Recorder TBC: This is the point the records fall short as both the Oxbridge Riots and the buildings set ablaze at that time destroyed a full decade of information and reports, with only a few pieces of primary sources remaining. The following shards and scraps of the past are all that remain, including what remains of personal correspondences, royal letters, situational reports and so on.

31st December 1079

The Pope has fallen prey to mortal weakness within two weeks of rule. His replacement is a strong, burly man from the high north of Denmark. The Scandinavians must be very pleased but I am ill at ease. Such a quick vote and such strange movements are occurring in Rome at this time. My son has informed me of all the…I can only say 'mischief' that the Papacy has been up to. A militant priesthood is not something I desire, that is my task after all. The Empire welcomes a strong church but the new movements in Italy are troubling everyone, especially Samuel and Robert.

We must wait and see what our God has in store for us.

…

[Recorder TBC: Three days after this entry was written, the Papacy declared a crusade against the British ally, the Egyptian Sultanate.]

…

10th January 1080

[After several charred sheets of paper]…

-and this business with the Scandinavians, I must get Daniels' agents to find out what the court thinks they are doing! Declaring unilateral support for the completely out of the blue crusade against our Egyptian friends from our other main allies is an outrageous situation. I will not tolerate the Papacy interfering in the Middle East and especially not in Africa! If they dare land on the banks of the Nile, the Egyptians are going to scream bloody murder and I for one shall not blame them. They might be Muslims but they are honourable men. Henry shall just have to handle them.

I on the other hand, must handle Europe…

…

[Relations with the Egyptians became strained for the next few weeks before Prince Henry managed to salvage the situation. The Papacy and the Scandinavians continued to prepare assaults however and soon ships were sent to invade.]

…

24th March 1080

The Holy Roman Empire may be gone but the East remains incredibly unstable and entirely our responsibility until the Romans can be brought back to strength, along with our Hungarian 'friends'. The power gap between our lands and the Mongols is worrying. If an attack came now, the entirety of the Balkans might fall and Central Europe with it. Our holdings on the continent are over doubled in size and yet our population has barely increased with it. Repopulating these areas would be an extremely lengthy procedure and in that time an invasion might come. The eastern frontier, bordering the Mongols, is almost completely undefended and worse still, split between us and the Scandinavians, whom hold the coastal region centred on Castle Thorn.

It might be an idea to buy that land off them in-

[The document is then unreadable for many pages. Emperor William replies to Recorder Daniels' letter, which discusses the status of the rest of the Empire]

This business of owning North Africa must, purely by being require a change in how we view our fundamental mission. We now rule over a third of the Islamic world as well. Are we to destroy their religion, or work with it? Henry currently prefers the former but I am not so convinced. Christianity is the way, I do believe, yet I cannot afford rebellion or even heightened manpower in those areas whilst Europe is so vulnerable. Another matter to consider is the issue of legitimacy. Whilst we have right of conquest of course, and in Europe a fairly great claim to most of our territory, Iberia and North Africa could still be claimed by various other factions. The Egyptians are our allies of course, but the Spanish and Sicilian Remnants could be great trouble if they are allowed to exist.

…

[As touched upon in the previous situational report, the Hungarians were devoid of their most valuable province in the north western region of their country. The Kingdom of Hungary, which had in the past few years been rebuilding itself after decades of diminishment from Roman forces in the south and Polish and German forces in the north. When all of these former enemies were either busy fighting the British or falling to pieces, the youthful new ruler Edwig seized the chance to reclaim much of the lost crown authority in his realm before reforming what remained his county into a sizeable and able middling power betwixt empires.

It was this power that allowed Edwig to dare to dream of negotiating for the return of the most valuable and vaunted province Hungary had lost in various wars; Vienna and the lands surrounding it were currently serving as the eastern passage that connected Italy to former HRE and Polish lands. Passage through the mountains was always possible but greatly increased journey times and besides which the benefit of Vienna to the British was that it finally placed the Italian kingdom's eastern border away from the Empire's frontier to other lands.

Hungary however, wanted their large chunk of kingdom back and the Empire both did not wish another war and to jeopardise the regrowth of one of only two independent Christian kingdoms left (the Polish by this time were a strong but small one city state, the Spanish Remnant was likewise situated and the Sicilians didn't count). The military and practical benefits to the British were not enough to fight over, especially as the Mongol menace to the east of the British and the north of the Hungarians were a far greater threat.

Unfortunately for William and Robert, their reputation personally amongst the princes of Europe (that were left after three winter wars) can be surmised with the immortal words of Cardinal Lorenzo, "I would not believe the devil and all his ilk would deign to sup at their table, nor can I imagine a less welcome sight in any lawful land than that of the Bastard and his spawn." Though Scandinavia was moving closer and closer to Britain as both Norwegian nobles and the royal family saw them as a great source of wealth and, in the former case, better protection than their own King, elsewhere the British name was in tatters.

Thus the Emperor paid out for Hungarian affection, handing over seventy thousand pounds and the entirety of the Vienna province, along with some beneficial trade deals with the former Venetian Greek islands. The last part of the deal gives historians a clue as to the real intentions of the treaty. Opening up the Meditation Sea to Europe again was a key goal in the British long term strategy, as whilst they had growing ties to Egypt they still did not wish sea trade to be dominated in the East by the Islamic sultanates. Creating a more interconnected trade network also meant that Hungary would move more securely into the Empire's sphere of influence and potentially increase the fighting power their new friends could bring to the table.]

…

4th April 1080

The situation is becoming ridiculous. Iberia alone swallows hundreds of thousands of pounds as we attempt to rebuild (and in many places, recreate) what was destroyed by my father. North Africa is in much the same situation along the coast but even inland towns and cities require immense amounts of work to make them suitable for living in (though surprisingly enough, not as much as Henry was expecting. The Muslims at least know how to build a decent sewer system).

We do not condone slavery or forced labour within our lands but the peasants and craftsmen and suppliers are struggling to keep up with the never ending workload and I am struggling with paying for everything. What with the unruly nobles and rioters in Western Germania, we are stretched to the brink and that is not an understatement. The HRE was a bastard foe to fight and now it seems that its corpse cleaning service will yet doom us all.

I can only count the blessing that is the Atlantic. At least we cannot extend anymore in that direction.

…

[In July of that year, Venice as a sovereign people came to an end, when the last military commanders on the east bank across from Italy surrender. Robert founds a city there, appropriately christened 'Unus'.

As Western Germania becomes ever more demilitarised in order to cripple the remaining lords that hold sway there, Metz is broken up after it is determined the castle is unreclaimable. The city of Esse is founded nearby. Other cities are renamed and reconstructed, such as Staufen (renamed Schwarzbereich) and Magdeburg (Damen-Reich). This process took over five years but in the end formed the heartlands of what Germany would one day become.]

…

26th October 1080

[A message, hurriedly written and barely legible]

-uncertain for how long this has been planned within the two courts but I have confirmed that the intelligence is true. The Sicilian and Spanish Remnants are now in a personal union, favouring (from what I can tell) the Spanish but the Sicilians are far larger a force. In short, we believe that Sicily is now taking control of Spanish Macedon with Spanish leadership well placed to control much of what is left of both factions in a few years.

What this means for us is uncertain. They do not have the power…

[The page has a tear at this point]

…but they can now move against the Romans in Greece if they wish. Sire, it is my belief that a war in Greece is now inevitable, though at this moment it is unclear who would win such a contest. What is clear is that we do not have the manpower to intervene and in any case, the Hungarians have requested we stay out of it entirely.

…

[Though the message appears urgent and the situation tumultuous, very little happened for the remainder of the year in Southern Europe. In the North however, Scandinavia was once again looking towards Russia for expansion.]

…

Excerpt from the Treaty between the Good Kings of Christendom at Oxbridge

"…and furthermore, it is desired that the Scandinavian sovereign and his people, shall remain unconcerned with European affairs for as long as Britain's Empire continues to protect both of their sovereign interests there. It is also so agreed that the British monarch shall not expand nor invade into lands under Scandinavian interests, without express permission from their Sovereign. We define the zones of Scandinavian interests to be the former kingdom of Russia and all territory north of Castle Thorn."

…

"Concerning Castle Thorn, the Scandinavian people are willing to provide the British with the keys and the rights to said territory and structures in return for a continuation in the friendships between these two nations and a pact of defence to be made against wanton Mongolian aggression."

…

[The treaty may seem to have been made on equal terms but in actuality, the Scandinavians were near bankruptcy once more after a string of rebellions, one of which in Iceland led to an eventually British expedition there and is therefore of interest as one of the starting pushes towards western exploration.

Castle Thorn was handed over to the British in fine fashion in January of the next year, which is covered in the next chapter.]