P is for Plague

April 19, 2017 by Roland Clarke

My 2017 A to Z Challenge theme is “The History of Kanata”, the parallel world that is the setting for “Eagle Passage”, my alternative history novel that all began when I wondered, “What would have happened if Leif Eriksson had settled Vinland permanently in 1000 AD? For further details and links to my other A to Z posts – and hints at the ones to come visit “Kanata – A to Z Challenge 2017”.

P is for Plague: 15 July 1350 – Fannar Ingolfsson, a Migisi Rederi merchant, is delivering a cargo of timber to Hellnar in Iceland when he meets a Sámi wise man, Rástoš Dávgon. Rástoš warns him that a deadly plague is sweeping through Europe, including Scandinavia. European ‘scientific’ experts are blaming a conjunction of three planets, while other Christians are persecuting groups like the Jews for this evil. However, nothing has halted the disease. But from all he has gleaned from reports and observations, it spread from across central Asia, fed by the unsanitary conditions in the cities. He believes that other creatures can carry the disease, especially dogs and rats. Fortunately, cold conditions and isolation hinder the ‘black death’, and Iceland has been spared so far

Fannar recognises that Rástoš is a shaman, so as a follower of the old religion he asks if the spirits have told him what to do. The shaman has been directed to help Kanata as their people could be most vulnerable, although the mix of Norse blood and indigenous carries a valuable essence that will save them. He has already told those that will listen that cleanliness is crucial, bodies must be burnt by fire, although without sacrificing precious timber. Finally, stray animals of all types must be destroyed. Fannar adds that rats use mooring ropes to enter ships so the crews of all ships, especially fellow merchants, must be vigilant.

Rástoš sails with Fannar back to Kanata to alert and prepare the people in the Americas.

World distribution of plague, 1998. from U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public domain.

In our timeline: The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe in the years 1346–1353. The plague probably originated in Central Asia and travelled along the trade routes. Unsanitary conditions in Europe saw repeated outbreaks through to the 17^th century, including in Iceland.

Burning bodies, controlling rodents and stray dogs, sanitation and cleanliness were rarely seen as solutions when it was easier to blame others or devils, and bury the dead or leave them rotting so scavengers could spread the disease further. Even the idea that cold or even freezing conditions can hinder or stop the disease is recent. Although there are some treatments for ‘plague’, including insecticides and a moderately effective vaccine, there are places that are still having outbreaks. Plague hovers in the shadows by many accounts: “The thought of another worldwide pandemic of Plague that is resistant to modern medical treatment boggles the mind.”

The plague was only one of the diseases that devastated the indigenous population of the Americas. The genetic makeup of Europeans made them less susceptible to other diseases, such as smallpox, and a greater percentage of them could develop immunity. The Native Americans were from a smaller gene pool. Another factor was that the indigenous people had not domesticated animals in such an extensive way as Europeans – domesticated animals were disease carriers, but also ironically one source of vaccines.

Would more of the indigenous population of the Americas have survived the diseases if they were prepared? Would the earlier introduction of European genes, and domesticated animals have introduced a level of immunity?

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O is for Ottoman Republic

April 18, 2017 by Roland Clarke

O is for Ottoman Republic: February 18, 1856 – In agreement with the international community, headed by Kanata, Albion, France, and the Rurikids, Ottoman statesman, Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha, announces that Jerusalem and the port of Jaffa, plus the land between them, are to become a Free Protectorate, open to all religions, especially as the area was sacred to many faiths. A founding new edict, “granted that all forms of religion could be freely worshipped, no subject could be hindered in the exercise of the religion, nor be in any way annoyed. No one shall be compelled to change their religion.”

Furthermore, the area would operate as a free trade area in line with the Kalmar League and protected by all the members of the League. All the neighbouring nations, including Egypt, agreed to this arrangement and both Christian and Jews began to freely return to the Protectorate.

Mehmed Emin Aali Pasha (1815-18710

In our timeline: Jerusalem was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1917, although from 1831 to 1840 the Viceroy of Egypt annexed the city. Some improvements to the city were made and Christians and Jews did return, although, under the British mandate from 1917, problems flared between the religious communities. Attempts to reach an international settlement after the First World War proved fraught with problems, which still remain.

Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha was one of the Ottoman Empire’s most enlightened statesman and some would say one of the architects of many of the reforms that led to the founding of modern Turkey.

Could a different attempt by the international community to resolve the Palestine-Israel question have been resolved? Could the Kalmar Union have evolved into an early League of Nations/United Nations with the power to avoid some of the conflicts that have ravaged our timeline? Or is that repetitive conflict inevitable and escalating?

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N is for Nanwalek

April 17, 2017 by Roland Clarke

N is for Nanwalek: 20 August 1415 – A decrease in the summer Arctic ice, and news via the Kalmar Union that Rus traders have opened a north-eastern passage that might connect to Kanata, has encouraged Kanatian explorers to find a north-west passage.

Using ice-breaking ships that combine lateen rigs and the ‘kochi’ technology of the Rus, Danish-Venetian navigator Jannick Chabotto has guided a fleet of five ships with merchant-adventurer Sacagawea Migisi, through to open water. Approaching a strait [Bering Straits] that could lead into the Cathay Ocean, they espy a fleet of four Rus traders flying the flag of the Rurikid Dynasty. They follow them into the port of Nanwalek, where the Rus leader Semyon Dezhnyov is fascinated to meet a mixed blood Mjölnir commander. and a detachment of Mjölnir Militia comprising various nationalities. However, everyone agrees that the trading post of Nanwalek must remain under the control of the indigenous Sugpiat people. But the Kanatians and Rus vow to explore the Cathay Ocean.

John Cabot in traditional Venetian garb by Giustino Menescardi (1762). A mural painting in the ‘Sala dello Scudo’ in the Palazzo Ducale. (Public domain)

In our timeline: In 1786, Nanwalek, Alaska became a Russian trade post called Point Alexandrovski using the indigenous people to harvest sea-otter furs. On 30 March 1867, Alaska was sold by Russia to the United States. Locals changed the community name to Nanwalek, meaning “place by lagoon,” in the language of the Sugpiat.

Semyon Dezhnyov (c. 1605 – 1673) was a Russian polar explorer and the first Russian to find the Bering Straits. He was also a Pomor, whose people developed the ‘koch’ icebreaking ships.

The Venetian Zuan Chabotto – known in English as John Cabot – was the first recorded European, in 1497, to search for the North-West Passage. The first crossing solely by ship was the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen in 1903–1905. He used a small ship and hugged the coast. In contrast, the Russian-Siberian route involves far fewer islands and narrow straits so it is not surprising that the Russians discovered the Bering Straits first. However, the north-west coast of North America was explored by both the Spaniards and the British in the late 18^th century.

If Viking descendants from Russia and Kanata met, would they be amicable merchants or bitter rivals? Would they have a common language after 400 years? Modern Scandinavians are pretty smart about understanding each other given the Old Norse roots of their languages.

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M is for Maid of Norway

April 15, 2017 by Roland Clarke

M is for Maid of Norway: 8 July 1317 – Dunfermline Palace, Scotland: Margaret of Scotland, known as The Maid of Norway’ due to her birthplace, and her husband, Edvard II of England have united the lands of Albion with their marriage in 1300 and established diplomatic marriages with influential nobles. Christina, the daughter of their Lord Protector in Scotland, Robert the Bruce, is married to their son Alexander, and the Bruce has invited them back to the royal residence.

They are introduced to the scholar Cináed Giselbert who has travelled extensively from the heartlands of Kanata to the academic centres of the Islamic caliphates. He claims that an integrated, holistic view of science is the way forward. His observations have led to some conclusions that could benefit Albion and its allies. The charcoal and tar industries thrive under the support of enlightened merchants. But he has observed that burning timber, most especially in funeral pyres, wastes gases and vapours that are blown away in the wind. He demonstrates a device based on ancient drawings that can harness these gases and vapours. But he apologises that it is crude and craves support from the monarchs and their supporters, saying that other scholars share his beliefs. Margaret persuades Edvard to found a scholastic guild of higher learning in St Andrews, where Cináed Giselbert can gather other academics, explore devices to enhance society, and pass on their knowledge to students.

In our timeline: Undiscovered Scotland – “Margaret, Maid of Norway lived from 9 April 1283 to 26 September 1290 and was Queen of Scotland from 19 March 1286 to 26 September 1290. She was the granddaughter of Alexander III [of Scotland]. …In September 1290, Margaret set sail in a Norwegian ship from Bergen … Storms drove the ship off course to Orkney, and it eventually landed at St Margaret’s Hope, South Ronaldsay. Here Margaret, Maid of Norway, died, apparently from the effects of sea-sickness, still aged only eight. Had her marriage to [the future] Edward {II] gone ahead, the crowns of Scotland and England would have been united some three hundred years earlier than they eventually were, in 1603. And three hundred years of bloody history would probably have been very different.”

St Andrews University was not founded until 1413, after Oxford (1167), Cambridge (1209), and Northampton (1261).

Charcoal production is an ancient method of fuel production from wood that does require careful forest management, and in Britain led to extensive coppicing, as well as deforestation when demand exceeded demand. Similar deforestation occurred in Scandinavia and Finland where charcoal was a by-product of wood tar production. Charcoal is produced most extensively today in Brazil where it is used to transform ore into pig iron, and from there into mass-produced steel.

The first efficient steam engine to be applied industrially was designed by Thomas Savery in 1698. However, there were some ancient designs.

Aeon – In ‘Could we reboot a modern civilization without fossil fuels’, Lewis Dartnell writes, “Another, related option might be wood gasification. The use of wood to provide heat is as old as mankind, and yet simply burning timber only uses about a third of its energy. The rest is lost when gases and vapours released by the burning process blow away in the wind. Under the right conditions, even smoke is combustible. We don’t want to waste it.” Later, he writes, “For a society to stand any chance of industrialising under such conditions, it would have to focus its efforts in certain, very favourable natural environments: not the coal-island of 18th-century Britain, but perhaps areas of Scandinavia or Canada that combine fast-flowing streams for hydroelectric power and large areas of forest that can be harvested sustainably for thermal energy.”

Could Kanata industrialise itself if its inventors, like Cináed Giselbert, take the correct steps along a different energy path, focusing more on renewable wood derived fuel than coal? In my 2020 scenario, solar has become a major source, but how could they get there without ravaging the planet?

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L is for Louisiana Purchase

April 14, 2017 by Roland Clarke

L is for Louisiana Purchase: 20 December 1803 – After eleven months of protracted negotiations, Darja Migisi is relieved when the French government formally hand over control of the Île d’Orléans to Kanata, after numerous hostile encounters all around the Louisiana and Atlantic coast ever since Napoleon Bonaparte and Spain have been attempting to disrupt the region. However, Kanata’s southern neighbours, the Dixie States, under their President, Thomas Jefferson, have offered the Napoleonic government money for all the French land settled along the Mississippi river as far as the Kanata border, knowing that the Emperor needs money to finance his European wars. The Mexican government under Governor Cuauhtémoc de Salcedo countered by offering bullion for all the land where they have settlements, although the Dixie States have made significant inroads west, mainly into Texas and Oklahoma. Darja Migisi and the Kanatian delegation are concerned that these complex land issues cannot be settled so easily, especially when almost all the land is still settled by their indigenous brethren. But for now, the greatest concerns are the ambitions of France. However, with the Mesoamerican power blocs co-operating with the Iberian crowns conflict will be hard to avoid. At least, Kanata is granted the right to patrol the Mississippi and control trade through Île d’Orléans, now called New Orleans. Whether the Dixie States will accept their influence might be another point of conflict in later years.

The Louisiana Purchase. Projection = USA Contiguous Albers Equal Area Conic (EPSG: 102003) – Sources: Natural Earth and Portland State University. Author – William Morris

In our timeline: The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 was by far the largest territorial gain in U.S. history. Stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, the purchase doubled the size of the United States. Before 1803, Louisiana had been under Spanish control for forty years. Although Spain aided the rebels in the American Revolutionary War, the Spanish didn’t want the Americans to settle in their territory.

The acquisition of the Louisiana Territory for the bargain price of less than three cents an acre was among Jefferson’s most notable achievements as president. American expansion westward into the new lands began immediately, and in 1804 a territorial government was established. On April 30, 1812, exactly nine years after the Louisiana Purchase agreement was made, the first state to be carved from the territory–Louisiana–was admitted into the Union as the 18th U.S. state.

[Wikipedia and History.com]

Would the Dixie States and the Mesoamerican nations accept Kanata controlling the main port on the Gulf Coast as well as the key inland waterway? Or is war between them inevitable?

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K is for Kalmar Union

April 13, 2017 by Roland Clarke

K is for Kalmar Union: 12 June 1397 – Kalmar Castle, Denmark: Outnumbered by superior forces, two rival Hanseatic merchant captains, Palle Fisker and Izaak Rusnak, are escorted to Kalmar Castle by Captain Urika Migisi and her three Kanatian warships. Queen Margaret I of Denmark is hosting a gathering of merchants and nobles from across the Baltic to form a trading alliance across Northern Europe. The delegates agree as long as Kanata sets up a neutral trading post to secure the arrangement, based at Palle’s home port of Visby, on the strategic island of Gotland. Urika wins Palle’s heart, but his rivalry with Izaak spills down the generations – all the way to 2020.

A medieval ship flag captured from a Danish ship by forces from Lubeck in 1427 displaying the arms of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Pomerania – Illustration by Professor Julius Magnus Petersen. (Public Domain)

In our timeline: The Kalmar Union was created and existed from 1397 to 1523^,joining under a single monarch the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden (then including Finland), and Norway, together with Norway’s overseas dependencies (then including Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Northern Isles). Queen Margaret of Denmark was the regent at this time and a prime mover. One main impetus for the Union’s formation was to block German expansion northward into the Baltic region. The Hanseatic League were one of the major rivals of the Scandinavians, as were the Victual Brothers, a loosely organised guild of pirate operating at one time from Visby, a former Hanseatic city.

Although the Kalmar Union suffered from all the rivalry around the Baltic, including conflicts between the Scandinavian nations, could a powerful intermediary like Kanata have safeguarded Baltic trade? This might have been feasible, especially as Visby as the main port on the island of Gotland was well-placed to monitor traffic.

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