View source for Imperial Decree 26-005

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<div class="gl-legal-record">
<div class="gl-legal-kicker">IMPERIAL DECREES · TENTH IMPERIUM</div>
<div class="gl-legal-title">IMPERIAL DECREE 26-005</div>
<div class="gl-legal-subtitle">Sovereign Great Houses, Nobility, and Imperial Dignities</div>
<div class="gl-legal-authority">His Most Imperial Majesty Rasim Aeon, Emperor and Grand Sovereign of the Aksum Imperium</div>
</div>

{| class="wikitable gl-record-meta"
! Instrument
| Imperial Decree 26-005
|-
! Given
| 7 October 2026 CE · 18 YI
|-
! Status
| Current and Effective
|-
! Imperial Code
| Codification pending
|-
! Great Seal Registry
| GS-2026-006
|}

<div class="gl-source-note">'''Official publication copy.''' Codification remains a separate legal event. The authenticated source text controls over editorial presentation.</div>

== Preamble ==

WHEREAS the Sovereign Great Houses and noble institutions of the Imperium survived the Fracture in law notwithstanding interruption of administration, records, membership, or stewardship;
WHEREAS the Constitution distinguishes Sovereign Great House dignity, territorial government, personal nobility, and delegated authority;
WHEREAS the Tenth Imperium requires a restored and orderly House and nobility framework;
NOW, THEREFORE, We do hereby decree:

== Article I — The Imperial House ==
1. House Aeon is reaffirmed as the Imperial House and ruling dynasty of the Aksum Imperium.
2. The Imperial House occupies the apex of the House structure and is distinct from the class of Sovereign Great Houses.
3. House Aeon shall therefore not be counted merely as one of the thirty-three Sovereign Great Houses.

== Article II — Imperial Noble Dignity and Sovereign Government ==
1. Emperor and Empress are noble and Imperial dignities.
2. Grand Sovereign is the supreme governing office of the Aksum Imperium.
3. Vice Grand Sovereign is a governing office and is not a separate grade of nobility.
4. The same person may simultaneously hold an Imperial noble dignity and a governing office.
5. Authority exercised by the Grand Sovereign derives from the governing office and the Constitution, not merely from possession of the noble title Emperor.
6. The Empress shall hold the office of Vice Grand Sovereign only through lawful appointment to that office; the governing authority of the Vice Grand Sovereign derives from that appointment and Imperial law.
7. The style of the present Emperor and Grand Sovereign, Rasim Aeon, is His Most Imperial Majesty.

== Article III — Sovereign Great Houses ==
1. The restored constitutional order recognizes thirty-three Sovereign Great Houses associated with the thirty-three Realms of the Imperium.
2. House Aksum is recognized as a Sovereign Great House associated with Realm Aksum and is institutionally distinct from House Aeon.
3. The lawful Sovereign, proprietor where applicable, succession, territorial association, dignity, and status of each House shall be recorded through the appropriate registers and legal instruments.
4. Association with a Realm does not automatically confer the office of Chief High Regent.

== Article IV — House and Family Classification ==
The recognized House and family classification hierarchy is: Imperial House; Great House; Major House; High House; Principal House; Noble House; Minor House; Clan; Sub-Clan; Honored Family; Family; Proto-Family; and Kinship.

== Article V — Classification and Government ==
1. House classification does not itself create governmental office or jurisdiction.
2. Territorial stewardship does not itself change House classification.
3. A House may possess a classification without currently holding territorial stewardship.
4. A House may hold territorial stewardship only through lawful grant or authority.
5. A High House may exercise responsibility involving more than one State but shall not be treated as a separate territorial level.

== Article VI — Sovereign Dignity ==
1. Sovereign Great House dignity exists within and beneath the supremacy of the Imperial Crown.
2. Such dignity does not constitute independence from the Imperium.
3. No House may claim sovereign dignity through unsupported self-declaration, possession, inactivity of the Crown, or ancestry alone.
4. Sovereign Great House dignity shall be created, restored, recognized, or confirmed through the proper Imperial instrument.
5. Letters Patent and other required grants of sovereign dignity shall be authenticated under the Great Seal.

== Article VII — Sovereigns, Proprietors, and Succession ==
1. The Sovereign is the current lawful head of a House.
2. Founder, proprietor, beneficiary, sponsor, and heir are distinct statuses.
3. Proprietorship shall exist only where established by lawful grant, authoritative record, or controlling provenance.
4. Proprietorship in a parent House shall not automatically create proprietorship in subordinate or related Houses.
5. Succession and designated-heir records shall remain separately auditable.
6. Proprietorship or heirship does not itself displace the lawful authority of a current Sovereign.

== Article VIII — Nobility ==
1. Individual noble rank is distinct from House classification, governmental office, Imperial Service grade, and territorial stewardship.
2. The recognized Imperial rank system shall govern the hierarchy of personal nobility and citizenship grades.
3. Masculine, feminine, and other lawful forms of the same rank shall not be treated as separate grades merely because the styles differ.
4. Nobility may be granted or advanced through lawful service, merit, inheritance where recognized, Great Game achievement, appointment, or other authorized means.
5. No person shall acquire noble rank by unsupported self-declaration.

== Article IX — Regency and House Sovereignty ==
1. House sovereignty and territorial regency are distinct.
2. A Sovereign may serve as Chief High Regent when lawfully appointed.
3. A Chief High Regent need not be the Sovereign of the associated Great House.
4. Neither dignity automatically creates the other.

== Article X — Grants and House Instruments ==
Individual Houses, dignities, regencies, successions, honors, and House authorities may be established or confirmed through Letters Patent, Grants, Charters, Commissions, Appointments, or other appropriate instruments rather than repeated Imperial Decrees.

== Article XI — Great Game ==
The Great Game may affect eligibility, standing, advancement, stewardship, honor, or House elevation, but no score or competitive result alone creates noble dignity, government office, regency, or Sovereign status without the required legal instrument.

== Article XII — Effective Date ==
This Decree shall take effect upon execution by the Grand Sovereign, authentication under the Great Seal, registration, and official publication.

=== All This By My Hand ===
'''VI ET ANIMO — BY STRENGTH AND COURAGE'''

'''His Most Imperial Majesty Rasim Aeon'''
'''Emperor and Grand Sovereign of the Aksum Imperium'''

Given at the Imperial Court this seventh day of October 2026 CE, in the Eighteenth Year of the Imperium (18 YI).


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