NationStates Jolt Archive


The History of Mave

22-11-2003, 03:58
The History of Mave

Noun: Mavi
Adjective: Mavi, Mavish

Capitol: Merché

Other Major Cities:
Tourle
Sern
Mejenne
Disain
Pogese
Caspardan
Varsesse
Sulie
Valle
Linbere
Sovon

Rulers:
Manum
Clous I (1263-1282)
Dolae I (1282-1301)
Clous II (1301-1313)
Chelre I (1313-1321)
Clous III (1321-1355)
Margue Zhanna I (1355-1385)
Steroum
Jain I (1385-1407)
Dolae II (1407-1424)
Dolae III (1434-1450)
Solios
Zhan I (1450-1494)
Zhan II (1494-1520)
Margue Zhanna II (1520-1563)
Clous IV (1563-1681)
Calan
Zhan III (1581-1598)
Daume I (1598-1627)
Daume II (1627-1641)
Daume III (1641-1688)
Darc
Eluile I (1688-1704)
Daume IV (1704-1725)
Jain II (1725-1736)
Cail I (1736-1740)
Guis I (1740)
Zhan IV (1740-1780)
Daume V (1780-1794)
Cail II (1794-1802)
Constituent Congress (1802-1808)
First Tourle Republic (1808-1810)
Deseride Regime (1810-1815)
Mosr. Zhan-Clous Deseride
Second Tourle Republic (1815-1836)
Darc Restoration
Margue Corlé I (1836-1851)
Auril-Fralle I (1851-1852)
Daume VI (1852-1859)
General Republic*
Mosr. Guis Nonquin - Republican (1859-1869)
Mosr. Mise Devinder - Republican (1869-1879)
Mosr. Auril Pandes - Common (1879-1889)
Mosr. Bennes Cero - Republican (1889-1899)
Mosr. Nele tiNell - Statist (1899-1909)
Mosr. Tham Segirre - Common (1909-1916)
Mosr. Cail Cosse - Common (1916-1919)
Mosr. Enre Stas - Restorationist (1919-1922)
Darc-Grevant
Zhan V (1922-1929)
Daume VII (1929-1931)
Federal Republic* ** (1931-1961)
Mosr. Ellere Vannit - Republican (1931-1937)
Mosr. Darrie Esganne - Republican (1937-1943)
Mosr. Daume esTourle - Common (1943-1949)
Mosr. Vars Qujenne - Crown (1949-1955)
Mosr. Fralle Passall - Crown (1955-1961)
Monarchal Republic***
Clous V Darc-Grevant (1961-1993)
Margue Corlé II Darc-Grevant (1993-)
Prime Ministers
Mosr. Fralle Passall (1961) [Transitional]
Mosr. Asza Corvennon - Crown (1961-1967)
Mosr. Derre Calan - Crown (1967-1973)
Mosr. Zhan Gerrie - Crown (1973-1985)
Mosr. Ellere tiVassot - Common (1985-1988) ****
Mosr. Pandre Eris - Crown (1988-1998)
Mosr. Quivos Devollier - Common (1998-)

*Presidents are listed

**Presidents of the Federal Republic of Mave served as both Head of State and Head of Government.

***Monarchs in the current system are elected by National Assembly - while there is no established royal family, the Darc-Grevant family controls the majority Crown Party, making the accession of someone outside that family unlikely. The Monarch in the current system has very limited power, and generally presides as Head of State and Chief Diplomat. Powers could be reasserted by the royal party declaring the 1961 Constitution void, using the historical authority the monarchs have had over contracts. However, this is considered unlikely - the people are appeased in thier desire for a democratic form, while the Darc-Grevant family, through firm control of the majority party, has de facto control of government.
Also listed are the First Ministers, who serve as Head of Government in the current system, along with years of service

****Died in office.

History

Pre-1263

Modern Mave has it's roots in the ancient Transmaivine. Circa 92 BC, the Tavis people, from the other side of the Maivine mountains, began actively colonizing that northern region, founding numerous towns and villages in the Mersi River Valley, and intermingling with the native Soch people. The Transmaivine, straddling two major rivers and other natural roads, became a substantial trade and commercial region. Small towns like Mersi (modern Merché) and Turol (modern Tourle) flourished, and became hubs of continental trade, and a waypoint for travelers on thier way further north. Settlers found several areas especially attractive, especially along the length of the river Mersi.
The settlers, over time, began fusing Tavis and Soch culture, with regional gradiants from north to south. From the principal regions of settlement arose statelets, which eventually coalesced into a number of actual polities. By AD 500, Ougernie had established itself as the dominant power of the south, while the Kingdom of Merché, comprising the the territory around the north of the river Mersi, found itself straddling an protoempire. The north was more or less politically united under Merché by 800, although within seventy years, internal stresses would cause the kingdom to effectively collapse, leaving the north in a more precarious position than the south, which had a peace kept by an overpowering Ougernie.

The Birth of a United Mave

By the late 12th century, with the Pecoran polities beginning to encroach on the traditional Transmaivine territory, it became obvious that the various markes, duchies, and principalities would not be able to withstand the onslaught individually. Already, the Principality of Messiva had begun taking territory along the Dallen Straits, and the Marke of Newshun made similar land seizures in the Caspardan Valley. Clearly, something needed to be done.
So, in 1263, a council was held in Disain, participants including the Mark of Merché, Clous Manum (Clous the Great); the Mark of Tourle, Zhan Soré; the Duke of Valle, Enre Lovus; and the Prince of the Lower Mersi, Daume-Chelre Grevant. This gathering also included the most learned men in the whole of the Transmaivine, and Diser's Chronicle states that meetings began on the twenty-first of April, 1263, and lasted through the fall. Firmly in the cultural memory of the northern Transmaivine was the shining glory of the Kingdom of Merché's three-hundred year empire. The long and short of it amounted to the creation of a Kingdom of Mave, which encompassed approximately the northern half of the modern state (and more than the old Kingdom of Merché had ever controlled), and, in the council's last week, all participating members elected a King who would henceforth hold the throne hereditarily. The man chosen for accession, by unanimous vote, was the Mark of Merché, Clous Manum.


The War of the Mark of Varsesse

Clous I was a weak ruler, chosen for his military prowess, from whence he earned his surname. His administrative skills did not match his military abilities, and he found himself almost entirely beholden to Daume-Chelre Grevant, newly Mark of Varsesse, to the point that Grevant was said to have more power in the king's residence than Clous himself. Under Grevant's influence, Clous began to work to lessen the power of the various markes of the kingdom, and as a result, found himself facing frequent peasant rebellions in his reign's early years. Clous also began repairing the major roads between Merché and most major cities, although he never finished, and Grevant, through the king, established a rudimentary postal system unlike anything seen before.
The Marks who had participated in the Disain Council resented the influence Grevant held over Clous, and in 1277, began a rebellion in the southern markes of the new Kingdom. Mark Zhan Soré stood at the head of an army of some three-thousand holders, and marched on Merché. Their demands included the immediate dismissal of Grevant from the royal service and the revokation of the hereditary monarch status granted the Manum family. Clous, however, heeded Grevant's advice and would not concede anything; rather, both he and Grevant raised armies, which were then placed under the command of the Mark of Varsesse. Grevant's army, five-thousand strong, met Soré's at the Soshe Field, where Grevant tried to convince the Mark of Tourle to turn back, with an offer of a pardon. Soré refused, the two armies engaged, and Tourle's army was severely beaten.
That setback proved ineffective, though, as the marks of Mejenne, Disain, and Sulie rallied to Tourle's aid. Within weeks, the four marks together had raised four armies, totalling sixteen-thousand holders. Grouped into two forces, one being under the command of Sir Vars ti Steroum, and the other under Jain Cosse, the Mark of Mejenne, the rebellious marks launched a full-scale campaign with the purpose of removing Grevant, and taking King Clous with him if necessary. Steroum's army made the long march from Pogese to Varsesse, arriving in February 1278, where his force of ten-thousand met the newly-supplied and newly-reinforced army of Mark Daume-Chelre Grevant. Again, Grevant led his army to victory, however, it was nowhere near as decisive as his battle against Tourle. Instead of a complete route, Steroum's army retreated before any significant number of casualties could be inflicted, and set up camp a day's journey away, at Varsesse-and-Lake. Grevant's army took a considerable amount of damage in that battle, and was unable to pursue Sir Vars ti Steroum and company, giving the rebel a chance to regroup.
Meanwhile, the Mark of Mejenne, Jain Cosse, had led his army up the Mersi, and scored a major upset by taking an inexplicably undefended Caspardan, one of the Mersi River Valley's major trade centers, in mid-1278. Caspardan, approximately thirty-eight kilometers from Merché, suddenly became a threat to Clous, who, by late 1278, raised an army and personally took command of it, and proceeded to attempt an invasion. However, by this time Mejenne had had time to fortify Caspardan, and Clous' attempted liberation faltered, leaving his army sieging the town during the dead of winter.
The conflict virtually froze during those winter months, when neither Clous nor Mejenne, neither Grevant nor Steroum, could move their armies. From late November until late January, during a particularly terrible winter, the four armies sat, and suffered mass desertions; Grevant's army alone lost as many as three-thousand soldiers, reducing his field army to around four-thousand. Steroum fared even worse; his camp at Varsesse-and-Lake suffered from an unknown disease that reduced his force of nine-thousand by two-thirds. Steroum, an astute military leader, knew that he could not fight under such conditions, sent a message to Grevant, announcing that he was changing sides.
King Clous fared well. His siege of Caspardan, effectively ending the trade that kept the commercial center alive in winter, proved effective, and the city fell near winter's end, January 27, 1279. As his soldiers moved in to occupy the town, a crowd brought to the King a thin, grey, and shackled Mejenne. Clous ordered him immediately executed. This sparked a riot by rebel sympathizers in the city square, which Clous' forces crushed with severity. Caspardan proved a casuality of the war, and never fully recovered to it's former position of prominence; its population fell far enough to put a substantial dent in its economy for centuries to come.
The rebellion, having lost both it's generals, collapsed by the spring of 1280. Steroum's army routed a small force yielded by Mark Lahse Ventille of Disain in May of 1279, and the next ten months were spent capturing the rebel marks. Disain, Sulie, and Tourle were executed in a formal public ceremony on the April 11, 1280. The conflict between marke and monarchy that had plagued the reign of the first Mavish king ended in a resounding monarchal victory - thenceforth, Mave would be a very centralized state, and, from 1280 until his death, King Clous I took steps to ensure that that would indeed be the case.
The last two years of Clous' reign were spent re-integrating the rebel markes into the kingdom. The Mark of Tourle was summarily executed, and his son Fralle took command, after swearing loyalty and fealty to Merché. Unexpectedly, Clous established Sir Vars ti Steroum as Mark of Mejenne, resulting in a brief conflict between the Steroums and the Cosses. He also definitively named as his heir his nephew, Dolae Manum.
King Clous I Manum, first King of Mave, died in June 1282, and Dolae was consecrated King by Archbishop Scenne in the Cathedral of Noor Demme ti Sancce Petecizin (Our Lady of Holy Petition) in Merché.