The White-Gold Concordat was the treaty signed in 4E 175 between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion which ended the Great War. This peace treaty granted much the same Thalmor demands which prompted the war in the first place,[1] but a continuation of the war would have resulted in Imperial defeat.[2][3][4][5]
The terms of the treaty outlawed the worship of Talos in the Empire, forced the Blades to disband, and delivered a large portion of southern Hammerfell into the control of the Aldmeri Dominion. Emperor Titus Mede II made these concessions to the Thalmor hierarchy to give the Imperial Legion time to recover its strength, as it had been decimated in the Battle of the Red Ring.[1] The Thalmor were also granted the authority to operate within the Empire to ensure the terms were enforced.[6][7]
The Redguards of Hammerfell, however, refused to accept the terms of the White-Gold Concordat, and continued to resist the Thalmor. This forced Titus Mede to officially renounce Hammerfell as a province of the Empire to preserve the peace stipulated in the treaty. Viewing this as a betrayal, Hammerfell became an independent state, and managed to fight the Dominion to a standstill, culminating in the signing of the Second Treaty of Stros M'Kai five years later in 4E 180, which resulted in all Aldmeri forces withdrawing from Hammerfell. Hammerfell thus became an independent, if devastated, nation. Diplomatic relations between Hammerfell and the Empire remain strained, an outcome that Legate Justianus Quintius postulates was a long-term goal of the Thalmor.[1]
The Talos ban was initially not enforced in Skyrim,[8] but when the Thalmor discovered that Jarl Hrolfdir of Markarth had formally granted Ulfric Stormcloak and his militia the freedom to worship Talos in return for their aid, the Emperor was forced to crack down.[8][9] Ulfric and his men were arrested, which became a seminal moment for the Stormcloaks and their rebellion.[9]
ReferencesEdit
- ^ a b c The Great War — Legate Justianus Quintius
- ^ Loading Screen in Skyrim
- ^ Hadvar's dialogue during Before the Storm in Skyrim
- ^ Ondolemar's dialogue during Diplomatic Immunity in Skyrim
- ^ Delphine's dialogue during A Blade in the Dark in Skyrim
- ^ Elenwen's dialogue in Skyrim
- ^ Flight from the Thalmor — Hadrik Oaken-Heart
- ^ a b Alvor's dialogue in Skyrim
- ^ a b Igmund's dialogue in Skyrim