Prince Charles of Alstion

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Charles Elliot Horen
charles-elliot.jpg
Prince of Alstion
Predecessor: Peter II
Successor: Amelia Philippa
Born: 22th of The First Seed, 1633
Adelburg, Oren
Death: 7th of The Amber Cold, 1721
Aeldin
(aged: 88)
Spouse: Aloisia Seia
(m. 1651; div. 1680)
Issue: Prince Alexander
Princess Amelia Philippa
Thomas Frederick
House: Horen
Father: Peter II
Mother: Elizabeth, Duchess of Alba

Charles Elliot (High Imperial: Carolus Ellios) called the Sly, of the House of Horen, was the last born son of Peter II, from whom he inherited the hereditary Johannian title, the Prince of Alstion. His accession to the princely title came following the Coup of Adelburg and the formation of the Crown of Renatus-Marna, as the Horenic dynasty found a new patriarch in the Emperor Aurelius. Charles was the Archchancellor to Renatus-Marna, a statesman, and a military commander.

Charles' adulthood and ascension to power came amidst continental turbulence as the successor states to the Holy Orenian Empire fought for political dominance amongst themselves. Recognised widely as the preeminent diplomat of his time, Charles eventually came into the role of Archchancellor for Renatus-Marna, wherein he is credited with bringing victories militarily and diplomatically by many of his contemporary scholars.

The highest political position Charles attained was Archchancellor, the King Aurelius' chief advisor. In that position, he enjoyed great freedom and was often depicted as the alter rex (other king). After stumbling politically during the elvish-orc conflicts and forging the King's signature in a settlement that would have seen the Kingdom joining the elvish combatants, Charles fell out of favour and resigned from his government titles. He retreated from public life and is widely rumoured to have turned down an offer to return to his former position. After a period of self-isolation, he set off for the Aeldinic Empire - where his progenitor John I had hailed from over a century and a half before.

Biography

Early life

Charles Elliot was born in 1633, as the last child of Peter II of the Holy Orenian Empire and his wife Elizabeth. Not much is recorded about Charles' upbringing, but widespread traditions identify his early life to have been spent in the care of his father after his return from exile until his suicide when Charles was only four. From thereon, not a great deal is known about his life, until he was taken into the household of King Frederick of Marna and groomed for military service with the Reiter Corps.

Charles' rise coincided with the merging of the Kingdoms of Renatus and Marna after the abdication of Frederick in 1651. The unified state of Renatus-Marna held roughly a quarter of the continent only a few months after its birth. The new King Aurelius appointed Charles to the Arch-Chancellery very soon after his coronation 1651, a position he is said to have grown into very quickly.

Rise to prominence

The banner of Renatus-Marna as a unified state in 1651.

Charles arrived at the Renatian court soon after its establishment as a dual state, and seems almost at once to have impressed the king with his martial abilities and attention to detail. By the summer of 1651 he was issuing writs and letters directly under the king's command. Not yet past the age of twenty, he was already advising King Aurelius in affairs international and domestic.

Charles is said to have had the gift of affability as well as of efficiency, and was boundlessly resourceful; he did what the king wanted, and did it quickly. The king's opinions were his own. Charles was generations younger than the old noblemen who sat on the council, and was said by a contemporary scholar to have been:

The most earnest and readiest in all the privy council to advance the king's will and pleasure, having no respect to the case... A man who rose at four in the morning, and could work for twelve hours at a stretch without intermission.

He is said to have become an instrument of the king's will, and no more forcefully than in the prosecution of Aurelius' expansive ambitions against his neighbouring Kingdoms. Proving himself as a renowned statesman, Charles left the Atlas Coalition Wars as the leading minister of the realm. He dominated the council of the king and it is said that all dispatches to local nobles or to ambassadors, now passed through his hands. No high position could be filled without his own intervention. No policy could be formulated or promulgated without his active engagement. The preeminence of Charles came as a surprise to many sceptics, who believed that the line of Johann would never hold great influence again.

Foreign Policy

War with Haense

The conflict against Haense and the Czena Confederation between 1653-1656 was arguably the most significant opportunity for Charles to demonstrate his competency in foreign policy.

Issue

Charles Horen married Aloisia-Seia Horen, to which he had three sons and one daughters with. Charles also had one bastard son, by way of Livia Vladov, William Jrent, as well as a bastard daughter, Anne Louise, by way of Yanalia Kavietsby.

Name Birth Death Marriage Notes
Alexander, Duke of Furnestock 18th of the Amber Cold, 1655 Missing Analiese Barbanov Lord Privy-Seal to Aurelius I, Emperor of Man, and Augustus I, Emperor of Man; father to Emperor Alexander Stephen.
Amelia, Princess of Alstion 2nd of the Sun's Smile, 1674 Alive Prince Cassius Horen; Kaiser Helane Lady Privy-Seal to Augustus I, Emperor of Man, and Antonius I, Emperor of Man
Thomas Elliot, Count of Enswerp 4th of The Grand Harvest, 1680 Alive Unwed N/A
Jamie, Count of Thesmer 10th Malin's Welcome, 1690 Missing Unwed N/A
William, Prince of Aanen 18th of The First Seed, 1700 Alive Nicoletta Sofia Varoche Lord Privy-Seal to Godfrey II, Holy Orenian Emperor and Alexander II, Holy Orenian Emperor.
Elias of Carrow 4th of Sigismund's End, 1708 Alive Unwed Lowborn son of Charles and Livia Vladov.
Anne of Aldenburg 7th of Snow's Maiden, 1709 Alive Prince Otto of Haense Princess Otto Barbanov.