Sources
Poul Anderson, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows IN Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Knight Of Terra (Riverdale, NY, 2012), pp. 339-606, I, p. 350; III, pp. 379-380.
Poul Anderson, The Game Of Empire IN Anderson, Flandry's Legacy (Riverdale, NY, 2012), pp. 189-453, CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE, pp. 439-440.
Josip III died, childless, after a corrupt reign;
his only potential heirs were a few idiots with no following;
the Policy Board split on accepting a successor;
Admiral Hans Molitor's personnel proclaimed him Emperor;
Molitor seized power but, over a year later, still had to fight three avowed rivals;
every rival claimant was a potential disaster;
Duke Alfred of Varrak, governor of the Taurian Sector, kidnapped Hans' granddaughter while trying to detach his sector from the Empire and hand it to the Merseians;
Flandry supported Hans and foiled Alfred;
Hans, the ablest of the contending war lords, always had the most powerful forces behind him and was accepted as a strong man able to impose peace.
"The Warriors from Nowhere," about Alfred, Princess Megan etc, written and published over twenty years previously, was retconned into the Imperial civil war.
13 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, I recall how Olaf Magnusson called Josip's Wang heirs "idiots" in Chapter 21 of THE GAME OF EMPIRE (which might or might not have been a just assessment of them). But I would have liked to have known more about them and their fates.
"Warriors From Nowhere," is an interesting example of how Anderson revised and retconned an earlier story of his to make it fit better into how the Technic History developed. I have a first edition copy of AGENT OF THE TERRAN EMPIRE so I'll be able to read both the first version and the Gregg Press revision.
Sean
Though the Empire has cloning technology, and surrogacy is easy... why should an emperor die childless?
Dear Mr. Stirling,
Now those are interesting points you raised! Why didn't I think of them???
But in Josip's case I think the answer is obvious: he was a homosexual with no interest in having children, no matter that it was his DUTY to provide for the succession (see Chapter II of THE REBEL WORLDS, where Admiral Kheraskov said Josip would not have children precisely because of sexual tastes). Which means he was also irresponsible as well having no interest in women.
Last, since we know there were other members of the Wang Imperial family in the line of succession, I can see Josip thinking that was enough as far as the succession went. And I would disagree with him about that, because it was the Emperor's duty to make the succession as solid and legitimate as possible.
Sean
In fact, if you were establishing a hereditary monarchy in a high-tech society, cloning would be the way to avoid the 'genetic lottery' aspect.
A clone isn't the original -- it's an identical twin, but newborn -- but genetics do affect personality and ability strongly. Hence the way identical twins tend to have similar careers and interests even if raised separately.
If you then ensured that the clone's upbringing was roughly similar -- the same sort of education, for starters, and as close as you could get to the original's home environment -- you'd get an individual who was fairly similar to the original.
Not identical, but at least you'd be assured they'd be smart and forceful. That would give you much more continuity in government.
Yes, I remembered that Josip was gay, but with advanced medical technology he wouldn't have to be directly involved. (And many gay people do want children; I know some personally.)
Dear Mr. Stirling,
Now that was interesting, how some monarchies might use to assure dynastic continuity. And we see Edwin Cairncross, apparently unable to have children the mormal way, thinking in A STONE IN HEAVEN that he would get himself a cloned twin.
I can see advantages in such a setup, a tough, smart, competent ruler thinking a clone of himself, raised more or less much as he was, might well be as competent as himself.
True, what you said about advanced medical/cloning technology. But I think Josip was an exception, not like the homosexuals you mentioned. Also, since he was described, to be kind, as not being very intelligent, he might not have THOUGHT of using cloning technology.
And I think law and custom would have to adjust to the presence of cloned persons, once we start seeing them, as I think will eventually happen. That is, a monarchy will have to formally legislate that the cloned twin of a sovereign would be considered legally his legitimate son, if he was to be the heir.
Sean
Kaor, Sean!
Even if Josip didn't have much upstairs, some advisor might have suggested cloning; presumably, either that didn't happen, or Josip rejected the suggestion. I can picture one member of the Policy Board whispering to another, "Cloning? Do you really want another Emperor like him? Be reasonable, the heir presumptive, his cousin Corwin, may not be a sage or hero, but he should make a tolerable figurehead, and even do a little good."
Alternatively, Josip may have made it clear that he didn't want to hear any twaddle about being cloned, perhaps because he didn't want to be reminded of his mortality. Or again, the law of succession may have firmly banned a clone from inheriting, because Poul Anderson didn't think about cloning when he started -- I mean, because Manuel the Wise had believed that the Empire needed flexibility, and that meant assuring at different emperors would have different personalities and ways of reacting.
Best Regards,
Nicolas D. Rosen
That's another ghastly cover, too.
Kaor, Nicholas!
I loved your comments! Thanks for giving them to us!
I think either possibility in your first paragraph were very likely to be true. With one member of the Policy Board dissuading another from suggesting to His Majesty that he be cloned. Yes, I think Josip's heir presumptive would probably have made a tolerable Emperor. He was probably an elderly cousin about the same age as the Emperor.
I think the first possibility to be more likely than the second in your second paragraph. I CAN see Manuel the Great (not the Wise and second of that name) formulating the law of succession to allow for cloning, for serious reasons. But, yes, allowing for Emperors having personalities and ways of thing WOULD make for greater flexibility, long term.
And Poul Anderson DID know of cloning, at least the principle, tho not the word, at least as early as Chapter 12 of ENSIGN FLANDRY (the section about Dwyr the Hook's war wounds).
Regards! Sean
Dear Mr. Stirling,
I deleted my previous comment from exasperation at using an incorrect word. I was writing about how I utterly loathe and abominate the COVER (not "title") some enemy of PA chose for SIR DOMINIC FLANDRY at Baen Books. Gggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrr!!!
Sean
Kaor, Nicholas!
I wanted to clarify one or two of the points I made in my reply to your fascinating comments.
I think it was more likely Manuel the Great, not Manuel the Wise, who formulated the Empire's laws of succession to the throne. Because, as the Founder of the Empire, Manuel I would have had a unique status and authority in crafting the basic laws of the new Empire and in making PRECEDENTS later Emperors would feel bound to follow.
Sean
Kaor, Nicholas!
Another thought I had was to think that the way these members of the Policy Board you speculated about behaved would be precisely how some of them did think and act. That is, I can imagine, early in Josip's reign, a Lord Advisor suggesting to a colleague that the Board recommend to His Majesty that he be cloned, in order to have a crown prince. And then this colleague made the very reasonable points and objections you raised against that idea.
Sean
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