[Artemisia] Update 1a- An Open Letter Re: Ibrahim and Ileana and the Board of Directors

[Dan S.]

Greetings,

The following is an open letter to the Kingdom of the Outlands from  Dyke 
Ibrahim and Duchess Ileana

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greetings unto the peers and populace of the Outlands.

First, we would like to thank this great kingdom for giving me the
opportunity to represent you as your sovereign. I have had a wonderful
time during my stay here and hope to return one day.

There are several members of our populace who were concerned about our
last act as crown, that being the knighting of Duke Lycurgus. It seems
that most of the concern is about the way the ceremony unfolded,
rather than the act itself. We would like to first apologize for
offending those people who took offense at the ceremony itself. It was
never our intent to insult anyone. It has also been brought to our
attention that some were upset that they were made to stand during the
ceremony. Our populace has great respect for its royalty and we did
not notice that those assembled rose and stood for the Prince and
Princess and then waited to be given their ease instead of
just "taking" their ease after their show of respect. That was an
oversight on our part and we did not realize it until it was too late;
for that we truly apologize.

Certain members of the Outlands Chivalry have approached us and said
that they would have liked to have known of the knighting prior to the
ceremony. We did inform some members of the chivalry of our intent,
but did not address the circle as a whole. We did not have a circle
that day, but in retrospect, we should have held a quick circle prior
to bestowing the accolade of knighthood.

In early March, I told Lycurgus that we, the crown, would like to have
him back in the Chivalry Circle and that we were willing to return his
accolade to him. We asked Lycurgus to think about this and give us an
answer as soon as possible. In late April, a month and a half later,
Lycurgus told us that he had sought and received counsel and
deliberated on the idea of coming out of retirement and thought that
it was time he accepted our offer.

When Lycurgus offered his version of the ceremony to us for our
approval we saw nothing wrong with it and were excited in the prospect
of doing something different. For every peer I have ever made, I felt
it necessary to fully include the candidate in their ceremony and
supported whatever special requests or adjustments they have made to
their own ceremonies, as have many kings we've known over the years
have done in the past. The ceremony was written in the style of
calling Lycurgus out of retirement, for we felt that his counsel was
once again needed in the Chivalry circle. We have always been a
supporter of people doing things in a non-traditional manner, if for
nothing else than to be original and creative in this game. So, when
Lycurgus' ceremony did not call for the knights to come forward, not
using the baby knight's chain, no gifting of a sword, and no buffet,
at the time we saw nothing wrong with this. The ceremony was not meant
to disgrace or discredit the Outlands' order of Chivalry or upset the
other peerages or the populace. Looking back on the ceremony, perhaps
we should have kept closer to Outlands traditional ceremony.

We apologize for the confusing language in the ceremony regarding
representative peerages speaking for the candidate. We are aware that
it was Lycurgus' choice to do it this way, but we didn't know that the
people who spoke for him at his previous ceremony would be offended by
the language used in this ceremony. Certainly his Grace could have
found others to speak, easing the discomfort of those who had done so
before. Unfortunately, I thought it was an acceptable way to have
representation without researching who those people might be.

We would request that any who would wish to talk with us personally on
this subject, to please seek us out. We apologize again for offending
those who were upset; it was not our goal to affront anyone. Thank you
all for your support during our reign and we hope for your future
forgiveness and understanding.

Long live the Outlands.

Ibrahim al-Dimaqshi and Ileana Welgy



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




> An Open Letter Re: Ibrahim and Ileana and the Board of Directors (ver 1.0)
> Greetings,
>
> My name is Sir Daniel d'Antioche (once known as Thegn Sir Dan 
> Halfhand-Second Baron of Sentinels Keep)
> At the Third Quarter of 2005 meeting of the SCA Board of directors we have 
> heard that the following business did occur:
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Executive Session
> Kingdom of the Outlands Request for Sanction of Previous Crown
> By consensus, Chairman Williams directed the Society Seneschal to begin an 
> investigation into possible violations of Outlands Kingdom traditions and 
> customs by Ibrahim and Ileana as Sovereign and Consort of the Outlands, 
> pursuant to the request of Hoegaarden and Chiara, King and Queen of the 
> Outlands.
> Chairman Williams further directed that the minutes reflect that the Board 
> recognizes the challenging position of Their Majesties Hoegaarden and 
> Chiara in this matter, and commends Their actions in bringing it forward.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Upon reading this, I was quite shocked. I have known Duke Ibrahim since he 
> was 15. I was at his first fighters practice, and watched him from afar 
> over the years after I moved to An Tir. Although we were not close 
> friends, I have always like and admired him and his brother, and have been 
> very pleased to see him mature into the man and the knight he has become 
> within the SCA.
>
> Understand, that since this has been sent up to the BoD, it is no longer 
> just an Outlands issue. Any decision rendered on this case will have far 
> reaching ramifications beyond the Kingdom of the Outlands, and once again, 
> we may see possible further broadening of the powers and authority that 
> the BoD has continued to invest in itself.
>
> Upon reading the above missive, I set out to establish the facts around 
> the incident that gave rise to the situation. Below I have listed them 
> categorized as Facts, Informed Opinions, Unanswered Questions, and 
> Personal Conjecture.
>
>
> Facts:
>
> 1-Just before stepping down as the Crown of the Outlands, Ibrahim and 
> Ileana conducted a ceremony for one Duke Lycurgus to re-invest him with 
> Knighthood.
>
> 2-At that Ceremony, the then-Crown Prince, Hoegaarden, was the person who 
> went out into the audience to escort Duke Lycurgus before TRM's for his 
> ceremony.
>
> 3- Duke Lycurgus, sometime after an incident at Estrella War in 2001, 
> submitted a letter to the BoD relinquishing his Knighthood. On 7/2101 an 
> investigation was launched, and on Oct 20 01 he was sanctioned for 2 years 
> from date. (No mention that I can find that the BoD officially recognized 
> him giving up his belt-but I could be wrong)
>
> 4- The relevant Outlands Law regarding this issue are as follows: (from 
> http://www.outlands.org/Library/lawweb.html)
>
> E. The Crown shall confer awards upon individuals. Only members of the 
> S.C.A. may receive armigerous awards. No award, whether armigerous or not, 
> may be conferred upon a subject of any realm outside the Kingdom of the 
> Outlands without the prior written consent of the Crown to whom the 
> individual is subject.
> I. The Crown sets the Order of the March for their Courts and for Kingdom 
> events.
>
> 5- The Relevant Society rules regarding this issue are as follows: (from 
> http://www.sca.org/docs/govdocs.pdf )
>
> I. GENERAL C. Role of the Board 2. Relationship with branches -
> The Board will maintain a policy of non-interference with branch 
> activities. The Board reserves the right to intervene in branch affairs 
> if:
> a) The events leading to such intervention appear to cause a threat to the 
> integrity of the Society or the SCA, Inc.;
> b) The governing documents of the Society appear to have been violated;
> c) There is a threat to the SCA's legal standing; or
> d) The Board is asked to become involved.
>
> 6- Meg Baron (recently retired President of the SCA) Lives in the 
> Outlands.
>
> 7- It is a long recognized process that giving out Peerages is a decision 
> made at the Kingdom level.
>
> Informed Opinions:
>
> 1-There is a group of Peers and populace in Outlands that are unhappy with 
> the re-Knighting.
>
> 2- There is a smaller group of Peers and populace that are happy with the 
> re-Knighting
>
> 2-Meg Baron is among the Peers who are unhappy
>
> 3-Ibrahim and Ileana are in trouble for violating the 'traditions' of the 
> Outlands, *not* Kingdom Law and *certainly not* Mundane Law.
>
> 4-These 'traditions' are not written anywhere that I've been able to find 
> online.
>
> 5-Although many people I've spoken to claim that the Outlands is a 'The 
> Kings Word is Law' Kingdom, that phrase does not appear in Outlands 
> Kingdom Law, unlike many other Kingdoms in the SCA.
>
> 6- Duke Lycurgus's name was discussed inconclusively with many Crowns 
> since he gave up his belt in 2001. This includes many discussions both 
> public and private with Ibrahim while he was King.
>
> 7-One of the people who was in favor of the re-knighting before the fact 
> was the Current Crown of the Outlands Hoegaarden.
>
>
> Unanswered Questions:
>
> 1-While I have been able to determine that Duke Lycurgus did send in a 
> letter relinquishing his belt to the BoD, I have been unable to determine 
> from the minutes (that I've been able to find) what, if any, action the 
> BoD took at that time other than the Sanction listed above. Anyone with 
> actual facts regarding this issue is encouraged to send them forward to 
> me. It is likely his request was accepted, but, if for some reason the BoD 
> did not take action on this issue, then by the letter of the law this 
> entire situation and point is moot since that would mean Duke Lycurgus was 
> never properly degraded by the BoD in 2001.
>
> 2-It is VERY possible that any ruling regarding this issue will restrict 
> ALL other future Crowns from making peers as they see fit. According to 
> the Governing Documents any ruling by the BoD applies across the board to 
> *all* Kingdoms.  If Ibrahim and Ileana are sanctioned for this action, 
> then will we require Peerage Council approval and consent for all future 
> Peerages in ALL Kingdoms?
>
> 3- How is it that the current Crown pushed for Duke Lycurgus to get his 
> belt back but then sends up Ibrahim and Ileana to the BoD for discipline 
> for an act that he himself championed?
>
> 4-Why is it that the Outlands seems to be so willing to send up internal 
> matters up to the BoD that would be handled internally at the Kingdom 
> level by so many other Kingdoms?
>
> 5- Is the above question related to the fact that the President of the SCA 
> lived in the Outlands during this incident?
>
>
> Personal Conjecture:
>
> Ibrahim and Ileana are possibly about to become collateral damage in a 
> fight that is actually aimed at re-stripping Duke Lycurgus of his belt. In 
> order to get that belt, first they have to go after the Crown that gave it 
> to him. Another casualty in this fight will be future Crowns' heretofore 
> (in many Kingdoms ABSOLUTE) held right to be the final judge on who gets 
> peerages and who doesn't.
>
> It is also become increasingly clear that the BoD, although they claim to 
> be hesitant to get involved with local issues, has no compunction 
> whatsoever into wading into local medieval issues that are far beyond the 
> scope of their original mandate:
>
> "The Board is the final court of appeal for disputes that have escalated 
> beyond the ability of the participants or the officers to handle. However, 
> it is reluctant to play that role because its rulings affect the entire 
> Society - often by restricting everyone's freedom and reducing their 
> enjoyment of the organization. Corpora provides an unlimited right of 
> appeal to the Board, but members should make every effort to work out 
> their disputes at as low a level in the organization as possible. "
> How is the BoD being 'RELUCTANT" when they repeatedly and actively 
> pressure Crowns into sending up charges in order to give the BoD the 
> opportunity to intervene in local issues?
>
> I would invite anyone who has any more actual factual information to send 
> this to me and I will be happy to revise this list. I realize that since 
> these actions mostly took place nearly halfway across the continent that I 
> have had to rely on second hand information.  If any of the above points 
> are incorrect please let me know. It is not my intention to spread 
> incorrect information regarding this or any other issue.
>
> I am sending this open letter out to many different public areas, but I am 
> also cc'ing it to each and ever member of the BoD at directors at sca.org 
> and would encourage you to do the same. It is important to speak out if 
> you feel as strongly about this as I do, or feel it's important that the 
> BoD hears other voices outside the corporate echo chamber on this issue.
>
> To be clear, the objective of this letter is to encourage the BoD to NOT 
> get involved in this local Kingdom matter. Secondarily the objective is to 
> encourage other 'members' of the SCA to also publicly encourage the BoD to 
> stay out of the medieval side of OUR game.
>
> Permission is not only give but encouraged to re-print or forward this 
> letter ONLY in its entirety anywhere by anyone, anytime.
>
> In Service,
>
> Sir Daniel d'Antioche
>
>
> Cc:
> directors at sca.org
> Outlands List
> Known World Chivalry list
> Various An Tir Lists
> Artemisia List
> Kingdom of the East list
> (possibly others as I think of them)