A Portuguese Man of War

The cold chilled Bishop Salivitari as he climbed down the stairs to the lower levels of the cellar. It had been years since he had been in this part of the Abby, and the remembrances of the cold made him curse the name of the Curator, Aliminos. Normally, he would have never agreed to leave his warm bed at this late hour, but the curator insisted that the finding was one worth the long walk. Aliminos was always a curious one, and his eccentricities were perfect to be the keeper of the Abby's records.

The Abby of King Joao the Conquerer was the principal keeper of historical documents for the Portuguese empire, and had been since 1451. Much of what was within the walls of the Abby remained hidden from the populace, as Joao established that the affairs of the state should be kept hidden from the people ever after death. Few scholars had ever ventured to the lower levels of the Abby, as the Church was given the task of keeping the histories.

After what seemed to be forever, Salivitari came at long last to the bottom of the long and winding stair. He could feel the cold chill his bones. Aliminos had told him that he would be in Alcove 234b, which meant a long walk along the dank and cold marble floor.

After a few minutes, the flicker of candlelight was seen and soon, the figure of Aliminos himself.

"What is it that is so important, Curator"

"This," replied Aliminos, and pointed to a huge volume sitting high upon a reading stand.

"A book? You brought me out of my warm bed for a dusty volume?

"Read the tile, padre".

Salivitari steps forward. "The Discovery and Conquest of the Americas" reads the title, and underneath, in a different script, "The History of Our Family".

The Bishop is stunned.

Could this be the lost family history of the Pereira's? So much of Portuguese history was lost when fires consumed the upper part of the Abby in 1843. While the historical facts remained - the battles, the leaders, the strife and the glories, few of the nuances from the time of conquest remained. What set Joao I onto his place of conquest? How did Pereira almost single-handedly defeat the combined forces of Aragorn and Castille? The cover of the volume was the title of the infamous and lost history of the Pereiras, one of the most central families in the history of the Empire.

"Have you shown this to anyone?", asked Salivitari.

"No, padre. I just found it myself," answered the Curator.

The Bishop thinks for a moment, wondering what secrets the dusty volume could reveal.

"Leave me. I need some time to think on this matter. Bring me some wine and bread, and some more light, please Curator".

As Aliminos leaves, the Bishop starts to read...

"That which I have myself seen and the fighting I have gone through, with the help of God, I will describe quite simply, as a fair eye witness without twisting events one way or another. I am an old man now, and I have lost my sight and hearing, and, as luck would have it, I have gained nothing of value to leave to my children and descendants but this my true story, and they will presently find out what a wonderful story it is."​

Jan 1, 1419
Catholic tolerance increased to maximum
Domestic policy increased towards free trade
Peace with Fez

Jan 4, 1419
Enrique the Crusader occurred... gained The Infantes, royal marriage to England, +60 relationship with England

Jan 28, 1419
Social Revolution of Joao I occurred ... went with Support the King (Centralism +3, Aristocracy -2, Serdom -1, Trade investment +250, revolt risk +3 for 12 months)

March 1, 1419
Alliance with Aragon

May 8, 1419
I arrived back in Togo, still wondering why Joao ordered peace with Fez and the recall of the Army of the Almeida. Why the sudden change of heart? Was this the same Joao I had known all these years?

May 12, 1419
I have seen the map. Now it all makes sense. This morning, I was summoned into the King's war room and saw the Vinland map. A map from the Vikings, drawn up four of five centuries previously, clearly showing a new land beyond the Azores. The King was enthralled by this news. What riches lay beyond the sea? The King, a keen scholar, wondered if there was a passage to the Far East, and the fabled Indies. With the possession of the map, and our position on the edge of civilization, we would be well positioned to capture all of those riches. The only possible competitor would be Castille. It was here that the King startled me, informing the room that an alliance had been struck with Aragorn, with the possibility of jointly attacking a weak Castille. I informed the King that while the forces under his command would follow any order he issues, such a war would be risky. Still bitter at Castille and Leon for his treachery at Aljubarrota, the King wished his revenge. The costs would be high, but Castille would be pressed between two foes and could be easily defeated. Besides, the King explained, he could not take the chance that Castille could ever get access to the New Worlds. The King commanded me to come up with a battle plan that would be lightning quick.

June 2, 1419
War declared on Castille ... Aragon joins in

March 14, 1420
Enrique the Navigator occurred ... went with Fund Enrique (-20, +800 naval, Algavre manufactory)

May 20, 1420
Pereira wins massive battle in Castilla ... 2,624 infantry and 924 cavalry hold off 29,000 infantry and 4,000 horse under Barlena de Sequia

September 2, 1422
Castille sues for peace successfully .., Portugal gains Leon, Estramadura, Cantabria, Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Asturias and Galicia

Cost of 1419-1422 Castille Campaign
1,200 in loans
26,937 infantry lost (525 due to combat)
5292 calvalry lose (104 due to combat)

Farquharson said:

This is a great start - I'll be following! This may be a silly question but what happened to all the infantry and cavalry lost but not due to combat? Attrition during sieges?

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Attrition... troops spent 3 years in Castille... crap food and cheap wine...

Director said:

A very nice start, and a beautiful pic of the map. Adds some nice period flavor.

One quibble - I suspect you made alliance with Aragon, not Aragorn. He's in a different book!

Anyway, I'll be following. Glory to the House of Pereira!

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lol - you are correct... this is not middle-earth

Stroph1 said:

Interesting mix of old style logs and narrative diary. I loke the maps!

Good luck achieving your goals.

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Thanks ...

I'll have to betray Aragon sooner than later, and having Castille with any province just seems wrong, doesnt it?

Worried about that huge debt.... basically, means I wont be building anything for about 10 years or so.. which puts me in a hole, financially...

Jan 1, 1423
Fernando de Castro proposes an African expedition to explore the territory south of the Saharah, following in the footsteps of Polybius and Hanno of Carthage. Records of such journeys are scarce, but Castro, a historian, has shown the King maps made by Eratosthenes and Strabo, around the time of Christ, that clearly shows Africa as having a southern passage - the Ethiopicus Oceanus. Castro also told how the Greek historian Herodotus reported that Pharaoh Necho (Necos) II had commissioned a number of Phoenicians to sail down the Red Sea, around the southern tip of Africa and back along the west coast, through the Pillars of Hercules to Egypt. The King was impressed by his presentation and gave him a commission to search the African coast via land, south of the Moroccan Saharah.



Jan 2, 1427
Diego de Silves proposes exploration of northern passage via Iceland, in essence following the Vinland map in order to prove its validity ... passage to land at Iceland is secured from Norway.

May 12, 1427
Castro dies ... his legacy is 5 new trading posts along the coast of Africa and the importation of Ivory into Portugal.

May 16, 1427
de Silves finds prove of the existence of Greenland, and discovers it is filled with Norweigans... the King is distraught at this news, as he firmly believes that God wants the New World to be Portuguese.

November 27, 1427
de Silves discovers the New World and spies a race of naked peoples along the northern shore of the land west of Greenland.

Feb 1, 1429
Domestic Policy change ... Centralization +1

Feb 21, 1429
Aragon declares war on England ... given the insanity of it all, we decline to join up ... Aragon is disappointed, but decides to continue the alliance. England, bust with wars with the Dauphe and their allies, does not seem too concerned .. staggering, when you think of it, how asinine Aragon is to declare war on the biggest army in the world.

Oct 1, 1429
Declaration of War on Morocco ... Aragon joins in ... Infantes is given the task to take Sahara.

Jan 12, 1430
Castille and Navarra declaration of war - Castille is obviously bitter at getting slapped in the last encounter ... Aragon joins in ... which is good, because they have a huge army ... Pereira is given the task of defending the homeland

Jan 27, 1430
Foiz declaration of war ... Aragon joins in ... a pain in the ass, really, as will have to divert forces to defend Cantabria.

July 6, 1430
de Silves dies ... his legacy will forever be as the discover of the New World.

Nov 29, 1430
Pereira takes Castilla after a huge siege.

April 4, 1431
Nuno Alvares Pereira, the Count of Arraiolos and Barcelos, Duke of Braganca, hero of Aljubarrota, the scourge of Leon and Castille, dies in his sleep.



Pereira almost single-handedly defeated the invading armies of Castille during the 1430 invasion ... his greatest victory occured in the Siege of Castilla where, outnumbered 5 to 1, he defeated a counter-attack and went on to take the city.

May 12, 1431
Granada declares war ... opportunistic little bastards who deserve to be given a can of whup-ass, but unfortunately every spare soldier is tied up defending the homeland against Castille or occupied in the Siege of Sahara.

June 10, 1431
Castille offers a peace - 14 gold to Portugal and Aragon and Castilla to Portugal ... which is what we've been asking for since December of last year.

Feb 17, 1432
Sahara falls after a 28-month siege ... you'd think the heathens would surrender, but they just wouldn't... attrition killed thousands of noble Iberians.

Feb 18, 1432
Morocco agrees to a peace deal - 50 gold to Portugal and Aragon and Sahara to Portugal.

April 1, 1432
Infantes starts his seige of Granada.

Sept 24, 1432
Granada sues for peace - 24 gold to Portugal and Aragon … would have loved to take them down completely, but forces are fairly depleted after the Castille Campaign.

Dec 26, 1432
Cape Bejador occurs ... Cape Verde gained as a colony, -25 gold, naval investment +250, the explorer Gil Eanes obtained.

Jan 2, 1433
Gil Eanes proposes an expedition south of the Castronian Trading Posts, to find Eratosthenes and Strabo's Ethiopicus Oceanus. The King, eager to find a southern passage to the rishes of the Orient agrees. Members of the court urged the King to suggest that Eanes continue the work of de Silves, but the King would rather obtain the riches of Ivory and of the Orient vs. the furs of the New World.

Anibal said:

I love a good portuguese tale, like yours... yes, just like Stroph said, the mix with diaries and logs gives a special flavour on it, and the maps are nice!

Good to see you pushing hard into Castille so early. Yes, better do it before she starts colonizing. Aragon is next victim, correct?

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Not until Castille and Navarra are under heel... then, Aragon has to be dealt with...