Isurian revivalism

Isurian revivalism is a series of cultural phenomena that have emerged during the latter half of the 19th Century which was prevalent throughout both Lucrecia and Delepasia (now Castadilla) which have renewed interest in the Isurians and their culture. It has often been cited as having had wide-ranging effects on not only Castadillaan and Lucrecian history, but also on the overall evolution of the Vallosi vernaculars of the Pelaxian language in mainland Vallos and the eventual rise of Isurianism in Lucrecian politics as well as the rise of Delepasian exceptionalism in Delepasian culture. The exact dates for when Isurian revivalism began and when it ended are subject to debate, and may very well diverge depending on the country; it is typically agreed upon that Isurian revivalism began sometime during the latter half of the 19th Century, and that it was around throughout much of the 20th Century and especially during the first half.

There have been no particular cause cited behind Isurian revivalism, though multiple theories have been accepted as being historically credible. The Isurian people have had a long association with Vallos throughout its history since the 14th Century with the formation of the Old Isurian Generality in what is now Lucrecia as well as the establishment of the Viceroyalty of Los Rumas by Isurian captain Mauricio Delepas, but much of the Isurians who have settled in the Viceroyalty have largely assimilated into the Pelaxian majority to the point that by 1700 there were virtually no one left who self-identified as being Isurian even in ancestry. The rise of romanticism and nationalism have been cited as one of the reasons why Isurian revivalism became so widespread throughout Delepasia and Lucrecia which was coupled with a fusion between both traditionalism and modernisation.

One of the most widespread results of Isurian revivalism which can still be seen throughout Castadilla and Lucrecia to this day was the reintroduction of the old Isurian tradition of calvary monuments which are now seen as a familiar cultural sign in modern-day Castadillaan and Lucrecian Christian iconography.

Causes

The exact causes of Isurian revivalism are currently up to debate, with some causes going as far back as the latter half of the 18th Century and others as recent as the fall of the short-lived Delepasian Kingdom in 1852. It is agreed, nonetheless, that regardless of the cause Isurian revivalism had entered into the cultural mainstream during the latter half of the 19th Century and remained as such for approximately a century.

The following have been cited as possible causes behind the emergence of Isurian revivalism; it should be noted that these possible causes do not have to be mutually exclusive and most historians have suggested that Isurian revivalism could have emerged because of a combination of the following causes:

End of the Pelaxian monarchy: This is one of the most well-known possible causes in Castadillaan history. Prior to the abolition of the Pelaxian monarchy and the collapse of the Delepasian Kingdom in 1852, many Delepasians have never identified as being of Isurian ancestry, although they were well aware that they may have had Isurian ancestors. Nonetheless, the fall of the Pelaxian monarchy and the collapse of the short-lived Delepasian Kingdom, particularly after the last Pelaxian monarch King Luciano II had referred to them as being "ungovernable", had alienated the Delepasians from Pelaxia for quite some time, so many of them began to distinguish themselves even further from Pelaxians by taking in certain aspects of the Isurians as well as portions of their language and culture.
Reaction to Emeritanism: Emeritanism, which was Emeritan romantic Latinic nationalism, has had a history of attempting to assimilate the Isurians of Lucrecia; it effectively made the country's Isurian population into second-class citizens in that they were legally restricted from participating in politics or climbing the social ladder unless they assimilate into the Emeritan culture. Indeed, some of the most radical supporters of Emeritanism were often Isurians who have assimilated. Although the rise in romantic nationalism did result in Emeritanism, it also resulted in the rise of a countermovement which promoted Isurian nationalism in opposition or even defiance of Emeritanism's goals of assimilation with the Isurian culture and language experiencing a renaissance.
Connection to Delepas: For many Delepasians in the 19th Century, it was becoming rather fashionable to be related to a famous Isurian in colonial history, with one of the most prominent figures of interest being Captain Mauricio Delepas as well as several members of his crew who were also of Isurian ancestry. The idea behind this being a possible cause is that the Delepasians may have wished to embrace certain aspects of the Isurians just so they could further legitimise their claims of being a descendant of a notable Isurian figure.
Research into Isurian culture: Research into the Isurians did not begin in earnest until the 18th Century when scholars began to do historical research on the first Bishop of Los Rumas Afonso Ocampo, whom many have forgotten was of Isurian ancestry. This chance discovery would inspire interest in studying the Isurian people, their language, and their culture. This research has often been cited as being one of the reasons behind the emergence of Delepasianism which sought to separate the colonists of the Viceroyalty of Los Rumas from the Pelaxians through the creation of a new, distinct national identity.
Reaction to Caphiric efforts: In 1870, the Isurian language in Caphiria underwent a top-down written language standardisation process which saw the language being streamlined and integrating certain Latin loanwords to improve mutual intelligibility between Isurian and Caphiric Latin; for most Isurians outside of Caphiria, this was considered almost of a travesty which inspired them to do their own standardisations of Isurian, often with some very generous government subsidies in the case of Delepasia, but the Isurians of Lucrecia too began their own standardisations out of fear of their language becoming lost to either Latin or Emeritan Pelaxian.

History and impact in Delepasia and Castadilla

In Delepasian and Castadillaan history, Isurian revivalism is considered to be one of the first major cultural phenomena to have happened in post-colonial Delepasia, specifically after the fall of the brief Delepasian Kingdom in 1852. The preceding colonial territory that Delepasia and Castadilla have held sovereignty over was originally a part of the Viceroyalty of Los Rumas which was primarily founded by Isurians during its first two decades until the first ethnic Pelaxians arrived once the Viceroyalty began to become profitable. The Pelaxian colonists were much more numerous than the initial Isurian colonists, and the latter would soon vanish as a distinct ethnicity due to them marrying into the Pelaxians. The colonists of the Viceroyalty largely saw themselves as Pelaxians first and foremost even if they had never set foot into the Pelaxian metropole. Instead, the primary cultural divide in the Viceroyalty was between the colonists who live in coastal areas and the colonists who live further inland; the former were generally of full Occidental ancestry, and the latter were the descendants of mixed-race marriages between Pelaxians and indigenous peoples.

This form of colonial regionalism would last for many years until a new, distinct national identity would emerge in the 18th Century which saw all colonists as not being two separate people groups, but rather as one nation separate from the Pelaxians. This new identity was coined "Delepasian" and served as the main impetus behind Delepasianism which opposed the traditional colonial hierarchy and wished to replace it with a more meritocratic political economic elite. Early Delepasianists, however, still did not embrace aspects of the Isurian culture for they still wished to remain with Pelaxia and get their status upgraded to that of citizens, complete with full legal and political representation in the Pelaxian government which was briefly achieved during the years of the First Pelaxian Republic only to be reversed when the First Republic collapsed. The returning viceregal aristocratic elite chose to co-opt Delepasianism and use it to support an alternative movement which called for the viceroyalty to be made into a separate kingdom in a real union with Pelaxia. This was briefly attempted in 1852 after the Pelaxian monarchy had been abolished permanently, only to fail when the Delepasian Kingdom collapsed in just three months; King Luciano II, the last Pelaxian monarch, would flee Delepasia but not before complaining that the Delepasians were "ungovernable".

The Delepasians retaliated heavily to their last king calling them "ungovernable", first by banning Luciano's dynasty from ever setting foot onto Delepasian soil ever again, a ban that remains in effect to this day. Another part of the Delepasians' retaliation was their distancing from Pelaxian culture by embracing aspects of other Occidental cultures that were prevalent throughout history. This was most notably accomplished through the sudden embracing of the Isurians which was relatively easy to do as Isurians were among the earliest settlers of the old viceroyalty. Indeed, the turn towards Isurian revivalism had led to the Delepasians co-opting certain cultural aspects and traditions of the Isurians, and even utilise parts of the Isurian language. In the latter instance, this was most notable in how the letters "x" and "j" in Vallosi vernaculars of Pelaxian have diverged in terms of pronunciation; in Albalitorian vernaculars, the letters "x" and "j" made nearly the exact same sound, that being /x/ and /χ/ which can be noticed in the Albalitorian pronunciation of "Pelaxia". This diverged in the Vallosi vernaculars of Pelaxian where the letters "x" and "j" make different sounds, with /x/ and /χ/ being merged into "j", and "x" being pronounced /ʃ/; the result in this consonant shift is that Pelaxian words that make use of a /x/ sound are always spelled with a "j", hence "Pelaxia" is spelled "Pelajia" in Castadilla.

From a cultural standpoint overall, asides from the adoption of Isurian cultural traditions in an effort to distance themselves from the Pelaxians, the Delepasians have also embraced a sense of exploration and adventure which was particularly noted amongst the early Delepasian settlers of Navidadia in the 1870s after the collapse of the Loa Empire. The frontierist spirit found in Navidadia would soon give birth to a new form of Delepasian nationalism. Taking in aspects of romantic nationalism and Navidadian frontierism, Delepasian exceptionalism was an ideology that sought to portray the Delepasians as the rightful rulers of an Occidental Vallos and that it was their mission to civilise Vallos to ensure the survival of Occidental civilisation on the subcontinent. This civilising mission would become the primary inspiration behind the Loa Laws and the Navidadian System which sought to segregate the Loa for their savagery and cruelty against the Romany people whom the Navidadians have counted as amongst their ancestors.

Politically, Delepasian exceptionalism was one of the main ideological standpoints of the Estado Social regime from 1924 until its overthrow in a coup in 1984. Presently, it is now considered a far-right fringe movement that only the Delepasian Alternative openly supports to this day.

History and impact in Lucrecia

A Gran Isuria ("The Great Isuria"), a traditional Isurian hymn, became the national anthem of the Isurian people of Lucrecia.

Isurian revivalism has no doubt had its greatest impact in Lucrecia amongst the Lucrecio-Isurian population. Before the formation of Lucrecia in the 16th Century, the Isurians of what is now Lucrecia had their own country in the Catenias which modern historians refer to as the Old Isurian Generality to avoid confusion with its modern incarnation which is also called the Isurian Generality. The Old Generality was unique in that unlike most other places on Sarpedon or on Vallos at the time which often were monarchical and hierarchical, the Old Generality was a peasant republic due to the lack of any higher form of authority over them other than God. The Old Generality was governed as a very loose confederacy with no head of state; it was a direct democracy, complete with its own unicameral popular assembly in which all citizens could voluntarily attend its sessions on any day of the year with the only exceptions being on Sunday and religious holidays. All legislative, judicial, and executive matters were to be voted upon by the attendees of the popular assembly; attendees were given two differently-coloured marbles and would place one of the marbles into a canopic jar, and whichever colour has the majority in the jar will determine the final decision to be made for the proposal.

The Old Isurian Generality was noted to be a surprisingly successful and effective form of government despite it being the only known peasant republic in Occidental history, and it would soon catch the notice of the nobility of the Old Emeritan Republic, who were absolutely terrified by the Isurian form of government. It was seen as a grave perversion to not only the Republic's classical republican ideals, but also as a mockery of the traditional social hierarchy and a potential threat to the Republic; the nobles would often fear that the success of the Generality would inspire a peasants' revolt which would have seen the overthrow of the Republic in favour of a government that was similar to that of the Old Generality's. This would result in the nobles deciding to fabricate an invasion originating from mainland Vallos and to approach the Old Generality with a proposal to unite their two countries so they could repel the invasion together. This would result in the unification of Lucrecia in 1561 and the demotion of the Isurians to the status of second-class citizens; the Isurians were barred from participating in politics unless they have sufficiently assimilated into the Emeritan culture and language, with the assimilated Isurians being known for having inspired the creation of Emeritanism as well as the ones responsible for the worst excesses of anti-Isurian discrimination under the belief that if they could assimilate then the other Isurians in Lucrecia must assimilate too.

For the next couple of centuries, the Isurians of Lucrecia have slowly seen their culture, language, and traditions erode to the prevailing attitudes of the assimilationists, and by the 19th Century it seemed like it would only take about one more century before the Isurians would be considered full-fledged Emeritans. This assimilationist trend amongst the Isurians began to change abruptly around the mid-19th Century when the overall cultural attitudes began to shift towards opposition and defiance towards the Lucrecian government's assimilation policies. During this time, numerous Isurian intellectuals would begin to emerge, making works based upon the cultural traditions of the Isurian people; secret Isurian-language institutes were established to teach the language to newer generations so that it may never be lost, people began changing their Emeritan Pelaxian names to Isurian equivalents or even give themselves entirely new Isurian names, and certain Isurian traditions that were long thought lost began to be revived such as the establishment of many sanctuaries under the protection of various saints.

The Isurian cultural renaissance also influenced the overall politics of Lucrecia even well into the latter half of the 20th Century. The regionalist romantic nationalist ideology of Isurianism was largely formed as a result of Isurian revivalism with its primary objective being to put an end to Emeritan political dominance in Lucrecia and to put an end to the assimilationist practices. Despite Lucrecia having fallen under fascist rule for over twenty years from the early 1920s until the late 1940s which saw the government utilise an extremist form of Emeritanism which actively persecuted Isurianism, the movement was able to survive those years and would eventually morph into the Generality movement which sought a more radical vision of Isurianism; not only did the movement call for an end to the assimilationist policies, which have softened considerably after the fall of the fascist regime, and Emeritan dominance in Lucrecian politics it also called for the re-establishment of the Isurian Generality. The Generality movement would prove to be highly popular throughout the mid-20th Century to the point that a general strike of all Isurians was instigated in 1968. The Great Isurian strike of 1968 proved to ultimately be the very form of civil disobedience needed to gain the attention of the Lucrecian government who subsequently went into a series of negotiations with the Isurian leadership which would see the enactment of a series of sweeping reforms in the Republic that would transition the aristocratic republic into a modern bilingual federation which would guarantee representation for the Isurians as well as extensive linguistic and cultural protections which remain in place to this day.