DOCSLIB.ORG

Access to Land and Politics of Scale

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Access to Land and Politics of Scale 1 Access to Land and Politics of Scale: Potential Implications for Property Rights and Free Markets, for Land Ownership and Management, and for Agricultural Policy and the Rural Economy in Europe February 2020 Since 1989, a period of change unprecedented in eastern Europe since 1945 has combined with globalisation (to which the Communist bloc had in large measure been the major obstacle) and a major shift in the economies of scale in farming. Not only has this proved challenging to manage, but it has often acted as a catalyst for latent insecurities in the countryside. At the same time, restitution and privatisation policies, themselves often implemented only on a restricted scale, have left large areas of land under state control or management, which have then become the subject of policies and decisions whose even-handedness and transparency is frequently called into question. In reaction, a public debate, often conducted in emotive terms, has begun on a politics of scale, typically using ill-defined umbrella phrases such as ‘land grabbing’, which calls into question both the shape of future Agricultural Policy and the functioning of markets (and particularly the European Union Internal Market). This debate, which is loudest in the new Member States, who undertook to privatise state assets and open markets over varying transition periods in their Treaties of Accession to the European Union, has nevertheless sought to develop arguments based on discrete situations in western Europe and, in some cases (notably France), intervention policies based on the introduction of pre-emption rights. It is currently possible to discern two trends, the emergence in some new Member States of state reserves of agricultural land which then become the subject of political demands and favours, and a politics of micro-agriculture that is pursued in preference to diversification of the rural economy and can be used in some countries to shield the state reserve. At a fundamental level, this calls into question the intention, and perhaps even the capacity, of some new Member States, to complete the process of transition. Yet there is a serious danger that the problems of today are being addressed in the context of the world of yesterday, whereas the need is to develop a vibrant, sustainable and resilient rural economy in which the actors of the past will still have a valid, and validating, role in the future. European Landowner’s Organization asbl, Rue de Trèves 67, B - 1040 Brussels Tel: +32 (0) 2 234 30 00; Fax: +32 (0) 2 234 30 09 www.elo.org 2 Structure of Report I The Politics of Land Ownership, Agricultural Policy and Forestry II Land Law, the Market and Capitalisation of the Rural Economy III A Problematic History: Principles, Politics and Progress of Restitution IV The Politics of Scale: ‘Family’ farms, a tie to the land or multi-functionality? The Politics of Scale in marginal areas: Scotland The Politics of Scale in France V Diversification and Multi-functionality VI Conclusions and Recommendations: The integration of economy, environment and society I. The Politics of Land Ownership, Agricultural Policy and Forestry 1. Forms of ownership (proprietas in Roman law) go back far into Antiquity. Ownership provides the fundamental form of capital investment and, therefore, an essential means of capitalisation. The alternatives to private ownership as a source of capital for the rural economy are public spending (the taxpayer) or financial institutions (borrowing). Globalisation sets this in a new and wider context, alongside a need, greater than in the past, for the validation of locality. Nevertheless, a politics of scale has often sought to influence the functioning of the capital markets, restitution policy (in eastern Europe), intervention in land-management structures and agricultural policy itself in a way that has profound implications for the future of the European countryside. 2. Historical Background to Agricultural Policy The structure of ownership is only partially reflected in the structure of farms. While many farms are owner-occupied or family farms, others are owned by a landlord, often historically the local estate, and the farmer has a contractual right of occupation or tenancy. (In the UK, a tenancy may be governed by the terms of the Agricultural Holdings Act (1948), amended in 1986, or it may be a Farm Business Tenancy under the AHA 1995). In the case of owner-occupied farms, the capital value of the land and (usually) buildings is provided by the owner and/or the owner’s family, or must be supplied by borrowing. In the case of tenanted farms, much or most of the capital value of the land is provided by the landowner. Historically, the export of grain has been a crucial function of temperate, cereal-growing regions. In England, as early as the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the Privy Council European Landowner’s Organization asbl, Rue de Trèves 67, B - 1040 Brussels Tel: +32 (0) 2 234 30 00; Fax: +32 (0) 2 234 30 09 www.elo.org 3 regulated permission to export grain through the county magistrates in order to try and balance the need for food security in bad years with the need for the grower to make a profit in good ones. In the late eighteenth century, the import and export of grain came to be regulated under Act of Parliament in accordance with the (internal) market price. Since the early nineteenth century, a number of states have had policies to support agriculture, and in the UK the Corn Laws performed this function from 1815-46 by keeping the price of grain at an artificially high level. However, free trade which followed the abolition of the corn laws subsequently produced its own problems with the agricultural depressions of the 1870s, 1890s and 1930s. Following World War II the British government introduced a system of deficiency payments, which continued until British accession to the EEC in 1973. The CAP, by contrast, was originally based on the mechanism of an intervention price which put a floor in the market, but which over time encouraged over-production. In the USA, agricultural support in the form of five-yearly Farm Bills dates from 1933. In Europe, the principal determining factors in the evolution of the CAP have included: the initial need to secure food supply; a structure of small (and in some countries often tenanted) farms generating its own socio-economic philosophy (reflected in post-war land reform in some European countries and represented in EU15 particularly by AHAs 1948 and 1986 in UK and by the SAFER (Sociétés d’Aménagement Foncier et d’Établissement Rural) in France); the problems of surpluses together with the Uruguay Round of GATT; the imbalance between East and West after 40 years of Communism; the preference for short-term supply-side measures (set-aside) followed by a switch to area-based payments, but accompanied with a failure to recognise the loss of biodiversity and combined with the failure to make Pillar 2 compulsory, and consequently a continuing policy emphasis on Agricultural Policy (latterly represented by area payments) as a policy primarily for agriculture rather than the wider rural economy and environment. Three general factors, none of them contemplated at the time of the land reforms of the first half of the twentieth century, have particularly affected small farms: Mechanisation and a reduction in the labour force. This has affected farms of all sizes since the introduction of the tractor and the reaper-binder, and its successor the combine harvester. The increasing size, and efficiency, of machinery, especially as used in arable agriculture, has significantly affected economies of scale. In particular, farm machinery has become much more expensive while covering a given area of ground much more quickly. This means that fixed costs have to be spread over a much European Landowner’s Organization asbl, Rue de Trèves 67, B - 1040 Brussels Tel: +32 (0) 2 234 30 00; Fax: +32 (0) 2 234 30 09 www.elo.org 4 wider area: otherwise the fixed costs per hectare must rise while at the same time the machinery resource is used for fewer days. Livestock and livestock systems (and especially cattle) are the largest source of GHG emissions from European agriculture (Annual European Union Greenhouse Gas Inventory, 1990-2017, and Inventory Report 2019, EEA, 2019). Methane emissions from enteric fermentation in cattle contributed 38 per cent of EU GHG emissions from agriculture in 2017 (the percentage rises to 55 per cent if a 20-year Global Warming Potential is applied), with a further 15 per cent coming from methane and nitrous oxide from manure management. A proportion of the nitrous oxide emissions from managed soils (contributing in all 30 per cent of emissions) is also attributable to the use of arable land for livestock feed. Historically, however, small farms have often relied on increasing stocking rates to bolster profitability, and this is exacerbated by intensive units, which have been an attractive route for farms to expand the business without increasing their area. The problems of smaller farms are thus a function of changing economies of scale, the need either to expand the size of the farm or find other ways to spread costs, the need to adopt new technologies and the need to reduce GHG emissions. Across Europe, the problems of new entrants to farming are of a significantly different order from even the recent past. The question of capitalisation is particularly relevant. Rented land made an important contribution in the former Communist countries in 2005, see Johann F.M. Swinnen and Liesbet Vranken, Land and EU Accession: Restrictions by New Member States on the Acquisition of Agricultural Real Estate (CEPS, 2009), Table 2, However, there is no longer a simple choice between ownership (perhaps financed by borrowing) and tenancy, or sole and cooperative trading, since farm partnerships and (particularly in response to changes in the size and cost of machinery), farm contracting agreements (where the owner bears the variable costs and profits are divisible with the contractor according to an agreed formula) are now widespread and offer much greater flexibility than tenancy or cooperative structures.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Tightrope Walk of the Dutch Nobility
    BETWEEN CONFORMING AND CONSERVING: THE TIGHTROPE WALK OF THE DUTCH NOBILITY Nina IJdens A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Science July 2017 Department of Sociology University of Amsterdam Supervisor: Dr. Kobe de Keere Second reader: Dr. Alex van Venrooij BETWEEN CONFORMING AND CONSERVING 1 Abstract Research has shown that the Dutch nobility has adapted to modernisation processes and continues to disproportionately occupy elite positions. This thesis builds on these findings by raising the question: (1) How does the Dutch nobility aim to maintain its high status position? Secondly, this thesis builds on a growing concern within studies of social stratification on how elite positions are legitimated in a highly unequal context. It investigates the nobility’s legitimation by raising the further questions (2a) How does the nobility legitimate itself through its organisations?; and (2b) How do members of the nobility justify their manifestation as a separate social group? The dataset consists of two sources: fourteen nobility organisations’ websites and fifty-two newspaper articles from 1990 until today, that contain interviews with members of the nobility. This research conducts a qualitative content analysis of these sources, looking for discursive hints of position maintenance, organisational legitimation, and justification. It shows that nobles maintain exclusive social networks that organise interesting networking opportunities; that the nobility copied modern organisational structures through which it could manifest itself as a social group; and that nobles justify their networks by appealing to a collective identity with a right to self-realisation. Moreover, the interviewees constantly both assert and downplay differences between themselves and the general public.
    [Show full text]
  • California Institute Technology
    VOLUME XXXV NUMBER 113 BULLETIN OF THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ANNUAL CATALOGUE PASADENA, CALIFORNIA DECEMBER, 1926 C!tutttttttn Page COLLEG~: C.\ LE XD"\R _________________________________________________________________________________ 5 OFFICEl": The Board of Trustees__________________________________________________________________ 7 Officers of the Board of Trustees________ _____________________ 8 Administrative Officers of the Institute____ ______________________ 8 •\dvbory Coulldl__ _________________ 9 Research Associates________________________________________________ 9 Officers and Committees of the Faculty____________________________________ 10 STAFF OF IXSTRUCTIOX AND RESEARCI-L______________________________________________ 11 HISTORICAL SKETCH _________ _ 40 EDUCATIONAL POUCIES ______ _ '13 REQUIREMENTS FOR AD;\IISSION ___________________________ _ 47 BUILDIXGS AND E:n:-C_\TIONAL F_\CILITIF.S ______ _ 53 EXPENSES ______________________________ _ 60 REGISTRATIOX AND GEXER.\L REGUL.\TIONS 63 SCHOLASTIC GR.\DIXG .'C\'Il REQUlREiHEC\'TS 65 EXTRA-CURRICULUM OPI'OR'lTXITIES 71 SCHOLARSHIPS .\NIl PHTZES 75 NEW COURSES IX AEJWN.\lTTICS NEW COURSES IN GEOLOG" AXD P.\T.EONTOLOG, 86 GRADUATE STUDY AND RESE-UtCI[: Graduate Staff __________________________ _ 99 Information and Regulations ___________ _ 96 Description of Ad,-anced Subjects __ III Publications ____ ._ 128 DESCRIPTION OF UNDEHGRADUATE AXD FIFTH-YE.\R COURSES: Engineering Courses _________ . _________________________ _ 135 Courses in Science______________________________________
    [Show full text]
  • Tip of the Iceberg: Religious Extremist Funders Against Human Rights for Sexuality and Reproductive Health in Europe 2009 - 2018
    TIP OF THE ICEBERG Religious Extremist Funders against Human Rights for Sexuality and Reproductive Health in Europe 2009 - 2018 TIP OF THE ICEBERG Religious Extremist Funders against Human Rights for Sexuality and Reproductive Health in Europe 2009 – 2018 ISBN: 978 2 93102920 6 Tip of the Iceberg: Religious Extremist Funders against Human Rights for Sexuality and Reproductive Health in Europe 2009 - 2018 Written by Neil Datta, Secretary of the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights. Brussels, June 2021 Copyright © EPF 2021 All Rights Reserved. The contents of this document cannot be reproduced without prior permission of the author. EPF is a network of members of parliaments from across Europe who are committed to protecting the sexual and reproductive health of the world’s most vulnerable people, both at home and overseas. We believe that women should always have the right to decide upon the number of children they wish to have, and should never be denied the education or other means to achieve this that they are entitled to. Find out more on epfweb.org and by following @EPF_SRR on Twitter. 2 TIP OF THE ICEBERG Religious Extremist Funders against Human Rights for Sexuality and Reproductive Health in Europe 2009 – 2018 Tip of the Iceberg is the first attempt understand the anti-gender mobilisation in Europe through the perspective of their funding base. This report assembles financial data covering a ten year period of over 50 anti-gender actors operating in Europe. It then takes a deeper look at how religious extremists generate this funding to roll back human rights in sexuality and reproduction.
    [Show full text]
  • The Legitimacy of Orders of St
    The legitimacy of Orders of St. John : a historical and legal analysis and case study of a para-religious phenomenon Hoegen Dijkhof, H.J. Citation Hoegen Dijkhof, H. J. (2006, September 27). The legitimacy of Orders of St. John : a historical and legal analysis and case study of a para-religious phenomenon. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/4576 Version: Corrected Publisher’s Version Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the License: Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/4576 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). THE LEGITIMACY OF ORDERS OF ST. JOHN A historical and legal analysis and case study of a para-religious phenomenon PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van de Rector Magnificus Dr. D.D. Breimer, hoogleraar in de faculteit der Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen en die der Geneeskunde, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op woensdag 27 september 2006 klokke 16.15 uur door Hendrik Johannes Hoegen Dijkhof geboren te Doetinchem in 1947 Promotiecommissie Promotoren: Prof. Dr. A.W.F.M. van de Sande Prof. Mr. J. E. Spruit (UU) Referent: Dr. A. Koster (VUA) Overige leden: Prof. Dr. E.G.E. van der Wall Prof. Dr. P.S. van Koningsveld Dr. H.L. Murre-van den Berg 2 ‘Iustum et tenacem propositi virum, non civium ardor prava iubentium, non voltus instantis tyranni, mente quatit solida,’ (Horatius, Odes 3.3.1-4) Copyright © 2006 Hans J. Hoegen Dijkhof.
    [Show full text]
  • Synergistic Effects of Boron Nitride (BN) Nanosheets and Silver (Ag) Nanoparticles on Thermal Conductivity and Electrical Properties of Epoxy Nanocomposites
    polymers Article Synergistic Effects of Boron Nitride (BN) Nanosheets and Silver (Ag) Nanoparticles on Thermal Conductivity and Electrical Properties of Epoxy Nanocomposites Yunjian Wu 1,2, Xiaoxing Zhang 1,3,* , Ankit Negi 2, Jixiong He 2, Guoxiong Hu 1, Shuangshuang Tian 3 and Jun Liu 2,* 1 School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China; [email protected] (Y.W.); [email protected] (G.H.) 2 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; [email protected] (A.N.); [email protected] (J.H.) 3 School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Hubei Key Laboratory for High-efficiently Utilization of Solar Energy and Operation Control of Energy Storage System, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] (X.Z.); [email protected] (J.L.) Received: 13 January 2020; Accepted: 8 February 2020; Published: 12 February 2020 Abstract: Polymer composites, with both high thermal conductivity and high electrical insulation strength, are desirable for power equipment and electronic devices, to sustain increasingly high power density and heat flux. However, conventional methods to synthesize polymer composites with high thermal conductivity often degrade their insulation strength, or cause a significant increase in dielectric properties. In this work, we demonstrate epoxy nanocomposites embedded with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), and modified boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs), which have high thermal conductivity, high insulation strength, low permittivity, and low dielectric loss. Compared with neat epoxy, the composite with 25 vol% of binary nanofillers has a significant enhancement (~10x) in thermal conductivity, which is twice of that filled with BNNSs only (~5x), owing to the continuous heat transfer path among BNNSs enabled by AgNPs.
    [Show full text]
  • 70Kya Toba Hephaestos a Young Boy of African Tribes Injures His Leg in A
    70kya Toba Hephaestos a young boy of African Tribes injures his leg in a playful hunting accident and spends time recuperating sitting in an old plume tree where he learns how to tame fire when lightning strikes one day. He is proclaimed first King of man and renamed Vulcan, every modern royal lineage originates from this event as do the concept divine right of kings which is the privilege of godly communication. As the young king grew older he became a tyrant and subjected the tribes to slavery under the power of the flame, a new chld, Prometheus, rose to the challenge of liberating his people by becoming Vulcans lover and stealing the sacred flame from his throne room. Prometheus was captured and subjected to harsh punishment, but was saved by the eruption of Toba on the other side of the world, Vulcan died in the ensuing chaos and when his head was cracked open a thick white larvae crawls out, pupates and transforms into a beautiful butterfly and flies away. During his punishment and near death expeience Prometheus learns how to communicate with nature and the first animal cult is established, as Toba ravages their homeland the thousand remaining tribesmen are forced to migrate of out Africa. 60-10kya Atlantis He was the father of Atlantis, a global network of Cro-Magnons and protocivilization upon which every ancient and modern society were founded, they communicated with smokesignals and starnavigation, the capital, Am-Tuat, was located in then existing Beringia mammoth trail connecting EurAsia with the Americas. Ra was the first King of Atlantis whom according to theosophy battled evil sorcerers who had discovered telepathy by artificial cranial deformation, this war was enshrined in the egyptian book of the dead and Ras journey into the underworld.
    [Show full text]
  • Xxiième Congrès De La CILANE Xxiind CILANE Congress
    XXIIème Congrès de la CILANE La Noblesse face aux défis du temps présent DU 30 SEPTEMBRE AU DIMANCHE 3 OCTOBRE 2021 À BRUXELLES Organisé par l’Association de la Noblesse du Royaume de Belgique (ANRB) XXIInd CILANE Congress Nobility facing the challenges of the present time SEPTEMBER 30th ’TILL SUNDAY OCTOBER 3rd 2021 IN BRUSSELS Organized by the Nobility Association of the Kingdom of Belgium (ANRB) MOT DU COORDONNATEUR Nous tous, jeunes et aînés, avons reçu des talents multiples et différents, avons de grandes expertises et ainsi hérité des valeurs et traditions qui nous per- mettent d’affronter les différents défis de nos temps et d’apporter notre aide. Les différentes associations de noblesse et donc aussi la CILANE ont le privilège de puiser dans ce réservoir de compétences afin de les mettre au service des autres. Les différents conférenciers de ce congrès sont la preuve. Notre planète que nous choyons est le lieu de déve- loppement de nos cultures, de notre histoire, de nos civilisations, de nos familles, de nos amitiés et autres. En prenant soin de toutes ces facettes de notre vie quotidienne, nous renforçons les liens qui unissent les pays et les populations, les traditions, le rappro- chement entre des personnes d’origine semblable et nous affronterons ensemble les problèmes de nos jours. J’ai donc l’immense plaisir et le grand honneur de Mesdames, Messieurs, vous inviter à assister au XXIIème Congrès de la Chers Amis de la CILANE, CILANE organisé par l’ANRB que je remercie au nom de la CILANE d’avoir accepté aussi généreusement ’Atomium est l’un des sites qui caractérise son organisation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Waterville Mail (Waterville, Maine) Waterville Materials
    Colby College Digital Commons @ Colby The Waterville Mail (Waterville, Maine) Waterville Materials 9-6-1867 The Waterville Mail (Vol. 21, No. 10): September 6, 1867 Maxham & Wing Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/waterville_mail Part of the Agriculture Commons, American Popular Culture Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Maxham & Wing, "The Waterville Mail (Vol. 21, No. 10): September 6, 1867" (1867). The Waterville Mail (Waterville, Maine). 210. https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/waterville_mail/210 This Newspaper is brought to you for free and open access by the Waterville Materials at Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Waterville Mail (Waterville, Maine) by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Colby. MISCELL-Aisr Y. During the winter Mr. Howe was twice prostrated by sickness ; first by dysentery, and afterwards by fever. It was pro|)o9e»l to con­ MRS. JUDGE JENKINS. vey him to the otRcers’ hospital; hut lie insisted •XUtO THX OHLT OSXUIMK BBQUEI.TO “ MAm on being taken to the hospital of the privates, nnd to bo Ireatod in nil respects ns « privntd Mend Mollcr nil that jammar day soldier. Tlicrte was no difTercncc, hsTWOver, in naked the mcndOAra sweet with nay; essential points, between the lawpitals for of­ Tet, lookine down the distant lane, ficers and those for private soldiers. She hoped tlie Judge would come again. ‘Whsa tho spring (tamo, nnd tlic reghnent was And when he cams, with smile and bow, nlxnit 16 enter njion nctive service nnd to mako Uaud^niy binshed and stammer<^ “ Ua..o-w! ” long marches, it became clear to Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • Access to Land and Politics of Scale
    1 Access to Land and Politics of Scale: Potential Implications for Property Rights and Free Markets, for Land Ownership and Management, and for Agricultural Policy and the Rural Economy in Europe February 2020 Since 1989, a period of change unprecedented in eastern Europe since 1945 has combined with globalisation (to which the Communist bloc had in large measure been the major obstacle) and a major shift in the economies of scale in farming. Not only has this proved challenging to manage, but it has often acted as a catalyst for latent insecurities in the countryside. At the same time, restitution and privatisation policies, themselves often implemented only on a restricted scale, have left large areas of land under state control or management, which have then become the subject of policies and decisions whose even-handedness and transparency is frequently called into question. In reaction, a public debate, often conducted in emotive terms, has begun on a politics of scale, typically using ill-defined umbrella phrases such as ‘land grabbing’, which calls into question both the shape of future Agricultural Policy and the functioning of markets (and particularly the European Union Internal Market). This debate, which is loudest in the new Member States, who undertook to privatise state assets and open markets over varying transition periods in their Treaties of Accession to the European Union, has nevertheless sought to develop arguments based on discrete situations in western Europe and, in some cases (notably France), intervention policies based on the introduction of pre-emption rights. It is currently possible to discern two trends, the emergence in some new Member States of state reserves of agricultural land which then become the subject of political demands and favours, and a politics of micro-agriculture that is pursued in preference to diversification of the rural economy and can be used in some countries to shield the state reserve.
    [Show full text]
  • Finding Aid for the Congressman Michael J. Kirwan Archives 1937-1970
    Finding Aid for the Congressman Michael J. Kirwan Archives 1937-1970 Record Group No. RG 77/13 University Archives & Special Collections William F. Maag, Jr. Library Youngstown State University Youngstown, OH 44555 PH: 330-941-3487 FAX: 330-941-3734 www.maag.ysu.edu/archives 1 Descriptive Summary Title: Congressman Michael J. Kirwan Archives, 1937-1970 Creator: Ohio Congressman Michael J. Kirwan (Democrat - 19th District) during his time in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1937 to 1970. Extent: 91 boxes, 82.638 linear feet Abstract: Michael J. Kirwan represented the 19th Congressional District from 1937 to his death in office in 1970. This collection consists of his official papers as well as some artifacts relating to his long political career. Administrative Information Provenance: Office of Congressman Michael J. Kirwan, Washington, DC and Youngstown, Ohio. Preferred Citation: Congressman Michael J. Kirwan Archives, RG 77/13, Archives & Special Collections, William F. Maag, Jr. Library, Youngstown State University,Youngstown, Ohio. Restrictions: Limited, due to the presence of Social Security numbers in some of Rep. Kirwan’s constituent correspondence. .Please check with the Archives & Special Collections staff when seeking to use this collection. Processing: Processed by Brian K. Brennan, March 2009 – June 2018. Finding Aid: Written by Brian K. Brennan Historical Background Michael Joseph (Mike) Kirwan was born in the coal mining town of Plains, Pennsylvania, near Wilkes-Barre, on December 2, 1886. At the age of nine, Kirwan left school and took a job in a coal mine to help feed his family. The work was back-breaking and hazardous. Eventually, Kirwan left the mines and roamed the country, trying his hand at different jobs.
    [Show full text]
  • Register of Orders of Chivalry Registre Des Ordres De Chevalerie
    REGISTER OF ORDERS OF CHIVALRY REGISTRE DES ORDRES DE CHEVALERIE Report of the International Commission for Orders of Chivalry Rapport de la Commission Internationale d’Etudes des Ordres de Chevalerie 2016 @ 2016 International Commission for Orders of Chivalry Commissione Internazionale permanente per lo studio degli Ordini Cavallereschi Tutti i diritti sono riservati - vietata la riproduzione anche parziale senza autorizzazione Dedicated to T.R.H. The Crown Prince Leka II and Crown Princess Elia of the Albanians CONTENTS Contents 4 The International Commission for Orders of Chivalry 5 Patrons and Members 15 Authority and status of the International Commission for Orders of Chivalry 18 Principles involved in assessing the validity of Orders of Chivalry 19 Provisional list of orders 20 Independent orders 20 Semi-independent orders 20 Dynastic orders 24 Extra European dynastic orders 38 Other dynastic orders 38 Recently extinct orders 39 Appendices 40 Other institutions of chivalric character 40 - Ancient chivalric institutions, originally founded as orders, subsequently revived by the dynastic successor of the founding authority. 40 - New chivalric institutions founded by the head of a formerly reigning dynasty. 40 - Awards founded by the political claimant of a formerly reigning dynasty. 41 - Successors of chivalric institutions originally founded under the authority of a State. 42 Noble corporations 43 Other nobiliary bodies 48 Ecclesiastical Decorations 52 Non-European imperial, royal or princely awards of merit 62 Editorial notes 63 4 THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR ORDERS OF CHIVALRY* Pier Felice degli Uberti The International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences brings together scholars and other interested parties from all the European nations and from many other countries around the world.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fons Honorum, Prerogatives and Privileges of the Portuguese House of Bragança (1)
    The Fons Honorum, Prerogatives and Privileges of the Portuguese House of Bragança (1) By Carlos Evaristo Chancellor for Foreign Affairs, Vice-Chancellor OSMA Secretary General RISMA, Founder of the Centre for the Study of the Portuguese Dynastic Royal Orders I - The Origin of the Ducal, Royal and Imperial Dynastic House of Bragança The Royal and Ducal House of Bragança, officially titled the “Most Serene House of Bragança”, is a Portuguese Noble family that has had a great influence in Europe and in the World right up until the twentieth century. It was the Dynasty and Ruling Royal Family of the Kingdom of Portugal and of the overseas Empire for almost three centuries having been an Absolute Monarchy from 1640 until 1820, and then, a Constitutional Monarchy from 1834 until the Proclamation of the Republic in 1910. The Head of the House of Bragança was also the Sovereign of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, Africa, India and the Algarves ("D'aquém e D'além Mar" meaning from here and beyond the sea) between 1815 and 1822 when the Royal Family went to Brazil to avoid a military conflict with Napoleon. Upon the return of the Royal Family to Portugal however, there occurred the Proclamation of the Independence of the Empire of Brazil, ("Grito de Ipiranga" or Cry of Ipiranga) in 1822 by Prince Regent which gave origin to the Brazilian Imperial Royal Dynastic branch of the Bragança Family founded by Emperor D. Pedro I. It ruled the Empire of Brazil until the Proclamation of the United States of Brazil in 1889.
    [Show full text]