It is a little hard to understand. Are the sports related to anything we would recognize?
Medieval America Co-op Project
- Thread starter Jord839
- Start date
Knowledge and Belief in Medieval America
This more speculation on my part, but I've had some more thoughts on Medieval America.
The Medieval Americans, as stated before, aren't carbon copies of their historical counterparts. They're vastly different, and in many ways more advanced. Not just in things like clothing or architecture, but in health, sanitation, agriculture, and social mores.
Thanks to the fact they're the descendants of a highly advanced civilization, they will be more likely to retain some of that knowledge, even if it is common sense by our standards. For example, health and sanitation: they may not recall germ theory or bacteria, but they will at least know enough not to put your latrine next to your water source, and the importance of good waste disposal. They might even have a vestigial memory of vaccination and medicine, e.g. if you get sick with cowpox you won't contract smallpox, or if you eat this particular piece of moldy bread you'll get better.
They will also have the benefit of more advanced agriculture. They will at least have the concept of the moulderboard plow, and possible a simple mechanical reaper. More importantly, they'll have the concept of crop rotation and the importance of putting nutrients back into the soil, even if they don't know how or why it works.
Finally, they will hopefully have at least a slightly more progressive social outlook. While the feudal system is not exactly conducive to equal rights for women, for example, I can't see two or more centuries of societal progress just disappearing. At the very least, it will hopefully be less of a taboo for women to pursue things like warfare or governance.
Of course, I write this with the Feudal Core in mind. Other regions may vary. It would surprise if some were more advanced, perhaps the Buddhist or Neo-pagan areas are even more egalitarian (again, for a limited use of that word). On the other hand, some regions will almost certainly be retrogressive, like the New Israelites and the nomads.
Of course, this is not to say that the Medieval Americans will be on par with us. They will probably be very superstitious, and live in a world full of mystery and wonder. It wouldn't surprise me if some of our holidays like Halloween return to their more sinister roots. There are still ghosts and demons out there, after all.
This more speculation on my part, but I've had some more thoughts on Medieval America.
The Medieval Americans, as stated before, aren't carbon copies of their historical counterparts. They're vastly different, and in many ways more advanced. Not just in things like clothing or architecture, but in health, sanitation, agriculture, and social mores.
Thanks to the fact they're the descendants of a highly advanced civilization, they will be more likely to retain some of that knowledge, even if it is common sense by our standards. For example, health and sanitation: they may not recall germ theory or bacteria, but they will at least know enough not to put your latrine next to your water source, and the importance of good waste disposal. They might even have a vestigial memory of vaccination and medicine, e.g. if you get sick with cowpox you won't contract smallpox, or if you eat this particular piece of moldy bread you'll get better.
They will also have the benefit of more advanced agriculture. They will at least have the concept of the moulderboard plow, and possible a simple mechanical reaper. More importantly, they'll have the concept of crop rotation and the importance of putting nutrients back into the soil, even if they don't know how or why it works.
Finally, they will hopefully have at least a slightly more progressive social outlook. While the feudal system is not exactly conducive to equal rights for women, for example, I can't see two or more centuries of societal progress just disappearing. At the very least, it will hopefully be less of a taboo for women to pursue things like warfare or governance.
Of course, I write this with the Feudal Core in mind. Other regions may vary. It would surprise if some were more advanced, perhaps the Buddhist or Neo-pagan areas are even more egalitarian (again, for a limited use of that word). On the other hand, some regions will almost certainly be retrogressive, like the New Israelites and the nomads.
Of course, this is not to say that the Medieval Americans will be on par with us. They will probably be very superstitious, and live in a world full of mystery and wonder. It wouldn't surprise me if some of our holidays like Halloween return to their more sinister roots. There are still ghosts and demons out there, after all.
The Reserved Lands and the Eastern Indian Tribes
While in the lands west of the river Mississippi, native nations are perhaps stronger and more populous by themselves, they are of a very different stripe than the areas under control of Indians in the East. In the West, the apocalyptic campaigns of the Last Tribe in the far west and constant warfare between the tribes that roam the plains and the cowboys who emulate them has driven a permanent wedge between Whites and Indians. In the east, untouched by those terrible conflicts, a different order has emerged.
In the East, the areas under Indian rule were more closely surrounded by and integrated into the local culture. With the fall of the Old Union, reservations and Tribal governments found themselves in the odd position of trying to preserve their peoples even as everything fell apart around them. Some tribes were not up to the task, and faded into the chaos, absorbed by surrounding Americans. Others, however, struck a deal.
In many states, tribes struck a deal with the first Governors since the Old Union. They would continue to govern their own lands, the Reserved Lands, in exchange for supporting the Governors in ruling the States. Some of the most populous groups actually rose one of their own to the position of Counts, particularly the Menominee tribe(OOC:Menominee county being the only majority American Indian county East of the Mississippi IOTL), Ojibwe, and Iriquois. Also worth mentioning is the Cherokee, who have gone in the opposite direction, absorbing Whites into their tribe, now called a clan, and constantly fighting to retain their independence.
Eastern Indians are overwhelmingly Nondenominational Christian, although the Supreme Court ruled that they were in communion with the Church they still have varying degrees of orthodox as local syncreticisms and traditions have led to different theological dogma in the various Reserved Lands from tribe to tribe.
Despite their incorporation into the power structure, many Whites still distrust Indians, in more rural areas using them as scapegoats and decrying them as heretics. It doesn't help that Church dogma exempts Indians from the rules against gambling, and many Indians have become powerful in the financial running of the states. Easy to blame when there's a problem, Indians in some areas are pushed to isolate themselves in the Reserved Lands.
While in the lands west of the river Mississippi, native nations are perhaps stronger and more populous by themselves, they are of a very different stripe than the areas under control of Indians in the East. In the West, the apocalyptic campaigns of the Last Tribe in the far west and constant warfare between the tribes that roam the plains and the cowboys who emulate them has driven a permanent wedge between Whites and Indians. In the east, untouched by those terrible conflicts, a different order has emerged.
In the East, the areas under Indian rule were more closely surrounded by and integrated into the local culture. With the fall of the Old Union, reservations and Tribal governments found themselves in the odd position of trying to preserve their peoples even as everything fell apart around them. Some tribes were not up to the task, and faded into the chaos, absorbed by surrounding Americans. Others, however, struck a deal.
In many states, tribes struck a deal with the first Governors since the Old Union. They would continue to govern their own lands, the Reserved Lands, in exchange for supporting the Governors in ruling the States. Some of the most populous groups actually rose one of their own to the position of Counts, particularly the Menominee tribe(OOC:Menominee county being the only majority American Indian county East of the Mississippi IOTL), Ojibwe, and Iriquois. Also worth mentioning is the Cherokee, who have gone in the opposite direction, absorbing Whites into their tribe, now called a clan, and constantly fighting to retain their independence.
Eastern Indians are overwhelmingly Nondenominational Christian, although the Supreme Court ruled that they were in communion with the Church they still have varying degrees of orthodox as local syncreticisms and traditions have led to different theological dogma in the various Reserved Lands from tribe to tribe.
Despite their incorporation into the power structure, many Whites still distrust Indians, in more rural areas using them as scapegoats and decrying them as heretics. It doesn't help that Church dogma exempts Indians from the rules against gambling, and many Indians have become powerful in the financial running of the states. Easy to blame when there's a problem, Indians in some areas are pushed to isolate themselves in the Reserved Lands.
The Kaiserreich of Deutschland
Government: Feudal Monarchy, Primogeniture Succesion
Ruler: Kaiser Albrecht Viktor Friedrich Maria Heinrich Otto von Oldenburg (Victor III)
Capital: Frankfurt-am-Main
Coat of Arms: A black eagle on a gold, black, and red background
Religion: Catholic (Lutheran and Calvinist minorties in the North)
Deutschland, or Germany, has avoided the problems of its past incarnation - mostly. The Germans have remained a stable monarchy for several centuries under the Oldenburg family. They are bordered on the west by the Kingdom of France, the Duchy of Burgundy, and the Benelux Kingdom, on the east by the Kingdom of Poland and the Kingdom of Bohemia, the north by Denmark, and the south by Switzerland and the Archduchy of Austria. The primary problems, other than border problems with France and Poland, come from the north. Protestantism has long become unviable in Europe proper, but it has remained entrentched in Scandinavia. The Kings in the North continually support Protestant rebels to ensure German never becomes too powerful.
Government: Feudal Monarchy, Primogeniture Succesion
Ruler: Kaiser Albrecht Viktor Friedrich Maria Heinrich Otto von Oldenburg (Victor III)
Capital: Frankfurt-am-Main
Coat of Arms: A black eagle on a gold, black, and red background
Religion: Catholic (Lutheran and Calvinist minorties in the North)
Deutschland, or Germany, has avoided the problems of its past incarnation - mostly. The Germans have remained a stable monarchy for several centuries under the Oldenburg family. They are bordered on the west by the Kingdom of France, the Duchy of Burgundy, and the Benelux Kingdom, on the east by the Kingdom of Poland and the Kingdom of Bohemia, the north by Denmark, and the south by Switzerland and the Archduchy of Austria. The primary problems, other than border problems with France and Poland, come from the north. Protestantism has long become unviable in Europe proper, but it has remained entrentched in Scandinavia. The Kings in the North continually support Protestant rebels to ensure German never becomes too powerful.
Kosta
Banned
Yes, finally we have a Germany!
Also, is an update of the map in order?
I'd also like to propose if I can fix a few details in the Kingdom of Greece's edit; some of it I think's a wee bit ASB, I'd also like to someday do a flag for it.
Oh yeah, before I forget, what ever happened with Catalonia getting Northern Italy as thanks from the Bishop o' Rome? Did we get very far in its details?
Skokie
Banned
I've skimmed a little of this and I must say that I'm not so optimistic. 
America would be nothing like medieval Europe and certainly nothing like the colonial days in the US. We'd be starting from scratch. All the cultural traditions that arose in Europe and the Mid East that we consider part of our way of life would be up for grabs. Simple things like sitting on chairs, covering up our bodies (let's not forget how hot and humid this country is), living in houses, theological Christianity, etc. could very easily go out the window.
Climate-wise, we're more similar to China or Russia. I would start there. Re-imagine how we would try to cope with the elements, how bands of people would coalesce or not coalesce (around fortified cities? mountain ranges?).
Secondarily, I think it's a bit silly to assume we'd have natural totemic symbols ("we're the elk tribe") and what not. Here the comparison to Europe in the Middle Ages is appropriate: they didn't slip into shamanism; they bastardized Roman cultural forms. Underwriting that was a profound sense that they were inferior to the Romans in terms of engineering, cities, etc. In America, you'd have that sense, too, seeing the ruins everywhere of your ancestors.
So no sacred elks or pine tries; rather, holy cell phones and magical plastic broken eyeglass frames. The US Presidency might well devolve into a Pope-like office.
America would be nothing like medieval Europe and certainly nothing like the colonial days in the US. We'd be starting from scratch. All the cultural traditions that arose in Europe and the Mid East that we consider part of our way of life would be up for grabs. Simple things like sitting on chairs, covering up our bodies (let's not forget how hot and humid this country is), living in houses, theological Christianity, etc. could very easily go out the window.
Climate-wise, we're more similar to China or Russia. I would start there. Re-imagine how we would try to cope with the elements, how bands of people would coalesce or not coalesce (around fortified cities? mountain ranges?).
Secondarily, I think it's a bit silly to assume we'd have natural totemic symbols ("we're the elk tribe") and what not. Here the comparison to Europe in the Middle Ages is appropriate: they didn't slip into shamanism; they bastardized Roman cultural forms. Underwriting that was a profound sense that they were inferior to the Romans in terms of engineering, cities, etc. In America, you'd have that sense, too, seeing the ruins everywhere of your ancestors.
So no sacred elks or pine tries; rather, holy cell phones and magical plastic broken eyeglass frames. The US Presidency might well devolve into a Pope-like office.
I've skimmed a little of this and I must say that I'm not so optimistic.
America would be nothing like medieval Europe and certainly nothing like the colonial days in the US. We'd be starting from scratch. All the cultural traditions that arose in Europe and the Mid East that we consider part of our way of life would be up for grabs. Simple things like sitting on chairs, covering up our bodies (let's not forget how hot and humid this country is), living in houses, theological Christianity, etc. could very easily go out the window.
Climate-wise, we're more similar to China or Russia. I would start there. Re-imagine how we would try to cope with the elements, how bands of people would coalesce or not coalesce (around fortified cities? mountain ranges?).
Secondarily, I think it's a bit silly to assume we'd have natural totemic symbols ("we're the elk tribe") and what not. Here the comparison to Europe in the Middle Ages is appropriate: they didn't slip into shamanism; they bastardized Roman cultural forms. Underwriting that was a profound sense that they were inferior to the Romans in terms of engineering, cities, etc. In America, you'd have that sense, too, seeing the ruins everywhere of your ancestors.
So no sacred elks or pine tries; rather, holy cell phones and magical plastic broken eyeglass frames. The US Presidency might well devolve into a Pope-like office.
Thing is, that's pretty much like every other post-apocalyptic American setting ever. If we were to do that, even if it is more realistic, it'd lose its uniqueness, and degenerate not long after. The reason this has drawn so much attention is that it's a fresh new spin on both America after the fall *and* the Middle Ages.
Township life in the Neo-Medieval Period: The town of Jirardoh, Little Egypt
Jirardoh is a township located on the Mississip River. An important ferry stop for goods traveling from St. Louie to Memphis, the town is the second most economically important township in Little Egypt, after Kayroh. Jirardoh is dominated by Akad Castle, which sits on a bluff overlooking the township. Akad houses both the garrison for the region. Strangely, though, the hereditary lord for the region, the Commissioner [equivalent to a Baronet], lives in Iaxony to the north.
Jirardoh is ruled by an elected mayor. The mayor's primary duty is to arbitrate disputes between families and take important concerns to the Commisioner, and to serve as judge for any case not involving the nobility. The mayor's office and manor are to the south of Akad. Surrounding Akad are the villas and manors of the wealthy, local merchants who made fortunes on river trade. To the south are the garrison's training grounds - which is shape to be converted into a jousting arena during fairs, and the guild halls and stores. To the south of those are the slums, and the city wall, and then the Quarry. To the west are more stores and lower class homes, then the town square and fairgrounds, then the city wall and the canal. The city wall then swings north back to the castle. Beyond the canal is a ridge offering even more protection, then the small farms which mark a mercantile township. These become less and less common until they are supplanted by the large farms of the nobles at Iaxony, and the hunting forests to the north, along with the odd thorpe.
Jirardoh is a township located on the Mississip River. An important ferry stop for goods traveling from St. Louie to Memphis, the town is the second most economically important township in Little Egypt, after Kayroh. Jirardoh is dominated by Akad Castle, which sits on a bluff overlooking the township. Akad houses both the garrison for the region. Strangely, though, the hereditary lord for the region, the Commissioner [equivalent to a Baronet], lives in Iaxony to the north.
Jirardoh is ruled by an elected mayor. The mayor's primary duty is to arbitrate disputes between families and take important concerns to the Commisioner, and to serve as judge for any case not involving the nobility. The mayor's office and manor are to the south of Akad. Surrounding Akad are the villas and manors of the wealthy, local merchants who made fortunes on river trade. To the south are the garrison's training grounds - which is shape to be converted into a jousting arena during fairs, and the guild halls and stores. To the south of those are the slums, and the city wall, and then the Quarry. To the west are more stores and lower class homes, then the town square and fairgrounds, then the city wall and the canal. The city wall then swings north back to the castle. Beyond the canal is a ridge offering even more protection, then the small farms which mark a mercantile township. These become less and less common until they are supplanted by the large farms of the nobles at Iaxony, and the hunting forests to the north, along with the odd thorpe.
The Khanate of Kolorado
Government: Nomadic, ruler selected from the tribal elders
Religion: New Israelite
Totemic Symbol: A bucking bronco
The Khanate of Kolorado is not, in fact, located anywhere near the old state of Colorado, but is actually in old North Dakota and Minnesota. The Khanate was formed in the breakup of Halloran's empire. With the Rizzinis taking old Nebraska and the Baileys invading Illinois and Wisconsin, a tribe originally hailing from the Denver region set themselves up as rulers of both Dakotas, which they renamed in honor of their homeland. The ruler, Oscar Blair, was more learned than most men, and knew of a title once born by the rulers of horse nomads. Thus did the title of Khan come to America. From their fortress capital in Vismark, the Kolorado Khans raided as far as Superia and Wisconsin.
This, ultimately, proved their downfall. The Minnesotan townships began rallying under the ruler of the twin cities, forming the Minnesotan Empire. 50 years ago, the Emperor broke the power of Ivan Khan at Mankato, then marched his army all the way to Vismark and deposed Ivan, naming Ivan's cousin Kelvin Blair as Khan. The much smaller Kolorado Khanate is now a protectorate of Minnesota, and her horseman serve as the Emperor's elite troops. This has lead to their nickname in the Feudal Core - the Colorado Cossaks.
Government: Nomadic, ruler selected from the tribal elders
Religion: New Israelite
Totemic Symbol: A bucking bronco
The Khanate of Kolorado is not, in fact, located anywhere near the old state of Colorado, but is actually in old North Dakota and Minnesota. The Khanate was formed in the breakup of Halloran's empire. With the Rizzinis taking old Nebraska and the Baileys invading Illinois and Wisconsin, a tribe originally hailing from the Denver region set themselves up as rulers of both Dakotas, which they renamed in honor of their homeland. The ruler, Oscar Blair, was more learned than most men, and knew of a title once born by the rulers of horse nomads. Thus did the title of Khan come to America. From their fortress capital in Vismark, the Kolorado Khans raided as far as Superia and Wisconsin.
This, ultimately, proved their downfall. The Minnesotan townships began rallying under the ruler of the twin cities, forming the Minnesotan Empire. 50 years ago, the Emperor broke the power of Ivan Khan at Mankato, then marched his army all the way to Vismark and deposed Ivan, naming Ivan's cousin Kelvin Blair as Khan. The much smaller Kolorado Khanate is now a protectorate of Minnesota, and her horseman serve as the Emperor's elite troops. This has lead to their nickname in the Feudal Core - the Colorado Cossaks.
There are a few ground rules:
1. This takes pkace roughly around 2950, with the modern world having been gone since 2012 or thereabouts, so keep that in mind
2. This is somewhat tongue in cheek
3. No one got a good description of what caused civilization to fall, so don't bother trying to answer that question
4. Be realistic
EDIT: Master List:
North America
British Isles
Greece
Spain
Italy
Germany
Bolivia
China
South Africa (Needs Revising)
Egypt
Somalia
Afganistan
India
Japan
SE Asia
Caucasus
Russian Far East
Colombia
SE Australia
Switzerland
Last edited:
Let me see if I can create something. I've been watching this thread and could enjoy contributing.
Not really an expert on Hawaii, but I think I could try something.