Curia Report
Their Majesties Edward and Thyra convened East Kingdom Curia in Stonemarche on Sunday, January 25 after Market Day at Birka ended. Their Highnesses had to leave early due to the impending snowstorm, which forced them to reschedule modern business travel plans.
The agenda for Curia, which can be viewed on the East Kingdom Seneschal’s web site (http://seneschal.eastkingdom.org/curia.php), was lengthy and time constraints resulted in some items being tabled for a second Curia at Mudthaw. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on the East Kingdom Seneschal’s page as soon as they are available.
The agenda included name changes to four East Kingdom Awards (the Queen’s Honor of Distinction, the King’s Esteem of Merit, The Tyger of Valor, and the Gift of the Golden Lyre). His Majesty, with the assistance of Mistress Alys Mackyntoich, explained that they were necessary because Corpora requires that our awards be registered with the Society College of Arm. The College has specific rules for award names, with which these four awards were not compatible. His Majesty was at pains to assure the populace that they had consulted with the Royal Peers who had instituted the awards in question to be certain that they understood the intent of the award and were choosing name corrections which were as close as possible to conveying that intent while still meeting the requirements of the Society College of Arm. Master Ryan MacWhyte, Brigantia Herald, has been working on bringing all of the Kingdom Awards in line for the past 2 years, and with this set, the job is complete.
Someone in the populace inquired as to whether this requirement also applied to Baronial level awards. Brigantia indicated that it did and that most were already in compliance. He indicated that he would be offering assistance to those groups which would need to make changes, once the Kingdom level changes were settled.
The agenda included changes to several sections of law relating to Baronial selection procedures. Their Majesties stated more than once that their intent was not to make any material changes to the way things work, but only to clarify points, and remove duplication where the same procedure is currently described in multiple places in Law. The list of dates when specific baronies are due to be polled is also being removed, as it was needed only while the term limits were being phased in. Now that all groups have new Barons and/or Baronesses chosen since the laws regarding term limits were enacted, it was felt that the schedule of which groups were due for elections would be best maintained by the Kingdom Seneschal rather than listed in Kingdom Law.
Language will also be added clarifying the procedure for notifying local groups of Their Majesties’ decisions regarding their pollings, as this has been a source of some confusion in the past. The new text also specifies that while the decision made by a reign is binding, the investiture may take place in a subsequent reign, if it’s not possible to schedule one between the date of the decision and the next Coronation.
Language was proposed for adding a Thrown Weapons Championship Tourney to the list of East Kingdom Champions Tourneys, and allowing throwers to be included in the Queen’s Guard. Their Majesties expressed strong support for the Thrown Weapons community, but also expressed considerable concern that adding another required Royal Progress would make an already challenging schedule even more difficult. In some reigns the required championship events and other Kingdom events such as Twelfth Night, in combination with Baronial Investitures, threatens their ability to attend non-mandated events. Their Majesties would like to hear commentary from the Kingdom regarding creative solutions to the problem. Mistress Mercedes, the Kingdom Seneschal, will be receiving the commentary. An announcement of a dedicated email address for it will be forthcoming shortly.
The question of making Thrown Weapons one of the Kingdom Champions Tourneys was tabled for a future Curia. The item making them eligible for inclusion in the Queen’s Guard was passed with strong support from the assembled Curia.
A proposed change to the Law section governing groups holding events outside their borders was approved with minor language changes.
A revision to the Kingdom’s complaints procedure was approved as proposed by Their Majesties. His Majesty explained that under the current Law, if someone wishes to make any kind of complaint against the heirs, or against any territorial prince/princess, should the East have a principality at some point in the future, he cannot utilize the current Complaint Procedure to provide any kind of due process at the kingdom level. He can only rule unilaterally on the matter, which would then probably be taken to the Board of Directors by whichever party fell short of their desired outcome. Their Majesties wish to afford future royalty the opportunity to deal with such matters in the context of the Kingdom’s resolution process, so that everyone involved can have the benefit of due process. Their Majesties did specify that the complaint procedure would not be retroactive.
The proposed change to Kingdom Law to allow persons who do not live within the geographic boundaries of a group to serve as officers or autocrats for that group, if local policies permit, was tabled for the follow-up Curia at Mudthaw, as the time period for which the room had been rented was exhausted.