History of Antwerp

From Requiem Limburg

Welcome, visitor.

Before I tell you what happened in the history of Antwerp, I would want to make clear what the Lancea has done for Antwerp all these centuries. I know other Covenants will have a different tale to tell you. When they do, remember this. The Lancea was here before all other Covenants, save one. And that one has ample reason to lie to you, as my tale will make clear.

Before the Lancea Sanctum brought spiritual and moral order in this heathen country, Antwerp was a cesspit of corruption in a country of pagans, heathens and sinners. Nepharious idolization of false nature gods was widely spread. It is this practice that has brought Antwerp to the brink of extinction for several times. It was the Lancea that managed to chain a great evil. An evil sin of untold magnitude that the Circle of the Crone had wished to unleash upon us all.

I do admit that we have only been able to chackle this evil, not destroy it. It remains a danger until this day. But we will not forsake the sacred trust that we have been given. There will come a day when we have finally paid our due for the sins of the Circle of the Crone. On that day, the evil seeds that they have planted will be destroyed forever. That day too, will we go around offering redemption to all. Those that have not strayed too far from the flock will once again be allowed to serve God. Those that reject this final absolution will know the true meaning of Divine Wrath.

The Lancea Sanctum is a respected Covenant. We do not covet political power. We seek only that which is needed to fullfil our role in God's Plan. Let our allies of the Invictus bother themselves with worldy matters. We seek just to tend the herd and cull it of those that have no place in it. Our Paladins protect the Prince in body. Our Priests guard his Soul. We protect the Body and Soul of Antwerp. We keep it on the road in the shadow of God's Creation. We make sure that all of our kind here know that we no longer have a place in the Light. We enforce that none seek to walk too long in Darkness.

Now you know what we are. You know what our duty is. With this in mind, read the words of history. With this in mind, read what truly happened in Antwerp these past centuries.

• before 900 AD - The domain of Antwerp is ruled by primitive, barbaric tribes revering all sorts of pagan believes.
• 900 AD - The first Irish monks arrive. De Lancea Sanctum follows close behind. Several of the Irish monks are murdered. Van Mareweghe, a Lancea Mekhet, investigates. His search brings him into contact with a local Damned. This Damned claims to be a druid. He follows a pagan belief that practices blood sacrifices. The monks were his latest victims. Van Mareweghe tries to make the sinner see God's Will, but the druid persists in his folly. In the end, Van Mareweghe has no choice but to punish the sinner. The druid is destroyed.
• 1000 AD - The city flourishes. The Damned flock to the new Domain. Bisshop Van Mareweghe gifts the Invictus Ventrue Floris Perseval with the rulership of Antwerp. Floris Perseval becomes the first Prince of Antwerp. Bisshop Van Mareweghe retreats to investigate the evil the druid had wanted to release upon God's Creation.
• 1124 AD - Saint Michaels abby is built. Amongst others, it houses the first Elysium of Antwerp, the Prinsenhof. All the important Damned that visit the city would sleep here.
• 1163 AD - The First Reckoning comes about. In one night, almost all of the Antwerp Damned are destroyed. Bisshop Van Mareweghe reappears to single-handedly drive back the monsters that are responsible for the killings.

It appeared that the dark deeds of the druid had progressed beyond mere threat. The druid had created a pathway to the underworld. The Lancea closes up the breach by placing a large Seal of Faith over it. From this moment on, the Lancea protect and maintain this Seal.

• 1272 AD - Prince Floris Persefijn relinquished the throne to his Childe, Katerina.
• 1322 AD - Elisabeth Galeveldt, a Gangrel, petitions the Prince for the right to stay in Antwerp. She claims to be the Childe of the druid. Many distrust her. Using evil rituals and dark sorcery she manages to sway the Prince. The Prince accepts her. Elisabeth starts a cult in Antwerp. The cult calls itself the Circle of the Crone.

The presence of the Childe of the druid is a portant for disaster. Bisshop Van Mareweghe is granted Divine Vision. The statue of Mother Mary of Antwerp cries tears of blood for the first time. The bisshop devises a grand plan. From the shadows he whispers his idea into the ears and minds of the city's mortal rulers: to build a magnificent cathedral. At the same time, a chapel is built under Saint Michael's Abby to house the statue. The first Paladins of the Virgin Mary are appointed to protect the statue.

• 1352 AD - The construction of the Antwerp cathedral is started.
• 1356 AD - The former Prince, Floris Persefijn, forces his Childe Katerina to abdict from the throne. His reasons and her true loyalties are made clear when Katerine leaves the Invictus soon after to join the Circle of the Crone. Against the council of the Lancea Floris Persefijn spares the life of his Childe.

The Lancea Paladins of the Virgin Mary are attached to the Prince's retinue to protect him against the Circle of the Crone.

• 1450 AD - The Bourgondic times. The economic wealth and power of Antwerp surges up through the care of both Lancea Sanctum and the Invictus. During the annual ritual to strengthen the Seal a small crack is discovered. Vrykon Dragun, a Damned of uncertain decent and member of the Crone, has tempered with it. God punishes the Damned of Antwerp by sending down the plague upon the mortal inhabitants of Antwerp.
• 1517 AD - Luther starts proclaiming his teachings. Through the invention of the art of printing his ideas spread through Europe like wildfire. Within the year, his works can be bought in Antwerp. The heretical contents of Luther's books are propagated by the Crone amongst the mortals. The protestants gain a sizable amount of followers.
• 1521 AD - The great Antwerp cathedral is finished. Through the construction of this paean to the glory of God, Bisshop Van Mareweghe finds true divine redemption. His last sins are washed away in the rays of the morning sun and he is admitted into the Eternal Heavens.
• 1555 AD - To spite the Lancea Sanctum Elisabeth Galeveldt brings about the first reformed church of Antwerp. She supports the mortal Plantijn to start the printshop 'De Gulden Passer'. The Lancea Sanctum try to intervene by getting Plantijn arrested. Only through great pressure by the Antwerp mortal notability, Plantijn is saved from a death sentence.

For some time, the relations between the Lancea Sanctum and the Invictus cool to almost freezing point.

• 1566 AD - An orgy of iconoclasm sweeps the country. Incited by a vile ritual of Crone blood sorcery the Calvinistic populace turns upon churches, monastries and abbies. The Lancea Sanctum is furious.
• 1567 AD - The Invictus supports the Lancea Sanctum by calling Alva to the Netherlands with a Spanish army of more than 10.000 men to crush the rebel Calvinists.
• 1576 AD - With the consent of both the Lancea Sanctum and the Invictus, Spanish troops ransack the city of Antwerp. The two covenants make good use of the chaos. Every last one of the mortal allies and contacts of the Circle of the Crone are destroyed as retribution for the sins of their immortal masters.
• 1578 AD - The Crone uses blood powers and magic to set up Platijn as the official printer of the protestant rebels who oppose the Spanish rulers. Bisshop Vasquez, the new Mekhet leader of the Lancea, accuses the Prince, Floris Persefijn, of not spending enough effort to control the uprising. Floris acknowledges the wisdom in the Bisschop's words and disappears.

The Princely seat is taken by the Daeva Maarten van Essen, an Invictus with strong Catholic ties.

• 1585 AD - Maarten van Essen saves Antwerp from further moral decay by surrendering it to the Spanish. With this masterful stroke he blocks every attempt by the Circle of the Crone to further incite rebellion.

With the surrender of Antwerp, a lot of heretical 'scientists' flee to other places. Elisabeth Galeveldt is never heard of again. The subverting influence of the Circle of the Crone wanes until nothing remains.

• 1598 AD - With the Crone's undermining presence finally crushes, the Lancea and the Invictus can once again start building for the future. The Habsburgers react strongly with the Counter Revolution and re-instate Catholicism to its former position. Beautiful baroque buildings and churches are built. Painters like Rubens are famous throughout the known world. The Lancea Sanctum florishes.

In a futile attempt to equal the splendour of the Paladins of the Virgin Mary, Katarina pushes the Circle to the study of Sword and Soil.

• 1732 AD - The Second Reckoning comes to pass. Katarina damages the Seal. The evil creatures from beyond once again destroy almost all of the Antwerp Damned. Prince Maarten van Essen is destroyed during the battle. Bisshop Vasquez humbly ascends the throne. That same year he is cowardly assassinated by the Circle of the Crone. The Lancea Paladins strike to enact bloody vengeance upon the Circle.

Together with the Invictus the Lancea decides to put the Nosferatu Victor Andersen, a former Scandinavian merchant, on the Antwerp throne. The statue of the Mother Mary once again weeps tears of blood in grief for the foul act of the Circle of the Crone.

• 1754 AD - The Mekhet Maximilian Rhosenthal arrives in Antwerp and claims to be a member of a Covenant not yet seen in Antwerp, the Ordo Dracul. He is intrigued by the stories of the statue of the Mother Mary. He asks if he is allowed to research the statue. In their kindness and trust, the Lancea gives permission. The Mekhet is not able to determine anything out of the ordinary.
• 1795 AD - The kindness the Lancea had shown the Ordo Dracul is repaid by treachery. In secret, Maximilian had been in league with upstart remnants of the Crone. Together with influences from beyond the domain of Antwerp they help the French invasion of the Lower Countries. Religious practice is banned. The Lancea Sanctum is outraged.
• 1830 AD - Belgium revolts. Prince Victor Andersen is murdered by the Crone. He is replaced by Prince Bernard Van Parijs, Childe of Floris Persefijn.
• 1839 AD - Under Invictus pressure, the river Schelde is re-opened. The harbour becomes a magnet for the lower working class. Employment opportunities sky rocket. The population increases as the region is swept up in the Industrial Revolution.
• 1849 AD - The Invictus played a major part in the succes of the Industrial Revolution. Jean Gallimont, Childe of Bernard van Parijs, revolutionary and humanist, can no longer stand the injustice and growing distance between the rich industrialists and the working class. He creates what will become the Antwerp Carthian Movement. As far as the Lancea is concerned, this seperation is an internal Invictus affair.
• 1854 AD - The Ordo Dracul looses interest in the Damned politics. The covenant buys a large storage building in the north of Antwerp. Here she starts to assemble a large and impressive library.
• 1894 AD - Maximilian Rosenthal and Katerina are destroyed by hired assassins sent by Gallimont. The purpetrators are sentenced to death by Bernard van Parijs. The Prince then calls a Bloodhunt on his own Childe Jean Gallimont and his followers. Some of them manage to escape. Amongst these is a Daeva ghoul, Andre van de Kavije
• 1902 AD - The remaining Carthians take revenge by organizing large strikes. During these unrests the Carthian Damned take out the Invictus' mortal contacts one by one. The government reacts by calling in the military. Tens of civilians are killed. The dock workers respond in anger and march upon the houses of the rich. During one of these attacks, the Haven of the Prince Van Parijs is plundered. The Prince dies in the daylight.
• 1904 AD - Andre van de Kavije signs a treaty with the Ordo Dracul. He gathers the remnants of the previous Movement and re-establishes the Carthian Movement. Ligardis of the Circle of the Crone steps up as the new Prince. Some members of the Circle join the Carthians. The most powerful members of the Invictus and the Lancea Sanctum are forced into torpor by vile blood magic. None are able to oppose the bid for power.

The Lancea Mekhet, Brother Hugo, decides to investigate what has happened. He discovers that Ligardis is possessed by a demon.

• 1914 AD - German armies invade Belgium. The Belgian army cannot make a stand and retreats. The occupying forces reorganise the local government. Many of the Damned lose parts of their mortal influence and power.

During this time of struggle, Brother Hugo makes a brave attempt to save Ligardis from his demonic tormentor. Before his final excorcism the demon destroys the vessel that he rode. Ligardis is no more. Brother Hugo is hurt to such an extend that he enters torpor. After the war the Daeva Invictus Sander Goorix seizes power after awakening from torpor.

• 1923 AD - The Circle of the Crone creates a large communal Haven on the Belgielei. Politically, they keep a very low profile.
• 1930 AD - Andre van de Kavije foils a just retribution by the faith on King Albert during the World Exhibition in Antwerp. The noble Lancea Paladin Isaak Mondel had wishes to punish the impious monarch for his crimes, but finds his own destruction instead. The Carthian Movement is a rabid dog that has escaped its master's chain. The relations between the Lancea Sanctum and the Movement remains strained until this very day.
• 1940 AD - The Second Worldwar commences. Soon, the German occupation of Belgium is a fact. Once again a lot of Kindred influence on the mortal world is lost. Also, the occult interests of the Nazi regime offers a serious threat to the Masquerade. Hilter's believes have strong roots in old German paganism and he frantically searches for new knowledge and science. It is clear that he is strongly controlled by the Circle of the Crone on one side and the Ordo Dracul on the other. Kindred are actively hunted and destroyed by Nazi Special Forces.
• 1943 AD - The Third Reckoning comes about. Led by the Mekhet Crone Balthasar Moritz the Circle of the Crone manages to slip a small party into Lancea grounds. They break the Seal and enter whatever the druid created so many centuries ago. A number of mortals disappear but again the Damned of Antwerp pay the highest price. About 90% of them are destroyed. Amongst the losses is the Prince Sander Goorix. A number of Lancea Sanctum survivors risk their lives to close the Seal again.
• 1945 AD - The war ends.
• 2005 AD - The Antwerp population of Damned swells dramatically by the sudden influx of newcomers. The Requiem commences