As the story progresses, each political body has responsibilities to the Court and to England. These drive the agreements, disagreements and messy compromises that may set England’s line of succession and avert disaster.
Fixed meeting times
Some of the political bodies have scheduled meetings. This means they will have space and time set aside in the Council Chamber, along with some privacy. The Timetable lays these out in order.
Outside of meeting times, all court members should network and talk informally. The meetings provide some hard deadlines and the dramatic story ‘beats’ where people’s politicking pays off or falls apart.
Privy Council
- Influence and advice policy rather than dictate
- Meet 10:30am on Saturday
Privy Council has little formal power but a lot of influence. At 10:30am on Saturday they have a meeting to discuss Rome’s offer with Henry.
Chancellor
- Member of Privy Council
- Meets with Henry on Friday night
- Can arrest people, arrests will not long or boring
The Chancellor, Thomas Wriothesley, has the power to arrest and investigate heretics to the Henrician cause. From an OC perspective, any arrests will be short-term and should cause entertaining roleplay. They are not a way to permanently remove a character from the game. The Chancellor’s power flows from Henry, and arrest warrants must be signed by the King.
Wriothesley will meet briefly with Henry early on Friday night.
Convocation
- Set the theology of the Henrician Church via Declaration
- Must decide a position on the Nine Articles
- One member, one vote
- Meet at 3pm
- Also set the style and leader of mass at 5pm
The Convocation of Bishops has been instrumental in establishing Henry’s new version of the Church. They have repeatedly chosen to submit to Henry’s spiritual vision, even passing votes to remove their ability to make laws without the King’s permission and assent. Yet they still retain nominal power to declare the morality of the land and determine the beliefs of the people from the pulpit.
Some characters have a large influence on how Convocation would vote on any change to the Henrician Church. King Henry has ordered these moral leaders to meet with him after his negotiation with the representatives of the Catholic Church, to discuss any proposed changes to the Henrician Church.
There is a formal meeting at 3pm, to which these moral leaders and some other great religious thinkers will meet to discuss the Church’s future position. At the end, those who have influence in Convocation will be asked to approve a draft of any changes by simple count of ‘ayes’ to ‘nays’. The Scriptorium will draw this up into a formal declaration of The Nine Articles and the Bishops will be asked to sign their names to it publically before Evening Mass at 5pm.
- If a majority of Convocation do not sign the document, then there will be no further change in the faith of England: the current position of the Henrician Church of near-Catholicism will remain.
- If the majority sign the document, the faith of the people of England will shift slowly towards these beliefs
- If a majority sign, and an Act of Parliament is passed to give legal force to this new position, the faith of the people of England will shift faster towards these beliefs, with other expressions of faith being violently put down.
Reconciling with Rome requires an Act of Parliament.
Breaking with Rome was supported and enforced by many Acts of Parliament. If Convocation specifically decide to reconcile with Rome, then an Act of Parliament must be passed to enforce this or it will fail and cause turmoil. This does not mean that Parliament is forced to pass the Act. If Parliament refuse to reconcile with Rome then the Convocation will find the need for a hasty meeting and some ‘doctrinal flexibility’.
The Convocation can also decide who leads the Mass at 5pm and what form it is in. It does not have to match the Henrician Theology or the new Nine Articles. Convocation could use this as a consolation for a faction whose theological view is not taken forwards. Regardless of the outcome of the Nine Articles, a priest who takes the Mass at such a momentous occasion will have a secure legacy.
Parliament
- May pass one Act into law, must decide and draft the Act
- No fixed meeting times, though they may request Council Chamber
- Deadline for which Act to support 6pm Saturday
- Deadline for voting on the supported act 8pm on Saturday
The King has ordered Parliament to be ready to pass a new Act. It is not known yet whether he intends this to be a new Act of Succession or an Act to alter the Henrician Church in some way – or both! Rumours are rife and wild in all directions. There will likely be multiple drafts of potential Acts that Parliament could pass and scope for drafting a completely new one. Only one Act can be raised before Parliament this weekend.
Some characters have a large influence on Members of Parliament, with numerous MPs relying on them to direct them on the King’s intentions and how they should vote on a given Act. There is no formal meeting planned for these characters – they arrange their own meeting or lobby privately.
Each Member of Parliament will need to give their opinion on what Act should be raised, and how it should be voted on. This will be done by writing a note by 6pm on Saturday to the NPC Scriptorium.
The note must:
- Enclose the Member’s draft of a new Act, or
- Name the Member whose draft they are endorsing.
When the preferred draft is selected, an Act of Parliament will be drawn up quickly by the Scriptorium and given to the proposer at 7pm. Over the next hour, the proposer may make minor modifications and attempt to gather support for his Act. At 8pm, each Members must send off instructions to their blocs to either support or oppose the bill by means of a simple note given to the court NPCs.
Military
- Pledge the support of their troops publicly
Military leaders have no formal meetings. They need to pledge their support to an heir publicly near the end of the game when it seems dramatically appropriate. They can change their mind by pledging their support to somebody else later. This is probably embarrassing to do, but better than backing the wrong candidate.
Queens
Queens will be the main characters receiving advice from court functionaries as to the state of the succession. In the event that things are going poorly, the Queens would be expect to get their courts in order and broker compromises for the good of the realm.
Other women
From a political perspective, our women have all the ‘soft’ power, and men have all the formal power. It is much easier for women to use their informal network to find a compromise with rivals than it is for a man to lose face dealing with his sworn enemy or to let them argue it out and come to blows. Women who want to engage politically will find ways to help their men come to the correct conclusions.
Some women might look for spiritual counsel from priests in order to ask carefully chosen questions to clear up any ‘misunderstandings’ the priests may have about theology, especially before the Bishops go to vote in Convocation. Some women might want to broker marriage alliances with relatives or children to secure allies from other courts. Other women might gather information on the flow of allegiances and power shifts at court to position themselves in the winning side.
Some women might like to read poetry while they watch the world burn.
Reginae Regis - The Six Wives of Henry VIII 