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Svenný I
Dorothy Cavendish, wife of William Cavendish Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (1738-1809) by George Romney
Svenný I
Queen of Vinland
Reign 7th September, 1819 - 24th April 1832
Predecessor Lára
Successor Svenný II
Born 25th January, 1797
Raefurinnvik, Ingolfursey, Vinland
Died 24th April 1832
Fjallasay, Vinland
Spouse Lord Hreidar of Karontóborg
Issue Hreidar Hreidarsson

Thorsteinn Hreidarsson

Full name
Svenný Lára Madeline Hafdis Eiriksdottír Georgesdottír
House Eiriksdottír
Father Prince Georges of Auvergne
Mother Lára Einarsdottír

While her mother had vigorously battled and cajoled the Althing into a modern parliament Svenný I had little time for the nuances of politics. More interested in court life she was renowned, even as a princess, for lavishly extravagant soirees, a rapidly growing collection of artwork and an endless programme of renovating the royal manors and palaces. In fact, they came at such a cost that she severely ran down the private wealth of the royal treasury. The Althing, hardly averse to spending huge sums itself, was forced to bail her out not once, but twice in 1820 & 1823.

Half Auvergnese, she was passionate about art and culture from Europe, particularly from Southern Francia and the Mediterranean. Her preferred residence, the grand manor in Karantóborg, was soon remodelled into an Auvergnese chateau and many of the nobility began aping her, importing or copying works of art from the Midi and eventually looking eastward to Roman and Greek styles. Already a rite of passage for many nobles, the Grand European tour, or 'Mekíll Fert', became even more essential and it was the done thing to bring back antiquities. This style of art and architecture, soon named Svennyite, would dominate Vinland for a century, replacing the Wilhelmine styles of the 18th century.

Her profligacy with funds earned her a severe rebuke from the Althing, not just over the spiralling costs but the danger it could potentially be putting the crown into. In Álengiamark, where a republican revolution had been narrowly avoided, one of the major grievances was the sheer disparity between the vastly wealthy crown and a populace impoverished by poor harvests and high food prices. The Vinlandic Althing, led by the fiscally conscious Speaker Árni Sigurdursson, was aware of revolutionary thoughts at home and was eager to nip any in the bud. Sigurdsson would effectively give Svenný an ultimatum, not long after her coronation; allow the Royal estate to be under the Althing's governance and they would settle her debts. With creditors piling up and her own income in a poor state due to poor harvests, she agreed. Hence most of the land owned directly by the crown was put under a government branch to iron out any mismanagement and Svenný and her successors, were in effect put on a salary. It didn't stop a second bailout being necessary in 1823, but by that point the initial revolutionary danger had passed, in Vinland at least.

As del Olmo and Hispania began to threaten the French states in the 1820s concern spread. Svenný petitioned the Althing to intervene in the war by sending a division to Francia and she wrote incessantly to her cousins promising her support. Her brother Georges would travel to Europe and eventually lead an Imperial division. But the Althing had to remind her there were more pressing matters at home.

The potato crop failed on Eikland and Kyreyja in 1821. Already affected by the generally poor harvests of the late 1810s almost half of the population of the two fylkír would emigrate, mostly to the inland Fylkír of Nor and Sud-Hafsvaedaland. While there was plenty of land to accommodate the newcomers it severely disrupted the balance of power. True serfdom in Vinland had been abolished by Thorey VII in the 1690s but many of the emigrating farm laborers found themselves being coerced into signing strict 'vistarband' contracts tying them to a new farm for years at a time, which essentially left them no better off than serfs on the land of the lords. Meanwhile the older established populations, including many integrated tribes, found themselves swamped in many areas. Stripped of power, both the enserfed incomers and the outnumbered locals revolted. While hastily enacted laws effectively set limits to the vistarband (back down to the usual year) no one had an answer to the tribal issue. The result was the 1824-5 Sauk Revolt.

The revolt cut off the Saukland from the rest of Vinland and it would take the army six months to pacify the region after several bloody pitched battles and the burning of Saginaw. Saukland, always a semi-autonomous fylk dominated by various tribal groups, was made subject to Vinlandic dominated Karantóborg. The 'Saukland Question' has been a steady bugbear to Althings since.

Svenný would die in April 1832 at the relatively young age of 35. She fell from her horse after it started during a firework display in Fjallasay. She would be succeeded by her niece, also called Svenný.

Family[]

Despite her overt Franco-philia she married a native Vinlander, Lord Hreidar of Karantóborg. They had two children.

  • Hreidar Hreidarsson (b. 1817) - heir to Karantóborg.
  • Thorsteinn Hreidarsson (b. 1818) - married Princess Amelia-Maria of Svealand, granted Earldom of Konunglegursaey after it became vacant in 1840.
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