#haslam

There is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit of information that is sometimes mentioned in Aristasian history, and that is mention of an excommunication. Not just of an individual, but of all of Lux Madriana.

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This information is later repeated in the Eastminster Critical Edition and appears to have been backed up by one of the later Madrians and it appears to be related to the infamous "Schism of '83" that took place in Burtonport.

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But, this information has all been speculative and a bit mysterious, as many of the old-timers would simply rather not talk about it. Did it really happen? What did the excommunication entail? How was Lux Madriana excommunicated. Who the heck was Strave Ruethen? Documents archived in the Musueum of Witchcraft and Magic in the UK have been uncovered that appear to shed light on this! The transcriptions of these documents are graciously hosted on the Lambent Path blog, and you can read them in their entirety there, but there are a few parts I would like to point out. These letters have a particularly strange dating system: "13- v- 3722 AE" which I believe is using the "Temple of Artemis at Ephesus" system of dating, with the Madrian calendar. Fast forward through some math, context, and cross references, and I believe this dated is the Tellurian date of August 20th 1989. This is 6 years after The Schism, 5 years after the St. Bride's School punishment coming to light, a year into their public Romantia era, and just 7 months before news would break that one of their house-members was being physically abused. So there is a number of things that the letter writer could be vaguely referencing, but a big one that was soon to come. Now, onto the letters.

My! This is very familiar! It lines up with what the MadrianDeanicResources blog has said about the founders.

And even the writer of the letter, one Straven Reusen De Hesellum (also referred to as Straven Michael, among many other names I will get to in a bit) is shockingly similar to the rumored name "Strave Reuthen" as the man who "excommunicated Lux Madriana". Even his supposed real name of "Roger Haslam" is eerily familiar to "Hesellum". Is "Strave Reuthen aka Roger Haslam" a half remembered "Staven Reusen De Hesellum"? Was "Straven" a title as opposed to a name? Our mysterious Straven goes on to drop something of a bombshell:

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has released the names of people who were granted executive pardons and clemency, yet one familiar name did not make the list.

Cyntoia Brown was not included. She is serving a life sentence for a murder her lawyers say she committed in self defense as a sex trafficking victim.

On Thursday, Gov. Haslam granted clemency to eleven people. In a statement, he said in part, “These individuals have made positive contributions to their communities and deserve pardons, or are individuals who will receive another chance to become contributing members of society by virtue of their commutations.”

In 2004, a then 16-year-old Brown was convicted of murdering John Allen in the first degree. Brown says her then 24-year-old boyfriend nicknamed “Cut Throat,” forced her into prostitution and she was being sexually abused, according to court documents.

Brown’s lawyers claim she killed Allen in self defense. She was sentenced to life in prison. Brown's case got national attention after the release of the 2011 PBS documentary, “Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story” aired.

Earlier this month, a Tennessee Supreme Court ruled the 30-year-old must serve 51 years before she can be eligible for parole.

“The fact that there were mitigating circumstances, that she was the victim of sex trafficking at the time all goes to argue that she might deserve some prison time for what she’s done but a life sentence seems unduly harsh,” Steven Mulroy, a law professor at the University of Memphis, told InsideEdition.com.

“I think that there are certainly people in Tennessee who have been convicted under less mitigating circumstances, who were adults at the time of the offense, but still had shorter sentences than this.”