[Ansteorra] Powers of the Crown

[Tim McDaniel]

On Sat, 21 Jul 2012, Adam R Thompson <adam.r.thompson1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jul 21, 2012, at 8:49, "Lori C." <countesskat at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> One minor clarification. Here in Ansteorra the King and Queen rule
>> equally. ... As far as I know there are no powers reserved strictly
>> to the Ruler by Right of Arms (though it may by now be unwritten
>> tradition that this individual creates members of the Chivalry...

It was posted yesterday -- yeah, maybe lost in the flood -- that
Corpora says

9. The Sovereign supervises combat on the field of honor.

I agree with that posting that that's the only Corpora power given
expressly to either the Sovereign or the Consort.

> Only a knight can make a knight. That dates back to the
> formalization of the process in AS 2.

To be precise, what Corpora says is

     2. The Crown may elevate subjects to the Peerage by granting
     membership in one of the Orders conferring a Patent of Arms, after
     consultation with the members of the Order within the Kingdom, and
     in accordance with the laws and customs of the
     kingdom. Restriction: to advance a candidate to the Order of
     Knighthood, a Knight of the Society must bestow the accolade.

That is, there's nothing written that says that the Sovereign knights
a new knight, but I too think it is unwritten tradition everywhere.
(I'm a bit surprised that, when a squire is being elevated, their
knights haven't asked to give the accolade.)  But the objection is
correct: if the Sovereign doesn't happen to be a knight (as in
Drachenwald at the moment), they have to call in a knight to do it.
I don't know if they have a tradition of whom, but I can think of
several possibilities.

>> It is my understanding - though purely through heresay, because it
>> has never interested me enough to prompt any amount of research on
>> my part - that this is type of unilateral power is not the case in
>> every kingdom.

As I posted yesterday, there are some Corpora provisions that require
the consent of both.  However, a lot of Corpora provisions get bent or
interpreted around, and these restrictions can be met by a
rubber-stamp "Whatever you say, dear".  I too have heard hearsay of
powerless Queens, and I dimly recall hearing that a lot of the
codified rituals of the West have

     QUEEN:  So too say I.

or the like.  But as for not prompting me to do research to find out
the truth of it: so too say I.

Danel de Linccolne
-- 
Tim McDaniel, tmcd at panix.com