Inner Circle (Camarilla)

The Inner Circle is the organizing council of the Camarilla. Practically nothing is known about the Inner Circle, which takes pains to keep the identity of its members hidden. The public face of the Inner Circle are the Justicars and their Archon assistants. Members of the Inner Circle elect Justicars and otherwise establish the principles of Camarilla law.

The Inner Circle is often assumed to be a council of the most powerful Princes in the Camarilla. It is thought that Hardestadt, one of the sect's Founders, holds a seat in the Inner Circle.

Meetings

The Inner Circle meets every 13 years in Venice, and at these meetings they select new Justicars and further decide the direction of the sect, as outlined in the Promise of 1528 with the Giovanni Clan. At their discretion, the Inner Circle holds the right to convene at a different location, such as Ghent in 1998. Every Clan is permitted one representative, usually the eldest member of the clan, as only the eldest may cast the Clan’s vote.

Using the knowledge that they met in 1998 (the date Xaviar was appointed to be Justicar), we can move backwards to determine previous years in which they have gathered. Therefore, the years they have met include:

15th century

• 1491: First gathering of Elders which later forms the Camarilla in 1493 at the Convention of Thorns.

16th century

• 1504: Second meeting
• 1517: Third meeting
• 1530: Fourth meeting
• 1543: Fifth meeting
• 1556: Sixth meeting
• 1569: Seventh meeting
• 1582: Eighth meeting
• 1595: Ninth meeting

17th century

• 1608: Tenth meeting
• 1621: 11th meeting
• 1634: 12th meeting
• 1647: 13th meeting
• 1660: 14th meeting
• 1673: 15th meeting
• 1686: 16th meeting
• 1699: 17th meeting

18th century

• 1712: 18th meeting
• 1725: 19th meeting
• 1738: 20th meeting
• 1751: 21st meeting
• 1764: 22nd meeting
• 1777: 23rd meeting
• 1790: 24th meeting

19th century

• 1803: 25th meeting
• 1816: 26th meeting
• 1829: 27th meeting
• 1842: 28th meeting
• 1855: 29th meeting
• 1868: 30th meeting
• 1881: 31st meeting
• 1894: 32nd meeting

20th century

• 1907: 33rd meeting
• 1920: 34th meeting
• 1933: 35th meeting
• 1946: 36th meeting. This meeting may have been held early, as the Inner Circle met in the ruins of a newly liberated Venice in June of 1945 to discuss cracking down on the Anarchs in response to the formation of the Anarch Free State.
• 1959: 37th meeting
• 1972: 38th meeting
• 1985: 39th meeting
• 1998: 40th meeting

Note

If the Time of Judgment series is ignored along with the end of the publication of Vampire: The Masquerade, the next five gatherings should be scheduled in the following years:

• 2011: 41st meeting
• 2024: 42nd meeting
• 2037: 43rd meeting
• 2050: 44th meeting
• 2063: 45th meeting

Timeline Contradictions

Like the timeline of the Anarch Revolt in general and the secrecy of a group of paranoid vampire Elders in particular, it is not known for sure at what date the first gathering and formation of the Camarilla during the 15th century took place. One pair of sources states that the first meeting was around 1394 or 1435, and the Camarilla formed in 1450, while another source states 1435 as the official founding date and 1486 as the first Convention, with 1504 being the second meeting during which new Justicars other than the founders were elected.. Others state 1486 as the founding date. Given the repetition of various dates, but the unclarity of events that took place, the inconsistency might be the result of typos from the writers, sloppy scholarship, failing memories or evasive statements of Elders or even attempts of Dominate and similar mind-altering Disciplines.

The timeline above counts mathematically from the last sure date that the Inner Circle convened, as stated in both Children of the Night and Guide to the Camarilla. Since all sources agree that the Inner Circle met in an intervall of thirteen years, the resulting list of dates should, in theory, be as close as possible.

References

• Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition, p. 26
• VTM: Los Angeles By Night, p. 27-28