From a history of eastern Europe. Unfortunately the title page is
missing but the book appears to date from the mid to late 19th Century
The unification of the kingdoms of Pontevedro and Marsovia
For many years up to the late 15-th century the two small kingdoms of
Marsovia and Pontevedro, which lay between Hungary and Bohemia, had
been in a state of almost constant warfare. Consequently in 1488, King
Hildebrand II (the peppery) of Pontevedro, fearing an invasion from neighbouring
Bohemia, persuaded the Marsovian king Gama IV (the disagreeable) that the marriage of his
infant son and heir the Prince Hilarion to Gama's new-born daughter Ida
would be in the interests of both kingdoms.
After a year of negotiations, the marriage took place in the spring of
1489 amid general rejoicing in both kingdoms. As was the custom in
those parts, when a marriage took place between infants (a common
practice among the upper classes), the young bride and groom remained
with their families until the younger party reached the age of 21. In
this interval of 20 years, an uneasy peace reigned between the kingdoms
as neither king fully trusted the other not to back out of the deal. It
is then difficult to imagine the feelings of Gama in late 1507 when he
discovered that his daughter had fled the palace leaving a cyptic
message that she had gone to found a women's university.
When the appointed time for the consummation of the marriage arrived
Gama was forced to go empty-handed into the court of his erstwhile
enemy Hildebrand with the scant protection of his three sons (half
brothers of Ida). On finding the Gama had not brought the princess,
Hildebrand who was a peppery potentate would have hanged Gama and his
sons on the spot, but for the intervention of the crown prince
Hilarions, who was confident that he and his friends could persuade Ida
to honour the marriage. Although sceptical Hildebrand agreed and
allowed Hilarion to make the attempt before hanging the remainder of
the Marsovian royal family. It would be beneath the dignity of history
to record the details, but suffice to say that Ida was persuaded to
leave her University for Hilarion.
The peace between the two kingdoms was not pleasing to Gama's three
sons, whose greatest delight was the fascinating rattle of a
complicated battle. Starved of their pleasure, the crown prince Arac
and his brothers travelled Europe as mercenaries. They arrived in
northern France in 1516, and fought in the battle that was to be their
undoing. They had cornered a small band of English soldiers led by a
veteran sergeant and were about to butcher them, when the commanding
officer of the English force, one Col. Thomas Fairfax, quite heedless
of his own safety (or of the rules of tactics) rushed to the aid of the
beleaguered group. In rescuing the men he killed Prince Arac on the
spot and mortally wounded both of the other princes. Fairfax's survival
of this foolhardy exploit may well have contributed to the charge of
sorcery which was laid against him in later years.
This now left the Marsovians with a dilemma; on the one hand their laws
forbade a queen to rule in her own right, and on the other the only
person of royal blood with any connection to the throne was a
Pontevedran. After much debate internal, Gama chose to make his
son-in-law Hilarion his heir. On Gama's death in 1521, Hilarion
succeeded to the throne of Marsovia, and five years later, on his
father's death, to that of Pontevedro. Soon after this he joined the
two kingdoms into a single country called Ruritania (this was
apparently a name devised by the Queen Ida from her studies of future
literature). Unfortunately King Hilarion's skills as a monarch did not
match his skills as a lover and Ruritania became known as a land of
lavish royal entertainments and ceremonies.
In recent years Ruritania has been absorbed into the Austro-Hungarian
empire.