Faction specific development topic - Burgundy (introduction)

I. Faction

1. Naming patterns
a. General discussion
All right, this is a complex matter and having a good name list with such a limited engine is trickier than one could think. I also think naming patterns play an important part in the immersive feeling a mod can provide. Since I have some experience with naming traditions (because of the importance of genealogy in emblem studies), this aspect of modding was the first I worked on (since MTW I would add). Over time I've come up with a personnal method to get the result better and better. There are two important aspects I want to discuss before going further.

The first concerns uniformization of those lists. Since factions dont represent one culture both in a matter of space and time, it seems important to me to choose the most satisfying timeframe & dialect and always stick to it. As an example here, the burgundian kingdom could be seen as a political entity spread over at least four cultures. This means that even the modern transcription of the names will change from one area to another : Gérard, Girard, Géraud or Giraud are all names you can use for a burgundian characters but they all refers to the same germanic root Gerhard. As a result, none of these five (including Gerhard) are wrong but you also cant really mix them in the same list. The same logic goes behind diminituve or pet forms (although the first would have to be discussed for some italian dialects and their most common specific forms like Ugo/Ugolino/Uguccione). This is specially true when the name change in time like it does in Provence when the father dies (one Raymondet, usually the son of a Raymond, would only use the first form during the life of his father). Concerning the form of the name itself I prefer to go with the most academic form used because you cant represent the evolution of the spelling over time anyway leading to some strange anachronistic names. Having to represent different periods and their naming patterns with one list is complex enough to avoid more interference.

This leads to my second point about those naming patterns & the frequencies.
Because specific naming traditions were so important in the middle ages, I think its important to represent them in every aspect. Frequencies can differs from one name to another but also from one culture to another. Some dialects had incredibly varied naming patterns like tuscan (in which the most used first names would be given to less than 5% of the men) while others were more strictly formatted by tradition (in french and english for example, the same two names John/Jean & Guillaume/William could represents more than 25% of the names in the same generation). The other aspect to take into consideration here is the evolution of these patterns over time. Five hundred years of history is a huge timeframe and its often possible to split it into several periods : french names for example follow the uniformization of the french culture in the 14th and 15th, and get less region specific after 1300; on the other hand they get some very specific culture oriented patterns before 1050-1100 in some regions (germanic in burgundy, norse in normandy). Of course political events like the norman conquest in southern italy determine these even more : lombard names (Pandolfo, Landolfo, Trasmundo) mix with norman names (Guillaume, Richard, Roger) which themselves get italianized later (Guglielmo, Riccardo, Ruggero) and the process is repeated with the angevine rule (families from Provence, but working in both ways this time).
The method I use to be sure both of these aspects are accurately reproduced is to establish a database of individuals (usually more than 500 but 1000 is closer to what you need for an accurate result) using a determined source (genealogy, seals database or some census like the florentine one) and timeframe. Then its only a matter of parsing the result to match frequencies (dont really need a list 1500 entries long) and arranging the list by merging alternate spellings. Of course you still need some knowledge in the given language to get a perfect result which is where I hope some contributions will help.

b. Burgundy
Less talk, more result.
The source used here is a mix of my seal database and genealogies plus some complementary surnames from online genealogies. The result gave me an index of 1400 names (including 280 surnames) used between 1000 and 1350 in Dauphiné, Savoie, Forez, Bourgogne and Provence. French surmanes arent hard to figure since they are always patronymic and hereditary (Adhémar, Bérenger, Gantelme, etc) or locative (de Viennois, de Royans, de Savoie). Usually, there are no occupationnal or descriptive surnames (even Porcellet isnt in this case, although you can find some of them later, in lower nobility, specially in Savoie, Valais and Vaud).
Resulting list is following :

Male first names

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Aicard
Aicard
Albert
Albert
Amédée
Amédée
Amédée
Amédée
Amédée
Amédée
Artaud
Artaud
Aymar
Aymar
Aymar
Aymon
Aymon
Aymon
Aymon
Aynard
Barthélémy
Bérard
Bérenger
Bernard
Bertrand
Bertrand
Bertrand
Bertrand
Bertrand
Bertrand
Boniface
Bouchard
Conon
Conon
Ebles
Etienne
Etienne
Eustache
Evrard
Foulques
Foulques
Foulques-Bertrand
Foulques-Guillaume
Gaucher
Gaucher
Gauthier
Geoffroy
Geoffroy
Geoffroy
Geoffroy-Guillaume
Gilbert
Giraud
Giraud
Giraud
Giraud
Giraud
Guichard
Guichard
Guigues
Guigues
Guigues
Guigues
Guigues
Guigues
Guigues
Guigues
Guigues
Guigues
Guigues-Raymond
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume
Guillaume-Hugues
Henri
Hugues
Hugues
Hugues
Hugues
Hugues
Hugues
Hugues
Hugues-Geoffroy
Humbert
Humbert
Humbert
Humbert
Humbert
Humbert
Humbert
Isnard
Isoard
Isoard
Jean
Jocerand
Lambert
Lambert
Lambert-Hugues
Laugier
Louis
Louis
Manasses
Othon
Othon
Othon
Othon-Guillaume
Pierre
Pierre
Pierre
Pierre
Pierre-Geoffroy
Pierre-Isoard
Pons
Pons
Pons
Pons
Pons
Raimbaud
Raimbaud
Raymond
Raymond
Raymond
Raymond
Raymond
Raymond-Geoffroy
Raymond-Hugues
Renaud
Renaud
Renaud
Richard
Richard
Robert
Rodolphe
Rodolphe
Roger
Roncelin
Rostain
Rostain
Siboud
Simon
Thierry
Thomas

Women first names

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Adélaïde
Adélaïde
Adélaïde
Adélaïs
Adèle
Agnès
Agnès
Agnès
Aisceline
Alisia
Alix
Alix
Alix
Alix
Béatrix
Béatrix
Béatrix
Béatrix
Béatrix
Béatrix
Béatrix
Béatrix
Béatrix
Berthe
Berthe
Cécile
Cécile
Clémence
Clémence
Constance
Douce
Eléonore
Emma
Ermentrude
Etiennette
Euphémie
Flotte
Garsende
Garsende
Gisèle
Ida
Isabelle
Isabelle
Isoarde
Jeanne
Josserande
Laure
Mabile
Marguerite
Marguerite
Marie
Marquise
Marquise
Mathilde
Mathilde
Odile
Pétronille
Philippa
Poncia
Roaïs
Sibille
Sibille
Sophie
Stéphanie
Tiburge
Tiburge

Surnames

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Adhémar
Alègre
Allemand
Amic
Artaud
Bérenger
Chabert
d'Agoult
d'Aix
d'Albon
d'Angérieu
d'Anthon
d'Argental
d'Aspremont
d'Auxonne
de Bâgé
de Bardonnêche
de Barras
de Beaujeu
de Blacas
de Blonay
de Bourgogne
de Brancion
de Bressieux
de Briançon
de Brion
de Castellane
de Cavaillon
de Chablais
de Chalençon
de Chalon
de Champvent
de Chastelard
de Châteauneuf
de Châtillon
de Claveyson
de Clérieu
de Clermont
de Coligny
de Comps
de Cossonay
de Damas
de Die
de Domène
de Duyn
de Faucigny
de Faucogney
de Flotte
de Forcalquier
de Forez
de Fos
de Genève
de Gévaudan
de Gigondas
de Glandevès
de Grailly
de Grammont
de Grandson
de Grasse
de Grésy
de Jas
de Joinville
de Joux
de la Bâtie
de la Garde
de la Porte
de la Roue
de la Sarraz
de la Tour
de Laire
de Lambesc
de Lausanne
de Lavieu
de Lévis
de Lissieu
de Loras
de Lucinge
de Lunel
de Mâcon
de Marseille
de Mauvoisin
de Mello
de Menthon
de Meroy
de Mévouillon
de Miribel
de Moirans
de Mont
de Montauban
de Montbéliard
de Montclair
de Montclar
de Montdragon
de Montfaucon
de Montfort
de Montluel
de Montolieu
de Mornas
de Moustiers
de Neufchâtel
de Nice
de Noyers
de Poitiers
de Pontevès
de Prangins
de Provence
de Quarante
de Ray
de Rians
de Rochefort
de Rochemure
de Roquemaure
de Rosans
de Rossillon
de Roussillon
de Royans
de Rue
de Sabran
de Saint-Didier
de Sainte-Croix
de Saint-Geoirs
de Saint-Quentin
de Saint-Symphorien
de Sassenage
de Savoie
de Semur
de Simiane
de Taulignan
de Theys
de Thoire-Villars
de Tournon
de Tullins
de Vassalieu
de Vaugrineuse
de Vaumarcus
de Venasque
de Vence
de Vergy
de Vesc
de Vienne
de Viennois
de Villette
de Virieu
de Vuippens
des Allinges
des Baux
des Salins
d'Hauterives
d'Hostun
d'Omelas
d'Oraison
d'Orange
d'Oron
du Puy
d'Urgel
Fermineau
Gantelme
Gaucelin
Porcellet

2. Family tree

At the start of the game, the burgundian kings comes from the main line of the Welf dynasty. Little is known on their lives and even less on the live of their relatives. Although some of them lived at the court and were designed as close relatives in the royal acts, it's still very difficult to place them in the family tree. While things stay theorical for a good part of the tree, I've tried to reproduce the state of the dynasty in 1017. The extinction of the cousin branch before the death of Rodolphe III, fifteen years later, sealed the fate of the dynasty leaving the kingdom opened to a chaotic succession between the sisters of Rodolphe (he had six).
The heart of the kingdom being the region of Lausanne and Genève, it's not very surprising to observe that the closest vassals and relatives to the king were the local counts in pago gebennensis, the future counts of Genève or Maurienne/Savoie (queen Ermengarde probably was the sister of the first count, his protector & advisor during all her life). For now, I've left Humbert de Maurienne out of the tree since Savoie could be added after the first release (this could be discussed though).

https://img300.imageshack.us/img300/...ogneev0.th.jpg

Actual code of the tree :

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

; Rodolphe king of Burgundy from 993 to 1032/33. He had two illegitimate children but no heir.
character Rodolphe_iii de_Bourgogne, named character, male, leader, age 47, x 123, y 238
traits Factionleader 1
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

; Rodolphe was a nephew of king Rodolphe III, living at the royal court and probable heir to the kingdom. He was killed in 1019.
character Rodolphe_iv de_Bourgogne, named character, male, heir, age 18, x 127, y 238
traits Factionheir 1
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

; probably coruling count of Geneva with his brother Robert in 1017, married Mathilde of Burgundy who is attested to be the grandmother of another Gérold count of Geneva after the fall of the kingdom.
character Gerold de_Geneve, named character, male, age 47, x 114, y 238
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

; Henri, bishop of Lausanne (985-1019), son of Rodolphe (B), duke in Alsace, he should be 65-70
character Henri de_Bourgogne, named character, male, age 60, x 129, y 238
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

; Conon(B), possibly the son of Conon(A), father of Rodolphe(IV). Attested count and relative at royal court in 1018
character Conon_ii de_Bourgogne, named character, male, age 41, x 130, y 238
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

; Berthold, possibly the son of Conon(A) and another count from the king's entourage attested in 1018
character Berthold de_Bourgogne, named character, male, age 39, x 131, y 238
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0


; Rodolphe II, king of Burgundy (912-937). His wife is Berthe of Swabia
character_record Rodolphe_ii de_Bourgogne, male, age 95, dead 80, never_a_leader
character_record Berthe, female, age 95, dead 81, never_a_leader

; Rodolphe (B), son of Rodolphe II, duke in Alsace. Died ca 962-973. His wife name is unknown.
character_record Rodolphe_iib de_Bourgogne, male, age 79, dead 45, never_a_leader
character_record Gisele, female, age 75, dead 63, never_a_leader

; Kuno (Conon) (A), younger son of Rodolphe (B) duke in Alsace, he could be the father of Conon (B) and Berthold, counts at the royal court in 1018. Unknown wife.
character_record Conon de_Bourgogne, male, age 57, dead 24, never_a_leader
character_record Alisia, female, age 55, dead 18, never_a_leader

character_record Sibille, female, age 37, alive, never_a_leader

; Conrad III, king of Burgundy (937-993), his second wife was Mathilde de France (died ca 983-992)
character_record Conrad de_Bourgogne, male, age 80, dead 24, never_a_leader
character_record Mathilde, female, age 79, dead 25, never_a_leader

; Mathilde was the daughter of king Conrad and Mathilde de France, she married a member of the Geroldian family, counts of Geneva. Her date of death and the first name of her husband are unknown.
character_record Mathilde de_Bourgogne, female, age 43, dead 20, never_a_leader
character_record Gerold, male, age 60, dead 18, never_a_leader

; Ermengarde is second the wife of Rodolphe III. She was very close to Humbert de Savoie, who was probably his brother.
character_record Ermengarde, female, age 30, alive, never_a_leader

relative Rodolphe_ii de_Bourgogne, Berthe, Conrad de_Bourgogne, Rodolphe_iib de_Bourgogne, end
relative Rodolphe_iib de_Bourgogne, Gisele, Henri de_Bourgogne, Conon de_Bourgogne, end
relative Conon de_Bourgogne, Alisia, Conon_ii de_Bourgogne, Berthold de_Bourgogne, end
relative Conon_ii de_Bourgogne, Sibille, Rodolphe_iv de_Bourgogne, end
relative Conrad de_Bourgogne, Mathilde, Rodolphe_iii de_Bourgogne, Mathilde de_Bourgogne, end
relative Rodolphe_iii de_Bourgogne, Ermengarde, end
relative Gerold, Mathilde de_Bourgogne, Gerold de_Geneve, end

Note that the game engine somewhat limit the possibilities and that the tree could have to be arranged a bit later to suit the family tree settings in db. The problem being that CA didnt seem to think that people should stop aging once they die (thats why all the ancestor are older than following generations, even if they died younger themselves).

3. Other characters

Political situation of the kingdom isnt good in 1017. King Rodolphe III, who promised his succession to emperor Heinrich the year before, had limited power outside the Alpine part of his territory. His loyal subjects are local dynasties of the area from Grenoble to Lausanne (Albon, Grandson, Faucigny dynasties for example) and most of the burgundian prelates, as the Welf often placed their relatives (mostly illegitimate children) at the most importants sees (Vienne, Lyon, Sion, Lausanne & Genève). As a consequence of this strategy of favouring the church against the nobility, the bishops were often invested with temporal power in Upper Burgundy (in Vaud, Valais, Viennois, Lyonnais).
In the southern part, the bosonid counts of Provence almost act as an independent power since they have retaken the coast from the muslims at the end of the tenth century.
King Rodolphe also have to face a serious rebellion in Upper Burgundy (enough to call the emperor for help), against the counts of Mâcon (future palatine counts of Bourgogne) of the house of Ivrea, former kings of Italy.

Current character list (very sketchy)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

; Guillaume III, comte de Provence
character Guillaume de_Provence, named character, male, age 41, x 66, y 207
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

; Guillaume V, marquis de Provence, cousin of previous. He's the son of queen Ermengarde with her first husband, count Roubaud II de Provence
character Guillaume_ii de_Provence, named character, male, age 18, x 69, y 221
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

; Guglielmo d'Ivrea, count of Mâcon. Highly unloyal or rebelling at game start.
character Othon-Guillaume d_Ivree, named character, male, age 55, x 103, y 244
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

; Son of Guglielmo d'Ivrea, associate count of Macon, Highly unloyal or rebelling at game start.
character Renaud de_Macon, named character, male, age 37, x 104, y 244
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

; Seigneur de Nice and Orange.
character Laugier de_Nice, named character, male, age 38, x 89, y 195
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0


; Guillaume II, vicomte de Marseille.
character Guillaume de_Marseille, named character, male, age 51, x 69, y 206
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0


; comte de Grésivaudan-Dauphiné, seigneur d'Albon.
character Guigues d_Albon, named character, male, age 28, x 95, y 228
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0


; comte de Maurienne-Savoie.
character Humbert de_Savoie, named character, male, age 42, x 107, y 225
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

; Lord of Baux in the first quarter of the 11th c.
character Hugues des_Baux, named character, male, age 38, x 63, y 221
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

; future counts of Forcalquier.
character Guillaume de_Sabran, named character, male, age 32, x 71, y 223
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

; Count of Valence, founder of the Poitiers-Valentinois & Adhemar-Monteil. Related to Laugier de Nice.
character Lambert Adhémar, named character, male, age 35, x 93, y 242
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

character Lambert de_Grandson, named character, male, age 44, x 128, y 240
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

character Gaucher de_Salins, named character, male, age 50, x 128, y 253
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

4. Titles

Still WIP

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Marseille/Comté de Provence
Count of Provence - comte de Provence - comes provincie
Viscount of Marseille - vicomte de Marseille - vicecomes massiliensis
Bishop of Marseille - évêque de Marseille - episcopus massiliensis

Arles/Comté d'Arles
Count of Arles - comte d'Arles - comes arelatensis
Archbishop of Arles - archevêque d'Arles - archiepiscopus arelatensis

Avignon/Marquisat de Provence
Marquess of Provence - marquis de Provence - marchio provincie
Count of Forcalquier - comte de Forcalquier - comes fortiscalquerii/comes forcalcariensis
Bishop of Avignon - évêque d'Avignon - episcopus avinionensis
Prince of Orange - Prince d'Orange - princeps aurasicensis

Nice/Niçois
Viscount of Nice - vicomte de Nice - vicecomes niciensis

Vienne/Viennois
Count of Vienne - comte de Viennois - comes viennensis
Archbishop of Vienne - archevêque de Vienne - archiepiscopus viennensis
comes Diensis

Grenoble/Grésivaudan (Dauphiné)
Count of Albon - comte d'Albon/dauphin de Viennois - comes albionis/delphinus viennensis
Bishop of Grenoble - évêque de Grenoble - episcopus gratianopolitanensis

Moutiers/Savoie
Count of Savoie - comte de Savoie - comes sabaudie
Bishop of Maurienne - évêque de Maurienne - episcopus morianensis
Bishop of Tarentaise


Lyon/Lyonnais
Archbishop of Lyon - arch. de Lyon - archiepiscopus Lugdunensis
Count of Lyon & Forez - comte de Lyonnais et Forez - comes lugdunensis et for(isi)ensis

Genève/Genevois
Count of Geneva - comte de Genevois - comes gebennensis
Bishop of Geneva - évêque de Genève - episcopus gebennensis

Lausanne/Vaud
Bishop of Lausanne - év. de Lausanne - episcopus lausannensis

Sion/Valais
Bishop of Sion - év. de Sion - episcopus sedunensis

Besançon/Comté de Bourgogne
Count of Mâcon - comte de Mâcon - comes matisconensis
Archbishop of Besançon - arch. de Besançon - archiepiscopus bisuntinensis

5. Description

II. Units