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King Arthur Washington enthroned in his court

What if the Americas had been settled during the Dark Ages?

In American Kingdoms, American history is re-imagined as an Arthurian medieval epic – an age defined not by musket and cannon, but by knightly honor and courtly intrigue. This alt-history project is a collaborative worldbuilding effort: anyone can join our wiki to add their own character or fief to the strange but familiar setting of American Kingdoms. Join a medieval pastiche where the Natives fight on equal footing with conquistadores, and where Asian, European and American cultures clash for control of the New World.

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King Arthur Washington upon his throne
“Thirteen hundred, four score and seven years ago, on this continent, a covenant was struck between a free people and their God.”

The year is 1377. After years of unrest, the Outremer Kingdoms of the eastern coast rise against their British overlords, igniting a rebellion that will engulf a continent.

As the perfidious Redcloaks are driven from American cities, thirteen sovereign dukes forge an audacious new order: a Union of equals, bound by charter and crowned as the Union of American Kingdoms. Its High King will reign not by birthright, but by the consent of his peers, elected from among them to defend the ancient liberties of the realm.

Part feudal compact, part republican experiment, this fragile Union promises freedom from the Old World. It may yet tear the New World apart.

The American Revolutionary War has begun.

American Kingdoms project trailer thumbnail
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Factions

In American Kingdoms, collaborative wiki writers create their own feudal lords and fiefs. Visit the Wiki

Knights of the Union assembled beneath American banners

The Union

The Thirteen Realms bound as a Holy American Empire, its High King elected and raised from among his peers. Strong in ideal, fragile in practice, and the prize every ambitious lord covets.

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Navajo Nation totem-knight concept art

The Natives

The first nations of the continent, who meet the newcomers as equals in war and in council. Proud and unbroken, they defend ancestral lands against every crown that would claim them.

Read the Wiki article
Redcloak knights marching beneath the royal banner

The Redcloaks

The British crown and its loyalists, driven from the continent twenty years ago. The perfidious Redcloaks have not forgotten the New World, and scheme to bring the American Kings to heel once more.

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The Southern Kingdoms crest

The Southern Kingdoms

Proud chivalric realms of the warm South, where courtly honour, the tournament and the bloodline rule as surely as any law. Fierce keepers of tradition and the old codes.

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Vinland crest

Vinland

Norse-blooded settlers of the frozen north, raiders and seafarers whose claim to the New World runs deeper than any crown's. Bound to the sea, the saga and the old gods.

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The Free Cities crest

The Free Cities

As settlers spread inland, free cities and trade republics took root far beyond the reach of both the Redcloaks and the Union. Ruled by councils of coin, they answer only to profit and their own hard-won liberty.

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Dragon Coast crest

Dragon Coast

Along the western shores rises the Dragon Coast: colonies of Ming-descended settlers who crossed the great ocean generations ago, bringing the steel, silk and statecraft of the Middle Kingdom to a new frontier.

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A Roman mariner beholds the American coast at sunrise

The Roman Settlers

Roman mariners reached America around the year 0, founding distant colonies and leaving traces of their language, craft and law among the Native peoples. Their settlements vanished centuries ago; today, Rome’s American heirs survive only in disputed ruins, tribal memory and legend.

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The framed American Kingdoms exhibition print displayed beside a bookcase and reading chair The American Kingdoms Manhattan Castle exhibition print held in front of a stone wall

Support the project by buying American Kingdoms art prints

KCC artists Yana and Vincent create original artworks and art prints to help fund the creation of new projects in the world of American Kingdoms. Discover our top-rated merchandise store to get your own and support the project.

“From the Roman settlers to the Thirteen Kingdoms... discover the world's largest exhibition on the 1375 Revolutionary war, and the American Medieval Age! Manhattan Castle at Old Town, New York is proud to host a year-round exhibition exploring this defining chapter in American history.”

Originally developed in 1959 by renowned illustrator L.C. Meyenbecker and commissioned by the Royal Galleries of New York, the American Medieval Exhibition poster series has become synonymous with the era it depicts. Meyenbecker’s defining image - a knight of the Thirteen Kingdoms draped in the American banner, his squire presenting the sword to his outstretched hand - endures as one of the most powerful visual icons of medieval America.

Visit our Merch Shop Making Of: Medieval American Poster

Join the Patreon!

In this medieval American world, who would you be? A Southern Gallant, a fierce Vinlandian viking, a shrewd councilman of a free Trade Republic, or perhaps a loyalist of the British Empire, plotting to overthrow the independent American Kings?

Any contributor may add their own fiefdom and characters through the AK Wiki. We reserve special slots and art commissions for our Patreon backers, who donate monthly to the KCC art team in return for special perks and a behind-the-scenes look at the project.

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Backers' characters, illustrated by the KCC art team.

House Cromter, the Mayflower Knight
House Cromter, the Mayflower Knight
Lady Brianna Roosevelt in armour
Lady Brianna Roosevelt
Greyshark Pirate character concept
The Greyshark Pirate
Orion Behrendt knight helmet concept
Orion Behrendt's Knight
Smokies Native infantry character artwork
Smokies Native Infantry

American Kingdoms is a cross-media project by the Kaiser Cat Collective (known on YouTube as Kaiser Cat Cinema). KCC is a group of alt-history content creators, born from the modding scene of the early 2000s and united by a passion for the alt-history genre. Since our founding in 2016, we've built alt-history worlds through crowdfunding and cross-media content: music covers, animations, YouTube videos, and even a live-action short film set in the great "what ifs" of alt-history worldbuilding.

About Kaiser Cat Cinema

Meet the team

Jordan Penelle
Director

Jordan Penelle

Jordan Penelle is a Chicago-based director. A graduate of the Flashpoint School of Film in Chicago, he went on to direct The Rival, Obligations and Changes, and now directs film content for The Divided States.

Marcus Jorgensen
Director

Marcus Jorgensen

Berlin-based filmmaker Marcus Jorgensen splits his time between Europe and his family home in Vietnam. Passionate about telling and sharing stories, Marcus is an independent director of original indie films and currently leads several projects at the Collective.

Nicholas Gritsenko
Filmmaker

Nicholas Gritsenko

Nicholas is a Ukrainian-American filmmaker born in Chicago, IL. After film school at Flashpoint Chicago, he worked on several short films with fellow students. Inspired by their passion, he founded his own production company, Glimpse of Gold Pictures.

Discover more American Kingdoms:

Crusader and Native knights clash during the Siege of Mount Rushmore

American Kingdoms Wiki

A collaborative platform where anyone may add fiefdoms, houses and characters to the universe, and claim their own corner of the Americas.

Visit the American Kingdoms Wiki
What if the Romans discovered America video artwork

Kaiser Cat Cinema on YouTube

Follow American Kingdoms on YouTube by checking up on the latest releases of Kaiser Cat Cinema.

Watch on YouTube
American Kingdoms development storyboards and concept sketches

Dev Diaries & Newsletter

KCC founder Vincent De Nil builds the world of American Kingdoms in public through his dev diaries and worldbuilding posts. Follow the creative process and receive new entries through the KCC newsletter.

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Interested? Connect with us.

The Kaiser Cat Collective team gathered in front of a vintage truck

American Kingdoms is built by the Kaiser Cat Collective, an international team of alt-history worldbuilders, artists and developers. Connect with us across every social channel, or sign up for our newsletter at kaisercatcinema.com: a monthly digest called State of the Cinema, with behind-the-scenes content, project updates, and exclusive webshop sales.

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Professional inquiries: [email protected]

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