Irene of Metterden
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Irena Ceciliya Sarkozic neé Ruthovic (Common: Irene Cecilia Sarkozy neé Ruthern) was the ninth Speaker and the second woman to ascend to the position of Lady Speaker under the Aulic Council of the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska. With her prior renowned betrothal at age eleven to the Emperor John VIII, marriage to the Archancellor of Oren, Franz Sarkozy, while in office, and her subsequent death after her planning and enacting of an attempted assassination plot against her grandnephew King Heinrik II known as the Wives' Plot of 1814, Lady Irena is notoriously known for her controversy across humanity while a stateswoman, scholar, and noblewoman.
Contents
Biography
Early Youth
Life at Imperial Court
Return to the Kingdom of Haense
As Lady Speaker of the Royal Duma
Lady Irena became the Lady Speaker in 1797 by declaration of her nephew, King Josef I, after the office had been unoccupied for a numerity of years following the firing of Sir Osvald Barclay. Before her ascension to the position, Lady Irena served under Sir Osvald Barclay as the unofficial pro tempore of the Royal Duma and a duma clerk. She was nominated by the Royal Duma alongside two other candidates; that being, Mister Lukas Rakoczy and her nephew, Lord Maric Ruthern. Her support from the House of Barclay led to her approval from the majority, seeing as she was previously employed under Sir Osvald. Lord Maric (later the Lord Palatine of Hanseti-Ruska), however, would be first offered the position. He declined after facing troubles of bias, and duelling one of the lords after disagreeing with a controversial bill presented by the representative of House Ruthern. The office fell onto the shoulders of Lady Irena, who accepted the position and ascended to it officially in 350.
Lady Irena was often referred to as “more Orenian than Haeseni” for her lack of time spent in the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska. In her youth, she was raised by a Pertinaxi princess by the name of Tiberia in Kaedrin, and later sent off by her sister, Queen Viktoria, to the imperial court at the Novellen Palace and was betrothed to be the future empress to John VIII. The betrothal fell through as she ran away months before the wedding was set to take place. These factors, once taken note of, were the major reasons of uneasiness amongst several duma members who did not want to see her as Lady Speaker.
She adamantly voiced her opinions for the rights of the nobility, frequently arguing for the betterment of their position in the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska with her nephew– claiming that the nobility had lost their sense of “prestige” and that needed to be restored. She sought competence, meeting with individual members of the peerage and elected officials, ensuring that they had not simply been slacking off as had been seen for many years in the troubles of leadership in the duma (after Sir Osvald’s removal from office).
To promote further civilian participation and to, as frequently said by her, “bring the duma to one voice”, Lady Irena reformed the duma with approval from Josef I after much deliberation to get the reformations through. Throughout the process of the reforms to allow for there to be three aldermen, four tribunes, and a maer seat, the Lord Palatine Sir Konstantin Wick was her greatest ally, and her fianceé, Mister Jericho ben Tertulian. The duma was no longer on a cohort-based system for the nobility, which ultimately led to a far greater voice for the nobles of Hanseti-Ruska as she had planned.
Lady Irena lost a great deal of support after her controversial unsuspected marriage to the Archchancellor of Oren, Franz de Sarkozy. She had been set to marry Mister Jericho, the Royal Envoy, until their sudden halt in courtship and her marriage to the Orenian statesman. Many considered the integrity of the position at stake, yet she continued on in her position in spite of her audacious marriage. Seeing the new king soon to be crowned, her great nephew King Heinrik II, Lady Irena stepped down from her position in the name of her successor, in order for him to experience the Speaker’s integral role in the coronation of a Haeseni King (as she had seen many, ever since the marriage of her sister to Sigismund II).
Titles, Styles, and Honors
Titles and Styles
- 1754-1779 Lady Irena Ceciliya Ruthern
- 1797-1809 Her Excellency the Lady Speaker of the Royal Duma
- 1809-1814 Lady Irene, Mrs. Franz de Sarkozy
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Marriage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mr. Victor Hughes de Sarkozy | 6th of the Deep Cold, 1804 | Alive | Unwed | Firstborn son of Mr. Franz de Sarkozy and Lady Irena Ruthern. |
| Ms. Adeline Valera de Sarkozy | 21st of Sun's Smile, 1806 | Alive | Unwed | Firstborn daughter of Mr. Franz de Sarkozy and Lady Irena Ruthern.
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