ANST - P-word

[Decker, Terry D.]

Ansteorra, Principality and Kingdom

When Ansteorra was a principality, the Kingdom of Atenveldt was immense.
Ansteorra seldom saw the crown and the Ansteorran loyalty was more to the
Prince and Princess, who were the visible, than to a vague couple that no
one had meet and were somewhere in Colorado or Arizona.  This principality
loyalty was evident when Koris Natterhelm tithed the Kingdom and the
populace supported Their Stellar Highnesses in questioning the tithe.  I
believe Koris was living in the Steppes at the time.

Because the crown often resided elsewhere, Ansteorrans felt slighted by lack
of advancement and awards.  Their Highnesses Ansteorra met with their peers,
such as they were, and recommendations were made to the Crown, but the
people who had the ear of the Crown were those who were physically close
enough to discuss matters at regular intervals.  After Ansteorrans started
winning the Crown, the Principality of Ansteorra became the Kingdom of
Ansteorra.  There may be no correlation between these occurrences.

Calontir had similar problems when they were part of the Midrealm.  The
acrimony between Calontir and the Middle has largely to do with Calontir's
fighters being deliberately kept from participating in the Crown Tourney,
awards and recognition being kept from the people of Calontir, and being
treated as second class citizens in general.  Take a look at the list of
Midrealm awards granted at the Chigger War and you will have some idea of
the scope of the problem.  The awards represent a two year backlog.

While one may not think that the problem is one that would occur in
Ansteorra, it is one of the reasons the North has such a strong identity.
For some time Northerners had problems being recognized and getting awards,
which culminated in a political stand behind Baron Bjorn Magnusson's Red Man
Banner and has since suffused into a general Northern identity.  

If we wish to create Principalities and maintain Ansteorra, then the Crown
must be beyond Principality politics and must work at treating the
principalities and their populaces evenly.  I would strongly recommend that
Crown Tourneys continue to be held in different principalities on a
rotational basis and that Coronations and other Kingdom events be rotated
between all principalities as regularly as the schedules and budgets of the
Crown and TRH permits.

For the solidarity of the Kingdom, even if principalities are not created, I
would recommend that each reign, the Crown select 3 or 4 minor events to
attend, visiting groups which the previous Crowns have not visited, until
every group in the Kingdom has had the pleasure of the Crown at their event.
Perhaps these groups will have the same inspiration to grow and prosper that
Namron had when HRM Sir Ton the Traveller was the only knight in attendance
at the First Protectorate. 

While the geographical and political situations have changed since Ansteorra
was a principality, the root cause of rifted Kingdoms is still with us.
Alienation precedes separation.  Ansteorra is not free of alienation.


The Calendar

The actual problems with the Kingdom Calendar began about 14 years ago, when
the Kingdom Seneschal would only accept reservations six months in advance.
The Kingdom was growing and the Calendar was filling up quickly.  In
addition, truly large events which required a long lead time could not be
adequately scheduled.

Despite regions and an extended Calendar, SCA folk have the option to attend
one or even several events almost every weekend.  This is a distinct change
from earlier days when you had "breather" weekends.  I doubt that
Principalities will improve this situation.

The big problem I see with the crowded Calendar is that it cuts into doing
local events.  Local events are part of the glue which keeps groups together
and growing.  They are where newcomers can be acculturated into the SCA and
where personas are polished.  They are meant to be fun rather than the
busman's holiday of staging a Calendar event.  If we neglect local events to
put greater and grander events on the Calendar, how great is the disservice
to our Kingdom?

Can principalities help ease the scheduling problems or will they create
another mass of conflicts?  If principalities can ease the scheduling
problems, will they reduce wide participation in Calendar events  which are
not Kingdom events?


Principality Offices and Money

With it's regional structure, Ansteorra has most of the principality
officers in place, assuming the principalities fall along regional lines.
In some cases their duties would need to expand to meet what is required of
a principality officer.

A principality would need to add a Prince and Princess.  This would require
a minimal amount of obligatory regalia.  This would require some funding.

The chronicler's office would probably need to publish a newsletter to
announce local and regional events, demos, etc., which were not on the
Kingdom Calendar.  This would require more funds.

The treasurer would need to establish a treasury and go into the funding
business to pay for regalia, newsletters and regional events.

Principalities would not create that many more opportunities to serve, but
they would increase the work to be done and force  monetary requirements on
the populace.  The monetary issues need to be addressed and the treasury
structure in place before a principality is formed.  Money is usually the
first issue which threatens to destroy a group.  Personal aggrandizement is
the second.

The new royalty will force the greatest change to the social fabric.  Their
focus is the principality and they form a buffer between the Crown and the
people of the principality.  In the best scenario, Their Highnesses see
themselves as being in fief to Their Royal Majesties and seek to improve the
Kingdom by improving their principality and supporting the Kingdom's goals.
In the worst scenario, they are a trump in the game of "create a kingdom".
No matter how it is approached, a principality changes the social dynamics
of the organization. 


Personal Thoughts

About 14 years ago when I was active and working with a number of groups in
the North, I would have welcomed Principality status.  Now I am ambivalent.

Do we need another royal presence to fill in for an absent Crown?  Possibly,
but not as we needed them 20 years ago.

Do we need the additional support and division of labor principalities can
provide?  Technically, regions should provide these, but there are problems.
Before jumping into principalities, perhaps we should make the regions
functional.  We should consider realigning the regions, strengthen the
regional officers, and create regional organizations which could make the
jump to principality if they choose to do so.

Bear


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