Ultramer

The Oversea States of His Majesty Les États Ultramarins de Sa Majesté
1524–1808
Flag
Status	Oversea Dominion
Capital	Austremer
Government	Monarchy
Viceroy (1524 - 1697) King of Ainin (1697 - 1808)
• 1524 - 1551	Pierre de Lamarque
• 1777 - 1808	Mathieu IV
Historical era	Kingdom of Ainin
• Established	23 December 1524
• Revocation of the Treaty of Huimont	17 December 1808

Ultramer, (French : Les États Ultramarins de Sa Majesté) was the name given to all the continental dependencies of the Kingdom of Ainin and the overall administration put into place by the Monarchy to rule over them. It officialy started on Saturnalia 1524 with the creation of the Viceroyalty of Ultramer by Pierre de Lamarque, who was recognized first Viceroy of Ultramer by the Aininian king. At first, the term was used to speak of the Viceroyalty itself but also of the numerous duchies and states that conserved nominal autonomy for themselves. When these states were absorbed into the Viceroyalty, "Ultramer" was only in use to talk about the Viceroyalty and the Caconzicua Karazawi, the only native kingdom who still had to answer to the King of Ainin only. The Viceroyalty was then divided in 13 Governorates in 1697, which revolted in 1758, before being defeated and conquered by Karazawa in 1779. By the time of the Aininian Revolution, Ultramer was de-facto just another name for the Caconzicua Karazawi.

Ultamer developed highly regional divisions, reflecting the impact of climate, topography, indigenous populations, and mineral resources. Various regimes existed inside of it, with duchies and various estates existing alongisde Governorates and Captaincies, that is until the Reforms of 1697 which gave direct power to the Aininian King over 13 Governorates and one Kingdom (The Caconzicua Karazawi), greatly simplifying the Aininian Administration. But even if the growing threat of an all-powerful Viceroy had been dealt with, the Caconzi of Karazawa continued to rule over his own state with almost no interference from Ainin, even taking for himself the Governorates after their rebellion. By the time these events took place, the Kingdom of Ainin had been weakened by too many consecutive crisis, including the War of Twilight and a banking crisis in 1764, to react. The Caconzicua Karazawi would then use the Aininian Revolution and the Monarchy's unpaid debts to declare the Treaty of Huimont null and void, taking away from Mathieu IV the last lands over which he still had nominal authority.

History

Conquest of the Thlatoloyan

Main article: Karazawa § The Conquest

The Great Ride South

Main article: The Great Ride South

Economy

Ultramer's economy in the colonial period was based on resource extraction, on agriculture and ranching, and on trade, with manufacturing playing a minor role. In the immediate post-conquest period (1521–40), the dense indigenous and hierarchically organized peoples were a potential ready labor supply and producers of tribute goods. Conquerors built private fortunes less from the plunder of the brief period of conquest than from the labor and tribute and the acquisition of land in areas as they joined and merged with the local elites, translating that into long-term sustainable wealth.

The colonial landscape in Ultramer became a patchwork of different sized holdings, from entire Kingdoms (like the Caconzicua Karazawi) and Duchies (Cirrus and Naquetie), to small holdings barely larger than a town. As the crown began limiting the Viceroy's powers to curbstomp the rise of a seigneurial class still largely independent from Ainin, the holdings and acquisitions of this same class were solidified to the point that, even with the end of the Viceroyalty and the transition to a number of smaller Governorates, a limited number of Ultramarines aristocratic families still controlled most of the lands and economy of the colonies.

Agriculture

Although pre-Ainin Ultramer produced surpluses of corn (maize) and other crops for tribute and subsistence use, Aininian began commercial agriculture, cultivating wheat, sugar, fruit trees, cattle ranching, and other activities. While most of the farming occurred outside the densely populated areas, within the cities there was another method of (small-scale) farming. Each family had their own garden plot where they grew maize, fruits, herbs, medicines and other important plants. water was supplied to the major cities through aqueducts from springs in the central mountains and the Viceroyalty adopted the Acolhuas system of collecting human waste for use as fertilizer. Through intensive agriculture it was possible to sustain a large population.

As agrarian enterprises developed, acquiring title to land became important. Large-scale landed estates developed, needing both a small permanent labor force supplemented by temporary labor at peak times, such as planting and harvesting.

Cattle ranching need far less labor than agriculture, but did need sufficient grazing land for their herds to increase. As more Aininian settled in the northern areas which were already densely populated, the number of ranching enterprises declined and ranching was pushed south.

Craft and trades

The excess supply of food products had allowed a significant portion the Acolhuas population to dedicate themselves to trades beyond just agriculture. This was no longer true under the Aininian rule, as most of the surplus was exported to Ainin, but craft specialization was nonetheless still present. Ceramics were slowly replaced by barrels, but luxury goods like beadwork, featherwork and the elaboration of musical instruments still employed a great number of craftmen, with in the larger cities entire neighborhoods specialized in a single craft.

Trade and Distribution

Products were distributed through a network of markets. Some markets specialized in a single commodity, and other general markets with presence of many different goods. Markets were highly organized with a system of supervisors taking care that only authorized merchants were permitted to sell their goods, and punishing those who cheated their customers or sold substandard or counterfeit goods. The recently arrived Aininians had to rely on a local bureaucrats at first, because they themselves lacked the numbers to fill all positions in the regional administrations. But with time, lawyers and administrators formed in Ainin found jobs in Ultramer, and the Acolhuas system of registry was kept to favour Aininian traders. A typical town would have a weekly market while larger cities held markets every day. Some sellers in the markets were petty vendors; farmers might sell some of their produce, potters sold their vessels, and so on. Other vendors were professional merchants who traveled from market to market seeking profits. By the end of the 16th century, almost all of these professional traders were either Aininian or of mixed origin.

The Pochteca guilds were at first placed under the patronage of Aininian companies. With they were disbanded and replaced by networks of Aininian traders specialized in a certain category of products. Bad transportation was a major stumbling block to the movement of goods and people in Ultramer, with lots of regional variations. In the north and the east, the roads were generally paved and well maintained, but in the south, there were mostly dirt tracks that turned impassible during the bad seasons. In this south, Poor infrastructure was coupled with poor security, making travel even harder and a constant problem for the administration.

Although the economy was commercialized, land and labor were not generally commodities for sale and were reserved to the aristocratic circles of society. Several types of money were in regular use. Cacao beans, which had to be imported, remained important for daily small purchases, with a standard of one tamal costing a single bean. For larger purchases, standardized lengths of cotton cloth, called quachtli, were used thourough the early period of Ultramer. About 20 quachtli could support a commoner for one year in most major cities. By the end of the Viceroyalty, all these method of exchanges had been replaced with the Aininian louré.