Capellan Renaissance

The Capellan Renaissance, running from 2270 to 2314, was a period of extensive cultural and scientific development among the pre–Capellan Confederation proto-states.

Overview[edit]

After the collapse of the Terran' Expansionist Party and enactment of the Demarcation Declaration, the Terran Alliance withdrew and granted independence to its former colonies whether they wanted it or not, triggering the Exodus in the process. While other contemporary governments scrambled to stabilize their new societies and survive their newfound independence, the Capellan Hegemony made the greatest strides creating an orderly state and, building on the grand Library of the Capellan Republic, contributed to the preservation and expansion of human knowledge within its realm.

Some of the most notable achievements of the period was the establishment of over 300 brand new schools throughout the Hegemony, greatly increasing literacy numbers, and the formation of the Capellan Ballet Interstellar. Started in 2271, the troop put over a hundred different productions on more than a dozen worlds in a average year, ranging though the whole depth of creative and performing styles, both classical and avant-garde. Other fields of creative endeavor also received extensive contributions from the Hegemony treasury, supporting hundreds of painters, composers, sculptors and poets whose talents would otherwise have gone untapped.

The renaissance came to a close due to two events; the Capellan-Supremacy War, which resulted in the destruction of the Capellan Hegemony, and the emergence of the Terran Hegemony on the galactic stage. When bitter political posturing between the democratic Hegemony and the dictatorial Sarna Supremacy burst into open warfare, the "culturally enlightened" Capellans military command held the view it would easily defeat the "evil empire" of the Sarans. However, even with aid from the Free Worlds League as part of the Ryerson Accords, the conflict began to turn against Capellans, who after the so-called Arboris Decision and the disastrous defeat of an Capellan naval force by the Independent Republic of Liao's President Emile Falkner Liao desperately looked for any way out of continuing the war no matter the price.

The cost was particularly high, for as part of the peace settlement arbitrated by the Tikonov Grand Union, the Capellan Hegemony was to be disbanded in favor of a more representative state. Unfortunately the Capellan Commonality that resulted was highly unstable and unpopular, the political goodwill towards cultural pursuits faded as attempts to stabilize the region took precedence while the shattered Capellan merchant marine reduced the trade and government funds available for nonvital projects. The final death knell was the return of the newly expansionist Terra, which brought with it highly advanced Terran science and technology in the form of the Terran Hegemony, overshadowing and ending any hope of renewal of the Capellan Renaissance.

The period continues to be recalled fondly as one of the more laudable periods of Capellan history, with some of the most prized artworks, jewelry and statues in the Capellan Confederation dating from it.

References[edit]

  • House Liao (The Capellan Confederation), pp. 13-19

Bibliography[edit]