Isurian Kingdom
Isurian Kingdom Reino Isurico (Isurian) | |||||||||
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| 1170-1485 | |||||||||
 Flag
 Coat of arms
(1240-1485) | |||||||||
| Status | Autonomous region in the Second Caphiric Imperium (1170-1172) Independent kingdom (1172-1283) Vassal kingdom of the Third Caphiric Imperium (1283-1485) | ||||||||
| Capital | Ozcalo | ||||||||
| Official languages | Isurian | ||||||||
| Religion | Christianity | ||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Isurian | ||||||||
| Government | Feudal absolute monarchy | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
• 1170-1185 | Bermudo I (first) | ||||||||
• 1477-1485 | Reginaldo III (last) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Election of Bermudo I | 1170 | ||||||||
• Declaration of independence | 1172 | ||||||||
• Castrillón takeover | 1240 | ||||||||
• Defeat of Tristán Castrillón | 1477 | ||||||||
• Union of Termia | 1485 | ||||||||
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The Isurian Kingdom (Isurian: Reino Isurico) was a kingdom located in western Sarpedon, which occupied parts of what is now Caphiria, Cartadania, and Pelaxia. It was established while remaining as an autonomous region of the Second Caphiric Imperium in 1170 when Isurian nobles elected their first king, that being Bermudo I, in an effort to preserve the nobility's property and territory in the region but still swore loyalty to the Imperator even as the Imperium was collapsing due to the Great Civil War. This status soon changed in 1172 when the Second Imperium collapsed, and Venceia was suddenly under the rule of the Second Caphiric Republic; Bermudo I refused to recognise the republican government and instead declared complete independence as a sovereign kingdom, thus establishing the first independent Isurian polity known in written record.
Due to the circumstances behind the establishment of the Isurian monarchy, the kingdom's government was highly decentralised. Despite the king in theory ruling as an absolute monarch, it was in fact the nobility that did much of the governing, with the king serving mostly as a central figure and mediator between disputing aristocrats and as a war leader. Bermudo's descendants did not rule the Isurian Kingdom for long, however, and by 1240 the Isurian throne was inherited by the grandson of Sebastian Pasillas, King Bermudo II who was also the last Isurian monarch in which the kingdom was an independent state throughout its entire reign as just two years after his death in 1281, the Third Caphiric Imperium would emerge with Bermudo II's successor pledging loyalty to the new Imperator, thus making Isuria into a vassal kingdom under Caphiric suzerainty.
The return to Caphiric suzerainty would be the beginning of a slow decline for the kingdom as violent clashes between members of the aristocracy and pretender revolts began to happen frequently as territories of the kingdom began to assert their autonomy from the king while ostensibly remaining as supposedly loyal vassals to the king. The next approximately two centuries would see the kingdom enter into further decline as powerful nobles began to assert themselves more and more in the internal politics of the kingdom. This would eventually culminate in the violent overthrow of King Sebastian III by his nephew Tristan Castrillon in 1465; the overthrow would result in several aristocrats, who feared that the usurper would forcibly centralise his realm, to declare open rebellion against King Tristan. Among the rebels' supporters was the Grand Duke of Agrila Jeronimo de Pardo who supported the claim of King Tristan's cousin, and King Sebastian III's son, Reginaldo Castrillon. Jeronimo was eventually able to overthrow King Tristan and installed Reginaldo onto the throne in 1477. Eight years later in 1485, the Union of Termia would be signed, uniting Agrila, Isuria, and their vassals under Jeronimo in exchange for him marrying King Reginaldo III's daughter Josefina, thus establishing the Kingdom of Pelaxia.
Autonomous status in Caphiria
Isuriana had long been a region of Caphiria for centuries by the time the Great Civil War began in 1127. In that year, the local Isurian nobility began to involve themselves into the civil war as well as in inter-Caphiric conflicts on the side of the Imperator in Venceia. They did not do this because they particularly liked the Imperator or because they liked Caphiria, but rather because they wished to make requests for autonomy and a greater say in their internal affairs. The Imperator of Caphiria when the Great Civil War began was Marius Oratonius, with the Isurians fighting for the Oratonian faction in the Battle of Silanus. The Battle of Silanus was a success and soon the Isurian nobles were granted extensive privileges so that they could handle their own political and economic affairs with their region becoming an autonomous region of the Imperium. As the nobility continued to govern the region in the name of the Oratonian faction, there were soon granted the designations of proconsul and other titles which further legitimised their privileged positions in the Imperium.
Although the Great Civil War was a period of immense instability for the Second Imperium in general, it was nonetheless a period of surprising stability and prosperity for Isuriana. So much so that the region was practically its own country in all but name due to the high amount of autonomy that was granted to the area. When the Imperium was beginning to collapse in 1170, the nobles of the region of Isuriana were quick to hold a gathering in the major Isurian city of Ozcalo in order to elect a king out of fear that when the Imperium collapsed they would be at risk of losing their property and territories of influence. The nobles would ultimately elect Bermudo I to be their first king. Despite this seemingly unilateral declaration of independence from Caphiria, the Isurian nobility were careful to maintain their loyalty to the Oratonian Imperator and to not refer to their region as a kingdom, but rather as an integrated vassal state within the Imperium; so-called because the region now had its own local monarch and yet remained as an autonomous yet still internal territory of Caphiria at that time. This unique relationship between the Isurians and the Imperium in terms of the former's legal status would only last for a brief time.
Independent kingdom
The collapse of the Second Caphiric Imperium in 1172 would see the Oratonian faction of the Great Civil essentially disappear in the midst of the chaos that came as a result. Instead, the Caphiric capital of Venceia would wind up under the control of the newly-declared Second Caphiric Republic which claimed to be a rump state of Caphiria as well as the legal successor of the Second Imperium. The Isurian kingdom did not get along with the new republic, particularly as it attempted to replace members of the Isurian bureaucracy as well as requesting that Bermudo I step down as king and become an autonomous republican region. Instead, Bermudo I opted to withhold recognising the new republic, and thus would wind up denouncing it as an illegitimate state; effectively declaring that the Isurian Kingdom was now an independent kingdom in Sarpedon and there was ultimately nothing that the Second Caphiric Republic could really do as they were more focused on handling rebellions and those who wished to restore the Imperium.
The nascent kingdom was governed as a decentralised feudal state; the nobles, although were afraid of losing their property and territories of influence, were also not keen on giving up their privileges to the new king when he was intended to simply be both a mediator for noble disputes as well as a war leader should the kingdom enter into a state of war with another country. This did not mean that Bermudo I was an unpopular king, nor did it suggest that the nobles disliked the king either. Indeed, the nobles were more concerned about the possibility of them losing their privileges entirely should a more ambitious king ascend to the throne. Overall, the early years of the newly-independent kingdom were filled with the king leading his soldiers down south to fight against rival kings and to attempt to secure the borderlands so as to prevent future would-be invaders from attempting to invade the Isurian Kingdom; it also gave the new kingdom a chance to see how well it could do in cases of military action which it was able to do very well as the Isurian forces have spent the past few decades defending the Oratonian claim to the Imperium throughout the Great Civil War period.
Castrillon takeover
One of the most powerful noble families in the Isurian Kingdom was the House of Castrillon which by the time of the kingdom's independence was headed by the famed war hero and Imperium loyalist Sebastian Pasillas. Born in Isuriana, Sebastian Pasillas grew up as a courtier at the Imperial Court of Venceia where he gained powerful and highly influential friends which included a confidant of the princes of the Imperium. He also fought in the Great Civil War on the side of Venceia before rushing back to his home region of Isuriana when it became clear that the Imperium was doomed to collapse and that his biggest priority became protecting his lands in Isuriana in case the region enters into turmoil. By the time he arrived at his lands, the regional nobility had already declared themselves a new king in lieu of the Imperator. The election process made him feel a bit slighted that no one had nominated him to be the king even though he felt that he would make for a great king, though in truth most of the nobles had thought he was dead because he was gone from Isuriana for so long that communications between the area and Venceia have largely fallen into disuse for the most part.
Starting in the year 1175, Pasillas began to embark on a series of incursions to the realms immediately south of the nascent kingdom which had declared themselves to be in open rebellion against King Bermudo I. This rebellion, now known as the Kazofort Rebellion, was a major turning point in Pasillas' life after the collapse of the Second Imperium. Initial incursions were met with fierce resistance from the rebel forces, Pasillas persisted knowing that the rebellion was more of a war of attrition and that if he could ensure that the Isurian forces would persist then the rebelling families would have to capitulate. This form of warfare was a bold gamble considering that he started using it while the rebels were poised to win, but as the months went by and the Isurian forces were able to maintain their positions which would cost the rebel forces greatly as supplies started to run out, and by the time the rebel families have surrendered to the Isurians they had lost over ninety percent of their armed forces to the sheer lack of supplies; the rebellion was crushed and the rebelling realms were integrated into the kingdom, with Pasillas being made the new Despote of Cognata and him moving his seat to the recently-conquered city of Albalitor.
The actions of Pasillas made during the early years of the kingdom had allowed for the House of Castrillon to become one of its most important noble houses. This is significant because one of Pasillas' sons would go on to marry the eldest daughter of Bermudo I, tying the Castrillons to the Isurian royal family for the rest of the kingdom's existence until its final dissolution as an independent state in 1485. Indeed, Bermudo I's only son, who would succeed him as King Afonso I, was noted as having been unable to produce an heir; he was a good king, but he was rendered infertile after having been afflicted with a particularly viral disease. As such, the nobles had to convene once again to determine who should be designated the heir to Afonso I's throne; it was hotly contested, mostly due to fears that the Castrillons have long held loyalty to the Caphiric state regardless of its form of government, but a slim majority of the nobles present were eventually able to select Bermudo Castrillon to become Afonso I's heir because ultimately the Castrillons were the most well-suited for battle which was becoming especially important so as to keep rebels and potential invaders at bay. Bermudo would succeed his uncle Afonso in 1240, becoming King Bermudo II and the first Castrillon monarch of the Isurian Kingdom.
The reign of Bermudo II is often cited by historians to be when the Isurian Kingdom has reached its zenith in terms of territory and wealth. The kingdom at its greatest territorial extent encompassed lands in what are now Caphiria, Cartadania, and Pelaxia. His reign is also significant to the history of the kingdom for it being the last full reign under a completely independent Isurian Kingdom, as if the end of full Isurian independence spelled an end to the golden age of the Isurian people, though this is considered to be a common misconception as the Isurian golden age is commonly accepted by both historians and popular consensus alike to have ended sometime during the beginning of the 14th Century, about two decades after the kingdom became a vassal state of the newly-emerged Third Caphiric Imperium.
Decline
After the fall of the Second Caphiric Republic and the rise of the Third Caphiric Imperium in 1283, the Isurian Kingdom, and specifically Bermudo II's son and successor, would pledge loyalty to the new Imperator and become a vassal state in exchange for retaining much of its territory and autonomy, though nowhere near what both were at their zenith, and it would only go further into decline from there after a long line of weak monarchs and overly powerful and ambitious nobles looking to get more privileges from their liege under threat of instigating a Caphiric intervention to replace the king. Thus, the next two centuries were a series of the slow dismantling of the kingdom from both within and from without, with the latter resulting in a few polities splitting off while remaining as Caphiric vassal states; among these new states was a long-time rival state known as the Grand Duchy of Agrila which ever since becoming independent from Isuria was vying to succeed the kingdom to become one of the most powerful vassal states in western Sarpedon.
Internally, the Isurian Kingdom was gradually drifting towards being more akin to a decentralised aristocratic republic with a largely ceremonial king who was largely prevented from doing anything beyond trying to mediate disputes between aristocrats; this would prove very costly for the kingdom since the king was still expected to be a successful war leader and yet because the king was effectively not allowed to get involved in matters outside of keeping his nobles from plunging the country into a state of civil war he could do very little as a military leader and thus the overall popularity of the monarchy began to fall all because the king was effectively trapped and no longer had much agency in his authority. This was especially egregious during the 15th Century when most Occidental nations have already began to centralise and move away from medieval feudalism while the kingdom remained under the same structure of government that it always had since the 12th Century which further hastened its overall decline.
Reign of Tristan Castrillon
By the 1460s, the kingdom was essentially a shell of its former self. King Sebastian III, although named after his illustrious and heroic ancestor, was nothing more than a puppet for the nobility who were averse to the idea of giving up any of their privileges as well as empowering a monarch who may very well opt for a different approach to foreign affairs of which they may not necessarily agree with. His nephew, Tristan Castrillon, was raised having heard about the heroic exploits of the heroic aristocrat Sebastian Pasillas whom he would greatly admire and hope to emulate should he be made king which before 1435 he was the heir to the throne until his cousin Reginaldo Castrillon was born. Fearing that he would be kept out of the line of succession not just because of Reginaldo, but also because the nobles now have an heir to the throne that they could raise to be compliant and thus the more independently-minded Tristan was no longer needed, the former heir to the throne performed a coup against the king, overthrowing Sebastian III and proclaiming himself King Tristan I with the help of the people of the kingdom whom he garnered the support of through his proto-populist rhetoric.
As king, Tristan I ruled more closely to the kind of ruling style found in Occidental monarchs at that time, that being of an empowered monarch over a gradually centralising realm that was drifting away from medieval feudalism and towards an early modern forms of governance. This centralisation, although much-needed and hugely popular, had scared the nobility who had feared that centralisation would only mean they'd lose their privileges and authority over the kingdom. As a result, several aristocrats would rally around the heir of the overthrown monarch and declare rebellion against Tristan I. Knowing that Tristan I was actually very competent in military matters, the rebel nobles had to seek help from neighbouring nations' rulers such as the Grand Duke of Agrila Sancho II, the father of Jeronimo de Pardo, who had harboured Reginaldo after he and his family had fled from Ozcalo. After the rebels have secured support from Agrila, the kingdom would enter into a state of civil war between Tristan and the legitimists which would last for twelve years.
Union of Termia
The fall of Tristan I would happen in 1477 after the former king had struck himself in the head against a door lintel while running out of his castle to lead the nearby Battle of Funes. An anticlimactic ending aside, his death had largely dispersed his armies who were effectively unable to fight without their leader. In the days that followed Funes, Reginaldo was quickly crowned as King Reginaldo III. Having had learned from Tristan's coup, and not wanting to have a repeat of such an event in the near future, the nobles and King Reginaldo would pass a series of reforms that would patch up the kingdom's most glaring deficiencies as well as to co-opt some of Tristan's populist rhetoric so as to prevent a peasants' revolt as well as to centralise the kingdom in ways that would not impede on the privileges of the nobility. These reforms would ensure that the Isurian Kingdom would not face imminent collapse like it had for the past two centuries as well as to establish a more effective structure of government.
The reformed kingdom would not last long, however, but not because the kingdom would wind up collapsing or facing a peasant's revolt. Instead, in the 1480s, the kingdom would find itself in a war against the nascent rival kingdom to the south known as the Kingdom of Savria led by the rogue King Didac I who had declared himself to be the so-called protector of the south. In 1485, Reginaldo III and Jeronimo de Pardo would enter into a series of discussions about the future of their alliance and what to do with Didac I; they both had fast agreed that Didac I would need to be defeated quickly, but they also recognised that remaining as multiple realms would make the job very difficult. They were eventually able to come to an agreement in which Reginaldo and Jeronimo would merge their two realms as well as their vassals' realms under one dominion; Jeronimo would be made the king of this new union while Reginaldo would be made Jeronimo's chancellor, and in return Jeronimo would marry Reginaldo's daughter Josefina. The resulting agreement, known as the Union of Termia, would formally end the Isurian Kingdom's status as a vassal state and instead become a major component of the newly-estasblished Kingdom of Pelaxia.