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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rhineglade" data-source="post: 6784287" data-attributes="member: 6801931">House of BalewineThe current royal house of Meridia is the House of Balewine, a relative newcomer to the world stage having come to power only in the last 70 years or so.  Balewine began its dominance in Meridian politics with the ascension of Count Eadric Balewine of Squiregate.  When the previous king, Eadric II of House Vesperia, died leaving no legitimate male heirs, the throne passed to his distant cousin the Count of Squiregate, a direct-male descendant of Oeric II of Meridia.  Count Eadric was crowned King Eadric III on the 27th of Coldstead, 1594.  Frequently called 'Good King Eadric,' the new king helped to unite a number of factions throughout the kingdom.  As a northern lord, it was generally thought the new king would likewise help strengthen the ties between the North and the South but many of the northern houses remain distrustful of the Royal House of Balewine though perhaps not as openly aggressive.Eadric III's first marriage was to Princess Moira of Vesperia, youngest sister to the previous three kings.  The new Queen was well known for her legendary beauty and sense of fashion and brought culture to the royal court but the union was not a happy one.  The couple never consummated the marriage as far as historians know, and the queen was thought to have had numerous liaisons on the side.  The queen was imprisoned for a time before being banished from the court and the marriage annulled.  Eadric then married a Trytherian princess, the wealthy heiress Mairwen Silverthorn of Trytheria.  In many ways, Mairwen was the exact opposite of her predecessor.  Stubborn and with limited intelligence, Mairwen was also quite plain in appearance but she brought a dowry of 600,000 gp which more than made up for her shortcomings.  Even more importantly, the new Queen produced six children, including the heir, Crown-Prince Theofric who was born the year after the marriage.After only a 10 year marriage, King Eadric III was assassinated in the month of Greenrise 1610, with his direct heir only 9 years old.  Queen Moira was named as regent during her son's youth but she surrounded herself with sycophants from her home country and horribly mismanaged state affairs.  The queen practically bankrupted the nation while attempting to hold on to the regency.  This forced her son Theofric to assume the throne in 1617 at the age of 16.  One of his first acts as king was to banish his mother from court and execute a number of her corrupt advisers.  Born in 1601, Theofric was an interesting monarch.  Sulky and secretive, even violent at times, he also had a great love of life and was a patron of music and the arts.  As a king however, Theofric had perhaps limited effectiveness.  It goes without saying that two of his greatest accomplishments were appointing Theodane of Dragonwick as his Viceroy and marrying a Galiwyn princess named Aelfwyn.  Theofric had minor interest in political affairs and left most of the affairs of state to his chief minister, Viceroy Theodane.  The Viceroy was a staunch Kronumite (worshiper of Kronum, god of law) and fostered in numerous government policies that oppressed the rights of the Galdorites (worshiper of Galdor, god of war).  Even more so, the Viceroy managed to further weaken the power of the aristocracy while increasing the powers of the king forming a far more centralized government.  King Theofric reigned for 33 years until his death in 1643 when his eldest son Leofric was only 10 years old.  As with the previous generation, Queen Aelfwyn was named Regent during the young king's minority.</blockquote>

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