Recaps

Vitus reviewed reports of poor harvests caused by cold winters, hot summers, and irregular rainfall, then ordered measures to conserve grain and prepare inland towns for winter. He also approved more whaling ships and investigated food prices in Constantinople, where he worried that grain costs were already too high.

• Ilya reported declining grain harvests across the empire and recommended settling Rus immigrants in the north and Balkan and Italian immigrants in the south.
• Vitus ordered local authorities to increase grain reserves, raised taxes on alcoholic drinks to reduce brewing, and directed inland towns to stockpile coal.
• Vitus approved a request for more whale oil, ordered the Admiralty to sell Socotra Island two whaling ships, restricted its whale-oil sales to the Red Sea Fleet, and planned a warship patrol near Portugal's East African outposts.
• Vitus disguised himself as an ordinary citizen and visited a Constantinople market to examine butcher shops and the prices of meat and fish.
• Vitus found that grain was expensive in Constantinople and concluded that prices could not rise further without causing trouble.

Phil Di Maggio traveled to Sicily to secure cotton for the family textile business, but an assassin’s attack on his brother Pauli forced him to return to Florence. Pauli concealed the identity of the culprit and prepared Phil to act on his behalf at an upcoming ceremony, leaving the family braced for a dangerous political confrontation.

• Phil visited Fe Speciale in Palermo and arranged to seek cotton directly from Sicilian estate owners.
• Phil negotiated cotton agreements across Sicily, but several landowners failed to appear when September arrived, and he entrusted the remaining purchases to Fe Speciale after learning Pauli had been attacked.
• Phil returned to Florence and learned that Pauli was alive but hiding from the public while the Signoria investigated the assassination.
• Pauli told Phil he knew who had planned the attack but would not reveal the culprit before a ceremony at the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
• Pauli instructed Phil to speak with Cosimo of the Medici family and other Florentine leaders at the ceremony.

Phil investigated the suspicions surrounding the attempt on Pauli’s life while considering the risks of his brother’s plan to regain power without war. In Constantinople, Vitus appointed Tucha Agricultural Minister, and Ilya warned him that a sweeping government reshuffle was underway as they began the handover.

• Phil attended the consecration of Santa Maria del Fiore, spoke with Cosimo Medici and other Florentine leaders, and remained unsure who had attacked Pauli.
• Phil handled Di Maggio business at the Silk Guild and worried that Pauli’s attempt to reclaim power would be difficult to sustain amid Florence’s shrinking trade advantages.
• Vitus inspected drought-stricken fields near Constantinople and was relieved that Di Maggio had not started a war that would strain the empire’s grain supplies.
• Vitus summoned Tucha and promoted him from Governor of Epirus to Agricultural Minister, replacing Ilya.
• Ilya told Tucha that the central government was preparing a major reshuffle and began explaining the Agricultural Department’s responsibilities.

Tucha settled into his new role as agricultural minister and bought a modest residence, while Vitus weighed political developments in Florence and Serbia. In England, the French and Portuguese fleets defeated an English fleet at Calais, clearing the way for the Duke of York’s return.

• Tucha dismissed many of his guards and advisers with severance payments, then bought the former army minister’s residence and formally took office as agricultural minister.
• Tucha avoided political ambitions after Prime Minister Savard resigned and the emperor persuaded him to stay.
• Vitus learned that the Di Maggio family had seized control in Florence, approved Pauli’s plan to stabilize the city, and considered the risks of French influence in Italy and Serbia.
• The Duke of York urged the French to sail from Calais, but an English fleet appeared offshore and delayed the expedition.
• Portugal’s fleet attacked the English ships with broadsides, and the French fleet’s advance drove the surviving English vessels to flee.

The French army landed at Ramsgate, defeated the English near Canterbury, and captured Canterbury and Sandwich. After the House of Lancaster proposed peace terms and announced the birth of Henry VI’s son, Richemont realized that France might choose to support the Lancastrians instead of the Duke of York.

• The Duke of York and Richemont arrived at Ramsgate, where Jeanne d'Arc reported that the French camp faced illness and an expected English assault.
• Richemont waited for the final troops and siege guns while Jeanne ambushed the English retreat route; her forces blocked the road and drove the English back toward Canterbury.
• The French army reached Canterbury, bombarded its walls, and accepted the Archbishop of Canterbury’s offer to surrender the city.
• Richemont captured Sandwich after a five-day assault, while the Duke of York urged an advance on London and Richemont argued for securing supplies first.
• The House of Lancaster sent Margaret’s peace proposal, offering territorial concessions, an alliance with France, and a marriage for the newly born crown prince.
• After learning that Henry VI had a son, Richemont realized the Lancastrians could offer France terms similar to the Duke of York’s and potentially win its support.

Rimon’s French forces captured London after the Duke of York’s allies opened the gates, and the royal family surrendered and was sent to France. Jeanne reflected on the memories that had driven her for thirty years, felt her inner flame finally go out, and wrote to the king to resign and offer counsel.

• Charles VII rejected direct rule over England and ordered his forces to keep advancing while negotiations continued.
• Jeanne led five thousand soldiers into Southwark, planned defensive lines, and urged Rimon to keep his forces concentrated.
• Rimon camped at Westminster and began bombarding London, while Jeanne’s troops prepared to besiege the city from the south.
• The Duke of York’s allies opened London’s west gate, and Rimon’s troops fought through the city before the royal family surrendered and was sent to France.
• Jeanne entered London, recalled the childhood experience that had set her on her path, and dreamed of the mill at peace.
• Jeanne awoke feeling at ease and wrote the king a letter explaining her resignation and offering advice.

Charles VII secured control over Henry VI and his family through a treaty that weakened England, while the Duke of York struggled to manage the French occupation and negotiate with English nobles. Jeanne d’Arc retired from military service, and in Blachernae Palace, officials argued over shortages and spending as Vitus assessed England’s decline and Charles’s political maneuvering.

• Charles VII welcomed Henry VI and Margaret to a manor near Paris, held them there, and had Margaret sign the revised agreement on Henry’s behalf.
• The Duke of York received Charles VII’s reply and discussed with Edward the difficulties of placating English nobles and sending French and Portuguese forces away.
• Jeanne d’Arc accepted a manor in her hometown, handed over her army’s records to the Count of Clermont, and left her command post after sharing a meal with soldiers.
• Tucha faced criticism over falling crop yields and grain prices, while Ilya was pressed to account for the stalled three-deck warship project.
• Vitus learned that the Cabinet meeting had ended without violence and read reports on England’s weakness and Charles VII’s plan to keep Henry as a powerless king.

In January 1454, Governor Kazhuo responded to a Cossack village raid by gathering frontier and Cossack forces for a winter expedition into Nogai territory. After crossing the frozen Volga, he changed his intended target and prepared to attack a different tribe to deter future raids.

• Kazhuo learned that raiders had attacked a Cossack community near Scythian Fort, and he traveled north to investigate.
• After hearing the survivors’ uncertain descriptions of the raiders’ horse brands, Kazhuo summoned leaders from fifteen Cossack communities to discuss retaliation.
• Kazhuo assembled twelve hundred men and three thousand horses, then led the force from the Main Fort with sleds carrying supplies and six Three-Pounders.
• The expedition crossed the frozen Volga into Nogai territory, and a scout identified a nearby tribe whose brand might match the survivors’ account.
• Suspecting an easy target might be a trap, Kazhuo redirected the expedition toward a northern tribe with a circular brand and a triangle inside.

Michael’s whaling and family life on Socotra unfolded amid Portugal’s retreat from the Indian coast, while Vitus prepared the Eastern Roman Empire’s supplies and considered threats abroad. The chapter ended with Vitus granting Michael lifetime governorship of Socotra, but refusing to legitimize him as a member of the imperial family.

• Michael returned to Socotra with whale oil and learned that Calicut had driven the Portuguese from Kannur after Portugal’s ships failed to arrive as reinforcements.
• Michael planned to whale only from August through February, then returned home and welcomed a son, whom Demetrius named Basil before writing to Vitus to request inheritance rights for his descendants.
• Vitus inspected village grain storage and ordered officials to stockpile food, iron, saltpeter, and sulfur while weighing threats from neighboring powers, especially France.
• Vitus read Demetrius’s letter and appointed Michael governor of Socotra for life, allowing his offspring to inherit the office but refusing to legitimize him as a Palaiologos.

Vitus rejected Portugal’s requests for an alliance against Arab powers and courier access through Sinai, then considered the strategic balance in the Indian Ocean and Anatolia. Meanwhile, Vartan oversaw a horse-and-goods trade with Kazan, and Kazhuo prepared to leave for his evaluation, appointing Vartan acting governor amid reports of a Cossack rebellion.

• Vitus refused the Portuguese envoy’s requests and rejected a proposal to arm Calicut, while reviewing the Indian Ocean powers and the resettlement of Balkan immigrants in Anatolia.
• Vartan met Boniek at Sarai, inspected three thousand horses from Kazan, and limited the goods supplied because the agreed shipment was short of the promised eight thousand.
• Boniek tested Roman matchlocks and wondered why the empire manufactured its firearms south of the Black Sea, while Vartan avoided discussing military and political affairs.
• In early July, Vartan delivered the horses to the Army Department, and Kazhuo announced he would leave for his evaluation and appointed Vartan acting governor.
• Kazhuo warned Vartan that Cossack rebels fleeing Lithuania might enter the region and ordered patrols to protect local herders.

In July, Phil sought to strengthen Florence’s resistance to France by securing renewed support for the Pact of Padua, while Vitus weighed the Eastern Roman Empire’s preparations for a possible war in Italy. The chapter left Vitus ordering a new Mountain Brigade as the Triple-Deck Warship project stalled again.

• After finding a wall painting depicting Medici attacking Pauli and Phil, Phil warned Pauli that Florence might surrender when France invaded and decided to seek the Pope’s support for the Pact of Padua.
• In Rome, Phil received Nicholas V’s promise to call on the Italian powers to honor the pact, and the Pope suggested that Phil speak with Fernando of Aragon.
• Phil inferred that Nicholas V wanted Aragon and the Italian powers to defeat France without Eastern Roman troops, doubted they could do so, and decided to write Vitus a long letter.
• At Blachernae Palace, Romanus reminded Vitus that the Chancellors were worried about his absence from Cabinet meetings, and Vitus explained that he had reduced meetings because the government was running smoothly.
• After considering possible battlefields, Vitus ordered an edict provisionally establishing a new Mountain Brigade and questioned whether the Triple-Deck Warship project could ever succeed.

Vitus inspected the Eastern Thrace Shipyard and approved a more stable sixty-eight-gun battleship after the triple-deck project repeatedly failed. Renaf retired and secured his son Simon a position as a court attendant; after half a month of tedious service, Simon finally saw the emperor arrive at Alexius Hall.

• Vitus inspected the Eastern Thrace Shipyard, heard why the Triple-Deck Warship had failed, and approved the shipyard's alternative sixty-eight-gun battleship.
• Renaf met with Vitus after retiring and asked him to find a position for his son Simon, who Vitus appointed as a court attendant.
• Renaf told Simon that their family had lost its influence and urged him to build a career, so Simon reported to Constantinople and completed his appointment procedures.
• Kanaus introduced Simon to the Attendants' Court and explained that attendants served the emperor and had to remain ready to carry out his orders.
• After half a month of routine service, Simon saw Vitus arrive at Alexius Hall for the first time and was told to enter the hall.

Simon served as a court attendant, reviewed historical reports for the Historical Records Compilation Group, and joined the emperor’s Autumn Hunt. After the emperor killed a stag, Simon was ordered to help carry its whole carcass out of the forest.

• Simon watched Tucha argue with the Army Minister during the emperor’s long audience, then hurried to eat after the session ended.
• Kanaus assigned Simon to help review reports for the Historical Records Compilation Group, where Simon marked errors in the third team’s account of Alexios I.
• Simon met Antimos, who explained that the third team had copied historical sources without checking them, and the scholars revised the report before its deadline.
• Kanaus told Simon to attend the Autumn Hunt, and Simon followed the emperor’s party into the forest without a weapon.
• The emperor wounded and killed a stag with arrows and a spear, then a eunuch ordered Simon and three others to carry the carcass out whole.

Simon helped prepare the emperor’s hunting feast while Agricultural Minister Tucha reflected on his work, rising grain prices, and the empire’s military preparations. William Palaiologos warned Vitus that Charles VII was threatening Montferrat, and Vitus concluded that war was inevitable.

• Simon dressed a stag for the emperor’s hunting feast and spoke with Agricultural Minister Tucha about their families and retirement.
• Tucha joined the emperor’s hunt, brought home a deer leg, and grew despondent as he recalled his youth and felt his age.
• Tucha reviewed his department’s summer report and worried that wartime grain buying would raise prices, while imported niter supported the empire’s stockpiles.
• Tucha met William Palaiologos at the palace, where William sought an audience with Vitus over a family matter.
• William told Vitus that Charles VII had demanded military access through Montferrat and threatened to annex it; Vitus reassured him and concluded that war with France was inevitable.

Samuel delivered supplies and heavy guns to Socotra, then learned that rulers in Abyssinia and Serbia were raising taxes to fund firearm-equipped armies. In Serbia, Grgur faced opposition to his tax policies while weighing his mother’s wish for an alliance with the Jagiellon Dynasty against his own plans to preserve Serbia’s independence and expand westward.

• Samuel sailed the Talos to Suq Harbor, where Michael received supplies, four Twenty-Four-Pounders, and an artillery instructor for the fortress militia.
• Samuel learned that Socotra’s whaling operations had accumulated six hundred barrels of whale oil, then visited Demetrius and delivered books and newspapers to the island’s finance officer and priest.
• At Massawa, Samuel saw nobles executed and learned from the governor that Abyssinia’s king was targeting the nobility to raise revenue for military spending.
• In Smederevo, Grgur rejected a noble’s demand to abolish new taxes and threatened to send his expanded army against nobles who resisted.
• Grgur faced complaints from merchants about new customs posts and privately considered how to protect Serbia without becoming a northern puppet, while hoping to expand westward and eventually take Bosnia.

Uroš resisted Grgur’s new taxes, staged a humiliation of a court official, and rallied southern nobles against the Despot. At a banquet, palace forces ambushed the nobles; Uroš escaped the castle but was shot and killed while fleeing toward the forest.

• Uroš had refugees harass a court official collecting taxes, prompting villagers to drive the official away, and then spread rumors against Grgur.
• Uroš attended a northern neighbor’s banquet and urged the assembled nobles to refuse Grgur’s new tax.
• The castle’s owner betrayed the guests, and palace soldiers attacked and captured or killed the nobles at the banquet.
• Uroš fought his way through the soldiers, escaped over the castle wall, and fled east toward the forest.
• Palace soldiers shot Uroš as he fled, then stripped his body of its valuables.

After Grgur killed Uroš in a banquet massacre, Vitus learned that his cousin was dead and redirected the Eastern Roman Empire’s war plans from Italy toward the Jagiellon Dynasty. The chapter ended with Vitus approving a spring invasion plan and arranging the funding and government preparations for war.

• Grgur discovered that Uroš was absent from the prisoners, then learned that soldiers had shot him while he fled the castle.
• Hunyadi heard of the massacre, clashed with Ulrich and Istvan over whether to negotiate or make war, and the nobles agreed to summon the king from Warsaw.
• Romanus told Vitus that the election of the Patriarch of Alexandria was troubled, and Vitus decided to send officials and clergy to mediate.
• After receiving news of Uroš's death, Vitus summoned his ministers and ordered them to prepare for conflict with the Jagiellon Dynasty.
• The Privy Council planned to assemble the main force at Thessaloniki and advance through Serbia into Hungary after winter, while the navy prepared to blockade the Adriatic Sea.
• Vitus approved the military plan and discussed war funding, with the Finance Minister estimating that the treasury held nearly five hundred thousand Florins.

Skanderbeg and Grgur weighed their positions as Hunyadi prepared Serbia’s defenses, while Vitus launched a winter surprise attack through the mountains. Vitus’s forces captured Paraćin, giving them a foothold and a store of grain for the campaign.

• Skanderbeg considered Hunyadi’s generous offer but hesitated because Albania’s nobles were divided over whether to side with Hungary or the Eastern Roman Empire.
• Grgur received Hunyadi’s advice and Hungarian officers, then deployed troops near Niš and stationed his main force in Priština.
• Urban brought his rapid-firing breech-loading cannon to Constantinople but learned that the emperor was absent, prompting palace officials to suspect Vitus had gone to war.
• Vitus ignored Constantine’s warning and led the Varangian Legion into the mountains as part of a surprise advance into Serbia.
• Orlando’s Hermes Brigade reached Paraćin, captured the town after a brief fight, and found enough grain to provision the brigade for more than half a year.

Vitus faced Hunyadi’s Black Army in the north while sending the two Mountain Brigades south to trap Grgur’s army at Priština. Despite falling ill, he recovered enough to oversee a northern stalemate as Roman forces gained the advantage in the south.

• Vitus ordered Orlando and the Mountain Infantry to seize the western bank at Ćuprija, then prepared defenses as Hunyadi’s Black Army arrived near Jagodina.
• Vitus divided his forces, keeping the Varangian Legion in the north and sending the two Mountain Brigades south to cut off Priština and attack Grgur’s army.
• Vitus caught a cold and ordered his officers and Simon to conceal his illness while he rested under the army physician’s care.
• Hungarian troops launched a failed surprise attack, while Vitus’s soldiers fortified their camps and awaited reinforcements through the snowbound mountain roads.
• By December 11, the First Legion had surrounded Niš and the Mountain Brigades had cut off Priština; Vitus rejected a peace overture from the Serbia Envoy.
• Hunyadi remained stalled at Jagodina and doubted that Skanderbeg could muster enough troops in time to rescue Grgur.

Damien’s forces besieged and captured Priština, defeating Grgur’s New Army despite fierce urban resistance. Three days later, Vitus reviewed the southern army’s losses and victories, then ordered troops to protect Otto, the last heir of the Dragases bloodline.

• Siege Cannons blasted four breaches in Priština’s walls while Damien rejected Grgur’s demand to let the defenders leave with their weapons and possessions.
• Damien ordered the assault on December 17, and his troops captured the walls before advancing through the city under heavy fire.
• Roman soldiers overcame the defenders’ barricades and ambushes, captured Grgur, and gave him medical care instead of killing him.
• Damien reported that the southern army had captured Priština and nearly annihilated Grgur’s New Army, while the expected reinforcements never arrived.
• Vitus read the report and a noble’s letter about Otto, then ordered troops to protect the boy, the last of the Dragases bloodline.

Vitus secured southeastern Serbia, planned its defenses, and considered using the region’s mines to expand imperial currency production. Meanwhile, Charles VII’s Italian campaign began, but the Neapolitan army was diverted by a fortress and ended up waiting near Livorno for naval support.

• Vitus received reports at Niš, assigned defensive sectors, and planned to choose a spring target after observing Jagiellon’s deployments.
• Vitus discussed Uroš and the Dragases family with Constantine, then decided he might legitimize one of Uroš’s illegitimate sons if Otto remained missing.
• Vitus inspected western Serbian mines and privately resolved to bring them under imperial ownership after the war to increase precious-metal production.
• Charles VII ordered an attack on Italy, and Crown Prince Jean de Anjou led five thousand Neapolitan soldiers north to support the campaign against Florence.
• Jean’s army failed to breach a Florentine fortress, abandoned its heavy equipment to bypass it, and followed the Arno west toward the coast.
• Unable to capture Livorno, Jean’s army camped in a nearby fishing village and waited for reinforcements from a friendly fleet.

As the French Army closed in on Florence, Pauli Di Maggio fled east with his family while the city collapsed into looting and disorder. Florence fell to Cosimo Medici and the allies, who demanded an emergency tax to pay the army, while Pauli reached Rimini and found himself unable to secure an immediate escape by sea.

• Phil urged Pauli to flee Florence, but Pauli refused until news arrived that Lucca had surrendered to the French Army.
• Jean de Anjou met Rimon in Pisa, secured a promise of naval support for the campaign against Sicily, and heard that Jeanne d'Arc had retired.
• After an attack on his carriage, Pauli fled Florence with his family, but an angry crowd looted Di Maggio properties and failed to catch them.
• Cosimo Medici returned to a devastated Florence, where Rimon demanded 150,000 Florins from the city's powerful families to keep the army under control.
• Pauli reached Rimini and found no ship bound for the Eastern Roman Empire, while Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta chose not to intervene in his family's plight.

Pauli and his family reached Constantinople after fleeing Florence, while Romanus managed wartime shortages and received a delaying message from Charles VII. Pauli explored the city and reunited with Florentine acquaintances, and Phil inspected the canned-food trade before deciding it offered too little profit.

• Pauli brought his family from Rimini to Constantinople, where Agnes welcomed them and learned their residence in Florence had been looted.
• Romanus prioritized grain supplies for the Balkan front, ordered an investigation into niter smuggling, and reviewed reports from the Historical Records Compilation Group.
• Romanus received Charles VII's envoy and said he would pass the French king's proposal to his father, while privately preparing to drive French forces from southern Italy after the Balkan war.
• Pauli met Matteo Goropazzi in Constantinople's Latin Quarter and heard about the city's merchants, universities, and new canned-food industry.
• Pauli watched a Florentine swordsman win three bouts at the Hippodrome, then returned home convinced that Florence would struggle to regain its former prosperity.
• Phil sampled several kinds of canned meat with his family and, after examining the cannery's limited profits and customer base, decided against investing.

Vitus’s army advanced north toward the Danube and attacked Lapovo, where the Attica Legion fought a chaotic battle in the woods while siege guns battered the town’s defenses. The defenders surrendered, and Boranov’s forces took Lapovo as the coalition army withdrew from the surrounding battlefield.

• Hunyadi learned from László that Vitus’s forces had begun advancing with at least fifty thousand men and were approaching Lapovo.
• Boranov arranged an attack on Lapovo, while Orlando led the Mountain Brigade into the linden forest to fight the Black Army.
• The fighting in the forest descended into confusion, and Orlando rallied his men, routed an enemy group, and waited for further orders.
• Ten Siege Cannons breached Lapovo’s wall, and the Serbian defenders surrendered under Boranov’s terms.
• The Hermes Brigade drove the Black Army from the linden forest, and the surviving enemy troops withdrew under Hungarian cavalry cover.
• Boranov reported the victory and quartered his forces around Lapovo, while Orlando returned to Brigade Headquarters after inspecting the camp.

Vitus’s Roman army broke through Hunyadi’s defenses at Velika Plana, while rockets set fire to the Hungarian fodder depot and threw the retreating Black Army into disorder. Hunyadi withdrew to Smederevo and then planned to move his main force to Belgrade, but Irene Kantakouzenos refused to abandon the city.

• Vitus prepared for an uncertain enemy force approaching from the southwest while the Roman army marched toward Velika Plana.
• Boranov refused a village priest’s requests for draft horses and grain, and scouts reported that Hunyadi’s troops were defending the stream and burning Velika Plana.
• Roman legions advanced across the stream under artillery cover, and Boranov’s rocket crews fired two thousand rockets, setting the enemy fodder depot ablaze and disrupting the Black Army’s retreat.
• Hunyadi’s battered forces withdrew safely to Smederevo, where he advised Irene Kantakouzenos to retreat across the Danube; Irene rejected his advice and proposed several impractical schemes.
• Hunyadi decided to move his main force to Belgrade, leave four thousand soldiers in Smederevo under Thomas Kantakouzenos, and have László coordinate the fleet and ensure Irene and the prince could escape if needed.