Empire of Tengaria

Empire of the Solarians Империя на соларианците Imperiya na Solariantsite Imperium Solarium
1385–1935
Imperial Banner Coat of arms
Motto: "Империя и власт от Бога" Imperiya i Vlast ot Boga "Empire and Authority from God"
Anthem: Бог да спаси владетеля Bog da Spasi Vladetelya God Save the Emperor!
Capital	Lenovo
Common languages	Tengarian Solarian
Religion	Orthodox Episemialism
Demonym(s)	Tengarian Solarian
Government	Hereditary Universal Monarchy
Vladetel
• 1385-1408	Vasil the Great
• 1919-1930	Dragomir III
Regent
• 1930-1935	Simeon Kovachev
Minister-President
• 1855-1863	Vladimir Borisov
• 1928-1930	Dragan Ivanev
Legislature	Grand Assembly
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	Imperial Assembly
History
• Vasil Crowned as Emperor	1385
• Tengarian Golden Age	1385-1550
• Iconoclast Wars	1409–1441
• Tengarian Republic declared	1935
Currency	Lev
Preceded by Succeeded by Empire of Arciluco Grand Principality of Tengaria Tengaria Kingdom of Amathia Tengarian Republic
Today part of	Tengaria Bistravia Ravnia Amathia

The Empire of Tengaria (Tengarian: Империя на Тенгария or Imperiya na Tengariya), officially the Empire of the Solarians (Tengarian:Империя на соларианците or Imperiya na Solariantsite) was a sovereign power in Western Euclea, lasting from the dissolution of the Empire of Arciluco in 1385 until its annexation by Amathia during the Great War in 1930, a period of over five centuries. During the early course of its history, it wielded considerable political, intellectual and spiritual authority in Western Euclea, but eventually lost these as the centuries wore on to the surrounding states as its political power declined. The Empire itself was never a very large geographic state, mostly confined to the modern borders of Tengaria, and prided itself more on its spiritual authority than any political or geographic power, especially in comparison to its more politically powerful and larger neighbors of Ravnia and Soravia.

The Empire was established after the final collapse of the Empire of Arciluco, itself a continuation of the Solarian Empire, into the Iconoclast Realm of Thorns, when the exiled Ecumenical Patriarch of Arciluco Alexander III crowned the Grand Prince of Tengaria, Saint Vasil the Great, as Emperor, in 1385, after Vasil had been elected by the joint Synods of Amathia and Tengaria. The iconophile bishops of the Council of Lenovo further approved the translation of Imperial authority. Before the old Empire's collapse, the Grand Principality of Tengaria, itself a nominal vassal of the Empire, had been growing as its own state. From thence it passed through his descendants for the next centuries, although through several cadet branches. Vasil's reign marked the beginning of the Tengarian Renaissance, an important period in West Euclean thought and art which saw the rise of a unique intellectual culture focused on the classic works of the past and in addition bring the first universities to Western Euclean thought, such as the University of Lenovo. At its largest extent at the beginning of the Iconoclast Wars, the Empire controlled all of the lands which comprise modern Tengaria, as well as lands on the Eastern marches of Ravnia and the Western marches of Amathia, as well as having several client states and vassals. Even at this time this was smaller than the lands which Ravnia and Soravia controlled.

Although it was nominally a Universal monarchy, claiming spiritual descent from same universal sovereignty of the Empire of Arciluco which in turn claimed it from the Solarian Empire, it never wielded the power projection to enforce its claims to its preeminence. Ravnia, being iconoclastic, opposed them on religious grounds; the Duchy of Pavatria saw it as a geopolitical rival, and later took an Imperial title and became the Soravian Empire; and the Unio Trium Nationum and later the Kingdom of Amathia held that the authority which Amathia had once possessed belonged to them, as Tengaria had failed its conditional duty to liberate Arciluco from the Iconoclasts. This was further hampered when the area of Bistravia, which had been under Tengaria's direct control until 1549, was annexed by Soravia in the seventeenth century. Eastern sources rarely recognized the Imperial title the Tengarians claimed. Despite the various disagreements, however, there was a certain measure of respect even given by rivals to the office of the Emperor for the first few centuries.

With the continued political decline of Tengaria and the rise of Soravia and other states, the influence of the Empire began to decrease, until it finally fell into the sphere of influence of Soravia in the nineteenth century. However, at the beginning of the twentieth century, affairs began to improve within the Empire, with signs of economic development and intellectual revival. However, this was cut short by the Great War, which, while being surrounded on two sides against larger powers, was conquered by Amathian forces, who annexed Tengaria, bringing the Empire to an de facto end in 1930. The Empire was never formally abrogated, and the Tengarian Resistance during the war claimed to fight in name of the Empire under the named regent Simeon Kovachev. However, the Emperor never resumed power, due to the influence of Soravia and after the War, the Republic of Tengaria was declared in its place. Since the proclamation of the Republic, there have been movements to restore the monarchy to its proper place; and although Imperial lands were restored to the claimants to the throne, the current regime run by the Kovachev family, while known for being monarchist sympathisers, officially holds that to restore the Empire would be a manner of imprudence with the current state of global politics.

Nomenclature and Political Theory

The Empire was officially known as the Empire of the Solarians (Solarian:Imperium Solarium, Tengarian:Империя на соларианците or Imperiya na Solariantsite). This name was taken directly from the Empire of Arciluco, which called itself the Imperiul Solarian, and taken upon the coronation of Vasil I as the continuance of the same Empire which had existed in Arciluco for centuries. At this point, there was also a real possibility that the Tengarians would be able to recapture the old imperial capital of Arciluco. Vasil's right to use the title of Solarian Emperor was first established by the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Synods of both Amathia and Tengaria, but also was confirmed by the bishops at the Council of Lenovo. Hence the primary basis for authority rested upon the spiritual authority of the Church; every Emperor after would use the title "Emperor in waiting" until his confirmation by the Endemic Synod and his coronation by the Patriarch in Istros.

One marked difference in the Imperial nomeclature between Arciluco and Lenovo was the symbolical and ceremonial name which the Emperors in Arciluco had used for the Empire, that of the Silver Throne (Solium Argenteum). The Silver Throne was the ceremonial throne of the Arcilucan emperor, made out of silver metal, and was a symbol of Imperial Power and Authority. After the translation of the Empire, Emperor Vasil commissioned artists to replicate the Silver Throne but to instead use gold as the base metal, in part because yellow had been the symbolic colour of the Tengarian monarchy and royal house. Hence the Empire in Lenovo was also known as the Golden Throne (Solarian: Solium Aureum, Tengarian: Златен трон or Zlaten Tron). This adoption of the new throne would later provide a source of conflict between Imperial apologists in Amathia and Tengaria, with the Amathian apologists claiming that only the Silver Throne could signify Imperial Authority and with Tengarian claimants claiming that the Golden Throne is symbolic of the translation of Imperial Power.

Although most Tengaria had never been part of the Solarian Empire in its first form, it had been an integral part of the Empire of Arciluco since the sixth century, and continued to remain vassals of the Empire even after the Grand Principality was formed, and thus had considered themselves as part of the true Solarian Empire for quite some time. For most of this time the Amathian peoples had called themselves Solarian, and so to did the Tengarian peoples, although they never lost their Tengar heritage and name, especially after the formation of the Grand Principality. In addition to the Solarian aspect, the Tengarians continued to use the title of Grand Prince of the Tengarians, to signify the translation of the Empire to the hereditary Tengarian Princes in particular while still showing its legitimacy from the Solarians. This title remained in official use for the duration of the Empire, but was sometimes only used for official ceremonies, decrees, and events. This title was reflected in the official style of the Emperors, Faithful Emperor of the Solarians and all Orthodox Sotirians, and Grand Prince of the Tengarians, also signifying the Empire's general authority over all true Sotirians. As the title was personal and not bound to a certain territory, it as such was considered retroactively as a popular monarchy.

The official political theory of the Empire saw the Imperiya as being divinely translated from the Solarians, and then to the Amathians, and finally to the Tengarians because of their orthodoxy and adherence to God's Will while the Amathians had fallen into heresy. The concept of Imperiya was vital to the Empire, in so far as that universal temporal authority of all Sotirian peoples was bound in one person who wielded this authority, and it was confirmed as divine by the Church through the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch who had first conferred the authority. Thus the Emperor was considered as the paterfamilias of all Sotirian temporal rulers, and although he may not control their territory, his position was supposed to be seen as nominally preeminent. It was seen as the Emperor's job to be the protector and the steward of the Church against temporal threats. This was seen most prominently in Tengaria's involvement in the Iconoclast Wars, during which the Emperor was seen as the nominal headed the forces of the Iconodules against the Iconoclasts, or before the wars when Emperor Vasil the Great called the Council of Lenovo to solve the Iconoclast crisis. Although this was true in theory, in practice it was never able to be enforced due to a myriad of factors, but played an important part in the monarchy's legitimacy and prestige during the next few centuries.

In Tengaria, many simply called themselves Tengarians and treated the Empire as belonging properly to them, and the emphasis on Solarian identity was never universal. However, the Solarian identity was stressed by the government, as well as many prominent scholars during the Tengarian Golden Age. Nevertheless a Solarian identity persisted alongside the Tengarian throughout the existence of the Empire, and became popular again after the cultural revival in the late nineteenth century. All official documents throughout the Empire were promulgated in both Solarian and Tengarian, and for the first few centuries Solarian remained a language spoken in the Imperial Court. Almost every Emperor knew how to read and write in it, although as time continued its usage grew less and less.

Outside Tengaria, the Solarian part of the name was only rarely used. Some states in Western Euclea refused to acknowledge it on theological grounds, referring to the Tengarian Monarchs by their old title of Knyaz or Grand Prince and viewing them as pretenders. After the Most countries referred to the Emperors only as Emperor of the Tengarians, omitting any notion of Solarian heritage whatsoever, although permitting the Imperial title for the sake of diplomatic courtesy or ease of translation. Most states in Eastern Euclea simply translated the title as Kingdom, including many historians and political scholars, since Tengaria had neither the territory or the power projection in their eyes to be considered a true Empire. Hence as an exonymn, the polity came to be known as the Tengarian Empire or the Empire of Tengaria, the Empire of Lenovo or the Lenovan Empire, or alternatively as the Tengarian Kingdom or the Kingdom of Tengaria.

(Tengarian:Империя на соларианците и тенгарците or Imperiya na Solariantsite i Tengartsite)