Lions Gate Pre-Baronial Constitution

This is the Pre-Baronial Constitution as transcribed and later explained by Vlademir Karpentofsky.

Enjoy

The numbering system is added. In this document, there is nothing else added from the rules that were in force from late 1974 to the accession of Gerhard as baron. That was after my time, anyway. Parentheses ( ) enclose statutes proposed but not passed. Brackets [ ] enclose statutes passed, but not by unanimous vote. Their force was less than 100%, but they were usually followed. Now tis done. My eyes hurt. At my age, I should have a secretary for this sort of thing. Commentary on its way to you after a rest.

0. The Setting
Late in 1974, the following met at the home of Michel le Voyageur, candidate for the office of baron of the incipient shire of Lions Gate.

Susan the Opaque ( Susan Walsh )

John of Candia ( Bob Bidlake )

Vladimir Karpentovski ( Phil Carpenter )

Pere Daniel ( Daniel Saye )

Seaghda of Green Mountain ( David George )

Tara nic an Fleisdheir ( Pat Burrows )

Bjorn of Havok ( Chris Lee )

Akbar the Sot ( Brian Holmes )

Ilya Azhtelstinevich Gryaznie ( Bill Dodds )

Vereska Ivanova Zhidka ( Heather Dodds )

There may have been others present, Michel himself was not.

1. Frames of Reference

This group constitutes itself a representative council for the participants in a hobby loosely called the Society for Creative Anachronism ( SCA ) within the following frames of reference:

.1 Geographically, from

.11 the point on the seacoast at the northernmost reach of power of the Barony of Madrone;

.12 due east from that point to the highest summit of the Rocky Mountains;

.13 north-west along those summits to the Arctic Circle;

.14 due west from that point to the Alaskan seacoast.

.2 Politically,

.1 personae practicing the SCA hobby within these bounds are free to give their fealty to whomever they wish, save as they act as officers of this council, and no one can take away this freedom;

.2 this constituted council must and will represent all that wish to be so represented in those bounds;

.3 this constitution may not be subordinated to, given away to, or negated by any law or decree from inside or outside, so long as the Sun shines and the rivers flow.

.3 Limitations - We do not want to play mundane bureaucratic games. Therefore:

.31 we are not in the 20th Century;

.32 this is a role-playing game;

.33 this constitution is not a mundane document.

2. The Council

.1 This council shall consist of appointed officers and recognized heads of Great Households, both appoointments and recognition happening as defined here.

.2 This council shall enact decisions by simple majority vote, each officer or designated proxy, and each household head or designated proxy casting one vote per person.

.3 An effective quorum shall constitute a meeting announced to all council members at least one week in advance, and having in attendance:

.31 the baron, baroness, their proxy or the seneschal;

.32 at least one head of household;

.33 at least two officers, not counting those in .31 or .32.

.4 Proposals to appoint or dismiss must be announced one week in advance, to permit the individual involved to prepare excuses.

[ .5 A proposal to dismiss the baron may be called one TO DEPOSE the baron. It means the same thing. ]

3. Laws

( .1 The decisions of council shall be called

• laws
  
• acts
  
• statutes
  
• rules. )
  

.2 No decision of council shall have the power to contradict mundane law of Canada or the Province of British Columbia;

.3 Additions to or releals of these consituting decisions in this document shall repquire a unanimous vote.

.4 The seneschal or his deputy shall record council decisions.

.5 No SCA hobbyist within our territorial bounds shall have his freedom of action constrained by this document or subsequent council decisions, save as that person is a serving council officer. Then, he follows them, or he should quit.

.6 Council decisions shall include the following but not be limited to them:

• appointing an officer or autocrat;
• dismissing an officer or replacing an autocrat;
• scheduling;
• recognition or disbanding a great household;
• declaring war;
• spending money;
• calling for a report from an officer.

4. Officers

Saving .1 and .2 below, any officer shall have the right to name his own office, always remembering that if the council doesnt like it he or she may be dismissed.

.1 The baron presents the face of the community to the outside world, and stars in ceremonies. He may prepare the agenda of council meetings. He is empowered to refer to himself as baron-designate when speaking to foreigners, but this is with the proviso that he act according to the facts: He is our baron because we say so, and does not owe any deference to foreigners save as diplomacy shall dictate.

.2 The baroness is the serving partner to the baron, and holds power as he does, to the same extent.

.3 The seneschal is in charge of scheduling, communications, and records. With the chancellor of the exchequer, he is a mundane interface, a signing officer for mundane affairs of money or mundane law. Any task of organizing not seen to by baron or baroness may be pereformed by the seneschal.

.4 The chancellor of the exchequer shall keep record of finances, should we have any, and advise the council on matters of medieval or mundane law. Like the seneschal, he is a signing officer.

.5 The position of marshal is hereby re-named master of stables. This officer supervises fighting, at tourneys, wars or practices.

.6 The herald shall:

.61 keep a record of great households recognized, their arms and badges;

.62 advise and support all citizens in the matter of registry of coats of arms, with foreign colleges of heralds or with the baronial college;

.63 supervise announcements and protocol at events.

.7 The master or mistress of arts/sciences shall supervise and foster activity in these areas, in particular where hands-on practice is involved

.8 The council reserves the right to create new offices at need.

[.9 No officer shall produce written reports to foreign authorities on time, more than twice in a row, without becoming liable for dismissal.]

5. Great Households

A great household is a social and communications unit.It shall include at least two adults. Every recognized great household shall have one representative seat on the council.

.1 A proposal to recognize a great household may be submitted at any time by any member of the council. The decision to recognize must have a representative of the proposed household in attendance.

.2 No citizen of the community represented in this constitution shall belong to more than one great household.

.3 A household shall have complete freedom to pledge fealty, loyalty or allegiance to any power, and still hold its council seat.

.4 A household shall have a designated head, recognized and recorded as such when the decision to recognize the household is made.

.5 The details of this recognition, along with chosen name, arms and badge, shall be recorded by our college of heralds.

.6 A proposal to disband a household shall be announced at least one week in advance, to the head of household involved. A disbanded household remains free, keeps its name, badge and arms, and does what it likes. It just doesnt have a seat on the council.

.7 Membership in a household is not a council matter. The head of household may include or exclude whomever he or she wishes.

[ .8 Household members must be live human beings. ]

6. Autocrats and Events

Any citizen of the territory represented is free to hold any event wished, in the manner they like. An event shall be deemed an official one if it follows these rules:

.1 the intended organizer of the event shall make the plans of the event known to council officers -- the seneschal at least, for scheduling purposes;

.2 if there is time or if the event is ambitious enough, the organizer may be appointed autocrat of the event. Such an appointment is a council decision, and creates a temporary office, and seat on the council, for the autocrat.

.3 if there is money involved, the autocrat shall consult with the chancellor of the exchequer before and/or after the event.

.4 if there is figfhting involved, the autocrat shall consult with the master of stables before the event.

.5 naturally the autocrat shall be ready to render reports to council should the latter call for such reports.

7. Reports

This council is especially desirous of avoiding mundane bureaucracy.

.1 Officers are liable to dismissal if they are too prompt or efficient in keeping up with foreign paperwork requirements;

.2 Save for the seneschal, autocrats and chancellor, no officer shall do mundane business in the name of his persona.

( .3 This council does not represent in any way a branch or outpost, colony or junior partner, of any mundane corporation. )

8. Deposition

Should a proposal to dismiss the baron or baroness arise in council, this decision shall be called deposition, if you like.

.1 The target of deposition gets no vote in the decision.

.2 The target must be notified at least a week in advance that the proposal will be made.

.3 Deposition has no reference to titles, awards, or other offices held by the target.

9. Foreign Relations

.1 As noted above, households shall be free to commit or ally with any power they wish, without prejudice to representation within this document.

.2 No serving officer shall pledge allegiance or offer fealty to any foreign power unless ordered to do so by council decision.

.3 This council is committed to peaceful relations with its neighbors, save in cases where necessary.

.( 4 Necessary, here, means it looks like fun, or it looks like we can win, or both.)

( .5 Household heads are admonished not to annoy foreigners any more than necessay ( see .4 ) for the sake of our relations with them. )

Now the Commentary that should go with this!!! Ohhh ahhhh

Commentary on the constitution of the Incipient Shire of Lions Gate

1. Who were we?

Michel and Susan founded this community. They were prominent science fiction fans, and they discovered the SCA hobby through their good friends, Liam of the Barque and deirdre Muldomnaigh, who were baron and batoness of Madrone.

Seaghda, Tara, Ilya, Vereska, and Pere Daniel were also active fans. they were introduced to the SCA by the Walshes, Michel and Susan.

Ilya was a wargamer -- you know, little soldiers on ping pong tables? He introduced Bjorn, John of Candia, Akbar and myself.

Seaghda, Ilya and John of Candia were natural conspirators and politicians. Michel was more of a party animal.

2. Territory

well, it was a game, right? Wargamers naturally grab as much territory as they can. Looks great on a map, as defined by what I numbered 1.1. We meant to include all the islands too.

3. There was a Conspiracy

Council night was set, but at the last minute Michel tried to cancel it, because he had to do something official. Somebody, Ilya or Seaghda, talked Susan into letting the meeting go ahead anyway, under her supervision. then there were a lot of phone calls, to get all interested parties there. Objective: create a constitution before Michel got home, and present him with a done thing. It worked, though he never accepted it 100%.

This marathon run also involved dickering about the name of the community. We had at first considered Revuoknav, Vancouver spelled backwards. Sounded Russian. I liked it. Ilya claimed to be able to translate a different suggestion into Russian. He could not actually speak Russian, but he had a dictionary. So, from the mountains, the bridge and the hospital, Lions' Gate became Kalitka Levov. This allowed us to improvise on "Kalinka" because these council meetings had a way of getting lively.

It turned out "kalitka" is a wicket, like at customs, not a castle gate. There was something wrong with "levov," too. Our friends in Madrone thought it was hilarious. We were "Lions-Gate-in-Russian" to them, for a few months.

3. Politics

The very strong independent-minded tone of the document I sent to Yusuf was much in our feelings and attitudes then. Bjorn didnt care, so long as he could fight, but he was already a little nervous about southern bureaucracy. He was responsible for the clauses ( like 1.3 ) that tried to cut or scramble paperwork. John of Candia loved paperwork, but he loved playing games and finding his own way, more. In the end, he was responsible for incorporation of the NSCA. Ilya, Vereska and Pere Daniel were fanatical separatists. Michel and Susan were loyal to the existing southern order. Yes, we did forbid officers to make reports to their 'superiors' on time, as in Section 7.

4. Deposing a Baron

section 8 was a product of Pere Daniel and Ilya. they never meant to fire Michel. we were all friends. I think they just wanted to scare him. Of course, it followed anyway, that he could be fired, from clause 2.2. I understand things work quite differently now. We were patriots, then. We meant clause 1.2.3 sincerely.

5. The Great Households

All of us, Michel and Susan not least, were building a community, a state. For communication, support, and keeping balance, the great households worked. Remember, this was before the Internet. Doubtless communications are much better now. I am told, though, that the great household idea is dead. Too bad. It was a fun part of the game. Households included the outright Cossack one, Volnitsa Sietch; the later addition, the Monbog Horde; later still, the Kendalls; probably still going, the fighting Havok. Dont sneer at the idea. On the LG list, there is much talk of meetings open to all, but you are betting that not everybody will show up. We covered that.

6. Legality

Clauses 3.2 and 3.5 were directly from John of Candia, our first Chancellor. He said we had to separate the role playing from the mundane world as far as possible. It still looks like a good idea.

7. The Cats

Clause 5.8 was added later, naturally not by unanimous vote. Its there because so many people distrusted Ilya. He registered, as members of his household, two of his cats. He claimed they recognized their persona-names, Aonghais MacHaerie the Black, and Grubozaboyshchikov ( sp? ) Recent recruit Gerhard suspected some kind of trick to this; Ilya himself was the keeper of the registry. Seaghda, Pere Daniel, John of Candia and Bjorn all agreed. Thus that clause ( yes, with jokes -- its the cats clause ) was added.

I had never been worried about it, because I was Ilyas boss, as herald.

There may be more, but Im tired.
Go happily, but try not to turn your back on the past.
Vladimir

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Please any and all who have more to add please do so as this is our history and when it comes down to it.... Sacred.

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