1500-1599 (Merveilles des Morte)

15th Century: (1400-1499)

16th Century: (1500-1599) Return to Overview

17th Century: (1600-1699)

The Kolumbian Map by Bartholomew Kolumbus (1564) popularized the term "Kolumbia" for the northern half of the New World.

The 16th Century is regarded by historians as the century in which the rise of Western civilization and the Age of the Islamic Gunpowders occurred. During the 16th century, the Hanseatic League, Spain, and others explored the Indian Ocean and opened worldwide oceanic trade routes, and colonization of Meridia and Kolumbia began in full force. Large parts of the New World became colonies of the Hansa, Spanish, Portuguese, English, and French. This era of colonialism established mercantilism as a leading school of economic thought, where the economic system was viewed as a zero-sum game in which any gain by one party required a loss by another.

In continental Europe the beginning of the Reformation in 1504 greatly changed the history of religion and the authority of the Papacy and Catholic Church, with European politics becoming dominated by religious conflict for much of the century. The religious divide in the Holy Roman Empire would lead to the creation of the Rätian Union, which challenged the traditional political norms of the Empire, and would lay the groundwork for the epochal Thirty Years' War toward the end of the century.

Meanwhile, in the Near East, the restoration of the Abbasid Caliphate in the late 15th century would lead to the Second Islamic Golden Age, a period defined for it's re-construction of the House of Wisdom and the standardization of the printing press, the expansion of the Caliphate across the Arabia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Persia, and the formation of the House of Abbas-Rūm, whose rule over the Middle East was cemented through a series of wars against the declining state of Georgia. The Byzantine Empire would continue to expand their realm outside of Anatolia, conquering the Kingdom of Serbia in 1538.

Europe

Reformation in Germany

Pre-Reformation

The Sack of Frankfurt by the army of Hanns von Wulfestorff in 1495, as depicted by J. M. W. Turner's 18th century rendition. The Henrician Civil War would be a major influence leading to the Reformation.

The Reformation began to take shape in the late 15th century in Thuringia, at a time when the sale of indulgences had begun to expedite in Germany after a series of church crusades and inquisitions, and the Henrician Civil War (1494-1495). As the center of the civil war and the recent crusade against the Adamites, Thuringia and its clergy was particularly take up or expand the realm of indulgences. Despite indulgences having been partially regulated since the days of the Hussites and the Ecumenical Council of Prague (1412-1414), rules had begun to be bent in war torn regions. Indulgences were sold to the desperate of the war—in favor of lost loved ones or those who had been condemned as heretics. There were churches who joined in the practice, hoping to use raised funds to fulfill their need to perform a certain amount of charity, and to meet their obligations to the Pope and their parishes alike. Others sell indulgences on behalf of the church, keeping half the amount raised for their own benefit.

A young theologian and writer at the time, Konrad Jung would become one of the most vocal opponents against the growing practice of indulgences. Additionally Jung began to formulate his own set of beliefs, and he gave a number of speeches in academic circles on the doctrine of justification, and God's act of declaring a sinner righteous, by faith alone through God's grace. In 1498 Jung created a thesis on the exploitation of the peasants and common people by powerful institutions. In 1500 he became Vicar of Saxony and Thuringia by his religious order, and he became the overseer of eleven monasteries in the region. In this post Jung would observe numerous problems or acts of corruption left over from the days of the Henrician Civil War, and he began an arduous process to try to right them. He presented many of his ideas about reforming the church and religion to the monasteries, leading to many secretly considering his position among the monasteries of the region. It was during this time that Jung developed the theory that God alone was able to grant forgiveness, not the Pope or any system within the church. While lecturing on the Psalms, and on the books of Hebrews, Romans, and Galatians, he came to view the use of terms such as penance and righteousness by the Catholic Church in new ways, and became convinced that the church was corrupt in its ways and had lost sight of what he saw as several of the central truths of Christianity.

Colored woodcut of Jung and Mainz's discussions, 1557.

It was during this time that Konrad Jung caught the attention of Betrand of Villingen, Archbishop of Mainz. Deeply impressed by his sermons, the Archbishop would invite Jung to meet with him and discuss theology and possible reforms. After numerous correspondences and assurances of safe conduct, Jung would meet the Archbishop in 1503. When he spoke with the Archbishop it quickly turned into a heated argument, as Jung fundamentally disagreed with many of the points the Archbishop brought up. Jung argued against the Archbishop’s idea of “a church with strong, centralized leadership in the form of the Pope”, emphasizing that God’s truth and the beliefs of Christians should be derived from the scripture alone. He pointed out that a strong, central leader also could easily lead to a tyrannical doctrine that was antithetical to the truthful doctrine preached by Jesus Christ, as there was no quality control for many of the Popes’ actions, something that a decentralized model could ensure. Jung was practically offended by the notion that the church would, “fracture into cults without the leadership of a qualified priesthood.”

Jung believed that any man should be able to be a priest in his own right, and to be able to read and understand the Bible himself, not filtered through the biased opinion of the centralized priesthood. He emphasized that he was a proponent of translating the Bible and making it easier for people to understand the word of Christ, therefore he couldn't support the Archbishop’s concept of a priestly elite with a monopoly on preaching. He pointed out that Mainz’s own policies were hypocritical; if you want a high standard of accountability and an educated populace, don’t impede their ability to read and understand the Bible and make their own judgements, he retorted. Jung pointed out that if the Archbishop believed that “the Church should be the leader in science and education”, he should not tolerate a church that has routinely persecuted free thinkers and scientists throughout history, and has routinely enforced, sometimes, violently, a certain status quo of thinking, that is not backed by the Bible or any truth espoused by Jesus, but rather by the traditions and sayings of Popes and their personal opinions.

Back in Thuringia, the discussion in Mainz would only fuel Jung’s fervor and cause him to become disillusioned at the possibility of reforming the current church. Likewise, during this time Jung wrote a work on Islam. He noted that the Abbasid Caliphate was but a scourge sent by God to punish Christians, as an agent of the Biblical apocalypse that would destroy the Antichrist, perhaps indicating that the Antichrist the Bible predicted was in fact the Church and the Pope. He rejected the concept of the “Holy War” and the idea of fighting in Jesus’ name: “as though our people were an army of Christians against the Turks, who were enemies of Christ. This is absolutely contrary to Christ's doctrine and name". Jung would later note that a secular war was not contradictory, but that spiritual war against an alien faith was separate, to be waged through prayer and repentance.

Konrad Jung

Konrad Jung painted by Hans Dürer in 1508.

The Reformation is usually dated to 31 January 1504 in Erfurt, Thuringia, when theologian and writer Konrad Jung published his 105 Theses. Having finally reached a breaking point in his attitude toward the church, Konrad Jung had decided to compile an entire list of grievances. He sent this detailed list to the Pope in Rome and several other key theologians, such as the Archbishop of Mainz. Afterward, feeling as though he needs to get his point across, he nailed a copy of his grievances on the church door of Erfurt Cathedral. Although at the time Jung did not expect much, unknown to him this would lead to a series of changes commonly called the Reformation.

Among his complains were numerous practices of the Catholic church, from their pecuniary policies to their conduct in recent affairs. He protested the authority of the Pope and the church as a whole to interpret and create doctrine of their own, arguing that it was scripture alone that was key, and that God declares a sinner righteous—by faith alone through God's grace—not as a consequence of the Catholic Church’s sacrament of reconciliation. Also that year, the Thin White Duke published his manifesto in full for the first time, involving religious views but mostly his beliefs regarding political theory. Jung had been a prominent writer and frequent correspondent of the Thin White Duke since the mid 1490s, and the Duke's writings were likely based on Jung's.

A copy of Jung's 105 Theses published in 1504.

Thanks in part to the robust printing press industry, both works began to rapidly spread. By the end of the year these texts had flooded Thuringia and much of the Holy Roman Empire. Within two weeks, copies of the theses had spread throughout Germany; within two months, they had spread throughout Europe. These writings spurred on numerous developments. Across Thuringia numerous monasteries experienced monks and nuns abandoning their positions, while others among the clergy of Thuringia latched on to Jung’s writings quickly. Having received some positive acclaim, Jung would spend the rest of the year into the next writing and enjoying a prolific career. He wrote numerous texts and gave speeches across Thuringia. One of those who attended his speeches would be Johann Freud, a professor at the University of Wittenberg. Having joined Jung’s side and having been convinced by him, Freud would go on to preach his message in the Duchy of Saxony.

After the previous debate in Mainz, Jung became increasingly convinced that he couldn't simply change the church, but would need to start over completely. Toward the end of the year he had a confrontation with a papal legate that had meant to be a simple debate, but it quickly turned into a shouting match. Jung would make a bold claim that Matthew 16:18 did not confer on popes the exclusive right to interpret scripture, and that therefore neither popes nor church councils were infallible, which ultimately led to Jung being labeled a heretic on the same grounds as Jan Hus. The legate had originally planned to arrest Jung, but he discovered that a monk had helped him escape later that night.

One group that took heed of Jung's work quickly were the Adamites, who had been practicing in secret for the past decade, primarily in eastern Thuringia. The conspirators in eastern Thuringia responsible for shielding the Adamites likewise helped to spread the works of Jung among the heretics and among the general population, so that by the end of the year the “evangelicals”, or as the Catholics derogatorily call them, the Jungists, came to form a majority in key areas in the far east of Thuringia. After years of preparation, said conspirators – Conrad von Lautertal, William of Mühlberg, William von Bibra of Meiningen, Gregor von Hanstein of Altenburg, et al – raised their armies to capitalize on this religious fervor and marched on Erfurt. The army met with the Thin White Duke and he relented to their demands. He gave an order that all church land in Thuringia, their numerous monasteries, abbeys, private lands, etc, were to be annexed to the state, and that the clergy of Thuringia (as Jung was the Vicar of Thuringia and Saxony) was to be taught the doctrine that Jung espoused, in a process that would take some time.

This causes immediate backlash, and soldiers were needed to carry out the confiscation of church lands in the center of Thuringia. Much of the wealth from these seizures was then distributed to the population, which helped to quell much of the unrest. By and large the peasantry and the population were not affected by these changes at all: the change in ownership was but a different name on the deed for those attending churches across Thuringia. However, in some areas this escalated, with protesters smashing artwork and statues, and pillaging the images at churches and other church properties. These protests grew across the state, causing nearly open war across Thuringia. Although devout Catholics in a place like Thuringia seemed hard to come by, there was some open resistance to the developments, leading to dozens of deaths.

Throughout all this the Thin White Duke began receiving potent visions once more, and he managed to convince much of the population that these developments were of grave importance and perhaps beneficial. This became more true in December when the Duke’s army fought and defeated a small coalition of Catholic lords, and declared any serfs of them to be freed. With all or most of the nobles of Thuringia being sympathetic or believers themselves, or just unable to resist, the Thin White Duke called for a conference in Erfurt among his vassals to come to an agreement the following year.

Within the year Pope Julius II would officially condemn Konrad Jung and his movement, escalating his belief that proper reconciliation with the church would prove impossible. Despite this, the Jungist movement was quickly latched onto in secret by several prominent nobles in Germany. In Hesse, Duchess Agnes became a quick adopter, due to her falling out with the Pope over her "accidental excommunication", as was Charles I of Brandenburg, known for his anti-papal conspiracy theory and the ensuing controversy.

Wolfen War

With religious heresy centered primarily around Saxony, the Bishop of Dresden and an alliance of minor Saxon states formed to combat the spread of Jungism. They would launch an attack on the city of Altenburg, which was controlled by "Conspirator" Gregor von Hanstein, after Jungist soldiers supposedly attacked Catholics across the border. It’s unclear if Gregor von Hanstein actually did deliberately order such an attack, or if the Bishop wanted an excuse to combat the Jungists, but a battle soon broke out almost immediately near Altenburg.

Fearing further retaliation from neighboring Catholic nations, the nations foremost affected by the rise of Jungism decided to meet in the small town of Wolfen to arrange for a conference. The result would be the League of Wolfen (or Wolfenbund), a defensive alliance chiefly between Duke Edmund Alwin of Saxony, Duke Charles of Brandenburg, and the Thin White Duke of Thuringia. Together these three states creatde a series of marriage alliances, and also began working with the “Conspirators”, including Gregor von Hanstein.

With Jungists being repulsed at Altenburg, the battle spured the creation of a new military in Thuringia. Firstly there were the White Knights, who through a series of internal fights, come to be dominated by Jungists, and the Thin White Duke would call them the world’s first “Jungist Holy Order”. A coup within the leadership of the organization placed Paul Osterberg as the head knight, and he organized a swift removal of devout Catholics from the organization, and a shift toward Jungist teaching. An event known as the Easter Purge occurred, in which a few hundred Catholics were killed within the army of the Conspiracy, creating a solely Jungist fighting force organized to “safeguard the reformation”. With 1,000 of these levies and 200 White Knights, Gregor von Hanstein marched out from Altenburg and began the “Long March” toward Dresden.

As he marched he spreads the message of Jungism through Meissen, attacking churches, and gaining followers. By the time he reached the Bishopric of Dresden's lands his army had increased several times over, and a siege ensued. Cut off from the rest of the alliance, the Bishop of Dresden quickly found himself surrounded by a nation converting in rapid numbers, and he surrendered. Elsewhere, the Wolfenbund sponsored the creation of the “Blue Army of the Elbe”, a force of Jungists raised from primarily Thuringia and Saxony. Under the command of Conrad von Lautertal, the Blue Army marched against the supporters of Dresden and led the charge in confiscating all church land between Erfurt and Wittenberg. The Bishopric of Naumburg was mediatised, while the Bishop of Merseburg was forced to flee. They discovered other religious leaders, such as the Bishop of Halberstadt, had decided to convert of their own volition.

The most zealous in Thuringia (such as the previously heretical Adamites) urged the creation of a “utopia” as defined by the writings of the Thin White Duke, in which life would return to how it was in the time of the Apostles, but their goal would fail to be achieved at that time. Through all of this the Thin White Duke urged Konrad Jung to help standardize Jungism as a separate religion completely, and Jung was eventually forced to appoint priests to meet demand. The unrest spilled over into the neighboring Bishopric of Bamberg, escalating the conflict, and knowing that the Emperor would likely get involved once the election was over and he has settled into his position, the Thin White Duke petitioned to have these series of disputes resolved diplomatically before a full war broke out.

The Battle of Dohna (1506) during the Long March, from a 1607 etching.

By 1506 the defensive war against the Bishopric of Dresden and others was defeated, with Thuringia and the Wolfenbund successfully repulsing the attack. The result was that a militant attempt to contain Jungism was stopped, intimidating many in the area that such a move would not be prudent, and convincing others to not resist the spread of Jungism. The Long March of Gregor von Hanstein ended with him marching into Dresden to much celebration from the locals, who had begun to throw off their Catholic oppressors. With the Bishopric having been toppled, the Evangelical-Jungist Church of Saxony was declared, to serve as a model church for the reformation. A new Jungist bishop was declared with his seat in Meissen Cathedral, becoming the first proper diocese of Jungism. The Long March continued in a limited capacity, with Gregor von Hanstein pursuing a few towns who had supported the invasion of Thuringia. With the Blue Army in the Meissen area, and with the capital at Dresden now formally Jungist, the Thin White Duke would persuade his son-in-law Frederick VI, Margrave of Meissen to join the defensive alliance of the Wolfenbund as an equal member, and in exchange Thuringia supported ceding any captured towns to Meissen, including the valuable church lands. The rest of the territory captured by the Blue Army was converted to Jungism and remained as independent states, albeit under the influence of Thuringia temporarily in some capacities, with a small number of soldiers remaining in the region to protect the Wolfenbund from attack.

Speyer and Trent

Jung making his defense before the Emperor at the Diet of Speyer, as portrayed by a 19th century painting. Jung would ultimately be condemned by the Empire after the Diet.

Just as the Jungist movement was beginning, Emperor Frederick IV died unexpectedly, causing a crucial election within the Holy Roman Empire. The rapid number of emperors in Germany in quick succession, dubbed the Decade of the Five Emperors and the "Imperial Curse", had greatly contributed to further decentralization of the Empire in recent years, with the "Curse" being used as evidence by the Jungists of God's wrath against the Catholics, and by seemingly all as a bad omen. Similarly, Konrad Jung would be caught in a thunder storm, in which he was nearly struck by lightning, but managed to escape unscathed.

Ottokar IV of Bohemia, son of Henry the Great, would be elected as Emperor. As an adamant Catholic, he supported subsequent attempts to address and condemn the Jungist movement. Almost immediately after being crowned, Emperor Ottokar I would call for the Diet of Speyer. Jung was invited under the promise of safe conduct, and asked to explain himself before the Emperor, so that a judgement could be made on his beliefs. Archbishop Bertrand of Mainz and Ruprecht Moers, Archbishop of Cologne, would spearhead the effort to examine and ultimately condemn Jung's work. Despite Mainz taking a more reconciliatory approach and inviting Jung to an ecumenical council being held in Trent, Jung would reply that many reforms were impossible to be enacted on account of the Pope/church already decreeing him a heretic and condemning him, despite all in agreement that there were valid complaints to be had. He pointed out that it was therefore impossible for Jung and his followers to be represented legally in such a council.

Mainz would also condemn the Thin White Duke, as it was believed Thuringia was directly profiting off the conflict with the Bishop of Dresden, which began the Diet of Speyer on poor footing. The Diet of Speyer would end with Konrad Jung and likeminded theologians, as well as the Jungism movement as a whole, being officially condemned. However, the Empire failed to capture Jung or the Thin White Duke after leaving Speyer. The Count of Anhalt personally aided Jung in evading the law, after the Count had a strange dream the night before. The overall result, as of this diet, would be that the Imperial electorate and the Emperor had firmly placed their loyalty to the Roman Church.

It would be after Speyer in 1506 that Jung took up firmly the belief that his movement would need to formally split from the Catholic Church. After a staged kidnapping to escape Imperial authorities, Jung would go into hiding in a castle in Thuringia, where he continued working. He created his own translation of the New Testament from Greek into German, and also penned a work defending the principle of justification. He noted that at least the Archbishop of Mainz had been successfully shamed into temporarily prohibiting the sale of indulgences and into halting the violent inquisition. Jung argued that every good work designed to attract God's favor is a sin. All humans were sinners by nature, he explained, and God's grace (which can't be earned) alone can make them just.

He wrote to fellow theologian Freud on the same theme: "Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides." He condemned as idolatry the idea that the mass is a sacrifice, asserting instead that it is a gift, to be received with thanksgiving by the whole congregation. His essay On Confession, Whether the Pope has the Power to Require It, rejected compulsory confession and encouraged private confession and absolution, since "every Christian is a confessor." He also assured monks and nuns that they could break their vows without sin, because vows were an illegitimate and vain attempt to win salvation.

After several months in isolation, Jung returned to Thuringia and began aiding the government in reversing or modifying church practices, and attempted to help restore order. Although there were some peasant forces advocating for violent and radical political changes, Jung was not one of these advocates, and he spoke against violence. For the most part, Jungism continued to spread across Germany naturally and not through coercion, with only the Thuringia region seemingly fighting a war over the matter.

Toward the end of the year after his long exile, Jung gave a sermon in Erfurt to a large crowd. He was suddenly attacked by a mysterious man who stabbed him in the chest before fleeing, and Jung died a day later of his wounds. The city fell into a panic with violence breaking out; many Jungists took revenge on the small Catholic population that remains or on Jews, or commenced rioting and looting in general. With Jung dead there was public outcry all across the Empire, as he was the voice of a generation. He became a martyr for the cause and a symbol of the reformation, with his death being seen similarly to the martyrdom of the Apostles. Just like with the murder of Peter and Paul, the Jungists decried that Jung will not have died in vain, and the faith was only hardened. Jung never recanted his faith, and rejected the Catholic doctrines to his last breath, and that inspired more to take up the cause.

His funeral became a highly public event, with thousands paying their respect, even members of both sides of the religious debate. Many theories began to surface about who might be responsible. Some immediately suspected the Pope himself or the church of hiring an assassin to do the deed. One popular theory was that the Archbishop of Mainz, after being thoroughly embarrassed in the religious debates, decided to take matters into his own hands and order the assassination, or perhaps the Archbishop of Cologne was responsible as a means to try to silence Jung. However, Justiciar Ruprecht von Moers would commend Jung for pronouncing non violence, and condemned Jung's assassins for their extrajudicial killing.

After Jung

With Jung dead the movement spiraled into several directions. Jung was one of the more conservative reformers, and had advocated for non violence and was against holy war, but with his death fewer people were as conservative. Freud became one of the key leaders of the reformation, and he gained the aid of several bodyguards to travel with him at all times. Others took up more radical beliefs that Jung was never an advocate for, with some Jungist groups choosing violence after all, for the defense of innocent thinkers like Jung. There was a general attitude forming that reconciliation with the church was impossible now, and that the reformers have been hardened in their beliefs, and generally the assassination of Jung caused the Catholic Church to be viewed in a negative light. Jung had championed the common man and had inspired many to be better and more pious individuals, and his death was signaled as an act of tyranny.

Freud would reiterate the original tenets that Jung had created regarding the priesthood, saying there was a priesthood of all believers, as based on the New Testament; the medieval Christian belief that Christians were to be divided into two classes: "spiritual" and "temporal" or non-spiritual, was adamantly rejected. The Catholic Church was remarked to be the opposite of this truth, and was in fact a Great Apostasy, as the Church had fallen from the original practices of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Freud argued that the “Pope” had led the church since these early days into degradation and apostasy, leading Jungists to discover the truth that the Papacy was the prophesied Antichrist.

A group known as the Centuriators of Anhalt, a group of Jungist scholars in Anhalt headed by Matthias Wundt, would write the 12-volume "Anhalt Centuries" to discredit the papacy and identify the pope as the Antichrist. However, the Jungists also wrote how Konrad Jung led a great tribulation to lead the faithful away from the Great Apostasy and restore the church to the teachings of Christ. It was foretold how before his death, Jung had gone into the woods to pray, and there John the Baptist appeared to him and bestowed upon him the keys of the priesthood, creating the Aaronic Priesthood. Thus, it came to be tradition that pastors must be “called” to the priesthood and receive this authority that was passed on to Jung.

Those within the church would organize the first synod, as a council of all the faithful to discuss issues and problems, called the consistory. It was ultimately in this collection of laity and priests alike that decisions for the good of the church would be made, rather than in the hands of a Bishop. On the most local level, all communities of the faithful were to be congregationalist.

In 1507 the preacher Hans Eysenck, along with Edward de la Marck, Count of Wasaborg and other prominent Saxons, traveled to Denmark to the court of Henry de la Marck, hoping to persuade the Danish King to accept Jungism over time. Around this time, an Egyptian man named Michael the Deacon of the Egyptian Orthodox Church traveled to Erfurt and met with several Jungist leaders. It was agreed that the Lutheran Mass and the one used by the Orthodox Church were in agreement with one another, and Michael gave his blessing to the creed created by Jung. Just like the Egyptians, "communion in both kind, vernacular Scriptures, and married clergy become customary in the Jungist movement. For Jungists, the Egyptian church’s blessing helped to confer additional legitimacy onto the Jungist movement, as the Egyptians were an ancient church tied to the Apostles.

Freud published a concise, written summary of Jung’s beliefs, which becomes known as the Augsburg Confession. Soon this document and signing onto it comes to be viewed as an official declaration of adopting Jungism.

Dutch Revolt

The nation of Lotharingia had been a center of reformation and religious violence, with the Wagnerist church securing control over Luxembourg and spreading across the south. By the mid point of his reign, John VI had begun to warm up to the reformed sect, and saw it as a way of separating Lotharingia from the power of the papacy and Holy Roman Emperor. In 1531 the King ordered the removal of Catholicism as the state religion of Lotharingia, prompting unrest among the most devout Catholics of the nation and many among the nobility. A group of nobles in the north would form the League of Deventer and make a petition demanding that the king rescind the religious policy. However, before this petition could be reviewed, Lord William the Silent of Utrecht, a leading member of the petitioners, would take matters into his own hands and attack a Jungist militia forming near Tiel. With armed conflict becoming inevitable, the nation became split largely between the Catholic north and the Protestant south, while a handful of coastal cities (Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam) abstained from either side and instead sought to promote their own autonomy from the crown. Each side of the conflict would begin forming alliances, with the coastal cities seek the aid of England France, the Catholics also appealing to England, and the Protestants primarily seeking the aid of neighboring German states.

While this was occurring, the government under Juliaen de Kremers, Nicolaas Everaerts, and Erasmus began the planning of a national, unified church distinct from both camps of the religious debate, in a similar style to that of nearby France. While negotiations continued in the city of Antwerp, the triumvirate announced a royal decree making it unlawful to form militias without consent of the Groot Belgische Raad, while also making attacks on any religious community illegal. Despite the attempts by the Lotharingian government to ban provincial armies, this did not manage to curb the already brewing conflict, with De Kremers himself raising soldiers and preparing for insurrection. Initially foreign involvement in the conflict was low, however, England would offer the coastal cities of Antwerp, Rotterdam and Amsterdam the use of 3,000 English mercenaries in order to protect the interests of English merchants in those ports, while the Duchy of Hesse attempted an alliance with Wagner and other protestants in the south.

Despite the urging of the government, by 1533 full scale war had broken out. Non-Catholic rebels managed to seize the cities of Brussels and Antwerp, the latter causing the religious council called there to ultimately have to flee. William the Silent was selected the Plaathouder of the Catholic nobles, and he would disregard the Triumvirate's command to stand down, instead achieving victory against a Protestant attack in the Battle of Tilburg. The proposed "Belgian Church" managed to attract moderate Jungists and Wagnerists to support it, especially after Wagner, as de facto ruler of Luxembourg, himself supported it, after receiving promises that his doctrine would ultimately form the basis of it. However, this proposal would have negative consequences, as it further infuriated the Catholic north and mainstream Jungists, and in many ways only added another church claiming to be the standard to the bunch. By the end of the year the Protestants would also begin courting an alliance with the French, who crossed the border into Lotharingia in early 1534.

With French aid, the forces of Juliaen de Kremer would manage to retake Antwerp after a siege throughout the spring of 1534. Support for Kremer's army and his reforms would remain strongest near the southern border, while William the Silent found increased support from the region of Zeeland. William would become based in Middelburg, as the city's location and natural defenses made it difficult for loyalist forces to counter. While William began raising reinforcements to attack Juliaen de Kremer during an offensive in 1536, the Admiraal-generaal had died of old age at the age of 63, leaving his 18-year-old adopted son Paul de Kremer to succeed him. This would halt the Lotharingian army for much of that summer, and William the Silent made considerable gains in the center of the Lowlands and the north.

The following year Paul de Kremer would launch a general invasion of Flanders, hoping to push the Catholic rebellion firmly out of the south. The government's strategy became a strategy of attrition, with de Kremer believing that once Flanders fell and Zeeland was surrounded and cut off, as the Lotharingians retained dominance over the navy and thus the sea, that Zeeland would surrender. Instead Zeeland only became hardened in its resolve, and in 1540 it alienated itself by electing to form an independent Zeeland Republic, with William the Silent being elected as one of its leaders. Although the northern half of the nation had resisted the government as well, they had maintained an aura of still fighting for the proper government and the crown, instead of a formal secession from the unpopular government. Around the same time, on 1 May King John VI of Lotharingia would die, with Godfried II being crowned soon after. This succession would help to negotiate a ceasefire, as the new king was viewed more favorably to Catholics than his father had been.

Nonetheless, an invasion of Middelburg commenced that proved a costly affair for both sides. William the Silent would be assassinated before the invasion commenced, leaving the rebels without their principal leader. While de Kremer attempted to negotiate a surrender, his army would disobey an order to halt, and would unleash a harsh reprisal against the rebels, sacking the city. As a result the north negotiated an internal treaty, in which the provinces agreed to religious tolerance and pledged to fight together against the mutinous Lotharingian forces. For the mostly non-Catholic provinces, the destruction by southerners and their foreign mercenaries was the principal reason to join in an open revolt, but formally the provinces still remained loyal to the sovereign Godfried II. With Middelburg having fallen, the north stumbled in its response, and both sides became distracted with the wars of Henry von Kerpen on their eastern border, who actively intervened in the war in Lotharingia.

In 1543 the Lotharingian army would suffer a major defeat at Roosendaal, which managed to repulse the invaders and prevent them from building off their momentum at Middelburg. The north would also begin greater negotiations with the English, who now were no longer distracted by wars of their own. With an additional 6,000 Englishmen being transported to the north, they would manage to go on the offensive once more under the command of William's son Henry. Later that year the leaders of the Sack of Middelburg would be turned over to the north after the successful Battle of Brecht. A temporary peace would be formed lasting some 15 years, as Godfried II allowed for Catholicism to be the official religion of the north, and granted the northern provinces unprecedented autonomy, which effectively made their local governments independent of the central government. This tenuous peace would last throughout the Amiens War, primarily due to both sides being united in a common cause against France, but soon after tensions would flair up once more.

Amiens War

Disputes over the city of Amiens and other contested territories would lead to animosity between the nations of Arles-Burgundy, Lotharingia, and France. Following a civil war in Lotharingia and the outbreak of the Bishops' War in France, Arles sought to capitalize on this weakness by quickly taking Amiens and Lorraine from Lotharingia, declaring war in February 1547. Arles would be joined by an alliance of several nearby states, including the Messin Republic, Duchy of Habsburg, and the Alsace League, which had formed as an alliance against Lotharingian aggression previously. By 1548 Arles had succeeded in occupying Lorraine and the territories south of Luxembourg, but failed to reach Amiens before the French could respond. In November 1548 the French invaded Lotharingia themselves, seizing the city. The French would continue their campaign in Artois, while the Arles-led alliance managed to capture the crucial fortress of Luxembourg by the spring of 1549.

With the Amiens War resulting thus far in failure for Lotharingia, and with the cities of Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht largely in a panic, Paul Dekremer was pressured to resign from his position of Admiraal-generaal. The position would be granted to a veteran of the Lotharingian Civil War named Ambrosius Bosschaert of Middelburg, who was supported by former supporters of the Zeeland Republic, such as Diederik Graeff of Amsterdam, as well as Protestants from the south, such as many prominent Wagnerists. Catholic and Columbite rulers of the north largely favored different candidates, as well as more direct rule by King Godfried II, beginning a worsening divide between north and south. Under Bosschaert's leadership the Lotharingians would manage to attract an alliance with the Count Palatine of the Rhine, and in December Archbishop Philip von Wied of Trier was pursued to lead a mutiny of the Alsace League against Habsburg hegemony. With the aid of talented Columbite general Maarten Tromp, the Lotharingians would halt the invasion from Luxembourg.

Despite Metz, Trier, and Alsace being pursued to join against the Habsburgs, in April 1550 Prince Frederick von Habsburg would defeat the coalition at Baden, laying the foundation for a Habsburg-led invasion of Alsace with Palatine cooperation. In May the Peace of Luxembourg formally ended the war between Metz, Arles, and Lotharingia, confirming the concession of Lorraine between Metz and Arles. With the co-belligerence between Arles and France broken down, the Frenco-Burgundian War would break out in June, now turning Arles and Lotharingia toward a mutual goal against France. France would soon face a war on three fronts, as a Spanish-backed plot instigated a Catholic revolt in the south, known as the Foix War, after Catholic leader Henry de Foix. Frederick of Habsburg would continue his campaign in southwest Germany, securing the Upper Rhine under Habsburg hegemony. This would culminate in the Battle of Wasselonne, which saw the Habsburgs subdue Metz, Trier, and the Alsace League in a decisive battle. With Lotharingia unable to repulse the French from southern Artois, the Amiens War would conclude in June 1551. France would annex Amiens, Artois, and territory west of the Meuse River. Conflict would continue against Arles-Burgundy and the Spanish-backed revolt, while in Germany an imperial civil war had begun.

Imperial Civil War Begins

During the ongoing Amiens War, Emperor Henry X from Bohemia favored the French, ruled by his brother Charles IV, and as such was hesitant to provide military support to Lotharingia. In January 1550 the outbreak of war between the Alsace League and the Duchy of Habsburg led to the Habsburgs being baited into attacking the imperial immediacy of Strasbourg. Although they succeeded in capturing the city, this was planned in an effort to force the Emperor's hand in fighting against the French. Instead Henry X called for a diplomatic end to the war, which failed to materialize. By June, Henry's continued support for the foreign and non-Catholic French, his perceived lack of resolve in strongly combating Jungism, his concessions made to Taborites in Bohemia, and his support for an antipope in Zephrynus II, convinced Pope Leo XII in Rome to support an antiking in Germany. Duke Leopold II of Habsburg, father of successful general Prince Frederick, would be elected King of Germany with papal-backing, beginning a civil war.

A strong ally of Pope Leo XII and Leopold II, Frederick III of Austria and his ally in Hungary would launch an invasion of Bohemia against Henry X. Under the leadership of Prince Frederick, the Habsburg army would secure the Upper Rhine and force the Alsace League to heel. Bohemia's ally the Count Palatine of Burgundy would likewise be defeated, while the League of Arnsberg, spearheaded by Hesse, formed to combat Frederick's expansion north. In December 1551 a conspiracy of Catholic nobles would instigate a coup to oust Henry X from Prague. Instead they would elect Henry X's first cousin, Henry the Pious, who was more adamantly Catholic and related to the Habsburgs and Austrians, making the emperorship of Leopold II all but secured. In response, the Jungist heir to Brandenburg, Henry the Protector, was supported by Protestants as a third option. The result would be the War of the Three Henrys. However, a month later Antiking Leopold II von Habsburg would die unexpectedly, greatly altering the course of the ongoing Bohemian civil war. Frederick III of Austria would attempt to claim the imperial throne, as did Henry the Pious.

War of the Three Henrys

As the imperial civil war between Henry X and Leopold II was ongoing, the Catholic coup in Prague had led to a threeway civil war in Bohemia, split along religious lines. Henry X, now forced to flee the capital, represented the "Imperialists", and sought pragmatic cooperation among the religious communities. Henry the Pious represented a strong return to Catholicism, and cooperation with Austria and Leopold II, while Henry the Protector sought to promote Bohemia's conversion to Jungism. The sudden death of Leopold II in January 1552 changed the course of the war, as Leopold's powerbase, and thus the main supporters of the Catholic faction in Bohemia, now fought among themselves. Frederick III of Austria sought the imperial throne, over Henry the Pious or Frederick von Habsburg. A month later Pope Leo XII also died, while his successor Gregory XIV formally supported Henry the Pious. This was deemed by Frederick III as a betrayal, and in April his relative Olivér I of Hungary launched an invasion of Italy.

The Pope quickly formed a coalition of Italian states to aid in the repulsion of the Hungarians known as the League of Venice. The newly crowned Duke Frederick of Habsburg remained loyal to the Roman papacy, and would counter the Austrian-Hungary claim to the throne. After consolidating control over Swabia, he would march into northern Italy in support of the coalition. While the Hungarians quickly overran Aquileia, Count Engelbert V of Gorizia would continue to resist the Hungarians, becoming a prominent and feared commander. Despite the invasion pushing into Italy, Henry the Pious sought to use the Italian forces he had gathered to quickly take Bohemia before aiding the Pope directly. He would capture southern Bohemia, but in an attempt to capture the Hussite stronghold of Tábor, he would be defeated and forced to flee across the border to Passau. After the Battle of Freyung in September, he next fled to Austria, retaining only a fraction of his original army.

In August Catholic nobleman Jan Ptáček would usurp command of Imperial forces in Bohemia, ordering a purge of several dissenters in the capital. Although not in cooperation with Henry X, who had since fled, Ptáček acted as a de facto head of his military, and began a successful campaign in the surrounding countryside. 5,500 Jungist forces under Henry the Protector, including some 3,000 soldiers from Brandenburg, 1,000 soldiers from Saxony, and 1,500 rebelling peasants, would encounter Ptáček's army of some 13,000 soldiers on 19 December 1552. In the ensuing Battle of Kladen, Henry the Protector would win an unprecedented victory, suffering some 1,000 casualties, compared to the Catholic's 8,500, including Ptáček himself. The battle would see the lose of numerous Catholic nobles and knights, as well as the capture of dozens more. With this battle having been won, Henry would march on Prague victorious.

In March 1553, while preparing for an Austrian-backed invasion to reclaim Bohemia, claimant to the throne Henry the Pious would be assassinated by one of his guards, in a move that was believed to have been orchestrated by Henry X. The reign of Henry the Protector would prove short as well, as in August he was murdered by a radical Catholic monk. This left Henry X as the last surviving claimant in the war, and he quickly began to march on Prague to assert his claim. However, weary of continued conflict, Henry X would formally convert away from Catholicism, which allowed him to enter Prague without further bloodshed. While the War of the Three Henrys concluded, the tangentially related Hungarian-led phase of the Italian Wars would continue.

Italian War (1552-1556)

Prior to 1552 an alliance had existed between the Árpáds of Austria and Hungary, the Duchy of Habsburg, and the Papal States under Leo XII. The Habsburgs had managed to seize control over the Upper Rhine and Alsace League, with Duke Leopold II being elected King of Germany with papal backing, while the alliance ensured a Catholic coup ousted Leopold's rival, Emperor Henry X, from the throne of Bohemia. However, the political situation rapidly deteriorated at the beginning of 1552, as both Leopold II and Pope Leo XII both died. The Catholic faction became divided over who would be supported as Holy Roman Emperor. Henry the Pious, the Catholic claimant to the Kingdom of Bohemia in the War of the Three Henrys, who the alliance was attempting to install on the throne, was one such claimant. Likewise Frederick III of Austria, with Hungarian backing, sought the imperial election, while Leopold II's son, Frederick, also was a potential candidate.

With the election of Gregory XIV as Pope, he formally supported Henry the Pious, in the hopes of ensuring Bohemia fell back into the hands of Catholic rulers. Frederick III would feel betrayed by this, instead leading an invasion of northeast Italy, along with his relative Olivér I of Hungary. Hungarian forces overwhelmed the Pope's ally of Aquileia, defeating them at the Battle of Udine. In response the Pope would form a quick coalition of Italian states to repulse the Hungarians, known as the League of Venice. Wile the leaders of Aquileia fled, the young count Engelbert V of Gorizia would begin a guerrilla campaign against the numerically superior Hungarian occupiers, gaining renown as an unexpected commander of the Italian coalition. At the start of 1553, Englebert V would manage to ambush a numerically superior Austrian army at Levada, killing heir apparent Stephen of Austria, and routing the Austrian army. Despite this, the occupation of several major towns in the Republic of Venice by the Hungarians would force Venice to make peace and leave the coalition.

In April 1553 Hungarian forces began an invasion of Modena, crossing the border and defeating a Modena-Papal army at the Siege of Mantua. The newly crowned Duke Frederick of Habsburg remained loyal to the Roman papacy, and would counter the Austrian-Hungary claim to the throne. After consolidating control over Swabia, he would march into northern Italy in support of the coalition, and arrived in Milan soon after Mantua fell. In a plot to assassinate Frederick and the Duke of Modena, Frederick would survive while the Duke of Modena was killed. This allowed young prince and Hungarian-sympathetic Francesco III to ascend to the throne of Modean. Francesco would end resistance to the Hungarian invaders, which Frederick of Habsburg refused to accept. Instead with the backing of many of the nation's nobility, he would establish the Duchy of Milan under his guidance.

The young Duke Frederick of Habsburg's body is discovered by the Hungarians, the 1556 Battle of Adria having cost the life of the defender of the Papacy.

Republican rebels in Modena would look to Frederick of Habsburg for assistance, while the exiled Francesco III joined the Hungarian army near Mantua. Throughout 1554 the Hungarians chased Frederick across southern Milan and the northern territory of the Papal States. In 1555 the decisive Battle of Meldola ended Hungary's ambitions of marching on Rome. Later that year they would withdraw from Modena and Mantua, albeit with a partially friendly government installed in the latter. The repulsion of Hungary from Italy seemed all but certain, and Frederick launched an invasion of Austrian-allied Trento hoping to force Hungarian garrisons out of Aquileia.

Engelbert V launched a campaign against the Hungarians as a result, recapturing much of Aquileia. Frederick advanced into the region, but at the Battle of Adria in 1556, would be killed in battle. With the leader of the alliance against Hungary dead, peace would be made. Hungary would withdraw from the Lombardy region completely, but retained control over Aquileia and Gorizia.

Formation of the Catholic League

With the conclusion of the War of the Three Henrys, for the first time in the history of the Holy Roman Empire there was a non-Catholic emperor. After the death of Leopold II, Catholic antiking established in opposition to Henry X of Bohemia, the majority of Catholic princes within the Empire supported wither Frederick III of Austria or Frederick von Habsburg, Leopold II's son, for the imperial throne. With the ongoing Italian War, which saw both claimants opposed to each other, neither side achieved an election and coronation, and in 1556 Frederick von Habsburg was killed in battle.

Another pressing matter remained: the imperial election now contained a strong Jungist majority, making any future election inevitable to elect a non-Catholic. Although most Catholic princes disliked Henry X, they viewed him as tolerable. The same could not be said for many perspective imperial claimants from the Jungist camp, who they believed would surely pursue harsher attacks against Catholics, and so a campaign would be made to appoint Catholic princes to the electorate.

With the prospect of an Austrian-Bohemian war being daunting, Frederick III was instead open to this scheme. Additionally Austria and Hungary would soon find their military attention given elsewhere, as Austria contended with religious dissenters near Tyrol, and Hungary sought to hold its conquests in northeast Italy while combating the encroaching Roman Empire. Bohemia would be pursued due to Henry X's weariness toward future war and his ongoing consolidation over his own territory, and since the withdraw of the Archbishop of Erfurt, an argument could be made that the electors, especially the ecclesiastic electors, were understaffed.

Under the leadership of Archbishop Daniel von Heusenstamm of Mainz, the Catholics would open negotiations with Henry X. Mainz proposed that Frederick III renounce any claim to the title of King of Germany and pledge his loyalty to Emperor in exchange for the creation of new electors. Austria was an obvious choice for an electorate, but with the Emperor viewing that as untenable Mainz instead proposed Salzburg, a Catholic archbishopric heavily tied to Austria regardless. Other choices included the Count Palatine of the Rhine under Frederick IV, or an Italian candidate.

Ultimately Salzburg and the Palatine would both be accepted as electors, after careful negotiation and intrigue. The proposal would be supported by the Catholic electors and also Emperor Henry X as the elector of Bohemia, who managed to persuade his kinsman and fellow Jungist in Brandenburg to vote in favor. Crucially Lothar von Schönborn would be persuaded to abstain, nullifying the vote from Jungist elector Zechariah Jung.

With this matter settled the Catholic side would still need to unify in support of one claimant in order to challenge the Jungists for the imperial crown in the future. Spearheaded by Leopold III, the Habsburgs hoped to focus the Catholic alliance and prevent infighting within the faction, particularly between the Habsburg and the Hungarian-Austrian alliance, which had plagued the Catholics during the attempt to depose Henry X. At the conclusion of the Italian War of 1559-1563, Leopold III would negotiate that neither Hungary or Habsburg would pursue the imperial crown, instead both would unify in support of a Catholic third party. Both sides had exhausted themselves in northern Italy, and Hungary would soon become too distracted with matterts outside central Europe to refuse. However, at the time of this treaty the parties involved did not agree on which candidate they would support.

Additionally, Leopold III sought to create a central army for the Catholic League, modeled off the Imperial Army of the Empire as a whole. As a result of the conflict surrounding Henry X, the Imperial Army had largely broken down, and consisted primarily of Jungists and some moderate Catholics, particularly from nations loyal to Bohemia or tolerant enough of Henry X as Emperor. Most Catholic nations would withdraw their manpower and financial contributions to the Imperial Army, instead devoting these resources toward Leopold III’s army. By 1570 this force would consist of a standing army of some 12,000 soldiers, raised primarily at the expense of the Imperial army’s recruitment, and it had also secured the allegiance of several installations across the Empire still held by the Imperial government.

Lotharingian Civil War

Although the initial Dutch Revolt had ended in an uneasy peace among the provinces of the Kingdom of Lotharingia, the underlying issues prevalent within the nation remained. The Amiens War had only exacerbated the numerous causes for revolt, as heavy taxation and conscription were necessary to combat the invasion. Communities of the nation were often treated differently based on religion, with many Catholic nobles fearful of a Jungist defection in favor of France; lead general and hero of the war Maarten Tromp had been particularly distrustful toward southern levies. The coastal cities of the nation, and cities primarily oriented toward trade, remained against the war, especially as it involved threatening some of the nation's primary trade partners, and with the destruction at Middelburg, the cities of the north became further disheartened toward the central government.

Since the Amiens War, Ambrosius Bosschaert retained the title of Admiraal-generaal, granting a large amount of control to a pro-republican pro-south government, in the hopes that this would aid in repulsing the invaders. With the war over, Catholic nobles looked to end this power entrusted in Bosschaert. Additionally the sudden death of Godfried II, who died in a jousting accident when a splinter from a broken lance impaled him in the eye, further caused tensions to flair. Godfried had been apathetic toward the persecution of Catholics, which allowed them to accept a ceasefire knowing that their religion would not be actively attacked further, but with the ascension of a young Feinsan II, raised in the reformed church and under the control of reformed ministers, this was no longer a certainty.

Both sides of the nation engaged in a propaganda war, vehemently attacking the opposite's faith in printed books and pamphlets. On the local level most northern provinces instigated a form of inquisition against protestants, much to the dismay of southerns. A brief controversy occurred in 1552, when a Catholic nobleman named Reinmar Rennenberg marched into Malines and denounced the state church and the "tyranny" of the south. However, this only served to unleash an anti-Catholic backlash in Brabant and Flanders. Nonetheless, this disturbance greatly raised alarm in the north, with many nobles preparing militias in case of a government crackdown.

This managed to persuade Tromp, who due to his leadership during the Amiens War had a rare place in government as a Catholic, into supporting the defense of the north should anti-Catholic policies be carried out. To this end, Tromp managed to use his influence to see that he would oversee the reconstruction of Middelburg and a fortress there, hoping to ensure that the Catholics in the future could control access into Antwerp by sea.

Trier Crisis

The Duke of Livonia was unexpectedly nominated for the position of Holy Roman Emperor.

Peace between Catholics and Protestants would remain until after the death of Henry X in 1563. His death signaled another imperial election, but also brought both sides to the brink of war, over fears that the election would spark an irremediable division. Among the most radical of the electors, one proposal was the division of the empire into its Catholic and Protestant sides, with two emperors being elected between the respective sides. Prominent Jungists such as Louis of Ziegenhein were outspoken against this idea, believing this would undoubtedly lead to a major war that the Jungists would not be prepared to win. Instead the more moderate electors hoped to elect a candidate who was unzealous in his faith and amicable to both sides.

Before the election the Jungists on paper held a slight majority in the electorate. In addition to seven secular electors, the stubborn and elderly Philip von Wied refused to step down in Trier, granting the Jungists one ecclesiastic elector. Additionally the late emperor had cast a vote, and it was hoped the first Jungist emperor would ensure a Jungist successor. To the shock of both sides, Henry X had instead voted for a fellow Přemyslid but a Catholic, Duke Charles II of Livonia. This was interpreted as a slight to the Jungist side, particularly Henry X’s own son and other Jungist relatives. Premier Captain Zebulon Zobel, who despite being Catholic was above all else loyal to the Emperor, was crucial in persuading his fellow electors to consider the option and not cause a schism. Zobel was a knight from Habsburg and a close friend of the Habsburg Dukes, and once he was able to persuade Leopold III, he brought the Catholic League in favor of the idea.

Jaromir II "the Hopeful", the late Emperor's son.

Philip von Wied would author a series of demands, later known as the Decree of Frankfurt, essentially stating that Livonia would support the Peace of Passau, make no attempts to persecute Jungists or Jungist states, and pursue a course of neutrality and peace in the Empire, in exchange for the Jungist electors not boycotting the diet and supporting Duke Charles. With these efforts occurring, the diet quickly grew into the longest single election in the Empire’s history, and the longest interregnum since the Great Interregnum some three centuries ago. Henry X died on 23 September 1563, and Charles would not be formally elected until 5 July 1564, and then would not accept and be formally crowned until 9 December.

Crowned as Charles V, the Emperor would abide by the Diet of Frankfurt, which inadvertently caused him to allow religious toleration in Livonia and end the inquisition there, despite Livonia traditionally being an overtly Catholic power. Soon after his election he would be forced to mediate in Bohemia, when he negotiated the end of a brief conflict among his relatives.

Kolumbia

Discovery of the New World

In 1491 an expedition led by Christopher Kolumbus (who later became the namesake of the northern continent his expedition uncovered) and Nicholas Sommer, commissioned by the Hanseatic League, reached the "New World", the collective continents of Kolumbia and Meridia that had previously been unknown or barely known to Europeans. Although Kolumbus was likely not the first European to discover these new lands, his discovery was what catalyzed mass European interest, exploration, and colonization of these lands, and so the colonization of the Western Hemisphere is traditionally dated to have begun after him. In the first few years following the discovery, the Hanseatic League and other European powers, especially the Spanish Empire made numerous colonies in the New World. Although Europeans would deem this land the "New World" and treat it territorially as terra nullius ("nobody's land"), the Western Hemisphere was inhabited by numerous indigenous peoples who had lived in Kolumbia and Meridia since at least 10,000 years ago.

The expedition of Kolumbus and Sommer was first commissioned in order to find a trade route to the Far East, which would create an easier link from Europe to the sources of spices, silks, porcelains, and other rich trade goods from Asia, rather than the overland Silk Road. This overland route had become increasingly untenable to Western Europe, who had to contend with Muslim powers such as the Abbasid Caliphate controlling the route into Europe from the east, and prior to Kolumbus numerous European powers had already shown an interest in circumnavigating Africa in order to reach Asia by sea, but this proved difficult and potentially a longer distance than what Kolumbus surmised. Kolumbus landed in the OTL Carribbean of the "New World", initially believing that he had landed in East Asia. European explorers and settlers to the New World arrived with differing goals in mind, whether that be the search for material wealth, individual aggrandizement, the spread of Christianity to the native population, or the ability to practice religion unimpeded. In particular the Spanish justified their claims to the New World on a similar basis to that of the Christian Reconquista of the Iberian peninsula; they sought military conquest to incorporate indigenous peoples into Christendom. In 1492 Pope Telesphorus II confirmed the rights of the Catholic monarchs of Spain to conquer and convert pagan populations in overseas territories.

European contact brought with it old world diseases, for which the indigenous populations had no natural immunity to. As a result, it is estimated that the native population of the Western Hemisphere dropped as much as 80%, both from these diseases and the conditions that colonization imposed on indigenous populations. Native peoples were often subject to forced labor, removal from their homelands, and widespread slavery and war. This dramatic decline in the population of the Western Hemisphere has been argued by some scholars as the first large-scale act of genocide in the modern era, citing examples of forced labor, harsh treatment, abuse, and mass killings by early explorers and settlers.

Greenland

Late Icelandic Period

The Nuup Kangerlua region of western Greenland, which became increasingly settled during this century, and was home to Kuupik.

The landmass of Greenland throughout the 16th century was regarded as a possession of the Kingdom of Iceland, and was directly ruled by Iceland from the 1340s to 1511. During the Icelandic Period, Greenland's existence was tenuously preserved due to the intervention of Iceland and the Celtic Union as a whole. The region was devastated by the harsh climate effects of the Little Ice Age, leaving its active resistance to Iceland largely crushed and its population diminished and isolated. However, a steady supply of immigration and forced labor supplied Greenland during this period, and these new European settlers came to serve as the de facto first class citizens of the territory, despite their historic isolation from other groups. A policy eventually evolved in which troublemakers, criminals, the unwanted, the unlanded, and the poor, were sent to Greenland to bolster the population there and alleviate overcrowding in places like Iceland and Norway. Even among those who were not forced out, there was a major movement of hundreds of people west, as people sought new land and to escape persecution, finding there were towns in Greenland where one could make their own destiny and their own rules for the most part. At the same time, increasing involvement with native peoples would lead to the development of a class of people nicknamed the helmingar, from the term for “half”, to describe those of mixed European and indigenous descent, as settlers of the land found it difficult to survive based on the old practices of exclusion. Increasingly lower temperatures across Greenland led to a general migration of native peoples southward, forcing greater integration and cooperation between these peoples and the settlers of the southern coasts.

This would lead to the adoption of many crucial technologies in greater numbers, including the dog sled, toggling harpoons, kayaks, and ring seal hunting, and these technologies would prove crucial in supporting Greenland's population. Although farming was possible to a limited degree, livestock became even more common, and above that fishing. Europeans managed to keep caribou and cattle in large number for consumption, and despite initial clashes with the primarily hunter-based cultures of the indigenous, it eventually came to be understood that livestock cultivation and trading of resources would be more beneficial for both groups than simple hunting to extinction. The Greenlanders primarily harvested walruses and narwhals for tusks and collected furs and other goods, which were traded to Europe for much needed supplies. Trade with the Scandinavian countries and with the Celtic Union was considered paramount during this period, and the settlers of Greenland managed to petition their overlords to undertake a major expedition east to ensure that Europeans remained in contact with Greenland throughout the century.

Due to overfishing, ships began to travel more and more westward, stopping in Greenland along the way. Seasonal fishing, whaling, and trading began to be common place in the west Atlantic near the so-called New World after its discovery at the turn of the century. On the Greenlander coast a number of trade posts became established. A rank emerged based on an old title from Scandinavia, called the Lendmenn, which included wealthy landowners or opportunists from Europe, and all those who established properties, claims, and outposts on the Greenlander coast, in order to monopolize the harvesting of resources and the trade in that region. Perhaps the most famous of these lendmenn would be a man from the Isles, who claimed to be a distant relative of the Godwins and the Norwegian nobility, named Inge Bårdsson. Under his leadership, the Greenlanders would stablish Haabets Koloni on Kangeq Island around the year 1502. Bårdsson would be one of many who led the development of the western and northwest outposts throughout the 16th century, developing the Nuup Kangerlua region into a settled part of Greenland.

During this period the legendary figure Kuupik first emerged, and was later proclaimed an honorary "King of Greenland}. According to historical accoutns from around the 1500s, Kuupik was likely a native trader who led a fierce resistance against Inge Bårdsson and other unbenevolent traders and profiteers traveling into the Greenlandic interior. Kuupik's status as a folk hero, resistance leader, and sympathetic guardian earned him a place in the Greenlander mythological canon soon after his purported death around the year 1510.

Ashoona Era

Jómika Ashoona, famous bishop and statesmen of the early 16th century.

Around the turn of the 16th century Greenlander politics in the primary cities came to be dominated by the Bishop of Garðar, Jómika Ashoona, who effectively ruled Greenland for two decades following his apointment of regent for Domnhall V in 1496. He would be influential in the decision to create a "restored duchy" following the death of Domnhall V in 1511.

In 1511 Arnar, grandson of Ólafur VI, was created the first reigning Duke of Greenland since the Icelandic conquest, and henceforth Greenland passed to a separate branch of the Icelander royal family, as a close vassal of the King of Iceland. At only eight years old at the time of this proclamation, Arnar was brought to Greenland and raised under the tutelage of a regent, Jómika Ashoona, Bishop of Garðar. Jómika would effectively rule over Greenland for the next eight years in this capacity. Ashoona proved to be an influential figure in Greenlander politics for decades to come, although many of his decisions were highly controversial in his time. He generally oversaw the Greenland's foreign affairs during the early years of the Colonization of the Western Hemisphere, and was influential in sparking Celtic interest in the continent, along with explorers such as Torbjörn Eriksson. Ashoona oversaw the study of the "Nuuk Stone", an ancient monument discovered in northern Greenland which linked the country to Vinland and the New World some time in the 14th century, and he ordered expeditions to Vinland to investigate these claims and establish relations.

Jómika Ashoona is perhaps most famous for his controversial religious policies. He led Greenland during the dawn of the Protestant Reformation, and ensured Greenland would remain Catholic for the next century. However, he also acquired the title of "Patriarch of the New World" under dubious circumstances, leading to a decades-long feud with several Popes other important ecclesiastical figures in Northern Europe. Ashoona appointed numerous bishops, including the first bishops of Vinland and the New World, despite these figures being only partially recognized by the rest of the church. One of Ashoona's apprentices, Grímur Svertingsonn, would be unexpectedly made cardinal in 1509, in what is believed to have been an erroneous and unfortunate series of events. Frustration regarding the promotion of Grímur over himself and the Papacy's inability to promote clergymen that Ashoona requested ultimately led to his decision to promote himself.

While the authority of Jómika Ashoona was strong in the key settlements of the far south, in his time the law in Greenland was few and far between beyond these towns, with communities largely autonomous, especially the further north one traveled from the relatively developed regions of the Eystribygð. As such there were many unclear titles from throughout Greenland’s long and turbulent history. Jómika Ashoona's long reign and influence in Greenland set the country on a course toward greater tranquility, integration, and legal codification.

Elsewhere, Jómika Ashoona's legal battle and feud with the church intensified in 1519, as the King of Iceland decided to order the arrest of Jómika and his government. Additionally the King declared his brother Arnar deposed, and set out with an army to attack Greenland. Upon the arrival of Iceland's men, the people of Greenland refused to allow them to land or enforce their orders, and in the matter of Jómika considered him to have immunity from secular powers. The situation effectively boiled over into rebellion, as on paper the King of Iceland had just attacked Greenland with military force, compelling Celtic leaders to step in. However, the Celtic Union was embroiled in ongoing revolts elsewhere and a disastrous war with France, making armed action against Iceland impossible. Henry of Iceland would claim the title of Duke of Greenland and grant it to his newborn son in 1525, however this would be be supported or enforced in Greenland, or even supported in Iceland proper. Instead the supposed seizing of a title of nobility from a legitimate vassal in favor of the king's son was perceived as tyrannical, and worried the Icelander nobility. Worried that the king might attempt to disinherit the ancient clans of Iceland, the most prominent nobles of Iceland banded together to demand that Henry cease.

Iisaja Era

Iisaja, Duke of Greenland from 1569 to 1620.

The Ashoona era finally came to a close with the Bishop's death in 1543. Earlier in 1536 Grímur Svertingsonn had died under mysterious circumstances, leading Ashoona to conclude that he had been assassinated and beginning an era of paranoia and surveillance. After his death Duke Arnar the Young ruled in his own right after years of relying on his former teacher's expertise, until his death in 1559. Arnar would be succeeded by his son Erik IV, in one of the only adult successions in Greenland's recent memory. Known as Erik the Wanderer, the new Duke would spend much of his reign traveling across Greenland and abroad. He became the first Duke of Greenland to visit the Nuup Kangerlua and the Nuuk region in perhaps centuries. As part of his travels, he also reached continental Europe, establishing the first relations with several important powers, such as the Hanseatic League.

Eager to improve ties to continental Europe and bolster Greenland's population, prestige, and wealth, Erik IV opened Greenland to German settlers and traders, and took a German noblewoman as his first wife. This polarized the Greenlander and Icelander population, with some viewing Erik's actions as damaging to Greenland's Celtic ties and unique culture. His actions also did not endear him to the kings of Iceland, who were cautious of Greenlander independence after the Ashoona Era. However, Erik's reign came to an abrupt end in 1569, and he was succeeded by his son. Iisaja.

Iisaja would prove to be the longest reigning duke in Greenland's recorded history, and a vastly influential leader throughout the remainder of the century. He greatly strengthened the title of Duke after centuries under the influence of regents, advisors, and foreign dignitaries during the long period of young Icelander dukes and the Jómika Ashoona. He led Greenland through the turbulent Forty Years' War, in which Greenland was stripped from Iceland and the Celtic Union for the first time in centuries. Elsewhere, Iisaja promoted close ties to Vinland and the colonies of the new world, as he encouraged intermarriage between his children and the nobles of Vinland. At the same time, he carefully balanced the union's interests, hoping to preserve funds and immigration to the fledgling Greenland state as well. Like his father, Iisaja allowed many new communities to spring up across Greenland, and he ultimately would sow the seeds for Greenland's later adoption of Jungism under the influence of Denmark-Norway.

Vinland

The island of Vinland and its major regions.

By the dawn of the 16th century the numerous goðorð of Vinland had begun to consolidate into a handful of larger kingdoms under leaders known as the storgoðar. Most notable among these rulers were the Storgoðar of Ísagríma, the first of which being Tíseðun the Great, who led an alliance of Vinlanders during the turbulent Kaasomoot Crisis. His Farsærk Dynasty would come to dominate most of Vinland, with the exception of the lands of the Storgoðar of Nýsogland and the kingdoms of Nóatúna and Austskag.

European Contact

Widespread European knowledge of Vinland did not begin until about 1490, although there is evidence of more regional and small-scale discoveries of Vinland prior to this. After approximately the mid 14th century it is believed that contact between Vinland and Greenland broke down, although prior to this regular contact likely existed between the two colonies. As early as the late 14th century until the voyages of Kolumbus in 1491 – a period of up to a little more than a century – possible re-contact may have taken place. Around the year 1398 the Scottish noble Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney is said to have explored the north Atlantic, reaching as far as Greenland definitively. Sinclair later was shpromised funding from the Scottish government, but this support became delayed by an outbreak of warfare in the British Isles. In 1411 he is said to have reached the land known as Helluland to the Vinlanders, and Sinclair’s final voyage, dated to about 1412, allegedly reached Vinland, although this latter detail is only speculative. Nevertheless, Sinclair’s voyage inspired later Scottish expeditions and tales of strange western lands in the popular imagination, as well as a tentative but unsupported claim to the lands of Helluland.

Sinclair’s grandson, William Sinclair, sponsored his own voyage in 1480, which recorded a meeting with native peoples off the coast of Markland. Scottish merchants may have begun regularly fishing and logging off the coast of Markland during this time, although knowledge of this discovery scarcely left Northern Europe. Sinclair’s expedition is often equated to the mysterious visitors in the beginning of the Miklaflotisaga. According to this source, a fleet of large ships greater than any known in the land appeared off the coast of Markland, leading word to spread that a great king had arrived. However, it has also been suggested that the saga’s first chapter describes a purely mythological event. Later expeditions to Vinland being met with less shock by the local population has been presented as evidence that the gap between Vinland and Europe was gradually bridged by these smaller voyages.

Kolumbus may have known about these discoveries as he was active in the North Sea trade in the 1470s and 1480s, and according to legend may have sailed on an expedition to Greenland and beyond. According to Hanseatic records in the early 16th century, Kolumbus visited the island of “Thule” near Greenland in 1477, and used his knowledge of this land to persuade European powers of the existence of land to the west. He is also believed to have visited the city of Bristol around this time, the potential site of another pre-Kolumbian expedition to Vinland. According to Bristol records, in the early 1480s local explorers had reached the land of Vinland, and had begun regularly trading between Vinland and Iceland soon after. Icelander records imply that knowledge of Vinland had existed potentially for decades, although it is hard to separate where legend differed from tangible contact. A definitive Icelander expedition was launched in 1484, which initiated formal contact with several Vinlander chieftains and reached as far south as the lands of the Mi’kmaq (OTL Nova Scotia). However, Iceland during the period lacked the necessary funds or infrastructure to take advantage of the discovery in earnest.

According to legend, a Portuguese caravel had been blown off course while trading in the North Atlantic around 1490, and after several months they returned to England. Later post-Kolumbian Portuguese sources would claim that this caravel had indeed landed in Vinland. Portuguese historians in the 16th century identified a noble house in Vinland, who according to local legend was descended from a famous foreigner, as being the descendants of Portuguese shipwrecks in Vinland. There is also evidence that fishermen from the Kingdom of Navarre became knowledgeable of Vinland as early as the 1490s, as the coast of Vinland quickly became a popular site for Basque fishermen toward the end of the century. Local Basque legend holds that fishermen discovered Vinland as early as the 1300s, but kept the destination a secret in order to avoid competition over the fishing resources of the region.

In 1488 a documented voyage by the Icelandic explorer Garðar Hámundarson occurred which reached the island of Vinland. Garðar is mentioned as having attended that year’s Nýtinget, where he was presented to Storgoðar Tjordrek III. The Icelanders documented their journey, reporting amazement at the site of foreign looking men who spoke a language not completely unlike their own. The Vinlander chieftain was said to be highly impressed by the foreigners and their goods brought for trade, although the meeting was soured by the implication that Iceland possessed a claim to the land or the islands around Vinland. The reports of Garðar Hámundarson, which contained many exaggerated passages of great cities in the west, may have influenced Kolumbus in his reports to the Hanseatic League. Locally it also inspired the Icelanders and the Scottish to consider regular trade with Vinland and further exploration.

In the early 1490s a brief attempt was made by Iceland to establish an outpost in Helluland, settling a fort near Nanook. At its peak approximately 160 people inhabited this fort, although the extreme conditions, disease, and the lack of funds after 1494 due to an outbreak of war in Europe, caused the colony to collapse after only a few years. Icelandic traders and fishermen also began to frequent the coast of Markland, often trading weapons and manufactured goods for furs and supplies. A subsequent voyage to Vinland in 1499 reported that Tjordrek III, henceforth known as Tjordrek the Enchanted, was “easily deceived by the prospect of magic and spells”, seemingly revering goods from Europe for their alchemical or supernatural properties. In 1501 one of the first outsider perspectives on Vinlandic Mythology was published in Iceland, which documented a native belief that the Icelander voyages were the fulfillment of ancient prophecy. Explorers in the name of Iceland reportedly purchased the rights to Vinlander land from the superstitious ruler.

Tjordrek’s death in 1502 and the ascension of Madukr Shansenǫr reversed course, with the chieftain renouncing any land grants and demanding proper compensation. In eastern Vinland, Hákon II of Ímaheim attracted European trade through his more amicable approach. At his direction, Ímaheim negotiated with Scottish and Portuguese merchants to acquire guns and military expertise. In 1504, Hákon II ordered a raid on a Scottish fur trading vessel, the Eleanora, which was harbored outside the city, capturing several Scottish prisoners, goods, and the ship itself. One of these captives, Thomas Frobisher, would become a trusted advisor to the goði, who aided in Hákon’s military campaigns. With this technological advantage, Ímaheim led a fierce campaign against its neighbors, uniting the eastern peninsula under one ruler by 1519. That year, Hákon was crowned the first King of Austskag, and he claimed his place as the third paramount ruler of Vinland alongside Ímgerad Giantslayer of Nóatúna and Madukr Shansenǫr of Ísagríma. The divided political situation on Vinland was exploited by early European explorers, but to the most ambitious Vinlander chieftains was turned around to their advantage.

Hytholoday Expedition

In 1519 Kórikuus ascended to the throne of Ísagríma, and unlike his predecessor, he welcomed European aid to the island to strengthen his position against his rivals. Conversely, to the east the nation of Nýsogland entered into a period of decline after the death of Washjörn II. This was brought on by the emergence of several rival branches of the royal family, who each jockeyed for control of the nation, such as with the rise of Byggvir IV, known as “The Usurper” who replaced the rule of his second cousin. The disintegration of Nýsogland would be a decades-long process, which quickly became a proxy war between Ísagríma and Nóatúna. It was in this chaos that the expedition of Raphael Hytholoday first arrived off the coast of Vinland. Already a famed French privateer and commander, Hytholoday would be dispatched to the New World in 1527, as part of France’s first direct expedition to the region.

Transatlantic Fur Trade

One of the elements of European contact that would gradually transform Vinlander society was the Transatlantic or Kolumbian fur trade, or the commercial trade of furs across the eastern seaboard spurred on by European contact. Prior to the rediscovery of Vinland by Europeans, furs and pelts were often traded by the Vinlanders as an important commodity and luxury good. The earliest European traders to Vinland, especially the Basque fishermen of the early 16th century, began to covet these furs both for their utilitarian purpose of keeping crewmen warm during the fishing season, but also for their rising value in European markets. With the rise of fur's popularity in Europe and the declining population of the continent's own sources of fur, Kolumbian furs became extremely valuable and sought after.

This desire for furs intensified trade between Vinland and Europe, and fueled the consolidation of the Vinlandic kingdom. Furs were often traded for steel weapons and tools, firearms, and other rare, manufactured goods to the Vinlanders, allowing a handful of powerful chieftains to quickly gain a high degree of wealth and power on the island. The ability of Kórikuus of Ísagríma to procure and sell a high number of furs directly aided him in the creation of a modernized army and the conquest of the rest of the island, giving rise to the first real "Kingdom of Vinland". After sources of furs on Vinland itself began to be depleted, the Vinlanders became the terminus point for the fur trade to Europe and developed a network of intermediaries and producers of furs. Most notably the Wabanaki Confederacy and the Iroquois dominated the eastern continental fur trade, becoming increasingly rich and powerful themselves.

The Iroquois, who had first formed as a confederacy sometime between 1250 and 1350 under the pressure of the eastern encroaching Wabanaki, took advantage of the depopulation of the St. Naðún River valley (OTL St. Lawrence River) by disease and quickly expanded into their surrounding region. In the late 15th century the Iroquois invaded the relatively small territory of the Wenrohronon on their western border, managing to definitively defeat them for good. The Wenrohronon population was devastated, with some fleeing north and being assimilated among the Wyandot, while the rest were adopted into the Iroquois nation, which forcefully replenished the manpower of the Iroquois that had been depleted by disease. The Iroquois subsequently settled all along the coast of OTL Lake Ontario, and pushed south into the territory of the Erie with a high degree of success. However, a coalition of nations including the Erie and the Neutral formed that outnumbered the Iroquois and managed to stall their advance. According to legend a truce was eventually reached after about 20 years, with the Iroquois making significant gains. The Iroquois were also an initial ally of the Ninihúsa Confederacy, a tribe of Vinlandic-Indigenous peoples who had settled in the region.

Contact between the Iroquois and Europeans may have began as early as the 1480s. According to the descriptions made by the 1484 Icelandic voyage to Vinland, travelers and auxiliaries were noted that may have been Iroquois soldiers in the employment of Marklander merchant chieftains. Subsequent voyages by Scandinavian nations and Basque fishermen opened the door to frequent voyages to the region, placing the Iroquois in close proximity to Europeans. Many of these early voyages were most interested in fishing off the coast of Vinland and transporting fish back to Europe, but quickly trade with the native population intensified. European traders to the region were most intrigued by beaver pelts, as the fur was highly useful for those wintering off the coast of Vinland, but also quickly became a highly expensive good in Europe. While the Vinlanders and Mi'kmaq benefited the most at first from contact with Europeans, the Iroquois were not far behind. The great river basin and the Great Lakes became the conduit for European exploration further into the continent, bringing early Basque and Scottish explorers directly into contact with the Iroquois settlements on the coast as early as 1506 and 1512, respectively.

The consolidation of Vinland and the Wabanaki was largely fueled by the fur trade with European powers, and where they could not directly procure pelts themselves, the Iroquois became leaders in the industry. In the early 16th century the Iroquois became frequented by European traders directly, more often the Iroquois passed through the Vinlanders as middlemen. In exchange the Iroquois acquired many different goods, but perhaps mostly consequently was steel weaponry and later the firearm. The Iroquois were also specifically sought out by Torbjörn Eriksson, as part of the investigation of the "Nuuk Stone" as ordered by Jómika Ashoona, due to the alleged Iroquoian language fragments present on the artifact.

European Colonies

Carolingia

German explorer Sebastian von Speyer leads an expedition around the northern Chesapeake, 1543.

The expedition of Christopher Kolumbus and Nicholas Sommer began the Hanseatic League’s interest in the New World, although early colonies were primarily centered in the Caribbean and the northern coast of Meridia. The first Hanseatic colony in the north would not take shape until 1533, when the Hansa launched an expedition to the Outer Banks of what eventually became known as Carolingia (OTL Carolinas). A settlement in the Outer Banks, the town of New Hanover, would be christened the following year. Initially trade posts along the Kolumbian coast served as outposts between Meridia and Vinland for Hanseatic traders. Unlike colonies established further south, which were largely envisioned as lucrative plantations for sought after crops, the Hanseatic government envisioned Carolingia as a true settler colony; the growth of the Starkite movement prompted the government to seek a land where religious dissidents could be sent to, which many Starkite leaders found mutually appealing. Toward the end of 1534 a Starkite community led by Johann Schmied would lead the colonization of Roanoke Island.

The discovery of the New World coincided with the end of the reign of Henry VIII, Holy Roman Emperor, and he took a personal interest in the matter. In the year following the voyage’s return and while preparations were being made for a second voyage, Henry VIII traveled to Lübeck and met with the explorers and Hanseatic officials, where he bestowed a series of titles upon Kolumbus and Sommer. Henry VIII’s diplomatic mission was also partially motivated by the Emperor’s own mission to establish an Imperial Navy, which relied upon Hanseatic support. The Emperor’s adventure endeared him to the Hansa, and in 1492 the League agreed to transfer the island of Heligoland to the Emperor’s navy. Upon returning from his second voyage, Sommer would also gift a draft of his world map, which the Emperor displayed in the Reichstag in Frankfurt, while the newly founded Hanse Waffenfirma (Hanseatic Firearm Company) gifted the Emperor an artisanal hackenbüsche (arquebus) adorned with gold, iron, and red palmwood found in the New World.

In part due to Henry VIII’s early intervention, and also due to the environment it was born out of, the Hanseatic colonies adopted many of the customs of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1492 the Emperor drafted an edict addressing the Imperial military, which also carried a handful of terms regarding the new discoveries. These terms would have great ramifications for the future colonies, and would be later expanded upon. In particular, a trend began in which the many titles of nobility and honor associated with the ancient empire would be transferred to the New World as well. Explorers, leaders, and key figures of merit in the development of New World colonies would see their efforts rewarded with hereditary positions much like those in Germany, embedding a partially feudal, albeit far more liberated, theme upon Hanseatic Kolumbia. Additionally, in an effort to quickly expand their colonies in competition with the Spanish, the Hanseatic League would begin a policy of awarding grants of land to settlers from various German communities outside the Hansa itself. This would lead to a patchwork of settlements all dependent upon and nominally a part of an overlord Hanseatic colony, but locally segregated based on nationality and religion.

Colonies such as New Hanover and Burkhart (OTL Lejeune) remained highly Hanseatic, while around the same time the lands further south (OTL Myrtle Beach) were first settled by Saxons and Poles, the southern Chesapeake Bay was settled by Rhinelanders and Thuringians, and the northern coast of the bay was settled by Bohemian settlers. Appointments by the Hansa itself tended to be more republican and meritocratic, while appointments by the imperial government were often granted to people of noble birth or great wealth in Europe. By the late 1500s, as the Empire competed with Sweden and England for the Chesapeake, titles of nobility became more structured. For example, the settlement of the Chesapeake involved the promise to grant the title of “Baronet” to any man who settled and supported eight or more people, or financially supported the settlement of eight people while in Kolumbia, knightship for any man who led a settling or successful expedition of discovery (based on the value of returned goods), and the title of freiherr to the founders of cities and key defensive installations.

In 1547 following the Kerpen War religious violence in the Hanseatic League was intensified, and the League hoped to alleviate tensions by both establishing penal colonies for dissidents, and also safe havens for religious minorities so that they would leave Europe. The earlier, decentralized approach in Carolingia was augmented by stated-sponsored projects and government-supported charters. In 1547 a colony was established on the upper half of the Petronellia peninsula (OTL Delmarva) as a colony primarily for Catholics exiled in the wake of the Hansa’s protestantization. Additionally, multiple joint-stock guilds established in Germany competed for exclusive rights to colonize select areas, leading to the establishment of the Hamburg Company in 1540 and the Carolingian Company in 1546. These two companies established competing colonies in northern Carolingia focused on the raising of lucrative cash crops.

In 1548 the Hamburg Company established the settlement of Neueden (OTL Edenton), however the colony failed within a year. Upon the arrival of new settlers the following summer the colony was restarted, but by 1560 only some 400 settlers remained out of a total of 1,500 transported to the region. The colony struggled for the next decade, primarily surviving through trade with native populations and the selling of excess crops to plantations in the Carribean. It would not be until the introduction of tobacco that the colony began to thrive. The settlement also paled in comparison initially to the success of the nearby Sommer Isles Company, centered on Bermuda. Although Bermuda pioneered the growing of tobacco as an engine for economic growth, it was later outpaced by colonies in the Caribbean and in southern Carolingia, although the Sommer Isles Company prudently expanded there as well, staving off bankruptcy. The settlers of Bermuda would organize themselves into a diet in 1578 and petition the revocation of the Sommer Isles’ charter, transitioning from an economy based on agriculture to one of shipbuilding. The native juniper of the islands, nicknamed the Bermuda Cedar, proved to be excellent timber for ships, and Bermuda became a hub of local shipbuilding, trade, and maritime activities, such as whaling and privateering.

The Carolingian Company had success as well, settling the town of Jasmund (OTL Jamestown) upon a defensible island along the River Rhoda (OTL James River). The location would be a strategic choice, defended on each side by the river, and devoid of any native populations due to the area’s swampy and isolated features. However, this made farming difficult at first, and by 1550 about half the settlement’s initial population had died. However, surviving into that summer they were greeted by ships carrying several northern German and Czech craftsmen, who replenished the settlement’s population and established glassware as a foremost Carolingian product for exportation back to Europe. In 1551 the dire conditions forced a number of foreign settlers to defect to the local Powhatan tribe, bringing their equipment and supplies with them. Unsatisfied with the poor performance of the colony thus far, the Carolingian Company dispatched another group of settlers to the colony, along with leader Sir Reinhard Maack and other dignitaries, with set instructions to hopefully turn the colony profitable and self-sufficient.

This expedition would become separated by a storm, leading to nearly half the expected forces for Jasmund landing instead at Bermuda. Maack arrived in Jasmund in early August bringing much needed supplies and soldiers to defend the colony, while the detachment from Bermuda did not arrive until the following spring. Under Maack’s leadership the colony slowly rebounded. The “Ancient Planters” class was created to describe the most senior settlers with the largest farm plots, and the first tobacco seeds were planted at the colony. In 1554 another expedition landed on the southern end of the cape and explored the interior, calling the region Jinramys (OTL Cape Henry). Over the course of the next decade land would be cleared and numerous plantations would be established all along the River Rhoda centered around a series of forts, such as Jasmund. This expansion quickly soured relations with the native Powhatan Confederacy, leading to the first widespread outbreak of violence between the colonies and the natives.

Following the Eight Years’ War, which saw the Hanseatic League and Sweden go to war, several prominent towns in Carolingia became increasingly autonomous. In 1598, as the Forty Years’ War damaged the Hanseatic holdings, the city of Halbmond became the first settlement in Carolingia to model itself after the Free Imperial Cities of the Holy Roman Empire and declare itself an “independent city”, separate from the colony, beginning a trend among major cities outside the control of the overarching governor to become self governing, and adding another level of complexity to German polities in the New World.

Nova Scotia

In 1511 the Scottish government commissioned the explorer John Knox to lead an expedition to the Vinland region. This was catalyzed by an uptick in French interest in the region which the Scottish sought to compete with, and Knox’s belief that a sea route to Cathay (China) could be discovered west of Vinland, based on rumored tales of rich cities in that region among the natives. In the words of the commission, he was to "discover certain islands and lands where it is said that a great quantity of gold and other precious things are to be found". Knox's voyage would be highly successful in opening Scottish interests to the New World, and he would launch two other expeditions in 1512 and 1516 respectively. Under Knox the Scottish would establish their first outpost int he St. Naðún River (OTL St. Lawrence River) region, which later evolved into the colony of Nova Scotia. Knox would also potentially inspire the creation of the Kingdom of Saguenay, a native nation in southern Markland and north of Nova Scotia, which became a Scottish ally and trading partner.

In 1519 Kórikuus ascended to the throne of Ísagríma, who saw the arrival of the Europeans as an opportunity to gain a competitive edge over his neighbors and ultimately unite the island of Vinland. Unlike many of his predecessors, he openly courted friendship with the Celtic Union. In 1521 a major trade mission was launched under the command of William Tyndale, which arrived off the coast of Vinland with five ships and numerous trade goods. Kórikuus and Tyndale would negotiate the Treaty of Nǫrrfjörð, which granted the Celtic Union free passage through the Kjalsund, the ability to build a trade post in Vinland, and a gift of furs and gold, in exchange for a number of guns, horses, and European goods, the training of Vinlander forces, and a guarantee of assistance but respected sovereignty. A number of Scots would later be present during Kórikuus's campaigns to unite Vinland, either in an advisory role or as soldiers.

During this time numerous Scottish groups arrived off the coast to trade or fish, and several independent trade posts were established. Notably a group of 100 men settled in Úystunborg in 1518, but this trade post was abandoned the following year. This town was later visited by William Tyndale in a second expedition in 1523, where he formed an alliance with the southern Marklanders. In 1524 a settlement was also established on Saber Island (OTL Sable Island), which was sporadically settled by sealers, shipwreck survivors, and salvagers. A number of convincts would be brought to the island, but they successfully rebelled and collapsed the island's colony. Those that didn't manage to flee were left stranded on the barren island, some of which were rescued several years later.

Another notable colonization attempt came in 1530, when Scottish settlers founded a fort known as Rìoghaildùn on OTL Isle Madame (Nova Scotia). This settlement attracted a number of merchants and traders, who worked with the local Mi'kmaq of the region, however, by the following year the population was more than halved by disease and the settlement was abandoned, only to be refounded in 1535 by a new batch of settlers. This colony lasted until 1542, when it was raided and destroyed.

Statue commemorating explorer John Mair.

Recognizing the value of a permanent presence in the St. Naðún River valley, due to the lucrative fur trade but also spurred on by the encroachments of the French into the region, in 1526 explorer John Mair (a veteran of the 1530 attempt to colonize Rìoghaildùn) was dispatched to the region with 290 settlers across three ships. En route, the expedition also recruited a number of Vinlander and Marklander soldiers and guides, arriving in Úystunborn with another 12 men. It was here that Mair learned from the local Marklanders of the evolving geopolitical situation of the south. The locals alleged that the Iroquois had successfully raided Daelstaðr and potentially sacked Èideardùn, and that an alliance of the Omàmiwinini (Algonquin), Ninihúsa, and Wyandot had formed to repulse them from the north.

Proceeding south the Scottish built a new fort in the region, this time called Inversanda as it was located closer to the mouth of the river. Mair would spend much of the summer negotiating alliances with the neighboring tribes, forming a coalition against the Iroquois to the south. Then in August he led an expedition that reached OTL Lake Champlain and was engaged by a Iroquois party. At the subsequent battle, where about 1,000 Iroquois warriors were met by 44 Scottish soldiers and about 500 native auxiliaries, the Iroquois were decisively defeated after their chiefs were killed by Scottish arquebusiers.

That winter proved difficult for the new settlement, with almost a third of the Scottish settlers dying from disease, lack of supplies, or conflict with natives. Subsequently the fort relied heavily on the neighboring Ninihúsa for support. Tensions rose, as the Ninihúsa claimed the land as their own and expected payment from the Scottish, but at the same time intermarriage also occurred between the two parties and traders frequented both sites. The early Scottish settlement also had several dealings with the southern Marklanders, who later adopted the name Saguenay that had been used to describe the region.

Mair returned to Europe in 1528 with news of the success of the settlement and a number of riches accumulated from trade and raiding. With this news he was placed in command of another group of settlers, reinforcements, and missionaries, which departed for Iversanda in 1529. That year Mair would lead a number of men to explore the surrounding region, following the path that Knox had recorded up the OTL Ottawa River, and recording a number of Algonquin villages along the river. Following this route he went as far north as Lake Nipissing, and later also traveled south until he reached Lake Huron. After staying in the colony until 1532, Mair again returned to Scotland to publish his memoirs and a number of maps. He next returned to Iversanda in 1535, this time staying for the rest of his life as its governor, where he ordered the expansion of Iversanda and the building of a number of other forts in the region.

Beaver Wars

A battle in 1549 involving Scottish forces and their native allies against the Iroquois.

The introduction of Europeans into northeast Kolumbia and Europe's demand for furs would inadvertedly spark one of the most devastating wars in the continent's history. Known as the Beaver Wars, a series of wars would be fought for economic dominance of the St. Naðún River valley and the Great Lakes region, which primarily pitted the expansionist Iroquois Confederacy – sometimes with the aid of European powers such as France or the United Kingdom – against a coalition of native confederacies and the Celtic Union, who controlled the colony of Nova Scotia. The Iroquois Confederacy sought to monopolize trade with European markets, and rapidly expanded into Upper Canada and the Ohio Country, sparking resistance from rival native confederacies such as the Wyandot and the Ninihúsa. The Iroquois were initially highly successful, leading to the destruction of several prominent tribes of the northeast, and majorly realigning tribal geography. With the arrival of the Scottish in Nova Scotia, who permanently settled the region after 1526, the conflict grew into a proxy war between the Celtic Union and their European rivals.

The Beaver Wars did not come to a definitive end until the 1699 Great Peace of Bunbrosna. The wars and subsequent killings of the local beaver population proved disasterous for the environment, leading to droughts and environmental change. The wars also catalyzed further European wars of conquest, which ultimately was the undoing of much of the nations of the northeast.

Footnotes