A History of the Empire: Vol. 2
Chapter 10: The Age of Exploration
In 1456, Anne’s last major achievement went through. Iceland, an island considered a fringe territory up until this time, was fully incorporated into the Empire. While the people still held their own culture and traditions, English had become common even amongst some of the peasants and local lords were fully in servitude to the Empress. This fact would become immensely important within just a few years.
In 1462, Anne the Conqueror died. Great Britain’s first Empress would be mourned by many across the Empire. Following her death, her cousin Richard took the throne as Richard the IV. Emperor Richard would name his son, also named Richard, as the heir presumptive.
Richard the IV would inherit many of the problems that Anne’s reign had created, namely the problems of North Africa. Revolts were near continuous as Howe and Cornwallis continued conversion efforts, while still fighting nationalists. The Emperor would not falter however. In the years following his rise to the throne, Emperor Richard would help with the continued integration of North Africa via intense funding and small reforms. This period would see some of North Africa, mostly around Tripoli and Tunisia, become fully British possessions, both in a religious and political fashion. Around this time 3 large waves of conversions would succeed and within a few years most of the North Africans accepted Catholicism to some degree.
Richard the IV’s reign would not be incredibly notable if it wasn’t for his one great policy change. With British settlers moving into uncharted territory, the Emperor had to have some way to monitor the activities of these far off settlements. The Imperial Limits Act, passed in 1466, would be significant in two particular ways. First, it was the earliest known document to refer to Great Britain as “The Empire.” This makes it generally accepted as the formal declaration of the British Empire. Henry the V’s reforms are still considered the beginning of the British Empire by most historians though. The Imperial Limits Act was also incredibly important because it set up two important government agencies: The Northern Dominion Control and the African Dominion Control. Both controls were used to monitor expansion in their appropriate areas.
At its beginning, the Northern Dominion Control, or later known as the American Control, would cover only the territory of Iceland. The control itself was not made in vain though. With Iceland becoming increasing important to the Empire, news of past discoveries excited many. Richard the IV would be one of these people.
In 1468 a man by the name William Albemarle would approach the American Control for permission to lead an expedition west to discover these long forgotten lands. His offer would be accepted. Albemarle would initially discover only the open seas of the north Atlantic, but he would have one successful mission. In 1471, he left port in Iceland and managed to discover the coasts of Greenland. Some of his ships would head back in order to report these finds. He and a few of his ships would continue their journey west. Sadly, Albemarle would perish during this journey. His fate remains unknown. His findings would lead to incredible interest in colonization efforts to the west and Greenland would be colonized within the decade. The Emperor himself would free some of the serfs and peasants for this colonization effort to raise interest.
While progress west would begin to flourish, Africa would not be neglected. The African Control would begin to set up scouting missions to survey nearby lands. During the late 1460’s they managed to gain some knowledge of two large tribes along the coast of Africa: the Mali and the Ashanti. The Ashanti did not pay much heed to their British neighbors, but the Mali were almost instantly aggressive.
In 1471, the African Control would appeal to the Emperor for a declaration of war against the Mali and proposed their incorporation into the Empire. Hostilities would break out before official approval was given, but the Emperor agreed regardless.
The Mali tribe was in no way comparable to the more modern British forces, and was quickly defeated. The small coastal tribe was added into the Empire and the African Control immediately began operations in the area.
