War of Grythshead Independence
| War of Grythshead Independence | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Grythshead |
 Ramubad | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Elwyn of Chick  |
Abdul Emin Pasha † | ||||||
The War of Grythshead Independence was a war fought from 1299 to 1301 between the Prodavan Sultanate of Ramubad and Vionnan rebels from the region of Grythshead under the leadership of Lord Duncan of Kamoine. The war lasted from the Siege of Chick in 1299 until late summer 1301 when the Battle of Grythshead and the subsequent Diktat of Kamoine established Grythsheader independence. Grythsheader victory marked a turn in the fortunes of the Andyist and Christian kindgoms of southern Vionna and the muslim Prodavan incursions into the region, which had been continuous since the 10th century, were decisively ended and remained unattempted for three centuries.
Background
Starting in the 10th century AD with the Fanfoss Jihad and the Ramubadic Conquest of Trensmere, the Muslim nations of northern Prodava spent much of their time warring with the Kingdoms and lordships of Southern Vionna - conquering large swathes of the frontier. Though partly religiously motivated (the majority of Vionna-Frankenlisch was, and remains, Andyist or Christian), these conflicts were primarily wars of aggression with conquest as the main goal. The Sultanate of Ramubad, a rich trading kingdom which controlled a vast area of northern Prodava, had reached its peak by 1260 under Mehmet II. The annexation of neighbouring Loukussa in 1241 had significantly increased Mehmet's influence in Prodava and many of the small sheikhdoms along the River Khal pledged their allegiance to him. The feared Marcher Prince of Grythshead, Simon II died in 1244 leaving the region crippled militarily. Other Vionnan nations in the region used the opportunity to take parts of the Princedom and this only exacerbated the decline. In 1249, to the surprise of few, Mehmet invaded Grythshead at the head of an army of 30,000 men. Grythshead, once a fierce military power in the area, could offer only token resistance. At the so-called Humiliation of Inchwick in 1250, the young Prince Stephen swore fealty to the Sultan of Ramubad and was forced to marry Aaliyah, the Sultan's eldest daughter. The marriage was (at the Sultan's insistence) an Andyist ceremony and legally matrilineal - binding Grythshead to the Sultan's family. To ensure Stephen did not outlive his wife and render the arrangement null, Mehmet II's vizier had the Prince assassinated in 1253 at the age of 21 and Aaliyah inherited the Princedom.
Grythshead remained under the regency of Mehmet II until his death in 1262. The regency passed to his son and successor, Mehmet III, and the new Sultan inherited the Princedom when Aaliyah died in 1265 - possibly assassinated. The young Mehmet III, taking the throne at 19, was a shrewd ruler who had outlived two brothers to ascend to his father's glories. He immediately made alliances with the regional leaders of Loukussa to ensure the loyalty of his Loukussan subjects. His early reign was marked with stability and generosity, intercut with incidents of extreme cruelty (possibly at the advice of his councillors) such as the Massacre of Nickevale. This combination was sufficient to keep the Sultan's various vassals in line and Ramubad experienced a period of significant economic growth. The Vionnan lords under Ramubadic dominion were allowed to keep their religion and their lands benefited from lucrative Prodavan trade, but they were subjected to harsh taxation and subject to military or civil service. Several thousand Vionnans died in 1270 when a poor harvest was exacerbated by the conscription of peasants for building projects in Loukussa.
This peaceable state of affairs turned in 1279 when Mehmet III came into conflict with Salman II of Thralkeldia. The Thralkelds were able to turn the loyalty of many of Mehmet's minor vassals along the River Khal by appealing to ancestral connections and offering bribes. When a peace conference turned sour, Salman II raised his army and marched on Loukussa. Mehmet returned hastily to raise his own forces and earned the ire of his Vionnan subjects by raising 2,000 soldiers for the conflict from Grythshead. Mehmet attempted to cool the Vionnan temper by naming Harold of Hasledown to the position of Deputy Marshal. However, the Sultan angered the Vionnans a second time by, instead of defending the strong walls of Loukussa which had been built by Vionnan labour, he insisted on marching out to meet the Thralkelds in the open field. The two sultans met at the Battle of El-Kabhir in 1280 and Mehmet, at a heavy cost in soldiers and material, emerged victorious. The loss of some 400 Vionnan soldiers in the battle, however, and the death of Harold of Hasledown at their head, was another major upset for the Vionnans under Mehmet III's rule. Many myths exist about Harold's death, including many involving treachery on the part of the Ramubadic Sultan, but the expert consensus is that Harold was killed at the head of a Vionnan-led counterattack which may have won the battle for Ramubad. Certainly, Mehmet mourned Harold's loss bitterly and ordered a Christian church built on the site of the battle in his honour.
The brittle peace which had existed between Vionnans in Grythshead and their Ramubadic overlords was strained even further by the losses of 1280 and Mehmet III would not recover their trust. The war with Thralkeldia lasted only another year as both sides had taken crippling losses at El-Kabhir. Ramubad fell, again, into a period of general stability following the war. However, the death of Harold of Hasledown had provided Grythshead with a martyr and his relics were paraded through the Princedom before being laid to rest at Hasledown. A peasant uprising near Hawksy was put down bloodily in 1284 and an attempt by Salman II of Thralkeldia to raise rebellion in Kamoine was only prevented by the death of John of Kamoine in 1289. Lord John's successor was his son, Duncan, who refused to work with Salman - seeing him as worse than Mehmet. Banditry in Grythshead increased over these years, targeting mainly Ramubadic officials and soldiers. Between 1288 and 1295, over 50 of the Sultan's tax collectors and lawmen were robbed or killed by outlaws covertly supported by the lords and people of the region.
In 1295, the son of Harold of Hasledown reached majority and was confirmed as Lord Loric of Hasledown. He married in 1296 to Mariette Tyrel, the younger sister of Duncan of Kamoine. The pair had a son the following year which they named Griff and Loric raised the manor or Grifford in the child's honour. Immediately, banditry in the region increased and a patrol of Ramubadic soldiers was murdered. Sultan Mehmet, disturbed by the reports he had received, moved his court to Loukussa temporarily and sent a force of 1,500 soldiers into Grythshead to investigate. While passing Grifford, the soldiers discovered that Loric had crenellated (fortified) without the permission of the Sultan, a practice the Sultan had learned from his Vionnan neighbours. When fifty Ramubadic soldiers were sent to slight the fortifications of Grifford, Loric attacked them with a retinue of mounted soldiers and then fled his lands to the castle of Chick.
Chick, 1299
Chick and its castle were under the jurisdiction of Lord Elwyn of Chick who, aged 63, was a prominent supporter of Grythsheader rebellion against Ramubad. When Loric of Hasledown arrived he was immediately accepted by Elwyn, who agreed to hide him and his men. When Ramubadic soldiers arrived, Elwyn refused to allow them to search his castle without a warrant from the Sultan but tried to placate them by allowing them to search the villages under his dominion. Couriers rode from Chick to the nearby lordships asking for help in case the Sultan's soldiers returned but most did not respond. 1298 passed without conflict and Lord Elwyn spent the year improving the defences of Chick, with the expectation that Grythshead would soon be ready to join him in rebellion. With no sign of trouble, however, the people of the Princedom settled down for winter without fear of conflict.
In January of 1299, 200 Ramubadic soldiers arrived at Chick with a warrant bearing the seal and signature of Mehmet III. The warrant ordered Lord Elwyn to open the gates of Chick Castle and allow the soldiers to search for Loric of Hasledown. Though the document (which still exists in the Imperial Archives) did not include any explicit threats, the commander of the Ramubadic troops demanded entry on pain of arrest. Insulted, Elwyn led his garrison out against the encroachers. In the ensuing Battle of Chick, the 120 troops of Chick Castle's garrison defeated the Ramubadic force and captured 80 men. These prisoners were offered as a ransom to the Sultan, in return for a pardon for Loric of Hasledown. The Sultan refused and sent orders for his garrisons in Grythshead to march on Chick. One of the Sultan's couriers was intercepted by Elwyn's scouts and the message was brought to Elwyn and Loric. This gave the rebels sufficient warning to raise their own forces, and the villages of Elwyn's lands were evacuated to the safety of Chick Castle.
The Ramubadic garrisons in Grythshead had, five years prior, consisted of only 300 soldiers across the Princedom. These men were primarily guards for tax collectors and trade wagons or acted as outriders to ward off bandits. By 1299, their number had increased to 2,000. This was partly to ward off foreign incursions, but mainly as a deterrent to rebellion. At the Sultan's order, the whole force combined at Telveck and marched on Chick under the command of Abdul Emin Pasha, one of the Sultan's military advisors. With all of his forces raised, Elwyn of Chick had 450 soldiers in Chick Castle along with around 600 civilians. The Siege of Chick began on 12th March and the castle was fully invested by mid-April. The siege continued normally with occasional parleys until September when, possibly as a gesture of reconciliation, Emin Pasha allowed the civilians of Chick to leave the castle and return to the fields in time for the harvest. As supplies were running short and allowing the civilians to leave would make them last longer, Elwyn took the risk of agreeing and the civilian population of the castle peaceably returned to their villages. This had the added advantage to the Ramubadic forces that it decreased the number of defenders and they would be able to seize some of the harvest to supply themselves.
Upset at the slow progress of the siege, Mehmet III arrived in person at Chick in October. When his demands for the garrison to surrender were refused, the Sultan sent a company of soldiers to capture Loric of Hasledown's wife Mariette. She was brought to the siege camp and displayed on a gallows before the castle. The Sultan made a final offer: if Loric surrendered himself, his wife would be spared and the rest of the rebels, including Elwyn of Chick, would be pardoned. Though the rebels were willing to take the deal, Mariette was not and loudly cursed the Sultan. She berated the rebels as cowards for being willing to surrender and ordered Loric not to take the deal. Loric refused the Sultan's deal and Mariette was executed before the watching defenders. This act infuriated the defenders and steeled their resolve to resist. By mid-November, supplies in Chick Castle were dangerously low. Lookouts on the castle's towers reported that the Sultan's men were preparing ladders and rams for an assault and Lord Elwyn entreated Loric to attempt to escape. Loric agreed to try and promised to return with soldiers from Hasledown. On the night of 17th November, Loric and his retinue were snuck out of the castle through a side gate and, mounted, were able to outrun the besiegers they ran into and escape.
Though he did not yet know the identity of the escapees, the Sultan was infuriated when reports of the nighttime escape reached him. Two soldiers he deemed responsible were hanged as examples and he resolved to take the castle by storm before the end of November. Engineers from Ramubad were on their way to design siege engines to bombard the walls but Mehmet did not want to wait. The ladders and rams were prepared and the Ramubadic host spent 18th November in prayer. This was quite visible from the walls of Chick and the defenders knew the implications. The gates were strengthened and extra rations were issued to the garrison, essentially finishing the castle's supplies. Though a nighttime raid to disrupt the besiegers was suggested, Elwyn of Chick refused. He spent the night of 18th November praying and wrote a short account of the siege and the events surrounding it. He had celebrated his 65th birthday with the men of the garrison the day before and wrote that, by rescuing Loric of Hasledown and raising rebellion against the Sultan, he considered that he had done his duty and resolved to defend Chick to the death. His account was copied on three scrolls by the castle's chaplain - two were hidden and the third copy was strapped beneath Elwyn's armour by his squire.
On the morning of 19th November, the Ramubadic assault began. Detachments of heavily-armoured soldiers carried the ladders up to the castle wall and a group of volunteers carried the ram under the cover of skirmishers with crossbows. Arrows and bolts from the walls caused casualties amongst these units but most of the ladders reached the walls and the ram, once reinforced by another group of men, reached the gates. Once these were in position, the Sultan ordered the main attack to begin and his soldiers streamed from the siege camp towards the southern wall of Chick Castle. Armed mainly with swords and maces, the defenders of the castle fought ferociously with Elwyn of Chick at their head. Abdul Emin Pasha, personally leading one of the assault parties, was killed by an unknown Vionnan knight. Chaotic fighting on the walls carried on for hours as the strong defences of Chick held firm. The outnumbered defenders were spread thin but were able to inflict heavy casualties on the assault troops. In the early afternoon, the ram finally broke through the gates and Ramubadic troops entered the castle courtyard. The keep held firm and, though attacked now from multiple sides, the defenders on the wall were able to keep fighting until evening. Lord Elwyn led a last-ditch defence alongside his personal retinue but he was wounded, disarmed, and captured.
The battle for Chick Castle had lasted nearly a full day. Though records are tricky to interpret, expert consensus is that the majority of the garrison was killed fighting and the rest (about 90) were captured after being wounded or surrendering. Ramubadic casualty figures were between 900 and 1,200 depending on the source. Though the castle did fall to the Sultan's army, these figures represent a pyrrhic victory. The defenders of Chick took on a force at least five times their number and inflicted casualties of around three times their number. Of the captured defenders, those who agreed to convert to Islam were set free, and those who did not were sold into slavery in southern Prodava. Lord Elwyn of Chick was executed for his part in the rebellion and the Sultan was able to overcome his anger for long enough to salute the Lord of Chick as a valiant adversary. Elwyn was buried in the chapel of Chick Castle and a lavish memorial was constructed in his memory in 1310.