The badge of the Committee of
Privileges of The Maltese Nobility
I have today received news that The Committee of Privileges of The Maltese Nobility has written to all of their Title Holders and Members of the Maltese Nobility warning them of an unsolicited approach from "an individual styling himself Chief Herald of Arms of Malta" and stating that "The Committee has found no legislation enabling the setting up of this body or authorizing, via Heritage Malta, the official setting up of this body".
I have been contacted by a number of the holders of Maltese titles since I first posted my views on the so called office of the Chief Herald of Malta and it appears that there is considerable disquiet amongst their number, one of whom (not the source of the letter) described Dr. Charles Gauci as a "pretentious upstart". There is huge disquiet about his "titles" and there is a strange irony that a man who claims (erroneously) that he is a Government official and has Government sanction, the sanction of a Government which by statute does not recognise titles of nobility, nevertheless awards himself the additions to his armorial bearings of all of the trappings of a Count. Chapter 251, Laws of Malta. Article 29(4) states: It shall be the duty of every public officer or authority, and of every body established or recognised by law and of every member thereof, to refrain from recognising in any way, and from doing anything which could imply recognition of, any title of nobility or any honour, award, decoration, membership or office which is not recognised in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this article. In short, even if he was a genuine Count, if he were a public official, as he claims to be, he would not be allowed to use his public office to either grant or recognise any of the trappings of nobility such as an eagle supporter and the coronet of a count. Of course, we do not recognise his authority and so these trappings of nobility are merely self assumed and yet another manifestation of his propensity for self aggrandisement.
It would seem that the so called Chief Herald of Malta is attempting, in a rather alarming way, to arrogate unto himself, in regard to Maltese titles, powers akin to those of the Lord Lyon in Scotland in regard to determining who may or may not be entitled to Chiefly arms. Dangerous empire building without any true form of Government legislation. This is yet another example of his assuming a role which is not permitted in law: Chapter 251, Laws of Malta. Article 29(4) actually prevents him from granting any trappings of nobility (as he did to himself) so he certainly can't, lawfully, take it upon himself to adjudicate upon the right to inherit anything (such as a coat of arms) which indicates that the armiger is a title holder.
We really do need to be concerned over what this man is aiming to achieve by underhand and unlawful methods.
A copy of the letter can be found here:
The armorial bearings of Dr. Charles Gauci (basic unadorned arms granted in Scotland,
by the Lord Lyon King of Arms) with the added trappings of self aggrandisement.
Hallelujah!
ReplyDeleteThis is too rich for words.
ReplyDeleteBack in 2008, I spearheaded the removal from Wikipedia of several dozen articles on alleged titles of Maltese nobility, all written by Gauci, and sourced only from his website or "unpublished personal papers" written by himself, under the name of Charles Said-Vassallo. Gauci's combativeness in the debates, his frequent use of sockpuppets, and the emptiness of his claims (which included claiming some of those titles for himself and his parents) ultimately led to the deletion of all the articles, his being banned from Wikipedia, and the blacklist of his websites.
Mr. Gauci (I don't believe the "Dr" for a moment) doesn't seem to have changed his charlatan's stripes in the time since. Someone on Wikipedia alerted me to this blog post, and I can only wonder when or if Gauci will ever give up on his delusions of grandeur.
He is indeed incorrigible. But he is a genuine medical doctor and a genuine Lieutenant Colonel (retired) in the (British) Royal Army Medical Corps. I believe he was an expert in anaesthesiology.
DeleteThere are a couple sock puppets on wikipedia which you could look into. Such as the Maltese Heraldry page, de Piro page - The Marquis de Piro in the Kingdom of Spain is extinct.. Not found registered, yet it seems to be used on wikipedia.
DeleteWith Remainder to: Lo Stesso Barone Giovani Pio Depiro ottenne poi da Filippo Re di spagna un Titolo in Castiglia di Marchese per se e tutti li suoi eredi, e successori, avendo pagato il Dritto di cinquecento e sessanta due mili, e cinquecento maravedi di Vellon; il quale dritto deve essere pagato da ciascun successore in questo titolo il quale per rescritto del G. Mro si trova registrato nel lib. Boll. Sottogli 8.8bre 1745, fo 167”. Reference A.O.M. 627.
The creation documents are in the Archivio Historico Nacional in Madrid, Consejos Suprimidos book 2753, year 1742, no. 17, File 8978, year 1742 no. 820 and were despatched as per file Book 624, year 1742 and File State Section, file 6390(1), no. 86. The creation was published in the Gazeta de Madrid on 8 May 1742, pages 151-152.
As a title created within the kingdom of Castile, it was regulated by the Book of Laws compiled in the 13th century by king Alfonso X (Alfonso the Wise) as well as the Cortes de Toro (a law of 1505), the Novisima Recopilacion of 1805, the Royal Decree of 27th September 1820, the Law of 11th October 1820, the Law of 4th may 1948, as well as many other Royal Decrees in particular those of the 27th May 1912, 8th July 1922, 21st March 1980, 11th March 1988, 16th September 1994 and the Law of 30th October 2006. By means of the latest law, the conventional rules of orden regular were amended by abolishing discrimination on grounds of gender. The rule preferring age and descent by primogeniture was retained.
There are a couple sock puppets on wikipedia which you could look into. Such as the Maltese Heraldry page, de Piro page - The Marquis de Piro in the Kingdom of Spain is extinct.. Not found registered, yet it seems to be used on wikipedia.
DeleteWith Remainder to: Lo Stesso Barone Giovani Pio Depiro ottenne poi da Filippo Re di spagna un Titolo in Castiglia di Marchese per se e tutti li suoi eredi, e successori, avendo pagato il Dritto di cinquecento e sessanta due mili, e cinquecento maravedi di Vellon; il quale dritto deve essere pagato da ciascun successore in questo titolo il quale per rescritto del G. Mro si trova registrato nel lib. Boll. Sottogli 8.8bre 1745, fo 167”. Reference A.O.M. 627.
The creation documents are in the Archivio Historico Nacional in Madrid, Consejos Suprimidos book 2753, year 1742, no. 17, File 8978, year 1742 no. 820 and were despatched as per file Book 624, year 1742 and File State Section, file 6390(1), no. 86. The creation was published in the Gazeta de Madrid on 8 May 1742, pages 151-152.
As a title created within the kingdom of Castile, it was regulated by the Book of Laws compiled in the 13th century by king Alfonso X (Alfonso the Wise) as well as the Cortes de Toro (a law of 1505), the Novisima Recopilacion of 1805, the Royal Decree of 27th September 1820, the Law of 11th October 1820, the Law of 4th may 1948, as well as many other Royal Decrees in particular those of the 27th May 1912, 8th July 1922, 21st March 1980, 11th March 1988, 16th September 1994 and the Law of 30th October 2006. By means of the latest law, the conventional rules of orden regular were amended by abolishing discrimination on grounds of gender. The rule preferring age and descent by primogeniture was retained.