Mundane Politics
The kingdom of England is a state of turmoil. Decades of upheaval and war have caused many shifts in the kingdom's fortunes. Most recently, the King of France's invasion and withdrawal and King John's death have left the kingdom in the hands of a minor, King Henry III (b. 1207). As a result, many barons refuse to heed to the Regency in place, leaving England, Wales, and parts of Ireland without a strong leader and many headstrong local nobility. \
Governance
Church and King
Kingdom of England
- Monarch: King Henry III of England, 1216-1272
Principality of Powys Wenwynwyn
- Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd and Powys Wenwynwyn, 1173-1240
- Deuddwr Commote
- Village of Melverly (Nova Semitae)
Roman Catholic Church
- Province of Canterbury > Diocese of St. Asaph > Archdeaconry of St. Asaph > Deanery of Poole
- Pope: Honorius III, 1216-1227; Gregory IX (1227-1241)
- Archbishop of Canterbury: Cardinal Stephen Langton, 1207-1228
- Bishop of St. Asaph: Bishop Abraham 1225-1233
- Archdeacon of St. Asaph: None, 1210-1230; David, 1231–1240
- Deanery of Poole: Unknown
- Parish of Melverley: No permanently assigned priest
Local
Village of Melverley
- Overlord: Lady Angharad ferch Madog
- Manor Holder: Sir William Cornwell
- Council of Magi
- Autocrat: Josef ben Gavrel
The Covenant's Overlord
The covenant has resolved the issue of its place in the feudal society. This came about due to the marriage of Geoffrey of Jerbiton to Angharad of Wales. During their marriage, Prince Llewlwyn exchanged some land with the Prince of Powys Fadog. In doing so, he created Angharad as the new overlord of this land, which included the land the covenant lies upon.
Angharad, in turn, granted some of it upon Sir William of Cornwell as his fief, receiving his fealty and homage in return. Sir William then split the land keeping some of himself, but granting the land already settled by the covenant to the Council of Members. In this way, a definitive chain of overlords extending up through Llewlwyen the Great now exists, with taxes being paid upwards. The covenant is now firmly a part of Wales, even if it does open it up to more direct meddling and politicking.
The Covenant's Bishop
Much like how the covenant sits at the border of two temporal lords, it also sits at the conjunction of three bishoprics: two English, one Welsh. To the west is the Welsh bishopric of St. Asaph's; to the northeast is the Bishopric of Chester; to the southwest is the bishopric of Hereford. The bishoprics of St. Asaph's and Hereford fall under the archdiocese of Canterbury, while the bishopric of Chester falls under the archdiocese of York.
Exactly who the covenant will answer to will depend on which way they decide to go with their feudal lord and how they decide their politics with the local clergy. While it may be possible to choose, say, a Welsh lord and an English diocese, it would introduce additional complications in their mundane relationships.
The Landless Knights
The covenant is home to several landless knights who have followed various magi to Conventus Muri. Of the four, two are already part of the Anglo-Norman system of knighthood, Sir William and Sir Daniele. There are two foreign knights, Ritter Sigmund and Sir Jusef, from Germany and Poland, respectively. Sir William was an heir to his father's holdings, but he passed away while William was on Crusade. The baron has since dispossessed William of the manors due to no heirs stepping up. Sir William is the most likely to succeed in a claim for a manor, though he has not yet had any luck contacting the baron.
Sir Daniele was ostensibly sent from Normandy to serve a distant relation to the baron who knighted him, but said relation had since died out and been dispossessed of his manors as well. Since he is not welcome back home, he is a knight-errant in search of a lord to serve.
Ritter Sigmund and Sir Jusef are effectively knight-errants, as their knighting was not done through the Anglo-Norman system so it is unlikely that they would receive manors short of exceptional service to a local lord.
Sir William
Sir William, being a veteran of the Crusades, could possibly approach the Church for a manor. Both nearby monasteries and Templar Knights have manors willed to them by lords wishing to hasten their time in Purgatory. They might be willing to grant one or more of them to a pious Crusader who has returned.
Sir Jusef
Sir Jusef, being a foreigner, has little chance of gaining a manor, unless he does something very mighty for the Church or a temporal Lord. His primary intention is to protect and "make a Lady" of his cousin Veloxia.
Timeline of the British Isles
While the PCs do not know this, the following are expected to follow real-world events. Included are Jewish-population events due to the covenant's population.
- 1219-1272 - 49 separate levies on Jews are imposed, raising some 200,000 marks for the Crown, and exorbitant amount of money
- 1228-1229 - The Sixth Crusade begins
- 1231 - Simon de Montfort expels all Jews from Leicester and annuls all debts owed to Jews by his subjects
- 1235 - Famine strikes England resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths through starvation. London alone suffers 20,000 dead
- 1237 - Border between Scotland and England established by the Treaty of York
- 1240 - Death of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great), prince of Wales; Dafydd ap Llywelyn accedes to the throne of Gwynedd
- 1246 - Death of Dafydd ap Llywelyn; Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (Llywelyn the Last) accedes to the throne of Gwynedd (he does not claim the title of prince of Wales until 1258)
- 1248-1254 - The Seventh Crusade begins
- 1252-1253 - The driest back-to-back years ever. London and the south of England are particularly hard-hit with heat and drought, resulting in many deaths due to starvation and heat stroke.
- 1253 - Jews are forbidden from settling in towns where a jewish community does not already exist
- 1255 - King Henry III sells the Jewish community to his brother, Richard of Cornwall, for 5,000 marks and loses control of them for one year.
- 1261 - The University of Northampton is founded, only to be shut down in 1265 after bishops and magnates petitioned the King, believing it threatened Oxford and Cambridge.
- 1264-1267 - Simon de Montfort leads rebel English barons to defeat Henry III at the Battle of Lewes; start of the Second Barons' War
- 1267 - Henry III of England recognizes the authority of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in Wales
- 1270-1272 - The Eighth and Ninth Crusades begin
- 20 November 1272 - Edward I (Edward Longshanks) assumes the throne of England
- 1275 - Statue of the Jewery is passed, outlawing usury and giving Jews 15 years to adjust from one of the few ways they could make money.
- 1275-1307 - Edward I calls together knights, clergy, and burghers to advise him, forming the first parliaments
- 1275 - An informal parliament passes the First Statute of Westminster
- 1277 - England annexes Wales, a state of affairs which lasted until 1283
- 1279 - Statute of Mortmain
- 1282 - Death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, prince of Wales; Dafydd ap Gruffudd accedes to the throne of Gwynedd
- 1283 - Death of Dafydd ap Gruffudd; English conquest of Wales
- 1285 - An informal parliament passes the Second Statute of Westminster
- 1287 - Revolt of Rhys ap Maredudd in Wales
- 1290 - An informal parliament passes the Quia Emptores, or Third Statute of Westminster
- 18 July 1290 - Edict of Explusion - All Jews are banished from England, Wales, and English-controlled Ireland. Many Jews emigrate to France and the Netherlands, and to countries such as Poland, which at that time protected them (see Statute of Kalisz).
- 1294 - Revolt of Madog ap Llywelyn in Wales
- 1295 - Scotland and France sign a mutual self-defense pact against England (Auld Alliance)
- 1295 - Edward I calls together what will become known as the Model Parliament
- 1297 - William Wallace and the Scots defeat the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge