Hemreic I

Hemreic I (1103/1104 – 23 April 1168), sometimes called Henry Highboot (Middle Ridder: Hemreic Ucobet (lit. Henry Cloudshoe)) was Mercy of The Ridlemarch from its creation in 1135, until his death in 1168. Little is known of his origins or early life, but it is known that he was a christian Ridder, who was widely respected, and in a form of election, made the ruler of all the Ridders. Maintaining a close relationship with the Hergensian Empire, on the 5 of February 1135, he was crowned as Mercy of The Ridlemarch, as a vassal of the Hergensian Emperor. This event is considered the founding moment of The Ridlemarch.

While Hemreic's ten-year reign as Mercy was marked by many state-building accomplishments, his internal and external conflicts continued. The inland parts of The Ridlemarch were more resistant to christianisation attempts, and often violently resisted missionaries. His gains in the southwest were challenged by the declining Imperium Basilissa, with whom he was regularly at war. He often refused to follow the orders of Hergensian Emperors, possibly renouncing Christianity, and would eventually die in 1168 from an unknown cause, possibly cancer. His successor was his nephew, Feinik I.

After his death, Heimric had a reputation as a learned and just man of a gracious and level-headed nature, who founded The Ridlemarch and guaranteed that the christianisation of the Ridders and provided the framework for their survival through the tumultuous Bright Age. While not given the epithet "the Great", he is often considered one of the greatest Mercies of The Ridlemarch, and the date of his coronation - 5 February - is a national holiday in The Ridlemarch, Nation Day.