alternatehistory.com

I originally posted this idea along with the map on the Map Thread. It gained a small amount of intrest whilst people tried to guess what it was all about, and since I explained one person has said anything. Also there has been a small map explosion on the MT, so I think everyone has decided to ignore it now.

So I've decided re-post the map and explination in the form of a discussion topic. Enjoy.



And heres the explination.

The actual POD (though it changes nothing major for a while) is around 420AD. A child is born in a village in modern county Down, NI. He is the bastard son of the local chieftain. The boy has few prospects in life other than the profession of most Dark Age Celts, warfare. So when he comes of age, he leaves his home to seek employment as a mercenary from one of the many warring kingdoms of Ireland.

Skip forward to former Britannia, late 440sAD. According to accounts (from about 100 years after the event) it is around this time that the Briton leader Vitalinus, though often called Vortigren, decided to hire Anglo-Saxon mercenaries, lead by Hengist and Horsa apparently, to help defend his people against the invading Scots, Picts, Irish and Saxons. That doesn't happen in this TL. Instead, the Britons hire another group of equally deadly mercenaries made up of Irish Gaels and led by the previously mentioned bastard son of a noble who has not only survived, but done well enough to bring aroung 300 warriors to him and start raiding Britain.

Anyway this guy has a similar effect to the Saxons, drives of the invaders thanks to his tactical ability and ferocious warriors. Also due his actions in Britain, he hires more and more mercenaries, eventually ending up with a small army. The King of the Britons is delighted that his kingdom has been saved, and grants the mercenary anything he wants. The mercenary wants British land for his warriors to settle on. The king agrees.

Time goes on, however this bastard, turned mercenary, turned duke (it's like a Normandy scenario) finds that his mercenaries aren't great at managing serfs. His kingdom isn't fairing well. There is only one effective solution, hire out the nobles to fight as mercenaries for others. The rest is history.

So that's my map, the situation of this mercenary kingdom in the 15th century. Dark red shows lands ruled by the Crown and nobles. The red borders show nations that depend on these mercenaries for defence, and are basically protectorates, and pink shows allies.
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