January 2020 article from Southron Gaard's From the Tower Newsletter, by Bartholomew Baskin - formerly a landed Baron, SCA NZ Treasurer and Kingdom Seneschal
I recently posted on the Althing mailing list about the possibility of forming an SCA Principality in New Zealand.
I started by outlining why I thought now might be a good time to consider this evolution. Subsequent posts and discussions have revolved around various structural or policy ideas if we decided to go ahead - such as "how do we fund it?" and "how long should a princely term be?".
But I realise that some people - especially newer folk - might appreciate a clearer idea of what an SCA Principality is. Not to mention how it would (or wouldn't) affect relations with the rest of the Kingdom and within the new group. Hence this article.
The SCA supports a range of group types and sizes, with the seven below being the most common:
- Hamlet - loosely organised, as few as five people, very closely tied to/part of a parent group such as a Shire or Barony
- Canton - formally organised, as few as five people, closely tied to/part of a parent Barony
- College - formally organised, as few as five people, affiliated with a parent group such as a Shire or Barony and tied to an educational institution (typically its student union), governed principally by the latter's rules
- Shire - formally organised and self governing, as few as five people but typically many more. Part of a parent Principality (if there is one) and Kingdom.
- Barony - formally organised and self governing, as few as 25 people but typically many more, has local landed Royalty (B&B) who typically serve for multi-year terms without a specific time limit and are typically chosen by the Crown after a poll and commentary period among the local populace. Part of a parent Principality (if there is one) and Kingdom.
- Principality - formally organised and self governing, as few as 100 people but typically more (NZ currently has well over 200). Consists of several sub-groups such as Shires or Baronies, has a local landed Royalty (Coronet or P&P) who typically serve a defined less-than-a-year term and who, at present, are chosen by winning an armoured (heavy) tournament held for that purpose. Part of a parent Kingdom.
- Kingdom - formally organised and highly self governing, as few as 400 people (Lochac currently has over 1500 subscribing members), many subgroups (Lochac has 13 Baronies and five Shires plus many smaller groups), has landed Royalty (Crown or K&Q) who typically serve a six-month term and are chosen by winning an armoured (heavy) tournament held for that purpose. Not part of any parent group, except the legal incorporation which runs the SCA in their territory, affiliated to the SCA Inc in the US.
So, a Principality adds a new layer to the set of groups many of us are already familar with.
Generally speaking, it's organised around a pre-existing sense of identity and affiliation - whether cultural, geographical, national, organisational or even just plain habit - "that set of groups have always gone to each other's events".
Within a new Principality, the sub-groups go on just as before - group Councils decide what their groups do, when and how; a local B&B remain the subjects of the Kingdom's Crown (through the Coronet), and so on.
Nothing about the new layer stops any of the current Kingdom stuff from happening - the Crown visits whenever They feel like it, Crown events can still happen here, the Kingdom levy and Kingdom-administered services still apply, our folk can still enter and win Crown tournaments, Kingdom awards are still handed out, and so on.
But there is a new layer of Royalty (the Coronet or P&P) and officers - SCA rules define a minimum of six Principality officers. They work with the equivalent sub-group officers and collect their regular reports, and themselves report to the Coronet and to their equivalent Kingdom officers. There is some room for variation in all this, defined by local Kingdom and Principality laws. There are also Principality awards, dispensed by the Coronet - we get to define for ourselves how simple or complex any award system should be.
What does this new layer achieve? That depends a whole lot on each specific Principality. In my Althing posts I outlined several potential administrative and growth-related benefits for us if we formed a New Zealand-based principality. But in a more general sense, the benefits are:
- New and closer strategic focus - courtesy of all the people in this new layer - on the needs and opportunities of the groups in the Principality, hence the likelihood of more growth
- A closer-to-home source of inspiration and aspiration, with more regular "shiny"
- A more attainable Royal role - both in the sense of "can I get it?" and, critically, "can I DO it?". More so than either the Crown or B&B roles offer, as each in its own way is hard to attain and very onerous.
- A stronger sense of regional identity
- New challenges and opportunities, which may re-excite some who are a bit longer in the tooth but don't want to take on the major challenge of Kingdom-wide roles
- More local and less-delayed recognition of various achievements, via the Principality award system
- Lower administrative cost and especially effort for the Kingdom - a factor which becomes more and more critical as a Kingdom grows and becomes more complex and harder for its own officers - all volunteers! - to manage successfully
- Less chance of adminstrative friction and unwanted side-effects from Crown-level and Kingdom-level decisions which would otherwise affect the local groups individually - i.e. there's typically more chance to successfully head poor decisions off at the pass (as a Kingdom gets steadily larger and harder to manage well, this becomes a biggie)
- For as long as the selection of a P&P is tied to a particular combat form, more reason to promote and take part in that combat form. That would not apply if, of course, we collectively decided to try for a different way of choosing the P&P, and succeeded in persuading the Board of SCA Inc in the USA to agree to that.
- If we continue to grow well as a Principality, Kingdom status will eventually beckon, as it did two decades ago for Lochac.
If you want to get a general feel for how a particular region (now the Kingdom of Aelthelmarc in the Eastern US) first approached the idea of a Principality, see page 6 onwards of this newsletter from many years ago. Especially don't miss the Q&A starting on page 16 of that newsletter -- it explains some of the above ideas much better than I just did!
And see here for an announcement (April 2021) about the Society's newest Principality - Vindheim.
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