History of Urcea (800-1098): Difference between revisions

In 965, the [[Eastern Kingdom of the Levantines|Eastern King of the Levantines]], a man named Leo, a [[Derian people|Derian]] noble, deposed the Conine King in the Southern Kingdom with the considerable assistance of the Archduke of Urceopolis, who invited his invasion. The Pope crowned Leo as Emperor in 972, reforming the [[Holy Levantine Empire|Levantine Empire]], though permanently without the Western Kingdom of the Levantines. The Leonine Dynasty proved short lived, and its failure to produce an heir lead to near-open revolt. The Archduke of Urceopolis at the time, Julius III, joined the rebelling factions, eventually winning and securing that the Emperor would be elected by the most powerful or worthy vassals of the Empire via the [[Collegial Electorate]]. ''Julius Secures the Imperial Liberties'', a romantic painting of the Archduke forcing the Imperial regent to sign a charter (the Pragmatic Sanction of 997) following the regent’s defeat on the field, became an iconic rallying symbol for Urcean national identity within the Empire in the 19th century. Archduke Julius III’s son, Adrian IV, became Archduke and Grand Duke in 1002, and he himself was elected Emperor in 1014, becoming Emperor Adrian II, the first of several of the family of St. Julius to become Emperor. During his reign, Emperor Adrian convened the first [[Great Landsmeet]] in 1022. This Landsmeet was envisioned by the Emperor as a meeting of all of the Custóirs of the [[Estates of Urcea]] as a system to resolve disputes within the Archduchy-Harren between the various [[Social class in Urcea|optimate families]], whose feuding undermined the realm. The Great Landsmeet was also devised as a system to help assist in administration of the realm by way of consensus, an early example of the foundation of the [[Constitution of Urcea]]. The Great Landsmeet would meet only upon the call of the Archduke, and during its existence it met dozens of times in its centuries of existence. It replaced the earlier Tribal Assembly, which had not met since 917, and given that only the heads of the 50 estates were required to participate, it was considerably easier to gather enough Custóirs to have a working meeting. The Great Landsmeet would remain a permanent institution for centuries. Adrian, reformer and the "First Urcean Emperor", died in 1036.