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Edgewise: Haha!
Loki: Well, would you simply give it all up and flee not knowing? It's a tough one, but I can't fault him for his choice.


Chapter 19a – The Rise of Anglicanism (1534-1550)

Summarised from Chapter 5 of ’Britannia Triumphant’ by Lady Mendenhall.


A new religious order might have been decided on, and it may have been popular, but success was by no means assured. Opposed both by Catholics and by more extreme Protestants in favour of further reformation. The crisis came to a head when the Queen abandoned the toleration for non-Protestants in 1543, making it the sole religion of the state. From that point on only Protestants could be in parliament or have titles granted to them. Naturally this caused many issues, but the measures did seem to work.

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The key figure in all of this was the Queen herself. Had she died early in her reign, or if she had produced an heir of a different faith then things might have been very different. As it was, the Queen’s stability and personality helped a great deal. With the help of Richard Warwick, the new Archbishop and other ministers worked hard with Parliament, and in 1544 London was officially declared Protestant.


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However, the strain of sharing the same Kingdom between three different faiths led to an escalation in tensions. Ironically the lands in France proved to be less of a problem than Scotland and northern England were, with the result that the country seemed poised on the edge of religious civil war. Skirmishes in the north of England and in Scotland between militias of both sides seemed to indicated that full scale strife was near. In many ways the fate of Queen Caroline – and her reputation to posterity – rested on her ability to deal with this crisis.

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However, in one of her greatest hours, the Queen approached Parliament, which too had been divided, and gave the ‘Rights of the English’ speech, a moving peroration that moved everyone in the audience almost to tears. After her appeal to Parliament, that body proclaimed a series of laws that specifically returned some tolerations, and also outlined the laws and policies of the realm in regards to all men. Or at least all men with property anyway! It was like a renewal of the Magna Carta, and it had a galvinising effect, at least on the nobility, and the threat of civil war was averted.

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Meanwhile, colonial expansion continued, and a further reorganisation of the army with it. Already the tactics had been moving away from earlier weapons, but in the 1540s the English forces embraced the gunpowder revolution. A prominent military tactician named Maurice of Utrecht, forced out of his home by the Reformation, came to England and helped radically change the English forces. Now pikemen and arquebuses would be the key to military innovation.
These changes were put to the test soon after when Ceylon was seized and a permanent English base established there. The use of cannons and muskets contributed to a decisive naval victory over King Rama in 1545, and the future of gunpowder was assured.

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Okay, so this is the big update. Not in size, but one of the most important ones. It's also about halfway through the narrative.

Loki: Yes, I was fortunate that it went away so quickly. I had so many missionaries at work that I had to stop colonising briefly to pay for them all! They're pretty cheap though.

Chapter 20 – Confrontation and Revelation

24/1/1820


It appeared that a long time had passed from when he went into the library to now, as it was fully dark outside, and dinner was finished. Undaunted, John drove through the dining room, scattering some servants, and burst out into the hallway. He knew where her Ladyship would be, and he advanced on the magnificent study he had been in just the day before.
He found Tempest blocking his way outside the door, and he ignored her and shoved at the door. Tempest though grabbed him and held him back.
“Lady Mendenhall! I must speak with you! Get off me!” he yelled wildly.
Tempest, who was much stronger, and better trained, soon overpowered John, and was about to knock him to the ground when her Ladyship’s voice came through the open crack in the door.
“Tempest…let him enter. Ensure we are not disturbed.” It was cool, calm, controlled.
With bad grace Tempest hauled John around and pushed him through the door, then closed it after him.

The room, which the day before had been filled with light from the great windows, was now dark. The curtains were drawn and the lamps unlit. Only a fire at the far end of the room provided illumination, and that caused shadows to creep and flicker over the walls.
Her Ladyship sat in her high backed chair, shadowed and almost invisible in the darkness. Only her eyes were clearly visible, glittering in the shadows as she sat there, watching him.
“Ah, John. I missed you at dinner, are you unwell?” she asked politely.
John stopped a few feet from her. Even now he knew what he was going to say was absurd, silly. It was a work of madness, and yet…something about her Ladyship made him press on.
“It…was you!” he said, tongue tied and incoherent.
“What was me?” she asked. A brief smile creased her lips.
“You…it’s you,” he stammered again.
“John, you’re not making sense,” Lady Mendenhall said.
John took a deep breath and looked at the shadowy figure. The truth had to come out though, he had to know the facts.
“It’s you. You lied to me. This is all a lie.”
“I never lied to you, John,” she said softly.
“I know the truth now. It’s been you right from the start. There’s been no other Lady Mendenhall. It’s been you right from the start, changing your name, changing your hair. The reason you have all of those priceless artefacts is because you collected them in person. The crown of France, the paintings, you gathered them all yourself. No family can pass down through like yours supposedly did. You’ve been somehow alive for hundreds of years, I don’t know how long. You’ve somehow avoided getting old. You’ve been behind every throne, in every ruler’s ear, and I don’t doubt killing them when they angered you. In every painting you look exactly the same.”
John pressed on, knowing if he stopped his tirade she would speak. As it was he was surprised to see a smile on her face.
“You, my Lady are something I cannot even fathom. I do not know why you brought me here, or what you plan to do with me now I know, but I discovered the truth! You have been manipulating and guiding England for four hundred years – that book you wrote about is really about you and what you have done!”

He stood back a step, as if waiting for some sort of onslaught from Lady Mendenhall. He was panting as if he had run a mile, and with each second he was sure he had made a terrible mistake.
And then she slowly rose to her feet. The flickering fire cast shadows over John so that it seemed as though a looming shape was about to engulf him. In the dim light her hair was like strands of darkness, her skin pale as bone, her lips as red as blood.
And then, she slowly clapped. “Congratulations, John Adams. I am impressed.” She took another step forward, her dark dress rustling over the floor. “Now join me, and learn the truth of history.”
 
“Now join me, and learn the truth of history.”

I strongly agree with loki now, I suggest he flees for his life out the door. Failing that, since Tempest is likely waiting, jump through the nearest window and don't look back!

Very gripping stuff, greatly looking forward to the next narrative update. The gameplay update was very good too though, the Queen dealing with the religious turmoil very well. Although I get the feeling her 'dealing with it' may well prove only a temporary measure.
 
Okay, so this is the big update. Not in size, but one of the most important ones. It's also about halfway through the narrative.

you tease ...


She took another step forward, her dark dress rustling over the floor. “Now join me, and learn the truth of history.”

I think the time to flee has gone ... well we all warned him
 
That was amazing! I'm very interested to see what her version of "the truth" is.
 
If you don't post 2 narratives in a row I'm seriously considering doing something painful! We need to know more of this awesomeness.
Show us the truth, I beg you!!
 
If you don't post 2 narratives in a row I'm seriously considering doing something painful! We need to know more of this awesomeness.
Show us the truth, I beg you!!

Well, you know...I do have my chapter structure to consider. It might all just fall apart if applied wrongly! *Smirk*

Seriously though, I may do a triple narrative, followed by a triple history...if that's what people want. Let me know.
 
Well, not really. I mean, think about it. We're so used to fictional tropes such as aliens etc that we forget how new they are. In our world I cannot find a time travelling fiction book before the mid 19th century, and the concepts we have about monsters and such just weren't around. Fiction was usually about 'real' things that could happen.

The fact that this pretty Countess might be an immortal time traveller would hardly cross his mind. I think...in fact in this story at least...he was incredibly perceptive to work it out in just 3 weeks. I mean, as you'll see later some people never worked it out.

So I think in the story it can be sorta justified. :p

Now, that was a long winded answer, but I wanted to explain my reasons. It would have looked dumb if he'd said at their first meeting...TIME LORD LOLZ! :p
 
“Now join me, and learn the truth of history.”
That is an awesome quote. :cool:

For what it's worth, I think that your narrative-history-narrative structure is working fine. We can probably manage to wait for another history before getting some more narrative. :p
 
I couldn't have have explained it better!
 
Well, not really. I mean, think about it. We're so used to fictional tropes such as aliens etc that we forget how new they are. In our world I cannot find a time travelling fiction book before the mid 19th century, and the concepts we have about monsters and such just weren't around. Fiction was usually about 'real' things that could happen.

The fact that this pretty Countess might be an immortal time traveller would hardly cross his mind. I think...in fact in this story at least...he was incredibly perceptive to work it out in just 3 weeks. I mean, as you'll see later some people never worked it out.

So I think in the story it can be sorta justified. :p

Now, that was a long winded answer, but I wanted to explain my reasons. It would have looked dumb if he'd said at their first meeting...TIME LORD LOLZ! :p

I think you're thinking too hard. The 'obvious' reason he didn't run is... he's a guy. She's a girl. She's hot. He's... well, done for.


I've fallen into this trap before a couple times, thus why I'd have run away, has nothing to do with anything else. :p I just know in that situation a guy gets blind-sided and is wittless, hopeless, and helpless.
 
I think you're thinking too hard. The 'obvious' reason he didn't run is... he's a guy. She's a girl. She's hot. He's... well, done for.


I've fallen into this trap before a couple times, thus why I'd have run away, has nothing to do with anything else. :p I just know in that situation a guy gets blind-sided and is wittless, hopeless, and helpless.

Perhaps... Although he is also an academic, and, as an aspiring academic in almost exactly the spot John found himself at the beginning of the story, I completely sympathize with his decision to jump at offer she made... The thing that would have raised the most questions for me - more than the honorary doctorate or the magnificent house, or the lack of relatives, etc - is the fact that she doesn't bother to publish. I think an academic would definitely need to ask about that for two reasons - first, why, and second, if she doesn't widely publish she might not be particularly well-known (tho the honorary doctorate would suggest otherwise), in which case she might not be the best advisor for making connections, which is an important part of post thesis academicia.
 
I strongly agree with loki now, I suggest he flees for his life out the door. Failing that, since Tempest is likely waiting, jump through the nearest window and don't look back! (snip)
Naaah. Edgewise's point is true enough, but I don't doubt he'll stay for the reason... well, I'm a physics student. xkcd gets it right in comic 242 (Google it, dunno if I'm allow to hotlink): "How could you choose avoiding a little pain over understanding a magic lightning machine?"

The first words out of my mouth would probably have been, "Holy crap! How does that work?" Not to mention it's the beginning of the 19th century, before the discovery of germs, so in their minds people just die all the time for no reason (TB: caused by being too beautiful for this cruel world.) Finding out immortality is possible by finding an immortal person would be like if you were studying your Newton like a good 19th century English schoolboy and someone just casually brought up Einstein's field equations.

So yeah: do it John!! Do it for science! :D
 
bananafishtoday: Yeah, curiosity is a big reason to stay!
quicksabre: Remember, women aren't allowed in colleges in England, so her credentials have to be honorary. She's published the book and I assume other things, but you're right there. She does however have friends in high academic places!
Viking_Manstein: Okay! :p
Edgewise: That's true. I mean, we'll see if he stays attracted to someone 20 times older than him. Talk about cradle snatching! :p
Sethanon: Don't hurt me! >_> I'm going to post this in the normal order, so be patient. Your time will come!
Avindian: A very interesting truth...and one filled with its own issues.
Loki/MorningSIDEr: Well, in the event we shall see just how much he has to fear from her.

Thank you all for your posts. It means a lot to me. :)

Chapter 20a – Family Ties

Summarised from Chapter 5 of ’Britannia Triumphant’ by Lady Mendenhall.


Through the trials and tribulations of the Reformation, the Queen managed to maintain an active and involved family life. In later years she would be known as the ‘Mother of her Nation’, for the simple reason that all Kings and Queens of England and Great Britain down to the present have been descended from her children. Despite being Queen, Caroline had six children who survived infancy, four of whom would eventually either be heir, or produce a royal line which would eventually produce a monarch.

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Her first son, Charles, born shortly after she became Queen, was something of a disappointment to her. Though intelligent and artistically talented he wasted his skills in idleness. He had no inclination to learn the martial talents needed to be a monarch, and spent much of his time hunting. For his part Charles resented his mother’s popularity, and often avoided her. Unfortunately, he also took a revenge on his chaste and pious mother by all manner of affairs, and by neglecting his marital duty. He therefore had no children, and his wife Joan of Armagnac eventually abandoned him for her homeland.
Thus, when during a hunt in York organised by Duke Richard, the Prince’s horse threw him the Queen was distraught, though not inconsolable.

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For a time it seemed as though her second son Henry would be the new heir. Henry was a talented general, and early in his career he had helped lead forces into Aragon which liberated southern France from them, and later had organised the expansion into North America.
However, he too quarrelled with his mother, and just a year after his brother died, he too was dead.

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This in turn left a minor problem. The two next in line to the throne were women, Caroline’s granddaughter by Henry, Elizabeth, and her third child Margarat. Elizabeth had a brother named William, but he was only six years old, while Elizabeth was eighteen and already extremely assertive.
Thus Parliament again acted, making Elizabeth the heir, but determining that William would be next in line if Elizabeth died without issue.

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This factor seemed quite likely however, as Princess Elizabeth was extremely self centred, arrogant and independent. She got on badly with her grandmother’s councillors and was known for her petulant tantrums. She also outraged courtiers by refusing every match for a royal wedding she was presented with, staying obstinately single in a time when royal ladies were expected to marry young. Her preference for female courtiers and servants also raised questions about Elizabeth of great interest to modern scholars.

In non-family related issues, England continued to expand, and the Queen and her ministers were forced to deal with the problems related to this. Corruption and problems of remote government were issues which were extremely difficult to eradicate, yet the Queen tried. When Irish nobles rose against her, she was forced to dispatch an army to put them down.

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The conquest of Ceylon had given England a vital entry point into the spice trade, and an East Indian Company was established with a full monopoly over the area.

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As the 1560s developed, the Queen’s plan for Reformation, now thirty years old seemed to have yielded results. Now all of England and Scotland was nominally under the control of the new church, with just a few areas in France still not conforming. It had been a fantastic achievement, and one which the Queen could justifiably claim had been God’s Will.

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Dont worry, if I would hurt you this awesomeness would be gone! Knowing there is an update pretty much everyday makes this something to look forward to!

O and that religious map of the world is one that is not oftenly seen. England almost always manages to stay Catholic in my games!