy to do.
"Hey!"
1166
Zaneta rejects a suitor, and a good one.
"Wasn't a prince. I like princes. I'm a prize, not a gift to be handed out a will after all." Zaneta.
Thinks highly of herself doesn't she? 2 Pavise Crossbowmen recruited in Venice. Got like 8 of those guys by now. 2 Sergeant Spears in Corinth.
"Cristiano can't be thinking of more war. We just finished a long campaign, now he wants another? For God's sake, enough is enough." Barbus.
Uberto born to Cristiano.
Barbus gets and explorer. Nice.
1168
Morosino Selvo of age.
2 Commander Stars
5 Piety
5 Loyalty
Aloof, Lazy, Cheap, Natural Commander.
So, he's uninterested in money, doesn't liking talking to people, and rather sleep than lead, but still a good commander....not a real interesting guy. But we'll see.
Holy Roman Empire and Papal States ally with each other.
"Allying with the Papal States...why didn't I think of that? Oh right, I own the Papal States now. What do I care?" Cristiano.
"As usual, our eminite leader misses the point. HRE and the Papal states as allies makes warring with the Holy Roman Empire risky. Our Pope may be Venetian, but his major interest is the authority of the Church, meaning he is still a potential risk. We must be cautious, and gather allies of our own." Benasuto.
A few units of cavalry appear in Corinth. Got a real army going. Start recruiting ballistas in Ragusa.
Zaneta finally finds someone worthy of her time, in Prince Przemyslaw(I swear that's not a typo), of Poland. "Handsome, rich, and in the line for the throne...how can I say no?" Zaneta.
"But how the hell do you pronounce his name?" Pecina.
Don't know, don't care. This alliance will keep the Holy Roman Empire from trying anything to tricky just yet.
A council meeting is called to discuss the issue at hand....
