Cárlos de Oso
Father of the Nation Cárlos de Oso | |
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| Born | 1510 Malaledo, Nueva Orense |
| Died | 1581 (aged 71) Madrigal, Nueva Orense |
| Buried | Cathedral of Our Lady of Victory, Madrigal |
| Allegiance | Spanish Empire Seven Colonies |
| Rank | General |
| Battles/wars | War of Independence
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| Children | 8 |
Cárlos Rafael Luca Andrade (1510 – 1581), more commonly known as Cárlos de Oso (Spanish: Charles the Bear), was a military and political leader in the Spanish colony of Nueva Orense, now modern-day Carloso, the country which bears his name. According to legend, he received the name Cárlos de Oso during his early years as a soldier when he single-handedly wrestled and killed a bear which attacked his unit's encampment. While it is traditionally translated into English as 'Charles the Bear', it literally translates to 'Charles from/of Bear' from Spanish. It is unknown how this grammatical anomaly came about. de Oso is considered to be the founding father of Carloso, leading the combined forces of the rebelling Seven Colonies against the Spanish, Portuguese and English armies.
Early life
de Oso was among the first European children born in Musgorocia, his parents having moved there only two years prior to his birth. He grew up in Malaledo, seeing the arrival of thousands of immigrants to the newly established colony of Nueva Orense under the Spanish crown. As a young man, he joined the vencedores out of a desire to explore the vast, untouched wilderness of Musgorocia, bringing him all across the continent. He defended Dominican monasteries from raids by Aboriginal Musgorocians and protected the farming communities established by new settlers, rising through the ranks until in 1541 in became head of his own company of vencedores. His exploits made him one of the wealthiest men in Musgorocia, retiring in 1557 with a royal pension. He spent most of his next few years at study, befriending Dominican friar Marius Arsenault and staying at the monastery in Serca following the death of his wife, Isabel, in 1563. After suffering a health scare, de Oso began compiling his thoughts and life history into a book; Mi Lucha, which he would continue adding to up until the day of his death.
Joining the cause
The infamous Savastian de Bergara took over as Governor of Nueva Orense in 1570, pursuing a genocidal campaign against the Aboriginal Musgorocians despite fierce opposition from Dominicans and most vencedores. Unrest began to brew when taxes were raised on the citizens of Neuva Orense to pay for the constant wars with the natives, then exacerbated by bad harvests in 1573, 1574 and 1575. Rioting was suppressed brutally by Spanish military forces, who at this stage had been brought in to keep order as the vencedores were unwilling to. A secret organisation was formed by several influential military and political figures known as the Malaledo Society, advocating for the colony to break away completely from Spanish rule. de Oso was invited to join, which he obliged. He introduced the idea of a popular revolt against the European powers, with the aim to eventually establish a state modelled on the ancient republics of Rome and Athens. He courted the leadership of the Catholic Church in Carloso, who, despite their disdain for the colonial authorities and sympathies for the republican cause, were hesitant to provoke a conflict. The Society spent the next few years stirring discount and recruiting for the cause, triggering Spanish authorities to crack down even further. The breaking point came in 1576 when the Spanish moved to end the vencedor system, attempting to arrest company commanders. Knowing of de Oso's great influence as a former officer, the authorities also moved to arrest him but he managed to escape. Spontaneously, the vencedores rose up in open revolt, seizing arms caches and attacking garrisons of colonial troops. The Society elected de Oso as the leader of the military forces of the Seven Colonies. One after another, the vencedor companies aligned themselves with him.
The war begins
The war initially went poorly for the rebels, losing several key engagements against the Spanish. When the Spanish authorities turned against the Dominicans and tried to crack down on them when they refused to hand over fugitive rebels who were claiming sanctuary in their monasteries, the Dominican Order came out in strong support of de Oso. After Spanish authorities massacred several dozen Dominican friars, nuns and many civilians in Madrigal, the leadership of the Catholic Church across Musogorica declared that de Oso's cause was righteous and he received their full backing. The actions of the Spanish caused uproar across the continent and recruits flooded to de Oso's side. The unrest spread to territories controlled by other European countries, including Portugal and England, triggering an intervention by them.
On the offensive
The colonial powers found themselves dealing with a continent-wide revolt.