I guess Louis just wanted peace and thus gave up Piemont? I just can't imagine he would have any troubles crushing the Genoese, other than more wars in the future because of bad relations that is.
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stnylan-- Yes, between 1464 and 1509 my BB pretty much hovered right around the limit, being sometimes a little over and other times a little under. The next update about the wars right after annexing England is a little vague because I forgot to take screenies during all the fighting. It wasn't really that big a deal, though, because I was on top the whole time and WE never got much above 6%
CSK-- as the update said, I haven't got any interest whatsoever in Italy. I got Piemonte by accident and easy come, easy go
CSK-- as the update said, I haven't got any interest whatsoever in Italy. I got Piemonte by accident and easy come, easy go
Chapter the Fourth
Part the First
Being on the War of the English Succession
Louis XI's succession to the English throne was not recognized by any European kingdom save France. Most continued to treat Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou, by then in exile in Edinburgh under the protection of King James III of Scotland, as the rightful king of England. Indeed, the wholesale annexation of the Kingdom of England to France at one swoop was regarded as a highly dangerous turn of events, and many of France's neighbors were determined to contest it militarily. Moreover, when the people of Zeeland revolted from the County of Holland, Louis XI moved quickly and decisively to attack and annex them before they could be reincorporated into Holland. He had given the appearance of a rapacious conqueror, and alienated all the neighbors of France.
So it was in November 1466 that an alliance headed by Milan, and including Aragon, Ireland, Scotland, Savoy, and the Archbishopric of Köln, declared war upon France. French troops went to war confidently, but with such a vast territory to defend and enemies in every direction, things would rapidly become difficult. Louis determined that he would focus on each enemy in it's own turn, so that they could be defeated individually. French troops stood on the defense on the continent while the army in Britain overran Scotland; but here Louis XI had miscalculated. Scotland was a mountainous country with many hidden redoubts for the defenders.
Castile declared war upon France by itself in 1471, Portugal dishonoring the alliance rather than face the French kingdom. The French navy seized control of the Bay of Biscay and used this superiority to launch raids all along the Cantabrian coast, but the strength of the Castillian armies was too great for French to meet while dividing itself on three other fronts, and no lasting impression could be made. Over time, all of France's foes but Ireland and Scotland agreed to peace, either of a status quo or by giving token payments to France.
The last Scottish fortress in the Orkneys was taken and Scotland submitted to become vassals of France in August 1475. Ireland was a more difficult prospect, maintaining as it did an army of 45,000 men; Louis XI finally judged that Dublin was not worth a continuation of the war, and he surrendered the city in exchange for eternal peace with Ireland. Shortly thereafter, the peace treaty with Aragon expired and again there was war with their alliance, but with the fronts in Britain and Ireland removed, it was easier to control and ended in just a few years of fighting.
During the fifteen years of the war of English succession, southern France was ravaged by continual fighting with the Italian and Iberian foes, but France generally came off the better. It was vastly larger and wealthier than any of its enemies, or indeed even the whole of them combined.
Part the Second
Being on the Securing of the Northern Flank
Following the death of Louis XI in 1483, France expanded still farther into the Low Countries. In 1484, Gelre was diplomatically incorporated into France, and Friesland followed in 1488.
In 1485, the new king Charles XIII moved against the County of Holland. The title of Count of Holland had been held since 1433 by the Burgundian line of the house of Valois, and in fact had been the last part of that family's holdings after the destruction of the duchy pf Burgundy. On the death of the Countess Mary in 1482, the county (including various territories such as Hainaut and Zeeland) passed to her husband, Maximillian the Habsburg--Louis XI had then disputed this, saying that by rights the former properties of an extinct line of French nobility ought to pass to France, but he died before he could take action.
His son, Charles VIII, was the one fated to take action, and he attacked Holland in 1485. In two short years of campaigning he had taken both Hainaut and Amsterdam, and extracted an oath of vassalage and domination over Maximillian, with the understanding that Holland would become part of France in the near future. Maximillian, whose ancestral lands in Austria had been seized by the Hungarian throne in 1465 when he was only six, had no further resources and no choice but to concede. His allies (among them Sweden and Oldenburg) had no power to rescue him, and after several crushing defeats on land and at sea, agreed to status quo peace.
In 1494, Charles VIII officially renounced his claims, inherited via the house of Anjou, on the lands of Naples. He had no desire to war with the Italians and Aragonese over territories so far away from his present concerns around the north sea, and it did him no distress to abandon claims in which he had so little interest.
Charles VIII perished in 1498 without issue, and was succeeded by his brother-in-law and royal cousin from the Valois line of Orleans, Louis XII. Louis XII, known as the Father of the People, was an immensely popular monarch with the common people of his realm for his reformist tendencies and patronage (it would be under his reign that the system of provincial government was reformed by the placement of royal governors in every province). It was to Louis XII that the Scots Parliament (or Three Estates of Parliament) surrendered the crown of Scotland--though this was again not recognized internationally--and Maximillian with the burghers of Amsterdam and Hainaut gave up their sovereignity as well.
France and Western Europe, 1502
Part the First
Being on the War of the English Succession
Louis XI's succession to the English throne was not recognized by any European kingdom save France. Most continued to treat Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou, by then in exile in Edinburgh under the protection of King James III of Scotland, as the rightful king of England. Indeed, the wholesale annexation of the Kingdom of England to France at one swoop was regarded as a highly dangerous turn of events, and many of France's neighbors were determined to contest it militarily. Moreover, when the people of Zeeland revolted from the County of Holland, Louis XI moved quickly and decisively to attack and annex them before they could be reincorporated into Holland. He had given the appearance of a rapacious conqueror, and alienated all the neighbors of France.
So it was in November 1466 that an alliance headed by Milan, and including Aragon, Ireland, Scotland, Savoy, and the Archbishopric of Köln, declared war upon France. French troops went to war confidently, but with such a vast territory to defend and enemies in every direction, things would rapidly become difficult. Louis determined that he would focus on each enemy in it's own turn, so that they could be defeated individually. French troops stood on the defense on the continent while the army in Britain overran Scotland; but here Louis XI had miscalculated. Scotland was a mountainous country with many hidden redoubts for the defenders.
Castile declared war upon France by itself in 1471, Portugal dishonoring the alliance rather than face the French kingdom. The French navy seized control of the Bay of Biscay and used this superiority to launch raids all along the Cantabrian coast, but the strength of the Castillian armies was too great for French to meet while dividing itself on three other fronts, and no lasting impression could be made. Over time, all of France's foes but Ireland and Scotland agreed to peace, either of a status quo or by giving token payments to France.
The last Scottish fortress in the Orkneys was taken and Scotland submitted to become vassals of France in August 1475. Ireland was a more difficult prospect, maintaining as it did an army of 45,000 men; Louis XI finally judged that Dublin was not worth a continuation of the war, and he surrendered the city in exchange for eternal peace with Ireland. Shortly thereafter, the peace treaty with Aragon expired and again there was war with their alliance, but with the fronts in Britain and Ireland removed, it was easier to control and ended in just a few years of fighting.
During the fifteen years of the war of English succession, southern France was ravaged by continual fighting with the Italian and Iberian foes, but France generally came off the better. It was vastly larger and wealthier than any of its enemies, or indeed even the whole of them combined.
Part the Second
Being on the Securing of the Northern Flank
Following the death of Louis XI in 1483, France expanded still farther into the Low Countries. In 1484, Gelre was diplomatically incorporated into France, and Friesland followed in 1488.
In 1485, the new king Charles XIII moved against the County of Holland. The title of Count of Holland had been held since 1433 by the Burgundian line of the house of Valois, and in fact had been the last part of that family's holdings after the destruction of the duchy pf Burgundy. On the death of the Countess Mary in 1482, the county (including various territories such as Hainaut and Zeeland) passed to her husband, Maximillian the Habsburg--Louis XI had then disputed this, saying that by rights the former properties of an extinct line of French nobility ought to pass to France, but he died before he could take action.
His son, Charles VIII, was the one fated to take action, and he attacked Holland in 1485. In two short years of campaigning he had taken both Hainaut and Amsterdam, and extracted an oath of vassalage and domination over Maximillian, with the understanding that Holland would become part of France in the near future. Maximillian, whose ancestral lands in Austria had been seized by the Hungarian throne in 1465 when he was only six, had no further resources and no choice but to concede. His allies (among them Sweden and Oldenburg) had no power to rescue him, and after several crushing defeats on land and at sea, agreed to status quo peace.
In 1494, Charles VIII officially renounced his claims, inherited via the house of Anjou, on the lands of Naples. He had no desire to war with the Italians and Aragonese over territories so far away from his present concerns around the north sea, and it did him no distress to abandon claims in which he had so little interest.
Charles VIII perished in 1498 without issue, and was succeeded by his brother-in-law and royal cousin from the Valois line of Orleans, Louis XII. Louis XII, known as the Father of the People, was an immensely popular monarch with the common people of his realm for his reformist tendencies and patronage (it would be under his reign that the system of provincial government was reformed by the placement of royal governors in every province). It was to Louis XII that the Scots Parliament (or Three Estates of Parliament) surrendered the crown of Scotland--though this was again not recognized internationally--and Maximillian with the burghers of Amsterdam and Hainaut gave up their sovereignity as well.
France and Western Europe, 1502
Great empire. You are a super power already. I suspect Europe will turn on you even more soon.
All-- France is indeed rather strong, but I'll start to go a little sideways in this chapter.
Chapter the Fifth
Being on the Protestant Reformations and the Conspiracy of Amboise
The first phase of the Protestant Reformation began in 1517, when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenberg. Luther's ideas, which directly challenged the methods and even the authority of the Catholic Church, and posed new theological concepts, spread like wildfire through northern Germany and the traditional center of England. Francis I, then king of France, regarded the spread of Lutheranism with mixed feelings.
To France's benefit, the Holy Roman Empire had become divided into Catholic and Protestant camps. With the tension and even open fighting between them, it would remove the threat to France's eastern borders. The kingdom had as recently as 1507 annexed the Duchy of Lorraine and fought a brief war against a coalition of German states (surrendering the city of Trier to Luxembourgh for peace). If the Germans were now to fight one another, it could only be of benefit to France. But the same applied to England's choice of the new religion. If the English adopted Lutheranism, it would set them even farther apart from the other parts of the realm and possibly encourage a movement to declare independence from France, and this could not be tolerated.
Thankfully, Lutheranism found very few converts within the rest of France. The French themselves, the Dutch, and the Scots were not convinced by Luther's arguments. It would take a stronger brand of religion to turn them away from Rome. This was supplied by a Frenchman living in Switzerland, Jean Chauvin, or John Calvin as he was known in the English-speaking lands. With his Institutes of the Christian Religion, he recalled the theology of Saint Augustine of Hippo; briefly, that man is intrinsically sinful and must surrender unconditionally to the will of God, and that no good acts or faith on the part of the man can save him unless the mercy of Lord is given.
Calvin's theology spread like wildfire through the Netherlands, Southern France, and Scotland, so that by 1550 all these areas counted a majority of their inhabitants as Calvinists, otherwise called members of the "Reformed Church," the French Calvinists also being known as Huguenots. The champions of Calvinism were in continental France the Bourbon family, while in Scotland Clan Cambell under the Earl of Argyll were leaders. Fighting for the Catholics was the House of Guise, much the most powerful noble family in France and the favorites of King Henry II and his wife, Catherine de Medicis.
Religion map of France; majority-Reformed regions are shaded red,
majority-Protestant regions are shaded yellow
At the first, the efforts of King Henry II managed to keep the situation in hand. A successful war against the Aragonian alliance in 1548 had ended with the annexation of the Duchy of Savoy, and religious tensions in France were mediated by careful policies of conciliation. These efforts, however, only pushed the problems into the background. When Henry II died in 1558, the tensions were set to explode.
The first disaster came with the appointment of Francois Duke of Guise to the governorship of the Netherlands. Guise was, in that capacity, a tireless tax farmer and completely hostile to the religion of the majority of the Dutch. He filled the local governments with French-speaking supporters of his house, squeezed both town and country for all he could, and completely ignored their outcries. In January 1560, a coalition of Dutch nobility and wealthy merchants, backed by a vast crowd of more common burghers, presented themselves before the representative of the Duke of Guise in Antwerp. They demanded recognition of their religious differences, and the summoning of the Dutch General-Estates to address the issue of excessive taxation.
The representative peremptorily ordered them to disperse, calling them "poor beggars" and threatening to send in the troops. At this insult, the crowd flew into a frenzy, vandalizing Catholic churches throughout the city and destroying statues of saints, which the Calvinists regarded as false idols. Guise replied by sending in the troops to put down the disturbance, but by the middle of the year the whole of the Netherlands was in a ferment, with regular violent disturbances occurring throughout the 17 provinces.
The king, Francis II, was only sixteen and rather sickly in addition, and his mother Catherine de Medici (who was his regent) refused to recall Guise or moderate his stance. This support from the Queen Regent for Guise and his violent suppression of Calvinists in the Netherlands signalled a definite threat to the Huguenots. It could be expected that they would soon face the same repression as their Dutch cousins. When Francis II finally died in 1560, and was succeeded by his ten year-old brother Charles IX, several of the most prominent Calvinists in the realm hatched a plot to kidnap the young king and break the power of Guise.
The Players
Catholics
Francis was an arch-Catholic and anti-Protestant, and through the Queen Regent's favor and his own considerable landholdings, he was a potentially very dangerous foe to the Huguenot cause.
Catherine de Medici was a daughter of the powerful Medici family of Florence, and the niece of Pope Clement VII. As Queen Regent her primary objective was to support the interests of her children, both against the Protestants and against Guise. As she was herself a Catholic, she favored Guise over the Protestants and was willing to use them to act as a counterbalance to him, whom she suspected of wishing to becoming king in his own right. This effort to play both sides to her advantage was central in enabling the Conspiracy to suceed in its aims.
Protestants
Antoine of Bourbon was a leading Huguenot as well as a claimant to the throne of Navarre which had been occupied by Aragon. His primary objective was not to support the cause of Protestantism in France, but to secure his claim on Navarre. He was vain, unstable, and easily lead, but was a key supporter of the conspiracy.
Louis I de Bourbon was the leading Huguenot in France and the champion of their cause. It was he who hatched the Conspiracy of Amboise and it was carried to conclusion under his direction. He became regent of France as a result, but was assassinated by a Catholic fanatic not long afterwards.
The Earl of Argyll was the most powerful and wealthiest nobleman in Scotland, and a fervent Calvinist. He contributed a body of about 300 highlanders, who were used as the spearhead in carrying out the conspiracy.
Admiral of France and an important and trusted advisor to the court, Coligny was also a Huguenot. His presence and council were valued by the Queen Regent as a counterbalance to Guise, and he was a moderating influence on the Huguenots. He preferred negotiation to war in the matter of religion, but was convinced by correspondence with William of Orange-Nassau to help the conspiracy. His physical presence within the Chateau Amboise was vital, as guards loyal to him opened the gates.
William the Silent was a Dutch nobleman of considerable faculties and influence. He had been given a Catholic education in Brussels, but was himself a committed Protestant. He was highly intelligent and charismatic, and he rose quickly through the hierarchy of France. He was appointed stadtholder of several Dutch provinces on the advice of Coligny, and was the most important leader of the Dutch. In this capacity he was a voice for reason and peace, only resorting to violence when forced by circumstances. He was to play a driving role in the Conspiracy by recruiting Coligny to the cause, providing a safe place for the conspirators to remove themselves to, and in bringing the support of the Dutch provinces behind the victors of the Conspiracy. Because of his political power and the support of the Dutch he brought, he became regent of France following the death of Louis de Bourbon and continued in that role until Charles IX gained his majority. He was until his death always one of the most important figures in the court.
The Conspiracy Unfolds
In February 1562, king Charles IX and the Queen Regent were housed in the Chateau Amboise, a castle a few miles south of Paris. There they met with the Duke of Guise in conference, and were suitably far away from reinforcements. About 1200 troops organized by the Prince of Condé, and supported by 300 Campbell clansman smuggled into France, marched on the castle and encircled it. They demanded and were refused entrance to 'rescue the king from the domination of the Duke of Guise'. After a period of about an hour, guards placed by the Admiral de Coligny opened the gates, and the Campbell guard stormed the chateau. The guards loyal to Guise were all but massacred by the highlanders, and the Duke, his brother the Cardinal of Lorraine, and the Queen Regent were placed under arrest. The boy-king and the Queen Regent were put in the care of Coligny, who then fled North with the Scots guarding him to reach a place of safety.
The remaining Bourbon forces moved more slowly toward the Huguenot strongholds of the south, and were unluckily intercepted by a detachment of Guise troops. Rather than allow the Duke of Guise to escape, they slaughtered him, although the Cardinal was able to survive and for some time coordinated the efforts of the House of Guise.
Meanwhile, Coligny reached Amsterdam on 8 March 1562, where he was recieved and guarded by the forces of William the Silent. Catherine de Medici was dispatched to a convent in Germany (where she would spend the rest of her days), and Louis the Prince of Condé was appointed regent in her stead. Charles IX was officially converted to Calvinism a few days later, meaning that the whole realm of France was to be considered a nation under the reformed church.
William the Silent would be henceforth the king's delegate to the whole of the Netherlands, and the Dutch General-Estates were immediately summoned.
The Huguenots were now in a delicate position. They had seized power by mechanism of a palace coup, but still the majority of the French people were Catholic. If they were to maintain their control, the Huguenots would have to find a secure base of support--this would come from the periphery of the kingdom, the Netherlands and Scotland.
At the meeting of the General-Estates William the Silent addressed an impassioned pleas to the assembly, calling for support for the Huguenots and support for the king of France. In the modern era most people are familiar with the speech from Shakespeare's historical play The Tumult of Amboise, but no real record of the speech today survives, and the whole play, though dramatic, is riven with inaccuracies and is more the line of hagiography written to flatter the still-living William the Silent. We know that he carried a promise from the Prince of Condé that the Netherlands would be governed fairly and with full respect to their religion, by a body of officials recruited locally, and that the Dutch would have representation at the court. Whatever his specific words, the General-Estates voted almost unanimously to support the conspirators via their captive king, thereby also recognizing the legitimacy of the rule of France over the 17 Provinces.
In the days to come, the Netherlands would be one of the strongholds of the Huguenots in the Wars of Religion. Finally, Bourbon commissioned the Campbell warriors as the permanent bodyguards of the king, thus establishing the "Argyll Lifeguards", or Argylls, a traditional palace guard that continues to this day. When the Prince of Condé perished under an assassin's bullet in September, he was replaced by William the Silent, who then lead France into the difficult days following the success of the Conspiracy of Amboise.
Being on the Protestant Reformations and the Conspiracy of Amboise
The first phase of the Protestant Reformation began in 1517, when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenberg. Luther's ideas, which directly challenged the methods and even the authority of the Catholic Church, and posed new theological concepts, spread like wildfire through northern Germany and the traditional center of England. Francis I, then king of France, regarded the spread of Lutheranism with mixed feelings.
To France's benefit, the Holy Roman Empire had become divided into Catholic and Protestant camps. With the tension and even open fighting between them, it would remove the threat to France's eastern borders. The kingdom had as recently as 1507 annexed the Duchy of Lorraine and fought a brief war against a coalition of German states (surrendering the city of Trier to Luxembourgh for peace). If the Germans were now to fight one another, it could only be of benefit to France. But the same applied to England's choice of the new religion. If the English adopted Lutheranism, it would set them even farther apart from the other parts of the realm and possibly encourage a movement to declare independence from France, and this could not be tolerated.
Thankfully, Lutheranism found very few converts within the rest of France. The French themselves, the Dutch, and the Scots were not convinced by Luther's arguments. It would take a stronger brand of religion to turn them away from Rome. This was supplied by a Frenchman living in Switzerland, Jean Chauvin, or John Calvin as he was known in the English-speaking lands. With his Institutes of the Christian Religion, he recalled the theology of Saint Augustine of Hippo; briefly, that man is intrinsically sinful and must surrender unconditionally to the will of God, and that no good acts or faith on the part of the man can save him unless the mercy of Lord is given.
Calvin's theology spread like wildfire through the Netherlands, Southern France, and Scotland, so that by 1550 all these areas counted a majority of their inhabitants as Calvinists, otherwise called members of the "Reformed Church," the French Calvinists also being known as Huguenots. The champions of Calvinism were in continental France the Bourbon family, while in Scotland Clan Cambell under the Earl of Argyll were leaders. Fighting for the Catholics was the House of Guise, much the most powerful noble family in France and the favorites of King Henry II and his wife, Catherine de Medicis.
Religion map of France; majority-Reformed regions are shaded red,
majority-Protestant regions are shaded yellow
At the first, the efforts of King Henry II managed to keep the situation in hand. A successful war against the Aragonian alliance in 1548 had ended with the annexation of the Duchy of Savoy, and religious tensions in France were mediated by careful policies of conciliation. These efforts, however, only pushed the problems into the background. When Henry II died in 1558, the tensions were set to explode.
The first disaster came with the appointment of Francois Duke of Guise to the governorship of the Netherlands. Guise was, in that capacity, a tireless tax farmer and completely hostile to the religion of the majority of the Dutch. He filled the local governments with French-speaking supporters of his house, squeezed both town and country for all he could, and completely ignored their outcries. In January 1560, a coalition of Dutch nobility and wealthy merchants, backed by a vast crowd of more common burghers, presented themselves before the representative of the Duke of Guise in Antwerp. They demanded recognition of their religious differences, and the summoning of the Dutch General-Estates to address the issue of excessive taxation.
The representative peremptorily ordered them to disperse, calling them "poor beggars" and threatening to send in the troops. At this insult, the crowd flew into a frenzy, vandalizing Catholic churches throughout the city and destroying statues of saints, which the Calvinists regarded as false idols. Guise replied by sending in the troops to put down the disturbance, but by the middle of the year the whole of the Netherlands was in a ferment, with regular violent disturbances occurring throughout the 17 provinces.
The king, Francis II, was only sixteen and rather sickly in addition, and his mother Catherine de Medici (who was his regent) refused to recall Guise or moderate his stance. This support from the Queen Regent for Guise and his violent suppression of Calvinists in the Netherlands signalled a definite threat to the Huguenots. It could be expected that they would soon face the same repression as their Dutch cousins. When Francis II finally died in 1560, and was succeeded by his ten year-old brother Charles IX, several of the most prominent Calvinists in the realm hatched a plot to kidnap the young king and break the power of Guise.
The Players
Catholics
Francis, Duke of Guise (1519-1562)
Francis was an arch-Catholic and anti-Protestant, and through the Queen Regent's favor and his own considerable landholdings, he was a potentially very dangerous foe to the Huguenot cause.
Catherine de Medici, Queen Regent (1519-1589)
Catherine de Medici was a daughter of the powerful Medici family of Florence, and the niece of Pope Clement VII. As Queen Regent her primary objective was to support the interests of her children, both against the Protestants and against Guise. As she was herself a Catholic, she favored Guise over the Protestants and was willing to use them to act as a counterbalance to him, whom she suspected of wishing to becoming king in his own right. This effort to play both sides to her advantage was central in enabling the Conspiracy to suceed in its aims.
Protestants
Antoine of Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (1518-1578)
Antoine of Bourbon was a leading Huguenot as well as a claimant to the throne of Navarre which had been occupied by Aragon. His primary objective was not to support the cause of Protestantism in France, but to secure his claim on Navarre. He was vain, unstable, and easily lead, but was a key supporter of the conspiracy.
Louis I de Bourbon, Prince of Condé and Regent of France (1530-1562)
Louis I de Bourbon was the leading Huguenot in France and the champion of their cause. It was he who hatched the Conspiracy of Amboise and it was carried to conclusion under his direction. He became regent of France as a result, but was assassinated by a Catholic fanatic not long afterwards.
Archibald Campbell, Fifth Earl of Argyll (1532-1573)
(no picture)
(no picture)
The Earl of Argyll was the most powerful and wealthiest nobleman in Scotland, and a fervent Calvinist. He contributed a body of about 300 highlanders, who were used as the spearhead in carrying out the conspiracy.
Admiral Gaspard de Coligny (1519-1588)
Admiral of France and an important and trusted advisor to the court, Coligny was also a Huguenot. His presence and council were valued by the Queen Regent as a counterbalance to Guise, and he was a moderating influence on the Huguenots. He preferred negotiation to war in the matter of religion, but was convinced by correspondence with William of Orange-Nassau to help the conspiracy. His physical presence within the Chateau Amboise was vital, as guards loyal to him opened the gates.
William the Silent, Prince of Orange and Regent of France (1533-1615)
William the Silent was a Dutch nobleman of considerable faculties and influence. He had been given a Catholic education in Brussels, but was himself a committed Protestant. He was highly intelligent and charismatic, and he rose quickly through the hierarchy of France. He was appointed stadtholder of several Dutch provinces on the advice of Coligny, and was the most important leader of the Dutch. In this capacity he was a voice for reason and peace, only resorting to violence when forced by circumstances. He was to play a driving role in the Conspiracy by recruiting Coligny to the cause, providing a safe place for the conspirators to remove themselves to, and in bringing the support of the Dutch provinces behind the victors of the Conspiracy. Because of his political power and the support of the Dutch he brought, he became regent of France following the death of Louis de Bourbon and continued in that role until Charles IX gained his majority. He was until his death always one of the most important figures in the court.
The Conspiracy Unfolds
In February 1562, king Charles IX and the Queen Regent were housed in the Chateau Amboise, a castle a few miles south of Paris. There they met with the Duke of Guise in conference, and were suitably far away from reinforcements. About 1200 troops organized by the Prince of Condé, and supported by 300 Campbell clansman smuggled into France, marched on the castle and encircled it. They demanded and were refused entrance to 'rescue the king from the domination of the Duke of Guise'. After a period of about an hour, guards placed by the Admiral de Coligny opened the gates, and the Campbell guard stormed the chateau. The guards loyal to Guise were all but massacred by the highlanders, and the Duke, his brother the Cardinal of Lorraine, and the Queen Regent were placed under arrest. The boy-king and the Queen Regent were put in the care of Coligny, who then fled North with the Scots guarding him to reach a place of safety.
The remaining Bourbon forces moved more slowly toward the Huguenot strongholds of the south, and were unluckily intercepted by a detachment of Guise troops. Rather than allow the Duke of Guise to escape, they slaughtered him, although the Cardinal was able to survive and for some time coordinated the efforts of the House of Guise.
Meanwhile, Coligny reached Amsterdam on 8 March 1562, where he was recieved and guarded by the forces of William the Silent. Catherine de Medici was dispatched to a convent in Germany (where she would spend the rest of her days), and Louis the Prince of Condé was appointed regent in her stead. Charles IX was officially converted to Calvinism a few days later, meaning that the whole realm of France was to be considered a nation under the reformed church.
William the Silent would be henceforth the king's delegate to the whole of the Netherlands, and the Dutch General-Estates were immediately summoned.
The Huguenots were now in a delicate position. They had seized power by mechanism of a palace coup, but still the majority of the French people were Catholic. If they were to maintain their control, the Huguenots would have to find a secure base of support--this would come from the periphery of the kingdom, the Netherlands and Scotland.
At the meeting of the General-Estates William the Silent addressed an impassioned pleas to the assembly, calling for support for the Huguenots and support for the king of France. In the modern era most people are familiar with the speech from Shakespeare's historical play The Tumult of Amboise, but no real record of the speech today survives, and the whole play, though dramatic, is riven with inaccuracies and is more the line of hagiography written to flatter the still-living William the Silent. We know that he carried a promise from the Prince of Condé that the Netherlands would be governed fairly and with full respect to their religion, by a body of officials recruited locally, and that the Dutch would have representation at the court. Whatever his specific words, the General-Estates voted almost unanimously to support the conspirators via their captive king, thereby also recognizing the legitimacy of the rule of France over the 17 Provinces.
In the days to come, the Netherlands would be one of the strongholds of the Huguenots in the Wars of Religion. Finally, Bourbon commissioned the Campbell warriors as the permanent bodyguards of the king, thus establishing the "Argyll Lifeguards", or Argylls, a traditional palace guard that continues to this day. When the Prince of Condé perished under an assassin's bullet in September, he was replaced by William the Silent, who then lead France into the difficult days following the success of the Conspiracy of Amboise.
A Reformed France - definite something to fear. It will be very interesting to see the long-term ramifications of this.
This is quite a considerable move to hange things. I like it though. Excellent chapter there with plenty of history.
Now this was unexpected! France Protestant and with the Netherlands as Heartlands? Sounds interesting.
stnylan-- I'm interested too, I haven't played that far ahead! In a slightly disconcerting fashion, I still get the event for Cardinal Richelieu!
Maximilliano-- To Rome? Maybe, I'd have to think about it.
Duke of Wellington-- As I said, I'm trying to stress plausibility to some extent. This is how I explain France becoming Huguenot.
CSK-- I certainly hope it's interesting, a boring AAR doesn't do well
Maximilliano-- To Rome? Maybe, I'd have to think about it.
Duke of Wellington-- As I said, I'm trying to stress plausibility to some extent. This is how I explain France becoming Huguenot.
CSK-- I certainly hope it's interesting, a boring AAR doesn't do well
Chapter the Sixth
Being on the Wars of Religion
With the power of the Huguenots over the throne secured, the 1560s were a difficult decade for the House of Guise and their Catholic faction. Though the larger part of the French population was Catholic, and therefore a substantial part of the army followed that religion, the army and the country remained more or less loyal to the person of the king himself. The Catholic nobility was itself very wealthy and could raise armies of its own accord, but none capable of truly challenging the French army's supremacy. Revolts occurred and were violently suppressed with regularity. Meanwhile, the composition of the army began to incorporate more and more Dutchmen and Huguenots, so that in time it they became the majority.
After some years of this, in 1569 the new Duke of Guise, Henry, realized that a purely domestic solution could not possibly succeed. Instead, he decided to appeal to foreign powers for aid. His remonstrations were well recieved in the Vatican and Iberia, who both feared the power of France and regretted that it had fallen to Protestant heathenry. The Papal States thereby declared war on the Kingdom of France, with the support of not only Aragon and Castile, but also the Lutheran countries of Saxony and Sweden. These states, as leaders of the Lutheran cause, despised the Calvinist Huguenots, and had designs on territories held by France.
France was well prepared to make war on its southern flank, but the entrance of Sweden and Saxony was its own problem. Considerable expense was made to raise a large army in the Netherlands, which with support from the large French fleet based at London attacked the Swedish territories along the German North Sea coast, so that by 1573 the Swedes were forced to surrender Oldenburg, Bremen, and Holstein. These three duchies were all released by France as reconstituted vassal states, and because Saxony had no military access with which to actually get at France's territory, it agreed to a white peace that same year.
To the South, French raids along the Cantabrian coast forced Castile from the war early on. The Papal exclave in Piedmont was taken by siege and held against repeated assault, while Admiral Coligny himself led an army into Catalonia and took the city of Barcelona. Once in possession of the Aragonese capital, he stood on the defensive in such a way as to control all the crossings of the River Ebro.
Aragon dispatched army after army to retake the city, but Coligny parried them one and all. The Catalans were forced to cross the Ebro under fire from the Admiral's artillery, so that they suffered heavy casualties in the crossing and succumbed to disorder, so that the very first charge of French cavalry drove them back across in rout. Each month the villagers at Amposta where the Ebro emptied into the Mediterranean counted thousands of bodies headed out to the sea. In 1574 Aragon accepted to pay an enormous tribute of 575 chests of gold to France for peace.
This was not to be the end of the war, however, as France went to war with Denmark in 1573 for the protection of the newly reestablished Duchy of Holstein. France founded an alliance with the three North Sea duchies it had so recently released, and defeated the armies and navy of Denmark without too much difficulty. However, by treachery the King of Denmark annexed Holstein despite the treaty, and the French alliance would not be long-lived.
Charles IX perished in 1574, to be succeeded by his brother Henry III. Henry III was a convert to Calvinism, and it was under his leadership that the first efforts at converting the population of France from Catholicism were made.
The effort was centered on the Dutch provinces, which provided much of the money and manpower in preachers that the effort would take. Beginning with the remaining Dutchmen who still embraced Catholicism, and spreading south across France, the project would take most of a century.
At this, the Papal States once again declared war on France in 1577, bringing with them their alliance, and Oldenburg and Bremen refused to honor their obligations. Having found his allies faithless, Henry III abandoned them to their fates, so that within two years Bremen had been annexed by Hannover, although the proximity of Oldenburg to French territory was sufficient deterrent to attacks on that state.
Saxony, which had by now left the alliance with the Papal States, France with its own large North German alliance in 1578. At war with a substantial portion of Western Europe and facing rebellion at home, France soldiered on stolidly. For the next 20 years, the nation was constantly at war with both the Saxon and Catholic Alliances--each war was won in its turn, but with the religious tensions at home the cumulative effect was exhausting. The only bright spot was the continual success of the conversion efforts in France, in January 1582 the city of Paris had become majority Huguenot.
When Henry III died in 1589, the throne passed by Salic Law to Henry of Navarre, champion of the House of Bourbon and leader of the Huguenots. This was an important watershed, because it settled for good and all the issue of whether France would be a Reformed or a Catholic nation. With the final victory of the Bourbons, the Catholics--even the hardline House of Guise--were quiescent and resigned to their fate, though they fled the country in large numbers, for Italy, Iberia, and even Poland.
Henry IV pursued first a policy of reconciliation with the German Protestants, by sending a series of state gifts to them. In 1600 France had gone as far as to enter Saxony's alliance. Faced with a united front of Protestants the Catholics ceased to make war on France. With France, Northern Germany, and Hungary under Protestant control, everything north of the Alps and Pyrenees was more-or-less lost to Catholicism.
Henry IV died in 1610 of wounds sustained during one of the countless battles of his reign, and was succeeded by his young son Louis XIII. Because Louis was so young, the administration of France was taken up first by his mother, and after 1616 by Armand Jean du Plessis, a very popular Calvinist clergyman and recognized genius. Plessis had been born to a Catholic family in Paris in 1585, but had converted to Calvinism and become perhaps the most prominent preacher and public official in the whole kingdom. He worked tirelessly and is known to history as one of the most effective ministers of all time.
Under this highly effective leadership, the conversion to Calvinism of all of the continental territories of France was completed and the process extended to England. By 1623 the city of London was embraced by the Reformed Church and the rest of the country was a foregone conclusion.
By the time that Louis XIV rose to the throne in 1643, every province in the whole of his territories accepted Calvinism, save for the Orkney isles isolated and frozen in the seas north of Scotland.
Being on the Wars of Religion
With the power of the Huguenots over the throne secured, the 1560s were a difficult decade for the House of Guise and their Catholic faction. Though the larger part of the French population was Catholic, and therefore a substantial part of the army followed that religion, the army and the country remained more or less loyal to the person of the king himself. The Catholic nobility was itself very wealthy and could raise armies of its own accord, but none capable of truly challenging the French army's supremacy. Revolts occurred and were violently suppressed with regularity. Meanwhile, the composition of the army began to incorporate more and more Dutchmen and Huguenots, so that in time it they became the majority.
After some years of this, in 1569 the new Duke of Guise, Henry, realized that a purely domestic solution could not possibly succeed. Instead, he decided to appeal to foreign powers for aid. His remonstrations were well recieved in the Vatican and Iberia, who both feared the power of France and regretted that it had fallen to Protestant heathenry. The Papal States thereby declared war on the Kingdom of France, with the support of not only Aragon and Castile, but also the Lutheran countries of Saxony and Sweden. These states, as leaders of the Lutheran cause, despised the Calvinist Huguenots, and had designs on territories held by France.
France was well prepared to make war on its southern flank, but the entrance of Sweden and Saxony was its own problem. Considerable expense was made to raise a large army in the Netherlands, which with support from the large French fleet based at London attacked the Swedish territories along the German North Sea coast, so that by 1573 the Swedes were forced to surrender Oldenburg, Bremen, and Holstein. These three duchies were all released by France as reconstituted vassal states, and because Saxony had no military access with which to actually get at France's territory, it agreed to a white peace that same year.
To the South, French raids along the Cantabrian coast forced Castile from the war early on. The Papal exclave in Piedmont was taken by siege and held against repeated assault, while Admiral Coligny himself led an army into Catalonia and took the city of Barcelona. Once in possession of the Aragonese capital, he stood on the defensive in such a way as to control all the crossings of the River Ebro.
Aragon dispatched army after army to retake the city, but Coligny parried them one and all. The Catalans were forced to cross the Ebro under fire from the Admiral's artillery, so that they suffered heavy casualties in the crossing and succumbed to disorder, so that the very first charge of French cavalry drove them back across in rout. Each month the villagers at Amposta where the Ebro emptied into the Mediterranean counted thousands of bodies headed out to the sea. In 1574 Aragon accepted to pay an enormous tribute of 575 chests of gold to France for peace.
This was not to be the end of the war, however, as France went to war with Denmark in 1573 for the protection of the newly reestablished Duchy of Holstein. France founded an alliance with the three North Sea duchies it had so recently released, and defeated the armies and navy of Denmark without too much difficulty. However, by treachery the King of Denmark annexed Holstein despite the treaty, and the French alliance would not be long-lived.
Charles IX perished in 1574, to be succeeded by his brother Henry III. Henry III was a convert to Calvinism, and it was under his leadership that the first efforts at converting the population of France from Catholicism were made.
The effort was centered on the Dutch provinces, which provided much of the money and manpower in preachers that the effort would take. Beginning with the remaining Dutchmen who still embraced Catholicism, and spreading south across France, the project would take most of a century.
At this, the Papal States once again declared war on France in 1577, bringing with them their alliance, and Oldenburg and Bremen refused to honor their obligations. Having found his allies faithless, Henry III abandoned them to their fates, so that within two years Bremen had been annexed by Hannover, although the proximity of Oldenburg to French territory was sufficient deterrent to attacks on that state.
Saxony, which had by now left the alliance with the Papal States, France with its own large North German alliance in 1578. At war with a substantial portion of Western Europe and facing rebellion at home, France soldiered on stolidly. For the next 20 years, the nation was constantly at war with both the Saxon and Catholic Alliances--each war was won in its turn, but with the religious tensions at home the cumulative effect was exhausting. The only bright spot was the continual success of the conversion efforts in France, in January 1582 the city of Paris had become majority Huguenot.
When Henry III died in 1589, the throne passed by Salic Law to Henry of Navarre, champion of the House of Bourbon and leader of the Huguenots. This was an important watershed, because it settled for good and all the issue of whether France would be a Reformed or a Catholic nation. With the final victory of the Bourbons, the Catholics--even the hardline House of Guise--were quiescent and resigned to their fate, though they fled the country in large numbers, for Italy, Iberia, and even Poland.
Henry IV pursued first a policy of reconciliation with the German Protestants, by sending a series of state gifts to them. In 1600 France had gone as far as to enter Saxony's alliance. Faced with a united front of Protestants the Catholics ceased to make war on France. With France, Northern Germany, and Hungary under Protestant control, everything north of the Alps and Pyrenees was more-or-less lost to Catholicism.
Henry IV died in 1610 of wounds sustained during one of the countless battles of his reign, and was succeeded by his young son Louis XIII. Because Louis was so young, the administration of France was taken up first by his mother, and after 1616 by Armand Jean du Plessis, a very popular Calvinist clergyman and recognized genius. Plessis had been born to a Catholic family in Paris in 1585, but had converted to Calvinism and become perhaps the most prominent preacher and public official in the whole kingdom. He worked tirelessly and is known to history as one of the most effective ministers of all time.
Under this highly effective leadership, the conversion to Calvinism of all of the continental territories of France was completed and the process extended to England. By 1623 the city of London was embraced by the Reformed Church and the rest of the country was a foregone conclusion.
By the time that Louis XIV rose to the throne in 1643, every province in the whole of his territories accepted Calvinism, save for the Orkney isles isolated and frozen in the seas north of Scotland.
Great going on the conversions. Theres certainly enough of them. Very interesting to see the Pope DOWed you so soon. Fits in nicely with a roleplaying story.
Really nice roleplaying. Yet, nobody seems to be able to stop you really. I just wonder why Spain hasn't formed. It could have been more of a problem. And great going with the conversions, the newly converted France will stand together in a time of trouble.
Ahh, a very great reign indeed. Good show. I would doubt though, now you have that out of the way, you will be that severely tested anymore.
Good job with the wars and the conversions, im really enjoying your writing style... can't wait to see what Louis XIV has instore for the Empire
Chapter the Seventh
Being on the Long Reign of Louis XIV
Part the First
Being on the Colonization of the New World
The French colonization of the New World began in the reign of Henry III, with the commissioning of the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano to chart coastal of North America and the Caribbean Sea. Along the way, Verrazano established colonies on the island of Terre-Neuve, as well as around Chesapeake Bay and the Waccasassa Bay of Florida, to act as bases from which his explorations could be staged.
1564
Because of the wars of religion at home, most of the attention of the French monarchy was concentrated on the continent and the process of bringing all the people of the realm to the Reformed religion, and the colonies were neglected. However, with the completion of this effort, funding to the colonies was doubled and trebled and expansion proceeded apace.
France was more-or-less unrivalled for control of the new world, the other nations that might have contested her dominion having fallen by the wayside. England, which had historically been a naval power, could have competed; so might the Iberian kingdoms. But England was a part of France, Portugal concentrated its efforts solely on its enormous colony in Brazil, and Castile absorbed itself with petty wars. The only European states which proffered any resistance to French ambitions in North America were the Danes and Swedes, neither of which had the naval power or funding to pose a real challenge. The islands of the Greater Antilles, including Cuba, Haiti, and Boriken, became French possessions, together with some islands of the Lesser Antilles.
1656
However, two confederations of Native American peoples existed in the pale of French settlement and offered a barrier. The Cherokee in the south and the Iroquois in the north both resisted the French, and expanded their own influence in response to France's. Louis XIV, not to be stymied by savages in a distant land, maneuvered to annihilate them by war. The Iroquois fell in 1660, and the Cherokee in 1684, and French missionaries travelled to the New World to convert the native populations to Christianity.
1684
The French possessions in the Americas were extremely valuable, because they produced certain products which could not be obtained from sources within Europe. Most prominently, Cuba and the Chesapeake region supplied France with a near monopoly on Tobacco, a product which was to become very popular in Europe. French production of sugar in the Caribbean also rivalled that of Portugal's Brazilian colonies.
Meanwhile, French explorations stretched across the entire world, revealing rich centers of trade, which French merchants quickly moved to establish dominance in.
Part the Second
Being on the Mercantile Wars of Louis XIV
Louis XIV became king in an era of peace; early in his reign the Norse Lutherans of Orkney were forcibly converted to Calvinism, meaning that in all the directions of the compass the realm of France was finally united in religion. Moreover, the whole territorial ambitions of France were more or less achieved, and France was ringed by territories into which Louis XIV had no real interest in expanding. He instead contented himself by building manufactories, expanding the colonies, and maintaining France's trading priviliges.
France was, by this time, the dominant trader in almost all of the world's centers of trade. Paris, Antwerp, Lisbon, Genoa, as well as points farther afield like Rangoon, Delhi, Calicut, and Malacca all paid into French coffers. But many European nations that fancied themselves trading powers resisted the French by method of embargo. Brandenburg, though technically an ally of France, barred her merchants from Mecklemburg; and the Venetians and Ottoman Turks did likewise.
To punish the heathen Turk for this insult, Louis XIV went to war with the Ottomans in 1660. He placed the great engineer Vauban with his armies, and Vauban proved his genius in siege after siege, often capturing cities in only a few months.
For six years, French fleets ranged over the mediterranean, seizing the Ottoman provinces of Sicily and Apulia and even pushing into Thrace, to capture Constantinople itself. The Ottomans consented to allow French merchants eternal right of access to Alexandria and Constantinople, and surrendered also Sicily and Apulia. Louis XIV liberated the Kingdom of Sicily, and also the rump of the Kingdom of Naples, although Campania and the city of Naples itself was still held by the Pope at this time (some years later they would revolt free of the Papal States and join Naples).
In 1677 the Ottomans violated their agreement and banned French merchants once again, and again Louis XIV declared war and sent the Mediterranean fleet into action. This time Egypt was largely overrun and French troops occupied Cyprus and were advancing into the Levant. Again, Louis XIV released an erstwhile Christian kingdom from Turkish domination, with Cyprus resuming its independent existence under French protection in 1680.
Part the Third
Being on the Acts of Union 1707
The issue of unifying the various kingdoms that existed as part of the French nation had come up several times during the seventeenth century, but had never succeeded because of disagreements between the various legislative bodies responsible for the issue. In order for a full unification to be achieved, the two States-General of France and of the Netherlands, and the Parliaments of England as well as Scotland, would have to agree to union. The French and Dutch could reliably be counted on to vote in favor, but the English and especially the Scots prized their independence. Louis XIV sought to change this.
He invested considerable time and effort, becoming among other things the first French monarch to tour all the European provinces. He paid out substantial sums of money to place his supporters in the English House of Commons as well as in the Scottish Parliament, and he expanded his favor with the peerage. In France, he played the common people against the aristocrats so that both would turn to him, and in the Netherlands he simply relied on the traditional support of the Dutch for the Bourbons. In this way, he built up his support in all four regions of the crown, and in 1705 he had the Act of Union introduced once again. By the campaigning of Louis XIV, the issue had been turned into a referendum on French rule over England and Scotland. In the 200 or 250 years since they had joined France, the British kingdoms had seen war and defeat replaced with what seemed an aeon of peace and prosperity. The Act was passed definitively in June of 1707.
Under the Act of Union, the various legislatures of England, Scotland, France, and the Netherlands would continue to act in the same purely local capacity as they had before. However, each province of the realm would now send representatives to a Assemblée nationale, or national assembly seated in Paris. The national assembly would supplant the Etats-Généraux of France in those affairs that concerned the entire country, while the old legislative body remained in place for local affairs of France.
Thus was created the United Kingdom of France, England, Scotland, and the Netherlands, referred to in short as the United Kingdom, or, colloquially, France.
Being on the Long Reign of Louis XIV
Part the First
Being on the Colonization of the New World
The French colonization of the New World began in the reign of Henry III, with the commissioning of the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano to chart coastal of North America and the Caribbean Sea. Along the way, Verrazano established colonies on the island of Terre-Neuve, as well as around Chesapeake Bay and the Waccasassa Bay of Florida, to act as bases from which his explorations could be staged.
1564
Because of the wars of religion at home, most of the attention of the French monarchy was concentrated on the continent and the process of bringing all the people of the realm to the Reformed religion, and the colonies were neglected. However, with the completion of this effort, funding to the colonies was doubled and trebled and expansion proceeded apace.
France was more-or-less unrivalled for control of the new world, the other nations that might have contested her dominion having fallen by the wayside. England, which had historically been a naval power, could have competed; so might the Iberian kingdoms. But England was a part of France, Portugal concentrated its efforts solely on its enormous colony in Brazil, and Castile absorbed itself with petty wars. The only European states which proffered any resistance to French ambitions in North America were the Danes and Swedes, neither of which had the naval power or funding to pose a real challenge. The islands of the Greater Antilles, including Cuba, Haiti, and Boriken, became French possessions, together with some islands of the Lesser Antilles.
1656
However, two confederations of Native American peoples existed in the pale of French settlement and offered a barrier. The Cherokee in the south and the Iroquois in the north both resisted the French, and expanded their own influence in response to France's. Louis XIV, not to be stymied by savages in a distant land, maneuvered to annihilate them by war. The Iroquois fell in 1660, and the Cherokee in 1684, and French missionaries travelled to the New World to convert the native populations to Christianity.
1684
The French possessions in the Americas were extremely valuable, because they produced certain products which could not be obtained from sources within Europe. Most prominently, Cuba and the Chesapeake region supplied France with a near monopoly on Tobacco, a product which was to become very popular in Europe. French production of sugar in the Caribbean also rivalled that of Portugal's Brazilian colonies.
Meanwhile, French explorations stretched across the entire world, revealing rich centers of trade, which French merchants quickly moved to establish dominance in.
Part the Second
Being on the Mercantile Wars of Louis XIV
Louis XIV became king in an era of peace; early in his reign the Norse Lutherans of Orkney were forcibly converted to Calvinism, meaning that in all the directions of the compass the realm of France was finally united in religion. Moreover, the whole territorial ambitions of France were more or less achieved, and France was ringed by territories into which Louis XIV had no real interest in expanding. He instead contented himself by building manufactories, expanding the colonies, and maintaining France's trading priviliges.
France was, by this time, the dominant trader in almost all of the world's centers of trade. Paris, Antwerp, Lisbon, Genoa, as well as points farther afield like Rangoon, Delhi, Calicut, and Malacca all paid into French coffers. But many European nations that fancied themselves trading powers resisted the French by method of embargo. Brandenburg, though technically an ally of France, barred her merchants from Mecklemburg; and the Venetians and Ottoman Turks did likewise.
To punish the heathen Turk for this insult, Louis XIV went to war with the Ottomans in 1660. He placed the great engineer Vauban with his armies, and Vauban proved his genius in siege after siege, often capturing cities in only a few months.
For six years, French fleets ranged over the mediterranean, seizing the Ottoman provinces of Sicily and Apulia and even pushing into Thrace, to capture Constantinople itself. The Ottomans consented to allow French merchants eternal right of access to Alexandria and Constantinople, and surrendered also Sicily and Apulia. Louis XIV liberated the Kingdom of Sicily, and also the rump of the Kingdom of Naples, although Campania and the city of Naples itself was still held by the Pope at this time (some years later they would revolt free of the Papal States and join Naples).
In 1677 the Ottomans violated their agreement and banned French merchants once again, and again Louis XIV declared war and sent the Mediterranean fleet into action. This time Egypt was largely overrun and French troops occupied Cyprus and were advancing into the Levant. Again, Louis XIV released an erstwhile Christian kingdom from Turkish domination, with Cyprus resuming its independent existence under French protection in 1680.
Part the Third
Being on the Acts of Union 1707
The issue of unifying the various kingdoms that existed as part of the French nation had come up several times during the seventeenth century, but had never succeeded because of disagreements between the various legislative bodies responsible for the issue. In order for a full unification to be achieved, the two States-General of France and of the Netherlands, and the Parliaments of England as well as Scotland, would have to agree to union. The French and Dutch could reliably be counted on to vote in favor, but the English and especially the Scots prized their independence. Louis XIV sought to change this.
He invested considerable time and effort, becoming among other things the first French monarch to tour all the European provinces. He paid out substantial sums of money to place his supporters in the English House of Commons as well as in the Scottish Parliament, and he expanded his favor with the peerage. In France, he played the common people against the aristocrats so that both would turn to him, and in the Netherlands he simply relied on the traditional support of the Dutch for the Bourbons. In this way, he built up his support in all four regions of the crown, and in 1705 he had the Act of Union introduced once again. By the campaigning of Louis XIV, the issue had been turned into a referendum on French rule over England and Scotland. In the 200 or 250 years since they had joined France, the British kingdoms had seen war and defeat replaced with what seemed an aeon of peace and prosperity. The Act was passed definitively in June of 1707.
Under the Act of Union, the various legislatures of England, Scotland, France, and the Netherlands would continue to act in the same purely local capacity as they had before. However, each province of the realm would now send representatives to a Assemblée nationale, or national assembly seated in Paris. The national assembly would supplant the Etats-Généraux of France in those affairs that concerned the entire country, while the old legislative body remained in place for local affairs of France.
Thus was created the United Kingdom of France, England, Scotland, and the Netherlands, referred to in short as the United Kingdom, or, colloquially, France.