HRE NES II: Der Aufstieg

[appleciders]

Duke Arnulf of Bavaria to King Heinrich of Germany
Your Highness, it has been brought to my attention that it would be unseemly for such a relic to arrive in Rome without at least a Duke accompanying it, and unsafe to bring such a sum of money back from Rome without guards. I will travel along with this delegation- it's my responsibility, since God saw fit to allow this relic to fall into my hands. I will leave Eberhard in my stead in Bavaria and allow you and he to manage the Carinthian campaign. I also suggest that bringing the relic in under the banners of all five German duchies might be suitably ceremonial.


OOC: Cyc, how exactly would it be determined that this Nail (or the other one, for that matter) is not counterfeit?

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by appleciders
OOC: Cyc, how exactly would it be determined that this Nail (or the other one, for that matter) is not counterfeit?

Well, you can't really. John Calvin once observed that there were so many pieces of "the True Cross" around Europe that you could fill a ship with them, and yet everyone claimed to have part of the real one. The Pope (or rather any priests he has who specialize in relics) would probably pray over it and examine it for rust, for instance, because relics are supposed to be incorruptible. The most important part of a relic's function, however, is the creation of miracles. I suppose the item's recovery is in some sense a miracle; it was also associated with the apparent martyrdom of von Dortmund. That might count for something, but it really depends on what the Pope thinks.

[foolish_icarus]

Franconia to Swabia :

Do you have a surplus of wine? Would you care to trade it for sugar?

---

And may I choose from some generals (including the reserved Landgraf Raganald von Hesse)? Was Vizegraf Teutomar von Würzburg successfully appointed, or is there a maximum number of generals that I may possess?

[appleciders]

Duke Arnulf of Bavaria to All German Dukes and All Bavarian Nobility
As I prepare to leave Bavaria to travel to Rome, I leave the Markgraf Eberhard, my brother, in my stead. He will have full capacity as Duke in my absence. As I have no son, I also officially designate him as the heir to all my worldly possessions and titles should death befall me on this trip. I charge both the nobility of Bavaria and Carinthia and King Heinrich with enforcing this edict.

Duke Arnulf of Bavaria to Pope John X of Rome
Holy Father, I bring news of the utmost urgency and joy! One of the Holy Nails has again been cast away and recovered, and I bring this Nail to Rome! Once the mountain passes of the Alps allow passage, I will personally bring this holy relic to Rome and claim the reward you promised. I humbly request of you a Papal edict ordering Christians to refrain from interfering on this holy mission.

[appleciders]

Originally posted by Micha


King Heinrich of Germany to Duke Arnulf of Bavaria

About your request concerning the abbey: Since two years I have worked on a plan for a missionary school myself, to train men of god who will help spreading the word of our Lord to the heathens in Meissen. So there are two possibilities I can foresee: One is that I will create one on my own out of my rich demesne, in which case I´d not be able to spare any monks to your endeavour. The second one is that your abbey will become this missionary school. In that case I´d wbe willing to assist you with materials, money and monks while I´d need a formal and binding agreement about the institution and its usage for my goals.

What is your opinion about that?

My apologies in the delay in answering your query, Highness- these last few chaotic weeks prevented my reply.

My primary intention with regards to founding a monastery are scholastic- my attempts to construct a cathedral and siege equipment have been met with profound ignorance on the behalf of our local scholars, forcing me to look abroad for help. While this is a necessity at the moment, I hope to begin a depository of knowledge in Germany for German use. My primary aims are scholastic, not religious, but I recognize that these two disciplines are closely intertwined and with the added money, materials, and monks that you offer, I see no reason why this monastery might not serve both our needs.

[Cyclotron]

I have a thesis rough draft due in a few days, don't expect any replies from me until next week.

[Cyclotron]

Progress Update

I owe the Whitman Politics Department around 70 pages on "The Religious Origin of Ethnic Nationalism in Post-Ottoman Macedonia" on Friday (this coming Friday). I have about 30 currently. Needless to say, this is the last you will hear of me until Friday. Upon that day, however, my workload will decrease drastically. The final draft is due two weeks later, at which point I will have only one extremely easy low-level history class.

What this means for you is that you can expect no involvement on my part until after Friday, and some unknown amount of involvement for the next two weeks after that, and then totally awesome involvement because of immense free time after that. I'll see you around.

[appleciders]

Fair enough. I'm heavily involved in the musical here at school, so I'm going to be seriously busy until the year's out. I'll have orders in, but they may be a little simpler than usual.

EDIT: For what it's worth, my orders are finalized.

[Cyclotron]

Duke Burchard II of Swabia to Duke Eberhard III of Franconia

An equal trade of wine for sugar would suit us, and we have up to 200 denarii of wine available. How much would you like to trade?

Originally posted by foolish_icarus
And may I choose from some generals (including the reserved Landgraf Raganald von Hesse)? Was Vizegraf Teutomar von Würzburg successfully appointed, or is there a maximum number of generals that I may possess?

There are no limits to the number of generals you can possess, but - as you have seen - generals can be troublesome, and the more generals you have the more possibility there is of one or more being disloyal, dangerous, or overly ambitious. They also may get jealous of other generals winning glory on the front lines while they're held back in reserve. Don't appoint more generals than you think you have the power to keep track of, and if neccessary, suppress. Every one is a potential threat as well as an asset.

Vizegraf Teutomar von Würzburg was appointed as per your orders and will be added to the general's list (I must have missed that). I'll find another two generals for your choice to go along with von Hesse.

[Cyclotron]

A Papal Bull has been issued for all to read and hear.

PAVLVS X, Episcopus, Servus Servorum Dei
Anno Domini CMXXI
I hereby prohibit any man, be he royalty, nobility, or common, from interfering or waylaying My honored petitioner, Arnulfus Dux Boiorum, or his vassals and men-at-arms, in his errand to my person, under penalty of excommunication. I furthermore prohibit any attack or encroachment upon his inheritance while he attends to me, also under penalty of excommunication.

[Cyclotron]

Generals for Franconia (only two here, plus Landgraf Raganald von Hesse)

Landgraf Folkher von Hirsau - Age 34
This noble’s family is largely Swabian, and as a result he has few natural allies in Franconia – a problem he has attempted to solve by tying himself closely to the Franconian Duke. He is a known ducal partisan, and there are few doubts as to his loyalty. He is reasonably competent in mathematics, though not literate; besides that, not much of his ability is known. He is not fond of the current Swabian Duke; he is related to the previous Duke of Swabia, who was overthrown by the current one.

Landgraf Hraban von Koblenz - Age 46
This man’s family is an old Lotharingian-Franconian line, and he claims descent from Charlemagne. He fought extensively with King Conrad against the Magyars, and is recognized as a respectable and confident commander with strong ties to the Conradine dynasty. He is known as a serious-minded noble who speaks with awesome gravity and authority; when he speaks, all listen. He is neither educated nor literate despite his speaking ability, which seems to stem from natural charisma.

[Cyclotron]

The due date for orders is Friday the 13th of this month. Not only is it a spooky due date, but it's also the due date for my thesis.

I will be open for diplomacy and answering questions until then, but not much else. I will begin the update on that weekend.

[appleciders]

May I just add one little note about the Papal bull: PARTY! That should be a huge help. I'm adding a note in my orders to ask the Pope to extend the protection to my travels homeward as well.

[Cyclotron]

Appleciders, I'd appreciate some indication of the general route you are taking to Rome. I'd assume you'd be going through Brenner and taking a Verona-Ravenna-Perugia-Rome route, but you could optionally take a slight detour to Venice if you wished to pay a visit there.

Going by sea from Venice might actually be faster, but being swarmed by Muslim pirates off the coast of Sicily would be almost a certainty.

[appleciders]

I don't see any reason to take anything but the fastest safe route to Rome, so assuming that the Brenner-Verona-Ravenna-Perugia-Rome is quickest land-based route (which it doesn't exactly look to be on the map, at least as the crow flies, but I'll bow to your knowledge of the state of roads of this period), I'll take that route on the way down to Rome. However, on the way back, I think I will make a stop at Venice to pay a visit to the Doge, provided that things in Bavaria don't look too dire.

I'll add this to my orders, too.