Noble Senate of Aurice

The Noble Senate of Aurice is one of the oldest surviving aristocratic assemblies in the history of the Pallathantic Region. Its origins are traced back to the late fourteenth century when the ruling merchant families of the island city convened to cooperate and form the first central government. In 2627, the Noble Senate declared sovereignty and abolished the grand ducal monarchy. The independence was confirmed in 2634 with the Battle of Kadraskan. The Noble Senate remains today as the sovereign ruling body of the Aurician Empire with the power to establish and appoint all officers of the Noble Republic of Aurice and direct power over the city of Aurice, although this is typically delegated to governors. By condescension, the Noble Senate acknowledges the viceviles elected in the vicifs in the capital city.

The Noble Senate is composed of members or peers who hold the office of senator and one or more noble ranks. Traditionally, the noble ranks of Aurice, similar to Throvy, are duke, count, baron, and metropolitan. The rank of metropolitan was created in 2559 by the Thracian Vice-royal Duke Baimund Kaligär with the intent of diluting the power of the other peers in order to make the senate more pliable to his policies. Unlike the other noble peerages, only a minority of Aurician Metropolitans hold the office of senator. The High Phœnissa becomes a duchess in her own right upon ascension and is made a senatrice with full powers. Other officers of the government on rare occasion may be ennobled by the senate, although they are often already members of the senate.

The Noble Senate of Aurice has power to deliberate and create new legislation. The senate appoints the highest ranking officers, including the Lord Governor-General of Aurice. Despite its sovereignty, the senate has been compelled to share some powers with the Provincial Curia, including the selection of the Lieutenant Governor-General of Aurice.

The senators are drawn from numerous aristocratic families whose emergence into the ruling class reflects the changing fortunes of the city of Aurice through the centuries. Most families are of ancient, native Throvian blood, but a large minority are drawn from Thracian ancestry, having obtained their ranks from the Kings of Thrace or more often from the Vice-Royal Duke appointed by the King of Thrace during the twenty fourth and twenty fifth centuries. Of those remaining, some are Incarnandist from the time of the Fifth Isbajath and others of Medibgösk ancestry, with the smallest portion belonging to Ersercese and other neighboring lands whose members purchased their offices from the ruling duke, usually with the assent of the Noble Senate.

Although styled sovereign, the Noble Senate today shares some of its powers with the Provincial Curia and the provincial parliaments. In 2722, the powerful corpora mercia of Aurice demanded representation in the Senate, inspired in part by the Narsadese Shu'ah composed of mercantile entities. Their demands were staunchly resisted by both the Noble Senate and the Provincial Curia, but the influence of the corpora mercia persists.

See Also

• Aurice
• Aurician Parliamentary Reforms and Expansion of Suffrage
• Aurician Senator
• Aurician Social Classes
• Grand Duchy of Aurice
• List of the Rulers of Aurice
• Mensary
• Noble Republic of Aurice
• Senatorial Palace of Aurice