Today 6th March 1714, Princess Elisenda has just taken oath on the Defiant Principality Constitutions as customary (not without previous harsh negotiations with the Commons, as it can be read here). Chancelleries of all around Europa are invited to the Coronation Ceremony event, which is due to be held on next 21st March at Saló de Sant Jordi (=Saint George Hall) in Catalonia's Generality Palace.
Sure that I would reveal no secret if I stated that Gibraltar was taken in 1704 by an Anglo-Dutch fleet on behalf of Archduke Charles Habsburg. By virtue of Utrecht Treaty (1713) it was agreed the enclave to come under British sovereignty, as most already know for sure.
OK so far. But, did you know that Gibraltar kept being ruled by an Austro-Catalan governor until 1719, when he was finally substituted? Besides, I've recently learnt that right after the rock conquest, a group of Catalan businessmen created there a West Indies trading company in 1709, that was christened as "Companyia Nova de Gibraltar" (=Gibraltar New Company).
We're going to combine and cook at will both curious stories as a starting point for an epic adventure in the Spanish Main, starred by an audacious band of Catalan settlers. Such campaign will be mostly RPG driven, with some wargaming sideshow around. If curious about this and other musings, please take a look into our blog latest entry.
While revamping that blog illustrations and broken links, I've taken advantage for posting a couple of early 18th century flag plates else. This time, some of the Holy Roman Empire states. Please enjoy them at will, if wished:
You can watch and download them from this particular page.
Hi, just a short note to acknowledge to anyone eventually interested that, while in the process of refurbishing The Defiant Principality blog, I'm taking advantage for restoring some flags and uniforms plates hosted there that went missing --whatever the reason why. Well, not just restoring them but rebuilding these at some extent. Besides of those plates directly related to the Principality itself, I have now online again a couple of plates else: for the Kingdom of France theone, and for the Kingdom of Spain the other. Just click on each to see it larger, if curious.
Plates themselves are a bit crude if compared to those professionally printed that can be found in market, but perhaps their uncommon subjects (land and state flags, as well as maritime ensigns) may be useful to someone. In any case, I'm getting a lot of fun at drawing them!
The whole flags collection will be posted on this particular page of my blog: what-if-catalonia.blogspot.com/p/flags.html
As announced a few days ago, I've already started to explain how The Defiant Principality manages to survive the War of Spanish Succession. A much needed piece of information on how and why it happens is the critical battle of El Bruc, fought between 8 and 14 December 1713 in a key pass in the route toward Barcelona City.
Well, we gamed it three years ago (some weeks before our will to keep gaming faded away) and was still pending an AAR. Now that we've happily agreed to resume the story, it becomes compulsory to tell what happened there, and how it affects our currently projected setting.
Wish you enjoy it, despite my poor English! what-if-catalonia.blogspot.com/2016/04/post-war-1-decisive-battle.html
The Defiant Principality is going to ride again. Yes, I know --that's right what I said two years ago. "Let's re-take the story", I said. Sadly it didn't happen, due to incidences and problems in our lives –-such kind of random events no one expects.
However, now I'm confident enough to announce it publicly, for the original team of gamers have gathered once again and are excited to re-start the game, after some planning already done. If anyone willing to learn more, please check our latest post at The Defiant Principality blog.
