Intro:
June 18, 1053. The Battle of Civitate. Pope Leo IX answered the pleas of the terrorized Lombards in Benevento, and organized a force
worthy of destroying the Norman hydra. The Holy Roman Empire jumped on that boat too, and sent Gerard of Chatenoy, duke of Lorraine,
with a force of Swabians down the Italian boot. The force merged together, consisting of 6,000, lead by Rudolf of Benevento and
Gerard of Chatenoy. The Normans gathered together, and formed an army of 3,000 horsemen and 500 infantry,
with Humphrey de Hauteville leading them. The armies clashed outside the gates of the town of Civitate, and the Normans crushed the
alliance. Pope Leo IX had been waiting inside the city, and was forced to come out, and then was marched to Rome "triumphantly."
Who will stop the Normans? The Lombards fight amongst themselves, the Byzantines must rely on small garrisons and mercenaries, and
the Sicilian Emirate is embroiled in a civil war, splitting the island 4 ways.
Aethel's Message:
When everyone hears "Norman Conquest" they think of Hastings and William the Bastard.
But there was another great conquest, far southeast, in the Mediterranean, which took almost a whole century rather than a year.
The Normans were adventurers, opportunists, and great fighters; provincial Frenchmen or tamed vikings, whichever you prefer, their attributes remain.
The idea of a knight as an adventurer started with the Normans, even though the idea was in such a raw form.
They went all over the place in search of a good fight, to the great Reconquista in Iberia, to the Holy Land, to the Romans in the East, and to Italy.
And this great adventurous and opportunistic behavior took perfect form in the long conquest of Southern Italy, or Mezzogiorno, and then Sicily.
Just like in Native, and many other mods, men that later became kings arrived in Southern Italy, landless and from declining backgrounds, but they were filled with determination to conquer.
Now do you agree with me that this chunk of history of Italy is worthy of a Warband mod?
I certainly hope so.
I've been dreaming of this mod for a long time, hoping perhaps the developers of the dead mod "Battle for Sicily" would come back,
or perhaps new modders would pop up here somewhere and declare this mod.
But I've realized that won't happen. So I'm doing it. Or at least trying to.
I'm really hoping others will join me in this new idea. Even if there's only 3 of us, and all of us are amateurs, work does not need to be rushed, and a modder has to start somewhere.
- Aethel
The Plan:
The Factions
- The County of Apulia (might be renamed the Duchy of Apulia or something) - Normans under the Hautevilles, the strongest
of the two....
- The County of Aversa - Normans under the Drengots, more of a challenge; recently turned against their masters, Salerno
- Ducato di Napoli - Lombards in Naples; protected by the Byzantine Catepanate
- Principato di Salerno - Lombards in Salerno, possibly the strongest among the Lombards.
- Ducato di Gaeta - Lombards, the weakest, had to rise up and push the Normans out
- Principato di Capua - Lombards
- Principato di Benevento - Lombards
- Catepanate Italiae - The Byzantine province of southern Italy, in southern Apulia and most of Calabria, mostly corresponding
to Magna Graecia; will be ruled by the current Catepan of the time; Byzantines will have no support from the mainland;
the Imperium is in dire straits...
- Emirate of Trapani - Emirate in the Western tip of Sicily
- Emirate of Balerm - Emirate in Central Sicily
- Emirate of Messina - Emirate in Northeast Sicily
- Emirate of Saracusa- Emirate in Southeast Sicily
Possible Factions
- Papal State
- Ducato di Spoleto
The Map:
Mezzogiorno:
Sicily:
The Planned Map:
Credits:
- Aethel
- mod leader, scener, historian,
- Sayd Ûthman
- modeling
- gokiller
- some scenes
- Mandrake(83)
- research
- VonPlutz
- research
- Joseph Kavanagh (not on forum)
- music
- Estoral
- map
*Attention*: We need scripters, coders, and texturers.
*Also note, the title image was done in paint. Do not criticize my lack of photoshop skills.