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GreatWyrmGold · 09-09-2017, 09:07 PM

Sadly, I've been reading more crazy conspiracy stuff than interesting history stuff lately. So here's something about a really old conspiracy!

Back when Catholic immigration to the USA was at its peak in both volume and resentment, there was this idea going around that the Pope was trying to infiltrate the US and form a new Vatican...in Cincinnati. A quick Google search failed to indicate any potential reason for Cincinnati, of all places, to be chosen as the conspiratorial New Vatican, which just made it sillier. And because I like taking silly things seriously, beating them up until I've forced them to make a little sense first, I came up with the following seed.

In our timeline, George Calvert, First Baron Baltimore, sought to found a refuge for English Catholics. He tried first in what is now Avalon, but since he made the mistake of settling it in Canada, he found it rather chilly for his tastes. So he instead tried settling farther south in a city he named after his title: Baron-quilla. No, seriously, he founded Maryland,* or at least got much of the paperwork in place before dying. After said death, his elder son, Cecil, became Proprietor of Maryland as well as Proprietary Governor of Maryland, Newfoundland, and Avalon, and the snazzy title "Baron Baltimore". Cecil's little brother, Leonard, was appointed governor, essentially doing the things that Cecil was too busy being 1,200 miles away to do.
Imagine that something in Leonard changed to let him maneuver to take direct control of Maryland. Maybe he argues, bribes, and blackmails for the powers and privileges of Proprietary Governor to be formally given (rather than merely delegated) to the governor; maybe he convinces someone to split up the Baron Baltimore proprietary governorships, gavelkind-style; maybe he stuffs an inn full of manure and lets it explode. One way or another, we have a new leader of Maryland, and we can use whatever made him into a wannabe Tywin Lannister as an excuse to have him behave in ways that would probably be out of character for the historical Leonard.
In our timeline, Maryland was the first of the thirteen colonies to pass a law vaguely resembling modern protection of religion. It just protected Christianity—and even then, only Trinitarian Christianity—but hey, baby steps. Luckily for me, it seems to be attributed to the Proprietary Governor's decisions rather than the local governor's execution or a big local movement. This might be a basic misinterpretation, or Great-Man-Theory at work, but it still gives me enough wiggle-room to say that alt-Leonard might not do the same. Instead, he tries to turn Maryland into a safe haven for Catholics wishing to flee the conflicts in Europe and move to a new world, full of fellow Catholics. (These would presumably be mainly British, with some Germans and perhaps Scandinavians following suit.)
Whether or not this succeeds doesn't matter, so long as it brings more Catholics to Maryland and any anti-Protestant measures are struck down by the King or forcibly removed by angry Protestants thoroughly enough to allow Maryland to integrate some with surrounding colonies as they expand. The integration wouldn't be perfect, of course. Being more actively Catholic would not endear Maryland to its neighbors; chances are that it wouldn't be as integrated with Virginia and Pennsylvania as they are to North Carolina and New York, making Maryland the definite border between northern and southern US. Also, Annapolis (founded by Puritans fleeing to Maryland) probably wouldn't exist, or at least would exist elsewhere (possibly northern Carolina). This would probably lead to some small-scale changes with side effects that are hard to predict, but I'll try.
By the mid-18th century, Maryland would hopefully be sufficiently-integrated with surrounding colonies for Catholics to bleed out and Protestants to bleed in. This would probably lead to greater Catholic acceptance in the new USA, though still not total, especially once the mismanagement of the American colonies and the subsequent Revolution made much of the nation suspicious of accepting overseas rule, secular or sacred. The situation would change in the early 19th century, when the Archbishop of Cincinnati (presumably not Edward or John) had a falling-out with the Pope. In our timeline, Leo XII was very ill and thought likely to die shortly after being elected, but he recovered well enough to rule for five and a half years. In this timeline, he dies within months of being crowned. (Perhaps throw in some handwave about disease patterns changing from the Catholics moving to Maryland and some Protestants being dissuaded from doing so because of Leonard.) The more modernizing Pope Pius VIII (favored successor of Pius VII and OTL successor of Leo XII) came to power in 1824, cheesing off whoever this timeline's Archbishop of Cincinnati is. This ultimately leads to the secession of many American Catholic bishops from the Roman Catholic Church. The new Colombian Catholic Church (CCC) is supported by Catholics who think of themselves as Americans first and Catholics second or worse (especially those who think of themselves as "Christian" before "Catholic" as well). Some Roman Catholic churches remain, of course, and most of the US is Protestant. This would cause all sorts of religious tensions within the United States, and potentially between the US and other nations (particularly Roman Catholic ones).
An optimist might suggest that the CCC would find some kind of solidarity with near-Catholic Protestants out of disliking the Pope, but from my understanding of Catholic history, most people who disliked the Pope but liked the idea of a Pope just elected their own Pope (blackjack and hookers optional), so this is unlikely, save perhaps the occasional splinter group deciding that central leadership isn't so bad.

Side possibility:

Spoiler:

I also came up with a rough draft, cut short by double-checking one of my facts and discovering Maryland as a good source of American Catholics.

Spoiler:

*Though sadly for the fate of my joke, Baltimore was actually founded nearly a century after his death. Worse, it was technically named for his son, who had been dead for half a century when it was founded.

09-09-2017, 09:07 PM	#2795
GreatWyrmGold Join Date: Oct 2011	Re: New Reality Seeds Sadly, I've been reading more crazy conspiracy stuff than interesting history stuff lately. So here's something about a really old conspiracy! Back when Catholic immigration to the USA was at its peak in both volume and resentment, there was this idea going around that the Pope was trying to infiltrate the US and form a new Vatican...in Cincinnati. A quick Google search failed to indicate any potential reason for Cincinnati, of all places, to be chosen as the conspiratorial New Vatican, which just made it sillier. And because I like taking silly things seriously, beating them up until I've forced them to make a little sense first, I came up with the following seed. In our timeline, George Calvert, First Baron Baltimore, sought to found a refuge for English Catholics. He tried first in what is now Avalon, but since he made the mistake of settling it in Canada, he found it rather chilly for his tastes. So he instead tried settling farther south in a city he named after his title: Baron-quilla. No, seriously, he founded Maryland,* or at least got much of the paperwork in place before dying. After said death, his elder son, Cecil, became Proprietor of Maryland as well as Proprietary Governor of Maryland, Newfoundland, and Avalon, and the snazzy title "Baron Baltimore". Cecil's little brother, Leonard, was appointed governor, essentially doing the things that Cecil was too busy being 1,200 miles away to do. Imagine that something in Leonard changed to let him maneuver to take direct control of Maryland. Maybe he argues, bribes, and blackmails for the powers and privileges of Proprietary Governor to be formally given (rather than merely delegated) to the governor; maybe he convinces someone to split up the Baron Baltimore proprietary governorships, gavelkind-style; maybe he stuffs an inn full of manure and lets it explode. One way or another, we have a new leader of Maryland, and we can use whatever made him into a wannabe Tywin Lannister as an excuse to have him behave in ways that would probably be out of character for the historical Leonard. In our timeline, Maryland was the first of the thirteen colonies to pass a law vaguely resembling modern protection of religion. It just protected Christianity—and even then, only Trinitarian Christianity—but hey, baby steps. Luckily for me, it seems to be attributed to the Proprietary Governor's decisions rather than the local governor's execution or a big local movement. This might be a basic misinterpretation, or Great-Man-Theory at work, but it still gives me enough wiggle-room to say that alt-Leonard might not do the same. Instead, he tries to turn Maryland into a safe haven for Catholics wishing to flee the conflicts in Europe and move to a new world, full of fellow Catholics. (These would presumably be mainly British, with some Germans and perhaps Scandinavians following suit.) Whether or not this succeeds doesn't matter, so long as it brings more Catholics to Maryland and any anti-Protestant measures are struck down by the King or forcibly removed by angry Protestants thoroughly enough to allow Maryland to integrate some with surrounding colonies as they expand. The integration wouldn't be perfect, of course. Being more actively Catholic would not endear Maryland to its neighbors; chances are that it wouldn't be as integrated with Virginia and Pennsylvania as they are to North Carolina and New York, making Maryland the definite border between northern and southern US. Also, Annapolis (founded by Puritans fleeing to Maryland) probably wouldn't exist, or at least would exist elsewhere (possibly northern Carolina). This would probably lead to some small-scale changes with side effects that are hard to predict, but I'll try. By the mid-18th century, Maryland would hopefully be sufficiently-integrated with surrounding colonies for Catholics to bleed out and Protestants to bleed in. This would probably lead to greater Catholic acceptance in the new USA, though still not total, especially once the mismanagement of the American colonies and the subsequent Revolution made much of the nation suspicious of accepting overseas rule, secular or sacred. The situation would change in the early 19th century, when the Archbishop of Cincinnati (presumably not Edward or John) had a falling-out with the Pope. In our timeline, Leo XII was very ill and thought likely to die shortly after being elected, but he recovered well enough to rule for five and a half years. In this timeline, he dies within months of being crowned. (Perhaps throw in some handwave about disease patterns changing from the Catholics moving to Maryland and some Protestants being dissuaded from doing so because of Leonard.) The more modernizing Pope Pius VIII (favored successor of Pius VII and OTL successor of Leo XII) came to power in 1824, cheesing off whoever this timeline's Archbishop of Cincinnati is. This ultimately leads to the secession of many American Catholic bishops from the Roman Catholic Church. The new Colombian Catholic Church (CCC) is supported by Catholics who think of themselves as Americans first and Catholics second or worse (especially those who think of themselves as "Christian" before "Catholic" as well). Some Roman Catholic churches remain, of course, and most of the US is Protestant. This would cause all sorts of religious tensions within the United States, and potentially between the US and other nations (particularly Roman Catholic ones). An optimist might suggest that the CCC would find some kind of solidarity with near-Catholic Protestants out of disliking the Pope, but from my understanding of Catholic history, most people who disliked the Pope but liked the idea of a Pope just elected their own Pope (blackjack and hookers optional), so this is unlikely, save perhaps the occasional splinter group deciding that central leadership isn't so bad. Side possibility: Spoiler: For maximum drama, have the North mostly support the CCC and the South mostly dislike it (perhaps due to suspecting the Cincinnati Pope of doing some kind of unpleasant political shenanigans, perhaps just by having a number of prominent Roman Catholics). This would deepen the divide between North and South; as the Troubles in Ireland show, having religious divides along with numerous socioeconomic/political/cultural divides is a perfect recipe for disaster. Perhaps the Confederacy secedes earlier (perhaps from an early Lincoln-esque figure, perhaps from a late Nullification Crisis and leverages its religion (and cotton) to get the support of the Papacy and Roman Catholic nations, thereby securing independence at the cost of concessions made to big-name global Catholics, which would continue to influence the Confederacy for generations. Insert a form of South-Wins-the-Civil-War althistory you like, sprinkle with Irish Troubles, twist it to account for the CCC and wider Southern Catholicism, and go wild. I also came up with a rough draft, cut short by double-checking one of my facts and discovering Maryland as a good source of American Catholics. Spoiler: In the late 1680's, King James II of England was overthrown in "The 'Glorious' Revolution" (which was presumably as inglorious as any effort to overthrow a government). While James was relatively lenient on Catholicism, William III was a zealous enough Protestant to take a firmer stance. In this world, he and his family were even harsher, leading a number of Catholics to flee to the New World—specifically, to Philadelphia, founded not a decade before the "Glorious" Revolution. This caused other Catholics wishing to flee persecution in Europe to be drawn to the colony, and to the United States as a whole. Catholics were always a minority of the city, but a large and relatively well-accepted minority. This leads to smoother American-Catholic relationships throughout America's history. As history went on, the number of Catholics in North America expanded with the rest of the population. After the Revolution, when the newly-liberated colonists were spreading west, the Catholics followed suit. Many of the more pioneer-minded moved to what would become Cincinnati, making it one of relatively few large American cities with a substantial Catholic population. Though sadly for the fate of my joke, Baltimore was actually founded nearly a century after his death. Worse, it was technically named for his son*, who had been dead for half a century when it was founded.