Thirteenth Century (1210: The Discovery of America)

1200-1220
In 1202 the Fourth Crusades begins, in an attempt to retake the Holy land of Jerusalem which was conquered by the Muslim Byzantine Empire during the Third Crusade. The main combatants were mainly French, Holy Roman, and Italian kingdoms but some support was sent from other kingdoms like England. In April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian (Eastern Orthodox) city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. This is seen as one of the final acts in the Great Schism between the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church. The crusaders established the Latin Empire (1204–1261) and other "Latin" states in the Byzantine lands they conquered. As a result of the Great Schism Europe was left divided between the Eastern Greek Orthodox church, and the Roman Catholic church. In 1205 the battle of Battle of Adrianople between the catholic Latin Empire and the orthodox Bulgarian empire results in the capture of the Latin emperor Baldwin I, this further divides Europe begins the decline of the Latin Empire. In the aftermath, Bulgaria and Nicean Empire (remains of Byzantine Empire after fall of Constantinople in 1204 - territory was situated in Asia Minor) would form an alliance against the Latin Empire of Constantinople. In 1207 A trade ship named the Albion, captained by a man named Joseph America sets sail from England to trade goods with the Holy Roman Empire, Venice, and Israel. While coming up on the coast of Spain the an unexpected storm appears the ship is caught in the storm and the crew struggles to get out, after a few hours of trying to escape the storms chaotic nature, the crew is able to safely escape the dreaded typhoon. The captain and the navigators determine that their ship was blown at least twenty miles off course, realizing that if they turn back and try to head towards England again they may be caught in the storm once more, the captain orders the crew to continue sailing westward, the crew is a bit ambidextrous at first believing that the world is flat and if the continue sailing westward than they may fall off the Earth, the captain did not believe in this superstition and ordered the crew to continue sailing.

In the first year of sailing resulted in the crew using most of the ships supplies, so the captain ordered the use of the supplies that where meant to be traded be used, the crew was shocked by this order, but the captain stated to his crew "by the time we return there might not be any kingdom left to trade with", most of the crew was confused by this statement but they did follow the captains orders. By the start of the second year most of the crew where becoming tired, homesick, and a few where becoming mutinous, in February of 1208 ten crew members attempted to overthrow the captain, but this mutiny was soon put down, and the crew members where all thrown overboard, where they most likely drowned in the freezing water. In 1209 the captain began having thoughts of turning the ship around and sailing back to England, he told his crew they would continue sailing in the western direction for five more months if they found no land then they would turn back. In April 1210 the crew of the Albion began seeing what looked like land formations over the horizon and began to move quickly toward this land. Captain Joseph America, and his crew set foot on this land, on April filth, 1210. The captain said to his crew "Where not in Eurasia, where not in Africa, we must be in a new land, an undiscovered land." The captain and his crew began setting up a camp on the beach they landed, when they where approached by the natives of the land. The two could not understand each others languages so they tired using bodily expressions, but the captain was able to show the natives they where peaceful by offering the natives silk sheets. The natives where impressed by the softness of the sheet, and new the crew was harmless. As the crew realized that they could learn much from the new people, the captain and his crew decided to spend a year with the natives, before sailing back to Europe. The crew learned the natives complex language and learned the natives called themselves the Mi'kmaq. The crew spent most of there time exploring the land with the Mi'kmaq and began charting maps to have a good idea of what the continent might look like. The two learned each others languages quickly, and began to understand each other more properly. The crew showed the natives how to use swords and smelt iron, as well showing them how to ride horses, while the natives showed them how to use tomahawks and make smoke signals. The crew was saddened but in 1211 they began to make there trip home.

The crew of the Albion began there journey home, in late 1211 the sailors tried to make this journey one year journey at least. Eventually the crew landed on the coast of Ireland in 1212 and demanded to see the king John, they spent months waiting but the king gave the crew an audience, they revealed the goods that the natives of the land had given them, at first most of the court and even the king where unconvinced but what convinced them where the smoke signals that had never been seen before, and the odd language that no one could have made up. The King immediately brought everything to Pope Innocent III. the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches where shocked and at first denied this evidence, but England claimed it to be unavoidable. This incident nearly started a war in Europe when the pope wanted to label all the people of England as hieratics, England threatened with the death of the pope so the Roman Catholic church stepped down. In 1214 realizing the importance of this discovery the Pope determined that the newly discovered continent was of more importance than the crusades, and recalled there troops from middle eastern Asia. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches gave rise to three different governing bodies, the Byzantine Empire remained, The Kingdom of Israel was tasked with defending the holy land, and the Ottoman Empire which absorbed the Latin Empire. The Roman Catholic church decided to name the new continent "America" in honor of the captain of the Albion. From 1215-1220 the Kingdoms of Europe at first established small camps and trading posts in America, but no permanent settlements.