A House of Lamps; Part 5
"The whole world is like a house filled with lamps, rays, and lights through whom the things of the house are elucidated…"
Ibn Barrajan, 12th century CE
The Italian Wars and the Collapse of the Mishiki
The Entourage of Charles VIII during his march to Urbino, from
Storia d'Italia by Alessandro Guicciardini
1475
Ahmed proceeds rapidly to consolidate power in Iberia, rooting out divisive Islamic sects and establishing the
Majlis As-Safah', a governmental body that manages all
qadi in the Ayshunid state as a direct extension of the Sultans authority. He appoints his cousin Umar to head the body, bringing an unprecedented level of central authority to Iberian Islam.
Farouk Al-Tawili arrives in the Riysh and organizes scouting expeditions of Al-Kutash to ascertain the situation there. He is treated coldly by the local Riyshi Arabs, who are wary of Iberian attempts to destabilize the lucrative trade networks of the area.
The De Toro expedition, funded by Henry III reaches the location of the settlement left by Drapero in 1462. They find it battered, but relatively functional. De Toro expands on the previous claim, negotiating with the Chowanoc to allow a territory for Castilian settlement on the coast. He sails down the coast and establishes a second settlement at Castillo de San Pablo, taking some time while in the New World to attempt to grow cotton seeds in the native environment.
1478
Henry III sails at the Azores, landing on the island of
Al-Baqarah on the southern end of the island chain in May. He defeats the local Ayshunid fleet and takes the fortress at
Ghulud, fortifying the area. Attempts to dislodge him from the fortress are easily repulsed, and Henry III takes some time to loot the local area thoroughly.
James IV of Aragon marries the 18-year-old (he is 63 by this point) Eleanor of Milan to extend Aragonese influence into northern Italy, a tried and true tactic of previous rulers. The other Italian statelets, seeing Aragonese influence reach northern Italy itself for the first time, begin to bicker on choosing sides, Aragon, or France and the Papacy.
The Pope, at this time Pope Sixtus IV was embroiled in the Pazzi Conspiracy, eager to rid Italy of the Medici in Florence. It was said that James IV had sent forces to aid the Pazzi in their coup (the Medici hated by the Aragonese court since the debacle involving the Aragonese fleet in previous years), and that were they not impeded en route, the coup might have succeeded. As it happens, it did not – and the Medici never forgave Aragon for it.
The same year, James IV ransoms a large number of Aragonese nobles left stranded in Ifriqya and imprisoned in the Qaranid court. Among these nobles is the Lord Miguel de Boix who among other things, is rumored to have secretly converted to Islam and learned Arabic fluently. His presence in the Aragonese court would be a point of major contention in later years.
Farouk Al-Tawili decides on an invasion of Al-Kutash to aid what he believes to be sympathetic Muslim populations on the coast. He is granted authority by Ahmed I to subdue the coast of Al-Kutash and especially curb violent pagan practices on the mainland.
1479-83
De Toro makes another trip to the New World, expanding Castilian presence even further. The presence of the Castilian colony slowly becomes known to the Riyshi authorities, who find it deeply unsettling. However, convinced that the territory north of Niblu was inhospitable swamplands populated by violent savages, they deem the colony to be too little of a threat to be worth interfering with.
Ahmed I responds to the unprovoked Castilian aggression in the Azores by dispatching a sizable fleet to sever the Castilian supply lines, calculating the lighter Ayshunid ships will manage a protracted guerilla campaign in the Atlantic better than the Castilian fleet.
Henry III promptly retreats from the Azores before the bulk of the Ayshunid forces arrive but ensuring that before his departure the fortress of Ghulud itself is dismantled to its foundation stones, and a cross planted on the rubble. It becomes clear to Ahmed that the gesture was more of a probing of Ayshunid capabilities and a signal of renewed Castilian naval power than any serious attempts at conquest.
Farouk, heading an army of 8000 Iberian soldiers with a large number of Riyshi Arabs and native allies (mostly Maya and Tayni from Sayadin), lands at Kembuwali. He enters the town with little resistance, since the local forces had no knowledge such an invasion was coming, but shortly thereafter word reaches Emperor Tizoc. Farouk offers aid to the Islamized Tanaki (Totonacs) in the area, who flock to his side to openly rebel against the Mexica.
1485
Ahmed I works to expand Ayshunid trade monopolies east, signing a trade agreement with the Ottoman empire, negotiating an informal trade détente between the two states that split around Italy. The détente, while preventing conflict between the two rising powers (the Ottomans focused on wars with Venice and in the Balkans and the Ayshunids more concerned with their Atlantic holdings), it irritated the Mamluks in Egypt, who still considered themselves the masters of African trade.
Eleanor of Milan consolidates her own power in the Aragonese court, but rumors begin to swirl about an illicit affair with the same Lord Miguel rescued from Africa in 1478. Distrusting Aragonese nobles resent both her pride in her Italian heritage (she refuses to live in Aragon proper for much of the year), and her deep loyalty to the Papacy (which was ironically one of the reasons James IV had married her originally, as a ham-fisted attempt on healing the now gaping Aragonese / Papal divide).
Farouk defeats the local Mexica forces at Kembuwali and takes the city, then marching his army inland to take the strategic city of Babakla [Papantla]. His army swells with a massive number of Tanaki rebels, and he soon directly marches to take Shululah [Cholula]. The sacred city, undefended except for a small number of priests, falls quickly. Farouk falls upon the sacred center of the city, destroying the temples and driving out the priests. Being a more fanatical monotheist than previous Arab conquerors (and less willing to use native politics than Abu Bakr) he orders the destruction of the temples in the city center and their replacement with a mosque to solidify the Islamization of the region. Unlike in other regions conquered by Islam (such as Iberia itself), Farouk does not offer the same sorts of client treaties expected by conquered settlements, viewing them as violent pagans that necessitated extermination or conversion. This act incensed the Mexica, who prepared for a defense of Tenochtitlan shortly thereafter.
1486
Henry III orders a significant expansion of Castilian possessions in the New World, dispatching a large expedition to found a permanent settlement there. This town, dubbed
Corfea after a native name for the area, becomes the first capital of New Castile.
The Mexica amass their army to attack the Arabs but are hampered when Tizoc dies of a short but intense fever. His successor Ahuitzotl wastes no time in rallying his forces and fortifying the area around lake Texcoco.
Farouk deals with Aztec raids along his supply routes to the coast, relying heavily on sympathetic locals to supply his army from the countryside. His army’s presence ignites conflict throughout the central valley of Mexico as Islamized Nahua or those groups opposed to the Mexica ally with Farouk, coming into conflict with more loyal areas. He finally decides in spring to move on Tenochtitlan proper, rather than wait for local conflicts to slowly drain his military while the Mexica build their own forces up.
At the head of a bloated army that approaches almost a hundred thousand warriors, Farouk begins his siege of Tenochtitlan from the east, slowly building up defenses around the lake itself and sending out generals to subdue nearby cities. Ahuitzotl, himself at the head of an equally vast army, actually leaves Tenochtitlan and marches to Tlacopan. Farouk receives word from informers that the Mexica had deserted the city but believing it to be a trap does not attempt to enter himself. Concerned that the Mexica will attempt to trap him within central Mexico he decides to send a force of Arabs to take the city center and hold it hostage (having discovered how highly the Mexica valued their own temples) while he waits farther outside the city to ascertain the enemies next move.
At the head of a small force of several hundred Arabs, Farouks lieutenant Umar Musa Ibn Yusuf rides to the city center of Tenochtitlan, unmolested except by huge crowds of curious civilians. They enter the cities ritual center and kidnap the priests of the
Huēyi Teōcalli (Templo Mayor), fortifying it against Mexica rebukes. To their, and Farouks, surprise the Mexica do not retaliate.
1487-89
Ibn Husni of the Qaranids dies, succeeded by Sadiq Ibn Sa’ad Al-Hubab. He decides to begin his rule by making peace with the remaining Christians of the Maghreb and the Mamluks, though by this point there are so few Christians left in north Africa it is more of a symbolic gesture, a sign of good faith to keep European monarchs from finding excuses to attack Ifriqya.
Charles VIII becomes intrigued by possible wealth in the New World. He begins to vet potential candidates for an expedition west, eager to undercut the Castilians from any potential monopoly there. He is also concerned, as other European monarchs are beginning to be, about the seemingly unstoppable economic growth of the Ayshunids, apprehensive about where they will next set their imperial ambitions.
Farouk grows restless, after cementing the conquest of the cities to the east of the lake, he tries with increasing urgency to retain his vast native army. After many months of waiting, he is pressured by his generals to take the city. He does so, marching his army in and claiming Tenochtitlan itself. As in Cholula, he moves to establish the loyalty of remaining Mexica nobles in the city and carries out an extensive idolatrous crusade in the city.
At this point, the Mexica strike. Confirming Farouks suspicions Ahuitzotl remobilizes his army, which had been dispersed and hidden in the forested areas in the west and sweeps into Tenochtitlan. Mexica forces rampage through the city, cutting off all routes out of the city except for the southern causeway, which quickly becomes clogged with civilians and soldiers trying to flee. Farouk quickly finds himself in the middle of a gigantic ambush.
Farouk gathers his Arab forces and fights his way towards the southern causeway, letting his native mercenaries do the bulk of the fighting to hold off the Mexica army. While making his retreat, Mexica warriors on canoes harass his force, and he is greeted on the other side by a Mexica army led by Ahuitzotl himself (they had crossed Lake Texcoco in the night ahead of the larger army). Farouk engages the Mexica in battle, but realizing he is seriously outnumbered attempts to make a push to break through the enemy lines and reach safe territory to the east.
With a small number of Arab cavalry, he breaks the Mexica line and reaches Tlaxcala, where he expects safe harbor with Xicotencatl I, the elder warlord of Tlaxcala. The Tlaxcallans, no friends of the Mexica, decide to murder them for trespassing on Tlaxcala territory.
In Tenochtitlan, an orgy of slaughter ensues as Farouks army is driven out of the city, but only stragglers survive the massacre. Tens of thousands of natives are captured and subsequently sacrificed, as well as any remaining Arabs. Ahuitzotl obliterates Farouks army, but he faces a larger problem. The Arabs were successfully driven out, but the gargantuan native revolt remains, many of the territories around Tenochtitlan itself are in the hands of rebellious forces who had driven out Mexica rulers. Tenochtitlan also suffered widespread destruction, and of course Cholula, the ritual heartland of central Mexico was destroyed as well.
The widespread destruction surrounding the native allies of Farouk leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many Tanaki and Nahua leaders. However, the breakdown of Mexica authority allows them to reassert independence, which they do, and they do with force. Anarchy breaks out throughout the empire.
1490
Charles VIII commissions the Genoese trader Matteo Doria to explore west and discover new trade routes to Asia, as well as circumvent the Castilians. Doria sets out in April, landing in late May along a long wooded coast he dubs St. Johns land [The Delmarva Peninsula]. He sails further, discovering a large bay he calls
le Golfe Charles, after his patron king Charles VIII. Encouraged by the abundance of natural resources in the area, he returned to France and asked for funding for further expeditions.
Ahmed I is understandably furious with Farouks failure. Anger at the destabilization of the Mexica from the Riyshi merchant families turns into anger at Ahmed over condoning the expedition. Ahmed I had wasted a substantial amount of resources in funding the expedition and decides to redirect his spending to domestic affairs and stabilizing the Riysh. With Arab backing the Tanaki warlord A’hpixchi takes control of much of Al-Kutash, driving out remaining Mexica leaders.
Ahuitzotl ends his celebrations, resolving to shore up revolts around Tenochtitlan before recapturing the lost territories to the east. First on his mind is retaking Cholula. Mexica forces clash with the Tlaxcalla, who had expanded out of their traditional realms to occupy the nearby area, driving them back. Ahuitzotl carts back a horde of Tlaxcala prisoners to be sacrificed, in a odd sense avenging Farouks murder (unbeknownst to Ahuitzotl, the noble who had originally captured Farouk was among the captives).
James IV of Aragon dies, ending a long and impressively unproductive reign. General frustration at his rule boils over as nobles prop up his second eldest, and most capable son, Philip over his chosen successor James. Immediately upon his death Philip forces himself into the kingship, backed by the most powerful of the nobility while James flees to Sardinia while entreating the Pope, Pope Innocent VIII for aid.
The Papacy, still at conflict with France and with Florence, strengthens its ties to the Kingdom of Naples and readily accepts the Crown Prince James, hoping to turn him into a papal arm to finally push Aragon out of Italy. Through the intricacies of European inheritance laws, Philip I of Aragon is able to further ingratiate himself into the politics of northern Italy, claiming himself to be the de-facto ruler of Milan and its holdings, closely intertwining the houses of Sforza and Barcelona. More importantly, Philip I begin to involve himself in the politics of the Holy Roman Empire, seeking control over Milan as an avenue towards the long-coveted goal of Aragonese ambitions, France (through a potential invasion through Burgundy).
1494
Mexica territory in the east begins to splinter into a series of fiefdoms, the largest of which are the Tanaki kingdom ruled by A’hpixchi, Tlaxcala ruled by Xicotencatl I, Metztitlán ruled by Sit’i Aneyachi and Tetzapotitlan ruled by Ihuicapan. They face immediate pressure from the Mexica, eager to recapture lost territories.
The varying level of Islamization among the peoples of Mexico lends almost immediately to intercine strife alongside violence between Nahua peoples and the Taniki. Without Mexica forces on the northern borders Chichimec and Huastec armies also begin raiding southwards again. Another epidemic of smallpox also sweeps through the region, hollowing out the rival armies of the various rump kingdoms in the valley of Mexico.
The entrance of Aragon into northern Italian politics further drives together the Medici, the Borgia, France, Kingdom of Naples and the Papacy as a collection of mutual enemies united against a common foe. The Pope seeks to mull over the conflicts with France in order to unite against Aragonese expansionism, conceding his own positions to secure French support.
The king of Sicily, Lorenzo II, firmly rebukes a Neapolitan invasion, making a statement that Sicily will remain neutral in the coming conflicts between France and Aragon. Genoa allies itself with France against their traditional enemy Milan, but their ability to wage continental warfare is hampered by an internal rebellion in Corsica. Secondarily, Genoese closeness to the Ayshunids for the first time brings Aragon and the Andalusi Sultans into conflict since the end of the Reconquista.
1495-1497
A’hpixchi, known to the Arabs as Al-Bishi (an odd corruption of his name, which actually means ‘the snare’ in Taniki), marries into a Riyshi Arab family. Slowly trade relationships rebuild between Al-Kutash and the Riysh.
Warfare inside Mexico increases, Ahuitzotl campaigning relentlessly against the Tlaxcala and then against the Otomi to the north. The Tlaxcala, themselves undergoing a mixed level of Islamization, fight furiously to hold back Mexica pressure. Facing little success in the north Ahuitzotl retreats and moves east through Tepeyacac instead, where he more easily subdues the Nahua peoples there.
The Arab sailor Hassan Ibn Zafr sails farther down the African coast than any Muslim previously, reaching
Dunja (Ndongo in Angola). He is followed by traders, eager to exploit new sources of wealth outside the monopoly of the Riyshi trade families.
The first Italian War, also known as King Philips War, begins when Philip I marry Margaret of Austria and lays claim to Burgundy and the Low Countries, a direct assault on French sovereignty over Burgundy (just recently settled by the Battle of Nancy a decade ago). Charles VIII responds by attacking Milan immediately afterwards. He fights several indecisive skirmishes with the Milanese shortly thereafter.
For his part, Maximillian I, finding a friendly ear in Philip I as mutual enemies of France, promises aid, though in reality he is more occupied by rebellions in Switzerland and dynastic conflicts in Bavaria. With the Holy Roman Empire left out of the picture, Philip I feels confident to pursue his war against France directly. Pope Alexander VI cements his alliance with France, founding a League of France, the Papal States, Naples, Genoa and Florence to counter Aragon, the Holy Roman Empire and Milan. Unlike previous conflicts in Italy, this war does not center around Sicily (which remains fiercely neutral throughout the conflict), but around control over northern Italy and Savoy.
Philip I from his base at Sardinia sails to Italy, aiming to conquer the coast south of Genoa to deprive the Genoese of food supplies and establish a coastal line to his territories inland. He defeats a Genoese fleet at the battle of Deiva Marina. Pope Alexander VI attempts to sway Venice to his side but is rebuked (the Venetians preferring to wait the conflict out before making a move). He gathers papal troops for the march north.
By mutual agreement with the Pope, King Charles II of Naples prepares an invasion of Sardinia to cut off Aragonese supply lines to Iberia while Pietro di Campofregoso, Doge of Genoa moves to attack Aragon directly on land.
1498-99
Islamized Yucatec Mayan lords intensify their prolonged conquest of the largely pagan western Petén, dividing conquered territory between Yucatecan-Arab client kingdoms and Juntala Maya. The main opposition to the Islamized Maya pacification of the region becomes the Itza, whose network of cities in the northern Petén form an important bulwark against the fierce Islamized Maya polities to the north and the Arab colonies in the east. The Arabs, deeply invested in subduing the pagan Maya to the south, who had long troubled Arab settlements in Belish, provide military aid to these Islamized Maya lords and take a blind eye to continued expansion south at the expense of pagan Maya.
Ahuitzotl negotiates the surrender of the Tepeyacatl peoples, returning them to the Mexica fold. With the Nahua territories there firmly under Mexica control (albeit more lenient than before), Ahuitzotl is able to pursue his war at Al-Kutash (Cuetlaxtlan) directly. This puts the Arabs in a awkward position, since they on one hand want a return to strong central government in Mexico, of which the Mexica represent the best chance of, but on the other hand would prefer that their relationships with the Islamized Tanaki not be jeopardized by war with the Mexica. In effect, this limbo leaves the Tanaki on their own against the impending, vengeful Mexica juggernaut.
Henry III strengthens his ties with Aragon. In this he disregards traditional rivalries, deciding that the combined force of Aragon and Castile might prove a match for the Andalusians (he harbors a well-known imperial fantasy of reigniting the Reconquista). In an ingenious move, he redirects Portuguese restlessness into colonial ventures, offering potential social advancement to middle and lower class Portuguese in reward for manning colonial expeditions. Unlike the Ayshunids, who had memorably tried similar tactics with disastrous results, he is providing these bargains to non-elites without deep ties to the old Portuguese noble houses. In a twofold process he begins to drain Portugal of its restless militarily experienced population and weakens the loyalties between the old Portuguese families and the lay people.
Pietro feels unsure about confronting the large Aragonese army directly and withholds his forces. Philip I, confident in his military superiority over Genoa, leaves Pietro to stew in his city while he establishes direct contact with Milan, commandeering the coastal forts to begin ferrying supplies directly to his allied armies inland. The Milanese, bolstered by additional men and supplies, sally forth and engage the French to win a victory at the Battle of the Serpents, forcing Charles VIII to retreat west to Savoy.
Philip I attempts to leverage his newfound claims in Burgundy and the Low Countries, trying to instigate forces there to reignite the old Burgundian conflicts with France. Lingering distrust of the Aragonese and the memory of the crushing French victories in earlier years prevent significant developments there for now. Discouraged, but not dissuaded, he gathers his army and sieges Genoa directly, aiming to take a major port out of French hands. The Genoese fight hard, but the city falls to Philip, who quickly commandeers the port. Pietro retreats, hoping to join the French in Savoy.
Charles II lands in central Sardinia and moves to siege the major Aragonese stronghold at Nuoro, which he enters and occupies. Neapolitan forces set about raiding and looting in Sardinia to deprive Philip of a major supply area.
Pope Alexander leverages his ally in James the former prince of Aragon to foment rebellion, propping him up as the legitimate ruler of the dynasty (which he was). There is little rebellion over the name of James, since his name is attached to that of his hated father, but the ensuing suppression does ignite a secondary rebellion, one that is far worse. A peasant army in northern Aragon wreaks havoc on the countryside and evades capture.
1502
Henry III reorganizes the Castilian state, undercutting the noble houses drastically and taking cues from the Andalusians in organizing the religious apparatus of the state underneath the monarchy. This, of course, ignites a noble rebellion which is swiftly defeated at the battle of Aljuborroto.
Charles VIII mounts a second invasion of Lombardy after regathering his forces, this time achieving more success, the Milanese army suffering from a serious outbreak of disease during an unusually wet winter. He defeats Milan at the Ticino river and crosses into deep Milanese territory. Philip I marches north to relieve his weakened allies.
The Aragonese peasant revolt, known as the
Camperolos balloons drastically as decades of mismanaged agricultural policies under James IV finally dismantle Aragonese rural society (it is rumored that a major backer of the rebels was queen mother Eleanor of Milan, who deeply resented Philip for usurping her own chosen heir James) A lack of similar reforms by Philip I to undo his fathers work means that while he campaigns in Italy the farms of Iberia proper erupt into violence. Farmers, unable to pay exorbitant taxes and forced to redistrict their lands into large servile estates take up arms and throw out local tax collectors. Similar revolts break out in the Balearics, which suffered even more under the Aragonese regime policy of cultivating massive estates to maximize rural profits.
Camperolo rebels under the leadership of Pol Martin ransack northern Aragon and even succeed in defeating a force of knights sent to put down the rebels.
Philip I rendezvous with his Milanese allies while Charles does the same with the Genoese army, bloodied but mostly intact. Papal troops, withheld by logistical difficulties in central Italy finally march north to meet up with the French. Philip, confident in his numerical superiority (the Aragonese army was easily the largest single army in Italy) and bolstered by the Milanese, sets a date for a single battle where he intends to defeat the Papacy, France and Genoa all at once and cement his position in Italy. He is intent on dealing a decisive blow to end the war quickly, also concerned with the Neapolitan invasion of Sardinia (but refused to take their bait and withdraw from Italy), and with the revolts in Aragon.
At the battle of Bereguardo the combined forces of Charles VIII, the Papacy, Genoa, along with reinforcements from Savoy, Turin and Florence faced the army of Philip I and the Sforza of Milan. After almost a day of fighting, a miraculous intervention by the Genoese cavalry managed to break the Aragonese left and rout the Iberians. In the ensuing rout Philip I is captured by the French. Aragonese power is broken.
Charles VIII continues his march, taking Milan and forcing a peace treaty under Papal auspices. The Treaty of Como ends Kings Philips War, the most important terms of which were that Aragon withdraws its claims to the inheritances of Margaret of Austria, Aragon breaks its alliance with the Sforza and forfeits the inheritance of Eleanor’s name and holdings to any Aragonese prince. Genoa received significant territorial concessions in Lombardy while France was awarded total control over Savoy and control over Milan and Montferrat (to the chagrin of the Byzantines, who had technical claim to that duchy). It was a humiliating treaty, but Aragon did receive the important concession of having its control over Sardinia finally recognized, a longstanding demand of Aragonese monarchs. This was a Papal request to preemptively eliminate Aragon reinstigating war in Italy over Sardinia. Aragon was forced to relinquish almost all of its claims in northern Italy, and with it the Aragonese ambitions for a continental European empire.
1504
Henry III re-invades the Azores, this time amassing a significantly larger fleet for the task. He uses ship-mounted artillery to demolish a string of Ayshunid forts, the largest of which, Bakhr fortress, was a personal pet project of Yusuf II. He conquers the entire island chain shortly thereafter.
Ahmed I responded by sending yet another fleet, but this time Henry did not flee. Instead, the Castilian forces repurposed the Ayshunid forts, wheeling artillery into makeshift positions on the walls and firing on the light Ayshunid galleys as they approached. In the battle of Almudic (a Latinization of the Arabic “The Strait”) the Castilian forces deal a crushing defeat to the Ayshunid fleet. The Castilian cannons punches through the small Ayshunid vessels like paper. Ahmed I has to call off the rest of his ships and return south.
The Juntala (Chontal) Maya king Yakbu Aj Zotz is granted recognition by the
wali of the Wilayat al-Maya, currently Salah Ibn Yazid, as the ruler of the state of Yixkabal, a Juntala territory that had been expanding over the late 15th century to control much of the Juntala territory and even the western Petén.
Philip I returns to Aragon in disgrace, forced to contend with a peasant revolt that by this point, had destroyed multiple towns, burnt vast amounts of farmland and had even defeated multiple retaliatory forces. He dispatches his weary army to crush the peasant revolt, which he does, but not before reversing the estate system of his father and cutting taxes (which was deeply threatening to his own financial plans, making it a painful bargain for him). Philip I then contends with a revolt among the nobility, angered by his catastrophic losses in Italy. The Milanese faction in the Aragonese court is driven out, and Eleanor forced to retire to a nunnery.
1505-1508
Ahmed I retaliates for the Castilian conquest of the Azores using a old tactic of Andalusian sultans, take on land what you lose at sea. With a lavishly outfitted army Ahmed attacks Castiles heartland in La Mancha. Henry III, confident that the Andalusians had fallen for his trap, springs it. His waiting army camped outside Segovia meets the Andalusians at the Battle of Espirdo. Blocks of Castilian pikemen hold the lightly equipped Andalusi cavalry easily at bay, the richness of their equipment unable to prevent highly disciplined Christian troops from decisively repulsing them.
When Ahmed reverts to the older tactic of free-roaming cavalry raids, intent on ravaging the Castilian countryside, Henry III employs Muslim-style cavalry of his own,
jinetes to counter them. Ahmed I fails to gain significant wealth to recoup his losses at land and at sea and retreats south, massing his army at the border to ward off a Castilian counter-invasion.
The Tarascans foment rebellion among the Matlatzinca peoples to the west of the Aztec empire. They recapture a string of Mexica border towns, taking advantage of the empires weakened state.
Ahuitzotl remains acutely aware of the empires fragility in the west, despite his insistence on continuing to shore up the eastern frontier near Tlaxcala and the rising kingdom of Tetzapotitlan. He organizes a system of border outposts, the
chicalotlatonti, lit. “the little thorny places” at regular intervals to warn of impending attack and send runners to alert nearby garrisons. Ahuitzotl continues to relentlessly assault the eastern rebel kingdoms, taking especially cruel measures to deal with Islamized Nahua. Seeing them as unworthy of the honor of traditional sacrifice, he has them strangled, flayed and/or beaten to death rather than being granted sacrifice atop the
cuahxicalli on the temple.
Arab traders, interested in finding new trade routes after the destabilization of Al-Kutash, explore the coast north of Al-Kutash, making contact with the peoples on the coast there (a region they label
Al-Yikaq [Texas Gulf Coast], after native words for ‘person’). Disappointingly, they find few organized societies but yet more wandering tribes, whom they conclude are unfit for much more than slavery and some low-level trading. The Riyshi trading family of Mughrabah invests considerable money into broadening Arab trade westward into Yikaq.
Venice, having waited out King Philips war, decides to move to curb Genoa now that it is clear that Genoa gained the upper hand in northern Italy after the Aragonese defeat. Venetian diplomats meet with the Pope, attempting to secure more favorable relations and undercut Genoese hegemony in Rome. Venice sets its sights on Genoese Corsica. After suffering defeats in Greece at the hands of the Ottoman fleet, Venice was eager to recoup its losses somewhere closer to home.
Doge Pietro of Genoa, acutely aware of the severity of the Ottoman threat and the delicate situation in northern Italy, reaches out to the Ayshunids to establish closer relations. Ahmed I on the other hand, a stricter and harsher figure than his father, rejects such advances on the grounds that Genoa also has close ties with Castile, the Ayshunids prime enemy at the time.
Tensions between the Papacy, now in the hands of Pope Julius II, and France raise their heads again. This time it is over the continued French sponsorship of the Kingdom of Naples, which the new Pope felt was an excessive overreach of French power in Italy. In his eyes, after Aragon had lost their positions in Italy and Sicily, it was unwise to allow France, as his predecessors seemed inclined to do, to take its place as another oppressive foreign monarchy.
Julius II first wages his personal war against the Borgia family, which long held a death grip on Papal politics, forcing the remaining Borgia to flee to Naples.
A military captain who had gained renown as a
condotierri in the Italian wars, Benedetto di Ridolfi, enters the employ of the French as the appointed lord of Montferrat, a reward for his military service (and rumored extensive network of bribes in the French court). He soon sets about building up a base of power in Lombardy, using his associations in Florence (the Ridolfi are a Florentine family) to fund his project.
1510
Ahmed I attacks Castile again, this time fully flexing the absurd trade wealth the Ayshunids have been stockpiling in since the early 15th century. He buys an army of Berbers as well as levying a huge Andalusian army, easily dwarfing Henrys small, if well-trained, force.
In Spring the Andalusian army crosses the border north, mounting a second assault at Segovia. Amassing almost a hundred cannons, most of them cast in Iberia using recruited Ottoman advisors, he batters Segovia into rubble. Henry III, instead of fighting this force, retreats towards the Castilian capital at Burgos, beginning a protracted guerilla campaign. At the memorable Battle of Barbaroja a small Castilian force holds off almost 2000 Maghrebi mercenaries from the castle at Rueda. Ahmed I sweeps over Castile, but is continuously unable to catch Henry III. At the same time, Henry uses his fleet to resupply his forces from the sea and cut off Andalusi ports. Henry III appeals to Aragon for assistance but king Philip, his forces deeply taxed due to his campaigns in Italy, can do little more than send a small contingent, far below what is needed to effectively repulse the Moors.
Sit’i Aneyachi marries into an Arab family and converts to Islam, taking the name Mahamad Aneyachi, the first prominent Otomi to do so. Because of this, he faces an internal uprising by traditionalist Otomi fearful of the spread of foreign culture in the region.
Riyshi Arabs mount an expedition deep into the interior of Marawiyah, encouraged by news of rich gold wealth in the mountainous jungles there. They meet a large number of rich native peoples but are assaulted by a native army for trespassing. Only through brutal fighting can they escape and return to friendly tribes on the coast.
1511
Ibn Sa’ad cultivates closer ties with the Ayshunid court, as revealed by the purchase of Berber soldiers to accompany the Ayshunid army in Iberia. He also begins to expand his own ties with Christian states, offering mercenaries and favorable trade contacts to try and draw the Maghreb out of its backwater position outside the reach of major empires.
Genoa strengthens its ties to France through diplomacy and tutors, the noble Genoese families sending their sons to Paris for tutoring at the French court.
Florence, feeling spited by its exclusion from the Treaty of Como, conducts secret negotiations with the Venetians to curb Genoese power and rearrange northern Italy more along a Florentine / Venetian split rather than a Genoese / French divide. Florence gains in this endeavor an unlikely ally in the new king of Sicily, the young and ambitious Lorenzo III. The Sicilians wish to push the French entirely out of southern Italy and see as their first step in doing this the weakening of the Kingdom of Naples.
A Andalusi army sieges Burgos and takes the city after a short battle. Trouble soon ensues, as fierce Castilian resistance throughout the occupied territories combined with Andalusian over-extension soon begins to poke holes in the Andalusian strategy. Guerilla forces cut supply lines, burn fields and execute collaborative landlords.
1513-16
Lorenzo III invades Calabria with silent Italian consent. The Pope himself does not concern himself with retaliation, since he has long shifted to the position of restricting French power in Italy, not further fortifying it. The French dispatch a fleet to aid the Neapolitan forces, which lands at the hill at Tropea. Lorenzo III defeats the French with the aid of local turncoats (the Calabrians much more fond of Sicilian rule than continuing Neapolitan rule). He then marches on to Cosenza, and then surrounds Naples itself soon after.
Lorenzo incubates a close alliance with the Papacy, casting himself as a Papal champion against foreign ambitions. Pope Julius II agrees to manage significant portions of the former kingdom, dividing it with Sicily – but he dies before any concrete actions can be taken. His successor, Leo X decides to deal with familial intrigues in northern Italy rather than attempt to govern rebellious territories in the south. Through this however, Lorenzo III gains defacto control of all southern Italy, instantly becoming a major peninsular power.
Louis XII of France rightfully sees this act as a betrayal and pulls back from the Papally-organized league with Genoa, sending an army through Italy to reconquer the kingdom of Naples. While en route however, he faces unexpected opposition from the duchy of Urbino, a tempestuous state often caught between the separate factions within Italy. With Venetian and Papal backing, the Urbinese act as the outlet of Papal frustration at France, harassing the French army in a guerilla campaign on its march to the south. This marks the beginning of King Louis’s War, the second of the Italian wars.
Philip I of Aragon returns to Italy with a vengeance. To avoid repeating the mistakes of his previous wars with France, he attacks central Italy first, aiming to forcefully separate the French from their Papal allies. He first allied with Siena, the old foe of Florence. He then moved his large army through central Italy, cutting behind the French advance and subjugating the client princes of the Papacy. Taking advantage of his significant military advantage over the small armies of the various principalities under the Papacy, he engaged in a protracted scorched earth campaign to deprive both the Papacy, and France of resources. Unsurprisingly, this gains him few friends among the Papal dukes. Indeed, he is soon given the infamous moniker “il Truce”, Philip the Grim, for the sheer scale of atrocities inflicted under his rule.
Maximillian I sees French weakness in northern Italy and commits imperial forces to securing his own interests in the region. He seizes Milan from the French while Louis is campaigning in the south, and then waits in the north to strengthen his position.
Ahmed I returns south under intense Castilian resistance. During his retreat the Castilians win a minor, but symbolically potent victory at the Battle of Fermoselle. Castilian musketeers ambushed and routed a large number of Andalusian infantry in the hills near Salamanca, capturing a significant amount of booty in the process. Ahmed I signs a peace agreement with Henry III, with a significant tribute meted out to Seville. Ahmed I gained though, a comparatively tiny amount of wealth for the extreme losses he suffered both on land and at sea. More importantly, Henry III reignited interest in Iberian affairs among the broader European nobility and proved he was a capable leader who could defeat the Moors in battle, even at a great numerical disadvantage. Unfortunately for Henry, the other powerful European monarchs were too deeply invested in power struggles farther east to be willing to sink wealth into wars with the Ayshunids. Given that they were far less expansionistic in Europe compared to the Ottomans (currently blazing across the Balkans and the Near East at the moment), meant that there was little real stomach for a serious war in Iberia, despite how much Henry proved it could be won.
1517
Ahuitzotl dies accidentally while falling, hitting his head on a doorway. He is succeeded by his nephew Moctezuma II, who carries out the Mexica tradition of performing a campaign immediately before his coronation ceremony, this time raiding into Tanaki and taking a significant number of slaves.
Henry III, eager for added funds, presses hard for wealth to be found in his colonies in the New World. This translates to acts of wanton cruelty between the Castilian colonists and the native peoples as they ruthlessly search for gold with renewed intensity, now with official state backing. The embryonic cotton trade does begin to pay dividends, but instability at home prevents it from fully taking off as a serious avenue of profit for the crown.
Ahmed I institutes a series of cultural reforms, the most unique of which is the introduction of several new letters to standardize the orthography used in the Riysh, tasking a group of scribes to standardize Andalusi Arabic and promote a unified language. They borrow multiple letters from Persian, including
پ for ‘p’and چ for ‘ch’. The amount of new vocabulary and intense linguistic contact between Arabic and various native languages with radically different phonology had created many decades of headaches for writers unable to accurately transcribe new words or write the sounds of Andalusi Arabic, many of which were diverging rapidly from root forms in Classical Arabic. Riyshi Arabic in particular was quickly separating itself from any old world varieties.
A German professor named Martin Luther nails a series of complaints to the door of a church in Wittenburg.
France finally pushes through Papal territory to reach Naples, where Lorenzo III easily repulses the wearied, demoralized French troops. Louis XII returns north, but endures horrendous losses due to the destruction wrought by Philip throughout the countryside. He manages to break through to Florence, where he summons up the statelets of northern Italy by warning of the (likely accurate) threat of Aragonese oppression. Spending cash at a furious pace, Louis with the aid of the Medici among other families, drafts up a large mercenary army and begins mopping up the Aragonese forces scattered throughout the region.
Venetian forces assail the French from the east, where under secret arrangement with Florence the two cities would play both ends of the war to mutual benefit, while Florentine forces aid Louis in defeating Aragon. At the Battle of Graffignano the Aragonese are forced to retreat after a successful attack by French cavalry. Louis XII happiness sours however, as the imperial army marches from Milan west to Genoa, forcing him to employ yet more
condotierri to bolster an extremely worn out and tired French army.
A second French force, led by the appointed lord of Montferrat Benedetto di Ridolfi is able to relieve pressure on Genoa by repulsing the imperial forces in a daring skirmishing campaign. At this point in the war, it seems Florence is winning on every side, with Florentine captains serving in leadership positions in every major army in the region.
1518
Arabic sailors get blown off course and travel farther south than ever before, reaching a verdant land called
Baraniya (Pernambuco / more broadly Brazil). They are able to return to the Riysh and report their findings.
After yet another pyrrhic victory, this time at the Battle of Giacomo’s Hat (after the hat of an Italian cavalry commander among the imperial army supposedly was blown away and landed near the feet of a French scout, alerting them to the imperial forces presence), Louis XII manages to defeat Maximillian I and save his dominions in northern Italy. The true cost of this battle though, was that he was left deeply in debt, and unable to fend off any further major assaults. The prospect of a renewed Venetian or Aragonese offensive in the north caused him to sue for peace. At the Treaty of Landeck the pope intervened, creating an independent Duchy of Lombardy to incorporate much of northern Italy as a separate state, removed from Imperial, Aragonese, or French control. It was given to the lord Alessandro de' Medici, effectively stating openly the extent to which Florence had successfully used the war to infiltrate every major power involved, including the Papacy. It should be stated, that Alessandro was only 8 years old, and ruled with the regent Giulio de’ Gonzaga, from a northern family. The logic was that this would create a relatively amicable split between Florentine, and Lombard interests, with both sides invested in the success of their own families enough to ensure the strength of the duchy. This did of course, alienate the French, Aragonese, and the Holy Roman Empire, and all three refused to provide anything more than tacit support of the idea. France was the one most amicable to it however, as it was left from the treaty, despite its own defeats in the war, control of Savoy which had been a major goal all along. Philip and Maximillian were both spurned by this, with Philip returning to Aragon in a huff while Maximillian returned to Germany to deal with growing tensions there (he would die shortly soon after).
Fig 1. Iberia and the Maghreb in 1518
Fig 1. The New World in 1518
