alternatehistory.com

While Europe was bursting into religious flames, the Iberian Peninsula had none of it. After Alvarez Cabral's discovery of the new Vespucian continent, at the time still believed to be Asia, the Spanish sent a few expeditions of their own to the West, where the leader of their flotilla, Francisco Fiermont, mapped an array of discovered islands and returned them to Cadiz. The descriptions of the explored territories matched none or very little of the known information about India and China, and it didn't take long before some began proposing the idea of a "New World", the antipode of the known Earth that the Greeks speculated about. In 1501, a Portuguese expedition managed to sail around Africa, passing the Cape of Destiny, and reached the port of Madras. The Indians knew nothing about Cabral's expedition, which only helped the new continent theory. Finally, in 1503, a second expedition by Francisco Fiermont pushed deeper towards the New World, reaching a large island that Fiermont named Ultima Occasus ("Farthest West"), and for the first time in European history seeing the natives of these strange lands - almost completely naked, living in tiny forest villages, apparently having no concept of civilization and not resembling the people of India in any way.

Clearly, this was not India. This was something completely different.

The first permanent European settlement on Vespucia was established in what was later named the Caribbean, after the local Carib people, on the northern shore of the island of Insula Mariana ("Island of Mariana", Mariana being the name of the Princess of Spain at the time), later shortened to just Mariana, by the Spanish in 1505. This was followed by settlements on neighbouring islands, and finally, in 1511, the King of Castille and Aragon, Ferdinand I, declared that the Spanish Empire holds absolute control over "the islands of Mariana, Occasus, Puerto Norte, the rest of the Western islands, and all Westerners on the continent in front of them". These Spanish settlements were sparse and many of them died out within a few decades, but the few of them that managed to cling on, due to having a good settlement position, good nearby lands or some luck clinged on and became the source of power of these Europeans in the Western Hemisphere. The Portuguese were not far behind - an expedition led by Vasco Disirosti revisited the lands that Cabral found all those years ago, explored them even more and landed on their soil. The landscape, flora and discovered Westerners were similar to the ones found in the Caribbean, but not quite the same... It was clear that this wasn't the same Vespucia that was found up North... Disirosti named it Terra Manuela (later shortened to just Manuela), after King Manuel I, the man who sponsored this and many other expeditions to the West. Portuguese colonization of Manuela and the Caribbean was much slower, mainly because they tried to establish themselves on existing trade routes and paths.

To avoid any possible clashes and disagreements on the division of the new continent, Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Almeria, sanctioned by the Pope, who wanted to use this as an opportunity to spread Christianity to the "redskins". Thee, these two colonial powers agreed to divide the newly found territories by a line drawn "500 miles north of the Equator", with Portugal being granted all land south and Spain being granted all land north of that line. This gave Portugal pretty much all land of South Vespucia, while Spain got free hands in North Vespucia.

That's not to say that these two Iberian powers were the only ones sending expeditions, though. Henry Bosman, an English explorer under the flag of the Kingdom of Scotland, was the first to reach the actual continent of North Vespucia in 1508. He reached the same territories that the Vikings visited and tried to settle almost exactly 500 years ago, and returned to report the discoveries. On the maps of his ship, Bosman marked an island he called Saint Brendan's Land, after the famous Irish monk who sailed West to find the mythical island. This name stuck, though the vegetation and fauna of the island were... not up to par in comparison to the tale. Bosman's North Vespucia was much poorer than was recorded by the Iberians in the south, but according to the navigator, "it reminded me of my homeland".

The Spanish had some problems, though. It was rumored by many, both the New World colonists and the Spanish nobility at home, that there is a wealthy land full of gold and loot to the west of the colonies in the islands. A few exploration trips indeed revealed the existence of a continent there, and questioned locals pointed to the west when asked about gold. The Kings of Spain were cautious, though - they wanted to make sure that anything that lays to the West falls under their hands.This cautiousness led the the downfall of their strategy - in 1526, Fernando Altamirano, a Spanish war veteran, participant in the conquest of Granada, mutinied with 800 men, his conquistadors, and sailed West... to the unknown. The Kingdom was unable to contact them for a long time, while in the native lands of Mexico, the aspiring conqueror discovered the Aztecs and the Mesovespucian civilization, and, using a clever strategy of playing off the subjugated and discontent nations under the Aztec Empire, as well as using the superiority and terror of the weapons, armor and horses that they brought, he managed to subdue this powerful and wealthy nation. Altamirano became the new Emperor of Mejico, the ruler of a nation... whose power kept on dwindling.

The wannabe conqueror did not calculate that his men brough diseases completely unknown to the Vespucians to the continent, and before they knew it, epidemics of smallpox and other diseases ravaged the nation he had just carved out. The locals weren't particularly fond of this conqueror from beneath the seas, either, but Altamirano's Mejico managed to cling on.

Back in good old Eastern Europe, though, nobody even knew that a thing called "Vespucia" even existed. The Kingdom of Lithuania was still under the stern rule of Valdislavas I, and this King of Lithuania cared little that Europe was in the middle of a heated debate between Catholics and people trying to reform the Church, or that some Western sailors discovered a new continent - he was a man focused on his own nation. The year of 1526 saw the foundation of the Karaite Guard - an elite, highly trained unit, composed completely of Lithuanian Karaims, with the single goal of protecting the King at all times. The Karaims were brought to Lithuania and settled in Trakai by Jogaila the Great, and were extremely grateful for it. These people, followers of a distinct branch of Judaism, were known as fine warriors, masters of steppe warfare and tactics, as well as good and learned administrators, but their loyalty to the King was their greatest trait. Valdislavas I created the Karaite Guard as a thanks to all that loyalty. The Guard was a very small unit, only about 500 men in size, but extremely well trained and equipped with the best weapons that technology and money could offer. Their mission was to be the King's guard in and out of battle, and they were ready to serve that job well.

It wouldn't take long for them to see their first test at fulfilling that mission, but that is a story for another time.


Central Europe was beginning to burn in flames, though. Pope Clement VIII tried to invite Philip Melanchthon to Rome to discuss religious matters and come to an agreement on changes needed in the Catholic Church, but the German theologian was well aware of the same trick that killed his predecessor Jan Hus. Instead, Melanchthon found support by the Duke of Cologne, who was quite intrigued by the ideals spread by the reformer, and allowed him and his circle to have refuge in his lands. There, the supporters of the reform, now calling themselves the Melanchtonites, or just Reformists, solidified their doctrine, the theses, and translated the Bible into German. One of their biggest demands is allowing Mass and liturgy to be held in national languages, which the Church vehemently refused. Southern Germany became the heart of what was now called "The Reformation", and through traveling priests and Reformist supporters, it started to spread beyond it.

England-France won the long and bloody Burgundian Wars, defeating Austria and it's allies and annexing the Duchy of Burgundy, and, grateful for the Lowlander support against the Holy Roman Empire, allowed them to create their own, independent Dutch and Flemish state, the Netherland Free State (Nederland-Vrijstaat) - under their supervision, of course - but one travesty was immediately jumped on by another, as numerous preachers across France began calling for reform in the Church, mirroring Melanchthon. The head of these preachers was Jean de Flammant, an educated, well-read French (with Italian roots) monk and theologian from the vassal Duchy of Provence. de Flammant had actually met Melanchthon, in a meeting of European Reformist leaders in Cologne, and his writings are the best known source on Melanchthon's life. The French Reformation was notoriously targeted against English rule and much more radical than the Melanchtonite one. Flammantians declared that man is born evil by nature, and in order to reach Heaven, he must dedicate his life completely to God and nothing else. Many leisurly activities, such as theatre and sports, were seen as heretical and distracting from man's only goal to become one with God.

Flammantians were not limited to France, though - they had many sympathizers in England itself, where they were called by the derogatory name "bores", and their ideals spread to Switzerland and some regions in northern Spain and Italy.

In the Triple Crown, some other development was in process. The Triple Crown of Bohemia, Hungary and Poland was in deep decline after the Polish Succession War, despite it's success and victories against the Ottomans in the Battle of the Sava River. The nation was massive and hard to administrate from Pest, the capital of this enormous personal union, and the nation seemed like on the edge of collapse with every kingdom wishing for a separate ruler. The new king after the death of Charles II, Ladislaus V, declared the need for royal reform, and thus it was called. In the year 1535, in the castle of Visegrad - a symbolic place for such an act, seeing as this was the exact same city where the kings of all three nations in question met and discussed the possibility of peace and an alliance against Austria in 1335 - representatives of all three Kingdoms under the Crown gathered to discuss the future of the Triple Crown. Some wanted the dissolution of the union into three kingdoms, each one under the house of Luxemburg, some wanted the two other kingdoms to be incorporated into Hungary, the dominant country in the union, completely. Ladislaus V had his own interests, though, and managed to sway a majority of the over 350 representatives towards his solution - the Union of Visegrad. Under this proposal, the crowns of Poland, Hungary and Bohemia were to be tied in an "eternal union". All three countries would retain some parts of autonomy, but would be overall ruled over by the King, ruler of all three of the Kingdoms. His power was to be limited by a council of nobility and representatives, though - a proposal by the Polish, who were used to the szlachta having a say in how their country is ruled.

The personal union of the three Kingdoms was united into a single nation - with the official title "The United Kingdom of the Three Crowns of Bohemia, Hungary and Poland", but most commonly just referred to as the Kingdom of Visegrad, or Union of Visegrad, or just Visegrad. Referring to the city where the Union was signed in 1535, of course.

Obviously, just because some legal matters were settled didn't mean that the Triple Crown was salvaged. With internar turmoil due to disappointed and angry pro-separation supporters, a resurgent Lithuania and a seeping Reformation, not to mention the Ottomans, who knows how long Visegrad will last?

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So, now that we entered the Age of Discovery, it's about time for the butterflies to get at work and change all the names of all American islands, countries and regions because it's cool.

Just so we are all on the same page here, here is a list:

Vespucia - America, obviously
Ultima Occasus (Occasus) - Puerto Rico
Insula Mariana (Mariana) - Hispaniola
Puerto Norte - Cuba
Terra Manuela (Manuela) - Brazil
Saint Brendan's Land - Newfoundland
Mejico - Mexico