Kingdom of Espatrasia
The Kingdom of Espatrasia, also known as the Old Heartland to many Eastern Fremedhians, was an early medieval state which existed in the Verderé Hills and Cloriadme. Composed of and ruled by a confederation of Fremedhian tribes, the kingdom was known for its warlike policies and conflicts with the Western Fremedhian Old Fraspika, which eventually resulted in its destruction. After the Kingdom's collapse, its lands became a battleground for various warlords, with most of this land being taken by Fraspikan tributaries.
History
The Kingdom of Espatrasia was formed from a consolidation of several powerful tribes who had come together to resist the hegemonic Fraspois tribe, which had seized a large swath of land between the Ravieau and Whiscuex rivers following the collapse of East Oleandron. The Fraspois leveraged their new lands and ability to raid into the warring post-collapse states of East Oleandron in order to grow in wealth and power, leveraging this to dominate lesser tribes. The Espatrasian Confederation was soon able to outmaneuver the Fraspois in 841, forcing them to pay tribute to the victorious Espatrasians and allowing them to raid into post-collapse Oleandron.
Despite military success, the early confederation was unstable, and it would soon devolve into internal strife, allowing the Fraspois to revive their fortunes and seeing a number of smaller tribes defect in exchange for passage into the Fraspois lands. Although the Espatrasians would sort out their differences during the 870s, the damage was done, and a stalemate continued through the latter decades of the 800s. Seeking to break the stalemate, Gundabar of the Carniigian tribe would arrest the tribal leaders at the conference of Aic in 909, strong-arming them into becoming de facto vassals of his tribe. He then crowned himself as the leader of the 'Whole of Espatrasia', the first time the proto-state had formally been named as such. This 909 self coup marked the end of the true confederation and the beginning of Espatrasia as a proper state.
Although staunch in opposition to the Fraspois, Gundabar understood that more was needed to truly gain the upper hand, and he pushed the confederation to expand into the east, promising (and granting) control over the isolated pastures and tribes northeast of Espatrasia. This eastern portion of Verderé was sparsely populated owing to the majority of the Fremedhians being concentrated to the west of the Daingén Highlands. During Gundabar's reign, the Espatrasians nearly doubled in size, strong-arming much of the eastern hills and establishing new settlements. Espatrasia also encountered and raided the halfling states of Bellecost and Thistlana, securing slaves and servants to tend these new lands. After Gundabar's death, his clan produced several more competent rulers, who led the charge into the marshland and secured tribute from most of western Cloriadme. By the year 1000, Espastrasia was a powerful state which controlled territory equivalent to the modern nations of Sictellas, Bloeirra, Pixenell, Lioseas, Teveska, and parts of modern Arbonna, Ambolaine, Wellenia, and Barloem. Espastrasia also recieved tribute from nearly all of their neighbors, with even the Fraspois bending the knee on occasion. Despite all this land, Espastrasia continued to struggle with tribal disloyalty and from the decentralization of the state, hampering the levy process and ensuring that all constituent tribes were in near-constant low scale conflict with one another over points of contention, such as fertile lands for grazing and distribution of slaves. In fact, the situation was so bad that it allowed the Fraspois to escape from the once-watchful eyes of the Espastrasians.
In 1010, the future ruler of Espastrasia, Dagobert of the Astringians made a pact with the Fraspois, establishing the Whiscuex as the border between the two domains in exchange for assistance taking the reins of the confederation and a non-intervention pact between the two nations on matters concerning the other. This allowed the Fraspois to take advantage of the Bluepox in 1024 and forge themselves a mighty kingdom, rapidly eclipsing the Espastrasians. Although the pact would last for another decade, it was clear after 1024 that the young Kingdom of Fraspika and Espastrasia were destined to be enemies. However, after Dagobert authorized his men to graze their sheep on the western side of the Whiscuex, things reached a boiling point, as this was a clear violation of the terms of his agreement. Dagobert's death soon after at the hands of another usurper, Thieubar of the Mangiovians, complicated matters, but the state was still headed towards conflict with Fraspika. Indeed, in 1056, Thieubar, hearing of the death of Charles I of Fraspika, seized the original lands of the Fraspois, moving the border to the Ravieau River (the region between the two rivers had been depopulated as the Fraspois and their subjects migrated into western Fremedhia). Lothaire I of Fraspika declared war and attempted to retake the lands, seeing some success. Finally, after several years of war, the two nations came to peace, with Espatrasia getting the upper half of Ravieau-Whisceux (modern Ambolaine) and Fraspika getting the lower half (modern Barloem). The lands in between were to be a no-man's land, but this part of the treaty was repeatedly broken by both sides. Finally, Thieubar was crowned as King of Espatrasia. This recognition as king by Fraspika would prove to legitimize Thieubar and allowed him to reassert control over the rowdy tribes.
Thieubar sought to establish a lasting dynasty, and made the court attractive to political exiles from Fraspika, working especially hard to attract elven talent, which he hoped would tutor his children and impress the tribal chieftains with their longevity and talents. Although his efforts were successful, and he did establish a dynasty, the court quickly became a hotbed for intrigue and by the time his grandson took the throne the real power lay with the chancellorship, which was granted to the head of one of the tribes and came to represent most of the actual power of Espastrasia. This system was obviously terrible as the chancellors would just use their power to elevate their tribe and attack their rivals, and so Espastrasia ceased to be a rival to Fraspika. Although the power of the monarchs continued to decline, tribal rivalries began to slowly fade as tribes and people intermingled, with the Fremedhian ruling class remaining divided but the commoners largely abandoning the old tribal identities as society modernized.
In 1088, the king died and was not succeeded, with Cardebrand of the Rembolois tribe ruling as Chancellor regent until his death in 1094. Cardebrand's children, however, would fight over the position of chancellor, and divided the kingdom into four zones of control, with one brother in control of each section as chancellor and a Mangiovian monarch as a figurehead tying the whole thing together. These four "vassals" were known as Estrasia, Oustrasia, Nostrasia, and Sustrasia. Perhaps unsurprisingly, things continued to grow ever more unstable and led to the collapse of the state structure by 1106, most notably because the residence of the king being within the domain of Oustrasia gave the Oustrasian brother an edge. Jealous of his direct control over the figurehead monarch when it was supposed to be "evenly divided", the brothers in Sustrasia and Estrasia attacked Oustrasia in 1108. Naturally, concerned about two other brothers splitting the third and thus getting more powerful, Nostrasia sided with Oustrasia. And thus, the whole of Espastrasia was at war. With this war marking the permanent end of even a façade of unity, 1108 is often taken as the date for the end of Espastrasia, but in practice none Strasian states would drop their claim to be fighting for the king until his assumption of the throne of Ambolaine in 1126 as a vassal of Fraspika.
Comments