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History of Urcea (1402-1575): Difference between revisions
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King Lucás II inherited a country torn by decades of division and armed conflict and the inattention clearly showed: the great plains to the east of Urceopolis that once served as the breadbasket of the continent were wastelands and the site of frequent battle, Urcean ports were treated with scorn by traders globally due to the prevalence of conflict-based piracy, and the once mighty road system built by [[Great Levantia]] found itself largely destroyed from years of overuse and neglect. Lucás, called the "barracks King" both for his popularity among soldiers but also for his humble roots (relative for a King) prior to taking the Throne, spent a considerable part of his 29-year reign attempting to rebuild the country figuratively and literally. The King invited great scholars from across Christendom to engage in discussion about what might today be considered a kind of very primitive proto-economics. As part of this effort to solicit advice on how to reconstruct the nation's wartorn economy, the King convened a council of all of the [[Guilds (Urcea)|guilds]] of Urcea, the [[Gildertach]], for the first time in 1407. Serving initially as an advisory board on trade and trade conditions, it has continued to meet intermittently through the present. While contemplating changes to the Kingdom's economy, Lucás II implemented sweeping legal reforms that, among other changes, formally brought about the end of the [[Great Landsmeet]], which had not met since 1243. The King's legal reforms also included streamlining local succession laws, uniting the laws by which the succession of the [[Urceopolis (Archduchy)|Archduchy of Urceopolis]] and [[Harren|Grand Duchy of Harren]] functioned, thereby preventing a future occurrence of what occurred during the earlier Great Interregnum. Among the series of economic reforms implemented, King Lucás II most famously intentionally debased the currency to help farmers and merchants cancel debts from the war they couldn't repay. Despite the considerable gamble, records seem to indicate the move worked and the Urcean economy was in considerably better state upon Lucás's death in 1431 than it was when he came to the throne some 29 years earlier. | King Lucás II inherited a country torn by decades of division and armed conflict and the inattention clearly showed: the great plains to the east of Urceopolis that once served as the breadbasket of the continent were wastelands and the site of frequent battle, Urcean ports were treated with scorn by traders globally due to the prevalence of conflict-based piracy, and the once mighty road system built by [[Great Levantia]] found itself largely destroyed from years of overuse and neglect. Lucás, called the "barracks King" both for his popularity among soldiers but also for his humble roots (relative for a King) prior to taking the Throne, spent a considerable part of his 29-year reign attempting to rebuild the country figuratively and literally. The King invited great scholars from across Christendom to engage in discussion about what might today be considered a kind of very primitive proto-economics. As part of this effort to solicit advice on how to reconstruct the nation's wartorn economy, the King convened a council of all of the [[Guilds (Urcea)|guilds]] of Urcea, the [[Gildertach]], for the first time in 1407. Serving initially as an advisory board on trade and trade conditions, it has continued to meet intermittently through the present. While contemplating changes to the Kingdom's economy, Lucás II implemented sweeping legal reforms that, among other changes, formally brought about the end of the [[Great Landsmeet]], which had not met since 1243. The King's legal reforms also included streamlining local succession laws, uniting the laws by which the succession of the [[Urceopolis (Archduchy)|Archduchy of Urceopolis]] and [[Harren|Grand Duchy of Harren]] functioned, thereby preventing a future occurrence of what occurred during the earlier Great Interregnum. Among the series of economic reforms implemented, King Lucás II most famously intentionally debased the currency to help farmers and merchants cancel debts from the war they couldn't repay. Despite the considerable gamble, records seem to indicate the move worked and the Urcean economy was in considerably better state upon Lucás's death in 1431 than it was when he came to the throne some 29 years earlier. | ||
Lucás conducted a series of efforts to rebuild the nation's infrastructure and trade, a proactive policy applauded by many modern historians as a pioneering use of state power during the early Renaissance. Most ancient Great Levantine roads had their broken ancient bricks removed, as in many cases the conditions allowed for plain dirt roads which better suited the level and type of traffic of 15th century commerce; the military-oriented limestone roads were no longer necessary, and the broken stones were often an impediment to travel. Roads were also cleared of many obstructions which had developed over the centuries, ranging from landslides to simple fallen trees. New aqueducts were constructed for the first time in nearly a millennia to irrigate the abandoned fields and support the cities. Lucás's efforts also focused on ending piracy in Urcea which had become common during the [[Saint's War]] in an effort to restore the Kingdom's reputations with foreign traders. While he had no regular navy at his disposal, in the summer of [[1406]] Lucás waged a land campaign up and down the coast of the [[Archduchy of Urceopolis]] and [[the Cape (Urcea)|the Cape]], where many secret pirate bases had been located. The so-called "Pirate Campaign of 1406" had the intended effect; most pirates were cleared out, and the ones who the army could not reach found the climate inhospitable and either stood down from piracy or relocated abroad, in some cases as far as [[Vallos]]. | Lucás conducted a series of efforts to rebuild the nation's infrastructure and trade, a proactive policy applauded by many modern historians as a pioneering use of state power during the early Renaissance. Most ancient Great Levantine roads had their broken ancient bricks removed, as in many cases the conditions allowed for plain dirt roads which better suited the level and type of traffic of 15th century commerce; the military-oriented limestone roads were no longer necessary, and the broken stones were often an impediment to travel. Roads were also cleared of many obstructions which had developed over the centuries, ranging from landslides to simple fallen trees. New aqueducts were constructed for the first time in nearly a millennia to irrigate the abandoned fields and support the cities. Lucás's efforts also focused on ending piracy in Urcea which had become common during the [[Saint's War]] in an effort to restore the Kingdom's reputations with foreign traders. While he had no regular navy at his disposal, in the summer of [[1406]] Lucás waged a land campaign up and down the coast of the [[Archduchy of Urceopolis]] and [[the Cape (Urcea)|the Cape]], where many secret pirate bases had been located. The so-called "Pirate Campaign of 1406" had the intended effect; most pirates were cleared out, and the ones who the army could not reach found the climate inhospitable and either stood down from piracy or relocated abroad, in some cases as far as [[Vallos]]. | ||
==Velucian renaissance== | Lucás passed away in the [[Julian Palace]] in [[1431]], reportedly in his sleep. His 29 years on the throne reestablished the monarchy and firmly entrenched [[House de Weluta]] in power. It had been the second longest reign of any Urcean king to that point (surpassed by Adrian I, 1275-1312) and most historians rate him among the best monarchs in Urcean history to that point. | ||
===Velucian renaissance=== | |||
House de Weluta maintained a fairly robust succession in the 15th century and enjoyed considerable support from the landed gentry, the peasantry, and the clergy as they enthusiastically attempted to mend the wounds of the Saint's War with positive result. The resulting period, overlapping with the early renaissance, is known as the "Velucian renaissance" after the family's Latin name. By the first year of the reign of King Niall IV (1456-1482), the country's population had recovered to its pre-war levels, and a robust building program began that would continue under the next three de Weluta Kings that would include a new system of roads, cleared trade routes, and a modernized series of defenses and fortresses. King Niall kept the Kingdom mostly out of foreign entanglements in order to facilitate the construction of the wartorn Kingdom, but he did involve himself in the political affairs of the [[Holy Levantine Empire]], the first [[Apostolic King of Urcea]] to do so in a meaningful sense since the election of Emperor Niall I in the 13th century. Additionally, King Niall IV inherited the [[Principality of Halfway]] after the island's [[Crusades|Crusader Princes]] died out. This was an important step in Urcea's "step into the [[Odoneru Ocean]]" that had begun with the conquest of North Crotona in the latter part of the 13th century by King Donnchad I. | House de Weluta maintained a fairly robust succession in the 15th century and enjoyed considerable support from the landed gentry, the peasantry, and the clergy as they enthusiastically attempted to mend the wounds of the Saint's War with positive result. The resulting period, overlapping with the early renaissance, is known as the "Velucian renaissance" after the family's Latin name. By the first year of the reign of King Niall IV (1456-1482), the country's population had recovered to its pre-war levels, and a robust building program began that would continue under the next three de Weluta Kings that would include a new system of roads, cleared trade routes, and a modernized series of defenses and fortresses. King Niall kept the Kingdom mostly out of foreign entanglements in order to facilitate the construction of the wartorn Kingdom, but he did involve himself in the political affairs of the [[Holy Levantine Empire]], the first [[Apostolic King of Urcea]] to do so in a meaningful sense since the election of Emperor Niall I in the 13th century. Additionally, King Niall IV inherited the [[Principality of Halfway]] after the island's [[Crusades|Crusader Princes]] died out. This was an important step in Urcea's "step into the [[Odoneru Ocean]]" that had begun with the conquest of North Crotona in the latter part of the 13th century by King Donnchad I. | ||