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Old 03-26-2014, 08:29 AM   #37
ericthered
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
Default Re: New Reality Seeds

Quote:
Originally Posted by Astromancer View Post
Robert Guiscard offers and interesting possiblity. Let the man live to be seventy-five or eighty.

More later time's up.

Guiscard nearly united the thrones of Byzantium and Sicily. Only his sudden death from illness stoped him. Unifying those thrones and perhaps the Holy Roman crown of the Western Empire as well (he nearly got both crowns), Guiscadr could have created a neo-Roman empire. The possibilities for adventure run so many directions from there.
To say he almost 'united' Sicily with anything is to understate. The man built the kingdom of the two Sicilys from scratch.

I don't know that he could have ruled the byzantines though. He lived during the point of no return in the east-west schism and was a hated enemy of the Byzantines. The Byzantines are famous for their court intrigue, and no line of rulers stretches more than four generations. his son Bohemond's presence on the crusades is credited for the byzantine non-involvement by some authors (though that may have been Bohemond's status as former aspirant to the crown).

He may have been able to end the east-west schism by absolute conquest though. THAT would have a massive ripple effect, though I don't think the early death of Byzantium would have helped Europe in the long run at all. A strong and major state in Italy and Greece might though.
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