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The Insurrection of the Seven (七貴族の変 Nana Kizoku no Hen lit. The Seven Nobles' Change) was a soft coup that occurred within the Adrestian Empire in Imperial Year 1171. It altered the balance of power within the Empire, shifting authority from the Emperor to a cabal of noble families led by the Prime Minister.

Overview[]

The Insurrection of the Seven was provoked by Emperor Ionius IX's policy of power centralization. In opposition to Ionius IX, House Hrym tried to secede from the Empire and join the Leicester Alliance in 1167. Working with the neighboring House Ordelia, Hrym raised an insurrection, but the Empire swiftly suppressed it. In retaliation for the uprising, the house's main genetic line was eradicated, and a puppet leader was then installed as the face of House Hrym while House Aegir was tasked with handling the actual governance of the territory.

In light of this brutal subjugation, other nobles feared that the Emperor would seek to assume total control of the Empire and move against them next. The six great noble families of Adrestia agreed to cooperate to rein in Ionius IX. Led by Duke Ludwig von Aegir, the nobles stripped the monarch of much of his power in 1171, relegating him to a mere figurehead while the Duke became the true authority behind the throne. With the Emperor out of the way, the nobles started to abuse their positions to further enrich themselves, much to the Empire's detriment.

The upheaval left a deep impression on Ionius IX's ninth daughter, Princess Edelgard. Her uncle, Lord Volkhard von Arundel, was one of Duke Aegir's key supporters, and took her and her mother, Anselma von Arundel, to the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus at the onset of the Insurrection to protect them while the political situation in the Empire stabilized. Volkhard and Edelgard returned to Adrestia without Anselma in 1174. At some point during this interlude Volkhard was surreptitiously replaced by Thales, who began conducting Crest experiments on Edelgard and her siblings with the tacit approval of Duke Aegir and his cabal. Only Edelgard survived, and the horrific ordeal left her with a deep, abiding desire to take revenge on the corrupt nobles and their secret allies who had humiliated her family and leeched off the Empire.

The Insurrection also inflicted lingering hardships on the Hrym territory, as Duke Aegir subsequently imposed harsh taxes upon the local people. They fled their homes in droves to the neighboring Ordelia territory, only to be sent back from where they came. The Duke took care to conceal his deliberate mismanagment of Hrym from his son and heir, Ferdinand.

The "Seven"[]

The eponymous nobles of the Insurrection of the Seven were leading ministers of the Empire and heads of Adrestria's most important noble families:

Notably, the "Seven" refers to the six great noble families of Adrestia (Aegir, Bergliez, Gerth, Hevring, Varley, and Vestra) plus House Hrym. House Hrym is recorded as the seventh accomplice due to its early defiance of Ionius IX despite being subjugated well before the coup and having no direct involvement. House Arundel's role as an eighth accomplice was obfuscated by Lord Arundel's departure to Faerghus for three years at the start of the coup.

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