History of Urcea (1575-1798): Difference between revisions

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]], [[Talionia|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 III, Emperor of the Levantines|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 [[Social class in Urcea|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 [[Urceopolis (Archduchy)|Archduchy of Urceopolis]] of [[Social class in Urcea|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 and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal Army]] and [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|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 [[Julian Palace#Caeline Palace|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 also saw two "Years of Three Kings" - 1627 and 1656.

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 (Urcea)|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.  

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 [[College_of_Levantine_Churches#Old_Believers|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 {{wp|highwaymen}} or other criminals of opportunity. Regardless, the Crown seized upon these rumors and deployed the [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|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 [[Catholic Church|Church]] officials. The 1610s lead most Old Believers to withdraw from society even further or to voluntarily immigrate to [[Pharisedom]]s 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.

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 people|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 (City)|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 (Urcea)|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 (City)|Urceopolis]] in chains.  

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-minted 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 Duchy of Carolina|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''.

 

During the war, King Leo required huge sums of [[Taler|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 [[Criminal_justice_system_of_Urcea#History|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 among the first major developments towards the modern [[Constitution of Urcea]], and following the war Emperor Leo agreed to permanently uphold this concession.

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 {{wp|great power}} rather than a major political player within the Empire.

In 1780, Emperor Brian VII intervened in the [[Veltorine War of Independence]], a war that saw the [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|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.

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 (City)|Urceopolis]] and in [[Corcra (City)|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]].

At the dawn of Urcea's Imperial period, {{wp|baroque}} art was entering prominence in Urcea and throughout the [[Holy Levantine Empire]] within the context of the {{wp|Counter Reformation}} and Catholic victory in the [[Great Confessional War]]. The rise of the [[Social class in Urcea|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," {{wp|Rococo architecture}} 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 [[Julian_Palace#Caeline_Palace|Caeline Palace]] (part of the Julian Palace complex), the [[The Hermitage (Cálfeld)|Hermitage]], and [[Electorsbourg]] were all built or partly rebuilt in this style. Throughout the streets of [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]], many new churches were constructed in this style during the 17th 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.