Author's note: This alternate history is finished, and had been for nearly a year now. I'm just now moving it from my account on DeviantArt to here. I do apologize for large sizes (and they do get very large). I'm also just copying-and-pasting the descriptions for the most part, so I apologize for choppy descriptions
edit: Do the size of the images, I removed them entirely, just leaving the links to the images.
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Map 1000AD
From 400 AD-1000AD
So starting in the 6th century, the Sklavin people (modern day Yugoslavs) started to pour into Serbia and Red Croatia. The Sklavin united and were baptized under Jovan I Jovanovic. After a long fought campaign against the Byzantine Empire, the Patriarch in Constantinople decided to move to Stari Ras, the capital, and declared Jovan II as Eastern Roman Emperor, the Sklavin Emperor.
But after the Islamic Arab conquests of Asian and African parts of the old Byzantine Empire, the Sklavin emperor Miroslav saw an opportunity in having them as allies, deciding to cover to Islam.
Unfortunately for Miroslav, his heir, Milovoj, didn't convert so this led to long succession of back and forth Sunni Islam and Orthodox Christian emperors. Milovoj went and conquered the Carpathian Basin and Bulgaria, and also started to cast influence over Great Moravia, leading to conflict with the Holy Roman Emperor.
The Carpathian Basin, along with East Bulgaria, generally became more Muslim, while the Greek territories, Albania, and Serbia became Orthodox Christian, and Red Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia became Catholic Christian. Generally, the three get along, although every once and a while a crazy emperor from either the Orthodox Branch or the Muslim Branch would go on a persecuting everyone not of their Branch.
The Sklavin Empire, just like the Holy Roman Empire, is an electorate. Most of the time, the King of Serbia would be elected. But the Kingdom of Serbia itself is an electorate, so the Duke of Stari Ras would be elected King of Serbia, and then Emperor, although the Duke of Draingrade (Adrianople/ Edirne), Grand Duke of Croatia, and King over Hellas have all been elected Emperor
Note on 15: The Adriatic League is the biggest rival of Venice, so much so that the Adriatic League can go to war with Venice without provoking the Holy Roman Emperor, while Venice can't go to war with the Adriatic League without provoking the Sklavin emperor. This means that the Adriatic can expand their trade, even into Venetian territories, without fear of war with Venice
Note on 27: I know they don't actually control the city of Varna, the Prince there still claims to be the Prince over it.
Map 1300
1000 AD-1300 AD:
Since then a lot has changed. Firstly, the Byzantine Empire fell to the Sklavin emperor, who moved his capital to Constantinople, renamed Konstantgrade. But, almost immediately after, the Sklavin Emperor started to lose his legitimacy for not being the Emperor in Stari Ras, and this allowed for the rise of Croatia and Bulgaria, who now make up the two major camps in the Sklavin Empire. It's no longer a competition between competing religions, but rather a more secular conflict. Since the capture of Constantinople, Bulgaria, Croatia, and their respective allies have been trying to get influence over the Emperor (Who has no real power, but with his legal power Croatia and Bulgaria could effectively try to destroy each other).
Along with the Rise of Croatian and Bulgaria came the fall of the former centers of the Empire, Serbia and Greece. Serbia fell to it's decentralization when the Emperor moved to Constantinople, but Greece has a longer story. After the Emperor moved to Constantinople, he tried to organize the conquered territories and maybe get a close ally out of it. He decided to unite all of the islands out of the Adriatic under one king, called the King of the Isles or King of the Aegean, and all of mainland Greece under the King over Hellas, but doing this required the Emperor to steal and redistribute many territories, ruining his reputation making him and his successors seem even more illegitimate. The Kingdoms of the Isles and Over Hellas fell apart not long after.
Map 1450
1300-1450:
Another 150 years have passed since the last part, and oh my how much has happened. In 1322, war broke out between the competing Croatian and Bulgarian factions. The young prince Mirov of Nitra, ally of Croatia, saw a moment of oppurtunity. He annexed two Bulgarian allies, then for the most part dropped out of the war. He went then and invaded Bohemia, still wretched in a conflict over influence between the Slavin and Holy Roman emperors. After Mirov of Nitra beat and conquered the Bohemians, he went with a small band, supposedly during a strike of madness, challenged the ruling Slavin emperor to a dual, winner becomes/ stays emperor. Mirov won and became emperor. After this, the Croatians and Bulgarians stopped their wars, seeing the rising threat of Mirov and declared war on Mirov, and only a few months later the Holy Roman Emperor declared war, wanting to punish Mirov for the Bohemian Affair. Shockingly, Emperor Mirov beat both the rebels and the Holy Roman Empire simultaneously. After this, Mirov turned his eyes every which direction, defeating the Turks and taking west Anatolia, invading and conquering the island of Sicily, and finally the south Crimea.
On a much more domestic scale, he tore apart Croatia and Bulgaria, while uniting many other kingdoms and duchies once again. Mirov declared that he and his descendants will be the only Slavin Emperors, and they reserved the right to choose the successor to their lesser vassals or overthrow the ruling vassal. Mirov centralized the Empire on a scale of Louis XIV, but Mirov was often seen as mad and tyrannical. In order to unite the Empire under fewer vassals, he challenged many to duels, and half of them just gave up their land without a fight because they knew they would lose. It is said that Mirov did eventually die in a dual at the age 82 with own son. The Curse of Mirov and his craziness kept his immediate successors in check, maybe too much as his empire once again decentralized.
Mirov's craziness went far outside of politics. It is said that Mirov converted to Islam just for the benefit of having four wives. Later in his life, he claimed he was the second coming, and if it weren't for the fact he was a very dangerous kind of crazy, most people would have just ignored him, but instead he forced people to practically pray to him as God, and sometimes it even stuck to others' heads as truth.
In the 1440's Konrad Strohkirch invented the Printing Press (instead of Johannes Gutenburg). Konrad, as a follower of Mirov's invented religion, decided to make his first book to be the Book of Duelers, which spoke of basically nothing but good of Mirov the Dueler (Is it just me, or this the world's first cult of personality?) Konrad printed this book in three languages: Slovak (Mirov's native language, later called Moravian), Konrad own native Austrian German (Thus uniting the German Language under Austrian German), and Croatian Slaveni, uniting the Yugoslav language
Mirov's reign was arguably the most important since Miroslav, and his reign made sure that Moravian was the lingua franca of all lands east of the Oder, and Mirov was once called the most brilliant tactician and strategist to ever live. Now has come the age of the Mirovichs.
Note on 3: I meant Carinthia, not Carpathia
Map 1550
1450-1550:
So a hundred years have passed since the last part, and 222 years since the Duel where Mirov became Emperor. In those 100 years, the Mirovichs have gained more and more power, although divided between four kingdoms: Morava, Crimea, Anatolia, and Sicily.
In 1511, the ruling Piast dynasty of Poland died out and gave power to Casimir Rawa, second paternal cousin to the last Piast, but Mirov IV of the Slavin Empire and Morava claimed, as first maternal cousin, himself as King of Poland. Much of the rest of the Mirovichs supported their kinsman, but a coalition of the Holy Roman Empire, Francia, England, and Arabia came to the rescue of Poland, starting the war of Polish Succession. The war lasted about 35 years, before finally Mirov IV won and became Mirov I of Poland. The war was most famous for the first use of fire arms by any European Power that paved the way to Mirovich victory.
But bad clouds are forming over Slavia, a war even worse then the War of Polish Succession could be brewing...
Map 1650
1550-1650:
Now, let's back track: During the war of the Polish Succession, the Arabs invaded Greece and Greek Anatolia, causing much damage to Greek Settlements. The Greeks fled to many corners of Europe, bringing their knowledge with them, and finally, the Europeans begun a new great age of thought. In 1572, the Norwegians, remembering the tales of Erik the Red and Leif Eriksson, they rediscovered the Americas (Named Levia, after Leif Eriksson).
Not to long after, reformation occurred in the Catholic and Duelerist Churches. The Duelerist Church saw major rewriting in the Duelerist Book of Duelers (Not to be confused with the Christian Book of Duelers), which said that any given point in time, there must be two people who rule the world (said to be born with the soul with a great god, or that the soul gets transfered to them when the last great leader dies), competing with each other (the 'world' part is exaggerated, they just mean two very powerful leaders) This was done to glorify the house of Mirovich (especially Mirov the Dueller), who were considered invincible. But, the Mirovichs, once again, have unintentionally set up a loophole for the transfer power to other, and sometimes competing, nations). The other will be explained here soon
In the Catholic Church, many people bordering the Slavin Empire's north (Germany, Poland, the Baltic States), so influenced by Duelerism, made their own version of Duelerism and wrote their own Book of Duelers to the Bible. This book just reinforced that God and Satan are in eternal struggle of power. Other reformers jumped off from this.
Stari Ras War
But, we were talking about loopholes, so talking about loopholes, in 1584, a loophole took effect the main house of Mirovich feared would be exploited. In 1584, a group of rebels took control of Stari Ras, and crowned an elected official as Emperor of Slavia. See, the loophole is that: Stari Ras will be hereditary, and the title 'Slavin Emperor' is tied to who rules Stari Ras (initially intending it to just pass from Mirovich to Mirovich), but if someone conquered or took control of Stari Ras, the conquerors could officially be Slavin Emperor.
Mirov VI quickly rushed to take power back from 'Viktor I,' but other leaders saw their chance to rise, and all rushed to take Stari Ras, starting the Stari Ras War. (by the way, the number of 'sides' in the war is so numerous that GoT's war of Five Kings seems strait-forward, although the main sides ultimately consolidated into the 'Mirovics' 'Karlins' (of the HRE), and the lesser 'Viktorics').
The war made the sides rush up and down the Slaven Empire, and it's often stated the Poland Burned (thus this war, along with the War of the Polish Succession and the next war jointly called 'The Burning of Europe), along with Morava, Slovakia, Carinthia, and so on. In 1602, after 18 years of fighting, the HRE invaded Poland (again), and in the Nine battles of Posen, the Mirov VII (Mirov VI had died by this point) lost, and retreated back to Krakow, where, the Anatolian, Crimean, and Italian Kings (but emphasis on the Anatolian) came and helped defeat the Holy Roman Forces. When Mirov VII came to thank his distant cousins, the King of Anatolia approached him and threw down his crown, claiming it was 'illegitimate.' The Crimean and Italian Kings followed suit, and even the dukes and kings of Greece threw down their crowns. No one else dare do it. In this act known as the 'Illegitimate Crowns,' jointly with the Nine battles of Posen, this was sceen as the beginning of the end of the Slavin Empire.
The lesser Mirovichs did help their cousin win back Stari Ras however, saying they have to finish what they started. The Stari Ras War ended with Viktor I captured and beheaded in 1607. After the war, the Kings of Anatolia, Crimea, Italy, and Greece crafted new crowns, while the 'illegitimate crowns' were given to the sons of Mirov VII. This did cause some tension as the Kings of the respective lands feared Mirov VII would try to give their lands to his sons. And the Greeks, with their own country, returned from the corners of Europe back to Greece.
War of the Italian Succession
Calm stayed for about twenty years, when the King of Italy (who had by this point conquered the entire Italian Peninsula) died without an heir. He left his kingdom to his nobles who elect the next king (but only the next king, and it had to have a majority, not just the most). In Naples and Sicily, a the Mirovichs had longed ruled and had been a benefit there, along with a large amount of Duelerists there, and so they naturally wanted a Mirovich on the throne, ultimately coming up with Mirov VII third son Dusan (who, maybe coincidentally, wore the illegitimate crown of Italy). The North, on the other hand, had only been under Mirovich rule for a short while and still had a distaste for them, not to mention they were mostly Catholic. They had no united house or even country they supported, they just didn't want a Mirovich on the throne.
The Two side met in Naples for the election process, but as weeks, then months went by with no majority, the South and North started raids against each other, until finally the South pulled a Louis XVI and locked the North out of the meeting. The South, by itself, then declared Dusan Mirovich as King of Italy, while the North went into another room and miraculously and unanimously declared Louis XII's third son Charles as King of Italy. In 1628 Mirov VII and surprisingly the King of Anatolia nad Crimea quickly came to the help of Naples, and Louis XII came to the help of Lombardy. The HRE, still remembering the Stari Ras War, stayed out of the conflict, but Spain did come to the help of France.
The first two years of the war was focused in Central Italy, but as the war went on the war became focused further north in the Po Valley, as French and Slavin forces chased each other up and down the valley in the 'Burning of Italy.' Eventually, in 1640, the Mirovichs were defeated decisively enough to rush back down to Naples, of which Louis XII chased down vigoursly. The Mirovich army was defeated in the battle of Naples, and in the treaty of Paris (1541), Mirov VII conceded that Charles of France was King of Italy. In the two years after, Charles's older brothers mysteriously died until Charles was the Hier of France.
Not long after the war, Mirov VII 'the Defeated' died and was replaced by Mirov VIII, a man who saw the Mirovichs were no longer one of the Two Duelers (although this isn't yet neccasarly true), and he would convert to Christianity, the first since Mirov the Dueler
Velige Huisvesting
Now, I know what you're thinking, what about the newly discovered Americas?
The colonization of the Americas is... weird, to say the least. While Countries like Celtica and the Netherlands dominate Levia politically, domestically, it's much different. The best way to describe is Velige Huisvesting, or in English 'Safe Housing.' To describe it, let's use the master of Velige Huisvesting (or just Huisvesting for short), the Dutch. First, you take two countries in war, especially a harsh war like the Stari Ras War. You offer citizens of the participants free passage to Dutch Levia, where you can own property, farm, or maybe start a shop. Once you're in Dutch Levia, you pay a 'small safety charge,' essentially a slightly larger tax. Once the war is over, you offer the citizens a ride back to their home country, but it's expensive, more expensive then the average peasant would ever get. Once you find this out (and technically, even before) you can become an official citizen of Dutch Levia, which lowers your taxes. If you become a citizen of Dutch Levia before the war is over, the fee for the ship back to your home land quadruples (more or less).
Because of the oddity of having so many races together in one place (from Norway to Arabia, from Portugal to Russia, you can find anyone), a large amount of information is quickly spread throughout the Americas. Two of the five largest universities in the known world are in Levia (Dutch Bermuda's University of Athena and Norwegian Newfoundland's Saint Albert University) and you it's quite common to see tri-lingual communities, the only cities known in Levia to have only one very dominant language is Neu Bremen (87% speak only German) and Mirovgrad (78% speak Croatian-Slavin)
Now, at the end of an era, France is gaining dominance over Europe, being called the Gaullic Empire, while the Slavin Emperor retreats into isolation
Map 1790
1650-1790:
It has been Sixty years since the War of the Italian Succesion, and Emperor Mirov VIII has just died. During his reign, he rarely exited his palaces in Mirgrad or Stari Ras (mostly believed to leave only to go to the other palace). The Lesser kingdoms have fallen apart, as Mirov VIII refused to choose a successor to the kingdom (As the Mirovich Emperor alone had the power to choose a successor to a Kingdom), so now the lesser kingdoms have fallen to civil war to find their successor. Davor Jovanovich, Duke of Raska, wrote it as, "The Vassal Kings gained their legitimacy through the hand of the Mirovichs. With that hand withdrawn, the kingdoms have fallen to pieces."
At the same time, upon the death of Louis XII, his kingdom passed to his son, Charles I and XI of Italy and France, informally creating the Gaullic Empire. Charles I-XI, and later his son Louis I-XIII, expanded their empire by annexing the Netherlands, Catalonia, and the West Rhine, making the Pope their personal Puppet, and even successfully invading England and Tunis before being pushed back. Louis I-XIII converted to Duelerism, despite the wishes of the Lombards who chose the French as their leader specifically to have a Catholic Lord.
War of Three Romes
Upon the death of Mirov VIII, and the rise of Mirov IX, Moravia began forming a coalition against the Gaullic Empire, gathering Iberia, Celtica, the Holy Roman Empire, the rebellious Lombard and Sicilian Vassals, and the Dutch Nobles who lost their territory in the the Gaullic conquest of the Lowlands. In 1722, the Coalition declared war, and the War of Three Romes (Slavin Rome, Holy Rome, and Gaullic Rome) began.
For twelve years, the French and the Coalition made war, and the French were decisively defeated in the Battle of Marseilles. In the Treaty of Paris (1735) France broke up into several parts: Catalonia gained independence, ruled by a cousin of Louis XIII, and same with Lombardy. Sicily gained independence under a cousin of Mirov IX, and the Netherlands regained independence under it's former ruling house. The Rhine Territory and Lorraine would be returned to the Holy Roman Empire. The Pope was able to escape it's puppet-ude. The treaty itself was negotiated between the heirs of Louis XIII and Mirov IX (Dauphin Charles and Prince Mirov, respectively), whom became good friends their, despite them being on opposite sides. It was even at Paris in 1735, that they started plotting.
War of German Independence
It took twenty years, but in 1755, both of them had rose to the throne of their respective land, and as soon as both had their thrones, they started negotiations with the Holy Roman Empire over returning the French speaking Lorraine to France, and Saxony to Moravia, in return of continued independence of the Holy Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Emperor agreed.
It wasn't even two years later that Charles XII and Mirov X went to Milan to negotiate a further division of the Holy Roman Empire, inviting Lombardy, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the Slavin Vassal of Carinthia. It just so happened a minor German noble was vacationing in Milan, and heard of the conference, and was able to sneak in as observer. He, from there, ran quickly to Brunswick, the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, and told the HREmperor of the French and Moravian plans. The Emperor, fearing that it might ultimately result in the loss of his sovereignty, then marched on Milan, planning on breaking up the conference. The conference did break apart, and Lombardy was occupied, with the Holy Roman Empire planning to integrate Lombardy back into the Empire.
Thus began the War of German Independence. A year later, the Slavins and the French retook Lombardy for the Lombards, and then came tough battling in the Rhine Region and Brandenburg. In 1755, peace came as the Emperor was captured in the Battle of Brunswick. In the resulting peace, all land west of the Rhine (plus areas east of the Rhine around Koln and Strasburg) went to France, a small sliver went to Lombardy, Oldenburg went to the Netherlands, Bavaria went to the pre-mentioned Slavin vassal, Mecklenburg and Holstein went to Denmark, and Brandenburg and Pomerania went to Moravia. The Holy Roman Emperor was also forced to destroy the title of the Holy Roman Empire, leaving him with only the title of King of the Germans.
Rise of the United Caliphate
Some years later, in 1776, the Kingdom of Anatolia experienced an anti-Duelerist Revolution, culminating in 1777 with the capture of the Royal Palace and the execution of the royal family (with the exception of the kids, who could still be saved). The rebels declared the United Caliphate under God, and declared their one and only goal was to end Duelerism and save the Christians and Muslims being ruled by Duelerist heathens. Mirov X tried to form a coalition against the Caliphate, but failed to do so. The Caliphate then started to march against other nations, allowing the local rulers to continue to rule (if they were Christians/ Muslims/ Jews) as long as the United Caliph became the lord over these local rulers, and that all Duelerists converted to Islam, Christianity, or Judaism.
In 1784, Mirov X died and his underage son Johan was made Emperor under the regent of Charles
In other news, do to the breakdown of the Kingdom of Croatia, New Croatia in Levia (Americas) also broke down. In order to keep safety in New Croatia, the Croatan Revolution occurred (Named after the local Croatan, or Croatoan, tribe), forming the Croatan Republic, independent of the former Kingdom of Croatia and the Slavin Empire. And due to the recent Anatolian Revolution, many Duelerists in the empire started to convert to Christian Duelerism.
*Note on the Culture Map: This map represents what the people would call themselves, not realistic cultures. So England would realistically have one culture, but the people there consider themselves different from each other. There are two exceptions to this though: The Italians, Lombard or Sicilian, consider themselves Italian, despite being very different from each other and even hating each other. The other exception is the Turks and Arabians, which would have by this point started calling themselves simply as Muslims or Abrahamics.
Map 1828
1790-1828:
In 1792, the United Caliphate Under God attacked the Slavin Empire. The Regent, Charles of Nitra went to battle the United Caliphate, but by the time he reached the Caliphate's Army, just south of Stari Ras, Anti-Duelerist Rebels had joined the Caliphate's army in such numbers that the army of Charles was nearly completely destroyed. Only Charles and some of his elite guard were able to escape. The United Caliphate from there went on to conquer all of the Slavin Empire not under direct Moravian control, along with Stari Ras. Charles of Nitra failed to form a coalition against the Caliphate, most notably being cold-shouldered by the ageing Charles XII of France.
For the next ten years, the United Caliphate would further expand it's empire, expanding from Algiers and Milan to Khorasan and Somalia. Young Johan IV was declared old enough to rule 1795, and in 1798, he declared himself Emperor of Morava, as so he can still realistically call himself Emperor.
In 1801, the United Caliphate invaded France and Charles XII of France called for a gathering of the great rulers of Europe (Johan IV of Slavia and Morava, Frederick VIII of Denmark, Philip VI of Iberia, William V of the Netherlands, Francis III of Lombardy (of which had been taken from him three years earlier), Malcom V of Celtica, and many others), in hopes they can save him and his kingdom. What happened was the conference of Reims, or the First Conference of Champions, in which the rulers of Europe tried to decide the future of the Continent. Johan IV dominated the conference, making many demands or else declaring Morava would not intervene in saving France (although Johan would in fact intervene no matter what, but might as well get something out of the conference). Charles XII's heir, Prince Louis, acted as delegate for the old and infirm Charles, and was pushed aside by Johan. Johan was able to get away with many of his demands, most notably becoming King of Germany, pushing aside Charles VII of Germany. At the end of the conference in 1802, Morava, Celtica, Netherlands, Iberia, and Denmark all went to war with the United Caliphate in a war that would come to be known as the Final Duel, for reasons here to come.
While the conference of Reims was going on, the Caliphate army was chasing the French army across the Midi (seriously, Charles XII and young Prince Louis told the army to go around in circles waiting for any support to come). And at the battle of Toulouse, French, Moravian, Iberian and Dutch forces fought and defeated the United Caliphate, their first defeat. The Coalition from their chased the Caliphate across the Midi, Lombardy, Illyria and Balkans, major battles going on the whole course, as the Caliphate consistently reinforced their army. In other parts of the United Caliphate, the former lords rose to declare independence from what they considered a nation that stole their power. In 1805, Charles XII of France died, and Prince Louis ascended as Louis XIV.
Finally, in 1808 the Coalition chased the Caliphate across the Bosporus, and at Constantinople the second Conference of Champions was held. At the very start of the conference, they declared all the members of the conference would be known as 'the Champion' (Johan the Champion, Frederick the Champion, Louis the Champion, so on). The conference itself, though, was the exact opposite of what happened in Reims only a couple years earlier. Louis XIV of France dominated the conference by pulling together a coalition against Moravia. King Louis and his coalition at Constantinople declared the Slavin Empire destroyed, to be turned into three successor countries: the Empire of Morava, the Slavin Confederation, and the Danubian Confederation. The United Caliphate under God would stay independent as the Caliphate of Anatolia, and the rump German state would be controlled by the Netherlands as a personal Union. Johan IV was powerless to stop Louis XIV.
When the Champions returned home, though, there was still many anti-duelerist rebellions. Duelerism had gone on too long, and by 1820, all the major noble had converted back to some form of Christianity, except for Johan. Johan, in Anno Duellum 500, 1828 AD, declared the centuries' long duel had ended, and converted to Christianity, and true Duelerism, for the most part, fell apart (the exception being the Tatars).
The world is truly a different place then it was 50 years ago, much less 500 or 1000.
The Slavin Empire is now dead, but it's former heart still beats, Stari Ras. Stari Ras has lived with the Slavs for a thousand years now, and will continue to live for another thousands of years. It was at Stari Ras, oh so ancient, that Greatness was created, Greatness was forgotten, and Greatness was rediscovered. It was at Stari Ras where Gods were born, where Gods had lived, and where Gods have died. Who knows what the next thousand years have for Stari Ras? - Davor Javonovich, Duke of Raška and direct descendant of Jovan I, Slavin Emperor
edit: Do the size of the images, I removed them entirely, just leaving the links to the images.
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Map 1000AD
From 400 AD-1000AD
So starting in the 6th century, the Sklavin people (modern day Yugoslavs) started to pour into Serbia and Red Croatia. The Sklavin united and were baptized under Jovan I Jovanovic. After a long fought campaign against the Byzantine Empire, the Patriarch in Constantinople decided to move to Stari Ras, the capital, and declared Jovan II as Eastern Roman Emperor, the Sklavin Emperor.
But after the Islamic Arab conquests of Asian and African parts of the old Byzantine Empire, the Sklavin emperor Miroslav saw an opportunity in having them as allies, deciding to cover to Islam.
Unfortunately for Miroslav, his heir, Milovoj, didn't convert so this led to long succession of back and forth Sunni Islam and Orthodox Christian emperors. Milovoj went and conquered the Carpathian Basin and Bulgaria, and also started to cast influence over Great Moravia, leading to conflict with the Holy Roman Emperor.
The Carpathian Basin, along with East Bulgaria, generally became more Muslim, while the Greek territories, Albania, and Serbia became Orthodox Christian, and Red Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia became Catholic Christian. Generally, the three get along, although every once and a while a crazy emperor from either the Orthodox Branch or the Muslim Branch would go on a persecuting everyone not of their Branch.
The Sklavin Empire, just like the Holy Roman Empire, is an electorate. Most of the time, the King of Serbia would be elected. But the Kingdom of Serbia itself is an electorate, so the Duke of Stari Ras would be elected King of Serbia, and then Emperor, although the Duke of Draingrade (Adrianople/ Edirne), Grand Duke of Croatia, and King over Hellas have all been elected Emperor
Note on 15: The Adriatic League is the biggest rival of Venice, so much so that the Adriatic League can go to war with Venice without provoking the Holy Roman Emperor, while Venice can't go to war with the Adriatic League without provoking the Sklavin emperor. This means that the Adriatic can expand their trade, even into Venetian territories, without fear of war with Venice
Note on 27: I know they don't actually control the city of Varna, the Prince there still claims to be the Prince over it.
Map 1300
1000 AD-1300 AD:
Since then a lot has changed. Firstly, the Byzantine Empire fell to the Sklavin emperor, who moved his capital to Constantinople, renamed Konstantgrade. But, almost immediately after, the Sklavin Emperor started to lose his legitimacy for not being the Emperor in Stari Ras, and this allowed for the rise of Croatia and Bulgaria, who now make up the two major camps in the Sklavin Empire. It's no longer a competition between competing religions, but rather a more secular conflict. Since the capture of Constantinople, Bulgaria, Croatia, and their respective allies have been trying to get influence over the Emperor (Who has no real power, but with his legal power Croatia and Bulgaria could effectively try to destroy each other).
Along with the Rise of Croatian and Bulgaria came the fall of the former centers of the Empire, Serbia and Greece. Serbia fell to it's decentralization when the Emperor moved to Constantinople, but Greece has a longer story. After the Emperor moved to Constantinople, he tried to organize the conquered territories and maybe get a close ally out of it. He decided to unite all of the islands out of the Adriatic under one king, called the King of the Isles or King of the Aegean, and all of mainland Greece under the King over Hellas, but doing this required the Emperor to steal and redistribute many territories, ruining his reputation making him and his successors seem even more illegitimate. The Kingdoms of the Isles and Over Hellas fell apart not long after.
Map 1450
1300-1450:
Another 150 years have passed since the last part, and oh my how much has happened. In 1322, war broke out between the competing Croatian and Bulgarian factions. The young prince Mirov of Nitra, ally of Croatia, saw a moment of oppurtunity. He annexed two Bulgarian allies, then for the most part dropped out of the war. He went then and invaded Bohemia, still wretched in a conflict over influence between the Slavin and Holy Roman emperors. After Mirov of Nitra beat and conquered the Bohemians, he went with a small band, supposedly during a strike of madness, challenged the ruling Slavin emperor to a dual, winner becomes/ stays emperor. Mirov won and became emperor. After this, the Croatians and Bulgarians stopped their wars, seeing the rising threat of Mirov and declared war on Mirov, and only a few months later the Holy Roman Emperor declared war, wanting to punish Mirov for the Bohemian Affair. Shockingly, Emperor Mirov beat both the rebels and the Holy Roman Empire simultaneously. After this, Mirov turned his eyes every which direction, defeating the Turks and taking west Anatolia, invading and conquering the island of Sicily, and finally the south Crimea.
On a much more domestic scale, he tore apart Croatia and Bulgaria, while uniting many other kingdoms and duchies once again. Mirov declared that he and his descendants will be the only Slavin Emperors, and they reserved the right to choose the successor to their lesser vassals or overthrow the ruling vassal. Mirov centralized the Empire on a scale of Louis XIV, but Mirov was often seen as mad and tyrannical. In order to unite the Empire under fewer vassals, he challenged many to duels, and half of them just gave up their land without a fight because they knew they would lose. It is said that Mirov did eventually die in a dual at the age 82 with own son. The Curse of Mirov and his craziness kept his immediate successors in check, maybe too much as his empire once again decentralized.
Mirov's craziness went far outside of politics. It is said that Mirov converted to Islam just for the benefit of having four wives. Later in his life, he claimed he was the second coming, and if it weren't for the fact he was a very dangerous kind of crazy, most people would have just ignored him, but instead he forced people to practically pray to him as God, and sometimes it even stuck to others' heads as truth.
In the 1440's Konrad Strohkirch invented the Printing Press (instead of Johannes Gutenburg). Konrad, as a follower of Mirov's invented religion, decided to make his first book to be the Book of Duelers, which spoke of basically nothing but good of Mirov the Dueler (Is it just me, or this the world's first cult of personality?) Konrad printed this book in three languages: Slovak (Mirov's native language, later called Moravian), Konrad own native Austrian German (Thus uniting the German Language under Austrian German), and Croatian Slaveni, uniting the Yugoslav language
Mirov's reign was arguably the most important since Miroslav, and his reign made sure that Moravian was the lingua franca of all lands east of the Oder, and Mirov was once called the most brilliant tactician and strategist to ever live. Now has come the age of the Mirovichs.
Note on 3: I meant Carinthia, not Carpathia
Map 1550
1450-1550:
So a hundred years have passed since the last part, and 222 years since the Duel where Mirov became Emperor. In those 100 years, the Mirovichs have gained more and more power, although divided between four kingdoms: Morava, Crimea, Anatolia, and Sicily.
In 1511, the ruling Piast dynasty of Poland died out and gave power to Casimir Rawa, second paternal cousin to the last Piast, but Mirov IV of the Slavin Empire and Morava claimed, as first maternal cousin, himself as King of Poland. Much of the rest of the Mirovichs supported their kinsman, but a coalition of the Holy Roman Empire, Francia, England, and Arabia came to the rescue of Poland, starting the war of Polish Succession. The war lasted about 35 years, before finally Mirov IV won and became Mirov I of Poland. The war was most famous for the first use of fire arms by any European Power that paved the way to Mirovich victory.
But bad clouds are forming over Slavia, a war even worse then the War of Polish Succession could be brewing...
Map 1650
1550-1650:
Now, let's back track: During the war of the Polish Succession, the Arabs invaded Greece and Greek Anatolia, causing much damage to Greek Settlements. The Greeks fled to many corners of Europe, bringing their knowledge with them, and finally, the Europeans begun a new great age of thought. In 1572, the Norwegians, remembering the tales of Erik the Red and Leif Eriksson, they rediscovered the Americas (Named Levia, after Leif Eriksson).
Not to long after, reformation occurred in the Catholic and Duelerist Churches. The Duelerist Church saw major rewriting in the Duelerist Book of Duelers (Not to be confused with the Christian Book of Duelers), which said that any given point in time, there must be two people who rule the world (said to be born with the soul with a great god, or that the soul gets transfered to them when the last great leader dies), competing with each other (the 'world' part is exaggerated, they just mean two very powerful leaders) This was done to glorify the house of Mirovich (especially Mirov the Dueller), who were considered invincible. But, the Mirovichs, once again, have unintentionally set up a loophole for the transfer power to other, and sometimes competing, nations). The other will be explained here soon
In the Catholic Church, many people bordering the Slavin Empire's north (Germany, Poland, the Baltic States), so influenced by Duelerism, made their own version of Duelerism and wrote their own Book of Duelers to the Bible. This book just reinforced that God and Satan are in eternal struggle of power. Other reformers jumped off from this.
Stari Ras War
But, we were talking about loopholes, so talking about loopholes, in 1584, a loophole took effect the main house of Mirovich feared would be exploited. In 1584, a group of rebels took control of Stari Ras, and crowned an elected official as Emperor of Slavia. See, the loophole is that: Stari Ras will be hereditary, and the title 'Slavin Emperor' is tied to who rules Stari Ras (initially intending it to just pass from Mirovich to Mirovich), but if someone conquered or took control of Stari Ras, the conquerors could officially be Slavin Emperor.
Mirov VI quickly rushed to take power back from 'Viktor I,' but other leaders saw their chance to rise, and all rushed to take Stari Ras, starting the Stari Ras War. (by the way, the number of 'sides' in the war is so numerous that GoT's war of Five Kings seems strait-forward, although the main sides ultimately consolidated into the 'Mirovics' 'Karlins' (of the HRE), and the lesser 'Viktorics').
The war made the sides rush up and down the Slaven Empire, and it's often stated the Poland Burned (thus this war, along with the War of the Polish Succession and the next war jointly called 'The Burning of Europe), along with Morava, Slovakia, Carinthia, and so on. In 1602, after 18 years of fighting, the HRE invaded Poland (again), and in the Nine battles of Posen, the Mirov VII (Mirov VI had died by this point) lost, and retreated back to Krakow, where, the Anatolian, Crimean, and Italian Kings (but emphasis on the Anatolian) came and helped defeat the Holy Roman Forces. When Mirov VII came to thank his distant cousins, the King of Anatolia approached him and threw down his crown, claiming it was 'illegitimate.' The Crimean and Italian Kings followed suit, and even the dukes and kings of Greece threw down their crowns. No one else dare do it. In this act known as the 'Illegitimate Crowns,' jointly with the Nine battles of Posen, this was sceen as the beginning of the end of the Slavin Empire.
The lesser Mirovichs did help their cousin win back Stari Ras however, saying they have to finish what they started. The Stari Ras War ended with Viktor I captured and beheaded in 1607. After the war, the Kings of Anatolia, Crimea, Italy, and Greece crafted new crowns, while the 'illegitimate crowns' were given to the sons of Mirov VII. This did cause some tension as the Kings of the respective lands feared Mirov VII would try to give their lands to his sons. And the Greeks, with their own country, returned from the corners of Europe back to Greece.
War of the Italian Succession
Calm stayed for about twenty years, when the King of Italy (who had by this point conquered the entire Italian Peninsula) died without an heir. He left his kingdom to his nobles who elect the next king (but only the next king, and it had to have a majority, not just the most). In Naples and Sicily, a the Mirovichs had longed ruled and had been a benefit there, along with a large amount of Duelerists there, and so they naturally wanted a Mirovich on the throne, ultimately coming up with Mirov VII third son Dusan (who, maybe coincidentally, wore the illegitimate crown of Italy). The North, on the other hand, had only been under Mirovich rule for a short while and still had a distaste for them, not to mention they were mostly Catholic. They had no united house or even country they supported, they just didn't want a Mirovich on the throne.
The Two side met in Naples for the election process, but as weeks, then months went by with no majority, the South and North started raids against each other, until finally the South pulled a Louis XVI and locked the North out of the meeting. The South, by itself, then declared Dusan Mirovich as King of Italy, while the North went into another room and miraculously and unanimously declared Louis XII's third son Charles as King of Italy. In 1628 Mirov VII and surprisingly the King of Anatolia nad Crimea quickly came to the help of Naples, and Louis XII came to the help of Lombardy. The HRE, still remembering the Stari Ras War, stayed out of the conflict, but Spain did come to the help of France.
The first two years of the war was focused in Central Italy, but as the war went on the war became focused further north in the Po Valley, as French and Slavin forces chased each other up and down the valley in the 'Burning of Italy.' Eventually, in 1640, the Mirovichs were defeated decisively enough to rush back down to Naples, of which Louis XII chased down vigoursly. The Mirovich army was defeated in the battle of Naples, and in the treaty of Paris (1541), Mirov VII conceded that Charles of France was King of Italy. In the two years after, Charles's older brothers mysteriously died until Charles was the Hier of France.
Not long after the war, Mirov VII 'the Defeated' died and was replaced by Mirov VIII, a man who saw the Mirovichs were no longer one of the Two Duelers (although this isn't yet neccasarly true), and he would convert to Christianity, the first since Mirov the Dueler
Velige Huisvesting
Now, I know what you're thinking, what about the newly discovered Americas?
The colonization of the Americas is... weird, to say the least. While Countries like Celtica and the Netherlands dominate Levia politically, domestically, it's much different. The best way to describe is Velige Huisvesting, or in English 'Safe Housing.' To describe it, let's use the master of Velige Huisvesting (or just Huisvesting for short), the Dutch. First, you take two countries in war, especially a harsh war like the Stari Ras War. You offer citizens of the participants free passage to Dutch Levia, where you can own property, farm, or maybe start a shop. Once you're in Dutch Levia, you pay a 'small safety charge,' essentially a slightly larger tax. Once the war is over, you offer the citizens a ride back to their home country, but it's expensive, more expensive then the average peasant would ever get. Once you find this out (and technically, even before) you can become an official citizen of Dutch Levia, which lowers your taxes. If you become a citizen of Dutch Levia before the war is over, the fee for the ship back to your home land quadruples (more or less).
Because of the oddity of having so many races together in one place (from Norway to Arabia, from Portugal to Russia, you can find anyone), a large amount of information is quickly spread throughout the Americas. Two of the five largest universities in the known world are in Levia (Dutch Bermuda's University of Athena and Norwegian Newfoundland's Saint Albert University) and you it's quite common to see tri-lingual communities, the only cities known in Levia to have only one very dominant language is Neu Bremen (87% speak only German) and Mirovgrad (78% speak Croatian-Slavin)
Now, at the end of an era, France is gaining dominance over Europe, being called the Gaullic Empire, while the Slavin Emperor retreats into isolation
Map 1790
1650-1790:
It has been Sixty years since the War of the Italian Succesion, and Emperor Mirov VIII has just died. During his reign, he rarely exited his palaces in Mirgrad or Stari Ras (mostly believed to leave only to go to the other palace). The Lesser kingdoms have fallen apart, as Mirov VIII refused to choose a successor to the kingdom (As the Mirovich Emperor alone had the power to choose a successor to a Kingdom), so now the lesser kingdoms have fallen to civil war to find their successor. Davor Jovanovich, Duke of Raska, wrote it as, "The Vassal Kings gained their legitimacy through the hand of the Mirovichs. With that hand withdrawn, the kingdoms have fallen to pieces."
At the same time, upon the death of Louis XII, his kingdom passed to his son, Charles I and XI of Italy and France, informally creating the Gaullic Empire. Charles I-XI, and later his son Louis I-XIII, expanded their empire by annexing the Netherlands, Catalonia, and the West Rhine, making the Pope their personal Puppet, and even successfully invading England and Tunis before being pushed back. Louis I-XIII converted to Duelerism, despite the wishes of the Lombards who chose the French as their leader specifically to have a Catholic Lord.
War of Three Romes
Upon the death of Mirov VIII, and the rise of Mirov IX, Moravia began forming a coalition against the Gaullic Empire, gathering Iberia, Celtica, the Holy Roman Empire, the rebellious Lombard and Sicilian Vassals, and the Dutch Nobles who lost their territory in the the Gaullic conquest of the Lowlands. In 1722, the Coalition declared war, and the War of Three Romes (Slavin Rome, Holy Rome, and Gaullic Rome) began.
For twelve years, the French and the Coalition made war, and the French were decisively defeated in the Battle of Marseilles. In the Treaty of Paris (1735) France broke up into several parts: Catalonia gained independence, ruled by a cousin of Louis XIII, and same with Lombardy. Sicily gained independence under a cousin of Mirov IX, and the Netherlands regained independence under it's former ruling house. The Rhine Territory and Lorraine would be returned to the Holy Roman Empire. The Pope was able to escape it's puppet-ude. The treaty itself was negotiated between the heirs of Louis XIII and Mirov IX (Dauphin Charles and Prince Mirov, respectively), whom became good friends their, despite them being on opposite sides. It was even at Paris in 1735, that they started plotting.
War of German Independence
It took twenty years, but in 1755, both of them had rose to the throne of their respective land, and as soon as both had their thrones, they started negotiations with the Holy Roman Empire over returning the French speaking Lorraine to France, and Saxony to Moravia, in return of continued independence of the Holy Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Emperor agreed.
It wasn't even two years later that Charles XII and Mirov X went to Milan to negotiate a further division of the Holy Roman Empire, inviting Lombardy, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the Slavin Vassal of Carinthia. It just so happened a minor German noble was vacationing in Milan, and heard of the conference, and was able to sneak in as observer. He, from there, ran quickly to Brunswick, the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, and told the HREmperor of the French and Moravian plans. The Emperor, fearing that it might ultimately result in the loss of his sovereignty, then marched on Milan, planning on breaking up the conference. The conference did break apart, and Lombardy was occupied, with the Holy Roman Empire planning to integrate Lombardy back into the Empire.
Thus began the War of German Independence. A year later, the Slavins and the French retook Lombardy for the Lombards, and then came tough battling in the Rhine Region and Brandenburg. In 1755, peace came as the Emperor was captured in the Battle of Brunswick. In the resulting peace, all land west of the Rhine (plus areas east of the Rhine around Koln and Strasburg) went to France, a small sliver went to Lombardy, Oldenburg went to the Netherlands, Bavaria went to the pre-mentioned Slavin vassal, Mecklenburg and Holstein went to Denmark, and Brandenburg and Pomerania went to Moravia. The Holy Roman Emperor was also forced to destroy the title of the Holy Roman Empire, leaving him with only the title of King of the Germans.
Rise of the United Caliphate
Some years later, in 1776, the Kingdom of Anatolia experienced an anti-Duelerist Revolution, culminating in 1777 with the capture of the Royal Palace and the execution of the royal family (with the exception of the kids, who could still be saved). The rebels declared the United Caliphate under God, and declared their one and only goal was to end Duelerism and save the Christians and Muslims being ruled by Duelerist heathens. Mirov X tried to form a coalition against the Caliphate, but failed to do so. The Caliphate then started to march against other nations, allowing the local rulers to continue to rule (if they were Christians/ Muslims/ Jews) as long as the United Caliph became the lord over these local rulers, and that all Duelerists converted to Islam, Christianity, or Judaism.
In 1784, Mirov X died and his underage son Johan was made Emperor under the regent of Charles
In other news, do to the breakdown of the Kingdom of Croatia, New Croatia in Levia (Americas) also broke down. In order to keep safety in New Croatia, the Croatan Revolution occurred (Named after the local Croatan, or Croatoan, tribe), forming the Croatan Republic, independent of the former Kingdom of Croatia and the Slavin Empire. And due to the recent Anatolian Revolution, many Duelerists in the empire started to convert to Christian Duelerism.
*Note on the Culture Map: This map represents what the people would call themselves, not realistic cultures. So England would realistically have one culture, but the people there consider themselves different from each other. There are two exceptions to this though: The Italians, Lombard or Sicilian, consider themselves Italian, despite being very different from each other and even hating each other. The other exception is the Turks and Arabians, which would have by this point started calling themselves simply as Muslims or Abrahamics.
Map 1828
1790-1828:
In 1792, the United Caliphate Under God attacked the Slavin Empire. The Regent, Charles of Nitra went to battle the United Caliphate, but by the time he reached the Caliphate's Army, just south of Stari Ras, Anti-Duelerist Rebels had joined the Caliphate's army in such numbers that the army of Charles was nearly completely destroyed. Only Charles and some of his elite guard were able to escape. The United Caliphate from there went on to conquer all of the Slavin Empire not under direct Moravian control, along with Stari Ras. Charles of Nitra failed to form a coalition against the Caliphate, most notably being cold-shouldered by the ageing Charles XII of France.
For the next ten years, the United Caliphate would further expand it's empire, expanding from Algiers and Milan to Khorasan and Somalia. Young Johan IV was declared old enough to rule 1795, and in 1798, he declared himself Emperor of Morava, as so he can still realistically call himself Emperor.
In 1801, the United Caliphate invaded France and Charles XII of France called for a gathering of the great rulers of Europe (Johan IV of Slavia and Morava, Frederick VIII of Denmark, Philip VI of Iberia, William V of the Netherlands, Francis III of Lombardy (of which had been taken from him three years earlier), Malcom V of Celtica, and many others), in hopes they can save him and his kingdom. What happened was the conference of Reims, or the First Conference of Champions, in which the rulers of Europe tried to decide the future of the Continent. Johan IV dominated the conference, making many demands or else declaring Morava would not intervene in saving France (although Johan would in fact intervene no matter what, but might as well get something out of the conference). Charles XII's heir, Prince Louis, acted as delegate for the old and infirm Charles, and was pushed aside by Johan. Johan was able to get away with many of his demands, most notably becoming King of Germany, pushing aside Charles VII of Germany. At the end of the conference in 1802, Morava, Celtica, Netherlands, Iberia, and Denmark all went to war with the United Caliphate in a war that would come to be known as the Final Duel, for reasons here to come.
While the conference of Reims was going on, the Caliphate army was chasing the French army across the Midi (seriously, Charles XII and young Prince Louis told the army to go around in circles waiting for any support to come). And at the battle of Toulouse, French, Moravian, Iberian and Dutch forces fought and defeated the United Caliphate, their first defeat. The Coalition from their chased the Caliphate across the Midi, Lombardy, Illyria and Balkans, major battles going on the whole course, as the Caliphate consistently reinforced their army. In other parts of the United Caliphate, the former lords rose to declare independence from what they considered a nation that stole their power. In 1805, Charles XII of France died, and Prince Louis ascended as Louis XIV.
Finally, in 1808 the Coalition chased the Caliphate across the Bosporus, and at Constantinople the second Conference of Champions was held. At the very start of the conference, they declared all the members of the conference would be known as 'the Champion' (Johan the Champion, Frederick the Champion, Louis the Champion, so on). The conference itself, though, was the exact opposite of what happened in Reims only a couple years earlier. Louis XIV of France dominated the conference by pulling together a coalition against Moravia. King Louis and his coalition at Constantinople declared the Slavin Empire destroyed, to be turned into three successor countries: the Empire of Morava, the Slavin Confederation, and the Danubian Confederation. The United Caliphate under God would stay independent as the Caliphate of Anatolia, and the rump German state would be controlled by the Netherlands as a personal Union. Johan IV was powerless to stop Louis XIV.
When the Champions returned home, though, there was still many anti-duelerist rebellions. Duelerism had gone on too long, and by 1820, all the major noble had converted back to some form of Christianity, except for Johan. Johan, in Anno Duellum 500, 1828 AD, declared the centuries' long duel had ended, and converted to Christianity, and true Duelerism, for the most part, fell apart (the exception being the Tatars).
The world is truly a different place then it was 50 years ago, much less 500 or 1000.
The Slavin Empire is now dead, but it's former heart still beats, Stari Ras. Stari Ras has lived with the Slavs for a thousand years now, and will continue to live for another thousands of years. It was at Stari Ras, oh so ancient, that Greatness was created, Greatness was forgotten, and Greatness was rediscovered. It was at Stari Ras where Gods were born, where Gods had lived, and where Gods have died. Who knows what the next thousand years have for Stari Ras? - Davor Javonovich, Duke of Raška and direct descendant of Jovan I, Slavin Emperor
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