NationStates | The Holy Christian Empire of Dominant Oppressors

The Holy Christian Empire of

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Dominant Oppressorian Royalty and Nobility

Monarch Title System & Succession Law:

The person who will take the throne (and/or has been/is on the throne) and will be the nations leader takes the title of Holy Emperor/Empress and/or Holy Prince/Princess. Where as any other descendants of the monarchy and/or spouses simply take the title Emperor/Empress and/or Prince/Princess (note the lack of ‘Holy’ in front). This shows that that person is not the actual Emperor/Empress nor leader of the country and/or is not the one who will inherit the throne (in the current line of succession). For example, our current leader is Holy Emperor Adam J. Vader but his wife is simply Empress Julia S. Vader. Another example, the current heir to the throne is Holy Princess Padmé R. Vader but her brother is simply Prince James A. Vader. Another example is that although Holy Prince Simon M. Vader is younger than his cousins, Prince Fred III and Prince Joseph, he is the heir to the Dominant Oppressorian Throne after Padmé, as Fred III is in-line for the Falmardic Throne and Joseph has been named as 'Engen-Vader' and it was so deemed by Holy Emperor Adam J. Vader to be this way. The line of succession is dictated by the current monarch but must remain within House Vader unless the circumstances are extraordinary. Rulership of the nation may not be passed onto the spouse via marriage as shown by the ‘Holy’ section of the title. If a member of House Vader marries a non-Dominant Oppressorian, they may not receive the traditional ‘spouse title’ (e.g. Wife of the Holy Emperor is ‘Empress’ and Husband of the Holy Princess is ‘Prince’), instead, they may take in the same title with the addition of ‘-Consort’ (e.g. ‘Empress-Consort’ or ‘Prince-Consort’). Marriages between Dominant Oppressorian Royalty and Commoners (sometimes called Morganatic or Left-handed Marriages) are allowed (and are very common) and they do not have to give up the titles nor their status. The Vader surname is considered a 'powerful surname' and as such is the surname that passes down to children regardless of whether it was the husband or the wife that originally bore it, it also passes on to the spouse regardless. This is not true for marriages to foreign nobility, where the surname does not pass to the spouse (and the foreign surname is not taken by the House Vader member) and the surname of the children is to be arranged by the individuals themselves (e.g. Prince Joseph is of House Engen-Vader and not House Vader as that was what was arranged between his parents). The Royal line has neither male nor female preference, and the eldest is typically selected. However, the decision is ultimately completely up to the reigning monarch.

If, for some reason, the Dominant Oppressorian monarch dies before an heir is selected and there is no obvious candidate for the throne (e.g. the child of the deceased monarch), then the crown will pass to the most senior member of the main-line of House of Vader. If no such candidate exists, it will pass to the most senior member of the Glorious Ascensionist branch of the House of Vader (usually the Holy Emperor of Glorious Ascension) and the cycle of Personal-Unions and splits will re-start following the death of said person. If no such candidate exists, the most senior member of the close cadet-branches of the House of Vader who do not previously hold a throne of a foreign realm or are set to succeed to a foreign throne will be chosen. If even then no candidate is found then a list of persons are entitled to elect a candidate of noble, royal or imperial birth who meets the 'un-throned' criteria previously outlined [excluding the vassals of the Dominant Oppressorian monarch, those are not considered as 'foreign' thrones] to be set as Dominant Oppressors' new monarch and establish its new ruling line, the successful candidate will also be entitled to add the '-Vader' suffix to their dynasty. Voting for a new candidate is done in a similar style to the voting in a Papal conclave. Electors may send a proxy, provided they maintain a link of contact during the voting and the acting-regent of Dominant Oppressors (selected by the remnants of the Royal Imperial Advisory Council) is notified in advance by official means and in-writing. Regents are excluded from voting. If one person holds more than one eligible electorate, they may only use the vote(s) of their primary title, they may not inherit or use the votes of their other held electorate(s). The list of electors may be altered by the Dominant Oppressorian monarch at his/her discretion. The electors entitled to nominate candidates and vote are as follows:

Bishop of Rome (Current: Pope Francis I) [Entitled to 3 votes]
Duke of Sion (Current: Duke Malcolm G. Sion)
Duke of Tyranus (Current: Duchess Catherine S. Tyranus)
Duke of Nihilus (Current: Duke Andrew D. Nihilus)
Duke of Revan (Current: Duke Edward B. Revan)
Duke of Ren (Current: Duchess Emily I. Ren)
Holy Emperor of Glorious Ascension (Current: Regency)
Holy Roman Emperor of the German Nation (Current: Vacant; Throne Defunct) [Electorate transferred to the Emperor of Austria after the dissolution of the H.R.E.]
Emperor of the Germans (Current: Vacant; Throne Defunct)
King of England (Current: Queen Elizabeth II Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) [Electorate transferred to the King of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom after the Acts of Union.] [Electorate briefly removed following the Anglican church's split from Rome, restored as an act of goodwill following the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829.]
King of France (Current: Vacant; Throne Defunct) [Members of the line of Napoleon Bonaparte are disqualified from holding the electorate.]
King of Spain (Current: King Felipe VI Borbón-Anjou)
King of Poland (Current: Vacant; Throne Defunct)
King of Jerusalem (Current: Vacant; Throne Defunct)
Grand Duke of New jewlan (Current: Grand Duke N.J. O'Carroll)
Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Current: Grand Duke Henri I Nassau-Weilburg)
Grand Master of the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (Current: Lieutenancy [Regency]) [Electorate transferred to the Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the modern day.]

Coronation Ceremony:

Excluding extraordinary circumstances such as war, the coronation of a new Dominant Oppressorian Holy Emperor or Holy Empress (which may be referred to here on out simply as 'Holy Emperor' for convenience, please treat it as a 'gender-neutral' term for the sake of this document) is a long-standing traditional ritual. The ceremony itself may only begin after the Heir Apparent has proven they meet the criteria to be Holy Emperor in front of the rest of House Vader and their predecessor's Royal Imperial Advisory Council. Once this has been done, the Heir Apparent assumes the title 'Imperator Accipere Coronam', Latin for 'Emperor-Awaiting-Crown', and begins to make their way (along with their entourage) to Rome, for the ecclesiastical section of the coronation. Once at the Vatican, the Pope will preform the Sacrament of Holy Mass before starting the special section for the coronation. First, the Pope asks those in attendance if they have any reason why the Heir Apparent should not become Holy Emperor and when no one responds, he continues with the ceremony. The Pope anoints the Heir Apparent with Holy Oil and has him recite an oath of loyalty to God and His Holy Church before handing him the Royal Imperial Sceptre of Dominant Oppressors, Dominant Oppressorian Globus Cruciger and the Blade of St. Michael. Once all of this is done, the Pope places the Imperial Crown of Dominant Oppressors on their head, symbolising that the monarch is God-appointed and that they serve as a Defender of the Faith. After the ceremony is concluded, the party return to Risen Christ City where they re-convene at the Cathedral for the second section of the coronation. Here, another mass is said by the Bishop of Risen Christ City. Then the Heir Apparent kneels before the Tabernacle before rising to face the Heads of the major Dominant Oppressorian noble Houses, who then themselves kneel. When they rise, one of them (the House Head who does this alternates each coronation between the Houses) gives the Heir Apparent the Ring of House Vader and places it on his ring-finger. The Heir Apparent then gives each House Head the Ring of their respective House, which they place on their own fingers. The Bishop then bless the Heir Apparent and (if they are already married and/or have children), their spouse and children and then, the Heir Apparent is officially invested as the new Holy Emperor of Dominant Oppressors. Much bowing and chants of 'God save the Holy Emperor' usually follow as the Holy Emperor leaves the Cathedral.

Substantive Titles of Nobility & the Honourary Nobility:

Amongst the mainline Nobility of Dominant Oppressors and, of course, the Royal Imperial House of Vader as well, titles are inherited from their forebears and convey a certain degree of lordship over the land(s) referred to in their titles. However, the Dominant Oppressorian Monarch reserves the right to bestow titles of Nobility upon individuals whom the Monarch deems worthy that may otherwise hold no title of Nobility or do not hold one in relation to our Realm. Such titles induct the grantee into the 'Honourary Nobility of Dominant Oppressors'. The titles are often rendered as 'Honourary [Rank] of Dominant Oppressors' (e.g. 'Honourary Count of Dominant Oppressors') but may also be rendered as '[Rank] in Dominant Oppressors' or 'Honourary [Rank] of the Realm of Dominant Oppressors'. It is important to note that the titles do not convey any territorial over-lordship and are simply symbolic, granting the prestige and status of a Noble of that rank. The specific rank given with the title varies significantly between grantee to grantee and is at the discretion of the Monarch to decide what rank to bestow. When bearing the title as one's primary title they may style themselves as '[Rank] [Name] of Dominant Oppressors'. For purposes of Court-Hierarchy, a Honourary Noble is always considered to be of lesser status to a Hereditary Noble of the same rank, provided said Honourary Noble has no other higher-ranking titles unrelated to their Substantive Title(s). Such titles may be either hereditary or simply for the lifetime of one individual, this too is at the discretion of the Monarch. If a member of the Honourary Nobility at any time acts against the Realm, they will be stripped of their position. The Monarch also retains the right to create and bestow a new title of full Nobility, including a territory to take as their own (as a Vassal of the Holy Emperor / Holy Empress), however the system for this is different to that of the Honourary Nobility.