Azdraï
Kingdom of Azdraï Getmaraï | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1043 - 1297 | |||||||||
 Flag | |||||||||
| Religion | Alban Christianity | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Reik | |||||||||
• 1043 - 1050 | Edeco | ||||||||
• 1260 - 1290 | Gessale | ||||||||
• 1290 - 1297 (last) | Euric | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Conquest of Lake Azdraï | 1043 | ||||||||
• Battle of Kyrvorat | 1297 | ||||||||
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The Kingdom of Azdraï, sometime known by its Gothic name of Getmaraï or Getmaria, was a state established after the unification of all the Gothic petty kingdoms and minor states that inhabited the Azdrheg highlands by the King of the Gets, Edeco. The kingdom lasted 254 years before it was conquered by the Lushyodorstag through a series of military campaigns lasting from 1293 to 1298. The Battle of Kyvorat where the last King of the Gets, Euric, died, is generally used as the end marking the end of the kingdom in traditional records.
History
Before the Slavic Migration of the 3rd century, the shores of Lake Kupalnitsa were inhabited by Gothic speaking populations. The Azdrheg Highlands in modern-day northwestern Drevstran represented, in the 10th and 11th centuries, one of the last culturally Gothic areas in Eastern Belisaria because of its remoteness and its geography greatly favoring defenders.
Somewhere between the 6th and 7th centuries AD, the Azdrheg became a favored destination for Emendatic hermits wishing to continue their studies of "Land of Lights". These hermits aggregated disciples around them, and soon monasteries were established and recognized by the local rulers. These Monasteries spearheaded the convertion of the Azdrheg Goths to Christianity. In 697 the Gothic lord Odoer sent ambassadors to Barbellon and Karsko to obtain copies of important religious texts, such as the Revelation of Paul, for the monasteries in his territories.
In the aftermath of the Ikonkivoyra that tore apart of the Kingdom of the Drev, the main power of the region, King Edeco, of the "Tribe of the Gets", managed to gather around him a strong enough coalition of Gothic lords to launch a serie of military campaigns that granted him control of Lake Azdrato and the surrounding valley. In 1043 he crowned himself Getmareik or "King of Azdrato". He and his successors would continue to expand their kingdom's borders, until they had conquered all of the Azdrheg.
In 1150, Azdraï became the "Protector" of the Alban Pentapolis against the encroaching Lushyodorstag to the south. The then Gothic King Theodoric II took the opportunity presented by the defeat of the Lushyodorstag at the hand of the Sevromark to wrestle the control of the Mren River and its valley, an important border region between the two kingdoms. What followed was an almost two-centuries long tug-of-war between the kingdom and the duchy, with the border moving back-and-forth around the Mren River, devastating the region.
After the end of the Long Ikonkivoyra, Azdraï found itself at war with multiple neighbors. The Lushs, meanwhile, managed to re-organize themselves and in 1293, launched a devastating invasion that took the entirety of the Mren Valley from the Goths. Because of the fear of an invasion by the Orthodox Duchy of the Drev, many communities and local lords betrayed the kingdom in exchange for the protection of the Lushyodorstag. A second campaign in 1294 culminated with the conquest of the Gothic capital, and three others between 1295 and 1298 finished all resistance in the Highlands. The collapse of the Azdraï state was complete in 1297, with the death of Euric in battle.
Culture
Religion
By the time Edeco became "Getmareik", a majority of the Goths had adopted Alban Christianity. It would remain an important part of the Kingdom's culture for the rest of its history, distinguishing it from the Docetic Lushyodorstag and the Iconoclast Sevromark.
While early Emendatic teachings were acquired from the Alban Pentapolis and Karskos, the Azdraïte-era was when local theologians became more and more proeminent, respected, and that their teachings started to flourish. Edeco and his descendents granted lands and privileges to Monasteries, and remained closely associated to the growing monastic tradition of their realm. The acquisition of the Alban Pentapolis as a "Protectorate" was also an occasion for the Getmareikas to present themselves as the perfect "Christians Monarchs", who would use military force to defend the Emendatic Faith.