Educandi

Grand Commonwealth of the Educan Realm Dye Groß-Geminwes Eduryke
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Panosak as Tara Freedom or Death
Anthem: We'll be Alright (The Patricians to the Lamp-Posts)
Capital	Edurre
Official languages	Educan
Accepted for official documents	Grothic Kathic
Ethnic groups	85% Educan 10% Grothic 5% General Auroran
Demonym(s)	Educan
Government	Semi-parliamentary unitary republic
• Lord-Magistrate	Lodewyk Drees
• Opposition Leader	Karls Baker
•  Executor	Antony I Brejada
Declaration of the Executorship in 1495
• Bonifaas comes to power in the city	1488
• The Council of Ten is established	1500
• Formation of the Syndication as a union of guilds	1602
• End of the Educan civil war	1655
• Act of Nationhood	1875
• Joining the Auroran Community	1990
Population
• Estimate	14,500,000
Gini	1.02 low
Currency	Auroran Orys (Ↄ)

Educandi, or the Grand Commonwealth of the Educan Realm (Dye Groß-Geminwes Eduryke) is a nation and city in north-west Aurora, bordered by Grothbord to the east, and the sea to the west and south. Known commonly as Educandi, the capital is known in the local language as Edurre, and when referring to the city, that name is usually used, whereas Educandi refers to the nation as a whole. The country enjoys a climate that in the summer months is quite warm, but cold temperatures and snow often dominate the winter months, which due to being so far north, is long and dark. Formerly a city-state with a large expansive sphere, it is now a unitary representative constitutional monarchy. Ruled by the Executor of Educandi, the government functions with sovereignty granted to each body by the Executor by way of delegated authority, having the intended effect of leaving the Executor virtually powerless.

History

Main article: History of Educandi

Before Bonifacius

There is evidence of settlement near the city of Edurre dating to neolithic times, but no evidence of settlement on the islands of the city until the 14th century. Very early Educandi was a unpleasant place to live, as it is believed settlement started on different islands, and spread until all 6 islands were the same urbanized area, and the name Edurre might have initially meant only one of these small towns. Different factions controlled different areas of the city, and no mention of a city-wide government or body exists until the 1430's, decades after the first mention of settlement. By the late 15th century, there were 5 clear factions within the city, 4 being controlled by different families, and one by the newly established College of the Sixteen, a religious institution founded with a church by the same name. At this point, life in the countryside was dominated by independent cities and republics, and further into what would become Educandi, local lords and feudal states ruled large swaths of agrarian land. These lords were in name subservient to the Confederation, but during its existence, were effectively independent.

The first city-wide entity that could be called a government was the City Guard, starting out as an association of citizens staging watches against fires. The first mention of this guard comes from 1380, but probably existed before that. By the 1400's, the Guard became both a fraternal organization, charitable company, as well as performing municipal services in addition to it's fire-fighting duties. Eventually, the Guard became so extensive and its membership large and rich enough to pool resources in order to start purchasing arms, used to protect the property of the membership. At this point, it transformed itself from a firefighting association of citizens, to an organization of local-level merchants protecting their interests, as well as charitable and municipal services. This brought the Guard into conflict with the families who controlled the wharfs, harbors and waterways between the islands of the city. Their control of these places gave them immense power and riches, as it allowed them unilateral control of trade outside the city. These families used their wealth to hire private militias to attack, vandalize and seize the infrastructure of each other, and occasionally, the church.

In the later half of the 15th century, this had progressed to make Edurre effectively four or five large towns, depending on how one counted, all merged together and only held there by the City Guard. Bridges, docks, and walls all linked the islands and neighborhoods within the sphere of each family, but not with each other. Traveling from one end of the city to the other was difficult and often dangerous. The City Guard started holding elections for leadership amoungst the citizenry of the city, as opposed to within its membership- although you still had to be a wealthy member to run. In either 1460 or 1470, the armed portion of the Guard hired a Bonifaas Changehisnamelater as a captain, who rose through the ranks and transformed the Guard again from a small militia to an organized small army, as well as appointing financial ministers to raise money through what would eventually evolve into taxation. At this point, in the late 1480's, he had near unilateral control of the City Guard, and used it to lead the effort to unite his city.

Rise of the City

In 1490, Bonifaas (later Bonifacius) began his program of reforms, using the resources at his disposal to build bridges, repair buildings and infrastructure, regulate and reform trade, forcefully uniting the city. Part of these reforms was the institution of a bureaucracy, imported from his probable travels to Achysia. This bureaucracy made it possible to effect law and policy, as well as organize the logistics of the reforms of infrastructure and the economy. This also had the effect of recording law, policy, economic matters and almost everything else on paper, massively increasing the amounts of documents available to historians after 1490. Bonifaas used mostly clerics and others from the church, as they had a high degree of literacy among them, and were able to teach others how to write.

Bonifacius' reforms

Bonifacius used his power and influence to unify the building policy of the city. Due to the fragmented control of the islands that make up Edurre, there were several small ports on the river and sea-sides of the city. Defenses and bridges also followed factional lines, being slipshod structures meant to keep ruffians of the other families out. Bonifiacius combined the ports, built bridges between the islands, dredged the canals, and started construction of a series of seawalls and defenses.

All of this authority he assumed grated against the four noble families, who attempted to resist the changes, and keep control of their many small harbors. They used their mercenary militias to attack Bonifaas's men, raid marketplaces, and cause general disorder. Bonifaas reacted by issuing the Edict of Arms, declaring that anyone who used violence against the efforts of City Guard traitors, and outlaws. This is viewed today as the declaration of the singular state of Educandi, with Bonifaas as it's head. The four families were completely unable to resist this centralization, as to remove Bonifaas meant they had to work together. They would prove unable to do so.

Things came to a head when the nobility attempted to wrest control in the Coup of 1493, or the Equinox Coup, in which the four heads of the households agreed to pool their resources and manpower. Following a failed assassination of Bonifaas, the now combined army tried to seize the Guard Hall. Following an altercation, the rebel army barricaded itself in the home of one of it's leaders. The reformed army, no longer just a guard but two full regiments of infantry and a unit of cavalry, laid seige to the building for five days, before a the walls fell and all the rebel combatants were killed or thrown into the sea. The episode lead Bonifaas to forbid cannons in the city.

Perhaps Bonifacius' most important reform was his last will and testament, accepted as the last part of the Educan constitution. It laid out the succession, as well as the role of the Executor, and where his powers lay. It, in essence, established that while the Executor was a monarch, Educandi was indeed a republic.

Continued Rise

In 1495, Bonifaas declared himself the Executor of the city, it's supreme head of the state. Five years later, on the new year of 1500, he formed the Council of Ten, supplanting the City Guard as the government and guaranteeing that the nobility of the city would never rise again. Any citizen could vote in the elections, but one had to be of the patrician noble class to run. Bonifaas strengthened the army, but critically, began to focus on building a naval force, and had all his infantry trained as marines. He soon used this new force to expand the city's domain into the countryside, and in 1503, waged war against the city of Vos. The conflict was a success, and there was two more wars, each weakening the enemy further until it was under the domination of the city, giving Edurre the control of the river upon which it stood. This would set the policy of Educandi for the next 300 years, as it epanded and maintained control of every major waterway it could.

Soon, Bonifaas created the Guardian of the Seal, an elected executive position that he delegated much authority to, as well as the establishment of a judiciary. Upon his death, his will cemented these positions as constitutional law, thus leaving his successors with virtually no power of their own. That notwithstanding, the city continued to expand it's borders, controlling much of the sea lanes and inland waterways around it, either directly, or through puppet states.

Thracian Succession and the War of Independence

In the mid 1530's, the line of Martelus was struck a blow when Rutchelos Martel, heir to the throne, died in a canal. As he was the only child of the current executor, Barbarossa I Liscentos, the only possible successor was the lord of Achysia, Charlie XXXXIII, who married the late sister of Liscentos. Upon Liscentos' death, Charlie ascended the Executive Office, as was declared Executor. The Achysian lord and his successors ran into conflict with the different governmental bodies of Educandi. The Council of Ten, a noble oligarchy, was inherently hostile to the Achysian culture of absolutionism and streamlined bureaucracy. The House of Achysia, as it was known in Edurre, retaliated by initiating a slow program of takeover. By fixing elections, favoring allies, and appointing Achysians to important posts, the Council of Ten very slowly started to lose it's power, and then it's fervor, against the Emperors. During all of this, however, the sphere of Educan influence began to expand, as did it's navy and economy. By the 1640's, much of the coastal land of the Hofzung sea was under the direct or indirect control of the city, with much of the Edu-Grothic speaking inland provinces starting to come under the fold of the city.

By this point, the Council of Ten was little more than a ceremonial puppet and the position of Guardian of the Seal was either a similar puppet, or held by the Executor himself. Upon the ascension of Daeron I to the throne of Achysia, he was also the Executor of Educandi, as well as the king or overlord of much of Aurora. He saw his position as ordained by the Gods, and as such, thought his rule should be absolute. In 16whatever he declared himself emperor of the new Elyrian Empire, with Educandi as part of this state. This was displeasing to many of the mercantile elite, most of whom were members of the Syndicate, a union of guilds, companies, and merchants in the wider Educan sphere.

Following this declaration, the Syndicate declared Daeron a tyrant and unfit to rule, and under the leadership of Micheal Debrosner and commodore Joseph ven Marien began the Educan war of independence or the Educan civil war. Initially, this went poorly for the rebels, as most of the army and much of the navy stayed loyal to Daeron, and as such maintained control of the city and it's mainland holdings. The Constitutionalist rebels, under the leadership of Debrosner, tried to wrest control of the three major rivers in the main holdings of the city by hiring the various feudal lords as mercenaries. These were defeated by the Tercios that Daeron had sent to the city, and the rebels and the Syndicate had to flee to the wider Educan sphere. Ven Marien lead the program to build a new navy from scratch by converting merchant ships and building smaller, faster but underpowered ships for patrolling the open Hofzung sea. Ven Marien lead several successful but inconclusive naval battles, and by the 1650's, was the leader of the rebellion. After this, Daeron died of natural causes, and his son took over as leader of the Achysian faction. Seeing his opportunity, Ven Marien landed at and seized Worcenbren, a strategic city near Edurre. Failing to send reinforcements to the battle in time, the opposing army had to march back to Edurre, a two day march. Ven Marien outsmarted this army by sailing alone to the city, at which point the navy stationed there mutinied, and a riot broke out, driving the court and the steward of the Achysian Executor out. A judge, Marcxis ven dye Burge, declared the Executorship dissolved and himself as dictator, but the riotous townspeople ignored him and later threw him into a canal. Ven Marien was welcomed into the city, an hour before the Thracian army arrived.

The Syndicate returned to the city, and ven Marien was declared the new head of the body, as Lord-Magistrate, and Guardian of the Seal, which the lords-magistrate still hold to this day. The Thracian army was disarmed, but allowed to peacefully return to their homeland. The Syndicate was then declared the new government, and the Council of Ten dissolved and the patrician nobles either exiled or no longer recognized. The fiercely republican Syndicate was kept from initiating too radical reforms, though, by Debrosner and others, who kept the position of Executor and allowed the lords of the newly-defined Home Countries to keep their titles. These Home Countries were reorganized, though, and the lords of these duchies, counties, and baronies recognized and followed this organization, which is recognized as the beginning of the transfer of the Educan state from a city-state, to a proper nation-state. Ven Marien then resigned as Lord-Magistrate, and was made Executor as Joseph I Bevrijder, or Joseph the Great.

17th and 18th Century

Following the death of Daeron, Educandi had most of the Hofzung sea around it under it's control. The lack of Thracian imports from the New World was a problem, however, as Educandi has specialized and focused on controlling the sea immediately around it, as opposed to oceanic colonial empire. It's navy was comprised mostly of littoral or river-based vessels, and would not be effective at maintaining it's own Atlantic-colonial sphere.

As it had need for a state that could maintain a long-distance empire, but wouldn't challenge Educandi's hold of the Hofzung Sea, the main candidate was the Grothic kingdom of Zonnenbord, a state that had an effort to start trading posts abroad. The following Hofzung Trade League was based on the Educan navy protecting the Hofzung and both nation's interests there, while Zonnenbord could specialize and maintain a long-distance trading-post empire. Needing assistance with maintaining it's existing ports and posts, Educandi and Zonnenbord worked together by establishing joint colonial companies to take over management and expansion of the existing dominions. In order to raise capital, the companies offered to sell portions of their companies to interested persons, to buy complete control of their companies back when the worth of said colonies had risen. With the success of this method, other companies wanted to mimic it, eventually earning regulation and legislation in the Educan House of the Exchange of Stock.

Educandi also sought an ally in the form of Ichoria, then a kingdom, as well as other states in Elyria. This marked the start of the period known as the Age of Friendship, in which Educandi did not pursue a military agenda, but an economic one of establishing treaties and trade partnerships with other nations. The Hofzung would be virtually free of piracy due to Educandi's strong navy, leading to the new military policy of the nation called mercantile mercenary diplomacy, in which off-duty Educan officers were encouraged to sell their services to other nations in order to build good relations with the Grothic and Elyrian empires. During this period, the phrase "Eduryke" also came into being as an Edu-Grothic term for the Grothic lands under the control of Educandi.

This rise continued until the Wars of Republic in Kathia, which lead to the Kathic Emperor trying to invade Educandi and take control of the Hofzung sea. Educandi was able to resist this, and even modified its navy for Atlantic naval warfare. Fill this out Later

19th Century and Decline of Empire

Following the Wars of Republic, the Educan fleet was still extremely strong well into the age of ironclads. The Military Institute of Research conducted experiments with new technologies, and moreover, the Educan hold of the Hofzung was stronger than ever, and trading ties from all over the world flooded Edurre and other important cities with spices and resources. This lead in 1815 to the Act of the Eduryke, a large and encompassing law which reformed many aspects of the government. The Home Countries were reorganized into provinces, each with its own provincial level government elected by the people there. The scope of the Syndicate was widened, with reforms on elections and the structure of the House of Consuls established.

These good times would not last forever, though, as soon nationalist sentiment spread from the Eduryke to the colonial sphere, with many cities rising up and asserting their independence. Due to several factors, much of the holdings around the Hofzung were lost and Educandi soon had to rely on the new kingdom of Grothbord for help. This decline continued, until only the present borders were held.

Despite this loss of prestige, the Educan navy was still strong and a force to be reckoned with. Thanks to reforms in it's structure as well as aide from Grothbord, the new navy didn't need to hold onto lots of land in order to hold control of the sea. Despite the loss of it's empire, Educandi remained an important financial hub as well as a moderately powerful diplomatic force.

Culture

Educan culture is often seen as laidback, relaxed, or sometimes lazy. Extrapolate further after I read more culture sections in Wikipedia.

Food

Educan diets tend to sample from foreign shores. The Educan mentality hold that a good meal consists of "Ichori bread and Kathic wine." With that said, there are quite a few native dishes that still hold strong; clam chowder as well as lobster are favorites near the coast, and apple orchards further inland are popular and plentiful. Educans typically have a cultural sweet-tooth; confectioneries and soda-fountains are popular social locals,

Sport

Aside from typical international sports being popular in Educandi as anywhere else in Aurora or the world, there are two Educan specific sports that hold national interest: aquatic sports, and dueling.

Boating sports, like the world-famous Silver Cup, are extremely popular with coastal city populations, drawing players from boat and yacht clubs, as well as school, collegiate, and professional clubs. Another popular sport is that of Battleships, which is not a board game, but more similar to crew or skeleton racing. Two teams of rowboats, specially designed for the game, try to ram and sink the other teams boats until only one team is left. A more youngster sport of “pool battleship” is popular, using canoes and dumping water using buckets into the oppenents canoes until they sink.

Dueling, or club-pistol dueling, Wax-bullet pistol dueling, is a sport simulating the ancient arbitration method of dueling with firearms. It is very popular with inland populations, often trying to emulate a country gentleman aesthetic. There are numerous dueling clubs throughout the country, with thousands of members.

Government and Politics

Main article: Government of Educandi

The government of Educandi is, in effect, a unitary parliamentary republic. The legislature is made of two bodies, the Chamber of Consuls and the Cabinet (or Syndicated Council of Ministers). The chief executive, the Lord-Magistrate, appoints the ministers of the cabinet from the elected Consuls, forming the government.

The Executor

Main article: Executor of Educandi

The Executor, or Dye Executeur ven Edurre un dye Eduryke, is the mostly-ceremonial monarch and theoretical font of all power and authority in Educandi. According to the Educan constitution, all authority is delegated to certain persons or bodies by the Executor. The Executor has power, but no authority with which to use it; and the delegated bodies have authority, but no power of their own.

In effect, the only real authority that the Executor has is the dismissal of certain persons or bodies, and even then, cannot choose appointees himself, but must call elections. The Executor can remove the Lord-Magistrate's executive authority, by dismissing them as Guardian of the Seal. This is done usually when the monarch feels that a certain Lord-Magistrate's actions are detrimental to the functions of Educan government, i.e., treasonous or reprehensible behavior, attempts of monopolization of power, or other acts that shake the monarch's faith in their executive officer.

The revoking of executive authority usually invites first, a resolution from the Syndicate declaring all executive action by the monarch null and void, and then, a resolution calling for elections. Following the election, if the party who occupied the ruling majority loses, they typically dismiss their party leader, and re-evaluate their party manifesto. Since the current Executor has taken office, only two Lord-Magistrates have had their executive power revoked, and both times, had their party lose the election; the first Lord-Magistrate to suffer this fate during the current Executorship precipitated the dissolution of his party.

The only other authority that is prescribed to the Executor is the denial of emergency powers. Since the close of the second world war, emergency powers have only been requested once, and then denied. Following that, it is considered taboo to even be publicly thinking of requesting emergency powers, and rumors of such actions have cost parties elections. There are several bills on the floor of the Syndicate to abolish emergency powers all together, but no party has ever brought them up for a vote.

The Syndicate

Main article: Syndicate of Educandi

The Syndicate is the government of the Eduryke, made up of the House of Consuls and the Cabinet of the Lord-Magistrate. Historically, it was made of Consuls, who served as the representatives of Educan citizens in geographic constituencies, and Syndics, the representatives of guilds and companies within the jurisdiction of the historic Syndicated Union of Trades and Mercantile Associations of the Educan Citizenry, the predecessor of the current modern Syndication. Following the end of the Educan civil war and the victory of the Constitutionalists, the Syndicate was given control of trade policy within and without the Educan controlled trade bloc, effectively making it the national government and dissolving the Council of Ten.

Today, the Syndicate is made of elected Consuls, who make up the body of the House of Consuls, and the Cabinet, comprised of Syndics, sometimes referred to as Lord-minsters. Each Syndic is the head of a certain ministry, and appointed by the Lord-Magistrate.

There are 400 Consuls, each representing a Consulate of around 36,250 people. Following the formation of a new government, the Lord-Magistrate invites a handful of the newly-elected or re-elected Consuls to his cabinet (5 of which being the most important ministers, i.e., the Lord-Secretary, whom is the second in command, the Syndic of the Treasury, the Syndic of Arms, a Syndic of the Interior, and a Syndic of Foreign Affairs.) All those who receive an invitation and want the position respond, and then they are invested in the Cabinet. The rest of the legislature then choose their own Speaker, who upon being elected, takes a chair in the opposite end of the Chamber from the Lord-Magistrate. The new Syndicate then receives Letters-Patent, by the authority of the Executor via the will of the Lord-Magistrate, and then the Syndication recognizes the Lord-Magistrate as head of the government, as well as the Executor making the Lord-Magistrate also Guardian of the Seal, thus officially opening the new government.

The Lord-Magistrate

Main article: Lord-Magistrate of Educandi

The Lord-Magistrate, or the Lord-Magistrate, the Consul-at-Large, Representative to the Executor and Guardian of the Seal is the head of Educan government and effective head of state. The Lord-Magistrate is elected separately from the Consuls, not as the head of the winning party. This differentiates the position from that of Prime Minister, and as such, is not a parliamentary post, where the head of the winning party takes power. The Lord-Magistrate is not a presidential post though, as he serves as a member of both the House of Consuls and the head of Cabinet, as well as executive in his own right as Guardian of the Seal. This last title gives him executive veto power over any legislation the Consuls pass, and as such his vote in the Chamber is usually ceremonial.

The Lord-Magistrate is in charge of the day-to-day running of the government as well as larger policy goals for the entire country. The authority of the post is effected through the Cabinet, made up of Syndics, who each leads a department.

The Cabinet

Main article: Syndicated Council of Minister (Educandi)

The Cabinet, or Syndicated Council of Ministers, is the advisory board of the Lord-Magistrate as well the central point of executive will of the Government. Due to the numerous rights afforded to the Cabinet, some governmental and constitutional scholars see it as the second house of the Syndicate.

The Cabinet is made up of Syndics, each of whom is a minister of an aspect of government. At the beginning of each legislative session, the Lord-Magistrate invites several Consuls to becom Syndics, and if they want the post, they must ‘’RSVP’’ for the position. This is the only time that the Magistrate is allowed to appoint anyone unilaterally. After this, the Cabinet is afforded two very important powers: the authority to approve appointments made by the Lord-Magistrate, and the override of the Veto.

Once given power, all appointments (except that of Lord Admiral-High Marshal) are put before the Cabinet. Each appointment must be accepted or denied by a majority of the Syndics. If there is no clear majority, the vote is delayed 3 days, at which point they vote on the appointment again, unless the L-M rescinded the appointment. If the second vote does not meet a majority decision, then it goes to the Consuls the next day as an emergency vote, at which point the decision is final, majority or not. This allows unpopular appointments to be deffered and denied without coming up against the L-M, as the Magistrate has the power to fire Syndics unilaterally- although not the power to appoint replacements unilaterally, until the next election. This is usually ill-advised, as firing Syndics usually galvanizes the rest of the Cabinet against the executive.

The Override, however, is more contentious. To over-ride a Veto, the vote needs to be 3/5ths in favor, and must be passed preemptively. The Override is not a reactionary measure, but protects a bill passed by the Consuls from the possibility of the Veto. This forces the Cabinet not only to be united against the L-M, but to know how they stand on any specific legislation.

The Lord-Magistrate can create new ministries for new Syndics to head, but these must be approved by the Consuls.

Elections

Elections in Educandi are conducted on the first Friday of July, and continue until the following Sunday. The elected persons then assume office on January 5th of the following year.

Educandi uses a ranked system of voting, in which voters rank candidates running for office, with 1 going to a voter's most favored candidate. Voters are not required to vote for all candidates, but must make at least 3 selections for a vote to be considered valid. Once votes have been tallied, if no candidate has 50% of the electorate, then the lowest performing candidate is dropped, and all votes for said dropped candidate are counted again, with all those who voted 1 on said candidate moving to their number-2 votes, until one candidate has more than 50% of the electorate.

Political Parties

Main article: Partisan System of Educandi

There are several small, local parties in Educandi due to the nature of elections in the country using instant-runoff voting. The two main parties together only ever hold 60%-70% of the legislature at a time, meaning effectively, all governments have to be coalitions lead by one of the two primary parties, and with the backing of several smaller parties.

The nature of partisan politics in Educandi means that in large areas of diverse political view, "marginal" Consulates typically switch from one of the two Big Parties, called Partiten in the local language, whereas areas of either less population or less diverse political thought typically choose representation from one of the smaller "Political clubs", called Veriej.

The two primary parties are the Perfolger and the Left-Liberal Union, and respectively they lead the Red Caucus and the Blue Caucus. Presently, the Perfolger have 135 seats, the LLU 105, the Economists Club 53, the Blue-and-Greens 44, the Family Issues Club 30, the Collectivist Association 15, the Legion of the Early Morning 7, the Agriculture Bloc 6, the Students Party 4, and the Futurists Association 1.

Geography

The Geography of the country is generally flat near the coastal cities, rolling hills further into the country-side, and with larger mountains on the fringes of the Namelater mountain range. The nation itself is made of the basins of three rivers the rtbsv, trgwrfa, and gsefd.