[WI] Portugal-Castile Union and the Fate of Columbus

[Philip]

tl;dr
Joanna la Beltraneja remains Henry IV's heir, and her marriage to Alfonso V results in a personal union of Portugal and Castile. What happens to Columbus and the Americas (whatever they end up being named)?

The whole story:
Let's suppose, however unlikely, that Henry IV of Castile manages to gather noble support for Joanna as his heir. She is married to Alfonso V of Portugal. Portugal and Castile enters into a personal union similar to OTL union of Castile and Aragon. Let's further suppose that the Castilian nobility is not dominated and is treated reasonably well such that they are not in open revolt. Isabella of Castile is still married to Ferdinand of Aragon, but has renounced an claim to Castile.

How does this affect the discovery and colonization of the *Americas? In particular, what does Columbus do?

OTL Portugal controlled the circumafrican route to the Indies. Columbus was able to sell to Isabella and Ferdinand his expedition to the west as an alternate route to the Indies. It seems to me that ATL Castile will lack the motivation to such for this route since it is united with Portugal. (Or would the Castilian interests be excluded from the circumafrican route, and some nobles might finance a search for alternatives?)

Could Columbus still convince Isabella and Ferdinand? I doubt this but do not completely rule it out. Aragon is primarily a Mediterranean power and lacks direct access to the Atlantic. Are there ways around this limitation? Perhaps somehow seizing Tangier?

Could Columbus find support in France or England? This has often been explored before on this site, but feel free to defend the idea again. What route would he take? OTL the Castilian Canaries and the trade winds made for a fairly easy choice for the initial western course. If Columbus sails for France or England, does he take a different coarse?

And to head into the highly improbable, but not quite impossible, could Columbus be so focused on the western route that he might attempt to sell the idea to Morocco?

Or is Columbus just out of luck?

Of course, Europeans will eventually encounter the *Americas whether by Volta du Mar, Basque and Breton fishermen, or something else. But for now, let's focus on a deliberate effort to cross the Western Ocean.

 

[Diego]

And to head into the highly improbable, but not quite impossible, could Columbus be so focused on the western route that he might attempt to sell the idea to Morocco?

Not possible, Morocco lack everything needed at this point not only they lack oceanic tradition, but even their coast isn't safe for them.

 

[kasumigenx]

tl;dr
Joanna la Beltraneja remains Henry IV's heir, and her marriage to Alfonso V results in a personal union of Portugal and Castile. What happens to Columbus and the Americas (whatever they end up being named)?

The whole story:
Let's suppose, however unlikely, that Henry IV of Castile manages to gather noble support for Joanna as his heir. She is married to Alfonso V of Portugal. Portugal and Castile enters into a personal union similar to OTL union of Castile and Aragon. Let's further suppose that the Castilian nobility is not dominated and is treated reasonably well such that they are not in open revolt. Isabella of Castile is still married to Ferdinand of Aragon, but has renounced an claim to Castile.

How does this affect the discovery and colonization of the *Americas? In particular, what does Columbus do?

OTL Portugal controlled the circumafrican route to the Indies. Columbus was able to sell to Isabella and Ferdinand his expedition to the west as an alternate route to the Indies. It seems to me that ATL Castile will lack the motivation to such for this route since it is united with Portugal. (Or would the Castilian interests be excluded from the circumafrican route, and some nobles might finance a search for alternatives?)

Could Columbus still convince Isabella and Ferdinand? I doubt this but do not completely rule it out. Aragon is primarily a Mediterranean power and lacks direct access to the Atlantic. Are there ways around this limitation? Perhaps somehow seizing Tangier?

Could Columbus find support in France or England? This has often been explored before on this site, but feel free to defend the idea again. What route would he take? OTL the Castilian Canaries and the trade winds made for a fairly easy choice for the initial western course. If Columbus sails for France or England, does he take a different coarse?

And to head into the highly improbable, but not quite impossible, could Columbus be so focused on the western route that he might attempt to sell the idea to Morocco?

Or is Columbus just out of luck?

Of course, Europeans will eventually encounter the *Americas whether by Volta du Mar, Basque and Breton fishermen, or something else. But for now, let's focus on a deliberate effort to cross the Western Ocean.

Not Alfonso V but rather King John of Portugal instead.

 

[bbctol]

OTL Portugal controlled the circumafrican route to the Indies.

I think your timeline's a little off? OTL Portugal wouldn't successfully reach the Indies by rounding Africa until Columbus was already back from the New World; Bartolomeu Dias had rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, but Vasco de Gama wouldn't reach the Indies themselves until 1497. Castile wasn't competing against an existing Portuguese trade route, both Castile and Portugal were trying to figure out new trade routes after the fall of Constantinople blocked the overland route.

In fact, Columbus had already approached Portugal in 1485 and 1488 with his venture, but they rejected him on the grounds that they were making good progress with their attempts to round Africa (and also the issue that his calculations of distances were, uh, totally wrong.) A united Portugal-Castile might be rich enough that they decide to fund his voyage anyway just to see what happens, which as far as I can tell was basically Ferdinand and Isabella's motivation in OTL.

 

[isabella]

tl;dr
Joanna la Beltraneja remains Henry IV's heir, and her marriage to Alfonso V results in a personal union of Portugal and Castile. What happens to Columbus and the Americas (whatever they end up being named)?

The whole story:
Let's suppose, however unlikely, that Henry IV of Castile manages to gather noble support for Joanna as his heir. She is married to Alfonso V of Portugal. Portugal and Castile enters into a personal union similar to OTL union of Castile and Aragon. Let's further suppose that the Castilian nobility is not dominated and is treated reasonably well such that they are not in open revolt. Isabella of Castile is still married to Ferdinand of Aragon, but has renounced an claim to Castile.

How does this affect the discovery and colonization of the *Americas? In particular, what does Columbus do?

OTL Portugal controlled the circumafrican route to the Indies. Columbus was able to sell to Isabella and Ferdinand his expedition to the west as an alternate route to the Indies. It seems to me that ATL Castile will lack the motivation to such for this route since it is united with Portugal. (Or would the Castilian interests be excluded from the circumafrican route, and some nobles might finance a search for alternatives?)

Could Columbus still convince Isabella and Ferdinand? I doubt this but do not completely rule it out. Aragon is primarily a Mediterranean power and lacks direct access to the Atlantic. Are there ways around this limitation? Perhaps somehow seizing Tangier?

Could Columbus find support in France or England? This has often been explored before on this site, but feel free to defend the idea again. What route would he take? OTL the Castilian Canaries and the trade winds made for a fairly easy choice for the initial western course. If Columbus sails for France or England, does he take a different coarse?

And to head into the highly improbable, but not quite impossible, could Columbus be so focused on the western route that he might attempt to sell the idea to Morocco?

Or is Columbus just out of luck?

Of course, Europeans will eventually encounter the *Americas whether by Volta du Mar, Basque and Breton fishermen, or something else. But for now, let's focus on a deliberate effort to cross the Western Ocean.

Juana as recognized and undisputed heiress of Henry IV will be likely married to her cousin João not her uncle Alfonso and that will consent the union of the two crowns... If Juana marry Alfonso Portugal and Castile will not be united...

Edit: a wedding between Ferdinand and Isabella is trouble for Henry in any situation... Maybe Henry IV is able to execute his plan to marry off his half-sister Isabella to his brother-in-law Alfonso. Ferdinand can marry either a French princess, one of his Navarrese nieces or one of the three Portuguese princesses (Juana of Portugal, Leonor and Beatrice of Viseu).

 

[Lusitania]

I think your timeline's a little off? OTL Portugal wouldn't successfully reach the Indies by rounding Africa until Columbus was already back from the New World; Bartolomeu Dias had rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, but Vasco de Gama wouldn't reach the Indies themselves until 1497. Castile wasn't competing against an existing Portuguese trade route, both Castile and Portugal were trying to figure out new trade routes after the fall of Constantinople blocked the overland route.

In fact, Columbus had already approached Portugal in 1485 and 1488 with his venture, but they rejected him on the grounds that they were making good progress with their attempts to round Africa (and also the issue that his calculations of distances were, uh, totally wrong.) A united Portugal-Castile might be rich enough that they decide to fund his voyage anyway just to see what happens, which as far as I can tell was basically Ferdinand and Isabella's motivation in OTL.

In fact the Portuguese had already reached the Indian Ocean by time Columbus arrived in Portuguese court. It’s just they did not divulge it till much later. So the Portuguese having charted their route were in midsts if preparing for Vasco da Gama expedition. This was the primary reason they would still reject Columbus.

 

[kasumigenx]

Juana as recognized and undisputed heiress of Henry IV will be likely married to her cousin João not her uncle Alfonso and that will consent the union of the two crowns... If Juana marry Alfonso Portugal and Castile will not be united...

Edit: a wedding between Ferdinand and Isabella is trouble for Henry in any situation... Maybe Henry IV is able to execute his plan to marry off his half-sister Isabella to his brother-in-law Alfonso. Ferdinand can marry either a French princess, one of his Navarrese nieces or one of the three Portuguese princesses (Juana of Portugal, Leonor and Beatrice of Viseu).

Another possibility is Isabella of Castile to Edward IV.

 

[JonasResende]

Another possibility is Isabella of Castile to Edward IV.

Juana as recognized and undisputed heiress of Henry IV will be likely married to her cousin João not her uncle Alfonso and that will consent the union of the two crowns... If Juana marry Alfonso Portugal and Castile will not be united...

Edit: a wedding between Ferdinand and Isabella is trouble for Henry in any situation... Maybe Henry IV is able to execute his plan to marry off his half-sister Isabella to his brother-in-law Alfonso. Ferdinand can marry either a French princess, one of his Navarrese nieces or one of the three Portuguese princesses (Juana of Portugal, Leonor and Beatrice of Viseu).

And alll of you seem to be forgetting that Isabel refused to be married to anyone unless she agreed to it. Her marrying Fernando and then dying in childbirth with a stillborn child (OTL Isabel of Aragon, Princess of the Asturias) seems like a better bet. Because if you kill off Isabel before La Beltraneja's marrying, Fernando's simply going to propose to Juana and then we have the same situation as OTL (Castile-Aragon Union), but different (La Beltraneja+Fernando).

 

[isabella]

And alll of you seem to be forgetting that Isabel refused to be married to anyone unless she agreed to it. Her marrying Fernando and then dying in childbirth with a stillborn child (OTL Isabel of Aragon, Princess of the Asturias) seems like a better bet. Because if you kill off Isabel before La Beltraneja's marrying, Fernando's simply going to propose to Juana and then we have the same situation as OTL (Castile-Aragon Union), but different (La Beltraneja+Fernando).

Well, Henry’s plan to marry Isabella to Alfonso for being successful will require a less willful Isabel, but at the time she was still young...
If Isabella died in childbirth with her eldest child Juana will still be unmarried and in any case Juana would be always much more likely to marry in Portugal than Aragon...