Luthori

The Holy Luthori Empire is an imperial monarchy on the eastern coast of Artania. To the north is the Bay of Luthori and, beyond it, Ikradon, to the west is Beluzia, and to the south are Darnussia and Hobrazia.

History
The origin of the early Daltarian people is normally thought to be in either southern Luthori or northern Hobrazia.

In 1493, Christopher Dove "discovered" Dovani and claimed the land of Greater Hulstria and Kazulia for Luthori. The Hulstrians of Greater Hulstria are of Luthori descent, and have close relations with their parent country. The Kazulians were largely Lutheran, but often resisted Luthori rule by practicing Catholicism; it gained independence in 2177.

Gerrard Winstanley was a notable 17th-century religious and political philosopher from the nation.

Early Period
Until the 14th Century, the territory now covered by the Holy Luthori Empire was a covered by numerous Kingdoms, Dukedoms and Baronies of varying sizes. During this century, through conquest, marriage and religious alliance the smaller of the states were gradually absorbed by the larger. By the end of the century, five distinct and more or less united Kingdoms existed, those that now form the modern day Presbyteries of the Holy Empire.

There were a number of internal wars in these five Kingdoms. They were more like loose coalitions of noble territories than solid feudal states as seen in other parts of Terra.

Utagian Period
During the 15th Century the Kingdom of Utagia was able to consolidate its power. At the confluence of modern day Darnussia and Hobrazia, Utagia was the gateway for most trade from the Southern continent. Control of the trade routes made the Utagian King, Harold III, fabulously wealthy and he was able to use this money to buy his own nobles armies out from underneath them. With a centralised military strategy and a unity unseen previously in the region, Harold was able to quickly subjugate the surrounding Kingdoms. By the mid-century, Utagia had formed a workable if unstable Empire in the region.

This period is more commonly known as the First Luthori Empire.

Civil war and the Agathion Period
Rule by Utagian Kings would continue until the late 16th Century. The cousin of the Emperor by marriage in 1572 was the Peter Duke of Orange, a fief in the Kingdom of Agathion (modern day Orange). Encouraged by religious agitators unhappy at the Emperor's weak policies and deference to the Terran Catholics and fellow nobles tired of Utagian taxes, Peter laid claim to the throne and raised an army against the Emperor.

What followed is a period of civil war that lasted until 1607. Peter himself died during the fighting, but his son, Paul I managed to gain the throne. He relocated the capitol of the Empire to Liore and established his claim by Right of God, with the support of the dissident priests that came from most modern day Luthori denominations. The Agathion Empire, or Second Luthori Empire, lasted for some time and set most common law precedent which governs the modern day Holy Empire. The area was greatly weakened by the civil war, and control from Liore was even less solid and centralised than it had been from Utagia.

Previous histories, largely written by 20th Century romanticist Fernandez Bavor, involving brave Oalapese fighting against brutal hoardes of invading barbarians, are now thought to be almost entirely fanciful fabrications, with little grounding in actual Luthori history.

Modern Period
The Commonwealth of Luthori was formed in 2035 out of the remains of a divided Empire. The Emperor was restored in 2111 but the traditional religious foundation of the state was not reaffirmed until nearly forty years later with the creation of the Holy Luthori Empire in 2149.

In March of 2418, the then Imperial Council voted almost unanimously to rename the Presbytery of Agathion in honour of HRH William II, Prince of Orange. William was at the time the Emperor's Viceroy. In addition to renaming Agathion Orange, the capital of the Presbytery was named Fort William.

Government
The Holy Luthori Empire has three tiers of Government. Firstly, all Sovereignty is derived from the current reigning Emperor on the principle of the Divine Right of Kings. Beneath the Emperor is the Imperial Diet (formerly the Imperial Council) which has two houses, the lower elected and the upper consisting of hereditary peers from the various Presbyteries, and the religious leaders of the Empire. The Holy Luthori Emperor appoints a Viceroy to chair the cabinet - this is usually the leader of the largest party in the Imperial Diet but is dependent on separate elections.

Religion
Luthori is a highly religious society.

Several religions were founded in Luthori:
 * The Luthori Catholic Church: Catholicism was imported from Al'Badara in the 800s, and quickly spread across the coastal parts of the country. Luthori Catholicism broke from Deltarian Catholicism in the Minor Schism of 2144, under Innocent I. The LCC has relatively good relations with the Islamic community worldwide as compared to other Catholic churches.
 * The Traditionalist Lutheran Church: Founded by Elberhard der Stolze in Northminster, the TLC broke away from the Lutheran Church of Malivia. Although the leadership of the church moved to Hutori after the creation of the Church of Luthori, it still maintains a large prescence in the nation, as well as the former colonies of Gishoto and Kazulia.
 * The Church of Luthori: In 2132, the government under the Democratic Unionist Party created the Church of Luthori as the official state religion. It is broken into two parts: the high church is Anglo-Catholic in doctrine and organisation, while the low church is more evangelical in doctrine and Presbyterian by organisation (influenced by Lutharanism and Calvinism).

There are also other minority religions, including Hobrazian Orthodoxy.

Language
The predominant language of the Holy Luthori Empire is Luthori, an Artanian language closely related to Ikradonian, Kundrati and Anantonese. It is an Ergative-Absolutive language, and is notable for its merger of the Superseleyan /u/, /e/ and /a/ sounds into /u/. Hulstrian is an offshoot of Luthori.

Economy
The Luthori Empire practises a free market economy, albeit one with some State intervention. Inflation is at acceptable levels and the economy is growing at a moderate rate. Unemployment is rather high at about 8%, taking an average of the unemployment rate of each province.

The GDP at the time of writing (March 2363) was 483,359,723,775 LPD, of which 327,382,599,483 LPD (67.73%) was consumption, 92,100,000,000 LPD (19.05%) was government expenditure and 63,877,124,292 LPD (13.22%) was investment. The GDP per capita in 2363 was about 3300 LPD.

As of December 2372, the GDP was 495,149,969,782 LPD. The GDP per capita, therefore, was approximately 4833 LPD, a major gain over the last decade.

As of January 2381, the GDP was 518,703,623,915 LPD. The GDP per capita was 4932 LPD, suggesting fairly stagnant economic growth over the previous decade.

As of April 2440, the GDP was 617,792,374,750 LPD. The GDP per capita was 4956 LPD, suggesting slow economic growth throughout the last sixty years.

Media
Radio Free Luthori, a branch of Radio Free Terra, was founded in 2348.

Politics
The parliament of Luthori is known as the Imperial Council and consists of 100 seats (101 as of the 2439 election). The current Political Parties of Luthori are: Luthori Whig Party, Christian Democratic Party, Teleurstelling Party, Luthori Tory Party, Secular Party, Luthori Libertarian Party, Linen and Pimm's Party and the Luthori People's Party.

Table accurate as of July 2439, Terran Mean Time.