House of Bishop

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House of Bishop
House of Bishop.jpg
Forever Standing
Country: BackgroundHaenseCoatBiggerCrown.png Kingdom of Haense
Founded: 1780 (first recorded)
15 SA (Nobility)
Founder: Devan Bishop
Current Head: Ariovistan Bishop
Heir Apparent: Aurick Bishop
Titles: None
Former Titles:
County of Döbern (Returned)
Barony of Avoria (Returned)
Ethnicity: Highlander
Cadet Branches:
ThirdKvitravn.png Clan Kvitravn (Unrecognized)
VonAudrickCOA2Actual.png House von Audrick
BishopDraghicescuCOA.png House of Bishop-Drăghicescu

House of Bishop is a family of landed gentry living in the Kingdom of Haense and currently holding no noble titles. The patriarchs of Bishop have sworn the family's loyalty to every Haeseni Monarch since the reign of Heinrik Karl II, during the time when Henry Bishop oversaw the House. In former generations, the majority of the family's members have dedicated themselves to martial focuses, however in recent times, they have begun a focus on economic and administrative endeavors.

The House of Bishop was founded by Devan Bishop and his Brothers within the Kingdom of Haense and was recognized as a noble family by the Principality of Sedan in 15 SA after the head of the Family Petyr Bishop swore fealty to the Prince of Sedan. Petyr was then knighted by the Prince and given the title of Baron of Avoria. The family resided in the Haense after the defeat of Sedan in the Sedan Rebellion for roughly Ten years, and then returned to Sedan after Louisville was built. Henry Bishop was successfully able to reclaim the Family's nobility under Sedan. After Henry and his family moved back to Haense and swore their service the kingdom, Henry gave back his Sedanian titles in order to maintain the family's integrity in their duty to the Haenseni crown and its people.

The Bishop family is known to establish relations with other families via marriages, and they have married into several families including the noble House of Hartcold, House Barclay, and House of Amador.

Arcas

The Foundation

The Bishops began as a mere peasant family, with the brothers Devan Bishop, Gandhicus Bishop, Joseph Bishop and Audrick Bishop being forced into the streets at a young age. From the beginning, Devan was expected to provide for his three other brothers as he was the eldest of the four, on top of his two children he had fathered not long after named Godfrey and Henry. The Bishop monetary situation was dire, and as a result three of the four brothers (the exception being Audrick) enlisted in the Haense Royal Army which slowly took the family out of poverty and enabled them to purchase a townhome within the walls of New Reza. Even after they were able to safely purchase a home, their troubles had not yet ended. At the beginning of the Inferi War, Devan and his Brothers were deployed to multiple skirmishes and battles against the Inferi invaders. These battles prompted Gandhicus, the second brother, to spiral into an alcohol addiction. This alcohol addiction led to the birth of Luka Bishop, who Gandhicus was unaware of for all his life. Somewhere in the middle of the war it was proposed by Joseph Bishop to forge an ancestral sword for the Family. Devan agreed to this idea and soon the two brothers forged Goldfang, a sword gilded in gold. Devan would go on to wield the sword proudly, declaring it the family's ancestral sword. As the Inferi war came to its conclusion; Devan, along with his cousin Einar Kvitravn fought in the final battle of the Inferi camp. The two Cousins bore witness to the death of an Archaengul and were forced to retreat from Korvassa along with the rest of the coalition forces in order to avoid the massive explosion that occurred from its death.

Political beginnings

After the War, Devan became politically ambitious and soon sought to bring the Bishops into the Haeseni peerage. In order to begin, he ran for Tribune alongside the four other candidates, and won his position via coin toss after he tied votes with another of the candidates. While Devan made promises of benefiting the poor, he found it difficult to implement new policies on the Poor as there was already plenty of legislation regarding it. His political career in Haense was not one of consequence or particular note, and is often forgotten by most of the Haeseni population. What Devan did next only went on to stain his Family's name within Haense following the independence of Haense from Oren. Having been an Orenian sympathizer, Devan made the decision to move the family into Helena in order to gain favor with the Empire.

With the wealth he had obtained, Devan was able to purchase a manor within the city of Helena and quickly enlisted himself in the Imperial State Army. This move disgusted Audrick, who left the family to return to Haense and live peacefully. The rest of the family decided to stay with Devan within Helena. They spent a few years in Helena as Devan continuously put pressure on his remaining brothers to join the ISA. Unbeknownst to the Bishop family, their luck was about to spiral downhill very soon and very quickly.

The Bishop Ailment

After going out on a nightly walk, Devan found himself crossing paths with an individual who was coughing spurts of blood. After the man attempted to beg Devan for help, he accidentally spat into Devan's eye and proceeded to collapse dead at his feet. The unsuspecting Devan proceeded to return home to his Family, unaware that he had contracted a deadly Plague. Quickly and rapidly, the plague spread throughout the family. In less than two days Devan was dead of the disease and Gandhicus flung himself from a window in order to prevent a horrific death. Joseph contracted the disease but miraculously survived and quickly fled Helena with his Sons to Sutica, leaving Devan's sons alone in the Manor. After the ISA was sent to evaluate the manor, they were led to believe that the entirety of the Bishop family had died and therefore sent Devan's belongings and Goldfang to Clan Kvitravn, the norlandic cadet family of the Bishops. The ISA was unaware of the survival of Joseph's family nor Devan's sons (who had taken refuge in the basement of the manor) and were unaware of Audrick or Gandhicus' son's existance. As a result, the ISA wrongfully believed that the Bishop family had gone extinct.

Flight from Arcas

After the death of Devan and Gandhicus, the family scattered. Audrick remained in Haense unaware of the chaos, while Joseph and his sons stayed in Sutica for the remainder of Arcas. Devan's sons, Godfrey and Henry, had remained in the Bishop manor. As soon as the destruction of Arcas began each of the Bishops had to quickly choose what they should do. Joseph and Audrick evacuated with Sutica and Haense respectively, while Godfrey and Henry remained in Helena to hopefully sit out the destruction. Soon though, Einar Kvitravn heard rumors of Bishop survivors and quickly rushed to Helena in order to retrieve the sons of his late-cousin. Einar had to dodge through the smoke and fire and soon was able to find the Bishop manor. After a hard Hour of searching he found them deep in the cellars of the Manor. Godfrey had received horrible burns to his face from an earlier attempt, and Henry was unscathed. Einar quickly brought the pair to the Norlandic evacuation sight and decided he would look after the pair since that day. With that, the surviving Bishops had made it to the land of Almaris.

Almaris

Interregnum

In the years that followed, there was a plethora of confusion regarding the succession of the head of the family. Audrick believed Devan was still alive and as such never tried to claim the title, while Joseph's eldest son Petyr Bishop went on to claim it after his Father's demise and was backed by his Brothers and Son. The son of Gandhicus, Luka Bishop was unaware of his heritage and went by the name "Schmitz", which was his Mother's name. Godfrey and Henry decided altogether to abandon the title, and the brothers split with Godfrey living with Einar and Henry heading to Sutica. Some time after the arrival in Almaris, Audrick heard rumors of his family's survival and made his way to Sutica. With three of the four brothers dead, the only bishops that remained were the sons of each brother and Audrick. Not long after, Godfrey would die of lung cancer after a long 9 year battle with it and Henry would be the last living son of Devan.

Bishop Reunification

The sons of Joseph Bishop, referred to as the Josephites and led by Petyr Bishop, soon began the search for any other lost Bishops that could have survived the mass scattering of the family. They were quickly able to make contact with Henry Bishop who opted to rejoin the Family. A few years later, they managed to make contact with Audrick II, who after some hesitation rejoined the Family as well. After a few months of discussion, it was decided that Petyr would become the new head of the Family after the long interregnum. While Henry could have claimed the position being the son of the last head, he chose not to out of fear of repeating his Father's mistakes. After the reunification the Family settled in Sutica for several years and Petyr even began pursuing a political career. The last Bishop to rejoin the Family would be Luka Schmitz, who's ancestry was discovered after he encountered Viktor Bishop, the brother of Petyr. After a lengthy discussion, Viktor introduced Luka to the family and he took his Father's last name.

Sutican and Orenian scandals

It was not long after reunification that the family would run into their first problem with Sutica. Luka, who formerly had been apart of a Bandit gang, had murdered the former leader out of vengeance within the walls of Eastcliffe. He was recognized by the Sutican guard and was quickly apprehended alongside Viktor after he had attempted to defend Luka by drawing his sword on the Suticans. While the punishment for Murder in Sutica is Death, the Baron of the Rhine stepped in and prevented the sentence from being carried out. Luka was instead banished from Sutica and Viktor was cut across the cheek as punishment. Not long after, the Family would find themselves in an entanglement with the Orenian authorities as well.

Directly after the events in Sutica, the Bishops would end up at odds with the Orenian government after a chain of events that began in the city of Providence. Petyr had been attempting to establish the Bishops within Oren after the Sutican scandal and was chosen as the Orenian diplomat to Sutica. For around a Month or so, Petyr tried to settle comfortably into the position. That was until a confrontation between members of his family and the Imperial State Army. Viktor Bishop and Luka Bishop had been taking a stroll through the streets of Providence alongside a handful of other companions. As the group was a moderately sized one, an Orenian civilian became suspicious and informed ISA officials of their whereabouts and believed them to be members of a resistance group against Oren that had bombed one of its key buildings before. A handful of Imperial officers, approached the group of companions near the back gates of the City. The Imperials halted the group and began asking questions, specifically to Viktor Bishop. After Viktor gave the officers his first name, they assumed him to be a criminal wanted in Esbec and had him arrested to the dismay of Luka and his companions. For the next few days Viktor was interrogated and kept in a prison cell within the Imperial Bastion inside the capital. After a few days, he went missing. Imperials claimed to Petyr and Luka saying that he had been released and sent north to Haense. Neither believed the Imperials and Luka immediately assumed the ISA had killed Viktor while Petyr attempted to search for him in Haense to no avail. After a month of searching, Petyr finally embraced Viktor's fate and the Family went into mourning at the loss. Almost immediately following the event, Petyr was removed from his position as diplomat. Having been tipped off the edge by the Orenian authorities, he decided to move his family to the Principality of Sedan which at the time was still a vassal of Oren.

Vassalization under Sedan and the Rebellion

A year after the family had began its service to Sedan, they were elevated to the status of Nobility and granted the title of Barons of Avoria for their hard work and dedication to the Principality. A majority of the family was apart of the Principality's military, managing to field roughly 800 men at a time on their own. After the rebellion was declared, Petyr and the rest of the Bishops were one of the first to pledge fealty immediately after the House of Castille and House of Hartcold. Following the beginning of the War, Petyr sent his cousin Henry Bishop with a contingent of 200 Bishop bannermen to fight alongside the greater Sedanian army in the Battle of Southbridge, where Henry suffered grievous wounds to his chest and back, though he swiftly recovered. As it would soon turn out, Southbridge was the only major battle that any of the Bishops would find themselves engaged in. A year later, an assassination attempt on the life of Petyr's son and heir Adrien Bishop would be made, though this attempt would fail and the assassin would be driven from Sedan. After this attempt on his own Son's life, Petyr realized that Sedan would not be fully capable of protecting his family from Oren's wrath.

Life in Haense

In the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt, Petyr ordered a full retreat of the Family from Sedan to Haense. The year before Sedan Castle was burned, the Family had arrived in Haense and pledged loyalty to Heinrik II of Haense. Following that, the Family lived in partial obscurity and didn't often mention their past in Sedan for fear of Orenian prosecutors coming to Haense to extradite them. Minor plots were formed from within the family, however none often came to fruition. The Family found themselves often participating in major battles of the Rimetroll War. Particularly the Battle of the Blizzard and the Siege of Krusev. It was here that most members of the family began to settle down and start families of their own, with Petyr marrying Mariya Sofia Drăghicescu, Henry marrying Victoria Sawer, and Luka marrying Olivia Funar.

For many years, the Bishops lived peacefully together until Henry had discovered Luka was apart of the organization called the MRA, which made Henry furious. A fight occurred between the two with Henry badly wounding Luka which caused him to flee to Oren. After this, Henry feared the MRA would hunt him in the Capital which caused him to move out of Karosgrad and to the Duchy of Reinmar. From there, he fathered his first son named Erwin Bishop.

Quiet Living

After such an adventurous life, Henry and his family lived happily in the former County of Reinmar for a long while. Whilst still holding his titles in Sedan, Henry raised his son and heir Erwin Bishop to love and serve Haense, which encouraged the young boy to join the military soon into his adolescence, and begin his persuit of positions within the government. Nothing particularly interesting happened in the following years; little contact was made between the house's branches, and the family name was free of scandal. This stature for calm and honorable attitude contributed to the house's good reputation within the upper nobility of Haense, the royal family, and the civility alike. Late into Henry's life, he lived happily, enjoying his heir's apparent preparedness for his future duty as Patriarch, savoring the growth he saw in the many noble youths who saw him as a mentor, and obtaining a hobby of gardening. He even briefly had a visit from his daughter, who had been missing for most of her own life. All in all, Henry Bishop died a happy man, and his service to Haense and his family will not be forgotten by those who it benefitted. His final moments were met when travelling back to his humble family home in Reinmar. Stricken down by heart failure, his death would simultaneously coincide with the birth of his granddaughter Helena Bishop, eldest child and daughter of his heir Erwin Bishop.

The Reformation

Soon after the ascension of Erwin to patriarch, the 4th head of the house began a complete reform of the family. He was responsible for the family's relocation out of Reinmar and into the larger housing offered by the city of karosgrad. He also continued to take assessments of the House's relations and assets, a task he had begun as soon as he reached adolescence in preparation for his future duty. One of his focuses was dissolving some old and useless alliances, and forming new ones. He would begin constructing subtle and non-subtle alliances with various groups and organizations of varying political significance, from fellow aristocrats to formidable kings, he greatly improved the family's reputation in foreign polities, which was the driving factor behind the success of his economic empire, which still exists to this day, as an heirloom to be managed by the incumbent Bishop patriarch or His chosen economic councilor of the family.

All would not remain perfect forever. With much change comes due resistance and resentment. Another of Erwin's goals was to marry young, and for a significant political alliance. Being unaccustomed to romance, however, he failed miserably, being the faulthood of 2 massive relationship failures in quick succession. Consequently, seeing how both of the 2 women were from well established families in the kingdom, many of his previous friends distanced themselves from him (and sadly the rest of his family, as he was it's representative), and began to spread this resentment among their social circles. Erwin resolved then to marry for love, focusing less on marriage now and more on career, which he did excellently by all accounts, holding many high offices in the kingdom at differing times including; a position as head clerk in the Royal Duma then headed by Lord Speaker Ruslan Baruch, 5 separate ambassadorial seats in the Office of the Aulic Envoy consecutively, managing the Haeseni embassy's shop in Urguan, and a sergeant position in the Haeseni military. All of this paled in comparison, however, to his service as a knight of the Order of the Crow. This single position gave him the legal status of gentry, elevating The House of Bishop to the privileges of such class.

Having now the status and privileges of Gentry, Erwin thought it necessary for the now very wealthy Bishops to purchase land from the crown. And in one of his boldest acts, he awaited a court and petitioned the sitting King, Sigismund III, to purchase the castle located in the former Barony of Astfeld, a former noble title held by the House of Vyronov until they were de-nobled as one of Heinrik II's final edicts. His petition, specifically not for the title nor privilage of nobility - but only for the land, was met with uproar from the attending court. Many were in support of the idea on the basis of the Bishop's contributions to the kingdom in many fields, though more opposed the idea, as it was seen as an overly-ambitious petition. After much discussion, Sigismund resolved to subtly push aside the thought of Astfeld altogether, instead indulging a suggestion to allow the Bishops to purchase a Manor in the Attenlund previously owned by the elven Aeveris family who had departed from the kingdom. Being forced into acquiescence of the idea by his family, who advised him to take accept that, he graciously thanked the king for this generous act - Though the question as to whether The House of Bishop ought to be able to purchase Attenlund land from the crown in the first place was to be debated in duma. Erwin was able to sit in the duma upon this session, answering various questions regarding the purchase. After a relatively quick discussion, the royal duma voted yes unanimously to the proposition, and the land was bought shortly after.

As the move to the manor was complete, Ser Erwin took much pride in his and his family's work, and named the Manor 'Excitor'. No one actually knew why, however, as he was the only man who knew the meaning of it. Not much of significant change happened with the family from that point, as they spent a large portion of their free time enjoying the scenery of the rolling forested hills around Excitor, erecting a gazeebo and a vineyard on their new land as well as an archery range where they would practice almost endlessly.

Focuses

W.I.P

Notable Family Members

  • Petyr Bishop, Second Patriarch and founder of the Barony of Avoria.
  • Henry Bishop, Third Patriarch, Second Baron of Avoria, founder of the County of Döbern.
  • Erwin Bishop, Fourth Patriarch and first Bishop Knight of Haense.
  • Helena Bishop, Daughter of Erwin, first Bishop member of the Queen's council.

Family Branches

Uniquely, the Bishop family keeps track of the four main lineages stemming from the four founding Brothers (Devan, Gandhicus, Joseph, Audrick). Each member of the branches keeps the Bishop name, but has the distinction of descending from a founding Brother.

The Four Lines

  • Devanite Line: Descendants of the eldest brother of the Bishops. The Devanite line has the distinction of holding the family patriarchy and most of the previous family titles. Most often, it is the most numerous branch tied with the Josephite line.
  • Gandhican Line: Descendants of the second eldest brother of the Bishops. The Gandhican line is most notably the line that produces more care-free individuals who often steer from the family's central authority. With the death of Luka Bishop, the last male Gandhican, the line officially became extinct with no other living Bishops having any blood heritage to Gandhicus Bishop
  • Josephite Line: Descendants of the third eldest brother of the Bishops. The Josephite line has uniquely been the only other branch of the family to hold the Patriarchy under Petyr Bishop, which caused notable tensions between the Josephite and Devanite lines. Unsurprisingly, the two lines tend to clash the most in terms of both ideology and birthright
  • Audrickian Line: Descendants of the fourth eldest brother of the Bishops. The Audrickian line is most notably the smallest and least known branch of the Bishops, and has not achieved many notable feats. Audrickian Bishops are usually far more reserved, and as a result tend not to enter the world of politics. Eventually, most Audrickians split from the main family to form the House von Audrick, which went on to pursue political ambitions within the Principality of Sedan.


Heads of House Bishop

The Bishops follow Agnatic-Cognatic Primogeniture, with the eldest male child of the Head being the heir to the lands and titles of their father. In the absence of children, the titles pass to the Siblings or Cousins of the current Head based on age, then by family line; with Devanites taking precedence, followed by Josephite, then Audrickian.

Name Portrait Parentage
Birth
Marriage(s)
Issue
Death Coat of Arms Title(s) Succession Claim
Devan Bishop Devan.png -- Unknown wife
2 Children
1795
Helena
Holy Orenian Empire
House of Bishop.jpg Founder of House Bishop House Founder
Petyr Bishop, 1st Baron of Avoria
Petyr Bishop
OldPetyrBishop.jpg Son of Joseph Bishop
Born New Reza, Haense
1773
Mariya Sofia Drăghicescu
(m. 1815)
5 children
1854
Karosgrad
Kingdom of Haense
House of Bishop.jpg Baron of Avoria
Knight of Sedan
Instated via House-wide vote
Henry Bishop, 1st Count of Döbern
Henry Bishop
HenryBishop.png Son of Devan Bishop
Born New Reza, Haense
1784
Victoria Bishop (née Sawer)
(m. 1818)
4 children
1836
Reinmar
Kingdom of Haense
NewBishopSigil.png Count of Döbern
Baron of Avoria
Knight of Sedan
Hauptmann of Reinmar
Eldest living son of Devan Bishop
Ser Erwin Bishop, Knight of the Order of the Crow
Erwin Bishop
Erwin Bishop3.png Son of Henry Bishop
Born Karosgrad, Haense
21 S.A.
Adelina Bishop
(m. 39 S.A.)
7 children
63 S.A.
Providence
Holy Orenian Empire
House of Bishop.jpg Patriarch of House Bishop
Knight of the Order of the Crow
Eldest living son of Henry Bishop
Ariovistan Bishop AriovistanBishop.jpg Son of Erwin Bishop
Born Karosgrad, Haense
41 S.A.
Anna Amador
(m. 74 S.A.)
3 Children
Alive House of Bishop.jpg Patriarch of House Bishop Eldest living son of Erwin Bishop