RMS Oceanic
2007-10-10, 10:00 AM
I've decided to meld my love of Alternate History and D&D into a campaign setting!
Medieval Europe - 1210
Overview
It is Autumn of 1210. Europe has been under the almost unquestioned authority of the Catholic Church for over 35 years, thanks to the onsurge of divine magic. Arcane magic, however, is on the rise in the form of Sorcery, with arcane magic too young for Wizardry to truly begin.
History
Thomas Becket
The story starts, as real history does, in the 1160's. Until this time, Kings had assumed that their power came directly from God, and were answerable to no power on this Earth. The Popes of this era disagreed, believing all Temporal Authorities should report to the Papacy.
Nowhere was this conflict more apparent than in England. King Henry II had been arguing with his Archbishop of Canterbury and onetime friend Thomas Becket over the role of Church and State. This all came to a head in 1164, when Becket was brought to trial for contempt of the King and misuse of funds while he had been Chancellor in the 1150's. Convicted on the charges, Becket fled to France, where he established a real government in exile.
Over the next six years, abortive diplomacy fumbled around until a meeting was arranged between the two men in late 1170. Henry forgave Becket and his followers and declared them reconciled. Becket, a headstrong figure by any standards, refused to forgive those who had remained loyal to Henry. Shouting the dreaded curse: "May they be damned by Jesus Christ!", he excommunicated them.
But the Bishops and Nobles were not in Hell; they were in Henry's court near Bayeux, pouring venemous reports of Becket's arrogance and treachery into his ear. Henry, always short tempered, and in dire frustration at this almost decade-long conflict, let out a roar of Plantaganet Anathema. While no-one remembers what this was, the most common words attributed to him were "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?", although some believe it was much more alarming:
"What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished, and brought up in my household who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a lowborn cleric?"
He didn't intend for violence to happen. Henry just wanted the problem to go away. Four Knights who either overheard him, or heard of his meltdown, concluded that this was the only way to do it. So on December 29th 1170, they rushed into Canterbury Cathedral.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Thomas_Becket_Murder.JPG
Things got ugly.
Thomas Becket lay dead on the floor of the Cathedral, the top of his head sliced off, and washed in his own blood. As his attendants prepared him for burial, they discovered something that no living soul had known: a hair shirt, with lice crawling through it, decimating his flesh. Thomas the Arrogant, Headstrong and Theatrical was Thomas the Self-Mortifier, the Humble.
The murder of an Archbishop in his own Cathedral by agents of the King, whether he had wanted it or not, was the single worst crime in Medieval Christendom. Henry, as well as the murderers, were excommunicated, although Henry reconciled himself with the Pope by undergoing a flogging at Becket's Shrine in 1174. This is where things diverge from reality. It seems that not only mortal beings were alarmed at this ultimate contempt of mortal authority. It would appear that God himself was alarmed for his Church, and that the only way his flock could defend itself from future conflict was access to his divine power.
The First Clerics
The first recorded "Miracles" took place on December 29th 1175, on the anniversary of Becket's murder. In York, Rouen, Geneva, Barcelona and several other places around Europe, there were reports of Priests being able to heal grevious injuries in their community. The fact these all occured on the same day took some weeks to reach Rome, given how long it took for information to travel.
Over the next few months, more miracles occured. Numerous filthy wells and lakes suddenly became fresh and pure. A priest seemed to conjure food for a poor family outside Lyon. The new Archbishop of Canterbury attended the bedside of Young Henry, son of the King, who was suffering from dysentry, and after laying hands on him, he was cured almost instantly. A Priest was accosted by thieves on the road to Milan, and they were scorched and blinded by searing light that sprang from the Priest's hands.
All these reports of divine miracles both excited and alarmed Rome, for some believed it was the work of Satan, in an attempt to lure people away from the Church. It all came to a head on Good Friday of 1176. In a dream, Pope Alexander III was visited by Thomas Becket. Becket told Alexander that the Miracles were a result of the Lord departing his divine power onto his Church. These Miracles had so far been manifested by the priest's subconscious desires at the time, but the time had come for the Clergy to learn to channel their new gift to defend the Church from Temporal interference. When he awoke, a book lay on a nearby table, covered in ornate Gold and Ivory. It was a book of Psalms, but as he read, Alexander gained a clear understanding of how to use his gifts. He later called this book Libri Glorifico Opus - The Book of Exalted Deeds.
Alexander showed a council of Cardinals his new powers, and invited them to partake of a shared reading of the book, the result being each man in attendance gained divine insight into what they could now do. Such a powerful gift directly from the Martyr Saint Becket and God himself must be protected, they decided, and the Book was placed in the Vatican vaults, only to be read by new Cardinals as and when they took office.
Each Cardinal returned to his Diocese and, while keeping the existence of the book a secret, instructed the Bishops and Archbishops beneath them how to feel their newly empowered connection to God, and manifest it in miracles. They in turn instructed Priests and Monks, although Nuns were kept away from such instruction, despite the fact some had shown their own ability to manifest miracles.
The result was sweeping. Priests were called on to heal the sick and dying. They could truly wash away sin from the truly repentent if they attoned. They could also manifest great and terrible devastation in the form of wind and lightning, although many vowed never to reap such power, for fear of harming the innocent. To the unrepentent transgressors, Priests could curse them, or compel them to seek absolution for their sin on pain of curse.
The greatest effect this had in Europe was that the state was put in its place. Kings and soldiers were not about to try and enforce their will on a collection of men who could cause them great pain with but a touch. Though the King's law still governed the people at mass, the State paid taxes to the Church and, for a time, both left the other to get on with their respective jobs.
A Druidic Revival
Christianity in Ireland and Scotland had developed differently than in the rest of the British Isles, and indeed continental Europe. The Christian Church of the Western Roman empire had survived its collapse, and indeed kept the Roman style of Christianity alive in the former provinces. Because Rome had never conquered Hibernia or Caledonia, missionaries were required to convert them, the most famous being Saint Patrick, who used local Celtic Culture to explain the concepts of Christ. This blend of Celtic and Christian Cultures led to Christian Churches which, at best, paid token lip to the Papacy. Irish Catholicism was not Roman Catholicism.
Even before the genesis of miracles, Rome had sought to correct this. Scottish Christianity had undergone reform a century before, bringing it in line with Rome. In 1154, a Papal Edict issued by Adrian IV (An Englishman) that the King of England would in fact be considered overlord of Ireland, regardless of Irish Politics. This was not enacted on until 1168 when Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster, was driven out of his kingdom by Turlough O'Connor, the High King of Ireland. To reclaim his land, he sought aid from Henry II, who provided him with a Norman Army led by Richard "Strongbow" de Clare. This army was successful until 1171, when Dermot died and Strongbow assumed the Leinster Throne. A general uprising compelled Strongbow to seek additional aid from Henry. By 1172, Henry had successfully invaded and quelled Ireland, granting himself the title "Lord of Ireland", although his direct influence did not extend much farther than "The Pale", an area surrounding Dublin.
Since Dublin was a major commercial and social gathering point in Ireland, the Papacy invested the Archbishop of Dublin with the official Primacy of Ireland, and set about realigning Celtic Catholicism with Rome. This distressed the Archbishop of Armagh, whose See had been founded by Saint Patrick himself, and was always considered the religious centre of the land, and a rivalry grew between the two positions.
On March 17th 1177, almost a year after the Becket Vision, the Archbishop of Armagh had a dream of Saint Patrick. In the dream, the Archbishop received the Saint's blessing in the middle of a forest, which he innately understood to be Armagh's location before human settlement. The Archbishop took this as a sign that God should be worshiped through respect for nature.
Many scholars outside the influence of the Pale embraced this view, and by 1180, new miracles were reported to the Pope. Celtic Monks with the power to command animals to do their bidding, to cause plants to grow and move of their own accord, and even to assume the form of animals when forced to defend. Most Celtic Priests performed some of these miracles, but largely carried out the miracles of the Church. These men used their powers to keep the influence of the Pale, and the Diocese of Dublin, firmly in check. Annoyed at the resistance to Papal Rule, the name "Druids" were applied to these men, to imply they had embraced the Paganry of Pre-Roman rule. Druids also appeared in the rural parts of Wales and Scotland, and preached their philosophy throughout Europe.
The Angevin Empire Expands
The Vatican had always maintained an interest in the affairs of England and who was Archbishop of Canterbury, for it was that post that Becket had held. As a result, there was a desire to have the Kingdom that Canterbury resided in to be prosperous.
Henry II had given each of his sons part of his territory to rule, though each only ruled as Regent when Henry was not in their territory: John was given the Pale in Ireland, and Wales unofficially paid homage to him. Geoffry was given Brittany, Maine and Aquitaine. Richard was given Normandy and Anjou, while Henry The Young King ruled England. The Angevin Empire (Named for Anjou, Henry's ancestral homeland) only came under that name in the 1200's, and was less of a empire and more of a collection of states which had the same ruler. It was a curious instance where the King of an independant realm also paid homage to another King, as Phillip II of France considered Henry's French collections vassal states of France.
In 1190, believing the time had come to end this aberration, Philip invaded Normandy, determined to end centuries of effective autonomy. Richard himself fought valiantly in the initial battle near Caen, and his divine power came to light. As a young man, he had always been charismatic, physically brave and a skilled warrior and tactician. Eyewitness accounts record him healing his own wounds, his blade shining as he ran it through anything up to twenty of Phillip's men.
Eventually he was forced to withdraw, but upon hearing the news of this attack, his father appealed to the Pope for help. Seeing the opportunity to improve the fortune of England, Pope Urban III granted a sanction authorising the clerics to use their divine power against Phillip, when clerics normally abstained from participation in secular battles. This, in addition to a Papally-brokered Alliance with the Duke of Burgandy, gave Richard and Geoffrey sanction to counterattack and invade France. Flanked on both sides, and the Holy Roman Empire unwilling to get involved, Philip surrendered. The Kingdom of France became the Duchy of France, and it was forced to pay homage to the King of England. He died in 1195 under mysterious circumstances, and Henry took this opportunity to take the title of Duke of France as his own, and to appoint his youngest son John to rule as Regent.
On the 29th of December 1200, 30 years to the day of Becket's murder, Henry II announced his abdication. His sons were to be granted the full titles and power of the numerous states he himself had collected, Henry the Young King becoming Henry III of England. Henry II died six months later, happy in his accomplishments since his terrible sin of Becket's Murder.
Crusades in the East
Duke Richard's manifesting of divine power at the Battle of Caen was merely the first recorded example. During the War with France, and in many other parts of Europe, young pious warriors and veteran Crusaders were able to manifest miracles to enhance their battle prowess. Realising that the gift God had released was limited not just to the clergy, Pope Urban III took advantage. Calling Richard to Rome, he allowed him to read the Libri Glorifico Opus, and placed him in command of the Third Crusade. As many of these divine warriors as could be gathered were brought to Rome, and placed in charge of warriors to protect the Byzantium Empire and Kingdom of Jerusalem.
To be Written
The Franciscan Order, Miracles of the Layman
To be Written
[b]Abuse of Divine Power, Sorcery is Awakened
To be written
Countries
Rules
Classes
Equipment
Anybody interested in this?
Medieval Europe - 1210
Overview
It is Autumn of 1210. Europe has been under the almost unquestioned authority of the Catholic Church for over 35 years, thanks to the onsurge of divine magic. Arcane magic, however, is on the rise in the form of Sorcery, with arcane magic too young for Wizardry to truly begin.
History
Thomas Becket
The story starts, as real history does, in the 1160's. Until this time, Kings had assumed that their power came directly from God, and were answerable to no power on this Earth. The Popes of this era disagreed, believing all Temporal Authorities should report to the Papacy.
Nowhere was this conflict more apparent than in England. King Henry II had been arguing with his Archbishop of Canterbury and onetime friend Thomas Becket over the role of Church and State. This all came to a head in 1164, when Becket was brought to trial for contempt of the King and misuse of funds while he had been Chancellor in the 1150's. Convicted on the charges, Becket fled to France, where he established a real government in exile.
Over the next six years, abortive diplomacy fumbled around until a meeting was arranged between the two men in late 1170. Henry forgave Becket and his followers and declared them reconciled. Becket, a headstrong figure by any standards, refused to forgive those who had remained loyal to Henry. Shouting the dreaded curse: "May they be damned by Jesus Christ!", he excommunicated them.
But the Bishops and Nobles were not in Hell; they were in Henry's court near Bayeux, pouring venemous reports of Becket's arrogance and treachery into his ear. Henry, always short tempered, and in dire frustration at this almost decade-long conflict, let out a roar of Plantaganet Anathema. While no-one remembers what this was, the most common words attributed to him were "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?", although some believe it was much more alarming:
"What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished, and brought up in my household who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a lowborn cleric?"
He didn't intend for violence to happen. Henry just wanted the problem to go away. Four Knights who either overheard him, or heard of his meltdown, concluded that this was the only way to do it. So on December 29th 1170, they rushed into Canterbury Cathedral.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Thomas_Becket_Murder.JPG
Things got ugly.
Thomas Becket lay dead on the floor of the Cathedral, the top of his head sliced off, and washed in his own blood. As his attendants prepared him for burial, they discovered something that no living soul had known: a hair shirt, with lice crawling through it, decimating his flesh. Thomas the Arrogant, Headstrong and Theatrical was Thomas the Self-Mortifier, the Humble.
The murder of an Archbishop in his own Cathedral by agents of the King, whether he had wanted it or not, was the single worst crime in Medieval Christendom. Henry, as well as the murderers, were excommunicated, although Henry reconciled himself with the Pope by undergoing a flogging at Becket's Shrine in 1174. This is where things diverge from reality. It seems that not only mortal beings were alarmed at this ultimate contempt of mortal authority. It would appear that God himself was alarmed for his Church, and that the only way his flock could defend itself from future conflict was access to his divine power.
The First Clerics
The first recorded "Miracles" took place on December 29th 1175, on the anniversary of Becket's murder. In York, Rouen, Geneva, Barcelona and several other places around Europe, there were reports of Priests being able to heal grevious injuries in their community. The fact these all occured on the same day took some weeks to reach Rome, given how long it took for information to travel.
Over the next few months, more miracles occured. Numerous filthy wells and lakes suddenly became fresh and pure. A priest seemed to conjure food for a poor family outside Lyon. The new Archbishop of Canterbury attended the bedside of Young Henry, son of the King, who was suffering from dysentry, and after laying hands on him, he was cured almost instantly. A Priest was accosted by thieves on the road to Milan, and they were scorched and blinded by searing light that sprang from the Priest's hands.
All these reports of divine miracles both excited and alarmed Rome, for some believed it was the work of Satan, in an attempt to lure people away from the Church. It all came to a head on Good Friday of 1176. In a dream, Pope Alexander III was visited by Thomas Becket. Becket told Alexander that the Miracles were a result of the Lord departing his divine power onto his Church. These Miracles had so far been manifested by the priest's subconscious desires at the time, but the time had come for the Clergy to learn to channel their new gift to defend the Church from Temporal interference. When he awoke, a book lay on a nearby table, covered in ornate Gold and Ivory. It was a book of Psalms, but as he read, Alexander gained a clear understanding of how to use his gifts. He later called this book Libri Glorifico Opus - The Book of Exalted Deeds.
Alexander showed a council of Cardinals his new powers, and invited them to partake of a shared reading of the book, the result being each man in attendance gained divine insight into what they could now do. Such a powerful gift directly from the Martyr Saint Becket and God himself must be protected, they decided, and the Book was placed in the Vatican vaults, only to be read by new Cardinals as and when they took office.
Each Cardinal returned to his Diocese and, while keeping the existence of the book a secret, instructed the Bishops and Archbishops beneath them how to feel their newly empowered connection to God, and manifest it in miracles. They in turn instructed Priests and Monks, although Nuns were kept away from such instruction, despite the fact some had shown their own ability to manifest miracles.
The result was sweeping. Priests were called on to heal the sick and dying. They could truly wash away sin from the truly repentent if they attoned. They could also manifest great and terrible devastation in the form of wind and lightning, although many vowed never to reap such power, for fear of harming the innocent. To the unrepentent transgressors, Priests could curse them, or compel them to seek absolution for their sin on pain of curse.
The greatest effect this had in Europe was that the state was put in its place. Kings and soldiers were not about to try and enforce their will on a collection of men who could cause them great pain with but a touch. Though the King's law still governed the people at mass, the State paid taxes to the Church and, for a time, both left the other to get on with their respective jobs.
A Druidic Revival
Christianity in Ireland and Scotland had developed differently than in the rest of the British Isles, and indeed continental Europe. The Christian Church of the Western Roman empire had survived its collapse, and indeed kept the Roman style of Christianity alive in the former provinces. Because Rome had never conquered Hibernia or Caledonia, missionaries were required to convert them, the most famous being Saint Patrick, who used local Celtic Culture to explain the concepts of Christ. This blend of Celtic and Christian Cultures led to Christian Churches which, at best, paid token lip to the Papacy. Irish Catholicism was not Roman Catholicism.
Even before the genesis of miracles, Rome had sought to correct this. Scottish Christianity had undergone reform a century before, bringing it in line with Rome. In 1154, a Papal Edict issued by Adrian IV (An Englishman) that the King of England would in fact be considered overlord of Ireland, regardless of Irish Politics. This was not enacted on until 1168 when Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster, was driven out of his kingdom by Turlough O'Connor, the High King of Ireland. To reclaim his land, he sought aid from Henry II, who provided him with a Norman Army led by Richard "Strongbow" de Clare. This army was successful until 1171, when Dermot died and Strongbow assumed the Leinster Throne. A general uprising compelled Strongbow to seek additional aid from Henry. By 1172, Henry had successfully invaded and quelled Ireland, granting himself the title "Lord of Ireland", although his direct influence did not extend much farther than "The Pale", an area surrounding Dublin.
Since Dublin was a major commercial and social gathering point in Ireland, the Papacy invested the Archbishop of Dublin with the official Primacy of Ireland, and set about realigning Celtic Catholicism with Rome. This distressed the Archbishop of Armagh, whose See had been founded by Saint Patrick himself, and was always considered the religious centre of the land, and a rivalry grew between the two positions.
On March 17th 1177, almost a year after the Becket Vision, the Archbishop of Armagh had a dream of Saint Patrick. In the dream, the Archbishop received the Saint's blessing in the middle of a forest, which he innately understood to be Armagh's location before human settlement. The Archbishop took this as a sign that God should be worshiped through respect for nature.
Many scholars outside the influence of the Pale embraced this view, and by 1180, new miracles were reported to the Pope. Celtic Monks with the power to command animals to do their bidding, to cause plants to grow and move of their own accord, and even to assume the form of animals when forced to defend. Most Celtic Priests performed some of these miracles, but largely carried out the miracles of the Church. These men used their powers to keep the influence of the Pale, and the Diocese of Dublin, firmly in check. Annoyed at the resistance to Papal Rule, the name "Druids" were applied to these men, to imply they had embraced the Paganry of Pre-Roman rule. Druids also appeared in the rural parts of Wales and Scotland, and preached their philosophy throughout Europe.
The Angevin Empire Expands
The Vatican had always maintained an interest in the affairs of England and who was Archbishop of Canterbury, for it was that post that Becket had held. As a result, there was a desire to have the Kingdom that Canterbury resided in to be prosperous.
Henry II had given each of his sons part of his territory to rule, though each only ruled as Regent when Henry was not in their territory: John was given the Pale in Ireland, and Wales unofficially paid homage to him. Geoffry was given Brittany, Maine and Aquitaine. Richard was given Normandy and Anjou, while Henry The Young King ruled England. The Angevin Empire (Named for Anjou, Henry's ancestral homeland) only came under that name in the 1200's, and was less of a empire and more of a collection of states which had the same ruler. It was a curious instance where the King of an independant realm also paid homage to another King, as Phillip II of France considered Henry's French collections vassal states of France.
In 1190, believing the time had come to end this aberration, Philip invaded Normandy, determined to end centuries of effective autonomy. Richard himself fought valiantly in the initial battle near Caen, and his divine power came to light. As a young man, he had always been charismatic, physically brave and a skilled warrior and tactician. Eyewitness accounts record him healing his own wounds, his blade shining as he ran it through anything up to twenty of Phillip's men.
Eventually he was forced to withdraw, but upon hearing the news of this attack, his father appealed to the Pope for help. Seeing the opportunity to improve the fortune of England, Pope Urban III granted a sanction authorising the clerics to use their divine power against Phillip, when clerics normally abstained from participation in secular battles. This, in addition to a Papally-brokered Alliance with the Duke of Burgandy, gave Richard and Geoffrey sanction to counterattack and invade France. Flanked on both sides, and the Holy Roman Empire unwilling to get involved, Philip surrendered. The Kingdom of France became the Duchy of France, and it was forced to pay homage to the King of England. He died in 1195 under mysterious circumstances, and Henry took this opportunity to take the title of Duke of France as his own, and to appoint his youngest son John to rule as Regent.
On the 29th of December 1200, 30 years to the day of Becket's murder, Henry II announced his abdication. His sons were to be granted the full titles and power of the numerous states he himself had collected, Henry the Young King becoming Henry III of England. Henry II died six months later, happy in his accomplishments since his terrible sin of Becket's Murder.
Crusades in the East
Duke Richard's manifesting of divine power at the Battle of Caen was merely the first recorded example. During the War with France, and in many other parts of Europe, young pious warriors and veteran Crusaders were able to manifest miracles to enhance their battle prowess. Realising that the gift God had released was limited not just to the clergy, Pope Urban III took advantage. Calling Richard to Rome, he allowed him to read the Libri Glorifico Opus, and placed him in command of the Third Crusade. As many of these divine warriors as could be gathered were brought to Rome, and placed in charge of warriors to protect the Byzantium Empire and Kingdom of Jerusalem.
To be Written
The Franciscan Order, Miracles of the Layman
To be Written
[b]Abuse of Divine Power, Sorcery is Awakened
To be written
Countries
Rules
Classes
Equipment
Anybody interested in this?