Recaps

Vitus explained the challenges of controlling the steppe and outlined how rivers could make campaigns against nomads more manageable, while John VIII declined the Holy See’s request to intervene in Aragon’s attack on Naples. The chapter ended with Demetrius arriving to see John with an urgent matter.

• Vitus received Carlo Santis’s estimate that the Lithuanian-controlled Dnieper region had only 300,000 to 500,000 people.
• John reviewed the secret agreement requiring the Palaiologos family to prevent an Aragonese invasion of Holy See territory, then replied that he could not intervene in the conflict over Naples.
• Agnes prepared to leave Blachernae Palace to inspect her properties and discussed the steppe tribes with Vitus.
• Vitus explained to Agnes, Romanus, and Leo how rivers and supply routes shaped warfare on the steppe, and said the Empire could either settle the Don Frontier or rely on vassal tribes.
• John VIII admired a sapphire in the palace garden when Demetrius arrived, demanding to see him about an urgent matter.

Demetrius asked John whether the Empire would intervene to protect Naples, but John insisted that Rome would not fight in Italy before defeating the Ottomans. As Aragon prepared to invade Naples and France considered intervening, Jeanne d'Arc left her convent to answer the French king's call.

• Demetrius asked whether the Empire would send troops if Naples or other Italian states were invaded, and John said Vitus would not break his promise to avoid war in Italy.
• John urged Demetrius to aid Naples with his own wealth or fight there independently, while warning him that Rome needed to focus on the Ottoman threat.
• John reflected on Rome's military weakness and concluded that Vitus needed to conquer Anatolia and restore the Empire's eastern frontier.
• Alfonso V prepared to seize Naples, and Charles VII of France sent an envoy to summon Jeanne d'Arc.
• Theresa warned Jeanne about the dangers of returning to French politics, then helped her put on her armor and gave her the sword she had left behind.
• Jeanne said farewell to Theresa and left the convent to return to the secular world.

Vitus brought Agnes and Romanus to Chersonesus, where Agnes began auditing the textile workshop while Vitus showed Romanus its production process and the city’s military horse farm. Romanus learned why steppe horses and heavy cavalry mounts were more practical than the rare Arabian and Akhal-Teke horses, but he did not earn the promised ride.

• Vitus arrived in Chersonesus with Agnes and Romanus, while Leo stayed with Helena Dragaš.
• Agnes went straight to the textile workshop and began auditing its accounts as Vitus showed Romanus the stages of wool processing and cloth production.
• Vitus took Romanus to the dining hall for a meal while Agnes continued the audit, then walked with him around the city’s textile-centered industries.
• Vitus brought Romanus to the military horse farm, where Romanus fed a gray Arabian horse and examined the Akhal-Teke horses.
• Vitus asked Romanus which breed cavalry should use, and Romanus chose the Akhal-Teke horses, so Vitus explained the advantages of steppe horses and heavy cavalry mounts.

Vitus inspected the Third Military Stud Farm and Tuna Legion camp before traveling with Agnes and Romanus to examine the Crimean Peninsula’s largest pasture. The pasture held eighty thousand sheep and had capacity to grow, but it was short-handed and its boundaries remained unfenced.

• Vitus inspected horses seized from the Golden Horde and ordered the grooms to keep detailed records of their bloodlines and descendants.
• Vitus showed Romanus the Tuna Legion’s permanent camp and explained why Rome would hold fewer tournaments in the future.
• Agnes complained about expenses in the household accounts, and Vitus explained that he had authorized cloth for soldiers and settlers and had helped Behoff pay his sisters’ dowries.
• A week later, Vitus traveled north with Agnes and Romanus to inspect the Crimean Peninsula’s largest pasture, passing road workers and sheep along the way.
• The pasture supervisor told Vitus that the pasture held eighty thousand sheep, including five thousand Merinos, and had ten managers, guards, and support workers.

Agnes and Vitus decided to stop expanding the ranch and sell most of its unused pasture, while Vitus prepared a campaign to seize the Caucasus passes through Circassia. In the Don Frontier, Ilya and Tucha oversaw Gray Antelope Town’s construction as other tribes began planning permanent settlements.

• Agnes warned Vitus that the ranch’s growth was causing management losses, and Vitus argued that its flock should remain at eighty thousand while textile workshops developed.
• Agnes told the ranch managers to sell most unused pastureland, keep Merino lambs, and sell ordinary lambs to nearby farmers and ranch owners.
• Vitus planned to gather intelligence on Circassia and launch an August invasion with two legions and attached cavalry brigades to seize the Caucasus passes.
• Tucha’s Gray Antelope Tribe built a stockaded town with a moat, docks, homes, stables, and a central square, with help from imperial engineers.
• Tucha explained to Ilya that the tribe welcomed permanent homes because they offered warmer winter shelter for herdsmen and livestock.
• Imperial engineers began planning settlements for Kazhuo and Sanggebu’s tribes, while Ilya estimated that five other tribes would have to wait until the next year.

After the Don Frontier received imperial funding, Ilya paid the officials’ wages and began organizing intelligence gathering on Circassia. He suspected the Emperor planned to seize the Caucasus passage and considered how control of it might draw the Ottoman Empire into conflict with Georgia.

• Tucha received an imperial edict ordering monthly intelligence reports on Circassia, forbidding conflict with it, and granting funds to the Don Frontier.
• Ilya explained the edict and reviewed the Empire’s new administrative ranks with the frontier leadership, who agreed to use the funds to pay wages.
• On June 2, Ilya paid the officials and sent his fifteen Florins to his family in Constantinople for his brother’s wedding.
• Ilya met Yaropolk at a tavern, arranged for him to interpret for a caravan traveling to Circassia, and ordered him to provide useful intelligence.
• Ilya studied maps and records, identified the Darial Valley as the Gate of the Caucasus, and concluded that the Emperor sought to control it and pressure Georgia and the Ottoman Empire.

Ilya gathered intelligence about Circassia and learned that descendants of Anglo-Saxon exiles had been captured from New England and sold into slavery there. As war approached, Thomas returned from Eastern Europe with reports on Lithuania and Novgorod, which Vitus assessed as potential neighbors and rivals.

• Ilya questioned a returning merchant caravan leader about Circassia, then learned that rumors of his interest had spread widely.
• Ramon brought three slaves from Circassia, and Ilya recognized Aethelbert's name as linked to the descendants of Anglo-Saxon settlers.
• Aethelbert's account revealed that Tatars had captured New England's inhabitants and sold many of them into slavery in Circassia, and Ilya sent the slaves and his report to Chersonesus.
• Vitus began gathering supplies and strengthening the legion in Chersonesus as war approached, and Thomas returned from his six-month delegation.
• Thomas reported that Lithuania had an estimated 3.5 million inhabitants and appeared inclined to maintain stability rather than expand.
• Thomas described Novgorod's fur, beeswax, and timber trade, while Vitus judged that its weak industry and internal divisions left it vulnerable to Lithuania and Moscow.

Vitus led an expedition into Circassian territory to pressure Georgia into choosing a side, using artillery to crush a fortress and force its defenders to surrender. After observing Thomas command troops during the advance, Vitus judged that his younger brother could lead a few thousand men against smaller enemies but would not be suited to greater responsibilities.

• Tucha struggled to select two thousand cavalrymen from a surge of nomad volunteers, so Ilya organized an archery contest to choose recruits.
• On August 20, Vitus landed at the mouth of the Kuban River with twelve thousand regular troops and three thousand Rus militiamen, then marched upstream into Circassian territory.
• Vitus demanded grain and the release of tenant farmers and slaves from villages that surrendered, while Thomas urged him to take more supplies and recruit local men.
• Vitus had his artillery bombard a resisting fortress until it was reduced to ruins, then accepted the surrender of its surviving defenders and stripped twelve lords of their titles and possessions.
• Vitus let Thomas lead the troops through a week of minor resistance and concluded that Thomas was courageous but impulsive and only capable of commanding a few thousand men against small or medium-sized enemies.

Vitus’s expeditionary force subdued the lords of Kabardia and seized Darial Fortress, opening a route through the Caucasus into Georgia. As Roman troops reached a fortified Georgian castle, Alexander I gathered his limited forces and prepared to negotiate.

• Vitus surrounded a Kabardian town, offered its lords lenient terms, and secured their surrender in exchange for freeing tenant farmers and slaves, opening the land to Roman merchants and clergy, and paying tribute to Constantinople.
• The Roman army marched to the Caucasus foothills, where Vitus ordered a forward base built and sent the vanguard south through Darial Valley.
• The Mountain Battalion captured Darial Fortress in a night raid, giving Rome control of the valley’s most dangerous stronghold.
• Thomas’s vanguard emerged from the valley and reached a Georgian castle, where Thomas requested artillery reinforcements because the defenses could not be taken by infantry alone.
• Alexander I arrived at the castle on September 12 and, with fewer than eight thousand troops available, considered negotiations with Vitus.

Vitus pressured Alexander into handing over Ottoman sympathizers, then secured a military alliance with Georgia and led Roman troops to suppress a regional rebellion. By mid-October, the campaign had ended, and Vitus established a naval base at Jukumu Port before returning toward Crimea with his forces.

• Vitus demanded that Alexander surrender Ottoman envoys and fifteen noble houses, and Alexander handed over ninety-six captives and twenty-three corpses.
• Vitus killed the foremost Ottoman captive and presented the Georgian envoy with a draft military alliance, explaining to Thomas how Rome could use the alliance to provoke conflict between Georgia and the Ottomans.
• Alexander accepted the alliance, offered his son George as a hostage, and requested Roman aid against Georgian rebels; Vitus negotiated payment and port access before signing the agreement.
• Vitus left five hundred militiamen to guard Darial Fortress and marched with the remaining troops to help Georgia suppress the northwestern rebellion.
• By mid-October, Vitus had ended the campaign, stationed seven hundred militiamen at Jukumu Port, and led the rest of his forces back toward Crimea.

After freeing thousands of people in the Caucasus, Vitus arranged settlements and made agreements concerning Circassia before returning to Constantinople. Thomas decided to seek opportunities in Italy, while Ramon transported Circassian youths to Egypt, arriving there in February 1437.

• Vitus freed forty thousand people, settled some near the Kerch Region and the Kuban River, and let Circassian lords return to their territories under their customary laws.
• Ramon asked Vitus to let Circassian youths travel to Egypt to serve as soldiers, and Vitus agreed with restrictions against Genoese involvement in a rebellion.
• Vitus advised Thomas to serve in Western Thrace, but Thomas later told John that he had decided to go to Italy instead.
• John ordered Palsis to bring the Georgian prince George from the docks to the imperial palace.
• Ramon's ship carrying one hundred and sixty Circassian youths sailed from Constantinople, stopped at Rhodes and Cyprus, and reached Egypt in February 1437.

Ramon delivered 140 Circassian youths to Alexandria and used the off-season to buy trade goods. After the Sultan summoned him to watch a new army drill, Ramon praised its unusual troops despite doubting their strength, then considered retiring from overseas trade.

• Ramon brought 140 Circassian youths ashore in Alexandria, where officials verified them and sent them to a training camp.
• Ramon sold wine and oak, then searched the spice market and arranged to buy spices and other goods.
• A eunuch and soldiers took Ramon to a training ground, where he watched musketeers, matchlock cavalry, camel cannons, and elephant-mounted troops drill.
• The Sultan asked Ramon whether the Greek Emperor had conquered Circassia and what he thought of the new army.
• Ramon praised the army to the Sultan despite his doubts, then left the audience and reflected on retiring from trade.

Ramon returned to Genoa after witnessing the French fleet’s defeat by Aragon, and his account helped turn Genoese opinion against joining France. As France moved toward peace, Giulio remained committed to keeping Florence out of the war and waiting for a safer opportunity to expand.

• Ramon’s merchant ship passed through the Strait of Messina and narrowly sailed clear of the French and Aragonese fleets as they began a major naval battle.
• Ramon watched Aragon’s galleasses and gunships overpower the French fleet, then saw a huge explosion engulf a warship.
• After returning to Genoa, Ramon exaggerated the French defeat to a port official, and news of the fleet’s supposed annihilation spread through the city.
• Genoese nobles urged the Doge to avoid joining the war, while the chapter recounted how France and Aragon had fought over Sicily and the Pyrenees before France sought peace after its naval defeat.
• Paoli Di Maggio told Giulio that France had accepted Aragon’s request for negotiations, and Giulio explained why Florence would continue to avoid the conflict and wait before expanding.

Giulio learned that Portugal’s disastrous defeat in Morocco threatened its African ambitions, while Florentine envoy Phil Di Maggio assessed France’s growing military power during peace negotiations in Montpellier. The chapter ended with France, Naples, and Aragon signing a ceasefire, as Charles VII prepared to rebuild France’s fleet and pursue dominance in the Western Mediterranean and Northern Italy.

• Pauli told Giulio that Morocco had surrounded ten thousand Portuguese soldiers, and Prince Henry had offered Ceuta and given Prince Fernando and thirty nobles as hostages in exchange for peace negotiations.
• Giulio doubted Portugal would surrender Ceuta permanently and feared its defeat would delay African exploration and ruin the Auditore family’s investment.
• Phil Di Maggio observed France’s ordonnance forces in Montpellier and concluded that Charles VII’s large standing army reflected a trend toward stronger royal power.
• Phil resolved to urge Florence to fund a standing army after considering the weaknesses of mercenaries.
• On April 5, France, Naples, and Aragon signed a ceasefire that left their territories unchanged, while Charles VII planned to rebuild the French fleet and later join Naples against Aragon.

After Sigismund's death, Albert II inherited the Habsburg claim to Hungary, Bohemia, and the Holy Roman Empire, but faced depleted royal finances and resistance from Bohemian nobles. Phil Di Maggio observed Albert's army seize the initiative in Bohemia and feared that both France and the Empire would soon intervene in northern Italy.

• Charles VII learned that Sigismund had died and that the House of Habsburg would inherit the House of Luxembourg's titles and lands.
• Phil Di Maggio traveled to Buda, where Albert II explained Hungary and Bohemia's dire condition and revealed his interest in northern Italy.
• Albert II showed Phil the Black Army, which Hunyadi had strengthened with light cavalry and Hussite military tactics.
• Albert II marched into Bohemia with twenty thousand troops to secure his inheritance, while Hussite nobles mustered only eight thousand.
• Bohemian nobles began surrendering to Albert II, who pardoned them and offered to recognize some Hussite religious rights.
• Albert II planned to be crowned in Prague, seek election as King of the Romans in Frankfurt, and later travel to Rome, while Phil worried about the Empire's coming conflict with France over northern Italy.

Ratmir led Thistle Village’s 135 farming households to Sufulion Town to pay their summer taxes in wheat, then sold his surplus grain and saved the money for livestock. After the town mayor proposed replacing grain taxes with currency, Vitus rejected the idea and warned that it could drive independent farmers into bankruptcy and abandon their land.

• Ratmir prepared his wheat and reminded Thistle Village’s farmers that taxes could be paid in wheat, barley, or money, but not rye or wool.
• Ratmir led all 135 farming households to Sufulion Town, where each household paid its tax in grain.
• Ratmir paid five sacks of wheat, sold his remaining five sacks for gold and silver coins, and decided to save the money to buy sheep.
• After collecting the village’s taxes, the mayor proposed requiring farmers to pay entirely in currency.
• Vitus rejected the mayor’s proposal, reasoning that forced grain sales would depress prices and put independent farmers at risk of bankruptcy and abandoning their land.

Vitus planned Romanus’s education and arranged for him to learn swordsmanship alongside two companions, choosing a combat-experienced NCO as his instructor. Behoff arrived at the city lord’s residence for the assignment, where Varro warned him to behave properly.

• Vitus told Romanus he would study advanced subjects and military skills, explaining that command ability depended partly on talent and that he could still become a capable ruler through other strengths.
• Vitus and Agnes agreed that Romanus’s training should build his fitness and discipline without distracting from other studies; Agnes selected Maximus and Kairon as his companions.
• Marcus concluded that Vitus wanted an experienced soldier who could teach both martial skills and practical combat lessons, and he recommended Behoff.
• Varro brought Behoff to the city lord’s residence and warned him to use proper language and never drink during lessons.

Ilya organized Gray Antelope Town’s first summer games, adding wrestling and blunt-weapon contests to make the events more exciting. The confrontational matches drew enormous crowds and stirred up disorder, leaving Ilya to recognize why the Church opposed violent spectacles.

• On June 9, Behoff startled the children with a shouted command and began their sword training, while Agnes watched anxiously and complained to Vitus.
• On June 20, Ilya used funding from Vitus to plan the frontier’s first summer games and expanded the events after Tucha pointed out that the original contests lacked excitement.
• Ilya barred the governor and tribal chiefs from competing, arguing that their presence would keep ordinary contestants from competing freely and invite accusations of favoritism.
• On July 5, Ilya opened the games in Gray Antelope Town, where the archery, armored running, and horse racing contests proceeded, though the latter events attracted few spectators.
• On July 8, wrestling and blunt-weapon matches drew huge crowds, whose cheers and brawls turned the venue chaotic as Ilya reflected on the Church’s opposition to violent contests.

The week-long Summer Competition concluded, with Yaropolk unexpectedly winning the one-handed weapons event and the wrestling matches lasting the longest. Ilya reported the event’s finances to the Emperor, who ordered future costs covered by the Borderland Region and required thirty percent of any profit to be handed over.

• A Gray Antelope wrestler won a long match, while contestants competed in wrestling and several blunt-weapon events.
• Ilya considered the costs of the tournament and presented the polearm event’s prize when the drunken Tucha could not do so.
• Ilya recognized Yaropolk, who won nine consecutive bouts and became champion of the one-handed weapons category.
• The remaining wrestling matches concluded, and Ilya announced that the Borderland Region would hold another Summer Competition the following year.
• Ilya reported the competition’s expenses and income to Chersonesus, and the Emperor ordered future expenses paid by the Borderland Region with thirty percent of any profit remitted.

Ilya investigated Yaropolk’s rise to leadership in Herring Village, then accepted his oath of loyalty despite lingering suspicions. Yaropolk returned home and told the villagers that the Emperor planned to recruit Cossacks for raids along the Black Sea coast.

• Ilya learned that Herring Village’s leader had died while hunting and that Yaropolk had been chosen to replace him.
• Yaropolk traveled to Gray Antelope Town and swore loyalty to the Empire, becoming a reserve officer.
• Ilya questioned Yaropolk about the former leader’s death, but Yaropolk claimed he had been drinking and knew nothing about it.
• Yaropolk agreed to share information about other Cossack leaders, and Ilya let him leave despite suspecting him.
• Yaropolk returned to Herring Village and told a Cossack that the Emperor planned to form a raiding party for naval operations against Turkic settlements on the Black Sea’s southern shore.

Yaropolk recruited Cossacks for the Black Sea Fleet’s campaign, and Cohen led the fleet from Jukumu Port to attack Ottoman coastal targets. After withdrawing from heavily defended Trebizond, Cohen brought the fleet to Ordu and began bombarding its harbor batteries.

• Yaropolk explained the recruitment notice, and three hundred Cossacks and three hundred nomads enlisted in two auxiliary battalions.
• Cohen assembled seven gunships, nine galleys, two auxiliary battalions, and five merchant ships, then sailed to Jukumu Port.
• Cohen approached Trebizond under Ottoman banners but withdrew after discovering its twelve coastal guns and reinforcements.
• Cohen led six gunships toward Ordu, whose walls were crumbling and whose harbor had four coastal guns.
• Cohen brought the Mangup broadside to the harbor and ordered its gunners to fire repeated volleys at the Ottoman battery.

Cohen’s fleet captured Cotyora after a naval bombardment and assault, then plundered Ottoman nobles’ estates while sparing local Orthodox residents. After several allied soldiers returned late, the fleet departed for Jukumu Port, and Cohen planned to expand the marine battalion for future raids.

• The gunships bombarded Cotyora’s defenses while the marine battalion landed, breached the city gate, and captured key buildings as the Tatar and Cossack battalions secured the town.
• Cohen forbade looting Greek and Armenian residents, then sent Tatar and Cossack troops to plunder Ottoman nobles’ estates while sailors accompanied them.
• Cohen discovered that 130 soldiers were missing and refused Sanggebu’s request to search for them; 95 returned by dawn, including Sanggebu’s son.
• The fleet loaded captured supplies, craftsmen, and Ottoman noble households, while Cotyora’s Orthodox residents asked to evacuate to avoid retaliation.
• Cohen ordered the fleet to withdraw, then sent a light galley back for the allied soldiers left at the docks and resolved to expand the marine battalion to five companies.

Cohen’s fleet raided Ottoman ports along the Black Sea while Murad II ordered the weaker Ottoman Black Sea Fleet to strike back. The Ottomans attacked Chersonesus but withdrew under its coastal artillery, and Vitus dispatched a temporary fleet to pursue them after learning they were heading toward Kerch Harbor.

• Cohen’s fleet passed Trebizond, judged the Ottoman Black Sea Fleet too weak to challenge it, and raided smaller ports farther west.
• Murad II ordered the Black Sea Fleet to deal with the Greek fleet while he prepared to fight the Mamluks in Syria.
• The Ottoman commander reported that his fleet had little chance against the Greeks, and Murad II ordered it to harass the enemy coast instead.
• Kadiram led the Ottoman fleet toward Chersonesus, but its coastal forts damaged an oared sailing ship and forced the fleet to retreat.
• Vitus sent two gunships, a training ship, and six oared sailing ships to pursue the Ottomans and protect other ports.
• The temporary fleet learned that Kadiram’s fleet was sailing east toward Kerch Harbor.

The temporary fleet under Cohen fought off Kadiram’s Ottoman fleet, which then raided Georgia’s coast and destroyed Jukumu Port. Cohen continued his campaign against Ottoman ports and chose Sinop as his next target.

• The Volos and two Greek gunships concentrated their fire on the leading Ottoman Galleass, damaging it and forcing Kadiram to retreat while abandoning the ship.
• Kadiram’s captains agreed to raid Georgia’s poorly defended coast to make up for their meager gains.
• Kadiram attacked Jukumu Port, destroyed its facilities with naval guns and fire arrows, and continued raiding Georgian ports.
• Cohen received orders to keep to the existing battle plan and led his reinforced flotilla against Ottoman coastal ports, relocating craftsmen and Greek civilians.
• Cohen chose Sinop as his next target at Renaf’s suggestion.

After Sinop fell, Murad II considered buying Venetian warships while Ottoman commanders argued over the spoils. In Tauris, Vitus reviewed the region’s development and agreed to sell Georgia firearms, but the Georgian envoy refused his offer of troops to protect the ports.

• Murad II learned that the Ottomans had lost Sinop and accepted Isangai’s suggestion to consider purchasing warships from Venice.
• Ottoman commanders argued over the distribution of battle spoils, and Murad II reduced the planned warship purchase to direct more funds to the army.
• Vitus reviewed Tauris’s roads, settlements, and finances and noted the growth of nearby Tatar towns and Kuban Town’s trade.
• A Georgian envoy asked Vitus to sell Alexander one thousand Matchlocks and twenty heavy cannons after Ottoman attacks devastated the Georgian coast.
• Vitus offered available weapons and promised to deliver the rest before March, then offered troops to protect Georgia’s ports, but the envoy declined.