Re: The Kingdom of France

[Galveston Bay]

France 1704 build

Income:  45

Military maintenance: 30.2
available: 14.4
loan 1: 6.5 points remain (.98 interest)
loan 2: 8 points remain (1.2 interest)
loan 3: 1.5 points remain (.23 interest)
total interest 2.41 points
principal 2.5 points
total 4.91
available

Ottoman trade deal (ship exchange of 1703) 5 points
Continue construction 4 CruRons 1 point
Political influence in Germany 2 points
subtotal 8 points
special mission to East Asia: CruRon Volontaire (Brest Fleet) carrying 1 points of trade goods and luxuries for diplomatic personnel
special mission: Southeast Africa: Brest Fleet (BatRon Intrepide, PatRon Amythest) plus .49 trade goods for the local natives
Borrow 7 points, put Heavy Batron Victoreux and Heavy BatRon Royal Louis into service (4 points) with Toulon Fleet, continue construction on CruRons (12 of 18 points, year 3 of 4) (loan 1704 7 points)
Special income 2 points from English purchase of Leeward Islands, apply to Loan 1701 (reduce from 5.5 to 3.5 points)

In the Fall of 1703, as Christmas approaches, the King orders a mapping expedition from Portuguese territory on the River Zambezi to the Cape of Good Hope (and claim territory that the Dutch and Portuguese have not yet, specially OTL Durban South Africa).   Also a visit will be made to Zanzibar to get a feel for the situation.  Rest stops will occur at Bourbon Island and Dutch Capetown (assuming permission).   The voyage is expected to last two years (so 1 BatRon, 1 Patron at sea for 2 years)

Meanwhile, sailing in concert with this force is a CruRon, which will proceed to Pondicherry with dispatches, pick up local experts and then make its way to Malaya, Indochina, and Taiwan to make contact with local rulers and explore the possibilities of trade with France.

Loans carried over
Loan 1701 3.5 points
Loan 1702 7 points
Loan 1703 1
Loan 1704 7 points
total debt: 18.5 points

[Galveston Bay]

French and subordinate naval forces 1704
French: 2 Heavy BatRon, 10 BatRon, 7 CruRon, 4 PatRon, 2 Naval Yards
Neapolitan: 2 PatRon, 1 Naval Yard
Maltese: 2 CruRon, 2 PatRon

With heavy piracy activity in the Caribbean and the possibility of a renewed conflict with the Barbary Pirates, the French, Neapolitan and Maltese Navies continue to patrol heavily the Western Mediterranean from Italy to Gibraltar. Convoys are no longer being conducted in the Mediterranean Sea but the naval authorities are prepared to reinstitute them if needed. However an annual convoy continues to be escorted from Lorient to Martinique, and from there to Florida and later in the year to Canada, before returning home every fall just ahead of the winter storms in the North Atlantic.

Lorient Fleet (sets sail from Lorient in early March, reaching Martinique in early May. Secondary trips to Florida anchorages and French Guiana in late May and early June before convoys assemble at Key West for the voyage up the Gulf Stream to Canada in late June. Navy ships get shore leave there for a few weeks, as well as restocking stores and water before making assembling a new convoy at Carenten (OTL Halifax) in mid September and beginning the voyage across the Atlantic and reaching Lorient and the other French Atlantic ports in early November.

Lorient Fleet
2 BatRon (BatRon Frederic, BatRon Normand), 2 CruRon (CruRon Julon, CruRon Volontaire),

Le Havre Fleet
1 CruRon (CruRon Mundi,) 3 PatRon (2 are assigned courier duty to Canada and Martinique, 24 Starling class ships, with a ship departing for Carentan and Martinique every 15 days)(1 CruRon Consolante) 1 Patron (Patron Emerald) sail at the end of August, takes a southerly route to Martinique timed to arrive in mid October after the usual hurricanes have come and gone, and conducts routine patrols and charting French possessions to ensure the French Admiralty has the best possible maritime charts for waters it controls. They depart in late May to return directly to Le Havre, arriving in late summer to refit and resupply). The French Navy makes a point to not be in the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico during the months of July -October to avoid hurricanes and the worst of Yellow Fever Season (after 200 years in the Caribbean the European sailors are well aware of the worst times to be there)

Brest Fleet
2 BatRon (BatRon Invincible, BatRon Intrepide), 2 CruRon (CruRon Volontaire, Cruron Hermoine) 1 PatRon (PatRon Polaris)
In March the BatRon Intrepide, CruRon Volontaire and PatRon Polaris sail south for Bourbon Island in the Indian Ocean as part of its mission (2 years for the BatRon and PatRon, 3 Years for the CruRon)
the rest of the fleet conducts local patrols of the French Atlantic Coast
2 Heavy BatRons (BatRon Royal Duc, BatRon Terrible) are laid up at Brest

Mediterranean Fleet
The Main French Battle Fleet
Organized into the Toulon and Malta Fleets
The Malta Fleet sails regularly from Malta to Marseilles, while the Toulon Fleet sails regularly from Toulon to Naples.
Malta Fleet – 1 Heavy BatRon (Victorieux) 3 BatRon (BatRons Hector, Ajax, Sceptre), 1 CruRon (CruRon Colonna)
Toulon Fleet – 1 Heavy BatRon (Royal Louis), 3 BatRon (BatRons Phenex, Juste, Breze) 1 CruRon (CruRon Guiscardo)

Palermo Fleet (Neapolitan coastal patrols)
2 PatRons patrolling eastern and western coast of Kingdom of Naples

Mediterranean Sea Patrol
Maltese Fleet (2 CruRon, 2 PatRon) keep an eye on the Tunisian, Algerian and Moroccan coasts and any Barbary Pirate activity along with Portuguese, Spanish and other naval powers

[Galveston Bay]

France 1704 build

Income:  45

Military maintenance: 30.2
available: 14.4
loan 1: 6.5 points remain (.98 interest)
loan 2: 8 points remain (1.2 interest)
loan 3: 1.5 points remain (.23 interest)
total interest 2.41 points
principal 2.5 points
total 4.91
available

Ottoman trade deal (ship exchange of 1703) 5 points
Continue construction 4 CruRons 1 point
Political influence in Germany 2 points
subtotal 8 points
special mission to East Asia: CruRon Volontaire (Brest Fleet) carrying 1 points of trade goods and luxuries for diplomatic personnel
special mission: Southeast Africa: Brest Fleet (BatRon Intrepide, PatRon Amythest) plus .49 trade goods for the local natives
Borrow 7 points, put Heavy Batron Victoreux and Heavy BatRon Royal Louis into service (4 points) with Toulon Fleet, continue construction on CruRons (12 of 18 points, year 3 of 4) (loan 1704 7 points)
Special income 2 points from English purchase of Leeward Islands, apply to Loan 1701 (reduce from 5.5 to 3.5 points)

In the Fall of 1703, as Christmas approaches, the King orders a mapping expedition from Portuguese territory on the River Zambezi to the Cape of Good Hope (and claim territory that the Dutch and Portuguese have not yet, specially OTL Durban South Africa).   Also a visit will be made to Zanzibar to get a feel for the situation.  Rest stops will occur at Bourbon Island and Dutch Capetown (assuming permission).   The voyage is expected to last two years (so 1 BatRon, 1 Patron at sea for 2 years)

Meanwhile, sailing in concert with this force is a CruRon, which will proceed to Pondicherry with dispatches, pick up local experts and then make its way to Malaya, Indochina, and Taiwan to make contact with local rulers and explore the possibilities of trade with France.

Loans carried over
Loan 1701 3.5 points
Loan 1702 7 points
Loan 1703 1
Loan 1704 7 points
total debt: 18.5 points

1705 French Build
Income 45
military maintenance 30.65

Interest loan 1701 .53
Interest Loan 1702  1.05
Interest Loan 1703  .15
Interest Loan 1704 1.05
total interest 2.78
Principal payments 1 (1701) + 1 (1702) + 1 (1703, paid in full) + 1 (1704) 4 points
available to borrow 8 (7.5 actual due to Crash of 1702)

45 - 30.65 = 14.35 - 4 = 10.35 points

Discretionary
complete 4 CruRons (12 of 18 spent, 6 more points completes them, CruRon Jean Bart, CruRon Tourville, CruRon Duquesne, CruRon Grammont)
make ready for sea 2 HBatRons at Brest (4 points)
total 10 points
spending on Royal Bank at Martinique .35 (eventual plan is 5 points to be deposited by the Crown as a basis for a bank)

Borrow 7.5 points
pay off 1701 Loan (2.5 points), Pay Down 1702 Loan (5 points)

additional funds
2 points from English purchase of Leeward Islands  (applied to pay off Loan 1702 in full and 1 point used as additional basis Royal Bank of Martinique)

Loans carried over into 1706
Loan 1704 6 points
Loan 1705 7.5 points
(loans 1701, 1702 and 1703 have been paid in full)
available to borrow in 1706 ... 7.5 points

[Galveston Bay]

King Philippe VIII directs three men from the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acad%C3%A9mie_fran%C3%A7aise to write a comprehensive history of the English rulers of the 16th Century, and to pay particular attention how Henry VIII and Elizabeth handled their finances and accumulated income.

3 historians are appointed to the role, and directed to hire the necessary translators and students to accomplish the mission

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Cousin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_de_Sacy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Dacier

Separately, the King arranges for French translations of as many books on 16th and 17th Century England as he can arrange, as well as works on Swedish and Danish history, particularly works that discuss how they seized Church property and monetized it

[Galveston Bay]

France 1704 build

Income:  45

Military maintenance: 30.2
available: 14.4
loan 1: 6.5 points remain (.98 interest)
loan 2: 8 points remain (1.2 interest)
loan 3: 1.5 points remain (.23 interest)
total interest 2.41 points
principal 2.5 points
total 4.91
available

Ottoman trade deal (ship exchange of 1703) 5 points
Continue construction 4 CruRons 1 point
Political influence in Germany 2 points
subtotal 8 points
special mission to East Asia: CruRon Volontaire (Brest Fleet) carrying 1 points of trade goods and luxuries for diplomatic personnel
special mission: Southeast Africa: Brest Fleet (BatRon Intrepide, PatRon Amythest) plus .49 trade goods for the local natives
Borrow 7 points, put Heavy Batron Victoreux and Heavy BatRon Royal Louis into service (4 points) with Toulon Fleet, continue construction on CruRons (12 of 18 points, year 3 of 4) (loan 1704 7 points)
Special income 2 points from English purchase of Leeward Islands, apply to Loan 1701 (reduce from 5.5 to 3.5 points)

In the Fall of 1703, as Christmas approaches, the King orders a mapping expedition from Portuguese territory on the River Zambezi to the Cape of Good Hope (and claim territory that the Dutch and Portuguese have not yet, specially OTL Durban South Africa).   Also a visit will be made to Zanzibar to get a feel for the situation.  Rest stops will occur at Bourbon Island and Dutch Capetown (assuming permission).   The voyage is expected to last two years (so 1 BatRon, 1 Patron at sea for 2 years)

Meanwhile, sailing in concert with this force is a CruRon, which will proceed to Pondicherry with dispatches, pick up local experts and then make its way to Malaya, Indochina, and Taiwan to make contact with local rulers and explore the possibilities of trade with France.

Loans carried over
Loan 1701 3.5 points
Loan 1702 7 points
Loan 1703 1
Loan 1704 7 points
total debt: 18.5 points

1705 French Build
Income 45
military maintenance 30.65

Interest loan 1701 .53
Interest Loan 1702  1.05
Interest Loan 1703  .15
Interest Loan 1704 1.05
total interest 2.78
Principal payments 1 (1701) + 1 (1702) + 1 (1703, paid in full) + 1 (1704) 4 points
available to borrow 8 (7.5 actual due to Crash of 1702)

45 - 30.65 = 14.35 - 4 = 10.35 points

Discretionary
complete 4 CruRons (12 of 18 spent, 6 more points completes them, CruRon Jean Bart, CruRon Tourville, CruRon Duquesne, CruRon Grammont)
make ready for sea 2 HBatRons at Brest (4 points)
total 10 points
spending on Royal Bank at Martinique .35 (eventual plan is 5 points to be deposited by the Crown as a basis for a bank)

Borrow 7.5 points
pay off 1701 Loan (2.5 points), Pay Down 1702 Loan (5 points)

additional funds
2 points from English purchase of Leeward Islands  (applied to pay off Loan 1702 in full and 1 point used as additional basis Royal Bank of Martinique)

Loans carried over into 1706
Loan 1704 6 points
Loan 1705 7.5 points
(loans 1701, 1702 and 1703 have been paid in full)
available to borrow in 1706 ... 7.5 points

1706 Budget
Income 45 + 2 English special income = 47
military maintenance 34.45 points
available 12.55 points
Loan 1704 6 points
Loan 1705 7.5 points
Interest payments: .9 + 1.13 = 2.03 points + principal 1.75 = 3.78
remaining principal owed loan 1704 5 points, loan 1705 6.75
available 12.55 - 3.78 = 8.77
early payoff Loan 1704 5 points
early payment on Loan 1705 .75
available 3.03 points
start 3 PatRons (year 1 of 2, 3 points)
funds for authors commissioned by the Crown .03

[Galveston Bay]

Winter 1706
King Philippe orders a review of all criminal laws in the Kingdom of France, and also orders that carried out in the Kingdom of Naples.  

A special commission is placed in the charge of Henri Francois d'Aguesseau,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Fran%C3%A7ois_d%27Aguesseau

The King orders that special attention be examined at those who have special legal privileges (regarding trial) under the law and whether those privileges are justified and appropriate.

Later in the winter, the Crown announces that Noblesse d'épée and their children must obtain permission from the Crown before joining the Church, as their first duty is to the defense of France which includes the Crown, Nobility, Church and the People. A formal writ must be obtained, and a formal request made. All permissions are subject to review by the King himself. Needless to say he is frequently too busy to get to them and time frames for obtaining that permission will be long.

[Galveston Bay]

[quote="Galveston Bay"]

Loans carried over into 1706
Loan 1704 6 points
Loan 1705 7.5 points
(loans 1701, 1702 and 1703 have been paid in full)
available to borrow in 1706 ... 7.5 points

1706 Budget
Income 45 + 2 English special income = 47
military maintenance 34.45 points
available 12.55 points
Loan 1704 6 points
Loan 1705 7.5 points
Interest payments: .9 + 1.13 = 2.03 points + principal 1.75 = 3.78
remaining principal owed loan 1704 5 points, loan 1705 6.75
available 12.55 - 3.78 = 8.77
early payoff Loan 1704 5 points
early payment on Loan 1705 .75
available 3.03 points
start 3 PatRons (year 1 of 2, 3 points)
funds for authors commissioned by the Crown .03

Loans carried into 1707 6 points
Income 45 + 2 points English special income
Military maintenance 34.45 points
debt payment loan 1705 .9 plus principal 1 = 1.9 (5 points remain)
available 10.65 points
Pay off loan of 1705 5 points (France is no longer in debt)
complete 3 PatRons (year 2 of 2) 3 points
available 2.65 points
funds for authors commissioned by the Crown and special survey of land holdings in France held be the Church .65 points
build 2 militia brigades- 1 each Quebec (Canada), Port Royale (Acadia)

[Galveston Bay]

Fall 1707 The French Crown reaches an agreement to buy another Turkish BatRon for a reduced price of 3 points. The French Navy, facing a new commitment in the Indian Ocean, decides that it needs an equal mix of battleships and lighter ships

[Galveston Bay]

1707 Budget
Loans carried into 1707 6 points
Income 45 + 2 points English special income
Military maintenance 34.45 points
debt payment loan 1705 .9 plus principal 1 = 1.9 (5 points remain)
available 10.65 points
Pay off loan of 1705 5 points (France is no longer in debt)
complete 3 PatRons (year 2 of 2) 3 points
available 2.65 points
funds for authors commissioned by the Crown and special survey of land holdings in France held be the Church .65 points
build 2 militia brigades- 1 each Quebec (Canada), Port Royale (Acadia)

1708 Budget
Income 45.8
Military Maintenance 35.4
available 10.1
Purchase 1 BatRon from Turks (3 points)
Start Fortresses Pensacola, Key West (4 points of 8 needed, year 1 of 2)
Trading post at Key West (3 points)
further spending on promoting the Crowns interests internally .1
total 10.1 points

Loan 1708 10 points (7% interest, 20 year loan) invested in the East India Company

[TLS]

An Heir is Born

King Philippe had done much to secure his hold on the French and Neapolitan crowns, but had struggled mightily with the most sacred duty of a king: ensuring the continuity of his bloodline. Though he had fathered three daughters with his wife, the lack of a son and heir was the cause of much consternation throughout Versailles. Finally, on October 22, 1708, his prayers were answered: a generally healthy, though somewhat small and colicky, boy was born.

[Galveston Bay]

1709 Budget
Income 46.15 points
debt 10 points (Loan 1708) interest .07 plus principal .53 = .6 (loan reduced to 9.47 points)
available 45.55 points
military maintenance 35.4 points
available 10.15 points
special celebration of birth of male heir .15 points
available 10 points
Turkish BatRon purchased in 1708 prepared for sea 1.5 points
complete fortresses Pensacola, Key West 4 points, (year 2 of 2)
available 4.5 points
Depots Bordeaux, Toulouse (4 points)
Spending on property census all farm lands in France .5 points
Loan 1709 5 points
Investment in East India Company 5 points

[Galveston Bay]

total French Income 48.25 points
debt as of 1710 is 14.47 points  
Loan 1708 9.47 points (at 7% interest, 20 year loan) interest .66 + principal .47 + .2 extra principal (reduces to 8.8 points)
loan 1709  5 points (at 7% interest, 20 year loan) interest .35 plus principal .5 = .85 (reduces to 4.5 points)
Total Debt Service 2.18 points
military maintenance 27.65

available after debt service and maintenance 18.42 points
purchase 4 cavalry regiments (8 points)
purchase 5 infantry battalions (5 points)
investment in East Indies Company (5 points)
investment in Bank at Martinique .42 (investment has now reached 1 point)
all 9,000 men are being recruited for overseas service.  Completion of 10 years service results in a land grant of 160 acres in Natal (640 for officrs with the rank of captain or higher)
Loan 1710 10 points
build 10 infantry battalions (10 points)

France begins raising an army of 19,000 men for overseas service

[Galveston Bay]

Summer 1710
Large convoys of merchant ships loaded with men, horses, mules, wagons, artillery, supplies and fodder begin sailing for French ports for Brazil, covered by the Toulon Fleet, to meet up with escorts from the Indian Ocean Fleet as they make their way to Caronville, Natal

[Galveston Bay]

1711 budget

total French Income 48.25 points
debt as of 1711 is 24.47 points  
Loan 1708 8.8 points (at 7% interest, 20 year loan) interest .62 + principal .8 (reduces to 8 points) 1.42 points
loan 1709  4.5 points (at 7% interest, 20 year loan) interest .35 plus principal .5 = .85 (reduces to 4 points) .85
Loan 1710 10 points (at 7% interest, 20 year loan) interest .7 plus .5 = 1.2
total loan servicing 3.47 points
available 45.03
military maintenance 39.55
available 5.48 points
South African extra maintenance 2 points
extra investment in South Africa 2 points (2 points of 10 over 5 years, year 1 of 5)
special intelligence efforts in East Asia .48


Contingent (depends on a satisfactory Dutch answer to stiff note)
Loan 1712 6.70 points
rent 9 merchant flotillas  points (each is .25 maintenance plus .5 points offset income) 6.75  (basically everything except for the 3 merchant fleets out of New France)
wartime taxes: build 6 infantry battalions

[Galveston Bay]

Winter 1711  
Furious that French soldiers are dying in southern Africa because the Dutch East Indies company refuses to sell food King Philip VIII orders his Ministers of Marine and War to prepare for war, and his Minister of State to deliver a stern note to the Dutch East Indies Company and the Dutch Government stating that refusing to sell food to fellow Christians in South Africa is a hostile act and unless there is an immediate policy change, France will meet it with hostility.

Orders of council are sent to shipowners warning them that they will be chartered for the upcoming year if the Crown needs them (and financial arrangements made), while the Fleet and Army receive orders to prepare for hostilities

Discussions are underway with several nations who also have a grudge against the Dutch or covet territory held by them.

[Hussam B.]

Winter 1711  
Furious that French soldiers are dying in southern Africa because the Dutch East Indies company refuses to sell food King Philip VIII orders his Ministers of Marine and War to prepare for war, and his Minister of State to deliver a stern note to the Dutch East Indies Company and the Dutch Government stating that refusing to sell food to fellow Christians in South Africa is a hostile act and unless there is an immediate policy change, France will meet it with hostility.

Orders of council are sent to shipowners warning them that they will be chartered for the upcoming year if the Crown needs them (and financial arrangements made), while the Fleet and Army receive orders to prepare for hostilities

Discussions are underway with several nations who also have a grudge against the Dutch or covet territory held by them.

Understanding the distress the French are seeing in South Africa, an Imperial envoy offers to mediate the dispute to reach an amicable outcome and avoid a war that might involve the Imperial Habsburg Lowlands.

[Galveston Bay]

Winter 1711  
Furious that French soldiers are dying in southern Africa because the Dutch East Indies company refuses to sell food King Philip VIII orders his Ministers of Marine and War to prepare for war, and his Minister of State to deliver a stern note to the Dutch East Indies Company and the Dutch Government stating that refusing to sell food to fellow Christians in South Africa is a hostile act and unless there is an immediate policy change, France will meet it with hostility.

Orders of council are sent to shipowners warning them that they will be chartered for the upcoming year if the Crown needs them (and financial arrangements made), while the Fleet and Army receive orders to prepare for hostilities

Discussions are underway with several nations who also have a grudge against the Dutch or covet territory held by them.

Understanding the distress the French are seeing in South Africa, an Imperial envoy offers to mediate the dispute to reach an amicable outcome and avoid a war that might involve the Imperial Habsburg Lowlands.

The King informs the Envoy that France will not invade or attack the Austrians or the Austrian Netherlands unless they attack European territory (including Malta) held by France or the Regency of Naples. A copy of this note is passed to the English Ambassador in France.

[Galveston Bay]

1711 budget

total French Income 48.25 points
debt as of 1711 is 24.47 points  
Loan 1708 8.8 points (at 7% interest, 20 year loan) interest .62 + principal .8 (reduces to 8 points) 1.42 points
loan 1709  4.5 points (at 7% interest, 20 year loan) interest .35 plus principal .5 = .85 (reduces to 4 points) .85
Loan 1710 10 points (at 7% interest, 20 year loan) interest .7 plus .5 = 1.2
total loan servicing 3.47 points
available 45.03
military maintenance 39.55
available 5.48 points
South African extra maintenance 2 points
extra investment in South Africa 2 points (2 points of 10 over 5 years, year 1 of 5)
special intelligence efforts in East Asia .48


Contingent (depends on a satisfactory Dutch answer to stiff note)
Loan 1712 6.70 points
rent 9 merchant flotillas  points (each is .25 maintenance plus .5 points offset income) 6.75  (basically everything except for the 3 merchant fleets out of New France)
wartime taxes: build 6 infantry battalions

The Loan of 1711 is taken out so that the required merchant fleets can be chartered. War time taxes will not be instituted until 1712 to allow the population to prepare for them

[Hussam B.]

An angry letter arrives from the Emperor demanding an end to French aggression against the Knights of St. John. Noting that as honorary princes of the Empire, it is the duty of the Holy Roman Emperor and indeed the subject of clamoring by the Papacy and the Imperial Princes that the Empire mobilizes in tandem with the Habsburgs and act in defense.

We demand that the French attack is ceased and restitution be made immediately.

[Galveston Bay]

An angry letter arrives from the Emperor demanding an end to French aggression against the Knights of St. John. Noting that as honorary princes of the Empire, it is the duty of the Holy Roman Emperor and indeed the subject of clamoring by the Papacy and the Imperial Princes that the Empire mobilizes in tandem with the Habsburgs and act in defense.

We demand that the French attack is ceased and restitution be made immediately.

Sadly the time for that has past, however those of Spanish origin will be allowed to return home.

France notes that it has declared on the Pope's agents in Malta, who refused to accept peace in the Mediterranean. Although harsh measures are being ordered against the Church as a wartime measure, France has not declared war against God or the Catholic Church

It should be noted that as of 10 years ago the Knights of Malta were under the jurisdiction and vassals of the Regent of Naples. Thus this is an internal matter. France requests that Spain does not again interfere in the internal affairs of the French Crown like it did in the Wars of Religion.

[Hussam B.]

An angry letter arrives from the Emperor demanding an end to French aggression against the Knights of St. John. Noting that as honorary princes of the Empire, it is the duty of the Holy Roman Emperor and indeed the subject of clamoring by the Papacy and the Imperial Princes that the Empire mobilizes in tandem with the Habsburgs and act in defense.

We demand that the French attack is ceased and restitution be made immediately.

Sadly the time for that has past, however those of Spanish origin will be allowed to return home.

France notes that it has declared on the Pope's agents in Malta, who refused to accept peace in the Mediterranean.   Although harsh measures are being ordered against the Church as a wartime measure, France has not declared war against God or the Catholic Church

It should be noted that as of 10 years ago the Knights of Malta were under the jurisdiction and vassals of the Regent of Naples.   Thus this is an internal matter.   France requests that Spain does not again interfere in the internal affairs of the French Crown like it did in the Wars of Religion.  

While true, it cannot be denied that the Knights are Princes of the Empire, even if only honorary. It would be an abandonment of the Holy Roman Emperor's duty if he does not move to preserve the independence of the Princes of the Empire. The matter is hardly merely interior.

If France does not move to rectify its hostile actions towards both the Pope and the Knight. The Holy Roman Emperor and his allies will have no choice but to join the Lateran Coalition until such time that the independence of an Imperial Prince is no longer threatened.

[Galveston Bay]

An angry letter arrives from the Emperor demanding an end to French aggression against the Knights of St. John. Noting that as honorary princes of the Empire, it is the duty of the Holy Roman Emperor and indeed the subject of clamoring by the Papacy and the Imperial Princes that the Empire mobilizes in tandem with the Habsburgs and act in defense.

We demand that the French attack is ceased and restitution be made immediately.

Sadly the time for that has past, however those of Spanish origin will be allowed to return home.

France notes that it has declared on the Pope's agents in Malta, who refused to accept peace in the Mediterranean.   Although harsh measures are being ordered against the Church as a wartime measure, France has not declared war against God or the Catholic Church

It should be noted that as of 10 years ago the Knights of Malta were under the jurisdiction and vassals of the Regent of Naples.   Thus this is an internal matter.   France requests that Spain does not again interfere in the internal affairs of the French Crown like it did in the Wars of Religion.  

While true, it cannot be denied that the Knights are Princes of the Empire, even if only honorary. It would be an abandonment of the Holy Roman Emperor's duty if he does not move to preserve the independence of the Princes of the Empire. The matter is hardly merely interior.

If France does not move to rectify its hostile actions towards both the Pope and the Knight. The Holy Roman Emperor and his allies will have no choice but to join the Lateran Coalition until such time that the independence of an Imperial Prince is no longer threatened.

Sadly, most of the Knights, including the Grandmaster, where killed in battle and thus there is no longer a grandmaster, honorary or actual prince that he might have been.

While France regrets that war seems likely between the Empire and France, if war comes France will do what it must to defend itself.

[Hussam B.]

Another angry letter from the Empire protests the crude and cheap French diplomatic maneuvers to expand the unyet declared war to seek unlawful territorial changes in Germany and the Lowlands, flaunting all sorts of treaties with multiple persons and behaving in a most rogue manner.

[Galveston Bay]

New Years Day 1712
The Crown announces that effective this year the peasantry is no longer obligated to pay the centuries old tithe of 10% of their agricultural goods to the Church.  They may voluntary pay, should they wish, tithes to any church they desire.  

All Church lands that have not been seized are subject to tax unless being used as schools, hospitals or to house the aged, infirm or ill.

[TLS]

Pour Dieu

Bourbon Realms, early 1712

The Bourbon state embarks upon an anti-clerical and anti-Catholic campaign unseen since the Protestant Reformation two hundred years earlier, with Philippe’s orders surpassing even those of the most Protestant-sympathetic Kings of the Wars of Religion. Royal agents move to seize half of the Church’s lands in France, religious orders entirely unrelated to the Knights of Malta (such as the Society of Jesus) are expunged, and hundreds, if not thousands, of men and women religious are tortured, murdered, or exiled. Priests at the pulpit inveigh against the overreach of Royal power and the doors of the Cathedrals of France are pointedly thrown shut by the men inside upon the approach of members of the King’s family, as he is under interdict. Predictably, those involved are soon seized by the agents of the Crown and never seen again.

The Crown embarks upon fantastical show trials, accusing priests, knights, monks, and others of a myriad of crimes. Peasants are accused of witchcraft and idolatry for holding icons and relics from the martyred Knights of Malta and then brutally and spectacularly murdered in public. Meanwhile, as the Catholic Church is openly targeted for attack by the Crown, Protestants find themselves under favorable treatment. Land seized from the Church is purchased by Huguenot Burghers who are seeking to expand their landholdings and attempt to enter the entirely Catholic nobility. Remembering the attempts by Philippe’s father (at the behest of the new monarch) to undermine the nobility through replacing the Estates General, the clear majority of the nobility refuses to partake in the King’s schemes—leaving only his family, and increasingly the Protestant burghers, to be the only ones to participate in the auctions. This lack of demand considerably drives down the value of the lands being seized.

The widespread attack on the Church is, for the most part, entirely ignored by the local nobility and peasantry across wide swathes of the country. Local officials who attempt to imprison village priests are run off by angry parishioners, when they bother at all. Rural nobles shelter Jesuit priests—who have history escaping persecution in England—in hide holes in their estates. The exception to this general trend is across a wide swathe of southern France, from Gascony through to Switzerland, where the Huguenots control a larger proportion of the bureaucracy. Vindictive Protestant officials and officers take substantial pleasure in seizing local priests and taking them to the rack. The crown's attempts to bribe the peasantry by demanding the tithes be foregone is generally ineffective--tithe collection was generally enforced by the crown, if at all.

Resistance is even fiercer in Naples, a land with no history of Protestant agitation and where the Church is even stronger—lacking the centuries of subversion by the French Kings, and, in fact, used to holding a preeminent position of power due to the distance of foreign monarchs. The Neapolitan clergy openly defy the orders to refuse to venerate the relics of the Knights of Malta and hold processions in their honor. While church assets are seized, none of the Neapolitan nobility are willing to risk excommunication by purchasing their assets, and so, again, Huguenots (and even Jews) are the only ones willing to purchase—further inflaming tension. Across the Bourbon realms, tax collectors are run off, and state control effectively collapses in large swathes of the hinterland. Agitation generally remains a rural phenomenon, but even in the cities of France and Naples the priests continue to preach against the heretical actions of the French King.

Civil war, last seen half a century ago, is increasingly seen on the horizon. Versailles, filled as it is with sycophants and parvenus, is generally insulated from such talk—but not entirely. Both those of immense faith and those who seek to safeguard the rights of the nobility against the Crown are horrified by the King’s actions. Many of the Bishops come from the grandees of France, with key allies among the upper echelons of Bourbon power. The King has, however, increasingly surrounded himself with Protestants, sycophants, and even Jews, and the protestations of his court to avert this course of action fall on deaf ears. The streets of Paris run wild with rumors that the King has already reverted to Protestantism, the faith of Henry IV, and that it is only a matter of time until the Catholic faith is expunged entirely.

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Game Effects

France:
-Tax Income reduced to 50% (represents tax non-compliance in rural areas—essentially means wartime taxes raise as much as regular)
-15 points from seizure and sale of Church assets

Naples:
-Tax Income reduced to 25%
-2 points from seizure and sale of church properties
-3 points from seizure of the treasures of the Knights of Malta

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