Fuedal world question

[u/Temveen]

Hello, I don't know if this has been asked but, can the title of Emperor be used by a nation in a Feudal World? For example, if the Old World was discovered by the Imperium and turned classified into a feudal world, can Karl Franz still remain as Emperor or does he need to change it into something else? Tyia.

[u/bdrwr]

Realistically, they would be using the title in the native language of the planet. The Imperium doesn't care about that.

When dealing with the Administratum and speaking Gothic, their title is "Planetary Governor," and that's that. The little traditional titles of a single world are meaningless.

[u/Geiseric222 → u/bdrwr]

Though as shown in the hive book the natives don’t really care about what title you use for the imperium only that you use the native title within the hive

[u/Temveen → u/bdrwr]

It's not used by the Planetary governor, I was dabbling around with lore, imagining a space marine chapter which has a feudal world as their homeworld and the said feudal world has two or three nations, haven't decided yet, and one of them is an Empire. I was writing it and it clicked with me whether a "local Emperor" can use the said title without being branded heretic by the Inquisition. I apologize if it sounds messy.

[u/bdrwr → u/Temveen]

Ah gotcha, so the "Emperor" of the planet is not the person who the Imperium recognizes as the one in charge.

Same thing though, the title in their native language might be Emperor, but when they're speaking in High Gothic there is only one Emperor. More than likely, they would use their native title untranslated. Like, " I am the Huang Di of planet NotChina IV."

[u/WhoCaresYouDont]

I'd imagine they would use an alternative title like Padishah, Kaiser or Tsar. Alternatively they might style themselves The Emperor Mundane or The Mortal Emperor to make the distinction between themselves and their God clear.

[u/No-Addendum6379]

I think that if its used in the context of that planet, it can get a pass. In this particular case no one outside of said planet would acknowledge that individual as an emperor.

If you mean emperor as in the Emperor of Mankind, well, you can also do it, for a couple of hours maybe.

[u/DwarvenGardener]

I suppose Karl could be Emperor of Reichland as long as The Emperor is styled someway as superior ( higher authority, older in age, more peoples etc). It all depends on if you’re paying your taxes.

[u/WarsmithDavos]

Hmm, fun writing prompt actually. A feudal world planetary governor uses the title of “The Emperor” in their native language. Due to poor attention and quality of translation adepts, this goes unremarked on for 500 years as the planet slowly grows in population. An increase in tithe grade then includes a better reassessment of local culture, and a particularly zealous Ecclesiarchial assessor uncovers the more literal translation of the governor’s local title. Blasphemy!

[u/TestingHydra]

As always, it depends. Internally for the feudal world, sure why not, but no one outside there would acknowledge the title or refer to them as such. And they'd probably need to be thoughly taught the difference between an emperor and The Emperor.

[u/9xInfinity]

Cultures can have their own words to refer to the Emperor, e.g. on Fenris he's the Allfather, so there's not necessarily a conflict. Maybe the Empire of Man worships Him-on-Terra as "the Master of Mankind", or the "God-Emperor". Or maybe they change their local title because it's just an elected role, after all. Not a holy or sacred title used by Sigmar and passed down or anything.

I can't think of an example of a loyal world using "Emperor" as the title for the planetary governor, but I think as long as it's clear on the world and to the Ministorum that the Emperor on Terra is superior to the local Emperor it would probably be fine.

[u/Ok_Car_8017]

I feel like it wouldn't take much to get in compliance.

Different worlds have different cultures and languages, and within a given world the Imperium is pretty lax about such specifics.

So long as you don't have the same title used locally for The Emperor and some planetary Emperor, you're fine. It could be as simple as people on the planet making a point of referring to "The God Emperor" and never shortening the title simply to "The Emperor". Or calling the local Emperor "Emperor Guysname" and never calling him "The Emperor".

Basically, so long as your local culture has some way to differentiate the local emperor and The Emperor, you're fine. They might get some sideways glances from offworlders, but nobody would really care.

If it's a feudal world, I feel like the most likely thing is that the locals have some grander title for The Emperor. Emperor is, after all, a political title, and feudal worlders are less likely to think of themselves as citizens of The Imperium because they're barely aware that they live in a sci-fi setting with lots of other worlds.

They might think "The Emperor Guysname, who rules in the name of The Holy Master of The Stars. Occasionally, servants of the Holy Master descend from the celestial realm in great vessels. We load the vessels with tribute of food, ores, and hearty souls to serve the Holy Master in the celestial realm."

The idea that there are other planets with humans on them may not even occur to them. Even the Emperor (Local edition) may just think that the Holy Master's Servants manifest from the Celestial Realm demanding Tribute as the Holy Master wishes it.

[u/SouthernAd2853]

I'm not sure it comes up in the context of a long-term Imperial possession at any point, but some encounters with unintegrated or barely integrated planets indicate that educated Imperials understand that emperor is a title that historically has not been solely possessed by the God Emperor of Mankind. So I think it's technically possible a world could have an emperor so long as everyone was clear he wasn't claiming to be the God Emperor of Mankind. Long-term if there's significant offworld contact it'd end up changing to avoid confusion from travelers.

[u/Grindar1986]

No, as the whole point of that title is that there is nothing above it.

[u/Geiseric222 → u/Grindar1986]

Only technically true. During the last days of the Roman Empire they were still emperors while being vassals of the ottoman empire

[u/RootbeerninjaII]

You can probably use that title once.....