Beoldwin Mairkel

Beoldwin Mairkel was an Etrandish Knight, former lover of King Bryant I of Etrand, later one of the main advisors - the main advisor, according to some - of King Cairbré I of Etrand. He was also the main censor during the reign of Cairbré, spearheading the infamous Cairbrean Censorship. The late Beoldwin is also known for being the father of Drugó Mairkel, the current Chancellor of Etrand.

Early Life
Beoldwin Mairkel was born on 742.68230359723, into a retainer family - a family of unlanded warriors granted honorary nobility in exchange. As such, it was self-explanatory that the young Mairkel would be receive education and training to be a warrior.

Mairkel spent the first thirteen years of his life in Southern Etrand.

In King Bryant's court


In, when Beoldwin was years old, his family got contacted by Pirothea Nelvarryl. It is believed that King Bryant sent Pirothea down south to seek out young and talented boys and Pirothea laid her eyes on Beoldwin. Not too long after, a royal letter was sent to the Mairkel family, offering not only to educate their son Beoldwin in the royal court for free, but also offer him a job and a future. Beoldwin's parents accepted the proposal with little to no hesitation.

In the royal court, the young Beoldwin was put together with a group of boys who happened to have a distinct role: they were both the king's lovers, and future knights. As such, they were educated in poetry, history, counting, horse-riding, swordsmanship and Clerical Magic.

It was dubious how much Beoldwin consented to being one of the king's male concubines, but it is said that because he looked the most girly, he was Bryant's favourite - allegedly, this is what motivated Beoldwin to start sporting a mustache and cut his hair short in his adulthood: to avoid looking girly.

At the age of 17, he received lots of praises for being such a good poet, and Bryant considered making a court poet instead of a knight, but ended up scrapping the idea. When the would-be knight turned eighteen, he was officially knighted and sent to learn bureocracy - Bryant hoped that Beoldwin would become a governor one day.

Knighthood
On 761.32007772454, Beoldwin Mairkel got officially knighted. After that, he was given a temporary apparentment room by Bryant, and got enrolled into the Royal Academy of Etrand to study bureocracy, and would study for three years there until finally graduating.

During those three years, Mairkel was known for being particularly harsh and critical of his former lover's, the King's religious policies. He openly voiced his opposition to letting Naturalist missionaries preach freely in Etrand - every time he found them in Grandfolk, he forbade them to speak. And when they did, he chased them out. It was during that time that he was discovered by the King's religious and conservative son, Cairbré, his future employer.

On 764.39972621492, Beoldwin graduated from the Royal Academy. After that, he was dismissed by Bryant, having lost his favour despite being his former favourite. Unlike all of the other concubines-turned-knights, Beoldwin did not gain any important positions - he was merely given a measly amount of royal stipend to prevent him from going homeless or starving.

The knight would spend his next two years working for the Knights of the Blood Red Light as an accountant and occasional trainer. Then on 766.7926078029, King Bryant died, leaving his son Cairbré to take the throne. It was one big turn in Beoldwin's life.

Return to the royal court - Cairbré's advisor and censor


Cairbré came to power after Bryant's death, and he did not hesitate to send a letter to Beoldwin, inviting him to the royal court with the offer of giving him work. Beoldwin relucantly accepted the proposal and went back to the royal court, where he was appointed as the King's main advisor, as well as the main censor, deciding what gets released and what gets banned on grounds of containing subversive material.

In 749, Beoldwin married Estrida Sallert, daughter of a fellow retainer. The couple would go on to have five children: two sons and three daughters.

It is said that King Cairbré's religious policy of making it illegal to proselytize Titanists was originally the brainchild of Mairkel. Being the main royal censor, Mairkel was also a central figure in the infamous Cairbrean Censorship - there were several claims that he abused his power and banned all negative portrayals of himself. One of the most successful acts of censorship by Beoldwin was censoring all evidence of the previous king, Bryant being bisexual out of existence, forcing all of his former lovers to remain silent, and then censoring all the chronicles. It is by Beoldwin's hand that the myth about the loyal and devoted-to-his-wife Bryant was born. It was also during that time that Beoldwin "became a hero" - being a censor allowed to fabricate a more glorious past without too much problems, so long as his employer did not notice it.

As time went on, Beoldwin aged together with his employer, King Cairbré. Both of them have aged out of their youthful zeal - for Beoldwin, it was manifested in him growing more and more lenient as his hair was turning grey, although some claim it was really because Beoldwin was losing influence and royal favour, not because he was running out of energy and willingness to carry on the crusade. The last book to be scrutinized and banned by Mairkel was Waterburcht Burning, which ended up getting released anyway, albeit heavily censored.

Retirement and death
King Cairbré died on 812.681724846, at the age of. It was at that time when Beoldwin, years the late king's elder, decided that it was high time to retire. Beoldwin submitted his request for retirement to King Calhoun I of Etrand, who accepted in, relieving him of his position as censor, granting him an increase amount of royal stipend.

Beoldwin died on 817.49535185546, at the age of.

Legacy
Beoldwin Mairkel and all of his descendants were granted hereditary nobility by King Cairbré, turning the formerly insignificant Mairkel family of retainers into a prestigious noble family.

Many historians consider Mairkel one of the main advisors, or the main advisor of Cairbré, and even though many of the king's religious policies may or may not have been originally Mairkel's brainchildren, few if any historians consider him responsible for any of the consequences of Cairbré's policies.

Other historians prefer to emphasize Mairkel's role as the royal censor rather than the king's advisor, and focus on the limitations on intellectual freedom during the Cairbré-era, naming Mairkel as the face of the whole infamous Cairbrean Censorship.