Aleksej II of Svetossiya

King Aleksej II Jerekol of Svetossiya 'The Ruthless' (1019-1071) was a former King of Svetossiya who reigned from the year 1032 until his death in 1071. He was the eldest son of King Aleksej I and his wife Olga.

## Early Life

Aleksej was born on March 23rd 1019 in the family's holiday palace of Jevorska on the south coast. His mother was the third daughter of the King of Ispolin, and her marrige to Aleksej's father was key in preventing further wars between the two rival states, which had despised one another ever since the Ispolinian War of Independence.

His mother was known to have affairs, something that greatly upset his religious father. In his despair, he took to alcoholism to try and drown out the pain of not being satisfactory for his wife; however this backfired and the alcohol only made him angrier, and he chose to take it out on his young son Aleksej by beating him severely. The young boy then took out his anger on small animals, usually rats, which he often tortured outdoors whilst other children looked on in shock. At this time he also began to detest his mother-her sleeping around had led to his father beating him, and Aleksej saw her as the reason for all his problems.

### The start of his reign

In August of 1032, Aleksej's father was posioned during his birthday feast. At the time, no culprit was found, however later on it was somehow discovered that Aleksej's mother and her Vizzetian lover were responsible. She remarried within a month and ruled as regent for her 13 year old son.

Shortly after his father's death, Aleksej came under the care of a religious man called Nitupsar, who managed to keep the young boy's violent tendencies under control and educted him in the Gregorian faith, which is seen as the main reason for his religious zeal later on in life. Nitupsar became a father figure to the young King, and his death in early 1034 had a profound effect on him. No one could control his violence anymore, and it is then that historians believe Aleksej killed for the first time.

*"That night i had gone down to the wine cellar to check if any had been stolen and to lock the door for the night, when there at the bottom of the stairs lay the mangled corpse of one of the kitchen assistants. I did not look on too long, for i had to inform the guards, but i could see that his throat had been slit and the arms twisted and broken and the face beaten to a bloody pulp: I only recognised him due to his clothing."*

 An account from the personal dairy of a high-ranking family servant, who is believed to have discovered the King's first victim.

At some point in the year 1034, Aleksej was approached by his chief spymaster who had discovered evidence in the private letters of his mother from 2 years ago that she and her current husband had plotted the death of Aleksej's father. He finally had an opportunity to get his own back on the woman who had ruined his life and caused him such suffering for so many years. That night, the 15 year old boy ordered their arrest and within the week they had both been sentenced to death. Olga was flayed alive and doused with vinegar before being burned alive, whilst her husband had his penis cut off and was forced to publicly eat it before his heart was removed and presented to onlooking crowds, who cheered for the death of the 'foreign plotter'. From then on the King ruled without a regent.

## After the Regency

Following the execution of his mother and stepfather, Aleksej wasted no time in asserting dominance over the realm. Despite being bloodthirsty, Aleksej had a mind sharper than many rulers before him. His first goal was to increase his power over the realm and to implement a more meritocratic system like that of the Tyrvopolian Empire. Scholars were assembled in Aleksandrov for the next 3 years to revise and rewrite old laws that gave the dukes and vassals too much influence in what became known as the 'Kontrosvo z Aleksandrov' , or Direct Rule from Alexandrov. It also declared that nobles no longer had priority to government jobs over skilled lowborns. These new laws understandably angered vassals in the East of Svetossiya. They belonged to the oldest noble houses and unlike the Western lords were vocal of their opposition: westerners dared not object for fear of the Emperor's crulety, as by now he had earned a reputation for this.

*"That same year he had gathered a group of 20 traitors planning to sell information to Ispolin in the centre of Alexandrov, where he had each one of them publicly stretched on the rack until each joint in their body was dislocated, then had each man thrown off a ledge and onto the street below. 3 months earlier he had ordered that nobleman who had raped several common women be killed by having a red hot poker inserted anally and then be fed to a bear. It was through these creative displays of cruelty that the young king kept order in the realm, although his treatment of the nobleman angered some of the nobility as they believed he did no wrong in violating a commoner. Nevertheless they kept largely quiet for fear of suffering the same fate."*

Svetossiyan historian Josip Escevon on the success of Aleksej II in a 13th century chronicle.

### The Kontrosvo Rebellion

The rebellion began in July of 1039. The Eastern nobles declared war in defiance of the updated laws and demanded that they be immediately removed. Of course, the King refused and by the end of the week a 10,000 man army was headed to meet the rebel armies at Oltarva. The rebel troops were defeated and scattered into the countryside, whilst the King's army began to besiege each duke and nobleman's castle and capturing members of their family one by one. The rebels amassed another army of 7,000 men 3 months later but were again defeated at the battle of Ekorva Hill near the Ispolinian border, which resulted in the capture of Ijan Lekeslev, a major ringleader of the rebellion and wealthy Eastern landowner. The rebels failed to raise any more men, and 5 months later most of the leaders and their families had been captured by the army. The rebels eventually surrendered on January 2nd 1040. All unlanded male members of their dynasties were sent to become holy men or to fight for holy orders, whilst landed men were hung, drawn and quartered and their remains burned in public. Women were sent to join monastic orders. Alltogether, some 138 men were executed following the rebellion, and the key leaders of the rebellion such as Dukes were killed especially brutally by having molten gold poured into their mouths. Such brutality ensured that Aleksej's rule and new laws were never again challenged for fear of mutilation and death.