I don't know if anyone has covered this issue before. I know it's a recurring discussion -- why the Chamberlain hasn't determined who Michael Roele's successor was after 551 years. However, I stumbled across some information about various systems of primogeniture online. And, I thought I'd share it.

First off, I know it's a point of contention. But, my opinion is that Avanil has never been one of the Twelve Great Duchies. Instead, I've always thought of it as the Imperial Province -- which was ruled over by a Prince, a trusted close relative of the Emperor, in the Emperor's name. If that's the case, I consider the Twelve Great Duchies to be Aernwe, Alamie, Bhalaene/Dhalene (depending on how you spell it), Boeruine, Brosengae, Cariele, Diemed, Elinie, Ghieste, Mhoried, Osoerde, and Taeghas.

Anyway, I have always seen the conflict as being between Boeruine and Avanil based upon conflicting ideas of succession -- with Boeruine arguing for primogeniture based upon his line's marriage to the eldest sister of Michael Roele and Avanil arguing for proximity of blood and tanistry based upon his line holding the Imperial Province. But, that idea has never really encompassed the general Birthright theme that any of the major houses could lay claim to the throne.

Well, I've been looking at various forms of succession particularly primogentiture as it applies to land inherited by fee tail and strict sallic law. And, from what I gather, primogeniture goes from oldest to youngest as you move along the male heirs, but all female heirs are considered co-equals when it gets to them. And, since certain titles (i.e. Emperor) can't be divided, the dignity of the office goes into abeyance until only one of the inheriting female lines remains. This appears to be what the game designers might have been getting at.

Historically, the British Peerage modified this system from strict sallic primogeniture to male preference primogeniture. But, that took time. And, in the medieval era, that move wasn't always thought to be the natural logical flow. Proximity of blood and tanistry were considered viable, practical solutions when strict sallic primogeniture came to a dead end.

So, putting that in terms of the game, Avanil and Boeruine are considered two of the strongest claims based upon the cases that they make. Up to Michael Roele's death, there was strict sallic primogeniture. Now that that system has failed, Boeruine argues that a male preferenceprimogeniture should take its place -- meaning that he is the natural, logical choice as a descendant of the eldest sister of Michael Roele. Avanil claims that this is not the inevitable conclusion and argues that proximity of blood should control when the system fails -- another justifiable position.

The seemingly logical way of sorting this out would be to put it to a vote of the Twelve Great Duchies. However, neither side necessarily wants to do that -- as it arguably converts the entire system to tanistry. And, many of the great houses that can claim some relation to one of the younger sisters are happy to just wait everything out rather than deciding on a tiebreaker. If they can wait for all of the rival sister lines to extinguish themselves (or if they can help along that outcome), they can claim the Iron Throne themselves.

Of course, those with no ties to one of the sister's lines would love to submit everything to tanistry -- on the premise that, once the Twelve Great Duchies get to elect the Emperor, they always get to elect the Emperor and they can sell their votes for various concessions every time. There are others with no ties to the sisters' lines, of course, who might prefer never to have a vote because they don't want an Emperor again. They enjoy their own sovereignty.

On top of that, even if the issue was put to a vote, questions remain regarding who can vote. Boeruine argues that Brosengae and Taeghas are no longer entitled to vote because their have surrendered their status as "imperial estates" by pledging vassalage to Avanil. Avanil claims that they have simply recognized his right to the Iron Throne and that they have surrendered no status since he is indeed the Emperor. Alamie and Tuornen both claim the same seat -- as do Cariele and Coeranys. No one seems happy about letting Ghoere claim two duchal seats. Jaison Raenech and William Moergen both claim Osoerde's seat.

Some people claim that Aerenwe has left the Empire -- when its regent claimed the title of Queen. I prefer to view this as a special honorific afforded to that house since Michael Roele's wife was from Aerenwe. He was Emperor. Her family claimed the royal title until a new Emperor was crowned -- clinging to the title as a reminder of their family's special status within the Empire, perhaps in hopes that maybe they could inherit through Michael Roele's wife.

But, depending on one's view, Aerenwe's status could be disputed. Elinie's status could alos be dispute -- probably by Jaison Raenech when they dispute his claim. The issue being that the Emperor let the ibn Doutas take over Elinie. However, since he kept the title of Patriarch, it's not entirely clear the Emperor intended for the family to take up the dignity of one of the Twelve Great Duchies.

I also think of the Prince and Archduke titles being similar claims on dignity as the Queen of Aerenwe. Archduke being an honorific given to the eldest daughter's husband to denote his special status. And, Prince being given to the ruler of the Imperial Province to denote his special status. I like that view because there are only two of these titles in the original boxed edition and, although I'm happy to make some corrections (titling the Baron of Diemed a Duke and inserting Marquis/Margrave for Baron -- where there appear to be mistakes in the original boxed edition), I've never really liked the idea of handing out Archduke titles to everyone or making all lower ranks subservient to a higher rank. In my mind, regardless of title, all of the realms are imperial estates -- owing fealty directly to the Emperor, regardless of rank.

Anyway, that all being said . . . . What I was originally getting at is that this would explain the failure to choose a successor. The factors creating this situation include: (1) strict sallic law posing no obvious solution, (2) opposing tiebreaker solutions (male preference primogeniture vs. proximity of blood), (3) a willingness on the part of many houses to wait and see if the other sisters' lines die out, (4) support/opposition to setting a precedent supporting tanistry (and whether that means all future heirs could be elected), (5) opposition to any Emperor being imposed again (by rulers happy to be their own sovereigns), and (6) disputes over who would even get to vote (who gets the twelve great duchal seats) under a tanistry system.

This system would not necessarily affect succession in individual realms. Assuming that a lot of things are based losely off of the Holy Roman Empire (which appears to be the historical model), one of the privileges of imperial estates was the ability to set their own rules for succession -- free of imperial interference. That would also explain why the situation in various places (i.e. Osoerde) has never been "submitted" to the Imperial Court for a decision. That was part of the original balance of power set-up between the Emperor and the Great Houses -- a guarantee that the Empire could never get involved in succession issues within a duchy.