In 10,193 House Atreides took control of the Imperium through Duke Paul Atreides, who became Emperor and successor to Shaddam Corrino IV. For several thousand years it was governed by House Corrino, the ruler of whom took the title of the Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe, since the Imperium spanned millions of planets over several galaxies. However, its more widely known structure only emerged after the Butlerian Jihad. The Imperium came into being some time before the rise of the Thinking Machines. Most economic ventures were conducted through CHOAM, the company in which the Imperial House, the Landsraad, and Bene Gesserit and the Spacing Guild all had a stake.

In this way, those that remained in power had to rely on others, otherwise the Imperium would fall into chaos. The Emperor's military force was matched only by the sum of all the Lansdraad forces, and the Bene Gesserit, Bene Tleilax and the Spacing Guild provided services of their own. The Imperium managed function through a delicate balance. The Corrinos used political power and the superior force of its army to coerce or manipulate other significant political players such as the Bene Gesserit, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Tleilax, and the Landsraad. It provided a socioeconomic and political framework within which the Faufreluches class system operated.ДЇor more than 10,000 years the Imperium was headed by a ruling family or noble House, namely House Corrino. The Imperium referred to the form of absolute trans-world governance used to maintain control of the Known Universe, typically before the rise of Leto Atreides II. Later, however, the Empire was claimed and ruled by House Atreides. However, during Paul Muad'Dib's Imperial reign (and even more so during the reign of his son, the God-Emperor Leto II), the level of political power held by the Emperor increased drastically.ДЇor the first several millennia of its existence, the Golden Lion Throne of the Padishah Empire was occupied by House Corrino. While the Padishah Emperor was seen as the supreme ruler of the Known Universe, control of the Known Universe was shared, in a quasi-feudal arrangement, by the Landsraad, the Bene Gesserit, and the Spacing Guild. It was also commonly referred to as the Imperium, and later as the Old Imperium. The Galactic Padishah Empire encompassed the entire Known Universe of humanity at the time. There are separate pages for this subject as it appears in the other canons such as Galactic Padishah Empire in Expanded Dune and Galactic Padishah Empire in the Dune Encyclopedia This article or section refers to elements from Original Dune

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