Archduke

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

The standard ranks of Nobility are:

  1. Emperor / Empress
  2. Archduke / Archduchess
  3. Duke / Duchess
  4. Count / Countess or Contessa
  5. Viscount / Viscountess
  6. Marquis / Marchioness or Marquesa
  7. Baron / Baroness
  8. Baronet / Baronetess
  9. Knight / Dame

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)

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.
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