Niamh: Created page with "Although myriad institutions of learning have existed throughout the Kingdom of Lithmore, these academies were tied together only in SC 185 with the founding of the King's..."

2018-12-30T17:32:00Z

Created page with "Although myriad institutions of learning have existed throughout the Kingdom of Lithmore, these academies were tied together only in SC 185 with the founding of the King's..."

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Although myriad institutions of learning have existed throughout the
Kingdom of [[Lithmore]], these academies were tied together only in SC 185 with
the founding of the King's University in Lithmore and the establishment of
the Royal Scholars under Headmaster Roland ab Kieron. An ambitious man who
exercised ample foresight, ab Kieron gathered together not only teachers,
but also scribes who continued their work of laboriously copying books by
hand; he standardized curricula throughout each discipline and, thanks to
his assiduous work, drew children of the nobility and prominent gentry
families to his universities.

However, a title from a guild lacking royal imprimatur offered lesser
status than from others, so after endless political jockeying, the Royal
Scholars were granted a charter by his Majesty King Bran I in SC 276. This
decree was levied ostensibly to accede to lobbying by the nobility, who
would subsequently become patrons of universities and increase their
coffers, and because the king had ulterior motives: using the Royal
Scholars to enforce his own ethnocentric cultural objectives.

The guild had its charter, but it lost some autonomy, for Bran took it upon
himself to name his favorites to administrative positions across the Four
Duchies. Because even the prestigious learning institutions in [[Vavard]] had
been under the control of the Royal Scholars since the time of ab Kieron,
the king's universities were soon staffed by the king's own appointees and
taught Lithmore-centric ideas solely in [[Lithmorran]], thus hastening the
decline of other tongues among the well-educated elite.

After the ascension of King Iain II to the throne, the Lithmore-centric
zealotry lessened somewhat, being replaced by religious dogma - which the
scholars soundly protested. Iain mandated that the Royal Scholars should,
as part of obeying the faith, educate the masses as a condition of their
continued existence. But then tragedy struck. The [[Great Plague]] swept
through the University's ranks (with some clergy calling it poetic justice)
and spirited away most of their elites. Many other guilds suffered similar
fates, and the Plague was recorded as the kingdom's darkest hour.

Today, the University remains as the premiere source of education -
certainly in Lithmore itself, and arguably in the entire kingdom.
Individuals often come to study in its halls and libraries, pursuing
learning in medical, linguistic, historical and other fields.

Note: The Scholars are no longer a guild, but players can feel free to
RP study at the University as a part of their character concept.

[[Category:History]][[Category:Geography]]

Royal University - Revision history

Niamh: Created page with "Although myriad institutions of learning have existed throughout the Kingdom of Lithmore, these academies were tied together only in SC 185 with the founding of the King's..."