After Palma: Vikings of the Balearics

[Coyote Knight]

This premise is eerily similar to a Medieval 2: Total War Stainless Steel game of mine involving Norway.

 

[Errnge]

One thing, and I can't recall if anything ITTL has happened to change this, but the Crown of Castile wasn't established until 1037, two years after this update. At this point, Castile should be a County nominally under the control of Leon.

But like I said, I can't recall if something has changed TTL's status on these kingdoms.

 

[Velasco]

One thing, and I can't recall if anything ITTL has happened to change this, but the Crown of Castile wasn't established until 1037, two years after this update. At this point, Castile should be a County nominally under the control of Leon.

But like I said, I can't recall if something has changed TTL's status on these kingdoms.

You had me worried there for a minute! The last update was 1134...thankfully I am saved from having to do some major rewriting

Iberia is pretty much the same as historical, though the Christian realms as a whole are in better shape thanks to occassional Viking aid against the Muslims and the Viking conquest of (much of) the taifa of Valencia.

 

[ramones1986]

What is the language spoken in this alternate Balearic Islands?

 

[Errnge]

You had me worried there for a minute! The last update was 1134...thankfully I am saved from having to do some major rewriting

Iberia is pretty much the same as historical, though the Christian realms as a whole are in better shape thanks to occassional Viking aid against the Muslims and the Viking conquest of (much of) the taifa of Valencia.

DOH! My dyslexia has struck again!

 

[altwere]

Just found this TL and enjoyed it very much.
As for the spoken language I would guess that Norse would be the comen language with a southern Romance mix also being spoken.
It will be interesting to see the out come.

 

[Velasco]

What is the language spoken in this alternate Balearic Islands?

Just found this TL and enjoyed it very much.
As for the spoken language I would guess that Norse would be the comen language with a southern Romance mix also being spoken.
It will be interesting to see the out come.

Pretty much! Norse among the royal court and ruling class, with the 'Lingua Franca' used for trade purposes and Latin, Greek and Arab variously employed where administratively useful (the Italian mainland, Cyprus, Crete, Rhodes, Sicily, Denia, Valencia..etc etc). As has been mentioned before, there are enough Viking and Varangians here to completely subsume the prior population of the Balearics and make Norse the only language of use there: elsewhere I don't think that is possible, so bastardizations of where Norse and the local tongue(s) are forced to be used side-by-side will naturally ensue.

DOH! My dyslexia has struck again!

Ah! No problemo though, I'm glad you asked.

 

[Velasco]

Dynastic Politics of the Early Norse Balearic Kingdom

The marriage policies of the Maurebane monarchs - the sea-faring Sigurd, last of the great Vikings, and his illustrious second queen Maria - were almost exclusively driven by immediate political considerations with little thought to consanguinity, equality, age, ecclesiastical approval and longer-term political considerations. Their own union set the tone: the already-married Maurebane annexed the recently widowed Barcelonan princess in order to secure an undeniable claim on her mighty father's assistance. Count Ramon Berenguer initially showed himself a willing pawn of Balearic Norse ambitions, but later came to resent his daughter's superior position and fear her potential usurpation of the inheritance he intended for his twin heirs (imaginatively named Ramon Berenguer and Berenguer Ramon). Indeed, the Count's own dynastic policy - by which he obtained Provence and Nice jure uxoris and had a younger daughter supplant one of the Maurebanes' as the queen of Castille - serves for clear contrast in its sophisticated manipulation of the possibilities offered by the feudal system.

It is not unfair to suggest that the rapid expansion of the Norse realm centered on the Balearic island of Majorca was largely due to the weakness and instability of other Mediterranean powers at the time. It is in this light that Sigurd arranged the marriages of his two brothers: Olaf to an illegitimate daughter of the Emperor Henry V (1116), and Harald Gillechrist to Constance of France (1119). The first neutralized the threat of German interference in Genoa, over which Sigurd exercised illegal authority. Actively supporting the Imperial Caesaropapist agenda in Rome was a small price to pay for Genoa's ships, mariners and cartographers - an indispensable wealth of resources in the ever-oscillating relations of the Norse with the Eastern empire. The second marriage also neutralized a potential threat (Constance and her young son as potential spearheads for Norman and Lombard resistance against the Norse on the Italian mainland) and opened much needed doors in both Outremer and France.

In the East Sigurd and the King of Jerusalem averted territorial dispute by the betrothal of one of the Balearic princesses with a Jerusalemite heir: when the boy died some time afterward no new alliance was considered, Sigurd's focus having shifted elsewhere. The 1121 Treaty of Nicosia promised the Byzantine pretender Anna Comnene Norse aid in exchange for territory and her two eldest daughters: when a new deal was struck with her brother, the Emperor John II, Sigurd passed her daughter to one of his Haraldssen nephews, preferring instead a double alliance with two of the Emperor's own daughters. The eldest of the Imperial princesses was tentatively wed to Manasses (Sigurd's eldest son by his first queen, Maximilla) while the younger was nominally united with his nephew Hemming or Henricus (son of his brother Olaf). All this with no regard for the young age of the involved parties and their consequent incapability of true marriage.

The conquest of Sicily (1123) was followed by the forced marriage of the Countess Elvira with the conquering couple's eldest son, then a child of nine. Elvira was not only the wife of Count Roger (still living) but the sister of the King of Castille (an alliance the Maurebanes sought in Iberia) and the daughter of a Moorish mother (an important link given the significant Arab presence on the island). Once again, this marital alliance neutralized potential enemies (both Castillians and Arabs who might fight on behalf of the deposed count and countess), as well as adding some legitimacy to the possession of Elvira's dowry and children.

The Maurebanes had seven children in all: four sons (of which one was born after their infamous reconciliation) and three daughters. Their names reflected their mixed Norse, Catalan and Visigothic heritage: a predilection for the Virgin was shown in the nomenclature of the two younger daughters, Marisimena (Maria Jimena or Simona) and Maristridis (Maria Astrid). The eldest daughter Berengaria was bestowed upon the French royal heir in the aftermath of the Concordat of Gisors (1125), and crowned alongside him as queen: after his death her father bestowed her upon the Scottish King in return for a bevy of ships and soldiers. After her Jerusalemite betrothal fell through, Marisimena was married to Alfonso 'the Battler' of Aragon; Maristridis made the lowliest match, to her coeval uncle Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona. These marriages were significant in that they entailed international recognition of the new Kingdom: the Balearic empire on equal footing with the monarchies around it.

Marital policy also involved the extended family - nephews and nieces, legitimate and not, as demonstrated in the family tree below. Despite Maria's antipathy for her brother-in-law Olaf of Genoa, she gladly bestowed his daughters upon the faithful Jon Sæmundsson and Christodolous, even transferring the latter's widow to his replacement, George the Antiochene. It was likewise under her auspices that the amiratus Eric Haraldssen - one of Sigurd's nephews - married a sister of Afonso Henriques, the Portuguese prince, and later arranged for the latter to marry his niece (daughter of the amiratus Canute). This final alliance was the reason Maria secured for the Portuguese Papal recognition of their sovereignty: collaboration with the Portuguese served as a balance to the power of the Moors and of Castille, whose King had rejected her daughter. It also marked the end of the first phase of the Balearic kingdom: Portugal being the last of the Christian Iberian powers to join the mighty Hautevilles, Komnene, Salians and Capetians in marital alliance with the nascent Norse monarchy in the Mediterranean.​

MAGNUS III 'Barefoot' Olavsson (1073 – 1103) King of Norway (r. 1093-1103) m. Margaret Fredskulla of Sweden, later Queen consort of Denmark, but left only illegitimate issue:

• EYSTEIN I (Øystein) (1089-1125), King of Norway (1103-1125) m. Ingebjørg Guttormsdatter
  • Maria Øysteinsdatter m. (1127) Adalbert of Bavaria (brother of Henry the Proud)
    • Wulfhilde (112
    • Gertrude (1130-)
• SIGURD 'Maurebane', 'Jorsalfar' (c.1090-) King of Norway (1103-1127), King of the Balearics (1110-, Papal recognition 1102, Byzantine 1121) Vexillifer Ecclesiae 1115, Senator, Patrician, Duke and consul of Rome 1116, m1. Maximilla of Sicily m2. MARIA 'Maurebane' of Barcelona (1096-) Imperatrix et regina 1132, ~3 Gundrada, illeg. dau. of Henry I of England, m4. (bigamously and later annulled) Matilda of Normandy, dau. of Henry I of England and Dowager Holy Roman Empress
  • [1m] Manasses (1111-) princeps et consul in the Balearics (1124-1125), named Caesar, Protonobelissimos and Protosebastos (1132) m. Maria Komnene, dau. of Ioannes II
    • Michael (1130-)
    • Andronikos (1131-)
    • Eudoxia (1134-)
    • David (1135-)
  • [1m] MAGNUS IV (1112-1133), King of Norway (1127-1133) m. Christina of Denmark, dau. of Canute Lavard
  • [2m] Berengaria (1113-) m1. Philip, rex designatus of France (d.1131) m2. David I, King of Scots
  • [2m] AUGUSTINUS (Øystein) (1114-) Duke of Apulia, Calabria and Sicily from 1123, named King 1132, m. Elvira of Castille
  • [2m] Marisimena (1116-) m. Alfonso 'the Battler', King of Aragon and Navarra
  • [2m] RODERICK (1117-) also Rorik or Rodrigo, named King 1132, m. Adelisa of Sicily (his brother's step-daughter)
  • [2m] Maristridis (111 m. Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona (her uncle)
  • [2m] Baldwin (1121-)
  • [2m] Hernand (1134-)
  • (by Gundrada) Alexander 'of Barking' (1126-) raised at the English court
  • (illeg.) Tora Frillesdatter (1134-)
• OLAF (d.1126) King of Norway (1103-1115), Imperial Vicar or Viceroy of Liguria (1117-1122), jure uxoris dux et dominus of Genoa (1124-1126) m. Bertha 'the Dogaressa', illeg. dau. of Henry V, the Holy Roman Emperor
  • Henricus (Hemming) (111, Duke or Doge from 1126, named Amiratus (1135) m. Anna Komnene the Younger, dau. of Ioannes II; the two were prisoners of Maria Maurebane (1126-1135)
  • Adelheid m. Jon Sæmundsson, the Størstjarl and magister militum (commander of the Varangian guard) 1123, named Amiratus Amiratorum 1135
  • Mathilde m. Christodoulos, Count Roger's vizier who defected, Amiratus 1123 m2. George the Antiochene, Amiratus 1134
  • Judith
• Ragnhild Magnusdatter m. Harald 'Kesja' of Denmark (d.1134) pretender to Danish throne
  • Björn Ironside (d. 1134), m. Katarina Ingesdotter of Sweden
    • Christina Björnsdotter (1122-)
  • Canute Haraldsen, named Amiratus 1123 m. Anna Bryennaina Komnene
    • Sigrid m. Afonso I Henriques of Portugal
  • Eric Haraldsen, named Amiratus 1126, m. Sancha of Portugal
  • Magnus Haraldsen (d.1134), killed at the Battle of Fotevik.
  • Olaf Haraldsen (d.1135)
• Tora Magnusdatter, Sigurd's only full sister, m. Loftur Sæmundsson, Icelandic chieftain and had issue
• Harald 'Gillechrist', named King (1119) later Regent of Antioch (1120-1129) m. Constance of France
• (alleged) Sigurd 'Slembe' (ex.1127), King in Norway (1125-1127) m. Malmfrid of Kiev, who remarried ERIK II 'Emune', King of Denmark
  • Magnus 'Kongsfostre' (1126-)
• (alleged) MAGNUS V 'Raude', King of Norway (1134-1137, disputed) m. Ingrid Ragnvaldsdotter, granddaughter of Inge I of Sweden; she remarried ERIK III 'Lamb', King of Denmark and Norway from 1137
  • Inge Magnusson (1136-)

 

[Deleted member 67076]

That family is going to have alot of claims in the future. Might lead to some interesting wars down the line.

Wait, have the Almohads been butterflied?

 

[Velasco]

That family is going to have alot of claims in the future. Might lead to some interesting wars down the line.

Wait, have the Almohads been butterflied?

Indeed! Although for now it's largely "might makes right" - primogeniture and legitimacy aren't as important here.

They haven't - they showed up on time and started disrupting things in the Maghreb, hurting the trade routes which culminated in the ports of the Zirids and Hammadids (Balearic protectorates at this point). Maria agreed to a truce with the Almoravid and helped them against Andalusian rebels, allowing them to devote more attention to the Almoravid threat (and allowing Maria to secure her hold on the Dénia taifa, to the south of Valencia).

 

[Deleted member 67076]

Indeed! Although for now it's largely "might makes right" - primogeniture and legitimacy aren't as important here.

They haven't - they showed up on time and started disrupting things in the Maghreb, hurting the trade routes which culminated in the ports of the Zirids and Hammadids (Balearic protectorates at this point). Maria agreed to a truce with the Almoravid and helped them against Andalusian rebels, allowing them to devote more attention to the Almoravid threat (and allowing Maria to secure her hold on the Dénia taifa, to the south of Valencia).

Still, a few decades down the line, someone's gonna make a bid for succession.

Ah, ok. Here's to hoping the Almohads get crushed.

 

[Velasco]

Still, a few decades down the line, someone's gonna make a bid for succession.

Ah, ok. Here's to hoping the Almohads get crushed.

Oh definitely (I'm still working out how the succession will play post-Sigurd and Maria), but I can guarantee you we'll be seeing Scandinavia and Iberia up in flames in no time.

 

[ramones1986]

Pretty much! Norse among the royal court and ruling class, with the 'Lingua Franca' used for trade purposes and Latin, Greek and Arab variously employed where administratively useful (the Italian mainland, Cyprus, Crete, Rhodes, Sicily, Denia, Valencia..etc etc). As has been mentioned before, there are enough Viking and Varangians here to completely subsume the prior population of the Balearics and make Norse the only language of use there: elsewhere I don't think that is possible, so bastardizations of where Norse and the local tongue(s) are forced to be used side-by-side will naturally ensue.

Is this alternate "Lingua Franca" a hybrid Romance-Norse-Arab-Greek tongue?

And by the way, are sigmatic article more prominent in Catalan (especially in areas around Girona, Perprinyá/Perpignan and Barcelona) in this TL?

 

[Velasco]

Is this alternate "Lingua Franca" a hybrid Romance-Norse-Arab-Greek tongue?

And by the way, are sigmatic article more prominent in Catalan (especially in areas around Girona, Perprinyá/Perpignan and Barcelona) in this TL?

1. Not yet, but it will be in due time.

2. The sigmatic article could potentially grow in popularity thanks to Maria's influence, particularly if we presume her "Dronnenscul" would consult Catalan copies of the Visigothic Code in their translation work for her:

The Balearics were exclusively royal demesne: those lendrmenn ("landed-man" or Viking barons) who had previously been promised estates there were now compensated with land in Sicily and Italy. Jews and Moslems were settled in the desolate regions and work was begun on a grand Alcazer in Palma - that is, an elaborate fortification in the Arab style, drawing from the multitude of fortifications witnessed by the Norsemen in the Holy Land and Sicily.

Real government was exercised by the abbacomes (lay-abbot) Abel, who created the Dronnenscul at the Queen's behest - a place where monks taught the Latin script. Monks were sought out and employed in the translation of the Visigothic Code and the New Testament into Norse using the Latin script. With Abel's assistance and at the Queen's command the Ten Commandments were inscribed side-by-side in runic and Latin script at all major ports of the Kingdom. Danes and Irishmen who knew both Latin and Norse were particularly highly-prized, as were Varangian veterans knowledgeable of Greek. And thus the foundation of the Balearic Norse Kingdom was given form and substance.