Talah Hialeah's History

Written by it's namesake Talah Hialeah, this work is a study of Teleri history from the first settling of the Teleri in the !Mississippi delta region, up to the modern day, at the time of parution. The book is divided in two parts: a history and a commentary, published in 1465 the commentary touches on hotly debated topics of the time. It dropped like a bombshell on the political scene, it became a best seller overnight, it influenced many established and up and coming politicians, and it shaped the many public debates of the time.

Talah Hialeah
Talah Hialeah was born in 1414 as a citizen of !a_taifa, one of the first five to form the Republic in 1437. Born into a moderatly wealthy merchant family, he had the luxury of education, he specialised in history, rethoric, politics, and law. He became a published and recognised historian when he wrote a history of his home !Taifa, for his work he was given a role in his !Taifa's government as historian assistant to the Rector of the !Taifa's academy when he was 27, in this capacity he was invited to talk in the Council of !Taifas in order to give historical data so as to advise the members of the council in making a foreign treaty. He was commissioned by other !Taifas of the Republic and outside of it the write their histories as well, as such he was awarded the title of head historian of the Republic, he was 41 and just obtained the right to vote. His previous notoriety and the respect he recieved from carreer and new politicians are among the reasons his book had the impact it had. After he published his History he was appointed as Headmaster and rector of the Republic's Academy, he would keep this position for 19 years, until his retirement at age 70.

History
The history part of the book relates events from the settling of the Teleri in the region they still currently occupy, up to the years preceeding the parution. Hialeah describes the collapse of the Audic empire in the region and disscusses the effects it had on society there, he particularily touches on the way Audic culture influenced the Teleri one in ways that still exist today. He then goes on to describe the years of chaos that followed the collapse, itself followed by the establishment of the first !Taifas. He describes at length the !Taifa period, indeed he later uses this period as an example in his commentary. Finally he recounts the beginings of the Republic and it's growth over the years.

Context
Published in 1465, the history was presumably written in the previous two years. At that time the republic had existed for 28 years and faced many seminal national debates concerning the nature of the republic, what it should be, and what its role is in the region. As of that time their expansion was motivated by two goals: helping other !Taifas in need, and achieving trade hegemony. As such, there had been a lull, expansion stopped for a time as the need to expand was not felt as strongly as before. Moreover there was debate regarding the role and nature of the republican institutions, some were questioning the necessity of the Chamber of Burghers, others were toying with the idea of reforming the executive so as to have only one head of state and government.

Commentary
In this context Hialeah gave his opinions, thoughts, and arguments in his commentary on the history he had written, he looked back in time in order to take lessons for his own time, many of his opinions would shape the republic and the public debate. He argued that beyond helping !Taifas in need, the role of the Republic was to unite all Teleri !Taifas in order to reach common prosperity, he used the !Taifa period that preceeded the Republic as an example many times to argue this thesis. For instance, he proposed that the disunity of the !Taifas is the reason some of them were failing and in need of help, on the other hand he also found examples of unity in this period, when the !Taifas united in order to repulse invasions for example, and used them to show that when united the !Taifas would be some of the strongest players in the region. On the subject of government, he argued that the Chamber of Burghers was an essential part of the political process at it ensured a voice to every citizen irregardless of their !Taifa of residence, unlike in the Council of !Taifas. Moreover, he posited that the split executive was much more safe and efficient than an united one as it avoided one man obtaining too much power and allowed for better delegation of tasks. His opinions and arguments shaped the public debate and the Republic in a durable way, indeed ever since the Republic has strived to unite the Teleri people, the executive has remained split, and both houses of the legislature are now considered equal.

We can say that Talah Hialeah's History was one of the most, if not the most, influencial work of Teleri litterature, it has impacted politics in a way the Republic still lives by today.