Lore:Uriel III

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Emperor Uriel Septim III
OB-statue-Uriel Septim III.jpg
Statue of Uriel III
Race Man Gender Male
Born 3E 97
Solitude
Died 3E 127
Hammerfell
Resided in Solitude
Imperial City
Reign 3E 121-
3E 127
Previous Ruler Kintyra Septim II
Next Ruler Cephorus Septim I

Uriel Septim III (born Uriel Mantiarco)[1] was the ninth emperor of the Septim Dynasty, ruling the Third Empire for six years, from 3E 121 to 3E 127. In 3E 120, he and his mother Potema asserted that the heir apparent Kintyra was a bastard, and they proposed that Uriel take the throne instead of Kintyra due to the alleged uncertainty of her parentage.[2] After hearing of this accusation, Kintyra banished them from the Imperial City, and they returned to Solitude, where they began planning the War of the Red Diamond.[2][3] In 3E 121, his forces captured Kintyra II, and he assumed the throne as Uriel Septim III.[2] However, only half of the provinces supported Uriel III, while the rest supported his uncles, Cephorus and Magnus, who allied to oppose him.[1] Following this, the War of the Red Diamond continued for six years.[1] He was preceded by his first cousin, Kintyra II, and was succeeded by his uncle, Cephorus I.[2][1]

Biography[edit]

Early Life and King of Solitude[edit]

Uriel Mantiarco was born in 3E 97 to Mantiarco, King of Solitude, and Potema, the Wolf Queen, after many prior miscarriages.[3][4][1] Uriel was named after his great-grandfather, Emperor Uriel II.[3][4] He had an older paternal half-brother named Bathorgh.[4] On 15 Evening Star, 3E 98, his grandfather, Emperor Pelagius II, died, so one-year-old Uriel accompanied his parents to attend Pelagius II's funeral in the Imperial City.[2][5][6]

In the spring of 3E 100, King Mantiarco died, so Uriel acceded to the throne of Solitude, with Potema ruling as his regent.[3][7] By 3E 109, the Blue Palace regularly received visits from the kings and queens of High Rock, Skyrim, and Morrowind, who were disgruntled with the reign of Uriel's uncle, Emperor Antiochus.[3][7] King Uriel undoubtedly would have preferred to rule alone, but Potema convinced him that his position was only temporary.[3] Potema told him that he would have the Empire, not merely the Kingdom of Solitude.[3] By 3E 119, Uriel's co-reign with his mother was marked by good governance, and the Kingdom of Solitude maintained good relations with other Tamrielic kingdoms.[7][8]

In 3E 119, while Uriel and Potema were visiting Antiochus, the Emperor lapsed into a coma, and died the next year in 3E 120.[3][8][9] While Antiochus was comatose, the Elder Council prepared for the accession of Uriel's first cousin, Kintyra, to the Ruby Throne.[2][8] Before Antiochus' funeral, Potema gave a speech before the Elder Council in which she asserted that Kintyra was not the daughter of Antiochus.[3][8] Instead, Potema asserted that Kintyra was popularly believed to be the daughter of Empress Gysilla and the Captain of the Guard, or the daughter of Gysilla and the cistern cleaner.[3][8] Potema proposed that Uriel take the throne instead of Kintyra due to the alleged uncertainty of Kintyra's parentage.[3][8] Uriel made a similar accusation, referring to the infamous decadence of the Imperial City during the reign of Kintyra's father.[2] After hearing of this accusation, Kintyra banished Uriel and Potema from the Imperial City, and they returned to Solitude.[3][8] The accusation failed to stop Kintyra's coronation, and on 3 First Seed, 3E 120, she was crowned Empress of Tamriel.[2][9][10]

War of the Red Diamond and Emperor of Tamriel[edit]

Upon their return to Solitude, Uriel and Potema began assembling a rebellion against Kintyra II, which was to be known as the War of the Red Diamond.[2][3][10] The disgruntled members of royalty and the nobility, who had allied with the Kingdom of Solitude over the years, joined forces with Uriel and Potema against the new Empress.[10] Uriel also bought the support of several other disgruntled kings of High Rock, Skyrim, and Morrowind.[2]

The first attacks against the Empire in Skyrim and northern High Rock were entirely successful.[2][10] In the autumn of 3E 120, Mentin, Duke of Glenpoint, sent an urgent request for reinforcements from the Imperial Army, and Kintyra II, to inspire resistance to the rebellion, led the army herself.[10] In 3E 121, Uriel and Potema's forces captured Kintyra II, massacred her entourage, and destroyed the imperial reinforcements by bribing Duke Mentin to betray the Empress.[2][10][9][5] Uriel later ordered Kintyra II's execution on the 23rd of Frostfall, 3E 123.[2][11][12][nb 1] The second attack was against the imperial forts along Morrowind's coastal islands.[2] In the third and final attack, Uriel invaded the Imperial Province, which was ill-defended due to the Elder Council dividing the Imperial Army to attack western High Rock and eastern Morrowind.[2][13] He and the rebel army laid siege to the under-defended Imperial City, which surrendered after only a fortnight of besiegement.[2][13] On the same evening as the city's surrender, Uriel assumed the Ruby Throne as Uriel Septim III.[2][13][11] A statue of Uriel III was built in the Market District of the Imperial City to commemorate his victory in the War of the Red Diamond.[14]:347

Kintyra II's demise rallied many against Uriel III and Potema.[13] After Uriel III was crowned Emperor of Tamriel, his uncles Cephorus and Magnus formed an alliance to oppose him.[1][13] Uriel III had the combined support of Skyrim, Cyrodiil, northern Morrowind, and High Rock, except for the Isle of Balfiera, while the kings of Hammerfell, the Summerset Isles, Valenwood, Elsweyr, southern Morrowind, and Black Marsh mostly supported Cephorus and Magnus.[1][13][9] Cephorus concentrated his army on the war in High Rock, which was the location of some of the bloodiest battles of the war, while Magnus' troops fought in Morrowind and Skyrim.[9][13] In the summer of 3E 125, Cephorus conquered western High Rock, and by 3E 127, all of High Rock had defected to the side of Cephorus and Magnus.[1][13] In 3E 127, Uriel III and the Imperial Army fought Cephorus' army at the Battle of Ichidag in Hammerfell, but Cephorus' army defeated the Imperial Army and captured the Emperor.[1][15][3] Uriel III was placed in a carriage for transport to the Imperial City to stand trial, but while en route, a mob overtook his carriage and burned him alive within it.[13][1][3] Following Uriel III's death, Cephorus was proclaimed Emperor of Tamriel.[1][15][3][11]

Legacy[edit]

Uriel III's death marked the official end of the War of the Red Diamond, but for the first decade of Cephorus I's reign, he remained at war with Potema until her death at the Siege of Solitude in 3E 137.[1][15][9][11] Some consider Kintyra II's death to be the end of the pure Septim bloodline in the imperial family.[1] Conversely, in Skyrim after the deaths of Uriel III and Potema, a strong underground movement known as the Hörme emerged, which believed that Uriel and Potema were the last of Tiber Septim's true bloodline and, under that principle, conducted raids against imperial interests in the province.[16]

Notes[edit]

  • 1  There is uncertainty over the date of Kintyra's death. According to the Biography of the Wolf Queen, Kinytra was executed in 3E 114, but The Third Era Timeline refers to this date as the "reported death of Empress Kintyra II". The Wolf Queen lists 3E 121 and 3E 125 as possible years for Kinytra's execution, while The Third Era Timeline and Broken Diamonds state that her death occurred on the 23rd of Frostfall, 3E 123. According to Brief History of the Empire, Kintyra was imprisoned for two years after her capture and then killed, placing her death in 3E 123. As more sources confirm 3E 123 as the year of Kintyra's death, this can be assumed to be correct.
  • It was said Uriel III developed a taste for grand elixirs of resist frost during his frequent visits to Skyrim.[17]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Brief History of the Empire v 2 — Stronach k'Thojj III
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Brief History of the Empire v 1 — Stronach k'Thojj III
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Biography of the Wolf Queen — Katar Eriphanes
  4. ^ a b c The Wolf Queen, v2 — Waughin Jarth
  5. ^ a b Tamriel's Timeline, The Daggerfall Chronicles — Ronald Wartow
  6. ^ The Wolf Queen, v3 — Waughin Jarth
  7. ^ a b c The Wolf Queen, v4 — Waughin Jarth
  8. ^ a b c d e f g The Wolf Queen, v5 — Waughin Jarth
  9. ^ a b c d e f The Madness of Pelagius — Tsathenes
  10. ^ a b c d e f The Wolf Queen, v6 — Waughin Jarth
  11. ^ a b c d The Third Era Timeline — Jaspus Ignateous
  12. ^ Broken Diamonds — Ryston Baylor
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i The Wolf Queen, v7 — Waughin Jarth
  14. ^ The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Official Game Guide — Peter Olafson
  15. ^ a b c The Wolf Queen, v8 — Waughin Jarth
  16. ^ Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition: The Throat of the World: Skyrim — Imperial Geographical Society, 3E 432
  17. ^ Grand Elixir of Resist Frost description in Blades
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