Imperial Captaincy of the North
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The Captaincy of the North, often called Captain of the North or Imperial Captain, was a title during the Holy Levantine Empire which was given to grant and ensure imperial authority over the region of modern-day Fiannria. Over the centuries the title would transform from a militarized role as a commander of armies to a representative of Imperial affairs and many historians attribute to as the predecessor of the title of Chancellor of the Commonwealth.
History
Founded in 804 AD, the Captaincy of the North or under its Latin Title, Capetaneus et Magister Militum de Gallia. The title was founded as a means to exert Conine and Imperial authority over the region of much of modern-day Fiannria. The Captaincy in its original form was a military host and a series of strategic castles and fortifications funded by the Emperor and taxation of the nobility of Culfras. It was headed by the Imperial Captain, which early on was a relative of the emperor or a prominent noble from elsewhere in the Empire, who would be in charge of affairs in the North for a term of ten years before being allowed to return to the south.
It functioned as a wandering capital, with a military host of soldiers and mercenaries, accompanied by a van of scribes, judges, historians, church officials, and camp followers would wander through Culfras to its various castles and visiting Culfran princes, leading Culfran defense from raiders beyond the Empire as well as leading them in conquest. But its primary role was that of enforcing and representing the rule of the Emperor within the region.
During this period mercenaries, ambitious nobles, and peasantry from across the empire signed up for this work soldiering and traveling in what was called by 19th-century historians and romantics as “The Last Legion of the Empire”
Often times while the Imperial Captain and the host would visit various dependencies, tribes, princedoms, and marches, envoys from others that were not yet visited would always come to become part of the host to meet and try and discuss issues and feuds with other Princes and leaders in the Culfras. As the size and regularity of these ad-hoc diets of Princes increased, Imperial Captains began holding organized meetings of the powerholders based off the Gothic assembly called the ‘Thing’ which had been popularized among Gothic conqueror kingdoms during the Gothic invasions and afterward until their reconquest within the Holy Levantine Empire. They ended up being called the Tyns, and the largest of these consistently were held in Bridhavn.
In the early 11th century, as the duchies, free cities, princedoms, and bishoprics solidified rule and stability within the feudalization of the region of Culfras. This culminated in the Golden Bull of 1043 which recognized the region of Gaul, once partially ruled by King Culmann as the Kingdom of Culfra. A shortening of the name for Culmann’s Princes. The consolidation of Princely authorities caused a decline in the host of the Imperial Captain. Funding from the Imperial Court dried up at the same time as well. The Imperial Captain toured the realm of Culfra less and remained in Imperial castles for longer periods, in the next decades the title started to be granted to princes of Culfra loyal to the Imperial Court instead of southern nobles and royals.
Following the Culfran Revolt’s end in 1098, along with the entitlement of the Prince of Bridhavn as an Elector, the title of Imperial Captain took a new role on behalf of the Emperor in Culfras and the Tyns which continued to be held in the northern Kingdom of the Empire. The title was then called Capetanus, Magister Militum, Cancellarius de Ordine palatii et regnii. As the balance of power to the foremost authority of the Prince-Elector of Bridhavn, the Emperor would name another Prince (typically a Deric prince of the southern region of the Culfra) as the Imperial Captain, the delegated military leader of the Kingdom and representative and chancellor of the Emperor in the Tyn now regularly held as an annual Diet in Bridhavn.
Through several periods, Imperial Dynasties would name particular dynasties of Culfra who were aligned with them politically as Imperial Captains for generations at a time. In the early 14th century, the culminating power of the Elector of Bridhavn led to the Golden Bull of 13XX in which the Elector of Bridhavn was formally recognized as King of Culfra (which consisted at this point of around only half of modern-day Fiannria) This began a period of sometimes tense, sometimes cooperative diarchy between the King of Culfras, an elector to the throne of the Empire and foremost and most powerful feudal lord of Culfra and the Imperial Captain, the foremost representative of the Emperor in Culfra and de jure Commander of the military of Culfra.
Out of necessity during the Great Confessional War, the Emperor gave the title of Imperial Captain to the King of Culfra, which would be held in perpetuity to ensure a strong, united and Catholic leader in the conflict in the north.
Following this point, the Imperial Captain as a title was split as the Magister Militum was kept by the King and eventually fell out of use, and Chancellor would be the predecessor of the modern title of Chancellor of the Commonwealth as the chair of the Tyn, and the Imperial Captain title persisted as an honorary title to the nobility of the Kingdom until the fall of the Monarchy after the War of Culfran Succession in the 18th century.