The Electoral Palatinate
State and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire
Capitals:
Heidelberg (Electoral County Palatine of the Rhine)
Lüneburg (Palatine of Brunswick-Lüneburg)
Durham (Palatine of the North de jure)
York (Palatine of the North de facto)
Monarch: Ernest the Confessor
Council of the North:
Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland
Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland
Thomas Neville, 19th Earl of Warwick
Edward Perceval, 4th Duke of Lancaster
Richard of Shrewsbury, 4th Duke of York
Prince Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall
Religion: Calvinist
After the Lancastrian defeat at Bosworth Field an uneasy peace reigned in England for a few years broken only by the sudden and unexpected death of Richard III. The following years saw much turmoil as the Tudors attempted to seize the throne and appease the remaining members of the House of York. Eventually unified under Henry the Great the Kingdom of England was a mere shadow of its former self with all holding lost in Ireland and Scotland. Henry the Great inspired by the reformation in central Europe called for reform and denounced the Pope head of the religion and instead proclaimed himself as head of the New Church of England.
Meanwhile Calvinism which had taken hold in Scotland was spreading down into the North of England and with it the new ideas and thoughts of the reformation. In Europe the Calvinist Elector-Princess of the Palatine became married to Ernest the Confessor of Brunswick-Lüneburg and issued in the spreading of Calvinism to northern Germany.
In 1538 Henry the Great was murdered by unknown assailants though many suggest it was on the orders of his devoutly catholic daughter Mary. Mary then fought a brief war of succession against her infant brother Edward who she then placed under house arrest. Many still recognised Edward as the true king of England and in the fact of such support Mary realised that she could not legitimately remove him so instead requested that the Pope grant her the title of Queen in the name of her own house and to serve only as Queen Protector of England. The Pope granted her request and she was crowned first Queen of the Kingdom Tudor on Christmas day 1538.
During the reign of Mary the Tyrant, 1st Queen of the Kingdom Tudor, Queen Protector of the English Realm and Defender of the True Catholic Faith (1538-1549) the Calvinists of the North along with the Anglicans (Those of King Henry’s Church of England) were persecuted and killed. Those lords that did not fall in line with Mary’s wishes were killed is horrible ways, often in front of their family and friends to ensure loyalty. During this time three Calvinist and two Anglican nobles met in secret in Durham with intent to rise up against the tyranny of Queen Mary. Two of the nobles were of the ancient House of York and thus by descent the House Plantagenet. However it was clear to the lords that without outside help they could not win against the Queen.
Tracing back to the marriage of Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York with Elizabeth Elector Palatine it was found that the Counts Palatine had a claim to the throne of England. Calling upon the family to take action with them the lords secured the loyalty of Duke Ernest the Confessor, Elector Palatine. In an alliance with his forces it became possible for what became known as the Rising of the North in which an army led by the Earls of Westmorland and Northumbria marched on the south. At the battle of Warwick where Mary’s forces attacked the combined armies of the North the Northerners were victorious and they marched on London. Mary flying into a rage ordered the burning of all Protestants of any kind and in the week it took to reach London many thousands died. Mary herself fled to France for the safety of the Catholic rulers there.
Though the rising was ultimately successful in removing Mary and Edward from power the Scots and Irish took the opportunity to expand their holdings in England thus causing 3 of the 5 original nobles to lose their homelands. The South of England resisted the influence of the new king and fractured into smaller Anglican or Catholic counties. Meanwhile Ernest the Confessor took on the mantle of King of the North reorganising the lands into a part of the now mighty Electorate Palatine.
Holding the most power in the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire and being the most powerful Calvinist nation the Palatine has asserted itself in central Europe and the British isles as a power to be reckoned with and a religious viewpoint that offers something different to the Roman Catholic Church. Though many lands that the Palatine considers rightfully theirs are still held by the traitorous Catholics of Ireland and Scotland it maintains a fierce outlook on Catholicism and its neighbours.
