Adele I, Countess of Otistadt
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adele Emma (Common: Adele) also known as Adele I, of the House Ludovar, served as the fourth Countess of Otistadt and the eleventh Parriarch of the Karovic cadet House descended from King Stephen I of Haense. She was the second eldest daughter of Count Johann of Otistadt and Anya de Astrea. Adele contributed greatly both to her house and the Kingdom of Haense, serving as the High Justiciar under King Karl III and Georg I and maintaining the hard work of her father into a Haeseni Golden Age.
Contents
Early life
Adele Emma Ludovar was born as the second child of Johann Ludovar and Anya of Elysium. She was very close to her twin sister, Amicia Valerie, as a child. Both twins were named after their respective grandmothers; Adele for their paternal grandmother, Adele of Reinmar who served as Baroness-Consort of Otistadt, and Amicia for their maternal grandmother, Amicia de Astrea who served as the Surgeon-General of Elysium. Furthermore, Adele's middle name originated with both of her parents' respective admiration for Queen Emma, the reigning Queen-Consort of the time, and this was always a point of pride for the young Ludovar. As a child, Adele was often afflicted with a debilitating illness which frequently left her bedridden until she was significantly older. She was very close to her father, who supported her and her siblings in all their endeavors as children and adults, however their mother faked her death and disappeared when they were very young - leaving the Ludovar twins without a mother. Due to her illness, Adele was kept at home by her overprotective father - frightened by the dramatic disappearance of their mother - and here she cultured a love of literature by spending her days reading.
At the age of 7, Adele was declared well enough by her father to venture out to the streets of Karosgrad at around the same time that her grandfather, Robert Ludovar was slain in battle. Adele's father ascended to the position of Baron of Otistadt. In her childhood, Haense was engaged in a war with Haelun'or which, as they aged, Adele and Amicia fought in and instilled into the young Ludovars a severe dislike of warfare. This hatred continued into adulthood, for which Adele advocated fiercely to provide the children of the next generation with a youth without violence.
As she got older, Adele grew close to the Queen of the time, Emma of Jerovitz, as her ward and was integral to the organisation of several events hosted by both the Queen's Council and by her own House; for example, the Ward Sleepover of 1856, the Snowflake Ball of 1858, the Ludovar Beauty Contest of 1861, and her own Hauchmetvas in 1868. Adele remained devoted to her books, however she came out of her shell while attending events in the Capital at which she mingled with other noble children in the company of her twin sister. She developed strong friendships with Erika Barclay, Niamh Baruch, and Sibylla Barclay who introduced her to Princess Klara Elizaveta. These five young noblewomen grew close, providing each other with companionship during various hardships. Adele also fostered a strong friendship with Matyas Barbanov-Bihar by sheer happenstance, and adopted the younger Borris Kortrevich as a brother-figure to replace her absentee younger brother, Aleksey.
Throughout her childhood, Adele was often exposed to her father's declining health through his frequent coughing fits and episodes. These unfortunate occurrences led Johann and Adele to speak on various issues in their relationship. She was a remarkably insecure child due to her absent Mother in combination with being compared to her twin sister. The father-daughter pair grew very close as a result and they often collaborated on projects together, leading to a nearly seamless transition upon Johann's death in 1873.
Reign
Baroness of Juliksburg
At the age of 16, Johann sat Adele down and informed her that her younger brother, Aleksey, always assumed by the Ludovar House to be their father's successor, had doubts about his ability and willingness and that he and Johann had agreed to pass on the inheritance to another willing member of the family by altering the succession format. This was in part inspired by the recent passing of the Karenina Accords, legislation that changed noble inheritance law to be absolute primogeniture as opposed to the male preference primogeniture of old, which was campaigned for by Adele. Johann and Adele agreed, with mild uncertainty from the latter, that she would take on the mantle of being his successor and the heiress to House Ludovar. In accordance with the trend at the time, Adele was awarded with the titular title of Baroness of Juliksburg to mark her as her father's heiress.
With her newfound position, Adele entered that year's Lifstala season as an heiress and she also began to assist her father with his duties to a greater degree, even attending meetings alongside him to keep herself up-to-date with the House's affairs and to aid him in light of his developing illness. She also was allowed at this point to begin attending sessions of the Royal Duma in Johann's stead. It was during this period that she grew especially close to who was now her courtship partner, Matyas Barbanov-Bihar, and towards the end of the Lifstala season she was presented with the treasured Verevka belt - signifying a forthcoming marriage proposal to her father. The pair were due to be wed, the first coupling of the young generation's heirs, however the wedding was postponed one month before its date because of a great scandal. At another wedding, Matyas reportedly slept with Angelika of Vidaus and was discovered by to-be Duke-Consort of Valwyck, Maric var Ruthern. Matyas was forced to confess this to Adele, who was heartbroken, and the scandal was published the next month within Edition XIII of the infamous gossip publication "The Hearsay of Hanseti-Ruska". Adele's father was rightfully infuriated on her behalf, and despite her protests he went directly to the distraught Matyas and threw a plate of erkindelir accompanied by the uli sauce at him. This particular dish signifies, in Haeseni culture, both a refusal of the marriage proposal and a want for the suitor in question to refrain from speaking to the young lady whose hand he was seeking. The incident shook Adele, who was mightily upset for several months. She sought comfort in her female friends, while her protective twin sister sought to duel the dejected Matyas to restore Adele's honour.
Eventually, Matyas and Adele made up and began making plans with their various friends to restore Johann's trust in him with the intention of requesting that he permit them to marry as originally planned. Years passed, each of Adele's friends were wed, but at last they ambitious couple managed to convince the increasingly ill Patriarch of House Ludovar to reaffirm his permission and Adele and Matyas were married in the Chapel of Blessed Robert Lothar within Otistadt.
Countess of Otistadt
Following the death of her beloved father, Adele took over his duties as the Head of House Ludovar and was very devoted to her work. On several occasions in her tenure, Adele's childhood affliction returned and she was advised to take brief breaks - in which a regency was instated - in bed to recover her strength. However, she took up a great many positions of importance within the Capital city, taking advantage of each opportunity offered to her. Prior to her father's passing she completed the training required to be granted the position of Jovenaar, and during the subsequent period in which the role of High Justiciar was allocated to the Palatial Office she took great care in taking care of her late father's department. This hard work earned her the ascension to the rank of Lady Justiciar like Johann before her, at which point Adele worked hard to rewrite the curriculum and written examination of the Office of the Justiciar with the intention to train potential Jovenaars more thoroughly. Adele was also appointed by the Lord Treasurer to the positions of Kastellan of Labour and Kastellan of Domestic Trade which she oversaw for many years.
Soon after her father's passing, Adele inherited his blueprints for the building of a new Keep for House Ludovar. She oversaw the demolishment of her birthplace and childhood home, named Kazstadt after her great-grandfather Kazimar I, and the construction of a larger Keep befitting of the House's increased status under Johann, named Ricksburg after Adele's great-great-grandfather Fredrick I. This new Keep included greater defensive measures, a small courtyard, a large ballroom, a feast hall, its own aviary, a small family museum, significantly more bedrooms, wings for Mainline family members and non-Mainline members, several lounge rooms, and a plethora of storage space for the House's many historic relics.
Adele did her utmost to attend as many sittings of the Royal Duma as she possibly could and was invested in being an active participant and strong debater. For this, she was elected by the Duma as the Lady Handler for two sessions in a row in which she supported the Lord Speaker, Maric Baruch. Adele took great interest in overseeing the Hospital of St. Amyas, which the House Ludovar had supported for several generations already, and she immediately negotiated with Surgeon General Theodosya Barclay for a pay increase for the medical staff. Adele also joined forces with her friend, Countess Esmée Kortrevich, to assist in the publication of a volume of acclaimed news source Ve Kortrevich Bull Post.
Adele dedicated many hours of her time to investigating and managing various parties who were threats to the House, doing her best to protect her family in her own way. Due to her drive to build upon her father's great legacy, Adele worked long hours and this meant that she often couldn't spend time with her children and the other children of her brother and cousins in her care. Her relationship with them frequently suffered because of this, and Adele felt great shame for being unable to devote as much time to her issue as her father could to her and her sister. She also oversaw the forging of lifelong alliances between several Houses including House Barclay, Kortrevich, Colborn, Vernhart, and von Audrick. In one of her attempts to build friendships, House Ludovar went for dinner in Vidaus with House Ruthern after which several members of both Houses fell ill. However, the House Ludovar managed to cover up their afflictions, losing several members, and never quite recovering for many years. Unfortunately, towards the conclusion of Adele's first post-marriage Lifstala season, in which her daughters and young cousins were debutantes of, she was forced to disown her direct cousin Ilya Vladimir Ludovar for arranging to marry a woman of common ancestry without her consent as the Matriarch of the House. This incident hurt the Countess deeply, and caused her to reflect on how much difficulty her father must have gone through with some of his troubles. Nevertheless, it steeled her thoroughly and gave her the nerves to put her foot down in the future as opposed to the policy of passivity she had engaged previously.
After nearly 30 years of service to the Kingdom as Countess of Otistadt, Adele abdicated her inherited titles to her eldest daughter, Emma Henrietta, in 1901.
High Justiciar
After a long period of supporting the Lady Palatine of the time, Isabel Baruch, in her work running the Office of the Justiciar - which had been suspended and removed from the rank of Aulic Office upon the death of the previous Justiciar, Johann Ludovar - Adele was approached by the Lady Palatine and King Karl to take on the role of Lady Justiciar when the Office was restored to being of Aulic status once more. Immediately upon taking Office, Adele devoted a large proportion of her time to completing the plans to revitalise the Wardship program of the Office by almost entirely rewriting the curriculum.
The curriculum was divided into the Basic Curriculum (3 lessons), the Investigative Curriculum (2 lessons), and the Judicial Curriculum (2 lessons). It was decided that the curriculum needed rewriting due to an agreed discrepancy between Adele and fellow Jovenaar Nikolai Kortrevich that upon taking the position of Jovenaar they had both felt unprepared for the role with the training they had been provided with. The newly written curriculum was designed to teach Wards more thoroughly so that they would feel ready upon taking Office to adequately fulfill their jobs.
Adele oversaw the rigorous training of a large collection of wards over many years, with 3 pupils managing to succeed and take the Oath of a Jovenaar: Atilan Bishop, Arthur Stafyr, and Haus Weiss. Unfortunately, Atilan Bishop had to be remove from Office a few years after due to a Duma vote of no confidence. However, Arthur Stafyr succeeded Adele as Chief Jovenaar, aided by her other students.
Adele dedicated some of her time as High Justiciar to the pursuit and transcription of a selection of Court-related legislation to be passed through the Royal Duma. Additionally, Adele aided Georg I with his Aulic Court Reforms, and the last thing she published before her passing was the 1913 Edict of Staalgrav that transformed the Judicial system and altered the Office of the High Justiciar to become the Chief Jovenaar - most senior of the Jovenaars of the Aulic Court.
Soon after finalising the publication of the Edict of Staalgrav, Adele passed while still in Office.
Character and personality
Adele was known for being a shrewd and often ill-tempered woman, especially in her later years, who harbored an hatred for the Royal Duma due to the many irritations it caused - particularly in relation to the common Haeseni sentiment of warmongering. Despite her temper, Adele was known as a peacekeeper - frequently cited as the only nie in the room when discussions of prospective war were on the Duma floor. Adele enjoyed spending time among her female friends - especially as a young woman - but was no stranger to having male friends also. She famously adopted the young poet, Borris Kortrevich, as a brother-figure and doted on him, and her relationship with her to-be husband, Matyas Isaak, developed out of friendship first and foremost. Particularly after taking the role of Lady Justiciar, Adele was rarely sighted without a clerk or Otistadtian servant to her flank to carry her many papers and books through Karosgrad or to Ricksburg in the frozen tundra. She was hardworking, however she was prone to bouts of her childhood illness returning that frequently left her bedridden for several months at a time. Additionally, Adele was well-known to harbour grudges against those who offended or slighted her, and it was said to be incredibly difficult to earn her trust back after having broken it. This was most evident in her long-lasting hatred of Angelika Irena, the Ruthern-born woman that was the centre of the pre-wedding rift between Adele and Matyas. Many years after the incident, the two women supposedly spoke to one another preceding Angelika's walk of penance through the streets, however Adele still remained flighty and unhappy towards her.
Titles, Styles and Honors
Titles and Styles
- 1850 - 1866: Her Ladyship, Adele Emma Ludovar
- 1866 - 1873: Her Ladyship, Baroness of Juliksburg, Heiress of House Ludovar
- 1873 - 1901: The Right Honourable Countess of Otistadt
- 1886 - 1913: Her Excellency, Lady Justiciar of Hanseti-Ruska
- 1913 - 1913: Her Excellency, Chief Jovenaar of Hanseti-Ruska
Full titles
The Right Honourable Adele Emma of the House of Ludovar, Countess of Otistadt, Viscountess of Sezwesk, Baroness of Juliksburg, Lady of Ricksburg.
Her Excellency Adele Emma of the House of Ludovar, Lady Justiciar of Hanseti-Ruska
Her Excellency, Adele Emma Ludovar, Lady Justiciar of Hanseti-Ruska, Countess of Otistadt, Viscountess of Sezwesk, Baroness of Juliksburg, Lady of Ricksburg, Lady Handler of Hanseti-Ruska, Kastellan of Domestic Trade, Kastellan of Labour
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Marriage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emma Henrietta Ludovar | 1874 | 1925 | Samuel Vuiller of Aquilae | Firstborn daughter of Adele and Matyas |
| Tatyana Amelya Ludovar | 1876 | Dead | Wed | Second-born daughter of Adele and Matyas |
| Valeriya Adelaide Ludovar | 1878 | Alive | Unwed | Third-born daughter of Adele and Matyas |
| Rickard Nikolai Ludovar | 1879 | Alive | Wed | Firstborn son of Adele |
