Francia

West Francia is a kingdom located in Western Europe. It is the most powerful and most influential country in the French region and represents the last remnant of the Carolingian Frankish Empire.

Francia starts the game as the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Francia starts the game with four vassals; Bourbonnais, Gascony, Occitania, and Dauphine.

As of 1444, Francia faces internal conflicts caused by the crushing defeat in the Andalusian Crusade, and the death of Emperor Francis and his only son in the Battle of Balansiyah.

Lore
The Kingdom of the Franks is an enduring yet troubled realm, born from the ashes of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th Century AD and driven by a desire to restore the Old Order. The efforts of the legendary Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, and Charlemagne saw Francia’s rulers declared the Emperors of the Romans. Unfortunately, a vast slew of issues would begin to form rifts within the state. After the deaths of the Rex Magnus Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious, most Carolingian Emperors would begin their reigns with piling crises and crude territorial partitions, all the while in their forefathers’ shadows. When Charles the Fat’s reign in the 9th Century brought a time of troubles and the need to legitimise his son Bernard, these cracks began to show.

Following Bernard’s reign - a patchwork effort to protect the vast Carolingian holdings - his sons plunged Francia into war to determine who would be Emperor, causing decades of strife. The livid nobles and clergy responded by electing German king Otto Liudolfinger as Emperor rather than Pepin or Lothair Carolingian. To prevent a repeat of the last civil war, Emperor Otto and his successors did their utmost to curb Frankish influence and erode the Carolingian powerbase, splitting off Lotharingia and several duchies. The Ottonian dynasty was not destined for a place in the sun, however. They were eclipsed by the very realm they sought to bring under heel, and faded into the annals of history.

Although the Carolingian dynasty regained the Emperorship, their misfortunes were far from over. In the early 12th Century, Emperor Rudolf was forced to cede Calais to the English after a failed campaign to avenge 1066. Following this great humiliation came the 1443 Andalusian Crusade, where despite the full might of the Empire and the Pope’s blessings, only ruin lay ahead. The war met its crescendo in the bloody Battle of Balansiyah, which proved as shocking a defeat for the Franks as their victory was at Tours over 700 years prior. Emperor Francis and his son Crown Prince Louis lay dead, and the mortified Holy Roman armies recoiled in disbelief, withdrawing from Iberia to go on the defensive.

When the Prince Electors convened to select the next Holy Roman Emperor, the choice to have a Carolingian on the throne again was obvious. The problem is, Francis’ uncle King Lothair of Francia is both old and widely hated. The fact that he remains childless despite being the last full-blooded descendant of Charlemagne may be his only defence against assassination. The nobility east of the Rhine acknowledge a Europe without a Carolingian sovereign is one without the prestige even a cruel and miserly tyrant like Lothair can bring, but the Germans would have no qualms with following Otto the Great’s legacy. The final hours of the Carolingians may soon be dawning. Can Lothair save his bloodline and realm, or will he fall in the pursuit of Charlemagne’s fleeting glory like so many before? After all, the march of time stops for nobody - especially not the old and wicked.

Missions
Frankish mission tree contains 34 unique and 2 generic missions. They are oriented mostly towards the consolidation of the country, reconquest of the lost territories, colonization and rivalry with Andalusia.