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==Leonine reforms and 17th century expansion== | ==Leonine reforms and 17th century expansion== | ||
King [[Leo III, Emperor of the Levantines|Leo II]] reigned until 1597 and spent the remaining 22 years of his life after 1575 fundamentally remaking [[Urcea]], strengthening the Church, and attending to Imperial affairs, particularly the nuances and specifics of the victory terms and the division of land. Leo initiated a series of wide-reaching post-war reforms in which he sought to not only bring to Kingdom together into a cohesive unit, but also planned to undercut the [[Social class in Urcea|optimate class]], who he blamed for the war as well as the [[Saint's War]], and planned to simplify [[Social class in Urcea]]. The King reduced the number of classes to three and formally abolished serfdom in [[Urcea]], though the institution had already been rendered mostly nominal due to the devastation of the wars. Part of King Leo's program also included the famous Leonine Land Decree of 1590, which opened lands acquired as part of the [[Dragonnades]] to any family in the [[Urceopolis (Archduchy)|Archduchy of Urceopolis]] of [[Social class in Urcea|privilegiata or freeman]] rank without considerable land holdings. The Land Decree divided the acquired estates in [[Gassavelia]], and, to a lesser extent, in [[Ænglasmarch]], into 40 acre parcels to be used as smallholds. This created the first wave of [[Ómestaderoi]], and Leo intended for it to strengthen smallholders at the expense of the optimates, which, following several future waves of Ómestaderoi, proved successful. In [[1591]], Leo organized the standing [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal Army]] and [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] which were loyal only to the Crown, further reducing the authority of remaining local magnates. Leo's primary reform, however, was standardizing the legal code throughout nearly all of [[Urcea]] at the time, including the final elimination of the separate legal code in [[Canaery]]. By bringing the disparate duchies and territories under one standard code, Leo forged the legal nation of Urcea out of the medieval crown confederation of Urcea. With the standard legal code also came the abolition of internal tariffs, bringing about strong economic recovery following decades of war. His legal reforms also stripped the right of heads of the [[Estates of Urcea]] to appoint representatives to the [[Concilium Daoni]], and he began the process of creating "districts" for members to represent, though these districts were often coterminous with local communes - which elected members - or with lower vassals, who appointed members to the body. Leo's successors in the 17th century took part in the economic spoils and successively attempted to expand the country's eastern border, with several successful wars bringing neighboring duchies and counties to heel. It was also during this time the Crown began to devise schemes to acquire the [[Grand Duchy of Carolina]], a polity to the north, though such attempts would not come to fruition in the 17th century. The profile of Urcea in the Empire continued to rise under Leo's successors, greatly unified and strengthened by the victory of the War of Religion and with a powerful southern Gassavelia no longer extant to contain Urcea. The 17th Century, besides continuing expansion within the [[Holy Levantine Empire]], was a time of something of a second Renaissance in Urcea as the baroque period took off and the Crown focused on making internal improvements. The [[Julian Palace]] was given a | King [[Leo III, Emperor of the Levantines|Leo II]] reigned until 1597 and spent the remaining 22 years of his life after 1575 fundamentally remaking [[Urcea]], strengthening the Church, and attending to Imperial affairs, particularly the nuances and specifics of the victory terms and the division of land. Leo initiated a series of wide-reaching post-war reforms in which he sought to not only bring to Kingdom together into a cohesive unit, but also planned to undercut the [[Social class in Urcea|optimate class]], who he blamed for the war as well as the [[Saint's War]], and planned to simplify [[Social class in Urcea]]. The King reduced the number of classes to three and formally abolished serfdom in [[Urcea]], though the institution had already been rendered mostly nominal due to the devastation of the wars. Part of King Leo's program also included the famous Leonine Land Decree of 1590, which opened lands acquired as part of the [[Dragonnades]] to any family in the [[Urceopolis (Archduchy)|Archduchy of Urceopolis]] of [[Social class in Urcea|privilegiata or freeman]] rank without considerable land holdings. The Land Decree divided the acquired estates in [[Gassavelia]], and, to a lesser extent, in [[Ænglasmarch]], into 40 acre parcels to be used as smallholds. This created the first wave of [[Ómestaderoi]], and Leo intended for it to strengthen smallholders at the expense of the optimates, which, following several future waves of Ómestaderoi, proved successful. In [[1591]], Leo organized the standing [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal Army]] and [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] which were loyal only to the Crown, further reducing the authority of remaining local magnates. Leo's primary reform, however, was standardizing the legal code throughout nearly all of [[Urcea]] at the time, including the final elimination of the separate legal code in [[Canaery]]. By bringing the disparate duchies and territories under one standard code, Leo forged the legal nation of Urcea out of the medieval crown confederation of Urcea. With the standard legal code also came the abolition of internal tariffs, bringing about strong economic recovery following decades of war. His legal reforms also stripped the right of heads of the [[Estates of Urcea]] to appoint representatives to the [[Concilium Daoni]], and he began the process of creating "districts" for members to represent, though these districts were often coterminous with local communes - which elected members - or with lower vassals, who appointed members to the body. Leo's successors in the 17th century took part in the economic spoils and successively attempted to expand the country's eastern border, with several successful wars bringing neighboring duchies and counties to heel. It was also during this time the Crown began to devise schemes to acquire the [[Grand Duchy of Carolina]], a polity to the north, though such attempts would not come to fruition in the 17th century. The profile of Urcea in the Empire continued to rise under Leo's successors, greatly unified and strengthened by the victory of the War of Religion and with a powerful southern Gassavelia no longer extant to contain Urcea. The 17th Century, besides continuing expansion within the [[Holy Levantine Empire]], was a time of something of a second Renaissance in Urcea as the baroque period took off and the Crown focused on making internal improvements. The [[Julian Palace]] was given a major renovation at this time, building the [[Julian Palace#Caeline Palace|Caeline Palace]] which remains the core of the structure as of the 21st century. The Crown spent lavishly on infrastructure improvements as well as rebuilding several palaces and Churches. The period also saw two "Years of Three Kings" - 1627 and 1656. | ||
===Dragonnades=== | |||
During the late 16th and early 17th century, the [[Dragonnades]] were prosecuted throughout the [[Holy Levantine Empire]] and [[Urcea]]. This term has come to encompass the entirety of anti-Protestant efforts during this time period, but in actuality these efforts took two main forms: indiscriminate military looting and persecutions and deliberate, systemic perseuction of Protestants using both the [[Imperial Inquisition]] and the antecedents of modern law enforcement agencies. Military dragonnades, by their very nature, were mob actions which typically only followed investigatory incidents of the Dragonnades. In either form, these events took place most fiercely in the years immediately following the [[Great Confessional War]], and as mentioned they had the effect of opening up new land for distribution and purchase within [[The Valley (Urcea)|the Valley]] and elsewhere throughout the Empire. Incidents would decrease in severity and frequency as the decades progressed, and the last major wave of Dragonnade efforts - not including in Holchester - occurred in 1607. | |||
====The Old Believers==== | |||
In the wake of the [[Nordmontaine War]], [[House de Weluta]] came into possession of the Duchy of Holchester, roughly corresponding to modern [[Ænglasmarch]]. The territory had been a useful base of operations from which House de Weluta managed to retake the Julian Throne during the Great Confessional War, but much of the Duchy's population was Protestant, or specifically [[College_of_Levantine_Churches#Old_Believers|Ænglish Old Believers]]. Unlike other Protestants, however, many Old Believers voluntarily removed themselves from organized society once Catholic rule was restored, living in small communes in the wilderness. Between the end of the Confessional War in 1575 and 1610, these groups were largely ignored by the authorities. Rumors of violence in Holchester began to circulate in the early 1610s attributable to bands of Old Believers. Historians believe that most of these rumors were legendary in nature, with most agreeing that any uptick in violence in the region being largely attributable to {{wp|highwaymen}} or other criminals of opportunity. Regardless, the Crown seized upon these rumors and deployed the [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal Army]] to the Duchy in 1613. The Army forcibly broke up communes, ranging from seizing its members for deportation to random acts of violence against real or perceived Old Believers. A minor uprising was attempted in 1616 to eject the Urceans, only for the uprising to be crushed and the violence to worsen. Holchester was economically and demographically devastated by this incident, and by [[1620]] King Aedanicus V was compelled to withdraw the Army. The 1610s lead most Old Believers to withdraw from society even further or to voluntarily immigrate to [[Pharisedom]]s abroad. The treatment had the effect of outraging various other out-groups within Urcean society, and the incident would be cited by Gassavelian separatists for decades to come as a prime reason to resist Urcean rule. | |||
===Gassavelian integration and uprising=== | |||
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At the end of the [[Great Confessional War]], the Urcean Crown annexed the entire western heartland of the former [[Kingdom of Gassavelia]] in the 1570s. The legal, economic, and social integration of these regions were haphazard at best and were not a major priority of the Crown or Government. The area was divided into more than a dozen different counties, duchies, and margravates ruled individually by the [[Apostolic King of Urcea]] but functionally governed by local magnates. Severe economic depression gripped the region as futile efforts to transform the hilly and tropical area into land suitable for large, Valley-style agricultural settlement. These efforts lead to famine and large scale out-migration into other parts of the Kingdom, worsening the labor supply and economic situation. Despite this, little effort was made to ameliorate conditions. By [[1650]], secret socieites began to form throughout the few remaining heavily populated urban centers of the region. The authorities, such as they were, managed to suppress opposition for a time, but by the 1670s culturally [[Gassavelian people|Gassavelian]] magnates began to store large amounts of arms and ammunition. In 1675, the magnates and large groups of urban rebels declared an open rebellion against the Urceans in favor of one of their own, a magnate named Arses, who began to style himself King Arses III. The ensuing conflict would be known as the '75 Rising. | |||
Forces loyal to Arses, known as ''Arsesians'', managed to quickly seize most of the militarily valuable castles and strongpoints throughout the region, such that by December 1675 de facto independence had been achieved. Few forward positions in Gassavelia existed that the Royal Army could use, but a route did exist south of the [[Magnag]] running through large passes in the [[Hortus Mountains]] which the Royal Army still controlled. The situation essentially required the Army to campaign through the eastern [[Urcean frontier]], through which large scale military movement was not possible without huge supply trains due to the near-desert like conditions of the region. Accordingly, the first Royal Army expedition which intended to cross the Hortus Mountains was launched in February 1676 from [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] of 15,000 men, most of whom died from starvation and disease along the way. By the time the first expedition reached the passes, only 4,000 men remained and it was decided they would remain at the passes to garrison them rather than pushing onward. | |||
Despite the early military failures of the Royal Army, the Gassavelians were diplomatically and economically isolated. The [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] began a blockade of the region, and neighboring authorities in [[Faramount]] fully complied with the embargo due to their own fears of a Gassavelian uprising in their territory. With the [[Urcean frontier]] to the north of Gassavelia and [[Canaery]] and its associated duchies to the west, Gassavelia was encircled. With little foreign trade options, famine in the territory grew worse. This lead to many extremely violent raids for food into Canaery, which raised enmity between both sides. | |||
===Incorporation reform=== | ===Incorporation reform=== | ||
After four hard years of war in [[Gassavelia]] and subsequent efforts to ease tensions there, many leaders (including Patrick I) in [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] began to pay greater attention to the peripheral parts of the King's domains, namely those of Gassavelia, the [[Ænglasmarch#Duchy_of_Holchester|Duchy of Holchester]] and [[Ænglish people|Ænglish]] territories, and the somewhat incorporated [[Electorate of Canaery]], and how the state administered these areas. Also coming into focus was the [[Duchy of Transurciana]], which had been the focus of dispute between the [[Pope]] and [[Apostolic King of Urcea|Apostolic King]] during the medieval period; though the power struggle had largely subsided by the 15th century in favor of the Crown, the Duchy still enjoyed significant legal privileges and autonomy, and its nobility still retained significant power where it had otherwise faded throughout the Kingdom. | After four hard years of war in [[Gassavelia]] and subsequent efforts to ease tensions there, many leaders (including Patrick I) in [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] began to pay greater attention to the peripheral parts of the King's domains, namely those of Gassavelia, the [[Ænglasmarch#Duchy_of_Holchester|Duchy of Holchester]] and [[Ænglish people|Ænglish]] territories, and the somewhat incorporated [[Electorate of Canaery]], and how the state administered these areas. Also coming into focus was the [[Duchy of Transurciana]], which had been the focus of dispute between the [[Pope]] and [[Apostolic King of Urcea|Apostolic King]] during the medieval period; though the power struggle had largely subsided by the 15th century in favor of the Crown, the Duchy still enjoyed significant legal privileges and autonomy, and its nobility still retained significant power where it had otherwise faded throughout the Kingdom. | ||
Administrative reform had become a relatively popular idea in Urceopolis beginning with the reign of King Patrick I's predecessor, Riordan VI, who had created the [[Kingdom of Crotona]] to deal with the myriad of dependencies, duchies, city-states, and other territories on the islands. While the Crown would struggle to implement meaningful legal and jurisdictional changes in the core part of the Kingdom, King Patrick I would begin the centuries-long process by issuing what would be known as the Jurisdiction Decree in 1685. This decree incorporated the Caenish, Gassavelian, and Ænglish lands within the [[Concilium Daoni]], abolishing the ducal and princely common councils of those regions to instead gather regional representatives within one body. The Kingdom of Crotona would also be represented, but with a limited number of appointed delegates by the Kingdom's administration - it was later given full representation in 1820. While the incorporations would improve the taxing authority of the Crown, it would also set the stage for the Daoni to assume greater responsibility, culminating in the Concession of 1747 which gave it the tools to later become a true national legislature. Historians have since seen the Decree as the first step in the long historical road to the [[Administrative Reorganization Act of 1892]]. | Administrative reform had become a relatively popular idea in Urceopolis beginning with the reign of King Patrick I's predecessor, Riordan VI, who had created the [[Kingdom of Crotona]] to deal with the myriad of dependencies, duchies, city-states, and other territories on the islands. While the Crown would struggle to implement meaningful legal and jurisdictional changes in the core part of the Kingdom, King Patrick I would begin the centuries-long process by issuing what would be known as the Jurisdiction Decree in 1685. This decree incorporated the Caenish, Gassavelian, and Ænglish lands within the [[Concilium Daoni]], abolishing the ducal and princely common councils of those regions to instead gather regional representatives within one body. The Kingdom of Crotona would also be represented, but with a limited number of appointed delegates by the Kingdom's administration - it was later given full representation in 1820. While the incorporations would improve the taxing authority of the Crown, it would also set the stage for the Daoni to assume greater responsibility, culminating in the Concession of 1747 which gave it the tools to later become a true national legislature. Historians have since seen the Decree as the first step in the long historical road to the [[Administrative Reorganization Act of 1892]]. | ||
===Expanding the realm=== | |||
During this period, Urcea's attention turned back to the west and south in an effort to capitalize on the very profitable [[Odoneru Ocean]] trade. It established a string of colonies in southeastern [[Crona]] during the 1620s known as [[New Archduchy]] and the [[Julian Belt]]. Urcea successfully fought the War of Urlazio and gained a foothold on [[Urlazio]]. The war, which took place from 1625 through 1634 and started largely by King Aedanicus V, was aimed at curbing the influence of [[Caphiria]] and prevent possible expansion into [[Levantia]]. Though successful, the Urcean march on Urlazio lead to hundreds of years of animosity with Caphiria that weren't truly resolved until the return of its Urlazio territory at the [[Assumption Accords]]. In order to link its dominions together, Urcea completed the envelopment of [[Crotona]] in 1660 during the reign of King Riordan VI, creating the [[Kingdom of Crotona]]. In 1670, Riordan began the conquest of [[Tromarine]], but it would not be completed until the reign of his successor, King Patrick I, who put the finishing touches on conquering the island in 1676. Patrick completed the envelopment of the southern Odoneru by formally annexing the [[Philaridon Republic]] in 1680, though the Republic had largely been reduced to the position of a vassal a century earlier. A small portion of the Republic was ceded to the [[Grand Duchy of Carolina]], Urcea's ally; this border would largely remain unchanged through the present day, establishing the southern border between the provinces of [[Roscampus]] and [[Lower Carolina]] roughly along the [[Pralia Mountains]]. | |||
==Imperial dynasty== | ==Imperial dynasty== | ||