History of Haarden
From Eshraval Saved
Earliest times (to c.300)
The area that the Kingdom of Haarden now resides in has been settled since the end of the last ice age. Nomadic peoples followed large herds of deer and bison into the region that is now the provinces of Västfolde and Somerland. Over several hundred years, the nomadic peoples settled the fertile valleys and fields of southern Haarden and expanded into the northern regions. In the south families settled into farming communities while in the north fishing villages became prominent. During this time of Haardic settlement, the peoples began to form their own distinct attributes, languages and traditions into the Norric culture.
Norric Earldoms and the first kingdom (300-470)
Before the rise of the Safaoasa Empire, Haarden was broken up into numerous independent counties (eorlrikar). The most powerful of these were Skjäne, Ködröven and Tröndelang. The culture of early Haarden was mostly sea-based and agricultural.
The Norric peoples in the north became warlike and agressive because of the harsh northern climate. The petty domains, which numbered over two dozen at one point, constantly warred against one another. They became masters of the seas and innovative in shipbuilding. In (YEAR) a young and ambitious noble, Forn Redwyn, declared himself the King of the North (Nords Kungen) and began to conquer his neighbours. Under his leadership, the Nordmen progressed and became powerful. As time progressed and the southern regions became more prosperous, the Nordmen began to raid and pillage their neighbors.
By (YEAR) the Nordmen had conquered the Isles to the north, powerful northern city of Tröndelang and most of the southern regions. Redrik Fornsson, the second king of the Nordmen focused his attentions on expansion and conquests.
Safaoasia Empire (470-615)
In (YEAR) several raids around the Safaoasian city of (?????) brought the Nordmen Kingdom to the attention of the Empire. In the beginning the Empire merely strengthened their garrisons in the cities of Northern Sapphilia. As time progressed, Emperor (????) sent several armies to deal with the growing threat of the Nordmen invasions. In a series of battles that lasted for nearly ten years the strength of the Nordmens on the mainland was finally broken at the Battle of (?????), in 4??. King Forn III and the remnants of his army fled to the northern isles. In 5??, peace was signed with the Safaoasian governor, and one of the conditions was that the King dropped his claim to be king of all the North, taking the title King of Skønøhav (Skønøhavs Kung) instead.
The Empire quickly consolidated it's power in the northlands. Safaoasian engineers began extensive construction projects including the walls and aqueducts of Ködröven, highway projects, irrigation of the (?????) river valleys and the founding of Viktoria. The new city was quickly established as the main port and administrative center of the Safaisosian province of ??.
The departure of the Safaoasians (615-622)
In the early 7th century, the empire suffered attacks on several fronts in Charia and Nepania, causing it to move forces from its North Sapphilian hinterland. The Norric population took advantage of the situation to begin a rebellion against imperial rule. Although depleted in numbers, the well-organized imperial troops were still more than a match for the dis-jointed small units of Nordmen, and to begin with it looked as though the rebellion would fail completely. Then, in 615, the most powerful Norric warlords gathered in the town of Alesund and drew up a strategy for jointly assuming control of all Norric forces. Thirteen of the warlords were each given responsibility for organising and leading operations in a region of the province, and the King of Skønøhav took command of all seaborne operations. A Council of the Fourteen was established, at which they or their representatives coordinated military activities. The strategy bore fruit, especially when Andrik Hälle, leader (hertig, or "duke") in Viktoria-Skäne, was appointed Commander-General. Imperial troops suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Vallesund in 622, and a massacre of Safaoasian troops and civilians throughout the province occurred over the next few weeks.
Andrik was hailed as a hero and is known to history as Andrik the Great, although modern historians question whether his achievement was quite as formiddable as folklore claims, because there had been a further serious depletion of imperial troops in the area since 620. Records recently discovered in Nemet suggest that the Emperor had all but given up the will to hold on to the Northlands.
The Great Massacre left a power vacuum. The King of Skønøhav attempted to fill it by asserting his hereditary right as King of the North, but the partially Safaoasianized mainlanders were not prepared to submit to the island king. Instead, the dukes evolved from purely military commanders to independent governors of their regions.
The Century of the Duchies (622-759)
The period of independent duchies lasted for about a hundred years, during which time there were numerous wars and alliances both internally and against outside opponents. In 638-50, the King of Skønøhav made several attempts to re-assert royal authority over the mainland, but with little success as dukes united against a common enemy.
By 735, a combination of conquests and dynastic marriages brought the four duchies of Hälland, Östland, Arkwall and Vëstefolde under a single duke, Anders Hårdvik, who proclaimed himself Grand Duke of Hårdland, while two years later, Duke Leif IV of Nylana inherited Norrlinga and emulated Anders' new status by proclaiming himself Grand Duke of Nylana-Norrlinga. The remaining five duchies, nervous of being swallowed up by these emerging larger states, formed an Alliance of Free Duchies and soon found themselves at war with both Grand Duchies simultaneously. After seven years of fighting, the alliance was vanquished, and their territories divided between the Grand Dukes, although four of the dukes were allowed to remain as vassal rulers. Hårdland gained the southern duchies of Rosendal and Somerland, while Nylana-Norrlinga took Wästeryland, Asterdåm and Röskylde, and re-named itself Wästnordan.As part of the peace agreement (the Treaty of Iverness), vassal dukes were appointed to all the old duchies and an element of autonomy was guaranteed.
Another condition of the Treaty of Iverness was that Hårdland traders were to be guaranteed access to the Wästnordian port of Ködröven, so that they had direct access to the Kunnick Sea, but within a few years of the treaty, accusations were being made that Hårdlandic traders were being impeded and harrassed on the overland route to the port. Against the objections of the Grand Duke of Wästnordan, Hårdlandic soldiers crossed the boarder in order to protect the trade road, and there were soon accusarion of their mistreatment of the local population. War looked inevitable as troops from both sides were moved towards the flashpoint of Asterdåm.
Becoming aware of the divisions and southwestern movement of troops in Haarden, King Gøran of Søvønhav took the opporunity to make another attempt at re-asserting royal authority, and invaded Haarden's northern and eastern coasts. Although he met with early success, he action had the unwanted effect of uniting the two Grand Dukes, putting their own differences to the side. Their combined army moved eastwards towards Skäne, which had been taken by the Skønøhavians, where they re-captured the city after a long seige life. The united army then began to progress northwards and retake other captured lands. In 754 they retook Alesand, but Grand Duke Karl of Wästnordan lost his life, leaving no heir other than a nine-year old daughter. Using the extingencies of war as grounds, Grand Duke Gustav of Hårdland succeeded in having himself proclaimed regent for the young Grand Duchess until such time as the Skønøhavians were finally defeated.
The war last another two years, and left the armies of both sides exhausted. On 20 August 756, Tröndelang was taken and the last Skønøhavian soldiers departed Haarden.
Gustav "the Liberator" was immensely popular among ordinary people, but barely had the victory celebrations ended when the dukes and nobles of Wästnordan started demanding that he honour his promise to surrender the regency at the end of the war. Gustav stalled for another eighteen months, partly by claiming that the war wasn't over until a peace treaty was signed. During this time, his propaganda machine was spreading the virtues of a union of the two grand duchies to a mainly willing population. The chief opposition came from the Wästnordian aristocracy.
Finally, in 759 an agreement was drawn up by which the regency was to be transferred to a council of the Wästnordian dukes until Grand Duchess Ingrid either came of age (18) or married an adult. If she married while still underage, her husband would become regent. In order to try and ensure that they didn't use their position to try and take permanent control of the throne, the dukes were required to swear to honour the agreement on pain of death and their heirs' loss of rights.
Three hours after the agreement was promulgated in Tröndelange, news leaked out that Gustav's six year-old marriage had been annulled the week before. Fearing Gustav's intentions, the dukes went to confront him and seek reassurrance that he had no intention of marrying Ingrid, only to be told that the marriage had already occurred in secret two days earlier. Faced with a hugely popular fait accompli, the Wästnordian aristocracy was left with no option but to acquiese. Hårdland and Wästnordan (soon to be abbreviated to Hårdan) were united under one ruler for the first time since before the Safaoasian Conquest. Officially, Gustav and his teenage bride, Birgitte, were Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of different realms, but in practice, Gustav ruled them both, even after Birgitte came of age.
In 762, there was an attempt on Gustav's life aimed at separating the two Grand Ducal thrones. Shortly afterwards, Birgitte gave birth to a son, and then laws were passed to ensure that the two crowns remained united. When Birgitte died in childbirth in 765, Gustav once more became regent in Wästnordan, this time for his young son, also called Gustav. Over the objections of the Sövöhavian king, people started referring to him as "the king in Hårlland-Wästnordan", and the style even began to appear in offfcial documents.
Consolidation of the Kingdom (759-800)
The young Gustav came of age in 770, but was still happy to allow his father to guide policy, and to allow the same people to be appointed as ministers and officials for both Grand Duchies. After Gustav I died in 787, Gustav II initiated a strategy to formally united the two grand duchies. It bore fruit in 789, when both states adopted the Charter of Union establishing the Kingdom of Haarden.
Norric War and the Norric Union (800-840)
Skønøhav continued to contest the kingship of the Haardic sovereign and further conflict ensured, in which Haarden gained the upper hand and temporarily occupied parts of Skønøhav. In 840, Skønøhav, Mezzaluna and Gorvalia were required to accept the Treaty of ??? in order to bring peace, but the major provision of the treaty was the creation of the Norric Union, over which the King of Haarden became Norric Grandking (Norriks Högkung). The Union was a federation and all member states were represented on the Union Council (Unionsråd), although Haarden had a majority of seats and most Union officers were also officers in the Haardic Government.
The beginnings of Norric expansion (840-1000)
The height of Empire (1000-1220)
The Great War and collapse of the Norric Empire (1220-1240)
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In 1228, Skønøhav, Gorvalia and Mezzaluna announced that they would take no further part in the Norric Union, leaving Haarden as its sole member. At the same time, pressure for independence was rising dramatically in several of the union's colonies and protectorates, and a war-weary and weakened Haarden was badly equiped to defend its occupation of the territories. Rather than try, with the potential for more conflict and bloodshed, the High Chancellor made the historic Liberty Declaration on 28 October 1228, declaring that Haarden wished to achieve a peaceful transference of sovereignty in all the territories which desired it.
In order to plan a peaceful de-imperialisation strategy, an Imperial Conference of representatives from throughout the empire met in Viktoria in 1229. The conference produced two major documents : one, the Principles of Sovereignty Transferance, laid out the conditions and processes under which independence would be granted to territories whose people wanted it. The other, the Commonwealth Charter, established a Norric Commonwealth as a free association of present and former states of the Empire. The King of Haarden was given the symbolic title of Moderator of the Norric Commonwealth.
The conference did not address the issue of the Norric Union, but pver the next four years, Haarden tried to negotiate new terms of union membership. The attempts failed, and the Treaty of ?? in 1233 formally dissolved the Union, and transferred its assets, rights and responsibilties to the Kingdom of Haarden.
By 1239, ? of the ? imperial dependencies had become independent, leaving only three as Haardic colonies. Most of the new nations joined the Commonwealth, and three chose to retain the King of Haarden as their Head of State.
