Maybe next weekend if everything goes nicely. I think I have 2/3 completed and then I will need to revise it and translate it into English. Glad you are still interested in it.
Cessa o Nevoeiro: O Surgir do Quinto Império - A Portuguese Timeline
- Thread starter RedAquilla
- Start date
Maybe next weekend if everything goes nicely. I think I have 2/3 completed and then I will need to revise it and translate it into English. Glad you are still interested in it.
Super interested , its nice to see a TL about my country , and really well researched too, are you portuguese ?
The Great Religious War: The Eventful Year of 1621
The Great Religious War: The Eventful Year of 1621
War in the Empire:
Frederick V arrived at Simmern on March 18 and there he tried to establish contact with Heidelberg to coordinate their actions but the city was surrounded and without the means to attack and communication was extremely difficult as well. The Elector was unsure what to do as his martial capacities were not the best so he hired Ernst von Mansfeld once more to lead his troops.
The League of Ulm vainly appealed for military support inside and outside of the Empire but got none except for the United Provinces who had their hands tied thanks to the resumption of the Eighty Years War. Sweden was at war with Poland-Lithuania, England-Scotland still aiming for that Spanish Princess. Christian IV of Denmark was interested in intervening but to him making sure his ambitions in Northern Germany were fulfilled was paramount so he used the war and fear that the Protestants in the region had to secure the area for Denmark-Norway. In other words, they had to fend off for themselves.
Despite the hardship of communications, Christian of Brunswick was able to formulate a plan with Mansfeld, the latter would attack Tilly’s forces in the western side of Heidelberg and Brunswick would block Bucquoy from intervening and then join him in attacking Tilly in hopes of weakening the siege forces.
On April 6, Brunswick ordered all women, children and elderly to leave the city to conserve the supplies and hopefully save some people from starvation as the conditions in the city were horrendous by then. This action, however, had a second objective: distract the besieging army so that Mansfeld’s troops would be better concealed in their approach.
As the afternoon sun got stronger on April 7, Mansfeld arrived in Heidelberg and positioned his men right in front of Tilly who despite it all had been informed of his approach and took a defensive position. Brunswick then led nearly 10 000 soldiers from the city walls against Tilly’s right flank and flanked him, pressuring the experienced Commander with numerical superiority. The Imperial Commander was thus forced to ask Bucquoy for help but the latter chose not to abandon his position and instead sent 3 000 on horse to support Tilly.
By 4 pm, Tilly saw his position untenable even with the help he got, so he was forced to give ground but instead of leaving the outskirts of Heidelberg, as Brunswick and Mansfeld hoped, he once more moved to reinforce Bucquoy. The two Protestant commanders were unsure of what to do:
- Abandon the city walls and force an attack against the Imperial Army, the more reckless and bold choice;
- Take Mansfeld’s troops inside and reinforce the city defenses, forcing the siege to last longer but also increasing the hardships of the defense conditions.
The evacuation was not as peaceful as it hoped because, when the Imperial Commanders were informed of it, they immediately dispatched the Cavalry, some 5 000 men to harass and sabotage the League of Ulm. The chase went for almost 20kms before Tilly who was leading it decided to stop. The League lost about 1 000 men during their retreat. By 11 am, the Duke of Bavaria claimed yet another victory to his name by entering triumphantly in Heidelberg, the capital of his distant cousin’s holdings.
Since Tilly had been pursuing them, the Protestant Army was unable to set their defenses on Mannheim which had been their objective, instead, they settled on Frankenthal which was to the northwest of Heidelberg. There, they reproduced the defenses they used on the now conquered capital and awaited the Imperial Army to come. Imperial troops arrived on April 22 and spent the next two days positioning themselves around the town.
Despite its many attempts to assault the walls, the Imperials were unable to take the city so they were forced to outlast the defenders. Conditions began getting worse for the Protestants as the months passed by especially after Spinola returned to help the Emperor at the head of 20 000 men to take Jülich on May 3, which although on the lands of Wolfgang Willam was garrisoned by the Dutch. While lasting just as long as the Siege of Frankenthal, it was able to cut the connection between the Dutch and the Palatinate.
Jülich fell on October 11 after five months of siege being a great loss to the Dutch as it will be explained. From here Spinola and his army returned to the Netherlands to spend the winter but plans for an expedition to the Palatinate were drafted and presented to the Spanish court in Madrid where they were approved as Olivares wished to free the Emperor to help him in the Netherlands.
Back at Frankenthal, the Protestant Army was succumbing to malnutrition and disease after two very prolonged sieges. Their numbers had dropped to less than 20 000 men and even their commanders were getting sick, Joachim Ernest of Ansbach was particularly unwell and the sickly Frederick who insisted on defending his lands was also getting worse. Ultimately, the other commanders urged them to evacuate and treat themselves which they ended up doing by late July.
On September 8, the women, children and elderly were kicked out of the town and the Imperial Army was set to alert but unlike the previous time, no reinforcements came. On October 14, a group of twenty Imperial soldiers managed to weaken the wall in the southwest enough to mount an assault and the Protestants immediately rushed there to prevent the defenses from crumbling but as the Imperial Army shifted in force to the area, they understood the city was about to crumble so in a desperate attempt they rushed to the northern gate and evacuated towards Mainz.
The city of Mainz refused to allow them in but the desperate Protestants paid them no mind and brutally moved through it with some atrocities being committed, mostly thefts of food and some killings, raping was surprisingly rare as the soldiers were hungrier for food than lust. From there they moved westwards towards Simmem and laid the defenses for the next siege and waited for winter but it was widely known that the cause of the League of Ulm was lost unless some outside power intervened in their favor. Ferdinand II and his court in Vienna celebrated their victory and hoped for an equally good 1622 while Frederick sick and depressed fought for his life.
Polish-Swedish War:
Gustav Adolf disembarked in Parnawa with about 5 000 soldiers and with them he quickly reformed the Swedish Army which again had 15 000 men. By early March he moved towards the River Daugava which at the time served as a provisional border with the Commonwealth. Gustav Horn warned his King that the opposing Army was very strong but Gustav was confident in his troops and strategies.
Chodkiewicz also received reinforcements during the early months of 1621 and by March he had 20 000 to 22 000 men under his command. Encouraged by the excellent campaign of the previous year and with the open support of the other commanders, he ordered an advance towards Riga, the most important city in the Voivodeship of Livonia. A force of about 1 000 Swedes who guarded the Daugava near its mouth desperately tried to stall the Commonwealth Army enough for Gustav Adolf to arrive but ultimately was unsuccessful and by March 20, Riga was under siege again.
The King of Sweden arrived at the city by March 22, he had been trying to secure more troops before making a new attempt at crossing the Daugava but the Commonwealth’s advance was going too fast for that. Having positioned his troops, Gustav engaged the Polish-Lithuanians in an artillery battle where his more mobile cannons showed to be more accurate than its opposing force and thus gave the Swedish an advantage but the King was still trying to find a way to keep the Polish Cavalry away, a very hard task, and for it, he resorted to having his Infantry and Cavalry acting as shields.
Despite the two hours of effective bombing, the Polish-Lithuanians were still holding on and munitions were running low on both sides and Gustav ordered the munition to be conserved until more could arrive. His plan changed to using the artillery to keep the Polish Cavalry away while the defensive formation was kept and as bait to Commonwealth’s Infantry was made as the Swedish King was confident in his Infantry’ ability, he had the garrison of Riga on his side so unless Sigismund or some other magnate sent a lot of reinforcements, his plan was sane.
What could potentially ruin his plan as well was if the Commonwealth’s Infantry and Cavalry attacked at the same time and overwhelmed the Swedish, something possible due to the superior numbers. Żółkiewski saw this option and inquired Chodkiewicz about a double attack which the Grand Hetman of Lithuania agreed. By 10 am, the Polish-Lithuanian Infantry began marching towards the Swedish formation while the Cavalry positioned itself for its charges.
Gustav Adolf immediately prepared an evacuation route while ordering his musketeers, superior in number to the Polish-Lithuanian counterparts to shoot down the opposing forces. The well-trained Swedish musketeers caused heavy casualties on the advancing Poles and when their enemies got too close, the pikemen replaced them while they moved to the flanks to keep shooting which again, took a lot of Poles down.
Despite being outnumbered, the Swedes were holding their own, as the artillery barrages against the Polish Cavalry also proved decent considering the circumstances, however, it would not last long because the numbers of horsemen were too much to cope with in the long run. By midday, however, despite the clear superiority against the Infantry, the Swedish musketeers in the left flank were now being killed by the charging Polish Cavalry and the risk of the flank collapsing was too great and its consequences too dire for Gustav Adolf to allow, therefore, he ordered an evacuation to safeguard his Army.
The Swedish once more suffered about 5 000 losses and 2 000 more in the evacuation together with 4 cannons. The Commonwealth suffered 8 000 in the battle alone, including Chodkiewicz who was shot down during one of the charges, and although he did not die, he was incapacitated for a long before he finally died on October 8, 1621, from disease. Gustav Adolf was the first to admit that his cockiness had been one of the major reasons he lost and he was also convinced that Sweden could not win the war alone nor could it keep it going at least for that year as his finances were strained due to high costs of the war and each soldier lost was hard to replace.
He, therefore, began negotiating with Michael I of Russia and Sultan Osman II in hopes they would join his side. The former ended up refusing but the latter was eager to usher his rage upon those who defeated him in his Hungarian Campaign but he was not ready to intervene in 1621, convincing Gustav that a truce was essential so he sent envoys to Chodkiewicz to negotiate it. To the Commonwealth, it was easier to replace the dead but their quality was not especially the Infantry whose standards were slowly returning to the levels before the intervention in Hungary. Sigismund III wished to continue the war but his Commanders urged him to accept the truce because they needed more time to train the troops much to his anger.
Żółkiewski then between 73 and 74 years old and Chodkiewicz either 59 or 60, both aware that they wouldn’t last long before death came calling for them, voluntarily turned themselves into scapegoats and signed the Truce of Sigulda on June 6, 1621, after Riga was recovered between April and May. This truce was to last a year. Both Grand Hetmans delegated a substantial part of their functions to their Field Hetmans while they retired to their estates for the duration of the truce, determined to come back and lead for one last campaign with the latter not coming at all because of his death. Sigismund although enraged accepted it all in return for their support on his before-mentioned plans which they had been supporters of anyway.
The Twelve Years Truce Ends:
Ever since the Twelve Years Truce was put into practice, tensions between Spain and the United Provinces remained high. The War of Jülich Succession almost led to an early ending of the truce but neither side was really ready for war and the conflict did not escalate too much.
To Philip III of Spain and his valido, the Duke of Lerma, the Truce was a humiliation that could only be answered with a total victory over the rebels, therefore Spain was fully committed to resuming the war. The United Provinces, or rather Maurice of Nassau, were more dubious on their position oscillating between supporting peace and supporting war but by the final months of the truce, it was the latter that overwhelmed the former.
Before the Truce’s end, Philip III died unexpectedly on March 31, 1621, at the age of 42 and the Duke of Lerma had long fallen from grace. Following this event, the Duke of Osuna, the Governor of the Spanish Netherlands sought to extend the Truce for another year or two but neither party could reach the necessary consensus for it to happen.
The new King, Philip IV, at the death of his father had been a month away from turning 16 years, had chosen, amongst many who tried to gain his favor, Gaspar de Guzmán, the Count of Olivares and a member of the very powerful House of Guzmán/Gusmão, as his valido and was intent on keeping the previous Monarch’s project regarding the Netherlands. In his mind, it was the United Provinces that benefited the most economically from the Truce as their mercantile power grew tremendously and the trade balance between them and Spain was in their favor.
Corsairs under the Dutch East India Company had managed to plunder and threaten the entire Spanish Empire in America and the Indies and with the end of the Truce the perspectives were grimmer for the Spanish especially after analyzing the Portuguese performance against the Dutch, where even though the Portuguese kept them in check, they were unable to fully expel them from their area of monopoly. The Spanish might have had more resources but there was no reason why they should not suffer the same consequences especially with an empire so extensive.
As soon as the war officially resumed, Spain ordered all its ports to be barren to the Dutch and all the trade embargos in force until 1609 were reinstalled. The Spanish strategy thus involved using economic warfare to weaken the Dutch finances while using the force of arms to capture strategic points in the frontline.
It is known that young Philip IV approached John IV of Portugal in hopes that he too would cut off the Dutch from Portuguese trade and with it, prevent smuggling trade in which the Dutch would use Portuguese territory to get to the Spanish population and to make it more enticing he offered his sister Maria Anna as a bride to Prince Philip of Portugal with a sizable dowry of 350 000 Florins or 150 Contos de Reis which was about twice as much as Isabella Clara Eugenia’s dowry and the biggest Spain had ever offered to Portugal. Despite the temptation, John IV refused the deal as his eyes were still on a French match but promised to keep the contraband in check. The King of Spain then gave up immediately as his economic situation was not as good as to raise the dowry further than what it already was.
Focusing on the war itself, Osuna but mostly Spinola immediately began a series of sieges of important towns. Besides the already mentioned Jülich, Steenbergen in the Province of Brabant which was taken before the end of the year, and Bergen-op-Zoom which turned out to be a very costly siege, were targets of the Genoese Commander. Surprisingly, the Dutch stood idle as the Spanish’s steam was boiling.
The main battle of 1621 was a naval battle. Olivares wished to employ the privateering methods that the English and the Dutch had used against Spain at them so he issued many Letters of Marque. The Spanish Court ended up receiving reports that a convoy of about 20 Dutch and Danish ships was coming from Venice on their way back home. Passing the Strait of Gibraltar was a must so the Government ordered all the naval resources in the Peninsula to be concentrated in the Strait to destroy this convoy. Unfortunately, due to corruption and bad organization, the number of ships that reached Gibraltar was but a very tiny fraction of what was initially planned.
Command was given to Fadrique de Toledo Osorio, a scion of the House of Álvares de Toledo or Alba who had some experience as a naval Commander who had 9 ships to face more than 20. Despite the uncertainty as to whether the Spanish had the force to face the Dutch, Osorio was determined to attack. Spanish spies informed Osorio that the convoy would be docking at Ceuta before sailing to Tangier and then to the Algarve to stay close to Portuguese shore which was neutral to them and the Admiral moved to Algeciras where he waited for the exact moment in which the convoy would pass.
On August 9, the spies gave him the news that the convoy was arriving in Ceuta and the operation began. Despite being outnumbered, the Spanish sank 5 ships and capture 2 more before the bulk of the convoy escaped to the shores of Ceuta when the Portuguese Armada do Estreito sent by Prince Philip of Portugal, then Viceroy of the Algarves, arrived in the scene and dissipated the fight with a showcase of power that neither side wanted to test. The victorious Osorio sailed back to Algeciras while the Dutch convoy was escorted to the Algarve.
Even today, no one knows for certain why the Portuguese intervention did happen earlier as Philip Duarte had informed his father of the Spanish Fleet at Algeciras well in advance but only when the Dutch were being utterly defeated did the Portuguese show up. Historians speculate that John IV was doing his favorite political, military and diplomatic strategy, pity two opponents against each other and ripple the fruits which he certainly did in this case. It is known that as a “reward” for saving dozens of Dutch sailors adrift at sea from the battle, the Portuguese took a small part of the convoy’s goods back to Ceuta from where they would be sold in Northern Europe.
And finally one cannot dismiss the official foundation of the Dutch West India Company (WIC) on June 3. Unlike the VOC which was deemed too autonomous both by Maurice of Nassau and the States-General, the former being especially concerned with dragging Portugal to the Eighty Years War, the WIC was organized to emulate the Portuguese Companies, in other words, to be subjected to the authority of the State and without the right to conduct wars without authorization of the State.
Its starting capital was about 1 000 000 Guilders and in its service were 15 transport ships, somewhat of a letdown when compared with the VOC’s foundation. There were plenty of investors many of which with ambitious plans to attack the Spanish Empire but the Portuguese Company of Brazil was well established in the Atlantic Ocean to such an extent that many Dutch were certain that WIC was going to be a failure and only patriotism and hate towards the Spanish would keep it running. Before any ambitious plans could be set into motion, the WIC resorted to privateering which granted it sizable profits.
I said I would have this Update ready last weekend but it took a little longer than anticipated and real-life was a pain these two weeks but anyhow here it is. Right now I'm going to revise some older Updates, improve some things and fix some "plot-holes" while I also work on a general update on Europe outside of the war because the way I'm seeing 1622 will go like a breeze. I'm really hoping I can finish John IV's reign before the New Year so I can show some of my ideas regarding a few areas I wrote a little about like China, Morocco, India, Arabia...As always thank you for sparing time reading and I hope everyone has a nice day and stays safe.
It's not that I don't wish to focus on Portugal because I do, however, worldbuilding is necessary. I'm trying my best to conciliate the focus on Portugal with that of the world, I'm well aware that my way isn't the most efficient but it's the way I think it's best to make a proper worldbuilding. That's one of the reasons why I refrained from changing too many things in Europe, so that I don't have to give an excessive focus to Europe right off the bat, though eventually by the 18th Century 75% to 80% of the wars will be fictitious thanks to the changes that were made already and the plans I have in mind. I'm sorry it's not the way you wish but it's the way it's going to go I'm afraid. If it makes you any happier I will end John IV's in Portugal.
I totally understand that , worldbuildind is necessary and its cool to know what is going on outside of portugal , but your portugal material is really good and i am looking foward to it .
Keep up the good work , no need to apologise .
Keep up the good work , no need to apologise .
Lusitania
Donor
The world events is fascinating and we (ok me who is a little obsessed with all things Portuguese) are not aware of the political, religious and just everything that shaped that region. My only suggestion is to write them several months in advance so that when you write the next one you can see how they all fit into a larger picture. Not always easy to do. I know.
your writing on the Ottoman Empire is a clear example of how intricate their hold on the region and how different elements are are interconnected. We sometimes see threads about Ottoman empire Expansion into Indian Ocean and challenging Portuguese or other European powers. Your portrait of them is a clear example they were besieged on all sides sometimes at same time. The Persians along Mesopotamia, the Arabs in Arabia, Egypt, Russians to the north and European Christians to the East. All them were looking for and exploiting any weakness they saw. Add to this bad leadership and internal rivalries we can sometimes admire the fact they survived at all.
so it’s great what you have written and I am certain you have gained a lot of knowledge over different part of world. (I certainly will).
Obrigado
your writing on the Ottoman Empire is a clear example of how intricate their hold on the region and how different elements are are interconnected. We sometimes see threads about Ottoman empire Expansion into Indian Ocean and challenging Portuguese or other European powers. Your portrait of them is a clear example they were besieged on all sides sometimes at same time. The Persians along Mesopotamia, the Arabs in Arabia, Egypt, Russians to the north and European Christians to the East. All them were looking for and exploiting any weakness they saw. Add to this bad leadership and internal rivalries we can sometimes admire the fact they survived at all.
so it’s great what you have written and I am certain you have gained a lot of knowledge over different part of world. (I certainly will).
Obrigado
I have the bigger picture in my head, meaning everything I want to do on a general note until roughly 1850 especially concerning Portugal, unfortunately, or fortunately while I write the Updates I end up learning of new stuff or finding that something I planned for a specific instance doesn't work so I change it and it, of course, has consequences. So yes, writing in advance would be the most logical solution and yet if I do I will take months to update.
As of now, I'm trying to write a bit more of Philip I's reign so things will come easier. I have also learned from my mistakes such as such a large time frame (~33 years) of a reign coverage which could be divided into decades which will facilitate things. I also learned that the Empire, unfortunately, has to come after the wars in Europe because those have consequences Overseas.
Well yeah, the Ottomans in this time period and pretty every other lack allies or they can't come in their aid and all the reasons you pointed out apply here.
Sempre às ordens.
Lusitania
Donor
Yes, I agree that if we write wars, expeditions and campaigns first then we can write the narrative of the country / reign around it for what happens during a time period is a reflection on what country goes through. I have found that out in my writing, learn what we can of the events, social and economic conditions and what limitations existed. Can something happen to worsen or better the situation. For example in reading about 18th and 19th century Portugal I was struck on the lack of roads and canals built in Portugal while other countries received a huge economic boom from the expansion and building of roads. Not that Portugal was not able to do such efforts. During Queen Maria I reign the expansion and widening of the Douro river opened up the upper Douro to agriculture with the ability of the river boats able to cross from Spanish coast to Porto. So we could do it just needed right frame of mind.
Therefore continue with your excellent work and wait patiently for more.
Couldn't agree more with the statement, not just in Portugal but everywhere if there aren't individuals with the right frame of mind, then nothing good will happen, at best, stagnation at worse recession. Unfortunately for Portugal, this seems to be quite a lasting problem besides a few time periods in our history. Heck there is even the meme that Portugal has been in debt since its independence.
I will definitely keep it going, there is no doubt about it. Unfortunately, the colonial aspect will take quite some time to return except a few developments of the Eighty Years War as I have some...plans for the WIC...
Thank you for the comments.
Lusitania
Donor
Well not always. At one time Portuguese currency was the strongest in Europe. At that time currency strength was based on gold in country and Portugal was flushed with gold from guinea. Then during reign of John IV Brazilian gold once again filled government coffers. But you are right that Portugal has been a borrower for 90% of its existence.
another era that Portugal had no debt and very strong gold reserves was during Salazar and we know what a shit f… that was.
Yes, I know that very well but I also know how much we Portuguese like to complain about ourselves and how bad we are at things, especially economically.
Better late than never.Well take your time I'm 6 or so months late can't complain
Lusitania
Donor
Yes in part seemed to be fueled by Catholic Church view that commerce and other trade/commerce were not viewed as "sanctioned" activities. It did not make things good for the Portuguese that many trade and commerce enterprises were run by Jews prior to their expulsion. The view on Italian banking was that it was a necessary evil and was tolerated by the church and powers because it was beneficial for them. While we in Portugal being "so devout" would rather cut off our right foot than to partake in such sinful activities.
In history the rise of protestants with their individualism and education for people so they could read the bible and later business stuff steered commerce and industry north. I was reading some book once that in 16-17th century French wanted to setup industry and the advisor told the king and cardinals that it would require protestants because Catholics did not have the whereabout to do that.
Europe: Between 1618-1623
Europe: Between 1618-1623
France:
With his mother away from power, King Louis XIII continued with nearly all of his mother’s nominated Government which still included many of his late father’s Ministers presided by the Duke of Luynes, Charles d’Albret, the Chief Minister of the French Government.
Luynes was a follower of Henry IV’s anti-Habsburg international stance and he immediately began searching for international allies, the first of which was the Duke of Savoy, Charles Emmanuel I to whom the previous King had promised a French Princess and the partition of the Duchy of Milan after an eventual war against Spain. Thus Princess Christine of France married Victor Amadeus of Savoy who would inherit the Duchy on February 10, 1619. Leaving the youngest Princess, Henrietta Maria for Prince Philip of Portugal in hopes to cut Maria de Medici’s international support but the consummation of this marriage only happened in 1625 because of the French Princess’s tender age.
D’Albert’s rapid political ascent caused much envy among the nobility who argued that he was a less competent version of Henry IV’s Ministers who were dying one by one, every year and being replaced by new faces. This along with some of their privileges and prerogatives being revoked made them ally with the Dowager-Queen in hopes that together they could make the Duke fall from grace. With this newfound support, Maria began exerting pressure on her son and his right-hand man, using Armand du Plessis, the Bishop of Luçon as her main negotiator.
When the Great Religious War ignited in Transylvania and spread to Bohemia and consequently to the rest of the Holy Roman Empire, the French court, but above all, the King, could not decide which side to support. On one hand, the threat that the Habsburgs imposed on France led to many voices in favor of intervening in favor of the Protestants but on the other hand, the King, a pious Catholic like the bulk of the French society were reluctant in supporting the heretics. Because of this indecision, France allowed the war to follow its natural course with just tacit monetary support given to the Protestants.
During the night of February 21 to the 22, 1619, Maria de Medici escaped her confinement in Blois thanks to a rope. Her supporters took her to the Blois Bridge and then she was taken by coach to the Château d’ Angouleme where she started a revolt against her son with the support of the nobility. Louis XIII and Luynes turned to Plessis to lead negotiations with the Dowager Queen and he mediated the Treaty of Angouleme in which Maria regained her complete freedom but would have to keep the peace with the King. Eventually, Maria was not satisfied with the conditions, since she would not have a seat in the Council of the King and continued the revolt but this time, her supporters were defeated at the Battle of Ponts-de-Cé on August 7, 1620.
The King forgave his mother and the nobles who supported her, knowing fully well that this was the best way to stop her schemes and it was also better to keep her close so she returned to Paris. Hoping to promote harmony between parties, Luynes agreed to have his nephew marry Plessis’ niece, Marie-Madeleine de Vignerot de Pontcourlay and who was also promised the Cardinalate which was granted to him by Pope Innocent X on September 20, 1622. Thanks to this, Plessis moved, together with Henry II of Condé to the King’s circle.
With his mother’s intrigues under control, Louis XIII decided that he needed to reestablish religious uniformity in France so rather than intervening in the Great Religious War, he sought to eradicate the Huguenots. The first step he took with that in mind was allowing the return of the Jesuits which galvanized the Huguenots immediately. His next move was bolder, he demanded that all land and property that had been confiscated from the Catholic Church in the provinces of Bearn and Lower Navarre be returned.
When the locals refused to do so, two factions appeared in the King’s Council: the Pro-Negotiations Faction led by Luynes and the Pro-War Faction led by the Prince of Condé. The King had long made up his mind, he wanted war so he obviously chose the Pro-War Faction and personally led the Army that swiftly took hold of both provinces and enforced his will, beginning a process of re-catholicization and full absorption of the Crown of Navarre into the Crown of France. The Sovereign Council of Bearn was also replaced by the Parliament of Pau.
The achieved success caused many Huguenots to flee into neighboring provinces and under the command of Henry, Duke of Rohan, began, a revolt of a greater caliber that encompassed the western and southwestern parts of France. It seemed that the King had shot his own foot by ending the stability of his Kingdom that his father and his predecessors had fought so hard to achieve.
Between February and May, 1621, an Assembly of Huguenots met at La Rochelle and refused to recognize the absorption of Bearn into the Crown of France and in preparation for war, they divided western France into eight military districts whose Governors, Protestants in faith, paid no fees or taxes to the Crown, instead they used the money to organize an army to fight the King.
At this point, Louis XIII and Luynes had a heated discussion because the latter was still advocating for negotiations that could resolve the conflict with the least amount of bloodshed but the King was consumed by rage against the Huguenots, a feeling that was being inflated by both Condé and Plessis who began supplanting the King’s right-hand man. But Luynes’ influence upon Louis XIII was still great to the point he was, by the King’s own accord, appointed Constable of France in March 1621 after the Protestant Duke of Lesdiguiêres refused to abjure Calvinism. In other words, Luynes was to lead a campaign he strongly opposed.
The campaign started on May 11 with the Royal Army taking control of Saumur, a town that had remained loyal to Louis. On May 18, Saint-Jean-d’Angély was placed under siege and surrendered on June 24. With this town, the King now had access to the important Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle but his Marshals convinced him to move south with most of his forces to conquer Montauban. But given that leaving the very important port city free was a mistake, the Duke of Epernon was ordered to lay siege to the city by land and sea.
Unfortunately for the Duke, even after the French Navy was rebuilt after King Henry’s War, it was unable to fully block the Huguenot vessels and by land, things were not that much different either so La Rochelle held on without a sign of breaking. Further south, Montauban was besieged for months starting from August 17, with the nominal command of Luynes who had 25 000 soldiers under him. When the Duke of Rohan came to aid the town on November 2, Luynes began negotiating with him and once the King learned of this he declared such negotiations invalid. Unfortunately for Louis, the siege had to be lifted because camp fever spread through the troops and was causing high casualties rates in the Royal Army.
After the failure at Montauban, Luynes took Monheurt and there he also contracted fever and was bedridden for a long time, essentially during winter while troops awaited the return of spring, almost dying. [1] Although relations cooled in the last semester of 1621, Louis XIII worried for the dire state of his friend and feared losing him, becoming broodier and delegating power to Condé and Plessis who rejoiced.
When spring returned, Louis XIII created the famous Company of the King’s Musketeers to better protect himself and resumed his campaign against the Huguenots recovering the will to rule. On April 16, the King defeated the Duke of Rohan’s younger brother, Benjamin de Rohan, Lord of Soubise; on May 4, he besieged Royan which fell in only six days and between June 10 and June 11, the entire village of Nègrepelisse was exterminated after a rumor that the Royal garrison had been massacred reached Louis.
After all these successes, the King marched to Montpellier where his father had promulgated the edict of tolerance and was still a very important Huguenot stronghold and which the King was determined to take. On August 22, the Duke of Lesdiguières signed a treaty with the Duke of Rohan which granted the Crown control of the city but the city refused to open its gates to the Royal Army and went as far as imposing humiliating terms on the King to let him into the city.
Irritated, Louis XIII, ordered a siege to the city starting from August 31 under the command of Condé. It was a very difficult and time-consuming siege since the city’s population had been well prepared for a siege which led to heavy losses on the Crown’s side. Eventually, on October 2, after more epidemics decimated his troops, Louis XIII finally agreed to negotiate with the city and with Rohan. The arrival of more Royal troops made the King able to negotiate from an advantageous position.
Rohan knelt before the King and begged forgiveness from revolting and Louis accepted and welcomed him to his side and Montpellier agreed to open its gates to the King and dismantle its fortifications in exchange for a Royal Pardon and for the rights provided by the Edict of Montpellier to be respected. On October 20, Louis XIII entered the city unharmed after agreeing to terms but immediately ordered the construction of a citadel to keep the city under control.
The King, having made peace with the Huguenots, ended the threat of a common enemy for everyone to fight which in turn led to court intrigue. Luynes returned to court and was well received, especially by the King, but his position was not secured and was heavily contested by Plessis, Condé, Maria de Medici and even the King’s younger brother and heir Gaston. To make matters worse, Louis and his wife Anne of Spain were not having a healthy marriage as the King hardly visited her, therefore, they were failing their main job, that of producing heirs, with plenty of reasons given to explain this. In 1619 and 1622, Anne had two stillbirths and the future of France looked uncertain...
Tuscany:
Cosimo II’s biggest problem was that he had been frail most of his life and later on caught tuberculosis which ended up causing his death on February 28, 1621, at age of 30. Despite this, he achieved considerable success for his country and his family which was once again, thanks to his father and his wife, one of the richest in Europe. Even if he failed in his matrimonial projects and at obtaining Piombino, Cosimo left Tuscany on a good path with a full treasury.
In his will, Cosimo dictated how the Regency for his eldest son, Ferdinand Cosimo (Ferdinando Cosimo de Medici), 10 years old at the time of his father’s death, would work. First, it was to be composed of both his mother Eleanor of Portugal and his grandmother Christine de Lorraine, thus excluding his uncles Charles and Lorenzo; foreigners were prohibited from holding any Government office; the only clerics permitted at court were the Franciscans; the Bank needed to be well provided and controlled and the State treasury maintained without great expenses.
The problem was that both Regents had very different strong personalities and thus they were prone to discussions. Eleanor was a brilliant woman, with a great talent for accounting, administration and negotiation while Christine was religious, restrained in demeanor but very ambitious. And while the former had proved herself capable of bringing the Medici Bank to prosperity, she reaped many political and envious enemies which the latter made supporters, including Cosimo’s brothers and with all this support, Christine made a coup against Eleanor who was forcibly locked in the Medici Villa of Cafaggiolo on the outskirts of Florence and then had herself be recognized as the sole Regent and educator of the children of Cosimo.
When John IV of Portugal learned of what had happened to his daughter, he promptly retaliated against Tuscany, sending 7 galleons to Livorno to block the port until Eleanor was liberated. Prince Philip, Eleanor’s brother offered to lead an army into Tuscany but this John refused, preferring to just exert pressure not just on Tuscany but also on the Papacy and the Emperor in hopes they would condemn the coup and help with diplomatic support, this because invading Tuscany was deemed far too much trouble that what it was worth.
Eventually, the blockade of Livorno started causing serious damage to the Tuscan economy and the international pressure grew larger so Charles and Lorenzo de Medici begged their mother to negotiate a deal with Eleanor and the King of Portugal but she did not heed them, preferring to promote trade to the port of Pisa and bribe the Emperor and the Papacy with the Bank’s money. Eventually, John Duarte threaten to blockade Pisa as well and was preparing to send a new fleet of Mediterranean galleys there.
While she tried to exalt the Tuscans against the Portuguese, she was failed because both countries had been in good relations for nearly half a century which led to many courtiers pondering if Christine was really the best option to lead them, given that she was trying to face a more powerful opponent for what seemed to be her own greed and thirst for power. Because of this, Christine grew more isolated and eventually she had the Portuguese Ambassador to Florence, Lourenço de Corbizi, the Count of Alvares, convey to his King, that Eleanor would be released but was forbidden to enter Florence. Her objective was to either force her daughter-in-law to return to Portugal or if she refused to leave, have a leeway to act upon it.
Upon being released, Eleanor immediately tried to force her way into Florence to see her children but she was prevented by soldiers that Christine had placed on the city gates, having anticipated this move from her daughter-in-law. Corbizi wrote to the King that Eleanor was so angry that day that she screamed insults in Portuguese, Tuscan, Castilian, French and even Latin for all to hear, something that to this day is immortalized in various romances about the period and in the statue of Eleanor in the supposed spot this occurred.
Before she could be arrested she escaped to Livorno where she settled with the Portuguese soldiers sent by her father who pretty much controlled the city by then as the Tuscan Navy did not contest them for lack of means to do so. From there, Eleanor began undermining Christine for as much as she could, conducting a propaganda war against her. And that was how we reach 1623 in Tuscany.
But those who suffered the most from this dispute, called the Dispute of the Widows (La Disputa dellas Vedovas) were Cosimo’s children. The already mentioned Ferdinand showed great intellectual and physical capabilities but was quite submissive to his domineering grandmother who tried to control him; Isabella also showed great intellectual promise but her strict religious education left her excessively pious and submissive; Francis, who was assigned to a career as a Cardinal was just like his sister but with fewer skills. Only the younger ones, Anna and Giovanni seemed to escape this due to their tender age though the boy was also meant to join the Church.
Wallachia and Moldavia:
After the final victory against the Turks at Dés and the signing of the Treaty of Belgrade, whose terms specified that the deposed Princes of Wallachia and Moldavia should be restored to their titles, said Princes tried to regain their positions but those installed by the Ottomans obviously did not wish to relinquish their power.
With the departure of the bulk of the Holy League’s remaining troops, both Nicholas I of Wallachia and Alexander VI of Moldavia found themselves without the necessary support to recover their thrones easily. They did get financial help from Portugal, the only country completely out of the war after the Treaty of Belgrade, 100 000 Florins to be divided by both countries and paid in five years, which were used to hire mercenaries all over the Danube region and with these mercenaries they would regain their thrones. Or so they hoped...
Nicholas had fewer troops, about 7 000 soldiers, many battle-hardened while his opponent, his distant cousin, Radu X Mihnea probably had twice his numbers but his overall position was weaker because he had been imposed upon the Boyars by the Ottomans and Nicholas had been long chosen as Radu IX Serban’s successor. After skirmishes at Filiasi, in the west of the Principality, between September and October of 1620, and where neither side was able to overcome the other, Nicholas proposed a peace plan with his cousin Radu.
The plan consisted in dividing the Principality in two, each territory would be under one of them with the army and treasury being divided by both, collectively they would decide the foreign policy of Wallachia and supervise the actions of the other. Nicholas would rule Oltenia and a third of Muntenia with capital at Craiova and Radu would rule the remaining two-thirds of Muntenia with capital at Bucharest. Targoviste would be a neutral territory in which they would reunite and rule together for three months to promote peace between them.
The plan was regarded by many as foolish and thus there were many hesitations on both sides. Nicholas was perceived as somewhat desperate for power but his preference for negotiations deemed him weak by many. Nevertheless, by late November, the Boyars began supporting this crazy proposal, funnily enough, such arrangements were not new but the previous attempts had been between parents and children and not between cousins.
By December 4, Radu proclaimed his intention to accept Nicholas’s proposal but only if the treaty gave the same rights to his children, something that his cousin accepted with little hesitation. Thus on December 11, 1620, both Draculesti signed the Commitment of Craiova in which they established the Wallachian Diarchy which was confirmed by the Boyars at Targoviste on December 18, bringing an uneasy peace for the Principality.
In Moldavia, however, things were not resolved so easily and so peacefully...Alexander VI was keen on establishing firm control over Moldavia and in his mind, Stefan IX was a threat to that. Thus he was not open to negotiations which his opponent tried many times to do. The Movilá invaded the Principality from the northwest with an army of 10 000 men which took several towns on their way to Iasi, the capital, however much to Alexander’s dismay, they were defeated on the outskirts of the capital by Stephan’s forces.
Alexander did not give up and continued to hold the north of the Principality going as far as conducting raids at the capital’s supply lines during winter, though he was unable to lay siege to it. Stephan decided to leave the capital and set court at Galati more to the south which infuriated part of his support and virtually left the capital ready for Alexander to take during Spring. By 1621 there was a risk of Wallachia intervening in Alexander’s favor and so Stefan began fearing for his position.
When Spring came, Stephan decided to expel Alexander from Moldavia and he met him at Harlau, north of Iasi, where on March 19 they fought. The battle was bloody with thousands of men dying on both sides but unfortunately for Stephan, he was hit by an arrow in the neck after nearly four hours of intense fight, and even though he held for another two hours in agony, he had to be taken away from the field and his remaining troops lost their morale and either surrendered or fled.
Alexander entered Iasi triumphantly and immediately summoned the Boyars to confirm his position, something that happened on March 28, 1621. He learned of Stefan VI’s death on March 20 and out of respect for the man, his army and his struggle he had him be buried with a proper State funeral.
His next problem was to occupy the area next to the Black Sea that the Treaty of Belgrade had given Moldavia, an area inhabited by the Budjak Horde under Khan Temir. Reforming his army Alexander started his first campaigns against the Tartars on the coast with moderate success but since the Crimeans were supporting Khan Temir, the Moldavians’ progress into occupying Budjak was slow.
In any case, Wallachia and Moldavia re-entered a period of peace now that the Ottomans were too occupied to come north and the Habsburgs who pretty much controlled Transylvania preferred to have the Danube Principalities as buffer zones to the Turks. The payment of the stipulated tribute to the Sultan also guaranteed peace. Both realms had a pressing concern to address: the finances which were heavily depleted. The Danube territories were devastated and depopulated and therefore the economy was ruined yet again and the countries had no way to pay their creditors in the short term (the biggest one being Portugal whom they owed about 150 000 Florins or 155 Contos), therefore, the economy had to be rebuilt and reorganized.
The methods used were different in both realms. In Wallachia, the Diarchy chose to promote immigration from Levantines and Greeks but also Romanians from Transylvania, the first to dynamize the economy and provide capital, the latter to do the heavy work that sustained the economy. Radu also increased the taxes in his part of Wallachia and in 1622, he arranged for Nicholas to do the same for the sake of keeping internal stability.
While Radu eventually was given control of the diplomatic relations with the Ottomans, negotiating trade deals with them, Nicholas did the same with the Habsburgs, the Commonwealth, Moldavia and Portugal who because of his nephews paid more interest in this far away region of Europe than perhaps it would have had. Nicholas was more loved than Radu, especially because Radu lived in luxury while Nicholas lived in a more austere ambiance which resembled more the lifestyle of the majority of the population but Radu was also more politically astute and managed to manipulate his cousin enough to keep himself in power and prevent any coups against him though he had no power or support to get rid of Nicholas and be the only Prince so the Diarchy, against all odds, resisted.
In Moldavia, Alexander VI organized a commission of 4 Boyars which he named the Commission of the Treasury (Comision de Trezorerie) to help him rebuild the economy of his Principality. Among these Boyars was Vasile Lupu who quickly proved to be a great financial administrator who gained the trust of the Prince to the detriment of the other three Boyars. Vasile promoted a large fiscal reform that allowed the Principality to grow at a slightly faster rate when compared with Wallachia even if the average peasant monetary contributions in practice remained the same if not even more than what they were.
He invested heavily in the grain and cattle trade especially towards the Holy Roman Empire and in 1623, under Alexander’s will, he made the first projects to revive the national currency (which because of the wars had been replaced by foreign currencies, the same having happened in Wallachia) based on the Polish one with a copper coin named Destulgros (half-Gros), a silver one named Gros and a gold one named Zlot or Gulden at the rate of 1/1. The implementation of such measure took far longer than anticipated because there was a lack of silver to mint the Gros which was to be the main transaction coinage and therefore the country in this period still had, like Wallachia, to recur to foreign currency.
Crimea and the Ottoman Empire:
As previously mentioned, Crimea was experiencing a period of instability resulting from the death of Khan Canibek Giray with several pretenders claiming the throne. Initially, it was his Kalga (The second most important position in the Khanate) Devlet, one of Canibek’s brothers, who had the advantage over the others, since he stayed in Crimea to defend it while the bulk of the army was away, especially from another family member that was exiled in Persia, Sahim Giray.
Sahim, with the support of Abbas I of Persia and the Nogai, invaded the Khanate as soon as word of Canibek’s death reached Persia, that is around the second half of October of 1619. He defeated and killed Devlet in combat and then proclaimed himself Khan of Crimea as Sahim I [2]. Then, he embarked on a campaign to consolidate his position with the help of former Crimean prisoners of the Persian-Ottoman War of 1603-1618 whose rescue he facilitated thanks to his good relation with Abbas.
As his support was from Safavid Persia, who wished to weaken the Ottomans’ foreign support, Sahim was opposed by the bulk of the nobility of Crimea who he suppressed harshly. For these reasons, Osman II could not accept Sahim as Khan but he had no means to depose him because the majority of his army was fighting against the Holy League. Taking advantage of this window of opportunity, Sahim sent ambassadors to the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania, to the Cossacks and Russia, hoping they would be open for an alliance against the Ottomans. He even considered joining the Holy League but was reluctant in doing so because he would incur the hate of many and undermine his rule.
He did not achieve the success he hoped with the Polish and the Cossacks as they were far more interested in taking advantage of the situation to conduct their own raids into Crimea or conquer it all together. Sahim was thus forced to face several incursions into his lands by the Cossacks that deeply harmed his country in addition to forcing him to divert precious resources. Russia under Michael I was the only one that showed some interest in maintaining peace in their southern border and the Khan assured he would not raid the Czar’s lands.
Tired of Sahim, Sultan Osman ordered all the members of the Giray family that were in Ottoman territory to be brought before him and from them, he chose Inayet to become Khan of Crimea with his brothers Husam and Saadet being chosen as Kalga and Nuredim respectively while the youngest, Aivaz was to stay in Constantinople just like Sahim’s older brother Muhammed.
Meanwhile, Sahim won the support of the Circassians by contracting marriage with the daughter of the King of Eastern Circassia. This secured his right flank. From here he invaded the Eyelet of Caffa in the Crimea Peninsula which he took with little casualties and with a sizable amount of Turks being made prisoners and negotiation pawns. The Ottomans tried several landings in Crimea that were failures between March and April before they gave up. Now, Inayet had to travel towards Crimea by land which would take a couple of months at best in the war-infested territory.
While the Sultan negotiated peace with the Holy League, the early terms of the peace, the ones presented by Ferdinand II reached Khan Temir of the Budjak Horde, he was outraged and demanded guarantees from the Porte that his lands were not to be given to the Christians but he got none, and so, feeling like they would accept the terms, Temir formed an alliance with Sahim. In fact, it was Temir who captured the Giray brothers that Osman sent.
At the behest of Sahim, Saadet was sent to the Sultan with their terms of negotiation:
- Sahim was to be recognized as Khan of Crimea;
- The territory of the Budjak Horde was to not be delivered to the Christians.
The terms were deemed by many as fair and very much in favor of the Ottomans who were now facing a catastrophic situation thanks to the poor result of their intervention in favor of the Bohemian Rebels which led to territory losses. However, the Porte was hit by instability when Osman and his half-brother Mehmed had a violent argument after which the Sultan had his brother executed on November 8, 1620. Reportedly, Mehmed cast a plague on his brother which began with heavy snowfall at Constantinople in late November, something extremely rare. War had taken its toll in the Empire and a sudden increase in prices and violence, not to mention the desire for independence in several more distant parts of the huge territory.
Given the circumstances, the Sultan was advised to negotiate with the various Beylerbeys and Khans to stabilize the internal situation of the Empire but Osman was reluctant because he felt he needed a successful campaign against an opponent to restore his prestige but nevertheless began negotiations with Sahim I Giray in hopes to turn the Khan against Temir who he wanted to get rid of. Osman then announced to his court the desire to reform the Ottoman Army so that it could compete with its Western equivalents and his plan was to replace the Janissaries with Sekbans (Anatolian Mercenaries) who would be trained to achieve better quality while being loyal to the Sultan at all times.
The young Sultan’s inexperience and ambition had been his downfall. As soon as his plan became known, the Janissaries began conspiring against him and organized a coup which happened on June 19, 1621, in which they succeed to capture Osman who they strangled on June 22 [3]. This set a terrible precedent in Ottoman history as a Sultan was now only deposed but slain, this action made the Janissaries transform themselves into a “Praetorian Guard” that could even execute a Sultan if he threatened their interests.
The Janissaries brought Osman’s uncle Mustafa I to rule once more. Mustafa was once more controlled by his mother and father-in-law but they still tried to safeguard the Sultan’s power by carefully trying to avenge Osman so that those who killed a Sultan would not be left in impunity. The problem was that his mother, Halime Sultan nominated Kara Davud Pasha as Grand Vizier and this man was deeply involved in the conspiracy that killed Osman, therefore, there was plenty of hypocrisy not on the Sultan’s part but of his close advisors.
The Sultan recognized Sahim I of Crimea as the legitimate Khan and did not care for whatever happened to the Budjak Horde, though some say his father-in-law was proposing an intervention in the region once things got under control in the Empire. The same treatment was given to Beylerbeys of faraway regions of the Empire which gained more autonomy and near hereditary successions: such as Alger, Tunis, Tripolitania, Egypt, Yemen, Mosul, Baghdad, etc.
Despite it all, Mustafa was still mad, searching for his nephew everywhere to free him from the burden of governance. On October 20, 1621, one of Osman II’s concubines, a Russian woman named Mehlike gave birth to a posthumous son of the former Sultan named Omar [4] and the problem of what to do with the baby arose. Many advised to kill the baby but Mustafa surprisingly did not want it to happen and it did not, and thus Omar was taken care of by his mother under the close supervision of Mustafa’s own mother Halime Sultan. Some reported that Mustafa begged the baby to call his father and take control of the Empire.
But the biggest problem that Mustafa and his Regents had to face was Abaza Mehmed Pasha’s Revolt. Abaza had been the Beylerbey of Erzurum which was in Eastern Anatolia and was a big supporter of Osman and he too was highly critical of the Janissaries and reportedly played a big role in coming up with the previous Sultan’s ambitious plan to reform the Ottoman Army.
Once he heard of Osman’s demise, he ordered the expulsion, imprisonment and execution of all the Janissaries in his Eyelet. Mustafa and his Regents were thus pressured by the Janissaries to exonerate Abaza which the Sultan did on November 6, 1621. Still, Abaza remained in power and declared his loyalty to Mustafa but that he would purge the Empire of the Janissaries and with this, he gained strong public support for his cause from all over the Empire.
As Abaza practically occupied all of Anatolia, more courtiers began conspiring against the Porte as deemed Mustafa and his Regents incapable of saving the Empire. Their first target was to kill the Grand Vizier, Kara Davud Pasha, which they did on January 8, 1622, when they had him tortured to death along with many of his supporters. Ohrili Hüseyin Pasha who had served as Grand Vizier to Osman II after Güzelce Ali Pasha’s death at Dés was re-conducted to the position.
Ohrili and other courtiers suggested that Mustafa abdicated the throne for his madness could not hope to save the Empire and he accepted willingly and quite quickly because he did not wish to rule but his mother was more reluctant to agree. Because Mustafa’s will was to abdicate, her course of action was severely limited and the only thing she gained was the guarantee that neither her nor her children would be executed.
But the question arose...who should be the next Sultan? Omar was a baby so the only viable options were Osman’s younger half-brothers: Murad and Bayezid, both aged 9, Suleiman and Selim, both aged 8, Hussein and Kasim, aged 7 and Ibrahim, aged 6. The oldest one was Murad so he was chosen to assume the position of Sultan as Murad IV with a Regency behind his back led by his mother, Kösem Sultan.
Ohrili died in office on May 20 with plenty of accusations by different factions, of poisoning and the new Grand Vizier was Kemankes Kara Ali Pasha, the first nominated by Murad’s Regency and he immediately had to face not only Abaza’s Revolt but also a new Persian-Ottoman War provoked by Abbas I of Persia who attempted to use the chaos in his favor.
[1] In OTL, he died on December 15, 1621.
[2] In OTL, Sahim never was Khan, the best he did was being Kalga to his brother Mohammed.
[3] In OTL, this happened on May 20, 1622. Therefore all the events regarding his death happen earlier.
[4] Omar or Omer died in OTL at 3 months of age during a re-enactment of the Polish Campaign that Osman did. Since the campaign never happen, as the War against the Holy League replaced it and Omar was born posthumous, he survived.
-First of all, I know many of you want Updates about Portugal and I too want to make them but as I said, I need to explain things that are happening in Europe because many of these things will have repercussions in Portugal in the world.
-Second of all, I took a few sentences from the previous Update of France and improved it in this one. I will also have to fix the Update about the Middle East more specifically the next Persian-Ottoman War which originally I made it start in 1623 but since I'm improving the previous Updates there isn't much problem.
-Third, I'm trying to put those notes at the end, I'm not very good at making them as I feel that they are not needed but I will try. If I could have some feedback in this particular matter, I'd appreciate it if not...well...though luck.
-Fourth, war will resume but I will try to be more concise but I can't promise anything.
Lusitania
Donor
Great update and I see that there are several references to Portugal including in the Italian Peninsula, Portugal providing limited funds to those who opposed Ottoman Empire in Europe also new opportunity with Persians trying once again to take advantage of the Ottoman self inflicted wounds. We see how France is progressing with internal divisions and we would presume lack of interest or enthusiasm. Wonder how the British themselves are doing since I believe this was also a tumultuous time.
Question will Spain face the same revolts and circumstances in the 1630s that led to Portuguese quitting the Iberian Union in 1640 iOTL. Both Portugal and Aragon revolted against Madrid and they deemed Aragon more important while Portugal slipped away. Without Iberian Union do the Spanish still face the same pressures and circumstances and will they face same fate or worse?
Question will Spain face the same revolts and circumstances in the 1630s that led to Portuguese quitting the Iberian Union in 1640 iOTL. Both Portugal and Aragon revolted against Madrid and they deemed Aragon more important while Portugal slipped away. Without Iberian Union do the Spanish still face the same pressures and circumstances and will they face same fate or worse?
Portugal never liked to intervene aggressively against other countries but John IV and his counselors have a pretty good idea on how much their Navy surpasses the Tuscan one so they are trying to force a peaceful settlement of things but Christine is not into it because she dislikes Leonor but I wonder how much longer she will be able to keep her act...also expect Portugal to be more intervention in the future just not as much as Spain, France and OTL England at least for the next couple of centuries.
I have been making some plans for the region that later became Romania including more Portuguese and Catholic influence in the language and society while keeping its Romanian identity. This is just the beginning and transitional period.
I was mainly trying to fix the "plot-hole" I made when I did the Update about the Persian Gulf and the Middle East which I will hopefully fix soon (the Update)
It's more Louis XIII being pious and feeling threatened by the internal religious division in France than anything. All these counselors are anti-Habsburg with Condé being more aggressive, Luynes being more diplomatic and Richelieu being a middle ground leaning towards the diplomatic, yet they represent different "factions" and are seeking power which will cause some damage internally.
I was going to put the English in this but there was not much I gathered and since this Update was huge already, I scrapped it for later. On the positive side...things move faster?
Absolutely, the Spanish are in for a rude blow soon (I hope in two or threes Updates) in the Americas courtesy of the Dutch (they gotta blow the steam that they blew in Brazil somewhere...) and although things will go slightly different I'm planning revolts in Catalonia and Naples around OTL time and things go differently in the Netherlands, Francisco de Melo, the man leading the Spanish at Rocroi will not be working for them. Their fate in the 17th Century will be better in some things and worse in others, that is all I can say.
I had some idears for Africa ittl. I think it would be a good idear to give former soldiers in the east indies an opportunity to settle in south Africa, because many of them were often heavily neglected when their prime time was over. This would give the Portuguese a good opportunity to save manpower and gain more goods as they have a higher settler population. I believe this was discussed in Torbalds TL.
Also using Italian mercenaries in their colonial empire and awarding them with land in places like Morroco, the cape and more would be an idear worth following in my opinion, but im not that well informed about that.
Lastly maybe in the future the Portuguese could settle some parts of Austronesia.
Also using Italian mercenaries in their colonial empire and awarding them with land in places like Morroco, the cape and more would be an idear worth following in my opinion, but im not that well informed about that.
Lastly maybe in the future the Portuguese could settle some parts of Austronesia.