UPDATED: September 17th, 2019 CRISIS DIRECTOR LETTER & CHARACTER LISTS TRITONMUN XX – OCTOBER 26TH, 2019 MODEL UNITED NATIONS AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO 1 BACKGROUND GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS Crisis Director Letter……………………………………………………………………… 2 Character List: Holy Roman Imperial Diet…………..……………………………………. 3 Character List: The Lutheran Movement …………………………………………………... 7 Character List: Roman Catholic Church Ecumenical Council …………………………….. 12 2 CRISIS DIRECTOR LETTER Hello all! My name is Tabitha Molstre and I am very happy to be your Crisis Director. This year’s Triple JCC is going to be packed with twists, and hopefully, a lot of delegate driven material. In my experience, nothing is more satisfying than seeing something you’ve done in your crisis notes show up in a Crisis Update, so I look forward to incorporating delegate achievements, while (of course) keeping identities confidential. I encourage you all to be as creative as possible and to utilize every ounce of your power to achieve your ends, the Machiavellian way. Trouble is brewing in the Empire and the Papacy, and it will be vital for each committee to work together amongst themselves in order to solve each new problem and to push themselves to the top. Now for a little about me: I am a third-year student here at UCSD, majoring in Political Science: Public Law and minoring in Writing. I have traveled to several collegiate MUN competitions in places like Sacramento and LA, and staffed a few previous TritonMUNs as well, though my experience in MUN is largely Crisis Committee driven rather than GA. If any of you have any questions about anything prior to committee, feel free to shoot me an email, and if any questions pop up during committee, we can talk as well. If the question isn’t about this specific committee or Model UN, but rather college life at UCSD, writing, or anything else, feel free to ask anyway! I admire all creative outpourings, and am excited to see what you will all come up with for solutions and even new problems to throw into others’ way. As such, to maximize the possible ways that committee can go, I highly encourage each of you to do some independent research, and once in committee, to speak up and participate as much as possible, while keeping your backroom game strong. I look forward to a fun and eventful committee! Sincerely, Tabitha Molstre [email protected] TritonMUN XX Crisis Director 3 4 CHARACTER LIST: HOLY ROMAN IMPERIAL DIET Degenhart Schlosskirche (fictional): Degenhart is young, at 23, but highly intelligent, having earned his position as treasurer to Frederick the Wise from a long-time family friend of the elector after challenging the former treasurer’s actions regarding the Saxon economy. Degenhart comes from a mercantile family, and used this connection to help pull Saxony from the brink of economic collapse thereby earning him not only the respect of Frederick, but gratitude from the people as well. Frederick has sent him to the Diet as his eyes and ears, as well as to protect himself from the ire of the pro-Catholic Electors. He hopes that Degenhart can provide a sense of reason within the committee. Albert of Prussia: At 31, Albert is Duke of Prussia and 37th Grandmaster of the Teutonic Knights, a religious order dedicated to helping Christians on their pilgrimages, though mainly in a mercenary capacity. His sympathies, however, with the Lutheran movement have led to rocky relationships within the movement he is at the head of, and he will have to move carefully in order to retain his position in the order. His uncle is King Sigismund I of Poland, and Albert’s lands remain relatively wealthy, despite his harsh rule of the peasantry. Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse: Philip took control of his lands, the Estates of Hesse, at only 14, ending the struggles for authority that surrounded his mother’s regency, as his father had died when Philip was only five years old. Despite little education for his station, he rapidly adapted to his role, and regained much of the power lost by his mother in her regency, proving himself a capable statesman. He was present at the Diet of Worms, witnessing Luther’s testimony, and found himself admiring the revolutionary. 5 John, Elector of Saxony: John is of the House of Wettin, a long-standing dynasty that produced Kings, Prince-electors, and many other impressive titles. His brother is Frederick the Wise, who is infamous for his protection of Martin Luther after the events of the Diet of Worms. While Frederick is currently the true Elector of Saxony, he has sent his brother to act in his stead, and John’s actions therefore will carry the authority of an elector of the Holy Roman Empire. John not only has Lutheran sympathies, but has fully converted to Lutheranism, and is a big supporter of Luther himself. As such, the two remain in close contact. George, Duke of Saxony: Contrary to the Elector of Saxony, George has been reluctant to convert to Lutheranism, seeing it as a betrayal of the Church. In his past, he has sold much of his lands to the Emperor Charles V, but recently took new lands of het Bildt, where his ability as a ruler has been affirmed. He rules with order, stomping down crime, but at the cost of freedom, and at times ignores the rights of certain cities’ sovereignty. In his Duchy, George expels those with anti- catholic beliefs, a light punishment when compared to the actions of other rulers and the punishment of those who took things a step further and identified as Protestant. He is a known member of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg: Joachim is married to King John of Denmark’s daughter Elizabeth, and enjoys a close relationship with the leader. Unlike Frederick the Wise, Joachim embraced the sale of indulgences within his territory, and condemns Luther and the Protestants. However, despite his opposition to the Protestants, his relationship with Emperor Charles V is rocky at best, him having been a swing vote in the election of 1519. He is good friends with the King of France, however, who he met during the same election. Albert of Brandenburg, Elector of Mainz: Albert of Brandenburg is a Cardinal, Archbishop, and Elector of Mainz. He was prominent in the sale of indulgences and was one of the main motivators that caused Luther to post his 95 Theses. He is very close with Johann Tetzel and, strangely, Ulrich von Hutten, a Luther 6 supporter. He helped to assure Charles V’s rise to emperorship in the 1519 election, and is a staunch supporter of Catholicism, unsurprising considering his position within the Papacy. Margaret of Münsterberg: Margaret is Duchess of Anhault, the wife of Prince Ernest I, rules the duchy as regent in place of her underage sons. A deeply religious supporter of the Church, she is against the Reformation, and has formed the League of Dessau to fight their spread in the Holy Roman Empire. However, her sons remain sympathetic to the Lutheran cause. Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg: Eric rules over half of his father’s lands (the Principalities of Calenberg and Gottingen), the other half having been given to his brother Henry. An experienced campaigner, Eric’s skills as a general will be sorely needed if armed conflict breaks out. In fact, during the Bavarian- Landhut war, Eric personally saved Emperor Maximilian I’s life, endearing him to the man and granting him a knighthood. However, Eric’s attention is divided, as he currently has feuds going on that limit his ability to act with as much force as he could if the Hildesheim Diocesan Feud were resolved. Albrecht Dürer: A famous artist and influencer of the German Renaissance, Albrecht was the patron of the Holy Roman Emperor for many years. While other members of this committee have power over territories, Albrecht has power over the hearts and minds of the people, as the lack of literacy increases the value of his art. While he has sympathies towards Protestants, the violence that has begun to break out around the Reformation has caused him to distance himself from the movement, and he remains dear to Charles V’s court. Not only does he have influence within the educated peoples of Germany, but he also has a heavy presence among other painters, as many flock to the Empire to learn from him. Isabel Rembrandt (fictional): Rembrandt has been sent as the representative of Ferdinand I, the younger brother of Emperor Charles V, who is currently at the head of the Austrian government and is much 7 more involved in the lives of the German people and ruling class than his brother. Rembrandt acts as the liaison to the emperor’s brother, and has been entrusted with her own power as well. Born to a relatively poor family, Rembrandt often would wander the streets of Alcala de Henares, Spain, where she picked up many skills and connections useful when dealing with the criminal underworld. She uses those connections to better assist her childhood friend, Ferdinand, as well as herself. 8 CHARACTER LIST: THE LUTHERAN MOVEMENT Andreas Karlstadt: Karlstadt is a close friend of Martin Luther, but often comes into conflict with him, disagreeing on certain theological principles and leaning more towards the Anabaptists than the Lutherans. Karlstadt takes a very balanced point of view and has been reluctant to define himself as any one denomination of Protestant, but remains firm in his allegiance to the cause. Due to his travels, Karlstadt is fluent in many languages, including German, French, and Italian.