Anglei

The United Angle States, also called Anglei, is a country in Levantia, located north of the Ionian Mountains and south of the Vandarch. It is a member of the Levantine Union. Ænglish people permanently settled the territory of modern Anglei during the 7th century, establishing a border under the Holy Levantine Empire. The March, later elevated to the Kingdom of Angla, enjoyed a place of prominence in central Levantia during the 14th and 15th centuries, but entered a period of instability and religious upheavel during The Anarchy. Becoming one of the first Protestant states following the, Angla's mounting tensions witht he Emperor of the Levantines lead to the Nordmontaine War, when the Kingdom of Angla was partitioned into its constituent duchies and divided into the Imperial Kingdom of Urcea and Kingdom of Dericania. Following the war and subsequent Great Confessional War, Anglei was depopulated as many Protestant Ænglish people were deported abroad by the end of the 1500s. The divided country spent much of the next three centuries rebuilding and growing, only surpassing its pre-war population in 1780. The five independent duchies which previously made up the core region of Angla retained its strong Ænglish identity and were eventually the home of Ænglish nationalism in the 19th century. The unification of the duchies were permitted by the Holy Levantine Empire in part due to rising sentiments of Burgophobia, as many Derian people and Ænglish people alike believed a potential invasion of the duchies by Yonderre was imminent. The five duchies became the United Angle States in 1884 by the Concordat of Donnebourg, which was affirmed by the Imperial Diet. The same year, Anglei became a free state within the Holy Levantine Empire. Anglei later joined the Levantine Union after the Second Great War.

Etymology
Over the course of its history, the territory today known as Anglei was given various official and unofficial names including Angla, Ænglaland, Ænglia, and Ænglasmarch/Ænglishmarch, the origin of the modern state of Ænglasmarch in Urcea. All of these names were used in official titles during the Kingdom period, with the simplified Angla being the most common. For historiographical purposes, "Ænglishmarch" became the common term to refer to the march period and "Angla" to refer to the Kingdom period, but these historical conventions largely began in the mid-20th century. The term Anglei, the Burgoignesc term for the area, entered common use following the partition of the unified Ænglish state in the Nordmontaine War. The term, originating in neighboring Yonderre, became the conventional name for the area due to both local acceptance as well as common map appellation by the mid-1700s. Although the official name of the country was the "United Angle States", in part not to indicate greater territorial claims to Ænglish irredenta, the term "Anglei" remains the common shorthand name of the country and has been increasingly used in official correspondence since the end of the Second Great War.

Establishment and migration
The permanent settlement of the region by the ancestors of the Ænglish people occurred in the late 7th century, although Ænglish people had alternatively raided and settled portions of Great Levantia since at least the 4th century. Recognizably Ænglish principalities formed and exerted pressure on the northmost members of the Latin League, with settling Ænglish warlords and tribes beginning to settle in previously Latinic cities, ruling over Latinics and intermarrying with them. The oncoming Ænglish people also extensively feuded with the Garán people of what would later become Carolina. The area later became loosely part of the Holy Levantine Empire under Conchobar I, Emperor of the Levantines and then part of the Eastern and Western Kingdoms of the Levantines beginning in 917. The later fall of the Western Kingdom lead to consistent Gothic incursions into the newly reformed Holy Levantine Empire beginning in 965; the non-Christianized Goths indiscriminately targeted border populations of the Empire, leading to decades of fighting between the Ænglish and Goths.

Marcher period
In 1042, Emperor Leo II issued a Golden Bull reorganizing what would later become Anglei into the Ænglish March in order to provide a firmer border defense for the Levantine Empire. The newly created March encompassed all lands settled by Ænglish people in addition to all other western border territories not part of Carolina. Duke of Holchester Edmund Æthelsbert, previously a vassal of the Emperor under the Kingdom of Dericania, was elevated to Margrave of the Ænglish and given Imperial immediacy. Margrave Edmund I would become a semi-mythic figure responsible for the full transition from nomadic conquest to a proud, settled people, although most historians suggest that the Ænglish were largely in place before the establishment of the March. Regardless, Margrave Edmund I established a number of important alliances and established the Margraviate as a prestigious member of the Empire.

Edmund I's grandson, Margrave Cuthbert I, began work on a series of fortifications on the border with Gothica that would eventually become known as the Anglasweorc in 1121. The initial Anglasweorc included watchtowers along the March's river borders as well as a series of earthworks along land borders and a sparse variety of fortifications and the antecedents of castles. The Anglasweorc would continually be expanded and improved over the next three centuries and would become Anglei's most iconic structure.

By the end of the 12th century, the Anglasweorc had been expanded into a series of castles and adaptations of old Great Levantine border defenses. The strength of the Anglasweorc allowed the March to begin charging large tolls to Gothic traders seeking to do business within the Holy Levantine Empire, and also eventually allowed the Ænglish to begin exacting tribute from neighboring Gothic tribes and enforcing peaceful movement of peoples along the border. The influx of tolls and tribute - along with the end of the raiding threat - lead to the March becoming prosperous and prestigious, with the Margrave's court becoming a center of art, fashion, and science. Accordingly, 1200 is traditionally established as the beginning of the "Ænglish golden age".

Kingdom period
In 1278, the power and prestige of the expanded March was such that the Emperor of the Levantines elevated the Margrave of the Ænglish to royal dignity, creating the Kingdom of Angla, also sometimes referred to as "Anglia", "Ænglia", or "Ænglaland" and typically referred to internally as the "Kingdom of the Ænglish". Wilfred I was crowned as first King of the Ænglish that year. During this period, the Anglasweorc was continually improved upon in multiple phases. The wealth of the Ænglish allowed them to focus more on the internal politics of the Holy Levantine Empire and expand further south and east.

In 1464, the Ultmar Crusade was largely complete, creating the predecessor of modern Yonderre. The creation of this crusader state ended more than five centuries of the Ænglish serving as the western protectors of Christendom and the Holy Levantine Empire and significantly disrupted the fortunes of the Ænglish as the flow of tribute and toll revenue dried up. The considerable expense of maintaining the Anglasweorc, previously offset by Gothic revenue, lead to its gradual abandonment beginning in 1480 and eventual ruin. The major disruption to Ænglish politics and society exacerbated the growth of religious upheaval within the Kingdom and brought an end to the "Ænglish golden age".

Religious upheaval and disagreement dominated Angla throughout much of the 15th and 16th centuries within the greater context of The Anarchy. The Kingdom was the site of a major civil war between orthodox Catholics and utraquists from the 1460s onward. The lack of religious cohesion lead to the rise of other Catholic heresies throughout the Kingdom, creating an environment of considerable skepticism towards Catholic orthodoxy. Many novel Christian sects rose and were subsequently destroyed in the 1470s and 1480s. Although the Ultraquist War ended in 1488, the religious upheaval allowed proto-Protestants and, later, early Protestant reformers to make large converts among the Ænglish population. Consequently, the Kingdom was among the first realms to convert to Protestantism, as King Godwin II embraced it in 1523. By 1530, most modern scholars estimate a full sixty percent of Ænglish within the Kingdom were Protestant, though inter-Protestant disputes soon continued the century of religious disagreements and occasional violence that plagued the Kingdom.

Unification and modern period
Anglei declared its neutrality in the Second Fratricide, declaring it a "Derian internal matter", and remained neutral with the conflict's escalation into the Second Great War. Despite its neutrality, the country was invaded by the Urcean Royal and Imperial Army on April 14th and capitulated on April 17th. The country remained occupied until the Treaty of Corcra ended the Levantine theater of the war. Throughout the occupation, the country's neutral status was maintained and occupying forces were primarily concerned with ensuring military and supply transit through the country as well as the open status of the Carolina-Grand Canal. Although the occupation was unpopular, no significant resistance efforts began during the war and the withdrawal of Urcean forces proceeded largely without incident.

The occupation inaugurated a short period of diplomatic isolation during the Second Great War, but at the end of the conflict the country reestablished relations with its Levantine neighbors. It was a founding member of the Levantine Union. Despite its Levantine Union membership, Anglei remained largely neutral during the Occidental Cold War. It took part in the international coalition against Varshan during the Final War of the Deluge, contributing forces to both the Quetzenkel front, Cetsencalia front and the Ehemoan front‎ following the Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot. On the Quetzenkel front, Anglei launched the controversial and ultimately disastrous Cobalt campaign, the worst military defeat by an Ænglish state since the Nordmontaine War. The enormous loss of life during the campaign lead to a national identity crisis and inaugurated a period of military reform and increased outward facing identity, as many Ænglish interpreted the loss as being attributable to an outdated military and political mindset. After the end of the war, Anglei joined the Global Defense Corollary of the Levantine Union.

Prince of the United Angle States
The Prince of the United Angle States serves as the and  of Anglei. The Prince's control over the military and apparatus of state is nominal, but retains an important role within the legislature. The Prince is responsible for choosing the party which will form a government and is responsible for assembling a governing majority within the Assembly.

The Prince of the United Angle States is a lifetime position like most other monarchies, but unlike many Levantine monarchies it is an. Upon the death of the Prince, ten thousand citizens are chosen at random to serve in a body called the "Principal Electorate". These citizens then elect from their number 300 members who serve as the "Council for Succession and the State of the Union", who are responsible for deliberating and choosing the next Prince. There are no limitations on who may serve as Prince (or Princess) other than being an individual who is a baptized member in good standing of the Levantine Catholic Church and is at least age 25. In practice, the House of Porter has ruled Anglei since its inception, though the Council has not always chosen along the line of direct. This system of succession has sometimes been referred to as "electoral sortition".

Local governance
Anglei is divided into five states which were originally the five constituent integral duchies of the United Angle States upon its creation.