Matthew VI of Falastur

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Emperor Matthew VI
matthewviov1.gif
Reign 21 August, 2001 - Present
Coronation 1 October, 2001
Predecessor William II
Heir Presumptive Crown Prince Stephen
Consort Anne of Findan
Issue None
Full name Matthew John George Terila
Titles HRH The High King of the Unified Provinces of Falastur
HIM The Emperor of Falastur
HRH The King of the Kingdom of the Falasturian Islands
His Lordship The Earl of Bedford
Imperial House House of Terila
Imperial Anthem My God, My Land, My King
Father William II
Mother Alexandra Irene of Hanover
Born April 18, 1987
Terila, Falastur


His Imperial Majesty Emperor Matthew VI (Matthew John George Terila), styled HIM The Emperor is the High King of the Unified Provinces of Falastur and Emperor of the Falasturian Empire. In addition, he is recognised as the reigning Monarch over a large part of the Empire through Kingships and such over individual dominions and territories, which have become incorporated into the Emperorship of Falastur. Furthermore, he is the Lord Governor of the Church of Falastur in Falastur and its Empire. He has reigned since 21st August 2001, upon the abdication of his father, Emperor William II.

Constitutional Status

Over all member states of the Empire of Falastur, including the Unified Provinces, Emperor Matthew VI holds his throne by virtue of the Act of Ascension (1718), an early decree by Falastur's first Monarch, King Matthew I, basing the succession to the throne of Falastur largely on that of England, Falastur's patron nation for several decades. Thereby, as eldest son of the Emperor, (although the Act was recently modified to give son and daughters of the Monarch equal status in the succession), Matthew stood from birth to inherit his father's throne. Neither any member of the Royal Family, nor any Official of the Falasturian Government may affect the line of succession by appointing Heirs Apparent to the throne, except under two circumstances:

  • The Heir Apparent is deemed by 9/10 vote in the Privy Council and by agreement of the reigning sovereign to be either unfit or unsuitable for rule over the Empire of Falastur.
  • The reigning line becomes existinct to a degree where no candidate is found close enough to stand to succeed to the throne. Therefore, an Emperor or Empress is chosen by 9/10 vote of the Privy Council and by general agreement in the Imperial Senate.

Early life

The Emperor was born in the Imperial Infirmary, Terila, a prestigious private Hospital and long-time appointed Royal medical centre, on May 5th, 1987. He was born the son of former-Emperor William II and his wife, Empress Alexandra Irene of Hanover, and was named after King Matthew the Great, first Monarch of Falastur, (for that reason, the most common name in Falastur to this day). From birth he assumed the title 'Crown Prince', the title of the Falasturian Heir Apparent.

He was brought up in the Palaces of Terila, meeting regularly with the public even at a young age, contributing to his popularity in Falastur. He was schooled at home by an appointed Governor, along with several of his cousins - Falasturian Royals of weaker blood lines - until the age of 11, whereupon he was sent to a leading private school, the Imperial Verenian Academy. Even from the beginning of his tuition, he showed a talent for learning, but at the Academy his intellect blossomed and he excelled. His sudden proximity to the citizens of Falastur on a daily basis, rather than unnerving the Crown Prince, instead fueled his taste for meeting and socialising with people of lower status, and he developed some strong friendships which hold true to this day.

In his studies, the young Prince proved to have a knack for languages, a skill now commonly employed on diplomatic visits, he also showed a talented Cellist, but always favoured mathematics to other subjects. He also developed a love for computing, which he regularly uses for his pastimes. However, his studies were disrupted when his father, unable to cope with the strain of ruling the Empire and suffering from several disagreements with Government and international figures, stepped down from office, making Matthew the new Emperor.

Life as Emperor

After his coronation, Matthew was forced to give up on permanent schooling, returning to private tutoring in his free time to fit around his ruling. He cut down strongly on the amount of time he spent in governing, to save his education, and there onwards worked on increasing his public profile. In doing this, he has become the most travelled Falasturian Monarch during the first 3 years of rule in all of Falasturian history, a move which has raised his public profile to the peaks of publicity in many areas, including many states and continents completely independent and politically unrelated to Falastur. This reputation looks likely to slowly diminish in coming years, however, as at the beginning of the 2005/2006 academic year, he took the controversial decision to enter the City of Terila Imperial University, acknowledged as the most prestigious and selective University in the Empire, and indeed much of the world, rather than dedicating himself fully to governing the country. However, even with his studies restricting his time available for ruling his vast territories, he has so far shown no intention to push them aside, and has indeed kept a notably active hand in Falasturian politics.

The reign of Emperor Matthew VI thus far has seen a meteoric rise in its military and economic power, as well as a sharp increase in diplomatic relations. Falastur has gone from strength to strength since his coronation, and its influence has spread much further than ever before. A strong internal policy, binding the states and lands of the Empire together, has served well to bind the Empire more and more into a cohesive unit, and has all but eliminated secessionist feelings within the Empire. Furthermore, concentration on industry and commerce within the Empire has made Falastur virtually entirely self-sufficient, while a renewed foreign policy has served to place Falastur in many alliances military and economic. Falastur now lies in a strong position in the world, but is still prone to isolationist movements, and to this end, Emperor Matthew has striven to make sure it could support itself if necessary.

Emperor Matthew VI was recently voted 2nd in an Empire-wide poll based on the Television program "Falasur's Greatest Monarch", defeated only by his ancestor, and the founder of the nation of Falastur, King Matthew I.

Views and perceptions

Matthew is known to be staunchly conservative in many matters, and a critic of democratic Government, leading to the surprisingly well-accepted Monarchical Government that he and the Imperial Senate recently introduced. He also takes his religion seriously; these two personal values being inherent in virtually all Falasturian Monarchs thus far, although some opponents have notedly speculated that Matthew is more conservative and "backward" than previous Emperors, running contrary to the previous trend of increasing liberalism. However, for his part he has managed to always present his views in a way which appeals to a large part of the public, and was himself an advocate of ensuring the role of the commons in Government during the debate on the Act of Government 2005. Indeed, he has in a relatively short reign thus far made sure to champion the cause alleviating poverty and suffering, and, while he himself has admitted that he does not believe that poverty can ever truly be eliminated without destroying the state, he has set for his reign various objectives which he aims to reach in the fields of raising living conditions and reducing poverty levels.

Economically, Matthew is known to be right-of-centre, favouring private business, as well as privately run institutions, such as schools and health centres, while still insisting that facilities remain to allow all citizens access to free healthcare and education etc., simply giving the more wealthy the option of better, costly, alternatives.

Matthew has also made his position well clear on numerous occasions, as is to be expected, on the integrity of the Empire, believing it is a much-needed source of stability, internally and externally, and a means to a much greater end. While he has stated publicly that he does not support the military annexation of land for simple territorial expansion, he does however favour Imperialism - that is, just expanding the Empire - to those states which need the support of the Empire as a protecting and aiding body, and which are willing to accept the suzerainity of himself over them.

While Matthew does have critics, both inside Falastur and outside, he still enjoys a very strong positive image in the press and with the public, and if anything, the image of the Monarchy has improved in his nation, although pro-Monarchical sentiment has never really fallen in all of Falastur's existence, due to some often meticulously-planned propaganda, as well as the traditional strength of the Monarchy in preserving Falastur, and continuing its rise in power and influence. Even inside the states of the Empire, where secessionist sentiment is present, feeling has (some say manipulatively, and not without evidence) become pro-Falasturian, and such secessionist ideas are very rarely strong enough to in any way trouble the local Government.

Marriage

Although often quite social with Falasturians of his age while in education and at a few functions at which young Falasturians were prominent guests, Matthew was not known to have engaged in any romances for the first 18 years of his life. However, after initiating close political ties with the Empire of Findan, the young Emperor found himself overtly offered the chance to fraternise closely with the young Princess Anne of Findan, sister to the current Monarch, Samuel III, possibly as a deliberate attempt by the Findanian Royalty to arrange a marriage alliance with the Falasturian Imperial dynasty. Although he vocally opposed arranged marriages, and explicitly requested safeguards that neither himself nor Princess Anne were to be pushed into any more than mere socialising, the couple were quickly noted by the international press for their close friendship, and it was a mere matter of months before a relationship between them was publicly announced. After almost 2 years of courtship, Matthew propositioned Anne, and within 5 months of their engagement, the couple were married on the 21st of August, 2006, the 5th Anniversary of Matthew's reign, in the Northolton Cathedral, the prominent and largest Church in the Empire and the traditional location for all Royal marriages of the House of Terila. At the time of writing, they have been married for 5 months, with no issue born or expected.



Preceded by:
William II
Emperor of Falastur
2001-Present
Followed by:
Crown Prince Stephen