Holy Realm of Sudentor
Holy Realm of Sudentor | |||||||||
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| 1220–1230 | |||||||||
 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Motto: Zur Ehre Gottes For the glory of God | |||||||||
 Map of the Holy Realm highilghted in maroon. Audonian Empire in orange, and the Lushyod & Gothic states in green. | |||||||||
| Status | Vassal of the Holy Audonian Empire | ||||||||
| Capital | Südendorf | ||||||||
| Common languages | Brumenese (Lingua Franca) Audonian Latin | ||||||||
| Religion | Fabrianism | ||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Sudentorian | ||||||||
| Government | Feudal Absolute Monarchy | ||||||||
| Archduke of Sudentor | |||||||||
• 1220 - 1230 | Anton I | ||||||||
| Grand Inquisitor | |||||||||
• 1220 - 1223 | Noël Pierre | ||||||||
• 1223 - 1225 | Gérard Traver | ||||||||
• 1225 - 1226 | Salomon Sourd | ||||||||
• 1226 - 1230 | Siegfried Haas | ||||||||
| Legislature | Chamber of the Cardinals | ||||||||
| Historical era | Alban Crusades (1217 - 1250) | ||||||||
• Occupation of Sudentor | 15 April 1220 | ||||||||
• Establishment | 7 November 1220 | ||||||||
• Liberation of Südendorf | 12 September 1229 | ||||||||
• Dissolution | 30 July 1230 | ||||||||
| Currency | Gil | ||||||||
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The Holy Realm of Sudentor (Brumenese: Heiliges Reich von Sudentor, Audonian: Royaume sacré de Sudentor, Latin: Sanctum Regnum Sudentoris), also known as the Audonian Realm of Sudentor, was a Crusader and vassal state established by the Holy Audonian Empire in 1220 in east Belisaria during the Alban Crusades. Its decade long existence was marred with purges and revolts by various noble houses who refused to submit to Audonian rule. Anton I ruled as its reigning monarch from its establishment in 1220 until it was invaded, occupied and dissolved by the combined armies of the Heterodox Alliance in 1230. In spite of its relatively short lifespan the establishment of the Holy Realm had a profound, albeit short term, impact in the region, primarily through the introduction of Fabrian Catholic Church as the official state religion of the Holy Realm. The population was forced to renounce their Aletheic faith and convert to Fabrianism. Those who refused to convert were persecuted, and tortured until they renounced their original faiths or otherwise were condemned to death. The Audonians however failed to make any long lasting changes in the area after Holy Realm was dissolved by the Gothic and Lushyod alliance. Officially the leaders of the Fabrian Catholic Church and Audonians proclaimed Sudentor as a symbol that heretics of the east could be tamed and civilized. Unofficially however the Gothic polity was created as a buffer state between the core territories of the Audonians and the remaining Gothic and Lushyod polities that remained free from Fabrian influence.
Background
History
Establishment of the Holy Realm
Before its subjugation by the Audonians, Sudentor was an independent confederation of Gothic city-states in east Belisaria. The victory of the Gothic Kingdoms over the Lushyods of Viragstag cemented gothic rule of the lands that comprise modern day Brumen. Two Gothic powers dominate the region: Waldreich to the west and Sudentor to the east, each with dozens of vassal kingdoms and city-states under its dominion, whose majority of population adhere to the Aletheic faith. Their adherence to the Aletheic Church placed the Gothic kingdoms within the sights of the Audonians. Though Waldreich became the undisputed hegemon of the Goths, the Sudentor remained steadfast and strong in asserting its continued independence from its neighbor. Though smaller in size and population, Sudentor augments its troops with foreign mercenary troops primarily from the Lushyod kingdoms. In spite of this, Sudentor faced two pressure points on its eastern and western borders. To the west it was locked in a constant struggle to maintain the loyalty of its vassals and stave off Waldreich's efforts to reduce upon Sudentor's sphere of influence. Meanwhile to the east, refugees who fled eastward to escape the crusaders in 1217 from Garima flooded into the Kingdom's lands. The influx of refugees brought social and economic instability for Sudentor and forced the kingdom to divide its already limited economic and military resources between the eastern and western fronts.
The start of the Alban Crusades against the northern Lushyod kingdoms severely depleted the supply of mercenaries Sudentor relied upon to augment its depleted armies. In the spring of 1219 the Audonians began their first series of raids against Sudentor. Little by little the Audonians were able to gradually whittle down Sudentor's defenses. By the winter of 1219 the Audonians laid siege to Sudendorf though the kingdom's monarch, the capital's defense was helmed by the kingdom's monarch: King Eldrich II. The siege of Sudendorf was ended in the spring of 1220 when House Günther, a noble house of Sudentor, betrayed their king and opened the gates to the Audonians, effectively ending the siege. Eldrich II was executed after he refused to bend the knee and renounce his faith in the Aletheic Church. In his place Anton I of house Gunther was installed as a puppet leader of the newly established Holy Realm of Sudentor, a vassal kingdom of the Audonians and established the Fabrian Church as the kingdom's official state religion. Eldrich's wife and sons were succesfully evacuated by the surviving members of his royal guard and fled to the remaining free lands of Sudentor in the south. By 1221 the Alban Crusades resulted in Sudentor's fall from a major power to a mere isolated rump state. During this period of time the kingdoms of Waldreich and Hoffnung had established an alliance and held any further Audonian advancements in Gothic lands.
Consolidation of Power
After his coronation, in his first act as Archduke of the Holy Realm, Anton I proclaimed the Fabrian Catholic Church as the official state religion of the Holy Realm and subsequently renounced his Aletheic faith. The Royal Decree of November 1220 legalized the proclamation and made in cumpolsory for Sudentor's entire population to renounce their adherence to Aletheicism and adopt Fabrianism. At first a majority of the noble and peasant population refused to do so and in response in 1221 Anton I established the Holy Inquisition, a military order and institution independent from the authority of Sudentor's monarchy. Commonly referred to as the Inquisition, its purpose was to investigate and combat what they define as heresies of any form within the realm and was led by a Grand Inquisitor. Audonians generally occupied high level positions of the Inquisition to ensure ultimate loyalty to the Audonians, whereas it utilized the native Gothic population who had already converted to Fabrianism as foot soldiers, referred to as Inquisitors, to enforce the Inquisition's will. The Inquisition was able to assemble an army of Inquisitors from the peasantry who were promised better living conditions and immunity from punishment, so long as they maintained their faith in Fabrianism. Members of the Gothic nobility also joined the Inquisition, occupying mostly officer positions in its growing army.
Throughout the years 1220 - 1224 the Inquisition enacted what is currently referred to as the Purge, it was a period of time when the Inquisition actively sought out practitioners of the Aletheic faith and arrested them. A vast majority of those persecuted were of the peasantry with limited numbers of members from the nobility. Continued practice of the Aletheic faith in public and private was prohibited, and Inquisitors both actively searched practitioners of Aletheism in house by house searches. The Inquisition strongly encouraged people to report their neighbors who continue to practice Alethecism, though in some case people who had long standing issues with their neighbors used the opportunity to seek revenge or settle scores against one another. Those arrested were carried to a tribunal to be tried in public where the accused would be allowed one last opportunity to repent by renouncing Aletheicism and adopt Fabrianism. Those who continued to refuse to do so had what limited possessions they owned confiscated and sentenced to death. Members of the nobility who met this fate had their lands confiscated by the Inquisition and executed. Estimates vary but most historians agree that between 3,000 to 4,000 people were persecuted, arrested and/or killed during the Purge. Ultimately the brutality of the Purges failed to initimidate the commonfolk and nobility into complete submission to Fabrianist rule. Noble houses of Sudentor that continued to resist the Holy Inquisition's efforts staged armed revolts for the next two years in order to break free from Fabrianist rule.
Revolts
On January 1221, three months after the Anton I's Royal Decree, the noble Houses Albrecht, Schreiber and Meier organized armed revolts in their respective domains throughout Sudentor. The three houses were amongst the largest and richest noble houses in Sudentor who continues to openly reject Fabrianism. Before its occupation and forced reformation by the Audonians, Sudentor was a confederation of feudal realms, each noble house were permitted to organize and maintain their own separate militias for security and defense purposes of their respective realms. Having lost a majority of their better train militias, the noble Houses were unable to launch any attacks to drive out the Audonians from Sudentor. They were however sufficient to mount an effective armed resistance within their respective domains. With a majority of Sudentor's standing and experienced troops decimated by the Audonians, Anton I relied heavily upon Audonian crusaders to suppress the revolts. While the militias had superior numbers they lacked the proper training in the arts of war, and so when the Audonian crusaders came they were unable to mount an effective prolonged resistance against them. This first revolt was suppressed within six months and the Holy Inquisition executed the heads of all three houses whereas their peasants were forcibly converted to Fabrianism.
The second revolt to occur took place on July 1225 in the city of New Markte. This revolt was a peasants revolt, who felt that their adherance to Fabrianism had made their living conditions worse. Constant fear of the Holy Inquisition and their general disgust for the forced conversions to Fabrianism left many feeling embittered towards the Audonians and saw Anton I as nothing more than a puppet of the Fabrian Church. The revolt was triggered by the tribunal of twenty peasants, all who openly practiced Fabrianism, but was accused by nobleman for secretly practicing Aletheicism. The nobleman's diaries show that he fathered a child with one of the peasant women. The nobleman attempted to hide the affair, which resulted in him to accuse the woman and her entire family for being secret practitioners of the banned Aletheic church. Accounts vary with the details of how the revolt was triggered, there were those who say that before the public execution was carried out one of the condemned begged for mercy and screamed that she had an unborn child within her. One person from the crowd threw a tomato at one of the Inquisitors overseeing the execution and when the Inquisitor attempted to arrest the perpetrator the rest of the crowd revolted which quickly spread into a full blown riot throughout the city. The riots however were contained within the city and the Holy Inquisition was able to suppress the revolt after receiving reinforcements.
Invasion by the Heterodox Alliance
By 1228 the newly established Gothic-Lushyod alliance, known as the Heterodox Alliance, initiated a military campaign to liberate Sudentor from Fabrian and Audonian influence. This united front presented a significant challenge to the Audonians crusades and the alliance was able to slowly but gradually push back and reclaim Sudentor's lands. While Sudentor's armies had been gradually reassembled throughout the years, it was still a far cry from the grand army it once had before the Crusades began. The Holy Realm relied heavily upon the Audonians for defense of its territories, and with its resources spread thin across multiple fronts the Audonians would eventually be forced to sacrifice one front to save the others. The Heterodox invasion, spearheaded by Franz I, the monarch of Waldreich, was carefully planned and he targeted major population centers that possessed large numbers of people who continued to secretly practice the Aletheic faith. Prior to the invasion Waldreich had sent in saboteurs to infiltrate these cities. Their objective was to sew discord amongst the population in order to stage a revolt to occur when the cities were besieged by the Heterodox Alliance. While not all of it worked, most of the besieged cities fell after its population openly revolted against Audonian and Fabrian rule. The Holy Realm's and Audonian's greatest defeat came in February 1229 when the city of Sudendorf, Sudentor's capital, was liberated and Anton I was captured as he tried to escape the city. Sudentor's Queen-regent in exile, Hilda I, personally ordered Anton I's execution and proclaimed the establishment of the Kingdom of Sudentor with herself as its reigning monarch.
Dissolution
Hilda I quickly set about to reverse most, if not all, of Anton I policies and decrees. The most significant restorations included the reversal Anton I's proclamation that Fabrianism would be the official state religion and disbanded the Holy Inquisition, hunted and arrested its surviving members including its Grand Inquisitor. Public trials were held for the highest ranking members of the Holy Inquisition, most of whom were Audonians and many were tortured and forced to confess to various crimes that they have done, regardless if they had done so or not. By dong so Hilda I was able to gain popularity and support of the commonfolk who saw her as a liberator of the Goths of Sudentor. While the liberation of Sudentor was a significant military and political victory for the alliance, significant pockets of resistance of Gothic-Fabrianists backed by the Audonians remained throughout what remained of the Holy Realm's territories in the far east. Continued military campaigns against the last remaining resistance persisted until the last Audonian-held city of Eintrag was liberated by the alliance on the 28th of July 1230. Victory was declared on the 30th of July 1230 when Hilda I proclaimed the official dissolution of the Holy Realm. Anton I's rule over Sudentor had significant consequences throughout the realm, his adherance to Fabrianism had alienated much of his subjects and many fled westward to Waldreich and Hoffnung resulting in an influx of refugees. Culturally, Anton I's policies introduced Fabrianism in the realm, while it was not prohibited to practice it in public, it still introduced a new potential source of social religios upheal if practitioners of Aletheicism decides to seek revenge against those who truely embraced Fabrianism.