"Alas! Though the land of Sigmar was weak and divided none would give up their claims to the crown. IN THE YEAR 1979 THE ELECTORS CHOSE MAGRITTA OF MARIENBURG AS THEIR NEW EMPRESS. The Grand Theogonist was much vexed by this choice, for he was of the kind much opposed to the raising of women to the throne of Sigmar and he did refuse her the crown, though many said it was not his right but that of the Counts alone. Yet his voice was not without influence, and so each Count went his own way and each was divided from each other. The land of Sigmar was riven by war and rivalry. Many powerful cities did look to their own means for defence in those times, and the merchants and usurers did profit overmuch."
- —Excerpt from Old Reikhard's Almanac. Parte II, by Reikhard of Gotham[4a]
Magritta of Marienburg, who claimed the regnal name Empress Magritta I[6], was the Elector Countess of Westerland during the Age of Three Emperors, and became a candidate for the throne of the Empire in 1979 IC, when she was just a child. Yet the Grand Theogonist of the Cult of Sigmar refused to sanction her crowning as empress, which resulted in a disputed succession to the Imperial throne and the outbreak of a period of disunity and factional civil war in the Empire known as the "Dark Ages" that lasted from 1979 until 2304 IC, ending with Magnus the Pious' victory in the Great War Against Chaos when he was elected the first emperor in over three hundred years.[2a][3a]
History[]
The Barony of Westerland in the 23rd century IC, during the rule of Magritta VI.
Lady Magritta of Marienburg was brought up by the Sisters of Sigmar, the only female warrior order of the Cult of Sigmar.[3e] In the year 1979 IC, when she was still a child[2a][5a], the secretive High Order of Honourable Freetraders, a large, rich, and ambitious body of men that felt themselves shackled by the old order and were eager to seize power for themselves, exerted their unseen influence throughout the Empire to persuade all the minor Elector Counts to support Magritta's claim to the Imperial throne[3d] against those of the Elector Counts of Middenland, Reikland and Sylvania.[3c]
This would allow them to establish a new ruling assembly that would give the mercantile classes the political authority to match their wealth.[3b] However, the Grand Theogonist of Sigmar, Vilgrim III,[9b] refused to acknowledge the appointment[2a][4a][5a][7a] according to the doctrine of male ascent which held that no woman could wear Sigmar's crown.[3a][4a] Since empresses had been elected before, it is possible that another factor in his decision was Magritta's sympathy towards the Sisters of Sigmar who had raised her, as they were being decried as witches and unworthy bearers of Sigmar's holy word.[3e] At the time, it was said the Grand Theogonist secretly coveted not only spiritual but also temporal power over the Empire.[3b]
When a Twin Tailed Comet of warpstone crashed into the city of Mordheim in Ostermark in 1999 IC, the discovery that this substance had the power to turn base metals to gold led all the major claimants, including Lady Magritta, to sponsor mercenary adventurers to recover what warpstone they could.[3a] By then, her rivalry with the Elector Counts of Middenland and Reikland was so bitter that it was rare to find men from different places even encamped together around Mordheim, and practically unheard of to find men from one land fighting in the same warband as men from another.[3c]
This power struggle effectively ended the Imperial electoral system, and the Elector Counts did not meet again for over four hundred years, until Magnus the Pious rose to power in 2303 IC and unified the Empire for the Great War against Chaos, being elected as emperor in the wake of the conflict.[2a][6b][7a]
During this time, known as the "Dark Ages," the Imperial cities governed their own affairs and many of the larger towns became prosperous under the leadership of burgomeisters elected from the mercantile classes and other wealthy citizens. The power of the Elector Counts declined as that of the burgomeisters grew, and many cities began to recruit their own troops.[2a][7a] For all intents and purposes, the Empire ceased to exist as a unified realm under a single emperor. With Sigmar's people divided into petty, squabbling fiefdoms, the Empire was easy prey and its enemies gathered like carrion eaters around a corpse.[5a]
During these years, Magritta of Marienburg lent her support to the Fellowship of the Shroud, a secretive order of Vampire Hunters, sponsoring their activities.[8a]
During her reign, the empress commissioned a massive bronze statue to celebrate her triumph of ascension in the face of the opposition from the Cult of Sigmar. She ordered the statue to be created twice as high as that of Sigmar himself, and many a shrine in Reikland had to give up their bronze bells to supply material for the casting. Her successors, weak despots of the Dark Ages, were considering how to alter the statue when the ground beneath it gave way and two-thirds of it sank into the ground. Legend says that on the night of this so-called "Big Plunge," even the statue of Sigmar was seen to smirk.[9a]
Located in the Königplatz of Altdorf, the statue provides a little-known entrance into the Imperial capital's undercity. This is a closely-held secret of the city's criminal elements.[9a][9c]
The Empress Magritta's Anchor Tax was an unpopular edict decalred during her reign, implemented just briefly before being abandoned as unworkable. The Prime Estates announced that the Elector Counts would not persist in collecting it despite Magritta's protests.[9d]
Canon Conflict[]
In both Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Sigmar's Heirs[6b] and Warhammer Armies: The Empire (8th Edition)[7a], Magritta is stated to have been elected as "emperor", even though all previous editions explicitly say she was an "empress" -- with Mordheim[3a] and Warhammer Armies: The Empire (6th Edition)[4a] even going so far as to say the Grand Theogonist refused her the crown due to her gender.
Also, on page 17 of Sigmar's Heirs she is referred to as "Grand Countess Margraritha of Nuln," who was chosen empress by a "rump council" of Elector Counts and was not recognised as the Imperial monarch outside of Wissenland, Stirland and Averland, leading the Grand Theogonist to declare the office vacant.[6a] This name had also been used in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: The Enemy Within, although her province of origin is never mentioned, and in the very next page she is called Magritta as well.[1a]
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Altdorf, Crown of the Empire mistakenly calls her Magritta of Nuln.[9b]
Trivia[]
Magritta could be a reference to Margaret Thatcher, who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom between 1979 and 1990.
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: The Enemy Within (RPG)
- 1a: pp. 11-12
- 2: Warhammer Armies: The Empire (4th Edition)
- 2a: pg. 8
- 3: Mordheim (Specialist Game)
- 4: Warhammer Armies: The Empire (6th Edition)
- 4a: pg. 59
- 5: Warhammer Armies: The Empire (7th Edition)
- 5a: pg. 10
- 6: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Sigmar's Heirs (RPG)
- 7: Warhammer Armies: The Empire (8th Edition)
- 7a: pg. 16
- 8: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: The Thousand Thrones (RPG)
- 8a: pg. 158
- 9: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Altdorf, Crown of the Empire (RPG)