Merisotan Enlightenment

Era beginning/end

The Reborn Merisotan Empire, after almost 300 years of being divided into two (Merisota and Mesed) went through a phase of widespread splendor under King Leoronso the IV, the 7th King of the reunited Merisotan Empire. This golden age saw literacy rates rise all throughout the country, as well as economic prosperity grow faster than ever due to technological developments.

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This period of intellectual height of the Merisotan Empire went from 350 to 420 ADE circa. A large empire such as Merisota was never truly full of highly educated people. Especially since the disparities between the northern republic (Mesed) and the Southern Kingdom (Merisota) remained visible to the people even after reunification.ù   Most of the artworks produced during the first empire were destroyed in the aftermath of the Ferom Disaster and a lot of educational buildings  in major cities and villages were destroyed in the midst of chaos.

Leoronso IV was the Emperor at the time and he reformed the Empire's Agriculture and Trade laws. He vowed to trade with the nearby Addian Nations which were full of mountains rich in steel and coal. He also vowed to trade with the Makarian Kingdom with his friend Hadrian III, and the Makarian economy was based on fishing because there were no nearby nations North of it after the Gornychian Migration. Leoronso IV rebuilt a lot of educational buildings and increased the rate of literacy in the empire by 0.6% to 25%, a great development that would only be repeated during modern times. He also created the Mayor system, which made regional leaders into Mayors, which held the power to govern their region with increased autonomy, rather than only letting the Emperor do the work. Leoronso was hailed as "The Great" by many of his contemporaries, but his court reported that he did not want to hold this title, as he thought that being "The Great" was associated with being a capable conqueror, which he saw as a humble delusion.   Leoronso was able to live for 88 Years, a marvelous achievement for the time.