The Burgundies

The Burgundies, also known as the 4 Burgundies, is the legal term for the supranational concept that collectively represents the following bodies:


 * The citizens of Burgundie and its dependencies
 * The Crown of Burgundie
 * the Federal Government of Burgundie
 * and the nation of Burgundie, specifically as it represents its constituent countries:
 * Ile Burgundie
 * Nostrestran
 * Faramount
 * Equatorial Ostiecia
 * the Burgoignesc Overseas Territory Assembly

= Meaning = It is specifically not a state or body politic, but rather, The Burgundies is a single term to refer to the peoples, the totality of governments, and lands that the collective branches of government oversee, in that order.

= History = In 1837, after the Northern Levantine Mediatization War, the newly independent Burgundie, formed a singular state, joining the Fiannrian province of Burgund with many provinces of Ultmar, legally disbanding the latter. In the 1970s, as part of a massive reform effort, large-scale devolution of government occurred. The singularity of the Burgundian nation was put into question and the Lazarine Court decided that a legal term needed to be devised to address the concept of the whole of the things that remained Burgundian. They adopted the Ceteris paribus principle, essentially, all things being equal in the political world, THIS is still part of Burgundie. Defining what THIS was, took 15 years and was only resolved with the addition of and lands that the collective branches of government oversee, meaning that the crownlands, and lands of the royal estate, while not politically part of the sovereign territory of Burgundie, would be considered part of The Burgundies. The definition was passed through the Lazarine Court without incident in 1991.

= Criticism = Some have criticized the definition as imperialist in nature, specifically considering that it includes non-sovereign Burgundian territory. The primary example given is the royal farm in Alkharvia. While by no other legal definition, the farm is considered part of The Burgundies, by this legal definition.

Ultra-nationalist groups have been petitioning since 2008 to have the nations of southern Punth added to the definition, which has even gotten mild support in some southern Punthite nations. From the Ultra-nationalist perspective adding the southern Punthite nations is a matter of pride and raison d'Etat. For those Punthites in favor, the proposal it almost exclusively economic, as it would eliminate trade tariffs, grant them access to governmental and royal subsidies, and likely vastly increase the standard of living.