Albian Federation

The Flag of the Federation of Albion, showing the Trinity knot for King, God and the people

### Successor

The  **Albian Federation** (381 CE-), was a federation located in Southern Albion. It was founded in 381 CE, after an uprising against the Arvernian Empire, by \*Bredon I, chief of the Catuvellauni.

## History

### Early History (238-381 CE)

In 238 CE, the Teutarist Arvernian Empire attacked the Island of Albion, launching a naval offensive at the south-eastern coast, in order to avoid superior naval confrontation with the Carthaginian Empire, which occupied the south-western coast. After the embarking of 20,000 soldiers, the Arverni marched on to the Carthaginian colony, occupying settlements, and taking along thousands of auxiliary units, who sought to end Carthaginian influence in the region. In 239 CE, an invasion was launched into the colony, capturing the capital city Isca. As the Phoenicians were already suffering enormous casualties in the First Italian War (238-240 CE), a lack of manpower caused the province to fall after a few months. During the next year, additional eastern territories in Albion, including the powerful Catuvellauni were conquered and assimilated.

### Establishment (381-386 CE)

During the late 4th Century, the ethnic diverse Arvernian Empire suffered heavily from instability. This led to numerous revolts and uprisings, especially in Albion, Belgium, Aquitania, and the Germanic minority in southern Gaul. This escalated, when the corrupt and less tolerant king, \*Dagorix I, ascended the throne in 380 CE. A tribal chieftain of the Catuvellauni named \*Bredon, rose to power and began subjugating Arvernian holdings in Albion, defeating the Arverni in 381 at the Battle of Calleva. As the Gallic army was already dealing with numerous rebellions, their garrisons in Albion suffered from manpower and supply shortages. To gather increased support from the natives, \*Bredon promised to establish a united Albian Federation, where all major tribes possess equal power. The Arverni were once again defeated at the Battle of Isca in 382 CE, completely losing control over Albion.

Meanwhile, \*Dermot I, king of the powerful Brigantes in the North, felt threatened by the expanding Albian Federation, and began assimilating neighboring tribes to compete with the Catuvellauni, establishing the Brigantian Kingdom. From 381 to 385, \*Dermot invaded and vassalized most tribes located south, except those isolated in the Welsh highlands, and except the Corieltauvi, who acted as a buffer between the two powers. This changed in 386, when King of the Corieltauvi, \*Elouan, probably out of fear of the Brigantes, allied with the Albian Federation, thus adopting Teutarism.

### Corieltauvian War (386-387 CE)

When \*Dermot learned about this alliance, he marched with his army onto the Corieltauvian capital, Rata (OTL Ratae Corieltauvorum). However, the enemy already expected them, and \*Dermot's army was trapped, thus defeated. During the next year, \*Bredon was able to conquer parts of the Brigantian holdings northwards, by defeating their outnumbered forces multiple times. But then, the tide turned. In 387, the Dumnonii, a tribe in far south-western Albion, began to rebel. This forced \*Bredon to negotiate for peace with the Brigantes, ending the war, by letting the Albian Federation annex the Corieltauvian territory, and the Brigantes to keep their pre-war borders. Shortly afterwards, the Dumnonii revolt was put down, and a Cold War between the Catuvellauni and the Brigantes had begun.

### Competiton over Albion (387-500 CE)

During the next decades, both the Albian Federation and the Brigantes, sought to increase their power and wealth, by building up their army and the two slowly established a defense line of fortifications and watchtowers at their border, which led to numerous skirmishes, but yet no full-scale war. While the Albian Federation increased trading with the Gauls to acquire more wealth, between 392 and 395 the Brigantes subjugated numerous northern tribes, reaching to the border of the Picts. In 406 CE, King \*Dermot launched a series of campaigns against the Pictish kingdoms. However, the Brigantes were forced to retreat in 410, when \*Dermot was killed in combat, at the age of 66, fighting the Caledonii.

Albian invasion into wales, stopped by Dumnonii revolt?

## Flag credits

This flag was made by myself.