Machiavelli

Machiavelli, also known as Feast of Machiavelli or Machiavellian, is a feast event historically hosted by the Shire of Danescombe in tandem with a daytime event such as TUTR, Ithra, newcomers or Tournament of Roses events.

Premise

From the 2007 event page: "Each year for one night, Danescombe becomes a Republic and is governed by the Doge. Reigning Doges hardly ever survive the last remove of the annual Machiavelli feast and it is up to the populace to select a successor by the end of the night's festivities. In honour of Niccolo Machiavelli, chivalry, honour, trust, and loyalty are abandoned. Instead Danescombe's Court becomes a hotbed of intrigue, treachery, and assassination! The only rule is: there are no rules! Join in the ballet box stuffing, campaigning and general mayhem to see who will be our next Doge."

Event

At the beginning of the feast, which lasts 2-3 hours, the previous Doge "dies" under mysterious circumstances, perhaps by sipping suspicious wine or eating an anonymously gifted morsel of food. This skit starts the Machiavelli event where the people of Danescombe must vote on the new Doge to "lead" them. Provided with two ballets -sometimes known as 'gold coins'- each, the populace are swayed to vote for a potential new Doge through whatever means necessary by the end of the feast. This can be done by bribes, favours, charm and various other tactics to secure votes. At the end of the feast the votes are collected and discarded with the person being chosen by the event steward and/or seneschal "counted" where the new Doge is elected. Doges in the past have been suspiciously those known to frequent events in Danescombe, and even a dog at one point.

The regalia for the Doge includes a shield, a necklace and a hat.