middle ages

It's the late 1300s and the war of the eight saints have just kicked off. Italian city states ( mostly the Republics ) vs the French Pope . What if , somehow, seeing the current pope as nothing but an illegitimate pupet the population of the city of Rome itself revolt . Seeing this as a chance...

Mardavij was a Zoroastrian Persian warlord who, in five years, conquered a large portion of what is now Iran, creating a state that stretched from the Caspian Sea to Shiraz and from Hamadan to Isfahan. However, he was murdered in 935 and his kingdom fell apart soon after, quickly being reduced...

After Justinian's death and the Plague, Justin II stopped to pay subsidies to the Avars ending the truce after 558. During his reign, the Avars and Lombards combined forces to destroy the Kingdom of the Gepids, centered in Transylvania. The aftermath was the absolute dominance of the Avars in...

The Nicopolis Crusade was a failed effort in 1396 to stop the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. Lack of competent leadership, numbers, and supplies was what doomed the expedition and allowed Bayezid of the Ottoman Empire to mop them up. Assuming the crusade was able to get more numbers (England...

Alfonso IV of Portugal encouraged trade and exploration from 1325 to 1357. This led to the discovery of the Canary Islands (which Genoa already knew of), but Castile claim the islands as their’s. Assuming Alfonso IV was more passionate and aggressive in seafare exploration could this mean the...

During the Hundred Years’ War with England and France duking it out over France, is it possible that other nations like Aragon, Savoy, and Navarre can join in the fray to invade France? Would England find it acceptable seeing other nations invading France? Could they be England’s Allie’s or...

So just to understand what I'm talking about, here's a map: This map shows the lands of the Habsburgs, Luxembourgs, and Wittelsbachs during the 1273-1378 period. Is it possible for either one of the houses to inherit the other two's lands? Basically either the Habsburgs inherit the lands of the...

Could the Wars of the Roses, long as it was, be even longer and worse than it already was? How much longer can the York/Lancaster feud get and could even more third party actors like the De La Poles and the Tudors and even more take a bigger role? I was thinking of extending the three decade...

Starting from 476 AD (The fall of the Western Roman Empire), make another Germannic tribe other than the Franks conquer Europe. Bonus points if it is one of the lesser known Germannic people, such as the Rugii or Alemanni.

Henry III of England tried to reconquer the lost territories in France his father John I lost to the French. Unfortunately for him his attempts at retaking those lands ended up in failure every single time. However if Henry III does a better job and enjoys some better success (does not have to...

Basically a preacher or a prophet takes over an area and his successors embark on a rapid expansion spreading the teachings the teachings of their Prophet or the founder of the religion of their religion along the way . Minimum PoD is 476 AD and maximum is 1600 AD. Edit; Interesting this post...

Greetings, everyone. This thread is a replacement for the apparently concluded thread started in 2019 by Tempered Zen. I intend this thread to be a continuation of that earlier discussion, but in a forum with more impact and with greater longevity. Things to discuss in this thread (friendly...

Peter Delyan was a grandson of Samuel, the last emperor of Bulgaria, who led a massive uprising against the Byzantine Empire in 1040-41. The revolt was immensely successful at first, and the rebels quickly took over much of western Bulgaria, Macedonia and northern Greece. However, it collapsed...

Inspired by the Vikings TV show (not historically accurate of course), where a character named Floki discovers Islam and is fascinated by it during a raid on Algeciras. He appreciates their devotion to Allah and his amazement at it even brings him to question his own pagan beliefs. What if then...

Sviatoslav I was a very active leader of the Kievan Rus' who led several military campaigns in multiple directions, destroying the Khazar Khaganate and briefly conquering Bulgaria. The latter conquest led to a war with the Byzantine Empire, which finally put an end to his string of victories by...

Point of departure--the Emperor Justinian declared Buddhism, not Christianity, to be the religion of the state.

Peroz I was Shah of the Sasanian Empire from 459 to 484. He fought three wars against the Hephthalites during his reign, and while they were all defeats, the last one was especially catastrophic since it ended with his death and that of several prominent nobles in a battle near Herat, after...

The Battle of Vouillé was, IOTL, a devastating defeat for the Visigothic Kingdom, which not only lost its king, Alaric II (killed in action), but was also forced to give up also half of its territory to the Franks, including the capital city of Toulouse. According to Wikipedia, the kingdom went...

Can they hold the Exarchate of Africa because of the roman identity, or would it eventually break free from the empire?

Assyria had been under various foreign powers for a while after the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and never regained its independence ever since. So right after the year 1000, is it possible for Assyria to regain its independence? At that time the Assyrian population hasn't gone through the...