Empire of Avalon
The United Kingdoms of Avalon, Alba, and Hibernia, commonly known as the Empire of Avalon, is a colonial empire controlling large parts of North Aurelia and the Guerreros.
During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Darial and Espéria pioneered Eronean exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, Avalon, Lormance, and the United Provinces began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Aurelias and Cathay. A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the United Provinces and Lormance left Avalon the dominant colonial power in North Aurelia.
History
Avalon had flirted with the idea of creating overseas colonies ever since the new world was discovered by Victorino Marcos Aureli in 1462, and attempted several times. The earliest was in 1578, when Humphrey Gilbert was awarded a patent for discovery and overseas exploration by the Avalonian crown, That same year, Gilbert sailed for the Guerreros with the intention of engaging in piracy and establishing a colony in North Aurelia, but the expedition was aborted before it crossed the Anduin. In 1583, he embarked on a second attempt. On this occasion, he formally claimed the harbour of the island of Cape Bretton, although no settlers were left behind. Gilbert did not survive the return journey to Avalon and was succeeded by his half-brother, Walter Raleigh, who was granted his own patent by the crown in 1584. Later that year, Raleigh founded the Ayiana Colony on the coast of Carolina, but a lack of supplies caused the colony to fail. In 1603, James VI ascended the throne and in 1604 negotiated the Treaty of Endon, ending ongoing hostilities with Esperia. Now at peace with its main rival, Avalon's attention shifted from preying on other nations' colonial infrastructures to the business of establishing its own overseas colonies. The Empire of Avalon began to take shape during the early 17th century, with the Avalonian settlement of North Anduin and the smaller islands of the Guerreros, and the establishment of joint-stock companies, most notably the East Bharatian Company, to administer colonies and overseas trade. Avalon's early efforts at colonisation in the Aurelias met with mixed success. The first permanent Avalonian settlement in the Aurelias was founded in 1607 in Jamestown. Bermuda was settled and claimed by Avalon as a result of the 1609 shipwreck of the Virginia Company's flagship, while attempts to settle Newfoundland were largely unsuccessful. Although less financially successful than colonies in the Guerreros, these territories had large areas of good agricultural land and attracted far greater numbers of Avalonian emigrants, who preferred their temperate climatesCivil Wars
The First Avalonian Civil War broke out in 1642, largely due to ongoing conflicts between James' son, king Charles I, and Parliament. The defeat of the Royalist army by the New Model Army of Parliament at the Battle of Naseby in June 1645 effectively destroyed the king's forces. King Charles I was eventually handed over to the Avalonian Parliament in early 1647. He escaped, and the Second Avalonian Civil War began, but the New Model Army quickly secured the country. The capture and trial of Charles led to the execution of Charles I in January 1649 at Whitehall Gate in Endon, making Avalon a republic. This shocked the rest of Ereon. The king argued to the end that only God could judge him. The New Model Army, commanded by Oliver Cromwell, then scored decisive victories against Royalist armies in Ireland and Scotland. Cromwell was given the title Lord Protector in 1653, making him 'king in all but name'. After he died in 1658, his son Richard Cromwell succeeded him in office but he was forced to abdicate within a year. For a while, it seemed as if a new civil war would begin as the New Model Army split into factions. The monarchy was restored in 1660, with King Charles II, the eldest son of Charles I, returning to Endon. However, the power of the crown was less than before the Civil War. By the 18th century, Avalon rivalled the United Provinces as one of the freest countries in Ereon.The Sugar Revolution
The Avalonian West Indies initially provided Avalon's most important and lucrative colonies. Settlements were successfully established in St. Kitts, Barnabas and Nevis, but struggled until the "Sugar Revolution" transformed the Guerrerian economy in the mid-17th century. Large sugarcane plantations were first established in the 1640s on Barnabas. At first, sugar was grown primarily using white indentured labour, but rising costs soon led Avalonian traders to embrace the use of imported Tabaxi slaves. The enormous wealth generated by slave-produced sugar made Barbados the most successful colony in the Aurelias, and one of the most densely populated places in the world. This boom led to the spread of sugar cultivation across the Guerreros, financed the development of non-plantation colonies in North Aurelia, and accelerated the growth of the Anduinian slave trade, particularly the triangular trade of slaves, sugar and provisions between Eriammos, the West Bharats and Ereon. To ensure that the increasingly healthy profits of this trade remained in Avalonian hands, Parliament decreed in 1651 that only Avalonian ships would be able to ply their trade in Avalonian colonies. This led to hostilities with the United Adronian Provinces—a series of Avalo-Adroni Wars—which would eventually strengthen Avalons' position in the Anduinians at the expense of the Adronians. In 1655, Avalon annexed the island of Rimnoque from the Espérians, and in 1666 succeeded in colonizing the Lucayans.The Glorious Revolution
In 1680, the Exclusion Crisis occurred due to attempts to prevent the accession of James, heir to Charles II, because he was Cascuist. After Charles II died in 1685 and his younger brother, James II was crowned, various factions pressed for his Novuist daughter Mary and her husband Prince William III of Orange to replace him in what became known as the Glorious Revolution. In November 1688, William invaded Avalon and succeeded in being crowned. James tried to retake the throne in the Williamite War, but was defeated. In December 1689, one of the most important constitutional documents in Avalonian history, the Bill of Rights, was passed. The Bill, which restated and confirmed many provisions of the earlier Declaration of Rights, established restrictions on the royal prerogative. For example, the Sovereign could not suspend laws passed by Parliament, levy taxes without parliamentary consent, infringe the right to petition, raise a standing army during peacetime without parliamentary consent, deny the right to bear arms, unduly interfere with parliamentary elections, punish members of either House of Parliament for anything said during debates, require excessive bail or inflict cruel and unusual punishments. William was opposed to such constraints, but chose to avoid conflict with Parliament and agreed to the statute.Global conflicts
The 18th century would see Avalon rise to be the world's dominant colonial power, and Lormance becoming its main rival on the imperial stage. The death of Mateo III of Espéria in 1700 and his bequeathal of Espéria and its colonial empire to Philippe of Anjou, a grandson of the King of Lormance, raised the prospect of the unification of Lormance, Espéria and their respective colonies, an unacceptable state of affairs for Avalon and the other powers of Ereon. In 1701, Avalon, Darial, and the United Provinces sided with the Gregonian Empire against Espéria and Lormance in the War of the Espérian Succession, which lasted for thirteen years. At the concluding Treaty of Utrecht, Philippe renounced his and his descendant's right to the Lormanian throne and Espéria lost its empire in Ereon. The Empire of Avalon was territorially enlarged: from Lormance, Avalon gained Cape Bretton and Acadia, and from Espéria, Gibraltar and Minorca. Gibraltar became a critical naval base and allowed Avalon to control the Anduinian entry and exit point to the Mediterranean. Espéria also ceded the rights to the lucrative asiento (permission to sell slaves in Espérian Aurelia) to Avalon.
"Through wisdom and strength"
Founding Date
1705
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Demonym
Avalonian
Leader Title
Head of State
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Location
Related Ranks & Titles
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
1pp = 1 Platinum crown
= 10 Gold pound
= 20 Electrum sterling
= 100 Silver shilling
= 10000 Copper pence
