Asthurdur II | |
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Asthurdur II | |
Queen of Álengiamark | |
Reign | 1 October, 1388 - 3rd February, 1397 |
Predecessor | Elin III |
Successor | Elin IV |
Born | 17th June, 1331 Darstraurineykst |
Died | 3rd February, 1397 |
Spouse | Baldur Jóhannsson |
Issue | Johannes Baldursson
Sigrún Baldursdottír |
Full name | |
Asthurdur Halfdansdottír | |
House | Eiriksdottír |
Father | Halfdan Thorvaldsson |
Mother | Elísabet Þórirsdottír |
Toward the end of Elin III's reign relations between the various earls, ecclesiastical lordships and city states had declined to such a degree that at the Congress of Fjallasay in 1388 there were six separate Álengsk delegations. As Snaedis II and her Vinlandic advisors carved up Álengiamark creating new kingdoms a sharp debate raged over who exactly should now rule Álengiamark.
All of Elin III's daughters had pre-deceased her and as most of the earls had a good connection to the throne there was a surfeit of potential heirs. A special court made up of Vinlandic, Álengsk clergy with a Danish chairperson slowly sorted through the claims. Initially they attempted to elect whomever could claim closest kinship to Snaedis I of Vinland but the conflicting genealogies threw the proceedings into confusion. Eventually, after being pressured by the court chose the nearest descendant of Thorey II, her granddaughter Asthurdur. Already quite elderly, most the delegates complained that the arrangement would not last long, so as a final settlement to help stabilise relations the earls agreed that elections would be held for the throne when it became vacant.
Asthurdur was therefore crowned in Fjallasay by the new Archbishop of Fjallasay, before returning to St. Hafdiss to reign over her now much reduced kingdom. Although recognised as Queen of Álengiamark in practice she and her successors were only sovereign in the 'Royal Domain' a body of land roughly stretching from St. Hafdiss south-west down to the ocean at Darstraurineykst, about a third of Langaeyjar, the narrow point where Nanticokeland met Unamiland and various other small exclaves dotted around the country. It was fortunate that this was mostly good agricultural land and could supply a decent tax income and support an army comparable to the earls'. Not that it was needed however. Her reign remained mostly peaceful and within their reduced lands the Álengsk doubled down clearing the forests and opening up further land for farms.
Asthurdur quickly recognised her writ extended no further than the lands and rather than provoking direct confrontation with the earls and cities offered her fair and unbiased judgment on disputes and they would slowly come to accept bringing wider legal problems to the crown and the much reduced Althing. The success of this would set a template for the crown's future interaction with the wider Álengsk nation. Her reign also marks the first recorded use of the Álengsk flag, a white Scandinavian cross on a green background.
The last year of her reign, with her health noticeably failing, was dominated by the earls jostling for position, fully aware that to prevent another full civil war an uncontestable election needed to take place. On her death in 1397 the earls made good on their word and unanimously elected Elin of Kristjanaborg (Elin IV) as the new queen.
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