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Charles I (Charles Murcia; born 7 October 2604) was King of the Rock for much of the latter half of the 2600s. Known as the Old King, Charles inherited the throne after the death of his nephew, Alfonso I. Having been born the younger brother of Philip I, Charles's accession to the throne was widely seen as a political operation, rather than an act of primogeniture inheritance (due to the fact that Alfonso had younger sisters). Despite this, Charles's role as Lord Keeper of the King's Seal during his nephew's reign helped solidify his position. Once he inherited the crown, he quickly became an effective and popular monarch. His reign saw the first peace with the Madrilene Empire since Balancín independence in 2640. Broadly, Charles reigned through prosperity for the Kingdom, including victory in the Mountain War, which helped establish the informal Balancín empire, which would dominate the east of the Doggerlands for the next 300 years.
The biggest controversy of his reign was the debate over the succession. King Charles's only child was Princess Elisa but, despite her being publicly designated as heir, many courtiers favoured her son, Prince Charles, who was quickly becoming a popular and capable military commander. Due to political manoeuvring, Elisa inherited the throne upon Charles's death at the age of 90.
Reign (2661 - 2695)
Accession and coronation
Following the news that King Alfonso I had died in a shipwreck, the Lord Keeper 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 Keeper 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 Keeper. 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.
Princess Cecilia's claim
The event that was widely considered to mark the end of Charles I's early reign was ignited when Princess Cecilia Murcia, the daughter of King Philip I and King Charles I's niece, returned to Balancía after an extended period in France on 20 June 2671. Princess Cecilia was King Philip's eldest daughter and some considered her to be a contender for the throne. Upon the death of King Alfonso, those supporters of the Princess were not present at the Pius-controlled Accession Council. However, upon her return to Balancía, as well as King Charles's declaration that he wished to see his daughter succeed him as Queen, ignited speculation because a) a woman could now inherit the throne, and b) Princess Cecilia was a more senior royal descendant.
Princess Cecilia found support primarily in those more ambitious houses that sought to displace the Pius-dominated court at Murcia Castle. Upon returning, she stationed herself at Talaga Castle along with her sister, Laurel, and wrote a declaration to the realm.
"To all those lords and ladies of the Rock who swore loyalty to my beloved father, I hereby lay claim to the Iberian Throne of Balancía."
King Charles did not make any comment on the matter at all. Lord Pius believed that a royal comment on the Princess's declaration would lend it legitimacy. However, House Pius declared an informal war on Princess Cecilia. Owing to House Pius's massive resources, they were able to raise a standing army to march on Talaga Castle. The siege lasted less than one month, before Lord Arthur of Talaga surrendered and gave up the Princess and her sister.
The rebellion formally ended when the Princess issued a statement on the steps of the Iberian Palace, pledging fealty to King Charles and renouncing the throne in perpetuity. Lord Pius's journals revealed that Princess Cecilia was threatened with execution by the Pius army. Despite the rebellion's short life, it created a precedent that undermined King Charles's ability to project power. After the rebellion, and for the rest of Lord Juan Pius's life, people perceived the true power in the Kingdom to be with House Pius and not House Murcia.
Pius's ill-health and death
Into the 2670s, Juan Pius's health began to decline. In 2674, he suffered a serious stroke and was absent from court. Later, in 2675, word got out that Lord Pius was refusing to eat. These reports were shocking to many, especially with the wide spread belief that Lord Pius was actually running the country. In reality, the 2670s gave King Charles the opportunity to govern independently - and he did so. In 2676, King Charles commissioned the construction of a new capitol, in what would become the Iberian Palace. In addition, he regularly addressed court by himself. He even considered forming a Parliament, though this wouldn't materialise until much later.
Pius's health recovered slightly between 2677 and 2679, during which time he returned to many of his duties. However, for the most part, his time was up. Pius's diaries noted the change in respect that people had for him. His position in court was dwindling as King Charles named more and more courtiers independently of Pius's influence.
The biggest crack in House Pius's power was the death of Lord Andre Pius in 2678. Lord Andre, Juan's older brother, was replaced as Lord and head of house by his 15-year old son, Marco. Without a clear leader, and with Juan's health in decline, many began to strongly believe that House Pius's apex was behind it.
Eventually, in early 2680, Juan Pius suffered a second major stroke. While he survived, he was severely debilitated. For the remainder of 2680 until his death in October, he was unable to speak. He died on 30 October 2680 at the age of 70 and was buried at Murcia Castle, as was requested in his will.
Pius's death was well prepared for, thanks to his series of strokes. King Charles named Sir Ricardo Dafydd to the position of Lord Keeper in 2680. However, many now strongly understood that King Charles intended to rule himself.
Charles's age
The death of Juan Pius created a general sense in court that the era of political figures that included King Philip I, Lord Juan Pius, and King Charles was coming to an end. This was joined by the fact that King Charles himself was very old. At the time of Juan Pius's death in 2680, King Charles was 76 years old.
While many were confident in his health - as he was, in fact, extremely fit and active - he gained the nickname the Old King and many began to plan for his succession. As it turned out, King Charles reigned until he was 90. But, before his death, the last big issue of his reign was the succession.
It was during his period that King Charles rebranded the monarchy. He changed his formal style to His Majesty King Charles and moved the court to the newly constructed Iberian Palace. Murcia Castle remained House Murcia's ancestral seat, as well as the Royal Family's summer home.
The Mountain War (2685)
The Mountain War broke out in the Almere mountains when several tribes of barbarians that lived in the region began to raid the outer farms of the Balancín realm. The war was brief but served as an opportunity for King Charles to demonstrate his ability to lead of the country. While the King did not lead soldiers into battle himself, his decisive leadership helped vacate the mountains of barbarians. In addition, it solidified Balancía as the firm power of the eastern Doggerlands.
The victory parade through the Iberian Palace was one of the largest events of his reign and would not be beaten in terms of crowd size until the coronation of Philip II in 2749.
The succession debate
Upon taking the throne, King Charles made the declaration that he wanted to see his daughter and only child, Elisa, succeed him as Queen of the Rock. Charles married Hyde Pius in 2656. However, before this, he had married the German Princess Anne, with whom he had a daughter, Elisa. After remarrying, it became quickly clear that Queen Hyde was unable to have more children. Thus, if the throne were to continue through Charles's lineage, it would have to go through Elisa.
Issues with this arose immediately. Firstly, many didn't support the throne passing to a woman. While the concept of male-only succession was floating around, it was not vocalised until Elisa was formally named as the heir to King Charles. The biggest proponent of this was Lord Ause Fallon, the Duke of Belemadena, who argued that the throne should pass through Elisa to her son, Charles.
The idea that the throne should skip over Elisa was not an unpopular one. Firstly, Elisa had struggled to gain many friends in court and her marriage to Maeron Martell of Sardinia annoyed many courtiers who would have strongly coveted the royal match. Prince Charles (Elisa's son) began to be groomed by many of those who supported the idea of skipping. Eventually, they formalised into the faction that became the Whigs.
Elisa was a very jealous woman. Having lived through much of the discrimination that women faced in the early years of Balancía, she began to believe that Charles himself was conspiring to usurp her throne. When Maeron Martell died in 2682, Elisa's abuse towards Charles became significant. She would often have her guards beat the Prince, and refused to give him food when he would be locked away in his chambers for days on end. Eventually, King Charles uncovered his grandson's mistreatment. He sent him away from court for his own protection, sending him to the Royal Navy for his education.
Divisions in court
The Lord Keeper during the initial period of contention was Sir Ricardo Dafydd. As one of the chosen successors of Lord Juan Pius, Dafydd seemed automatic in his support for King Charles's choice of heir. Upon taking the office in 2680, Dafydd began to organise the support in opposition to Lord Ause Fallon's attempts to rally support for supplanting Elisa. Dafydd's faction in court was the largest and Elisa gained confidence from Dafydd's advice and counsel. Supporters of Elisa's claim became known as the Rooks, named after the Chess piece and its symbolism with castles.
Dafydd's position as Lord Keeper was significantly weaker than that of Lord Juan Pius. He was not a member of the nobility and rose to prominence as an advisor to House Pius on commerce affairs. As House Pius's power continued to dwindle in court, so did Dafydd's leadership of the court, especially given the King's reducing health and thus the increasing emphasis on the role of the Lord Keeper.
In reaction to the creation of the Rook faction, the Whigs, led by Lord Ause Fallon, formalised their faction into the Whigs - named after a term of general reformers. Historians believe that Fallon chose the term "Whig" to avoid associations with sexism and misogyny, but instead wishing to be seen as reformers and progressives.
Fall of the Rooks
The dominance of the Rooks in court was short lived. When much of the court uncovered Elisa's mistreatment of her son Charles, support for her claim began to fall. Initially, it was minor fluctuations such as the resignation of the Lord Spiritual over Elisa's comments. Eventually, however, as support continued to fall, Dafydd seemed unable to govern effectively. The sole issue of the court come the fall of 2685, after the Balancín victory in the Mountain War, was the succession, and Dafydd's association with the Rooks made him increasingly unpopular.
On 1 November 2685, Dafydd was ambushed by courtiers in the halls of the Iberian Palace. The Whig courtiers demanded Dafydd to explain why he was ignoring Princess Elisa's track record of abuse. Reports suggest that many of them turned violent, only to suggest that it represented what the Kingdom would become should she succeed King Charles to the throne. As tensions rose, it became clear to Dafydd that his lack of nobility left him unable to confidently navigate the crisis. He feared that his continuation in his post would contribute to a war for the succession, something that he, and most Rooks, wanted to avoid.
On the same day as his ambush, Dafydd resigned as Lord Keeper of the King's Seal. King Charles was angry by Dafydd's decision and tried to convince him to remain in post. However, Dafydd's decision was firm and he left court that same evening alongside his wife and son. King Charles sent three letters to Dafydd, requesting his return to court. None of the letters were followed by Dafydd's return.
King Charles's health was weak in 2685. At the age of 80, he was struggling to maintain even his own level of work. In the absence of a Lord Keeper, that workload looked set to increase. Thus, a replacement was essential for the effective continuation of Charles's government. He did consider appointing his grandson, Prince Charles, after his success as a Commander during the Mountain War. However, he recognised that such an appointment would create the impression that he was beginning to favour Charles over his own heir, Elisa.
Ultimately, King Charles elected to appoint the person who seemed to hold the broadest base of support in court - that of Lord Ause Fallon, the leader of the Whigs. Lord Fallon became Lord Keeper on 3 November 2685. His appointment was a clear victory for the Whigs, whose base in court was only growing as the 2680s reached their conclusion.
Lord Fallon's leadership and parliamentarianism
As King Charles's health continued to reduce his ability to work, the Lord Keeper's position was growing in power. Eventually, by 2887, the Lord Keeper was presiding over sessions of the court exclusively. The Whigs were now the clear majority in court and courtiers were switching over to Fallon's side. Prince Charles, the King's grandson and the Whig's preferred successor, was also in an increasingly powerful position as Lord High Admiral from 2888. In contrast, Princess Elisa was becoming so isolated in court that she eventually moved to Murcia Castle, where her Rook allies were more properly able to plan without the interference of the Whigs.
Lord Ause Fallon's tenure as Lord Keeper saw the first discussion of the creation of a formalised Parliament be raised. The Whigs, and Fallon in particular, wished to see the Accession Council formalised into a House of Parliament, with a second, General Court, established for other operational functions. King Charles was reportedly open to the idea and Lord Fallon began to make preparations for its establishment.
The biggest set-back in the creation of a Parliament was the death of Lord Fallon, who was killed in a duel with Sir Vyman Vox in 2691.
The Princess Regent and the Earl of Basque
By the time of Lord Fallon's death, King Charles was entirely unable to function without significant assistance. At the age of 86, the King went through significant periods of being unable to speak and walk. With the death of his Lord Keeper, King Charles had to name a replacement - a task that he was simply unable to do independently.
In light of his condition, King Charles ordered for his daughter, the Princess Elisa, to return from Murcia Castle to assist him as regent. King Charles signed a royal charter, known as the Regency Charter of 2691, in which he signed over many executive functions to his daughter. Notably, the regency in this form did not include powers of law, succession, or military command. It was primarily for appointments and, where necessary, organising the court. Princess Elisa became known as the Princess Regent.
In her first act as Princess Regent, Elisa named Lord Vic de Vigo, the Earl of Basque, to the position of Lord Keeper. Basque was a Rook and the appointment angered the Whig majority in court. However, despite their previous seemingly dominant position, the King's decision to name Elisa as the Princess Regent was perceived as a major setback to the Whig cause. Elisa now had the authority and the control of the Iberian Palace to put herself in a prime position to succeed in the event of the King's death.
The Earl of Basque's tenure as Lord Keeper was dominated by the Princess Regent's reshaping of the royal court. She was ruthless in her dealings with Whig courtiers. Known as the 'carrot and the stick' policy, she both attracted courtiers over to the Rook faction, and punished Whig loyalists who refused to pledge their support to her. By 2695, Princess Elisa was able to overturn the Whig control of the court to where it was, virtually, a stalemate.
During the period in which the Earl of Basque was Lord Keeper, the Princess Elisa refused to meet privately with her son, Prince Charles. As their relationship completely broke down, and as the King's health continued to decline, many were fearing the outbreak of civil war.
The kingly recovery
Known as "the Kingly Recovery", the period just before King Charles's death was characterised by a sudden and unexpected return to health. In the summer of 2695, King Charles surprised many by entering the throne room while the Princess Regent was addressing the court. Reports from the time suggest that the King seemed relatively youthful and smiling. He walked without assistance and spoke without pause.
Recognising his return to health, the King re-instated his own powers and dismissed the Earl of Basque as Lord Keeper. Many have speculated that Prince Charles, King Charles's favourite, convinced him to name a Whig successor to help mediate the divided court. Others, however, believe that King Charles had some grudge against the Earl of Basque after (unsubstantiated) reports that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with the Princess Elisa during the regency.
Whatever the reason, King Charles had dismissed the Rook Lord Keeper and named Geoffrey Albares, the childhood best friend of Prince Charles to the position of Lord Keeper. Albares was seen by many as a puppet of Prince Charles and so a short burst of hope was ignited into the Whig cause.
Death
With the belief that King Charles had returned to health, Prince Charles left court on 20 June 2695 to ride for Rock's End. The reason for his departure is not entirely documented, though many have speculated it was in an attempt to convince Lord Bovril over to the Whig cause. Most historians agree, however, that the decision was disastrous.
On the night of 27 June 2695, King Charles collapsed in his study at the Iberian Palace. He was alone, until the early hours of 28 June when he was found by his primary physician. He died in the early hours of 28 June with his daughter, Princess Elisa, by his side. Charles was buried the same day without a state funeral, a sign of disrespect that would characterise the reign of his successor.