Reformation and Excommunication

 

Reformation and Excommunication
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Genre	Alternate History
Creator	Roman Bread
No. of articles	List (27 articles)
Status	Active, Work In Progress

Reformation and Excommunication is an alternate history timeline and worldbuilding project created by Roman Bread. The timeline and premise of Reformation and Excommunication revolves around the major point of divergence where the Nine Years' War, also called Tyrone's Rebellion, ended in favour of Ireland after significant support from Spain and the Papal States. The war was part of the wider Anglo-Spanish War, but the point of divergence doesn't occur until 1591. Some events such as the French Wars of Religion remain the same, while others such as the Anglo-Spanish War or the Eighty Years' War (known as the Dutch Revolt ITTL) remain the same up until the point of divergence.

An English defeat in Ireland alters the course of history, leading to a chain-reaction of different events. The project will attempt to detail the timeline of events, exploring the vast butterfly effect that a single change can cause.

For example, in this timeline, Spain is slightly better off and more willing to actively intervene in conflicts. The Papacy is more willing to excommunicate individuals and exert their influence, and there is significantly more hostility between Catholics and Protestants.

16th century

Year	Date	Event
1562	2 April	The start of the French Wars of Religion.
1566	14 August	The start of the Dutch Revolt.
1585	13 June	The start of the Anglo-Spanish War, a war that was never formally declared.
1593	30 May	The start of the Nine Years War in Ireland.
1594	30 May	Hugh O'Neill and Hugh Roe O'Donnell asked Philip II of Spain for Spanish intervention in the Nine Years' War and offered to be his vassals. Philip proposed that his cousin Archduke Albert be made Prince of Ireland. Nothing came of this, but Philip II did agree to send some military advisors and supplies.
1594	25 November	Pope Clement VIII issued his Papal bull Eorum Regnum, Sub Deo, stating that the Papacy and Europe's Catholic rulers are to recognise Ireland as a kingdom in its own right, whilst at the same time asserting its Protestant monarchy as illegitimate.
1596	14 July	Spanish troops provided by Philip II of Spain arrived in Ireland, ending any chances of peace.
1598	30 April	The French Wars of Religion come to an end.
1598	13 September	King Philip II of Spain died after a painful illness. He was succeeded by his son, Philip III of Spain, who increased Spanish support of the Irish rebels in the Nine Years' War.
1599	22 March	Juan del Águila successfully landed a large Spanish force in Ireland.
1599	22 March	Pope Clement VIII sent 3,000 Papal troops to Ireland in support of the rebels.
1599	April 14	Papal troops landed in Ireland under the command of Cristiano D'Aloia.

17th century

Year	Date	Event
1601	May 19	Siege of Dublin, leading to an Irish defeat.
1602	September 10	King of Tyrconnell and prominent Irish general Red Hugh O'Donnell died. His brother Rory O'Donnell succeeded him as King of Tyrconnell.
1603	2 March	Queen Elizabeth I of England died at Richmond Palace. She was succeeded by her first cousin twice removed, King James VI of Scotland. The crowns of Scotland and England are united under James.
1603	22 March	The Treaty of Tristernagh was signed at the Tristernagh Priory, ending the Nine Years' War and the unofficial Anglo-Spanish War. England withdrew from the Dutch Revolt.
1603	April 8	Hugh O'Neill swore to Philip III of Spain to be "a most faithful and obident servant". O'Neill was appointed Viceroy of Ireland the same day.
1603	April 9	The Dutch Revolt came to an end. The Dutch Republic was recognized by Spain.
1605	5 November	The Gunpowder Plot was foiled. England experienced increased religious tensions.
1607	April 9	England continued to face a prolonged period of instability.
1609	10 June	The start of the Forty Years' War.
1609	2 April	The start of the War of the Montferrat Succession.
1616	20 July	Hugh O'Neill died. Philip III of Spain appointed Juan de Mendoza y Luna, Marquis of Montesclaros as the new Viceroy of Ireland.
1621	31 March	Philip III of Spain died and was succeeded by his son Philip IV of Spain.
1625	27 March	James I of England died, and the accession of Charles I exacerbated the political and religious tensions in England. Charles's marriage to a Catholic, Henrietta Maria of France, and his leanings towards High Church Anglicanism, fueled fears of a Catholic restoration.
1625	5 March	Charles I of England dissolved the English Parliament after they refused to grant him the funds needed to suppress the Scottish uprising, known as the Bishops' Wars.
1636	19 December	Louis, Count of Soissons conspired with his cousin Gaston, Marie de' Medici and Claude de Bourdeille, comte de Montrésor to murder Cardinal Richelieu. The plot succeeded.
1639	21 February	Charles I of England dissolved the English Parliament after they refused to grant him the funds needed to suppress the Scottish uprising, known as the Bishops' Wars.
1639	16 June	The start of the First English Civil War.
1640	12 June	Pope Urban VIII excommunicated Louis XIII of France.
1640	25 September	Catholic hardliners led by Charles, Duke of Guise, revolted against Louis XIII of France, reforging the Catholic League. Charles, Duke of Guise proclaimed Gaston, Duke of Orléans as king while he was taking refuge in Flanders under the protection of Philip IV of Spain.
1640	1 December	The start of the Portuguese Restoration War.
1640	18 December	Philip IV of Spain extended his support to Gaston as King of France with the condition that Gaston backs out of the Forty Years' War after Louis XIII was defeated. Gaston accepted.
1641	20 January	Start of the Siege of Paris , Louis XIII retreated from Paris.
1641	4 February	Gaston arrived in rebel occupied France to oversee the Siege of Paris. He was celebrated as king upon arrival.
1642	14 December	Louis XIII of France died. Pope Urban annuled the marriage between Louis XIII and Anne of Austria posthumously.
1643	20 January	Anne of Austria returned to Spain at the request of her brother, Philip IV of Spain. Anne took her sons with her, effectively ending any challenge to Gaston in France.
1643	8 April	Gaston re-married Marguerite of Lorraine, and the couple took their vows for the third time before the Archbishop of Paris at Meudon.
1643	4 May	Gaston was crowned King of France at Reims Cathedral in Champagne.
1644	2 July	The Battle of Marston Moor. The combined forces of the English Parliament and the Scottish Covenanters, with covert support from the Dutch, decisively defeated the Royalists, weakening their position.
1645	2 July	The Royalists were defeated at the Battle of Naseby. King Gaston of France sent 8,000 troops to aid his brother-in-law Charles I in the English Civil War. Spain offered limited support by sending Irish volunteers to Charles.
1649	17 August	The Royalist victory at the Battle of Preston sealed the fate of the parliamentarian cause, despite earlier victories. Oliver Cromwell was captured and executed and the monarchy was restored under King Charles I. Parliamentarian holdouts fled to Scotland or the Dutch Republic.
1649	28 August	Peace of Nassau was signed, ending the Forty Years' War.
1649	10 September	Pope Innocent X declared the Peace of Nassau "null, void, invalid, iniquitous, unjust, damnable, reprobate, inane, empty of meaning and effect for all times" in his bull Zelo Domus Dei.
1650	3 July	The Rump Parliament was dissolved, and England entered a period of absolute monarchy under Charles I.
1651	8 June	The Catholic Church was granted tolerance in England, and Catholicism experienced a resurgence. Anti-Catholic sentiment among the English populace grew, and led to several minor uprisings and further domestic violence.
1651	9 July	King Charles I of England dies. He was succeeded by his son Charles II.
1659	12 June	Maria Theresa of Spain, the eldest daughter of Philip IV of Spain, married Emperor Leopold I. Maria Theresa, now his empress, moved to Vienna to rule alongside her husband.
1660	2 February	King Gaston of France died without a living son. His closest agnatic relative was Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, the first cousin-once-removed of Henry IV, who became King Louis XIV of France.
1664	2 February	Maria Theresa of Spain gives birth to a son, Joseph.
1665	17 September	Philip IV of Spain of Spain died. He is succeeded by his 4 year old son Charles II of Spain, who is not expected to live long.
1665	1 August	The end of the Portuguese Resoration War. Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal.
1668	28 October	The Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs signed a treaty that proposed that if King Charles II of Spain died without an heir, the Spanish throne would pass to Joseph, the son of Leopold I and Maria Theresa.
1683	28 August	Charles II of Spain died without any children. According to cognatic succession and the treaty signed in 1668, the vast Spanish Empire was to be inherited by Joseph, the son of Emperor Leopold and Maria Theresa of Spain.
1686	11 December	King Louis XIV of France died and was succeeded by his son Henry V of France.