Chaos TL: A world without Genghis Khan's conquests (finished!)

[Max Sinister]

Northern and Western Europe 1350-1400

@Professor: I'll do a map in the post for Eastern Europe, which will be the second next one.
@srv fan: Thx.

Northern and Western Europe [1] 1350-1400:

1345: Scotland enters the war against England, hoping to get the lost lands back.

1350: Battle of Blaye, Aquitaine (50 km north of Bordeaux). Another victory for the English.

since 1350: The Canary islands are missionarized by Aragonese, after being (re-)discovered earlier.

1350-75: Due to growing demand for food, Denmark, Norway, Scotland, England, Brittany, Navarre and Portugal extend fishery in the North Atlantic, going farther and farther west. Soon, tales of strange islands in the far west start to spread.

1351: Peasants' revolts in France start, making it even more difficult to fight the English.

1352: After sultan Yusuf of Granada misses to pay one tribute in time, Castille attacks and conquers the country. The last hold of the Muslims in Iberia has fallen. The Reconquista is over, now the Conquista begins.
Sweden conquers Skane (South Sweden) from Denmark.

1353: France has to make peace with England after the defeat in the battle of Caen. John of Montfort becomes duke of Brittany, England gets all of Gascony (similar as in the peace of OTL 1360), Flanders acquires the Artois.

1354: Free to make war against Scotland, the English defeat them soon. The pre-war border is restored.

1355: The French queen Isabelle deposes her incompetent husband, makes her son Jean king. (He planned to give several duchies from the crown's domain to his sons, as appanage. If that plan had been realized, the French kings would've lost half of their power, since he had no less than four surviving sons. Instead, the queen promises them lands that have yet to be conquered, in the English territory.) Portuguese king Fernando deposed because of unspeakable cruelty, his younger brother Diniz II takes the power.

1360: Juan, unpopular king of Castille, deposed by his brother Pedro with English help. Start of English-Castillian friendship.

since 1360: After coming of age, Danish king Henrik tries to subdue his vassals, especially mighty Holstein, but is defeated and loses most power. Jutland is now completely under Holstein's control.

1361-64: Hanse defeats Sweden-Norway in a trade war.

1363: Castille takes over the Canaries, starts to settle them in the following decades.

1365: Norwegians are unhappy with king Magnus, make David of Scotland king instead.

1366: Burgundy comes to France. In the same year, the French start the war against England again. Since they have learned how devastating the English / Welsh longbows are, they avoid open fight - with success.

1368: Famine in Western Europe. Growing unrest (again!) in France hampers the war against England.

1370: The pope Clemens VII agrees after diplomatic pressure (and because the growing unrest in Italy endangers the Papal state) to return to Rome.

1381: The Danish prince Harald goes on a journey with some fishermen, interested in their tales of lands in the west. They land in Newfoundland (later named Prince-Haralds-Land), meeting some Indians. Prince Harald claims the land in the name of the Danish king, returns to Europe together with some Indians, presenting them the astonished courts of Europe. In the following years, several other ships will go to the New World, return with plants and animals. After the first curiosity has ebbed, people in Europe mostly don't care about anymore, though. A few fishermen make settlement on Prince-Haralds-Land, Cape Cod and Manhattan, but that's all for the moment. The Indians still influence scholars - before, people thought that humans in far away countries might have no heads and a face on the belly, or wolf's heads, or a single giant foot, which obviously isn't the case. Some people start to wonder how the lands might look like.
Portugal conquers the city of Ceuta. They start exploring the West African coast, looking for a route to Mali with its famous riches of gold.

1383: Another famine in Western Europe.

1384: Not to be outdone, Castille attacks Morocco, conquers Melilla and Tétouan.

1385: England and France make peace again. The English lose what they conquered in the last war, back to the borders of 1340.

1387: Prince Harald makes a second journey to America, coming as far as Manhattan this time. A scholar who accompanied him brings an interesting new weed to Europe - the tobacco.

1392: Portugal discovers and takes claim of Madeira. (Well, here again it's very possible that the Genoese were there before...)

1394: Yet another famine in Western Europe.

1396: Black Death arrives in Denmark, France.

1397/98: Scandinavia, Iberia (except Aragon) and England are struck by Black Death.

1399: Black Death strikes Scotland.

1400: Ireland is hit by the Black Death.

As a fast result of the Black Death, two new addictions spread through Europe: Liquor, known by the alchemists for longer time already, is (mis-)used as a cure against the plague. So is tobacco, which is brought from the New World and sold for high prices.
The Jews have to suffer under pogroms ITTL too. Many have to flee from their places, especially in Castille and Germany.

Americans, check this out: [post=606030]The (longer) story about the discovery of your continent[/post]!

[1] ...and America...

 

[Max Sinister]

East Asia 1350-1400

@Straha: Map for Europe comes with the next post. Map for the New World a bit later. Asia... not too difficult to imagine. China's reunited, India split into Delhi Sultanate (North) and Vijayanagar (South), and in SE Asia there's the new Thai kingdom.


History of East Asia 1350-1400:

1352 (Yang Water Dragon): Black Death hits Dali in SW China.

1353-59 (Yin Water Snake / Yin Earth Pig): Black Death sweeps through North China.

1355: Pagan empire struck by Black Death.

1355/56 (Yin Wood Sheep / Yang Fire Monkey): Hong emperor strikes against Yangtse kingdom, divides it in two, then makes peace.

1357-60 (Yin Fire Chicken / Yang Metal Rat): Hong emperor makes war against South Chinese coast kingdom, conquers Wengzhou, thereby dividing his strongest two enemies.

1358 (Yang Earth Dog): Jin empire demands from Hong emperor to pay tribute. He gives in, for the moment.
Black Death reaches Annam.

1360: Khmer hit by Black Death.

1362: Black Death in Goryeo.

1362-66 (Yang Water Tiger / Yang Fire Horse): Hong emperor conquers upper Yangtse kingdom, Szechuan kingdom and Dali kingdom (the latter one wasn't Chinese yet).

1363: Lao kingdom of Lan Xang or Lan Ch'ang established.

1363/64: Black Death brought to Japan by ships.

1364: Death of Gajah Mada, who reigned as Majapahit's prime minister since 1331, dies. Under his government, Majapahit extended over most of OTL Indonesia's territory.

1365-71: Black Death sweeps through Sultanate of Delhi.

1366: Srivijaya conquered by Majapahit.

1367 (Yin Fire Sheep): Border war of Hong and Pagan; the first ones are victorious, Pagan has to give conquered Chinese lands back and has to pay tribute.

1369 (Yin Earth Chicken): Lower Yangtse kingdom conquered by Hong.
In Goryeo, the king gets rid of the Choe family that was the real power behind the throne for more than a century.

1370: Japanese Emperor breaks free from the H?j? Shogun, Muromachi time ends. Soon however, the Hatti family takes the post of Shogun and the power again.

1371-75 (Yin Metal Pig / Yin Wood Rabbit): Hong emperor makes war against South Chinese coast kingdom. At first, the war is lead by land, but since the army of Hong isn't making progress fast enough, Hong starts to build a fleet of cannon-armed junks which bombard Canton and other cities. South China is united again.

1372-75: Various South Indian states are struck by the Black Death.

1376 (Yang Fire Dragon): Annam becomes a Hong tributary. Champa throws off Annam's influence.

1379: When Khmer try to subjugate Lan Xang again, the Laots ask Hong China for help. Khmer empire has to back off.

1380: Nepal united for the first time.

1381 (Yin Metal Chicken): Hong China stops paying tribute to the Jin. A new war starts. It proves now, however, that Jin China, although it seemed to be strong on the outside, it depends too much on mercenaries.

1382: In Thailand, Sukhothai has to submit to Ayutthaya.

1384 (Yang Wood Rat): Hong emperor makes peace because unrest in Szechuan, southern provinces demand his undivided attention. Jin China cedes Kaifeng, Luoyang.

1385 (Yin Wood Ox): First campaign against Japanese pirates around Taiwan.
Hong China and Annam make Champa a tributary again.

1387 (Yin Fire Rabbit): War between Hong and Jin starts again.

1390: First war of the many that will follow between Ayutthaya and Khmer.
Goryeo enters the war on Hong China's side against Jin.

1392 (Yang Water Monkey): Hong conquers Beijing, Jin empire destroyed. The surviving Jin leaders are decapitated. The emperor decides that the Great Wall is to be repaired and extended.

1394 (Yang Wood Dog): Hong emperor destroys Japanese pirates, sends his ships to Japan, which has to give him proper respect. This is the first of many journeys his ships will make, to show the world that China is united and strong again.

~1400: Melaka / Malacca founded.

[post=608780]A short historical comment here[/post]

 

[Max Sinister]

Eastern Europe 1350-1400

Sorry folks, I know I promised a map - but the euratlas maps are too difficult to work with Paint. I'll do the 1400 map at the weekend and post it with the next update on late Sunday.

Eastern Europe 1350-1400:

Retcon first:
1270: Aleksandr (OTL Nevsky) goes to Chernigov to fight against the Kumans under Baibars, who became more powerful recently.

until 1350s: Hungary extends its influence over the western Kumans (west of the Dniepr).

Since ~1350: Vladimir-Suzdal and later Chernigov start to expand into the woodlands between Volga and Ural (the former) and the area between the triangle Ryazan-Volgograd-Samara (the latter). The Muslim or pagan people living there are converted by force and assimilated, or killed and displaced.

1360: Teutonic Order buys Estonia from Denmark (the king needs money for his war against the vassals).

1375: In an alliance with Hungary, the Teutonic Order conquers the princedom of Halicz-Volhyn, which is divided between them. The Teutonic part is object of German immigration and germanization too, and later forms the province of Wolhynien. Some Volhynians flee to the princedom of Kiev, which gains in importance by their influx.

1380s: When steppe people leader Arik-Buqa drives the Kara-Kitai and other Siberian people west, they also harass the Volga area. Eastern Russian princes make Vsevolod V Yuryevich of Vladimir-Suzdal their leader, to fight them.

1381: The western and south-western states from Smolensk to Chernigov elect the most popular of them, prince Vladimir V Rostislavich of Kiev, their leader, seeking protection against the Teutonic Order, the Kumans and the Hungarians.

1383: The patriarch of Kiev crowns Vladimir V Czar of all Rus. The difference between the South / West and Vladimir-Suzdal that already was apparent becomes even more outspoken. Main reason: While the West had to deal mainly with the Teutonic Order (and Novgorod in addition with Sweden), and the South with the Kumans, who had to retreat from the arriving Kara-Kitai (who fled again before Arik-Buqa, it's complicated...), Vladimir and its allies looked more to the East, where the Volga Bulgarians and Hungarians are.

1388: Russian schism begins, when the metropolitan of Vladimir and the patriarch of Kiev excommunicate each other, driven by the Czar / Grand Prince of Vladimir respectively.

1394-96: Black Death sweeps through Southern Russian states.

1397: Western Russian states struck by Black Death.

1397-1401: Novgorod hit by Black Death.

1399-1402: Black Death reaches Vladimir-Suzdal and other eastern Russian states.

[post=613067]Read a historical comment here[/post]

 

[Max Sinister]

14th century: History of science, summary, MAP!

History of science in the 14th century:

1319: Robert of Oldham discovers Law of exponential growth / compounded interest.

1320: Kamal al-Din Abul Hasan Muhammad Al-Farisi, Persian mathematician and physicist, dies.

1344: Death of Rabbi Levi ben Gershon, who wrote "Book of Numbers" in 1321 dealing with arithmetical operations, including extraction of roots, and "On Sines, Chords and Arcs", which examined trigonometry, in 1344.

1348: Displaced Constantinopolitans help founding a Platonic Academy in Florence. Knowledge of Greek spreads through Italy.

1367: James of Crawley shows that it's easier (and thus, according to Ockham's razor more probable) that Earth moves, instead of the heaven(s).

General state of the art:

Western Europe: Ockham's conciliarism is widespread among intellectuals who wish for a church reform. Realism has lost against Nominalism in philosophy. Kinematics distinguished from dynamics in physics. "The Law of Falling Bodies" documented in Oxford. First ideas about stochastics.
Humanism ideal lives. Artists invented the Central perspective. No printing yet, however. Humanist education lives up - kids may wear nice clothes instead of cowls, there's less corporal punishment and unnecessary praying, and they may play games. The progresses in art and education and the humanism are restricted mostly to Northern Italy, the scientific progress to England. And unfortunately, some of the humanists also read hermetic (ie: esoteric) books. The more extremes tend to a neo-platonistic or even neo-pagan religion (secretly, of course).

Islamic World: Tables of trigonometric functions which are correct to 8 decimal places of accuracy. Symbols in algebra introduced. Value of Pi calculated to 15 decimal places. One scholar calculates a model for the solar system, including elliptical orbits.

India: Kerala School founded by Madhava of Sangamagrama. They make a lot of progresses in Mathematics, among many others:
# Mathematical operations with zero.
# Infinite series expansions of functions.
# Power series.
# Taylor series.
# Maclaurin series.
# Trigonometric series.
# A rule to calculate approximate values of square roots.

China: The breakdown of the united Song state hampered science a lot. After the rebuilding of schools and libraries starts in 1375, however, soon new discoveries are made. Before the breakdown, calculating square roots is discovered.

Summary of the 14th century:
East Asia: China breaks apart, but is reunited under the Hong dynasty. The leader of the steppe people Arik-Buqa plagues North China and Choresm, drives some Siberians to the west.
Muslim World: Choresm falls apart after Shiite revolts, Persia becomes independent. The Rum-Seljuks conquer Syria, Balcans.
Eastern Europe: The Teutonic Order conquers several Russian princedoms. Serbia becomes independent for a short time. Russian schism, antagonists Vladimir and Kiev.
Western and Central Europe: English-French War(s). Rise of Switzerland. Several dynasties competing in the HRE. Scotland-Norway. Reconquista finished.
Rest of the World: America discovered by Danes. Aztecs start to rise.

About the map:
- Everything in black is clerical land: Papal state, Teutonic Order, and many bishopry in the HRE.
- Small states are white.
- The beggar's republics and Bohemia are in the same shade of gray.
- In Italy, colored states are: Savoy, Genoa, Venice, Florence, Naples.
- In Germany, colored states are: Brandenburg, Pomerania, the Swiss confederation, Holland-Flanders, the various Bavarian / Wittelsbach lands
- In Russia, two colored areas stand for states (Novgorod republic in the NW, Smolensk in the west), and the other two for states and their area of influence (Kiev, Chernigov and so on in the South, Vladimir-Suzdal in the East)

The first two centuries since the POD are done! Now let's go on...

 

[Max Sinister]

Central Europe 1400-50

Retcon:
1368: After the defeat of king Henrik's forces in Denmark against the mighty nobles, some of them flee to Bornholm, forming the Bornholm brotherhood, starting piracy in the Baltic.

Central Europe 1400-50:

1401-07: Great Reform council of Geneva. After a century full of famines and corrupt popes, and the recent experience of the Black Death, everyone agrees that the church has to reform. Since the church can't possibly control the flagellant movement, and has the warning example of the beggar's republics before its eyes, even the church leaders agree. As one contemporary describes it, "the pope is trembling before the rightful wrath of the believers". The council decides the following reforms:
- Selling indulgences is forbidden. Some reformers propose that the jubilee is restricted to once per 50 or 100 years, but they don't succeed.
- Some of the worst offenders in the church are defrocked.
- Number of benefices per cleric is restricted.
- The pope has to return to Rome (the Italians insisted particularly on that).
- The kings succeed insofar as they have to give the church less money.
- The liturgy isn't reformed, however, and the translation of the bible stays forbidden.
For the first half of the 15th century, the popes and bishops are more respectable than before. The Seljuk threat also helps to make Catholic Christianity feel united again.

1401: Holy Roman Emperor Gerhard of Holstein crushes the beggar's republic of Utrecht, adding it to his empire.

1402: The new continent in the west is mentioned for the first time in a document under the name it finally gets: Atlantis (ITTL, the works of Platon are read more often among the educated Western Europeans).

1404: Florence invades the beggar's republic of Parma, annexing it.
Poland attacks the Teutonic Order, wins the first Teutonic-Polish war; Pommerellen (with access to the sea) becomes Polish.

1406: Emperor Gerhard is murdered by a Danish nobleman, who hates the all-powerful Germans.

1407: Maffeo Servitore, a cunning Florentine diplomat, sees the weakness of the divided Northern Italy, so he devises a plan. Meeting with the rulers of Savoy and Venice, all of Northern Italy except Genoa is divided into spheres of influences, which said three states may conquer. Otherwise, the big three are supposed to live in peace. Until the 1430s, this is what happens: The little city states (which are near collapse after the difficult 14th century) of Northern Italy are "mopped up". As a result, many Italians leave their country (especially from Pisa and Milan), going to France and Aragon, and some other states too, spreading Italian art.
Hanseatic League defeats the Bornholm brotherhood of pirates, who flee partly to Norway, partly to Frisia.

1408: Duke Ottokar of Austria (and titular king of Bohemia) asks the Roman king to conquer Bohemia back for him. When king Gerhard declines, Ottokar has himself elected anti-king with Bavarian help and starts a war against Bohemia. In 1413, after his armies have been defeated severely several times by the Czech leader Prokop, he puts down the crown again and apologizes.

1414: Holland, important for its trade, gets the eighth electoral vote in the HRE.

1419: Roman king Gerhard II is crowned emperor and also appoints himself king of the Netherlands (which include Holland, Zeeland, Hennegau and Utrecht at that time), with the pope's OK.

1421/22: Swabish War in the HRE. The Empire proves unable to force Switzerland and its allies of the South German city league back into the fold.

1426: Boleslaw VI of Poland and Birger II Eriksson ally against the Teutonic Order. 1432 they are victorious again; Poland keeps its conquests from the last war and also gets Wolhynien, Sweden gets Estonia (that's only the northern half of OTL Estonia, though).

1430: Emperor Gerhard dies. His lands are divided: His older son Gerhard becomes king of the Netherlands and Roman king, Heinrich becomes king of Denmark. This leads to some trouble in Atlantis. The Hanseatic League also sees more internal competition: The cities in Holstein compete with the Dutch and Flemish cities, and the cities in the Baltic (and also those in OTL Hanover) stand aside a bit.
Vaclav IV elected new king in Bohemia (-1471). His government better shouldn't be mentioned in more secular times: Living completely with his head in the clouds, he claims to listen to God and the angels. Historians of later times claim that he simply suffered under a heavy schizophrenia. Under his reign, Bohemia is transformed into what one can only call a theocracy, with horrible results for their arts, science, economy and diplomacy.

1430-35: Savoy invades the republic of Genoa, annexing it. The duke treats the conquered city relatively well, though; he wants to use it to become a power in the Med, too.
Venice annexes the patriarchate of Aquileia (part of the HRE).

1432: After the death of childless king Zsigmond II of Hungary, the nobles elect Karl von Hessen new king.

1435: King Gerhard is defeated by the Frisians under chief (yes, they had chiefs) Enno of the Cirksena family when he tries to conquer their lands.

1442: A primitive kind of printing is developed in Antwerp, center of cloth printing. It has no movable letters, but uses wood blocks instead. Thanks to government contracts, the new technology soon spreads through the Netherlands.

1444: Venice and Aragon defeat Florence, fearing its economical competition, destroy its fleet, force it to sign an "everlasting treaty" forbidding Florence's ships to go to ANY harbor in Europe or the Mediterranean (except those on its own territory). In addition, Florence has to pay a big sum of money. Florence offers the winners to give them Corsica instead, but they are not interested.

[post=620450]Short story here...[/post]

 

[Max Sinister]

Middle East 1400-1450

Middle East 1400-1450:

1402: Rum-Seljuks make an alliance with the Barbary pirates of North Africa. Their first combined strike goes against Genoa, which loses its islands in the Agaean Sea.

1406: Rum-Seljuks try to conquer Montenegro and are surprisingly beaten back by the Montenegrins.

1409/10: Rum-Seljuks conquer the Peloponnes, plus the Venetian islands in the Aegaean Sea. A bit later, the Ionian islands also fall.

1414-18: For the first time for centuries, people in Europe are horrified again of "Asian hordes": A Seljuk-Barbary fleet crosses the Adria, lands near Taranto / Otranto, sweeps through Apulia. The king of Naples is horrified and asks anyone he can contact for help. Not that successful: France is still locked in a hard war with England and Castille; the Hungarian king would actually like to help, but the powerful nobles forbid him to send an army south while Hungary proper is threatened; the northern Italian states are busy mopping up the smaller states in the region. The pope calls for a crusade, but even that doesn't help much. Being desperate, the king makes an alliance with Naples' old enemy, Aragon, ceding Sicily officially, for once and ever, to them. The new alliance manages to defeat the Seljuks in the South. Especially their cannons help them a lot to reconquer the cities. Only Taranto and Bari in Apulia are held by the Seljuks. In 1418, an armistice is made - but both sides plan to restart war, when the time is right.

1425-36: The Great Napolitan War. After the Seljuks managed to hire an expatriate Italian willing to equip their army with cannons, they restart the war.

1426: King Ferran of Aragon takes Oran for Christianity.

1427: France enters the war on Naples' side.

1429: Circass dynasty comes to power in Egypt.

1431: After the French almost managed to defeat the Rum-Seljuks, the latter are exceptionally lucky: During the battle, the king is captured. He has to promise to leave the war to be released again. Now the tides of war turn again.

1436: The greater part of Naples becomes Seljuk. Only the western third with Pescara, Benevent, and Naples itself survives as a tributary.

1440s: The Carbonari (charburners), the anti-Seljuk resistance in Naples, start to form.

1441: Palestine (including the Sinai) becomes Seljuk.

1445: The Holy Cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, accept the Rum-Seljuk sultan as Caliph.

1448: Venice loses Dalmatia to the Seljuks, only keeps Istria.

And while we're talking about the Muslims, one retcon for them, i.e. their science:

During the 14th century, in Damascus (famous for its glassworks) prisms are used to discover the spectral nature of light.
Furthermore, the Muslims also discover the laws of falling.

[post=623622]Read "Elegy of the Seljuk storm" here...[/post]

 

[Max Sinister]

Western / Northern Europe and Atlantis 1400-50

Thanks Scarecrow. I'll write more about the Seljuks - later, however.

And here's Western / Northern Europe and Atlantis 1400-50:

Since ~1400: Europeans take up more or less regular trade contact with America / Atlantis. While they only import tobacco first (which isn't smoked ITTL first, but burned and inhaled instead, and mostly used as a medicine), the Europeans soon discover the value of beaver and raccoon pelts. Since the natives (called Atlanteans, what else) don't have much gold, the Europeans aren't too keen on extending their discoveries at the moment, only go as far south as OTL Virginia. At the beginning, the trade is in the hands of the Hanseatic League, which helps the princes of Holstein-Holland-Hennegau to become pretty rich.

1409: Robert, the younger brother of king David of Scotland-Norway, tries to conspire with some Norwegians to become king of Norway himself - without success.

1410: Portugal has restarted its discoveries after the shock of the Black Death, reaches Cabo Nao (important because the Arabs never sailed further south than here).

1414: England under new king Richard III makes alliances with Castille and the Netherlands, attacks France again.

1416: Robert of Scotland tries to murder his brother, but his conspiracy is prevented, and he is incarcerated for the rest of his life. (Unfortunately for him, he'll become 80 years old.)

1417: After the death of king Harald, his brother governs Denmark until his nephew Erik VIII comes to age. Now however, Holy Roman Emperor Gerhard II (who already owns Jutland as a fief) conspires with the regent's younger brother, eventually taking power in Denmark for himself.

1418: Portugal discovers, claims and later settles the Azores.

1421: France makes a seperate peace with the Netherlands, giving emperor Gerhard Flanders, which is incorporated into the Netherlands. Now, the tides turn again: Storming the conquered cities with cannons and relying on their greater manpower, the French slowly drive the allied English and Castillians back.
After the death of Pedro II the Cruel of Portugal, the country descends into Civil War.

1424: The Cortes, the Castillian estates, protest the high costs and low results of the war. King Pedro is sorry about it, but has to leave the war too. He has better things to do: Interfere in the Portuguese Civil War, where the sons of unpopular king Pedro II fought against each other after his death. At the end, Pedro of Castille becomes new king of Portugal, and the two sons become princes of North and South Portugal respectively. By using this division, Castillian kings can keep Portugal under control, although they have to respect Portuguese rights.

1426: Scotland decides to follow the Danes & Dutch on their trips, establishes colonies around Cape Cod, which is called New Scotland ITTL.
When the pope and the Anjou king of Naples asks the French king for a crusade against the Seljuks, king Charles IV agrees. He makes peace with the English, leaving Guyenne in their hands; king Richard III has to accept it as a fief, though.

1430: To get rid of the mighty nobles in Castille, king Pedro III tells them to go on a crusade to Morocco, which is subjugated during the next 20 years.

1430s: Unrest among the peasants in England, which keeps the king and the nobles busy. The unrest is also religiously motivated - a William Aston translated the bible into English.

1434: Portuguese discoveries (which suffered due to the Civil War) restarted again. At the moment, they have reached Cape Bojador, which is believed to be impassable.

1435: Black Death hits the New World, destroying some small European settlements too; other trade places have to be given up, since the Atlantean trade partners have died or don't want to have contact with the Europeans anymore. They now concentrate on a few places: Haraldsland (Newfoundland), New Jutland (Nova Scotia), Prince-Harald-Island (Manhattan), Nieuw Zeeland (Atlantic City island), plus the Scottish-Norwegian colony on Martha's Vineyard.

1438: The kings of Denmark and the Netherlands finally agree for a compromise in the New World, negotiated by the pope: Denmark keeps the northern colonies (Prince-Harald-Island, Haraldsland, New Jutland), which are extended with time over the whole OTL Canadian Maritimes and the Hudson valley. The Netherlands get the Southern colony of Nieuw Zeeland and are allowed to colonize the lands further South.

1439: Brittany gets a pro-French ruler, eventually returning to the fold.

1440s: Portuguese start slave trade between Africa and Atlantis. At this time, the slaves are mostly captured Muslims from Morocco.

1441: Mayapan destroyed (no Europeans involved).

1449: Portuguese captains manage to sail around Cape Bojador, which was believed to be the last safe point you can sail to. Now they've proven the opposite. The way around Africa is opened.
In Portugal, a revolt against the rule of Castillian king Pedro starts.

[post=628287]Read about some Atlantean business here![/post]

 

[Max Sinister]

East Asia 1400-50

@Scarecrow: Thx! Although I don't know about uppowoc, it sounds a bit silly... you don't know by accident how other native Americans called it, maybe a bit further north?
@SteveW: Thx too. Well, let's see. Holland has a disadvantage, it sits next to the then-800 pound gorilla, ie France... that's a problem...

And here's East Asia 1400-50:

1394 (3091, Yang Wood Dog): Ryukyu Islands annexed by China.

15th century generally: Sultanate of Brunei starts to expand over Borneo.
Hong China sends caravans along the Silk Road to Choresm, starting diplomatic relations.

Since 1400: Japanese start copying Chinese arms (bamboo guns, cannons) - the first ones are smuggled in - , and improving them.

1400-02 (3097, Yang Metal Dragon / 3099, Yang Water Horse): First voyage of Chinese Treasure Ships. They travel to Pasai (Sumatra), Melaka, Ayutthaya, Khmer, Pagan, to arrive in Calicut.

1403 (3100, Yin Water Sheep): China establishes a trade post at Aparri, Luzon, OTL Philippines.

1404-06 (3101, Yang Wood Monkey / 3103, Yang Fire Dog): Second voyage of Chinese Treasure Ships. They travel to Calicut again, and also visit Sri Lanka, which king accepts the Hong as supreme rulers.

1407-09 (3104, Yin Fire Pig / 3106, Yin Earth Ox): Third voyage of Chinese Treasure Ships. This time they go east, to Brunei, Majapahit, and even discover the north coast of Australia (although they aren't interested in the latter).

1408 (3105, Yang Earth Rat): The ruler of Melaka (Malacca) marries a Chinese noblewoman, starts paying a small tribute to China. This is one of many signs of the cultural changes brought to SE Asia by the Chinese.

1410s: Mongol incursions under Baraq Khan on Chinese territory force the Chinese to interfere. They support the Merkites, splitting their enemies in two.

1416-19 (3113, Yang Fire Monkey / 3116, Yin Earth Pig): The great voyage: Chinese Treasure Ships go to Hormuz, visit Persia and open diplomatic relations, and a part of them sails down the African coast to Mozambique. Following them, Chinese merchants open new trade connections. Although under the Hong trade is still somewhat despised, they tend to accept it as a necessary evil - especially since to revenue isn't something to sneer upon.

1419: Grand Canal between South and North China renewed.

1420s: Civil War in Majapahit. China intervenes here, too. By playing out the empires of Melaka and Majapahit agaisnt each other, they put sure that neither gains the upper hand.

1421: Deccan Sultanate becomes independent from Delhi Sultanate.

1425/26 (3122, Yin Wood Snake / 3123, Yang Fire Horse): Annamese uprising defeated.

1430s: Inner conflicts in Pagan split the country in two halfs. One of them, the Pegu dynasty (from the city with the same name), asks Hong China for help, gaining control of the rest of OTL Burma. China's sphere of influence now borders India.

1439 (3136, Yang Earth Horse): A general in Goryeo topples the king, adopts Confucianism as new state religion.

1446 (3143, Yang Wood Tiger): Thai conquer Angkor Wat, threaten to destroy the Khmer empire. Khmer appeal to the Hong Emperor to help them. The emperor agrees, threatens Thai; when the latter refuse, war starts in 1447 (3144, Yin Wood Rabbit).

1450 (3147, Yang Metal Horse): Thai are defeated, have to pay tribute to China.

[post=636313]Read about some detail about the Treasure Ships of the Hong...[/post]

 

[Max Sinister]

Eastern Europe 1400-50

Eastern Europe 1400-50:

1409: Last Rostislavich ruler of Kiev dies.

1413-22: Vladimir-Suzdal wants to solve the Russian schism by war, but Kiev and Chernigov ally with Novgorod and Smolensk against it, and manage to win. Vladimir-Suzdal has to acknowledge the patriarch of Kiev as leader of the Orthodox church again. The schism is thus ended.

1431: Since Hungary has trouble with the Bohemian theocracy, and the current king isn't that competent, Kiev manages to conquer back the areas Hungary took from Halich-Volhyn in 1375.

1432-35: Poland conquers the princedom of Smolensk. Since the anti-Vladimir coalition fell apart already, nobody in the Russian states helps them.

Sorry, I really hadn't more ideas.

Read: [post=640833]A crazy, but not completely useless idea I used for the development of Russian civilization[/post]

 

[Max Sinister]

Middle East 1450-1500

@HelloLegend: Ming and Qing are butterflied away ITTL. The Jurchen / Manchu may still play a role in the future (but I won't tell more ). Thanks for the tip about the Niohuru family. About the Jurchen empire conquering the Sung, I don't know - their empire looked strong, but had problems within either. And I don't expect them to survive the catastrophe of the Black Death.

Why I didn't kill Genghis off immediately? Don't know anymore, I had the idea some years ago... maybe because I wanted to write a death scene for him (see [post=533587]Stories[/post]), maybe because I could start the TL in 1200 by that way (I don't know much about medieval times, and I didn't want to waste too much time on it, and besides, 1200 is a nice number), maybe because it would be interesting to see what his sons would do... anyway.

And here's Middle East 1450-1500:

1450/51: After a short war with Egypt, where they demonstrate their military power (cannons, large standing army), the Seljuks make the former one a tributary. Now Persia is the only other major Muslim power left.

1453: Aragonese troops land in Calabria, win some battles in the beginning. When the main army of the Seljuks arrives, they're beaten back to Sicily, however. In 1455, the Seljuks land on Sicily, conquering it completely in 1456.

1459-61: Naples completely subjugated by Seljuks. Everyone fears that the Papal states will be attacked next. The helpless pope flees to Avignon. So does king Charles / Carlo V.

1466: The infamous Sacco di Roma happens. In the following years, the church loses a lot of power to the various state governments (whether monarchical, republican or something in between). Castille-Portugal sends troops to Italy to fight for the pope.

1472: After lots of fighting, the Seljuks keep Latium, calling themselves from now on "rulers of both Romes". Despite the fact that the sultan is disappointed how insignificant Rome has become. The eastern parts of the Papal states become the Duchy/Protectorate of the Marches, theoretically still under the pope, de facto under the duke of Alba (Castille). Although noone says it loud, the pope and the other church leaders are quite content in Avignon and don't care that much about Rome anymore.

1477: Johannite knights defeated, Rhodes becomes Seljuk. The Castillian-Portuguese king gives them new home in Granada.

1480-1492: Seljuks break Hungary up, leaving only Slovakia and the western third to the king. The center and Croatia are annexed, Transsylvania becomes a tributary.

1496: Cyprus conquered by Rum-Seljuks.

[post=644533]Read the stories of/by some refugees from the Seljuks...[/post]

And since I forgot it last time, here's:
15th century, rest of the world:

Since ~1400: Power of Mali Empire begins to crumble, its former vassals (like Songhay / Gao) gain more power.

1417: The sultan of Malindi (OTL Kenya) receives Chinese diplomats.

1430-50: After the Castillian conquest of Morocco, some Moroccans start to flee South, to Mauretania or even Timbuktu.

~1440: Coffee is drunk for the first time outside Ethiopia.

1465: Songhay takes Timbuktu.

1472: Mai (=ruler title) Ali Dunamami defeats his rivals and begins the consolidation of Kanem-Bornu. He builds a fortified capital at Ngazargamu, to the west of Lake Chad, the first permanent home a Sayfawa (=his dynasty) mai has enjoyed in a century.

~1500: Mai Ali Gaji is able to defeat the Bulala and retake Njimi, the former capital.

15th century: Kingdom of Benin (in OTL SW Nigeria) starts to flourish. They're approached by Europeans in 1488.
Great Zimbabwe starts to fall apart. The city is given up.
Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia organizes the state into the provinces of Tigray (northern), Amhara (central) and Shewa (southern).
Loanga kingdom (OTL Republic of Congo) founded.

 

[Max Sinister]

Western / Northern Europe and Atlantis 1450-1500

@Toco: They had a small share of the South Coast though, at Sinop. And yes, they conquered Crimea in 1225 IOTL.

And here's Western / Northern Europe and Atlantis 1450-1500:

Since 1450: The invention of the caravel in Portugal further helps developing oversea trade and colonization.
The Dutch sail down the coast of Atlantis, found settlements (trading places) in Carolina, Georgia.
After the improvements in the first half of the century, the church gradually becomes more corrupt. The riches the Castillians took in Morocco already increased their wishes, and when their share from Atlantis and Africa is rolling in, they're demanding even more.

1453: Since the princes of North and South Portugal can't agree who should reign, Castille can impose its rule again - although the king again has to swear to accept Portuguese rights.

1455: King Louis XII of France has his completely mad younger brother Philippe (also duke of Bourbon) killed. The nobles (including the royal sidelines, and old king Richard III of England, who's talked by his advisors into it) who are already concerned with the growing power of the king, use this accident to rebel against him.

1456: Florentine traders arrive in Portuguese Tangiers (it's neither in Europe nor in the Med...) where they see the new sailing ships.

1460: French Civil War ends, Louis' other brother Charles becomes king. He has to grant the other dukes a lot of power, however, which makes them practically independent.
The Danish discoverer Anders Christensen explores the Hudson valley (later, OTL upstate New York is named Anderland after him).
The ambitious duke Bernhard I of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, who inherited most lands of the Welfs, founds a colony in Atlantis at the site of Philadelphia, called Martinsburg (with the help of the Hanseatic League cities Hamburg and Bremen).

1461: Portuguese discoverers reach the Senegal river. King Pedro insists that they try to find a way from here to the gold-rich Mali, which doesn't work. However, they start to trade for gold (and slaves) at the Mauretanian island of Arguim.

1463/64: England defeats Scotland, takes their colony of New Scotland, which is renamed New England, of course. The capital of the colony, Perth beyond the Ocean, is renamed after the winner of the battle, Boston. England slowly extends its settlements, until they go from OTL Bar Harbor, Maine, to New Haven, Connecticut.

1466: Swedes found Nystad, their first city in Atlantis, at the site of OTL Wilmington, Delaware. They claim the whole Chesapeake peninsula for Sweden.
Cape Verde islands discovered by accident.

1468: First Florentine caravel crosses the Atlantic, finds the way to Nystad. They discover the Potomac, and since the area is yet unclaimed by Sweden, they claim it for Florence.

1469: Brittany sends a ship to the new world; they find the coast of OTL Carolina, but the stronger Dutch don't allow them to make landfall.

1471: Anders Christensen discovers the mouth of St Lawrence river, but is killed a bit later by Atlanteans, so the expedition decides to return.

1475: Another Danish expedition reaches Lake Ontario. Soon, the first Danish colonies along St Lawrence river are founded. Together with the colonies of Prince-Harald-Island and Anderland, they form a belt around English colonies.

1477-83: Third Aquitaine War (those of 1341-85 and 1414-26 being the first two), which ends with Aquitaine finally becoming French. Scotland-Norway also entered the war on France's side.

1479/80: Sweden makes war with Norway, occupies and annexes Norwegian province of Jämtland.

1481: Tlacaelel, Cihuacoatl ("Prime Minister") of the Tenochca, dies.
Portuguese discoverers go further south, come to Guinea. The income of the Portuguese crown doubles within short time; the money is divided in three between the two Portuguese princes and the Castillian king, however.

1486: France sends the first ships to Atlantis, under a captain Coulon (of the infamous pirate family), making claim in the area of OTL Carolina, where they found Charlesbourg at the site of OTL Charleston.

1487: English take Scottish capital of Perth; king David and his three sons have to flee to Norway. The Shetland and Orkney islands become English, too.

1488: Portuguese reach the mouth of Niger river.

1490: Charles VI of France makes the Republic of Venice appoint his younger son Jean "protector of the republic", essentially giving him lots of real power, promising them an "everlasting alliance" with France against the Muslims.

1492 (SCNR): A Castillian expedition (well, it's funded by the king, and some of his people are on the ship, but since the Portuguese insisted, the captain and all the sailors are Portuguese - Castillians aren't allowed to build caravels) crosses the Atlantic, makes landfall in Florida (which is named the same way ITTL), claim it for Castille-Portugal.

1493: Huayna Capac becomes ruler of the Incas.

1497: King Pedro IV of Spain dies without heir; Castille-Portugal is united with England-Scotland, forming the Quadruple monarchy.

Read [post=648509]a scientific analysis why TTL Europeans never went around Africa[/post] (until much later)

And here's a list of Western and Northern European kings 1350-1500:

Kings of Scotland:
Daibidh / David II 1329-66
Raibeart / Robert II (*1350) 1366-1405
Daibidh / David III (*1378) 1405-39
Daibidh / David IV (*1408) 1439-54
Daibidh / David V (*1436) 1454-90
(Conquest by England)


Kings of England and Wales:
Edward IV (*1331) 1345-86
(one should note that through his reign, Edward III's younger brother Richard stood on his side and fought most of the war in France for him.)
Richard II (*1358) 1386-1412
Richard III (*1390) 1412-60
Richard IV (*1419) 1460-87

Since 1487: Kings of England and Scotland
Richard IV 1487-89
Richard V (*1447) 1489-92
Edward V (*1479) 1492-



Kings of France:
Jean I (*1316) 1317-55
Jean II (*1335) 1355-77
Louis XI (*1339) 1377-80
Philippe V (*1344) 1370-1420
Charles IV (*1375) 1420-50
Louis XII (*1402) 1450-55
Charles V (*1408) 1455-88
Charles VI (*1440) 1488-



Kings of Castille:
Alfonso XI 1312-59 (seems not to be the historical one)
Juan (*1338) 1359/60
Pedro I (*1342) 1360-1405
Pedro II (*1370) 1405-18
Pedro III (*1400) 1418-35
Pedro IV (*1427) 1435-97

British kings:
Eduardo I 1497-



Kings of Portugal:
Fernando (*1322) 1344-55
Diniz II (*1327) 1355-67
Pedro, son of Diniz II (*1350) 1367-1420
Pedro II, nephew of Diniz II (*1362) 1420/21

Interregnum 1421-27

Castillian kings:
Pedro III 1427-35
Pedro IV 1435-97

English kings:
Duarte I 1497-



Kings of Aragon:
Joan / John I (yes, it's a man - Catalan names are kinda funny...) 1335-60
Alfons IV 1360-65
Joan / John II 1365-77
Jaume / Jacob III 1377-95
Alfons V 1395-1404
Ferran / Ferdinand I 1404-07
Jaume IV 1407-19 (deposed)
Ferran / Ferdinand II 1419-40
Martí / Martin 1440-48 (deposed)
Alfons VI 1448-83
Joan / John III 1483-1500
Alfons VII 1500
Ferran / Ferdinand III 1500-



Kings of Denmark:
Heinrich / Henrik II (*1339) 1340-95
Harald IV (*1360) 1395-1417
Erik VIII (*1405) 1417-20

German Schauenburg dynasty:
Gerhard / Gert (*1377) 1420-30
Heinrich / Henrik III (*1407) 1430-72
Heinrich / Henrik IV (*1436) 1472-86
Heinrich / Henrik V (*1464) 1486-



Kings of Norway:
Magnus VII Eriksson 1319-65

Scottish kings, Bruce dynasty:
David I 1365/66
Robert 1366-1405
David II 1405-39
David III 1439-54
David IV 1454-90
David (Daibidh) V (*1466) 1490-



Kings of Sweden:
Magnus II Eriksson 1319-71
(Yes, it's the same king as in Norway. No, I'm not sure whether he's the same as IOTL.)
Erik XIII Magnusson (*1344) 1371-92
Birger II Eriksson (*1373) 1392-1432
Erik XIV Birgersson (*1402) 1432-62
Birger III Eriksson (*1431) 1462-94
Erik XV Birgersson (*1464) 1494-

 

[Max Sinister]

Central Europe 1450-1500

First some subsequent addition for Florence:

1330: Florence acquires Lucca for 75000 florin (gold coins).

1376: Giovanni de Medici gets dictatorial power in Florence. Since the republic feels threatened by the beggars roaming in Italy, the Medici can keep their power.

1387: Florence defends successfully against various mercenary groups who roam through Italy after the First Aquitaine War ended. The family degli Albizzi tries to cooperate with the mercenaries to oust the Medici from power, but are banned.

1400: Maffeo Servitore starts working as a secretary for the Medici.

1432: Uprising of the Ciompi (wool weavers). The Medici use this accident to take full power for themselves.

Central Europe 1450-1500:

1450s: Genoese invent the commercial lottery (derived from a system they used for choosing officials).

1454: King Gerhard II of the Netherlands dies without heir, so his lands fall to his old brother-in-arms Reinald of Geldern, who marries Gerhard's daughter (although she's 30 years younger than him... but well, this is royalty).

1456-69: Swiss Civil war between "Upper Switzerland" (south of the Rhine) and "Lower Switzerland".

1460: The Hungarian nobles elect Ludwig of Bavaria-Landshut king Lajos III, after king Karl / Károly died without heir.

1464: Great finding of silver in Tyrol, which makes the Luxembourger dynasty second-richest in the HRE. In 1472, their candidate Heinrich is elected Roman king.

Since 1466: Returning pilgrims spread the news that Rome was conquered by the infidels. Many sects believe that the end of time is near (the date of 1500 is mentioned). At first the war gives them hope that Rome can be reconquered, but when England-Castille-Portugal gives up Rome in 1472, they become desperate. Unrest spreads. At the same time, the growing riches (and corruption) of the church (which rules many territories in Germany) and the growing power of the princes makes some people wonder about secularization of said territories.

1472-76: Polish-Bohemian war. After the death of king Vaclav, the Poles hope for an easy victory, but the new king Jan II leads the Czech armies surprisingly well and drives the Poles back.

1475: When king Heinrich secularizes and annexes the bistums of Augsburg and Trient for his lands, the HRE falls into a kind of Civil War. All the princes try to annex the clerical lands, which leads to lots of confusion and little wars for said lands, which are subsumed as the Twenty-Year War. The most important of those wars are the Bavarian-Austrian war for Salzburg (1485-93) and the French-Dutch war (1486-91). For some time, there are three kings in the Empire (of Luxembourg, Brandenburg and Geldern respectively).
In the same year, in the bisthums of Würzburg and Münster, millenialist sects take the power, declare the Gottesfreistaat (God's republic - another kind of theocracy). The latter ones even manage to extend their lands during the chaos of the war, deposing some small princes of NW Germany.
The Swiss use the opportunity and conquer the remaining lands of their archenemies, the Habsburgs, in the Black Forest.
And to make the situation even worse, there are peasant uprisings (mostly in western Germany) who feel suppressed by the nobles. Those who can't flee to the territories of the Gottesfreistaaten where they're let in if they only swear to obey God's laws, are brutally suppressed.

1475-95: Germans fleeing from the Twenty-Year War in the HRE, and especially the religious fanatics ruling in Münster, go to the colonies of Braunschweig and the Netherlands.

1477: After defeating millenialist sects, Piero de Medici becomes first duke of Florence.

1481: Printing press with movable letters invented in the free city of Cologne by Jakob Hahn.

1492: King Lajos IV of hungary dies fighting against the Seljuks.

1493: The former monk Karl Koch who read a bit too much about the Roman republic during his time as library assistant in the monastery, starting as a "soap box preacher", declares the "Rheinische Republik" (republic of the Rhine), which is soon defeated by the duke of Jülich-Berg, however.

1495: King Karl V of Luxemburg deposes anti-king Otto of Brandenburg, is accepted as Roman king (better said: nobody complains). Not however in Switzerland and the theocracies of Münster and Würzburg, who have stopped caring about the HRE. The wars are over, but Germany lost about one fifth of its population. It takes them about half a century to recover.

The list of Central European kings 1350-1500:
Holy Roman kings and emperors:

Karl IV of Luxemburg 1347-58 (emperor since 1353)
Albrecht of Saxony 1359-81
Gerhard I of Holstein/Holland 1381-1406 (emperor since 1394)
Gerhard II of Holstein/Holland 1406-30 (emperor since 1418)
Gerhard III of Holland 1430-54 (emperor since 1439)
Ottokar III of Carinthia 1454-59 (and anti-king 1408-13)
Reinald I of Geldern 1459-72
Heinrich VIII of Luxemburg 1472-81
Reinald II of Geldern 1476-92
Otto of Brandenburg 1478-1495 (deposed, +1500)
Karl of Luxemburg 1481-95
Karl V of Luxemburg 1495- (now accepted as king)


Kings of the Netherlands:
Schauenburg dynasty of Holstein
Gerhard / Geeraard I 1419-30
Gerhard / Geeraard II 1430-54

Wassenberg dynasty of Geldern
Reinald I (*1402) 1454-72
Reinald II (*1435) 1472-1492
Reinald III the Old (*1469) 1492-


Kings of Poland:
Wladyslaw IV (*1295) 1331-65
Kazimierz IV (*1321) 1365-71
Wladyslaw V (*1350) 1371-1410
Wladyslaw VI (*1382) 1410/11
Boleslaw VI (*1387) 1411-1447
Wladyslaw VII (*1421) 1447-63
Wladyslaw VIII (*1454) 1463-


Kings of Hungary:
Louis / Lajos II (*1330) 1349-63

Wladyslaw / Ulászló 1363-65
Kazimierz / Kázmér 1365-71

Sigismund / Zsigmond I (*1332) 1371-92
Karl / Károly II (*1363) 1392-14
Sigismund / Zsigmond II (*1392) 1414-1432

Karl v. Hessen / Károly III (*1400) 1432-60

Ludwig v. Bayern-Landshut / Lajos III (*1423) 1460-73
Ludwig / Lajos IV (*1455) 1473-1492
Ludwig / Lajos V (*1479) 1492-


Kings of Naples:
Charles / Carlo III (*1299) 1343-62
(His son Robert / Roberto (*1325) +1356)
Charles / Carlo IV (*1349) 1362-78
Robert / Roberto II (*1374) 1378-1423
Robert / Roberto III (*1406) 1423-36
Charles / Carlo V (*1432) 1436-61
End of state


Kings of Bohemia and Moravia:
Otakar I (*1282) 1322-51
Otakar II (*1301) 1351-64
Vaclav III (*1327) 1364-79
Heinrich (see below) 1379-86

Elective kings:
Jan I 1386-88
Georgy 1388-1424
Prokop I 1424-30
Vaclav IV 1430-71
Jan II 1471-82
Prokop II 1482-95
Prokop III 1495-1500
Georgy II 1500-


Dukes of Carinthia and Austria (since 1493, also of Styria):
Wenzel II (*1308) 1335-72
Heinrich II (*1366, grandson of the former) 1372-95
Ottokar II (*1388) 1395-1459, at the beginning under his mother Margarethe. Later emperor / king.
Heinrich III (*1422) 1459-


Lords of Florence:

Medici family / dynasty:
Giovanni (*1342) 1376-90
Cosimo (* 1354, nephew of the former) 1390-1400
Lorenzo (*1362, another nephew of Giovanni) 1400-42
Ippolito (*1393) 1442-45
Giuliano (*1398) 1445-53
Piero (*1426) 1453-77

Dukes of Florence:
Piero I 1477-79
Giovanni I (*1455) 1479-

[post=652915]Read about the resulting changes (all details) in Germany here[/post]

 

[Max Sinister]

Eastern Europe, 1450-1500

@Stalker: Thanks for your suggestions.

Eastern Europe, 1450-1500:

Since 1450: Various sects pop up in the Russian states, demanding various reforms in the church and a revival of Christian values.

Since 1460: The Russian population has recovered from the Black Death (due to a less densely settled population, a smaller part of the people died than in Western Europe). Peasants looking for land start to settle in neighboring areas: Those from Vladimir-Suzdal go to Siberia (ITTL called Novorossiya, New Russia), those from Kiev and the South in general into OTL Ukraine (which is mostly settled by Kumans now; part of them are Muslims, parts are Catholic or Orthodox Christians, and even paganism hasn't completely died out yet).

1468: A delegation of merchants from Vladimir sends a delegation to the Grand Prince, asking him for help against the competing merchants from Novgorod.

1469-72: War between Vladimir and Novgorod. Novgorod loses the right to trade in the areas east of Volga and Kama - thus being cut off from Novorossiya now.

1470: Tobolsk at Tobol river founded.

1475: Bible translated into Russian by Semyon Michailovich Lomonossov in Ryazan. The religious tensions between Vladimir and the South break up again.

1480s: The "Judaizing" (Jews converted to Christianity now preaching their teachings. Since they're very skilled in theology, thanks to practising with the Talmud, they often defeat the illiterate orthodox popes in debates.) start to appear.

1483-89: Border war between Vladimir and Chernigov. Vladimir wins, keeps the Southern Russian states from expanding east of the Volga.

1490s: After the taxes rise in Old Russia, even more settlers go East and South. This leads to more and more conflicts with the Kumans in the Ukraine.

(I think I may expand TTL Russia's history retroactively later... there was not much to write about now, and information about early Russia is hard to find...)

Read [post=656665]a short discussion here...[/post]

 

[Max Sinister]

East Asia 1450-1500

@Keenir, Tocomocho, HelloLegend, Darkest: Thank you all, folks!

@Keenir: I didn't make a specific list, and they're not that well thought out... later maybe.

Short addition for the last entry about Eastern Europe:

1500: Settlements in Novorossiya as far as Ob and Irtysh rivers.

And now, East Asia 1450-1500:

1451 (3148, Yin Metal Sheep): Tibet joins the Chinese sphere of influence.

1452-56 (3149, Yang Water Monkey / 3153, Yang Fire Rat): A Chinese treasure fleet sails up the Red Sea, sends a delegation to Egypt. On their return, they also spread tales about the Christian countries.

1457 (3154, Yin Fire Ox): A crisis at the court of the ninth Hong emperor is solved in a pleasing way (see story).

1459: Sultanate of Sulu founded on the Philippines.

1464 (3161, Yang Wood Monkey): Arabs in the city of Taiz, Hejaz, assault the crew of a Chinese ship when they went on land. Although the authorities don't want to anger off the strong Chinese fleet, things become complicated when the assaulters can't be catched, but demand ransom for the crew. The Chinese pay the money, but after the captured crew is returned, they demand from the Seljuk authorities that they punish the criminals, or at the very least return the money. After a demonstration of their cannons' power, the sherif gives in. Some henchmen are actually captured, but their leader stays hidden. The Chinese leave, but many Arabs aren't happy about his humiliation.

1466 (3163, Yang Fire Dog): News of the assault spread to the court, who decided to send another fleet of cannon-stocked ships, which reaches Arabia now. The Chinese approach the Omanis (with whom they have more and better contacts), win them as allies against the Hejaz Arabs.

1474 (3171, Yang Wood Horse): Thai ask Hong emperor to solve a struggle for succession, which he does. This is the precedent for extending Chinese influence in Ayutthaya.

1483 (3180, Yin Water Rabbit): War between the Seljuks and the Hong breaks out, which distracts the Seljuks somewhat from defeating Hungary. Battles in the Red Sea, Omanis make incursions into Hejaz.

Late 1480s: Another uprising against Chinese by Vietnamese, which is suppressed. Annam practically becomes a Chinese province.

1487 (3184, Yin Fire Sheep): Seljuk-Hong war ends with a peace. The Seljuks will send a regular tribute/gift to the Hong emperor, who'll return the favor. Since this is a generous peace, the Seljuks accept it. Arabs start trading with China, bringing glassworks, plants from the Middle East, like coffee, qat and hashish, to China.

1495: Lan Xang (Laos) starts introducing Confucianism.

~1500: Russian merchants make first contact with Chinese traders.

Read [post=661641]how the amentioned crisis was solved[/post].

 

[Max Sinister]

15th century: Science, summary and a MAP!

Retcon:
~1340: Double-entry bookkeeping invented in Europe

1384: In Szechuan, a young official visiting one of the salt mines accidentally drops some new copper coins (Szechuan has been part of the Hong empire for just a few years) into a zinc tub full of salt solution. Being somewhat cheap, he orders a worker to retrieve them ALL. This takes some time for the worker, since the solution is too thick to see through and too thin that the coins don't sink that fast. After cleaning the coins, the official is surprised to see that some of the coins now look a bit different than others, for they were electroplated. The news spread, and during the next decades Szechuan becomes the center for the production of all kinds of galvanized metal things.

History of science in the 15th century:

1415: In Florence (which wasn't hit by Black Death), the inventor and artist Lorenzo del Vacca starts his work as a studio boy. Until his death in 1463, he'll invent many things way ahead of his time, like the "movable fortress" (a primitive tank), a hang glider, improved guns and bombs, better cryptography, and many others. In addition, he further improves the Rinascita art, leading it to its apex.

General state of the art:

Western Europe: Due to the Black Death, few progresses (except in Florence). The shock of the catastrophe was too harsh. After the invention of the printing press, people start to spread the knowledge (re-)discovered during the Rinascita again, and faster than before.

Islamic World: In conquered Naples (Al-Napuli, as they call it), the Muslims discover the use of glasses, start building telescopes and microscopes towards the end of the century.
Their mathematicians discover an algorithm for calculating nth roots.

India: Kerala school goes on, invents things like:
- Integration of functions
- Solution of transcendental equations
- Mean value theorem, foundation for calculus
- Inductive mathematical proof

China: Salt "batteries", galvanization. Beginning of primitive statistics (concept of probability).

Summary of the 15th century:

East Asia: Hong dynasty makes all of East Asia its sphere of influence, sends Treasure ships to Seljuks, clashes with them.

Muslim World: Morocco conquered by Castille. Seljuks expand greatly, into Egypt, Hejaz, Hungary, Rome. Alliance with Barbary pirates.

Eastern Europe: Russians start to expand into Siberia, Ukraine. Religious schism drives Vladimir-Suzdal and Kiev further apart from each other. Teutonic Order loses its first war.

Western and Central Europe: France wins Second and Third Aquitaine War, kicks out England from its soil. England conquers Scotland, Castille takes Portugal, and both unite to form the Quadruple Monarchy. Territories of the church in HRE seized, leading to 20yr war. All Italian states except Savoy, Venice and Florence lose independence. Netherlands, Switzerland become stronger. Bohemia becomes a theocracy.

Atlantis (America): Europeans start trading tobacco and pelts. Denmark, Scotland, Florence, Sweden, Braunschweig-Lüneburg, England, France and Castille found first colonies (although Scotland loses them again). Mayapan destroyed.

Rest of the World: Portuguese explore West African coast down to Niger river, start slave trade. Songhay replaces empire of Mali.

Read [post=666312]a paper about TTL's 15th century science[/post]!

The middle of the millennium reached! Now let's go on...

 

[Max Sinister]

Middle East 1500-1550

@mikegold: I'll ask Leo to solve that.
@Constantinople: We'll see. Read this update...

Middle East 1500-1550:

1501/02: Rest of Hungary occupied by Seljuks.

1503: Uprising of Albanians under a local hero named Skanderbeg start. It takes the Rum-Seljuks 20 years to put down the rebels.

1505-09: Austrian War. Seljuks invade Austria, take Vienna, restrict the duke to mountainous Styria and Carinthia. Following that, they also defeat the Bavarian army, taking Salzburg and Bavaria east of the Inn river. Among the fallen is also the former, now titular king of Naples, Charles / Carlo V.

1510: The theocracy of Bohemia pays tribute to the Seljuks.

1516-18: Seljuks invade Florence. Although they stay supreme in open battle, they don't manage to take the new "Italian fortresses". When the Janissaries become discontent because they can't plunder the cities, the Sultan has to cancel the attack, goes into the Marches instead. The tiny republic of San marino is overrun by them as well.

1519-22: The alliance of the Quadruple monarchy, Florence, Venice and some German princes fight the Seljuks to a stalemate along the Po river, which becomes the new northern border of the Seljuk empire.

1521: Crete conquered by Rum-Seljuks. De facto end of Venice as a sea power.

1526: Kumans (also called Kipchaks or Polovtser; at the northern Black Sea coast) who feel threatened by Kiev-Chernigov pay the Seljuks tribute. Maximum of their power reached.

1530: First clash between the Seljuk empire and the Russians. For this time, the Seljuks throw the Russians back into their woods.

1539-48: Seljuk-Persian war breaks out (Persia is backed and influenced by China). Many battles in Mesopotamia. At the end, Seljuks win again, and take Hormus, but the war used up a lot of their resources.

1542: Great uprising of the Carbonari in South Italy, which soon spreads to Rome itself. Florence uses the opportunity and invades Latium. Many volunteers go to Italy to fight against the Seljuks; some pious nobles, mainly from Castille-Portugal, support Florence with money.

1543: Florentine troops stand in Naples and the Marches. Now however, the main army of the Seljuks arrives, and the Florentine army is defeated several times. The chaos allows many carbonari to leave South Italy and flee to safer places. Many will settle in Italia Nuova, which soon includes all of Virginia and Maryland (although thinly settled).

1544: When the Seljuks again fail to take the Florentine fortresses, they make peace, although Florence has to pay some tribute. The people of Rome have to leave their city, which the sultan wants to settle anew with Muslims. Some of them go to Atlantis too, but others swear to retake Rome ASAP.

Read [post=670448]a comment about the rise of the Seljuks...[/post]

 

[Max Sinister]

Central Europe, 1500-1550

@Constantinople, Imajin: Wait and see. The Muslims are stronger ITTL, but we'll have to see how far they can go... Northern Italy, Bavaria, Poland, what's better suited? Or should they liberate Morocco?

First a short retcon:
1470: The young king of Poland has to accept a new constitution, which gives every noble (15% of the Polish population!) the right to vote in the parliament, and introduces separation of powers.

Central Europe, 1500-1550:

1500-1508: Reforms of the HRE. Everlasting Landfrieden ("public peace" - puts an end to the feuds) proclaimed. Braunschweig-Lüneburg gets the ninth electorate. Otherwise, the electorate system isn't reformed - but the clerical electors (the bishops of Cologne, Mainz and Trier) are now really dependent of their princes, the princes of Jülich-Berg, Nassau and Luxemburg respectively. The Gottesfreistaaten of Münster and Würzburg are put into Reichsacht (means: everyone may kill their people and take their lands). The Reichstag is established. It's not a parliament, more a platform for the princes and the other states. The electors (and later Franconia-Pomerania) have one vote each, while the smaller states only have "shared votes". To counter the Seljuk threat, the Reichsarmee (Imperial army) is founded too. HRE now named "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation".

1506: Jan the Old (also called the Good) elected new king in Bohemia. After the difficult times of the 15th century, he cuts back the radical religious groups, builds up the economy and science again, and starts diplomatic relations with other European powers.

1511: Francois, the Regent for his nephew, French king Charles VIII, elected Roman king (as Franz I). He has to find out soon that the title is far from meaning much power. To counter this, he founds the "Alliance des Alpes / Alpenbund" with Venice, Bavaria and Württemberg-Carinthia, which is mainly directed against the Seljuks.

With the death of Ottokar III of Carinthia, the Przemyslid dynasty ends. His lands are divided between his daughters - Maria, who marries the duke of Württemberg, gets the electorate, Carinthia and Styria (and theoretically Austria), and Elisabeth, who married the duke of Brandenburg, gets Silesia.

1521-23: Hanseatic League clashes with united Scandinavia (later more) which started the Sund toll. However, the Hanse cities lose this time. As a consequence, the Hanseatic League becomes less and less important. While the cities in the Netherlands (and to a lesser extent, in Braunschweig-Lüneburg) profit from the Atlantean trade, the Baltic cities are not that lucky. Not to mention those cities who suffer under the regime of the theocrats. The League continues officially, but it lost power.

1522: After Poland threatens the (shrunk) lands of the Teutonic Order, the knights appeal to the Holy Roman Emperor. Since he and France can use every supporter, Prussia is made a secular duchy and joins the HRE. The Poles are not too happy about this. King Boleslaw VII and his successor Boleslaw VIII now start a policy with the aim of strengthening the power of Poland and themselves: They build many printing presses and several universities, found colonies and reform Poland in various ways.

1530s: Unhappy about the western schism, Christian reform movements spread in the HRE too. The bible is translated independently three times: Into Swabian German by Josef (who later called himself Gotthold) Füssli, into Northern German in Braunschweig-Lüneburg (this version even spreads into the Netherlands) by Matthias Lieber, and into Upper German by Hieronymus Knoblauch in Upper Palatinate. Except for Bavaria and Prussia, most German princes introduce the one or other translated bible, bring the church in their lands under their control.

1533: Religious uprisings in Florence. The radicals are suppressed, but the duke gives in insofar as he has the bible translated into the vernacular. Otherwise, Florence still stands on the side of the pope.

1538: Poland secularizes church property.

1541-44: Swiss-Savoy war. The former win, get the control over Graubünden, Tessin and Veltlin.

1545: Count Friedrich von Hohenzollern of Ansbach and Bayreuth defeats the Gottesfreistaat Würzburg, annexes it, thus forming the duchy of Franconia. For this deed, the emperor promises him to support his claims for Pomerania too.

Read [post=674115]an analysis of the reforms of the Empire here[/post]

 

[Max Sinister]

Atlantis, 1500-1550

@Justin: Hm, you understand German? Well, Terry Pratchett found the name Garlick in historical lists about burned witches, and there were some not so unimportant Germans named Knoblauch too...
@Keenir: We'll see.

And here's Atlantis (from now on with its own entries), 1500-1550:

1500: On their third expedition to Atlantis, the Castillians discover Cuba. This marks the beginning of the colonization of the Caribbean. On their return, they also discover the Bahamas.
A ship from Braunschweig-Lüneburg discovers Bermuda by accident.

1500-10: Settlement of Cuba by Castillians.

1502: Motehcuhzoma II becomes ruler of the Tenochca.

1504: Jamaica discovered by Castillians.

1507: Castillians found Veracruz at the site of OTL New Orleans, start exploring the Mississippi valley.

1509-12: After some clashes with Danish colonists in Atlantis, the Quadruple monarchy declares war against Denmark. Dutch ally with them. In the peace of Hamburg, Denmark loses its lands in Canada to the Quadruple Monarchy and Anderland to the Netherlands. Only the city of Haraldsborg (OTL New York, plus Long Island) and Prince-Haralds-Land (Newfoundland, as a base for fishermen) stay in their hands.

1514: French send an expedition to the Caribbean, claim Hispaniola for themselves, which they call New France.

1517: Puerto Rico becomes Castillian colony.

1518/19: Castillians subjugate the Maya.

1520: A small Castillian expedition (a few dozen men) meets the Tenochca. They're defeated, noone returns. However, the Castillians beat the Tenochca at Tapachula (south of OTL Mexico).

1521: The only surviving heir of the Norwegian (and Scottish) throne, Prince Alasdair / Alexander goes to Atlantis, where he spends some time around the Caribbean. He also approaches the Tenochca and learns about their gold riches.

1522: Prince Alasdair comes to the court of France, warns the king that the Quadruple monarchy is about to conquer the rich lands of the Tenochca. He points out: "If the king owns their gold, he can afford to hire all the mercenaries in the world! You have to stop him now!"

1523: Castillians want to send an expedition to Tenochtitlan, but the ship from Cuba is destroyed in a hurricane, and until replacements are found, necessary time passes.

1524: France manages to smuggle some hundred soldiers and advisors to Atlantis to help Cuitláuac, the military leader of the Mexica, as the Tenochca are now called in Europe. The Tenochca have to convert to Christianity, however.

1526: Battle of Cempoala. French-Tenochca defeat Castillians.

1527: Huayna Capac dies.

1528: King Henrik of Scandinavia takes advantage of the war, takes the islands of Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, and Montserrat for his empire.

1530: Castillians explore the north coast of OTL Columbia and Venezuela, discover the Orinoco mouth, occupy the Antilles, build first settlements in South Atlantis.

1531: Dutch found colonies on Guadeloupe, Dominica.

1532: Motehcuhzoma II dies, Cuitláuac becomes new ruler of the Mexica.

1533: Braunschweig-Lüneburg claims the islands of Martinique, Santa Lucia.

1535: Castillians drive the French-Tenochca back to the heart of the old Tenochca Empire, ally with their old enemy Tlaxcala. Only the lack of support prevents them from winning completely.

1536: Florentines take Saint Vincent, Grenada, Barbados (which they call Elba Nuova).

1538: Castillians cross the isthmus of Panama, discover the Pacific. They learn about the lands of the Inca.

1539: Poland joins colonial powers, takes Trinidad and Tobago.

1541-50: Inca conquer Chibcha lands in OTL northern Columbia.

1543: With Scandinavia in Civil War / unrest, the other powers use the opportunity. Nystad, the capital of New Sweden, is taken by the Dutch; the South and West of the Chesapeake peninsula goes to Italia Nuova. The Netherlands and Florence make a treaty, ruling the border between their colonies in Atlantis, and promising to respect their borders.

1544: In Haraldsborg, the last Danish colony, chaos ensued after the mother country fell into civil war. Poland sends soldiers to the city, occupying it. Haraldsborg becomes the portal for Polish and Prussian immigrants to (Northern) Atlantis.

1545: Battle at Ile de la Tortue (OTL Tortuga). French defeat English-Castillian fleet.

1547: After the end of the Great European War, Europeans start regular trade with Mexica and Inca. They keep their independence because neither power wants the other one to own their rich lands. The Quadruple Monarchy cedes West Florida, Panama and the Mississippi valley to France, western Anderland to France's ally Denmark.

1548: French governor starts work in Veracruz, which is renamed Nouvelle-Orléans. France and Scotland found each a harbor city in Mexico to trade with the Tenochca, and another two at the foot of the Andes, to trade with the Inca empire too.

Read [post=677056]the movie review for "Alexander"[/post]!

Here's a map of Atlantis in the years 1450 (upper left) / 1500 (down left) / 1550 (right) respectively.
England: red
France: pink
Castille: yellow
Poland: blue
Sweden: green
Denmark: light blue
Dutch: orange
Florence: pale green
Braunschweig: brown
Scotland: purple

 

[Max Sinister]

Western / Northern Europe, 1500-1550

Retcon for Central Europe:
1503: The Slovakian estates make an alliance with Poland, after Hungary was conquered by the Seljuks.

Western / Northern Europe, 1500-1550:

1504: Erik XV Birgersson of Sweden deposed, for being unpopular and having no heir. Knut Karlsson of the Bonde family is made regent.

1506: King David of Norway dies. His heir is only three years old. The nobles use the opportunity and set up a nobles' republic similar as Aragon. They plan to kill the prince, but he is smuggled by some loyal Scottish followers out of Norway; they flee first to Denmark, later to the Netherlands and France.

1510: James of Athelhampton writes a text "About the divine right of the king", propagating that the king should stand higher than the bishops in his lands. This basically means a breakaway from the pope in Avignon. Since he abandoned Rome, many Christians have criticized him; and since more and more money from the Quadruple Monarchy's lands in Africa and Atlantis goes into his coffers, the number of critics has grown even more.

The English nobles accept the proposal after a few months, but Castille-Portugal is more reluctant to accept the king as head of church. The coalitions formed don't even ask for nationalities, classes, or even families. From 1511-17, the Iberian peninsula goes through almost Civil War-like conditions. The opponents of the king are rewarded with the property of his defeated enemies (including some church property), which helps him to succeed. He founds the "Occidental Christian church".

1514: Francois / Franz crowned Holy Roman Emperor (in Avignon).

1519: After a meeting of the cardinals of the Quadruple Monarchy, they accept king Edward as supreme spiritual authority. The liturgy or anything else substantial isn't changed. The western schism begins. The church property in the Quadruple Monarchy goes to the king as well, who uses it to give it to his followers, thus further strengthening his authority. When the pope protests, the king declares in return that he won't accept the authority of "the lackey of the French king".

1520: The nobles of Sweden decide to make Henrik of Denmark new king, since Knut Karlsson also has no heir.

1520s: As a reaction to king Edward's Caesaropapism, a new Christian movement spreads through Great Britain - "Independents" who demand that the state completely stops interfering with the church, and again demands the translation of the bible, which the church still declines.

1523: After Sweden, Henrik of Denmark also is elected new king of Norway. He now reigns all of Scandinavia.

1523-47: Great Occidental War. The Quadruple Monarchy fights against France, Aragon, the HRE and the Tenochca.

1527: Although the war on land goes well for the Quadruple monarchy, where the new Castillian tercios repeatedly defeat the French, their fleet is defeated in the big sea battle of Biarritz.

1528: After the defeat of Cempoala, the war in Europe intensifies. The Quadruple king hopes for a reconquest of Aquitaine. France feels threatened and needs a diversion. "Prince Alasdair" who returned from Atlantis lands in Scotland, soon gains followers, starts guerilla war against the English.

1530: Scots defeat English at the battle of Stirling, reconquer the Lowlands.

1531: Prince Alasdair extends the war to Ireland.

1533: Dublin conquered by Prince Alasdair.

1534: Charles VIII elected king Carles of Aragon.

1535: After the death of emperor Franz, king Charles is elected new Roman king, despite some resistance (he gets 6 of 9 votes).
King Henrik VI starts the Scandinavian church, confiscates the church property and has the bible translated.

1538-42: Uprisings in Morocco. The rebelling Muslims are enslaved and mostly brought to the New World. However, they distract the Quadruple Monarchy, which has to move Castillian troops from France to Morocco.

1541: King Gerhard of Denmark, Norway and Sweden deposed for complete madness. The land falls into Civil War, with various (wannabe) contenders fighting. Norway becomes a nobles' republic again, Sweden declares independence too.

1543: After Morocco is secured, the insulted Quadruple king wants to get rid of Prince Alasdair, so he moves his troops not to Aquitaine, but Scotland. The Castillian and Portuguese troops aren't accustomed to the land and the climate, which weakens them.

1544: Swedes make Gustav of the Sture family new regent. He manages that the office stays in the family.

1546: After several indecisive battles, Prince Alasdair decides to let the troops of the enemy march deep into the Highlands, making them believe they were chasing the Scots. As the chronicles write, certainly no other Scot leader would be able to demand that of his people - which proves Alasdair's charisma. He doesn't disappoint the Scots: At October 10th, they destroy their enemy in the battle of Callander.

1547: Peace of Barcelona. The Quadruple Monarchy has to cede Murcia to Aragon, and accept the independence of Scotland-Ireland under Alasdair / Alexander IV in Europe, and of the Mexica and Inca people in Atlantis (who have to convert to Christianity, though, since the pope insists). Plus, they have to pay several tons of gold.

1549: The double revolt in the (now) Triple monarchy of England-Castille-Portugal: Both the parliament in England and the Cortes in Castille force the king to resign, make his more popular son king.

Read [post=680356]an excerpt from the book "Kingdom of God"[/post]!

 

[Max Sinister]

Eastern Europe, 1500-50

Eastern Europe, 1500-50:

Since 1500: The conflict between Vladimir-Suzdal and Kiev-Chernigov continues to simmer. Trade between the two Russias is often hampered, conflicts several times lead to war (although neither country is strong enough to subdue the other one). Both nations build forts and later fortresses along their common border.

~1510: Settlements in Novorossiya as far as Yenissei river.

1512-17: Novgorodian War. Vladimir-Suzdal defeats the old competitor, annexes it. Many Novgorodians who miss their old freedom go to Novorossiya.

1516: Russian merchants find their way into Hong China. On their return they spread tales about Chunkwo (?????? - derived from Zhongguo), which even reach the court in Vladimir. Novorossiyan traders start to get rich on the trade with goods from China.

1518: Russians from Kiev-Chernigov who settled in the Kipchak lands east of Don have reached enough strength that they dare to stop paying taxes to the Muslim beys of the area.

1521: Novorussian (Siberian) merchant families officially are granted the right by the Grand Prince of Vladimir to trade with China.

1522: A Russian ship from Kholmogory (at the site of OTL Archangelsk) goes around Scandinavia and finds its way to Scotland. After some confusion, the Scots find a cleric who can speak Greek to translate. This leads to the start of direct British-Russian trade.

1526: Since the Occidental War interferes with British-Russian trade, the Dutch jump in, trade Russia all things they need.

1530: As stated earlier, Russian warriors in Kipchak lands expelled to Kiev-Chernigov by the Seljuks.

1533-35: Russians in the former princedom of Smolensk ask the Grand Prince for help against Poland. A war breaks out, but this time, the Poles can defend their old border.

1538-40: Clash with Choresmian troops and Mongol (and related) warriors. They ask the Grand Prince for help, which they don't get - which they won't forget.

1539: Dvoryans (Russian for "warriors" - TTL equivalent of Cossacks) in the Kipchak lands make an alliance with Kiev-Chernigov, plan a war against Muslims.

~1540: Settlements in Novorossiya at Lake Baikal.

1540-44: Kipchak lands east of the Don conquered, Russians proclaim the Dvoryan republic of Kipchakia.

1542: First Russian printing press (with Cyrillian letters).

1548: Peace of Orel; Kiev-Chernigov has to cede the county of Kursk.

~1550: Settlements in Novorossiya at Lena river.

A bit about the [post=683539]religious history of Novorossiya[/post]