Valerian Purity Laws

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The Valerian Purity Laws are a set of doctrines aimed at the marriage affairs of the royal family of Magnus Valerius and decrees what ethnicities are eligible for marriage for an emperor or empress. These laws are taken to heart and followed by the emperor, which is amazing considering Magnus Valerius is a staunch monarchy.

History

The Valerian Purity Laws were created in the 16th century, when Valerians came into contact with Chinese and Arab merchants and began expanding trade networks throughout Asia. Lord Arthur Ratcliff, an influential noble during the reign of Empress Victoria I, proposed a popular conspiracy theory. This theory stated that the Emperor of China was planning to invade Magnus Valerius and turn the nation into a satellite of the Chinese (like Vietnam and Korea) by forcing the royal bloodline to marry one from the Chinese royal family. The theory was baseless; Ratcliff proposed it out of anger because his economic interests were competing with new merchants from China and Arabia. Although it had no credence, the conspiracy theory caught on like wildfire amongst the nobles of Magnus Valerius.

In 1562, the Valerian Purity Laws were drafted by a council of nobles in the Council of Leda. They presented the laws to Empress Victoria who signed them in without much opposition. The laws have been in existence ever since, and is one of the few Valerian laws that guide the monarch’s conduct.

Effects

The effects of the doctrines limit the marriageable women (or men, in an empress’s case) that the emperor can marry. Particularly, it is preferred that the monarch marry a noblewoman or nobleman of Slavic descent. French descent comes in as a second-best option, thanks to the heritage of the House Cambridge that is rooted in the Franco-Valerian state of Nikeah. Certain other ethnicities, however, are acceptable. Greeks, Armenians, Persians, and Germans, for example, are allowed to marry a reigning monarch or a future heir. The Purity Laws limit marriage to the Indo-European ethnic groups (except for Indians and other South Asians of Indo-European classification, which are barred from marriage).

What type of people the law mostly targets are Semites and East Asians. Lord Ratcliff created a “Yellow Fear” in which East Asians were viewed with suspicion during the 16th century. People of Chinese, Arabian, Hebrew, Korean, and Japanese descent, for example, are not considered to be worthy of marriage into the Valerian royal family. As Ratcliff called them himself, they were “rude barbarians” that would bring forth “hideous, unrighteous mongrels onto the throne, inept of ruling our fair empire”.

Just a few years later, the law was amended to include the exclusion of Finno-Ugric suitors and wives. They were considered not fit for the throne due to the often ‘Asiatic’ look attributed to them (of those at least coming from the Kuric-Gedonian Continents), such as the Magyars living on the Kuric Continent or the Suomi of Nova Suomi. This amendment was made following the start of the conquest of The Magyar Isles.

The Law In Its Own Words

Let it be established in this commune of the Barons of Magnus Valerius a new law governing our emperor’s conduct. In the Year of Our Lord 1562, on this 15th day of July, we have gathered and formulated the Valerian Purity Laws, at the urging of its brainchild His Lordship Lord Arthur Ratcliff of Petrovsky. The Valerian Purity Laws shall govern those who may be eligible for marriage into the House of The Grand Empire, The Mighty Imperial Family.

Article I

The Imperial House may:

  • Marry any Valerian of Slavic stock without much forethought. Slavic stock is considered to be the purest of the pure.
  • Marry any other bloodline of Indo-European stock such as Persian, Armenian, Basque, and Germanic stocks, so long as it is not of the Indian Realms.

Article II

The Imperial House may not:

  • Marry any-one pertaining to the Chinese Imperial Household, the Japanese Imperial Household, the Korean Royal Household, and others from East Asian households.
  • Marry a Semite of Arabic, Hebrew, Phoenician, or Babylonian descent.
  • Marry one from the Indian realms.

Amendment

The Imperial Household may also not marry those of Finnic, Uralic, or Ugric descent, such as those of Nova Suomi for they appear to be kin to the East Asian groups and have thus been barred from marrying into our Imperial Household.

Conclusion

Be it held By God that this law is in the books and mantra of The Grand Empire on this date In the Year of Our Lord 1562, on this 15th day of July. The Imperial Household has willingly agreed to follow this law to its strictness and will lawfully abide to it by penalty of unrest and God's Divine Retribution.

Contestants to the Law

Currently, this law is seen as increasingly obsolete, considering that Magnus Valerius and her nobles no longer are stringent on ethnicity as once before. Lord Ratcliff is obviously long gone, and The Yellow Fear died out over a century ago, and numerous Kydonian Japanese nobles have married Valerian noblewomen and vice versa. In fact, Arthur Ratcliff’s direct descendant and current head of the House Ratcliff, Lord Andrei III Ratcliff, married a Kalmyk (i.e. Mongol) noblewoman from Kalmykstan. With the increasing ethnic understanding of Semites and East Asians, several Valerian noble houses have voiced their opinion: they want the law thrown out to give the Emperor (or Empress) the right to choose his bride (or consort) with liberty. The majority of houses, though, are purists and believe that an emperor could be of only Valerian blood.

Some noteworthy emperors have voiced or hinted at their opposition to this law as well. Tsar Ivan IV could have survived from syphilis if the Purity Laws were non-existent; he was deeply in love with a Chinese woman, but had to settle for another, more acceptable woman; Ivan IV contracted syphilis from this woman who was nothing more than his favorite prostitute. Tsar Meijis, who was an acceptable admixture of Slavic Valerian and Iranian Tabrizian, mentioned that “being of two different backgrounds enriches you and opens your mind to many distinct opportunities and points of view.” Meijis might have also blamed the law for his half-brother’s death to syphilis. Cyrus Kalderis, Meijis’ only son that was alive at this death (and thus could have continued the direct male line of House Kalderis) was removed from the line of succession because he married a princess from Nova Suomi. Finally, Crown Prince Ivan has publicly revealed his love for a Korean-Valerian and, despite the punishment he receives from his father, he has declared that the girl shall be his future wife. Many believe that Prince Ivan will finally abolish the law once he becomes tsar.