1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 271 Treaty of Sintra

Kingdom of Portugal, Lisbon City, Sintra Town.

The town of Sintra is located in the suburbs of Lisbon, on the Sintra Mountains. It has magnificent scenery and a mild climate, making it a great summer resort.

During the Moorish rule, Muslim monarchs began to build palaces on the Sintra Mountains. The Iberian Muslims had outstanding construction capabilities. The palaces are magnificent, with cultural atmosphere and natural scenery complementing each other.

After the establishment of the United Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves, the Sintra Palace was transferred to the Portuguese royal family. The Portuguese renovated the palace, replacing the mosque with a church and the star and crescent emblem with a cross.

In the grand and magnificent hall, King Afonso Avis of Portugal sat quietly on the throne, while the seat belonging to the queen was empty.

Alfonso V's first queen was his cousin, Isabel Aviz, the daughter of Pedro the Regent. The two grew up together and had a good relationship.
The war between Alfonso V and Regent Pedro did not affect the relationship between the couple. They lived in harmony after marriage and gave birth to three children. Except for the eldest son John who died young, the eldest daughter and the second son both grew up healthily.

Alfonso V lost his beloved wife forever fourteen years ago. Perhaps because he loved her too deeply, Alfonso V never remarried, nor did he keep a large number of mistresses like many European nobles. He raised his two children alone.

The Portuguese royal family has been talented in recent generations. Prince João is well-known for his virtue, and Princess Joana is not just a vase kept in the deep palace. She has begun to assist her father and brother in managing government affairs.

Alfonso V regained power by relying on the power of the land nobles. After taking power, he suppressed the "navigation faction" and began to attack the Moroccan region controlled by the Marin dynasty, achieving considerable results.

Alfonso V returned to Lisbon from the North African port of Tangier at the end of last year, preparing to celebrate the holidays with his children. However, before he had time to have a good rest, he received a piece of news that brought him mixed joy and sorrow.

Prince Alfonso of Castile dies under suspicious circumstances.

Prince Alfonso's sudden death was surrounded by many mysteries, and many nobles were talking about it. Many people said that he was poisoned by his half-brother Henry IV, while others expressed their opposition, believing that Henry IV was a complete fool and did not have the ability to do so.

Regardless of the process, Prince Alfonso's untimely death changed the history of the entire Iberian Peninsula and triggered a series of chain reactions.

Henry IV, who was losing ground in the civil war, suddenly lost his rival and things suddenly turned around.

The great nobles who chose to stand on the side of Prince Alfonso in the civil war lost their backbone and were in a state of panic, not knowing what their future would be like.

At the beginning of the dispute, these land nobles overwhelmingly supported Prince Alfonso and denied Princess Juana's right of inheritance. This was not entirely for the purity of the royal bloodline, but more because of the conflicts of interest involved.

Today's Castile has not yet completed the transition from a feudal monarchy to a centralized monarchy. The relationship between the royal family and the nobles is rather delicate. There is only so much land and a limited population. If the royal family takes more, the nobles will have to take less.

Therefore, whenever the king wanted to centralize power, the land nobles would unite and oppose it together; whenever there was chaos in the royal family, they would get involved for their own interests and put the royal property into their own pockets.

The transition from feudalism to authoritarianism is difficult. The collapse of the old order is bound to be accompanied by blood and swords. It must go through a long struggle and overcome initial pains.

In today's Europe, the prosperity of the commodity economy has caused several major countries in Western Europe to coincidentally enter a painful period of transition from feudalism to centralization, including England, France, and Castile.

The decline of the Castilian monarchy has lasted for several generations of kings. During this period, civil wars continued, and the country's full national strength was not fully utilized. It could not even take over a small country like Granada.

Enrique IV's father, Juan II, was a literary king but also a very incompetent monarch. He did not manage state affairs much and handed over power to his favorite minister, Luna, a politician and reformer who had mixed reviews.

Luna was a greedy, domineering, arrogant but talented official who kept Juan II firmly in his hands. Since his power was tied to the king, the series of policies he implemented also objectively strengthened the authority of the royal family. However, at this time the royal family had become his plaything.

Luna's arrogance caused dissatisfaction among the great nobles, who once again launched a civil war, which eventually led to Luna's tragic death and the further decline of the royal authority.

This time, King Henry IV obviously had neither the ability nor the desire to reform and centralize power, but his political achievements were indeed very poor, his court was indeed in chaos, and his daughter was indeed in questionable. The best excuse was before them, and it was impossible for the nobles not to fight for it.

As for Prince Alfonso, he was just a spokesperson for the great nobles. His court was also firmly controlled by the nobles. A large part of the royal properties he recovered were cheated into the pockets of various "meritorious officials" in the name of rewards.

With the death of Prince Alfonso, the nobles suddenly fell into an awkward situation. They did not need a brave and strong king to lead them to defeat Henry IV, nor did they need a talented monarch to lead Castile to prosperity. All they needed was status and blood ties.

Alfonso V took the wine glass handed to him by the maid, and looked at the blood-red wine in the glass, feeling confused.

"Father, I'm here."

Crown Prince João appeared in the palace and bowed to his father.

"Okay, wait a minute, Emperor Isaac is on the way."

Alfonso V looked at his heroic son and smiled.

"Father, is there anything on your mind?"

João looked at Alfonso V's tightly furrowed brows and asked.

"What else could I be worried about? It's all about Castile's troubles."

Alfonso V sighed.

"As soon as the competitor died, Enrique, the old fox, immediately sent an envoy to say a lot of things. The general meaning was that he didn't need our help anymore and wanted to squeeze us out."

Joao nodded slightly.

"And what about the engagement? Will you still marry Enrique's daughter?"

"Engagement? What engagement? We have been negotiating verbally, without any written document, so it doesn't count."

Alfonso V smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"To be honest, I didn't agree to Henry IV's request for a wife. It was purely out of protection. I didn't want to see my sister's daughter being bullied."

"If you say it's for profit, for the crown of Castile, then that's right, I have the same idea."

"But King Henry would not marry his only daughter to you unless it was absolutely necessary, would he?"

Joao smiled.

"If you ask me, you should take a long-term view and defeat the Marin Dynasty as soon as possible to expand our territory, rather than intervening in the chaos of Castile in such a thankless way."

This time, Alfonso V was not angry. He was silent for a moment, raised his head and looked at João.

"I heard that you have been recruiting refugees from Galicia recently."

"Yes, I am."

Joao looked up.

"The crown of Galicia is on your head, but the Galician region and the Galicians belong to Castile. Don't you have any idea?"

"Before, we had no strength and relied on the English to avoid the invasion of Castilian people. But today, the situation has reversed. I don't object to your intervention in the chaos in Castile, but you have to change your mindset."

Alfonso V glanced at the crown placed aside, his eyes flickering.

The Kingdom of Galicia is one of the oldest kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula. It was originally separated from the Kingdom of Asturias and co-existed with the United Kingdom of Castile and León for many years. It broke away from the United Kingdom of Castile a hundred years ago and co-existed with the Kingdom of Portugal.

Of course, what the Kingdom of Portugal had always obtained was the crown of Galicia, not the entire Galicia region, and most of Galicia was still under the rule of Castile.

"When we received the Galician crown, we had already divided the ruling boundaries with the Trastamara family."

Alfonso V spoke slowly.

"But the Galicians like us and they don't like the Castilians."

Joao shrugged.

“No matter how powerful the law is, it cannot be compared with the will of the people.”

"Perhaps. When Emperor Isaac arrives, we can discuss this matter with you present."

Alfonso V closed his eyes.

After a while, there was a commotion outside the palace, the guards opened the door, and a hint of purple appeared on the steps.

Then, the long and complicated voice of the palace steward sounded.

"By the grace of God, Emperor of Rome and the Romans, Master of Constantinople and Carthage, Sovereign of the Balkans, Africa, Egypt, the Levant, and Anatolia, Sovereign of Guinea, Sovereign of New Thrace, Sovereign of Mozambique, East Africa, and Ethiopia, Sovereign of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela, Patron of the Most Noble Order of Saint Simon, Emperor of Conquests and Navigations, Son of Saint Constantine—"

"Isaac Gattilucio Valleoliu!"

Isaac walked into the council room with some amusement and nodded slightly to Alfonso V.

Alfonso V waved his hand, the door closed, and the servants left the palace. In the huge palace, besides Alfonso and his son, only Isaac and one of his servants were left.

"Long time no see, dear Isaac."

Alfonso V smiled and looked at Isaac, who was dressed in his best attire.

"You've aged a lot since the last time we met."

"You too, Alfonso. We're almost forty."

Isaac also looked at his brother-in-law.

Isaac and Alfonso V are the same age, both born in 1432, and are now both thirty-seven years old.

Europeans mature early and age quickly. Many of them have white hair before they are fifty. Twenty years of hard work and running around have made Isaac no longer young and he has become a middle-aged man.

"Welcome to Portugal. I haven't been here for many years. How do you feel?"

Alfonso asked.

"Very good, just as magnificent and prosperous as before. I saw many port cities in Aragon and Castile during my voyage. They have hardly developed and cannot be compared with Portugal."

Isaac said this, sitting on the seat that Alfonso V had reserved for him.

"Haha, Portugal still can't be compared with the Eastern Empire. I'm afraid that the population of just one block in Constantinople is larger than that of the entire Lisbon, right?"

Alfonso V waved his hand and João handed Isaac a glass of wine.

Isaac smiled and shook his head. He did not answer directly, but looked at the heroic Crown Prince João.

"Joao, you're getting married soon, right?"

"Yes, Donna and I will be officially married in a few months."

Joao said quietly.

"Well, congratulations."

Isaac waved his hand and the servant handed over a gift box.

"This is the largest piece of Dobruja amber mined last year. I give it to you."

Joao took the gift box and bowed to express his gratitude.

"This is just a personal gift from me. When you get married, I will ask Salonika to bring Basil to congratulate you, and I will prepare another one for you at that time."

"Donna's father is Prince Enrique's adopted son, so he is also my junior. I hope you will always be happy."

Thinking of this, a hint of nostalgia flashed in Isaac's eyes.

"It was Prince Henry who helped me a lot when I first came to Portugal, but now he is gone."

"time flies."

"Yes, in the blink of an eye, you already have grandchildren."

Alfonso V took a sip of his wine.

"Little Constantine is pretty good, right?"

"Well, it's good to be noisy all day long."

A smile appeared on Isaac's face.

"The prince of Castile is dead."

Alfonso V said suddenly.

"I know."

Isaac's restrained smile.

"After his death, Enrique's throne was secure."

Alfonso V looked at Isaac.

"What do you think of what's going on in Castile?"

"Very complicated."

Isaac said softly.

"This is not just a question of the throne. Castile has experienced countless civil wars in the past hundred years. Each one was related to the throne, but each change of the throne did not solve the fundamental problem."

"Prince Alfonso is dead. On the surface, Enrique's throne is temporarily safe. The nobles have the courage to change the king, but they don't have the courage to overthrow the royal family."

Alfonso V pursed his lips and put down his glass.

"In your opinion, since Enrique's throne will not be overthrown, can his daughter Juana inherit it smoothly?"

"No." Isaac shook his head.

Alfonso V was silent for a moment and then spoke slowly.

"I can assure you that Juana is indeed the biological daughter of King Enrique and Queen Joana."

"Is this important?"

Isaac looked at Alfonso V.

"When a lie is repeated a thousand times, it becomes the truth."

"Juana's unclear background gave the nobles a reason to oppose the king and also enabled them to gain considerable benefits in the civil war."

"For the wealth that has already been put into their pockets, they will bite Juana's illegitimate bloodline to death."

"You're right, Enrique is too slow to even see this."

Alfonso V sighed.

"No, he can tell. He just wants to delay as much as possible."

Isaac shook his head slowly.

"I'm afraid he wants to compromise in exchange for the recognition of the opposition nobles, so that the throne can fall safely into the hands of his daughter."

"Besides, he is not old yet, and maybe he still wants to have other children."

"Do you think they will compromise?"

Alfonso V asked.

"If it was a king with a little bit of talent, it would be possible, but it's impossible with Enrique."

Isaac shrugged.

"In the final analysis, this is a struggle between two factions of nobles. If Enrique compromises and allows the opposition nobles to control the interests they have already obtained, what will his own nobles think?"

"Enrique cannot control the nobles under his command. If he insists on compromising, he will eventually be deserted by his friends and relatives. Not only will he not be recognized by the opposition, he will also lose the trust of the loyalists."

"The most important thing is that the military power controlled by the opposition nobles far exceeds that of the loyalists. Enrique is not even qualified to use violence."

"This is a long war. The blood has not been shed enough, the people are not tired of it, and the benefits have not been great enough."

After another silence, João started talking.

"If Juana's right of succession is not recognized, then the first heir to Castile will be your daughter-in-law, Princess Isabella."

"However, the nobles of Castile definitely do not want to see a more powerful dynasty take over Iberia. They are probably very conflicted."

João looked at Isaac, waiting for his answer.

"Yes, that is true in terms of the line of succession."

Isaac groaned.

"But Isabella is already married, so it's impossible for her to return to Castile to be the queen, and she herself doesn't have this idea."

"Not long ago, I received a letter from Isabella in Gibraltar, saying that some Castilian nobles had begun to contact her."

"These nobles are indeed very conflicted. They temporarily recognized Enrique's legitimacy, but as I said, they firmly refused to recognize Juana's right of succession."

"They are going to set up a parliament of nobles to elect their chosen heir to the throne."

"Oh? Who are the candidates?"

Alfonso V asked curiously.

"They proposed that one of the children Isabella would bear be invited to be the heir to Castile, and this was one of them."

Isaac narrowed his eyes.

"However, their conditions are very many, including but not limited to going to Toledo to be baptized, accepting the coronation and naming by the Archbishop of Toledo, never inheriting any land in the Eastern Empire, and receiving Castile education from beginning to end."

"Is that still your grandson? He is just a Trastamara nobleman who is using the name of the Valleoli family."

Alfonso V curled his lips.

"Besides, you don't really want to send your grandson over there to be a puppet king, do you? This position is not so easy to hold. I'm afraid you won't be able to make your own decisions for the rest of your life."

"The second candidate is Prince Fernando of the Kingdom of Aragon, but he is already seventeen years old and difficult to control, so few people would choose him."

Isaac did not answer and continued talking.

"As for the other candidates, let's not mention them. Not many people support them."

"Then what do you think?"

Joao asked.

"We can't let Castile and Aragon unite. If they unite, I can only station a few more fleets in the west, but you will be in danger."

Isaac smiled.

"You guys admit this, right?"

Alfonso V nodded slightly and said nothing.

Spain's desire for Portugal is long-standing. In the original time and space, the Kingdom of Portugal was once forcibly united with Spain, and it took decades of independence wars to break free from their control.

"The internal strife in the Kingdom of England is far from over. They can no longer provide you with shelter as before. If a united Spain attacks Portugal, you will have no chance of survival."

Isaac said.

In fact, the national consciousness of the Kingdom of Portugal had gradually awakened during the Reconquista and the subsequent anti-Spanish war. Historically, the nobles had no dissatisfaction with the joint rule, but the people were very dissatisfied and had always sought independence.

As for Spain, their national concept was also about to awaken. In the original time and space, Isabella gradually transformed Spain from feudalism to centralization and destroyed Granada in the south. Spain's national consciousness also developed in the Granada War and was completely formed after the Morisco War.

However, due to the mountains in Spain, each small settlement gave birth to different national ideas. The Galicians, Basques, Catalans... were still seeking independence until hundreds of years later.

"It's too early to say that now, Luis Enrique is still here."

Isaac sighed.

"When he dies, if Juana is the only child, Castile will have another civil war."

"The current peace is just a truce for a few years."

Isaac stood up and looked at the two men.

"At that time, I will intervene in the Castilian Civil War and agree to some of the conditions of the land nobles, sending one of my grandsons to be king."

“If that day comes, I hope to have your support.”

"And what about Juana? Are you going to abandon her completely?"

Alfonso V was somewhat dissatisfied.

"She is Leonor's niece!"

"Juana will marry you, rule Galicia, and agree on the succession, passing the Galicia region to Joao."

Isaac looked at Joao.

"The Galicians should have the right to choose, and if they want to return to Portugal, their wishes should be respected."

"Will the Castilian nobles agree? You are dividing the country."

Joao was a little worried.

"I will promise them that I will conquer Granada within fifteen years and make the Kingdom of Granada my grandson's territory. The nobles will also be able to obtain fiefs here and establish the United Kingdom of Castile and Granada."

Isaac paused.

"This is a gift and a guarantee for my grandson."

"If you do this, the Aragonese will probably be very dissatisfied and may even move closer to the French."

Alfonso V spoke.

"This requires our two countries to help each other."

"After Castile was weakened, the nobles took control of the government and could no longer threaten your survival. You can greatly expand your base and continue your conquest of North Africa and your exploration and expansion of colonies."

"Without a strong monarch in Castile, it would be impossible to centralize power easily. The nobles are satisfied, the major knightly orders are satisfied, and the Vatican is also satisfied."

Isaac smiled.

"What do you think of this method?"

Alfonso V and João looked at each other and were somewhat shaken.

"The English are no longer strong. I am willing to sign an alliance treaty with you, support your conquest in North Africa, and share overseas colonies with you."

Isaac continued to increase the stakes.

In fact, Isaac was planning to introduce the Portuguese to North America as an important ally in the New World to jointly deal with the late-developing colonial powers, which might make them feel a little fearful.

At the end of last year, Isaac had sent four exploration fleets to the New World, using Cuba as a base, in an effort to find out the outline of the entire continent as soon as possible so that the Eastern Roman Empire and other friendly forces could divide up colonial areas.

The first-mover advantage of colonial exploration is enormous. In history, the Spanish and Portuguese were extremely rotten. Later, their maritime power was not enough to control the colonial routes, but they still controlled the American colonies for hundreds of years. Their decline was inevitable, but it also had a very large accidental factor.

No one would have thought that France, which was always in turmoil, would produce a tough guy that was rare in a thousand years. He fought directly from Lisbon to Moscow, which directly led to the ultimate decline of the entire Iberia and the successive loss of the entire Spanish and Portuguese American colonies.

"Your Majesty Isaac?"

Joao tentatively interrupted Isaac's thoughts.

"Ok?"

"Donna and I are getting married. If we have a daughter in the future, I hope to marry her to your grandson Constantine as a testimony to the friendship between our two countries."

"If it's a boy, I hope he can marry an Eastern Roman princess."

"Although our family is not as old as the Paleologian family, and Portugal's national strength cannot be compared with that of the Eastern Empire, we have been friends for generations, and I hope you can agree."

"Sure! No problem at all!"

Isaac agreed readily and accepted the marriage on the spot.

"Father, what do you think?"

João was a little surprised at Isaac's cheerfulness and looked at Alfonso V.

"In that case, I think it's fine, but this is a serious matter, so I must discuss it with the nobles."

Alfonso V spoke slowly, and his eyes softened as he looked at Isaac.

"But don't worry. Several great nobles oppose the alliance with Castile, but they are very supportive of taking over Galicia. There will be no resistance."

"Okay, I will send a personal representative to negotiate and try to sign the covenant as soon as possible."

Isaac said as he bowed to the two and walked out of the palace.

……

On March 1469, 3, after a month of negotiations, the Eastern Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Portugal signed the "Treaty of Sintra" at the Sintra Palace in Lisbon, establishing a permanent alliance.

According to the treaty, the Kingdom of Portugal and the Eastern Roman Empire maintained friendly relations for generations, jointly divided the North African land and overseas colonies, and jointly dealt with threats from other countries.

After the treaty was signed, Isaac allocated money from his private treasury and once again provided Alfonso V with a low-interest loan to hire troops and accelerate the conquest of North Africa.

At the same time, at the invitation of Alfonso V, Isaac issued a statement on his way back to Gibraltar, refusing to recognize the legal status of the Marin branch of the Watas family, and would launch unlimited attacks on the merchant ships of the Watas family, while prohibiting domestic merchants from selling weapons and equipment to them.

On March 1469, 3, the exploratory fleet led by Columbus arrived at the North American continent, which was separated from the island of Cuba by only a strait.

The weather here is sunny and warm, the land is fertile, the climate is pleasant, and large areas of flowers are in full bloom.

So Columbus named this land "Florida", which means a place where flowers bloom.

(End of this chapter)