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The Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth, formally known as the United Kingdom of Cartadania and Pelaxia and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Alahuela, was a country and a federation of Cartadania and Pelaxia ruled by a common monarch in real union, who was both King of both former Caphirian provinces. It was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th to 17th-century Sarpedon. At its largest territorial extent, in the early 18th century, the Commonwealth covered almost 1,000,000 km2 (400,000 sq mi) and as of 1718 sustained a multi-ethnic population of almost 22 million. Cartadanian, Pelaxian and Latin were the three co-official languages.

The Commonwealth was established by the Union of Alahuela in July 1632, carried by the major lords of Cartadanian and Pelaxian valleys, following the the Great Schism of 1615, where a break of communion between what are now the Catholic Church and the Imperial Church of Caphiria occurred and the invasion of Cartadania by the Grand Royal Army of Pelaxia. The Great Schism lead to the independence of the southern province of Pelaxia and the independence of the at the time vassal lords. The First Partition in 1772 and the Second Partition in 1793 greatly reduced the state's size and the Commonwealth was partitioned out of existence due to the Third Partition in 1795.

The Union possessed many features unique among contemporary states. Its political system was characterized by strict checks upon monarchical power. These checks were enacted by a legislature (Concilii Regii) controlled by the nobility and the aristrocracy. This idiosyncratic system was a precursor to modern concepts of democracy, as of 1791 constitutional federal monarchy. Although the two component states of the Commonwealth were formally equal, Pelaxia was the dominant partner in the union with the dinasty De Pardo holding the royal figurehead.

The Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth was marked by high levels of ethnic diversity and by relative religious tolerance, guaranteed by the Albalitor Confederation Act 1673; however, the degree of religious freedom varied over time. The Constitution of 1791 acknowledged Catholic Church as the "dominant religion", but freedom of religion was still granted with it.

After several decades of prosperity, it entered a period of protracted political, military, and economic decline. Its growing weakness led to its partitioning during the late 18th century. Shortly before its demise, the Commonwealth adopted a massive reform effort and enacted the Rosas Constitution, which was the second codified constitution in modern Sarpedonian history.

Name

The official name of the state was the United Kingdom of Cartadania and Pelaxia (Cartadanian: Reino Unido de Cartadania e Pelaxia, Pelaxian: Reino Unido de Cartadania y Pelaxia, Latin: Regnum Unitum Cartadanium Pelagium) and the Latin term was usually used in international treaties and diplomacy.

In the 17th century and later it was also known as the 'Most Serene Commonwealth of Carto-Pelaxia'.

Levantines often simplified the name to 'Cartopelaxia' and in most past and modern sources it is referred to as the Kingdom of Pelaxia, or just Pelaxidania.The terms 'Commonwealth of Cartadania and Pelaxia' and 'Commonwealth of Two Nations' were used in the Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations.

Other informal names include the 'Republic of Nobles' and the 'First Commonwealth of Sarpedon.'

History

Prelude (1283–1618)

The Province of Pelaxia and the Province of Cartadania underwent an alternating series of wars and alliances across the 13th and 14th centuries. The relations between the two states differed at times as each strived and competed for political, economic or military dominance of the region. In turn, Pelaxia had remained a staunch ally of its northern ruler, Caphiria.

The Treaty of Agrila of 943 assigned the western part of modern Pelaxia to the House of Castrillón, ruled by Luciano II, and the eastern part to the eastern Agrilan Duke of Agrila. During the 12th century the counts of Santialche, vassals of Adolfo Duke of Agrila, founded many cities, the most important being Alimoche in 1120, Fatides in 1157, and Barcegas in 1191. The Santialche dynasty ended with the death of Balbino in 1218, and their cities subsequently thus became independent, while the dukes of Kazofort competed with the Albalitorian Warden house of Castrillón over control of the rural regions of the former Santialche territory.

The rise of the Castrillón dynasty gained momentum when their main local competitor, the Kazofort dynasty, died out and they could thus bring much of the territory south of the Rayado River under their control. Subsequently, they managed within only a few generations to extend their influence through Savria in south-eastern regions. Under the Horiz rule, the Picos passes in Montia and the San Alberto Pass gained importance. Especially the latter became an important direct route through the mountains. The construction of the "Devil’s Bridge" (Puente del Diablo) across the Picos Centrales in 1198 led to a marked increase in traffic on the mule track over the pass. While some of the "Free Communities" (Comunidades Libres, i.e. Montia, Cevedo, and Bajofort) were Imperolibertos the Castrillón still claimed authority over some villages and much of the surrounding land. While Cevedo was Imperoliberti in 1240, the castle of Nueva Brine was built in 1244 to help control Lake Lucrecia and restrict the neighboring Forest Communities. In 1273 the rights to the Comunidades were sold by a cadet branch of the Habsburgs to the head of the family, Laín II. Laín II was therefore the ruler of all the Imperoliberti communities as well as the lands that he ruled as a Castrillón

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.

With the opening of the Gastian Pass in the 13th century, the territory of Central Pelaxia, primarily the valleys of Montia, had gained great strategical importance and was granted Imperoliberti by the Horiz monarchs of Agrila. This became the nucleus of the Montian Confederacy, which during the 1330s to 1350s grew to incorporate its core of "eleven provinces"

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 catastrophic 1356 Abubilla earthquake which devastated a wide region, and the city of Abubilla was destroyed almost completely in the ensuing fire. 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.

In 1485, the Union of Termia was signed between Reginaldo Castrillón of Alabalitoria and Jerónimo De Pardo, the Grand Duke of Agrila, the Head Chancellor of the Montian Confederacy. The act arranged for Reignaldo's daughter Josefina to marry Jerónimo, which established the beginning of the Pelaxian Kingdom. The union strengthened both regions as self appointed protectors of Pelaxia, in their shared opposition to the newly formed Kingdom of Savria under King Didac l, self-appointed protector of the south.

The intention of the union was to create a common state under Albalitorian law, with the support of the ruling oligarchy in the Montian Confederacy. Castrillón would gain access to the trade passes through the Picos into the Dominate of Caphiria, while the Confederates would gain access to Albalitorian ports and sea routes. Thus, in the Jeronimian period, Pelaxia developed as a feudal state with a predominantly agricultural economy and an increasingly dominant mercantile nobility.