Hispania

Hispania (Catalan: Espanya, Neapolitan: Spagna, Castilian: España, Xodan: Kuonpirena) is a kingdom located on the Iberian and Italian peninsulas in southern Europe, as well as much of Gaul.

In addition to its mainland territories, Hispania also owns the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, and Malta in the Mediterranean. It also owns the Atlantic island of Madeira, the Azores, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Bermuda. In the Pacific, it lays claim to Easter Island and the Galapagos islands.

Early History
The decline of the Roman Empire led to a poor and scattered Iberia. The peninsula was quite isolated from the world at this point, due to the Pyrenees and hostile Pulk dragons in the Baleares, Corsica, and Sardinia, the latter two of which were independent kingdoms. Kitsiogo claimed the area now called Catalonia as his own kingdom as Visigoths swept in to claim most of the rest, leaving only the Basque country untouched. Most of Iberia was pagan at this point, but the Christian Visigoths converted most of the populace. Catalonia stayed pagan, however.

Kitsiogo defeated the dragons of the Baleares in the 500s, claiming the islands as part of his realm. He also conquered Aragon during this time, adding the Aragonese into the fold.

In the 700s, Muslim Berbers invaded across the Strait of Gibraltar and conquered much of Iberia. They steamrolled the Christian kingdom of Asturias with little effort, establishing the Emirate of Cordoba. As they preyed on Catalonia, Kitsiogo entered an alliance of desperation with the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Leon. Together, they slowly pushed the Berbers back south of the Tagus river, and Kitsiogo captured the Berber commander and executed him.

As Berber influence waned, Catalonian influence grew. Kitsiogo subdued the dragons of Corsica and Sardinia in the 900s, conquering their territory, as well as seizing the island of Sicily during a war between the Arabs and Normans. Catalan became the dominant language of the Western Mediterranean, and Catalonia became fabulously wealthy.

Catalonia expanded its influence southwards, too. By this time, the Berber kingdom of Al-Andalus had fractured into independent emirates, which made conquering them easier.

Catalonian Crusades
A short border war with France in 1147 led to the Catalonian capture of Narbonne (Narbona). The king of France, Louis VII, pressured Pope Eugene III to call a crusade against Catalonia. Waves of soldiers from the various Catholic countries of Europe - England, France, and the Holy Roman Empire being most prominent - descended upon Catalonia. Most were instantly annihilated by Kitsiogo, but Narbonne was temporarily captured by a band of English soldiers. Instead of letting them have it, Kitsiogo destroyed the entire city. The crusade was declared a failure.

The second Catalonian Crusade occurred in 1321, due to Castilian and Portuguese influence in the papal court. Another large army was gathered by Catholic kingdoms in Europe and attempted a naval invasion. Corsica and Sardinia were captured and many ships were sunk during the fighting. The two islands were eventually won back, but another force had landed in the capital of Tarragona, and began to ransack the city. Much of the downtown was burned before the invaders were defeated. Another army began to invade from the west, having peacefully sailed from France to Portugal and gone through Castile and Leon. They made progress, taking the cities of Murcia and Alicante, and even the Balearic Island of Ibiza. Three crusader states were established in Murcia, Alicante, and Ibiza. This crusade was declared a marginal success.

The three crusader states were eventually recaptured by Catalonia. Alicante was captured in 1325, Murcia in 1327, and Ibiza in 1333.

Colonial Era
While Portugal, Leon, and Castile established colonies in Africa and the Americas, as did other European powers like England and The Netherlands, Catalonia mostly focused on the Old World. Catalonia did colonise a bit, taking the island of Bermuda in the North Atlantic as their territory, as well as the Pacific island of Rapa Nui, known for its stone heads. Unlike Bermuda, which was uninhabited, Rapa Nui had a native population and an aging dragon king, Kules. Kitsiogo convinced Kules to appoint him as his successor, and so when Kules died, Kitsiogo gained possession of the island.

First Neapolitan War and the Golden Age
(Main article: First Neapolitan War)

The Kingdom of Naples plunged into civil war in 1494, and Kitsiogo saw an opportunity. Kitsiogo supported a Catalonian pretender to the throne - Alfonso II - and launched an invasion. The ruling king was supported by the French, and as such war also broke out along the Pyrenean border. A large French force was isolated thanks to a trap set up by Kitsiogo in a mountain pass. Ultimately, Kitsiogo won control of the southern Calabria peninsula in the war. This war would be Catalonia's last military engagement for a while.

The 1500 and early 1600s were a time of great stability in Catalonian society, often called the Catalan Golden Age. Great structures such as the Temple de Neptú in Mallorca and the Library of Valencia were constructed. Poets such as Joan Bosca and artists like Jusepe de Ribera became popular. Catalan art took cues from the rest of Europe, employing Baroque and Renaissance styles, but due to its religious isolation, it took on a distinct pagan flavour. Renaissance artists elsewhere in Europe borrowed heavily from Greek mythology, but Catalan art took it to another level - temples were constructed to the gods, and frescoes of heroes like Heracles and Perseus could be seen on walls all across the country.

Portuguese War
(Main article: Catalonian-Portuguese War)

In 1664, the Portuguese caravel São Filipe was spotted in Catalonian waters. When a Catalonian ship demanded they leave, they did not. This was interpreted by a then-hawkish Kitsiogo as an act of war. The Castilian economy was in ruins thanks to massive inflation from their mines in Argentina, and as such they could not assist the Portuguese in the war. The Leonese took the Catalonian side in the war, using it to expand their South American colony of Parana, seizing the major cities of Rio de Janeiro (Riu de Xineru) and Sao Paulo (San Pablo), as well as annexing Galicia from the Portuguese mainland.

The Catalonian-Leonese alliance decimated the Portuguese, seizing their capital of Lisbon and exiling the Portuguese king to Brazil, where they set up a new capital at Salvador. All of Portugal's mainland territory was taken by the Catalonians and Leonese, as well as the island of Madeira and the archipelagos of the Azores and Cape Verde.

Kitsiogo maintained a very good relationship with the Leonese, due to a mutual enemy in Castile. Eventually, as Catalonia grew stronger after the Portuguese War, Leon became little more than a de facto vassal. In 1702, The Treaty of Vigo was signed, and Leon became part of Catalonia. Upon their annexation, Kitsiogo declared the Kingdom of Hispania and lay claim to all of Castile. Castile became allies with France for protection.

Colombian Revolution
By 1808, the Castilian colonies in the Americas were organised into five subservient states: Cuba, Central America, Colombia, Uruguay, and Argentina. The Castilians heavily exploited these places for their natural resources, and imported great amounts of slaves from Africa. Word of the American and French Revolutions had made their way to South America, and revolutionary fervour was gradually growing, especially in Colombia where a man named Simon Bolivar was making a name for himself. Kitsiogo decided to support Bolivar, and war was declared upon Castile on 25 September, 1808.

The war in Iberia was easily won, as Hispanic forces greatly outnumbered the Castilians. In America, the outcome was similar, with colonial troops employing guerrilla tactics that they learned from the American Revolution, as well as native combat techniques. Each of the five nations - Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, Central America, and Cuba - became independent.

Conquest of France
France was a constant thorn in Kitsiogo's side. French invasions in Hispania were regular, and almost all failed. When Napoleon I took control and invaded, Kitsiogo decided that this would be the final attack. He mustered every single soldier in Hispania and invaded north across the Pyrenees. Kitsiogo himself sacked Paris, freezing the city and its surroundings so thoroughly that even today, the Seine river stops dead at what was once the City of Lights. France surrendered on August 9th, 1814, and as per the Treaty of Marseilles, Hispania took control of the entire territory except for the far northern territory of Picardy and the Caribbean territory of Haiti, both of which were released as independent nations. Other territories in South America and Africa were given to The Netherlands and Germany, both of whom declared war upon France themselves. Hispania was now the most powerful country in Western Europe. The French rebelled, but Kitsiogo put down any resistance. He revitalised long-repressed minority languages in France, like Breton and Occitan, to get the population on his side in those areas.