I'm going to make a few assertions here that you may or may not agree with. No roastin' the postin', please. My blog, my opinions. By all means, disagree. But no ad hominem arguments, please.
The Middle Kingdom is overlarge, unwieldy, bureaucratically bloated, and beyond the capacity of any Crown to manage in any significant way. Management as such tends to involve doing what is Expected by Tradition, fulfilling the requirements for meetings, and stomping out actual Forrest Fires and Erupting Volcanoes.
Historically, the Middle Kingdom has spun off Principalities as a response to its overlargeness making it impossible to minister to all of its people equally. In the case of Calontir and Ealdomere, the "largeness" was pretty much geographic. With Northshield, it was a combination of geographic size and growth of both Northshield and the Middle Kingdom as we know it. More groups, more events, harder for the King, Queen, and Curia to make everybody feel part of the Kingdom.
I'm going to come out here finally and admit that I think it's time to at least discuss the notion of creating another Principality within the Middle Kingdom. And I think that Pentamere is the current best candidate for such a mood. We already have enough geographic isolation to have developed an internal culture of our own. It's a bit diffuse, but it's something to build on.
Before you jump down my throat and shriek and yell about "disloyalty" and "the glory of the Midrealm," lets make sure we're talking about the same thing.
I am not bucking for independence. A Principality of Pentamere would still be very much a part of the Middle Kingdom. Essentially, a territorial Principality is nothing more than a Region with the right to select it's own Prince and Princess.
Let's discuss some of the arguments in both directions:
1. We don't have enough people willing to serve as officers - Well, we already carry a full slate of Regional Officers, who would simply become Principality Officers, instead. Though it is a valid concern. If you speak to people who've been through the creation of a Principality, it's usually the case that those people FROM the Principality who would otherwise serve at the Kingdom level tend to pull back a bit and put their energies into the developing Principality instead. At least for the first 3-5 years. So the better question might be, will the Kingdom be able to cope without being to able to draw much on Pentamerans for offices for a few years? I have no idea how difficult/easy it is to fill those positions, so I can't speak to that. Anyone?
2. Coronet Tourney and Investiture would put at least 2 more necessary events on an already crowded Kingdom Calendar - This is true. However - there is nothing to prevent events outside the Region from taking place the same day. And - I think with the clogged, overloaded calendar as it is, we all need to be giving some serious thought to how badly we really need all of the Cookie Cutter events we have. I suspect that more than one group in the Region would be willing to forgo their "usual" event to host Coronet instead. And, since Coronet is a smaller event than Crown or Coronation - it would give some groups who can't manage a Kingdom Event the chance to host Royalty. There is SOME danger of the larger groups taking excess burden in hosting. And it's something that we'd need to talk about as a region seriously. Setting up some sort of "assigned date" system in advance is a potential solution. Yes, it does place a small burden on the King and Queen of an additional event they are required to attend. Thought, to be frank, I do feel a certain shake up in the Royal Progress might be a healthy thing, as well. Some branches might have to sacrifice traditional event dates. Others might suffer attendance if they're on the calendar opposite Coronet. How many events to we have/need as a Region?
3. Attendance at events by the King and Queen may actually decrease if we have our own Prince and Princess. Possible. Likely even. But there are some larger events in the Region that are pretty frequently graced with Royal Presence. And Coronet would ensure at least one visit per reign. It's likely that most people in Pentamere would therefore end up receiving their AoA from the Prince and Princess, while Courts held by the King and Queen are likely to be devoted to mostly higher awards. Bad thing? Good thing? More courts is likely to equal shorter courts. ;-) And, as a Wise Woman once said, More Royalty = More Fun.
4. More of the resources of the Region would get poured into the Region, rather than the Kingdom. Especially for Regalia, gifts, and donations to the Royal Travel Fund - True again. And we'll have to ask ourselves and evaluate both A. If we can find the resources to BE a source of Pride to the Middle Kingdom as a well managed, well developed Principality with a Prince and Princess who are provided with Regalia fitting to their station AND B. How much would the Kingdom suffer the lack?
5. We don't need to be a Principality - Well, True and False for multiple values of "need." Now, if you have the money, availability, and resources to travel widely across the Kingdom and frequent Kingdom events, you yourself, may not "need" a Principality. Any more than the average stick jock needs there to be A&S classes at an event, or that a Fencing event needs to have a Heavy Tourney. But a lot of the fun and Splendour of the SCA is involved with Royalty. Especially the pomp and circumstance of Crown and Coronation. There are a lot of people who can't travel across the Kingdom for these events. And a lot of relative newbies who are becoming full fledged members and have never experienced this, because they haven't got a reason to go - they've never been. Having a Prince and Princess would allow more people to BE Royalty, Retinue, staff, etc. To attend a Tourney and Coronet Investiture. To host one. It may turn out that we manage to train people and build their confidence enough to host Kingdom events, stand for Crown, etc.
6. A section of Pentamere provides a large segment of the Kingdom's income - OK, this one threw me for a bit. I have no idea if it's true. But the concern stems from some misinformation. Moving to Principality status doesn't take anything from the Kingdom. Including Pentamere. All income collected from membership would still go to the Middle Kingdom.
7. It may regarded as "disloyalty." That it might. The Middle Kingdom has traditionally had to be forced into accepting any new Principality. I hope this has changed. I hope that we can explore the idea with the support of the Kingdom and the expectation that our decision on the matter will be supported - whether to proceed or not. It is certainly the case that the process will not come without pain. There will be people hell-bent for leather to create a Principality as quickly as possible and will see any delay as an attack. There will be people who will regard any more toward Principality status as flat out treason. Most people will fall in the middle. It's going to create a certain amount of turmoil. But growth is always uncomfortable.
More on the positives in a future post.
Play nice in the comments section, kids.
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