Royalty

[Michael A. Chance]

I apologise for responding so late to this post, but between gearing
up for a major demo (the opening of Camelot here in St. Louis) and
packing for Pennsic, I've gotten a bit behind.

Clare writes:

> A crown that assumes the thrown with an agenda is probably destined for 
> greatness but not of the positive variety. The crown has enough work to 
> do when they step up, that they don't need to try to "fix" things. Not 
> for themselves, their friends or the kingdom. If we want them to fix 
> something, we will ask them to.

Actually, a Sovereign and Consort that show up to their Coronation
*without* an agenda will probably have either a very uninspired (and
very forgettable) reign, or will have their agenda set for them, and
perhaps not in a fashion that either they want or is good for the
kingdom.

"Having an agenda" is not necessarily a good or bad thing, of itself.
What that agenda is, and how it's pursued, will be the determining
factor.

For instance, setting a goal of "increasing participation in the arts
and crafts" or "encouraging more pagentry in tournaments" could be part
of a Crowns agenda.  There are good and bad was of attempting to reach
this goal, but the "agenda" itself could well be seen as a good thing.

Viscount Galen, for instance, upon becoming Prince of Drachenwald, had
an "agenda item" of cleaning up the Principality Laws, which by his
reign, had become a muddled mess.  Though the actual process was, at
times, difficult, the effort reaped huge dividends for his successors
and the long-term health of the principality.  Without that "agenda",
the history of Drachenwald mught be very different, if it had lasted
at all.

The same could be said of the Ansteorran Princes that pursued the
"agenda" of becoming a Kingdom, or or the Kings that instituted the
Lions of Ansteorra, or started fencing as an accepted SCA activity, or
began the discussions with Trimaris and Meridies that resulted in
Gulf Wars.

I would submit that nearly all Crowns who's reigns are judged as
"good" probably started their reigns with a list of things that they
wanted to accomplish or see happen during their reign.  Maybe not all
of them got done, and perhaps other things were forced upon them by
circumstance, but they did have a basic plan to how they wanted their
reign to go - an "agenda" for the reign.

Mikjal Annarbjorn
-- 
Michael A. Chance          St. Louis, Missouri, USA    "At play in the fields
Work: mc307a at sw1stc.sbc.com                             of St. Vidicon"
Play: mchance at crl.com