Dornish Succession Wars

The Dornish Succession Wars were a series of conflicts, both diplomatic and military, between Dornish noble houses as a result of a succession crisis within House Cadwalader. The Succession Wars began in 1311 with the death of Eadwig Cadwalader and ended in 1328 with the passage of the Military Reformation Decree and the dissolution of the Cadwalader House by order of Mruk Katoor II.

History

Background

Prior to the Succession Wars, the military of Dorn was highly decentralized in a semi-feudal manner. The monarch of Dorn maintained a central standing army, but as part of the balance of power between the Katoor monarchy and the Dornish noble houses, each house maintained their own army that could be levied into the national army when necessary. Additionally, the common social practice of polygamy created complicated lines of succession and frequent minor conflicts between prospective heirs.   The Cadwalader House was one of the largest and most powerful houses in Dorn, but by the early 1300s, Eadwig Cadwalader had no living children of his own but had eight married partners with children that had approximately equal claims to his estate and seat in the Signatory Council. When he died in 1311, a war between the eight claiming houses began. The claiming houses were House Aldane, House Clevenger, House Gresley, House Holmwood, House Rugeley, House Sercombe, House Stonewall, and House Wykes.

Succession Wars

For the next seventeen years, these houses fought over the titles of House Cadwalader. At first, this conflict took place in the courts, with each house leveraging their political connections in an attempt to get their way. However, when House Rugeley won the legal battle, their matriarch was assassinated. The hotheaded heir of House Gresley blamed their closest competitor, House Aldane, and sent troops to the territory of House Aldane. Soon, most of the eight claiming houses were embroiled in a series of low-intensity military conflicts that lasted seventeen years with no clear victor.

Military Reformation Act

Previously, the Katoor family had been happy to allow the noble houses to resolve their disputes as they pleased, and this may have continued, were it not for the collateral death of the heir of House Trafford, a noble family unrelated to the conflict. Mruk Katoor II, concerned with the rising power of the Hallowed Lands within the Farkellian Archipelago, was already looking for an excuse to centralize and strengthen the Dornish military under his control, and he found supporters in House Trafford and other nobles fed up with the extended conflict. With their political support, he made the Military Reformation Decree of 1328. This decree created the modern Dornish Army and shifted control of the armies of the noble houses to the newly created army. Noble houses were still permitted to have small armed units, but these were significantly restricted both in size and use. At the same time, Mruk Katoor II dissolved House Cadwalader, officially removing their seat from the Signatory Council. Even among his political allies, this was viewed with deep suspicion and contributed to the growing tensions that resulted in the Dornish Civil War.