Xilaw

House of the Rising Sun?

Really late with the history but I've been having time issues. Hopefully I'll be able to participate later on. The end is very choppy but meh.

History

History of the von Habicht family Alexandre von Habicht Little information is known about the beginnings of the von Habicht dynasty for a variety of reasons, principle among them lack of record keeping. Despite the lack of official knowledge, various family tales have been passed down through the generations forming a series of interconnected stories that lay out the history of the von Habicht dynasty to 200 years ago. Around this time Alexandre von Habicht, known then as Alexandre Hrach, wandered around much of Europe as a knight, offering his services to whatever lord would pay at the moment for a fighting man. A very difficult life, Alexandre was of the poorest, outstripped by even some non-nobles in terms of wealth. This only results because of his keeping his armor, weapons, and horse in order to secure work. Missing the Crusades by a scant ten years, there was seemingly no means for him to make money. The story tells that, desperate, Alexandre traveled to Constantinople in hopes of finding some form of service. Stunned by the majesty of the Hagia Sophia, Alexandre immediately pledged his sword to the newly risen emperor Baldwin of Flanders in 1204 and then Theodore I Laskaris in 1208. He stayed in this service until his death in they year 1236. In between these dates he sired three children: two sons Andreas (1213) and Fabian(1216) and a daughter named Theresa (1208). Fabian died at the age of three. Andreas von Habicht It is with Andreas that the history of the von Habicht's truly begins. Losing his father at the age of eleven and his mother four years later, Andreas was left a young, family-less Austrian in a predominantly Greek land. Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes, pitying the two younglings and feeling indebted towards them due to the services Alexandre had provided, he arranged spaces for the two in a monastery located just outside Constantinople. Moving here, Andreas took lessons with the monks while his sister learned the ways of being a nun. Becoming a pious man, Andreas could never forget the stories with which his father had regaled him of the Germanic lands. At the age of 30, leading a healthy life as a monk, he begged permission from the abbot to be given leave. The abbot, a kindly man, had taken a liking to Andreas and was hesitant to let him go. By some unexplained reason Andreas was given leave, travelling with his sister to the lands of Austria. Here he worked as a chaplain to a wealthy Burgrave until his death in 1270. Only two of his children lived to adulthood, those being Alexandre II (1240) and Lukas (1243) Hrach. Alexandre II von Habicht Despite the pressings of his father, Alexandre never felt the urge to enter the monastic life. His brother Lukas took such a path, entering a monastery at the age of six and beginning his studies. Alexandre received education from his father who, despite allowing ALexandre to stay, desired to instill piousness in him. His father, having become friends with the Burgrave and his family, secured military training for young Alexandre. Training extensively, Alexandre was knighted at the age of 22 after saving the life of the Burgrave's son during a skirmish with another local lord. Given a small village to manage, Alexandre moved here and built himself a small manor. Running the small area well, fate was not so kind to him as it was before. Disease ravaged the local area, causing Alexandre to flee with his only surviving son Alexandre (1265) to the area which would become the county of Dobersberg. Here, he once again plied his trade as a warrior, earning three villages in the north of the area which to run. Jonas von Habicht Following in the path of his father, Jonas became a warrior at a young age. As Andreas had done to Alexandre II, Alexandre II instilled a deep sense of religious duty into Jonas. He was known as one of the most pious men in the region, receiving compliments from the clergy for his knowledge and education. Upon the death of his father in 1274 due to disease, Jonas inherited the villages that had been his father's. His plans, however, were much more ambitious. Gathering levies from the villages, he left his cousin Noah, Lukas's son, in charge of the villages. He traveled to Spain at the outset of the Aragonese Crusade. Despite being little more than 19 at the start of the conflict, he displayed great tactical aptitude in battle, leading the assault which would break the city of Girona. It was at this time that Jonas would take the title von Habicht. Returning to Austria with much greater wealth, Jonas found his lands much the same as before. Using the loot, he built his household slowly and by the year 1328 had managed to gain control of a castle and a multitude of villages through a series of marriages and gifts in thanks. He died in 1318 in a hunting accident. He left two sons and a daughter unmarried: Alexandre III (1288), Sebastian (1289), and Helena (1297). Alexandre III All mentions of Alexandre III in writing, despite his recentness, were destroyed by the von Habicht family for an unknown reason. The only known information is that he died in 1344 of unknown causes. Dietricht von Habicht The son of Sebastian von Habicht, Dietricht was born in 1316. Sent to live in a monastery for the first ten years of his life as had become a custom in the von Habicht family, he returned to study under Sebastian. With the education afforded them due to spending time under the monks, many of the von Habichts were literate and versed in history and poetry as well as Scripture. Dietricht was one of the family's most fanatic believers, constantly praying and seeking guidance from God. Given control of two villages at the age of 20 by Sebastian, Dietricht displayed poor administrative skills, focusing much of his attention on religion and warfare, spying some connection between the two that he could never explain to others. Despite the lack of skills to begin with, Dietrich became a competent administrator by the time his father died in 1359. Ascending as the head of the von Habicht family, Dietrich pursued reforms which would place increased value in religion and warfare. By the time Otto IV was named Duke of Manburg, Dietrich had built a sizable military force filled with religious fervor. Fighting alongside Otto IV, he was awarded the county of Dobersberg for the military service provided. He died in 1388. He left only one heir, Konstantin von Habicht (1350) Konstantin von Habicht The current ruler of the von Habicht dynasty. Has two sons, Konstanin II (1370) and Dominik (1370), and a daughter Isabel (1374)

@Durandal

That is a really fancy looking Coat of Arms you got going on. How'd you make it? Family history looks good.

House of the Rising Sun?

The Gaelic Gallowglass. Bigger swords :) There were also the Varangians, though they were more limited to the Byzantine Empire

@Durandal

Yeah, Varangians, also Empire of Serbia had Allemanic guard. Never heard of the Gaelic Gallowglass though :D Gotta look into that one. EDIT: Christ, they look epic. Those broadswords remind me of Highlander.

House of the Rising Sun?

I assumed as much.

@Darkspleen

There's always that chance of inheritance. Now that I mention it, if your family from the duchy inherits some land from outside you can choose between having one member leaving the duchy and being a noble somewhere else or you can incorporate your gains into the duchy. But if the land inherited is significant there's a good chance some of it will be taken away and given to other nobles (sharing is caring), as opposed to having some financial and military support at times of war in case you choose the former. You should carefully wager, though.

House of the Rising Sun?

There were the condotierri of Italy. Most often, however, mercenaries were simply roaming bands of semi-professional soldiers called Free Companies.

@Durandal

Yeah, I know. Those mixed groups will be a separate type, of course. I was particularly interested in bands that were specialized in certain type of warfare :)

House of the Rising Sun?

You're killing me man! =P

@Darkspleen

No worries, I'm not that mean, although chances are, you will have one or two estates outside of county where the majority of your holdings are. But like I said earlier, those lords can choose to be loyal either to their count or their family if they are put in that position.

Also, I figured the von Eisenburg holdings would be split up amongst counties. Considering that a different branch of the family is off in Saxony that really isn't *that* bad.

You won't roleplay as that other branch, though, just the ones within the duchy. Same goes for every other member of the family that leaves the duchy and this goes for all players, me included. You can marginally mention them doing something but not actively control them.

House of the Rising Sun?

By the way guys, I plan to have several different mercenary types to hire, so other than Welsh longbowmen, Castillan heavy cavalry, Genoese crossbowmen, Swiss pikemen, what other flashy mercenaries do you guys know of? I know that Serbian light cavalry (hussars) was also beginning to be used by foreign countries after their fall to the Ottomans. I know of Stratioti cavalry recruited from Balkan Adriatic coast but don't know when they were first used.

House of the Rising Sun?

Your family might end up being on the border, meaning your family members would fight under different counts, possibly against each others. *evil grin*

House of the Rising Sun?

That sounds fine however does that 6,000 include the levies that are conscripted during big wars??? Or are we going for an England style and having the peasantry pay a small tax to avoid fighting, thus using this money to have a larger professional army??? Fair enough...I see what you mean.

@gowia

6000 is regular troops without the levies. We'll probably have them pay small tax to avoid fighting but if times are hard perhaps raising a peasant army to complement the professionals won't be off limits.

House of the Rising Sun?

Meh. That's what mercs are for.

@Darkspleen

Mercenaries cost more :)

House of the Rising Sun?

So does that mean Rastenburg will have a fair bit of man power?

@gowia

Probably the most, after Manburg. I'm tempted to add another town or village in the place where it says "County of Rastenburg" as it's taking quite a space. I made the county too narrow.