A RETELLING | ST. ADRIAN OF LEUVAARDEN

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SAINT ADRIAN OF LEUVAARDEN

A RETELLING OF THE LIFE OF THE GREAT HADRIEN DE SARKOZY

 

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COMPILED BY OWYN HECTOR ASHFORD DE SAVOIE

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FOREWORD

 

IN A CONTINUED EFFORT to recover and record the History of Savoy, the life of Count Hadrien de Sarkozy, sanctified as St. Adrian of Leuvaarden, could not be overlooked. Once more, utilising the work of Charles Fournier, I was able to compile and properly organise the glorious life of St. Adrian, who - while St. Lucien is credited with being the ‘father’ of Savoy - St. Adrian is credited and largely recognised as its first ruler and administrator. Much like the foreword on the recollection of St. Lucien’s life, it is worth mentioning that St. Adrian was, too, an integral part of the Order of the White Rose, and it is once more my duty to inform the readers that to recollect is not to condone. With that said, onto the reading of the life of St. Adrian of Leuvaarden.

 

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ST. ADRIAN’s TITLES;

Count Hadrien Goldman-Francis of House de Sarkozy, Count of Norfolk, Baron of Aldersberg, Lord Privy Seal of the Holy Oren Empire, Lord of House de Sarkozy, Conseiller of the Order of the White Rose, Lord Secretary of the Westerlands, Archon of House Basileus and heir to the dynasty of the White Eagle and the Crescent Moon of the Rhenyar.

 

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The titles ‘Archon of House Basileus’, ‘heir to the dynasty of the White Eagle’ and ‘the Crescent Moon of the Rhenyar’ were conferred to Count Hadrien due to the fact he was the last known living male of Basileus blood and thus heir to the titles held by them. Although the House resurfaced after his death it is a common consensus that during his life the titles were rightfully worn.

 

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THE LIFE

 

CERTAINLY THE MOST obvious place to begin with when writing on Savoyards would be with St. Lucien I, the Archbishop of Savoie itself and a man whose name has gone down in history. However, it is clear from historical accounts and letters that in fact he was a benevolent overlord from afar and it was St. Adrian that ruled and administered the Savoyard peoples. In such a manner can he be considered the ‘Father of Savoyards’ and was the primary influence upon the development of the culture, beliefs and history of the region.

 

THE HOUSE OF DE SARKOZY, whom Hadrian was clearly the greatest member of, began with Nicolas Sarkozy. Nicolas was a burgher who lived in Konigsberg after the Hochmeister took over Oren during Aegis. Upon the discovery and subsequent colonisation of Asulon the family followed and aided in the establishment of Leuvaarden upon Gaekrin. Hadrien’s grandfather, Anton, was able to secure a number of influential marriages to establish his family as a house worth a note, if only a footnote, in Orenian society. Marrying Cailin MacCray, the aunt of a Baron and great-aunt of Maric Varodyr his son, Dominic, then married the daughter of great-aunt of the last Count Basileus, Lorethos.

 

DOMINIC DE SARKOZY and Jane Canten, daughter of Christina Basileus, produced three sons: Maurice, Hadrien and Octavien de Sarkozy. At the tender age of seventeen Hadrien set out from the small Viceroyalty of Leuvaarden, his intention to create a foothold for his family, at the time burghers of moderate wealth, within the Holy Oren Empire. It was not long after his landing that he came into contact with legal work Velwyn Ashford, later known as St. Lucien I, Seneschal of the Order of the White Rose. Hadrien quickly found his unique and impressive skillset as an astounding political mind put to use within the Duchy of the Holy Lands and was pressed into work for the White Rose as an advisor on political matters, a theorist and a lawyer of sorts.  He helped to manage the many accounts and ledgers that the Order had along with advising St. Lucien I himself.

 

QUICKLY DID HE gain the typical traits of those whom were part of the White Rose, a sense of xenophobia and human supremacy that made him begin notes and work upon a thesis entitled ‘Three Whom God Should Not Have Created: Elves, Heretics and Flies’ later in his life. A devout man of the faith he helped manage several projects that involved religion around the White Rose.

 

IT WAS NOT LONG after his arrival within the Order under Velwyn’s tutelage that he encountered Thomas Chivay, a man that went on to become one of his closest friends and his lord. Often did he discuss matters of state and the affairs of the realm with Thomas and Velwyn who both valued his opinion and ideas, the experience of which he enjoyed. 

 

IT WAS NOT LONG after he began to gain importance at court, his sharp mind earning him both friends and enemies in earnest, that he was awarded the position of Conseiller within the White Rose - a rank made especially for Hadrien. Some of his most famous political work in this period was the political writings that condemned the city of Crestfall, urging the punishment of heretics that inhabited the unholy site and later engaging personally with the rooting out of them. 

 

IN SUCH A POSITION he was able to, and did, make many important allies at court - amongst them the likes of Baldir Toov, Bran Volsung, Siegmund Carrion and Toveah Goldman. In a book entitled ‘LIFE AT THE IMPERIAL COURT’ as published by John of Hightower (a cousin to the Salvian monarchs) in 1399 he was described as one of ‘the black Dragon’s Boys’ along with the men aforementioned as those that were close allies of Horen V. 

 

IT WAS UPON the Order’s move to Anthos however that he truly began to make a mark upon the world, his reputation as a skilled advisor and political writer growing to the point where he was entrusted to draft legislation, treaties and deals for many differing nations and groups. It was in such days that the greatest effect he had upon Savoy and Kaedrin occurred. He championed a growing and prevalent cultural identity for the two that involved the patronising of multiple men of renown within the arts and a rise in public cultural values.

 

DURING SUCH AN endeavour to create the strong national identity of Kaedrin he helped champion the sect known as ‘Lucienism’, later embodied and carried on by the Order of Saint Lucien. He preached and praised the teachings and actions of High Pontiff St. Lucien I of Savoie and influenced much of papal writings and doctrine in such a way, the teachings quickly gaining sway in Savoie, Kaedrin, Kralta, Auvergne and other areas of import. 

 

IT IS WORTH NOTING at this point that multiple sources, such as the accounts of Ludwig of Ardvale and Ser Jason Clamedeus, point to the Count not only being a powerful man in his own right but also that he surrounded himself with competent followers. Ser Clamedeus writes in his journal that when invited to sup with the Count that “the [then] Baron spoke very little in actuality - instead the discussion was dominated by his wife” and that he “could do little to hold his own against her”. Ludwig of Ardvale wrote that he employed a “egregious diplomat [...] Ertugral Bayezid Osma.” This diplomat was said to serve the Count in many matters and aided in tax collection as well as diplomatic affairs within the entirety of the Duchy.

 

BRAN VOLSUNG-VALOIS wrote on Hadrien de Sarkozy and the Aldersberger forces in his “REPORT ON THE BATTLE OF THE DREADFORT”, criticising the marital alliance between their houses and going on to write on “his lackwit nephew” who managed to be captured by the Hochmeister and that “very wisely Hadrian is refusing to ransom him.” He reveals that the fact Hadrien did not personally lead (as he had been known to do before) was that he was “incapacitated by gout.” 

 

MARCUS AURELIUS BRIARWOOD, a Papal Attache to the Court of Norfolk wrote several letters in 1417 to Lucien I on Hadrien’s collapse into a poor mental state during such a year. His notes included that he had “become unhinged,”, “beat [a valet] until he was black and blue”, “immediately ordered a team to construct an immense stone wall”, “had not shed a single tear [over his son’s death].” However, despite the slow collapse into a state of insanity it is clear that Hadrien’s intelligence did not suffer as he continued to work on multiple designs throughout his last years.

 

IN FACT, despite a poor living in the County of Norfolk it was in 1414 and 1417 that he delivered multiple speeches to the Court of Horen V upon the Malinorian threat that are generally considered masterful pieces of oratory and rhetoric. He spoke that “when the bones of a hundred thousand elves crunch beneath our sabatons, you will sit upon your throne in Abresi in envy, for we will have conquered ourselves a place in the sun, whereas you will have existed in naught but your father’s shadow.”  He also made a bold, though possibly apocryphal, claim that “Even when we have driven the elf out of Oren, he remains the world enemy.” His speeches were considered as some of the most influential in Oren and the former was believed to be one of the primary contributors to the war with Malinor.

 

EVENTUALLY HE WAS awarded for such influential actions under the Chivay’s and House Ashford with the County of Norfolk in the Archbishopric of Savoie under St. Lucien I himself. He was soon named Lord Privy Seal under the Emperor for his remarkable political knowledge and the trust placed in him was enormous - de Sarkozy was one of a small group of direct papal vassals and he was loyal to the High Pontiff until the end.

 

IN 1419, working tirelessly to promote Lucienism and strengthen Aldersberg that he was murdered in his office, an unknown burglar whose identity was never discovered murdered him with a golden sword. Upon entry to the office the second time the guards found the blade clean as if it was brand new and resting in a book detailing designs for more churches based on Lucienist designs. 

 

ST. ADRIAN OF LEUVAARDEN, C. 1440.

 

ANOTHER POSTHUMOUS miracle regarding him occurred upon the Orenian Exodus. Clergy rushing to Aldersberg, the home of Lucienism, to save de Sarkozy’s former possessions from looters found his large collection of books flying in a heavy gale - when it subsided a single one opened detailing a pentarchy. Later the Empire split into five separate areas.

 

IT WAS IN THE Golden Bull of Cavan, issued during the reign of King Ostromir Carrion, that Hadrien was canonised as St. Adrian of Leuvaarden - the patron of statesmen, lawyers, politics and education and his symbol as an open book.

 

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SOURCES:

• LIFE AT THE IMPERIAL COURT, by John of Hightower, c. 1399.
• THE JOURNAL OF JASON CLAMEDEUS, by Jason Clamedeus, c. 1407.
• ACCOUNTS OF A TROUBADOUR, by Ludwig of Ardvale, c. 1415.
• VARIOUS WRITINGS of Marcus Briarwood, c. 1413-1419.

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CONCLUSION

 

A WISE AND SHREWD statesman, politician and diplomat, St. Adrian of Leuvaarden was a simultaneously popular and controversial figure throughout Humanity’s earlier history. Responsible for such things as the condemning of Crestfall and having delivered a speech to Horen V that is still remembered in Human courts across Aevos and History. Although his work spreading the word of Lucien I and the work of the Order of the White Rose is also to be noted, St. Adrian was known principally for his work as statesman and politician, noted as a ‘shrewd diplomat’.

WITH ST. LUCIEN & ST. ADRIAN both covered now, I will endeavour to begin collecting the works of other great record-keepers in the past who have endeavoured to maintain the History of Humanity & Savoy. In a time of pyres being lit to burn bodies and books alike, the preservation of History is extremely valuable, and I will always strive to maintain the integrity of historical records.

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IN GLORIA ET LUMEN DEI

Owyn Hector Ashford de Savoie,

Record-Keeper & Historian.