1712 Edict on the Definition and Status of Protected Persons in the Benacian Union

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Background

The category of Protected Persons evolved out of the antique customs and usage of Shirerithian neofeudalism. Denoting a class of subjects who had been deprived of liberty for the protection of themselves and for the benefit of society as a whole, it originated in the Unified Governorates of Benacia as a catch-all term for those persons who had been assigned to the Benacian Labour Reserve in lieu of incarceration or capital punishment. As a consequence of the Great Treachery (1692 AN – 1696 AN) and the calamities that ensued, the practice of designating sections of the population as being "protected persons" expanded dramatically as it came to be applied to Elluenuueq after its reconquest, and across both realms with regards to those who fell outside of society by three principle routes:

• Failing to adhere to the Union Covenant;
• Failure to accrue merit by induction into one of the Guilds of Benacia or any other public body or corporation;
• Conviction for a felony, with the sentence being commuted to service in the Benacian Labour Reserve.

Those swept up by the second route, that of being without merit past their fifteenth year of age, were given over the the municipal corporation with responsibility for their bailiwick of residence in order to serve as bondsmen. Those subjected to this condition were indentured and employed directly by the municipal corporation or else hired out to liveried companies (private corporations chartered with the guilds of Benacia), within the bailiwick. Rented bondsmen would only ever receive provisions of sustenance and shelter sufficient for their basic needs, whilst their notional wages, if hired out, would be paid directly to the Hall of Allocations and Appropriations of the bailiwick.

Under the conditions of the aftermath of the Scouring, including periods of famine and sharp economic contraction, and ongoing resistance, up to half the adult population of some bailiwicks of Elluenuueq and the UGB were consigned to the status of protected personhood. By this expedient numerous farms, mines, and manufactories, that might otherwise have been abandoned or rendered economically unsustainable, were kept in operation. By linking liberties to the one's place in the hierarchy, the Benacian Union was able to curb what would otherwise have been uncontrolled flows of migration away from afflicted regions, and prevent the spread of revolts and sedition amongst the populace.

The Subject Without Merit, who is not a Protected Person, in contrast, tends to be a juvenile under the age of fifteen. If the child, at fifteen, is, at the culmination of their education, brought forward to the municipal auction of their bailiwick of residence and purchased into a guild company or some other corporation then they will attain merit and advancement. If, however, they are passed over at auction they will instead become bondsmen of the municipal corporation of their bailiwick, and thus become protected persons, as previously noted.

The status of a subject, whether they are meritorious, or, indeed, without merit, is ultimately determined by the Benacian Censorate, with inputs from the Commission for the Panopticon and the Worshipful Guild of the Sacred Carnifices. A subject's status is under continuous review and revision throughout his whole life. At the bailiwick-level this can be most immediately felt in those jurisdictions which institute Cull Commissions to actively manage the subject populations. The levels of what might be termed "severity" in Elluenuueq and the UGB derives largely from the reality that these were populations what were conquered in the twenty-five year period between the beginning of the Kalirion Fracture and the ending of the Republican War.

The situation is however more benign in the former Goldshirean realms; Chryse, Ransenar, and the Sovereign Confederation. Chryse, as the capital and a Free City in its own right, is a showcase city for the Benacian Union, advertising the positive attributes of the Harmonious Society to the international community. The Sovereign Confederation meanwhile, maintains cadres of protected persons on a far smaller scale than its counterpart realms in the west, primarily out of ecological and economic necessity, and accords to its remaining subjects the semblance of citizenship rights. Finally Ransenar, having voluntarily sought admission into the Union-State, received generous protections for its former citizenry - seeing the entire population admitted into the Union-State as meritorious subjects, with the enhanced freedoms those entail.

Given the disparities in the scope and treatment of protected persons between the realms of the Union-State, the Fourth Session of the Congress of Chryse (1712 AN) agreed to review the practice and to codify it through a new edict.

Text

Article One: Definition

A protected person is a lawful subject who is deemed by the Guild of the Sacred Carnifices to be unworthy of both compensation and merit past the age of majority.

Article Two: Application

Protected persons receive the following rights through their labor, forgoing any payment in exchange:

Right to sufficient food and sleep for their needs

Right to fair and just punishment

Right of petition to their administrator

Right of appeal to the Worshipful Guild of the Sacred Carnifices

Article Three: Administration

The entity to which a protected person is bonded is their administrator.

Administration of protected persons may be transferred between entities at the discretion of the Benacian Censorate.

Persons assigned to the Benacian Labour Reserve, in lieu of the statutory penalty for a criminal conviction, may be recalled to complete their original sentence by the relevant judicial authority.

Article Four: Exemptions

The realms of the Union may regulate the use of the labor of protected persons.

The application, or lack thereof, of protected person status to subjects by their realm shall continue in effect when those subjects have been posted beyond the boundaries of that realm has part of their lawful duties. Manumission upon crossing realm boundaries may only occur in circumstances where a transfer of administrative responsibilities in regard to the exercise of protection rights concerning the subject has been agreed by the rights holder.