Every planet a fief?

[ld80062]

Minor strategies

There are numerous minor strategies, used in ruling a vast number of nobles who are extremely wealthy and powerful: ie, rule worldwide fiefs.

In general, these tactics are perfectly usable in the OTU. They are just 'biggie-sized' and tailored to handle a bunch of dominance-hungry individuals, instead of balancing corporations and system populations.

* Help the People

The Emperor continually spends a ton of money on "bread and circuses." Well, not bread: the Imperium is incapable of building a stable, Imperium-wide socialist network. (Early Sector- and Subsector-wide experiments ended in tears within a century, IMTU).

But it is certainly possible to spend money on entertainment and various festivals. The Emperor sets the pace with the Imperial Games, held once every decade. [I *believe* this is actually canon!]

IMTU, the Emperor also spends a LOT of money on ceebrating the Imperial New Year and the Emperor's Birthday. Various lesser festivals - like Navy Day - also consume a chunk of his money (and, more importantly, his time.) A large wad of cash goes into cultural festivals, generous gifts to impoverished (but highly loyal) Imperial subjects, donations to important interstellar religions, funding conferences for various scientific guilds and organizations, relief for Imperial military veterans (above and beyond the offical Imperial health package), and on and on and ON.

And - vastly more important than the cast outflow - is the amount of time devoured by all these ribbon-cutting ceremonies. Nobles who are busy kissing babies can't spend the time scheming how to replace the local capital ship captains (who are all nobles or knights in their own right) with political allies....

The nobility are under extremely strong social pressure to spend a good chunk of their wealth and time every year on "society". On some worlds, Noble houses have been deposed and exiled for failing to "share the wealth" often enough.

* Serious capital investment

The Imperium encourages her noblity to spend a lot of capital on long-term projects, usually terraforming and tech uplift for their worlds. There are great rewards for this, as the noble who funds these endeavors are allowed to keep the glorious profits (excluding the usual Imperial tax, naturally.) However, money tied up in colonizing the asteroid belt cannot be used to hire "the baddest mercenaries in 20 parsecs."

* Prestige

"Keeping up with House Smith" is a major part of many Noble's lifestyle. Giving the most costly and elegant gifts, having each estate redecorated by the local Michelangelo, having your own 10 sq km. terraformed "Garden" on an asteroid, setting up a private space station at the edge of the local solar system, having your children run "the Grand Imperial Tour" to all the sector capitals (and Sylea, of course!), etc, etc, etc...

* War

Also a major source of Noble prestige is warfare. Due to strong Imperial patronage (IMTU), a lot of this warfare is in the form of bloody 'games': gladiator contests, gunpower-free fights (from sword duels to armies with short swords and catapults), Mechwarrior contests, Zero-G spikedancing, etc.

Despite these substitutes, there are still real wars fought within the Imperium. The Emperor tries to restrict warfare to limit wealth destruction. However, so long as Imperial rule and facilites are not threatened, real restructions on war is left for the subsector Duke to enforce.

* Decadence

In IMTU, Imperial authority unoffically discourages overmuch spending on sensual pleasures: a few high-class, purpose-bred prostitutes should be enough for anyone. However, SOME Nobles (who shall remain nameless, but can rank as high as an Imperial Prince) just don't know when to say 'enough'. Such individuals are encouraged to keep their activities on their own worlds, under wraps so the Imperium as a whole is not shamed by the actions of a few insanely wealthy individuals.

*****************************

Summary:

In a "worldwide fief" environment, the centre of wealth shifts from the megacorps to individual noble houses: military power also undergoes a major shift, from planetary governments and megacorps to noble houses.

(Regarding megacorps: because the Noble shareholders dominate and run the megacorps, instead of non-noble corporate officers, megacoroprations are better understood not as non-governmental businesses, but as alliances of noble-run businesses and interests. They are more fragile, as the megacorp is as fragmented and feudal as the Imperium itself, instead of being a conformist whole under a single corporate identity.)

Now, this has a variety of effects. Imperial stability is weakened to the extent that megacorp culture is broken, replaced by the culture of various noble houses. Imperial AUTHORITY is greatly strengthened, as the restraing forces of sovereign planetary governments no longer exist. The Imperium no longer governs just "the space between the stars", but directly governs the worlds as well.

All armies and all navies are under the rule of Imperial nobles, without exception.

While megacorp culture is largely gone, Vilani, Sylean, and Solomani culture remains unchanged. Networks of allied noble houses will create their own distinct culture, and fill in the vacumm left behind. (The largest and most influencial networks will be Vilani, of course.)

People matter than systems or organizations. Patronage takes on larger-than-life importance, when a single man's will can shift awesome amounts of money and manpower.

There will be greater highs and deeper lows among Imperial worlds. A single Noble genius can gain lasting fame: a single Noble fool can cause lasting devastation. The differing lifespans and cultures of Vilani nobles (200 - 300 years) and Solomani nobles (70 - 120 years) will have huge consequences over time. The values of a Noble house will tend to be imprinted on the worlds they govern.

As the Imperium is more fragmented, there is less likelihood of a widespread rebellion. On the other hand, small-scale rebels can go on and on and on, for centuries. The overall Imperial environment will be more chaotic. However, very few problems will be able to grow past the Subsector level: it is possible that even the (First) Ilelish Rebellion would be basically impossible in this senario.

Because Hostile (and possibly even AntiImperial nobles!) will have a stronger hold on power here, the reliability of Imperial forces will be more in question. The borders of the Imperium are likely to be broader: for example, with the will of the Emperor more easily thwarted, it's likely that the Solomani would have never left the Imperium. On the other hand, this bigger Imperium will have more fuzzier borders, and more spotty loyalty within the borders (such as they are.)

 

[aramis]

Interesting side note: In The Traveller Book, it states that the various noble families exist, and may have fiefs on various worlds, but that Imperial Government begins at the subsector level; The Duke of the SS is chosen from the noble families in the sector by higher authority. (TTB, 148.)

I found this to be interesting, and thought I'd share.

 

[parmasson]

Couldn’t a fief be something besides land?

10,000 shares of a megacorp that you can’t sell except as a block. Considering the age of the megacorporations are old and may have loads of fiefs and privileges that can be useful patronage tools.

 

[aramis]

I have used that IMTU, KG. A lot. I've also used commercial buildings, moonlets, space stations, and even large ships as fiefs.

 

[Peter Newman]

"I have used that IMTU, KG. A lot. I've also used commercial buildings, moonlets, space stations, and even large ships as fiefs. -aramis"

Another important consideration [1] of a holding is 'Location, Location, Location' as they say in the real estate business. A fief consisting of a ten or twenty displacement ton suite, located within the Imperial Palace itself, is probably going to give more prestige/power than a fief consisting of a whole continent on some obscure planet. With the fief in the palace you're, literally, neighbors with the Emperor. With continent X is anyone really going to care? After all there are tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of continents. unless this one makes you rich or powerful because of whats on it, the Imperial Palace Condo is better.

[1] And one that Aramis has used in campaigns of his I've played in.

 

[aramis]

And that's not always a good thing, to be neighbors with the emperor.... especially IMTU....

 

[Peter Newman]

"And that's not always a good thing, to be neighbors with the emperor.... especially IMTU...."

I think of it as being somewhat like being in the court of Louis XIV at Versailles, except that Strephon has tens of _millions_ of times as much power as Louis Fourteen ever did (population in low trillions instead of low millions, much higher average Tech levels and productivity).

Nobles compete for access to the Emperor. How he responds to this depends on his nature. If the Emperor and the Noble are both 'good' than the noble doesn't bother the Emperor unless it is important or he wants to get the power to do good and important things. The nobles are already rich and powerful, but if they can just get to be, say, the Head of The Imperial Bath, than they'll have more access.

I'm not so sure that being the Emperors neighbor is necessarily a bad thing, you can, barring a full scale civil war, be pretty sure that you won't get any annoying door to door salesmen with battledress on....

 

[RainOfSteel]

Originally posted by Black Globe Generator:
In your Traveller universe's Imperium, is every planet a noble fief? Does every system owe fealty to a noble lord at some level of the peerage? Are there "free worlds" that owe no obligation except to the Emperor?

All IMTU:

No, sort of, no.

1) Not every world is a fief, but every mainworld is. Non-mainworlds without an appointed Baron have their Imperial interests administered by the mainworld's Margrave.

2) I wouldn't say that worlds owe fealty. Worlds IMTU don't owe feudal fealty, they are under the control of Limited Member World Autonomy, and their governments are independent as long as they obey a minimum law level and pay their taxes. Imperial interests are represented and administered by the Margrave (for mainworlds) and Barons (for non-mainworlds with one appointed). It is the nobles that owe feudal fealty to the nobles above them and on through to the Emperor.

3) No, there are no worlds like that in my Imperium as seen in #2, but the closest thing would be the Emperor's personal reserve worlds.

 

[leadhead]

You know, there is another way of looking at this. A fief may not be 'granted' by the emperor at all.

Frank Herbert looked at Imperial Nobility in a slightly different way. The Major Houses of the Empire were interstellar entreprenuers. They built economic machines that supported their private armies, private fleets, private intelligence services and so on. The Emperor simply recognized their nobility and gave them permission to bear arms and operate within the empire without resistance from the Emperor and his loyal supporters among the other great houses.

Minor Houses were planetary entrepreuers, similar to their great house betters. They owed fealty to the local great house just as the great houses owed fealty to the Emperor.

Great Houses were represented on the Imperial Level (members of the Landsraad, in Herbert's Imperium) while the minor houses only had sub-sector level representation (called Sysselraads)

The Imperium itself rarely grants fiefs... except letters of pension to imperial bureaucrats or military officers. Occassionally, the Emperor will reward a key follower with a gift of land (purchased with Imperial funds), blocks of stock or other income producing assets and create a new noble house - typically a minor house but exceptionally a major one.

 

[Black Globe Generator]

[soapbox] I don't know about anyone else, but I love the fact that each TU is a little different from the others, that referees strive to add their own unique takes on the history and institutions of the Third Imperium.

I've really enjoyed reading the different perspectives from the refs and players on this board.

[/soapbox]

 

[parmasson]

. . .barring a full scale civil war

That could never happen.

 

[Jamus]

IMTU each world is a fiefdom controlled by one noble family or clan of noblee families.

think Dune.

 

[jatay3]

IMTU I divide into parochial rulers which can be of any kind but are often feudal. These are accredited to the member worlds. Imperial Nobles(honor, rank, and high)are accredited to the general Imperial system. However there is overlap. The same individual or dynasty can have both parochial and Imperial titles. Or a member world might have a treaty dating from it's joining the Imperium that allows former Presidents to become Imperial Nobles on leaving the Presidency. Then to there are unofficial overlaps. Some Imperial Nobles actually have more interest in the fate of a given world and vice-versa.
Under this system an Imperial Baron assigned to a world would not necessarily be a ruler. He could be like an diplomat assigned to a client-state: he would not have official authority but the local authorities would probably listen to what he has to say(the difference between member worlds and client states needs more study which I hope to do later. For start member worlds are officially part of the Imperium and every citizen of that world is theoretically a Citizen of the Imperium by right, and in client states that is not so. Under that I suppose in some circumstances the Imperium would prefer not to incorperate a client state and take on the associated obligations).
Under this only such planets would be fiefs as are fiefs. A fief would not be sellable in the way "normal" property would. To do so would be dishonorable, and in some cases illegal. However it can be transfered through tricks of inheiratance law-and sometimes someone who is clever enough can make that a de facto sale. Land is often given for the sake of Solimani tradition, but it is not in principal the only form of fief. However the fiefholder must theoretically be able to draw profit from it. It is not an "assignment", so much as a permanent pension. It's purpose is really to tie the Nobles to the Imperium. As the Imperium has the power to revoke fiefs they are effectively hostages for a Families good behavior. At the same time there has to be some assurance that fiefs will not be revoked frivolously. Otherwise they will degenerate(one of the great faults of the Ottoman Empire was that it's Pashas had no incentive to care for the places they ruled and often used their office to become bloodsuckers as their sons wouldn't inherit). The opposite disadvantage-that fiefholders would become private kings(the disadvantage of the European system of primogeniture) can be taken care of by scattering a families fiefs, by providing the Imperium with enough resources held of it's own and by balance of power between the Nobles, the Megas, and the parochial rulers(and any variants and complications therof)and by making sure it has a monopoly of certain strategic necessities. For instance the Imperial Marines besides serving as a strategic reserve serve as the Emperor's "hatchet-man". This is why there are so few nobles in the Marines(and why rumors like the Grey Masks have drifted around them). The Imperium deliberatly made a promotion system and cultivated an atmosphere unfriendly to Nobles-or at least not specifically friendly in the way the Navy is. Furthermore the open secret that it is used as a Praetorian Guard would further discourage Nobles from enlisting-nobody wants to be the hangman. There are a number of Nobles in the Marines but they are usually either honor nobles who earned the title by service; nobles with a stigma(illigetimate birth, pretender, secret marriage with commoner, you get the idea); or nobles from a warlike culture who would be attracted simply because of military reputation(Aslan, etc).
The Emperor, the Megas, the parochials, and the Imperial Nobles balance each other and it is this balance that explains why the Imperium has generally presented a good government though based on what appears to be an archaic structure. It is called feudal. However it is only the decentralizeation that resembles Solimani feudalism despite the titles-and the decentralization seldom gets out of control. It is more like Vilani "feudalism" which is dependant on a managerial class rather then a warrior-planter caste. This might be called a "Mandarinate"(a bureaucracy resting on high-caliber training), but inheirateable titles play an important part. I have always found it useful to compare the system to England, or the Republic of Venice which both had an aristocracy that was tightly bound to the state and supplied enough competant servants of the state to justify their existance. These speculations contain difficulties and what might seem to some as contradictions. A society can occasionally be built like a building but it is more likly to grow like a tree-and trees have knotty wood in them sometimes.
From all of this one can get where fiefs come from. Fiefs would not be arbitraily taken from member worlds routinely, for the Imperium depends on the members seeing as beneficial rather then threatening to it's survival. It might do such things a little bit here, a little bit there, but it only takes a little to gain a bad reputation. Therefore Fiefs if they had been seized would be spoils of conquest or foreclosures,or punishments for crime or similar things that would be accepted as not disturbing the Imperial order. The usual source would probably be purchase by the Imperium or some such legal means. While the Imperium is in one sense not bound by law, it is bound by prudence and in the tangled politics of the Imperium that comes to the same thing.
The relationship of fiefholders with the area in which their fief is held is tricky. Some types of fiefs are purely abstract and have no location. Some are abstract but have a location(a corperation that has a base on a given planet and is bound by local law to allow only residents to be major stockholders for instance). Or hunting rights on a given world. Land is concrete and so are other things. A lot will depend on the character of the fiefholder.
Some planets will have collections of fiefs on them. There could be various reasons for this. One might be that this is a source of income and they apply to the Imperial government grant fiefs there. Equally as some planets might try to profi
from the presence of Imperial Nobles, others will want as few of them there as possible.