Matthaeus II

Matthaeus II (Matthaeus Petrus Jacobi; born 14 May 1666) was the sixth King of Faramount, reigning from his father's death in 1675 until his abdication in 1731. Matthaeus restored the power of the king during his reign, retaking control of state affairs from a royal court that had in effect ruled for decades. Yet he did so slowly and carefully, so as to avoid a civil war, and as a result, it was only in the early 1700s that he was able to exert his influence. Mental illness sapped his will to lead, however, and Queen Madeline I largely ruled in his stead until he abdicated in 1731 at her urging following a stroke.

Matthaeus grew up in the royal palace in Lacomopolis, but had scarcely achieved the age of nine when Marcus III perished in 1675, making Matthaeus the king. Queen Maria II served as regent for the next nine years while Matthaeus achieved the age of eighteen. However, in reality, the royal court, which had been running the country since the reign of Marcus I, continued to oversee state affairs. The queen appointed several prime ministers during her regency, and even took several direct actions, but all of those moves came at the demand of the court. Many scholars were describing Faramount more as an oligarchy than a monarchy by the time Matthaeus came of age in 1684.

The young king dedicated himself to restoring his great, great grandfather's legacy, but as an avowed humanist, also committed himself to avoiding a civil war. To avoid conflict or suspicion, he spread word that he had little interest in ruling, and did his best instead to establish a reputation as a playboy. To promote this image while creating his own revenue source, he legalized prostitution and gambling, and imposed sin taxes on both items. The court tolerated these acts, perceiving Matthaeus as being solely interested in legalizing his own pleasures, and in getting the money to live a more lavish lifestyle. Contributing to this belief, Matthaeus held an expensive and massive wedding in 1686, when he married his wife, Queen Madeline I.

Matthaeus used these funds to buy influence in the capital while carefully constructing a political coalition to support his bid for power. He obtained the support of Faramount's wealthy merchant class by promising to abolish tariffs, invest in infrastructure, and establish a navy. He convinced the Royal Guard to declare loyalty to the crown, not just the court, by promising to expand the military, including by establishing a navy. And he convinced a number of prominent landowners to back him by promising to convene, and grant broader powers to, a new Parliament. The king finally in 1692 had organized sufficient backing to make an attempt to retake his own palace.

Matthaeus seized power on 16 September 1693, taking advantage of the ongoing national holiday to catch his political opponents unaware. The Royal Guard arrested most of the nation's nobles within a few hours including both of the country's dukes, who had been in effect jointly deciding most matters of policy. Mercenaries retained by Matthaeus simultaneously assaulted the estates of the various nobles, disarming their guards, and seizing their families. By midnight, the king was securely in power again, his opponents either jailed or cowed. There was little loss of blood, and over the following few weeks, Matthaeus released all of those arrested in return for their pledges of loyalty.

The king quickly pivoted the nation away from the system of noble administration established by Petrus I. He decreed the establishment of a new bureaucracy featuring permanent ministries led and staffed by appointees of the king. As part of this action, he ordered the creation of the Royal Navy, and amalgamated the various noble militias into a single, national military reserve force. He subsequently repealed all tariffs as he had promised, and called for elections for a new Parliament. Matthaeus' supporters felt vindicated by the end of the year, as it appeared he was fulfilling the pledges he had made in order to regain power.

Matthaeus ultimately betrayed the nation's landowners, however, forcing Parliament to improvise to gain the concessions promised to it. The king convened Parliament as pledged, but he then solely asked it to raise property taxes to support his initiatives, without offering any new authority. The members of Parliament were furious -- senior members wrote that Matthaeus had adopted to some extent the reputation of Matthaeus the Turncoat. But parliamentary leaders soon saw a solid path forward -- they approved the property taxes in a bill that also placed numerous regulations on spending. Desperate for funds to support the military and infrastructure projects he had already authorized, Matthaeus was forced to sign the bill, in effect granting Parliament the power of the purse. Parliament later that year appropriated itself a regular budget, leading to the creation of the modern, permanent national legislature.

Matthaeus by 1700 had cemented his power, all while making investments that led to an economic boom in the nation. New roads to Urcea brought a vast tourism trade, especially due to the legality of prostitution and gambling. The new navy provided greater security in Faramanian waters, meanwhile, leading to a boom in commerce, especially following the repeal of all tariffs. Matthaeus' popularity skyrocketed, putting the crown in a position of strength unseen since the reign of Petrus II. Yet the king had little ability to enjoy these successes. He became shy and withdrawn beginning around 1703, likely as a result of a mental illness. Queen Madeline oversaw the state's administration in her husband's stead, but to avoid arousing suspicion, largely promoted hands-off government policies. When the king suffered a devastating stroke in 1701, Madeline encouraged him to abdicate, and he did on March 3 of that year. His oldest son, Matthaeus III, subsequently took the throne. Mathaeus II died a year later of complications from the stroke.