A political history of Balancía

This page shall document the political history of Balancía from the reign of King Alfonso I in 2655. For the history prior to this, see the page which documents the reign of King Philip I.

Reign of King Alfonso I (2655 - 2661)

See also Alfonso I

Accession

Alfonso's accession to the throne marked a major victory for King Philip I's Murcian dynasty. Philip I had reigned for fifteen years, throughout which the future wasn't entirely certain. Some members of court believed that Balancía should rejoin the Madrilene Empire following Philip's death, while others began to consider alternative forms of government. Philip marked in his will that he wished for his son, Alfonso, to succeed him as King. In addition to his will, Philip created the procedure for an Accession Council (a practice that exists to this day) which was filled with pro-monarchist ministers. The Accession Council was responsible for acting on Philip's behalf after his death.

The Accession Council met at Murcia Castle after Philip's death on 1 August 2655. Alfonso was residing at Pembroke at the time. Chaired by Lord Juan Pius, the Accession Council's responsibility was to proclaim the new King, as well as inform Alfonso of the death of the crown. Reports from the first Accession Council are hotly debated. However, the general consensus among historians is that the Council was more contested than Philip had originally intended.

Despite filling the Council with pro-monarchists, not all members who wholly convinced of Alfonso's ability to adequately succeed his father. During Philip I's reign, Alfonso made public declarations which suggested that his interests laid in academics rather than governance. Indeed, Alfonso's own diaries have since confirmed this, with them confirming that his life seemed "destined" to be spent in the histories. While no record exists, the most likely contender for King aside from Alfonso would have been Philip I's brother, Lord Carlos. Carlos Murcia, as the younger son of King Philip, served in a number of key ministerial positions in his court. Lord Carlos was Minister for the Crown, a position which made him the most powerful minister in the country. Philip's decision to name Lord Pius as head of the Accession Council has been interpreted as a mistrust on the part of Philip.

Despite this, the Accession Council, led by Lord Juan Pius, sent word to Pembroke and Alfonso rode for Murcia Castle. He was formally proclaimed His Grace King Alfonso, King of the Rock the next day. He was crowned on 3 November 2655.

Reluctance

Alfonso's desire to spend his time studying history and supporting the development of Pembroke University was not mitigated by his reign nor his coronation. In the first month of his reign, he only spent the night at Murcia Castle (the home of the court and government) on the night before and night of his coronation. Aside from that, he resided almost entirely at Pembroke. In an attempt to mitigate the impact of this on the general function of the government, King Alfonso made the unprecedented decision to vest his legal authority in another individual.

Alfonso created the office of Lord Keeper of the King's Seal, commonly referred to as the Lord Seal. In the royal charter which was signed only 2 days after his coronation, Alfonso granted the Lord Seal "the powers temporal of the King of the realm and henceforth the right to speak with the King's wisdom and voice". He named Lord Juan Pius to the position.

As Pius ran the court, Alfonso studied at Pembroke. Throughout his almost six year reign, Alfonso only ever signed laws that were placed in front of him by his Lord Seal. These laws included the Carriageway Act of 2657, which consolidated authority for building and maintaining new carriageways into the government, and the Treasury Act of 2659 which created a centralised treasury aside from the Crown's own treasuries.

Courtship

The biggest issue of Alfonso I's reign was the issue of his marriage, or lack thereof. As he entered the second year of his reign, the pressure on the King to marry was growing. Many, especially Lord Pius himself, were cautious over increasing the amount of power in the Accession Council. Some feared that the monarchy would devolve into an elected position, with the Accession Council choosing the successor if no obvious candidate presented themselves. In addition, there were fears that the King's will would become an unreliable source of finding the successor. Thus, a royal line needed to be produced.

Several Royal Balls were organised by Lord Pius, with the aim of finding the King a match that he would be well suited towards. It was readily apparent that Lord Pius was promoting his own daughter, Lady Hyde Pius, as a contender for the King's wife. Because of this, as well as his general reluctance to engage in court at all, Alfonso was reluctant to attend the balls. Ultimately, there were six balls between 2656 and 2658, none of which resulted in a royal marriage.

Since his death, there has been speculation into why King Alfonso was so unwilling to marry a lady of the court. At the time, it seemed to be believed that Alfonso associated the politicking of the court with the ladies. If he had married one of them, his personal life would be absorbed into the fray of internal politics. Some arguments since his death have suggested that his reluctance to marry was born out of an asexuality that Alfonso presented in much of his time at Pembroke University. There are no reports at all of Alfonso ever engaging in sexual activity with anybody, and no relationships have ever been uncovered.

Eventually, in October 2658, Alfonso dismissed Lord Juan Pius from his position of Lord Seal. The announcement came as a shock to much of the court, as Pius was managing the show. While some feared that Alfonso would begin governing for himself, this was quickly relieved as King Alfonso appointed his uncle, Lord Carlos Murcia, as the new Lord Seal.

Formal records from the court of King Alfonso I are rare. The most famous text, written by Lord Carlos's squire, seems to suggest that Alfonso's decision was born out of a frustration with Lord Pius and his insistence of marriage. Perhaps this was because Pius was relentless in pursuing his own daughter as Queen, or perhaps a general fear of an heirless succession. Regardless, Lord Pius left court and would not return for two years.

Death

King Alfonso's reign continued without interference from the King himself. Lord Carlos seamlessly continued the administration of Lord Pius and, likely due to his own standing as a potential successor of the King, Lord Carlos didn't push the matter of marriage very strongly. During this time, Lord Carlos married Lady Hyde after the death of his first wife, a German duchess called Anne, in 2656.

In late 2660, after his five-year anniversary on the throne, Alfonso announced his decision to attend a parlay with academics from the University of Madrid. Earlier in the year, Alfonso College had been established and Alfonso was seriously considering taking up role as Master of the University. Lord Carlos, who was Lord Seal at the time, advised that Alfonso not take the journey, which led to him being replaced with Lord Juan Pius. Lord Pius too advised the King not go on the six month expedition. However, he did not press the issue. King Alfonso departed Balancía on 1 December 2660. He spent the following six months in Madrid, where it is believed he was influenced heavily by Emperor Hadrian of the Madrilene Empire. Some feared that, upon his return, King Alfonso would try to push for Balancía's return to the Empire. Whatever the truth of this belief, fate intervened. On the sea journey back to the Doggerlands, a major storm in the Atlantic caused Alfonso's ship to sink. Alfonso's body was never recovered and it is believed that he died while trying to swim to one of the surviving ships in his flotilla.

Reign of (2661 - 2695)

See also: Charles I

Accession and coronation

Following the news that King Alfonso I had died in a shipwreck, the Lord Seal Juan Pius immediately called for an Accession Council. Since Alfonso's death was unexpected, the Council was rather incomplete. The previous year, King Alfonso had dismissed Lord Carlos Murcia as Lord Seal over his opposition to his planned trip to Madrid University. Along with Lord Carlos, four other senior ministers of the crown resigned. By the time of Alfonso's death, they were still yet to be replaced. The Accession Council was only half filled. Yet, it immediately made the proclamation that Lord Carlos, King Philip's brother and King Alfonso's uncle, would succeed as His Grace King Charles Murcia.

He was quickly crowned at a coronation alongside his wife. This became the first coronation in Balancín history to crown a King alongside a Queen. Queen Hyde Pius was the daughter of the Lord Seal. King Charles's accession was a big boost in power for House Pius. Lord Juan was the younger brother of Lord Andre Pius and thus had the ear of the richest House in the Kingdoms. Charles I's early reign reflected this power dynamic.

Early reign

Although Charles played a significantly more active role in government than his nephew did before him, he still relied significantly on Lord Juan for many aspects of government. Although the pair had a contentious relationship following their years of competing for power in the courts of King Philip and King Alfonso, they were remarkably well matched. Significantly, Charles promoted better record keeping than during the reign of his predecessors and so much of the relationship between the pair were, to some extent or another, documents after Charles's coronation.

King Charles and Lord Juan's relationship reached its apex in 2664 when the pair promoted new tariffs on trade with the Madrilene Empire. The tariffs themselves weren't economically significant as they concerned the trade of ivory, which was hardly a significant market in Balancía. However, it represented a significant victory for Charles and Balancía as a whole. The new tariffs was linked with the signing of the Madrilene Peace, which was the first peace agreement signed between Balancía and the Madrilene Empire since the Balancín War for Independence almost twenty years prior. It is said that Lord Juan was significant in the negotiation of the treaty and his victory won him significant respect from the King.

Queen Hyde and the Lorenz Affair

The early reign was also characterised by the role of Queen Hyde. Queen Hyde was the daughter of Lord Juan and thus was heavily influenced by him. Lord Juan's diaries, which were discovered in 2705 during a formal accounting of Pius House, recorded many meetings between Lord Juan and the Queen in which they discussed a whole range of matters that the Queen would not typically be privy to. One such matter that seemed to garner significant attention at the time of its uncovering was the Lorenz Affair. Lord Vinick Lorenz was the Lord High Admiral during the early reign but, in 2666, it was uncovered that he was engaging in an extramarital affair with Lady Beesbery, the wife of the Lord High Steward.

The Lorenz Affair infuriated King Charles, who was a close friend to Lord Wyman Beesbery (the Lord High Steward) from childhood. The records of the King's Council from the day it was revealed to court showed the King demanding Lorenz's resignation as Lord High Admiral. While Lord Juan was able to calm King Charles enough to wait 24 hours before proceeding with a public dismissal of Lord Lorenz, he was unable to convince the King to keep Lorenz in post. Lorenz was a close political ally of House Pius and his dismissal would have been embarrassing for Lord Andre Pius, as well as a weakening of their control of the court.

After the meeting of the King's Council, Lord Juan held a private audience with his daughter, Queen Hyde. In the meeting, they discussed the affair and the importance of keeping Lorenz in post as Lord High Admiral. After the discussion, it is widely believed that Queen Hyde spoke with King Charles. After their discussion, King Charles gave up on his insistence to dismiss Lord Lorenz. Instead, Lord Beesbery was compensated with a knighthood for his son. The affair was seldom mentioned in court after the incident.