The Doctrine of Royal Supremacy

The Doctrine of Royal Supremacy is a political theory that states that the Royal Family, i.e. the House of Redirovich, is the supreme House on the Island, wielding power over all other Houses. The Doctrine was first named by historian Riko Neltovich in 634 WR, and has been a point of contention among the government of Nikhol ever since.

## Historical Origins (pre-634 WR)

### Mayor of First Town

The Nikholian wizards always had a defined power structure. The first leader of the wizards was Juretin Galagovich (561 - 487 BW) as Captain of the Expedition. After his death, he was succeeded by Marol Jeritivich. Marol led the wizards to what is now Cliff Town, establishing a settlement away from the Ancients. He then took on the title of Mayor of First Town, with elections every seven years. This established democracy on the Island, with the wizards choosing their own leaders. This system worked well for a few hundred years, until the wizard settlement expanded and came into contact with the Ancients.

### Provisional Governors

After the Ancients and wizards first clashed in 253 BW, the need for stability started to outweigh the peoples desire to elect their leaders. Nikhol Dirovich was elected in 245 BW, and officially recognized the need to have a stable leader. In 238 BW, he stepped down as Mayor of First Town, and named himself Provisional Governor. The title was named as such to stress the temporal nature of the title; Nikhol intended on the title being extant as long as it was necessary to return to democracy. The title was hereditary, however, as a safeguard against the issues not being resolved in his lifetime. Despite the issues being resolved, the title continued, and Nikhol was de facto ruled by the House of Dirovich from the City of Nikhol.

During this time, Noble Families began to appear. They were originally land-owning families in and around First Town that supported the Provisional Governors. Noble Families that can trace their heritage back to this time include the House of Likodich, Kravlovich, and Durokovich. These families, among others, helped the House of Dirovich keep its power, and in turn, grew in power themselves.

This is where, according to Riko Neltovich, the Doctrine starts to take form. The noble families started to wield more and more power, something concerning to the ruling House of Dirovich. The Provincial Governors wished to prove their supremacy. There are a small subset of historians that claim the Conquest was started in an effort to solidify the supremacy of the House of Dirovich.

### Kings of Nikhol

#### Post Conquest

With the Conquest successful, King Christopher the Great solidified the supremacy of the newly named House of Redirovich. According to Christopher the Great, the Conquest gave the wizards control of the entire Island, although in reality the wizards only had control of the southeastern part. This full sovereignty would not be achieved until the mid 500's.

With his win, Christopher established the House of Redirovich as Kings of Nikhol, a true hereditary position. Under this new system, the King would have absolute power over the Island, with the Noble Families supporting the King. This system worked well for about a hundred years, until the nobles attempts to wrest power away from the King resulted in the formation of the Council of Nobles in 107 WR. This placated the nobles for about another hundred years, when they once again came into conflict with the sovereign, this time being King Slavko.

The nobles finally achieved supremacy during the reign of King Slaven I, as he was not intended to be King, being so far removed from the succession. This continued until King Damir exiled the House of Goranovin in 390 WR. King Damir reasserted the Doctrine, which had been neglected in the years prior. The Doctrine held for his reign, but fell into a state of contention after.