My latest retouch of the second illustration of some "Schwarze Reiter” that I have officially designed to feature the faction iconography of “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland" or "House Rotbart of The Kingdom of Middenland," one of the most iconic and essential factions of my "homebrew" low-fantasy setting. Both this artwork and it's associated faction iconography were officially designed for a "homebrew" low-fantasy setting of my original conception with technology and material culture roughly equivalent to European History during the compounded advents of The Italian Renaissance, The Protestant Reformation, and The Discovery of America. Where formations of heavily armoured and mounted, aristocratic and noble knights in either suits of full plate armour or heavy coats of chainmail fight alongside professional regiments of pikemen and matchlock musketeers. Where medieval-style stone castles are gradually being outsourced in favour of lavish country estates and devoted military fortifications, or “bastions,” due to the technological advancements being made in gunpowder-based, siege artillery. And where fledgling nation-states in the form of both kingdoms and empires look beyond the great oceans and the frontiers of “The Known World” in search of exotic riches and territory.

In context to the canon lore of my "homebrew" low-fantasy setting, “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland" or "House Rotbart of The Kingdom of Middenland" is loosely inspired by Medieval and Renaissance Prussia under The Theocracy of The Teutonic Knights as well as Ducal Prussia during the 16th and 17th centuries. “Friedrich I, Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart," with his legislative decree to formally convert to “The Luxembourgian Reformation” on behalf of both his dynastic household and his hereditary subjects being highly analogous to "Albrecht von Preußen's" or "Albert von Brandenburg-Ansbach's" formal secularization of “The Monastic State of The Teutonic Knights” or “Der Deutschordenstaat” to The Lutheran, East Prussian Duchy as it's last effective grandmaster and it's first duke in the early 16th century. Designated in my "homebrew" low-fantasy setting as “Shwarze Reiter” or “Black Riders,” the constituent “Bruderschaften” or “chapters” of “Die Schwarzen Reiter” as the elite, pseudo-monastic, martial fraternities of aristocratic and noble heavy cavalry paying direct homage and military service to the legal persons of "Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland” as opposed to the feudal, private interests of the aristocratic and noble “great houses” of “junker” princeps and magnates. Each “Brüderschaft” or “chapter” is led under the personal command and the direct supervision by “Ein Großmeister” or “a grandmaster,” who are each personally and individually appointed for life from “legitimate issues” or “dynastic scions” of the aristocratic and noble "great houses" of “junker” princeps and magnates to serve the royal, state interests of “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland” over those of any princely “great house” of “junker” aristocracy and nobility. “Die Könige von Middenland” as the hereditary, dynastic patriarchs of "Hohenrotbart" are, by tradition, the more-or-less hereditary holders of the appointed office of “Der Hochmeister Der Schwarzen Reiter” or “The Supreme Grandmaster of All Schwarzen Reiter” as a tradition meant to "engender" or otherwise "rationalize" their position of military authority as the lawful, legitimate, and undisputed commanders-in-chief of all constituent “Bruderschaften” or "chapters" of "Die Schwarzen Reiter" in Das Königreich Middenland. To reinforce both the professional loyalties and the direct homage of the constituent "Bruderschaften" of "Der Schwarzen Reiter" to the persons of “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland” as the traditional and more-or-less hereditary holders of the appointed office of “Der Hochmeister Der Schwarzen Reiter.” Both the personal livelihoods and the unit upkeep costs of the constituent “Brüderschaften” or "chapters" of "Der Schwarzen Reiter" were funded through a combination of the quarterly land tax generated by “the demesne” or “the crownlands” under the direct administration of "Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland" and their civil administrators, through any tariffs imposed on the commerce and the industry of Der König von Middenland’s charter companies and the local trade guilds, as well as through any tithes and benefices generated by the religious services of, donations to, and property owned by The Conservative Church of The New Gods in joint partnership with "Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland" over the sovereign and legitimate rulership, the state administration, and the systematic, mass conversion of the autochthonous, apostate Albic tribes religiously subscribed to the druidic, cult worship of “Erdøk” or ”The Great Forest” geographically situated directly beyond the easternmost fronters of “Das Selbst Kaiserreich Der Menschheit” or “The Empire of Mankind Proper.”

Alongside "Hohenbiermann Der Markgrafschaft Brannenborg," "Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland" collectively forms "Die Sudkreuzritterstaaten," "Die Teutogenstaaten," or "Die Sudentscheidenstaaten." Essentially a "Teutogen" or "Southern Austere" cultural and linguistic bloc born of the subsequent and complimentary events of "The Southern Crusades" and "The Sudsiedlung." "The Southern Crusades" essentially being the religious warfare and the territorial conquests formally preached and prosecuted against the autochthonous, apostate, Albic tribes religiously subscribed to the druidic, cult worship of "Erdøk," "The Great Forest," or "The Great Bastion" geographically situated directly beyond the easternmost frontiers of "Des Zweiten Kaiserreich der Menschheit" or "The Empire of Mankind Secundus." While "The Sudsiedlung" generally denotes the gradual and effective resettlement of culturally and ethnically "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" settlers and immigrants hailing from "Das Selbst Kaiserreich der Menschheit" or "The Empire of Mankind Proper" alongside the synonymous, systematic, and complimentary mass conversion of the indigenous, apostate, Albic tribes back into the fold of The Conservative Church of The New Gods officially seated within The Holy Sept of Romulus and their thorough and effective assimilation into the "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" culture and language of their feudal and ecclesiastical lords and masters using the religious services and the church schools officially sponsored by a culturally and ethnically "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" Conservative Clergy with their traditional monopolies over knowledge, learning, and education in general. The cultural assimilation of the autochthonous, apostate, Albic tribes of Des Königreich Middenland and Der Markgrafschaft Brannenborg being a synonymous and complimentary necessity with their systematic, mass conversion back into the fold of The Conservative Church of The New Gods, as there were essentially no literate and formally educated indigenous Albic Clergy who could effectively and efficiently preach and proselytize the Conservative Liturgy of The Holy Canons of The New Gods to the pious masses in "Die Sudkreuzritterstaaten, "Die Teutogenstaaten," or "Die Sudentscheidenstaaten." With any autochthonous, apostate, Albic tribes who had both violently resisted and openly protested against both the legislative marginalization of their religious liberties and their synonymous, systematic, and complimentary mass conversion and cultural assimilation into the culture, religion, and language of their "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" feudal and ecclesiastical overlords facing mass genocide at the hands of the fledgling, yet brutally efficient and effective professional armies paying direct homage and military service to "Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland" and "Hohenbiermann Der Markgrafscaft Brannenborg," or those of the feudal, aristocratic levies of knightly retinues and pike-and-shotte infantry regiments paying direct homage and military service to the aristocratic and noble "great houses" of "junker" princeps and magnates in either Das Königreich Middenland or Die Markgrafschaft Brannenborg. "Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland," in particular, was born out of Bishop-Prince Friedrich Albrecht Von Rotbart's "Midlands Crusade" formally preached and prosecuted on behalf of "Archpatriarch Vexillarius IV, 299th and Reigning Bishop of Romulus and Current Head of The Conservative Church of The New Gods" against the autochthonous, apostate, Albic tribes geographically situated directly beyond the southernmost frontiers of "Des Zweiten Kaiserreich der Menschheit" or "The Empire of Mankind Secundus." With "The Midlands Crusade" finally concluding, in stunning and overwhelming triumph, in favour of Bishop-Prince Friedrich Albrecht Von Rotbart and the conquering, crusading host of "The Midlands Crusade" at the climactic "Battle of The Godswoods."

With the stunning and final conclusion of "The Midlands Crusade" formally and officially preached and prosecuted against the indigenous, apostate, Albic tribes religiously subscribed to the druidic, cult worship of "Erdøk" or "The Great Forest" by Friedrich I's far more prestigious, prolific, and illustrious older brother Friedrich Albrecht Von Rotbart, "Bishop-Prince of Elchingen," "ecclesiastical, invested Kurfürst Des Selbst Kaiserreich der Menschheit," and above all "Archpatriarchal Legate" or "Pontifical Representative" to "Vexillarius IV, 299th and Reigning Bishop of Romulus and Current Head of The Conservative Church of The New Gods" for "The Midlands Crusade" with the stunning and overwhelming victory for the sanctioned host of The Conservative Church of The New Gods at the climactic "Battle of The Godswoods." "The Godswoods" as the holiest shrine and the sacred grove to the autochthonous, apostate, Albic tribes geographically situated directly beyond the southernmost frontiers of "Das Selbst Kaiserreich der Menschheit" or "The Empire of Mankind Proper" was subsequently and consequently desecrated and demolished by the conquering, crusading knights of "The Midlands Crusade." With it's constituent lands being formally consecrated as the site of the new basilica town of Marienburg, where Friedrich Albrecht Von Rotbart would be invested, with The Bishop of Romulus' explicit blessing, the awesome and prestigious ecclesiastical office of "Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg" in order to facilitate the systematic, mass conversion of the indigenous, apostate, Albic tribes back into the fold of The Conservative Church of The New Gods officially seated within The Holy Sept of Romulus. By sheer virtue of his fraternal ties to both "The Archpatriarchal Legate" or "The Pontifical Representative" to Vexillarius IV for "The Midlands Crusade" as well as the seminal and founding "Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg," Friedrich Von Rotbart was naturally prioritized over all other prospective candidates for his formal coronation and anointment as "Friedrich I, Der ester und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart" as The Former Kingdom of The Midland's first hereditary monarch and dynastic household since the extinction of the legitimate, male bloodline of The Late House Bartholemew almost an entire century ago. Using the awesome power, prestige, and authority inherently tied to the venerable and prestigious ecclesiastical office of Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg, Friedrich Albrecht Von Rotbart would use his ecclesiastical office within The Conservative Church of The New Gods to leverage the unanimous political and religious support of all the high ranking ecclesiastical and monastic offices of Conservative Clergy within Das Königreich Middenland.

Although having won the unanimous religious support and the political backing of the ecclesiastical and the monastic clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland. Friedrich I's coronation as "Der ester und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart" was generally and initially received with both icy anticipation and subtle dread, in equal measure, by the newly established aristocratic and noble "great houses" of "junker" princeps and magnates who formed from the cream, core, and bulk of the conquering, crusading knights originally involved in Friedrich Albrecht Von Rotbart's "Midlands Crusade." Many of whom personally felt that they were better suited towards, or otherwise felt that they were more entitled to the formal and official coronation for the hereditary, dynastic title of "Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland" due to the equal degree of suspicion and skepticism they generally held in regards to Friedrich Von Rotbart in most part due to his minor aristocratic and noble birth within the "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" cultural and linguistic hemisphere of "Des Zweiten Kaiserreich der Menschheit" or "The Empire of Mankind Secundus," as well as his professional background as a mercenary captain to pike-and-shotte infantry, as opposed to aristocratic and noble heavy cavalry due to the historical precedence of the militaristic traditions and ideology of professional chivalry. To placate the residual and looming suspicion, skepticism, and subtle dread initially and generally expressed by Das Königreich Middenland's greater and lesser dynastic houses of "junker" aristocrats and nobles, while also further "entrenching" or otherwise "reinforcing" their feudal homage and their hereditary, dynastic loyalties to "Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland." Friedrich I, with Bishop-Patriarch Friedrich Albrecht Von Rotbart's explicit blessing, would award hereditary, dynastic enfeoffment over Das Königreich Middenland's most arable and lucrative lands, titles, and estates which had not been previously claimed as the legal property of The Conservative Church of The New Gods to the greater and lesser dynastic houses of "junker" aristocrats and nobles. Later on into the decades of his long, prolific, and illustrious reign as "Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart," Friedrich I would decree state legislation to award Das Königreich Middenland's greater and lesser dynastic houses of "junker" aristocrats and nobles the exclusive, feudal privilege for state appointments as judges and magistrates for the new, secular, "royal" law courts officially established by Friedrich I since the aftermath of "The Midlands Crusade" with his formal coronation as "Der ester und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart." The voluminous bodies of secular law codes, traditions, and customs governing the provincial jurisdiction of Friedrich I's "royal" law courts essentially being derivative works of those of "Die Freie Reichsstädte" or "The Imperial Free Cities" within the "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" cultural and linguistic hemisphere of "Des Zweiten Kaiserreich der Menschheit" or "The Empire of Mankind Secundus." With the exception of the provincial jurisdiction of the episcopal diocese of The Archbishopric of Marienburg, which was governed directly by the canon law courts answerable only to The Archpatriarch officially seated within The Holy Sept of Romulus.

In direct cooperation and in joint partnership with his far more prestigious, prolific, and illustrious older brother Bishop-Patriarch Friedrich Albrecht Von Rotbart. "Friedrich I, Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart" worked in direct cooperation and in joint partnership with both the ecclesiastical and the monastic clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods over the sovereign and legitimate rulership, the state administration, and the systematic, mass conversion of Das Königreich Middenland's autochthonous, apostate, Albic tribes back into the fold of The Conservative Church of The New Gods officially seated within The Holy Sept of Romulus. With any indigenous, Albic tribes who had both violently resisted and openly protested against the legislative marginalization of their religious liberties in order to encourage their systematic, mass conversion back into the fold of The Conservative Church of The New Gods facing mass genocide at the hands of either the fledgling, yet brutally efficient and effective professional army paying direct homage and military service to "Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland," or those of the feudal, aristocratic levies of knightly retinues and pike-and-shotte infantry regiments paying direct homage and military service to Das Königreich Middenland's aristocratic and noble "great houses" of "junker" princeps and magnates. The systematic, mass conversion efforts to bring the autochthonous, apostate, Albic tribes back into the fold of The Conservative Church of The New Gods was facilitated exclusively by a culturally and ethnically "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" Conservative Clergy, who had maintained their traditional monopoly over knowledge, learning, and education in general. As there were no literate or formally educated "autochthonous" or "indigenous" Albic Clergy who could effectively and efficiently preach and proselytize the Conservative Liturgy of The Holy Canons of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland, the systematic, mass conversion of Das Königreich Middenland's indigenous, apostate Albic tribes came with their synonymous, complimentary, and thorough cultural assimilation into the culture and language of their culturally and ethnically "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" feudal and ecclesiastical lords and masters using the religious services and the church schools officially sponsored by a culturally and ethnically "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" Conservative Clergy.

In order to "revitalize" or otherwise "encourage" the growth of Das Königreich Middenland's internal economy, industrial base, and cultural and scholastic activity. Friedrich I's first and most enduring policy as "Der ester und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart" was to encourage both the mass immigration and the thorough and effective resettlement of skilled, educated, and moneyed commoners hailing from his native "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" cultural and linguistic hemisphere within "Das Selbst Kaiserreich der Menschheit" or "The Empire of Mankind Proper." Using the allure and the promise to permanently resettle, in free hold, within the newly established castles and fortified cities of Das Königreich Middenland, as well as the most lucrative and arable rural estates of their attached countryside. Friedrich I hopes to stimulate the growth of both the rising class of urban "burghers" or "bourgeoisie, merchants, professionals, and artisans," as well as the rising class of rural "kollmers" or "country gentlemen." In order to relieve the societal tension caused by the cultural and religious differences between the more-than-significant influx of culturally "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" settlers and immigrants with the indigenous, apostate Albic tribes. Friedrich I as "Der ester und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart," in direct partnership with the ecclesiastical clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland, officially decreed state legislation to offer church-sponsored dowries to any autochthonous Albic families who had both openly and formally converted back into the fold of The Conservative Church of The New Gods in return for marrying off their daughters to any male settlers and immigrants hailing from the "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" cultural and linguistic hemisphere of "Des Zweiten Kaiserreich der Menschheit" or "The Empire of Mankind Secundus." By officially endorsing both a political and a religious campaign to encourage intermarriage between the daughters of any indigenous Albic families who had both openly and formally converted back into the fold of The Conservative Church of The New Gods with male settlers and immigrants hailing from the "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" cultural and linguistic hemisphere of "Des Zweiten Kaiserreich der Menschheit" or "The Empire of Mankind Secundus" using dowries officially sponsored by the ecclesiastical clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland. Friedrich I hopes to "stimulate" or otherwise "encourage" the rate and the efficiency of the systematic, mass conversion of Das Königreich Middenland's indigenous, apostate, Albic tribes while also placating any political and social instability agitated by the cultural and the religious friction between the more-than-significant influx of "Austere" or "Northern Imperial" settlers and immigrants with the Albic natives.

With the untimely passing away of Bishop-Patriarch Friedrich Albrecht Von Rotbart as Friedrich I's far more prestigious, prolific, and illustrious older brother, "The Archpatriarchal Legate" or "The Pontifical Representative" to Vexillarius IV for "The Midlands Crusade," and the seminal and founding "Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg" formally invested during the stunning conclusion and aftermath of "The Midlands Crusade" with the official consecration of the site of the basilica town of Marienburg over the lands of the former "Godswoods" as the holiest shrine and the sacred grove of the autochthonous, apostate, Albic tribes of "The Former Kingdom of The Midlands" since before it's untimely and final collapse with the extinction of the legitimate, male bloodline of "The Late House Bartholemew" and the subsequent and consequent political feuding and warring between The Former Kingdom of The Midlands' aristocratic and noble "great houses" of feudal princeps and magnates over the issue of legitimate succession to the extinct, legitimate male bloodline of The Late House Bartholemew. The venerable and ailing Archpatriarch Vexillarius IV as "The 299th and Reigning Bishop of Romulus and The Current Head of The Conservative Church of The New Gods" formally and officially invested in, with his explicit blessing, "Wolfgang Amadeus Von Holswig-Schlestien, Bishop-Prince of Griffenheim and ecclesiastical, invested, Kurfürst Des Selbst Kaiserreich Der Menschheit" as the lawful and legitimate successor to the late Friedrich Albrecht Von Rotbart for the venerable and prestigious ecclesiastical office of "Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg." Unlike Bishop-Patriarch Friedrich Albrecht Von Rotbart as his immediate predecessor and the seminal and founding Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg, this new Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg was particularly hellbent on both maximizing and prioritizing the spiritual, cultural, and moral power, authority, and influence of The Conservative Church of The New Gods formally seated within The Holy Sept of Romulus as the historic capital, civilizational kernel, and titular namesake of The Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan Republic and "The Empire of Mankind Primus" at the expense of marginalizing the secular, worldly, and temporal power, authority, and influence of "Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland" to a purely nominal level, in order to improve the rate and the efficiency of the systematic, mass conversion of Das Königreich Middenland's autochthonous, apostate Albic tribes religiously subscribed to the druidic, cult worship of "Erdøk" or "The Great Forest" geographically situated directly beyond the easternmost frontiers of "Das Zweiten Kaiserreich Der Menschheit" or "The Empire of Mankind Secundus," which he deemed as being facilitated "reluctantly" or otherwise "inadequately." Stating at one point during his brief and untimely tenure as The Second Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg that "The Midlands Crusade was formally and officially preached and prosecuted against the autochthonous, apostate, Albic tribes in the name of The Canon Pantheon of The New Gods, not in the name of the selfish and conceited ambitions of prospective monarchs and aristocrats. And it was through their sheer grace and divinity that The Midlands Crusade had finally concluded, in stunning and overwhelming triumph, in favour of the sanctioned host of The Conservative Church."

"Friedrich I, Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart," in direct response to this seemingly existential threat to his sovereign and legitimate rule posed by this new Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg and his clerical and lay administration, formally decreed state legislation as "Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart" to officially convert to "The Luxembourgian Reformation" to the religious establishment of, and the institutions of organized religion within The Conservative Church of The New Gods officially seated within The Holy Sept of Romulus as the historic capital, the civilizational kernel, and the titular namesake of both The Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan Republic and "The Empire of Mankind Primus" during "The Civilized World's" historic epoch of "Classical Antiquity" on behalf of both his dynastic household and his hereditary subjects. Karl Von Luxembourg essentially being a learned church doctor of theology at "Die Universität Wörtzburch" in "Das Herzogtum Solingen," a prestigious graduate of "The Imperial Academy" at "Nymphenburg," and the official head and former heir apparent to "Hohenluxembourg Des Königreich Schönbrunn," the only hereditary monarchy within "Das Selbst Kaiserreich der Menshheit" or "The Empire of Mankind Proper" who is best known for his written thesis openly condemning the corruption, the abuses, and the worldly excesses of both the ecclesiastical and the monastic clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods and the appeal for a general, sweeping, and universal theological reformation of the religious establishment of, and the institutions of organized religion within The Conservative Church of The New Gods officially seated within The Holy Sept of Romulus. In the process of enacting his legislative decree to become the first hereditary, dynastic ruler in both the recorded histories and the geographic enormity of The Known World to officially convert to Karl Von Luxembourg's general, sweeping, and universal theological reformation to The Conservative Church of The New Gods. Friedrich I would subsequently, consequently, and formally "assume supreme authority over matters of religion” as “The First Supreme Head of The Reformed Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland," thus endowing himself with state investiture over new bishops and abbots for "The Reformed Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland." Including state investiture over the venerable and prestigious ecclesiastical office of Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg since the historic consecration and founding of the basilica town of Marienburg over the site of the former "Godswoods" in the aftermath of Friedrich Albrecht Von Rotbart's "Midlands Crusade," with his formal investiture as the seminal and founding "Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg" charged with the systematic, mass conversion of the indigenous, apostate, Albic tribes religiously subscribed to the druidic, cult worship of "Erdøk" or "The Great Forest." Friedrich I's formal assumption of supreme authority over matters of religion through his legislative decree to officially convert to "The Luxembourgian Reformation" on behalf of both his dynastic household and his hereditary subjects would naturally culminate in the systematic persecution, the legislative marginalization, and the confiscation of the lands, estates, and treasuries of any ecclesiastical and monastic clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods who had both openly and stubbornly refused to submit before, and openly protested against Friedrich I's formal renunciation of his spiritual, cultural, and moral ties of fealty to “The Archpatriarchs” or “The Bishops of Romulus” as “The Anointed, Acolytic, and Universal Heads of The Conservative Church of The New Gods.”

Friedrich I's first official policy as "The First Supreme Head of The Reformed Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland" was to decriminalize both the vernacular translations and the private ownership of "The Holy Canons of The New Gods" in direct accordance with Karl Von Luxembourg's theological tenets of "sola scriptura" or "salvation by scripture alone," and "sola fide" or "salvation by faith alone," which had always been traditionally codified in "Classical Cosmopolitan" or "Ecclesiastical Cosmopolitan" as the liturgical language of The Conservative Church of The New Gods since the original composition, codification, and canonization of the most widely attested and popular oral mythologies of The Cosmopolitan and The Mycenean Pantheons into the canon theology of The Faith of The New Gods traditionally attributed to the theological reforms officially decreed under the reign of The Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan Imperator of Mankind "Cassadorian the Great." While both the private ownership and the strict interpretation of The Holy Canons of The New Gods had remained the exclusive, legal reserve of the ecclesiastical and the monastic clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods since it's original institutionalization under The Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan Imperator of Mankind "Demetrius Superbus" as an "administrative organ" or an "administrative body" within the civil magistracy of The Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan "Empire of Mankind Primus," as well as the exclusive, feudal privilege of the hereditary, dynastic, greater and lesser houses of feudal aristocracy and nobility as both the "traditional" and the "preferential" source for aspiring and prospective clergymen. With Friedrich I's legislative decree to decriminalize both the vernacular translations and the private ownership of The Holy Canons of The New Gods opening both it's reading and it's strict interpretation to all social classes outside the ecclesiastical and the monastic clergy of The Reformed Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland as well as the greater and lesser dynastic houses of "junker" aristocracy and nobility.

In order to effectively "bolster" or otherwise "reinforce" his legislative decree to open both the private ownership and the strict interpretation of the vernacular translations of The Holy Canons of The New Gods to all social classes outside the ecclesiastical and monastic clergy and the feudal aristocracy and nobility. Friedrich I had actively campaigned to proliferate both the spread and the growth of mass literacy within Das Königreich Middenland using the religious support and the political backing of any professional printers, missionaries, and church schools personally sympathetic to Karl Von Luxembourg and his general, sweeping, and universal reformation to the religious establishment of, and institutions of organized religion within The Conservative Church of The New Gods officially seated within The Holy Sept of Romulus as the historic capital, civilizational kernel, and titular namesake of The Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan Republic and "The Empire of Mankind Primus." With Friedrich I's formal issuance of the deed of foundation for "The Collegium Fridericium" or "Die Universität Königsberg" serving as both the earliest and the greatest centre for the ideological proliferation of Karl Von Luxembourg's general, sweeping, and universal theological reformation of The Conservative Church of The New Gods, as well as a religious, material, and intellectual cultural monument quite literally "set in stone" devoted in homage to his enduring legacy and infamy as the first hereditary, dynastic ruler in both the recorded histories and the geographic enormity of "The Known World" to formally renounce his spiritual, cultural, and moral ties of fealty to The Holy Sept in Romulus, and in the process formally assuming supreme authority over matters of religion within his sovereign realm as "The First Supreme Head of The Reformed Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland." With "The Collegium Fridericium" or "Die Universität Königsberg" essentially serving as a mighty bastion and stronghold of religious and intellectual cultural education explicitly founded with the intent of producing prospective bishops and abbots formally schooled and educated in the intellectual framework and methodology of renaissance humanism most popular within the scholastic and academic communities and circles native to the "Frivolous" or "Southern Imperial" states of "L'Impero dell'Umanità Secundo" or "The Empire of Mankind Secundus" and charged with the clerical maintenance and administration of religious orthodoxy within "The Reformed Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland," as well as literate and formally educated missionaries and preachers charged with the mission of preaching and proselytizing the theological reforms of Karl Von Luxembourg throughout and beyond the established frontiers of Das Königreich Middenland.

My third illustration of a “Schwarzer Reiter” that I have officially designed for “Hohenrotbart,” the ruling, dynastic house of “Das Königreich Middenland” in my low-fantasy world. Both this illustration and it’s associated “faction iconography” were officially designed for a low-fantasy setting of my original conception with technology and material culture roughly equivalent to European History during the compounded advents of The Italian Renaissance, The Protestant Reformation, and The Discovery of America. Where formations of heavily armoured and mounted knights in either suits of full plate armour or heavy coats of chainmail fight alongside professional armies of pikemen and matchlock musketeers. Where medieval-style stone castles are gradually being outsourced in favour of both lavish country estates and devoted military fortifications, or “bastions,” due to the technological advancements being made in gunpowder-based, siege artillery. And where fledgling nation-states in the form of kingdoms and empires look beyond the great oceans and the frontiers of “The Known World” in search of exotic riches and virgin lands. In context to the canon lore of my low-fantasy world, “Hohenrotbart” or “House Rotbart” is the newly established ruling dynasty over “Das Königreich Middenland” or “The Kingdom of Middenland.” A fantasy kingdom loosely inspired by Medieval and Renaissance Prussia under the theocracy of The Teutonic Knights, as well as 16th and 17th century “Ducal Prussia” after the official dissolution of The Monastic State of The Teutonic Knights in East Prussia. “Die Schwarze Reiter” as the elite, pseudo-monastic, martial fraternities of aristocratic and noble heavy cavalry paying direct homage and military service to the persons of “Die Könige von Middenland” as both the traditional and the hereditary holders of the office of “Der Hochmeister Der Schwarze Reiter” or “The Supreme Grandmaster of All Schwarze Reiter” being highly analogous to the constituent chapters of The Teutonic Knights during The European Middle Ages and The Renaissance. While the official legislation formally decreed by Friedrich I as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland” and “Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart“ to convert to “The Luxembourgian Reforms” on behalf of his dynastic house and his hereditary subjects being roughly analogous to the secularization of “The Monastic State of The Teutonic Knights” or “Der Deutschordenstaat” into the Lutheran, East Prussian Duchy during the early 16th century. Alongside “Hohenbiermann Der Markgrafschaft Branndenborg,” “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland” collectively form “Die Sudkreuzritterstaaten,” “Die Teutogenstaaten,” or “Die Sudentscheidenstaaten.” Essentially a “Teutogen” or “Southern Austere” cultural and linguistic bloc born of the complimentary and subsequent events of “The Southern Crusades” and “The Sudsiedlung.” “The Southern Crusades” being the religious warfare and the territorial acquisitions officially preached and prosecuted against the apostate, Albic tribes religiously subscribed to the druidic, cult worship of “Erdøk“ or “The Great Forest” geographically located beyond the eastern frontiers of The Empire of Mankind Proper. While “The Sudsiedlung” denotes the gradual and effective resettlement of culturally and ethnically “Austere” or “Northern Imperial” settlers and immigrants to “Die Sudkreuzritterstaaten” alongside the synonymous, systematic, and complimentary mass conversion efforts and the cultural assimilation of the indigenous “Albic” tribes religiously subscribed to the druidic, cult worship of “Erdøk.” The appeal for the druidic, cult worship of “Erdøk“ or “The Great Forest” already gaining momentum amongst the Albic tribes indigenous to The Former Kingdom of The Midlands long before it’s final collapse beginning with the untimely extinction of the legitimate, male bloodline of The Late House Bartholemnew and the consequent warring and political feuding between the princely, “great houses” of aristocratic and noble princeps and magnates over the issue of legitimate succession to The Late House Bartholemew for the hereditary title of “King of The Midlands.” “Das Königreich Middenland,“ in particular, is the consequential product of “The Midlands Crusade” formally and officially preached and prosecuted against the apostate, Albic tribes geographically located beyond the southernmost frontier of “Das Selbst Kaiserreich der Menscheit.” With Friedrich-Albrecht von Rotbart as Bishop-Prince of Elchingen and one of the three ecclesiastical, invested “Kurfürsten Des Selbst Kaiserreich der Menscheit“ officially serving as “Archpatriarchal Legate,” or the pontifical representative to the person of Archpatriarch Vexillarius IV as “The 299th and Reigning Bishop of Romulus” and “The Current Head of The Conservative Church of The New Gods” for this second “Southern Crusade” officially preached and prosecuted against the apostate, Albic tribes indigenous to The Former Kingdom of The Midlands. Before his formal coronation and anointment as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland” and “Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart.” Friedrich Von Rotbart was originally a mercenary captain of minor aristocratic stock to a company of professional pike-and-shotte infantry known as “Die Bande Des Falke” of “The Band of The Hawk” operating within both “The Austere” and “The Frivolous” cultural and linguistic hemispheres of The Empire of Mankind Secundus. Friedrich Von Rotbart as a mercenary captain to pike-and-shotte infantry would have been content to ply his trade of professional soldiery in service to Das Selbst Kaiserreich der Menscheit’s great houses of aristocratic and noble “Imperial Princeps” or “Imperial Magnates” were it not for his fraternal connections to his far more prolific, prestigious, and illustrious older brother: Friedrich-Albrecht Von Rotbart, Bishop-Prince of Elchingen, ecclesiastical, invested “Kurfürst Des Selbst Kaiserreich der Menscheit,” and above all “Archpatriarchal Legate to Vexillarius IV for The Midlands Crusade.” In return for the once-in-a-millennium opportunity to be formally crowned and anointed the first monarch of his own sovereign state and the founding head of his own royal household, Friedrich Von Rotbart and his “Bande Des Falke” flocked to the rallying cry of this new “Midlands Crusade” formally preached and prosecuted by his far more prestigious, prolific, and illustrious older brother as the pontifical representative to the person of Archpatriarch Vexillarius IV as “The 299th and Reigning Bishop of Romulus” and “The Current Head of The Conservative Church of The New Gods.” Although having allegedly fought with such distinction and meritorious service so as to earn both the respect and the commendation of the leading aristocratic and noble princeps and magnates as well as the sanctioned church authorities officially involved in The Midlands Crusade. Friedrich Von Rotbart and his “Bande Des Falke” fought only as minor belligerents involved in this campaign of religious warfare and territorial conquest aimed at the systematic, mass conversion of the apostate, Albic tribes religiously subscribed to the druidic, cult worship of “Erdøk.” With The Midlands Crusade concluding in both stunning and overwhelming triumph for the crusaders at the climactic “Battle of The Godswoods.” “The Godswoods” as the holiest shrine and sacred grove to the apostate, Erdøki cultists indigenous to The Former Kingdom of The Midlands was subsequently desecrated and demolished by the conquering, crusading knights of The Midlands Crusade. With it’s constituent lands being officially consecrated as the official site of construction for the new basilica town of Marienburg, where Friedrich-Albrecht von Rotbart would be both formally and officially invested with the awesome and prestigious ecclesiastical office of “Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg,” with The Bishop of Romulus explicit blessing, in order to facilitate the systematic, mass conversion of the apostate, Albic tribes back into the fold of The Conservative Church of The New Gods. Through sheer virtue of his fraternal ties to both the pontifical representative to the person of Archpatriarch Vexillarius IV for The Midlands Crusade and The Seminal Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg, Friedrich Von Rotbart was naturally prioritized over all other prospective candidates for the formal and official coronation and anointment as the first secular, worldly monarch for the new “Königreich Middenland” or “The Kingdom of Middenland” as well as “Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart” or “The Founding Head of House Rotbart” as the region’s first reigning, dynastic household and hereditary monarch since the untimely extinction of the legitimate, male bloodline of “The Late House Bartholemew” well over a century and a half ago. By sheer virtue of the awesome power, prestige, and authority invested within the ecclesiastical office of Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg, Friedrich-Albrecht Von Rotbart would use his power, authority, and influence within The Conservative Church of The New Gods to leverage the unanimous religious and political support of the high ranking offices of both the ecclesiastical and the monastic clergy in Das Königreich Middenland for the coronation and the anointment of his younger brother as “Friedrich I, Der erster und herrschend König von Middeland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart.” Friedrich I’s formal coronation and anointment as “The First and Reigning King of Middenland” and “The Founding Head of House Rotbart,” however, was initially received with both icy anticipation and subtle dread by the newly established princely, “great houses” of “junker” aristocracy and nobility that had formed from the cream, core, and bulk of the conquering, crusading knights of The Midlands Crusade originally preached and prosecuted by Friedrich-Albrecht Von Rotbart as Archpatriarchal Legate to the person of Vexillarius IV as “The 299th and Reigning Bishop of Romulus” and “The Current Head of The Conservative Church of The New Gods.” Friedrich I’s formal coronation and anointment as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland” and “Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart” was originally judged and disputed with suspicion and skepticism, in equal measure, by the feudal princeps and magnates of “junker” aristocracy and nobility due to his minor aristocratic birth within the “Austere” or “Northern Imperial” cultural and linguistic hemisphere, as well as his professional background as a mercenary captain to pike-and-shotte infantry, as opposed to aristocratic and noble heavy cavalry as the traditionally most prestigious form of military service due to the historical precedence of the militaristic ideology of professional chivalry. With both the formal blessing and the expressed recommendation of Friedrich-Albrecht Von Rotbart as his far more prestigious, prolific, and illustrious older brother and The First Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg. Friedrich I as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland” and “Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart” had officially awarded hereditary, dynastic enfeoffment to Das Königreich Middenland’s newly established princely, “great houses” of “junker” aristocrats and nobles the most arable lands, titles, and estates that had not been previously and officially claimed as the legal property of The Conservative Church of The New Gods. Much later into his long, prolific, and illustrious reign, Friedrich I as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland” and “Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart” would officially decree state legislation to grant both the greater and lesser dynastic houses of “junker” aristocracy and nobility the exclusive, feudal privilege over official appointments as judges and magistrates for the new, secular, provincial, “royal” law courts officially established by Friedrich I shortly after his formal coronation and anointment as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland.” The voluminous bodies of secular law codes, customs, and traditions applied to the provincial jurisdiction of the secular, “royal” law courts of the new “Königreich Middenland” essentially being derivative works based on the old town laws of “Die Freie Reichsstädte” or “The Imperial Free Cities” within the “Austere” or “Northern Imperial” cultural and linguistic hemisphere of Das Selbst Kaiserreich Der Menscheit. With the exception of the provincial jurisdiction of the episcopal diocese of The Archbishopric of Marienburg, which fell directly under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction the canon law courts of The Conservative Church of The New Gods officially seated within The Holy Sept of Romulus as the historic kernel, capital, and namesake of The Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan Republic and “The Empire of Mankind Primus.” In direct cooperation with his far more prestigious, prolific, and illustrious older brother Friedrich-Albrecht Von Rotbart as “The First Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg.” Friedrich I as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland” and “Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart” worked in joint partnership with both the ecclesiastical and the monastic clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods over the rulership, the state administration, and the systematic, mass conversion of the autochthonous Albic tribes religiously subscribed to the druidic, cult worship of Erdøk. Through the spiritual, cultural, and moral authority of a culturally “Austere” or “Northern Imperial” Conservative clergy with their monopoly on knowledge, education, and learning in general. The systematic, mass conversion of the apostate, Albic tribes of Das Königreich Middenland came synonymously with their thorough assimilation into the “Austere” or “Northern Imperial” culture and language using the church schools and the religious services officially sponsored by a culturally and ethnically “Austere” or “Northern Imperial” Conservative clergy. With any indigenous Albic tribes who had both openly and violently protested against the legislative marginalization of their religious liberties in order to encourage their systematic, mass conversion back into the fold of The Conservative Church of The New Gods facing mass genocide at the hands of either the fledgling, yet powerful professional army of “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland,” or the feudal, aristocratic levies of knightly retinues or pike-and-shotte infantry regiments paying direct homage and military service to the great houses of junker princeps and magnates. In addition to the systematic, mass conversion and the thorough cultural assimilation of the apostate, Albic tribes religiously subscribed to the druidic, cult worship of “Erdøk” or “The Great Forest.” Friedrich I’s single, most defining, and most enduring policy as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland” and “Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart” is actively encouraging the mass migration and the thorough and effective resettlement of settlers and immigrants hailing from his native “Austere” or “Northern Imperial” cultural and linguistic hemisphere within The Empire of Mankind Proper. Using the allure and the promise of the opportunity to resettle and start a new life, in free hold, within the newly established castles and fortified cities of Das Königreich Middeland, as well as the most arable lands and estates within their attached countryside. Friedrich I intends to “bolster” or otherwise “revitalize” growth within the local economy, industrial base, and the cultural and scholastic activity of his new “Königreich Middenland” by attracting skilled, moneyed, and educated commoners to permanently resettle into his newly established castles and fortified cities as “burghers” or bourgeoisie, merchants, artisans, and professionals, as well as the most lucrative and arable lands and estates within their attached countryside as “kollmers” or country gentlemen. In order to ease the cultural and religious friction between the equally dramatic and significant influx of “Austere” or “Northern Imperial” settlers and immigrants with the Albic natives. Friedrich I, in direct partnership with the ecclesiastical clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods in Middenland, has actively pursued a church and state-mandated policy of encouraging the intermarriage between male settlers and immigrants hailing from the “Austere” or “Northern Imperial” cultural and linguistic hemisphere of The Empire of Mankind Secundus with the daughters of Albic families who had officially converted back into the fold of The Conservative Church of The New Gods. By granting church dowries officially sponsored by the ecclesiastical clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland to Albic families who had both openly and formally converted back into the fold of The Conservative Faith, Friedrich I hopes to simultaneously stimulate the systematic, mass conversion of the apostate, Albic tribes back into the fold of The Conservative Church of The New Gods, while also easing the societal friction agitated by the cultural and religious differences between the “Austere” or “Northern Imperial” settlers and immigrants with the Albic natives. Despite it’s reputation as the newest, poorest, and least developed sovereign state within the geographic boundaries of “The Civilized World” as officially defined and prescribed by the ecclesiastical and monastic clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods, as well as the nonconformist preachers of the multitude, or the plethora of “Reformed” and “Dissenter” churches of The New Gods derived from the theological reforms of Karl von Luxembourg and Cassyon Dufresne, respectively. “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland” possesses the single largest, most disciplined, most skilled, and most professional armies of pike-and-shotte infantry south of Margrabia Mazowsza under Rod Danielewski. Immediately descended from the military traditions of the conquering, crusading host of The Midlands Crusade formally preached and prosecuted under the ecclesiastical leadership of Bishop-Prince Friedrich-Albrecht von Rotbart as “Archpatriarchal Legate,” or the pontifical representative to the person of Archpatriarch Vexillarius IV for The Midlands Crusade. The professional regiments of pike-and-shotte infantry paying direct homage and military service to Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland are some of the most feared and respected composite units of pikemen and matchlock musketeers to define the current epoch of post-chivalric warfare. Der König von Middenland’s professional regiments of pike-and-shotte infantry are notorious for their steely discipline in holding the line in pitched battles against other composite units of pike-and-shotte infantry and in the face of nigh-irresistible cavalry charges, their superb quality of military fitness and skill-at-arms, and their exceptional degree of military professionalism by contrast to the feudal, aristocratic levies and mercenary contractors more popular elsewhere within “The Civilized World.” This culture of military excellence and professionalism directly inherited from the conquering, crusading host of “The Midlands Crusade” have merely been “bolstered,” or otherwise “reinforced” by the personal and direct supervision of Friedrich I, whose world beating pike-and-shotte infantry regiments have only benefited from his hard-earned, empirical knowledge and worldly experience as a mercenary captain to pike-and-shotte infantry operating within the “Austere” and “Frivolous” states of “Das Selbst Kaiserreich Der Menscheit” before his expressed involvement in The Midlands Crusade at the expressed invitation of his older brother. Although born out of his inherent distrust for the newly established great houses of “junker” princeps and magnates that had formed from the cream, core, and bulk of the conquering, crusading knights originally involved in The Midlands Crusade. “Die Schwarze Reiter” as the elite, pseudo-monastic, aristocratic and noble heavy cavalry paying direct homage and military service to “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland” as both the traditional and the hereditary holders of the office of “Der Hochmeister Der Schwarze Reiter” or “The Supreme Grandmaster of All Schwarze Reiter” likewise parallel the world-beating military professionalism, discipline, physical fitness, and skill-at-arms of Das Königreich Middenland’s prized regiments of pike-and-shotte infantry. Organized into elite, pseudo-monastic “chapters” or “martial fraternities” known as “Brüderschaften” or “Brotherhoods” each housed and headquartered within a local “chapter house” corresponding within a network of recruiting districts known as “cantons.” And placed under the personal command and the direct supervision of “Ein Großmeister” or “a Grandmaster” personally and directly appointed for life from “legitimate issues” or “dynastic scions” of Das Königreich Middenland’s great houses of “junker” princeps and magnates by the persons of “Die Könige von Middenland” themselves. “Die Schwarze Reiter” as the elite, pseudo-monastic, aristocratic and noble heavy cavalry paying direct homage and military service to “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland” as both the traditional and the hereditary “Hochmeister Der Schwarze Reiter” or “Supreme Grandmasters of All Schwarze Reiter” were either compelled through the obligatory, feudal, aristocratic “blood tithe,” or otherwise willingly enrolled into the local chapter houses of their respective “Brüderschaft” to serve the royal, state interests of “Die Könige von Middenland” over the feudal, private interests of their aristocratic and noble households. To physically distinguish the constituent “Brüderschaften” of “Die Schwarze Reiter” from the domestic, household knights paying direct homage and military service to Das Königreich Middenland’s newly established great houses of “junker” princeps and magnates. “Die Schwarze Reiter” were issued their signature, black armour further embellished with skull fetishes, gilded plates, and “burned” chainmail to distinguish their rank, seniority, and specific “Brudershaft” while wearing surcoats and cuirasses richly emblazoned or enameled with the escutcheon of “Hohenrotbart” as the founding, ruling, dynastic household of “Das Königreich Middenland.” In order to both preserve and retain the professional loyalties and the direct homage of the various “Brüderschaften” of “Die Schwarze Reiter” to the persons of “Die Könige von Middenland.” Both the personal livelihoods and the upkeep costs of “Die Schwarze Reiter” were funded through a combination of the quarterly income tax generated by Das Königreich Middenland’s “royal demesne” or “crownlands,” by tariffs officially imposed on the trade, commerce, and industry of Der König von Middenland’s charter companies and the local trade guilds, as well as tithes and benefices generated by the religious services of, donations to, and the property owned by The Conservative Church of The New Gods in joint partnership with “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland” over the rulership, the state administration, and the systematic, mass conversion of the apostate, Albic tribes autochthonous to “Das Königreich Middenland.” Each “Großmeister” was personally and individually charged for life directly by the persons of “Die Könige von Middenland” with the personal command and the direct supervision of “Die Brüderschaften” of “Die Schwarze Reiter,” and could be immediately and unceremoniously stripped of their rank and office should they show any signs of insubordination to the person of “Der König von Middenland” or those of his official, state-sanctioned representatives. All “Schwarze Reiter” from the youngest and rawest of squires to the most venerable and seasoned “Großmeister” were legally obligated to forfeit any lands, titles, and estates within their legal possession at the secular, provincial, “royal” law courts of “Die Könige von Middenland” upon and regardless of their obligatory or voluntary enrollment into the local chapter houses of their respective “Brüderschaft.” Through compelling the second sons of Das Königreich Middenland’s junker aristocrats and nobles, as well as the firstborn sons of poorer junkers into elite, pseudo-monastic, and professional military service as “Schwarze Reiter” through the obligatory, feudal, aristocratic “blood tithe.” Friedrich I as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland,” “Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart,” and “Der erster Hochmeister Der Schwarze Reiter” hopes to better “entrench” or otherwise “reinforce” the hereditary, dynastic loyalties and the feudal homage of Das Königreich Middenland’s greater and lesser dynastic houses of junker aristocrats and nobles to the persons of “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland.” In terms Hohenrotbart’s foreign and dynastic policy as the founding, ruling, dynastic household of “Das Königreich Middenland.” Friedrich-Albrecht Von Rotbart shortly after his formal investiture as “The First Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg” had successfully brokered a matrilineal union with “Hohenbiermann Der Markgrafschaft Brannenborg” through the marriage of Markgraf Friedrich-Albrecht Von Biermann’s younger sister to the newly crowned and anointed “Friedrich I, Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart.” Through the matrilineal union forged by the marriage between Friedrich I and the younger sister of Markgraf Friedrich-Albrecht Von Biermann, the cornerstone for an extraimperial personal union between “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland” and “Hohenbiermann Der Margrafschaft Brannenborg” as “Die Sudkreuzritterstaaten,” “Die Sudentscheidenstaaten,” or “Die Teutogenstaaten,” or the nation-states born of the subsequent and the complimentary events of “The Southern Crusades” and “The Sudsiedlung” was laid out. Which is most explicitly apparent with the subsequent and the complimentary “Treaties of Marienburg and Brannenborg-An-der-Havel” officially brokered between the state-sanctioned, court representatives of “Hohenbiermann Der Markgrafschaft Brannenborg” and “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland” over the prospective merger of Die Markgrafschaft Brannenborg and Das Königreich Middenland into an extraimperial composite state united by their shared heritage in “The Southern Crusades” and “The Sudsiedlung,” as well as their shared background as the earliest religious converts to the theological reforms of Karl von Luxembourg to the religious establishment of, and institutions of organized religion within The Conservative Church of The New Gods officially seated in Romulus. Prinzessin Chloe Von Rotbart as Friedrich I’s eldest daughter from a previous marriage before his formal coronation and anointment as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart” was formally betrothed to Robert III, The 40th and Late King of Albion and The Former Head of House Lyonheart, as part of a defensive pact to put a check on the belligerence of Maison Williamson du Royaume d’Aquitaine’s as the single largest military powerhouse within “The Civilized World.” Edmund IV as the legitimate successor to both The Kingdom of Albion and House Lyonheart was equally unable to, nor inherently interested in staking a dynastic merger between The Kingdom of Albion and Das Königreich Middenland, as his mother Chloe Von Rotbart was not a “real issue” to the first “Prinzgemahl-Königin von Middenland” from “Hohenbiermann Der Markgrafschaft Brannenborg.” Albrecht Von Biermann as “Der herrschend Markgraf von Brannenborg,” “Der momentan Chef von Hohenbiermann,” and secular, hereditary “Kurfürst des Selbst-Kaiserreich der Menscheit,“ however, was far more successful in cultivating closer ties with Friedrich I as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland” and “Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart” using a combination of his paternal ties to “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland,” their shared heritage to the subsequent and the complimentary events of “The Southern Crusades” and “The Sudsiedlung,” as well as their shared background as the earliest religious converts to the theological reforms of “Karl Von Luxembourg,” a learned church doctor of theology at “Die Universität Wörtzburch“ as one of the greatest centers of church-sanctioned, academic research on both The Canon Theology of The New Gods as well as Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan Civil Law and Jurisprudence north of The Olympian Mountain Valley. Within the subsequent “Treaties of Marienburg and Brannenborg-An-Der-Havel” officially brokered between the state-sanctioned, court representatives of “Hohenbiermann Der Markgrafschaft Brannenborg” and “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland.” Albrecht Von Biermann as “Der herrschend Markgraf von Brannenborg,” “Der momentan Chef von Hohenbiermann,” secular, hereditary, “Kurfürst Des Selbst-Kaiserreich der Menscheit,” and nephew to Friedrich I as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland,” “Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart,” and paternal uncle to Albrecht Von Biermann opened negotiations with the proposition of mutual inheritance between Hohenbiermann and Hohenrotbart for both Die Markgrafschaft Brannenborg and Das Königreich Middenland should either dynastic house grow extinct through the male bloodline. Friedrich I, in direct response to the opening propositions of Albrecht Von Biermann’s conditions, further elaborated upon the treaties with the following conditions that Albrecht Von Biermann never officially incorporate Das Königreich Middenland as a constituent, member state within The Empire of Mankind. As Imperial Law had officially restricted any member state outside “the hereditary state” and “the dynastic house” of The Emperor-Elect, as well as “Hohenluxembourg Des Königreich Schönbrunn” from endowing the reigning patriarchs of their dynastic houses with royal titles. That Albrecht Von Biermann and all of his prospective successors as “Die Markgrafen von Brannenborg” officially convert to “The Reformed Faith of The New Gods” based on the theological reforms of Karl Von Luxembourg officially published at “Die Universität Wörtzburch“ by the time of their formal inheritance to “Das Königreich Middenland” from the then extinct, male bloodline of “Hohenrotbart.” So as to simultaneously retain and preserve the religious liberties of all subscribers to The Reformed Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland, while simultaneously encouraging both the spread and the proliferation of The Reformed Church of The New Gods in Die Markgrafschaft Brannenborg. And that Albrecht Von Biermann and all his prospective successors as “Die Markgrafen von Brannenborg” officially act as both regents and godfathers to Friedrich I’s infant son “Kronprinz Friedrich-Albrecht Von Rotbart” in the event and the occasion of his untimely passing. As Friedrich I had only and finally succeeded in producing a surviving male heir by his late 70′s. To both sweeten and conclude the subsequent and the complimentary “Treaties of Marienburg and Brannenborg-An-Der-Havel,” Albrecht Von Biermann had offered the ultimatum of consenting to the outlined elaborations under the condition that Friedrich I and all of his prospective successors as “Die Könige von Middenland” officially hold the title of “Der Markgraf von Brannenborg” plurally with the title of “Der König von Middenland” rather than incorporating Die Markgrafschaft Brannenborg as a constituent province of Das Königreich Middenland uniquely situated within the southernmost frontier of The Empire of Mankind Proper, so as to simultaneously preserve and retain the awesome power, privilege, and authority traditionally attached to the title of secular, hereditary “Kurfürst Des Selbst Kaiserreich der Menscheit” that had been both traditionally and synonymously tied with the hereditary title of “Die Markgrafen von Brannenborg” since it’s original awarding to Markgraf Friedrich II Von Biermann during The Electoral Reforms of Vespasian VII of The Imperial Household after his official election as The 96th Emperor-Elect of Mankind formally decreed in the aftermath the electoral wars disputing his lawful and legitimate election for the title of “Der Designiert-Kaiser Der Menscheit.” With the passing away of Friedrich-Albrecht Von Rotbart as Friedrich I’s far more prestigious, prolific, and illustrious older brother and The First Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg. The venerable and ailing Archpatriarch Vexillarius IV as The 299th and Reigning Bishop of Romulus and The Current Head of The Conservative Church of The New Gods had formally and officially invested in Wolfgang Amadeus Von Holswig-Schlestien, Bishop-Prince of Griffenheim and one of the three ecclesiastical, invested “Kurfürsten Des Selbst-Kaiserreich Der Menscheit” as the next Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg for Das Königreich Middenland. Unlike Friedrich-Albrecht Von Rotbart as his predecessor and The Seminal Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg. This new Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg was particularly hellbent on both maximizing and prioritizing the spiritual, cultural, and moral power, authority, and influence of The Conservative Church of The New Gods officially seated in The Holy Sept of the old capital, civilizational kernel, and titular namesake of The Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan Republic and “The Empire of Mankind Primus” over the rulership, the state administration, and the systematic, mass conversion of Das Königreich Middenland’s apostate, Albic tribes at the expense of reducing the secular, hereditary power, authority, and influence of “Hohenrotbart Des Königreich Middenland” to a purely nominal role. Stating at one point that “The Midlands Crusade was formally preached and prosecuted in the name of The Canon Pantheon of The New Gods, not in the name of the selfish and conceited ambitions of prospective monarchs and aristocrats. And it was through their sheer grace and divinity that the crusade had concluded, in stunning and overwhelming triumph, in favour of the sanctioned forces of The Conservative Church.” In direct response to this ever increasing threat to his sovereign and legitimate rule and authority posed by both this new Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg and his clerical and lay followers. Friedrich I as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart” had formally decreed state legislation to officially convert to The “Reformed” Faith of The New Gods on behalf of both his dynastic household and his hereditary subjects. The “Reformed” Faith essentially being derived from the theological reforms of Karl Von Luxembourg at Die Universität Wörtzburch questioning both the spiritual and cultural legitimacy and the moral infallibility of “The Bishop of Romulus” or “The Archpatriarch” and his spiritual, cultural, and moral authority as “The Last of The Classical Pontiffs,” or the sole, anointed representative to The Entire Canon Pantheon of The New Gods in the whole world after the official dissolution of the “Quattuordecimviri Sacris Faciundus” or “The Pontifical College” under the Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan Imperator of Mankind “Demetrius Superbus” with his official prescription of The Conservative Faith of The New Gods as “the state religion” of The Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan Empire of Mankind Primus. As well as protesting against the widespread corruption, the abuses, and the worldly excesses of both the ecclesiastical and the monastic clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods. With his legislative decree to officially convert to “The Luxembourgian Reformation” on behalf of both his dynastic household and his hereditary subjects, Friedrich I had finally assumed supreme authority over matters of religion in Das Königreich Middenland. And in the process making himself the effective and virtual “Supreme Head of The Reformed Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland” as the first major culture and state in both the recorded histories and the geographic expanse of The Known World to officially convert to The “Reformed” Faith of The New Gods based on the theological reforms of Karl Von Luxembourg. With his spiritual ties of fealty to The Holy Sept in Romulus formally annulled through his official conversion to The Luxembourgian Reformation, Friedrich I had actively pursued a policy of the systematic confiscation of the lands, property, and treasuries of any ecclesiastical and monastic clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods who had openly refused to submit before the formal renunciation of his spiritual ties of fealty to The Holy Sept in Romulus, while also endowing himself with full control over the state investiture of new bishops and abbots for The Reformed Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland. Including state investiture over the venerable and prestigious ecclesiastical office of Bishop-Patriarch of Marienburg since it’s original consecration and founding by his far more prestigious, prolific, and illustrious older brother at the stunning conclusion and the aftermath of “The Midlands Crusade” with the historic, subsequent, and complimentary desecration and demolition of “The Godswoods” as the holiest shrine and sacred grove of the apostate, Albic tribes religiously subscribed to the druidic, cult worship “Erdøk” or “The Great Forest.” Friedrich I’s first official policy as “The Supreme Head of The Reformed Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland” was to decree church legislation to decriminalize both the private ownership and the vernacular translations of The Holy Canons of The New Gods, which had always been traditionally codified in “Cosmopolitan” or “Classical Romulan” as the liturgical language of The Conservative Church of The New Gods since it’s original codification and formalization under the religious reforms traditionally attributed to The Classical Romulan Imperator of Mankind “Cassadorian the Great” with his establishment of The Conservative Faith of The New Gods as the “preferential” religion of The Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan Empire of Mankind Primus. The possession, the reading, and the strict, legalistic interpretation of the Old Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan rite and liturgy of The Holy Canons of The New Gods being the exclusive, legal reserve of the ecclesiastical and the monastic clergy of The Conservative Church of The New Gods, as well as the exclusive, feudal privilege of the hereditary, dynastic, greater and lesser houses of feudal aristocracy and nobility since the closing centuries of The Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan Empire of Mankind Primus at the twilight of The Civilized World’s “Classical Antiquity.” This policy of actively proliferating both the private ownership and the vernacular translations of The Holy Canons of The New Gods would subsequently open both it’s reading and it’s strict interpretation to all social classes outside the ecclesiastical and monastic clergy and the feudal aristocracy and nobility. To “reinforce” or otherwise “bolster” his policy of the mass proliferation of the vernacular translations of The Holy Canons of The New Gods to all social classes outside the ecclesiastical and monastic clergy of The “Reformed” Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland and the greater and lesser houses “junker” aristocracy and nobility. Friedrich I as “Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland,” “Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart,” and “The Supreme Head of The Reformed Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland” has actively campaigned to encourage both the spread and the growth of mass literacy within Das Königreich Middenland using the religious and political support of any professional printers, missionaries, and church schools personally sympathetic to the theological reforms officially preached and published by Karl Von Luxembourg at Die Universität Wörtzburch. With Friedrich I’s formal issuance of the deed of foundation for “The Collegium Fridericium” or “Die Universität Königsberg” as both the earliest and the greatest, official centre of ideological proliferation for Karl Von Luxembourg’s theological reforms to the religious establishment of, and the institutions of organized religion within The Conservative Church of The New Gods officially seated within The Holy Sept of Romulus as the old capital, civilizational kernel, and titular namesake of both The Cosmopolitan, Classical Romulan Republic and “The Empire of Mankind Primus” until it’s final and final collapse at the very end of The Civilized World’s historical epoch of “Classical Antiquity,” as well as a monolithic religious and material cultural monument literally “set in stone” dedicated to his irrefutable infamy and notoriety as the first hereditary, dynastic ruler in both the recorded histories and the geographic expanse of “The Known World” to formally renounce his spiritual ties of fealty to The Holy Sept in Romulus through his legislative decree to officially convert to “The Luxembourgian Reformation” on behalf of both his dynastic household and his hereditary subjects. “The Collegium Fridericium” or “Die Universität Königsberg” essentially being founded to serve as a mighty bastion of religious and intellectual cultural education designed to produce new ecclesiastical and monastic clergy for Friedrich I’s “Reformed” Church of The New Gods in Das Königreich Middenland, as well as literate and formally educated missionaries to preach and proselytize The Luxembourgian Reformation throughout and beyond Das Königreich Middenland’s established frontiers.

An illustration of a fantasy knight I retouched to feature the colours and coat of arms I designed for House Rotbart, the ruling family of The Kingdom of Middenland. Artwork for a low-fantasy setting of my design with technology equivalent to the late medieval and renaissance periods, where formations of heavily armoured and mounted knights fight alongside armies of pikemen and matchlock musketeers, where medieval-style stone castles are gradually being outsourced in favour of both lavish country estates and devoted military fortifications due to the advancements made in artillery technology, and where rising nation-states in the form of Kingdoms and Empires look beyond the boundaries of the known world in search of greater wealth and territory. In context to the lore of my fantasy setting, House Rotbart is the ruling family of The Kingdom of Middenland, or the former Kingdom of The Midlands under House Bartholemew. While bearing no exact equivalent in medieval or early modern European history, the culture, language, and traditions of The Kingdom of Middenland resembles Germanic and Czech culture during the medieval and early modern periods of European history. This is largely due to the immigration of colonists from the dominant, northern culture of The Empire of Mankind, or the “Austere” Imperials, as well as the cultural assimilation of the native, Albic descent population of the former Kingdom of The Midlands. Both the colonization and cultural assimilation of the former Kingdom of The Midlands are the result of Friedrich I’s conquest and subsequent coronation as the new “König von Middenland,” a title that had remained vacant since the extinction of House Bartholemew over a century ago. Designated as a “Reiter” in the lore of my creative project, the Reiter of House Rotbart and The Kingdom of Middenland differ from the conventional knights of other kingdoms and empires in the sense that their martial culture and traditions diverge heavily from the traditional codes of chivalry popular in The Kingdom of Aquitaine and The Empire of Mankind, as well as having a distinct military organization and structure formulated and implemented by Friedrich I Himself during his conquest of The Midlands.

The escutcheons I designed for The ruling households of some of the Sovereign Powers of The Civilized World in my low-fantasy setting, or The Civilized World as defined by both the clergymen of The “Conservative” Church of The New Gods, or the religion that recognizes The Bishop of Romulus, better known as “The Archpatriarch,” as The Supreme Head of The Church and on all matters of religion, as well as all the nonconformist preachers of the myriad “Reformed” and “Dissenter” Churches of The New Gods, most notably the religious movement started by “Karl Von Luxembourg” former heir to the late Leopold II, former head of Hohenluxembourg, 43rd King of Schönbrunn, and Prince-Elector of The Empire of Mankind Proper. The “Gárdonyi” Dynasty, while not strictly a hereditary, dynastic household like those that exist in the kingdoms and empires of the civilized world, is the ruling clan of the most powerful tribe in The Forests Erdøk, or a vast territory east of The Empire of Mankind and The Kingdom of Middenland inhabited by a loose confederation of warring tribes united in their worship of “Erdøk,” or The Spirit of Nature.

Edmund IV, 41st and Reigning King of Albion and Current Head of House Lyonheart. Nicknamed “The Young Lion” or “The Boy King” by his contemporaries, Edmund IV is the firstborn son and second child after Princess Kaitlin Lyonheart, Duchess of Kingswood to Robert III, 40th and Late King of Albion and Former Head of House Lyonheart and Chloe Von Rotbart, Queen Mother of Albion and eldest daughter to Friedrich I, "Der erster und herrschend König von Middenland und Der Gründungschef von Hohenrotbart” from a previous marriage before his subsequent and complimentary anointment and coronation at the conlusion of "The Midlands Crusade" officially preached and prosecuted against the apostate Albic tribes religiously subscribed to the druidic, cult worship of "Erdøk" or "The Great Forest" across the easternmost frontiers of "Das Selbst Kaiserreich der Menschheit" or "The Empire of Mankind Proper" and indigenous to "The Former Kingdom of The Midlands" since long before it's final collapse with the extinction of the legitimate, male bloodline of "The Late House Bartholemew" over a century and a half ago. Born over a year after his father’s crushing defeat and capture at the hands of Prince Tancred Williamson, Duc de Chambord in The Battle of Tourangeau and the subsequent Treaty of Fontainebleau. Edmund IV’s birth as a legitimate male heir to House Lyonheart and The Kingdom of Albion had caused much controversy in the international affairs of the great powers of The Civilized World at the time of his birth. The defining condition of The Treaty of Fontainebleau was to acquire Edward Fitzroy, Duke of Huntington as a royal hostage in place of his father in return for ransoming Robert III back to The Kingdom of Albion at half cost. With the birth of Edmund IV as a legitimate male heir to Robert III and Chloe Rotbart, both House Williamson and The Kingdom of Aquitaine were forced to honour a peace treaty signed on hollow grounds with House Lyonheart and The Kingdom of Albion, as the defining conditions of the treaty had been rendered invalid by the illegitimacy of Edward Fitzroy’s importance as a royal hostage. The formative years of Edmund IV as the legitimate male heir to both House Lyonheart and The Kingdom of Albion was spent receiving the finest scholarly education and military training The Civilized World had to offer, being schooled personally by learned doctors from both The University of Couronne in The Kingdom of Aquitaine and The Imperial Academy at Nymphenburg in The Empire of Mankind, while being drilled in lessons on fencing, jousting, grappling, military strategy, and military technology by quartermasters from Chateau Lefleur, where The Emerald Legionnaires of House Williamson train from birth to be the elite bodyguards to the royal family of Aquitaine. By his 14th birthday, Edmund IV had prematurely inherited the Throne of Albion following Robert III’s untimely death from a severe case of dysentery. By his 16th birthday, Edmund IV had already been betrothed to Lady Amelie Godwinson of Evesham, or the daughter of Sir Æthelred Godwinson, Duke of Evesham, both the preeminent vassal and the former champion to the late Robert III. Preeminent in his ambitions as both the current head of House Lyonheart and the reigning King of Albion are his policies of developing The Kingdom of Albion into the foremost naval and commercial power in The Civilized World, subsidizing the enterprises of his charter companies to explore and claim uncharted territories across the great oceans and establish trade posts and colonies overseas, as well as subsidizing the exploits of trade guilds devoted to the production of maritime industries as a means of bolstering his island kingdom’s effectiveness as a naval power and reallocating The Kingdom of Albion’s military budget in favour of a powerful professional navy as opposed to a strong standing army, contrary to the policy of all historic Kings of Albion before him. Foremost in his foreign policy as King of Albion is avoiding war with House Williamson and The Kingdom of Aquitaine at all costs while entertaining cordial relations with House Rotbart of The Kingdom of Middenland, House Buchenauer of The Duchy of Solingen in The Empire of Mankind Proper, and House Wilkinsen of The Kingdom of Summerset. In regards to the international controversy and religious upheaval caused by the religious reforms of Karl Von Luxembourg, a doctor of theology at The University of Wörtzburch in The Duchy of Solingen and former heir to House Luxembourg of The Kingdom of Schönbrunn. Edmund IV has shown great personal sympathy for the reforms being preached by Karl Von Luxembourg. Granting both religious toleration and political asylum for the followers of his reformation, despite officially remaining fealty to The Conservative Church of The New Gods as the state church of The Kingdom of Albion.