alternatehistory.com

One of the most notable achievements obtained during the Steel Lady's, Queen Sofija's reign was in the legal matters of the Lithuanian kingdom. The Statute of Lithuania was over half a century old by now, and that half a century was marked by major social and political developments that changed the face of the nation as we know it. The Volok Reform finalized the slow, century-old dip into serfdom, while the Great Russian Revolt set numerous social and sometimes even physical barriers between the reigning Lithuanians and subservient Russians. Both of these developments had to be codified and placed into law, though, and in 1586, Queen Sofija ordered the creation of the Second Statute of Lithuania, finished two years later and signed by the monarch and the Council of Lords. Opinions on this large document vary. On one hand, it proved to be very progressive in some accounts, even holding an example of the first case of women's rights in Lithuanian history (noble widows were allowed to take their dowry upon their husbands' deaths and return back to the home of their parents, instead of losing it to the heir of her husband), and the fact that Lithuania had a codified set of laws when countries like Visegrad and Sweden only relied on basic royal documents was quite impressive. However, much like the rest of Europe at the time, it suffered from reactionary views that originate from fear of a French-type revolution. Serfdom was fully institutionalized, legal discrimination against the Slavs continued (Lithuanian nobles without ancestry in Lithuania Propria were not allowed to acquire or purchase land in it), and Lithuania continued the slow descent towards absolutism.

1588 was an important year for the royal family, too, as after a few daughters, Queen Sofija and her husband Friedrich were finally able to make a male heir. Honoring both the Hohenzollern and Gediminaitis ancestry of the newborn boy, he was named Albertas Jogaila (Albrecht Jagiello), after both his paternal grandfather and his famous ancestor from his mother's side. While double names were still an uncommon trend among Lithuanian nobility, they were not unknown - notable people like Kęstutis Mykolas Radvila, the commander of the Lithuanian forces in the Great Russian Revolt, had double names as well, and the heir apparent now joined their ranks. Prince Albertas Jogaila of the House of Gediminaitis-Hohenzollern will have his time to shine later, though...

After the deadly Great Russian Revolt, the Lithuanian nation was slowly able to recover. The debt acquired during the Revolt was getting paid off, even the devastated provinces in Russia itself started growing. Historians note that this period in time was the greatest age for the Lithuanian economy. The Little Ice Age had still not kicked in fully, and the lands were giving record grain harvests. The demand for grain was great in the West, which was starting to enter a much different phase of human development. A capitalist era. Manufactories, capable of producing much more than normal guilds and responding to the forces of supply and demand, and intercontinental trade to fulfill the need for lucrative markets were becoming more and more common, especially in the Italian principalities, the Netherlands Free State and France. And Eastern Europe with it's rich grain fields and forests was just a part of this grand scheme of things, and despite being just a producer of raw materials, Lithuania was able to profit from it.

That's not to say that it didn't have cities of it's own. Vilnius, Kaunas, Karaliaučius, Gardinas, Kiev, Polotsk and Tver were among the largest - however, compared to Western Europe or even the Visegrad, they were tiny. Even Vilnius, calling itself "the Third Rome" and "the Diamond of the East", paled in comparison to Paris, Florence, Venice, Prague or even London. Serfdom was a big limit to population nobility, and this led to much lower city growth. Not that the Royal Family minded - cities and their way of life are a haven for all those dangerous thoughts, aren't they? Just watch how Tver or Polotsk will think up of an another revolution...


But, even though the Lithuanians were suspicious, the tensions in their massive kingdom were nothing compared to what was unraveling in Central Europe at the time.

The end of the 16th century saw religious tensions increase sharply, old rivalries reborn, and the balance of power in Europe tipped by the foundation of Republican France. The death of Jean de Foix in 1587 and the transition to a moderately healthy republic, with the Estates-General as the primary legislature, marked the end of the post-independence "time of troubles" in France, and the nation quickly regained strength after the devastation of the Flammantian Wars. France was the first powerful Reformist nation (Netherlands and a bunch of German principalities also followed the faith before them), and this victory strengthened and radicalized this breakaway faith even further. In Southern and Central Germany, numerous peasant revolts plagued the region, and more and more margraves and dukes switched to the Reformist faith, or in some cases even got overthrown by France-inspired revolutions. Northern Germany, however, remained an entrenched Catholic holdout, partially thanks to active Anti-Reformist missionary work to root out heresy and also because of England's and Scandinavia's Catholic fanaticism. Both of these countries were important markets to the North German merchants, so staying loyal to Catholicism was more lucrative. This stance came in conflict with the Netherlands Free State, a Reformist republic, which arose after the Flammantian Wars as an ambitious rising power, even with some colonial ambitions in North Vespucia.

France, meanwhile, was ready to spread the Flammantian Reformist faith beyond it's borders. Outside of some large holdouts in Switzerland, this branch of Reformism was pretty much limited to this newly reborn nation. In addition, they sought the French lands of Lorraine, held by Austria, and overall wanted to curb the power of the Holy Roman Empire. What was Austria, the leading nation in this fractured giant, doing through all of this? Well, they had domestic matters of their own. After most of South Germany - Baden, Wurttemburg, Bavaria, the Palatinate and others - entrenched themselves as the heart of Melanchthonian Reformism, the population of Austria began to followed suit. Dozens of preachers across this eastern archduchy spread Reformist beliefs despite the toughest possible resistance from the Anti-Reformation faction. It got so problematic, in fact, that even some of the members of the ruling Habsburg family converted, and while they were quickly shunned and disgraced by the Catholic Emperor, Maximilian IV, the point still stood. Reformist troubles worked as a sort of "paralysis" to the work of the Holy Roman Emperor against Reformism, and whether Austria will endure as a bastion of Catholicism or become the second powerful convert to the Reformist faith was still a big question.

While France was the undisputed leader of the European Reformists, the Catholic reaction had it's leaders as well. Among the Anti-Reformist forces, Spain and the Union of Visegrad stood as the more important "members". Spain had a strong Catholic tradition and was more or less left unaffected by the Reformation, and with the religious strife and chaos unfolding in Central Europe, it began to take more and more of an active role in fighting the Reformation in the place of the "paralyzed" Austria. In the early 16th century, it annexed Naples, and kept up very cordial relations with the Papacy all the way through. Spanish priests composed a big portion of the Anti-Reformation Movement, and the famous "Spanish Inquisition" reigned supreme in their Iberian homeland. Throughout the late 16th century, Spain continued exerting influence in the rest of Italy, bringing many city states into it's fold as vassals and protectorates, and these moves clashed with both the French and Austrian spheres of influence. The War of the Po River (1589-91) between Milan and a coalition of Italian city states led by Florence and Savoy almost escalated to a full blown war between the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, but diplomatic efforts by Maximilian IV and the Pope eased the tensions. Still, the influence of the HRE over Italy faded even more, while France took it's turn and annexed a few chips of territory from Savoy. With it's aggressive foreign policy, an economy boosted by sugar trade and an ambition to take down both France and Austria, Spain stood in the vanguard of the Catholics in this world of tensions.

Visegrad, however, was a much more pragmatic and opportunistic card. This union of three nations was led by Charles IV von Luxembourg (Karel IV Lucemburkové, IV. Károly Luxemburgi-ház, Karol IV Luksemburski), and has been the defender of Western Europe from the Ottomans and Lithuanians for centuries. This "sentinel" attitude strengthened Visegradian loyalty to the Papacy, enough to make them eventually resist the wave of Reformism and remain as the Catholic Defender of the East. At the same time, they werew naturally wary of the rising Reformist powers in the west. HRE and Visegrad have been neighbours ever since their inception, and while relations between the two countries are littered with friction, border conflicts and sometimes outright wars, they also helped each other out during Ottoman invasions or other conflicts, and it was in Charles IV's interests that the Empire stays intact. While Spain came to Germany to protect the Catholic faith from heresy and kick it's rivals down a notch, Visegrad came to Germany to protect it's western front from potentially hostile Reformists.

The lines have been drawn. In the HRE itself, the Reformist and Catholic duchies began banding into separate coalitions, "leagues", hoping to protect each other from the other side. Outside of France, Spain and Visegrad, the three great powers surrounding the Empire, many other factions were overlooking the situation with ambitions of their own. Denmark, despite being a Catholic nation, was nevertheless leaning towards aligning with Reformists because of it's opposition to Sweden, which stood as the Catholic vanguard in the north. England was slowly transforming into a fanatical Catholic monarchy, and a Catholic religious movement named the "Puritans", seeking to rid the British isles of the "devillish Reformist ideas", was gaining traction - the bitter revanchism towards France could play a role as well. The German states were divided on the issue as well - Bavaria, for example, even erupted into a civil war between the two faiths, the states of Northern Germany like Brandenburg, Pomerania and the Hansa had their own agendas. And what of the two outsiders, looming at the horizon, uninterested in the religious polemics between Reformism and Catholicism, but more than willing to use the potential chaos in Europe for their own gain - that being Lithuania and the Ottoman Empire?

Europe will never be the same again.

And Queen Sofija knew that. Lithuanian revanchism towards Visegrad, which had almost dissipated by the time of Valdislavas II, was now at an all time high - those dastardly Czechs and Hungarians attacked up while we were down and even carved out some gains in the peace! How dare they! Under the guidance of the Steel Lady, the royal estates of the kingdom were slowly being calibrated for a potential war. The Lithuanian Regiment was expanded, and the Queen began negotiations with the nobility to receive assurances that they would support her in a potential conflict. And, most interestingly, her son, now 12 years of age, was showing incredible talent in using the sword and the commander's baton...

The 16th century draws to a close. It can safely be said that the old Medieval period has been replaced by the thriving speed of the Modern Era. Lithuania in the year 1500, a fresh kingdom with it's big ambitions, was hardly recognizable from what it has become now, in the year 1600. And this speed of advancement will only get faster and faster...

And what does the future hold? Only God knows for certain.