Buccella Private Armies

-PLACEHOLDER-

"I believe I speak for many of the esteemed servants of Ascadia when I say that the peculiar institution of the Vincolati desperately needs to be reigned in. Far too many untaxed professionals roam from domain to domain seeking employ and spreading false witness. Alas, this institution is so deep and integral to the knightly ways that I doubt we will see such remedies in our lifetimes, or the lifetimes of our sons." -Lord-Clerksman of the Corvulian County of Corviccia, Anonymous, From the Reign of Alessandro Tizzone VII

From the ruins of various bloody conflicts arose a displaced peasant population, transient and landless who sought the protection of powerful low nobility. sheltered within their walled manors, which began the practice of adopting Vincolati families, a practice which was enshrined in the ancient foundational laws of Ascadia for unrelated purposes. These Vincolati were untaxed, and owed nothing to the state itself beyond what they provided to their taxed lord. These Vincolati were essentially bonded to their lord, their lord was expected to feed and house them and provide tax on their behalf in exchange for sheltering them as a social good. This led to a system of highly educated and highly trained young boys emerging from these early Vincolati families who had no place working on the often small farms of the manor estates the early Vincolati presided in, resulting in the enterpising youth of these bonded families pursuing mercenary work under the lord of the manor, and seeking profit quelling local revolts and uprisings, as well as pursuing bandits to be prosecuted. These deputized militias were Buccellas, meaning shells, because they formed a cheap and reliable protective net around the manor holds which in prior times had to rely solely on their knighthood and militias from nearby agricultural villages to deal with problems. This new age of Buccella armies gave the low nobility their first taste of organized power, and allowed them to project their autonomy outside of their manors and into poorly governed villages or untamed frontiers, creating networks of small agricultural communes worked by the young soldier-settlers of the Buccella free of tax, allowing these villages to explode in size and wealth rapidly while larger volumes of peasantry were absorbed into the Vincolati system, creating ever larger Buccellas.

The central government, especially under the tutelage of first Tizzonian emperor, Alessandro I, had reigned in the Buccella system as firmly as they could, tying bureaucratic oversight into as many of their organizations as possible, establishing censors to ensure that land-working vincolati were being counted in the tax burden of the manor lord, and ensure that buccella armies were being equipped to the imperial standard, because they were worked into the Imperial Draft. Most Buccella armies are now overseen by a low level Inquisition Censor, who has the sole right to detain and convict and conduct investigations regarding criminals, as well as deputize citizens to do so as well, something Vincolati can't be included in due to their non-civilian status.

A Notice Regarding The Manner In Which Buccella Are Operated


A Letter of Note From Lord Inquisitor Leopo Intaglio, transcribed by Lord-Clerksman Gio Savianni's office in Sarualia

Henceforth it is to be deemed that all Buccella armies, that is, any army operated under the banner of, willingly or unwillingly, a family who owns the majority of the given army's soldiers through the Vincolati system of bondsmanship, is to be overseen by an Inquisitorial Censor to ensure the following is maintained.

1, That all Buccella armies are staffed solely by non-land working, untaxed, non-citizen members of a single noble family's vincolati network.

2, They are to be measured to the standards of the interior militia for the manner of Military Readiness for drafting, if they are deemed substandard, then the lord will be duly taxed with generous interest to ensure his Buccella are armed to the proper standard.

3, They are only partaking in manners befitting a Buccella army, that is, manners that include such behaviors: Peacekeeping and Law Enforcement at the discretion of the Censor, settling of interior military disputes that fall out of Imperial Discretion, Reinforcing sanctioned Imperial Armed Forces operated by the Buccella's bonded lord.

4, Ensuring that the Buccella operate within their designated borders, and as such, being acutely aware of the nature of Ascadian borders. Censors unaware with the situation of their local borders can request a member of the Legio Fatto accompany them, thus providing the Buccella with a second censor. All Buccella can have a second censor at the discretion of the primary one, and an unawareness of territorial borders is not a necessitating factor for this expansion of oversight. 

5, Ensuring that the Buccella operate with dignity befitting their bonded lord, who operates as a vessel of the State. Manner befitting a bonded lord is to be decided at the discretion of the Censor.

6, Ensuring that the Buccella do not conflict with their peers unless ordained, and ensuring that Buccella do not scheme against their peers within or without the state. Censors should cooperate with other Censorial authorities within the Vincolati households of their Buccella, to ensure no scheming goes on outside of the garrisons.