The Ninth of the After Action Reports (AAR) following my direction of the Irish Empire, tracing the dynasty of the Briain dynasty through the Middle Ages. The previous AARs can be found here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8.

The untimely death of the previous High Queen Fortunata leads to the her daughter, the High Queen Brigid, taking to the throne in a time of strife and war. It will be a tumultuous initiation for the new Queen as she deals with both an ongoing war and the usual restlessness of nobles and vassals whenever a new heir takes to the throne.

She is a trusting and bookish sort of person, and expectations are relatively low for the new High Queen Brigid. Her vassals and council see her as a simple pushover and an opportunity to seize power from the Briann dynasty back into their own hands. Little do they realise that modern historians will record the humble Brigid to be the most influential character in the whole of Western European history!

Brigid inherits an Ireland that has most of it's power centred around the ancestral homes of Britannia. Much of the British Isles has been incorporated into the Cathar Irish Kingdom, and there ancestral enemy of the Catholic Danelaw are with their backs to the seas. Every reign has pushed the heretic Catholics further into the water, and it is likely with a few more generations, Ireland will reunite the Isles.

Oddly enough, there are some Irish holdings from past wars in North Africa and Sardinia. These were never intended to be part of the Irish Kingdom, but they have managed to find their way into the Cathar fold. All are welcome in the Green Kingdom!

As mentioned before, the lords and ladies of the court find the High Queen Brigid to be an easy target to reassert their power against the throne. Vassals that were in quiet submission to the previous Queen now find the time to plot a rebellion against the High Queen Brigid. These vassals will have to be accommodated or removed. At any rate, there will be a reckoning, now or later...

The easiest option would be to imprison some of the traitors who have already committed known crimes. However, despite the fact that their guilt is as plain as day and known to all in the court, it remains a difficult endeavor to round them up. Attempting the arrest will likely result in a full blown revolt by the vassals and court.... not a good risk-reward balance there!

It appears that at this stage of her reign, the High Queen Brigid will have to relinquish some of her Crown Authority to keep the unruly court and vassals in line. This is the price of staying in power at a fragile time in her reign, and it can be made up later... the memories of a monarch can be long!

It turns out that one of the plotters (Duke Emrys) ends up being in debt to the High Queen after she saves his life in a medical emergency. Being bookish does have it's perks.... and as a bonus, the friendship that is formed leads to him abandoning the plotting, giving the High Queen additional breathing space against a continuation of the vassal unrest. In return, she appoints him Spymaster as a reward for his loyalty.

With the immediate danger averted, the High Queen can now pause to re-examine her goals in life. With an inherited trait that finds her blessed with high Intelligence, she has led a relatively cloistered life in among her books which has led to her developing an incredibly trusting temperament. Hopefully, her new friend Spymaster will be able to keep her safe from plots against the naive Queen.

True to her nature, the High Queen Brigid start to focus upon the goals of Scholarship. A Kingdom blessed with an intelligent and learned leader should be able to prosper in both peace and war. Preferably peace, but you take what you get...

Sadly, the King and soulmate of Brigid soon passes away. If she thought that she was going to live out her reign in love and bliss with her lifemate... well, fate always has a different opinion!

However, the High Queen Brigid has no time to mourn. The vassals pacifed, and the inherited war resolved and the death of her husband... and now, the Catholic Pope has decided to back the Danelaw against the virtuous Cathar faith who are ably led by the Irish Kingdom. This will be a bloody Crusade when it begins, pitting the two dominant Christian faiths against each other. The corrupt and male dominated Catholic European mainland against the forgiving and inclusive Cathar of the North. It is likely that this will determine the outcome of Christianity in the coming centuries. Will the Vatican be broken and Europe freed from it's corrupt influence... or will a new religious dark age beckon?

It will be a busy year before the Crusade takes place, as the two faiths muster their forces and commitments from their various believers. The High Queen Brigid spends her time completing a translation of the Regula Pastoralis, an achievement that will long outlast her.

In addition, there are a few small quarrels with the Danelaw to be wrapped up. Enforcing claims on the Catholics, she is able to expand her hold upon the British Isles before the Crusade begins. Hopefully, the additional manpower and gold income will help tip the favour to the Cathar.

Soon enough, the Irish will be able to reunite the Isles... although, there is the question of the neutral Norwegians having a small piece of land in the middle.

The Crusade will likely be fought on the isles of Britannia or in the Scandinavian East. There is no benefit in attacking the Danelaw in the icy wastes of the East, so the armies of Ireland will try to defend the Isles from incoming Catholic heretics. They will have to cross the water to reach the Isles, which should make them weaker and easier pickings for the Cathar forces. Meanwhile, the allied Cathar of Scandinavia will be able to take the fight to the icy lands.

The Crusade is declared by the Vatican Pope. At first blush, it will be an interesting few years. The Catholics muster a slightly larger numerical advantage... however, the Cathar and Irish have the better defensible position. With careful outmaneuvering, it should be possible to pick off the enemy forces as they land and before they can muster into a significant force.

... and if the Cathar are victorious, the Pope will pay.

As predicted, the Scandinavian Cathar distract in the north with attacks on the Danelaw capital in the icy wastes. Meanwhile, the main Irish army and the Cathar religious orders muster on the Isles to prepare to repel the Catholic heretics.

The Catholics try to make landfall in various areas of the Isles, but they constantly find themselves exhausted by the long ship journey and their troops are in enemy territory and running out of supplies. They are easily picked off and then forced to retreat back to the European mainland to try the process over again. Meanwhile, the Danelaw holdings on the Isles are easy pickings for the Irish army and they soon fall!

The Crusade is a failure and the Catholic Cross is broken. The Pope escapes with his life... but there will be revenge for the declaration of war. The Vatican must be broken and the scourge of the Catholics must be erased and replaced with the benevolent ideals of the Cathar.

... to that end, a small outpost, the Kingdom of Pisa, on the doorsteps of the Vatican is claimed in the name of Ireland. Should the Pope ever wish to misbehave, he will quickly find his own personal palace under siege. And executions would surely follow soon after...

With the Catholic world beaten to a pulp, the Danelaw are exposed and without allies. The time is ripe to carve out large chunks of the Danelaw kingdom to redistribute to the rightful Irish vassalage. The Isles are ready to be united... unfortunately, the Danelaw King refuses to see the inevitability of this and is willing to put his subjects lives before his pride.

In the background, the Irish army is being upgraded from a conscripted army into an army of men-at-arms and professional mercenaries. These trained professionals will form the backbone of the Empire when it is formed, and their technology and skill far outmatches anything that the Catholics will be able to muster. The Catholics will regret their incursion into the idyllic Isles of Ireland.

With all this warring, you would have thought that the High Queen Brigid would have lost sight of her true calling. However, in between the direction of the grand defeat of the Catholic world, she has found the time to found the world's first University in Oxford. Coincidentally, it is the realm of her Spymaster and friend who benefits!

... and the Duke Emrys is proving to be both an effective Spymaster and loyal friend. Uncovering all sorts of malfeasance within the nobility. Cannibalism?

In her second husband, the High Queen Brigid has found her second soulmate. Interesting that there were more than one in the world, but that is a question for the philosophers... perhaps the University could be put towards investigating that question. It turns out that the High King Dietrich is absolutely smitten with his wife, and it appears that the High Queen Brigid might end up achieving bliss in her love life as well!

Every few years, another portion of the Danelaw Kingdom is subsumed by force into the Irish Empire. However, not all of it is by force now... there are some vassals of the Danelaw King who see the writing on the wall, and ask to be vassalised by the High Queen.

The professional Irish army makes short work of the underdeveloped Danelaw in every single battle. Every time, it is a slaughter and the wars are quickly resolved in the favour of the Irish.

... and with every passing year, there is more green on the Isles of Brittania.

... until the Empire of Alba finally is declared under the enlightened leadership of Empress Brigid of Alba, heir to all the High Kingdoms of Britannia. It is a momentous day for the Empress, she began her reign with the disdain of the courts and the nobles, beset from all sides with plots and wars. It turns out that she was stronger than any of her foes had ever thought was possible and she now takes her place in history as the unifier of Britannia.

... and she is still young!

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