| Emmanuel I Εμμανουήλ Ι | |
|---|---|
| Emperor of Kormenia | |
| |
| Emperor of Kormenia | |
| Reign: | 1902-1940 |
| Predecessor: | Menelaos IV |
| Sucessor: | Andreas I |
| Consort: | Elissa of Arcadia |
| Royal House: | House of Kastarti |
| Father: | Karolos of Tzamouria |
| Mother: | Clementia of Beretea |
| Born: | 1882 |
| Died: | 1940 |
| Burial: | Gelati Monastery |
| Religion: | Orthodox Church |
Emmanuel I or known as Emmanuel Kastarti (Hellenic: Εμμανουήλ Ανδρεάδης) (1882-1940), was the first Emperor of Kormenia and the first of the House of Kastarti governing from 1902 until his death in 1940. Popularly considered to be the greatest and most successful Kormenian ruler in history, he succeeded in driving the muslim foreigners out of the country, winning the major battle in 1901 and unite all the subjects and Selloi in one flag, transforming the Kingdom in a Empire by the bless of the Patriarchhy. His reforms of the army and administration enabled him to reunite the country and bring most of the lands of the Peninsula under Kormenia’s control. A friend of the church and a notable promoter of Orthodox and Selloi culture, he was canonized by the Orthodox Church
The epithet "o oikodómos" , which is translated as "the Builder"(in the sense of "built completely"), "the Rebuilder", or "the Restorer", first appears as the sobriquet of Emmanuel after the fall of Beretea in 2589, other epither known is "The Greak" (Hellenic: O Megas)
Family Background and Early Life[]
The year of Emmanuel's birth can be calculated from the date of his accession to the throne recorded in the Life of King of Kings Emmanuel (Βασιλεύς των βασιλέων Εμμανουήλ), written c. 1923–1926, as k'oronikon.
According to the Life of King of Kings Emmanuel, David was the only son of Karolos Kastarti. The contemporaneous Arcadian chronicler Matthias of Odessa mentions other sisters, but disseapear of history.
Emmanuel father, was confronted by a major threat to the stabilty of Kormenia, because the continous civil wars between nobles and the death of the last king Menelaos IV. The country was in constant disorder and invaded by Arcadian Mauryans, which were part of the same wave which had overrun western part of the country, the death of the Almodian king cause caos and Kormenia was a depopulated in various cities, Beretea with a little autonomy takes charges and little aristocrats have power to take the crown of St. Stephanos.
Ascension to the throne[]
Civil War[]
The Succession crisis was between 1901 and 1902 between the nobles of the capital, leaded by Aristophanes Kalligoras and the nobles of the borders, leaded by Karolos Kastarti, Emmanuel where his father fought in the Battle of the Bay of Marmora, and managed to capture personally Aristophanes,and negotiated with other nobles for a form of government and finish the anarchy in the kingdom, Watching his kingdom slip into chaos, Karolos was choosen as new king and inmmediately, ceded the crown to his 16-year old son Emmanuel in 1994. Although the historical tradition founded by Prince Stellios in the 9th century, Emmanuel's formal cooption into government may have occurred even earlier, in 1992, when Karolos left Kormenia for the negotiations at the capital and the restauration of the country.
Revival of the Kormenian State[]
Despite his age, he was actively involved in Kormenia’s political life. Backed by his tutor and an influential churchman Ioannes of Kalleas, the now Emmanuel I pursued a purposeful policy, taking no unconsidered step. He was determined to bring order to the land, bridle the unsubmissive secular and ecclesiastic feudal lords, centralize the state administration, form a new type of army that would stand up better to the Arcadian military organization, and then go over to a methodical offensive with the aim of expelling the Arcadians from the peninsula. Between 1904-1908, King Emmanuel organized small detachments of his loyal troops to restore order and destroy isolated enemy troops. He began the resettlement of devastated regions and helped to revive major cities. Encouraged by his success he ceased payment of the annual contribution to the Arcadians and put an end to their seasonal migration to Kormenia. In 1908, King Emmanuel captured the fortress of Aldasena, a strategic point in his struggle for the country, and within the next three years he liberated most of western Kormenia.
In 1908, he arrested the powerful feudal lord Loukas Kallistos, a long-time enemy of the new Korimi crown, and expelled him from Kormenia. After the death of Loukas son Notarios, Emmanuel abolished the doux in 1999.
He slowly pushed the Arcadians out of the country, recovering more and more land from them as they were now forced to focus not only on the Kormenians but the newly begun. By 1909 Emmanuel's power was considerable enough that he was able to refuse paying tribute to the Arcadians.
In 1909 a major ecclesiastical congress known as the Kormeniani Synod was held at the monasteries of Ruisi and Beretea. Emmanuel succeeded in removing oppositionist bishops, and combined two offices: courtier’s and clerical into a single institution of Kankellarios corresponding roughly to the post of prime minister.
Next year, Emmanuel’s supporters in the eastern Kormenian provinces captured to the Doux Allistos, a tributary of Arcadia and declared Emmanuel of Kormenia as his new king.
Military Campaigns[]
Following the annexation of Eastern borders, in 1905, Emmanuel routed a Arcadian punitive force at the Battle of Eritea, leading to momentum that helped him to secure the key fortresses of Samosata and Kallea.
Problems began to crop up for Emmanuel now. His population, having been at war for the better part of twenty years, needed to be allowed to become productive again. Also, his nobles were still making problems for him, along with the city of Teperesos which still could not be liberated from Arcadian grasp. Again Emmanuel was forced to solve these problems before he could continue the reclamation of his nation and people. For this purpose, Emmanuel radically reformed his military. He resettled a Slavian tribe of 14,000 families from the Northern Ruthenia in Kormenia in 2008-2009. Every Kormenian and Slavian family was obliged to provide one soldier with a horse and weapons. This 56,000 men strong army was entirely dependent on the King. Slavians were settled in different regions of Kormenia. Some were settled in Inner Cinspatria province, others were given lands along the border. They were quickly assimilated into Kormenian society.
In 1912 Emmanuel I moved to western Kormenia and, when the Arcadians began pillaging Kormenian lands, he suddenly attacked them. Only an insignificant Arcandian force escaped. King Emmanuel then entered the neighbouring Attaleia.
12 August 1913, King Emmanuel routed the enemy army on the fields of Dadgori, achieving what is often considered the greatest military success in Kormenian history. The victory at Dadgori signaled the emergence of Kormenian as a great military power and shifted the regional balance in favor of Kormenian cultural and political supremacy.
Following his success, King Emmanuel captured Terepesos, the last Arcadian enclave remaining from the Arcadian occupation since 1800. A well-educated man, he preached tolerance and acceptance of other religions, abrogated taxes and services for the Muslims and Jews, and protected the Sufis and Muslim scholars. In 2016, Emmanuel’s army liberated Damanesps, Slavians and Selloi met him as a liberator providing some auxiliary force for his army. It was when the important component of "Sword of the Korimis" appeared in the title of Emmanuel the Builder. It is engraved on a copper coin of Emmanuel's day:
Humane treatment of the Arcadian population, as well as the representatives of other religions and cultures, set a standard for tolerance in his multiethnic kingdom. It was a hallmark not only for his enlightened reign, but for all of Kormenian history and culture, he was considered as Emperor by the Patriarch Philotheos IV, thanks to him, Kormenia was restored and all the people of Rothinoi peninsula was unify under one person of trust and children of god, the son of Emmanuel, Andreas, reformed the government, creating the Kormenian Empire from the work of Emmanuel
Emmanuel the Builder died on 24 January 1940, and upon his death, King Emmanuel was, as he had ordered, buried under the stone inside the main gatehouse of the Gelati Monastery so that anyone coming to his beloved Gelati Academy stepped on his tomb first, a humble gesture for a great man. He had three children, the son Andreas, who succeeded him and continued his father's victorious reign; and two daughters. Beside his political and military skills, King Emmanuel earned fame as a writer, composing Hymns of Repentance, c. 1920, a powerful work of emotional free-verse psalms, which reveal the king’s humility and religious zeal.
Cultural Life[]
Emmanuel the Builder gave close attention to the education of his people. The king selected children who were sent to foreign academies and schools, forming later kormenian scholars.
At the time of Emmanuel the Builder there were quite a few schools and academies in Kormenia, among which Gelati occupies a special place. King Emmanuel's historian calls Gelati Academy
Besides Gelati there also were other cultural-enlightenment and scholarly centers in Kormenia at that time, i.e. the Academy of Ikalto.
Emmanuel himself composed, c. 1920, "Hymns of Repentance", a sequence of eight free-verse psalms, with each hymn having its own intricate and subtle stanza form. For all their Christianity, cult of the Mother of God, and the king’s emotional repentance of his sins, Emmanuel sees himself as reincarnating the Biblical David, with a similar relationship to God and to his people. His hymns also share the idealistic zeal of the contemporaneous Eridanan cristians.
Burial[]
Tomb of Emmanuel on Gelati Monastery
A tombstone at the Gelati monastery, bearing a Selloi inscription in the script, has traditionally been considered to be that of Emmanuel I. Although there are no clear and reliable indications that Emmanuel was indeed buried in Gelati and that the present epitaph is his. The epitaph, modeled on the Psalm 131 (132), 14, reads: "Christ! This is my resting place for eternity. It pleases me; here I shall dwell."
Legacy[]
Saint[]
| Saint Emmanuel | |
|---|---|
| |
| King and Builder | |
| Born | 1880 |
| Died | 1940 |
| Honored in: | Orthodox Church |
| Canonized: | 20 November of 1923 by the Patriarch Gregorios VII |
| Mayor Shrine: | Gelati Monastery, Masarea |
| Feast: | 25 January |
| Attributes: | Crown; Sceptre; Book |
| Patronage: | Patron saint of Ruthenia Protector of the Army |
Emmanuel was consagrated as a Saint by Gregorios VII in 1923 after their work in the restauration and education of Kormenia and the restauration of the weakling orthodox church thanks to the Synod, his considered the patron of Imperial Ruthenian Army
Perception[]
Emmanuel the Builder’s epoch greatly influenced the national perception of the Kormenians and the Ruthenes in general. They are still proud of Emmanuel’s victories and dream of his glorious reign, he unified and make the understanding of peoples creating a people united under one banner through the destruction of its political opponents and creating a centralized power that would later form the foundations of the imperial power of Ruthenia this ideal was reflected after the Battle of Dadgori where their political union yield results and brought an end to almost 200 years of political instability on the peninsula
The "Order of Emmanuel the Builder" is one of the most prestigious decorations awarded by Ruthenia.
After being elected Basileus, Konstantinos I took an oath at Emmanuel the Builder’s tomb at Gelati Monastery on the day of his inauguration on 25 January 2004. Konstantinos I said it was a symbol of his dedication to follow in Emmanuel's footsteps, who brought unity and prosperity to all Ruthenia.
Ancestry[]
| 16. Demetrios Kastarti | ||||||||||||||||
| 8. Giorgios Kastarti | ||||||||||||||||
| 17. Martha Batatzina | ||||||||||||||||
| 4. Alexandros Kastarti | ||||||||||||||||
| 18. Ioannes Vaspalaris | ||||||||||||||||
| 9. Maria Vasparalis | ||||||||||||||||
| 19. Timotheos Anides | ||||||||||||||||
| 2. Karolos Kastarti | ||||||||||||||||
| 5. Borena Nicolau | ||||||||||||||||
| 1. Emmanuel I | ||||||||||||||||
| 3. Clementia of Tzamouria | ||||||||||||||||
See Also[]
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