Aquileia

Aquileia, officially the Kingdom of Aquileia, is a country in Western Griffonia

## History

### The Land of Blood and Wine

Long before Lunar Banishment, many griffon tribes were living in Southwestern Griffonia, a land of blood and wine. While the Kingdom of Sparleos had conquered almost half of the Southern Griffonia, these tribes were lucky to avoid their fate of being annexed by King Arantigos Featherin. After centuries, these tribes slowly developed a common nation consciousness in 0 ALB，considering themselves as the "Aquileian", and the Kingdom of Aquileia was established one century later.

### Battle of the Three Kings

Little of Aquileia's history before the 8th century is known, beyond it being one of the oldest civilizations on the continent, existing long before the birth of the Griffonian Empire.

In 705 ALB, Grover I defeated the Kings of both the Kingdom of Aquileia and  Wingbardy, unifying the major powers of the continent under the Griffonian Empire, with Kaiser Grover I at its head.

### Rebellion Against the Empire

In 785 ALB, Grover I dies and Grover II takes the throne. Grover II lacked the diplomatic skill and ability his predecessor had and as a result many expected the Griffonian Empire to fall apart. The Discrets led Aquileia in a rebellion against the Empire the day after Grover I's death, expecting many kingdoms, duchies and counties in the Empire to follow.

However, the Discrets underestimated the Empire as the Imperial Army was still incredibly powerful and Grover II while lacking in diplomatic skill, had great military ability. The rebelling forces would suffer several crushing defeats and several cities including Vyzima were burned to the ground.

With the defeats in the field and Aquileia getting destroyed. The Discrets overthrew their King who started the rebellion and sent him as a prisoner to the Griffonian Empire where he would be personally beaten to death by Grover II. Aquileia would soon rejoin the Griffonian Empire and the rebellion was over.

In order to ensure a similar disastrous rebellion would not happen again, the Discrets attempted to get a marriage alliance with Grover II. The proposal was accepted and the marriage of Grover II and Princess Giselda Discret would occur in the ruins of the Temple of Arcturius in Aquila. Giselda's diplomatic skills would help Grover II secure his reign but it would earn the eternal ire of Aquileia on the Grover dynasty.

### The Aquileian Kingdom

In 964 ALB, Emperor Grover IV died of a stroke, giving the throne to a young, inexperienced, ten-years-old Grover V, a regency was then established to rule over the Griffonian Empire.

In 971 ALB, Wingbardy became the first nation to officially secede from the Empire, beginning the empire's collapse. Aquileia followed soon after. Aquileia was established again as a Kingdom by King Gerad Discret. Much of the land was given to his vassals, all relatives or close friends. Initially stable, the Kingdom quickly groaned under unrest, debt, and famine.

### The First Revolution

In 980, in the wake of the  Griffonian Revolution, griffons disgruntled with the ruling Discret dynasty, which had recently declared its independence from the crumbling Empire, launched an uprising aimed at ousting the king from power. To the surprise of many, it succeeded, and for five years, Aquileia was a republic under the leadership of Théodore Vérany. However, many subjects such as  County of Greifwald and  Pomovarra broke free in the chaos and declared independence.

Life under the Republic largely improved as famine gradually decreased and the economy stabilised. Griffons today talk fondly of this "Golden Age".

### The Reign of Terror

However, in 985, a group of monarchist officers and nobles led by Maréchal Albert Berthelot launched a counter-revolution which quickly defeated the republican resistance and returned the Discrets to the throne of Aquileia. What followed was later called the Reign of Terror - a wide-reaching purge of republican and democratic sympathisers. Some managed to escape to various foreign countries, including Equestria.

With the rule of King Moriset Discret still shaky, and most of the country opposed to his rule, the monarchist government had no choice but to maintain some of the newly gained rights and freedoms of the common griffon. In order to bring the Kingdom under control, the King granted more autonomy to the duchies and counties of Aquileia, placing his relatives in charge.

### Monarchs

1. Moriset
2. Vivienne