Western Europe, 1250-1300
Western Europe, 1250-1300:
(Note that other than in the first installments, I draw the border between W and E Europe not along the Iron Curtain, but along the border between Catholics and Orthodox.)
Since 1240: Christianized Volga Hungarians settle down in Hungary proper, mostly in the Banat (western Vlachia). Vlachia and Moldavia become Hungarian sphere of influence.
Fewer German settlers go to Poland (except Pomerania and Silesia), Hungary, Romania or Bulgaria. Instead, they press into Pomerania, East Prussia and (later) the Baltic.
Silesia north of Oder river becomes an area similar to OTL Kashubia during the next centuries, with a population of mixed German-Slavic culture.
1247-64:
Hessian-Thuringian war of succession. Sophie of Brabant (who's supported by the Teutonic Knights) makes sure that Hesse stays independent and goes to her son Heinrich "the Child".
ITTL he even gets a slightly bigger share, at the expense of Thuringia.
1251: Prince Vladislav of Bohemia has a son, later king Venceslaus / Vaclav II.
1252:
Pope Innocence IV allows the inquisition to use torture to get confessions.
1253:
Lithuanian leader Mindaugas christened. King Venceslaus / Vaclav I. of Bohemia dies. Vladislav inherits Bohemia, and also reigns Austria. Otakar Przemysl only gets Moravia.
Genua acquires Safi in Morocco.
Heinrich / Henryk II the Pious of Silesia, who already rules in Greater and Lesser Poland, is crowned king of Poland, first one since 1079. Although many Piast princes continue to reign in other parts of Poland, his family can keep the king's title.
1254:
Hungary "divides" Styria with young king Venceslaus / Vaclav II. Hungary gets the better part, only a few border cities become Austrian.
In the German princedom of Nassau, Count Otto I is killed after getting in trouble with the Teutonic knights. His brother Walram II gets all of Nassau.
1254-1273:
Interregnum in the HRE.
1255: Vladislav of Bohemia dies. His little son inherits Bohemia, and Austria. Otakar Przemysl administrates his lands until his adulthood.
Bavaria divided: Lower Bavaria goes to Heinrich XIII, Upper Bavaria and the Palatinate to Ludwig II.
Otakar tries to improve the situation in Styria, wages war against Hungary, but is defeated. In the next few years, he has to suppress Bohemian and Austrian nobles discontent with his rule. He becomes a bit more humble and more pragmatic in the future, looks for new allies, makes peace with the Bavarian dukes and marries Sophie of Wittelsbach.
Teutonic Order founds Herzogsberg (named after Ottokar) at the site of OTL Königsberg. Hungarian prince Stephen / Istvan marries a princess of the Volga Hungarians.
1256:
Holy Roman king Wilhelm of Holland dies. Portugal's capital moved to Lissabon.
1257:
Alfonso of Castille and Richard of Cornwall elected Holy Roman kings. Otakar Przemysl goes to Prussia, helps to suppress a big uprising of the Prussians.
1258-65:
Uprisings of the barons in England. The king has to accept the Oxford Provisions.
1259:
First German trading alliance (Lübeck, Hamburg, Rostock, Wismar), which will later develop into the Hanse.
England loses all possessions in France but Guyenne.
1260:
Saxony divided into the lines of Saxony-Wittenberg and Saxony-Lauenburg.
Prussians subjugated. Western Farther Pomerania and parts of East Prussia are already settled.
After the Mamluks took some cities in Palestine, a new crusade is planned. But since Charles of Anjou has other plans, it has to be postponed. At first, France has to recover from the war with England; then, the pope gives Charles of Anjou the kingdom of Naples, which is more important...
1261: Otakar has a son, called Heinrich.
1261/62/64:
Greenland, Iceland become Norwegian.
1262:
Hungarian prince Stephen rebels against his father, practically gets his own kingdom in Eastern Hungary.
1263:
Lithuanian leader Mindaugas murdered by his own people, who become pagan again. The stronger settlement of Germans in Prussia makes them feel threatened. Although they could probably quite successful if they hid in their dense forests, they dare to leave them and attack the Teutonic knights on their turf. This only leads to their defeat.
1266:
Scotland buys the Hebrides from Norway. Charles of Anjou comes to power in Naples-Sicily after defeating and killing regent Manfred. King Henryk of Poland dies, to be succeeded by his son (also called Henryk).
1268:
Childless duke Ulrich III of Carinthia and Carniole makes a secret contract with Otakar Przemysl, that the latter one will inherit his lands after his death (which comes next year). Konradin, last descendant of Friedrich II, killed by Charles of Anjou.
1269: Last uprising of the Prussians defeated.
1270: Germans settle everywhere in Pomerania, and in half of East Prussia. Settlement in the Baltic extended. Teutonic knights decide to subjugate the Lithuanians too.
King Bela IV of Hungary dies. French start Seventh crusade against Tunis (Palestine was planned, but Charles thinks Tunis is better - it's certainly closer to his new lands in Italy), which ends in a defeat and king Louis IX's death.
~1270:
First portolan charts (maps for sea travel).
1271:
French kings inherit Toulouse. Gregor X. elected pope.
1272:
King Stephen of Hungary dies, to be succeeded by Ladislaus / Laszlo IV.
1273:
After the death of HRE king Richard and the forced abdication of Alfonso the HRE has to elect a new king. Among the candidates are the French king Philippe III. and Otakar Przemysl of Moravia and Carinthia. ITTL, he isn't absent from the election and can influence it better. The other princes also consider him less dangerous since his nephew reigns independent from him. Since his nephew, the elector of Bohemia, votes for him, the Upper Bavarian duke Ludwig II and the three archbishops support him too, he is elected king Ottokar I of the HRE.
1275: Emperor Ottokar leads the Empire against Hungary, defeats the new king and gets Styria back for the HRE. Styria is divided: Western Styria becomes part of Austria (thus connecting the Przemysls' possessions), the rest (two thirds) go to (Upper) Bavaria.
1276:
Philippe III of France fights Castille for reasons of succession, without success.
1276 or 1290:
Marsilius of Padua born.
1277: Zemgale and Samogitia conquered by the Teutonic knights.
Despite the dangerous situation in the crusader cities, Charles of Anjou conquers them and makes himself king of Jerusalem.
1280: German settlement everywhere through Danzig and East Prussia.
1281: Teutonic Order moves from Akko to Venice.
1282:
Sicilian vespers. All French on the island killed, Sicily becomes part of Aragon. Magna Charta in Denmark.
1284:
Wales annexed by England. Genua defeats Pisa, acquires Corsica, Elba and Sardinia.
1285:
William of Ockham born. Aragonese crusade as revenge for Sicilian vespers, with no success.
1286:
The "maid of Norway" doesn't drown, arrives in Scotland. Otakar Przemysl dies. The two Przemyslid heirs, Wenzel / Vaclav and Heinrich are still too unexperienced to play an important role in the HRE, which the other princes don't exactly dislike. Rudolf of Habsburg elected new king.
1287:
Great flood swallows lots of lands in the Netherlands, creating the Zuider Zee, which makes it possible for Amsterdam to become an important harbor later.
1288:
Gotland becomes Swedish.
1289: Lithuania subjugated and administered by the Teutonic knights. (Sorry, legolas!) Later becomes the province of Littauen. At the moment, however, the Teutonic knights are mostly restricted to the valley of Memel / Nyemen river.
1290:
Jews evicted from England. In Scotland, the young queen (nine years) dies. King Edward I of England interferes for the succession, Balliol becomes new king.
Andras III becomes the last king of the Arpad dynasty in Hungary.
1291:
Rudolf of Habsburg dies. The Ascanian Otto IV. of Brandenburg becomes new king of the HRE.
The first three cantons of Switzerland make an anti-Habsburg alliance. Tarifa in Morocco conquered by Castille.
1294:
Pope Coelestin V, a former eremite, elected, but resigns in the same year. His successor Boniface is quite the opposite of him.
1296: Auld Alliance between France and Scotland (everything happens one year later than OTL).
1297:
King Philippe IV the Fair attacks Flanders. War between England and Scotland begins.
1298: Scottish uprisings under William Wallace.
1300: Another Lithuanian uprising defeated.
Meanwhile in America:
1299:
Cocoxtli, ruler of Culhuacan, allows the Mexica / Aztecs to settle in Tizapan.
[post=556901]Read a little story here...[/post]
And here's an attachment showing Hungary and its sphere of influence at its height: