Medieval War Story [Need Help]

[Aix]

So, I'm thinking out the plot of a medieval fantasy story which takes place when two countries are coming close to going to war with each other and I'm derping along pretty well... but then, bam, I trip and fall and bash into a wall (OMG, it rhymes). I'm missing some details: Why the heck do two countries have such a rivalry? What happened in history to make it so? (It is more dramatic if the two countries have always hated each other.)

Any ideas?

The other thing is sorting out what a medieval ambassadors and diplomats meeting is like, what do they do? What do they discuss? What sort of procedures happen? Of course, I'll make a lot of it up, but I would like to have some examples. The meeting will be between the two countries mentioned above.

[Aerion Brightflame]

Umm, I might be able to help some what.

Usually two countries would hate eah other do to some event between the royalty in the past, be it a war, or a insult. Something along those lines, since really the peasantry would have no say in anything, so it would have to be a royal problem. Most likely over power, and by that I mean land.

As for a meeting between them? That I can't help so much with, reading similar bits of fiction would probably help for the best. I have the feeling that it would involve agreements and disputes over land to settle problems, marraige between family members to attempt to solve any issues, and most likely some form of violence.

That's what I've got from my understanding of the Medieval era from my college course. Others probably know more, but if you want more help I'll be happy to. Given I have something similar in the works. And actually... I could probably ask my teachers, given each is a leading expert in the field. If you want more help and more details feel free to ask me.

[Aix]

Thanks that was really helpful!

[Vector Nightmare]

[quote name='AixDivadis' timestamp='1353268978' post='6072705']Why the heck do two countries have such a rivalry? What happened in history to make it so? (It is more dramatic if the two countries have always hated each other.)[/quote]

The five main excuses for war:

1) Economy, first and foremost. Country B is blocking country A's trade route, enforcing heavy taxes and controls, and outright stealing from traders. Country A has a monopoly on something, country B discovers they can also make that something and competition arises. Stuff like that.

2) Religion. Different, conflicting religions. Same religion, but there's a sacred site in country A. Country A prohibits people from country B from visiting, declaring them heretics. Bam, hatred.

3) Feuds. Centuries ago the favorite wolf of the king of country A wanders into country B land and eats some sheep. Country B soldiers kill the wolf and send the head back to country A's king. Feud, hatred, war.

4) Land. Country A wants to expand. Country B wants to expand. Their borders meet. They begin wanting to expand into each other's territory. War.

5) And the fifth reason, as strange as it sounds... necessity. There's no actual reason for the 2 countries to be in conflict with each other. But for various reasons, conflict needs to be fabricated, so hatred is bred into the hearts of the people to keep the war going. Maybe weapon merchants have huge interests and influence and need the money? Maybe there's overpopulation problem? Maybe some sinister conspiracy? Could be anything really.

You can really go anywhere with these. Usually for two countries to develop a long-lasting rivalry, a combination of reasons is needed. You see for example two countries being competitors for economy or land. "Suddenly" religious reasons also appear for them to wage war against each other or "suddenly" happens to legitimately piss off the high brass of one country to declare a crusade against the other. Your setting can be anything you can imagine.

[quote name='AixDivadis' timestamp='1353268978' post='6072705']The other thing is sorting out what a medieval ambassadors and diplomats meeting is like, what do they do? What do they discuss? What sort of procedures happen? Of course, I'll make a lot of it up, but I would like to have some examples. The meeting will be between the two countries mentioned above.[/quote]

Usually, a diplomatic meeting in the medieval times takes several days and involves some grand ceremony. First, the location must be appointed. Usually neutral ground near the two countries' borders or in some third neutral country. Open plain, where ambushes are difficult to stage - no forests nearby, and no natural dead-ends (cliffs, rivers etc). Then, each country forms an embassy. Usually you have one or more members of the royal family (assuming kingdoms). The king himself should only step up if the meeting is important enough - for smaller issues, the crown prince or so is delegated main ambassador. Of course, they are mostly the figureheads - the real ambassadors are a group of diplomats, masters of finances and logistics and other such people. The embassies should also have with them translators (if different languages), cartographers (in case borders need to be changed etc) and of course scribes, to write down everything that transpires.

Assuming an important meeting, which seems the case from your context, you have a group of 15-20 people forming the body of the embassy. You have just as many soldiers / knights as honor guard. And you have the hanger-ons, which can vary from entertainers / jesters, beggars, spies, prostitutes and various other things. Usually, the first day is spent with meetings and formal introductions, and the two embassies retire early. The second day some event happens. Maybe the leaders of the expeditions go on a hunt or something, or some form of tournament is staged between the knights. Usually ends in some form of celebration. From the third day, the negotiations begin. These last for 2-3 days usually and the friendly climate developed over the previous days helps to alleviate disagreements. If everything works, then the terms of a treaty are discussed, and said treaty is produced and signed. If we're talking about warring countries or long-standing rivals, this initial treaty is obviously nothing more ambitious than a simple ceasefire agreement. After the main points are discussed, as much as a week can be taken to analyze the fine print. Then, the meeting ends with some celebration, and the two embassies return home. So a successful meeting will usually last between one and two weeks. A meeting can fail for many reasons, for example discovery of spies, betrayal, assassination, disagreements that can't be resolved via talking... and usually ends with some form of bloodshed, rage, and promises of renewed and more intense than before slaughter.

Well, that's all I can think of right now. May be able to help more if I have more details.

[?someone?]

I'd go with dual regicide.