Mery Tattersall

Mery Tattersall was the result of a political marriage between Yenise Löwenger and Eduardo Tattersall. At the time, Idara Tattersall controlled a bloc of about 25 votes in the Imperial Council, votes which were desperately needed by the unraveling Carroll Coalition. The Tattersall allies, who generally steered a middle course between the Throne and its chief opponents, agreed to support Yosef Löwenger and, later, Yenise, against the Elendan-led opposition which wished to make peace with the Patalanian Union.

In 391 the Imperial Council passed a Succession Act which named Mery as Yenise's Heir. The same Act also, as a matter of routine, named Eduardo Tattersall as Regent in case Mery was too young to take the Throne.

Yenise had little interest in her daughter or her ; she left Mery to be raised by Eduardo under the vague supervision of other Carroll elders.

Idara Tattersall won their gamble in 401 when Yenise died while Mery was only 11. Under the terms of the Succession Act, Eduardo took on the mantle of Regent, while at the same time he moved Mery firmly away from the influence of the Carrolls. Eduardo's Regency lasted until 406, when Mery passed her adulthood tests and took on the Crown. (Eduardo remained Mery's most trusted advisor until his own premature death in 411.)

Eduardo's Regency was a time of quiet anticipation and political suspense, as Eduardo worked to balance the two factions -- Carroll and Opposition -- against one another. By skillfully adjusting appropriations, Eduardo was able to beef up the local Navy forces of Borshall, New Sardinia, Credix, and Geled -- the Provinces which adjoined the Patalanian Union, and the sites of the heaviest fighting. At the same time, he allowed the Provosts to increase their control over Navy forces in their Provinces, thus satisfying those of the Provosts who wanted more autonomy. Eduardo began a strategy of "defense only" -- under his rule (and, subsequently, for the rest of Mery's reign), the Empire ceased attacking Union worlds and did not intrude into Union space.

In TE 406, days before she turned 16, Mery took and passed her adulthood tests; she formally ascended to the Throne on her sixteenth birthday (although, thanks to her rigorous training and daily stints under the Memory Crown, she appeared to onlookers like a woman of thirty.)

Mery continued Eduardo's policy of political neutrality, balancing one party against the other while all the time trying to keep the Empire together and defend it against the Union.

In order to placate Opposition forces, who still formally called for peace with the Union, Mery agreed to the Succession Act of TE 406 which named her cousin Carles Castiligoni as Imperial Heir. (The same Act, as a major concession to Carroll forces, named Thomas Carroll as Heir's Heir.)

In all her dealings, Mery tried to steer a middle course. Personally, she was a calm and diginified person, and after the juvenile excesses of Yenise's reign, she brought a sense of style and decorum back to the Throne. During Mery's reign, a new restrained style of fashion and furniture swept the Empire; it is referred to by historians as Regency or Tattersall Style.

By force of personality and skillful politics, Mery Tattersall soothed the Imperial Council and the Provosts, and restrained the growing power of the Idara. Beginning in TE 412, she held an annual summit meeting between Galactic leaders -- she and Union President Pola Masilek were the chief attendees, but the summits also included the Adjutor of Elendan and the leaders of Odonia, Sedante, and Teleskany. Largely as a result of these summits, hostilities between Union and Empire slowed down.

Mery's reign, which had begun in a hostile atmosphere with all sides waiting for the other shoe to drop, turned out to be a period of relative peace and quiet -- just what the Empire needed.

In 419, at the chronological age of 38 and the biological age of 100, Mery Tattersall passed the Crown to her Heir, Carles Castiligoni, then closed her eyes and died peacefully. She was mourned throughout the Galaxy; even in the Patalanian Union flags were lowered and the President declared a tenday of mourning.