Feel free to add to edit to your heart's content. Thank you.
General idea - Background[]
Bohemia, 1431 CE:
The Hussites have just achieved another great military victory. At Domažlice, they had defeated an Imperial Catholic crusaders` army. Emperor Sigismund and the Pope thought it was time for negotiations. The Hussite movement had spread to Poland, Silesia and Moravia, and everywhere in Europe, the example of their successful struggle inspired both protestant sects and all sorts of political revolutionaries - from revolting peasants over the towns to the lesser nobility.
Cardinal Cesarini retreating from Taus (Domazlice)
But then, a so-called "moderate" group, the Calixtians or, as they began to rename themselves, the Utraquists, whose support base were the urban elites of Prague, broke the alliance with the numerically dominant (peasant-based) so-called "radicals" and sought a compromise with Rome and the HRE. Only three years later at Lipany, Utraquists and imperial troops would defeat the "radicals", who were still led by Andry Prokop the Great, murder the prisoners of war and persecute the whole group. The utraquists would soon realise that they had been fooled, the toleration of their faith was taken back soon, and dreams of a Slavic self-governed Bohemia remained just that for another almost five centuries under the hegemony of the Habsburg Monarchy. The Hussites would remain merely a forerunner and an inspiration for the Reformation of the 16th century.
Proposed Point of Departure[]
But what if Calixtians, Taborites and Orphans had decided to form a more durable confederacy instead?
Let´s say the Taborite Andry Prokop, the Calixtian Divis Borek of Miletinek and the Sirotci Jan Capek of Sany decide that the European powers of their times are not to be trusted, and that they must build a state of their own. They swear to keep "eternal peace" with each other and never to ally themselves with the other`s enemies, to never interfere with the laws of each other`s communes, and to assist each other against foreign aggression. They pledged this "Solemn Oath" on August 15th, 1431, in Domazlice, the day after their greatest military victory.
In two years` time, they will meet again and renew their vows. In the meantime, they would not conclude separate peace treaties or attempt a reconciliation with the Council of Basle or the Emperor. Instead, each polity should build its own independent structures.
Call for Cooperation in the Timeline Development[]
I´m looking for people who are interested in developing this scenario - let`s write this timeline together!
Will Bohemia become a second Switzerland? Will the Catholic Slavs turn Protestant? Who, among the actual and potential powers in Europe, will the Confederacy ally themselves with? How will all this affect the Holy Roman Empire, the Papacy etc.? Will it change the fate of Christian Europe in the face of Ottoman expansion? When will conflicts between the different alliances break out again?
I am unexperienced at collaborating on this platform, so any help with how to structure a cooperative writing process etc. is welcome, too.
Salvador79 (talk) 21:39, May 11, 2015 (UTC)