Gòsamu de Aguia

In 1738, Gòsamu Xosé de Valpaxos e Aguia, 1st Marquis of Montlegre, began a diplomatic career as the Vvardenese Ambassador in Midrasia and later in Ardaima. Whilst serving in Ardaima, the once-widowed de Aguia had arranged a marriage between him and a high-ranking member of the Ardaiman royal family. King Payo V of Vvarden was not pleased at de Aguia's ambition and recalled de Aguia to Vvarden in 1747. Payo V died the following year and his son, Manouel I of Vvarden, was crowned. In contrast to his father, Manouel I was fond of de Aguia and appointed Aguia as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

As the King's confidence in de Aguia increased, the King entrusted him with more control of the state. By 1755, Gòsamu de Aguia was made Prime Minister. Impressed by Midrasian economic success that he had witnessed from his time as an Ambassador, he successfully implemented similar economic policies in Vvarden. He abolished slavery in Vvarden and in the Vvardenese colonies in Majula, reorganised the army and the navy, restructured the University of ..., and ended discrimination against different Aylidianist sects in Vvarden. But Gòsamu de Aguia's greatest reforms were economic and financial, with the creation of several companies and guilds to regulate every commercial activity. He marked down the fertile Douro region for production of Port to ensure the quality of Vvardenese wine, the first attempt to control wine quality and production in Asura. He ruled with a strong hand by imposing strict law upon all classes of Vvardenese society from the high nobility to the poorest working class, along with widespread reforms to improve the lives of the poor and to more effectively manage Vvarden's tax system. These reforms gained de Aguia enemies in the upper classes, especially among the high nobility, who despised him as a social upstart.

Manouel I gave his Prime Minister even more power following a Vvardenese economic boom, and Gòsamu de Aguia became a powerful, progressive dictator serving under the King, at times being referred to as "The Hound of Vvarden" due to his loyal service. As Aguia's power grew, his enemies increased in number, and bitter disputes with the high nobility became frequent. In 1760 Manouel I was wounded in an attempted assassination. Gòsamu de Aguia took his chance and many of his enemies, including the entirety of the Carvalxo family were implicated, stripped of their titles and executed after a quick trial. The ... were expelled from the country and their assets confiscated by the crown. Gòsamu de Aguia's relentless prosecutions of all suspected of being involved, even women and children, broke the power of the aristocracy. King Manouel I, unphased by his Prime Minister's ruthlessness, made de Aguia Count of Oeiras in 1759. As Manouel I grew older and more infirm, de Aguia assumed more power. In the final years of Manouel's life, de Aguia was ruler of Vvarden in all but name, professing his loyalty to the throne whenever pressed. King Manouel's death in 1783 spelled the end for de Aguia's dictatorship.

Without the protection of the confidence of the King, de Aguia suddenly became vulnerable. The new ruler, Manouel's grandnephew, King Uxío, disliked the Marquis because of the power he amassed, and never forgave him for the ruthlessness with which he dispatched the Távora family, many of whom were his childhood friends. Upon his accession to the throne in 1783, Uxío banished Gòsamu de Aguia from all of his political offices and confiscated many of his lands and assets. The Marquis of Montlegre died on his estate in Montlegre in 1788, aged 78.