The Crown, The King, The Crowd

Peasant Times-Dispatch Issue 09

First, A Word

Dear Readers,

Thank you for being here at the Peasant Times-Dispatch! Many of you joined me here after I announced I would be going on a hiatus from writing. The day after I made the announcement, Substack dared me to defy them and rolled out Substack Notes, in which I have been prolific and silly, enjoying the distraction for its own sake.

That means some of you are new here and, if you are only familiar with my Notes, you will not be familiar with my writing. I encourage you to explore around and especially to peruse my top articles. I’ve got a years worth of history and plenty to read.

But, if you haven’t looked around yet, I am Scoot and this is the Peasant Times-Dispatch. Welcome!

Here, I write about my ideas of living a Peasantly Life, and occasionally updates on my progress towards that. A Peasantly Life is a life of peace, simplicity, and devotion to God. It was born out of my desire to stop reading the news and stop letting the news make me angry; it has roots in Catholicism, stoicism, and scholasticism.

I hope you read, I hope you enjoy, and I appreciate you for trying out this first post where I attempt to return from my writing hiatus.

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Second, Another Word

I am lucky the Coronation happened yesterday (as I write this) because I decided I would return to writing at least one solid essay each month and I drafted the above note welcoming newcomers, and then I haven’t known what to say. I keep trying to introduce the Peasant Life but it keeps coming out too academic. All writing is storytelling, what is the story I am trying to tell?

I think the Coronation of Charles III is a good story to tell, especially from the perspective of a Peasant. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that the more you try to see the Peasant Life the less visible it is. So let’s use our periphery here.

I posted a note with some rhetorical questions I wanted to discuss about the Coronation. Here is that note. There are some helpful comments within, that would be worth looking at, as well!

The Actual Words I Wanted To Say

I’m not going to answer the questions outright. We’re going to take the long way and get to whatever I can. In case you missed it, here’s a recap: on the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, 2022, Queen Elizabeth, second of that name, was recalled to the loving embrace of God. She was surrounded by family; all of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Commonwealth nations mourned her departure from this world and celebrated her words, deeds, and very, very long reign. Our loss—we are permitted to hope—was heavens gain.

Heir to the throne was Charles, her son. The duties of Monarch, such as they are, suddenly fell to him. Charles would be third to take that name. While some duties would be assumed immediately, he would need to be formally installed in a ceremony known as a Coronation. The coronation happened on Saturday, May 6th.

There are three things to look for in a ceremony like this: Validity, Liceity, and Legitimacy. Why could Scoot not just roll up with a tin-foil hat and declare himself King of England? Charles is a legitimate heir to the throne of England, being the son of the previous Queen. Scoot is not. Charles was installed using a Coronation—a licit ceremony for installing a monarch; Scoot was installed after drinking a few too many Coronas, which is not a licit ceremony for installing a monarch. Charles’ Coronation followed the style and manner prescribed by tradition and by law—his coronation was valid; Scoot’s illicit Corona-fication was not performed following any tradition or law, so it was invalid. King Charles III has Legitimacy, Validity, and Liceity. Scoot does not.

Let’s not suppose that, here in America, Validity, Liceity, and Legitimacy are totally foreign and obscure concepts to us. We don’t use those words frequently, but we do rely heavily on these concepts.

The Legitimate President of the United States is selected by an electoral contest. Upon the conclusion of the electoral contest, the President-elect must be installed in an inauguration, a ceremony which must follow certain traditions and laws to be valid; a ceremony without which no President is licit.

Why Does This Matter?

“Scoot,” the impatient reader may ask, “why are you spending so much time explaining the obvious?”

Because once you are aware of these three things—Validity, Liceity, and Legitimacy—you see them everywhere.

• Marriage is a ceremony uniting a couple together in a legal and sacramental way.

• Getting a new job requires an onboarding process and signing of papers.

• Getting a promotion

• Becoming a godparent

• Joining a club

Any time you increase in responsibility there is a ceremony of some kind, and cooked into that ceremony is ensuring that you are the right person with the right credentials in the right job.

That explains why these ceremonies are important, and even what they do—but why does it matter?

Here’s the punchline: All Authority Flows From God. I mean this unequivocally. ALL authority. Your authority over your children? From God. Your authority over your employees? From God. Your authority over the garbage bin in your house? Yes—that too is from God.

Validity, Liceity, and Legitimacy are all ways to make sure we don’t give the intense responsibility of authority to just anybody. We are making sure that authority has been entrusted to someone who knows what is at stake and who will take that responsibility seriously. The greater the responsibility, the greater the ceremony, the greater the gravitas given to the occasion to mark the passing of authority not from Queen Elizabeth II, but from God, to Charles III. Charles is now directly responsible for the well being of his citizens and subjects, as limited by the laws of that land.

Watching Charles From The Farm

So why does all of this matter to us, as peasants?

Imagine for a moment that we lived in medieval times. All we know is our farm, and the traditions and rituals that mark the calendar and that give life meaning and rhythm. Let’s imagine a newcomer rides through the village, and issues this proclamation: “Did you hear? Scoot is King of England now!”

The Peasant might scratch his head, and ask: “Was there a coronation?”

The messenger would awkwardly adjust his collar, “Uh, no, he made a hat out of tinfoil and—”

The Peasant shakes his head, “He isn’t the King.”¹

This parable illustrates that we don’t have to know anything else. No political science is required here, no one is going to take a blood test of King Charles to make perfectly sure. He received a Coronation Mass. He is the King. The Peasant values the Coronation because it is the tradition. The Peasant doesn’t value it because it is tradition qua tradition, but because it is tradition qua ceremonial confirmation of validity, liceity, and legitimacy. No coronation, no King.

Let’s take a more contemporaneous example, from American politics.

We choose our president by electoral contests, mediated through balancing rules prescribed by our constitution. In recent elections—it has happened in multiple recent elections and come from both sides, I’m trying really hard not to be political here, play nice people—certain trouble makers have tried to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the electoral contest, thereby casting doubt on the liceity of the outcome.

As soon as one individual receives the ceremonial transfer of power—the inauguration—all that discussion ends. He received the inauguration, he is president of all Americans. We don’t need to know any more than that.

As a peasant, this helps cut through the mud. I stopped reading the news because I decided I don’t need to read the tea leaves of election results and legal battles, follow palace intrigue, and this-that-the other. All that is the equivalent of trying to get a blood test from Charles III. I don’t need that. Maybe someone needs that, but not me. I just need to know—which guy is the guy that received the inauguration? Ok. That guy is the president. End of story!

Final Words

The Coronation is a ceremony which reinforces and affirms the things we already know: That Charles is the son of the previous Queen, that Charles has been given the authority by God, that Charles accepted authority in the name of God, and that this authority has been transferred according to the traditions and laws of the land—therefore, Charles is King.

Ceremonies are useful to this end—they mark important occasions, not just because they are important but because they reveal something about God. That all authority flows from God, and that we ought to take that responsibility with seriousness, gravitas, and reverence.

And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom they have committed much, of him they will demand the more. (Luke 12:48)

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Thank you for reading!

BONUS ANNOUNCEMENT: Thank you for reading all the way to the end. Today marks a big milestone—1 year and 1 month since I started the Peasant Times-Dispatch. I am getting dangerously close to 200 subscribers as well. We will have a 200 subscriber celebration when I hit that milestone.

Thank you for joining me over the last year-month! It has been a pleasure to write and share my thoughts with you and I hope you stick with me for another year to come.

God bless you all!

Ad Jesum Per Mariam

1. This exact situation is illustrated in Mark Twain’s biography of Joan of Arc, where Joan had been victorious against the English but her King—Charles VII—had not received a Coronation so was not yet truly King of France.