History of Urcea (1575-1798)

The History of Urcea from 1575-1798, sometimes also called the Imperial Period, consists of period of time from the establishment of end of the Great Confessional War through the end of the reign of King Lucás III, last Emperor of the Levantines from House de Weluta during this period. This period saw Urcea reach one of its apexes of power and influence, holding the title of Emperor of the Levantines for more than half of the period while making major gains in military professionalization and early economic industrialization. The period is characterized by growth for the Kingdom as it gained the Kingdom of Crotona, Kingdom of Talionia, and Grand Duchy of Carolina. The period also lead to significant alienation between Urcea and its neighbors within the Holy Levantine Empire which would have repercussions in the period to come.

Leonine reforms and 17th century expansion
King Leo II reigned until 1597 and spent the remaining 22 years of his life after 1575 fundamentally remaking Urcea, strengthening the Church, and attending to Imperial affairs, particularly the nuances and specifics of the victory terms and the division of land. Leo initiated a series of wide-reaching post-war reforms in which he sought to not only bring to Kingdom together into a cohesive unit, but also planned to undercut the optimate class, who he blamed for the war as well as the Saint's War, and planned to simplify Social class in Urcea. The King reduced the number of classes to three and formally abolished serfdom in Urcea, though the institution had already been rendered mostly nominal due to the devastation of the wars. Part of King Leo's program also included the famous Leonine Land Decree of 1590, which opened lands acquired as part of the Dragonnades to any family in the Archduchy of Urceopolis of privilegiata or freeman rank without considerable land holdings. The Land Decree divided the acquired estates in Gassavelia, and, to a lesser extent, in Ænglasmarch, into 40 acre parcels to be used as smallholds. This created the first wave of Ómestaderoi, and Leo intended for it to strengthen smallholders at the expense of the optimates, which, following several future waves of Ómestaderoi, proved successful. In 1591, Leo organized the standing Royal Army and Royal Navy which were loyal only to the Crown, further reducing the authority of remaining local magnates. Leo's primary reform, however, was standardizing the legal code throughout nearly all of Urcea at the time, including the final elimination of the separate legal code in Canaery. By bringing the disparate duchies and territories under one standard code, Leo forged the legal nation of Urcea out of the medieval crown confederation of Urcea. With the standard legal code also came the abolition of internal tariffs, bringing about strong economic recovery following decades of war. His legal reforms also stripped the right of heads of the Estates of Urcea to appoint representatives to the Concilium Daoni, and he began the process of creating "districts" for members to represent, though these districts were often coterminous with local communes - which elected members - or with lower vassals, who appointed members to the body. Leo's successors in the 17th century took part in the economic spoils and successively attempted to expand the country's eastern border, with several successful wars bringing neighboring duchies and counties to heel. It was also during this time the Crown began to devise schemes to acquire the Grand Duchy of Carolina, a polity to the north, though such attempts would not come to fruition in the 17th century. The profile of Urcea in the Empire continued to rise under Leo's successors, greatly unified and strengthened by the victory of the War of Religion and with a powerful southern Gassavelia no longer extant to contain Urcea. The 17th Century, besides continuing expansion within the Holy Levantine Empire, was a time of something of a second Renaissance in Urcea as the baroque period took off and the Crown focused on making internal improvements. The Julian Palace was given a major renovation at this time, building the Caeline Palace which remains the core of the structure as of the 21st century. The Crown spent lavishly on infrastructure improvements as well as rebuilding several palaces and Churches.

The period saw a relative unusual succession, including two "Years of Three Kings" - 1627 and 1656. Leo II was succeeded by his son Constantine III, who reigned from 1597 to 1601 dying from natural causes. His son, Aedanicus IV, was also short-reigned, ruling from 1601 to 1612. Aedanicus IV had three sons, two of which would rule the country. The first, Aedanicus V, died in 1627 and left the throne to his son Adrian IV, who died in childhood after just three months on the throne. Aedanicus V's brother, Leo III, assumed the throne and would rule from 1627 through 1651. Leo's sons (Brian I and Seán III) would rule respectively from 1651-1656 and for two days in 1656, before the throne passed to a cousin. The accession of King Riordan VI was unusual in this respect, in that it was the only time in the history of House de Weluta that the throne passed to a cousin. Riordan VI was the descendant of the third son of Aedanicus IV. Riordan and his sons were prodigious, ensuring the survival of the dynasty.

Dragonnades
During the late 16th and early 17th century, the Dragonnades were prosecuted throughout the Holy Levantine Empire and Urcea. This term has come to encompass the entirety of anti-Protestant efforts during this time period, but in actuality these efforts took two main forms: indiscriminate military looting and persecutions and deliberate, systemic perseuction of Protestants using both the Imperial Inquisition and the antecedents of modern law enforcement agencies. Military dragonnades, by their very nature, were mob actions which typically only followed investigatory incidents of the Dragonnades. In either form, these events took place most fiercely in the years immediately following the Great Confessional War, and as mentioned they had the effect of opening up new land for distribution and purchase within the Valley and elsewhere throughout the Empire. Incidents would decrease in severity and frequency as the decades progressed, and the last major wave of Dragonnade efforts - not including in Holchester - occurred in 1607.

The Old Believers
In the wake of the Nordmontaine War, House de Weluta came into possession of the Duchy of Holchester, roughly corresponding to modern Ænglasmarch. The territory had been a useful base of operations from which House de Weluta managed to retake the Julian Throne during the Great Confessional War, but much of the Duchy's population was Protestant, or specifically Ænglish Old Believers. Unlike other Protestants, however, many Old Believers voluntarily removed themselves from organized society once Catholic rule was restored, living in small communes in the wilderness. Between the end of the Confessional War in 1575 and 1610, these groups were largely ignored by the authorities. Rumors of violence in Holchester began to circulate in the early 1610s attributable to bands of Old Believers. Historians believe that most of these rumors were legendary in nature, with most agreeing that any uptick in violence in the region being largely attributable to or other criminals of opportunity. Regardless, the Crown seized upon these rumors and deployed the Royal Army to the Duchy in 1613. The Army forcibly broke up communes, ranging from seizing its members for deportation to random acts of violence against real or perceived Old Believers. A minor uprising was attempted in 1616 to eject the Urceans, only for the uprising to be crushed and the violence to worsen. Partly in response to the uprising, the Army began a targeted campaign of violence against suspected Old Believer leaders within the city of Holchester itself on August 27 1616, with the killings continuing for nearly a week before Royal authorities put a stop to the bloodshed. Holchester was economically and demographically devastated by this incident and the other reprisals, and by 1620 King Aedanicus V was compelled to withdraw the Army due to the pleading of both local administrators and Church officials. The 1610s lead most Old Believers to withdraw from society even further or to voluntarily immigrate to Pharisedoms abroad. The treatment had the effect of outraging various other out-groups within Urcean society, and the incident would be cited by Gassavelian separatists for decades to come as a prime reason to resist Urcean rule.

Gassavelian integration and uprising
At the end of the Great Confessional War, the Urcean Crown annexed the entire western heartland of the former Kingdom of Gassavelia in the 1570s. The legal, economic, and social integration of these regions were haphazard at best and were not a major priority of the Crown or Government. The area was divided into more than a dozen different counties, duchies, and margravates ruled individually by the Apostolic King of Urcea but functionally governed by local magnates. Severe economic depression gripped the region as futile efforts to transform the hilly and tropical area into land suitable for large, Valley-style agricultural settlement. These efforts lead to famine and large scale out-migration into other parts of the Kingdom, worsening the labor supply and economic situation. Despite this, little effort was made to ameliorate conditions. By 1650, secret socieites began to form throughout the few remaining heavily populated urban centers of the region. The authorities, such as they were, managed to suppress opposition for a time, but by the 1670s culturally Gassavelian magnates began to store large amounts of arms and ammunition. In 1675, the magnates and large groups of urban rebels declared an open rebellion against the Urceans in favor of one of their own, a magnate named Arses, who began to style himself King Arses III. The ensuing conflict would be known as the '75 Rising.

Forces loyal to Arses, known as Arsesians, managed to quickly seize most of the militarily valuable castles and strongpoints throughout the region, such that by December 1675 de facto independence had been achieved. Few forward positions in Gassavelia existed that the Royal Army could use, but a route did exist south of the Magnag running through large passes in the Hortus Mountains which the Royal Army still controlled. The situation essentially required the Army to campaign through the eastern Urcean frontier, through which large scale military movement was not possible without huge supply trains due to the near-desert like conditions of the region. Accordingly, the first Royal Army expedition which intended to cross the Hortus Mountains was launched in February 1676 from Urceopolis of 15,000 men, most of whom died from starvation and disease along the way. By the time the first expedition reached the passes, only 4,000 men remained and it was decided they would remain at the passes to garrison them rather than pushing onward. Despite the early military failures of the Royal Army, the Gassavelians were diplomatically and economically isolated. The Royal Navy began a blockade of the region, and neighboring authorities in Faramount fully complied with the embargo due to their own fears of a Gassavelian uprising in their territory. With the Urcean frontier to the north of Gassavelia and Canaery and its associated duchies to the west, Gassavelia was encircled. With little foreign trade options, famine in the territory grew worse. This lead to many extremely violent raids for food into Canaery, which raised enmity between both sides. Small raiding parties from Canaery were raised in early spring 1676 and began their own campaign of plunder against the Gassavelians, representing the first loyal land force engaged in the conflict.

In May 1676, the Royal Army managed to deploy a significant force - 12,500 men - into Gassavelia. Since the approach to the country was totally secured by the enhanced Hortus Mountain pass garrisons, the Army was accompanied by a disproportionately large supply train. While such a train would be difficult to defend in open conflict, the region north of the Hortus was completely safe. From the arrival of this force in May, the main portion of fighting began. From then on, the northernmost portion of the country was considered to be the most loyalist and the major base of resupply and recruitment for the Royal Army, with the central part of the country having the most Arsesian support. Following storms and other difficulties, a second force of around 13,000 was landed in the coastal region of Gassavelia in October 1676. For the next three years, these armies would engage in a brutal campaign of attrition against Arsesian loyalist forces. In most battles, the Arsesians were able to better concentrate their forces and issue smaller tactical defeats to the Royal Army that nonetheless stymied its ability to project power into the Gassavelian interior. Supply issues remained constant, and much of the war was characterized by large scale raids by each side against the other's supply trains and farms loyal to each side, leading to strategic supply concerns and additional devastation to the civilian economy. Campaigns throughout 1677 and 1678 were largely unsuccessful before a major campaign in April 1679 saw the northern Royal Army forces sail up the Saianda River and sack Harzenon, the historic capital of the region and the major base of Arsesian support. The sack allowed the Royal Army to control the entire length of the Saianda River, linking up the northern and southern Royal Armies and sending most of the rebels into isolation. The conflict continued until August 1679 when the unified Royal Army destroyed the largest rebel army and captured the pretender Arses, who was subsequently sent back to Urceopolis in chains.

Leaders in Urceopolis - especially King Patrick I (1672-1688) and his successor Aedanicus VI (1688-1702) - decided to use a conciliatory approach following the defeat of the final rebel army. Efforts would be made to incorporate Gassavelia and other periphery areas more closely into the Kingdom's legal apparatus, adding representation for the area in the Concilium Daoni in 1685. In 1690, King Aedanicus issued a monopoly charter for Gassavelian fishing enterprises in the Sea of Canete off Urcea's southern coast, a decision which would significantly alleviate famine and economic depression in Gassavelia by 1700. Conciliation would continue for some time, culminating with the Southern Reform Act of 1755, which introduced large degrees of local control over the Gassavelian duchies and introduced some economic relief measures, including a significant reduction of internal tariffs in the area. Symbolically, the most significant conciliatory symbol was the person of the mangate Arses, who had ruled Gassavelia in pretense as King Arses III and had sat in a Urceopolitan prison from 1679. King Patrick I was content to let the insurrectionist ruler die in prison, but upon his death in 1688 his successor Aedanicus VI had a different fate in mind. In what contemporaries noted to be an astonishing display of clemency, Aedanicus VI ordered Arses released on August 3 1689 after a decade in prison. Arses's release included the caveat that the King viewed him as too dangerous to the peace in Gassavelia to allow him to return there, and instead he was appointed the first Rector of New Archduchy in early 1690. Giving Arses a position of power had the intended effect, greatly increasing Aedanicus's personal popularity within Gassavelia and easing tensions following the war.

Incorporation reform
After four hard years of war in Gassavelia and subsequent efforts to ease tensions there, many leaders (including Patrick I) in Urceopolis began to pay greater attention to the peripheral parts of the King's domains, namely those of Gassavelia, the Duchy of Holchester and Ænglish territories, and the somewhat incorporated Electorate of Canaery, and how the state administered these areas. Also coming into focus was the Duchy of Transurciana, which had been the focus of dispute between the Pope and Apostolic King during the medieval period; though the power struggle had largely subsided by the 15th century in favor of the Crown, the Duchy still enjoyed significant legal privileges and autonomy, and its nobility still retained significant power where it had otherwise faded throughout the Kingdom.

Administrative reform had become a relatively popular idea in Urceopolis beginning with the reign of King Patrick I's predecessor, Riordan VI, who had created the Kingdom of Crotona to deal with the myriad of dependencies, duchies, city-states, and other territories on the islands. While the Crown would struggle to implement meaningful legal and jurisdictional changes in the core part of the Kingdom, King Patrick I would begin the centuries-long process by issuing what would be known as the Jurisdiction Decree in 1685. This decree incorporated the Caenish, Gassavelian, and Ænglish lands within the Concilium Daoni, abolishing the ducal and princely common councils of those regions to instead gather regional representatives within one body. The Kingdom of Crotona would also be represented, but with a limited number of appointed delegates by the Kingdom's administration - it was later given full representation in 1820. While the incorporations would improve the taxing authority of the Crown, it would also set the stage for the Daoni to assume greater responsibility, culminating in the Concession of 1747 which gave it the tools to later become a true national legislature. Historians have since seen the Decree as the first step in the long historical road to the Administrative Reorganization Act of 1892.

Expanding the realm
During this period, Urcea's attention turned back to the west and south in an effort to capitalize on the very profitable Odoneru Ocean trade. It established a string of colonies in southeastern Crona during the 1620s known as New Archduchy and the Julian Belt. In order to link its dominions together, Urcea completed the envelopment of Crotona in 1660 during the reign of King Riordan VI, creating the Kingdom of Crotona. In 1670, Riordan began the conquest of Tromarine, but it would not be completed until the reign of his successor, King Patrick I, who put the finishing touches on conquering the island in 1676. Patrick completed the envelopment of the southern Odoneru by formally annexing the Philaridon Republic in 1680, though the Republic had largely been reduced to the position of a vassal a century earlier. A small portion of the Republic was ceded to the Grand Duchy of Carolina, Urcea's ally; this border would largely remain unchanged through the present day, establishing the southern border between the provinces of Roscampus and Lower Carolina roughly along the Pralia Mountains.

Imperial dynasty
In 1702, King Riordan VII was elected Emperor Riordan I, beginning a string of five consecutive Kings who would be elected Emperor and also an increasing focus on the affairs of the Empire, which would dominate the country's foreign policy in the 18th century. Riordan's son, King Aedanicus VII, was also elected Emperor and ruled both the Empire and Urcea from 1727 to 1741. During his reign, he induced the Collegial Electorate to designate his son, Prince of Halfway Leo, as King of the Levantines, heir apparent to the Empire. During the successive reigns of Riordan and Aedanicus, relative stability was introduced to the Empire, although Electors continually grumbled Urceopolis grew more powerful vis a vis the other Imperial princes with each succeeding decade.

Army reform
Although the period ca 1680-1740 was one of unrivaled peace in Urcea, significant focus was given after 1700 to military reform. Prior to this point, the armed forces were not organized in any coherent way, with mercenaries hired and levies raised upon the beginning of wars and these armies disbanded to end wars. Most fortifications in Urcea were still expected to be maintained by local nobility or governors, many of whom had long since relocated to Urceopolis. The shortcomings of the military were revealed in the Gassavelian uprising and, to a lesser extent, the final conquests in the Kingdom of Crotona. The two monarchs of this period, Kings Riordan VII and Aedanicus VII, paid new attention to theories of diplomatic and military relations, especially the distinctions of the threats Urcea faced compared to its capabilities. The two monarchs began to implement policies that would form the rudimentary basis of modern in Urcea.

King Riordan VII's reign saw a focus on increasing the professionalization and training of the Royal Army, and his investment paid dividends as Urcean forces developed innovative drill and discipline techniques. Alongside the widespread adoption of the socket bayonet in the last years of Aedanicus's reign, the Royal Army of Urcea was considered highly professional even if small relative to the Kingdom's overall population.

During the reign of Aedanicus VII, the Royal and Imperial Army began a major building effort in order to improve the supply situation of the Army. During the '75 Rising in Gassavelia, the Royal Army was often woefully undersupplied and far from both the Magnag and coast of the Sea of Canete, far from any obvious supply line. The supply and logistical failures of that war were studied in depth at the newly established Imperial War College in Urceopolis beginning in 1731, and the study established the need for a deliberately constructed network of supply throughout Urcea in order to prepare it for its next conflict. The new strategy entailed the construction of supply depots and magazines throughout the Kingdom. The system worked by utilizing the nation's extensive river system, with supply depots and new magazines constructed close to the border and deep in the Urcean frontier through Gassavelia radiating outwards from the Urce River, which would be the central avenue of supply from which all supplies would be convoyed and stored in remote locations. Major fortifications were also constructed throughout key points in the country; as of 1730, most Urcean fortifications dated from the Great Confessional War or even the medieval Saint's War and were inadequate for early modern warfare. These efforts saw Castle Welute largely rebuilt and turned into a major supply hub along the Urce.

Caroline Succession
With the death of Emperor-King Aedanicus VII, the Collegial Electorate abrogated its earlier selection and instead elected Louis, the Grand Duke of Verecundia. Newly-crowned King Leo IV initially accepted the decision, but the newly-elected Emperor Louis IX began a policy of open antagonism with regards to Urcean ambition. In 1743, the last male-line Grand Duke of Carolina died and left King Leo as his heir. Despite this, Emperor Louis IX exercised his Imperial prerogative and issued a Pragmatic Sanction, denying the Urcean inheritance. King Leo would not accept another breach of faith from the Empire, and on July 4th, 1745, the Royal Army of Urcea crossed through the Northgate and invaded Carolina. The Emperor declared King Leo an outlaw and called the Empire to arms against him, beginning the War of the Caroline Succession, also known as the First Caroline War. The invasion of Carolina was completed without much resistance by the end of the summer of 1745; many cities opened their gates and fortresses to King Leo's forces, recognizing the legitimacy of his claim. Leo and the Royal Army would winter in Carolina before invading the Kingdom of Dericania in 1746, defeating the Imperial Army at the Battle of Mt. Cara that August. The Royal Army would fight to a draw in 1747, but in 1748 King Leo would lead his armies on a pillage and sack of the Grand Duchy of Verecundia, the Emperor's home. Following a few close defeats in which Leo was able to retreat in good order to begin 1749, he met the Imperial Army near the Abbey of St. John, some twenty five miles outside of the Imperial Capital of Corcra. The Urcean 48,500 - lead by the elite shock corps, the Royal Fusiliers - totally annihilated the Imperial Army at the Battle of St. John's. The road to Corcra lay open, and King Leo took the city in April of 1749. The Emperor and his largest allies in the Empire surrendered, and King Leo accepted Emperor Louis's abdication on May 1st. The Grand Duchy of Verecundia was dissolved into its constituent parts, and King Leo assumed the Imperial throne on May 3rd. As part of the terms of peace at the Treaty of Martinsburg, the Grand Duchy of Carolina was recognized as an integral part of the Urcean Crown. More shockingly, now-Emperor Leo demanded the concession of guaranteed hereditary succession of the Holy Levantine Empire, which the Imperial Diet had no choice but to accept. The decades of hereditary rule, and the attempted centralization of the Holy Levantine Empire, had begun.

A war was fought between Kiravia and Urcea during the Caroline Succession known as the Cronan Beaver War. The conflict, a primarily naval campaign, was resolved in 1748 as part of an effort to exchange concessions to foreign powers in exchange for recognition of Leo's Imperial claims. As part of this agreement, Urcea ceded a string of colonies in Crona known as the Julian Belt which had largely fallen into neglect. It retained the New Archduchy colony as part of the peace terms.

Concession of 1747
During the war, King Leo required huge sums of Talers in order to keep the army on its feet, and while on campaign he asked the Concilium Daoni to raise taxes. The Daoni agreed to do so in exchange for concessions in the form of general consent of the Daoni for Royal appointments to the Concilium Purpaidá, the ministry. The Daoni also asked as part of concessions that the King's judicial appointments had to be confirmed by the Purpaidá, and further that all districts of the Daoni be elective rather than the mixed elective-appointive system. This latter proposal was offered as not only a demand of the Daoni but as an offering of benefit to the King, as it allowed him to take the final steps in destroying the power of landed vassals. King Leo received these demands in 1747 after several inconclusive battles that pointed to a long, expensive war. In absentia, he agreed to the concessions. This agreement, called the Concession of 1747, was a landmark step towards the modern Constitution of Urcea, and following the war Emperor Leo agreed to permanently uphold this concession.

Reform efforts
The period of the reign of Leo IV - who had now taken on the slightly pejorative title "Levanticus" following his victory in the Caroline War - saw one of attempted centralization and reform of the Holy Levantine Empire that occured in concert with his unprecedented implementation of in the Empire. Although historians of the Empire have noted many of these reforms were needed - such as changing the structure of the Imperial Diet to reflect the current makeup of the Empire, reorganization of the Imperial Army, and introduction of a common import tariff throughout the entire Empire to fund Imperial projects - they were extremely unpopular among the Princes of the Empire, who almost immediately began to chafe under increased rule from Urceopolis. It was during this time that the general quality of the Royal Army began to decrease as a natural consequence of complacency, considering that the Apostolic King had the resources of the Holy Levantine Empire, including the Imperial Army, to dispose with. Some would-be reformers, such as Lecáti James Lavofual who is perhaps better known for his work as an artist, decried the state of the army and implored King Leo IV and his successors for reform minded leaders to take control of the military, but these requests were rejected.

It was also during this period that the role of the Procurator became more pronounced, as the Imperial Kings found themselves needing to delegate more and more power to their chief steward given the need to focus on Empire-wide affairs. With the King often away in Corcra to handle that kind of Imperial business, the regency powers of the Procurator naturally evolved into a national leadership role. Though previously Chief Steward and First Lord of the Treasury, the Procurator often served in an advisory role and merely a representative of the King at the Concilium Daoni, but real decisions were beginning to be made by the Procurator at the Purpaidá level. Another major Constitutional development came in 1759 when a Count in the Ionian highlands wrote the King, sitting in Corcra at the time, asking for a recent policy of road construction set in motion by the Procurator reversed. King Leo wrote back, upholding the Procurator's decision, and sent a copy of the letter to Urceopolis. The so-called "Botharvia Letter" legally confirmed some of the Procurator's executive authority, an important step towards the current authority of the office.

Elevating the dynasty
House de Weluta's control over the Holy Levantine Empire during the 18th century had the effect of altering how the dynasty was viewed, both within its own ranks and by other prominent noble families. Prior to the 18th century, House de Weluta had intermittently ruled Urcea for three turbulent centuries, and to many contemporaries their rule over Urcea appeared to be shaky, especially given the '75 Gassavelian rising and expansionistic tendencies of the dynasty. Modern historians have noted that House de Weluta's perceived inevitability - as viewed in the 21st century - would not have been perceived during this time period, either within the family or to its contemporaries. By 1700, they had ruled the Kingdom for 280 years, which was the longest of any single house of the Julian dynasty, but the potential of a new Julian claimant from another House always existed and was reflected in most of the House's political calculations. While the Great Confessional War is remembered today as one of the defining events in Urcean history, many people in the late 17th century - both learned and not - still discussed many Urcean events within the context of the Medieval Saint's War, and Urcea had assumed the reputation of a realm who was destined for cyclical dynastic strife. The elevation of the House to perceived permanent authority over the Holy Levantine Empire by 1750 was viewed by contemporaries as a great reversal, and cemented House de Weluta as one of the world's most prestigious families. Scholars have noted the difference in rank of marriages family members engaged in throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, with pre-1700 marriages being reserved mostly to prominent Urcean families and post-1700 marriages seeing scions of the family marry into important Royal dynasties across the Occident.

The period of Imperial rule made any potential loss of the Imperial title a deep wound that de Welutas would do everything in their power to prevent. Not only would it remove the high station to which the Apostolic King would have become accustomed to, but it might also signal the weakness of the House against other potential Julian cadet branches domestically. Once it came, it meant that the Julian dynasty's leading family could no longer accept being a "mere" Imperial vassal. Academics who have focused on the family believe this sense of entitlement not only lead to the later Recess of the Julii but also set Urcea down the course of becoming an international rather than a major political player within the Empire.

Heightened tensions with the Empire
In 1780, Emperor Brian VII intervened in the Veltorine War of Independence, a war that saw the Royal and Imperial Army fight on Sarpedon for the first time against Caphiria. The war concluded under Brian's successor, Emperor Lucás III, and in 1782 the Urcean Crown received Talionia as compensation for their aid to Veltorina. The Kingdom of Talionia was established that year as a holding of the de Weluta family outside the jurisdiction of the Empire and, critically, it was not directly incorporated under the sphere of the Concilium Daoni as had been the case with other crownlands. The decision to not incorporate Talionia within the Empire damaged relations between the Emperor and the Imperial Diet, senior leaders in which viewed the move as a consolidation of power for House de Weluta at the expense of a potential gain for the Empire. Despite this incident, some efforts towards legal reform and centralization continued to receive favorable votes within the Diet and were implemented throughout the 1780s.

Centralization continued without incident until the death of Emperor-King Brian II in 1781 at the age of 37, who had three daughters but no sons. His brother, 34-year old, King Lucás III, ascended that same year. Traditional historiography typically depicted Lucás as a petty tyrant who abused the rights of the Princes of the Empire, but modern historians tend to view this depiction more critically. The Holy Levantine Empire had been under hereditary rule for approximately thirty years, and the destabilization presented by the relatively young death of a King presented opportunities for Imperial Princes to try and increase tensions in an effort to break free of the domination of House de Weluta. Modern historiography has revised the depiction of Lucás III as something of a well-meaning reformer who wanted to continue the path of his predecessors but was mostly unable to, both due to his own personal failings but also decades of built up animosity on the part of the Princes of the Empire. Histories of the Holy Levantine Empire tend to refer to King Lucás III as Emperor Lucius III as a latinization of Lucás, descended from and related to the Urcean name Luciás. Lucius and Lucás are sometimes confused, but they were the same ruler. His distant descendant, King Lucás IV, also nominally ruled the Empire as Lucius IV in the 20th century.

The first decade of Lucás's reign proceeded mostly without incident, but under the surface several Princes were conspiring. The Duke of Upper Verecundia, son of the Emperor who was defeated in the War of the Caroline Succession was revealed in 1794 to be part of the so-called "Red Emperor" Plot, a conspiracy to potentially assassinate the Emperor in conjunction with a mass uprising of the Princes. King Lucás's forces easily overcame Upper Verecundia's small forces and took the Duke into custody. While imprisoned, several other conspiracies began to grow throughout the Empire, particularly in the Kingdom of Dericania. The question of what to do with the Duke of Upper Veredunia became a major political issue in both Urceopolis and in Corcra, but in early 1796, after waffling indecisively for two years, Emperor Lucás decided to sentence the Duke to death for treason. The decision to sentence the Duke to death for treason, rather than the conspiracy itself, lead to widespread outrage within the Empire and, in conjunction with three decades of de Weluta primogeniture, proved to most the "despotic" nature of the Urcean Crown. The Princes and Estates of the Kingdom of Dericania declared themselves in rebellion by June of 1796, joined later in the year by most of the other princes in the Empire, beginning what was later known as the Second Caroline War.

Second Caroline War
Following a disastrous 1797 campaign season in which the Royal and Imperial Army was badly beaten and ejected from Dericania altogether - including a popular uprising in Corcra that ejected Lucás's forces, 1798 saw most of the fighting occur in Aenglasmarch and in Carolina. Beginning in 1798, several of the Dukes of Aenglasmarch - nominally direct vassals of the Apostolic King of Urcea rather than of the Emperor - waged an uprising that allowed for easier access for rebel forces into Carolina. The fighting concluded for the year with a standstill, though King Lucás contracted pneumonia while wintering in Carolina and died on December 19th, 1798. His son, the new King Brian III, assumed control of the army in the week following, but decided to call for a ceasefire. His rationale has been hotly debated by historians, but his letters seem to indicate he thought he could diplomatically end the war by portraying it as a conflict between the Princes and his father. Critically, King Brian also decided that he would not assume his father's Imperial title until peace was achieved. These decisions proved mistakes as the time allowed the members of the former Collegial Electorate to once again gather in Corcra and elect a rival Emperor, and Brian's decision to not assume the title undermined his legitimacy. While wintering in 1798-99, large defections of Imperial troops left the Royal Army at a disadvantage relative to their opponents.

The death of Emperor-King Lucás brought to an end what many historians considered the "Urcean Golden Age", a period of dominance in the Holy Levantine Empire combined with territorial growth that left Levantia a nearly uni-polar continent. In the 226 years since the election of Emperor Leo III of the Holy Levantine Empire in 1572, de Welutas had sat on the Imperial Throne for 121 years, more than half of the time. Urcea had grown by nearly half through its acquisitions of Carolina, Gassavelia, and elsewhere. The Golden Age marked a renewed alignment of the interests of Urcea and the Empire as a whole; with its closure, Urcea would come to adopt an openly antagonistic attitude towards the institutions of the Empire, an attitude it would maintain for nearly a century and a half. Without the economic, diplomatic, and military support of the Urcean Crown during this crucial period, the Holy Levantine Empire entered a slow, but terminal, decline.

Imperial period social developments
Besides the major geopolitical and legal developments that occurred between the Great Confessional War and Second Caroline War, many changes had occurred to Urcean society and throughout Levantia during this period that left both largely unrecognizable after two centuries.

Early industrialization
In the period 1730-1765, devices such as the flying shuttle, spinning frame, and the spinning jenny were invented in the Imperial heartland. With increasing mechanization bleeding into other sectors and a greater ability to refine cast iron, the early stage of the Industrial Revolution had begun in Levantia. King-Emperor Leo (to 1768), and his son Brian (reigned 1768-1781), largely allowed the economy to progress without intervention.

Lasting impacts of social class reforms
The period between 1575 and 1798 in Urcean history is characterized by great social changes brought about due to legal changes, especially reforms to the system of Social class in Urcea, but also due to the Great Confessional War and public response to it.

During this period, the privilegiata grew in wealth and social influence, such that by 1700 they were the driving economic force in the country. Historians have generally attributed their success to the Leonine social reforms but also to very cheap and widely available land and productive capability seized by the state from and sold off in fair, open auctions. This system enabled productive middle class burghers of the privilegiata class to acquire the lion's share of available land and materials. Traditional liberal histories in the Occident emphasized the injustice of the Dragonnades, but recent revisionists have noted that the seizure of land and materials from wealthy Protestant magnates and sale to a largely privilegiata group of buyers represents one of the largest programs of in the history of the Occident prior to the 19th century. A study by historians at the Collegium Scientificum in 2013 indicated that the majority of early industrial mills in Urcea were erected by privilegiata on seized land; this study was massively influential in the field of studying the Dragonnades and Great Confessional War, with later Urcean economic dynamism becoming a greatly studied area by 2020.

By the end of the Imperial period, many of the most wealthy Urceans were privilegiata rather than optimates, which not only demonstrated the growth of the privilegiata during this period but also undermined the weakening social class system. The privilegiata were also more active politically during this period than at any time previously, driving socio-political clubs such as the National Pact. Most of the early champions of Crown Liberalism were members of the privilegiata.

Artistic developments
At the dawn of Urcea's Imperial period, art was entering prominence in Urcea and throughout the Holy Levantine Empire within the context of the  and Catholic victory in the Great Confessional War. The rise of the privilegiata during this period lead to the development of private commissions for court, Church, and noble artwork, which greatly expanded the quality and quantity of art in Urcea during this time. As part of Urcea's "Baroque explosion," in Urcea became the default construction style of public and ecclesiastical structures during the 17th century and is best exemplified by the great Royal palaces: the Caeline Palace (part of the Julian Palace complex), the Hermitage, and Electorsbourg were all built or partly rebuilt in this style. Throughout the streets of Urceopolis, many new churches were constructed in this style during the 17th century. By the end of the 17th century, the colorful excesses of the Baroque and Rococo styles had fallen out of fashion. As the cultural memory of the Great Confessional War and political prioritization of the Counter Reformation faded, a more restrained architectural and artistic style began to emerge. , and its Urcean specific variety, sought to employ simplicity in design as part of a conscious effort to emphasize sacrifice within the lives of Urceans. This cultural development occurred not only within the context of the Baroque style but in the increasingly opulent lives of both the optimates and more wealthy privilegiata, which became the major social concern of the day by the late 17th century. The theme of sacrifice became especially important by the mid-18th century with the War of the Caroline Succession requiring sacrifice on behalf of the Kingdom in order to achieve greatness. In addition to social attitudes, the very first efforts of major began during the late 1600s, uncovering the ruins of Great Levantine buildings or in some cases finding the original Great Levantine construction of extant buildings, and accordingly many educated Urceans sought to emulate the common structural features of these buildings. These concerns all blended together to create a very restrained period in Urcea's architectural history that would dominate for the rest of the 18th century.

Sacrifice and simplicity not only extended to architecture. Public concern over social opulence lead to the extravagant parties and numerous commissions of art to decline rapidly in the last decade of the 17th century as many prominent Urceans attempted to emphasize their own humility. No "Caroline" art style emerged during this period, as the Baroque painted style continued throughout the 18th century, but with much fewer commissions and generally less grand and creative works created during this century.