Mayday! I'm being bombarded with terrific lists! (Is this anything?)
The rules are simple; I give a prompt, and you have until 4:00pm on the 27th (or whenever I remember to post the announcement on that day) to post a list related to the prompt. As for what constitutes a list? If you'd personally post it in Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State rather than another thread, I think that's a good enough criterion. Writeups are preferred, please don't post a blank list, and I'd also appreciate it if you titled your list for polling purposes. Once the deadline hits, we will open up a multiple choice poll, and whoever receives the most votes after a week gets the entirely immaterial prize.
May Day is obviously a day rich in thematic meaning, but (in List Challenge tradition) it's thoroughly behind us now, so we must look to the future of this month. Of course, in a week or so, we will have Lag BaOmer, a day of celebration midway through the semi-mourning period of counting the omer that now also serves to commemorate the Bar Kokhba revolt, and a week after that we will have Oak Apple Day, where we celebrate how Charles II escaped his rightful punishment for oppressing the liberties of the people and survived to bury the Good Old Cause. Speaking of which, there's also a very major event coming up in a few days. Practically once in a lifetime.
In commemoration of Charles Mountbatten finally recieving a promotion at work, the theme for this month will be Kings. Go nuts, and good luck.
"We Americans Draw On A Proud History": Legitimizing Historical Narratives in the Rhetoric of Emperor Fidel of the New World, 1959-2010
Summary: Since the War of 1959, the actual Empire of the New World under the Castro dynasty has justified its rule by placing itself as the successor to the pre-1910 state of the same name. In particular, Fidel justified his cult of personality and his political acts by identifying himself with Andrew I and Maximilian, both of whom worked towards national regeneration in the wake of the fall of corrupt and exclusive systems. Because the two emperors were heroes to different audiences - Andrew I particularly admired by members of the Anglophone Protestant rural right-wing white working-class and Maximilian respected by Catholics, ethnic minorities, and intellectuals - Fidel's use of both their mythoses allowed him to triangulate across the ethnic and political cleavages of his nation. This essay will use archival data on speeches and writings to examine Fidel's use of Andrew I and Maximilian as figures to historicize his own rule, how his narratives differ from established historical facts, and will statistically analyze where and when he used different aspects of those narratives.
Emperors of the New World
1812-1846: Andrew I (Jackson)
1846-1848: Philip (Jackson-Iturbide) 1848: deposed by Native American Movement
1848-1863: Andrew II (Jackson-Donelson) 1863: abdicated as part of end of Spartacist War
1863-1907: Maximilian (Habsburg-Lorraine)
1907-1910: Francis (Habsburg-Lorraine-Biddle) 1910: abdicated as result of Farmer-Labor Army victory at Battle of Springfield
1910-1959: vacant (Republic of the New World; various pretenders)
1959-2008: Fidel (Castro) 2008: abdicated due to old age
2008-: Martin (Castro-King)
For the DELIGHT and PLEASURE of the NOBLE SELECTMEN of this SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT OF BAWSTUN, the MERCANTILE GUILD of ACREMACK hereby present a MOST ILLUMINATING HISTORICAL REPORT, detailing the STORIED HISTORY of the Kings of the Lowezian Union State: 19???BD-0003BD: Huey I (Long) [slain by "wicked advisors"]
0003BD-0000BD: Gerald The Usurper (Crusader) [died launching the Great Doom]
0000AD-0100AD: Russell I Unifier (Long) [died of old age and was turned into marble; his "head" still decorates the royal palace] 0100AD-0250AD: disputed between Speedwell (Long) and Blanche (Revere-Long) 0250AD-~1050AD: unclear; the Kingfish Cycle ends around this point. Most modern scholarship suggests that the whole "Elder Long" period is little more than legends to justify the unification of the present region by...
~1050-1103: Sharethewell the Conqueror (Long)
1103-1121: Alex-Anda (Long) [died in battle against the Oochita]
1127-1140: Minnutmahon I (Long)
1140-1145: Minnutmahon II (Long) [died from infected wounds after Battle of Layksharls]
1145-1145: Huey II (Long) [ship disappeared in a storm; many claim he will return when Loweizanns need him the most]
1145-1148: Cronquette IV (Maceo)as Prime Citizen of Galvizton and Protector of the Gulf
1148-1186: Hostoni I (Maceo) as Prime Citizen of Galvizton and Protector of the Gulf [as the history of the Gulf Protectorate is well known to the Selectmen, I shall refrain from elaborating further where unnecessary]
1470-1478: Lucas the Unlucky (Phantz) as Prime Citizen of Galvizton and Protector of the Gulf
1478-1489: Sharethewell II the Liberator(Long-Deltawater)
1489-1527: Minnutmahon III (Long-Deltawater)
1527-1546: Earl the Small (Long-Deltawater)[slain in duel with Prince-Comptroller of Batten Rushe]
1546-1594: Nawlina (Long-Deltawater-Cabildo)
1594-1616: Earl the Large (Long-Cabildo)[imprisoned in Galvizton after the Battle of Pinewood]
1616-1619: Angelique(Long-Cabildo)[de jure as her husband's regent]
1619-1652: Earl theLarge (Long-Cabildo)
1652-1678: Maestri I(Long-Cabildo)
1678-1713: Yooper(Long-Cabildo)
1713-1715: Maestri II(Long-Cabildo)[caught malarial fever during coronation]
1715-1733: Russell II(Long-Cabildo)[assassinated by nobles loyal to Vestavian IX]
1733-1736: Maestri III theMan of Limestone(Long-Cabildo)[killed in Siege of Nawlins Capitol; his successor Prince Lucas surrendered a month later but was never formally crowned in that time]
1736-1761: Vestavian IX the Great (Civitan)as Supreme Emperor of Abamissippiania
1761-1767: Cooper the Birminhahmmer ("Civitan-Long")
1767-1798: Era of Warring Parishes
1798-1799: Dudlee I the Liar (pretender toLong-Cabildo)
1799-1813: Grozjeen I(Long-Layksharls)[first king to marry into the House of Long]
1813-1817: Grozjeen II(Long-Layksharls)[retired to convent after epileptic fit]
1817-1860: Grozjeen III (Long-Layksharls)
1860-1861: Minuttewahan (Long-Layksharls)
1861-1869: disputed between Minuttewahan (Long-Layksharls)and Anda (Batternite)
1869-1880: Minuttewahan (Long-Layksharls)
1880-1920: Grozjeen IV (Long-Layksharls)
1920-1978: Grozjeen V the Old (Long-Layksharls)
1978-1983: Buzz (Long-Layksharls)as Regent for Grozjeen V
1983-1998: Lucas I (Long-Dykesman)
1998-2017: Angelique II (Long-Dykesman)
2017-X000:Sharethewell III the Pious (Long-Dykesman)
There wasn't much left, after the uranbombs fell.
Smith, I think, was dying and he knew it. More that that, he knew his whole regime was built on sand. There was this story I heard, I think, this linguist at the university who'd been dragged down to Mittelafrika in the fifties to fight the syndicalists, don't know if it was true--hardly matters now. So, the story went there was this tribe out in the middle of the Congo, they'd never seen a white man before, and then the railroad came across their lands so Goering could send troops to North Africa, and with the railway came a little town, and military men, and canned food and technology, and a bunch of them were hired to work there, and when the Weltkrieg was over, well...everyone left. So there was a suspicion that Tawosa and his men were hiding out in the region, and they send the linguist over to the railway junction, and what they find--the town, it's still there. Except it's not, it's all made out of wood now. There's a wooden post-office full of big leaves for letters, there's a wooden arms-depot full of sticks meant to be rifles, there's a big fake wooden train on the rusty tracks, and...yeah, he told it a lot better than I did.
Point is, they'd made these fake wooden bits of civilisation, and what they thought was that that'd bring it all back. The easy labour, the food in cans, the booze and the music. If they just mimicked the outer forms of what had come before, the substance would flow in.
That's what Gerald was like, how he ruled. He'd deposed the Kingfish ages ago--back before I met the linguist, had this whole conversation--but he knew he was ruling a state built on Long's popularity. You're too young to have known it, of course, but he was everywhere in death. The posters of him with his hand on Smith's shoulder, the parades and fireworks on his birthday--we used to have candles set up around his photo on the mantlepiece, a shrine to the Martyr Huey. It never worked, because everyone knew at least a little that Smith had had something to do with Long's death, and...and he didn't even have any ideas of his own to replace the Kingfish with. The whole country was trapped in a holding pattern, pretending a dead man was alive, and hoping people would believe in the government like they used to do when Long was around.
Maybe that's why everyone just sleepwalked into war. The country was a mausoleum already--what was a few more dead bodies in it?
You'd understand what I did, if you'd been there when the uranbombs fell. Seen the ashheaps that were cities, The women and children scrabbling in the dirt for scaps. Some prices are too high to understand anything, though. So I'm glad you weren't there.
It's...you'd have done the same thing. Someone needed to pull something from the wreckage of the old world--the alternative was starting from the Stone Age all over again. If we didn't have context for what it was we were doing, we'd just make the same mistakes of history all over again--this was my job! I could do it! It wouldn't have to be for all time--just a temporary measure, a bit of balm on mental wounds, so the foundations could be laid for something new later. Everything was devastated, and they needed something to believe in, and in Louisiana, there's only ever been one thing people have believed in. One man they've believed in.
I tried to explain it, as best as I could. I don't think they really understood me.
I had good intentions. That's...that's important, I think.
Without that belief, we couldn't have...wouldn't have brought anything back, could we? Even if it's just the form...a shell of a society...it's better, isn't it? You can tell me...tell meit was better, it's not...not like...like I'll be telling anyone else. Just a little comfort, before you close my eyelids for the last time.
Peace without end, every neighbour a friend...and only...only one man a king.
It should go without saying that our in-universe Louisianan Leibowitz is unwilling to accurately reflect upon what the story he's telling means for him and his goals. What does need saying is that, on an in-universe level, there is another flaw.
The cargo-cults have been often misinterpreted as pure transaction and magical thinking, but there's a deeper meaning behind them that's rooted in Melanesian culture. (This also implies the linguist fed our narrator a crock of shit first, but that's another issue.) One of the major traditional political systems in Melanesia was the "big man" system, where power derived primarily from gift exchange--the island's "big men" would demonstrate their right to power by distributing gifts, leaving others in their debt, and leaving those who couldn't reciprocate as "rubbish men". With the coming of Western capitalism and the associated cheap and easy abundance, suddenly everyone was a "rubbish man" compared to the "big men" of the West. The idea behind the cargo cult is to remove the Westerners as a source of shame by asserting that the goods they bestowed were the Melanesians' by right, created by recognisable aspects of the Melanesians' worldview, and would someday be returned to them (along with their dignity) if the correct rituals were performed.
Ironically, this is arguably a better metaphor for Gerald L. K. Smith's Presidency than the original version. While Smith may have idolised Long, he also--especially after being "forced" to do away with him--very much felt in his shadow, inadequate compared to his charisma. By building up a cult of Long as a sacred ruler and martyr, whose popularity and leadership was appointed by the divine, rather than by his own self, he could believe that this was a power that could be passed down to him if he imitated the previous way it was called down. He could regain some amount of self-belief while still holding Long on a mental pedestal, and keep himself mentally balanced.
Judging by the irradiated wastes that was once the United States, this was not a permanent solution.
1504-1508 -disputed between William Stanley and Thomas Stanley the Second-
1508-1547 Francis I (House of Orléans)
1547-160x Henry VII (House of Boleyn)
The War of the Roses didn’t end the way the Yorkists,the Lancastrians or the Tudors wanted but the way they deserved. After decades of war and pointless bloodshed and betrayals,the two sides destroyed themselves at Bosworth by pure accident. In a desperate lunge to take down Henry Tudor,Richard III managed to kill him only to die seconds later. The battle after that devolved in chaos,to put it lightly. Both its leaders were dead and no one really knew who was in charge or what they should do.
Leaving the door right open for anyone to swop in and take the price.
The Stanleys were born to backstab,steal,lie and kill for power. They were the best at it. The only reason Thomas Stanley hadn’t betrayed Richard immediately after the Tudors landed on British solid was because he had his son George held hostage. And even then Stanley hesitated during the battle over who to support. As luck would have it,he didn’t even need to bother making a choice. Both Richard and Henry dying made that moot. After getting his son back and killing some fools,he rushed back to London with a desire to profit from the chaos and crown himself King.
After all,why shouldn’t he? He had the army and the money needed to back him and crush any opposition. No one else was available to stop him (well,that fool De la Pole tried but he killed him and what remained of core Richard supports in less than a hour-barely even constituted a battle really,more akin to a wolf slaughter at best) and everyone just wanted to survive and live another day. Legitimacy be damned,that shit didn’t matter compared to money and weapons-and Thomas had plenty of both.
The reign of King Thomas was…mixed,if you will. On one hand he killed the Woodvilles,the Ricardian stalwarts,a large majority of Welsh people and too many others to boot and made his family rich and powerful at the expense of the people,not to mention allying himself with the French and carving up Burgundy.On the other hand,he didn’t really rock the boat or did anything really bad compared to other kings at the time. Most of the executions he ordered were out of misunderstandings and he didn’t really like being that bloodthirsty. And besides,nothing he did was out of the ordinary for rulers at the time. Only after George’s assassination did he really start to lose it. After 18 years of plots against him,Thomas wasn’t the fox he used to be. He came tired,paranoid and a lot more harsher. George’s death was the spark that lit the fuse.
No one to this day really knows who killed George Stanley. Thomas started suspecting everyone,ordering a series of executions of supposed people behind the plot,including even his wife Margaret and his third son Edward. By the time of his death next year,he left the Court in a state of disarray like in 1485,having killed anyone important but his brother and adopted son,who started debating over who should be King now. Thomas unfortunately didn’t name a successor due to being more preoccupied to fake plots so no one knew who was the rightful King.
It didn’t matter. The Stanleys had shown the illusion of royal legitimacy and smashed it. All you needed anymore to be King of England was just more money and armed men than the other guy. Now left to their own devices,the remaining Stanleys fought over the crown in a new bitter manner,openly only caring about power. The First English Civil War left the country in chaos once more. The French and the Scots got involved.
And in a very ironic manner,it ended the same way as the last war.
Francis I became King solely by default of both uncle and nephew dying at the battle of Durham. No one could really object to the French unofficially taking over England because,well,most of the nobility was dead because of the actions of the House of Stanley. Thus Francis had done what no French ruler before or after him could-take over England and rule over those bastard rosbifs.All things considered though,Francis didn’t actually rule with an iron fit. Sure,he was a mixed bag like Thomas (more so if you ask some sources) and the remaining English nobility resented him for ordering them around and giving favors to the Boleyns but he let England self govern itself at times due to having too much on his plate. As such,the decades of French rule were something of a odd thing,where not even the biggest French hater can remember anything relevant from this era.
And say what you want about Francis but he did something no one other French king in his position would have done: he let the English go free.
Oh sure,he made his son of his English mistress as heir and he only did it both as a favor and as a way to get rid of a problem after his death,but still,despite objections England was its own master again,and like in 1485 and 1509 it happened by accident. Henry‘s reign was initially met with skepticism and resentment but he managed to oddly charm his critics and be a quite good king,willing to compromise when needed and letting others make decisions for him. The Boleyn Era,while not perfect,was a good time for the nation. Arts were thriving and under the protection of the King. Religious freedom was mostly widespread,especially after the events in France of the Mad King Charles IX. Foreign affairs? Bah,as long as he got long with Mary of the Scots,he didn’t need to care.
Let the Irish do their weird tanistry and Charlie the Nutter lay waste to Europe. As long as they left England be,it was all alright with the world.
1961-1965: John F. Kennedy (Democratic) 1960(w. Lyndon B. Johnson)def. Richard Nixon (Republican), Harry F. Byrd Sr. (unpledged Democratic electors)
1965-1969: Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (Republican) 1964 (w. Prescott Bush) def. George Wallace (unpledged Democratic electors), John F. Kennedy (Democratic)
1969-1972: George Wallace (American Independent) 1968 (w. Ezra Taft Benson)def. Hubert Humphrey (Democratic), Henry Cabot Lodge (Republican)
1972-1975: Ezra Taft Benson (American Independent) 1972(w. William Jennings Bryan Dorn) def. NelsonRockefeller(Republican& Democratic), Eugene McCarthy (Genuine Independent)
1975-1977: William Jennings Bryan Dorn (effectively nonpartisan)
1977-1981: John V.Lindsay(Republican& Democratic) 1976 (w. Scoop Jackson)def. Tom Turnipseed (Young American), Willis Carto (National Alliance)
1981-1989: Martin LutherKing(Peoples'& 'Social' Democratic) 1980 (w. Tom Kahn) def. John V. Lindsay (Republican& 'National' Democratic)
1984 (w. Tom Kahn) def. George Bush (Republican Coalition), numerous 'Sunbelt Independents'
1989-1997: Peter Ueberroth (Republican Coalition) 1988 (w. Al Gore) def. Tom Kahn (Peoples')
1992 (w. Al Gore) def. Jeane Kirkpatrick (Peoples')
1997-2001: Coretta Scott King (Peoples') 1996 (w. Bernie Sanders) def. John McCain (Republican Coalition)
2001-2009: Al Gore (Republican Coalition) 2000 (w. Joe Biden) def. Bernie Sanders (Peoples')
2004 (w. Joe Biden) def. John Kerry (Peoples')
2009-2017: Yolanda King (Peoples') 2008 (w. Tom Daschle) def. Hilary Rodham (Republican Coalition)
2012 (w. Tom Daschle) def. Rick Perry (Republican Coalition)
2017-2021: J.G. Janos (Peoples') 2016 (w. Raphael Warnock) def. Ben Carson (Republican Coalition), Rafael Cruz (Christian States)
2021-0000: Raphael Warnock (Peoples') 2020 (w. Larry Lessig) def. John Thune (Republican Coalition), Alveda King (Christian States)
The King family have helped define the last sixty years of American history. From MLK2's rise to prominence in the Civil Rights Movement to his role in the eventual overthrow in America's Fascist Experiment, and to his eventual accession to the nation's highest office, the Kings have become inextricable from the halls of power.
It began with the decline of the Kennedy Administration after 1963 as his health issues and sexual improprieties came to light. He was never impeached and never successfully dislodged by a party primary - particularly as George Wallace gathered momentum and the rest of the party establishment rallied behind Kennedy to avoid a Wallace victory. Wallace swept the South while Northern liberals rallied behind the Lodge/Bush compromise ticket that was itself intended as a 'Rockefeller Without The Kennedy Escapades' deal.
The seeming liberal duopoly sent the far-right into a frenzy and as Lodge plunged the nation into the charnel house of Vietnam, Wallace was able to position himself as not only segregationist and moralist, but also as the candidate for peace. So it was that in 1968, Americans woke up to the news that George Wallace would be the next President of the United States. In practice, he governed as a Southern Democrat and capably negotiated with his former Democratic counterparts and Republican conservatives alike to get a moderated version of his agenda through Congress. But Wallace's campaign had awoken forces beyond his control.
His assassination gave the oxygen for Benson to prevail - and with him came a whole slew of fascist anti-semites into the White House and beyond. Bloodletting occurred on a national scale as any concept of African-American civil rights was decried as creeping communism and the hand of a sinister nationless master. It proved too much eventually, and for the good it did, American political institutions prevailed. Benson was impeached, Dorn governed as a figurehead and Congress went to the 'People' to negotiate for peace amidst the pockets of violence across the nation.
Lindsay was elected as a moderate while Turnipseed took as much as could be salvaged from the Wallace campaign organisation to run a 'Young American' campaign that casted his predecessor as a man out of time that did not understand the measures that needed to be taken for real change. The irony is that Turnipseed's campaign was the seed or maybe the ribcage that MLK2 hung the muscle of his later campaign for the Presidency. Lindsay passed civil rights, made peace with the leftist militias, waged war on the remaining fascists, but his government was entirely too centrist and moderating. That was the circumstances in which MLK2 ascended to power.
The party system has solidified since then - the Peoples' Party includes liberals, socialists, occasionally a few neocons. The Republican Coalition tipped increasingly conservative as the Peoples' Party solidified itself but broadly defines itself as liberal-conservative. But in recent years, as much as fascism seemed to have been stamped out, its found new fertile soil to root itself in - and a King to crown as its figurehead. From Cruz's victory in Utah alone, Alveda King has taken Idaho, Arizona and has even threatened to make Oregon and Washington if not competitive than at least extremely unpleasant.
America has never had truck with monarchy or nobility, but everyone wonders where its Kings will head next...
1953-58: Musician
1958-60: Soldier in US Army (reached rank of Sergeant)
1960-67: Movie star
1967: Candidate in Democrat primary for Governor of Mississippi 1967: John Bel Williams, William Winter, Jimmy Swan, Elvis Presley, Ross Barnet 1971: Free Democrat-Republican nominee for Governor
1972-76: Governor of Mississippi 1971: def. Charles Sullivan (Democrat) 1977: Died of a cardiac arrest.
In the 1960's, The King's crown lay uneasy and heavy. Elvis was exhausted and unhappy with his career, his musical glory days behind him and placed into a hectic schedule of derivative movie musicals due to a faustian bargain with his manager Colonel Tom Parker. The 1966 death of President Kennedy from his Huntington's Disease and the end of Camelot only added to his upset. But that eventually gave way to inspiration, to keep that spirit alive. He was going to run for Governor of Mississippi. This was no impulse buy either; his uncle Noah had been Mayor of his home town of East Tupelo and Colonel Tom had walked the campaign trail for previous client Jimmy Davis in his 1948 run for Governor of Louisiana. As such he announced his plan to Mr Parker and asked him to repeat the magic that had got him his honorary ranking in the first place, the flattery being more than enough to get him on board.
The 1967 election, taking place after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, saw an influx of black voters who saw Elvis as the most supportive candidate in the race even though they still refused to public endorse him along with the other candidates. While still employing anti-Communist and law-and-order rhetoric, he still found himself in a prominent feud with fellow musician candidate Jimmy Swan an open white supremacist literally down to his suit buttons. Their televised debate/song-and-dance-off remains one of the more significant events for scholars of the 1960's. In the end neither made it to the run-off (the nomination going to John Bel Edwards) but the king had made a bold statement that he was back. He spent the next four years building his coalition of poor blacks and white people and law-and-order moderates. The primary system not suiting him he decided to run as an independent this time around getting an eclectic set of endorsements from the civil rights icon Charles Evers to President Nixon. The latter resulted in another famous moment where Elvis travelled up to DC to persuade him to endorse him which he did while Parker became acquainted with his fellow Germanics in Nixon's inner circle.
Elvis' ascendancy to the governorship over the exiting Lieutenant Governor Charles Sullivan also saw an end to his relationship with Col. Parker. He had accepted a job in Nixon's re-election campaign and believed the President could protect him from the law better than a state Governor (not that Elvis knew about those particular issues.) Now fully independent Elvis became the most prominent of the New South governors alongside former President Terry Sanford and Albert Brewer, slayer of the Wallace machine. His four years in office would prove to be the most stressful of his life from woman's groups expressing outrage at the circumstances of his marriage to his wife Priscilla to his conflicts with the state legislature leading to the splintering of his coalition particularly over racial issues. This in turn made his substance problems and eating habits worse leaving him bloated and sweating as he welcomed Gil Carmichael as his successor, the first Republican governor since Reconstruction. He retired to Graceland keeping in touch with Col. Parker, facing troubles of his own as the loose brick that caused the flood of scandal during the Connally administration. The King of Rock and Roll's lifestyle would finally catch up with him barely two years after his biggest performance dying of a cardiac arrest on the toilet in 1978 at the age of 43.
"The Lions of Normandy": Medieval Europe's Third Empire
One of the defining debates in the historiography of Europe is to what extent can one define the so called "Norman Empire" of the High Middle Ages. The conventional wisdom preached by that closed, greedy and affluent sect of scholars of the universities of Caen and Oxford (as well as those wishing to styme the image of Norman conquests) claim that if you were so call it a Norman empire, the "real" one would be that establish by the House of Normandie and founded the original Duchy from Vikings who settle that region of West Francia. Though the founding of this Empire began with Rollo in the 900s, it can only begin to be claimed as an empire once the dukes established themselves on the Throne of England.
William "the Bastard", Duke of Normandy in 1066, was an ambitious man. His cousin was Edward "the Confessor", and William was considered a potential successor to the English Crown, but the Witan chose the Saxon strongman Harold Godwinson. The Duke intended on challenging this verdict, in battle, however bad winds on the Channel throughout the year prevented his crossing and he seemed to put the idea to one side, and political considerations in Paris ended with the William riding to Paris joining his Father-in-Law in running the French state as it came of a period of Regency. England meanwhile was drowning in blood, Harald of Norway had sailed to challenge Godwinson instead, and captured Harold and the Crown, though fighting with individual English Earls continued trying to rally round various other Anglo-Saxon claimants. Finally, the Earl Morcar, whose lands had been scorched in the first years fighting fled to France, prepared to kneel before William as opposed to the dreaded Norsemen.
In April 1069, the Duke and his army of Exiles landed in Sussex, moving in land, seizing the absent city of London, the Anglo-Saxon capital. A sham coronation was held, with exiles and a few defectors from Harald gathered to watch. The Norwegian King himself was campaigning in East Anglia, who rushed South. The two forces met at what is now Colchester and the war-weary Norwegian King and his army were beaten back, fleeing North, before facing their final defeat at a crossing of the River Leven in Yorkshire. The formation of the rest of the "Norman Empire" would not be an easy one. William's remaining reign would remain violent and bloody as he strengthened his hold on the English Crown, through a series of bloody episodes like the "Harrowing of the Shires" and Danish raids in the North, and his succession, long troublesome, but eventually secured when the second son of his second son came of age in 1089.
The building of the Empire followed: invasions of Wales that went on until its final annexation by the English crown in the 1220s. Constant games of geopolitics with the Kings of France over counties and inheritance like the Vexin, Brittany and Aquitaine. But most grand of all was by means of chance and design the dynasty's exploitation of the Crusades in Outremer to add new lands and crowns so that at its peak, the House of Normandy's reach stretched from the sands of the Arabian Peninsula, across the Holy Land, over the Nile, up the spine of Western Europe, bridging the Channel, beyond the valleys and Dales to Hadrian's Wall. Though they never held an Imperial Crown the "Henrician Supremacy" from 1150 to 1270 saw the Normans as Europe's first Monarch among Equals able to go toe-to-toe with the Papacy, the Byzantines and the Holy Roman Empire.
King of the English
1042-1066: Edward "the Confessor"
1066-: Harold II Godwinson
1066-1069: Harald Hardrada, also Harald III of Norway
Kings of England and Dukes of Normandy
1069-1090: William I “the Conqueror”, originaly William "the Bastard"
Claimant to the English throne after the death of Edward “the Confessor” as Duke of Normandy. Assembled an army in the summer of 1066 but bad weather meant he couldn’t cross. Ruled as Regent of France for three years, before circumstances in England and France saw him to gather a new army and sail for England. Conquered England from Harald “Hardrada”, who had taken it from Harold Godwinson in 1066. Allied himself with rebel Anglo-Saxons who preferred Norman rule to Viking. Allegedly killed Hardrada in personal combat at the Battle of the River Leven (1069), having driven the Norwegian King north in the spring campaign. Crowned King in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1069 - Start of the Norman Empire. Launched the Harrowing of the Shires (1072-1080) to subdue rebel Saxon Earls in the West Country and the Midlands, and fought off raids by Danish challengers. Lost most of his sons on campaigns, the youngest was ordained a Bishop. Fought failing health until his designated heir came of age. Died aged 62.
1090-1115: William II “the Dragon”
Born 1074. Son of Richard, Duke of Somerset (1054-1092), grandson of William I; died age 36 of Typhus while on campaign in the Welsh Valleys; Conquered parts of Wales and secured the Aquitaine Inheritance (1097); start of the Vexin Wars (1100s-1250s), as series of intermittent skirmishes, campaigns, and raids with the French over the strategic county.
1115-1148: Richard I “the Sword of God”
Born 1099. Son of the Dragon; inspired by the failure of the Children’s Crusade (1111-13) at Antioch, joined and fought on the Second Crusade (1130-42) in Egypt, crowned first Catholic King of Egypt (1140); died aged 49 in Alexandria of natural causes after defeating the First Jihad to reclaim Egypt (1145-47); laid to rest in Canterbury Cathedral.
1148-1164: Henry I “the Glorious”
Born 1123. Son of Richard I; inherited the Aquintaine from his maternal Grandfather, Rolland (1140). Moved the Capital to Bordeaux from Normandy; began building the Palace of St Jude there as his main residence (1150); Fought the Second Jihad (1149-51); Conquered Northern Wales (1158-1160) and Sinai (1163) and gifted it to the Knights Templar to act as a buffer between Egypt and the Saracens; died aged 41 in battle in an uprising by Egyptian Coptics.
1164-1208: Henry II “the Cuckold King”, "the Hammer of Outremer"
Born 1149, 1 year regency. Son of Henry I; Reformer of English, Norman, and Aquitanian Law; Centralised rule in Bordeaux and the English Chancery; Fought in the Third Crusade (1175-78), Conquered Jerusalem in the name of his second son, Ralph; inherited Jerusalem after Ralph died childless (1200). Had eight wives, one annulled marriage (Lady Hextilda of Wessex, 1179), two executed for treason and adultery (Duchess Anna of Damietta, 1175; Holy Roman Princess Bava, 1198), three died of disease (Princess Ida of France, 1181; Holy Roman Princess Sybille 'the Merry', 1190; Queen Margrete of Norway, 1206), one assassinated (Byzantine Princess Eirene, 1203) by the Archbishop of Worcester for her Religion; last outlived him (Duchess Edith of Bedford), suspected involvement in his death at 59.
1208-1246: Henry III “the Pious”
Born 1199, 7-year regency. Son of Henry II and Princess Eirene; completed the Anglo-Norman Conquest of Wales (1220s); inherited Iceland as part of Wife’s Dowery; famous for his friendship and theological correspondences with Pope Leo X (1200-30) and the joined the Anatolian Crusade (1217-20) against the Seljuk Turks; became main opponent of “the Mad Pope” Leo XI (1236-58); approved the expansion of the Templars and his Crusader vassals into Arabia. Founded Oxford University (1224) and Caen University (1240), died aged 47.
1246-1270: Henry IV “the Conciliator”
Born 1217, Son of Henry III; fought the Great Revolt (1246-55) against his French, English and Norman vassals across the Empire, as well as the Knights Templar, the Scots, and the French Kings. Famed for his strength and prowess in single combat. Ended the Vexin Wars after breaking the French King Robert VI’s army at Poissy and storming Paris (1263), annexing the city afterwards. Lobbied hard for the beatification of father and grandfather, beatified himself along with Henry II in 1299. Plague began to devastate his Empire when it arrived at the border of Jerusalem in 1260s. Founded the Cardinal’s College in Durham (1263), with Duke Wiglaf of Northumberland and the Cardinal of Durham. Committed suicide after the death of suspected lover and Chancellor, Duke Wiglaf, aged 53.
1270-1271: Simon “the Sick”
Born 1241 Second son of Henry IV; Was representing his Father in Constantinople in negotiations over Cyprus when news came; paid homage to the Pope in person, who crowned him in Rome; contracted the Plague in Toulouse at a meeting with the French King Yves I, died shortly after arriving at Bordeaux aged 30. Sucession fell into crisis between his infant daughters and brothers - End of the Norman Empire.
This is my first attempt at a HOS challenge, I hope I haven't messed up anything with the format.
Monarchs of the Wars of the Eight Kingdoms 1630-1752
The Empire of the Great Ming or the Eastern Ming (1368-1808) fell into turmoil with the death of the Taicheng Emperor. The reign of young Zhu Youjiao, the Tianqi Emperor would see the Ming gripped by a coup, revolts, and a semi-successful coup that would turn into a conflict not seen since the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. The Empire would be split into eight different factions the Ming or Eastern Ming, The Northern and Southern Yuan, Wang Min, Su Shu, Zhang Chu, and Yuli Zhao. Even the end of this period would not see a united China but an uneasy split between the Yuan, Chu, and Ming. Eight Kingdoms is technically something of a misnomer as each of the eight states took on the title of Emperor or Khagan, a more proper translation would be Eight Sovereigns.
The fifth of the eight states that shall be looked at is Min or Later Min, to distinguish it from the state of Min from the period of the Ten Kingdoms that lasted from 909-945 founded by Wang Shenzhi.
Emperors of the State of Later Min 1632-1694
1632-1649 Emperor Gaozu, Personal Name: Wang Rui (died of natural causes)
1649-1666 Emperor Jing, Personal Name: Wang Fei (died in an accident)
1666-1671 Emperor Shao, Personal Name: Wang Lu (died of disease, poison is also suspected)
1671-1698 Emperor Wen, Personal Name: Wang Pei (died in the Battle of Tong Lake)
1698-1700 Emperor Mo Personal Name Wang Ba (submitted to Cao Yue, died 1740)
Origins and reign under Emperor Gaozu 1632-1649
Later Min was founded by Wang Rui, (courtesy name Zhongda) a merchant from Fuzhou who feuded with the governor of Fujian Province Lin Chong (courtesy came Xiande). An incident where Lin Chong's men had brawled with and killed Rui's eldest son, occurred while Chong had begun to raise an army to help defend the province. Enraged, Rui had reached out to his ties in the Hong Yinzhang or Red Seal district where Riben traders did all business. Eventually contracts with Wo (Japanese) mercenaries saw three armies led by Amago Nasufusa, Honjo Yoshiie, and Hatano Harumasa who would be known as the Three Devils of Shanyin, a translation of the term Sanin no Miki to their enemies and The Shanyin Braves to their allies. The plan was to at least intimidate the governor, into announcing his misdeeds, while Rui would bring these warriors to fight against the enemies of the Ming however the best-laid plans tend to go awry.
The attempt at intimidation turned into a confrontation, and that confrontation became a battle. The Battle of Fuzhou was chaotic but saw Rui victorious but technically a traitor. With little other option, Zhongda declared himself King of Min and worked to secure part of the local area. Min was also aided by subsequent invasions by the warriors of Shahrukh or Sha'lu'ke, and the rebellion of Cao Bogui who formed the state of Cao Yue to the immediate north of Zhejiang Province.
Wang Rui's newfound state found itself a valuable trade partner in the Imagawa Shoguns of Japan, while to the south Min's armies attacked weakened Ming positions down south. However, Min was hampered as many states were in the initial years of the period by the need to consolidate control outside of the major cities. In the case of the Min, Its main cities were Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Xiamen, and Zhangzhou leaving a state mostly concentrated along the coast These major trading cities along the coast gave its merchants a fair deal of local influence.
However, this internal situation would be worsened by the Genroku War (1645-57.) The countrywide war across Japan saw an exodus of some Japanese overseas if not to their lands in the Lusong Archipelago or the far-off Eastern colony of Sedaitani, then some had fled to the cities of China or Joseon. In places like Fuzhou, the arrival of these Japanese or Wojin refugees was sometimes seen as competition from local merchants, or viewed with suspicion from the other people in China. Later Min, like the states of Zhang Chu to its immediate south, and Cao Yue to its north, went against the trend of government power being placed in scholar-bureaucrats but instead were supported by power merchant clans within their administration, sometimes occasionally seeing Japanese or even in one case a Portuguese merchant rise to the rank of Provincial inspector and beyond.
Like most of the other states During the Eight Kingdoms period, Later Min had to basically restructure a military force from near-scratch. Ming weaponry was far from poor, but its military system had suffered from issues such as commanders being given enough authority they could use troops as work gangs for private manors, encouraged to partake in corrupt practices, and held under their own jurisdiction with hereditary commands. Wang Rui was left with these problems as well as trying to make sure the country had enough food. The unexpected Emperor would spend the rest of their reign attempting to just keep the state stable.
The Reign of Emperor Jing 1649-1666
Emperor Jing, or Wang Fei (courtesy name Zhongda) was the second and much younger son of Wang Rui. He like his father and brother was a merchant and found it something else to be both a prince and then later Emperor. Picking up from where his father had left off, Emperor Jing kept the country stable and presided over the final reforms of a rebuilt military.
However, the question of what the state of Wang Min was supposed to do was as always troublesome. Wang Fei always felt it almost absurd to call himself a prince nonetheless Emperor as well. Emperor Jing did not care for waging war, although it did he would not fight, or become the 'protector' of the Jiangxi province as well. The state of later Min at this time was engaged in a delicate diplomatic situation of backing the Eastern Ming and receiving the title of Prince of Min, although both sides knew it was a formality.
Domestically, most of Later Min's wealth came from trade, but the relative peace still encouraged some sailors to undertake bolder ventures. Emperor Jing's brother Wang Sui led an expedition to the island of what is modern-day Tainan off the coast and established the foundations for what would be the future state of Tainan. While the explorer Gongsun Dun had sailed across the West to bring back goods such as foodstuffs from places like Reconstituted Tawantinsuyu and New Spain like corn and chocolate.
However, for all of Emperor Jing's relative success, he would die early in a carriage accident that practically spell trouble for the state of Later Min.
The Reign of Emperor Shao 1666-1671
Emperor Shao, a name commonly reserved for Emperors that died young. Wang Lu was no exception, the young nine-year-old son of Emperor Jing, Shao was left under the care of his mother Empress Xiao, or Naito Aiko the late Emperor Jing’s only wife who was of the relatively recent Naito family of Japanese merchants. Although concerns were noted by some observers that the late Emperor may have preferred his male favorite Xu Jian, The young Emperor was timid but an eager learner, and was interested in astrology.
When Emperor Shao was just 14 years old he received many gifts from a delegation from the state of Zhang Chu. One such gift was a bottle of wine from Portuguese traders. A few days after consuming the wine, the young Emperor had taken ill, and soon his health had begun to decline. Suspicion and paranoia gripped the court, and just a few days later the young emperor would die.
But what was to be the untimely death of an would have drastic consequences, as Emperor Shao was not without siblings, his younger brother of two years and successor Wang Pei, Emperor Wen.
The Reign of Emperor Wen 1671-1698
Emperor Wen (born Wang Pei, Courestry Name: Wang Shuyin) is perhaps the most infamous of the Emperors of the state of later Min. Wang Pei was once a bright and energetic child. His brother's death would haunt him for the rest of his life as he soon became times morose and very irritable but also carried a lifelong suspicion of the Portuguese that would be almost ironic considering his most famous consort was Portuguese herself, being an Emperor who finally decided to take on more of the habits of one.
Emperor Wen’s initial years as Emperor were under a regency before he quickly came of age in 1677, although his mother hardly intervened still shaken from the death of her other son. Instead, he was guided by both his uncle Naito Takafusa and the merchant-official Sun Fao. The first three years after his regency saw a centralization of the state, as Emperor Wen had a dream of if nothing else to go destroying the state of Chu, which he saw as being the ones responsible for his brother’s death.
However, in the early months of 1681, a Portuguese ship forced to flee from the Ming would dock and Future, and with it it would bring tumultuous change to the Emperor's life and his court. This ship had carried a bunch of clergy looking for safety from the chaotic War of the Caged Bird, between Ming and Yan in the north. Emperor Wen came to inspect passengers and started to berate and accuse them, only to be met with a torrent of insults by a nun who was much younger than most of her fellow brothers and sisters in the cloth. The Emperor had found this hilarious as both Emperor and nun began hurling insults offending almost all present.
This nun was Anna Maria de Avis, of the Portuguese royal family, who was notoriously troublesome and was sent off to a convent just to be sent away from Lisbon. She still continued to cause problems until being sent away with a missionary group to the Ming. Emperor Wen had found her amusing, even causing a scandal among most of the Court when she had become Imperial Consort.
While the Empress was something a bizarrely mitigating factor in the Empreror’s life. He still nursed a grudge against the Portuguese and the state of Chu. In 1684, the first of what would be known as the Five Western Campaigns of Min. These Western Campaigns ranged from small second and third incursions of 1686 and 1689 to the climatic fifth and final campaign of 1698. The Campaign of 1698 saw the Emperor who wished to observe the battle of Lake Tong, an act that would see the Emperor killed with a sniper's bullet The Min army retreated back toward Fuzhou, but not before one last battle at Hangjiang River.
The Reign of Emperor Mo 1698-1700
Following the death of his father the young Wang Ba, Courtesy Name: Zhiran found himself an adolescent in charge of a rapidly declining Kingdom. Chu had not yet decided to press its advantage but it did not mean that Min was not gravely weakened.
Faced with the prospect of an advance from the state of Chu on the capital of Fuzhou. Emperor Mo looked toward his allies in the state of Yue and made plans to submit to their authority. After the arrival and an envoy and months of negotiation, the Kingdom of Min would be absorbed by the Kingdom of Yue, with Wang Ba being titled the Prince of Min. A title that would be retained even after Yue itself surrendered to the Ming
Wang Ba would live out the rest of his life in Fuzhou, and the Wang family would continue to serve as an influential family even to the present day.
With all votes in, our winner has been crowned King @Mumby with his list For a Few Bullets Less! (Don't ask what kind of monarchy has voting. Maybe it's a HRE situation.) Congratulations to our winner, and comiserations to our losers.
