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Inspired by the Third Odyssey mod for Europa Universalis IV, I have started a timeline based on the scenario in the mod. Please comment what you think!



"Landfall" 1444-1453
In 1444, the Byzantine emperor John VIII was in denial of the threat the Ottoman Turks had to the Byzantine Empire. He reasoned that Constantinoples walls had withstood centuries of sieges and would continue to do so. Johns denial would frustrate Constantine, heir to the Byzantine throne, who saw the Ottomans as a true threat to the Empire. But his attempts to get his emperor to organise an anti-Ottoman coalition came to no avail. Growing increasingly frustrated, Constantine eventually had a vision of an Angel telling him to gather his followers and go beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Using his influence as heir to the Byzantine throne, Constantine hired a Venetian fleet, promising territorial concessions in Morea to the Venetians for payment, and set sail with his followers, bringing along the method of silk production with the fleet.

The journey to the New world was almost met with complete disaster when half the fleet of 40 ships was wiped out in a storm. Despite this though, the Byzantine fleet made landfall at OTL Chesapeake Bay in August 1444. Constantine and his followers named the landmass "Palaiologia" after Constantines dynasty and proclaimed the site as Nea Byzantinos. The initial year was harsh, only to be saved by help from the Native Americans, who brought food and much needed supplies for the exiles to survive during the first winter. The 15thof October would go on to be known as Native Day, in honour of the natives who saved the Rhomaian Empire.
Following the landfall, several colonists, under the orders from Constantine, began to explore the surrounding area and very quickly began to disperse around the Nea Byzantinos bay, founding Nea Adrianopolis the following year as an outpost on the eastern side of the bay. The colonists quickly discover the land surrounding the bay is extremely fertile, and the colonists soon started to cultivate the land not only for wheat but also with mulberry plants they had brought with them.

The following years saw the expansion of the Rhomaian Empire to the surrounding areas of OTL Chesapeake. However, the expansion brought the Empire into conflict with the native Powhatans. The Powhatan War of 1446-1447 was the first test of whether the fledgling nation could survive or not. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Constantine utilised the few horses the colonists brought with them to defeat the Powhatans. The Battle of the natives saw the main Powhatan force of 4'000 ambushed by the Rhomaian Army of 500 and routed by a "heavy" cavalry charge led by Constantine I. The Powhatan War ended with the Powhatans being forcibly annexed into the Empire. Following the war, Nea Byzantinos grew from 1000 to 4000 people in 1447, with native Indians coming to trade the Byzantinosians food and supply's for silk.

During the early years of the empire, there was a public debate on the religion of the Rhomaian Empire. The people of the empire, albeit less then 5'000 at the time, blamed the decline of the Byzantine Empire on the divergence of the people's belief from true Christian beliefs in the form of Eastern Orthodoxy. The patriarch of Nea Byzantinos, Antioxhus I, proposed a new set of beliefs that included the reversal to the original faith set down at the Council of Calcedon in the fifth century. This new branch of Christianity would go onto be known as Western Orthodoxy and most of Palaiologia would follow Western Orthodoxy by the end of the 17th Century.
Constantine I also had the challenge of growing the fledgling Empires economy. Silk production was made a priority as it allowed for lucrative trade opportunities with friendly native tribes and by 1454, silk plantations lined most of Byzantinos bay and Silk production accounted for the majority of the Empires economy in its early years.

Back in Europe, John VIII refused to abide by Constantines deal with the Venetians, and cede Morea to the republic. In response, the Venetians invaded Morea in 1445 and placed Constantinople under blockade. The Ottoman Turks, seeing their opportunity, sealed the fate of the Byzantines and laid siege to Constantinople. Faced with defeat on all fronts, John VIII was forced to cede Morea to Venice and later died leading a countercharge against the Ottomans in a last ditch attempt to save the Empire. Constantinople fell to the Turks on November 4 1445 after a two month siege. Mehmet "the Conquerer" declared the city as Capital of the Ottoman Empire, renaming it Konstantiyye in the process.

The Venetian control of Morea presented a threat to the Ottoman Empire, and in 1452 Mehmet invaded the peninsula, quickly subduing the Venetian strongholds in Morea. To the surprise of everyone, the Venetian fleet was ambushed in the Battle of Euboea and was destroyed. However, the victory had come at a high price for the Ottomans, who lost the majority of their navy, but nevertheless the remains of the Ottoman navy pushed on to assist the Ottoman army in occupying the numerous Aegean islands under control of Venice. The First Venetian-Ottoman War ended with Venice being forced to cede all Ottoman conquests to the Ottomans. The Ottoman victory shocked many in Christendom, who believed that the Ottomans should not have defeated the Venetians. The pope called for the establishment of a Christian league, and this league would eventually become the basis of the anti-Ottoman coalition of 1549. This coalition would form the backbone of forces in the "Great War of Reconquest" in 1554.

Meanwhile, the Rhomaian Empire expanded slowly down the east coast of Palaiologia, establishing the outpost of Rhode on OTL Charleston in 1450. Rhode opened up possibilities of future Rhomaian expansion in the area and it quickly became a trading hub with the natives, growing to a population of 1500 in 1452.

The years of 1444-1452 proved to be a period of turmoil for the native Americans in contact with the Rhomaian. The old world diseases brought by Constantines fleet ravaged the native population of Palaiologia, decreasing it by 30% by 1452. However, Nea Byzantinos' sanitation ( which included a modern sewage and aqueduct drainage system), modelled after the Roman system of sanitation, proved to be the saviour as many native Americans found refuge in the cleanliness of Nea Byzantinos. The population of Nea Byzantinos grew to 15000 people by 1453 and the farms of the surrounding area of Byzantinos bay grew in size to accomodate the growing population.
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