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The Unified Electorates of Ainslie.
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Arno-Renderen Commonwealth
Image above: Map of the largest extent of their territory
Duration: 1438-1712
Location: Modern-day Wesland, Mannen and Burnessa as well as Arlanah
Leaders: Various Chief Cosuras; such as Ander Mannen and Tienere Burnessa
Foremost City: Herriden
Culture: agrarian/communitarian/pragmatic
Government types: Aristocracy, Limited republic
The Arno-Renderen Commonwealth is a historical entity formed out of the merger of the governments of three prominent settlements in modern-day Wesland and Mannen. Formed out of the cooperation of the Arnish and Rathai peoples, it was a prominent civilisation which represented a peak in the influence and power of these two cultures. The lands were well known for their fertile land, stable and innovative government and their successful diplomatic and trading endeavours. By leveraging the wide network of the Norlanders alongside their own seaside towns, the nation became an exporting powerhouse which fed not only their own people but also notably the Dallarnans and further afield. The nation, boasting a vibrant and productive society, predominately governed itself in a relatively democratic manner in comparison to nearby nations. The Arnish High Council, which was made up of the Cosuras (similar to Mayors), sat in the city of Harless and governed from there for the duration of the nation.
They did not participate in the Southern Sea Slave Trade or any other practices which would be seen as significantly objectionable. Rather, they played the good hand they were dealt and maintained healthy diplomatic relations with their neighbours. Whilst they were a notably stable and productive nation with little appetite for war or conflict, that very quality was a key factor in their downfall. As the nation moved further down the path of democracy, a group of cities in the north of the nation voted to leave and follow their own monarch - a vote the key leaders amongst the Arnish accepted so long as this new breakaway nation remained economically and culturally close to them. As Ander Mannen and Tierene Burnessa, two of Commonwealth's last leaders, implemented further social reforms, unrest occurred across the rest of Arnerai. This led to many cities voting to leave the nation and instead self-govern. In the end, this led to the ‘soft collapse’ of the Commonwealth - a nation built on words, deals, integrity and honesty. The learnings of Commonwealth's fall and the lingering sense of connectedness it left behind would be a crucial factor in Wesland’s success. The lack of open discord amongst the Arnish cities left an economic and cultural interdependence which would prove vital to the reformation of a new Arnish state - the Northern Belt, which would in turn become an instrumental factor in creating the Unified Electorates of Ainslie.
History
1438AD - Rathai Chiefs, whom the Arnish cities all were friendly with prior, agree to join them in creating a new nation - one that would be called the Arno-Renderen Commonwealth.
1440AD - Herriden is proclaimed as the seat of government of the High Council, a proto-democratic body and the first ever government in Ainslie within the democratic tradition.
1455AD - A direct route between Herriden and the eastern coast is discovered. A settlement on the coast would be created, known as Blacken - a name closely linked to the word for ‘fog’ in the Rathai’s native tongue.
1467AD - Economic activity grows in the eastern port cities of Renderra, Matari and Blacken, as goods flow from the agricultural heartland of the nation out more readily into the wider Southern Sea Trade Network.
1472AD - The Commonwealth and Norland declare their friendship and come to an agreement to maintain dialogue alongside avoiding acts that may aggravate one another.
1512AD - The city of Harless is completed, creating an important third centre in the Commonwealth's northwest.
1532AD - The British begin to trade with the Arnish as participants of the broader trading network. They take a keen interest in the Arnish people - seeing them as a civilisation that could be easily manipulated without the need for military resources. They begin to teach the Arnish their language - English - which is adopted widely among the people.
1533AD-1539AD - Disease riddles the Commonwealth, causing many deaths, but it was not significant enough to collapse the nation or cause crippling casualties.
1547AD - The Commonwealth, particularly in Blacken and Matari, start to practice Protestantism.
1654AD - Protestantism becomes the majority belief system in the Commonwealth.
1688AD - Arnish High Council mull the prospect of holding popular votes in the major cities in order to determine who could sit on the council. Women and children were to be excluded as were foreigners. The northern settlements amongst the Arnish like Aners and Tarand were particularly unhappy with the prospect, preferring the establishment of a monarchy to strengthen the nation.
1689AD - As plans to democratise ramp up, the northwestern cities of the Commonwealth vote and agree to leave the nation and form their monarchy. The remaining settlements reluctantly agree to peacefully let them leave the nation on the condition that the Commonwealth and the breakaway state would remain closely linked.
1691AD - Arnish embrace the idea first proposed three years ago and elect Ander Mannen as their first leader, who subsequently introduces divisive social reforms.
1697AD - Judges trained by Herriden and sent by the Cosuras begin to determine legal disputes and crimes that previously were a city level responsibility. Mannen’s hope is that this will harmonise law across the nation and strengthen it. However, the move angers some cities who think it’s an overreach from the capital’s government.
1699AD - The Commonwealth's government signs the 'Bill of Wrongs' which outlines key rights and duties for citizens to one another and restrained government intervention into core areas of people's lives.
1709AD - Tierene Burnessa is elected as the third leader of the nation. By this point, much of the Commonwealth is dissatisfied with Herriden’s enthusiasm for social and political reform, as well as the idea of democracy for their people itself. The cities begin to leave one by one, at a reasonably fast rate.
1712AD - The formal end of the Commonwealth as a nationstate occurs after Dalu leaves the nation, leaving only Herriden and Blacken. Despite this, the peaceful fall of the nation gives way to a unique environment where although all of the cities that belong to the Commonwealth govern themselves, they maintain close cultural and economic ties. In addition to this, they share the same faith and many laws, particularly concerning trade, commerce, foreign relations and serious crimes are strikingly uniform. As such, the cooperative qualities places within a nation often have are largely maintained despite the disintegration of any sense of a largely centralised state.
Geography
The land which makes up the Commonwealth at the peak of its influence covers much of Burnessa, all of Mannen and all of Wesland extending into northern Arlanah. Much of the land is plateau, with varied rainfall and defined seasons. The further east one goes the wetter climate it is whilst it gets significantly drier as you move towards the southwestern regions of the nation. The Wesland Ranges are a major landform that breaks up the temperate forested coast around Blacken and into Mannen from the broader tableland which extends far to almost reach the eastern and southern extremes of the land. Rivers run well along the eastern parts of the nation whilst early-era irrigation schemes were needed to effectively perform agriculture in some parts of the nation. The exception of this is the area surrounding Aners, where the cooler more temperate climate makes it suitable for farming endeavours. The area is prone to fire and flood, particularly in the southern parts of the nation. Biodiversity is very high in the east and the northwest of the Commonwealth and crops such as wheat, apples, barley and berries are well suited to these climates. As one heads west, grain and cotton farming is more prolific alongside cattle farming and wool production. Whilst many of the rivers were navigable to an extent, the Barradar’s thinning and widening as it flows south makes potentially the most crucial river for the civilisation unable to be traversed for a significant part of its length. Kangaroos are commonplace as are wild horses and koalas. Snakes and spiders are also a common part of the nation. The majority of forests across the nation are eucalyptus extending from montane varieties to the drier ones. The area is not particularly windy except in higher areas and when thunderstorms roll over the tablelands. Snow and frost is a common sight across the northeast in the winter time.
Culture
The culture of the Arnish people is the predominant set of practices, rituals, beliefs and norms within the society the nation of the Arno-Renderen Commonwealth formed. A strong sense of community, an emphasis on active participation in the wealth and health of the people around you and a foregrounding of the simple things in life are all key parts that make the Arnish who they are. Severe natural disasters over many years - most notably bushfires and floods, have made the Arnish a resilient and interconnected community with a sense of civic responsibility and mindfulness.
Community is a key part of Arnish culture. A system of responsibilities and duties govern many of the relationships that are created and maintained within the society. One’s first loyalty is to their family, secondly to their immediate community and then to their city. To a lesser extent, their loyalty was also to the nation but much of the legitimacy of that came from a sense of needing to follow the directions of their local leaders. Civic participation and being an active member of the community to influence and better your neighbourhood is the most treasured goal of one’s life. A legacy in this sort of vein is what people strive to. To enable this, the Commonwealth was a vibrant and diverse society of clubs and associations - whether that be sporting groups, military organisations or even marketer’s associations - which many Arnish people belonged to at least one if not all three of these or more. Within this context, the simple moments spent with family are crucial and whilst the sort of collectivism seen in other societies is absent, a sense of duty and responsibility are central. A strong family is one who can contribute to and continue to invest into a healthy community. Learning the land and what it can grow or tolerate is a key part of one’s adolescence, as is learning how to conduct commerce and sell goods in the town centre. Harvest time is the peak of society as people bring their produce into the city and trade it with the locals and to the marketer’s association - who are farmer-controlled cooperatives which send bulk quantities into the wider Arnish supply chain. Much of this then flows through to the Southern Sea Trade Network.
The Commonwealth is also credited with important work in promoting the development of law in Ainslie. This was done in 1699AD when the government signed the 'Bill of Wrongs'. This codified and harmonised the burgenoning yet inconsistent development of private rights across the Commonwealth such as basic contract law. It also became a key foundational document for the law of tort and principles surrounding how a government should relate to its people. Whilst it was taken out of force through the signing and enactment of the Ahnslen Constitution in 1867, the 'Bill of Wrongs' are a major part of the 'basic traditions of the common law'. These common law traditions are often referred to to solve ambiguities in the law or define the role of the judiciary in the system of government. Further, the Bill of Wrongs helps to provide a bedrock source for which judge-made common law human rights have emerged out of since the Ahnslen nation was created. More crucially, the Bill of Wrongs continues to have a legacy in helping restrain executive power from being used against citizens in unjustified or inappropriate ways.
Whilst gender roles would be seen today as being relatively patriarchal, men and women lived together in a relatively peaceful and equal manner when accounting for the historical context. The goal of a man was simple - to put a roof over their family’s heads, feed them, have a stable and steady business and to be an active and productive member of society. For a select few, the high calling of city leadership or national leadership offers the opportunity to cement a legacy of bettering society - a key motive of Arnish culture and one which is heavily rewarded and respected. Men usually hunted, scavenged, farmed or participated in trade, commerce and business in the town centres across the nation as their primary occupation. Women were considered as caregivers but there roles in society were far wider than that. Mothers were learners, teachers and academics - they observed the passing and coming of the seasons and held a wealth of information that they passed down through the generations and conversed with other ladies within the city to strengthen their understanding of different phenomena. They were also doctors, using native medicines and remedies to aid symptoms and offer relief to the pain hard labour like hunting and farming can cause. The women were also architects, designing many of the structures within their cities as they met up and theorised about what their cities could look like at weekly meetings.
The Arnish are not particularly ritualistic, although they held strong spiritual beliefs about forces which control the rain, the sun and the seasons. The core practice of the nation, that being agriculture, has a special spiritual significance as it is considered the closest one can get to harmony with the spirits - sowing and reaping rewards in perfect stewardship of the land. Sacred sites are a core part of their beliefs with what the culture believed to be miracles, significant movements of the spirit or major absences of the spirits being places that are conserved and used as places for meeting, for remembering and for holding reverence for the forces which dictate how the environment operates. This is also the early rationale for conservation in the lands over Ainslie. Some places, particularly along the narrow brooks that feed into the Barradar River, are used as places of meeting, dialogue and discussions between the different communities that make up the Commonwealth. In particular, the Hautopes which are east of Herriden are considered particularly sacred for this reason. However, whilst the Arnish held a deep sense of spirituality they did not believe that the spirits could be influenced by man or indeed even communicated with by them. This changed when Christianity, particularly Protestantism, was introduced to the Arnish which served to be a compatible fit with the culture and the religious beliefs of the people. Through slotting Protestantism within their beliefs, there was an explanation for the moving of the natural spirits (which would now be considered as the movements of satanic forces and of the angels, spirits and deity of the Christian faith) and churches became much more widespread.
Beyond the spiritual realm, the connection of the Arnish people to the land was also a very practical one. The women in particular had an extensive knowledge of the seasons and of the various wild plants and animals that could be found and attained for sustenance. In addition to this, ingredients for special meals served at national meetings were also knowledge held by them. In addition to this, putting agriculture to one side, the Arnish had significant capabilities to create remedies and cures for various ailments - including to treat inflammation, fever and depression. They also are known to have dabbled in a number of different antidepressant and stimulant plants.
Politics & Government
The Arno-Renderen Commonwealth was ruled by the Arnish High Council, a group of eleven representatives from across the nation. The High Council governed with an even hand, taking more of an interest in culture, science, diplomacy and economics than decadence, power, might or dominance. There are three major steps one would need to take in order to have become the leader of the nation. Firstly, they would need to be popularly elected by their town or city to represent them. This normal requires a high amount of social capital and backing from local community organisations. They would then need to be endorsed by representatives of neighbouring areas in order to sit on the High Council. These votes usually occurred behind closed doors in one of the major settlements like Matari, Renderra, Tarand, Blacken or Herriden. At this point, once they are a Cosura sitting on the High Council, they would need to attain a majority vote of support from the other Cosuras in order to attain the leadership. This model largely replicates how the Arnish had already governed themselves at the city level whilst adopting the process the Rathai had for electing leaders in the upper echelons of power.
An election for Cosuras occurred roughly every four years. Chief Cosuras would be in power for eight years or could leave earlier if they wished to do so. They could also be peacefully deposed if they lost the majority support of the Cosuras.
At least initially, most crimes were punished and dealt with at the city level. The most severe crimes and those which were considered an offence against the nation itself such as sedition, treason or insurrection would normally be heard personally by one or more of the Cosuras. In addition to this, where crimes were committed against multiple communities or between them the High Council would resolve such a dispute. This also applied where the dispute involved another nation. The Chief Cosura did have a clemency power although it was not used in any significant way. As a part of reforms under the leadership of Burnessa and Mannen, the capital’s influence over the administration of laws would become more pronounced. Whilst this forward thinking idea is well received and congratulated by historians and theorists today, it would be one controversial policy in a set of many that would increasingly disenfranchise communities who did not welcome the increased presence of Herriden or their novel ideas in their local affairs.
Trade and Economics
The economy was unadvanced by modern standards, with a strong emphasis on agriculture, textiles, clothing and to a lesser extent mining. Many Arnish were farmers, hunters or scavengers. Alternatively, many women engaged in textiles and the making of clothes or performed services such as teaching, researching or cooking. A small group of people were also merchants and traders, using the rivers to rapidly transport goods across the nation and further afield. Many communities used the ideal soil that is typical of where the Arnish's territory was to grow native crops and tend to sheep,cattle or more conventional foodstuffs such as wheat, grain and sorghum alongside canola. In addition to this, they used local ingredients to create natural remedies for export. The Arno-Renderen Commonwealth had a friendly relationship with both Dallarn and Norland who often represented the next step in the supply chain for items grown or made in the nation. They also exported their wares through key Arnish points such as Matari, Blacken and Renderra.
The Arno-Renderen Commonwealth imported many spices and greatly benefited from attaining precious ores and gems alongside the better quality lumber that could be sourced from Norland. In exchange, the nation typically exported wine, medicines, textiles, clothing and foodstuffs. As the Arnish became increasingly developed, much more volume entered into the system, in particular wine and staple foods. In Matari, a small domestic operation of rice was developed as an experiment to lessen the nation’s growing reliance on the importation of rice - particularly across the south and east of its territory.
International Relations
Norland - Friendly
Dallarn - Close
Qa’dhir - Neutral
Chah-Chajd Empire - Neutral
Divine Corinthusi Empire - Neutral
Empire of Dociara - Friendly
After the Commonwealth
After the Commonwealth fell, the remnants of a nation still remained. Many cities across eastern Ainslie had friendly trade relations with one another, the supply routes that occurred under the Arnish largely remained and the laws were reasonably uniform. With the exception of North Arnerai which had left years before the fall of Commonwealth, the cities although self-governed largely acted in a cooperative manner. Their culture remained strong and migration between the cities was relatively normal. Christianity became a stronger influence over the years ahead and many of the lawmakers in Herriden and other prominent northern communities began to examine and theorise about how their last years in charge could have been one differently. Over the 19th Century, these wealthy cities would begin to woo the southern and eastern cities into their sphere of influence again. A new state would be formed with a similar culture, economy and form to the latter days of the Arnish nation, although far more developed and advanced than what it was at the time. This nation would become known as the Northern Belt and would grow in power and influence over the early 19th Century to the extent that with the Norland Government they would lead constitutional conventions to successfully create a new unified nation - the Unified Electorates of Ainslie. The 'Bill of Wrongs' created by the people of the Commonwealth would live on in Ahnslen common law despite being supplanted by the Constitution and statutes - providing key rights to Ahnslen citiens and protection from undue or unjustified government interference.
