¡Por la República! ("For the Republic!") | |||||
| Anthem | "¡Gloria a Iberia!
" | ||||
| Capital | Toledo | ||||
| Largest city | Cordoba | ||||
| Other cities | Madrid, Lisboa, Barcelona, Grenada, Seville | ||||
| Language official |
Spanish/Iberian | ||||
| others | Moorish, Moroccan | ||||
| Religion main |
Christian (Catholic) | ||||
| others | Islam (Sunni and Ibadi) | ||||
| Ethnic Groups main |
Castilian | ||||
| others | Portuguese, Galician, Catalan, Basque, Andalusian | ||||
| Demonym | Iberian | ||||
| Government | Republic | ||||
| Legislature | Iberian House (Parliment) | ||||
| President | Aleix Sáenz | ||||
| Prime Minister | Arnau Batanero | ||||
| Population | 58,612,190 people | ||||
| GDP Total: |
1.2 trillion | ||||
| per capita | $20,473 | ||||
| Currency | Spanish (Iberian) Diaz | ||||
| Greenwich | GMT+0 | ||||
| summer | May-September | ||||
| Calling Code | 23 | ||||
| Internet TLD | Ibe | ||||
The Iberian Republic, commonly referred to as Iberia, is a large, somewhat wealthy republic in southwestern Europe. Founded in 1482 in the aftermath of the Reconquista, it has been a pivotal state in European History and an economic powerhouse until the Iberian population rise in the recent decade has accompanied the declining and later stagnating economy.
History[]
Iberia was first settled by Hominids 1.2 million years ago.
The largest groups inhabiting the Iberian Peninsula before the Roman conquests were the Iberians and the Celts. The Iberians inhabited the Mediterranean side of the peninsula, from the northeast to the southeast. The Celts inhabited much of the inner and Atlantic sides of the peninsula, from the northwest to the southwest. Basques occupied the western area of the Pyrenees mountain range and adjacent areas, the Phoenician-influenced Tartessians culture flourished in the southwest and the Lusitanians and Vettones occupied areas in the central west. A number of cities were founded along the coast by Phoenicians, and trading outposts and colonies were established by Greeks in the East. Eventually, Phoenician-Carthaginians expanded inland toward the meseta; however, due to the bellicose inland tribes, the Carthaginians got settled in the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula.
In the Second-Punic War, the rapidly expanding Roman Republic subdued the Carthraginian-held trading outposts in the Iberian Peninsula. The Roman Empire would control the Iberian peninsula from 27 BC to 409 AD, when the Germanic Suebi and Vandals, together with the Sarmatian Alans entered the peninsula at the invitation of a Roman usurper. These tribes had crossed the Rhine in early 407 and ravaged Gaul. The Suebi established a kingdom in what is today modern Galicia and northern Portugal whereas the Vandals established themselves in southern Spain by 420 before crossing over to North Africa in 429 and taking Carthage in 439. As the western empire disintegrated, the social and economic base became greatly simplified: but even in modified form, the successor regimes maintained many of the institutions and laws of the late empire, including Christianity and assimilation to the evolving Roman culture.
The Byzantines established an occidental province, Spania, in the south, with the intention of reviving Roman rule throughout Iberia. Eventually, however, Hispania was reunited under Visigothic rule. These Visigoths, or Western Goths, after sacking Rome under the leadership of Alaric (410), turned toward the Iberian Peninsula, with Athaulf for their leader, and occupied the northeastern portion. Wallia extended his rule over most of the peninsula, keeping the Suebians shut up in Galicia. Theodoric I took part, with the Romans and Franks, in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, where Attila was routed. Euric (466), who put an end to the last remnants of Roman power in the peninsula, may be considered the first monarch of Spain, though the Suebians still maintained their independence in Galicia. Euric was also the first king to give written laws to the Visigoths. In the following reigns the Catholic kings of France assumed the role of protectors of the Hispano-Roman Catholics against the Arianism of the Visigoths, and in the wars which ensued Alaric II and Amalaric lost their lives.
Athanagild, having risen against King Agila, called in the Byzantines and, in payment for the succour they gave him, ceded to them the maritime places of the southeast (554). Liuvigild restored the political unity of the peninsula, subduing the Suebians, but the religious divisions of the country, reaching even the royal family, brought on a civil war. St. Hermengild, the king's son, putting himself at the head of the Catholics, was defeated and taken prisoner, and suffered martyrdom for rejecting communion with the Arians. Recared, son of Liuvigild and brother of St. Hermengild, added religious unity to the political unity achieved by his father, accepting the Catholic faith in the Third Council of Toledo (589). The religious unity established by this council was the basis of that fusion of Goths with Hispano-Romans which produced the Spanish nation. Sisebut and Suintila completed the expulsion of the Byzantines from Spain.
Intermarriage between Visigoths and Hispano-Romans was prohibited, though in practice it could not be entirely prevented and was eventually legalised by Liuvigild. The Spanish-Gothic scholars such as Braulio of Zaragoza and Isidore of Seville played an important role in keeping the classical Greek and Roman culture. Isidore was one of the most influential clerics and philosophers in the Middle Ages in Europe, and his theories were also vital to the conversion of the Visigothic Kingdom from an Arian domain to a Catholic one in the Councils of Toledo. Isidore created the first western encyclopedia which had a huge impact during the Middle Ages.
In the 8th century, nearly all of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered (711–718) by largely Moorish Muslim armies from North Africa. These conquests were part of the expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate. Only a small area in the mountainous north-west of the peninsula managed to resist the initial invasion. Legend has it that Count Julian, the governor of Ceuta, in revenge for the violation of his daughter, Florinda, by King Roderic, invited the Muslims and opened to them the gates of the peninsula.
Under Islamic law, Christians and Jews were given the subordinate status of dhimmi. This status permitted Christians and Jews to practice their religions as People of the Book but they were required to pay a special tax and had legal and social rights inferior to those of Muslims.[34][35]
Conversion to Islam proceeded at an increasing pace. The muladíes (Muslims of ethnic Iberian origin) are believed to have formed the majority of the population of Al-Andalus by the end of the 10th century.
The Muslim community in the Iberian Peninsula was itself diverse and beset by social tensions. The Berber people of North Africa, who had provided the bulk of the invading armies, clashed with the Arab leadership from the Middle East.[l] Over time, large Moorish populations became established, especially in the Guadalquivir River valley, the coastal plain of Valencia, the Ebro River valley and (toward the end of this period) in the mountainous region of Granada.
The Great Mosque of Córdoba is among the oldest mosque buildings in the world
Córdoba, the capital of the caliphate since Abd-ar-Rahman III, was the largest, richest and most sophisticated city in western Europe. Mediterranean trade and cultural exchange flourished. Muslims imported a rich intellectual tradition from the Middle East and North Africa. Some important philosophers at the time were Averroes, Ibn Arabi and Maimonides. The Romanised cultures of the Iberian Peninsula interacted with Muslim and Jewish cultures in complex ways, giving the region a distinctive culture. Outside the cities, where the vast majority lived, the land ownership system from Roman times remained largely intact as Muslim leaders rarely dispossessed landowners and the introduction of new crops and techniques led to an expansion of agriculture introducing new produces which originally came from Asia or the former territories of the Roman Empire.
In the 11th century, the Muslim holdings fractured into rival Taifa states (Arab, Berber, and Slav), allowing the small Christian states the opportunity to greatly enlarge their territories. The arrival from North Africa of the Islamic ruling sects of the Almoravids and the Almohads restored unity upon the Muslim holdings, with a stricter, less tolerant application of Islam, and saw a revival in Muslim fortunes. This re-united Islamic state experienced more than a century of successes that partially reversed Christian gains.
The Reconquista (Reconquest) was the centuries-long period in which Christian rule was re-established over the Iberian Peninsula. The Reconquista is viewed as beginning with the Battle of Covadonga won by Don Pelayo in 722 and was concurrent with the period of Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula. The Christian army's victory over Muslim forces led to the creation of the Christian Kingdom of Asturias along the northwestern coastal mountains. Shortly after, in 739, Muslim forces were driven from Galicia, which was to eventually host one of medieval Europe's holiest sites, Santiago de Compostela and was incorporated into the new Christian kingdom.
The Vikings invaded Galicia in 844, but were heavily defeated by Ramiro I of Asturias at A Coruña. Many of the Vikings' casualties were caused by the Galicians' ballistas – powerful torsion-powered projectile weapons that looked rather like giant crossbows. 70 Viking ships were captured and burned. Vikings raided Galicia in 859, during the reign of Ordoño I of Asturias. Ordoño was at the moment engaged against his constant enemies the Moors; but a count of the province, Don Pedro, attacked the Vikings and defeated them.
Point of Divergence (1143)[]
With the Turks stuck in the already heavily populated desert mountains of Iran instead of being on the doorstep of Byzantine Constantinople, it would result in no crusades. This would actually result in far-reaching effects in Iberia (and not just because of the whole Age of Exploration situation).
Few people realize how instrumental the crusades were in creating Portugal. During the Second Crusade, an English contingent of the Crusader army landed in Portugal to aid King Alfanso I in his efforts to establish an independent Portugal. The English support was what saved the Portuguese. In TTL, the Portuguese would be crushed.
King Alfonso, I was burned at the stake in late December 1142. The Central Leónese-Castilian authority installed two puppet counts in the County of Portugal and the once again separate County of Coimbra, Count Fausto Tomás, and Salomão Lobo, both of whom died en route to Portugal and Coimbra. They were replaced by Elpidio Simões and Elpidio Cortes (colloquially known as the Elpidos). Northern Portugal remained under the firm grip of Castile.
In OTL, the Moors lost control of the Algarve in 1249 to the Portuguese. However, instead, it is conquered in 1259 by the advancing Iberian army. In TTL, the Castilians conquer the Algarve instead.
The founding of the Duchy of Portugal and the rise of the Trastámara dynasty[]
Gradually, Portugal came to be known as the far western coastal areas of Iberia (excluding Galicia).
In 1369, Peter I of Castile died, which led to a succession crisis, between Henry II of Trastámara and John of Gaunt. The local nobility of Portugal was discontent with the current monarch for the same reasons the rest of the Iberian nobility: he had expanded the power of the crown greatly and was seen a tyrannical. The Castilian Civil War continues and the Count of Portugal, Heitor Maugham, arranged a secret agreement with John, promising to rebel in the event of a possible victory for Henry. John obliged and the Portuguese revolted in 1371, under Count Heitor. They were successful, and John briefly came to power in Castile. During his short two year reign, John I (Juan I in Iberian) rewarded the Portuguese by establishing a large duchy, stretching from the Algarve to southern Galicia. Count Heitor of Portugal was now Duke Heitor of Portugal.
"Juan I arrives in Barcelona (1375)" depictin Juan's arrival in Barcelona. Painting by José Luis.
Unfortunately for John I, the French was wary of an English monarch sitting on the Castilian throne and were keen on deposing him. In 1375, Juan I was deposed by a French-backed a rebellion by Henry II (who had been in exile in the Duchy of Toluse). On May 16th, 1375, Toledo fell.
The Portuguese, empowered by their newly acquired domains within the kingdom, refused to cede their lands and demote their status as a duchy. To their shock, Henry II accepted their demands and was even rumored to be planning to make Portugal a Junior Partner of Castile. This resulted in his assassination by John I, his heir. Ironically, he would later do the thing that made him assassinate Henry II.
Internal conflict and the formation of the Crowns of Portugal, Galicia, and León[]
"Ambush of Henry III" in the French translation of 'Las crónicas de Iberia" (The Chronicles of Iberia). Published in 1423.
In 1403, attempts by the Castilian monarch Henry III at centralization spurred outrage amongst the non-Castilian nobility. Not wanting the Castilian government to interfere in local affairs, the nobility of Portugal, León, and Galicia revolted against the central crown in 1404. Henry III commanded a personal army and rode to León, where he was promptly assassinated by the local nobility. His wife was also slaughtered when she and her son (and heir), John, attempted to flee the scene. John was not spared and as always, a succession crisis ensued.
Ferdinand V, Henry III's brother who accompanied him on the campaign, claimed that after successfully bringing his bruised and wounded brother to safety in the woods in the mountains of northern León, Henry III, rightfully believing that John was dead, sired him as the heir to the Castilian throne, and thus he was the rightful successor to the now-deceased king. His claims were viewed with suspicion by some and while others didn't necessarily believe that his claims were fabricated, they were still wary of Ferdinand I ascending to the Castilian throne. Ferdinand I had aided Henry III in his attempts to crush particularists in the west and thus the nobility feared that he would pursue Henry III's goal of centralizing the royal domain.
Iberia in 1420.
Ferdinand rode into Toledo after squashing the remnants of the rebels in 1405. He crowned himself King, however, the dukes and counts of the surrounding areas, so discontented and enraged by the new King's actions, revolted, causing a decade long civil war known as the Noble's Feud. In the end, the Nobles won and between 1413-1419, Galicia, León, and Portugal were established as Junior Partners of Castile. The nobles were somewhat contented with these actions, though spontaneous revolts from more radical nobles continued.
The Reconquista[]
Age of Exploration and Colonization[]
In 1411, taking advantage of the Noble's Feud, Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian pirates raided and sacked the coasts of Castile. Ferdinand, in retribution, invaded the three Berber kingdoms in 1421. In a peace treaty signed in 1424, Ceuta, Melilla, Arzew, and Tibaza were ceded. While the men bickering in Ceuta were not aware of this, this decision would alter the history of the regions for history for centuries to come.
Fearing further attack, the Iberians began to strengthen their naval presence in the Mediterranean. Prince Alfanso, Duke of León, the third son of Ferdinand, supposedly constructed a School of Navigation somewhere along the Portuguese coast, though whether or not it actually existed is heavily controversial and there is much scholarly debate about the topic. Alfanso sailed west in 1424, hearing rumors from fisherman of land to the west and having read Plutarch's Parallel Lives, which may have mentioned the isles.. He arrived in Madera and set up a settlement called Puerto de madera. During the expedition, one of his vessels sailed further deeper into the ocean as Plutarch said that the men he met who told him of land to the west mentioned several islands and Madera was a single isle. They found the Azules, landing on an unspecified island and founding the settlement of Acebo azul. The colony mysteriously died when the crew left.
Alfanso continued his exploration, claiming Arguin and the Perrous Islands. By 1444, the Iberians had reached the gold coast, and by 1466, they had reached the Cape of Esperanza.In 1468, Alfanso set sail for India, he died while docking in Arguin and when his vessel set sail to dock at Seville, it mysteriously disappeared along the way. Excavations in 1994, 2005, and 2012 have revealed artifacts that were on the vessel along the beaches of Morocco. The exact fate of the expedition is unknown.
After that incident, Iberian voyages temporarily came to a halt. In 1494, the Venetian explorer Manetto Figiovanni, Bardo Albani, and the Byzantine merchant and explorer Honoratos Kurkoas, sailed to India. Despite the landmark event, the event was not celebrated as a much cheaper and shorter route could be taken through the Byzantine Sinai and Iberian support for exploration waned.
In 1504, a man named Cristoffa Corombo proposed to the Iberian monarch.
Geography[]
Political Structure[]
Economy[]
Demographics[]
Culture[]
Geopolitics[]
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