The City of Water:A Venetian TL (Discontinued: See V2 in Industrial Progress: A Story Of Venetian..)

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Great Update!

What will the Ukrainians do with the peoples of Egypt and the Levant? something like the reverse of the islamization of the area?

Let's find out :)
My general policy is that if something is planned I'd prefer to present it as is in it's (relatively) finished form as opposed to spoilers. For non-plot specific things like expanding on the language of the Ragusans I would answer to help flesh out the TL.

The ragusians can either gain everything (most of Dalmatia if they're lucky) or lose everything (get annexed). I wonder what they will choose? (At this point, do they still speak some form of romance or do they mostly speak Slavic?)

The Ragusans speak Dalmatian (Romance) and Croatian (Slavic) while the elites are fluent in Latin although it is becoming less practical and less popular. FYI just for cleanliness please refrain from quoting large texts and pictures it clutters up the thread unnecessarily.
 
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1450

The last record of the Norse Greenlanders cease this year with their fates unknown.[1]

The Patricians of Ragusa, after a few weeks of discussion vow to throw their lot in against the Venetians- at least officially. The fact is no matter how successful the Venetians are it is believed that King Albert will retain the Dalmatian coast and thus still be able to threaten the Republic. Still the prospect a disruptive trade war with the stronger Venetian navy is not a welcome prospect and so the decision is made to make a token contribution while diplomats secretly ask for understanding. To the Venetians it is considered good news as there is one less potential enemy. Of course the Patricians of Ragusa can always change their minds later.

Seizing the opportunity to strike right after a civil war and coup the Hamids march south against the Mamluks. Weakened and still in its infancy the Most Holy Kingdom of the Cross is forced to retreat to its cities and forts to buy time to organize a response. To the Venetians the prospect of a single entity and a hostile one at that having a monopoly on trade with the East is a business nightmare. However even with dire protests from the admiralty and merchants the Venetians unable to act as the Senate is deadlocked and unwilling to allocate resources. A further irritant is the Ukrainian preference for Ragsuan and Aragonese merchant than Venetians as they did not participate in their enslavement. One bright ray of sunshine is the confirmation of the title of Most Holy by Pope Pius II for restoring the holy cities of Alexandria and Jerusalem to Christianity.

The city of Dyrrachium bordering the Janissary Empire comes under siege by a Hungarian army. While the city is far from the focus of the conflict it is another strain for the Venetian navy and another resource denied.

Frustrated by the lack of progress against the Venetian fortresses the Hungarian armies attempt several bloody assaults of the Venetian star fortresses to no avail. The knightly warfare of the Hungarians meant little in siege warfare in the Alpine mountains and hills. Still lacking a decent navy the only avenue of advance for the Hungarians is through the fortified Alps. Or is it? An intelligence and ambitious Hungarian noble by the name of John Hunyadi suggests a plot to capture the heart of the Republic without a navy. Intrigued at John's proposal King Albert grants him permission to being his plot and throughout the rest of the year Hungarian soldiers filter into Venice in small groups disguised as travelers, pilgrims, and traders all waiting for a signal to act. For the city of Venice the majority of military strength is either at sea or in Terra Firma and the city carries on ignorant of the cancer growing within. [2]


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[1]Same as IOTL
[2]IOTL the Spanish attempted a similar plot in the 16th century., just one of the risks of being a trade hub with a lot of travelers.
 
Ukrainian ruled Egypt will not have a chance of survival in the Levant without the Venetian support... Albeit giving the growing piracy issue the Republic should turn towards the HRE in anti-Hungarian role to regain Dalmatia and secure again the Adriatic.

But, if Venice will look eastwards, it would be worthy to die for Egypt, maybe for Palestine, but for Syria? Hmmm... As the divide et impera works well in the South Balkans so far, maybe a (Venetian imposed ?) state between ATL Egypt and Turkey would be a fair deterrent...

Also, go Portugal and Sufi Bulgaria! My fav countries of the TL. Bulgaria could really flourish in my opinion, and well seems a fair alternate history exchange for Orthodox Egypt...
 
I just went over this TL and it's very interesting, but I've still not ended reading it.

My attention was caught by the longer lasting Hundred Years War, a topic especially more interesting for me as I just ended a book on that war by Georges Minois.
The major differences I've seen as of now is that Henry V lives longer and that Charles VII is somewhat victim of depression and unable to launch a reconquest.

Although Charles VII depression may delay a reconquest, I don't think that Henry V survival would be decisive and ITTL, even the attempt to take Bourges has failed. The main point for England would a less contested royal government in absence of a regency for Henri VI. But that doesn't change the strategic cards in France much.

As of France, I don't know if Yolande of Aragon is still there. Her role in reforming the court and putting competent men in important offices was essential in preparing the reconquest.
Also, there is Arthur of Richemont, brother of Jean V of Brittany, an able and competent military leader. Yolande of Aragon was one of his most important backers, but even if she is removed from the scene ITTL, that doesn't exclude he takes advantage of the depression of Charles VII to stage a coup, kind of reverse Praguerie.
The coup by the House of Foix seems a bit unlikely. I may conceive the feud between Armagnac and Foix resuming, but deposition? Since the capture of Paris by Burgundians, with the capture and execution of Bertrand d'Armagnac, the Armagnac faction had more or less been taken over by the Dauphin Charles. At worst, I would imagine Foix again switching sides and defecting to England.
But anyway, deposing Charles VII and his son, that would be opening the door to the newt guy on the line of succession to the throne, who is none other than Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, since Charles of Orleans is dead.
His alliance with Henry V was more one of opportunity and the ambitious Burgundians waited the first occasion to renegade their alliance, like John Fearless tried at Montereau, and like his son did at Arras. Removing Charles VII from the scene is removing a major obstacle to such an alliance, and removing his son is more or less an invitation for the Duke of Burgundy to sit on the throne, one thing I'm sure he would think to.

Also, England was barely made for the attrition war that was engaged in 1420's and 1430's. While Charles VII was able to levy £ 800,000 in 1425 (550,000 from Langue d'Oil estates and 250,000 from the Langue d'Oc estates, numbers from Georges Minois' book), Duke of Bedford struggled to finance the occupation with in 1433 £ 80,700 spent for an income of only £ 64,800 (still numbers from Georges Minois' book). I imagine Henry V would have less difficulties to convince the Parliamant to raise the taxes he request, but that's still gives and idea of the difficulty.
Worse, even lands conquered in northern France were barely held, ripped by anarchy and banditry as with Normandy which was the place of important guerillas, or even Paris surroundings that were so much dangerous that it caused the decline of Paris. If the need is, you can still look at the coronation of Henry VI as king of France in 1431 to how much the situation was serious; barely crowned, he hastily rushed back to England, never to set a foot in France again.
Another advantage the Bourges kingdom had was technical and tactical advancement, especially in artillery, as with the Bureau brothers, while English army still stood by the same tactics from Crécy, Poitiers and Azincourt, too proud of its successes to mind changing until too late (IOTL, the consequence was the blitz reconquest of Normandy in 1449/1450).
 

Glad you are enjoying it.


Absolutely, France was always stronger than England and it surprised me how for a lack of a better word how stupid and somewhat unlucky the leadership of France was that the war lasted a hundred years IOTL. When you reminded me how bad the Burgundy-Armagnac feud was I thought yeah they probably would've fought if the French royal line died out but there's so much to write now that I'm 20 years past. Quite frankly I just wanted to focus on Italy for a while as it is a Venetian TL, yes there are plenty of things I don't write about but there has to be a limit for practical size and personal interest. This is another thing planned for the redux when it comes, not that I have a solid calendar for that.
 
Glad you are enjoying it.

I am always enjoying it, even if this is a period I don't hang much in AH.

I would however take the occasion to ask you about a little doubt. You wrote over the fact Venetian prints produced millions of books in 1440's. Seems a little excessive even if every North Italian city had an established print. Aside who would read all those books at the time, it would be billion of pages produced with a still archaic paper production? At that rate there would be a massacre of the Italian forests, with inevitable economical crash! Where do you take those numbers?
 
When you reminded me how bad the Burgundy-Armagnac feud was I thought yeah they probably would've fought if the French royal line died out but there's so much to write now that I'm 20 years past.
Actually, the calling Armagnac shall be the Orleans since this party was organized around the Duke of Orleans and taken over by the Armagnacs after his assassination and by Charles VII after Bertrand d'Armagnac death in Paris. Since you removed from the scene most of the people responsible for Duke Jean murder at Montereau, there is nothing preventing the ambitious Duke of Burgundy to switch side (or rather taking over) and turning his back on England. If needed, he was a competent leader and shall be up for the task of reconquering northern France.
As for Brittanny, Jean V just acted according to the force balance and played on both sides, like allowing his brother Arthur of Richemont to serve Charles VII while he continued to abide by the English alliance... It isn't hard to think of Brittany siding with Burgundy.
 
I am always enjoying it, even if this is a period I don't hang much in AH.

I would however take the occasion to ask you about a little doubt. You wrote over the fact Venetian prints produced millions of books in 1440's. Seems a little excessive even if every North Italian city had an established print. Aside who would read all those books at the time, it would be billion of pages produced with a still archaic paper production? At that rate there would be a massacre of the Italian forests, with inevitable economical crash! Where do you take those numbers?

I get the numbers from OTL, which is estimated to be anywhere between 13-30 million. The main thing is paper production was always there since the Reconquista discovered Moorish paper-making and unlike "proper" lumber used in construction and ship building the paper-making process just requires wood in bulk which is often secondary-growth trees (think ancient redwoods vs the 20 year old trees you see on the side of the road in cities). The demand was always there as almost every literate person wanted a bible at the time and whatever literature they wished to read. But it comes and goes, I've written a lot of marco-economic stuff but I tend to shy away from micro-economic content about specific industries since historical-econ is very patch work and too detailed for a TL that leaps by years and has to cover the world.

As for Brittanny, Jean V just acted according to the force balance and played on both sides, like allowing his brother Arthur of Richemont to serve Charles VII while he continued to abide by the English alliance... It isn't hard to think of Brittany siding with Burgundy.

Probably the best case for Brittany, since OTL showed what happened when France was its neighbor and presumably what would happen if England enveloped it.
 
The recruitment system of the Janissaries took the boys at a young age and educated them as Turks. While times have changed the system has been uninterrupted since it's founding, that being said Greek is required for the Janissaries to communicate with subjects and Turkish is becoming less and less useful.
I see,..,
The capital of the Janissaries was Salonica (Thessalonica), am I right? What's their religion?
 
I see,..,
The capital of the Janissaries was Salonica (Thessalonica), am I right? What's their religion?

Sunni, the Janissary educational institutions remained intact since its founding. Thessalonica was eventually conquered although the early years there was a court that moved with the army.
 
If they stand the test of time? Yes eventually their subjects will be converted the Jannisaries are but a small portion of the population.
So, most of the remaining population remained Orthodox Christians? Pretty understandable, indeed.
 
1451

Henry the 6th of England suffers a psychotic episode and is rendered unresponsive . Already a reclusive king queen Amara is left with the administration of the kingdom. Trouble is brewing in the south as many of the opportunistic French lords that defected to the English for self-gain are now considering treason for the same reason. [1]

Queen Aurore of Aragon, follows her husband's example and informally retires from the affairs of court at the age of 56 spending her days at leisure. While the crown of Aragon is still Frederick's most practical matters of state is given to Prince Itri of the Northern Star. Personally the Prince dislikes the nickname as his Berber name Itri already means star and he sees the nickname as redundant but this matters not to the nobles of court that do not understand the Berber language. A patron of the arts and philosopher Prince Itri sets out to create culture that rivals that of the court of the Duke of Burgundy.

Nicholas of Cusa, a German theologian and astronomer invents the first concave glass as a remedy to nearsightedness. This invention while relatively unknown for years after with the exception of its local region would come to have great impact upon the scholars of Europe as poor-sight from age or too much reading would no longer hinder a scholar's ability to function.[2]

As the Hamids besieges the city of Jerusalem Pope Pius II calls for a crusade to defend the holy city. So far only the Portuguese , the theocracy of Pisa, and the Kingdom of Naples have responded with the Portuguese declaring their own crusade and invading the Marinid Sultanate. Arriving in Rashid are 12,000 crusaders led by the Trinitarian Order and John the first of Naples hurry towards the holy city.

With the slackening of the Venetian naval power the Janissary Empire resumes its siege of the Hexamilion wall hoping to breach the gate way into the Peloponnese peninsula. With the holy city threatened and the Byzantines reduced to Morea the Catholics of Europe are indifferent to its fate. One man, named Konstantinos Graitzas Palaiologos hailing from an obscure branch of the Palaiologos family rises to the occasion and leads the Byzantines to conduct respectable warfare. Still good leadership can only go so far against a larger, better trained, and better supplied foe.[3]



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[1]Henry had his episodes around this time IOTL when there was constant bad news of French victories against the English. Now whether they had much to do with his illness or not is up to speculation.

[2]Just as OTL, one interest fact is that while the Chinese have been great glass workers for far longer their geological endowment made it so that higher quality opaque porcelain became the preferred type of glass over clear glass.

[3]IOTL Konstantinos Graitzas Palaiologos was one of the few capable Byzantine commanders of the time, a shame it was near the end of the empire IOTL.
 
András Beöthy, a travelling monk stands wistfully on the Lido's beach and admires the view of the Lagoon. Knowing that the Venetian Senate is meeting today he fires three lit arrows into the lagoon.

One low.. One high… And another high. The signal has been sent and Hungarians and Austrians in casual clothing begin assembling towards the district of San Marco.

"There is only so much one can plan for " he thought wistfully "The wheels of fate are set into motion"

Learning from the past failures the plain clothed Hungarian and Austrians glide through the crowds having taken months to familiarize themselves with the city. Meanwhile the moored ships begin to row for the Lido.

With most of Venice's fighting manpower at sea the objectives of the invaders is simple, kill the leadership and seize the ports and Lido long enough for reinforcements. Once reinforcements arrive the city can be properly razed as there is no other way for a few hundred infiltrators to hold a city of 140,000. After which the Venetian navy would be somewhat impaired with the loss of a major port and manufacturing center. The Ragusan false flags is just an afterthought, whether the Ragusans want to fight or not there isn't much choice after this.

As one the crowd of infiltrators draw their blades and with a lion's roar charged the Doge's Palace. Taking care to kill the Patricians as fast as possible those that offered no resistance were simply ignored. The assailants managed to slay a large number of Patricians that didn't manage to escape before barricading themselves within the San Marco district, Doge Raffaele Faber is numbered among the dead. Now they wait for their brethren at sea.

At the Lido the invading ships rowed for fortresses but all attempts to storm the Lido prove themselves to be costly. Direct assaults into the lagoon are met with a barrage of cannon fire from Sant'Andrea, the fortress island guarding the northern entrance to the lagoon and several ships found their resting places at the bottom of the lagoon before another attempt was made at the Lido itself. Since the 1380s, the Lido has expanded into two sets of barriers separated by a canal. The Austrian and Hungarian soldiers find to their dismay that the inner Lido is built higher than the outer Lido allowing covering fire and a formidable obstacle to scale. By night the invading fleet withdraws afraid of the Venetian naval response and abandoning the infiltrators to their fate.
 
It would be interesting to see how the Republic will hold now that its leadership was decapitated. Above all if united North Italy will hold or collapse.

I smell the ascension of a certain family, through, which will converge the wrath of the population of the city towards the assailants and then his leader elected for acclamation as new doge... So that after kicking the Hapsburgs where it hurts, it will bring Venice into full Renaissance...
 
In the Eye of the Storm

The invaders never stood a chance of taking the city, at least not with a fleet cobbled together from pirates and merchant ships but they did succeed in their objectives of disrupting the Venetian leadership.

In the wake of the attack on the Venetian Senate a man named Lucifer di La Canea who distinguished himself in the fighting is elected Doge . A Medici was briefly considered for his popularity but the people felt his character ill-suited for wartime. With the district of San Marco still contested he is crowned in an informal ceremony by the grand canal. Hailing from a family of rich merchants and planters from the town of La Canea (Chania) Lucifer is the first Doge of Cretan origin. Lucifer is known for being an exceptionally young Doge at the age of 32, quick to anger, an intelligent risk taker, and for being a social drinker. His first act after being confirmed as Doge was to offer the Hungarians and Austrians who holed up in the Doges' Palace the choice of death by fire, death by starvation, or surrender. When the invaders decided to surrender given their abandonment and isolation they were led out of sight and killed with minimal damage to the palace. In the end one oddity was the lack of female patricians killed, perhaps they simply didn’t think there would be women in charge in the Senate?


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63rd Doge of Venice, Lucifer di La Canea

The attack on Venice while ultimately fruitless as new Patricians were elected in short order did succeed in shocking the Patrician out of their tunnel vision deadlock. The original points of contention were:

  • Preferential treatment of Venetian merchants, as Venetian merchants were subject to Venetian as opposed to local law.
  • Limits on the creation of Patrician titles as it is currently abused to give Venice a political majority.
  • Reduction of Venetian political power by restricting the number of Patricians per town.
  • Lack of inclusion for the Terra Firma clergy in the senate.

With the shock that Terra Firma and Venice might actually be invaded the once feuding Patricians suddenly found cooperation to be a virtue (it did also help that many of the feuding Patricians are dead). As a result the Compact of Venice was signed with the following key tenants:

  • All merchants are subject to the same commercials laws. The law will be the current Venetian law but the committee that governs it will be selected per region based on their tax income.*
  • Patrician titles are allocated according to taxation and population.**
  • Citizens of Terra Firma and selective parts of Stato da Màr are all granted the benefits of Venetian citizenship as equals.***
  • All clergy are to be self-administrating and subservient to their local Patrician(s).****

*A compromise as it allows the Terra Firma merchants to compete on a level plane with the Venetian merchants while still retaining the ease of doing business with one set of laws instead of dozens of localities.
**Another compromise as it limits the creation of Patrician titles to a somewhat equitable manner and yet accounts for the disparity in economic power between the communes of the Republic.
***Slaves, gor obvious reasons in Crete and Cyprus are excluded from Venetian citizenship. This law allowed everyone to enjoy the privileges of Venetian citizenship and in practice it meant the freedom of movement within the Venetian Republic for all citizens.
****A point only pushed through after bartering and concessions, the Papacy is not trusted in Venice but they are willing to leave the Terra Firma clergy alone and give them a say in government if only through their Patrician.

The various local traditions and privileges inherited in many parts of the Po Valley, already weakened by the previous century of strife and despots is mostly eradicated-at least on paper. While some localities will resist the Compact and some issues persists they are the foundations of the modern Venetian system of governance.

The first act after the Compact of Venice is to release funding to mobilize as well as several state loans which the extensive banking system as well as a reputable state bank are well equipped to handle. The fact still remains that a head on victory against the Hapsburg army is unlikely with the disparity in might but the Republic has other ways to make King Albert pay.
 
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"Let's kill the Venetian Leadership! They will surely collapse!"

"Nahh. With the rot hacked out we can reform and then kick MORE Arse!"

It seems to me that the people attacking Venice are expecting an unstable state (like their own) that will fall into trouble and strife if a succession if forced.

Whereas, if anything, Venice is too stable as a state, unwilling and unlikely to change... Unless things like this happen.

You've done this twice Irene!
 
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