Principality to Kingdom
IV.) They Also Serve...
by Dagonell Collingwood

When AEthelmearc becomes a kingdom, a number of changes will occur. Some will be by necessity, others by choice. This article will review the non-required offices of the kingdoms and principalities.

In a previous article, I wrote about the offices that are required for a Kingdom or Principality. They are: Seneschal, Herald, Earl Marshall, Minister(s) of Arts and Sciences, Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasurer), Chronicler, and Chirurgeon. I also promised that I would discuss the non-required offices of the kingdoms and principalities in a future article.

I've discovered that there really isn't much to discuss. Obviously, the kingdoms and principalities feel that these offices are fulfilling a necessary function or else they wouldn't have instituted them. I've listed them by a mundane job title, as I did in my previous article, primarily to avoid confusion. Not only do different kingdoms use different titles for the same job, but some kingdoms use similar titles for different jobs. A Chatelaine is the Welcome Wagon in the East, but the Royal Secretary in Atenveldt. A Sheriff is a Security Officer in the West, but a Baliff is a Deputy Seneschal in the Principality of the Mists and a Reeve is an Event Scheduler in Calontir. I've made no distinction between Great Officers and Lesser Officers because I didn't think it was important. Some positions are Great Office in one kingdom and Lesser Office in another.

Some kingdoms divide this office in two. The Chatelaine or Castellan is in charge of welcoming newcomers while the Gold Key officer maintains the wardrobe of loaner garb. From The Compact Oxford English Dictionary:
Castellan (pg.220, sec.954) - "The governor or constable of a castle."
Chatelaine (pg.240, sec.58) - "A female castellan."
Hospitaller (pg.788, sec.416) - "In a religious house or hospice, the person whose office it is to receive and attend upon visitors, pilgrims and strangers."

The office title of Gold Key is probably derived from the Society badge for the office, a gold key on a green field. As I stated in my earlier article, I don't think we should have this as a kingdom office. Newcomers are not dealt with at the kingdom level, but at the local level. Having the office as a royal office dictates that all local groups handle newcomers the exact same way. I think that the local groups should be allowed to deal with newcomers in whatever way suits them best.

While only two kingdoms specifically have this as an office, the other kingdoms don't ignore the responsibilities of the job. Most kingdoms make the duties part of the Seneschal's job, the rest assign it to the Welcome Wagon. Formal description of the duties amount to little more than "disseminate information". Considering that the Society as a whole has done thousands of public and school demos, been written up in hundreds of newspapers and has even been on a few regional morning talk shows, it's not a bad idea to have someone experienced available to help fledgling groups who find themselves giving a demo for the first time. From The Compact Oxford English Dictionary Avant-Courier (pg.91, sec.813) "One who runs or rides before; a herald."

I'd like to point out that the first is a royal adviser to mundane law and must be a practicing lawyer in the kingdom, the latter is only a records clerk. Given the size, population and number of legal jurisdictions in the average kingdom, having an expert on mundane law available to give free advice to the royal seneschal is a really good idea. Most kingdoms divide the duties of the latter office between the seneschal, who is responsible for the laws and policies, and the chronicler, who is usually the one who publishes them.

Surprisingly, this position isn't universal although a majority of the kingdoms have it. Most of them have it as its own Great Office, the others have it as a lesser office under the Earl Marshall. I don't know why, but this post is seldom, if ever, held by a man. The kingdoms who don't have the office, leave the actual execution of the duties up to the Earl Marshall. On the other extreme, the Kingdom of Atenveldt has a Minister of Marshallate Rolls to "maintain the fighter and marshallate authorizations lists for the kingdom." Their Minister of Lists only has to keep track of who won what bout.

Some kingdoms consider these Great Office, others make them Lesser Office which report to the Earl Marshall. I combined the listings for Archery Marshal and Combat Archery Marshall because it was like trying to separate Siamese twins. In some kingdoms, it's all one office, in others, the Combat Archery Marshall reports to the Archery Marshall, in still others, he reports to the Earl Marshall, and in some kingdoms, he reports to both.

The Atenveldt war is, of course, Estrella. Technically, the Pennsic War Autocrat isn't an Eastern office since it isn't specifically listed that way in the laws, however I include it here as it's comparable to the Estrella War Autocrat which is an official office of Atenveldt. Additionally, it's listed on the inside cover of Pikestaff with the royal officers. Warlord is a court appointment and serves as the royalty's general at Pennsic. Duties tend to be inversely proportional to the royalty's opinion of the their own tactical abilities. Scout Commander is also a court appointment. I'm not certain of the exact status of the office in AEthelmearc and I served as the first one. We have one, but he's not listed on the officer's page of AEstel, nor even mentioned in the laws. However, the current officer did publish a letter in a recent issue of Aestel announcing that he was looking for a successor. I suppose he's technically a regional deputy for the Eastern office, but it seems to me that we should have some say in the matter. I think it should be made a court appointment, the same as Warlord. I think water bearers are something that should be left up to an autocrat rather than made a permanent office. It makes more sense to me that it should be handled by someone local to the event than someone from possibly the other end of the kingdom.

Again, it's not universal. Barely half the Known World sees a need for such a post. Granted, real kings didn't give out pieces of paper to show their appreciation. They gave out gifts of jewels and land. Lacking the resources to duplicate this, one wonders what the other kings give out in their courts. The idea of earning an Award of Arms and only getting a handshake from the king seems somehow lacking to me. I'd be interested in seeing a list of Laurels for calligraphy and illumination by kingdom. I'd be willing to bet money that kingdoms that have Ministers of Scrolls by whatever name, have more Laurels than kingdoms that don't. It's easier for a skill to thrive and flourish in an environment that supports and encourages it. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary defines Clerk of the Signet (pg.1765, sec.457) as a keeper of the seal used to give authentication to official documents.