Corrino Empire

This article refers to elements from The Dune Encyclopedia Pages for this subject as it appears in other canons: Original Dune · Expanded Dune

House Corrino crest

The Imperium (88 BG–10196 AG) was the feudalist empire under House Corrino, which ruled the Known Universe for over ten thousand years.

The Imperium was chiefly upheld and maintained by a set of powerful and interdependent institutions: House Corrino and their Sardaukar, the Landsraad, the Spacing Guild, and CHOAM. For much of its history, the Imperium was characterized by tensions and balances between these institutions, as well as by tensions between House Corrino, which wished to survive as the supreme power, and the different Houses Major (collectively represented in the Landsraad) who all strove to increase their power and influence.

The capital of the Imperium, the Imperial Seat, was initially the homeworld of House Corrino, Salusa Secundus, until its transfer to Kaitain in 1487 AG.

Name

The Imperium has also been called the Corrino Empire, Corrino Imperium, Galactic Imperium, Padishah Imperium, Padishah Empire, or simply the Empire. In relation to the succeeding Atreides Empire, it is sometimes referred to as the Old Imperium.

History

Background and formation

The Imperium marked the third or fourth time that most of humanity was united under a single empire. The background of the Imperium's formation can be traced to the aftermath of the Butlerian Jihad (200–108 BG). Through its destruction of advanced computer technology, the Jihad brought an end to safe and reliable interstellar travel. The end of the Jihad also saw the rise of feudal governments on most inhabited worlds. Since pre-Jihad governments had entirely depended on thinking machines and were thus destroyed, the new governments formed in the anarchy thereafter became built through personal ties, as well as economic and military might. The end of the Jihad also led to the beginning of numerous wars of expansion between various noble houses, states, and factions in the Known Universe.

The Sardaukar, fanatical warriors from the planet Salusa Secundus, were enlisted by House Megara in one of these post-Jihad wars. This brought the Sardaukar into space for the first time and proved disastrous for the Megarans, who the Sardaukar promptly conquered. Using Megaran ships, the Sardaukar conquered a wide sector in the vicinity of Megara and soon began to be seen as a threat by the Landsraad. The Landsraad had by this point existed as a body for some two millennia, originally an organization of representatives from various different governments in the galaxy. The rise of feudalism after the Jihad meant that it by now largely represented the different Houses Major of various planets. The Sardaukar defeated the forces of the Landsraad at the Battle of Corrin in 88 BG, which led to the signing of the Treaty of Corrin. The treaty granted imperial powers to House Corrino, founded by the Sardaukar commander (and later first emperor) Sheuset I Costin I, and determined the relationship between the new Imperial House and the Landsraad.

Early history (88 BG–1 AG)

The size of the nascent Imperium was increased in wars of expansion under Sheuset and his son and heir, Henoor I Salusa I. Such wars were directed against Landsraad houses that refused to sign the Treaty of Corrin, as well as against independent planetary rulers who denied being bound by it. The Imperium as it would stand for the next ten millennia can first be said to have truly formed when all its institutions came together, including the later Spacing Guild and CHOAM. This occurred during the reign of Sheuset's great-grandson Saudir I (r. 12 BG–70 AG).

By Saudir's time, many of the Houses Major (most of whom pre-dated the rise of House Corrino) still regarded the success of the "barbarian" Sardaukar as a "freak of history" and the emperor had to involve himself in touchy negotiations with the Landsraad to determine a form of government that would permit both parties to thrive. The military power of House Corrino was at this time in some respects equal to the combined forces of the Landsraad (including atomics) and levy funds and other taxes made the Corrinos economically equal to about half of the states in the Landsraad.

The revelation of the existence of the Spacing Guild, which offered a return of safe and reliable space travel, led Saudir to call a Financial Synod (10–5 BG) to determine their relationship to the Imperium and its parties. After years of negotiations, Saudir and his chief financial officer, Dioicetes Asetirides, presented the delegates with the plan for the formation of CHOAM; a development organization that would have a monopoly on interstellar trade. Through shares, gross profits from trade would be distributed to the various noble houses. CHOAM's creation marked the true beginning of the Imperium, creating a framework for power between all the different parties at play. The corporation became inseparable from the Imperium as an institution. CHOAM and the Spacing Guild gave House Corrino and their Imperium a basis of power beyond just the might of their Sardaukar, now having been bound together with the Landsraad financially and militarily, increasing stability. The establishment of Guild monopoly on space travel (1 AG) also allowed the Imperium to rapidly expand and led to an upsurge in the prosperity of most worlds in the Imperium, pacifying and unifying its territories.

Consolidation (1–1487 AG)

Over the course of the long history of the Imperium, the lowly origin of the Sardaukar was forgotten. The long duration and power of the Corrino emperors also caused the Imperium to be widely perceived as the natural order of things. The last significnt armed resistance to the Imperium was the Lishash Rebellion in 385–388 AG, when a group of noble houses banded together as the Lishash Confederation, opposing imperial rule and a proposed increase in the emperor's votes on the CHOAM board.

In the first few centuries of imperial rule, the imperial feudalism developed from necessity into a workable system of government. Over the centuries, the social structure of the Imperium (particularly the faufreluches class structure) pased from custom into common law. Both the Imperial House and the Houses Major of the Landsraad sought to preserve the status quo and put their traditions into written law. This movement gained increasing momentum over the years, until Emperor Wensic I called for the Great Synod (330–340), held on Urbanus II. The result of the Synod was the Great Convention, the universal legal code that would remain in effect for the rest of imperial history. The Imperial administration also required overhaul. Through the Spacing Guild and CHOAM, the Imperium in the end exceeded 30,000 inhabited worlds, more than double the number it had ruled before Saudir I's Financial Synod. By the end of the Imperium's first millennium of existence, its administrative system had thus been markedly expanded.

Although the imperial system was firmly established, the early centuries of Corrino rule saw conflict between the houses of Saluso Corrino and Alman Corrino, rival branches of House Corrino, over the Golden Lion Throne. Further irregularities included occasional dominance over the Imperium by the House of al-Qair (as regents and then protectors), as well as short-lived usurpations of the throne by the House of Rautha (388–389, 445–451). In the early 600s, Iason Atreides helped resolve the differences between different branches of House Corrino, laying the foundation for long and stable rule. He further helped put Emperor Audrii I on the throne and used his influence to reform the imperial government, diluting the direct power of the emperor by making him responsible for his actions to the Imperial Family, and instituting regularly scheduled meetings between the Landsraad and CHOAM and the Spacing Guild (whereas communication was previously solely through the emperor). This ended the time of the imperial government as one of solely personal rule. With the exception of the brief later usurpation of the House of Feyd (1027–1099), no emperor without connection to House Corrino would thereafter rule the Imperium.

The Imperial Seat, or capital, of the Imperium remained on Salusa Secundus throughout its early history. The planet was designated as a prison planet by the usurper Saudir III in 388 to deal with prisoners-of-war from the war with the Lishashi. The planet was maintained as a prison planet by later Corrino emperors, with the hardened warriors nurtured there eventually beginning to be drafted into the Sardaukar. In 1487, Emperor Leto I transferred the Imperial Seat to Kaitain.