Julian dynasty

The Julian dynasty is a Urcean dynasty that has links with several royal families and has ruled Urcea since its inception with the Golden Bull of 1098. It has also ruled Paulastra since 1824.

The elder branch of the dynasty, the House of Julius, went extinct with the death of the Archduke Cumhachtabilis in 922 and were succeeded as senior house by the House of Harren. The Julian dynasty saw multiple inter-dynastic conflicts for the control of Urcea during the and  periods, including the Saint's War and the Urcean War of Religion. The current senior house of the dynasty is House de Weluta, whose head is the current Apostolic King of Urcea

Origins
The exact ancestry of the Julian dynasty - and the Julia gens of Great Levantia generally - are unknown. Several mythical origin stories from the Medieval period indicate that they were the first Latinic settlers from Adonerum to both discover and settle Urceopolis, although this story is considered by most modern historians to be a fabrication. The first historical record of the Julii occurs in 327 BC with one of its members being recorded as serving as that year. The Julii continued as a relatively obscure noble family of Great Levantia for most of its existence, but historians believe the family's continued existence through the fifth century AD suggests it to be a relatively prodigious and wealthy - if politically irrelevant - family. The leading family of the Julii - the Julii Cicurini - eventually built the fortified Domus Julii on the Caeline Hill section of Urceopolis in the early sixth century as fortified noble complexes in the declining city were becoming increasingly common after the collapse of Great Levantia.

The Julian dynasty is considered to be the descendants of the first Archduke of Urceopolis, Gaius Julius Cicurinus, who was later canonized as Saint Julius of the Caeline. Accordingly, the Julian dynasty is differentiated from the rest of the Julii generally by descent from the Julii Cicurini and specifically by either direct female or indirect fraternal relation to the Saint.

The "Julian legend" was a popular story in the early medieval period that suggested the Julii were the first clan with a paterfamilias to become Christian. According to this legend, in 202 AD, Gnaeus Julius Cicurinus converted to Christianity. He is supposed to have been killed by a family member in 205 AD for abjuring the family’s household gods and the state god, but legend claims he faked his death and continued to direct his family in secret until his death in 243 AD, making the Julii crypto-Christians. The legend persisted in popular imagination until the 7th century, with “Saint Cicurinus” emerging as a folk saint.

Newaster-Tuskane
A cadet branch of House de Weluta, known variously as the House of Newaster and House of Newaster-Tuskane, has sat upon the throne of Paulastra since 1890. It was established following the marriage of Queen regnant Arathvesura de Weluta (reigned 1858-1890) to Silvin Xerokom, a member of one of the leading ethnically Coscivian families in the country. The marriage, which occurred in 1864, was seen as an important political opportunity for Paulastra to establish its own Royal dynasty. With this interest in mind, Arathversura issued a proclamation on 1 January 1865 providing that her children and descendants would belong to the new "House of Newaster", whose name referenced Paul Aster, the Kingdom's own name, and Crona's history. Arathvesura's son and grandson, Kings Paul I (reigned 1890-1920) and Arathvesur II (reigned 1920-1952) ruled Paulastra as members of the House of Newaster.

A lack of eligible male heirs during the reign of Arathvesur II led to an additional modification of Paulastra's royal dynasty. His three daughters were all married to prominent tribal chiefs as part of an attempt to reconcile Paulastra with its tribal elements. His eldest daughter married the chief of the Tuskane tribe, and with Papal permission Arathvesur adopted all three of his sons-in-law in order to continue the Newaster family name. The son of his eldest daughter succeeded Arathvesur II in 1952 and became King Paul II of the newly named "House of Newaster-Tuskane".

The House of Newaster employed a heraldric depiction of the ship used during Aster's expedition on a white-and-purple quartered shield.

Cónn
The House of Cónn was a dynasty established by King Constantine I (r. 1214-1231). Most historians describe it as a cadet branch of the House of Harren; the fifth daughter of King Aedanicus II (r. 1118-1131), named Odia (1119-1182), was married to Cónn, a prominent noble of the castle of Holmfilth in modern Westglen, in the year 1139; this marriage was arranged by her uncle, King Niall I. Cónn, later referred to as "Cónn the Elder", had a son named Brian in 1140. He had a grandson, also named Cónn, born in 1181.

Although Cónn and his kin were descended from a relatively recent King, they had become an obscure noble family by the end of the 12th century as the Urce River had been brought more firmly under the Urcean crown. Accordingly, Cónn (sometimes called "Cónn the Younger") spent his energies consolidating local estates and building a strong inheritance for his family without concern for Royal politics. In 1209, King Niall III conveyed on Cónn the title of Count Palatine of Holmfilth, recognizing the energetic efforts of Cónn to gain greater power and recognition. King Niall's reign as Apostolic King and Emperor of the Levantines, combined with his heavyhanded nature, made him extremely unpopular with Urcea's Optimates as a time when Count Cónn grew in popularity and noteriety. King Niall III died in 1214 and Optimates within Urceopolis invited him to take the throne rather than the House of Aleckán's heir, Prince Donnchad. Cónn accepted and was crowned Constantine I, establishing the Cónn as a new Royal house within the Julian dynasty. His acceptance of the crown unwittingly began two centuries of dynastic struggle between the Cónn and Aleckán families.

Constantine I's son, Aedanicus III, ruled from 1231 through 1253. He was plagued with various mental health issues which culminated in early onset senility by the late 1240s. His inability resulted in Prince Donnchad of the Aleckán deposing him in 1253, though he was allowed to keep his life and even life in the Julian Palace until his natural death in 1257. Aedanicus III's son, Adrian, recognized the graciousness of the act and disavowed his claim to the throne. He befriended Donnchad's son, Riordan Aleckán, who became King Riordan IV in 1266. Controversially, Riordan IV named his friend Adrian, rather than his brother Niall, as his heir, and Adrian assumed the throne in 1275. He was unable to produce an heir of any kind, creating succession issues, but ruled relatively successfully for 37 years, dying in 1312. The next Cónn heir was also named Adrian (sometimes referred to as "the Younger"), whose relation to Adrian I was unclear but many historians believe he was a second cousin. Adrian the Younger took the throne after an 18 year period of Aleckán rule, killing the Aleckán King Lucás I in 1330.

An old man by the time he took the throne, King Adrian II died in 1339 after nine years on the throne and had no children. His death, with other factors, inaugurated the Great Interregnum in 1339, a 63 year period of division in Urcea, in part because Adrian had no consensus heir. This Interregnum was the final phase of the struggle between the Aleckáns and Cónns known as the Saint's War. A civil war broke out between possible Cónn claimants between Adrian's death in August and the end of the war in Deceber, when a man named Caelian Cónn took Cálfeld and the Grand Duchy of Harren, at which time he was recognized as head of the Cónn faction. Caelian Cónn's relation to the previous Cónn Kings is unclear, but newly uncovered evidence in 2006 suggests he was a descendant of Constantine I. Caelian Cónn was of uncertain age at the time of his accession as Grand Duke, but he died in 1359. Caelian's son, Brian, led the faction until his own death in 1382 and was succeeded by his son, Aedanicus (1361-1402). Aedanicus had no sons and one daughter, Eileen. It briefly appeared that he might emerge victorious with the extinction of the Aleckán line in 1392, but a new Aleckán cadet branch known as House de Weluta continued the conflict. The de Welutas defeated Aedanicus's forces and besieged Ardricampus; Aedanicus threw himself from the walls at the end of the siege, ending the Cónn line which began with Caelian. The leader of House de Weluta, Lucás, married Eileen Cónn in 1402. This functionally unified the Cónn and Aleckán families and ended the Saint's War. The remaining members of the Cónn extended family at Ardricampus were sent into exile in Dericania, where some of them integrated into the broader noble families there.

The status of the Cónn as "senior house" of the Julian dynasty has been greatly disputed by both contemporaries and modern historians. Throughout the Saint's War period, the Aleckán family retained the title of Custóir of the Julii, functionally making them the head of the extended Julian family. The Cónn were unable to dislodge the Aleckáns from that office due to the fact that a majority of the extended Julian estate supported the Aleckáns. The junior familial nature of the Cónn was a source of significant political embarassment throughout the Saint's War, and as stated historians are divided on whether or not they ever rose to the level of "senior house" despite having held the Apostolic Kingship.

Harren
The House of Harren was a cadet branch of the senior House of Julius and, eventually, the senior house of the dynasty for a time. It was established in 761, when Mettius Julius Cicurinus, brother of Gaius Julius Cicurinus, was invested as Duke of Harren by Conchobar I, Emperor of the Levantines. Mettius and his successors governed the Duchy of Harren directly for over a century and half, and during that time its leading men gradually married into the local nobility as well as women of the Ionian Plateau, creating a drastic ethnic and cultural difference between the Harrens and the senior branch of the family in Urceopolis. During their time ruling Harren, the family became closely associated with Cálfeld.

In 922, the senior House of Julius died out, leading to the House of Harren inheriting the Archduchy of Urceopolis. The first Harrens would continue to govern from Cálfeld until unrest forced them to relocate to Urceopolis. The Harrens ruled what would become Urcea from 922 until about the middle of the 12th century, when they died out due to a dynastic crisis. The Harrens are relatively unique among Julian dynastic families as many of them had no direct descent from Gaius Julius Cicurinus himself; the first Harren Archduke to have any direct relation was Niall II, who became Archduke in 930. This fact, combined with their associations with the east and Gaelicization, led many in Urceopolis to view the Harrens as partly illegitimate. The Harrens were the first Royal dynasty of Urcea, being directly given the new Kingdom in the Golden Bull of 1098. They would rule the unified Kingdom for the next five decades. King Aedanicus II (r. 1118-1131) began succession issues during his reign, with eight daughters and no sons, though many future Kings and cadet branches would trace their origin to one of his eight daughters. His brother, King Niall I (reigned 1131-1146), while successful, proved to be the House's undoing. His death, followed in quick succession by the death of his two reigning sons, Riordan III (r. 1146-47) and Niall II (r. 1147-53) marked the end of the direct male line of the family. The inability of daughters to inherit led to a three year interregnum that ended with the unrelated House of Aleckán assuming the throne in 1156. Relatives of the House of Harren would eventually be restored to the Urcean throne with the rise of King Constantine I of the House of Cónn in 1214; Constantine could unambiguously trace his ancestry back to the fifth daughter of King Aedanicus II, Princess Odia (1119-1182). After the Saint's War, the marriage of a daughter of the Cónn family into House de Weluta ensured the permanent matrilineal descent of all future Urcean Kings from the House of Harren.

In its earliest form, this house was simply referred to as the "Julii Cicurinii Orienti" (eastern Julii Cicurinii) for a time until it gradually took on the name of the place it governed. Some pre-20th century historians refer to this house as the "Mettids" due to its founder. Like the senior House of Julius, the House of Harren existed in a time prior to the advent of, and typically the generic arms of the dynasty are used to denote its rulers.

Julius
The House of Julius was the senior house of the Julian dynasty from the fifth century until the tenth century. Its name is mostly an anachronism; in its time, it was referred to as the Julii Cicurini based on the hereditary of "Cicurini". The exact time when the Cicurini emerged as the leader of the is generally not known, but it is generally accepted that it was the sole remaining politically and economically relevant part of the Julii by the time of the collapse of Great Levantia. Best known of all the Julii Cicurini is Saint Julius of the Caeline, whose participation in the foundation of the Levantine Empire ensured the dynasty's lasting rule over the Archduchy of Urceopolis and beyond.

From the time of Saint Julius's election as Dux of Urceopolis, the Julii Cicurini reigned in Urceopolis. This senior branch of the family experienced various deaths and female births to close the 800s, leading to a succession issue. Cumhachtabilis, the last male of the senior Julii Cicurini, died without issue in 922.

The Julii Cicurini existed prior to the age of heraldry, and accordingly several were usually used to symbolize the family during the medieval period. Most commonly, the heraldic depiction of Saint Julius - the basic symbol of the Julian dynasty - was used and also later appended to the House of Harren.

Ronan
The House of Ronan (often referred to as the Ronanids) was a cadet branch of House de Weluta established with the marriage of Ronan the Elder (1444-1490), son of King Niall IV (reigned 1456-1482), to a princess of Anglei, Engelberta, in 1465. From the marriage of Ronan the Elder to the time of the Nordmontaine War, the Ronanids resided within the Ænglish Kingdom, first as minor nobles and eventually as prominent courtesans.

Princes Engelberta herself was a descendant of the House of Cónn from her grandmother's maternal line, making their line - beginning with their son, Ronan the Younger (1466-1512) - viewed as having an extra degree of Julian legitimacy. Ronan the Younger's son, Caelian (1490-1540) embraced in accordance with the establishment of the Ænglish Church in 1523, and the rest of the family followed. Caelian's son, Riordan (1511-1557), consequently, was mostly raised as a Protestant in the tradition of the Ænglish Church. Although the Ænglish Kingdom was destroyed, the Ronanids were nevertheless permitted to remain on their land for the time being. Opportunities would soon present themselves in Urcea, however. Dynastic issues in Urcea led to a lack of a clear, capable heir at the death of King Adrian III in 1546. Besides the possibly developmentally disabled Prince Aedanicus, Riordan Ronanid was the next legal successor to the Apostolic Kingship of Urcea as the great-great grandson and direct descendant of King Niall IV. Riordan's Protestant faith led prominent locals to reject his claim, resulting in Riordan seizing Urceopolis by force in October 1546.

Riordan, and his son Donnchad, would rule Urcea from 1546 through 1565. King Donnchad III, son of Riordan, reigned until he was killed at the Battle of Drumfree in April 1565. Most of the members of his immediate family disappeared from the historical record after 1571, with various theories explaining their disappearence, but most historians conclude they were likely killed or died in prison after the Great Confessional War. Though the "Urcean Ronanids" disappear from history at this time, remaining members of the family continued to live in modern Anglei until around 1559 when Donnchad's cousin, Maelius, led his part of the family into Pharisedom in Alstin. The "Maelian Ronans" were among the first families to settle in Alstin and began to thrive as merchants by around 1600. Although the "Royal Ronanids" went extinct, the Ronan name and family heritage is widespread in some parts of Alstin.