Anne I, Holy Orenian Empress

From Lord of the Craft
Jump to: navigation, search
circle info req sam.png This page contains information about a character that has been or is still played by a member of the LotC community. Please keep this in mind as you proceed reading.
Anne I
Princess Imperial
anne screenshot.png
The appearance of Empress Anne, age 60 (art by Mohamed Saad).
Holy Orenian Empress
Reign: 14th of Sun’s Smile, 1784 - 20th of Horen's Calling, 1800.
Coronation: 12th of Godfrey’s Triumph, 1785
Predecessor: Peter III
Successor: Joseph II
Co-Monarch: Joseph II
Archchancellor: Jonah Stahl-Elendil
Born: 12th of Owyn’s Flame, 1735, Helena, Renatus, Holy Orenian Empire
Died: 20th of Horen's Calling, 1800, Providence, Holy Orenian Empire
Spouse: Joseph II, Holy Orenian Emperor
House: Helane
Father: Peter III
Mother: Lorena of Augustin

Anne I (12th of Owyn’s Flame, 1735 – 20th of Horen's Calling, 1800) was the firstborn child and daughter of Emperor Peter III and his wife, Lorena of Augustin. Subsequently, she was the heir presumptive of the Holy Orenian Empire due to her lack of brothers. She also was Princess Imperial as the elder between her and her sister, Princess Lorena Antonia; the title she inherited upon her birth. In the year 1784, she inherited the title of Holy Orenian Empress after her father's death, being the first empress-regnant in Orenian history. Her husband, Joseph, would be her co-ruler.

Early Life

Anne Augusta Helane, born at the Palace of Novellen in New Helena on the 12th of Owyn’s Flame, 1735, was the eldest of two daughters of the crown-prince Antony Helane of the Empire of Man and his wife Lorena Christina Cascadia, the last Cascadian claimant to the Holy Orenian Empire. She was a plain girl born a model of the classical Horen trait of grey eyes with hair that shone a unique red hue. She was also afflicted with severe hemophilia. Her birth came two years prior to her father's ascension to the imperial throne as Holy Orenian Emperor Peter III. Anne's maternal uncles were both Godfrey II and John VII who both ruled over the Holy Orenian Empire consecutively from 1721-1724 and then from 1724-1725; her paternal grandfather, Antonius I, ruled over the Empire of Man from 1706-1714 until his regency council declared him in absentia.

The Ruby of Oren, by Diane Tiber. Art by Sir Thomas Lawrence.

Immediately upon her birth, Anne was betrothed to the Duke of Helena (later Adria), Joseph Clement de Sarkozy, son of the then-Lord Protector, Adrian de Sarkozy, of Oren. This match was a product of the Lord Protector's plans to install his son as emperor with the great heiress, Anne, as his marriage claim. However, upon Adrian's sudden death to illness, it was Anne's father that was instead elevated to emperor, and thus was Anne's entire life changed like the flicker of a switch: the virtue of her birth as the firstborn daughter of a son-less marriage made her the defacto heir-presumptive to the Holy Orenian Empire, her betrothed being expected to someday ascend beside her as a co-monarch. However, she would never be officially titled as 'crown princess' in the expectation that her mother would bear a son, only going by the title of Princess Imperial.

Her position as the heir-presumptive made her education a matter of great import to the court of Novellen, and she was placed under the tutorship of her father's archchancellor, Simon Basrid. Her relationship with the Basrid is one that she would frequently cite as bearing an intense influence over her later persona and rulership. He'd enlightened her to the convoluted history of the empire, resulting in her fascination with renewing stability, orenian nationalism and the 'ruby of man', a symbol for a new Oren which she would heed as her personal brand for the rest of her life. Red ruby became the color to which Anne's rulership and character is forever associated with, as she donned no other color other than a mourning black and a marriage white throughout her 65 years of life. It's also theorized she wore the color to prevent blood stains if ever her hemophilia placed her life in danger.

Other teachings of Simon that vastly influenced the young Anne were the tapestry of man and the stigmatized 'pure' bloodline of Pertinax from which she hailed on both parents' sides. Similar to her mother, Anne was self-anathematized by nightmares tied to her pertinaxi blood, another motivator for her to later distinguish herself from the conventional culture of Horen monarchs.

A portrait done in expectation of Anne's celebrated marriage to the Duke of Adria in 1753. It was a rare occassion in which Anne did not wear a full outfit of red. Art by Franz Xaver Winterhalter.

Marriage

Anne and Joseph were married in the Basilica of Final Revelation in Helena by High Pontiff James II on the 15th of Sun's Smile 1753. Following the ceremony, the now Duke and Duchess of Adria alongside attendees traversed to Selm to celebrate the newly weds. Among the celebrations was a grand party, a joust as well as a tournament. Their marriage marked the union of the House of Helane and Joseph's line of House de Sarkozy as the Imperial House of Novellen, named for the palace of Helena, a name which they and their children bore from that moment forth.

Two years after the marriage between herself and Joseph, the Princess Imperial conceived a child. In the year 1755, the child - Elizabeth Anne - was born. Anne later gave birth to five more children, four sons and one daughter, one of which being John Charles the future heir to the Holy Orenian Empire, as well as Philip Augustus, the father to the continued dynasty of Novellen as emperors after John Charles' failure to produce legitimate progeny.

Reign as Holy Orenian Empress; 1784-1800

After a long battle with cancer, Anne's father, Peter III, succumbed to death. On the 12th of Godfrey’s Triumph, 1785, Anne and Joseph were coronated as Holy Orenian Empress and Emperor, serving as co-monarchs. Anne and Joseph, aged 50 and 54, had been training for succession their entire lives, and quickly assumed their positions with poise. However, Joseph would fall ill promptly after the coronation, leaving Anne to rule singularly despite their regal partnership. Anne's manner of rulership would become synonymous with Orenian rulers from that day forward, as she approached monarchy with the idea that the monarch belongs to the state and its people and thus should act in service to both in all their undertakings, instead of being an autonomous being with self-serving interests. This meant that, throughout her life, Anne's public character revolved around the state of Oren and never around herself, although that unique lack of individuality would ironically later distinguish her as the Empress Anne and not just as another monarch or even as the first regnant female of Oren.

Edict of Separation

The first and perhaps most impactful act Anne passed as empress was the Edict of Separation[1]- signed the 11th of Harren’s Folley, 1786 -which examined the dissatisfaction evident across the vassalized Haeseni realm with their continued disliberty. The result of the edict was the independence of the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska from subjugation under an empire after nearly a century of near-static vassalage. The people of both Haense and Oren rejoiced at the easing of decades of tension, although tensions would not be immediately expelled as a result of startling cultural differences.

The Inferi War

The Inferi War was a global conflict on Arcas that "began with demonic forces from another world landing near the southern coast of The Korvassan peninsula," (see Inferi War). Anne's rulership began a few years into the war and thus she'd already been a key part of battles and fighting as a soldier herself. Once crowned, she refused to cease her service only for the sake of her safety, seeing her duty as to only Oren and not herself. Despite victory being declared in 1792, the tumult of the final siege had destroyed the city of New Helena, during which Anne was struck with falling debris and had to be pulled out by her second-youngest son, Peter Maximilian. The destruction of the city coincided with the transition into the Realm of Almaris just 4 years later in 1796.

Death and Legacy

A posthumous painting of Anne overlooking Henry's Wharf. Art by Eduard Friedrich Leybold.

Empress Anne's deterioration began via a sudden uptake of cancer near her 60th year. Her disease was kept tight-lipped from the public, with many believing the empress to be in excellent health due to the frequency of her appearances in Providence. However, the truth behind this was that she wished to become more intimate with the city her people- under her care -had erected before she succumbed to an inevitable demise. She died of breast cancer at the dawn of her 65th year, on the 20th of Horen's calling, 1800 (SA 4). The announcement of it came with bewilderment and shock from the people, who all grieved for the end of their first empress regnant. Her funeral was a grand affair, and she was buried alongside her illustrious father in the imperial crypt.

See: Anne [[2]]

As the first female monarch in over a century and more, Anne established a precedent for female empowerment in Oren, with her daughter becoming the first female member of the House of Lords and her granddaughter becoming a member of the emperor's cabinet. Beyond gender, she also established the custom of emperors being devoted wholly to their empire and not to their own personalities, which also seeped into the general populace as Oren developed a spirited nationalism and fervor towards their empire like never seen before. Her mother's sash, the Sash of Ophelia, was passed down to her in her middle-age and would be granted to the Northern Geographical Society's museum as an imperial artifact after her death, and her sobriquet- the ruby -would become the name by which the favoured lady of the social season would be called. Forever would the name of Anne be hailed, as many young girls would be named 'Anne' in succession to her reign.

Titles and Styles

Her Imperial Majesty, Anne I, by the grace of GOD Holy Orenian Empress, forever August, Queen of Renatus, Curon, Salvus and Seventis, Defender of the Faith,, Duchess of Adria, Novellen and Lorraine, Baroness of Renzfeld, Protector of the Heartlanders, Highlanders and Farfolk, etcetera

Issue

Name Birth Death Marriage Notes
Princess Elizabeth, Princess Imperial 1755 Alive Iskander Basrid, 2nd Count of Susa Firstborn child of Joseph and Anne. Imperial Princess of the Holy Orenian Empire, as well as the 1st Countess of Rosemoor. Married the Count of Susa.
John VIII, Holy Orenian Emperor 1757 Alive Wilhelmina of Cathalon (divorced) Secondborn child of Joseph and Anne. Imperial Prince of the Holy Orenian Empire, as well as the 2nd Duke of Helena. Heir-apparent to the Holy Orenian Empire.
Prince Philip, Duke of Crestfall 1759 Alive Judith of Rochefort Thirdborn child of Joseph and Anne. Imperial Prince of the Holy Orenian Empire, as well as the 1st Duke of Crestfall. Married Judith Helvets.
Princess Juliette of Oren 1760 1792 Unwed Fourthborn child of Joseph and Anne. Imperial Princess of the Holy Orenian Empire.
Prince Peter, Count of Kaphro 1762 Alive Safiye Basrid (divorced)
Sophia of Sunholdt (d. 1793)
Fifthborn child of Joseph and Anne. Imperial Prince of the Holy Orenian Empire, as well as the 1st Count of Kaphro. Married and later divorced Lady Safiye Basrid.
Prince Joseph, Count of Aldersburg 1765 Alive Henrietta Pruvia Sixthborn child of Joseph and Anne. Imperial Prince of the Holy Orenian Empire, as well as the 1st Count of Aldersburg. Married Henrietta Pruvia