Principality of Upper Streckeburg

Principality of Upper Streckeburg Fürstentum Oberstreckeburg (Alemannisch)
1428
Top: State flag Bottom: (lesser) Principality Flag
Status	State
Capital	Kreis
Common languages	Alemannisch
Demonym(s)	Upper Streckeburger
Government	Principality
• Prince	August IV
History
• Creation of the County of Streckeburg	~~
• Partitioned from Streckeburg	1428
• Ascension of August I	18~~

Upper Streckeburg (Allemanisch: Oberstreckeburg), officially the Principality of Upper Streckeburg (Allemanisch: Fürstentum Oberstreckeburg), is a semi-independent constituent state of Dolchland. Upper Streckeburg is located in the Drei Flüsse region of Dolchland. Upper Streckeburg is bordered by Kirchmarkt and Teilen to the north, Tale-Flußstadt and Ersau to the east, Tale-Beiberg and ($STATE) to the south and ($STATE) to the west. The state's capital, Kreis, arose from a series of villages that arose around Streckeburg Castle. The castle would give its name to both this state and the nearby Principality of Lower Streckeburg, from which the state was partitioned with the death of Benedikt of Streckeburg and the subsequent cession of Teilen to the bishop of Kirchmarkt, confirmed by the Treaty of Mittelsdorf in 1437.

History

Foundation of the County of Streckeburg

The building of a small tower at what would become Streckeburg occurred somewhere between 944 and 989, and went relatively unmentioned within records. The 944 account of Emerich von Unterstadt, a courtier within the local Duchy of Großtal mentions that the trade route running north-to-south from ($LOCATION) to Niedermarkt lay mostly undefended from bandits and hostile incursions. By 989, an account of ($KING)'s visit to Großtal mentions passing the now-present Streckeburg Castle. At some point, ($DUKE) of Großtal would grant the castle to one of his courtiers, Johan of Streckeburg, as the County of Streckeburg. With the stated aim of defending the trade routes of the region, Streckeburg would see a great deal of through-traffic. A later monarch would make a point to stop at Streckeburg Castle. This patronage by the King caused the Counts of Streckeburg to become fiercely loyal to the King, so much so that in 1265, when ($DUKE) of Großtal rebelled against ($KING) in ($WAR), the Count of Streckeburg rebelled against his direct liege and supported the King. Upon declaring victory in the war in 1267, ($KING) signed the Treaty of Kirchmarkt, which raised the Counts of Streckeburg to Princes, founding the Principality of Streckeburg.

Unified Principality

Streckeburg would remain a unified Principality for 161 years, during which time a small market settlement began to develop around the castle. Due to the fact that it roughly formed a circle around the castle, the settlement was known as Kreis, or rarely Kreisstadt.

Post-partition

In 1428, Benedikt, Prince of Streckeburg died with his twin sons as heirs. With the assent of the King, he divided his realm into two equal principalities. However, a discrepancy between two maps, commissioned at different times during the Prince's reign, meant that a strip of land, quite sizeable and with prosperous hunting grounds, was claimed by both children. This threatened to escalate into a war between the brothers, neither of whom wanted to give up their claim over the land or divide it between them. ($KING) issued an ultimatum, stating that they were to resolve their dispute peacefully or the land would revert to the King and be passed to neither of them. It is believed that Prince Waldemar of Lower Streckeburg did not think this threat was serious. It is unclear whether Prince Sigismund of Upper Streckeburg thought the same, but the threat of conflict continued to escalate until 1433, when the forces of ($KING) entered Mittelsdorf, the largest settlement in the parcel of land, and asserted the King's claim over the land. He created within the land a new title, the County of Teilen, further clarifying that whatever claim the von Streckeburg brothers had over the land was now void, as the title-holder was to be the only claimant to the land. However, the King did not particularly want to govern the territory himself, and so wished to pass it off to a neighbouring lord. Given his poor relations with ($LORD) of ($STATE) to the west, as well as the mediatory role that the bishop of Kirchmarkt had taken in many local disputes to that point, the land was granted to the bishop and became inseparable from the remainder of the bishopric. The bishop voluntarily entered into the Treaty of Mittelsdorf with both Lower and Upper Streckeburg, offering residents of both lands access to the hunting grounds of Teilen without payment of the Episcopal Grounds Tax standard for hunters on church property at the time.

Ironically, the loss of Teilen and both Streckeburg states' exemption from the Episcopal Grounds Tax proved to be a benefit, particularly to Upper Streckeburg, which held much of the remaining good hunting land within former Streckeburg. Hunters from across the ($KINGDOM) moved to Upper Streckeburg, attracted by the prospect of cheap hunting and plenty of game. This became such an attraction for Upper Streckeburg that, by 1652, it was profitable for the state itself to offer financial rewards to good hunters. This resulted in a defined hunting tradition within Upper Streckeburg, mostly inhabited by lesser nobles, that would precipitate in the rise of the first company of Jägers in modern Dolchland. Jägers would be copied by many other states in Dolchland, though among the most prestigious remained those of Upper Streckeburg, which, due to Lower Streckeburg's far less prestigious Jägers, had no issue with terming themselves the Streckeburger Jägers, and when not fighting for their home state, would be offered as mercenaries and soldiers-for-hire as another stream of income for the state. The Streckeburger Jägers still exist as a military unit within Upper Streckeburg to this day.

Decline and later development

By the early 19th century, the forests of Teilen and Upper Streckeburg, once teeming with wildlife, were no longer quite the attractions they once were. Game animals had been in decline due to dire overhunting. Upper Streckeburg did not have access to Teilen's new primary resource, that being lumber, due to the provisions of the Treaty of Mittelsdorf only providing for hunting priviliges. Upper Streckeburg attempted to also breach this market, though with less success than in Teilen.

By the middle of the century, Prince Eberhard of Upper Streckeburg found himself without an heir. There were provisions for the office of Prince to pass to a far-distant cousin, though hoping for economic investment, Eberhard married his eldest daughter to a lesser son of ($KING) of Bessen-Katzenelm, who would become August I of Upper Streckeburg, the first Prince of Upper Streckeburg of the current ruling house of Gloschlick von Kreis.

Geography

Location

Map of Upper Streckeburg within the Drei Flüsse region of Dolchland.

Upper Streckeburg lies between the Unter and Weit rivers, with the Blatt running through the centre of the state.