1037: The Garreday Uprisings - a series of riots
in rural areas, beginning on Garreday, sparked by poverty & inequality,
mainly in Dorlaf and Elsey. They mark the start of a 20 year on-and-off
struggle between rural rich & poor in Dorlaf, caused by the
"land-grabbing" of a few wealthy families after the Erish Empire, and
the failure of the new government to properly address these issues. As well as
eventually forcing more egalitarian laws into power, in short-term the
struggles push many off the land & into the newly built Cities.
1037-8: Winter: Widespread famine as labourers who
burnt their Garreday harvests are denied aid by landowners. Armed conflict
breaks out across Dorlaf in the spring, the first major pitched battle being
just outside Jolton.
1039: First widepread use of the Guards against
the rebels, which threatens to be disasterous as many rank-and-file desert to
join the peasants. Rebels drive
goverment forces out of the Brown Hills, setting up independent communes
composed of both locals and Plains refugees.
Capture of the Green Bridge by Helden Gorric's northern Dorlaf rebels,
who hold it for a number of months. Retreating
in November, they defeat a goverment force at Elker-Lewis.
1040: Rout of a government force in Stourbiss who
were trying to drive the rebels out of the Brown Hills.
1041: The Levelling March (later called the First
March) in June, a mass march by labourers from all over Dorlaf on the Cities
(where they were joined by sympathetic locals) to lay siege to Huwdone House.
Eventually dispersed after some fighting by government troops - some of the
organisers captured and hung. By November, the most militant & bloody
initial phase of the Uprisings had died down in Dorlaf, though a similar
uprising begins in Gesund.
1038-50: Serious migration into the Cities, mainly
from nearby rural areas. The wealthy gradually drift from the centres to the
edges of each town as conditions grow more overcrowded.
1045: Rudanc Masterson steps down as Chancellor,
contentiously succeeded by his son, Piers, in a virtually dynastic change of
power.
1052: The Chancellor agrees to Mankho Arner's
proposals to make Emissaries elected by general mandate, but the Barons refused
and arrest the Chancellor on grounds of crimes against the Federation. The
event makes the rebellion flare up even more fiercely.
1054: The Uprisings spread to Kratz for the first
time, and returns to Zabrial and Gesund. Fighting takes place in nearly every
part of Dorlaf & Elsey, with the battle of Stayes in the former being the
largest battle in the whole rebellion.
1056 Death of Helden Gorric
1057: July: The Third March is organised,
involving thousands of people from across Dorlaf, Elsey and Kratz converging on
the Cities. Four days into the march,
the Barons finally relent & agree to reopen negotiations. Mankho leads a
slimmed-down procession to meet the Barons at Linden, a riverside meadow
outside New Dories. The Linden Accord is eventually signed, agreeing to
gradually make all Emissaries and Councillors, and some judges, popularly
elected posts. Much of the property qualification for franchise is removed
(though it is still men-only in Zabrial, Notruf, Schall & Kratz) and
various land reforms, fairly mild, are agreed. Piers Masterson is released from
prison and, in November, returned to power.
1057-8: Parliament, the Barons Council and the
Federations Councils all agree to pass the Linden Accord. It marks the end of the Garreday Uprisings
and the start of the Reconstruction - the rebuilding of Christoté on more progressive
lines.
1060: Piers Masterson is voted out of
office. Ironically, given the fuss made
when he was first selected, there is some protest by those fearing his
successor will go back on promises.
Goran Balbo hurridly confirms his commitment to reforms in his victory
speech, and keeps his word.
1061: North Lewis holds the first popular
election for an Emissary,
1065: The Act begins a series of rural reform statutes,
implementing & eventually extending the terms of the Linden Accord. The
general trend is to limit the amount of land a single family or individual can
own, require a set amount of harvest be used for local subsistence, ease the
way for smallholders to buy their own plots and gives better conditions of
employment for hired labourers. As with much legislation of this kind, the Act is first passed in Dorlaf
and gradually spreads out, albeit imperfectly.
1068-70: The first
wide-spread popular elections for Emissaries, mainly in Dorlaf and Elsey, are
held, along with a number of Council elections.