01 Prologue

"IIIIIIIIIIII"

The noise in my head made me woke up. The migraine from last night was still here, although not as severe. After a couple of minutes, I realize that I woke up in an unfamiliar room. The ceiling was wooden, and so was the floor. The walls were made of stone, and this was not my bed. I then turned to the other side and saw a woman sleeping next to me! What the hell is going on? I must be dreaming. After a moment of dizziness, I realized that my body was also different! I panicked and jumped off the bed, gasping for breath.

"Are you okay, my Despot?" said the woman in the bed.

I blinked my eyes; this woman and her voice seemed familiar. Suddenly fragments of memories struck me. I tried again to take deep breaths and process the situation.

"I am okay," I barely muttered without recognizing my voice... Then, the second wave of memory fragments hit me. Medieval faces and landscapes... Brutal fighting scenes against Ottomans? and with many other medieval troops… Is this a nightmare? That's not real! Okay… okay… Calm down. Breathe… Jesus! Breathe! Wait a minute! Have I been to Constantinople? I know the Emperor! I am, I am... Constantine XI Palaiologos! In the future, to be the last Byzantine emperor...

Shortly after, everything was rather clear. Somehow I was Self inserted to a young Constantine Palaiologos. Ahh, to be young again! Just twenty three years old! The year is 1428, and I am currently in my castle Clermont in Morea, surveying my new lands, and the woman next to me was my fresh wife, Theodora. As a fan of Alternate history, I have read several timelines with stories like that... BUT reading stories is way, way different from being part of it... I feel anxious and thrilled at the same time.

After a couple of hours of adjusting to my new body/environment, I started to analyze my unique situation. I realized that my knowledge of the Byzantine empire was not as good as I thought… Heck, no internet search available to help me out was one thing, but the lack of coffee was what I missed the most these first hours...

Never the less, combining my knowledge with Constantine memories, I started to have a first picture of the situation. I know that Constantine was Emperor for a few years until the fall of Constantinople in the spring of 1453. So that's in 25 years from now… I also know that Constantine was the Despot of Morea. This turns out to be only partly true since two of my brothers are also co-Despots in parts of Morea. Until now, the Despotate had been governed by one member of the imperial family appointed by the Emperor. Now there were to be three of us. My older brother Theodore, the Despot till now, declined to make way for me in Mistra but was persuaded by our brother, the Emperor, John, to surrender a generous part of it, including all the west and north of Morea and several towns and fortresses in Lakonia. My younger brother Thomas was given the castle of Kalavryta and the surrounding.

For a brief time, I thought that the best thing to do is to go back to Constantinople, but after the initial reports regarding my new domains and meetings and talks with my right hand George Sphrantzes I decided to stay here in Elis. My new fortress Clermont(1), was near the ex princely capital of Andravida(could sustain horses), some 12 kilometers (8 mi) away, and 5 kilometers (3 mi) from the largest port and town in the area, Glarentza. These three sites used to be the administrative heart of the Principality Achaia and, along with my fortress of Beauvoir further south, served to secure the fertile plain of Elis. A solid base to build up without anyone's intervention and hopefully create a very different future…

Clermont castle, Octomber 1428

I was sitting in my new "office" on the highest floor of my tower in Clermont castle, watching the sea view enjoying a herbal drink when George Sphrantzes, my closest friend and advisor, entered the room.

"Good morning to you, my Despot," said George.

"Good morning, my friend, please sit. I made up my mind. We have lots to discuss."

Two weeks have passed since my new life started, and after the initial shock, I was mainly thinking about my strategy and what I can implement in this world from my knowledge of the future. I have good knowledge of maps and history in general, and I could introduce guns, trains, coffee, tobacco, and other technologies and commodities to the world. Heh, Colombus, is not even born yet if I am not severely mistaken! I can discover America! Make the first contact with Aztecs, Mayans, and Incan people! If you can dream it, you can do it! That quote was one of my motos in the world I left behind. After the initial enthusiasm, though, I realized that I was not really prepared for it. Meh, America will have to wait a bit. Surviving against the Ottomans would be a far more pressure issue to deal with. Of course, guns could help a lot against them and other potential threats. Although I do have some knowledge/experience with firearms, I am not sure if I can explain how to make a musket, for example. The same goes for agriculture innovations and various other ideas I had. Despite all this, I was confident that I could work and improve lots of things with my knowledge. From my previous experience working for several years in a silk print/small publication print house, I feel quite comfortable that I can speed printing press progress quite a bit. If I am not mistaken, Johannes Gutenberg is alive during this period, and he is about to start printing around 1440ish. Making quality paper and decent ink is also more than doable under the circumstances provided for me here. My freshly acquired cotton fields in Messinia are a perfect resource for my clothes and paper factory plans.

"Dear George, the time has come for your trip to Constantinople. I decided to sell all my holdings there, including my holdings in Selymbria(2)."

"Are you sure, my Despot? Asked George somewhat surprised.

"Yes, I will need as much gold as possible. Besides, some of it, you will need it on the spot. I want you to bring lots of supplies from there and to recruit quite some people to come with you." I replied.

"I guess I didn't realize the scale of your plans from our previous talks, my Despot. I see you are truly determined to build something new here."

"Oh, my friend, trust me, we will do wonders here! Here is the final list with what I need, and here is a letter i want you to give personally to my Mother."

After some more small talk, George left to begin arranging things for his trip.

The plan is simple; Clarentza, with a little bit of luck, is going to be a medieval "silicon valley." My idea was to work on various projects at the same time and combine them. Create factories with somewhat proto "assembly lines," improve agriculture, trade and make a new arsenal to serve as the center of weaponry and armor.

Speaking of the arsenal: after my initial disappointment regarding guns and cannons, I was confident that I could make a breakthrough? with some help, especially after buying a hybrid hand culverin/proto Arquebus from a Venetian merchant that docked in Clarentza just yesterday. I had to pay quite some money for that weapon, but I feel that it was more than worth it. Last but not least, I do hope my Mother will provide me with some specific books from the imperial library. Especially anything related to Heron and Archimedes could be more than useful.

(1) In 1428 the Byzantine emperor John VIII Palaiologos led a campaign against Glarentza, and in the battle of the Echinades, the Byzantine fleet defeated CountTocco's own. This ended Tocco's ability to intervene in the Morea, and his possessions were liquidated in a negotiated settlement, in which John VIII's brother Constantine Palaiologos (later last Byzantine emperor as Constantine XI) married Maddalena Tocco, Carlo's niece, and received Glarentza and the other Tocco territories in Morea as her dowry.

(2) Selymbria(modern-day Silivri) was a town along the Sea of Marmara in modern turkey. Around 60 km from Constantinople.

In 1399, Selymbria fell to the Ottomans, marking their complete encirclement of Constantinople by land in Europe. However, after their disastrous defeat at Timur's hands, the Ottomans returned Selymbria and several other possessions to the Byzantines in 1403. It was sometimes attacked by the Ottomans in later years but was not captured.

During the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, Silivri, along with Epibatos, stood up against the Ottoman armies and surrendered after the city had fallen. Selymbria extended out of the walls only during the Ottoman era because the non-Muslim residents like Greeks, Armenians, and Jews lived within the city walls, and the Turks built their houses outside the walls at the coast. While the non-Muslims were engaged mostly in growing grapes, vinification, and silk production, the Turks earned their living by fishing and making yogurt. The town remained a summer resort during the Ottoman time, as it was during the Byzantine era.