Æthele

Æþele Kingdom of Æthele
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: "Beterian hero hycgan twihynde beterian wang" Common: Better men make a better world
Anthem: Hail, Eternal By Whose Aid
Capital and largest city	Edmond
Official languages	Common
Ethnic groups	Æthics (85%) Ghantish (10%)
Demonym(s)	Æthic
Government	Constitutional monarchy
• Cyng	Malcom IV
• Ambeht	Douglass Wynstonn
Legislature	Bold sylfum Spelingum
Population
• 2018 estimate	11,143,523
• 2018 census	National Census
GDP (PPP)	2018 estimate
• Total	$5,73.89 billion
• Per capita	NS$51,500
HDI (2014)	0.974 very high (3rd)
Currency	Cynegold (ACY)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+042

The Kingdom of Æthele (Æthic: Æþele) is a constitutional monarchy of over 11 million people in the region of Ajax. Æthele’s capital, Edmond, is the political and financial heart of the country.

In ancient times, the territories making up modern day Æthele were divided up into a heptarchy of minor, Anglo-Saxon states connected by a common language, customs, and traditions. After centuries of disunity, these states were unified in 865 CE by the Roman Catholic King Duncan of Corraidhín. After centuries of direct rule, the King of Æthele steadily relinquished power to the House of Delegates led by a Lord Minister. The King of Æthele is Malcom IV Lord Minister is Douglass Wynstonn.

In the early 20th century, a civil war between the monarchy and communist forces in the southwest of the country from 1920 - 1923 was crushed by the monarchy. The country grew from an agricultural state to a larger industrial power starting in the 1950s with new advancements in key technical industries, particularly aerospace industry, the arms industry, and the manufacturing side of the software industry.

Æthele boasts the largest organized fraternal order in Ajax, noted in the Grand Lodge of the Sparrow, a union of local fraternities of taxidermists.

Etymology

The name Æthele derives from the original Common term for the geographic area of Æthele, Atheland, a name given to the Athic people, an ethnic group that predated modern day Æthic's.

History

Bronze Age

During the last glacial period, and up until about 13,000 years ago, most of Æthele was covered with ice, most of the time. There is no evidence of any humans being in Æthele before Mesolithic people arrived by boat from northern Acheron between 6,000 BC and 5,000 BC.

From about 4,500 BC Neolithic settlers arrived introducing housing cultures and stone monuments. The Bronze Age – defined by the use of metal – began around 2,500 BC, with technology changing people's everyday lives during this period through innovations such as the wheel, harnessing oxen, weaving textiles, brewing alcohol, and skillful metalworking, which produced new weapons and tools, along with fine gold decoration and jewelry, such as brooches and torcs.

Classical Era

During the Iron Age the Common dialect emerged on the continent around the same time that Athic people began to form as a cultural group. The small Athic kingdoms often engaged in minor conflicts with one another for a period of 6 and a half centuries. By 600 C.E., 5 Kingdoms ruled over the Athic territories: The Kingdoms of Valland, Corraidhín, Donneset, Synegold, and Erthwood.

By the 2nd century AD, the Christian faith had been introduced among Athic peoples. By the 4th century, several small southern kingdoms had adopted the religion, and as these smaller kingdoms became absorbed into the Kingdoms of Corraidhín and Erthwood, the ruling classes slowly began to adopt them. In the northern Kingdoms of Valland and Synegold, they were actively persecuted by their Kings. This began to lead to tensions between the Kingdoms over time.

Athic Crusade

See also: Athic Crusade

The marriage of King John III of Corraidhín and the daughter and only child of King Vincent IV of Erthwood united the Kingdoms of Corraidhín and Erthwood in 801 A.D. King John III and Queen Margaret gave birth to Duncan of Corraidhín, who ascended the throne in 843 A.D. as King Duncan I of Corraidhín.

Surrender of Henry of Donneset by John Margyle, 1836.

In 856 A.D., Duncan I gained the political and financial backing of the Catholic Church in Edmond to launch a Holy Crusade against the non-Christian Kingdoms in the north. The Crusade's conquest of the Donneset lasts 3 years, decisively ending when Duncan I descends on King Henry IV of Donneset's army of twelve thousand men with a force of twenty-five thousand men. Attacking from the west, Duncan easily broke the men under King Henry IV, who were guarding the bridges towards the capital of Donneset. Henry IV is captured and the House of Donneset swears fealty to the House of Corraidhín and converts to Christianity.

After recuperating his forces and mustering another ten thousand from the House of Donneset, Duncan I marched into Valland in 860 A.D., decisively defeating Vallic forces in the Massacre of Firth, where eight thousand Vallic soldiers were surprised early on the 5th of April of that year by an advance force of Duncan's cavalry at the village of Firth. The King of Valland was slain and his first son vanished, presumed killed by the Christian forces. The House of Valland's Queen-consort swore fealty to King Duncan on behalf of the infant second son, and the heir-apparent to the House.

Duncan's forces attempt to cross into Synegold by crossing westward over the Both River but are stopped by the marshlands and are forced to engage at the strongholds of Clonburrow, Naismur, and Donnehall. Synic King Lawrence VII posts fifteen thousand men at these strongholds, which King Duncan is forced to lay siege too. After several probing attacks, King Duncan attempts to force a crossing Clonburrow in August of 861 but the attack fails. The next year, King Duncan again attacks at Clonburrow but the attacks fail miserably, forcing the King to reevaluate his strategy. Finally, in July of 862, King Duncan's forces breached the gates at Clonburrow and took the fortress, forcing the Synic's to abandon their strongholds at Naismur and Donnehall for a final siege at the capital at Syne. King Duncan lays siege to Syne for 2 years, and the siege finally breaks when a mutiny in the garrison allows Duncan's forces to raze Syne to the ground, leading to the House of Synegold's extinction.

Following King Duncan's conquest of Athic lands, the Church in Edmond coronated him as "Ic Cyng sylfum Æthele," or "First King of Æthele," formally uniting the old Athic kingdoms into one state and uniting them all Æthic people under one banner.

Middle Ages

The Athic Crusade saw agricultural output decline significantly, leading to repeated famines, exacerbated by the rapid population growth of the earlier era. The Athic Crusade also disrupted trade throughout the country, especially after the destruction of the large trading city of Syne. Inadvertently, many Æthics on the coastline turned to fishing, an economic industry that still dominates in many coastal villages today. Most devastating, though, was the spread of typhus that decimated the populations of the densely populated cities of Edmond and Jessburrow. Typhus outbreaks continued to affect Æthele for intervals between 1000 and 1450, and claimed the life of Lothair II thirty-five days into his reign in 1294. The horrors of typhus and the seeming inability of the Church to provide relief would lead to a rapid decline of church influence in Æthic politics. By the reign of Nicholas II, the Church's representative in the Royal Court of Edmond had all but diminished.

The Edmond Cathedral was built between 1163 and 1182 and is a National Landmark.

Trade began to recover by 1100. By the 13th century, much of Æthele experienced strong economic growth. The trade routes from the south linked with those of established Æthic ports and eventually the trade routes of the Thalassan Ocean to create a network economy in Æthele. Cities expanded greatly during this period and the Monarchy grew in power while the Church diminished. During this period, the modern commercial infrastructure developed, with double-entry book-keeping, joint stock companies, an international banking system, a systematized foreign exchange market, insurance, and government debt.

Foundation of the Grand Lodge of the Sparrow

As the economy rapidly expanded and more and more citizens began to accumulate wealth, competitive hunting grew as a popular pastime. This resulted in a large economic demand for taxidermists. It was not uncommon for several taxidermists to live in local communities, and at one point it was one of the largest industries.

The earliest masonic texts each contain some sort of a history of the craft, or mystery, of taxidermy. Twenty-five manuscripts which are known as the Belros Collective which date back to the 14th century were discovered in 1935 in the Royal Library of Edmond, and contained the charters of three Lodges in Belros, Vergen and Kessrow and a draft of early masonic ceremonies, but all were turned over to the Grand Lodge. The Grand Lodge of the Sparrow of Æthele was formally chartered in 1392, with 2/3rds of all Lodges represented at the inaugural meeting.

While it is relatively unknown when the first Æthic King joined the Grand Lodge, however, it is speculated that King Lothair IV was the first to join the Lodge based on accounts from the time, reportedly doing so in the 1360s. The first King to acknowledge his involvement in the Grand Lodge was Malcolm II, who recorded scheduled meetings with the Grand Master, Sir Howard Bercow, in his private diary. Malcolm II formally appointed the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge to a permanent position in the Royal Court of Edmond, permanently solidifying the political position of the Grand Lodge in Æthic politics.