Tournaments and the Crown

[Pug]

> To be permitted to fight in a Crown Tourney (in Ansteorra), one
> must be acceptable to the Crown, and if not a member of the
> Chivalry, "spoken for" by a member of the Chivalry.

This I did not realize was part of entrance to Crown tourney. (I'm still
going on memory, but I don't remember this being in the by-laws.) It may
be that this is what is used to be considered "acceptable"?

> By Kingdom
> Law, one must also be "Able to support the office (it costs quite
> literally thousands of dollars to be the Crown in Ansteorra, the
> phone bill alone, may easily exceed $300 a month).

Ouch.

> Have reliable
> transportation (several Crowns have had cars disintegrate beneath
> them).

This is a bit weird, understandable, but weird. How does one determine
if someone's transportation is reliable?

> Law also requires that both the Sovereign (the one who
> wins), and the consort, have held office in the SCA (so that you
> will have a clue of the workings of the bureaucracy).

Is this any office in the SCA? It seems to me that atleast Colleges
truly don't know the ongoings of the rest of the bureaucracy since they
are largely protected by the Barony they are surrounded by. Atleast that
is how I saw it happening with Collegium Turris Animarum.

> The
> Corporation requires that you be a member, and have "access to a
> Black Star."  These are the major requirements, there are a few
> more, they are all detailed in Law and Corpora.

Now I have a question. Some of these seem to be completely arbitrary
from my point of view. Since it would easily be able to say someone
can't afford to support the office, or have reliable transportation,
etc, how does one keep from being blackballed, even if just for one
Crown tourney?

I need to get the Corpora by-laws sometime since I have only read the
Ansteorra by-laws. Of course, reading it is sick and demented.

> Duke Sigmund was the first Crown who was not a member of the
> Chivalry when he won Crown Tourney.  He was Knighted at the
> Coronation of his Heir.
> Duke Inman also won Crown Tourney before becoming a member of the
> Chivalry.  He was Knighted before his third reign.
> Duke Patrick Michael, was not a Knight when he won Crown Tourney,
> but was Knighted between Crown Tourney and Coronation.

Thank you for this information. This is something I've always been
interested in.

> The Crown is held by "Right
> of Arms" and no other attribute.  The attribute of a peer IS an
> integral part of being a good King/Queen.

Agreed. No one ever said they had to be a good ruler to be King/Queen.

> The _system_ usually places a Knight on the throne.

That is what I had assumed.

> It might be
> argued that "Right of Arms" is not the *best* way to select our
> monarchs.  I would argue that it is at least as effective as
> "Divine Right."  Since our aim is to recreate a (synthetic) feudal
> system, a hierarchy of nobility is part and parcel of the
> procedure.

I think that "Right of Arms" works as well guide for being King. It's as
close as we can get to "Divine Right" and not have people get bored or
dissatisfied with a King.

Ciao,

-- 
Phelim Uhtred Gervase | "I want to be called COTTONTIPS. There is something 
Barony of Bryn Gwlad  |  graceful about that lady. A young woman bursting with 
House Flaming Dog     |  vigor. She blinked at the sudden light. She writes
pug at arlut.utexas.edu  |  beautiful poems. When ever shall we meet again?"