Editing History of the Magistracy of Canopus

[[Image:Magistracy of Canopus.jpg|right|thumb|Crest of the Magistracy of Canopus]]

:''This article details the history of the '''''Magistracy of Canopus'''''. For more information, see [[Magistracy of Canopus]].''

==Founding==
In the closing years of the [[Age of War]], Captain [[Kossandra Centrella]] was a [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]] with the [[Defenders of Andurien]] when her unit was part of an attack against the [[Capellan Confederation]] world of [[Highspire]].  However, when the order to withdraw from the world was given, a combination of poor communications and ineptitude by her senior commanders resulted in Captain Centrella and her unit of two [[BattleMech]] [[lance]]s being left behind while the rest of the [[Free Worlds League]] forces escaped.  Centrella was able to save her unit from total destruction and, disguising themselves as merchants, hijack a Capellan [[JumpShip]] to return to Free Worlds territory.  The captain's unexpected return and daring escape from Highspire made her a state hero within the Free Worlds, bestowing upon her great honor and promotions.<ref name=TP22>''The Periphery'', p. 22</ref>

Kossandra Centrella could not forget or forgive that it was her superior's fault that she had been put in that position to begin with, nor the fact that they had avoided any disciplinary action for their incompetence.<ref name=TP22/>  She also had little tolerance for the male-dominated societies which had taken hold in the [[Inner Sphere]].<ref name=HMPS77>''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 77</ref>  In the years after her return, Centrella began to gather a group of like-minded people until the so-called "Black Brotherhood" exceeded a hundred people, upon which they stole several [[House Davion]] transports and made their escape.  With no real goal beyond getting as far away from the Free Worlds as possible, they headed into the [[Periphery]], eventually settling in the [[Canopus]] star system in [[2530]] and founding the Magistracy.<ref name=TP22/><ref name=FMP20>''Field Manual: Periphery'', p. 20</ref><ref name=HMPS15>''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 15</ref>

While distrustful of the [[Inner Sphere]], [[Magestrix]] Kossandra Centrella recognized the importance of maintaining some ties with them, especially as a means of expanding the Magistracy.  Kossandra began a series of negotiations with planetary and regional leaders in both the Free Worlds and Capellan states who had become disenchanted with their policy makers and entered into secret pacts with them for mutual aid and security.  Eventually these worlds would break off from the central authority and join in the new Canopian union, until by [[2550]] the Magistracy had grown to 36 star system.<ref name=TP22/><ref name=FMP20/>

While the Magistracy owes much to its founding Magestrix, it wasn't until her granddaughter [[Floral Centrella]] took power that the realm took on many of the characteristics that would define it.  Floral sought to make the Magistracy a target too valuable to be conquered by having it offer something sorely lacking in the Inner Sphere.  Thanks to the reforms and legislation Floral enacted, social freedoms were vastly expanded in the Magistracy, allowing people to engage in activities considered immoral or illegal in other realms.  So long as all involved were consenting adults and no one suffered permanent injury (a rule of which there were workarounds), anything went in the Magistracy, such as gambling, prostitution, recreational drug use and hunting (whether the prey ran on four legs or two).<ref name=TP39>''The Periphery'', p. 39</ref>  Floral also increased the political freedoms of the Magistracy's male population, which had been barred from holding any political office since the state's founding.  As part of a gradual plan to ensure men could responsibly hold higher offices and not attempt to take control, Floral opened up local and then planetary political offices to men, and allowed men to vote in local elections.<ref name=HMPS77/>

==Star League Era==

Like the rest of the Periphery powers, the Magistracy was invaded in [[2577]] during the [[Reunification War]] by the newly-created [[Star League]]; while defeat was inevitable it was not as easy as the Star League hoped, with the war lasting twenty years and costing millions of lives.  Luckily for the Canopians, Military Governor [[Melissa Humphreys]] was earnest in her stated goal of rebuilding the Magistracy.  The realm was made whole and allowed limited home rule as a Territorial State in the Star League, and for the next century enjoyed a golden age of wealth and prosperity.  That began to change starting in [[2722]] as the Council Lords enacted legislation which opened the Periphery up to burdensome taxation and exploitation by deceitful business interests.  Events came to a head in [[2765]] when the Magistracy joined the other Periphery powers in the [[New Vandenberg Uprising]], a rebellion which ultimately would lead to the [[Star League Civil War]] and the destruction of the League itself.

==Succession Wars Era==
===Magistracy-Concordat Conflict===
The resulting [[Succession Wars (History)|Succession Wars]] did not directly touch the Magistracy, but the realm felt the effects all the same: trade and tourism plummeted, to be replaced by refugees and pirates.  There were occasional incursions into its territory, including a brief conflict with the [[Taurian Concordat]] in [[2813]] that ended inconclusively.

===Arano Restoration===
Between [[3022]] and [[3026]], the Magistracy became involved in a civil war in the [[Aurigan Reach]], an area of space to the Magistracy’s spinward border home to the [[Aurigan Coalition]], a minor periphery state. A coup removed [[High Lord of the Aurigan Coalition|High Lady]] [[Kamea Arano]] from power and replaced the Coalition with the totalitarian [[Aurigan Directorate]] under Director [[Santiago Espinosa]].<ref> House Arano (The Aurigan Coalition), p.12 </ref> In order to establish border security, the Directorate allied itself with the Taurian Concordat - meanwhile Arano and a small group of her supporters fled the Reach and found asylum in the Magistracy of Canopus, where she spent three years gathering support before returning to the Reach at the head of the Arano Restoration. The Restoration ultimately overthrew the Directorate, restoring House Arano to power.<ref> House Arano (The Aurigan Coalition) p.13</ref>

The Magistracy, through liaison [[Ana Maria Centrella]], bankrolled the Arano Restoration in order to use the Restoration as a deniable asset to pacify the volatile Aurigan Directorate, and reestablish the Aurigan Coalition as a trade partner and buffer state between the Magistracy and its Taurian and Capellan neighbours.<ref> House Arano (The Aurigan Coalition) p.5</ref>

===Andurien Secession===
Apart from the business of the Aurigan Reach, for the most part the Magistracy stayed out of interstellar affairs until [[3030]], when it allied with the rebellious [[Duchy of Andurien]]. Andurien seceded from its former sovereign state, the [[Free Worlds League]], and entered into an alliance with the Magistracy.<ref> Era Report: 3052, p.35</ref> Seeking to exercise its newfound strength, the Andurien-Canopian alliance targeted the Capellan Confederation. Sensing weakness in the Confederation after their significant territorial losses to the [[Federated Commonwealth]] during the [[Fourth Succession War]], the Andurien-Canopian alliance invaded Capellan space in 3030. Despite the alliance’s wild initial success (as the Capellan high command was not expecting an attack from the spinward Periphery), the [[CCAF]] rallied in [[3032]] and pushed back the invaders - by [[3035]] the progress of the invasion had been almost entirely undone and the Confederation’s borders as of 3030 were effectively restored.<ref> Era Report: 3052, p.37</ref>

The [[Andurien Crisis]], as it would come to be known, ended badly for the Magistracy and particularly for Magestrix [[Kyalla Centrella]], who was frustrated and embittered by the seeming futility of the failed campaign. A further issue facing the Magestrix was the political presence of her daughter, [[Emma Centrella]], who had been vehemently opposed to the campaign against the Capellan Confederation.<ref> The Periphery, p.20 </ref> A veteran of the [[Magistracy Armed Forces|MAF]], Emma had made several public criticisms of her mother’s policies, each time receiving a furious response which turned public opinion further against the Magestrix and in support of Emma.<ref> Era Report: 3062, p.82 </ref> Matters finally came to a head when, in [[3039]], the Magestrix sent an assassin to kill her daughter - the assassin failed to claim Emma’s life, and forced her to launch a coup against her mother. The coup was successful, and Magestrix Kyalla was deposed in [[3040]] in favour of Emma. <ref> The Periphery, p.21 </ref> In the immediate aftermath of the coup, Magestrix Emma Centrella focused strongly on rebuilding the damaged Canopian economy after the fallout of the Andurien Crisis.<ref> Era Report: 3062, p.62 </ref>

==Clan Invasion Era==
While the Magistracy (like the rest of the rimward Periphery) was not directly affected by the [[Clan Invasion]], Magestrix Emma Centrella was the first political leader of the Periphery to realise the full danger of the [[Clans]]. After the [[Truce of Tukayyid]] was signed in [[3052]], winning the entire Inner Sphere valuable time to prepare for renewed Clan aggression after the Truce’s expiry date, Magestrix Centrella called for a pan-Periphery military alliance so that the vulnerable Periphery states could protect themselves from the Clans’ eventual return. While her pleas went unanswered, it marked Centrella out as a political visionary among the leaders of the Periphery nations.<ref> Era Report: 3062, p.43 </ref>

Additionally, although no pan-Periphery alliance would form in the wake of the Clan Invasion, in March of [[3056]] the Magistracy and the Taurian Concordat signed the [[Treaty of Taurus]] - an alliance to bring the two most powerful Periphery states into closer cooperation. The new Taurian [[Protector of the Realm]], [[Jeffrey Calderon|Jeffrey Calderon]], had been quietly conducting backroom dealings with Emma Centrella for some years even before his ascension to the office of Protector in [[3055]]. This alliance bore fruit for the Magistracy when it opened its [[Canopian Institute of War]] the following year, and the Institute was able to hire Taurian veterans as instructors. The foundation of the Institute was a part of a broader programme of military spending that Emma Centrella was pushing through, taking advantage of increased paranoia concerning Clan activity. <ref> Era Report: 3062, p.43 </ref>

Even besides the foundation of the Institute of War, 3057 would prove to be an eventful year for the Magistracy. The middle of the year would see the expulsion of the Capellan ambassador from Canopian space, indicating that relations between the two realms had failed to improve since the Andurien Crisis. <ref> Era Report: 3062, p.43 </ref> Even more seriously, 3057 would herald the start of the [[Pirates War]], a military conflict that would embroil several states of the Periphery and the Inner Sphere.

===Pirates War===
In mid-late 3057, the Magistracy began to experience a greatly increased level of pirate attacks across its territory, particularly along its borders with the Free Worlds League and the [[Marian Hegemony]]. Disturbingly, the pirates were equipped with advanced [[Star League]]-era hardware that gave them a decisive technological advantage over the MAF. Recognising that her forces were overwhelmed, Emma Centrella ordered the hiring of mercenary forces to support the struggling MAF - in particular, the combined-arms [[Avanti’s Angels]] unit. The Angels tracked the pirates back to a remote base on [[Astrokaszy]], where they uncovered evidence that the Marian Hegemony was providing material and organisational support to the pirate attackers. <ref> Era Report: 3062, p.51 </ref>

Even more surprising than this discovery was the arrival on Canopus of none other than the [[Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation]], [[Sun-Tzu Liao]]. The Chancellor personally approached Magestrix Centrella with the offer of an alliance (that would later become the [[Triple Alliance]], including the Taurian Concordat). Sun-Tzu Liao pledged technological and economic support to the Magistracy in return for the services of the MAF - Centrella enthusiastically accepted the offer, on the condition that the CCAF would support the Magistracy and their mercenary allies in rooting out the Marian-sponsored pirates.<ref> Era Report: 3062, p.17 </ref> A joint Canopian-Capellan force, personally accompanied by the Chancellor, travelled to the border world of [[Campoleone]] to destroy the pirates’ main base,<ref> Era Report: 3062, p.43 </ref> where evidence was uncovered that linked the pirates not only to the Marian Hegemony but also to the [[Toyama]] faction of the [[Word of Blake]]. <ref> Era Report: 3062, p.81 </ref>

The Blakists were able to convince the Canopians and Capellans that the sponsorship of Marian-funded pirates was the work of a splinter faction rather than the Word of Blake as a whole, but nonetheless the Blakists paid huge fines to both the Magistracy and the Confederation as punishment for their people’s involvement.<ref> Era Report: 3062, p.43 </ref> Deprived of Blakist support, the Marians suspended their privateering operations soon afterwards - the Magistracy covertly responded by using the [[Magistracy Intelligence Ministry]] to fund uprisings on the [[Lothian League|Lothian]] worlds, forcing the Marian Armed Forces into a protracted guerilla conflict.<ref> Era Report: 3062, p.53 </ref>

===Trinity Alliance===
In [[3058]], the Magistracy, as well as the Capellan Confederation and Taurian Concordat, formally entered into the [[Trinity Alliance]] - a military and economic alliance between all three states for mutual benefit.<ref> Handbook: Major Periphery States, p.60 </ref> Later, in [[3060]], the Magistracy (as well as the Concordat) would hold up its end of the bargain with the Capellan Confederation, sending two regiments (the [[First Canopian Light Horse]] and the [[Third Canopian Fusiliers]]) to support the CCAF in the [[Capellan-St. Ives War]] <ref> Era Report: 3062, p.22 </ref>. The MAF assets acted mostly in a garrison capacity, enabling the CCAF to focus on offensive operations against the St. Ives Compact. Both units suffered in the fighting, but were rebuilt and re-equipped with advanced technology, courtesy of the Capellan Confederation.<ref> Era Report: 3062, p.44 </ref>

3060 also witnessed a dramatic political incident involving the person of the Magistrix herself. In December, a diplomatic conference between the Magistracy and the Taurian Concordat was held on [[Detroit]] in the [[New Colony Region]], an area of the Periphery situated between the two states and colonised by both. The conference was meant to discuss the needs of both the Magistracy and the Concordat, and was sponsored by their mutual friends in the Capellan Confederation. However, on Christmas Eve, 3060, the conference was attacked by forces loyal to the New Colony President [[Sherman Maltin]], who took both the Magestrix and the Protector hostage and announced the complete independence of the New Colony Region. The two leaders would not be rescued until the end of June the following year, by a joint MAF-CCAF task force led by MAF commander and Canopian heiress [[Naomi Centrella]]. Magestrix Emma Centrella was rescued, but unfortunately Protector Jeffery Calderon was killed during the fighting. Sherman Maltin was also found and executed before the Magestrix was returned to Canopus <ref> Era Report: 3062, p.27 </ref>, and the Magistracy would later annex Detroit. <ref> Field Manual: Update, p.10 </ref>

==Civil War Era==
The opening year of the Civil War era, [[3062]], saw the MAF as among the best armed forces in the Periphery, second only to the CCAF that had been providing them with training and equipment.<ref> Era Report: 3062, p.82 </ref> The Triple Alliance, as well as the opportunity to participate in the St. Ives conflict, were of considerable benefit to the Magistracy - the MAF gained valuable combat experience and access to advanced Capellan technology.<ref> Era Report: 3062, p.82 </ref> <ref> Field Manual: Update, p.187 </ref> Emma Centrella took a personal hand in the fallout of the St. Ives War when she sat on a 3062 tribunal to convict [[Kali Liao]] of war crimes, although the case was dismissed by reason of the accused’s insanity.

Other Canopian activities related to the [[Successor States]] were discovered by sheer coincidence by [[ComStar]], when [[ROM]] agents accidentally stumbled upon covert operations undertaken by the Magistracy Intelligence Ministry in the [[Lyran Alliance]] and [[Draconis Combine]]. [[Precentor ROM]] [[Alexander Kernoff]] expressed concern at the high level of competence shown by the MIM, commenting that they far surpassed [[SAFE]] in skill and ability and only a lack of funding prevented the MIM from becoming a serious counterintelligence threat - indeed, it was entirely possible that MIM activity had already compromised ROM operations in the Periphery. <ref> Field Manual: Periphery, p.23 </ref>

In 3064, the Magistracy was faced with a diplomatic relations incident when the Capellan Confederation nominated one of its partners in the Triple Alliance for full membership in the reborn [[Second Star League]] - to much surprise, the nomination went to the Taurian Concordat rather than the Magistracy of Canopus. In protest, Magistrix Emma Centrella withdrew all MAF forces except the Third Canopian Fusiliers from Capellan space <ref> Field Manual: Update, p.23 </ref>, exposing the [[Victoria Commonality]] to pirate attack. <ref> Field Manual: Update, p.24 </ref> This withdrawal lasted only a year, and in the meantime the Capellan Confederation demanded more resources from the Taurian Concordat in order to compensate. This placed extreme strain on the Concordat as it struggled to fulfil its obligations to the Confederation - meanwhile, the Magistracy flourished, still receiving the benefits of the Triple Alliance while preserving its MAF assets that had been defending Capellan worlds.<ref> Field Manual: Update, p.190 </ref>

Two years later, elements of the [[First Canopian Fusiliers|First]] and [[Second Canopian Fusiliers]] began to conduct raids on the border worlds of the Free Worlds League, disguising themselves as pirates. These raids were not explicitly ordered by the Magistrix, but she was apparently satisfied to turn a blind eye to the Fusiliers’ adventurism. <ref> Field Manual: Update, p.191 </ref>. Meanwhile, the Magistracy suffered raids of its own, from pirates associated with the [[Calderon Protectorate]] - a breakaway state of the Taurian Concordat. <ref> Field Manual: Update, p.199 </ref>

==The Jihad==
In [[3068]], another piece of evidence emerged that the Magistracy of Canopus and the Capellan Confederation were on course for an ever closer union - [[Ilsa Centrella]] was born to MAF officer and Canopian heir Naomi Centrella and the Capellan Chancellor and former First Lord of the Star League, Sun-Tzu Liao. Ilsa was legitimised as the heir to both nations. <ref> Era Report: 3145, p.111 </ref>

The wide-reaching effects of the [[Word of Blake Jihad]] were by no means confined to the Inner Sphere, and the Magistracy felt its impact along with the other Periphery realms. In October 3068, the [[HPG]] station on Canopus VI went offline and contact was deemed to be lost with the Magistracy after a period of silence from Canopus. <ref> Blake Ascending, p.115 </ref> With communication cut off from their home, the MAF regiments posted in the Capellan Confederation opted to remain in Capellan space under the operational command of Naomi Centralla, who was at this point officially betrothed to Sun-Tzu Liao.<ref> Blake Ascending, p.246 </ref> The two would officially marry on the 13th of October [[3070]]<ref> Jihad: Final Reckoning, p.48 </ref>.

In 3071 Naomi Centrella’s second child by Sun-Tzu Liao was born, the future Capellan Chancellor [[Daoshen Liao]]. His birth displaced Ilsa Centrella from the succession to the Chancellorship, but she remained the direct heir to the office of Magestrix of Canopus.<ref> Era Report: 3145, p.111 </ref> On the 24 March of that year, amid the continuing confusion of the Jihad and the lack of contact from Canopus IV, CCAF troops secured Detroit on behalf of the Magistracy.<ref> Jihad: Final Reckoning, p.49 </ref>

The following month, on the 11th of April 3071, the Word of Blake took a direct hand in attacking Canopus. The Blakists’ 41st Shadow Division burnt the capital city of Canopus, [[Crimson]], causing widespread devastation<ref> Jihad: Final Reckoning, p.49 </ref> and destroying the Canopian Institute of War.<ref> Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. </ref> It was during this firebombing that long-serving Magestrix Emma Centrella perished in the along with much of the command staff of the MAF. <ref> Field Report: Periphery p.10 </ref> The Blakists would then occupy the ruins, driving Canopian forces out of Crimson - MAF commander [[Hadji Toru]] was able to escape the following year with help from the [[Ramile’s Raiders]] mercenary unit.<ref> Jihad: Final Reckoning, p.50 </ref>

From this point onwards, the Canopians would commence a proper retaliation against the Word of Blake. On the 29th of June [[3073]], joint MAF and CCAF forces attacked [[Aspropirgos]], a Free Worlds League planet being used as a Blakist staging point. The assault was a success, and the Blakist forces were destroyed.<ref> Jihad: Final Reckoning, p.51 </ref>

Nearly two years later, on the 1st of May 3075, the Magistracy along with the Capellan Confederation and Duchy of Andurien signed a nonaggression pact guaranteeing cooperation between the three states. <ref> Jihad: Final Reckoning, p.54 </ref>) On the 3rd of August of the same year, Naomi Centrella (now acting Magestrix) returned to Canopus IV at the head of another joint MAF-CCAF task force that was able to reclaim the planet, driving the Word of Blake off-world. On the 5th of September Naomi formally returned to the ruins of Crimson, in a symbolic reinstatement of herself as Magestrix.

In 3080 this cooperation would deepen when the three realms signed a mutual trade agreement<ref> Jihad: Final Reckoning, p.25 </ref>; in the same year, the Magistracy and the Capellan Confederation would both boycott the ‘[[Geneva Conferences]]’, which were a series of peace talks between most of the major political powers to discuss the future of the Inner Sphere in the wake of the Jihad.<ref> Jihad: Final Reckoning, p.61 </ref>

==Dark Age==
In [[3108]], [[Danai Liao-Centrella]] was born to Ilsa Centrella and her brother Daoshen Liao. Danai believed, in line with official policy, that she was the third child of Naomi Centrella and Sun-Tzu Liao, and that Ilsa was her older sister - Danai would not learn the truth until she was in her late twenties. <ref> Era Report: 3145, p.87 </ref> Born on Canopus, Danai would go on to serve with distinction in the CCAF, eventually taking command of the [[2nd McCarron's Armored Cavalry|2nd McCarron's Armoured Cavalry]].<ref> Shattered Fortress, p.23 </ref>

The widespread HPG failures that would become known as the Blackout affected the Magistracy of Canopus as hard as any other realm, but the Magistracy and its longtime ally, the Capellan Confederation, would keep communication routes open between each other in the face of the HPG blackout. <ref> Era Report: 3145, p.76 </ref>

The 3130s would see the Magistracy busy in maintaining its relationship with the Capellan Confederation as well as making diplomatic inroads to some of its fellow Periphery states. In [[3134]], the MAF assisted the CCAF in assaulting the [[Republic of the Sphere]], the MAF seeing combat in [[Prefecture VI]] <ref> Era Report: 3145, p.76 </ref> and maintaining the CCAF garrisons. <ref> Era Report: 3145, p.43 </ref>  The following year, the recently spawned [[Fronc Reaches]] (which had risen from the ashes of the New Colony debacle and declared its independence in [[3066]]) opened trade talks with the Magistracy. <ref> Era Report: 3145, p.186 </ref>  Two years later, in [[3137]], now Magestrix Ilsa Centrella married [[Duke of Andurien|Duke]] [[Ari Humphreys]] of the Duchy of Andurien.  <ref> Era Report: 3145, p.97 </ref>  The marriage yielded little immediate political benefit <ref> Era Report: 3145, p.76 </ref> , but in [[3146]] it was reported that the Magistracy and the Duchy were both preparing to strike at the Free Worlds League’s anti-spinward border.<ref> Shattered Fortress, p.19 </ref> SAFE agents also uncovered evidence of collusion between the Magistracy and the Capellan Confederation to support a separate attack on the Free Worlds League by the Marian Hegemony.<ref> Shattered Fortress, p.38 </ref>

In 3148, six previously independent systems formally joined the Magistracy to protect themselves from frequent pirate raids.<ref> Shattered Fortress, p.100 </ref>. The Marian Hegemony, turning on its erstwhile ally, attacked the Magistracy worlds of Gambilion and Marantha in April of that year - it would not be until 3150 that MAF forces and mercenary support retaliated, retaking the Islington and Ballalba systems <ref> Shattered Fortress, p.88 </ref>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[BattleTech (Video Game)]]''
* ''[[Blake Ascending]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3052]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3062]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Periphery]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Update]]''
* ''[[Handbook: Major Periphery States]]''
* ''[[House Arano (The Aurigan Coalition)]]''
* ''[[The Periphery (sourcebook)|The Periphery]]''
* ''[[Shattered Fortress]]''

[[Category:Magistracy of Canopus]]
[[Category:History|Magistracy of Canopus, History of]]