Big Five (Gran Aligonia)

The concept of the Big Five (Aligonian: Cinco grandes) in Gran Aligonia refers to the de facto historical control of the archipelago's economic and political culture by an interconnected network of five major noble families. The concept originates with the Most Magnificent Republic of Aligonia, in which the founding Edict of the Merchants in 1322 codified a rotating Magnus chosen among the nobility: the original Big Five families at the time of the Edict were the Jeques, del Villars, de Andrades, and Oberlias. Other noble families on Gran Aligonia are typically small and subordinated in practice to one of the Big Five; the definition is fluid, however, and different families can enter the Big Five in the event of one or more of the assumed members losing political or economic influence. The current families are commonly assumed to be the Abelláns, del Villars, de Andrades, Miramontes, and Oberlias.

The most recent change in the Big Five, according to modern Aligonian political analysts, is the replacement of the House of Oberlia by the House of Abellán following the fall of the Empire of Yisrael. Recent analysis has also postulated that, since the abdication of Prince Veremundo, the Abellán dynasty may have potentially been replaced in the paradigm by the Volta dynasty of Sidora.