The Dead Live: A Hundred Years' War Timeline

[Emperor Constantine]

And one of the great titans of The Dead Live passes. Honorius has been a true pillar of the narrative and it's really sad to see him go but I'm very much looking forward to the reign of Innocent VII and seeing if he can hold together the Honorian coalition (I'm pretty worried with the accession of an Orisini) not to mention the future of Switzerland. We're also seeing an almost proto-reformation within the Church with the idea of correcting mistranslations within the Bible. Finally, love reading about the spread of the Renaissance across the continent via trade. I wonder if, with the improving East-West relations, we could even see a reconciliation between Pope and Patriarch.

Couple of questions: 1. How many children do Sigismund and Mary have exactly? I mean could we see an Imperial-Hungarian split once the Emperor dies? 2. Considering the collapse of central authority in France and the increasingly nominal status of French vassals in the North and west, do you think a revival of the Kingdom of Arles-Burgundy could be in the cards? after all the Kingdom only ceased to exist in 1378, well within living memory and it could be a way to reestablish Imperial authority in Provence and much of Switzerland, lands part of Burgundy. Finally, I never heard your opinion on an Abbasid Sultan of Egypt. Looking forward to the next chapter.

 

[SuperMarioBros99thx]

Wow, there is some homages to my idea there in that update (and oh, your long update! I hope the next one is also as long as that!). I am happy! Looking forward to my idea's adapatation into the TL for the first time!

Honorius was swift to agree - legitimizing the Portuguese conquests in Morocco,

Corrections:

It was at this point that Ivan reached out to Waldemar, offering to split Poland and Lithuania between them and offering Samogatia to the Teutonic Order as a further inducement. Waldemar would leap at this suggestion, signing the Treaty of Thorn in April of 1426 and allying the Muscovite and Nordic forces against the Jagellions and Zygimantis. The Teutonic forces in Livonia moved swiftly to assert their power in Samogatia, taking control of the region by the end of 1426 (14). This intervention led to a collapse of Zygimantis' positions and his death in the Battle of Szawle when he marched north to oppose the Teutonic invasion. The Jagellions were quick to muster support from the Old Lithuanian nobility, who were willing to accept Jogaila's sons as rulers given the other options available. By early 1427 Švitrigaila's position had become untenable and he fled eastward to the court of his one-time ally and founder of the Nogai Horde Edigu's son Sheidak Nogai Khan who had taken up rule in the eastern parts of the Golden Horde in which his family had control during the years of the Golden Horde's civil war (15).

Casimir IV Jagellion meets his betrothed at Warsawa​

While Ivan advanced towards Vilnius and the Livonian forces moved through Samogatia, the Jagellions moved rapidly to oppose them. Intense fighting around Krewo, Zaslaw and Minsk saw Ivan driven to a standstill, pushing him southward towards Rohaczew. The Livonian advance found itself blunted at Kowno, but left most of Samogatia in Livonian hands. Ivan would launch an invasion into southern Lithuania, hoping to grasp hold of Kiev and establish a claim to the ancient Rus. In the meanwhile, Waldemar and his Teutonic allies began a series of attacks into the eastern reaches of Mazowia, resulting in fierce battles around Wizna and Lomza which turned in favor of Waldemar. By mid-1427 the war had shifted to the lands around Kiev, where Ivan was undertaking a major advance in the face of serious opposition. In battles at Rylsk, Putwyl and Baturyn, the Muscovite advance stove in the Jagellion front, forcing the redeployment of large forces from Poland and Old Lithuania to counter the assault. The Battles of Czemihow and Ostrz ended in Muscovite victories, but on the outskirts of Kiev the Lithuanians were finally able to muster enough forces to end the advance. The Battle of Kiev saw immense numbers of soldiers clash in fierce melees, eventually turning in Jagellion favor after taking large losses, including several prominent nobles. By the waning days of 1427 the Muscovite advance had come to an end, and would gradually contract back to Putwyl (16).

After almost a decade of intense conflict, the two sides began sending out peace feelers. King Waldemar would be the first to do so, worried about his father's worsening health and hopeful that he could leave his brother - the Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order (17) - in charge of his Polish conquests, initiating the negotiations which would be undertaken at Warsawa. Ivan joined soon after, dispatching a close advisor to serve as proxy. Over the course of 1428 the two sides undertook intense negotiations, while skirmishes and raids continued on all fronts, eventually coming to an agreement in the Peace of Warsawa. Waldemar would renounce his claim to the Kingdom of Poland in return for the Provinces of Greater Poland and Mazowia as well as acknowledging the legality of the transfer of Samogatia to the Teutonic Order. Ivan of Moscow agreed to give up his claim to the Grand Principality of Lithuania in return for his conquests starting in the north on the Daugava River, running through Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Roslaw, Briansk, Trubczewsk, Putwyl and Poltawa in the south. This vast swathe of land was given over to Ivan while his daughter Anastacia married the young Casimir IV Jagellion while Eleanor of Malmö was married to Ivan's heir Vasily Ivanovich. Thus the Great Eastern War came to an end, known to history as the Polish-Lithuanian Succession War (18). In time Alexander Jagellion would take up regency of Lithuania for his brother, ruling from Kiev. The loss of Mazowia came as a deep blow to the Piast rulers of the region, who were forced to move southward and settled around the Kievan lands, gaining large tracts of land in the region in an effort to impose a feudal system on the otherwise lawless region (19).

(14) The Treaty of Thorn begin an alliance between Muscovy and the Nordic Kingdoms which allows the Muscovites to begin participating in wider European politics and will prove useful in the future. The invasion of Samogatia would have experienced far more popular uprising than do occur, if not for the immense losses taken by the Samogatian nobility in the war so far.

Okay. I have to note that normally we would have to call them Samogitia. Not Samogatia, and normally since Samogitia region is generally depicted as "Samogitia" in this TL, i would like this to match with the past updates. Located in the previous update (Update Forty-Seven). Hopefully, it would look like this:

It was at this point that Ivan reached out to Waldemar, offering to split Poland and Lithuania between them and offering Samogitia to the Teutonic Order as a further inducement. Waldemar would leap at this suggestion, signing the Treaty of Thorn in April of 1426 and allying the Muscovite and Nordic forces against the Jagellions and Zygimantis. The Teutonic forces in Livonia moved swiftly to assert their power in Samogitia, taking control of the region by the end of 1426 (14). This intervention led to a collapse of Zygimantis' positions and his death in the Battle of Szawle when he marched north to oppose the Teutonic invasion. The Jagellions were quick to muster support from the Old Lithuanian nobility, who were willing to accept Jogaila's sons as rulers given the other options available. By early 1427 Švitrigaila's position had become untenable and he fled eastward to the court of his one-time ally and founder of the Nogai Horde Edigu's son Sheidak Nogai Khan who had taken up rule in the eastern parts of the Golden Horde in which his family had control during the years of the Golden Horde's civil war (15).

Casimir IV Jagellion meets his betrothed at Warsawa​

While Ivan advanced towards Vilnius and the Livonian forces moved through Samogitia, the Jagellions moved rapidly to oppose them. Intense fighting around Krewo, Zaslaw and Minsk saw Ivan driven to a standstill, pushing him southward towards Rohaczew. The Livonian advance found itself blunted at Kowno, but left most of Samogitia in Livonian hands. Ivan would launch an invasion into southern Lithuania, hoping to grasp hold of Kiev and establish a claim to the ancient Rus. In the meanwhile, Waldemar and his Teutonic allies began a series of attacks into the eastern reaches of Mazowia, resulting in fierce battles around Wizna and Lomza which turned in favor of Waldemar. By mid-1427 the war had shifted to the lands around Kiev, where Ivan was undertaking a major advance in the face of serious opposition. In battles at Rylsk, Putwyl and Baturyn, the Muscovite advance stove in the Jagellion front, forcing the redeployment of large forces from Poland and Old Lithuania to counter the assault. The Battles of Czemihow and Ostrz ended in Muscovite victories, but on the outskirts of Kiev the Lithuanians were finally able to muster enough forces to end the advance. The Battle of Kiev saw immense numbers of soldiers clash in fierce melees, eventually turning in Jagellion favor after taking large losses, including several prominent nobles. By the waning days of 1427 the Muscovite advance had come to an end, and would gradually contract back to Putwyl (16).

After almost a decade of intense conflict, the two sides began sending out peace feelers. King Waldemar would be the first to do so, worried about his father's worsening health and hopeful that he could leave his brother - the Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order (17) - in charge of his Polish conquests, initiating the negotiations which would be undertaken at Warsawa. Ivan joined soon after, dispatching a close advisor to serve as proxy. Over the course of 1428 the two sides undertook intense negotiations, while skirmishes and raids continued on all fronts, eventually coming to an agreement in the Peace of Warsawa. Waldemar would renounce his claim to the Kingdom of Poland in return for the Provinces of Greater Poland and Mazowia as well as acknowledging the legality of the transfer of Samogitia to the Teutonic Order. Ivan of Moscow agreed to give up his claim to the Grand Principality of Lithuania in return for his conquests starting in the north on the Daugava River, running through Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Roslaw, Briansk, Trubczewsk, Putwyl and Poltawa in the south. This vast swathe of land was given over to Ivan while his daughter Anastacia married the young Casimir IV Jagellion while Eleanor of Malmö was married to Ivan's heir Vasily Ivanovich. Thus the Great Eastern War came to an end, known to history as the Polish-Lithuanian Succession War (18). In time Alexander Jagellion would take up regency of Lithuania for his brother, ruling from Kiev. The loss of Mazowia came as a deep blow to the Piast rulers of the region, who were forced to move southward and settled around the Kievan lands, gaining large tracts of land in the region in an effort to impose a feudal system on the otherwise lawless region (19).

(14) The Treaty of Thorn begin an alliance between Muscovy and the Nordic Kingdoms which allows the Muscovites to begin participating in wider European politics and will prove useful in the future. The invasion of Samogitia would have experienced far more popular uprising than do occur, if not for the immense losses taken by the Samogitian nobility in the war so far.

In update Twenty-Six, there is some inconsistencies, particularly in here:

The Knights appealed to their allies for help, and Sigismund of Hungary, Wenceslaus, King of the Romans, and the Livonian Order promised financial aid and reinforcements.

Change that into "Sigismund of Luxembourg, Holy Roman Emperor". By that event occured ITTL, Sigismund is now Holy Roman Emperor and Wenceslaus is dead by that time. I hope it would look like this in the end:

The Knights appealed to their allies for help, and Sigismund of Hungary, Wenceslaus, King of the Romans, and the Livonian Order promised financial aid and reinforcements.

And the last one is seems to be on the last update.

Painting of Pope Honrius V at the height of his power

Typo. Needs to be changed from "Honrius" to "Honorius".

Now to reply to Emperor Constantine:

Finally, I never heard your opinion on an Abbasid Sultan of Egypt. Looking forward to the next chapter.

@Emperor Constantine here's Zulfurium's opinion on your idea.

I did actually incorporate the Abbasid Caliph. Specifically his daughter married Jahan Shah and as a result the Qara Qoyunlu now claim descent from the Abbasids. Al-Musta'in never attempts his coup, instead he closely supports the Qara Qoyunlu's attempts at establishing their Sultanate and allies with them. The Qara Qoyunlu and Ottomans are probably the most stable of the post-Timurid period, with the Aq Qoyunlu as the most unstable, struggling with the Persian nobility in an effort to establish a proper Persian Shahdom. It bears mentioning that Uzun Hasan will turn up later in the TL and will play a significant role in stabilizing the Aq Qoyunlu.

(There are my ideas i planning for you @Zulfurium about Luxembourg but now i decided against it, but here's my descriptions of João II of Lancaster (mostly about his family) which would be introduced in the next update.)

João II of Lancaster, during his early years in Portugal, began to be fascinated with the idea of having many children and raising them to become illustrous like João I's children, noticing some of them become very famous. By the time after marrying with Isabella, he become somewhat obsessed with it and turned it into determination by the time on 1414, just before his heir Henrique is born. After he (Henrique) is born he (João II) would have more 11 children with him, which is Maria, Duarte, João, Branca, Fernando, Joana, Isabel, Pedro, Carlota, Iolanda, and Tomás. All of them would be very important to all of Europe, this TL and the world ITTL because of their sheer talents (i will describe them later), and being somewhat unprecedented for a generation. He also has a fictional Portuguese mistress in which he would have 9 children with him though some would die young. They are Catarina, Beatrice, Carlos, Leonor, Filipe, António, Ana, Afonso, and finally Luis. They won't be as prominent as their half-brothers and half-sisters since they are less talented than them, though some of them managed to get as much talents as the Ilustrous Generation of João II (particularly Carlos if you want to know). That was the children of João II of Lancaster!

(Update: toned down the text to be less commanding, added a correction, and also added a promised description of João II).

 

[UCB79]

Am VERY eager to see what you're going to
do in future installments with Jeanne D'arc(if you blinded her @ least you've let her live
three more years than she did IOTL...)(In
fact I've been waiting, all through your TL,
for her to appear; I just couldn't wait to see
what you were going to do with her!)

 

[The Professor]

@SuperMarioBros99thx
Your suggestions are coming across more commanding than suggesting. It's probably more a translation of style than deliberate but I think you should tone it down a little.

 

[Zulfurium]

Good update; it sounds like the church will have even more instability than IOTL at this time, IIRC.

Like that TTL's Joan of Arc lives (hey, at least she isn't being burned at the stake. Yet.)...

Waiting for more...

I have plans for TTLs Joan of Arc. She seems like the sort of figure who if she hadn't gone her OTL route would have ended up going the direction I have set her on here, at least in one sense or another. Regarding the Church's instability, I think that the difference from OTL has more to do with what type of instability is occuring rather than there being particularly more than IOTL. IOTL we had the Hussite Wars, which absolutely devastated large swathes of Central Europe and drew in every power of the region. ITTL there isn't anything like the Hussite Wars, instead we have several of the more inactive heretical conglomerations, or simply more mystical groups, interact and become more active. The fact that the Church is trying to implement reforms really just makes everyone more aware of their beliefs and activates religious people in a way they really haven't been since the end of the Crusades. I am trying to build at least in part on Gregory the Great's reforms, at the very least he has served as a significant inspiration, but taking into account the differing situation. The early to mid 15th century will be remembered as a period of religious ferment ITTL. Most importantly things aren't pointing towards anything like the breaking of the Church like happened with the Reformation IOTL, but rather it is a mixture of lay and ecclesiastical forces both inside and outside the church all looking to god, looking for answers. The important point is that the Church is part of the process this time, not a hinderance to the process.

And one of the great titans of The Dead Live passes. Honorius has been a true pillar of the narrative and it's really sad to see him go but I'm very much looking forward to the reign of Innocent IV and seeing if he can hold together the Honorian coalition (I'm pretty worried with the accession of an Orisini) not to mention the future of Switzerland. We're also seeing an almost proto-reformation within the Church with the idea of correcting mistranslations within the Bible. Finally, love reading about the spread of the Renaissance across the continent via trade. I wonder if, with the improving East-West relations, we could even see a reconciliation between Pope and Patriarch.

Couple of questions: 1. How many children do Sigismund and Mary have exactly? I mean could we see an Imperial-Hungarian split once the Emperor dies? 2. Considering the collapse of central authority in France and the increasingly nominal status of French vassals in the North and west, do you think a revival of the Kingdom of Arles-Burgundy could be in the cards? after all the Kingdom only ceased to exist in 1378, well within living memory and it could be a way to reestablish Imperial authority in Provence and much of Switzerland, lands part of Burgundy. Finally, I never heard your opinion on an Abbasid Sultan of Egypt. Looking forward to the next chapter.

Innocent IV is going to be an interesting figure, and probably also a controversial one ITTLs history books. The main problems he will be facing have to do with the Farfa Conspiracy and the reemergence of heresy in the Alps. Honorius served as a bulwark against a ton of shit. If you look at the dates, Joan of Arc and the Taborites are only really coming into play after Honorius' death, and it is at least partially because Honorius is no longer there that people feel they can begin making moves. Particularly Northern Italy is going to be an interesting place in the post-Honorius world. The relations between the Patriarch of Constantinople and Pope of Rome were actually doing quite well under Honorius and Innocent is interested in continuing that development. I don't really mention it a great deal when talking about the trade networks, but Italy is actually just a cross-roads for the wider eastern Trade. Constantinople, by way of the Black Sea, is an important trade hub for the Silk Road. The Silk Road has increased its use of the steppe as a trade route, alongside its use of the Indian Ocean, but the normal middle-eastern trade routes have taken a significant beating due to the conflicts and instability of the region. The fact that there are numerous powerful states contending with each other in the region also plays a role in reducing trade through the region.

Sigismund and Mary have two sons, Charles and Sigismund, and four daughters - Mary, Elizabeth, Joan and Hedwig. Charles is married to King Edward's daughter and has been covered extensively, Sigismund was placed in the Church with hopes of making him Prince-Bishop of Mainz in the future. He is already Bishop of Brandenburg and more importantly Prince-Bishop of Augsburg. Charles already has several sons, so Sigismund going into the Church really strengthens the family. Sigismund is fully aware of how much his father's decision to split his inheritance weakened the family, thus Sigismund goes into something more useful.

The Kingdom of Arles has been absorbed into the larger set of titles held by the Holy Roman Emperor, so it probably won't be revived. Furthermore, the lands of Arles are actually part of the region where the French King's power is at its heighest. The Kingdom only existed in theory and went out of use in 1378 to my understanding when the French Dauphin was named Imperial Vicar for the region. That still happened ITTL, so King Charles still holds that Vicarship.

I actually did address the Abbasid Caliph in an earlier response, but I think the easiest solution would be to point you towards Update 27 where the Abbasid Sultan actually supported and married into the Qara Qoyunlu. He never made the bid to power ITTL, instead supporting the new regime and in the process significantly strengthening his own position.

Wow, there is some homages to my idea there in that update (and oh, your long update! I hope the next one is also as long as that!). I am happy! Looking forward to my idea's adapatation into the TL for the first time!

I finally finished with the Iberian update, which turned out quite a bit different from what I originally thought. But I think people will enjoy it. Thanks for the corrections.

Am VERY eager to see what you're going to
do in future installments with Jeanne D'arc(if you blinded her @ least you've let her live
three more years than she did IOTL...)

Blinding her was more an effort to keep her from going off like IOTL. It also strengthens her mystical image. She is a blind virginal girl preaching that the end of days are coming. That image, coupled with her inate charisma has to be incredibly powerful. She is going to be a really important religious figure in the coming religious ferment. What is happening now is that she is getting drawn into the upper levels of the nobility where she was IOTL. She will have direct access to the upper nobility and will play a significant role in several of their lives.

 

[direstar]

I just found this timeline and have been binge reading it. It's so cool to see such a well researched timeline based around the 100 years war and it's effects on Europe keep up the good work.

 

[Zulfurium]

This is the penultimate update prior to the hiatus, so I really hope you enjoy it. This time our attention turns to Iberia where King Enrique's conquest of Aragon proves far more challenging than originally expected. Enrique makes some miscalculations in this one which can at least partially be explained by his distraction with geo-political developments. With the war ending in France and his sour relations to all of his neighbours he simply doesn't have the needed time to think through some of his decisions and instead relies on various councilors who give some less than helpful suggestions. The revolts ended up taking up much longer than originally planned, but I really think that it turned out for the better. Please let me know your thoughts, and I hope you enjoy!

Strife in Iberia​

Catalan Rebels Assault Castilian Tax Collectors​

King Enrique V of Castile had half a year of peace between his conquest of Aragon in the autumn of 1420 and the beginning of a popular uprising in the summer of 1421. Following the seating of Enrique's son, King Enric I of Aragon, and daughter-in-law, Queen Antónia de Barcelona, on the Aragonese Throne, the Aragonese populace found themselves shocked into compliance. Over the course of the winter, the population mostly remained quiescent, though with several minor incidents causing tensions to rise. However, in the early spring King Enrique decided to begin implementing his uncle, Henry Beaufort's, plans for recouping the losses of the invasion of Aragon (1). Specifically the selling of tax farming contracts to the Castilian Hidalgos, who immediately dispatched tax collectors into Aragon. These initial tax collectors brought with them heavily armed contingents to discourage resistance and tore through northern Aragon like locusts. On their return from the initial tour of tax collection, the Castilians were amazed at the immense amounts of wealth they had collected, leading to a frenzied effort by the Hidalgos to buy up any contract they could find, resulting in a massive increase in the value of any individual contract and the development of a black market for the sale of both real and fake contracts. The second tax expedition marched through Aragon equally heavily armed and forcibly collected taxes from the enraged Aragonese population. It would be the third tax expedition, which was both far less heavily armed and far more diffuse, which initiated a series of rebellions which would wrack Aragon for the better part of a decade (2). The initial revolt began in the small Catalan village of Àger, located in the Pyrenees, on the 22nd of June 1421 when the younger son of a minor Castilian Hidalgo, Felipe de Guijosa, who was leading a poorly armed tax collection expedition decided to torture the village mayor for the location of his wealth. When he had finished, killing the mayor and setting fire to several village buildings, he assembled his troops and marched from the village. However, on the outskirts of the village his force found itself under attack from all sides and was torn to pieces. News of the events at Àger spread quickly between the villages of the Pyrenees and soon tax collectors across the region found themselves ambushed and cut to pieces. Over the course of July the entire region erupted in flames, spreading to the towns of Lleida, Huesca and Girona with frightening speed. These three towns erupted in popular uprisings with both Lleida and Huesca successfully massacring their Castilian garrisons while the garrison of Girona succeeded in holing up within the town's castle, finding themselves under siege as a result (3).

King Enrique reacted swiftly to news of the Catalan uprising, dispatching Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, a rising military leader who had participated in several of Enrique's wars (4), to crush the rebellion. When Fernando arrived in Aragon he brought with him a force of 800 and moved swiftly through northern Aragon. He quickly began encountering marauding bands of Catalan peasants west of Huesca and crushed them with a firm hand. Fernando Álvarez de Toledo tore through the region like an avenging god, burning villages as he moved and spreading terror where he went. His efforts were aimed at crushing the will to resist while more forces could be raised in Castile for the planned sieges of Lleida and Huesca. By late August the Catalan rebels had assembled a force at Lleida which they hoped would drive Toledo into retreat. They clashed at the Battle of Mònzon on the Cinca River, where the 8,000 rebel peasant forces north of Lleida found themselves caught unaware as they were crossing the river at the town of Mònzon. Tearing into them from the north while the Catalans were in mid-crossing, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo succeeded in driving the rebels into a panic. More than a thousand drowned in the river while an additional three thousand were put to the sword in the resulting massacre. The Town of Mònzon was taken by the Castilian force and sacked, before Fernando returned to his work of terrifying the inhabitants of the region. He was soon reinforced by a force of 3,000 men and began preparing for a siege of Huesca, only for the town to surrender in terror at the fearsome Castilian commander. The ringleaders were all executed on charges of treason while the town was forced to pay a substantial indemnity for its actions, but Fernando Álvarez de Toledo quickly moved on to Lleida. The Siege of Lleida would continue for four months, ending in January of 1422 when the town council surrendered the town in return for leniency. The town council was executed for treason, but the town was left in peace. A statue commemorating the council would subsequently be built in the town in thanksgiving to their actions, having saved the populace from depredation at the cost of their own lives. While this was occurring in the north of Aragon, the southern reaches, centering particularly on the city of Cartagena, erupted in revolt in favor of King Ferran of Aragon, who remained in exile in Sicily (5).

Enrique, having been convinced by his courtiers that the revolt in Catalonia was suppressed, ordered Fernando Álvarez de Toledo southward towards the more pressing threat from Cartagena while ordering Constable Álvaro de Luna to build up a force in case Toledo found the need for them. While Fernando Álvarez de Toledo rushed south after the court dismissed his protests that the work in Catalonia was unfinished and was thus forced to promptly go about crushing the resistance Castile faced in the south. In the meantime the mountain villages of the Pyrenees remained outside of Castilian hands and in full revolt. The Cartagena revolt was led by a Dominican Friar named Martín Téllez and a minor noble named Ignacio de Almoradi, who succeeded in wresting control of much of the region, most significantly the cities of Murcia and Cartagena. When Fernando Álvarez de Toledo came rushing southward he succeeded in catching Ignacio de Almoradi by surprise and tore through the field force controlled by the noble. Ignacio himself was able to escape and sought refuge among the peasants of the region, who protected him from the Castilian general. Ignacio de Almoradi eventually succeeded in making his escape and immediately set about fortifying his and Téllez's conquests (6). Martín Téllez dispatched messengers across the sea from Cartagena begging for Ferran's return, but Ferran found himself trapped by the tense political situation in Sicily which kept both King Louis and Francesco Sforza from action (7). Fernando Álvarez de Toledo set about systematically besieging the rebel strongholds one-by-one. He took fortified village of Barinas after a week in late May 1422, followed by Abanilla and Fortuna in the first half of June and Santomera later in the month, before finding himself in the suburbs of Murcia. The Siege of Murcia would prove to be a slow affair, with Fernando Álvarez de Toledo unwilling to risk a direct assault on the powerful walls of the city. Over the course of July and August, Toledo erected siege positions and began bombarding the walls with trebuchet, adding cannon to the artillery when they arrived in mid-August, before demanding the city's surrender in early September when several large breaches in the wall had been created. After a week of negotiations the city surrendered, though not before Ignacio de Almoradi had succeeded in evading capture by his former allies and escaped from the encircled city. Having determined that Fernando Álvarez de Toledo would simply reduce one position after another, the two leaders of the Cartagena Revolt decided to pool their resources at the primary city of the revolt, strengthening the defenses of Cartagena significantly. King Ferran simultaneously finally succeeded in gaining both Francesco Sforza and King Louis' support for the Cartagena Revolt. While they were unwilling to dedicate enough resources for an army while embroiled in a struggle for control of the throne, they both agreed to keep the city supplied by sea and provided King Ferran with loans to hire some of Sforza's former mercenaries to bolster the defenses of Cartagena. After a lighting campaign through the region, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo finally began laying the ground work for the Siege of Cartagena on the 8th of October 1422, however on personally seeing the prepared nature of the city, he grew worried that he would be unable to take Cartagena. He began stockpiling resources immediately, requisitioning further supplies from the surrounding countryside. Fernando soon began laying the groundwork for an extended siege. He ordered winter shelters built for his forces, laid out extensive siege lines and began pummeling at the walls of the city. However, Cartagena was one of the few cities to have recently begun modernizing their walls and has a such significantly strengthened the city's walls against cannon shot. This status quo, with Cartagena under siege but fully supplied by sea, would persist throughout the winter and in early February, when news arrived of events in Catalonia, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo was left powerless to act (8).

When Fernando Álvarez de Toledo left Catalonia he left behind a countryside cowed and devastated by his army, but with a seething rural populace who were more than ready to exploit any sign of weakness. Thus, during the summer of 1422 the Catalan peasants in northern Aragon began to organize themselves properly, finding their leader in the mayor of the Pyrenees village Castellbò, known to posterity as Pere el lleig - Peter the Ugly (9). Pere gathered around him many of the other communal leaders of the region and began organizing villages to support each other and setting up warning systems to ensure that no tax collector or raiding party made it into the inner valleys and the heartland of the rebellion without warning reaching the population. By the autumn of 1422, Pere began launching raids into the lowlands, ambushing the remnants of the Castilian forces in northern Aragon and provoking the peasantry into revolt. By the New Year, the entire countryside of northern Catalonia was up in arms against the Castilians. The remaining tax collectors were overwhelmed by ferocious mobs while garrisons across northern Aragon found themselves besieged by the people of the countryside. 1423 saw the dispatch of another Castilian force, this time under a minor noble of English descent named Sir Robert Hylton, whose father had participated in John of Gaunt's conquest of Castile and had been rewarded with lands in la Mancha. Sir Robert Hylton led a force of 1,000 towards Barbastro, wherefrom he began raiding and pillaging the nearby countryside. Over the course of March he so aggravated the populace of the nearby areas that they called on Pere to save them. Beginning on the 8th of April, Sir Robert began to lose raiding parties. By the 10th more than half who were sent out stopped returning. On the 12th the Castilian camp woke to find its sentries dead and the heads of the raiding parties' leaders displayed atop the wooden stockade surrounding the camp. The following night, Pere and his supporters attacked and overwhelmed the camp. The men in the camp were butchered while their arms and supplies were stripped. By morning the Catalans had disappeared, returning to their sanctuaries in the mountains while a single wounded squire was left alive to spread the tale of the slaughter (10).

Punishment of the Catalan Rebels
​

News of the Massacre at Barbastro spread rapidly, enflaming central Aragon for the first time. Valencia found itself wracked by popular unrest, which was only ended by fierce reprisals, while Barcelona's Castilian garrison found themselves the targets of assassinations and ambushes as they were returning from guard duty or while patrolling the streets. The Castilian court were horrified at the spread of the rebellion and promptly began mustering enormous forces in an effort to suppress the rebellious sentiments in the region. While the Constable left enough forces for Fernando Álvarez de Toledo to continue his Siege of Cartagena, the vast majority of the forces raised were dispatched to central Aragon, basing themselves at Valencia where the court of King Enrik and Queen Antònia sought shelter from their murderous subjects. Over the course of 1423, the Constable significantly strengthened garrisons across the region and established heavily armed convoys and tax collection parties which began forcibly extracting the taxes the Castilians had demanded (11). In the meanwhile a force of more than 10,000 under Humphrey of Lancaster, brother to the King and Duke of Sevilla, found itself dispatched into Catalonia with orders to crush all opposition. Marching through the southern parts of Catalonia, with Barcelona as his goal, the Duke of Seville embarked on a campaign of terror and destruction. Burning and looting in ten separate columns, the Castilians were able to send tens of thousands fleeing. Town after town threw open their gates and surrendered to the Castilians, with the ringleaders of the discontent, and commonly the leadership of the towns as well regardless of their political affiliation, executed as a warning against rebellion. Pere el lleig acted swiftly to this assault, opening up the mountain villages in the north to refugees and launching raids against the Castilian invaders. Dozens of minor skirmishes and raids occurred as both sides sought to weaken their enemy, while Humphrey began actively suppressing the region. By August he had arrived at Barcelona, wherefrom he would lead his campaigns in Catalonia, while his forces found themselves dispersed to cities and towns from Zaragoza to Barcelona wherefrom they patrolled the countryside and ensured the population's compliance with Castilian demands, not least the continued collection of taxes (12).

Pere el lleig immediately began launching raids into Catalonia in an effort to destabilize Castilian control and provoke their southern brethren into revolt. In a series of ambushes west of Manresa, more than 200 Castilians found themselves attacked and wiped out, while the road between Barcelona and Lleida, particularly around Igualada, became a favorite location for Catalan bandits and rebels. Further attacks in the west, at Loare, Alquezar, Binéfar, Balaguer and Sena all saw Castilian contingents attacked and broken, significantly compromising Humphrey's lines of communication with the Castilian court. Humphrey responded rapidly and set up ambushes on the routes leading into the mountains, successfully catching and executing dozens of raiders and for a time stemming the raids. Pere countered by launching a larger force out of the mountains, catching the relatively small Castilian forces by surprise and driving them into retreat. Humphrey had been prepared for just such a course of action, and had as a result prepared a larger force which stood ready to respond to the Catalonian attack. The Battle of Folquer which followed saw the Catalonian force routed and sent fleeing into the mountains. Humphrey decided that he was finally ready to act, believing that the defeat at Folquer would weaken Pere's position enough to create an opportunity to finally crush this fount of rebellion. Thus, on the 19th of October 1423 Humphrey of Lancaster, the Duke of Seville, marched a force of 6,000 into the mountains from Manresa with Castellbò as the target. Throughout this advance into the mountains the Catalans launched raids, ambushes and attacks on the Castilian invaders but proved unable to halt the inexorable advance. Finally, on the 27th of October, Pere el lleig was able to muster his forces and in the valley containing the village Oragnyà, fell on the Castilians. The 6,000 Castilians found themselves under attack from three sides by a force more than double their size, having swollen in size with refugees from the lowlands and filled with partisans of the Barcelona dynasty. Under assault from all sides, the Duke of Seville directed a spirited defense - launching multiple spoiling charges into the disorderly peasant army attacking his forces - while the Catalans brought to bear the slings of their forefathers. This relatively simple weapon proved effective against the lightly armored Castilian infantry and the horses of the cavalry, but the Catalans found themselves shocked at the bloody brutality of the melee. Largely lightly armed themselves, the Catalan peasantry found itself butchered when they came into contact with the heavily armed and capable Castilians (13). The Battle of Oragnyà turned into a brutal bloodbath with 5,000 dead Catalans while 2,000 Castilians were killed before they could extricate themselves from the valley. The Castilians began to retreat out of the mountains, but found themselves under attack every step of the way, bleeding men by the dozens every day of the retreat. The army that left the mountains was shattered by the experience and would be unable to serve in any serious capacity for the next year, receiving reinforcements and going into garrisons. The Catalans meanwhile had taken horrific losses, most importantly Pere el lleig who was trampled in one of the Castilian countercharges and died a week later from his wounds. Pere's death would lead to the fragmentation of Catalan resistance, with more localized leadership taking up control following his death. The conflict in Catalonia turned into a chaotic morass, with the fragmented village associations often at odds with each other, fighting for control of the wider resistance - often violently - as much as they attacked the lowlands under Castilian occupation (14).

The Battle of Oragnyà, while playing a vital role in fragmenting and dispersing the Catalan revolt, proved devastating to the Castilian grip on power in Aragon and the Kingdom's ability to finance the conflict. The loss of thousands of men in Catalonia over the last couple of years led to significant financial and military costs and led to murmurs of discontent in Castile. Having already spent a large part of the treasury on taking Aragon, King Enrique found the cost of holding onto his conquests bitter. At the same time, the clear overtones of Castilian domination of Aragon - which the ascension of King Enrik and his wife were supposed to defuse - led to increasingly greater discontent in Aragon. With even central Aragon, and the Aragonese royal residence of Valencia, experiencing popular protests and disorder it was becoming clear that Castile's grip on Aragon was beginning to slip. The Castilian occupation was proving an extremely expensive affair and the weakness it engendered in Castile led to rumblings on Castile's borders. Yusuf of Granada began eyeing the lands he had lost a decade earlier and began reaching out to the Zayyanids of Tlemcen in anticipation of Castilian weakness, while north of the Pyrenees the collective diplomatic might of France, Navarre and England found itself turned southward as the terms between Pedro of Navarre and Prince Edward of Wales - agreed to at the Council of Soissons - began to take effect. At the same time, Portuguese worries about a Castilian hegemony over Iberia led to the expansion of armed might in Portugal - posing yet more threats to the erstwhile Emperor of Hispania, King Enrique V of Castile. Finally, the Sicilian court began steadily moving towards war with Aragon where the continuing Siege of Cartagena left Castilian control of the Iberian coast in jeopardy (15).

Francesco Sforza, Count of Palermo and Grand Chamberlain of Sicily​

With Enrique under pressure from all sides, the Castilian King suddenly found himself in dire straits. After a series of contentious negotiations in England between King Pedro and King Edward, the pair finally came to a resolution regarding the succession to the Kingdom of Navarre - ensuring that the Queen of France would succeed her grandfather to the Navarrese throne once it was reclaimed. Thus, by late 1424 the pair were able to begin demanding that Enrique end his "guardianship" of the southern half of Navarre. Enrique was initially skeptical of how far the English would go to support Pedro in his plans, and as such refused to comply. It would take Prince Edward martialing a force of 8,000 at Bayonne in 1425 and a slew of accompanying threats of invasion before Enrique finally began to cave, fully aware that he would be unable to sustain the forces needed to prevent an English invasion while mired in the Aragonese conflict, and instead began to seek whatever concessions he possibly could get for surrendering Navarre while simultaneously proceeding to systematically loot almost anything of worth in the region before he would hand it over. The cries of outrage from the native population reached Prince Edward by early 1426 when the Prince finally forced the surrender and at the same time betrothed his second-eldest son, Henry of Wales, to one of King Enrique's daughters - Blanche of Castile - in an effort to rebuild the ties between the two branches of the Plantagenets. This betrothal was joined by the marriage of Catalina of Navarre to Duarte of Portugal, in an effort to reestablish the marital alliances between the Iberian kingdoms. Enrique would hire 4,000 of the men raised at Bayonne for his pacification campaign in Aragon and began pushing for the further opening of trade between Northern Castile and Bordeaux, mostly running through the port of Santander (16). During these intense negotiations, the Siege of Cartagena had continued with seemingly no end in sight - the siege increasingly conducted by a token besieging force hidden behind well-built fortifications while most of the army, and most vitally Fernando Álvarez de Toledo - who had recently been named Count of Chinchilla and had been given the town of Albacete and its environs as part of his fief, worked towards quelling the rebellious population of the region with significant success. In the meanwhile, a Sicilian fleet finally set sail from Palermo. its destination? Majorca (17).

Majorca's geographical location was conducive to trade. The island had become a meeting point for traders from various Mediterranean coastal areas, including Perpignan, Maghreb, Genoa, Granada, Valencia and Catalonia. Eventually, a conglomerate was formed by Jewish, Christian, and Muslim merchants who transported and sold a variety of goods. Majorca was located in the boundary zone between Christian and Muslim areas, at a nautical intersection close to Spain, southern France, Italy and North Africa. The island served primarily as a trade interchange and transit point, and as a result the island's economy was inextricably linked with international trade traffic. It developed an active market, monitored by the Consulate of the Sea. In 707, the eldest son of Musa ibn Nusair, governor of the Umayyad caliphate in North Africa, landed on Majorca and plundered the island. In 903, the island was conquered by Issam al-Khawlani, ruler of the same caliphate, who took advantage of the destabilization of the island population caused by a series of raids launched out of Normandy. Majorca experienced substantial growth which led to the Muslim-controlled Balearic islands becoming a haven for Saracens pirates, besides serving as a base for the Berbers who used to attack Christian ships in the western Mediterranean, hindering trade among Pisa, Genoa, Barcelona and Marseille. The local economy was supported by a combination of stolen goods from raids on Christian territories, naval trade, and taxes levied on Majorcan farmers. In 1114, the Count of Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer, gathered a group of nobles from Pisa and other Provençal and Italian cities, including the Viscount of Narbonne and the Count of Montpellier. This group of nobles launched a retaliatory expedition against the island to combat the pirate raids being organized on Majorca. After an eight-month siege, Berenguer had to return home because an Almoravid offensive was threatening Barcelona. He left the Genoese in charge, but they ultimately gave up on the siege and fled with the captured spoils. Although the siege failed, it laid the foundation for future Catalan naval power and strengthened strategic alliances among Christian kingdoms around the Mediterranean. The siege of Majorca prompted the Almoravid caliph to send a relative of his to take over the local government and rebuild the province. The new wāli led to a dynasty, the Banû Gâniya, which, from its capital at Madina Mayurqa, tried to reconquer the Almoravid empire. King Alfonso II, using Sicilian ships, organised a new expedition and again attempted to conquer the island, but was unsuccessful. The Conquest of the island of Majorca on behalf of the Christian kingdoms was carried out by King James I of Aragon between 1229 and 1231. The pact to carry out the invasion, concluded between James I and the ecclesiastical and secular leaders, was ratified in Tarragona on August 28, 1229. It was open and promised conditions of parity for all who wished to participate. James I reached an agreement regarding the arrival of the Christian troops with a local chief in the Port de Pollença, but the strong mistral winds forced the king to divert to the southern part of the island. He landed at midnight on September 10, 1229, on the coast where there is now the tourist resort of Santa Ponsa, the population center of the Calviá municipality. Although the city of Madina Mayurqa (now Palma de Mallorca) fell within the first year of the conquest, the Muslim resistance in the mountains lasted for three years. After the conquest, James I divided the land among the nobles who accompanied him on the campaign, and later conquered Ibiza, where the campaign ended in 1235, while Menorca had already surrendered to him in 1231. While he occupied the island, James I created the Kingdom of Majorca, which became independent of the Crown of Aragon by the provisions of his will, until its subsequent conquest by the Aragonese Pedro IV during the reign of James II of Majorca. The first repopulation of Majorca consisted primarily of Catalan settlers, but a second wave, which took place towards the middle of the 13th century, also saw the arrival of Italians, Occitans, Aragonese and Navarrese, due to a legal statute granting the settlers possession of the property seized during the conquest. Some Mudejar and Jewish residents remained in the area, with the Jewish residents receiving official status protecting their rights and granting them fiscal autonomy (18).

On the death of James II of Majorca's son Sancho in 1324, James III took the throne at the age of nine, necessitating a regency council headed by his uncle Philip to govern the realm. The situation was difficult since James II of Aragon did not renounce his claim to the Majorcan throne. In 1325, Philip secured the renunciation by the Aragonian king of any claim on the rights of succession of the Majorcan throne after the repayment of a great debt incurred by Sancho during an invasion by Sardinia. While the act solved the problem of succession, it also plunged the kingdom into a serious financial crisis. James was forced to develop policies similar to that of Aragon's. To that end, he was forced to participate in the war against Genoa (1329-1336), which resulted in the loss of various economic markets for the kingdom. Again, it was necessary to impose new taxes and fines on the Jewish community though this was insufficient to resolve the financial crisis. The problems of the kingdom did not appear to have an end since in 1341, Peter IV of Aragon closed relations with the Kingdom of Majorca as a prelude to invasion. In May 1343, Peter IV invaded the Balearic Islands and followed that in 1344 with the invasions of the counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya. James III was able to keep only his French possessions. After the sale of these possessions to the king of France in 1349, James III left for Majorca. He was defeated and killed at the Battle of Llucmajor on 25 October 1349. Then, the Kingdom of Majorca was then incorporated into the Crown of Aragon. Several Majorcan pretenders had since attempted to reclaim the throne, but until King Ferran of Aragon's defeat and exile against King Enrique, the islands had remained firmly in Aragonese hands (18). During the Castilian occupation the Islands had largely been left untouched, the new regime in Valencia limiting its interventions in the islands to the appointment of a royal governor while many of the troops in the garrisons of the region were allowed to return to the populace - not being considered loyal supporters of the current regime - while the governor began recruiting a replacement garrison from the population of the islands. This effort had proven decidedly lackluster, with most of the money set aside for the garrison being siphoned off by the royal governor while the islands were left in a state of anarchic disarray.

It was word of the disorder in Aragon and the anarchy in Majorca which drew Francesco Sforza to finally back the exiled King Ferran's claim to both the Kingdom of Majorca and Kingdom of Aragon. Over the course of the half-decade since Sforza's ascension as Grand Chamberlain, the King and his Grand Chamberlain had engaged in a bitter war of courtly intrigues, assassinations and poisonings in an effort to remain out of Pope Honorius' eye - the Pope having expressed serious reservations about instability in the nation of his birth. These intrigues had included bitter disputes over the marriage prospects of King Ferran's only son and the heir to his claim, Jaume de Barcelona (19). The dispute had been over whether Francesco Sforza's young daughter Caterina Sforza or King Louis' youngest daughter Giulia should marry Jaume, with King Louis eventually bowing to the extreme pressure placed on him by Francesco Sforza and the marriage of Jaume de Barcelona to Caterina Sforza. What finally turned the tides of power completely in Sforza's favor was the immense unpopularity of Louis' favorite, Giulio di Mazzo - a minor Sicilian nobleman from Mesagne near Brindisi. Giulio had proven to be a close friend and supporter of the King, who in return lavished immense favors on Giulio - not the least of which was granting him the Duchy of Benevento in spite of massive opposition from almost every sides. By late 1424 it had become increasingly clear that Louis was preparing to move against Francesco Sforza, with the goal of replacing him with Giulio di Mazzo - however Francesco learned of these plans in time to counteract them. After a long night of carousing with the King in Naples, Giulio di Mazzo was riding back through the streets of the city in the early morning with a couple of companions when he was set upon by masked men, pulled from his horse and stabbed to death alongside his companions. Giulio's murderers escaped without a trace, and Francesco was soon able to move decisively against his rival, closing down all support left for the king and placing him under virtual house arrest. Thus having secured power over the Kingdom of Sicily, and having secured Jaume de Barcelona's hand in marriage for his daughter, Francesco was finally ready to act. It would thus be in April 1426 that a fleet of Sicilian ships could set sail under King Ferran's banner, with Majorca as their initial destination. Arriving in mid-May on the disordered and poorly defended island, Ferran was able to capture Majorca without a fight. This conquest was soon followed by Minorca and Ibiza, with plans soon after for a direct invasion of Aragon. Majorca would become the staging ground for King Ferran and would see significant efforts at rebuilding not just the garrisons of the island but in rebuilding the old residence of the Kings of Majorca. The Sforza would follow Ferran closely and would with time become the most powerful family on the islands. By July 1426 everything was set for an invasion of Aragon, where the Castilian occupiers were beginning to panic in the face of an invasion (20).

The Battle of Solsona​

The thrust of the Sicilian invasion focused on either end of Aragon, firstly on the City of Cartagena which was nearing its fourth year under siege and the small coastal town of Roses, not far from Girona and the heartland of the Catalan Revolt in the north. The fleet that landed at Cartagena arrived in the dead of night, having escaped notice from the Castilian siege lines. After disembarking the initial 5,000 men of the fleet, Micheletto Attendolo - who had been given command of the force - launched the combined forces in the city in an assault to break the siege and open the way into southern Aragon. Caught by surprise, the token siege force was swept aside with little difficulty and the Aragonese-Sicilian army marched into Murcia. Fernando Álvarez de Toledo immediately began mustering the dispersed forces in the region, hoping to build a large enough force to contain the breakout, and gave battle in a series of skirmishes east of Murcia. As it became increasingly clear that he was significantly outnumbered, the Count of Chinchilla decided that he had to withdraw or risk envelopment, pulling back towards the Castilian border and calling for reinforcements. In the meanwhile, King Ferran returned to Aragon through Roses and immediately began marching for Girona, wherefrom he would be able to threaten Castilian control of Barcelona. The Duke of Seville immediately mustered his forces and began preparing to crush the claimant king's army. Brutal fighting erupted between the two forces, but Humphrey of Lancaster found himself driven into retreat following the Battles of Girona and Blanes, both of which demonstrated Ferran's military savvy. By late 1426 Humphrey found himself forced to abandon Barcelona, pulling back through a countryside in flames - the rebellious population having risen up in support of King Ferran's invasion the moment they learned of it. As the pulled out of Catalonia, the Castilians burned and destroyed all the crops, villages and bridges they could in an effort to cripple the Aragonese ability to challenge Castile. By the new year the Aragonese and their Sicilian allies had cemented their control of Catalonia and Murcia, leaving old Aragon - centered on Zaragoza - and central Aragon - centered on Valencia - in Castilian hands. King Enrique V of Castile immediately began martialing forces from across his lands and started negotiations with Yusuf III Nasrid of Granada for his support in Aragon. These negotiations culminated in Yusuf's agreement to put his forces up for mercenary service under Enrique in return for a large sum of gold and silver (21).

The campaigns of 1427 continued the Aragonese successes, with Catalonia and much of Old Aragon rising in favor of King Ferran, leaving the Duke of Seville - soon joined by his brother the Duke of Madrid - to put down the uprisings in Old Aragon while challenging King Ferran's assaults out of Catalonia. King Enrik of Aragon marched north from Valencia to face his father-in-law with a force roughly equal to the Catalano-Sicilian army mustered by Ferran and clashed with him in a river crossing of the Ebro at the Battle of Garcia, at the Battle of Falset, in a series of bloody skirmishes through the mountains of the Sierra de Llaberia, the Battle of Cambrils and the devastating Battle of Tarragona which saw almost 10,000 men bleed out in the dust and King Enrik's advance finally ended. Enrik was driven southward with Ferran in close pursuit, only to find his advance stymied by news of an invasion of northern Catalonia by the Duke of Madrid, Thomas of Lancaster (22). Intense fighting around Lleida followed, only coming to an end with the beginning of winter in late 1427. In the south Micheletto Attendolo and Ignacio de Almoradi launched themselves northward and westward, capturing Lorca, Hellín, Almansa, Alacant and Gandia over the course of 1426 and 1427 before the weight of Grenadine mercenaries and newly raised Castilian Hidalgos brought their advance to a halt. 1428 was characterized primarily by intense skirmishing, ambushes and raids - particularly in the south, with the Castilians slowly strengthening their grip in the south while King Ferran began reordering his Catalan supporters and mustering large forces from among the fractured Pyrenees population (23). The last half of 1428 saw King Ferran advance towards Zaragoza, driving the two brother dukes before him. This culminated in the Battle of Perdiguera where King Enrique finally entered the field in person. Leading an army of 8,000 to join his brothers at Zaragoza, he personally led the Castilian attack on King Ferran's army, driving it into retreat following a bloody and devastating battle. 1429 saw the skirmishing in the south take on further intensity and evolve into a series of minor battles, particularly around Gandia where King Enrik had focused his attentions following his defeat at Tarragona. Over the course of the year, Ignacio de Almoradi and Micheletto Attendolo found themselves stretched to the utmost in an effort to counter the constant assaults from all sides. At the same time King Enrique and King Ferran clashed in several large battles across Catalonia, with Ferran finding himself on the losing side on several occasions but able to rely on the fanatical support of the populace and thereby rebuilt his force several times over. It would be the Duke of Seville's campaign towards Tarragona which force King Ferran to give up his control of Lleida for fear of losing the vital port city. The Battle of Gandesa would prove to be an unmitigated disaster for the Castilians, as Humphrey of Lancaster found his forces attacked while on the march and scattered. Humphrey was personally wounded and captured in the aftermath of the Battle of Gandesa, which was followed by a rapid southern campaign under King Ferran which saw the capture of Tortosa and the anchoring of Aragonese-controlled Catalonia on the Ebro. This allowed King Ferran to turn northward with more forces than previously, relying on the river as a defensive bulwark and stripping the region of most of its garrisons.

King Ferran's Lleida Campaign in early 1430 occurred concurrently with the outbreak of tax revolts in Andalusia, protesting the rising costs of the war in Aragon and led by a clique of Moriscos who hoped to turn back the Reconquista. This revolt had initially erupted in Andújar and spread like wildfire throughout the region, reaching Cordoba in May of 1430 and leading to intense clashes between the Morisco populace and the Castilian garrison. It would ultimately be the decision of the Sephardic Jews and Coversos in Cordoba which turned the fight for the city in Castile's favor. King Enrique reacted immediately to the revolt, rightly worried that if it was left alone it would sweep across his domains, and left the Catalonian front under the command of his brother Humphrey with orders to slow Ferran, while dispatching his brother Thomas south to aid Enrique's son Enrik in crushing the revolt in southern Aragon. Thus, when King Ferran marched for Lleida there was nothing for Humphrey to do other than delay his advance. After half a year of delays Lleida finally fell into Aragonese hands, allowing Ferran to turn towards Zaragoza and Huesca. In the meanwhile the combined weight of the Count of Chinchilla, the Duke of Madrid and King Enrik of Aragon all began to overwhelm Ignacio de Almoradi and Micheletto Attendolo. Over the course of 1430 southern Aragon fell into Castilian control, beginning with Gandia followed by a general retreat across the region. Bitter fighting between the peasantry of the region, the Castilian invaders and most horrifically the marauding Grenadines who tore through the region with brutal abandon, burning village churches and monasteries alongside the rest, resulted in the depopulation and devastation of the region. The capture of Murcia was followed by a brutal sack which saw two in every three inhabitant killed or displaced, with Castilians brought in to replace the killed population in a bid to build a loyal base of support in the region. By the end of 1430 the Aragonese had been reduced to the ports of Alacant and Cartagena, which were put under a close siege and found themselves pounded by heavy cannon on a scale rarely seen before. Assault after assault was undertaken against the cities, with Alacant finally falling in May of 1431 and Cartagena finding itself under close siege and its port under bombardment - preventing resupplies from entering the city. By September of 1431 the city surrendered after starvation had begun killing people by the hundreds every day, most significantly the original leader of the Cartagena revolt - Martín Tellez who had lost most of his direct influence following the Sicilian intervention. The city was subjected to harsh reprisals and was placed under the governorship of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, who was rewarded for his service with the title of Marquess of Murcia, and annexed the region of Murcia directly to Castile (24). Ignacio de Almoradi and Micheletto Attendolo would both succeed in escaping the city, arriving in Majorca with a host of supporters. In the north, Ferran was able to drive Humphrey back consistently in a series of bloody battles which culminated in the Battle of Alagón and the fall of Zaragoza into Aragonese hands. The fall of southern Aragon forced Ferran to refocus on strengthening his defenses, relying to an ever greater extent on the warlike Catalans of the mountains to fill out the increasingly sparse reinforcements arriving from Sicily. By early 1432, King Ferran and his Catalan supporters found themselves under concerted attack across the border. From Tortosa in the east to Zaragoza in the west, King Ferran found himself swamped under the resurgent Castilians who were able to bring to bear the forces they had concentrated in the south. King Enrique would join the effort in mid-1432 after finally crushing the Morisco revolt. Over the course of the next year and a half King Ferran found himself forced into a dogged defense but was increasingly forced into retreat. Finally, at the Battle of Solsona King Enrique and King Ferran met in battle for the final time. The Catalan rebels were by this point beyond exhausted, having given the flower of a generation to the incessant revolts and subsequent war, and Sicilian aid had dried up earlier in the year with the fall of Barcelona to the Marquess of Murcia. King Ferran, realizing the dire straits of his position launched himself into the thick of the fighting until he was pulled from his horse and stabbed to death. His body would be found after the battle and was buried with honors. With King Ferran's death the remaining resistance in Aragon crumbled. By 1434 the smoldering remnants of the revolt had come to an end (25).

While King Enrique V of Castile and his son King Enrik I of Aragon began to rebuild following the devastation of nearly two decades of almost continuous warfare in Aragon, Francesco Sforza made his move on Majorca. Placing his young son-in-law Jaume de Barcelona as King of Majorca, he split the kingdom from the Crown of Aragon and further strengthened the Sforza grip on the western Mediterranean by placing his cousin, Micheletto as Jaume's regent. This was followed by an expedition to reclaim the Aragonese lands in Sardinia. The fighting in Sardinia would turn largely in favor of the Sforza, though with several setbacks. Over the course of the next decade the islands of the western Mediterranean would fall completely into Sforza hands, from Majorca in the west to Sicily in the East, Malta in the South and Sardinia in the north. The trade of the region would fall largely into their hands with merchant houses based out of Palermo coming to dominate the trade of the region, competing fiercely with the Genoese. The fate of Aragon had been settled for this generation, but there would remain those opposed to the Lancaster dynasty who would look across the seas to Majorca and Sicily with longing, hoping for a return of the Barcelona-Trastàmara dynasty. Marriages between the Sicilian Angevins, Barcelona-Trastàmara and Sforza-Attendolo would soon build a powerful block under the control of Francesco Sforza. From Tuscany and Genoa, through Marseille, Nice and Narbonne to Barcelona and Valencia, all would turn their attentions towards this new power with avaricious eyes (26).

The Saharan Trade Routes​

While the central and eastern parts of the Iberian Peninsula collapsed into bloody strife, Portugal sat splendidly outside of the conflict. While there had been a period of deteriorating relations between Castile and Portugal in the first half of the 1420s, the subsequent marriage of Infante Duarte to King Pedro of Navarre's youngest daughter, Catalina of Navarre, succeeded in tying the royal families of England, France, Navarre, Castile and Portugal back together after their decades of strife. Furthermore, this resolution included the Castilian recognition of Portuguese claims to the Canaries, Madeira and the subsequently discovered Azores. This cleared the Portuguese rear of threats while they could focus their attentions on Africa, having convinced Pope Honorius to declare their campaigns in Africa a Crusade. The African Crusade would last for decades, with the steady collapse of the Marinid Sultanate. The alliance created between the Hintata tribesmen and the Marinid Vizir, Abu Zakariya Yahya al-Wattas, for control of the Sultanate quickly soured when the two parties began struggling for control of their puppet Sultan, Abdul Aziz III. After four years of struggle, the two sides began fighting a war for control of the Sultanate. While al-Wattas dominated the northern and coastal reaches of Morocco, the Hintata increasingly began demonstrating their power over the southern reaches of Morocco. Over the next three years the two sides tore into each other in bloody and brutal clashes while the administrative apparatus of the Sultanate ground to a halt. The Portuguese would exploit this collapse of control to take over much of the Moroccan coastline. However, by 1430 the tide had turned firmly against the Vizir and al-Wattas found himself betrayed by his own puppet Sultan, Abdul Aziz, who ordered the Vizir and his family murdered. The Hintata marched into Fez soon after and began taking up the levers of power, but found themselves at odds with the Sultan who was promptly strangled and succeeded by his brother. The Hintata soon began fighting amongst themselves over the post of Vizir, Morocco soon collapsing into yet another civil war. This conflict led to four rival Sultans being declared alongside more than a dozen seperate Vizirs, with the final surviving Marinid Sultan - named Muhammad VI - being murdered by his ascendant vizir in 1436. The murder of Muhammad VI was soon followed by the assassination of his vizir and the general collapse of the Moroccan Sultanate. The individual tribes of the region, with the Hintata's control collapsing outside of their southern strongholds, would take up rule of fragmented pieces of the region while the Portuguese pressed ever closer to the Atlas mountains. This collapse of central rule in Morocco disrupted trade routes with Sub-Saharan Africa, though some of the trade was pushed eastward towards Tlemcen and Oran where the Zayyanids were able to use this growth in wealth to press into eastern Morocco and west against the Hafsids (27).

While the Portuguese took advantage of the collapsing Marinid Dynasty they also embarked on a series of ambitious expeditions aimed at discovering a sea route to India and reopening the trade routes with sub-Saharan Africa - marked by the creation of numerous outposts and the takeover of several islands and archipelagos. The disruption of trade through Morocco spurred on an already developing exploratory push southward. Several expeditions foundered off of Cape Bojador - which was believed by many sailors to be impassable, before a passable route around it was discovered in 1429. Once this psychological barrier had been crossed, it became easier to probe further along the coast. While ships successfully rounded the Cape, it became increasingly clear that the current Barques would be unable to weather more ambitious expeditions. This resulted in an intense period of work culminating in the development of the caravel in 1436, based on existing fishing boats under the sponsorship of Henrique the Navigator which soon became the preferred vessel for Portuguese explorers. Until the 15th century, Europeans were limited to coastal navigation using the barge or the balinger, ancient cargo vessels of the Mediterranean Sea with a capacity of around 50 to 200 tons. These boats were fragile, with only one mast with a fixed square sail that could not overcome the navigational difficulties of southward oceanic exploration, as the strong winds, shoals and strong ocean currents easily overwhelmed their abilities. The caravel has origins in earlier Portuguese fishing boats built in the 13th century based on the medieval Islamic qarib, used in Islamic Spain. The lateen sail, which had Middle-Eastern origins, was also adopted from medieval Islamic shipping in the 15th century. Being smaller and having a shallow keel, the caravel could sail upriver in shallow coastal waters. With the lateen sails attached, it was highly maneuverable and could sail much nearer the shore, while with the square Atlantic-type sails attached, it was very fast. Its economy, speed, agility, and power made it esteemed as the best sailing vessel of its time. The limited capacity for cargo and crew were their main drawbacks, but did not hinder its success (28).

The early Portuguese colonies amounted to the islands of Madeira, the Azores and the Canaries. The Bethencourt era of the Conquest of the Canary Islands ended in 1418 when Maciot sold his holdings and the rights to subjugate the remaining islands to Prince Henrique the Navigator. Over the course of the next three decades the Prince would steadily invade island upon island in the Archipelago, culminating in the conquest of Gran Canaria in 1442. The local population would rise up numerous times and the conquest would prove difficult to retain, but in the end - and with royal support - the Duke of Viseu was able to take control of the islands in their entirety. The Azores also found themselves the focus of colonization efforts beginning in 1425, following their discovery four years earlier. The intense interest in gaining access to the Sub-Saharan trade network was what convinced King João to support these efforts, with plans for the Azores and the other islands to function not only as stopping points, but also as an outlet for the overpopulated Portuguese mainland - which had been experiencing a major population boom since the ascension of King João I of Portugal. This growth in population had come to strain the resources of the Kingdom and while the Moroccan expeditions and conquests served as a location for many Portuguese soldiers, thousands of younger sons and daughters found themselves drawn to the Atlantic islands by promises of cheap land and low taxes. With time the Azores would be able to export their wheat crop back to Portugal to support the overpopulation (29). In 1419 two captains of Prince Henry the Navigator, João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, were driven by a storm to the island they called Porto Santo, or Holy Harbour, in gratitude for their rescue from shipwreck. The next year an expedition was sent to populate the island, and, Madeira being described, they made for it, and took possession on behalf of the Portuguese crown, together with captain Bartolomeu Perestrello. The islands started to be settled in 1422. The three captain-majors had led, in the first trip, the respective families, a small group of people of the minor nobility, people of modest conditions and some old prisoners of the kingdom. To gain the minimum conditions for the development of agriculture, they had to rough-hew a part of the dense forest of laurisilva. Then fires were started, which are said to have burned for seven years. The colonists constructed a large number of canals, since in some parts of the island, they had water in excess while in other parts water was scarce. The manual work was done by enslaved Moroccans brought from the African mainland in the early periods of settlement, later being augmented by Sub-Saharan Africans. They were put to growing and refining sugar, which was much in demand in Europe and highly profitable. It would take until 1445 before sugar production had fully come into its own, but with time Madeira Sugar would become a source of immense wealth to the Portuguese crown (30).

Summary:

Catalonia and the Murcian region both erupt in rebellion against the Castilians following harsh tax collection measures. Attempts at crushing the revolts are undertaken with some success by the Castilians.

Further attempts at crushing the revolts in Catalonia fail, though the region is devastated. The Royal couple in Aragon find themselves in danger on a constant basis.

Under pressure from all sides, Enrique of Castile enters into negotiations which while costly leave him more secure and able to continue expanding. After a great deal of intrigue, Francesco Sforza emerges triumphant in the struggle for power in Sicily. Majorca is attacked and taken by the Sicilians.

King Ferran of Aragon invades again, experiencing some success before the tide turns firmly against him. After years of war, Ferran is killed at Solsano.

The Portuguese exploit internal divisions in Morocco and Castilian focus on Aragon to expand explosively into North Africa and the Atlantic Islands.

Footnotes:
(1) This is really a miscalculation of epic proportions, but the problems which lead to the implementation of tax farming need to be solved somehow and at this point it seems better to focus on lands not directly owing fealty to King Enrique. Henry Beaufort himself emerges victorious in his struggle with his brother for control of his nephew's regency, though the distraction caused by their struggle plays an important part in why the mistakes made in Aragon at this point occur.

(2) Tax farming is something that was used in England with some success, but hadn't seen use in Aragon or Castile before this point, at least not under the Lancasters. The decision to move towards tax farming was taken because of the need to rapidly recover financial stability following the war to take Aragon. The results should be predictable.

(3) This is the start of a long running insurgency which strengthens and weakens multiple times over. Originally I had planned for the Catalonian insurgency to be a minor point, but as I started working on it I came to the realization that it is extremely important to understanding what is going on in Aragon at this point in time.

(4) Fernando Álvarez de Toledo is the ancestor of the Dukes of Alba who attained significant fame in the 1500s. He is the man who originally established the family's fortunes, this time around he has more opportunities for success and propels his family to incredible heights over the course of the conflict in Aragon.

(5) While Fernando almost ended the Catalonian revolt at this point, the Cartagena revolt is what will truly come to define his career. He is a harsh if brilliant military leader, based at least in part on his OTL descendant.

(6) It is important to note that the leaders of these revolts aren't from the Aragonese high nobility, but rather from the lower substrata of the nobility and ecclesiastical leadership which gives them much closer ties to the region. These are competent and charismatic figures who emerge through their own skill, not natural leaders who are appointed because of their descent from some ancient figure.

(7) This will be the focus of much attention later in the update, but for now just know that Sicilian politics remain so unsettled and King Louis retains enough power that neither side is able to turn westward for fear of leaving an opening for their rival.

(8) The Siege of Cartagena experiences multiple levels of intensity over its long duration. The city can largely remain fully supplied by sea, with several attempts by the Castilians to counter this ending in abject failure, most notable in 1424 where a blockade of four ships are sunk by a storm. Without these failures to close the sea route the city would have starved long before it runs into trouble.

(9) Peter the Ugly is actually a fairly prominent man from among the Pyrenees mountains, the epithet stems from Castilian attempts at smearing this peasant leader who caused them incredible amounts of difficulty. The Catalans of the region eventually adopted the epithet with pride and he is always pictured in paintings and statues as an immensely ugly man from the mid-15th century onwards.

(10) This is an important turning point in the revolt, demonstrating the power of the Catalan peasantry when based out of the mountains. It is the Pyrenees which allows the Catalonian revolt to continue for years on end, with most attempts at ending it in the mountains turning into abject failures.

(11) The Castilians begin to really invest in the conflict, moving to end it before they completely lose their grip on Aragon. The large forces being deployed are going to set back Castilian economic stability for years and will eventually lead to even further trouble.

(12) Humphrey of Lancaster's march in Catalonia begins another phase of the revolt and is yet another escalation in the conflict.

(13) Peter the Ugly and Humphrey of Lancaster struggle immensely with each other, and Peter ends up becoming a folk hero for it.

(14) The fragmentation caused by Peter's death is really important because it leaves the Castilians unable to target a single leader of the revolt. The difficulty of taking any single village in the mountains means that the Castilians are left with trying to crack the rebels when they leave the mountains, but because of the fragmentation any single band will be much smaller but there are far more of them. The Catalans aren't the threat they were before but they cause far more destruction to the region with their raids.

(15) King Enrique getting sucked into the revolts in Aragon really weaken his outward power position. The conflict in Aragon is what ends up defining his reign in many ways, while he is forced to make concessions to his neighbors in order to continue his attempts to retain Aragon.

(16) The negotiations during this period are incredibly tense and the fear of war breaking out nearly brings Castile to its knees. The fact that Enrique is able to rebuild the old Anglo-Navarro-Portuguese-Castilian alliance after more than two decades of conflict is a major accomplishment. The fact that the new Queen of France is Enrique's cousin also allows him to establish friendly ties with the new royal couple in France. The move of the French capital to Toulouse significantly strengthens these ties as well, bringing the families closer together.

(17) The Sicilians finally start moving. The Siege of Cartagena is by now in its third year, with no sign of ending any time soon.

(18) This is all basically OTL. The history of Mallorca (Majorca) is actually quite interesting, serving as an independent kingdom for a time and being a focus of intense struggle between so many different powers. I learned a lot from reading up on the Balearic Islands.

(19) Jaume de Barcelona is claimant to both the Kingdom of Aragon by way of his Father, the King of Aragon, and to Castile through his mother, who is the extant Trastamàra claimant to the Castilian throne, her male relatives having been killed during the many wars for the throne.

(20) The intrigues of the Sicilian court are impacted by external forces as well, most importantly the Coucy claim to the Duchy of Benevento and Francesco Sforza's championing of the claim lead to the Coucies and their allies throwing their support behind Francesco. There are also plans laid for a marriage alliance at a later date, but for now this support is integral to Francesco being able to effectively make King Louis a puppet monarch.

(21) The negotiations with Yusuf of Granada are vital to securing Enrique's position, and almost collapse on numerous occasions. Despite several entreaties from King Ferran, Yusuf ultimately stays outside of the conflict. This is yet another diplomatic success for King Enrique, though a painful and costly one.

(22) This is King Enrik's first major action in the TL beyond taking up kingship. He isn't quite as militarily competent as his father, though he isn't horrendous either, and lacks some of Enrique's sheer boldness and willingness to gamble. He is quite simply not as great a man as his father, but he also doesn't have some of Enrique's peculiarities.

(23) This is yet another example where the Pyrenees population of Catalonia proves vital to the Aragonese resistance. King Ferran's return leads to this collection of fractious minor nobles, peasants and others finally finding something to rally around once more. They become the backbone of Ferran's forces and prove highly successful, though in the end they are simply stretched too far and facing too many opponents.

(24) The Fall of Cartagena is seen in the history books as the final nail in the coffin, after this point Ferran doesn't have a chance of actually wresting the kingdom from Castilian hands, instead turning towards doing as much damage as possible.

(25) The rivalry between King Enrique and King Ferran finally comes to an end after half a lifetime of conflict. King Ferran's death brings an end to the revolts as well as everything else. The Castilians are far more cautious about how they go about establishing their power over Aragon after this point, but this isn't the last time that Aragon will buck against Castilian dominance.

(26) The Sforza control of the Balearic Islands, Sardinia and Sicily establish them as a dominant power in the western Mediterranean, but also mark them out as a target for any ambitious neighbor hoping to take control of the trade lanes of the sea. Particularly Corsica and Malta are what the Sicilians have turned their focus towards at this point, for now Malta remains under the control of an old Aragonese noble family who pay fealty to the Angevin kings in Naples, but are outside of Sforza control. Corsica is the only other island in the region outside of Sforza control, and as such is a constant focus for the regime.

(27) I am sorry that this is so brief, but the collapse of the Marinids isn't as important as the result. Portugal has been able to take over large swathes of Morocco, provoking the Zayyanids, who had been expanding westward and creating a new cause for conflict in North Africa. The collapse of the Saharan Trade Routes due to the conflict in Marinid Morocco also proves vital in spurring Portuguese exploratory efforts as will be seen next.

(28) This is almost twenty years earlier than OTL, and is caused primarily by the far larger Portuguese interest in getting south so they can trade with West Africa. They got a taste of what the Trans-Saharan trade could amount to, and are now determined to take control of it. This will be another source of conflict with the Zayyanids, who depend of that trade.

(29) These colonization efforts are larger than OTL because Portugal doesn't have the same sort of resource drains as in OTL. They are more invested in this trade and see more of a return from it.

(30) I think that with the struggle in Morocco going on it could very well become a source of slaves for a while, before sub-Saharan Africans taking it up later on.

 

[Rooto]

Really glad I caught up with this TL before the hiatus. My congratulations to you on a most enjoyable, if bloody!!, 50 years. I hope you come back refreshed and full of ideas, as the French, Spanish and Scando-German situations could still go far, and the relatively small number of states - compared to OTL - could lead to fascinating developments.
I find myself rooting for Portugal and Flanders! I also expect that at least some of the TL's strongmen (such as Prince Edward, Sigismund and Enrique) will be balanced by less-qualified offspring in the future. Will wait with baited breath to see if it all falls apart for Enric and for the new Pope.
Thanks again.

 

[Zulfurium]

Really glad I caught up with this TL before the hiatus. My congratulations to you on a most enjoyable, if bloody!!, 50 years. I hope you come back refreshed and full of ideas, as the French, Spanish and Scando-German situations could still go far, and the relatively small number of states - compared to OTL - could lead to fascinating developments.
I find myself rooting for Portugal and Flanders! I also expect that at least some of the TL's strongmen (such as Prince Edward, Sigismund and Enrique) will be balanced by less-qualified offspring in the future. Will wait with baited breath to see if it all falls apart for Enric and for the new Pope.
Thanks again.

I am happy to learn that you enjoy it. That is basically why I think I need the hiatus. My internship is nearing an end and I am going to have not only a major report to write but also preparations for my Master Thesis, so I haven't really been able to dedicate all my creativity to this for some time. I also have a bunch of ideas for another TL which I am playing around with at the moment and a need to read up on a bunch of different topics for both that TL and this one. Particularly the religious developments in these last couple updates are because I have been reading up a great deal on the Reformation period.

I am not sure about the smaller number of states ITTL tbh, a lot of the stuff I have been doing has to do with looking at the various regional and sub-national (as much as you can talk about that as a thing during the medieval period) creations and the way they interact with the wider world around them. There are some really massive constructions but most of them have at least some degree of historical background. The Nordic Union is basically a strengthened and expansionistic Kalmar Union with a stronger leadership. The English conquests are mainly in western France as compared to the northern focus of OTL. the Sforza Mediteranean empire is at least in part based on a reversed Aragonese Empire. The Luxembourg Empire bestriding central Europe is actually all OTL, at least with regards to the lands under their control, with the main difference being how strong of a grip they have on things.

I really like Portugal as well and am actually looking forward to describing what is going on in Morocco and at sea some more. The Zayannids are going to have a fun role if everything goes according to plan.

Regarding the strong figures, Prince Edward's brood are going to be really interesting to get a closer look at. The next update will at least partially address what the next generation is like and will introduce the sorts of difficulties they are going to bring to the table. Sigismund's son, Charles, isn't as talented as his father but he isn't incompetent either. A major challenge of his reign will be the aftermath of Joan of Arc's actions in the Rhineland. Enrique is a skilled ruler, but given to wild gambling. His son Enrik is much more cautious, having had events turn against him on more than one occasion. As such Enrik will be a better ruler in some ways, at least when it comes to creating stability and balancing egos, but won't have near the same capabilities as his father.

The man to keep an eye on is the young King Charles VII of France, who is going to play a very interesting role later on.

Innocent VII is going to have a hard time of it, at least partially because he simply can't fill the shoes left behind by his predecessor and the extreme antagonism felt by two of his primary rivals towards him personally.

 

[The Professor]

At least we have one more post before the hiatus.

 

[Unknown]

Good update; sad to see it going on hiatus, but it's necessary for you. Hope your major thesis and master thesis are a success, just like I think this timeline will be a Turtledove winner...

Waiting for the final update before the hiatus, of course...

 

[direstar]

Interesting developments in Iberia - Aragon is devastated, Portugal is exploring, and Granada is surviving. It will be sad to see this timeline going on hiatus but I'm sure it will come back better than ever. In the mean time I eagerly await the last update.

 

[Neptune]

Jeez this TL is massive. So many personages to go through... TL;DR please? As far as I've gotten it seems like:

Edward V(?) lives, Wars of the Roses butterflied.
France generally in chaos.
Lancasters took Castile.
Something's going on in the Balkans. Not sure what, but the Ottomans aren't the terrifying hulk they were OTL.

... and that's all I got before I gave up and took a break before my eyes started melting.

 

[Zulfurium]

This is the last update before the Hiatus and marks the end of King Edward's decades long reign. I really hope you have enjoyed this cycle of updates. In this one we see follow King Edward through his last decade of life, examine the Irish conflict and get introduced to the coming generation of English royals. I really, truly hope that you have enjoyed the ride. Let me know your thoughts!

King's End​

King Edward V of England in the last years of his life
​

King Edward's last decade in power would find him increasingly removed from the political pressures of ruling England and able to focus on the activities which held his interest. Prince Edward of Wales took up these burdens, directing large parts of both domestic and foreign policy while King Edward supported his son whenever needed. Instead, the King would use his time on raising the English court to rarely imagined heights, hosting large diplomatic delegations with ease, inviting renowned scholars and artists from across the known world, serenely directing the expansion of Battle Palace to unimagined splendor and presiding over a magnificent court rivaled only by the Imperial court in Prague itself. King Edward met on a weekly basis with petitioners from across his vast domains to resolve disputes ranging from noble feuds to conflicts between the church and laity. He spent days on end meeting with scholars, writers, artists and churchmen to discuss everything from mathematics to philosophy and commissioned numerous paintings, plays, histories and statues in the process creating a cultural golden age (1). Young noblemen were dispatched by their families to the Battle Palace where they received an unparalleled education alongside Edward's many grandchildren. The expenses for most of these activities were largely enabled by Edward's efforts at building up the larger trade network connecting the Atlantic seaboard from Santiago and Bordeaux in the south to Kronborg and the wider Baltic in the east. In collaboration with his son-in-law High King Olaf, Edward sponsored expeditions across the North Sea following his meeting with Icelandic mystics with tales of land beyond the western ocean. While these expeditions would come to naught, only succeeding in briefly reestablishing an outpost in Greenland - which subsequently failed due to the cold and lack of resources, they would live in the imaginations of many of the young nobles who attended Battle Palace at the time (2). During this period an interest in Nordic myths and legends, the result of translations into English of Snorri Sturlason's works, swept through the younger nobility leading to a fashion for braided hair and beards among the younger men of the court, most prominently the young William Plantagenet - thirdborn son of Prince Edward of Wales - who found himself the nexus for the youth at court from the age of 16, in 1426. This rambunctious and active younger nobility played rough and tumble, engaging in hunts, tourneys and competitions of wrestling, boxing and racing alongside their more intellectual pursuits. This fusion of Nordic and Greek culture among the youth would also lead to a rejection of French and Italian culture, in a clear departure from their elders (3).

The younger children of Prince Edward and his siblings would all grow up at the Battle Palace and would find themselves at the heart of the next generation. King Edward's favorite grandchild would prove to be his young grandson by Prince Edward, John of Wales, who proved himself a prodigy from an early age - writing a widely praised commentary on Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica at the age of 12. Through his grandfather's sponsorship John would receive a unparalleled education encompassing not only the traditional scholasticism which had dominated scholarly thought for the last several centuries, but also the peerless Humanist scholar Poggio Bracciolini who accepted King Edward's invitation to stay at his court in 1424 and decided to remain at the Battle Palace following an encounter with the young Prince John. John was made Bishop of Ely in 1425, following the death of the former Bishop John Fordham, and would over the course of his lifetime emerge as the single most influential figure in the English church (4). Alongside Prince John was his sister Eleanor who was destined to become Abbess of Elstow Abbey which would in time become the wealthiest abbey in England under the benevolent eye of Eleanor's younger brother. These two siblings would remain close throughout their lives and coordinate church politics through the tumultuous years to come. But for the time being these two children simply found themselves at the heart of an eclectic if highly talented constellation of tutors who worked feverishly to impart what wisdom they could to the inhabitants of Battle Palace (5). While the two youngest siblings of the Prince of Wales' brood prepared themselves for their church-bound future, their elder siblings entangled themselves completely with the many diverse visitors at the Palace. Most prominent and charismatic of these would be Prince William, who through daring actions, dashing good looks and a kind-heart won the friendship and support of anyone he set his eyes on - not least a slew of charming young noblewomen which led to more than one scandal. Next would be Princess Catherine, who travelled incessantly between the court at Bordeaux, where she retained a close friendship with her eldest brother, and the Battle Palace. A formidable young woman in the mold of her aunt and namesake, the Dowager Dauphine Catherine, the young Princess controlled her ladies-in-waiting with an iron fist and had young gallants willing to fight to the death for her favor. King Edward initially negotiated for her marriage to Louis d'Anjou, eldest son of Duke René d'Anjou, in an effort to strengthen English influence in north-western France but the death of the young Louis soon brought an end to the matter. Her next betrothed would have been Otto Crookleg, heir to the Principality of Lüneberg, but he died suddenly in 1426 leaving many convinced that the princess was cursed. It was at this point that Thomas de Mowbray, son to the Duke of Norfolk and nephew to Ingleram de Mowbray, the Duke of Lorraine and Oxford, entered the field. Although he had been a presence at the Battle Palace for several years, it would take until 1427 before Catherine and Thomas de Mowbray found themselves drawn to each other. Catherine went to her grandfather to plead her case, and following a minor degree of cajoling - King Edward still fondly remembering his own love for the young man's grandmother - the elderly King acquiesced to the match. The marriage of Catherine of Wales to Thomas de Mowbray would place the Mowbray family even more firmly at the center of power than had previously been imagined. Thomas and Catherine would remain a fixture of the English court, eventually developing a significant following themselves. They would take numerous trips to their families in mainland Europe, visiting Bordeaux and Toulouse with regularity and often travelling in the Franco-German marches to visit the Sieur de Coucy and his family as well as the Dukes of Lorraine and Bar (6).

While all of these events were ongoing, the imminently capable Prince of Wales rushed from one end of the sprawling English realm to the other with worrying regularity. He was instrumental in directing forces towards Ireland and ending the brigands who had begun to plague the English countryside. He corresponded with an incredible number of people ranging from his sisters at the French, Imperial and Nordic courts and their families, to the Emperor in Constantinople and Grand Prince Ivan of Muscovy. He was at the heart of European diplomacy and involved himself actively in events the length and breadth of the continent. The middle of the decade was given over to the difficult negotiations surrounding the surrender of the Kingdom of Navarre and the rebuilding of relations with the most powerful kingdom in Iberia. Beyond all of these people, the Prince of Wales endeavored to support the Honorian Reforms in any way possible and proved a steadfast supporter of both Pope Honorius and his chosen successor, Innocent VII. The Eastern War would occupy significant amounts of time during the last half of the decade, with Prince Edward serving as a mediator between his cousin, King Waldemar and the Grand Prince of Muscovy when they negotiated their alliance and the subsequent peace with the Jagellions. Closer to home, Prince Edward played a vital role in strengthening his nephew, David IV's, power in Scotland in a bid to extend more English influence into that kingdom. However, it would be the wars in Ireland which came to dominate this period in the Prince's life, with the challenges of financing the conflict and defeating the many-headed Irish Hydra proving very difficult (7).

Anachronistic depiction of English Massacres in Ireland during the Desmond and Connacht Wars​

The English Invasion of Ireland began properly in 1423, with more and more men landing on Irish shores over the course of the next decade. The first years of the invasion would focus almost exclusively on the ascendant FitzGeralds, resulting in countless clashes between the lands held by the Earl of Desmond and the Pale. The arrival of the Duke of York in 1424, joined by hundreds of veterans from France, would signal the beginning of the end for Thomas FitzGerald. These hardened soldiers, used to the depredations in France, found themselves unleashed on the completely unprepared Irish populace. Under the Duke of York and his close friend the Earl of Shrewsbury, John Talbot, the English tore through southern Ireland with fire and sword, devastating the lands held by the FitzGeralds. Thomas FitzGerald, the Earl of Desmond himself, led a large force of 3,000 to meet an invasion by John Talbot, clashing and defeating his smaller force at the Battle of Tullaroan. The Duke of York reacted poorly to this and led a force of 4,000 southward from Kilkenny to Waterford to blood and death, sweeping aside all resistance and opening up the eastern reaches of the Earldom to invasion (8). Thomas FitzGerald clashed with the English in several major engagements over the course of 1424 and 1425 but increasingly found himself firmly on the back foot. On the 13th of May 1426 Thomas FitzGerald engaged in battle with the Duke of York at the Battle of Clonmel, in which Thomas himself was killed and the flower of Desmond youth was left to rot in the fields. Thomas' eldest surviving son, James FitzGerald, took up his father's mantle and continued the resistance but following Clonmel it would only be a question of time before the FitzGeralds collapsed. In the meantime the King of Connacht, Cathal mac Ruaidri Ó Conchobair, tore through the O'Neills in the north, who were already under pressure from the resurgent Duke of Clarence, Edmund Mortimer. Mortimer would be joined by Prince William of Wales in 1427, alongside a host of his friends, but would find himself increasingly unable to advance past Ballymoney following the O'Neills' decision to submit to Connacht overlordship. By 1428 the Earldoms of Desmond and Ormund had come fully under English control, though the countryside remained incredibly restive, while James FitzGerald had fled to safety alongside his family at the court of King Cathal (9).

Having thus consolidated control of northern and western Ireland, while the English remained in control of the East and South, King Cathal found himself the recipient of insulting demands of the handover of James FitzGerald and his family. When King Cathal dismissed these demands the Duke of York ordered John Talbot to lead a force into Connacht in an effort to force Cathal's cooperation. Talbot's army numbered 2,500 and marched rapidly cross-country, burning, killing and plundering across a swathe of Connacht land. It was as Talbot was crossing the Shannon River at Ternonbarry that King Cathal succeeded in catching the Earl of Shrewsbury by surprise and butchered several hundred men. With Talbot sent reeling, Cathal launched himself eastward and successfully raised the countryside in his favor. The Duke of York rushed northward from Ormund and clashed with King Cathal in several skirmishes and battles before the Connacht king was turned back, but in doing so the Duke of York left the south open to invasion. James FitzGerald marched back into Desmond, raising the countryside in his favor, after marrying his eldest son and heir to King Cathal's daughter Siobhan (10). James FitzGerald embarked on a bloody tear across the Earldom, attacking and butchering any concentration of English troops he could identify. It was at this point that Prince William emerged to the fore. Given control of a force of 500, while his uncle the Duke of York and the Earl of Shrewsbury remained concentrated in central Ireland and the Duke of Clarence was forced to push back an assault in the north under one of the O'Neills lords in the region, Prince William tore across southern Ireland, destroying any force that opposed him. Prince William's bloodthirst was allowed to run wild, with dozens of villages put to the torch and hundreds butchered out of hand for suspected FitzGeraldine support. James FitzGerald marched east to face the young prince, running into each other at the Battle of Carrigtohill. Outnumbered almost three-to-one, the young Prince launched an audacious frontal assault which caught the Earl of Desmond by surprise and dispersed the forces arrayed against him. Prince William harried the broken Irish forces, butchering any men his forces succeeded in catching, culminating in the storming and sack of Cork. The FitzGeralds would find themselves hunted out of Desmond once more by 1430, though Prince William was stopped at Limerick by King Cathal's forces. Southern Ireland would find itself given over to the brutal whims of Prince William, who at the behest of his uncle began settling lands in the region on his followers, being granted the title of Duke of Munster himself. More loyal English nobles were brought to southern Ireland and settled while the former inhabitants were either butchered out of hand or sent into exile, streaming across the Shannon to Connacht where they would gradually be settled by the King of Connacht. Prince William married Eleanor Mortimer, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Clarence, in mid-1429 under rather scandalous circumstances, with Eleanor giving birth to a son named Richard eight months after the marriage (11).

After the stymying of attempts at assaulting southern Connacht, the English turned their focus northward where the Duke of Clarence had found himself on the receiving end of a major assault led by the O'Neills which drove him out of much of northern Ireland, reducing his hold in the north to a small strip of land surrounding Belfast while successfully breaking the landbound contact between northern and central Irish lands under English occupation. The Duke of York rushed northward, launching several assaults at Newry, Armagh and Banbridge, before reopening the route to Belfast. While the Duke was occupied in the north, King Cathal personally led several raids into central Ireland, clashing with Talbot and the younger son of the Duke of York, John of York, who had been given command of a force of young knights in hopes of blooding him and his force. Caught by surprise at the Battle of Monaghan, John of York was killed alongside many of his supporters while the Duke of York's supplylines southward were left completely open. The Duke was forced to face off against the O'Neills first, dealing them a crushing defeat alongside the Duke of Clarence at the Battle of Dunmurry and sending the Connacht aligned forces in the north scrambling for safety. King Cathal would finally clash with the Duke of York, who brought with him many of the Duke of Clarence's forces at the Battle of Craigavon, which turned into a disaster when Connacht scouts learned of the English army's planned route southward, enabling King Cathal to ambush the forces and successfully captured the Duke of York (12). The capture of a royal prince was an unimaginable success for the King of Connacht, who had himself declared High King of Ireland by his supporters, a claim that would be widely ridiculed by the English and Irish opponents of the King of Connacht, but embraced within High King Cathal's own lands by the overjoyed populace (13). While viewing this as a distinct challenge to his father's claim to Lordship over Ireland, Prince Edward was forced into negotiating with his brother's captor when threats to Richard's safety arrived in Dublin. After a series of complicated and painful negotiations, the Kingdom of Connacht was acknowledged to hold dominance over the north-western reaches of Ireland, leaving a northern border through the Antrim Plateau, along the coast of the Laugh Neagh, down the Blackwater to the Erne before crossing to the Shannon, running all the way southward to Limerick, with both the Inny and Annalee Rivers remaining under English control. King Cathal would turn over his prisoner following a substantial ransom on the conclusion of the war and immediately turn to solidifying his control over the region. The O'Neills were immediately the target of harsh repression in an effort to crush the largest challengers to Cathal's power, while the English began heavily settling the northern frontier in the Antrim with loyal Englishmen, while both the Pale and Munster were the targets of significant settlement projects, combined with the destruction of resistant Irish villages and the wholesale butchery of rebels whenever they appeared. This process would play out over the course of the next two decades, with the Kings of Connacht and English upper nobility both seeking to consolidate their power over their respective halves of the island (14).

Coronation of King Edward VI Plantagenet of England​

By April of 1430 King Edward's health began deteriorating, resulting in a slow loss of mobility and worsening eyesight. Queen Joan herself would pass away in April 1431 during an early spring cold snap, leaving King Edward grief stricken and increasingly despondent. Following his wife's death, King Edward began distancing himself further from the running of the English crown and largely retreated from public life, surrounding himself with his younger grandchildren when possible. Edward would grow increasingly worried about his legacy, summoning his close friend, court historian and biographer John Lydgate from his retreat as Prior of the Abbey at Hatfield Broad Oak to record a series of texts on the King's behalf. Over the course of the last two years of his life Edward would provide material for a fully-fledged biography of the king and his long decades of rule. At the same time as this process came under way, the King began surrounding himself with learned church people in an effort to better grasp what lay before him in the afterlife. Saintly relics were purchased from far-off locations and the writings of the great church writers, including Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and Francis of Assisi were all read aloud to the increasingly blind King. His discussions with the learned Bishop of London on life after death were dutifully recorded and would be published following the King's death, generating great praise for the King's coherent and stoic views and leading a few overzealous English ecclesiastical figures to propose his canonization - a proposal that was turned down flatly by the representatives of the Holy See (15). By early September 1433, King Edward entered his final decline - calling for his eldest son's presence and working to ensure that his legacy would remain secure. On the 18th of September 1433, at the age of 68, King Edward V Plantagenet, King of England and Lord of Ireland, passed away surrounded by his family bringing to an end his long reign - only surpassed in length by his ancestor King Henry III (16).

When King Edward V died he had sat on the English throne for 53 of his 68 eight years, having come to the throne at the age of 15. Over the course of his reign he had firmly shifted the struggle for power in France firmly in England's favor, having exploited the ambitions and inadequacies of his rivals to incredible effect. He had personally led one of the most successful crusades in history, having decisively driven the Turkish Menace from European shores for decades, and had returned to incredible glory. He had crushed the Lollards beneath his boot, ejecting them and their theology from his lands, while courting the love of the lower classes with great success. He had sponsored and supported the Lancastrian assumption of the Castilian Throne, though with mixed results, and sat at the heart of a pan-European network of marriages. He had faced rebellion and betrayal multiple times and had successfully navigated the treacherous halls of power with a deft touch. He had introduced gunpowder, culture and artistry to the English populace and had created what was arguably the most splendid court in all of Europe. While his achievements on the field of battle had been significant, it would be his diplomatic, political and administrative capabilities which would propel him to fame. King Edward was among the most formidable rulers of the late Medieval Age and played a foundational role in the transition to the Renaissance. Without his efforts to introduce intellectual pursuits to a warrior court it could have taken centuries before the renaissance would have fully influenced Europe outside of Italy. His steadfast leadership of England had ensured an incredible degree of stability in a highly unstable period and had allowed England to emerge firmly in the dominant position in France. His grandchildren and great-grandchildren would one day sit on almost all of Europe's thrones, making King Edward V a pillar of European dynasties for centuries to come (17).

Prince Edward of Wales ascended to the English Throne on the 3rd of October as King Edward VI Plantagenet, King of England and Lord of Ireland. Having largely taken over rulership from his father more than a decade earlier, the 48-year old King would largely continue as he already had. Having finally brought the Irish conflict to a close, King Edward rewarded his third son William with the Duchy of Somerset in England to complement his Duchy of Munster in Ireland. At the same time his second-eldest son Henry of Wales was granted the Duchy of Bedford, the young man having briefly returned to England with his Spanish bride before he left again for Iberia, this time joining the Portuguese Crusade in Morocco and bringing with him more than 2,500 English veterans from Ireland. Most importantly, Prince Edward - eldest son and heir to the throne - was recalled to the Battle Palace so that he might take up rulership of Wales (18). Prince Edward, the Duke of Aquitaine, would arrive at the Battle Palace on the 14th of April 1434 and would in the following days be vested with the Principality of Wales, the Duchy of Cornwall and the Earldom of Chester. Lavish celebrations and ceremonies were undertaken, clearly demonstrating the greatest abilities of the English court, but throughout the celebrations ran a dark undercurrent. The new Prince of Wales had only spent the first few years of his life in Wales, having lived for decades in Aquitaine, and as a result spoke with a strong Bordeaulais accent when speaking English and greatly preferred Langue d'Oc to the commonly spoken French at the English court. He was dressed in the latest Italian fashions and brought with himself and his family an incredible array of scholars, artists and painters which, while popular with his father and mother, proved rather distasteful for the younger generation at court who stared aghast at the cleanshaven Prince and his dismissal of the English fashions. The contrast between the two Princes, Edward and William, could hardly be clearer (19). While both were commanding men, clever, well-educated and skilled warriors, William had about him an earthy common-touch, friendliness and closeness to the younger English nobility while Prince Edward came across as aloof, distant and above all else seemed decidedly foreign to the younger nobility who had spent their lives at war in Ireland, not in France. Prince Edward would take up rule of Wales while his uncle, the Duke of Lincoln, was dispatched south to Bordeaux to take up the reins of power in the region. The relationship between Prince Edward and Prince William would prove to be rather warm for the time being, with William in particular retaining a sense of overawed hero-worship for his clever and decisive brother while Edward found himself charmed by William's active, charismatic and friendly personality (20).

Summary:
King Edward V enjoys his last decade of life to the fullest, relying increasingly on his eldest son and heir to pick up the slack.

The Irish conflict ends in the division of the island between England and Connacht, while Prince William emerges from the conflict with lands, power and followers aplenty.

King Edward V dies in 1433 and is succeeded by his son, Edward VI. His eldest son and heir, also named Edward, leaves a problematic impression on the nobility, who find themselves put off by the man's foreignness.

Footnotes:
(1) In case it is unclear, Edward is still involved in everything that is happening but has taken a back seat on everything he either doesn't have the energy for, or the interest in. This period mainly consists of him enjoying his dotage, talking it up with smart people and sponsoring all sorts of different works and artists. Prince Edward is picking up all the slack from his father, able to ask for support when he needs it but largely able to direct matters as he wishes.

(2) These are basically all passion projects for the King, who while ensuring that the ordinary workings of the state keep running, is able to explore various ideas he has had for decades. These north-western expeditions will eventually become important for their role in reestablishing contact with the Americas. Though that is some way down the line and will require some improvements to sailing technology and the climate before it happens.

(3) This obsession with Norse/Icelandic culture does not mean that the historical focus on France and Italy is completely abandoned, but among the younger parts of the nobility it becomes something of a fad. It is mostly important in how it distances French and English court cultures and in how it creates a clique around Prince William of Wales.

(4) Prince John fits the mold of several other young upper nobles who end up flourishing in the church. He is at least in part modeled on the Guise and Lorraine Cardinals of the 16th century, and he will play a similar role. He is meant to become the main vehicle for amassing Plantagenet power within the church, with hopes of one of his nephews or grandnephews eventually succeeding to whatever posts he succeeds in collecting over the course of his life. This is yet another attempt at consolidating power within the royal family by the Plantagenets in England.

(5) Eleanor basically fulfills the same role as John, just on the female side. She will receive numerous benefices and lands with the goal of consolidating church territory for Plantagenet purposes. This won't be particularly popular, but for the time being there really isn't much anyone can do to prevent it from going forward.

(6) Princess Catherine and her family are meant to become central figures in English politics moving forward, with the goal of fully bringing the Mowbray family into the royal fold.

(7) In case it wasn't clear already, Prince Edward is extremely busy. He has emerged as the central figure of all of this, trying to repair the damage done by the war in France while at the same time retaining and strengthening the immense marital network King Edward successfully established during the course of his reign.

(8) The size of the forces involved in any single battle in Ireland are quite low, with the vast majority of the fighting consisting of raids and counterraids, with skirmishes erupting when raiding parties are intercepted or run into each other. This is the case for the entire Irish conflict in this period excepting the larger named battles. The veterans from France are given free rein to terrorize the population here, with two effects. Firstly, the populace is scared out of its mind with many trying to flee to safer parts of the island, while at the same time the resistance is galvanized and fighting in Ireland becomes protracted.

(9) King Cathal is by this point the single most powerful Irish ruler but rules over a disorganized, diffuse and rebellious people who are only united by their absolute hatred of the English. He has been taking over one clan after another, greatly strengthening his own position in the process, but this has left him with a ton of vassals who actively seek to undermine him in the hopes of emerging as the dominant Irish lord.

(10) The FitzGerald dynasty continues in Connacht, where James' eldest son Thomas becomes a significant pillar of support for his father-in-law and in the process aids his own dynasty's attempts at reclaiming the south. King Cathal is largely able to stop the English in their tracks, which should give a pretty good idea of exactly how skilled of a ruler and military leader he is, not only is he successfully uniting most of western and northern Ireland but he is actively defeating the English in the field.

(11) Prince William is not one to back down from a fight. He is probably the most militarily capable of his siblings, though Henry could probably compete with him, but he is also definitely one of the most cold-bloodedly merciless English leaders to face the Irish so far. His marriage to Eleanor Mortimer significantly strengthens his position among the English nobility, which until now has been rather limited to the younger English nobility who gravitated towards him.

(12) Things turn firmly against the Irish at this point. There were many who argued for a continuation of the conflict after this, most prominently Prince William himself who demanded command of the entire theatre of war in Ireland, but by this point the Irish conflict is becoming quite expensive and Prince Edward decides to cut his losses, quite certain that given enough time the Kingdom of Connacht is bound to collapse in on itself as the uniting conflict comes to an end and old grievances come to the fore.

(13) This claim to the High Kingship has about the same degree of legitimacy as Enrique V of Castile declaring himself Emperor of Hispania - which is to say very little. This is seen by everyone except for King Cathal as an arrogant and presumptuous move. The fact that he wasn't crowned at Tara just makes the entire thing even worse. It is going to be one of the main grievances that Cathal's detractors will have with him.

(14) I hope that this is a clear enough definition of where the border runs, particularly in the north around the Antrim Plateau the border is quite fluid, but particularly along the Shannon it is very clearly defined. Having divided Ireland between themselves, they then have to turn their focus on consolidating their gains. Particularly Cathal is challenged often but successfully defeats all challengers and leaves behind a strong grip on power to his successors. The English efforts are far more diffuse and at times violent. Particularly the south of Ireland sees significant repression and settlement of Englishmen. Many of the English veterans have also been granted lands in the region, with various Irish women finding themselves forcibly married to the invaders for their land claims and the women's male relatives often either murdered out of hand or driven into exile. This is definitely not a happy time to be an Irishman.

(15) We finally enter the last lap of Edward's life. He does everything he can to ensure that his legacy will be a stable, prosperous and powerful nation and is actually quite close to successful on all counts. He will be remembered as one of England's greatest rulers and will be seen as a frontrunner for the changes to Kingship that would occur in the next couple of decades.

(16) Henry III reigned for 56 years and had had the longest reign up till this point. There are several OTL rulers who had longer reigns than Henry but they all came after the PoD. Edward III actually comes quite close, with 50 years under his belt, but is beaten out by his grandson.

(17) This summary really doesn't do justice to everything that has happened under King Edward V, but I hope that the summary of his accomplishments works.

(18) So to those keeping track of the three elder sons, Edward is Prince of Wales, Henry is Duke of Bedford and William is Duke of Somerset. These three, and their other siblings who have already been addressed, are all going to play important roles in the future of the TL.

(19) What did you people expect? Spend decades in a country, particularly in your youth, and you are liable to seem like you come from that country. Edward really makes an impression on the English court which, while not exactly insulting, leaves a lot of the nobility questioning exactly what sort of person Edward is. His marriage to yet another French Princess simply makes him seem even more foreign. This is not going to help matters in the long run.

(20) However, for all of those issues, the English princes all have quite close bonds to each other and wish to work towards a common goal. These brothers are not constantly in conflict with each other and if given the chance can actually complement each other quite well. The question is, will they get the chance?

 

[The Professor]

Hurroe!
Hurrah for the update. Woe for the last for a while.
Speaking of "whiles" you can eliminate the first one from your second sentence as it detracts the meaning and two "whiles" can't connect clauses.

Regarding Cathal claiming the High Kingship, would this prompt Edward to do the same considering his claim from Henry II Curtmantle Fitzempress Plantagenet?

 

[Zulfurium]

Hurroe!
Hurrah for the update. Woe for the last for a while.
Speaking of "whiles" you can eliminate the first one from your second sentence as it detracts the meaning and two "whiles" can't connect clauses.

Regarding Cathal claiming the High Kingship, would this prompt Edward to do the same considering his claim from Henry II Curtmantle Fitzempress Plantagenet?

Edward claims Lordship over Ireland, not the High Kingship. Cathal's claim can be considered more of a F*ck You to the English and a way of asserting seperation from English claims to Lordship. The English aren't too happy about this claim, but it would cost too much to do anything about it and no one outside of Connacht actually acknowledges it.

 

[Unknown]

Good update.

Nice foreshadowing of how things might go wrong ITTL; I see some sort of war between the new king and his brother in the future. Can't wait to see how this world develops more.

BTW, when is this hiatus coming to an end; I only ask so we can all look forward to more of this...

Oh, yeah, this is a certain Turtledove nominee (and winner, IMO)...

 

[Zulfurium]

Good update.

Nice foreshadowing of how things might go wrong ITTL; I see some sort of war between the new king and his brother in the future. Can't wait to see how this world develops more.

BTW, when is this hiatus coming to an end; I only ask so we can all look forward to more of this...

Oh, yeah, this is a certain Turtledove nominee (and winner, IMO)...

I am happy you like it.

In regards to the Hiatus I really don't know at the moment. I was getting a bit burnt out towards the end, need to regroup and think through where I want to go from this point. I also have several other TLs I want to look into closer, several books I want to get read and a ton of other stuff. And that is ignoring all the work I need to do on my Internship and Master Thesis.

I will announce when I start up again, maybe do a shorter run of 10 updates or so at a time.

 

[The Professor]

Edward claims Lordship over Ireland, not the High Kingship. Cathal's claim can be considered more of a F*ck You to the English and a way of asserting seperation from English claims to Lordship. The English aren't too happy about this claim, but it would cost too much to do anything about it and no one outside of Connacht actually acknowledges it.

Well yes but I meant Cathal's claim prompting the English king to raise his Irish Lordship to a Kingdom as they occasionally tried to do when they had the Pope's favour.
Essentially Edward could ask the Pope to back him over Cathal.
Note that when the Pope was surplus to England's requirement Ireland immediately became a Kingdom.

 

[Zulfurium]

Well yes but I meant Cathal's claim prompting the English king to raise his Irish Lordship to a Kingdom as they occasionally tried to do when they had the Pope's favour.
Essentially Edward could ask the Pope to back him over Cathal.
Note that when the Pope was surplus to England's requirement Ireland immediately became a Kingdom.

I hadn't considered the possibility, but you are right that such a course seems logical. At this point Innocent is far too busy with the Farfa Conspiracy to really do anthing about Ireland, but it will definitely be a spur for the English.