United Provinces of Knootoss

General introduction bit

History

the Knootian golden age

The Knootian Golden Age was a period in Knootian history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Knootian trade, science, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. Knootians, who are traditionally able seafarers and keen mapmakers, were very dominant in world trade.

In 1602 the Knootian East India Company was founded. This company fought for a Knootian monopoly on trade with Tanah Burung and would keep this for two centuries. It would become one of the world's largest commercial enterprises of the 17th century. Spices were imported in bulk and brought huge profits. The Knootian also dominated trade between other nations as Knootian traders shipped wine from Dominion to all nations of the world, including Sisgardia and returned with metals, diamonds, emeralds, and very fine jewelry from Tarasovka as well as grain from Der Angst.

Trade and war

War with Nathicana. Supporting rebelsIt would make sense, Knoot. After a while, our efforts turned more inward with the whole dictators and all and we go on from there, no?

National industries expanded as well and and more land was made productive through transforming lakes into polders. This produced a large very wealthy merchant class.

Decline

Events up till Angstian invasion in 1800

Culture

In Knootoss the social status in the 17th and 18th centuries was largely determined by income. Social classes existed but in a new way. The nobility, had sold out most of its privileges to cities, where merchants and their money were dominant. The clergy did not have much worldly influence either: the Catholic Church was more or less oppressed since the onset of war with Lavenrunz and young Protestant churches were divided. Wealthy merchants bought themselves into nobility as aristocrats mixed with members from other classes in order to be able to support themselves as they saw fit. They married their daughters to wealthy merchants, became traders themselves or took up public or military office to earn a salary. Because of the importance of wealth (or the lack of it) in defining someone's social status, divisions between classes were less sharply defined than elsewhere.

Religion

Various Calvinist denomination formed the predominant religion in the Republic, with the Dutch Reformed church being the state church. In the beginning of the 17th century bitter controversies between strict Calvinists and more permissive protestants split the country. In the end the sheer number of reformist branches may well have worked as an antidote to intolerance. Humanism also had gained a firm foothold and was partially responsible for a climate of tolerance.

The Knootians had been internationally oriented for a very long time and were, as a result, very tolerant for the time towards religion but also towards different cultures. This was also related to a dependence on international commerce and good foreign relations. Protestant Reformists also stressed the importance of each person's individual conscience in determining how to interpret the Bible, rejecting central dogmas and a fixed clerical hierarchy to enforce them. This almost proverbial Knootian tolerance made it easy for foreigners to travel or even emigrate (often as refugees) to Knootoss.

This tolerance was not so easy to uphold towards Catholics, since the struggle against this religion played an important part in the war against Lavenrunz. Hostile inclinations could however be overcome by money. Thus catholics could buy the privilege to held ceremonies, but public offices were out of the question. All in all levels of tolerance were sufficiently high to attract religious refugees from other countries.

Science and art

The major force behind new developments was formed by the citizenry. Due to its climate of intellectual tolerance the Knootian Republic attracted scientists and other thinkers. Knootian lawyers were famous for their knowledge of international law of the sea and commercial law. Famous Knootian hydraulic engineers gained important victories in the eternal battle against the sea. Leeghwater added a lot of land to the republic by converting several large lakes into polders, pumping all water out with windmills. Book publishers flourished and many books about religion, philosophy and science that might have been deemed controversial abroad were printed in Knootoss and secretly exported to other countries. Thus during the 17th Century the Knootian Republic became more and a publishing house.

Knootian artists had quite different customers from their colleagues in many other countries, where church and nobility were major patrons. This had an influence on the themes they depicted and their pictorial style. Also many paintings were not produced for commission and found their way to auctions and art traders. This fostered specialization, by which less than brilliant painters could dedicate themselves to themes of their own choosing and still excel in a particular genre. Paintings often had a moralistic message hidden under the surface. Baroque did not gain much influence as its exuberance did not fit the austerity of the largely Dutch Reformed population.

Many of Knootian greatest painters were inspired and influenced, as least during their formative years, by Dominion paintings. Copies of Dominion masterpieces circulated and suggested certain compositional schemes. Also treatment of light, in which Knootian painters would become absolute masters themselves, could partly be traced back to Dominion predecessors. Some Knootian painters also travelled to the Dominion to make firsthand observations.

Misc comments: GDT Good armor and weapons from folks who spent their entire history fighting and improving their gear to, well, fight again and improve, etc. Sell? Well, lessee... cotton and silk would be nice (mountains, heh)

Devras, Trieste, Scythia, Genovi, Corinth, Toscano, Salerno, Eilenna, Brescia, Calligari, Callisti, Adelmo, Ravel, Modesti - there's probably some of the bigger ones if that helps at all.