I mean that would make lot of sense, and as long as there is a screw before the half of the 16th century, I'll be personally happy.
The Death of Ferdinand: What If The Catholic Monarchs Didn't Come To Power?
- Thread starter AltoRegnant
- Start date
I think it's ok, maybe Castille can colonize some lesser antilles islands
Very good update, the french are flexing their muscles and conquering new lands but this also makes the encirclement more likely.
Also interested in how the dutch rebellion will work out, I imagine the other powers fuming at the thought of France getting even more land and allying themselves with more heretics.
Also interested in how the dutch rebellion will work out, I imagine the other powers fuming at the thought of France getting even more land and allying themselves with more heretics.
Yeah. It's no secret I've been setting up a major war, and this seemed a good casus belli
Do you guys think Mary would get Scotland involved in this war, and if so, on what side? She has conflicting obligations due to being allied to ttl Henry VIII and France, so I think she would remain nuetral but lean toward her husband
I think even if she would lean towards him, Scottish nobles would lean toward France, like, their nightmare is being eaten by the English, and if France ain't there anymore, who's gonna stop the english to do that, Scotland will just remain all alone.
Part The Ninth
When the United Provinces offered King Charles IX of France the ability to claim parts of Wallonia, it would have cascading consequences across the world. It goes without saying that France was very interested in the land, but France was not a nation without enemies. The Dutch were already in revolt against the Holy Roman Empire, one of France’s premier foes, but the Empire was close with countries like England and Portugal- two of the other big naval powers of Europe. So before Charles committed to supporting the revolt, he reminded his allies what he could gain for them, such as the chance for King Peter II of Castile that he would receive his western land back in the event of victory. In June 1568, France marched into Wallonia, beginning the War of The Atlantic.
The French invasion of the Netherlands went fairly well. Supply lines were in their favor, especially compared to the Hapsburgs. The local occupants were a mixed bag; there were a great many who were quite angered by being used as a bargaining chip, the protestants were terribly concerned about Charles IX’s expulsion of non-Catholics and were hostile to the French; however, there were many Catholics who preferred the French to the Dutch as rulers and still preferred the Dutch to the Austrians. Unlike the territory he inherited, Charles IX did not expel the Protestants in the area, for they had not proven themselves a threat to order in the region. However, battles with the Austrian forces were hit or miss, with the battles largely being inconclusive. While France won their share of engagements, George Khevenhüller had become a skilled general very quickly, and was able to prevent a decisive victory for France.
The Austrian campaign in Lombardy was more difficult for France. While the Po Valley was rich and able to supply fairly large armies, it did not change the fact that it was Otto V’s army that had the lines to reinforce. The locals did not help matters, resenting both the French and the Austrians. It was in this theater that Jacques Forgeron made a name for himself. He had been a low ranking commander before The Battle of Milan, where he effectively broke the siege laid to the Italian city, killing a large section of the Austrian army. However, despite being able to defend the city, Forgeron was unable to push into the Archduchy, and was only able to hold the area around Milan.
King Henry VIII of England was rather interested in the continental developments. He did not want to get involved unless he had to, and as it stood Portugal was not involved in the conflict yet. But if England stood by and let France begin to move towards the rich land in the Low Countries, Paris might soon become unstoppable. So he decided that he would send out flagless privateers to pester French ships and hopefully weaken their ability to wage war without new world wealth. France had a large and formidable navy, but England was not weak on the high seas either, These ‘Lost Flags,’ as they came to be called, would clash with the Navaries Français and the Sea Beggars for just less than two years before England fully joined the war. But in the beginning, King Henry VIII tried to keep the conflict as exclusively economic as possible.
The war carried on like this for some months, until in February 1569. It was here that Emperor Otto V finally decided to call Portugal into the conflit. He had stalled on doing so because much like France, Austria was unsure their Iberian ally could stand to the inevitable foe. But on the chance that Toledo did falter against Portugal, that would mean France would need to send their own men to reinforce Castile, thus leaving them vulnerable to Austrian forces somewhere. Shortly after, England and Castile officially joined what was quickly becoming a large-scale conflict across Europe.
The Iberian theater was similarly slow moving back and forth between Portugal and Castile. King Peter II painted the conflict as a ‘New Reconquista,’ against the Portuguese who had stolen Castile’s rightful territory. He personally led his combatants into Carrión de los Condes, a town on the way to Leon. the town was not rich, but Portugal had created grand fortifications, as it was very near the border, and thus if the town fell it could bring great terror to the Portuguese. Portugal’s army had marched toward Carrión under the command of John Santos. Santos was well aware of the fact that Castile could not break through the fortifications, but he was not sure if he himself could win a battle against the opposing forces, not helped by his relative inexperience for a command position compared to King Peter II. His nerves about the battle were evident to the men, worsening morale. However, King Peter was not a fool, and knew he could not break the fortifications. Instead, he began to lay siege. However, the Portuguese fleet began to harass and plunder Castilian merchants in the meditereanean, and launch assaults upon cities in the Strait of Gibraltar.
Things began to change when England landed in Calais. The city had quickly fallen after London had joined the war, but the occupation was relatively light due to France being in a back and forth in the Habsburg Netherlands. With Henry VIII’s forces came Henry Carey, a minor English noble given command after a minor uprising in Ireland he handled well enough to draw the King’s attention. Carey was aggressive, taking much of Picardy in the next two months. This offensive forced France to pull back into her own borders to deal with the upstart English and reposition the fleet. Prior to this, most of the Navaries were off the coast of the Netherlands, defending the territory, as it was presumed that would be where England landed in order to force the primary belligerent would land. Emperor Otto V, sensing an opportunity to damage France severely, followed into the Kingdom. In the subsequent Battle of Béthun, France found themselves routed and the army struggling.
In the colonies, things were odd. The homelands hadn’t really planned around colonial warfare, and much of the shipping was disrupted between the colonies and the Old World. Light skirmishes between colonial militias were the limit to the warfare seen in the Americas. This relative peace was very good for the English. Their colonies were relatively isolated from the French and the Navaries were focused on the south of England, not concerned with places like Hull or the Irish Sea. This enabled a quick increase in settlement around England’s colonies in the new world up and down the coast. One such settlement in what the French had called New Brittany was even dubbed ‘New York,’ as many of the people who settled it were from that area of England.
In South America, the Inca were faced with a unique position. Atahualpa, still Sapa Inca at age 61, might have given Portugal mines and agreed to buy guns off of them, but he had no alliance with them. The Inca had been modernizing their armies based on the musket technology, which they had spent the better part of the decade reverse engineering. Many of the younger nobles, such as Túpac Huallpa, one of the many brothers of the Sapa Inca, wanted to cut the Portuguese off from their gold trade, or at least expand it so the Inca were not reliant solely on one state in order to grow the trade or to modernize. However, Atahulpa was more hesitant, tempered with age and believing that if the Portuguese sent a proper army to attack, things would go poorly for the Inca due to the still present technological gap.
Factionalism started to plague the Inca court. Many nobles were beginning to question Atahualpa and agree that Túpac Huallpa should take the throne. While none of them wanted to violently depose him- the young empire had already faced a terrible civil war, many found Túpac Huallpa and his line superior to Atahualpa’s own children. In fact, scholars now believe that Ataualpa’s children were so despised by the Inca nobility that records of them were destroyed so as to legitimize Túpac’s own line. However, Atahualpa still had significant support for winning his throne and ousting the Portuguese invaders. The Emperor’s supporters painted him as a frugal lord who did not wish to risk his kingdom on the chance that the gold hungry white men would not send an army to claim the gold they wished from the Inca.
Naturally, when Atahualpa died of smallpox, much of the court quickly raised Túpac Huallpa. However, Túpac had grown sickly, and while he was ambitious, he soon found the strain of ruling left him weak. He did not die, but his son Huallpa took over much of the actual maintenance of the kingdom as a reagent. Huallpa’s regency was a tumultuous time. Missionaries from both France and Portugal were active- and Huallpa was determined to maintain the Incan faith. He implemented harsh persecution of converts, with exceptions only given to those who either became diplomats between the Inca- an option only available to nobles, or those who went to converts with the europeans. While better than most religious persecution, this action long effected how Europeans treated the Incan Empire.
Sorry this one is so short and pictureless, there aren't a lot of real people being too active in this one and i wanted to make sure you guys were abe to participate in how the war developed so i couldn't get too detailed. As always please let me know any feedback you haveThe French invasion of the Netherlands went fairly well. Supply lines were in their favor, especially compared to the Hapsburgs. The local occupants were a mixed bag; there were a great many who were quite angered by being used as a bargaining chip, the protestants were terribly concerned about Charles IX’s expulsion of non-Catholics and were hostile to the French; however, there were many Catholics who preferred the French to the Dutch as rulers and still preferred the Dutch to the Austrians. Unlike the territory he inherited, Charles IX did not expel the Protestants in the area, for they had not proven themselves a threat to order in the region. However, battles with the Austrian forces were hit or miss, with the battles largely being inconclusive. While France won their share of engagements, George Khevenhüller had become a skilled general very quickly, and was able to prevent a decisive victory for France.
The Austrian campaign in Lombardy was more difficult for France. While the Po Valley was rich and able to supply fairly large armies, it did not change the fact that it was Otto V’s army that had the lines to reinforce. The locals did not help matters, resenting both the French and the Austrians. It was in this theater that Jacques Forgeron made a name for himself. He had been a low ranking commander before The Battle of Milan, where he effectively broke the siege laid to the Italian city, killing a large section of the Austrian army. However, despite being able to defend the city, Forgeron was unable to push into the Archduchy, and was only able to hold the area around Milan.
King Henry VIII of England was rather interested in the continental developments. He did not want to get involved unless he had to, and as it stood Portugal was not involved in the conflict yet. But if England stood by and let France begin to move towards the rich land in the Low Countries, Paris might soon become unstoppable. So he decided that he would send out flagless privateers to pester French ships and hopefully weaken their ability to wage war without new world wealth. France had a large and formidable navy, but England was not weak on the high seas either, These ‘Lost Flags,’ as they came to be called, would clash with the Navaries Français and the Sea Beggars for just less than two years before England fully joined the war. But in the beginning, King Henry VIII tried to keep the conflict as exclusively economic as possible.
The war carried on like this for some months, until in February 1569. It was here that Emperor Otto V finally decided to call Portugal into the conflit. He had stalled on doing so because much like France, Austria was unsure their Iberian ally could stand to the inevitable foe. But on the chance that Toledo did falter against Portugal, that would mean France would need to send their own men to reinforce Castile, thus leaving them vulnerable to Austrian forces somewhere. Shortly after, England and Castile officially joined what was quickly becoming a large-scale conflict across Europe.
The Iberian theater was similarly slow moving back and forth between Portugal and Castile. King Peter II painted the conflict as a ‘New Reconquista,’ against the Portuguese who had stolen Castile’s rightful territory. He personally led his combatants into Carrión de los Condes, a town on the way to Leon. the town was not rich, but Portugal had created grand fortifications, as it was very near the border, and thus if the town fell it could bring great terror to the Portuguese. Portugal’s army had marched toward Carrión under the command of John Santos. Santos was well aware of the fact that Castile could not break through the fortifications, but he was not sure if he himself could win a battle against the opposing forces, not helped by his relative inexperience for a command position compared to King Peter II. His nerves about the battle were evident to the men, worsening morale. However, King Peter was not a fool, and knew he could not break the fortifications. Instead, he began to lay siege. However, the Portuguese fleet began to harass and plunder Castilian merchants in the meditereanean, and launch assaults upon cities in the Strait of Gibraltar.
Things began to change when England landed in Calais. The city had quickly fallen after London had joined the war, but the occupation was relatively light due to France being in a back and forth in the Habsburg Netherlands. With Henry VIII’s forces came Henry Carey, a minor English noble given command after a minor uprising in Ireland he handled well enough to draw the King’s attention. Carey was aggressive, taking much of Picardy in the next two months. This offensive forced France to pull back into her own borders to deal with the upstart English and reposition the fleet. Prior to this, most of the Navaries were off the coast of the Netherlands, defending the territory, as it was presumed that would be where England landed in order to force the primary belligerent would land. Emperor Otto V, sensing an opportunity to damage France severely, followed into the Kingdom. In the subsequent Battle of Béthun, France found themselves routed and the army struggling.
In the colonies, things were odd. The homelands hadn’t really planned around colonial warfare, and much of the shipping was disrupted between the colonies and the Old World. Light skirmishes between colonial militias were the limit to the warfare seen in the Americas. This relative peace was very good for the English. Their colonies were relatively isolated from the French and the Navaries were focused on the south of England, not concerned with places like Hull or the Irish Sea. This enabled a quick increase in settlement around England’s colonies in the new world up and down the coast. One such settlement in what the French had called New Brittany was even dubbed ‘New York,’ as many of the people who settled it were from that area of England.
In South America, the Inca were faced with a unique position. Atahualpa, still Sapa Inca at age 61, might have given Portugal mines and agreed to buy guns off of them, but he had no alliance with them. The Inca had been modernizing their armies based on the musket technology, which they had spent the better part of the decade reverse engineering. Many of the younger nobles, such as Túpac Huallpa, one of the many brothers of the Sapa Inca, wanted to cut the Portuguese off from their gold trade, or at least expand it so the Inca were not reliant solely on one state in order to grow the trade or to modernize. However, Atahulpa was more hesitant, tempered with age and believing that if the Portuguese sent a proper army to attack, things would go poorly for the Inca due to the still present technological gap.
Factionalism started to plague the Inca court. Many nobles were beginning to question Atahualpa and agree that Túpac Huallpa should take the throne. While none of them wanted to violently depose him- the young empire had already faced a terrible civil war, many found Túpac Huallpa and his line superior to Atahualpa’s own children. In fact, scholars now believe that Ataualpa’s children were so despised by the Inca nobility that records of them were destroyed so as to legitimize Túpac’s own line. However, Atahualpa still had significant support for winning his throne and ousting the Portuguese invaders. The Emperor’s supporters painted him as a frugal lord who did not wish to risk his kingdom on the chance that the gold hungry white men would not send an army to claim the gold they wished from the Inca.
Naturally, when Atahualpa died of smallpox, much of the court quickly raised Túpac Huallpa. However, Túpac had grown sickly, and while he was ambitious, he soon found the strain of ruling left him weak. He did not die, but his son Huallpa took over much of the actual maintenance of the kingdom as a reagent. Huallpa’s regency was a tumultuous time. Missionaries from both France and Portugal were active- and Huallpa was determined to maintain the Incan faith. He implemented harsh persecution of converts, with exceptions only given to those who either became diplomats between the Inca- an option only available to nobles, or those who went to converts with the europeans. While better than most religious persecution, this action long effected how Europeans treated the Incan Empire.
That's very great, also, I did a bit of research about Leonese people at that time - Yes I know I have a problem with Leon. - and being split up like that between Spain and Portugal wouldn't make them any calmer than they were before, plus, they never really liked the French for some reason, so I think we could see some Leonese militias rising up in Castile and perhaps even in Portugal. I ain't really sure about Portugal because they never lead a politic of assimilation, while Castile had a pretty harsh assimilation policy during all of its history.
Good update, I'm wondering if the Ottomans would take the chance to attack the HRE now that they're distracted with the French and maybe the swedes or danes may want to get a piece of the pie against The Empire in this massive war.
I considered the ottomans getting involved but wasn't quite sure what to do with them. The scandinavians are currently beating up Russia in the livonian war, so they're unavailable
How do you guys think a Leonese rebellion could go? I could see Aragon-Navarre getting involved but that would put it at war with both of the alliances in the broader war, unless the rebellion only happened in Portugal or Castile, but that might not be strong enough to attract Aragonese atention
Could got either way, could be sucessful as could be crushed, for me let it be sucessful, the more castilla disintegrated the better
Working on the next chapter now. the Leonese rebellion is underway and is likely to be a big part of the chapter. Any ideas for how this new Kingdom will operate in peace time when the logical allies (portugal, france, or aragon-navarre have conflicting goals) all kinda sorta hate each other?
An iberian Switzerland, hm? Of course, they'll need to attack Portugal eventually, pulling them toward Aragon-Navarre.
Part The Tenth
While Carrión de los Condes was under siege, there was unrest brewing in Leon. The Castilians had tried for decades if not centuries to assimilate and annihilate them. Then, of course, they had failed to protect them from the Portuguese- perhaps the only benefit to being part of Castile. Now Leon was torn apart and separated from itself, when it had once been the greatest power in Iberia. Within Zamora, what was now a border town between the two halves of Leon, these tensions were at their worst. Within the town itself was a young man, a common trader with ambitions that far outpaced his status in society. He wanted to see Leon free. He knew full well that a prior rebellion had failed, but in the time since, Portugal had done little to integrate their new territories and Castile was still busy fighting the war. And so he hatched a plan. He began to spread the idea that he was the grandson of Isabella and Ferdinand- the rivals to the claim of Queen Joanna. He claimed that part of the deal ending the war had been that the children of ‘his grandparents’ were to inherit Leon while Joanna’s would gain Castile. The local nobility likely did not believe this claim at all, but they had their own issues with the Castilian crown and the commoners seemed to accept it.
In July of 1569, the uprising broke out, under the leadership of the so-called ‘Henry VI of House Zamora.’ Local nobility had insisted upon training the militia before supporting any revolt, worried that a lack of discipline would endanger the success of the rebellion. Henry was able to rally many settlements to his cause, and quickly disrupted the limited supply lines that Peter II’s army relied upon. When Henry, occupied in Portuguese Leon as he was, had been notified of the revolt, he raced to meet this upstart peasant. This abandonment of the Carrion siege gave Portugal a much needed reprieve against Toledo’s incursion, and the idea of a rebellion in Leon gave Santos ideas. He sent a message petitioning King John III to recognize Zamora as rightful claimant to Leon- even though every major royal family from Morocco to Russia knew he was lying about his ancestry. In recognizing this claimant, Santos reasoned it would help stave off Castile from Portugal, and the splintering of Castile could perhaps leave Portugal the premier power in the region.
The Coat of Arms associated with Zamora
Utilized by Henry VI
King John was very interested in this idea. He told Santos to support the Leonese, but that their independence was not a crucial war goal for Portugal- defense of Portuguese territory, from Leon to Morocco was. If Zamora touched Portuguese Leon, John would personally send the rebell to King Peter II. General Santos sent word to the Leonese pretender, hoping to establish something of an alliance. However, Henry was conflicted. He wanted to rule all Leon, and this would be signing that way, but he had been a trader in a previous life. He knew that for everything you took, something must be given, and he was willing to wait to assault Portugal if it gave him means to secure his power and his realm’s existence. It was even established that Henry would marry one of King John’s sisters, Maria.
King Charles IX was enraged. First the damned English had entered the conflict, forcing him to pull back, and now his own ally had proven completely inept against Portugal and Leon. He had thought that Peter II had been different than Henry or John before him. But no. Using as much money as he could spare, the French monarch quickly hired Swiss mercenaries and sent them to reinforce Milan. The Austrians had slowly been making gains in the Italian front, something that the French King could not abide- an invasion of France would become possible if Italy was taken. The King was confident he could bring France to victory, but he may well need to sacrifice Castile to do so. He was cunning, and realized there were still some major powers that could probably be convinced to join his cause in the war. Or at least prefer that he win to the others.
First were the Ottomans. Charles brought them in relatively simply, as the pair were allies for nearly this exact situation. Moreover, the Sulan, Mustafa I wanted to expand his reach over Hungary and Carpathia. Claims France was more than willing to honor, if it forced Austria to pull out of the Italian peninsula. While Sultan Mustafa had been the apparent heir for years, a little over sixteen years prior, his own father had nearly executed him for perceived treason- something the man had been lucky to talk his way out of. After the incident, he had become obsessed with surpassing even his own father in power, prestige, and righteousness. And so, by November of 1569, the Ottoman Empire marched across her Balkan domains and into Habsburg Hungary. The measure scared the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto V, and he pulled back some of the men in Italy- let the French starve in the Alps, he would not have the Turks in Vienna!
Sultan Mustafa
As the Turks marched northward, Charles approached Aragon-Navarre. King John III of Portugal had attempted to woo an alliance with the Mediterranean power, but had been mostly unsuccessful- the marriage between Miguel and the princess Joanna might have been successful, but the court was uninterested in the prospect of war with France to protect Portuguese colonies of all things.That Joanna was no longer heiress after the birth of her brother Henry did not help Lisbon’s prospects due to a loss of Joanna’s influence. Charles for his part, recognized he could not convince them to join his cause. But the King felt that he could convince them to remain neutral. He sent a message in secret offering that, if Aragon-Navarre stayed out of this war, then upon her coronation he would recognize Henry as the rightful King of Castile- the ruler of almost all Hispania. And with that recognition, he would honor his alliance with Castile by aiding her in taking the throne.
The prospect of a united Iberia under the power of Valencia was a very intriguing idea. Henry was young yet, but he was well aware of the power he could come to. Many nobles pointed out tensions with France over Roussillon, to which Queen Jeanne III typically asked what the relevance of one town compared to all Iberia was, and that if it were truly an issue, then the alliance would be allowed to falter… after Henry was King of Castile. The deal was sealed in secret, but from then King Charles IX considered Peter II dead. And many historians believe that the King was thinking of plans to make it so.
The Austrian departure from Italy was grand news for France. General Lefebvre marched across Venetian territory- the Serene Republic was still friendly to the French, and many local lords were reasonably willing to let them through under escort. This enabled the French forces to arrive at the town of Arnoldstein. It was here that General Lefebvre ’s true character emerged. In Milan, he had been on the defensive, on the backfoot. He had to be defensive because it was his King’s subjects that would suffer. That was not the Jacques Lefebvre that commanded forces at Arnoldstein. He allowed his men free reign to loot and plunder all that could feed them and whatever could enrich them. And then he burned the town to the ground. He would continue this practice as he marched into Austria. He only faltered as he was confronted by Austrian forces outside Villach. The ensuing battle would be a strong French victory due to the Swiss mercenaries that Charles IX had sent months prior.
Castle Landskron, near Villach. Even Lefebvre found it too nice to destroy
However, after the Battle of Villach, French advances into Austria greatly slowed. Unlike most of Lefebvre ’s other captures, he did not destroy Villach. It was one of the largest in all of Austria, and so instead of allowing those people to flee and let its value seep out to the Hapsburg realms, he simply occupied it and plundered it. It was here, in the south of Austria, that the French forces would spend the harshest part of the winter. No longer could they afford to live off the land and what little passed for supply lines in the period, they needed to rest and supply.
The front in the Low Countries remained in flux. French supply and resentment toward the Austrians meant that the Dutch and their allies were still strong. However, the English Royal Navy and the Portuguese armadas were still able to compete with the French Navaries, and England had successfully landed several thousand men in Calais. Battles were sporadic and indecisive. The French were confined to the southern portions of Picardy, but they were able to hold the parts of Wallonia that they had claimed. And it remained like this throughout the winter of 1569. Going into spring the next year, however, the English were able to secure a victory in the town of Arras. Arras was a territory that had once been part of France, but the Burgundians had managed to tear into an independent realm for a time before becoming part of the Austrian realm. King Charles IX could not allow it to fall into anyone else’s hands. He sent for the swiss mercenaries to leave Villach and instead reinforce the French army in the north. Lefebvre was irate, but still acquiesced.
The Portuguese Armada, one of the greatest fleets of the day
After this came the Second Battle of Arras.This time, seasoned veterans fought along with the French forces- which while not weak in their own regard, simply lacked the professionalism a mercenary could provide at the time. The battle was a resounding success, once more reversing the back and forth and enabling the French to conquer Picardy again. In turn, this allowed them to launch more campaigns into the Low Countries. In the United Provinces, the Austrians had been fairly effective against the Republican rebels. Emperor Otto V had made it clear that any heretics would be told to convert or face the sword- the way he saw it, anything else would be a disaster for the Empire and the Peace of Vienna, as it undermined the notion that the ruler of a land would decide the religion. Regardless, despite this order being made in the beginning of the conflict, it did not truly manifest until February 26th, 1570, when almost the entire population of Rotterdam was executed for heresy. However, contrary to what he had expected, this strengthened the resolve of the rebellions- Calvinist, Lutheran, Catholic, and others were all incensed at the rising violence.
France was finally able to cross the territory loyal to the Hapsburgs at the end of march. With this, they were able to truly begin aiding their allies as more than a distraction that prevented them from crushing the revolt. The battles were viscous and brief, compared to the indecisive and relatively drawn out confrontations before. George Khevenhüller, the Austrian general who had enjoyed great success in the Netherlands prior to this, found himself making hasty retreat more than once, having gotten used to the previous style of battle that simply no longer held.
King Peter II was forced to admit defeat. He had been outmaneuvered, outfought, and humiliated by Henry Zamora. On March the fourth, 1570, he offered terms- the revolt would stop its assault upon Castile, and the remains of Castilian Leon would be granted to the former trader. Soon after, he left the broader European war as a whole. He clearly needed to reform the military institutions, centralize power and limit the abilities of nobles to dominate the military. Projects he would never have the time for, by April eleventh, King Peter was dead of smallpox- though many believe he was poisoned by his old ally King Charles IX to make good on his deal with Aragon-Navarre and that Peter would have survived one or the other but not both. Iberia was coming unbound.
By June, the French and the Ottoman armies had met up in Rijeka in order to siege one of the greatest ports in the Hapsburg realms. The city was wealthy and prosperous, as one of the richest cities in the Adriatic- though it obviously paled compared to Venice. The city was greatly bombarded throughout the summer, and by early September, it fell. This port falling to the Ottomans greatly harmed the Hapsburg economy, due to the cut off trade. These three years had seen a great deal of shifting war and changing strategies, but it was undeniable that these were dire times for the Holy Roman Empire and the Archduchy of Austria.
Heyo. Well Leon's free and I already had a new idea to be mean to Castile with. Let me know what you guys think and I hope you have a good day.In July of 1569, the uprising broke out, under the leadership of the so-called ‘Henry VI of House Zamora.’ Local nobility had insisted upon training the militia before supporting any revolt, worried that a lack of discipline would endanger the success of the rebellion. Henry was able to rally many settlements to his cause, and quickly disrupted the limited supply lines that Peter II’s army relied upon. When Henry, occupied in Portuguese Leon as he was, had been notified of the revolt, he raced to meet this upstart peasant. This abandonment of the Carrion siege gave Portugal a much needed reprieve against Toledo’s incursion, and the idea of a rebellion in Leon gave Santos ideas. He sent a message petitioning King John III to recognize Zamora as rightful claimant to Leon- even though every major royal family from Morocco to Russia knew he was lying about his ancestry. In recognizing this claimant, Santos reasoned it would help stave off Castile from Portugal, and the splintering of Castile could perhaps leave Portugal the premier power in the region.
The Coat of Arms associated with Zamora
Utilized by Henry VI
King John was very interested in this idea. He told Santos to support the Leonese, but that their independence was not a crucial war goal for Portugal- defense of Portuguese territory, from Leon to Morocco was. If Zamora touched Portuguese Leon, John would personally send the rebell to King Peter II. General Santos sent word to the Leonese pretender, hoping to establish something of an alliance. However, Henry was conflicted. He wanted to rule all Leon, and this would be signing that way, but he had been a trader in a previous life. He knew that for everything you took, something must be given, and he was willing to wait to assault Portugal if it gave him means to secure his power and his realm’s existence. It was even established that Henry would marry one of King John’s sisters, Maria.
King Charles IX was enraged. First the damned English had entered the conflict, forcing him to pull back, and now his own ally had proven completely inept against Portugal and Leon. He had thought that Peter II had been different than Henry or John before him. But no. Using as much money as he could spare, the French monarch quickly hired Swiss mercenaries and sent them to reinforce Milan. The Austrians had slowly been making gains in the Italian front, something that the French King could not abide- an invasion of France would become possible if Italy was taken. The King was confident he could bring France to victory, but he may well need to sacrifice Castile to do so. He was cunning, and realized there were still some major powers that could probably be convinced to join his cause in the war. Or at least prefer that he win to the others.
First were the Ottomans. Charles brought them in relatively simply, as the pair were allies for nearly this exact situation. Moreover, the Sulan, Mustafa I wanted to expand his reach over Hungary and Carpathia. Claims France was more than willing to honor, if it forced Austria to pull out of the Italian peninsula. While Sultan Mustafa had been the apparent heir for years, a little over sixteen years prior, his own father had nearly executed him for perceived treason- something the man had been lucky to talk his way out of. After the incident, he had become obsessed with surpassing even his own father in power, prestige, and righteousness. And so, by November of 1569, the Ottoman Empire marched across her Balkan domains and into Habsburg Hungary. The measure scared the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto V, and he pulled back some of the men in Italy- let the French starve in the Alps, he would not have the Turks in Vienna!
Sultan Mustafa
As the Turks marched northward, Charles approached Aragon-Navarre. King John III of Portugal had attempted to woo an alliance with the Mediterranean power, but had been mostly unsuccessful- the marriage between Miguel and the princess Joanna might have been successful, but the court was uninterested in the prospect of war with France to protect Portuguese colonies of all things.That Joanna was no longer heiress after the birth of her brother Henry did not help Lisbon’s prospects due to a loss of Joanna’s influence. Charles for his part, recognized he could not convince them to join his cause. But the King felt that he could convince them to remain neutral. He sent a message in secret offering that, if Aragon-Navarre stayed out of this war, then upon her coronation he would recognize Henry as the rightful King of Castile- the ruler of almost all Hispania. And with that recognition, he would honor his alliance with Castile by aiding her in taking the throne.
The prospect of a united Iberia under the power of Valencia was a very intriguing idea. Henry was young yet, but he was well aware of the power he could come to. Many nobles pointed out tensions with France over Roussillon, to which Queen Jeanne III typically asked what the relevance of one town compared to all Iberia was, and that if it were truly an issue, then the alliance would be allowed to falter… after Henry was King of Castile. The deal was sealed in secret, but from then King Charles IX considered Peter II dead. And many historians believe that the King was thinking of plans to make it so.
The Austrian departure from Italy was grand news for France. General Lefebvre marched across Venetian territory- the Serene Republic was still friendly to the French, and many local lords were reasonably willing to let them through under escort. This enabled the French forces to arrive at the town of Arnoldstein. It was here that General Lefebvre ’s true character emerged. In Milan, he had been on the defensive, on the backfoot. He had to be defensive because it was his King’s subjects that would suffer. That was not the Jacques Lefebvre that commanded forces at Arnoldstein. He allowed his men free reign to loot and plunder all that could feed them and whatever could enrich them. And then he burned the town to the ground. He would continue this practice as he marched into Austria. He only faltered as he was confronted by Austrian forces outside Villach. The ensuing battle would be a strong French victory due to the Swiss mercenaries that Charles IX had sent months prior.
Castle Landskron, near Villach. Even Lefebvre found it too nice to destroy
However, after the Battle of Villach, French advances into Austria greatly slowed. Unlike most of Lefebvre ’s other captures, he did not destroy Villach. It was one of the largest in all of Austria, and so instead of allowing those people to flee and let its value seep out to the Hapsburg realms, he simply occupied it and plundered it. It was here, in the south of Austria, that the French forces would spend the harshest part of the winter. No longer could they afford to live off the land and what little passed for supply lines in the period, they needed to rest and supply.
The front in the Low Countries remained in flux. French supply and resentment toward the Austrians meant that the Dutch and their allies were still strong. However, the English Royal Navy and the Portuguese armadas were still able to compete with the French Navaries, and England had successfully landed several thousand men in Calais. Battles were sporadic and indecisive. The French were confined to the southern portions of Picardy, but they were able to hold the parts of Wallonia that they had claimed. And it remained like this throughout the winter of 1569. Going into spring the next year, however, the English were able to secure a victory in the town of Arras. Arras was a territory that had once been part of France, but the Burgundians had managed to tear into an independent realm for a time before becoming part of the Austrian realm. King Charles IX could not allow it to fall into anyone else’s hands. He sent for the swiss mercenaries to leave Villach and instead reinforce the French army in the north. Lefebvre was irate, but still acquiesced.
The Portuguese Armada, one of the greatest fleets of the day
After this came the Second Battle of Arras.This time, seasoned veterans fought along with the French forces- which while not weak in their own regard, simply lacked the professionalism a mercenary could provide at the time. The battle was a resounding success, once more reversing the back and forth and enabling the French to conquer Picardy again. In turn, this allowed them to launch more campaigns into the Low Countries. In the United Provinces, the Austrians had been fairly effective against the Republican rebels. Emperor Otto V had made it clear that any heretics would be told to convert or face the sword- the way he saw it, anything else would be a disaster for the Empire and the Peace of Vienna, as it undermined the notion that the ruler of a land would decide the religion. Regardless, despite this order being made in the beginning of the conflict, it did not truly manifest until February 26th, 1570, when almost the entire population of Rotterdam was executed for heresy. However, contrary to what he had expected, this strengthened the resolve of the rebellions- Calvinist, Lutheran, Catholic, and others were all incensed at the rising violence.
France was finally able to cross the territory loyal to the Hapsburgs at the end of march. With this, they were able to truly begin aiding their allies as more than a distraction that prevented them from crushing the revolt. The battles were viscous and brief, compared to the indecisive and relatively drawn out confrontations before. George Khevenhüller, the Austrian general who had enjoyed great success in the Netherlands prior to this, found himself making hasty retreat more than once, having gotten used to the previous style of battle that simply no longer held.
King Peter II was forced to admit defeat. He had been outmaneuvered, outfought, and humiliated by Henry Zamora. On March the fourth, 1570, he offered terms- the revolt would stop its assault upon Castile, and the remains of Castilian Leon would be granted to the former trader. Soon after, he left the broader European war as a whole. He clearly needed to reform the military institutions, centralize power and limit the abilities of nobles to dominate the military. Projects he would never have the time for, by April eleventh, King Peter was dead of smallpox- though many believe he was poisoned by his old ally King Charles IX to make good on his deal with Aragon-Navarre and that Peter would have survived one or the other but not both. Iberia was coming unbound.
By June, the French and the Ottoman armies had met up in Rijeka in order to siege one of the greatest ports in the Hapsburg realms. The city was wealthy and prosperous, as one of the richest cities in the Adriatic- though it obviously paled compared to Venice. The city was greatly bombarded throughout the summer, and by early September, it fell. This port falling to the Ottomans greatly harmed the Hapsburg economy, due to the cut off trade. These three years had seen a great deal of shifting war and changing strategies, but it was undeniable that these were dire times for the Holy Roman Empire and the Archduchy of Austria.
Last edited: