Signature of The Month June

[Lord_Chris 270]

Last Month, the winner was EaglePrince for our "Firefly Studios" themed contest.

 

EaglePrince has thought about, and decided upon the following theme:

 

kingdoms and empires of medieval Europe and Middle East

 

Your signature will have to contain some kind of symbol or icon depicting some kingdom or empire from middle east or medieval Europe. Flag, Coat of Arms, anything that represents this. An image such as a king, emperor.etc.

 

And if you are considering joining in, it wouldn't hurt to drop in a note so I hurry along those "last minute" sort of people.

 

The contest will run until the 20th of June, and after this date the voting will begin. But do remember... the longer you have your signature posted, the more likely people will notice it!

 

Basic Rules: http://forums.stronghold-nation.com/topic/94-announcing-signature-of-the-month/

 

Good luck!

 

**Voting**

 

Lord_Chris

 

 

EaglePrince

 

 

Charles of Tours

 

[EaglePrince 234]

I would like to apply for the competition with my signature.

My walls are strong, my men are in good heart. Bring o?n your slings and arrows!

Country I represent is medieval Serbia! First will elaborate the signature itself.

 

What you see at this banner are walls of Smederevo fortress - it was the last capital of medieval Serbia, until it fell during the invasion of Turks. In the background is the flag of Serbian Empire - one would say it is so similar to flag of Byzantine empire, and that is not coincidence, as Serbia was under great influence of Byzantine empire.

 

I will tell something about rise and downfall of Serbian empire. Serbia reached its height of power during the Nemanji?i. The Serbian Kingdom was proclaimed in 1217. Stefan Du?an proclaimed the Serbian Empire in 1346. During Du?an's rule, Serbia reached its territorial, political and economical peak, proclaiming itself as the successor of the Byzantine Empire, and indeed was the most powerful Balkan state of that time. Tsar Du?an enacted the known Du?an's Code, an extensive constitution, and opened new trade routes and strengthened the state's economy. Serbia flourished, becoming one of the most developed countries and cultures in Europe. Medieval Serbia had a high political, economic, and cultural reputation in Europe. The Serbian identity has been profoundly shaped by the rule of this dynasty and its accomplishments, with the Serbian Orthodox Church who assumed the role of the national spiritual guardian. Before his sudden death, Stefan Du?an tried to organize a Crusade with the Pope against the threatening Turks. He died in December 1355 at the age 47. He was succeeded by his son Uro?, called the Weak, a term that might also apply to the state of the empire which slowly slid into a feudal anarchy. This was a period marked by the rise of a new threat: the Ottoman Turk sultanate which spread from Asia to Europe. They conquered Byzantium and then the other states in the Balkans.

 

Later after that, Serbian lords, which were disunited attempted to stop the Turks, but they failed. The first great clash between Serbian lords and the Turks was battle of Maritsa. It was a devastating defeat to Serbian lords. The Serbian army numbered 20,000-70,000 men. Despot Uglje?a wanted to make a surprise attack on the Ottomans in their capital city, Edirne, while Murad I was in Asia Minor. The Ottoman army was much smaller Byzantine Greek scholar Laonikos Chalkokondyles and other sources give the number of 15000 men, but due to superior tactics, by conducting a night raid on the Serbian camp, ??hin Pa?a was able to defeat the Serbian army and kill King Vuka?in and despot Uglje?a. Thousands of Serbs were killed, and thousands drowned in the Maritsa river when they tried to regroup for counter-attack. Heavy armor became a disadvantage in the river water. After the battle, the Maritsa ran scarlet with blood. Those were on of the finest Serbian warriors, and one the reasons why Serbian army was defeated was that, Serbian lords, and Serbian army, were too confident... The aftermaths of the battle were that, Macedonia and parts of Greece fell under Ottoman power after this battle. The battle was a part of the Ottoman campaign to conquer the Balkans and was preceded by the Ottoman capturing of Sozopol and succeeded by the capture of the cities of Drama, Kav?la and Serrai in modern Greece. The battle preceded the later 1389 Battle of Kosovo, and was one of many in history of the Serbian-Turkish wars.

 

The Battle of Kosovo, also known as the Battle of Kosovo Field or the Battle of Blackbird's Field (Serbian: ???????? ?????, ??? ?? ??????; Kosovska bitka; Boj na Kosovu; Turkish: Kosova Meydan Sava??), took place on St. Vitus' Day, June 15, 1389, between the army led by Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanovi?, and the invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the leadership of Sultan Murad I. The army under Prince Lazar consisted of his own troops, a contingent led by Serbian nobleman Vuk Brankovi?, and a contingent sent from Bosnia by King Tvrtko I, commanded by Vlatko Vukovi?. Prince Lazar was the ruler of Moravian Serbia, and the most powerful among the Serbian regional lords of the time, while Vuk Brankovi? ruled a part of Kosovo and other areas, recognizing Lazar as his overlord. The Battle of Kosovo took place in the Kosovo Polje, about 5 kilometers northwest of modern-day Pristina.

 

After the battle the bulk of both armies were wiped out in the battle; both Lazar and Murad lost their lives, and the remnants of their armies eventually retreated from the battlefield. The Serbs were left with too few men to defend their lands effectively, while the Turks had many more troops in the east. Consequently, the Serbian principalities that were not already Ottoman vassals, one after the other became so in the following years. Furthermore, in response to Turkish pressure, some Serbian noblemen wed their daughters, including the daughter of Prince Lazar, to Bayezid. In the wake of these marriages, Stefan Lazarevi? became a loyal ally of Bayezid, going on to contribute significant forces to many of Bayezid's future military engagements, including the Battle of Nicopolis. Eventually, the Serbian Despotate would, on numerous occasions, attempt to defeat the Ottomans in conjunction with the Hungarians until its final defeat in 1459 and again in 1540.

 

Smederevo (it walls can be seen on my signature) was the last capital of Serbian Despotate. Ultimately this city was surrendered to Turks by the last king of medieval Serbia, Stefan Toma?evi?.

 

This is the map of Serbian empire.

 

 

Some parts of this text were taken from different articles from Wikipedia.

 

SUGGESTION: I also meant to suggest that we add some new additional rules for choosing the winner the for this competition. The rule would be the following:

• if one was the winner of previous month, next month he would have to have at least 50% more votes than the second competitor, in order to win.
  

My motivation for this is that I don't find it interesting if one person wins this award almost every month. Also, the one who tells the idea for next month competition has more chances of winning, as we may assume that this one might already have an idea for his signature, at the time others are reading what is the next month theme.

Edited June 7, 2014 by EaglePrince

[Lord_Chris 270]

Looks like someone knows his history! ;)

 

if one was the winner of previous month, next month he would have to have at least 50% more votes than the second competitor, in order to win.

 

Yes, I have to say I agree with that, I'll add that in the main signature of the month thread.

[EaglePrince 234]

Speaking about history, I like to know as much as possible. :)

 

I'm glad you agree.

 

By the way, nice banner - I guess it was a great fight.

[Charles of Tours 70]

I'm working on an image myself. I've just got to experiment with the pixels a bit so it doesn't look like someone spilled water on it when I change the dimensions.

[Lord_Chris 270]

I'm working on an image myself. I've just got to experiment with the pixels a bit so it doesn't look like someone spilled water on it when I change the dimensions.

 

That would be an improvement for my artwork ;)

[EaglePrince 234]

I'm glad to hear you're taking part in this as well, Charles of Tour!

 

By the way, are you, Lords Chris, taking part in this competition too? I'm asking this, cause I see you've created a nice signature, you linked it to this tread, but didn't write anything yet.

 

Also, I wanted to ask you... If someone could use it, I would write some advices or short tutorials about working with graphic programs? Only those parts that might be useful for created Stronghold Crusader faces, Stronghold 2 crests, and these banners... Although for some people who like to play around is the most important, and the most useful, only to know what program to use. Speaking about free programs, I would recommend Gimp. It's really a great program considering the fact it is free! Maybe a better thing, than making tutorials, would be starting a tread, where people might know that they can ask concrete question?

[Charles of Tours 70]

Here is the (raw) image, so you all with have an idea of what it will look like.

EDIT: Here is the same image with dimensions acceptable to the competition, but it looks a bit small.

Edited June 8, 2014 by Charles of Tours

[EaglePrince 234]

It does look nice, Charles! Now I see, you don't seem like someone who could use some help. :)

 

EDIT: This one smaller isn't too small at all. This way you also have some more space where you could add your username. Left of this picture, or something like that. :)

Edited June 8, 2014 by EaglePrince

[Lord_Chris 270]

Yes, I'm taking part. I'll probably just use the signature I created and currently have as I don't have time to try and create a better one this month, but next month I will.

 

If someone could use it, I would write some advices or short tutorials about working with graphic programs?

 

That would be very useful, I know I'd find that useful - I bet you can already tell by now I have absolutely no artistic skill :)

 

I'm not sure whether you can post in this forum off hand, if you can't post elsewhere and I'll move and stick your tutorial here.

 

I think the smaller one looks better than the bigger one as it's less distorted.

Edited June 8, 2014 by Lord_Chris

[Charles of Tours 70]

This one smaller isn't too small at all. This way you also have some more space where you could add your username. Left of this picture, or something like that. :)

Good idea! I was thinking of slapping a flag onto the right of it, or something like that. When I post the "official" one, I will write some history related stuff, as well as a couple inspirations for my image. :)

[EaglePrince 234]

I'm not sure whether you can post in this forum off hand, if you can't post elsewhere and I'll move and stick your tutorial here.

I will write some stuff, but I believe it will be in a separate topic. Only I'm not sure where to open this one, and to be relatively easy to find. Anyway, as it does not belong to Stronghold Crusader, Stronghold 2, or some specific game, I believe it will be in "off topic", and I shall add a link to this one in my Stronghold Crusader faces and crests tread, and in my "creating your own Stronhold 2 crests" which will be created by the time.

Until I do it, I will just recommend Gimp as an excellent image manipulation program that is free, and you may ask me here whatever you want. I will be happy to help, if I know to do, what you are trying to accomplish. As about creating faces and crests for Stronghold Crusader, you may ask me about that in that tread. :)

[Charles of Tours 70]

This isn't horrible:

To the left is a colored picture of Charlemagne, King of the Franks and of the Lombards, and Holy Roman Emperor. Behind him stands the medieval gates of Aachen, known as Aix-la-Chapelle in the time of Charles the Great, and where his court was held. Above the wall is the symbol of Carolus Magnus, a shortened version of his monogram. To the right is an approximation of the lands over which he governed. Inspiration comes from the two metal albums in which Sir Christopher Lee sang the part of Charlemagne, as well as the "lovely" family relationship of the post-867 Karlings in Paradox's Crusader Kings II game.

[EaglePrince 234]

It looks really nice. :) Although I didn't know he rules south Italy, as well?

 

This is what I was aware of.

Nevertheless, on neither of those maps Francia didn't rule on territory where Serbia was. :cool: So I'm cool with all that. :D

I'm just kidding about this one :) , but the signature is good looking. Only thing I am noticing is that the symbol of Carolus Magnus is black and in front of dark background. It's not visible so much, if it could be in a different color, it would be more visible. Also, instead of making it in another color, you can make it glow - that way it would be more visible. :) I'm not completely aware how to do in in Gimp, for example, but I guess you should place the symbol in a new layer, and than to place lighting at the background, after which you would set the layer of the symbol to be in front of all layers.

[Lord_Chris 270]

@Charles of Tours: You need to add your username to your signature :)

 

That is another great entry too.

[Charles of Tours 70]

You need to add your username to your signature :)

Oops, I forgot. I'll edit it.

Although I didn't know he rules south Italy, as well?

Each map is a little different, so I simply colored in all of mainland Italy. I could also extend the border further down into Iberia.

Only thing I am noticing is that the symbol of Carolus Magnus is black and in front of dark background.

Thanks for pointing that out. I think I over-looked it, because I was the one who made it.

Edited June 8, 2014 by Charles of Tours

[EaglePrince 234]

Each map is a little different, so I simply colored in all of mainland Italy. I could also extend the border further down into Iberia.

I think it would be more more accurate, if you extended the borders to Iberia. As about the south Italy - I am sure you know more about Franks than I do. :)

 

Oh, and by the way, I never asked you... Is your name here Charles of Tours because of the Battle of Tours, or that's just because you live near it? I must add, that is one of my favorite battles from that period.

 

EDIT: As about making something to glow, I am not entirely sure how to do it in Gimp - only I do know how to accomplish it in Corel PhotoPaint.

Edited June 8, 2014 by EaglePrince

[Charles of Tours 70]

Oh, and by the way, I never asked you... Is your name here Charles of Tours because of the Battle of Tours, or that's just because you live near it?

My username is based off of Charles Martel, who won the Battle of Tours (732). I live in the northeast of the United States, and sadly I've never visited Europe. :(

 

Also, I quickly made edits to the picture. It should now meet the requirements and look better. :)

[EaglePrince 234]

Hm, I didn't know he is know as Charles of Tours as well. That's a pretty interesting choice, now I see you have a really nice username. :) As about visiting Europe - there will be time for that, I'm sure. :)

 

It does look nice. :)

[Lord_Chris 270]

Very nice work indeed, I'm torn as to who will get my vote :)

[Lord_Chris 270]

** Voting has begun **

 

See the first post of this thread to vote.

[Lord_Chris 270]

The winner for this month is Charles of Tours - congrats Charles!

[EaglePrince 234]

Congratulations Charles! :)

[Charles of Tours 70]

Thank you all for voting! :)