House of Havelock
| The Most Illustrious and Noble House of Havelock Ѳ Мåст Иллустриус н Нåбел Һус в Һавелокк | |||||
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| Motto: «Грасп Фортѵн би ѳ Фåрлоккз» "Grasp fortune by the forelocks" | |||||
| Anthem: А Соҥ фор Мерчантз A Song For Merchants | |||||
| History | |||||
| Country | Floresque and Novmir | ||||
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| Current head | Silas Holdens Havelock, Archduke of Floresque | ||||
| Founding | 12th century | ||||
| Ethnicity | Novic, Pelagian | ||||
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The House of Havelock is a royal house that first began to gain prominence as a banking family and political dynasty in the Duchy of Floresque. The family originated in the city of Floresque, and first began to gain prominence under Cosmas Ives Havelock in the mid 14th century, who took power as the Duke's economic advisor and later adopted heir. The Havelock Bank was the largest of its time, and its great wealth contributed to the Havelocks' power. The House of Havelock produced twenty dukes of an independent Duchy of Floresque, and a further fourteen archdukes of the modern Novic province of Floresque.
Their wealth initially derived from their position in the slave trade, though they eventually abandoned this after founding the Havelock Bank. As rulers of Floresque, the Havelocks exercised absolute power, but allowed an environment where art and humanism could flourish, and made the city the center of the Novic Renaissance. A marriage of the Havelocks to the Pembrokes facilitated the founding and expansion of the modern Kingdom of Novmir, and today the Havelocks are rulers of the province of Floresque and inherit the post of Prime Minister of Novmir.
The Havelock Bank is one of the largest and most prestigious institutions in Novmir. It is through this bank that the Havelocks acquired their vast wealth - there are some estimates that the House of Havelock is one of the richest royal families in the world, mainly through their ownership of the Havelock Bank. A notable contribution the Havelocks made to the system of banking was the introduction of the double-entry bookkeeping system for tracking debts and credit. This system was first used by accountants working for the Havelocks in Floresque.
