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Svenný III
Dorothea von Lieven
Svenný III
Reign 8th September, 1885 - 4th May, 1902
Predecessor Kristjana VII
Successor Thorey VIII
Spouse Rudolph, Duke of Lobkowicz
Issue
Ólafur

Vilhjálmur
Thorey VIII
Leopoldina
Adam
Polyxena
Hafsteinn

Full name
Svenný Alexandra Thórdis Elísabet Eiriksdottír Vilhjálmursdottír
House Eiriksdottír
Father William, Viscount of Lippe
Mother Kristjana VII
Born 20th November, 1852
Fjallasay, Vinland
Died 4th May, 1902
Hvítgáshöll nr. Embden, Sud-Hafsvaedaland Fylk, Vinland



Svenný III was Queen of Vinland in the late 19th century. Her seventeen year-long reign is credited with ushering in a the 'modern' Vinlandic monarchy.

Compared to her shy, awkward mother, Svenny was an extrovert, at ease in social situations and confident in dealing with politicians. In this regard she ran up against the Althing which had essentially been allowed to govern without royal oversight during Kristjana VII's reign. Indeed, Kristjana's presence in Vinlandic society had been so low-key that there were serious calls for the entire office of Queen to be abolished. Kristjana had never used any of the executive power in the crown's hands, had barely visited Isafjordhur whilst the Althing was in session and the chief ministers of state had no reason to ever consult her on policy. The press, such as it was at the time, had moved away from reporting on the boring royal household to the much livelier and colourful lives of actors and local well-to-do families. Some journals pressed for Vinland to become a fully-fledged republic (though were carefully to couch it in terms of a referendum rather than outright revolution). There were republican supporters in the Althing too; the ever-frugal assembly would have been quite happy to not have to spend money and resources on the royal family, demoting them to just another noble family who would pay their own expenses from their estates.

For her coronation the Althing stumped up a paltry sum, believing it had caught the right mood of the country, and began toying with the idea of national vote to abolish the monarchy. It was misjudged. Kristjana may have been a distant figure but Svenný was certainly not following in her mother's footsteps. Even in the year or so between her accession and coronation she was a whirlwind of activity, copying the approaches of many queens before her: positioning the crown as a champion of the common Vinlander, and building support in Fjallasay and Hafsvaedaland away from the Althing's gaze. When the coronation funds became public it provoked an outcry and a wave of donations from the public to help meet costs. Svenný modestly refused the charity and invited a great number of commoners to witness the coronation 'enough to fill Fjallasay cathedral many times over'. The result was a coronation far more publicised and supported than the Althing had wished. It quietly shelved whatever discussion regarding abolition of the monarchy, and lingering amendments to reduce the crown's executive power were firmly dropped when the elections of 1888 returned an assembly which saw most republican-leaning members lose their seats.

Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet

Rudolph, Duke of Lobkowsicz

Svenný's not so secret weapon was her husband Rudolph, Duke of Lobkowicz. Armed with just a title (the Duchy of Lobkowsicz was literally just a title, it had no land attached to it) the Hapsburg Rudolph had arrived in Vinland in 1879 accompanying Archduke Maximillian of Austria who was arranged to marry Svenný. Maximillian died of blood poisioning however soon after his arrival. Though there were other suitors perhaps more suitable, Svenný soon fell in love with the dashing Hapsburg. Playing up his Bohemian title he and Svenný's marriage conjured up distant memories of Thorey VI, Jobst of Meerzisch and the Vinlandic Golden Age.

The Duke was initially put off by Vinlandic Lutheranism's 'starkness', whereas the Austrian High Church still retained a lot of Catholicism's 'colour' but embraced it nonetheless. He would introduce various institutions, firmly entrenched in Austria-Bohemia, to Vinlandic society; freemasonry, cameralism (basically seeking to direct the economy for benefit of the state) and physiocracy (which held agriculture as the sole 'useful' industry). Physiocracy was rightfully rejected by the Althing and the moneyed class; though still in relative infancy most influential people could plainly see the material benefits of industry. The theory would influence a reshaping of taxation however. Cameralism had its adherents and influenced a massive increase in the bureaucracy but ultimately did not fit with Vinland's parliamentarianism. Freemasonry was more widely embraced; by the end of Svenný's reign almost everyone of note in public life was a member of, or associated with, the 20 or so lodges which had sprung up around the country, whose membership were all nominally charged with the betterment of society. Reforms to Vinland's postal system, the foundation of several colleges and hospitals, as well as the adoption of the metric system can all be traced to the Freemasons.

Ruldoph and Svenný's masterstroke was to realise how powerful the press could be in shaping public opinion. In this regard they setup a small office in the royal household whose job was to promote the royal family and its public works in the press. The royal family was then set to work opening new public works, visiting hospitals and schools, enjoying Vinland's theatres, launching ships (both commercial and offensive); in short, being 'present'. With stories aplenty now they needed a mouthpiece; they were instrumental in getting the Fjallasay Foráthamdúr newspaper, a noted pro-monarchy paper, distributed in other cities of the Hafsvaedaland. The paper soon had a new-fangled steam-powered printing press to keep up with demand. Svenný herself would spend a great deal of time hearing petitions from common folk as she toured the country and a great deal of the Althing sessions for 1887-90 were taken up legislating for these commoner petitions. All this endeared her to the public and secured the crown's long-term future.

In Europe[]

With a steady flow of positive stories Rudolph then arranged a tour of Europe for the royal family which would take much of 1892 and provide endless new stories for consumption back home. She was certainly not the first crowned head of a Leifian state to visit Europe (two successive Susquehanockland kings visited Portugal in the 17th century), but the occasion was trumpeted as such. She would travel with Rudolph, and their children Ólafur and Leopoldina (who was betrothed to Sigimund, Prince of Luxembourg), and a host of diplomats, generals and personal staff. The Althing granted a large sum for the trip (as a loan against future Royal Estate receipts) but Svenný had to provide a great deal of her own money out of the private Royal treasury.

The journalist and cartoonist Jóhann Andri Davidsson was brought along to report on the party's travels. Even though he was not exactly an overt royalist his descriptions and depictions of the royals (one news report per day and one cartoon every other day) were gratefully received back home, albeit with a delay for the Atlantic crossing, and were reprinted in most papers.

The first stop on the tour was Antwerp where Svenný and her diplomats leveraged her Luxembourg ancestry to improve relations and work out trade deals. First however was the small matter of marriage between Prince Sigismund of Luxembourg to her daughter Leopoldina. Though a small affair by modern standards the wedding procession was loudly cheered by crowds lining the streets of Luxembourg City and Davidsson would report 'the citizens greatly enjoyed the royal pageantry, it would be boon to Vinland if it could capture some of this splendour for its monarchy rather than celebrate merely the mundane'. As well as a lengthy stay with William VI Svenný would also meet Henry IX of Wessex at a hunt at Ciergnon; the meeting was too brief, and too unexpected to produce any treaties or deals and the Wessex king talked only of 'imagined privations against Catholics in Vinland', but the meeting ended friendly enough and the two monarchs would write frequently to each other. From the United Netherlands, after a tearful farewell to Leopoldina, the Vinlandic delegation travelled to Anglia as a guest of Christopher III where several advances in industrialisation were noted, to Copenhagen where she and Eric XIV discussed Kalmar matters and then onward to Austria-Bohemia, meeting with Christopher III of Svealand at Saxe-Romhild en route.

In Prague, Svenný charmed the Diet, the Czech nobility and the city's inhabitants in general, not only by speaking Czech fluently but by being insatiably curious about virtually everything. The delegation's visit to Vienna was less successful. The Queen's carriage overturned near the Moravian-Austrian border after which both her own physician, and the Austrian court doctor, prescribed a week of bedrest. This was too much for the aging Archduke Leopold IV. Increasingly temperamental and paranoid, he appeared to believe Svenný's visit to be part of Kalmar machinations to wrest Bohemia away from Vienna. The warm reception she had received in Prague only further convinced him of his Czech nobles' plotting and imagined, now her plot had been discovered, Svenný was hiding from him in her bedchambers. When Svenný did emerge at the behest of Archduchess Sophie she was apparently embarrassed by the threadbare state of her travelling party compared to the sheer opulence of the Hapsburg court in which manners were stiff and everyone had their designated place. The Vinlandic crown and its constrained purse could not compete and neither had it ever really embraced Luxembourgian court manners which separated the 'divinely appointed royalty' from those below it.

August 16th. The Queen, and Princes Rudolph and Ólafur, arrived yesterday morning at the newly refurbished palace named Trsat in Rijeka on the Adriatic coast where they were to dine with Archduke Charles and his wife Elizabeth. Von Leykam [the Austrian diplomat] and the very personable Venetian ambassador Ludovico Grimani were also in attendance and whilst Svenný and Elizabeth rode we drew up the final draft of the treaty which would give us access to the King Rudolph Islands trade. Svenný signed the treaty and made an excellent witticism about Mexic chilli which did not translate well into German or Italian despite Prince Rudolph's valliant attempts. Dinner was very fine - pigeon in crayfish butter, and meringue. There was a party after dinner in the grounds where the Archduke's children entertained the assembled with a little ballet and then there were fireworks. Everyone appeared to go to bed in a happy mood, though Ragnarsdottír [the Queen's maid] confessed the Queen had complained that this minor palace held more artwork than the Ononglegakest and Aprikóshöll put together and had felt dreadfully embarrassed to have had to borrow silk gloves and silk shoes from the Archduchess as her own were worn right through. In my audience with the Prince this morning I asked of the Queen's mood, and he seemed to read my mind. He said the trip had been more tiring than the Queen and he had expected and the Queen dearly missed Leopoldina. He spoke that his cousins were kind at heart but blindly obeyed court formality as they would cease to function without it. We spoke a little on the financial situation of the royal estate and how the Althing could do well to grant more funds as it would enrich Vinland as a whole, yet he also offhandedly mentioned that his cousins had no concept of financial modesty nor how these things are paid for and that may be their undoing in the long-run, suggesting he knows the royal family will not, and probably should not, ape the European royal houses to closely. We both then spoke to Ásgeirsson [the Althing's treasurer for the trip] and he authorised the release of 300 marks with which Ragnarsdottír bought various necessities. Davidsson has shown us a very good sketch of the town he drew from the castle ramparts. He has been told not to send any reports or cartoons until we reach Athens, to save the postal fees.

- Private Diary of Chief Vinlandic diplomat, Hilmar Sveinnsson.

From Austria they sailed down the Adriatic to Athens where they had arranged to meet Prince Ólafur's intended bride, Princess Helena. There had been prior attempts to arrange a meeting with the Byzantine Emperor, but these came to nothing. With the new addition to the party welcomed there was a grand ball held by the Duke of Athens and then the party began the journey home, stopping in Valencia for three days to wait for a suitable Vinlandic ship to take them across the Atlantic.

"A Revolution of the Senses"[]

At home, as predicted, the Althing welcomed the trade deals which the delegation had brought home with them but balked at the receipts which the party had rung up and refused to renegotiate the royal expenses despite public support for the crown. It did however drop the loan taken out for the trip as well as pay off all the expenses incurred. No matter that her personal finances were still as constrained as ever, Svenný was fired up with enthusiasm for various projects which she hoped could make Vinland compete culturally with the riches of European courts, as well as subtly reinforce royal influence. Most notably the twin foundations of the Royal Academy of Arts and Royal Academy of Sciences which effectively took various half-patronised institutions and refounded them under a single banner to better enable collaboration, standardisation and constructive criticism.

The Academy of Sciences embraced virtually every subject matter; from geology to anatomy, botany, astronomy and engineering. Expeditions into the depths of Tawantinland and Africa were organised, yes for exploration purposes but also to gather flora and fauna specimens. Botanists experimented with growing exotic plants; Svenný had a orangery built at the Ononglegakest which produced not just oranges but pineapples too. And whilst some sciences found themselves galvanised by proper support and collaboration others such as medicine calcified; their new governing boards were inherently conservative and dismissive of new ideas.

In the arts though the portraitists were still seen as the leading lights landscapes (and seascapes) were slowly coming to the fore as artists followed their scientific contemporaries in documenting the world around them rather than the people who inhabited it. And though romanticism over agriculture and rural life was a firm favourite the mills, canals and furnaces of industry were well-represented too. At this point the Academy of Arts also incorporated music and ballet, both of which thrived under royal patronage. The Dutch choreographer Alexander Janszoon brought Vinlandic ballet firmly up to date, arranging coherent stories and implementing modern dress (older style ballet with masks, costumes which hid the dancers' movements and illogical plots, soon fell out of fashion). Composers such as Brynjarsson, Fridriksson and Mariasson not only produced fine operas during this period but also helped setup the 'Royal School' which helped standardise teaching for singers and musicians.

Even though Vinland's embrace of industry was beginning to see fruit its prosperity was threatened by the Cotton Wars which consumed Mvskokia from 1885 onwards. In its early stages King Hollata III of Mvskokia, threatened by civil revolt and independence movements had assumed that Vinland would support his regime, especially as it formed a significant bullwalk against Mexic expansion and supplied a large amount of Vinland's raw cotton for its industries. This was not forthcoming however and indeed Svenný, slightly undiplomatically, rebuked Hollata III for resisting progress and modernity. It was only by 1894 that the constricted shipments began making a real dent in the economy and to avert a recession there was a scramble to get cotton imports from other regions. The so-called 'Cotton Famine' which struck many industrialised nations was only partially alleviated by imports from Caliphate Egypt and India. Vinland with its long history of cotton imports from Fort Andyra in India was slightly cushioned from the impact of this drought

Vinland did not intervene militarily at all during the long conflict, mirroring the aloofness of Aniyunwiya and Álengiamark and preferred to apply diplomatic pressure on the various parties to come to agreement. Vinland did however mobilise for the 2nd Imperial-Kalmar War (1895-6) despite Svenný's pleas to her relatives in Luxembourg and Austria for calm. The war, nominally to guarantee Brandenburg's borders was over before Vinlandic troops could be disembarked in Hamburg but its navy could claim a victory over Luxembourg in the Mexic Gulf. It was the Imperial Diet which over-ruled Vienna and Antwerp to make peace with Kalmar but all the goodwill in Europe for Vinland generated by Svenný's long tour essentially evaporated overnight along with any trade deals.

Family and Succession[]

Svenný married Rudolph, Duke of Lobkowicz in 1871. They would have seven children.

  • Ólafur
  • Vilhjálmur
  • Thorey VIII
  • Leopoldina
  • Adam
  • Polyxena
  • Hafsteinn

Svenný died in 1902 of 'an intestinal obstruction' aged 49. Her eldest daughter Thorey succeeded her.

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