[MR] New Principalty

[Estienne de Condé]

I am seeing a lot of emails that assume that a Principality would
automatically mean an entity separate from Atlantia. Such is not the
case, and I can only assume that there is more going on than what has
been posted so far. My Comments within, based solely on what I've seen
posted so far about this issue, compared with the Governing Documents
of the Society.

> What you propose is a divorce. It may be necessary. It may be not. It
> can go well and smoothly and make something stronger at the end for
> everyone . . . or it could go hard and messy and leave all parties
> battered . . . but there will be pain either way.

That is not the way I read the gov docs - it's more like childbirth
(which is a different kind of "pain" my wife tells me...).

Straight from govdocs: Principality: area within a kingdom ruled by
Prince and Princess

"within", I take to read "part of". I would say the analogy is much
closer to child raising than to a divorce between no longer consenting
adults. Even if the eventual goal may be to form another kingdom
(which I've yet to see somebody say), the analogy remains true - do
not children have to grow and mature enough before they leave the
nest? Even if a new Principality is formed, it's citizens will also
remain Atlantian.

> The SCA as a parent organization and all of this Kingdom, must know
> that the proposed principality has the support of the overwhelming
> majority of those who live in the geographic confines of the proposed
> branch. We must know that support has the depth of experience, the
> freshness of energy and the financial willingness to assume all levels
> of kingdom leaderships. That the populace of the new group will support
> the leadership and the events, that the events and culture will be
> varied enough to sustain interest . . . and sustain the new branch in a
> way that represents the organization, her populace and our mission well
> for the long term.

Also from govdocs:

Principality: A principality is a part of a kingdom which has the
right to select a reigning
Prince and Princess by armored combat. A branch or contiguous group of
branches within a kingdom may
petition for principality status if the resulting entity would fulfill
the requirements listed below:
• At least 100 members.
• Candidates for all Great Officer positions, each of whom is
acceptable to the kingdom
officer responsible for the direction of that aspect of Society
activity, and such other officers
as kingdom law and custom may require.
• A name and device registered with the College of Arms.
• Consensus favoring advancement in branch status by the members in the proposed
principality, demonstrated by procedures acceptable to the Kingdom and
Society Seneschals.
• A record of well-attended events together with regular study or
guild meetings,
demonstrations, and other educational activities for the benefit of
the members and the
community at large.
• Sufficient members of the orders conferring Patents of Arms to
foster the development of
those orders and the skills they represent within the principality.
• Sufficient fighters of such caliber as to provide appropriate
competition for the Coronet.
• A body of principality law which provides for the maintenance and
succession of the
Coronet, and for any other matters delegated or permitted by the
parent kingdom. Draft
laws, in the form in which they will be presented to the victors of
the first Coronet Lists,
must accompany a petition for principality status.

It basically says what you said above. I think it highlights that any
Principality move that is not supported by the Crown is doomed to
failure though. Even if supported, the Kingdom can refuse to delegate
or permit simple things like AOA level awards if it so chooses. The
Crown could require full control over the army of the Principality at
war if it so chose (so as not to dilute the Atlantian Army's
effectiveness at war). In short, the Coronets "authority" may be won
in the list, derives solely from the Crown.

> As the populace who propose such a split you must find whether there is
> support broad enough in all regions of the new principality to sustain
> that split and there begins a different kind of pain . . . because
> where will you draw the line? Literally. Do you know that folks in
> Black Diamond will support this notion as whole heartedly as those in
> Highland Ford might? What do you do with folks or groups who don't want
> to leave their mother kingdom? Force them? Overwhelm them with numbers?
> Dismiss their passions, concerns and loyalties? You will be taking
> those areas which currently sit in the mid of the kingdom and making
> them the fringe groups. How will you avoid relegating the Shire of
> Berley Cort to a place which rarely sees visitors?

I'm not clear on what the proposed borders would be. Black Diamond was
given as an example, but as far as I am aware, nobody has mentioned it
to us. As far as leaving their mother Kingdom - that would have to be
addressed down the path in the future. Principalities are part of the
mother Kingdom, so if one is formed, they would still be part of
Atlantia. I believe the concerns over groups being relegated to an
arbitrary edge to be well founded - but not prohibitive. They would
still be the same distance they were relative to the rest of the
Kingdom as a whole. There is nothing saying that a Principality can
not host a Kingdom level event within it's borders, nor that members
of a Principality can not vie for the Crown of the Kingdom, either
within their borders, or outside of them within the greater Kingdom.

> How many people will the new principality be able to field for Crown
> Tourney? How many qualified applicants will there be to step forward
> for kingdom seneschale? kingdom exchequer? kingdom knights marshal?
> kingdom minister of arts and sciences? I'm not saying there won't be
> qualified applicants, I know for a fact there are very qualified folks
> in those areas . . . but are there enough? Enough to run the kingdom
> for the foreseeable future not to burn out in a too short period of
> time because remember these folks also need to sustain their home
> shires and baronies.

I think you mean for Principality offices here? The questions &
concerns remain true, and need answers I think. In any event, I've not
seen any posts that come out and say "We want to split off from
Atlantia and become our own Kingdom!". If that is the goal, somebody
should probably actually state it somewhere...

> In the new principality will you follow the standards set by Atlantia?
> Will you be more an Eastern child? Perhaps you will model your
> philosophies more after our grandparents in the West. In what I'd
> suspect would be the region embodied by the new principality, you have
> a strong tradition of Eastern culture in one area . . . and a strong
> tradition of Atlantian in another. As a child of the East myself I
> stand as testament to the fact that those are two very different
> experiences.

More govdocs: The Crown or the Coronet may make and amend such laws of
their realm as they deem
necessary, with the restriction that principality laws are subject to
the approval of the Crown. (Note that law
applies to all persons participating in Society activities within the
borders of the realm, without regard to
subject status or individual fealty.)

In the area of law, Principality law must be approved by the Crown.

As far as the Coronet itself, Their role is also spelled out:

1. The Coronet shall administer the principality, its branches and
subjects on behalf of the
Crown, uphold their people's rights, work for their benefit, maintain
the Crown's justice, and be true and
faithful servants of their Crown.
2. The Coronet shall recommend to the Crown those subjects whose
achievements and service
within the principality are worthy of recognition that cannot be
granted by the Coronet.
3. The Coronet may make armigerous awards only where the right has
been formally delegated
to them by the Crown. Any such general delegation extends only to
subjects of their principality; the Coronet
must obtain specific authorization from the Crown for armigerous
awards to other persons. They shall
acknowledge the attainment of Viscounty rank by those who have met the
requirements. The Coronet may
establish and present non-armigerous awards specific to their principality.
4. If authority has been delegated by the Crown, the Coronet may
appoint, remove, or replace
Great Officers of the principality, in conjunction with the
appropriate kingdom Great Officers. The Coronet
may likewise appoint, remove, and replace Lesser Officers of the
principality, in conjunction with the
appropriate kingdom or principality Great Officers, if any. The Crown
may require consultation and prior
approval for any or all of these steps. The Coronet may suspend any
officer of the principality for just cause,
stated in writing to the affected person for the duration of the reign.
5. No Sovereign or Consort may hold any office in the principality
other than territorial Baron
or Baroness, or any kingdom-level office, for the duration of the reign.
6. The Coronet may call courts of inquiry only if the Crown approves.
7. Reservations to the Crown
• When the Crown believes the Coronet has overstepped the bounds of
law and custom, the
normal recourse should be to in-kingdom mediation and then to a Court
of Chivalry.
• If the Board upholds the judgment of such a Court, the affected
parties may be subject to
loss of any honors and privileges deriving from their reign, and
nullification of any official
acts dating back to the incident which led to the invocation of the Court.
• If the Crown feels that rapid action is essential to protect the
Society, it has the option of
banishing the Coronet from the realm, effectively putting the
principality reign into abeyance
until either conditions change within the kingdom or the Board
countermands the order.
However, if the Board does not agree with the Crown's judgment
regarding the urgency of
the situation, the Board may choose to take action against the Crown
as well as or instead of
against the Coronet.
8. Reservations to the Board
The Board reserves to itself the final determination regarding
discipline of members for actions taken while
serving as Sovereign or Consort of a principality. However, the
Coronet remains subject to the Crown, and
provisions regarding Courts of Chivalry and banishment still apply.
9. The Coronet may sanction subjects of their realm and visitors
thereto in accordance with
Corpora X.A. (Royal Sanctions).

In short, and with the admittedly little information that I've seen so
far, it's pointless to seriously consider doing something like this
without the support of the Crown and the Heir. More likely several
Heirs. The way I see Coronets is that they are basically super Barons.
They rule and administer an area of land in the name of the Crown, and
only as much as the Crown allows them to. If the Crown allows them to,
the Coronets may make AOA (or higher) level awards only in the Crowns
name and with the Crown's approval. The Coronet may make their own AOA
level awards - if, and only if, the Crown allows it. See where I'm
going with this?

I don't say that talking about doing it is pointless, just that
actually doing anything about it without securing the support of the
Crown first is going to be an exercise in futility. Atlantia was once
a Principality of the East after all. Who were Atlantia's first Prince
and Princess? Alaric and Yseult. Who was King and Queen in the East a
year prior to Atlantia becoming a Principality? Alaric and Yseult.
Obviously, There was support at the Crown level in the East for
Atlantia's formation way back when.

While a Principality does add a layer of representation, it also adds
a layer of bureaucracy. It also adds the opportunity to form a new
Kingdom in the future, if such a path is determined to be beneficial
by the Coronets and Crowns. It does not follow that all Principalities
have the goal of splitting off from their mother Kingdom. Somebody has
already pointed out that there are Principalities that are over 20
years old, and show no signs of trying to break away. Until somebody
tells me or posts publicly that the stated goal is complete separation
from Atlantia, I'm ambivalent on the whole thing.

If that is the goal, I'll opt out, thank you very much for asking -
but I for one, am not interested =)


-- 
In Service,

Estienne de Condé
Argent, three falcons vert
Supremus totus, Muneris
---------------
MKA Steve Lackey