What is the right of eagrel?

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hallucyon
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Does anybody know what the right of eagrel is? I came across this term in Tim Eccles' superb "All Quiet in Kislev":
However the Baron died last year, and was succeeded by Heinrich von Weide, a minor third son from somewhere in the Ostland border marches. At the same time, it is readily admitted that there was a daughter to inherit, Katrin Antonescu. [...] Levan Rubrov, a pedlar, knows that the rightful heir was kidnapped by Heinrich von Weide and is being held in a fortified farmstead to the south-east (about a day’s travel). He believes that she can be rescued and escorted to safety in the village of Pskoi, which is situated in the lands of Governor Dmitri Khuzov. There is a priest of Verena located in the village who can grant her the right of eagrel and so enforce her rights to her title and lands.
The explanation the author gave is rather vague:
Technically, eagrel is the old Reikspiel term for the process, and the Baroness is actually bringing a case of Gleichgestellte before the court, whereby she will have herself legally declared a man. This is why she needs the secular as well as religious authorities.
I have several English books on Roman law and history of common and continental law, but I cannot find this term anywhere. Apart from a few short references to the so-called eagrel women in "Midgard" (some German roleplaying game) Google searches did not yield any clues, too.
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Karanthir
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Gleichstellen = to treat as equal, so the idea of applying that term to a woman being legally declared a man seems right. But as for "eagrel", I also haven't been able to find anything other than the Midgard reference (although I've only done a very brief search.

Given that the "eagrel women" are women who are treated as equal to men, and given that the relevant Midgard sourcebook was published in 1998 and Tim Eccles first released All Quiet in Kislev in 2002, it could be that he got the term from Midgard, if its writers made up the word (I can't speak to his awareness of a German-language RPG, so this is just a guess). That said, it could be a genuine historical term that one or both got the idea from.

Edited to add: I kept digging after I posted, and any non-Midgard references I could find were to other WFRP fan-publications. Mad Alfred uses the term in his 1e adventure The Witch Hunter Cometh. More fruitfully, in 3e's Averheim Electoral Crisis, the author included this note:
The "eagrel" concept comes from earlier edition warhammer and is referenced in Warpstone Magazine, going back to before there were "Brigundians". I like it as a cultural memory making this part of empire friendlier to strong female leaders (useful to explain Nuln too).
I'm not sure if/when I'll have time to trawl through back-issues of Warpstone, but it would be interesting to know when the earliest WFRP reference to the concept is.

Edited again: I found the Warpstone issue quite quickly (good old document of contents). Issue 12, Winter 1999/2000, The Correspondent: Women in the Old World, written by (you guessed it) Tim Eccles. He mentions "aridani", "eagrel" and "gleichgestellte", noting:
I am indebted to Anthony Ragan and Florian on the WFRP mailing list for pointing to this concept in Empire of the Petal Throne and Midgard RPGs, from where the terms Aridani and Eagrel are taken respectively. Gleichgestellte is (apparently) a rough modern German equivalent.
It sounds to me like Eccles did not believe there to be, or was unaware of, a real life historical precedent for the idea.
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hallucyon
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Many thanks for your exhaustive reply.

Yes, you are right: Tim Eccles mentioned about "eagrel" in his regular column in Warpstone. My memory failed me and I forgot about it.

My problem with all these explanations is that they do not bring me nearer to the understanding of "the right of eagrel". Of course, the context this expression was used implies it has something to do with the notion of equality of men and women in the law of Kislev and, specifically, the right of the only daughter to inherit her deceased father's lands and rule them as if she was male. More or less.

What I want to know is whether "the right of eagrel" means a woman's right to be treated as a man in certain situations or a woman's right to file a motion and have this issue decided by a relevant authority. Speaking more technically: is it a material or procedural right? That I cannot infer from those bits of information you and I have found.

PS. Neither "Shorter Oxford English Dictionary" nor "Oxford English Dictionary" list this word. So, perhaps "eagrel" has been made up?
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Karanthir
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Yes, it seems like the writers of Midgard made up the term "eagrel".

Short of contacting Tim Eccles directly (if that's possible), I don't think you'll find a definitive answer to your other question. Taken literally from what little there is, I would say "the right of eagrel" is something a woman can apply for through the courts, and, if granted, she will be legally considered a man in all regards for the purposes of inheritance, ruling etc. To try to be a bit more specific, the "right of eagrel" allows a woman to be treated as a man, but it must be applied for first. So I think the answer to your question (in my understanding) is that it is a material right, but one has to go through the correct procedure to obtain it. If that makes sense.
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hallucyon
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Thanks for your input.
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Karanthir
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Happy to help!
Knight of the Lady
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Interesting little tidbit, especially the tie-in with Tékumel's "aridani" concept. I suppose it depends on how enlightened you want you Empire to be but its certainly an interesting, and I would say good, way that a woman can legally step into the male sphere of Imperial society.
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Karanthir
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Yeah, something like this certainly suits my own personal view of the Empire. There are enough female electors (at least in WFRP1) that the Empire seems to be more egalitarian than the real world Holy Roman Empire, whether or not you have a specific concept to explain it.
go11um
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Oh thank you so much for this thread ! I'm french and reading/translating to prepare the next session of the campaign and really couldn't find anything about the word "eagrel" on .
But i kept reading and on the next page it's written :
"Technically, eagrel is the old Reikspiel term for the process, and the Baroness is actually bringing a case of Gleichgestellte before the court, whereby she will have herself legally declared a man. This is why she needs the secular as well as religious authorities."
Anyway your messages were really interesting to read.
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