Chivalry Vision
The Chivalry Department of The Augustan Society, Inc., would engage in the following activities:
Contents
Recognized Orders of Chivalry
Upon petition and payment of established fees, the Chivalry Committee will consider recognition of Orders (and organizations of a chivalric nature). Delistings (and occasionally listings) are done motu proprio.
While it seems that the Chivalry Committee has a very clear idea of what qualifies or disqualifies an Order from respectability, this needs to be documented for the guidance of those who follow. These standards should also be published, so as to offer perspective on our list of recognitions.
Proposal: The Society should maintain and publish the criteria by which the Society will judge Orders of Chivalry (and organizations of a chivalric nature) worthy of Society recognition.
Proposal: The Society should document the appropriate process (in this Wiki) for reviewing Orders of Chivalry (and organizations of a chivalric nature) as a byproduct of such reviews to serve as a model for future reviews.
Proposal: The Society should maintain and publish a comprehensive and public list of Recognized Orders of Chivalry (and organizations of a chivalric nature) which the Society has judged worthy of recognition.
Proposal: The Society should maintain and keep private a list of those Orders of Chivalry (and organizations of a chivalric nature) that we have examined and found unworthy, along with the disqualifying conditions, so as to speed reconsideration should those change, and so staff can answer questions about them appropriately.
Note that the appropriate staff response to a query about an Order that has been reviewed and found unworthy is, "We are studying this organization to determine if we should recognize it." This may get old when the same answer is offered years later, but this provides the needed data without ever saying a bad word about such Orders. In this way one hopes not to poison ground where one may wish someday to tread, nor to invite litigation.
Recognition of Membership & Rank in Orders of Chivalry
Upon petition and payment of established fees, the Chivalry Committee will consider recognition of membership and rank in recognized Orders of Chivalry. Delistings are done only under exceptional circumstances, usually involving deliberate fraud by the individual. Such recognitions are not withdrawn by a subsequent disqualification of the Order (again save in exceptionally fraudulent circumstances).
While it seems that the Chivalry Committee has a very clear idea of what constitutes adequate evidence of membership and rank, this needs to be documented for the guidance of those who follow. It is recognized that Orders vary from very public notice to secretive about their memberships, so it cannot be a "one size fits all" approach.
Proposal: The Society should maintain and publish the standards by which they judge membership and rank in Recognized Orders of Chivalry (and organizations of a chivalric nature) worthy of recognition.
Proposal: The Society should document the appropriate process (in this Wiki) for reviewing membership and rank in Recognized Orders of Chivalry (and organizations of a chivalric nature) as a byproduct of such reviews to serve as a model for future reviews.
Proposal: The Society should maintain and publish a listing of those chivalric memberships recognized, both for present Augustans and for others.
Qualifying Orders for SDLKJ
Membership in the Society of Descendants of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Crusader Class requires a recognized membership in an Order of Chivalry which fought in the Holy Lands during the Crusades. To administer this condition, staff need a clear list of which Orders qualify.
Proposal: The Society should maintain and publish a list of those Recognized Orders of Chivalry which the Society accepts as having fought in the Holy Lands during the Crusades, or which is a legitimate descendant of such an Order, for the purposes of qualifying Crusader Class petitioners to the Society of Descendants of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Postnominals
There is presently a list of postnominals (and their definitions) on the main website at <augustansociety.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewPage&pageID=1490&nodeID=1>. It is inadequate in scope, undocumented in source, and comes without the full support of the Chivalry Department (it being a Webmaster project).
This list needs to be expanded to include all Postnominals:
- Recognized by the Society, now or in the past;
- Used in Society publications past and present;
- Used by Recognized Orders of Chivalry, etc.; and
- Such others as are likely to be encountered in the course of Society business.
The list should indicate which are currently valid and recognized by the Society. Obsolete and currently unrecognized postnominals need to be included for this list to have optimal utility.
The list must, as a result of the above, include a substantial and unavoidable disclaimer disavowing recognition of those postnominals not so marked.
Proposal: The Society should maintain and publish a list of Postnominals used in Society publications, recognized by the Society at any time, granted by the Society, or likely to be of value to members. This list should include Postnominals not currently recognized by the Society for historical purposes, and these should be so flagged.
Guide to Orders of Chivalry
The present Guide to Orders of Chivalry has been withdrawn from sale to to it's having been rendered remarkably obsolete by the passing of time. A new edition would require substantial work by the Chivalry Committee, but the result could benefit both our treasury and our reputation.
Proposal: The Society should publish a new edition of the Guide to Orders of Chivalry, and to produce further editions as changes in the field dictate.
