After the forest of Foixà: a new beginning for the House of Barcelona

[Dragonboy]

good chapter

 

[Tupolev0247]

Good chapter, annexing Occitania will be a long, difficult and costly task for Spain, but if it succeeds it could bring many benefits in the long run.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Chapter 42. Eduardo III "El Breve" (1610-1620)

In spite of himself, Eduardo III had to admit that he could not go on fighting with France. The cost of keeping an army in Portugal to back the friendly monarchy there and to keep the English intervention away plus the colonial expeding (mainly in the huge fleet to protect the Hispanic trade between the New World and Europe) meant that the war with France was suddenly too costly until England could not be appeased. In any case, Eduardo III decided to fool París and began to muster an army for the campaign of 1611. With luck he could raise a field force for just three months and hoping that they could achieve a decisive victory that finished the French hopes. However, Eduardo III doubted that the new French commander, Gaspard III de Coligny, duc de Châtillon, would play by the rules. And he was rigth, as Châtillon avoided giving battle to Eduardo, who then launched an invasion from Navarre in the Summer of 1611 and rose the stakes by sacking and razing Bayonne. After securing the plunder and sending it back to Hispania, he resumed his march north, towards Bordeaux. By then, Paris had had enough and sought a truce and the initiation of formal negotiations between France and Hispania. Eduardo III responded quickly and in the positive. His enthusiasm for a peace was seens as strange did not cause any reaction in Paris but one of relief; however, we should keep in mind that neither the French monarch nor his ministers had no clear idea of the extent of the chaos within the Hispanic economy and still saw the Hispanic Imperial Army as a massive threat. They interpreted Eduardo’s sudden overtures not as a sign of desperation but as an oportunity to avoid a shameful defeat.

The ceasefire saw an immediate halt to fighting and rapid discussions to be held in Lyon. Both sides were ambitious going in and, given the lack of clarity in the conflict, the result could have gone in any direction, but with the Hispanic army in control of most of Occitania, the French government was quite doubtful about his chances of reaching a fair peace settlement and the French nobility worried by the increasing taxes. In the end, the Treaty of Lyon (September 11, 1612) was that rarest of political documents - a genuine compromise that left both sides genuinely thrilled with the result. Peace would be immediate, the two sides would recognise their colonial and European borders and France would pay a large and regular indemnity (based on the income from the colonies). Finally, after centuries of failed attempts, the greatest dream of the old counts of Barcelona was achieved: Occitania would become an autonomous Kingdom under Hispanic suzerainty. To compensate France from this loss, París received in exchange Madagascar in its entirety. Even if its colonization had been abandoned in 1575, as we have already seen, the French were persuaded that the island was the 'Cuba' of that side of the world. Eventually, the conquest and settlement of the island would be started in 1631 by Louis XIII. le Roi Soleil (1626-1692).

This war changed France altogether. Defeated and cut in size with the loss of the Midi, France was now one of the weaker Europran powers. Despite her acquisitions of colonies in the New World, she had suffered a catastrophic loss and from then on, the country constantly lived in fear of her mighty English, German and Hispanic neighbours. With Englanfñe and the Hispania now enjoying warm relations, that threat was only worsened. It was even worse when the Hugenots settlers in the New World revolted and Portugal seized the opportunity to fully dominate Brazil by taking the French colonies in 1627, beginning with the immensely productive colony of Saint-Louis (OTL Río de Janeiro).

It was just the beginning. In 1628 the English launched a violent takeover of the French colonies in North América and the Caribbean área. The so-called "Indian Wars" would be over by 1631 and it saw the French Empire in the New World being ripped appart. The province of New Aquitaine (OTL North and South Carolina) was conquered by the Habsburgs, who managed to unite their Reformed and Catholic subjects against the French; the settlements in the Atlantic shores and in the San Lorenzo river ended in English hands; finally, Louisiana was taken, bit by bit, by the Hispanic Empire, just to eventually sell its northern part ot England in 1700.

Meanwhile, the Germans, the Dutch and the Swedes had established a few trading posts near the Cabo (Cape - OTL Cape Town) and further east, near Fuerte Navidad (Fort Christmas - OTL Natal). It led to several diplomatic exchanges as Eduardo III was aware of the Dutch and Swedish desires to access the Indian Ocean but he did not want to have more competition in the area, as he had enough with the English and French settlements. After some clashes with the natives and the Swedes in 1618, Eduardo's officials suggested to look for a colony further to the northwest, but the king would have none of it and insisted on clearing the Cape of any unwanted interference. Further clashes and troubles with the natives led to the bulk of the German and Swedish settlers moving north to colonise the Namib Bay, with the Dutch established on the mouth of the Guambea (Gambia) River, and the Germans in Namib. Both areas proved to be a source of slaves amd this led to the construction of various Forts and “factories” throughout West Africa to take full profit of the "bussines".

Then, at the end of October 1620, the king fell ill when he prepared to travel to Barcelona and had to stop in the town of Sant Climent where the doctors, who traveled from the capital to treat him, could not do anything to save him. He died on November 11, 1620 on the feast of Saint Martin. Modern forensic studies of his remains, exhumed in 2010, indicate that his death was probably due to a lung condition.

He left no male heir but he had a few uncles and cousins.

 

[Dragonboy]

Yikes! Poor Eduardo!

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Chapter 43. The Onset of an Empire (1620-1627)

After the death of Eduardo III, the question of succession was placed in his closest kind, that is, the scions of Alfonso, 5th Duke of Palma (1497-1565). His grandson, Jaime (1586-1646), 7th Duke of Palma, was described as timid, shy, passive, well-intentioned and averse to warfare and violence; while his grandfather and father had proved reliable administrators and warriors, Jaime, in his time as Royal Lieutenant of Aragon, had proved a failure as his peace policy failed when the quarrelsome nobles saw the weakness of Jaime and factions in the Parliament and favourites in Jaime's entourage encouraged the rise of disorder in the Aragonese crown. This led to his replacement by his cousin, Eduardo, 5th Duke of Toledo (1575-1629) in the spring of 1610, after a few months of rule.

As Eduardo III lacked an heir and Jaime of Palma became second in line for the succession, there were efforts to strengthen his character and personality. After the Aragonese interlude, Jaime of Palma was sent to Navarre. There Jaime proved himself as unsuitable to as governor is he had been in Aragon, but he soon became dependant of his advisers, his half-brothers Pere, earl of Ribagorza (1573-1619), and Berenguer, earl of Trastámara (1576-1635), who were the illegitimate children of Jaime's father by his mistress Joana Serna. As Pere of Ribagorza was a gifted politician and quite able to have Jaime following his way, his luck in Navarra soon improved. Thus, by the time of Eduardo III's death, Ribagorza's status had improved and he was seen as a worthy successor of the king. However, those close to him doubted very much about his capabilities.

However, Ribagorza died a few weeks after Jaime was crowned in Toledo. Thus, Jaime III of Aragon and Valencia, I of Castille and Navarre and V of the Balearic Islands, who was by nature shy, pious, and averse to deceit and bloodshed, immediately allowed his court to be dominated by Berenguer of Trastámara, who built around himself a ring of a few noble favourites who had his trust and he promoted in the royal court and in the government. Thus, Trastámara soon clashed with Eduardo of Toledo, who was aghast by the nepotism and corruption that Trastámara brought upon the king and the country. However, Trastámara's position was too strong and his influence was seen in the marriage of the king with Ana Isabel of Francia (1605-1657) in 1621. As honors and titles rained upon him, many began to resent Trastámara's rise. Among those was Eduardo of Toledo, who opposed a group of nobles who sought to impeach Trastámara. The group was formed by Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, 4th Duke of Alba, Ranuccio Farnesio, 4th Duke of Parma, and Eduardo, Duke of Toledo. These were later joined by Francisco de Moncada y Moncada, marquis of Aitona, and Francisco de Melo, marquis of Villanueva. They clashed with Trastámarar in foreign policy, as the favourite of the king searched actively a French alliance, which was actively opposed by Toledo, who pressed for an expasion of the Hispanic holdings in the south of France. The chance to finish France made Alba and Toledo to press for a war, something that Jaime III was not too keen, even without the influlence of Trastámara. Then France changed that.

The unexpected death of Ferdinand, the elder son of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1631 was a terrible source of grief for his father. Although he was 23 years of age, he had a troubled youth, suffering from a series of illnesses since he was 4 four years old. In spite of this, he managed to grow and to become a quite healthy young man. Even if he was not a warrior himself, he was a quite accomplished tactician, like his father, but more stubborn than him, something that his tutors had learnt to their dismay. Thus, in 1625 he demanded to be included in the regency council and to become part of the governing process. His father was perplexed, but he aw it as a chance to teach statesmanship and warfare to the future Emperor.

Then, in 1627, a Catholic riot against the Reformed took place in Lyon, and soon violence spread from the city to Orleans and then jumped to the neighbouring country. Suddenly, to the surprise of the French King and his ministers, many French Catholics (very much more than expected) rose in arms and allied with their brethren in Austria. Many French, Austrian and Bohemian Reformed were murdered in those days. Bordeaux fell to the French Catholic rebels In June 23, 1627 and the regent sent Barthélémy de Beauharnais with 11,000 men and 100 guns to crush the rebels. To their dismay, de Beauharnais was beaten, losing a third of his force and having to withdraw in shame (July 19). Thinking that this would be the excuse for a Hispanic invasion, de Bonne dispatched the Royal Army under Guillaume d’Ornano to Bordeaux, first to crush the rebels and then to block any foreign army. However, neither King Jaime nor his right hand man reacted in time, much to the changrin of Alba and Toledo.

Meanwhile, the Bohemian Revolt forced Ferdinand II to ask for Hispanic assistance. Even if against his will, King Jaime mustered his forces and named Toledo as its commander. However,a riot in Tolouse developed into a full Reformed rebellion and Toledo had to cross the Pyréenes to crush the rebels. There he would find a very hard nut to crack.

 

[Dragonboy]

Good chapter

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Chapter 44. The road to (civil) war (1627-1628)

As soon as Eduardo, Duke of Toledo set his headquarters in Tolosa, the flurry of orders, demands and suggestions that arrived from the royal court were simply exhausting. The king, through Trastámara, demanded Toledo a swift end to the rebellion and without too much bloodshed and the least possible expense to the Treasury. Thus, on July 30, 1627, Toledo opened talks with the main rebel leaders: Carles Jubany, Robert Bougre, Bernard Autier and Renaud de Montpeyroux. The demands of the rebels were simple: the end of the religious persecution and segregation which was applied against the Reformed population. Toledo saw no problems with the demands, as he judged the rebels to be, all in all, loyal to the King and the Empire but were simply angered at being discriminated against and persecuted by the royal officials. Thus, as he informed the King about the talks and advised to either remove the anti-Reformed measures or to reform them by abolishing its articles that were the cause of the revolt.

Back in the royal court Trastámara fumed at Toledo's proposal as he thought that the duke had overstepped himself by talking with the rebels. However, King Jaime was delighted with the solution as it involved no bloodshed. Thus, he asked the archbishop of Toledo, Fernando de Sándoval, the create a committee that would study the reform of religious legislation. Ironically, while Sándoval was in favour of a reform, he considered that Toledo's proposal was too radical. Thus, he was not too inclined to introduce any "innovative" laws that may give too much power to the Reformed, which were the majority of the population in a great part of Occitania. What followed then was a flood of letters between the King (even if many thought that Jaime was controlled by Trastámara) and Toledo, one pressing for hard measures and the other ignoring the royal commands and demanding full powers to solve the issue on his own way. Meawnhile, as it was expected, the committee led by de Sándoval concluded that any reform would only damage the unity of the Empire as it would damage the standing of the true faith, that is, of the Hispanic Church.

The situation further worsened when, in early September 1627, the Parliaments of Catalonia and Valencia joined Eduardo of Toledo in their demands for more religious freedom. They were joined by the Aragonese and Neapolitean parliaments in January 1628 and, by then, the stubborn position of Trastámara worried many in Castille as they began to be worried by the claims that the Aragonese Crown, on its own, were to pass the reform of the laws. This claim, however, was a bluff, as king Jaime, as ruler of Aragon, would not sign the new rules, but it was enough to put more pressure upon Trastámara. Eventually, the breakdown in law and order, corruption, the distribution of royal land to the king's favourites, the troubled state of the crown's finances, and the Occitan revolt led to a heated season in the Castillian Parliament, where the reformist faction led by the Duke of Alba, the Duke of Parma, the marquis of Aitona, and the marquis of Villanueva demanded the removal of Trastámara. Threatened with an impeachement, the favourite of the king left the court and withdrew to his states in April 1628. However, the king remained undecided about what to do in Occitania. until the Summer of that year, when he began to follow Toledo's advice. Then, in September, Trastámara returned to the royal court and the question returned to square one.

In October, a stand-off took place south of Toledo, with the Duke of Alba presenting a list of grievances and demands to the court circle, including the arrest of Berenguer, earl of Trastámara. Unexpectedly, Queen Ana Isabel intervened to prevent the arrest of Trastámara, which was declared free of any charges. Hardly one week later Jubany, Bougre, Autier and de Montpeyroux were declared traitors, thus ending the peace talks between them and Eduardo de Toledo fumed at this. When he had a peaceful solution to the Occitan problem, the archbishop of Toledo joined sides with Trastámara and persuaded the king to take a hard stance and force Toledo to use his army against the rebels. However, they could not imagine what would take place next.

On July 10, 1628, the Aragonese Parliaments agreed to declare Trastámara and his allies as "enemies of the land", that is, enemies of the Crown of Aragon, and "traitors to the good king Jaime". When Jaime refused to dismiss Trastámara, he was also declared "enemy of the people" and deposed him. On early August they offered the crown to Eduardo of Toledo. who accepted and sent to Barcelona his elder son, Pere, as his lieutenant. The Hispanic Empire was at war with itself.

 

[Dragonboy]

Poor Hispania......

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Well, this early 17th century has proved to be a hard nut to crack for many...

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Chapter 45. The civil war (1628-1635) -1-

After the proclamations of the Aragonese Parliaments, Trastámara decided to quell the rebellion with a risky move: he would take a small elite force to storm Zaragoza by surprise and to arrest all the members of the Parliaments gathered there. Thus, on July 22, 1628 his force was ambushed by Eduardo de Toledo himself when Trastámara was crossing the village of Paniza, 52 kilometres to the south of Zaragoza. While Trastámara had 3,000 men with him, Toledo led a force of around 8,000 troops and had the element of surprise. The men of Trastámara, in spite of their elite status, broke when they were fired from all sides and fled. Their commander attempted to organize a last stand but when Manuel de Guzmán y Silva, 8th Duke of Medina Sidonia (1579-1628), was mortally wounded, Trastámara lost his temper and joined the rout. Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel, Duke of Olivares (1587-1628), was killed when he was trying to form a rearguard to cover the retreat. A struggle that had lasted less than half an hour and which resulted in fewer than 160 casualties combined began the war.

In this situation, a man held the keys of the Empire: Antonio Álvarez de Toledo y Beaumont, 5th Duke of Alba, who had the command of the Hispanic largest standing army. Even worse, as Alba was one of the richest men in the Empire, he could afford to pay the salaries of the bulk of the army. However, Alba was more a poet and a philosopher than a condottiero, and, for the moment, he was happy enough when the King chose him to replace Trastámara as the de facto valido (the king's favourite) and as first minister. However, all the attempts to reconcile both sides failed and Trastámara replaced Alba and recovered his position on October 25, 1628.

Neither side had not been idle during this time and had been actively recruiting armed support for their cause, but it seemed as neither Toledo nor Trastámara were willing to be the one to fire the first shot. Meanwhile, Toledo, still the uncrowned king of Aragon, had the Parliaments to pass a new ordinance that increased the religious rights of the Reformed and other religious (Christians, of course) minorities in the Crown of Aragon. In the end. Trastámara moved first and attempted to win to his side the Navarrese kingdom. Even though Navarre was one of the domains of the king of Aragon, Pamplona had remained silent during the crisis. Thus, the king's favourite dispatched Carlos Coloma (1566-1637) with 10,000 men to Pamplona to secure the city and thus the kingdom. On the way, they were ambushed at Valdejunquera (April 15, 1629) by Ranuccio Farnesio, Duke of Parma, who was moving in the same direction and with the same mission. Even if he had just 5,000 men with him, Farnesio launched a daring attack against the superior enemy force, Coloma, a veteran soldier, took up a defensive position; however, the commander of his cavalry launched his horses in a mad dash against the enemy formation; they were throwback with heavy losses, but the cavalry charged again. Against his best instincts, Coloma attacked with the bulk of his army, starting a confusing melée during which the Loyalist commander was cut down; this caused his complete left flank to flee with the parts of his army that had not yet committed themselves. At this point, all remaining Loyalist resistance collapsed, and the Aragonese soldiers had only to advance to complete the rout, which continued through the night, with the Aragonese soldiers pursuing the fleeing enemy for miles across the countryside. At least 1,000 Loyalists were killed with the Aragonese losing nearly 400. Unopposed, Farnesio entered Pamplona, where he was acknowledged as the lieutenant of Eduardo of Toledo in that kingdom.

Then, suddenly, Eduardo of Toledo suddenly fell ill. His doctors attributed his illness to a cold, while his closest friends mentioned a stroke. In other words, no one had a name for the illness that sent Eduardo to his grave. Rumours abound of death by poisoning while some people ascribed it as the result of eating a salad after he had become overcome by heat which caused a chill, others said it was an apoplexy brought on by the stubborn Aragonese Parliaments, and even a bout malaria was suggested. In any case, on April 24, 1629, Eduardo of Toledo was dead. Hardly a week later his son Pere, who was 34 years old, was crowned as Pedro V of Aragon and II of Castile. His first campaign, though, was to take him North, not West. During his time in Toulouse he had learnt during their talks with the Occitan nobility about the French weaknesses; this knowledge had been reinforced by a small web of spies that he had created in France when he was in Barcelona.

The dire situation of Ferdinand II had prompted Louis XIII of France to dispatch Henri II de Montmorency with 16,000 men to Bohemia to support their king. There he joined hands with the Bohemian Generalísimo, Count Jindřich Matyáš of Thurn-Valsassina, who led the united army north, crossing into Polish Prussia in May 1632 and seized the port town of Danzig. The Swedes were furious, as this moved put their control of the Baltic in jeopardy and, thus, dispatched Crown Prince Gustav with an army of 25,000 to recapture the city. This marked the beginning of the Bohemian-Swedish War (1632-1635). As the Swedes dominated the Baltic Sea they were able to easily shipp men and supplies to Germany, something that spelled troubles to no end for Bohemia and his allies. To the south, Ferdinand II could not believe his luck.

In Barcelona Pedro V could not believe his eyes. Thus, as the Franco-Bohemian and Swedish armies clashed in the battle of Rain (September, 15, 1632), Pedro invaded France while his brother Jaime protected the Aragonese border. Surprised by this move, Louis XIII redirected the reinforcements destined to Bohemia under the command of Charles, Duke of Nevers. One month later, Nevers was crushed in the battle of Guéret (October 9, 1632) and Louis XIII quickly offered peace terms. In fact, the French king bought peace for his realm; he was to pay 125,000 crowns to Pedro, who then rushed south to fight for his crown.

He was in a hurry, indeed, as King Jaime and the Duke of Trastámara were advancing towards Zaragoza with 75,000 men.

 

[Dragonboy]

Interesting chapter

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Chapter 46. The civil war (1628-1635) -2-

Following the example of the Swedish army, Pedro V deployed his army in two lines of infantry in the center, squadrons of cavalry on each wing, and a thin line of artillery at the front, but with the center infantry formed in squares. All in all, he had 35,000 men with him, including 8,000 German mercenaries and 7,000 horses, and 20 guns. The Hispanic army was an odd mixture of modern and old ways. While its bulk was made with heavy infantry armed with pikes and arquebuses, Trastámara had also recruited a great number of volunteers that, in the best of cases, could be considered light infantry. In fact, they were little that useless cannon fodder that Trastámara hoped that it would attract the bulk of the enemy fire while his elite forces charged.

The two armies met at Épila, 40 kms to the west of Zaragoza. The battle began at 10.00 am, October 29, 1632 with the two armies firing volleys with their arquebuses and their guns. The Aragonese arquebusiers soon outclassed their rivals and they fired twice as fast as their Hispanic foes. Trastámara, seeing that the light infantry would suffer greatly even before they were within reach of their enemies, ordered an all out attack. Before he could do that, he shifted the cavalry on the right flank to mass it along the one on the left flank to launch a single and devastating charge. To this Pedro V reacted slowly and, by the time that his cavalry in the right began to move, his focus on the left flank had been crushed and put on the run. Then, the Hispanic cavalry got behind the Aragonese lines and, when they prepared to charge, they met the massed volleys of the infantry squares. Meanwhile, the Hispanic infantry kept moving forwards to get to grips with their enemies under a storm of fire that withered its ranks. One they were at close range, the Aragonese long pikes kept them at bay. Seeing that his light infantry was having no effect, Trastámara withdrew them and launched his own heavy infantry, who had no better luck.

When the tired and demoralized Hispanic light infantrymen saw the bloodied and decimated cavalry, their morale plummeted; they threw their weapons and fled the battlefield, a rout began to slowly spread through the Hispanic army. By 11.30, Trastámara's army had vanished from the battlefield with their battered heavy infantry withdrawing in close order to cover the withdrawal. However, Pedro V only launched a few raids with the surviving cavalry. He hoped that by sparing their enemies he would win some support among the Hispanic noblemen that were against the war. All in all, the Hispanic lost 2,000 men for 800 Aragonese casualties. The defeat shocked Castile. No one had expected that his army, who had twice the men of their enemies, suffered such a defeat. Even worse, the vision of the defeated army returning to Castile reduced to barely half of its original strength and with the constant drop out of deserters that ran to their homes. This had, however, a positive effect by the time that the army was back in Toledo. Then, Trastámara had with him around 30,000 men, most of them veterans of past campaigns and determined to avenge the shame suffered in Épila.

Trastámara proved then to be a great organizer with an impressive strategic mindset but completely unable to translate it into a meaningful campaign. His faults at Épila were going to be repeated in the future: he was slow to act as he was afraid that his enemy had unseen reserves that would suddenly materialize in his flanks and destroy him. Thus, his infantry was quite slow in his advance to support his victorious calvary. The enemy squares, which proved to be small mobile fortresses, proved too much for the Hispanic calvary and the infantry was unable to break through his closed ranks.

The Hispanic army only moved again the following spring. On late April 1633 a smaller Hispanic army mustering only 8,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and 20 guns marched towards Valencia. There he met Pedro V and his brother, Jaume, Duke of Zaragoza, with 5,000 infantry, 1,000 cavalry and 10 guns. As predicted by Jaume of Zaragoza, early on the morning of May 26 the Hispanic placed their artillery on the two hills and began battering the Aragonese defences. However, the Hispanic artillery overshot their enemies and it took a time to correct the mistake. Then, the fog began to arise over the battlefield. The morning fog was thick and it covered the movements of the two forces, Thus, when Trastámara finally set his cavalry free, the right flank simply rushed into the fog and to open ground, as the Aragonese army had veered to the left further than expected, and the left flank charged against the enemy squares, that opened fired at point blank range. By the time that the Hispanic commander could extricate his men from the mess, his force had been severly mauled. The Hispanic infantry moved quickly, but the cavalry charge had led to the Aragonese closing ranks earlier than expected and the Hispanic infantrymen just through themselves against the enemy spears and arquebuses. Neither group was facing the other; each was offset slightly to the right, but the left wing of the Hispanic army was able to defeat his rivals, who were quickly overwhelmed and fled.

Then, fate struck Trastámara. The calvary on the right returned then and saw the Hispanic infantry that had defeated their rivals forming to envelope the enemy flank. Due to the fog, visibility was low and the two main forces failed to notice the disaster that had befell upon the Aragonese army on the right. Meanwhile, Jaume of Zaragoza was pushing the enemy left flank bit by bit, but Trastámara did not judge that as anything dangerous. Then, his own calvary charged against his right flank. Pedro V, suddenly aware of the enemy on his flank, turned some guns and opened fire. This was too much for some Hispanic soldiers, who simply fled shouting "Treason! Treason!". Then the Hispanic calvary commander, Baron Jean de Beck, became aware of his mistake. As the shouts of treason spread quickly throughout the Hispanic line, breaking it apart as men fled in anger, panic and confusion, a cannonball behaded de Beck and his horsemen began to flee.

The battle lasted from two to three hours, and was over by the time the fog lifted in the early morning. As usual in most battles of the time, the routed army suffered far more casualties; fleeing men were cut down from behind in droves. Thus, the Hispanic casualties were high: 1,500 dead and 4,000 prisoners. The Aragonese did not come lightly, even if most of its casualties were suffered by the left wing: between 600 and 1,000 dead. With half of his veteran forces crushed, Trastámara withdrew to Castile. There he found King Jaime determined to end the war and with half of the Castilian nobility asking for Trastámara's head.

 

[Dragonboy]

i really wish for this civil war to be over soon.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

i really wish for this civil war to be over soon.

I can promise that: it's not going to be quite bloody.

 

[Dragonboy]

I can promise that: it's not going to be quite bloody.

Thank God

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Chapter 47. The civil war (1628-1635) -3-

Following the defeat, King Jaime and the Duke of Trastámara began to fear a coup. In fact, there was one, directed against Trastámara, but the plotters were quite slow and careful in his planning and Trastámara missed them completely, instead focusing on Gaspar Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, 9th Duke of Medina Sidonia (1602-1664), The investigation was unable to find anything treacherous in Medina Sidonia's activities, but Trastámara remained deeply suspicious about him. Meanwhile, as the summer began in Castille, the plotters, led by Cristóbal Gómez de Sandoval, 2nd Duke of Uceda, moved to form a party within the royal court of Toledo, the so-called Legitimists, who looked for a reform of the administration of the kingdom that removed the figure of the valido and instead created a body of royal advisors, all of them with the same power and the same closeness to the king. Of course, Trastámara did not like their proposal at all. Thus, when a clash between the valido and the Legitimists was in order, Trastámara's wife, Catalina de Mendoza y Sandoval, became acutely ill and, to the surprise of many, Trastámara left Toledo to take care of her. The Duke was not to return to the royal court. After his wife died from consumption on May 17, 1635, the Duke languished in his palace. He never recovered from the loss and, eventually, he died from melancholy on September 23, 1635.

With Trastámara thus removed, the Legitimists saw their way open to reform and power, but then Gaspar de Guzmán, count of Olivares (1587-1645), opposed them with a group of his own creation, the so-called Royalists, who were in favour of a reform but a slower pace. In short, Olivares and his cronies aimed for a reform that left all the power in the hands of the nobility that controlled Castille. King Jaime, however, had his own plan. Whilst his father and his ancestors had embraced bureaucracy and legislative lawmaking, Jaime used the two diverging factions to create a proto-technocratic government under his control, something that surprised and enraged many. Soon the Legitimists attempted to block Jaime's reforms, and he reacted by simply arresting the dissidents, The Royalists sided with the king, but the monarch soon found another faction to support him that was even more valuable that the nobility: the rising middle class made by coalition of lower nobleman, burghers, farmers and bureaucrats.

However, this process took time and when Jaime was finally ready to resume the war against Eduardo III of Aragon, his rival had used the time to appease his French neighbour, to move closer to England and to be ready for a final clash against Castille. Eduardo had also accepted that he lacked the power and the support to win the Hispanic crown so he hoped that, under Jaime, in a few years, the Hispanic people would ask him to libérate them from Jaime's opression. However, he had to defeat him first.

On his part, Jaime prepared the last campaign with great care. He gave the command of the main army to his most trusted general, Francisco de Melo, for the invasion of Aragon while he would conquer Valencia at the same time. Caught between the two forces, Eduardo would be crushed. However. De Melo moved faster than expected and he was at the gates of Zaragoza while Jaime had barely crossed the border. De Melo, seeing that Zaragoza qas undefended, sent urgent requests for Jaime to join him in Aragon.

Eduardo, however, gave no time to de Melo's message to reach Jaime. On 14 May 1635, at around 4 o'clock in the morning, Eduardo, who had planned for an early attack, quickly roused his men to engage the enemy. De Melo had a similar idea and both sides moved even before the sun could rise. This would determine the fateof thebattle, as half of De Melo's force lost its way in the thick morning fog and thus the Hispanic commander had with him only 15,000 men; facing him was Eduardo with 14,000. The battle began well for de Melo, as his left flank quickly overwhelmed the enemy. Aragonese soldiers fled the field, chased by the Hispanic cavalry. Then, free from any interference of their mounted counterpart, the Aragonese cavalry moved against the advancing enemies and opened fire with their rangec fire-weapons before charging. De Melo's left flank disintegrated as Enric Folch de Cardona, count of Cardona, rallied 800 of the fleeing soldiers and led them back to the battle and storming the battered enemy left flank.

In the center the fighting was evenly matched and intense. The Hispanic right wing, however, was suffering a hard treatment at the hands of the enemy guns and began to break by the time that Cardona returned to the battle. De Melo, seeing the shift, ordered most of his reserves to help ease the pressure on the right, and took the rest into fighting at the left, but by the time he arrived there, the flank had collapsed. At this moment Eduardo sent in his reserves against the enemy centre, hastening its collapse.

The battle lasted from two to three hours, and was over by the time the fog lifted in the early morning. The Hispanic lost 4.000 mem and the Aragonese 1.500. De Melo was devastated with this defeat, and withdrew to Castillle while Eduardo's cavalry found the 'missing' wing of De Melo's army and forced them to surrender. Then, Eduardo rushed to Valencia, while Jaime still ignored what happened in Zaragoza. When the Hispanic knew about the disaster, he withdrew to Castille to meet the Duke of Alba, who was raising an army there. However, Jaime was not aware of two things: Alba had barely with him a few hundred men with him and waz waiting for reinforcements from Andalucía, next, he had Eduardo following his shadow, when he became aware of this, he ordered to move faster and this turned the withdrawal into a rout. Of the 6.000 men he had with him when he began his ill-fated invasion, he returned with only 4.000.

In such ignominious way finished the Hispanic king the civil war.

 

[Dragonboy]

damn....

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Well, Hispania keeps its colonies in the New World...

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Chapter 48: Hispania after the war (1635-1640)

The chaos that followed the defeat was immense but mostly limited to the royal entourage and the government. Order was restored relatively quickly and though the news came as a shock, they were not followed by any kind of violence many feared it might. The common people liked their King, for the most part, and they were happy that the war was over as, they hoped, it meant the return of their sons and the end of the extra taxation. Thus, while those close to the King were still coping with the loss of the Crown of Aragon and the defeat, most of the Hispanics happily returned to their daily chores.

It is into this land of confusion, one man of humble origins found himself placed at the center of the intrigues around the king. Diego Tenorio y Alatriste (1601-1647) entered the Guardia de Corps (guards of the Royal Family) in 1618. His intelligence and audacity led him to be noticed by the King (and according to some, by the Queen, too) and he rose through the ranks with great ease: in May 1620 he was promoted to the rank of Colonel. In 1623 he was Adjudant-General of the Bodyguard; in March he became Gentleman of the Chamber and in July was promoted to Lieutenant-General. His frequent promotions were signs of his increasing influence over the King and Queen, and attracted the attention of many who wanted to prosper under his shadow. He managed to bring down with his schemes two validos, Pedro Fernández de Castro, count of Lemos, and Juan de Tassis y Peralta, count of Villamediana; the last valido did not take his fall gladly and conspired to have the king declared unfit to rule and the establishment of a Regency Council for his heir, his grandson.

Jaime immediately opposed this. In retrospect underhanded motives seemed obvious but Villamediana claimed that it was essential to appoint a Regency Council. The Duke of Alba, taking up the mantle as leader of the "legitimists", was deathly opposed to this and said that in the traditions of the realm, a regency council should be formed and made up only of the Great Earls of the Realm. This immediately caused serious discontent among the middle classes and soon petitioners flooded the capital and took to the streets, protesting against any council ruled by thd nobility. Then, on August 12, 1636, Villamediana was murdered as he stepped out of his coach. Queen Maria Luisa then arranged for Tenorio to be the Royal Chancellor. Tenorio's appointment seems to have been accomplished with the full acceptance of the king who wanted to withdraw from the court and who was too happy to have a competent and trustworthy stand-in to replace him. In October 1636, Tenorio was made Duke of Sueca with grandeeship and a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece the following year.

With Tenorio at the helm, many historians claim that the Hispanic Empire had its first truly “modern” political system in his history. Whilst previous monarchs had embraced bureaucracy and legislative lawmaking, Tenorio’ emphasis on a proto-technocratic rule was remarkable and novel for the era. Either siding with the Legitimists or with the Pragmatists, Tenorio was able to put forward his policies. He even resorted to the “popular will” when he needed to move on and both parties did not support him. He embarked in 1637 in the construction of new public schools were open not only to the elite but to children of the middle class and government service as well. The education was often rudimentary but their main goal was not bringing literacy into the students but to teach them modern, enlightened ideas of philosophy and politics centered on the greatness of the Empire and less in the needs of their social classes, as well as to build networks of young men who would soon enter the administration of the empire. In the last objective, Tenorio met with failure, as the scions of the noble houses closed ranks and did not mix with the sons of merchants and bankers. By then, the two main "parties" were beginning to split among those determined to keep loyal to the king and those to their ideas. This division would only help Tenorio to further achieve his goals... until the "Reform" party was formed with splitters from both parties and decided to go even further than Tenorio wanted.

The Reformists were a weird and rag-tag who simply wanted more power for themselves while reducing the one of Tenorio; thus, they proposed the creation of a "Cabinet of Ministers" that would mix the existing bodies of advisors and royal chamber into a single body; it would be presided by a "Prime Minister" which would be only first among equals, a mixture between the spokesperson of the cabinet and a minister with a special duty. In the end, as Tenorio was deeply disliked by . In the end, the Legitimists and the Royalists joined the Reformist and the "Amedment for the Parliament Rules" were passed on June 7, 1638. Aware of his defeat, Tenorio attempted to win the Legitimists and the Reformists by proposing a reduction in taxes, much to the anger of the Royalist faction, who wanted not only to keep them but to raise them according to their plans to reconquer Aragon in a not so distant future. However, Tenorio was aware that it was not possible to extract further resources from Castile, as its economy was at breaking point and the New World colonies were keeping the economy alive. Nevertheless, even if he was only partially succesful with his tax reform the privileged position of the Castilian nobility remained very much as it was and the rise hardly affected them. Eventually, as he could not negotiate new loans with neither the German, Dutch and Genoese bankers, he attempted to solve the problem by declaring a state bankruptcy. With the bulk of the debt now removed, Tenorio hoped to turn to indigenous bankers for renewed funds. If he paid any thought to the German and Dutch (and Geonoese) bankers that went bankrupt with his move, no one knows. However, this move was to bit Spain sooner than expected.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Chapter 49: Imperial expansion (1640-1652)

Venice had joined the Imperial race and in the early 1610 four great ships departed to Africa, which resulted in the founding of a city in the mouth of the Gambia river. It soon became a valuable trading post that sent gold, spices and slaves to Europe. Nova Venetia, as it was called, soon attracted the attention of Hispania but any attempt to conquer the colony was quietly shelved as it would mean troubles with the Northern League, a temporary alliance that had united the North of Italy against any possible foreign threat.

Meanwhile, the end of the Baltic War (1630-1640) had seen Sweeden humbled by Prussia, Russia and the Polish-Lituanian Commonwealth. This had introduced new players in the Baltic Theatre and, even if London did not consider that the friendship between the three winners were going to last, they were worried by the turn of events. In France, an attempt to replace the so-called Roi fainéant ("do-nothing king", "lazy king") Louis XIII led to a succession of coup d'etats (1625-1633) that replaced Louis with his cousin Charles, Duke of Normandy, and then returned the crown to Louis, who finally lost it in what became the "St. Bartholomew's Day massacre" (August 24th, 1632) when a failed coup turned París into a battlefield. At the end of that sad day, 2,500 people were dead, among them Louis XIII and Charles of Normandy. Louis'son became Louis XIV and with him began an age of peace and prosperity that lasted until his death in 1685.

It must be said that, while this was happening, both Jaime of Hispania and Pedro V of Aragon stubbornly refused to take part in the conflicts, though they were asked fepeatedly by their ministers and allies to do so. They advocated a strict policy of splendid isolation, albeit for different reasons, and focused solely on internal reform and colonial development. This led to an Aragonese intervention in the Lebanon during the Great Balkan War (1644-1652) that pushed the Ottoman Empire against Venice, the Austrian Empire, the Polish-Lituanian Commonwealth and Russia. It ended with the Ottoman defeat and the Treaty of Saint Angelo (1652). It was a complete disaster for the Sultan, as the Empire lost Croatia, Bosnia, Slavonia, Hungary, and Transylvania to Austria, Ruthenia to Poland and had to Grant the independence of Moldavia and the Bessarabia, which became two Russian Protectorates.

It was during this war that history seemed to go back when Aragonese troops landed in the Lebanon and Palestine in 1648. Even if the Ottoman army was crippled by horrendous casualties and dwindling supplies, it still capable of offering a spirited defense of Jerusalem even if in the Lebanon its forces were crushed again and again. Thus, even if the local commander, Alam Khan, could not avoid the loss of Tyre, Sidon, Beirut and Trípoli and all the land between those cities, he was able to stop the Aragonese advance at Ramlah. He had lost Haifa, Acre, but Jerusalem remained in Ottoman hands by the end of 1651. However, when the Aragonese army marched from Beirut towards to Damascus, the Ottoman will crumbled even before the first Aragonese shells fell in the Bekaa Valley, where a small Ottoman force made a stand that barely slowed the Aragonese advance. Thus, to Pedro V's surprise, Mehmed IV offered to give to Aragon the lands that formed the county of Trípoli and the kingdom of Jerusalem in 1192 in exchange of peace. Once the Treaty of Alexandretta (1652) was signed, the guns were silent once more in the Middle East. As Pedro V saw it, it was a temporary peace. The lands he had just annexed were to become Aragon's base in his final assault to take both Jerusalem and Damascus. He was sure that he would not need to wait for too long, as Mehmed IV's days on the throne were numbered after such a shameful surrender. Time was to prove him wrong, as Mehmed IV ruled the Ottoman Empire until his death (6 January 1693).

Meanwhile, in Asia, the weak state of the Ming Empire had led to European powers to pick small pieces of the Empire. The Portuguese annexed several coastal cities and turned them into trade centers (Macao and Yanao₁) in 1676, followed quite soon by the English (Hong Kong) in 1680 and the Dutch taking the island of Formosa in 1682. This also led to a war with Portugal, who had explored the island but not settled it. Lisbon claimed that the island was their but hte Dutch Republic simply ignored them. Only the increasing problems of the Dutch with the natives and the flood of exotic good that Macao and Yanao sent to the mainland had the issue being eventually dropped. Eventually, the Dutch would sell Formosa to the French in 1699 and turned their attention to to the south, to Đại Việt.


₁ - IOTL Yangiang