History of Urcea (1402-1575): Difference between revisions

Though Riordan V (1546-1557), first King of the House of Julio-Angloise and a Protestant, initially pledged that he would issue an edict of toleration, the Crown soon began to interfere in the functions of the Church and attempted to repossess the monastic lands in the [[Urceopolis (Archduchy)|Archduchy of Urceopolis]]. The [[Pope]] fled Urceopolis for [[Corcra (City)|Corcra]] and the persecution of the Church began in 1548, and in response [[List of Emperors of the Levantines#Gram%20Felix%20Dynasty|Emperor Conchobar III]] granted Imperial immediacy to all vassals directly outside the crown lands of [[Urcea]], bringing the so-called [[Imperial Kingdom of Urcea|Imperial Kingdom]] to its functional dissolution. Taking this as a sign of approval from the Emperor, a large coalition of [[Levantine Catholic Church|Catholic]] landed [[Social class in Urcea|optimates]] rallied together to form the Catholic League and declared their intention to overthrow King Riordan V in favor of Prince Aedanicus, who reigned as [[Ænglasmarch#Duchy_of_Holchester|Duke of Holchester]] and who had been gathering a rival court and allies. Although the conflict initially took form as a dynastic dispute, soon sectarian fighting began and each side began wanton atrocities. Many villages and towns founded during the reign of [[Great Levantia]] were destroyed and not resettled, providing evidence to archaeologists how the typical Urcean of this time lived. The rebellion grew into the Urcean War of Religion with the Protestant, Royalist forces controlling the [[Urce River]] valley and the Catholic rebels controlling the countryside. As part of the war effort, Aedanicus relocated to [[Castle Welute]]. Riordan spent most of his reign prosecuting the war, and the Royalist forces experienced a considerable setback at the Battle of Clada in 1554, forcing the King to look to Protestant neighbors and allies such as the [[Kingdom of Gassavelia]] for assistance, drawing Urcea into forming the [[Protestant Union]]. The Union planned to march on Corcra and establish Protestantism as a legal religion in the Empire alongside Catholicism. The [[Great Confessional War]] between the Catholic [[Holy League]] and the [[Protestant Union]], and the Urcean War of Religion was largely subsumed into the greater conflict.  

Having defeated the Julio-Angloise and with only a few Protestant partisans left in Urcea, King Leo II now had relatively free reign to prosecute the Great Confessional War on behalf of the Holy League, squarely putting the Protestant Union on the defensive. After defeating a small band of Julio-Angloise rebels south of Cálfeld, Leo marched the Imperial Army south and besieged Rexha by the end of 1565. The well-fortified city held out until 1567 when the Imperial Army successfully breached the walls after an extended cannon barrage. The [[Kingdom of Gassavelia]] soon suffered total collapse and Imperial occupation, ending the Southern Levantine theater of the war, with the remaining campaigns being largely siege-based against Protestant cities in northern Dericania and Ultmar. King Leo II spent 1568-1570 in Urcea restoring the position of the Church, rebuilding monasteries, restoring icons, and preparing the army for another campaign, which he launched into Dericania in 1571. Upon death of the Emperor in 1572, the Electors met and chose Leo as Emperor, putting the entire Holy League army under his command. He spent the next three years prosecuting the war until the Holy League's final victory in 1575, after twenty years of fighting. Leo showed no mercy and expelled all Protestant landholders from the Empire, enforced the legal status of the Catholic Church, enforced several of the doctrines of the Counter-Reformation, redistributed former Protestant lands, and strengthened the Inquisition in Levantia. Urcea, from the conflict, gained considerably; the Kingdom of Gassavelia was partitioned, with the western half of the Kingdom (and its colony of [[Antilles]]) being given to [[Urcea]] and the remainder becoming part of [[Faramount]]. Finally, Emperor Leo deprived the formerly Protestant controlled [[Philaridon Republic]] of much of its territory and traditional rights. The Republic's existence continued for more than a century, but following the reign of Emperor Leo it was reduced to little more than a city-state client of [[Urcea]]. Emperor Leo brought the results of the [[Great Confessional War]] to their natural conclusion, prosecuting the [[Dragonnades]] which largely left the [[Holy Levantine Empire]] uniformly [[Levantine Catholic Church|Catholic]] and left many of the [[Estates of Urcea]] in disarray, as more than half of the Custóirs appointed by his predecessor were removed. The Dragonnades helped dramatically increase Royal authority in the realm as huge Protestant landed estates were seized by the Crown. Following the [[Great Confessional War]], the power and expansive lands of the nobility in relation to the King went into terminal decline and by the time of the [[Red Interregnum]], any of the remaining feudal estates were completely wiped away, though their influence and power was only nominal by that point.