Legitimist Party

The term Legitimist Party (High Secote: Prědŭbodari, literally 'followers of the Priority Heir') refers to the loose political coalition that formed around the Neritsovid candidate Borovest II in 1701. Initially dominated by the High Captains of the pièches led by Puhtaus and Zhelteis and the Hierarchy of Anabbah, the Legitimists drew support from a diverse alliance of different social forces and was able to establish control over a broad swathe of territory from the Empire's westernmost outpost in Darunnabi to the Joriscian Lowlands. Despite the key role played by the pièches in these early intrigues and in the military adventures of Spytihnev's War, however, from the 1710s on they were largely sidelined in favour of a group of High Nobles around Andromir Pashegy and later Vladimir Inevsky. The ascendancy of this group made the Legitimists into a thoroughly reactionary force opposed to the Levelling Edicts and more broadly to any perceived attack on the privileges of the Great Houses, a programme that won them the name 'New Voivodes' in reference to the Voivode Party of the late Neritsovid period.

'Party' here should not be taken to imply a formal party-political structure similar to that seen in Messenia; the intended sense is that of a diverse group united around a political cause. The term 'Legitimist Party' is typically used in opposition to the Neo-Tirfatsevid or Restorationist Party, the supporters of Spytihnev I.