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THE SIXTH AGE OF THE WORLD - A HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE




Hello, friends, I'd like to present you my first take in a project I've been growing for some time now. The main idea is to design a very different European scenario for the High Middle Ages (c. 1000 - 1300), with focus on Christian realms, that will shape a very different western world. Some events of macro-historical importance that created Europe as we know in IOTL will have ATL parallels, but I'll strive to present a very differt scenario.

The principal Point of Divergence occurs in the reign of Charlemagne. After he becomes the sole King of the Franks upon the death of his brother Carloman, he attempts an invasion of Italy, like OTL. Instead of a decisive victory against the Lombards, the war comes to a stalemate, and he's forced into a peace treaty. Therefore, the Lombards remain entirely independent from the Frankish dominion, ruled by the dynasty of King Desiderius.

Afterwards, the ALT conquest of Saxony is much quicker and less violent due to the fact that differently from OTL, the Franks are never diverted to fight wars in Italy, and employ all the available resources into the conquest of the Saxon peoples. Saxony is integrated in the Frankish realm by 778 A.D., after the war leader Widukind is captured and the whole aristocracy baptizes near the fort of Paderborn.

In retaliation against Danish raids, however, the Franks invade Denmark in 779 A.D. and bring Christianity by force into the northern reaches much earlier than OTL. Therefore, Scandinavia experiences an earlier - and much more violent - process of christening and conquest at the hands of the Franks.

Charlemagne dies suddenly in 787 A.D. due to a sickness he contracted while campaigning in the Iberian Peninsula and the Frankish kingdom is partitioned between his three sons – all of them infants – Charles the Younger, Pepin and Louis, installing a principle of fragmentation that, much like our History, will result in the break-up of Frankia. The duchy of Bavaria also remains relatively autonomous, as the ruling dynasty of the Agilolfings is not deposed by Charlemagne.

Obviously, the archetypal concept of the Holy Roman Empire is never created, as the Papacy gradually becomes constrained by the Lombard monarchy, and the "Byzantine" Empire is still regarded as the sole inheritor of the "Roman Empire".

Due to various accessory PoDs and respective butterflies, the historical developments will be significantly different in Britain, the Iberian Peninsula, as well as central and eastern Europe, while the Muslim world, as well as Africa and Asia in general will not be affected until at least the 11th Century. The main rule is that if something is not mentioned as being a change from OTL, it unfolded similarly in TTL.

Now, before going to the divergence itself, in the next two posts I'll explain the very title of this TL and present a briefing of the geopolitical scenario in the late 8th Century.
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