A History of the Celtic Peoples: The Revival of the Celtic Spirit

By John Heinmiller

In the History of the Celtic Peoples, author John D. Heinmiller examines history from a unique perspective. In focusing on the Celtic peoples, the peoples from the Britannic Isles to the Iberian Peninsula and the northern part of the modern nation of Italy, Heinmiller argues that it is the Celts who were and are the real dynamic force of Europe from the 15th Century onward. Though the position is controversial, Heinmiller presents the evidence in this history as clearly as he can.

In the last book, the Revival of the Celtic Spirit, Heinmiller discusses the history of the Celts in the modern age. Ancient Celtic principles, long dormant, begin to revive in the Celtic world and spread throughout the world, though not without pain and turmoil.

In this history, the author tries to use the actual names of places, not their anglicized names. Thus, Rome becomes Roma, Italy becomes Italia, Normandy becomes Normandie, etc. Even the names of people and kings are adjusted, the English Henry is the French Henri and the Spanish Henrique. The French Philip becomes Philippe while if he is Spanish he is known as Filipe. This, however, is not taken all the way; for example most readers would not realize that Bourgogne is the true name of Burgundy after all. Still, the author wants the reader to be aware of the actual names.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Heinmiller
• Release date: Feb 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005231019

John Heinmiller

John D. Heinmiller is a student of truth, in all of its various ways. He has long been interested in such questions as why and how we know what we know. Of course, he started looking into itThen, true to form, he started to write about it. Of course, he did not limit himself to just that field of interest.A lifelong Californian who was born in Los Angeles, Mr. Heinmiller currently lives by himself in San Francisco where he tries to continue his research and his writing.

Book preview

PREFACE

We are now in the last volume of A History of the Celtic Peoples and the journey has been quite an adventurous one. We have seen the Celtic peoples for the most part crushed by conquerors, dominated by invaders, controlled by foreigners and forced to live according to laws that was not according to Celtic traditions or lore. We have even seen the light of recorded history and knowledge erased from one land, all but disappearing over a span of centuries. We have seen the savage fighting and the struggle between the various peoples. We have seen hope and despair. We have seen miracles. We have seen destruction.

We have seen the consequences of the lure of power and the lust for wealth, the siren’s song that has destroyed so much. We have seen how first Caesar then others gave vent to their naked ambition, following the deadly sirens song of power. And we have seen the consequence of that naked ambition. And we have seen a type of government supported with arguments that no Celt in the time of Caesar would have ever accepted. The ancient Celts never accepted the Divine Right of Kings, they never accepted that a king could do whatever he wanted and that everyone else had to follow and obey. We have seen the consequence of the struggle with the Divine Right of Kings, which I would call The Curse of Caesar.

We have seen greed as first one family then another strove to conquer all. We saw the power of greed as kings conquered other lands, strove to become master of the faith, even tried to be above the law. Charlemagne, for all his greatness, still became master of western Christendom. William the Conqueror conquered England, not caring about whom was supposed to be the real ruler of that nation. Henry broke from Rome only because he could not get a divorce thanks to the dominion of Karl who himself was the master of the papacy, though if you told him he was the master of the Catholic Church he would have executed you for blasphemy. We have seen the House of Lorraine strive to install one of their own as King of France. We have seen people fight to the death solely over how God Himself should be worshipped in both the French Wars of Religion and the English Civil War. We have seen monarchs strive to interfere with other governments solely over this same issue.

We have seen the consequence of this naked ambition and greed. We have seen ignorance. We have seen the loss of learning. In Charlemagne and Alfred we have seen the struggle of some kings to turn the loss of learning around. We have seen how some simply did not care about learning. We have seen the Dark Ages, and after that the Feudal Restoration, for the lack of learning cannot endure.

Yes, the Celts have been the victims as conquerors and masters lorded it over the conquered. But we have seen the Celts guilty of the same crimes as well. We have seen the Celts doing the exact same thing to other peoples. We have seen the Celts conquer huge tracts of land, enslaving natives, and gaining great wealth as they also flirted and collapsed under the strain of flirting with the siren’s song.

We have seen the terrible price of ambition for the sake of ambition. We have seen what seemed like the smartest of decisions have some of the gravest consequences. We have seen people rise to the heights. We have seen them sink to the depths.

And through it all, the Celtic peoples have endured.

But there is more we have seen. We have seen throughout the Celtic lands, ancient Celtic principles, principles long thought to be dead and buried, rising their heads, making themselves known and reestablishing themselves.

It is, perhaps, not too surprising that the principles were reasserting themselves first in England. The isle of Britannia had, after all, been the home of the great Celtic traditions and schools, where druids, ban faith and sagarts, the lawyers, lore-masters and priests of the Celts, had gone to learn their craft. Though England had been conquered, it had resisted for several hundred years and even in the end the ancient Britons, known as the Picts and the Welch, had not surrendered. The house of Tudor had been a Welch lineage, it produced England’s greatest ruling queen in Elizabeth. And though the Picts had eventually been conquered, they had been conquered by a fellow Celtic people, the Scotti; it would be the Scots who provided the next ruling queens. Yet we see that it was in England that the legislature and precedent reasserted itself. But France was not far behind. Ancient Gaul was reasserting itself; we can but think that Saint Louis, if he did not have some Celtic blood in him at least heard the whisperings of the ancient Celts as he established that all needed to follow the law and that it had to be just. In Flanders we saw the will towards self-rule that was the drive of the Belgic people of old. And in Iberia, we saw the Celtic people finally awaken as they fought and strove to determine their own destiny.

Oh, it is not to say that all of the principles that were raising their heads were just Celtic. The rule of law was Roman as well as Celtic, Celtic and Roman law were merging into something new. Democratic principles were predominately Greek yet they fit well with Celtic principles of government. But certain things were predominately Celtic. Precedent, a key legal principle, had reasserted itself. And we have seen the acceptance of women as leaders, something that was unique to Celtic society. It should not be surprising that it was in the Isle of Britannia where the first modern female ruler rose to power and succeeded in stamping her influence on both the nation and the world. It should also not be surprising that this female ruler was a Celtic, not Germanic, ruler.

But there is more to happen. The restoration is only partial, not complete. And there are parts of the ancient Celts that need to be discarded. There is still too much opposition between the various Celtic peoples. We have seen the fury of war between the English and the French, to a lesser degree we have seen the love of war amongst the Iberians and the Britannics. The ancient Celtic love of war for personal glory needs to be addressed as well. We have seen their willingness to sell themselves for loot and profit expressed through Cortés and Pizarro, in Drake and Essex, and in others.

But the Celts are on the way towards building something new, something great, something glorious, something that they would export to the entire world.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, in his great work History of Philosophy, asserted that the whole history of humanity was the development of freedom of mankind. While there is no direct evidence to support his contention, a rational argument can be made. It cannot be denied that different nations have, at different times, seemed to be the focal points of immense discovery and advancement. Egypt did so much for architecture and medicine during its time just as Mesopotamia did much for astronomy and mathematics. The Greeks, during their time, advance the basis of the philosophies and the sciences while making even more advances in mathematics. Arabic thought helped to advance knowledge in many ways. But there was never a firm dividing line that said Here by Egypt’s time, here be Greece’s time. There was always some overlap.

The time of the influence of the Celtic peoples began around 1500 with the voyages of Columbus and de Gama. The times opened was rough, ready, violent and ugly. Great crimes were committed, of this there cannot be any doubt. I would love to say that the Celtic peoples were ultimately innocent of it all but with their tradition of fighting for loot, it is all too obvious that far too many Celts were involved. We can be certain that Cortes, Pizarro, Drake and other adventurers, if not pure Celt had Celtic blood flowing in their veins. Yes, the Celts have blood on their hands. Yet the world was tied together in ways never before seen.

But the time of their contribution to the whole world was approaching. That time began now.

We open this, the fourth volume, soon after the death of the greatest divine right monarch in European history.

THE FIRST REVOLUTION

1

WAR AND PEACE

The heir to the Great King was a five-year-old child. Young Louis was the great grandson of Louis XIV. In what has to be a surprising coincidence, his grandfather the Dauphin, his father and his elder brother, in fact all other prior claimants to the throne, had died due to smallpox or measles. The inheritance, which seemed to be so assured, thanks to the large family the Great King had, was suddenly on very shaky ground.

This was of very great interest to two very different people. One was Philippe le duc d’Orléans. A grandson of Louis XIII, he was the Prince of the Blood whose lineage would inherit the throne should the lineage of Louis XIV die out. Louis had wanted Philippe to be the head of a Regency Council, much as Louis XIII wanted his son to be governed by a council, but Philippe got the council overturned and himself installed as sole regent.

The other was Felipe de España, grandson of Louis XIV. He was the second son of the Dauphin and, as such, had ties to the French throne. Of course, due to the peace of Utrecht, he had renounced any and all rights to the throne of France. That said, such treaties have never stopped the ambitions of kings. Naturally he put in a claim to the throne out of principle. Felipe made the claim on the condition of the death of young Louis. He also claimed the right to be the regent of the young king. Both requests were firmly opposed.

Felipe was interested in the regency claim for more than one reason. He hoped to gain French support for his attempt to regain some of the possessions he lost during the War of the Spanish Succession. He had lost Spanish holdings in Flanders, Napoli, Sicilia, Sardegna and Milano, with all but Sicilia and parts of Milano going to the Hapsburgs in Austria. But with a monarchial change in Britain having just happened, Felipe was hopeful that he would be able to at least reclaim some of his territories.

España had emerged from the war in very bad shape. It needed peace and reformation. Felipe, of course, had made one change almost from the beginning, though it took some time to take hold. The unification of the bureaucracy of Castile with that of Aragon had occurred during the war. He had succeeded at this through the Nueva Planta decrees which he issued in 1707. Of course, it had not just been his effort.

The real work of reform began due to the effort of Jean Orry, a French economist whom the Great King trusted. He had arrived soon after Phillip had been crowned Felipe V and, at Louis’s urging, tied himself to the French courtier Marie-Anne de La Trémoille, the self-styled princess des Ursins. She had come to España and had become almost the defacto ruler of the nation. She had almost complete sway over the royal couple. Orry had no other realistic choice but to tie himself to her.

As soon as he could he went over the books. He recommended abandoning the feudalistic system that España had used for years and rebuilding it around a centralized system of administrators who reported to him. His real work revolved around military finances, he was quite successful in reorganizing and increasing tax collection and devised various expedients to pay for troops and provisions during the war. He also managed to create a position of Secretary of War and Finances, one of his first reforms.

Unfortunately, Orry had to return to France. But sometimes a bad thing proves to be a good thing. The disappearance of Orry allowed the Italian Giulio Alberoni to a position of power. Alberoni had also tied himself to Trémoille but he had been dismayed by her presence. Still, soon after Orry left, the tie gave him some influence with her at a critical moment. Felipe’s young wife died and Trémoille tried to become Felipe’s wife in her own right. After that failed, Alberoni advised her that Felipe should marry another Italian princess, Elisabetta Farnese. Trémoille agreed and Elisabetta was married to Felipe. However, the new queen was opposed to Trémoille; with Alberoni’s help she managed to get her banished from the realm. Then, in appreciation, she helped Alberoni become a duque and grandee of España.

As the War of the Spanish Succession wound down to a close, Alberoni very carefully sided with the Pontiff in a few disputes. The result was his appointment as a cardinal of the Church. Thus when the war ended, he was ready.

Orry returned and tried to initiate some more reforms but he was pushed out by Alberoni and Elisabetta before he could do much more. This may seem like a bad thing, but Alberoni was Spanish in his heart, he knew the situation in España and what needed to be done. He was also very acquainted with the financial reforms that had occurred in France, he was determined to duplicate them. Now that he had the authority and the freedom, he did so. He abolished internal custom-houses which was killing internal trade and reorganized the state finances along the lines that Jean Orry recommended. Unfortunately this irritated the grandees, the nobility of España. So in an attempt was made to satisfy the grandees he established a new School of Navigation which was reserved for the sons of the nobles. It also allowed España to build a large number of warships and man them. And thanks to his economic reforms, España was able to build the ships without going deep into debt.

The reforms were quite successful and if he had been able to continue in peace he might have performed a minor miracle. As it was, the reforms were successful enough to encourage Felipe into a futile war. But a war to reconquer the isles would almost certainly involve other powers allied against España. Britain would almost certainly join the Austrian power and the Dutch was considered likely to join their old allies against their hated enemies. That meant España needed France.

Unfortunately for Felipe, the Regent Philippe was not sympathetic towards Spanish ambitions. Thanks to Felipe’s claim of Regency Philippe considered his nephew to be an enemy. His desire was to bring up Louis as best he could while maintaining the integrity of the kingdom. He also wanted to improve certain conditions in France, to that end he had already changed a few policies of the grand monarch’s. But his opposition to Felipe’s ambitions were an issue for the Spanish king.

Instructions were sent to the Spanish Ambassador in the French court, Antonio del Giudice. He was directed to enter into correspondence with some of Philippe’s enemies, the most important of whom were duc and duchesse de Maine, Louis Auguste and Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon. Louise was also in correspondence with Alberoni. So the Spanish King had his fingers on a developing web of intrigue against Philippe. A plot was woven around the Regent that included not only the lords of Maine but also Marguerite de Launay, Melchior Cardinal de Polignac and the duc de Richelieu, Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, who was having a romantic affair with the seventeen-year-old daughter of the Regent, Charlotte Aglaé (for those who are worried about age differences, it must be noted that the duc de Richelieu was only twenty-one years of age). The duchesse du Maine became the ringleader of the plot. Her plan was to call the États Généraux, use it to depose Philippe, then create a regency of Felipe.

But as the plan was coming to a head, a letter between the duchesse and Alberoni was intercepted by the French police. Enough of the plot was revealed to alert the Regent who acted swiftly. The Spanish Ambassador was arrested and, since he had diplomatic immunity, was sent back to España. Alberoni, who was in Poitiers at the time, was also arrested. The duc and duchesse de Maine were arrested, she was exiled and he was sent to the fortress of Doullens in Picardy. Others were sent to the Bastille, where Charlotte Aglaé managed to visit Richelieu, much to the disgust of her father; he would make sure she was married within two years to the Duca di Modina and safely taken away from the young Richelieu. As an aside, it must be noted that within two years all of the participants, being of noble birth, were pardoned.

Felipe would have been wise to be cautious but he was young and bold, he wanted what he considered to be his lands back. While the conspiracy was unfolding, España landed troops in Sardegna. The Austrian emperor wanted to act immediately but he listened to the wise counsel of his Supreme Commander Prince Eugene. Eugene counseled focusing on and completing the Turkish war that Austria was fighting before turning their attention to España. As a result, the Austrians did not respond.

Encouraged by the lack of response, Felipe landed troops in Sicilia. This landing provoked an immediate response from Britain and the Dutch Republic. An undeclared naval action erupted with the British taking the lead and the Dutch, no longer angry with the British, assisting. The Austrians, once their war with the Turks finally wound down, did likewise. But what surprised everyone was the French. They were furious with Felipe and joined the three powers opposing España. This created the Quadruple Alliance, which the war is named for.

The whole war was dominated by the power of the British fleet which roamed wherever they wanted at will. Several Spanish attacks were made but the troops suffered because the British fleet cut off all supply and reinforcement. The Spanish decided to back the pretentions of the Pretender to the English throne, but the fleet was destroyed by a gale and never reached Britain. A small landing was finally enacted in the Scottish Highlands but the Jacobite uprising was defeated near Glen Shiel. It was his last significant attempt to reclaim the English throne for the family of James.

The British retaliated for the landing. In a display of their absolute mastery of the oceans, they landed a force that captured Fort Castro in Vigo. They then moved into Redondela and Pontevedra, occupying both for about ten days before withdrawing. They took with them vast military stores and destroyed what they could not take with them.

The landings came as quite a shock to the Spanish as they had thought they were protected, they now realized just how vulnerable they were to British power. So they tried to fight back. They planned a campaign to capture the British colony of South Carolina. They also tried to mount an expedition from Cuba to take the British settlement of Nassau in the Bahamas. But all of it went to naught. The expedition to Nassau would be driven off by the local militia while the expedition to storm the colony of South Carolina was thwarted by the French who captured the settlement of Pensacola. Naturally the Spanish tried to regain the settlement, they succeeded, only to lose it to the French again, who ended up destroying it.

There were land actions during this war, but almost all of them were quite ineffective. Most active was French action against the Spanish, but almost none were successful.

Several events happened in France while the war with España was in full swing, both of significant importance. First, the French invited a noble barbarian from the east to visit. This noble barbarian was the toast of all France. He was considered to be barbaric because his manners were not up to the standard of the French, who naturally considered themselves to be the height of manners, but the noble barbarian was so charming and pleasing in his responses that they could not help but love his barbarian attitude. One story serves to illustrate this. Madame de Maintenon, the widow of Louis, had retired to Saint-Cyr where she had founded a school for poor girls of noble families, the Maison royale de Saint-Louis. Philippe had, in his capacity of Regent, had granted her a pension of 48,000 livres which allowed her to run the school and receive visitors. But she was old. One morning she awoke to find a very distinguished visitor sitting on a chair by the foot of her bed. She recognized this visitor immediately for he was the toast of all France. But the man, true to his barbaric nature, had simply gone into the room of a woman he did not know while she slept, a big social no-no. When she woke up, he did not apologize for intruding, instead he calmly asked her what her illness was. She replied, honestly, old age, which likely brought a smile to the visitor’s face. But when she, slightly indignantly, asked him what brought him to her room, the visitor replied I came to see everything worthy of note that France contains. This response was so simple and so honestly stated that it brought a smile to her face and she forgave him his barbaric lack of manners. It must be pointed out that the visitor, Tsar Piotr (Peter) of all the Russia’s, would later remark to his aids that she had rendered a great service to France and to the King.

The visit of the Tsar was desired by the French as they hoped the Russians would provide a counter to the ambitions of the Hapsburgs. They had to deal with his barbaric attitudes though which definitely dismayed them, even though he did everything in such a charming way that they forgave him as well. While he visited Versailles he installed his harem in an apartment, this caused a scandal to no end. On the other hand, in what has to be a wonderful spontaneous gesture, he took the young Louis in his arms with an almost father-like affection. Piotr wanted to give the French King his daughter in marriage, but the negotiations fell through. Still, the visit was a rousing success in the mind of Philippe for the visit of Piotr built a strong Franco-Russian friendship that lasted for several centuries. Piotr won everything due to his friendliness, his openness and his acceptance of all, in spite of his so-called barbarian manners. If only everyone was as barbaric.

The second thing that occurred was the arrival of a Scottish economist who would have vast influence not only in France but throughout the world in economic thought. The economist was John Law, who figured out that money did not constitute wealth at all but rather was a form of exchange; wealth, especially national wealth, was due to trade. He began a tradition of Scottish economic thought that would influence economics and wealth. But the Scotsman had French sympathies for he founded the Mississippi Company which was designed to benefit the French in their trade with the Americas. He would become Controller General of Finances in France.

As the war began to wind down Felipe, disgusted with the direction of the war, fired his minister Alberoni. This was actually a tragedy for España. But in the short time he had power he had done more for España than every Hapsburg prince that mismanaged the Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Aragón. He started the real reformations that were so desperately needed by the Spanish people, so long abused by the terrible policies of the Hapsburgs. It is to Felipe’s credit he selected this minister and let him do what was needed.

Felipe entered into negotiations with the allies, which now included Savoia. The peace, the Treaty of The Hague, was signed on the 17th of February, 1720. In it, Felipe was forced to give up all of his territorial gains. France gained some trade advantages. Britain regained some prestige. But the real loser of the war was Savoia for they had to give up the Sicilian isle to the Hapsburgs, their gain of Sardegna was small compensation. So the real winner was Hapsburg ambition, improving the gains they obtained from the War of the Spanish Succession.

The Hapsburgs were never more than a combination of marriages, foreign glory and domestic medievalism. In a developing world this was a recipe for political and economic disaster. It is true they stopped the Turkish power at Lepanto and in front of Vienna, protecting Europe and European commerce, but other than the sickly Carlos, last of the Spanish Hapsburgs, they had done nothing to improve the situation of España. Even the Spanish Empire they ruled was not due to their efforts; it had been the policies of the last true Spanish rulers, Isabel and Fernando of the house of Trastámara, who had create that vast overseas empire. In essence, the Hapsburgs had done nothing for España.

It was not much better for the Austrian Hapsburgs. Already they were finding that controlling Spanish Flanders, now the Austrian Netherlands, was far more expensive than they had expected. It was costing a considerable portion of their economic wealth just to maintain the armies in that region, the gain was far less than what they had expected. Due to their pride and determination to continue expanding, to continue looking outward, they could not fix anything. At the same time they had no real interest in improving their economic or financial situations. Stubborn, conservative to a fault and reactionary, unwilling to try anything new, the Hapsburgs had already destroyed themselves in España and were now working on destroying themselves in their home state of Austria. It was ugly to say the least.

We can leave the Hapsburgs and their self-destructive traits for glory and power, their wars and struggles. For now a period of relative peace descended upon the Celtic states, relative because España never got complete peace with its breakaway province of Catalonia and the Britannic Isle continued to have issues with the Irish people.

Religion was quickly becoming a non-issue in the Celtic world but they did not quite get the principle that the Greek thinker Epictetus had once uttered: All religions must be tolerated... for every man must get to heaven in his own way. Toleration was developing in España and France, the dominant Catholics were not as ready to kill Huguenots as they had been before and the Spanish Inquisition was beginning to be seen as the vile institution it was. The British were also becoming more lenient towards various sects of Protestantism though Catholicism was still hated and feared. Still, the times were peaceful enough and the French and Dutch enjoyed the benefit of peace. The Spanish had to deal with Catalonia which prevented peace and most English fighting took place in the service of Hanover, which George considered to be of greater importance than of Britain.

The British nation fretted with ambition and desire, they remembered the glory days under Marlborough, now retired and dying, they wanted to pursue another war of gain and conquest. But the nation was in debt and another war would have been costly. That had not stopped the British before. But it did not go into another war for almost twenty years. The last time peace had been enforced upon the English people, James I was king of Britain and he imposed it because of his own mistrust of war. Now, it was a Whig who kept the nation at peace.

Robert Walpole, called by some the first Prime Minister of Britain, was a man of great ability with a head for figures that few could match. He had risen up in importance during the War of the Spanish Succession and knew many of the key players. He was determined to outlast them. Peace needed to be achieved, the debt paid down and, above all, calmness and tranquility needed to reign. He did not realize the human need for excitement and conflict, otherwise he might have found a way to bring in sporting events earlier than actually happened. But for over twenty years, Walpole governed and, except for two brief and limited wars with España, kept the peace.

Walpole had three crisis’s he had to deal with that occurred early on. First he had to deal with the South Sea Bubble which was caused by the financial issues of the South Sea Company. The company had been granted a monopoly to trade in South America and the nearby region. It never was able to pursue its trade in South America and instead had speculated heavily in government debt. Company stocks had increased tremendously only to collapse thanks in part to insider trading, one of the first economic bubbles. Parliament investigated and confiscated the profits a number of company executives had made. The second crisis involved the machinations of a certain Jacobite Bishop, Francis Atterbury the Bishop of Rochester. Walpole was adamant about not letting the bishop achieve what he wanted, in fact Walpole was adamant about the bishop not even getting the chance. Atterbury was arrested as soon as there was evidence and he was confined to the Tower of London for some time, he would only be released when he was exiled. The last crisis was the war with España which we have already talked about.

The Royal Society gained two prominent members during this time. The most famous was Isaac Newton, the great philosopher who has been called a scientist in the modern day. He was already famous for his first great work Opticks which advanced that study considerably and allowed him to invent the first reflective telescope. But his real mark would be felt by his great seminal work Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica which fulfilled the dream of the great mathematician and philosopher Rene Descartes by describing all motion mathematically. The other, the one who would be ultimately the most influential, was John Locke. He was author of the famous work An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, probably the first work to ever try to analyze the reasoning processes. But it would be his next work Two Treatises of Government which would become highly influential in the storm that was about to erupt. It attacked the Divine Right of Kings in the harshest of ways and laid the foundation for the republics that were to arise. He would also influence education and toleration considerably. His influence is still growing.

Inevitably George died and his son, Georg, inherited the throne as George II. But this did not change the policies of Walpole who was determined to keep everything calm and peaceful, avoid conflict and controversy and govern the nation in complete peace and tranquility. It was not liked by the spirited Englishmen and their fiery kinsmen the Scots but it was quite effective.

The height of the Dutch Republic was past. Their glory days were over, though they did not realize it. Or maybe they did. The Spanish Succession had sapped the Dutch economy and they needed peace. But at the same time, they were not going to get the full benefit of peace. The Dutch had entered what would be known as the Second Stadtholderless Period and the Dutch were already beginning to ask themselves what went wrong. They were starting to look to the past as some sort of golden age, even though such golden ages are never as golden as people like to make them out to be. But they did make an agreement of alliance with Britain. It would prove to be a most wise decision.

España saw little development after the war of the Quadruple Alliance had ended. Felipe had found the Spanish court to be difficult at best. He had his own reforms, reforms on top of what his minister Alberoni had performed. He reformed the military, abandoning the triad system that España had long used and going instead with a more French style of organization. He also reformed higher education, establishing a number of government run colleges like the Colegio de Minería. This reform was completed when he established several scientific academies. He was not able to touch lower education, the Church was still too strong and controlled all aspects of lower education, but he could at least ensure that Spaniards who entered into the government run colleges received a first-rate education. These, combined with Alberoni’s efforts, improved the situation in España. His attempts at reforms largely ended once Alberoni left and the government to a large degree ran itself. Still, he still did what little he could do, focusing on efficiency wherever he could. He had built a solid framework on which his successors could initiate further reforms. But the force that kept inhibiting any real change continued to sail towards España laden with gold and silver enough to pay for part of the government each year.

Felipe would rule for a number of years, then he abdicated in favor of his eldest son, Luis. This proved to not be such a good thing. Young Luis was certainly well intentioned but his wife, Louise-Élisabeth d'Orléans, was already showing symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder, a nasty condition characterized by emotional instability, emotional impulsiveness and certain obsessive behaviors. She got so bad she was even washing the windows and the tiles of the palace with her own clothes. Luis despaired of the situation, writing to his father, I see no other solution but to lock her down as soon as possible, for her troubles keep increasing.

Still, a few months later when Luis contacted the dread contagion smallpox, Louise-Élisabeth, known then by the Spanish variant of her name Luisa Isabel, risked her life by staying with him, trying to nurse him back to health. Who knows how close the two became. But sadly it was not enough for Luis died. As his other sons were not old enough, Felipe was forced to return to the throne. His wife Isabel, pushed hard to make him resume the throne.

Throughout his life Felipe suffered from bouts of depression. His depression forced him out of effective government far too often, leaving effective control of the government in the hands of less than capable ministers and even in the hands of his ambitious wife. It may be one of the reasons he had tried to abdicate, if so it showed he did care for the Spanish people and nation. But, it was not to be.

Isabel, Elisabetta Farnese, was more concerned about her own children and their futures than about the fate of her step son Fernando. She all but ran España’s foreign policy for a long while, all in the hope of gaining for her children advantageous positions in Italia. She strove to give her eldest son a good education and strove also to make it so he would become the ruler of an Italian dominion, either a duchy or the kingdom of Napoli.

Her stepson Fernando, the son of Felipe’s first wife Maria Luisa di Savoia, was given a standard princely education, his governor was the compt de Salazar de Velasco and as the heir of Felipe he was married to the Portuguese infanta Maria Bárbara de Bragança. But once he became of age Elisabetta found ways to prevent him from having any contact with the outside world. For all intents and purposes, he was a prisoner in his own home. He was not allowed to visit the governing council, deal with Prime Minister José Patiño Rosales, or even visit any member of the Royal Family. So tight was the controls that Don Fernando and Dona Barbara, his wife, could only receive specific visitors whose names were dictated by Elisabetta, they could not eat in public or go out for a walk anywhere. She wanted to prevent him from having any contacts with the nobility because among them were rebellious groups that advocated for a new abdication of Felipe due to his deteriorating mental health. She was concerned about losing power.

Change was not just happening in España. Under João V, Portugal prospered. João ruled Portugal as an absolute monarch, disregarding centuries of legal precedent. Once the War of the Spanish Succession was over he immediately established relations with France and España. Though his embassy’s entrance into Paris was just a few weeks before Louis XIV died, the richness and extravagance of the embassy’s entrance was noted by all of Europe which, drawn to such ostentatious displays of wealth and power, immediately marked João as a man of import and Portugal as a major nation. It is true that the Portuguese nation was suddenly important in the counsels of Europe, but being a nation off to the side and bordering the sea and España, it did not have as much say as it could have. That said, it sent an armada to aid the Hapsburgs in their war against the Turks in 1716, it was the only Celtic nation to do so. Finances were improved in part thanks to a tax on moneys and goods coming in from Brazil, though João spent heavily, trying to build up a system of art and villas that rivaled those of France. It is not for naught that João is known as the Portuguese Sun King.

But the real changes occurred in France. Young Louis had grown during the War of the Quadruple Alliance. He had been raised first by his governess Madame de Ventadour, until he reached the age of 8 at which time he was taken from his governess and placed into the care of Louis XIV’s old friend and Marshal François, duc de Villeroy, who had lost so badly to both Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlborough in the War of the Spanish Succession. The aged duc may have been militarily incompetent but in other aspects he was competent enough, teaching the young king aspects of governance and civility. He even taught the young king how to review a military regiment, something that the king would have to know how to do. He tried to teach the young king how to dance in ballet, but Louis hated the experience.

Duc Philippe also gave Louis a tutor, André-Hercule de Fleury the Bishop of Fréjus, who taught him much about history, geography and cartography. As a result of his instruction Louis was knowledgeable enough to impress Tsar Piotr with his knowledge of various rivers, cities and geographic features of Russia. But it was not just history and the land that the young king learned for Fleury also impressed upon him the importance of mathematics, astronomy and the other sciences.

During his minority Louis was impressed by the skill and ability of the reagent. When he attained his majority at thirteen and Orléans’s regency ended, Louis asked the duc to continue on as his First Minister of State. This was agreeable to the duc who immediately took up the post. However, he was not granted much chance to do much for, while visiting his mistress the duchesse de Falari, he took sick and, too far away from any medical aid, died.

Upon the advice of Fleury, Louis appointed Louis-Henri, duc de Bourbon and Prince de Condé as the First Minister of State. Louis-Henri took up the task and immediately searched for a bride for the king. The lady chosen was Maria Leszczyńska, a Polish princess who was five years older than Louis. In many ways it was an excellent match, Maria, or Marie as she was known in France, became devoted to her younger husband who loved her, at least for a while. And, of course, the relationship was well outside the Hapsburg lineage which the Bourbon-Capetian lineage had grown too close to, so it helped to infuse fresh genes into the royal pool. She would bear Louis a son who gave birth to the next three crowned kings of France, Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X. Her only flaw was that she was very pious and timid; piety rarely works with a monarch, timidity never.

Condé had one major conflict during his minstership. On the 8th of September, 1713, Pope Clemens finally granted a request of Louis XIV and issued a papal bull. Called Unigenitus, it condemned Jansenism, a catholic doctrine that was based largely on the writings of the greatest of the Doctors of the Church, St. Augustine. It was devoutly followed by many people, including the mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal, the poet Racine and various nobles including the mother of the Marquis de Lafayette. Opposition to Unigenitus was particularly strong in the various parlements including the Parlement de Paris. Condé was opposed to Unigenitus but Fleury urged Louis to declare that Unigenitus was a law of France. The struggle was not between Catholic vs. Protestant, or even between Protestant vs. Protestant as happened in Britain, but between Catholic vs. Catholic. Catholics who were Jansenists found themselves fighting the state just as Huguenots had in the past, they found allies among the few remaining Huguenots. Religious dissent would remain throughout the rest of the reign of Louis.

Tensions increased between Condé and Fleury, who had now been granted a cardinalship. Louis kept turning towards Fleury for advice and soon insisted that he be included in all meetings between himself and his First Minister. Condé, realizing the power Fleury was attaining, strove to undermine his influence but when Louis learned about it he immediately dismissed Condé from his office. He then offered the position to Cardinal Fleury who accepted.

For the next seventeen years, the nation was effectively ruled by Fleury. He knew his student, knew his strengths and weaknesses and knew how to encourage indecision from Louis. He dictated the choices made by Louis and flattered his pride. He managed to prevent the king from discussing politics with the Queen, he sent the youngest daughters to be educated in the Abbey of Fontevrault. He brooked no opposition from anyone and managed to nullify it from Louis, but the power he built, which was wholly within the sphere of the Divine Right of Kings, built a slowly simmering cauldron of opposition and fury by the nobility which saw its traditional rights and privileges being stepped upon. Louis XIV had also stepped all over those same rights and privileges but he had a certain way about him; he had diverted everyone by making them entirely dependent upon him in Versailles, this his successor did not do.

Whatever his faults, Fleury showed Louis the value of a stable government. Few were the changes of government over the time Fleury was in power. He had the same minister de Marine, only two ministers de Finance and two ministers de military. The second of the ministers of finance, Philibert Orry who had tried to make changes in España, managed to balance the budget one time, an achievement not seen again in Louis’s lifetime. Monetary policy was vastly improved, allowing for an expansion of French trade.

A modern road network was developed, it is the same network that France uses today which shows how advanced and well-built it was. The completion of the Saint Quentin Canal, which linked the Oise and Somme Rivers, expanded river transit, this was later expanded to include other rivers.

For a number of years the peace was maintained in Europe, and if little is written about this long period of peace, know that war always makes for more interesting reading. But though wars may be more interesting to read, they are terrible to live through. It is not for naught that the Chinese have a very interesting curse: May you live in interesting times. The times of peace were, for the most part, mostly uninteresting, though they were beneficial for so many people.

2

THE GAME OF KINGS

The peace that was initiated by the end of the War of the Quadruple Alliance in 1719 lasted till 1736. All of the nations needed peace, though the nations and people often did not realize it. Boredom was being met with ennui but at least all of the nations recovered their strength for what would be the next great trial.

In 1735, a new situation was arising, one that would alter Europe’s destiny. A feud was starting to develop over who would succeed to the Polish throne. This was, of course, nothing new, the Polish king was always selected, but sometimes foreign powers did the selecting for the Poles. The Great Northern War of 1700 which did not come into our purview had seen the switching of the Polish king depending on whether Karl of Sweden or Piotr of Russia was in the ascendancy. Stanislaw Leszczyński, the father of Louis’s wife Maria Leszczyńska had been put onto the Polish throne thanks to the power of Karl but after Peter had defeated Karl at Poltava, Stanislaw fled and Russia’s candidate, Elector Augustus the Strong of Saxony, was placed on the throne. But now Augustus was dying and everyone was lining up to impose their candidate on the throne.

Tsarina Anna Ivanovna of Russia, King Frederick of Prussia and Charles of Austria had signed a treaty backing the son of João of Portugal, the Infante Manuel, for the Polish throne. It seemed like such a simple solution, though it reeked of foreign powers interfering with the internal affairs of a weaker nation. But the situation was not so simple for Stanislaw wanted his throne back and he had the backing of his son-in-law Louis. So war was inevitable.

Fleury saw the upcoming struggle as a chance to strike at Austria without seeming to be the aggressor. He had little concern over who became king of Poland but he did see opportunity. The Duchy of Lorraine still stood out like a sore thumb, it needed to be incorporated into France. The duchy was a very tricky situation as the duc de Lorraine, François Stephen of the House of Lorraine, was engaged to be married to Maria Theresa the heiress of the Austrian Empire. Fleury had every reason to fear Austrian power within the borders of France and wanted to deal with it. So there was a very practical reason for France to want to fight.

Still, Fleury knew that France could not take on the triad that supported Manuel, he also feared a strong anti-French coalition rising. Diplomatic activity was the key to any.

Britain was the first target of Fleury’s diplomatic effort. He would have loved Britain joining a coalition, but the Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, was quite cool to the idea. Walpole had been most successful in keeping Britain out of any and all wars and conflicts; he was determined to continue it. But a neutral Britain was fine with the French minister. The two struck a deal and Walpole kept Britain out of the upcoming war.

British determination to stay out of the conflict all but guaranteed that the Dutch Republic would also stay out of the upcoming struggle. Like the English, they had nothing to gain in the struggle that was developing. But they had serious reasons to want to stay out; the health of their economy was in decline thanks to the protectionist policies of Russia, Prussia, France, España and Austria. They were unable to dump their goods into colonies as they had all but given up New Amsterdam. The massive debt that they had incurred thanks to the various wars they had fought caused massive resentment to the taxation the Dutch had to endure. The lower strata of the economy became poorer while the middle class was economically squeezed to the breaking point. The leadership was unwilling to increase the tax burden, especially on the rich, because they feared public discontent. The problem was causing deurbanization with people fleeing the cities for the countryside. The Dutch were unique in that regard for everywhere else the pressure was on for urbanization. In essence, they were not the Dutch of before. Yes, they had good reason to want to stay out of it.

Fleury’s diplomacy had been successful enough with the British and the Dutch, though they were not allies they were at least not enemies. But his efforts found better results elsewhere. Carlo Emanuele the duca di Savoia and King of Sardegna, was very interested in gaining Milano, this was a hook that Fleury used. But the real gain was España. Felipe’s wife Elisabetta Farnese was determined to gain territories for her children. She was especially interested in Napoli and Milano. She was the primary influence behind the decision to get involved in the war.

Still, it was important to make it so that France was seen as coming to the defense of Poland. In this the Marquis de Monti, the French ambassador in Warsaw, was active. He convinced rival Polish families to unite behind Stanislaw. A convocation sejm was called. The sejm passed a resolution forbidding the candidacy of foreigners, which explicitly forbade Manuel of Portugal and a third candidate, Frederick August the Elector of Saxony and son of King Augustus of Poland. They then nominated Stanislaw as King of Poland. Yes, there was underhanded dealings in the selection, but the seim was the Polish body set up to select the Polish king, in this they had made their legitimate decision.

This was not agreeable to Frederick of Prussia who immediately negotiated with Russia and gave them the traitor’s promise: in exchange for support for the throne of Poland he agreed to give Russia some territory in Poland, the Duchy of Courland. He also promised Austria recognition for what was known as the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, a document designed to guarantee the Austrian throne for Karl’s daughter Maria Theresa. With that understanding, Russian troops intervened in order to make the seim come to a different understanding. They got a sizeable minority to nominate Frederick August as King.

Russian interference in the affairs of Poland was exceedingly visible and quite deliberate. France could therefore say they were going to the aid of Poland and the legitimate king, Stanislaw. The war was on.

The Polish portion of the war was disastrous for the French and Stanislaw. The Russian army made all the difference. Russian arms simply marched in and Stanislaw, the lawfully elected king of Poland, was forced to flee. He retreated to Danzig (now Gdansk) where he was besieged for a time, then again forced to flee, this time to France. A group of Polish noblemen tried to maintain the effort in support of Stanislaw but the Russian forces, combined with Austrian and Saxon forces, were just too strong.

Austria got the Holy Roman Empire to declare a Reichskrieg, an Imperial War, against France. This put George into the interesting position of supporting neutrality in regards to Britain and war in regards to Hannover. Hannover, part of the Holy Roman Empire, was obliged to fight France; doubtless some Englishmen who wanted to fight France joined the Hanoverian regiments. Initial French efforts up in Germany were quite promising with James FitzJames the Duke of Berwick leading a French assault and forcing Prince Eugene to retreat. But the French advance was eventually stopped by large numbers of Russian troops which reinforced Eugene so greatly that he went on the offensive with great ease. James FitzJames was forced back, slowly and stubbornly fighting for each inch of territory lost.

In Italia a French force joined the forces of Savoia and they assaulted the city of Milano, the Austrian forces there were insufficient to defend the city and it fell. Don Carlos of España was focusing on the campaign in Napoli. It looked as if the war would go the way the French wanted it to go in Italia. But then, division and disagreement between the French and Savoiards was felt. The French were led by Villars, the great Marshal of France; he wanted to secure the Alpine passes. But his knowledgeable and skillful plans were thwarted by Carlo Emanuele who, suspicious of French intentions, did not support the effort once Milano was captured. When Villars tried to occupy Mantua, Carlo Emanuele thwarted the effort. Thanks to the passes being unoccupied, the Austrians sent a force of 40,000 across the Alps and tried to flank the combined force. Villars tried to move to counter it and again Carlo Emanuele thwarted the effort. Disgusted, Villars quit the army and, while returning to France, took ill, dying in Turin.

Don Carlos, the son of Felipe V and currently duca di Parma, was quite successful against the Austrians in Napoli. He then marched north and joined the forces of France and Savoia. But the greed of Elisabetta Farnese, ruined all. The Spanish laid claim to Mantua and refused to guarantee Milano to Savoia. As a result, Carlo Emanuele refused to support the war effort any more, rendering all fighting moot. The Austrians managed to regain all territory lost in northern Italia. They ended up losing only Napoli.

During the war, François Stephen of the House of Lorraine managed to marry Maria Therese of Austria. This gave the House of Lorraine the royal power they had long wanted. It also caused issues, especially as the duchy of Lorraine was inside France. Austrian weakness would play a role in what happened.

Preliminary peace negotiations were being waged when Prince Eugene, with massive Russian support, defeated the French at Klausen. The French under Coigny were withdrawing and French defeat seemed assured when the peace negotiations declared a cease fire.

Russia and Austria got what they wanted in Poland; they succeeded in placing Frederick Augusta on the Polish throne. They soon began the partition of Poland between Prussia and Russia with Austria.

Because François Stephen was now married to the heiress of the Austrian throne, the Duchy of Lorraine was taken from him. Austria compensated him by giving him the duchy of Tuscany. The French then gave the duchy of Lorraine to Stanislaw as compensation for his lost throne; Fleury was quite content with this, it removed the possibility of an Austrian threat from inside France and guaranteed that Lorraine would eventually become part of the French crown. Carlos had to give up his duchy of Parma but got Napoli and Sicilia, so he became King of Napoli, an exchange upward as far as he was concerned. Austria got Parma.

Elisabetta Farnese, wanting something for her younger son, was thwarted in her ambition.

Fleury now signed the Pragmatic Sanction. He had what he wanted and felt that peace with Austria would now benefit France. Louis also wanted peace, he had seen war and found it not to his liking. España, following the lead of France, also signed the Pragmatic Sanction, though Elisabetta was not thrilled over it. And Frederick of Prussia also signed it. All of these signatories made Karl of Austria quite happy, it seemed that the succession of his daughter was assured. And it was. Except for one little detail.

No treaty ever stopped a monarch from waging war in support of his ambitions. Frederick of Prussia died and the Prussian throne passed down to his son Frederick II, later known in history as the Great because he was such a great warlord – though maybe earned because of his quite impressive domestic policies. He was highly ambitious and saw the inheritance of Austria by a woman as an opportunity for gain. He was not going to allow a woman or a treaty stop him from expanding his realm at the expense of Austria. He simply waited till the inevitable happened.

Of course, the inevitable happened when Karl of Austria died and the realm passed to his daughter, Maria Theresa, the last of the true Hapsburgs.

When Louis heard about the death it is said that he wrestled with the decision for two days. His decision, a very wise one, pleased nobody. In these circumstances, I do not want to get involved. I will remain with my hands in my pockets, unless they want to elect a protestant emperor. This pacifist approach did not please Frederick, he wanted the province of Silesia. It did not please España which saw a chance to obtain more of its lost territories in Italia. It did not please the nobility, they wanted glory fighting the hated Austrians. In short, it pleased nobody. Still, it was the right decision; for once a king resisted playing the game of kings.

Fleury, following the desire of Louis, sent Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, duc de Belle-Isle and Marshal of France, to be the ambassador to the Imperial Diet. His instructions were to support the candidacy of the Elector of Bavaria to the Imperial throne. Unfortunately, Fouquet, the grandson of the disgraced and executed minister of finance, hated Austria with a passion. Refusing to follow the orders he received, he made an agreement with the Prussians. As a result, he committed France to a war with Austria, a declaration that pleased everyone, except Louis. France marched. Prussia marched and Austria was alone.

But Austria was not alone for long. The English opposition to the government of Walpole had been building for a long time. The desire for adventure, for glory, for war, hung in the air of many in the Isle. They needed an excuse to force Walpole into either war or out of office. They found it in the English South Sea Company.

The South Sea Company had long been having trouble with España. They were due to pay España money over the Asiento contracts which allowed them to participate in the Spanish slave trade. They preferred to keep all the money for themselves. Walpole had cleverly negotiated the Prado Convention with España that provided for a peaceful settlement, but the Company would have none of it, they continued their quarrel with España. Aggrieved, España suspended the Asiento and refused to pay any of the compensations agreed by the Prado Convention.

The opposition to Walpole opened a broad attack on Walpole on the government’s negotiations with España. Appeals to national prejudices and to the traditions of Elizabeth