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
Vinland is the main island that the Irish have colonized (OTL Newfoundland), not sure what's going on in Greenland, though.
As I mentioned earlier in the thread (I think 4, section 3), Greenland is tranistorily settled. A few summers have seen an Irish man or two establishing an outpost for resupply, but mostly Greenland’s just used for a landmark.
Terminology
Terminology
Ostmen: OTL Norsemen
Ismaili, Ismailism: TTL’s equivilant of Islam, which has more of a Jewish feel thanks to Himyarite influence.
Leontine Plague: Roughly analogous to the Plague of Justinian. Hit shortly before the Ismailis invaded the Rhomanians.
Askraland: OTL Iceland
Insula Benedicta/Inis Tairngire: OTL Newfoundland
Tálbeah/Terra Ursus: OTL North America
Fánaí, Fánaithe: Similar to fur trappers or coureur du bois; adventurers originally coming to the New World for the fur trade. Also a general term for a Gael/Irishman living in the New World.
Measctha: A person of mixed European/Native American descent. Measctha living on the continent are assimilated into the general population, while Measctha on the Insula have their own traditions.
Cumbraek: The dialect of British Celtic spoken by Owain and his fellow Britons. Similar to Welsh.
Bay of Saint Peter: OTL Gulf of Saint Lawrence
Onogurs: A Turkic group that invaded the Balkans during the Leontine Plague. Roughly analogous to the OTL Bulgars.
Gorfodi: A title given to Owain and his descendants, meaning “Enforcer”. The real power in the late 9th and 10th Century New World, ruling in the name of the Bishop.
Peace of Armagh: A 7th Century peace treaty that established that the Bishop-Abbott on the Insula is the highest secular authority in the West.
Company: A term for the clan-like divisions of the Fánaithe and their descendants in the New World. Originally money-making entities, they took on a more symbolic meaning after permanent Gaelic settlement began. Some were as small as fifty while others were fairly good sized. After the Reconquest, the number of Companies has drastically shrunk and consolidation has taken place under the allies of Owain.
(Work in progress; let me know of any other confusing terms)
Ostmen: OTL Norsemen
Ismaili, Ismailism: TTL’s equivilant of Islam, which has more of a Jewish feel thanks to Himyarite influence.
Leontine Plague: Roughly analogous to the Plague of Justinian. Hit shortly before the Ismailis invaded the Rhomanians.
Askraland: OTL Iceland
Insula Benedicta/Inis Tairngire: OTL Newfoundland
Tálbeah/Terra Ursus: OTL North America
Fánaí, Fánaithe: Similar to fur trappers or coureur du bois; adventurers originally coming to the New World for the fur trade. Also a general term for a Gael/Irishman living in the New World.
Measctha: A person of mixed European/Native American descent. Measctha living on the continent are assimilated into the general population, while Measctha on the Insula have their own traditions.
Cumbraek: The dialect of British Celtic spoken by Owain and his fellow Britons. Similar to Welsh.
Bay of Saint Peter: OTL Gulf of Saint Lawrence
Onogurs: A Turkic group that invaded the Balkans during the Leontine Plague. Roughly analogous to the OTL Bulgars.
Gorfodi: A title given to Owain and his descendants, meaning “Enforcer”. The real power in the late 9th and 10th Century New World, ruling in the name of the Bishop.
Peace of Armagh: A 7th Century peace treaty that established that the Bishop-Abbott on the Insula is the highest secular authority in the West.
Company: A term for the clan-like divisions of the Fánaithe and their descendants in the New World. Originally money-making entities, they took on a more symbolic meaning after permanent Gaelic settlement began. Some were as small as fifty while others were fairly good sized. After the Reconquest, the number of Companies has drastically shrunk and consolidation has taken place under the allies of Owain.
(Work in progress; let me know of any other confusing terms)
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How much of the New World/ Terra Ursus has been explored yet? It has been nearly 500 years, after all.
We’re probably a bit closer to 400 years
There is an interesting distinction between explored and visited that will be brought up in the coming chapter, and that will answer your question.
Maps in 900 A.D.
Ask and you will recieve
Pictured above: The general reaches of the secular authority of the Bishopric of Tairngire around 900 A.D.. Population density is generally very low, and spaces between settlements are often just "colored in".
Pictured above: The administrative divisions of the Bishopric of Tairngire. Pictured are the domains of the loyalist Companies, the Britonnic nobility, and the "island" Measctha clans around 900 A.D. Rivers form fairly effective boundaries, meaning there are relatively few artificial borders. The borders between the island Measctha clans are also fairly fluid, and shift from year to year; this is a general approximation of trends.
Probably not. I don’t have the time to invest in finding ideal locations beyond the three named settlements I have already given, and these maps already show the extent of my map skills.
I may have missed it, but since you mentioned Measctha clans, how are the Measctha organized politically? Do they retain some semblance of the hierarchies of their Native American ancestors, or are they more or less feudal (well, at least what the equivalent for the time would have been for Europe)?
Oh yeah! So I mentioned in the last update (it was in the footnotes, so it was a bit hidden) that the Measctha on the Insula have organized themselves into clans. They’re extended family groups that share cooperative economic and security responsabilities. They were adapted out of the weakness shown by the Bishopric leading up to the Reconquest.
So I guess they are kind of a mix? They have a big clan council where the ethnarchs (chiefs) meet to discuss the territories assigned to each clan to utilize in the summer. It’s all very peaceable compared to the Companies.