Donat/Hundred Summers' War

The **Hundred Summers' War** (Donatese: Столетни рат / *Stoletni rat*), also called the **Century-long War**, was a period of nearly continuous war and political reformation in medieval Donat. It was initiated by the Pretenders' War of 1153 - though some claim it was initiated earlier by the Edict of Zlodar - and was ended by the interpeninsular truce agreement of 1372. The Hundred Summers' War would become the main cause of feudal anarchy in medieval Donat.

## Background

Feudalism would begin to appear in Donat shortly after the founding of great settlements; most notably, the cities of Volnik, Rosishte, Pesaonik, Krasimir, Novi, Zabrdje(Tsarshava), Pomortse and Karlov. As a rule of thumb, the families with the most influence in the area - either by wealth or through subjugation - were shaped to be regional chieftains. Generally, this is how the Donatese nobility was formed - and, by extent, how early feudalism was conceived in Donat. By the 12th century, most chiefdoms in Donat were already consolidated into proper realms, such as duchies or kingdoms.

Despite this, accounts of vassalage were not primarily documented. Vassalization was performed ceremonially as a part of oral tradition and was, therefore, susceptible to fabrication and fraud. This practice was also not uniform among all realms. Because of this, concrete reforms were needed to solidify the nature of vassals inside a realm, and to have it be applicable on any situation. This resulted in the creation of the Edict of Zlodar.

The **Edict of Zlodar** refers to a group of documents that are deemed to have been important for the introduction of documented vassalage in Donat. Beginning at different points in the 12th century, these documented accounts of vassalage were written across separate crowns and were ultimately collected in the city of Zlodar to be signed by all attending monarchs. Despite the edict's lengthiness, it still ended up being impossible to broadly define the relations between every suzerain and his vassal across the whole peninsula of Donat. For this reason, the legal basis of the edict was left too vague and with several loopholes.

One of these loopholes included a case where a vassal could swear fealty to another overlord, thereby overwriting his previous relation. This was, historically, the most abused point of the edict, and was so overused that - by the 14th century - it became natural for every administrative text to begin with a reference to this point. Another weak point of the edict was the title of the *High King(Emperor) of Donat*. This title was initially proposed as a skeleton realm to define the borders of Donat but would become the reason for the initiation of the Hundred Summers' War.

Despite its flaws, the Edict of Zlodar would serve as the basis of administrative codex in medieval Donat. It would be revised over 1200 times well into the 14th century.

## Summary

As mentioned before, the weak points of the Edict of Zlodar would be directly exploited by whoever benefitted from it. The first major example of this would be exhibited by the King of Podolna, who claimed the title of High King of Donat.

**Gospod II**, often attributed as **Gospod the Mad** for his psychotic nature and manic ambitions, was the King of Podolna from 1139 to 1167. In 1153, he would write a series of proclamations called *the Imperial Decree*, in which he claims the title of the High King/Emperor of Donat. Since the crown of Podolna was well-established with strong dynastic ties, its allies were predisposed to support the actions of Gospod II.

Small realms with greater territorial ambitions - or those who felt threatened by the presence of greater realms - were some of the main proponents of Gospod the Mad's casus belli. Adversely, stable realms with great influence were its main opponents, along with Podolna's natural rivals. This split the warring realms into two major factions; the Imperials - supporters of Gospod II - and the Signatories, named after the signing of a revised copy of the Edict of Zlodar which annulled the title of Emperor. This began the **Pretenders' War** or the **War of the False Emperor**, the first major war in Donat which would initiate the period known as the Hundred Summers' War.

The Pretenders' War was fought between 1153 and 1167, resulting in a victory for the Signatories. Gospod II was decapitated and his head was placed in a jar, though both his body and head were found missing the day after.

By the conflict's conclusion, realms became heavily dependent on their nobles (primarily vassals) for their levies. Along with this, the crown budgets of many realms were nearly depleted due to the high cost of the war. This resulted in vassals enjoying high autonomy, which severely decentralized most Donatese realms. Due to the lack of proper administration and enforcement of the edict, vassal independence movements sprung up throughout the 13th and 14th centuries. This, in turn, resulted in wars for survival of the crown, as vassals were being lost rapidly. In other cases, it resulted in succession wars for the crown. Despite this, states who had a semi-centralized system in place were sometimes able to halt these disturbances. In some places, where vassalage was dropped in favor of feudal cooperation and compromise, unique systems of governance were formed. It is important to mention that realms were not at constant war with each other, as there were periods of relative peace.

## End of conflict & truce

The Edict of Zlodar was rendered obsolete by the 14th century. For this reason, a group of monks would create the basis for the interpeninsular truce agreement of 1372, which was signed by the most influential realms & their vassals. The treaty strengthened the legitimacy of *de jure* holdings and enforced strict border definitions upon the Donatese realms. A system of settling disputes via independent council was put into place to prevent the constant collapse of crown authority.

Most notably, the treaty erected a new system of governance called the *common crown*, which was unique to the Upper Ends & Upper Karlovska. This system represented an electoral monarchy that would be put into place to prevent squabbles between nobility. Although the treaty was notoriously strict, it managed to conclude one of the bloodiest periods in Donatese history.

## Aftermath

Although the Hundred Summers' War was concluded, its legacy severely weakened the Donatese realms. Feudal anarchy was still present in many realms following the interpeninsular truce agreement, and it would not take long for the newly-formed crowns to collapse under their own weight.

Donat's lasting legacy of internal conflict would leave it prone to invasion by foreign powers. In later centuries, Donat would fail to adapt to the growing colonial commerce of the world. Kruhastan merchants would come to favor Kanitan trade over trade with the Donatese, which left Donat technologically isolated and underdeveloped. This led to the eventual Rutherish invasion of the peninsula.