Map Thread XIX
- Thread starter water123
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Lusitania
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In the original thread. Sorry I will not be posting comments in both post 1900 and map.
1517-1525
FRANCE AND ITALY;
Italian War of 1521–1526;
France Venice
Vs
Holy Roman Empire Spain Papal States England
In June 1519 the German Princes elected Charles V Holy Roman Emperor to succeed his grandfather Maximilian I. Charles, already Prince of the Netherlands, King of Spain and Archduke of Austria now had the ultimate influence in the Empire. The territories surrounding France were now mostly under the rule of Charles V.
Francis I had been a candidate for election as Emperor and this led to a personal rivalry between Francis and Charles that was one of the fundamental conflicts of the sixteenth century.
The deterioration of relations provided Francis with a pretext for war. Francis' candidacy had been supported by Pope Leo X, but, when Francis counted on the Pope's support in a war against Charles, Leo made peace and sided with the Empire against France. The Papacy needed to strengthen their position in Germany against Martin Luther.
Henry VIII of England joined the Pope (Pope Leo X died in 1522, was replaced by Adrian VI who died in 1523 and was succeeded in turn by Clement VII) and the Emperor in the war on France.
An English army advanced from Calais in conjunction with a Flemish-Imperial force.
The war broke out across Western Europe late in 1521, when a French–Navarrese expedition attempted to reconquer Navarre, supported by popular rebellion as the army approached Pamplona.
Tudela and other cities declared their loyalty to the House of Albret. Spain was distracted by the Revolts of the Communeros in Castile and of the Brotherhoods in Valencia, allowing the French-Navarrese army to briefly liberate all of Navarre. A large Castilian army won at the Battle of Noáin in June 1521, the Navarrese completely defeated.
Shortly afterwards, French-Navarrese troops seized the city of Fuenterrabia, at the mouth of the Bidasoa River, providing the French with a foothold on the Franco-Spanish border that would remain in their hands for the next two years.
In June, Imperial armies invaded northern France via the Meuse, razing cities and besieging Tournai, which had been returned to France by Henry VIII in 1519.
They were delayed by the French defence during the Siege of Mezieres which gave Francis time to raise an army to confront the attack. In October 1521, Francis made contact with the Imperial army, commanded by Charles V, near Valenciennes. Francis hesitated, allowing Charles time to retreat. Heavy rains prevented an effective pursuit when Francis was finally ready, the Imperials were able to withdraw without a battle.
With both Francis and Charles focused on northeast France, the conflict in Italy became a sideshow.
The Papal-Imperial army took Milan from the French in 1521, returning it to Francesco Sforza, the Duke of Milan, in 1522. At the Battle of Bicocca in April 1522, the French, outmatched by Imperial-Spanish arquebusier tactics, were defeated driving them from Lombardy.
This defeat brought England into the conflict. In the Treaty of Windsor in June 1522 a joint English-Imperial attack was agreed with each providing at least 40,000 men.
In July, the English attacked Brittany and Picardy from Calais. Francis, unable to raise funds to continue resistance, the English army burned and looted the countryside.
Francis concentrated on a lawsuit against Charles III, Duke of Bourbon to raise money. The Duke had received most of his lands via marriage to Suzanne, Duchess of Bourbon, who had recently died. Suzanne's sister, the King's mother; Louise of Savoy, claimed the lands should pass to her because of her closer kinship to Suzanne.
Francis began to confiscate portions in Louise's name before the outcome. Bourbon began to make overtures to Charles V to betray the French King.
By 1523, with the death of the Doge, Andrea Gritti rose to power in Venice. He quickly removed the Republic from the war.
Bourbon offered to begin a rebellion against Francis in exchange for money and German troops. When discovered by Francis, he fled to Besançon and openly entered the Emperor's service.
Charles invaded southern France over the Pyrenees, Bayonne successfully resisted the Spanish, but they were able to recapture Fuenterrabia in February 1524.
Meanwhile, in September 1523, an English army advanced into French territory from Calais in conjunction with a Flemish-Imperial force. Stretched thin by the Imperial attack, the Frenchb were unable to resist. The English advanced past the Somme, devastating the countryside, stopping only fifty miles from Paris. Charles failed to support the English offensive, however, so the English moved away from Paris, returning to Calais.
Francis focussed on Lombardy. In October 1523, an 18,000 strong French army advanced through the Piedmont to Novara, where it was joined by Swiss mercenaries. The Spanish, with only 9,000 men available retreated to Milan. When the French moved into winter quarters rather than attacking, 15,000 landsknechts and a force under Bourbon's command were able to reinforce Milan.
Many of the Swiss abandoned the French army forcing a withdrawal. French defeat at the Battle of the Sesia showed the power of massed arquebusiers against more traditional troops, the French retreated over the Alps in disarray.
Bourbon crossed the Alps with 11,000 men invading Provence in July, entering the provincial capital of Aix-en-Provence in August 1524. By mid-August, Marseille, the last French stronghold in Provence was besieged. Assaults on the city failed, however, and Bourbon was forced to retreat back to Italy when a French army arrived at Avignon.
In October 1524, Francis crossed the Alps, advancing on Milan with an army of 40,000. The French brushed aside Imperial attempts to hold its advance, but failed to bring the main body of Imperial troops to battle. With 16,000 men to resist the 33,000 French troops closing on Milan, it was decided that the city could not be defended and they withdrew to Lodi.
Francis advanced on Pavia, with a sizable Imperial garrison rather than puruing of the retreating Imperials.
The French invested Pavia in the last days of October. Inside were about 9,000 men, mainly mercenaries. In November, Francis attempted an assault through two breaches, but was beaten back with heavy casualties. The French decided to starve the defenders out.
In December, a Spanish force landed near Genoa, to interfere in conflict between pro-Valois and pro-Habsburg factions in the city. Francis dispatched a larger force to intercept them. Confronted by the more numerous French the Spanish troops surrendered.
Francis signed an agreement with the Pope who pledged not to assist Charles in exchange for assistance with the conquest of Naples. Against advice Francis detached forces south to aid the Pope.
An attempt to intercept the expedition near Fiorenzuola suffered heavy casualties and was forced to return to Lodi by the intervention of the forces Giovanni de' Medici, who had entered French service. Medici then returned to Pavia with a supply train of gunpowder and shot gathered by the Duke of Ferrara. The French position was, however, weakened by the departure of nearly 5,000 Swiss mercenaries returning to defend their cantons from marauding landsknechts.
In January 1525, The Spanish in Lodi were reinforced by 15,000 fresh landsknechts and renewed the offensive. A French outpost at San Angelo was captured, cutting the lines of communication between Pavia and Milan, while a column of landsknechts advanced on Belgiojoso and occupied the town. By February, they were only a few miles from Pavia.
Francis stationed the majority of his forces in the walled park of Mirabello outside the city walls, placing them between the garrison and the approaching army. Skirmishing and sallies from the garrison through February saw Medici seriously wounded, he withdrew to Piacenza to recuperate. This forced Francis to recall most of the Milan garrison
On the morning of 24 February 1525, engineers opened breaches in the walls of Mirabello park, allowing Imperial-Spanish forces to enter. Simoultaniously the garrison sortied from Pavia.
The French heavy cavalry masked its own artillery by a rapid advance, was surrounded and cut apart by landsknechts and massed Spanish arquebusiers. A series of infantry engagements resulted in the rout of the Swiss and French infantry. The French suffered many casualties, losing the majority of their army. It's commanders were killed or captured along with Francis himself.
Losing the larger part of the army to attrition and desertion, the remnants of the French forces, aside from a small garrison left to hold the Castel Sforzesco in Milan, retreated across the Alps.
Louise of Savoy, regent in France, gathered troops to defend against an expected invasion of Artois by the English troops. She also sent a mission to Suleiman the Magnificent requesting an attack on the Habsburgs. Suleiman sent an ultimatum to Charles, asking for the immediate release of Francis and demanding a yearly tithe from the Empire; when this was not forthcoming, the Ottomans launched an invasion of Hungary in the summer of 1526, aiming to reach Vienna.
Charles demanded of Francis the surrender of Lombardy, Burgundy and Provence.
At the start of 1526, Charles had demands from Venice and the Pope to restore Francesco II Sforza to the Duchy of Milan, and became eager to settle with Francis. Francis, having argued over Burgundy, was prepared to surrender it to obtain his release.
On 14 January 1526, Charles and Francis agreed the Treaty of Madrid; Francis renounced all his claims in Italy, Flanders, and Artois, surrendered Burgundy, agreed two of his sons be hostages in Madrid, promised to marry Charles' sister Eleanor and to restore to Bourbon the territories that had been seized from him.
Francis was released in March, Louise had made peace with England by the Treaty of Hampton Court. Francis, with the Pope's blessing, announced he would not be bound by the Treaty because it had been signed under duress. The Pope, meanwhile, convinced that the Emperor's growing power was a threat to his position in Italy, sent envoys to Francis and Henry VIII proposing an alliance.
Henry, having received nothing from the Treaty of Madrid, was receptive. In May, Francis and the Pope launched the War of the League of Cognac. Henry would not join until 1527.
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HABSBURG AND RELATED;
In 1519, Charles I, King of Spain and Prince of the Netherlands, inherited the Archduchy of Austria from his Grandfather Maximillian. He was later elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire as Charles V. In 1520 he also inherited the Duchy of Wurttemburg which, along with the Archduchy of Austria was administered on his behalf by Ferdinand I, Charles' brother.
BURGUNDIAN NETHERLANDS;
King Charles was now Lord of the lands originally claimed by George of Saxony, any military actions would now be co-ordinated rather than ad-hoc.
The Italian Wars continued politically if not militarily as the election of a new German Emperor was approaching.
King Charles was put forward by the Habsburg Netherlands but Charles of Guelders canvassed votes for King Francis of France. He argued his right to Guelders and rejected the offer to make his country a fief of the Habsburg Netherlands. He wanted the Duchy directly from the Emperor and knew Francis would favour that.
However, King Charles was elected Emperor and crowned in 1519. This was one of the causes of the new Italian war that broke out in 1521 as France and its allies contested the election.
Because both Habsburg and Valois could use all possible support, it was important to find allies in the Netherlands; France and Guelders needed each other to defeat the Habsburgs, who had raised taxes in the Netherlands to pay for the war. Initially the states allowed this but, really, only wanted to raise money for danger close to home.
In 1520, Duke Charles controlled or owned most of Friesland, except a few places where Burgundian troops were garrisoned; Leeuwarden, Harlingen and Franeker.
Groningen and the Ommelanden were governed by Charles of Geulders and the trade war between Kampen and Zwolle allowed him to claim the Overijssel.
In July 1521 Gelderland and Zwolle troops failed to take Hasselt by surprise, besieged the town in vain from July 16 to 21, finally to abandon it.
Charles of Geulders took advantage of the alliance with Francis I to proclaim himself Lord of the Ommelanden, in 1522, and occupied the Overijssel and Drenthe which he now controlled except for Hasselt and Oldenzaal.
A new Burgundian governor of Friesland counter-attacked in 1522. Guelders troops were expelled from Sneek and Stavoren, the following year Lemmer and Sloten were captured, the last Gelderland footholds in Friesland. Guelders' Frisian allies were captured and beheaded in Leeuwarden. Steenwijk was also lost but re-taken in 1523, soon evacuated again after an accidental fire. Zwolle fell out with Duke Charles and resisted a siege in 1524.
When the Bishop of Utrecht died in April 1524, the city chose Henry of Bavaria as Bishop Henry II. The Habsburgs and Gelderland had to accept this neutral election. They negotiated with Henry for the evacuation of the Overijssel, where both of them still had troops. In December Charles of Geulders sealed a deal with Henry II, renouncing his rights to the Overijssel for a large compensation. At the end of 1524 Guelders owned Groningen, the Ommelanden and Drenthe.
Henry II could not manage without problems, high taxes led, in 1525, to riots in Utrecht. The city government was replaced by an administration where the guilds had great influence and they carried out far-reaching reforms. In 1526 a second revolution took place. Armored men, knights and some civilians defeated the guild in a street fight. Their government no longer obeyed elect Henry II.
SPAIN;
The Revolt of the Brotherhoods was a revolt by artisan guilds against the government of King Charles I in the Kingdom of Valencia. Taking place from 1519–1523, with most of the fighting occurring during 1521, this inspired a related revolt on the island of Majorca, from 1521–1523.
The Revolt of the Comuneros was an uprising by citizens of Castile against the rule of Charles I's administration between 1520 and 1521. The rebels controlled the heart of Castile, ruling many cities, including Valladolid, Tordesillas, and Toledo.
Both rebellions were inspired by Charles' departure for Germany to take the throne as Holy Roman Emperor, leaving behind a somewhat disreputable Royal Council and regent, Adrian of Utrecht, the future Pope Adrian VI.
Ferdinand had pursued an ambitious foreign policy, stretching the finances of Aragon and Castile to their limit. Spanish relations with the Muslim nations of North Africa was still poor after the Reconquista. The coast of Aragon constantly raided by Barbary pirates.
Troops were required to be stationed in Granada and Navarre to maintain order. In order to maintain a coastal defense against the pirates, Ferdinand gave the Guilds permission to arm themselves.
Local nobles did not approve of this and tried to prevent the Guilds from arming.
In 1519, Charles' grandfather, Emperor Maximilian I, died. Charles competed with King Francis I of France to win the Imperial election by bribing Prince-Electors. Charles won, becoming Emperor Charles V.
He raised funds to pay the debts incurred in the election through taxes in Castile. This would help spark the Revolt of the Comuneros.
Charles re-affirmed the right of the Guilds to arm themselves against Muslim raids, forcing the Valencian nobles to accept this decision.
In 1519, plague struck Valencia, nobles died, and many others fled to the countryside. The population rioted against the nobles amidst many rumours. Government tried to contain the rioters, but was deposed instead. The Guilds stepped into this power vacuum, replacing the government of Valencia. The "Council of Thirteen" became the new government of the Valencia, a representative government similar to the Italian republics.
Charles I was in Aachen, in 1520, preparing to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The only steps he took were to revoke the Guild's grant of arms, measures which were ignored.
Tension increased after the appointment of a new Viceroy in April 1520. The Guilds staged a coup d'état and popular representatives replaced most of the remaining government functions and the courts.
Councils of Thirteen took power in the other cities of Valencia as the revolt spread. What had previously been a quiet assertion of power became a civil war.
A more radocal group took power seeking land reform and a social revolution to reduce the power of the aristocracy.
In summer 1520, some military actions occurred such as an assault on the viscounty of Xelva, the pillage of noble palaces, and the redistribution of nearby land but, the war did not truly expand until June 1521. Royalists were in two groups; In the south, the Viceroy led a force based out of Denia, Andalusian nobles sent an army to assist as well. In the north, the Duke of Segorbe, commanded.
The Guilds took over several cities, in the north, the regions of the Maestrat and Camp de Morviedro and in the south, in Alzira, Xàtiva, Gandia, and Elx.
In the north, the Guilds suffered two defeats in short succession, but the southern front was more successful, the rebels took the castle of Xàtiva and won a victory at the Battle of Gandia against the personal troops of the Viceroy in July 1521.
After this, the leadership of the Guilds fell into disarray. Some favored a negotiated peace, whilst the military urged the Guilds to fight on. Distracted by internal disputes, the Guilds suffered a crushing defeat a week after their victory at Gandia at the Battle of Oriola, against the Viceroy reinforceed from Andalusia. The south of the Kingdom of Valencia, mostly fell back into royalist hands. The Council of Thirteen resigned, and three months later, in November, the City of Valencia surrendered to the royalist army.
Only Xàtiva and Alzira remained under the control of the Guilds, their area of action limited to the Horta of Valencia, Alzira, and Xàtiva.
The Viceroy advocated a policy of reconciliation, offering generous terms to those who surrendered. In December 1522, the strongholds of Xàtiva and Alzira fell, which ended the Revolt of the Guilds conclusively.
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THE EMPIRE;
In the 16th Century Germany was a patchwork of small and medium sized territories with many different laws, traditions, religious practices and levels of wealth.
This is shown by the myriad of titles. At the top there were a few Kingdoms, Principalities and Electorates but below these were Counties, Baronies, Abbeys, Bisheropics, Archbisheropics, Duchies, Margravates, Landgrafts, Imperial Cities, territories and numerous more ways to hold land. All of these lands interacted in different ways, as vassals, protectorates, allies or loose confederations within the framework of the Electoral Circles and the large Holy Roman Empire.
Added to this was the emerging Protestant movement stirring discontent with the corrupt practices of the Roman Church.
It was a time when the Feudal system was breaking down, Urban growth was changing the dynamic of power and many were seeking new ways to exist.
Feudalism was breaking down more in the North of Germany, improving the lot of the people in the main. In the South, however, nobles were more catholic, in both senses of the word, and slow to adapt to change.
For the Knights, feuding, including kidnapping, ransom and bribery were legitimate means of enforcing one's interests and, for the Franconian Imperial Knights, whose importance was waning, it was also a means to combat the power of the emerging states. The Imperial Cities presented an Act of Protest to the Imperial Reichstag but the only part of the Act actually passed was a ban on private warfare. Even then, the Princes ensured the ban applied only to the knights and exempted any private wars in which the Princes might engage. This took a major source of income from the knights. Capturing and holding cities and Princes for ransom was a major source of their income.
This background saw a number of disturbances, termed wars or revolts but more protests against change or conditions.
The Knights' Revolt;
Was a revolt by a number of Protestant and religious humanist German knights from autumn 1522 to May 1523
The Franconian War;
Was a campaign by the Swabian League against 23 "Robber Baron" castles in June and July 1523.
The Great Peasants' Revolt;
Was a widespread popular revolt in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525.
This was the most dangerous to the established nobility and cost over 80,000 deaths to subdue.
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The Duchies of Jülich and Berg united in 1423. In 1521, the ruling house of these Duchies and the county of Ravensberg, fell extinct. Only the last Duke's daughter Maria von Geldern was left to inherit; under Salic law, women could only hold property through a husband or guardian, so the territories passed to her husband, John III, Duke of Cleves and Mark. These United Duchies controlled most of the North Rhine region, excepting the ecclesiastical territories of Electoral Cologne and Münster.
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JAGIELLONIAN LANDS;
POLAND;
The Polish–Teutonic War of 1519–1521, between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Knights, ended with an armistice in April 1521 enforced by Emperor Charles V.
Four years later, under the Treaty of Kraków, part of the Catholic Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights became secularized as the Duchy of Prussia. The reigning Grand Master Albert of Hohenzollern-Brandenburg-Ansbach became the first Duke of Prussia by paying the Prussian Homage as vassal to his uncle, Polish king Sigismund I the Old.
The Teutonic Order was under Polish suzerainty. The Order decided to elect an Imperial Prince as Grand Master, who as subject to the Emperor could resist having to pay homage to Kings of Poland.
Albert of Hohenzollern became Grand Master in 1511. His uncle, Sigismund I the Old, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, it was hoped, would agree to settle disputes over eastern Prussia.
The new Grand Master refused to submit to the crown of Poland. As war appeared inevitable, Albert secured allies and negotiated with Emperor Maximilian I.
In 1512, Muscovy invaded the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Order refused to help the Duchy, angering Sigismund I. In 1517, the Order allied with Vasili III of Muscovy. Albert felt he held the upper hand and demanded the return of Royal Prussia and Warmia territories, as well as compensation for their "Polish occupation".
In December 1519, the Polish sejm, declared a state of war existed between the Polish Kingdom and the Order. Lithuania was unable to aid Poland as it was occupied with Muscovy.
Polish forces gathered near Koło and towards Königsberg, laying siege to Marienwerder. The siege was slow as the Polish forces lacked artillery power. The Polish fleet blockaded Teutonic ports.
The Knights took the Warmian city of Braunsberg. The Polish army received artillery in April and took Marienwerder later that month, but failed to retake Braunsberg.
Polish forces from the Duchy of Masovia and Gdańsk attacked nearby Teutonic forts. The Order recieving reinforcements from Germany in summer 1520, started an offensive, attacking Masovia, Warmia and Ermeland, besieging Lidzbark Warmiński. In August other German reinforcements attacked Wielkopolska, taking Międzyrzecz.
The Order took Wałcz, Chojnice, Starogard Gdański and Tczew and started a siege of Gdańsk, but retreated when faced with Polish reinforcements and financial troubles which impacted on their mercenaries who refused to fight until paid.
Polish forces retook Tczew, Starogard and Chojnice whilst the Knights retreated towards Oliwa and Puck. Poland then experienced financial troubles. The Knights launched a counteroffensive, taking Nowe Miasto Lubawskie and approaching Płock and Olsztyn.
At that point, the Ottoman Empire invaded Hungary, attacking Belgrade. The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, demanded the Knights and Poles stop hostilities and aid in the defense of Europe.
An armistice was agreed in the Compromise of Toruń. During the four-year truce, the dispute was referred to Emperor Charles V but no settlement was reached.
Albert was advised by Martin Luther to abandon the rules of his Order, marry, and convert Prussia into a hereditary Duchy. Albert agreed, converted to Lutheranism in 1525 and assumed the hereditary rights to the now-secularized Duchy of Prussia, as a vassal of the Polish Crown.
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OTTOMAN EMPIRE;
The strongest Hungarian fortress in the south, Nándorfehérvár (modern Belgrade), was attacked by the Turks.
Suleiman attacked mid-May 1521. Hungary was in disarray and unable to effectively counter.
Suleiman decided that the main direction of attack was be from the Sava, unlike previous attempts. The Ottoman army first had to capture Srem, which was eventually done.
Belgrade persisted its resistance, despite having a garrison of only 700 men, and receiving no aid from Hungary. They had to surrender the city in late August 1521.
The loss of Belgrade had caused great alarm in Hungary but the 60,000 strong relief army neglected to take food and disbanded due to hunger and disease without even trying to recapture the city.
Sulieman pushed no further, wanting to eliminate the potential threat from the Knights Hospitaller on Rhodes. Now that Sulieman also ruled in Egypt, naval communication and trade in the Eastern Mediterranean was key and the Hospitallers had a formidable navy which waged a constant campaign against Ottoman shipping.
The Siege of Rhodes was the second attempt by the Ottomans to expel the Knights of Rhodes (Knights Hospitaller) from the island stronghold securing Ottoman control of the Eastern Mediterranean. In the summer of 1522, Suleiman dispatched an armada of some 400 ships and personally led an army of 100,000. Following a siege of five months, Rhodes capitulated and Suleiman allowed the Knights of Rhodes to depart.
Sulieman did not ignore Europe during this time, Ottoman forces in Croatia continued to advance slowly, besieging and taking Knin, Ostrovica and Blagaj.
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1526-1530
FRANCE AND ITALY;
War of the League of Cognac
1526-1528
Holy Roman Empire Spain Ferrara
Vs
France Papal States Venice Florence England Navarre Genoa Milan
Pope Clement VII, along with Venice, organized an alliance to drive Charles V from Italy. Francis, having signed the Treaty of Madrid, was released and returned to France, where he soon announced his intention to assist Clement. In May 1526, the League of Cognac was signed by Francis, Clement, Venice, Florence, and the Sforza of Milan. Henry VIII, wanting the treaty signed in England, refused to join until 1527.
Imperial troops in Italy were discontented because they were owed so much back pay, some were even refusing to take the field. The League of Cognac wished to take advantage of this to attack.
Venetian troops, marched westward to join their Papal allies, along the way, they discovered that a revolt had occurred in Lodi, under the Visconti family. A disaffected captain was willing to open the gates to Venice. The League seized Lodi, but Imperial troops marched into Lombardy and forced Sforza to abandon Milan. Imperial forces were paid off by Bologna and Florence on their way to Rome.
In June 1526 the commander of the Imperial forces in Italy, went, as an ambassador from the Emperor, to Pope Clement VII. The message was that if the Papal States aligned with France, the Holy Roman Empire would use Italian allies against the Papacy. Pope Clement VII recognized the threat presented to the Papal States if Siena joined with Imperial troops already in Italy.
In 1527, 14,000 landsknechts and 6,000 Spanish tercios gathered at Piacenza and advanced on Rome. The Papal armies, proved barely able to resist. Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, commander of the Spanish army, attacked Rome. The city was taken rapidly but Charles de Bourbon was killed. The underpaid army thoroughly sacked the Holy City, forcing Pope Clement VII to flee to the Castel Sant’Angelo. The Pope was forced to ransom himself.
The Pope withdrew his forces from the League just as French forces entered Lombardy.
The looting of Rome, and removal of Clement from any part in the war, prompted the French to approach Henry VIII.
Henry and Francis signed the Treaty of Westminster, pledging to combine their forces against Charles. Francis sent an army through Genoa, where Andrea Doria joined the French, to Naples, where it dug itself in for an extended siege.
Francis delayed handing back Savona to the Genoese as he had promised. In 1528 Doria deserted the French and sailed for Genoa where, with the help of some leading citizens, he expelled the French and re-established the Republic under imperial protection.
1528-1530:
Holy Roman Empire Spain Genoa Ferrara Mantua
Vs
France Papal States Venice Florence Milan Navarre
The siege collapsed when plague broke out in the French camp. Andrea Doria's offensive in Genoa, where he broke the blockade of the city and forced the surrender of Savona, along with the defeat of a French relief force ended Francis's hopes of regaining his hold on Italy.
In 1529 a French army was destroyed by Spanish troops leaving the Duchy of Milan under complete control of the Emperor.
Francis sought peace with Charles. Negotiations began in July 1529 in Cambrai, conducted by Francis's mother Louise of Savoy and her sister-in-law Margaret of Austria, leading to its being known as the Peace of the Ladies.
The final terms mirrored the Treaty of Madrid of three years earlier; Francis surrendered his rights to Artois, Flanders, and Tournai, and paid a ransom of two million golden écus before his sons were released. The surrender of Burgundy and the clause about Charles de Bourbon, who died at Rome, was no longer included. The Treaty of Cambrai removed France from the war, leaving Venice, Florence, and the Pope alone against Charles.
Charles, having arrived in Genoa, proceeded to Bologna to meet with the Pope. Clement absolved the participants of the sack of Rome and promised to crown Charles. In return he received Ravenna from Venice who, in exchange, was permitted to retain the lands gained at Marignano. Charles abandoned his plan to place Alessandro de' Medici on the throne of Milan, in part due to Venetian objections.
The Republic of Florence alone continued to resist the Imperial forces. A Florentine army engaged the Imperial armies at Gavinana in 1530, the Imperial army won a decisive victory and Florence surrendered ten days later. The Medici, ousted during the war, were restored as Alessandro de' Medici was installed as ruler of Florence by the victorious Imperial troops.
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HABSBURG AND RELATED;
HABSBURG NETHERLANDS;
Henry II, Bishop of Utrecht, sought support from Charles V, who would only help him if he would surrender his secular power to Charles. Henry agreed and signed the Treaty of Schoonhoven, in 1527.
When the cities of Overijssel also asked for assistance against Gelre, Imperial envoys advised that they could enjoy protection from Charles V if they accepted him as Lord. The States of Overijssel agreed this in January 1528, Henry II accepted this in February, if the Pope agreed. Pope Clement VII had no alternative, after the Sack of Rome in 1527, but to agree.
Habsburg troops entered Overijssel, driving the Geldersen out; Overijssel became part of the Habsburg Netherlands.
Meanwhile a Gelre raid through Holland sacked The Hague. Because of this Dutch and Brabantine cities were now prepared to pay for troops. An army invaded the Veluwe to link with the Overijssel. In Utrecht, Gelderland troops were demoralized by poor payment and being cut off from Guelders, the citizens were so discouraged that they let Henry II's army enter at the end of June.
The Geldersen vacated the entire Nedersticht (Utrecht) but Henry ruled only briefly as Charles demanded payment. In October 1528, Henry surrendered Utrencht, recognized by the Pope in August 1529.
With Gelre itself threatened, and towns already occupied, in October 1528, Charles V and Charles of Gelre agreed peace. Gelre would retain Groningen, the Ommelanden and Drenthe.
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THE EMPIRE;
First War of Kappel;
The war was a conflict in 1529 between Protestant and Catholic cantons of the Swiss Confederacy.
The Protestant canton and city of Zürich had concluded a defence alliancewith other Protestant cantons and included the free imperial cities of Konstanz and Strasbourg. In response, the Catholic cantons formed an alliance with Ferdinand of Austria.
Conflicts over common territories, especially the Thurgau, saw mediation attempts fail. A Catholic priest was executed in the Thurgau in May 1528, and a Protestant pastor burned at the stake in Schwyz in 1529. Zürich declared war on 8 June, occupied the Thurgau and the territories of the Abbey of St. Gall, and marched to Kappel on the border with Zug.
Mediation avoided open war but armies were in the field. With negotiations taking place the two armies arranged to avoid mutual provocation.
Without any battle in the war, the first peace of Kappel was signed.
The peace was not favourable to the Catholic party, which had to dissolve its alliance with the Habsburgs. Tensions remained, flaring up again in the Second War of Kappel two years later.
BOHEMIA;
The marriage of Ferdinand of Habsburg to Anna Jageillon led to Ferdinand's inheritance of Bohemia upon the death of Louis II.
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POLAND;
Mazovia was integrated into the Polish Crown in 1529.
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HUNGARY;
King Louis II of Hungary married Mary of Habsburg in 1522. The Ottomans saw this Jagiellonian-Habsburg marital alliance as a threat to their power in the Balkans and worked to break it.
When Suleiman I came to power in 1520, the High Porte made the Hungarians offers of peace. For unclear reasons, Louis refused.
Even in peacetime, the Ottomans raided Hungarian lands and conquered border castles, but a battle still offered Louis a glimpse of hope.
OTTOMAN EMPIRE;
Mohacs;
King Francis I of France had been defeated at Pavia in 1525, imprisoned, Francis was forced to sign the Treaty of Madrid.
Francis formed a formal Franco-Ottoman alliance with Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent as an ally against Charles V. To relieve the Habsburg pressure on France, in 1525 Francis asked Suleiman to make war on the Holy Roman Empire, and the road from Turkey to the Holy Roman Empire led across Hungary. The request coincided with the ambitions of Suleiman and gave him an incentive to attack Hungary in 1526, 5 years after attacking the city of Belgrade.
The Grand Vizier constructed a bridge ahead of the army, despite this, the army took five days to cross the Danube River meeting no resistance from the Hungarians. Pétervárad, Ujlak, and Eszek fell to the Turks in July 1526. For 400 km along the Danube between Pétervárad and Buda there was no defensible town, village, or fortification of any sort. The Ottomans had advanced almost unopposed.
King Louis II had planned to send a vanguard to hold the Danube but the nobles refused to follow the King's deputy in battle.
The Hungarians assembled three units: a Transylvanian army, under John Zápolya, to guard the passes of the Transylvanian Alps, about 13,000 strong; a main army about 25,000 strong, including Spanish, German, Bohemian and Serbian mercenaries plus a 1,500 strong polish contingent; and a small Croat force of around 5,000 men. However, the Transylvanian and Croatian forces were farther from Buda than the Ottomans were.
The army, expensive but obsolete, was reliant on old fashioned heavily armoured knights on armoured horses.
The Ottomans deployed some 300 cannons, the largest field artillery of the era, whilst Hungary had only 85 cannons, still a greater number than any deployed on battlefields by contemporary Western European armies.
When Louis took the field, it was on an open but uneven plain with some swampy marshes, near Mohács. The Hungarian army, arrayed to take advantage of the terrain, hoped to engage the Ottoman army piecemeal. They had the advantage of well-rested troops, while the Turks had a strenuous march in scorching summer heat. Rather than attacking the fatigued enemy immediately, the Hungarians let them struggle through the marshy terrain.
The Hungarian battlefront consisted of two lines. The first had a center of mercenary infantry and artillery with the majority of the cavalry on either flank, the second was a mix of levy infantry and cavalry.
The Ottoman army, 50,000 strong, was a more modern force built around artillery and the elite, musket-armed Janissaries. The remainder consisted of feudal Timarli cavalry and conscripted levies from Rumelia and the Balkans.
As Suleiman's troops, Rumelians, moved onto the battlefield, the heavy Christian knights launched an effective charge, brushing aside first the Akinjis and then the Sipahis. This caused considerable chaos among the irregular Ottoman troops, but the arrival of Ottoman regulars, from the reserves, steadied them.
The superiority of the Ottoman regulars and a charge of the, elite, Janissaries overwhelmed the attackers. The Hungarians taking serious casualties, advancing into withering fire and flank attacks, from skillfully handled Turkish artillery and musket volleys, could not hold their positions. Those who did not flee were surrounded and killed or captured.
Louis left the field but was thrown from his horse in a river and died weighed down by heavy armor.
Suleiman waited at Mohacs for a few days before moving cautiously against Buda. Buda was left undefended; only the French and Venetian ambassadors awaited the Sultan, to congratulate him on his victory.
Though they pillaged the castle and surroundings, the Ottoman army retreated soon afterwards.
Conflicting Claims;
Bohemia elected Archduke Ferdinand but the Habsburgs needed the economic power of Hungary to resist the Ottomans. In 1527, the Croatian nobles met in Cetin electing Ferdinand as their King.
John Zápolya arrived at the battle too late and retreated. Suleiman was not ready to annex Hungary completely, Zápolya was chosen by Hungarian electorate as their ruler in 1526. Meanwhile, at the Diet of Bratislava Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was declared King of Hungary in 1527. The nobles of Hungary had to choose between pledging allegiance to a native, but vassal of Suleiman, or a Christian "foreigner". The Habsburg Archduke of Austria, Ferdinand I, Louis's brother-in-law, was to succeed under the treaty with King Vladislaus II.
The primary goal of these two Kings was to gain the upper hand or, if possible, destroy the other. Zápolya more than once acquired the help of the Turkish sultan, Suleiman. Ferdinand received help from Austria and from the West.
War of Succession
The Hungarian campaign of 1527–1528 was launched by Ferdinand I, Archduke of Austria and King of Hungary and Bohemia against the Ottoman Turks and to drive out John Zápolya.
After Mohács, the Ottomans withdrew and Ferdinand attempted to enforce his claim as King of Hungary. He invaded Hungary with two armies, Zápolya was unable to prevent Ferdinand's advance which captured Buda, Győr, Komárom, Esztergom, and Székesfehérvár by the start of 1528, moving east, he defeated Zápolya at Tarcal. In the south the second army captured Varasd, securing Slavonia for Ferdinand. In March 1528 John Zápolya was again defeated at Szina and fled to Poland.
Suleiman the Magnificent, took no action at this stage, despite the pleas of his vassal, until 1529, when he led an army about 120,000 strong into Hungary.
Returning, Zápolya won at Sarospatak as Ferdinand now had to deal with the Ottomans.
Siege of Vienna
Suleiman started the campaign in May facing obstacles from the beginning, spring rains were particularly heavy causing flooding and rendering parts of the march route barely passable. Many large-calibre cannons and artillery pieces became hopelessly mired or bogged down, leaving Suleiman no choice but to abandon them. Sickness among the janissaries claimed many lives.
Joined by a large cavalry force led by John Zápolya, Suleiman re-took Buda on 8 September. Ferdinand's gains of the previous two years were easily taken. Many of the forts surrendered without resistance, greatly speeding up the advance. Only the fortress of Pozsony resisted, where the Turkish fleet was bombarded as it sailed up the Danube.
With Buda back under Ottoman control, through vassal John Zápolya, the Ottoman position in Hungary was strengthened. The campaign deliberately left a trail of collateral damage in Habsburg Hungary and Austria impairing Ferdinand's capacity to mount a counter-attack. Suleiman, unable to force Ferdinand to open battle, arrived at Vienna in September.
Many Ottoman troops arrived in a poor state of health after the long march through the wet season. Of those fit to fight, a third were light cavalry, or Sipahis, ill-suited for siege warfare and Suleiman's heavy artillery had already been abandoned on the march.
Ferdinand's garrison was about 16,000 strong including an ad-hoc resistance formed from local farmers, peasants and civilians, but was outnumbered roughly 7 to 1. The walls of Vienna were an invitation to Ottoman cannon being only 6ft thick in some areas. Nonetheless, Vienna was defended with great vigor. The defending forces detected and successfully destroyed several mines intended to bring down the city's walls, dispatching 8,000 men on 6 October to attack Ottoman mining operations, destroying many of the tunnels. On October 12 a war council was called and on October 14 Suleiman abandoned the siege. The retreat was hampered by, still untaken, Pozsony which once more bombarded the Ottomans.
Early snowfall made matters worse and it would be another three years before Suleiman could campaign in Hungary. Although the siege was a failure, the campaign can be seen as a success, since John Zápolya now ruled most of Hungary as a vassal of Ottomans.
After the attack on Vienna measures were taken to organize the defence of Habsburg borders, Charles V ceded the Maltese islands to the Knights Hospitaller and there was a rapprochement between Charles V and Pope Clement VII, culminating in the Pope's coronation of Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor on February 24, 1530.
In 1530 Ferdinand again attacked Zápolya, capturing Esztergom but was repulsed from a seige at Buda.
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The "Second Serbian Empire" 1526-1527
Since the end of the Serbian Empire and the Ottoman conquest, Serbian nobility had moved north into southern Hungary. In the confusion after the disaster at Mohács the leader of Serbian mercenaries in Hungary, Jovan Nenad, drove the Ottomans from parts of Banat, Syrmia and Srem, which he then ruled as the Second Serbian Empire.
He tried to ally with John Zápolya but Zápolya refused to acknowledge Nenad's territory. Conflict with Hungarian nobility arose when they were refused their properties, confiscated by Nenad, additionally, he pillaged Hungarian estates and villages, terrorizing the population. This turned both nobility and peasants against him.
His army grew, drawing Serbs from Ottoman territory, Vlachs and some Roman Catholics. By the beginning of 1527, it numbered around 15,000 men.
Nenad considered the fight against the Ottomans for the liberation of the Serb lands his primary task. In early 1527, Ferdinand was preparing for the against Zápolya, during that time, Zápolya sent men after Nenad but underestimated his strength. Zápolya's men were defeated in early April at the Battle of Szőlős.
A second army, the entire strength of Transylvania and upper Hungary, decisively defeated Nenad's army in the Battle of Sződfalva, killing around 8,000 of his men.
Attempting to unite with Ferdinand, Nenad was wounded in Szeged, shortly after he was captured and killed, his head was delivered to Zápolya. After his death the remainder of his army dispersed.
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Yeah I wasn’t very fond of it either tbh, but for some truly unfounded reason I decided not to deviate too far from the reference map
coffeebreakcigarette
Banned
Oh shite. I will have to ask someone to make it better I guess. @PolishMagnet
Love, love, love this series and the maps, @Bob Hope ! Do you have anything planned for/in Scandinavia?
1517-1525
FRANCE AND ITALY;
Italian War of 1521–1526;
France Venice
Vs
Holy Roman Empire Spain Papal States England
In June 1519 the German Princes elected Charles V Holy Roman Emperor to succeed his grandfather Maximilian I. Charles, already Prince of the Netherlands, King of Spain and Archduke of Austria now had the ultimate influence in the Empire. The territories surrounding France were now mostly under the rule of Charles V.
Francis I had been a candidate for election as Emperor and this led to a personal rivalry between Francis and Charles that was one of the fundamental conflicts of the sixteenth century.
The deterioration of relations provided Francis with a pretext for war. Francis' candidacy had been supported by Pope Leo X, but, when Francis counted on the Pope's support in a war against Charles, Leo made peace and sided with the Empire against France. The Papacy needed to strengthen their position in Germany against Martin Luther.
Henry VIII of England joined the Pope (Pope Leo X died in 1522, was replaced by Adrian VI who died in 1523 and was succeeded in turn by Clement VII) and the Emperor in the war on France.
An English army advanced from Calais in conjunction with a Flemish-Imperial force.
The war broke out across Western Europe late in 1521, when a French–Navarrese expedition attempted to reconquer Navarre, supported by popular rebellion as the army approached Pamplona.
Tudela and other cities declared their loyalty to the House of Albret. Spain was distracted by the Revolts of the Communeros in Castile and of the Brotherhoods in Valencia, allowing the French-Navarrese army to briefly liberate all of Navarre. A large Castilian army won at the Battle of Noáin in June 1521, the Navarrese completely defeated.
Shortly afterwards, French-Navarrese troops seized the city of Fuenterrabia, at the mouth of the Bidasoa River, providing the French with a foothold on the Franco-Spanish border that would remain in their hands for the next two years.
In June, Imperial armies invaded northern France via the Meuse, razing cities and besieging Tournai, which had been returned to France by Henry VIII in 1519.
They were delayed by the French defence during the Siege of Mezieres which gave Francis time to raise an army to confront the attack. In October 1521, Francis made contact with the Imperial army, commanded by Charles V, near Valenciennes. Francis hesitated, allowing Charles time to retreat. Heavy rains prevented an effective pursuit when Francis was finally ready, the Imperials were able to withdraw without a battle.
With both Francis and Charles focused on northeast France, the conflict in Italy became a sideshow.
The Papal-Imperial army took Milan from the French in 1521, returning it to Francesco Sforza, the Duke of Milan, in 1522. At the Battle of Bicocca in April 1522, the French, outmatched by Imperial-Spanish arquebusier tactics, were defeated driving them from Lombardy.
This defeat brought England into the conflict. In the Treaty of Windsor in June 1522 a joint English-Imperial attack was agreed with each providing at least 40,000 men.
In July, the English attacked Brittany and Picardy from Calais. Francis, unable to raise funds to continue resistance, the English army burned and looted the countryside.
Francis concentrated on a lawsuit against Charles III, Duke of Bourbon to raise money. The Duke had received most of his lands via marriage to Suzanne, Duchess of Bourbon, who had recently died. Suzanne's sister, the King's mother; Louise of Savoy, claimed the lands should pass to her because of her closer kinship to Suzanne.
Francis began to confiscate portions in Louise's name before the outcome. Bourbon began to make overtures to Charles V to betray the French King.
By 1523, with the death of the Doge, Andrea Gritti rose to power in Venice. He quickly removed the Republic from the war.
Bourbon offered to begin a rebellion against Francis in exchange for money and German troops. When discovered by Francis, he fled to Besançon and openly entered the Emperor's service.
Charles invaded southern France over the Pyrenees, Bayonne successfully resisted the Spanish, but they were able to recapture Fuenterrabia in February 1524.
Meanwhile, in September 1523, an English army advanced into French territory from Calais in conjunction with a Flemish-Imperial force. Stretched thin by the Imperial attack, the Frenchb were unable to resist. The English advanced past the Somme, devastating the countryside, stopping only fifty miles from Paris. Charles failed to support the English offensive, however, so the English moved away from Paris, returning to Calais.
Francis focussed on Lombardy. In October 1523, an 18,000 strong French army advanced through the Piedmont to Novara, where it was joined by Swiss mercenaries. The Spanish, with only 9,000 men available retreated to Milan. When the French moved into winter quarters rather than attacking, 15,000 landsknechts and a force under Bourbon's command were able to reinforce Milan.
Many of the Swiss abandoned the French army forcing a withdrawal. French defeat at the Battle of the Sesia showed the power of massed arquebusiers against more traditional troops, the French retreated over the Alps in disarray.
Bourbon crossed the Alps with 11,000 men invading Provence in July, entering the provincial capital of Aix-en-Provence in August 1524. By mid-August, Marseille, the last French stronghold in Provence was besieged. Assaults on the city failed, however, and Bourbon was forced to retreat back to Italy when a French army arrived at Avignon.
In October 1524, Francis crossed the Alps, advancing on Milan with an army of 40,000. The French brushed aside Imperial attempts to hold its advance, but failed to bring the main body of Imperial troops to battle. With 16,000 men to resist the 33,000 French troops closing on Milan, it was decided that the city could not be defended and they withdrew to Lodi.
Francis advanced on Pavia, with a sizable Imperial garrison rather than puruing of the retreating Imperials.
The French invested Pavia in the last days of October. Inside were about 9,000 men, mainly mercenaries. In November, Francis attempted an assault through two breaches, but was beaten back with heavy casualties. The French decided to starve the defenders out.
In December, a Spanish force landed near Genoa, to interfere in conflict between pro-Valois and pro-Habsburg factions in the city. Francis dispatched a larger force to intercept them. Confronted by the more numerous French the Spanish troops surrendered.
Francis signed an agreement with the Pope who pledged not to assist Charles in exchange for assistance with the conquest of Naples. Against advice Francis detached forces south to aid the Pope.
An attempt to intercept the expedition near Fiorenzuola suffered heavy casualties and was forced to return to Lodi by the intervention of the forces Giovanni de' Medici, who had entered French service. Medici then returned to Pavia with a supply train of gunpowder and shot gathered by the Duke of Ferrara. The French position was, however, weakened by the departure of nearly 5,000 Swiss mercenaries returning to defend their cantons from marauding landsknechts.
In January 1525, The Spanish in Lodi were reinforced by 15,000 fresh landsknechts and renewed the offensive. A French outpost at San Angelo was captured, cutting the lines of communication between Pavia and Milan, while a column of landsknechts advanced on Belgiojoso and occupied the town. By February, they were only a few miles from Pavia.
Francis stationed the majority of his forces in the walled park of Mirabello outside the city walls, placing them between the garrison and the approaching army. Skirmishing and sallies from the garrison through February saw Medici seriously wounded, he withdrew to Piacenza to recuperate. This forced Francis to recall most of the Milan garrison
On the morning of 24 February 1525, engineers opened breaches in the walls of Mirabello park, allowing Imperial-Spanish forces to enter. Simoultaniously the garrison sortied from Pavia.
The French heavy cavalry masked its own artillery by a rapid advance, was surrounded and cut apart by landsknechts and massed Spanish arquebusiers. A series of infantry engagements resulted in the rout of the Swiss and French infantry. The French suffered many casualties, losing the majority of their army. It's commanders were killed or captured along with Francis himself.
Losing the larger part of the army to attrition and desertion, the remnants of the French forces, aside from a small garrison left to hold the Castel Sforzesco in Milan, retreated across the Alps.
Louise of Savoy, regent in France, gathered troops to defend against an expected invasion of Artois by the English troops. She also sent a mission to Suleiman the Magnificent requesting an attack on the Habsburgs. Suleiman sent an ultimatum to Charles, asking for the immediate release of Francis and demanding a yearly tithe from the Empire; when this was not forthcoming, the Ottomans launched an invasion of Hungary in the summer of 1526, aiming to reach Vienna.
Charles demanded of Francis the surrender of Lombardy, Burgundy and Provence.
At the start of 1526, Charles had demands from Venice and the Pope to restore Francesco II Sforza to the Duchy of Milan, and became eager to settle with Francis. Francis, having argued over Burgundy, was prepared to surrender it to obtain his release.
On 14 January 1526, Charles and Francis agreed the Treaty of Madrid; Francis renounced all his claims in Italy, Flanders, and Artois, surrendered Burgundy, agreed two of his sons be hostages in Madrid, promised to marry Charles' sister Eleanor and to restore to Bourbon the territories that had been seized from him.
Francis was released in March, Louise had made peace with England by the Treaty of Hampton Court. Francis, with the Pope's blessing, announced he would not be bound by the Treaty because it had been signed under duress. The Pope, meanwhile, convinced that the Emperor's growing power was a threat to his position in Italy, sent envoys to Francis and Henry VIII proposing an alliance.
Henry, having received nothing from the Treaty of Madrid, was receptive. In May, Francis and the Pope launched the War of the League of Cognac. Henry would not join until 1527.
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HABSBURG AND RELATED;
In 1519, Charles I, King of Spain and Prince of the Netherlands, inherited the Archduchy of Austria from his Grandfather Maximillian. He was later elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire as Charles V. In 1520 he also inherited the Duchy of Wurttemburg which, along with the Archduchy of Austria was administered on his behalf by Ferdinand I, Charles' brother.
BURGUNDIAN NETHERLANDS;
King Charles was now Lord of the lands originally claimed by George of Saxony, any military actions would now be co-ordinated rather than ad-hoc.
The Italian Wars continued politically if not militarily as the election of a new German Emperor was approaching.
King Charles was put forward by the Habsburg Netherlands but Charles of Guelders canvassed votes for King Francis of France. He argued his right to Guelders and rejected the offer to make his country a fief of the Habsburg Netherlands. He wanted the Duchy directly from the Emperor and knew Francis would favour that.
However, King Charles was elected Emperor and crowned in 1519. This was one of the causes of the new Italian war that broke out in 1521 as France and its allies contested the election.
Because both Habsburg and Valois could use all possible support, it was important to find allies in the Netherlands; France and Guelders needed each other to defeat the Habsburgs, who had raised taxes in the Netherlands to pay for the war. Initially the states allowed this but, really, only wanted to raise money for danger close to home.
In 1520, Duke Charles controlled or owned most of Friesland, except a few places where Burgundian troops were garrisoned; Leeuwarden, Harlingen and Franeker.
Groningen and the Ommelanden were governed by Charles of Geulders and the trade war between Kampen and Zwolle allowed him to claim the Overijssel.
In July 1521 Gelderland and Zwolle troops failed to take Hasselt by surprise, besieged the town in vain from July 16 to 21, finally to abandon it.
Charles of Geulders took advantage of the alliance with Francis I to proclaim himself Lord of the Ommelanden, in 1522, and occupied the Overijssel and Drenthe which he now controlled except for Hasselt and Oldenzaal.
A new Burgundian governor of Friesland counter-attacked in 1522. Guelders troops were expelled from Sneek and Stavoren, the following year Lemmer and Sloten were captured, the last Gelderland footholds in Friesland. Guelders' Frisian allies were captured and beheaded in Leeuwarden. Steenwijk was also lost but re-taken in 1523, soon evacuated again after an accidental fire. Zwolle fell out with Duke Charles and resisted a siege in 1524.
When the Bishop of Utrecht died in April 1524, the city chose Henry of Bavaria as Bishop Henry II. The Habsburgs and Gelderland had to accept this neutral election. They negotiated with Henry for the evacuation of the Overijssel, where both of them still had troops. In December Charles of Geulders sealed a deal with Henry II, renouncing his rights to the Overijssel for a large compensation. At the end of 1524 Guelders owned Groningen, the Ommelanden and Drenthe.
Henry II could not manage without problems, high taxes led, in 1525, to riots in Utrecht. The city government was replaced by an administration where the guilds had great influence and they carried out far-reaching reforms. In 1526 a second revolution took place. Armored men, knights and some civilians defeated the guild in a street fight. Their government no longer obeyed elect Henry II.
SPAIN;
The Revolt of the Brotherhoods was a revolt by artisan guilds against the government of King Charles I in the Kingdom of Valencia. Taking place from 1519–1523, with most of the fighting occurring during 1521, this inspired a related revolt on the island of Majorca, from 1521–1523.
The Revolt of the Comuneros was an uprising by citizens of Castile against the rule of Charles I's administration between 1520 and 1521. The rebels controlled the heart of Castile, ruling many cities, including Valladolid, Tordesillas, and Toledo.
Both rebellions were inspired by Charles' departure for Germany to take the throne as Holy Roman Emperor, leaving behind a somewhat disreputable Royal Council and regent, Adrian of Utrecht, the future Pope Adrian VI.
Ferdinand had pursued an ambitious foreign policy, stretching the finances of Aragon and Castile to their limit. Spanish relations with the Muslim nations of North Africa was still poor after the Reconquista. The coast of Aragon constantly raided by Barbary pirates.
Troops were required to be stationed in Granada and Navarre to maintain order. In order to maintain a coastal defense against the pirates, Ferdinand gave the Guilds permission to arm themselves.
Local nobles did not approve of this and tried to prevent the Guilds from arming.
In 1519, Charles' grandfather, Emperor Maximilian I, died. Charles competed with King Francis I of France to win the Imperial election by bribing Prince-Electors. Charles won, becoming Emperor Charles V.
He raised funds to pay the debts incurred in the election through taxes in Castile. This would help spark the Revolt of the Comuneros.
Charles re-affirmed the right of the Guilds to arm themselves against Muslim raids, forcing the Valencian nobles to accept this decision.
In 1519, plague struck Valencia, nobles died, and many others fled to the countryside. The population rioted against the nobles amidst many rumours. Government tried to contain the rioters, but was deposed instead. The Guilds stepped into this power vacuum, replacing the government of Valencia. The "Council of Thirteen" became the new government of the Valencia, a representative government similar to the Italian republics.
Charles I was in Aachen, in 1520, preparing to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The only steps he took were to revoke the Guild's grant of arms, measures which were ignored.
Tension increased after the appointment of a new Viceroy in April 1520. The Guilds staged a coup d'état and popular representatives replaced most of the remaining government functions and the courts.
Councils of Thirteen took power in the other cities of Valencia as the revolt spread. What had previously been a quiet assertion of power became a civil war.
A more radocal group took power seeking land reform and a social revolution to reduce the power of the aristocracy.
In summer 1520, some military actions occurred such as an assault on the viscounty of Xelva, the pillage of noble palaces, and the redistribution of nearby land but, the war did not truly expand until June 1521. Royalists were in two groups; In the south, the Viceroy led a force based out of Denia, Andalusian nobles sent an army to assist as well. In the north, the Duke of Segorbe, commanded.
The Guilds took over several cities, in the north, the regions of the Maestrat and Camp de Morviedro and in the south, in Alzira, Xàtiva, Gandia, and Elx.
In the north, the Guilds suffered two defeats in short succession, but the southern front was more successful, the rebels took the castle of Xàtiva and won a victory at the Battle of Gandia against the personal troops of the Viceroy in July 1521.
After this, the leadership of the Guilds fell into disarray. Some favored a negotiated peace, whilst the military urged the Guilds to fight on. Distracted by internal disputes, the Guilds suffered a crushing defeat a week after their victory at Gandia at the Battle of Oriola, against the Viceroy reinforceed from Andalusia. The south of the Kingdom of Valencia, mostly fell back into royalist hands. The Council of Thirteen resigned, and three months later, in November, the City of Valencia surrendered to the royalist army.
Only Xàtiva and Alzira remained under the control of the Guilds, their area of action limited to the Horta of Valencia, Alzira, and Xàtiva.
The Viceroy advocated a policy of reconciliation, offering generous terms to those who surrendered. In December 1522, the strongholds of Xàtiva and Alzira fell, which ended the Revolt of the Guilds conclusively.
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THE EMPIRE;
In the 16th Century Germany was a patchwork of small and medium sized territories with many different laws, traditions, religious practices and levels of wealth.
This is shown by the myriad of titles. At the top there were a few Kingdoms, Principalities and Electorates but below these were Counties, Baronies, Abbeys, Bisheropics, Archbisheropics, Duchies, Margravates, Landgrafts, Imperial Cities, territories and numerous more ways to hold land. All of these lands interacted in different ways, as vassals, protectorates, allies or loose confederations within the framework of the Electoral Circles and the large Holy Roman Empire.
Added to this was the emerging Protestant movement stirring discontent with the corrupt practices of the Roman Church.
It was a time when the Feudal system was breaking down, Urban growth was changing the dynamic of power and many were seeking new ways to exist.
Feudalism was breaking down more in the North of Germany, improving the lot of the people in the main. In the South, however, nobles were more catholic, in both senses of the word, and slow to adapt to change.
For the Knights, feuding, including kidnapping, ransom and bribery were legitimate means of enforcing one's interests and, for the Franconian Imperial Knights, whose importance was waning, it was also a means to combat the power of the emerging states. The Imperial Cities presented an Act of Protest to the Imperial Reichstag but the only part of the Act actually passed was a ban on private warfare. Even then, the Princes ensured the ban applied only to the knights and exempted any private wars in which the Princes might engage. This took a major source of income from the knights. Capturing and holding cities and Princes for ransom was a major source of their income.
This background saw a number of disturbances, termed wars or revolts but more protests against change or conditions.
The Knights' Revolt;
Was a revolt by a number of Protestant and religious humanist German knights from autumn 1522 to May 1523
The Franconian War;
Was a campaign by the Swabian League against 23 "Robber Baron" castles in June and July 1523.
The Great Peasants' Revolt;
Was a widespread popular revolt in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525.
This was the most dangerous to the established nobility and cost over 80,000 deaths to subdue.
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The Duchies of Jülich and Berg united in 1423. In 1521, the ruling house of these Duchies and the county of Ravensberg, fell extinct. Only the last Duke's daughter Maria von Geldern was left to inherit; under Salic law, women could only hold property through a husband or guardian, so the territories passed to her husband, John III, Duke of Cleves and Mark. These United Duchies controlled most of the North Rhine region, excepting the ecclesiastical territories of Electoral Cologne and Münster.
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JAGIELLONIAN LANDS;
POLAND;
The Polish–Teutonic War of 1519–1521, between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Knights, ended with an armistice in April 1521 enforced by Emperor Charles V.
Four years later, under the Treaty of Kraków, part of the Catholic Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights became secularized as the Duchy of Prussia. The reigning Grand Master Albert of Hohenzollern-Brandenburg-Ansbach became the first Duke of Prussia by paying the Prussian Homage as vassal to his uncle, Polish king Sigismund I the Old.
The Teutonic Order was under Polish suzerainty. The Order decided to elect an Imperial Prince as Grand Master, who as subject to the Emperor could resist having to pay homage to Kings of Poland.
Albert of Hohenzollern became Grand Master in 1511. His uncle, Sigismund I the Old, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, it was hoped, would agree to settle disputes over eastern Prussia.
The new Grand Master refused to submit to the crown of Poland. As war appeared inevitable, Albert secured allies and negotiated with Emperor Maximilian I.
In 1512, Muscovy invaded the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Order refused to help the Duchy, angering Sigismund I. In 1517, the Order allied with Vasili III of Muscovy. Albert felt he held the upper hand and demanded the return of Royal Prussia and Warmia territories, as well as compensation for their "Polish occupation".
In December 1519, the Polish sejm, declared a state of war existed between the Polish Kingdom and the Order. Lithuania was unable to aid Poland as it was occupied with Muscovy.
Polish forces gathered near Koło and towards Königsberg, laying siege to Marienwerder. The siege was slow as the Polish forces lacked artillery power. The Polish fleet blockaded Teutonic ports.
The Knights took the Warmian city of Braunsberg. The Polish army received artillery in April and took Marienwerder later that month, but failed to retake Braunsberg.
Polish forces from the Duchy of Masovia and Gdańsk attacked nearby Teutonic forts. The Order recieving reinforcements from Germany in summer 1520, started an offensive, attacking Masovia, Warmia and Ermeland, besieging Lidzbark Warmiński. In August other German reinforcements attacked Wielkopolska, taking Międzyrzecz.
The Order took Wałcz, Chojnice, Starogard Gdański and Tczew and started a siege of Gdańsk, but retreated when faced with Polish reinforcements and financial troubles which impacted on their mercenaries who refused to fight until paid.
Polish forces retook Tczew, Starogard and Chojnice whilst the Knights retreated towards Oliwa and Puck. Poland then experienced financial troubles. The Knights launched a counteroffensive, taking Nowe Miasto Lubawskie and approaching Płock and Olsztyn.
At that point, the Ottoman Empire invaded Hungary, attacking Belgrade. The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, demanded the Knights and Poles stop hostilities and aid in the defense of Europe.
An armistice was agreed in the Compromise of Toruń. During the four-year truce, the dispute was referred to Emperor Charles V but no settlement was reached.
Albert was advised by Martin Luther to abandon the rules of his Order, marry, and convert Prussia into a hereditary Duchy. Albert agreed, converted to Lutheranism in 1525 and assumed the hereditary rights to the now-secularized Duchy of Prussia, as a vassal of the Polish Crown.
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OTTOMAN EMPIRE;
The strongest Hungarian fortress in the south, Nándorfehérvár (modern Belgrade), was attacked by the Turks.
Suleiman attacked mid-May 1521. Hungary was in disarray and unable to effectively counter.
Suleiman decided that the main direction of attack was be from the Sava, unlike previous attempts. The Ottoman army first had to capture Srem, which was eventually done.
Belgrade persisted its resistance, despite having a garrison of only 700 men, and receiving no aid from Hungary. They had to surrender the city in late August 1521.
The loss of Belgrade had caused great alarm in Hungary but the 60,000 strong relief army neglected to take food and disbanded due to hunger and disease without even trying to recapture the city.
Sulieman pushed no further, wanting to eliminate the potential threat from the Knights Hospitaller on Rhodes. Now that Sulieman also ruled in Egypt, naval communication and trade in the Eastern Mediterranean was key and the Hospitallers had a formidable navy which waged a constant campaign against Ottoman shipping.
The Siege of Rhodes was the second attempt by the Ottomans to expel the Knights of Rhodes (Knights Hospitaller) from the island stronghold securing Ottoman control of the Eastern Mediterranean. In the summer of 1522, Suleiman dispatched an armada of some 400 ships and personally led an army of 100,000. Following a siege of five months, Rhodes capitulated and Suleiman allowed the Knights of Rhodes to depart.
Sulieman did not ignore Europe during this time, Ottoman forces in Croatia continued to advance slowly, besieging and taking Knin, Ostrovica and Blagaj.
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I wasn't planning on expanding in that direction.
I should stress that this particular series is OTL
A Confederate Baptism, or How I Learned to Stop Giving A Shit and Love a Mess
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A TL featuring such things as:
Disclaimer: text in map is written from an in-universe perspective
- Holy British Empire Batman!
- British Liangguang
- A balkanised 13 Colonies (see above)
- Warlords in the Qing Dynasty
- An Indianised "White Mughal" elite
- A Victorian Cold War
- Economics
- And much, much more to come...
Disclaimer: text in map is written from an in-universe perspective
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- Status