Rothborne Settlement of the Caputian and Hamland Crowns, 1758
 Arms of the Kingdom of the Union of Caputia | |
| Long name | Settlement of the Titular Crowns of Caputia and Hamland made by the Rothborne Family Council |
|---|---|
| Type | Dynastic settlement |
| Context | Designation of an heir to the titular crowns of Caputia and Hamland held by Edgard III since 1723 AN |
| Signed | 14.VI.1758 AN |
| Location | Ducal court, Johannsessbuurg, Anglien |
| Effective | 14.VI.1758 AN |
| Condition | Adoption by the Rothborne Family Council; confirmation by letters patent of Edgard III |
| Negotiators | Rothborne Family Council |
| Signatories |
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| Parties | House of Rothborne |
| Ratifiers | Rothborne Family Council |
| Languages | |
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The Rothborne Settlement of the Caputian and Hamland Crowns, 1758, commonly the Rothborne Settlement, is a dynastic instrument of the House of Rothborne adopted by the Rothborne Family Council at the ducal court in Johannsessbuurg, Anglien, on 14.VI.1758 AN, and confirmed the same day by letters patent of Edgard III in each of his titular capacities. The Settlement designates Princess Guinevere, the second child of Edgard III and Empress Vadoma I, as heir to the titular crowns of Caputia and Hamland, which it declares an indivisible pair.
The Settlement is the first comprehensive disposition of the Rothborne titular inheritance since Edgard III succeeded his mother, Queen Elizabeth I, in 1723 AN. It follows the drafting model of the Treaty of Dynastic Separation of 1721 AN, adopting its mechanisms of pre-designation, formal renunciation, and contingency succession, while leaving that treaty and the succession laws of Natopia and Nouvelle Alexandrie untouched. Companion letters patent, the Letters Patent on the Alexandrian Imperial Dignity, separately designate the succession to the title of Emperor of the Alexandrians.
The Royal Caputian Government in Exile issued an instrument of recognition from its seat at Nivardom, Constancia, acknowledging the designation on behalf of the institutions in its stewardship.
Background
Edgard III accumulated his dignities across three successions. On the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1723 AN he succeeded, as Edward I, to her titular crowns of Caputia and Hamland, held together since her Proclamation of Accession. On the death of his father, Francis Joseph IV, in 1737 AN, he inherited the titular Alexandrian imperial dignity, reigning as Edgard III. In 1754 AN the Grand Duchy of Lac Glacei recognized him as Sovereign Duke of Anglien, the hereditary House of Carrillo claim to the duchy never having been formally extinguished.
Edgard III, in his tenth decade, had delegated the day-to-day administration of Anglien and had already settled one succession by designating his eldest son, Prince Edgard Nathan, as Duke-Apparent of Anglien in XI.1754 AN. No comparable provision existed for the Caputian and Hamland crowns, whose weight is institutional rather than territorial. They anchor the Royal Caputian Government in Exile, steward of the records and National Credit System of the former kingdom and of a diaspora whose census records 89,533,376 claimants. They also carry the historical connection of the crown to the region of New Caputia in Nouvelle Alexandrie and to the communities of the Melusinian Faith.
The default of primogeniture would have carried the crowns to Edgard III's eldest child, Empress Clara, reigning Empress of the Natopians and Queen consort of Nouvelle Alexandrie, whose own succession the Treaty of Dynastic Separation already divides between her son, Prince Nathan, and her daughter, Princess Sayari. The Council's record of proceedings states the ground of the designation: without provision, the Caputian inheritance would within a generation have passed into one of the two reigning lines that the treaty was written to keep apart. The Settlement instead places the crowns outside every reigning line.
Adoption
The Settlement was adopted under the Rothborne Family Pact of 1661 AN, the written constitution of the house given by Queen Elizabeth I by order in council, which constituted a Family Council to govern the affairs of the dynasty. Because the titular crowns are personal dignities of Edgard III rather than possessions of the Council, the Settlement rests on a double foundation: adoption by the Family Council and confirmation by letters patent issued by Edgard III separately in his capacity as titular King of Caputia and as titular King of Hamland. The instruments were executed at the ducal court in Johannsessbuurg on 14.VI.1758 AN.
Provisions
The Settlement makes five provisions: the designation of an heir, the indivisibility of the two crowns, a renunciation requirement, a contingency succession, and a savings clause.
Designation
Princess Guinevere, the eldest child of Edgard III without a designated inheritance, is named sole heir to the titular crowns of Caputia and Hamland. On succeeding, she would reign in the Caputian style as Queen of all Caputians and in the Hamland style as Queen of Hamland, the two dignities held by a single person, as they have been since 1653 AN. By further letters patent of the same day, Edgard III named Princess Guinevere's three children, Edward, Regina, and Donat, to the House of Rothborne, to bear the name Rothborne in accordance with the founding constitution of the house.
Indivisibility
The crowns of Caputia and Hamland are declared an indivisible pair. No future designation, renunciation, or succession may separate them.
Renunciation
Following the model of the Treaty of Dynastic Separation, any designated heir who stands to accede to a reigning throne must first execute a formal written renunciation of the Caputian and Hamland crowns, witnessed by the Family Council. Renunciation is specific to these dignities: it does not affect the renouncer's place in any other line of succession, and no renunciation is implied by the Settlement itself. Empress Clara is accordingly passed over for the Caputian and Hamland crowns while remaining, with her issue, in the Royal Line of the house.
Contingency succession
Should Princess Guinevere renounce the designation or die before succeeding to it, the crowns pass to her issue in order of birth, and failing her issue to Prince John, and after him to Prince Ferdinand, on the same terms. The Family Council retains the power to make further designations should every named line fail.
Savings
The Settlement's savings clause, which the Council's record of proceedings notes was drafted first, provides that nothing in the instrument alters the Treaty of Dynastic Separation, the Succession to the Throne Act, 1700 of Nouvelle Alexandrie, or the membership of the Royal Line under the Rothborne Family Pact. The records, archives, and National Credit System of the former kingdom follow the Caputian crown, remaining in the stewardship of the Royal Caputian Government in Exile, and the titular claims to the former Crown dependencies of Elizabeth Isle and Santa Melusina, held as possessions of the Crown rather than of the kingdom, follow it on the same terms. The clause expressly disclaims any authority over the Melusinian Faith. The spiritual autonomy of the Matriarch of New Zalae and of the faith's communities is unaffected, and the relationship between the crown and the faith, including the faith's custody of the Most Noble Order of the Melusine, is left to the parties themselves.
Letters Patent on the Alexandrian Imperial Dignity
The titular dignity of Emperor of the Alexandrians, which the Letters Patent describe as the senior inheritance of the House of Carrillo, is deliberately excluded from the Settlement and disposed of by separate letters patent issued the same day. The Letters Patent designate Empress Clara as successor to the imperial dignity, and after her Princess Sayari, heir apparent to the throne of Nouvelle Alexandrie; from Sayari onward the dignity is declared inseparable from the Crown of Nouvelle Alexandrie, to be borne by its monarchs in perpetuity.
The recitals of the Letters Patent describe the designation as returning the imperial title to the federation that carries the Alexandrian name and the greater part of the Alexandrian diaspora. The Letters Patent provide that the dignity does not travel with the Caputian crown, with the throne of Natopia, or with seniority of birth in the house. The line of Prince Nathan, designated to Natopia under the Treaty of Dynastic Separation, does not carry it.
Recognition
The Royal Caputian Government in Exile acknowledged the Settlement by an instrument of recognition issued at Nivardom, recording that the designation of Princess Guinevere proceeds from the house whose stewardship it exercises. The courts of Natopia and Nouvelle Alexandrie took formal note of the instruments.
See also
- House of Rothborne
- House of Carrillo
- Guinevere Carrillo y Waffel-Paine
- Treaty of Dynastic Separation
- Royal Caputian Government in Exile
- Queen Elizabeth I
- Edgard III
