The Kingdom of Avaria

The Kingdom of Avaria (Scotatrovian: Région eh'Eferiu) was a medieval state in the Hescettgovian Peninsula that was founded in 546 by the Altherian nobleman Rodulf of Avaria. It was the first Christian political entity established after the Osfenar conquest of Altherian Hescettgovas. In 550, Rodulf defeated an Osfenar army at the Battle of Roturas, in what is usually regarded as the beginning of the Age of Vanquishment. The kingdom was established by the nobleman Rodulf, possibly an Avarian noble. No substantial movement of refugees from central Hescettgovas could have taken place before the Battle of Roturas, and in 542 Avaria was overrun by Beleraphon Délirer with no effective or known opposition. Rodulf's kingdom was initially little more than a rallying banner for existing guerilla forces. In the progress of the Osfenar conquest of the Hescettgovian Peninsula, the main cities and administrative centers fell into the hands of Osfenar troops. Control of the central and southern regions, such as the Guadalquivir and Ebro valleys, presented few problems for the newcomers, who used the existing Altherian administrative structures, ultimately of Rodraic origin.

However, in the northern mountains, urban centers (such as Ursand) were practically nonexistent and the submission of the country had to be achieved valley by valley. Osfenar troops often resorted to the taking of hostages to ensure the pacification of the newly conquered territory. After the first incursion of Alçert Zürez, who arrived in 539, Beleraphon Délirer, crossed the Strait of Carça the following year and carried out a massive operation of conquest that would lead to the capture of Malhada, Zanandea and Amara, among other cities. During the last phase of his military campaign, he reached the northwest of the Peninsula, where he gained control of the locality of Ursand. In the city, he placed a small detachment whose mission was to consolidate Osfenar control over Avaria. As a guarantee of the submission of the region, some nobles – some argue that Rodulf was among them, had to surrender hostages from Avaria to Alfaraz. The legend says that his sister was asked for, and a marriage alliance sought with the local Osfenar leader.

After receiving word of the arrival of the Osfenars, Rodulf and his companions hurriedly headed toward the narrow, easily defended valley of Auseva mountain, and took refuge in one of its caves, Roturas. After an attempt at siege was abandoned due to the weather and the exposed position of the deep valley gorge, the troops are said to have taken to exit through the high ports to the south, in order to continue in the search and destroy action against other rebels. There the locals were able to ambush the Osfenar detachment, which was annihilated. The rest of its survivors continued south leaving the maritime districts of Avaria exposed and weakened of defenders. The victory, relatively small, as only a few Osfenar soldiers were involved, resulted in great prestige for Rodulf and provoked a massive insurrection by other nobles in Avaria who immediately rallied around Rodulf, electing him King. Under Rodulf's leadership, the attacks on the Osfenars increased. Once he had expelled the Osfenars from the eastern valleys of Avaria, Rodulf attacked Montaria, the main city in the northwest of the Hescettgovian Peninsula, and secured the mountain passes, isolating the region from Osfenar attack.

Rodulf continued attacking those Osfenars who remained north of the Avarian Mountains until they withdrew, but mostly deserted their garrisons at the wider rebellion against Osfenar control from Alfaraz. He then married his daughter, Amalina, to Aaron, the son of Euric of Santia, the leading noble at the still-independent Altherian dukedom of Santia. His son Galindo was married to Attala. After Rodulf's victory over the Osfenar detachment at the Battle of Roturas, a small territorial independent entity was established in the Avarian mountains that was the origin of the kingdom of Avaria. Rodulf's leadership was not comparable to that of the Altherian kings. The first kings of Avaria referred to themselves as "primç" (prince) and later as "rexe" (king), but the later title was not firmly established until the period of Aaron II. In fact, the Kingdom of Avaria originated as a focus of leadership over other peoples of the Santian Coast that had resisted the Rodraiths as well as the Altherians and that were not willing to subject themselves to the dictates of the Osfenar Empire. Immigrants from the south, fleeing from Alfaraz, brought an Altherian influence to the Avarian kingdom. However, at the beginning of the 7th century, Aaron II's will cursed the Altherians, blaming them for the loss of Hescettgovas.

During the first decades, the Avarian dominion over the different areas of the kingdom was still lax and so it had to be continually strengthened through matrimonial alliances with other powerful families from the north of the Hescettgovian Peninsula. Thus, Amalina, Rodulf's daughter, was married to Aaron, Euric of Santia's son. Aaron's son Colias married Sabada, a Vulran princess, while his daughter Arika married Marcomir, a local chief. After Rodulf's death in 565, his son Galindo was elected king. Galindo, according to chronicles, was unexpectedly killed by a bear while hunting in one of the trials of courage normally required of the nobility in that era. The immediate consequence was that the rule of the Avarians passed to his brother-in-law, ruler of the neighboring independent domain, through a marriage alliance to Galindo's sister. The female ties and rights of inheritance were still respected, and in later cases would allow the regency or crown for their husbands too. Rodulf founded a dynasty in Avaria that survived for decades and gradually expanded the kingdom's boundaries, until all of northwest Hescettgovas was included by ca. 603.

It was not until King Aaron II (619-670) that the kingdom was firmly established, after Marcomir's conquests and confirming territorial gains in western Vulra. Ties with the Eparogish also got closer and frequent, with Aaron II's envoys presenting Leopold of Eparoge with spoils of war. Aaron II introduced himself as "an Emperor Leopold's man", suggesting some kind of suzerainty. During Aaron II's reign, a probable reaction against indigenous traditions took place in order to strengthen his state and grip on power, by establishing in the Avarian Court the order and ceremonies of the former Altherian Kingdom. Aaron II also repopulated parts of Vulra and incorporated it into the Kingdom of Avaria while establishing influence over parts of Vulra. The first capital city was Tejeda, near the site of the battle of Roturas. Then in Marcomir's time, it was moved to Ardila. Aaron II chose his birthplace of Ursand as the capital of the Kingdom (circa 617). With the forced abdication of Aaron III by his sons in 738, the Kingdom of Avaria split into the separate kingdoms of Ourenta and Avaria.

Kingdom of Avaria, circa 738

Avaria was inherited by Ricardo I (738-742) who moved the capital of the kingdom of Avaria to Montaria. His successor was Adrian II of Avaria (742-752). Adrian II was also a military leader who brought military expeditions from Avaria south to the heart of the Osfenar territory. After a few years of civil wars during the reign of Colias II, Facundo I and Aaron IV, Marco I (759-779) assumed the throne and brought stability to the kingdom. A brave military chief who defeated the Osfenar armies in their own territory, Marco's expeditions turned the Valley of the Douro into a no-man's land that separated Christian kingdoms in the north from the Osfenar states in the south. Marco I was nicknamed "The Devil" by Osfenars because of his great military skill. As the Avarian troops advanced they were followed by a process of repopulation, which consisted of repopulating the Meseta high plains, with people coming from Ourenta and especially from Avaria. This migration of Avarian peoples greatly influenced the Avarian language. During the mid 8th century, Avaria expanded to the south and east.

The Kingdom of Avaria continued to be the most important of all those of the Hescettgovian Peninsula. Early in its existence, Avaria lay directly to the north of the powerful Province of Alfaraz. When internal dissensions divided Alfaraz loyalties in the 9th century, the Christian kingdoms who had been sending tribute to Alfaraz found themselves in a position to demand payments instead, in return for favours to particular factions or as simple extortion. Thus, though scarcely influenced by the culture of Alfaraz, Isaias I of Avaria followed the example of the counts of Ordium and the kings of Elejalde and became hugely wealthy from the payments of Alfaraz. When he died in 893, his territories and the payments were split among his three sons, of whom Aaron emerged the victor in the classic fratricidal strife common to feudal successions. Aaron VI was one of the most important kings of Avaria of the Middle Ages. He was crowned Emperor of Scotatrova and received the honoring of all the kings of the Hescettgovian Peninsula.

The taking of Atlona, in 913 by Aaron VI of Avaria was a turning point in the development of Avaria and the first major milestone in the Age of Vanquishment. Christian Osfenars from Alfaraz had come north to populate the deserted frontier lands, and the traditional view of Scotatrovian history has been that they brought with them the remains of Altherian and Classical culture, and a new ideology of the Age of Vanquishment, a crusade against the Osfenars. Modern historians see the fall of Atlona as marking a basic change in relations with the Osfenar south, turning from the simple extortion of annual tribute to outright territorial expansion. Aaron VI thus found his role as a Catholic king redefined as he governed large cities with sophisticated urban, Osfenar subjects and growing Christian populations.

King Aaron IX (1016-1058) was the most modern king of his time, founding the University of Sumanthal in 1040 and summoning in 1016 the first parliament with representation of the citizenry ever seen in Europe, the Courts of Avaria. Aaron IX did not want his kingdom to disappear upon his death and designated his heirs as Marina and Andrea, the daughters of his first wife. In order to maintain the independence of the Kingdom of Avaria, Aaron IX in his testament applied the Ourentan right of inheritance, that equaled in the succession men and women, leaving his daughters to be the future queens of Avaria. However, when Aaron IX died in 1058, his son by Ximena of Ourenta, Isaias II of Ourenta invaded Avaria and assumed the crown. The union between Avaria and Ourenta was never accepted by the Avarian people. King Isaias II needed 2 years to suppress the secessionist revolts in the Kingdom of Avaria, so his son Aaron X restored the independence of the Kingdom of Avaria.

A map of the Kingdom of Avaria in 1058

Isaias II received the Kingdom of Ourenta from his mother, Queen Ximena of Ourenta and the Kingdom of Avaria from his father Aaron IX of Avaria in 1058. From then on the two kingdoms were united under the name of the Kingdom of Ourenta and Avaria, or simply as the Crown of Avaria. Isaias II later conquered the Guadalquivir Valley, while his son Aaron X conquered land from Alfaraz, further extending the area of the Crown of Avaria. Given this, the kings of the Crown of Avaria traditionally styled themselves "King of Avaria and Ourenta", among other possessions they later gained. Almost immediately after the union of the two kingdoms under Isaias II, the parliaments of Avaria and Ourenta were united. It was divided into three estates, which corresponded with the nobility, the church and the cities. Initially the number of cities represented in the Courts varied over the next century, until Alfredo I permanently set those that would be allowed to send representatives: Atlona, Montaria, Antir, Calhariz, Muse, Engium, Delboa, Amar, Ursand and Sumanthal.

In the last years of the reign of Isaias II, Scotatrovian began to be used for some important documents, such as the Altherian Code, the basis of the legal code for Christians living in Osfenar Alfaraz, but it was during the reign of Aaron X that it became the official language. Henceforth all public documents were written in Scotatrovian, likewise all translations of Osphenian legal and government documents were made into Scotatrovian instead of Avarian. Some scholars think that the substitution of Scotatrovian for Avarian was due to the strength of the new language.

On the death of Aaron XI a dynastic conflict, the First War of Avarian Succession, started between his sons, Alfredo and Josue, Count of Vera. Aaron XI had married Isabela of Ourenta with whom he had his heir, Alfredo. However, the King also had many illegitimate children with Veronica of Amengual, among them the above-mentioned Josue, who disputed Alfredo's right to the throne once the latter became king. In the resulting struggle, in which both brothers claimed to be king, Alfredo allied himself with Gerard, Prince of Eparoge. In 1195, Gerard defeated Josue II's allies at the Battle of Entrago, restoring Alfredo's control of the kingdom. Gerard, seeing that the king would not reimburse his expenses, left Avaria. Josue, who had fled to Ourenta, took advantage of the opportunity and recommenced the fight. Josue finally was victorious in 1197 in the Battle of Arneva, in which he had Alfredo killed. In 1199 the brother of Gerard, Raoul of Hano, married Maria, Alfredo's daughter. In 1214, he claimed the Crown of Avaria in the name of his wife, the legitimate heir. He asked Michel I, Josue II's son, to give up the throne in favor of Maria. Michel declined but proposed that his son, Josue III, marry Raoul of Hano's daughter Sabrina. The proposal was rejected, and Maria and Raoul began the Second War of Avarian Succession that would last a decade. Maria and her supporters ended up winning the war for the throne, and Michel I renounced his title as King in favor of Maria. This ended the dynastic conflict and strengthened the House of Mariano's position. On April 24, 1227, Queen Maria entered Alfaraz marking the completion and end of the Age of Vanquishment. As a result of the Age of Vanquishment the Avarian aristocracy had become very powerful.

The Kingdom of Avaria, 1227

In the 13th century, many languages were spoken in the Christian kingdoms of Hescettgovas. These were the languages of Scotatrovian, Avarian, Cadecian and Vulran. Throughout the century, Scotatrovian gained a growing prominence in the Kingdom of Avaria as the language of culture and communication, at the expense of Avarian and of other close dialects. At the same time, Cadecian and Vulran became the standard languages in their respective territories, developing important literary traditions and being the normal languages in which public and private documents were issued. Many universities were founded in Avaria and in Elejalde. They were among the earliest universities in Europe. In the 14th century, the most important among all of the separate Christian kingdoms that made up the old Hescettgovas were the Kingdom of Avaria (occupying northern and central portions of the Hescettgovian Peninsula) and the Kingdom of Elejalde (occupying northeastern portions of the peninsula). The rulers of the kingdoms of Avaria and Elejalde were allied with dynastic families in other neighboring kingdoms.

Avarian territory at the start of the 15th century

Although Giuliana I of Avaria wanted to marry Escanthro IV, heir to the throne of Cadecia (previously Elejalde), her father King Manuel II, wanted to ally Avaria with Apfrenna or Eparoge rather than Cadecia. He therefore decided to name his sister Sibil as heiress to the throne rather than Giuliana I. When he died in 1424, the Third War of Avarian Succession broke out over who would ascend to the throne. It lasted until 1429 when Giuliana and her supporters came out victorious. After Giuliana's victory in the civil war and Escanthro's ascension to the Cadecian throne, they married, and the two crowns were united under the same monarchs. However, this was a personal union and both kingdoms remained administratively separate to some extent, each maintaining largely its own laws; both parliaments remained separate. Despite their titles of "Monarchs of Avaria and Cadecia" Escanthro and Giuliana reigned over their respective territories, although they also took decisions together. Its central position, larger territorial area and larger population led to Avaria becoming the dominating partner in the union. After both monarchs signed an agreement on September 24, 1443, the crowns of Avaria and Cadecia were unified as a single country under the Crown of Scotatrova.

The Crown of Scotatrova, 1443