The Emperor and Empress

The Law

The Bylaws:

1. EMPEROR/EMPRESS. The ruler or rulers of the Adrian Empire. They rule for one year. The Imperial Estate.

The Writ:

1. Empire. Estate Imperial, ruled by an Emperor and/or Empress. Ruler may wear a Crown and a gold Chain of State. Ruler may be addressed as "Your Imperial Majesty", "Your Majesty", "Your Highness", or "Your Grace". Ruler may be styled "Emperor <name>" or "Empress <name>" according to gender, or may use a non-English translation.

The Imperial Styles.

The formal style:

Elisabeth and Erik, by the Grace of God and the Will of the Estates, Empress and Emperor of the Catholic and Sovereign Empire of Adria, Kings of Aleon, Navarre, and Pembroke, Dukes of Brittany, Slivowitz, and Snowden, Barons of Grenfeld, Hanover, and Lyon, and Lords of the Outlands and Islands.

This format is based on several Period models and contains the following elements:

By the Grace of God

This is a rather standard part of any formal style.

and the Will of the Estates,

This is an acknowledgement of Parliament's power to overthrow the Crown if they so desire (which we hope will never happen!).

Empress and Emperor

Since Dame Elisabeth is the President of the Adrian Empire, Inc., she gets to be listed first.

of the Catholic and Sovereign Empire of Adria,

"Catholic" in this instance means "universal", not "of the Roman Catholic faith". It is only correct to use this for the Imperial Crown, since only the Imperial Crown is universal in our Game. Since there is no authority in the Game higher than the Empire itself, the use of "sovereign" is also appropriate.

Queen and King of Aleon, Navarre, and Pembroke, Dukes of Brittany, Slivowitz, and Snowden, Barons of Grenfeld, Hanover, and Lyon,

These are all defunct Geographic Chartered Subdivisions of the Empire. According to Period practice, all defunct titles revert to the Crown above them. Aleon, Navarre, and Pembroke were all Kingdoms, Brittany, Slivowitz, and Snowden were Duchies, and Grenfeld, Hanover, and Lyon were all Shires. Their Majesties are listed here as "Barons" of the Shires since the term "baron" is also a generic term for any titled nobility (also, it sounds better). According to Period models, the male titles are used for everything except King and Queen. This format was used while Mary Tudor was Queen of England and married to Phillip, King of Spain.

and Lords of the Outlands and Islands.

This covers anything else we may have missed.

The semi-formal style:

Elisabeth and Erik, by the Grace of God and the Will of the Estates, of the Empire of Adria and of Their other realms and territories Empress and Emperor.

This takes up less space and time, especially when several scrolls are going to be read.

There are some Latin forms available as well, based on those used by Charlemagne and his successors, although these have not been used very often in our history:

Dei gratia serenissimus augustus a  populusque coronatus, magnus pacificus Imperator Adricorum gubernans Imperium.

or

Imperator caesar <name> rex Adricorum invictissimus et rector imperii pius felix victor ac triumphator semper augustus.

or in 14th Century French,

Très haut, très puissant et très excellent Prince <name>, par la grâce de Dieu empereur des Adriains.

Forms of Address.

Any of the following ways are acceptable: "Your Imperial Majesty", "Your Majesty", "Your Highness", or "Your Grace". Use "Your Majesty" for general conversation, with an occasional "Your Highness" or "Your Grace" for variety. "Your Imperial Majesty" is generally used for very formal conversations. If you are in direct fealty to Them (such as by being an Imperial Minister or Crown of a GCS), you may use "My Liege".

Romance-language cultures generally left out the "your" part, so if your persona is Italian, French, Spanish, or of another Romance-speaking land, you may address Them as "Majesty" or "Highness". "Grace" by itself is not often used in these cultures - stick with "Your Grace" instead to be on the safe side.

Signatures.

The way the Imperial Crown signs itself depends upon what type of document They are signing. As a general rule, simpler is better. Everyone knows who the Crown is, there's no need to bludgeon people with it!

Acceptable forms:

<Latinized name> I.
<Latinized name> Imperator or <Latinized name> Imperatrix (if female)
<name>, Emperor of Adria

Heraldry.

As Empress and Emperor, together Their Majesties bear the arms of the Empire: Argent, a fleur-de-lis or enfiled of a crown argent.

The full achievement of the Empire consists of the Escutcheon itself, with a helm and mantling, as well as a pavilion, with supporters of Tygers rampant, all ensigned with the Imperial Crown.

Their Majesties' Ministers, along with the members of the Imperial Family (q.v.), fly Argent semy-de-lis or.

The National Flag of the Empire (also known as the "Cross of St. Alquis"), is Argent, a cross or.

Under the Commonwealth between the reigns of Knighthawk and Nikolai (see below), the Imperial Arms were not used, and instead the National Flag was used as the Arms of Dominion, with an inescutcheon of pretense of the Lord Protector's personal arms.

The Current Imperial Crowns.

Her Imperial Majesty is Dame Elisabeth Grey, Viscountess of Tierra del Fuego and Knight Civil. She bears Azure, a chief potenty or.

His Imperial Majesty is Sir Erik the Aweful, Earl Royal of TerrreNeuve and Knight Bachelor. He bears Sable, a triskelion of armoured legs between three death's heads, one-and-two, all argent.

Previous Emperors and Empresses.

Notes:

Nikolai and Dorothea were selected by the Estates rather than by War.

Katherine and Jéhan won their war against Stefan Belski and Katayana Belski, of TerreNeuve.

Stefan and Katayana were unchallenged at their War. This was the first War that was held in both the East and the West.

Elisabeth and Erik faced two sets of opponents in their first War: Rashalak Lombard and Alexandria Marie von Hobar Lombard, of Umbria, and Galadon Pendragon de Glendorrin and Roselyn Pendragon de Glendorrin, of Esperance. Their opponents in their second War were Logan du Draconis, of Sangrael, and Megan Rhys, of Chesapeake. Rashalak and Alexandria were the first Contenders of the new era who had not served as King or Queen (they were Duke and Duchess of Slivowitz). Megan was the first Contender of the new era who lived in the East at the time of the War. Elisabeth and Erik are the first Imperial Crown to rule for a second year.

13 June 2000