The Heritage of Medici: an early alternative Italy TL (part one)

Reflexion about the new update:

* with the defeat of the parlamentarists at Naseby, the new british monarchy can involve into absolutism. Consequently there will be some relapses to British North America. In fact american revolution may be break out before the mid 18th century. So the ITTL USA could be resulted weaker than OTL.

It could be a plausible possibility, yes.

*the political situation in Russia and Habsburg Austria can involve into a triple alliance Italy-Russia-Austria aganist the Turks (I think the last decades of 17th century).

I don't spoil too much, but I guess it is an obvious evolution...

*establishing the conctacts with Spain, the CCA can play a great role in the Spanish empire.

About the American situation in general, there is always a WIP, even if in the early 18th century the CCA will play a determinant role for the aquisition of a certain region, or to better say a certain region will become relevant for Italy because of the presence of the CCA...

A question about New France: New France and the french colonial empire will be butterflied

No, but part of New France in the long term will be lost the same...
 
Chapter Fifty-eight

Extract from “The history of Modern Italy, volume six: the golden years of the first Kingdom, from Westphalia to the start of the second French Revolution”

Lorenzo and Alfonso agreed to overthrow Gastone and Mazzarino from their positions, in order to become respectively the new King and the new Chancellor, managing to bring in the plot also the Dukes of Piedmont and Liguria, and forcing Carlo of Nevers-Gonzaga to join (in truth he wanted to remain neutral, but the Duchy was practically surrounded and not able to resist a new invasion, and in case of victory he could had his part of spoils of war as well),while they failed to convince the young Duke of Parma Ranuccio II Farnese, not wanting to risk for his family to lose again the Duchy in case of victory of the loyalists.

The Farnese informed Mazzarino about the plot, and the cardinal managed to arrest the plotters who were ready to sow disorder in Rome, but he failed to stop the minds behind the plan in time: Lorenzo already raised a rebel army in Urbino, stating that Gastone betrayed his rights, and reclaiming the crown of Italy as legitimate successor of Cosimo II; few weeks later, also the Duke of Ferrara raised his minions, denouncing the taxation reform of the chancellor as an illegal act against the acts of the Council of Rome, considered the founding stone of the Kingdom. Also the Duke of Piedmont, that of Mantova and of Liguria respected the secret agreements and joined the rebellion; in the meanwhile, the agents of Alfonso in Venice ( who still refused to relinquish the government of the Serenissima) made so the city remained loyal to him, causing the protests of the merchants of CCR, almost all loyalists. The Duke of Ferrara then ordered a crackdown over the merchant company, seizing its offices with its valuable treasury (used to fund the rebel cause) while the opposition was arrested and sent to fill the “Piombi” prisons and others escaped in Friuli, where Piccolomini remained loyal to Rome and started to warm up his troops.

Alfonso so assured the control of Venice, but at the same time he accelerated its decline, because in the aftermath of the “Fronde of the Duchies” (as it was called the first civil war in united Italy) the CCR moved its headquarters to Aquileia, main port of the Duchy of Friuli and very near to Palmanova; and Venice avoided the economical disaster only thanks to the presence of its arsenal and its luxury industry, despite its golden days were definitively concluded.

Whatever, most of North Italy was in turmoil, while the rebellion of the Duke of Liguria brought part of Ifrica to revolt as well, and it was so for almost two years until the victory smiled to the loyalists, thanks of a series of favorable events.

At the start of the rebellion, Mazzarino managed to keep to the loyalist side most of the Senate and the Italican Council, the first by purging the senators connected with the rebels, the second by limiting the concessions granted to the North Eastern Italian clergy after the assimilation of the Venetian Republic. The remaining opposition in Rome however was reduced to impotence months later when Mazzarino through his spies intercepted a letter of Lorenzo asking help to the Spanish in exchange of return of Oran and Alboran and the promise to shut down the Council restoring the Papal court in the Eternal City, and the cardinal showed the evidence in the Senate obtaining total submission. Many objected the letter was a false one, but modern historians confirmed that Lorenzo entered in secret talks with the Spanish, because his correspondence was found in the National Archives of Madrid in the late 1980’s, so confirming the interest of Spain to take some advantage from the Italian situation; however, Lorenzo made a big mistake to ask the Spanish help first because they couldn’t gave any kind of help and second many supporters turned away from him when his liaison with Madrid became of public domain.

Also, the rebels were scattered: Lorenzo was isolated in Marche, while Alfonso was cut off from Piedmont and Liguria, and the rebels in Ifrica despite controlled Utica and the valley of Bagrada river failed to bring Cartagine to their side. Outside from Italy and Ifrica, the winds of rebellion sparkled again in Candia when the news of the Frond arrived in Iracleio. The Loyalists also could count over the control of the majority of the fleet and the firm support of the CCA and what remained of the CCR, but above all of the support of the entire Southern Italy.

In fact, the Frond offered the nobles of the South not only to show their valor in their war, but also to rebalance the assets of power in the Kingdom, where the Northern Italians had the upper hand since that moment; and in effect after the Frond the Southerners obtained major seats in the Senate and more career possibility, despite the fact still for decades and despite the outcome of the revolt the weight of the Northerners was still determinant.

However, the first months of war didn’t go bad for the rebels: Lorenzo in fact understood to not have the necessary strength to attack Rome or to resist in Marche, so he moved north towards Romagna, in order to join with the forces of Alfonso in Ferrara. The march was successful, Rimini and Ravenna were occupied, and the Duke of Urbino managed to broke the encirclement Mazzarino was making around Marche. However, Lorenzo didn’t find Alfonso in Ferrara, as his ally was moving in the North-East in order to subjugate Friuli; not a bad strategy, but instead to point towards Aquileia to cut off the supplies, he laid siege over Palmanova, where Piccolomini gathered the bulk of his forces. In fact, the Senese commander decided to not waste his forces in a direct fight and waited for reinforces, confiding in the invulnerability of the Star City.

Palmanova didn’t fall and after four months of useless siege Alfonso was forced to call a retreat, because of the loyalists reinforcements landed in Aquileia. More lucky was instead Lorenzo, who managed to take Parma so connecting the North-East with the Duchies of North-West and balancing the situation, while Ranuccio escaped in the last moment to the South. The Duke of Urbino then considered the opportunity to conclude the war the fast as possible by gathering troops in Parma and invading Tuscany and from here Latium, but his allies were determinate to occupy and divide first the Duchy of Lombardy that he was forced to spent more time in the North. The greed of the plotters caused their ruin, because the population of Lombardy, remained loyal to Gastone, opposed a fierce resistance and above all Milan, despite still weakened from the recent plague, refused to surrender and resisted to a long siege. In the meanwhile, the loyalists reinforced their positions in the South, organizing a strong and big army (while the north had problems to refill the ranks of the rebels, because of the plague and the losses of the Thirty Years War), while Mazzarino managed to isolate diplomatically the rebels; it wasn’t difficult, because the rest of Europe was scared of the recent developments in France and as told before the Spanish but also the Imperials were too weak to support the Frond.

After five months of hard siege, Milan accepted to surrender, but it was a tardive victory for the rebels. In fact, while they wasted forces and time to take the main city of the North, the loyalists gradually advanced from South and East, retaking Marche, Romagna and Emilia, with Rainuccio II returned triumphally in Parma, while Piccolomini forced the Duke of Ferrara to retreat from most of Veneto. Padova passed to the loyalist side even without a siege, as the population didn’t like the requisitions made by its recently acquired lord.

In order to restore order in the North, Gastone and Mazzarino didn’t hesitate to use the force. The first signs of the royalist revenge were visible when the 7th February 1651 the Royal Fleet, after sinking the weak flotilla in the Lagoon, in order to force Venice to surrender immediately instead to wait a surrender for lack of supplies, bombarded with the cannons of its galleons the island of Murano: the bombardment lasted for almost half an hour, but the flames and the smokes the Venetians saw scared them so much the same day accepted to surrender after slaughtering Alfonso’s agents and freed the prisoners in the Piombi. The bombardment however had the result to compromise for years the glass industry located in Murano, resulting in a ulterior damage for the economy of the Serenissima.

But it happened much worse to Ferrara. When the Royalist forces arrived to the city, Alfonso tried to broke the siege, and Lorenzo, who was struggling in Emilia, tried to help him, but they failed to connect their forces and forced to retreat in the end, to avoid the risk to being cut off from Piccolomini. When the news of the escape of their lord arrived to their ears, the citizens of Ferrara surrendered hoping for mercy. But both the King and the Chancellor thought a clear signal was to be launched for future advices: the city was evacuated and then razed atrociously, sparing only the Estense Castle and the Cathedral, while the city walls were destroyed. The city so received an hard blow it never recovered completely, just like Mantova after the Imperial sack, while the royalists started to reorganize the administration of Romagna around Rimini (so from that moment generating a cordial sense of hate between the two cities today visible during agonistic competition).

The sack of Ferrara accelerated the end of the revolt. Mazzarino let it know he was willing to concede a general amnesty if the Duchies decided to submit to the Royal authority so accepting the reforms the Senate wanted to enact, while Milan soon revolted in favor of the royalists. Mantova was the first Duchy to surrender, as the memory of the sack was still recent and Carlo of Nevers-Gonzaga accepted to submit. Lorenzo and Alfonso however managed to reunite enough forces to try to win on the field, and engaged battle the 10th May of 1651 at the gates of Cremona; it resulted in a complete disaster for the rebels and a complete victory for the loyalists, who entered in Milan in triumph.

At that point, to avoid a complete disaster also the Dukes of Piedmont and Liguria accepted to submit, so concluding the rebellion in Italy. Utica and the rebels in Ifrica surrendered shortly after, while in Candia the tension endured still for months. Alfonso escaped in Spain, but Lorenzo, enraged because of the lack of help from Madrid, decided to go north, at the court of Gustavus Adolphus at Stockholm.

In those years, his only daughter Christina converted to Catholicism, and didn’t like the idea to succeed to her father, forcing him to choose a new successor. Her behavior started to change when Lorenzo arrived at the court of Stockholm, where the King granted him asylum; few months later, the Italian prince and the Swedish princess developed a relationship. Lorenzo asked the hand of Christina to Gustavus Adolphus, and the King was willing to concede him, because the suitor had one of the most noble pedigrees of all Europe and he changed the capricious character of the daughter. Christina and Lorenzo married with the catholic rite the 12th October of 1653.

Gustavus Adolphus was then oriented to restore the succession rights in favor of his daughter, but the Catholic faith of Christina was a not irrelevant problem, despite the fact the Swedish Church was an Episcopal one (so the head of state didn’t have a key role as in Great Britain) and despite it was a Lutheran one it preserved many Catholic rites. Many in fact believed a Catholic Vasa dynasty could bring Sweden under the Papal yoke and compromise the expansion in Germany and Scandinavia (as Brandenburg could add reasons to rally the German Protestants against Sweden), so they proposed the candidature of Karl Gustav nephew of the King, as his successor.

Gustavus Adolphus worked for a compromise with the help of his Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, which encountered a favorable consensus. In substance, if Christina will become queen but remained catholic, she will never tried to restore Catholicism without the previous approval of the Standrisksdagen, the Swedish Parliament, and more precisely without the absolute majority from all the four states of the Swedish society; in case she or her descendants will tried to impose a restoration with the force, they will automatically lose the right to rule and the Parliament will have the right to elect a new ruler.

As natural consequence, the 6th July 1654 the Standrisksdagen approved the “Law of religious freedom”, which allowed to every inhabitant of the Kingdom and its dependences to follow his proper faith saving the fact the Lutheran Church of Sweden remained the state confession and everyone who attempt to damage or overthrow it will be persecuted and executed aside from his position. The act had the result to reinforce the Swedish parliamentarism, but it also allowed the possibility, unique in the rest of Europe, to see a Catholic dynasty ruling in a major Lutheran populated country…”
 
There's an awful lot of Oxenstierna's in Swedish history since the '00s, isn't there?:p:p:p
The Italian version of the Fronde was interesting but now I really can't wait to see what are your projects for the Vasa-Medici and their newborn empire.
 
There's an awful lot of Oxenstierna's in Swedish history since the '00s, isn't there?:p:p:p
The Italian version of the Fronde was interesting but now I really can't wait to see what are your projects for the Vasa-Medici and their newborn empire.

Well, because Sweden and Russia didn't have as OTL serious reasons to be enemies, there will be high possibilities for the Scandinian country to fly more high in this TL...;)
 
Chapter Fifty-nine

Extract from “The history of Modern Italy, volume six: the golden years of the first Kingdom, from Westphalia to the start of the second French Revolution”

The victory of the loyalists allowed Mazzarino to reform the Kingdom in order to curb down the residual “feudal” privileges of the Dukes. For first, to the rebel duchies were subtracted the assigned fiefs obtained in reward after the end of the Thirty Years War, while the Duchy of Udine and that of Parma were highly rewarded: to the second one, it was even granted the control of Modena so fulfilling the dream of the Farnese to rule all over Emilia, as from that moment their Duchy was called. As for Ferrara and Urbino, because their lords escaped from Italy it was decided to be administrated by senatorial commissions. In fact, Mazzarino and Gastone decided to not further humiliate the collateral branches of the dynasty, or not create further motive of tensions in the great northern Italian nobility, already worried to the rise of the merchant classes and the southern nobility.

The Chancellorate not only implemented its projects of economic reform, but the victory allowed it to obtain the half (instead of the 40% originally planned) of the yearly tax revenues in a certain fief, and only the other half to be destined to the local administration, while in case of war the central government retained the right to subtract even the 75% of the regional taxes. However, the most relevant reform was that of the military regions. It was in fact denied to the various duchies to raise anymore personal armies, while the various divisions scattered in the country will be completely merged into the Royal Army; to better coordinate the efficacy of the military forces, the Kingdom was divided into regions each one supervised by a royal lieutenant. The lieutenants will controlled any aspect of military life in the region assigned such as the recruitment campaigns, the development of defensive structures, the training of the troops, the organization of the supplies etc.

Italy was divided in twenty-one regions: From North to South, Savoy, Piedmont, Nizzardo, Liguria, Lombardy, Veneto, Friuli, Emilia-Romagna, Corsica, Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, Latium, Sardinia, Abruzzi, Campania, Apulia, Lucania, Calabria, and Sicily. Dalmatia, despite it wasn’t directly connected with Italy, was considered as a twenty-second region; Ifrica and the Duchy of Aegean Sea instead were regarded as “overseas” territories and the military control was confirmed to their governors; nevertheless, the African Granduchy was divided the same in five regions. As for the Atlantic colonies, it was confirmed their direct administration to the CCA. The division of the regions was determined more by geographical and ethnical/linguistic choices, instead to match with the various duchies, especially in the North. For example, the military district of Lombardy included not only the proper Duchy but also that of Mantova, while the Duchy of Piedmont, because of its position on the border with France and its morphological condition, was militarily split in three. In the early 19th century, with the abolishment of the ancient duchies, the military regions with the opportune adjustments were promoted to the modern administrative regions of Italy (not counting of course the successive addictions and the creation of Valle d’Aosta and Molise in half 20th century).

The conclusion of the Frond of the north finally allowed Italy to recover from the wounds of the Thirty Years War, and to live a period of peace and economical growth, accompanied with a new rise of the population growth especially in the north (it is supposed around the early 70’s of the 17th century the overall population returned to the levels of 1628, just before the great plague and the sack of Mantova) and a new artistic impulses, which again saw Rome as main focus, but also Cartagine as well as many Italian immigrates settled in Ifrica and in the Bagrada valley to escape from the war and the plague; despite it didn’t had yet a century of life, the African city was already the third in order of greatness in the Black Continent, second only to Alexandria and Cairo. The growing importance of the city brought many merchants to petition in front of the Senate to use it as main headquarters of a “Compagnia Commerciale dell’Ifrica” (CCI) in order to expand the Italian commercial weight in North Africa. Mazzarino wasn’t so convinced about that project, but in the end he made so the Senate gave its personal approval. The company was founded the 1th April of 1655, but respect to its counterparts it wasn’t properly funded; nevertheless, their associates were determinate and started a slow but constant penetration in the Sahara and Egypt, despite the hostility of the native tribes and the Ottomans, even managing to mapping the great sand sea. However, the golden age of the CCI arrived only during the Francescan age, when the merchants of the company gave a great support to the Egyptians during their independence struggle against the Ottomans opening the road to the Italian colonial Empire in Africa…

Few years after the conclusion of the northern revolt, however a great scandal shocked the court in Rome and the entire country as well. In fact, while Gastone and Anne were making the last preparations to their first son’s wedding, Louis deepened the relation with Maria Mancini. It didn’t occurred too much until the liaison became of public domain; and warned by his King, Mazzarino decided to close the nephew in the abbey of Subiaco. Louis, enamored of Maria and exalted by the various Italian chivalry tales he read during his forced exile, he wasn’t discouraged by that obstacle and with a group of loyal friends arrived in secretly in the abbey, and managed to organize the escape of his lover. The two, after considering to not have a future in Italy, were planning to escape in Spain through the African route, but their projects were stopped at Civitavecchia harbor, just before they could take the first ship for Cartagine, as agents of the Cardinal stopped them and escorted them to Rome.
The Quirinal was then theatre of a sort of Greek tragedy, with Louis determined to not marry his cousin despite the pleas of his mother and uncle, and Maria regarded as the worst of the sluts. To worsen the situation, in Rome (notoriously known as one of the “chattiest” cities of the world) the news of the entire story spread with a fast pace.

However, with the general surprise, the situation was starting to find an unexpected solution when Anna Maria, first daughter of Gastone and promised bride of Louis,
proposed to marry instead his younger cousin Philip. Not that she wasn’t attracted by Louis, but she wanted a crown and the most available was that of Italy. Philip in fact seemed more easy to control respect to Louis (which demonstrated to have a great determination), and at the same time she still could have a strong claim over the throne of France, where however the republican government apparently became more strong by the time. Pressured by the growing scandal, Gastone agreed to his daughter’s request, deciding to “washing his hands” about the future of his royal nephew; and Anne agreed to the request. The wedding however wasn’t celebrated until the end of 1658, after Philip’s eighteen anniversary. Despite the homosexual and travesty tendencies of the groom, the marriage was productive with the birth of three children, the oldest of them was the future heir to the crown Luigi Gastone born in 1659.

Remained how to solve the issue of Louis and Maria, because Anne was obstinate to not allow the marriage of the King of France, heir of Charles V and Henri IV, with a modest noble of recently elevated condition, but the young man was obstinate as well, and in the end the Queen Mother capitulated, under condition that in any case Maria will never recognized as Queen of France even in case of a monarchic restoration, and in case of a public scandal (in poor words, if she was caught in another bed or just flirting with someone) a order of divorce will be immediately enacted. Louis and Maria so married with the Italic rite in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi ( the holy site of the French community in Rome) the 25th August 1658, and their marriage despite all previsions was happy and both remained loyal to each other (despite Louis took some “adventures” specially during the pregnancy of his wife, it was never of too serious) until their death in 1715. Their second children, Louis Henri, was destined to surpass even his father by bringing France to its “second apex” (the first was supposed to be the Carolingian empire) during the 18th century just before the fall of the monarchy because of the second French revolution…

A/N: Happy Easter to everyone!
 
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Just caught up with the latest two updates. Very nice developments :)

So we get a Swedish Medician Dynasty by having Lorenzo marry Christina of Sweden. Never saw that coming, but hey, not complaining about it.

And Louis XIV ends up marrying the woman he truly loved OTL. Now, he just has to reclaim the crown of France. Will the next update cover this part?

Also, happy easter to you too. :)
 
Just caught up with the latest two updates. Very nice developments :)

So we get a Swedish Medician Dynasty by having Lorenzo marry Christina of Sweden. Never saw that coming, but hey, not complaining about it.

And Louis XIV ends up marrying the woman he truly loved OTL. Now, he just has to reclaim the crown of France. Will the next update cover this part?

Also, happy easter to you too. :)

Well, my alternate Medici dynasty is like a bunnies family: they spreaded everywhere. Paradoxally, we will have a Louis XIV more chaste and less bunny than OTL :D

About the monarchic restoration in France, I guess you must wait the next update... here's the chapter of today.

Chapter sixty

The evolution of the French crisis, with the consolidation of the republican government in Paris under the command of Condè, who managed to be recognized by the Parliament of Paris as leader of the country with the precise mission to defeat Spain and subjugate the rebel Eastern provinces, made so the Spanish, exhausted for the long war, to search a exit strategy, at cost to accept a defeat however unavoidable. The recently appointed Monsieur le Consul however seemed determinate to continue the war, despite the fact the French forces were exhausted as well.

The situation seemed landlocked, until the intervention of the Spanish Royal heir Carlos Luis. The prince, intelligent and determinate, understood it was inutile for Spain to continue bearing the banner of champion of Catholicism, and that it was necessary to accept the fact part of Europe will remain Protestant, and to recognize the United Provinces were forever lost. The Spanish intransigence almost isolated the country, and it was clear that by alone the Kingdom will not be able to defeat the French like at the time of Carlos I; it was necessary to start new relations with the major powers of the North (Britain, Sweden, the same United Provinces) but also with Italy as well, even at cost to break with the Catholic Church; and even the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire shall not be considered anymore a taboo.

Carlos Luis convinced his father and his minister to lead an embassy in Rome. Felipe IV agreed because the country was really exhausted and needed to be in peace to recover; the Papal Court under James II (the Spanish Alfonso de la Cueva-Benavides y Mendoza-Carrillo) instead opposed strong resistance to the project, although some ecclesiastic ambient started to push about the necessity to open negotiations to solve the schism with the Italians and to prevent the French followed the same path. The Spanish prince however with a great delegation spent the spring of 1656 in the Eternal City, where he was well welcomed.

The Italians were favorable to approach Spain, because the relations with France in that moment were strained because Rome didn’t recognize the republican government (an impossible solution, with a Italian Bourbon King and the fact the French Royal Family settled its exiled court in the Kingdom) and the relations with the United Provinces started to deteriorate because of the growing merchant competition between the two countries in the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. The Ottoman Empire and Austria started to recover as well from the long period of war, so it was essential for Italy not remaining diplomatically isolated.

The Spanish emissaries tried to introduce the issue of the schism between the Italican Church and the Papal Court, but the Council, which enjoyed its autonomy, was irremovable; however, it declared its will to not diverge, at least on the theological matters, from the general lines of Catholicism. The problem at that point was in fact of administrative nature, because the Italian clergy was scarcely interested to be submitted again under the direct rule of the Pope, despite part of the population, especially in the capital, wanted the return of the Bishop of Rome. About the Royal family, aside from their beliefs the Borbone wasn’t hostile to a Papal restoration, but certain not to see again in Italy a strong Papal influence. In substance, the two problems which obstacle the negotiation were the will of the Italican Church to preserve its autonomy in front of the Pope, and the question to how regulate the relations between State and Church in mode the two powers will not interfere with each other.

Nevertheless, the Spanish embassy was a success. Mazzarino agreed to convince the French to conclude the war, as a too strong, republican France could be a danger for the European assets. The Ital-Spanish action spent months to diplomatically isolating France, and found favorable consensus in the continent; the fear of a “republican” spread scared the various monarchies of the Old world, despite the French of that period didn’t had interest to spread those kind of ideals as it happened almost a century later, as the Republic of half 17th century risen for different reasons respect to that of the end of 19th century. However, the United Kingdom and the Germanic Holy Roman Emperor agreed to pressure Paris for a cease-fire; even the United Provinces agreed to join that pressure, as Amsterdam looked with preoccupation to a possible French domination in Belgium.

In truth, nobody of those country had in the moment the sufficient strength to invade France, but France neither hadn’t interest to be internationally boycotted; Condè, who wasn’t a stupid and however he felt the necessity to bring soon in the fold Brittany before its secession will become definitive and crush the new Huguenot riot in the Atlantic Coast, in the end he agreed to open peace terms with Madrid, considering to have still the upper hand against Spain. The peace terms were signed in neutral Switzerland at Geneve (the French refused to negotiate in Italian soil) the 22th October of 1657; Spain recognized the cession of Roussillon and Cerdagne on the Pyrenees border and the southern part of Artois with the city of Arras (1). The emissaries of Condè however refused to talk with the Italian diplomats about the future constitutional assets of France, because the consul didn’t want to renounce to be the only master of the Pays de Lys, while Louis XIV wasn’t still officially declared decayed from his role, because the Parliament of Paris didn’t have the sufficient authority, or to better say courage, to take that move.

In fact, the parliamentary Frond didn’t have the initial objective to overthrow the monarchy, but it was more “caught” by the events and however the Republic was proclaimed more to fill a gap which was supposed to be temporary, as France needed in those years a strong leader as substitute of the King, who was still underage. After all, the nobility was partially subjugated by the force of the arms of Condè, but it didn’t lose its rights and above all it wasn’t abolished. Also, the debate about the opportunity of a republican France was reduced to intellectual discussions in the universities and didn’t affected the merchant classes as in late 18th century. The French were still highly pro-monarchist, but Condè didn’t have the strength to overthrow the Parliament as it happened in Britain few years before, because he wasn’t the supreme commander of the French forces as he shared the command with other generals like Turenne and he hesitated to start a new season of civil war. So, for other few years, Condè remained the only arbiter of a de nomine Republic until the Polish succession crisis of 1668 solved the question…

(1) Because the war with Spain was concluded before then OTL, the battle of the Dunes never happened and Dunkerque remained in Spanish hands; the northern gains of France so were inferior to OTL, and Artois for the moment was split in two.

A/N: Short chapter, but at least I accelerated the TL. Hope you like it!
 
Nice update you gave us here.
RyuDrago said:
Paradoxally, we will have a Louis XIV more chaste and less bunny than OTL :D
For some reason, I have trouble imagining that... But I guess that Louis marrying out of love could definitely restrain him in the "bed matters" field ;).
RyuDrago said:
the Papal Court under James II
Pope James II? Who was the first one? And why such a name?
RyuDrago said:
until the Polish succession crisis of 1668 solved the question…
Oh? Will watch this with interest. Though... I'm a bit wondering if we might end up with a Medici-related on the Polish throne :D
 
For some reason, I have trouble imagining that... But I guess that Louis marrying out of love could definitely restrain him in the "bed matters" field ;).

Well, considering almost all the European dynasties were changed respect to OTL, I'm saying to himself "Why not Louis XIV x Maria Mancini"? Also, the long exile changed the behavior of the French King, so he was less inclined to search love adventures and more focused to rule directly his country. And I could spoil Versailles will rise the same, but more than the castle it will be the city to develop the most...


Pope James II? Who was the first one? And why such a name?

With the defection of most of Italian cardinals, and the exile in Toledo, the inevitable consequence after Paulus V's death was a Spanish successor to Peter's seat. In 1621, Francisco Gomez de Sandoval y Rojas, better known as Duke of Lerna, became the 234th Pope. He chose the name of James (here I used the the english name) in honor of the Apostle patron of Spain, and to mark the Spanish influence over the remnants of Catholic Church. In 1625, Alfonso de la Cueva-Benavides y Mendoza-Carrillo succeded to him as James II and further hardened the position of the Church towards the Italicans. In 1655, to him succeeded the Austrian Ernst Adalbert von Harrach, archbishop of Prague, in order to appaise the court of Wien about an eccessive Spanish influence, who adopted the name of Leopold I in honor of the Austrian saint. Leopold I was less hostile to the idea to open a negotiation with Italy, so Carlos Luis didn't have anymore obtacles to the organization of his embassy.

Oh? Will watch this with interest. Though... I'm a bit wondering if we might end up with a Medici-related on the Polish throne :D

In any way, it will be butterfly part of Poland's history as well...
 
And Istria???
Is it part of Dalmatia? Or Friuli? Or Veneto?

In effect... I didn't mention it because I forgotted it. We could say former Venetian Istria was included in the reorganization of the regions as part of Dalmatia, as it was decided to not enlarge too much Friuli and it was better to keep united the former Venetian Adriatic possessions. If we talk of TTL modern days, after other stuff happened, it will be included in the region of Venetia Julia, which wasn't mentioned in the previous posts.
 
Chapter Sixty-one

Extract from “The history of Modern Italy, volume six: the golden years of the first Kingdom, from Westphalia to the start of the second French Revolution”

With the treaty of Geneva, Europe finally returned to a period of general peace and slow recovery for all the continent, except for the skirmishes in the Ukrainian region between Russians and Turks over Crimea which later involved a more vast theatre, and the secessionist war in France which ended briefly with the subjugation of Brittany and the second sack of La Rochelle, with consequent emigration of many Huguenots and Puritans in Italy, North Germany, Scandinavia and British American colonies, especially Ashland (1) and then to the near colony of Lenapia (2), where they battled the ground not only to the local tribes but also to the Dutch, organized around the island of Manhattan where they found the city of New Amsterdam, the actual New York. These European colonists helped the British to get rid of the Dutch from North America, and later they obtained the permission to found a town in the interjection between Schuykill and Delaware river, which was named New Jerusalem (3), soon prospered thanks to its strategic position becoming soon the largest city in North America during XVII century, and so destined one day to become the capital of the Commonwealth of America.

The economical situation of Italy after the Frond of the Duchies gradually improved, thanks also by the reforms took during the chancellorate of Mazzarino, but the war and the revolt nevertheless created a new shift in the Italian society, culture, and industry. The further centralization of the kingdom had as one of the major consequences, aside for the rise of the Southern regions which we talked before, the increasing of the weight of Rome as capital of the Kingdom, so leading the city to a fast demographic growth and the construction of workshops and factories around it, and the repopulation of areas into the Aurelian walls which were inhabited for centuries. The growth of Rome favored also that of the port of Civitavecchia, and above all that of Naples as main harbor of the Royal fleet and point of arrival of the sea routes towards Ifrica and the Southern Mediterranean, aided by the fact Mazzarino in 1661 decided to recover the ancient Appian way by repairing the abandoned segments and enlarging the road. As parallel consequence, the interest for the ancient Roman ruins along the road grew, giving a new impulse about the studies about ancient Rome but also to the spoliation, often illegal, of the relics in the area. That despicable market ended (or however was drastically reduced) only after the discovery of the sites of Pompeii and Herculanus a century later, which convinced the government to declare all the objects of historical relevance founded in the territories of the Kingdom will become state properties, with high sanctions in case of illegal movements of them, especially if out of Italy. Those laws later were enforced by the Republican government, as consequence of the movement of part of the Italian art treasures towards France, and still today the Italian government is the most intransigent about the issue of the recover of art objects illegally moved out of the country.

The Tirrenian coast was highly favored by the economical growth, thanks to the revenues of the CCA and the trade of the goods coming from America and Africa, while the Padan plains still suffered because of the devastations of the last conflicts, and a great internal migration because of the relocation of the production and administrative centers was taking place. Venice was a clear example of that crisis, because its economy suffered an hard blow with the devastation of Murano and the transfer of the CCR in Palmanova, not counting the loss of the incomes coming from the former lands of the Republic and the emigration of part of the Patrician families in Rome. Also Mantova and Ferrara were unable to recover properly, while Genova saw its economic weight reduced mainly as consequence of the loss for the Doria of the governorate of Ifrica and the constant rise of the HQ of the CCA, Livorno; the war and the plague instead didn’t stop the recovery of Milan, too relevant and placed in a vital geographical position to fall in a condition of decline, while the cities of Emilia and Romagna, Parma and in particular Rimini, and in minor measure Bologna, were highly favored because of their loyalty to the crown during the Frond.

The cultural life of Italy, after the reign of the shy and reserved Cosimo II and the miseries of the war, returned to shine under the guidance of the Borbone dynasty, soon bringing to its apex the artistic age known as Baroque, which saw in Lorenzo Bernini his main actor. Rome in particular saw the rise of various monuments and infrastructures, because Gastone wished to give his capital a new “Imperial” profile, but also Cartagine, which was still a site in constant evolution, was affected by the cultural influxes coming from the Eternal City, and as consequence irradiated the rest of Ifrica as well.

Also the immigration of part of the rich Venetian patricians to the capital contributed to enrich Rome with new palaces, and at the same time the surrounding countryside, because those families brought for Veneto the passion for the campaign estates. The fast spread of the estates in the Roman countryside bought great benefits, not only because of the increased agricultural output result of the intensive farming, but also for the start of the reclamation of the Pontine marsh, consequence of the rush of the Italian upper families to have their own estate near Rome. Of course, they were also disadvantages as well, such as the requisition of the lands of the local farmer families, in many situations scarcely refunded respect to the real value of the land; some of them remained to work for the new owners of the lands, but many were forced to emigrate in search of fortune in Rome. The criminality rating of the Eternal City started to rise aside with that of poverty, while the life standards started to decline, although more slowly respect to the other two great West European cities of the time, London and Paris, because of the rich quantity of water accessible to the population brought by the restored Roman aqueducts, the survival of the ancient Roman sewage (the Cloaca Maxima), the presence of a vast charity organization, and the fact into the Aurelian walls existed still abandoned sectors slowed the process of overcrowding.

Meanwhile, despite the presumed tolerance and respect of the local costumes, the westernization of Ifrica proceeded without halts of sort. The Italians in fact were determined, regardless of the issues with the Papacy, to make of the country a Catholic one, in order to demonstrate a Muslim region could be “recovered” as it happened for the Iberian peninsula almost two centuries ago. The Italian government made all the possible to reduce Islamic influence, even if the Inquisition was disbanded, with a series of restrictive measures, such as the denial to build new mosques (especially in the area of Cartagine, which in Rome’s opinion must be preserved as a Catholic city), the closure of many madrasas, and imposing additional taxes to everyone chose to remain Muslim. Any internal opposition was progressively reduced to impotence since the Algerians accepted to not support any attempt of rebellion in Ifrica, and to send away the rebel groups scattered on the borders.

Algeria after all was living a period of prosperity and peace since the rise of the Abdalwadite dynasty, which remained in cordial terms with Italy. The proper Algerian lands were united under a single banner, except for the city of Oran fallen in Italian hands during the Thirty Years war; The Algerians tolerated that occupation, because the presence of a Western European outpost in Algerian soil was beneficial for the country, thanks also to a less restrictive policy towards the Muslims adopted by the CCA, in charge of the administration of the city, while the end of Berber piracy increased the trade along all the Mediterranean. Of the rest of Maghreb, only Morocco continued to pursue a hostile stance against the Western European countries despite it was practically isolated, even by the Algerians which started to have dreams about the reconstruction of an united Maghreb...

Morocco in any way didn’t have the necessary forces to obstacle the European trade routes through the Gibraltar strait region, nevertheless in the Atlantic, so the ships of the CCA transited without problems, thanks also to the control of Alboran, where a small but well protected military harbor substituted the previous Spanish outpost. The trade company, which after the acquisition of the “Asiento” saw drastically rising its incomes, was soon forced to increase its fleet. The CCA navy constantly grew at the point that at the start of the revolutionary age it was almost the double of that of the Regia Flotta, because the government of Rome saw more opportune to give the protection of the growing colonial empire to the skilled captains of the company; however, the disparity of naval forces later was a determinant factor in the Oceanic colonial war, when the CCA refused to oblige the requests of the Italic Republic.

While the CCA continued to expand, the friend-rival CCR encountered problems to expand its commercial weight in Eastern Europe and Russia in particular, because of the growing tensions with the Ottoman Empire over Crimea but above all for the growing rivalry between the two Rurikovic-Medici brothers. Ivan didn’t approve the war started by Dimitri, because he believed the Empire wasn’t ready to sustain a new conflict shortly after that with Poland, and he was jealous over the fact he managed to conquer Azov, succeeding where other Tzars failed. Ivan neither approved the foundation of Ivangorod, because he saw or believed to see a sign of duplicity and treachery in his brother.

The situation started to precipitate when during 1655 Ivan decided to stop the reforms taken by Dimitri in Ukraine, while imposed the cost of the Crimean campaign to the same Ukrainians by raising their taxes, stated that “if the Cossaks wanted the Crimean lands, they must paid tribute for that.” Naturally the local population badly accepted the imposition, and petitioned Dimitri for searching a solution; to the requests of the prince to back down, the Tzar replied with an order of comparison in Moscow, while an army was appointed to prevent a further “emancipation” of Ukraine respect to the rest of the Empire.

Ivan’s moves however irritated further the Ukrainians, while the Cossacks saw the chance to liberate their country from Moscow’s joke; in fact, the peoples of Ukraine still resented to be liberated from the Mongolian and the Polish joke by the “Novogorodians” (as the Russians were often called in spite) which claimed to be the descendants of the Kievan Rus, and also the fact Moscow was privileged to Kiev as capital of the Empire irritated the Ukrainians quite much.

However, between the same Ukrainians there was indecision about the future constitutional asset of the country, in case of successful secession from Russia. While the Cossacks were determined to proclaim a republic, the Ukrainian upper classes wished to revive the Principate of Kiev or even better proclaim the restoration of the Empire of the Kievan Rus. Dimitri, despite highly respected the Cossacks, however wasn’t obviously interested in the Republican option, especially when Ivan declared him a traitor and relinquished all his rights over the Russian throne; at the same time, he refused to claim a lesser title respect to that of Emperor, and even the term “Prince” was too reductive and open to possible bad interpretations. So, after a year of transition, the 29th May (anniversary of the fall of Constantinople) of 1656 Dimitri convinced the Patriarch of Kiev to crown him “Basileios” of Ukraine, launching a double challenge not only to the Russians but also to the Ottomans, which saw in that title a menace over Constantinople. The proclamation was generally accepted by the Ukrainians, even by the Cossacks despite they felt somewhat betrayed. Anyway, the Prince managed to keep united the various factions with the promise of the institution of a legislative assembly (Duma) in Kiev, modeled on the basis of the Italian Senate, while to the Cossacks were granted positions of prestige in the Ukrainian army in development.

The Italian influence over Ukraine was strong since the start of the uprising, for various reasons. First of all, Ukraine was viewed as a possible ally against the Turks, so the government in Rome had all the interest to reinforce the new country; Dimitri was half Italian and through his mother was in contact with the merchants of the CCR, which accepted with some reluctance to help the Ukrainians fearing the Russian government decided as retaliation to expel the company from the Empire. It was however an unreasonable fear, because Ivan needed the shipments of the CCR to supply his soldiers, considering the weak condition the Russian proper armies were after the conflict with Poland, so the Tzar in the end didn’t take countermeasures. As consequence, the CCR served both Ukrainians and Russians, gaining good revenues from the growing conflict.

In fact, Dimitri had still to face also the Turks in Crimea, because the Sublime Porte refused to sign a truce of sort and to recognize the loss of Azov/Ivangorod (renamed shortly Dimitrigorod after the independence), but still hesitant to mobilize their full forces still weakened after the period of the internal turmoil and the conflicts with Italy and Persia. Also, the Ottomans hesitated to send more soldiers in Crimea fearing a surprise attack from the same Italians or from the Austrians, which looked with attention to the events in Eastern Europe hoping for a Turk defeat in order to strike in the Balkans and retrieve Hungary and maybe obtaining something more.

In any case, the Ukrainians soon demonstrated to be capable to resist the Russian intervention, but Dimitri failed to obtain on the ground a decisive victory capable to convince Ivan to let Ukraine go, also for the necessity to cover the Western regions from a possiible Polish or Turk attack, so the rebellion slowly went towards a long war of attrition. Nevertheless, in the next years Dimitri obtained the recognition of the Ukrainian independence from the main Western European nations; only Poland and Sweden still refused to not grant their blessing, the first for fear and the second to not jeopardize the relations with Russia.

The Ottoman Empire so opted for a strategy of containment and waiting, enforcing the blockade in the Black Sea and closing the borders with Ukraine, and to strike after the Russians retrieved most of the rebel region. The blockade on Ukraine wasn’t ineffective, because also the Poles blockaded the accesses to Podolia, fearing an Ukrainian resurgence but also hoping with the fall of Ukraine to retrieve part of the lost lands. Nevertheless, the CCR continued at best of its capacities to supply the new nation, until the “Leuce Incident” of 1662 opened the path for a new conflict…


(1) OTL Virginia.
(2) Approximately OTL Pennsylvania. The British in this TL adopted for part of their British colonies names from native American peoples.
(3) OTL Philadelphia.


A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus, but for many reasons of personal nature I delayed to update since now. I'm however sorry also to say that probably still for personal reasons I can't update the TL as for my others for an undefinite admount of time, maybe even more long of the last. In the meanwhile, enjoy this new chapter.
 
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