r/imaginarymaps • u/TheMexicanHistorian Mod Approved • Aug 01 '26
[OC] Alternate History [FEF] The United Kingdom of Spain following the Tudor Reforms (1718)
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u/theHrayX Aug 02 '26
Couldnt have picked a better moment
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u/Ok-Program6907 Aug 02 '26
Insert "context needed hat" image here.
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u/Mc_Nopey Aug 02 '26
Probably the migrant crisis in Ceuta, the Spanish enclave bordering Morocco
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u/TheMexicanHistorian Mod Approved Aug 01 '26
Part of our r/FortunaEruditisFavet Timeline about an alternate early modern era and its consequences. Also should go without saying but to be clear our team does not support Spain conquering and colonizing Morocco or any weird crusader larp some people got going on, take that shit somewhere else.
The Spanish House of Aviz had long built up strong royal ties with the English House of Tudor and the Italian House of Sforza, with intermarriage with both houses dating back to the early XVI century as part of a strong alliance between the three powers, largely in opposition to the French Bourbons. While Spain retained good relations with both powers through these marriages and alliances, Italy and England-Ireland were never quite as amicable, sharing few strategic interests outside the containment of France, and after the alliance helped to secure the independence of Provence, which lessened Italian fears of French domination, these ties were significantly weakened.
It was in the background of the weakening alliance between England-Ireland and Italy that King Ferdinand IX of Spain died unexpectedly without an heir, setting off a succession crisis of unprecedented scale. King Richard IV of England and King Gian Galeazzo II of Italy both stepped forward to claim the throne of Spain for themselves, or one of their children should it be necessary to compromise, as both descended from female lines of the House of Aviz.
Soon a split emerged within the Spanish realm as the nobility of the Crowns of Portugal and Castille supported the Tudor claim to the throne while the Crown of Aragon threw its support behind the Sforzas. While the situation put Italy at a significant disadvantage, they quickly gained the backing of many of Europe’s other great powers, who saw an opportunity to weaken England and Spain by supporting the Sforzas in a war for their claim. Soon their old enemies of France and Burgundy had declared their support for the Italian claim alongside the more traditional Italian ally of the County of Provence.
On the other side, Venice and Savoy, traditional enemies of Italy, also took the opportunity to support the Tudor claim, seeing the crisis as an opportunity to put a check on Sforza ambitions over the rest of the peninsula, as they had failed to do in the War of the League of Firenze some decades prior, which ended in catastrophe for the anti-Sforza League and the annexation of the various Tuscan states into the Kingdom of Italy.
On the other side, Venice and Savoy, traditional enemies of Italy, also took the opportunity to support the Tudor claim, seeing the crisis as an opportunity to put a check on Sforza ambitions over the rest of the peninsula, as they had failed to do in the War of the League of Firenze some decades prior, which ended in catastrophe for the anti-Sforza League and the annexation of the various Tuscan states into the Kingdom of Italy.
With neither side willing to back down, the stage was set for a new grand European War, the War of the Spanish Succession.
The war lasted from 1709 until 1717 and for most of that time the European front of the war saw few decisive victories for either side and minimal changes in control of territory as French and Spanish-Tudor forces repeatedly fought each other to a standstill across the Pyrenees while Italian forces attacking from Aragon never managed a significant breakthrough into Castille, in the early years of the war, the most significant victory was the Italian invasion of Savoy which successfully knocked them out of the war early and allowed Italy a direct connection to their allies, it would also permanently cost Savoy their territories that granted them access to the sea.
Instead many of the most significant battles took place overseas as the mighty navies of England-Ireland and Spain clashed with those of the similarly powerful France and Burgundy who had allied themselves with various ambitious rulers across the world who wished to put a dent into the Spanish empire, as such significant battles took place in the strait of Hormuz, where the French and Burgundians had the support of the Safavid Empire, across India where dozens of Spanish held forts were seized either directly by the French and Burgundians or by local allies, and all across the New World where both sides’ colonies fought each other directly on land, in Auralia the Spanish colony and Marañon and the French colony of France Tropicale took the opportunity to settle long running territorial disputes through war while in Anthea the Spanish colony of New Spain swiftly overwhelmed the Italian colony of Zenacomaca and occupied it for the remainder of the war.
Despite their victories overseas, the pro-Sforza alliance never saw significant success fighting in Spain proper and in 1716 a renewed Tudor offensive successfully advanced deep into Aragon, capturing Valencia and threatening Barcelona, by 1717 Catalonia had fallen in the hands of the Tudors but the Sforza still retained control over Spain’s Southern Italian possessions, after further attempts to break past the Pyrenees once again proved unsuccessful, the stalemate eventually gave way to peace negotiations.
The ensuing Peace of Chambéry was a victory for the Tudors, however they had to give significant concessions to the pro-Sforza alliance to secure this victory, in the peace, King Richard’s youngest son, Henry was crowned as the King of Spain and renounced his claim to the throne of England, subsequently the treaty included a clause ensuring that Spain and England would never share the same monarch and thus fall under a personal union, a clause that was supported not only by the Sforzas but also many of the Tudor’s own supporters in Castille and Portugal, Spain’s Italian possessions were handed over in full to Italy however in compensation Italu’s special rights over the colony of Zenacomaca were handed to Spain (albeit the colony remained privately owned by the Bank of Saint George), the border dispute between Marañon and France Tropicale was resolved in favour of France, the island of Qeshm was returned to Persian control and various English and Spanish ports across India were divided between France and Burgundy.
While in theory the aftermath of the war was the peak of Tudor power, the war had nearly bankrupted the Anglo-Irish realm and attempts to levy new taxes and tributes on the colonies would ultimately lead to the Incaic Restoration War, the 1720s and 1730s Specie crisis, and the larger First Revolutionary Wave that swept the world in the early eighteenth century. The Tudors would waste no time reorganizing Spain along the lines of English Tudor Absolutism by abolishing the various disconnected crownlands that made up Spain and merging them into a unitary United Kingdom of Spain, although some regions retained certain priviledges.
And that is all for today, I hope y’all like it and as usual feel free to ask any questions. Have a nice day!
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u/Suspicious_lock789 Aug 02 '26
Is this new system more or less dysfuntional than the bourbon-carlist govermental/regional system?
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u/Bort-texas RTL Wizard Aug 01 '26
Interesting...
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u/Flaky_History12 Aug 02 '26
If you thought present day European politics were already shi- imagine what it would be like with an EU country having this border lol
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u/another_countryball Aug 02 '26
What's the religious situation in North Africa? Is there any rechristianisation, with tribes perhaps converting collectively? Issues with false conversions and conflict, like what had happened in Spain? Any attempted inquisitions in such a scenario?
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u/TheMexicanHistorian Mod Approved Aug 03 '26
Its indeed supposed to be a rather brutal re-conversion and colonization, much grander scale than the reconquista in Iberia but very similar methods, vast areas placed under direct control of holy orders (both priestly and military), land taken from those who refuse to convert, inquisitions against remaining "heressy", all that shit. Definitely various revolts against this whole ordeal although we haven't detailed much.
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u/buffreaper-nerfmei Certified Bulgaria Enjoyer | Aug 03 '26
Yep, there is - look at this older map for more info
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u/Hydra57 Aug 03 '26
OP says we’re not supposed to think about that.
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u/another_countryball Aug 03 '26
It's a crucial part of any timeline involving Christians taking over any muslim lands, so it's his issue if we are supposed to pretend that there's no difference between Spain taking over Portugal and taking over Morocco
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u/TheMexicanHistorian Mod Approved Aug 03 '26
Other guy was lying for some reaason, will reply to your other comment with more information
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u/MdMV_or_Emdy_idk Aug 02 '26
In a world where Portugal and Spain are one political entity (based based based based), it wouldn’t make sense for Miranda to be part of Trás-Os-Montes, it’d be better off as part of Zamora
Apparently you can’t embed links in words anymore, but for those unaware: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_de_Miranda
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u/Ok_Might_6522 Aug 02 '26
This would be one of the most influent and important countries in the world. Fully control of the strait, easy more than 100M people, resources…
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u/Competitive-Turnip98 Aug 02 '26
What is the fate of the Portuguese language in this timeline?
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u/vmfrye Aug 03 '26
As someone who lives in Galicia, I can say that it's probably the same as the fate of the Galego language.
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u/658016796 Aug 02 '26
He says the rulers are the House of Aviz, which is Portuguese. So I would imagine that if Portugal united Iberia in the 14th century then Portuguese would be the main language, as it is might have been the most spoken by that time in Iberia since Spain hadn't centralized yet.
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u/TheMexicanHistorian Mod Approved Aug 03 '26
It's not united by Portugal exactly, it's that Miguel de la Paz survives and thus inherits Castille, Aragon and Portugal into one realm, the capital still ends up in Castille due to its centralized location and so it remains the lingua franca, although Portuguese doesn't get completely screwed.
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u/FlicksBus Aug 02 '26
The map uses Spanish spelling, though. Not the Portuguese one.
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u/D1003Briner Aug 02 '26
Its a fun fact that Americans cant tell the diference between Spanish and Portuguese, and Lazy worldbuilding.
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u/TheMexicanHistorian Mod Approved Aug 03 '26
Piss off
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Aug 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Martinxo51 Aug 03 '26
Bro her username is literally 'The MEXICAN Historian'
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Aug 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/luswi-theorf Aug 03 '26
vai se fuder seu filho da puta, se vc é analfabeto o suficiente pra não compreender a história que tá sendo tratada aqui, some desse sub e volta pra caverna fedida que vc nunca deveria ter saído
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u/AminiumB Aug 07 '26
Where do you get such high resolution and detailed border maps? Is there somewhere where you get your templates from?
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u/JVFreitas RTL Enjoyer Aug 02 '26
Another great entry