» Sun May 01, 2011 8:59 pm The Lorddom of Anticlere
An exploration of the history, traditions, military and politics, as written by Voltaire du Guesclin
History
A scholar who would wish to appreciate the history of one of the lesser known Iliac powers should search the vast records of the Imperial Library not for Anticlere, but for Reich Gradkeep. Indeed, the renaming of Anticlere is a relatively recent event, tied directly to the War of Betony. The last lord of the Graddock Bloodline tried to end the war by facilitating a peace between the Kings of Sentinel and Daggerfall; however, during the meeting a conflict of some sort occurred between the two Kings and their retinues, and the end was, predictably, bloody.
The Riot of Reich Gradkeep was effectively the end of the Graddock Bloodline. The only remaining heir to the throne was Lord Graddock's sickly infant son, however the boy was obviously not yet fit to rule, thus Lord Graddock's cousin, Auberon Flyte, was turned towards with an offer to act as a regent in Reich Gradkeep until the boy came of age. Auberon was so successful and effective as a regent that, once the boy's inevitable death occurred, the people of Reich Gradkeep pleaded him to become their new Lord. Upon Auberon's acceptance, the nobles and peasants alike elected that Reich Gradkeep was to be renamed after their new Lord's ancestral home ? Anticlere.
Unfortunately, this tragic event and change of dynasties is the only well-documented event in the entire history of Anticlere. A careful scholar, however, could make out at least bits of information about Anticlere before the War of Betony. 'The Fall of the Usurper' would be one such source. While it barely touches upon Anticlere (then Reich Gradkeep), it is possible to make out several things from the brief mention: 'The primary powers of the Bay were ruled by particularly inept monarchs . The Lord of Reich Gradkeep (now Anticlere) was deathly ill through 266 and finally died at the end of the year. There were, in short, no leaders to unite the province against the Usurper.'
Firstly, it is made clear from this that Reich Gradkeep outdates at least some of the other Bretic Duchies in its founding. When Dwynnen was, supposedly, just freed from the undead rule, Reich Gradkeep was already firmly established, and, although with an ill Lord, was one of the major powers of the Iliac Bay, with enough political importance to be one of the few candidates to unite High Rock against Camoran Usurper. Indeed, the fact that the Lord of Reich Gradkeep could bring the Kings of Sentinel and Daggerfall to the table seems to indicate that, before the Riot (which, undoubtedly, did away with at least a part of the power of Anticlere), the Lorddom had, if not impressive military power, then definitely enough political power.
Politics
Currently, with the recent death of Auberon Flyte, Anticlere is ruled by his son, Manfred Flyte. The new Lord was met with the love and admiration of his subjects upon taking up the title of Flyte of Anticlere, undoubtedly thanks to the strong and decisive reign of his father, who managed to lead Anticlere out of the chaos left behind by the Riot of Reich Gradkeep.
Manfred's come to power, however, was not entirely unopposed. His mother, Lady Doryanna Flyte, strongly opposed her son, seeing as it meant that the power she enjoyed in the last few years of Auberon Flyte's reign (after the Lord so unfortunately contracted Guedoilic Plague) would come to an end. However, Manfred showed that he wasn't afraid to go against his own mother to seize his birthright (many attribute this to the fact he had been mostly raised by his father, and had taken up the same disdain for Doryanna that Auberon had for her) by exposing (supposedly by showing love letters written by both of them in the Council of Nobles) Doryanna's affair with the guildmaster of the Thieves' Guild in Anticlere. The people, who could already see a second Auberon within Manfred, backed his claim to the throne up, and Doryanna was banished from the realm by his order. Many thought that this was too harsh a punishment; however the people could not linger on it for a long amount of time, due to the strike of the Oblivion Crisis throughout the entirety of Tamriel.
Manfred proved himself a good leader through the Crisis, further reinforcing his power. Anticlere came through the ordeal largely unscathed, even though Anticlerian soldiers fought in numbers at Wayrest, headed by their Lord himself. Notably, no soldiers of Anticlere were present during the innumerable skirmishes against the Daedra in Daggerfall, which seems to reinforce the public opinion that the Flyte Bloodline would not be as sympathetic towards Daggerfall as the Graddocks were.
Currently, Anticlere's relationships with her neighbors could be best described as 'Bretic'. No military alliances bond Anticlere with any neighboring Duchy, and trade agreements were forged extremely reluctantly and mostly because of the East Empire Trading Company's continued insistence on the subject.
King Gothryd is reported to be not that pleased with the current behavior of the Anticlerian armed forces, and to consider the Kingdom and the Lorddom to be on friendly terms would be much too optimistic. As is traditional in High Rock, tensions are very high.
Military
The military of Anticlere is not particularly notable, however nothing to scoff at. Perhaps the greatest difference from the other Iliac Duchies would be the prevalence of infantry; a Bretic touch is felt about this too, though, since the foot troops of Anticlere are mostly heavily armored.
Most of Anticlere's military traditions derive from the fact that, before the coming of Auberon Flyte and the forming of a semi-regular army, Anticlere's forces consisted mostly of citizen militias. Those militias are referred to as 'Pikes', obviously because this weapon is very popular amongst the militias, being highly effective against mounted troops, relatively easy to use with little training, and prefect for holding narrow locations against forces superior in number.
Despite the popularity of the pike amongst the citizen militias, it is not a weapon used in the official army. It has been eclipsed by another traditional weapon of Anticlerians ? the arbalest. Being similarly easy to use, and frighteningly effective, in the Iliac Bay it's a distinguishing feature of a campaigning Anticlerian army; this is due to the fact most of the Bretic Duchies employ more numerous bowmen.
The Anticlerian generals, while almost exclusively nobles as is usual in High Rock, have different roots than most other nobles of the Bretic Duchies; in fact, many of the noble families of Anticlere are descended from wealthy and influential citizen families of old. Thus, they have very little prejudices against the use of arbalests and other similar weapons. Auberon Flyte's ideas, which could be called 'new fashioned' at very least, have led to the fact that a very large part of the Anticlerian foot troops carry either crossbows or arbalests.
On the other hand, this approach to their armed forces has left Anticlere with a comparatively underdeveloped cavalry arm. While still fearsome, as is traditional for Bretic cavalry, the Anticlerian horse usually plays a secondary role compared to other armies, and does not frequently engage other Bretic cavalry head on. Instead, the cavalry of Anticlere is trained to act as the eyes and ears of the army, and is a handy tool for any Anticlerian general that would find himself in a good situation to stage an ambush, as, due to the lack of a knightly element to most of the cavalrymen, the Anticlerian horse on a general level is much easier to control than the knights of the other Bretic Duchies, and the simple horseman does not consider it above himself to take part in a 'treacherous' ambush.
The military of Anticlere has attracted quite a bit of attention in the last years, at least amongst their neighbors; mostly, the new Flyte Army is scoffed at for the 'commoner' attitude of both the majority of the troops and the generals, and lack of a strong cavalry arm; however the prevalence of infantry has not gone unnoticed too, and although the Anticlerian army is no worse than any other in the north side of the Iliac, it's considered by other Bretic generals to be 'improper'.
The naval traditions of Anticlere are also strong, due to the Anticlerians' affinity for trade, something that they share with Wayrest. Although the East Empire Trading Company is currently strangling most of the trade in the Iliac, the navy of Anticlere is still a potent force, patrolling the long and twisting shore and rooting out pirates. The strong infantry traditions of the Lorddom have also helped Anticlere gain an edge against some of the other Bretic Duchies, not used to fielding an effective force to fight on foot.
Tradition
The traditions of Anticlere are different from most other Bretic Duchies, as is reflected by their approach to warfare. One notable difference would be the increased influence and numbers of the members of the middle class, and the glaring differences of the noble class, including the nearly total absence of knights in Anticlere.
Although no great changes have been brought into Anticlere by Auberon Flyte, it could appear so to the common eye. That would hail from the fact that, following the Riot of Gradkeep, many eyes were observing Auberon and how he went about ruling his new land; thus, the many differences of Anticlere showed then. Anticlere could be considered much closer to Wayrest than to Daggerfall, because, like the peoples of Wayrest, Anticlerians value trade highly, and prefer not to linger on the past ? mostly because the past is nothing to look back to for them.
With Auberon's coming, the influence of the middle class has grown quite a bit. Whereas previously the Council of Nobles, which served no particular function to the Lord besides as advisors, was elected by the nobility (thus the wealthiest citizens), all the citizens now have a say in who represents their city in the Council, thus also deciding who rules it, as tradition dictates that the Council of Nobles act as the rulers of the cities of Anticlere, with the Lord ruling the capital in a similar fashion.
This move of Auberon has done much to tilt the scales in the favor of the citizenry, and turned the Council into a valuable tool for securing public order ? while the Council does not have much real power, except for governing cities, the commoners now generally feel like their most beloved nobles have a say in the ruling of Anticlere; additionally, the citizens also benefit because the most influential noble families of the city now compete amongst themselves to gain the support of the citizens, by gifts and by promises, which ensures the well-being of the middle class because, in order to stay powerful, a noble has not only to promise, but also to act.
The lowering importance of the noble classes, the increasing power of the citizenry and the near-absolute power the Flytes of Anticlere enjoy over their Lorddom is somewhat frightening to the other rulers of the Iliac. Auberon has even dared to go as far as to turn the knightly order of Anticlere, the Knights of the Flame, into a completely military organization, professional soldiers that live off of wages paid directly from the treasury of the capital. Mostly, the Knights of the Flame are either landless nobles from other Bretic Duchies, looking for a profitable service, or some of the very few landowners that rule smaller villages and fortresses outside the major cities ? the nobles in the traditional sense. The number of the knights is kept strictly at a hundred at all times, since such a force is a great luxury (one that seems to pay off, though, as the constant drilling apparently made away with the impetuous folly of the knights, making them a small, but highly effective shock unit of heavy cavalry).
Anticlere is somewhat of a confederation ? a very close union of city-states, ruled by nobles that hail from the citizenry themselves. However, there is no question as to who is the ruler of the Lorddom, as Auberon has made sure to leave little military power to the rulers of his cities ? the true army of Anticlere can be commanded only by generals assigned by the Flyte of Anticlere himself, or directly by the Flyte of Anticlere. However, the Pikes are free to be ordered around by the nobles that assembled and outfitted them. Each city has an individual treasury, a percentage of which goes into the treasury of the capital every month. The remaining money is at the ruler's discretion, although Auberon made sure that each and every member of the Council knew that they couldn't hire mercenaries or raise more troops than specified for it.
One notable recent happening in Anticlere would be the uncovering of a vein of silver in the north-east of Anticlere. Dubbed 'the Silver Spine of Anticlere', the mine is under the control and protection of Flyte of Anticlere, although the East Empire Company has made sure that not a tiny speck of silver could be exported or put to use without their consent.
Overall, Anticlere could be described as a power on the rise; although it is not a major player of the Iliac yet, with the decline of Daggerfall in High Rock, and the rise of Wayrest, it can't be predicted what shall happen with this land. Its traditions in most things are fairly different from most other Bretic Duchies, and Auberon Flyte has left an impressive amount of power for his son.
-Voltaire du Guesclin
