Bonitaña

Bonitaña is a region of lowlands to the east of the Doggerlands. Located between the Almere mountains and the Eastern Sea, Bonitaña was a major centre of population from the first migrations to the Doggerlands before its whole scale destruction during the Doggerland War. During its reconstruction, the region was subsumed by the Balancín Kingdoms, with the city of Southern Bonitaña being established as a home for many of the surviving Bonitañans.

History

Settlement

The region was first inhabited during the Age of Ash, when the human race was regrouping from the meteor impact. It was first settled in the 2600s by traders and settlers from the Madrilene Hope, alongside those that eventually settled Balancía. The Bonitañan culture grew distinctively from the Balancín, who were influenced more by the culture of the sea and the coast. Both spoke Spanish, with the Bonitañan Spanish dialect eventually growing to dominate Spanish speakers in the Doggerlands. In 2640, the Kingdom of the Rock was established as independent from the Madrilene Empire. The three Bonitañan settlements (Bonitaña, Loba, and José Élite) remained loyal to the Imperial order for the first four decades of Balancín independence, but were entirely cut off from the Madrilene Empire, as the Rock was its primary port.

Bonitaña (which refers to the settlement, rather than the region as a whole) quickly became the largest of the three settlements. It urbanised, much like Balancía, around the central region of the lowlands. The colonial governments strongly encouraged this growth and urbanisation, resulting in many policies which were seen to be pro-corporate. As a result, a number of large corporations found their historic roots in the town, which quickly became a city, which quickly consumed the other two settlements into a single colony.

Act of Union

The Act of Union was signed by King Carlos Murcia in 2688, which brought Bonitaña into the domain of the Balancín Crown. It also served as the de facto declaration of independence from the struggling Madrilene Empire, which had since long given up any hope of reclaiming the Rock, and soon abandoned all interest in further colonisation of the Doggerlands. The Act of Union was signed in the aftermath of the Mountain War (2685), in which the Murcian King Carlos I rode out with his army to confront the increasing raids from the Almere Mountains. The tribes that inhabited the mountains had been raiding the outer farming villages of the Balancín realm for decades, though they had never grown to be enough of a nuisance for any of the ocean-focused Murcians to turn their attention inland. This changed, however, when a particularly ambitious tribe came down into the lowlands and attacked Bonitaña itself. Getting as far inland as the Bailey (the inner region of the city centre), the Asvlucht clan laid siege to the centre of government itself.

Unable to provide a sufficient defence, an emissary of the Bonitañan colonial government named Don Álvaro de Mendoza y Ríos arrived at the Iberian Palace to request King Carlos's assistance. The King agreed, calling the banners on his subjects for the first time since the War of Balancín Secession. The armies marched to Bonitañan to retake it for the colonists, routing the Asvlucht as far back as the Almere Valley. The Balancín victory was a major expansion of authority for the Balancín Crown. At the time, it was the only major authority in that region with the means and resources to raise an army of that size, and cemented Balancía as the most powerful force in the south and eastern Doggerlands for the next two-and-a-half centuries. The Mountain War provided Balancía with its first foothold in the Homeland region, which it would later totally subjugate, and made Bonitaña politically and militarily reliant on the Rock.

The Act of Union was signed with special protections for Bonitaña, including its free trade laws and approach to urbanisation, which was distinct from the flawed and unplanned development of urban Balancía. Additionally, the Act of Union is one of the constitutional cornerstones which promoted Bonitañan Spanish as the dominant dialect in the region. Bonitaña would remain under the authority of the Balancín Crown for the next two-and-a-half centuries, making up a core element of its urban population. Many Balancín institutions were renamed to reflect the incorporation of the entire Spanish-descended population of the Doggerlands, including the name 'the Iberian Throne' being adopted to reflect unity.

Pax Martellian

The House of Martell originated in Bonitaña. It became the royal house in 2703 with the accession of Carlos II to the Iberian Throne. Carlos II's father, Lord Enrique Martell, had married Princess Elisa Murcia (Carlos Murcia's eldest daughter and heir). The marriage was solidified as a method of uniting the Bonitañan and Balancín sides of the realm. The idea was that Elisa would become Queen, with Enrique becoming co-monarch and King. Enrique died before this could materialise, with Elisa ascending the throne alone as Elisa I. She later remarried, but her son by Enrique, Carlos, remained Duke of Talaga and heir to the Iberian Throne. His accession in 2703 was the first time in which a Bonitañan would sit the Iberian Throne. From him, all later Balancín monarchs would descend from the Martells of Bonitaña.

Throughout the rest of the 2700s, as more and more groups of humans emerged in the wake of the meteor, the House of Martell grew in power at the head of the now Balancín and Bonitañan Crown. Carlos II was succeeded by his son, Carlos III, who was then succeeded by Felipe II, the Sun King. The reign of the Sun King brought the christianisation of Bonitaña, as well as further growth in the Martells' power over the Doggerlands. By the end of Felipe II's reign in 2793, there was no power able to match that of the Martellian empire, which had since expanded into Almere, as far west as Malm, and as far north as to border with the Menthian Principality. Throughout this entire period, which became known as the Pax Martellian, Bonitaña was at the heart of the realm, with many wondering how a further century of Bonitañan advancement would impact the balance between Bonitaña and Balancía.

Balancín Decline

The 29th century was far less favourable to the Balancín monarchy. For the first quarter of the century, the Pax Martellian continued strong, with the succession of Maximilian I in 2805. His reign was a peaceful and prosperous one. The reign of his father had helped rebuilt relations between the Iberian Throne and the Madrilene Empire, resulting in a dramatic increase in trade from the continent. This trade helped found ports along the northern sections of the Eastern Sea, eventually founding the trading ports of Zaandam (largely thanks to a large influx of Dutch traders from the continent). San Benito was founded shortly thereafter. Many began predicting a second Pax Martellian century, where the Iberian Throne would come to dominant the entirety of the Doggerlands. This, however, did not come to pass.

In 2821, Maximilian I's annus horribilis occurred, in which he was attacked during the Banquet Day revolution. The revolution ended the century-long subjugation of the Almere Valley and saw Rens McDowell installed as the republican revolutionary leader of Almere. Later in the same year, Maximilian and his daughters died of a mysterious illness that burned through the royal household. The Iberian Throne was inherited by Maximilian's young son, Juan. Juan's reign was dominated by the regency of his mother, Elisa Pius, whose mismanagement of the realm led to significant economic and geopolitical decline.

Throughout the years of Elisa Pius's mad rule, especially after the death of King Juan and Elisa's self-coronation as Elisa II, many in Bonitaña began to suggest independence from the Iberian Throne. The Bonitañan House of Martell had been deposed by the Balancín House of Pius, and her mismanagement was beginning to impact the Bonitañan centre of core economic activity. Some in Bonitaña began to call for an uprising and a Martellian restoration, with others abandoning the idea of monarchy as a stable form of government.

Pontifex Ivanov II authorised a crusade to depose Elisa Pius in 2840, which saw the Martellian Antonio Edmundo II installed as the new King. During the crusade, Bonitaña was a significant base of support for Antonio Edmundo. However, by this point, the damage had been done. Balancía's place in the Doggerlands was diminished and, while Antonio Edumundo spent his almost 20-year reign attempting to rebuild Pax Martellia, his efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. Matters were not helped by the significant debts incurred against the Iberian Throne during the reign of the House of Pius, and the additional debts incurred by the crusaders during the Martellian restoration. Bonitaña's economy recovered quickly, in part due to the growth of Zaandam and tourism in the Bulge area, but this was increasingly isolated from the Balancín economy, thanks in part to Bonitañan efforts to avoid a repeat of the Pius revolution. Antonio Edmundo's death in 2859 was a muted affair, as the Crown was keen to avoid incurring new debts. He was succeeded by his playboy son, Carlos V, who brought the realm further into bankruptcy with his profligacy. His successor, Alfonso II, was a very religious man, who didn't help matters as he indulged the clergy in matters of expense.

Reign & death of Isabel Martell

The reign of Queen Isabel brought the first monarchist era of Bonitaña to an end. Her support of democratic self-governance resulted in the growing anti-monarchist sentiments on Bonitaña to flourish, eventually leading to them winning elections in the state. The Bonitañan republican movement was distinct from the wider Balancín anti-establishment movement, for it was one of the political right. As the Balancín republicans turned to the Radical governments of left-wing socialists Marco Winn and Maximiliano Martinez, the Bonitañan republicans formed into the conservative United Bonitañan Party, led by Argyle Rego.

The United Bonitañan Party repeatedly won parliamentary victories in Bonitaña and Zaandam, though not enough to secure power in the wider Balancín context. They often flipped between supporting Winn and Martinez, for their republican stances, and supporting the Earl of Win de la Ross's Rook government for its conservatism. Eventually, Rego petitioned the Queen for autonomy for Bonitaña, which was granted in July 2939 after an additional victory for the UBP. The new system, as set up at the San Benito conference, would have the United Kingdom of Bonitaña and Zaandam established with Isabel as its Queen. Isabel would also rule as Queen of the reduced Balancía, appointing a royal commissioner to conduct her authority in one of her realms when she was in the other. Rego initially agreed to this set up, preferring the economic advantages of autonomy, and became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. However, his eyes were set for full republican independence.

Queen Isabel died in 2941, two years after the agreement at San Benito. Prime Minister Rego considered this to be a significant opportunity. Isabel was immensely popular, even among his own population. While she lived, a republican Bonitaña seemed unlikely. Rego celebrated her life, mourning her, attending her funeral, and committing to a full honour of her legacy within Bonitaña. A number of streets and locations were renamed in her honour, including Queen's Street, the Queen's Station, and Isabel province (renamed from Belenada province).

However, before the coronation of her successor, Felipe III, Rego objected to the continuation of the monarchy in Bonitaña. Queen Isabel had married Madrilene nobleman, and thus the royal house ceased to be the House of Martell upon the accession of Felipe III (it became the House of Caliban). In the eyes of many Bonitañans, this ended the royal house's claim to be a Bonitañan one. Rego capitalised on this, using it as a wedge to divide Bonitaña from the Iberian Throne. This succeeded when the United Bonitañan Party-controlled parliament voted to abolish the monarchy.

Felipe was crowned as king in July 2941 while refusing to acknowledge the now-republican Bonitaña. However, the San Benito agreement had separated the governments, removing the Balancín government's ability to intervene to protect the monarchy in Bonitaña. Furthermore, the conservative government of the Earl of Basque refused to go above and beyond to preserve Felipe's claim to be King of Bonitaña due to Balancía's continued economic issues, which had not subsided since the late 29th century. As such, the flame of Bonitaña's monarchy ended. Argyle Rego became the first President of Bonitaña.