Treaty of Lariana

The Treaty of Lariana was an 1806 agreement between Alstin and the Holy Levantine Empire which normalized diplomatic relations between the two entities. Among other provisions, it provided for merchant interests from Alstin to operate anywhere within the Empire (excluding Urcea due to the Recess of the Julii) and provided for the creation of the Alstin loophole, providing for freedom of worship for Alstin officials and nationals and opening the door for quasi-legal practice of Protestantism within the Empire. Inversely, it allowed Imperial merchants to operate in Alstin and Crona, increasing Levantine participation in Cronan affairs.

A potential Imperial-Alstin treaty had been considered for decades as merchants from Dericania sought to open firms in Alstin to participate in the mostly untapped Cronan trade. Political and religious concerns impeded progress on an agreement, and during the reign of House de Weluta within the Empire, the Levantine Emperors consistently blocked efforts by the Imperial Diet to open negotiations with the Protestant nation. The deposition of the de Welutas in the Second Caroline War removed the political impediments to negotiations, and the economic disruption of the war and subsequent closure of Urcea to the Imperial economy necessitated new economic opportunities elsewhere, opportunities that an agreement with Alstin could provide.

The Treaty was significant as the first formal recognition of a Pharisedom nation by the Holy Levantine Empire, and one of the few formal agreements concluded between the Empire or its members and a Protestant power since the Great Confessional War. In addition to the explicit provisions of the Treaty, it had the effect of providing significant legitimacy to Alstin within the context of the Occidental world, solidifying it as an important cornerstone of diplomacy and geopolitics in Crona. The religious exceptions that created the Alstin loophole had significant lasting impacts on the growth and survival of Protestantism within the Empire, eventually leading to the establishment of the College of Levantine Churches.