The Year: 1230.
The Players:
The Situation: 20 years after the Fourth Crusade and things are not looking good for the Crusaders, low on men and legitimacy, sandwiched between the rising claimants Theodore in Europe and John in Anatolia, while the Bulgarians and Seljuqs look on from just outside, in search of the right time to make a move.
Come 1230 and Theodore, in control of Epirus, Thessaloniki and Macedonia has decided to make a move on Constantinople, and might have succeeded, but instead he turned north against his Bulgarian allies and was captured at the battle of Klokonitsa, where Tsar Ivan Asen put an end to the man's claim to the throne and empire, which his sons were unable to properly take up, whereas their rivals in Nicaea would not get to Constantinople til 1261.
Possibilities:
Note: besieging Constantinople is somewhat hard, so there's a good chance any scenario ends with a failed siege, unless the city falls to treachery or negotiations.
The Players:
- Theodore Komnenos Doukas Emperor operating from Epirus and Thessaloniki
- John III Doukas Vatatzes Emperor operating from Anatolia
- Ivan Asen II Tsar of Bulgaria
- John of Brienne Latin Emperor of Constantinople
- Kayqubad I Seljuq Sultan of Rūm
The Situation: 20 years after the Fourth Crusade and things are not looking good for the Crusaders, low on men and legitimacy, sandwiched between the rising claimants Theodore in Europe and John in Anatolia, while the Bulgarians and Seljuqs look on from just outside, in search of the right time to make a move.
Come 1230 and Theodore, in control of Epirus, Thessaloniki and Macedonia has decided to make a move on Constantinople, and might have succeeded, but instead he turned north against his Bulgarian allies and was captured at the battle of Klokonitsa, where Tsar Ivan Asen put an end to the man's claim to the throne and empire, which his sons were unable to properly take up, whereas their rivals in Nicaea would not get to Constantinople til 1261.
Possibilities:
- What if Ivan Asen had been accepted as regent for the young Latin Emperor instead of John of Brienne?
- What if Ivan Asen had moved on the Crusaders and expelled them from Constantinople after Klokonitsa?
- What if Theodore had not attacked Bulgaria?
- Sultanate of Rūm supplants ERE?
Note: besieging Constantinople is somewhat hard, so there's a good chance any scenario ends with a failed siege, unless the city falls to treachery or negotiations.
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