Alexius VII

His Imperial Highness Basileus Alexius VII ascended the Rhomanoi throne on the 1st September 1939, one week after the death of his father, the late Andronicus VI. He ruled for 33 years, 7 months and 8 days, before dying on March 8th 1973, and he was succeeded by his eldest son Theodore IV.

Governmental Role.

As Imperial Person, Alexius VII had sole executive power - that is the power to appoint new Senators, dissolve the Senate, make peace or war, sign treaties, give or take territory, present legislation to the Senate, dissolve the Senate, appoint Supreme Court Judges, ministers and approve the election of state officials. He was also the supreme commander-in-chief of the Roman Armies.

He also had considerable powers over the Imperial Orthodox Church, with the ability to summon Ecunemical Councils, approve and dismiss Patriarchs and block the appointment of Bishops, Metropolitans and Archbishops.

Under Alexius VII, little was done to change the governmental systems of the country. His main works were philanthropic, focusing on the establishment of new hospitals, orphanages and care homes. Governmentally he sought to maintain the Imperial Persons' power over the country, whilst not jeopardising the slow progress towards constitutionalism that his great-grandfather had started.

Personal Life.

Alexius Manuel John Alexander Constantine Palaeologus was born to Her Imperial Highness Anna Monomachus and His Imperial Highness Basileus Andronicus VI at the Great Palace in Konstantinopoli on the 22nd June 1908. He was the youngest of four children, and the only son. His siblings were, from eldest to youngest, Grand Duchess Constantia, Grand Duchess Theophano and Grand Duchess Beatrice.

He did not benefit from Andronicus VI's declaration that Imperial Persons could marry who they wanted, as this declaration excluded Andronicus' own children. He married Grand Duchess Anna Romanov, a cousin of Nicholas II and survivor of the Russian Revolution, in 1926, a year before Constantia was born.

Alexius was a general by training, and he showed this skills to great effect during the Tribal Wars of the 1940s'. He won a series of battles over the opposing Tribal coalition, which won him personal acclaim from the people and the support of the army. His militaristic mind did not prevent him from being a good administrator, but they did inhibit his diplomacy, which was somewhat poor in comparison to the high standards of previous Imperial Persons.

He wanted his son to be another general, but Theodores' poor health as a child meant he spent much more time in the library than on the training ground. He died on March 8th 1973, after a two-year battle against lung cancer, and was interred in the Porphyry Ekkelsias' crypt within the walls of the Great Palace soon after.