Saint's War
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The Saint's War, also sometimes called the War of the Julii was a series of Urcean civil wars for control of the Urcean throne fought between supporters of two rival branches of descendants of St. Julius I: the House Julio-Aleckán, descended from St. Julius directly through the female line, and the House of Cónn, descended via St. Julius's brother and the first Kings of Urcea as proclaimed in the Golden Bull of 1098. Eventually, the wars eliminated the male lines of both families. The conflict lasted through many sporadic episodes between 1214 and 1402, but there was related fighting before and after this period between the parties, including the final defeat of the Cónn-descended House of Julio-Angloise by House de Weluta during the Great Confessional War. The power struggle ignited around social and financial troubles, unfolding the structural problems of feudalism. Historians disagree on which of these factors to identify as the main reason for the wars.
| Saint's War | |||||||
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| A contemporary depiction of the Battle of Hollyhead | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| House Julio-Aleckán (to 1392)
House de Weluta (from 1392)
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House Cónn
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Both houses sat on the undivided throne in several stages between 1214 and 1339, but perhaps the most memorable phase of the war came in the form of the Great Interregnum, as the two primary constituent parts of the Kingdom - the Archduchy of Urceopolis and Grand Duchy of Yustona were divided between the houses, who constantly but inconsistently skirmished with each other over the course of six decades. With the end of the main Julio-Aleckán line in 1392, the Aleckán faction's claim was taken up by House de Weluta, newcomers to the ranks of the landed nobility. Following several more years of fighting, House de Weluta rallied powerful allies from the Ionian Highlands and definitively concluded the war at the Battle of Glens Falls and subsequent siege of the Cónn stronghold at Ardricampus. The de Weluta leader, Louis, married a prominent daughter of the Cónn family and sent the remainder into exile in Angla, which merged the two lines of succession under the de Weluta dynasty. The exiled remnants of the Cónn dynasty - mostly women and children - would marry into the royalty of Angla, planting the seeds for later dynastic turmoil during the Great Confessional War. A minority of scholars believe that the Saint's War did not conclusively end until the victory of House de Weluta over the Julio-Angloise in that conflict, but most historians agree that dynastic struggle, though related, is not part of the Saint's War "proper".
Contents
- 1 Background
- 2 First Phase: War of Succession
- 3 Second Phase: War of Kings
- 4 Third Phase: Great Interregnum
- 5 Legacy
Background
The House of Julio-Yustona had ruled the Kingdom of Urcea since its establishment with the Golden Bull of 1098. This House was not descended from St. Julius I but rather his brother, Aedanicus, who was granted the Grand Duchy of Yustona by Emperor Conchobar I of the Holy Levantine Empire, because St. Julius's male line heirs went extinct in 922. The House of Yustona thus inherited the Archduchy of Urceopolis and attempted to marry into the Julian line in the 10th century, though this was disputed by later historians and Aleckán partisans.
The Julio-Yustona dynasty proper died out in 1153, and in 1159 following an interregnum Seán Aleckán, a descendant in the female line from St. Julius I, dispatched most of the other claimants and was crowned King Seán I. Among other reasons, his reign was considered to be legitimate as the Golden Bull included the vaguely worded provision that "relational descendants of the great Saint, Julius, the Archduke" should sit on the Julian Throne. From this period on, King Seán I was recognized as Custóir of the Estate of the Julii and passed this title on to his descendants, meaning that he and his descendants were recognized as titular heads over the extended Julian family. The strength of the Aleckán claim lay in their proximity to St. Julius I and their headship of the Julii Estate.
In 1214, several of the magnates and Estates of Urcea revolted upon the death of Emperor Niall I, Seán's descendant. They installed Cónn of Holmfilth as Apostolic King of Urcea. King Constantine, as he was known, was descendant of King Aedanicus II, a Julio-Yustona. King Constantine, and his descendants, made up the Royal House of Cónn. Their strength of their claim lay in the proximity to the original Kings of Urcea and that the Aleckáns were functional "outsiders" of the Julian Palace. During period of Cónn rule, it was noted as highly unusual that the King was not the Custóir of his own estate.
First Phase: War of Succession
Second Phase: War of Kings
Battle of Hollyhead
Third Phase: Great Interregnum
Legacy
The Saint's War had a major impact on Social class in Urcea, and the demographic and economic upheavals that resulted from the conflict rendered feudalism a non-entity in Urcea, though serfdom would remain in place until the reforms of King Leo II following the Great Confessional War. The Saint's War also impacted the development of the Constitution of Urcea, as the conflict precluded the meeting of the Great Landsmeet, giving rise to the Concilium Daoni in its place.