Kalmar Union-
Scotland-Chancellor Shaw
England -Allegheny
Ireland -Warr
Grand Duchy of Moscow/Muscovy-
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland-Todd
Bohemia and Hungary-Lazlow
Holy Roman Empire-
Most Serene Republic of Venice-Der Fuhrer Dyszel
The Duchy of Milan-Veerilion
France-Knockavale
Spain-Alejandro the Penguin
Portugal-
The Papal states
Naples-
The Ottoman Empire-
Romania(No stats though unless someone knows any?)-packilvania
Sicily-The Angel of Death
Venetian porn! Calling all models, we need help for some Venetian porn!*
So were the street callers hawking away during the high noon sun while the artists of the day sat sketched away the models who had answered the calling.
Mercolades stretched as he lounged back, finishing the last angle on a sketch for one of his sculptures. While the pay was well for his talents, he often found himself feeling a sense of ennui during the intrinstic construction of his masterpieces. Finishing a glass of wine and the sketch he thanked the dashing man who had offered his body up as a model for his latest depiction of man glorified in the divine image.
Art…the highest expression of culture…played itself out all around him. And yet, he knew he could do more. With perhaps some help from those Milans and perhaps the Sicilians, together they could transfer their nations into divine momuments!
Oh…what a dream for the future! What a dream! Mercolades sighed as he looked out at the twisting river, wishing for perhaps more than he could reasonably hope for.
- Thanks Veer! You inspired my post!
Venetian porn! Calling all models, we need help for some Venetian porn!*
Veritas XII cursed the city and its immoral inhabitants upon hearing the carnal calls of the sin peddlers. How he wished he could decapitate each and every nude blasphemers who callously walked their way to the call of the ‘artists’. Perched upon his lookout point high up in a bell tower of a church, he could do nothing but watch, however. Tradition has dictated that he must watch before sweeping in for the prey, and so he must watch.
He watched the developing area of the city. Someday, someday those fields would host incredibly tall buildings, with self-automated machines plying the smooth roadways of modernity. Let them say his idea came about as a result of too much rum and ale at the riverside bars. He know someday the most unbelievable innovation was not impossible. If the Order had its way, nothing would be impossible.
Besides, he would rather cut his wrist and drink his own blood rather than drinking the foul filth those drunkards called ‘drinks’.
The bell heaved and reverberated with an ear-piercing ring just a few centimeters away from him. The ominous sound was a sign to act. And act he should.
Duke Lodovico Sforza, was surprised, “Are you Serious? dont they know how little the pope, likes such stuff? With the french on our border, the last we need is trouble over at Venetia, we should help, cool things down over there.” said Duke Lodovico Sforza while discussing it with an advisor, who agreed.
At the start of the XVIth century, the clouds were gathering over Hungary.
The troubles started with the death of king Matthias (Mátyás) in 1490. Matthias left an empty treasury behind, as most of the money were spent on the Black Army, an army of mercenarys, who were highly trained, yet saw little combat during the lifetime of Matthias, despite the fact that it was established to fight the turks. The problem was, that Matthias didn’t fight against the turks, as his primary goal was to become the Holy Roman Emperor. Chasing his dream he attacked Austria and Bohemia, conquering a significant part of those countries, while overtaxing the peasants. Matthias also ruled the nobility with an iron fist. Matthias was also a patron of the arts. Hungary was considered a major power during his reign, but as soon as he died his system collapsed.
The nobility rejoiced, as they were now free to do anything they wanted. They elected Vladislav II., king of Bohemia, as the king of Hungary, as Matthias had no legitimate heir, despite the fact that Matthias gave some concessions to the nobility, so that they accept János Corvin, the illegitimate son of Matthias, as a legal heir. But the nobles wanted a king they can easily controll, as they had enough of the strong central power. With Vladislav they achieved their goal, as he was a weak willed, powerless sap. Vladislav could not speak hungarian, and in general was not the type of person who would argue with anyone. If someone in the court would ask something from him, he would simply answer “bene” (good in latin) or dobzhe (good in czeh) and give it to him. As a result he was popularly known as Vladislav Dobzhe. The nobles had free reign.
As the nobles were in charge of collecting the taxes in their realms, they of course put away most of them in their own coffers. Those who could start their own business ventures or gain official titles could build a sizeable empire. Meanwhile the peasantry and the bourgeoisie were growing more and more restless. While during the reign of Matthias only the state opressed them with large taxes, now the nobility too, as the nobles trimmed their rights, as they feared that the growing bourgeoisie threatens their positions.
As Vladislav was easily controllable, a noble who can become his closest advisor could become the most powerfull man in Hungary. István Szapolyai the palatine of Hungary managed to do that, but his death in 1499 created a power vacuum and several parties are looking forward to fill that in.
The Kingdom of Sicily is great and prosperous nation, residing mainly in southern Italy, living off of the trade routes in the Mediterranean. Trade with Egypt and being one of the few European countries with access to such valuable goods has made most Sicilians prosperous. Thus was the privilege of the wealthy Italian nations, with true connection to what culture truly was in this world at the time. The capital of the kingdom was Naples at this time, with King Ferdinand ruling over all of southern Italy.
King Ferdinand sat in a white chair in his formal gardens, enjoying a fine cup of wine while looking upon a fellow painter, painting away on a large canvas in the beautiful sunlight. Such were blissful times, however the Kingdom must expand and reclaim its glory from the days of the Normans.
King Ferdinand looked over some papers, one exclaiming a request from Venice to perhaps share artistic views from Sicilian artists, and also combine some cultural ideals in the process. The King smiled when he read this, because he knew if he could perhaps gain good relations with Venice, they could perhaps assist him later in matters of military and trade. Hopefully, all of the great Italian nations could combine their ideologies and trade to create a truly powerful world of enlightenment. Ferdinand waved his hand at one of his ambassadors.
“Go now hither, and take with thee three of Sicily’s best artist to the city of Venice. There are talks of art there, and they do so very much love new artistic views. Send that Egyptian fellow as well, being that is an architect from his lands, although a Muslim he carries with him great knowledge of that culture.”
The ambassador ran off quickly starting on these orders. Messengers should arrive in Venice soon, as well as the artists as a gesture of good will, and hopefully talks of diplomacy and good will, will begin.
There was the matter of reclaiming the actual island of Sicily soon, The Kingdom cant forever stay in the south, the shadow of the pope forever, reclamation was brewing about as the armies gathered as well…
King Louis XII has a decision to make, Europe was in turmoil, and yet France had been relatively unaffected by the political problems facing most monarchs…so far. The coffers needed to be filled and the King felt that trade treaties with other European nations and a sharp rise in taxes would do the trick. The question the King was facing was where to expand France’s influence, Spain was a strong nation and unlikely to fall easily, the same could be said for England. Milan…hmm…she was rich and powerful but in terms of size, she could be considered easy pickings. Nevertheless the money needed to be raised first.
Taking out some parchment the King started to write…
— Begin quote from ____
To England, Spain and Venice.
I would like to request permission for my merchant ships to dock at your ports and trade in your cities and I would extend the same rights to you. I hope this will be the start of a cordial relationship between our Countries.
King Louis XII
— End quote
A common looking man in peasants garb with a brown cloak walked through the busy marketplace of Sterling. People were busy trading, bartering, buying, and selling everywhere, and no one seemed to be unhappy. Scotland was thriving, and King James knew it was thanks to him. Literacy rates had gone up, there were less beggars on the streets, there were finally enough educated citizens to start a medical college in Edinburgh, and relations with the English were holding steady. At least, that’s how things looked from this side of the border.
James loved walking among the common folk, it was his greatest joy to directly see how his decisions were affecting his country. No one recognized him, and it would have taken a keen eye indeed to notice his royal ring he was forbidden to remove. Despite all that he had seen on his walk, however, he could not help but be troubled as he ascended the hill towards Castle Sterling. There was a small uprising in the Highlands, but that would be dealt with soon, and the Outer Hebrides were still not accepting his sovereignty, but again it was only a matter of time before they saw the upside to being Scottish.
No, it was none of these petty issues that weighed on the Kings shoulders, but rather the events going on outside of his borders. The world was not getting any larger. Very soon the other Nobles would be looking to gain more land, and James knew that there would not be much time before Scotland was nothing but a speck compared to the leviathan nations that would surround him. There had been rumours of more explorers following in the wake of that Italian fellow who had found an undiscovered land to the West, and James knew that Portugal, Spain, and France would not be slow to investigate.
And then there was Henry. King Henry VII to the south had more than double the Scottish population under his reign, and not much to concern him coming from the Continent. Although the Scots were fierce warriors and have the Highland advantage, war with the English was not something James was willing to risk. “Perhaps it is time for one of those political marriages? Henry has quite a few daughters, that would certainly do the trick. No need to go to that extreme quite yet though, for now we’ll try a diplomatic letter assuring my friendship and suggesting open trade routes. I would much rather focus on economical and exploratory expansion than some bloody war.”
King James had a letter written up and sent off to King Henry, hoping for a favourable reply, then leaned back in his chair and dreamt of faraway lands untouched by the human hand. “Ah, to be in control of such an expanse…”
(OOC: Where do I sign up for this? And since I’m Swedish I’d like to be the Kalmar Union.)
Unfortunately, Ragnar, this RP has been long dead. The last post was in 2010.
However, we can restart it. I think it could be fun. Want to?
Whats with all the 3 year thread bumps lately?
Heh, I was tired and didn’t look at the dates…
But a reboot could be fun.