Isabel Baruch; A Biography

[ncarr 2806]

 

THE LADY PALATINE

Duchess Isabel Baruch of Valwyck

 

A biography on the life of Isabel Baruch as Viscountess of Voron, later Duchess of Valwyck, and Lady Palatine. 

 

Chronicled by; Lady Irena vas Ruthern

 

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CONTENTS 

 

I. Introduction 

II. Early Life

III. Political Career

IV. Resignation and Life after Palatine 

 

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INTRODUCTION

Some months ago the Lady Palatine issued me, and my fellow wards, the hefty task of selecting a woman in Haeseni history who held power in her own right. This led me on a path of prolonged contemplation in who I might choose to read about so extensively, who might be interesting enough after the third or fourth book or essay. At last, though she is not my blood or are we directly in relation aside from her sister, Duchess Margrait (the Duchess of Vidaus by union to the Duke Mikhail var Ruthern, later elevated to Duchess in her own right by her husband), I landed on the Duchess and Palatine Isabel Baruch. 

 

Isabel Alexandra Baruch (Common: Isabella Alexandra; Ayrikiv: Iseabail Leacsaidh) was the eighth Duchess of Valwyck and 33rd Palatine of Hanseti-Ruska. Upon her inheritance, she was the second Matriarch of Baruch after her mother, Princess Anastasya Isabel Barbanov, who was elevated to Co-Duchess alongside the Duke, Isabel’s father, Duke Eirik Baruch. She was the second Lady Palatine after Marcella Barclay who served for two years, 63 years prior. She served as Palatine for 15 years and as Duchess for 17, during which she published a number of edicts and led the Kingdom, alongside King Karl III, in Haense’s involvement in the Successor’s War. Following her abdication, she retired to Valwyck and aided in the construction of Lollybroch, a holding belonging to Baruch. 

 

She lived at the frontier of the Karenina movement in her lifetime, and stands still as a pillar of the rise of absolute primogeniture being written into law in Haense. 

 

EARLY LIFE

Childhood and Family

Born on the 4th of Msitza and Dargund, 401 E.S. on the same day as her cousin, Lord Branimar Andrik Barbanov-Bihar, and announced in an untraditional way by her mother, twin sister to the Lord Branimar’s father, as the stars had aligned to give them children on the same day, making them pseudo twins. And thus, their births were announced in tandem¹ alongside great elation from the respective households. 

 

It is said that Isabel was betrothed early in her youth to her husband, Maric var Ruthern. Rumors spoke that it was an arrangement formed in a drunken stupor in the crypts of Valwyck between her father and the Duke Rhys of Vidaus. The Dukes pledged a union between son and daughter, and daughter and nephew to solidify an alliance between the two Ducal Houses. It was there that the betrothals of both Isabel, and her younger sister, Margrait, were decided.

 

Isabel spent much of her childhood at Haense’s crown city of Karosgrad in which her mother was a Royal Princess and her father a politician, becoming Lord Palatine a year after his daughter was born. Though, despite their demanding roles in public life, Anastasya and Eirik were still doting parents to their eldest daughter and her sisters. They were a close family, often taking trips together to the country to visit their holding of Lichtestadt, though most of their time was spent in the city. 

 

On one trip in particular, a year after the birth of their twin daughters, Eileen and Freya, there was a visit from the Orenian delegation at the time including the Baron Carrington and his young daughter, Amadea. The two, Isabel and Amadea, were said to be quick friends, and during the future Queen’s many visits between Oren and Karosgrad, she would often visit Isabel and her sisters. 

 

Isabel was quite popular in Karosgrad within the courts, though she did have a short-lived feud with the Princess Maya Cecilya, the youngest of two Royal Princesses at the time, wherein the princess accused the Baruch of witchcraft. Maya received a lot of backlash from the missive despite her young age, and shortly published another striking her previous accusations². 

 

The Karanina Accord

Isabel was born under the reign of King Sigismund III and Queen consort Emma of Jerovitz, denoted in history as a time of great Haeseni prosperity. During this time, only catalysed by Isabel’s birth, one of the chief political discussions was one dear to Queen Emma, being female inheritance. At the time, the Haurul Caezk read; 

 

“Landed titles and their land shall be inherited, whether after death or abdication:

Firstly by the eldest son and his line,

Secondly by the eldest daughter and her line,

Thirdly by the eldest brother and his line,

Fourthly by the eldest sister and her line. . .” 

 

Meaning, at the time of her birth, Isabel was recognized as heir-presumptive, but should the Duke bear a son she, and her younger sisters, would be superseded by him in the Valwyck line of succession. Conversations of female inheritance had begun years prior in Haense’s imperial neighbor, Holy Oren, begun by the Princess Imperial, Elizabeth Anne in her widely popular Rosemoor Convention³  which called for the Orenian laws to recognize a peer’s eldest child as their heir, regardless of gender. The topic quickly gained notoriety in both realms, Northern and Southern alike, where women began to wonder why they’d been skipped over in favor of younger brothers. 

 

News of the radical movement in Oren spread to Haense, striking inspiration in their Queen, Emma of Jervoitz. Thus, she published a missive titled, “The Karenina Accord”⁴ in which she detailed her plan to see Haeseni peers recognize their daughters and sons equally on the matter of inheritance. Akin to their southern counterparts there was some discourse initially when the idea was first discussed. Some lords, fearful of their station as peers of the realm being impeded upon by their elder sisters and others, claimed tradition as their chief reason for standing against the bill. 

 

The first sitting of the Duma to discuss the Karenina Accord was in 410 E.S., only months after a protest in the Karosgrad square had gone awry when a boy, unconnected to the Karenina protestors, started a fire that was quenched just before any serious damage could be caused. The political climate of the time roused many people who were impassioned in either direction. A “Dracomir Rorikov,” in particular, was very vocal against the bill⁵, citing tradition and Haeseni culture as his reason. He was combated with a wall of Karenina lobbyists, namely Princess Anastasya Baruch, Isabel’s own mother, Lady Marie Ruthern, and Queen Emma herself. 

 

After five years of protest in the streets and at court by Queen Emma and the women of Haense, and two separate sessions of the Royal Duma, success was seen at last with a publication from the Office of the Palatine, headed by Duke Eirik, which rewrote the law and changed Haense’s peerage inheritance law to absolute primogeniture⁶  naming Isabel heiress-apparent as opposed to her previous heiress-presumptive.

 

Education

Despite the late nature of her naming as heiress-apparent, Isabel had already begun her studies just as any other heir might have. Her doting father believed in the education of his children, regardless of birth, order, or sex. And so, Isabel was taught as any Lord her age might have been, even joining her father as Deputy Palatine later along in her career. She excelled in diplomacy and went on to aid her father, and later King Karl III, in writing many publications pertaining to foreign politics. 

 

Aside from her formal education, Isabel enjoyed fishing and sailing, two traditional sports within House Baruch, of which the sigil of one of their chief titles, the Barony of Riveryn, depicts two fish leaping from a river. It is assumed that these interests were shared amongst her sisters. 

 

POLITICAL CAREER

Member of the Royal Duma 

417 E.S. - 419 E.S.

Following her extensive education in Haeseni policy, and early introduction into the matters of state by way of her father’s station as Lord Palatine, Isabel decided to run for Royal Alderwoman⁷ at the age of sixteen. In 417 E.S., the Baruch ran a successful campaign for a seat in the Royal Duma with stances to uplift the voices of common folk and protect the wildlife of the Haeseni ecosystem which was a stance not often seen from a member of the noblesse at the time. 

 

Once voted in, Isabel stood for exactly what she promised the Haeseni people. She presented a bill before the Duma which suggested the construction of a Royal Menagerie with a suitable habitat to display animals and educate the people of Haense. There was little debate in the Duma and the bill passed into law unanimously. 

 

Further, she wrote a letter to the Duma about the ongoing feud between Barclay and Ruthern⁸ in which she proposed a series of questions posed to the Duma for debate. The letter included whether or not Aulic councillors should be forced into neutrality which was widely questioned, especially given the station of both the Dukes Ruthern and Barclay respectively. Isabel went on to vote on many matters that pertained to the feud such as a bill condemning the armed Barclay retinue to enter Vidaus, and voted against the participation of household guards in feuds. It is likely that most of her support throughout the series of discussions in the Royal Duma was because of her sister’s station as the betrothed to the Baron of Rostig and heir of Ruthern, Mikhail var Ruthern. For the most part, Isabel seemed most concerned with a controlled environment in which the feud could unfold. She said in one session of the Royal Duma⁹; 

 

“I believe that matters such as these would be settled easily if there was a proper law to resort to regarding House feuds. In the instance that they cannot come to an agreement, that is.” [...] “the law should be expanded upon in cases like these.”

 

After a storied time in the Royal Duma, Isabel was selected to be Envoy to the Vale. To commemorate her achievement both as an ambassador and her tenure as a Royal Alderman, Duke Eirik published the Daughter of the Waters Edict, 419 E.S.¹⁰. In this edict, the Duke elevated Isabel to the station of Viscountess of Voron alongside her mother’s ascension to Duchess of Valwyck in her own right.

 

Domestic Life

420 E.S. - 426 E.S.

Isabel turned eighteen in 419 E.S., and her betrothal to Maric var Ruthern was fulfilled with a wedding in 423 E.S. entitled “A Promise Fulfilled”¹¹. The union was celebrated in tandem with lakeside festivities such as fishing, a favorite of the Baruch bride, and a drunken brawl. It was not long before their union gave way to an heir, only two years after the couple announced the birth of their heir Valdemar Eirik¹² under the cloak of a stormy night. It is said that as the babe let out his first wails of life, lightning struck and thunder cracked akin to a symphony and was seen as an omen by House Baruch.

 

Lady Palatine & Duchess of Valwyck

426 E.S. - 441 E.S.

In 426 E.S. King Karl III invited Isabel to be on his advisory council as Lady Palatine. The second of her kind, preceded by Marcella Barclay as the first Lady Palatine, Isabel gladly accepted and set out alongside King Karl to organize the rest of his advisory council. This came to fruition by a publication from the Crown of Haense in which Isabel was titled Lady Palatine alongside her husband who was raised to the station of Lord Speaker of the House and Matyas Baruch, Isabel’s cousin, as Lord Emissar. Within her first year as Lady Palatine, Isabel issued an Edict of Reform for the Aulic Council¹³. These were peaceful times for Haense, and so the King saw fit to remove the increasingly dormant Office of the Royal Justicar and replace it with the Komptroller of Settlement to aid in the organization of newly allocated citizens. 

 

Despite her great success with the pen, within the same year Isabel was captured by the Ferrymen from Reinmar and held for ransom. The Ferrymen issued a letter to the King of Haense in which they requested five thousand mina for the Lady Palatine’s freedom¹⁴ however the Tripartite Coalition managed to rescue the Palatine by way of raiding the Ferryman keep. Upon her return the Palatine published a missive¹⁵ in which she, alongside other announcements from her palatial office, extended her thanks to the Tripartite Coalition for their valiant efforts in rescuing her. The section read; 

 

“[...] I wish to extend my most heartfelt thanks to the Tripartite Coalition’s efforts. Were it not for your valiant soldiers, I would not be writing this right now. Because of you, my child and I are safe and unharmed. Because of you, my legacy continues. Thank you.”

 

In 427 E.S., Isabel inherited the Duchy of Valwyck from her father following his abdication¹⁶. Two years into her time as Duchess, Isabel saw to the return of House Gant to prominence¹⁷ with Lachlan Baruch-Gant as the head of the minor Ayrikiv House. Much of Isabel’s work as Duchess was to promote the Ayrikiv culture, and with the rise of a secondary Household within the culture, it allowed for further representation across the realm. In this publication, Isabel entitled Lord Lachlan the Baron of Gant and began to see to the construction of a keep within the Ducal lands. House Gant went on to serve as Regents for House Baruch and the Duchy of Valwyck in their time of need and even gave way to a Lord Palatine by way of Lord Otto Baruch, the second Baron of Gant. 

 

Isabel furthered the strength of her House by allying herself with House Ruthern and House Romstun¹⁸ in an Accord to affirm House Romstun’s loyalty to House Baruch after having served as household guards for years prior. 

 

Arguably the largest portion of Isabel’s time as Lady Palatine was spent during the Successor’s War, named for its similarity to the Sinners’ War and its primary belligerents being the successors of those in the Sinners’ War, during which the Kingdom of Haense allied themselves with the Dwarven Grand King and Grand Duke of Balian alongside the efforts of the Ferryman and Silver Lubba mercenary bands. Isabel is mostly credited with her masterful diplomatic manoeuvring in which she managed to isolate the Kingdom of Oren and Krugmar with only minor allies at their side. Following a string of successful diplomatic pacts, creating a coalition called the Eastern Almaris Treaty Organization (E.A.T.O.)¹⁹ which gave the allied nations, and subsequently Haense, leverage over Oren. 

 

The Hoarde²⁰ had knowingly harboured Azdrazis within their realm, and when E.A.T.O. was formed, swiftly sought the protection of the Orenian army, which they were granted. As the leader of a Canonist realm, Karl III saw it as his duty to hold his Heartlander counterparts accountable for their actions. In a missive written alongside Lady Palatine, Isabel Baruch, they address the Kingdom of Oren and Krugmar directly in which they offered the Orenian armies an out²¹, which was ignored. The war only lasted three years and resulted in a Haeseni victory which, after their victory in the Sinners’ War, continued to catalyse the fall of the once Holy Orenian Empire, now Kingdom of Oren. 

 

Following the Successors’ War Isabel’s focus shifted to domestic affairs. Chiefly, in 439 E.S., the Crown of Haense welcomed an unprecedented amount of immigrants due to the instability of the Heartlands and growing popularity of the Realm of Haense. Thus, the Crown published an Edict titled ‘The Weighing of the Scales Edict’²² which reinstated the High Justicar, a role Isabel and King Karl had previously removed from the Aulic Council. This came because of Isabel’s growing discomfort with shouldering the responsibilities of the Office of the Justicar amidst this time of Haeseni populace growth. 

 

The Lady Palatine continued her work in domestic affairs by working alongside Queen Amadea, her childhood friend, in revitalizing the Morrivi Palace library²³. This created the role of Head Librarian, to which Elizaveta Bihar was appointed. This revitalization came following the death of Feodor May which left the Royal Library without anyone at the helm. 

 

RESIGNATION & LIFE AFTER PALATINE

441 E.S. and  444 E.S.

A year after her work alongside Queen Amadea to revitalize the Palace Library, Isabel submitted her resignation in good faith, the office being occupied thereafter by Johanna Barclay. For three years, for the first time in fifteen years, Isabel held only the Duchy of Valwyck and her subsidiary titles. She continued quiet work at Valwyck, including the betrothal of her son²⁴ and seeing to the construction of Lollybroch. In 444 E.S., Isabel abdicated the Duchy of Valwyck to her son, Valdemar²⁵, and continued her work in Lollybroch until her death in 464 E.S..

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¹ [The Royal Twins Children]

² [Notice of Witchery], [Take back of Witchery]

³ [The Rosemoor Convention]

⁴ [The Karenina Accord] 

⁵ [XXXV Session of the Royal Duma] 

⁶ [The Karenina Law] 

⁷ [Isabel Baruch for Alderwoman]

⁸ [A Letter to the Royal Duma] 

⁹ [The XXXVIII Session of the Royal Duma]

¹⁰ [The Daughter of the Waters Edict]

¹¹ [A Promise Fulfilled]

¹² [The Birth of His Lordship, Valdemar Baruch]

¹³ [Edict of Reform]

¹⁴ [The Ferrymen Ransom, A message to Haense]

¹⁵ [The Palatial Report of 428 E.S.] 

¹⁶ [Mother of the Waters Edict] 

¹⁷ [To Break Stagnation] 

¹⁸ [The Crestwatch Accord] 

¹⁹ [E.A.T.O.] 

²⁰ The Orcish nation led by Krugmar. 

²¹ [The Final Gambit] 

²² [The Weighing of the Scales Edict] 

²³ [The Revitalization of the Morrivi Prikaz Library] 

²⁴ [The Unaccordant Espousal] 

²⁵ [A Writ of Abdication] 

 

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Her Grace, the Duchess of Valwyck & Lady Palatine

ISABEL ALEXANDRA BARUCH

 

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[esotericas 2674]

"Hey," Said Manon to herself, "I knew her. Isn't that neat? I'm history now!" 

[MunaZaldrizoti 8037]

The Lady Palatine was more than keen to pay witness to her second ward's completed study, a contented hum sounding from that dour woman as she came to its conclusion. "Very dobry indeed...". A pair of copies were passed along, for Lady Erika and her nephew Karl to peruse respectively.

 

Spoiler

@Toffee @CheekyNolan

 

[Toffee 2843]

Erika Kortrevich read the biography diligently, adding it to her collection of powerful Haeseni women!