Sack of Venagorod
| Sack of Venagorod | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Vesan Crusades | |||||||
 Traidenis' forces besieging Venagorod | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| File:Traidenisflag.pngVesan Commonwealth | File:VenadiaFlag.jpg Venadia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| File:Traidenisflag.png Traidenis |
Grand Prince Dobromir Yurlov Archbishop Ludomir | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 50,000-60,000 | 15,000-25,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Thousands | Tens of thousands of warriors and civilians | ||||||
By the beginning of the 15th century, Vesan Crusades have ground to a halt due to their general lack of success, as well as internal troubles in Western crusading countries. This allowed Grand Duke Traidenis of the Vesan Commonwealth to successfully attack the remaining Crusader states in the Vesas and vanquish them, completely uniting the Vesan countries in the process. An year later, Traidenis set his sights on Venadia. Though the Republic of Venadia disinvolved itself in the Crusades in 1282 after the disastrous Battle of Upeslejas, there were still contested lands, especially those that have been held by the Petran Order. To some extent, Traidenis also operated on deeply-set wounds in Vesan national pride, and simply wished to cull the large and threatening bordering state.
The resulting war was a resounding success for the Vesan side, and resulted in the Sack of Venagorod. In the end, Venadia had to give up a sizeable western part of White Venadia and endure heavy damage to its capital city, while the Commonwealth emerged as one of the largest continental empires.
Invasion
In 1425, Traidenis crossed the border into White Venadia with as many as 50,000 troops, counting a large number of heavy horse. He spent several years prior reorganizing the Commonwealth military and honing their skills in combat with the Crusaders, but announced no plans to invade Venadia, and issued no declaration of war. Venadians weren't ready for war, not anticipating an invasion, and Traidenis managed to cross enormous swathes of lands and take multiple forts in virtually days, facing next to no resistance. Venadians called upon the Catholic kingdoms to attack Traidenis from the West, but their pleas were declined - with no beachheads in the form of Crusader states anymore, an invasion of the Commonwealth would be too much of a severe undertaking at this point.
By the time Venadians have mounted a counteroffensive, Traidenis already controlled most of White Venadia and steadily advanced towards Venagorod. Modern historians describe the Duke's tactics as the "first blitzkrieg" - he made a beeline towards Venagorod spearheaded by a mass (10,000-15,000; though in reality this could be lower) of heavy cavalry that encircled pockets of Venadian resistance and crushed them. His army sacked and burned wherever it went, slowly closing the noose around Venagorod.
After two months of fighting, Vesan losses have been relatively severe and weariness was high due to constant advance, however the walls of Venagorod were reached.
Sack of Venagorod
The Vesans besieged Venagorod for a week. There was a heavy exchange of arrows while allegedly dozens of siege engines constantly fired at the city walls. When Traidenis saw the fierce resistance of Venagorodians and wasn't satisfied with the lack of swift success and heavy losses, he ordered his troops to retreat. Instead he gathered several hostages and bribed clergymen from the Petran Order and sent them to the city walls with a message. They convinced the Venagorodians that a back attack by surviving Petran knights made Traidenis' forces scatter and retreat into the countryside to recuperate. When the Venagorodians opened the city gates for the "Petrans" to enter and help reinforcing the city, Traidenis charged through and began the sack.
While his soldiers sacked and burned through the city, the zealous pagan Traidenis personally ordered to cast down every cross and church dome in the city. According to the Venadian Chronicle, he forced Catholic clergy to worship at pagan idols, killed them if they refused, and then went on to defecate in a Cathedral. Once the city was almost completely ransacked, Traidenis massacred most of the Great Veche and personally cast down and broke the grand Veche Bell. While it's strongly biased, the Venadian Chronicle offers a detailed description of the horrors Traidenis inflicted on Venagorod, closing with the statement that "...all of his crimes cannot be truly be listed..." and goes on to call him "the greatest villain to have ever lived" and even the Antichrist, the Spawn of Satan and the Whoremonger of Babylon. Archbishop Ludomir of Venagorod was according to the Chronicle slain, sodomized and eaten alive by Traidenis, and was canonized in 1441.
Conclusion
Having sacked Venagorod, Traidenis has forced the Republic of Venadia to surrender completely. In the peace treaty, Traidenis demanded a large part of White Venadia, or most of its western territory, as well as the lands of the Maris and Erzyans. Originally his terms were even more humiliating for Venadia, but the Pope himself intervened, finally threatening Traidenis with a large crusade if he didn't rein in his appetites. Venadia was heavily damaged both economically and politically, and it would take it decades to recover from the Sack of Venagorod, while the Vesan Commonwealth asserted itself as a major regional power.