1589-1592 – Hispanian Religious Debate
The religious assembly held in Valencia had started out as a beacon of hope. Perhaps the religious troubles of Europe could be first solved within Hispania. King Ferran IV had certainly hoped that the two sides would work out their differences and reach a mutually beneficial solution. The result was the exact opposite. Shouting matches ensued between the faithful and the tolerant, with the faithful unwilling to accept heresy in the slightest and the tolerant slinging insults at the Church. Possible solutions were cast down by the opposing side and a compromise could not be reached. The final straw was Pope Marcellus II excommunicating all those who opposed the Church. The king, exasperated by the whole affair, chose to side with the faithful and refused to grant recognition to those heretical faiths. He conceded that some of their arguments were valid, but not enough to turn away from the one true faith.
The after-effects were quite dire. Word soon spread of the failure of the Crown to grant recognition to the Protestant and Reformed faiths. There were those who lived in secret, following a faith forbidden by the law and persecuted by the Inquisition. When the debate ended in chaos, these people decided they had had enough. They would achieve religious freedom by force if necessary.
Revolts broke out across Iberia and Naples, and the people of several provinces declared their adoption of these heretical religions. Roughly 175k men rose up demanding the acceptance of their beliefs in Porto, Toledo, Algarve, Gibraltar, Abruzzi, and the Baleares. The people of Vizcaya, Castilla La Vieja, Almeria, Murcia, and Bari embraced the Protestant faith, while those in Girona, Draguignan, and Abruzzi embraced the Reformed faith. The king had had enough. There would be no more negotiations. They would accept his judgement at the end of a sword.
With the vast majority of rebels in Iberia, armies had to be recalled to the region. The army in Castilla La Vieja was sent to Valencia to join up with General Hernando Francisco de Leon and his army. The Provencal army was sent to Valencia as well, but General Louis Clément de Montségur was absent from his command. It was speculated that his sympathies for the heretics kept him from reassuming command of the army. It was also reported that General Niccolo Limmona did not take up command of the Neapolitan army. ((These two mentioned in the IRC that they didn’t really want to be used against heretics, which made sense to me.)) The transport fleet was immediately shipped out for Athens to transport the army to Iberia, seeing as Greece was safe at the moment.
Despite this rebellion, matters of state still had to be dealt with. The greater production of sugar in Sanchonia led to an increase in taxation on it, but to the annoyance of the locals. Portugal was also subjected to an embargo, a plan that had not been able to be carried out until the truce ended. With war on hiatus until the rebels were put down, something had to be done to keep Portugal in line.
In March, the zealots in Algarve, Porto, and the Baleares captured the provinces, forcefully converting them to their false faiths. Gibraltar and Abruzzi fell shortly after.
The mysterious Cesar de Ursua, rumoured spymaster of Hispania, was found dead outside the palace. The blame was placed on the heretics, although no proof was found. The king chose to hire one Gabriele Pico to assist with naval matters in his stead.
By April the three armies met in Valencia and marched on Toledo, where the nearest heretic army sat. General Leon led the charge with three times his usual men, breaking the enemy army against the walls of Toledo. By the time he had achieved victory, the army from Athens had arrived in Iberia and was marching to join his efforts.
Over in Naples, the army guarding Napoli was forced to flee south as the rebel army nearly three times its size headed its way. It escaped in time and rerouted to Abruzzi to retake the province while the rebels focused on Napoli.
With victory achieved in Toledo, Leon led the combined army down to Granada to liberate the province. The army was smaller and would be easier to take, but it meant having to leave the larger rebel armies to the west free to act. Alentejo managed to fall as Leon marched south.
The Protestant army was engaged in June. Overwhelming numbers won the day and the rebels faced utter defeat in Granada. Now came the difficult part. The two armies in the west possessed enough men to fend off an attack by Leon and his men. For the moment, the general moved to retake Algarve while the rebel army was not present. This plan changed quickly as word reached him that France had sent an army of 27k into Iberia with orders to aid in crushing these heretics. France may have failed to push back the heretics of the HRE, but it was ready to act in defence of Hispania.
With the French nearby, Leon engaged the army in Braganca before it could manage to take the fort. The French arrived near the end of the battle, but the day was won. Another fort was saved and the rebels crushed. Abruzzi was also claimed while the rebels focused on Napoli.
With that taken care of, Leon split his army in half and headed back south to reclaim Algarve and Alentejo, while France agreed to rid Porto of the rebels. The remaining rebel army in Iberia managed to take Caceres in the meantime, while the zealots in the Baleares had captured some ships and landed in Alicante, taking the province. The French proved their commitment to Hispania by sending a second army down to Alicante to eradicate the rebel threat there.
With Algarve and Alentejo retaken, efforts were taken to remove the last vestiges of Protestant control of the province. The Inquisition was sent in to root out those who had supported this rebellion and lock them up. The tenets of the Catholic faith were proclaimed from street corners as the best efforts were made to keep people following the true faith.
By January of 1590, all provinces in Iberia, with perhaps the exception of the Baleares, were reclaimed from rebel control. All that remained in the region was one army of 42k men besieging Castilla La Vieja. The French armies had retreated from Iberia and returned home, since the situation was now stable. This rebel army would have to be handled by Hispania alone. Leon led the charge once again with his men against the enemy. The losses were horrific, but so to for the zealots. They were scattered to the countryside, freeing Iberia from their influence. All that remained was the last rebel army in Napoli.
The League War raged on, and despite Brabant seeming to lose, they still pulled off minor victories. Hainaut was forced to give land to Flanders, although it seemed likely Brabant wouldn’t be pulling off much more victories with their capital occupied.
King Ferran IV started looking to the aftermath of this conflict, planning for ways to alleviate the unrest that would inevitably result. First he encouraged a development of the arts. By celebrating Hispanian culture, the people might feel more united and band together in this trying time. Crown Prince Pere suggested a more practical approach and had orphanages and workhouses build across the kingdom to support those who lost loved ones during recent struggles. These rebellions were seeing too many of the common folk getting hurt in the chaos.
Despite the chaos of the HRE, the electors chose to re-elect the duke of Brabant as their emperor when the previous one died off.
With Iberia clear, the transport fleet began the process of shipping the entire army over to Naples. It would take time, something Napoli did not have. In May, the province fell, putting pressure on Leon to act quickly.
The Crown was facing hard financial times due to the rebellion, but a sizeable profit from the TATC was bringing in more wealth to the kingdom, ensuring the economy did not falter too much.
The army was facing increasingly hard times trying to ensure it had enough men as thousands died to crush this rebellion. Recruitment efforts were made in Zaragoza and Barcelona, raising the available manpower.
By July, the entire army, except for the African force, had arrived in Naples. Leon took command of nearly 50k men and marched on Napoli before the rebels could move on to another province. In yet another valiant battle, the zealots were crushed. Now all that remained was to retake Napoli and the Baleares and order would be restored. A token force of 6k men was landed in the Baleares.
Even as Hispania faced down religious troubles, Great Britain was dealing with the problem of heresy as well. Reformed heretics in Scotland and Ireland had been spreading their faith to England, causing much chaos in the process.
With the rebellions all but beaten, armies were shipped back home. An army was first returned to Athens, followed by Castilla La Vieja and Provence. Valencia’s army was to remain in Napoli to assist in the siege. The small force in the Baleares was also rejoined with its proper army, after the province was retaken in September.
To reduce potential financial troubles, the main fleet was mothballed until such a time as it was needed.
The rebellious heretics were finally rooted out of Algarve and Alentejo in November, with the Catholic faith strong once again in the region. The Inquisition was immediately ordered to focus on the former rebel stronghold in the Baleares. Requests were made by the Church for funds for conversion efforts in some of the provinces that had openly embraced heretical faiths, but the king stated that he believed it would be too difficult at this time to force them back to the true faith. He also didn’t want to antagonize the heretics any more than he needed.
At the end of 1590, King Ferran felt it necessary to strengthen his position. The whole religious debate had put the Crown on shaky ground and he needed the support of the court after the rebellion. His Majesty first sought out the clergy and tried to strengthen ties with the Church. With heresy proving a major issue now, he needed their support more than ever. The nobility also required his attention. The king called for a diet using the Cortz to ensure that the nobility did not have their rights trampled on. Heresy had to be rooted out, but not at the expense of antagonizing the nobles. General efforts were also made to ensure stability within the realm.
The religious rebellions did not stop the Society of Jesus from establishing more missions in the New World, with their latest in Camana.
Brunswick was annexed by Luneburg in the chaos of the League War. Northern Germany was proving quite the battleground and thousands of men were throwing their lives away.
In August of 1591, the rebels’ last stronghold in Napoli was finally retaken. The rebellion was over. The Inquisition stepped in immediately, despite protests by Duke Niccolo Limmona.
In October, Camana became self-sufficient as a colony and was renamed San Dionisio. Trade with neighbouring Cusco was thriving and relations between the two was starting to build. Colonist Miguel Villanova was recalled from Menabe and sent to Rio de Janeiro.
Heresy was removed from the Baleares, strengthening the position of the Church.
Cologne faced the wrath of the Protestant League as they lost a province. Battles were raging in Brabant again. Things did not look good for the Catholic League.
The treasury was finally raking in the ducats again. At the request of Grand Admiral Juan de Porcelli, half of the navy’s war galleys were upgraded to galleasses. Tariffs were also increased in Sanchonia to boost profits.
As 1592 began, Hispania seemed at peace once more. The rebellion was over, although thousands of Hispanian lives had been lost in the process. Despite the seemingly peaceful times ahead, rumours of rebellion still circulated. Those who had supported tolerance during the religious debate had been greatly angered by the Crown’s response as the army was turned against its own people. If the king would not willingly accept a policy of tolerance, perhaps he had to be persuaded at gunpoint.
Presenting His Majesty, Ferran IV de Trastámara, King of Hispania and Protector of the Greeks & the Knights.
I had hoped more than anything that we could mend this religious divide within the kingdom. I had hoped that we could solve this as we did the matter of the Schism, but it has become apparent that matters of faith are rarely that simple. A compromise could not be reached and these heretics showed their true colours as they rose up in rebellion. Now they have been struck down and we can have peace. I hope we have all learned a lesson from the past three years. Perhaps we should be more willing to listen to one another in the future so that we can avoid such tragic violence in the future.
((Admittedly that rebellion was not as terrible as I expected. The AI rebels’ lack of tactics and the unexpected aid of France made it much easier than I believed it would be. Despite that, our manpower did take a big hit and I added a +2 revolt risk malus for 20 years so everything isn’t too rosy, and all provinces converted by the event have zeal for 20 years as well. This is also a good time to mention that the nobles who own the converted provinces now have a penalty to VP for controlling a heretic province. This should either persuade them to embrace that heresy or remove it.
Seeing as the rebellion interrupted most plans, I do not require any ministers to submit new ones, although they may feel free to do so up until
Sunday at 12pm PST. Same goes for laws.
Now comes the matter of civil war. I suggested earlier that we might have one and I’m still open to the possibility. I think the events of this rebellion justify the tolerance side rising up to enforce their demands if they decide to do that. I’m still working out the gist of how to do this, but basically it will come down to people announcing their support for either side and then I will use VP to determine the strength of each side. Then the two sides will battle it out to decide a winner. If the tolerance side wins, the Crown will recognize the Protestant and Reformed faiths; if the Catholic side wins, the losers will most likely get imprisoned or executed and the status quo will be maintained. The tolerance side may also attempt to force the king to abdicate in favour of a more tolerant Trastámara if they feel Ferran IV isn’t tolerant enough for their tastes even after recognizing their faiths, but this may cause more unrest than necessary. I have several ideas for how to pull this off. Here is what I have so far:
1. Spawn a bunch of rebels to represent the tolerance side of the civil war. This is my least preferred option, since we’ve seen how pathetic the rebels act.
2. Assign portions of the armies and leaders according to who joins which side and the amount of VP they have, and then move the armies around as normal while pretending they engage in battle. I’d use an RNG modified by general’s stats and terrain bonuses to determine casualties and just remove the dead regiments from the game. I can say that I am quite good at remaining unbiased in such regards. I used to play board games against myself as a kid when I was bored, and yes I know that sounds really depressing.
3. Create a custom nation within Hispania to represent the tolerance side. This would allow me to fight an actual war against them in-game and best represent the civil war, although a lot more things could go wrong. I’d probably have to heavily alter this nation to keep it from acting outside the civil war and adjust alliances and such. A custom event would be created to have the custom nation annexed into Hispania once either side had won the war (>95% warscore), with different bonuses and maluses applied based on who won. I’d probably let the AI control the custom nation.
I’m not holding a vote on what to do, but I’d welcome suggestions. This is all assuming the civil war happens. Players may plot over the next few days, and if some of them feel like starting a civil war, they just need to declare their intent to me or publicly before the
Sunday 12pm PST deadline so I can hold a vote on it to know who joins which side. Hopefully this all makes sense and isn’t too overwhelming for everyone.
Pensioners:
@Marschalk
@Idhrendur
@DragonOfAtlantis))