History of Urcea (1098-1214): Difference between revisions

The [[Julian dynasty]] had long sought to secure control of both banks of the [[Urce River]] and the land between it and the coast, even before the [[Golden Bull of 1098|establishment of the Kingdom in 1098]]. This land had been part of [[Latin League]] polities prior to the establishment of the [[Holy Levantine Empire]] and now comprised of the [[Creagmer republics]] - a series of {{wp|mercantile republic}}s occupying the land on what is today [[Urcea]]'s western shore. These lands were considerably wealthy from their strong position in the [[Odoneru Ocean|Odoneru]] trade market, with contacts and clients as far abroad as [[Kiravia]]. Although King Niall I was the first King to truly focus on Urcea's access to the sea and control of these wealthy cities, his predecessors has also made attempts to bring them within Urcea's direct orbit with varying degrees of success. Efforts were made during the 1110s and 1120s to emphasize the Apostolic King's right to tax these cities as their [[Imperial Kingdom of Urcea|legal liege]], but these efforts were largely rebuffed. By the reign of Niall I, the [[Philaridon Republic]] had emerged as the most powerful of the republics and served both as its protector and as its chief advocate to the [[Emperor of the Levantines]].  

Attempted legal encroachments during the early 12th century precipitated efforts by the republics to secure {{wp|Imperial immediacy}} during successive sessions of the [[Imperial Diet]]. One such effort lead to the Philaridon Republic being successfully granted immediacy in 1139, precipitating a military response. Under the earlier pretext of the de jure legal overlordships of the Republic, Niall marched an army into the merchant republic of Cauca in June 1139 over the political and legal objections of all of the merchant republics and the [[Pope]]. The Philaridon Republic sent a mercenary army which Niall defeated on 18 September 1139 before setting into a siege of Cauca during the winter. As the winter passed, the defenders of Cauca grew more desperate and sallied forth in February, taking grievous casualties. Niall ordered the city stormed at the end of March 1140 and the city was sacked. Many of the prominent merchant families were killed, including leading men of the city. Niall declared the areas under Cauca's influence would be immediately added to his own realms, while the spoils of the city would prove valuable for the rest of his reign. The [[Emperor of the Levantines]] did not intervene, and Niall marched from republic to republic extracting agreements of tribute from each except Philaridon. Several smaller cities were directly added to the realm of the Urcean king and reorganized as free cities. Historiographically, these free cities would no longer be considered "Creagmer republics" and continued to exist in some cases until the [[Administrative Reorganization Act of 1892]].

During this period of "southern orientation", the [[Grand Duchy of Harren|Duchy of Harren]] was elevated by the King of Urcea to a Grand Duchy in 1138, incorporating many of the bordering {{wp|march}}es with [[Gassavelia]] along the [[Urcean frontier|southern wilderness]] into a more direct political arrangement.

Not unlike the revolt in 1098, the [[Emperor of the Levantines]] called on the [[Apostolic King of Urcea]] once again in 1143, as the so-called "''Caenish League''" was formed in revolt under the leadership of the Elector of Canaery in an effort to expand the [[Collegial Electorate]] to a greater number of Princes within the Empire. The rationale for the Elector siding with the league are not well understood, given that it would reduce Canaery's influence, but it is thought by a consensus of historians that many of the league members - those who would stand to benefit - were viewed by the Elector as marriage prospects for his many daughters, thus potentially increasing his power. Whatever the case may be, again like in 1098, the Emperor decided to incentivize participation in the conflict by offering the Apostolic King a prize for his participation in the revolt; the prize the Julio-Harrens had been seeking for decades, the [[Electorate of Canaery]], was offered as spoils for King Niall I's participation in the war. Niall launched a sea invasion of Canaery using his newly won ports, with his forces landing in [[Cana]] in February 1144 and deposing the sitting Elector following a short siege. The reign of Niall I proved to be the high water mark for the dynasty; his predecessors had successfully maneuvered for Niall to have a relatively strong claim on the Electorate of Canaery, so his ascension in the Electorate was viewed with additional legitimacy once the Emperor granted it to him in 1144 upon the conclusion of the war. Niall was the first King-Elector of Urcea, though for the next several hundred years, the Kingdom and the Electorate would be administered as separate realms with a common ruler. After the war, in 1146, the King and [[Great Landsmeet]] were at an impasse over expenses incurred as a result of the conflict. King Niall desired to levy a tax to pay back what he owed for large army of mercenaries called upon during the war. As part of the disagreement, the King and Great Landsmeet eventually decided to convene a new body which would be comprised entirely of [[Social class in Urcea|privilegiata and freemen]], known as the "Common Council" - the [[Concilium Daoni]] in its earliest form. The Common Council was convened to create independent compromises between the King and Great Landsmeet as a kind of impartial arbitrator between the two, and was comprised of designees from each Estate of the freemen and privilegiata rank. In its earliest form, the total number of representatives from each Estate was inconsistent, ranging from fifteen to forty. The King designated his [[Procurator|Royal Treasurer]] as responsible for organizing meetings of the Common Council, creating the role of "President of the Common Council" that the [[Procurator]] still nominally holds today. The new Common Council - the [[Concilium Daoni]] - ruled in the King's favor, and the Great Landsmeet begrudgingly agreed to the tax.