Francis Rhodes was able to establish himself at the Congress of Abbey as a legitimate source of authority through his lineage in relation to Queen Elizabeth I. With most at the Congress fearing that Rhodesia would be marginalised by the Civil War back in England, the vast majority supported Rhodes' claim to be the inheritor of the Tudors, and as such, recognised his authority as a member of a royal bloodline. Thus, the Congress declared Francis Rhodes to be King Francis I, and the House of Rhodes was created by prerogative of this declaration.