Crusades: Difference between revisions

Following the primary campaigns in Sarpedon, the Crusades next turned to taking Halfway, an Istroyan island acquired by adventurers from the Oduniyyad Caliphate alongside what would become Dorhaven in the 7th century, though the latter was retaken by Caphiria within a century. The island loosely connected to the Caliphate but largely existed as an independent principality with religious toleration ruled over by a tiny Islamic governing class, though many historians and scholars consider it to be a glorified pirate-oriented state. Nonetheless, the rulers of Halfway did use religious justification to harass Christian merchants and enslaving Christians in coastal areas. Consequently, a Crusade was launched to take the island in 1144. The first wave of Crusaders were largely unprepared and were defeated, but in subsequent attempts, combined fleets of galleys from Southern Dericania overwhelmed Halfway's pirate fleet. Crusaders landed on the island in 1148 and entirely subdued it by 1149, establishing the Principality of Halfway. This Crusader state would far outlast nearly all the others; despite being inherited by House de Weluta of Urcea in 1474, the Principality was mostly left to govern its own affairs until it was folded into the Kingdom of Crotona in 1660. Existing for nearly half a millennia, the Principality's legacy survives through today; the title of the heir to the Apostolic King of Urcea is ''Prince of Halfway'', indicating the high esteem placed on the long lasting Crusader state.