Portugal- an Empire Under the Sun

Death of João III

Taking Ceylon

Ceylon- well, Ceylon is Ceylon. A province named Ceylon is not surprisingly an important centre of trade in Ceylon node. Different for another reason too- Ceylon, of all the Indian nations, is a sole Buddhist nation. Rest are either Hindu or Muslim, but Ceylon chose their own faith. So, they live happily off their island, with wary relations with the rest of India, and thrive on trade.

One more thing- Ceylon was the key to Portuguese invasion to India. When Filipe I attacked Malabar back in 1515, it was Ceylon who let Portuguese ships into their ports, who allowed supply chain to be made and thanks to whom, Portuguese heavy ships pounded the defences of Kochin, making the siege more easier and making certain Portuguese win. Well, there is kind of karma to it- by letting Portuguese in, they sealed their faith.

It was in November 1542 when Portuguese ships were seen off the coast of Ceylon, bombarding the trade vessels and fisherman ships. It was clear that the Portuguese had come to stay- and it was clear Ceylon would be able to offer no resistance. Their meager army was swept aside by 6000 strong Portuguese army and the Portuguese started the siege. It was over by September 1543- and after that, Ceylon was no more. Was just Portuguese colony of Ceylon that became an even more important centre of trade. Overall, Ceylon was a third Portuguese colony in India.


Conquest of Ceylon

Peaceful Years

From 1543-1546, Portugal was not involved in any wars. They were breathing more easily, working on overextension and since João III was already way past his prime, arguing about the future course of the realm.

In 1543, Portugal advanced their diplomatic tech to 11, now enabling the building of canals and shipyards and even more colonial range. In 1544, administrative tech reached 12, meaning Fine Arts Academies and administrative monarchies. Since Portugal was currently kinda short of money (a bit under 1000), Academy was not yet built.


Advancing the tech again

Administrative monarchy was adopted though. In October 1545, João III abandoned the feudal monarchy and instituted administrative one. Since everyone felt that feudal one had outlived it’s usefulness, no-one objected and the country changed it’s government without any troubles at all. What can be said- a bit more production and bit more tax always helps.


Adopting the administrative monarchy

War for Alicante

The Spanish were in a pitch- they had gotten themselves in a fight with France. Or more likely, Austria, their loyal ally, had once again declared war on France and Spain agreed to join. Result- French troops were overwhelming Spain. João III was definitely not above using such a good situation and in June 1546, he declared war on Spain, claiming the province of Alicante, the last of the Spanish coastal provinces in Sevilla node.


Not a good time to be Spain

Portuguese forces, only 17 000 in numbers (rest being sent everywhere around the world and were slowly moving back), marched to siege the province. Spanish had finished their defensive ideas, so the progress was slow and annoying.

It was only in February 1547 when some action started- Austrian forces of 7000 soldiers attacked Portuguese in Alicante. They were the vanguard- the Spanish forces of 18 000 soldiers were closeby and marching in. Portugal would soon be eating more then they could chew... They knew that well, so they fought like hell. Killing Austrians to the last man- that stopped the Spanish reinforcements as well. Close call by all accounts.


Saved by the timely slaughter of all Austrians

Death of the King

In April 1547, João III finally passed away. He was 68 when he took the throne in 1538 and now, he was 77. It was the age that killed him- not particular sickness, he just withered out. Still, he had ruled more then anyone expected- whole 9 years. During his time, he begun Portuguese expansion to Gulf of Aden, expanded further to Indias, finished off Kongo, founded two additional colonies in the Caribbean (St. Thomas and St. Barthelemy) and founded a colony in Bourbon, an island southeast of Madagascar. Overall, he was not a bad ruler at all- he just came too late to the throne. Total 7 provinces were gained in his time.

His brother and third son of Filipe I, Teodósio I, took over. He was also old- 65 years. At least his son and heir, future king João IV, was young and full of promise.


Long live King Teodósio I (and soon, long live King João IV)

First, thanks for showing you still read me! Always a bit discouraging to see episode getting no feedback at all.

Second- why do the good ones have to die, well, not young but... have to die not too old? João IV was the best monarch i've had to the date (6-4-4).... Anyways, Portugal is expanding slowly, but steadily. Well on her way to becoming an Empire where the Sun never sets.

Mkoll13 - Glad you like it! And overseas empires are my favourites in EU series... think there hasn't been an EU game where i didn't rock as Portugal.

DensleyBlair - welcome baaaack! And yes, the native bank is closed now. Too harsh, i think. Paradox should have made a compromise- let's say 1 point of inflation every 500 or 1000 ducats asked, not the current system. But basically, by the time i finally get to 1.2, let's just say other nations are eyeing my treasury, not the other way around.
Well, and you can now at least gather strength before going after le blob. After all, Ottomans should kick ass... Hmm- and i think i have to fight with le blob sometimes too. We are getting conflicts of interest. And they have full defensive ideas+Vauban fortifications- how hopeless is that to siege?

Nikolai - ahh well, it's ok to miss a few No worries! At least you think it's great!

RMcD94 - true that. Didn't think it from that angle! Thanks!

MiniaAr - Thanks! And well, i'm playing to win, but i'm not abusing the system to win. No moving Portuguese capital to somewhere in Chespeake area or using release vassal/annex vassal trick to save on coring costs and all that. Would make the game too boring.

Facit - Glad you like it. And yes, Aden has two centres of trade- Muscat, in the southeastern tip of peninsula (and incidentally, capital of Oman) and Aden, in the southwestern tip. Well, and now Majerteen, for +5 trade power for privateers works the same. And yes, i'm gonna grab them all.

SirKaid - Ahh, good! Portugal is my personal favourite and one of the most interesting nations to play. You get yourself a global empire before you can say da Gama and if you play your cards right, you make all other nations really jealous because of your wealth and power.

War and Peace

Ending the War with Spain

When Teodósio I came to power, he inherited the war with Spain. Portugal had demanded Alicante, the last of the coastal provinces in Sevilla node still in Spanish hands and were busily sieging it. Spanish had their problems with the French, who roamed freely in the Spanish countryside, until the Spanish thought it would be a good idea to hide all their troops in Murcia, sieging the province.

In September 1547, first Dominica in the Caribbean fell to Portuguese. Then, at the end of the month. Alicante fell also. Now, only to deal with the Spanish troops in Murcia. Great Marco Machado attacked the Spanish in the beginning of October. The poor Spanish were forced to flee- and even though the Portuguese lost more soldiers, the more important part was to set the enemy running. And run they did- but now, Portugal had something special. Marco ordered his troops to do the forced march and that they did- following, or rather, leading the Spanish forces as they fled toward Bay of Biscay.

In was in November 1547 when Spanish troops, exhausted and with low morale, arrived to Cantabria. Only to find Portuguese there, taking up the defensive positions in the hills and forcing Spain to attack. The great Spanish army was defeated there and not a single soldier remained. Morale of the Spanish was destroyed with that.


Forced march wins the day- defeating the Spanish at Cantabria

Officially, the war ended in January 1458. Teodósio I demanded Alicante- naturally. But besides the province, he also demanded Dominica and all of Spanish treasury. This now meant that Spain had only one more colony in the Windward Isles- Trinidad. And no coastal provinces in the Sevilla node. Portugal was well on her way in achieving monopoly in Sevilla- and monopoly in Caribbean, Brazilian and of course, more importantly, Indian trade.


End of the War

Caribbean

In was in January 1548 when passing Portuguese traders saw smoke outside the island of Curacao. They sailed in closer to inspect- only to find a beginning of the French settlement there. Not much, less then a hundred people, but they had already built themselves houses, built some farms, started trade with locals. Caribbean was no longer playground of Portuguese and Spanish, other European nations were joining in on the fun.


The Caribbean- with a speck of blue on it

Revolts

In September 1548, buddhists in Ceylon really didn’t like to be converted to catholic and rose to revolt. 8000 buddhists against 6000 Portuguese- it soon turned bad. The Portuguese scattered and for a while, the favourite pastime of Ceylonese was hunting Portuguese. Result- entire army defeated. Luckily, the Portuguese fort stood and though the garrison was under siege, they held out. The locals catapulted the severed heads of Portuguese soldiers slaughtered in the island to the fort, to drop the morale. But the morale held and in half a year, reinforcements came. It was the buddhist turn to be slaughtered. Hopefully they will reincarnate as earthworms...


Never fun, losing the entire army

Meanwhile, back in homeland- Porto had turned protestant some good 20 years ago. Nothing one could do about it. But now, the buggers were revolting as well- a fine number of 33 000 Protestant zealots. Demanding the whole country to become protestant, abandon the papacy and all that. Not good at all- but the Portuguese army also lost the first battle against them in March 1549. Half a year later, in October 1549, the Portuguese attacked again- this time, defeating the protestants. Series of battles followed until the protestants were killed to the last man- but the Porto remained a protestant fortress.


Ouch, that is one hell of a rebellion

Manuel de Maralva

It was in July 1549, in Zapotec, the Portuguese province in the shores of Pacific Ocean. A caravel had been built and was about to leave the harbour. The captain of the ship- Manuel de Maralva. His task- to sail both south and north and to map the coastline. In following year and half, he succeeded. He connected the already discovered route through the Strait of Magellan and discovered lands far north. Then, he died of malaria.


The beginning of travels

It was the travels of Manuel de Maralva though that made the Portuguese certain of one thing- these new lands were definitely not India- the thing Spanish still believed. And it was not Asia at all- it was something new, something big and something already quite under Portuguese control. Of course, something like that was suspected for a long time, for Portuguese explorers were pushing both east and west and had not yet connected, but the travels of Manuel de Maralva made it certain.

Anti-Piracy Act

It was in February 1550 when Teodósio I instituted the Anti-Piracy Act, increasing penalties for piracy (hanging on the spot or walking the plank). Of course, it meant pirates of other nationalities, Portuguese pirates were a clear exemption of the hanging rule. They got a pat in the back instead. But this meant an end of something else- something that had plagued Mediterranean for centuries. Barbary pirates, the Muslim seaman who really enjoyed disrupting the trade and killing the fat merchants, had lost most of the bases in North Africa. Now, with the act passed, followed by sweeps by Armada Real, the rest of the pirates were soon decorating the masts of Portuguese ships.


Barbary pirates- gone!

Here, i stalled a bit to get overextentsion to 0- prime requirement to get the Anti-Piracy Act, to Barbary Pirates Defeated modifier. Useful thing. Gave me time to get the rebellions as well.

Nikolai - Yea, gerontology was not in my plans when i started the game. And Spanish stack looks kinda dead.

MiniaAr - Luckily, not this time- he lives to rule for a long time.

Chief Ragusa- don't want to waste diplo power on culture conversion. Not yet. But hey, where is Deva Bengal? Loaded up the most recent game and couldn't find it? Btw, rich overseas provinces don't count for as much as they could... As for overseas territories- i'll get there in time. Spain is getting most of the Brazil and i don't really like it.

alhoward - you can call João IV lot of things, but not old!

DensleyBlair - agreed. Unless the ruler is crap and the heir is good/great. Then the stability costs are worth it. Plus, i never get it above +1 unless i have tons of admin power to spend- i hope for good events instead.
Maldives- eventually, but they are low in my priority list. Plus, i have to clear out the natives. Annoying.

Nikolai said:

Ironic that a king named Theodosio has such problems with religious conflicts.

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Ok, my history is failing my right now. Please, elaborate!