Succession Wars

In 2816, by reckoning of the Aridisian Calendar, the Rendor King, Frances Rendor, died childless. His younger brother, Prince Alberre Rendor, had died two years before, leaving 4 male heirs. In addition, his sister’s son, Charelles Petram, laid claim to the throne of Iradar on the basis that he was then 32 years of age, while the sons of Alberre ranged from age 9 to only 16.

By law, the crown should indeed have passed to Alberre Rendor the Younger, the eldest son of the Rendor of the same name. However, Charelles Petram staked his claim, and immediately raised an army with the help of Duke Josse of Sanche.

Speculation that other Dukes might join with Josse led the young Rendor, recently crowned by the nobles of the court, to demand immediate submission from the remaining Dukes who had not yet declared their allegiance. Several of the Dukes and higher nobility chose to remain aloof from the fray. So while they did not openly re-swear allegiance to the king, they did not openly join the opposition. The most notable was Reginald Fortrerre, Duke of Toure, who had just five years before, led the royal armies to victory in a short war against Mittelein. Fortrerre took umbrage at the implied questioning of his loyalty in the King’s demand for immediate submission. He was quite vocal about the implied slight, and therefore raised the ire of the impetuous young king.

The king was livid with Fortrerre’s lack of support. It was common custom at the time for vassals to provide a hostage to the king upon receiving their titles. Fortrerre, as was usual, had sent his eldest son to the royal court. The boy was roughly the same age as the new Rendor king, and very charismatic like his father. The king publicly denounced Fortrerre, and berated his son. At a grand spectacle in the royal court, Forterre’s son openly criticized the King in a long-planned speech. The next morning, he was found murdered. There was little doubt that the King was to blame.

Rather than frightening the Duke of Toure into submission, the act had the effect of angering him to the point of open rebellion.

Fortrerre raised a small but very effective army in and around his ducal seat at Toure. One province away, Josse of Sanche had raised a quite sizeable force and prepared to use it against the King. He sent word to Fortrerre, asking him to swear to Charelles Petram, and join in the rebellion.

Fortrerre, being an honorable man, refused the request. In lieu of better options, and on the rather poor advice of his very loyal supporters, he declared his own claim to the throne based on a rather sketchy and distant kinship with the Rendor family through his mother’s line.

War lasted nearly 4 years. House Rendor used its own house soldiers as well as the vast majority of the Royal army in addition to many mercenaries from Mittelein. The overwhelming numbers the crown could field gave them an instant tactical advantage, which they pressed to perfection. They drove Josse’s forces from his outer strongholds, and within 3 years had surrounded Fortrerre in Toure, laying siege to the city.

By this time, early in 1520, Charelles Petram had died under mysterious circumstances while in the care of Josse of Sanche. It is widely suspected by historians that Sanche, a close relative of Petram through his father’s line, had him killed and took up Petram’s claim.

The Siege of Toure lasted seven months, with the city falling at the start of winter. Fortrerre retreated to the center of the city in his massive keep and lasted another 2 months. The onset of an early and severe winter coupled with the threat from invasion by Josse’s nearby forces lead the royal commander to remove his forces from the city of Toure before travel was cut off by winter weather.

While the two rival Dukes never acted in unison, there was a general feeling of cooperation between them. They met in winter of that year at Sanche to discuss combining their strength. Fortrerre, by now, was hailed as the heroic warrior who withstood the siege of Toure, and led the city to victory in the end. While he could overcome the forces of the crown, he could not overcome nature or fate. He took ill during his trip to Sanche, and died of a lingering bout with Winter Fever just weeks after his return.

He is remembered as a great leader of men, and a hero to the common people. Despite attempts by House Rendor to slander his family name after removing house Fortrerre from their ducal office, the house enjoyed both fame and prosperity in Toure for many years, eventually re-marrying into the ducal family, thus restoring the bloodline to the seat of Toure.

Josse of Sanche carried on his war for the crown for another year. At last, his forces met the royal army on the battlefield outside of Sanche itself. The overwhelming numbers of the royal army thoroughly crushed Josse’s forces, and Josse himself was thrown in chains and taken to Bordeaux along with the other nobles who flocked to his banner. The six ringleaders of the insurrection along with Josse himself were beheaded on the steps of the Royal palace itself in a public execution. The Treacherous Seven, as they became known, became figures of evil in wives’ tales and legends. The name of Reginald Fortrerre, interestingly enough, is not included in the list.