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The Story of Aragón

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[You'll be happy with this post.]

Section Four
Being a Period of Five Years and Thirty-Seven Days

In January of 1499 we recieved a wave of explorers. Alonso de Ojeda volunteered to explore on land, while three veterans of Columbus' early voages (Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, Amerigo Vespucci, and Juan de la Cosa) prepared ships for voyages wherever they were needed. De la Cosa travelled to Brazil to explore the coast southward; Vespucci went along the coast of the northern part of the new continent; and Pinzón was sent to complete the exploration of Africa. De Ojeda went along with Vespucci, to be set down on land when Vespucci discovered some potentially useful area.

By this point, we weren't the only ones with an interest in this new land. King Henry of England sent an Italian named Giovanni Caboto to explore lands for England. Late in 1499 Vespucci came across Caboto who was coming out of some English port and heading south. The two Genoans started yelling at each other in their native language. Eventually, Vespucci agreed to allow Caboto to continue as long as Caboto told King Henry that the land would be called "America."

The explorers continued on. Pinzón found plenty of malaria-ridden but livable land in Africa. Columbus angered more natives. De la Cosa found silver in southern Brazil [OOC: Argentina]. Vespucci found lots of Englishmen.

In 1501, Isabella decided it would be a good idea to route some of the Spanish trade through her own lands. She encouraged trade through Sevilla. Fernando didn't care, as Spanish merchants continued to trade through Lisbon, and Sevilla's trading center became a bit of a flop.

Due to the ever-increasing size of the "Indies," Emperor Fernando created an new Viceroyality of America (name stolen from the English), and made Columbus viceroy of a couple trading posts and a small colony in Virginia.

It was from here that a new plant came. I was, at the time, in the town of San Fernando when a trader gave me a sample of some weed called "tobacco". He told me you put it in a pipe and burned it. I told him that he and his noxious weed could go to the infernal regions. The thing gives off the most terrible smell when burned. But people don't seem to be able to stop doing it. Odd, really.

Early in 1502, Vespucci came across a well-organized tribe (rare in America) called the Lenape. The English had already had contact with them and one of the natives had been taught Italian by Caboto. The two spoke to each other, and soon the native chief offered Vespucci a pipe of tobacco "as a peace offering." Vespucci gladly agreed, and Spain and the Lenape became good friends. I could hardly allow that. I requested five thousand soldiers "for the suppression of native tribes." Along with them came Prospero Colonna. For two years I trained them in the new kind of warfare that was needed in America.

Finally, on 6 February 1504, the army, under the joint command of Colonna, de Ojeda, and myself (Columbus was busy trying to find out what happened to Pinzón's expedition, which disappeared a year before), sent a message to the chief of the Lenape: "We ask that you join us in the brotherhood of the Christian faith. If you do, you shall be accepted as an equal nation, with all the rights involved. If you do not, you shall be considered heathens, in league with Satan and deserving nothing more than ruin and slavery." Predictably, the chief refused, and the army moved forward.
 
Good good. Nothing like a little gratuitous expansion ;)
 
[As long as I can get away with it. :) ]

Section Five
Being a Period of Two Years and One Hundred Eighty-Eight Days

The army crossed the Lenape River [OOC: the Delaware, and no, Washington wasn't with them :D ] from Virginia in late February and on 3 March was attacked by Lenape tribesmen. This was my first test of the training I had ordered. The Lenape swarmed our army; they had about 15,000 while we had 8,000. At first, they tried mental warfare, making us think that they were some sort of demons. We brushed that off, secure in our belief that God would prevent Satan's meddling in this holy venture.

The actual battle was joined three days later. It began when a small group of the Lenape struck at the rear of our army, using bows. De Ojeda, in command of that area, fired a volley into the brush. Five Lenape fell dead or wounded and the rest were scared off by the thunder and lightning from our weapons. One of the wounded Lenape, with little questioning, gave us a basic overview of the Lenape battle plan. He also asked about our religion. We explained it to him, but we did not expect him to survive long enough to truly live as a Christian. But once baptized, he began to recover. He praised God for healing him and resolved to live as a good Christian for his entire life.

We didn't have time to dwell on this, however. Armed with the Lenape's information, we beat off several more attacks. On 12 March they came in full force (seven thousand, I estimate) against my section. With the help of our guns, and my study of native tactics, I managed to cause severe casualties, more than half dead, and another thousand badly wounded. By 15 March the entire Lenape army fled to the north, and we spread out to take their main towns in the area. The Lenape arrived again, in April. After a few days of maneuvering, on 16 April they attacked, and fled again. But when they came in June, they were used to our guns. They also attacked spread out, making it harder to target them. We were nearly overrun and fled back across the river.

After reinforcing our army to a strength of 10,000, we attacked again in November, forcing the Lenape to once again retreat. By February 1505 we had completely taken control of the regions now in Santa Maria province [OOC: Maryland and Delaware, or Delaware province in EU2]. After the Lenape attacked again, we moved north, to the Manhattan region. We found that the Lenape had built fortifications on Manhattan island that would be difficult to attack. It was also at this time that we learned of the death of Queen Isabella, several months before. Her daughter Juana became queen, but the nobles declared her insane and made her husband Felipe de Austria regent.

During the rest of 1505, and early 1506, we made several attempts to take the fort; by sea, by land... de Ojeda even recommended the Trojan Horse, but we decided that wouldn't work in this case. Finally, we just decided to starve them, and on 27 May 1506 the forification surrendered. By this time, we had taken control of all the other Lenape villages in the area. We now proceeded to move inland. On 30 July, Colonna's force met a Lenape army, followed by de Ojeda's and then mine. Within a fortnight the Lenape had been scattered, but we were then faced by their chief and his 2500-man bodyguard. They gave a good fight, even using some captured guns, but on 13 August we caught the chief.

He begged for mercy, also asking that we teach him about our religion. We brought forth two priests and our convert from the beginning of the war. They convinced him, and he soon after asked to be baptized. The next day, after the baptism ceremony, a peace treaty was signed. The Lenape were to be considered a state in the eyes of other European powers, although much smaller as the coastal areas were given to us. The chief, who took a Spanish name on his conversion, became King Pedro I of the Lenape. Our army left the area and went to our new lands in Manhattan province [OOC: New Jersey and southern New York--EU2's Manhattan.]
 
For the Glory of God.

Excellent work there. Any particular reason why you decided not to grab all the Lenape?
 
stnylan said:
Any particular reason why you decided not to grab all the Lenape?
Click to expand...

My main goal was the COT in Manhattan, anything after that was extra. And two provinces are expensive enough to convert as it is.

And perhaps I was just feeling merciful at the time.
 
Section Six
Being a Period of Two Years and One Hundred Forty Days

Upon my return to Spain I was told of the situation around the world. Spanish colonies were being made along the coast of America and Brazil, while Columbus had made his way north along East Africa, and just reached India--but unfortunately died of malaria in May. The body was returned to Spain and then to Lisbon, where the "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" was buried.

It was also this year that Felipé de Austria, the regent of Castille, died, leaving Burgundy to his six-year-old son Carlos and the regency to Fernando. Fernando continued to rule from Aragón, bringing Spain that much closer to unification. I could only wait for the day when the two kingdoms had one ruler.

But I concerned myself more with outside affairs. I made an attempt to raise relations with France, although that is, always has been, and forever shall be a futile task. More important in my eyes were the relations with the new Kingdom of Lenape. After sending King Pedro a gift welcoming him to his new world, the Lenape joined the Spanish alliance.

On the subject of alliances, it came to my attention the next year that Austria joined an alliance with France, a perennial enemy of Austria's as well. This was a bad moment, as the two together made a terrible enemy.

In 1508, several matters of import were dealt with. First, two new explores, Juan Díaz de Solis and Juan de Grijalva, offered their services. De Solis was sent to Brazil to relieve de la Casa, who was then sent to India to continue Columbus' work; while de Grijalva was given the unenviable job of sailing around the Atlantic looking for more small islands. Very unenviable.

In October de Solis rounded the southern tip of Brazil and became the first man to look upon the Pacific Ocean. About the same time de la Casa was finding rich lands in Africa and India, while de Ojeda continued to explore inland America. And de Grijalva looked around the Atlantic searching for islands that just weren't there.

The greatest conquistador of our early period came in 1509. Vasco Nuñez de Balboa would make great gains in exploring parts of America and Brazil, and give to Spain the first truly rich fruits of exploration and conquest in the New World.
 
Ah, Balboa....Nice...so that means we should expect conquest of the Inca and Aztecs to commence soon, yes?
 
Section Seven
Being a Period of Five Years and One Hundred Twenty-Two Days

In January of 1509 Balboa presented himself at the palace in Saragossa. He set forth a plan of conquest in America: First, exploration and subjugation in the southern portion of that continent, slowly making his way to the Mayans, to whom he would offer conversion to Christianity--or death. After that, the Zapotek would be given the same treatment. Balboa would then look into rumors of a place he had heard of from the Zapotek, an immense city on a lake, its buildings made of gold. Both the Emperor and I agreed that this was a good plan, and he was sent to America.

I gave him the full backing of our colonies in the venture. Balboa arrived where America met Brazil in early December. He discovered that it was in fact an isthmus, and on the other end was a large body of water. He returned to his mission, however. After leaving a group of missionaries to teach the Christian faith to the natives, he travelled north and discovered Mosquitos (the place, not the insect, although there were plenty to be found). Balboa continued through Costa Rica and Honduras, continuing to leave missionaries among the natives. By this point, he came across the outlying settlements of the Mayans.

Balboa's first message was rather friendly. He offered to meet with representatives of the Mayans to discuss religion. The Mayans, however, were less courteous. They flatly refused, saying they had heard plenty of the "false Christian sect" and wished to hear no more. Balboa warned that such a refusal would mean that he would force a meeting. Once again, he was ignored, and in late June of 1510 led an expedition into the southern Mayan lands to scare the Mayans into submission.

The Mayans responded with their full force. Balboa wisely fell back into Honduras. After more than a year of preparation, he struck again in November 1511. After holding a large area for two months, the large Mayan army reappeared and Balboa, after suffering many casualties, wisely fell back.

Once again, he took a long time to prepare. He organized fifteen thousand men and outfitted them with the latest weaponry. The army travelled back to the Mayan lands and this time faced the main army immediately. The battle was not even close. Not only were the Mayans surprised at Balboa's new large army, he had brought another weapon in:

For the first time, the sound of artillery was heard in the New World.

Guatemala fell in October, Campeche in November. But Balboa's advance was slowed down by the artillery, and he was entering swampy ground. Worse, the scattered nature of the Mayan settlements required him to take large areas of territory. Mayan tactics, involving scattered attacks on Spanish supplies and then quick retreats, slowed him down even more. It therefore took him a full year to conquer the far western Mayan lands of Tehuacan.

But by now there was a clear path to the capital of Mayapan. With the help of his artillery the walls were blown to pieces and the city fell on 19 February. The Spanish came in to take their prize. But they found the city devastated by a weapon the Spanish hadn't even intentionally used, smallpox. Thousands upon thousands of Mayans died from this terrible disease, which the Europeans were immune to.

Balboa paid little attention to this, though. He was more concerned with his plan. The Mayans had been conquered. He marched to Tehuacan, arriving in late April. When the Zapotek refused to convert as well, Balboa led the army northward again.
 
For the Glory of God and Aragon? Do you have CBs or did you just declare war anyway?
 
stnylan said:
For the Glory of God and Aragon? Do you have CBs or did you just declare war anyway?
Click to expand...

Yes, Spain (which I switched to in 1476) gets automatic CBs against all Pagan and Muslim countries. Quite helpful. :)
 
Section Eight
Being a Period of One Year and Two Hundred Forty-Eight Days

On 22 May, Balboa struck the tribe of the Tlaxcala. They offered no resistance; in fact, they called Balboa their god, returned from over the sea. Unfortunately a Zapotek army arrived on 2 June and kept the Tlaxcala from providing any aid, although Balboa immediately destroyed the army. By 15 June the last vestiges of Zapotek armies had been driven from the provinces and the Tlaxcalans provided Balboa with a secure base from which to strike inland.

Several times the Zapotek army struck at Balboa's army, and each time they were driven back with severe casualties. They had no way of dealing with Spanish technological superiority. Although the march over the high mountains was long, Balboa kept his men driving forward. In November they finally arrived at another large area of Zapotek settlements. Also there was another large body of water (soon found to be the same Balboa had found earilier). The borders of the Zapotek now defined, he set out to cover these borders. This was a simple matter, and on 16 January the last Zapotek towns surrendered to Balboa.

With the aid of the Tlaxcalan, who made decent warriors, Balboa immediately marched north, to conquer the Aztek tribe which made the last organized nation in the area. One of the Tlaxcalan chiefs, Xichotencatl, told stories along the march of the city on the lake Balboa had heard of. The city was named Tenochtitlan, and many of the rumors were true. The city had been built on a lake, and gold could be found in abundance. Balboa now was more determined than ever to take the city.

The first battle was on 12 March 1515. The Aztek army was large--no doubt Aztek wealth came from many vassal lands. Balboa expected these auxilliaries to be weak-willed or likely to even be traitorous. But it was not so. The Aztek army held fast, and despite Tlaxcalan bravery and Spanish weaponry. Finally, in early April, Balboa decided to withdraw.

He was not concerned, however. After resting and gaining more Spaniards from the sea, he marched north again and arrived on 6 July. The battle took seven days, until the Aztek vassals broke and the core of the army was left to retreat. Within the month Spanish soldiers were in the city.

Balboa captured the Aztek chief, named Montezuma. At swordpoint, he recognized Balboa as the returned god, Quetzalcoatl. But the citizens were unhappy with this. Montezuma was killed, and it looked as if the Spaniards would be sent back south again. But Balboa's army kept the angry crowds at bay and by 11 August, with several of the client tribes swearing Spanish allegiance, the Aztek were pacified.

This would be the last of old Fernando's conquests. The Catholic King died on 25 January 1516. His heir was Charles of Habsburg, youthful but still of age, who was the first king of both Aragón and Castille. Spain was united at last.
 
aragon2.gif

Book III: The Double Emperor
1516-1566​

Introduction

May the peace of Our Lord Jesus be with you, good reader. I am Fernando de Valencía, the son of Alfonso Rodriguez the Duke. This book documents the career of the illustrious Charles Habsburg, King of Spain and Germany, Emperor of Rome, and Duke of Burgundy (along with his many other titles).

Fernando the King and Emperor died on 25 January 1516. The succession went though Juana the Mad, his daughter with Isabella of Castilla-Léon, to Charles of Burgundy. Although young, he was of age and able to rule by his own right. Most important was that he also became King of Castilla-Léon.*

The Electors voted Charles' grandfather Maximillian von Habsburg as Emperor. Apparently they had enough of the Emperor spending all of his time in Spain.

My father greeted Carlos** as he arrived in Saragossa in February. He helped Carlos get used to his surroundings and introduced the new King to the members of the court. At this time Carlos also officially retained Alfonso in the position of chief advisor and minister.

My father's first piece of advice to Carlos was agreed to completely: The subjugation of Brazil and southern America needed to continue.

--------
*This section repeats the end of Book II.
**Before this point, Fernando used the Latin form of the name, Carolus. Later on, once Charles takes titles outside of Spain again, Fernando uses Carolus again.
 
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The subjugation of Brazil and southern America needed to continue.
Click to expand...

Most assuredly ;)
 
Section One
Being a Period of Three Years and One Hundred Fifteen Days

As soon as I heard of the conquest of Mexico, I recommended to Balboa that he look at the major organized tribes of Brazil. He sent a rich (but still greedy) conquistador named Hernán Cortés to Panama, where he joined with the expeditions already there. We had made contact with one group, called the Chimú. Along with Juan de Grijalva, he explored the border to find good places to attack. Balboa arrived in October and began the invasion based on Cortés' findings.

Balboa marched his army along the coastline into Cali. But the Chimú put up a difficult fight, and it took him over a year to secure that area. Balboa studied the Chimú tactics closely, however, and Azuay, Montana, Atalaya, Cajamarca, and Guayaquil all fell within the next year. We discovered no resistance outside of the cities, and no organized armies as we had against the other major tribes. As it turned out, all the Chimú armies were in the south, at war with the Inca tribe.

Balboa was occupied with keeping the Chimú in order, but Cortés recieved Balboa's permission to lead an army south and attack. Cortés' army crossed the border on 8 December 1518. The last of the organized tribes of Brazil, and one of the last of the New World, now approached its end.

The first resistance was in Huanoco on 25 December. The Lord gave us the battle that was on His nativity. Cortés was less concerned about taking all the territory at once, but wished to take the chief of the tribe, Huayna Capac. Many of the Inca, rather than opposing the conquest, actually aided Cortés out of hatred for Huayana.

It was one of Huayana's sons, Atahualpa, who approached Cortés north of what is now Lima. Atahualpa greatly wished to become the chief of the Inca. If Cortés were to kill Huayana and Huascar (Atahualpa's brother), then Atahualpa would encourage the Inca to submit to Spanish rule. Cortés agreed, and arrived in Cuzco on 23 March. Within days the city was in Spanish hands and by 2 May Huayana and Huascar were killed in battle. Atahualpa became the chief, but as soon as the Inca were told of the Spanish and got used to the idea, Cortés took Atahualpa prisoner and ordered one room filled with gold and another with silver for Atahualpa's release.

The rooms were filled, Cortés sent the money back to Balboa for safekeeping, but Atahualpa was next ordered to convert to Christianity. The Inca steadfastly refused, and out of rage Cortés put him on trial for the murder of Huayana and Huascar. Atahualpa was sentenced to be burned at the stake on 19 May. He begged to be given mercy. Cortés told him that if he converted, the sentence would be reduced. Atahualpa agreed, and he was not put through the agony of burning.

He was mercifully beheaded.
 
Section Two
Being a Period of Seven Years and Thirty-Three Days

While Cortés had been in Peru, a Saxon monk named Martin Luther nailed a series of grievances against the Church onto the church door in Wittenberg. Nobody paid too much attention at the time, although the Pope convened an investigation into Luther. It was still ongoing at the time of Cortés' conquest.

More importantly, on 14 January 1519 Charles became the Emperor, and Archduke of Austria. However, he chose to rule from Vienna rather than Saragossa. Although we didn't like it, we accepted it (we had no other choice).

Not all of the Inca territories submitted to Cortés. His chosen successor was obviously a puppet and not respected by most of the Inca. Meanwhile, in America, the Spanish army there was aiding King Pedro of the Lenape against the Mohawk tribe. With Spanish weapons now combined with some tactics well suited to America, the Iroquois were easily defeated.

On 21 September a pair of adventurers named Fernando Magallanes and Juan Sebastián Elcano began an audacious voyage: they planned to sail from Lisbon, around Brazil and Africa, and return to Lisbon--completely around the world!

As they set off, my attention was focused on the commoners of Spain. Several societies were forming, angry due to exploitation by the nobles. By January of 1520 the situation was growing serious. I allowed some concessions to the peasantry and used the army to make sure nothing else would happen. Nothing did.

Magallanes reached Buenos Aires on 28 March 1520 and began around Brazil. Through storms, made his way across to the other ocean. He gave it its official name, El Mar Pacifico--The Peaceful Sea. After taking more supplies from Lima, he set out on the most difficult part of his journey: the trip across the Pacific. Estimates from Portuguese maps showed that there would be ten thousand miles before the next landfall.

In mid 1520 the Papal inquiry found Martin Luther's teachings heretical and the Pope excommunicated him. Luther, however, was undeterred and continued his teachings. In April 1521 Emperor Charles convened the Imperial Diet in Worms. Luther was asked to recant his teachings and return to the Church. Luther refused, saying, "It is neither safe nor wise to go against concience. I can do nothing else." The Emperor, enraged, ordered Luther's death. The heretic fled to Saxony, where the elector hid him. Luther called for a new church, based on his teachings.

We waited for news from Magallanes. When we heard nothing, a man named Jofre de Loaisa volunteered to look for him. We said it would be an impossible task, but he did it anyway. He gave us this story on the return:

He followed Magallanes out from Lima on 29 October 1523. After a long journey across the Pacific, on 16 June 1524 he discovered the survivors of Magallanes' expedition on a small island in the middle of the ocean. Jofre sailed on, reaching the port of Borbón on 2 June 1525, with two ships left. Although he had originally set out to rescue what was left of the old expedition, Jofre realized he could easily finish it. Jofre returned to Lisbon with one ship on 21 June 1526, hailed as a hero for leading the first expedition around the world.
 
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"but more importantly on ....., 1419"? The update was great, but you might want to edit that back to 1519 instead...And you are using Cortes against the Inca? I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that one yet!
 
I'm semi-surprised you went through with the circumnavigation. I can never be bothered.
 
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