Settings for your conlangs?

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Zaarin
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Re: Settings for your conlangs?

Post by Zaarin »

mèþru wrote:The Canaries were a major stopping point for Spanish explorers, so that may cause some difficulties for the Spanish. The Canaries, Azores and Madeira could suddenly develop importance to European empires as a stopping point and constantly face conquests. A strong maritime tradition and turning various would-be enemies against each other could turn out well. The islands could also seek refuge in becoming the vassal of Morocco and turning to piracy. They might even seize southwestern Spanish lands and southern Portugal as colonies during wars (but the natives of those regions would still be overwhelmingly Spanish/Portuguese/Mozarabic speakers). Ill Bethisad posits an interesting similar situation with The Confederated Kingdoms of the Armorican Isles (our world's Jersey and Guernsey), but they are not very relevant with in Ill Bethisad's Europe. An early 16th century king of one of the kingdoms within the isles took the idea of the world being round to its logical extreme, so he funded an expedition to go as far south as it takes to reach the poles and get to Norway. The Armoricans founded two colonies based off the places they found on their way: one in the Falklands and one in St. Helena. You can adopt a similar strategy: get to Patagonia before the Spanish do. The area was too remote and resourceless in the Spanish point of view to bother developing to the extent that they did in the tropics. In fact, much of the area was not even de facto colonised by any European power. Also, pretty much every colonial power held several islands in the Caribbean. Sugar plantations were the second largest source of colonial income after precious metal mining. They were so valuable that France gave up all of their Canadian possessions when negotiating a peace treaty with Great Britain in order to keep their Caribbean possessions. The corollary is that a Caribbean colony is highly likely to be conquered at some point. Nearly every nation or overseas territory in the modern Caribbean was held by more than one colonial power during their history. The big advantage is time. Once the Americas are discovered, these island groups are closer to the Americas than any other group and have a huge incentive to sail to possibly mythical lands beyond: a lack of resources at home. If they seize large areas of land and consolidate them while the Spanish are still in the Caribbean, they can lock out everyone from much of the Americas in a manner similar to how Spain did the same in real life.
Yes, I've had some similar thoughts. Once the isles are unified under the king of the Canaries (the plot of my first book), war with Spain is pretty much inevitable (the second book)--I'm thinking seizing at least Gibraltar and perhaps some part of the former Emirate of Granada are likely outcomes, though whether they'll be able to hold on to them is another matter. I agree that they'll also be very involved in the exploration and colonization of the New World, both because of resources as you suggested and because the king of the Canaries takes his title "Lord of the Uttermost West" quite seriously.
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What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?”

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Salmoneus
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Re: Settings for your conlangs?

Post by Salmoneus »

Zaarin wrote: the king of the Canaries takes his title "Lord of the Uttermost West" quite seriously.
If his name's Adunakhor, I know how that story ends...
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Zaarin
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Re: Settings for your conlangs?

Post by Zaarin »

Salmoneus wrote:
Zaarin wrote: the king of the Canaries takes his title "Lord of the Uttermost West" quite seriously.
If his name's Adunakhor, I know how that story ends...
Actually, his name is probably going to be Ḥirom ʾam-milk, or at least that's what I'm calling him in my notes at the moment. He's a pious man, so I don't think he has any plans of assaulting the heavens. :p
"But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?”

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xxx
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Re: Settings for your conlangs?

Post by xxx »

I use my conlang in real life... But I'm not sure it describes the same world...

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