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Description
<Switzerland, 2016
>>Next: TBD

(Part of the ADR-verse, an Ill Bethisad-esque world I'm building)

The British Isles has borne a lot of history during the past two thousand years. Once, England had been the northwestern edge of the great Roman Empire, taking the land inhabited by the Britons. Once the empire collapsed though, the Britons were left to defend themselves against other barbarian tribes, including the next movers and shakers of the land, the Anglo-Saxon tribes. Initially divided into seven large kingdoms, the Anglo-Saxons were unified under Alfred the Great and his Kingdom of Wessex, after Norse raiders ransacked most of the other kingdoms. The new kingdom of the English would survive unmolested until Norman duke William (aka "the Bastard") wrested control from Harold Godwinson at the battle of Hastings in 1066, giving William his other epithet "the Conqueror."

Meanwhile, Ireland and Scotland largely evolved on their own terms. It was from their homeland in the Emerald Isle that the Gaels spread to western Scotland to form the kingdom of Dál Riata, a kingdom which soon absorbed many of the Pictish kingdoms to its east forming the present Kingdom of Scotland under one Kenneth MacAlpin. The Irish and Scots too weathered the Viking invasions, who established their own rule in the Western Isles, the Isle of Man, several disparate pockets on both sides of the Irish Sea, and especially the islands of Shetland and Orkney (where in the former, the descendants still speak a Nordic language)

Both England and Scotland's fates would intertwine over the years, including attempts on the part of the English to subjugate the Scots. One such attempt was started during Edward I "Longshanks" and ended in a brutal war for independence that saw men like William Wallace and Robert the Bruce led the fight to rid the country of its invaders. In the end, their efforts were wildly successful beyond their dreams. Not only was Scotland free from certain English domination, but they had taken a vast stretch of land from Westmoreland to the banks of the Tyne. Not only that, English attempts to invade Ireland ended when Edward Bruce won a smashing victory in Faughart, allowing the Scots to begin cementing their rule across the North Channel.

During the Sixty Years' War, Scotland had stood with its "Auld" ally France, which meant that the Scots moved against the English. Though the English had their strength in numbers, the Scots had better knowledge of the terrain and had the determination to keep their freedom. And while the Scots succeeded in holding their own against the English, it was not enough for Auld ally France, which would see her fractured after Burgundy and Aragon joined the English side. The defeat of France led the Scots to form alliances with the North and Castile to offset the loss.

As the Reformation took hold, England, under the great royal House of York, would stay true to the Catholic Church, which put her at odds with their neighbors, especially those who had accepted the teachings of John Calvin. In the end, only the Pale of Calais managed to be swayed by the Protestants, with the rest being killed or reconverted by the English Inquisition. Scotland meanwhile had a more tumultuous path to conversion, with the Irish and some in the Highlands too remaining loyal to the Pope. This lead to the Great Plantation, where some Irish land was turned over to Scottish Protestant settlers, which continued until Ireland was spun off as a separate kingdom in 1792.

As seafaring island nations, both England and Scotland were the centre of great empires, with the English expanding across southern regions of North and South Arcadia (the latter, later dubbed Argentia was actually a haven by English Protestants that had broken off and established their own state) and the Scots in the lands of Nova Scotia. Those colonies in North Arcadia would later be founding members of the Sovereign League, and by then the English and Scots (and later the Irish) turned elsewhere, using their strong economies fueled by the Industrial Revolution to subjugate parts of Africa by the end of the nineteenth century.

====================================================
Notes:
Total elapsed time = 24 days

Thanks to Alex Richards and upvoteanthology (on AH.com) for helping me with some of the alternate counties and names.

Also, this map is dedicated to mickeyelric11 's Toy Girls series . This series is kind of a big push for me to get this one done, especially as I wanted to finish this map before he drew something that I requested. Anyways, kudos to him and his super-kawaii series. (and while you guys are at it, go check out his series by yourself)

Description
<Switzerland, 2016
>>Next: TBD

(Part of the ADR-verse, an Ill Bethisad-esque world I'm building)

The British Isles has borne a lot of history during the past two thousand years. Once, England had been the northwestern edge of the great Roman Empire, taking the land inhabited by the Britons. Once the empire collapsed though, the Britons were left to defend themselves against other barbarian tribes, including the next movers and shakers of the land, the Anglo-Saxon tribes. Initially divided into seven large kingdoms, the Anglo-Saxons were unified under Alfred the Great and his Kingdom of Wessex, after Norse raiders ransacked most of the other kingdoms. The new kingdom of the English would survive unmolested until Norman duke William (aka "the Bastard") wrested control from Harold Godwinson at the battle of Hastings in 1066, giving William his other epithet "the Conqueror."

Meanwhile, Ireland and Scotland largely evolved on their own terms. It was from their homeland in the Emerald Isle that the Gaels spread to western Scotland to form the kingdom of Dál Riata, a kingdom which soon absorbed many of the Pictish kingdoms to its east forming the present Kingdom of Scotland under one Kenneth MacAlpin. The Irish and Scots too weathered the Viking invasions, who established their own rule in the Western Isles, the Isle of Man, several disparate pockets on both sides of the Irish Sea, and especially the islands of Shetland and Orkney (where in the former, the descendants still speak a Nordic language)

Both England and Scotland's fates would intertwine over the years, including attempts on the part of the English to subjugate the Scots. One such attempt was started during Edward I "Longshanks" and ended in a brutal war for independence that saw men like William Wallace and Robert the Bruce led the fight to rid the country of its invaders. In the end, their efforts were wildly successful beyond their dreams. Not only was Scotland free from certain English domination, but they had taken a vast stretch of land from Westmoreland to the banks of the Tyne. Not only that, English attempts to invade Ireland ended when Edward Bruce won a smashing victory in Faughart, allowing the Scots to begin cementing their rule across the North Channel.

During the Sixty Years' War, Scotland had stood with its "Auld" ally France, which meant that the Scots moved against the English. Though the English had their strength in numbers, the Scots had better knowledge of the terrain and had the determination to keep their freedom. And while the Scots succeeded in holding their own against the English, it was not enough for Auld ally France, which would see her fractured after Burgundy and Aragon joined the English side. The defeat of France led the Scots to form alliances with the North and Castile to offset the loss.

As the Reformation took hold, England, under the great royal House of York, would stay true to the Catholic Church, which put her at odds with their neighbors, especially those who had accepted the teachings of John Calvin. In the end, only the Pale of Calais managed to be swayed by the Protestants, with the rest being killed or reconverted by the English Inquisition. Scotland meanwhile had a more tumultuous path to conversion, with the Irish and some in the Highlands too remaining loyal to the Pope. This lead to the Great Plantation, where some Irish land was turned over to Scottish Protestant settlers, which continued until Ireland was spun off as a separate kingdom in 1792.

As seafaring island nations, both England and Scotland were the centre of great empires, with the English expanding across southern regions of North and South Arcadia (the latter, later dubbed Argentia was actually a haven by English Protestants that had broken off and established their own state) and the Scots in the lands of Nova Scotia. Those colonies in North Arcadia would later be founding members of the Sovereign League, and by then the English and Scots (and later the Irish) turned elsewhere, using their strong economies fueled by the Industrial Revolution to subjugate parts of Africa by the end of the nineteenth century.

====================================================
Notes:
Total elapsed time = 24 days

Thanks to Alex Richards and upvoteanthology (on AH.com) for helping me with some of the alternate counties and names.

Also, this map is dedicated to mickeyelric11 's Toy Girls series . This series is kind of a big push for me to get this one done, especially as I wanted to finish this map before he drew something that I requested. Anyways, kudos to him and his super-kawaii series. (and while you guys are at it, go check out his series by yourself)