Master of the Sacred Altar Karl-Sigibert von Kaiserstal

Master of the Sacred Altar Karl Sigibert von Kaiserstal

Karl-Sigibert von Kaiserstal was born into ancient, but relatively poor nobility in the kingdom of Waldheim at the imperial coast. Since his family was diminished by that time, it habitually entered the service of Waldheim's kings, and Karl-Sigibert was no different. At age 15 he was enrolled as an attendant to king Theodahad and got his first taste of Imperial politics. Mostly an observer for the next three years, he was granted an assignment to his uncle, who was serving as a diplomat overseas. Wilhelm von Kaiserstal taught his nephew a few lessons in the art of leveraging knowledge, but his service was cut short by emperor Willibald's war.
Upon Karl-Sigibert's return to the mainland Empire, his uncle arranged for him to be acquainted with the Imperial Master of Offices Johann von Ladendorf, who took him as an assistant. A mere year later Ladendorf sent Karl to the city of Eisenmarkt to oversee the minting of heavily debased currency, derisively nicknamed "Ladendorf's pennies", that was meant to fuel the emperor's insatiable demand for men and silver to prosecute his war. The detachment of the Household Guard at Eisenmarkt and a great number of citizens, who were growing increasingly irritated at being paid in money that only had worth because the emperor decreed it so and that was increasingly hard to use in daily transactions, demanded of Karl, representative of the much-hated Master of Offices, to exchange their coins for ones minted at full weight. Unable and unwilling to comply, von Kaiserstal refused. The riots that followed led to a destruction of the Imperial mint at Eisenmarkt and great damage to the city, but Karl-Sigibert, demonstrating aptitude at arms, managed to disperse the rioters with nothing but his retinue and the loyal part of the city garrison by utilizing the rebels' lack of organization.
This feat brought Karl-Sigibert to emperor Willibald's attention, and, despite his young age, he was elevated to the position of the Count of God-Saved Imperial Retinue, governing the imperial heartlands at Ladendorf's behest.
During his tenure there he also supported von Ladendorf's attempts to secretly negotiate a separate peace with some of the emperor's enemies to alleviate the pressure . This was done without the emperor's consent, and he wasn't even informed, for he was vehemently opposed to any peace save for his complete victory or complete defeat.
When Willibald was killed on his last campaign, von Kaiserstal was unable to save his vastly unpopular mentor, the former Master of Offices, from the enraged nobility that accused him of alienating the Emperor from the nation and ensured his execution. Charges were levied against Karl-Sigibert as well, for he was deemed an accomplice, but his uncle managed to have them dropped, and Karl even retained his position.
Two years later king Theodahad of Waldheim was elected to the imperial office, and he, feeling the need for loyal servants, promptly promoted Karl-Sigibert, his countryman and vassal, to serve as Master of Offices, assigning his son Adolf-Gebhard to serve as the Count of Imperial Retinue.
Karl-Sigibert played a key role in the following peace negotiations and probably saved the emperor from capture or death during the rebellion of former Count of Overseas Atanarich von Steinbrücken that grew resentful of his loss of land in an unfavourable peace agreement. Karl-Sigibert managed to get the terrified old emperor to flee from the indefensible capital to the well-fortified castle of Neu-Egbertsburg, which bought him time and stretched the pretender's insignificant material base ever thinner. The Master of Offices admirably served the emperor in his fortress as well, maintaining support among the old noble officers of late emperor Willibald and leveraging Atanarich's lack of coin to pay for his troops by opening up his own coffers.
After Atanarich's defeat in the siege of Eisenmarkt at the hands of prince Adolf-Gebhard, however, Karl-Sigibert had to perform a duty of other sorts for the emperor, for Theodahad feared his son, and this fear was stoked by the prince's enemies, perhaps, Karl himself included. Thus the Master of Offices was tasked with apprehending, and later executing the victorious prince.
He performed that task admirably.
In the next three years Theodahad grew ever more dependent and fearful of his servant that performed so well and knew so much. This potent mixture of respect and fear allowed Karl to reign supreme over the Empire, being its ruler in all but name. He saw the land's plight, its prosperity diminished by war and plague, and took action - as his mentor Ladendorf did before. He reduced the overblown military under emperor's direct control, disbanding the Praesental army, by then reduced to a relatively green and unreliable, but very well-payed force, and incorporaing the best elements into the emperor's Household Guard. He introduced bread price restrictions and opened the imperial granaries for the public benefit. He conducted the census, both using the escheat to attract men to the countryside and strictly reviewing the crofts allotted to soldiers to strip those no longer able to serve of land. Lastly, he minted improved coins, though the exchange rate with Ladendorf's pennies was unfavourable for the populace, and lowered the tariffs to compensate for the decline of domestic produce.
Though generally successful, these actions netted Karl-Sigibert a great amount of enemies, and after just four years of his rule from the shadows he was stripped of office and forced to enter the clergy. It is not entirely clear why didn't Theodahad order his disgraced minister's death, like he did with his own son, but possible interpretations suggest that Karl simply knew too much to risk cornering him, that the emperor still needed his services, on which he grew very reliant, or that old Theodahad considered a priestly career enough for someone without a blood relation to him to prevent a coup.
For five years Karl-Sigibert practically vanished from the historical records, only resurfacing as a prominent figure in the cult of emperor Wigbold the Founder, and later - its high priest and a memeber of College of High Priests. Now able to tap into the coffers of a particularly prominent emperor's cult, merely three years later he was elected as the Master of the Sacred Altar, the chief priest of the empire and the head of the College.
Protected by his ordained guard and possessing the power of consigning names of condemned to oblivion, erasing them from the records and gradually - from people's memory, forbidding any mention of those damned, Karl-Sigibert now possessed, perhaps, even more power than during his tenure as Master of Offices. He saw the Colleges as a useful tool to check the emperor's power, preventing wars like the one waged by Willibald, and reformed them accordingly, abolishing the practice of electing the Master of the Sacred Altar unless no successor was appointed.
Despite his priestly tenure, Karl-Sigibert was by no means a man of clerical mindset. Some carelessly deleted excerpts indicate that one of his first actions was to have revenge against those he perceived responsible for his ousting. This careless move sparked an attempt in the College to condemn him, but the vote failed. Karl-Sigibert, however, took note of this and wisely resigned himself to direct and highly secretive interaction with the emperor, over whom he evidently had considerable power. Among reforms frequently associated with his tenure as the Master of the Sacred Altar are a reform of the Imperial Chamber Court, most likely carried out due to Karl's memory of his mentor's trial and execution - now the judges were not just noblemen of sufficient standing, but necessarily certified doctors of law with letters of recommendation from at least two members of the board; a prohibition of feuds for the purposes of settling disputes unless to compel compliance with the Chamber Court's rulings, revocations of minting privliges, and a major revocation of titles from nobles that were thought to be implicated of disloyalty or support of Atanarich's rebellion. These measures, evidently aimed at stabilizing the imperial affairs, made Karl-Sigibert a very polarizing figure with plentiful enemies. At least twice an attempt on his life has been made, and that pushed the old prist into outright paranoia.
The last years of his life Karl-Sigibert von Kaiserstal spent in seclusion in his palace in the capital, allegedly ruling and undoubtedly at least influencing the empire through his correspondence with emperor Theodahad. Though Karl-Sigibert made preparations to secure election of a suitable candidate after the emperor's death, he didn't live to see his plan come to fruition, succumbing to consumption mere four months before Theodahad's death.

Life

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