Royal Houses of Cattala

Cattala has been a unified nation since the 11th century, but prior to that there were more than twelve royal houses and numerous smaller noble houses, some of which have risen to the rank of royal house since. In the late 11th century, the ruling Celestine monarchy introduced a feudal system granting greater autonomy to seven Principalities, ruled by royal families loyal to the crown. The families listed below are significant royal houses that have participated in the history of Cattala or defined their region.

House Celestine
House Celestine was the oldest and most powerful house in all of Cattala for more than one thousand years, until their destruction in World War Two. Their seat was Celestine, built by and named after the family after conquering all of the island. Their sigil is a golden crown with blue velvet surrounded by a garland of golden Roumelian roses.

King Roger Celestine declared himself King of Cattala after claiming victory over an invading Arab fleet in 995AD, despite only having control over modern-day Amosseri and having little influence outside of the western regions. King Roger reigned for 26 years, and conquered one other house, House Garlas, before razing their stronghold to the ground and butchering all the peasants. His son, King William, used his father's reputation to instill fear into other royal houses, and raised an army of over 30,000 men to further the realm into the north and east. Using a marriage alliance with House Aroe, House Blais and House Calleas pledged fealty to the King and by the time he died in 1064, all of the royal houses had submitted to his reign. King Alain the Princemaker created a feudal system in Cattala, granting six other principalities to loyal houses, creating the Seven Principalities.

By 1215, records indicate that through its overall control of the island, House Celestine had become vastly wealthier and powerful than any royal house before it. It was dominant economically, politically and militarily. This wealth enabled them to build a sprawling royal city that took their name and was the biggest and richest city in the kingdom. The city was attacked in 1216 by House Tyrheni of Gennaio and lay siege to the capital after sweeping through Amosseri. After several weeks, a reinforcement army from outside the city outflanked the Tyrheni's on either side and forced them into a retreat. The Damego War lasted more than three years and was the only significant attempt to overthrow House Celestine.

In 1814, the British Royal Navy surrounded the south and east of the island after being given control of Malta and King Harold Celestine was forced to abdicate the throne and Cattala was declared a British Colony, with the current Royal Guard (Head of the Government) being replaced by a Governor. The island remained under British control until 1860, when Italian unifiers launched a surprise attack and conquered the colony. But the son of King Harold, Prince Amadeus, attempted to gather a military to fight off the Italian invaders and protect the chance of his family returning to power. But Amadeus was nearly 50 when the Italians invaded, and his small militia was vastly outnumbered. Public support in Celestine and Calora was high, and the King of Italy was concerned of a possible backlash if the deposed royal family was defeated by force. So a peace treaty was signed, and a small province was given to Amadeus along the Celestine city border, ultimately controlled by the Italians though.

The Winter Revolution of 1917/18 led to riots in Calora, the public execution by burning of the President of Cattala, over 50 police officers and troops were shot dead and the Union Flag, a symbol to the impoverished Cattalians of a brighter past, was hoisted above the former Royal Palace, Victoria Palace, in Celeste, and Prince Amadeus’ son took the throne as King Charles III and declared Celestine as the national capital.

Less than a year into World War Two, and 22 years into King Charles' reign, hundreds of Italian bombers attacked Celestine and destroyed the military base to the north of the city, wiped out the southern harbour and severely damaged over 4000 homes, shops and Government offices, including the Parliament. German U-Boats and Italian naval submarines surrounded Jennai City and threatened to flatten the biggest population centre in the country unless King Charles surrendered. The King evacuated his family to a small harbour in Porto D’Italia where they were secretly picked up by a small British plane, which was shot down by the Italian navy. Charles the Third was flown to Rome where he was repatriated with his captured family and they were all executed, including his young children. No survivors of House Celestine were found by Italian forces and all cadet branches, that could have caused an uprising, were destroyed.

House Bonnecelli
For more information on the House of Bonnecelli, visit House of Bonnecelli

The House of Bonnecelli is the royal house of the United Kingdom of Cattala. Their seat is Celeste, and their sigil is a white eagle on royal blue. It is the richest and most powerful house in the kingdom, and all other houses in the country are sworn to it. The House of Bonnecelli claims the crown of Cattala through its maternal lineage to the deceased House of Celestine.

It's status as the royal house was established by Lord Chancellor Harrison by parliamentary proclamation on the 15 July 1949, when the temporary government declared the restoration of the monarchy under House of Bonnecelli after the 1949 Cattalian Referendum confirmed that the public wished for the country to return to being a kingdom. King Marco VI ascended to the throne on the 11 May 1951 and became the first native monarch from outside of the House of Celestine since the country unified more than 700 years earlier. Currently, the most prominent member of the House of Bonnecelli is Queen Alexandra V, the reigning monarch of Cattala.

The Bonnecelli lineage can be traced back to an old family of lords on the wave-battered island of Oriastone, off the coast of Cape Point, who grew in strength and wealth due to shipping and quickly became important land owners across the northern coast of Cattala and in Hellas. A cadet branch, House Bonnecelli of Oriastone, continues to control the island to this day. The family has been pledged to the House of Celestine for nearly 700 years, having supported the Celestinian attack against southern rebels. By 1838 the Bonnecelli's owned industrial sites across the country and were one of the wealthiest aristocratic families in the realm. The union of the two houses strengthened the deposed King Harold's hand financially and was a leading factor in the monarchy's return to power after the revolution of 1917, instead of a communist or republican takeover such as the ones occurring in Russia and Germany. The wealth of the Bonnecelli's, gave the monarchy the financial strength to restore order and a government to the newly-independent island kingdom.

Following the executions of King Charles III, his queen consort and their two children Princess Annabel and Crown Prince Bruno Celestine in 1940, and the subsequent deposition of the crown, Cattala's monarchists had no leader to look up to and struggled to find a successor to the last Celestine. Only after the war, and with the assistance of the British government, could a successor be found and Marco Bonnecelli, who was born and raised in Cattala but left in the 1930s, was found to be the closest heir to the House of Celestine and was crowned King after the reconstruction of Celeste's royal city was completed in 1951.

House Bonnecelli currently consists of Queen Alexandra V, Crown Prince Edward, Princess Helena, Prince Louis, Princess Gabriella and Princess Maria.

Lesser members of the Bonnecelli family, including the descendants of Marco Bonnecelli's brothers and sister, are heirs after Princess Maria but are not direct heirs to the crown of Cattala and therefore are not styled as Princes or Princesses. There are numerous cadet lines and female lines from the Oriastone-based House of Bonnecelli, but only the descendants of Cornelia Celestine and Lord Mortimer Bonnecelli can claim a place in the royal lineage.

House Vaas
House Vaas are the Lord Imperials of the province of Roumeli, having been granted the title after the end of the Second War of the Seas, which resulted in the mass slaughter of House Kadra, the previous Lord Imperials of Roumeli. The title was an apology from House Celestine after much of the Vaas lands in Roumeli were pillaged and destroyed during the war. House Vaas served as vassals of House Kadra until the latter house was stripped of power and largely exterminated. They had fought for their liege lords during the Southern War, Bronze War, Second War of the Seas and Northern Seas War. During the Second War of the Seas, House Celestine forced them to sign a peace treaty and elevated them to Lords Imperial of Roumeli.

In 1994, Queen Alexandra the Fifth married the heir to House Vaas, Duke Luciano, and united the two houses. Duke Luciano's brother was heir apparent to the title of Lord Imperial, and served as best man at the wedding. In 2005, when his father died, Julius Vaas became Lord Imperial and married and in 2010, had a daughter with his wife, Lady Maria Vaas. Just weeks after the birth of his daughter, Lord Julius was killed in a helicopter accident, sparking a succession crisis. Duke Luciano appealed to the Queen to intervene, and she appointed his mother, Lady Estel, as Lady Regent of Roumeli until her granddaughter and the Duke's niece, is eighteen. If his mother dies before 2028, then Duke Luciano will become Lord Regent. If the child dies, the title passes to House Bonnecelli.

Their sigil is a water phoenix, which was created during the lordship of Lord Willem the Fury, a violent and tyrannical lord who regularly feuded with his overlords and was known for his disdain of House Celestine. The phoenix is supposedly a play on the eagle of Amosseri, a province founded by House Celestine, being extinguished and drowning beneath the waves of Roumeli. Ironically it remains the sigil of the house, now unified with House Bonnecelli, who adopted the eagle sigil.

House Vaas currently serves under the Duke of the Sworn Islands, Prince Louis Bonnecelli, who represents Queen Alexandra in the province. Due to his young age, he currently resides in Celeste with his mother and an appointed Governor serves in Roumeli at his pleasure.

Current Members of House Vaas:

Lady Johanna Vaas, Lady Imperial of Roumeli Lady Maria Vaas, Lady Dowager of Roumeli Lady Estel Vaas, Lady Regent of Roumeli