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In 1422, Emperor Beltran I died very young and without children. His niece Emili ascended to the throne, according to the succession laws in place at the time. However, many nobles in the Empire were perturbed by her claims to the throne due partly to her ethnicity. Emili was Maghreb-Arabic, and although she was a direct descendent of the Sithrigi line, her foreign father's genes became a dominant figure of controversy in the Empire.
England, still disturbed by the rule of a Basque (and a heretic, at that), ignited in a series of rebellions that would take two years to end and nearly thirteen more to completely settle. To make matters worse, English banks and moneylenders would not do business with the Empress, citing their belief in a pretender's claim to the throne. The state nearly achieved bankruptcy in 1429, but the actions of a shrewd moneylender close to the crown named Francisco de Ursúa saved the imperial purse from extinction. He was hired in 1427 to manage the imperial finances when Emili's son Andrés, who had previously managed the family and state expenses, marched to war against the Bretons. By the time of Andrés' death and the Hybernobasque victory in 1430, de Ursúa had consolidated his power over the state's money matters, and in 1431 he worked to found the English National Bank in London, and in 1444 he transferred its power to the new Royal National Bank in Hiriburuan.
With the financial crisis averted, and the Bretons under Emili's control, she turned her sights on Paris. At the time, France was held almost entirely by the Papal State, which was now breaking down. Through the use of underhanded dealing and clever scheming, she managed to build upon the Papal weakness in France and construct a revolution. Lollard French partisans broke from their Catholic liege in Rome and seized the French lands for French nobility. And naturally, the Pope sent forces to resist their uprising. During the chaos that ensued, Orleans was subdued in 1434, and Paris in 1461. Between those two dates, other large swaths of French lands were consolidated, and by the fall of Paris France was once again occupied almost entirely by foreigners.
An odd alliance was struck up with Norway in 1440 when Emili refused to acknowledge the Finnish right to statehood. Their rebellion prompted the Hybernobasque Empire to finally end the hundred year feud they had with the Scandinavian Union and, quick as it may be, switch entirely backwards into a friendly partnership. It was through this alliance that access to the Baltic first began when the Danish pressed a claim which Norway also held. In 1441 the king of Flanders attempted to inspire a ruse in Russian Sweden, prompting the Danish king to push a claim over the Swedish throne. This resulted in the Four Years War, which, concluding in 1445, would see Flanders reduced significantly, the Holy Roman Crown traveling from a Flemish noble to a Savoyard king, the annexation of Jutland by the Hybernobasques, and a very small recognized Finland being subdued and then reluctantly released from Norway.
Eight years later, the Russian nation collapsed entirely, and the central European states attacked the remnants with vicious intent. The vultures of Europe descended upon Poland and Hungary, devouring vast swaths of land. This would see Berlin fall into Hybernobasque hands, and a very minor conflict on the border of Pomerania would explode into a full blown war in 1454, resulting in the annexation of more than half of said kingdom. Bohemia would also profit from the collapse of Russia, turning into a regional superpower overnight.
In 1467, Emili would die, and her daughter, Plazentzia V, would rise to the throne. Having already expressed her might through foreign war on the continent and subdued rebellious intent in England, Emili's succession would not be disputed. The issue of race, ethnicity, and culture in Hybernobasque leaders would eventually lead to the tolerant British society that we see today.