Lulach's Legacy

"Nu scylun hergan hefaenricaes uard
metudæs maecti end his modgidanc
uerc uuldurfadur swe he uundra gihwaes
eci dryctin or astelidæ
he aerist scop aelda barnum
heben til hrofe haleg scepen.
tha middungeard moncynnæs uard
eci dryctin æfter tiadæ
firum foldu frea allmectig"


Now [we] must honour the guardian of heaven,
the might of the architect, and his purpose,
the work of the father of glory
as he, the eternal lord, established the beginning of wonders;
he first created for the children of men
heaven as a roof, the holy creator
Then the guardian of mankind,
the eternal lord, afterwards appointed the middle earth,
the lands for men, the Lord almighty.

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In the year 1059, a young Scottish king was set off to sea, exiled from his home continent of Europe. Sent off with a plethora of Welsh and Anglo-Saxon criminals, they gave up hope, and sailed out to sea. Believing them swallowed by the waves, the European lawmakers disregarded the criminals, believing them to be nothing but perished exiles. However, the tattered ship kept sailing, and landed on the coast of a new world, an Ednícarseld, in the year 1060. It was there they founded a nation, a culture, and a new way of living.

{-----–––~~~~–––-----}

Hello everyone, and welcome to my new project! This is going to be a continuation of the map series I've been working on in the Map Thread. There have been a bunch of people who seem to be really enjoying it, so I've decided to turn it into a collaborative timeline that I'll be updating from time to time. Now, this is a collaborative thing; PM me if you want to do anything for this, I'm REALLY excited to see what you guys have planned for this. So, welcome to this, and I hope you all enjoy! :D
 
Subscribed.

Looking forward to more narrative parts.

Should this be in Maps & Graphics though?

Good point; pre-1900 or the Writer's Forum may be more appropriate locations for this.

Though it does differ from most TLs in that the narrative is largely based around maps, so it may be okay here..

edit: ninjaed by Upvote.
 
One - Lulachfrýgyld, 1060 to 1450

Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin, also known as Lulach the Ceremonial, was crowned the King of Alba in September of 1057 AD. His rule was seemingly quite inelegant, and his life as king raised much rebellion. So, in 1058, Lulach was captured by a high-ranking man named Malcolm, who wished to "rightfully" claim the throne for himself. Malcolm had killed kings before (most notably Macbeth), and he knew that his autocratic habits would eventually cause someone to usurp his reign. Malcolm, being the manipulative man he was, made a deal with Máel Snechtai of Moray (the only son of Lulach at the time), promising him riches as long as he agreed with the execution of his father. However, Máel was not without honor and believed his father deserved a distinguished parting ceremony. Instead of brutally killing him, Máel convinced Malcolm to send him off, out of Europe to die on the high seas. However, Lulach was sent away with enough food to last more than a month, a gift from his son in secret. The gift was meant to last until he could moor on the coast of another European country, but the currents had other plans,. So, in late-1059, he was sent off, with over a hundred prisoners from Mercia, Wales, and Ireland in a ship built for sixty. While he aimed to sail southwards to Asturias, he quickly lost track of his surroundings, and ended up travelling west. After a gruesome five month journey lasting through the middle of winter, Lulach successfully piloted the ship to a new land. Surprised to find themselves anywhere other than Asia, Lulach used the supplies from the moored ship to found a small settlement on the coast. He named the settlement Cerenandred, and it immediately became a factory for supplies needed to survive.

Out of the 112 early settlers, 91 made it through the first winter; far better that Lulach hoped to do. After realizing the population of this "New Land" was more than zero, they began to present themselves as peaceful helpers to the natives. The new settlers in "Ednícarseld" (New Home) rebounded, learning the ways of the land within a couple months. The natives, however, were not so lucky. Many moved inland to escape disease, others died from the amalgamation of ailments. By 1100, the population of Lulach's land quickly grew to nearly twice the size it was when they first landed. He resided in Ednícarseld for thirty years, dying of old age in 1089. However, this did not mean the end of the settlement; he had two children with a young native woman, meaning an heir to give his new kingdom to. The entirety of his domain was meant to go to his son Ælfgar, but his little brother Lalor wished for his own land as well. After a small rebellion, the nobles in the second (smaller) settlement of Swétnes claimed their loyalty to Lalor. These two domains were named “Ælfgaríce” (Ælfgar’s Kingdom) and “Laloríce” (Lalor’s Kingdom). The entirety of British land in Ednícarseld needed a name, however, so the amalgamation of domains became known as "Lulachfrýgyld" (Lulach's Heaven). Throughout most of its history, Lulachfrýgyld was not a single entity, rather a confederation of small principalities under an umbrella of culture.

In the 1100's, a population boom occured, most likely instituted by King Lalor to make the population of his land closer to that of Ælfgar's. Throughout the twelfth century, ship technology became vastly more usable, and small farming settlements were created up and down the Ednícarseldian coastline. After the death of Lulach's sons, the two original kingdoms became two of many. The House of Alpin stayed in power for many years in the formative region, while other cadet braces reigned in the north. Some of the natives formed English-influenced states as well, such as the Cætaba people. These new states gained a lot of power, influencing the government and language of Frýgian culture. However, the nations themselves remained purely English (or Gaelic, in the spirit of Lulach) in name, due to old tradition. By the end of the century, places were being named not after the people who founded it, but after things like the famous saints and figures of Christianity. The religion had taken over Lulachfrýgyld, pushing out the various forms of paganism for more of a native-influenced type.

The thirteenth century saw a major boom of exploration, with ship technology an even more massive step forward. Contact with Europe was quietly re-established, with ships sometimes passing in and out of the ports of major nations. The resources of Ednícarseld provided good for easy expansion, allowing settlement on the peninsula of Edscóníeg (Florida) and a few minor trade posts on the Walganus River (Mississippi). Influence on the natives took effect, as the diseases had killed most of them nearly a century before. Confederations of tribes began to form, influenced by the language and 36-letter alphabet of Lulachfrýgyld. By 1300, settlement took control, with farmland being sought out more than influence. By this time, the kingdoms began to elect a presiding leader, to loosely rule over the Frýgian realms. They went through many kings and reagents, some even managing to kick out all the cadet branches (briefly), and ruling over the entire kingdom singlehandedly. By 1450, the realms of Lulachfrýgyld were expansive and wealthy (if a little divided), trading as far inland as OTL Utah via the Pearl Road. The population was nearly 77,000 citizens strong, having grown on a necessity basis. Lulachfrýgyld was becoming centralized and strong, and seemed ready to face the world after Europe realized their presence fully.

Full Map Here

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The "Conquest of Monegurríceia", as it was called, was the slow encroachment of the Old English upon Ednícarseld. While many of the settlers got along with their native friends, a rapid period of expansion in the 1080's forced Lulach to make a couple enemies. The original settlement of Cerenandred had grown to nearly a hundred, and while that was good for prosperity, the criminals originally sent out to sea wished for more freedom. Settlements were found up and down the coast, some surrounding themselves with castles. Three men, Erwulf Annraoi, Wigstan Baddam, and Alfred Rhydderich all contributed to the advancement of the kingdom inland. Due to their contributions in major battles, the families of the three men were all granted land in the north, and each built a castle using native slave labor.

The abandoned town of Rēad, an ambitious project by Lalorícian nobles.
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After the death of Lulach I in 1089, the population of Lulachfrýgyld was 187. The kingdom he created was divided between his two sons, Ælfgar and Lalor. They each received feudal ownership of one of the two major settlements. Ælfgar recieved the city of Cerenandred, while Lalor claimed the smaller port town of Swétnes. As the kingdom (more commonly described as a realm, considering it was now technically two kingdoms) moved into the twelfth century, the population began to grow exponentially. The stabilizing realm grew from 187 to 476 by 1130, with even more small towns being founded across the region. The mercenary villiages founded decades before grew to swelling numbers, as the farmers grouped together into confederations. However, by 1130, both Ælfgar and Lalor are growing old, and their large kingdoms shall soon lose their prosperity...

Full Map Here

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In the years after Lulachfrýgyld's foundation, legend began to mix with fact. Many records were lost, some at the behest of the kings. The 1100's lead to the loss of a lot of information, due to the nobles of Lulachfrýgyld wanting their people in the dark about their origin. Places like Iceland and Greenland were wiped off the map, after people found they could sail north to contact with European civilization. For many decades, making contact would have been detrimental, as it would have opened the Europeans up to an already fragile continent. Sailing expeditions rarely entered the Mediterranean when they did cross the Atlantic, causing the loss of a lot of information about their former homeland.

"The people of Europe are some of the most advanced on the Earth. However, there is scarcely a way to reach them, as they have holed themselves up in their continent for many millennia. Contact has not been made since the Saint Hildebrand found our great land, and most kings would advise one not to make the trip. The Europeans are very mean to anyone but their highest locals, and a man from across the sea would be shunned. Over the last century, Europe has grown war-torn, and one must be warned that their technical advances will soon pale in comparison to Our Heaven [1]."

- Excerpt from the Ærworuldbóc (Old World-Book), 1169

After this somewhat isolationist and continental system, the Great Expansion began to occur. Exploratory vassals were built to sail the oceans to the south, significantly expanding the breadth of Frygian knowledge. The Walganus River [2] was discovered and violently explored. With European knowledge down the drain, many people sailed around the south of Ednícarseld to search for new land. Some rewarded themselves with their own small kingdoms or dukedoms, others just sailed for the spirit of exploration. Contact was made with the small kingdoms in Middle Ednícarseld [3], and some Frygian officials even helped them along in their development. Trade grew significantly, and people began to hear about where certain lands and seas were positioned. Their continent apparently stretched up to nearly the top of the world, which caused them to speculate about the existence of a grand "Northern Continent" [4]. Sailors' tales of a large continent to the south allowed for many myths to be created. Some were realistic, others were less so...

"The continent of Nitheralbani is indeed one of the strangest. Sailors have been returning with odd tales about the supposed land for decades, and most can attest on the mythical nature of its people. In the north of the continent are the Byarnteam [5], a stout people of only three feet. They live in vast overground complexes, built out of the stiff bark of their elk trees. As described in the Byarnibóc, these men have splintered themselves into thousands of tiny kingdoms, each with a king. Some say they are the compliments to our own realm, but many more describe them as a warmongering folk. For the many sailors that trade in the south, it is difficult for their trade posts to last more than a month. Sailing down the coast, one will next find the Taipebra, a horned, lizard-like human. They have created a kingdom stretching for thousands of miles, into the sky-reaching mountains in the far west. The few sailors who have been this far south say it is an odd experience, seeing such a strong yet foreign group of creatures. While some say it's delirium, the captains are sure these people exist, but have not yet brought back any proof. Finally, if one were to trek to the border with the SúÞhealf [6], they'd find nothing but the Ciele, one of the fiercest people on Earth. In comparison to the Byarnteam, the Ciele are cold and pale-skinned, and use the frigidness of their souls to kill anyone who comes by. The tales of these murderous people come from the Taipebra, as no sailor has come back from this far south alive."

- Excerpt from the Book of Strange Things, 1382

There are many explanations for why these legends evolved the way they did. Delirium spread quickly on journeys during the 1300's, and the sailors sometimes didn't meet any people at all. They simply looked at the environment around them, gathered a few supplies, and made speculations based on what they believed to live there. Even with these strange legends being passed around, the Frygians gained a good outlook on their surroundings, and their vast knowledge would be stolen by expansionist European settlers hundreds of years later.

Nideralbany [Nitheralbani] - Lower Albany (an old term for Scotland)
Suphealf - South Half
Easta - Far East
Feorlond - "Far Side"
Angelpeod - Angle-land​

[1] - An old-fashioned name for Lulachfrýgyld.
[2] - The Mississippi. Walganus came to describe the hundred-or-so miles to the north of the delta.
[3] - Known to us as the Aztecs, not yet unified.
[4] - Called Iceland by some, but Þýle by most.
[5] - Actually taken from the Old English word for "offspring", Bearntéam.
[6] - The SúÞhealf is what the Frygians called their version of Terra Australis, a cold and desolate place.

Full Map Here

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Old English is going to be a wide variety of languages by the time Europeans get to N.A. again.

But if settler populations are high enough by the time that happens, we may see N.A. east of the Rockies and north of mexico (where the civilization are probably too hard for the alt americans to take over) developing into a sort of china.

Or something like that.
 
With the Christianization of Lulachfrýgyld, the few pagans left were exiled and ruthlessly murdered. A series of insane rulers caused the believers in Norse mythology to scatter. Some settled in the faraway lands of Dai [1] and Dæladre [2], while others were forced away even further. Many wished to go back to Europe, but the lack of knowledge about what lied beyond the Atlantic prohibited a mass migration. While some were trickling back to England in small fishing ships, the massive exploratory vessels would surely cause a commotion. [3] Some ships blended in with the other merchant ships from around Europe, but the Pagans didn't have the time to build hundreds of fishing ships. In a mass migration taking three years and over a hundred families, they began to sail to the north. It was not entirely uncharted, and there were books used to guide the Pagans to their new home.

"There are three major nations [4] in the Delƿa [5]. The first are the wide-spread Algœ, a people who are skilled at the hunt. The tall trees of Algœga are good for building houses out of, and the sailors who have visited the Algœ have brought back wondrous wooden creations. The second people are the Nausé. They are not extremely skilled at anything in particular, but they are very good at diplomacy. The many provinces of the Nausé are all very confederated, and one might use that to their advantage. The final people are the Picawhamæ, coming from the northwest. They are skilled at fighting, and have built up an empire with the help of Nausé soldiers. Their empire is reminiscent of the Roman one; if one were to visit the Picawhamæ, they would find massive stone statues of famous military figures. The traders who have come from Delƿa warn us of these foreign invaders. [6]"

- The Guide to the Far-Lands, 1306

Soon after the migration in 1320, the Pagan settlers founded their first settlements. The population was low, and it would remain low for decades, as there was a severe shortage of food and births. However, the powerful exploratory ships of the Norse wooed the Nausé, enough for many to convert to Paganism. The new confederation, known as the Hálignausé, was subject to many wars (especially against the Picawhamæ), and was barely confederated by the fifteenth century. While it had nearly found its footing by 1470, once the arrival of the Scottish army on Lulachfrýgyld commenced, the Hálignauséan government would be quick to fall.

[1] - A small group of farmers who settled on the OTL Pensacola coastline.
[2] - A grouping term used to describe the middle Mississippi.
[3] - In the 1370's, a ship carrying a hundred men accidentally alerted the King of Navarre to the existance of the Frygians.
[4] - The Frygians called the various tribes nations, as the tribes had confederated since their arrival (and after the spread of disease).
[5] - The name for the northern part of the North American continent.
[6] - The Algœ are the Algonquin, the Nausé are the ancestors of the Iroquois, and the Picawhamæ are the Potawatomi.

Full Map Here

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"The Powatt Empire was one of the largest nations in Litherland by land area, throughout all of history. In order to understand how the Powatt grew so big, one needs to understand the outside circumstances. In the year 1059, the first Europeans arrived on the continent, spreading a multitude of diseases. While many died, the diseases were not as decimating as the average historian might think. They killed around 30% of the population in total, proportionally about as much the Black Pox. The places hit hardest were far away from the first point of contact, as they had no idea where the origin of the epidemics were. Places like Taxokan and Cimo [1] fell violently, while advanced civilization proceeded to grow at the hands of the Frygian settlers. If one were to travel through Litherland in 900 AD, they would find next to no large cities east of the Wally [2]. After the spread of European weapons and trades, however, civilizations began to flourish and confederate.

One such civilization were the Powatt [3], a group of tribes residing around the Danskjavlar Peninsula. As the legend states, a Frygian trade minister went on one of his first trade missions up to the north, and landed in the hold of the Powatt. Instead of being executed, they used him for their own gain, taking his weapons and holding him hostage. Forced to work for them, the general turned the Powatt into a war machine. However, even after he was given the chance to leave, he had grown mad with power. He changed his name from Deorwine to N'aghan (the Powatt name for "Leader"), and mobilized his people for war. However, this might be a fanatical representation, made up by the Frygians to describe the strange people to their north.

Even so, the empire grew to epic proportions, taking over much of middle Litherland. While complete control of the region was never achieved, Powatt coins have been found as far west as Akoti [4]...


- Excerpt from the History of the Powatt: A Pamphlet, 1986

[1] - The Aztecs and the Chimu, respectively.
[2] - Walganus River.
[3] - The Potawatomi, or Picawhamæ.
[4] - A name for western North Dakota/eastern Montana.

Full Map Here

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The Confederation of Arraillur, before official European contact, was much different than it is in the modern day. It was discovered by Joao Martín, a Navarrese explorer born in 1362. A lifelong fisher, he decided to sail west after recieving news of fish traders living in a mythical archipelago known as "Carsella" [1]. He landed on the coast of Betúk in 1396 and sailed southwards, looking for a profitable venture. He left half of his crew to meet with the natives, and sailed back with fish and many furs. The Navarrese King, who Martín met with soon after, was surprised to find that Carsella was a real place. He gave Martín money to set up a new settlement, hoping to get a monopoly on the sparse fur trade. Fishing settlements were discreetly set up on the coast, as the Navarrese king didn't want any other country to interrupt his ships and find out where the furs came from. The first settlement to be founded was the small town of Legazpi, where Martín set up shop to govern the new colony. It wasn't much of a colony, mind. The reason it got past the few settlements on the coast was the feudal-esque system put into place, where large plots of land were given to whoever wanted to farm. People like John Aroztegi and Francisco Ibarra founded their own little colonies, semi-autonomous from the rest of Arraillur [2].

Their first contact with the rest of Carsella was with the Miquaka. They were the trade mediators between Arraillur and Frygia, and more new goods were opened up. With goods, of course, came diseases, and the Miquaka had plenty. Luckily, it would make them slightly more resilient when the rest of Europe came, but the 1410's weren't nice to them. There was more expansion in the Navarrese colony, with towns being founded up and down. People flocked to Carsella in numbers, as the Navarrese government tried to discreetly hide their existance. They allied with Spain for protection [3], promising them free trade with the fur merchants. They obviously obliged, and France and Europe were kept in the dark for a while longer. By the 1440's, things had changed. Arraillur was basically independent; it's population had passed three thousand Navarrese, and the government had no direct control over it. Martín's son had become the leader of the colony, and he was kingly. He traded directly with Frygia, controlled the ships coming in and out of Legazpi, and tried to keep the Europeans from flooding in. In 1448, however, a young man named Nicklas Lund would blockade the Navarrese port of Bilbao...

[1] - The Spanish name for Litirland, essentially a bastardization of Ednícarseld.

[2] - By 1450, their land was absorbed as the states of Aroztegi and Ibarra.

[3] - This is why Spain didn't absorbe Navarre in this TL... Navarre was powerful, with the money they got from all the furs.

Full Map Here

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The semi-independent Kingdom of Arraillur, in 1450.
 
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Wow this is such an interesting and awesome timeline. I just love maps that feature alternate American history with settlers and such. Keep up the great work Upvoteanthology!
 
Wow this is such an interesting and awesome timeline. I just love maps that feature alternate American history with settlers and such. Keep up the great work Upvoteanthology!

Thank you so much! ^_^ There will be more coming, thank for you enjoying and following this little TL of mine.

Scottish and Navarrese fishers had been sailing back and forth from Ednícarseld for hundreds of years; some had even set up little business ventures in the new world. However, the governments of the world were majorly at a loss to this knowledge. The King of Navarre knew minor amounts of information about the "land to the west", but he never wished to sail to something he wasn't even sure existed. Sometimes, ships from Lulachfrýgyld would land in the courts of European powers, but they never gave their true identity. The exile given to Alba Lulach stood for all his future descendants (except for the ones already alive, who were killed), and the Frygians were honorable and somewhat warlike. However, the can of worms opened after a former Scottish fisher made his way to the Scandinavian King. After meeting with the court in Copenhagen, a young man named Nicklas Lund received permission to voyage west, with an entire fleet of ships.

His first voyage was quite successful, as he rounded the Island of Betúk (Newfoundland) and met with the Basque leaders of the Arraillur (receiving lots of tasty fish). He named the new continent Litrland (quickly bastardized to Litirland, and later Litherland), and received permission to go off once more. His second voyage was slightly less successful, as he found himself in a bad place. He landed in the region of the Miquaka (Mikmaq), meeting with the chief of the nation. After this, he sailed south to Hálignausé, where he found Pagan English culture flourishing. He met with the Reagent of Holtwudua, but received multiple death threats by other English settlers. So, he returned home, having been robbed of most of his resources by the Pagans. A few years later, when the Danes began to continue exploring, they would make Hálignausé a center of their large attack force. Soon, a couple years after Lund's voyage, the English king believed he could do better. So, he sent an old general named Martin Provencher to fight whatever he came across in the New World, believing it to be small like Hálignausé came to be. However, Provencher landed in the center of Lulachfrýgyld, with only an army of five hundred. The people of Lulachfrýgyld were nearly as advanced as Europe itself, with more knowledge of Ednícarseld to boot. After a battle at the province of Burggemót (shortened to The Burg in most textbooks), Provencher was defeated, although it was a close battle. Later treaties would allow European powers access to Litirland, but it would belong to the natives for quite a few more years.

Full Map Here

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You may be asking, “Why is Europe far different from our timeline, even though the only point of divergence is a Scottish king being sent out to sea?”. Ultimately, it all comes down to the butterflies from the exile, how it affected the Scottish government, and the relationships the merchants from Lulachfrýgyld had with Europeans. After the capture of Lulach by Malcolm, his son Mael was payed off to support the new monarchy. It took quite a bit of money to get him to give up the throne, which destabilized the Scottish government in the long run. Mael’s children, and later descendants, would become high-ranking lords in the Scottish feudal system. After the truth came forth that Malcolm gave money away to Lulach’s son, someone the people of Scotland hated, he began to slowly lose his credibility. After finding out that Mael had sent him away with supplies, and that he was probably alive in another part of Europe, the Scottish monarchy was on the verge of collapse once more. While it didn’t fall apart immediately, the shady trade would become one of the first nails in a very small coffin. By the year 1100, Scotland would fall, though not for the shoddy monarchy alone.

Firstly, after the instatement of the House of Moray (Mael’s family) as feudal lords, other nobles began to go against the king. Scotland, at the time, was not under the harsh rule of the Catholic Church to the same degree as the rest of Europe, and issues arising from the manors managed to work their way up to the top. Some high ranking officials would even go so far as to bribe mercenaries, merely to make fun of King Malcolm. Secondly, external forces began to have their way in Scotland. The Scandinavians, which had been declining due to the rise of the Catholic church, saw opportunity in capturing Scotland, and possibly even using it as a way to rebound their power. In 1076, Sweyn II of Denmark invaded and captured King Malcolm, killing his heirs and taking over the country. It was originally operated under a puppet monarchy, but Denmark saw it easy to take over such a divisive nation, especially after the damage caused by Lulach, the Moray, and Malcolm. By the early twelfth century, they didn’t believe it was necessary to keep a puppet monarchy, technically uniting the two kingdoms under a single crown.

The uniting of Scotland and Denmark had consequences of its own, consequences that had began to extend to the rest of Europe. Although it was originally quite decentralized, the Danish kings became much more powerful in the 1100’s. By adopting more Mediterranean ideas, they were able to strengthen themselves. One thing the kings didn’t appreciate adopting, however, was the rule of the church. Denmark, with a cash cow in Scotland, didn’t need the aid of the Pope anymore. Of course being excommunicated, and maybe even interdicted, wouldn’t be the best thing in the world, but it was better for the king to be powerful than well-liked. The feudal system was still quite powerful, but the monarchs began to have the upper hand. After the death of the Geatish King Karl Sverkersson in 1167, the Danes usurped the throne. A few years later, the weak Norwegian nobles began to surrender, one by one, to the Danes. It was not what we would consider a conventional war, however. The annexation mostly consisted of the kings being killed, not entire armies. All it took was an announcement that the Geats were under Danish rule to unite a nation. Of course, it wasn’t ideal to be under the rule of someone so far away, but the serfs of Sweden had bigger things to worry about. In the year 1224, all of Scandinavia was united under King Thorkil I, King of the Danish, the Sænskr (Swedish), the Geats, the Nordics, and the Skozkr (Scottish).

As the thirteenth century rolled on, Scandinavia centered its power, and was able to fight as a powerful country. It was representative of a new type of nation, one never before seen in Europe. Taking cues from the Vikings and their seafaring ways, the Scandinavian government was quite fractured. While there weren’t any more clans, the nobles would have a large amount of power in the land, as long as they swore fealty to the King. However, in contrast to the rest of the feudal system, the King still had far more power than the nobles. Not only did their have their own personal army to use against the lords if they chose to rebel, they also had the people on their side. By rejecting the Christian church, the Scandinavian King was the head of a different branch, and was revered for it. King Thorkil managed to do something amazing in his reign, which was spinning the “lies” of the Catholic church back on them. Even through their threats of interdict, the Scandinavian military was able to hold up, and the king claimed that rule by a Pope was against Jesus’ preachings. Of course this wasn’t true, but it was ultimately one of the main ways the Scandinavian branch of Christianity began to diverge. The people, of course, didn’t care. After the people who remembered Thorkil’s reign began to die, people didn’t remember what happened. All they knew was that the way to get closer to god, the way to get up to heaven, was to pray in a Scandinavian church.

One seemingly unrelated issue, the issue of the Mongols, ties back into the new Scandinavian kingdom. With a weaker Christian church, they have less room to mobilize their military, meaning that a foreign empire could carve out more area in Roman Catholic areas such as the HRE. Of course, the Mongols here didn’t actually get too much more land, they only managed to hold onto it better. Some small khanates in Russia, before being absorbed by Poland or Lithuania, formed different branches of Christianity as a way of holding their citizens down. The 1200’s and 1300’s frequently consisted of the upper class using the serfs. With the King of Scandinavia changing the face of their religion because the people had no way to keep written records, to the Mongols eventually installing Christian rulers, and changing the religion because they knew they held the power. A lack of a powerful force during the High Middle Ages might also explain the rebound of the Byzantines. Instead of the Catholic Church holding power over the Orthodox, it was a more even split. A few crusades still took place, but the disaster known as the Fourth Crusade never happened due to conflicts in the north. With that, the Byzantine Empire survived, and also lived to fund the few surviving crusader states.

Outside of the Byzantines, Scandinavia, and the Middle East, not a lot is different. Except for one particular nation; England. After Scandinavia took over Northumbria in the late-1200’s, England shifted their priorities south. The Norman conquest still went roughly the same as it did OTL, except for a few small details. For example, the original government fell sooner, and the Normans were able to hold rule for far longer (with the Danes in Scotland, why not the Normans in England?). With a more assimilated Anglo-Norman culture, they were able to expand into France far easier. They had to if they wanted to survive against the Scandinavians, after all. After a brief unity between the crowns of England, Normandy, and France in the 1300’s, their possessions began to grow smaller, as the English kings refused to adopt French mannerisms. However, the “Englishness” of England began to fade, as survival took priority in the minds of the kings. They would have rather kept France and adopted parts of the language and ruling class than be taken over by Scandinavia. By the fifteenth century, England was quite Frenchized, even though their culture was still viewed as “English”. The spoken language was quite similar to what we’d describe as French, while the written language was more similar to Norse.

With more people taking advantage of the lack of education in Europe, one would think that the continent, by 1450, is a very dark place. However, other factors also promoted political and technological growth. While there wasn’t a Renaissance forming, it was a slower transition from the Dark Ages to civilized society. A less powerful Catholic Church, especially in Britain and Germany, means the earlier fall of the feudal system, especially as people began to die in the Crusades. The diseases brought on by the Mongols (though not as bad as IOTL) also made the nobles less powerful. Plus, furs and fish coming in from the strange land to the west allowed for richer trade, with Venice becoming known for its strange amount of Coffeetree wood. In addition to all that, the advent of the Scandinavians spread the ideas of empire through Northern Europe, giving the Europeans the resources needed to create a “Caliphate” of their own. Ultimately, the 1400’s brought more power to the monarchy, a shift in priorities to making the world more literate (Scandinavian Christianity dropped a bit in popularity, but there were still no written records of the 1200’s), and a greater connection to the rest of the world.

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Now that thread views are gone, it's quite difficult for me to know if people are liking my TL or not. I've stopped writing many a thing because I'm nervous that people aren't enjoying it, and I'm beginning to fear that this project will go the way of all the others. :( If you're liking this stuff, please feel free to leave a comment or a like. Heck, like every previous update if you want to, I won't mind! :p Even if you don't have anything productive to say, knowing that someone enjoys my work enough to click that "Like" tab lightens up my day a bunch. Hopefully that didn't sound too bitchy or needy, I do enjoy writing this TL and I just hope you guys like reading it. ^_^
 
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