Pileads (party)

Pileads Pileaden
A green pileus was often the symbol of the Pileads.
Leaders	Tobias Labrax Holm Anders Bæk-Bonde Thorbjørn Georg Carlsen Carl Ferdinand Hanssen-Andersen
Founded	1811 (1811)
Dissolved	1865 (1865)
Ideology	Constitutional monarchism Parliamentarianism
Political parties

The Pileads (Mescon: Pileaden) were an influential political faction and party in Scovern in the early-to-mid 19th century. Standing in opposition to absolute monarchy and the almost entirely appointed or hereditary nature of the Rigsdagen, the Pileads advocated increased parliamentary power and the introduction of elected representatives into parliament. The term was coined by initial leader and founder Tobias Labrax Holm, derived from the pileus, an ancient Piraean cap that came to symbolise liberalism and emancipation.

Growing attitudes of liberalism in Scovern, from both the Etrurian Revolution and particularly the nearby Weranian Revolution, had begun to influence its politics prior to the formation of the Pileads. Holm, a noble of Vestelian origin, was one of the initial advocates of increased parliamentary representation for the population. He feared that nearby republican sentiment in Werania would manifest in Scovern in the form of a peasants' rebellion, and sought to compromise to the broader population over the continuation of repressive policies of the conservative governments of Karl Hans von Gassen and Mathias Lindberg Ginau. A broad grouping of liberals eventually centralised into the Pileads in 1811, with Holm as leader.

By the 1830s, the Pileads became the most influential faction in the Rigsdagen, and Holm was appointed State Chancellor in 1835. At this time, the Septemberists in Bonnlitz-Ostbrücken were reaching the height of their power. New sets of tariffs on the Bonnlitzer population directly led to uprisings at Gothberg and Kottenwice, which coupled with the volunteer army of Sebastian Murtz led to the displacement of the Lauberg-MacIconnichs from the Bonnlitzer throne. Holm eventually conflicted with Johann Augustus over foreign affairs when Cislania accepted the crown of Bonnlitz-Ostbrücken on September 17, 1836, refusing the back the King's wish for war with Cislania. Outraged, Holm was sacked and replaced with the pro-war Anders Bæk-Bonde, and war was declared on September 19. Scovern eventually lost the war after Estmerish entry.

With royal reputation sundered and government popularity low after high civilian casualties in Rimso, Bæk-Bonde resigned. The events in Bonnlitz-Ostbrücken highlighted a clear lack of definitive parliamentary power, something his successor Thorbjørn Georg Carlsen sought to fix. Carlsen began drafting the constitution in 1839, with near-unanimous parliamentary support. Carlsen died the same year, and his successor Carl Ferdinand Hanssen-Andersen succeeded him in constitutional drafting. In 1840, Johann Augustus, under heavy pressure, ratified the constitution, which established elections every seven years for half of the Rigsdagen, a clearly defined constitutional monarchy and a defined line between royal and parliamentary power.

Hanssen-Andersen was elected in 1840 and re-elected in 1847 and 1854, serving a total of 20 years as Premier. During his premiership, dissatisfied Pileads splintered and formed the Radical Pileads, advocating complete abolition of appointed and hereditary seats in parliament and a complete end to royal intervention in parliamentary affairs. Though Hanssen-Andersen himself led a successful tenure, it was spurred on mainly by his own personal popularity and charisma, and with the original Pilead goal of elected representatives achieved, the party struggled internally after his retirement from politics, waning against the Liberal Non-Interventionists and eventually the Liberal Party who usurped political power in the 1860s. The Pileads disbanded in 1865.

Leaders

Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Tenure
	Tobias Labrax Holm (1760–1844)	1811 – 1836
	Anders Bæk-Bonde (1787–1850)	1836
	Thorbjørn Georg Carlsen (1784–1839)	1836 – 1839
	Carl Ferdinand Hanssen-Andersen (1802–1865)	1839 – 1860
	Anton Høyer (1818–1884)	1860 – 1862
	Mikkel Knudsen (1809–1870)	1862
	Hans Anton Lange (1819–1900)	1862 – 1864
	Lau Felix Thygesen (1814–1887)	1864 – 1865
	Inge Sollie (1814–1877)	1865