Submission 9


 * Submission 9: The Rise of Spain
 * by Anthony Mayer
 * 21 January 2002

The Rise of Spain

Following the destructive period of social and demographic disruption caused by the impact of the plagues, the population of Europe began to grow once more, providing a strong impetus to migration into areas with potential opportunity for advancement.

In Spain (the Iberian peninsula minus the Imperial dominions of Catalonia and Valencia) the recovery from the Troubles was far more decisive and further reaching than in the north. Spain formed a unified nation state far earlier than the Francian and German kingdoms, in part due to the pressures of the permanent state of war (though a very low intensity one) between the Empire and the Spanish Kings. With the Crusades and the Troubles, there were few opportunities for those dispossessed by primogeniture in the northern lands of the House of Submission, and these ambitious and often talented people sought their fortunes in Spain. The pressures of the Imperial presence, sometimes waxing and forcing the Submissives onto the defensive and other times waning and providing opportunities for territorial advancement both produced a need for strong leadership and a flexibility of social status unheard of in Francia.

By 375 SE [1147 CE] King Hardknute of Asturias had absorbed and reduced to fealty the Kingdoms of Galicia and Navarre, and through a marriage alliance with Castile finally united all of Submissive Iberia. This was the beginning of the Spanish Empire -- the great city of Vigo was enlarged with palaces honouring Hardknute and his dynasty, and became the centre for trade in Europe. Spanish sailors raided for slaves throughout West Africa, and brought back those luxury goods which could be acquired, which were traded in Vigo to the east in exchange for bulk materials. Hardknute himself was a firm believer in definite and dependable revenue, and commissioned a survey of his lands (a difficult task given the hitherto fluid nature of the borders) and reformed the tax system, which became a model for centralised bureaucracy far in advance of that achieved in the Francian Kingdoms. While taxation was often heavier than elsewhere in the House of Submission, the efficiency in its collection, and the lack of arbitrary seizures, led to a significant willingness for the merchant leagues of the low countries to support Hardknute financially. Hardknute had in effect created a monarchical, rather than a feudal, state. While the environment of the frontier lands of Iberia were ideal for this social experiment, it is a testament to his skill that Spain not only prospered, but for a time was the most powerful political entity in Europe despite a later succession of ineffectual and unimaginative rulers.

Spanish fishermen also began fishing off the Grand Banks during the late 4th century, and soon made contact with many of the Outsider groups probing their way down the east coast from Greenland. In order to return their catch in decent condition it was necessary to salt or air dry the fish shortly after landing them, and this necessitated shore space. Furthermore, this shore space needed to be uncontested with the local fishing peoples. While temporary spaces could be found quite easily, those fishermen who traded with the Outsiders found they could both provision and repair their ships for the homeward voyage, and make ample use of defended shoreline, in return for goods brought from Spain. This gave those Outsider groups who traded an advantage over the natives and their more insular fellows. The Spaniards who traded and formed links also returned catches that were far larger and the more consistent than those with damaged ships. Soon the small community of Allfather-Will-Provide, or Providence, had established an effective trading system and began to spread into areas claimed by the Narragansetts. The establishment of a formal treaty with Providence, allowing for fishing rights and the presence of a Descuernacabras FN1 judge in 380 SE [1152 CE] coincided with the first Spanish ships rounding the Cape of Good Hope, and returning laden with luxury goods from the Merchant Kingdoms.

Christianity, a snapshot.

By the end of the 4th century Christianity was seemingly at the height of its success, spanning an area from Morocco to Perth, a band of civilisations and cultures surrounded to the north and south by non-Christians.

Jabrites -- The Jabrites had all but been driven from the fine lands they occupied centuries before, and their religion had become that of the mountainous and remote border lands of Christendom. The only territory in which Jabrism had state support was Bulgaria.

Jabrite theology is strongly fatalistic, as is often the case with the doctrines associated with very hard environments. Jabrites believed in an extreme form of pre-destination, in which the world was divided between the elect and the preterite as decided by God. Influenced by the Arian doctrine, Jabrites do not consider Christ truly divine, nor do they give any special status to the Virgin Mary. The Jabrites are iconoclastic and reject all artistic representations of non-abstract objects. Worship is usually conducted outside, or in simple gathering areas. There is no ecclesiastical hierarchy -- worship is lead by a `tabiun' (possibly from the Arabic). Literacy remained rare amongst isolated Jabrite communities, so much of the detail of the beliefs of the non-Bulgar Jabrites is supposition.

Latin --  The Latin church is characterised by its extensive iconography of saints, the doctrine of the Trinity, and the honouring of the Virgin Mary. In all but the later it is similar to the Orthodox church. The Latin church, isolated from political power within the House of Submission, relies on the hierarchy of the church to maintain a form of docrinal unity. This minority status also emphasises works as a means to salvation -- the support of the community in the difficult environment of rule by non-believers encouraged this aspect of Latin theology. The leader of the Latin Church, the Pope, resides in Aquitaine, and in the 5th century was accorded legally defined privileges within the context of Submission.

Celtic -- The Celtic church exists only within Ireland (including Wales and Scotland) and England. Theologically and practically similar to the Latin church, there are minor differences (such as the belief in transubstantiation and the marriage of priests) and one crucial point of controversy -- the status of the Pope, whose authority is not recognised by the Celts. In the 4th century the Celtic church alternately received recognition or was persecuted by their Submissive overlords, but no concerted effort was made to root them out.

Orthodox -- The Orthodox church of the 4th century had 3 patriarchs who were subservient to the Emperor, the Patriarchs of Rome, Constantinople, and Antioch. The Orthodox church is Greek in language and embraces the use of icons in worship.

Ishraq (or Illuminated) - The church of the Egyptians. Highly ecclesiastical, its Patriarch (that of Alexandria) has either been subordinated to those of Constantinople or been fully independent, depending upon political contingencies. Coptic in origin, the Ishraqites use the high Arabic of the court for religious services, and formally adopted the Arabic New Testament in 26 BSE [746 CE], based upon the Sahidic Version of the old Coptic bible. The Ishraq Church survived in parallel with the Orthodox church in 4th century Egypt. Architecturally the Ihraqites churches tended to be light and airy, featuring enormous spaces and towers from which their faithful were called to prayer.

Jacobite and Armenian churches held a strong presence in the Near East in the 4th century. Theology varied from district to district, though the Arabic New testament was widely used, often taken as a symbol of defiance from the overtly Greek Orthodox church. The Patriarch of Jerusalem was recognised within the Orthodox and Ishraqi churches but was generally under the political control of the King of Syria, whose status varied inversely with the temporal power of the Empire.

Nestorianism - This creed became the state religion of Persia, as it had roots in this geographical area dating back to 350 BSE [422 CE]. FN2 Nestorians have a theology in which the persons of Christ, the Word and the Man, are considered separate, in opposition to the Orthodox view. In practice worship contains many of the superficial trappings of Sassanid era Zoroastrianism, including the use of the fire in ceremony. These aspects had become fully formalised by the 3rd century SE.

Zindiqs - Again possibly from the Arabic. The Zindiq church was an offshoot of the Nestorian creed first adopted by the White Sheep Turks. Adapted from the Nestorian docrine, it was a robust and simple religion, shorn of many of the complexities of the Persian Nestorianism, and practised by the nomadic peoples of the steppe. Influenced by the Manichean Uighurs, it features a strong emphasis on light and space (rather than fire) as symbols of worship and rejects many of the surface elements of Persian practice, in order to deliberately distinguish itself from the state worship. Zindiqism is strongly ascetic in character, though it has a moral code which became adapted to the hard life of the nomadic peoples. The Zindiq creed was for a time adopted by the Black Sheep Turks, though their practice was altered by contact with Ananites and other scholars from the west, and later revolutionised by the impact of Tebad.

Other Christian Churches include the Melchite and Coptic (Ethiopian) churches....

Return to Submission posts.