- The best fortress which a prince can possess is the affection of his people.
— Niccolò Machiavelli
The Castle Age is the second Age a player may access in Rise of Kings. Historically, the Castle Age is meant to represent the early mediaeval period, and involves the following:
- The increasing importance of castles and siege warfare.
- Revival of a mercantile economy, as new contacts with the Middle East and urbanisation take hold.
- The feudal system increases in influence and begins to dominate society.
- Organised religion takes hold and begins to play a role in social and cultural development.
- Infantry, once a neglected part of the army, becomes more powerful as an anti-cavalry force.
- Naval and siege artillery increase in significance as a decisive factor for your forces.
A good number of factions at this time will become dominant, although it will be said that most Muslim factions will be at their peak, especially the Saracens.
Important technologies[]
- Communalism (Level 2 Attrition)
- Darul Islam (Level 5 )
- Fortifications (Level 3 Fortifications)
- Imperial Mandate (Level 4 Attrition)
- Indexation (Level 1 )
- Irrigation and Drainage (Level 2 ; eventually leads to Imperial Mandate)
Castle Age timeline[]
12th century[]
- 1113: Vladimir Monomakh Grand Prince of Kiev.
- c1120: Rise of Almohads in Morocco.
- 1125: Vladimir Monomakh died. His death would see the end of the golden age of Kiev.
- 1145–1147: Almohads overthrew Almoravid, breaking up Muslim Iberia. 2nd Taifa period in Spain.
- 1147: 2nd Crusade; first recorded mention of Moscow in history on the Moskva river.
- 1169: Saladin sultan of Egypt.
- 1172: Almohads dominant in Andalus.
- 1176: Friedrich Barbarossa acknowledged superiority of Papacy at Venice.
- c1185: The Lay of Igor's Campaign composed. This would be Russia's first national epic.
- 1180–1185: Outbreak of Gempei War. Japanese monarchy weakened and Kamakura shogunate established.
- 1189: Third Crusade.
- 1198–1216: See of Innocent III. Friedrich II Hohenstaufen, who was then aged 4, became his ward.
13th century[]
- c1200: Rise of Islamic Mandenka kingdom in present-day Mali.
- 1202: 4th Crusade diverted to Constantinople.
- 1204: Latin occupation of Constantinople: Byzantine empire temporarily sundered.
- 1206: Temüjin united the Mongols and accepted the name of Genghis Khan.
- 1212: Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: Christian forces defeated the Almohads.
- 1214: Genghis Khan took Beijing.
- 1223: Russo-Cuman army smashed by Mongols at Battle of the Kalka.
- 1226: Death of St Francis Assisi, founder of the Franciscan monastic order.
- 1227: Death of Genghis Khan. Mongol Empire inherited by Ugedey Khan.
- 1227–30: Collapse of Almohad authority.
- 1228 So-called "6th Crusade" — Jerusalem ceded by Al-Kamil of Egypt to Friedrich II Hohenstaufen for 10 years.
- 1236–48: All Andalus except Granada fell to Christians.
- 1237–40: Batu Khan conquered Russia.
- 1240: Mongols razed Kiev. in that same year however, Alexander, Prince of Novgorod, crushed Swedes at the Battle of the Neva, earning himself the epithet Alexander Nevsky.
- 1241 Mongol defeats of Polish forces at Legnica and Silesia.
- 1242: Battle of Lake Peipus — Russians under Alexander Nevsky broke a Teutonic Knight incursion.
- 1250: Friedrich II Hohenstaufen died, causing an interregnum; Marinid dynasty dominant at Fez.
- 1251: Mongke Khan Great Khan; Kublai Khan Mongol governor of China.
- 1258: Hulagu sacked Baghdad, ushering the decline of the Islamic world.
- 1260: Kublai Khan Great Khan.
- 1261: Greeks retook Constantinople from Latins.
- 1263: Death of Alexander Nevsky, he left Moscow to his youngest son Daniel.
- 1273: Rudolf Habsburg elected emperor. Emergence of the Swiss nation.
- 1280: Kublai Khan founded Yuan dynasty.
- 1292: Kublai Khan died.
- 1293: Robert Bacon, the prophet of experimental science, died.
- 1299-1358: Marinids at war with Ziyarids of Algeria.
14th century[]
- 1324: War of Saint-Sardos in Gascony deprived English crown of inheritance in France, thus sparking off the Hundred Years' War.
- 1337–40: French navy raided southern England before being destroyed at Battle of Sluys.
- 1348: The Great Plague.
- 1360: Chinese people rebelled against Mongols, establishing Zhu Yuanzhang as their Emperor eight years later.
- 1377: Gregory IX returned back to Rome.
- 1378: Great Schism: Urban VI in Rome; Clement VII in Avignon.
References[]
- Wallace R, & Krieger L (ed); Rise of Russia; (1967) Time and Life Books, New York
- Wells HG et al; A short history of the world (1967 rev ed); Penguin Books
- Nicolle D & McBride A; The Armies of Islam: 7th–11th Centuries; (2008), Osprey Publishing
- Nicolle D & McBride A; The Moors: The Islamic West 7th–15th Centuries AD; (2001), Osprey Publishing