Court

Court is a public audience where Royalty and Barony conduct business. Court by definition is public; for business of any kind to be official it must be done in public.

Business in a Royal, or Kingdom, Court can include:

• acceptance of fealty and homage
• presentation of awards or titles
• proclamation of new or amended laws
• installation of officers
• coronation of the new Crown
• enthronement of the new Heirs
• seating of a new Territorial Barony
• announcements of interest to the populace

Crown Tournament is held within an opened Court, as its victor is “doing business” of note, by winning the tournament.

Courts are held by the Crown anywhere in the Kingdom. War Courts can be held while on campaign in other lands, e.g. at Gulf Wars, if there is sufficient of the populace present to make the Court effectively public.

There must be a presiding Royal personage (or the Royalty's chosen delegate, the Territorial Barony within their Barony) at a Court While the Crown is “the Sovereign and Consort acting in concert”, with the entire Crown's approval, one of the pair can hold Court alone. Another person or persons can act as Regent, in place of the Crown, at the command of the Crown and hold Court in the Crown's name. A Regent, save in an emergency, can do only the specific business desired by the Crown in that Court.

For a Court to be legal and its business official, the following people must be present:

• Royalty (to do the official business)
• a Seneschal (to oversee the official business)
• a Herald (to proclaim the business done, and to record it)

Other people may be present:

• the Heirs
• the Territorial Barony or Baronies
• various champions
• ladies in waiting
• additional heralds, including silent heralds doing sign interpretation
• other Royal servants
• guards

Kingdom business done in the Crown's Court, including a Regency Court, must be published, usually in the Kingdom's newsletter or other recorded medium (e.g. an on-line Court circular).

A Landed Barony can hold Court within the boundaries of its Barony.

The Crown may invite a Territorial Barony to open its own Court within the Royal Court, when the Royal Court is held in that Barony. This happens at the beginning of the Royal Court.

While on campaign a Territorial Barony can hold a War Court, if there is sufficient of the populace present to make the Court effectively public.

A Baronial Court also requires a Seneschal and Herald present. Business that is done in a Baronial Court may include

• presentation of Baronial awards
• installation of Baronial officers
• announcements of interest to the populace
• personal business, particularly ring-giving

• First, everybody finds a chair, facing some thrones (maybe purpose-made thrones, maybe chairs dressed up for the occasion).

• A Herald, at the back of the hall, cries “All rise!” and everybody does so.

• The Royalty and/or the Territorial Barony, plus other important personages, process up to the thrones. Everybody in the procession take their places.

• The presiding Royalty or Territorial Barony invite the populace to be seated.

• Business happens.

• Sometimes Court may be suspended, and the event will continue.

• If the Court is not suspended, all the necessary business (awards in particular) gets done.

• When all business is done, the presiding Royalty or Territorial Barony will let the populace know they have done what they intended to do.

• The Herald cries, “There being no further business, this Court is now closed. All rise!”

• Everybody stands up and the Royalty, Territorial Barony, any other important personages and all the other Court officials recess from the front, usually to wherever they entered the hall.

And that's it.

This could happen; you may have won a tournament or competition, you may have won a door prize, or the presiding Royalty may want to welcome people attending their first event. So:

• You are called by the Herald. This may be by your name, or as part of a group of people.

• Get up. If you are carrying a sword or other large weapon, it is courteous to leave it behind when you go up. If (for whatever reason) you are in grubby or modern attire (say you've been working in the kitchen), it's polite to put on/borrow a cloak to cover yourself and look presentable.

• Make your way to the centre of the hall, where there will be an aisle. Again, you may be on your own, you may be with other people.

• Walk down the aisle until you are a couple of places in front of the presiding Royalty. Stop.

• Bow. This is generally a deep, respectful nod of the head. If you are among a group, step to the side but remain up front. Once you have bowed the custom is that you “take a knee”. If your knees are creaky, you may stand.

• The presiding Royalty will say what they want to say. They may give you something; by all means say “thank you”. You are NOT/NOT expected nor encouraged to make a speech after.

• The Herald will say something nice (about you or about all of you folks up front). People will cheer (usually shouting “Waeshael!”, pronounced “wassail”) and applaud. You will be dismissed by the Royalty. At this point you bow and return to your seat (or, if the hall is crowded, just go down the aisle to the back of the hall, making room for the next person to be called). Wherever you end up, friends and strangers both will congratulate you.

And that's all there is to it.

If, for some reason, the Crown is unable or unavailable to rule, the most recently stepped-down Royalty will open a Kingdom Court as Regents, at the next scheduled event on the Kingdon calendar. Their Court will have only one piece of business; to crown the Heirs and restore the Crown of the Kingdom.

If the Crown is unable or unavailable to rule and there are no Heirs, or the Heirs also are unavailable to rule, the most recently stepped-down Royalty will open a Kingdom Court as Regents, at the next scheduled event on the Kingdom calendar. Their Court will have only one piece of business: to open a Crown Tournament. Once there is a victor in the Crown Tournament, that winner will be crowned immediately by the presiding Regents as Sovereign, and the Sovereign's inspiration will be crowned as Consort. Once crowned, the Crown of the Kingdom is restored.

This never has happened in Ealdormere. Never. We're prepared, but so far this has never been an issue.