Baldwin Plantagenet-Julii
Baldwin Nicodemus Indianensis Plantagenet-Julii (died 8.V.1519) was an Antican-born Shirerithian nobleman, politician, rebel and anti-Kaiser. He was the Count of Kaikias from 1511 until his death. He is largely remembered for the short-lived Anti-Kaisership of Nicodemus I, during which he attempted to depose Kaiser Meskan II and introduce constitutional and democraticising reforms to the Shirerithian state.
Baldwin was originally from Antica. In 1511, the County of Kaikias was ceded by Antica to Shireroth, bringing Baldwin into the Shirerithian political sphere. On 24.XII.1511, Kaiseress Semisa I granted him Kaikias as its count. His early rule of the county was marked by the characteristically eccentric politics of the period, including proclamations condemning political opponents and, in 1513, a declaration of a "half-joking civil war" against the domains of another Shirerithian count.
By 1515 Baldwin had risen to several positions in the imperial government. He served as Minister of Immigration, Naturalization and Tourism and as Chief of Staff of the Imperial Forces. During the breakup of the Duchy of Antica, Baldwin declared Kaikias independent of the duchy on 2.III.1515. The declaration did not constitute secession from Shireroth; Baldwin expressly affirmed his continued allegiance to the empire. The rebellion was unsuccessful, and on 17.XIII.1515 Baldwin declared that his demands had been met and the terms of the declaration fulfilled.
Anti-Kaisership
During a period of political inactivity and administrative disorder under Kaiser Meskan II, Baldwin and several associates became dissatisfied with the government. On 5.X.1518 Baldwin assumed the Mango Throne under the regnal name Nicodemus I. His seizure of power began a brief civil conflict between supporters of Nicodemus and forces remaining loyal to Meskan.
Nicodemus presented his assumption of the Kaisership as an attempt to restore an effective central government. Many imperial ministries were at the time either vacant or occupied by officials who were absent from government, and he attempted to reorganise the administration and appoint new ministers.
His most consequential measure was the promulgation of a new Imperial Charter. The charter retained the Kaiser as the supreme executive authority of Shireroth but placed the monarchy within a constitutional framework, strengthened the position of the Landsraad, provided mechanisms for review of the Kaiser's conduct, formalised the powers of the Prætor and Arbiter, and established a bill of rights. These measures represented a considerable departure from traditional Shirerithian conceptions of the Kaisership and provoked strong opposition, including from individuals who had originally encouraged Baldwin to seize the throne.
Nicodemus also created several new imperial chivalric and guard orders and concluded the Treaty of Alcyon with Antica, under which Shireroth ceded territory to the Antican republic and normalised relations between the two states.
Facing mounting opposition, Nicodemus called an early Day of Review of his own government. After the Landsraad judged his performance unfavourably, he announced on 17.XII.1518 that he was bound by the constitutional order he had established and renounced the Kaisership. At approximately the same time, forces loyal to Meskan II were re-establishing control over Shireroth.
The legality of Nicodemus's reign remained disputed. Nicodemus maintained that he had exercised the Kaisership and voluntarily relinquished it in accordance with the Imperial Charter. Meskan II and his supporters rejected this interpretation entirely, regarding Baldwin as an Anti-Kaiser who had unlawfully usurped the Mango Throne. Following his restoration, Meskan annulled the imperial decrees issued by Nicodemus, although they remained within the official numbering of imperial decrees. The Treaty of Alcyon was subsequently re-enacted by Meskan in substantially identical form.
Exile and death
Following the collapse of the Anti-Kaisership, Baldwin was removed from his imperial offices but retained the County of Kaikias, his peerage not being an office of the imperial government. He departed Shireroth and took refuge in Antica, and was subsequently prohibited from returning.
Baldwin nevertheless continued to identify himself with the failed Nicodemian regime. Shortly before his death he issued a proclamation styling himself 'Nicodemus I, Imperator Emeritus Shirithimus, lamenting his removal from the throne and claiming that Shireroth's subsequent difficulties might have been avoided had his government been allowed to continue. Baldwin had thus returned to Shireroth despite the prohibition against his entry and was captured by forces loyal to Meskan II. With Meskan himself preparing to abdicate, Baldwin's continued presence was regarded as a potential danger during the impending succession. Rather than risk a renewed attempt by the former Anti-Kaiser to seize power during the resulting transition, Meskan ordered his execution.
Baldwin Plantagenet-Julii was executed on 8.V.1519. Meskan II subsequently abdicated and was succeeded by Kaiseress Carol.
Baldwin's son, Braden Indianensis Plantagenet-Julii, inherited the County of Kaikias upon his father's death. Braden later emigrated from Shireroth and in 1521 renounced both his Shirerithian citizenship and the County of Kaikias.
