I’m sure the proclamation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem being reformed is soon to come.
After the forest of Foixà: a new beginning for the House of Barcelona
- Thread starter Kurt_Steiner
- Start date
Chapter 50: The Reformation of the Heretics (1650-1652)
Chapter 50: The Reformation of the Heretics (1650-1652)
The death of King Jaime of Hispania in 1646 came as a relief for many (among them, Jaime himself) who blamed him for the break up of the Empire. His son, also named Jaime (1601-1678) , was a promise brighter than his father, even if his tutor, the Duke of Alba, had some doubts about the heir due to his stubbornness. In fact, it was a bit worse than this. Jaime IV was, all in all, a well educated and informed man, he is a learned man and somewhat of an academic and philosopher and a bit of a perfectionist who saw his fate was to create a more modern state. Later described by historians as probably being a bit obsessive-compulsive, Jaime IV wanted to have everything ordered and in its place. Thus, when his wishes and reality clashed, it went nasty quite fast. He did not mind changes... provided that they came his way. Determined to rule, he considered that the King had not only to be the head of the Government, but also of the Church. However, no one should have been surprised by this as, in his last years, his father had handed over authority to Jaime bit by bit, even if under the control of the Royal Council. Thus, the change in the throne was a quiet transferral of power, leaving a successful and workable administration and one of the most qualified and educated kings that Hispania had in its history. The Empire needed a change after the trauma of the civil war, and thus it came a younger and more determined monarch, a strong religious devotion and big ambitions.
Just in case, his father had opted for a quiet marriage for his son and he was wedded to the daughter of the Duke of Medinaceli, Antonio de la Cerda y Dávila. Arranged when Jaime was barely a teenager, the marriage was not fated to be a happy one. Cristina was a reserved but fiercely independent woman who missed too much his freedom in the family castle and refused to spend much time in the royal court. Jaime was happy with this once their first son was born in 1628, followed by another in 1630. Thus, he happily packed his wife for the royal palace of Salamanca and forgot about her... once he became king. Then the fight began. Jaime IV demanded to have his sons with him, to learn how to rule the kingdom, but Cristina wanted nothing of that, as they were too young. Thus, husband and wife started a shooting war that horrified the court for his viciousness. They never again had children (Jaime himself is known to have sired at least four recorded bastards, two of which were acknowledged - Alfonso and Ramon Berenguer. For a time, annulment or divorce were both considered but as Jaime was a devout man and he wanted to ensure the support of the church, nothing of that short happened and the two simply avoided one another, Cristina living in the royal palaces of Salamanca, Seville or Valencia, depending on the season until she passed away after a bout of malaria in Seville in 1670.
Soon a crisis erupted. The suffering caused by the war had caused a not unexpected return to religion by the humble classes. The surprise came when a new religious faction appeared in Toulouse and Carcassonne around the late 1630s. All in all, this new group demanded a return to the origins of Christianity, away from the luxury of the Papacy and the wickedness of the world. This was not dangerous enough, but there was a part of their religious ideas that caused a widespread alarm from Toledo to Rome: They addressed the problem of the existence of evil in the world by stating that as God was sheer goodness, he had nothing to do with evil and this he was powerless to act against it, as evil was alien to his nature. This brought to many memories of the Cathars and Pope Urban VIII, in the papal bull Sanctissimus Dominus Noster of March, 13 1640, gave a stern warning about any ideas that doubted about God's "perfection, goodness, incomprehensibility, omnipresence, immutability, eternity and oneness." However, in spite of Urban VIII and his successor (Innocent X)'s efforts, this set of ideas was to spread quite fast not only through Occitania but also in Aragon, Navarre, Castile, France and Italy. Called by its enemies and critics as "Neo-Cathars", the followers of this variety of Christianity simply called themselves "Good Christians".
To face this problem, both Jaime IV of Hispania and Eduardo V of Aragon (1605-1655) resorted to a stronger line against religious dissension and a centralised, episcopal reaction led, undoubtedly, by the monarch. In spite of their political ideas, both Jaime and Eduardo agreed on the need of a church united wholly in doctrine and leadership - with them as both temporal and spiritual leaders. To this end, they called a "Grand Council" to bring together all the high ranking members of the church of both kingdoms to agree upon a new charter for the faith. First summoned in December of 1650, the Council opened for Easter 1652 and lasted two months with intense negotiation and debate from the various factions. In one side there were those in support of a centralised church who, quite unsurprisngly, followed quite closely the idea of Jaime IV. There was, on the other side, those who proposed to have the Hispanic and Aragonese churches united but by a covenant or argreement that kept in place their independence. Finally, of course, there were those who tired soon of the argument between the "unifiers" and the "convenanters" and demanded a direct action against the heretics. Then, to the surprise of many, a group representing the "Neo-Cathars" rose and explained to all their program, which was based in the emphasis on poverty; the concept of the universal priesthood; baptism was not necessary for entrance into heaven; Man was an alien and a sojourner in a temporary world and his aim must be to free his spirit, which was in its nature good, and restore it to communion with God; the rejection of most of the Catholic rites, which where all reduced to a single one, the so-called consolamentum, and so on. It goes without saying that this caused a furious uproar among the Catholic bishops and cardinals.
In the end, by the time that ths Council was over (June 1652) it proved to be a complete failure. But for the agreement upon a handful of doctrinal points, the Hispanic and Aragonese churchmen departed without having agreed upon a solution in the Neo-Cathar problem. Jaime IV had reinforced his control over the Hispanic church while Eduardo V had become tired of the endless arguing and, even worse, of the constant bickering between the Bishops and Archbishops for wordly matters. So, while in the end both of them reserved for themselves the position of Defender of the Church, that is, its head and controller, on having printed a translated Bible, the right to appoint all Bishops and Archbishops and over the collection and spending of tithes, there was no agreement about what to do with the "Neo-Cathars". Thus, while Jaime IV simply stated that would be enough with having the heretics being captured, imprisoned and even executed, Eduardo V was not so sure about it. After all, as one of his advisors stated, when asked about why they did not simply expulse the heretics, "We cannot do that! They are our neighbours and we see them live honorably!". On the Hispanic side, their position was summarized in a simple saying: "Suffer not the heretic to live!". However, behind this apparent union, Jaime IV had a problem to deal with: the Jews and those who sympathized with the heretics or followed their ideas.
In addition to the political division, it seemed that the former Hispanic Empire was on the verge of a religious split.
The death of King Jaime of Hispania in 1646 came as a relief for many (among them, Jaime himself) who blamed him for the break up of the Empire. His son, also named Jaime (1601-1678) , was a promise brighter than his father, even if his tutor, the Duke of Alba, had some doubts about the heir due to his stubbornness. In fact, it was a bit worse than this. Jaime IV was, all in all, a well educated and informed man, he is a learned man and somewhat of an academic and philosopher and a bit of a perfectionist who saw his fate was to create a more modern state. Later described by historians as probably being a bit obsessive-compulsive, Jaime IV wanted to have everything ordered and in its place. Thus, when his wishes and reality clashed, it went nasty quite fast. He did not mind changes... provided that they came his way. Determined to rule, he considered that the King had not only to be the head of the Government, but also of the Church. However, no one should have been surprised by this as, in his last years, his father had handed over authority to Jaime bit by bit, even if under the control of the Royal Council. Thus, the change in the throne was a quiet transferral of power, leaving a successful and workable administration and one of the most qualified and educated kings that Hispania had in its history. The Empire needed a change after the trauma of the civil war, and thus it came a younger and more determined monarch, a strong religious devotion and big ambitions.
Just in case, his father had opted for a quiet marriage for his son and he was wedded to the daughter of the Duke of Medinaceli, Antonio de la Cerda y Dávila. Arranged when Jaime was barely a teenager, the marriage was not fated to be a happy one. Cristina was a reserved but fiercely independent woman who missed too much his freedom in the family castle and refused to spend much time in the royal court. Jaime was happy with this once their first son was born in 1628, followed by another in 1630. Thus, he happily packed his wife for the royal palace of Salamanca and forgot about her... once he became king. Then the fight began. Jaime IV demanded to have his sons with him, to learn how to rule the kingdom, but Cristina wanted nothing of that, as they were too young. Thus, husband and wife started a shooting war that horrified the court for his viciousness. They never again had children (Jaime himself is known to have sired at least four recorded bastards, two of which were acknowledged - Alfonso and Ramon Berenguer. For a time, annulment or divorce were both considered but as Jaime was a devout man and he wanted to ensure the support of the church, nothing of that short happened and the two simply avoided one another, Cristina living in the royal palaces of Salamanca, Seville or Valencia, depending on the season until she passed away after a bout of malaria in Seville in 1670.
Soon a crisis erupted. The suffering caused by the war had caused a not unexpected return to religion by the humble classes. The surprise came when a new religious faction appeared in Toulouse and Carcassonne around the late 1630s. All in all, this new group demanded a return to the origins of Christianity, away from the luxury of the Papacy and the wickedness of the world. This was not dangerous enough, but there was a part of their religious ideas that caused a widespread alarm from Toledo to Rome: They addressed the problem of the existence of evil in the world by stating that as God was sheer goodness, he had nothing to do with evil and this he was powerless to act against it, as evil was alien to his nature. This brought to many memories of the Cathars and Pope Urban VIII, in the papal bull Sanctissimus Dominus Noster of March, 13 1640, gave a stern warning about any ideas that doubted about God's "perfection, goodness, incomprehensibility, omnipresence, immutability, eternity and oneness." However, in spite of Urban VIII and his successor (Innocent X)'s efforts, this set of ideas was to spread quite fast not only through Occitania but also in Aragon, Navarre, Castile, France and Italy. Called by its enemies and critics as "Neo-Cathars", the followers of this variety of Christianity simply called themselves "Good Christians".
To face this problem, both Jaime IV of Hispania and Eduardo V of Aragon (1605-1655) resorted to a stronger line against religious dissension and a centralised, episcopal reaction led, undoubtedly, by the monarch. In spite of their political ideas, both Jaime and Eduardo agreed on the need of a church united wholly in doctrine and leadership - with them as both temporal and spiritual leaders. To this end, they called a "Grand Council" to bring together all the high ranking members of the church of both kingdoms to agree upon a new charter for the faith. First summoned in December of 1650, the Council opened for Easter 1652 and lasted two months with intense negotiation and debate from the various factions. In one side there were those in support of a centralised church who, quite unsurprisngly, followed quite closely the idea of Jaime IV. There was, on the other side, those who proposed to have the Hispanic and Aragonese churches united but by a covenant or argreement that kept in place their independence. Finally, of course, there were those who tired soon of the argument between the "unifiers" and the "convenanters" and demanded a direct action against the heretics. Then, to the surprise of many, a group representing the "Neo-Cathars" rose and explained to all their program, which was based in the emphasis on poverty; the concept of the universal priesthood; baptism was not necessary for entrance into heaven; Man was an alien and a sojourner in a temporary world and his aim must be to free his spirit, which was in its nature good, and restore it to communion with God; the rejection of most of the Catholic rites, which where all reduced to a single one, the so-called consolamentum, and so on. It goes without saying that this caused a furious uproar among the Catholic bishops and cardinals.
In the end, by the time that ths Council was over (June 1652) it proved to be a complete failure. But for the agreement upon a handful of doctrinal points, the Hispanic and Aragonese churchmen departed without having agreed upon a solution in the Neo-Cathar problem. Jaime IV had reinforced his control over the Hispanic church while Eduardo V had become tired of the endless arguing and, even worse, of the constant bickering between the Bishops and Archbishops for wordly matters. So, while in the end both of them reserved for themselves the position of Defender of the Church, that is, its head and controller, on having printed a translated Bible, the right to appoint all Bishops and Archbishops and over the collection and spending of tithes, there was no agreement about what to do with the "Neo-Cathars". Thus, while Jaime IV simply stated that would be enough with having the heretics being captured, imprisoned and even executed, Eduardo V was not so sure about it. After all, as one of his advisors stated, when asked about why they did not simply expulse the heretics, "We cannot do that! They are our neighbours and we see them live honorably!". On the Hispanic side, their position was summarized in a simple saying: "Suffer not the heretic to live!". However, behind this apparent union, Jaime IV had a problem to deal with: the Jews and those who sympathized with the heretics or followed their ideas.
In addition to the political division, it seemed that the former Hispanic Empire was on the verge of a religious split.
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Chapter 51: Religious problems and colonial expansion (1652-1655)
Chapter 51: Religious problems and colonial expansion (1652-1655)
The reform of the Royal Hispanic African Company, intended to make it more autonomous, was to create a crisis in Hispania. Just as the company expanded to include all the Hispanic trade operations taking place from Melilla to the Cape, it began to be controlled by Rodrigo Gómez de Sandoval (1614-1657), 3rd Duke of Lerma, and Juan Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna (1598-1656), it began to engage in the slave trade. Soon its slaves were sold not only to the Hispanic colonies, but also to the English, Portuguese, French and Danish. By 1650 Hispania was the most prolific slave trader in the world with the help of the Oyo and Kongo kingdoms, who had little troubles to sell them prisoners en masse as they raided their neighbours. In fact Nkanga a Lukeni, the ruler of the Kongo, not only converted himself to Christianity and became King García I of Kongo, but also asked Jaime IV to send Christian priests to his Empire to convert its inhabitants. This would come to an end with Garcia's son, António I (or Nkanga a Mvita), who suceeded his father in 1661 and attempted to get rid of any foreign meddling. However by then the Royal Hispanic African company posted record profits year on year. Even worse, the trade also filled the royal coffers and, along with a period relative external peace, helped the economy to stay strong. However, there were some criticism about the morality of trading with human beings and the rivals of Lerma and Osuna began to move behind the courtain and filled the ears of Jaime IV with all kind of rumours and gossip about the Company.
Meanwhile, King Eduardo V of Aragon had to face a fact. The annexation of Occitania had increased the number of Neo-Cathars within his empire, who where around 30 to 40 % of the inhabitants of some áreas in Occitania (Viscounties of Béziers, Carcassonne and Razes) while on some other went from 10 to 20% (Counties of Toulouse, Bigorre, Béarn, Comminges, Foix and viscounty of Albi) or below 10% (Gascony). However, by 1650 those numbers were very much higher in the southern and center areas of Gascony, in Béarn and Foix (almost reaching 45%), Toulouse (30%) and it was estimated that a quarter of the population of Provence were either Neo-Cathar or had some leaning towards that faith. Even worse, as it had also spread not only to the north, to France (Poitou, Santonge, La Marche, Maine, Touraine and Delphiné), but also to Aragon. The area around the Pyrenées were known to have sympathis for this new generation of Good Christians and Eduardo V, after discussing the matter with the Church and his Royal Council, determined that, even if he risked angering the Pope to no end, he was not willing to persecute the so-called heretics who, after all, did not put into question the role of the Catholic Church. With their example of simple life and simple creed it was enough to have Rome in the loosing side. However, as unrooting the heressy meant to burn down half of the Occitans lands, he was not willing to do so.
Religion was also causing some troubles to Jaime IV. The Council of 1652 had ended in failure but this mean little for the most radical Catholic faction in his kingdom. They hated all kind of mid-terms. They resented that so much of the original Christian doctrine the church had been abandoned and demanded not only both dissent and deviation be purged, but also a return to the purity of the original ways, when Our Lord walked the earth. What Jesuschrist had to do with burning other Christians puzzled James and most of his subjects, so the radicals were few and very disliked by all. The most die-hard of them, of course, could not tolerate the new, "autocratic" ways of the king and a small number moved to the New World, looking for a new life there. However, a core handful of the most devotedly independent founded their own faith: "La Iglesia Independiente de Cristo" (The Independent Church of Christ, usually known simply as the "Independents"). However, those die-hard had their own problems as they claimed the original mandate of the “original Church '', so it could be argued that they claimed, as the Neo-Cathars, that Rome did not longer represent the Church created by Peter. Thus, the Inquisition also targeted them. Repressed and looked with either fear or contempt by the bulk of the Hispanic population, is no wonder that many Radicals were broken by the persecution and, by the late 1670, the Independents were barely a few tens of hundreds, most of them active in rural areas.
Then, in 1654, the Aragonese ships began to explore the African and Indian Coast, and began moving even further west and to the south. In 1657 Aragon would claim its first colony in an archipielago of islands to the south of the Indian Ocean. They would become the Aragonese colony of Maragda₁
₁ - OTL Indonesia.
The reform of the Royal Hispanic African Company, intended to make it more autonomous, was to create a crisis in Hispania. Just as the company expanded to include all the Hispanic trade operations taking place from Melilla to the Cape, it began to be controlled by Rodrigo Gómez de Sandoval (1614-1657), 3rd Duke of Lerma, and Juan Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna (1598-1656), it began to engage in the slave trade. Soon its slaves were sold not only to the Hispanic colonies, but also to the English, Portuguese, French and Danish. By 1650 Hispania was the most prolific slave trader in the world with the help of the Oyo and Kongo kingdoms, who had little troubles to sell them prisoners en masse as they raided their neighbours. In fact Nkanga a Lukeni, the ruler of the Kongo, not only converted himself to Christianity and became King García I of Kongo, but also asked Jaime IV to send Christian priests to his Empire to convert its inhabitants. This would come to an end with Garcia's son, António I (or Nkanga a Mvita), who suceeded his father in 1661 and attempted to get rid of any foreign meddling. However by then the Royal Hispanic African company posted record profits year on year. Even worse, the trade also filled the royal coffers and, along with a period relative external peace, helped the economy to stay strong. However, there were some criticism about the morality of trading with human beings and the rivals of Lerma and Osuna began to move behind the courtain and filled the ears of Jaime IV with all kind of rumours and gossip about the Company.
Meanwhile, King Eduardo V of Aragon had to face a fact. The annexation of Occitania had increased the number of Neo-Cathars within his empire, who where around 30 to 40 % of the inhabitants of some áreas in Occitania (Viscounties of Béziers, Carcassonne and Razes) while on some other went from 10 to 20% (Counties of Toulouse, Bigorre, Béarn, Comminges, Foix and viscounty of Albi) or below 10% (Gascony). However, by 1650 those numbers were very much higher in the southern and center areas of Gascony, in Béarn and Foix (almost reaching 45%), Toulouse (30%) and it was estimated that a quarter of the population of Provence were either Neo-Cathar or had some leaning towards that faith. Even worse, as it had also spread not only to the north, to France (Poitou, Santonge, La Marche, Maine, Touraine and Delphiné), but also to Aragon. The area around the Pyrenées were known to have sympathis for this new generation of Good Christians and Eduardo V, after discussing the matter with the Church and his Royal Council, determined that, even if he risked angering the Pope to no end, he was not willing to persecute the so-called heretics who, after all, did not put into question the role of the Catholic Church. With their example of simple life and simple creed it was enough to have Rome in the loosing side. However, as unrooting the heressy meant to burn down half of the Occitans lands, he was not willing to do so.
Religion was also causing some troubles to Jaime IV. The Council of 1652 had ended in failure but this mean little for the most radical Catholic faction in his kingdom. They hated all kind of mid-terms. They resented that so much of the original Christian doctrine the church had been abandoned and demanded not only both dissent and deviation be purged, but also a return to the purity of the original ways, when Our Lord walked the earth. What Jesuschrist had to do with burning other Christians puzzled James and most of his subjects, so the radicals were few and very disliked by all. The most die-hard of them, of course, could not tolerate the new, "autocratic" ways of the king and a small number moved to the New World, looking for a new life there. However, a core handful of the most devotedly independent founded their own faith: "La Iglesia Independiente de Cristo" (The Independent Church of Christ, usually known simply as the "Independents"). However, those die-hard had their own problems as they claimed the original mandate of the “original Church '', so it could be argued that they claimed, as the Neo-Cathars, that Rome did not longer represent the Church created by Peter. Thus, the Inquisition also targeted them. Repressed and looked with either fear or contempt by the bulk of the Hispanic population, is no wonder that many Radicals were broken by the persecution and, by the late 1670, the Independents were barely a few tens of hundreds, most of them active in rural areas.
Then, in 1654, the Aragonese ships began to explore the African and Indian Coast, and began moving even further west and to the south. In 1657 Aragon would claim its first colony in an archipielago of islands to the south of the Indian Ocean. They would become the Aragonese colony of Maragda₁
₁ - OTL Indonesia.
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So the trans-Atlantic slave trade is beginning to take off? I do love a bit of the Kingdom of Kongo- do you envision the Hispanians doing something akin to the foundation of Angola?
Yes, the slave trade has suddenly boomed as a way of cheap and easy money. About Angola... you can think that I have plans for it... and you'll be right.
Chapter 52: Colonial rivalries (1655-1680)
Chapter 52: Colonial rivalries (1655-1680)
Just as the religious turmoil was being calmed down, Jaime IV of Hispania decided to reinforce his position as Emperor and hired a team of writers and printers to publish his theory about the Divine Right of Kings. When the first treaties dealing with the topic appeared around 1666, they enjoyed great success. The treaties centered around national institutions, legalism, balance of powers and citizenship. However, many people felt worried about the new ways outlined in the writings. Suddenly it appeared that Jaime IV wanted not only to rule by himself, but to have everything depending on his will. For the Hispanic Grandees, and for the cities, used to defend their rights in their Parliaments, this step towards an absolute monarchy became a frightening vision of impending doom. Jaime III's refusal to deal with the Parliament but when it was totally necessary and his fondness for managing personally every little issue of the realm frustrated and even frightened many constitutionalists. Even his own supporters were divided on the issue, as some of them feared that an absolutist King would not need them if all the powers was in his hands. Suddenly, the popularity of Jaime IV dropped dramatically. This was first seen when dealing with the yearly budget, as the Prime Minister of the Royal Council, until then the first of the royal councilors, fearing that he and the other ministers would be shunned or replaced by a whim of the king, became the visible head of the opposition to the "Divine Right of Kings" and opposed frontally the royal demands for new fundings for the Imperial projects. Ironically, the prime minister was one of the few Catalan Loyalists that remained in the service of the king, Dalmau de Queralt y Codina, count of Santa Coloma de Queralt (1593-1661). Old but still reliable, Santa Coloma offered a stubborn resistance to the King's ways. Thus, the relationship between the King and his political class became exceptionally tense in those days.
Meanwhile, Aragon was busy exploring the Maragdan archipelago₁. By 1661 the explorers reported that they had found a great mass of land to the south of the archipielago that attracted the interest of the Crown. Thus, the exploration of Maragda and its surrounding area became the main Aragonese enterprise for the next decades and, at the same time, a blessing for the Crown as the Neo-Cathars became attracted by the idea of evangelizing this unexplored continent and the perfecti joined the explorers in their advance inland, soon to be followed by Occitan settlers along with Neo-Cathars from Northern Italy and Southern Switzerland. Eventually, the arrival of Neo-Cathar perfecti was stopped by the Crown as their evangelizing activities with the local tribes caused an uproar in the Aragonese Catholic church when their priests came into contact with the Maragdian natives and were appaled by what they saw: the Neo-Cathars dualist teachings had been integrated in different measure by the tribes, resulting in some strange adaptations of the religion by the tribesmen that horrified the Catholic priests. Thus, in 1675 the Neo-Cathar proselytisation among the tribes was forbidden by law.
Attracted and interested by the tales of a great land of mass discovered by the Aragonese, Jaime IV decided to try exploring there as the New World, or Ameriga, as it was called by then, there was no more space to expand but for the empty masses of land to the North and South of the land mass. And, while the Hispanic explorers had began moving south and, thanks to the lack of Portuguese interest to move southwards, following witj the plans for the creation of the so-called "Reino de Chile'' (Kingdom of Chile). However, the funds for that project were being constantly delayed in the Parliament until the planned expansion south the Loa and Black Rivers was quietly forgotten. Ironically, when Hispania finally expanded it was due to a third party. The rivalry between England and the Dutch Republic over the Caribbean trade finally exploded in 1662 when the English launched a series of raids against the Dutch settlements in Maiami₂ combined with a devastating blockade against the Republic in Europe. The decimation of the Dutch fleet and the crisis caused by loosing Maiami to the Dutch economy gave wings to Jaime IV, that mustered all the strength of his kingdom to conquer the Dutch settlements in West Africa, further worsening the Dutch crisis, something that gave wings to the Hispanics in their trade with India. However, the expansion into the so called Chilean Kingdom was still frozen.
A twist in fate took place in 1670, when the Dutch, now the Batavian Republic, allied with Sweden to conquer the Hispanic Antillas and to divide them evenly among the two. Why Sweden had decided to ally with the Batavians is quite simple: its ways of expansion were temporarily blocked by the rising German (still Habsburg-led) and Russian Empires, Ameriga appeared as the most attractive option for Stockholm. The war began with good omens for the northern allies until London, worried for the allied success, joined the war on the Hispanic side in 1672. The war became a stalemate while the Batavian, English and Hispanic privateers kept harassing both sides until the end of the decade, when, in 1677, a surprise attack by a Spanish Armada crushed the bulk of the Swedish-Batavian fleet at Beveland. By the treaty of Toledo (1678) England was given the Batavian settlements around the Hudson River and the Hispanic the Swedish colony of Gustavland₃. With the Batavian reduced to their settlements in Suriname, to the North of the Portuguese settlement of Brazil and the Swedish colonies concentrated around the Hudson Bay and the French focusing their colonizing effort in Madagascar, the Anglo-Hispanic were the true masters of Ameriga.
At the same time, peace returned to the Balkans. Since the Imperial expasion towards Bosnia, war had exploded in 1665. In a display of the Austrian might and the Ottoman weakness, after two years of battling Bosnia was incorportared into the Habsburg Austria, but this had only made plain clear that the Ottoman Empire was in crisis. So, in 1670, the Empire moved towards Transylvania, and its rulers recognized the suzerainty of the Habsburg emperor Charles II and the region was officially attached to the Habsburg Empire as the Principality of Transylvania subjected to the direct rule of the emperor
₁ - OTL Indonesia
₂- OTL Miami
₃ -OTL Louisiana.
Just as the religious turmoil was being calmed down, Jaime IV of Hispania decided to reinforce his position as Emperor and hired a team of writers and printers to publish his theory about the Divine Right of Kings. When the first treaties dealing with the topic appeared around 1666, they enjoyed great success. The treaties centered around national institutions, legalism, balance of powers and citizenship. However, many people felt worried about the new ways outlined in the writings. Suddenly it appeared that Jaime IV wanted not only to rule by himself, but to have everything depending on his will. For the Hispanic Grandees, and for the cities, used to defend their rights in their Parliaments, this step towards an absolute monarchy became a frightening vision of impending doom. Jaime III's refusal to deal with the Parliament but when it was totally necessary and his fondness for managing personally every little issue of the realm frustrated and even frightened many constitutionalists. Even his own supporters were divided on the issue, as some of them feared that an absolutist King would not need them if all the powers was in his hands. Suddenly, the popularity of Jaime IV dropped dramatically. This was first seen when dealing with the yearly budget, as the Prime Minister of the Royal Council, until then the first of the royal councilors, fearing that he and the other ministers would be shunned or replaced by a whim of the king, became the visible head of the opposition to the "Divine Right of Kings" and opposed frontally the royal demands for new fundings for the Imperial projects. Ironically, the prime minister was one of the few Catalan Loyalists that remained in the service of the king, Dalmau de Queralt y Codina, count of Santa Coloma de Queralt (1593-1661). Old but still reliable, Santa Coloma offered a stubborn resistance to the King's ways. Thus, the relationship between the King and his political class became exceptionally tense in those days.
Meanwhile, Aragon was busy exploring the Maragdan archipelago₁. By 1661 the explorers reported that they had found a great mass of land to the south of the archipielago that attracted the interest of the Crown. Thus, the exploration of Maragda and its surrounding area became the main Aragonese enterprise for the next decades and, at the same time, a blessing for the Crown as the Neo-Cathars became attracted by the idea of evangelizing this unexplored continent and the perfecti joined the explorers in their advance inland, soon to be followed by Occitan settlers along with Neo-Cathars from Northern Italy and Southern Switzerland. Eventually, the arrival of Neo-Cathar perfecti was stopped by the Crown as their evangelizing activities with the local tribes caused an uproar in the Aragonese Catholic church when their priests came into contact with the Maragdian natives and were appaled by what they saw: the Neo-Cathars dualist teachings had been integrated in different measure by the tribes, resulting in some strange adaptations of the religion by the tribesmen that horrified the Catholic priests. Thus, in 1675 the Neo-Cathar proselytisation among the tribes was forbidden by law.
Attracted and interested by the tales of a great land of mass discovered by the Aragonese, Jaime IV decided to try exploring there as the New World, or Ameriga, as it was called by then, there was no more space to expand but for the empty masses of land to the North and South of the land mass. And, while the Hispanic explorers had began moving south and, thanks to the lack of Portuguese interest to move southwards, following witj the plans for the creation of the so-called "Reino de Chile'' (Kingdom of Chile). However, the funds for that project were being constantly delayed in the Parliament until the planned expansion south the Loa and Black Rivers was quietly forgotten. Ironically, when Hispania finally expanded it was due to a third party. The rivalry between England and the Dutch Republic over the Caribbean trade finally exploded in 1662 when the English launched a series of raids against the Dutch settlements in Maiami₂ combined with a devastating blockade against the Republic in Europe. The decimation of the Dutch fleet and the crisis caused by loosing Maiami to the Dutch economy gave wings to Jaime IV, that mustered all the strength of his kingdom to conquer the Dutch settlements in West Africa, further worsening the Dutch crisis, something that gave wings to the Hispanics in their trade with India. However, the expansion into the so called Chilean Kingdom was still frozen.
A twist in fate took place in 1670, when the Dutch, now the Batavian Republic, allied with Sweden to conquer the Hispanic Antillas and to divide them evenly among the two. Why Sweden had decided to ally with the Batavians is quite simple: its ways of expansion were temporarily blocked by the rising German (still Habsburg-led) and Russian Empires, Ameriga appeared as the most attractive option for Stockholm. The war began with good omens for the northern allies until London, worried for the allied success, joined the war on the Hispanic side in 1672. The war became a stalemate while the Batavian, English and Hispanic privateers kept harassing both sides until the end of the decade, when, in 1677, a surprise attack by a Spanish Armada crushed the bulk of the Swedish-Batavian fleet at Beveland. By the treaty of Toledo (1678) England was given the Batavian settlements around the Hudson River and the Hispanic the Swedish colony of Gustavland₃. With the Batavian reduced to their settlements in Suriname, to the North of the Portuguese settlement of Brazil and the Swedish colonies concentrated around the Hudson Bay and the French focusing their colonizing effort in Madagascar, the Anglo-Hispanic were the true masters of Ameriga.
At the same time, peace returned to the Balkans. Since the Imperial expasion towards Bosnia, war had exploded in 1665. In a display of the Austrian might and the Ottoman weakness, after two years of battling Bosnia was incorportared into the Habsburg Austria, but this had only made plain clear that the Ottoman Empire was in crisis. So, in 1670, the Empire moved towards Transylvania, and its rulers recognized the suzerainty of the Habsburg emperor Charles II and the region was officially attached to the Habsburg Empire as the Principality of Transylvania subjected to the direct rule of the emperor
₁ - OTL Indonesia
₂- OTL Miami
₃ -OTL Louisiana.
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Nice chapter, one thing- Where is the Maragdan archipelago? The only places I can think of are the Caribbean, but it’s definitely too late for that, or Indonesia.
Sorry, I forgot to put the explanatory note. Yes, it's Indonesia.
So the landmass to the south is Australia? I can't imagine it'd provoke that much interest, as it didn't have any of the goods of the Spice Islands, nor was it a particularly appealing place to explore.
Indeed, it's Australia. They don't know what are going to find there so, for the moment, a new landmass must be quite appealing... It could become the Sahara of Aragon, so to speak, but in a distant future.
Chapter 53: European storms (1680-1685)
Chapter 53: European storms (1680-1685)
The death of Jaime IV in 1678 left the Hispanic Empire in the capable but voluble hands of his son Enrique, now Emperor Enrique V of Hispania (1623-1698). The new Emperor had to deal with the of his younger brothers during his reign:
Alfonso (1625-1680), Duke of Trastámara and lord of Lemos and Sarria;
Fernando (1634-1690), Duke of Ledesma and Lord of Haro, Béjar, Granadilla and Montemayor;
Tello (1637–1687), Duke of Monteagudo and lord of Vizcaya;
Juana (1642-1696), Countess of Medina de Rioseco, married to Fernán de Castro;
Sancho (1644-1684), Duke of Alburquerque and lord of Ledesma, Briones, Cerezo, Alba de Liste and Montalbán.
His brother Alfonso died two years later, leaving his titles and lands to his son Juan (b. 1646-1691). Proud and stubborn, Juan was a pain in the side to his cousin the Emperor, so he was send to watch the Portuguese border, until he was recalled in 1682 as Enrique V had serious doubts that he was plotting with Castilian and Portuguese noblemen to create a kingdom for himself in the western part of the Peninsula. For the remaining of his life, Juan was a loyal subdit that gave little problem to his cousin. Fernando, Duke of Ledesma, and Tello, duke of Monteagudo, were constantly pestering the Emperor for more titles, gold and power. Enrique, who found them "boring and useless", became used to summon them very rarely and gave them no important charge in his administration. Eventually, he would find them an use, as we shall see. Sancho, Duque of Alburquerque, was sent as ambassador to England, were he proved to be quite an asset and a very accomplished spy and plotter. Thus, England was the beginning of the risky life of Alburquerque, as we shall see. Finally, Juana, Countess of Medina de Rioseco, lost her husband little after having her daughter Leonor and returned to the court with his cousin. There they were a constant source of gossip, as Juana refused all the pretender to marry her and Enrique seemed not to be in a hurry to marry his cousin, who was 42 when her husband died.
Determined and energetic, Enrique V proved to be a very controlling king, even more than his father. When war broke in 1682 between Aragon and the German Empire, in one side, and France, in the other, Enrique attempted to persuade the English monarch, Charles II (1661-1700, r. 1680-1700), to unite their strength to find a peaceful settlement to the war. Charles, however, was a letargic king that was had no interest in the European events. Not even his Prime Minister, Sir Thomas Dickinson, was able to persuade the English king to act and, in 1685, an exhausted and almost bankrupt France had to admit defeat. The worst concessions they were forced to made were to the Aragonese, who claimed all the lands of the former Duchy of Aquitaine. Thus, the new border between Aragon and France started at the Vendee in the west and snaked south-easterly over to Rhône. In the north, the French conceded only the Pas-de-Calais and a chunk of eastern Champagne to the German Empire. Worried by the defeat and weakness of France and the rise of Aragon, Enrique V felt depressed as he was unable to make Charles II to join him until the German Emperor bought his silence with a small colonial gift: the "German Islands" (Bärtigen, the Weisseland and Korsau₁) were transferred to Hispania, which added a modest income to the Hispanic treasury from the plantations of the region. Enrique V, feeling remorse for his lack of success in the French debacle, signed several trade treaties with France, helping king Robert II with the reconstruction of his country, that led to a rapid economic recovery.
In the east, the German Empire reached a equitable peace treaty (1685) with Sweden that settle several decades of naval skirmishes and land raids. Sweden was given the German Pomerania and the Empire recovered Lubek, Rostock, Wismar, Kiel and Jutland, which were immediately and massively fortified. With Denmark turned into an unwilling "partner" of Germany, the scenari for the next war was just but settle. However, while Leopold I of Germany was more than happy with this new situation, Charles XIV was determined to recover the lost lands and to crush the Empire. Not even the adquisition to of new trading posts in the English Caribbean colonies seemed to appease Charles, as Germany adquired simialr rights in the area, too.
All in all, the end of the conflict had given rise to the strongest German economic growth in a century. The Swedes were weakened, with a German shadow growing over their most vulnerable fronts. Finally, France had just avoided the total dismemberment that Enrique V had feared.
Then, in 1682 Fernando of Ledesma and Tello of Monteagudo made their move to have a saying in the royal government of Hispania.
₁ - OTL Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Curacao
The death of Jaime IV in 1678 left the Hispanic Empire in the capable but voluble hands of his son Enrique, now Emperor Enrique V of Hispania (1623-1698). The new Emperor had to deal with the of his younger brothers during his reign:
Alfonso (1625-1680), Duke of Trastámara and lord of Lemos and Sarria;
Fernando (1634-1690), Duke of Ledesma and Lord of Haro, Béjar, Granadilla and Montemayor;
Tello (1637–1687), Duke of Monteagudo and lord of Vizcaya;
Juana (1642-1696), Countess of Medina de Rioseco, married to Fernán de Castro;
Sancho (1644-1684), Duke of Alburquerque and lord of Ledesma, Briones, Cerezo, Alba de Liste and Montalbán.
His brother Alfonso died two years later, leaving his titles and lands to his son Juan (b. 1646-1691). Proud and stubborn, Juan was a pain in the side to his cousin the Emperor, so he was send to watch the Portuguese border, until he was recalled in 1682 as Enrique V had serious doubts that he was plotting with Castilian and Portuguese noblemen to create a kingdom for himself in the western part of the Peninsula. For the remaining of his life, Juan was a loyal subdit that gave little problem to his cousin. Fernando, Duke of Ledesma, and Tello, duke of Monteagudo, were constantly pestering the Emperor for more titles, gold and power. Enrique, who found them "boring and useless", became used to summon them very rarely and gave them no important charge in his administration. Eventually, he would find them an use, as we shall see. Sancho, Duque of Alburquerque, was sent as ambassador to England, were he proved to be quite an asset and a very accomplished spy and plotter. Thus, England was the beginning of the risky life of Alburquerque, as we shall see. Finally, Juana, Countess of Medina de Rioseco, lost her husband little after having her daughter Leonor and returned to the court with his cousin. There they were a constant source of gossip, as Juana refused all the pretender to marry her and Enrique seemed not to be in a hurry to marry his cousin, who was 42 when her husband died.
Determined and energetic, Enrique V proved to be a very controlling king, even more than his father. When war broke in 1682 between Aragon and the German Empire, in one side, and France, in the other, Enrique attempted to persuade the English monarch, Charles II (1661-1700, r. 1680-1700), to unite their strength to find a peaceful settlement to the war. Charles, however, was a letargic king that was had no interest in the European events. Not even his Prime Minister, Sir Thomas Dickinson, was able to persuade the English king to act and, in 1685, an exhausted and almost bankrupt France had to admit defeat. The worst concessions they were forced to made were to the Aragonese, who claimed all the lands of the former Duchy of Aquitaine. Thus, the new border between Aragon and France started at the Vendee in the west and snaked south-easterly over to Rhône. In the north, the French conceded only the Pas-de-Calais and a chunk of eastern Champagne to the German Empire. Worried by the defeat and weakness of France and the rise of Aragon, Enrique V felt depressed as he was unable to make Charles II to join him until the German Emperor bought his silence with a small colonial gift: the "German Islands" (Bärtigen, the Weisseland and Korsau₁) were transferred to Hispania, which added a modest income to the Hispanic treasury from the plantations of the region. Enrique V, feeling remorse for his lack of success in the French debacle, signed several trade treaties with France, helping king Robert II with the reconstruction of his country, that led to a rapid economic recovery.
In the east, the German Empire reached a equitable peace treaty (1685) with Sweden that settle several decades of naval skirmishes and land raids. Sweden was given the German Pomerania and the Empire recovered Lubek, Rostock, Wismar, Kiel and Jutland, which were immediately and massively fortified. With Denmark turned into an unwilling "partner" of Germany, the scenari for the next war was just but settle. However, while Leopold I of Germany was more than happy with this new situation, Charles XIV was determined to recover the lost lands and to crush the Empire. Not even the adquisition to of new trading posts in the English Caribbean colonies seemed to appease Charles, as Germany adquired simialr rights in the area, too.
All in all, the end of the conflict had given rise to the strongest German economic growth in a century. The Swedes were weakened, with a German shadow growing over their most vulnerable fronts. Finally, France had just avoided the total dismemberment that Enrique V had feared.
Then, in 1682 Fernando of Ledesma and Tello of Monteagudo made their move to have a saying in the royal government of Hispania.
₁ - OTL Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Curacao
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France is getting quite carved up. How does this affect their view of their neighbours? Is there a sort of siege mentality?
France has the paranoid feeling that all their neighbours want a piece of them. So they are trying to broke the ring around them... possible allies are not scarce in this troubled Europe.
Chapter 54: Consolidation and expansion (1685-1700)
After this TL turned one year old, another chapter for this TL! Thanks for being there and for your support, my readers!
Chapter 54: Consolidation and expansion (1685-1700)
It came as a surprise when Fernando of Ledesma and Tello of Monteagudo demanded to be given a seat in the royal council when it was widely known that neither the king trusted them nor they were interested in government matters. Thus, Enrique V felt quite suspicious about this demand at once and had his brothers closely watched. Thus, by the Spring of 1685 they were close advisors of the king, who, apparently, valued greatly their opinions. That autumm Enrique V married again after the death of his wife in the Summer of 1684. Many were surprised by the election of the monarch, who picked a Swedish Princess for the marriage. She was Ulrika of Sweden, the youngest daughter of Charles XIV. It was a surprising move and many thought that the king was moving closer to Sweden and away from the German Empire. They were wrong.
Thus, after marrying and, soon after, with his wife in the first stages of her first pregnancy, Enrique V turned to his next project, the "Schooling Program". The king wanted to create with the new state-funded schools a powerful and loyal middle class by having their children educated into the matters that interested the king. Thus, along some notions of basic numeracy, literacy, history and theology, the young pupils were taught what made a true Hispanic man, and reminded of their luck of learning and thus improving as human beings thanks to the generosity of His Majesty. This, along with the repeated public appeals of the king, were to make him "El emperador del pueblo", that is, the “People’s Emperor” and Enrique V spent most of his time winning the love of his population with a generous bombardment of popular theatre plays, posters and pamphlets. Of course, not everybody was swayed by the constant propaganda campaign, but they were a minority and Enrique V was popular and well trusted by his people.
However, he failed in his efforts about his brothers. Fueled by his paranoia, the King’s attempts at espionage often fell far short. Fernando and Tello’s network of spies, bribed servants, turncoats and double agents, were too much for Enrique V. The pair were both sharp and cunning but Enrique V could keep them at bay thanks to hisgenerosity and displays of wealth. However, he began to loose ground soon when Ulrika, angered for the lack of kingly attention, sided with her brothers-in-law, something that allowed them to introduce their agents into her husband’s inner circle. Unknown to them, this agents were soon working for Ulrika, who misled both her husband and brothers in law not only about each other, but about her intentions. Enrique V was to hold the levers of power, but it she was determined to rule hidden in the shadows. There was a question, however, that make the four of them to work together: the reconstruction of the country. The efforts to rebuild areas affected by the war against Aragon, rebuilding abandoned villages, restoring decaying roadways and breathing life back into the country had been going on for many years. Many towns had seen their churches, town halls, pubs and schools restored or rebuilt anew. First the efforts were centered into the wealthy ports of Valencia and then Enrique placed his attention to the Castilian cities, from Leon to Albacete. Along with Sevilla and Cádiz, Murcia and Jaén were turned into major hubs of trade and early industry, even if their architecture was often neglected, Enrique V also spent tens of thousands of doblones to turn Zaragoza and Cuenca into huge trade centers for the Aragonese market and the same happened to Pamplona and Estella for the European markets. The harbours of Cantabria, Galicia and Andalucia were expanded in a massive effort that amazed the foreign visitors of Spain.
Also, in 1689, a treaty was signed with the Inca remnant in Cusco, the Inca capital. Reduce by the conquistadores to a shell of their former glory, the Incas were offered a unique opportunity to expand their lands with Hispanic support. What Enrique V wanted was to create a client state that acted as a buffer between the Hispanic lands and the Batavian settlements in Suriname and the Portuguese Brazil. Coming into effect in 1690, the deal led to economic ties as well, with Hispanic engineers providing the Inca with thousands of muskets and even built them a great foundry in Cusco, as well as sulphur mines, greatly increasing local firearm production. The Incas were also given access to the Hispanic port cities and were to be support in the construction of their own harbours when, as expected, the Inca lands reached the Caribe and Atlantic Ocean. In exhange for their arms, gunpowder, manufactured goods, and more, the Hispanic received foodstuffs, wool, llamas and even Inca workers, who returned to their Inca homes after some years of labour with cash and, in some cases, books, to the benefit their communities and villages. If anyone was mislead thinking surprised that the Incas had been turned into Hispanic allies, they were sadly mistaken. For Enrique V they were nothing but a piece of his wider plans. This would be proved in the 1700s with the Brazilian war.
Chapter 54: Consolidation and expansion (1685-1700)
It came as a surprise when Fernando of Ledesma and Tello of Monteagudo demanded to be given a seat in the royal council when it was widely known that neither the king trusted them nor they were interested in government matters. Thus, Enrique V felt quite suspicious about this demand at once and had his brothers closely watched. Thus, by the Spring of 1685 they were close advisors of the king, who, apparently, valued greatly their opinions. That autumm Enrique V married again after the death of his wife in the Summer of 1684. Many were surprised by the election of the monarch, who picked a Swedish Princess for the marriage. She was Ulrika of Sweden, the youngest daughter of Charles XIV. It was a surprising move and many thought that the king was moving closer to Sweden and away from the German Empire. They were wrong.
Thus, after marrying and, soon after, with his wife in the first stages of her first pregnancy, Enrique V turned to his next project, the "Schooling Program". The king wanted to create with the new state-funded schools a powerful and loyal middle class by having their children educated into the matters that interested the king. Thus, along some notions of basic numeracy, literacy, history and theology, the young pupils were taught what made a true Hispanic man, and reminded of their luck of learning and thus improving as human beings thanks to the generosity of His Majesty. This, along with the repeated public appeals of the king, were to make him "El emperador del pueblo", that is, the “People’s Emperor” and Enrique V spent most of his time winning the love of his population with a generous bombardment of popular theatre plays, posters and pamphlets. Of course, not everybody was swayed by the constant propaganda campaign, but they were a minority and Enrique V was popular and well trusted by his people.
However, he failed in his efforts about his brothers. Fueled by his paranoia, the King’s attempts at espionage often fell far short. Fernando and Tello’s network of spies, bribed servants, turncoats and double agents, were too much for Enrique V. The pair were both sharp and cunning but Enrique V could keep them at bay thanks to hisgenerosity and displays of wealth. However, he began to loose ground soon when Ulrika, angered for the lack of kingly attention, sided with her brothers-in-law, something that allowed them to introduce their agents into her husband’s inner circle. Unknown to them, this agents were soon working for Ulrika, who misled both her husband and brothers in law not only about each other, but about her intentions. Enrique V was to hold the levers of power, but it she was determined to rule hidden in the shadows. There was a question, however, that make the four of them to work together: the reconstruction of the country. The efforts to rebuild areas affected by the war against Aragon, rebuilding abandoned villages, restoring decaying roadways and breathing life back into the country had been going on for many years. Many towns had seen their churches, town halls, pubs and schools restored or rebuilt anew. First the efforts were centered into the wealthy ports of Valencia and then Enrique placed his attention to the Castilian cities, from Leon to Albacete. Along with Sevilla and Cádiz, Murcia and Jaén were turned into major hubs of trade and early industry, even if their architecture was often neglected, Enrique V also spent tens of thousands of doblones to turn Zaragoza and Cuenca into huge trade centers for the Aragonese market and the same happened to Pamplona and Estella for the European markets. The harbours of Cantabria, Galicia and Andalucia were expanded in a massive effort that amazed the foreign visitors of Spain.
Also, in 1689, a treaty was signed with the Inca remnant in Cusco, the Inca capital. Reduce by the conquistadores to a shell of their former glory, the Incas were offered a unique opportunity to expand their lands with Hispanic support. What Enrique V wanted was to create a client state that acted as a buffer between the Hispanic lands and the Batavian settlements in Suriname and the Portuguese Brazil. Coming into effect in 1690, the deal led to economic ties as well, with Hispanic engineers providing the Inca with thousands of muskets and even built them a great foundry in Cusco, as well as sulphur mines, greatly increasing local firearm production. The Incas were also given access to the Hispanic port cities and were to be support in the construction of their own harbours when, as expected, the Inca lands reached the Caribe and Atlantic Ocean. In exhange for their arms, gunpowder, manufactured goods, and more, the Hispanic received foodstuffs, wool, llamas and even Inca workers, who returned to their Inca homes after some years of labour with cash and, in some cases, books, to the benefit their communities and villages. If anyone was mislead thinking surprised that the Incas had been turned into Hispanic allies, they were sadly mistaken. For Enrique V they were nothing but a piece of his wider plans. This would be proved in the 1700s with the Brazilian war.
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Chapter 55: The Last Summer of Peace (1688-1696)
Chapter 55: The Last Summer of Peace (1688-1696)
The death of Enrique V of Hispania (1698) fired an age of controlled chaos. His two sons were already dead (Fernando, the elder, died in 1688 when he was 45 after a lifetime filled with several illnesses; and Juan, the younger, died in 1692, when he was 67) but his grandsons (from his son Juan) were ready to replace hin. They were
Fernando (1655-1711), prince of Asturias, born in Madrid, married with Luisa of Braganza (1652-1710), without sons.
Carlos (1658-1730), Duke of Madrid, born in Madrid, married with Maria of Saxony (1680-1717), 8 children -six sons, two daughters-
Felipe (1662-1707), Duke of Plasencia, born in Madrid, married with Isabel of France (1669-1701), 3 children -one son, two daughters-.
Historians claim that the three Royal brothers formed a very united clan, with Fernando having a clear preference for his brother Felipe. Carlos, on his part, It is claimed that they were very sure about their chances to reach the throne, and this is proved by the so-called "Aranjuez Meeting" (May 1688), when, with his grandfather this alive, the would-be rulers of the Empire divided the real and their overseas provinces into their areas of influence. Apparently, they also included in their meeting their cousins, Juan (1659-1691), 2nd Duke of Trastámara; Juan Alfonso (1665-1694), the would- be Duke of Ledesma; Juan (1655-1690), the short-lived 2nd Duke of Monteagudo; and Fernando (1661-1702), Duke of Alburquerque. All the historians point out that a deep dislike was born between the royal brothers and their cousins, as the princes found their relatives too demanding, too proud and too dangerous. This was a lesson that they would keep in their mind when Fernando rose to the throne.
In 1691, with the Ottomans crumbling in face of the Venetian onslaught in Greece and defeated by the Habsburg Austrian forces at the battle of Slankamen, Fernando V of Castile send his brother Felipe and his cousins, Juan, Duke of Trastámara, and Fernando, Duke of Alburquerque, to the Middle East. Since 1651 taking both Jerusalem and Damascus had been a pending issue for the Aragonese kings. Thus, when Carles I of Aragon, cousin of the late Eduardo V, launched an all-out assault to take the Holy City, Fernando V organized an expedition under the command of his brother to take Damascus. However, the Hispanic army never reached the Holy Land as a storm had them landing in Greece. And, as they were there, Felipe decided that it was a good idea to take Athens. In the end, it was an enterprise that took two years to complete and caused many casualties among the Hispanic army, mainly due to the illnesses caused by the unhealthy conditions of their camp. Among the dead was Juan of Trastámara. His son Enrique (1680-1707), was in Castile, and proved to be absolutely loyal to Fernando V, who kept him close by his side at the court. Apparently, Felipe of Plasencia, after conquering Athens in 1693, considered he had done enough and returned to Castile while Carlos I de Aragon kept pressing towards Damascus after taking Jerusalem in 1692. However, the war was proving to be quite expensive and divisive at home so, by 1693, Carlos I of Aragon withdrew from Damascus and returned to Aragon, where he was to fight to keep the kingdom at peace in the postwar years until the war debt was gone.
Meanwhile, Savoy, despite being linked to the German Empire for its past as a state of the Holy Roman Empire, began to move closer to France as its Duke, Victor Amadeus II, hoped that by moving closer to París would lead the German Emperor to offer him a better deal than anything that the French could offer. However, Leopold I of Germany was not inclined to do so as he hoped that, being trapped between the German Empire and the Aragonese-Occitan Empire and with the weak state of France, it would be enough to disuade the Savoyan duke.
Then, Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland, died in 1696 and the Polish Diet refused to crown Augustus, Elector of Saxony, and elected Stanisław Leszczyński as the new king and Great Duke of Lithuania. This was more than Leopold I of Germany could take and threatened with war unless Augustus' rights were recognized by ghe Polish Diet. This demand was refused by the Polish, so, in September 1696, the German Empire went to war against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The death of Enrique V of Hispania (1698) fired an age of controlled chaos. His two sons were already dead (Fernando, the elder, died in 1688 when he was 45 after a lifetime filled with several illnesses; and Juan, the younger, died in 1692, when he was 67) but his grandsons (from his son Juan) were ready to replace hin. They were
Fernando (1655-1711), prince of Asturias, born in Madrid, married with Luisa of Braganza (1652-1710), without sons.
Carlos (1658-1730), Duke of Madrid, born in Madrid, married with Maria of Saxony (1680-1717), 8 children -six sons, two daughters-
Felipe (1662-1707), Duke of Plasencia, born in Madrid, married with Isabel of France (1669-1701), 3 children -one son, two daughters-.
Historians claim that the three Royal brothers formed a very united clan, with Fernando having a clear preference for his brother Felipe. Carlos, on his part, It is claimed that they were very sure about their chances to reach the throne, and this is proved by the so-called "Aranjuez Meeting" (May 1688), when, with his grandfather this alive, the would-be rulers of the Empire divided the real and their overseas provinces into their areas of influence. Apparently, they also included in their meeting their cousins, Juan (1659-1691), 2nd Duke of Trastámara; Juan Alfonso (1665-1694), the would- be Duke of Ledesma; Juan (1655-1690), the short-lived 2nd Duke of Monteagudo; and Fernando (1661-1702), Duke of Alburquerque. All the historians point out that a deep dislike was born between the royal brothers and their cousins, as the princes found their relatives too demanding, too proud and too dangerous. This was a lesson that they would keep in their mind when Fernando rose to the throne.
In 1691, with the Ottomans crumbling in face of the Venetian onslaught in Greece and defeated by the Habsburg Austrian forces at the battle of Slankamen, Fernando V of Castile send his brother Felipe and his cousins, Juan, Duke of Trastámara, and Fernando, Duke of Alburquerque, to the Middle East. Since 1651 taking both Jerusalem and Damascus had been a pending issue for the Aragonese kings. Thus, when Carles I of Aragon, cousin of the late Eduardo V, launched an all-out assault to take the Holy City, Fernando V organized an expedition under the command of his brother to take Damascus. However, the Hispanic army never reached the Holy Land as a storm had them landing in Greece. And, as they were there, Felipe decided that it was a good idea to take Athens. In the end, it was an enterprise that took two years to complete and caused many casualties among the Hispanic army, mainly due to the illnesses caused by the unhealthy conditions of their camp. Among the dead was Juan of Trastámara. His son Enrique (1680-1707), was in Castile, and proved to be absolutely loyal to Fernando V, who kept him close by his side at the court. Apparently, Felipe of Plasencia, after conquering Athens in 1693, considered he had done enough and returned to Castile while Carlos I de Aragon kept pressing towards Damascus after taking Jerusalem in 1692. However, the war was proving to be quite expensive and divisive at home so, by 1693, Carlos I of Aragon withdrew from Damascus and returned to Aragon, where he was to fight to keep the kingdom at peace in the postwar years until the war debt was gone.
Meanwhile, Savoy, despite being linked to the German Empire for its past as a state of the Holy Roman Empire, began to move closer to France as its Duke, Victor Amadeus II, hoped that by moving closer to París would lead the German Emperor to offer him a better deal than anything that the French could offer. However, Leopold I of Germany was not inclined to do so as he hoped that, being trapped between the German Empire and the Aragonese-Occitan Empire and with the weak state of France, it would be enough to disuade the Savoyan duke.
Then, Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland, died in 1696 and the Polish Diet refused to crown Augustus, Elector of Saxony, and elected Stanisław Leszczyński as the new king and Great Duke of Lithuania. This was more than Leopold I of Germany could take and threatened with war unless Augustus' rights were recognized by ghe Polish Diet. This demand was refused by the Polish, so, in September 1696, the German Empire went to war against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Chapter 56: The War of the Four Years (1696-1700)
Chapter 56: The War of the Four Years (1696-1700)
As the German armies crossed into Poland, the Swedish King Charles XV (b. 1682, d 1746, r. 1697-1746) declared war at once just to recoil in horror as Peter I of Russia (b. 1672, d. 1726, r. 1682-1726) joined the German side and invaded both Poland and Finland in December 1696. Fully aware that France was unwilling to act unless the Hispanic and British Empires joined the Swedish side, Charles XV was in a hopeless situation. Then, on January 1697, Charles II of England asked to his Parliament to join the war in the Swedish side. This was followed by the uprising led by Amadeus II of Savoy in March 1697 and the Hispanic invasion of Aragon in April of the same year. In all but in name, the Polish war had turned into the Great European War.
With the economic growth brought by the Hispanic Real Compañía de Indias (Royal Company of the Indies), the silver of the New World help to fund the miitary recovery of the Hispanic armies, which was initially used to reinforce the fleet and then to prepare the army, which was tested in a few border clashes in Africa when the Hispanic empire attempted to expand towards the north, towards Ethopia, in 1687. However, the effort proved to be too costly and Enrique V turned his attention to his plans for Europe. He had been interested to conquer Ethiopia to crush the Aragonese trade routes to Asia, but he considered that direct action would be the wisest option. He only had to wait for the moment. It finally arrived ten years later. Meanwhile, thanks to his trade relations, Aragon had not only annexed the former Kingdom of Colombo and the island of Ceilan in its entirety, but also the Aragonese established a half dozen trading ports in southern India. By 1692 the Aragonese control spread to the Indian mainland and secured direct control over a strip of land that wrapped around from Trivandrum to Madras. This worried London and caused the Anglo-Hispanic reapprochement, breaking one of the traditional and main Aragonese alliances as England was creating trading posts in the Eastern Indian ocean; in the Burmese city of Bassein, Siamese Phuket, the Addu Atoll and the wealthy port of Medan; however, in a lucky move, the Aragonese had established themselves in the greatest prize of the area, the port of Singapura, the wealthiest and largest of the oversea Chinese Empire. This confirmed the English change of sides.
The English, however, did not commit themselves to the war, but for some money and mercenaries lend to France. The terminally-ill Charles II prompted its nobility and parlamentarians to jockey for power with the next king. It was a game that would only finish in 1700, when Charles finally died and England began to fade from history for the next hundred years. Anne (1687-1724), his daughter and heir, was to spend half of his reign (1700-1724) battling with his cousins (Charles, duke of Cambridge -1680/1715-, James, Duke of Kendal -1682/1733-, Henry, Duke of Berwick -1685/1749- and Edgar, Duke of Albermale -1688/1723-). The death of Kendal and Albermale without issue would prove essential to the recovery of the Treasury with the return of the tittles and the lands to the Crown.
While the war in Eastern Europe saw the forces of Stanisław Leszczyński being crushed between the German hammer and the Russian anvil, Victor Amadeus II of Savoy was surprised by the fast reaction of the Empire and the armies mustered against him. So, he begged France for help, but the French forces were busy consolidating their position on the Rhine after they had seized Strasboug, on the right bank of the Rhine, and there was nothing to be spared to help the Savoyard army. Even worse, the Vaudois (Piedmontese and Savoyard Protestants), who had being viciously persecuted in 1685, rose in revolt against Victor Amadeus. Thus, by late 1692, Victor Amadeus II secretly negotiated a separate treaty with Leopold I and prepared to turn against France. By 1693 Paris was very much on his own after Leszczyński had been crushed, Poland divided between Germany and Russia, the German armies were returning in mass to the Rhine and the Russians turned against Sweden, When Norways rose in revolt in 1694, Charles XV asked for peace to a very amused Peter I.
In the Peninsula, the Hispanic forces were advancing towards Zaragoza and Valencia. While the Aragonese city resisted and the Mediterranean front hold against the enemy assault, even if the western part of Aragon, the inner, mostly Castillian speaking regions, was in Hispanic hands and the communication to Navarre restricted to the Occitan routes.
It was then, in 1700, when Charles II of England died and London offered to mediate with the warrying parties to find a negotiated end of the war. Defeated at Fleurus and pushed out of Flanders, France was ready for peace.
As the German armies crossed into Poland, the Swedish King Charles XV (b. 1682, d 1746, r. 1697-1746) declared war at once just to recoil in horror as Peter I of Russia (b. 1672, d. 1726, r. 1682-1726) joined the German side and invaded both Poland and Finland in December 1696. Fully aware that France was unwilling to act unless the Hispanic and British Empires joined the Swedish side, Charles XV was in a hopeless situation. Then, on January 1697, Charles II of England asked to his Parliament to join the war in the Swedish side. This was followed by the uprising led by Amadeus II of Savoy in March 1697 and the Hispanic invasion of Aragon in April of the same year. In all but in name, the Polish war had turned into the Great European War.
With the economic growth brought by the Hispanic Real Compañía de Indias (Royal Company of the Indies), the silver of the New World help to fund the miitary recovery of the Hispanic armies, which was initially used to reinforce the fleet and then to prepare the army, which was tested in a few border clashes in Africa when the Hispanic empire attempted to expand towards the north, towards Ethopia, in 1687. However, the effort proved to be too costly and Enrique V turned his attention to his plans for Europe. He had been interested to conquer Ethiopia to crush the Aragonese trade routes to Asia, but he considered that direct action would be the wisest option. He only had to wait for the moment. It finally arrived ten years later. Meanwhile, thanks to his trade relations, Aragon had not only annexed the former Kingdom of Colombo and the island of Ceilan in its entirety, but also the Aragonese established a half dozen trading ports in southern India. By 1692 the Aragonese control spread to the Indian mainland and secured direct control over a strip of land that wrapped around from Trivandrum to Madras. This worried London and caused the Anglo-Hispanic reapprochement, breaking one of the traditional and main Aragonese alliances as England was creating trading posts in the Eastern Indian ocean; in the Burmese city of Bassein, Siamese Phuket, the Addu Atoll and the wealthy port of Medan; however, in a lucky move, the Aragonese had established themselves in the greatest prize of the area, the port of Singapura, the wealthiest and largest of the oversea Chinese Empire. This confirmed the English change of sides.
The English, however, did not commit themselves to the war, but for some money and mercenaries lend to France. The terminally-ill Charles II prompted its nobility and parlamentarians to jockey for power with the next king. It was a game that would only finish in 1700, when Charles finally died and England began to fade from history for the next hundred years. Anne (1687-1724), his daughter and heir, was to spend half of his reign (1700-1724) battling with his cousins (Charles, duke of Cambridge -1680/1715-, James, Duke of Kendal -1682/1733-, Henry, Duke of Berwick -1685/1749- and Edgar, Duke of Albermale -1688/1723-). The death of Kendal and Albermale without issue would prove essential to the recovery of the Treasury with the return of the tittles and the lands to the Crown.
While the war in Eastern Europe saw the forces of Stanisław Leszczyński being crushed between the German hammer and the Russian anvil, Victor Amadeus II of Savoy was surprised by the fast reaction of the Empire and the armies mustered against him. So, he begged France for help, but the French forces were busy consolidating their position on the Rhine after they had seized Strasboug, on the right bank of the Rhine, and there was nothing to be spared to help the Savoyard army. Even worse, the Vaudois (Piedmontese and Savoyard Protestants), who had being viciously persecuted in 1685, rose in revolt against Victor Amadeus. Thus, by late 1692, Victor Amadeus II secretly negotiated a separate treaty with Leopold I and prepared to turn against France. By 1693 Paris was very much on his own after Leszczyński had been crushed, Poland divided between Germany and Russia, the German armies were returning in mass to the Rhine and the Russians turned against Sweden, When Norways rose in revolt in 1694, Charles XV asked for peace to a very amused Peter I.
In the Peninsula, the Hispanic forces were advancing towards Zaragoza and Valencia. While the Aragonese city resisted and the Mediterranean front hold against the enemy assault, even if the western part of Aragon, the inner, mostly Castillian speaking regions, was in Hispanic hands and the communication to Navarre restricted to the Occitan routes.
It was then, in 1700, when Charles II of England died and London offered to mediate with the warrying parties to find a negotiated end of the war. Defeated at Fleurus and pushed out of Flanders, France was ready for peace.
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Chapter 57: Up and Downs of a King-Emperor (1700-1730)
Chapter 57: Up and Downs of a King-Emperor (1700-1730)
The annexation of Navarre and the Castilian-speaking areas of Aragon caused some concern in London as fearing that the next step was to conquer Catalonia and Valencia. An united Hispania was not something that London wanted to see, as it would mean not only a powerful rival in the New World but also an united France as Paris would be free and strong enough to go against the Aragonese remnant, Occitania. Aragon then made an unexpected move that worried London even more: they signed an alliance with Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif, Sultan of Morocco. However, the next Aragonese move pleased London. In May 1701 an Aragonese delegation offered Aragonese support against Hispania if London decided to go to war for the Asiatic colonies of King Fernando V. However, the death of Charles II meant the rise to the throne of his Scottish cousin James, half Yorkist himself. James, who became James V of England and VIII of Scotland (born in 1683), was well liked by his English subjects as he promised to keep the independence of the two kingdoms and the peace so badly needed for the English economy. This would begin to change in 1707, when he attempted to rule the island from Edinburgh. From then on, even his die-hard supporters began to turn against him in the Parliament.
Hispania was not to go to war any time soon as the health of Fernando V took a sudden turn to the worse in 1703. He recovered by 1704, but he began to complain from constant headaches from then on, until, by 1706, he was constantly bedridden and with his brothers Carlos and Felipe in power as regents. The unexpected death of the younger brother in 1707. His son, Diego (born in 1679), had been named governor of the Aragonese lands of the Crown, after the war, and returned to claim his inheritance, thus becoming part of the regency with his uncle Carlos. In 1709, Diego, who had recently lost his wife, became the heir to Maria Theresa Gonzaga, last Duchess of Parma, who named him as her heir in an effort to move away from the Habsburgs, who she had come to dislike in her last years. Thus, with Diego on his way to Italy, Carlos became the only ruler of Hispania until the death of his brother Fernando, two years later.
Carlos, as the second son of the late king, had been prepared to be a soldier, not a ruler. Raised by his mother and educated by the finest tutors throughout the land, he demonstrated a sharp intellect, but his interest in several matters forced his mother to intervene as he was unable to focuse in a single issue. As he grew older, Carlos developed a clear but somewhat heterodox set of beliefs in several topics. He had a strong belief in the divine right of kings, but he was hardly interested in religion. Once he became king, he claimed his absolute right to rule. He was fascinated and inspired by the governments of the German Empire and decided to reform Hispania following the German model. But first he had his coronation, an opulent, glorious and expensive one, as King-Emperor of Hispania. And, as such, he styled himself Carlos I.
As King-Emperor, one of his first actions was replace the whole government by the most relevant members of the conservative benches of the Cortes. Ironically, in due time, many historians were to notice a similar trend between Carlos I of Hispania and James V of England. Both were grandiose, rather imperious and a firm believer in the divine right of kings to rule. Both saw Parliament with disdain and scorn, but while James V simply used any chance he had to ignore the English Parliament, Carlos I attempted to attempt to dominate it. To achieve this he selected Juan "the Younger Duke" (1678-1724), 3rd Duke of Trastámara, as his prime minister, a position that he served from 1709-1715, 1719-1722 and briefly again in 1723, When others were appointed, it was when it was politically expedient, the Parliament became too rebellious to achieve any compromise, thus forcing Carlos I into embarrassing concessions that only helped to increase the royal hatred towards the institution. When his cousin Trastámara died, he replaced him with the most notorious sycophantic character of his realm, Fernando de Salvaterra, 4th count of Salvaterra de Magos, the leader of the "Imperiales" (Imperials), the most militaristic and expansionist party in the Parliament and also the biggest supporters of the absolute power of the king. Salvaterra rose to the Premiership in 1725 and he's remembered for his attempts to colonize Baffin's Island, which was named as Carlonia by Salvaterra. This move not only puzzled James V, but also worried him as he saw a new phase of the expansionist policies of Hispania. However, the failure to support the fisheries and ports in the frozen plains of the islands not only meant the end of the hopes to colonize Carlonia by 1730 meant the fall of Salvaterra, who returned in shame to the benches.
His replacement was one of the "new man" of the kingdom, Óscar Balmes, who had made a fortune thanks to the American trade. The leader of the Commoner faction in the parliament, Balmes could not translate his sharp intelligence into political success and by 1740 he was out of power. By then Carlos had to admit that his efforts to block the Parliament had worked too well, but at the price of the complete stagnation of his Empire, that began to fall behind the English and to look as an easy prey for the raising powers. Thus, when Carlos I died in 1730, his Empire was in deep need of a complete overhaul.
The annexation of Navarre and the Castilian-speaking areas of Aragon caused some concern in London as fearing that the next step was to conquer Catalonia and Valencia. An united Hispania was not something that London wanted to see, as it would mean not only a powerful rival in the New World but also an united France as Paris would be free and strong enough to go against the Aragonese remnant, Occitania. Aragon then made an unexpected move that worried London even more: they signed an alliance with Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif, Sultan of Morocco. However, the next Aragonese move pleased London. In May 1701 an Aragonese delegation offered Aragonese support against Hispania if London decided to go to war for the Asiatic colonies of King Fernando V. However, the death of Charles II meant the rise to the throne of his Scottish cousin James, half Yorkist himself. James, who became James V of England and VIII of Scotland (born in 1683), was well liked by his English subjects as he promised to keep the independence of the two kingdoms and the peace so badly needed for the English economy. This would begin to change in 1707, when he attempted to rule the island from Edinburgh. From then on, even his die-hard supporters began to turn against him in the Parliament.
Hispania was not to go to war any time soon as the health of Fernando V took a sudden turn to the worse in 1703. He recovered by 1704, but he began to complain from constant headaches from then on, until, by 1706, he was constantly bedridden and with his brothers Carlos and Felipe in power as regents. The unexpected death of the younger brother in 1707. His son, Diego (born in 1679), had been named governor of the Aragonese lands of the Crown, after the war, and returned to claim his inheritance, thus becoming part of the regency with his uncle Carlos. In 1709, Diego, who had recently lost his wife, became the heir to Maria Theresa Gonzaga, last Duchess of Parma, who named him as her heir in an effort to move away from the Habsburgs, who she had come to dislike in her last years. Thus, with Diego on his way to Italy, Carlos became the only ruler of Hispania until the death of his brother Fernando, two years later.
Carlos, as the second son of the late king, had been prepared to be a soldier, not a ruler. Raised by his mother and educated by the finest tutors throughout the land, he demonstrated a sharp intellect, but his interest in several matters forced his mother to intervene as he was unable to focuse in a single issue. As he grew older, Carlos developed a clear but somewhat heterodox set of beliefs in several topics. He had a strong belief in the divine right of kings, but he was hardly interested in religion. Once he became king, he claimed his absolute right to rule. He was fascinated and inspired by the governments of the German Empire and decided to reform Hispania following the German model. But first he had his coronation, an opulent, glorious and expensive one, as King-Emperor of Hispania. And, as such, he styled himself Carlos I.
As King-Emperor, one of his first actions was replace the whole government by the most relevant members of the conservative benches of the Cortes. Ironically, in due time, many historians were to notice a similar trend between Carlos I of Hispania and James V of England. Both were grandiose, rather imperious and a firm believer in the divine right of kings to rule. Both saw Parliament with disdain and scorn, but while James V simply used any chance he had to ignore the English Parliament, Carlos I attempted to attempt to dominate it. To achieve this he selected Juan "the Younger Duke" (1678-1724), 3rd Duke of Trastámara, as his prime minister, a position that he served from 1709-1715, 1719-1722 and briefly again in 1723, When others were appointed, it was when it was politically expedient, the Parliament became too rebellious to achieve any compromise, thus forcing Carlos I into embarrassing concessions that only helped to increase the royal hatred towards the institution. When his cousin Trastámara died, he replaced him with the most notorious sycophantic character of his realm, Fernando de Salvaterra, 4th count of Salvaterra de Magos, the leader of the "Imperiales" (Imperials), the most militaristic and expansionist party in the Parliament and also the biggest supporters of the absolute power of the king. Salvaterra rose to the Premiership in 1725 and he's remembered for his attempts to colonize Baffin's Island, which was named as Carlonia by Salvaterra. This move not only puzzled James V, but also worried him as he saw a new phase of the expansionist policies of Hispania. However, the failure to support the fisheries and ports in the frozen plains of the islands not only meant the end of the hopes to colonize Carlonia by 1730 meant the fall of Salvaterra, who returned in shame to the benches.
His replacement was one of the "new man" of the kingdom, Óscar Balmes, who had made a fortune thanks to the American trade. The leader of the Commoner faction in the parliament, Balmes could not translate his sharp intelligence into political success and by 1740 he was out of power. By then Carlos had to admit that his efforts to block the Parliament had worked too well, but at the price of the complete stagnation of his Empire, that began to fall behind the English and to look as an easy prey for the raising powers. Thus, when Carlos I died in 1730, his Empire was in deep need of a complete overhaul.
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Colonisation of Baffin Island? Surely there were some slightly more hospitable lands to serve as fishing bases
Yes, but they were too reasonable options for Salvaterra, so to speak.