Kingdom of Maen

The Kingdom of Maen is a Breton realm in central High Rock. It was founded in the late third century of the Third Era by Llywelyn the Lion, the Earl of Maen.

Summary
The province of High Rock was devastated first by the imperial civil war (3E 247–256) and then by the conquest of Haymon Camoran (3E 266–267). These tumultuous decades precipitated the collapse of many principalities and dynasties, tearing up the political, economic and social fabric of the land.

In these circumstances Llywelyn, lord of the petty fiefdom of Maen, conquered a large swathe of central High Rock in the decade following the Camoran Usurper's defeat. Although the Lay of Llywelyn the Lion, composed years later, relates the gallant deeds of its titular hero (slaying a giant, taming a lion, wooing a noblewoman, and vanquishing a tyrant in single combat), Llywelyn's kingship was less poetically founded on bloodshed and plunder.

In the Lay, the future king's companions – the Knights of the Lion – are described in similarly chivalric language. The Order of the Lion was not, in fact, established until [TBC]. Far from knights-errant, Llywelyn's original lieutenants were little better than brigands and soldiers of fortune. Chevauchées, not valiant duels, won Llywelyn his crown.

In 3E 281, the hallowed Serth Abbey capitulated to Llywelyn's forces. The conqueror was thereafter consecrated as a king by the monastery's abbess. The Lay depicts Llywelyn's 'pilgrimage' to the abbey, in which he is unwittingly crowned king. King Llywelyn adopted a white rampant lion upon a blue field as the symbol of his new kingdom; reminiscent of the Second Era High King of the Bretons, Emeric of Wayrest.

The Kingdom of Maen continued to expand until 3E 284, when Llywelyn was defeated by the Marquess of Cyfor at the Battle of the Bridge. In the subsequent peace treaty, the north bank of the Cyfor River was delineated as Maen's southwestern frontier. In the following years Llywelyn twice attempted to cross the river in violation of this treaty, but was twice repelled by the implacable marquess. Notwithstanding this setback, Llywelyn's realm had become one of the largest in High Rock, dominating the centre of the province.

Llywelyn's defeat at the Battle of the Bridge triggered the first serious challenge to his kingship when the Duke of Marwor revolted against  'the bastard of Maen'. Llywelyn defeated the rebellious duke on the battlefield in Mid Year 3E 285, and by the close of Last Seed in the same year the castle of Marwor capitulated. The king retained custody of the castle, relocating his court there.

The kingdom was a motley patchwork of duchies, marquessates, earldoms and baronies. King Llywelyn's vassals fell into one of two categories: rulers who submitted to the Lion 's suzerainty and had been permitted to retain their fiefdoms (in whole or part), and the king's followers who had been rewarded with lands and titles confiscated from the conquered. Llywelyn, though a magnanimous liege, had an ambivalent relationship was his vassals. Many of the 'old' nobility, boasting proud and ancient lineages, chaffed under the yoke of their baseborn overlord. Llywelyn's lieutenants, retained for their ferocity and ambition, proved difficult to appease after the Battle of the Bridge, when the king lacked new lands and plunder with which to reward them.

In the fifteen years leading up to 3E 300, King Llywelyn preemptively eliminated a number of his threatening vassals. A majority of the king's victims were his erstwhile companions – the supporting heroes of the Lay. As Llywelyn turned on his cronies, he more diligently courted the kingdom's old nobility. Aristocrats favoured by the king were elevated in rank: barons became earls, earls became marquesses and dukes. In 3E 293, Llywelyn divorced his lowborn wife Queen Meleri and married [Second Wife], [relationship] to his vassal [Lord]. This marriage into the prestigious House of [House] bolstered the legitimacy of Llywelyn's nascent kingdom and dynasty.