Hashitamaha (Ethelred the Pious)

Hashitamaha is a city on the middle Mississippi River, just below its confluence with the Missouri and the Illinois (these rivers likely have different names). Its name means "City of the Sun"; see "note on language" below. In our timeline, Hashitamaha was called Cahokia by the French, after an unrelated tribe who lived in the area after the city had been abandoned.

Hashitamaha was the largest city in North America for centuries. By the eleventh century it was the center of a vast cultural and economic network stretching from Lake Superior almost to the Gulf of Mexico. The people of this region looked to the King of Hashitamaha as the ultimate mediator between humans and the divine, particularly the Sun. However, he did not have direct political sway over most of this region.

In the early twelfth century Hashitamaha was devastated by diseases that reached the city along trade routes that stretched to the Norse settlements at the northeastern end of the continent. The king appeared unable to stop the epidemic, and power was seized by a small group of priest-nobles, who established an oligarchic government. They were able to restore Hashitamahan government and make the city powerful again, helped considerably by the introduction of livestock.

The Black Death of the thirteenth century threatened the power of the oligarchy. (work in progress)

Note on language
No one knows what language the Hashitamahans (Cahokians) actually spoke. For purposes of this timeline I am using the assertion, advanced by many historians, that the Muskogean-speaking peoples, who include the Creek, Chicasaw, Choctaw, Alabama, Seminole, and others, are cultural descendants of the Mississippian Civilization centered on Cahokia. I am taking that assertion and assuming that they also spoke something related to the Muskogean languages. If I knew much about those languages and were skilled in constructed languages, I would design a "proto-Muscogean" and have the Hashitamahans speak it. Instead, somewhat disingeniously, I am simply using Choctaw words and pretending. At such time that I or anyone else constructs a proto-Muskogean, I'll replace all the Choctaw words. For now, they stay.