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Medieval Ardmore: Difference between revisions
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The early period of Ardmori medieval history is defined by the expansion of the existing clan system to a feudal hierarchy and the infighting between different duchies and counties within the islands. While there was generally less conflict in Ardmore than on the continent of Levantia proper, the island's small population and largely agrarian economy was impacted heavily as different factions destroyed or razed much of the island's fragile farmland and fishing docks, which would eventually lead to an economic collapse in the late 1100s. | The early period of Ardmori medieval history is defined by the expansion of the existing clan system to a feudal hierarchy and the infighting between different duchies and counties within the islands. While there was generally less conflict in Ardmore than on the continent of Levantia proper, the island's small population and largely agrarian economy was impacted heavily as different factions destroyed or razed much of the island's fragile farmland and fishing docks, which would eventually lead to an economic collapse in the late 1100s. | ||
=== Age of Raiders === | === Age of Raiders === | ||
[[File:Medieval Houses of Ardmore.png|thumb|Medieval Houses of Ardmore]]The Age of Raiders was a period of Ardmori history wherein the warring clans of the Ardmori Isles began to structure their houses and dynasties, as well as construct the first castles and longships. While traders and merchants from Levantia had long visited the islands due to their proximity to [[Calinthia]] and [[Urcea]], Ardmore was largely seen as a backwater area with no significant economic value and was not strategic enough to merit conquest. Ironically, these two factors would be the largest contribution to Ardmore's continued independence until the [[Ardmori Civil War]]. Ardmore's clans were loosely organized around extended families and functioned as cooperative organizations, having a common set of shared values of honour and a strict code of discipline for social hierarchy. This over time progressed into formalized structures where a feudal structure emerged, much akin to those already existing in the Holy Levantine Empire. | |||
To amass wealth and capture livestock, both of which were difficult to obtain on the islands due to their rocky and non-arable nature, the Houses of Ardmore would conduct land raids against Urcea and Calinthia. The former however had a significant military presence and was drastically less likely to be raided as the nobility and warriors of the Ardmori Isles saw it as a dangerous adventure from which they were unlikely to return. One of Ardmore's first great heroes, Pádraig MacDowell, a low noble of House Kilkken, was killed and his half dozen ships razed on the Urcean coast in 877, which was considered to be one of the last raids against the Urcean coastline. Raids in Calinthia were usually undertaken by six to ten longships, each carrying approximately forty warriors. The raids usually avoided larger urban centres and fortifications, instead focusing on small religious places of worship and villages, where the raiders could successfully pillage and return to their ships unchallenged. The practice of mainland raiding gradually disappeared by the late 900s, as infighting amongst Ardmori houses had required warriors to defend their homes on the Isles. | |||
multiple clans begin to consolidate gains | |||
largest army ~5,000 | |||
raids into Calinthia | raids into Calinthia | ||
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Rosmore wins | Rosmore wins | ||
=== Cultural Impacts === | === Cultural Impacts === | ||
==== Economic Collapse ==== | ==== Economic Collapse ==== | ||
Caused by wars crippling the economy and farming | Caused by wars crippling the economy and farming | ||
== Late Medieval Period (1200-1600) == | == Late Medieval Period (1200-1600) == | ||
=== Royal Consolidation === | === Royal Consolidation === | ||