[LMB] About Gregor

[Michael R N Dolbear]

> From: Jim Parish <jparish at siue.edu>
> Date: 19 April 2008 00:26
> 
> Peter Granzeau wrote:
> 
> > Here and now, there is but one single tradition of a monarch who
> > abdicates into retirement:  queens of the Netherlands have done so
> > (Wilhelmina and Juliana, anyway--we don't yet know how Beatrix feels
> > about it).  I don't believe any other monarch has ever gone into
> > retirement, although there have of course been monarchs forced to
> > leave (Leopold III of Belgium, for instance).
> 
> Hmm? What bounds are you putting on this? The Emperor Diocletian 
> comes to mind, and Pope Celestine V; both of those were voluntary. 
> (Diocletian was apparently worn out, and Celestine decided he wasn't 
> fit for the job.)

At least one Hapsburg Emperor (Charles V, 1500-1558) retired, handing over
Austria and the HRE to his brother Ferdinand and Spain to his son Phillip,
but there was no tradition

I think the key word for this discussion is "tradition" which means it has
to be done at least twice.

The current Papal tradition is "never abdicate", precisely the reverse, due
to the rival popes that resulted from a previous abdication.

"at least twice" from [Memory ch 20] of course.

"I got used to it." Illyan smiled ironically, staring down across the
sunlit grass. "Almost my first job, when your father promoted me to Chief
of ImpSec, was to investigate the murder of my predecessor. Come to think
of it, that could be said to have been Negri's first job too. Doubtless
made easier by the fact that he helped engineer the murder of his
predecessor, but still. Anything done twice on Barrayar is a tradition. I
believe I got off lightly. I never thought I'd get out of this job alive,
though your father's retirement, last year, was rather inspiring."


Little Egret