North Fleuran Succession Crisis, 1923-24
The North Fleuran Succession Crisis, 1923-24 was a political crisis following the death of King Robert VI of North Fleura which lasted from his death until the founding of Kerlile. King Robert left no surviving issue, with no siblings or cousins. This caused confusion over who would inherit the throne; with the two most likely claimants being Lord Andrew Hart or Lord Callum May, two distant cousins of the late King.
Background[edit | edit source]
The North Fleuran royal family had been declining since the Fleuran partition; with inbreeding leading to genetic defects including infertility and premature deaths due to illness. This led to a number of members of the royal family dying before they were able to have children, or being unable to produce children at all. By the time of King Robert's death, none of his siblings had managed to produce children and had all predeceased him. Equally, he had no surviving cousins, meaning that a successor had to be sought from higher up in his family tree. Due to numerous factors including second marriages and babies of uncertain parentage, there was a lack of clarity over which of the two primary claimants had the most legitimacy.
Two claimants[edit | edit source]
Two possible claimants emerged out of the extended royal family. These were Lord Andrew Hart of Hartwood, and Lord Callum May. Hart was the grandson of a daughter of Robert's great-grandfather; while May was the great-grandson of a son of Robert's great-great-grandfather. The nobility of North Fleura began to side with one or the other of the claimants; both of whom wished to avoid armed conflict. Hart and May met, to try and resolve the situation diplomatically; however before a solution could be reached, Andrew Hart passed away.
His daughter, Edith Hart took the reins of the Hart claim to the throne, but before any further action was taken, Callum May followed her father to the grave. Further confusion over whether May had left any children of his own began. During this time, unknown to the North Fleuran nobility until later, Edith Hart began to communicate with other attendees of the International Women's Congress to attempt to realise their hypothetical dream of a country ruled by women.
Formation of Kerlile[edit | edit source]
As the North Fleuran nobility sought stability at any cost, Edith Hart chose to offer it by bringing the other Founding Mothers of Kerlile into the country and attempting to form the new state of Kerlile. With the nobility caught off-guard, confused by the succession crisis; and the common people wishing to avoid a civil war, there was little early opposition to the project.
After the ten initial years of Kerlile, Edith Hart formally renounced her claim to the throne; legally abolishing it for all time and replacing the monarchy with the Council of Kerlile as the supreme authority in the land.