Interesting, but wasn't war a bit too much for the incident?
Which war and which incident?
Interesting, but wasn't war a bit too much for the incident?
1551 when they refuse to pay the tribute.Which war and which incident?
1551 when they refuse to pay the tribute.
Interesting...July 3, 1551: Mercenary soldiers in the employ of King Henry of France invade Italy, as the King had long had imperial designs on the peninsula and King Charles V of Spain had numerous possessions there. They are much more successful there now than IOTL, as some Spanish soldiers have been stripped from North Italian towns to go fight Emperor Martin in Central America.
This war, the Italian War of 1551-1558, is remembered as the start of a long French-Nahuatl alliance against Spain. The alliance is beneficial to the Nahuatl as the King of Spain can never turn his full wrath against Central America, while the French get the benefit of distracting the Spanish King in a place thousands of miles from any French possessions.
The following is an excerpt from a letter from Elisabeth of Valois, daughter of Henry of France, to her close friend and sister in law, Mary, Queen of Scots:
The court today received the ambassador from that strange kingdom in the west. He declares himself Don Carlo Xochialco, the envoy of Emperor Martin of the Nahuatl, son of Emperor Hernan. His manner was completely Spanish, though he wore strange clothing, a peculiar arrangement of strange and bright feathers, with much gold plating. He spoke like an educated man, but is still strange. He clearly has not a drop of Spanish blood, but he acts in a manner befitting a noble. He is of a strange brown color, but seems civilized. Some of the knightly men of court recoiled at the sight of him, thinking him a savage, but it is not so. I imagine that his kind shall be useful against Spain, for they seem to hate Charles as much as we do.
In the confusion, the Spaniards retreat, but some of the infantry try taking empty cases from the interior of the wagons. Hundreds are gunned down.
I named it Nahuatl because Cortez's main allies were the Tlaxcala, who had fought numerous wars against the Aztecs, who were sometimes referred to as Mexica tribes. If Cortes named it Mexico, he would be dealing with a lot of pissed off Tlaxcalans.
Interesting timeline. It's good to see Cortes doing a bit better than in OTL.
Presumably we'll be seeing the French overtake the Habsburgs as the premier power rather earlier than in OTL. Shall we be seeing a European marriage for Martin or does he still need to consolidate links with the Aztec nobility - perhaps a daughter of Cuitlahuac or Cuatemoc?
Seems somewhat analoguous to La Noche Triste.