During the millennia of Leto II's reign, knowledge concerning birth control was discarded along with much of the rest of the Imperium's advanced technology, and it was not until the periods known as the Starvation and the Scattering that sophisticated methods were discovered.
C.W.
Further references: BUTLERIAN JIHAD; ATREIDES, LADY CHANI; FREMEN MENSTRUATION; MOHIAM, REVEREND MOTHER GAIUS HELEN; ATREIDES-CORRINO, PRINCESS, IRULAN; R. Semajo, "Ritual and Fertility," Sofia 420:61-68; E.K. Sentenag, Surgical Techniques of the Last Millennium (Antares: People's College of Medicine); Ruuvars Shaigal, ed., Fundamentals of the Way: A Bene Gesserit Mental Exercise Book (Grumman: Lodni).
CORRIDA
The Spectacle of The Houses. Corrida is not a sport, though some of its detractors refer to it as such; it is, rather, a contest between a man and his courage.
HISTORY. The practice of the Corrida dates back into the dimmest reaches of the history of the Empire: there is considerable evidence that even the First Empire knew of Corrida, during the years when the Empire ruled only a portion of a single planet and did not even know of other worlds.
Legend has the Corrida originating in a land known variously as Iberia, or Hybernia, or perhaps Hyperborea, when the god-hero Manolete fought the god Zeus, who had taken the form of a bull for the combat. Zeus, the most powerful of the pre-O.C.B. gods, was certain of his victory when he saw that the aspect chosen by Manolete was evidently that of a fencer, or a dancer, since he was wearing clothes which made sense only if freedom of movement was paramount, and his body was not powerful, but lithe and precise. However, Zeus learned quickly of his mistake, as his charges were repeatedly misled by the dancing Manolete's cape, and the ability of the agile duelist to be mere millimeters from Zeus's horns when he charged by. The contest went on for weeks, with Zeus becoming more and more frustrated, especially now that the duel had attracted the attention of all of the gods of Hybernia, and they were all quite vociferous in their admiration of Manolete's bravery. Eventually, Zeus realized that the only way he could match the bravery of Manolete was to admit defeat, and he did so, allowing his mortal body to tire, but continuing to drive it against Manolete in one futile, deadly charge after another, turning, twisting, and wheeling about in the most unexpected ways possible, but all the time becoming slower, until eventually, Zeus stood before Manolete, too tired to lift his head, too tired to charge again, and saw Manolete draw his sword for the first time.
The Corrida traveled from Old Terra with its people, though it was apparently not nearly as popular before the Jihad as it was afterwards — a fact which has been held up as an example of the dissolute nature of the populace when in the thrall of the Machines. However, even before the Jihad, the Corrida was the entertainment of choice of large segments of the population of the Empire. The bull-breeding farms on La Coruna, Saragonna, and Bahamonde were continually busy, keeping the fans of Corrida satisfied. During this time, Corrida was not associated with the nobility to the extent that it would be after the Jihad, and all of the famous matadors of the period (with the exception of Duke Ban Leon, who was not, at any rate, particularly noteworthy as a matador) were commoners. Among these were "Rodolito", whose real name is unknown; "Little" David Mariante; Lili Kalt, one of the few women matadors; and Jose Martino Vasquez, still famous as "The Tempter" for his (eventually fatal) flirtation with the horns.
After the development of the Holtzman Shield, bull-fighting underwent a fundamental change which seated it forevermore firmly in the ranks of upper-class entertainment. It was probably the Baron of La Coruna who first thought of Shielding the bulls, making them much harder to kill inartistically, while at the same time insulating the bull from distractions and crowd noises. It is known that the first public display of what was then called Corrida Escuda took place in the Champions' Arena on La Coruna, in 1333 B.G. The Baron had asked his House Matadors to fight the bull, and all but two had refused, saying, quite rightly, that as commoners they were completely unfamiliar with the techniques of shield-fighting. The two who did volunteer were the Master of the training school and his prize pupil, the then-unknown Tial. Both had had experience in shield-fighting: Master Barkan as part of his twin duties as Trainer of the Levy, and Tial because Barkan had seen this development coming a long time before and wanted to be ready for it.
The Corrida that day is still spoke of in hushed tones by aficionados of the ring. It is said that the audience was stunned silent by the beauty of the pair of battles fought that day, and did not utter a sound during either Corrida, but when each kill was made, the pandemonium in the stadium could not be controlled. Both matadors made their names that day, and could have retired then and there as rich men, but neither did. Both survived the Corrida that day, but Barkan, aghast at the level of competency required, resolved to continue his training programs at heretofore unknown levels, knowing that the old skills were now merely deadly delusions. He was the first to train the new breed of noble matadors, and under Barkan's instruction and Baron La Coruna's patronage, the Corrida underwent a renaissance that has continued to this day.
VARIATIONS OF THE TRADITIONAL CORRIDA. There are as many different styles of Corrida as there are Matadors' schools, and there are usually several different schools on any given planet. However, alter the ascension of Emperor Leto, the so-called "Atreides Style" attained considerable prominence, since style in the Corrida, like all styles, was open to influence from the Imperial Court. Even though there is little evidence that anyone of the Imperial House ever practiced the Corrida after the death of Mintor Atreides, it is probably the departure of that House from Caladan to Arrakis, a world monumentally unsuited for the breeding of decent bulls, that caused this cessation, not any change of heart towards the Corrida. The development of an "Atreides Style" without living Atreides practitioners was somewhat difficult, but did not materially delay the more flamboyant matadors — as we know since the discovery, in the Rakis Finds, of the eyewitness records of Duke Mintor's fatal Corrida, and Duke Leto I's famous response.
In addition to mere variations in style, there were some Houses that considered the Corrida to be too tame: these tended to be outlying Minor Houses, though some of the Houses Major also were counted in this number. These were the main practitioners of a variation of the Corrida more properly known as the Arena, since their sole purpose was to provide the spectators with a bloody spectacle: usually, the combat was between an armed (though unshielded) man and some particularly dangerous example of the local fauna; or else the combat was between two human participants, either because they were professionals, or because they had a grudge to settle. The many variations and the incredible history of the Arena cannot be done justice in the short space available here.
Further references: ATREIDES, DUKE LETO I; H.M. Viskau, Morituri Te Salutamus: A History of the Arena through Four Empires (Caladan: INS Books).
CORRIN, THE BATTLE OF
(88 B.G.). The historical space battle which resulted in the ascendancy of House Corrino to the Imperial Throne, where it remained for some ten thousand years. The battle was fought on day 97 standard of 88 B.G. in the Corrin quasi-nebula and lasted two hours.
Count Sheuset Ecevit (who would become Emperor Sheuset Corrino I, adopting as the family name a derivative of the site of his victory), looking for a decisive military victory to ensure the position of his house, had planned on a surface battle against his foes — the other important houses of the Landsraad. Sheuset's greatest military strength was his Sardaukar: a peerless fighting force which had never been bested in a land battle. He had assembled his fleet for the occupation of the rich agricultural planet Glarus. But due to the treachery of, it is believed, Bashar Abulurd Harkonnen, the Landsraad High Council learned of Sheuset's plan and were waiting in ambush between the planets Salusa Secundus and Glarus; the Landsraad preferred to take their chances in a space battle against the Sardaukar then meet them on the ground. However, Sheuset's intelligence was as good as the High Council's (likely his early
dealings with drug traders paid off here in invaluable information) and he was prepared for the Landsraad forces. Having transferred his Sardaukar troops to combat ships, he surprised his ambushers by plunging directly into their hiding place.
The battle itself was the longest of all known space battles. The chief reason for this improbable duration was the nature of the battle region. The Corrin quasi-nebula is a result of the collision of a very large planetoid with the substellar companion of Sigma Draconis, and was named for the nearby planet Corrin. The collision, which may have been caused by an illicit mining and smelting operation, occurred in historical times (circa 250 B.G.). The resulting debris, comprising dust and hot gases as well as solid bodies, filled the Sigma Draconis system. It was still in a highly agitated state at the time of the battle.
The engaged fleets were restricted to low velocities; their maneuvers were often influenced more by the environment than by tactical considerations. Torpedos were similarly affected. Shields became unreliable, but lasguns did not therefore become more useful since the bursts were often diffused or deflected. Finally, the most importantly, the navigators of each fleet simply could not calculate the many and quickly shifting variables of the situation more than one hundred to two hundred seconds in advance of event and so had to get new data much more frequently than would ordinarily have been the case. Corrin demonstrated the handicap of navigators who relied primarily upon calculation rather than perception.
The most effective tactic, suicidal in ordinary circumstances, was to match vectors with an enemy vessel, approach closely, and follow an intense lasgun barrage with a boarding party. Count Sheuset clearly anticipated this. Few of the Landsraad warships carried any personnel trained for hand-to-hand combat, and those that were could not withstand the Sardaukar. Once the Sardaukar secured a vessel, it, too, was pressed into service against the remaining Landsraad units. The advantage Sheuset's fleet thus gained during the first thirty minutes more than compensated for greater Landsraad numbers.
The Landsraad High Council deployed seventy-one capital ships to Count Sheuset's twenty-three, but the Sardaukar captured thirty-seven. Nineteen more, including the flagship, were blown up, mostly in the second hour when panic and desperation began to infest the Landsraad command. Three finally surrendered, eleven escaped, and one has never been accounted for. Two Sheuset and five allied ships were blown up, and one, commanded by the Bashar Abulurd Harkonnen, fled during the early minutes of the engagement.
Among the casualties of the battle which included both the commander of the Landsraad forces, Duke Efim, and Count Sheuset's younger daughter, perhaps most notable was the honor of House Harkonnen. It seems likely that the Bashar Abulurd did not expect his lord to survive Corrin. He was stripped of rank, titles, and his Dahkotah mining interests. Only Count Sheuset's inclination to magnanimity following his victory permitted Abulurd to flee alive into exile.
Further references: Iilprad Maian, The Influence of Space Power on History (Salusa Secundus: Gravlak).
CORRINO, ANURIL
(10132 — 10176). The wife of Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, known primarily as the mother of Princess Irulan (St. Irulan, The Virgin Irulan, Irulan Atreides) and as the grandmother of Harq al-Ada. New material found at Dar-es-Balat, a collection of Anuril's songs, poems, and journals in the library of Harq al-Ada, and information released by the Bene Gesserit Archives give substance to this shadowy historical figure.
Like many Bene Gesserit women destined to be breeders, Anuril was never allowed knowledge of her parents' identity (the Sisterhood often inbred closely among family lines and feared adverse reaction because of incest taboos). Now, after thousands of years, the Sisterhood feels secure enough to release the information. Anuril was the daughter of a liaison between Count Mauris Paluna, distaff cousin of House Corrino, and Zhaivee Elstun, illegitimate sister of Count Gwilam Alman. At birth Anuril was placed in the Bene Gesserit Kinder House attached to the Chapter House on Chusuk. Kinder Houses provided care for infant Bene Gesserit girls who began formal training within the first few months of their lives.
Anuril started keeping journals when she was about five, and even these early entries show she was unhappy living in a dormitory with five other girls, supervised by an ever-changing staff of Sisters. Her entries indicate a growing inability to make close personal attachments to others. Instead she seems to have built a fantasy life about the forests which surrounded her school. Only when she writes of the forest and its animals do we hear a laughing, carefree child: "I work so hard at my prana and bindu exercises, and I'm getting better, but now I just use it to play hide and seek with the armeks in the woods. And today I sat so still and cold that a flinsh thought I was a bush and tried to build her nest on my shoulder."
As Anuril grew older, she became interested in the music which surrounded her on Chusuk, and after working with several of the great lusichord masters, she became a skillful player. Unfortunately for her, the Sisters did not consider such a skill useful or appropriate:
The lovely melodies that sing from my strings are all that keep me from dying in this rigid, sterile place of women and rules. All the Sisters tell me how ugly I look when I play my darling Binnbec [apparently the name of her lusichord] and that I will end up a wandering minstrel instead of a proper lord's lady. Well I don't want to be a lord's anything! I want to be a musician all my life.
Such a career would be forbidden, of course, for a Bene Gesserit breeder, and at fourteen Anuril was transferred to the Chapter House school on Gamont for specialized training. Her journals for that period record a short and unhappy residence there:
Thank the Great Mother! The Sisters are transferring me to Kaitain next month. Molly says she's never heard of a novice being sent to three different schools and she thinks I'm either a special student or a dumb one. I think the "dumb" label is the right one. I simply can't stand the lessons we're having now. The man I had today was pitiful — and Mother Jachaal had given me all those idiotic postures to assume — and that silly costume with glitter for my nipples and that stone in my navel. I told her that these sessions would work better if I could take Binnbec with me to play, but she just snorted through her nose and said something about "music therapy," whatever that means.
I dont [sic] know, journal, what Kaitain is like, but it can't be any worse than this. I just wish I din't [sic] get so sick when we travel. Sister Maura says that I'll just have to study regular academics there — plus deportment, etiquette, and the regular B.G. training routines, and that there are lay students in the school, too, from the Noble Houses. I've never lived with regular people, just with Sisters and Mothers. I think I'm going to have to invoke the calmness regimen every other minute!
She must have managed quite well on Kaitain, though, because the Bene Gesserit Chapter House Grade Reports for 10149 and 10150 list Anuril as an honor student, and in 10151 she is listed as graduating with highest honors in literature and history.
From 10152 through 10153, Anuril assisted the Mother Chamberlain for the Kaitain Chapter House, but in 10154 she was sent to House Corrino as a concubine for the young Shaddam. The journal entries for this period show an interesting, pleasant, but purely platonic relationship growing between the two young people. Shaddam was interested in her music and poetry, and Anuril was intrigued by his gem collection and his knowledge of historical architecture and costuming. The Padishah Emperor Elrood IX, however, was intrigued by Anuril's Gamont background and apparently insisted on tests and refresher lessons for himself. The journals show that as her friendship with the son grew, so did her hatred for the father. In 10155, Shaddam took Anuril as his wife, primarily to protect her from his father's growing obsession, it seems, but in 10156 when Shaddam assumed the throne at his father's death, no official recognition was given to Anuril. Only after the birth of their first child, Irulan, in 10165, was she given official status.
Children were the source of a long and eventually fatal conflict between Anuril and the Sisterhood. Although t
here is no official information available about her actual rank (listed as Hidden Rank in all the available Bene Gesserit records), it must have been at least Mater Acrior from the types of communications noted in her journals after 10160. When she was sent to Shaddam her original orders were to produce a minimum of four daughters for the Sisterhood. But during the early years of her stay Shaddam limited himself solely to social intercourse although his father demanded a more intimate relationship, forcing Anuril to practice strict birth control. To further complicate matters, when Anuril finally overcame Shaddam's inertia, she found him sterile, forcing her to surreptitiously feed him fertility drugs. For nine years Anuril lived in peace with her music and her poetry, answering the increasingly urgent demands of the Sisterhood with periodic sperm count reports.
By 10163, however, Anuril's life was troubled by the stringent orders, delivered through Shaddam's truthsayer R.M. Gaius Helen Mohiam, that she conceive. The Sisterhood had received reports that casual relationships had produced two illegitimate sons by Shaddam outside the royal residence.
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