Swiss Arms 84

Swiss Arms

Chapter 84

-VB-

Isabella von Fluelaberg nee Gorizia

Not all actions can be taken right off the bet. In fact, while the Prince-Bishop of Freising went back to tell off the Duke of Upper Bavaria, the rest of the conspirators needed to continue their normal activities to not arouse suspicion.

For her and Hans, there wasn’t going to be any major change.

In fact, Hans made a declaration both in public and with his pamphlets that he posted. It was certainly

A Public Announcement

I greet all those who read these words in the name of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Grace of our King of Germans, Albert the First the Holy Roman Emperor.

The past year has been one of troubling times as our dear Compact has come under assault from external forces. In the south and the east, we knew not then but now know that these forces, disguising themselves as bandits, have been the greedy guilds and the Duke of Munich. At the height of the troubles we have come to face, we faced the Duke in battle in the neighboring Tyrollian lands and defeated him and his forces decisively; each of the man, who partook in this defensive battle for our lands and people, took home a men-at-arms or a knight’s equipment.

In the west, the Count of Sargans once again rose up to burn our people despite the decree of our emperor. The newly admitted Count of Toggenburg who chose to become our brother-in-arms rose to the occasion and ended the Sargans threat, and thus proved himself to be our ally.

Our homes have come under assault time and time again, and were it not for our stalwart defenders, we would have long gone under the dirt with our homes aflame. I congratulate all of the soldiers - commoners and nobles alike - in succeeding in the defense of our home against these threats!

However, our duty to our lands, liege, friends, and family are not over.

So I hereby petition the members of the Compact to create a standing, professional army that serve not one noble or town but the entirety of the Compact! Let us train and rise up together as one to turn our swords and speartips not against each other or our neighbors but those who seek to end our way of life and freedom!

-Hans von Fluelaberg, Baron of Fluelaberg

It was … a revolutionary idea. No, it was a revival of an old idea. Her husband sought to recreate a professional army like the ones that the Romans had. The Eastern Roman Empire also used to have them, but they have since fallen back on hard times to the point that it was less of an army and more of a mob of large mercenary companies.

Having a standing army would allow them to react to sudden invasions like the one the imprisoned duke had attempted, which would have devastated Fluelaberg whether or not they succeeded in taking the city. The army would be able to reinforce any member that are attacked or even be split to place permanent garrisons.

However, she wasn’t sure if her husband made the right decision to call for a professional army. Not only were the people of the Compact fiercely independent, more than any other lands she had visited in her life, but the mountains made the movement of a large army slow and cumbersome. In fact, she had advised her husband that it might be better if he could expand the Forest Rangers instead of creating an army, but he insisted that this level of commitment was necessary not just for the sake of the Compact but also to deter future threats.

She wasn’t sure what this enemy would be, however. Henry and her father weren’t going to be this enemy. The Habsburgs, through her cousin, was going to be their friend, too. The new Forest Cantons that formed in his homeland to the west was a smaller version of the Compact with neither the power or influence that the Compact had. The Serene Republic’s focus was on naval trade and wars, so they weren’t likely to …

Well, perhaps, that wasn’t completely accurate. She knew that the outflow of expensive foreign goods from the east, like porcelain and new dyes, had to impact Venice. Would it be enough to cause them to declare war on them?

Isabella didn’t think so, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

That “public announcement” was being distributed through the rest of the Compact and even a little beyond. The latter part of the plan was actually her contribution. She reasoned that if there weren’t enough volunteers seeking to become a professional soldier inside the Compact, then Hans can supplement them with fortune seekers from outside. Of course, this increased the risk of spies infiltrating the army, but her Hans still agreed with her because he thought that there actually wouldn’t be enough volunteers. His reasoning was that the mountainous valleys of the Compact couldn’t have enough men “left over” to form an army that can take on the armies of the “flat lands” one-on-one.

She made sure to express her doubts while pointing to his own successes.

‘Yeah, but those are exceptions, not the rule.’

“Lady Isabella?”

She looked up from where she had been embroidering one of her dresses and saw one of the maid servants of the castle.

“What is it, Joanne?” she asked.

She looked troubled. “There has been a brawl in the streets. It was quite serious.”

“Ah. I’ll be right there.”

Right now, her husband was out in the fields looking for better iron veins to supply the castle’s furnaces. No one knew where he was right now; for all she knew, he could be digging underground right underneath this very castle.

In his absence, she was the one in charge of affairs he would have taken care of. And the rare cases of justice was one she had to act as the magistrate in.

She walked toward the castle hall, and after four minutes of winding towers and halls, she found herself in the corridor just outside of it. The slightly wider hallway was guarded by four men-at-arms, and they bowed to her before two of them opened the double doors of the castle hall.

Standing inside the hall were about fifty people, which was more than most of her court appearances when she was here without Hans. She was, however, surprised by the who were currently being held to their knees. One of them was one of the original residents of Davos who had taken advantage of her husband’s business expansion to become one of the rich among the Davos-Fluelaberg citizens. The other was one of the Jews living in Fluelaberg. She also recognized him as the one of the more quiet ones who did his best to not stand out and do his job as efficiently and thoroughly as possible. She didn’t even remember seeing his name on the town guards’ list of troublemakers.

She silently walked across the hall and sat in her seat next to Hans’s seat.

“Start the proceedings,” she told the court recorder.

“Yes, My Lady,” he said before standing up from his seat in the corner of the hall, strode over to the bottom of the raised dais where her seat was, and stood at attentive. “Today is January 8th of the year of our Lord 1303. Two men stand before the representative, Baroness Isabella von Fluelaberg nee Gorizia, of our rightful ruler, Baron Hans von Fleluaberg, to settle the dispute and the breaking of our laws. Marin of Davos stands accused of assault and battery, price gouging, intimidation, and premeditated attacks. Yoshua of Fluelaberg stands accused of battery.”

“And the related evidence and eyewitnesses?”

“They stand among the room’s occupants, My Lady.”

She sighed. Fifty people? This was going to be a long case.

“Alright. Please split yourself into the following groups: witnesses to the fight, witnesses to price gouging, and witnesses to premeditated attacks…”