Leopold I of Blayk
| Leopold I | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Coronation Portrait by Charles-Phillipe de Bourgh | |||||
| King of Blayk | |||||
| Tenure | 6 March 1822 - 9 July 1856 | ||||
| Coronation | 12 January 1823 | ||||
| Predecessor | Gilbert II | ||||
| Successor | Leopold II | ||||
| Born | 7 April 1772 Chateau de la Bruche, Chaudoir, Vervillia | ||||
| Died | 9 July 1856 (aged 84) Palais de Saint-Joachim, Montigné, Blayk | ||||
| Burial | Cathéderale de Notre Maître Perend, Montigné, Blayk | ||||
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| Issue |
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| Father | Phillip VII, Duke of Chaudoir | ||||
| Mother | Antoinette Capdeville, Duchess of Chaudoir | ||||
| Religion | Apostolic Perendism | ||||
| Military career | |||||
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Vervillia  Blaykish Republic Grand Kingdom of Blayk | ||||
| Service/ | Royal Vervillian Army People's Militia of Blayk Royal Army of Blayk Blaykish Army | ||||
| Years of service | 1789 - 1793 (Royal Vervillian Army) 1801 - 1816 (People's Army of Blayk) 1816 - 1820 (Royal Army of Blayk) 1822 - 1856 (Blaykish Army) | ||||
| Rank | Capitaine (Royal Vervillian Army) Général de Brigade (People's Army of Blayk) Géneral de corps d'armee (Royal Army of Blayk) Chef de Armee (Blaykish Army) | ||||
| Battles/wars | Vervillian Revolts of 1790 Blaykish Civil War Blaco-Tyrnican War of 1810 War of the Castrian Succession | ||||
Leopold I (Principean: Léopold; 7 April 1772 - 9 July 1856) was King of the Blaykish from his selection by the Blaykish parliament in March 1822 until his death in 1856. Before his rise to the throne he was an accomplished statesman and military leader, leading multiple successful campaigns in the Blaykish Civil War and the wider Great Upheaval. He is widely recognised in Blayk as a Champion of Revolution.
Born the youngest son to Duke Phillip of Chaudoir, Leopold attended the prestigious King Matthieu Military Academy in Valdenberg and would enter service as a officer in the Royal Army of Vervillia in 1789 at the age of seventeen. During the Vervillian Revolts of 1789 Leopold openly supported the revolts which made him a target for slander from rival officers and the Vervillian aristocracy and ultimately lead to him being deemed "too radical" to take the throne of Blayk upon the death of his second cousin Phillip III in 1790, with the throne instead going to his elder cousin Gilbert of Sarbeliard. Facing ridicule for his support of the Vervillian Revolts and the Rythenean Revolution, Leopold left Vervillia and moved to the newly founded Rythenean Republic, were he served as a military adviser to the reformed Republican army. During his time in Rythene he gained much popularity as a public figure and revolutionary thinker. He married Victoère Fitzmaurice a like minded former Casmirean noble in 1797.
With the outbreak of the Blaykish Civil War in 1801, Leopold left Rythene and travelled to Elberné to present his services to the burgeoning Blaykish Republic. Leopold helped transform the People's Militia of Blayk from a ragtag civilian militia into a professional army, and further lead them to victory under his command in the Galens offensive where his superior knowledge of alpine warfare saw his brigade consistently outmanoeuvring the Royalist forces in the region until the Battle of Perriex saw the crushing defeat of the Royalists. Having subdued Galens by the end of August, Leopold and his forces join the main body of Republican forces in marching on Montigné. By the end of the civil war in 1801 Leopold was a well loved war hero of Blayk, he remained in the People's Republican Army and settled in Marbonne with his wife, until he was called into action again with the beginning of the revolutionary wars.
At the 1816 Congress of Sabaria Leopold was once again considered for the Blaykish throne, and officially had his claim recognised by the Sabarine Dicerate but was dismissed in favour of reinstating Gilbert II as a constitutional monarch. He thus returned to his life in Marbonne now as a Géneral de corps d'armee of the newly reformed Royal Army of Blayk. He held this position until it was revoked by royal proclamation as Leopold refused to abandon his claim to the throne. He accepted taking to the Blaykish throne in 1822 after the forced abdication of Gilbert II, and under his liberal reign allowed Blayk to become a Parliamentary democracy.
Through his reign as King, Leopold mended relations with Blayk's neighbours, staying neutral in the rivalry of Rythene and Tyrnica while also attempting to expand Blaykish influence further south, supporting the creation of a new Blaco-Vervillian alliance and backing Andreu of Calcena's claim to the Castrian throne in the War of the Castrian Succession. Leopold passed away at the age of 84 in the Palais de Saint-Joachim due to natural causes.