Christopher Columbus leads the Tenth Crusade

Hnau

Banned
I don't know who has read the book by Orson Scott Card, Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus, but the book details an alternate history where Columbus takes up the life-goal of rescuing Constantinople from the Turks. The book aside, what if this was true?

Let's say in August 1476, during his encounter with the French corsair Guillaume de Casenove, Columbus prays to God for rescue, promising to lead a crusade to re-take Constantinople in return. After surviving, he sets out to fulfill this covenant. He skips out on his voyage to Iceland, staying in Lisbon, marrying the daughter of that Genoese nobleman to make a name for himself. But by 1482 he's ready, having spoken as a supporter of a new crusade to all he's come across that might be interested in investing. He visits the court of the newly-coronated King John II of Portugal, with no success, he is too busy with internal matters. A year later he would attempt to pull Spain into a new crusade with no success: Isabella and Ferdinand wouldn't focus on any new wars while the Reconquista was still on.

Columbus determined that to finance the crusade he would have to get papal support and the passion of the Italian states. Meanwhile he was fund-raising and gaining new investors. In 1484 he arrives in Rome just as Pope Innocent VIII succeeds Pope Sixtus IV and makes his speeches supporting a crusade against the growing Ottoman Empire. Columbus sees this as a sign and immediately requests an audience with the Pope, making it known that as an independent fund-raiser and investor he has already gathered money to put together a small army and navy to send against the Turks.

By 1485 the Pope receives him and in a famous meeting blesses Christopher Columbus as a holy warrior of God. Columbus tells Pope Innocent VIII that the recent deliverance of Prince Cem, pretender to the Ottoman throne, to his custody is a godsend. He convinces Pope Innocent that he has been ordained by God to lead a Tenth Crusade. At that moment Innocent VIII becomes very enthusiastic at the proposition of such a champion. However, he is currently plotting with noblemen in the Kingdom of Naples to overthrow Ferdinand I, who had led the kingdom against the Papal States in the War of Ferrara in 1482. He thus enlists Christopher Columbus to immediately use his funds and put together a small army to support the coup.

In the later part of the year, Columbus fulfills his end of the bargain, landing six ships and a small army at Naples when signalled, and this small force led by Columbus himself, determined that he has God's protection, is enough to turn the tide of the battle. Ferdinand II is imprisoned and sent to the Vatican, while the Francesca Coppola becomes the new King of Naples in a close alliance with the Papal States. Coppola puts Christopher Columbus into a high position in the Naples navy, with his expenditures for his support in the coup paid twice over. With King Francesca pledging his support for a new crusade (perhaps to gain territory in Greece or at least open them up to trade once more), Pope Innocent VIII began rallying the European monarchs once more to embark in a war against the Ottoman Empire. He would find a fiery passion in the new French King Charles VIII, who had just taken the throne, as well as in the Venetian Republic, who had already suffered from Ottoman aggression and felt the need to secure their possessions by inflicting damage.

What do you guys think? Realistic so far? Any ideas on how to make this work and what might result from all of this?
 
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Columbus discovers a time machine and travels back to 1217? The Fifth Crusade was in the 13th century... :confused:


Probably the last best chance for a crusade that is not immediately crushed is during Cem's rebellion in 1481. After that, the Ottomans are too strong, as AHP will probably point out.
 
How likely is Columbus to be given command of a conventional military operation at this point? He barely managed to get the Spanish court to trust him with a madcap venture.
 

Hnau

Banned
Alright, alright, I was confused and thought there were only Four Crusades. I checked wikipedia, found my crucial mistake, edited the thread, but it was too late. I've PMed Ian and hopefully he'll change the title. Then again, the mistaken title could make for a cool ASB timeline... Columbus and his ships ISOTed to the Fifth Crusade would be interesting. But I digress.

Anyway, I believe I have the causus belli for the Tenth Crusade, or Papal Crusade. In 1489, the first year of Venetian rule over Cyprus (after Queen Catherine abdicates), the Turks would pillage the Karpasia Peninsula. [1] The Venetian Republic calls for war. By this time I believe that the Crusade could be financed. Prince Cem is crucial: he is to become Sultan of Anatolia and rule a rump Ottoman Empire in that area, promise a perpetual peace between Christianity and Islamic civilization, and grant independence to Constantinople and all other European territories. Too bad he'll only live until 1495, it doesn't leave the Papal Crusaders too much time. However, Cem was only 36 at that time... perhaps ruling an empire and getting some fresh air would do him some good. We also can't rule out that he was assassinted in OTL. I say he could live to at least the age of 50, as his brother lived to see his 64th birthday.

The plan would probably include using Cyprus once again to launch an invasion. The crusaders would embark for the Southern Anatolian coast, pushing to capture Karaman to install Cem as pretender to the throne there. Meanwhile, using Crete and Naples as launching points, they would begin taking the islands and coastline of the Aegean, to free the Greeks. In the north, the Hungarians and Transylvanians would be pushing South.

I don't know if its successful, but I do think that Columbus has a fair chance of starting the crusade. Interested geopolitical consequences...
 
This sounds really cool, immediate plausibility be hanged. All you have to do is modify some aspects of Columbus' historical personality and give him a few lucky events and I think he can be a successful military commander.
 

Hnau

Banned
Thank you! As for the POD, let's make it even more impactful on Columbus' personality. The French corsair, Guillaume de Casenove, actually burns down Columbus' ship (in OTL his was one of the two that escaped) with flaming pitch. Just before he abandons the vessel, he promises God to rescue Constantinople from the Turks if He saved him. He jumps overboard, finds some floating debris (an oar or two) and swims for hours to the Portuguese coastline. Exhausted, he crawls onto the beach, and lets say he hallucinates a vision of the Holy Trinity approving of his mission. Luckily, a Portuguese servant-girl finds him, alerts a nearby village, whose men nurse Columbus back to health. In a few weeks he finds passage to Britain to hook up with the survivors of the attack, but soon he begins planning for his crusade.
 

Hnau

Banned
Alright, so I discovered that the OTL noblemen's revolt in 1485 against King Ferdinand I of Naples wasn't to establish themselves as King of Naples. Francesca Coppola and Antonello Sanseverino (the two primary nobles) desired to establish Rene II, Duke of Lorraine as the new King of Naples. A Frenchman takes the Kingdom of Naples, thus removing King Charles VIII's ambitions to take it for himself, instead he builds an alliance. Also, without the Pope requesting French intervention when Ferdinand I starts acting up in 1486, the idea of papal approval for ownership of Naples never festers in King Charles VIII's head. He is able to turn his focus directly to a Crusade, instead of taking Naples and then Jerusalem for himself.

Furthermore, I also discovered that France will be distracted by the Mad War and the regency of Anne of Brittany and Peter of Bourbon. King Charles VIII of France, as desirous of a crusade as he was, will only come to age in 1491, when he will be 21 and ready to command policy. But, on July 25, 1492, Pope Innocent VIII will die, and his successor will most likely still be the opulent Pope Alexander VI, who isn't concerned for a crusade.

Let's throw Pope Innocent VIII seven more months, that's not out of the bounds of butterflies. Let him live to March 1493. Mediterranean travel could start by early February, and that's when we'll launch the Tenth Crusade. Where from?

In fourteen hundred ninety-three
Columbus sailed from Sicily.

Alternatively, and I'm saying this because this is where the name of the timeline I'm planning is going to come from:

In fourteen hundred ninety-three
Columbus sailed the Middle Sea.

As in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1493, Columbus sailed the Middle Sea. Catchy enough?

Sailing from Sicily will require Columbus to gain the support of King Ferdinand II of Aragon for the Crusade, however. That might come easily enough.
 
The book is excellent!

Remember you need this Crusade to break 'Islam's back' and make it destroy....

Also remember that after the Crusade is complete that the Zapotec Empire invades and conquers Europe..... That would be REALLY interesting to see.
 

Keenir

Banned
The plan would probably include using Cyprus once again to launch an invasion. The crusaders would embark for the Southern Anatolian coast, pushing to capture Karaman to install Cem as pretender to the throne there. Meanwhile, using Crete and Naples as launching points, they would begin taking the islands and coastline of the Aegean, to free the Greeks. In the north, the Hungarians and Transylvanians would be pushing South.

I don't know if its successful, but I do think that Columbus has a fair chance of starting the crusade. Interested geopolitical consequences...

interesting idea.

and when (if?) the Ottomans start losing, the other dynasties (Karaman had been strongest back during the Ottoman Civil War in the early 1400s) would leap at the opportunity.
 

Hnau

Banned
Ludovico Sforza the ambitious manipulator, sought papal authority to make his de facto reign over the Duchy of Milan legitimate. While in OTL he pushed the French and the Holy Roman Empire into the Italian Wars, ITTL his scheming might be put to use with the Pope offering Milanese trading rights in the Aegean, through the Bosporus Strait, and even a re-establishment of the old Genovese colonies in the Crimea. Christopher Columbus could also be very persuasive, being Genovese himself.

-- Continuing the timeline instead of just fact-finding:

(I will call Christopher Columbus by his Italian name from now own: Cristoforo Colombo)

In 1486 the crown of the Kingdom of Naples (and the titulary Kingdom of Jerusalem) would be given to the popular René II, Duke of Lorraine, a passive but good nobleman who held titulary rights to the throne of Naples and was a loyal supporter of Pope Innocent VIII. Cristoforo Colombo kept his place in the Neapolitan navy and used his position to leverage himself in King René's court and promised to deliver to him Jerusalem. Working closely with the French and the Papal States, King René began building the military for a future crusade.

Between 1486 and 1488, Colombo' plans floundered when he arrived at the court of the young King Charles VIII, when it was made known that his regents would not support a Tenth Crusade during the Mad War and the conflicts over succession of Brittany. The Venetian Republic, a power absolutely necessary for the coming war due to its naval might, also proved reluctant so short after signing an expensive peace with the Ottoman Empire in 1479. Hope was found in the Duchy of Milan, where Colombo promised Ludovico Sforza that he could win him not only papal approval of his titles, but trading rights in a Christian Constantinople and the old Genovese colonies in the Crimea. Sforza began fund-raising for the crusade. King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castille also proved their favor for the crusade, anything to weaken the growing Islamic menace. Though the Spanish monarchs told Colombo that they would not fund military adventures until the Reconquista was over, they did express interest in opening up the Asian trade routes once more, a development that would certainly prove negative to the Portuguese who were benefitting from using their alternate trade route around Africa.

In May 1489, after returning to Naples for a time, Cristoforo Colombo became aware that Catherine Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus, had forfeited her titles to the Republic of Venice. The Turks were also reportedly raiding the Karpasia Peninsula, pillaging and taking prisoners to sell as slaves. In Venice, Cristoforo made the vehement request for the Republic 'to abandon your foolish peace treaty of ten-years and fight the Muslim who has already begun terrorizing on your newly-earned beaches'. The current Doge of Venice, Agostino Barbarigo, had been on amicable terms with Emperor Bayezid II, but now began considering the impact of the annexation of Cyprus and what would be needed to secure it. [In OTL, Barbarigo did not develop strained relations with Bayezid until 1492, for exactly the same reason, which led to the Venetian-Ottoman War of 1499. With Columbus' agitation and a Holy Coalition being formed, this trend accelerates.]

Barbarigo agreed with Colombo, but told him that he would not commit himself to a war with the Ottomans until France provided soldiers, as in the earlier crusades. Nevertheless, Pope Innocent VIII had reason to congratulate his champion when he visited the Papal See shortly after his audience: the Venetian Republic had joined.

Colombo's next stop in the year 1490 at the behest of the aging Pope was the Kingdom of Hungary, long beset by the Ottoman Empire, due to the death of Matthias Corvinus, who had become an enemy to Papal authority, and the opportunity of convincing the new heir to fight with them for the sake of Crusade and Christendom. Cristoforo knew that the Hungarians had signed a ten-year peace treaty with the Ottomans in 1484 for precisely the reason that Prince Cem could be used against the Empire. The high crusader was granted an audience at the court of new King Ladislaus II, who he discovered to be a weak man and legally bound to forfeit power to the nobles. Colombo found himself languishing at the Hungarian courts for months, forcing himself to convince one nobleman after another to pledge troops to the cause of crusade when it happened. The results were not the success that Cristoforo had been looking for, with less than half of the noble class agreeing to lackluster support for an offensive against the Ottomans if the Crusade showed itself to be successful.

Indeed, the Hungarian attendance was a failure for Cristoforo Colombo: it wasted precious time he could have used in the French court and alerted some pro-Ottoman Hungarian nobles to his plans. This would be passed in the months ahead to the bureaucracy of the Ottoman Empire.

In late 1490 the high crusader once again sailed for France, stopping in Milan and Savoy to once again search for investors. In early 1491 he visited the Spanish and Portuguese courts once again and then continued his voyage to France, arriving in Paris in the summer. Once again granted an audience with 20-year old King Charles VIII of France, he informed the monarch of new developments and the promise of Venice to support the Crusade. Here, Cristoforo used his showmanship and charm to declare that Venice was ready to shuttle "a hundred-thousand Crusaders to re-take the heathen for God and Pope and liberate the trodden Christians in Constantinople from bondage." King Charles was so enamored with Cristoforo that he was allowed to attend to his majority ceremony on June 30, when he reached the age of 21. However, he informed Colombo that the regents would not be willing to allow him to command his kingdom until he had wed. King Charles assured the high crusader that he had a plan to wed Anne of Brittany that December, bringing Brittany finally into the Kingdom of France and allowing him to take control of his peoples' destiny.

Invited to the wedding that winter, Colombo made a quick journey to King Henry VII of England, hoping to convince him to join the European kingdoms in a battle against the Ottomans. Henry VII, more concerned with securing his legitimacy on the English throne and securing the economy, and himself acknowledging that he was not a military man, pledged himself to the Crusades ideals but at the same time made no promises to spend his own money. The High Crusader returned to Paris for the wedding of King Charles VIII to Anne of Brittany. Afterward, he aided the young king and his advisors in creating a military committee to oversee preparations for the war. Colombo departed once more for the Mediterranean, promising that Venetian and Papal interests would be in contact with him.

In early-to-mid 1492, Cristoforo Colombo would once again attend the courts of Isabella and Ferdinand who had finally ended the Reconquista with the expulsion of the last Moorish King. He would keep his visit brief, congratulating the Spanish monarchs and wishing them well: he knew what their policy was. Nevertheless, King Ferdinand did contribute a small amount of Moorish gold as a token towards the Holy League, as well as three Spanish ships that would accompany Columbus to Sicily in order to inform the governors thereof that all Crusaders would be welcome there. With permission to use Aragonese Sicily as a base, Columbus would begin moving his interests to the island.

In mid-to-late 1492, Cristoforo Colombo visited the aged Pope Innocent VIII, who had fallen ill as of late. The Pope feared that he would not get to see the Crusade he had seeded back in 1484. He blessed Colombo with a few title and fiefs in the Papal States and informed Cristoforo that he had ordered a mobilization of his navy and army months ago: the Venetian Republic had formally joined the Holy League and pledged their military against the Ottoman Empire. Ships, crusaders and mercenaries were gathering in Naples, Venetian ports, Crete and elsewhere. The Tenth Crusade would begin as soon as the winter waters receded in the next year.

Cristoforo Colombo rushed from Italian princes and dukes, calling in his favors and investments, assembling his ships and soldiers, and sending for messengers into compliant states of the Holy Roman Empire and most importantly, the Kingdom of France. And then, as the Mediterranean became clouded and deadly to even those with the compass, word came that the Ottomans had begun a siege of the Venetian possession of Corfu.

In fourteen hundred ninety-two,
the Ottomans attacked Corfu...
 

Hnau

Banned
and when (if?) the Ottomans start losing, the other dynasties (Karaman had been strongest back during the Ottoman Civil War in the early 1400s) would leap at the opportunity.

Oh, undoubtly. I am planning on Columbus promising the Karamanids their old territory in return for their military support (50,000 riders in the Karamanid army...). Though the Hungarians will be very lax, I'd imagine a re-establishment of the Kingdom of Serbia, Kingdom of Wallachia, Kingdom of Bulgaria, Latin Empire, Kingdom of Thessalonika, Duchy of Epirus, Duchy of Athens, and Duchy of Achaia. The forms of government might change: I don't know who will claim what yet, but I like those subdivisions. Ottoman Anatolia, even the eastern side of the Bosporus Strait, will remain with Prince Cem, in order to keep his support... nevertheless, I see the Karamanids as an exception.

The Mamelukes will follow after the Ottomans: Columbus and the Kingdom of Naples wants Jerusalem badly, but I believe there will be a lot of fighting for it.
 

Keenir

Banned
Oh, undoubtly. I am planning on Columbus promising the Karamanids their old territory in return for their military support (50,000 riders in the Karamanid army...).

question - did any of the other dynasties survive the Ottoman Civil War?

The Mamelukes will follow after the Ottomans: Columbus and the Kingdom of Naples wants Jerusalem badly, but I believe there will be a lot of fighting for it.

except that the Ottomans (and Persians) were what kept the Mamluks from sweeping up the Holy Land coast and taking Anatolia for themselves.
 

Hnau

Banned
The Mamelukes were in a state of decline. In OTL, in 1492 the Black Death would hit Cairo and kill 200,000 lives. Sultan Qaitbay had fallen ill for the last of his years and the troops were unruly. Many of his officials died and were replaced by untrustworthy upstarts. This began a long period of palace intrigue: when in 1494 Qaitbay's health became markedly poor, the palace was wracked with intrigue, factionalism and purges. After he dies in August 1496, the Mamelukes will be consumed in a succession crisis that will last five years.

So, the Crusaders have until 1501 before the Mamelukes can begin to force a response. And you have to remember that the next Sultan, al-Ghawri, was the last, because when he attacked the Ottoman Empire, it led to internal betrayal and his own death that led to the quick conquest of the entirety of the Mameluke Sultanate.

In fact, I could see the Crusaders hiring Mameluke mercenaries to take down the Ottoman Empire. They were the Turks' enemies as well. After Prince Cem is made Emperor, and the crusaders invade the Levant, the Mamelukes will certainly fall. In fact, I believe crusader kingdoms could be plausibly carved out of Egypt as well.

question - did any of the other dynasties survive the Ottoman Civil War?

Ottoman dynasties? No, Ahmed died along with Bayezid II when Selim took power.
 

Raymann

Banned
For those of you who haven't read the book, it takes place in an ATL where Columbus led a crusade to capture Constantinople instead of discovering the New World. Contact is made interminably in the early 16th century and eventually a Tlaxcalan Empire grows powerful by forcing captured Portuguese sailors to modernize their empire. They eventually invade and raze Europe to the ground. Their decedents invent a devise that allows then to view and slightly interact with the past where they pose as angels for Columbus to get him to not only discover America but also convince Europe it's worth enough to conquer.

It worked and gave us our OTL but a massive war wrecked the planet and it was dying so we decided to go back again and change history so that neither Europe or America conquers the other (or at least in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean).

Apparently Card is working on two sequels.
 

Hnau

Banned
Seriously? I didn't know he was writing a sequel. I like the idea of time-travelers constantly editing the past, hoping for a better future. But, I don't think I'm going to follow Card's ideas to the letter. I did like the idea of Columbus leading a crusade, but the Tlaxcalan Invasion of Europe... it got far-fetched. There were too many creative license additions to history: Tarascans on the virge of beginning the Iron Age, Zapotecs building ships with planks, the Tlaxcalan god Camaxtli only taking sacrifices after a war, and the Tlaxcalan's ability to reverse-engineer rifles and Portuguese ships. Wankish, definitely.

No doubt the Portuguese will stumble on slightly more advanced Amerindian civilizations, but they won't be defeated by them.
 
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