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Greta II
Gerrit van Honthorst (c.1590-1592-1656) - Princess Louise Hollandine (1622–1709), Princess Palatine, Abbess of Maubuisson - 493055 - National Trust
Greta II
Queen of Vinland
Reign 16th February, 1733 - 2nd December, 1756
Predecessor Eyfinna I
Successor Eyfinna II
Born 6th May, 1712
Fjallasay, Nor-Hafsvaedaland Fylk, Vinland
Died 2nd December, 1756
Karantóborg, Sud-Hafsvaedaland Fylk, Vinland
Spouse Christian of the Palatinate
Issue Páll Kristjansson
Full name
Greta Alexandersdottír
House Eiriksdottír
Father Alexander of Scotland
Mother Eyfinna I

Greta II was queen of Vinland in the early 18th century. Her reign oversaw the decline in Vinland's fortunes as other countries caught up to its head start. But the decline was slow and masked by military successes.

In contrast to her gregarious mother, Greta was regarded as uptight and having no sense of humour. All but one of her siblings had died before her (one brother, was also soon to die) and many blamed this for her melancholic disposition. Her husband, Prince Christian of the Palatinate, complained of her coldness and his taking of mistresses was more or less tolerated, even though it caused immense consternation in the Althing. The couple would have one son, Páll, but three of Christian's illegitimate children were recognised.

2nd Vinland-Lakota War (1733-1736)[]

Greta's reign opened with renewed war against the Lakota. Whilst they had been curtailed in the previous war, losing much of their westernmost lands they still posed a threat to their neighbours and any parties straying too near their borders. When reports of the slaughter of a grain convoy in Cree Territory filtered back to Vinland, the Althing demanded an explanation and when this went unanswered war was declared. The declaration was premature, Vinland's army took six months to get to Lakota lands as bad weather hampered progress through eastern Ojibwe and in the meantime the free-flowing Lakota cavalry caused much disruption to its neighbours and, importantly, grain exports.

The war followed much the same trajectory as the previous one; Vinland evicted the Lakota from any held territory, captured the major Lakota towns and then fell prey to hit and run tactics. It had however absorbed many of the lessons of its previous experience and let its own elite dragoons take the lead in hunting the remaining warbands down rather than unwieldy and slow infantry squads.

With options limited the Lakota sued for peace. A huge new state, Isanyathimark, was carved out of the Lakota lands and, as they had done before, Vinlanders poured in to provide money and technical assistance.

Count Carl Gustaf Tessin (Louis Tocqué) - Nationalmuseum - 19449

Greta II's husband, Prince Christian of the Palatinate

The war damaged relations with the previously supportive states freed at the end of the First Lakota War, many local politicians feeling, or at least stirring up the feeling, that they had taken the brunt of Lakota's attacks while the Vinlanders took their time bringing their army into play. That the elite dragoon force of the Vinlandic army was largely drawn from the plain states made the feeling worse and damaged moral within the army's ranks. Even the new state of Isanyathimark, whilst accepting Vinlandic help to rebuild damaged infrastructure, balked at letting Vinlanders have too much influence. It meant Vinland could no longer simply take its Greslávinr (as the semi-vassalised states were collectively known as) and their agricultural output for granted.

The Althing was gripped by debates about what to do with the Greslávinr with many in the Skóllótum faction advocating an outright annexation, lamenting a missed opportunity at the end of the First Lakota War. In the end however the Kindrheli faction won out, citing the probable expense and trouble of holding such a vast area, especially when it still had issues with the Native Leifian-majority Saukland. Unlike her mother, Greta rarely visited the Althing, alongside her obvious depression she suffered from motion sickness and rarely strayed from Fjallasay or the new vast and opulent Aprikóshöll in Karontoborg.

War of the League of Arcachon (1743-1752)[]

Through the 16th century Mexica's large merchant fleets had been quietly growing and were regular visitors to Mediterranean ports from the 1560s, though had lost some ground as Aragon and Byzantium secured a strangle hold on the sea during the Fifty Years War and their shipbuilding practices ignored technological advances leaving them slow and plodding. Increasingly piracy cut into their trade and an entire fleet was captured by Barbary pirates off the coast of Morocco in 1700. Attempts to rectify this were haphazard and foolhardy, even going so far as to land an expeditionary force to capture the Berber town of Nouadhibou in 1704 which they held for 2 years before a Caliphate division could be spared to remove them. Further battles against the pirates led to the loss of most of its Atlantic fleet and by 1740 the majority of its exports were in the hands of European and Leifian traders.

In 1743 Mexica abruptly attempted to change this, it had undertaken a considerable programme of state-of-the-art ship-building and in that year launched a warfleet into the Taino Sea where it aimed to clear the sea of 'unwanted' foreign traders, targeting Portuguese and Vinlandic shipping especially. For several years the Mexic fleet engaged with the fleets of various nations across a broad swathe of the Atlantic, even making raids against the Portuguese mainland. Then in 1746 the Mexic landed a large army on Quisqueyanos making quick work of the Álengsk and Portuguese garrisons there.

With other European-held islands in the region threatened, and suggestions that Mexica might target the Myrland peninsula next, the individual nations were galvanised into action. The League of Arcachon (named after an Aquitainian fishing village outside Bordèu where the Vinlandic ship Jóný had run aground) allied the Kalmar nations (Vinland, Álengiamark, Iceland, Denmark, Gothenland and Hordaland) to Portugal, Granada and Aquitaine.

Whilst the European fleets began systematically hunting down their Mexic counterparts (too late to stop the invasion and occupation of Aquitainian Xaymaca however) Greta met with Herridr I of Álengiamark at Bjóryjar so diplomats could discuss joint operations. Significant money was spent by both nations sourcing mercenaries from their neighbours to add to their small national armies (Álengiamark's army was undergoing reform and was even smaller than Vinland's small but highly trained force) and soon they would have a joint force of 20,000 men under the command of the Vinlandic general Axel Thórirsson. By May 1747 they had installed themselves on the Chotilapacquen River having already secured much of the Táysha' hinterland. The Battle of Nautengi on 7th August was a Kalmar victory, though it exposed the weakness of their position. The Kalmar force fell back to the security of 'Fuglsborg', a temporary supply fort established in Coahuiltec land, from which they made successful raids on the Mets'ichi Chena and tested the strength of various fortresses along the river. Eventually in early 1749 a proper siege of the large fortress of Ocēlōtlātōyātlapilkoyan on the northern bank of the river was begun. It would fall in June. Whilst the Álengsk advocated crossing the river into Mexica proper, Thórirsson and the mercenary captains and instead secured the fort and supply lines, fending off considerable retaliatory attacks from Mexica. The fort would be held for the rest of the war though constant pressure from Mexica and supply-line issues meant the Kalmar force would not be able to break-out across the river.

Meanwhile in the Taino Sea, Portugal would liberate Quisqueyanos in 1750, Xaymaca was recovered in 1751 and a year later the Mexic Ayotl Islands were seized. The islands held a significant portion of the Mexic arsenal and with this blow they sued for peace ceding the Ayotl Islands to Portugal but insisting Ocēlōtlātōyātlapilkoyan was returned, much to Kalmar annoyance.

Defeated, Mexica attempted to seize control of its trade in a different way; closing its ports to all but a select few preferred nations.

Althing[]

The slow calcification of the Althing into two opposing factions (Skóllótum and Kindrheli) largely held up any meaningful reform. Laws were still passed at a regular rate but the debates became more heated and dragged out for longer. The Althing was still elected by counties which no longer reflected the true population distribution of the counties, the Upper House still literally sat above the Commons and frequently drowned out debate, most meaningful government positions were still appointed by the distant crown.

Greta's physical distance from the Althing meant the office of Speaker became more important as they, as the crown's agent, had the power to enact law immediately rather than waiting a month for the documents to get Greta's nod of approval. Eyfinna's trusted speakers Benedict Jónsson and Sévar Alexandersson just about held sway over the Althing during the 1730s but following their retirements a run of mediocre speakers were elected by the commons. Instead power started to be concentrated by the leaders of the two factions. Attempting to resolve the limits and powers of each role would take a firm hand from the crown, which was simply not on the cards.

Moving the entire Althing to Karantóborg or Fjallasay was considered in the 1740s but by that point regular riots were consuming both cities and 'keeping government out of the hands of the mob' was one of the few things the Althing could coherently agree on.

Decline of the Golden Age[]

Despite victory over Mexica Vinland's trading empire was in decline. Its naval losses had eaten into a share of global trade which was already shrinking anyway. As Álengiamark coalesced as a unitary state under Herridr I so too did its latent trading power, after all it had a perfect Atlantic harbour at Kristjanaborg whereas Vinland's main port was deep in the interior, iced up for several months a year. Other Leifian nations like Susquehanockland had neutrality on their side, able to visit Dutch, Iberian, Byzantine even Mexic ports without tariffs. Aniyunwiya was comfortably outstripping Vinlandic agricultural production and was muscling into local markets.

The short-sightenedness of Vinlandic merchants became ever more apparent as other nations stole the Spice Island trade out from under the noses of Vinlanders at Banten and reached further toward China and Japan, places which were rarely visited by Vinlandic ships. Other nations' Indian factories seemed to be better placed or better run. The wholesale implosion of Portugal following the Lisbon earthquake of November 1755 benefited Álengiamark chiefly.

Also the population of Vinland had finally caught up to its food production ability. Imports from its satellite states on the Leifian plains continued but the disruption of the Lakota War ate into the Althing-mandated stock piles. Even after the war several bad harvests compounded the problem. Food scarcity, long unheard of in the Vinlandic cities, came back regularly; causing riots, especially when merchants were still exporting huge quantities of grain to Europe.

The freedom of the press was challenged repeatedly too; several newspapers found themselves censored for criticism of politicians, or Greta and Prince Christian (whose extra-marital activities were an endless source of gossip); and cartoonists frequently found themselves in gaol if they dared lampoon anyone with any real power in the country. Greta herself essentially gave up on any ambition to govern following the death of Páll in 1750. It was another reminder that the 'good old days' were gone.

Succession[]

With Páll now dead and no surviving siblings of her own the Althing finally made Greta acquiesce to naming an heir for her in 1750. Her nearest female relative was her cousin Skalott, Lady of Marske, grand-daughter of Greta I and a member of Anglian nobility. Despite misgivings by many in the Althing about electing a 'foreigner' Skalott was confirmed as heir and diplomats sent to arrange her voyage across the Atlantic.

Skalott appeared at court a year later, speaking no Vinlandic, and was married quickly into Vinlandic nobility. Greta apparently detested the newcomer, allocating her the run-down Munkerhusby estate in far-off Eikland to keep her away from court, but Vinlandic society slowly warmed to the heir, especially when her estate was renovated in the latest European Baroque styles.

When Greta died in 1756 Skalott was duly elected and would adopt the regnal name, 'Eyfinna' to suggest some sort of return to the 'good old days'.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. James, Duke of Rothesay
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. James X of Scotland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17. Lady Margaret Ruthven
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Henry I of Scotland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18. James Tollemache
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Elizabeth Tollemache
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19. Anne Stewart
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Alexander of Scotland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20. Christian II of Hordaland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. Haakon VII of Hordaland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21. Christina of Gothenland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Kirsten of Hordaland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22. Lord Erik of Arreskov
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Eleanor Arreskov
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23. Justine Mowat
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Greta II
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24. Henry VIII of Luxembourg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Charles III of Luxembourg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
25. Jakobea Van der Eycken
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Jobst of Meerzisch
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
26. Giovanni III of Milan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Isabella of Turin
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
27. Catherine of Austria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Eyfinna I of Vinland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28. Christian II of Hordaland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Valdemar of Hordaland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
29. Christina of Gothenland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Thorey VI of Vinland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
30. Pjetur Kristinnsson
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Greta I of Vinland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31. Freydis III of Vinland
 
 
 
 
 
 
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