The Legacy of Saint Brendan: A History of the Western Hemisphere, 512 to 1400
- Thread starter Rognvald
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- americas dark ages exploration
I think that connection from the old world will start appearing becasue they will remember how profitable they were in the past and try to re-establish them and map and I know some easy maps tool
Just wanted to say I love this timeline since I found it a few days ago and have been reading everyday on the bus to school. I also have a question will the Britons ever actually retreat to the new world once contact is reestablished I was kinda sad when I read that it was just a warband that basically would be the ruling class minority instead of a full on migration that would shift the demographics of the new world. However besides that I love everything
Dramatis Personae
Dramatis Personae, or A List of Historical Actors
Chapter One
Brendan: Irish monk and seafarer. Accidentally discovered the Insula Benedicta in 512 A.D. after being blown off course. Returned in 517 with a group of monks to establish a monastery. This was the first European settlement in the New World. Was driven into a depression after the Plague in 535, feeling personally responsible for the destruction of the Skin People. The first to apply the term "Fanaithe" to the roving trappers that came from Ireland. Passed away in 577.
Arjalinerk: Also known as "Abraham". The leader of the first tribe of Skin People to encounter Brendan's monks. Was vital to the survival of the monks in their first winter. Took Brendan with him to explore the island in 519. Was a close friend of Brendan. Died in the Plague in 535; first indigenous American to be baptized a Christian.
Muirchertach mac Muiredaig: Also known as "Mac Ercae". King of Ailech, received the first monks to return from the Insula in 519. Established the forerunner to the later Fanaithe trade.
Chapter Two
Forggus and Domnall: Sons of Mac Ercae; co-Kings of Ailech. The first Irish petty kings to commission a Fanaithe expedition in 538.
Conchobar and Dualtach: Successors of Forggus and Domnall; co-Kings of Ailech. Allied with the Cruthins to attack Dal Riata (570-574). Challenged Loingsech's Fanaithe expedition, but were ignored. Ailech lost the monopoly on the Talbeahan trade due to this.
Faelan: Leader of the Cruthins. Allied with Conchobar and Dualtach in their war against Dal Riata. After the success of that campaign, proclaimed himself the "King of Ulaid".
Loingsech: King of Connacht. Commissioned a rival expedition to the Ailech Fanaithe in 578. His refusal to recognize Ailech's exclusive "right" to the Talbeahan trade opened the New World up for wider commerce.
Totnan: Abbot of Brendan's Monastery; successor to Brendan. To counteract the rowdy influence of the Fanaithe, Totnan allied with local Measctha to enforce peace around the Monastery. This area of peace would later be known as "Peace Town"- the capital of the future Bishopric.
Domhanghart: The last full-blooded Skin Person of the Insula Benedicta. He was influential in the development of early Meascthan culture. Died in 607.
Congus: Bishop of Armagh. Sailed to the Insula Benedicta to negotiate and end to the Fanaithe War that was disrupting trade. Established the Bishopric of Tairngire, placing ecclesiastical authority in the hands of the Abbot of Brendan's Monastery. Gave the name "Terra Ursus" to the continent, which evolved into Talbeah. Wrote the Peace of Armagh, which became the governmental document of the Bishopric until Owain's arrival.
Chapter Three
Tadc: Bishop of Tairngire during the main period of Fanaithe settlement in Talbeah. Encouraged the new arrivals to settle down, believing the influence of women and children would moderate the Fanaithe's rough nature. Encouraged Meascthan interaction with the Fanaithe as another method of integrating the new arrivals.
Eidigean, Robartach, and Muirchu: Bishops of Tairngire between 800 and 880. Known as the "Quiet Bishops". More focused on ecclesiastical activities than their temporal responsibilities, enabling the Fanaithe to develop their own institutions during much of the 9th Century.
Owain: Briton princeling of Cadog's Realm. Sailed to Talbeah as part of a later Fanaithe company. Returned to Britain where he fought in the losing war against Bernicia. After the death of his father, led a warband west to Talbeah. Allied with Columb, Owain led the "Reconquest", where he subordinated the Fanaithe Companies to the Bishop's authority. After the death of Columb, Owain proclaimed himself Gorfodi, establishing a new system of government in the New World. Died in 900 after a brief illness.
Columb: Bishop of Tairngire. Upset with the lax way that Muirchu conducted the office, Columb allied with Owain to extend the authority of the Bishopric back over the Fanaithe Companies. Died under suspicious circumstances in 890, allowing Owain to establish the office of Gorfodi and take control of affairs in the Bishopric.
Hussa: The "Beast of Bernicia". Anglo-Saxon King who defeated Cadog and destroyed the last major Briton kingdom.
Cadog: The "Great Hope of All Britain". Father of Owain, last Briton king to offer any real resistance to the Anglo-Saxons. Killed by Hussa's forces; his kingdom did not survive him.
Rechtabra: Main leader of the collaborationist Companies during the Reconquest. Aligned himself with Owain in an attempt to gain further power for his Company. His assistance would be crucial in the successful completion of the campaign.
Donngal: The main leader of the resistance against the Reconquest. Led the defense of Costa Dhearg and denied Owain a total victory. Rallied opposition against the Britons around him, though his coalition fell apart after he was killed during a raid in 886.
Chapter Four
Carodoc: Son of Owain, succeeded his father to the office of Gorfodi in 900. After a failed trade expedition to Europe in 909, shifted the focus of trade to the South, establishing contact with the Afonbren. Oversaw the beginning of the Blade Trade, and established the hated man-tax. Killed in a failed Ostish raid on Peace Town in 923.
Morfael: Son of Carodoc, succeeded his father to the office of Gorfodi in 923. Made a trade agreement with the Afonbren Confederation in 938, limiting trade South to officially sanctioned expeditions. Died in 944.
Riderch: Son of Morfael, succeeded his father to the office of Gorfodi in 944. Took greater steps to enforce the trade agreement made by his father, as well as increasing the reach of the man-tax. Appointed Finian to the Bishopric in 975, over the objections of the clergy and the "will" of Froech, precipitating the Filleadhaithe Revolt.
Froech: Bishop of Tairngire until his death in 975. A copy of his will (now commonly accepted as fraudulent) circulated after his death, claiming he wanted Olchobar to succeed him to the Bishopric.
Olchobar: Monk at Brendan's Monastery. Called for better treatment of the Fanaithe and was ignored by his superiors. In 975, the "will" of Froech named him as successor to the Bishopric, though it was ignored. Fled to Talbeah from the Insula, and became involved with the Filleadhaithe, lending their movement legitimacy. Proclaimed as the "true" Bishop of Tairngire by the Filleadhaithe in 977.
Finian: Bishop of Tairngire after 975. Appointed to the office by Riderch over the objections of the clergy and the "will" of Froech. A cleric firmly controlled by Riderch.
Chapter One
Brendan: Irish monk and seafarer. Accidentally discovered the Insula Benedicta in 512 A.D. after being blown off course. Returned in 517 with a group of monks to establish a monastery. This was the first European settlement in the New World. Was driven into a depression after the Plague in 535, feeling personally responsible for the destruction of the Skin People. The first to apply the term "Fanaithe" to the roving trappers that came from Ireland. Passed away in 577.
Arjalinerk: Also known as "Abraham". The leader of the first tribe of Skin People to encounter Brendan's monks. Was vital to the survival of the monks in their first winter. Took Brendan with him to explore the island in 519. Was a close friend of Brendan. Died in the Plague in 535; first indigenous American to be baptized a Christian.
Muirchertach mac Muiredaig: Also known as "Mac Ercae". King of Ailech, received the first monks to return from the Insula in 519. Established the forerunner to the later Fanaithe trade.
Chapter Two
Forggus and Domnall: Sons of Mac Ercae; co-Kings of Ailech. The first Irish petty kings to commission a Fanaithe expedition in 538.
Conchobar and Dualtach: Successors of Forggus and Domnall; co-Kings of Ailech. Allied with the Cruthins to attack Dal Riata (570-574). Challenged Loingsech's Fanaithe expedition, but were ignored. Ailech lost the monopoly on the Talbeahan trade due to this.
Faelan: Leader of the Cruthins. Allied with Conchobar and Dualtach in their war against Dal Riata. After the success of that campaign, proclaimed himself the "King of Ulaid".
Loingsech: King of Connacht. Commissioned a rival expedition to the Ailech Fanaithe in 578. His refusal to recognize Ailech's exclusive "right" to the Talbeahan trade opened the New World up for wider commerce.
Totnan: Abbot of Brendan's Monastery; successor to Brendan. To counteract the rowdy influence of the Fanaithe, Totnan allied with local Measctha to enforce peace around the Monastery. This area of peace would later be known as "Peace Town"- the capital of the future Bishopric.
Domhanghart: The last full-blooded Skin Person of the Insula Benedicta. He was influential in the development of early Meascthan culture. Died in 607.
Congus: Bishop of Armagh. Sailed to the Insula Benedicta to negotiate and end to the Fanaithe War that was disrupting trade. Established the Bishopric of Tairngire, placing ecclesiastical authority in the hands of the Abbot of Brendan's Monastery. Gave the name "Terra Ursus" to the continent, which evolved into Talbeah. Wrote the Peace of Armagh, which became the governmental document of the Bishopric until Owain's arrival.
Chapter Three
Tadc: Bishop of Tairngire during the main period of Fanaithe settlement in Talbeah. Encouraged the new arrivals to settle down, believing the influence of women and children would moderate the Fanaithe's rough nature. Encouraged Meascthan interaction with the Fanaithe as another method of integrating the new arrivals.
Eidigean, Robartach, and Muirchu: Bishops of Tairngire between 800 and 880. Known as the "Quiet Bishops". More focused on ecclesiastical activities than their temporal responsibilities, enabling the Fanaithe to develop their own institutions during much of the 9th Century.
Owain: Briton princeling of Cadog's Realm. Sailed to Talbeah as part of a later Fanaithe company. Returned to Britain where he fought in the losing war against Bernicia. After the death of his father, led a warband west to Talbeah. Allied with Columb, Owain led the "Reconquest", where he subordinated the Fanaithe Companies to the Bishop's authority. After the death of Columb, Owain proclaimed himself Gorfodi, establishing a new system of government in the New World. Died in 900 after a brief illness.
Columb: Bishop of Tairngire. Upset with the lax way that Muirchu conducted the office, Columb allied with Owain to extend the authority of the Bishopric back over the Fanaithe Companies. Died under suspicious circumstances in 890, allowing Owain to establish the office of Gorfodi and take control of affairs in the Bishopric.
Hussa: The "Beast of Bernicia". Anglo-Saxon King who defeated Cadog and destroyed the last major Briton kingdom.
Cadog: The "Great Hope of All Britain". Father of Owain, last Briton king to offer any real resistance to the Anglo-Saxons. Killed by Hussa's forces; his kingdom did not survive him.
Rechtabra: Main leader of the collaborationist Companies during the Reconquest. Aligned himself with Owain in an attempt to gain further power for his Company. His assistance would be crucial in the successful completion of the campaign.
Donngal: The main leader of the resistance against the Reconquest. Led the defense of Costa Dhearg and denied Owain a total victory. Rallied opposition against the Britons around him, though his coalition fell apart after he was killed during a raid in 886.
Chapter Four
Carodoc: Son of Owain, succeeded his father to the office of Gorfodi in 900. After a failed trade expedition to Europe in 909, shifted the focus of trade to the South, establishing contact with the Afonbren. Oversaw the beginning of the Blade Trade, and established the hated man-tax. Killed in a failed Ostish raid on Peace Town in 923.
Morfael: Son of Carodoc, succeeded his father to the office of Gorfodi in 923. Made a trade agreement with the Afonbren Confederation in 938, limiting trade South to officially sanctioned expeditions. Died in 944.
Riderch: Son of Morfael, succeeded his father to the office of Gorfodi in 944. Took greater steps to enforce the trade agreement made by his father, as well as increasing the reach of the man-tax. Appointed Finian to the Bishopric in 975, over the objections of the clergy and the "will" of Froech, precipitating the Filleadhaithe Revolt.
Froech: Bishop of Tairngire until his death in 975. A copy of his will (now commonly accepted as fraudulent) circulated after his death, claiming he wanted Olchobar to succeed him to the Bishopric.
Olchobar: Monk at Brendan's Monastery. Called for better treatment of the Fanaithe and was ignored by his superiors. In 975, the "will" of Froech named him as successor to the Bishopric, though it was ignored. Fled to Talbeah from the Insula, and became involved with the Filleadhaithe, lending their movement legitimacy. Proclaimed as the "true" Bishop of Tairngire by the Filleadhaithe in 977.
Finian: Bishop of Tairngire after 975. Appointed to the office by Riderch over the objections of the clergy and the "will" of Froech. A cleric firmly controlled by Riderch.
The tribes we would know of wouldn’t be in existence in a recognizable form this far back in history. The Confederation is made up of Algonquin/Iriquoisan antecendents.
Ah yes true. I was just insinuating that the confederation will expand in the future
No worries it's often hard to gauge what intentions are behind the words online
.
Chapter Four, Part Three: The Stag and the Dragon
Chapter Four, Part Three: The Stag and the Dragon, 977-985
When the Filleadhaithe revolt first broke out, Gorfodi Riderch generally ignored it. He didn’t think it too much of a threat to his reign, believing the revolt to be the actions of a few disgruntled poor-folk. He was also getting old, approaching his 60s, and was more willing to allow his subordinate nobles or company heads take action against the Filleadhaite. However, over the course of 977, as the revolters clashed with bands sent to fight them, the threat became suddenly much more real.
Riderch’s idea that this was a poor-driven revolt was incorrect. The Filleadhaite had their base of support in a sort of middling-class that was unique to this period in time. Before the Reconquest under Owain, they would have been the close retainers of a company chief, almost like an Anglo-Saxon Huscarl or Thegn of the same period. However, that rank no longer existed in the new system, though their nominal status remained. These were the men most affected by the evolution of the Bishopric in the 10th Century, and they were the ones most willing to fight to reclaim their “birthright”.
This, however, prevented the Filleadhaite from fielding large numbers of men in the field in the early days of the revolt. While many poorer Fanaithe were sympathetic to their goals, and assisted them by hiding and supplying them, the Filleadhaite were loathe to trust them in the field of battle. They feared that these farmers, fishermen, miners, and timbermen would break down and run in the face of an opposing warband.
Riderch finally decided to take the Revolt more seriously in 978, after a year of disruption to his efforts to collect the man-tax. He encouraged his nobility to take more aggressive action in the fight against the Filleadhaite, destroying their bases of support and capturing Olchobar, who he viewed as the head of the revolt. He still refused to send his own retinue to assist in the campaigning, likely out of worries that the Meascthan population on the Insula had some ties to the Filleadhaite and would strike the moment they departed. [1]
This forced the petty nobility of the Bishopric to try to fight against the Filleadhaite themselves, which would prove to be a difficult endeavor. Without a centralized commander assigned from above, the noblemen pursued their own objectives without establishing proper communication with their fellows. The elusive nature of the Filleadhaite also proved to be a major obstacle to reaffirming control over the populations- the members of the movement were adept at hiding amongst the populace, while others existed in small roving brigand-like bands.
The inability to win decisively against them in 978 helped embolden the Filleadhaite, who felt that victory was shortly to be achieved. Like Riderch, the Filleadhaite had misperceptions of the revolt. The more starkly anti-Briton tendency expressed later in the fighting had yet to develop, and the Filleadhaite were certain that by denying the Gorfodi his victory that a “clerical coup” would soon follow- the monks of Brendan’s would unite to remove the Gorfodi status from the Briton, and restore Olchobar to his rightful position. How exactly this would happen when the vast majority of the clergy in the monastery were loyal to Riderch was unknown, but the Filleadhaite were confident they could accomplish this.
When no coup came in 978, the Filleadhaite began to adopt a more offensive approach. They started targetting the Gorfodi and the nobility where it hurt- the trade expeditions down the Tullaha.
Organized Filleadhaite, for lack of a better word, river piracy was the last straw for Riderch. While the expeditions were hard targets for the Filleadhaite, as they sailed in groups, the rebels became more and more creative at how they attacked them- sometimes they came at night, when the expeditions tended to camp on land, and simply burned vessels; sometimes they attacked while in the river; sometimes they managed to convince a crew to defect. These were annoyances that slwoly added up to lost profits. And if Riderch was concerned about anything in this life, it was profits.
The Gorfodi sent his warband to Talbeah in 980, marking the beginning of a new stage of war. Organizing the various bands of the petty nobility under his son’s command, Riderch gave orders to do whatever was necessary to secure his trading expeditions. And to his son, Andras, this was taken as a carte blanche to engage in a punitive campaign.
Andras was very different from his father. Records at the time indicated that something was off about the princeling, that he was eager for violence at a level even 10th Century men viewed as extreme. Modern psychological attempts to read back conditions into history describe Andras generally as some kind of psychopath. Whatever the case was, Andras began to carry out atrocities against the Fanaithe citizens on the mainland. This was ostensibly to deny the Filleadhaite their bases of support; it had the opposite effect.
More and more Fanaithe, not even part of the social class of the Filleadhaite, began to rise up in support of the revolt. The Filleadhaite were nervous about this rise in support- they feared that their fighting capacity was going to be weakened by the new recruits, and their leadership hierarchy, already strained by the vast geographic distances involved in Talbeah, began to break down. But after some hastily organized militias won some early successes against scattered retinues, the Filleadhaite began to encourage these actions more and more.
To Andras, this was seen as a chance to indulge in his bloodlust and as a self-fulfilling prophecy. He believed strongly that the Fanaithe were barbarous beneath the surface, and that a strong hand was needed to control their natures. That was the natural conclusion of the propaganda and myth-making the Britons had been engaged in since their arrival almost ninety years before. On the other side, the brutality of the Britons reinforced to the Fanaithe their own myths, causing both sides to believe that they were firmly in the right.
Campaigning in 981 and 982 was violent and followed a similar pattern. Loosely associated militias, loyal to the Filleadhaite, would attempt to besiege the forts of noblemen or ambush patrols. Andras would lead his warband in campaigns across vast distances, destroying militias when he ran into them. The “true” Filleadhaite would avoid engagements with Andras, and absorb the more skilled militia men into their ranks; the leadership of the Revolt was generally in favor of gradually increasing their ranks to avoid flinging untrained men against Andras’s armies. [2]
983 was viewed as a year that everything would come to a head. The brutality had devastated the economy of the Bishopric (spilling over into the Confederation, which will be discussed later), and internal trade had ground to a halt. The Filleadhaite began to abandon their idea of a clerical coup, and came to the realization that they would have to defeat Andras’s army in the field if they wanted to have a chance at achieving victory. They began to develop plans to draw Andras into a trap, which would force him to meet them on the field of their choosing.
Andras also prepared to deliver a killing blow to the Filleadhaite. The mobile nature of his war had caused him to realize the importance of what modern military minds would describe as “combined arms” operations. The larger, sea-going currachs that had been developed over the centuries of trans-oceanic trade proved their worth, allowing him to move his army from one coastal outpost to the other rapidly. The usual refusal of the rebels to meet him in open combat required quick movement to pin them down before they slipped into the deep woods; this caused him to develop a fairly strong cavalry contingent, manned almost entirely by Measctha from the Insula.
With his desire to deliver a killing blow, Andras took the bait that the Filleadhaite prepared for him. Claiming that Olchobar was becoming more bold, the rumor spread that he would celebrate Easter in public. This drew the attention of Andras and also various supporters of the Revolt. Large numbers of men gathered to hear Olchobar- fodder for the Filleadhaite to use to wear down the Briton attack that was sure to come. The Filleadhaite’s leadership believed that the battle was to come the Tuesday after Easter- Andras wouldn’t dare attack during the celebration of one of the holiest days of Christianity.
The battle came on Good Friday. Andras, over the objection of his commanders, desired the element of shock.
His initial cavalry attack into the outer camps of the unprepared Filleadhaite was devastating, forcing many erstwhile militia men to flee in chaos or be cut down. The Filleadhaite were able to rally, however, as the central core of their force, developed over two years of fighting, was located in the middle of their camp. They moved forward and blunted the cavalry’s attack, the momentum of which had been slowed by forcing through unorganized mobs of terrified men, women, and children (as many of those wanting to hear Olchobar’s words had brought their families with them, unaware of the true purpose of the gathering).
The battle began in earnest then, as Andras brought up his infantry and shield clashed against shield. Chroniclers at the time described it as a “sea of strife”, comparing the men slamming against each other to the surf crashing into rocks. The exact details of the battle are fuzzy, due to the differing accounts, but the outcome seemed very much in the air for much of the day.
However, the weight of numbers was on the side of the Filleadhaite, and they began to drive Andras’s more skilled men back, despite heavy casualties on their own side. Andras, seeing his force begin to waver, rallied his cavalry to him and led a desperate charge against the right flank of the Filleadhaite. They pierced through, rolling up the flank, and causing mass panic to descend in the ranks of the rebels. His men, rallied, attacked with new vigor, and the Filleadhaite line broke. A tremendous slaughter followed; the day ended with the Britons victorious.
But it was a decidedly Phyrric victory. Andras himself had fallen in the charge, and the retinue he had led was decimated.
However, the Filleadhaite were in no place to take advantage of this. Much of their leadership also lay dead on the field, and Olchobar, who had been watching from the read, fled into the Confederation (as many would later do). Unfortunately for him, the Confederation did not take kindly to his movement’s disruption of trade; he was captured, clubbed to death, and his head was sent to the Gorfodi to show the Confederation’s desire for trade.
The Gorfodi was not Riderch however- the old man, shocked by news of his son’s death, passed, leaving the title in the hands of his grandson, Arthfael. Unlike his father, Arthfael was not violent by nature. He would seek to restore some semblance of order to his realm, trying his best to make concessions- though these would be ignored by his nobility, many of whom were embittered by years of war. The Fanaithe would also look at these reforms with suspicion, and low-level violence became endemic to the Bishopric.
Arthfael’s reign would soon face another threat, when, in 985, an Ostish raiding party arrived and successfully sacked Peace Town. Arthfael holed up in his fortress, giving the raiders a free hand. This was the first time the men of the sea had pulled off a successful raid in the West- a harbinger of things to come…
[1] - This was untrue, as was proven later in the war.
[2] – The Filleadhaite leadership was very decentralized. While Olchobar was the rallying point, he was merely a member of a sort of cabal or council that led the movement. This lack of a central leader may have hindered some aspects of the Revolt, though it did allow the Filleadhaite to react to local threats faster.
When the Filleadhaithe revolt first broke out, Gorfodi Riderch generally ignored it. He didn’t think it too much of a threat to his reign, believing the revolt to be the actions of a few disgruntled poor-folk. He was also getting old, approaching his 60s, and was more willing to allow his subordinate nobles or company heads take action against the Filleadhaite. However, over the course of 977, as the revolters clashed with bands sent to fight them, the threat became suddenly much more real.
Riderch’s idea that this was a poor-driven revolt was incorrect. The Filleadhaite had their base of support in a sort of middling-class that was unique to this period in time. Before the Reconquest under Owain, they would have been the close retainers of a company chief, almost like an Anglo-Saxon Huscarl or Thegn of the same period. However, that rank no longer existed in the new system, though their nominal status remained. These were the men most affected by the evolution of the Bishopric in the 10th Century, and they were the ones most willing to fight to reclaim their “birthright”.
This, however, prevented the Filleadhaite from fielding large numbers of men in the field in the early days of the revolt. While many poorer Fanaithe were sympathetic to their goals, and assisted them by hiding and supplying them, the Filleadhaite were loathe to trust them in the field of battle. They feared that these farmers, fishermen, miners, and timbermen would break down and run in the face of an opposing warband.
Riderch finally decided to take the Revolt more seriously in 978, after a year of disruption to his efforts to collect the man-tax. He encouraged his nobility to take more aggressive action in the fight against the Filleadhaite, destroying their bases of support and capturing Olchobar, who he viewed as the head of the revolt. He still refused to send his own retinue to assist in the campaigning, likely out of worries that the Meascthan population on the Insula had some ties to the Filleadhaite and would strike the moment they departed. [1]
This forced the petty nobility of the Bishopric to try to fight against the Filleadhaite themselves, which would prove to be a difficult endeavor. Without a centralized commander assigned from above, the noblemen pursued their own objectives without establishing proper communication with their fellows. The elusive nature of the Filleadhaite also proved to be a major obstacle to reaffirming control over the populations- the members of the movement were adept at hiding amongst the populace, while others existed in small roving brigand-like bands.
The inability to win decisively against them in 978 helped embolden the Filleadhaite, who felt that victory was shortly to be achieved. Like Riderch, the Filleadhaite had misperceptions of the revolt. The more starkly anti-Briton tendency expressed later in the fighting had yet to develop, and the Filleadhaite were certain that by denying the Gorfodi his victory that a “clerical coup” would soon follow- the monks of Brendan’s would unite to remove the Gorfodi status from the Briton, and restore Olchobar to his rightful position. How exactly this would happen when the vast majority of the clergy in the monastery were loyal to Riderch was unknown, but the Filleadhaite were confident they could accomplish this.
When no coup came in 978, the Filleadhaite began to adopt a more offensive approach. They started targetting the Gorfodi and the nobility where it hurt- the trade expeditions down the Tullaha.
Organized Filleadhaite, for lack of a better word, river piracy was the last straw for Riderch. While the expeditions were hard targets for the Filleadhaite, as they sailed in groups, the rebels became more and more creative at how they attacked them- sometimes they came at night, when the expeditions tended to camp on land, and simply burned vessels; sometimes they attacked while in the river; sometimes they managed to convince a crew to defect. These were annoyances that slwoly added up to lost profits. And if Riderch was concerned about anything in this life, it was profits.
The Gorfodi sent his warband to Talbeah in 980, marking the beginning of a new stage of war. Organizing the various bands of the petty nobility under his son’s command, Riderch gave orders to do whatever was necessary to secure his trading expeditions. And to his son, Andras, this was taken as a carte blanche to engage in a punitive campaign.
Andras was very different from his father. Records at the time indicated that something was off about the princeling, that he was eager for violence at a level even 10th Century men viewed as extreme. Modern psychological attempts to read back conditions into history describe Andras generally as some kind of psychopath. Whatever the case was, Andras began to carry out atrocities against the Fanaithe citizens on the mainland. This was ostensibly to deny the Filleadhaite their bases of support; it had the opposite effect.
More and more Fanaithe, not even part of the social class of the Filleadhaite, began to rise up in support of the revolt. The Filleadhaite were nervous about this rise in support- they feared that their fighting capacity was going to be weakened by the new recruits, and their leadership hierarchy, already strained by the vast geographic distances involved in Talbeah, began to break down. But after some hastily organized militias won some early successes against scattered retinues, the Filleadhaite began to encourage these actions more and more.
To Andras, this was seen as a chance to indulge in his bloodlust and as a self-fulfilling prophecy. He believed strongly that the Fanaithe were barbarous beneath the surface, and that a strong hand was needed to control their natures. That was the natural conclusion of the propaganda and myth-making the Britons had been engaged in since their arrival almost ninety years before. On the other side, the brutality of the Britons reinforced to the Fanaithe their own myths, causing both sides to believe that they were firmly in the right.
Campaigning in 981 and 982 was violent and followed a similar pattern. Loosely associated militias, loyal to the Filleadhaite, would attempt to besiege the forts of noblemen or ambush patrols. Andras would lead his warband in campaigns across vast distances, destroying militias when he ran into them. The “true” Filleadhaite would avoid engagements with Andras, and absorb the more skilled militia men into their ranks; the leadership of the Revolt was generally in favor of gradually increasing their ranks to avoid flinging untrained men against Andras’s armies. [2]
983 was viewed as a year that everything would come to a head. The brutality had devastated the economy of the Bishopric (spilling over into the Confederation, which will be discussed later), and internal trade had ground to a halt. The Filleadhaite began to abandon their idea of a clerical coup, and came to the realization that they would have to defeat Andras’s army in the field if they wanted to have a chance at achieving victory. They began to develop plans to draw Andras into a trap, which would force him to meet them on the field of their choosing.
Andras also prepared to deliver a killing blow to the Filleadhaite. The mobile nature of his war had caused him to realize the importance of what modern military minds would describe as “combined arms” operations. The larger, sea-going currachs that had been developed over the centuries of trans-oceanic trade proved their worth, allowing him to move his army from one coastal outpost to the other rapidly. The usual refusal of the rebels to meet him in open combat required quick movement to pin them down before they slipped into the deep woods; this caused him to develop a fairly strong cavalry contingent, manned almost entirely by Measctha from the Insula.
With his desire to deliver a killing blow, Andras took the bait that the Filleadhaite prepared for him. Claiming that Olchobar was becoming more bold, the rumor spread that he would celebrate Easter in public. This drew the attention of Andras and also various supporters of the Revolt. Large numbers of men gathered to hear Olchobar- fodder for the Filleadhaite to use to wear down the Briton attack that was sure to come. The Filleadhaite’s leadership believed that the battle was to come the Tuesday after Easter- Andras wouldn’t dare attack during the celebration of one of the holiest days of Christianity.
The battle came on Good Friday. Andras, over the objection of his commanders, desired the element of shock.
His initial cavalry attack into the outer camps of the unprepared Filleadhaite was devastating, forcing many erstwhile militia men to flee in chaos or be cut down. The Filleadhaite were able to rally, however, as the central core of their force, developed over two years of fighting, was located in the middle of their camp. They moved forward and blunted the cavalry’s attack, the momentum of which had been slowed by forcing through unorganized mobs of terrified men, women, and children (as many of those wanting to hear Olchobar’s words had brought their families with them, unaware of the true purpose of the gathering).
The battle began in earnest then, as Andras brought up his infantry and shield clashed against shield. Chroniclers at the time described it as a “sea of strife”, comparing the men slamming against each other to the surf crashing into rocks. The exact details of the battle are fuzzy, due to the differing accounts, but the outcome seemed very much in the air for much of the day.
However, the weight of numbers was on the side of the Filleadhaite, and they began to drive Andras’s more skilled men back, despite heavy casualties on their own side. Andras, seeing his force begin to waver, rallied his cavalry to him and led a desperate charge against the right flank of the Filleadhaite. They pierced through, rolling up the flank, and causing mass panic to descend in the ranks of the rebels. His men, rallied, attacked with new vigor, and the Filleadhaite line broke. A tremendous slaughter followed; the day ended with the Britons victorious.
But it was a decidedly Phyrric victory. Andras himself had fallen in the charge, and the retinue he had led was decimated.
However, the Filleadhaite were in no place to take advantage of this. Much of their leadership also lay dead on the field, and Olchobar, who had been watching from the read, fled into the Confederation (as many would later do). Unfortunately for him, the Confederation did not take kindly to his movement’s disruption of trade; he was captured, clubbed to death, and his head was sent to the Gorfodi to show the Confederation’s desire for trade.
The Gorfodi was not Riderch however- the old man, shocked by news of his son’s death, passed, leaving the title in the hands of his grandson, Arthfael. Unlike his father, Arthfael was not violent by nature. He would seek to restore some semblance of order to his realm, trying his best to make concessions- though these would be ignored by his nobility, many of whom were embittered by years of war. The Fanaithe would also look at these reforms with suspicion, and low-level violence became endemic to the Bishopric.
Arthfael’s reign would soon face another threat, when, in 985, an Ostish raiding party arrived and successfully sacked Peace Town. Arthfael holed up in his fortress, giving the raiders a free hand. This was the first time the men of the sea had pulled off a successful raid in the West- a harbinger of things to come…
[1] - This was untrue, as was proven later in the war.
[2] – The Filleadhaite leadership was very decentralized. While Olchobar was the rallying point, he was merely a member of a sort of cabal or council that led the movement. This lack of a central leader may have hindered some aspects of the Revolt, though it did allow the Filleadhaite to react to local threats faster.
Sounds like some rough times are ahead, to say the least. Hopefully an outside threat helps pull people together and also encourages them to build a navy that can allow them to reconnect with Europe.
So there's enough horses in the new world to form a cavalry contingent this is very interesting since now there's a stable breeding population we could see some horses eventually traded to the confederation and from there they could end up in the great plains and then we'll see the native American Genghis Khan of course this population of horses is still very small I assume so it's not gonna happen yet but it's coming
Gonna take a wild guess. I think the Ostmen will capture the Insula and rule over it for some short period.
Wouldn't the horses be pretty inbred, though? It doesn't seem like more than a few hundred could've come over during the settlement period.