#the pope in 1096

[the-oberpfalz]

The first crusade, 1096, colourized

currently withholding the urge to comment ‘that’s kinda gay’ on every lgbtq+ post that I see

[whencyclopedia]

The First Crusade (1096–1099) was a pivotal military expedition initiated by Western European Christians in response to Pope Urban II’s call at the Council of Clermont in 1095. Aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and other holy sites in the Levant from Muslim control, the Crusade was driven by a combination of religious zeal, desire for adventure, and political motives. Led by prominent nobles and knights...

[girlactionfigure]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐞𝐰𝐬.

I'm sick and tired of Candace Owens and her likes that are obsessed with framing Jews behind every problem that they had over the years. While we all love the Christians and while most Christians are real friends of the Jews, I think this has to be said again and again. So let's review some history and some facts.

1/ Early Christian Era: 

Hostility towards Jews began as early as the 4th century when Christianity became the Roman Empire's official religion. Emperor Constantine's policies, later codified in the Theodosian Code, restricted Jewish rights. Jews were barred from public office, synagogues were destroyed, This set a precedent for future Christian rulers to marginalize Jews.

2/ First Crusade (1096): 

As the Crusaders marched to the Holy Land, they massacred Jewish communities in the Rhineland (modern-day Germany). Known as the Rhineland massacres, thousands of Jews were killed in cities like Worms, Mainz, and Cologne. The violence was often enabled by Crusader preachers who framed Jews as enemies of Christianity. Many Jews chose martyrdom over forced conversion, a theme that would reappear in later persecutions.

3/ Blood Libel Accusations (12th century - today): 

The first known case of blood libel occurred in Norwich, England, in 1144, when Jews were falsely accused of murdering a Christian boy, William of Norwich, for ritual purposes. These accusations led to widespread violence and massacres, including notable cases in Trent (1475) and Damascus (1840). Blood libel myths fueled antisemitism, resulting in the torture, execution, and expulsion of Jews across Europe.

4/ The Black Death (1348-1351): 

As the plague ravaged Europe, killing millions, Jews were scapegoated and accused of poisoning wells. Pogroms erupted across the continent, with entire Jewish communities in cities like Strasbourg being annihilated. In some areas, Jews were burned alive, while in others, they were forcibly converted or expelled. Despite papal condemnations of the violence, local authorities and priests encouraged and some even participated in the massacres.

5/ Spanish Inquisition (1478-1834): 

The Inquisition targeted conversos, Jews who had converted to Christianity, suspecting them of secretly practicing Judaism. Tomas de Torquemada, the first Grand Inquisitor, led a brutal campaign of torture and execution. The Alhambra Decree of 1492, issued by Ferdinand and Isabella, expelled all Jews from Spain, forcing over 200,000 to convert or flee. This expulsion ended centuries of Jewish cultural and intellectual contributions to Spain.

6/ Expulsions in Europe: 

Over centuries, Jews faced expulsion from numerous European countries. England (1290) saw the Edict of Expulsion under King Edward I, forcing Jews to leave and seizing their property. France (1306 and 1394) saw similar expulsions, as did various German states. These expulsions often followed periods of economic exploitation and violence against Jews, stripping them of property and wealth and forcing them into exile.

7/ Ghettos and Restrictions (16th-18th centuries): 

In many European cities, Jews were confined to ghettos, segregated neighborhoods with curfews and restricted economic opportunities. The first ghetto was established in Venice in 1516. In Rome, Pope Paul IV established the Roman Ghetto in 1555, enforcing strict segregation. Jews in ghettos faced overcrowding, poverty, and social isolation, with limited rights and constant threat of violence.

8/ Russian Pogroms (19th-20th centuries): 

The assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881 sparked a wave of violent pogroms against Jews across the Russian Empire. These state-sanctioned attacks involved looting, arson, and murder, with entire villages destroyed. The May Laws of 1882 further restricted Jewish rights, driving mass emigration to the United States and Israel. Pogroms continued into the early 20th century, culminating in the Kishinev Pogrom of 1903, these pogroms were influenced by various social, economic, and political factors, they occurred in a predominantly Christian society where antisemitic attitudes were pervasive and pushed by local priests, and a lot of Christians participated in the violence.

9/ Context on Christian Persecution Claims: 

While millions of Christians have faced persecution over the years, those claiming they are the most persecuted group are misleading. Let’s look at some numbers:

- 1800: Approximately 22% of the world population was Christian, around 200 million out of 900 million.

- 1850: Christians made up about 28% of the world population, roughly 350 million out of 1.2 billion.

- 1900: The proportion increased to 34%, with 560 million Christians out of 1.65 billion people globally.

- 1950: Christians constituted about 35% of the global population, approximately 800 million out of 2.3 billion.

Today, around 31% of the world's population identifies as Christian, approximately 2.3 billion people out of 7.8 billion. Given these numbers, it's clear that while Christians have certainly faced persecution, the idea that they are the most persecuted group does not hold up. It's like saying the world is the most persecuted world—statistically inaccurate given the substantial and growing global Christian population. 

This context does not diminish the real suffering that many Christians have endured, especially in certain regions and periods. However, the Jewish experience of persecution stands apart due to its intensity, persistence, and the often racially motivated nature of the oppression. Jews, a much smaller group historically, have faced systemic efforts aimed at their complete eradication, from medieval pogroms to the Holocaust. Their persecution involved not just religious but also racial and cultural dimensions, leading to centuries of marginalization, violence, and genocide.

10/ Conclusion: 

The history of Christian persecution of Jews is a strong reminder of the consequences of intolerance and bigotry. While it's important to acknowledge and appreciate the many Christians who have stood by Jews as true friends, we cannot ignore the dark chapters where Christian societies and authorities played a significant role in the suffering of Jewish communities. 

By understanding these historical contexts, we can better appreciate the resilience of the Jewish people and the importance of standing against all forms of hatred. Let's ensure that history does not repeat itself by fostering an inclusive and compassionate future. It's time to move beyond misplaced blame and work together to combat antisemitism and bigotry in all its forms... 

𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐬: 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 

[alpaca-clouds]

The Crusades (and how they Influence Castlevania)

I will just happily continue to do some historical framing of Castlevania, especially in regards to Nocturne, as it really has a ton of historical details in there. But I also noticed a ton of people refer to Mizrak as a Templar or a crusader - both in the positive and the negative sense. So, let me talk about two things today: Historical context of the Crusades and (in the evening, when I have a bit more time) also the Knight Orders that participated.

Understanding the crusades is also very important when it comes to understanding colonialism in how it happened, which doubly influences the plot of Castlevania Nocturne.

First: The first crusade happened mainly in 1096, though there were two years of things happening up to it. And make no mistake: The reasons for the crusades happening were entirely political.

Of course, the official story went like this: "Muslims have laid claim on Jerusalem, which is this important city for Christianity because it is where Jesus died (and according to some sources was born as well)! Now how can we do a pilgrimage there?! We need to reclaim Jerusalem!"

But that story was a lie. Yes, Muslim held Jerusalem at the time, but... here is the fact: Muslim at this time were very chill with other religions. So Christian could do their pilgrimage through the Muslim held territory no problem. They even build infrastructure for the Christian pilgrims. No problem.

No, the reason for it was different. For once the Byzantine had lost a lot of land to the Ottomans and Turks. And they petitioned the Western European nations for help reclaiming it.

But also: Pope Urban at the time had kinda the problem that there was another pope. (Yes, that happened a lot in history.) And he had been thrown out of Rome. So, he had the genius idea that if he build up the Muslims as this horrible enemy, he could unite the Christians under himself in the fight against them.

And thus the first Crusade started. It was chaos. They killed more Christians throughout eastern Europe than Muslims, because they just went pillaging and all those things.

But over the next about 200 years a ton more crusades happened. Like, officially eight crusades, but there were actually so many more, just that those eight crusades were happening with more nations participating.

Technically speaking the crusades did not even stop after 1291. Rather there were more smaller crusades. Often these were not about Jerusalem, but about reclaiming other areas from Muslim rule. But also about pillaging a lot of Muslim land and riches.

To relate this back to Castlevania: Isaac has probably been taken as a slave during one of the later crusades. And given we know Hector lived on Rhodes, he also would have seen one crusade trying to reclaim the island from the Muslims.

Now, why was this important in regards of colonialism?

Mostly, because the entire framework of thinking that influenced colonialism later came from here.

Until the crusades racism was not really a thing that existed. There was xenophobia, yes, but that was bound to culture, not to the color of skin or the shape of a face. But the crusades created a very effective image of the "dangerous other" in Arabs and Turks. And thus as the crusades progressed the idea that darker skinned people were inherently bad spread more and more throughout Europe and was pushed a lot by the church.

By the time the original Castlevania series is set the idea was the official church doctrine, which included that Black people were created by God to be slaves. It is this that made the colonizers turn to Africa to get their slaves. Because it was so interwoven with church doctrine by that time that it was just considered truth.

Now, at the point that Nocturne is set in, the crusades were very much over. But the fallout from them continued a long while onwards - technically speaking through to this day.

Some of the Knightly Orders that were created during the crusades were active in the French Revolution. Technically speaking some of them are active to this day. (Yes, the Knights Hospitaller included - just that they do not call themselves Knights anylonger.)

If you wanna learn more about the first crusade and the chaos that ensued, watch this little series by Extra History.

[nanshe-of-nina]

Favorite History Books || Baldwin of Bourcq: Count of Edessa and King of Jerusalem (1100-1131) by Alan V. Murray ★★★★☆

Baldwin of Bourcq first entered the historical record in 1096, when he left his home in northeastern France to join the First Crusade, the great expedition summoned in late November 1095 by Pope Urban II for the liberation of the holy sites and Christian peoples of Syria and Palestine from the domination of the Muslim Turks. After the crusaders took Jerusalem on 15 July 1099 most of them returned to their homes in the West, but a minority remained in the newly founded principalities in the Near East which came to be collectively known as Outremer, an Old French name meaning ‘[the land] beyond the sea’. Baldwin was one of those crusaders who chose to seek their fortunes in the East. In 1100 he unexpectedly succeeded to the county of Edessa, a new Christian principality carved out of territories seized from Turkish control in north-eastern Syria and Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now southeastern Turkey. There he ruled over a diverse population of Armenians, Syrian Christians and immigrant Europeans for almost two decades. In 1118 he was called to take up the succession in the kingdom of Jerusalem, where he ruled for over twelve years. By the time he had reached middle age, Baldwin had gone from being a minor nobleman in France to one of only a dozen kings in Western Christendom. Until now, Baldwin’s biography has never been written. In the Middle Ages it was Godfrey of Bouillon, the first Latin ruler of Jerusalem, who rapidly came to be regarded as the great chivalric hero of the crusade, and his medieval reputation was reflected in modern historiography. Because Godfrey’s life before the crusade is reasonably well documented, it also attracted the attention of historians of Lotharingia as well as of the crusades and Outremer. By comparison his brother and successor King Baldwin I was neglected in modern scholarship, but recent research has established him as the real founder of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Whether as count of Edessa or king of Jerusalem, Baldwin II (as he is numbered in both cases) received less attention than either of his predecessors in historical research of the nineteenth and most of the twentieth centuries. However, three significant facets of his reign in Jerusalem have emerged in research of the last fifty years. Firstly, Hans Eberhard Mayer’s work on the royal chancery and the charters of the kings and queens of Jerusalem has not only provided a magnificent edition of Baldwin’s documents, but also shown how his tenure of the regency of the principality of Antioch caused significant problems for the government of his own kingdom. Secondly, prosopographical research has highlighted the importance of Baldwin’s family connections in France after he settled in the East. And thirdly, my own earlier work has made clear the importance of the attempt to depose Baldwin while he was a captive of the Turks in 1123, and the effect this had on his subsequent policies.

[coe-lilium]

Been mulling over it for some time and I’m not sure if I get it. 

In Warrior Nun S2 (but also the last ep of S1) Adriel tries to hammer home how the Church benefited from his presence under the Vatican because (quoting from memory) “They built a religion and their whole power using my powers/my influence”. He’s also very smug about it. 

And I’m not sure what was the intended authorial intend of this? 

That Adriel is right or that he is, once again, full of shit? Because, see:

- he arrived in our world in 1096-1099 AD and. my guy. that religion you claim was “built” on your power had been a thing for a millennia at that point. “Built on me” my ass.

- During those years the center of papal power in Rome was the Lateran. No Pope got anywhere close to the Vatican until 1300, three centuries after Adriel was imprisoned under the catacombs.   

- historically, his claim that his presence enhanced the power of the Church is horseshit, because you barely need to reach the year 1209 to see how a whole bunch of kings, princes and various nobles might say “Yes, your Holiness, as you wish” in public just to then turn their face and go on minding their business ignoring when not actively ostracizing or fighting the Pope (the entire Hohenstaufen family says hi!).   

Now, to be sure, the character *is* a lying liar who lies (and murders, and so on. So much that I’m very disappointed with the show he turned out to be an alien and not a bonafide demon). But there were also moments in which the authors clearly intended to make a point and got their historical information wrong* so I’m not sure which one it is here. 

*see that scene in S1 in which Ava’s “why is there a statue of the male overseer while the woman who founded the actual Order is nowhere to be seen?” line was clearly intended as a smart “gotcha!” moment. Writers, please.          

[stuartbramhall]

The Crusades Clash of Cultures 1096-1271

Episode 9 The Crusades Clash of Cultures 1095-1271 The Middle Ages Around the World Dr Joyce E Salisbury Film Review People’s Crusade (1096) – responding to Byzantine emperor Alexius request for European mercenaries to defend Byzantium against the Seljek Turks, in 1095 Pope Urban II called for a European crusade to seize Jerusalem from Arabs who had ruled it for centuries. In 1096, thousands of…

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 8.15 (before 1800)

636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate begins. 717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year. 718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople. 747 – Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery near Rome. His brother, Pepin the Short, becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom. 778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass takes place between the army of Charlemagne and a Basque army. 805 – Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising 927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto. 982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria. 1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria. 1038 – King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him. 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada. 1070 – The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England. 1096 – Starting date of the First Crusade as set by Pope Urban II. 1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia. 1224 – The Livonian Brothers of the Sword, a Catholic military order, occupy Tarbatu (today Tartu) as part of the Livonian Crusade. 1237 – Spanish Reconquista: The Battle of the Puig between the Moorish forces of Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon culminates in an Aragonese victory. 1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.) 1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned as the first Byzantine emperor in fifty-seven years. 1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan. 1310 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes. 1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca. 1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered. 1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel. 1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate. 1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary. 1519 – Panama City, Panama is founded. 1534 – Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540. 1537 – Asunción, Paraguay is founded. 1540 – Arequipa, Peru is founded. 1549 – Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549). 1592 – Imjin War: At the Battle of Hansan Island, the Korean Navy, led by Yi Sun-sin, Yi Eok-gi, and Won Gyun, decisively defeats the Japanese Navy, led by Wakisaka Yasuharu. 1599 – Nine Years' War: Battle of Curlew Pass: Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle. 1695 – French forces end the bombardment of Brussels. 1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.

[jasmineleeplays]

On 17 September 1096 at age 63, Pope Silvester IV died before the Crusade for Africa kicked off. He is succeeded by a Gaelic Pope, Pope Urbanus II, who is just 32 years young and quite good-looking I might add!

Meanwhile, Irmeltrud has been traveling through Asia Minor instead of the planned Southern Europe. She sent back recipes for lamb, yogurt and eggplants, along with a Golden Seahorse Brooch trinket that gives Faith Hostility Advantage which will be good for the upcoming Crusade for Africa against the Ash'ari Muslims.

At long last, the Crusade for Africa begins with the Catholics being led by Pope Urbanus II, while the Ash'aris spearheaded by a coalition of the Zirid Sultanate and Kairouan.

In a shocking turn of events, King Ribald mab Edouarzh of Italy, Queen Matilda's 2nd husband after King Gottfried "the Hunchback", has been murdered by an unknown assailant on her Spymaster's watch! This is upsetting, because we set our 17 Intrigue Spymaster to Disrupt Schemes and still he failed to discover this murder scheme, and besides, Queen Matilda held some affection for King Ribald gaining some stress from this loss.

We immediately set out to remarry Queen Matilda, this time to a Frenchmen named Raoul Chabot who has 24 Stewardship for that sweet spouse skill bonus in Managing Domain. King Raoul was formerly the Steward of Countess Vainmonde of Montargis, and is quite the looker in those kingly garbs.

Finally, Irmeltrud arrives back in Firenze (Florence) with a Famed Pedestal Artifact named Irmeltrud's Jewelry Casket which is made of ivory and inlaid with gold decorations, giving Piety, Renown and Court Grandeur Bonus.

[brehaaorgana]

This is just one of many times this happened, its just the other times i know about were usually genocides.

In 1211 more than 80 Waldensians were burned at the stake in Strasbourg as heretics

Pope Innocent VIII issued a papal bull April 27, 1487 Id Nostri Cordis which issued a plenary indulgence for anyone joining the crusades against the waldensians. Because they wanted to murder all of them.

Then there's the Albigensian Crusade (or Cathar Crusade) which the coiner of the term genocide (Raphael Lemkin) identified specifically as an example of genocide. It was to rid Languedoc of all the Cathars, and estimated death tolls range from 200,000 to 1 million people. The 1209 Massacre at Béziers involved the slaughter and destruction of the entire city. At the time someone claimed "20,000" were put to the sword (probably somewhat higher than the actual population.) Additionally while it's unlikely the quote is exact, Amalric, who lead the siege, was said to have uttered the infamous phrase "Kill them all! God will know his own." (Or "God will sort them out.") The crusade was about 1208 to 1244, driving surviving Cathars totally underground. 1244 is when "200 Cathar perfects were burnt in an enormous pyre at the prat dels cremats ("field of the burned")" his crusade had a role of the founding of both the Dominican order and the Medieval Inquisition. The Cathars basically disappear completely in the middle of the 14th century due to the genocide.

This is all the Christian on Christian massacres of course. We can't forget the French simply didn't view Jews as native and the Rhineland massacres of 1096 also slaughtered thousands of Jews living in Germany and France because the crusaders felt they ought to start their killing with the Jews at home before they got to the Muslims and jews in the holy land.

What I'm saying is the Cagot and French Jews were the survivors of a variety of people given this treatment.

every time i start thinking about the Cagots i go a little insane

[kultofathena]

Legacy Arms – Templar Knight Sword

The Knight’s Templar Sword by Legacy Arms has a sharpened blade forged from 5160 high carbon steel which has been tempered. The crossguard and pommel are of stainless steel and the wooden grip is finished with an outer binding wrap of supple leather. The blade tang is robustly peened over the pommel for a tough and ready-to-use construction. Included with the sword is a wood core scabbard wrapped in matching leather and completed with a stainless steel chape and locket.

Knights Templar or the Order of the Temple (French: Ordre du Temple or Templiers) were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders. The organization existed for approximately two centuries in the Middle Ages. It was founded in the aftermath of the First Crusade of 1096, to ensure the safety of the many Europeans who made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem after its conquest.

Officially endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church in 1129, the Order became a favored charity across Europe and grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights in their distinctive white mantles with red cross were among the best fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, inventing or adapting many financial techniques that were an early form of banking, and building many fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land.

The Templars’ success was tied closely to the Crusades; when the Crusaders suffered defeat and lost the Holy Land, support for the Order faded. Rumors about the Templars’ secret initiation ceremony created mistrust, and King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, began pressuring Pope Clement V to take action. In 1307, King Philip had many of the Order’s members in France arrested and tortured them into giving false confessions before being burned at the stake. In 1312, Pope Clement V, under continuing pressure from King Philip, disbanded the Order. The abrupt disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the “Templar” name alive until the present.

[theressomethinghappeninginparis]

Transcript of the first page:

l mentioned in my previous post that Molay had some difficulties with the Pope concearning his order and that there are more ties to France. Well. There were five initial charges against the Templars and Molay was suposed to defend the Tempalrs against all of them. They were:

renunciation and spitting (?) on the cross, denying Christ

something really homosexual the Pope only accepts with non consenting minors like the stripping of a man during joining and kissing him on the navel, the posterior and the mouth

telling the novice that unnatural (=homo) lust was lawful

adoration of an idol

and not consecrating the host in celebrating Mass or other sacraments

Philip IV of France had some money problems and debt and decided to arrest all Templars to wipe it away. Molay, being of course tortured in good Christian manner admitted to "denying Christ and trampling on the cross", then they made him write a letter to his fellow Templars asking them to admit their wrongdoings. When he was brought in front of the Pope he retracted his statement, but they made him "admit" his charges again. Molay had an aweful death, he was burnt with a fellow at the stake in the Seine, here, in France.

Transcript of the second page:

The picture on top depicts some man surrounding one specific man. It shows them torturing Molay during his "interrogation". They appear to mark or burn something into his hand. Christians got really creative when it came to torturing others and since it got fashionable to hint at your rich neighbour being a heretic, the church would get insanely rich: any tortured person lost all their belongings which were seized by the Catholics. Some other ideas were burning a person alive and crushing their bones, really disgusting, inhumane stuff.

The bottom picture shows Molay with his fellow Templar Geoffrey de Charnays. Apparently Philip IV was so deep into his debts he didn't wait for the Pope to decide their fate, but burnt the two at the stake all by himself.

Third page, depiction of the first crusade, 1096-1099

Fourth page, depiction of the second crusade, 1147-1149

Fifth page, depiction of the third crusade, 1189-1191

This went a bit abroad but I have the feeling it could seriously be linked to the findings in the Louvre. Maybe I should contact the museum again and figure out if they have any new clues, or directions or anything. Maybe I'm not seeing possibilities since this is the only reasonable lead I have.

The monstrum has been silent for a bit, at least I haven't read anyhting new on the newspapers. In order to understand the Templars more I'm afraid only names won't be much of use. Some names don't have information on them, like Aynerice Vasiley or Bérange Louis Aicard or Beausécant Limoux, and I can't keep digging and going nowhere. I shall look into the templar's history and dissect their past for any hint leading to the Lux Veritatis. Or anything, really.

[illustratus]

The Entrance to Toulouse of Pope Urban II in 1096 | Entrée du Pape Urbain à Toulouse

by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant

[sourcherryandsprinkles]

Father, dear father | JJ Maybank x Reader

Summary: JJ always sees his dad when he least expects it

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Reader

Word count: 1096

Warning: Mention of violence/abuse

-

The rumbling of a motorbike resonated outside the chateau as you were piling up empty beer cans into a trash bag to busy yourself - and stop thinking about John B's death penalty sentence. You raised your head up, eyes on the door, knowing who was about to walk in.

''Where were you?''

''I went to see John B,'' JJ replied, the screen door flapping shut behind him. ''Orange doesn't suit him.'' If ithad simply been a joke, you would've laughed, but you knew JJ enough to see through his joke that it was a way to camouflage the emotions he was feeling.

''We're gonna get him out of there,'' you promised.

JJ looked down, nodding. ''I...I saw my dad too.''

You stilled at the mention of the one-who-shall-not-be-named. You hadn't heard from him since the day JJ stole the Phantom. You also hadn't seen his face at the gas station - which you work at - where he usually bought his beer and liquor in a long time.

''I saw him at the prison. He was with other inmates...as in, he is in jail.''

Good. Luke Maybank deserved to rot behind bars of a jail-cell until his last breath for all the shit he did to JJ. He was a thief, drug addict, a drunk and a shitty fucking father.

JJ opened his mouth, but was struggling to get words out. His eyebrows furrowed and water blurred his vision. ''Plumb said I'm gonna end up in jail just like my dad.''

His head hung low and your face twisted into anger. You weren't a violent person, but you wanted to punch her.

JJ had caused a lot of trouble around the island and made himself a name to the local cops. The Pogues often joked that JJ was going to go in jail one day if he kept being so reckless and stupid, but it was all jokes.

Plumb wanted to hurt JJ, she meant those words.

You refused to let him believe her.

Dropping what you had in your hands, you crossed the living room and held JJ's face so he'd look at you. ''You are not your dad, JJ. You're nothing like the shit-head, okay?'' You didn't miss the tears in his eyes as you spoke sternly yet gently. You wanted your words to stick and erase Plumb's. ''You're loving, brave and loyal. You're always looking out for me and your friends, always defending us at any turn. You're all those things your dad will never be.''

You felt his arms wrapping around your middle and you put yours around his neck and shoulders, allowing him to lay his head on your shoulder. JJ's hold was tight, but not so tight you couldn't breathe. You kissed the side of his neck and felt him smile.

When he pulled back, you searched his eyes for signs of tears and wiped it for him. ''You okay?''

JJ nodded. ''Yeah. I just had dust in my eye.''

You rolled your eyes at his bullshit.

He walked back you, heading to the kitchen, and you only now noticed his white shirt - its cuffed sleeves showing his toned arms - and snapback and fucking blue jeans. JJ never wore jeans. He was always in khaki shorts.

Your eyes followed him up and down with thirst. ''Since when do you wear jeans? Did you run out of clothes to wear and stole them from Pope?''

''I had to dress up to see my best friend. It's a special occasion, you know,'' he explained, closing the fridge and cracking open a beer. ''I had sunglasses too. Just wait for the full look.'' JJ put the aviators back on and- Christ.

''Honestly, I don't know if I want you to keep it on or take it off.''

JJ's lips curled at the corner, forgetting about the beer and setting it down. ''I'll make that decision for you.''

.

You heard a honk and looked ahead, seeing Kiara's dad's truck. Fucking finally.

''Oh, and speak of the freaking devil. Look who it is, the tortoise and the tortoise, just a couple hours late,'' John B pointed out, perched on top of the twinkie.

The van had water to its third by now and you had gotten attacked by an alligator - well, John B did.

''Where the hell were you, guys?'' Pope asked.

''Paternal complications,'' Kie briefly explained.

JJ got out of the truck and went to the trunk, grabbing the rope. ''Luke was at the chateau.''

You frowned. What the fuck was he doing at the chateau? Wasn't he in prison? You didn't say anything in front of the others as they didn't know JJ's dad was in prison.

Later, when it was only you and JJ, you decided to ask.

''How come was Luke at the chateau?''

''He was released for good behavior.'' JJ laughed dryly, having difficulty believing it. ''He busted a window in a pharmacy and stole from the pharmacist so the cops were after him. He hid at the chateau and waited for me so I could help him get out of the island - for good.''

Like always, JJ left some parts out. He didn't tell you the part where Luke had grabbed him from the back, hand over his mouth, as if he was going to kidnap him. Or, that he yelled at him and shook him. Or that he played with his feelings and head.

''H-he's not gonna come back, Y/N. I'm never gonna see him again.''

While it was mostly good that his dad was gone, a part of JJ was sad. He was still his dad.

''Now, all I have is you and the Pogues.'' His voice cracked and you reached out and took his hand, holding it between yours.

It pained you to see him like this. Hopefully, it was the last time Luke was causing his son pain.

''You'll always have me, J.'' You were still young and honestly didn’t know if you’d be together forever, but, at the moment, leaving wasn't in your future plans.

''It was hard watching him leave. Despite all the bad things he did, I love him, you know, in a weird twisted way.''

His old man didn't deserve JJ's love - not even a small part. All his life JJ wished to have a good relationship with his father. He forgave him over and over again; he was always hopeful that one day he'll stop taking drugs and drinking and abusing him. But he never did.

''You’re allowed to love him...even if just a little bit.''

''I shouldn’t.''

[sixth-light]

The Crusades: A Fandom Primer

Like many of you, I am very excited to see a whole lot of fic about everybody’s favourite new Crusades-era Muslim/Christian immortal warrior husbands! However, a preliminary reading indicates that fandom is a bit hazy on what actually happened during the Crusades. Or where. Or why. They’re a much-mythologised piece of history so this isn’t surprising, but at popular request – ok like five people that counts – I’m here with a fandom-oriented Crusades primer.

Please bear in mind that I’m not a historian and this primer is largely based on my notes and recollections from several undergraduate history courses I took in the mid ‘00s. I expect the field has moved on somewhat, and I welcome corrections from people with more up-to-date knowledge! There’s also this very good post by someone who is a lot less lazy about links than I am.

Where did they take place?

The Crusades, broadly, describe a series of invasions of the Eastern Mediterranean (modern Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Beirut, Jordan, Cyprus, and parts of Turkey and Greece) by (mostly) Western European armies, religiously justified by their belief that the city of Jerusalem should be part of ‘Christendom’, i.e. ruled by a Christian monarch. In the first expression of European settler colonialism, nobles from the area of modern France and Germany founded four Crusader Kingdoms (aka ‘Outremer’, ‘overseas’) – the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and County of Tripoli.

  After a first unexpected wave of success in the First Crusade (1096-1099), which surprised everybody including the participants by conquering Jerusalem, the Crusaders were gradually driven and the last part of Outremer was lost to European control with the fall of the city of Acre in 1291. Crusades after that still nominally aimed to take Jerusalem but rarely got very far, with the Fourth Crusade famously sacking the city of Byzantium, their nominal Christian allies, in 1204. During this whole period activity that can be considered part of the ‘Crusades’ took place around the Eastern Mediterranean.

The most important thing to remember is that modern national boundaries didn’t exist in the same way; Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and the UK were not unified nations. Most of the southern Iberian peninsula (modern Spain) was ‘al-Andalus’, Muslim kingdoms ruled by nobility originally from North Africa. Sicily had been an Emirate up until very recently, when it had been conquered by Normans (Vikings with a one-century stopover in France). Italy and Germany in particular were a series of city-states and small duchies; Genoa, if you’re curious about it for some reason, ;), was a maritime power with more or less a distinct language, Genoese Ligurian (their dialect had enough of a navy to qualify). England had recently become part of the Anglo-Norman Empire, which ruled most of England (but not Wales or Scotland) and also large parts of modern France, particularly Normandy.

The Muslim world was similarly fragmented in ways that don’t correspond to modern national boundaries - there were multiple taifa states in Iberia, the Almoravid Caliphate in Morocco, the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt, and (nominally) the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad, one of the great cities of the era, although the Seljuq Turks were the major power in Anatolia (modern Turkey) and what we describe as the ‘Middle East’. 

The largest Christian unified power in the wider European/Mediterranean region was the Byzantine Empire, centered on the city of Constantinople (modern Istanbul), which quite fairly considered itself the direct continuation of the Roman Empire, the capital having been moved there by the Emperor Constantine in 323. In fact, the really big political and religious question of the time for Christians was who got to be considered the centre of Christendom (there was no real concept of ‘Europe’ at this point) – the Orthodox Church, the Byzantine Emperor, and the Patriarch of Constantinople in Constantinople, or the Holy Roman Emperor (er…dude in nominal charge of a lot of German and Italian principalities) and the Roman Catholic Church led by the Pope in Rome. The Orthodox Church in Constantinople and the Roman Catholic Church had agreed to disagree in 1054 in the Great Schism, so in 1096 this issue was still what you’d call fresh.

Onto this stage of East-West disagreement and the heritage of Rome crashed the Seljuq Turks, a Muslim group from Central Asia who swept through Anatolia (modern Turkey), Byzantium’s richest province, culminating in the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 which wiped out Byzantium as an independent military force. The southern provinces had fallen under Muslim rule long ago, during the era of the first Umayyad Caliphate – including Jerusalem, famous as the birthplace of Christianity and a holy site for Judaism and Islam as well, but also a fairly uninteresting provincial town. Until...

Until…what?

Here’s why all the geography matters: It is generally accepted that the First Crusade kicked off largely because Alexios I Comnenus, the then-current Byzantine Emperor, requested aid from Western Europe against the Muslim Seljuq Turks. Byzantium often recruited mercenaries from Western Europe; the Normans (aka the Vikings), who had settled Normandy and southern Italy in the past century were frequent hires. Hence those runes in the Hagia Sophia.

Meanwhile in Western Europe, the Pope – Urban II – was having difficulty with the current Emperor, and was eager to heal the Schism and establish the primacy of the Roman church. He declared that an expedition to aid the Byzantines would have the blessing of the church, and that a new kind of pilgrimage – an armed pilgrimage – was religiously acceptable, if aimed against the enemies of Christendom.

Pilgrimages (travelling to holy sites, such as churches that held saints’ relics) were a major part of European Christianity at the time and many people went on pilgrimage in their lives, so this was a familiar concept. Western Europe was also somewhat overpopulated with knights – don’t think plate armour, this is 1096, think very murderous rich men with good swords – who could always use forgiveness, on account of all the murder. The Roman Catholic church, unlike the Eastern Orthodox church, also subscribed to the concept of ‘just war’, that war could be acceptable for the right reasons. And so a whole lot of nobles from the area of modern France, Belgium, England, Germany, and Italy decided that this new Crusade thing was something they wanted in on – and they took several armies with them.

I’m going to skip over a bunch of stuff involving the People’s Crusade (a popular movement of poorer people, got literally slaughtered in Anatolia), the massacres of Jews in Eastern Europe, and a lot of battles, but the takeaway is this: Alexios probably thought he was getting mercenaries. He got a popular religious movement that, somewhat unfortunately, actually achieved its goal (Jerusalem), did next to nothing to solve his Anatolia problem, and gave a succession of Popes a convenient outlet for errant knights, nobles, and rulers: going on Crusade.  

How many were there?

Official Crusades that anybody cares about: Nine, technically. Crusade-like military events that immortal soldiers might have got involved with, plus local stoushes in Outremer: way more. WAY more.

The First Crusade (1096-1099): First and original, set a frankly (heh) terrible precedent, founded the Crusader States and captured Jerusalem. Only regarded as a clash of civilisations by the Western Christians involved. For the local Muslims it was just another day at the ‘Byzantium hires Frankish mercenaries to make our lives difficult’ office.

The Crusade of 1101: Everybody who peaced out on the First Crusade hurried to prove they were actually up for it, once the remaining First Crusaders took Jerusalem. Didn’t do much.

The Second Crusade (1147-1150): The County of Edessa falls, Eleanor of Aquitaine happens (my fave), the only winners are the people who semi-accidentally conquer Lisbon (in Portugal) (but from Muslim rulers so that…counts?).

The Third Crusade (1189-1192): You all know this one because it has RICHARD THE LIONHEART and SALADIN. Much Clash of Civilisations, very Noble, did enough to keep the remaining Crusader kingdoms going but access to Jerusalem for Christian pilgrims was obtained by treaty, not conquest. Indirectly responsible for the Robin Hood mythos when Richard gets banged up in prison on the way home and is away from England for ages.

The Fourth Crusade (1202-1204): Aims for Jerusalem, ends up sacking the Eastern Orthodox city of Constantinople, just not a great time for anybody, more or less the eventual cause of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453.  

The Fifth Crusade (1217-1221): Still going for Jerusalem, starts with Cairo instead, does not get anywhere it wants to even after allying with the Anatolian Sultanate of Rum, making the whole ‘Christians vs Muslims’ thing even murkier than it already was post the Fourth Crusade.

The Sixth Crusade (1228-1229): Somehow these things are still going. Nobody even does very much fighting. Access to Jerusalem is negotiated by treaty, yet again.

The Seventh, Eight, and Ninth Crusades: Seriously nobody cares anymore and also nobody is trying very hard. Kings have better things to do, mostly. People end up in Egypt a lot. We covered these in one lecture and I have forgotten all of it.

The Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229): Why take a three-year trip to the Holy Land to fight pagans when you can fight the ones in your own backyard (southern France), AND take their stuff? Famously the source of the probably apocryphal ‘Kill them all, God will know His own’ quote, regarding the massacre of most of a city harbouring Cathars (a Christian sect deemed heretical).

Can we circle back to that ‘massacres of Jews’ bit? WTF?

Crusades, historically, were Not A Good Time for Jewish communities in Europe; when Christians were riled up to go and Fight The Infidel, it was a lot quicker to massacre local Jews than travel to the Holy Land. Also, then you could take their stuff. I will note here that it is VERY TACKY to use historical pogroms as backdrops for your non-Jewish main characters so keep this in mind but, like, use with extreme caution in fanfic, okay? Generally life was a lot easier for Jewish communities in Muslim-ruled states in this period, which is why so many Hispanic Jews ended up in Turkey after they were expelled from Spain. 

What were they really about, then?

Historians still Have Opinions about this. Genuine religious fervour was absolutely a key motivator, especially of the First Crusade. The ability to wage war sanctioned by the Church, or to redeem your local sins by going and fighting against the pagans, was part of that, too. Control of key trade routes to the East was probably not not a part of it. The Crusader States were definitely Baby’s First Experiment With Settler Colonialism, and paved the theological and rhetorical ground for the colonisation of the Americas. But many individuals on the Christian side would absolutely have believed they were doing God’s work. The various Muslim rulers and certainly the local Christian, Jewish, and Muslim inhabitants of the Holy Land itself were mostly just getting invaded by Franks. As time wound on the Crusades became more and more political (frequently featuring intra-religious violence and inter-religious alliances) and less and less about their forever nominal goal, control of Jerusalem.

How’s Wikipedia on this?

Basically not too bad but I’m not totally confident on some of the bits about motivation (see: white supremacists love this period, ugh.)

Why did they stop?

The prospect of re-taking Jerusalem vanished entirely as the Ottoman Empire centralised and took a firm hold over most of the Levant (and made inroads into Europe, as far as Austria, taking Constantinople in 1453 and finally ending the continuous Roman Empire), the Spanish Reconquista and various intra-European conflicts (the Hundred Years’ War, for example) absorbed military attention, and then the Reformation happened and half of Europe stopped listening to the Pope and started stabbing each other over who was the right kind of Christian. But the concept lingered; white supremacists love the Crusades. Which is why it is a very good idea to be sparing with Crusader imagery around Niccolò in fanfic set in the modern era, and please for fuck’s sake stop with the ‘crugayders’ tag, Yusuf wasn’t a Crusader.  

What other fun facts should I keep in mind re: Nicky | Nicolò and Joe | Yusuf?

·        Genoa is not the same as Italy; Nicolò is Nicolò di Genova and would have spoken Genoese (Ligurian) and considered himself to be Genoese. Italian as a language didn’t really exist yet. The language he and Yusuf would most likely have had in common was the ‘lingua franca’ (Frankish language, literally) of the Mediterranean trading region, a pidgin based heavily on maritime Italian languages. Yusuf 300% would have thought of him as a ‘Frank’ (the generic term for Western Christians) and probably annoyed him by calling him that until at least 1200 or so.

·        Yusuf is apparently from ‘Maghrib’, which I assume means al-Maghrib/the Maghreb (as his actor is IIRC of Tunisian descent), i.e. North Africa. He could have had relatives in al-Andalus (southern modern Spain), he may have spoken languages other than Arabic natively (Mozarabic or Berber), his native area had universities before Europe did. Basically: this is as useful as saying he’s ‘from Europe’, do better backstory writers.

·        Taking the whole ‘Nicky used to be a priest’ backstory at face value: being a priest in 1096 looked pretty different to how it did even 200 years later. They were still working on the celibacy thing. The famous monastic orders were still forming. Some priests could and did hold lands and go to war (this wasn’t common but it happened, especially if they were nobles by birth). Nicolò di Genova would not necessarily have seen a conflict between going on Crusade and being a priest, is what I’m getting at. If he was ALSO trained as a knight, he was from a wealthy family; it took the equivalent several villages to support a knight.

·        ‘Period-typical homophobia’ is going to look very different for this period. They are NOT getting beaten up for holding hands. Or sharing a bed! Or even kissing, depending on the circumstances! I am not an expert on Islamic sexual mores of the era but Christian ones were heavily on the side of ‘unsanctioned sex is bad, sanctioned (marital) sex is slightly less bad’, and there was no concept of ‘being gay’. An interfaith relationship would be in some ways more of a problem for them than the same-sex one (and in some ways less difficult to navigate than a heterosexual interfaith relationship.) The past is another country.

·        Look just no more fanfics where Yusuf is trying to learn ‘Italian’ in the early twelfth century I am BEGGING you all

[reallunargift]

Portugal-Spain: Nine centuries of summits

[Translation of the sidebar historical timeline from this article. Article translation here]

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History shows that there is nothing more untrue than the proverb “no good wind or wedding comes from Spain”: the tiffs simply prove that the Portuguese and Spanish share a lot more than the Iberian Peninsula’s soil.

Written by Rosa Ferreira

1096 – Alfonso VI, “Emperor of all Spain”, gives his daughter Teresa’s hand in marriage to Henry of Burgundy, and the County of Portucale along with it.

1143 – In the summit (“Conference”) of Zamora, Alfonso VII of Leon and Castile recognises his cousin Afonso Henriques as the king of an independent Portugal.

1297 – Through the Treaty of Alcanizes, Castile recognises Portugal’s borders, unchanged until today, with the exception of Olivença: they are the oldest in Europe.

1340 – Summit between Afonso IV of Portugal and Alfonso XI of Castile allows the formation (with Aragon) of an ample, shared Christian front which defeats the last Islamic offensive in the Iberian Peninsula in the battle of Salado.

1345-1355 – After the death of his wife, Pedro, the prince heir of Portugal, enters into a “de facto union” with the Galician Inês de Castro, daughter of a nobleman involved in the dynastic disputes of Castile. To avoid Portugal’s involvement in the conflict, Afonso IV condemns Inês to death. After the death of his father, Pedro I of Portugal makes an agreement with Pedro of Castile to obtain the extradition of the murderers, who had taken refuge in that kingdom, and avenges his beloved with nuances of wickedness. Coincidence: two kings called Pedro reigned in Portugal and Castile, and both became known to history as “the Cruel”.

1383 – The Treaty of Salvaterra de Magos: after three consecutive defeats, Fernando of Portugal gives up his rights to the Castilian crown and weds his daughter Beatriz to Juan I of Castile. The revolution of Lisbon and the war for independence follow, which culminate with Portuguese victory in Aljubarrota.

1494 – The Treaty of Tordesillas splits the undiscovered world between Portugal and Castile, with the agreement of Pope Alexander VI.

1498 – Manuel I and his wife Isabel (Prince Afonso’s widow) are recognised in the courts of Toledo as heirs to the crown of Castile. But Aragon’s courts refuse to accept the succession: the throne must go to a masculine heir. Everything seems to be solved with the birth of Miguel da Paz, son of the monarchs of Portugal. While his mother dies during labour, Miguel inherits both empires... but his death before he turns two “delivers” the Spanish crown to the future Emperor Charles V.

1576 - Meeting in Guadalupe. In this summit, Sebastian proposes to his cousin* Phillip II a joint attack against Morocco’s moors. Phillip refuses and tries to dissuade him from his African adventure. Faced with his cousin's stubbornness, he ends up helping him: many Spaniards died next to the Portuguese in the battle of Ksar el-Kebir (1578).

1580 – The Tomar courts acclaim Phillip II of Spain as Phillip I of Portugal. The new king promises to keep Portuguese laws and the autonomy of the Kingdom and Empire's administration, and pledges to only nominate Portuguese people for its government. He pays the ransom of most of the Portuguese nobles held captive in Morocco after the defeat of Ksar el-Kebir.

1640 – In response to the centralized politics of the Count-Duke of Olivares (Gaspar de Guzmán), prime minister of Phillip IV (III of Portugal), who wants to impose Castile's hegemony, a group of Portuguese nobles restores independence. The crown is given to the duke of Braganza, João IV. The attitude of his wife, the Spanish Luísa de Gusmão, served to end the duke's hesitations: “I'd rather die ruling than live serving”, she is reputed to have said.

1668 – Having lost the war, Spain recognizes, through the Treaty of Madrid, the independence of Portugal.

1706 – The Portuguese Army, commanded by the marquis of Minas, arrives triumphant in Madrid during the war of Spanish succession, and acclaims as king the candidate supported by Portugal, archduke Charles of Austria. Less than a year later, the Portuguese leave the battle of Almansa defeated, and the Spanish crown goes to the grandson of Louis XIV of France, Phillip V, who initiates the Bourbon dynasty.

1801 - “War of the Oranges”. The Spain of Carlos IV, backed by Napoleon's France, attacks Portugal, England's ally, and conquers Olivença. Despite the military and diplomatic turnarounds, with special attention to the Congress of Vienna in 1815, which recognized Portugal's sovereignty over the territory, Spain did not return Olivença.

1807 – Invasion of Portugal by a French army to which Spain allowed passage. The Portuguese royal family flee to Brazil. There, the Spanish princess Carlota Joaquina, wife of João VI, tries unsuccessfully to become queen of the Spanish colonies of South America.

1820 – Liberal revolutions in Spain and Portugal. The next year, king João VI, Carlota Joaquina and prince Miguel return to Lisbon, and in 1822 the first Portuguese Constitution is approved, very much inspired by the 1812 Spanish one.

1823 – Counterrevolution in Portugal (Vilafrancada) and in Spain (French intervention brings down the liberal government.) The constitutional regime is suspended and absolutism returns to both countries' monarchies.

1834 – Former king Pedro IV of Portugal and former emperor of Brazil wins the civil war for the liberals and leaves the throne to his daughter, Maria II, as constitutional Queen. The campaigns of the “freedom army” were financed by the Spanish merchant Juan de Mendizábal.

1847 – Spanish army intervention in Portugal, by request of the Portuguese chartist government, to dominate the Patuleia revolt (which followed the Maria da Fonte revolt).

1868 – In the sequence of the revolution that expelled from Madrid the Queen Isabel II, the new power offers the Spanish crown to Fernando II of Portugal (widower of Maria II and father of king Luís I). Prudent and well warned, the “artist king” refuses.

1908 – 1916 – Alfonso XIII of Spain, who held the dream of Iberian hegemony since the regicide, acts towards an intervention regarding the instability of the Portuguese Republic proclaimed in 1910. But he doesn't dare act when faced with British intransigence, which considers any interference inadmissible. Portugal's entry in WWI on the Allied side ends any pretension of such.

1942 – Seville summit between Salazar and Franco. The nationalistic victory in the 1936-1939 Civil War owed much to the Portuguese Regime's support but, in full German euphoria during the Second World War, Francoism grew bigger. In the following years, the cold war was the “family allowance” of the two authoritarian regimes of the peninsula, as the 1949 summit proved, when Franco came to Lisbon.

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T/N: * Philip II was actually Sebastian’s uncle, not cousin.