Star Kingdom of Manticore
|
|
The Star Kingdom of Manticore, also known as Manticore and abbreviated as SKM, is a fictional human star-nation in the "Honorverse", the setting for a series of books written by David Weber and published by Baen Books.
| Contents |
History
Manticore began as a slow boat (sublight ship) colony sent from Earth. It was particularly well planned, however, and money was left on Earth in case faster transport was developed while the slow boats were in transit. It was, and the arriving colonists found themselves greeted by employees already building infrastructure on Manticore, the most temperate of the three habitable planets orbiting the two stars in the system. Not long thereafter, there was a plague (probably locally derived) which killed more than half of the population, setting the colony back substantially.
It was in reaction to that circumstance that the aristocratic dominated monarchical polity was begun, as new colonists invited to make up for the losses of the plague were not intended to be part of the power structure. It was these colonists (the Yeomen, in current SKM parlance) from whom much of the current population is descended. These plans of aristocratic control went awry when Elizabeth I, the second monarch, proved to be better at political manuvering than the nobility. After her, the SKM had an effective monarchy, not merely a figurehead.
Political structure
SKM is a constitutional monarchy. Its current ruler is a queen (Elizabeth III). Parliament consists of an upper house (Chamber of Lords) whose membership is hereditary, and a lower house (the Commons) whose members are elected.
The Crown is the Head of State of the Star Kingdom. The Crown´s executive power is exercised by the Cabinet, led by a Prime Minister who must command a majority in the House of Lords.
Policy making in the Star Kingdom is severely hampered by the many compromises needed to satisfy the major parties. One example is the annexation of the planet Medusa, which could not be formally annexed so as not to anger the Liberal Party. Another example is the declaration of war against the People´s Republic of Haven; the Conservative Association refused to vote for the declaration until Captain Pavel Young, (who was the son of a high-ranking party member) was cleared from a court-martial which was certainly going to sentence him to death for cowardice in the battlefield.
Manticore´s six major political parties are:
- The Centrist Party, which favors a tough anti-Havenite foreign policy and a conservative domestic policy of fiscal restraint. The Centrists have been behind Manticore´s naval expansion and have been the driving force behind the foundation of the Manticoran Alliance.
- The Crown Loyalists, whose main concern and litmus test for any measure is the preservation of the Crown´s power. The Crown Loyalists usually form coalitions with the Centrists.
- The Liberal Party, which seeks to implement some welfare state measures and distrusts the military. Their paramount tenet in foreign policy is that ¨violence never solves anything¨.
- The Conservative Association, a reactionary political faction which actively resists any measure that might threaten the privileges of the aristocracy in general and the House of Lords in particular. Their foreign policy is isolationist.
- The Progressive Party, which opposes deficit spending like the Centrists, but wishes to reduce military spending and have no interest in foreign policy. The Progressives also believe that any hope of surviving a war against Haven is insane.
- The ¨New Men¨ Party, a faction which opposes the concentration of power in the hands of the aristocracy and ¨the powers that be¨. They are a sort of wild card in Manticoran politics; siding with whichever faction they believe will favor their interests in the Lords and Commons.
Foreign affairs
SKM is allied with:
- Grayson from... to present.
- Erewhon from... to...
- Andermani Empire from... to...
- minor powers
SKM is at war with:
- Republic of Haven from... to... and from... to present.
- People's Republic of Haven from... to...
- Masada from... to...
SKM is at cold war with:
SKM is neutral towards:
Location
Its home system is Manticore system – a binary star system.
Its major systems and planets:
- home system:
- Manticore A 3: Manticore a temperate planet with an exceptionally mild climate; gravitation is 1G
- Manticore A 4: Sphinx a cool planet with a very long year and very harsh winters; native species include the intelligent treecats; gravitation is 1.35G
- Manticore B 4: Gryphon a cool planet with more than Terran axial tilt, resulting in extreme seasons; slightly higher than 1G gravity
- Basilisk System: the system closest to one of the Manticore Nexus terminals
- Medusa inhabited by an intelligent species (Medusans) still in the Stone Age (or equivalent) when discovered
In the course of the history told in the novels and stories, the SKM also acquires:
- A large portion of the chaotic star nation of Silesia, although it is not specified how much.
- The Trevor's Star system (one of the termini of the Manticore Wormhole Junction) within the current boundaries of the Republic of Haven.
- San Martin the heaviest gravity world inhabited by humans, formerly independent, then conquered and occupied by the Republic of Haven. It requested, and was granted, membership in the Star Kingdom after the Havenites were evicted by the Alliance. It is the inhabited world of the Trevor's Star system.
- the Talbott cluster:
- a group of stars with several inhabited planets very near the border of the Solarian League, but some hundreds of light years away from the Manticore system; one star system (Lynx) is very close to the last discovered Manticore Wormhole Junction terminus. The cluster also requested Star Kingdom annexation / membership as a better alternative to incorporation into the Solarian League as 'frontier worlds' without full membership.
Economy
SKM is the owner/operator of the Manticore Wormhole Junction, a volume of space with access to seven wormholes. It is the largest (nr of termini) Junction known. These provide "shortcuts" through interstellar space between Phoenix (in Solarian League space), Gregor (in the Andermani Empire), Trevor's Star (within the space controlled by the 'expanded' Republic of Haven), Basilisk, Lynx (in the Talbott Cluster), Beowulf (also in the Solarian League), Matapan (which we know nothing about),and Manticore itself.
Tariffs and transit fees paid by ships passing through the Junction are an important part of the SKM government's income.
Military
Its space navy is known as Royal Manticoran Navy.
Famous people
External link
- Official forum (http://bar.baen.com)