[Artemisia] Second Open Letter Re:Ibrahim and Ileana and the BoD

[Dan S.]

Greetings,

The following is a compilation of additional thoughts and clarifications regarding the issue of the Kingdom of the Outlands requesting the BoD to handle the issue of Duke Ibrahim and Duchess Ileana's re-knighting of Duke Lycurgus at their stepping down ceremony earlier this year. It is a reflection of discussions and emails held in the last month with various Peers, HRM Hoegaarden, Duke Ibrahim, Duke Lycurgus and others. Some factual phrases are cut and pasted from these message, but no opinion or confidential information. Any mistakes are mine.

At that ceremony that started all this,  the Order of Chivalry was not called forth to stand witness and welcome their new brother. There were not members of the other peerage orders there to speak on behalf of His Grace Lycurgus. His Grace did not swear the traditional oath that is sworn during the ceremony, rather he swore an oath of his own writing.  The baby Knight's chain of the Outlands was not passed around from hand to hand of the Chivalry present and was not presented to His Grace after his elevation. His Grace was not buffeted during the ceremony.

While the above traditions are well known to Ibrahim and Ileana, it should be noted that absolutely none of these customs are written in Kingdom Law. The fact that customs were not followed in this ceremony is certainly not in dispute and Ibrahim has openly acknowledged that fact;

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 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. 
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HRH Hoegaarden was notified that Ibrahim intended on re-knighting Duke Loki at least one week in advance of the ceremony. At that time Hoegaarden expressed his full support for the action to HRM Ibrahim. 

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?

After speaking to HRM Outlands specifically about this issue, we both agreed that the question by itself is legitimate, especially since only people at the Curia Regis had first hand experience with how HRM Outlands expressed his concerns over this very issue. After talking this over with him, I still vociferously disagree with his decision, but I understand the logic he is using to justify it. By asking the question it was not my intent to impugn HRM's honor.  As far as HRM and I are concerned, we have agreed to disagree on several issues but neither of us feels the other has been disrespectful to the other in these matters.

At that Ceremony, the then-Crown Prince, Hoegaarden, was the person who went out into the audience at HRM Ibrahim's request to escort Duke Lycurgus before TRM's for his ceremony. HRH Hoegaarden has admitted that he should have voiced any concerns over the ceremony before the ceremony, rather than after, and has expressed his regret over that.

There is a group of Peers and populace in Outlands that are unhappy with the re-Knighting. There is a smaller group of Peers and populace that are happy with the re-Knighting

The point of the above relates to the readily acknowledged feeling of frustration being felt by most of the Peers in the Outlands about Duke Lycurgus. His Grace is currently not in jeopardy, since the Crown has openly stated that the re-knighting stands. This leave a lot of pent up frustration that I feel is looking for an outlet. While HRM Hoegaarden said he would not go so far as to use the word Scapegoating (that was my term) he did acknowledge that the dissatisfaction with the re-knighting of Duke Lycurgus was certainly adding to the pressure being put on Ibrahim and Ileana and onto Their current Royal Majesties.

Ibrahim and Ileana are in trouble for violating the 'Traditions' of the Outlands, *not* Kingdom Law and *certainly not* Mundane Law. Ibrahim and Ileana have been presented to the Corporation as people who have already been judged as violating Corpora and Traditions by the Curia Regis, but cannot be punished by the Kingdom. 

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.

In the end, what people are saying is that, unless a Poll is taken on a candidate, the Crown should not be allowed to make peers as They see fit. The actual standard in Corpora is 'consult with the order'. Since that is obviously not meant as 'check in with every single member of the order and hold a formal poll' then by definition it means a subset of the order. Ibrahim says he can certainly name at least 5 members of the order he informed ahead of time and suspects that those 5 certainly discussed it with others. Is this the tradition in the Outlands? Obviously not. But it is ultimately, according to Corpora, a judgment call at the Crowns discretion. If the BoD sanctions Ibrahim and Ileana for using their discretion it potentially WILL have a chilling effect on all future Crowns of ALL Kingdoms.

This is one of the big differences between 'The Crowns Word is Law' Kingdoms, and those like the Outlands who don't have that phrase in their Law. Realize though that judgments against Crowns by the BoD always have a ripple effect across ALL Kingdoms. I don't think it's fair that kingdoms who DO have a 'Crowns Word is Law' clause in their Laws should have their wings clipped by the Corporation over this issue.

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.

It is my opinion that only d) is relevant in this case. To say that the original issue represents 'a threat to the integrity of the Society' is a vast overstatement. (although a case could be made that the intervention of the BoD in contradiction to their own governing documents does rise to that level). At this point no one has been able to point out a specific section of the Governing Documents that was violated 'b) The governing documents of the Society appear to have been violated'

The way we know that 4-b) above was not violated is because of the following section of Corpora.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VIII. PERSONAL AWARDS AND TITLES
A. Patents Of Arms
1. General Requirements:
Candidates for any order conferring a Patent of Arms must meet the following 
minimum criteria. Additional requirements may be set by law and custom of 
the kingdoms as deemed appropriate and necessary by the Crown.
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Note that the law and customs of the kingdom that apply are at the discretion of the Crown!

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?

Here is where my own feelings get a bit hot. The fact that the Outlands is even willing to open the door, without consulting the other Kingdoms, just rubs me the wrong way. I don't believe this is intentional, but even in retrospect it feels like the people in the Outlands who are pushing this are not concerned at all about setting precedents for the other Kingdoms.

Their Majesties met with a great number of Outlands Peers for well over 8 hours at a Curia Regis. After listening the Their Peers Their Majesties decided the best thing to do for Their Kingdom was to send this on to the BoD. Many have asked, if the Crown and Peers of the Outlands felt the need to send this to the BoD for a ruling, why is that not answer enough for a Peer of a foreign land?

First off, it has become crystal clear that the Curia Regis had an outcome that specifically was against Outlands Kingdom Law.  

HRM Hoegaarden was assured that he was in compliance by the Kingdom Seneschal (or Society Seneschal, I don't recall which he said now) but that assurance was incorrect. There is a not-so-subtle irony that in an effort to punish a Crown for violations of Customs and Traditions, that Kingdom Law was broken to achieve that goal. Specifically, there are only **three** outcomes possible from a Curia Regis (http://www.outlands.org/Library/lawweb.html#10)

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E. The Curia Regis:
   1. The Crown may invite as many participants for the Curia Regis as They
deem fit.
   2. The Crown may authorize a representative to conduct the Curia Regis in
Their stead.
   3. May be called at any Society event.
   4. May make one of the following recommendations:
      a. Issue shall be dropped
      b. Issue shall be dealt with informally
      c. Issue shall be taken to a Court of Inquiry
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In the Outlands, *only* a Court of Chivalry can forward it's findings up to the BoD. And Duke Ibrahim and Duchess Ileana were entitled to a Court of Inquiry before even a Court of Chivalry could even be called. Even more ironically, if the Outlands was a 'Kings Word is Law' Kingdom, then the bypassing of Kingdom Law and going directly up to the BoD would have SOME legitimacy, but, according to Outlands Kingdom Law, a Curia Regis cannot refer a case directly up to the BoD, period.

That point aside, it has also been made clear that Ibrahim has willingly volunteered to submit to a self imposed sanction of not entering Crown or holding office for a period of two years. (I personally don't think he should even have done that, but he feels that it is the right thing to do, who am I to say otherwise?) Although this would not carry the weight of a Corporate Sanction, the net effect would be *exactly* the same. It seems to me the Peers of the Outlands *could* accept his word and his apology, but instead they are insisting on taking this matter up to the Corporate level, seemingly in order to add an extra layer of retaliation against him.

If Ibrahim voluntarily accepted the sanctions, and the Crown witnessed his oath, that *should* be enough. 

I know what Corpora says about reserving rights unto themselves and all that, but frankly, this is and should be an internal Kingdom Issue first and if it can't be settle by the Outlands THEN it goes up the chain. If it were in most other Kingdoms it would have been handled that way. Pushing for Corporate involvement at this stage is over the top.

Ibrahim apologized, the Current Crown believes that apology is sincere, and Ibrahim has volunteered to accept self sanctioning. Why push it further into the precedent-setting-multi-kingdom arena?

HRM Hoegaarden and others have all stated that if Duke Lycurgus was less controversial, then there would not be as much pressure on for sanctions against Ibrahim and Ileana. I'm certainly not saying that it is a 1 to 1 relationship, but everyone must admit that the anger over past issues with Duke Lycurgus that led to his degradation *are* a factor in the current environment regarding Ibrahim and Ileana.

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 exactly 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?

Regarding the Corporation actively encouraging this matter to be brought up to the Corporate level, Meg Baron is not just another peer, she was the President of the SCA. At the Curia she publicly offered opinions based on her Corporate position and experience. That act is by default active encouragement by the Corporation whether she intended it or no. If she truly wanted to be treated as 'just another Outlands Peer' she should not have represented herself as an authority on Corporate Law and Policies during that meeting. In my opinion she should have said nothing at all and merely added her signature or vote or whatever at the end of the meeting as a peer of the Outlands. Is that fair to her? No. But as an officer in the Corporation you give up a part of your anonymity on a local level.

If anyone really thinks she is 'just another Peer' then try offering up lunch with yourself as a fundraiser at the next Estrella War. I don't think people would be NEARLY as interested as they were compared to having an hour of face time with the President of the SCA.

I would invite anyone who has any more actual factual information to send this to me. I realize that since these actions mostly took place nearly halfway across the continent and out of my presence 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.

To be clear, the objective of these letters 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.

I've said above and said to HRM Outlands, I disagree that this could not have been handled locally. It is my hope that the BoD will refuse to act on this matter or better yet that HRM Hoegaarden can still withdraw his request for a Corporate investigation right up until the next BoD meeting if he chooses. He could also choose to accept Ibrahim and Ileana's apology and self imposed sanction. The Kingdom cannot sanction them, but they certainly *can* sanction themselves. Not even the BoD is so powerful as to take away Their Graces right to do THAT, no matter what Corpora says.

We are a Society first and a Corporation second. I STRONGLY encourage anyone with opinions on this matter to contact:

Seneschal at sca.org
&
Directors at sca.org

Please let your voices be heard on this matter. We don't have any other method of direct influence over the corporation, so we should use what resources we are allowed when we can.

Permission to forward this letter (in it's entirety) is given and even encouraged to any forum whatsoever that may feel this situation is relevant to them.

In Service,

Sir Daniel