Records: a Plantagenet Castile

By the end of June, 1379, Western Europe was reeling from change that hit like political lightning strikes. France had fallen to England, Aquitaine became its own kingdom, and the ever-evolving Kingdom of Burgundy (or Arles or Arelat) was re-formed, but into the hands of the House of Plantagenet and out of the possession of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

There were a dozen other factors at play, from the *Incidence of Incidents* to the latest wave of plague, and they all had their own angle of influence, but they were still minor against the speed war the Plantagenets were bringing. Castile had been preparing for it: there were known Plantagenet agents operating in Iberia, and John of Gaunt had married into royal consideration, but they had yet to see the armies.

They wouldn't have to. In may, the King of Castile and León, Henry II (as well as his son John), perished in a gunpowder accident in Toledo. They'd been purchasing and producing like mad, preparing against the eventual onslaught of the now-famous, *Magus*-designed armies. The blast was so massive it destroyed most of the Alcázar and threw the kingdom into a succession crisis and post-disaster confusion as survivors sorted through the rubble.

By early June, John of Gaunt presented himself as rightful heir to the Castilian throne. He'd built up enough allies in-country (and in neighboring Portugal) that his claim was accepted.

## **The Castilian Transition**

The good will towards Ghent/Gaunt/Lancaster was more from the Iberian-based Sergeants-at-Arms that Richard had built than the political maneuvers from John himself. The gunpowder accident was simply waiting to happen: that kind of critical chemical mass almost guaranteed it, especially with the level of paranoia the SA had built in the House of Trastámara.

That wasn't to say Gaunt was still as inept as he'd been before: he'd consented to secret, special education and training, but the effect had backed him off from a great deal of public interaction as he figured out how best to repair his reputation from his previous modus operandi, not the least of which was criminal tactical ignorance and personal vindictiveness to cover it up.

As John sought to right the scales, the Iberian Sergeants-at-Arms maneuvered him into place and let natural forces do the work for them. When the Trastámaran accident happened, it wasn't caused, but it was definitely engineered. John was already in-country, and showed up in Toledo two days after the blast. He assumed control of the rescue and recovery operations, and by the beginning of June, was recognized as the new National Authority.

### **Personal Growth**

John, son of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, was born in Ghent, East Flanders (which was now officially part of the French Crown). The patchwork of pedigree had always been a bother to John, possibly contributing to his personality issues, as it was constantly joked that he'd been illegitimate, a dalliance of his mother (and most of those jokes came from the fact that his father and brothers were all blonde, while he had dark hair and a more mediterranean complexion).

While he been raised by his father (?) as his own, the rumors drove John mad. Or at least they did, though less so now after the training and indoctrination that Richard had provided. Still, being born in France, becoming an English duke and so on made John worldly, but also disconnected him from the new kingdom that he wanted so much to connect to. This led to a personal decision that would influence his identity both personally and publicly.

Shedding "...of Gaunt" (or Ghent), and now shedding "...of Lancaster", John took an official surname. Tempting to go with Plantagenet, he instead elected "Castile" to be his calling card, incorporating the name of the country as his own.

### **Back In England**

As promised, with Richard's help to take Castile, John divested his Lancastrian duchy. While he'd expected the help to be in the form of one of those mighty regiments, this form of assumption was perhaps smoother karmically, with the Trastámarans blowing themselves up rather than an outsider's army doing it for them.

With the divestment, and as was the custom, he was allowed to "trade" – though that was a surprise to him. While he gave up the profitable duchy in the north of England, he was granted a low-maintenance barony in Sussex, essentially one of the lesser hundreds that hosted a massive Royal Company Kenaf farm near the coast. This gave his a second home in England, a noble holding, a voice in Parliament, and a place not far from London (and just across the water from Normandy).

## **The New Plantagenet Castile**

The hand of the Plantagenets was solidly felt in Castile, especially in the rebuilding of Toledo, both the Alcazar and the town surrounding it. They would have their own training and production capacity, their own branches of the Royal Academy, the Order of Merlin and local operations of the Royal Company.

By mid-July, 1379, Castile felt the Plantagenet benefit yet again when his nephew Rick gifted Navarre to the Crown of Castile. It came with strings attached: it would be a duchy with a pre-installed Duke running it, but Navarre would be paying taxes/tribute to Castile and would ultimately be under John's royal authority. How does one thank a family member for that kind of housewarming gift? Well, there would be negotiations...

### **A Plantagenet Impact in Iberia**

The arrival of "John Castile," in Castile, started low-key but by the end of July was already proving to make massive waves. Portugal, to the west, was already a solid John ally, and were now looking at the long-term future. The big question was how to best integrate with the larger family connection that had access to plague-healing prowess and magical firepower.

Aragon, to the east, had been a rival to Castile, with as many friends and distant family over the border as sworn foes. With John Castile as the Crown, there was no small fear of what might follow. The internal and external posturing was now in chaos as they looked to the future.

To the south, the Emirate of Granada was in the same position, with the additional complication of deeper religious divisions... and that's where negotiations were between John Castile and Rickard of Aquitaine: the right of reconquista. Rick wanted the southern kingdom, and he was willing to let it be a duchy of Castile...