No Portugal?

If the County of Portugal were to simply be folded into the rest if the Iberian Peninsula as Spain during the Reconquista rather than given made into its own country, what are the lasting effects of a world without Portugal?
 
All you'd get would be a larger Galicia, and in that case Galicia could try to get itself independent from Spain.
 
A stronger Leon/Castille could make Aragon last longer as its own, but the unification of the peninsula was a really important tendency to begin with.

Age of Discoveries would be certainly changed, but not challenged when it comes to great lines : the most important change there would be a less American-minded Spain past first conquests.

A geopolitical main change would be the absence of a English ally in the region. If Leon-Castille - France alliance is still to appears (likely if Aragon hegemony in Mediterranean still occurs), it would mean a more challenged english navy.
 
Might it not weaken the Christians? Without Portugal holding the line, if the other kingdoms get sucked into one of the many internicine wars, couldn't the Muslims strike up the East flank?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Britain might well be forced to look to specially Denmark, and to a lesser extent Sweden (given their own focus eastwards, away from British interests) and some of the northwest german duchies (including Flanders, given as we're pre-spanish netherlands), for alliances. What this in turn would lead to, i'm slightly more uncertain of.

This would mean that we have more of a regular North-South axis than we would have a 'West'-Central axis.
 
Might it not weaken the Christians? Without Portugal holding the line, if the other kingdoms get sucked into one of the many internicine wars, couldn't the Muslims strike up the East flank?

Probably not. The division of leonese kingship (Castille, Leon, Galicia) wasn't concieved as a full political division as it happened with, for exemple, Kingdom of Mallorca for Aragon. It wouldn't prevent the appearance of inner infighting but wouldn't led to "many internicine wars". (That were nowhere to the level of taifa infighting)

Even if a more classical feudal Portugal still occurs (mostly due to Frankish influence), and having a more distinct and proper identity on this Spanish realm, being tied up with other crowns (that is a distinctive trait of Castillan feudalism, with creation of crown being systematical even up to Americas) would probably grant a far easier unification than the one attempted IOTL by Habsburgs.
 
With the Reconquista completed at some point and Portugal being a part of Castille, if Castille and Aragon unite or don't, I wonder what the impact would be on Iberia's focus on North Africa.

Maybe Aragon tries to capture Tunisian or Algerian ports in order to compete with Castille (who now dominates the circum-Africa route to Asia which probably delays the discovery of the New World.
 
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