THE EMPIRE SHALL RISE FROM IT'S ASHES!
The Empire of Haiti was an elective monarchy in North America. Haiti had previously been the French colony of Saint-Domingue but on January 1, 1804 independence was declared. The Governor-General of Haiti, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, created the Empire on September 22, 1804 when he proclaimed himself Emperor Jacques I. On 6 October Emperor Jacques' coronation ceremony was held. The constitution of May 20, 1805 set out the way the Empire was to be governed with the country split into six military divisions with each general of the division to correspond directly with the Emperor or the general in chief who would be appointed by the Emperor. The constitution also set out the succession to the throne with the crown being elective with the reigning Emperor having the power to appoint his successor.
EX CINERVBVS NASCITVRFaustin-Élie Soulouque. Born in Petit-Goâve in 1782 as Faustin-Élie Soulouque, he was one of two sons born to Marie-Catherine Soulouque. He was freed by Léger-Félicité Sonthonax in 1793. As a free citizen he enlisted in the black revolutionary army and fought as a private during the Haïtian Revolution between 1803-1804. During the conflict Soulouque became a respected soldier and as a consequence in 1806 he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Army of Haïti and made Aide de Camp to General Lamarre. In 1810 he was appointed to the Horse Guards under President Pétion. During the next four decades he continued to serve in the Haïtian Military, rising to the rank of Colonel under President Guerrier, until finally promoted to the highest command in the Haïtian Army, attaining the rank of Lieutenant General and Supreme Commander of the Presidential Guards under then President Jean-Baptiste Riché. He became a career officer and general in the Haïtian army when he was elected President of Haïti in 1847. In 1849 he was proclaimed Emperor of Haïti under the name of Faustin I.
One of his first acts after being declared emperor was to established a Haïtian nobility. By September, 1850, Faustin had granted Letters Patent creating 4 Princes of the Empire, 59 Dukes, 2 Marquis, 99 Counts, 215 Barons, and scores of Hereditary Chevaliers and lesser nobles. In order that he might reward loyalty to his regime as well as add to the prestige of the Haïtian Monarchy, on September 21, 1849 he established the Military Order of St Faustin and the Civil Order of the Haïtian Legion of Honor. Later, in 1856 he created the Orders of St. Mary Magdalene and the Order of St. Anne.
Faustin's marriage to Empress Adélina produced one daughter, Princess Célita Soulouque, who had no issue. The emperor also adopted Adelina's daughter, Olive, in 1850. She was granted the title of Princess with the style Her Serene Highness. She married Jean Philippe Lubin, Count of Petion-Ville, and had issue. The emperor had one brother, Prince Jean-Joseph Soulouque, who in turn had eleven sons and daughters. Jean-Joseph's eldest son, Prince Mainville-Joseph Soulouque, was created Prince Imperial of Haïti and heir apparent upon the succession of his uncle to the throne, he later married Marie d'Albert.
Born in Saint Kitts, the son of Christophe, a freeman on the island of Grenada, BWI, Christophe was brought to Saint Domingue as a slave in the northern region. He was said to be of mixed race. In 1779 he may have served with the French Forces as a drummer boy in the American Revolution in the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Dominigue, a regiment composed of gens de couleur. They fought at the Siege of Savannah. As an adult, Christophe worked in and managed a hotel restaurant in Le Cap, a major city of northern Saint-Domingue, where he became skilled at dealing with the grand blancs, as the wealthy white French planters were called. Such political skills also served him well when he became an officer in the military and leader in the country.He was said to have obtained his freedom as a young man, before the slave uprising of 1791. Sometime after he had settled in Haiti he brought his sister Marie Christophe there, where she married Jean and had issue. Beginning with the slave uprising of 1791, Christophe distinguished himself in the Haïtian Revolution and quickly rose to be an officer. He fought for years with Toussaint Louverture in the north, helping defeat the grand blancs, the Spanish, British, and finally French national troops. By 1802 he was a general under Toussaint Louverture.
In 1811 Henri made the northern state of Haïti a kingdom, and was ordained Emperor by Arch Bishop of Milot Corneil Breuil. The edict of 1 April 1811 gave his full title as:
Henri, par la grâce de Dieu et la Loi constitutionelle de l'État Roi d'Haïti, Souverain des Îles de la Tortue, Gonâve, et autres îles adjacentes, Destructeur de la tyrannie, Régénérateur et bienfaiteur de la nation haïtienne, Créateur de ses institutiones morales, politiques et guerrières, Premier monarque couronné du Nouveau-Monde, Défenseur de la foi, Fondateur de l'ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Henri.
Henry, by the grace of God and constitutional law of the state, King of Haiti, Sovereign of Tortuga, Gonâve, and other adjacent islands, Destroyer of tyranny, Regenerator and Benefactor of the Haïtian nation, Creator of her moral, political, and martial institutions, First crowned monarch of the New World, Defender of the faith, Founder of the Royal Military Order of Saint Henry.
One of Christophe's first acts as king was to create a Haïtian Peerage, with four princes, seven dukes, 22 counts, 40 barons and 14 chevaliers. Christophe also founded a College of Arms to provide armorial bearings to the newly ennobled.
