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Act on the Rights of Natives: Abstain
The Noble Trials Act: Abstain

As I have just joined your court your majesty, I have no opinion on this matter and thus nothing to say.
 
((May as well do the roll for this duel then. Here are the results:

Marti delivered a glancing blow to Velazquez, but no wound.
Velazquez accidentally (or on purpose if Andre wants to play it that way) shot Marti's second, his son Bartomeu. I did another roll for his wounds using the melee duel results, which were not fatal and at worst will result in a scar.

I'll give Andre or Zen the chance to write up some IC if they want, otherwise I'll do something from Marti's perspective later. Well at least nobody died, even though the only person who got shot wasn't one of the duellists. :p))
 
Prince Marti stepped twenty paces away from Cardinal Velazquez, his pistol held to his chest. It was time to put this conflict to rest. Perhaps his nephew had not made the wisest decision recognizing the heretics, but that did not excuse this man's insults towards his family. The entire court was filled with these vile men spewing hate or using violence to achieve their own ends. Hispania was falling apart because of all this. Once Marti had been like them, manipulating to increase his own power. He was too old and tired for that anymore. Now the least he could do is silence one of those dissenting voices.

When Marti reached the proper distance and heard the call to begin, the prince spun around to face his opponent. He took only a second to aim his pistol at the Iron Cardinal and fire off a shot. Smoke puffed from his pistol and he watched with satisfaction as Velazquez nearly turned about, the bullet hitting his left arm. The cardinal's shot fired off right as he received the hit, going wide. Whether the cardinal's aim was poor or Marti's shot threw off his aim, the prince did not know. The shot had missed him, but he heard a grunt from his side. His son, Bartomeu, doubled over, clutching at his side. Blood seeped between his fingers and the medicus assigned to the duel rushed to him. Marti was beside his son soon after. A quick glance at the wound told the prince that it would not be fatal, although his son would surely bear a scar. Ironic that father and son would both receive unexpected wounds they'd carry with them for the rest of their days.

Once he was certain of his son's condition, Marti glanced over at Velazquez. The Iron Cardinal had a thin trial of blood where the bullet had hit, but it looked as serious as a paper cut. The bullet had just grazed him. Neither man had fallen during the duel or would meet their end this day. He scowled though as his son hissed in pain. Not everyone had been so lucky. He walked over closer to the cardinal and said, "Have we not had enough bloodshed?"

Without another word, Marti helped the medicus take his wounded son away. Marti and his family had taken enough blows defending Hispania and the Trastámara name. It was time his nephew took up that responsibility.
 
((Time for the results of the vote.

Act on the Rights of Natives
: No
The Noble Trials Act: Tie/No
Cortz: Ferrante Henri San Lorenzo D'Este y Medici (Von Habsburg) & Niccolo Limmona (AvatarOfKhaine)

Well the Natives act failed, but the Nobles one had a tie, in which case the status quo is favoured. Von Habsburg and Khaine have been selected to join the Cortz. We just barely recognized the Protestant and Reformed faiths and we already have a heretic on the Cortz. May God have mercy on our souls. :p))
 
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((Time for the results of the vote.

Act on the Rights of Natives
: No
The Noble Trials Act: Tie/No
Cortz: Ferrante Henri San Lorenzo D'Este y Medici (Von Habsburg) & Niccolo Limmona (AvatarOfKhaine)

Well the Natives act failed, but the Nobles one had a tie, in which case the status quo is favoured. Von Habsburg and Khaine have been selected to join the Cortz. We just barely recognized the Protestant and Reformed faiths and we already have a heretic on the Cortz. May God have mercy on our souls. :p))

(( Technically we have 2, but only 1 public. ))
 
1592-1598 – Fresh Wounds & Old Scars

The excommunication of King Ferran IV and his denouncement of the Pope and Church left both sides reeling. Hispania still had several cardinals within the Holy See. Some chose the Papacy over their home country, while others tried their best to mend the damage being caused. There were whispers of the possibility of appointing a more sympathetic Hispanian pope to help bring the country back under the guidance of the Church, but the Austrian Alexander VI was chosen instead. Perhaps such a method would be taken next time. ((I invested all the papal influence we had left in becoming papal controller since we will immediately start losing it.))

The king was too focused now on matters of war to be concerned with the Papal State’s reaction. As proclaimed earlier, he joined the war alongside France, pitting him against Hispania’s other ally and the Pope. The two armies in Iberia were sent to Provence to prepare for an invasion of southern Savoy to prevent an incursion into Provence. The forts in Napoli, Provence, Girona, and Navarra were all garrisoned.



The first battle involved the trade feet operating in the western Mediterranean encountering two Papal ships that were subsequently dispatched.

Savoy turned to stealthier tactics, stirring up rebellion in Draguignan amongst the significant Reformed population. These heretics may have had their faith officially recognized, but there were still plenty of restrictions on them. The Inquisition rounded up anyone who tried to proselytize these faiths, for such was still considered illegal and fully persecuted. Not wanting to spur up a revolt in the war theatre, King Ferran arranged for a lessening of the Inquisition’s presence to appease the heretics.

The French made quick work of Savoy’s army, pushing into the neighbouring nation. Tuscany was still busy facing off against the Catholic League, most of their army engaged in battle with the Hungarians up north. Austria took advantage of this and swooped in on the weakened army. Victory was assumed, although it was hard to receive word on such things from Hungary.

Despite the outbreak of heresy and the minimal tolerance of their presence, efforts were still being made to promote the Catholic faith. The Inquisition was charged with bringing the people of Napoli back to the true faith, although without its perhaps more infamous methods. For once, this proved effective. The gentle approach to conversion worked and the people of Napoli were mostly Catholic once more.



By December, Nice was occupied by General Louis Clément de Montségur and his army headed northeast to capture the nearest enemy fort in Montferrat, while General Hernando Francisco de Leon followed behind to take Cuneo. Over in Athens, the transport fleet was transporting the army there to Napoli to join up with the Neapolitan army that was already besieging Rome. The Papal State had left themselves defenceless with no army in sight. Once the army reached Naples’s shores, it headed for the Tuscan fort in Umbria.

The capture of Nice forced Savoy’s navy out of port and into the French and Greek navy awaiting them. Clearly outnumbered and outgunned, Savoy’s entire navy was sunk.

In an attempt to appease Hispania, whose army sat outside the walls of Rome, another cardinal was appointed from the kingdom. King Ferran was past caring about what the Church thought of him or their attempts to regain his favour.

The Tuscans attempted to ambush the Hispanian trade fleet as it travelled south of Naples. Having heard rumours of the Tuscan fleet in the area, Admiral Juan de Porcelli and the main fleet had waited in Malta for the enemy to act. He sailed on the enemy fleet to break the ambush, but the Tuscans learned of his presence beforehand and fled. Three ships were lost from the trade fleet and the Tuscans got away. Three ships from the trade fleet outside Alexandria were rerouted to fill the losses in the meantime. As for Porcelli, he moved the fleet up to Ancona to wait for the Tuscans to rear their head again.



The lack of an enemy presence in Rome or the surrounding area had led to the siege army letting its guard down. The Papal army was nowhere to be seen. In February of 1593, the truth became clear. The Pope had called for his forces to perform a strategic retreat, since they could not hold off the invasion of Rome. Once they had gathered Savoy’s aid, whose land was so overwhelmed by the French that they had no chance of reclaiming it, the two armies marched for Rome. When the army of over 28k men was spotted in Siena, the Athenian army besieging Umbria was called to Rome. The siege could not be allowed to break. The transport fleet was also dispatched to retrieve a free army in Provence. That army would prove unnecessary, for the attack was repelled and the siege allowed to continue. Once it did arrive, it was sent to siege Umbria while the other two armies focused on Rome.

The Greeks achieved a minor success in Mantua, catching the retreating Papal and Savoyard armies. They weakened the enemy army, although they also lost many men in the process. Their greater success was at home. The reforms started under Theodoros and continued under his son Manuel had come to completion. The entire administration was reformed along Hispanian lines and ties between the two strengthened. The empire was ready to compete with the strongest nations in Europe.



Tuscany finally came out of its hidey-hole, launching a naval strike on Austria’s navy. Admiral Porcelli was quick to intervene. However, the Tuscans were sneaky ones, managing to escape without a loss and having taken down one Austrian galley.

The fort at Montferrat fell in July and the Tuscans tried to sneak out of port again. The armies in Savoy were recalled home. Admiral Porcelli went to take on the Tuscans again, but he would be stopped before he could. With Savoy entirely occupied, France was able to force a peace. They took Franche-Comte for their own and drained Savoy’s treasury. Hispania was rewarded with nearly half the sum taken. The French were very grateful for Hispania’s help, and trusted Hispania utterly ((raised trust to 90)). Tuscany, on the other hand, now viewed their former ally with outright hostility. There would be no mending the alliance.

With the war ended, all forts were mothballed and the armies started the long trek home. The kingdom’s manpower had been drained from the earlier rebellions and this war, which would take time to replenish. Fortunately, the economy was in an excellent state. After lowering maintenance for the army, Hispania was making almost 30 ducats a month. The main fleet did not even need to be mothballed, and in fact was not after it came to the king’s attention that the Moroccans were preying on Hispanian trade in the western Mediterranean. Admiral Porcelli was ordered to sail the region hunting down and eliminating these pirates.



The colony in Menabe reached completion, funded by the influential Soneta family. The colonist in Mahe was recalled to start up one in Sergipe to link parts of Sanchonia’s territory.

With the nation lacking men for its army, another recruitment effort was made. Recruitment was bolstered in Pirineo, Jaen, Vizcaya, and Salamanca.

June of 1594 brought dire news from the Holy Roman Empire. Brabant was crushed by the Protestants. A few provinces were taken from the losers and Utrecht set free, but the worst scenario was regarding the official faith of the Empire. The Emperor was forced to accept Protestantism as the official faith of the Empire, essentially removing him from his position. Boguslaw X of Pomerania was elected the new Emperor, with only three electors now in the Empire. The heretics had finally won.



Enough funds were finally gathered in July to pay off the loan owed by the Crown. With funds available, a new advisor could be hired. One Baltasar de Zuniga, an influential noble who had served as an ambassador for many years, made his services available to the Crown for a reasonable price. He was promptly hired and put to work managing the difficult diplomatic affairs of Hispania, which were mostly in tatters with the king’s excommunication and denunciation of the Pope.

With the loyalty of many within the country in question as a religious divide spread, the Crown expressed a willingness to resort to mercenaries, whose only loyalty was to money, an easy thing to control.

A shipment of high quality wool brought in a tidy profit for the kingdom. The funds were immediately put to use, constructing shipyards in the Baleares and Corsica.



The start of 1595 brought depressing news to the capital as word of Emperor Manuel III Palaiologos’s death spread. Empress Clara had fortunately produced a male heir, but the boy, young Maurianus, was only four years old. A regency council was established with Clara coordinating with the Greek lords to lead the empire.

During such troubling times, many turned to familiar comforts such as music. Tomas Luis de Victoria was a famous composer during the era and composed many wonderful pieces.

Just as the Greeks had been reforming their administration before, so had the Mamluks. The heathens of North Africa began adopting European ideas in an attempt to keep up with their enemies across the sea. This could not be good for Hispania.

Funds were set aside to construct workshops in Asturias and Abruzzi.

With such an expansive colonial empire, positions within both the colonies and the navy became more prized by those trying to make it up in the world. The navy saw a vast increase in manpower and administration, allowing for the kingdom to support a larger navy. Many also started to eye up the lands of many native tribes in the New World and wondered if they would be better off under the guidance of Hispania.



France apparently had not had enough conquest. They declared war on Flanders, attempting to extend their hold in the Lowlands. The Empire was in shambles and expanding east was no difficult task.

With Tuscany lost as an ally, attempts were made to reach out to others, although nothing concrete was set. Due to their alliance with France and their strong position north of Italy, Austria was a viable alliance partner. Friendly relations were encouraged with them. Poland was also another possibility and attempts were made to get on friendly terms with them as well.

Workshops were constructed in Vizcaya and Palermo.

The increasing use of firearms and artillery created problems as the different models required different calibre munitions. A standard had to be set to make it easier to supply the army with only those munitions needed.

Pirates continued to threaten trade, this time launching raids on Barcelona. When the merchants of the region asked for funds to build city defences, the king gladly obliged. Hispania needed its merchants and the pirates could not be tolerated.

A Peasants’ War in Egypt sparked the hope that the Mamluks would crumble.



While Moroccan pirates antagonized Hispanian merchants with piracy, their army focused south. An invasion of Songhai ended in success as land was captured from the African nation, although Hispania’s knowledge of the geography of the interior of the continent was limited.

France ended its war with small Flanders in success, taking Vlaanderen for its own. Hopefully that would sate their appetite for another decade.

The Mamluks’ reforms had brought them out stronger, even if they faced a rebellion. They were a viable threat, a rival to Hispanian power once more.

With the loss of trade ships during the war against Savoy, the TATC decided to help recoup those losses by constructing a new trade ship in the colony on Cabo Ferran. It was sent to Alexandria to join up with the trade fleet there. On the matter of trade fleets, the fleet outside Alexandria was refurbished to use the latest design of frigates.

Despite the religious troubles of the past decade, King Ferran’s recognition of the Protestant and Reformed faiths along with the restriction placed on the Inquisition allowed for a less hostile environment to develop. While the heretics could not openly spread their faith without persecution, the Inquisition could not target them simply for what they believed. Instead they had to rely on rhetoric and logic to win the heretics over. Theological debates and discussions of faith only served to strengthen the true faith as it was put through this latest trial.



The kingdom’s manpower had finally recovered somewhat, allowing for the recruitment of a new supplementary army of 4/2/1 under the order of Marshal Niccolo Limmona. This force would assist other armies where necessary, but for now was to be stationed in Barcelona.

Mercantilist policies favouring Hispanian trade damaged commerce with neighbouring nations, hurting the merchant families that relied on foreign trade. When approached by these men regarding the subject, Grandmaster Santoros Hashem agreed to remove some restrictions to aid Hispania’s merchants in foreign nations.

In June of 1597, Prince Pere fell deathly ill and was confined to his bed. Fearing for his son’s life, King Ferran spent a small fortune enlisting the services of several trained medicuses, hoping to cure his son. With their aid, his fever was broken and he made a full recovery. Pere would live.

The services of the medicuses came at a high price. Attempts to stave off debt failed and eventually a loan had to be taken out. The king considered this a small price for the life of his only son and heir.

Meanwhile, with the Tuscan alliance broken, spies were sent into central Italy to see if claims could be forged on Ancona. If Tuscany was not to be Hispania’s friend, then perhaps it should just be part of Hispania.

Efforts to restructure the administration of Cagliari to be coordinated with Sicily ended in success. The same process was extended to the northern half of Sardinia in Sassari. At the same time, Prince Pere’s plan to encourage the use of Aragonese in Valencia was now underway.



The British made a grand discovery as they encountered a seemingly endless supply of fish off the coast of Newfoundland.

Portugal declared war on some insignificant native nation, drawing attention to their new colonies in Mexico. Perhaps it was finally time to eliminate the Portuguese presence once and for all.

The focus on new ideas that had come up years ago came to fruition in a scientific revolution. Ingenious inventions were being developed every day and new ideas that revolutionized the way people understood the world were spreading. Hispania could surely benefit from this exchange of knowledge.

The funds were finally gathered to pay of the loan taken to pay Pere’s medical bills. With the nation debt-free once more, perhaps it was time to extend Hispania’s grasp.

The beginning of 1598 brought a strange encounter for the settler in Camana. Encounters with the native tribes in Cusco had been minimal, although rumours of gold had reached their ears. Exchanges between the colonists and natives had been simple affairs, but this one drew the attention of the capital as word spread of the natives wearing the garb of conquistadors and bearing the banner of a Hispanian conquistador long since dead. The natives of Cusco wanted to trade with Hispania in remembrance of this conquistador who visited them many decades ago, although the allure of gold was strong. There were still voices at court suggesting that the natives be pushed aside so Hispania could get at the precious gold. Perhaps this was a matter for the court to decide. ((You can thank @alscon for this event. We’ll be voting on how to respond to Cusco’s request later, so pay attention to the event. I also apologize to alscon for waiting so long to start this event chain. I was waiting for a break in the chaos, which took some time. :p))











JpsioAG.png

Presenting His Majesty, Ferran IV de Trastámara, King of Hispania and Protector of the Greeks & the Knights.

These past few years have been a trying time for me. I can only hope the religious troubles are behind us and we can mend what has been broken. I have not forgotten my excommunication, an action the Papacy must surely regret now. Perhaps in time we will both forgive each other for what was said and the actions taken, but the wound is still fresh for me. Perhaps it was necessary to force us along a gentler path to bringing these heretics back to the true faith.

The attacks on our trade by the Moroccans are also disconcerting. Perhaps it is time we complete the goal we set out to accomplish long ago and crush the heathens of Morocco and liberate the Canaries from their grasp. Either that or unify the Iberian Peninsula to secure the region.

This story from the colonies of natives wearing conquistador garb is most intriguing. To think that one of our conquistadors travelled through their land and they still remember him and welcome us as friends because of it. This could be a good opportunity for trade with these natives, or perhaps a chance to exploit their friendship in pursuit of greater wealth. There are many paths to take.

I have also noticed a disparity in titles between some of the realm’s dukes. I thus wish to offer the title to Riojo to Ximon Tomas Luys Etxeto ((@Dadarian)) and the title to Capitanata to Niccolo Limmona ((@AvatarOfKhaine)). ((Trying to even it out so our current active dukes all have 3 titles.))


((On to my usual spiel. Ministers have until Sunday at 12pm PST to post their plans and players may propose laws in that time. With Marti’s retirement, there is now an opening as Chancellor, a position that should be filled sooner rather than later. Also might be a good time to get another explorer, since I’m sure we can now reach unexplored waters much farther out.))
 
Etxeto-arms.gif

A Message from Duque y Conte y Conte Ximon T.L. Etxeto of House Etxeto

The Duque y Conte y Conte Etxeto wishes that his thankfulness to the king for the expansion of his demesne to the County of Riojo is most appreciated. Such generosity is appopriate for only the Most Catholic of Majesties, of which the king most certainly is.

~ Lord Ximon Tomas Luys Etxeto, Duque de Navarra, Conte de Viscaya, Conte de Riojo
 
((For once the medicus saved a good heir :D. About the event, I completely understand that you fire it now that the religious troubles have subsided a bit.))
 
((Private))

Ferdinant had just heard of the news. A colony had been founded in the west of the continent. He had heard tales of great amounts of gold, and he would get it before his damned muslim competitor got it. The CTC had to be destroyed, under all circumstances, the heathen invested company it was. He would not let Peru fall. They may hold the Caribbean, but America was for the TATC, made by God for the TATC. Africa was theirs, so should America and Asia. The TATC shall be the greatest financial institution in the world!
 
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Representatives from the court came and talked to Felipé de Alvaro, they wanted to reform the administration in Sassari in line with the Hispanian one.
Felipé, remembering the Kings sacrifices regarding the religious crisis, gladly agreed and helped the representatives in any way possible.
 
Your Majesty,

I humbly thank you for this bestowal, and hope that your faith in my abilities is justly deserved and that the reward is administered as if it was the Crowns.

I also say that my plan as Marshal is to increase the size of the reaction army that I commissioned before, these men may be of any training or birth and origin.

From,
Duque Niccolo Limmona, Duque of Naples and Capua and Conte d'Naples,Salerno and Capitanata


((OOC : Yes to title, and expand the army I commissioned before in whatever way best suits your playstyle with a bit of the current king's style thrown in.))