If the Reconquista of Spain hadn't happened, what would the world be like up to now? Can someone help me figure out a plausible POD?
AHC: Modern day if Reconquista didn't happen/didn't succeed.
- Thread starter Morwen Edhelwen
- Start date
Christians lose a Las Navas de Tolosa. Anything beyond that makes Al-Andalus less and less likely to survive.
How big of a failure are we talking, Cordoban borders for Al-Andalus would affect the world very differently from Almohad borders (after the fall of the Almohads Al-Andalus was doomed, Grenada could not remain independent). If its Cordoban borders up to the modern era then it is such a big difference that the world would be almost unrecognizable, Almohad/Almoravid borders would be a more recognizable world though.
In that case butterflies make it really to thing about the modern world, first you need to establish what happens in the intervening 1200 years. In the next few hundred years a surviving Cordoban Spain would probably be a great power on the level of France, it controls the most productive regions of Spain and with time could very well counquer the remaining independent Christians if given the impulse.
Well I have one POD in mind, one for the CoC (Cordoba) . for the Caliphate you could have Abd ar-Rahman III live longer, which means no al-Mansur which means he can't drive the christians to work together. Also that would butterfly away the constant wars between Hisham and Mansurs descendants. In ths world, Al-Andalus would still have to deal with its unstable foundation, but it least it butterflies away the thing that killed it. It could probably survive to the 12th or 13th century, but al-Andalus could survive (possibly the modern day, but unlikely) a lot longer with this.
Again the POD could be closer, it would technically be a failed reconquista if for instance, the Marinids did better in their invasions. That alone would mean a surviving Al-Andalus in the proper enviroment to make contact in a recognizable world.
Ah, but that gives me lots of room to think about how the world might be like, seeing as something I'm drafting (I have this annoying habit of starting first drafts right away) has the heroine be a tribal leader/ruler of a sultanate called Barakesh (a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Touggourt in Algeria) with ancestors/relatives in Al-Andalus. Since she's a sultana, she would be aware of the history. Looking at Wikipedia for Las Navas de Tolosa and found very good books in the References section.