How much power does the Sealord of Braavos have ?

[Terrorthatflapsinthenight9]

In terms of political power and military power how strong the Sealord of Braavos, the official ruler of the free city, should have both inside and outside of Braavos ?

How strong should the Sealord be compared to a king or to a hand of the king in Westeros ? How much power and influence should he have over the magisters of the city and the keyholders of the Iron Bank, and inversely how much power should they have on him ?

[Falcon2909]

The Iron Bank given its level of influence have a big hold on him

[Shagwell the mad jester]

To me Braavos always seemed like a fictionalized version of the old Republic of Venice. The Sealord therefore is the "Doge" of Braavos. His main responsibility is the military (or the fleet) and apart from that he has a certain scope what he can do politically, but it's the Iron Bank's interest that guides politics in the last resort. On the other hand the Iron Bank will have stakeholders and it's easy to assume that this will be shared among a few families (who are also the magisters), and will also very likely take their turns that one of their members bcomes the seamaster. So I don't think it's a simple duality of political and economic power. Unlike the feudal lords of Westeros who don't care about economy (which has already brought about the downfall of Cersei).

[Aebram]

From TWOIAF:

Quote

Neither prince nor king commands in Braavos, where the rule belongs to the Sealord, chosen by the city’s magisters and keyholders from amongst the citizenry by a process as convoluted as it is arcane. From his vast waterside palace, the Sealord commands a fleet of warships second to none and a mercantile fleet whose purple hulls and purple sails have become a common sight throughout the known world.

So the process of choosing a Sealord is complicated; but once chosen, he "rules" for life, which implies complete power like a king. But the book also mentions that slavery is outlawed by the First Law of Braavos: and "First" suggests that there are more.  So the Sealord's rule is apparently limited by some sort of constitution.

The mention of magisters tells us that there's some middle management.  The mention of keyholders tells us that the Iron Bank does have some influence in the choosing process.  Other than that, we don't know much about Braavosi politics.

 

[Darth Sidious]

The Sealord, being an elected official, does not have the almost absolute power of a monarch. A monarch who is part of a long family dynasty has more power. 
 

 

[Aebram]

13 hours ago, Paul Serone said:

The Sealord, being an elected official, does not have the almost absolute power of a monarch.

Not nessarily. It's possible for a nation to have, in effect, and elected king. He is chosen by the people, but once chosen, his rule is absolute, except perhaps where limited by law. He rules for life, but when he dies, the rule does not pass to his heir; instead, there's a new election. This is about what the Nights Watch does.

[Loose Bolt]

I assume that nominally Sealord has total power. But any SL who really tries use that power and makes too many VIPs angry will die very soon. Or I think that Faceless Men and Iron Bank will make sure that Sealords will not cause too many problems and any SL who does for any reason will have very short term as a ruler of Braavos.

[Darth Sidious]

On 12/8/2021 at 11:24 AM, Aebram said:

Not nessarily. It's possible for a nation to have, in effect, and elected king. He is chosen by the people, but once chosen, his rule is absolute, except perhaps where limited by law. He rules for life, but when he dies, the rule does not pass to his heir; instead, there's a new election. This is about what the Nights Watch does.

I have to disagree with your opinion. The fact that a person is elected means he does not hold the real power. A monarch rules by virtue of simply having the right.