Empire-in-fact
The Empire-in-fact is a legal term describing the current state of the Holy Levantine Empire, and it is commonly used in political contexts to refer to the Empire as a legal fiction. The term originates from the Treaty of Corcra, which among many other provisions provides that the "Empire-in-fact persists in the person of the Emperor."
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Concept
The Empire-in-fact, as the terms of the Treaty of Corcra suggest, refers to the fact that the Holy Levantine Empire no longer exists as a distinct geopolitical body as it did between the medieval period and the Second Great War. The discontinuation of the Empire occurred during the war as a compromise poisiton to end fighting in Dericania. The concept sets forth the legal fiction for the Empire's survival beyond that conflict by providing that the Empire persists in the person of the Emperor of the Levantines; this not only sets forth the pre-existing notion that the Emperor holds the Empire's sovereignty, but also introduced the new reality that the Emperor as an individual man was the only person subject to the Empire, including its laws, customs, and traditions. As per the terms of the treaty, the title would be held by the person of the Apostolic King of Urcea in perpetuity.
The Empire-in-fact was devised by Treaty of Corcra negotiators not only to provide the continued Imperial dignity and prestige to the Apostolic King, but also to provide a legal framework for Urcea to reform and abolish its Imperial laws (ranging from trade regulations to religious tolerance edicts of the Imperial Diet) and replace them with domestic and, eventually, Levantine Union laws. Other nations handled this problem differently, but those processes were largely beyond the confines of the Treaty of Corcra as the coalescing Deric States were functionally new states with no preexistent legal code. The Empire-in-fact also allowed certain institutions to continue functioning; within Urcea, it allowed for the continued legal status and name of the Royal and Imperial Army, the continued existence of the Imperial War College as a pan-Levantine institution, and the Imperial Order of the Holy Cross. Additionally, the Empire-in-fact allowed the Apostolic King to continue using the title "Elector" of Canaery and allowed him to authorize any other individual to employ the title "Elector" without being directly subject to the legal fiction.
The Imperial dignity conferred by the title of Emperor gives the Apostolic King of Urcea a number of powers that are not explicitly delinated within the Treaty of Corcra but were reasonably foreseen by its authors. Most prominently, the continuation of the Imperial title would prove valuable to the later Levantine Union's Cort de Antics, which legally requires nominal Imperial recognition of titles in order to conclude its work. The authority of the Emperor to recognize certain individual's titles would extend to his authority to elevate and legitimize certain new titles, as happened twice in the 21st century: Telucti I becoming King of Quetzenkel during The Deluge, and; the establishment of Royal dignity for the Kingdom of Lapody following the Dissolution of the Deric States.
Legacy
The Empire-in-fact not only provided a mutually amicable way to end the Second Great War in Dericania, but also had the practical legal and prestige effect of recognizing Urcea's elevation to being one of the world's superpowers. It solidified the Apostolic King of Urcea's ability to claim a kind of universal monarchy and universal defender of the faith, giving legitimacy to House de Weluta's long-held pretensions of being the definitive "Catholic monarchy." While Sarpedonic scholars have generally dismissed this argument, both Levantine and Coscivian scholars have argued since the Second Great War that this symbolic elevation implemented a fundamental change in the psyche of both the average Urcean and the Apostolic Kings themselves. In traditional precedence, it also made the Apostolic King of Urcea the equal of the Imperator of Caphiria in dignity, a point that would later take a religious and geopoltiical aspect with the Easterspheres.
The Empire-in-fact became a relevant issue to Urcean domestic politics and global geopolitics as well during the 21st century. Much of Urcea's general national authority over some states in Crona that occurred during The Deluge originated from Riordan VIII's particular personal authority and prestige as Emperor. This most controversially took the form of Telucti I offering homage to Riordan as Emperor rather than Apostolic King to signify Quetzenkel's status relative to Urcea. Many socialist Levantines and especially the Social Labor Party of Urcea have expressed significant alarm regarding what they argue is a "renewal of Imperial prerogative."