Thomas More, Duke of Avalon

Okay people, here's an idea that's been brewing in the back of my brain for a while. Thomas More was the Lord Chancellor of England under Henry VIII of England. Thomas lost the position and latter his life because he refused to swear allegiance to the first Act of Succession because of the anti-papal reference in the act. What if instead of killing Thomas, Henry VIII decided to exile Thomas from England by founding a colony in North America?

The PoD for this actually goes back about forty years to John Cabot. Instead of just discovering Newfoundland, John goes further south to Manhattan. His motivations for this aren't important, but for simplicity's sake one can imagine gold lust or the desire to find exotic spices. Mostly N. America stays same in terms of Indian/European interactions with our timeline. However, the Hudson river is now the Cabot river and England knows that there is good land for settlement across the sea.

Henry VIII knows about Spain's colonial empire and is mildly resentful of it. Of course, there's nothing he can really do about because most people in England aren't about to pull up and go across the sea. He also knows that More is a good leader. Thus, at More's trial Henry shows his benficience by "pardoning" More, bestowing the peerage of Duke of Avalon, and telling More that he's got one year to get a colony convoy ready to sail for Manhattan or he's going to be locked up in the tower.

Lord More knows that he's been handed an almost impossible task, but he devises a plan. His time as Lord Chancellor allowed him to get to know many of his new peers. By going to the various lords, Lord More is able to gain the capital he needs to get his colonial fleet. In exchange, he had to promise land in the new Duchy of Avalon for the younger sons of the lords. By spring of 1536, Lord More has everything ready. He, his family, ten of the most addventurous of the nobles, and about 500 commoners set sail for Manhattan.
 
This is a fun idea - I'd be very interested to see where it's going.

So we're going to have a Catholic colony then? How long before it starts attracting migrants in a big way.
 
Part 1: End of a long journey

His grace the Lord of Avalon, or simply Thomas to those who knew him, did not look anything like peer of the realm. He wasn't wearing the fine clothes that his fellow lords usually wore. Instead, Thomas was wearing a simple outfit that was chosen for practicality and allowed him to hide his sack-cloth undershirt. The only sign of his station was the signet ring on his finger and the medallion around his neck.

Thomas didn't think about how shocking his outfit was. None of the other nobles in the fleet complained since they were, both literally and figuratively, in the same boat as he was. Currently, Thomas was sitting in the part of the ship's hold that had been designated as his family's quarters. His daughters had somehow managed to exude a friendly and serene presence even though this was no place for women. To Thomas's right and next to his daughter Margaret was Margaret's husband William Roper. The fact that William and Margaret had voluntarily joined him in this exile was touching.

The former Lord Chancellor was no fool. This whole venture was nothing more than a glorified exile. In the future, God willing, the Duchy of Avalon might become something. But, that was not the percent. In Thomas's hand was John Cabot's journal that he had aquired with a lot of effort. Cabot's journal contained records of the people living in the lands of Avalon that he was lord over in name only. One wrong step with them could result in the death of everyone in the expidition. Perhaps, Thomas dryly mused to himself, this was how Aeneas felt as he struggled find a home for his Trojans.

Suddenly, everyone in the hold heard a great cheer errupt on deck. Thomas stood up, smiled at his wife, and said, "I'll go see what has excited the sailors." He quickly made his way to the opening of the hold carefully walking around the other families huttled in the hold. Upon reaching the ladder, Thomas climbed up to the deck and called out, "Good sirs, would you please be so kind as to inform me why you are shouting?"

One of the sailors paused in their shouting to turn towards Thomas and reply, "Land your grace, Land. We've arrive!"

Thomas looked towards where the sailors were all staring at and saw the sweet sight of land. Relief washed over Thomas as he saw that wonderful vista. He had never imagined that such a beautiful sight could be found. A small smile crossed his lips as he crossed himself praying, "Gratias ago vos Deus pro vindico nos."
 
Part 2: The Landing

Thomas directed the fleet to sail to the western end of Long Island near Cabot River. According to what Lord More read in Cabot's journal, this was one of the best locations to found a settlement. Once the fleet was safely moored, Thomas got on board one of the ship's boats with the fleet's priest and half a dozen of the nobles. This boat was joined by boats carrying representatives from every ship in the fleet.

An anxious energy filled the men on the convoy of rowboats as they approached shore. The duke's boat was the first to reach land. Before anyone stepped ashore, the priest said a prayer of thanksgiving for the safe arrival of the fleet and petitioned God for the future prosperity of the settlement. Once that was done, Thomas lead everyone off the rowboats and had the boats secured.

Lord More then turned around to face his assembled subjects and calmly said, "You all know me and you all know each other. I stand before you not as a great lord speaking to his people, but as a father advising his children. Each of you look around and take note of those standing next to you. Know that every man you see is your brother and know that we all will be dependent on each other in the future."

"I will not deceive any of you. We have a long road ahead of us if we are to survive in this new land. England is a long ways away and cannot be counted on for support if we run into trouble. We must be like the founders of Carthage and Syracuse who gave everything they had to found their cities. I expect every man to pull his own weight and help out in the founding of our new settlement."

"You of noble birth should not shrink from hard labor of building and planting. Your ancestors made names for themselves by carving out their holdings by the sword. However, each of you here today will make even greater names for yourselves by building your holdings with your own labor. Conquerors may be praised in ballads, but just kings are remembered with respect long after their deaths."

"To you of common birth I have this to say. Show respect to the nobles and treat those here as you would an elder brother or a father. The ten nobles who have made this journey with you deserve respect out of their own deeds. They most of all deserve the respect accorded to their station. You will need them to organize yourselves and help lead you."

"Above all, everyone of you must remember that you are brothers in Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is as brothers that you made the journey from England to our new home and it is as brothers that you will prosper. I will guide you as best I can. However, it is Our Lord who will determine our fate."

A solemn silence descended upon the assembled men as they thought about what their duke had just told them. Eventually, one of the men spoke up, "Your Grace, what's the name of our new home?"

Thomas smiled at the man and said, "Thank you for asking me and remember that all of you can ask me anything whenever you need to. Our new home shall be known as Camelot."
 
I do like it. What are your plans with the navies and do you have any plans for the lands the duchy will have.
 
An interesting idea, though I have a few questions. Primarily as to the nature of the "ten lords" that have followed More. AFAIK, only two important people refused to give the oath - More and Fisher, neither of whom were lords. Also, there were only about 60 lords in the country at this point, most all of whom took the oath to save their careers and lives. Also, I'm curious as to how the colonists will do on their own - with More exiled I'd guess that More would find it impossible to commission captains to supply his colony with supplies every so often, which is how most fledgling colonies had to acquire much of their food in the early years.

Still, interesting topic. I'll be following it.
 
Part 3: Sorting out Camelot

(note: I am not quite certain if the nobles I give under Thomas More actually existed in history. The positions they come from are real and they can just be imagined to have been butterflied into existence by the earlier PoD. During this time many kids didn't survive to adulthood, so these guys are lucky younger brothers who due to butterflies survived.)

Lord More walked along the dirt roads of Camelot with a dignified and stoic air as he inspected the settlement. Over all, things were going well for the new colony as it entered it's second month of existence. Around Camelot the fields were full of young wheat plants. On Thomas' insistence the farms had been the very first thing that the colonists has constructed. They had arrived here late in the planting season, but God willing they would be able to get a harvest in before the first frost.

To the duke's right could be seen the moored fleet. Those boats were turning into real lifesavers for the colonists. Lord More had managed when arranging the convey to get the various captains to agree to stay one year with the colonists and ship out in the spring of next year. Thanks to the fleet, the colonists had been able to devote themselves to securing the fields before having to construct houses. Also, the sailors were able to fish off the island so the colonists didn't have to worry about starving. Having fish and wild herbs at every meal was tiring, but Lord More and the colonists accepted it as a test given to them by God.

Camelot itself was a very simple place. Lord More had laid out the settlement in a grid pattern and assigned plots for homes via lots. The thought of gambling for land left a bitter taste in the duke's mouth, but it was a simple manner of land distribution and it was good enough for the ancient Israelites. Currently, the houses were half-completed but they would be finished before winter. Despite Lord More's protests, many of the colonists had banded together and contructed a house for him. It was a touching gesture and the house itself was simple. However, Thomas didn't like that he was able to live in a house while his subjects still had to live on the boats.

After making his rounds, Thomas walked over to his house to hear the weekly report from the peers. As the duke's house, Thomas's home also functioned as the government house of the colony and was where the priest stored everything he needed to say mass. Thomas opened the door and saw the peers sitting at the table as his dear wife poured them some milk from one of the goats that had been brought over. Of the peers there were three earls and seven barons. Henry VIII had been generous enough to allow these men to hold the same rank of peerage as their elder brothers. The Earls were Robert Talbot from Shrewsbury, Cecil Stanley from Derby, and Arthur Hastings from Huntingdon. The Barons were William Manners the brother of Baron de Ros, Darcy Radcliffe the brother of Baron FitzWalter, John Clinton the brother of Baron Clinton, David Strabolgi the brother of the Baron Strabolgi, Edward Sutton the brother of Baron Dudley, Wosely Knyvett the brother of Baron Derners and Charles Somerset the brother of Baron Herbert. Each of these men had nothing really for them back in England because they were younger brothers and were fully commited to making sure that Camelot and the Duchy of Avalon succeeded.

Lord More accepted a mug of milk from his wife and then offically started the meeting of peerage. The earls were Thomas's lietenates and quickly gave their reports. Robert Talbot was in charge of securing Camelot's food supplies and had Darcy Radcliffe, Charles Somerset, and David Strabolgi working under him. Once Robert Talbot gave his report he let Arthur Hastings speak. Hastings was in charge of overseeing the building of Camelot and had Wosely Knyvett and Edward Sutton working under him. After that, the floor was handed to Cecil Stanley who had been placed in charge of the colony's relations with the natives. Since the colony hadn't made contact with the natives William Manners and John Clinton were temorarily reassigned to help out Hastings and Talbot.

After listening to everything that the other nobles had to say, Thomas said, "God has been very generous to us to allow us to build Camelot with such a lack of problems. Nevertheless, we must be diligent in our work so that something does not go wrong. Stanley, keep your eye out for the natives and remember that it is imperative that we establish good relations with them. Do not make the same mistakes that the French made in Outremier. While our unseen neighbors are not Mohommedians*, we must not enrage them." With that said, Thomas ended the meeting and invited the nobles to supper.


*To any Muslims reading this I do not mean this as an insult. During this time people in Europe referred to Muslims as Mohommedians and I was just trying to be accurate.
 
I think you're being a little lenient on the part of Henry VIII in creating the nobles Earls and Barons, especially men who had refused to recognise him as head of the Church, men he would have had executed mercilessly IRL ;)

But I'm enjoying the read so I won't press it.
 
He, Henry VIII, doesn't exactly know that Thomas' nobles are opposing him. As far at the King's concerned, there are ten nobles loyal to him watching Thomas' every move. After all, they owe their peerage to him and would be nothing without him razing them to those levels. Unfortunately, the king didn't realize that these guys would be more loyal to an honest duke one mile away whose helping them build their future estates verses a king 1,000 miles away that they probably won't ever hear from again.
 
Part 4: Prelude to Contact

The colonists of Camelot knew that they weren't alone and they had two things to prove it. First, there was John Calbot's journal which briefly talked about the native inhabitants of the land. Secondly, the colonists kept on finding footprints around the edges of the settlement that didn't belong to any of the colonists. There had been some apprehension among the colonists when the first footprints had been found. However, Lord More had addressed everyone in a speech. This short speech was recorded by William Roper, the second Duke of Avalon:

"My friends and fellow countrymen, Today on the 27th of May in the Year of Our Lord 1536 undeniable proof has been discovered showing that we are not alone in this land. Let us not fear this day, but rejoice. We came to these lands in order to build new homes and to stay true to God's word and Holy Mother Church. Did not Our Lord say to his Apostles, 'Go forth and make disciples of all nations'? How can we do this if we feel that which we do not know?"

"It is understandable that some of you are afraid. However, I entreat you all to look upon this as a gift from God. We will be able to show the peoples of these lands the truth of God's word. Also, the natives may be able to help us adapt to living here and enjoying the bounty that God has provided."

"Therefore, I ask all of you to keep an eye out for our neighbors. When they decide to show themselves you are to behave in a christian manner and greet them with friendship. Any one of you may be chosen by God to be Camelot's first representatives to the natives. Remember this and remember that your actions on that day could benefit or destroy our settlement. I trust that you will act like good Englishmen and more importantly, good Christians so that we may prosper."

Unknown to Lord More, his speech and advice would be critical to Camelot's survival. By pure coincidence, Camelot was situated right between two major Native American groups: the Algonquins and the Lenape. Traditionally, Camelot was in Lenape lands, but a small plague twenty years beforehand and a brief war with the Algonquins had driven the Lenape from that end of Long Island.

Both the Algonquins and the Lenape had taken note of the settlers' arrival. Scouts from both groups routinely sent scouts to observe the settlers. Neither group could place the settlers and frankly found them to be a little weird. Where had these people come from and why were they settling here?

Independently of each other, the chiefs of the Algonquins and the Lenape sent their best translators to observe the settlers and try to learn their language. After a few days, the translators noticed that the workers around the edges of the settlement started talking more and more. What the natives didn't know was that Lord More, under the advice Cecil Stanley, had asked the settlers to speak louder and more frequently so that their unseen observers could learn to understand them. Very soon, the fateful day when the people of Camelot would meet their neighbors would arrive.
 
Top