Chivalry

Chivalry

The Chivalry Department would engage in the following activities:

Chivalry Committee

The Chivalry Committee is composed of the Chivalry Chairman, the chairmen of any sub-committees assigned to the Chivalry Department, such additoinal members as the Chairman sees fit, and the President and Consuls as ex officio members.

The Chairman is named by the President and serves at his pleasure. The members are named by the Chairman, and serve at his pleasure.

All activities of the Chivalry Department fall under the control of this Chivalry Committee unless the Board or Chairman has created another Committee and charged them with responsibility.

Recognition of Orders of Chivalry

Presently, the Chivalry Committee will consider recognition of Orders (and organizations of a chivalric nature) only when presented with a petition and payment. Delistings are done motu propicio.

While it seems that the Chivalry Committee have a very clear idea of what constitutes 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.

We should work toward the goal of having a fully comprehensive and public listing of Orders the Society considers worthy. We should also maintain a private list of those we have found unworthy, along with the disqualifying conditions, so as to speed reconsideration should those change, and so staff can answer either "yes", "no", or "we haven't yet considered them" as appropriate.

Recognition of Membership in Orders of Chivalry

Presently, the Chivalry Committee will consider recognition of rank and membership in recognized Orders only when presented with a petition and payment. Delistings are done only under exceptional circumstances, usually involving deliberate fraud by the individual.

While it seems that the Chivalry Committee have 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 won't be a "one size fits all" approach.

Maintenance of a List of Postnominals

There is presently a list of postnominals (and their definitions) on the web site. It is inadequate in scope, undocumented in source, and comes without the support of the Chivalry Department (it being a webmaster project).

This list needs to be expanded to include all postnominals:

• Recognized by the Society
• Used in Society publications past and present
• Used by Recognized Orders of Chivalry, etc.

The list should indicate which are currently valid and which are currently 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.

Library Support

The Department, either through the main Committee, a sub-committee, or a designated officer, will advise the Library Department in matters of accession, classification, and deaccession of materials on this subject.

Article Solicitation

The Department, either through the main Committee, a sub-committee, or a designated officer, will solicit articles on this subject for the Omnibus, in cooperation with the Omnibus Editor.

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