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| - Central-Eastern Europe: Chaotic civil war in Berestia between Berke Khan and his nephew Nogai of Lebus. The war ends when Berke, betrayed by the Teutonic Knights, dies in a dungeon of the Order:D , and Nogai remains the sole Khan by despatching Berke's sons. Nogai, a pagan Tengriist (*the common shamanistic cult of nomadic Turco-Mongols) with Jewish sympathies:D , gets rid of Berke's Muslim court; many find refuge in the emirate :eek: of Lithuania and White Ruthenia, where Waliist :confused: Islam is now the state religion. Central Asia: Alghu Khan, a Tengriist, conquers control of the Chagatai Khanate from Bahram Shah Khan and keeps it up to his death at the hands of Kublai's forces, who reenthrone the Zoroastrian Bahram. 1261 Northern Europe: King Knut VII of Denmark is murdered and replaced by his brother Sven IV of Nordalbingia, who reunifies the Danish domains, rejects payment of tributes to the quarrelling Mongols and puts down peasant rebellions in Scania. British Isles: Emperor Stephen the Cruel of Greater Normandy, now reduced to be only the king of England, campaigns against the Welshmen, routing them at Caruther/Caer y Rhodri (*OTL Hereford). Most of Wales is devastated by Stephen's army, bolstered by a number of French and German refugees, then, when king Owain IV is cornered in Penfro (*OTL Pembroke), Simon of Montfort the Younger (a son of the Simon who led the Albigensian Crusades) leads the Second Barons' rebellion, occupying London and forcing Stephen back to fight for his last throne. A most violent civil war ensues in England... and Wales once again is saved. The Irish rebellion falters due to infighting among clans, but Greater Norman power is by now only a fiction and all players on the island are de facto independent. Southern Europe: The Crusaders army in Lombardy partly disbands; half of it presses on towards Hungary, harassed by the Cuman guard of Friul and Meinhard IV of Gurizberg (*OTL Gorizia)-Tyrol. The crusaders carve a principality in Krain/Carniola (Slovenia) under Florestan, a relative of king Elpidio I of Andalusia, after defeating a Cuman-Bohemian force in the battle of Oberlaibach/Vrhnika. The main male line of the Àrpàd dynasty of Hungary is extinguished with the murder of king Stephen V and his two sons on orders from khan Berke of Berestia. The Hungarian ruler had called for help from the Crusaders, thus angering his Mongol patrons. The surviving Àrpàdid queen Elzbeta the Cuman (daughter of a Cuman princess) is married to the fugitive Alberico degli Ezzelini:eek: , who is made the king consort of Hungary as Erberek I Attila:eek: , starting the Etzelàk dynasty. The new king, however, soon betrays Berke in favor of Nogai:D . The Della Torre family takes over in Milan, assuming control of the count-archbishopric with Avone, a puppet of his powerful brother Martino, and beginning a slow reconstruction. Byzantine Empire: The Byzantine and Genoese fleets take Chios from Venice, sharing domain over the island. Northern Hesperia (*OTL America): The Norse colonists in Greenland (totalling some 4,000 in two settlements along the SW coast) accept Norwegian suzerainty. 1261-1263 Northern Hesperia (*OTL America): The main Norse colonies in Skraelingarland/Screlingia (*OTL Acadia) are almost wiped away during the War of the Two Axes, which sees a violent clash between the powerful Mikkmakk king Kathtugevessem III Iron Shell, the Norse colonists and their Christianized allies. 1262 Northern Europe: The Commonwealth of Iceland, weakened by long internal rivalries, falls under the Norwegian crown as the Thorvaldsson clan achieves total victory, exterminating the rival Sturlungs. The Norwegians also begin to get seriously interested in what's happening on the other shore of the Atlantic Ocean: tales and news about “Vinland” and its surroundings are now given credit, as pleas for help begin to arrive through Greenland and Iceland. British Isles: Stephen the Cruel defeats the rebel barons at Banesbrie Mansion (*OTL Banbury), then in turn is routed at Buntingford. Rival armies set afire half of England, as most barons and towns rally behind Simon of Montfort the Younger, whereas the peasantry, the refugees from Europe and some higher noblemen by and large support the emperor. Western Europe: Duke Rudolph I of Habsburg-Alamannia calls for help from the Ograinese (*Mongol-Kipchak horde in Lorraine) against the free town of Mulhouse/Mülhausen (Alsace), which was leading the resistance of the Alsatian towns. The citizens' militia is massacred by the Turkic-Mongol archer cavalry, then the town is pillaged and burnt, marking a significant, if infamous, victory for Rudolph:mad: . Southern Europe: Genoa is ousted from its pirate nest in Monaco by Nice's and Ventimiglia's forces. (*no Casino there, likely;) ) North Africa: Pope Urban VII (*OTL Urban IV) dies in Bardapolis (*OTL Tunis). The Cardinals elect as Pope the famed German theologian Albert Magnus, a Dominican and Doctor of the Church, who takes the name of Dominic IV. At present in England, the new Pope will reach its see only after three years, rejecting repeated attempts by several cardinals to move the Papal see in Canterbury, out of the reach of both the Mongols and the Western Emperor of Sicily. Byzantine Empire: Gabriel Ho Kyrios Megas, despot of Turcopolia, tries to crush Mikrovlakia, but his siege of Skupiokastristsa (*OTL Skoplje) is a failure in front of the stubborn resistance put up by the local Vlachs and Bulgarians led by despot Constantine Tigomiritzes. 1263 Southern Europe: In alliance with local chieftains and feudatories, Genoa recaptures Ajaccio from Nice, thus regaining a foothold in Corsica. The Council of Palermo condemns Joachimism and Myriamism alike as heresies, especially the second, defined as “nefarious perversion of the Christian faith and idolatry”:D . Gerard of Borgo San Donnino, the foremost Joachimite preacher, is brought to trial and jailed for life. In the meantime, Western imperial forces penetrate into the heart of the former kingdom of Lesser Normandy, clashing with the Joachimite peasantry in revolt, who are now discreetly aided by the republics of Naples and Bari, worried at the possibility of being reduced to Sicilian subjects. Central-Eastern Europe: Emir Mindaugas of Lithuania and White Ruthenia is murdered by agents in the service of Wolk/Roman, a Catholic grandson of the late Czar Iwan Skirmunt, exiled in Sweden. Wolk/Roman had come back at the head of a Swedish crusader army, landing in Riga ostensibly to snatch the port from the Teutonic Knights and stop their piracy. Despite Mindaugas' son Vaišvilkas' best efforts, Lithuania-Ruthenia shatters into warring factions on ethnical and religious issues – Muslims, pagans, Catholics, Orthodox. Vaišvilkas soon turns to apostasy from Waliist Islam, relapsing into paganism; Wolk/Roman cannot extend his power much beyond the coast, however. Alexander Nevskij, the Grand Prince of Vladimir, most powerful of the Rurikids and well connected with the Mongols, dies, leaving the main Russian throne to his younger brother Yaroslav III of Tver. Byzantine Empire: Tens of thousands of Muslim Batiturks deported from Anatolia to Europe rebel under their leader Kaikobad Aziz Iskandar and inflict a bloody rout upon the Byzantines at the Ardas river, then spread to sack all of Thrace and former Megavlakia. The Genoese wrest the port-fortress of Chania (Crete) from Venice. Venetian control of Crete is at a nadir, consisting now in a handful of ports and the dubious allegiance of some Greek and Latin (Catholic) lords of the richer coastal areas. Pope Dominic IV withdraws the decades-old interdict against the Akrite Order, quietly accepting its bi-confessional status, both Catholic and Orthodox Greek, as well as its formal allegiance to Constantinople. Arabia: The Mervids of Yemen oust the Crusaders from Aden and Mocha, almost cutting their already precarious trade lines to India. The Abyssinian port-fortress of Kaladiopi (*OTL Marsa Ibrahim, Eritrea), held by the Templars, becomes the only waypoint with distant India. Central Hesperia (*OTL America): The Itzàs of Yucatàn defeat the League of Mayapàn, dominated by the Cocom lineage, to assert their independence; they take the collective name of Maya, which will later identify all local civilizations in the eyes of the foreigners. British Isles, Northern Europe, Northern Hesperia (*OTL America): The Shetlands, still largely inhabited by Norsemen, revolt against Alban-Scot domination and are secured after some skirmishing by a strong fleet led by Magnus the Navigator, second son of king Haakon IV of Norway. The Norwegians then sack the coasts of Alba (*northern Scotland) in a punitive expedition before heading for Iceland to receive the formal submission of the last chieftains in the east of that remote land. Thence Magnus decides to head for Greenland, much to the amazement of the local Norse colonists. Eventually, by fall, the fleet, surprisingly intact, reaches distant Vinlandria (*OTL Newfoundland) proclaiming there Norwegian sovereignty. Briefed by the Vinlanders, Magnus then lands in Skraelingarland/Screlingia. Next spring his men and the Norse-Hesperian army decisively smash Kathtugevessem III Iron Shell and his Mikkmakk warriors at the battle of Skjedagvìk (*OTL Shediac, New Brunswick, Canada). British Isles: The civil war in England drags on in a bloodbath, as emperor Stephen draws more and more enemies due to his cruelty and treachery. After his seemingly decisive victory at Kettering, reinforcements from Wales and Ireland flock to bolster Simon the Younger's forces. After a year of prudent skirmishing and guerrilla, Simon's forces crush the enemy at the battle of Kibworth St. Wilfrid where Stephen falls with his sword in hand. With that the main line of the Normandie dynasty is extinguished (though hundreds of nobles share the blood of the Conqueror by now) and the Greater Norman Empire de facto comes to an end:( . Indeed, Simon of Montfort the Younger refuses to be crowned as “emperor”, only accepting in Westminster the crown of England. Western Europe: As England is ridden with war, devastated northern France falls to a host of local players, many of which can claim blood ties of various degree to the imperial family. Paris, Rouen and Chartres, however, remain under communal governments heavily influenced by the local bishops. Northern Hesperia (*OTL America): Magnus I Haakonsson the Navigator reigns over Screlingia/Skraelingarland (*OTL Acadia), Vinlandria (*OTL Newfoundland), Greenland and Iceland from his new capital at Kongsstadir (*approx OTL Birchwood, Nova Scotia, Canada), as his elder brother Haakon V succeeds their father in Norway. Despite the colonists' dislike for monarchy, Magnus earns their respect by preserving their Althing (parliament) and crushing any further aggression from the native tribes. He calls from Europe knights, mercenaries and adventurers for a “crusade” to further spread Christianity. Thanks to this publicity Hesperia emerges from the mist of legends in European culture, and the Hespero-Norse receive in exchange a cultural update from Europe. 1264 British Isles: Taking advantage of the civil war, king Alain IV of Brittany (himself a significant feudal landlord in England) seizes Cornwall with its fleet, leaving there his second son William as king of a restored country. Donn Carrach of the Maguire clan becomes king of Fermanagh (western Ulster), a bulwark against the power of the Bourke clan in Connacht. Southern Europe: Pope Dominic IV formally dissolves the late kingdom of Romancia, which remains divided between the Abbey of San Gall (*OTL Sankt Gallen) and the archbishopric of Coira, plus some unincorporated lay feudal holdings and counties. The young margrave of Este, Obizzo II, the legitimated bastard grandson of Azzone VII through Rinaldo I, is made lord-for-life of the town of Ferrara, nominally in name of king Umberto IV of Lombardy, de facto as an independent sovereign. Central-Eastern Europe: Nogai Khan of Berestia proclaims himself “protector of Jewry”, decreeing favorable conditions for Jews in his domains, which stretch from the Baltic to the Black Sea. He also begins meddling into the Lithuanian situation in favor of Mindaugas' heir, Vaišvilkas. Middle East, Central Asia: Hulagu Khan is ready to march against the Myriamite theocracy in Palestine and Lebanon when he dies suddenly in an epidemic and the campaign aborts. Hulagu's son, Abaqa, succeeds him as Khan of Persia, starting the Ilkhanid dynasty: he is a devout Buddhist with sympathies for Christianity (being son of a Christian mother and the son-in-law of the Byzantine emperor Anthemius II), and a fierce persecutor of any form of Islam. Abaqa soon moves his capital from Maragha (Azerbaijan) to a reconstructed Tabriz. Far East: Once concluded the civil war in triumph, Great Khan Kublai transfers the Mongol capital from Karakorum to Dadu/Khanbaliq (*OTL Beijing), the new city he built over the destroyed Zhongdu. This moves further away the different Mongol khanates, now de facto acting independently. Byzantine Empire: The rebel Batiturks plunge into Turcopolia (*northern Greece plus Albania), sacking their way and giving the coup de grace to the declining city of Thessalonica, which will be abandoned for good, apart for some monasteries. They then proceed to plunder Thessaly and, pressed by despot Gabriel Ho Kyrios Megas of Turcopolia, swarm into the duchy of Athens, whose shrewd duke, William (a scion of the Norman emperors) buys them off by hiring their services as mercenaries for a campaign against Morea. Northern Europe: Upon the death of duke Vartislav III of Demmin, (western) Pomerania is temporarily reunified under Barnim I the Good, a vassal and ally of Nogai Khan of Berestia, then again divided between his heirs. 1265 British Isles: King Simon I convenes the first elected Parliament of England in Westminster, near London. The lesser nobility, who championed him in the civil war, is adequately represented. Among the Parliament's decisions is the expulsion from the kingdom of the Knights Templar, who had sided with emperor Stephen. Some hundreds knights, their estates confiscated but their lives spared, go into exile in Northumbria and Denmark. Western Europe: Division of the Castilian realm between brothers Domingo, who keeps Castile proper, and Sancho, who gains Leòn with a princely title. Thence originates a split in two rival branches, the Dominguez and Sanchez, of the Besoncés family of Castile. Southern Europe, Northern Europe: Rudolph I of Habsburg-Alamannia conquers Baden by eliminating its self-made margrave, Rupprecht of Villingen, and consolidates his own power. Southern Europe: King Umberto IV of Lombardy dies, succeeded by his son, Arduino III of Turin. Mastino della Scala, a former supporter of the Ezzelinians, becomes podestà (chief magistrate) of Verona; he'll found there the Scaliger lordship (from the Della Scala, his own family). Rodolfo II de' Ridolfi, marquis of Camerino, steps in to fill the void left in central Italy by the Mongol assault on Rome and the flight of the Papal court. He extends his lands astride the Apennine ridge, conquering Fermo and Spoleto. Dragomir I, founder of the Harjemanoviċ dynasty of Serbia, dies and is succeeded by his son Svetozar I, who soon eliminates his rival cousin David. North Africa: Pope Dominic IV (Albert Magnus), as soon as he arrives in his see in Bardapolis (*Tunis), launches an interdict against “any king, or duke or similar holder of authority who should obey, serve in arms or pay tribute to the Tartar infidels who destroyed the venerable center of civilization and Christianity, Rome, and menace the Holy Lands”. This move has little effect, apart from further discrediting both the European feudal lords and the Catholic Church among the masses. Byzantine Empire: The Muslim Batiturk Massud Badros Beg rebels with his army against thge Byzantines and founds the principality of Makri in SW Anatolia, as the Byzantine military is in a phase of weakness. In central Anatolia, in the meantime, Myriamism spreads among the Turkic tribes, particularly those of Alevi or Shi'ite extraction. A failed coup in Constantinople to replace the ineffective basileus Anthemius II with his cousin John, which involved opening the city gates to a detachment of Muslim Batiturks, ushers in a bloodbath and an anti-Muslim hysteria. Middle East: Count Mirò II Jordan of Tripoli-Lebanon, being heirless, on his deathbed sells his estates to the republic of Venice in exchange for a massive cathedral to be built for the good of his own soul. The Myriamite army, by now the single most powerful and disciplined force in the Holy Land save perhaps the Templars, razes the Knights Hospitaller's stronghold of Arsuf, breaking Crusader stranglehold over the coastline. North Africa: A war of succession in the sultanate of Aswan gives Crusader Lower Egypt some respite from the constant siege of the Mamluk armies, less so from the attacks of the Arab Bedouin tribes from Cyrenaica.
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