Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth

Westlands Republic of the Two Nations República de las Dos Naciones de las Tierras Occidentales (Pelaxian) República das Duas Nações das Terras Ocidentais (Cartadanian) Res Publica Utriusque Nationis Terras Occidentales (Latin)
1632-1795
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Vinculum Liberorum et Fidelium" (Bond of the Free and Loyal)
Anthem: Marcha Jerónimo III
Capital and largest city	Albalitor
Official languages	Pelaxian Cartadanian Latin
Common languages	Caphiric Latin Montanaran Savrian
Religion	Catholicism (official) Imperial Catholicism Protestantism Judaism Islam
Demonym(s)	Pelaxian Cartadanian
Government	Federal parliamentary elective monarchy De facto parliamentary republic (1723-1773)
Emperor
• 1632-1661	Jeronimo I & III
• 1661-1699	Sebastian I
• 1699-1723	Sebastian II
• 1723-1773	None (Interregnum)
• 1773-1795	Felipe I
High Commissioner (Pelaxia)
• 1632-1654 (first)	Hipolito Francisco de Huerva
High Commissioner (Cartadania; pre-1710) President (Cartadania; post-1710)
• 1632-1648 (first)	Bracayda de Fonseca
Legislature	Royal Courts
• Upper house	Supreme Court
• Lower house	Grand Court General Court
Formation
• Union of Alahuela	1632
• De Pardo line extinguished	1723
• First Calamity	1772
• Girojons enthroned	1773
• Second Calamity	1793
• Third Calamity	1795
Currency	Old Real
Preceded by Succeeded by Caridon Federal Republic Kingdom of Pelaxia Cartadania Kingdom of Pelaxia

The Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth, formally known as the Westlands Republic of the Two Nations and often referred to as Carto-Pelaxia, the Pelaxian Empire, or simply as the Kindreds Republic, was a federative real union between the Kingdom of Pelaxia and the Caridon Federal Republic, which became the Federative Republic of Cartadania after the Lusos Rebellion of 1710, that existed from the enactment of the Union of Alahuela in 1632 until its dissolution after the Third Calamity in 1795. This state represents the House de Pardo at its zenith and was among the largest and most populous countries in 17th-to-18th-Century Sarpedon. At its largest territorial extent, during the reign of Emperor Sebastian II, the Commonwealth covered nearly one million square kilometres, or about four-hundred thousand square miles, in territory and sustained a vast, multi-ethnic population of about twenty-two million subjects. It was an officially trilingual state with its official languages being Pelaxian, Cartadanian, and Latin.

Carto-Pelaxia was formed in July of 1632 with the signing and enactment of the Union of Alahuela by the aristocracies of Pelaxia and Caridonia which had liberated their respective lands from Caphiria as a result of religious disagreements which had emerged due to the Great Schism of 1615 and the subsequent establishment of the Imperial Church of Caphiria. Pelaxia was the first country to revolt against Caphirian rule in the early 1620s, followed by Caridonia at around the same time, with the former greatly aiding in the latter's fight for independence. Due to the starkly different political cultures of the two newly-independent nations, the resulting state that had emerged carried elements of both monarchism and republicanism in an effort to please both nations.

The Commonwealth had possessed numerous features that were, and often still are, considered unique amongst contemporary and modern states. There was a strict system of checks and balances upon the Emperor which were enforced by the tricameral Royal Courts which consisted of the Supreme Court, which was a privy council that consisted of senior government officials and members of the clergy, the Grand Court, which consisted of junior government officials and members of the clergy, and the General Court, which consisted of the nascent merchant class and generals of the armed forces. The Royal Courts also had the responsibility to elect a new Emperor from the House de Pardo should the previous one pass away, though ultimately only the Supreme and Grand Courts held sway over the election, with the General Court holding only purely advisory powers. This system of government has served as a precursor to modern constitutional monarchy and liberal democracy due to its high enfranchisement. Constitutionally, the nations of the Commonwealth were supposed to be equal, but in actuality successive Emperors have more often than not favoured Cartadania (Caridonia pre-1710) despite it being officially a republic.

The overall multi-ethnic makeup of the Commonwealth gave it a high level of ethnic and religious tolerance as was guaranteed by the Constitution of the Two Crowns. Pelaxianisation and caridonisation (cartadanisation) and conversions to Catholicism were voluntary throughout the Commonwealth's history despite the Catholic Church holding official status.

After nearly a century of prosperity and stability, the Commonwealth would enter a period of rapid decline with the sudden death of Emperor Sebastian II in 1723 without any living relatives, thus extinguishing the de Pardo lineage. Because there was no provisions to elect a new royal house in the event that the de Pardo line died off, the Royal Courts decided to govern the country without an Emperor and thus entered into a fifty-year-long interregnum period, effectively becoming an aristocratic republic. Without a royal figurehead to keep the nobility more or less in line, the inherent flaws of the Carto-Pelaxian system began to emerge. Although semi-democratic, there were no formal political factions or parties which meant that the enfranchised nobility, which went up well into the hundreds, were largely independent from one another. This became especially egregious whenever legislative or executive actions were put up to a vote as legislation that had a clear majority of support were often killed by a single noble who would constantly add on frivolous and often unpopular amendments, things that would have been vetoed by the Emperor, which would either stall the passage of the proposed legislature or even defeat it outright. As a result, the Commonwealth quickly became unstable with its enemies more than eager to take advantage.

The chaos and lack of significant progress during the interregnum would culminate in the First Calamity in 1772 when the Commonwealth lost territories to a resurgent Caphiria and neighbouring Slavic realms. The traumatic loss would finally force the Royal and Grand Courts to finally elect a new Emperor, hastily electing Emperor Felipe I of the House of Girojon. However, the election of Felipe I failed to keep the Commonwealth from collapsing. The Second Calamity in 1793 saw even further southern lands being lost as well as a viral outbreak which eliminated three-quarters of the nobility that further plunged the realm into instability. Despite various reforms being passed in an effort to rationalise the overly complicated political system, the Third Calamity in 1795 would see Carto-Pelaxia dissolve with the Girojon monarchy, now demoted to a royal family instead of an imperial family, retaining control over Pelaxia and the republican government retaining control over Cartadania. The lingering trauma from the collapse of the Commonwealth would serve as one of the causes behind the Pelaxian Revolution in 1803 and the establishment of the First Pelaxian Republic.

Name

The official name of the Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth was the "Westlands Republic of the Two Nations" (Pelaxian: República de las Dos Naciones de las Tierras Occidentales; Cartadanian: República das Duas Nações das Terras Ocidentais; Latin: Res Publica Utriusque Nationis Terras Occidentales). The Latin term was used the most often in diplomatic matters and is thus often seen as the true official name of the state which is further evidenced by the exclusive use of Latin in the Royal Courts. Despite the Commonwealth being in fact two separate countries under one emperor, it has always been referred to as a single nation in both contemporary and modern sources. Although there were claims that the Commonwealth had had more than one official name throughout its existence, historical evidence has suggested that the state only had one official name and that the Westlands Republic name was used all the way up to the dissolution of the state after the Third Calamity in 1795.

In modern historiography, the state has been referred to as the "Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth" or simply as "Carto-Pelaxia" to denote both the location and the primary ruling cultures of the state. Another term often used in historiography is the "Pelaxian Empire" in reference to both the de Pardos and the Girojons as well as the imperial title under which the Cartadanian and Pelaxian nations were united, even during the interregnum years. Another informal term used to refer to the Commonwealth was the "Kindreds Republic", and even fewer sources refer to the Commonwealth as the "Kingdom of Pelaxia and the Caridonian Federal Republic" or the "Kingdom of Pelaxia and the Federative Republic of Cartadania", but these terms are seen as too unwieldly and cumbersome to both historians and amateur researchers.

History

Background

Western Sarpedon in the late 13th Century was split between the province of Cartadania, the newly-vassalised Isurian Kingdom, and the re-established Grand Duchy of Agrila. All three entities have underwent a series of wars against one another with alliances changing almost as fast as they were made. Relations between the three would frequently oscillate between cautious cordiality and outright hostility over which of them would be able to maintain political, economic, and military dominance over the region and ultimately the favour of the Imperium. Out of the three, however, it was the Isurian Kingdom that maintained the closest ties to Venceia, having long been ruled by the loyal House of Castrillon. One of the Castrillons' biggest rivals was the House of Kazofort which was in open rebellion against the Isurian Kingdom in the late 12th Century only to be defeated by Sebastian Pasillas, who was made Despot of Cognata as per the Edict of Agrila, thus ending the Kazoforts as a threat and as a rival and beginning a golden age for the Castrillons which would see them become the Isurian royal family within two generations. The Kingdom was largely independent during this time due to the collapse of the Second Caphirian Imperium, but would soon come under Caphirian suzerainty with the rise of the Third Caphirian Imperium in the 13th Century.

It was during the Isurian Kingdom's period of being under Caphirian suzerainty that the kingdom would come under the rule of weak kings who were more focused on placating the nobility to keep the same nobility from overthrowing them via an intervention from the Imperium. These weak kings allowed for the kingdom's golden age to end as it entered into a period of institutional stagnation and overall decline. Institutional stagnation meant that the kingdom could not centralise effectively; the nobility were too unwilling to curtail their privileges when they could essentially run the country themselves. The lack of centralisation, which became more and more obvious as more Occidental nations started to centralise and abandon feudalism, made secession from the kingdom extremely easy with one of the most notable secessions being that of the Grand Duchy of Agrila under the rival House de Pardo which wanted to take the kingdom's place as the foremost vassal state in western Sarpedon.

The Isurian Kingdom's decline would culminate in the rise of Tristan Castrillon, nephew of King Sebastian III and cousin of the future King Reginaldo III. Growing up, Tristan was taught the kingdom's history as well as the life of his illustrious ancestor Pasillas which provided an important backdrop for how he wished to rule the kingdom as a strong monarch of a modernised kingdom that had emerged from the feudalism and quasi-republicanism which had been the norm in the kingdom for about two centuries. In 1465, fearing that he would be forever kept away from succeeding his uncle with the birth of his cousin in 1435, Tristan overthrew Sebastian III and declared himself King Tristan I. The usurpation of the throne was widely condemned by the nobility, but had the support of the peasantry whom Tristan had brought to his side by promising to curtail the privileges of the nobility and to centralise the realm under his rule. Sebastian III and Reginaldo would flee to Agrila where they were received by Grand Duke Sancho II who would subsequently support the legitimist cause as a result. With the backing of Agrila, the Isurian Kingdom would enter into a state of civil war between Tristan and the legitimists which would end abruptly and anti-climactically in 1477 when Tristan I struck himself in the head against a door lintel while running out of his castle to lead the nearby Battle of Funes. The strike killed him, and his armies would effectively dissolve shortly afterward.

The ascension of Reginaldo III saw the kingdom return to the pre-Tristan form of government as well as all the glaring deficiencies which led to Tristan's usurpation in the first place. To keep the kingdom from being on the near-constant brink of collapse, and to prevent a large-scale peasants' revolt from occurring, Reginaldo passed a series of reforms which would grant the peasantry certain rights as well as centralise the realm in ways that would not impede upon the rights of the nobility. These reforms were able to ensure the kingdom's continued existence for the next decade. During that decade, the rival Kingdom of Savria, ruled by King Didac I who in the 1480s declared himself to be the so-called protector of the south, declared war on the Isurian Kingdom in hopes of becoming the dominant kingdom in western Sarpedon. The war would see the Grand Duchy of Agrila, by then under the rule of Grand Duke Jeronimo, join on the side of the Isurians due to an alliance between the two realms as a result of Tristan's usurpation. To provide an effective front against Savria, Reginaldo and Jeronimo would come to an agreement which would unite the two realms under Jeronimo in exchange for Reginaldo becoming Jeronimo's chancellor and Jeronimo marrying Reginaldo's daughter Josefina. This agreement, the Union of Termia entered into force in 1485, forming the Kingdom of Pelaxia.

Wars of independence and road to unification

The nascent kingdom remained under Caphirian suzerainty for the next century as they began to amass a colonial empire in Vallos while focusing on the Southern Route. The colonies and the Southern Route would greatly enrich Pelaxia which allowed the monarchy to grant the Viceroyalty of Los Rumas, established in 1497 by Mauricio Delepas, a large degree of autonomy through the Charter of San Lina. The overall peace and stability of the 16th Century would end with the Great Schism of 1615 when Caphiria established the Imperial Church and had formally split away from the Catholic Church. Pelaxia was one of the states which had rejected the Imperial Church and instead would remain loyal to the Latin Church; the refusal to align with the Imperial Church was interpreted as a sign that the kingdom was rejecting Caphirian suzerainty, and in 1620 the Imperium would declare war on their rebelling vassal state, thus beginning the Second Termian War, better known in western Sarpedon and Vallos as the "Pelaxian War of Independence." The war would end in a Pelaxian victory in 1627, but the fight against the Imperium would not end as the kingdom was already supporting rebellions in the Caridon peninsula.

During the war, the province of Cartadania would enter into a state of revolt against the Imperium, with numerous significant revolts occurring throughout the 1620s, but it was not until 1627 when the lands of the Caridon peninsula would secede from Caphiria and establish the Caridon Federation, soon renamed to the Caridon Federal Republic in 1630, the first modern Cartadanian state. Pelaxia's suzerainty over Cartadania was confirmed in the Treaty of Broda of 1627 which also ended the Second Termian War and placing the Pelaxian kingdom in a far stronger position than what it was when the war started seven years ago, and the entirety of the west coast of mainland Sarpedon was now under the rule of independent states that were not under the direct rule of suzerainty of the Imperium. With the two realms under the reign of one king, Caridonia and Pelaxia would establish the joint Grand Council of Alahuela in close cooperation with King Jeronimo III to integrate and harmonise the two nations in preparation for a future union of the crowns as well as serving as a constitutional convention.

Early commonwealth (1632-1673)

• 
  Emperor Jeronimo I & III of the Republic, King of Pelaxia, King in Caridonia, Grand Duke of Savria, and Lord Protector of the Jusonias
• 
  Bracayda de Fonseca, High Commissioner of Caridonia
• 
  Hipolito Francisco de Huerva, High Commissioner of Pelaxia

Economy

The economy of the Commonwealth was predominantly based on agricultural output and overseas trade through the southern route into Audonia, though there was an abundance of artisan workshops and manufactories — notably paper mills, leather tanneries, ironworks, glassworks and brickyards. Some major cities were home to craftsmen, jewellers and clockmakers. |

The majority of industries and trades were concentrated in the Kingdom of Pelaxia; the Republic of Cartadania was more rural and its economy was driven by farming and clothmaking. Mining developed in the north-east region of Pelaxia which was rich in natural resources such as lead, coal, copper, iron ore, gold. The currency used in Carto-Pelaxia was the (xxxx) and its subunit, the (xxxx) Foreign coins in the form of (xxxxx) were widely accepted and exchanged.

The country played a significant role in the supply of Levantia and Caphiria by the export of grain (rye), cattle (oxen), exotic fruits, furs, timber, linen, coffee, peanuts, coconut oil, palm oil, poultry meat, corn and cotton. Cereals, coffee, cattle and fur amounted to nearly 90% of the country's exports to Levantine markets by maritime trade in the 16th century. From Albalitor, ships carried cargo to the major ports of the (XXXX), such as (XXXX) and (XXXXX).The land routes, mostly to the Caphirian provinces of the such as the cities of (XXXXX) and (XXXXX), were used for the export of live cattle (herds of around 50,000 head) hides, salt, tobacco, hemp and cotton from the Cartadania. In turn, the Commonwealth imported wine, beer, fruit, luxury goods (e.g. tapestries), furniture, fabrics as well as industrial products like steel and tools. Much of the product variety and commercial capacity of the Commonwealth was deeply dependent on the trade with Audonia through the southern route. Most of the Commonwealth production is exclusively based on slave labor supplied by Daxian traders in special enclaves in the far east continent.

The slave system was inherited from the Caphiric socio-economic structure of the Carto-Pelaxian provinces. Though much of it has had extensive reforms from the local nobility through the drafting of feudal law codes that evolved slavery into serf status regimes especially associated with a noble. The increasing demands for tropical products from the Levantine economies increased the need for efficient and cheap labor, which was quickly supplemented through the dominance of overseas territories such as Vallos or trade with Daxia.

Slave labor was the driving force behind the growth of the sugar and coffee economy in Carto-Pelaxia, and coffee was the primary export of the Cartadania from 1600 to 1650. Gold and diamond deposits were discovered in Pelaxia in 1690, which sparked an increase in the importation of enslaved Alshari people to power this newly profitable mining. Transportation systems were developed for the mining infrastructure, and population boomed from Levantine immigrants seeking to take part in gold and diamond mining. Demand for enslaved Audonian did not wane after the decline of the mining industry in the second half of the 18th century. Cattle ranching and foodstuff production proliferated after the population growth, both of which relied heavily on slave labor. 1.7 million slaves were imported to Pelaxia from Daxia from 1700 to 1800.