Tir Righ - Library

PRINICPALITY OF TIR RIGH
TIR RIGH LAWS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Definitions

Article I – The Law

Article II – The Coronet

Article III – Champions

Article IV – Principality Officers and Duties

Article V – Awards and Orders

Article VI – Events

Article VII – Travel Funds

DEFINITIONS

Consort	The person who was fought for in the Coronet Lists and was invested as Prince or Princess.
Corpora	Document which defines the medieval structure of the Society.
Coronet	The Sovereign and Consort of a principality, acting together. They reign subject to the overall guidance of the Crown.
Coronet Events	The two Coronet Tournaments and two Coronet Investitures.
Coronet Lists	Properly constituted Lists to determine, by combat, the Heirs to the current Coronet.
Crown	The Sovereign and Consort of a kingdom, acting together. The Crown of the Kingdom of An Tir.
Curia	A council of officers and Principality advisors meeting to assist in administering the Principality.
Heirs	The victor in the Coronet Lists and the victor’s prospective consort, for the period between the victory and the Investiture.
Investiture	The ceremony at which the Heirs are invested as the Coronet.
Kingdom Law	The Laws of the Kingdom of An Tir.
Noble Estate	A body comprised of the Royalty, Royal Peers, and the Territorial Barons and Baronesses of An Tir, meeting to advise the Coronet as needed.
Prince and Princess	Titles of the Sovereign and Consort of the Principality of the North.
Principality	A part of a kingdom which has the right to select a reigning Prince and Princess by combat.
Principality Law	The Laws of the Principality of Tir Righ.
Proclamation	A directive of the Coronet that shall have effect only during the reign of the Coronet making it.
Regent	The person who administers the affairs of the Principality if the Coronet is unable to reign.
Royalty	The King, Queen, Crown Prince and Princess, Principality Princes and Princesses, and all Principality Heirs.
Society	The Society for Creative Anachronism, Incorporated. (SCA)
Sovereign	The victor in the Coronet Lists of Tir Righ who has been invested with the title of Prince or Princess.
Subject	A person who resides within the Principality of Tir Righ and is considered to be a denizen of Tir Righ, excluding the Prince and the Princess. Exceptions to this definition are detailed in Corpora.

ARTICLE I - THE LAW

1.	Within the Principality of Tir Righ, the word of the Coronet is law subject to modern law of the relevant jurisdictions, the governing documents of the Society, Kingdom Law and the approval of the Crown.
2.	Principality Law is subject to the same restrictions as the word of the Coronet.
3.	The Laws of Tir Righ shall be published in their entirety once each year by May 1.
4.	The Laws of the Principality may be amended by the Coronet. Amendments must be reviewed by the Principality Seneschal for compliance with the above restrictions. Any amendments to Principality Law must first be submitted to the Crown of An Tir in writing and receive the Crown’s signatures before being proclaimed.
5.	Amendments and proclamations must be published in the Principality newsletter, The Northern Sentinel, and the Kingdom newsletter, The Crier, before they are fully in effect. Amendments to Principality Law and proclamations should be announced at events within the Principality as soon as possible, but no subject of the Principality shall be held accountable until that proclamation or law is signed and published.

ARTICLE II - THE CORONET

Selection of the Coronet. The selection of the Coronet is detailed in Corpora. What follows is particular to Tir Righ.

Coronet Lists Eligibility

i.	Entrants to the Coronet Lists and their prospective consorts must have lived within the borders of Tir Righ for one year preceding the Coronet Tournament and expect to remain residents for the duration of their reign. The Coronet may grant exceptions.
ii.	Should the results of a Coronet Tournament be declared invalid for any reason, a Coronet Tournament shall be called at the beginning of the Investiture Event. This tournament shall be limited to eligible entrants and their prospective consorts who competed in the invalidated Coronet Tournament. The victor of the tournament and their consort shall be invested immediately.

Combat Conventions

The Sovereign shall determine Coronet List combat conventions.

Relations with the Crown are detailed in Kingdom Law.

Responsibilities: The duties and responsibilities of the Coronet are detailed in Corpora and in Kingdom Law. What follows is particular to Tir Righ.

a.	The Coronet and Heirs must attend all Principality Coronet Events.
b.	The Coronet and Heirs are responsible for reasonable maintenance of the regalia for Their office and must pass the regalia on to Their successor(s).

Privileges: The privileges of the Coronet are detailed in Corpora and in Kingdom Law. What follows is particular to Tir Righ.

a.	Neither the Coronet nor the Heirs shall be charged event fees at Principality Coronet Events.
b.	The Coronet and the Heirs shall be reimbursed for reasonable office, copying, postage and telephone expenses incurred in preparation for and in conjunction with Their reign upon submission of receipts to the Principality Exchequer.

Failure to Reign and Regent

Failure to reign includes:

i.	Failure to attend Principality Coronet Events, unless such failure to attend is beyond the control of the Sovereign or Consort and no failure of intent to reign is demonstrated.
ii.	Abdication. A letter from the Prince and/or Princess to the Crown, Heirs (if any), Kingdom Seneschal and Principality Seneschal, indicating intent to abdicate constitutes official abdication.
iii.	Failure to perform the duties of the Coronet as judged by the Crown with the advice of the Principality Seneschal, the Principality Champions, and Principality Noble Estate.

Should either the Sovereign or Consort be unable to complete the reign for whatever reason, the other shall assume the duties of both for the remainder of the reign.

Should both the Sovereign and Consort be unable to complete the reign, the Heirs
shall be invested as Prince and Princess as soon as possible. Until that time, the administrative duties of the Coronet shall fall on the Regent, and the Coronet shall
revert to the Crown of An Tir.

The Heavy Champion of Tir Righ shall, with the approval of the Crown, serve as Regent. If the Heavy Champion cannot carry out the Regent duties, then the Crown, with advice from the Principality Seneschal and the Noble Estate, shall select the most suitable Royal Peer to serve as Regent. The Regent’s primary responsibility is to host a Coronet List as soon as possible and to immediately invest the victor and consort as Prince and Princess. The Regent may not change law or give awards.

ARTICLE III - CHAMPIONS

The Champions are: Heavy Champion, Rapier Champion, Archery Champion, Arts & Sciences Champion, and Bardic Champion.

The job descriptions, duties, responsibilities and privileges of the Champions are detailed in Kingdom Law. What follows is particular to Tir Righ.

Duties of All Champions

a.	To swear an oath of fealty and service to the Coronet.
b.	To defend the honour and prestige of the Coronet and the Principality of Tir Righ, whenever such is challenged.
c.	To support the Coronet in war.
d.	To attend all Coronet Events, unless that champion receives permission from the Coronet not to do so.
e.	To maintain membership in the Society during the champion’s term of service.
f.	To speak or act in the Coronet’s name when delegated to do so.
g.	To further the interests of their area of endeavor.

Each Champion must organize the tournament to choose their successor at the appropriate Principality Coronet event. Champions may defend their title.

The Championship tournaments will take place as follows. Spring Coronet Tournament: Arts & Sciences Summer Investiture: Heavy Fall Coronet Tournament: Bardic and Archery Winter Investiture: Rapier

Rights and Privileges

a.	To have a place at the high table for the champion and an escort.
b.	To stand armed near the Coronet at all events.
c.	To be at the side of the Coronet in war.
d.	To bear and display the regalia of their position.

The Champions are responsible for reasonable maintenance of the regalia for their office and must pass the regalia on to their successor.

A principality champion may compete for kingdom championship with the permission of the coronet

a. They may not hold both champion positions at the same time

All champions shall maintain a paid subscriptions to the Northern Sentinel (PDF or Paper) for the length of their office, in addition to the membership requirements set forth in Kingdom Law and Corpora.

ARTICLE IV - PRINCIPALITY OFFICERS AND DUTIES

Offices of the Principality of Tir Righ are structured after the Greater and Lesser Offices of the Kingdom of An Tir. Their job descriptions and duties are detailed in Corpora and Kingdom Law.

a.	The Greater Officers of Tir Righ shall be: Seneschal, High Marshall, Silver Yale Herald, Chirurgeon, Minister of Arts and Sciences, Constable, Exchequer, Chatelaine and Chronicler
b.	The Lesser Officers of Tir Righ shall be: Chief Scribe, Minister of the Lists, Calendar, Rapier Marhsal, Archery Marshal and Waterbearer

Officers shall report to their Kingdom superiors and maintain communications with their branch subordinates.

Officers serve at the pleasure of the Coronet as long as their duties are carried out in a manner satisfactory to the Coronet and their Kingdom superior.

All princiipality officers will maintain a paid subscription to a paper of PDF version of the Northern Sentinel (or have access to one in their residence) for the length of their office, in addition to the membership requirements set forth in Kingdom Law and Corpora.

Officers must advertise for replacements to their position at least five months before their term ends. Decisions on final applicants will be made by the officer and the Coronet

To execute the lawful commands of the Cornet and to abide by Principality and Kingdom Law.

All principality greater officers must attend the four coronet events. All officers must have a report for Curia. The Coronet may grant permission to be absent in extraordinary circumstances, at which the primary deputy must attend.

All officers will have a contingency deputy acceptable to the Coronet, to ensure an orderly transfer of the office should the officer be unable to continue. This deputy’s name and contact information will be on file with the Seneschal and the Coronet. Name, phone number and email will be printed in the Northern Sentinel.

ARTICLE V - AWARDS AND ORDERS

The awards of the principality of Tir Righ shall be

The Order of the Silver Pillar – given for service to the principality

L’ordre d’etoile argent (silver star) – given for arts & sciences efforts done to further the principality

The Order of the Hafoc (hawk) – given for work in the martial areas toward bettering the principality. These areas of rapier, archery, heavy fighting and marshalling shall be considered of equal value.

The order of the Red Flame – for personal development, encampments, clothing, and other ways that encourage and further the image of medievalism within the principality.

The Shattered Spear shall be given to the fighter showing the most ferocity on the tournament field.

The past consort, after serving on the throne of Tir Righ, may be invited to join the Order of the Lords and Ladies of Valourous Estate. This is bestowed by the current consort.

ARTICLE VI - EVENTS
Coronet Events are detailed in Kingdom Law. What follows is particular to Tir Righ.

Conflicting Events: Within the borders of Tir Righ, no event may conflict with a Coronet Event without the express permission of the Coronet.

Schedule. The Coronet Events are:

•	Spring Coronet Tourney: The second weekend in April unless it falls on Easter, then the previous weekend.
•	Summer Investiture: The weekend before May Crown
•	Fall Coronet Tourney: Weekend of the second Saturday after Labour Day (Labour Day is the first Monday of September).
•	Winter Investiture: The weekend before the U.S. Thanksgiving (U.S. Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November)

Event Bids

a.	Coronet Events shall be open to bid by any branch within Tir Righ. Bids are due one year in advance. The Coronet and Principality Seneschal will select the winning bid. If there are no suitable bids the Coronet and Seneschal will work with the branches to ensure that the event is carried out as scheduled.
b.	Twenty-five percent of any profit made on a Coronet Event may be kept by the host group provided all final reports, receipts and the remaining seventy-five percent have been sent to the Principality Exchequer within thirty days after the event. If the final report and all funds are returned after thirty days, then only ten percent of the profit may be retained by the hosting group, and the remaining ninety percent is to be sent to the Principality Exchequer. All final reports for Coronet Events must be sent to the Principality Exchequer within 60 days after the close of the event. If it is the wish of the host group, they may donate some portion of their share to the Principality.
c.	Any Canadian branch hosting a Coronet event must prove that at least two million dollars’ worth of liability insurance is in effect (whether obtained through the NSCA coverage or by individual branch policy).
d.	Any branch hosting a Coronet Event must be able to prove their Non Profit Status. In the United States, this is done by membership to the SCA Inc. However, in Canada, this can only be achieved by shire membership to the Northern Society for Creative Anachronism (NSCA).

ARTICLE VII – PRINCIPALITY OF TIR RIGH TRAVEL FUNDS

Tir Righ Travel Fund:

The fund shall be designated to reimburse for travel expenses by the Coronet within the Principality; and for travel expenses to An Tir Crown events within the Kingdom.

Coronet Travel Fund;

This fund shall be designated to reimburse for travel expenses by the Coronet to any war or Coronet event sponsored by another principality of An Tir and held outside of Tir Righ

a.	Funds that are not specifically raised for the Tir Righ Travel Fund or the Coronet Travel Fund shall not be diverted to either from any other funds for any reason. The two travel fund monies shall remain separate and shall not be diverted to any other fund for any reason.
b.	The administration of these Funds shall be handled through the Principality Exchequer of Tir Righ. Money from this fund shall be made available to the Princes and Princesses of Tir Righ for travel within the Principality, or to the required Crown events within the Kingdom.

c.	No expenses may exceed the funds available to them in the Travel Fund. To that end, all expenditures must be pre-authorized by the Principality Exchequer.
d.	The Coronet may draw on funds from the Travel Fund during Their reign, but only to the extent that the balance in the Fund has decreased no more than 50% from the start of Their reign, to the finish of Their reign (ie: If the fund has $400 at the start of a reign, the Coronet must leave a balance of $200 at the end of Their reign).
e.	It is the responsibility of the Coronets to maintain, and attempt to increase the Travel Fund, through fund-raisers and / or the solicitation of donations. An attempt should be made to leave the Fund with more money than it had when the Coronets ascended Their thrones.
f.	If the Coronets travel by car, Their expenses shall be reimbursed upon the presentation of gas receipts. They may be reimbursed for a basic hotel room, on the basis of up to one night per 500 miles of travel.
g.	The Coronets may be given an advance to assist with the travel costs such as gas, ferries, etc. They are expected to hand in all receipts to cover expenses. If expenses are less than the advance, any balance must be returned to the Travel Fund. If expenses are more than the advance, then the Coronets will be reimbursed for any outstanding balance.

THIS DOCUMENT MADE LAW BY OUR HANDS
AS 38 (25 APRIL 04)

Ulf and Celdae
Prince and Princess Tir Righ

Reviewed by the Seneschal of Tir Righ
Kieran Gunn