The Anarchy
| This article is a stub. You can help IxWiki by expanding it. |
The Anarchy was a period in which the Holy Levantine Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressures of, civil wars, peasant rebellions, political instability, dynastic competition, plague, debasement of currency, economic depression, and the Protestant Reformation. It began in or around 1509 and ended with the conclusion of the Great Confessional War in 1575, which restored political and social cohesion to the Empire.
The Holy Levantine Empire had been ruled by the Jazonid dynasty, a Gassavelian-descended dynasty of Dericanian rulers. Ruling from 1387, the Jazonids provided stability and direction for the Empire for nearly a century in a half. In 1509, the last Jazonid - Louis VIII - was elected. While capable when younger, it is believed a neurological condition dramatically decreased his ability to govern the Empire, and he was also infertile. The incapable ruler was unable to respond to the growing crisis of the Protestant Reformation, which entirely destabilized the socio-economic situation of the Empire and caused widespread unrest, revolts, and economic depression. In 1524, Louis - and all of six of his eligible male relatives - were assassinated on Easter in Corcra, leading to an end of the dynasty and marking the beginning of a dynastic struggle for control of the Empire on the battlefield and in the Collegial Electorate. The dynastic and religious issues within the Empire eventually came to the fore with the Great Confessional War.
Due in part to the large scale social disruptions and establishment of major armies roaming the continent, the Plague had a major resurgence during this period, striking in major waves in 1526, 1539, 1552, 1561, and 1571.
The Anarchy came to an end through the end of the Great Confessional War, which concluded the period of socio-political unrest by resolving the outstanding issues with violence and bloodshed. The end of the Anarchy coincided with the rise of the de Weluta dynasty of Urcea, which would rule the Empire intermittently between 1575 and 1799.