Treaty of San Illa
| Treaty of the Governance of Ardaima and the Abolishment of the Regency Thereof | |
|---|---|
 Arms of the Ardaiman Commission created by the Treaty | |
| Signed | June 26, 1946 |
| Location | San Illa, Prince-Bishopric of Legettra-Vaisocca |
| Parties |
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| Language | Arday |
The Treaty of San Illa (Arday: Trattato di San Illa) was the treaty that unified the disparate states of Ardaima following the collapse of the Grand Regency and avoided war between the Kingdom of Mardmony and the Workers' Alliance of Palagna. The Treaty ended the Grand Regency and rejected all future claims to the royal throne of Ardaima. The other states of Ardaima also signed the Treaty in the following six months after individual negotiations and protections were added. Three states--Corfa, Majella, and Orchella--initially declined to sign the Treaty, but new governments in exile were formed under the aegis of the treaty which were later installed during the bonifica senza sangue.
Background
Grand Regency
After the forced abdication of Confivesco in 1869, the Primate of Vestinia summoned a Regency Council to consult on the line of succession. Notable members of the council were the Prince of Mardimony, whose nephew Ruggero Maria was a claimant to the throne, and the Bishop of Picesa-Auson, whose patron was Count Alfonso of Termariza, another claimant, as well as several prominent members of the House of Carignari. The principle concern of the Primate was to avoid a war of succession, which had seemed likely at the time of Confivesco's abdication. Tensions flared during the first few sessions of the council and the Primate ordered a recess, writing to the Pontiff and asking for his aid. The Pontiff came to Vestinia in June and consulted with the Primate and the rest of the Council individually. After several days, the Pontiff privately admonished both Ruggero Maria and Alfonso that they were willing the threaten violence against each other for the throne at which point the two claimants revealed that they had been pressured by their representatives on the Council to pursue the claim.
The Pontiff excommunicated the Prince of Mardimony after Ruggero Maria revealed that the Prince had carried out several affairs with men and sent the Bishop of Picesa-Auson away to aid the mission in Native Alforja. Having eliminated the two primary agitators on the Council, the Primate reconvened the Council. The Council first offered the crown to Ruggero Maria, who declined, and then offered it to Alfonso, who accepted, but abdicated before his coronation after meeting with Ruggero Maria. The Council considered offering the crown to the Count of Palagna, Emmanuel di Gesmino, but the Carignaris refused to allow the crown to pass to a cadet branch of the family. After this the Council decided that it would continue on as a regency until Maria Carignari, Confivesco's niece, came of age. This began the Grand Regency of Ardaima since the Council would ultimately decide not to accept Maria Carignari as Queen when she came of age in 1884, instead allowing her to join the Council if she would renounce her claim, which she did on the advice of the Pontiff.
Kingdom of Mardmony
In 1921, Prince Marcelino of Mardmony married Raffaella of Legettra-Vaisocca, reforming the Kingdom of Mardmony and making the first strong claim to the throne of Ardaima since the renunciation of Maria Carignari. Because of the excommunication of Marcelino's predecessor, however, the Council argued that his coronation would be an international embarrassment and instead offered him the title of Protector of the Realm in the fashion of Midrasia. The title carried with it the status of first among equals of the princes of the realm and the command of the Royal Army, which Marcelino readily agreed to since he saw it as defacto kingship of Ardaima. Marcelino quickly discovered that the various Captains-General of the various realms, though they nominally served the Royal Army, would not support his claim to the crown without the approval of the Regency Council. Marcelino formed the Order of Presiede to reward the generals who supported him and generally reorganized the armed forces to be more centralized.
Workers' Alliance
In March and May of 1927 respectively, the Workers' Party of Ardaima and Unionist Front of South Asura overthrew the Senate of Palagna and imprisoned the Doge of San Fausto. The Protector of the Realm mobilized a force in Cadmaria and began to move towards Palagna. Before they could arrive and put down the rebellion, however, Prior Fabio Gava announced that the rebels had been sanctioned by God and the monks of Conegliano Abbey formed a human wall blocking entry to the city. King Marcelino immediately sent messages to the Primate of Vestinia demanding that he disavow Prior Fabio and disband the monks. Instead, the Primate invited Prior Fabio to Vestinia to explain himself and ordered Marcelino to stand down. Marcelino surrounded the city, but did not attack, and assigned the Prior an escort. The commander of the escort, Captain Silvio di Padua, took the opportunity to execute the Prior, which immediately triggered protests all around Ardaima when the Primate called Captain Silvio a "murderer of priests." As tensions rose, Marcelino ordered troops to begin dispersing protesters, especially members of the Red Stripe Gang, an association of unions that had been agitating for some time. Several protesters were killed in Amvarro and Fiontano, prompting more violence. The generals in Orchella and Majella stood down and protesters seized control. The rebel cities quickly banded together under the "Workers' Alliance" and formed militias. In Vestargenato and Fasso, however, the Generals cleared the streets by force killing hundreds and arresting thousands.
After several days of chaos, the Regency Council met in Vestinia and revoked Marcelino's title of "Protector," but he refused to yield command of the army. The army split into factions, many defecting to the Workers' Alliance, a plurality continuing under the command of the Regency Council's newly appointed Protector, and the remainder following Marcelino. All three factions were spread out across Ardaima without any unified fronts and the brewing civil war promised to be deadly in the extreme. In June, the Pontiff interceded at the request of the Primate of Vestinia and the Consul of Midrasia. The Pontiff went to San Illa where the Bishop was seen as a sympathetic to the rebels, but was in firmly controlled Mardmony territory. Initially, Marcelino refused to meet with the Pontiff, but fearing any more defections, he eventually acquiesced.
Negotiations
An armistice was agreed between all three factions and they met for an initial round of negotiations at the Astrite Observatory in San Illa. Several unsuccessful days of grandstanding took place during which all three sides demanded the unconditional surrender of both of the others. While Marcelino and the other leaders aggressively refused to compromise, a smaller committee was quietly convened to separately negotiate the movement of troops from out of occupied areas. General di Gesmino from Mardmony, General Mariza from the Regency, and several generals from each of the major union coalitions, met at an inn down the road from the observatory to allow the Mardimon troops who stood down in Orchella to move back into Termariza. This eventually expanded to include more and more informal conditions including the release of union leaders arrested in Fiontano and the continuation of grain shipments from Macchia to Cadmaria.
The main negotiators at the Observatory called for a week-long recess after three days of stalled motions and rising tensions, but the self proclaimed "Inn Committee" continued to meet and even made overture to Midrasia to gain their support for the developing peace settlement. By the time the negotiators reconvened, a plan had been developed to prevent further violence. Though it was not immediately successful, General di Gesmino is commonly credited with saving the negotiations and preventing the war.