Recaps

Agnes inspected her new mulberry grove and silkworm house with Vitus, and the silk workshop began producing cloth for export. When Constantine returned from the war with the Dragon Knights, he brought Vitus a letter from Sigismund asking him to fight the Hussites in exchange for a fief, but Vitus rejected the offer as a deceptive and dangerous bargain.

• Agnes took Vitus to inspect her mulberry grove and silkworm house, where workers harvested leaves and tended the silkworms.
• Vitus told Agnes to save defective silk goods for use as cannon propellant bags.
• The workshop produced its first batches of silk cloth, and Vitus sent a shipment to Constantinople and Cyprus to test the market.
• Constantine returned from the war and told Vitus that he had joined the Dragon Knights.
• Constantine gave Vitus Sigismund's letter inviting him to fight the Hussites for a fief, including the possibility of receiving Kuttenberg.
• Vitus criticized Sigismund's offer and said he would not risk his life in Bohemia for a ruined city.

Vitus prepared the Tuna Legion for a long-distance march around the Peloponnese while Murad II expanded Ottoman artillery production to threaten Constantinople. The chapter left the Ottomans casting increasingly powerful bombards after their cannons demolished a castle outside Edirne.

• Constantine received a letter urging him to return home and marry, and Vitus gave him silk gifts for his wedding and family.
• Vitus inspected the Tuna Legion and ordered its soldiers to prepare for a march through the peninsula's eight major towns.
• Murad II inspected prototype cannons in Edirne, saw a cast-iron cannon crack after firing, and rewarded the best-performing team.
• Murad II told Ruggiero to build artillery capable of breaching Constantinople's walls and authorized abundant resources for the cannon teams.
• The cannon teams adopted more aggressive casting methods, demolished a nearby castle, and an officer proposed firing new cannons at Constantinople's walls.

Vitus received Constantinople’s appeal for aid but could not safely reinforce the city through the Ottoman-blockaded strait. He diverted his fleet to Thessaloniki, routed the Ottoman besiegers, and ended the chapter exhausted after a costly march but a lopsided victory.

• Vitus judged that Constantinople’s walls needed rammed-earth gun platforms, but the blockade meant construction would have to wait until after the siege.
• Theodore sent two thousand soldiers from Cyprus, and Vitus announced that he would lead more than ten thousand troops to aid Constantinople.
• Vitus hired thirty merchant ships and sailed from Monemvasia, then changed course for Thessaloniki and arranged to dock there with Venetian officials.
• After learning that three thousand Ottoman troops had besieged Thessaloniki for six years, Vitus led four infantry battalions in a sudden assault on their camp.
• The Ottoman army fled northeast, and Vitus’s soldiers pursued them until the commander escaped with the cavalry and the remaining infantry scattered or surrendered.
• Vitus reported that daily running drills had helped the troops keep pace, though the march left his army exhausted and the Tuna Legion’s formation broken.

Vitus led the Tuna Legion from Thessaloniki south through Greece, avoiding Constantinople and plundering Ottoman-held estates in Thessaly. After Turahan refused to fight outside Larissa and Ottoman reinforcements threatened to arrive, Marcus urged Vitus to withdraw by ship from Volos.

• Vitus auctioned captured weapons and supplies in Thessaloniki, then used the proceeds to buy horses and wagons before ordering the army south toward the Corinth wall.
• On September 7, Vitus marched out of Thessaloniki, passed the Olympus Mountains, and took Kateria, allowing residents who wanted to leave to travel by ship to the Peloponnese.
• Vitus entered Thessaly on September 12, while Turahan chose to defend Larissa rather than risk fighting the Tuna Legion in the field.
• After finding Larissa's defenses too strong to besiege, Vitus sent troops to plunder nearby noble estates and later captured Volos as a port for shipping refugees and spoils south.
• On September 23, Marcus advised Vitus to retreat from Volos by ship before Ottoman reinforcements arrived.

Murad II sent Ottoman reinforcements toward central Greece to defeat Vitus and capture his muskets, but Vitus ambushed and routed them with carts and disciplined infantry. After returning to Thessaly, Vitus learned that the evacuation from Volos had carried twenty-eight thousand people to the Peloponnese and decided to withdraw his troops before winter made sea travel dangerous.

• Murad II ordered eight thousand Ottoman soldiers and troops from other regions to reinforce central Greece and seize Vitus's muskets.
• Vitus's Greek forces sent loaded carts crashing down a hillside, blocking the Ottoman retreat, then defeated their counterattack with muskets and spears.
• The eunuch Isangai escaped the rout by swimming north with an empty barrel and guessed that Vitus had sailed from Volos to ambush the reinforcements.
• Vitus cooked lunch after the battle and told Damien that he had adapted Jan Zizka's cart attack at Malešov.
• Vitus returned to Thessaly and learned that two thousand Cypriot soldiers had helped evacuate twenty-eight thousand people from Volos to the Peloponnese.
• Vitus decided to stay until before November, when worsening Mediterranean winds and waves would make sea crossings dangerous.

After withdrawing from the Balkans, Vitus returned to the Peloponnese to plan for the influx of migrants and inspect the newly built warship Kyllini. He left Andravida focused on housing and sanitation, expanding local textile production, and continuing efforts to improve ceramics.

• Turahan avoided a decisive battle while his forces grew, and Vitus withdrew from Volos to the Peloponnese after drawing enemy troops away from Constantinople.
• Savard showed Vitus maps of the peninsula’s old waterworks and urged him to restore them to support the forty thousand relocated civilians.
• Vitus inspected the new three-masted ship at Kyllini Harbor, named it Kyllini, and planned to build three more if its sea trials succeeded.
• Vitus returned to an expanding Andravida and ordered new housing, sewers, and public bathhouses for its growing population.
• Vitus offered low-interest loans to textile workshops, while Agnes urged him to favor wool production and asked about the ceramics workshop’s progress.

George Kastrioti earned a promotion from Murad II after defeating Serbian forces and capturing muskets, while the Ottoman Empire and Venice agreed to peace. In the Peloponnese, Phil Di Maggio visited Kyllini Harbor’s expanding shipbuilding facilities and brought Vitus news that Giulio Di Maggio had become Florence’s chief magistrate.

• George Kastrioti reported his victory over the Serbians and explained how he captured two hundred and thirty muskets, and Murad II promoted him to Zagan Rus Bashi.
• Murad II ordered thirty muskets set aside for copying and assigned the remainder to a dedicated Janissary unit for his campaign in Anatolia.
• The Venetian envoy negotiated a truce with Murad II, who agreed to peace without conditions after both sides accepted the stalemate.
• Vitus learned of the peace between Venice and the Ottoman Empire and was unsurprised by Venice’s decision to end the war.
• Phil Di Maggio visited Kyllini Harbor, inspected its expanding shipyard and workshops, and traveled to Andravida to meet Vitus.
• Phil told Vitus that Giulio Di Maggio had become Florence’s new chief magistrate, and Vitus sent porcelain vases as a congratulatory gift.

Phil opened a Di Maggio Bank branch in the Peloponnese while Vitus established a wool-loan program and organized the Peloponnesian Fleet. The Kyllini entered service under Captain Fabius and began training, as Vitus prepared for the fleet’s future trading and wartime roles.

• Phil agreed to open a bank branch, then dismissed his family’s 75,000 Florins in loans to France as a potential source of future repayment through estates or commercial privileges.
• Phil opened the Peloponnesian bank near the harbor, where staff exchanged bills, converted foreign coins, and issued Agnes a bill of exchange for 1,000 Florins.
• Phil inspected Andravida’s textile district but abandoned plans to invest in woolen workshops after Vitus said he had already issued merchants 20,000 Florins in low-interest loans.
• Vitus assembled a crew of 120 for the Kyllini and appointed Fabius its captain, bringing the warship into the naval order of battle.
• The Kyllini sailed out for training while Vitus inspected a second warship nearing completion and planned for the fleet to trade in peacetime and attack Ottoman maritime commerce in wartime.

Phil traveled to Famagusta aboard Fabius’s warship, the Kyllini, and gathered news of Portuguese exploration plans before choosing to remain in Cyprus. On the return voyage, Fabius spotted three Ottoman galleys pursuing a damaged Hospitaller ship and prepared to fight, determined not to let any enemy vessel escape.

• Fabius’s team began transporting goods and Florentine passengers to Famagusta, where Phil saw the city’s defenses and its busy merchant quarter.
• Phil attended gatherings of Italian merchants and heard rumors that Prince Henry was backing Portuguese explorations south of the Sahara and possibly around Africa.
• Fabius sailed the Kyllini back toward the Peloponnese without Phil, who stayed in Cyprus.
• Fabius used a navigational journal to keep the crew occupied with scrubbing the deck, then sounded the alarm when four ships appeared.
• The lookout identified the leading vessel as a damaged Knights Hospitaller galley pursued by three Ottoman galleys, and Fabius ordered his crew to prepare for battle.

Fabius lured Ottoman galleys into a surprise attack, captured three ships, and returned with tea that proved bitter and costly. Vitus then arranged for the Di Maggio family to escort weapons to Constantinople, with Phil accepting the commission.

• Fabius disguised the Kyllini as a merchant vessel, ambushed two pursuing Ottoman galleys, and captured both with his marines.
• The Knights Hospitaller defeated and captured the remaining Ottoman galley, and Jacob Kamasen gave Fabius tea as thanks for the rescue.
• Fabius's crew brewed the tea, hated its taste, and later sold the two jars to a Genoese merchant for three hundred Florins.
• Vitus explained that the tea was a low-grade variety and reviewed a plan to ship cannons, Matchlocks, and repaired armor to Constantinople.
• Vitus sought the Di Maggio family's help with the shipment, and Phil arrived from Cyprus in early July to accept the escort commission.

Phil and Vitus transported weapons to Constantinople aboard disguised ships, where John received the supplies and tested a fortress cannon as gun platforms rose along the city walls. After Ottoman spies reported the defenses, the Sultan tightened inspections, and Phil urged Vitus to halt further shipments before warning Agnes to stay away from Constantinople.

• Phil sent the Harpia, disguised as a Genoese ship, through the Dardanelles with weapons hidden in concealed compartments.
• Flint delivered the first shipment to John, who tested a fortress cannon with a range of six hundred paces and inspected the construction of eleven gun platforms.
• Two more ships arrived with supplies, and Vitus later sent another shipment after Flint reported that the Ottomans were training their fleet in the Sea of Marmara.
• On September 10, the Sultan ordered tighter oversight of the strait and instructed its new commander to seize ships carrying cannons or Matchlocks.
• Phil advised Vitus to suspend shipments and warned Agnes not to go to Constantinople, promising to send for her and the child if circumstances changed.

Vitus reviewed the Duchy of Athens’ finances and mobilized the Tuna Legion after the duke was assassinated and the Ottomans moved toward Athens. He learned the duke had sought Ottoman protection, and prepared to confront Turahan’s forces before dealing with the nobles in Athens.

• Vitus reviewed the year’s revenues, noting rising agricultural and commercial taxes, and continued expanding the army with money saved by producing equipment locally.
• After learning Charles VII’s forces were driving up firearm demand, Vitus refused Phil’s proposal to sell Matchlocks because the armory had no stock and needed to meet domestic orders.
• Savard reported that the Duke of Athens had been assassinated, so Vitus assembled the Tuna Legion and ordered Cyprus to send reinforcements.
• Vitus marched into the Duchy of Athens, encountered Venetian refugees, and learned that the duke had expelled Venetians and pledged allegiance to the Ottomans.
• When scouts reported Turkish cavalry under Turahan near Athens, Vitus ordered his army to prepare and decided to defeat Turahan’s forces before confronting Athens’s Latin nobles.

Vitus’s Tuna Legion discovered that Turahan had fortified the northwestern border rather than advancing, so Vitus chose the eastern hills to attack the Ottoman defenses. After the legion’s artillery destroyed the defenders’ cannons and the First Infantry Battalion seized an outer camp, the mountain infantry spread out to advance through the rugged terrain.

• A captured Ottoman cavalryman told Vitus that Turahan had more than twelve thousand soldiers near the border but had refused to attack.
• Vitus halted the legion to search for signs of an Ottoman march, then concluded that Turahan had stayed at the border and resumed the advance.
• On April 15, Vitus found Turahan’s fortified line blocking the road and, after reconnaissance, chose to attack from the eastern hills.
• Vitus’s gunners hauled eight field guns up the eastern slope and destroyed the Ottoman cannons, which could not reach them.
• The First Infantry Battalion seized an outer camp, opening a breach, while the mountain infantry split into small squads to advance across the flanks.

Vitus abandoned his plans to attack Turahan’s fortified positions and sent troops to plunder the duchy while monitoring the Ottoman army. As Turahan’s forces grew to twenty thousand, Vitus withdrew to Corinth, while Sultan Murad II received news that the rebels had surrendered and worried they might betray him.

• The mountain infantry repelled the Ottoman countercharge, then collected spoils and withdrew with their wounded.
• On April 19, Vitus learned that Turahan’s main force had withdrawn from its camp, but he found the Ottomans entrenched in a second fortified position and failed to lure them into open battle.
• After an ambush failed and a military council found no safe route to attack, Vitus sent small groups to loot castles across the duchy while the main force watched Turahan.
• At the beginning of May, Turahan’s army grew to twenty thousand, so Vitus withdrew behind Corinth’s walls.
• Sultan Murad II heard that the rebels had surrendered, then recalled the Ottoman defeat at Ankara and worried that the rebels might turn against him.

The Sultan ordered Turahan to lead a massive Ottoman force against the Peloponnese, while Vitus prepared Corinth’s defenses and rallied its militia. The chapter ended with more than forty thousand Ottoman soldiers gathered at the Isthmus of Corinth, building a camp and preparing artillery positions.

• Isangai proposed sending surrendered rebels to the Balkans, and the Sultan chose the Peloponnese as the target of an offensive against Vitus.
• Turahan received more than forty thousand troops, 160 cannons, and authorization to levy soldiers from the Duchy of Athens.
• Vitus strengthened Corinth’s outer wall with militia, inspected the defenses with Constantine, and reported on the limited aid available from foreign powers.
• On June 25, Vitus sent the First Infantry Battalion outside Corinth, where its Matchlocks and cannons routed the Ottoman light cavalry’s first charge.
• Vitus’s demonstration raised the militia’s morale as the Ottoman army assembled at the Isthmus of Corinth by early July and Turahan began preparing artillery positions.

The Ottomans began bombarding Constantinople, but their poorly standardized cannons suffered heavy damage from the defenders’ accurate opening fire. The siege settled into a prolonged artillery duel, leaving Constantine reflecting on how warfare had changed.

• Turahan punished several European blacksmiths after two Ottoman cannons burst during test firing and ordered the blacksmiths to operate their own guns.
• Vitus and the fortress artillerymen fired on the exposed Ottoman siege cannons, destroying several and forcing Turahan to withdraw and reposition his guns.
• The Ottomans built low earth-and-timber breastworks overnight and began a bombardment with 140 siege cannons on July 3.
• The city’s bombproof slopes absorbed most Ottoman shots, while Constantinople’s fortress guns returned fire against the Ottoman positions.
• At noon, Constantine told Vitus how artillery had transformed warfare and lamented that years of knightly training seemed to have led to this kind of battle.

The Ottomans struggled to breach Corinth, while Fabius led the Eastern Roman fleet and Knights Hospitaller into battle against an Ottoman fleet in the Saronic Gulf. Fabius’s forces won a decisive victory and sent a report to Corinth.

• Turahan asked Murad II for more gunpowder, copper ingots, and laborers after the siege cannons failed to breach Corinth.
• A Knights Hospitaller galley spotted the Ottoman fleet, and Fabius organized nine warships to monitor and intercept its landing force.
• Fabius’s fleet lured twenty Ottoman galleys into open water and crippled several with cannon fire.
• The Knights Hospitaller joined the battle, and Fabius’s forces captured ten Ottoman galleys, sank five, and drove five back to Port of Piraeus.
• Fabius wrote a report detailing the prisoners and rescued slave rowers and sent it to Corinth.

Turahan launched a major assault on the western walls, but the defenders repelled it and learned the Ottomans had begun using firearms. After the fighting, Vitus met a Janissary officer named George Kastrioti, recognized him as Skanderbeg, and asked what he wanted.

• Turahan abandoned hopes of a naval attack and prepared a large assault on the western walls after his cannons failed to breach the defenses.
• Phil Di Maggio fought off the Ottoman attackers until the Tuna Legion's Third Infantry Battalion arrived and stabilized the western wall.
• The Ottomans withdrew after less than an hour, and Vitus learned that Turahan had only fifty cannons left.
• A guard told Vitus that a Janissary officer had surrendered and requested a meeting.
• George Kastrioti introduced himself to Vitus as an Albanian hostage who had been given the title of Arnavutlu Iskender Bey, and Vitus recognized him as Skanderbeg.

Vitus decided to risk a night raid on the Ottoman camp using Skanderbeg’s plan. The attack threw the surrendered Anatolian troops into chaos, and Vitus’s forces moved on to strike the warehouses.

• Skanderbeg described the Ottoman camp and urged Vitus to exploit Turahan’s planned retreat with a night attack.
• After weighing the risks and hearing divided opinions from his officers, Vitus decided to lead a raid and sent the Mountain Battalion out through the city’s western side.
• Renaf’s Mountain Battalion breached the camp’s northwestern stockade, opened the gate, and joined the First Infantry Battalion in attacking the surrendered Anatolian troops’ officers.
• Rumors that Turahan intended to slaughter the Anatolians spread panic, and the attackers killed several senior commanders, forcing survivors to flee toward the central camp.
• The Mountain Battalion and First Infantry Battalion withdrew to circle toward the stables, while a firework signal prompted Vitus to lead the Second, Third, and Fourth Infantry Battalions toward the warehouses.

Vitus’s forces broke into Turahan’s camp, disrupted its defenses, and captured thousands of rebels and auxiliary soldiers as Turahan withdrew. Vitus left the prisoners under guard and moved the artillery and supplies back to the city.

• Vitus’s troops breached the stockade, drove back the defenders, and opened the stables to send thousands of horses running loose through the camp.
• Vitus linked up with the First Infantry Battalion and the Mountain Battalion, then withdrew to the northeastern area to rest and await reinforcements.
• At dawn, Vitus attacked the Balkan Auxiliary Army as Constantine arrived with 4,300 reinforcements, causing the auxiliary troops to collapse and Turahan to retreat with his remaining forces.
• Skanderbeg persuaded six hundred Albanian soldiers to surrender, and most of the remaining auxiliary troops laid down their weapons.
• Vitus learned that Duke Antonio had fled in disguise and offered the western rebels a chance to settle in North Africa rather than receive land from him.
• Vitus guarded the prisoners in the camp and had heavy artillery and warehouse supplies moved back into the city.

Vitus pursued the routed Ottoman army north from Corinth, defeated Turahan’s ambush, and halted at the Spercheios River after the Ottomans destroyed its bridge. He surveyed the terrain around Thermopylae, prepared to fortify the mountain border, and then marched to Athens, where Antonio offered allegiance to Emperor Manuel.

• Vitus ordered Psilos to keep the Corinth garrison and militiamen inside the walls, then arranged ships, weapons, and siege cannons for Skanderbeg’s return to Albania.
• Vitus led the Tuna Legion and Cypriot reinforcements north, capturing scattered Ottoman stragglers as the army passed through looted villages.
• Vitus’s musketeers inflicted heavy losses on Turahan’s Janissary musketeers, forcing Turahan to retreat across the mountains and destroy the bridge over the Spercheios River.
• Vitus surveyed Thermopylae and concluded that river silt and dried marshes had transformed the ancient narrow pass into an open plain.
• Vitus and his officers mapped the mountains and passes, left two thousand men to guard the border, and marched the remaining troops toward Athens.
• Antonio sent an envoy to Vitus and offered to pledge allegiance to Emperor Manuel.

Vitus took control of Athens after its people rose against Antonio, then inspected the duchy's population and depleted mines and organized its administration. He arranged to transfer Anatolian prisoners to North Africa and returned to Corinth, where he began dispersing the remaining captives and laborers.

• Vitus rejected Antonio's threats, demanded that Athens surrender, and allowed its people to bring one bundle aboard ships at Piraeus.
• The people of Athens plotted against Antonio, and his nobles and guards surrendered; Vitus honored his promise to let the prisoners return to the West by ship.
• The Tuna Legion entered Athens, and Vitus inspected the city's records and mines before dividing the duchy into three administrative regions and exempting residents from that year's taxes.
• Vitus arranged to transfer Anatolian prisoners to North African rulers, including Tlemcen, and sold them captured military equipment.
• On August 23, Vitus returned to Corinth, sent 13,000 Anatolian prisoners to board ships, and assigned the remaining prisoners and laborers to defensive and waterworks projects.

Vitus organized the captives, military garrisons, and spoils after the battle, then distributed estates to reward officers and skilled soldiers. The chapter ended with Damien requesting wasteland to start a sugarcane plantation, planning to have his family manage it.

• Vitus set ransom prices for Ottoman nobles, threatened the captured blacksmiths with excommunication, and assigned them to forge weapons for the Andravida Arsenal.
• Vitus sent the captured grooms to the military horse farm, while Phil bought tents and siege cannons before departing for France-bound trade.
• Vitus planned garrisons for Parnassus and Corinth, transferred officers to Parnassus, and reviewed the captured supplies and campaign finances.
• Vitus allocated estates to more than five hundred officers, noncommissioned officers, and soldiers as rewards.
• Damien asked Vitus for wasteland to grow sugarcane, explaining that his father and elder brother could manage the plantation.

Vitus rested after months of work while Venice assessed his growing power and sent an envoy to question him. He later agreed to supply Phil’s French campaign and arranged for a ship to buy goods and recruit skilled dyers, while Venice faced Skanderbeg’s renewed challenge in Albania.

• Vitus delegated civil and military affairs, then spent a month resting and gave up hunting.
• Doge Foscari studied Vitus’s victories, sent a confidant to Andravida, and learned that Skanderbeg had defeated an Ottoman force and restored the Principality of Albania.
• A Venetian envoy questioned Vitus about Italian conflicts and Skanderbeg, and Vitus challenged him over Venice’s execution of Francesco Bussone.
• Phil told Vitus that the French had retaken Paris and requested supplies, so Vitus sent two thousand sets of armor, eight hundred Matchlocks, and ten heavy siege cannons.
• Vitus gave a ship captain a list of goods to buy on the return voyage and a booklet to help recruit qualified dyers.

Captain Cohen sailed the Scala to Sète, where officials inspected and bought its military cargo, then continued to Genoa to trade for supplies. After disguising himself, Cohen searched Genoa’s dye district for a suitable candidate.

• The Scala avoided an unidentified warship in the Ionian Sea, and Captain Cohen recorded its appearance in the logbook.
• Cohen delivered the ship’s military supplies to Port of Sète, where officials tested the Matchlocks and inspected the remaining goods.
• The harbor official accepted the cargo for nineteen thousand Florins and explained the strengths and weaknesses of muskets from Aragon, Florence, and Bohemia.
• The Scala departed France for Genoa, where Cohen bought tin, lead, dyes, and ropes while the crew explored the harbor.
• Cohen disguised himself and searched Genoa’s dye district with a trusted crewman, hoping to find a suitable candidate.