Portugal

# Portugal - Novo Porto

Though once, in the old times, a country of its own, with its own noble dynasty, harkening back to the bloodline of Tiamat, its presence on the Iberian peninsula inevitably brought it under Castillan dominance during the rise of the house of Culebre.

## Castille’s Vassal

Philip II of Spain, through his mother Isabella of Portugal,claimed the Portuguese throne and did not recognize Tiamat scion António as king of Portugal. The king appointed Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, as captain general of his army. The duke was 73 years old and ill at the time, but Fernando mustered his forces, estimated at 20,000 men,in Badajoz, and in June 1580 crossed the Spanish-Portuguese border and moved towards Lisbon.

The conquest by the house of Culebre meant several things for the Portuguese region : a dynasty now composed of Culebre scions and a strong presence of the Church of Samael, to weigh down on the population.

This inclusion into the Castillan empire caused some turbulence across the seas as the enemies of Castille now also became the enemies of Portugal, and conflicts raged with Avalonians and Dutch, over the control of the colonies.

At home, life was calm and serene under the first two Spanish kings, Philip II and Philip III, who knew they could not afford to make permanent enemies of the scions of Tiamat. They maintained Portugal's status, gave excellent positions to Portuguese Tiamat nobles in the Castillan courts, and Portugal maintained an independent law, currency and government. It was even proposed to move the Castillan capital to Lisbon. Later, Philip IV, already a much lesser king, burdened with the bloodline’s decline,  tried to make Portugal a Castillan province, and Portuguese nobles lost power.

It was this harshening of Castillan rule, combined with the steady decline of its leading bloodline that would cause Europe’s overlords to slowly but certainly start to lose control of this part of Iberia again.

When Philip II of Portugal (III of Spain) died, he was succeeded by his son Philip III (IV of Spain), who had a different approach to Portuguese issues. Taxes on the Portuguese merchants were raised, the Portuguese nobility began to lose its influence and government posts in Portugal were increasingly occupied by Spaniards. Ultimately, Philip III tried to make Portugal a Spanish province, meaning Portuguese Tiamat nobles stood to lose all of their power.

## The Portuguese Restoration

This situation culminated in a revolution organized by the nobility and the bourgeoisie, executed on 1 December 1640, fifty-nine years after the accession of Philip II of Culebre-Castillon to the throne of Portugal. A plot was planned by several associates, known as the Forty Conspirators, who killed the Secretary of State, Miguel de Vasconcelos, and imprisoned the king's cousin, Margaret of Savoy, the Vicereine of Portugal, governing the country in the King's name. Philip's troops were at the time fighting the Thirty Years' War (involving pretty much every major player on the continent, from Avalon to Francia , Sweden, the H.R.E. and the Dutch)  and also dealing with a revolution in Catalonia (a dire predecessor of things to come) which severely hampered Castille's ability to quash the Portuguese rebellion.

Within a matter of hours and with popular support, John, then the 8th Duke of Tiamat-Braganza, was acclaimed as King John IV of Portugal (as legend goes, with the persuasion of his wife) claiming legitimate succession through his grandmother Catherine, Duchess of Braganza. The ensuing conflict with Castille brought Portugal into the Thirty Years' War as, at least, a peripheral player. From 1641 to 1668, the period during which the two nations were at war, Spain sought to isolate Portugal militarily and diplomatically, and Portugal tried to find the resources to maintain its independence through political alliances and maintenance of its colonial income.

The accession of John (Joao) led to a protracted war with neighbouring Castille , a conflict known as the Portuguese Restoration War, which ended with the recognition of Portuguese independence in a subsequent reign. The loss of this important region from the Castillan crown may well have contributed, economically, to the further unrest in Castille and the seemingly inevitable decline of its crown.

## The Colonial Kingdom

Though this restoration was a great success for the Braganza-Tiamat, they would not have much time to peacefully enjoy their victory. Political rumblings in Castille would soon cause a tidalwave that would threaten the Portugese crown too to its very essence. If there is one crucial property the scions of the Tiamat bloodline tend to have, as opposed to their Castillan Culebre counterparts, it is their natural long-term approach and the prescience that comes with it. As by the end of the 17th century, the Castillans doubled down on repression and religious control, the Portugese choose a different strategy. Convinced they were at the eve of ‘a great tidalwave’ , the king of Portugal , Pedro II Tiamat-Braganza, took a radically different approach to empire building. Surely but steadily he started moving his court off the Iberian peninsula, and into their most powerful and affluent colonies.  This move has turned out to be a very wise one, and the only reason that the Portuguese dynasty was spared its larger neighbour’s piteous end.

## Novo Porto

As revolution tore through Castile, Portugal wasn’t spared either as many of its inland cities fell to revolutionary terror, costing the lives of many nobles and priests. Through king Pedro’s shrewd relocation strategy, however, the revolutionaries were unable to reach his Brazilian powerbase and this enabled his son João V of Portugal to not only keep his throne, but through naval support keep hold of several Portuguese coastal cities on the mainland as well. These enclaves are well entrenched and if need be, defended from the sea by Portuguese battleships, able to bombard any enemy laying siege to their mainland tradeports. In this, they have Francian support when it comes down to it, as the Francians are still in open war with Galdero because of the constant conflict at the Pyrenees.

Despite their king’s insight, the revolution has still cost Portugal dearly. A great many Portuguese nobles and clergy, despite their monarch's foresight, had chosen to remain in their ancestral lands and did not escape the violent uprisings. In addition, the loss of almost all of its large cities to the revolutionary cause financially crippled the coffers of king Joao, but the throne is still standing, albeit in exile, over sea.

At this point in history (and such things can obviously vary) they find themselves in an alliance with the Francians, but often in naval conflict with the Avalonians (and at times, the Dutch), as naval and colonial trade are currently the King’s only real source of income.