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DispatchFactbookMiscellaneous

by The Holy Empire of Excalbia. . 1 reads.

Historical Biographies

Alvis Miller
Born: 1762
Died: 1825
Position: Imperial Chancellor
Tenure: 1809 – 1817

Alvis Miller born in the Regina colony in Laneria. A prominent who was affiliated with the a dissenting Baptist congregation, Miller agreed to sponsor a missionary and trading voyage to the Excalbian Isles. He accompanied the missionaries and helped them establish their new settlement, which they called Landing. Miller established control of the local trade routes and built alliances with the local Lowland towns and duchies. By 1801, Miller had been selected as governor of the Landing Colony. The colony was soon swept up in conflict between the Lowlanders and the Highland Kingdom. Miller helped broker a truce in 1807 that brought the Highland King, Ragarth, and his son Thorvald to Landing. While in Landing, Thorvald converted to Christianity and adopted the name Joshua. Joshua married Abigail Taylor, the daughter of a missionary, in 1808 and became king in 1809. At that point, he engineered a union between the Lowlanders and the Highland kingdom. On Christmas Day in 1809, Joshua proclaimed the Holy Empire of Excalbia, and named Miller, the former governor of Landing, his Chancellor. Miller played a central role in Emperor Joshua’s modernisation efforts by bringing scholars, architects and engineers to Excalbia from both Laneria and Europe.

His son, Lord William Miller, and grandson, Lord Richard Miller, also served as Imperial Chancellor.

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Lady Christina Freedman

Born: 1966
Position: Imperial Chancellor
Tenure: 1998 – 2005

As a student at the University of Landing, Christina Freedman, daughter of the Lord of New Henrico, was already a leader and a figure of enormous popularity. She wrote a column for the campus newspaper, hosted a radio show on the campus radio station and was the star of numerous school productions. She was elected both homecoming queen and student body president. After graduation, Freedman did briefly pursue a career as a network television reporter in Excalbia before going into politics. Her public exposure, good looks, natural magnetism and command of the issues made her a rising star in the Progressive Conservative Party. Despite her high public profile and growing reputation as a tough politician, it was considered a surprise when the newly enthroned Emperor David IV skipped over several veteran politicians in the ruling center-right coalition to name Lady Freedman Imperial Chancellor. As Chancellor, Lady Freedman won a reputation for decisive and confident leadership. She loyally implemented the Emperor's policies while taking her own initiative to shape their implementation. She was also known as "no-nonsense" leader whose temper, though rarely seen, was greatly feared and avoided. After the election of 2005, Lady Christina was named Ambassador to Pantocratoria. She eventually returned to the Senate and served as Minister of Defence before accepting the position of Minister of State. She married Niles Brougham, a well-known actor, in 2012 and retired from politics in 2018.
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Lady Jessica Tagaarth
Born: 1934
Died: 2019
Position: Imperial Chancellor
Tenure: 2005 – 2006

Lady Jessica Tagaarth was first elected to the Imperial Senate in 1963 as part of a large freshman class of Liberal Party (LP) Senators. At the time, Lady Jessica was only the eighth woman elected to the Senate. From the beginning of her senatorial career, Lady Jessica was an outspoken champion of greater rights for minorities and greater public assistance to the poor. Raised in a noble family, Lady Jessica - as was the custom of her class in those days - married young. A wife at 17 and a mother at 18, Lady Jessica spent her early twenties as a conventional aristocratic wife and hostess. An economic downturn in the late 1950s led to the failure of her husband's business and she was forced to sell some of her ancestral lands to remain solvent. This brush with economic failure seemed to awaken in Lady Jessica a concern for those in her husband's business who also lost their incomes, but who lacked the cushion of titles and lands. This led her to charitable activism and, eventually, to the Liberal Party. At the height of the Liberal Party, in 1969, it formed the Government. While considered too junior - and too feminine - to hold a ministerial portfolio, Lady Jessica did serve as the floor leader for the LP senate faction. Her success in that position led to an offer of a ministerial portfolio in 1973. She served as Minister of Education until the 1975 elections. After the elections, she served as Minister of Labour and Welfare in the resulting coalition government. Following the contentious elections of 2005, Lady Jessica was asked to form a new government as Imperial Chancellor. While she successfully organised a coalition of the Liberal Party, the Reform Party and the Christian Union. In late 2005, the Emperor suffered a severe heart attack leading to conflict between the Imperial Senate, the Imperial Household and barons over the regency and succession to the Sword. When that conflict led to plot by members of the Imperial Household to close the Senate and an equally disastrous attempt by the barons to replace the Emperor with his cousin, Lady Jessica tendered her resignation forcing the Senate into adjournment and preventing a potentially deadly confrontation between the Senate the Imperial Guard.

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Lord Davis Robb
Born: 1954
Died: 2006
Position: Imperial Chancellor
Tenure: 2006

Davis Robb joined the youth wing of the Excalbia Liberal Party (LP) while a student at the University of Landing. Graduating in 1976 with a Master of Public Administration, Robb went to work for the city administration of Valmiera. He quickly moved on positions of greater responsibility in the cities of New Boston, Southport and, finally, Landing. In 1981, Robb went to work for the Imperial Senate Governmental Affairs committee as senior minority staff assistant. He quickly gained a reputation as an effective networker and negotiator. He left the Senate in 1983 to take a senior position on the LP’s National Committee. After several years on the LPNC, Robb entered electoral politics and was elected to the Senate. He quickly rose within the ranks of the Senate’s Liberal Party faction and became a confident of LP leader Lady Jessica Tagaarth. Eventually, Robb was named the party’s Senate whip. After Lady Jessica was named Imperial Chancellor, Robb was named Minister of Defence. It was widely believed that Lady Jessica would retire in a year or two and that Robb would be named to replace her. Those expectations were dashed in early 2006 when Robb was murdered in the Imperial Senate building by the Captain of the Imperial Guards, MAJGEN Maris Jansons. Robb was posthumously bestowed a knighthood and a lordship and awarded the Excalbia Cross for Bravery. His wife, Ashley Gordon-Robb, was elected to fill his seat and the Senate and went to also serve as Imperial Chancellor.

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Lord Yornis Halton
Born: 1943
Died: 2017
Position: Imperial Chancellor
Tenure: 2006 – 2010

Lord Yornis was a career officer of the Imperial Navy, rising to the rank of Lord Admiral and serving as Chief of Imperial Naval Operations and Chief of the Imperial General Staff. In that position, Lord Yornis led the modernisation of the Imperial Navy and the introduction of the Mark V ships. In 2004, he was asked to resign his commission and accept an appointment as Minister of Defence. He was subsequently elected to the Imperial Senate and was chosen to lead a national unity government in 2006 as Imperial Chancellor.

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Sir Albert Cummings

Born: 1948
Position: Imperial Chancellor
Tenure: 2010 - 2012

Sir Albert was well known for indulging in the finer things - gourmet food, expensive cigars and fine liquor. He also had a well-earned reputation for a hot temper and a tendency to speak first and think later. Cummings was born into a large working-class family in the suburbs of Landing. Raised in a strict Baptist home, Cummings naturally gravitated to the youth wing of the Christian Union while in university. Having been raised to believe in Christian social responsibility as well as in traditional values, Cummings gradually moved from the conservative wing on the CU to its more progressive wing. He transitioned from city politics to the Imperial Senate in 1988, where he became CU's leading progressive voice. He served as Minister of Labour and Welfare, Minister of Education and Minister of Agriculture before being name Minister of State in 2003. He was named Imperial Chancellor in 2010 and served for two years.
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Sir Sterling Wentworth

Born: 1956
Position: Imperial Chancellor
Tenure: 2012 - 2014

A teacher by training, Sir Sterling became increasingly involved in the local teachers union and served several terms as the local union leader. Finally, in 1989, Wentworth left the classroom and began to work for the national union - the Excalbian National Teacher's Associate (ENTA). He was elected president of the ENTA in 1992. After serving two terms as president of the ENTA, union leaders and leaders of the Liberal Party (LP) persuaded Wentworth to run for the vacant Senate seat in his constituency. Wentworth joined the Imperial Senate in 1999. Despite his lack of seniority, Wentworth quickly became on the party's leading spokesmen on educational issues. Following the election of 2005, the LP under the leadership of Lady Jessica Tagaarth formed a majority coalition and Wentworth was named Minister of Education. He later served as Minister of Defence and Minister of State before being named Imperial Chancellor in 2012. He was knighted by the Emperor in 2013.
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Lady Ashely Gordon-Robb

Born: 1960
Position: Imperial Chancellor
Tenure: 2014 - 2018

Lady Ashley Gordon-Robb is an attorney by training and the widow of former Imperial Chancellor and Defence Minister David Robb. After her husband was killed in a failed putsch by a unit of the Imperial Guard in 2006, Lady Ashley was elected to finish out her husband’s term in the Imperial Senate. Lady Ashley quickly proved herself an astute Senator. Eventually coming to leadership of the Liberal Party just prior to its merger with the Progressive Conservative Party to create the New National Union. Lady Ashley served as Attorney General and Minister of State before being named Imperial Chancellor in 2014.
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Princess Michele
Born: 1938
Died: 2019
Married: 1960
Widowed: 2003

Princess Michele was born in 1938, the second child of Princess Mary and Dr. Michael Viesnieks, who were both well-regarded academics. Michele and her brother, David, grew up more as the children of a university lecturer and researcher than as a Prince and Princess of the Imperial House.

Michele, who was more gifted in art than academics, attended the prestigious Excalbian Design Institute in Landing, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Art in 1959. The following year, Michele married Janis Blums, the son of the Baron of Latgale. Their first child, Prince Jeremiah, was born in 1963 and their second child, Princess Hope, followed in 1968.

Michele’s husband, Baron Janis, died of lung cancer in 2003. Her son, Prince Jeremiah, became involved in a plot to supplant Emperor David IV in 2006 and fled to avoid arrest for treason. He died in a shoot-out with Confederate Police in the Confederation of Sovereign States in 2010. Michele’s grandson, Jonathan Blums, now holds the title of Baron of Latgale. Her granddaughter, Lady Jennifer Blums, is close friends with Prince James and Lord Tariq, despite family tensions caused by Prince Jeremiah’s treason.

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Sir Harrison Grasis
Born: 1946
Position: Former Speaker of the Senate
Tenure: 2005 - 2018
Affiliation: Freedom Party

Sir Harrison Grasis was first elected to the Imperial Senate in 1975, filling the constituency previously held by his father. Originally elected as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party (PC), Sir Harrison was one of a small number of young Senators who resigned from the party in 1981. Believing that the PC had become too progressive, these young Senators formed the Excalbia Freedom Party (FP). The FP is dedicated to promoting "economic freedom." Its program calls for a sharp reduction in labour and business regulation, sound fiscal policies and a large tax cut.

Sir Harrison served as the first chairman of the FP and retains that position today.
In the 1981 elections, the FP won only 12 seats. It reached its highwater mark in the election of 1993, when it won 19 seats. When the party was reduced to 16 seats in 1999, Sir Harrison and the rest of the leadership decided to give up opposition and join a coalition led by the Progressive Conservative Party. Sir Harrison was named Minister of the Treasury and has been given a great deal of control over the Holy Empire's fiscal policy.

Since 2001, however, Government spending has grown rapidly. Initially, spending was directed primarily towards the military. In the past few years, spending on social programs has also increased sharply. This eventually led Sir Harrison and the FP to leave the ruling coalition just prior to the 2005 elections.

While the FP did make gains in the 2005 election, they were not sufficient to return the party to government. However, when Lady Jessica Tagaarth was named Imperial Chancellor, Sir Harrison found himself the longest serving member of the Senate. In accordance with Senate traditions, and to the chagrin of the government and the Emperor, he was elected Speaker of the Senate. He chose not to run for re-election in 2018 and retired from politics.

Sir Harrison's first marriage ended in divorce in 1995. He remarried the former Beatrice de la Costa, who is 26 years his junior, in 1997.

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Dr. Lord Solomon Myers
Born: 1953
Position: Former Senator
Tenure: 2014 - 2018
Affiliation: New Liberal Party (NLP)

Lord Solomon Myers is descended from one of the oldest and most prominent Jewish families in Excalbia. One of his ancestors, Nathan Myers, had served in the Regina Militia during the Lanerian War of Independence. Becoming a prominent merchant following the war, Myers helped finance trading expeditions to Excalbia in the early 19th century. When Emperor Joshua I engineered a union between the Highland Kingdom, the Lowlanders, Myers immigrated with his family to Excalbia, where he established a prosperous business in the city of Landing.

Nathan's son, Philip Levi Myers, was a close advisor to Joshua I and provided much needed capital for his empire-building efforts. He was created Lord of New Raleigh by the Emperor in 1811. Jefferson Myers, the grandson of Nathan Myers, was one of the main financial backers of Emperor Samuel I’s modernization plans.

By the time of Solomon’s birth, the Myers family was one of the wealthiest and most respected in Landing. The family was known as patrons of the arts and as philanthropists. As a young man, however, Solomon had little interest in business. He pursued studies in Astronomy, Mathematics and Philosophy, eventually earning doctorates in both Education and Philosophy. A long-time professor at several leading universities, Dr. Solomon Myers was appointed chancellor of the historic Imperial College at the University of Excalbia by Emperor David IV in 2001.

Following the collapse of the old Liberal Party following the Constitutional Crisis of 2006, Dr. Myers, as Lord Solomon prefers to be known, was instrumental in founding the New Liberal Party. He retired from academia in 2012 and entered politics, winning a seat in the Imperial Senate. Frustrated with the populist drift of his party, Dr. Myers declined to run for re-election in 2018 and retired from politics.

Dr. Myers is married to the former Nora Jacobs, a well-known print journalist and writer. The two married in 1976 and have two children, Jeffrey and Amanda. Jeffrey Myers, a graduate of University of Valmiera School of Law, is well-regarded political activist and community organizer.

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Lord Admiral Sir Derek Kunle, ret.
Born: 1954
Position: Former Ambassador to Snefaldia
Tenure: 2018 - 2021

Derek Kunle is the son of Ajuban immigrants, who arrived in the Holy Empire during the tumultuous 1960s. Lord Derek's father, Adeole Kunle, originally traveled to Excalbia as a student in 1952. After marrying a bride chosen by his family during a school break in 1953, he returned to Excalbia with his wife, Mariam. Lord Derek was born in Excalbia, becoming a citizen by birth. After his father's graduation, however, the family returned to Ajuba.

A chance to teach at his old university gave Kunle’s father the opportunity to return to Excalbia, and he immigrated with his family, including Sir Derek's five siblings, in 1965.

Sir Derek entered the Imperial Naval Academy in 1971 and graduated with a commission as an Ensign in 1975. He quickly moved up the ranks and was knighted by Emperor David III in 1995 for his distinguished service, including his heroic efforts to rescue a sinking freighter in 1993.

Sir Derek earned accolades for his command of Task Force Alpha in the Esperi Conflict and during hostilities with Upper Virginia. He was elevated to Lord Admiral and Chief of Imperial Naval Operations in 2005. He retired from the Imperial Navy in 2010 and served as Special Envoy to the Rebel Faction during the Iesian Civil War.

Sir Derek is married and has one son, Captain Ayo Kunle of the Imperial Navy.

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Lord Alfred Landis
Born: 1957
Position: Imperial Chamberlain
Tenure: 2012 - 2019

Alfred Landis, Lord of Narva, joined the Imperial Household Agency in 1984 after a brief career in the Imperial Navy. Lord Alfred was a graduate of the Imperial Naval Academy and had risen to the rank of Lieutenant Commander before marrying in 1983 and opting to transition into the reserves in order to pursue civilian employment.

After starting his IHA career in the security division, Lord Alfred switched to the management division and by 2006 has risen to the second highest position in the IHA - Imperial Steward. When the long-serving Lord Johannes Corman retired from the top position in 2012, Lord Alfred was named Imperial Chamberlain. He announced his own retirement in 2019 and briefly served as Ambassador to the Caldan Union from 2019 to 2021.

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Baron Dainis Murniece

Born: 1972
Position: Imperial Chancellor
Tenure: 2018 – 2023

Dainis Murniece graduated from the Imperial College at the University of Excalbia with a degree in economics in 1993. He completed his law degree at the University of Cesis in 1996. After several years in corporate law, Murniece went into public advocacy law, focusing on economic fairness issues and consumer protection. He entered politics in 2003 and was elected to the Imperial Senate in 2005 as a member of the Liberal Party.

Murniece was named to the Cabinet in 2010 as Minister of Treasury in the Liberal Government of Sir Sterling Wentworth. After the merger of the Liberal and Progressive Parties in 2012, he remained in office as a member of the New National Union.
Murniece became the Baron of Ilkene upon the death of his father in 2001. Murniece married the former Baiba Cerbule in 1998 and has three children: Kristine (b. 2001), Karl (b. 2006) and Peter (b. 2010).
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Baroness Vivian Bodniece

Born: 1964
Position: Minister of State
Tenure: 2018 – 2023

Vivian Bodniece nee Krauklins married Erik Bodniece, then-heir to the Baron of Kleisti, in 1985 just after their graduation from the University of Excalbia. Bodniece worked in sales for several large companies until the birth of her first child in 1989. While a stay-at-home mother, she became involved in local politics, running for the local school board in 1994. She was elected to the Kleisti town council in 1997. In 2000, she was one of the founding members of the Reform Party, and was elected to the Imperial Senate in 2005. When the Reform Party dissolved, she joined the Christian Union and entered the Cabinet in 2010 as Minister of Commerce. She was elected leader of the Christian Union in 2016.
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Dr. Arturs Anders
Born: 1963
Position: Minister of Defence
Tenure: 2013 – 2023

Dr. Arturs Anders graduated with a PhD in International and Strategic Policy from the University of Landing in 1988. He served in various academic and government consulting positions until he was recruited by the Liberal Party to stand for election to the Imperial Senate in the East Landing constituency in 2005. When the Liberal Party dissolved in 2010, he joined the New Liberal Party and entered the Cabinet as Minister of Defence in 2013 whie the NLP was in coalition with the New National Union. He moved his membership to the NNU ahead of the 2018 elections and retained the Defence portfolio.

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Alexandra Baker
Born: 1969
Position: Ambassador to the Caldan Union
Tenure: 2021 – 2023

Alexandra Baker joined the Young Liberals, the youth wing of the Liberal Party, while a student at the University of Landing in 1987. After graduation, she worked on the staff of various Liberal Party elected officials, until she decided to run for the Windemere City Council in 1995. She first was elected to the Imperial Senate in 2006 and served as Minister of Transportation in the governments of Sir Albert Cummings in 2010 and that of Sir Sterling Wentworth in 2012. When the Liberal Party was dissolved following its merger with the Progressive Conservatives to form the New National Union, she joined the New Liberal Party. In 2014 she was named Minister of Commerce and Trade in the coalition government of Lady Ashley Gordon-Robb. In 2018, Baker jumped to the New National Union and was initially named Minister of Home Affairs. In 2021, she accepted an appointment as Ambassador to the Caldan Union.

Baker has never married, but has been romantically linked to several individuals, including fellow politicians and journalists.

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Ainars Bastiks
Born: 1962
Position: Ambassador to Knootoss
Tenure: 2021 – 2023

Ainars Bastiks was born into a wealthy family and enjoyed the best possible education. After graduating from the University of Sigulda, began his career in finance. He worked at a variety of brokerages before taking a position at the Bank of Landing. He joined the financial advising firm of Murniece and Derks, becoming a senior partner in 1998 and managing partner in 2005. The firm was renamed Bastiks, Murniece and Derks in 2006. Bastiks served as a personal financial advisor to various members of the Imperial Family, including Princess Christiana. He retired from his position as managing partner in 2014 and ran for the Imperial Senate as a member of the Freedom Party. He held the seat for the Signal Hill constituency - a wealthy suburb of Landing - from 2014 until his resignation in 2021 to accept appointment as Ambassador to Knootoss.

Bastiks was married to Linda Alinis from 1986 to 1999 and to Jessica Patterson from 2001 to 2010. He married his current spouse, Heather Franklin, in 2011. He has two children with Ms. Alinis and one with Ms.Franklin.

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Fleet Admiral Lady Jessica Howell, ret.
Born: 1962
Position: Ambassador to Anahuac
Tenure: 2021 – 2023

Lady Jessica Howell nee Roberts was among the first female graduates of the Imperial Naval Academy in 1984. She was the first woman given command of a major surface combatant which she was named captain of the INV Lancer in 1999. She was promoted to flag rank in 2006. She became the first woman to command a major fleet element in combat during the Iesian War and was granted a life peerage and promoted to full admiral in 2011. In 2012, she was promoted to Fleet Admiral and given command of the Excalbian Home Fleet. She retired in 2018 and was named Ambassador to the Socialist People’s Fiefdom of Anahuac in 2021.

Lady Jessica married Terrence Roberts, a civilian engineer then-employed by the Imperial Navy, in 1989. The couple have one child, William, now a Commander in the Imperial Navy.

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Lady Gwyneth Hapsgaard
Born: 1951
Position: Speaker of the Senate
Tenure: 2018 - 2023
Affiliation: New National Union

Lady Gwyneth Hapsgaard was born into luxury as the daughter of the Baron of Aluksne. Despite her privileged background, young Gwyneth was a quiet, hard-working and diligent student. She attended the Imperial College at Excalbia University and graduated with a degree in law in 1974. As an idealistic young attorney, Lady Gwyneth embarked on a career as a public defender. In 1979, she switched tables and became the Assistant Imperial Prosecutor for Valmiera. She quickly rose to national prominence for her pro-victim public statements and her tough approach to rooting out organised crime.

Lady Gwyneth married Lord Martin Hapsgaard of Ventspils in 1980. In 1981, Lord Hapsgaard was elected to the Imperial Senate. The new Lady Hapsgaard was named Imperial Prosecutor of Citadel Excalbia in 1984. In 1987, Lord Hapsgaard was re-elected. Unfortunately, he suffered a massive stroke in 1989 that left him incapacitated. Lady Gwyneth resigned her position as Imperial Prosecutor and was named to fill her husband's seat.

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