Vvarden

Kingdom of Vvarden ...
Flag
Motto: Hoc hic misterium fidei firmiter profitemur "Here is the mystery of faith that we strongly profess"
Anthem:  Sona Cunziglu, Vire d'o Rre cu sa Familia ("Sound the Muster, Long Live the King and his Family")
Official languages	Vvarden
Recognised regional languages	Bevenian
Vvardo-Bevenian	Vvardenese, Bevenian
Demonym(s)	Vvardenese
Government
• King	Lois VII
• Crown Prince	Aurelio
• Prime Minister	Xoán-Alixandu do Pereyro
Establishment
• Subjugation of local Veyene and Celtic peoples by the Fiorentine Empire	50-60 B.C
• Taifali Kingdom established	523 C.E
• Kingdom of Lugonia	851 C.E
• Union of Portucaria and Lugonia	1444 C.E
• The Great War	1895 C.E
• The Vvardenese Republic	1923 C.E
• Vvardenese Civil War	1934 C.E
• Second Glorious Revolution	1989 C.E
Population
• Estimate	32,000,000
• 2018 census	31,812,420
Currency	Vvardenese Rial (VR)
Date format	dd ˘ mm ˘ yyyy
Driving side	left
Internet TLD	.vvr

Vvarden, officially called the ... (Vvardenese: ...), or also known as the ..., is a ... on the continent of Asura located within Aeia. The official language is Vvardenese, which is spoken by approximately 80 million people worldwide.

Vvarden is considered to be a regional or secondary power in Asura and in Aeia, due to its central position in Western Asura despite its relative obscurity in recent years. Vvarden performs well in international rankings: it is 12th in quality of life, 15th in Good Country Index, 13th in inequality-adjusted human development, 19nd in the Social Progress Index, 20nd in Global Innovation Index and ranks as the 10th safest country in the world. Well known for its rich cultural history, Vvarden has contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science and technology. Vvarden is the 5th most popular country as a tourist destination in Asura, attracting 24.3 million international tourists in 2017. Vvarden's capital, and its largest city and metropolis is Betanzos, a significant economic hub which has been classified as a major city on the continent of Asura.

Before the migration of the Taifals to Western Asura, the area was inhabited by various proto-Lhaeraidh and Veyene peoples before being subjugated under the Fiorentine Empire. Several notable tribes of the area before the Fiorentine arrival were the Baedi, Arrotrebae, and the Varteneres, the last of which was only fully integrated into the rest of the empire in 98 B.C. A short time after the Fiorentine Empire's collapse, the Germanic Taifali began migrating from central Majula. The Taifals eventually settled down in the mountain valleys and highlands of Eastern Vvarden, before conquering many of the neighbouring Fiorentine and Celtic states, establishing the Taifali Kingdom in 523. Over the next few hundred years, the ethnic distinction between the indigenous proto-Lhaeraidh-Veyene-Fiorentine population and the Varde had mostly dissipated, with the Old Varde language being consigned to the declining function of a church language by the time of the abolishment of having different laws for Fiorentines and for Vardene peoples in 654. The nobility of the Danvardic Kingdom, in particular the Mayors of the Palace, slowly gained power from the monarchy and from one another, turning them into little more than figureheads. Eventually the reign of the Danvardic Rechimundingi dynasty came to an end when one of the Mayors of the Palace, Vermudo de Lugones, removed the figurehead King Gandolfo, establishing the Kingdom of Lugonia.

With the forced abdication of King Xoán II of Lugonia by his sons in 1138, the Kingdom of Lugonia split into three separate kingdoms of Floriana, Lusitaina and Albeona. The three kingdoms were eventually reunited in 1324 (Floriana and Lusitaina in 1214, Albeona later) under a recreated crown of Lugonia. In 1444, the crowns of the kingdoms of Portucaria and Lugonia were united by the marriage of Xabela I of Portucaria and Lois III of Lugonia. This act of union, however, was a union in title only, as each region retained its own political and judicial structure. However, when the throne of both realms passed to Lois' grandson Xaime I in 1453 upon Lois' death, the two were officially merged into the newly created Kingdom of Vvarden.

After the unification of Vvarden, sailors began exploring the west coast of Arabekh and Majula, with the first voyages occurring around 1418-1419. Using recent developments in navigation, cartography and maritime technology such as the caravel, Vvardenese explorers discovered parts of Rennekka and Vestrim, setting up a great many trading posts and fortifications to secure the route to Yidao. During this time, Vvarden monopolized the spice trade, and the empire expanded with military campaigns in Yidao. Vvardenese prominence increased further with the death of King Xaime II, in 1530, which led to a personal union between Vvarden and ... . In 1620, a revolt spearheaded by prominent nobles brought King Xoán V de ... to power, ending the union with ... .

Vvarden was plagued by dynastic conflicts in the latter half of the 18th and early 19th century culminating in the Loisine War, fought between the autocratic claimant to the throne, Lois V, and his nephew, Payo VIII who supported ideas of constitutionalism. The victory of Payo VIII in the Loisine War led to a fracturing among monarchists between Loisines and Marians. Loisine sympathies in many echelons of the government, and in certain conservative areas of Vvarden would lead to great tensions and bitter fighting. The Marian line was deposed in 1920, after the King was baited into halting democratically agreed on institutions by republican politicians, giving them a reason to depose the King. After the 1920 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Republic of Vvarden was established. However, tensions between authoritarian and conservative groups favouring the return of the monarchy, and democratic, socialist, communist, and liberal groups that wanted Vvarden's liberal experiment to continue grew over the next half-decade, eventually culminating in the Vvardenese Civil War. The fighting was bloody and violent across Vvarden, with the Republicans gaining the upper hand. Those that had supported the monarchy fled to Vvarden's colonies to set up a Vvarden-in-exile. Radical communist and socialist groups that fought for the Republic conducted a coup, purging many anti-communist elements from Vvarden and instituting a dictatorial Democratic People's Republic of Vvarden.

In 1956, due to long running political repression, food shortages, a stagnant economy, and failed reforms, protesters backed by the military overthrew the dictatorship. In the following months, the Vvardenese government-in-exile was absorbed back into Vvarden and many conservative, monarchist, and reactionary elements returned to Vvardenese society. After much deliberation by the military junta, the Provisional Union of Vvarden was established three months after the revolution in order to stabilize the country and pave the way for whatever party the people would decide on. The new democratically elected conservative government decided to appease monarchist sympathies by restoring the King, this time the claimant from the Loisine line, the Prince of Marauçan, Lois de Beregantinu.

As the Vvardenese Integralist Party gained power, more powers were given to the King to appease them. In 1961, several weeks before the second elections, the King dissolved parliament, placing Integralist ministers and party members in the high eschelons of his cabinet, thus bringing the Integralist Party into power. There had been tensions not long afterwards between Integralist leaders and King Lois VI as the King sought to align himself more as a traditional absolute monarchy rather than fully following to the Integralist system. When King Lois VI died on the 9th of November 1993, his son Prince Ramon came into power as Lois VII, who unlike his father, had fully embraced the Integralist system. Since then the government has been practically aligned solely to Integralist interests, although the proposed reforms of the Crown Prince Aurelio, may threaten these interests, primarily due to his long-running rivalry with the leader of the Integralist party, Xoán-Alexandre do Pereyro.

Vvarden has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of ... million Vvardenese speakers, especially in former colonies and current possessions of Vvarden, from which many Vvardenese-based creoles exist.

Etymology

The origin of the term "Vvarden" is highly debated. Some have stated that it originates in proto-Foranic artodunom, meaning "Bear-Fort", which became corrupted with the Taifals into Waradun, which became "Varden". Other scholars of the proto-Foranic origin for Vvarden's name have instead proposed wailodun meaning "Wolf-Fort" as the origin. There are those who believe it has a root in the proto-Alemannic walhaz or "foreigner", wada or "ford", or wardana meaning "protector"; combined with denaraz meaning "palm" or "flat", or even the Foranic "dunom". Others have completely rejected either school, stating it has a Fiorentine or even a pre-Sifharo-Asuran origin.

History

Fiorentine Empire

Map of the Fiorentine Empire at its greatest extent in 80 CE

The Fiorentine Walls of Sant'Eremo

Post-Fiorentine Period

The Taifali Migration to Asura

Coinciding with the decline of the Fiorentine Empire, many barbarian tribes passed through Vvarden, most of whom did not leave any lasting state. During the Dark Ages, Western Asura regressed culturally and economically, although enclaves of prosperity and culture persisted along the coastal towns of the Opal Ocean and the major cities in the south. As the Fiorentine Empire withdrew its borders more and more, in an attempt to consolidate its waning power, vast areas were de-urbanised, roads abandoned and native populations may have withdrawn to isolated areas such as mountains and forests. However, the Fiorentine-speaking nobility within the fortified city-states and the successor states of southern Vvarden managed to retain their culture and language, surviving today as part of the Vvardo-Bevenian languages.

The Taifali, upon entering Vvarden, encountered a predominantly proto-Lhaeraidh populace, small tribal groups from earlier migrations, and Fiorentine remnants. The greatest of the Fiorentine remnant states in eastern Vvarden was Caesaraugusta, now Saragu, who gave the Taifals better grazing land in return for their employment as mercenaries against other powers. This arrangement proved beneficial to the Taifals, who became notorious as shock troops among the Fiorentine successor states. In around 521, the pro-Taifal rex of Caesaraugusta, Herpylion, was assassinated by his rivals, and Caesaraugustan legions started to massacre the families of hundreds of Taifal soldiers. The son of the late High King Ereveix, Ervixio, fought a decisive battle against the Caesaraugusta before razing the town. Ervixio, recognizing the need for strong defences for his people, moved into the city in 523, settling down from their nomadic life, creating the Taifal Kingdom and establishing the Rechimundingi dynasty.

Kingdom of the Taifals

Main articles: History of the Taifal Kingdom, and Rechimundingi dynasty

The Kingdom of the Taifals, also known as the Taifal Kingdom, existed in modern day Vvarden between 523 and 851. Despite their quick and successful conquest of Caesaraugusta in 523, which was fairly wealthy and located in a strategic position, the Danvardic Kingdom still had many problems to deal with within their first few decades. Disputing regional powers surrounded the Taifal Kingdom, such as the Fiorentine remnants of Vigus and Auriensis, and the Fiorento-Celtic kingdoms of Avankario and Donobria. Following his father, High King Ervixio, High King Éxica conquered Auriensis and its neighbours, defeated the Fiorento-Celtic kingdoms of Avankario and Donobria in 536 and established Taifal hegemony over them. Éxica then defeated Vigus in 547 and conquered all of their territory along the Opal Ocean. By the end of his life in 568, Éxica ruled all of Vvarden south of the Minho river. Over the next five decades, Éxica's descendants - his son Kintila, and his grandchildren Unxila, and Atanaxildo - slowly carried out their predecessor's goal of centralizing power within the Taifal Kingdom.

At the Council of 618, the leaders of the now-dissolved tribal groups were accommodated with land, estates, and serfs to work the land and estates, creating a system that would be the precursor to feudalism. The ethnic distinction between the indigenous Celto-Veyene-Fiorentine population and the Taifal had largely disappeared by this time, with the Taifal language having lost its last and probably already declining function as a church language when the Taifal fully converted to Alydianism in 595 under Teodegildo I. The Vardene Code, completed in 654, abolished the old tradition of having different laws for Fiorentines and for Vardenes.

The Last of Rechimundo's Heirs, a painting by Argimero-Rre de Forssa depicting the tonsuring of Gandolfo Rechimundingi

Internally, the lands of a dead king were divided his sons and grandsons. While initially not a problem for the first century of Taifal rule, the next century frequently saw war between different kings, who quickly allied among themselves and against one another. The death of one king created conflict between the surviving brothers and the deceased's sons, with differing outcomes, and due to the law that the land of a ruler was divided among his heirs, the Taifal Kingdom frequently became split or fractured before being united by a single ruler. The frequent wars weakened royal power, while the aristocracy had made great gains and procured enormous concessions from the high kings in exchange of their loyalty.

Many kings came to the throne at a young age and died in the prime of their lives and before many of them could have children, weakening royal power further. Atanaxildo's descendant, Teodegildo III, who led armies to conquer Lhaeridhic lands and pagan Arzvans in the east, is commonly seen as the last powerful Rechimundingi King. In 820, upon the death of High King Xuntomiro, his lands were divided between his sons Xaudemiro and Xelimiro. An invasion from the north swallowed Xaudemiro's half, and he fled in exile. Over the next few decades, Taifal lands shrank to foreign conquests and rebelling nobles until it was reduced to a rump state in the mountains of central Vvarden. In 851, the Mayor of the Palace, Vermudo deposed the last member of the Rechimundingi dynasty, Gandolfo Rechimundingi, tonsuring him and exiling him to a monastery, ending over three hundred years of Taifal rule. With the support of the remaining nobility and the blessing of the Pope, Vermudo became the first King of Lugonia.

Middle Ages

Upon the crowning of King Vermudo, Lugonia was but a small territorial independent entity established in the Lugonian mountains. Vermudo's leadership was not comparable to that of the Taifal kings. The Kingdom of Lugonia originated as a focus of leadership over other peoples of the Lugonian mountains that had resisted the Fiorentines as well as the Taifal Kingdom and that were not willing to subject themselves to yet another wave of foreign conquests. Immigrants from across the former Taifal Kingdom, fleeing from violence, brought a Taifal influence to the Lugonian kingdom. However, at the beginning of the 10th century, Payo I's will cursed the Taifals, blaming them for the decline of the Taifal Kingdom. During the first decades, Lugonian control over the different areas of the kingdom was lax and so it had to be continually strengthened through matrimonial alliances with other powerful families from central and eastern Vvarden. Thus, Ermesinda, Vermudo's daughter, was married to Vimara Lopes, Dux of Lambris, who founded the Vimaranis dynasty. Payo's son Silo married Helaguntia, a Taifali noblewoman, while his daughter Adosinda married Menendo, a local chief from the area of Saragu.

Veremudo founded a dynasty in Lugonia that survived for fifty years and gradually expanded the kingdom's boundaries, until all of mid-eastern Vvarden was included by his grandson, Mauro's death in 901. After Vermudo's death in 869, his son Suero was elected king. Suero, according to the chronicles, was unexpectedly killed by a bear in 873 while hunting in one of the trials of courage normally required of the nobility in that era. But there is no other such incident known from the long history of monarchs and others at the sport, and the case is suspiciously similar to the Taifal legend of their first king, Ermanerixo, taken by the gods in a sudden storm. Suero's nephew, Mauro, became king in 888 after his father, Luva died after falling off his horse following a chaotic battle against a migrating army.

The immediate consequence when the childless king Mauro died in 901 was that the rule of the Lugonians passed from the House de Lugones, to Mauro's brother-in-law, Payo of the Vimaranis dynasty, through a marriage alliance to Mauro's sister. The Vimaranis dynasty descended from Veremudo through his daughter, Ermesinda. The female ties and rights of inheritance were still respected, and in later cases would allow the regency or crown for their husbands too. The reign of King Payo I from 901 to 945 saw further expansion of the kingdom to the south and west, almost as far as Olispo near the coast. It was during Payo I's reign that the kingdom was firmly established, repopulating parts of central Vvarden and incorporating them into the Kingdom of Lugonia. During this time, medieval Vvardenese culture began to develop, and the Old Vvardenese language became the language of preference for poetry and songs in southwestern Asura, earning it the nickname, "The language of troubadours".

In 1007, Normaund pilgrims started travelling to Vvarden in order to pay homage at certain holy sites, such as the Temple of St. Landus at Carnu, and the Monastery of St. Dimas on Monte Vindu. Others travelled to Vvarden as mercenaries, led by brothers Robert and Enguerrand de Brai, descendants of the legendary Boso de Brai. The brothers so distinguished themselves against Celts to the north in the War of Brigantia that King Nepoxano gave them the frontier counties of Olca, Eiras, Brigantia and Gigrannda in 1012. King Nepoxano had hoped to appease the issue of Normaund immigration into Vvarden by giving them a rural, impoverished, barren area to settle in, one devastated by recent wars. Nepoxano also hoped that the Normaunds could also act as a buffer when Celts would regain their strength and raid Lugonia. Contrary to his expectations, Robert, Enguerrand, and a third brother Vauquelin, who travelled to join them in 1013, were able to rebuild and fortify the area using advanced construction techniques picked up in their time in Mydroll, fortifying the land with many castles. The Brothers de Brai as they became known, quickly established themselves as powerful vassals of King Nepoxano, able to influence Lugonian politics to a large degree.

Wischard de Brai being coronated as Prince of Talbregu by Archbishop Berengu I Calistes of Sant'Eremo

The struggle of power in the wake of Nepoxano's death in 1018, rumoured to be the doing of the Brothers de Brai, further solidified their grasp, and armed opposition to their regency for young King Xoán was put down using the King's name. Enguerrand's sons Wischard and Onfroi were able to carve themselves an independent crusader state north of Vvarden, the Principality of Talbregu, which mostly paid allegiance to the Kingdom of Lugonia. Wischard himself was crowned Prince by the Archbishop of Sant'Eremo, who had feuded with the young king Xoán's regents. Naturally news of Normaund success had been met with disdain among the local Vvardenese aristocracy, who regarded them as upstarts and outsiders. The young king too was learning the extent of their power, rules such as the Brais needing to be notified if the King wanted to go somewhere, and permission from the Brais if he ever wanted to hand out land to a nobleman, made him realise how much power they held over him. The young king discreetly allied himself with many nobles, before forming a plan on how best to deal with the powerful de Brai family.

On what would become the Massacre of Saint Senoch's Day, King Xoán invited all his nobles to a feast, to celebrate the life and legacy of St. Senoch on the 11th of February, 1023. The then 17-year-old king made a speech, at first praising his de Brai 'friends', before revealing to the court their crimes and demanding their deaths. Fighting broke out as servants armed with daggers attacked and killed members of the de Brai family, notably slitting the throat of Vauquelin de Brai and one of his nephews, Onfroi. Wischard and two of his cousins had escaped by jumping out of a window, apparently being carried down by angels, although sources would state that this was false and in fact they had survived the fall by landing in a pile of horse dung. Wischard had escaped the city, fighting his way out alongside his guards before fleeing to his stronghold in Casteddu Wisardi, where he had declared his independence from the Lugonians as Prince of ... . Fighting broke out for several years until a ceasefire was held in 1028 in the face of an invasion. The Principality of ... remained independent, but had to pay tribute to the King of Vvarden. Although their regency was ended, mostly independent Normaund domination over the north of Vvarden, continued for a hundred and thirty more years, ending in 1158.

King Corràdu Borso of Floriana, and King Ordunu II of Lusitainu, depicted in 1212 in the Gesta Conradus Florianus

With the forced abdication of Xoán II by his sons in 1138, the Kingdom of Lugonia split equally into the two separate kingdoms of Floriana and Lustainu. By the time of 1150, as the result of constant warfare between the children of Xoán II, the House de Lugones had died out in both kingdoms, replaced by the House de Catoira in Floriana, and the House de Montiferru in Lusitainu.

The two kingdoms were linked together in 1214, as the result of the inheritance of Lusitainu from the late King Ordonu II to his son-in-law, Marrianus de Catoira, the heir to the Kingdom of Floriana. When King Corràdu Borso died in 1220, Marrianus ascended to the throne as King of Lugonia rather than the two separate kingdoms.

In 1444, Portucaria and Lugonia were united by the marriage of Dutchess Xabela de Vama of Portucaria and King Lois III of Lugonia, uniting the entire region of Vvarden for the first time since the Taifals, creating an united Kingdom of Vvarden.

Early Modern Period

The Vvardenese colonial empire was initially a trade-based entity which derived most of its influence from merchant enterprise and Vvardenese control of international maritime shipping routes through strategically placed outposts, such as in the case of the Ilhas do Vera Lume and the Ilhas do Lume Sagrado. However, several opportunities, when presenting themselves, allowed the Vvardenese to take large colonial holdings, for example the possession of ... in nearby Majula. In the wake of the unification of Vvarden, Vvardenese and Bevenian sailors began exploring the west coast of Arabekh and Majula and searched for a route across the Jade Ocean around 1418–19, using recent developments in navigation, cartography and maritime technology such as the caravel. These expeditions had the aim of finding a sea route to the source of the lucrative spice-trade which was otherwise blocked by the Alydianist-hostile ... . In 1488 Augusto Margarda Teixeira de Sanxurxo rounded the Cape of Hopeful Travels (Cabo da Viaxes Esperanxa), and in 1499 Llounguís Vigo reached Yidao in a competition with his rival, Midrasian explorer Delfino de Pallone, although having lost the venture by only a few weeks. In 1502, either by an accidental landfall or by the crown's secret design, Boaventura Linoes Cabral discovered ... on the Rennekkan coast, followed by numerous colonists and explorers over the next few hundred years.

Over the following decades, Vvardenese sailors continued to explore the coasts and islands of Majula, Southern Yidao, and Savai, establishing forts and factories as they went. By 1570 a string of naval outposts connected ... to ... along the coasts of Arabekh, Majula, Yidao and Savai.

Aurélio Cerxueira Moura, "The Grand Captain of Vvarden" finds the corpse of King Xaime II de ... in the aftermath of the Battle of Asti.

Vvarden voluntarily entered a dynastic union with ... between 1532 and 1620. This occurred because the last two kings of the House of ... – King Xaime IV, who died in the battle of ... in ..., 1530, and his great-uncle and successor, King-Cardinal Fernan Bieito of Vvarden – both died without heirs, resulting in the Vvardenese succession crisis of 1532.

Subsequently, ... of ... claimed the throne and was accepted as Lois-Felip I of Vvarden. The joining of the two crowns deprived Vvarden of an independent foreign policy and led to its involvement in the ... Years' War, an act that devastated Vvardenese armies and led to great discontent among the nobility of Vvarden. Pro-independence Vvardenese nobles in particular were heavily repressed in the bloody ... in an attempt to tie Vvarden closer to ..., an act that drove many moderate nobles away from the ... monarchs. Colonists from ... were encouraged to emigrate to Vvardenese settlements and trading outposts, many of whom established ties that still exist today. During this time, the Vvardenese colonial empire continued to expand, despite the failure of several crucially needed administrative reforms during the reign of Pèire II Emanuel and Lois-Felip II due to lack of support among Vvardenese nobles. In 1620, a descendant of Xoán IV, Xoán V Paies de ... spearheaded an uprising backed by disgruntled nobles and was proclaimed king after a long and bloody war. The Vvardenese Restoration War ended the eighty eight year period of the ... Union under the House of ... . This was the beginning of the House of ... , which reigned in Vvarden for the next three hundred years until the deposition of the monarchy in the Coup of 1930.

King Lois IV's eldest son came to reign as Payo IV, however his physical and mental disabilities left him overpowered by his camarilla. In a palace coup organized by the King's wife, Maria Francisca of ..., and his brother, Xosé, Duke of ..., King Payo IV was declared mentally incompetent and exiled to the Royal Palace of Sintra in the Ilhas do Lume Sagrado. Payo's brother, Xosé became King Xosé II of Vvarden. Xosé II saw a reign characterized by the influx of gold into the coffers of the royal treasury, supplied largely by the royal fifth (a tax on precious metals) that was received from the Vvardenese colonies of ... and ... . Acting as an absolute monarch, Xosé II nearly depleted his country's tax revenues on ambitious architectural works, most notably Mafra Palace, and on commissions and additions for his sizable art and literary collections. His lavish spending on promoting the culture of Vvarden, including hiring foreign artists and setting up art schools across Vvarden, earned him the epithet ... .

The de Aguia Dictatorship and the Enlightenment

Main article: Gòsamu de Aguia

In 1738, Gòsamu Xosé de Valpaxos e Aguia, 1st Marquis of Montlegre, began a diplomatic career as the Vvardenese Ambassador in Midrasia and later in Ardaima. Whilst serving in Ardaima, the once-widowed de Aguia had arranged a marriage between him and a high-ranking member of the Ardaiman royal family. King Payo V of Vvarden was not pleased at de Aguia's ambition and recalled de Aguia to Vvarden in 1747. Payo V died the following year and his son, Manouel I of Vvarden, was crowned. In contrast to his father, Manouel I was fond of de Aguia and appointed Aguia as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

As the King's confidence in de Aguia increased, the King entrusted him with more control of the state. By 1755, Gòsamu de Aguia was made Prime Minister. Impressed by Midrasian economic success that he had witnessed from his time as an Ambassador, he successfully implemented similar economic policies in Vvarden. He abolished slavery in Vvarden and in the Vvardenese colonies in Majula, reorganised the army and the navy, restructured the University of ..., and ended discrimination against different Aylidianist sects in Vvarden. But Gòsamu de Aguia's greatest reforms were economic and financial, with the creation of several companies and guilds to regulate every commercial activity. He marked down the fertile Douro region for production of Port to ensure the quality of Vvardenese wine, the first attempt to control wine quality and production in Asura. He ruled with a strong hand by imposing strict law upon all classes of Vvardenese society from the high nobility to the poorest working class, along with widespread reforms to improve the lives of the poor and to more effectively manage Vvarden's tax system. These reforms gained de Aguia enemies in the upper classes, especially among the high nobility, who despised him as a social upstart. In the final years of Manouel's life, de Aguia was ruler of Vvarden in all but name, professing his loyalty to the throne whenever pressed. King Manouel's death in 1783 spelled the end for de Aguia's dictatorship.

Without the protection of the confidence of the King, de Aguia suddenly became vulnerable. The new ruler, Manouel's grandnephew, King Uxío, disliked the Marquis because of the power he amassed, and never forgave him for the ruthlessness with which he dispatched the Távora family, many of whom were his childhood friends. Upon his accession to the throne in 1783, Uxío banished Gòsamu de Aguia from all of his political offices and confiscated many of his lands and assets. The Marquis of Montlegre died on his estate in Montlegre in 1788, aged 78.

Opinion of Gòsamu de Aguia would become heavily divided over the next few centuries, with many liberal and democratic groups calling him a Machiavellian plotter that ruled Vvarden with an iron fist, and authoritarian and integralist groups calling him a role model on how Vvardenese Prime Ministers should rule in conjunction with the autocratic monarchy.

The seeds that the De Aguia Dictatorship planted would not go away any time soon. Political theorists such as ..., and ... regarded his successful rule over Vvarden and its colonial empire as something that should be promoted, even enshrined in law. These were split into those that wanted the monarchy to serve the Prime Minister, and those that had wanted the Prime Minister to rule alone. Other theorists, such as ..., believed that his rule was tyrannical by nature and that Vvarden in the future must make amends to avoid such a dictatorship from occurring again.

Nineteenth Century

1800-1880

Loisine War

King Antine in coronation robes. King Antine's death in 1802 sparked the Loisine War, splitting the House of Beregantinu into two rival branches until the death of Payo X in 1925

On his deathbed in April, 1802, the childless King Antine explicitly asked for the throne to pass to his neice, the Princess Maria de Beregantinu, who in his mind had proved herself a capable heir to the throne. However, there was another claimant in the form of the absolutist Lois de Beregantinu-Wisardi, Maria's brother, who rejected Antine's choice as heir. Many of Lois' supporters were alarmed by the liberal reforms that had been initiated across most of Western Asura, inspired by similar changes in Midrasia, and had rejected compromises for constitutional monarchies. The increasing deadlock between the two sides in the weeks after Payo VII's death was forced open when Maria became crowned Maria II on May 4th, 1802. As a result, militias loyal to Lois, who claimed the title of Lois V, rose up in reactionary and conservative areas of Vvarden.

The war fundamentally split the House of Beregantinu into two lines: the Marian Line, or the House of Beregantinu-Agramont, and later Beregantinu-Agramont-Osraige; and the Loisine Line, or the House of Beregantinu-Wisardi.

Twentieth Century

The Great War

King Payo’s regime was racked with difficulties in the aftermath of the Great War while Payo himself was faced with different personal tragedies within his life. During the Great War, his youngest brother Lois-Felip was killed during the Battle of Alfoz. In 1911 his wife and the Queen of Vvarden, Queen Uxía was assassinated by a Bevenian anarchist and in 1914 his eldest son and heir to the Crown of Vvarden, Crown Prince Lois, committed suicide in the mysterious Allariz Incident. In 1919 his remaining son and heir, Crown Prince Payo was assassinated at the Praza das Igrexas in Vvarden's capital with Payo himself wounded by the assassin. The deaths of most of his immediate family affected his reign and the political atmosphere around the crown, with many politicians calling into question both his family line and the survival of the monarchy.

Rei Payo X, King of Vvarden from 1901-1923. Payo X's reign was wracked with government incompetence, economic stagnation, deaths within his family, and civil unrest.

There were several reasons as to the downfall of the monarchy and the installation of a republic: Since the Loisine War in the early 1860s, autocratic support had chipped away at the legitimacy of the constitutional monarchy, with followers of the reactionary Loisine line opposing them at every turn; Growing government ineffectiveness, especially during the Prime Ministerships of Samuèli Araimmund de Isorna, and Lino Pau Seddori, turned the opinion of those in the government against the monarchy, which had failed to curb such excesses; The marriage of Payo X to the unpopular Princess Gwenfrewi Gwallteuraidh of tir Lhaeraidd who many thought was a spy, had not fully converted to Alydianism, or had arranged for the secret conversion of Payo to paganism; That when Vvarden did solve the issue of intervention with the advice of the monarchy in the First Great War, dreams of territorial ambitions on behalf of the Concordat were crushed with demands for repatriations in the aftermath; Finally the deaths of Payo's heirs meant that if Payo were to die, the throne would pass to a member of the Loisine line, who would undoubtedly seek to impose autocratic rule, thus a republic began to be seen by many as a necessary evil to protect Vvarden from an absolute monarch.

The Vvardenese Republic

It was in 1923 that the pressure caved in and liberal cabinet members stormed into the royal families' residence, demanding the abdication of the King and the establishment of a republic. Payo had no choice and accepted, going into exile and dying in 1925. Payo's overthrow and exile was considered the end of an era - the end of a classical and romantic period that oversaw the rise of Vvarden's colonial empire, as well as its newfound optimism in the wake of winning the Great War. The monarchy, for all its faults, was a symbol for Vvarden, and a focal point for patriotism. Whatever chaos was thought to be solved with the removal of the king was even worse when the republic was established.

During the Second Republic there was a great political and social upheaval, marked by a sharp radicalisation of the left and the right. Many deeply conservative and reactionary areas across rural Vvarden stopped co-operating with the government whatsoever, as they deeply disproved with the removal of the monarchy. In some instances, reactionary groups formed decentralized councils under local nobility, in what has been deemed as an early form of implemented Vvardenese integralism. Well-meaning moderate leaders were boycotted and each party intended to create a Vvarden that suited only their desires. During the first three years, the Republic was governed by a coalition of republican and socialist parties. In the 1926 elections, the right triumphed and in 1930, the left. The violent acts during this period included the burning of churches, the monarchical uprising of the militar Ferrando Couceiro, the Great Eastern Strike of 1930 and numerous attacks against rival political leaders. On the other hand, the Second Republic also introduced important reforms initiated to modernize the country, which included the establishment of a democratic constitution, agrarian reform, restructuring of the army, and universal suffrage.

Many of the radical acts within the Vvardenese Republic intensified in the lead-up to the 1934 elections as the already polarized political battlefield of the Vvardenese Republic radicalized even further, including the shooting of two leftist politicians in late 1933, and numerous strikes and protests by left-leaning groups in reprisal. In May, 1934, with the elections only several months away in October, the heads of the two main democratic parties of the Republic, ... of the conservative ..., and ... of the social liberal ... party, met and decided to merge parties in order to preserve the continuation of the republic and to prevent it from falling into the hands of far-left and far-right groups. The new Democratic Coalition Party, as it became known, decided to give their presidential nomination to independent candidate ... . The Coalition proved itself unpopular with lower-ranking members of the party, many of whom left to join more radical groups, but it was widely deemed as a necessary measure to prevent the radical parties from gaining strength. However, by September 1934, conflicts and tensions between the two parties within the Coalition spiraled out of control, and the parties had gone their separate ways. For many, it seemed that Vvarden's last hope for the restoration of democracy had failed.

The 1934 election was highly contested, but the votes soon became clear. Former journalist and lawyer Cibrán Marín of the communist ... had won, by a very slim majority. Almost immediately, the opposing parties had refused the election results and had asked for a recount, and there were riots in many cities across Vvarden. Cibrán Marín's party sought to pass many communist reforms, including redistribution of wealth, an expansion of welfare to the poor, and the nationalization of Vvarden's resources, all of which struggled to be legislated due to outright opposition by the other parties. In a desperate measure to relieve Vvarden of almost a decade of economic crisis, Marín abused the power of the presidency, trying to pack the judicial system with his supporters in a clear violation of his role. In response the military, led by Iago Teixeira, stepped in and removed Marín. Marín's supporters and left-wing groups seized armouries and rose up across Vvarden, soon followed by reactionary, monarchist, and far-right groups. The Vvardenese Civil War officially began on the 11th of February 1935, and would rage for three more years.

The Vvardenese Civil War

For four years the nationalist, royalist, and integralist forces led by General Iago Teixeira fought against a loose alliance of anarchist, republican, communist, syndicalist and otherwise anti-nationalist forces, known as the CNASSA (Confederación Nacional dos Anarquistas, Sindicalistas, Socialistas e Antinacionalistas) led by Cibrán Marín. The civil war was viciously fought and there were many atrocities committed by both sides. The war claimed the lives of over 600,000 people and caused the flight of up to a half-million citizens from Vvarden. In 1938, CNASSA emerged victorious and assumed control of Vvarden for the next fifty-five years.

Aftermath of the Civil War

Cibrán Marín resigned not long after the war was won, citing poor health and regrets over causing the civil war as reasons, whereas some say he was forced to resign by his soon-to-be successor. In his place, radical groups gave the authoritarian trade union leader and charismatic firebrand Xabier Lalínes de Méixamo the role of General Secretary, an act that immediately inflamed moderate members, particularly democratic groups that had switched over to the communists in the civil war in the hopes that they would restore the republic. De Méixamo imprisoned a great many supporters of the republic, citing correspondence between democratic politicans and several high-ranking generals asking for a military-backed coup that would restore the republic or even the monarchy. Many of these supporters protested, stating that the correspondence had been faked as an excuse to imprison moderate members of the party. Not long after, De Méixamo officially announced a series of purges that would seek to eliminate all opposition to communist rule within Vvarden. A cult of personality was installed, and secret police rounded up all dissenters and sent them to conduct forced labour for the People's Republic under the guise of re-education. Many more fled Vvarden for neighbouring Asuran countries or Vvarden-in-Exile. Within a year, communist rule was cemented, and Vvarden became a police state. Marín did not live to see the full extent of De Méixamo's violent repressions, having passed away from pneumonia while under house arrest in the early days of the purge.

1934-1953

Mainland Vvarden

Once the Communist government became more entrenched, the number of arrests increased. All strata of society were involved, but prewar elites, such as intellectuals, clerics, teachers, former politicians, and anybody who could potentially form the nucleus of anti-Communist resistance were especially targeted. Even left-leaning politicians were subjected to extreme scrutiny, and many were sent to rehabilitation camps because they were not seen as being radical enough. The existing prisons were filled with political prisoners, and a new system of forced labor camps and prisons was created. A decision to put into practice the creation of several hydroelectric power plants in eastern Vvarden served as a pretext for the erection of several labor camps, where numerous people died. Another legacy of the Communist period in Vvarden was the communist regime's various projects to modernize Vvarden's infrastructure with mixed success.

Another project included the creation of Cidade dos Traballadores or "City of the Workers" to become the new administrative capital, which after the Glorious Revolution was renamed Loisana after King Lois VI. Today, Loisana is one of the poorest cities in Vvarden, with large crime rates.

The Exiles

Lois VI, King in Exile, and later King in Vvarden.

During and after the Civil War, tens of thousands of prominent intellectuals, conservatives, integralists, monarchists and nationalists left the country as the tide turned against them, at first legally, but also illegally after the People's Republic closed all borders. These groups of people followed the monarchy to ... , where they became known as "Os Exiliados" or "The Exiles", creating a new government known internationally as "Blue Vvarden" or "Royal Vvarden", (as opposed to the "Red Vvarden" on the mainland) also known as Vvarden-in-Exile. As the communists cemented their rule, the government of the Vvarden-in-Exile was still to be determined. After three years of military rule by the armed forces, led by monarchist general and "Cadelho", Iago Teixeira, the military bowed to the demands of many Vvardenese politicians and proclaimed King Lois VI as absolute monarch on the 16th of December 1949, on what has become known as the "Day of Restoration".

Initially, there were plans to retake control of mainland Vvarden. Plans for invasion were put aside, and the main policy of the military junta and of the absolute monarchy, was switched to one of containment of communism and the consolidation of Vvarden's colonial empire. Ironically, the exile made some aspects of colonial rule easier, as the shorter distance between Vvarden-in-Exile and its colonies meant faster communication and quicker responses against attacks. However, the loss of mainland Vvarden meant that there was a lack of Vvardenese manpower, exacerbated by inheriting most of the Vvardenese Royal Navy which sat empty and rusting outside of Porto ... .

This problem was fixed in 1950, as the King issued the United Vvardenese Forces Act, which allowed natives of Vvardenese colonies to enter the military. Despite coming from a conservative and authoritarian background, the King encouraged efforts for the desegregation of the military, stating that because mainland Vvarden had been lost, they were all "brothers in arms". Much like the People's Republic of Vvarden, Vvarden-in-Exile conducted several repressions, especially in regards to communist militia. Despite the loss of mainland Vvarden, Vvarden-in-Exile remained a minor power due to its militarized populace and large fleet, and it underwent many economic growths, thanks to loans from other anti-communist powers. However, the economy started to stagnate by 1950 and shrink in June 1953, only a few months before the overthrowing of the People's Republic of Vvarden. Some say that if mainland Vvarden had not fallen at the time it did, then Vvarden-in-Exile would not have been able to remain the way it was for much longer.

Contemporary Vvarden

1970s

The Integral Crown Economy that began to emerge in the early 1970s hybridized a broad range of new economic theories, united by a shared belief that successive communist revolutions had proven 19th Century neoclassical capitalism a failure. Prominent Integral Crown economists included Jostu de Pasuòls, who proposed a new middle theory between neoclassical economics and Marxist-Syndicalism; Ugu Mannazzu, who called for radical restructuring of the economic system to balance incomes and prices; and Binsente Laxa, whose theory of co-determinant corporatism aimed to overcome the antagonistic relationship between labor and management that had led to communist revolutions such as the Civil War in the first place.

1980s

The "economic miracle" was initiated by the reforms promoted by the technocrats of the Integralist party, who with the King's approval, put in place policies in Vvarden. These Integralist technocrats eschewed syndicalist economics and favoured increased competition between co-determinant corporatist "guilds" as a means of achieving rapid economic growth and integration. The implementation of these policies took the form of development plans organised by decentralised communities across Vvarden and it was largely a success; although it was slow to start, with growth only really gaining speed by the mid 80s. Vvarden over the next few decades enjoyed the second highest growth rate in the world, and became the ninth largest economy in the world by the millennium. Vvarden had joined the industrialised world, leaving behind the poverty and endemic functional underdevelopment it had experienced following the Loisine Wars, the loss of most of its empire in the 1900s and the civil war that followed the fall of the monarchy in the 1930s.

To help achieve rapid development, there was massive government investment through several key state-run companies like the national industrial conglomerate ..., the mass market car company ... in ..., the big steel plant of ... in ... and the shipbuilder ... . With heavy protection from foreign competition within the domestic Vvardenese market, these companies led the industrialisation of the country, restoring the prosperity of industrial areas like ... and ... and creating new industrial areas, most notably around Betanzos. The rapid economic expansion reinvigorated old industrial areas that had been in the large part stagnant since the Civil War and the fall of the Communist regime, such as Loisana.

Culture

Literature

An early example of Vvardenese literature is the tradition of medieval ... poetry, originally developed in Vvarden and northern ... . It became a popular language for poetry within Western Asura, even going so far as to be called the 'language of Troubadors'.The most prolific of such troubadours during the ascendancy of Vvardenese as language of literature, was Gufré da Esuri, who left behind more than one hundred works. He was the most prolific troubadour of any nationality. The literature of Vvarden is distinguished by a wealth and variety of lyric poetry, which has characterised it from the beginning of its language, after the Roman occupation; by its wealth of historical writing documenting Vvarden's rulers, conquests, intrigues, epic tales, and expansion. Such poetry reached its height by the considered Golden Age in the Renaissance, where Vvardenese writers such as Gil Passol, Berndin Ribeiro, and especially the great author of national and epic poem ..., Fernan Guttadura.

The mid to late eighteenth century was marked by the introduction of the Baroque in Vvarden and is generally regarded as the century of literary decadence and the beginning of the end of the Golden Age of Vvardenese literature. This came despite the success and existence of well-received writers like Father Donat Terralba, Father Frannesco de Sindia, and Persiles de Daun, who composed his tragic epic Caiduta, depicting the end of a mythological Golden Age and the downfall of the first races of man, tying into contemporary Vvardenese fears that Vvarden was losing its standing and grasp globally. The story tells of the brave and innocent Herpylion, who aspires to renew the world and restore the Golden Age, ultimately dying as a result of his inability to accept the new situation for the world, and accept that all things end eventually. The performance of Caiduta as an opera at the royal court in 1770 apparently made many notable and composed statesmen of the time, including Nicolau de Aguia, and King Manouel I, suffer outbursts of emotion, the latter notably seen weeping as he left the theatre.

Vvardenese literature underwent a decline along with Vvarden's standing in the 19th century, strained by conflicts such as the Loisine War. In the 1850s and 60s however, there was a brief revival as many artists and poets sought to restore the glory of medieval troubador traditions, which lasted until the 1880s. But that too was followed by another dry spell, as even more conflicts occured, such as the Great War, and the establishment of a Vvardenese Republic. The Republican period, for all its faults, enabled free access to ideas, unchecked by most censorship, and a very different, very modern flower was starting to bloom. Poems of this time often ascribed themselves to political sympathies, or were outright colourful in surrealist behaviour. But then again the spectre of conflict haunted the landscape, and a great many writers and poets joined in the Vvardenese Civil War, some of them writing war diaries, and poems on the futility of war. One of the most famous of these civil war poets, Silo de Fransco, became widely successful, his Homage to Betanzos becoming a bestseller across the world. de Fransco himself was killed not long after the publication of his diaries, being shot in the neck by a sniper during the Battle of Petín.

The post-Civil War period was a dangerous time for many poets, as under both the authoritarian exilados regime, and under communist totalitarian rule, they could be imprisoned or killed if they showed political views seen as against the ruling party.