{"id":95,"date":"2008-01-03T04:01:58","date_gmt":"2008-01-03T04:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95"},"modified":"2008-01-26T04:40:11","modified_gmt":"2008-01-26T04:40:11","slug":"king-of-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95","title":{"rendered":"King of Man? Uh, right."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This corpulent\u2014and presumably tailless\u2014<a href=\"http:\/\/www.royaltyofman.com\/\">Manx pretender<\/a> gives American interest in premodern genealogy a bad name.  Michael Andrews-Reading on his <a href=\"http:\/\/unrealroyal.com\">dedicated website<\/a>, and other posters on the Usenet group <a href=\"http:\/\/groups.google.com\/group\/rec.heraldry\/topics\">rec.heraldry<\/a>, have already reviewed the pretensions of David Howe.  Much of what has been unearthed\u2014even from Howe&#8217;s own pen\u2014suggests that a profit motive may lie behind the patently unconvincing claim of an abandoned title, the posting of an ungrammatical, logically incoherent, and legally meaningless <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gazettes-online.co.uk\/ViewGazetteDocument.aspx?src=search&#038;atdocid=3261966\">notice in the <i>London Gazette<\/i><\/a>, and the diligent but hamhanded efforts to bend <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/David_Howe_%28claimant_to_King_of_Mann%29\">Wikipedia<\/a> to his purpose of a free publicity machine.  If this is not in fact the case, then Howe has an extraordinary combination of na\u00efvet\u00e9 and stubbornness\u2014far beyond the ordinary flush of self-importance that amateur genealogists (especially we Americans) often exhibit when we discover some royal descent in our trees.  Either way it seems obvious from the newsmedia that Howe has energetically orchestrated publicity for his charade and one must wonder why.<\/p>\n<p>What I cannot decide is which scenario\u2014Howe the fraud or Howe the fool\u2014makes American interest in premodern ancestry look worst?  Either way I foresee that this episode will do no service to the community of people, within the US and abroad, who are curious about such things as descent from premodern notables, or the constitutional or cultural afterlives of feudalism.  As Americans, of course, our constitution has given us the right to smugly ignore all distinctions between real aristocrats and fake ones, and as a consequence (well, as a consequence of that, and of the dumbing down of modern society) our media are notoriously inept at it.  But many people (even some of us Americans) have the tools and the specialized knowledge to tell one from the other.  Should we be obliged to stir to set the record straight for the rest of them?  Perhaps.  <i>(takes pen in hand&#8230;)<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This corpulent\u2014and presumably tailless\u2014Manx pretender gives American interest in premodern genealogy a bad name. Michael Andrews-Reading on his dedicated website, and other posters on the Usenet group rec.heraldry, have already reviewed the pretensions of David Howe. Much of what has been unearthed\u2014even from Howe&#8217;s own pen\u2014suggests that a profit motive may lie behind the patently [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-medievalia","category-us-genealogy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>King of Man? Uh, right. - a genealogist&#039;s sketchbook<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"King of Man? Uh, right. - a genealogist&#039;s sketchbook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This corpulent\u2014and presumably tailless\u2014Manx pretender gives American interest in premodern genealogy a bad name. Michael Andrews-Reading on his dedicated website, and other posters on the Usenet group rec.heraldry, have already reviewed the pretensions of David Howe. Much of what has been unearthed\u2014even from Howe&#8217;s own pen\u2014suggests that a profit motive may lie behind the patently [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"a genealogist&#039;s sketchbook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-01-03T04:01:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2008-01-26T04:40:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nat Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nat Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nat Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/#\/schema\/person\/813beaf90cc5894d9b08c1aedc7b96e9\"},\"headline\":\"King of Man? Uh, right.\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-01-03T04:01:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-01-26T04:40:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95\"},\"wordCount\":320,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/#\/schema\/person\/813beaf90cc5894d9b08c1aedc7b96e9\"},\"articleSection\":[\"medievalia\",\"US genealogy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95\",\"name\":\"King of Man? Uh, right. - a genealogist&#039;s sketchbook\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-01-03T04:01:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-01-26T04:40:11+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"King of Man? Uh, right.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/\",\"name\":\"a genealogist's sketchbook\",\"description\":\"medieval and modern genealogy, memory and history \u2014 part of nltaylor.net\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/#\/schema\/person\/813beaf90cc5894d9b08c1aedc7b96e9\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/#\/schema\/person\/813beaf90cc5894d9b08c1aedc7b96e9\",\"name\":\"Nat Taylor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/moonman.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/moonman.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/moonman.jpg\",\"width\":349,\"height\":366,\"caption\":\"Nat Taylor\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/moonman.jpg\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/author\/nat\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"King of Man? Uh, right. - a genealogist&#039;s sketchbook","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"King of Man? Uh, right. - a genealogist&#039;s sketchbook","og_description":"This corpulent\u2014and presumably tailless\u2014Manx pretender gives American interest in premodern genealogy a bad name. Michael Andrews-Reading on his dedicated website, and other posters on the Usenet group rec.heraldry, have already reviewed the pretensions of David Howe. Much of what has been unearthed\u2014even from Howe&#8217;s own pen\u2014suggests that a profit motive may lie behind the patently [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95","og_site_name":"a genealogist&#039;s sketchbook","article_published_time":"2008-01-03T04:01:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2008-01-26T04:40:11+00:00","author":"Nat Taylor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nat Taylor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95"},"author":{"name":"Nat Taylor","@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/#\/schema\/person\/813beaf90cc5894d9b08c1aedc7b96e9"},"headline":"King of Man? Uh, right.","datePublished":"2008-01-03T04:01:58+00:00","dateModified":"2008-01-26T04:40:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95"},"wordCount":320,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/#\/schema\/person\/813beaf90cc5894d9b08c1aedc7b96e9"},"articleSection":["medievalia","US genealogy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95","url":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95","name":"King of Man? Uh, right. - a genealogist&#039;s sketchbook","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-01-03T04:01:58+00:00","dateModified":"2008-01-26T04:40:11+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/95#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"King of Man? Uh, right."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/","name":"a genealogist's sketchbook","description":"medieval and modern genealogy, memory and history \u2014 part of nltaylor.net","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/#\/schema\/person\/813beaf90cc5894d9b08c1aedc7b96e9"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/#\/schema\/person\/813beaf90cc5894d9b08c1aedc7b96e9","name":"Nat Taylor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/moonman.jpg","url":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/moonman.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/moonman.jpg","width":349,"height":366,"caption":"Nat Taylor"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/moonman.jpg"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook"],"url":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/archives\/author\/nat"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ydid-1x","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nltaylor.net\/sketchbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}