Historical and headcanon post
Fundamental historical facts about the country and empire, as well as other random thoughts about this character.
Will be updated as I remember and/or adopt them.
Historical Facts
→ Taken from around February 1568, just as the Low Countries (Netherlands) begins to rebel against the Church and Spanish sovereignty. As such, he is part of the House of Habsburg.
→ The Dutch revolts have just barely started; Margaret of Parma, regent of the Seventeen Provinces before 1567, reported to Spanish king Philip II in April 1567 that, after the first Dutch revolt against the Church, order had been restored. However, when the message reached Philip, he had already sent the Duke of Alba along with an army to restore order. Alba took over command rather than cooperating with Margaret, driving her into resigning out of protest. He established the Blood Council and conducted a campaign of repression of suspected heretics. Many were captured and executed, and a high number fled into exile, including William of Orange.
→ He's currently in conflict with the Ottoman Empire; in 1565 he defeated him when he arrived at the island of Malta, but he is still a threat over all of the Mediterranean. Spain keeps him at bay, and in a few years (1571) Spain, with the aid of Austria, will come out victorious at the Battle of Lepanto, in which they will annihilate the Ottoman fleet, ending his threat of naval hegemony in the Mediterranean.
→ His empire currently comprises of the following:
• EUROPE: Low Countries, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Italy, parts of Germany and parts of France.
• VICEROYALTY OF NEW SPAIN: Mexico, most of Central America (Guatemala, Belice, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica), The Caribbean (Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, The Bahamas, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda), Southwestern United States (New Mexico), California, Coahuila and Texas, Florida and the Spanish East Indies (Philippine Islands).
• VICEROYALTY OF PERU: Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay (reluctantly so)
• Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Panama, which will later on come to be known as the VICEROYALTY OF NEW GRANADA.
• Puerto Rico.
→ This is his current world map:
And as far as he knows it's a very reliable one, though soon, in 1569, another World Map, the Mercator Map, will be adopted.
Character Headcanon
→ He has no sense of direction or orientation whatsoever. He'll get lost more often than not, unless he's in the actual streets of Spain from his time, or on a place he walks by every day for a long time. Maps and directions won't help him.
→ Strangely enough, he's great at finding his way at sea. But even then he occasionally ends up in places he wasn't planning to.
→ He'll take a liking to any unconquered piece of land, especially if it's a pretty place, or impressive and/or rich in some way.
→ He will sometimes mention "the Line", and whether a land is to the right or to the left of it; he's talking about the meridian that divided the newly found lands outside of Europe between him and Portugal, under the Treaty of Tordesillas. He might also mention "the Other Line" or "the Eastern Line", which would be the antimeridian to the line specified by the Treaty of Tordesillas, established by the Treaty of Zaragoza. If he uses the expression "inside the Lines" he speaks of all the lands to the East of the original meridian and to the West of its antimeridian, hence Portuguese land.
A picture will probably be useful:
→ He is pretty clueless and naive about some things, but by norm he just looks like he's not getting anything. This helps when he's planning something. He happens to plan a lot.
→ Although he won't get innuendo or metaphors, he does know what sex is. But he won't understand it's about to happen/happening to him unless the partner tells it to his face. Also, he sees nothing wrong with hugs, kisses and other physical shows of affection. Even amongst members of the same family it's usual to share a kiss to the lips when meeting.
→ Nowadays he rarely has the time to cut his hair. He manages to keep his bangs short thanks to a scissor and mirrors, but his hair is slightly longer at the back. He usually keeps it tied.
→ Rarely does he walk around without his sword. Even on those occasions, he always carries around some sort of weapon, a dagger or another kind of knife, anything. He's very skilled with them.
→ Not sure if this can be considered headcanon, but due to my own personal views on Royal Houses, empires, Kingdoms, Alliances, Ententes, etc., I don't consider Spain to be married to Austria, or to have ever been married to anyone before, or marrying anyone between then and present date. Although I am familiar with the strip where a marriage to Austria is somewhat implied, it's simply something I don't agree with. I understand this aforementioned implication is enough for it to be considered canon, so if my change in said canon bothers or irks you in any way please think of him as a Spain from an alternate universe or different reality.
Will be updated as I remember and/or adopt them.
Historical Facts
→ Taken from around February 1568, just as the Low Countries (Netherlands) begins to rebel against the Church and Spanish sovereignty. As such, he is part of the House of Habsburg.
→ The Dutch revolts have just barely started; Margaret of Parma, regent of the Seventeen Provinces before 1567, reported to Spanish king Philip II in April 1567 that, after the first Dutch revolt against the Church, order had been restored. However, when the message reached Philip, he had already sent the Duke of Alba along with an army to restore order. Alba took over command rather than cooperating with Margaret, driving her into resigning out of protest. He established the Blood Council and conducted a campaign of repression of suspected heretics. Many were captured and executed, and a high number fled into exile, including William of Orange.
→ He's currently in conflict with the Ottoman Empire; in 1565 he defeated him when he arrived at the island of Malta, but he is still a threat over all of the Mediterranean. Spain keeps him at bay, and in a few years (1571) Spain, with the aid of Austria, will come out victorious at the Battle of Lepanto, in which they will annihilate the Ottoman fleet, ending his threat of naval hegemony in the Mediterranean.
→ His empire currently comprises of the following:
• EUROPE: Low Countries, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Italy, parts of Germany and parts of France.
• VICEROYALTY OF NEW SPAIN: Mexico, most of Central America (Guatemala, Belice, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica), The Caribbean (Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, The Bahamas, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda), Southwestern United States (New Mexico), California, Coahuila and Texas, Florida and the Spanish East Indies (Philippine Islands).
• VICEROYALTY OF PERU: Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay (reluctantly so)
• Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Panama, which will later on come to be known as the VICEROYALTY OF NEW GRANADA.
• Puerto Rico.
→ This is his current world map:
And as far as he knows it's a very reliable one, though soon, in 1569, another World Map, the Mercator Map, will be adopted.
Character Headcanon
→ He has no sense of direction or orientation whatsoever. He'll get lost more often than not, unless he's in the actual streets of Spain from his time, or on a place he walks by every day for a long time. Maps and directions won't help him.
→ Strangely enough, he's great at finding his way at sea. But even then he occasionally ends up in places he wasn't planning to.
→ He'll take a liking to any unconquered piece of land, especially if it's a pretty place, or impressive and/or rich in some way.
→ He will sometimes mention "the Line", and whether a land is to the right or to the left of it; he's talking about the meridian that divided the newly found lands outside of Europe between him and Portugal, under the Treaty of Tordesillas. He might also mention "the Other Line" or "the Eastern Line", which would be the antimeridian to the line specified by the Treaty of Tordesillas, established by the Treaty of Zaragoza. If he uses the expression "inside the Lines" he speaks of all the lands to the East of the original meridian and to the West of its antimeridian, hence Portuguese land.
A picture will probably be useful:
→ He is pretty clueless and naive about some things, but by norm he just looks like he's not getting anything. This helps when he's planning something. He happens to plan a lot.
→ Although he won't get innuendo or metaphors, he does know what sex is. But he won't understand it's about to happen/happening to him unless the partner tells it to his face. Also, he sees nothing wrong with hugs, kisses and other physical shows of affection. Even amongst members of the same family it's usual to share a kiss to the lips when meeting.
→ Nowadays he rarely has the time to cut his hair. He manages to keep his bangs short thanks to a scissor and mirrors, but his hair is slightly longer at the back. He usually keeps it tied.
→ Rarely does he walk around without his sword. Even on those occasions, he always carries around some sort of weapon, a dagger or another kind of knife, anything. He's very skilled with them.
→ Not sure if this can be considered headcanon, but due to my own personal views on Royal Houses, empires, Kingdoms, Alliances, Ententes, etc., I don't consider Spain to be married to Austria, or to have ever been married to anyone before, or marrying anyone between then and present date. Although I am familiar with the strip where a marriage to Austria is somewhat implied, it's simply something I don't agree with. I understand this aforementioned implication is enough for it to be considered canon, so if my change in said canon bothers or irks you in any way please think of him as a Spain from an alternate universe or different reality.