History of Pelaxia: Difference between revisions

Laín II instituted a strict rule in his homelands and raised the taxes tremendously to finance wars and further territorial acquisitions. As king, he finally had also become the direct liege lord of the Comunidades Libres, which thus saw their previous independence curtailed. On the April 16, 1291 Laín bought all the rights over the town of Lucrecia and the abbey estates in Bajofort from Abbey. The Comunidades saw their trade route over Lake Lucrecia cut off and feared losing their independence. When Laín died on July 15, 1291 the Comunidades prepared to defend themselves. On August 1, 1291 a League was made between the Comunidades Libres for mutual defense against a common enemy.

The 14th century in the territory of modern Pelaxia was a time of transition from the old feudal order administrated by regional families of lower nobility (such as the houses of Babafort, Estreniche, Fegona, Fatides, Foronafort, Gouganaca, Huega, Tolefe, Terrafort, Rimiranol, Tarabefort, Santialche etc.) and the development of the powers of the late medieval period, primarily the first stage of the meteoric rise of the House of Castrillón, which was confronted with rivals in Agrila and Sebardoba. The free imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and monasteries were forced to look for allies in this unstable climate, and entered a series of pacts. Thus, the multi-polar order of the feudalism of the High Middle Ages, while still visible in documents of the first half of the 14th century such as the Codex Manesse or the Montia armorial gradually gave way to the politics of the Late Middle Ages, with the Montian Confederacy wedged between Castrillón Pelaxia, the Kingdom of Agrila, the Duchy of Sebardoba and the Duchy of Ficetia. Babafort had taken an unfortunate stand against Castrillón in the battle of Scafaleno in 1289, but recovered enough to confront Fatides and then to inflict a decisive defeat on a coalition force of Castrillón, Sebardoba and Abubilla in the battle of Lupita in 1339. At the same time, Castrillón attempted to gain influence over the cities of Lucrecia and Zaralava, with riots or attempted coups reported for the years 1343 and 1350 respectively. This situation led the cities of Lucrecia, Zaralva and Babafort to attach themselves to the Montian Confederacy in 1332, 1351, and 1353 respectively.

The balance of power remained precarious during the 1350s to 1380s, with Castrillón trying to regain lost influence; Alberto II besieged Zaralva unsuccessfully, but imposed an unfavourable peace on the city in the treaty of Reifort. In 1375, Castrillón tried to regain control over the Savria with the help of Caphiric mercenaries. After a number of minor clashes, it was with the decisive Confederated victory at the battle of Campes in 1386 that this situation was resolved. Castrillón moved its focus westward and lost all possessions in its ancestral territory with the Confederated annexation of Brine in 1416, from which time the Montian Confederacy stood for the first time as a political entity controlling a contiguous territory.

Meanwhile, in Abubilla, the citizenry was also divided into a pro-Castro and an anti-Castro faction.

Initially in 1469, Consul Mauhtémoc Castrillón of Albalitor assigned his possessions in the Termia as a fiefdom to the Duke of Barakaldo, Tristán, to have them protected better against the expansion of the Montian Confederacy. Tristán's involvement west of the Confederacy gave him no reason to attack the confederates as Mauhtémoc had wanted, but his embargo politics against several confederate communes, directed by his reeve Pedro de Goito, prompted these to turn to Agrila for help. Tristán's expansionist strategy suffered a first setback in his politics when his attack on the Archbishopric of Cuenca failed after the unsuccessful Siege of Gandía (1474–75).

In a second phase, Mauhtémoc sought to achieve a peace agreement with the Montian confederates, which eventually was concluded in Agrila in 1474. He wanted to buy back his Termia possessions from Tristán, which the latter refused. Shortly afterwards, de Goito was captured and executed by decapitation in Termia, and the Monts, united with the Termia cities and Mauhtémoc of Castrillón in an "anti-Barakaldo league", conquered part of the Barakaldian land when they won the Battle of Alcoy in November 1474. The next year, Agrilan forces conquered and ravaged Vadia, which belonged to the Duchy of Savria, who was allied with Tristán. In 1476 Tristán retaliated and marched to Jumilla, which belonged to Didac of Savria, but which had recently been taken by the Confederates, where he had the garrison hanged or drowned in the lake despite their capitulation. When the Montian confederate forces arrived a few days later, he was defeated in the Battle of Jumilla, and he was forced to flee the battlefield, leaving behind his artillery and many provisions and valuables. Having rallied his army, he was dealt a devastating blow by the confederates in the Battle of Monforte. Tristán raised a new army, but fell in the Battle of Funes in