Swabia

Swabia was one of the original German stem duchies. In the 1750’s Matthew West decided to buy an immediate domain within the Holy Roman Empire to give his children and grandchildren better marriage opportunities among the European royalty, especially among those under Salic Law. Part of his reasoning was that he saw the probability that if his special genes were not spread more broadly than the Anglosphere, it would produce a single dominant culture too soon. Because of some circumstances he did not foresee, he wound up with not one, but five immediate domains, all of which were in the eastern part of Franconia. This agglomeration was known as the Five Principalities. He used it to start marrying off his daughters and granddaughters into the ruling families of the Holy Roman Empire, as well as coming up with a third wife for himself.

As part of the Seven Years’ War, several of the Five Principalities’ neighbors went to war against them. Among others, one was the Duchy of Württemberg. Field Marshal Prince Matthew Saturninus West, grandson of the Prince of the Five Principalities, conquered Württemberg and overthrew the government of Duke Carl Eugen. He imprisoned Carl Eugen under the premise that the duke was mad. He then ruled Württemberg and the surrounding area that he had taken with Carl Eugen’s estranged wife under the fiction that she was still spending time with Carl Eugen and having his children. In reality, they were Prince Matthew’s children. With the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War, Württemberg was mediatized to the new Electorate of Swabia, which had all of the conquered territory. The eldest son of Prince Matthew and Carl Eugen’s wife was created the Elector of Swabia with Prince Matthew as his regent.

The following map is from further forward in the timeline of the Hidden Angels Series; however, the area shown as the Duchy of Swabia on the map is the same as the Electorate of Swabia from 1763 to 1821 with the addition of a few neutral territories like Baden, which were mediatized in 1821.