City of the Devil British Isles Handbook

City of the
Devil:
Handbook for
the British
Isles

King John – Illustration by Matthew Paris in Historia Anglorum

City of the Devil British Isles Handbook
“King John had captured Arthur and kept him alive in prison for some
time in the castle of Rouen... After dinner on the Thursday before Easter
when he was drunk and possessed by the Devil, King John killed him with
his own hand, and tying a heavy stone to the body cast it into the Seine.”
The Margham Abbey Chronicle, 1205.

This is the briefing for the players on the British Isles map. There are four
separate lands in play – England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland – and each
is slightly different thanks to its history.

ENGLAND
England is the largest and most powerful nation in the British Isles. It was
unified by King Alfred during the 800s as a way to keep from being
overrun by the Danes, then conquered by the Norman French in 1066.
The destruction of the Anglo-Saxon nobility allowed William the
Conqueror to start with a ‘clean slate’, so every part of England belongs
to the King. He has parcelled out much of the land to noble families who
hold the land on his behalf, paying him taxes and – when required –
lending him military aid in return for continuing to hold their lands.
The Royal team represent King John and his administration.
John’s chief minister is Peter des Roches, the treasurer and
Bishop of Winchester. He deals with the King’s finances.
William ‘Longsword’ is John’s half brother and runs the
Royal military forces. Both can also undertake diplomatic
errands for the King as well. John de Grey, Archbishop of Canterbury is
also played, in charge of the Church in England and its revenues. It
should also always be remembered that Savaray de Mouleon, the
Seneschal of Poitou and Gascony, is also part of the English Royal team,
although he is based on the French map and looks after King John’s
extensive lands there.
The other English players represent the most powerful lords of England.
Two– William Marshal (left) and Ranulph de
Blundeville (right) –are powerful landowners in
their own right. Both have Counties ‘Palatine’
which are not subject to Royal taxation or
judicial authority, and both face off against the
fractious Princes of Wales and Kings of Ireland.
The other two – Eustace de Vesci (left) and
Robert Fitzwalter (right) – are the leaders of
coalitions of more medium-powered Lords; the
‘Northerners’ and the ‘Southerners’.
City of the Devil British Isles Handbook

The political situation

Kings of England have many overseas possessions which they must look
after in addition to their lands in England. Indeed, John’s brother Richard,
the previous King, tended to use England mainly as a source of income to
finance his overseas adventures and left England to his ministers. The
current political situation is a result of John’s entanglements in France,
where things have gone badly wrong in recent years. Kings of England
are also Dukes of Normandy and Aquitaine and Counts of Anjou and
Mortain in France, but they technically hold those lands as vassals of the
French King. In 1202 John got into a legal dispute with King Philip of
France over his rights and responsibilities in France which escalated into
open war. John lost the war, although he did defeat Arthur of Brittany –
who had, by strict rule of primogeniture, technically a better claim to be
King of England than John. John took advantage of Arthur’s capture to
murder the boy, ending the threat to his throne, but turning many against
him for his actions.
Loss of the war in Normandy means that Philip of France now controls
both Normandy and Anjou, and John wants them back. He made a peace
treaty with Philip in 1204 that lasts until the end of 1209 (turn 1). After
that, it’s game on again.

Taxes
In order to put together an army capable of winning back his French
lands, John has been trying to raise tax money. Normal taxes are £0.5 per
county. John has increased this to £1 and also started charging for the
administration of royal justice, inheritance, and many other things. In
addition, he also has started raising scutage on a regular basis. This is a
tax in lieu of providing knights for military service, to allow the king to
spend the money on mercenaries. It is supposed to be charged only when
the King goes on campaign. However, John has argued that recovering
France requires this money on a regular, even annual basis. Many English
nobles are not sure why they should be paying for the King to fight in
France, when they won’t get any benefit from it. This tax protest has led
to the formation of two groups of discontented barons – the Northerners
and Southerners – who want to curb John’s power and end his abuses of
the tax system.

Trouble with the Pope

As if this wasn’t enough, John has also managed to get into trouble with
the Pope. The monks of Canterbury protested to the Pope about John’s
choice of Archbishop – John de Gray, formerly Bishop of Norwich and a
John henchman. The Pope upheld the monks’ case and appointed Stephen
City of the Devil British Isles Handbook
Langton, an Englishman yes, but also a Cardinal and career churchman
and, ‘coincidentally’ an old schoolfriend of the Pope. John has rejected
this appointment. The Pope has excommunicated John. John has seized
the Church’s lands in England and is milking them for Royal taxes. The
Pope has placed England under an Interdict, and is threatening to take the
next step and release John’s subjects from their oath of allegiance to him.
In extremis he might even preach a Crusade against England!

WALES
Wales was divided in two by the Norman invasion of 1071. The south is
in the hands of Anglo-Norman nobles – either the King (Glamorgan) or
William Marshal as Earl of Pembroke. The rest is a collection of small
native Welsh principalities – Powys, Deheubarth, Gwynedd and
Ceredigion. The most powerful of these is Gwynedd, ruled by
Prince Llewellyn. Llewellyn is no fool and has kept on King
John’s good side where possible – he is even married to
John’s illegitimate daughter Joan (not to be confused with
John’s legitimate daughter, also called Joan…). However,
King John’s recent trouble is Prince Llewellyn’s opportunity, especially if
he could unify Welsh Wales under a single crown by defeating his rival
in Powys.
King John usually relies upon his ‘Marcher Lords’ – William Marshal
and Ranulph, Earl of Chester – to keep Wales subdued. In order to do so,
both of them have County ‘Palatinates’ – i.e. they have their own tax and
spending powers in some their lands and a partial opt-out from Royal
taxation in order to maintain forces there (this is one reason why they are
less worried about Royal taxation). Even so, John could take a Royal
army into Wales should the mood take him.

SCOTLAND
Scotland is also divided – in this case between the far North and the
Western Isles, which are part of the so-called Kingdom of the
Isles, a vassal state of the Kingdom of Norway – and the
remainder. The King of Scotland, William 'the Lion’, has a
fairly secure grip on the lowlands and the south of his
Kingdom, but the highlands can be fiercely independent. The
Earl of Buchan in particular, Fergus Mormaer, is a Gael and resents the
Anglo-Norman lowlanders, and he has numerous allies across Moray.
Fergus makes a convenient ally for John of England should he wish to
bring Scotland to heel.
William of Scotland has had a long reign. In 1173-4 he took part in the
Great Revolt against Henry II by Henry’s wife and sons. Unfortunately
for him he came out on the losing side, was captured, and had to pay
City of the Devil British Isles Handbook
ransom of £100 and acknowledge that Scotland was a vassal state of
England. Fortunately for him, Henry’s successor, Richard, was always
desperate for money to fight wars, and allowed William to buy back
Scottish independence for just £20 in 1189. William tried his luck and
offered £35 for Northumberland, but even Richard wasn’t that desperate.
The situation between England and Scotland is complicated by some
cross-border land holdings. Eustace de Vesci is also married to King
William’s daughter Margaret, and is Lord of Dunbar. Robert de Brus, part
of de Vesci’s faction, is not only Lord of Durham but also Annandale in
southern Scotland (but I’m sure his descendants will not amount to
much…). Finally, King William’s younger brother is, for reasons too
complicated to go into, Earl of Huntingdon in England.

IRELAND
The previous Earl of Pembroke, Richard ‘Strongbow’ de Clare, got
dragged into Irish politics by a request for help from the ousted King of
Leinster, Dermot MacMurragh, in 1170. His invasion was so successful
that King Henry II got the approval of Pope Adrian IV (the only English
Pope so far) and invaded himself the next year. Strongbow ended up
owning Leinster and the King took Dublin and the lands around it (the
‘Pale’). Strongbow died without sons, and his daughter and heiress Isobel
was married off to William Marshal, who so inherited a good slice of
Ireland. Marshal is also allied to the Lord of Meath, another major
landowner.
King Henry II had made his eldest son Henry (the Young King) his heir
to England, Geoffrey to Brittany and Richard to Aquitaine, but his
youngest, John, originally had got nothing allocated to him (hence the
nickname ‘Lack-land’). So Henry took advantage of the invasion to make
John ‘Lord of Ireland’, a title King John still keeps to this day, even
though his elder brothers are all dead now and he has inherited most of
their lands anyway. John still takes his claim to overlordship of all of
Ireland seriously, although, as in Wales, he generally relies upon William
Marshal to keep a lid on trouble there. Still, the option remains open to
him to stage an invasion to claim the rest of his ‘inheritance’.
The remaining Irish Kings do not regard John as their King, but they are
too divided amongst each other to be much more than a thorn in his flesh,
unless he were to seriously threaten them. Still, they sometimes hire out
as mercenaries to anyone who might want to stir trouble – the King of
Scotland has had profitable relations with them in the past.

Irish Kings are fickle, and can only be allied in the Loyalty Phase for a
single Turn – they automatically return to neutral at the end of that.
City of the Devil British Isles Handbook
CONNECTIONS TO OTHER REGIONS:

France
- As the son of Eleanor of Aquitaine, King John is still Duke of
Aquitaine, which contains the counties of Gascony and Poitou. They are
run by John’s vassal Savary de Mauleon on his behalf. However, there
are issues with some recalcitrant vassals in Poitou, especially the De
Lusignan family. A treaty with King Philip signed in 1204 means that
Philip recognises John’s ongoing status as Duke of Aquitaine.
- King John still claims overlordship of Normandy, Maine, Anjou and
Touraine, though this is disputed with the King of France who currently
occupies them. A truce signed in 1204 expires at the end of 1209.
- The heiress to Brittany is John's niece, via his dead older brother
Geoffrey. The heiress is in the hands of the King of France at present, but
if John were to defeat Philip he could try and claim guardianship of Alix
of Brittany and hence run Brittany himself.
- Count Raymond of Toulouse was formerly married to King John's sister
Joan, and so his son and heir is John's nephew. John has generally
supported Raymond, if for no other reason than it annoys King Philip.
- William Marshal still holds family lands in Normandy. King Philip
confiscated all Norman lands unless English nobles paid homage to him
for them. Marshal was one of the few who did - something that got him in
King John's bad books for two years, as John feared Marshal had divided
loyalties, and Marshal wisely went and hid in Ireland for a while until
they were reconciled recently.
- The Albigensian Crusade is being led by Simon de Montfort, Earl of
Leicester. De Montfort has made Ranulph, Earl of Chester trustee for his
lands until he returns.

Holy Roman Empire

- John’s grandmother was Matilda, who was not only granddaughter of
William the Conqueror but also married Holy Roman Emperor Henry V.
The ties between England and the Empire have continued though the past
century, especially the Saxon, Welf dynasty (one reason why their rivals,
the Swabians, captured King Richard on his way back from the Third
Crusade and made him pay a ransom). John’s eldest sister, also called
Matilda, was married to the Duke of Saxony, and Otto of Saxony is thus
John’s nephew. John helped Otto become elected King of the Romans via
generous loans, and even gave him a home at the English court when he
was briefly exiled. Having the Empire run by an English ally would be a
great way to keep the King of France on his toes.
City of the Devil British Isles Handbook
Spain
- The King of Castille is married to King John’s sister, Eleanor. He
claims that her dowry should have included part of southern Aquitaine,
and would like to claim Bearn, Bigorre and Comminges for himself.
- To neutralise this threat, Eleanor of Aquitaine, John’s mother, secured a
marriage for Richard, John’s elder brother, to Berengaria, Princess of
Navarre. However, she has not been well treated by either Richard, or
John (who has been stingy with her upkeep since his brother’s death).
Berengaria is not played, but she may well be important to her sister,
Blanche of Navarre, who is also Countess of Champagne.

Rochester Castle, one of John’s powerful royal fortresses

City of the Devil British Isles Handbook
BRITISH LORDS AND THEIR HOLDINGS (AT START)

Lord Control
King John Somerset, Gloucester, Stafford/Shropshire
Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Northants
Dorset, Warwickshire, The Pale (Ireland)
Glamorgan (Wales)
Allied minor lords:
Hugh de Beaumont Warwick
Baldwin de Redvers Cornwall, Devon
Robert de Vieuxpont Westmorland
Hubert de Burgh Kent
Fergus Mormaer Buchan, Moray (Scotland)

Eustace de Vesci North Yorks, Dunbar (Scotland)

Allied minor lords:
Robert de Brus Durham, Annandale (Scoland)
Richard de Percy Northumberland

Robert Fitzwalter Middlesex

Allied minor lords:
Saer de Quercy Hampshire
Geoffrey de Mandeville Essex
Robert de Vere Buckinghamshire/Berkshire
Richard de Clare Bedford/Hertford
Henry de Bohun Hereford/Worcester

Ranulph de Blundeville Chester, Cantrefs

Allied minor lords:
William de Ferrers Derby
Robert de Gresle Lancashire
Simon de Montfort Leicestershire (held in trust)

William Marshal Pembroke (Wales), Monmouth (Wales)

Kerry, Limerick, Waterford, Wexford,
Tipperary (all Ireland), Argentan (France)
Allied minor lords:
Walter de Lacey Meath, Kilkenny
City of the Devil British Isles Handbook
Lord Control
King William of Scotland Lothian, Strathclyde, Ross
Allied minor lords:
Alan fitz Roland Galloway
Malcolm Fife
Gilbert Strathearn

Prince Llewellyn Gwynedd

Allied minor lords:
Rhys Mawr Deheubarth

Neutral minor lords (at start)

Scotland
Harald Maddason Sutherland, Caithness (K. of the Isles)
Donald McRagnall Argyll (K. of the Isles)
Henry Atholl (Scotland)
Malcolm Angus (Scotland)
Duncan Mar (Scotland)

England
William d’Albini Wiltshire
William de Warenne Surrey
David of Scotland Cambridgeshire
William d’Aumale South Yorks
High Bigod Norfolk, Suffolk

Wales
Maelgwyn ap Rhys Ceredigion
Gwenwynwyn Powys

Independent ‘Kings’ of Ireland:

MacCarthy MacCarthy
O’Brien O’Brien
O’Flaherty O’Flaherty
Connacht N Connacht, S Connacht
O’Donnell ODonnell
O’Connor O’Connor
MacLachlan MacLachlan
O’Neill O’Neill
Louth Louth
Ulster Ulster