Difference between revisions of "Archduke"

Revision as of 16:36, 15 January 2017

A noble rank within the system of Imperial Nobility in the Third Imperium.

Imperial Nobility
The standard ranks of Nobility are:

Description (Specifications)

Modern Archdukes are referred to by the title Archduke followed by the name of their domain. Modern Archdukedoms include a fief consisting of an entire world, generally retained as a private reserve, and/or 256 terrain hexes on worlds within the fief-world's associated Domain.

The Vilani term for Archduke is Apkallu Kibrat Arban.

History & Background (Dossier)

No information yet available.

Ziru Sirka

In the Old Vilani Imperium, the highest rank of Vilani nobility was Apkallu Kibrat Arban (“Minister of the Four Quarters”), a Vilani title of extreme antiquity deriving from an extinct Vilani dialect. On ancient Vland the title was held by the greatest rulers on the world, and were the equivalent of high kings and emperors on ancient Terra. The title denoted a position of great authority under the government of the Ziru Sirka, and was used almost exclusively for the leaders of the Vilani bureaux and their highest assistants.

Holders of the title of Apkallu Kibrat Arban were sometimes referred to as karunii (“petty emperors”) and wielded authority over several sectors.

Third Imperium

In origin, the title of Archduke was a non-hereditary honorific title established by Emperor Cleon I to reward certain Dukes for loyal service. Such Archdukes were required to abdicate both their Dukedoms and the associated voting rights in the Moot to their designated heirs, but in return they were granted the general oversight of Moot proceedings and/or granted privileged status within the Emperor's court as close advisors.

At the beginning of the Pacification Campaigns in 76, the Emperor Artemsus subsequently created a new form of Archduke when he initially established the original six Domains of the Imperium, each of which having an Archduke exercising overall control of his/her respective Domain, and acting as an intermediary between the Emperor and the other levels of nobility (except for the Domain of Sylea, where the Emperor himself acted as the titular Archduke).
After the conclusion of the Imperial Civil War in 622, some of these titles were allowed to lapse as their title-holders lines became extinct. Further, the Domain-level in the Imperial bureaucracy was gradually phased out, relegating the title of Archduke to a largely honorific and ceremonial legacy title.
More recently, the Emperor Strephon has been reestablishing the Domain-level within the Imperial bureaucracy and re-empowering Archdukes to oversee Domains, appointing new noble families to previously vacant Archducal titles in an attempt to stave off the perceived incohesion and "parochialism" evident in some regions of the Imperium. As of the conclusion of the Fifth Frontier War, all of the Domains except the Domain of Deneb have a sitting Archduke once again.
While Archducal titles may still be granted to High Nobles as an honorific, this is very rare and has only been done a few times in all of the centuries of the Imperium's existence.

References & Contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

GURPS Traveller: Nobles
MegaTraveller Imperial Encyclopedia
T4: Milieu 0
Traveller 5th Core Rules
Periodical: Imperiallines 7 (magazine)
Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science

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 * After the conclusion of the Imperial [[Civil War]] in [[622]], some of these titles were allowed to lapse as their title-holders lines became extinct.  Further, the [[Domain|Domain-level]] in the Imperial bureaucracy was gradually phased out, relegating the title of [[Archduke]] to a largely honorific and ceremonial legacy title.
 * More recently, the [[Emperor]] [[Strephon]] has been reestablishing the [[Domain|Domain-level]] within the Imperial bureaucracy and re-empowering [[Archduke|Archdukes]] to oversee [[Domain|Domains]], appointing new noble families to previously vacant [[Archduke|Archducal]] titles in an attempt to stave off the perceived incohesion and "parochialism" evident in some regions of the Imperium.  As of the conclusion of the [[Fifth Frontier War]], all of the [[Domain|Domains]] except the [[Domain of Deneb]] have a sitting [[Archduke]] once again.
 * While Archducal titles may still be granted to High Nobles as an honorific, this is very rare and has only been done a few times in all of the centuries of the Imperium's existence.
-The modern [[Vilani]] term used for [[Archduke]] is still the old title of ''Apkallu Kibrat Arban''.  However, the only noble who routinely uses this title today is the [[Archduke]] of [[Domain of Vland|Vland]], but he or she does so only in documents issued in [[Vilani]] – in [[Galanglic]], he or she uses the title of [[archduke]].
 == References & Contributors (Sources) ==