1651 – Change on the Horizon
The ecumenical council suggested by Countess Lúcia Fernanda Manuela de Maia took centre stage at the start of the year as holy men from various Christian faiths gathered to discuss the spiritual future of Hispania. In its initial meetings, the general consensus seemed to steer towards considering all Christian faiths as equal and throwing aside the idea of heresy, while still retaining Catholicism as the official state religion due to the vast majority of Hispanians still adhering to it. What hadn’t been made quite clear yet was the relation to the Crown and the fate of the heathens. For the former, there seemed to be a split between those that saw the emperor as the leading religious authority who derived his power from the Christian God and those who believed that with this new religious interpretation the emperor was actually fallible and drew his right to rule more from the nobles or the people. As for the latter, some wanted to take a gentler approach to the heathens in the hopes of converting them while others saw them as an enemy to unite against so as to bond all Christians more tightly together. The council still had to flesh these out, but they intended to meet a few more times over the next year or so.
While this was ongoing, the nobles had their own meeting of sorts. At the behest of Chamberlain Louis François de Montségur, Emperor Francesc arranged for a meeting of the Cortz to start discussing possible reforms for the advisory body. Talk of giving it more power was common, something of great importance as the realm discussed the religious fate of the empire.
As marshal, Montségur also had other duties to attend to. A mass recruitment drive was conducted across Iberia, with the goal of forming an army of roughly 26k men to serve as a colonial force. Seeing as the marshal intended for this new army to serve in non-European theatres, the emperor tentatively called it the Exercit Colonial. The second half of the transport fleet in East Africa had to be recalled home so that there would be enough ships to transport the new army to East Africa when recruitment was complete.
Even as everyone was looking inward, Chancellor Petros Mandromenos was looking to outwards. With a planned war against the Mamluks, armies were being put in place for the conflict. The transport fleet in Europe was tasked with transporting the Iberian armies to North Africa and the Italian ones to Anatolia, where the Exercit Athens was already marching to.
In April, Austria tried to bounce back from their defeat against Bohemia by targeting Salzburg. The tiny nation only had Bavaria and Munster to defend it, so Austria seemed a likely victor.
Brandenburg proved itself a more competent emperor than Saxony as they managed to not only defend Switzerland from Tuscany but dismantle the belligerent state. Switzerland gained two provinces, the Papal State suddenly had some of its land returned, and Tuscany was cut into pieces with the forced release of Ferrara and Lucca. Tuscany’s days as a dominant Italian power were over.
Shortly after Tuscany’s fall, His Holiness sent Emperor Francesc a request for military access, for now the Papal State had to administer over Urbino too. The request though was not entirely pleasant, for the sudden return of Papal land had reminded the pope of the lost lands once held by the Papal State, including Umbria. Subtle hints that such a request would not be needed if the Papal State still held the now Hispanian province irked the emperor greatly. Emperor Francesc’s reply was not so subtle. If the pope wanted to send his soldiers to Papal Urbino, he’d have to go by sea, for Francesc was not letting them march through Hispanian lands.
Chancellor Mandromenos, before focusing on the Mamluks, turned his gaze towards Oyo. Using a strategy perfected by his predecessors, he convinced Oyo to hand over the valuable trade port of Benin without a fight, for the African nation did not want a war. The new province also conveniently had a fort, making it much more defensible in its isolated position. Mandromenos had to delay his attempts at claiming an equally valuable port from Mutapa, for the chancellery was finding difficulty coming up with valid reasons to demand the province without Mutapa fighting back. ((We don’t have a province close enough to forge a claim on the trade bonus province, so we can’t threaten war for it.))
Austria decided to put a snag in the chancellor’s plans. They called Hispania to war, wanting assistance against Salzburg and their allies. Seeing as France had already joined alongside Austria, Emperor Francesc answered the call-to-arms. He announced that he had no intention of sending any armies, thus not requiring a vote by the Cortz, but that this was more to show support to their Austrian allies.
Austria won its first victory against Bavaria, paving the way to further success. Back in Hispania, Abdallah Lahsini, a man hired years ago to help organize the army, had found ways to expand the army without too many unnecessary expenses.
The earlier capture of Benin was already paying off. The valuable port was funneling trade goods out of Africa to Europe, and the Hispania was raking in most of the profits. For the first time in decades, the majority of trade in the region was controlled by the TATC.
A minor setback to the chancellor’s plans occurred as Byzantium started marching its army up into Hungary on their way to help the Austrians. It seemed that the war against the Mamluks could not be declared until they returned, for their army of nearly 50k men would be crucial in the upcoming war.
With expected battles in North Africa, the steward ordered the expansion of the fort at Ceuta. She also instituted reforms designed to lower inflation for the state and had a workshop constructed in Madeira. War taxes were put in place to fill the treasury.
Near the end of August, Emperor Francesc went to sleep one night and never woke up, having passed away peacefully in his sleep. With the man having been in his 70s, no one was entirely surprised. Thus his son Ferran ascended to the throne as Emperor Ferran V at the age of 51.
The year was proving to be an eventful one, what with the religious fate of Hispania up for debate, the loss of an emperor, and the marriage of the new Crown Prince. Yet another dilemma came to light as the new emperor was crowned. France had expanded their colonial presence. Ever since Hispania had conquered Portugal’s colonies in the Caribbean, France had shifted its focus from that region to Louisiana. Now it seemed to be looking south. Defying the Papal edict that declared that South America belonged to Hispania, France had set up a colony in Sante Fe, right next to Nuevo Leon and Hispania’s protectorate of Charrua. The French also made a move on Africa, setting up a colony along the Gold Coast and thus threatening to interfere with the TATC’s dominance of trade in the region. Perhaps this was all just a misunderstanding or perhaps it was a sign of things to come.
Presenting His Imperial Highness, Ferran V de Trastámara, Emperor of Hispania, Caesar of Rome, and Protector of the Greeks. ((Slothful, Gregarious, Patient))
Such sad tidings bring us here today, but I—we are grateful for your attendance. We have ascended to the throne as is our birthright and shall reign over a prosperous Hispania. Long may we reign.
As for the matter of the current government, we could dismiss all the ministers and appoint a new prime minister more to our liking, but that seems like an awful lot of work. The Council served our father admirable and may continue to do so under our reign. Continue to do well so as not to displease us.
We also wish for our loyal subjects to continue their work in regards to matters of faith. We feel this is of great importance to the realm. We would like to see this resolved.
As for this matter of France settling within our colonial domain, we shall have to speak with our counterpart in France on such a matter. I am certain it can be resolved with ease. We spent much time in France during our youth. It’s a lovely country. Why this one time….
*Ferran blathers on about France for a half hour before dismissing everyone*
((The game does love to kill off the emperor less than a year into the update. Anyway, not much has changed, so I won’t require new minister plans unless you want to change yours. The current war alongside Austria might require a few changes, and the one province left the chancellor wants, war cannot be threatened for. If minister plans are to be posted, they should be posted before Monday at 12PM PST. Same goes for any laws or reforms. I’m going to try to wrap up this religious council by then too so we can officially vote on the issues brought up. Probably good to figure out what those specific issues are first. ))