The Lion of France (A historial self insert)

Charles VIII, King of France.
Paris, June 1483

"Is everything all right your majesty?" l listened through the door. I got up from my bed, confused and reviewed a half-written letter that sat on my desk, signed at the end as Charles VIII of France, June 1, year 1483.

"I am all right. One moment please." I said trying to remember what I knew about that French king
Charles was 12 years old, which would put the date at 1483, two years before that crazy war, led by my ambitious cousin Louis II, Duke of Orléans.

At this point, Anna Of France was the regent of the kingdom and was beset by ambitious dukes who coveted regency in order to gain control of France. Louis XI of France had made a peace with the Duke of Burgundy and his father Emperor Maximilian I through my engagement to Archduchess Margaret, but three more important problems still remained, the succession to the Duchy of Brittany, the ambition of my cousin Louis of Orleans, and the lack of a permanent royal army.

I needed to solve the three problems quickly and the real rents were not going to be enough for my projects. Fortunately, France was richer than the other Christian kingdoms, and the king's lands were large and prosperous.

Course Settled, I levered myself out of bed and padded over to the Door, opening it. "Mademoiselle, if you would be so kind as to Summon my aunt the Viscountess of Tours? I believe it is time I had a look over the Crown's Lands." I said.

The young servant hurried to obey before I began to dress in the finest clothes I could find, if I learned something in my previous life it is that the first impression is the one that counts.

Thus dressed, I went down to the door to the great dining room in the Royal Palace, where I would meet my regent and start with luck, a more successful life.

 

Charles VIII, King of France.
Paris, June 1483

While I was having lunch in the dining room, a fillet of beef and a huge jug filled with grape juice, Anna of France, my aunt and the current regent of the kingdom of France. "Please, sit dear aunt. We have lot to discuss about the future of France." I said as I motioned for her to sit next to me.

Did your servant say that You wished to learn about running of the kingdom, Your Majesty?” asked Anna.

"I did. For one thing, I've come to realize that there are many servants in my court and spending on luxuries that are totally unnecessary." I replied.

"It is true that there is an excess of servants and the continuous purchases of jewels have been costly for the treasury. However, I did not think you would consider it important." Anna answered
.
I consider it, on another topic, I also believe that it is not necessary to hold so many parties a year, they greatly reduce the available money and it is exhausting for me to attend so many at my age. I am worried that uncle will start a war with our neighbors and we will not have enough money in the royal treasury. I also need you to start selling the palaces I have around France except for the royal palace, they are expensive to maintain and the nobles will pay a good price." I replied.

Do you want me to organize the sale of your palaces and dismissal of your servants? Anna asked with a visibly concerned raised eyebrow.

"Only the ones that aren't necessary, I don't think I need hundreds of servants for my personal needs. I've also noticed that there are many areas set aside as game reserves on my royal lands that I won't use because I don't like to hunt, they would be more productive if we start their exploitation". I said.

"Your Majesty of her, may I ask what sparked this sudden interest in running the kingdom?" Anna asked.

Simple, you see. Have you seen how my neighbors have grown stronger, the Holy Roman Emperor and the Kings of Castile and Aragon? Because they have let me know that I would not be able to defend myself against them if they invade us and the nobles betray me. My father wiped out the noble league, but they haven't lost all their power and wealth yet. If this continues it's likely that he will end up being overthrown by the nobles in the next war. Shouldn't my kingdom be my priority?" I replied.

Anna frowned at this and said, "While I'm glad to see you're more interested in ruling, Your Majesty, I don't know how the nobles will react if you try to change the laws. The nobles won't tolerate you meddling in their lands and personal affairs." .

I have no intention of ordering anything from them. You will notice that I am simply reforming my possessions." I answered.

Anna nodded at that, "It's fine. They seem like sensible reforms, as long as you don't try to introduce reforms in the land of the nobles it won't see any inconvenience." He said.

"It's decided then. When would you start?" I asked.

"The sale of the palaces can be done in course of weeks, I know several nobles who will line up to buy them. The sale of the meat and skins will take months, since we will have to find and train several hunters and furriers." Said the regent as she looked at him thoughtfully, "Sawmills take at least 1 year to start reporting profits, so it's more of a long-term investment, but you'll have to explain to your fiancée about the reduction in clothing and jewelry." . Anna chuckled.

Damn. My fiancée Margaret of Austria did not remember that she lived in the royal palace. She is a good woman according to the stories, but she will not marry me until Maximilian proves to be a faithful ally. "I'll take care of it", I replied. "Order to separate all the teak wood that is found, to send it to Marseilles; your brother-in-law, the Prince of Liège, to send me the blacksmiths who investigated the blast furnaces. With any luck, from a few years from now France will be a kingdom that amazes the world”.

"We all wish it, Majesty." Anna smiled, before heading towards the treasure.

……………………..
"This must be a joke" she yelled as she looked at the treasure of the kingdom of France, ten thousand shields sadly huddled in a corner of the vault, "How much is the income of the kingdom of France doing?" I said while looking at her severely

"Currently there are 300,000 escudos to be collected next month my king." Anna answered quickly.

"So, by the first of July there will be 300,000 escudos in my vault" I said

"Not exactly, becouse your father had to win the war with the league of nobles he had to take out a large loan, for the next 10 years, 200,000 escudos are destined to pay debts." Anna said as she took out a notebook. "50,000 escudos are allocated for the payment of salaries and the maintenance of the kingdom's infrastructure, 40,000 escudos were your personal expenses last year, but with the reform you are making in your personal expenses, I calculate that you will only spend 10,000 escudos this year"

"Well. That explains the 10,000 shields of the treasure" I said resigned "Take what is left over, aunt, and start the reforms, I have to write letters."

Her Majesty Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon
I humbly addressed myself before you to fulfill the last wish of my father, King Louis XI of France, for which I hand over the counties of Roussillon and Cerdagne, that my father unjustly took from you in the past, in return I only ask for a treaty between our Christian countries, and I hope that we will be allies again as in the time of Enrique de Trastamara and Charles V of France.
Charles VIII of France

 

Anna of France, Viscounts of Tours.
Paris, 30 Jane 1483

The tourney for the king's thirteenth birthday and his coronation wasn't as grand as the one held at Flanders two years before, Anna noted. This wasn't to say that gold hadn't been spent but to her eye it seemed to have been spent differently. Rather than splendid stands and banners, the new King had focused on durable flags and almost everything used had the look of something that might very well be cleaned, folded up and stored away for another occasion.

Five feasts marked the occasion and while the first and last were entirely at the expense of the King, he'd cannily invited duke of Bourbon, duke of Orleans and duke of Brittany to each host one banquet, bringing with them delicacies from their duchies to spice up the food on offer. Once again this moderated the expense and Orleans hadn't been able to resist the temptation to show off.
Anna was sure that when duke of Lorraine learned of the extravagance shown, he'd leap at the chance to seek to surpass it at the next opportunity. At least duke Brittany and Bourbon were showing more restraint.

"You don't say that these rumors are true?" Charles of Orleans, Count of Angoulême asked as he escorted Anna to the high table of the Bourbon feast.

"That depends which rumors you mean. There's enough that if you recite them all I'll be dead before you're done."

"That might indeed be true, but the one I mean is that it is said you will be appointed treasurer in the king's council."

"Well it's not as if he needs a Constable, with the Duke of Bourbon."

"Ha, very true," Angoulême conceded. "Alas, my own experience with my county army has not been enough to catch the King's eye when set against to the mighty Duke of Bourbon. I heard that the Duke of Bourbon has the largest army of all his nobles."

"It can hardly compare with your army... whatever it was."
At least the duke of Bourbon can field a decent army, among all the nobles he is only equaled by Orleans and Brittany.

The count laughed out loud. "You have a sharp tongue ex-regent, what did you think of the appointment of the Duke of Alençon as admiral and the Viscount of Thouars as general of the new royal army?"

"go pester another noble lady Angoulême." Anna got up from her chair and went to sit closer to the king. "Trémoille, you have risen quite a bit in the kingdom."

"You're looking well," Trémoille observed from his own seat - one place closer to where the King would be sitting once, he arrived.

She snorted. "Flattering me to avoid the question?"

"The king has appointed me general because I do not oppose the proposals he wants."

"Well at least you weren't foolish enough to cross the king" He'd timed the remark right as the duke of Orleans entered and Anna saw to the Duke of Orleans furious at not having a seat on the royal council.

Fortunately, he left the banquet due to his annoyance. Instead the seat on her other side was occupied by a quiet duke. It took her some time to realize that the man was the Gilbert Duke of Montpensier, partly because he didn't chat with anyone.

"So why did the King appoint you his Seneschal?" she demanded of him, after reminding Trémoille to take Pierre Terrail, son of lord of Bayard, as his squire.

The pale-eyed lord chewed quietly on a mouthful of pheasant and then swallowed. "We have never discussed that matter."

"No, I don't suppose that you have."

"It may be," he said judiciously, "That you and I have much in common with Bourbon."

Trémoille leant forwards to look past Anna. "Oh, what is that?"

Montpensier smiled thinly and refilled his goblet. "noble councilors who hate Orleans."

"I hardly think the king is that calculating."

Anna drew her lips back from her teeth. "I would agree with that, Trémoille. Are you married, Montpensier?"

"A widower."

"And likely to remain that way until the King weds - the girls of the nobility must be more intelligent; the king will only take a princess as befits his lineage."

Montpensier made a non-committal noise that was lost as Angoulême finished a rambling set of remarks that were probably intended to be witty and possibly impressed the more inebriated.
The King rose to his feet. "Thank you, duke of Bourbon, for hosting this banquet. I'm, particularly pleased with the wine and with the results of the tournament."

"One of the regent's last duties was to help me consider the members of my new royal guard, the twelve tournament-winning knights would be the new members of the guard led by Baron Jacques of Mondragon, the twelve members who would be called the order of Saint Michael. As such it's fitting that it be today, at this feast, the appointments of the royal guard and royal councilors are terminated."

Anna looked at the tables mostly occupied by nobles of France. Appointments might win over some of the men - at least enough to push any active rebellion back until after the next year. Maybe.

 

GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE
- Charles VIII of Valois, King of France, ends his regency on his thirteenth birthday and governs with full rights.

Royal Council
-John II of Bourbon, Duke of Bourbon, Prince of the Blood: Constable of France.
-Anna of France, Viscounts of Tours: Royal treasurer.
- Louis II of Trémoille, Viscount of Thouars: General of the royal army.
- Renato of Valois, Duke of Alençon, Prince of the Blood: Admiral of France.
- Gilbert of Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier, Prince of the Blood: Seneschal.

King's Squires

- Louis of Armagnac, Count of Guise.
- Francis, Count of Vendôme.
- Charles, Count of Clermont, son of Anna of France.

Nobles of France
- Louis II of Orleans, Duke of Orleans, Prince of the Blood: heir presumptive to the French throne.
- Francis II of Brittany, Duke of Brittany.
-Rene II of Lorraine, Duke of Lorraine
- Charles of Orleans, Count of Angoulême, Prince of the Blood.
- John II of Burgundy, Count of Rethel, Prince of the Blood.
- Alano of Albret, Lord of Albret, Viscount of Tartas.
- Amalric IV of Châtellerault, Viscount of Châtellerault.

-There are other nobles but these are the most powerful in France.
- Prince of the Blood: is a person legitimately descended in male line from kings of France.
- It is customary to call the nobles by their most important title, for example Charles of Orleans, Count of Angoulême, everyone calls him Angoulême

 

Charles VIII, King of France.
Paris, July 1483

Leonardo da Vinci was surprisingly handsome. I don't really know what I had been expecting. I recalled from the books story that he was an old man with a white beard and mysterious eyes. Then again, that was a little over thirty years into the future when he was a man nearing sixty. This was during the prime of his youth and man, was he a handsome, powerfully built, young man with blue eyes.

He rose at mine and Bourbon's presence as we entered the council chambers. "Your Grace, Lord constable." He greeted with a polite and formal bow.
"Rise, master Leonardo." I said, walking towards the man and clasping my hands onto his shoulders. That must have surprised him a bit. I grinned. "How do you find our fair city? Not too loud, I hope."

Bourbon had given the artist an acknowledgement that was more or less an incline of his head and a smile. Leonardo smiled somewhat awkwardly . "It looks more beautiful than Italian cities."
I removed my hands from his shoulders and guided him to retake his seat. "I have been informed about the works you did with the Medici of Florence." I recalled whilst doing my best impression of a sagely nodded. "They say you are a great artist, inventor and engineer without comparison in Christendom."

His grin was wide. "Yes, my lord I have ventured into several personal projects."

"I am mainly interested in your skills as an engineer and inventor, I am informed that you have improved firearms?"

"I have managed to create lighter arquebuses, and a pistol with a wheel mechanism that allow shots mounted from the horse. they are more expensive than the ones they currently use, that's why nobody is interested in these models." Leonardo replied, slightly abashed.

"I am interested." I looked down at the seating young inventor. "can you make them in large quantities?"

Leonardo nodded. "Yes, your majesty, I could train several people to carry out the large-scale manufacturing, but I will need a lot of money and materials." He finished with a bit of bite in his voice.

I was not worried about the money that would be spent on these weapons factories, at least if I directed it to Leonardo, I would have the guarantee that the weapons would work.
The money would have to come from the sale of the various royal palaces, the weapons were the best investments of my money, there will always be wars in Europe.

"We take care of the money, yes?" Bourbon asked. Leonardo nodded and Bourbon smiled. "We also want these factories to create high quality armor, swords, spears."
Leonardo blinked in confusion. His large blue eyes seemed as lost as a deer in headlights. "I don't have much experience in the work of a gunsmith my lord"

Bourbon nodded. "You will have the support of experienced gunsmiths from the principality of Liège, they will be in charge of supplying high quality steel from the large furnaces that they are manufacturing." Leonardo looked at me and I smiled and waved. "We also want you to support them in the new designs of the cast iron cannons that they are developing." Bourbon pulled out a sheet of papers that he was holding and handed them to Leonardo.

Leonardo took the papers, hazily looking over them for a moment before speaking. "What would be the benefits of this association?"

"You will receive a salary according to your skills." I said with a wave of the hand. "Leonardo will give you a laboratory for his experiments and for your works of art, I am also very interested in your skills as an architect in the future."

Leonardo stood up to stand tall. "I'll take the office your grace." He smirked. "I will also support all your majesty's projects, I thank you for the opportunity, your majesty."
………………………….
Charles VIII, King of France.
Paris, November 1483

The bore of the cannon gleamed obsidian black in the sunlight. Never was there before seen a molten iron cannon before, but apparently, the cannons made from iron had an unfortunate tendency to blow up at the inopportune of times without previous signs of any sort of malfunction on their part.

"And this one won't randomly blow up?" I questioned the man that had been put in charge of making sure that the metal was up to snuff.

Jan Mulder, nodded his head from the very safe distance me, him and some of my guard were standing away from in case the cannon did blow up. "Yes, your grace. The problem with using uncast iron for the cannon, was that iron by itself couldn't handle the stress of the explosion. Molten iron on the other, is a softer able to handle the stress well. And cheaper than the bronze."

"If this works Mulder, I suppose I won't be complaining about offering you all that gold for your service, I also see Leonardo's hand in this design."

Jan Mulder, bowed slightly, a giving me a smile. The best armorer in the principality of Liège, the first to build blast furnaces for the manufacture of cast iron.

"You are too kind your grace." Jan Mulder said, bowing. It has not been cheap to install the blast furnaces, nor to pay their fees, but for the knowledge that he held? It was probably going to be worth it.

I thought that the ideal thing would be to start manufacturing 6- and 12-pound field guns initially, later it would be possible to start manufacturing 24- and 48-pound siege guns.
"They are about to begin, your grace." Jan Mulder said, pointing in the direction of the crew that was loading up a solid ball of iron down the bore.

The cannon itself faced the ocean as that was where the direction of the solid shot would be fired in. I watched intently as the crew moved aside before lighting the fuse that burned down the fuse and into the vent before the earth seemed to shake as the recoil pushed the canon back as it fired it's projectile.

I felt sorry for the men that were holding the horses, for they must have surely been spooked. Needed to do something about that, wouldn't do for the horses to be spooked by little things such as cannons being fired.

I looked into the waters of the Seine river and saw where the solid shot had smashed into. The waters around that particular spot still bore the signs of the impact.
I rubbed at my ear. "Gods, that was a very strong shot."

Jan Mulder grinned from ear to ear. "imagine multiple cannons firing at once, your majesty."

"Yes, I suppose that will be louder. I do feel sorry for the poor bastards that are going to be firing these things." I turned my attention back to the cannon and gave a satisfactory nod. "I'm still not yet convinced of its success. The first iron cannon worked well enough after the first shot. Then it suddenly blew up, killing good men."

The death toll had just kept rising after that as I had people try to figure out what was going on.

I made a flippant hand gesture. "Have them fire it again. And again. If it doesn't blow up by the twentieth shot, I'll consider it a done deal."

By the twentieth test, the iron cannon was still standing and the crew was still alive. So, by own words, it was very much a resounding success.
Jan Mulder knew it judging by the stupid grin on his face. "a done deal, no?"

I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair resigned. "Those were my words. I'm still expecting it to suddenly explode and kill the crew."

"A healthy, understandable fear, your grace."

So, I now had a cannon. The problem is that manufacturing them is still very expensive, for now I will only ask for small cannons for land campaigns.
"Fifteen."

Jan Mulder looked at me strangely, an eyebrow raised up his hard face. "Your grace?"

"I want ten 6-pounders and five 12-pounders." I told him. "If you do this, then I consider our initial deal complete."

Jan Mulder nodded as he took in the information. "And of the agreement that we came to, your grace?"

" You will have a share in the arms company. I'll find respectable lords in the service of the crown for your sons...Joan and Michael, if I'm correct?"

He nodded his head, a gentle breeze sweeping across the both of them. "They already started receiving the training, they will be good squires."

I sighed with relief, the best thing is to have the biggest and most powerful weapon in Europe.

 

Charles VII, King of France.
Surroundings of Paris, January 1484
I was heading towards the camp of the royal army led by General Louis II of Trémoille, I had given him clear instructions for his recruitment and training.

The infantry will be trained following the model of the Spanish arquebusiers and the Swiss pikemen. The hunters will be armed with arquebuses, pistols and curved swords. The cuirassiers with cuirass and helmet, and the armament similar to that of the Polish hussars, a long lance and a long thin sword that can pierce thick armor.

The hooves of the horses made a rhythmic beating as we made our way down the king’s road. The road was wide enough to allow four ways to ride abreast, stone paved and metaled, whilst cambered for drainage when it rained.

I had severely underestimated how big the king lands where, but in my defense, scale had never been one of my things. Looking at the king lands on a map, they didn't seem all that big. It wasn't until I got to the road building that I realized how ridiculously big they were.

Roads were good. They provided with a rather efficient means of travel for trade goods, communications and if I had anything to do with it, armies. Of course, I had only focused on giving the king lands the sort of road system that I wanted.

I would be proud to boast that only the king lands had this sort of paved roads and I liked to think they were already beginning to pay themselves back. We had passed far more travelers on the roads than I could remember when the road was nothing more than a very well-trodden dirt path of some size.

We had travelled down the road from the Paris for some hours now and our destination was near enough in site. The black smoke in the distance rising slowly into the sky that I had spotted some time back was closer and darker now and further along the road, it branched off to turn into a field.

This particular road was half a well-worn out dirt track that had been ground out by the constant beating of boots, wheels and hooves upon it, whilst another half, closer to the road was much like the rest, paved stone and metaled.

"Your grace," duke of Bourbon called out from beside me. "We are here."

I forced myself back to reality from the depths of my mind and noticed indeed that we had very much appeared at the object of our destination. The fort was new and was still in construction in some parts, half-naked men busy working at wood, hacking and sawing away. The palisades made for an adequate enough defense, but eventually, that would be changed to stone at a later date.

Although it wasn't exactly what I had in mind, this particular military base was quickly on its way to coming into existence.

A guard on one of several watch towers blew a horn to tell of our approach.

The great wooden doors slowly swung upon, dragging earth and mud to allow us entrance into the fort. Inside the base, there was a single main road that led to the center of the base, beside on either side were orderly rolled tents of a white color and newly thrown up buildings of wooden huts and halls. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of men ran to and for.

In front of me at an intersection, I saw a lieutenant lead a group of young men on a jog through the camp, before randomly darting off into a sprint at some signal. In another open clearing, I saw another lieutenant prow the field bellowing out commands to recruits that were busy being made to do push-ups.

Down the main road we went, passing firing ranges that were filled with arquebusiers loading and firing bullets at a long distance. Spanish veteran sergeants, leading the training of arms to groups of men. At another intersection, we had to stop to allow a group of horsemen to ride past us towards another one of the gates at the other side of the fort.

They had gone by so quickly I didn't get a chance to count their numbers. I hoped that Trémoille had been able to keep to my original plan of how exactly each and every military unit was to be formed and how many men it had in it.

Little things like this did wonders for the logistical nightmare that were responsible for keeping the men fed and paid and supplied.

At the center of the base, I dismounted from my horse and unsurprisingly, Trémoille was already out to greet me. Dressed in uniform blue with golden trimmings and a similarly colored tricorne on his head.

He made his dislike for his hat as soon as possible when he took it off. "I don't care much for this."

I smiled at my good friend. "I think it looks dashing on you. Brings out your eyes."

Trémoille ignored that as his eyes peered past me to look at the troop of men that had served as my escort on this journey. "And you didn't bring the weapons I asked for?"

"I brought with me 1,000 arquebuses and half a dozen six-pounders and a couple of twelve-pounders." I replied. “do you plan to go to Paris soon?"

"Not until these battalions are sorted." He snorted, indicating at the base full of men being trained to kill and fight. He turned and began to lead me into the main building. "Swiss and Spanish sergeants have helped a lot in the training of the infantry."

I took a whiff of the air. "and the cavalry, how they adapt to the new way of fighting"

"armored cavalry is adapting to the use of long spears." He paused for a moment. "The light cavalry is practicing their marksmanship by firing the arquebus and pistols, although the training with the curved saber is costing them to learn."

"They will learn, the armored cavalry despite having less armor, the long spear and the new sword that pierces the armor will give them an advantage in battle." I was rather proud of the new units.

"I hope so, feudal knights have been training all their lives for war."

Inside the building, there were clerks that walked to and for, carrying to one task or another. The clerks served as something as close to a General Staff as I could remember. Of course, the clerks were more along the administrative staff, whilst the true General Staff was probably out and about doing stuff that was related to their particular path of service that Trémoille had assigned to them.

"Nicely built base, good friend."

Trémoille gave a grunt. "Serving with as a general in the previous war made me learn the value of a good camp. Latrines are down the river, and only drinking water can be taken from up the river, and boiled. The last thing I want is the dysentery in the camp and decimating the army before it has even fought a battle."

Speaking of men. "How many have you got?"

"Cavalry and infantry? Two thousand infantry, 500 arquebusiers and 1,500 armored pikemen. In cavalry we have five hundred, half armored cavalry and the other half light cavalry This Royal Army of yours is growing quick. Mostly young boys, but by the time I'm done with them, they will be better than any levy any one of the other lords would be able to rabble up together."

My good friend and the guy that I had put in charge of this entire army continued speaking. "Mind you though, two thousand five hundred isn't much of an army. Good enough numbers for a lord of some import, but not enough for a king."

"I plan to see to that." I told him, as we continued through the hall ways of the building. "I'm of the same mind that two thousand is a paltry number. What would you say is a reasonable number?"

"Preferably more than what your lords can call to arms."

"So you want me to have an army that is of a match for all the armies of the nobles assembled?" Twenty thousand was quite the number. Something I doubt I would have been able to sustain on a Medieval economy.

"No. Not that much. Preferably half." Trémoille led me into his office, Spartan in decoration, but functional and practical all the while. The only noticeable piece of furniture was a suit of armor at the size, stood at ghostly attention. "Like I've said, this lot you have me bringing up to something worthy of an army will be better than any of the half-assed levies that your other lords will be able to call to arms."

I rubbed at my chin in thought. "Ten thousand doesn't sound so bad." I admitted, but the question was though, would I be able to sustain that large a number? "Come across any troublesome lot yet?"

Trémoille offered me a drink which I declined before he answered my question. "A few, not much. Most of the recruits are nothing more than farm, they realized that they were going to earn more money in the army." He raised his cup to me. "Suppose that should be laid at your feet."

"The price of progress." Farm boys being sent away from the farm because of the fact that they weren't needed anymore was the least of my problems. At the very least, people were coming to work in my factories. Or joining my army. They at least got honest pay regularly. "I guess volunteers will not be lacking for the royal army".

"Yes, Your Majesty." the general replied. "So I have permission to increase the number of soldiers?"
"The recruitment begins, I need 10,000 soldiers for August, I will send you all the money and weapons you need" I replied before leaving

 

Royal Army

Cavalry

-Armored cavalry
Knight
They are the classic armored cavalry, in which the rider and horse are completely covered in steel, and carry a spear and sword for combat. nobles who trained from childhood, knights are the elite of any army.

Riding into battle on their noble war steeds, the knights are famous for carving paths of blood through the enemy ranks. The speed and mobility of the knights make them some of the most versatile warriors in France.

Cuirassiers
They have a breastplate above the breastplate and a helmet. They also carry a long straight sword (used against armored opponents), a armored long spear with pennant (pennant) superior in size to those used by medieval knights, war hammer, they do not have a shield to better handle the spear.

They break the enemy formation with the long spears, kopia, and used the sword which was basically an iron bar to pierce armor.

-Light cavalry
light riders
Also known as light horses, ginetes or ambushes, and referred to simply as lances with the decline of heavy cavalry, it is a type of cavalry similar to the previous one, but that used smaller horses, and that was not as strongly protected. , lacking protections their mounts, but playing the trump card of the shock at a gallop using their spears to break the opposing horsemen.
Hunters
Hunters are armed with at least one arquebus, three pairs of pistols, a curved sword and a dagger, and have leather armor.
They attack formations in waves firing arquebuses and their pistols and fall back to load their weapons, they also charge with their curved swords in flanking maneuvers or to pursue fleeing troops.

Infantry
The arquebusiers
It was the soldier armed with arquebus. Among the disadvantages of being an arquebusier was, in the first place, to acquire a weapon, because in the army of that time each soldier had to pay for his own equipment. He received lead and a mold to cast his own bullets.

The arquebus was a firearm of a size of 90 to 130 cm, with a weight of about 5 kg, which fired projectiles of 19 to 30 mm in diameter. Through a simple firing mechanism, the projectiles were fired at a speed of 200 meters per second, although, being a very imprecise weapon, its effective range was 70 to 90 meters at best.

Spanish arquebusiers were highly valued for their discipline and tactical flexibility. Quickness in loading and firing was fundamental, as well as observing fire discipline.

The armored pikemen
The figure of the pikemen was born from the imperious need to stop the armored cavalry that had a considerable boom during the Middle Ages and that was perpetuated with the charge of the new armored cavalry, especially the French cavalry that was capable of breaking an infantry formation.

The first pikemen were the Swiss, and soon all the western powers competed for their services. Later appeared the German lansquenets that used the same tactics and were employed by the Spanish Empire.

In terms of armament, they were equipped with a pike 26 palms (5.42 meters) long, preferably made of ash, of great flexibility, and weighed about 5 kg. As secondary armament they carried a roper sword that had a weight of one kilogram, the length varied according to the size of the person, and at one point its size was standardized by determining that the length of the blade plus the length of the arm should be equal to the height of the person.

Another secondary armament was a dagger. Spanish soldiers used to carry a rapier sword in the right hand and a dagger in the left. Specifically, the most famous dagger used by the Spaniards, also called misericordias with a triangular blade and with the hilt protected by a triangle of bulging metal in the shape of a sail.

They were protected by a coselete or armor, they were so called because in battle the sweat remained between the armor and the skin, leaving the clothes completely soaked. Their armor in the most complete case consisted of a helmet or celada that generally was the typical morrion, a breastplate or front part of the chest, a backplate or back part of the chest, the skirts or quijotes that protected the thighs, the braceras that protected the arms. The most protected were in the first rows. The weight of the armor was from 12 to 18 kilos.

OFFICERS
Constable: in charge of the entire army, the royal army and the troops of the nobles.
General: In charge of the royal army.
Coronel: command an entire division, all cavalry, all infantry or all mercenaries
Commander: command 5000-foot soldiers. (division)
Captain: command five hundred-foot soldiers. (battalion)
Lieutenant: command one hundred soldiers. (company)
Sergeant: command twenty soldiers. (squadron)

 

Amalric IV, Viscount of Châtellerault.
Orleans, April 1484

There were few things that Amalric liked in this world. Louis of Orleans wasn't one of them.

Orleans had summoned him all the way from Châtellerault, all apparently for the sake of making him stand in front of him for what seemed to be eternity as he worked away at the papers in front of him. The only words that he had spoken ever since he had made his appearance was for him to enter his office.

That was just typical of duke of Orleans in truth. His sheer arrogance knew no bounds and something that always grated on him. Especially now. How long was he going to make him wait?

"Louis," Amalric began slowly as Orleans continued to scribble away on the parchment in front of him, blue eyes darting to one document at the side every once in a while. "I'm sure you are a very busy man, but you are not the only man with things to do in France."

Louis didn't even bother to glance in his direction.

Amalric breathed in deeply to remain composed. There was no need to get into one of their arguments here and who knows who maybe listening. Although he would like to face Orleans, he had promised wife that he would try to be on the best of his behavior.

Eventually, Louis II, Duke of Orleans, blood prince of France, in all his glory stopped scribbling his letters and slid them to the side. He clasped his fingers together in front of him, elbows resting on the table and those blue finally deigned to look at him.

"Amalric."

Was all that he was going to get in terms of recognition? Fine, if he wanted to play that game.

"Louis." He returned just as coolly. Now it was a game of who was going to break first. A game that he always lost, yet always played, if nothing more for the sake of pride.

To his surprise, Louis actually broke first. "I have a task for you. A task that I'm sure you will revel in. Suited to your particular strengths."

Well, he supposed now he was interested. This was going to be at the very least, interesting. "What do you want me to exactly?" He asked.

Louis moved a hand to the side to drag a piece of paper, not parchment, he noticed to the front of his desk. Amalric picked it up and noticed it was one of those recruiting posters he had seen plastered throughout France.

"I'm sure you have heard that the king is currently building a Royal Army."

"Who hasn't?" The rumors had been quick enough to reach Châtellerault and they were confirmed on the road when he first saw the posters as he made his way down to Orleans. "What of it?" He had a feeling of where this was going.

"You will infiltrate several of your numerous nephews in the king's army"

And his feeling was proven correct. Amalric smiled as he crossed his arms. Well, wasn't this rather interesting. "What are you worried about Louis? That the king put an end to your intrigues with his army?"

"I'm worried about nothing, Amalric." Currently my army together with the Duke of Brittany and the nobles of the south outnumber the army of the king and his allies, I just want to know if I can wait or start the rebellion while I am stronger."

Still though, Amalric couldn't help but smirk. "I remember once you said that you could beat the king without any problems. What has changed?"

"Nothing has changed." Louis rebuked him with iron tones. "But now we will have to make alliances for that, I will need you to meet in person with Emperor Maximilian I of Holy Roman Empire." He stopped as he shook his head. "We will need your troops and that of the Duke of Lorraine to ensure victory."

Louis continued to babble on. "Promise him whatever it takes for Maximilian to join our side in the war."

"And if it doesn't?"

Louis slid his letters back to the front of him. "do everything possible to achieve it, if not you can forget about your viscount title
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Charles VII, King of France.
Paris, 15 September 1484

By July I was finally finished with the reformation of my royal army. it had taken the better part of year to complete and had cost many gold shields, but it was finally done.

I had 10,000 formidable modern troops, these troops were copies of the best units in Europe, Swiss pikemen, Spanish arquebusiers, Polish armored cavalry and German light cavalry.

Finally, by August, the Road System reached Marseille and Cherbourg, connecting the most important cities of my realms together that would ensure smooth transit of both commerce and troops throughout France.

I had finally finished the weapons training with the Duke of Bourbon so we had a big ceremony in which I was knighted. Even more to be proud of.

Of course, in Mid-September two pieces of news reached me, the first was the rebellion of Orleans, it seems that Orleans had been promising and threatening the nobles of the south of France so that they would accompany him in his rebellion, he was currently in Limoges with 15,000 troops and the Duke of Brittany was marching with 5,000 troops towards Blois.

It seems that both nobles wished to meet in Blois and march towards Paris.

The other piece of news was from Holy Roman Empire news was that Emperor Maximilian I had sealed an alliance with the Duke of Lorraine to seize my Duchy of Champagne, according to reports the Duke of Lorraine had gathered 4,000 troops and expected 8,000 reinforcements from Maximilian before marching.

To everyone's surprise, Philip's regents, Count of Flanders and son of Maximilian declared the neutrality of the Burgundian lands.

I decided to summon the nobles loyal to the war and order all the council members to a meeting for ten days.

Anna of France, Viscounts of Tours.
Paris, 25 September 1484

"My king, the troops of the Duke of Bourbon have just arrived." she informed the King as they sat in the Small Council chamber. "We currently have 8,000 troops of the council nobles gathered in Paris, more will arrive soon."

King Charles had always been a king more concerned with government than with entertainment but there was nothing dull about the look he directed at her. "and the southern nobles?"

"Orleans has bribed the southern nobles with land from the king," she informed him. "Only the nobles of the council have responded to the call, several nobles are waiting for the upcoming battle to decide which side to support."

"that was to be expected," Alençon said quietly. "Well, I cannot say I am surprised."

"and the duke of Lorraine has already started to march?" asked Bourbon as he arrived. " have Austrian troops joined him?"

"It seems that Maximillian is late to join Lorraine, the duke will not leave until his reinforcements arrive. Several nobles promise that their troops will arrive in the next few weeks."
Bourbon took a seat and listened to Anna's report. Then he shook his head. "Orleans will not wait for the reinforcements of the other nobles to arrive, he will advance towards Paris to capture the king, we only have to join the royal army and advance to meet him."

"We can hire mercenaries from Switzerland and Germany, we have enough gold in the treasury." Alençon said

"We can also summon more troops from our dukedoms, in two weeks we can have twice as many troops." Montpensier said

"We don't have time, in a week Orleans will be in Paris and Lorraine will start destroying the champagne dukedom." Charles looked to Lady Anna. "what do you think aunt?"

"My king, is bit risky, the rebels outnumber us, it would be better to wait in Paris for reinforcements." She pursed her lips. "But we also risk Lorraine joining Orleans in his rebellion, its your decision my king."

"Today we will march and join the royal army," Charles decided. "He's old enough and the experience may do him good."

Anna nodded thoughtfully. She'd been watching Charles as a ruler for year, but this would be her first sight of him as warlord.

"We'll assemble the eastern armies at Chartres," Charles decided. "It's near enough to the royal road and central enough we can get there without difficulty and the Gods know it's large enough to shelter an army."

Bourbon nodded. "It's fortunate that you had the roads repaired. The battle will be on the Chartres plain?"

"It is an open field suitable for cavalry, Orleans will not resist giving us a fight, and when all the traitors are together, we will crush them. “the king said as he stuck his knife into the map.
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