Wednesday 15 December 2010

The Elector Spiritual

His Emminence The Elector Spiritual, The Prince-Archbishop of Witzboldfeld, Johan-Louis von Christofberg, Primate of all the German People of the Reich, and some of the habitues  of, and visitors to, his most colourful of courts, seen at the ceremony consecrating of the new colours of the Elector's Guard Grenadiers, so sadly and recently lost at the Battle of Grosser Feuerbach.
The Elector Spiritual and some of his  friends

The Elector spiritual and  offcers of his army

A visiting Katerheimer introduces himself.

The rear view of the chasuble.


The Pistol club

A Hoffmeyer Dragoon officer and other notables.

15 comments:

  1. Nice painting! Whose minis are the Ladies btw?

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  2. His sojourn in Monte-Cristo deeply changed the mood and perceptions of the Elector Spiritual ,as is obvious from the 'revitalized' atmosphere of his Court (now 'the most enjoyable court in Pangaea!!' -and you are still to discover 'the mysterious all female company under the command of Hauptfrauen Anias Nin and Major Lolita von Sapho!'); and also from the drastic political and social changes he imposed in Witzboldfeld .


    By tradition the Elector Spiritual and Primate of all the German People of the Reich receives the Fuerst-Erzbischofssitz of Witzboldfeld as a personal Lehnswesen. This makes him a secular ruler and Prince of the Empire, and as such required to send a contingent to the Reich Armee. Despite being a Servant of God and as such hostile to bloodshed, this duty at first caused him no worry, as long as it remained purely theoretical. But in the relaxed atmosphere of Monte-Cristo Cardinal Johan-Louis discovered his deeply peaceful nature. Thus soon after his return from the Antipodes he was revolted by the horrendous casualties suffered by the Witzboldfeld contingent at the Battle of Grosser Feuerbach and decided to renounce to his status of Secular ruler, becoming a landless purely Spiritual Leader while making Witzboldfeld a secular country. He seized this opportunity to apply in full the principles of Liberty and Equality he had discovered and observed with admiration in Monte-Cristo - truly a revolution in Pangaea. The paradox is that, to deter any attempt of internal conservative reaction or of foreign invasion to eradicate the new ideas before they spread, this man of peace had to reinforce 'his' (now 'Republican') Guard and raise a patriotic militia.


    The Elector Spiritual did not choose the lilac coat of the Witzboldfeld army (a long-standing tradition, probably reflecting the 'amethyst' color associated with bishop rank?) but greatly appreciates it.


    Great artistic rendition of this character and his colorful entourage - the Elector Spiritual compliments, blesses and thanks the talented painter.

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  3. His sojourn in Monte-Cristo deeply changed the mood and perceptions of the Elector Spiritual, as is obvious from the 'revitalized' atmosphere of his Court (now ' the most enjoyable court in Pangaea!!' (and you are still to discover 'the mysterious all female company under the command of Hauptfrauen Anias Nin and Major Lolita von Sapho'! ); and even more from the drastic political changes he imposed in his land of Witzboldfeld, transforming an Archbishopric into a Volksrepublik.


    By tradition the appointed Elector Spiritual and Primate of all the German People of the Reich receives from the Emperor the Fuerstentum-Erzbischofssitz of Witzboldfeld as a personal Lehnswesen. This turns him into a secular ruler, and as such required -while a Man of God, and thus abhoring any bloodshed- to send a contingent to the Reich Armee. This duty did not worry him as long as it remained purely theoretical. But in the relaxing atmosphere of Monte-Cristo Cardinal Johan-Louis fully discovered and enjoyed his deeply peaceful nature. Thus soon after his return from this far away Presipality he was totally revolted by the horrendous casualties suffered by the Witzboldfeld contingent at the battle of Grosser Feuerbach. As a consequence he renounced to be a secular ruler chosing to become a landless purely spiritual leader. He seize this opportunity to apply in full to Witzboldfeld, now a secular land, the principles of Liberty and Equality he had discovered, observed and admired in their application in Monte-Cristo. This was a true revolution in Pangaea, and to deter any attempt of conservative counter-revolution or of foreign invasion to eradicate these new ideas before they spread out Witzbolfeld, this Man of Peace had paradoxically to reinforce 'his' (now 'Republican') Guard and to raise a patriotic militia.


    The Elector Spiritual did not choose the lilac coat of the Witzboldfeld infantry (a tradition probably refering to the 'amethyst' associated with the bishop status), but greatly appreciate it.


    A great artistic rendition of this character and his colorful entourage - the Elector Spiritual compliments, blesses and thanks the talented painter.

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  4. It is enlightening to compare this contemporary portrait of His Eminence the Elector Spiritual, Cardinal Johan-Louis von Hausseinem in Christofberg, with the one done when still Feudal Suveraen Fuerste-Erzbischof of Witzboldfeld just before his departure to far away Monte-Cristo.

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  5. The top four Blue Moon the others Foundry

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  6. I'm really enjoying these civilian miniatures and painting.

    Cheers
    Christopher

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  7. Excellent painting! I have painted a few of those same Foundry figures. It's interesting to see a different take on them. I really like your style.

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  8. Thanks - I am trying to find Civilans for my 7YW French camp - got the band, now just need the minuet madness

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  9. By comparison see how, for obvious reasons, reactionary conservatives and religious fundamentalists now caricature him.

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  10. His three German colleagues waiting for the Elector Spiritual to enter the meeting room of the annual Reich mini Lokal Konklave.

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  11. It is true that, even disregarding his 'devilish' political innovations (though the High Clergy comes from the High Nobility, and their class interests are inseparable), the Pangaean Catholic Church loathes the Elector Spiritual on purely theological grounds, for what is perceived as a "depreciation of the Nativity". Indeed, in order to have the good people of Witzboldfeld enjoying a little of the Monte-Cristan Dolce Vita, the Elector Spiritual imported in his Archbishopric a part of the Monte-Cristan traditional festivities of the passing of the year ('Calendau'), instituting a 11 days festival with 3 *equal* major days (eve nights, actually), the winter solstice (Holly Night), XMas (Fir Tree Night) and New Year's Day (Mistletoe Night).

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  12. Thus, the Elector Spiritual is willing to hire "off-season" Santa Claus ' cute elvish helper as the desk clerk specialized in the reception of 'rightfully outraged / gravely offended' conservative / fundamentalist members of the Clergy: even the colors of her 'uniform' -similar to those of an altar boy- are fitting for a member of a Cardinal's staff.

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  13. "The ceremony consecration of the new colours of the Elector's Guard Grenadiers": the new colours of this unit -now reinforced and re-named Republikanische Grenadier Garde Witzboldfelds- and some other new flags can be seen in Witzboldfeld, thanks to the immense talent of David "NBA" Linienblatt of Tippelbruder.

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  14. As for the officers accompanying the Elector Spiritual, the one on the right is clearly the Acting-Colonel of the 'normal' (ex-Archbishop's) Grenadier Guard.

    The uniform of he one on the left shares many common features with that of the Gardes du Corps, but the white bag of his bearskin and the white breeches make him the commanding officer of the Hellebardiere ('halberders') of the Waechter der Tuer ('Door Guardians').

    The middle one with his yellow / buff facings and smallclothes is the commanding officer of the Bogenschuetzen ('bowmen') of the Bewachung des Schlosses ('Provost-Marshalry of the Palace').

    These two units (corresponding respectively to the Gardes de la Porte and the Prevote de l'Hotel du Roy of the French Household) while recruiting only reliable veterans, are not intended for field duty.
    The traditional names of their men notwithstanding, both are routinely armed with muskets (with a proportion of blunderbusses and rifles for the later).

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