Rise of Winged Lion

Background History – Prologue


Along the breezing coast of
Adriatic Sea, there lies a lagoon. The community of the lagoon’s people was
once Roman refugees fleeing from the Lombard barbarians. There they formed a
republican oligarchy which maintained the power under a group of handful
men. The leader of the Oligarchs was
called a Doge or Duke. The lagoon region was known to be Veneto. Later that
aggregates of lagoon villages together formed into a town. And Venice is its
name obviously named after Veneto.



The Lagoon people struggled for
their existence under threats of Roman imperial pressures and outside
barbarians. Wars and conflicts were inevitable. Their first direct enemy had
always been Lombards, who made dwellings of their own in Northern Italy. Their
only ally capable of repelling Lombards had been the lagoon itself, which makes
Lombards to besiege it harder. Second only to Lombards is their rival port-city
of Zadar (Zara) located on the other side of Adriatic Coast in the province of
Dalmatia. After some unfortunate naval engagements and land battles, Zadar
failed to keep itself alive and was fallen under the banner of St.Mark’s Winged
Lion, the banner of Venice.

Winning all the trade routes of the
Adriatic Sea, Venetians were able to monopolize Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Spices, silk and exotic woods from the east were stockpiled in the port of
Venice and were sold with high-end profits throughout Europe. Assisted by
lucrative trade, Venetian caravan guards and fleet guards were well-equipped
armed forces ready for the Doge’s call.

Orio Mastropiero, Doge of Venice in 1180s, effectively crushed a
rebellion by Zadar against Venetian rule. The Venetians took over many small
islands on the Eastern coast along with crushing the rebellion. This again
dragged them into a prolonged war with Carpathian tribes called Magyars or
Hungarians. Hungarians, being steppe people, as long as Venetians station
themselves in their fortified dwellings along the thin coastline, could not do
anything as they never learned to make effective siege trains capable of
scratching high walls of the Venetian fortresses, especially Fortress Ragusa
located in the south of Dalmatia province. She had always held the Hungarians
at bay. Finally being tired of war and being rebelled by Croats, Hungarians
lost foothold on the south of Danube River and forced to make peace with
Venice.

The doge turned their battle-harden troops from Dalmatian frontier into
Marche, another republic in the southwestern coast of Adriatic Sea. Taking
Ancona, their core fortress, made the republic vulnerable and eventually
disintegrated into Venice. In 1224 Anno Domini, Venice stretch from the lagoon
itself to Dalmatia in the east and Ancona in the west. City-state of Verona
took vassalage under Venice. And Isle of Crete and island of Rhodes in the
Greek Sea is also under Venetian hands gained after the Fourth Crusade in which
Crusaders sacked Constantinople and took over much of Balkan territories of the
Empire. Nevertheless, being a humble trading city, Venice had risen into power
unrivaled by anyone in the Adriatic Sea.

Visions of New Horizons


The Doge of Venice
reigning in 1218 AD is Doge Pietro X. He had three capable sons each assisting
his rule in three main overseas territories, Dalmatia, Marche and Aegean
Dominions. In the early years of his reign, he further strengthened Venice’s
power. Consolidating Venetian navy and her army, he sent his youngest son
Alessandro Ziani with a considerable force to take Croatian dominions which
Hungarians lost in the last war with Venice. After a long siege of 6 years he
had taken over the Croatian town of Zegreb ending the last Croatian struggle of
independence.


Alessandro Ziani, is
the youngest of three sons of the doge. He was the governor oligarch of Marche
Province. By his father’s command, he had seized the Croatian lands for Venice
and therefore is a favorite son of the Doge.


He is married to
Alegreza and had a son named Barbus, who accompanied his father in Croatian
campaign. Now having come of age, Alessandro appointed his son the duke of
Croatia.


Cristiano Ziani, the
second son of the doge, had been the lord of Iraklion on the Isle of Crete
since 1215. He gained military assistance from nearby island of Rhodes, an
overseas outpost in the east.


He
also had a son, Antonio Ziani. He is assisting his father in Iraklion and is
second in command in the Cretan Army.


The oldest son of the Doge and heir-elect of Venice,
Consigleire Bartolomeo resides in the grandest fortress of all the Venetians
possess, Ragusa. It is in fact the military power base of the Republic, while
Venice literally remains Capital and centre of trade.




Army of Venice


Venetian
Army is made-up bulkily of Spear militia companies recruited among republican
citizens. They are used to form a line of spears to resist cavalry charges and
fight the enemy infantry.


Supporting the
citizen spearmen are crossbowmen that form a second line of infantry behind the
spearwall. Recruited from rural lands, these are indiscipline units still
capable of unleashing death upon unfortunate victims if wisely used. In
addition, they are cheap and can field in large numbers.


Location of Venice in
the vicinity of eastern influence makes powerful composite bows available
easily. Citizens of the Republic, largely made-up of Dalmatians who master the
use of composite bows offer their service to the republic. Pesante Archers or
Heavy Archers are some of the elite units of Venice valued by the Doge himself.


Venetian second class
society is made-up hugely of businessmen, like bankers, merchants. They can maintain
somewhat like standing army of caravan guards. These guards equipped with heavy
lances mounted on a stiff steed are called for units of heavy cavalry when
necessary. Cavalry militia is, although not knights, still able to deliver
quite a good charge against enemies especially when taking on them in the rear.


Possession of
Dalmatia and Ancona brought Venetians in contact with very feudal societies.
And participation of knights in the army is undoubtedly common. Knights in
shining armor with deadly lances are the best cavalry Venice can field at all
time. And the fact that such companies of heavy cavalry being quite expensive
to maintain is self-explanatory.



Venice heavily relies
on its lucrative Mediterranean trade, and the need for protection of trading
fleets from pirates is vital. Venice had been famous for its fierce fleets of
galleys. Powered by oars and sails, these vessels are very powerful in the
quiet Mediterranean waters.

Chapter 1 – Into the Balkans

The Doge’s interests
had been on the weakening Byzantine Empire. The former doge had made a deal
with crusaders to take over Constantinople, throne of the Emperor. As the
capital fell under Crusaders, Byzantine Roman capitol was resettled down in
exile in the city of Nicaea. Fall of Constantinople, led to three different
small-states, loosely held together only by former kinship, Empire of Nicaea,
Empire of Trebizond, and Balkan Dominions of Arta. For the Venetians, it is the
great opportunity to seek separated Balkan territories from an already weakened
empire. The Imperial German intrusion into Northern Italy hoping to spread
Imperial influence once again by Emperor Fredrick II, the rise of once a small
duchy of Milan in Lombardy and constant rivalry between Genoa and Venice,
motivates the doge to invade Balkans in rush without hesitation. Doge Pietro
assigned his son, Consigleire Bartolomeo to assemble appropriate armed forces
in Ragusa and to invade Balkans fast and quick. Fleets had been set sailed to
Crete to pick up Cretan companies of Spear Militia and land two experienced
units of soldiers using strangely long spears, popular nowadays as ‘pikes’. The
army became fully assembled during the fall of 1226. The invasion army comprised
knights from Marche, Spear Militia and pike companies from Venice, Pesante
Archers and other professional archers from Ragusa, a couple of Cretan militia
companies.

The whole operation
will be carried out by the heir-elect Consigleire assisted by his nephew
Antonio Ziani who is responsible for his Cretan fraction of the army. The army
will set out along a thin route sandwiched in between by Adriatic Coast and
Albanian mountains. Once they reach in Illyria, they shall besiege the town of
Durazzo, which is the entry to all the Illyrian countryside. Then a fraction of
the army will take the castle 30miles southeast of Durazzo, while rest of the
forces rush towards Fortress of Arta and lay siege.

(Invasion Plan into the Balkans)

Battle of Dyrrachium: