Henry Jans, Duke of Dorchet

Henry Louis Albert Jans, the seventh Duke of Dorchet of the third creation, was most famous for what Iansisle’s history has termed ‘Dorchet’s Plot,’ a scheme to forward a liberal agenda in Dianatran by controlling the body of the boy High King Ian VII.

Henry Jans was born in 1848 to Henry Ian John Jans, the fifth Duke of Dorchet. He gained the ducal title and its hereditary seat in the Imperial Parliament after his brother, John Samuel Jans, the sixth Duke of Dorchet, died in 1867.

Dorchet became increasingly concerned about the deadly cycle in Dianatran: local chiefs would try to exert their independence, resulting in a punitive campaign to restore Shieldian prestige, which would trigger a massacre of Iansislean colonists, which would lead to a larger punitive campaign, and so on. Dorchet became convinced that the only way to solve the ‘Dianatranian troubles’ was to grant the colony independence and withdraw completely. His opponents claimed that a withdrawal from Dianatran would merely trigger resistance in other colonies and the eventual collapse of the Grand Empire.

When High King Ian VI died in late 1900, Dorchet saw his chance. Using his influence at court, he managed to secure Dûn Ádien and the will of Ian VI. Dorchet then declared himself thirteen year old Ian VII’s regent and attempted to wield the royal prerogative to force a withdrawal from Dianatran. However, the sickly young king died in early 1901, leaving Dorchet with his job unfinished and exposed to both his opponents in Parliament and the vengeful Queen whose regency he had usurped.

Jans was stripped of his title three days after High Queen Jessica I assumed the throne and exiled on pain of death from the Grand Empire. Ironically, Jessica would later follow his example in Dianatran to a degree. The Plot also sparked debate over how far the royal prerogative should extend. However, Jessica was an astute enough politician to delay the issue until the reign of her son, High King Toto IV.

There would be no Duke of Dorchet from January 1901 until Toto IV decided to grant the title and its lands to the Earl of Eastergate in 1930.