The Vivaldi Journeys (2.0 Roberto Remix)

In 1291, brothers Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi, two Geonese merchants and captains, embarked on an expedition to search for the route to India. Their plan to leave the Mediterranean and circle Africa was revolutionary, and rumors quickly spread about the fate of these intrepid explorers as the years passed. In the world we know, rumors and mystery were the only products of this voyage, but in another history, the winds of change smile upon these captains and the sailors they commanded, and that's where this divergent story of the world begins...

In his 1298 address to King James II of Aragon, Vandino Vivaldi, for the first time, gave the full story of the voyage that claimed his brother's life. The King, who held strong interests in gaining mercantile and military access to the Muslim regions to the south, had maps made detailing Vivaldi's journey through the Pillars of Hercules and past the Marinid cities of Ksar el Kebir and Rabat. Further south went the brothers Vivaldi on their twin galleys, the Sanctus Antonius and the Alegranzia, past villages and coasts never even heard of, meeting peoples not met even in the bustling markets in Tangiers and Fez. A few weeks after leaving the Marinid kingdom of Moors, the galleys encountered a chain of green, sparsely populated islands. Even during Vivaldi's address, the King's advisors whispered about the possibility of building missions on these islands, taking advantage of their pleasant climate to spread the Word of God- and, of course, Aragon's naval power.

But it was not these Dog Islands that interested the King of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia, and Corsica. What most captivated the lord of these domains was what Vivaldi had to say about the lands even further south... Where the black heathen locals sat on gold so plentiful that they wore it and nothing else, where witch-kings commanded armies of thousands against Moorish invaders, and where, across a vast blue sea, trees that scraped the sky dyed hands red with their wood...

Continue this timeline, this timeline looks wonderful.

Interesting, and a TL from Roberto.

Vivaldi's tales of golden-gilded temples, deep mines of copper and salt, and a lucrative trade with the kingdoms of the Maghreb fascinated the Aragonese court. His reports of a sparsely peopled land across the sea sparked less interest until later.

In 1300, a year and a half after the Genovese merchant returned to Europe, he made another voyage to Africa, this time with five ships laden with trade goods of all types. They arrived in the river-city of Tekrur, to discover an empire in distress. Mansa Sakura, the late emperor, had been recently murdered while returning to Hajj, and his retinue had arrived in Timbuktu mere weeks before the Aragonese fleet sailed into the River Senegal.

It wasn't long before rudimentary communication was achieved, and trade began. Cast-iron tools and weapons sold for the most gold for their weight; European techniques produced iron harder and more durable than local metals. The Aragonese mission came home low in the water for all their newly earned gold, and regular trade contact with the Mandingo Empire began.

The spread of iron swords and spear-heads had drastic effects in West Africa throughout the first couple decades of the fourteenth century. After the brief reign of Mansa Gao, Sakura's successor, and the ascension of his son Muhammad ibn Gao to the throne, rumbles began sounding in cities like Gao (unrelated to the emperor) and Tekrur. Newly armed groups posed a direct threat to imperial authority.

More insidiously, iron from Europe was beginning to affect the blacksmiths of Mali. Mandinke ironworkers were politically important members of society, often being rivals to village chieftains for power. As more and more blacksmiths were forced to give up their inferior craft, traditional social structure in rural Mali began to break down, eventually prompting large migrations to the cities in the 1330s and 40s. For now, it fostered an environment where gangs of young men could take power by force and raise arms against tribal rivals. By 1310, the Malian empire was a dangerous, strange place.

Tekrur had benefitted wonderfully from the arrival of the European traders. The city authorities reaped huge profits from trade, and allowed missions and Catholic churches to be built as a condition for lowered rates and market preferences. By the second decade of the fourteenth century, a small-yet-visible minority of Christian Tekruris had emerged...

Interesting...I assume the chief knock-on effect is that the West African civilisations will better be able to resist Moroccan encroachment, which likely has major repercussions for the slave trade. Of course the discovery of America may well be rather different with a POD this early, too, which will naturally influence the context of the trade.

Thande said:

Interesting...I assume the chief knock-on effect is that the West African civilisations will better be able to resist Moroccan encroachment, which likely has major repercussions for the slave trade. Of course the discovery of America may well be rather different with a POD this early, too, which will naturally influence the context of the trade.

Click to expand...

Yeah, my idea for this TL is to experiment with what would happen when the Europeans have less of an advantage in the colonial age.

Any evidence that european iron was better than west african? Cheaper at the foundries, i could imagine, although the cost of shipping that distance would surely make the european product more expensive?