House of Mandolin

The seal of the Bank of Mandolin

The **House of Mandolin**, synonymous with the **Bank of Mandolin**, is a banking empire that makes up one of the two largest financial dynasties in the Old World, the only true competitor to the Pontifect in terms of economic influence. The noble house is positioned between *Brumadoria* and *Madelia* in an independent polity called Sarrados. It is more often considered a part of Bastria, though it abides by no laws but its own. It is considered to have the island of Tyrrhos in its possession, though it only levies taxes and maintains certain suzerain-like priviliges; the province is considered sovereign by most.

Its eponymous bank was founded in CE 625 to consolidate the public debt of the crumbling Ascani Empire, which had been
escalating due to the war with the House of Merovia for trading and financial
dominance. The Bank's primary mission was to facilitate the management of Ascanium outside of Arborea and Bastria, called the Global Terrestrial Shares or *mundos de terra*. It is one of the oldest chartered banks in the realms of man and of the world. When Lenorum fell mere decades later, the bank liquidated its assets apart from its territory, and then sold the rights of Ascani land in Cisteria, Arborea, Bastria, Cascadia, and Arcadia to either other empires or the Nancay Company. This allowed them to profit greatly from the chaos of a falling empire.

The house is well known for having many members ousted as Niocletians in CE 667 and CE 668 after the Pontifect grew suspicious of their growing influence. However, the family was able to avoid prosecution and penalty by wedding an Oliphian scion to Alfonso Marques. In turn, the House of Marques inherited Madelian lands that were in total turmoil after the fall of the Lost Kingdom. The former Madelian territory became suzerain to Acharon and thus the House of Mandolin was formed in the remaining polity of Sarrados.

## Name and heraldry

The original name of the Bank of Mandolin was the Bank of Mundos, which was so named as a reference to their primary use as managing the "worldly lands" of Ascanium (with the word *mundos* being Kasmirian Common for "the world"). After presenting *Madelia* to Alfonso I, the Bank of Mandolin was refounded as a recognizable family in the Pontifect. The bank's chamberlain at the time, Geoffried, shifted the name to *mandolos*, a false cognate meaning "almond."

This name change did not last for long, as associations between the plural *mandole* and Elven conjugation confused the identity of the house for a Pracian one rather than a Madelian one. The letter "n" suffixed the name sometime in the Twelfth Era to distinguish the two. The association with the instrument is coincidental.

The crest of the Bank of Mandolin, and thus the family, is a siren. It is an inheritance between the Matriarch Eurydice and the Madelian griffin, depicting a beautiful woman with the body of an eagle.

## Sanctions of disenfranchisement

### Arguments against Niocletian punitive measures

After their status as Niocletians was discovered during an attempted takeover of several offices in the Papet, the High Pontiff ruled that the the bank was to undergo the punitive measures typical to Niocletian families. However, the chamberlain Geoffried (among others) appealed to the High Pontiff for a reconsideration given the following reasons:

* The stripping of titles retroactively would be a monumental task; the attendants of the bank have been involved with Ascani politics since they began as civil-law notaries in the Seventh Era. This means pouring over and revising some four hundred years of records, potentially tens of thousands of documents and millions of pages to be combed through and revised.
* Confiscation of liquid funds would require physically retrieving the currency and precious metals, which they did not intend to hand over willingly; given the remoteness and difficulty in reaching Sarrados, a siege seemed needlessly difficult or even impossible.
* Any property owned by the Bank outside of Sarrados would be handed over willingly. The bank had no interest in consolidating power in *Madelia*, their only other territory besides Sarrados, since the region apparently had a power vacuum that was both sudden and inexplicable. Besides being in turmoil, any affect of transferring ownership to the Pontifect would instigate conflict over the region within the Papet while it would be easier to simply bestow it as dowry.

The High Pontiff was apparently displeased with this proposition, claiming, "[...] it is not a fair excuse to claim immunity from one's penal obligations because one was careful for so long as to not be caught, nor because they intend to resist seizure of their due, and certainly not because such a seizure is to their benefit." However, he agreed there was little choice in the matter and allowed the Bank to grant *Madelia* as dowry to Alfonso I in a marriage to Constance, a scion of Geoffried. He also allowed them to maintain their titles and in Sarrados.

The High Pontiff originally considered offering furtive protections to those who default on loans to the Bank, he decided against it in exchange for creating new articles for disenfranchising the Bank from further influence.

### Articles of repatriation

The Bank was "recognized" as a distinct noble house in CE 668 for the purpose of identifying inheritance. The High Pontiff then outlined the following as being specific guidelines for the "House" to follow:

* The House of Mandolin was no longer eligible to inherit property or noble title through marriage;
* The House of Mandolin was no longer able to acquire holdings outside of Sarrados;
* The House of Mandolin was no longer able to lend at a rate exceeding the rate set by the Pontifect;
* The House of Mandolin was no longer considered a part of Ascanium, but "bound" to the Pontifect.

The Bank was then reformed ("repatriated") into being a political vehicle rather than an institution, and had sole possession of the Bank itself to avoid dilineation or confusion.

### Current status

When the High Pontiff was murdered in CE 969, the Grand Matron and Niocletian Ishtar Savonis succeeded him. Shortly afterward, the Grimshaw finally ended in Tyrrhos, yet its independent lords and barons were heavily indebted to the Mandolin dynasty. The Bank of Mandolin appealed for rights to possess the province instead of taking collateral, as it would bankrupt the new barons and thrust it into economic peril. Furthermore, with the recent end of a two (nearly three) century-long conflict, the Mandolins insisted that limited possession was ideal for peace.

As a Niocletian herself, the Grand Matron lifted all former punitive measures for Niocletians and thus undid the articles of repatriation set by her predecessor. Currently, the Bank of Mandolin no longer abides by the articles set in CE 668.