T H E

E S H A E V E U R D

H O U S E

o f

A S H F O R D  D E  A N J O U

Usque ad die Auspitii, robur in passione invenimus.

IN MEMORIUM

The Right Honourable

Baron of Cleves,

Leopold

Ashford de Anjou 
né Ashford de Bar

1976 - 2056

It is with great sorrow that the Anjou Estate does declare the passing of the Rt. Hon Leopold, after a long and arduous battle against black lungs and advanced age.

We are thankful that his Lordship died as he lived, enjoying a smooth Cleves Cigar™ cut with only the finest blend of Empire-grown tobacco for that smooth, knightly taste. A friend to his Empire and his God, to the final breath.

It is the wishes of the Anjou Estate in this delicate time of mourning that all enquiries or baseless allegations linking the Baron's passage to his love of Anjou Chew™, Cleves Cigars™ or any other Savoyard Smoker™ product be withheld at this time.

CONCERNING THE BARONIAL SUCCESSION

With my passing comes not only the death of the last man to bear the name Ashford de Bar amongst the fair diaspora of Aegis, but also the succession of the fiefdom of Cleves, to continue its inheritance through the ages amongst the heirs of Robert of Drusco since the days of the Fifth Empire upon Axios, by absolute agnatic primogeniture.

That is to say as I depart this world for the Seven, my eldest son, Ghislain Ashford de Anjou, shall serve Our Empire hence as Peer of the Realm and Baron of Cleves. Long may be rule.

By now my other worldly effects shall have been personally distributed amongst my other children, to do with as they will.

Penned and Signed,

Leopold Ashford de Anjou,

Baron of Cleves

THE EXTINCTION OF
HOUSE ASHFORD DE BAR

By GOD’s grace have I been blessed with news from my comely wife of the birth of trueborn triplets.

In keeping with my pledge described in THE FORFEITURE OF DRUSCO,these heirs - though born within the sacred bonds of matrimony - are to be DENIED the name of Ashford de Bar, as the issue of its final scion. 

Hence do I declare the House of Ashford de Bar descended from Leopold Adrian, Second Count of Cleves, EXTINCT.

Hence do I declare the RESTORATION of the House once founded by my ancestor, Robert, First Duke of Drusco and First Count of Cleves, before the burden of Bar fell upon his shoulders.

T H E

E S H A E V E U R D

H O U S E

o f

A S H F O R D  D E  A N J O U

Usque ad die Auspitii, robur in passione invenimus.
 

In its style shall we be known hence,

PATRIARCH Leopold de Anjou, Baron of Cleves (formerly Leopold de Bar).
and
CONSORT Mailor de Anjou, Baroness-Consort of Cleves (formerly Mailor de Bar).

And so shall our heirs shall carry the names, Renault Ashford de Anjou, Ghislain Ashford de Anjou, Richard Baldwin Ashford de Anjou and Sibylla Fausta Ashford de Anjou.

May the name be carried by my sons, and any future sons, by absolute agnatic primogeniture, and by my daughter, and any future daughters, until her wedding day.

AS AEVOS CRUMBLES and the threat of ‘the Mountain’ grows, my wife shall return to her native Aeldin, bringing with her these Anjou successors until such a time they might safely rejoin the diaspora of Aegis upon safer shores. 

Penned and Signed,

Leopold Ashford de Anjou,

Baron of Cleves.

By this granting, the jurisprudence of the Lex Sabaudiae hereby recognizes Leopold Ashford de Anjou as Baron of Cleves, to be extended the rights of feudal protection, defense by lawful trial, and all other underwritten privileges of this legal station, and this shall be extended upon any heirs borne legitimate of his blood and his legitimate brethren.

THE FORFEITURE OF DRUSCO

I, Leopold Adrian Ashford de Bar, sole and direct heir to Robert de Bar, First Duke of Drusco and Leopold de Bar, Second Count of Cleves, being of sound mind, willfully and voluntarily make the following declaration pertaining to the mine own claims of inheritance and the succession of my line:

Article I,

Concerning the ancestral claim upon the Dukedom of Drusco through Robert de Bar, First Duke of Drusco:
 

Henceforth I do personally RENOUNCE and FORBID my heirs of any claim by right of blood upon the Duchy of Drusco, in recognition of the prevailing circumstances:
 

a. That Robert de Bar did forsake his mantle by kinslaying his firstborn son, Ghislain de Anjou, and abandoned his dukedom in self-exile from the Kingdom of Lotharingia thereafter. 

b. That Robert de Bar’s secondborn and eldest surviving son, Leopold de Bar, through whom all living heirs to Robert of Drusco are descended, did retain his father’s County of Cleves upon Tahn though did not lay claim to the Dukedom of Drusco.

c. That Drusco, in its various iterations and stations, has historically belonged to the primary branch of the House of Bar, which after the de Bar restoration upon Almaris was reverted to the direct line of Guy de Bar, King of Oren, and has since fallen back into obscurity following the death of its last known patriarch, Vn. Remus de Bar, Prince of Savoy and Third Duke of Drusco.

d. That Drusco, in its present state following the LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF REMUS ASHFORD DE BAR in 1872, has no claimant by right of blood but the absentee heirs of Lucien Ashford de Bar, mandated by the same document to uphold their claim by right of conquest and in lieu of which has been legitimately escheated by Robert de Rouen, Prince of Savoy & Ulmsbottom and First Archduke of Drusco by rights of both conquest and imperial writ.

Article II,

Concerning the ancestral claim upon the House of Bar through Leopold de Bar, Second Count of Cleves:

Henceforth I declare the name of Ashford de Bar FORBIDDEN to my heirs, establishing:

a. That my sole trueborn son, Branimar Enswerp, has forsaken the name of Ashford de Bar and taken the name of his wife, thus barring himself and his children from any claim to the ancient House of Bar.

b. That with the death of my wife, Elizabeth Ashford de Bar, I shall sire no further children by the name Ashford de Bar.

c. That any future children or grandchildren to survive me shall be denied the name of Ashford de Bar.

d. That I, aware of no other surviving heirs of Robert of Drusco but myself, shall for the remainder of my days be the last of his line to bear the name Ashford de Bar, and do assert that the scion line of the House of Bar shall become EXTINCT with my death; that the true House of Bar may only be found thereafter amongst the direct successors of Guy de Bar, King of Oren.

Article III,

Concerning the future claims of my heirs:

Henceforth for any children or grandchildren to survive me I PRESERVE these rights of blood, to be exercised as you deem fit:

a. To restore the Ashford cadet House of Anjou, made prior extinct upon Tahn with Ghislain Henri de Anjou and Claus Frederick de Anjou whom both died childless, as well as the First Duke of Drusco's re-assumption of and primacy over the House of Bar as recognised by the Lotharingian Crown, and as survived by the Second Count of Cleves and his heirs to the time of this declaration.
b. To petition for the restoration of the County of Cleves, in lieu of any existent escheated claimants or imperial mandates.

Long have we of St. Lucien's brood been plagued by pretenders, squabblers and endless scion relatives.

May this declaration spare the future from further inefficacy and bloodshed.

GOD bless the Savoyards.

Penned and Signed,
Leopold Adrian Ashford de Bar,
Final Scion of the House of Bar in the Year of Our Lord, 2037.