Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
Chapter 17: Upheaval In France
France during the latter half of the 16th Century was… an interesting place. Ever since the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathar heresy of the 13th Century, France had been a pretty uniformly Catholic region, but this was about to change. The Protestant Reformation that had begun in Germany had begun to spread to France during the 1530s, growing precipitously during the middle of the 16th Century, to where by 1570 10% of the French population was Protestant. Most of the French Protestants, who came to be called the Huguenots, followed the school of thought established by Jean Calvin, who’d been born in Picardy but had come to reside in Geneva. Protestantism gained a large following particularly in the south of France, which also happened to be where Catharism was the strongest three centuries prior, as well as among the mercantile class. Protestantism even made inroads into the French nobility, with a large chunk of noblemen in the south becoming Huguenots. It even made it into the French royal family, with Queen Jeanne of Navarre converting to Protestantism. Both Francis I and Henry II pursued a policy of suppressing Protestantism during their reigns, but it was largely ineffective at stymying the spread of Protestantism. As the Huguenot population grew, tensions between them and the Catholic majority rose steadily, with incidents of sectarian violence occuring on multiple occasions. Things continued to proceed like this under the reign of Francis II, who due to his ill health and young age at the time of his ascension often had his family govern more than him, especially his mother Catherine de Medici. Many of Francis’s influences happened to be zealously anti-Protestant, so Francis’s policy towards them reflected that. In 1560, a cabal of Huguenot noblemen attempted to capture the young Francis II, but the conspiracy was discovered and thwarted, with hundreds of nobles being executed as punishment. This only furthered hostilities towards the Huguenots and rose tensions within the kingdom, which were bound to boil over at some point…
Francis II, recognizing the seriousness of the situation, called the first meeting of the Estates General in over 65 years in 1560, covering topics from finances (France’s wars in Italy left it nearly broke) to politics (France being ruled by a young, inexperienced and sickly king). When it came to religion, though, the Estates-General were unable to come to any sort of settlement on what to do with France’s religious issues, the only accomplishment of the convention being a pardon for those convicted of religious crimes within the past year. The lack of an actual solution to the religious issues plaguing France would lead to things going south in due time, with the die being cast when the Duke of Guisemassacred Protestants in the town of Vassy in March of 1562. Naturally this didn’t go over too well with the Huguenots, who retaliated by capturing several prominent cities, notably Orleans and Lyon. This would officially kick off the French Wars of Religion, which would last several decades more. Battles and killings between Catholics and Huguenots across France throughout 1562 and 1563, before Catherine de Medici was able to sign an edict that would bring an end to the violence. Religious tension in France didn’t disappear with the edict, though, and religious violence reappeared a few years later. Religious violence continued throughout the late 1560s and early 1570s, whether in the form of iconoclasm, riots or outright military engagements. All the while King Francis II was mostly unable to do anything. Already infirm, Francis had a serious health scare in late 1560, and while he survived (in contrast to OTL, where he died), he became even more physically weak than before. In spite of his frailty and undropped family jewels, Francis and Mary somehow managed to have a child, a daughter named Madeleine, born in June of 1563 (ATL). However, due to French salic law, Madeleine was ineligible to become the heir to the French throne. Francis’s health would continue to decline over the following years in spite of his young age, until in December of 1567 he would come down with an illness. This illness would worsen into pneumonia in January of 1568. In spite of the best attempts to cure him, on the 6th of February in the Year of Our Lord 1568, Francis II of France would breathe his last, perishing at the age of 24. Due to his lack of a male heir, the throne would pass to Francis’ younger brother Charles, who’d be crowned King Charles IX. Now, Charles was very young as of his ascension to the throne, only being 17 years of age. He too was underprepared for the sticky situation he found himself in, as the religious conflict would continue through the late 1560s. He wed Elisabeth of Austria in 1570, creating dynastic ties between the Valois in France and the Habsburgs in Austria. He and Elisabeth would bear two children during their marriage, a daughter named Marie in October of 1572 (OTL) and a son named Francis in December of the following year (ATL). Charles would also have a son out of wedlock, also named Charles, with his mistress Marie Touchet (OTL). Marie would die in childhood and Charles was ineligible for the throne due to his illegitimacy, but not only was Francis eligible for the throne, but he also happened to survive into adulthood. Unfortunately for him, his father wouldn’t be there to raise him, as just was the case with Francis II before him, Charles IX of France would perish at a young age, passing away on the fourth of October 1574 (a few months later than IOTL). While Francis II would still have his mother and his uncle Henry (who’d act as his regent while Francis was young) to raise him, Francis grew up without his father. Now, let’s talk about part of what led Charles IX to die so young.
The early years of Charles IX’s reign saw a continuation of the French religious conflicts, with cities in Southwestern France (the region with the highest number of Protestants) becoming contested between Protestant and Catholic forces. A treaty between the crown and Protestant leaders was signed in 1570, and it looked as though France might finally be returning to some sort of stability. However, that was not to be, as two years later, one of the defining events of the French religious conflict would occur. You see, a royal wedding was to occur in Paris. The two parties that were to be hitched were Charles IX’s sister Margaret, a Catholic and Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot. It was hoped that this interreligious marriage would smooth over tensions between the two sects (and that Henry would convert to Catholicism), but things would go terribly, terribly wrong, and the religious conflicts would explode again.
The wedding itself would go off without a hitch, but a few days later merde would officially hit the fan. You see, the prominent Huguenot Gaspard de Coligny, most known for his attempts at founding colonies in NorthAmerica and Brazil was in attendance, and stuck around in Paris after the wedding to meet with the king. On the 22nd of August, Coligny was shot and killed by Charles de Louviers, an elderly nobleman (IOTL the assassination failed, but Coligny was killed a few days later at the king’s orders). Word of Coligny’s assassination spread, and before you know it Huguenots across Paris were rioting. Catholics responded in kind by attacking the Huguenots, and soon Paris was up in flames. The news of the assassination, riots and street battles soon spread across France, where religious warfare would once again explode. The King, blaming the Huguenots for the rioting, began a campaign against the Huguenots. Royal troops would siege and then capture Protestant-controlled towns like La Rochelle, Sommières and Sancerre, and with all this happening many Huguenots would emigrate to Protestant countries, something that would continue for decades to come and could have ramifications in other parts of both Europe and the broader world. All the while King Charles IX would experience a precipitous drop in his mental and physical health, as despite his disdain for the Huguenots he still lamented the death of Coligny and the chaos that followed it. While he would be able to father another child with his wife, which would fortunately be a son, Charles IX would perish on 29th of January 1575, to be succeeded by his infant son Francis.
As you may recall, though, Francis was an infant, only having been born 14 months before his father’s death, so Charles’s brother Henry would act as regent for the time being. Henry had been in consideration for the Polish throne, but had declined in case his home country needed him. That would turn out to be the case, as while Henry was never officially crowned King, he would effectively assume that role for well over a decade. While a Catholic, Henry was rather pragmatic when it came to religious policy, and attempted to put an end to the religious conflict. His sympathies towards the Huguenots (which he nearly became as a child) made enemies within the French court, as did his attempts to centralize the realm (one of these being his own brother Francis, not to be confused with the soon-to-be-governing king). Henry would also look into establishing a French colonial empire, though the implementation of said ideas would have to wait until after his regency was done.
On the topic of the regency ending, by the late 1580s Francis was maturing into a young man, more and more ready to gain real power. Meanwhile, Henry was losing popularity with both the nobility and the people. Seeing this, Henry would officially hand over the reins to Francis in the Spring of 1589, which would be celebrated with a big celebration and feast in Paris. Despite not being regent anymore, Henry would remain an advisor to Francis until his death in May of 1612 (he’s not assassinated ITTL due to that taking place after the regency ends). Francis, now governing as King Francis III, would continue his regent’s policies of religious pragmatism. The early years of his reign would be marked by occasional religious conflict but also peace, albeit not a steady one. By this point France had experienced religious conflict for nearly 30 years, and Francis III wanted it to end under his watch. Thus, Francis would get to drafting a document detailing France’s religious policy. After months of work and consultation from both Catholic and Huguenot leaders, the Edict of Tours would officially be proclaimed in the fall of 1596. This edict would both maintain Catholicism’s status as the state religion of France while granting Huguenots enough liberties to secure their loyalty. Huguenots were allowed to practice their faith in designated locales, maintain their own institutions and travel freely within the country without harassment by the authorities. However, Huguenots would still have to pay the tithe to the church and obey Catholic customs regarding marriage and holidays. While Protestants weren’t thrilled with the amount of restrictions and obligations towards the Catholic Church, they were generally satisfied with the terms. Among Catholics, reactions varied from indifference to outrage, with Francis facing a notable assassination attempt in the spring of 1597 by a Catholic radical, who believed that Francis was a secret Protestant who was selling out the country to the heretics. Francis was shot in his left arm, which would be severely impacted and leave a permanent scar, but he did survive, with the assassin being arrested and executed. In other matters, Francis would continue to attempt expansion and influence in the HRE and Italy, to varying degrees of success (and in ways I don’t have time to get into now). In the colonial sphere, Francis’s reign would see the permanent establishment of the French colonial empire, with the colonies in South America I discussed in the previous update (from five months ago, I know, it’s been way too long) and the formation of the Compagnie Français D’Orient, or French Company of The Orient, made to set up French outposts in India and East Asia. The late 16th Century and early 17th Century would see French voyages to the Indian Ocean in order to find out more about the region and establish contact with the local nations and peoples, though actual trade and colonization would wait until the middle of the 17th Century. Part of that would be the French gaining interest in West Africa, both to found waystations to the east and trade with the locals, including in human beings, an unfortunate but unavoidable aspect of this time period. This would become a major part of the economy of L’Equinoctie in particular, as African slaves were used in plantation agriculture, dying at horrifying rates. As stated in previous updates, the Atlantic Slave Trade will eventually get its own update, as it would come to dominate the economy in much of the New World and have sizable impacts in Europe and Africa as well. Regardless, France was beginning to expand its reach both at home and abroad.
One more thing worth mentioning is the dynastic situation in France. Being the king of arguably Europe’s most powerful country, Francis III was definitely a marriageable bachelor. Getting a good spouse would not only ensure the continuation of the Valois line, which had nearly gone extinct, but also strengthen diplomatic ties between France and the country the spouse came from. After several candidates had been considered, Francis would ultimately marry a prominent noblewoman from the House of Lorraine, with the wedding taking place in May of 1598. Francis and his wife would have their first child, a girl named Geneviève, in February of 1600. A second girl, named Catherine, would be born in September of 1602, but she would die of illness the following February. Finally, the royal couple would have a baby boy in March of 1604, named Louis, who would become the heir to the French throne. Francis and his wife would have three more children, two of whom would survive to adulthood, thus securing the existence of the Valois dynasty into the 17th Century.
This update took way, WAY too long to put out, but hey, better late than never. I can assure you guys it will not take five months to put out the next update, as the next two will be colonial related, which is what I feel most passionate about when it comes to writing this series. I have to keep tabs on the Old World out of necessity, as butterflies would obviously make an impact there as time goes on, but I like writing about colonial stuff more. Regardless, more content will be coming out soon, possibly within this month, so keep an eye out for more UOTTC content in the next few weeks. In the meantime, though, I must bid you adieu.
Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
Chapter 18: Dutch Colonies Through 1650
As the 16th Century closed and the 17th Century dawned, European exploration and expansion across the world would begin to see new players joining the established empires the Spanish, Portuguese and (to a much smaller extent than the other two) Scandinavians had made over the previous century. With so much profit and prestige that could potentially be made from colonial expansion, it was only a matter of time before new nations joined in on the fun. I’ve already talked about France’s colonial endeavors in South America in a previous update, and will get back to them in the future, but in the next two updates I’ll focus on the newly founded colonial projects of The Netherlands and England. While they got into the game later than the previously mentioned Iberians or Scandinavians, they would eventually make a big mark on the colonial stage, both in the old and new worlds. Any colonial empire (or empire in general) has to start somewhere, as does any update about said empires. Thus, let’s begin the first of these two updates, this one covering the Dutch colonies.
After the Netherlands’ independence from the Spanish in 1588, colonial expansion immediately came onto the radar of the Dutch leadership, including King Canute (or Knoet in Dutch). Canute, having seen the expansion his family over in Copenhagen had made in the colonial realm, wanted to establish colonies for his new kingdom in both hemispheres. Thus, Canute would found two trading companies, the Nederlands Oosters Compagnie (NOC), or Dutch Oriental Company to operate in Africa and Asia, and the Nederlands Amerikaan Compagnie (NAC) to do so in the Americas, giving royal funds to both of them. The NOC would then go on to send expeditions to India and Southeast Asia, hoping to learn more about the region and where to establish a Dutch presence. They’d also get to work establishing a foothold in Africa, which would be useful as a waystation to get to the orient. The company would found the first Dutch trading post in Africa, Fort Knoet, along the Gold Coast in West Africa in 1603, and would establish Fort Brabant two years later on the southeastern coast of Madagascar. Finally, in 1611, the NOC would establish their foothold in India, founding the outpost of Fort Willem at the southern end of the subcontinent.
Moving over to the Western Hemisphere, the NAC would be hard at work building a Dutch presence in the new world. The NAC’s main priority would be to gain control of various territories in and around the Caribbean Sea. While the Caribbean wasn’t yet the treasure trove it would go on to be, the Portuguese in Brazil were already showing the potential that tropical cash crops, particularly sugar, had to make boatloads of cash (pun 100% intended). So, the NAC would establish their first colony in the Caribbean in 1614, on the islands the Spanish called Guadalupe. There, they would establish their first settlement at the place where the two largest islands would nearly connect, separated only by a narrow passage. The Dutch would appropriately name that settlement De Kanaal, which I don’t think you guys should have much trouble translating into English. A settlement on the South American mainland would be set up soon thereafter, as the Dutch would seek to place a colony in between the Spanish New Granada in the west and the French Equinoctie in the east. While originally planning to forward settle the Spanish in Venezuela, they would decide to settle further east on the thus far uncolonized Guiana coast. Thus, in Nikole Hannah-Jones’ favorite year, the settlement of Nieuw Dordrecht would be founded on the Guiana coast, with more settlements in the region being established in the following decades as well. Both the Caribbean and Guiana colonies would become reliant on plantation agriculture, with cash crops being grown and harvested by African slaves, with the white population in these colonies being a small minority. However, there was one Dutch colony in the Americas that would become widely settled by Europeans, and for that we’ll have to go north.
Upon the foundation of the NAC, King Canute gave it a charter to settle the eastern coast of North America. This charter entailed building forts and outposts to establish control and influence, to trade with the natives for goods like furs, acquire resources like timber (plentiful in North America but rare in the Netherlands) and bring over settlers to farm the land. With the English beginning to settle in the south and the Kalmar Union to the north, the NAC decided to place their colony in the middle section between the Chesapeake and Cape Cod. In March of 1618, the NAC would send out an expedition to establish a colony on the North American mainland. After two and a half months traversing the North Atlantic, the expedition would reach the North American east coast, specifically the tip of a large island jutting out into the sea. After traversing west along the island for some time, they would come into large, deep harbor with multiple rivers feeding into it and numerous locations suitable for settlement. Unlike Bono three and a half centuries later, the Dutch had found what they were looking for. Several locations were considered by the party for their settlement site, but they ultimately decided on the far western part of the harbor, at the convergence of a river and one of the many channels of water found around the bay. Several names would be considered for the settlement, but they decided to adopt the native name for the area. Thus, on July 2nd, 1618, the Dutch settlement of Ampoeg would be established, the first Dutch colony on the North American mainland. A second settlement, named Knoedshaven after the now elderly king, was founded nearby in April of 1620, further solidifying Dutch control over the bay region.
The Dutch would expand their North American colony south into another large bay area, one that was getting close to the English colony around the Chesapeake. The first Dutch settlement on the bay was established in 1623 at the tip of a large cape jutting into the bay’s entrance, appropriately named Zuidkaap. The other side of the bay’s entrance was settled by the Dutch the following year, named Zwaanendael for the large population of swans in the area. That same year, the Dutch founded an outpost at the head of the bay, to be named Berenstad, a translated version of a local native name.
Heading back up north, the Dutch expanded up the Noortrivier (North River) to found a fort, which they named Fort Oranje after the House of Orange, the most prominent noble family in the country. Other settlements founded in the north prior to 1650 included Manhattoes, Terneuzen, Nieuwedam and Brugpoort. Back down south, pre-1650 settlements included Moerasdorp, Oestermond and, most notably, Nieuw Antwerp.
Now that I’ve covered the early settlement of the Dutch North American colony, I think it’s about time I talk about the demographics. With the Netherlands being a fairly prosperous country, it was difficult to get many settlers to cross the ocean to some far-off land. As a result, only a few thousand Dutch settlers went to the colony between the foundation in 1618 and 1650. However, the Dutch were not the only population to settle over there. With Europe being in the midst of its great religious conflict that I’ll cover in a future update, many people had been displaced from their homes and were now refugees. This was particularly true in Germany, where the conflict was at its most intense, with millions (mainly civilians) perishing during the long conflict (mostly from disease). With so much upheaval, a good number of Germans wanted a fresh start, and what better place to have said fresh start than across the ocean? With the Netherlands allowing any Protestant to settle in their colonies (though preferring Calvinists), several thousand Germans settled in the New Netherland colony through 1650, the largest single ethnic group in the colony. Other settlers included a decent number of French Huguenots and English Calvinists, the latter of whom founded their own settlements like Jarmuiden and Engelshaven (using their eventual Dutch names). Even with the settlement of non-Dutch groups in the colony, they’d eventually assimilate into speaking Dutch, though in some cases it took several generations. Between immigration and the growing number of settlers born in the colony, the European population of the Dutch colony numbered 22,000 in 1650, quite small but poised to grow rapidly over the coming decades. As for the colony’s political divisions, the northern and southern portion of the colonies were at this point mostly disconnected, with the north having about 2/3rds of the colonists and the south 1/3rd. These two regions would begin to be referred to as New Holland and New Flanders respectively, reflecting the geographic position of those two regions in the Netherlands. The two colonies put together began to be referred to as New Batavia, or Nieuw Betuwe in Dutch, coming from a Latin name for the Netherlands.The borders of New Batavia with the Scandinavians to the north and English to the south were still unclear and yet to be resolved, particularly in the peninsula separating the Dutch controlled Flemish (Vlaams) Bay and the English-controlled Chesapeake, but that’ll be resolved in a future update. I’ll eventually return to New Batavia, but first I’ve got some other business to cover, such as the colonies the English were setting up at the same time. That update should be out towards the end of this month or the beginning of the next, so keep your eyes peeled for that, as well as an EC/FC update I’ve been working on. Until then, however, I must say farewell.
Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
Chapter 19: The Beginnings of English North America
After covering the early developments of the Dutch colonial empire in the previous update, I shall now move on to the colonial endeavors of the English. Being an island nation on the west coast of Europe, it was not a surprise that the English would take a keen interest in the Americas once news of its existence reached them. Italian navigator John Cabot was hired by King Henry VII to explore the New World and possibly find a route to the far east. Cabot would conduct his voyage to the New World in 1497, just five years after Columbus, landing in Vinland near the future Nordic settlements of Kristianshavn and Jubelkappe. Cabot would explore the eastern shore of Vinland before returning to England. While John Cabot would die shortly after the voyage, his son Sebastian would continue his father’s efforts, exploring much of the North American east coast, before he too would return to jolly old England.
In spite of this early exploration, England wouldn’t enter the colonial game for nearly another century, as the country was dealing with its own internal problems that I’ll cover in a future update. By the time the 16th Century was coming to a close, though, England would officially enter the colonial game. English explorers and privateers began to go to the New World in greater and greater numbers through the 1570s and 1580s, and with that came greater English knowledge of and interest in the area, the latter of which was piqued by the news of the Scandinavian settlement of the mainland. In September of 1586, Queen Elizabeth I (she still comes to the throne ITTL) granted a group of nobles and merchants from the area around Bristol a charter to establish colonies on the eastern seaboard of North America. With the Spanish established in the far south and the Scandinavians in the far north, the men that got the charter opted for a settlement in the central region, somewhere in the range of 35 to 40 degrees north. Over the next several years funds were secured, settlers were recruited and missions to scout out possible locations for settlement were conducted. Finally, in June of 1589, a fleet of ships carrying food, water, livestock, various other supplies and, most importantly, over 200 settlers departed from Bristol, with their destination being the east coast of North America. Specifically, they were to settle at the entrance of a large bay, located roughly halfway down the coast, as it looked to be a prime location that would sooner or later be settled by some European power, especially since the Spanish had previously attempted it. Previous exploration had established the entrance to the bay at about the 37th parallel north, so that was where the expedition was going to aim. The voyage across the Atlantic was long and arduous, with several of the colonists perishing along the way, but by late August they had reached the mainland, stopping briefly to gather fresh water. They landed just south of 38 degrees, on a coastline dotted with barrier islands and lagoons, so they would have to go a bit further south if they were to find the bay they were targeting. After traveling southward along the coast for a day or two, they found a large opening into a sizable body of water, which they figured must be the bay they were looking for. The bay quickly curved north, making the land they’d sailed along a peninsula, while numerous rivers and streams fed into the western shore of the bay. The south shore of the bay opened into a large inlet, with a sizable natural harbor and a verdant shore. They figured that the entrance to the bay would eventually be a strategically advantageous location and that they might as well settle there now. Thus, on August 28th, 1589, Bristol was founded, named for the city from which they departed, the first English settlement in North America.
Now it was time to get to work. The proprietors of the charter were to be granted land in the colony, which would be worked by the colonists. Some of the proprietors would move to the colony themselves, while others would send over one of their relatives to inherit the land grant. In order to get a workforce, the proprietors would recruit workers as indentured servants, paying for their passage across the Atlantic in return for several years of labor from said servant, after which they’d be free. Frequently these indentured servants were convicts, most often debtors or petty thieves, establishing a long-standing English tradition of using convicts as colonists. Due to the hot climate and unfamiliar terrain, the colony would struggle early on, with disease and conflicts with the natives claiming the lives of many early settlers. In spite of that, the colony would survive, with 2,000 English settlers residing in the colony as of 1610. Early growth was concentrated along the Bristol River, mainly in the form of large estates that grew cash crops. By this point in time the main cash crop has become tobacco, which had been acquired by privateers from the West Indies and introduced to the Chesapeake colony. More Englishmen would arrive between 1610 and 1620, to where the English population in the Chesapeake had grown to 5,000 by 1620. By this point a few more settlements like Bridgewater, Warrosquyoake and Kecoughtan had popped up around the lower Chesapeake, though these were mere hamlets at this point. 1620 would be about the time that the destiny of the colony would change forever, as a new group of Englishmen would show up in the Chesapeake…
The English Reformation had begun nearly a century ago by this point, and in that time the majority of the English population had become Protestant, mostly following the state-run Church of England. However, there were a sizable number of Protestants who had broken with the CoE and founded their own sects. One of the most prominent of these were the Purifiers, a sect of English Protestants who embraced Calvinist theology, a decentralized church structure and believed the Church of England to have retained too many Catholic practices and traditions. The Purifiers were popular among the mercantile and educated classes in England and in the region of East Anglia, which had strong trade connections with the majority Calvinist Netherlands on the other side of the North Sea. With the success of the North American colony, Purifiers began to come to the conclusion that it was in their best interest to found their own colony where they could live as they saw fit. Thus, in early August of 1618, a group of ships carrying 120 Purifier settlers plus supplies and necessities left from the port of Southampton, bound for the Chesapeake Bay. The journey was to be lengthy and treacherous, but the colonists knew that it would be worth it. After 10 long weeks of traversing the open ocean, the fleet finally made it to Bristol. They weren’t going to stay there long, though, because they’d set out to settle the northern part of the Chesapeake Bay that had hitherto been unsettled by Europeans. Thus, after gathering needed supplies from Bristol, they turned north and sailed up the bay. It’d been reported that the northern part of the Chesapeake was home to numerous inlets and natural harbors, which would be good locations for coastal communities. Within a couple of days the Purifier fleet had reached this indented section of coastline, and with the colonists eager to settle down, they decided to set up their settlement in one of these inlets. So, on the 16th of November, 1618, the colony of Providence was founded, named as such due to the colonists’ belief that it was divine providence that had brought them to this new land. The Providence colony would struggle early on, as it was established late in the year shortly before winter, plus the obvious fact that they were in a new, unfamiliar land, but eventually it’d stabilize and start growing rapidly due to new migrants from England and the Purifiers’ sky high birth rate. More Purifier settlements would be founded in the upper Chesapeake over the coming years like Salem, Bethlehem and, what would eventually become the premier city in the upper Chesapeake region, Ipswich.
In spite of their geographic proximity, the southern and northern Chesapeake colonies would take drastically different paths of development. The lower Chesapeake was settled by aristocrats and landowners looking for more land, which led the colony to develop along stratified, aristocratic lines. The landed gentry would get labor for their properties at first by importing indentured servants and/or convicts, which I mentioned earlier in the update. However, it turned out that people weren’t too keen on crossing an ocean just to remain a peasant, so another, darker solution to the labor issue was found. Yup, slavery. The first shipment of African captives would come in 1616, and while they too technically started as indentured servants, it would evolve over the next few decades into full-on chattel slavery, which would have massive ramifications on the development of English North America in the future.
Meanwhile, the Purifier colony in the upper Chesapeake was mainly settled by family units, who would set up their own family farms. With the massive birth rates and continuing migration from England, the Purifier colony had little need for slavery or indentured servitude. The two colonies also differed in cultural respects, with the southern colony being more lively and fun but also more dysfunctional and violent while the northern Purifiers were moral busybodies who also happened to build one of the most orderly, educated and prosperous societies in the world. Finally, the colonists in the two regions came from different parts of England, with the southern colonists coming mainly from Southwestern England, while the Purifiers came largely from East Anglia.
Regardless of their differences, both colonies would expand over the coming decades. By 1650 basically the entire Chesapeake Bay was under some sort of English influence, whether in the form of towns, farms, plantations or fishing camps. The southern colony would expand with new settlements and plantations like Somerset, Cinquoteck and Huntingdon, while the Purifiers in the north would establish places like Harwich, Portsmouth, Colchester, Lynn and Norwich. In addition to these colonies around the Chesapeake, the English crown would also expand southward along the coast in order to prevent another European power (most notably the Spanish) from settling in the region and threatening their existing colonies to the north. In 1644 the English would found the settlement of Newhampton further south along the coast, establishing an English foothold closer to the Spanish colony in Florida (more on that in a future update).
Between the two Chesapeake colonies and the recently established southern colony, English North America had a population around 45,000 in 1650, roughly evenly distributed between the northern and southern colonies. The strong majority of the settlers were of English origin, with the remainder being a mix of the three other ethnic groups from the British Isles (Scots, Welsh and Irish), continental Europeans and Africans, the latter of whom numbered about a thousand at this time. As for the political boundaries within the colony, it’d originally been unified as the colonial charter of New Albion. With the growing divide between the upper and lower Chesapeake, though, it was decided in 1645 to split the New Albion colony in two. The upper Chesapeake would become the colony of New Anglia, named for the East Anglia region where many of the Purifier settlers originated. The lower Chesapeake would become the colony of Regina, named for the late Queen Elizabeth. The border between these two colonies was drawn along a major river and one of its tributaries. Newhampton was at this point the only settlement south of the Chesapeake, but more would be founded as the 17th Century continued.
I was originally planning on covering all of the English colonial projects through 1650 in one update, but as this one got longer I figured it’d be better to split it into two. Thus, the next update will cover the early English colonial endeavors in the Caribbean, Africa and the Orient. I would’ve had both this and the EC/FC update out sooner had I not gone on vacation last week, but hey, better late than never. The next update in both timelines should be out within this month, maybe sooner that that. For now, though, this is what I’ve got. I wish you guys a good summer (or winter if you’re from the Southern Hemisphere) and I’ll see you guys next time.
Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
Chapter 20: English West Indies and West Africa
In the previous update I talked about the early English colonies on the North American mainland, so now I’ll get to more of England’s colonial efforts during the early to mid 17th Century, this time focusing on West Africa and the West Indies. England was among the earliest European countries to look at overseas expansion, with John Cabot sailing to North America for the English crown only a few years after Columbus’ famed voyage. While internal issues would prevent England from furthering their efforts for the first half of the 17th Century, by the latter part of the century exploration had resumed. Even before England officially established overseas colonies, sailors and privateers were already present in the New World, particularly in the West Indies, and fishermen were making regular voyages to the Grand Banks, which the Nordic colonizers allowed so long as no permanent English settlements were established.
As covered in the last update, 1589 would mark the establishment of the first permanent English colony in the New World. Not only would it give England a foothold in North America, but it’d also provide a forward operating base to settle in the West Indies. The Charter of the West Indies was established by the elderly Queen Elizabeth I in 1597, granting royal patronage for an expedition to settle in the Antilles. A colony in the West Indies would give the English navy and privateers a permanent base to harass the Spanish (a favorite hobby of the English during this era), as well as enabling the English to grow tropical cash crops like sugar, which was really beginning to take off. Several exploration missions would be conducted in the following years to determine a suitable location for settlement, and by 1601 they’d determined where they wanted to settle. Thus, in November of that year, a fleet would depart from Southampton, bound for the island the Spanish called Trinidad.
While right off the coast of South America, Spanish control over the island was only nominal, with all Spanish settlements to date being temporary. The English figured that they could easily dislodge the Spanish presence. The English fleet would take the Canary Current down the west coast of Europe and Africa before heading west across the Atlantic along the North Equatorial Current, and in February of 1602 they would spot land along the South American coast. The place they landed turned out not to be terribly far from their destination, as Trinidad was reached just a few days later. Upon arrival the English would find a small Spanish presence, and since some of the English ships were equipped with ammunition, the English were quickly able to dislodge the Spanish, with the aid of the natives. The Spanish garrison would flee to the mainland, and thus Trinidad would come under English rule.
The island’s name would be anglicized to Trinity (yes, I know that the English kept the Trinidad name IOTL), and the settlement of Port Elizabeth would be founded as the colony’s main port. A second settlement of Placentia would be founded to the south four years later, furthering English control over the island. If the going for the English was tough in the subtropical Chesapeake colonies, then the tropical climate of Trinity may as well have been hell. The sun beat down relentlessly, the heat was intolerably oppressive, and diseases like malaria and yellow fever (no, not that yellow fever) killed colonists on the regular. In spite of these challenges, the English presence in the West Indies would not only persist, but expand over the coming decades. The nearby island of Bellaforme was colonized soon after Trinity, establishing the English as the controllers of the two southernmost Antillean islands. Further north, the English would also settle the islands of Antigua and Montserrat, giving them a strong presence in the northern Antilles. While Spain was still the premier power in the West Indies, they were beginning to face some stiff competition from the English, Dutch and other powers that I will get to soon.
Before we move on to other areas of the world where the English were beginning to set up shop in, I want to touch on how their West Indian colonies were run. The initial labor source for the West Indian colonies were indentured servants and convicts from the British Isles, whether they be poor Englishmen or Irish POWs. As mentioned earlier, though, these white indentured servants would drop dead like flies in the tropical heat of the Caribbean. Those who managed to survive would usually GTFO as fast as possible, not wanting to live in what amounted to hell on earth, many of which would head to the North American colonies. Because of this, the colony would search for an additional labor source. Using the natives as labor was considered, but the natives of Trinity had been instrumental in kicking out the Spanish, so the English decided not to stab them in the back (well, at least for now). They still needed a new labor source, though, so take a wild guess where this is going…
If you guessed slavery, you would be correct. The Atlantic Slave Trade had originated in the previous century, with Spanish and Portuguese ships taking captives from West/Central Africa to the Spanish colonies and Portuguese Brazil. By the early 17th Century other European powers were beginning to get involved in the slave trade as well, most notably the English. The first Africans taken to the English West Indies arrived in Trinity in 1612, and by 1650 thousands of Africans had been taken in chains to the English colonies. Africans were made to cultivate tropical cash crops like sugar, tobacco, cotton, coffee, and the lives of the enslaved after disembarking from the hellish trans-Atlantic voyage were usually short and bleak. As I’ve mentioned before, though, the Atlantic Slave Trade will be the subject of a future update, so I won’t go on about it any longer here.
The Atlantic Slave Trade does provide a convenient segue to talk about the English colonies in Africa, though. In order to get involved in the slave trade, the English would build several forts along the West African coast. One of these, Fort Gambra, was located at the mouth of the appropriately named Gambra River, while the other, Fort Nungo, would be on the Gold Coast near the existing forts of the Dutch and Portuguese. These forts weren’t just used to trade with the locals, but also as waystations to go to the East Indies. In 1596, Queen Elizabeth I would proclaim a royal charter for the establishment of an English trade company to operate in the Orient, to be named the English Company of the Indies, or ECI for short. The ECI was given funds to establish trading posts, forts and colonies around the Indian Ocean, from the Cape of Good Hope all the way to the Far East. So, the ECI would get to work…
I was supposed to talk about the English colonial efforts in the West Indies, West Africa and Asiain one update, but it was running on way too long, so I decided to split it yet again. As of now it looks as though there will be two more English colonial updates, one on Asia and the other on South Africa. The Asia update will be coming out by the end of the month, while the South Africa one will come in August.
Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
Chapter 21: English Exploration and Colonization in Asia
I was pretty sure that the English colonial update would be a three parter, but as this kept getting longer and longer I decided to split it yet again into four parts. This part will focus on English efforts in Asia, while the next one will focus on the long anticipated English colony in South Africa. Now that I’ve explained the changes, I think it’s about time we get going on the update itself.
The first voyage by the English Company of the Indies, or ECI to the Orient would leave England in October of 1597, traversing the vast Atlantic Ocean for several months before arriving in the Cape of Good Hope in February of 1598. While these weren’t the first Englishmen to have been in the Cape, this voyage would prove to be extremely important for the future of the region, as the crew would remark that, unlike most of Africa, the Cape was suitable for English settlement, and would also make an advantageous stopover point for future voyages. After a week in the Cape, in which they’d gather supplies like fresh water, interact with the natives and get a much-needed break from sailing the high seas, they would once again embark on their voyage to the east. They’d hug the coastline for a while before stopping in the well known trading city of Zanzibar in April. This also happened to be about the time that the Indian Ocean’s monsoon winds would shift from blowing south to blowing north, so they weren’t going to stay too long, but they did want to make their presence known. The English stayed about two weeks in Zanzibar, learning more about the city and the Indian Ocean trade routes in general, as well as visiting the city’s bustling marketplace. After they’d gathered more supplies and found out the best route to India, the English would depart from Zanzibar, headed northeast towards the subcontinent. With the wind at their backs they would depart from Zanzibar at the beginning of May, expecting a quick voyage to India.
From Zanzibar it would take a month to reach India, with the fleet landing near the city of Cochin. Cochin was one of the largest trading cities in southern India, and one that the Portuguese had maintained a fort in for nearly a century. The English and Portuguese were by this point long time allies and trade partners, so while the Portuguese were definitely surprised by the arrival of the English, things didn’t escalate into hostility. The English made it clear that they were merely exploring and had no intention to seize Portuguese possessions in India or in regions further east, though they never said they wouldn’t establish their own possessions. The English in Cochin would also interact with the natives of the region, visiting the city’s marketplace and meeting with the city’s leadership.
They couldn’t stay in Cochin for too long, though, as the voyage needed to continue. They’d round the southern tip of the Indian Subcontinent and then over to the island of Ceylon. The main city on the island, Colombo, was like Cochin home to a Portuguese presence, which led to another meeting between the English fleet and local Portuguese garrison and merchants. The mission of the voyage was not just to get to India, but also to get to the East Indies, so after departing from Ceylon in early August, the English would traverse the Bay of Bengal en route to the East Indies.
Two and a half weeks into the voyage across the bay, they would run into a sparsely populated but lush chain of islands, which could make for a convenient base of operations in the future. After going through the archipelago, it would be another two weeks before they arrived on the mainland, a jungle coastlinedotted withnumerous islands. They would soon gather from their interpreter that the big trade cities like Malacca lie to the south, so they went off in that direction. It’d take about two weeks, but eventually they’d start seeing more and more ships sailing through the waters, whether they be local, Indian, Chinese or Portuguese. Hugging the coast of the Malay Peninsula, they would start to see the other shore, that being Sumatra, becoming visible. By this point it was late October of 1598, a full year after their departure, and the crew (well, those that had made it this far) were beginning to miss jolly old England. Fortunately for them, Malacca would be the last major stop on the voyage before the return trip began. They would arrive in Malacca in early November, taking in this great trade city of the east. The city, like many others in the Orient, had been conquered by the Portuguese early in the 16th Century, and with the English being allies (which I’ve mentioned previously) they were allowed in. The vast array of both goods and peoples present in Malacca was amazing, even after visiting Cochin and Ceylon. It was exactly what they’d set out to find, exotic goods that could make boatloads of cash (quite literally). This was just the first voyage, though, any actual installations in the region were to come later. They’d stay in Malacca through Christmas, getting as much info as they could about the region in general, and after the twelve days were up they would depart. All of 1598 had been spent voyaging, and the crew were ready to begin heading home, albeit with quite a story to tell about their adventures. Thus, in January of 1599, they left from the port of Malacca for the long voyage home. They’d traverse the Strait of Malacca and the Sunda Strait before going out into the open Indian Ocean.
A nearly four thousand mile voyage across the Indian Ocean would await them, one that even with the favorable current would take months. Weeks upon weeks passed with nothing but water, and while they knew they’d see land again, the open ocean definitely wore out its welcome. Alas, after two and a half months on the high seas, they spotted Madagascar off in the distance. After briefly stopping to refill on supplies and get some fresh air, they would turn south along the eastern shore of the island, turning towards the west when the coastline curved. They’d hop across the Mozambique Channel to the mainland, and before long they were back in the Cape. In mid June of 1599, they set off from the Cape bound for England, and in October of 1599, two years after they had departed, the English Company of the Indies’ first expedition returned home.
While a sizable number of the men who’d set out in 1597 hadn’t made it home and no outposts had been established, the expedition was widely considered a success, and soon more expeditions were conducted. With the knowledge of ocean currents becoming more established, it was speculated that one could sail directly from the Cape to the East Indies via the southern seas, thus bypassing the inefficient monsoon route. So, in the summer of 1603, an expedition would depart from England to see if this route could work. The initial leg of the voyage would be identical to the first voyage a half decade earlier, traversing the Atlantic before stopping in the Cape. The big change would come after departing from the Cape, where instead of hugging the African coast they would instead go out to sea and catch the eastward ocean current. This route had been theorized but not actually tested, so while it could potentially have huge rewards, it was also a huge risk, as getting lost was easy in these unknown waters. Nonetheless, they were going to give it a shot, so after spending Christmas and New Years’ in the Cape, they would begin their voyage across the southern seas in January of 1604. The mountains of the Cape would fade out of view as they went south to catch the current, and sure enough the sea would start dragging them eastward. Having now caught the current, they would start to move incredibly swiftly towards the east. The southern ocean the fleet would cross was not only incredibly empty, with only one small island being spotted along the 5,000 mile eastward voyage, but also very dangerous, with massive waves being commonplace and icebergs present even in the middle of the Southern Hemisphere’s summer. Still, all of the ships made it, and the captain, who had been present on the first voyage, had a hunch that they were at the same longitude as the East Indies. So, after two months heading east, the fleet would turn north towards the East Indies. Several weeks passed, the sun became brighter, the temperature warmed up, but still, no sign of land.
On the morning of the third of April, though, things would change. One of the crewmen alerted the captain that he had spotted land, which quickly got the captain’s attention. The land he’d spotted, though, wasn’t a lush, tropical island though, but a dry coastline with only small shrubs for vegetation. The captain, while glad to see land again after three long months and impressed by the young sailor’s good eye might, didn’t view the land as anything other than worthless desert, so they would not disembark to get a closer look. Still, the English fleet had inadvertently stumbled across the long fabled Terra Australis, becoming some of, possibly the first, Europeans to lay eyes upon this strange, strange land. England may eventually turn its eye towards Terra Australis, but for now, they would keep their eyes thoroughly fixated on that sweet, sweet spice.
The newly discovered land would fade out of sight as they continued towards the north, and they would wind up back in the open ocean. This didn’t last too long, as it would be just two weeks before the East Indies would be spotted. More specifically, they had spotted the islands of Bali and Lombok, along with several smaller ones. Bali and Lombok were both spectacular volcanic islands with their own native states and cultures, perfect for a 1-2 stop to start their tour of the East Indies. They would spend three weeks split between the two islands, trading with and meeting the local leadership. They would afterwards head east through the Lesser Sundas, weaving their way through the numerous islands and islets of the region. Their goal here was to make it to the Moluccas, which had become famous for their spices like nutmeg and cloves, which lent them the name of the Spice Islands. The Portuguese had become established in the area nearly a century prior, and the English wanted to break the Portuguese monopoly on acquiring the spices among Europeans. The English arrived in the Spice Islands in early June, landing in the Portuguese-controlled island of Ambon. After spending a week in Ambon, they’d sail through more of the Spice Islands like Seram, Buru and the Sula Islands before heading on to the famous trade city of Makassar.
Makassar was one of the premier cities in all of the East Indies, with merchants coming from far and wide to do business, with Malay, Chinese, Indian and Europeans all being present. The Portuguese (notice a trend here) had established a base in the city in the previous century, and their numbers in the city were in the thousands. The English would do their usual trading and diplomatic business in Makassar before disembarking for Java. Java, while not the largest of the East Indian islands, was the most populous due to its incredibly fertile volcanic soil, and was also a place that the Portuguese didn’t have a large presence in. Needless to say, the potential Java had for the ECI was immense. So, as great as Makassar was, the English had their eye on what could be their greatest prize…
In late July the English would embark on the hop across the Java Sea to the island from which it got its name. The journey across said sea was blessedly short and before they knew it Java appeared on the horizon. The first stop the English made in Java was in Surabaya, a major port city in the eastern part of the island. Next up after that was Semarang, which while smaller than Surabaya was still a notable city. After Semarang they would go to Cirebon, another coastal trade city. Finally, they would head to Sunda Kelapa, one of the largest cities in the whole of the East Indies. Visiting these four cities would only solidify for the English that Java could be a huge boon if they were to gain a presence there.
Now it was time for the return voyage. Leaving the East Indies in mid September, they’d take the same route back to Britain as the first voyage. They’d head through the Sunda Strait, across the Indian Ocean to Madagascar, down the Southern African coast to the Cape and then take the long journey north through the Atlantic back home. After nearly two years, they would return to England in April of 1605.
More voyages to the east would be conducted over the coming years, such as to India and to the Far East, but now it wouldn’t be just for exploration, as the ECI’s mission was ultimately to establish a permanent English presence in the east, whether in the Subcontinent or the Indies. The first English installation in the East Indies would be Fort Lampung, located on a large harbor at the southern end of Sumatra, established in 1608. The English would soon thereafter establish bases in Bali, Sumbawa, Butung, Buru and Seram, gaining them a large physical presence in the East Indies. Most importantly, though, would be their efforts to gain influence and land in Java. From Fort Banyuwangi on the eastern end of the island to Fort Cilegon on the western end, the period between 1610 and 1650 would see the establishment of many English forts and trading posts on the island. One installation in particular, Fort Albion, would soon become the most important English base in the East Indies, which the English would eventually become the dominant power in.
English presence in the Orient wasn’t limited to the East Indies, though, as they were also busy building a presence elsewhere, even if it wasn’t as large as the one they had in the East Indies. In the Indian Subcontinent, they had established a large presence along the Coromandel coast, with a main base at Cocanada along with secondary bases at Vizagapatnam and Krishnapatnam. The English also had a base on the west coast of India at Ratnagiri, though their presence there was more limited than in the east. England had also done voyages to the Far East and the Persian Gulf, though they didn’t have a presence there quite yet. There was one other place the ECI had settled, though, that is worthy of discussion, but that’ll be for another day. One that is coming very soon, because the fourth and final part of this English colonial update will be next.
Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
Chapter 22: Not The Draka
Here we are, the fourth and final part of the English colonial update. In part one I talked about the English colonies in mainland North America, part two covered the West Indies and West Africa, and part three was on the English establishments in the Orient. This final part will cover the early history of the English colony in the Cape of Good Hope, one that will eventually grow into an entity covering much of southern Africa. My readers and I have been brainstorming this colony for quite a while now, so it’s nice to finally see this come into fruition. So, without further ado, let us travel to the land of the blessed rains and do the things we never have.
For ages the southwestern portion of Africa had been inhabited by the original natives of southern Africa, the Khoisan. Physically and culturally distinct from other Sub-Saharan Africans, the Khoisan were divided into various tribes and groups, ranging from hunter-gatherers whose ways of living had remain unchanged for eons to those who’d pick up pastoralism from the Bantu groups who’d migrated into southern Africa over the previous centuries. The Khoisan population in the Cape at the time of colonization was somewhere in the range of 10,000 to 15,000, and were among the groups that had adopted cattle herding. They would migrate with their cattle in and out of the area around Table Mountain seasonally, trading with European sailors who’d show up in the area periodically.
Speaking of Europeans, let’s talk about their history in the Cape region. While the Phoenicians had reportedly sailed all the way around Africa in ancient times, the first confirmed European voyage to the Cape was conducted by Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in the year 1488, four years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. More European voyages would come into the Cape region over the course of the following century, mainly Portuguese at first but later on from other nations as well. The ones who would be most interested in the Cape, though, would be the English. With growing English ambitions towards trading in the Orient, the English would want to establish a waystation for the long journey, similar to what the Portuguese had in Angola and Mozambique. The English expeditions to the Indies that I talked about in the previous update also played into the growth of English interest in the Cape region, as the crew remarked that the area was pleasant in climate and visually breathtaking. Between that and the potential geopolitical master stroke a Cape Colony could prove to be, the crown would officially grant the ECI a charter and funds to colonize the Cape of Good Hope in 1608.
The charter for the colonization of the Cape included several conditions that the company was to fulfill. First, they were to build up the colony’s infrastructure, such as a dockyard for ships and a fort for military purposes. Next, they were to produce a wide variety of agricultural goods for ships to resupply with, as well as to trade with the natives and hopefully integrate them into the colony. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the ECI was to settle no fewer than 5,000 colonists in the Cape by 1650, in order to establish a population loyal to England in case any other power were to invade the Cape Colony, as well as to provide an additional recruiting pool for the company. With that established, it was time for the settlement of the Cape of Good Hope by the ECI to commence.
A few years would pass before the ECI would be fully prepared to go forth with their plans to settle in South Africa, but by 1612 they were ready. With a fleet filled with supplies, livestock, seeds, ammunition and, most importantly, 120 colonists, the first permanent English settlers to South Africa would depart from Southampton on the fifth of May in the year of our Lord 1612. They would head south through the Bay of Biscay and along the Iberian coast, passing Cape St. Vincent on May 20th. From there they’d follow the African coast southward to the Cape Verde peninsula, which would take three weeks. From there they’d strike out to sea in order to avoid the unfavorable coastal currents and to get a more direct route to their destination. The voyage across the vast South Atlantic would be long and lonely, with only twosmall islands being spotted in their entire journey across the open ocean. Still, after three long months of almost nothing but water, Table Mountain would be spotted on the horizon on September 14th. The crew and passengers would erupt into celebration upon the sighting of their destination, for their journey was finally coming to an end. The following day they would drop anchor in Table Bay, and the day after that, September 16th, 1612, the settlement of Good Hope was officially founded.
The time for celebration couldn’t last forever, though, so now the colonists would get to work. As beautiful as the Cape region was, it was also a challenging landscape unfamiliar to the English. First off, due to its location in the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons would be flipped from what they were back home, though the colonists knew that heading in. This would also mean that the sun would take a northerly position in the sky rather than the southerly one it had in Europe, which would change the way certain crops would need to be grown (fruits for example). The flora was mainly composed of a variety of small shrubs and bushes without many proper trees, and the soil wasn’t exactly the most productive, particularly in the flat lands east of Table Mountain. Still, they would press on, working over the next several months to get a functioning colony up and running. By the end of 1612 several rudimentary structures had been erected, such as a dock, chapel and stockade. Expeditions were sent out to survey the surrounding area to see what resources there were and if there was any fertile land. What the expeditions found was that, while most of the area around the Cape was made up of sandy, infertile plains with shrubby vegetation, the land around the eastern side of Table Mountain had both fertile and forested land, which made it optimal land for the colonists to settle in. Over the next few years land would be cleared and farms would be established, primarily along the Salt and Test rivers, growing a variety of crops. Land in the bowl between the harbor and Table Mountain would also be cultivated, including the Cape’s first vineyards, with wine eventually becoming a well known product of the colony. In 1620 eight hundred colonists resided in the Cape, a number that would grow to 3,000 by 1630, a number that would include the first native born Anglo-Africans. Most of the early colonists in the Cape were indentured servants and/or convicts, whose contracts/sentences would be sold to the ECI, but by this time the first free settlers were beginning to arrive. In 1632, a group of 200 Purifiers were invited to settle in the Cape. This would begin a wave of Purifier immigration to the nascent Cape Colony, as several thousand would arrive over the coming decades. Some would settle in the existing colony around Table Mountain, while others would venture off towards the eastern mountains to create their own settlements. Several Purifier settlements would be established in the eastern foothills, the most notable of those being Zion, named for the famous mount in Jerusalem and Nazareth, named for Jesus’s place of upbringing. The early years of the Cape Colony would also see a small influx of French Huguenots, who were invited to the colony due to their mercantile skill set and to help establish the aforementioned wine industry. By 1650 the Cape Colony had a settler population of 10,000, of which 35% were Purifiers and 5% were Huguenots. The colony had two main concentrations of settlers, one around Table Mountain and the other in the foothills of the CapeMountains to the east, with multiple paths and trails running across the Cape Flats between the two. Settlers had also begun to venture out of the immediate Cape region into either the plains and rolling hills to the north or the aforementioned Cape Mountains in the east, blazing trails that would be used by future settlers and pioneers. The Cape also had a small population of non-white settlers, mostly the Asian wives of ECI employees who’d settled down in the Cape, whose mixed race children had the same legal status as other settlers. The native Khoi population was still there, too, but things weren’t going great for them. The settlement in the Cape disturbed the seasonal migration patterns of the Khoi, which they weren’t too enthused about to say the least. Unruly settlers would also raid Khoi encampments and steal their cattle, further raising tensions and prompting counter-raids. The ECI had attempted to come to a deal with the local Khoi chiefs, but it’d be hard to enforce the terms. Add in diseases like smallpox, and the Khoi were certainly having a bad time. From the pre-colonization population of 10-15k, the Khoi population around the Cape would decline by 50% by 1650, a decline that would only continue and expand outside the immediate area of the Cape as the settler population increased. A number of Khoi would come to work in the colony, mostly in agriculture and animal husbandry. The erasure the Khoisan would face, first in the Cape and then across most of their territory in Southern Africa would be a very sad fate for possibly the most ancient human population in the world, but alas, history can be quite depressing and unfair. There were also a small number of mixed-race people, primarily with a White father and Khoi mother, resulting from mixed marriages, liaisons or other, less wholesome means. The racial classifications of Anglo-Africa were only in the early stages of development at this time, so many of these early biracials would integrate into broader Anglo-African society. As a result, many Anglo-Africans of the future would have faint Khoisan ancestry, not enough to be physically visible but enough to survive in family legends and in ancestral tests in the distant future.
With all of this said, the English Cape Colony was still in its infancy. The colony’s territory was limited to just the immediate region of the Cape, and the population was still the size of a modest city. Expansion, though, was inevitable, as the colonists were breeding like rabbits and an entire generation of Anglos had been born in the Cape by mid century. This first generation of native born Anglo-Africans would be instrumental in the colony’s development and expansion, and while this future Anglo-Africa probably won’t become a dystopian, world-conquering slave state, it most certainly will have an interesting future ahead of it, for better or for worse, but alas, that is a story for another day.
With this, the quartet of English colonial updates is officially complete. The colonial updates, however, are not done, as I will continue to write about the various European colonies over the first half of the 17th Century. Next up will be the main subjects of this TL, the Kalmar Union, as they will both continue to expand in the northern reaches of North America and try their hand at expansion both in the West Indies and in the Orient. I’ve also got plans to cover the Spanish and Portuguese, and the French might deserve another colonial update too. After those are done, I will return to Europe and cover what will become one of the defining events of this entire TL, that being an alternate 30 Years’ War. I will also have to get back to EC/FC at some point, but this TL is my main focus for the time being, as I’ve got more ideas floating around in my head for this than I do for the other one. A new update on the Kalmar Union’s colonial efforts will be out sometime this month, so it won’t be too long of a wait. I’m doing my best to make up for the long hiatus TTL had during the first half of this year, so the steady stream of content that’s come in the last two months will continue through at least this one. So, to wrap things up in my usual way, I wish you all a good August. I’ll see you guys next time.
Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
Chapter 23: Nordic North America, 1600-1650
Now that we’ve gotten through the English colonial updates, I think it’s about time we get back to the main subject of this TL, that being the Kalmar Union. Being located on the shores of the North Atlantic and having a strong naval tradition dating back to at least the vikings, it was no surprise that the Nordic realm would become one of the premier players in the colonial game. Their first voyages of exploration to the New World (well, first since Leif Erikson) were conducted in the 1520s, and the first permanent New World settlements were founded three decades later, both during the reign of Christian II. Colonization would progress throughout the latter half of the 16th Century, and by 1600 5,000 Nordic colonists lived in North America, 3,000 on the island of Vinland and 2,000 on the mainland. This update will cover the next 50 years of Nordic North America’s development, an era where the colony would begin to grow from a few outposts into something larger and more self-sufficient. Let’s begin our journey through Nordic North America in the place where it all began, that being Vinland.
Vinland, being the easternmost land in North America and having some of the world’s best fishing grounds, was a natural starting point for the Nordic colony. Kristianshavn, the first permanent Nordic settlement in the New World, was by 1600 a small village of 250 people, with all the amenities you’d expect a small village to have. The other 2,750 colonists in Vinland lived in various smaller villages or individual fishing camps spread around the eastern shores of the island. Over the following 50 years, the Nordic population in Vinland would grow from 3,000 to 10,000, as more settlers from the old world arrived and from the high birth rate those living in this sparsely populated land had (the Beothuk/Rødlings were still around, but had been negatively impacted by disease and had retreated towards the interior as more colonists moved in). In addition to that were a large number of transitory fishermen who’d voyage to Vinland in the summer to fish and return home in the winter, though, as mentioned, more and more of these were making the decision to settle in Vinland permanently. Settlements and fishing camps were founded across the island, and already existing camps grew into larger (though still very small) settlements. Among these settlements were Kulmandshavn, Skovik, Skønnehavn, Grønnæs, Trefoldighed and Savhavn. BTW, I dare you to take a shot every time I use the word “settlement” in this update, that one included.
The Nordic population in Vinland was mostly concentrated in the southeastern part of the island, particularly the Trolle Peninsula (or Trollehalvø), named for the late Archbishop Gustav Trolle, but more and more were venturing to the more distant parts of the island. The crown had sponsored a colonization mission towards the northern end of the island, with the settlement of Gæsvig being established. On the southwestern coast, the settlement of Spanierhavenen was founded, named for the Spanish (mostly Basque) sailors who frequented the harbor while fishing in the area. These settlements were for the most part very small, having a few dozen residents at most, but they were settlements nonetheless. Kristianshavn by 1650 had a population of 600, with Hansvig and Stornæs also having populations of a few hundred. Fishermen were also beginning to make their way to the west coast of the island, but no permanent settlements had been established there as of 1650. Most of the colonists in Vinland were of Norwegian or Icelandic origin, though the other Nordic nationalities were present as well in smaller numbers. Other European groups would fish in the area and land to salt their catch and gather supplies, but they weren’t permitted to create permanent settlements.
To the surprise of no one, the most common occupation of the Vinlanders was fishing, as the Grand Banks were teeming with marine life to a degree very few places could match. Fish made up the lion’s share of the Vinlandic diet, and large amounts of fish caught in Vinland were exported, whether it be to Iceland, mainland Scandinavia, continental Europe or the new Nordic colonies that I will cover in the next update. Other than fishing, pastoralism was emerging as a common practice in parts of Vinland. While most of the island was forested, there were sizable areas that were grassy or had lower vegetation, particularly in areas that were higher in elevation. Many ponds and small lakes dotted this landscape, providing an easy source of freshwater for both the livestock and their herders. Livestock like cattle, horses and (especially) sheep were brought over from the motherland, and before you know it herds of cattle and flocks of sheep were roaming the fields of Vinland. Most of these livestock came from Iceland and Norway, meaning they were adapted to the cold and windy weather of Vinland. Beef and mutton/lamb would become important alternatives/supplements to the main staple that was fish, and wool would be the main material used for clothing on the island. There were also attempts at growing crops on the island, whether grains like wheat, barley and oats or vegetables like carrots, cabbage and lettuce. The results of these projects were mixed, as while the Nordic colonists were used to the cold climate of the island, the soil in Vinland wasn’t exactly what one would call fertile (there’s a reason the island’s nickname IOTL is “the rock”). For an actual agricultural sector in Nordic America, we will need to take a quick hop across the Vinland Sea over to the North American mainland, where more and more of the action in Nordic America was beginning to happen.
The first Nordic colony in mainland North America, Kronehavn, was only founded in 1582, the Nordic presence on the mainland by 1600 was very small, numbering a mere 2,000 individuals. Over the next 50 years, though, the Nordic colony on mainland North America grew from a few minor outposts into something much larger and more established. The Nordic colonies on the mainland could generally be split into two main regions, those that were directly on the Atlantic Ocean or the southern part of the Vinland Sea and those that were on the great river leading from the sea towards the interior. I’ll start with the coastal colonies before getting into the ones along the river, so I think it’s about time to start.
As of 1600 the only two settlements the Kalmar Union had along the Atlantic proper were Isbugt and the aforementioned Kronehavn, both on the northern part of the coast close to the Vinland Sea. Along said sea, the Kalmar Union would continue to expand, establishing settlements at Halmstad, Stimund, Nakskov, Ildvand, Laksehavn and Sjipegæn (you should be pretty drunk by now). Between the new settlements and the existing ones, much of the southern shore of the Vinland Sea was now under Nordic control. Fishing would be a major source of food and income for the settlers on the south shore, but unlike in Vinland, agriculture was viable on a large scale in these parts. Land along the various rivers and streams of the area was cleared to make way for farms, where settlers would grow crops like grain, fruits and vegetables. While this area wouldn’t become Nordic America’s breadbasket, settlers were able to produce food in large enough quantities to at least feed themselves, if not export their surplus to Vinland. Existing Nordic colonies in the region also expanded, with more of New Gotland and New Aland coming under Nordic control, with the colony of Kamsogssund being founded along the strait that shared its name. With these new colonies and the growth of the older ones, the Kalmar Union would have uncontested control over the Vinland Sea, and thus to whatever the great river led to in the interior of North America.
We’ll have to wait a little bit longer for that, though, as now we’ll talk about the Nordic expansion down the Atlantic Coast. The Nordic crown had been looking at colonizing further south down the coast for a while, and with the Dutch and English becoming established on the mainland, the need for more colonies on the Atlantic became all the more apparent. The settlement of Sandetkappe was established in 1607 at the southern end of the large peninsula separating the Atlantic from the Sea of Tides. Over the next several decades the peninsula would begin to see increasing settlement by the Kalmar Union. Some of the colonies founded on the peninsula before 1650 include Lyneborg, Storehavn, Holbæk, Prinsehavnen and Pænuk. The peninsula would become one of the nexuses of Nordic settlement in North America, with different areas specializing in different things. Obviously fishing would be a big deal here, as the Grand Banks were still accessible, even if they were a bit further from here than they were from Vinland (and the waters nearer to the peninsula could still yield a decent catch). The abundance of wood meant that shipbuilding would come to be a large industry in the region, with Storhavn in particular becoming a big shipbuilding center due to its large, mostly ice-free harbor. Agriculture would also begin to blossom, as the valley between Prinsenshavn and Smalfloden had rich, fertile soil. The area around Smalfloden had many tidal marshes and swamps, similar to the coast along the North Sea. Settlers, many of whom were Frisian or Low German, would construct dikes and floodworks to drain the wetlands and create new land for agriculture. The land would become used for both crops and for livestock, with it being some of the best pastureland in Nordic America. Eventually the entire valley would be settled and turned into one of Nordic America’s main breadbaskets, but that would take longer than the timespan of this update.
Moving across the Sea of Tides to the northern Atlantic coast, here too the Kalmar Union would begin to settle. The first settlement along this shore was founded in 1630, that being Skalnæs. Further east, the settlement of Bakningfoss would be established a few years later, and to the west Pæmetik would also be settled. These settlements were established mainly to keep foreign powers out, and intensive colonization of the region wouldn’t begin until after the scope of this update. Finally, the Kalmar Union would also expand further south down the coast towards the Dutch colonies. The first move the Nordic realm would make in the south would be the establishment of a base on the tip of a large, hook-shaped peninsula in the year 1623. Named Skagensborg after the tip ofthe Jutland peninsula, it would start as a simple stockade and watchtower but eventually grow into a proper fort and settlement. It would be the next settlement, though, that would really kickstart the region’s growth. In 1628, on a peninsula jutting out intoa large natural harbor, the settlement of Oldenborg would be established. Named for the ruling house of the union and the city from which it got its name, this new settlement would eventually grow into the premier city in the southern part of Nordic America. It wouldn’t be the only settlement the Scandinavians would establish in the area by 1650, though, as more would be established over the following two decades. Some of these settlements would include Sønderborg, Kappel, Makigonne, Koldstrøm and Nyhavn. With their settlements getting closer and closer to one another, the Nordic and Dutch governments, both headed by monarchs from the House of Oldenburg, would preemptively set the boundary between the Dutch and Nordic colonies along the Fresh River, at least on its lower portions.
The southern colony would become an important source of several different resources. As with the rest of Nordic America, it had an abundance of timber, which would be useful for construction, firewood and shipbuilding, the latter of which would be aided by the seas in the area usually being ice free in the winter. Fish were also plentiful here, as was the case elsewhere, and fishing would be a common occupation. In spite of the often poor soil, the southern colony would also become an important source of agricultural goods, as the mild (by Nordic American standards) winters and longer growing season would mean that the region could still grow a variety of crops. Livestock were also introduced, with coastal wetlands being turned into pastures for cattle, sheep and horses, though the majority of that terraforming would occur after the scope of this update. While the southern part of Nordic America would go on to be important to the colony's development, our fourth and final region would be potentially the most key to the colony's future, that being the great river valley to the north.
While large rivers were no foreign concept to Northern Europeans, no one had ever seen one quite as large as the one that drained into the Vinland Sea. When even the part of the river the natives called the narrow part was over half a mile wide, you’re talking about something truly massive. The closest point of reference for the explorers and settlers would’ve been the wide mouths of rivers like the Elbe, Oder and Weser, but this one stayed extremely wide much further upstream than any of those. This immense width meant that the river was navigable for ocean-going ships hundreds of miles inland, only blocked from going even further by a large set of rapids. With the establishment of Kebæk in 1599, the Nordic colony now had a base to explore and settle further inland along the great river and its tributaries. While the river had many names in various local languages, some of more common names translated to “big water”, or “stort vand” in Nordic (which will be a unified and standardized language ITTL like German and Italian IOTL). Thus, the river would become known as the Storvand River, not just in Nordic but in other European languages as well.
The eastern end of the Storvand region would be marked by the settlement of Gaspek, located on the Gaspekfjord and only a short distance from Knæksten. Going a good distance up the Vinland Sea, you’d find Klippehavnen, located at the place where the long Hvidhvalfjorden met the sea. The northern and southern shores of the Vinland Sea as it led into the Storvand wouldn’t be settled until later on apart from the aforementioned Klippehavnen, so we’ll now move to Kebæk.
By 1650, the population of Kebæk had grown to nearly 1,000 people, one of the few settlements in Nordic America that could claim to be a proper town. The lower part of the town near the shore was where the civilian population was concentrated at this point in time, with it resembling a typical Nordic coastal town. The town had all the essentials you’d expect a small port town of this era to have, such as a church, market and tavern. A large dock had been constructed, one which was capable of handling oceangoing ships, though the sea would be iced over for several months out of the year. On top of the hill lay a stone fortress, constructed over the previous decades on the site of the earlier stockade. This would make it so, in the event of attack, whether by another European power or one of the native groups, the town would be able to adequately fight back. Kebæk was only set to grow in population and importance as time went on, but that’ll be for another day.
Now I shall talk about the new settlements that were established along the Storvand between 1600 and 1650 (by now you should be in the hospital due to alcohol poisoning). The main settlement established on the north bank of the river during this time was Tremunde, which would be established at the point where a major river that had split into three different channels joined the Storflod. The settlements of Egernsted and Sarpsborg were also established along the north bank of the river, serving as smaller but still important bases along the great river. On the south bank, Helsingborg would be established directly across the Storvand from Kebæk, securing both sides of the river’s mouth. Further upstream, Pitigan and Fyrrepunkt would establish Nordic control over the southern bank of the river.
The most important settlement founded along the Storvand during this time period, though, would come further upstream than any Nordic settlement before. Here a large set of rapids would prevent further navigation of the Storvand by oceangoing vessels. Adjacent to the rapids was a large island that had been home to a native village named Hochelaga. Notably, the island was the site of a large hill overlooking the river and surrounding area, which French explorers from a century prior had named Mont Royal. Being near the confluence of multiple rivers with the Storvand and a significant site to multiple native tribes, the Nordic colonists knew that this could be a very important location in the future. So, in 1634, the colony of Kongensborg was established on the island at the foot of the great hill, one which would eventually become the most important city in Nordic America (SPOILER ALERT).
The Nordic population in Vinland may have grown by a large amount between 1600 and 1650, but it was nothing compared to the growth the mainland experienced during the same time. The Nordic population on the North American mainland exploded from 2,000 in 1600 to 38,000 in 1650. Natural growth and migration from Vinland both played parts in this growth, but the lion’s share of it came from the over 20,000 settlers who arrived from Europe during that timespan. Of these 38,000 settlers, 15,000 lived along the Northern Atlantic and the Vinland Sea, a region that would come to be called Morgenlandet after the native name for the region. 12,000 lived along the Storvand river, which would become known as Elfland. Finally, 11,000 settlers lived along the southern coast, which would be named New Holstein/Ny Holsten. The majority of the settlers in Nordic America were unsurprisingly from the Kalmar Union, with Norwegians and Danes making up the bulk of them. Swedes, Finns and Balts were also present, though in smaller amounts than the Danes and Norwegians. Icelanders, on the other hand, made up a highly disproportionate number of colonists, particularly in Vinland. 1/3rd of settlers, though, came from outside of the Kalmar Union, primarily the Protestant states in the northern part of Germany. With the religious conflict that I will talk about in a future update raging throughout much of the first half of the 17th Century, the New World looked like an appealing option for Germans (primarily Low Germans) who could afford the journey. The Germanic influence on Nordic American culture would be immense, from (low) German loanwords and influence on the New World Nordic dialect to surnames to the undying Nordic American love of beer. A smaller number of colonists were Slavs, namely Bohemians and Poles (specifically from their Protestant populations) as well as a handful of French Huguenots. Between the population of 10,000 in Vinland and 38,000 on the mainland, Nordic America in 1650 had a colonial population of 48,000, higher than the Dutch New Batavia and about equal to that of the English Chesapeake colony. This gave Nordic America a very solid base for expansion over the coming centuries, as the abundance of land meant that the colonists had a lot of room to expand. The natives were still here as well, and the relationship between them and the newcomers was complicated. The colonial population was still small enough that the natives could maintain much of their way of life to this point, and the two populations would trade and even intermix. With the continuing expansion of the Nordic colonists, though, conflicts were inevitable, and many natives were rightfully concerned about the encroachment of the white man onto their land. More of that will play out in the future, though, so that’ll be something for another day.
Over the first half of the 17th Century, the Kalmar Union had solidified its hold over the northern part of North America, and with a large population established, the colony was only bound to expand over time. North America wasn’t the whole of the Kalmar Union’s colonial activities during this timeframe, though, as they were also getting involved in both the West Indies and in the Orient, which is why the next update will be covering the Nordic colonies outside of the North American mainland. After that will come an update on the Spanish and Portuguese empires, followed by diving into Europe’s great religious conflict in the early-mid 16th Century. I will also get back to working on EC/FC after a hiatus due to my work on this timeline, so expect some content in that timeline as well. I look forward to putting out more content as we enter the latter part of this year, and I wish all of you guys a good start to the Autumn (or Spring if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere) season.
Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
Chapter 24: Nordic Colonization in the West Indies and Old World, 1600-1650.
While Nordic America may have gotten the largest update thus far in this timeline, it was far from the only place the Kalmar Union would have colonial interests in. From the West Indies to the East Indies, the Nordic realm would seek to expand across the globe and acquire an empire that could compete with those of the Spanish and Portuguese (who will be the joint subjects of my next update). The first half of the 17th Century would be the timeframe in which the Nordic realm would really begin to put these ambitions into fruition and begin to establish colonies in far-off corners of the world. While the zenith of the Nordic Empire would still be in the centuries to come, the actions taken during the first half of the 17th Century would set the stage for said zenith to be reached. So, without further ado, let’s look at the early years of Scandinavia’s global empire.
With the long term success of the Portuguese Casa da India and growing Dutch and English presence in global trade, the Kalmar Union would found a trading company of their own, the Dansk Østindisk Kompagni (Danish East India Company in English), or DØK for short in the year 1616, with the first voyage to the east occurring two years later. The first installation of the DØK would be Roskildeborg on the coast of West Africa, which would function both as a waystation and as a location to trade with the natives. The DØK would also colonize the lonely island of Sankt Helena in 1628, with the settlement of Smaldal becoming their main stoppage point on the way to the East Indies. Around the same time, the first Nordic bases and trading posts in the Orient would be established. The DØK would gain a foothold at the southern tip of the subcontinent with the outpost of Dondi, the first Nordic installation in South Asia. The DØK would also seek to gain possessions on the west coast of the subcontinent, establishing themselves at Kundapur in the south and Dabol further north. On the east coast of India, the DØK would found a base at Narsapor, gaining the Nordic crown footholds on both of India’s coastlines.
India would not be the limit to the DØK’s oriental ambitions, though, as they’d also begin to make inroads into the East Indies and Far East. They’d establish a trading post on the island of Sabang just north of Sumatra, their first foothold in the East Indies. A similar installation on the island of Pinang would soon follow, with those two giving the Nordic realm a decent presence around the Strait of Malacca. The DØK would also begin to pursue a presence in the Far East, particularly in China. The Portuguese had a base at Macau since the middle of the previous century, and like other European powers, the Kalmar Union wanted in. The first Nordic voyage to the Far East would take place between 1628 and 1629, coinciding with the colonization of Sankt Helena. They’d follow the standard European route to India, go onward through the Strait of Malacca and then traverse the South China Sea to Canton. The Nordic fleet would then send a delegation to meet up with the local authorities, hoping to establish a trading post in Canton. While they didn’t earn that privilege, they were able to acquire some valuable trade goods to bring home, which while a smaller victory than they were looking for was a victory nonetheless. Upon their return home, the king would be quite impressed with the results of the expedition, so more would be conducted over the coming years. Eventually these voyages would result in the establishment of a Nordic trading port in China, but that is beyond the purview of this update.
As the DØK was operating in the Orient, a similar company was formed to handle trade and colonization in the West Indies, that being the Dansk Vestindisk Kompagni (Danish West India Company), or DVK for short. They would be granted a charter and accompanying funds to establish bases in the Caribbean to grow cash crops and establish a Nordic presence in more of the New World. The DVK’s first base in the West Indies would be founded on the island of Barbuda, with the company constructing a stockade, dock and a few farms within the first several years. The island wasn’t the most fertile, so this would function mainly as a waystation for more profitable colonies. Nearby Antigua would be colonized soon after, and that would prove to be a more ideal place to grow cash crops and make bank. Plantations would be established to grow crops like coffee, tobacco, cotton, cocoa and, of course, sugar. The unfortunate consequence of this would be the Nordic entry into the Atlantic Slave Trade, which is what their aforementioned base in West Africa was in large part used for (and it won’t be the only base they have in Africa, but that’s later down the line). Another Nordic colony in the Caribbean would be established in the Caicos Islands, also known as the Salt Islands for their primary resource. Salt was a very useful resource for the Nordic realm to possess, as it was needed to preserve the catch of Vinlandic fishermen. Slavery was an unfortunate part of this too, with slaves being used to collect salt and prepare it for export, mainly to the North American colonies. Land that wasn’t being used for salt collection was used for growing cash crops like on the other islands, though it’s not like there was a lot of land to go around on these small islands. While they weren’t by any means the dominant power in the West Indies, the Nordic realm would still gain economically and geopolitically from having these possessions. A lot of the activity the Kalmar Union will have in the Caribbean, Africa and the Orient is later on down the road than this update, but this should give a good overview of the early part of their expansion into these regions. I’ve got one more colonial focused update to get through, that being focused on the Spanish and Portuguese empires, and then we’ll get to this timeline’s equivalent to the 30 Years’ War, one which will inevitably shape the direction this timeline heads down further on. Regardless, the best is yet to come for the Nordic Empire, as they’ve still got a lot of growing to do before reaching their zenith, and I look forward to experiencing the journey with all of you.
Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
Chapter 25: The Iberian Empires
For the last of the colonial updates, I think it’s fitting that we cover the empires that kicked off the Age of Exploration, those being the Spanish and Portuguese empires. With the Reconquista nearing its end, the Spanish and Portuguese began to look overseas for potential expansion opportunities, primarily to gain a foothold in the Orient and circumvent the Ottomans and Venetians. The first Iberian exploration missions were conducted in the early 14th Century, with sailors from Mallorca visiting the Canary Islands. At the beginning of the 15th Century, the Castilians would conquer said Canaries, establishing a base to explore further down the African coast. Their Portuguese neighbors would also begin to expand into the Atlantic, colonizing the uninhabited Madeira and Azores islands and exploring down the coast of West Africa. The Portuguese would reach Cabo Verde in the 1450s, Guinea in the 1460s, the Congo in the 1480s and finally India would be reached by Vasco da Gama in 1498. From there the Portuguese would establish numerous bases and trading posts in the Indian Subcontinent, primarily on the West Coast and in Ceylon. Portuguese expansion into the Orient wouldn’t be limited just to the Subcontinent, as they’d also establish a presence in the East Indies, most notably in Malacca and in the Spice Islands, becoming the first Europeans to gain direct access to the East Indian spice trade, though they certainly wouldn’t be the last. Portugal would also create numerous forts and trading posts in Africa, both to supply sailors on the long journey to the east and to trade with the locals, with their most notable establishments being at Elmina, Luanda and the island of Mozambique. The Portuguese in Africa would begin to influence native states like the Kingdom of Kongo, which would convert to Catholicism under King Afonso I (though his father had briefly become Catholic before apostatizing). The Portuguese would also tap into the existing African slave trade, buying captives from the locals and transporting them to toil away in their colonies, primarily in the Americas. Speaking of the Americas, let’s talk about what the Spanish are up to now, shall we?
As the centuries long process of the Reconquista was concluding with the conquest of Granada, a new opportunity for expansion presented itself to the Castilian crown. While the efforts to find a new route to the Indies had thus far concentrated on sailing around Africa, a certain Genoese navigator believed it was possible to sail westward across the Atlantic to Asia. After being turned down by the Portuguese crown, he approached the Spanish court with the proposal, and while they were unconvinced at first, they eventually came around and approved the expedition. Thus, on the third of August in the year 1400 and 92, Columbus’s expedition departed from Spain to sail the ocean blue.
After three more voyages from Columbus, several extremely lucky conquests and many, many dead natives, the Spanish had built up a gargantuan empire spanning the entire middle swath of the Americas. From the deserts of North America to the Rio De La Plata, Spain ruled a massive chunk of the New World. Not only that, but they had conquered the two richest and most developed regions of the Americas, those being Mesoamerica and The Andes. The Spanish co-opted much of the native nobility and social structure to govern their newly conquered domains, putting the native peasantry to work in the fields and in the mines. Combine that with Old World diseases like smallpox and influenza and the native population nosedived in the early decades of Spanish America, further cementing Spanish rule. The Spanish were also expanding outside of this zone of conquest, with them conquering a section of the East Indies that they named the Philippines for their king, as well as establishing several settlements and forts in the North American Southeast, such as San Gregorio, San Simón and Espirito Santo. That’s not to forget the Spanish control over the largest islands in the West Indies, Cuba and Hispaniola, which while possessing some settlements and plantations mainly served as forward operating bases for their mainland colonies.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese were founding their own colonies in the Americas. Navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral inadvertently stumbled upon South America on a voyage to India in 1500, and it wouldn’t be long before the Portuguese, who had a claim to this section of the continent via the Treaty of Tordesillas, would begin to settle in this new and mysterious land. The land would acquire the name “Brazil” from the Brazilwood tree, named for the red dye which the tree could produce. While harvesting this tree would be important to the colony’s development, it was cash crops like sugar that would be the engine of colonial Brazil’s economy. Large plantations, or fazendas in Portuguese, were established up and down the Brazilian coastline, primarily in the northeast (including areas contested with the French) but also as far south as Rio De Janeiro, with Portuguese Brazil being the largest sugar producer of any European colony in the 17th Century. I mentioned Portuguese participation in the African Slave Trade earlier on, and Brazil was the primary destination of said slaves. That, however, is a story for another day.
Now that I’ve covered how the Spanish and Portuguese Empires became so big, I’ll discuss what they did with such immense wealth and power. After all, having goldmines (literally in the cases of Mexico and Peru) for colonies gave the Iberian crowns deep pockets to spend on whatever they wanted to do, and boy did they spend. Spain spent copious amounts of money on flexing its muscles across Europe, from the Netherlands to Italy to the HRE. The mass importation of gold and silver from the Americas also inflated the Spanish currency beyond anything seen before in Europe, leading to the Spanish crown going bankrupt not once, not twice, but three times by the year 1600, and those financial troubles would not cease in the new century. Regardless, Spain was still a heavyweight in Europe, especially after the Habsburgs ascended to the throne, which created a combined Spanish-Austrian bloc that made both countries even more OP than they already were. This is a convenient way to reveal the topic of the next several updates, that being this timeline’s equivalent to the 30 Years’ War. While there are obviously differences between TTL and OTL up to this point, the 30 Years’ War is really where things are gonna begin to diverge on a larger scale. Granted, this era of history isn’t my strong suit, so I will need to do a bit of work before I put any updates out, but I do have a few ideas for how this conflict could turn out. I’m also working on part 150 of EC/FC, which will hopefully be out sooner rather than later. Happy Halloween, everyone, I’ll see you next time.
Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
Chapter 26: The Great HRE War Part 1: Setting The Stage
Thus far in the timeline, there have been a number of changes that have made this world noticeably different from ours. Whether they be changes in Europe or in the colonial sphere, things have definitely gone in their own direction ITTL. However, many things have remained the same thus far, even 100 years after the point of divergence. This is about to change, though, as Europe is about to head into one of its defining events during this TL, that being this world’s equivalent to the Thirty Years’ War. Europe after this war will be definitively different from how it was after the war IOTL, and will set the stage for this world to go down a different path from our own. Before I get to the war itself, though, I must first set the stage for the conflict. The causes of the war were multifaceted, each of which I will go over in some degree of detail in this update, before we get to the actual fighting in Part 2. So, without further ado, let us set the stage for the Great HRE War of the 17th Century.
First off, religion. Ever since a certain monk posted his theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Central Europe had been in the midst of a religious upheaval. Numerous new Christian sects had popped up across Europe, from the more conventional Lutheran, Anglican and Reformed churches to more radical and unorthodox sects like the Anabaptists, Unitarians and Quakers. With religious fervor riding high in Europe, conflict between not only Catholics and Protestants but between the various Protestant sects were commonplace throughout the 16th Century, both within and between different states. While some deals and compromises had been made between the Catholic and Protestant powers in Europe, the religious conflicts were still far from resolved as of the early 17th Century.
The religious issues Europe was facing were very much intertwined with the geopolitics of Europe at this time, which were another major cause of The Great HRE War. Europe as of this time had three dominant dynasties, those being the Habsburgs, Oldenburgs and Bourbons. The Habsburgs, who held the emperorship of the HRE via the throne of Austria and also sat upon the Spanish throne, were staunch Catholics who would do everything they could to ensure that the empire would remain loyal to Rome. The next were the Oldenburgs, who through playing their cards well and some sheer dumb luck had the thrones of the Nordic kingdoms, Poland-Lithuania and The Netherlands. The Oldenburg dynasty was religiously mixed, with the Nordic and Dutch branches being Protestant and the Polish branch Catholic, though less zealously so than the Habsburgs. The objectives of the Oldenburg dynasty were to ensure control of the Baltic and North seas and to counter Austrian and Muscovite expansionism into those regions. Finally, the Bourbons were the ruling house of France, which may not seem as impressive as holding multiple thrones like the other dynasties did until you remember that France was Europe’s most populous country, though France was so decentralized that calling it a united country would be a stretch. While Catholic, the Bourbons didn’t like being boxed in by the Habsburgs (Austria to the east, Spain proper to the south and the Spanish Netherlands to the north), so cutting the Habsburgs back down to size was one of the French crown’s top objectives. Other major powers in Europe at this time included England, who were Protestant but also staunch French rivals, Muscovy, a rising power emerging from the east and The Ottomans, the leader of the Islamic world and nightmare of Europe for centuries. If the Habsburgs were to successfully court one of these powers as an ally, that could tip the scales of the conflict back into their favor. Even without them, though, the Habsburgs were still a force to be reckoned with. Sheer manpower alone didn’t dictate the course of wars if the less numerous side had a tactical or monetary advantage, and while I’m not sure if Habsburg tactics would be better than their opponents, I do know that they had a practically endless supply of gold and silver coming in from the Spanish colonies in the New World to fund the war effort for as long as they had the will and ability to fight. Rather than something that burnt super hot for a few years like the World Wars, this conflict was set to be a decades long slow burn, with intervals of peace scattered throughout and countries dipping in and out of the conflict when it suited their interests. The war would not just be fought in Europe, but also in European colonies in The Americas, Africa and even Asia. For example, the French wanted to take more of Brazil from the Portuguese (who were the junior partners of Spain in the Iberian Union) and the Dutch, Scandinavians and French alike were eyeing up Iberian possessions in Africa and Asia. One thing was for sure, though, Europe over the next few decades was sure to be interesting in the Chinese sense. All that was needed was a flashpoint…
