Visoclesia
Visoclesia Province
високлезийска област (Tengarian) Visokleziĭska Oblast | |
|---|---|
 Flag .svg) Seal | |
| Country |  Tengaria |
| Established | 3 October, 1936 |
| Capital | Višnagrad |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Apostol Zlatarev |
| Population | |
| • Total | 3,864,781 |
| • Rank | 2nd in Tengaria |
| Time zone | UTC-1 |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC0 |
The Visoclesia Province (Tengarian: високлезийска Oбласт), often simply referred to as Visoclesia, is an Oblast and Historical Region in the Republic of Tengaria. Visoclesia was the home of the historic Visoclesian peoples, a Marolev group close in language and kindred to the Tengarians, and who were eventually conquered and assimilated into Tengaria in the late tenth century. Situated on the Tengarian coast of Lake Min, it is a region with smooth beaches along the lake and rugged and forested hills inland. It Tengaria's second most populated province, and is one of Tengaria's most popular tourist destinations. The mouth of the great River Len flows through the Oblast's capital city of Višnagrad, which is the third largest city in all of Tengaria. The Province is also the second most heavily populated in all of Tengaria, but most of the population live in the city or along the coast.
History
Armonia
Pre-Marolevic Visoclesia was the home of the Armonic culture, a branch of the Priedan culture in Amathia. The Armonic culture arose during the Chalcolithic era, centralising on theocratic city states which followed the code of Zybithidism. This was at once a strict caste system and monotheistic religion centred around filial piety, and dominated most aspects of daily life. They spoke the Armonic language which is now extinct.
The largest of the Castipian city states was Rhamae, which reached its zenith in the 3rd century CE under the rule of Zilipuri. Rhamae became the hegemonic power over the other states, enforcing the creation of the Armonic League which united the Armonic states into a loose confederation. Under the league, Armonic culture grew and trade with the Tenic peoples north of Lake Min increased the wealth of the component states. Armonic military might also increased, with several wars being waged against the neighbouring Tengar peoples resulting in some territorial gains. Armonia would remain a relevant local power until the Marolevic migration.
From the fourth century CE, Marolevic tribes from Tengaria began to migrate from the south. Unlike earlier Marolevic raids, which sought simply to pillage and take slaves, these raids were the start of a major movement of population as the Marolevic Tengar tribes moved northwest. Several theories were proposed to this, most commonly that they were pushed back from expansion on the East borders of the Solarian Empire.
At first, these settlers were allowed to settle within the dominions of Lingos, in return for their military service in the Armonic armies. However, as their settlement grew the settled Marolevs revolted against Armonic control and soon overwhelmed the city of Lingos. This provoked the Armonic league, who attempted to mobilise their forces to repel the Marolevic threat. Despite winning several battles against the relatively unorganised Marolevic hordes, the Armonic League was deeply divided between its constituent cities. With the League's armies fighting in the south, several of the northern cities were sacked. The northern generals accused Alabria, the largest of the southern cities, of using the League's armies to defend themselves at the cost of the other Armonic cities, splitting their armies and returning home.
Now divided, the Armonic league was unable to defend itself against the seemingly never-ending attacks of the Marolevic tribes. In the sixth century, the final Armonic cities were defeated in a succession of battles. The Armonic people were successively assimilated into the Marolevic culture, with their culture leaving only slight traces within Visoclesia. The Armonic language disappeared around the eighth century and merged with the Tengar speech to form the Visoclesian language, with Armonic influences being limited to art and some toponyms. The Tengar Marolevs merged with the remaining Armonic peoples and became distinct from their Tengar brethren in the South both in language and general culture.
Principality of Garna
The Marolevic tribes settled into their new lands, establishing fortified towns known as Gords. These new settlements were ruled by a noble class known as the Boyars, rich landowners and mounted warriors, who arose from the warriors of the migratory tribes. Buoyed by trade and increased agricultural output, the Grods were able to form feudalistic states. In 730 CE the Principality of Garna was declared, with Prince Goran Kostov elected from amongst the city's boyars to lead the city. Garna, itself the first Marolevic settlement in Visoclesia, soon came to dominate a modest realm that covered the Visoc Forest all the way to Lake Min. While Goran would die just seven years later in a hunting accident, his descendants would succeed him and establish the Kostov Dynasty.
Garna remained independent from Great Vesimir, instead coming under the influence of the Empire of Arciluco, who had conquered the neighboring Tengarian tribes in the 5th century. It was these ties with Arciluco which would result in the Principality's evangelisation in the tenth century under the ministry of Saint Teodor of Garna, an Arcilucan monk who was sent to the Garnish court in 907. Teodor would succeed in converting the Garnish monarch, Vasil Kostov, to Episemialism. Vasil would make Episemialism the state religion, spreading it by force across his dominion. This caused a peasant's revolt which threatened his rule, but the loosely organised and weakly armed peasants were no match for his armoured knights.
Towards the end of the tenth century, Garna's economic importance began to decline steadily in the face of the coastal port city of Višnagrad. Realising this, the Višnagradian boyars elected one of their own to the title of Prince and declared their independence, starting a war between the two cities. Despite Višnagrad's economic advantage, Garna still possessed the stronger army and began to push deep into Višnagradian territory. In 995, realising that they were going to be defeated, the Višnagradian leaders sought help from the Tengarian general of Arciluco's Eastern Army, Vasil the Strong. With the aid of Vasil, they were able to win the war but were forced to submit to the Empire of Arciluco. When Vasil was named as Grand Prince of Tengaria in 1000, Višnagrad and Garna were put under his direct jurisdiction, ending the Principalities and merging it with Tengaria.
Province of Tengaria
Although the Visoclesians did remain distinct for several centuries, the increased centralization of Tengaria and rule of the Grand Princes lead to the domination of the Tengarian language and customs to be throughout the region. The close relation between the two Marolev groups assisted in the matter. Gradually the Visoclesians became more and more assimilated into Tengaria, especially with the advent of the Empire of Tengaria and the Tengarian Renaissance which saw the proliferation of Tengarian literature and influence.