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

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.