Hyrettian period of Empherias

The Hyrettian period was the era of Empherias history between 1931 and 2044.

History

Rule of Louis III

The period began with the coronation of Rijkse Louis III on 1 February 1931. He set forth an agenda to the Council of the Five the following day which set out long term kingdom stability. Later that year, he drafted and instituted the Bill of Unity with seventeen county nobles where they swore loyalty to both the Rijkse, his heirs and the nation as a whole. Two nobles outside of the council: Lord Eduardine Bykat and Lord Diodiér Hines were to create a written codified constitution to detail the laws of the nation. Once the document was complete, the king was unhappy with their work and so both were executed on Damnation Day, 4 March 1932. He then worked in close partnership with a member of his council, foreign policy expert Lord Gauvin of Wilsby, to formulate a new more conservative and reactionary constitution which was implemented into common law on 1 May 1934. Following the deaths of Lord Bykat and Lord Hines, their successors in the region were unhappy with the tyrannical rule of the new king and were pressed to remove him from power. Lord Ellison Bykat, Lord Mikael Hines and Lord Pritchett-Simone of Kampret formed the Anti-Tyrannical League and raised individuals armies of 2000, 1000 and 450 militia respectively. On 12 November 1932, they marched into the capital, Esthullen, where they confronted 200 expertly trained Royal Guards in the northern district instigating the Battle of Gateshullen-Aude. The result was a victory for the government as they only had 77 casualties, with just 12 dying compared to the rebels who suffered some 1527 casualties and a large 805 deaths. Lord Bykat was captured during the battle and executed the following year on 1 February 1933. Lord Hines and Lord Kampret managed to flee to neighbouring Kingdom of Norsair. The three lord's lands were seized by the government who held it as crown land until 1940 when it was redistributed to neighbouring dukes and lords.

The constitution was initially planned to allow for larger freedoms which some thought would raise the happiness of many in the kingdoms and therefore be less likely to rebel. However, the second constitution written by the king himself aimed to be more conservative and repressive in nature. They also wanted a more aggressive foreign policy and expansion of Empherias culture. First, a key point of the constitution would clear up succession laws to allow for both genders to have equal rights to succession to be followed in birth order and it also allowed for the Rijkse to override the succession if a superior heir is founded. Another law would see the creation of city authorities which would give more powers to local governments for large cities (although the governments would be formed by pro-monarchist and conservative leaders). New taxes were levied while others removed to ensure less tax paid by upper class nobles. This caused some unrest, but there was no major protests.

Palak-Empherias War of 1940

In March 1939, Rijkse Louis III paid a visit to a large area bordering Palakkinen and appeared insulting to the majority Palak audience. He left the area but many protests erupted over the attitude of the regional government and the treatment of Palaks. The royal guards were sent in to quell the protests, but ultimately found links that the Palakkinen government were supplying the rebels with aid. Rijkse Louis III was furious and ordered an immediate invasion into Palakkinen, commencing the Palak-Empherias War of 1940 which lasted until 1943. This war would ultimately seen the king's downfall as he died during the Battle of Grapeshot North on 8 June 1943. His son, Pippin, would be coronated as Rijkse Pippin I at age 22 in a quick turnaround of 31 August 1943. Under the advice of Lord Waldegrave, Pippin signed a white peace with Palakkinen and attended the Waldegrave Accords (1943) to discuss Palakkinen's abstention from Empherias politics and to settle many border disputes. These accords fell through but set the precedent of future diplomatic conventions.

Rule of Pippin I

Pippin was eager not to remain in Esthullen and sit on constant bureaucracy. He feared that the Accords that fell through would ultimately lead to a second war with Palakkinen and so instructed Lord Hasse of Rommes to create a professional country army and appointed him Minister of War in 1945. As the senior most Minister, many consider him to be the first Prime Minister of Empherias. He created a cabinet of war planners and began formulating War Plan PK. Pippin also wanted to reform the system of currency in Empherias and introduced the niket-kalata-foragli system of currency. He also formed the foundations that would eventually become the Bank of Empherias. Pippin was keen to create a larger government than before and so created the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs to represent the nation abroad and appoint diplomats and ambassadors. In 1949, the Rijkse appointed Lord James Mayweather to this post to help improving relations with neighbouring countries. Mayweather secured an alliance with Norsair in 1953, set up the Vreimer Accords (1955) which settled disputes with Ahitereira, and secured that Koresa would not block off river access to the oceans in the Wilsby Accords (1956).

Despite the successes made by Pippin, Mayweather and Rommes, there were numerous conflicts during Pippin's resign. Small border conflicts between the Norsair Army and Empherias Royal Guards take place in 1960 and 1962. This was followed by the War of the Taverns (1963-1965) between Empherias and Norsair. The war ended in no major changes besides war reparations being made to Empherias and a prestige boost following their great victory at the Battle of the Seven Swords. Pippin I died of a heart attack in 1968 at the age of 47 and his successor was his eldest son, Louis who was coronated on 1 March 1969 as Rijkse Louis IV (aged 29).

Rule of Louis IV and James I

Louis IV was more disinterested with politics than his father and so delegated more powers to Lord Mayweather in the High Powers Act 1969. This would effectively see Mayweather become the head of the Council of the Five and would institute some reforms such as higher pay for government officials, an increase in general taxation, and an increase to the number of the council from five to eight. Following a brief argument with Mayweather however in early 1970, Louis IV became sick of the "arrogant fool running the country" and so abdicated in favour of his brother, coronated Rijkse James I.

James was just 28 years old and had great ideas for change. He moved quickly to shut down any of Mayweather's extra powers and took back the previously enacted increases to power. He did however keep the increased membership of the council and personally increased it further to ten members, appointing his sister Elisabeth as the first woman and his best friend Igor Kastova as the last two lords. However, before he could change much about the nation, he died in October 1972 of cholera. Neither Louis or James had any children, leaving the throne to their sister, who was coronated as Rijkdottir Elisabeth I at age 25.

Rule of Elisabeth I

Elisabeth's rule oversaw the evolution of the council into the Council of the Elite. This would be made up of an unspecified amount of powerful lords and nobles and experts in certain fields. The first iteration of which, opened in 1973, would have 226 members from all over the country and included all former members of the old council - excluding Mayweather. Despite opening in 1973, the first full session only took place in 1976 with subsequent sessions in 1980, 1985 and 1991 which saw dwindling membership and attendance. Mayweather, upset over his exclusion from the new council, wanted to lead an opposition group but died of a sudden brain aneurism in January 1974. His son, known as Kildare Mayweather the Successor, was then appointed during the session in 1976 as a worthy successor to Mayweather's estate. Henry Cecil, an expert in finances, was awarded the title of Leader of the Elite Council and many argue this, alongside the aforementioned Lord Hasse of Rommes, are reasonable de-facto Prime Ministers during the age.

Elisabeth's reign also oversaw three major conflicts. The First Weskynn War began in 1979 following border disputes and led to no major military battles besides the Siege of Korfberg. The war was concluded in 1981 and saw the Prince of Weskynn, Albert Korensky, agree to marry Elisabeth's younger sister Emmelie. The second conflict, the Palak-Empherias War of 1985, lasted until 1992 and saw over ten thousand casualties for both sides. A major offensive was conducted by Elisabeth's Minister of War, Lord Massey of Proynest, near the Palak border which captured key border towns. During a second offensive inwards in 1986, the Empherian troops were halted in their advance at the Battle of Fellrock where a large amount of casualties were inflicted on both sides. Both sides mostly camped in to discuss peace negotiations after the bloody battle in 1987 and 1988. The lack of settlement led to the Third Offensive and the Second Battle of Fellrock in 1989, which saw further casualties but a success by the Palaks to repel an attack. A final major offensive took place for Empherias to try and retake lost lands and make a last ditched effort to rush to the Palak capital in late 1991. The offensive failed and saw the devastating Battle of Triple Fields where both armies' supply lines were cut due to harsh weather and attempts at encirclements and many died of starvation or guerrilla tactics.

Hearing news of the Empherias failures and with the death of Princess Emmelie of Empherias, the former Prince, now King of Weskynn Albert Korensky saw it fit to invade Empherias from the west - beginning the Second Weskynn War. The war saw just one military encounter with few royal guards at the Battle of Demswick which saw a stalemate with many troops not having much morale. Furthermore, the announcement of a peace deal and end to the war with Palakkinen in March 1992 allowed greater attention to be put on Weskynn. Prince Albert henceforth declared his interest in a peace deal - a white peace - in July 1992. Despite these conflicts, and a few military and domestic reforms, Elisabeth achieved little and died of smallpox in 1994 with no children.

Rule of Charlotte I and Prins Ristie

The successor to Elisabeth was unclear. All children of the line had died out, with the last of the siblings (Emmelie) not to become monarch dying prematurely before Elisabeth. Pippin I, their father, did have a brother Edward who was also dead but had two children. Eghloris, the eldest son, was the clearly next in the line of succession and had a great education and qualifications for the role. At the time of Elisabeth's death however, he was serving in the Council of the Elite and was even considering resigning due to the stress. Therefore, he turned down the role before retiring from the council in 1995 and dying in 1997. The other child was Marie, but she was also disinterested because of her age but suggested her daughter Charlotte for the role. As the most senior line, Charlotte was coronated Rijkdottir Charlotte I in November 1994, aged 29.

Charlotte also achieved little during her reign. She officially established the position of Prime Minister in 1999 to be elected within the Council of the Elite to lead and directly advise the monarch. It pleased the council as it allowed them to exercise more authority, and pleased the monarch as she could spend less time working and travelling. The previously mentioned Eghloris, the queen's uncle, was appointed as the first Prime Minister of Empherias on 1 January 2000 although many believe the council elected him purely because of this fact. He inherited the role for life.

Eghloris Lydekker-Hyrette's term as Prime Minister

Having won the vote of leadership with 217 votes for, with 30 votes against, Lydekker-Hyrette was confident in his ability and support as Prime Minister. However, he was 62 when he took the position, and so was also concerned in his health and life time appointment.

Henry Alamekas appointed as Deputy Prime Minister

Due to the ill health of the Prime Minister, primarily his memory forgetness and lack of ability to remove him from power, Henry Alamekas was appointed as a deputy to basically do the job for him. He was officially appointed by vote of the Council of the Elite in 2027. Alamekas had previously been appointed a knighthood in 2020 and was a good friend of both the Rijkdottir and Prime Minister as a member of his father's estate. He often preferred to go by his full family name rather than names of the land he owned.

Eghloris Lydekker-Hyrette died in 2044 and this is often contributed as the end of the Hyrettian period, and beginning of the Alamekean period.