The economy of Cross is governed by a gold standard with regional currencies, but the physical gold is controlled on a large scale by the Clerical Order. Each political bloc operates its own economic model, generating structural intrigue.
I. The Canonical Gold Standard
Principle
- Strong currency = consecrated gold. Every coin in circulation on the continent is backed by real gold.
- Liturgical Gold (a specific form of consecrated mineral) has symbolic + functional weight: it serves the liturgy + the monetary backing.
- Inter-bloc exchange: established at annual meetings between the Curia + the cantonal banks + the Velinia exchange + the royal treasuries.
The Curia holds the gold
- The largest continental reserve: vaults in Aurum Roma. Estimated at 65% of the gold in circulation in Cross in 1890.
- Historical reason: after the Cataclysm, the fallen cities (Vladigrad, Aurinopolis, Magnaport) had enormous reserves in gold that were transferred to the Order during the institutional refoundation. Tradition: gold recovered from ruins belongs to the Pontiff.
- Liturgical Gold specifically: 100% controlled by the Curia. Mining and refining in Aurum Romana and Vallia Sacra. A secret tradition of purification that only Liturgicals master.
Political implication
- The Curia controls world exchange. Kingdoms and Republics depend on the stability of pontifical gold.
- Structural intrigue with the Republics (which sell raw mineral but depend on the pontifical backing).
II. Regional currencies
| Bloc | Currency | Symbol | Backing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BlocClerical Order | CurrencyCoronato (Coronatus aureus) | SymbolC | Backingpontifical gold directly | NotesThe standard coin. 1 Coronato = ~20g of consecrated gold in value. |
| BlocVelinia the Most Serene | CurrencySerene Ducat | SymbolÐ | Backing80% gold + 20% silver | NotesThe most valued in the Republics. |
| BlocKantonal Confederation | CurrencyKantonal Franc | SymbolFk | Backinggold backed in the cantonal banks | NotesExtremely stable. An international refuge. |
| BlocKönigsmark | CurrencyReichsmark of the North | SymbolRm | BackingNordic gold + iron | NotesA strong but circumscribed currency. |
| BlocVykhradia | CurrencyHriven Vykhradia | SymbolHr | Backinggold + copper | NotesIt has inflated periodically after wars with the Pacted. |
| BlocBrytonia | CurrencySolar Pound | Symbol£ | Backinginsular gold | NotesA direct competitor of the Coronato in international trade. |
| BlocMeridia | CurrencyAurelium | SymbolA | Backinggold + volcanic silver | NotesStrong for maritime trade. |
Canonical rates (1890)
- 1 Coronato = 1.05 Solar Pounds = 1.10 Serene Ducats = 1.20 Kantonal Francs = 1.50 Reichsmarks = 2.50 Hriven = 1.15 Aurelium.
- The exchange varies according to political stability.
III. Economic systems by bloc
The Clerical Order — a Free Market Morally Rigid
A canonical duality declared by the author:
- A full free market in trade, industry, private property, transactions.
- Absolute cultural and religious rigidity in morals, doctrine, customs.
The result: a strict Christian capitalism. A citizen of the Order has economic freedom to grow rich, set up a factory, trade internationally, but lives under an inflexible moral code (no theological dissent, no heretical practices, no industrial heresy).
Principles
- Private property inviolable (except by way of an ecclesiastical tribunal).
- A valid civil contract under parish supervision.
- A flourishing industry under liturgical blessing.
- Non-unionised workers (a union = the industrial heresy of the Broken Glass).
- Free exchange with the Kingdoms and the Republics.
- Taxes: the ecclesiastical tithe (10%) + a state tax (it varies by region; ~15-20%).
Social result
- A prosperous bourgeoisie + an oppressed working class.
- A rich ecclesiastical aristocracy (Cardinals have no personal wealth but administer immense funds).
- The industrial heresy grows even under repression. A structural tension.
The Republics — Social Welfare
Velinia the Most Serene
- Mercantile capitalism + public assistance for merchants in difficulty.
- Aid to the Broken Glass of Velinia (the workers of the Arsenal): public clinics, a regulated minimum wage, a pension for the widows of workers killed.
- Partial political rights for the urban middle class.
- Confessional tolerance (the Schism of the Sea + the Judaism-analogue + others).
The Kantonal Confederation
- The most advanced on the continent in social welfare.
- Public health subsidised by canton. Universal public education.
- A pension for the old, a cooperative system of mutual insurance.
- Industrial cooperatives legally recognised.
- Cantonal banks finance public projects at low interest.
Social result
- A broad middle class.
- Less poverty than in the Order or among the Pacted.
- Mercantile vices (speculation, fraud, the exploitation of Vykhradian immigrants in Velinia) coexist with a progressive tolerance.
Independent Kingdoms — Protectionism
Königsmark
- Protected national industry. High tariffs on imports.
- State mining (the Hashmalite of the Massif of Kal'arn belongs to the Crown).
- Semi-feudal serfdom preserved in rural zones. Unfree peasants still exist in some provinces.
- Military mercantilism: the army is the largest internal buyer.
Vykhradia
- Magnate estates dominate the economy. The serf peasant works the magnate's land, pays rent + labour.
- The export of grain (Vykhradia is the granary of the continent). Buyers: the Order, Velinia, Brytonia.
- Rigorous agrarian protectionism.
- Royal serfdom: technically abolished in 1848 (analogue), but the practical relation persists.
Brytonia
- Full industrial capitalism. Brytonia is the most industrialised economy on the continent.
- Commercial imperialism by way of the Company of the Insular Cross.
- Selective protectionism (it defends local industry, opens international trade for export).
- Classes: a rural aristocracy + an industrial bourgeoisie + an urban working class (with an emerging unionism despite repression).
Meridia
- An agricultural-industrial mixture. Ardentine refineries + vineyards + a merchant fleet.
- Moderate protectionism. It exports silk, wine, olive; it imports grain from Vykhradia.
- A strong naval industry.
IV. Inter-bloc trade
Canonical routes
- The Solar Route: Aurum Roma → Velinia → Brithon. The principal commercial triangle. Raw mineral + manufactures + gold.
- The Northern Route: Königsburg → Bernkanton → Aurum Roma. Hashmalite + iron + banking services.
- The Southern Route: Stromakra → Coronata → Aurum Roma + Stromakra → Velinia. Ardentine + wine + silk.
- The Eastern Route: Vykhrad → Pradel → Aurum Roma. Grain + salt + horses.
The principal canonical goods
- Raw mineral: extracted in the Kingdoms, carried by the Republics (the Velinia + Brytonia fleets), purified by the Order.
- Industrial manufactures: machines, weapons, textiles, locomotives, ironclads — Brytonia and the Order (Ferrum Alpina) lead.
- Consecrated gold: controlled by the Curia, distributed selectively.
- Grain: Vykhradia exports it.
- Wine + olive: Meridia + Vallia Sacra.
- Furs + timber: Königsmark.
- Liturgical + banking credit: Velinia + Kantonal.
- Ardentine + the petroleum-analogue: Meridia + pactuary zones (contraband).
- The contraband of Black Mineral: the underground route Pacted ↔ Meridia (the Mar Tenebrum). A permanent scandal.
V. Canonical economic crises
The Velinia Crisis (1842)
- Property speculation in Velinia collapsed. The Doge of the day resigned. The Curia lent gold to stabilise it (in exchange for commercial concessions).
The Crisis of the Broken Glass (1865 onward)
- The industrial heresy grew in the mining zones. A strike in Ferrum Alpina stopped production for 3 months. The Curia repressed it with Knights of the Seal. Deaths on a large scale. A permanent tension since.
The Crisis of the Northern Hashmalite (1855-1860)
- A dispute between Königsmark and the Curia over the monumental seam of the Massif of Kal'arn. Resolved with the Concordat of the Baltic (1860).
The Heretical Torches (1872)
- Counterfeit Lumen lamps in Brytonia. The Curia issued a Bull. Brytonia refused to comply. Commercial tension.
The Kantonal Panic (1881)
- The Bank of Genfkanton failed after speculating in Brytonian shares. The Confederation resolved it with cantonal mutual aid. The Curia watched from a distance.
VI. Parallel systems
Liturgical Credit (a Kantonal-Velinian invention)
- Loans backed by consecrated mineral instead of pure gold.
- It arose in Bernkanton (1812). Adopted in Velinia (1820).
- It allows the financing of large operations (a fleet, a factory, a military expedition).
- It cost tension with the Curia, which saw liturgical credit as the commoditisation of the sacred. Eventually accepted with a Bull of 1851 regulating its use.
The Pactuary Black Market
- Contraband of Black Mineral + rare goods (stolen relics, heretical books, pactuary drugs).
- Routes: the Mar Tenebrum (naval) + the Vykhradian roads (overland) + peripheral cantons (hidden).
- Estimated volume: 5-8% of the continent's total product (a Reformed Inquisition estimate, 1885).
Indulgences
- A canonical system for the purchase of the remission of sins from the Curia. A modest volume in 1890 (it declined after the Reformed Council of 1830).
- Strong Enlightenment criticism from the Republics.