1508-1510: The Accounting
And All the Worlds Aflame: Europe 1500-1535, J Ruff, 2001
Perhaps inevitably, the return of the Crusaders to Europe in Autumn 1507 was met with outrage and confusion. Bartholomeo Higuan, author of a less than flattering account of the False Crusade, was taken straight to Rome by the Genoese fleet and presented his version of events direct to Julius II. The aging Pope had been seldom seen since the first news of the defeat at Oxbrow returned to Europe, but he was roused sufficiently to hear Higuan’s report - and then fly into a rage.Deciding that an accounting must be given for the events in Norland, Julius demanded a Council to be held in 1508. Emperor Maximillian, in a move which demonstrated his own eagerness to find answers, volunteered Aachen as the location.
The Council of Aachen was convened in March 1508 with a rather illustrious guest list; Julius II, Maximilian, Louis XII, Philip of Castile, Edward V, Prince Richard, Cortez, Higuan and a smattering of German and Italian Princes all attended to get to the bottom of the Crusade. Privately, Maximilian was said to be furious with the English; he had always viewed Edward V as a junior partner in their alliance, whose independence was a merely convenient cover story for the Emperor’s true dominance. To Maximillian, Oxbrow had shown that Edward was no-one’s junior - he had played against the amassed rulers of Europe and won, all for a bunch of heretics. Of course Edward’s actions were far more politically motivated, like the Crusade itself, but Aachen focused on the religious angle as a proxy for the wider issues.
The Council stopped short of declaring the York brothers traitors and heretics to European Christendom, but the evidence was damning. Higuan’s testimony was the main weapon which the Holy League (Spain, the Empire, Genoa and France leading the charge) used against the English. Higuan made clear that the English had sabotaged the Crusade from the start, claiming that Prince Richard had deliberately allowed Cardinal Cisneros and Pedro Navarro to be killed at Oxbrow through his inaction, and worse, that he had conspired with the heretics to bring this out. Modern research has revealed more than a grain of truth to these charges but thankfully without Scrivener’s Chronicle the Papacy was unable to prove conclusively that Richard had conspired with heretics - charges which would have surely seen him excommunicated.
The English were saved by three factors. The first was the presence of Sir John Fineux, Chief Justice, and a number of justices from the Star Chamber. Between them, Fineux was able to take apart the legal arguments for Prince Richard’s wrongdoing. He showed that Edward had engaged in good faith, and assisted the Crusade as much as he was able. In this regard Fineux was aided by some of the more brilliant religious minds in England; Bishop of Ely John Morton and his protege Thomas Wolsey fought hard to portray the York brothers as true defenders of the faith. This was especially remarkable given Richard’s thinly-veiled contempt for the papacy and his known associations with Savonarola and other radical elements.
The English also got off the hook through Edward’s own pledges at Aachen. Although the heretics had disappeared after Oxbrow (if New Canaan had been discovered, it wasn’t mentioned), Edward nonetheless committed to fighting it. Edward Darry was appointed Bishop of Jordanstown, although in reality his diocese extended south to Princess Elizabeth’s Land, and within two years he would be supplemented by the Court of Righteousness led by Wolsey himself. This court was dispatched to Jordanstown in 1510 in lieu of English allowance for the Inquisition to travel to Norland, and sought out heretics, although records suggest many of the trials were bogus and the punishments punitive. Nonetheless 1508 also saw the surge in clergy to Norland as well to ensure the orthodoxy of the population. It perhaps also helped that Edward paid large indulgences to the Church, and even began proceedings to have Cisneros canonized as a saint, although these efforts were quietly dropped at a later date.
The final reason why Aachen turned out to be so impotent towards the English was the disarray in Europe at the time. Louis XII fell ill within days of the opening of the Council and was forced to leave matters to the Duc de Nemours, a capable man but one without the authority of his master. Similarly Phillip of Castile was absent for large parts of the Council; speculation ranging from an illness to his distraction over the regency of Castile. With the death of Cardinal Cisneros, a power struggle had broken out in Spain as Diego de Deza had become Archbishop of Toledo, and Ferdinand of Aragon had attempted to supplant the unpopular Phillip with de Deza, especially as Joan the Mad suffered another of her ‘episodes’. Thus with Spain and France both neutered it seems Macimillian stayed his hand. Whether the Emperor had decided to throw the King of England under the Papal bus is unclear, but in the end Maximillian was publicly convinced of Edward’s contrite heart and agreed to the new terms for Norland which England had suggested.
The end of the conference had further been exacerbated by the Pope and Venice. It seems Julius II had continued in his melancholy even at Aachen itself. Naturally the majority of records paint the pontiff as the very picture of holiness and steadfastness but some German accounts allude to fits of anger and absence which modern scholars have suggested represent bouts of depression. Regardless it seems that Julius was not at his best; having called the Council of Aachen he did not adequately steer it, leaving most of the details to Cardinal Medici. As for Venice, word got out in early April 1508 that they had formed an alliance with the Ottomans to divide the eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans between them. Such an outrageous move was undoubtedly planned given the distraction of the Holy League with the Aachen Council, but Doge Leonardo Loredan clearly had not anticipated the level of vitriol he would receive for allying with a Muslim power. Consequently, the Italian delegation, including the Genoan one, left Aachen almost immediately which left a rump Castilian and the Imperial delegation to conclude matters.
In many ways the Council of Aachen was a lucky escape for the House of York. They had been summoned to give an accounting for the disaster at Oxbrow and despite Higuan’s testimony had been let off with substantial indulgences and a promise to allow an inquisition to the New World (a promise which was later rescinded). Despite their own staunch defence, and suitability penitent promises, the Yorkists had clearly benefited from the disarray across Europe with only Emperor Maximillian really staying the course long enough to hold the English King to account.
It is even possible to argue that 1508 saw a relative consolidation in English foreign policy. The long promised marriage between Prince Richard of Bedford, by now aged 16, and Johana de Vilhena of Portugal was concluded in Rennes Cathedral, where Richard would be crowned Duke of Brittany within six months. The marriage also allowed England greater leverage with Portugal and Lincoln was able to secure the Treaty of Oporto which agreed to trade cooperation and a recognition of each realm's sphere of influence. By 1508 Portugal had become strongly involved in the east, particularly the Indian subcontinent, and had no desire to become mixed up in the Columbias whilst they certainly appreciated some support against the ever-present Castillian threat. This was all the more valuable for the English with Maximillian I increasingly cold towards them and their entreaties.
Another marriage, this one by proxy, served to secure Scotland for a few more years. The three year old John of Ware (Edward V’s grandson to his daughter Elizabeth and her husband Thomas Howard) was married to Margaret of Scotland, the daughter of James IV. That they were 3rd cousins was of little consequence - they shared a common great-grandfather in Edward IV - but it nonetheless kept the lid on the Scottish border for around another decade.
Finally, with Spain and France largely distracted by internal issues, there was a brief relief in the pressure which had begun to build against England. La Travaille in the north of France had abated to merely a trickle by 1510 and relations with Spain remained largely stable, even after the death of Phillip in 1509. Cardinal Diego de Deza would take over a regency council for the 9 year old Charles; de Deza had little love for the English, but was unable to gain a consensus for clear action against them leading to a rather confused strategy of raids in the New World with no clear goal in evidence.
Empires of the Suns, W O’Reilly, 1992
The encounters between the Empires of England, Spain and Tenochitlan can be easily characterised by suspicion, subterfuge and slaughter. By 1508 the Aztecs had little contact with Europeans on their doorstep; minor encounters with Columbus and other explorers aside, the sheer size of the land the English called St Nicholas prohibited invasion in small numbers, and with both England and Spain distracted by their own colonies in the Columbian Sea, the native Columbians could remain aloof for a few more years.
However 1508 does mark the beginning of Spanish and English antagonism in the area. Hernan Cortez in particular was furious at the English for their actions on the Crusade, and with the European solution caught up in Aachen, he sailed for Saintiago (Trinidad) in the Columbias in summer 1508 where he began an almost decade-long campaign against the English. At the time Cortez did his best to work out of the spotlight to avoid all-out war. The Spanish had a sizable presence in the New World by 1510, but any conflict with England would be an uphill struggle given their larger and more dispersed population in the Columbias and beyond into Norland.
Instead for the first few years Cortez resorted to pirate-stye raids on isolated English ships and settlements. We know from Cortez’s own records that in 1509 alone he was responsible for burnt crops on St Dominic and the destruction of two English ships near the St Luke Islands. However Cortez had to be careful; the English White Fleet was by now fully up to strength and what they could not match Cortez for in speed, they could certainly overpower his smaller ships. Before long the English began to send ships out in larger groups, and acquired smaller Caravels to escort the larger Galleons which could chase down enemy ships.
It is unknown how far the English realised these attacks were orchestrated by the Spanish. They were certainly aware of them as John Morley was given command of the navy in the Columbias in 1510 to carry out anti-piracy operations and he was given a seat on the Council of the Columbias. Cortez was never captured, or even identified, although he himself records a few close shaves with English patrols. As for English retaliation, we have some records of ships being defended from attack but it seems Morley still had no concrete evidence of Spanish involvement by 1510, although the Spanish blamed a large fire on Santiago on the English in that year.
In time, these mere ‘privateer wars’ would expand into an all out war in the New World between England and Spain dragging in many notables. At this stage however, one is worth mentioning. In his writings Lord Morley records that in 1510 a young man called Henry Tudor arrived in Cornel styling himself Lord Hampton. Tudor was the second son of the Earl of Richmond who had died the previous year, his son Arthur succeeding to the Earldom. Thus with little prospect of inheriting in Europe, Henry Tudor had come to the New World seeking his fortune. Interestingly, evidence from the Council of Columbia’s records shows that Henry very quickly became engaged in the expected activity of men his age; drinking and womanising but that he was also valuable to the Council. Lord Hampton was a vigorous young man and despite his headstrong nature, had a strong eye for detail and a penchant for the flamboyant. Given command of a ship under Lord Morley, Henry became known for running his crew ragged with training and drills which gave them the best gunnery of any ship in the Columbias. Lord Hampton had made a strong first impression on the Columbias, in time he would reshape the very geography of the area in his own image.
In geographical terms, the Columbias began to see change by 1510 all of their own. The voyages of Robert Chatham, and others from the Grand Columbia Company after him, had shown the land north of Sunset Cape (OTL Florida Keys) to be incredibly fertile and valuable with a good climate for citrus and other crops. So in 1509 the GCC received a patent from Edward V to found the town of New London (Jacksonville FL) in a county they named New Kent. New London sat on the wide Chatham River which made it easy and safe for a large number of ships to dock at once. Within a decade the region would be churning out much needed fruit, Maize, Cotton and some Sugar cane for Columbian and European markets. Given the quality and accessibility of the land, and the relative lack of local indians, New Kent became quickly populated by settlers from the south and east of England. In this regard the Grand Columbian Company was fortunate that the booming English economy had led to a surplus of population in the most affluent south east, and many 2nd, 3rd, even 4th sons braved the journey to the Columbias in search of land and wealth, many of them finding it around New London.
The English Renaissance, J Canning, 2005
By 1510 it was possible to detect a Humanist streak creeping into the culture of the English Renaissance. The tomb of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, stands out in Westminster Abbey, where it still resides, as a clear departure from the Medieval tombs in that it is almost devoid of overt religious imagery. Whereas Henry may have once been pictured in prayer he is instead depicted with a sword resting on his legs and a rose in each hand. Micro analysis on the tomb shows that these roses were once covered in red and white filigree respectively. Similarly, the surviving portraits of Richmond have a more Humanist bent, with him often being depicted with reading material, and one which includes a series of Cavalry accessories, depicting his role as Master of Horse.
The publication of Erasmus of Rotterdam’s ‘In Praise of Folly’ is likewise considered to be another step in the Humanist direction. The Book, widely believed to have been published first in London although this was not trumpeted by the book itself, is a masterful humanist work of satire which praises ‘folly’ and all the works of superstition in Western Europe including the Church. A whole section of the book which ‘praised’ ‘rushing in over your head’ is considered by many to be a thinly-veiled reference to the Battle of Oxbrow. Given that Erasmus was a known long-term friend of the Prince of Harts, this would seem likely. Despite Erasmus’ own personal reservations, and those of some of his associates, the book was very well received across Europe with Cardinal Medici - soon to be Pope Leo X - said to be a particular fan, although whether he truly understood the jokes at his expense is unclear.
The significance of ‘In Praise of Folly’ has perhaps been lost over the years, eclipsed by the works of John Scrivener, Martin Luther, William Tyndale and Thomas Cranmer to name but a few, but in 1510 its significance was integral to contemporary thought. The False Crusade, and the Council of Aachen, had shown the folly of kow-towing to religious leaders who were often disingenuous, inconsistent, and self-contradictory. To those in the know, ‘Folly’ highlighted these issues for them to see, thus disarming them. It may have become eclipsed by the later Reformation, but the early work of Erasmus lay the foundations for their advancements, and exposed a good number of people, particularly in the English courts, to these new Humanist ideas.
1511-1515: The Gathering Storm
Edward V, G Bradshaw 2001
The Jubilee Parliament of 1512 represented 25 years of Edward V’s rule. It was celebrated with a large feast and a tournament, with the Piacenza Company figuring heavily. The Parliament itself was very much a retrospective of the last 25 years; Edward issued special reprints of the White Book, Sommnium Vigilantis, The Great Trade and In Praise of Folly and used the Parliament itself to celebrate and reward those loyal supporters. Thomas Bradbury became Earl of Albion, and Robert Chatham Duke of Avon.Other men from the New World who were rewarded included the new Lord St Leger of Jordanstown, Lord Berners becoming Duke of Cornel, Lord Dominic (Thomas Hawkyns), Lord St John (William Warren), Lord Green (Henry Aske) and Lord Morley who was made Duke of St Mark. In England Thomas Boleyn became Duke of Wiltshire, Charles Brandon was made Lord Brandon and John Seymour the Earl of Surrey. These rewards and ennoblements represent the Parliament also looking forward to the future as many of them, especially the lower orders not mentioned above, were made to up and coming men who Edward V wanted to fold into his ever-expanding polity.
The Jubilee was cause enough for a celebration, but by 1515 England was fast becoming the economic powerhouse of Europe, especially through its wider territories. The Gold from Nova Albion may have begun to tail off, but the various other goods, including Cotton and Sugar by 1515, served to keep the trade flowing. The taxation system also served to favour English (and occasionally Burgundian) vessels and so the Naval yards established at Portsmouth, Bristol and Tilbury could not build the ships fast enough. All of this wealth; channeled and managed by the Aldermen Bank and other institutions, served to drive economic growth and prosperity. Even the poor harvests of 1513-1515 did not cause a famine in England as elsewhere in Europe - the regular voyages to the New World were able to import Maize to sustain the population, and the first Potato crops were more resilient to poor weather.
All of this economic growth had a profound impact upon English society. London had become the trading centre of northern Europe, the docks having to be extended twice since 1490, and perhaps only second to the northern Italian cities in terms of economic output. London’s prosperity allowed the emergence of new institutions; the Ludgate Bank being established in 1513, and new Guilds such as the Gunsmiths and the Tobacconists being increasingly specialised and reliant on international trade. London was not the only city to benefit; given its exclusive freeport status Calais saw around 60% of London’s volume - in itself a huge sum. This allowed the Captain of Calais, from 1512 William Compton, Earl Rivers, to order a large rebuild of the city centre including a new Cathedral and merchant’s quarter. This placed Calais amongst the great cities of the low countries in splendour and magnificence, which for all its flair was at its heart an English city.
Even provincial towns benefitted; Bristol’s population almost doubled between 1470 and 1515 as people flocked to the city drawn by the Norland Trading Company. Bristol was not London, but the Severn and Avon allowed a greater inland trade than the capital enjoyed, and this was especially lucrative given the Tobacco Monopoly the NTC possessed. The Bristol Guildhall was re-built around this time, largely with money from the Norland Trading Company. Even places like Norwich, Leicester and Lincoln benefitted from a greater trade and population as their agricultural prices rose. The north was a little slower, being further from the entrepots for New World goods, and the population actually stagnated between 1470 and 1515 as enclosure forced many peasants from the land. However by 1515 the Lords of the North, led by the Earls of Derby, Warwick and Northumberland were able to invest in greater port facilities at Hull and Liverpool. Liverpool was the bigger challenge as a good amount of the river bed had to be cleared, but with landless labour easy to come by the work was completed by 1520 allowing the town to take a step towards its future wealth.
More broadly, those peasants who retained their land had become less itinerant and more secure on their farms, thus allowing them to improve the output of their crops. Fresh from their work on the Tobacco plantations in Princess Elisabeth’s Land, Roger Sibsey and his team of Engineers returned home to Lincolnshire and were able to expand arable land there by an estimated 10% by 1525. Given ever-rising food prices, this was a real boon. Although it is notoriously difficult to measure, it is believed that standard of living must have improved by 1515 as greater quantities of food, cheaper goods, and better work prospects allowed peoples’ money to go further.
Educationally, the impact was that many towns began to have Grammar Schools for the sons of even well to do peasantry. Many of these were limited by today's standards, but for a relatively affordable fee, many sons of illiterate farmers were taught basic letters. The great Universities of Oxford and Cambridge saw huge growth in the early 16th century with Cambridge gaining four of its biggest colleges; Trinity, St John’s, Cornel and St Dominic’s. In Oxford Richmond College was founded by the sons of Henry Tudor including a scholarship for Welsh students. All of these efforts served to make England the most literate country (by percentage of literate adults) in Europe by 1550.
King Jimmy’s Folly in Scottish History 1978 by H MacWilliam.
King James IV had signed at least two treaties of peace with England by 1513, including two marriage alliances. However these treaties were not satisfactory; Scotland did not markedly benefit from the New World trade as the 1504 peace had promised, leaving it an impoverished and bitter nation. Instead James IV had to spend almost 10 years watching his neighbour to the south grow in wealth and strength whilst he survived on meagre pickings. The 1513 famine hit Scotland quite hard; the torrential rains destroyed almost all of Scotland’s harvest, and whilst England survived on Maize and Potatoes, Scotland was left without such lifelines. Even a request to Edward for aid went unanswered.
Yet Scotland’s poverty precluded James from making a meaningful retaliation. England was far stronger in military and monetary terms and had well-trained and experienced soldiers. Then late in 1513 a series of events transpired to even the playing field. Firstly Francis I, King of France for 6 months, sent a force of some 5,000 French to Edinburgh, including the latest canon, hoping to distract the English as he led a raid into Artois and Boulogne. Secondly, the simmering tensions with Spain in the Columbias threatened to boil over as Emperor Maximillian angrily left the League of London in January 1514 having been asked by Edward to reign in his teenage grandson Charles. Such was the fear in London that the Emperor’s anger created that Edward himself led a personal embassy to Ostend to try and repair the relationship. It was now or never for the Scottish army.
Having been prepared since early winter for an invasion, the Scots were able to muster an army of 18,000 men, including the French contingent, by March of 1514. James IV had one target: Newcastle. James did not have the numbers for a full-scale invasion of England, but the consensus is that he intended to take Newcastle and hold it, being resupplied from the sea by the French, until he could force Edward V to more favourable terms.
Therefore it seems James dispatched agents to Newcastle and then on the night of 16th of March his army crossed the Tweed hairing at full tilt to Newcastle. Remarkably, the army arrived in the early hours of the 19th to find the city gates wedged open by their agents and ripe for the taking. That James IV managed to get his army 60 miles in under three days gives a clear indication of James’ leadership, and his desperation. Having seized the city, they took Bishop of Durham Richard Foxe, who had been auditing the city’s accounts, hostage and turned out almost the entire population of the city to make the next part of the plan more likely to succeed. The only flaw was that the Castle had refused to surrender, although its garrison of 200 was too weak to achieve anything and was cut off by the Tyne.
By the 20th of March James IV had issued terms to the King of England; Newcastle would be returned, and the Scottish army would retreat with their weapons, if Edward agreed to open Scottish trade with the New World, a Scottish trade delegation in York and Bristol and a seven year truce, supported by a £10,000 English bond. It was a preposterous offer, and one Edward simply ignored. The King was in Ostend when he heard the news, instead issuing orders to Hastings, Warwick and Northumberland to solve the situation whilst he remained in talks with Maximillian. Within a week James IV got his answer; the Earl of Northumberland with some 4,000 men blocked the bridge over the Tyne from the southern end, preparing to blow it if the Scots sallied. By early April the English numbers had swelled to 9,000 as Warwick and Humber joined the party. Still James awaited an answer from Edward, Northumberland keeping him on the hook by claiming that Edward was preparing to acquiesce and would send word any day.
It is hard to know when James IV realised that he had been duped, but perhaps it was the last day of April when Lord Hastings arrived supported by Derby, Richmond and Lords Arundel and Bland with an army which brought the English total to around 24,000. By now the siege had lasted for 6 weeks, but the speed of the English must surely be put down to the Seneschals who had raised and equipped an army in less than four weeks. This fact, more than any other, points to the success of Edward V’s local policies.
The Scottish-French force was able to survive in relative comfort for the first two months of the siege of Newcastle; the grain stores were still relatively well stocked and the lack of a population allowed the food to feed the army for a good while. A few French smugglers were also able to slip into the city in mid May with supplies and some concerning news. The French sailors reported that Edward had received the demands weeks ago but had done nothing other than to order the English Lords to besiege the city. This shook James from his reverie, his plan had failed. The English did not even need to fire their cannons on Newcastle, sooner or later the food would run out and James would be forced to surrender.
To his credit, James elected not to flee on the French ships, but vowed to lead his army to safety. Having failed to agree a safe withdrawal with the English, on the 27th of May 1514 the Scots sallied north out of Newcastle headed for the Scottish border. They had the advantage that Hastings had to split his forces; Humber and Bland were south of the river holding the bridge with some 6,000 men, leaving 18,000 to block the road north. The English were also not expecting a battle, estimates suggested that the food had at least another month before it ran out, when the Scots were sure to run. In fact James had elected to take his chances early whilst his army was still relatively well fed and rested. He also made sure that any treasure which had been found over the course of the two months was collected and spread amongst the soldiers’ packs to make it easier to carry.
Unfortunately once out of the gates, the plan immediately began to go awry. James IV had placed Baron Royan and his heavily armed and well-trained French in the vanguard to smash through the English line and then hold the gap open whilst his infantry, ferocious but less-armoured, streamed through. Royan did this, killing Lord Arundel in the process, but Hastings was able to react too quickly for the Scots bringing in a detachment of Swiss Guards to plug the gap.Thus bottled up in the middle of the English lines, the Scots’ greed and fear got the better of them. They had each been given an item of treasure to prevent the need for a baggage train - they had much more to gain by escaping quietly than confronting the English army in the field. Consequently, an estimated 50% of the army scattered into the English camp in small bands, trying to find a way through to Scotland.
The result was a massacre. The Earls Argyle, Bothwell and Montrose were able to hack clear of the English line, at the cost of Bothwell’s life, but the majority of the army, scattered and spread out, were easy pickings for the better trained and armoured English. Richmond (Arthur Tudor), taking after his father, led a flying column behind the English camp to catch stragglers, only allowing Argyle and Montrose to escape because their force was too big. The two Earls made it back to Scotland with around 6,000 men to a double blow of devastating news. It seems that in the confusion of the breakout that James IV had become separated from the main army and even his bodyguard, being mistaken for a common soldier, he had been hacked to death by a rabble of Yorkshirmen before they discovered his identity. The King of Scotland was dead, and worse, his heir James V had died of sweating sickness in the middle of April. Therefore the Scots were left with a female monarch, Margaret, with an English mother and betrothed to an English husband. Scotland’s woes had just begun.
The 1514 Treaty of Berwick was a status quo ante bellum; Scotland were expected to honour their agreements and in exchange Edward would honour his; the same worthless tax breaks on New World trade as before. This meant that Scotland was destined for an English king within a decade as John of Ware came of age. A regency council was established by the Earl of Argyle, but Queen Catherine’s guard now included Lord Egremont and at least two members of the Tiercel. Although Berwick had made no arrangements for English control in Scotland, it did not need to, for there was little the Scottish Lords could now do aside from prepare to bend the knee to an English King.
Empires of the Suns, W O’Reilly, 1992
As the 1510s progressed, Cortez’s harassment of English colonies in the Columbias became more and more audacious. In 1511 another 4 ships were lost and a small settlement on St Mark Island (Grand Cayman) was slaughtered with all the inhabitants killed. The following year Cortez launched a larger raid on St Dominic, burning an estimated 8% of the island's agricultural crop. February 1513 saw the boldest raid to date as Cortez led three Caravels into Port Gloucester under cover of night,burned all but two of the ships at anchor, and seized a third laden with Cotton and Sugar. Sugar was becoming an especially popular commodity in Europe by this date and the capture was extremely lucrative. All of this Cortez did with little support from Spain where the power struggle between Cardinal de Deza and the Spanish Nobility continued.
The English were not blind to the rising violence, but it was not the only problem on the islands. Lord Berners died in 1511, to be replaced by Lord Morley as Seneschal of Nova Albion. Berners had been the architect of much of the Columbian colonies, leading it from the start, and his death was a great blow to English plans. With Morley deservedly retiring to a landed position Lord Hampton, Henry Tudor was elevated to the role of Admiral of the Columbian fleet with the job of hunting down the ‘pirates’. Hampton also had a secondary role; the Gold mines on Nova Albion were running low, and it is estimated that the mines ran dry around 1528. Therefore an alternative source of Gold had to be discovered and quickly, if peoples’ fortunes were to be saved. Surveys across the remaining English territory had yielded few pickings.Although a small mine on Cove was opened up, it could not even replace 50% of St Edward’s output. Therefore Lord Hampton took to the seas in 1512 to find the pirates and a new source of Gold.
The first task saw first blood in July 1512 when Hampton discovered and eradicated a pirate camp on the south-west coast of Cove. In the process Hampton discovered that the men were mostly Spanish or Genoese, and that they were willing to disrespect the Treaty of Avignon which declared Cove to be English territory. However proof of direct Spanish governmental involvement was not found until the following year. After the raid on Port Gloucester, Hampton was drawn by the smoke and was able to isolate and capture a Spanish ship straggling at the rear of the fleet. On board he found a Franciscan Friar and documents which after ‘interrogation’ in Cornel, revealed that Cortez was the leader of the endeavor and that the government in Spain tacitly supported the raids. Back in Europe these discoveries would drive a wedge between England, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, but in the Columbias, business continued as usual. Port Glocester, the weakest of the four main Columbian capitals, was beefed up with a small fort with the latest canon built at the harbour mouth.
Yet Hampton’s greatest victory would come later in 1513, in August of that year, he led a retaliatory raid on the western most Spanish Island Santa Anna (OTL Aruba) burning much of the crops on the western half of the island, acquiring treasure and most importantly more documents. It seems by this stage that Lord Monteagle had sent a number of Tiercel agents to the Columbias and they were especially keen to get hold of any documents, even the Spanish codes could be broken and read. The raid on Santa Anna, dealt a severe blow to the Spanish as the island as a whole represented 35% of Spanish agriculture in the New World, but it would all but destroy their expansion efforts. In turn the raid would hand Tudor the solution to his second quest: Gold.
The vast land known to the English as St Nicholas (OTL Mexico) had been of little interest to the English since Columbus’ ill-fated journey in 1495. The occasional ship had been forced to take refuge in the forested bays of the coasts, and Robert Wydow had made one visit briefly in 1503 which went unnoticed. Wydow was widely considered to be the leading European expert in Columbian languages by 1513; he had learned and written vocabularies for Arawak-Taino languages, and by 1513 had a working version of Nahuatl. This allowed the English a crucial edge in the race for the Aztec Gold. The documents taken from Santa Anna had shown the English that the Spaniards had finally discovered the rich wealth of Nicholan interior, and were planning an expedition there in 1514. With this knowledge, and the need to acquire new sources of Gold, Hampton hatched a daring plan. Using Wydow as translator, the English would turn traders to the Aztecs, providing them with European weapons and armour in exchange for Gold. Contact was initiated in late 1513.
Much of Hampton’s adventures in St Nicolas were carried out in secret, and have been subsequently mythologised to death thus making an accurate understanding difficult. We can conclusively say that by 1515, a relatively small trade had begun. The amounts of Gold were small to begin with, and the Aztecs were given older single plate armour and shorter swords to supplement their clubs, but before long smaller cannons were being imported to Tenochtitlan with a small number of English to crew them.
All of these movements were carried out under secrecy; St Nicholas was after all Spanish territory under the Treaty of Avignon, but the Spanish were too distracted to notice. Hampton had continued his own version of piracy and had stopped the 1514 expedition dead in its tracks before it even reached the Aztecs. Similarly Port Gloucester’s defenses were sufficient to see off an attempted raid in the early months of 1515. However all these tactics remained deniable; to date there had been insufficient evidence to take a delegation to Europe in complaint, and matters between England, France, Spain and the Empire were a sufficient distraction.
The tension rose palpably in 1515.Diego de Vasquez de Cullevar was a greedy and ambitious man. He had become heavily indebted, trying to establish a trading company from Seville and by 1515 he had become desperate; his had been some of the crops burnt on Santa Anna and he had lost a large stake in the 1514 expedition when many of the ships sank in ‘mysterious (English) circumstances’. Therefore in 1515 he took the rest of his credit, sunk it into three ships and their cargo of metal items, and sailed for the Columbias with letters patent from La Casa de Contratacion. Unfortunately de Cullevar was crowded out in the markets of New Spain, and having failed to find sufficient trade with natives in Yucka (Yucatan) and St Nicholas areas, he had gotten desperate and landed on Cove near Cape Albatross in November 1515. The Western end of the island was barely inhabited by Europeans, and still had a relatively high native population. Some of these had never even encountered Europeans and to them the Spanish were exotic and their trade desirable. De Cullevar had finally caught a break, and it was here an English Squadron had discovered and arrested him.
The Cullevar fiasco was the beginning of the steps to war between England and Spain. The hapless trader had been stupid enough to be captured with his letters patent, and blustered his way into claiming that the Spanish Crown itself supported its efforts. In Cornel, Lord Morley and the Earl of Avon were incensed; the Spanish were seemingly trading on English territory with impunity. That the English had already broken the Treaty of Avignon was ignored, there was no evidence of this yet, instead the issue of Spanish incursion would cause an immense furore when the news reached Europe.
And All the Worlds Aflame: Europe 1500-1535, J Ruff, 2001
By 1515, England’s position in Europe had become far more precarious.In 1513 the League of London was hanging together by the whims and prayers of Edward V. Brittany was as loyal as ever, not trusting the new French King Francis I any more than his two predecessors but the issue was Burgundy. Maximilian was still technically overlord of the territory, but had given it to his now deceased son Phillip. The future Charles V was de facto ruler of Burgundy, but was mostly in Spain and the Burgundian Council could only offer tacit support to the English. Thus the League had lost much of its real teeth, especially in the face of the new French monarch.
Winter of 1513 saw the English position begin to unravel. News from the Columbias of the raid on Port Gloucester, now proven to be of Spanish design led Edward to demand compensation from the Spanish court. When this was sternly rebuffed, Edward V demanded that Emperor Maximillian wade into his grandson’s realm and entreat on behalf of the English. It was badly misjudged; Edward had assumed Maximillian’s continued support for the English, and skepticism of Francis I. Instead the Emperor bristled over English suggestions that he solve their problems with a sovereign realm for them, and in January 1514 unilaterally pulled Burgundy out of the League of London. He didn’t technically have the authority to do this, but no-one was going to argue.
In response, the English requested a Treaty with Maximillian hosting it in Ostend for his convenience which began in late March 1514. At first Maximillian refused to attend with his delegation, keeping Edward busy whilst he oscillated over extending friendship to Francis I instead. Maximilian’s decision was helped by the events of May 1514.
Francis I had launched a large raid into La Poche, the first in almost ten years, in an attempt to stake his claim to the land, and show his credentials to the world. However the King was outmanoeuvred by the Prince of Harts. Francis was only 20, but the wily Englishmen was twice his age. The French managed a breakthrough near Sericourt and made it a good 15 miles into the English countryside before being stopped. Large amounts of land was burnt, and the by now largely English peasantry slaughtered without quarter, the few French survivors were ignored. However Prince Richard chose this moment to strike; the highly mobile and experienced Piacenza Company ran rings around the larger French force, encouraging them to retreat. Francis may have won a small victory, but it was a mere flesh wound to the English Behemoth, and when news of James IV’s death at Newcastle arrived in Ostend, Maximilian’s mind was made up.
The Treaty of Ostend was concluded in June 1514. It confirmed Burgundy’s departure from the League of London, but in its place allowed a seven year truce between Edward and Maximillian. Again this was a personal agreement, it did not technically apply to their realms, but in practice Edward V had prevented Maximillian from joining the French. Nonetheless Ostend was not ideal, the Emperor was by then 56, and could not be expected to live beyond the end of the truce, meaning that it would be voided before long. Furthermore, the Treaty was a mere reprieve, compared to what the English had once had it was very weak sauce.
This fact became obvious in 1514. Encouraged by Pope Leo X’s censure of the English Crown over its protection of Machiavelli, Francis I launched another raid into northern France. This time he avoided the English defenses entirely and marched through the Burgundian held Marne unopposed, passing within a mile of Cambrai. Whether Francis sought permission from Charles or not is unclear, but it is likely that Francis would have done so to avoid a war with the soon to be King of all Spain. Francis’ raid went perfectly, and the French popped up to the east of Lens burning and looting as they went. The city itself barred its gates to the advancing army, but the outer settlements were severely ravaged. Most worryingly, the French were able to destroy many of the mills north and east of the city which hampered the cloth trade for a couple of years. This time the Prince of Harts was immobilised by illness, a lifetime of debauchery catching up with him, but he sent a rather unexpected saviour instead.
Giovanni Il Nero was the bastard son of Prince Richard of Shrewsbury, so the story goes. He had emerged in 1507 when Richard returned from Norland to find the boy in Oudenburg with a note from Ludovico Sforza saying the boy was his son. The resemblance was unmistakable; Giovanni got the name from his dark hair and complexion, not to mention his rather ferocious demeanour. The boy’s mother was, and is, unknown. Rumours range from an Appenine Nun, taken against her will, to a Florentine tavern wench, but the most alluring rumours suggest that Giovanni was the son of Lucrezia Borgia. His age suggested he was born in 1495 or 1496, roughly the time when she was confined to her apartments in Rome, rumoured to be pregnant. Alas we shall never know, although the world of popular History has already decided that the ‘Black Bastard’ as he became known, was the son of Lucrezia and Richard.
The paternal resemblance did not stop at a dark frown and a mop of black hair. From 1507 Giovanni was taken into Richard’s household and trained in the art of warfare - Giovanni was not legitimate and so his only hope for riches and glory lay on the battlefield. He was but a couple of years older than his father’s heir Richard of Oudenburg and by all accounts there was little animosity between the half brothers as may have been expected. Instead Giovanni became a renowned swordsman, even if his rumoured nocturnal exploits were not the stuff of Chivalric legend.
Giovanni Il Nero led the Piacenza Company in his father’s absence in 1514 aged just 18, and like his father, the young man was cunning and ruthless. Sending a party of brigands to raid the French countryside around Amiens, Giovanni rode out to meet Francis I head on. The ‘battle’ of Courrieres was a mere cavalry skirmish on the 17th of June which lasted little over an hour, but fanciful reports suggest that it saw Francis and Giovanni cross blades in one to one combat which ended with the French King bleeding from the arm and Giovanni with a split lip. This story is likely Renaissance fiction, but after Courrieres the French raid returned back over the border, again having only modest gains to show for it. They may have been defeated once again, but Francis was made of sterner stuff than Charles and Louis, he would not be deterred so easily.
The English Renaissance, J Canning, 2005
Leo X is a complicated figure to assess in terms of the Renaissance. Some scholars have detected a Humanist streak in his work, although his public image was very much one of an archetypal, conservative Pope. Despite this, there has been many lurid rumours over the years of the Pope’s more unusual interests in art and dance, with some suggesting this as a front his homosexuality. These rumours find firmer ground in the works of fiction than they do historical fact. Yet we can certainly identify his opposition to some elements of the Renaissance although how far this opposition was born from political rather than cultural or religious concerns is open to debate.
Leo X famously attempted to pass an edict in 1514 to have Prince Richard of Shrewsbury excommunicated and when this failed he barred him from entering Papal land, trying to foist this on other Italian states. The official reason was for apostasy, heresy and consorting with heretics, although Leo presented little evidence to support these claims. It is also possible that Leo disliked Richard’s sanctuary of Nicolo Macchiavelli. The antipathy between Macchiavelli and Leo is well-known and less well understood. Many assume it comes from the Medici’s recapture of Florence in 1512 when they subsequently hounded Macchiavelli from the city. Others believe that the two men, Florentine contemporaries in their youth, must have had some sort of feud in their formative years and never got over it. Perhaps Occam's Razor prevails: Macchiavelli spoke of the worldly corruption inherent in the Church at a time when Leo was trying to strengthen it after the debacle of the False Crusade.After Machiavelli fled to England, Leo would increase pressure on Edward V to banish him, while censuring Macchiavelli himself, and finally excommunicating him in 1515.
The source of Pope Leo’s ire must have surely been Macchiavelli’s ideas, encapsulated by the Prince itself. The Prince was first published from exile in London in 1513, it would be reprinted countless times, including one edition dedicated to Edward V, and another to his brother Richard. The philosophical and cultural implications of ‘The Prince’ have already been discussed at length, but politically it was equally groundbreaking. Macchiavelli had taken inspiration from England with Edward and Richard being referenced often, including Lord Hastings, Richmond, Edward IV and Richard of Gloucester. Although Macchiavelli was less appreciated by Erasmus of Rotterdam and more Humanist scholars, his maxim of ‘the ends justify the means’ almost seems to encapsulate the Prince of Harts’ life, and would come to describe his successors. More broadly, The Prince could be seen as a vindication of Edward V’s policies to date as the new institutions, and their loyalty to the King, were praised by Macchiavelli.
The most controversial element of the Prince was its marginalisation of the Church. Macchiavelli did not step into the realms of the Reformation deliberately, or in a straight line, but he down-played the superstitious role of the Church, especially in politics. This line of the Prince was particularly contentious, with Thomas More publishing Vita Sanctus the following year, again in London. It may seem odd that Edward V allowed both works to be published in opposition to each other, but it shows how the intellectual culture of England was developing. For his part, More did not directly attack Macchiavelli, but merely made the case for a Holy life as a moral imperative. He did however attack heresy as being incompatible with such a life, for it existed outside of the light of God’s established Church. In 1514 these ideas were bandied around the halls of London society and beyond; More and Macchiavelli were said to be good friends, if intellectual rivals, their friendship facilitated and encouraged by the two York brothers. However in distant Saxony, an Augustinian friar would read both of these works, and within 20 years their intellectual children would be at each other's' throats.
1516-1518: The Deep Breath
Edward V, G Bradshaw 2001
In 1516 Charles of the House of Habsburg became Charles I, King of all Spain. Many in England, the King included, saw this as a portent to war. France still eyed La Poche with jealous and vengeful eyes, the Spanish were continuing to harass English possessions in the New World, and the Empire was only tenuously held at bay. Just as in the 1490s, it is possible to identify Edward’s preparations for war which fell into the two main camps of diplomatic and military.
Diplomatically, the issues of 1514 had shown that long term, bilateral alliances were tenuous at best, and Edward chose not to trust them. In 1516, he concluded a new treaty with Scotland, repudiating the earlier one and the marriage alliance with John of Ware allowing the Scots to save face and marry ‘Queen Margaret’ to the son of the Earl of Angus, James Douglas who was around 9 years old at the time. The marriage would be completed in 1522. However to win this concession, the Scottish Lords had to promise not to wage war on England for fear of bringing English arbitration back into the question of the Scottish succession. To strengthen the deal, Edward extended the tax-breaks on Scottish trade and brought Brittany into the treaty. Breton ships were given preference over Scottish trade, and were a reliable partner in bringing Scotland into the fold. Brittany was under de facto English control by 1516, and Richard of Bedford, Duke of Brittany was present at the signing of the Treaty of Dunbar in September 1516. This was a brilliant move, Scotland now had more access to the New World, but via the more trustworthy Brittany. This would also begin the slow erosion of the Auld Alliance with France.
More broadly, the diplomatic efforts were aided by France and Spain’s distractions in Italy, and the slow malaise of Emperor Maximillian before his death in 1519. This gave the English an unexpected reprieve; in 1516 it had looked like attacks in La Poche and the Columbias were about to step up as Charles I came to the throne. However Charles and Francis had instead pursued their Italian ambitions in a tenuous alliance which had allowed Thomass Wolsey, by now Papal Legate and Bishop of Lincoln, to bring all parties together in the Treaty of London. The 1518 Treaty of London was an ambitious treaty with a broad reach: England, Scotland, Spain, Brittany, France, the Empire, the Pope, Portugal, Venice, Milan, Naples and Florence all agreed to the terms of a five year peace to allow for the ‘recovery and girding of all Christendom.’ The price was agreement of Francis and Charles’ actions in Italy and a pledge by all signatories to investigate Martin Luther and his activities within their borders. In the final analysis the Treaty of London did not last the five years, but between it and Dunbar, it bought Edward time to prepare.
The 1518 Parliament, has sometimes earned the moniker of the ‘Iron Parliament’ for the preoccupation it had with matters of warfare. William Compton, Earl Rivers, became the new Marshall and Constable of England whilst Arthur Tudor, Earl of Richmond became Lord Protector. These two men had both risen to prominence in the last decade, and they were joined by an even greener crop of ‘new men’ at lower levels. Charles, Lord Brandon became Master of Arms, responsible for all weaponry and cannon which by this stage included an impressive array of Swiss Pikes and other polearms. Richard of Hutton, Earl of Pembroke and grandson of Gloucester, took over the command of the Master of Horse - the royal stables able to field around 4,000 armoured cavalry by 1518, supplementing the wider nobility. Both men were charged with enhancing and expanding each of their responsibilities. Sir Thomas More, Chancellor of the Exchequer was integral in acquiring funds for these projects through his many Italian contacts, whilst Norfolk, still Admiral of England, used some of it to bolster the already impressive Navy.
The major change seen from the Iron Parliament were the military companies. The Piacenza Company had already demonstrated the value of a force of around 500 well trained and well armoured men, who met even in peacetime, and could fight on foot or horseback. In recognition of this Edward created seven military companies with a range of size from 200 to 1,000 men. Each Company was based in a particular area, locally supported and financed (in part) with commanders directly appointed by the King. The Seneschals of each area would be encouraged to support these companies, and provide men, but they were forbidden from joining them themselves lest it distracted them from their other duties. One Seneschal - Henry Cavendish of Derbyshire - relinquished his command to allow himself to join the York Company.
These Companies and commanders were as follows: The York Company, led by Algernon Percy, Lord Egremont (son of the Earl of Northumberland), The Ludlow Company led by Leonard Stanley, Lord Strange, The Bristol Company led by Sir Martin St Leger, The Coventry Company led by Richard Hastings, Lord Grantham (son of Lord Hastings), The Norwich Company led by Lord Malravers, The London Company led by Sir Richard Warwick (2nd son of Edward of Warwick) and finally the Calais Company led by the newly made Lord of Oudenberg, Richard, son of the Prince of Harts. The Piacenza Company was retained with the Black Bastard in command. These companies and their commanders allowed Edward a reserve of mobile, flexible, loyal and dependable men which he could supplement with more common soldiers as and when required. Although the cost of fitting out such a company was rather steep, the seven chosen boroughs and their environs leapt at the chance to prove their loyalty to the Crown in the midst of rivals. The economic boom also helped foot the bill, whilst the traditional fighting areas of York and Ludlow in particular had little trouble finding willing volunteers.
Empires of the Suns, W O’Reilly, 1992
Events in Europe bought a reprieve for the men of the Grand Columbia Company from 1516. It was only short-lived, but it gave them time to reinforce defences, particularly by training militia and yeomanry on the four main Columbian islands. As the most populous, Nova Albion had a small company of horse to patrol the south-eastern shores, whilst the Welsh up at Haurafen had created their own small ranger force using tactics which had been honed in Gwynedd and Powys for generations. Similarly Lord Hampton used the breather to build up his fleet, acquiring more ships from Europe, and stealing two from the Spanish at Santa Cruz on Santa Anna (Aruba) in 1517. However the raids and piracy were largely paired back as Cortez did the same.
Meanwhile a steady flow of trade was maintained with the Aztecs in St Nicholas. Using a temporary landing station called ‘Cheapside’ (OTL Vera Cruz) to prevent its location from being discovered, the English continued to trade weapons, gunpowder, plate and some glassware with Moctezuma in exchange for shipments of Gold. These were then smuggled back to Nova Albion where they were melted down and passed off as locally mined Gold. All told it is estimated that by the time Cortez arrived in Tenochtitlan in 1519 the Aztecs had required some 500 items of plate, 500 pikes or swords, around 100 handguns, and 6 Canon. These weapons had initially come with crews but by 1519 the Aztecs had learned to use them, and the only permanent English presence in Tenochtitlan was Roger Harcourt, the ambassador, and his small bodyguard.
The largest material growth in the years before the Anglo-Spanish war came on Cove and in New Kent. Both areas had large potential for agriculture, and much spare land with many of the peasants from Europe selecting these areas. Particular boons came from the wool slump of the mid 1510s which increased the price of Cotton grown in both locations, likewise Cacao had been discovered by one of the earlier trade missions in St Nicholas and was being gradually cultivated on Cove. The only setback was labour, thousands of peasants streamed from Europe every year in search of greater land and opportunities, but they were not enough to meet the demand, especially in Cove as many preferred the better climate and culture of New Kent. One Covish landowner acquired some slaves via Santa Anna from the Spanish, and they became the first use of slaves in the English colonies, but they were quickly confiscated and freed. The justiciar of Cove’s concern was not moral or humanitarian but simply that the slaves had come from prohibited trade with Spain and therefore were forfeit, just as if they had been iron ore or exotic fruit. Nevertheless these freed slaves settled around Green Port and formed the nucleus of the future Anglo-African population.
Further north the colony of Jordanstown grew slowly as an important way station and trading hub. It was an important link in the Norland chain back to England, but it did not have much in the way of local agriculture. Further south in Princess Elizabeth’s Land the Tobacco trade around Goughtown allowed the town to become the largest north of Cove. Becoming home to many west country families including the Raleigh family who became the chief Norland Trading Company agents in the area and one of the richest in Norland.
And All the Worlds Aflame: Europe 1500-1535, J Ruff, 2001
Charles I became King of Castile and Aragon in January 1516. The Regency Council of Cardinal De Deza had collapsed the previous December, and the young Prince had taken that moment to claim the Crown. Charles was not popular in the newly combined realm of Spain, he had spent much of his childhood in Burgundy, and his mother Joanna, for all the marbles she had lost, was still technically Queen. But through court intrigue, and the manipulation of Pope Leo X, Charles was crowned King in March 1516.
The coronation froze the politics of Europe almost overnight. Charles possessed a substantial amount of wealth and power, and stood to inherit the Empire from his grand-father. This made every King, Prince and petty-Count in Christendom prick up their ears in mixed fear and anticipation over what Charles would do next. Charles himself paused, he had inherited a very fluid situation with England increasingly at odds in the Columbias and France as desperate for glory as ever. Charles had a choice; he could wage war on England or France, or seek peace with either. In the end he recalled Cortez from the New World, gathered information on the English, and ordered the wily Captain to prepare a large expedition to the interior of St Nicholas. This was not a formal cessation of hostilities with England, but for the time being it had the desired effect.
Instead Charles sought an alliance with Francis I, with a particular end in mind. By November 1516 the Treaty of Noyon was concluded which would see the Italian peninsula more-or-less divided between the two Kings. Francis would carry out the traditional attempt to take Milan whilst Charles would simultaneously agree to invade Naples. Both men would each recognise the others’ claim and dare the rest of Europe to disagree. This agreement was to endure for five years. The English response to this could not have been welcome, the specific Italian details were not made public, but very quickly it proved to be a blessing in disguise. With preparations for another Italian war, Francis did not have time for another raid into the north, ,despite his now proven tactic, and an eerie peace fell on La Poche for the first time since he had become King.
The Treaty of Noyon would be reacted on within a year. Count Ludovico Sforza died in March 1517, it is unknown if he was assassinated, although he was 65. This was the moment Charles and Francis had been waiting for, they both declared their claim and invaded Italy by the end of May. Whilst Charles landed in the south, Francis invaded through the Alps and quickly took Milan. The Sforza had divided upon Ludovico’s death and were involved in their own power-struggle when the French swept them all aside. The Holy League was still irrevocably broken with Venice still being out of it, and the largest independent member - Florence - had no desire to fend off the French and Spanish simultaneously. Italy was further bereft by the illness/malaise (no-one is sure which) of Emperor Maximillian which kept him benign for the remainder of his life. There was perhaps one person the Italians could call, but he wasn’t picking up.
Maximilian Sforza, son of Ludovico, desperately wrote to Prince Richard in Oudenburg asking for assistance, but he curtly replied that the Pope would not approve. Richard surely knew Maximillian, and would have wanted to support the son of his friend, but Richard himself was not well at this point, and was too busy in the north with defenses to ride to Italy’s rescue. Besides, with the Pope more or less declaring war on him, why should he raise a finger for the Italians? After all, did he really want to place himself between the strutting young Bucks of Francis and Charles?
The invasion of Italy was relatively straightforward, but both Naples and Milan remained unstable for at least a year with rival claimants, unruly peasants, and bandits to deal with. Even by 1519, with both regions pacified, the two Kings began to warily eye each other for fear of a betrayal, with the poor Pope caught in the middle. This would further extend the distraction to France and Spain, and the English showed no means of breaking them from it. Martin Luther, on the other hand, had other ideas.
The Reformation, G Barnard 2010
On the 31st of October 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral and began the Reformation. News of this spread quickly across Europe and by March 1518 the Theses had made it to London where the Yorkist Propaganda machine began to churn them out. Some historians have used this as early evidence of Edward V’s support for Luther, but such theories overlook the fact that Edward had printed More’s Vita Sanctus against The Prince, and had continued to publish minor works of both for years. Edward was committed to ideas. His love of reading had never abated, and so he was clever enough to digest the 95 Theses without seeing that as contradictory to his own beliefs or ideas.
Prince Richard was much more receptive, and with his illness abated (thought to be Gallstones) he travelled to Wittemburg in July 1518 to hear the cleric speak. Richard had been skeptical of the Papacy since his teenage years under Savonarola in Rome, and Luther’s ideas found fertile soil in his mind. Again it is hard to tell precisely what Richard thought at the time, but one event is perhaps enlightening.
Luther was summoned to the Imperial Diet at Augsburg in October 1518 to be questioned by Cardinal Cajetan over his opposition to indulgences. Over the course of three days Luther began by outlining his convictions, and surprised the Cardinal by having ready ripostes to the counter-arguments. Eventually the Diet resolved into a slanging match with Cajetan eventually calling Luther a heretic, and issuing demands for his arrest. It is unknown exactly what happened next, but Luther disappeared from Augsburg and resurfaced in Ostend just before Christmas alive, well and a free man. Common curiosity - and hysteria - has it that Prince Richard smuggled Luther out of the Imperial Diet in his personal baggage and allowed him to lay low at Oudenburg, although of course Richard was not overt about it. This narrative certainly holds weight; Luther joined a number of religious radicals in seeking sanctuary in Richard's own enclave around Ostend and Richard would certainly have been receptive to his ideas. It was to be the start of a life-long friendship.
1519-1521: The Golden Sorrows
And All the Worlds Aflame: Europe 1500-1535, J Ruff, 2001
Charles I became Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 upon the death of his grandfather. This was an unprecedented moment when one man became the joint ruler of two of Europe’s largest domains. Suffice it to say that Edward V and Francis I were concerned. Thankfully Charles spent 1519 touring the Empire, shoring up his support. The new Emperor had been elected largely due to his father's efforts and his loyal electors, but he was a stranger to many in Germany and so he took his time touring Bavaria, Bohemia, Saxony and Thuringia in particular to meet the local rulers and establish working relationships.
Meanwhile Francis sought allies. His actions in Milan may have bought him much needed wealth and acclaim back home but they had not won him any friends in Italy. Milan itself was finally pacified, but with Charles now almost enveloping the Ducy, Francis needed some leverage against his erstwhile ally. Unfortunately, the only real option was England, and centuries of warfare were not conducive to an alliance.
In June 1520 a large pageant was held between Arras and Amiens, more or less on the border with La Poche. The Field of the Cloth of Gold was intended to be a celebration of all the grand achievements of both England and France at which Edward and Francis were supposed to express their fraternal kinship with each other. It became a simple contest of strength.
Both delegations tried to outdo each other in dress, decor, feasting, culture and feats of arms. However, the blood was running too hot, and the party of Swabian men-at-arms hired to keep the peace kept themselves busy breaking up drunken brawls and knife fights amid the luxurious tents. The thinly veiled contempt was most visible during the joust. Both realms had brought their finest warriors, and the entire display was wrapped in a lavish display of pageantry, chivalry and gallantry, until the actual contest began. Giovanni Il Nero took the day, but not until he had violently unseated two of his French opponents, crippling the Duc de Montmerency for life. Francis was said to be furious, but was prevented from an outrageous response by his desperation for English support. In the end Prince Edward of Wales, by now in his prime, volunteered to fight Francis in a one on one melee.
The resulting fight has gone down in legend. The two men spent a good hour slogging around the lists, withstanding huge hits from their Zweihander, encased in full plate. Eventually Edward was knocked to the ground by such a blow, but was able to trip Francis and fall on top of him, a dagger poised forcing the French King to yield. Such was the ferocity and nobility of the duel that it restored good will to the proceedings almost instantaneously. Francis declared that he had never endured such a bout, and praised the Prince for his character whilst in turn Edward declared that the French King was the very picture of humility and good will in his defeat.
It is assumed that after this event Edward V and Francis I reached some sort of agreement over their actions towards Charles, yet no formal treaty was ever announced. Given the precarious situation in Europe by the summer of 1520, this was perhaps wise, but it nevertheless ushered in a period of relative peace for almost a decade, with raids into La Poche entering another phase of hibernation.
This proved helpful to France within a year, Holy League forces (now supported by Charles) launched a huge offensive against Milan, forcing the French to temporarily withdraw. They would be back within a year, but England’s actions against Spain were successful in spreading Charles’ attention enough to allow it to happen.
Charles V completed his tour of the Empire at the end of 1519, and was immediately confronted by a large-scale revolt in Toledo, necessitating his dashing back to Spain. The Toledo revolt had multiple causes; high taxes, the brutality of the Inquisition, and Charles’ foreign influence to name just three, but there were also rumours of English agitation. These rumours became only louder after news of the catastrophe in St Nicholas reached Spain towards the end of 1520. Charles was now split; he was still active in Italy, and trying to put down a revolt at home, he could only spare minimal forces or brain-space on the New World issues. This delay gave the English time in 1521 to weaken Charles’ position even further; it was only a matter of time before he fully retaliated.
The Reformation, G Barnard 2010
Martin Luther continued his tour of the Empire and low countries in 1519 following his miraculous escape from Augsburg the following autumn. He spent the next two years spreading his ideas, and trying to get support from German Princes in particular. In 1520 he wrote an open letter to all the nobility of Germany outlining his theses, with copies of this circulated in England by the London presses. This had some early victories when the Duke of Saxony declared his support for Luther’s stance against the established Church. With Pope Leo increasingly obsessed with heretics, and Charles V pulled in three different directions, Luther had almost free-reign of the Empire. Luther also visited London towards the end of 1520, as a guest of the Prince of Harts, although he did not overtly meet with Edward V for political reasons, he did converse with the Prince of Wales, and his brother Duke Richard of Brittany.
However Luther’s life of freedom could not last and in April 1521 he was summoned to the Imperial Diet in Worms to respond to his writings and their alleged attacks on the Church. Charles V had by now pacified Toledo and seized Milan from the French, his only other obstacle were increased English actions in the New World, but Pope Leo commanded him to deal with Luther first. Luther gave a stern response to the charges levelled at him, declaring that he would not recant his heresies lest the corruption of the Church continue, daring his enemies to prove him wrong in scripture, which of course they could not. Perhaps inevitably Luther was excommunicated and an edict passed that banned any Prince or noble from sheltering him.
The Prince of Harts was not present at Worms, surmising that the tension with Charles was too thick to show his face, but his son Richard attended along with a few members of the Calais Company for his protection. After the verdict of excommunication, Luther escaped and was holed up by Prince Frederick in Wartburg Castle where he began working on the German New Testament. Prince Richard returned to Oudenburg to his father and reported events. The House of York had been supporting a man now excommunicated from the Church, and they would have to tread extremely carefully if they wanted to continue this, upon pain of Excommunication by the Pope and war with the Emperor. Not that the Prince of Harts was overly concerned.
The Golden City by Bernard Cornwell, 2016
The men moved like phantoms in the night. Crouched low, their cloaks clutched about them, they stole from shadow to shadow in the feeble moonlight.
The city was quiet, the occasional muttering the only noise coming from the hovels here on the edge. Beyond the silver causeway the jungle sang with the chaotic cacophony of insects and other strange creatures. It was a welcome noise.
The small party of Spaniards and their Tlaxcalan escorts crept on, a few men peeling to the left to take out the look outs. Hernan Cortez huddled in the centre of the group, his helmet covered in sackcloth to hide it from the moon’s glare. Up above he could see his men crouched behind a cart staring longingly into the gloom. Cortez moved up slowly and quietly until he could whisper into Pedro’s ear.
‘What’s the problem?’
‘Fucking turds, that’s the problem’ Pedro grumbled indicating the animal dung they were standing in.
Cortez gave an annoyed grunt ‘No, why have we stopped?’ he pleaded, his voice mixed with rage and anguish.
‘Oh look out on the causeway, too much open ground.’
The Conquistador stared through the gloom and could make out two Aztec warriors clutching polearms. They probably couldn’t use them, but they were an obstacle all the same. Hernan turned to find Marina, the woman he loved, she was behind a small building some 10 paces back, her face drawn and frightened.
Cortez gave her a grin in the pale moonlight. ‘Lookouts ahead, too far out for us to take them quietly, our Tlaxcalan friends help?’ He asked her. She turned to Maxixcahatan, one their native guides, and explained the situation in a low guttural tongue. Max - as Cortez called him - gave a silent nod and moved forward, pulling a tube from inside his cloak that the Spanish had given him.
Maxixcahatan moved close to Pedro, and after a brief pause, both lookouts collapsed. The man was on them instantly, his small Castilian blade flashing in the night and stabbing into both men. They were free.
With an inaudible surge of enthusiasm the Spanish party surged onto the causeway. They were very exposed now - around them the lake stretched to the jungle beyond and behind them the towers of Tenochtitlan loomed in the night. Moving quickly, Cortez took the lead and as they reached the gap in the causeway he beckoned behind him for the makeshift bridge to be brought up. The Aztecs raised the bridge over the causeway gap in the middle of the night to prevent enemies from creeping in, but it also stopped them from getting out. They had made a small bridge to cover the gap, but it would be slow work.
A deep boom pierced the night. To Cortez’s back a sprout of water gushed from the once placid surface of the lake. Over his shoulder he could see the white plume of smoke where one of the city's canons had fired. Hernan Cortez’s breath caught in his throat.
‘Hurry!’ he screamed ‘they have spotted us, quickly over the bridge!’
Panic and fear gripped the small band of fugitives. Some men dived for the makeshift bridge and began hauling themselves across, Cortez made sure Marina had gotten over and turned to check behind him.
His few men with Arquebus had turned and were now firing in the direction of the ethereal smoke plume disintegrating into the night. The range was too far, but they could keep the canon crew’s head down. Cortez groaned, they had taken out the first Cannon crew nearest the causeway, and spiked the gun as best they could, but they hadn’t known about the second, it must have been concealed. Then shouts from the city, and Cortez saw more men running towards them with weapons in hand.
‘Move!’ He yelled, turning to see that around a third of the men had made it across, it wouldn’t be enough. Turning back towards Tenochtitlan he drew his sword and awaited the oncoming charge. It never made it. The Canon barked again and this time a swarm of vicious lead hornets pierced through the Spaniards, dropping at least 10 of them to the stones of the causeway. Hernan had not been hit, thanking God he took a step to his front.
Then the arrow hit him in the upper arm, just below his right shoulder blade. He spun around. His momentum carried him over the edge. With a shocking crash of water he tell into Lake Texcoco.
But he was still alive. His chest plate was dragging him down, the helmet lost in the fall. Cortez was able to pull his dagger free with his left hand, and he hacked at the shoulder straps cutting himself in the process. Finally they gave way and the plate fell into the dark gloom, his chest rising like an inflated balloon until he broke the surface with a gasp.
Behind him and a few metres away, lights from the causeway cast him in shadow - another splash off to the left as the bridge tumbled into the lake with him. Whatever Spaniards left on the City side would be trapped. Through the ringing in his ears he could make out their screams as the Aztecs killed them.
In the other direction, the Jungle beckoned, its symphony unbroken by the carnage from the causeway. Cortez knew it would not be safe, but what choice did he have? His right arm ached where the arrow had pierced him and blood was still flowing freely. With great difficulty and breathing heavily he slowly swam towards the bank, taking care not to stir the water and give away his presence. It would not have mattered, the Aztecs were too busy butchering his men in sacrifice to their vicious Gods.
Many minutes later and his strength failing, Hernan Cortez pulled himself onto the muddy bank beyond the lake and lay on his back panting for breath as his body fought the cold, the water, the shock and the arrow deep in his shoulder. Cortez heard a crunch from the Jungle behind him.
‘Well looks like we caught a Spaniard’ said a voice in badly-accented Spanish, its mirth clear through the awful syllables.
It’s owner stepped from the brush, his pale round face almost ghostly in the moonlight. Upon his head a round Kettle Helmet glinted more moonlight at him. He had a broad smile upon his broad face, encircled by a close cropped beard. He was wearing a plate front, like Cortez had been, and on it a Sun had been stenciled above his heart and below it the initials GCC were picked out.
Cortez just sighed, he couldn’t take this now. ‘Hampton’ he spat. ‘You bastard’.
‘Now, Now Senor Cortez, is that anyway to speak to an ally?’ Henry Tudor replied, taking a step or two forward to stand within arms reach of the man.
‘Pah, ally’ Spat the Spaniard through blood and brackish lake water. ‘You are no friend of mine, my men die out there even now and you speak of friendship? You and your kind are not welcome here. This is our land, not yours.’ The rage had given him strength and he used it to haul himself into a sitting position, fixing his gaze on Lord Hampton, his bright eyes piercing the gloom back at him.
‘Ah now there you have it wrong, my friend’ Hampton said crouching before the wet and bleeding man, though he still reared above him. From the brush came more cracks as a small group of men, two English and two Aztec, joined their master on the bank. Hampton pulled a scroll from his belt pouch.
‘This’ Hampton continued ‘is a Treaty between the Crown of England and the glorious Aztec Empire giving us sole rights to trade and export their Gold. And what is more’ casting his eyes over the scroll, he read in a formal tone ‘uphold the sovereignty and serenity of the same Aztec Empire from all threats Columbian and European.’ He stopped reading and replaced the scroll. ‘That’s you Senor’ he said, turning back to stare straight at Cortez.
The Spaniard was enraged, for all his fear, and the coldness even now extending to surround his heart, he burned with anger as Hampton spoke. This wasn’t right, the English had no place here, no jurisdiction.
Cortez spat back in ferocious Spanish ‘Fuck you, you son a whore! I will see you in hell!’
Henry Tudor gave an almost disappointed sigh. ‘I’m sure you will Cortez, but you first.’
Like a crack of lightning in the murky dark, the blade flashed quickly and without warning.
Cortez gave a gasp as it plunged into his chest throwing him onto his back. Lord Hampton followed it through until he stood over the prone man laying in the mud of the lake’s edge. Without a word, he pulled the knife free, and wiping it on Cortez’s damp cloak, stowed it into his belt and turned back to the jungle. Behind him the screams of dying men and the mist of spent Gunpowder drifted over the lake to shroud the dead Spanish Explorer.
Empires of the Suns, W O’Reilly, 1992
The long awaited Spanish expedition finally arrived in Tenochtitlan in October 1519. Marching inland from Tlaxcala they had established a good relationship with those people, as well as dispersing a few scattered Aztec patrols. No accurate records survive of the expedition from a Spanish perspective with the most ‘reliable’ account coming from Roger Harcourt, English Ambassador in Tenochtitlan, with other anecdotal accounts being made years or even decades later.
However Cortez must have pondered how the Aztecs had access to Plate and Pikes on his journey to the centre of the Empire, he would not have to wait long for an answer. When the Spanish delegation arrived on the Holy island City of Tenochtitlan, they were greeted by Emperor Moctezuma, and his English guests. Perhaps this was when the Spaniards noticed English Canon and handguns in the city as well. Harcourt recounts that Cortez greeted Moctezuma warmly, although he was cold and hostile towards the English. This is likely accurate given that English presence west of Cove was prohibited by the Treaty of Avignon, and the European weapons certainly demonstrated that the English had been here for some time.
Cortez immediately sent a group back to Saintiago, and thence to Spain, with news of the English, but unbeknownst to him Harcourt had already sent word to Hampton who intercepted and killed the messengers, as well as preparing a force to go to Tenochtitlan himself. Thus Cortez spent the winter of 1519-1520 at Moctezuma’s pleasure, desperately trying to win his favour, and being repeatedly blocked by Harcourt. After all, the English had a good deal with the Aztecs; Gold for weapons, and that was it, Cortez immediately began demanding an Altar be placed on the high pyramid in Tenochtitlan and that human sacrifices be stopped. Harcourt also notes that Cortez demanded an annual tribute of 3,000 slaves and 5,000 pounds of Gold to the Spanish King as tribute, but this is possibly an exaggeration.
Thus, his plans thwarted, Cortez took half of his force back to Tlaxcala in March 1520 to arrange an alliance with Xicotencatl to overthrow the Aztecs and drive the English from St Nicholas. Having heard nothing, Cortes also sent another message back to Spain, again demanding troops this one making it through. Panfilo de Narvaez was able to gather some 4,000 men and make it to Veracruz, as the Spanish called Cheapside, by October 1520, by which time disaster had already struck.
Cortez returned to Tenochtitlan in June 1520 to discover that most of his party had been arrested, only his Tlaxcalans and his lover Dona Marina still walking free. Historians have debated for centuries what really happened, but Harcourt mentions that Pedro de Alvarado was caught stealing Gold, and only Harcourts intercession had prevented him from being sacrificed. Alvarado and the rest of Cortez’s soldiers were instead arrested until Cortez returned. Of course the Spanish would later claim that this was a set up by the English to discredit and remove them from Tenochtitlan. Regardless of the reason, Cortez’s next actions are clear; he tried to escape.
The night of the 30th June 1520 is known in Spain as La Noche Triste, for it was the night that Cortez attempted to escape Tenochtitlan. Again the only account we possess is that of Roger Harcourt but he notes that Cortez, with the assistance of his Tlaxcalan allies, broke the Spaniards from their jail and made for the southern causeway out of the city, with an improvised bridge to replace the one raised at dusk. Yet they were discovered, and attacked on the causeway; Cortez and every Spaniard was killed. Only four Tlaxcalans and Dona Martina, Mayan lover and interpreter for Cortez, made it out alive.
The huge question over the Night of Sorrows was how far the English were involved. Harcourt’s records would suggest that he actually tried to protect the Spaniards and was unaware of their plans to escape. However recent studies have shown that Lord Hampton,along with 3,000 English soldiers, were within a few days of Tenochtitlan having answered Harcourt’s call. It would not be too far to suggest that they had some hand in Cortez’s demise, especially as this was the testimony of Dona Marina and Tlaxcalan tradition on the subject.
Thus when Narvaez and his 4,000 men arrived in October, they were met by Marina and a Tlaxcalan delegation who passed on the sorry news and vowed to revenge themselves on the Aztecs and English if Narvaez wished. The new commander of the Conquistadors in the field was furious when he heard of the potential English involvement in the Night of Sorrows and sent to Saintiago for more men. Meanwhile he ordered the Tlaxcalans to marshall their forces whilst he marched to Tenochtitlan seeking answers.
The new Spanish force reached the Aztec capital by Christmas 1520 where they met Moctezuma and Lord Hampton who had taken up camp just south of the city with his army. When Narvaez demand that Hampton and the English leave what was Spanish territory he was presented with a treaty, reportedly signed some 6 months before, which pledged England to defend the Aztecs from their enemies, and secure the Gold trade for England.
Narvaez immediately dispatched a messenger to Europe with this outrageous news; to have an embassy in St Nicholas was one thing, but to be making alliances and trading within the Spanish territory designated by the Treaty of Avignon was another entirely. Owing to bad weather, the messenger, Bartholomeo Diaz, did not arrive in Spain until May 1421, by which time eyes were squarely fixed on Martin Luther, and not 5,000 miles away.
Knowing that help would arrive eventually, but seeking to cover himself in glory, it seems that Narvaez decided to fight. In the New Year he pulled back to Tlaxcala where he mustered a force of some 10,000 Tlaxcalans and 4,500 Spaniards. Given his haste the Tlaxcalans were largely equipped with native weapons and would largely be left to their own devices on campaign. The Spanish contingent consisted of some 600 cavalry and just under 4,000 infantry equipped with modern plate armour and lances for the cavalry whilst the infantry relied on their pikes and handguns to hold the enemy at bay.
In February, their preparations ready, the Tlaxcalan-Spanish force drew up in a valley known as Atochac, on the western edge of Tlaxcalan territory. This was very well chosen ground with a lake to the north and mountains to the south anchoring their defensive line, and a small stream running south to north across the line of Axtec advance which would break up their charge. All they had to do now was to wait.
In Tenochtitlan, Hampton had spent most of January encouraging Moctezuma to fight, but the Emperor believed that his new allies should do most of the fighting for him. In the end Moctezuma’s brother Matlatzincatl agreed to lead the Axtec army into battle. Harcourt records that news of the Tlaxcalan’s preparations for war shook Matlatzincatl into action as he saw it as an issue integral to the survival of the Axtec Empire. Thus in early February 1520 an army almost 22,000 strong marched east to war.
Like the Spanish, Lord Hampton led a mixed force of natives and Europeans; the cream of his force were some 800 mounted cavalry who he had armed with lances, and new ‘demi-arquebus’ a weapon of his design intended for use on horseback; it was mostly only good for one shot, but having trained the horses to withstand the noise, it would be terrifying to the enemy. The remaining 2,500 English soldiers were all armed in plate armour and carried polearms. However the Aztecs had the edge over their Tlaxcalan enemies in their weapons trade with England for a number of years. The 18,000 strong Aztec army were mostly lightly armoured and equipped with traditional weapons, but Matlatzincatl’s personal guard were 1500 men armoured in plate with around 200 handguns and the rest trained to use pikes. Finally the Aztecs dragged 6 cannons with them.
The two armies met on the 2nd March 1521 in a battle which would decide the future of the Columbias. There are multiple accounts of the battle, all of them partisan. The Aztec and Tlaxcala have their own oral traditions whilst Juan Davilas and John Forrester were writing accounts for their respective Kings. It seems the Aztec army drew up into two large ‘battles’ each of 9,000 men one in front of the other. With the English infantry behind them and to their right guarding the cannons which had been dug in on a low rise, whilst Hampton and the English Cavalry occupied the left flank. Opposite them Narvaez placed his cavalry and infantry at the northern edge of the line with the Tlaxcalans taking the centre. Narvaez wisely drew up out of range of the English cannon.
After a brief parley failed to solve their differences, battle commenced. The Aztecs were numerically superior and attacked first, sending their first battle across the half mile of relatively open ground. However this charge was stymied by the stream and the subsequent obstacles, concealed by brush, which Narvaez had prepared and it reached the enemy at a broken shuffle. Narvaez counter charged the Aztec flank, killing their leader, Matlatzincatl’s cousin, and forcing the wing to withdraw. Forrester claims that this first charge was unplanned and that the Aztecs were too headstrong to control, we shall never know, but it is clear that Henry Tudor prevented any more men from being sucked in.
Across the field Narvaez was triumphant, and his blood was up. The Aztec first line had been appalled by his cavalry charge into their flank and rear, they had no experience fighting horses, and had folded the minute their leader was killed. With Matlatzincatl across the field easily visible in his gaudy battledress and headgear, Narvaez hatched a plan. Placing his cavalry in the centre he ordered a charge through clear areas in the obstacles with the Tlaxcalan and Spanish infantry following behind.
Narvaez and his company of 600 charged at full tilt across the plain, leaping the stream with ease. They passed into cannon range too quickly to be adequately targeted and were unmolested a mere 100 metres from the Aztec line when Lord Hampton and Matlatzincatl sprung their trap. Davilas’ account the night before the battle was rather dismissive of the European weapons and armour wielded by the Aztec army, claiming that they could not understand the weapons, let alone the tactics required to use them. This assumption has some truth; in Tenochtitlan such items were only given to men of status as decorative symbols. But Matlatzincatl had equipped his finest warriors with them, and the English had spent all winter training them in their use. As the Spanish Cavalry approached the plate clad Aztecs, glinting in the sun, the men bent and raised their pikes, creating as impenetrable a pike wall as could be found in Europe. It would not have impressed the Swiss, but it did not need to. At such close range the Spanish Cavalry was impaled on the Pike wall with Narvaez being killed instantly. Unfortunately the Aztec technique was not as perfect as it might have been, and Matlatzincatl was struck down and killed. Narvaez was dead, but the Aztec line was wavering as the enemy infantry streamed towards them.
The English cannon boomed again, and large swathes of Tlaxcalans were struck down by an invisible hand which terrified the Columbians who had never seen Gunpowder weapons do this. Alfonso de Salamanca, leading the infantry, tried to steady the line but, his own force in disarray as natives broke his formation, was severely mauled by the English cavalry in the flank. Lord Hampton’s charge saved the day. In a matter of moments the battle swung again as the Tlaxcalan-Spanish alliance collapsed and streamed from the field. The Aztecs gleefully captured many prisoners for sacrifices whilst the English hunted down every Spaniard to a man. Here the demi-arquebus found some use as groups of Spanish infantry sought to deter the English by forming local blocks of pikes and halberds, only to be shot at point-blank range.
As the sun set on the Battle of Atochac on the 2nd March 1521, some 30,000 men lay dead, their blood turning the green country of St Nicholas red. The English had only lost around 50 men, the Aztecs more like 8,000, but their enemies had been obliterated; the Tlaxcalans had around 1,000 men left who were all sacrificed or murdered in their homes in the subsequent brutal reprisals. As for the Spanish, a paltry 17 men made it back to the coast with news of the terrible disaster. Only 11 would make it back to Spain by autumn 1521 to tell the world what had happened.
The Aztec were victorious, their Empire restored, and their army replete with new weapons. Hampton had allowed them to keep all but the best steel and plate from the field almost doubling their armoury overnight. The victors returned to Tenochtitlan where a lavish feast was prepared. Moctezuma would not be in attendance. Hearing of Matlatzincatl’s death at Atochac, Cuauhtemoc had murdered the Emperor and taken his place, on the pretext of his cowardice. Again conspiracy theorists suggest that Lord Hampton had arranged this, and although there is no direct evidence to suggest this, later events make it likely.
Cuauhtémoc honoured the alliance with England and continued to trade with them for weapons and other European goods, but the English had seen their chance. Now that Spain had been fought off, it would take a monumental effort for them to get back in; an English settlement and port was established at Cheapside to prevent this, and so they had little need for the Aztecs. Indeed by 1521 there were strong signs of the disease outbreaks which had so far reduced the native populations of the Columbian islands to mere shells. The next four years would see a slow and gradual erosion of Aztec Imperial power as English oversight became firmer and their weapon prices steeper and steeper.
Back in Europe, news of Atochac was greeted rather predictably. In England the Gran Columbia Company received more accolades from the King. It is unlikely that Edward V had planned, or even fore-known, Hampton’s schemes, but the Gold kept flowing and Edward V had always been one to reward feats of arms. Across the Channel Charles V received news of English involvement on his return to Spain after the Diet of Worms, where he welcomed the survivors in November 1521. Charles was incensed, and demanded that Pope Leo X excommunicate Henry Tudor, and anyone involved in the GCC. Leo responded to this request by dying. Francis was also little help; he was gearing up to retake Milan in 1522, and had no interest in helping Charles, even by fighting England, whilst the Emperor kept land from him. Consequently it seems odd that the Battle of Atochac and Cortez’s death did not cause all-out war, but it would only be a matter of time.