raharris1973
Well-known member
What if the Italian and Korean peninsulas swap places in 1300 AD?
Specifically, the states of the Italian mainland and Elba, minus Piedmont-Savoy, plus the addition of the Dalmatian and Montenegrin and north Albanian coast (to give Venice and eastern Italy an Adriatic-like shelter from typhoons) are teleported to the Far East to become an appendage of Manchuria, attached to the Great Khan's realm, or Yuan Dynasty China.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Korea, a a subject state of the Khanate/Yuan at this time, gets teleported to occupy Italy's place in Europe, as an appendage of the continent, attaching at the Swiss and Austrian Alps.
See details on map:
What happens from here?
The Europeans are suddenly Pope-less and have an exotic, heathen Kingdom where the continent's center of religion and commerce used to be.
The Mongol Khans have lost their Korean vassal and have this ungoverned allegedly Christian country to their northeast. Venetians trying to go back to Crete are rudely surprised by finding Japan instead.
Rumors spread across Italian city states of pony-riding barbarians zipping through Lombardy. Mongols send back reports of strange looking people with large towns fine horses and farms who play dumb about the Khan. It doesn't take long before the Venetian authorities enlist Marco Polo to send a message to the Khan and possibly vice versa when the Mongol connection becomes unmistakable.
Specifically, the states of the Italian mainland and Elba, minus Piedmont-Savoy, plus the addition of the Dalmatian and Montenegrin and north Albanian coast (to give Venice and eastern Italy an Adriatic-like shelter from typhoons) are teleported to the Far East to become an appendage of Manchuria, attached to the Great Khan's realm, or Yuan Dynasty China.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Korea, a a subject state of the Khanate/Yuan at this time, gets teleported to occupy Italy's place in Europe, as an appendage of the continent, attaching at the Swiss and Austrian Alps.
See details on map:
What happens from here?
The Europeans are suddenly Pope-less and have an exotic, heathen Kingdom where the continent's center of religion and commerce used to be.
The Mongol Khans have lost their Korean vassal and have this ungoverned allegedly Christian country to their northeast. Venetians trying to go back to Crete are rudely surprised by finding Japan instead.
Rumors spread across Italian city states of pony-riding barbarians zipping through Lombardy. Mongols send back reports of strange looking people with large towns fine horses and farms who play dumb about the Khan. It doesn't take long before the Venetian authorities enlist Marco Polo to send a message to the Khan and possibly vice versa when the Mongol connection becomes unmistakable.