Daily life in Melza: Monarchs

The three dynasties that have ruled the current City State and Barony of Melza, and their individual male and female monarchs.

 

 

 

----


First dynasty: House Kalmatz

The founders of the Barony and what became the current incarnation of the Melzan city state and its surrounding territories. They came from humble origins, originally being just an average Ďamaran noble family of knights, with some Karantian and Markanian ancestry. [1]

After an internal conflict in Ďamara in which the family backed a failed rebellion against the royal court, the Kalmatz family retreated to Melza's neutral territory and forced the then mayor and city council to cooperate. Subsequently, they declared the establishment of the Barony and struck a balanced deal with the mostly self-governing locals to become the new heads of state. House Kalmatz founded the oddball tradition of never upgrading the ruling family's official rank from that of "baron" - supposedly, to forever remind them and their successors of the events that led them to their home in exile, and to honour the municipal government for their graciousness and cooperation.

1st - Hervil I. (first ever Lord Baron)
2nd - Nikelós I.
3rd - Žorvé I.
4th - Ervert I.
5th - Žorvé II.
6th - Žorvé III.
7th - Hervil II.
8th - Ervert II.
9th - Borek I.
10th - Nikelós II.
11th - Iliver I.
12th - Žorvé IV.
13th - Borek II.
14th - Hervil III.
15th - Iliver II. (last in the line, died without heirs)


----



Second dynasty: House Horšan

Originally a cadet branch of House Kalmatz. They inherited the succession rights to the Melzan throne after the previous dynasty's last baron died without leaving any surviving heirs. The Horšans had mostly Lesanian and Ďamaran ancestry, but also a few ancestors from Lengelia, Rvača and even the Hetmanate. [2]

1st - Morvo I. (cousin of Iliver II., inherited the throne)
2nd - Borek IV.
3rd - Iliver III.
4th - Nikelós III.
5th - Morvo II.
6th - Kernač I.
7th - Hervil IV.
8th - Žorvé IV.
9th - Kernač II.
10th - Arkárt I.
11th - Borek V.
12th - Borek VI.
13th - Morvo III.
14th - Arkárt II.
15th - Dortan I.
16th - Kernač III.
17th - Iliver IV.
18th - Nikelós IV. (his death launched a dynastic military standoff)

----



Third dynasty: House Terlo

The roots of the family lie in plenty of different countries throughout Aporue, the family name itself probably of Montoverdin or Karantian origin. [3] The Terlos were also the first baronial dynasty to have ruling Lady Baronesses, rather than just baroness-consorts. Succession in the Barony is based on agnatic primogeniture. The sonless Hervil V. introduced certain law reforms to allow for easier inheritance of the throne by female heirs. He did so in favour of his eldest daughter Mildala, who ruled after his premature death, though under an appointed regent.

1st - Morvo IV. (the second Morvo to be the founder of a new dynasty)
2nd - Arkárt III.
3rd - Borek VII.
4th - Morvo V.
5th - Iliver V.
6th - Nikelós V.
7th - Arkárt IV.
8th - Kernač IV.
9th - Hervil V.
10th - Mildala I. (first ruling Lady Baroness, though under regency)
11th - Dortan II.
12th - Arkárt V.
13th - Hervil VI.
14th - Ervert III.
15th - Remena I. (second Lady Baroness, now ruling fully)
16th - Hervil VII.
17th - Dortan III.
18th - Dortan IV. (the current Lord Baron)

House Terlo coat of arms

Lions are used as supporters due to traditional association of the animal with certain Terlo family legends. The crown of the Barons of Melza is, per particular Melzan tradition, included as an impromptu crest. This follows a practice established by the preceding two dynasties' coats of arms.

For the current rulers of House Terlo, please see this separate article.


----



Behind the scenes notes:

[1] - this would make them the rough equivalent of a Hungarian family with German and Czech ancestors.
[2] - the equivalent of having mostly Slovak and Hungarian ancestry, in addition to ancestors from Poland, Croatia and Ukraine.
[3] - the origin of their family name would be equivalent to having it be of Italian or Austrian/Swiss origin. The family itself has ancestral roots that are predominantly an equivalent of French and Italian roots.

I am being intentionally vague, because these rulers' histories are to be filled in gradually, as I see fit and fill in the jigsaw puzzle over time, while keeping tight internal consistency. Only the most recent rulers will get any amount of greater detail for now. I have a basic roadmap for the backstories of the people that populated each dynasty, but nothing obsessively detailed or forever set in stone (aside from key events in each dynasty's history). I've always felt it's a bit of a bad habit in worldbuilding if you overzealously detail everything, spell out everything in advance with certainty, leave no room for mystery or questions.

Plenty of other monarchs in my overall setting, but this particular small monarchy is the main stage for most of the storytelling and adventures. (Bear in mind that this is primarily a setting for an RPG, but it is reasonably flexible for writing purposes too.)

The Terlo family, its origins and history, are inspired by two real world families: The Angevins and the Drugeths. Reflecting that, the Terlo family has its roots in my world's equivalents of France and Italy, and use a simple pattern of fleur-de-lis and blackbirds in their heraldry (the former an obvious Angevin element, the latter a Drugeth element).

----

Name pronunciation guide for English-language readers (syllable basis)

Kalmatz: Kal- (as in German "kalt"), ma- (as in "mama" or "mana"), -tz (like a "ts", or German "z" in words like "Zeit"; -atz rhymes with German "Katz")
Horšan: Hor- (as in "horrid"), -šan (as in "shun")
Terlo: Ter- (as in "terra"), -lo (more or less rhymes with the English "low")

Hervil: Her- (pron. as in "heron"), -vil (as in "will")
Nikelós: Nik- (as in "nick/Nick"), -e- (as in "end"), -lós (as in the German word "los")
Žorvé: Ž- (a Russian "zh" phonetically, e.g. as in Doctor Zhivago), -or- (as in "dormouse"), -vé (rhymes with real world name "Hervé")
Ervert: Er- (as in "error"), -vert (as in "vert", though with the "er" bit like in "error")
Borek: Bor- (as in "borrow"), -ek (as in "neck", "deck", "dreck")
Iliver: Ili- / I-li- (as in "illicit"), -ver (as in "verity"; the whole name rhymes with the real world "Oliver")
Morvo: Mor- (as in "morrow"), -vo (as in "vogue")
Kernač: Ker- (as in a name like "Kerry"), -nač (as in "nacho", without the o, of course)
Arkárt: Ark- (quite literally as in "ark"), -árt (as in "art", but with a Finnish style "aa")
Dortan: Dor- (as in "dormouse"), -tan (as in the German word "Tante")
Mildala: Mil- (as in "mill" or "military"), -dah- (as in names like "Dahl" or "Dahlia"), -la (as in names like "Angela")
Remena: Reme- (as in "remedy"), -na (as in names like "Angelina", "Morena", "Lena", "Mina")

----

Copyright

(C) 2019 - 2024 P. Molnár
(C) 2019 - 2024 Knight-Errant Studios