Kaiser Meskan II
| William Meskan Trihus | |
 | |
| Former Kaiser of Shireroth | |
|---|---|
| Began | 9.VI.1518 |
| Ended | 20.V.1519 |
| Predecessor | Alejian II |
| Successor | Carol |
| Steward | Baldwin Plantagenet-Julii |
| Imperial Bloodline | Steffki |
| Physical description | |
| Gender | Male |
| Species | Human |
| Hair color and style | Blue hair |
| Biographical information | |
| Father | Bil'Per Car'Set (Bill Carset Trihus) |
| Spouse(s) | Kaiseress Semisa I (m. 1510, div. 1512) |
| Issue | Semisa Trihus |
| Date of birth | 1482 |
| Date of death | 1562 |
William Meskan Trihus (1482–1562), known during his reign as Kaiser Meskan II, was Kaiser of Shireroth from 1516 to 1519. A member of the Line of Steffki, he had previously served as Dutch of Kildare (1500–1504), Imperial Cartographer and Prætor of the Landsraad. His reign was characterised by attempts to revive an increasingly inactive imperial government through administrative and political reform, reconciliation with Antica, and, ultimately, the rebellion of Baldwin Plantagenet-Julii, who briefly occupied Shirekeep as the Anti-Kaiser Nicodemus.
Meskan was unusual among Shirerithian Kaisers for being an adherent of Soloralism rather than Cedrism, the established religion of the Imperial Republic. His Soloralist faith and his family's connections with Elpidos and Menelmacar remained important elements of his identity throughout his life.
Early life and family
William was born in 1482, the son of Bil'Per Car'Set, also known as William Carset Trihus. His family belonged to a surviving branch of the Line of Steffki. The precise genealogy connecting William's branch with the earlier Steffki line had already become obscure by the time of his accession, although his descent was generally accepted and his membership of the bloodline was not seriously disputed.
The Trihus family had its origins in Elpidos. William's father was associated with the early Soloralist movement and entered Menelmacar from Elpidos in 1471, while still a young man. The family therefore belonged to a cultural milieu strongly influenced by Soloralism before becoming established in Shireroth. William himself remained firmly attached to the religion even after entering the predominantly Cedrist Shirerithian political establishment.
William became Duke of Kildare in 1500, holding the duchy until 1504.
In 1510 he married Semisa Haiken, who subsequently reigned as Kaiseress Semisa I. Their daughter, Semisa Trihus, was born at Raynor's Keep in 1512. During the final part of her reign, Semisa I briefly declared their infant daughter her heir, with a succession of Stewards intended to govern until the child reached maturity. The arrangement caused substantial controversy and was quickly revoked.
Semisa subsequently invited candidates to present themselves for the Kaisership. William was among those considered, but Semisa ultimately rejected her husband's candidacy in favour of Letifer H'Graa Grifos. Following Letifer's accession, William and Semisa divorced. William thereafter raised their daughter himself.
Political career before the Kaisership
William served as Prætor of the Landsraad from 1512 until his own accession to the Mango Throne in 1518. His long tenure gave him extensive experience of the workings, and frequent inactivity, of the Shirerithian legislature. His later attempts as Kaiser to increase political participation and reform the Landsraad were influenced by this experience.
Accession
William succeeded Kaiser Alejian II in 1518 and took the regnal name Meskan II, after Meskan, the Soloralist deity of enlightenment.
At his accession Meskan publicly affirmed his descent from the Steffki line while acknowledging that much of the genealogy of his branch had been lost. He also made an unusually explicit declaration concerning his religion. Although the Shirerithian court and monarchy were closely associated with Cedrism, Meskan declared himself a Soloralist. He nevertheless accepted the traditional religious obligations of the Kaisership and pledged to bear the Sword of Vengeance.
Meskan inherited an Imperial Republic suffering from prolonged inactivity. In his accession address he warned that Shireroth risked becoming little more than a collection of territories and memories, surviving without genuinely prospering. Much of his subsequent programme was intended to reverse this decline and restore confidence and participation in imperial government.
Reform programme
Meskan's reforms were driven principally by his concern that Shireroth's traditional institutions were no longer generating sufficient political activity. Although he remained committed to the Kaisership and the Imperial Republic, he believed that excessive stability had itself become a cause of stagnation. He contemplated substantial changes to the feudal organisation of Shireroth, hoping to encourage greater competition and political activity between subdivisions rather than maintaining a rigid centrally administered territorial system.
Perhaps his most conspicuous political reform was Imperial Decree 238, which abolished Shireroth's longstanding prohibition on political parties. Meskan had himself previously supported restrictions on party politics, but had come to regard the absence of organised political disagreement as one of the causes of Shireroth's inactivity. The reform was intended primarily to stimulate political participation rather than to transform Shireroth into a parliamentary democracy, and its immediate practical effect was limited. Later in his reign, following the Nicodemian rebellion, Meskan went further by temporarily restructuring the Landsraad as a form of direct democracy in which all counts could speak and vote. The reform survived into the reign of Kaiseress Carol.
Rebellion of Nicodemus I
Meskan's greatest political crisis arose from his own prolonged absence from government. On 17.VI.1518, anticipating a period away from the capital, Meskan appointed Baldwin Plantagenet-Julii, Count of Kaikias, as Steward of Shireroth. Baldwin was at the time considered an active and loyal servant of the Imperial Republic and also held senior governmental and military responsibilities. Meskan expressly stated that he trusted Baldwin with the general safety of the nation during his absence.
Meskan subsequently became increasingly inactive. The imperial administration deteriorated, with ministries left vacant or occupied by absent officials. Baldwin and others became convinced that more drastic action was necessary to restore effective government.
On 5.X.1518 Baldwin proclaimed himself Kaiser Nicodemus. As Steward and a senior figure within the Shirithian armed forces, he was able to obtain control of Shirekeep and the central machinery of government. The resulting conflict became a short-lived rebellion against Meskan's authority.
Nicodemus attempted to establish a more constitutional form of Kaisership, promulgating a new Imperial Charter which strengthened the Landsraad, provided mechanisms for the review of imperial conduct, formalised judicial powers and entrenched a bill of rights. Some of those who had encouraged Baldwin to challenge Meskan rapidly withdrew their support after the democratic character of his reforms became apparent.
When Meskan reappeared, significant portions of the armed forces returned their allegiance to him. He rejected Nicodemus's claim on both dynastic and constitutional grounds, arguing that Baldwin's position as Steward conferred no right to inherit or seize the Mango Throne.
Meskan declared the Anti-Kaisership illegal, ordered subjects to recognise him as the lawful Kaiser, removed Baldwin as Steward and Minister of Immigration, Naturalization and Tourism, and annulled the imperial decrees issued by Nicodemus. The decrees nevertheless retained their numbers in the official sequence for historical purposes.
Nicodemus meanwhile called an early Day of Review under his own constitution. Following an adverse judgment by the Landsraad and with Meskan's forces closing on the capital, he renounced the Kaisership on 17.XII.1518 and fled Shireroth.
Meskan thereby regained full control of the Imperial Republic.
Restoration and final reforms
Meskan acknowledged that his own inactivity had contributed directly to the rebellion. In his decree restoring his authority he apologised for having neglected Shireroth and admitted that his absence had helped create the conditions in which Baldwin had acted.
He nevertheless rejected the legitimacy of the Anti-Kaisership and maintained that institutional reform had to proceed through lawful means. Paradoxically, several measures enacted after his restoration moved Shireroth in a direction not entirely dissimilar to parts of Baldwin's programme. Most notably, Meskan expanded participation in the Landsraad and continued his efforts to increase political activity.
Baldwin initially escaped to Antica and was prohibited from returning to Shireroth. He later returned despite the prohibition and was captured. By this time Meskan was preparing to leave the throne and regarded the former Anti-Kaiser as a continuing danger to the succession. Baldwin was subjected to a largely predetermined trial and executed on Meskan's orders on 8.V.1519, eliminating the possibility that he might again attempt to seize power during the impending transition.
Abdication
By the latter part of his reign Meskan had become deeply dissatisfied with his own performance. Although his accession had been accompanied by an ambitious reform programme, many of his proposals had either failed to develop fully or had been undermined by his recurrent withdrawal from government.
In announcing his abdication, Meskan accepted personal responsibility for this failure, describing himself as having withdrawn from Shireroth instead of carrying through the reforms he had promised. His disillusionment extended beyond government to the decline of the broader cultural and political world with which he had been associated, particularly the traditions of Soloralism, Jasonia and the old Apollonian states.
Meskan selected Carol as his successor.
Meskan abdicated on 20.V.1519, ending a reign of approximately one year.
Post-abdication life and death
He died in 1562, aged approximately eighty.
