alternatehistory.com
Chapter 86: The King and the Captain
The king of Lusitania, Henri, was praying, when his Chancellor disturbed him. „Your Majesty, we there is a man, a merchant, Luís, who wishes to speak with you.“
The King finished his prayer and moved to his office. The Chancellor presented this merchant Luís to the King.
Luís was from Lisbon, and has come up with an idea, perhaps one no one ever thought of before. „Your Majesty, my King. I have come to present you an idea, an enterprise that could greatly enrich our coffers and the prestige of our country“ King Henri listenned with interest. Yes, this sounded good. More money means more mercenaries affordable, which means more possible manpower to use against those petty city-states in Bética... rich city-states in Bética.
„My cousin´s friend has been in Malaga last month, and there he heard of tales about a country rich in gold, called Agadula[1]. This kingdom is also known in Seftu and Carthage.“ The merchant rolled out his pergamen scroll and there was a mariner´s map, with more detail in the Mediterranean and along the western coasts of Europe, but rather vague in the rest of the world.
"According to our estimates, this kingdom is found beyond the vast Libyan desert. We believe that the distance from the Mediterranean is comparable to the distance between Carthage and Alexandria. This means, it must be somewhere here”, he pointed with his finger on the map at the mountain west of the letter “L” in the Libia Interior label.
View attachment 513711
“The Mawrs and the desert tribes travel through the Libian Desert, loading their camels with goods under the scorching sun. But what if… if there was a sea passage to these lands?” Luís proposed.
View attachment 513713
“What if the King of Lusitania was to trump Venice and Rhome and find a sea road to the richest country under the sun?” This idea looked ambitious. But it offered great opportunities. The Lusitans already controlled of the island of eternal spring, called Madeira, and knew of the Canarian archipelago. This way, Lusitania would gain an advantage over Maurtain and Bétican city-states.
“This seems an interesting idea and brilliant endeavour. So you plan to sail along the occidental coast of Libya, along the coast of the Bargawata to the Canary Islands. How long do you think will the journey take from the last of the Canaries?”
“I believe, as we spot the first of the Canary Islands, we will be half way there. When we shall depart the islands, we will venture into the unknown, and seek to find a great river, such as the Tagus or Duoro and find a path into the kingdom. We hope to find the kingdom of Tacuria, which is said to be behind all the sand of the desert”
This was not far-fetched, and Luís hoped to bring on-board as much water and wine on the Canaries as possible, because sailing along the coast of Sahara is not going to be an easy enterprise. Moreover, he had no idea, who lives in those regions, and had hoped that his Guanche and Berber interpreters will be of use.
"And what do we actually know of the kingdom? "
"Agadula is an empire, perhaps large as Guyany, where the people have skin not the colour as we, but have black skin, as if baked by the sun. The king is Christian, at least this is what he says, but not of the True Faith, but Berber heresy.
The King appeared to sympathize with plan, yet needed his councillors to agree. While some were doubtful and claimed it would be a waste of resources, badly needed for fighting yet another war in Bética, other, wiser were in favour of the adventure. "
The King finished his prayer and moved to his office. The Chancellor presented this merchant Luís to the King.
Luís was from Lisbon, and has come up with an idea, perhaps one no one ever thought of before. „Your Majesty, my King. I have come to present you an idea, an enterprise that could greatly enrich our coffers and the prestige of our country“ King Henri listenned with interest. Yes, this sounded good. More money means more mercenaries affordable, which means more possible manpower to use against those petty city-states in Bética... rich city-states in Bética.
„My cousin´s friend has been in Malaga last month, and there he heard of tales about a country rich in gold, called Agadula[1]. This kingdom is also known in Seftu and Carthage.“ The merchant rolled out his pergamen scroll and there was a mariner´s map, with more detail in the Mediterranean and along the western coasts of Europe, but rather vague in the rest of the world.
"According to our estimates, this kingdom is found beyond the vast Libyan desert. We believe that the distance from the Mediterranean is comparable to the distance between Carthage and Alexandria. This means, it must be somewhere here”, he pointed with his finger on the map at the mountain west of the letter “L” in the Libia Interior label.
View attachment 513711
“The Mawrs and the desert tribes travel through the Libian Desert, loading their camels with goods under the scorching sun. But what if… if there was a sea passage to these lands?” Luís proposed.
View attachment 513713
“What if the King of Lusitania was to trump Venice and Rhome and find a sea road to the richest country under the sun?” This idea looked ambitious. But it offered great opportunities. The Lusitans already controlled of the island of eternal spring, called Madeira, and knew of the Canarian archipelago. This way, Lusitania would gain an advantage over Maurtain and Bétican city-states.
“This seems an interesting idea and brilliant endeavour. So you plan to sail along the occidental coast of Libya, along the coast of the Bargawata to the Canary Islands. How long do you think will the journey take from the last of the Canaries?”
“I believe, as we spot the first of the Canary Islands, we will be half way there. When we shall depart the islands, we will venture into the unknown, and seek to find a great river, such as the Tagus or Duoro and find a path into the kingdom. We hope to find the kingdom of Tacuria, which is said to be behind all the sand of the desert”
This was not far-fetched, and Luís hoped to bring on-board as much water and wine on the Canaries as possible, because sailing along the coast of Sahara is not going to be an easy enterprise. Moreover, he had no idea, who lives in those regions, and had hoped that his Guanche and Berber interpreters will be of use.
"And what do we actually know of the kingdom? "
"Agadula is an empire, perhaps large as Guyany, where the people have skin not the colour as we, but have black skin, as if baked by the sun. The king is Christian, at least this is what he says, but not of the True Faith, but Berber heresy.
The King appeared to sympathize with plan, yet needed his councillors to agree. While some were doubtful and claimed it would be a waste of resources, badly needed for fighting yet another war in Bética, other, wiser were in favour of the adventure. "
[1] Corruption of the word Wagadou- Tomislav Addai
- Word Count: 630