The Preservation of the Natural Order (France)

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Chapter the Twelfth
The Arrival of the Reformation in France

On December 10, 1532, the French army underwent a reformation, moving closer to the goal of arquebusiers.

February 18, 1534, the King of England offers a military alliance between the two nations, and France accepted. Although England was no longer allied with Spain, it was still engaged in the alliance war against the Aztec Empire, and France was thus brought in against this American enemy. Some 20,000 troops were transported across the Atlantic to land in Tlaxcala. The siege proceeded quickly, and the province was captured, allowing French troops to move further inland.

On March 12, 1534, the French crown settled a boundary dispute with the electorate of Saxony by a payment of 75,000 ducats.

Under Michel's management, 1535 was an exceptional year for France.

Finally, in April 1536, arquebuses were incorporated into the army. Drill masters and weapons were quickly shipped to the expeditionary army struggling in Central America, and the gunpowder weapons allowed them to inflict severe defeats on the Aztecs and several provinces were quickly captured.

On June 16, 1536, a nobleman died, leaving 375,000 gold pieces to the French state.

June 23, 1536 brought a peace treaty with the Aztec Empire. The French took Tlaxcala as a base for further expansion. Almost immediately, thousands of cavalry under the Spanish flag began riding into the province, attempting to sieze it. The garrison began conscription of the locals and easily repelled the attacks.

On July 14, 1537, the people of Tuscany insulted the King of France. Their alliance with Spain compelled Francois I to turn the other cheek. But, a little over one year later, the Sienese ambassador also insulted France. This lone Italian nation, without allies or even friends, received the declaration of war on the first of November. The mountainous province was quickly secured and siege was laid. The province was captured on December 19, 1539, and they were made to swear vassal to Francois I Valois and pay 150,000 ducats.

On August 10, 1540, the teachings of Jean Calvin entered print. Within months, the French realm was awash with his adherents, especially in southern France, the Netherlands, and Calvin's home of Switzerland. Michel determined them to be a threat to French stability and dispatched the Holy Inquisition to Southern France. Meanwhile, he studied the teaching of the sect, in order to better understand the problem.

The Inquisition in France, 1540

On October 10, 1541, a philosopher and proponent of religious freedom attempted to gain an audience with King Francois. Michel refused the request and imprisoned the thinker.

In September, 1542, plague swept the realm.

On October 5, 1543, Michel chose to allow a Calvinist philosopher to remain free, in the interests of promoting a healthy toleration of the minority religion. His rivals at court quickly accused him of secret Huguenot leanings, which he refused to honor with a response.

September 14, 1544. The shipwrights of Bretagne made a gift of ten galleys to the French navy.

In May, 1545, the Inquisition in France reported the successful conversion of Poitou, Limousin, Guyenne, Cèvennes, and Languedoc. Only Dauphine and Maine remained to the Reformed faith in France proper. Maine converted in March of 1546.

On July 4, 1545, the French navy was reformed.

On March 30, 1547, Henri II Valois became king of France.

 

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Chapter the Thirteenth
New Aquitaine?

On June 29, 1547, the nobility of France demand a recovery of their former rights. What rights these were, no one could say, as they were by the far the most priviliged nobility in Europe, but Michel persuaded the king to give in to the vague demands.

May 20, 1548, the Hannoverite ambassador caused a scandal at the court by appearing in Turkish costume and demanding the cession of Hessen to the duchy. The request was emphatically refused, and relations with the small German statelet dipped still lower.

On June 3, 1549, there was wide unhappiness among the peasants of France. There was nothing that could be done about it, however, and the revolts were put down bloodily.

April 10, 1551 brought a 300,000 ducat gift to the state by noblemen concerned that Calvinism had infected France. The ongoing conversion campaigns in Dauphine, Switzerland, and the Netherlands were not meeting with success, and they drew valuable monies away from the concurrent fortification campaign.

In July, 1551, the Inquisition reported the province of Hessen fully returned to the Catholic faith.

June 30, 1552, Michel denied the submission of a petition for redress against a French noble. He said, "Not now nor ever shall the rights of the aristocracy over the common folk be infringed."

On JUly 22, 1553, 375,000 ducats were submitted to the state by a coalition of nobleman from Languedoc, thanking the king for the return of their peasants to the true faith.

In October, 1553, the province of Tlaxcala was reported as being fully converted to the French tongue and Catholic religion. As news of this filtered back to France, a Colonel 'La Bruysre' who had trained as a surveyor randomly asked to be given command of the garrison of Tlaxcala. He was quickly shipped from Caux to the New World.

Upon his arrival on June 9, 1555, France declared war upon the Aztec Empire. With gunpowder weapons and superior tactics, they marched from victory to victory.

On August 6, 1555, a great noble family asked that the Crown assuage their debt of 150,000 ducats to the bankers of Genoa. Never one to refuse such a request, the king paid the sum in full.

1556 was an exceptional year.

On May 26, 1557, the last towns of Mesoamerica entered French hands and the Aztec Empire was declared fully dissolved, all its holdings transferred to the king of France. The great sugar fields of the coasts and the gold mines of the northern desert passed to France.

On August 20, the news of this great victory caused France's reputation to become truly great among the nations, leading to a general uplifting in relations with other European states.

On September 2, 1558, another great noble family was assisted by the King.

In July, 1559, the Basques of Bearn returned to the Catholic fold, under the guidance of the inquisition.

October 23, 1559, Spain diplomatically insults France out of rage over their success in central America. No action is taken by the King of France, whose exchequer and warchest is largely emptied by the funding of the Inquisition.

Finally, on January 25, 1560, the nobility of the Netherlands demanded general estates. Michel advised the king to make no concessions whatsoever. The Dutch aristocrats returned to the provinces, vowing not to give up until they had achieved independence from France. Their revolts were quickly contained, though Zeeland was temporarily lost to them. The army credited the possession of North German territories as the primary contributor to the victory. Had they been forced to advance from the south, the numerous river crossings could have been more easily defended by the rebels. However, as they came from the east, they could bypass these defilades and strike more effectively.

On October 10, 1560, the French Navy was reformed.

French Mesoamerica
Europe, 1560


ooc: Some points of interest in Europe--
Swedish Dobrudja, captured in some old obscure war. I think every nation should have a Slavonic Muslim province thousands and thousands of miles from their country.
The Buddhist province of Kalmuk, which was formerly owned by Austria until it revolted to Russia, and was then cut off by Polish gains in the area. Does anyone know how it would become Buddhist?
English Cyprus, not quite as odd, but still notable. Albania was English for a little while, too.

And then I pose a question to my readers. The populations in the Aztec Empire are amazingly and ahistorically huge and make conversion very expensive. I have a mind to simulate the smallpox epidemic by severely reducing their population (and income, of course) in a savegame edit. Sort of correcting an omission in the event file. I leave it up to you, what do you think?

 

[richvh]

ooc:
The Buddhist province of Kalmuk, which was formerly owned by Austria until it revolted to Russia, and was then cut off by Polish gains in the area. Does anyone know how it would become Buddhist?

According to some posts in, I think, the bug reporting forum, it was historically Buddhist, and was changed to Buddhist in the game in recent patches.

 

[stnylan]

Excellent progress. I presume you are intending to try to hold onto the Dutch?

Its entirely up to you about the Aztec population. Generally I never alter it, but that's mostly because I can't be bothered, though there are good historical arguments for doing so.

 

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Excerpt from The American Tragedy:
University of Oxford Press, 1790

On the sixteenth of December 1553, a negro slave in the service of the French governor of Tlaxcala expired from smallpox. From such small beginnings come great catastrophes. The disease spread from Tlaxcala in all directions and struck the Aztecs with ferocity unprecedented in Europe.

Within months, hundreds of thousands of natives were afflicted. Having never encountered such an illness, their pagan priests could offer no relief, and the victims almost invariably expired. In Tlaxcala, the native population fell from twenty-two thousand to a mere six thousand in a matter of months. The French could not determine the effect upon those still in Aztec territory, but the information gathered in the ensuing war with these savages suggested that they had suffered even greater from the ravages of the sickness.

When the French army marched to conquest under the command of La Bruysre, the natives believed the white-skinned and bearded French to be devils, with their arquebuses, horses, and steel armor. Defeated in the field, they retreated into their cities, where they almost invariably fought to the last spear and the last man.

French infantry captain rallying troops outside Tenochtitlan

To represent the enormity of the destruction, the great city of Tenochtitlan, built upon a lake, was possessed of some 150,000 denizens before the epidemic and the war--as large as any city of Europe. When the first census was taken by the French authorities, the ruined city could claim but 10,000 inhabitants. The great buildings were smashed by cannon and left unmaintained to collapse, their works of art were melted into ingots for shipment to Caen and thence to Paris, and in the years to follow the priests of the Inquisition would set torch to all the books and writings that remained of the old Aztec world.

With the coming of the French, the whole culture of the Mexican people was destroyed. No accurate accounting of the death toll can ever be known. Those that survived were forced to work in the gold mines or sugar fields under punishing conditions, where still more were to die.

Contemporary illustration of savage priest tending to smallpox victims

After the conquest, an Aztec said, "There were not enough people left to weep for the dead, and now we are dry of tears. Our whole world is gone."

 

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Chapter the Fourteenth
At the Hands of Calvinism

On December 6, 1560, Charles IX ascended to the Throne of France. He was a below average monarch in most respects, and his reign was not a happy one.

Early on, it was auspicious enough, as on August 30, 1561, the people of Friesen were declared returned to the Catholic faith.

On October 7, 1561, Michel signed a military alliance with Genoa and the French vassals of Siena.

Then, on March 30, 1562, tragedy struck France. Though the Huguenots had been reduced to minorities in all provinces of France proper except Dauphinè, they were still made up of a disproportionate number of wealthy and important noblemen in the South of France. Duke Rossignol himself was even rumored to be a secret Huguenot. The French protestants began a stealthy campaign of revolt and sedition that came to a head when King Charles officially declared his support for the moderate path. Anger and resentment seethed mutedly in both the Huguenot and Catholic lands, as both had wished the King to take a more decisive approach. Alas, Charles IX was not a decisive man. So a muted War of Religion took place in France, largely behind the scenes.

The tempo of the years went on as usual, with steady fortification and attempts to convert the territories of Mesoamerica. Poor Government Policies proved disastrous in December of 1564, but the problems were not so great that they were not quickly overcome.

On January 18, 1565, Michel decided to make no concessions to the Dutch and allowed the issue of the Edict of Blood, increasing taxes over the revolting lands and bringing in 300,000 ducats almost instantly. The ire of the Dutch was raised, and they redoubled their efforts at independence.

On April 11, 1565 the people of Siena joined the glorious French realm as provinces.

March 22, 1566, a devastating fire scoured the winery of Languedoc province, destroying that valuable structure entirely.

On June 4, 1567, peasants angered by the ongoing War of Religion began revolts. As usual, these were put down brutally and immediately.

On September 17, 1567, the Genoans swore vassal to France.

June 8, 1568, new land was claimed in Guyenne.

On September 13, 1568, Michel decided that it was imperative that France improve the drill and training of its armies, so that it could better challenge the power of other nations. The status of serfdom in France had greatly lowered the average morale of France, and it was therefore important to seek every other advantage available.

On June 28, 1569, an Heir to the Crown was born, amid great celebration.

On June 22, 1570, Huguenot spies set a fire in Paris which quickly consume the Fine Arts academy, burning many priceless works of art.

Oct 12, 1572, the Mayans of Campeche spontaneously ended their worship of pagan gods and chose Catholicism instead.

On November 21, 1572, the Pope convened the Council of Trent. He introduced concepts of the Counter-Reformation, which would eventually be used by a number of anti-Protestant nations. In spite of his difficulties with Huguenots and Calvinists, Charles IX chose not to follow these super-conservative ideas, as they would have caused great problems with stability.

January 13, 1574 brought the formation of a monopoly company for the French territories of New Aquitaine. Some 175,000 ducats entered the treasury as a result.

On May 30, 1574, Henri III rose to the throne. An able administrator, if nothing else, his ascension boded well for France.


----

October 21, 1574

"I'm an old man, damnit!" Michel said angrily, "where's my son?"

His nurse shook her head, "He is in Dauphinè, my lord."

"What's he doing there, then? I'm dying, he should be here," the Duke coughed.

"He is with Bourbon and the Huguenots," the nurse reminded him.

Rossignol sneered, "Oh, right. That stupid idealist. Paris... she is worth a mass. I thought so, anyway."

----

In the night of October 21-22, 1574, Michel Rossignol died in his sleep. With his only son missing, the family which had served as regent for more than 150 years was absent. A Political Crisis ensued, as various factions fought among themselves for the coveted advisory position. Eventually, the delegation of Cardinals won the day and the right to appoint their Regent.

The years passed by, with many eventful circumstances. The people of Zeeland spontaneously recanted their Calvinism in favor of the true Christianity. Austria declared war on France, and just as France began to push the invader back and prepared to seize provinces, a dastardly scheme of some sort reduced the morale of French fighting men to merely half of what it should have been, and all the gains were for naught and a White Peace was therefore secured on January 14, 1578. Genoa was later annexed, and her possessions in the eastern Steppe were allowed to revolt away. Now, but for the territory of Tuscany, all Italy was under French dominion.

Time went on, until the Protestant Henri Bourbon of Navarre took Paris and the Crown of France. Declaring Paris to be worth a mass, he confirmed Catholicism as the religion of the land and allowed the Cardinals to continue their control of the regency. Guilliam Rossignol, a prominent Huguenot, resented this and returned to his ducal estate in Guyenne, becoming quite important in the Huguenot community.



ooc: Grr... low morale from serfdom hurt my war with Austria a lot, and just as my superior numbers pushed them back, I got hit by the half-morale bug and my warscore evaporated. Not fun

I'm going to play through until 1642 (the death of Richelieu and the resumption of the Rossignol regencies) without much of an AAR (just a few maps and summaries), because this taking notes on and writing about each little event was starting to bore me a little. That's why the gap between updates...

 

[unmerged(15337)]

That was a really nasty period, losing two manufactories. I'll bet the King's advisor had some choice words to describe those events! What is the half-morale bug you mentioned? I've never heard of this problem.

 

[stnylan]

Quite a lot of bad luck all around. Well done for persevering.

 

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That was a really nasty period, losing two manufactories. I'll bet the King's advisor had some choice words to describe those events! What is the half-morale bug you mentioned? I've never heard of this problem.

Sometimes when you fail to assault a fortress (IIRC it was Pfalz this time) the morale of your armies gets set as if they're at half-pay, even though you're paying the full amount, and only a reload can fix it. You can really tell the difference when it happens. I went from holding Wurzburg and Mainz with a +10 battle score to holding Wurzburg with a -10 battle score

 

[Arilou]

Booo! I expected you to go the TRUE archconservative route: COUNTER REFORM FOR EVERYONE!

 

[nalivayko]

So, is the new Rossignol ever going to become a Regent?

 

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So, is the new Rossignol ever going to become a Regent?

The dastardly cardinals have seized power... but when Richelieu dies...

 

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Europe, 1642

Territorial Gains since last update--
Tuscany (war with Spain)
Sicily, Messina (war with Spain)
Baden, Wurttemburg (first defensive war with Austria)
Pfalz, Mainz (second defensive war with Austria)

Diplomatic Summary--
1) Spain siezed my colony in Chihuahua under the ToT rules. Using the free CB I declared war on them, annexed their ally Tuscany, and took Sicily and Messina. And of course, I got Chihuahua back
2) Austria declared war on me a little later. I had a tech disadvantage and lost most battles, but I was able to outnumber them 2:1 most of the time, thanks to my superior manpower and cheap infantry costs. Eventually they offered Baden and Wurttemburg, which I accepted.
3) They declared war again as soon as the truce was off. This time it was more difficult, but I got Turenne a year or two into it and he turned things around. I got Pfalz and Mainz in the settlement, but with the War of Religion, Dutch Revolts, and WE I had a RR of at least +3 in every province. That was an annoying fight. My problem, I think, was that I eased into it instead of going all out from the beginning.
4) After that, I sent state gifts to Austria and Russia and joined their alliance. If they won't stop DoWing you, you might as well join them

French New World, 1642

A good set of colonial possessions. The Spaniards lost a lot of territories to me by revolt, and they were all fairly small and converted to French culture. That was a good windfall.

 

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Chapter the Fifteenth
The Repatriation of the Netherlands

January 30
1647--

Cardinal Mazarin had gone before his time, sadly. The appointed successor of the great Richelieu had died in his sleep, just after a late dinner. Very probably he had been poisoned. He had not endeared himself to the aristocracy when he had dissolved the Fronde and concentrated all authority in the at the throne, or rather the regency of the boy king. But the cause of his death was not the subject of this meeting.

King Louis XIV was a sharp youth, but at only nine years old he didn't cut a very regal figure, and his play-time cut significantly into his handling of the affairs of state. Therefore, the Queen mother and a coterie of important aristocrats met in Paris to decide who would be the next regent. It was already established that the grasping Cardinals would be returned to Rome. The centralizing policies of Richelieu and his successor had, ironically, curtailed the power of the Vatican more effectively than that of the nobility--though the priesthood was still strong.

The focus of the discussion was now the man who would be regent who stood before the group. A cousin of the king regarded him respectfully.

"Duke Rossignol, we are pleased that you consented to come," the cousin said.

Duke Henri Rossignol, named for his famous ancestor, was a good deal taller than the original article and more reserved. He nodded, "I could not but attend when I was told that my family was once again being considered for the regency."

A representative of the Pope had insisted on sitting in, and he interjected here, "Considered, not selected. I don't see any reason to put your house back on the seat of power."

"Yes, tell us what you can give the crown that no one else can," a representative of the burghers of Genoa demanded.

Henri smiled indulgently, "The Netherlands."

There was a bit of consternation around the table. The cardinal sneered, "France already has that."

"Perhaps. But your authority is maintained there only by overwhelming force of arms and regular massacre of dissidents--and your tax collectors have no authority there," Rossignol replied evenly, "I can broker an end to that conflict."

"How?" the royal cousin asked immediately.

"I have personal connections with Willem of Nassau, their primary leader. The Dutch leaders know as well as you and I that the Dutch struggle for independence is impossible. Not even the intervention of Austria came close to getting them their own nation. They are tired of the fight. I can broker a peace, because they trust me."

The cardinal sputtered, "All the more reason for us to distrust you, heretic!"

"Yes, if you're appointed regent you'll have to take mass with the majority," the queen mother said primly.

"Of course," Henri replied, "Calvinism is all but dead. Outside of a few aristocrats in the Netherlands and Southern France--like myself--it isn't a real religion any more. The only places where it claims a majority is Holland, Schwyz and Scotland. And the dear cardinal is doing his best to correct the problem in Holland and Schwyz, I'm sure."

"Indeed," the clergyman said sourly.

"If you can get the Dutch to lay down their arms, then I can promise you the regency," the queen mother said carefully.

Henri bowed, "It will take some to convince them, your majesty, but I trust you will hold my promised position until such a time as you are prepared to grant it to me."


...


A permanent cease-fire between the Dutch seperatists and the crown of France was signed on January 11, 1648. Their dream had died under the weight of the French army, and after nearly 100 years of fierce fighting, they gave up the ghost. Brokered by Duke Henri Rossignol II of Guyenne, the deal almost entirely favored France. It merely confirmed in the Dutch the same priviliges as those guaranteed to those given to all European citizens of France, be they Italian, German, Basque, or French. For the aristocrats, it was much better than continued rebellion. For the peasants... well, it was slightly better than continued rebellion.

In May, 1648, Duke Rossignol took communion in Notre Dame with the young king Louis XIV, and on the 22nd of that month he was named regent of France. He was an Excellent Minister.

 

[stnylan]

The line is restored - now to get their own back on the clergy who excluded them from power for so long?

 

[unmerged(15751)]

The line is restored - now to get their own back on the clergy who excluded them from power for so long?

I think so.

A few relevants stats of France as of now...
Arist= 10
Cent= 10
Inno= 0*
Merc=7
Offn=9
Land=6
Qual=10
Serf=10

Landtech= 19**
Navytech= 17
Trade= 6
Infra=5

Manpower= 261
Inflation= 13.5%***

* Plans call for more intellectual freedom in France, to accelerate slow technical advancement and get revenge on the dastardly priests.
** Austria is the leader with landtech 23 or so, but France is going to be building some weapons manus whenever possible, and becoming more innovative, so this ought to be corrected.
*** A few bad events hurt me here, but I've got governors in most every province, so things are looking up in the next few years.

 

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Chapter the Sixteenth
Back Again

On April 16, 1649, the colonial authorities in Michoagan and Connecticut each donated ten warships to France, in the interests of preserving their own security. The ships were sent from Connecticut to the main naval base in the Gulf of New Aquitaine at Tampico, while those in Michoagan had virtually nowhere to go, the Pacific being a largely unknown place of sea-serpents and dangerous currents.

On August 12, the Habsburgs declared war upon the Ottoman Empire, and requested the aid of France, which was readily given. The aid was limited to the sortie of the French mediterranean fleet from Naples against their opposite numbers. The 37 warships of France, together with an assortment of transports and galleys, joined the 14 warships of Austria's Istrian fleet in defeating the Turkish foe quite completely and laying blockade to Constantinople. Meanwhile, Austrian armies ravaged through the Balkans, and the Russians pushed into the Crimea.

On April 3, 1654, Rossignol took the opportunity presented by this war to establish new cantonments for the recruitment of soldiers in France.

Finally, after more than two years of war against an inferior foe, Austria accepted peace with the Porte on October 25, 1654. Rumelia, Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Bosnia were ceded to the Habsburgs, and Russia gained Crimea and Azow. This was a crushing defeat for the Turks, but a disappointment for France. At the very moment that the Habsburgs were signing their treaty, 40,000 French soldiers of the Italian Army were ready to be unloaded into unsuspecting Thrace, to besiege and capture the capitol of the Ottoman Empire. In the event, they were never landed, and France gained nothing from the peace treaty but some measure of prestige for her navy.

On April 11, 1655, there was great unhappiness among the peasants of France. Remarking that the serfs didn't know how good they really had it, Henri ordered the bloody suppression of the revolting (in more ways than one) dissidents.

February 8, 1656 brought the end of French toleration for the Calvinists of Schwyz and Amsterdam. As part of the treaty ending the Dutch revolt, the crown had agreed to leave them well enough alone. However, these Heretics chose to launch a massive revolt instead, raising at least 30,000 men in Holland and nearly 80,000 in Schwyz--most of whom died or deserted in the late winter blizzards. The revolts were suppressed, and the Inquisition was brought back into these provinces.

On April 12, 1658, Rossignol was fully embroiled in his campaign to appoint a governor to every province of France when he came across vast corruption in the government. With funds nearly exhausted and the nation's stability quite low, Henri was forced to temporarily ignore the problems, in the hopes that his programs would soon correct them.

July 12, 1659, more unhappy peasants revolted and died under musket fire.

On January 22, 1660, a minister named Colbert convinced Henri to improve the navy and infrastructure of the realm. For a small cost of 200,000 ducats, a naval equipments manufactory was built in Caen, with various other boons to France.*

April 30, 1660 saw a great royal hunt held in France. The king's Austrian cousins were angered repeatedly by this, as if he had snubbed them at least twice, and relations plummetted.

In 1661, King Louis XIV attained his majority and decreed that all authority lay with him. He retained the services of Duke Rossignol as regent and chief advisor. The reputation of King Louis was truly great, leading to slightly improved relations with all of Europe. This did not stop the Austrians from sending an insulting letter to him for no real reason, on August 16, 1664.

On September 19, 1665, an important noblemen in Geldre was assassinated by Calvinists, lowering confidence in the power of the king. This motivated the heretics to plan sedition anew, and they revolted on July 24, 1666, with little success. Garrisons of some 35,000 men each were maintained in Schwyz and Holland, the site of the revolts, and they were able to put down the insurgents almost immediately.

On November 6, 1669, King Louis held a great hunt. He insulted and complemented the attendants from Venice and England in equal portions, such that no change in international relations came of it.

In March, 1671, the Inquisition reported that the province of Holland was wholly converted to Catholicism. All France was now Catholic, but for the people of Zurich, Calvin's original stronghold.

In 1672, Austria declared war upon Venice, flinging France and Russia into war with Venice and Spain, most notably. French troops held their own and captured a few Spanish colonies north of New Aquitaine, while in Europe France defeated several attempts by the Spanish to take Navarre and Bèarn. Eventually Venice offered 284,000 ducats to buy France out of the war, which was readily accepted (as Austria would do well enough without Louis XIV's aid) and immediately invested in the building of a weapons manufactory in Auvergne.


* Normally I would have gone for a straight economic reform in this event, but it was going to give me two manufactories... in provinces where I already had manufactories. That isn't a lot of help

 

[unmerged(15337)]

I certainly agree about the revolting (in more ways than one) dissidents. Yes, the peasants in Schwyz really are revolting!

Your current alliance looks very strong. Do you plan to keep it that way, or change once the Spanish succession takes place?

 

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Interlude for Genealogy

Duke Henri II Rossignol had naught but daughters. His line was thus threatened and in danger of disintegration should he die before bearing a son. To ensure the continuity of his great noble house, he appealed to the Queen Mother Anna of Spain for help. The lines of the Rossignols and Bourbons had been closely allied from the first days of the Huguenot movement, despite an interruption of this relationship during the regency of the Cardinal Richelieu.

Anna responded by arranging the marriage of her younger son Philip, who was Duke of Orleans, to Rossignol's eldest daughter. The survival of his house at least partially secured, Henri returned to the work of his regency. He meanwhile bore a son, whom he named Eugène, in 1660, rather late in his life.

After assuming the regency, Eugène also had great difficulty in creating an heir, and thus turned to the idea of adoption. He approached his brother-in-law Philippe of Orleans, who had had several children by Eugène's sister despite the unhappiness of his first marriage (it was widely speculated that he had agreed to the arrangement solely on the probability of his inheritence of the valuable Rossignol estates, and he felt that he had been robbed of it by the birth of his brother-in-law). Having married a second wife, Charlotte Elizabeth, and much preferring her children to those of his first marriage, he turned over to Rossignol his second son by his first marriage, named Gérard.

Gèrard assumed the name and inheritence of the Rossignol family and was able to trace his lineage directly to Henri IV Bourbon, King of France, in accordance with Salic Law. This was later to become important.

 

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Chapter the Seventeenth
The Sun King, Versailles, and Natural Borders

On June 6, 1673, Rossignol advised the king to relax the religious restrictions on public correspondence throughout France. This change in favor of innovation would hopefully allow the scientific community greater room to experiment and discuss new concepts.

The republic of Venice mocked the scientific efforts of France in an insulting letter sent June 18, 1673, but no action was taken by France, because Louis XIV had bigger things on his mind.

The palace at Versailles was that greater thing. Costing 1,500,000 gold pieces, and predicted to take as long as eight years to complete, it would be the most fabulous palace in the known world, easily besting even the greatest wonders of Persia, India, and Cathay. It was commissioned on January 27, 1674, an act which required the

On August 5, 1675, there was a great revolt among the Calvinists of Zurich, which was again bloodily put down. Louis XIV began to consider a violent method of meeting this constant threat from within.

August 16, 1676 brought a colonial revolt among the communities of Creoles north of New Aquitaine, particularly in Plano Estocado and Arizona (as the Spanish explorers had called them). This was defeated in short order by the colonial garrisons, proving the French a great deal more competent at maintaining colonial revolt than the Spaniards.

On January 8, 1676, Louis XIV made a great pronouncement before the assembled nobility of France, justifying the great extent of the nation. He claimed that the Rhine and the Alps constituted "natural borders" for the territory of France proper, and that this area had to be maintained. Italy and the Netherlands were not part of France proper as such, and were rather outlying holdings in the the tradition of Angevin Naples or Maine. Against the vast military power of France, rival nations had no choice but to accept these claims as fact, though they refused to recognize the legitimacy of his claims on Italy and the Netherlands.

August 29, 1676, the ambassador to Venice made a deft political move with that merchant republic, slightly improving relations.

On November 18, 1677, the colonial governors again made a gift of some 20 warships to the French navy, in Jalisco and the Isthmus of Panama.

On November 1, 1679, there was a scandal at the court, which greatly offended the Austrian diplomats and lead to a lowering of relations.

Around this time, Duke Henri II Rossignol was near Versailles, monitoring the building of the great palace, when he was surprised by a rabid badger and badly mauled. He expired a few weeks later, in great pain. His son Eugène was only 19 years of age but was nonetheless confirmed as Regent. Louis XIV was the greatest and most powerful king since Henri IV, and he could make do with an inexperienced Regent.

November 10, 1680, the English sent an insulting letter referring to the construction of Louis XIV's "new outhouse" at Versailles. Though the insult was grave and war suggested by many advisors, little came of the letter. The King decided to allow his palace to be completed, and then it would stand on its own merits.

Throughout 1680, the great engineer Vauban was given license to improve the fortifications of France. He improved the fortresses of Flanders, Naples, Geldre, and Sicily, some of the most strategically important cities of France, completing the work in early January 1681.

On January 17, 1681, King Louis XIV put into motion his plan to finally and totally defeat the Huguenots. In act of stunning audacity, he almost completely deported the people of Schwyz and the city of Zurich, sole remaining holdout of Calvinist majority in France. The population was severely reduced and the tax collection plummeted to almost nothing, but France was wholly Catholic for the first time in more than 130 years.

As if in regret for this action, the King became steadily more unhinged as 1681 wore on, until he went temporarily completely insane in November, believing himself to be a bear, sleeping on a granite slab, and eating only berries and unseasoned meat. This was the first major challenge of Eugène's regency, and he performed admirably. The world at large gleaned no knowledge of Louis's collapse and the wheels of government continued to turn with fair efficiency until the king's recovery a few months later.

The King was prompted back to sanity by the completion on January 12, 1682 of his glorious palace at Versailles, which was without doubt the most beautiful estate in the entire world. The prestige of the King and Kingdom of France became truly great among nations.

January 3, 1684 brought a diplomatic move with the king of the Danes, followed on November 13 by another scandal against the Austrians.

In February of 1685, Rossignol again relaxed the hold of the clergy on discourse in intellectual circles, hoping to both break the power of the church and increase the scientific prestige of France.

At the beginning of 1686, the glories of Versailles became common knowledge among the nobility of Europe and the reputation of France became even greater, improving relations throughout the continent.

In March 1688 waves of obscurantism drove through France, but skillful management ensured that they had no real impact on stability of tax collection.

March 1689, a great den of corruption was uncovered in the administration of the colonies, which was robbing the nation of funds and had to be eradicated. This cost nearly 500,000 ducats and lowered stability throughout the realm.

On March 20, 1690, new land was claimed in the wild lands of Central America, particularly in the swamps of the Isthmus of Panama.

On November 20, 1690, the Empire of Russia declared war upon the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania, citing Polish control of traditional Russian lands. The alliance with Austria having long since lapsed, France honored the call and set about negotiating military access through Habsburg lands. This brought France into conflict with Spain, Venice, and Portugal. The Army of the Pyrenees planned its advance through Cantabria and Leon to Madrid, and the Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets sortied from their bases.

The French Atlantic fleet was as large as the entire allied navies of Spain and Portugal and much more advanced, and it immediately began to win great victories off the coast of France, while the mediterrean fleet primarily blocked Venice and hunted for targets near Spanish holdings.

Meanwhile, military access through Austria was secured, and some 35,000 French troops marched on Poland--who was coincidentally in a simultaneous war with the Austrian alliance. The primitive and poorly led Polish troops were routed in virtually every battle, but the lack of forage in Poland caused French numbers to dwindle and necessitated a give and take strategy. A daring landing of 18,000 French infantry at Danzig made the war more interesting and favorable to France.

The Tsar of the Russians brokered a peace with Spain in July of 1692, in which Cantabria was ceded to France and 72,000 ducats were sent as indemnities to Russia. This angered Louis XIV, as he had had no intention of siezing any territory from Spain and was in fact aware that Carlos II of Spain had a very favorable opinion of France. He began to negotiate the return of Cantabria to Spain... and other things of concern to the two nations.

On August 14, 1692, the nobility of France made a stunning contribution of some 1,000,000 gold pieces to the war effort, for which Eugène could find no proper use. He decided to construct some more munitions manufactories, to improve the army.

May 10, 1694, an important nobleman assassinated by pro-Polish militants.

On February 5, 1695, Louis XIV concluded a separate peace with Portugal for 119 ducats. This proved unwise, as it somehow caused the Russo-French war on Poland to become split into two separate conflicts. Later in the month, an agricultural revolution in France increased manpower and income.

On December 19, 1695, a new university was chartered by the king for 200,000 ducats, increasing French innovativeness.

January 14, 1697, brought the establishment of new internal trade ordinances for new world provinces, increasing tax income there.

On October 6, 1697, a disgusted King Louis XIV accepted military access through Poland in return for peace, because he had thoroughly trounced their military, occupied Warsaw and several other territories... and they had no money whatsoever to give him. The Russians refused joint negotiations, preferring to go it alone, and Louis decided that he had had enough of the campaigning so far from France.

January 5, 1698, settlers arrived in Wichita to claim new lands there.

1699 was an exceptional year, lowering inflation and greatly increasing income.

On January 3, 1700, France diplomatically settled a boundary dispute with Denmark.

The French New World divided into it's three viceroyalties.