Extremely interesting discussion so far! One of the most comprehensive Al-Andalus scenario discussions I've seen.
Although this may be jumping a bit too far ahead, I would like to say that having a long-standing rift between Al-Andalus and North Africa (such as that which would result from the...
Extremely unlikely. It's important to understand that, unlike Spain, which was a "kingdom without a king," Portugal under the Estado Novo was explicitly a republic. The orchestrators of the 1926 coup, which began the process of building the regime, were all convinced republicans.
There were...
Vassalization would be likely in a scenario where the Portuguese retain influence over the island in the long term (there is even the possibility of eventual annexation a la Kingdom of Kotte), but it wouldn't happen immediately in my opinion. Sunda would have to go through one or two succession...
Interestingly enough, despite this being an event of fairly well-known allohistorical potential that is frequently discussed as part of broader AH scenarios, we seem to never have made a dedicated thread about it.
The Kingdom of Sunda was the last major Hindu-Buddhist power in Java, comprising...
The (relative) success of Catholic missionaries in Japan during the late 15th century was a temporary and localized phenomenon. Minor lords in Southern Kyushu during the Sengoku Jidai had much to gain from converting because it attracted Portuguese trade, which brought firearms and Chinese goods...
Not going to war in Morocco would require a significant change in Sebastian's personality and outlook, so in that case I guess that it begs the question of what does he do? Messianic crusading vs trade-oriented development were the main political divides in 15th and 16th century Portugal, and...
An hereditary title over the entire colony would be unthinkable imo. Not only it's too big a prize for any noble house (let alone one with a claim on the crown), it would be extremely unpopular in Portugal as well (João I of Braganza wasn't very well liked by the way, that was one of the reasons...
I assume that this "viceroy" position would be akin to the viceroy of India, meaning that it would not be hereditary and João would be unlikely to even hold it for more than a few years. IOTL Brazil never had a viceroy, only a governor-general, but in the Portuguese empire the distinction...
Columbus is a tough sell for Portugal imo. Castile funded him because only because they needed some way to get around Alcaçovas.
If you want a Portuguese discovery of the New World, you either need an explorer who mostly pays for the expedition himself (e.g. Ferdinand van Olmen who almost did...
I personally never liked the "cultural and spiritual" authority framing or comparisons to the Catholic Pope. The Japanese Emperor was figurehead monarch. We have plenty of examples of that, both historically and in the present. I don't understand the need to go for such strange comparisons...
Maria hated Pombal at least since the Távoras affair, so she'd presubly treat him exactly as IOTL, dismissing him and reversing all his reforms. The depression thing is anyone's guess, I suppose
I don't think they could, for the same reason as they fell in the first place. They had very little territory and very few men under their direct control. Their authority rested entirely on the prestige of the shogunal position. This made them very useful as puppets for powerful lords, but gave...
I can't find anything too specific about Majapathit overtures to the Portuguese in Malacca. I don't know when the embassies took place or if they received any response...
I suppose the problem is that the Majapathit remnant was located in Daha (modern day Kediri), an interior city in Eastern...
It's surely a lengthy voyage, but doesn't Spanish the Spanish of the Philippines prove that trans-pacific colonization is at least possible if you work with oceanic gyres? It took about four months for a ship to get from Manila to Acapulco. It would presumably be similar from Macau to the main...