#feel free to fill in the gaps of these paragraphs with homoerotic hansry dynamics

[bad-system]

alliances — let's talk KCD3

disclaimer: this post is a continuation of my previous KCD3 post on speculation of the events and lore that i'd like to see explored in the next installment(s) of the KCD story. and as per my last post; these are only speculations born of my own biased narrative and hopeful bastardizations of real events and what i personally would like to see explored in the next installment(s). this is not representative of ALL the real historical persons and events as there is either info missing on them, they were altered by WH for the sake of the game or i'm plain wrong. PS: i am not a historian. i just like history.

PART: 1 2 3 4 5

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alliances

in my previous post i laid down the barest of bones of the possible direction the story of KCD3 & 4 might move towards as well as established a very basic groundwork for the appearance of real life historical czech figures who played significant roles in the insurgence of pro-hussite views up to the point of the emergence of actual hussites around 1419.

in this post, however, i'd like to focus on the circumstances that might've driven henry and hans apart, the why's and when's, and how they ended up on opposite sides. i will support these with my own interpretations of certain KCD1 & 2 dialogues and events.

along with the smaller scale of things, i'd like to keep to the earlier timelines of generally 1405. — 1411., and focus mainly on henry's formative realizations and radicalization among the lower nobility, followers of jan hus and jan žižka.*

alliances — henry

the reason i want to focus on that particular rabble are some of the characters from KCD1 & 2; most prominently father godwin, olda of semine and miller kreyzl, who were all written as holders of pro-hussite views even at this stage of the game (story), and even foreshadowed participation in the hussite wars.

the same goes for radzig kobyla, but i didn't want to include him here like the rest because his pro-hussite and anti-sigismund sentiments will become much more prominent in the following years (1404. — 1410.), in the service of king wenceslaus iv himself along with jan žižka, jan sokol of lamberg and matěj vůdce. so while i do believe his views would greatly impact henry's own, KCD1&2 did not explicitly depict him engaging with henry in a way that actively promoted these beliefs (yet), so i did not have any interactions of the sort that i could list under here like the rest.

however, it is worth noting that radzig kobyla was already a high priority target since KCD1 in 1403. when sir markvart of aulitz names him as a conspirator against the crown during their parley at talmberg. so, we know that whatever he had been involved in before the events of KCD1, it’s clear that he had already been stirring the pot.

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the first person we encounter with passionate sympathies towards jan hus' teachings is none other than godwin, as early as KCD1. it is during the quest "mysterious ways" that he talks to henry in a tavern about hus' teachings- loudly and full of conviction. you, as henry, can even choose to say this about the church before godwin starts talking about hus;

(henry expresses some pretty strong sentiments about the church that sound surprisingly close to early hussite views, despite henry’s supposed unfamiliarity with hus’ teachings.)

+ some of godwin's own words;

(he goes on for a while about corrupt clergy; he even directly quotes some of jan hus' words)

in KCD2, there's miller kreyzl.

towards the ending of his quests, before the black powder experiment, he talks to henry about going to university in prague and being fed dogmatic drivel and choosing to leave because of it. this is most likely where kreyzl encountered anti-church views with wycliffe's teachings gaining infamy. jan hus would go on to preach wycliffe's teachings as early as 1399. in prague university.

(kreyzl, KCD2)

not only that, but some of the things he says to henry sound very deliberate;

(also, žižka himself mentions kreyzl in passing in nebakov to henry; very possible that kreyzl would go on to become a supplier of black powder for žižka.)

and finally; olda semine.

(i'm sure this is a throw-away line that will not become relevant later. surely. definitely don't think about a certain ptaček saying this.)

not only a prominently anti-sigismund fighter, but also a very determined one. the conversation he has with henry in the raid on semine also sounded very... interesting to me.

and what's this? well, if i said "i connected the dots" and you didn't immediately reply with "you didn't connect shit" then i offer you a very tentative theory. olda here is talking about pro-sigismund traitors he considers enemies of king wenceslaus iv. and curiously, among them he names the kunstadts. sounds familar? you're probably thinking "wait, like jitka of kunstadt?"

well; yes and no.

i do believe he is refering to jitka's kunstadts but this wouldn't make much sense as the real boček II of kunštát was pro-wenceslaus and pro-hussite until death. but also, the KCD2 botschek seems to be a fictional character in a sense that he is a composite of two character by the same name; but neither of them anti-wenceslaus.

could it be a hint for future? could it have been a mistake (unlikely)? was it a deliberate rewrite of history? will this botschek be a different character? unsure, but definitely noting for future.

which brings me to the next section;

alliances - hans capon

it seems like my ideas for the possible reasons that caused hans to side with the pro-sigismund neighbouring sternbergs (šternberk) are evolving with each day. i learn more with every historical article and source i read so this is still a developing theory, but i'd like to present you with my speculations either way; hanush of leipa!

it is noted in hanush's codex entry that he later fell out of favour with wenceslaus iv because of his robbery and banditry exploits. that and that he later married markéta of šternberk (sternberg).**

could it have been possible that hans' uncle hanush, who fell out of favour with wenceslaus and married into sternbergs, had some sway in convincing hans of where to lay down his allegiances? politics for the sake of practicality rather than moral considerations?

if i had to write a plausible reason, this is what i'd do. just saying.

(however; markéta of šternberk's date of death is listed as 1365. which can mean two things- WH took the creative liberty of altering the timeline a bit or the wikipedia source is wrong.**more details on this in the next post.)

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*i will be addressing the contents of this paragraph in the next post as it would've been too long for this one. it will heavily feature henry's personal views and motivations arisen from interacting with the quickly spiralling world of bohemia across the next couple years as well as the people closest to him taking more definitive sides on what is quickly becoming henry's own war as well.

this will feature godwin, radzig, žižka, jan II of lichstenstein and if the post doesn't end up too long, i'll add my thoughts on jan sokol of lamberg and matěj vůdce.