Christian the Great, King of the Incas

I posted the following to the soc.history.what-if newsgroup back in 2003. It didn’t attract any attention, though, so I’m reposting it here now, since I think it’s one of my better ATLs.

PoD ca. 1518. King Christian II of Kalmar decides that fighting the Swedish rebellions will only harden their resistance. Instead, he sees possibilities in the Americas, discovered only a few decades earlier. He thus sends out exploration teams headed by the most able Swedish noblemen. The remaining Swedish nobility are easily silenced.

Around 1523, a small strong force including Gustav Vasa, a young but very determined nobleman, arrive in the Inca Empire, beating the Spanish by a few years. In the following years, they manage to conquer the empire. Gustav Vasa becomes the Governor of this new Kalmar possession.

In the 1530s, King Christian II is convinced (i.a. because he wants to divorce his wife and marry his long-time lover Dyveke instead) to introduce Lutheranism in the Kalmar Union. The whole Bible is translated (“Biblia, Det er All den Hellige Scrifft”), based on Luther’s German translation, into one language which forms the basis of the Kalmarian language to our days.

To deal with the American trade, a new city is founded in 1542 on the mouth of the Göta River: Christiania. This also helps to keep the Swedish nobility happy, since not all money now flows directly to Copenhagen. The vast amounts of gold of silver flowing in from the Inca lands helps finance more colonies while playing a strong role in the European power game.

1559: Christian II (“The Great”), King of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, of the Goths, Wends and Incas, duke of Sleswig and Holstein, dies, mourned in all parts of his possessions. He is succeeded by his son,
Hans II.