1160:
The first year of my Chancellorship has already been quite eventful. Thanks to the large funds passed on to me by my predecessor construction on every improvement passed on to me has begun. This excludes the Cathedral in Rome, however. 6400 florins will take up half of our treasury and is a huge amount at these times. However unrest in Rome is still a problem and I would urge Kaiser Heinrich to consider building Council Chambers first, as this would help administer the citizenship. I fear I can not give a timeframe for the Cathedral, yet.

Furthermore I am still lacking build queues for Hamburg, Stettin, Frankfurt and Metz. Consequently no construction was begun in these settlements.
To improve the Household armies of Franconia, Bavaria and Swabia the following recruitments were made.

Staufen: Feudal Knights, Pavise Crossbowmen, Sergeant Spearmen

Thorn: Retraining of Sergeant Spearmen, Peasant Archers, Mailed Knights

Innsbruck: Armoured Sergeants, Sergeant Spearmen, Mailed Knights

I fear that the recruitment for the Crusade has depleted castles like Innsbruck and Staufen so it will take some time before high-quality troops will flow steadily to the Duchies armies. I also increased the number of Militia in Milan and retrained Militia in Rome to battle unrest. They are the only two cities in our Empire whose populace is in danger of rioting.


With these formalities out of the way let me recount the Election of the new Pope. Unfortunately Charles von Otterbach was not one of the Preferati, so following Heinrichs instructions I supported Halstan of Denmark. In a landslide victory he was able to secure all other votes from the College of Cardinals and has ascended and now chooses to call himself: Pope Andreas of Denmark

However this has barely increased our Papal Standing so I contacted the new Pope outside of Rome with Henricus Plittersdorf a trusted diplomat. Following Duke Otto von Kassels noble proposal I offered the city of Florence in return for a Ceasefire and Reconciliation. Although the proposal was considered Balanced by Plittersdorf the offer was firmly rejected by Pope Andreas. This bodes ill for the future.


Our other diplomatic transaction were of mixed success as well. The Sicilians happily accepted our regular tribue thus fulfilling Edict 6.3.
The Byzantines were a harder nut to crack though. I offered them 200 florins for 10 turns in return for Military Access, an offer that was considered to be generous by Wikerus von Bavaria. It was also rejected though. Maybe Wikerus Intolerance for other Religions has clouded his judgement. I will try to enter negotiations once more, but it looks like we will have to settle on a regular tribute, before passing through Byzantine lands.

1162:
The towns of Genoa and Hamburg have grown so much that larger fortifications are needed to protect all citizens. The Counts of the respective cities might want to alter their build queues accordingly.
Pope Andreas has remained quiet, but some mercenary guards now accompany him, I will try to contact him later.

Meanwhile several interesting army movements have occured. The huge Venetian host south of Zagreb has been reinforced but has not moved yet. Two smaller regiments are blocking the direct path between the Crusaders under Maximilian Mandorf and Prince Henry and the city of Zagreb. The Venetian forces equal the Crusaders in numbers so I would advise to take a detour through the Alpine passes into Austrian territory. This would also lead to a faster rendezvous with Dietrich von Saxony. The area around Zagreb is swarming with Venetians so caution is prudent. This will also allow Prince Henry to meet with Duke Otto faster.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


A Polish force of 5 regiments has been hiding in the woods between Magdeburg and Breslau and has now appeared alarmingly close to Magdeburg and Stettin. A smaller stack of reinforcements has been spotted entering the woods too. I am still awaiting orders for the Franconian Household Army so you should keep this in mind.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


The French have not been idle either and have led a large force under their Heir Prince Louis the Merciless just west of Dijon. If Jobst von Salza wishes to attack his foe in a field battle he should contact me as soon as possible.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




OOC: I will be gone all day tomorrow, that's why I left so much decisions to other players. If I don't hear anything until tomorrow evening I will just play on as I see fit.