Medimeria

The Rectory of Medimeria is an overseas possession of Urcea. It was acquired from Burgundie in 2014 in exchange for Antilles. The island, which was likely unknown to Audonians at the time of its discovery and colonization, was the site of Protestant refugee settlement in the wake of the Great Confessional War in Levantia. The island served as a primarily self-governing Pharisedom and refuge with important but limited trade importance until the rise of steam power, after which time Medimeria became an important coaling station.

Rectory of Medimeria
Overseas territory of Urcea
Flag
Transferred from Burgundie	2014
Cathedral City	Madix
Population  (2014)
• Total	55,591

Previously, it was a colony of Burgundie and was represented as a member of the Burgoignesc Overseas Representative Assembly (BORA).

Etymology

Medimeria derives its name from the Burgoignesc words med (Eng. middle), mer (Eng. sea), and the Latin suffix ia (Eng. place). The meaning translates approximately to place in the middle of the sea in reference to its central and isolated location in the Levantine Ocean.

History

Prior to the arrival of Levantine settlers, Medimeria was primarily unoccupied. Significant scholarly debate has occurred since the early 20th-century about previous human settlement on the island. Due to its significant distance from the Audonian mainland and unfavorable winds to reach the island, many natural scientists are convinced that the Levantines were first to step foot on the island when they did so in 1574. The archaeological evidence is unclear; the presence of pre-discovery Audonian trade goods buried beneath the surface have been proposed, but not proven, to have been imported by the colonial settlers in the 16th century. Additionally, the historical record of Oyashima reports small islands being used occasionally by fishermen to the north and to the west, but a small consensus of historians suggest this account refers to islands immediately to Oyashima's north and west, within around 100 miles, rather than to the small islands far north of Audonia. A plurality of scholars thus believe that the Levantines were first to discover the island, but debate and uncertainty continue.

Initial settlement

The impetus to settle the island came in the aftermath of the Great Confessional War and subsequent Dragonnades in Levantia. During these events, Protestants - both Derian and Ænglish - opted to try and flee the Holy Levantine Empire rather than submit to the Catholic faith, and many others still were not given the choice and simply deported from their homeland. Accordingly, many of these refugees found their way to the Duchy of Bourgondi. A privately-funded refugee society known as the Middle Seas Refuge Company (Burg: Compagnie de refuges en mer moyenne) was established in 1576 for the purposes of settling the Protestant refugees abroad. The Middle Seas Refuge Company purchased the right to the recently discovered island of Medimeria from the Emperor of the Levantines that year and began the process of organizing the refugees. Prior to their departure from Levantia, twelve patroonships were created and sold to twelve refugee noble families. Beyond their number - roughly 30-40 - the initial settlement of Medimeria would include 150-200 or so free persons intended to serve as tenant farmers on the island. The small Company flotilla departed in late 1577 and arrived in 1578, having lost ten persons on the journey. Upon their arrival, the colonists settled Madix. As envisioned by the Company, the twelve patroons established themselves as the governing and economic authority on the island almost immediately, establishing a twelve-person governing Patroon Council (Conseil Patronal) and beginning the work of surveying land to be divided among them. Medimeria became one of the first deliberately established Pharisedoms along with places like Torlen and Alstin.

Unlike many other Occidental colonies of the time, the settlers on Medimeria were greeted by a favorable and mild climate and few diseases, enabling most of the first settlers to survive the first winter. In March 1579, the Patroon Council enacted and the Middle Seas Refuge Company approved the Manor Writ, which formally divided the the island into the twelve patroonships envisioned before settlement. The island was separated largely radially from the center of the island though borders largely were based on natural features. Madix was excluded from the patroonships and instead put under the direct control of the company-appointed governor. The success of the island to date induced significant influx of new Protestant refugees and additional funding and support for the Refuge Company. Between 1579 and 1590, almost 3,000 Protestants were transferred to the island. This influx created a large pool of labor on the island, though many new refugees signed agreements to transition from free laborers to tenant farmers and a small number remained in Madix. In 1585, Company leaders ordered their governors to begin searching for a profitable export as private patronage in Levantia started to dry up due to fading interest in Protestant relocation and a greatly reduced Protestant population by the end of the 1580s. Very few cash crops, at least ones suitable for transport to Levantia, could be grown in the sprawling patroon plantations, who instead grew either food or relatively less valuable cash crops to be sold on the Audonian mainland. Accordingly, whaling soon became the focus of many of the people living in and around Madix. The position of Medimeria allowed for it to become a long-distance base for arctic whaling, giving it a significant advantage over other Levantine possessions. The island's newfound focus on whaling brought in the last major surge of Protestants, this time skilled fishermen and whalers rather than refugees, between 1590 and 1600. By 1605, the island was self-sustaining and profitable in the production and trade of whale oil. The relative profitability of the territory allowed it to remain self-governing as the small, but sustainable, profits allowed the Refuge Company to remain in operation as a business enterprise rather than charitable endeavor.

By 1610, the previously ad hoc Conseil Patronal had taken on a permanent standing basis representing the interests of each of the 12 patroons as a kind of legislative body in conjunction with the executive authority of the company-appointed governor. The 1610s and 20s saw the first great wave of church-building and emergence of local society on the island. Historians have observed that, prior to this, most Medimerians viewed their stay here as temporary until the divinely-appointed restoration of Protestantism in Levantia or, alternatively, the apocalypse. However, as memories of life in Levantia faded, new children were born on the island, and some wealth and comforts became available, a new mindset set in among the Medimerian people during this period. They embraced their new lives and understood its permanence, inaugurating a period of significant interest in building and infrastructure. The large Church of the Divine Redeemer (Église du Divin Rédempteur) was built between 1614 and 1650 in Madix, standing today as the most visual symbol of Medimerian Protestant faith. Several schools were built, and the court of the governor became a minor hub of Protestant artists and musicians fleeing persecution abroad.

The progress of the island precipitated the growth of free laborers in the city of Madix as many Medimerians began to end their tenancy contracts or even abscond from them, causing a shortage of farm labor. The ever-expanding whaling industry also began to have additional labor needs by the 1630s. The stream of Protestants from Levantia was reduced to a trickle by this period, more than a half-century after the end of the Confessional War, and most new arrivals were nobles or prominent burghers imprisoned by the Imperial Inquisition and deported to Medimeria. In 1634, facing continued labor shortages, the Refuge Company approved the importing of Audonian laborers. Attempts were made to launch slave raiding parties into modern day Soirwind and Zaclaria, but these were easily repulsed by local authorities and perpetrators executed by local authorities. Instead, two different solutions were implemented. First, Audonian peasants and poor Audonian city-dwellers were offered relatively decent terms to live and work on patroonships as tenant farmers for a twenty year period of indentured servitude. Second, the Refuge Company began to offer to buy the rights to petty criminals imprisoned by various Audonian realms, who would then serve thirty year periods of indentured servitude. The result of both of these programs were mostly the same; the majority of those voluntarily becoming indentured servants were often absconding from the law or some other obligation, transforming Medimeria's patroonships into de facto penal colonies.

Growing strategic relevance

Medimeria grew in importance with the beginning of Canespa-Burgoignesc relations in the early 1700s. The island's location roughly halfway between Cusinaut and eastern Levantia made it a critical Transshipment port in Bergendii global trade routes. The trade route had the effect of greatly expanding the importance of Madix as a port city with some minor cascading effects for the rest of the island. The need for additional labor in Madix tended to attract Levantine-origin free laborers or indentured servants at the end of their term, leaving the Patroonships to rely more on Audonian imported labor.

In 1713, the Middle Seas Refuge Company was nationalized by the Duchy of Bourgondi in light of its growing trade importance with Crona. The Duke issued an edict of toleration and Patent of Governance, which recognized and retained the traditional rights and privileges of the Patroons and codified the existing Patroon Council into law. The 1713 acts also entrenched Protestantism as official, rather than predominant, religion on the island, and guaranteed certain rights only to Protestants. This had the practical effect of beginning the conversion of the ethnically Audonian laborers, some of whom were now third or fourth generation descendants of imported laborers. These individuals previously lived apart ostracized by the Levantine-origin majority, but the guarantee of rights to Protestants began a process of the conversion and gradual grant of civil rights to ethnically Audonian Medimerians.

By 1750, Medimeria's status as a Pharisedom haven for Protestants had largely faded. The idea of Medimeria as a beacon of religious liberty for Protestants remained and remains important culturally, but it had been more than a century since the last arrival of Levantine Protestant deportees. Additionally, its status as a colony of the Duchy of Bourgondi rather than a self-governing company island reduced its relative uniqueness compared to other Burgoignesc-speaking territories. Despite these changes, the Patroons still retained a dominating position on the island both politically and economically. This led to a generally bitter relationship between the free burghers of Madix and the Patroons, as well as a generally negative relationship between the tenants and indentured servants living on Patroonships with their manorial masters. Several petitions asking for a reduction in Patroon power were sent to Bourgondi beginning in 1754 that were left unanswered.

The advent of the steam engine revolutionized the Medimerian economy and made the island relevant in a military and global trade context.

Medimeria's position later served as an important fueling station and naval base for the Burgoignesc thalattocracy given its strategic position near both Levantia and Audonia.

Cession to Urcea

In the 21st century, the military applications of the island declined, and the tourist industry grew rapidly. In 2014, Urcea acquired the island in exchange for Antilles as part of a mutual strategic interest realignment on Urcea and Burgundie's parts. Urcea's ownership of the island lead to a renewal of military and fueling efforts on the island given its position nearly halfway between Levantia and New Harren.