The International Commission
and Association on Nobility

NON-PROFIT STATUS OF OUR ORGANIZATION

This Commission and Association on Nobility was established in January 2008 to unite in its membership descendants of the Holy Roman Empire and for the Defense of International Nobility. It also includes a number of honorary members. It was founded by Dr. Salvatore Ferdinando Antonio Caputo.

Similar to all nobility associations, today, Membership in the Commission (TICAN) is open to all descendants of the nobility, regardless of their nationality, religion or political affiliation, as long as they support the activities of The International Commission and Association on Nobility. Some members of the TICAN are descendants of the most ancient nobility and have taken a very great interest in the activities of the Commission; amongst its many chivalric and heraldic interests.

The International Commission and Association on Nobility supports heraldic research, genealogy, and a promulgation of historic and cultural values. The Commission has no authority to grant coats of arms, but stands ready to help others with petitions. 

PURPOSE OF THE COMMISSION   

 The purpose of this website is to unite and prolong the legacy of the old Noble families spreading now all over the world.

The aristocratic spirit transcended frontiers. For the nobleman Europe was the homeland. Italian plasterers and painters, German musicians, and French cabinetmakers traveled for high commissions. There were variations reflecting local traditions: the Baroque style was interpreted distinctively in Austria, Italy, Spain, and France. But high style reveals certain underlying principles and convictions. The same is true of the intellectual life of Europe, reflecting as it did two main sources, French and English. It was especially to France that the two most powerful rulers of Eastern Europe, Frederick II and Catherine II, looked for mentors in thought and style. The French language, deliberately purified from the time of Richelieu and the foundation of the Academy, was well adapted to the clear expression of ideas. The salons stimulated the discussion of ideas and engendered a distinctive style. Feminine insights there contributed to a rational culture that was also responsive to the claims of sensibility.

Today, many European Nobles are dispersed throughout the world, and have important careers, incorporating their rich culture into their American everyday lives. Every Noble is a volunteer that must enlarge, expand, promote, and improve, by its commanding presence the high value goals and missions to make a real difference in their newly adopted Country with special and unique worthwhile professions: professors, market analysts, mayors, auctioneers, mortgage brokers, bankers, military, actors and artists, charity volunteers and many other vital professions.

In order for public to better assess the Nobility’s great role in today’s world we will have to briefly mention the Nobility of ancient times.  The Italian and Spanish Crown has bestowed Titles on and confirmed Arms for its subjects for what is America, from the middle of the 16th Century until the beginning of the 19th Century or about 1819, it did so directly from the Crown in Spain or through Viceroys and Governors of the Colonies.

Since the Revolution of 1776 America had not Kings or Queens, but has an old European Nobility which the great majority emigrated after the First World War onward, becoming stable and prosperous. Their children would be US citizens without any interference or threat from the Government in Washington.

Many other Nobles have inherited their Titles after becoming US citizens and as of now there is no law that would have the Government base any action against the said Nobles, if one was even taken. Article I Section 9 Clause 8 of the Constitution clearly forbids the Granting or use of Titles in the USA but does not state a way to enforce the above law, quoted below:

“No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State”.

Section nine and ten of the Constitution of the United States of America in no way forbids or disallows Titles of Nobility but merely disallows the granting of Titles of Nobility by the government of the United States.

“Therefore, according to the Constitution, the State is not interested whether a person has an ancient or new noble title, and does not forbid the title being born and used in public and private relations, nor is the abuse of noble titles considered a crime”.

Nobility live today. In present times we, like our forefathers, strive to take part in the life of society, bring up young people in the spirit of unselfishness.

"History is the truth of the past. The passing of history encloses the future: if there is a divining method to reveal the secrets of the future that has a scientific foundation, it is this meticulous examination of the past, and it is in this manner that historic criticism of pure genealogy takes on a positive value, an inheritance to be passed down, remember that each one of us has two parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents, 16 great-great grandparents, who 8 generations ago were at the eve of the French Revolution, that our twelfth ancestor was the same age as Michelangelo and that the seventieth was the same age as Christ. By searching back from son to father we go back to the beginning of time; in fact we are all really brothers and sisters".

• The following goals have been maintained faithfully as a continuation of the “Royalty and Nobility,” through some of the following activities:
• To re-establish and promote the social institutions of monarchy and nobility and practice their principles in a world which has largely forgotten them: chivalry, honor, duty, loyalty, respect, enlightenment, tolerance;
• The identification, publication and dissemination of genealogical and heraldic articles and resources;
• The promulgation of chivalric ideals and awards;
• Communication of activities related to Nobility and Heraldry with every known head of Imperial, Royal, and Serene Houses and Monarchist/Nobility Organizations throughout the world;
• Support for similar, newly formed, cultural heraldic/nobility organizations in all countries.
• To promote the ideals of nobility, royalty and monarchy in modern times, including its illustrious past.
• To set criteria for the acceptance of orders that was arbitrary and ignored the different historical development of honors systems in different countries.

  

We do not consider requesting some Royal Family that they should be registered /certified with us or to any Commissions on Nobility to be considered genuine, there is NO need for any genuine Royal, Noble or Order to need any kind of registration/certification with any organization to be considered genuine, as International Law covers them, along with many laws of countries that they are still or once ruled over. If they are genuine or not, that comes with Birthright and the knowledge of who they are and their places in history, not via some private organization

We don´t have a blacklist or a suspicious list of Chivalry Orders or Nobility Houses. These Commissions are private Institutions and have no authority of any kind whatever to pass judgment upon the legitimacy or validity of any Order of Chivalry, any Noble House, or any Royal House. Indeed, no Sovereign Order of Chivalry or Royal House would even consider submitting itself for judgment to such a Commission, for to do so would impair the Order's Sovereignty. "....international courts, and many other denominations, are absolutely devoid of any authority and jurisdiction to opine on the subject. There is no legitimate international body operating in the area, even as each structure monarchy enjoys sovereignty...."( Studies on Nobility Law" (Estudos sobre Direito Nobiliário), Dr. Mario Silvestre de Meroe)".

An extract from the book "Studies on Nobility Law" (Estudos sobre Direito Nobiliário), by Dr.  Mario Silvestre de Meroe, pg. 65:

"It is worth mentioning also that the princely families, with the sovereign attributes, requires NO RECOGNITION by the government of their country of origin, or submit any record in countries where its members settle in residence.

The dynastic and political independence is based on the sovereignty itself, which guides their social existence and regardless OF ANY LEGAL RECOGNITION, with respect to dynastic and private affairs. "

The Commissions are independent organizations, thought neither their decisions nor the criteria they employ to reach those decisions are universally accepted. The Commissions have no standing in International Law and may not be acknowledge by any present governments.

The lack of recognition does not mean that an Order (whether governmental, secular, religious, dynastic, or private) is not valid or valued.

Quote from Heraldica Org. on legal recognition of Order of Knighthood: "....Of course, one can well imagine a modern-day nobiliary association committed to some pious or charitable activity, perhaps placed under the invocation of some saint, using badges, mantles, holding ceremonies, and so forth. As I have argued, it would be anachronistic to call them orders of knighthood (and they would not have been called so in medieval times either), but otherwise there seems to be nothing to dispute about their nature. They are what they are. Some may also be revivals of historical institutions, and as long as they do not claim to be more than revivals, there is no sense in which they are not legitimate associations. Whether they are "the same" in some substantial (as opposed to historical) sense depends on how one views the importance of the context in defining the substance of such associations. In my mind, the context is paramount, but it is a matter of judgment. http://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/legitim.htm )".

It is to be regretted that there is no reputable international body of experts in history, nobiliary law, and orders of chivalry, albeit without official status, and without vested interests, willing to set out criteria for the recognition of orders as reputable. The absence of such a body amidst a multitude of bogus chivalric and nobiliary outfits is evidence of the abandonment of respect for historical elements previously held to convey significant moral and social values.

Our publishing may be subject to attacks or applause it depends on whichever side the commentators are on. Even among specialists personal opinions are numerals. The study of chivalric orders and awards systems is open to manifold interpretations because there is no supreme authority, except for the Holy See which is limited to Catholic orders of chivalry. 

In today world, the Commission needs to expand its horizons, widening its principles in order to bring them into line with the objective reality of today’s society and the inevitable historical changes. The compilation lists of Chivalric Orders and Nobility Houses of  some Commissions  cannot be limited to the chivalric material of the past, thus Commissions must adapt to the diverse award systems that exist today; the twenty first century.

Take a look around: as we are entering into the IIIrd Millennium the world has changed, and thus the political scene has changed from the time of the origin and the history of these orders...

"It should also be clear that, whereas national laws aim to provide clear-cut definitions or criteria, their validity extends only to their own borders. One country may well be indifferent to, or even recognize, what another calls bogus. A case in point is the various orders of Saint John recognized by their national governments (Britain, Germany, Netherlands) but not by others (France) or, until the early 1960s, by the Catholic Order itself.

http://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/legitim.htm )"

In regards of changing the criteria of assessing an Order of Chivalry or Honor Titles, we agree with Dr. Pier Felice degli Uberti, President of the International Commission for Orders of Chivalry:

“At the Senate of the Italian Republic (Hall of the former Hotel Bologna) on 3 June 1999 at the close of the conference "New Sources for Family History at the start of the III Millennium" new statutes were presented; these were subsequently modified in London on 5 November 1999 and again on 9 November 2000, when it was decided that "all aspects of chivalry (concerning independent, semi-independent and dynastic Orders, award systems, noble corporations, other noble bodies, and ecclesiastical decorations) which appeared in the 1998 Register had to undergo a complete revision on a scientific basis, therefore all Registers dating from after 1964 are hereby abrogated; moreover it is also decided to insert some new subdivisions in the next Register concerning organisations of a chivalric nature and chivalric inspiration."

“The Commission is a private body, the worth of whose decisions depends upon the qualifications and scholarly reputation of its component members. The new statutes, therefore, require that each member of the Commission should enjoy a reputation as specialists in the study of Chivalric Orders, decorations and awards systems and that their work has been published in serious specialist journals or that they have held positions of authority qualifying them particularly as participants”.

http://www.icocregister.org/history2004.htm 

As well at Nobility News: 

http://nobilitynews.blogspot.com/2007/08/granting-of-orders-and-titles-by-hm.html

And to conclude, some changes were done in the organization to project reality of the modern world . The Commission on Chivalry has followed a new direction under the new president, Dr. Pier Felice degli Uberti. We, at the International Commission and Association on Nobility, congratulate him for the changes.

"The International Commission has decided to re-examine scientifically all previous rulings, using, as a starting point, the 1964 International Register of Orders of Chivalry [1] . This Register has now been republished, with a few amendments, as the 2001 Edition. These amendments were necessary because the Commission had, as with other bodies composed by men, in the past made errors of evaluation or interpretation or had exceeded its institutional role".

http://www.icocregister.org/premise.htm

What more, under the new direction, the Commission of Orders of Chivalry, has included the following and we totally agree with it:

F. ECCLESIASTICAL DECORATIONS

“As there has been a substantial increase in the number of Ecclesiastical Decorations being worn socially, the Commission, after some hesitation, has decided to include in the Register a list of such decorations as are currently bestowed directly by the Patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church, or by the heads of Autocephalous or Autonomous Churches of that rite, and by the Archbishop of Canterbury as Primus Inter Pares of the Anglican Communion. It is to be clearly understood that the decorations listed below are not considered by the Commission to be Chivalric in nature even though several may use the term “Order” in their styles and imitate Chivalric titles”.

http://www.icocregister.org/index.htm

 

TITLES OF NOBILITY

If nobility title has not been used for centuries, it is not lost, because the titles are granted ad infinitum by the concession deed, by magnanimity, for gestures and virtues, and sometimes for financial reasons, together with the coat of arms, motto and predicate, if involved). Therefore the concession of a noble title signifies a moral and effective recognition of special merits.

"The general opinion is to consider as authentic nobles only those who are effectively registered. But that is not exact, as these registers were partial and incomplete in the past as they are today and, no doubt, will be tomorrow. We must remember that each ruling Sovereign House obliged its subjects of noble status to submit to certain regulations regarding the recognition of their noble titles, and were only confirmed if they fulfilled certain conditions, which were usually not very economically or ideologically favorable for the person concerned. The Savoy House also practiced this coercion, by requesting the payment of a tax. This meant, that the payment or otherwise of the tax became the discriminating factor to recognize a title, despite the full right to it, and therefore it was frequent that persons were excluded from the lists, which are still published by private associations.

However, exclusion is not sufficient to terminate the title, because as I have already said, Nobility is not lost over the years, but remains bound forever to the family".debellatio with the President of the Italian Heraldic Council – Marquis Vittorio Spreti Institute, Don Francesco Maria Mariano Duke of Otranto and Lipari. (Discourse about the history of country, nobility, chivalry and

http://www.consiglioaraldico.com/eng/1/index.php?centro=3)

A title of nobility is by no means subject to international standardization, but rather to national and local differences. A title of nobility, as it is used today, is in most cases honorific, that is, it does only carry honorific privileges. These honorific rights include the rights to be recognized as a nobleman / noblewoman and belonging to the class of the nobility, the right to, where appropriate, use the title in question, the right to use noble arms with proper noble insignia, and the right by common law to certain appropriate predicates.

A full treatment of the subject can be found at

  http://www.heraldica.org/topics/odegard/titlefaq.htm.

What is “fons honorum”  (fount of honor – right to grant honors)? The extent and contents of fons honorum (according to particular traditions, epochs, places and customs, include honorary distinctions of merit or other titles) encompasses orders of knighthood, nobility, titles of nobility linked or not to a peerage, noble titles devoid of nobility stricto sensu, recognized coat of arms, etc…(More at "Nobiliary Law" page).

It is not the intention of the International and Association on Nobility to be neither a competitor to nor a replacement for existing Heraldry Societies or any existing Nobility Associations. We welcome their contributions and efforts to promote the ideals of monarchy, nobility, royalty and chivalry.

This Association is a non-profit organization which has as its goal to unite and honor those persons who represent the contemporary Nobility which remains latent but hidden in the shadows. Our goal is to take it out of the shadows and let it shine. This Association is based on the ideals of chivalry, nobility  and the aristocracy.

One of the most important goals of this International Commission and Association on Nobility is to educate the general public about the International Nobility, topics related to it, and with representatives around the world. Another important goal is to support in everyday possible noble, royal, and imperial Houses by promoting activities to unite the members and non-members and thus struggle together for our most noble cause.

We need your support, please contribute to the cause.

On behalf of the Trustees and Regional Directors, we thank you for your inquiry and support.

Sincerely,

Dr. Salvatore Ferdinando Antonio Caputo Ph.D.