Imperial Diet II

[Ituralde]

Dukes of the Reich, Counts and Electors

He dips a small bow toward Jobst

Mein Prince,

Should no other candidates for Chancellor step forward and declare their intentions, I will support Duke Otto von Kassel in the upcoming election.
His proposals meet well with my own intentions for the Empire and would be a successful continuation of my politics.

Many here have rightfully made out the biggest challenge that the next Chancellor will face: Reconciliation or at least peace with the Papacy. It is a must that this is adressed and considered thoroughly by this Diet. It seems through my previous experiences with the Papacy that diplomatic negotaions are doomed to fail. Which would lead to war being the only option we have. I have to agree with Conrad Salier though that this atrocity should not be continued in the future. We can not have peace by alienating every Christian in the world, by slaying their mortal representatives.

We have to figure out a way out of this misery and I don't believe in any of the solutions proposed here so far. Aside from the long time goal to train and educate more Priests. I will gladly offer the new Theologians Guild in Budapest for the training of our men of faith.
We can not give everything we have to the Pope as Edict 7.3 asks. I have talked to Pope Fillipus and there is no appeasing him. For him I would believe the process masked out in Edict 7.2 to be appropriate. I would second this Edict if it were ammended to only deal with Pope Fillipus.
If the Papacy had its will we would be loosing half of Italy, before they would consider peace, and that will still not reconcile us. The thought of a Papacy, strenghtened with our lands, standing at the head of a Christian alliance against us, makes me shudder. We can not blindly offer the Pope what he wants.

I once again like to put the topic of Rome on the table. I have said in the last Diet that it was unrightfully taken from the Papacy and I for one would not be opposed to giving it back to them. Maybe this would appease them more than any other city we could offer them. I knew the stance of my father Emperor Heinrich, but I don't yet know the stance of my brother Emperor Henry on this matter.

My support for Duke von Kassel not only stems from our identical political agendas, but I also wish to prevent Ulrich Hümmel from ascending to the post of Chancellor. I respect him as a man and as a capable general and Duke of Swabia, but his proposals are ludicrous.

Believe me gentlemen, I have defended our border for the last years now and we are thin stretched. If there had been but one more attack, just one more decisive move by our enemies much would have been lost. It was nothing but luck that saved us, when the Portugese retreated after Frankfurt and Magdeburg stood open to their conquest. It was luck when the French retreated half-way from Genoa, which would have left the choice to defend two out of the three following, Genoa, Rome or Venice. It was luck that the Venetians diverted their war efforts south against the Byzantines instead of taking Zagreb, or the Hungarians calling off the siege of Vienna.
The next Chancellor will have to face as much hardships as I faced or more and we can not count on luck to defend our people. We need a solid defense. We can't have our armies running off into enemy territories to leave our heartland undefended. Already our armies have to cover two to three settlements, which rely on them for their defense. If we blindly add more settlements this task would become nigh impossible.
As a last thought, I would like to ask Ulrich Hümmel which army is supposed to attack France? The Swabian Household Army is holed up in Dijon hardly able to control its populace. We should deal with our internal problems first, before casting eager glances to the lands of our neighbours, which we can not hold on to.

The only expansion we should pursue are strategic consolidations that were mentioned by Duke von Kassel. Breslau and Marseille are a top priority and Ragusa is also worth considering. Every other expansion can not be undertaken and should not be undertaken!