On 3/7/23 02:19, Jim Vassilakos - jim.vassilakos at gmail.com (via tml
list) wrote:
> Is there an Imperial Pledge of Allegiance or some sort of standardized
> Oath of Loyalty anywhere in the Traveller literature?
>
> I'm thinking of something along the lines of pledging loyalty first to
> the Emperor, then to the Archduke, then the Subsector Duke, and then
> down the line to the Count and/or Baron, although an oath that goes
> this far down the hierarchy would create the issue for interstellar
> travelers over which count and/or baron one should pledge loyalty to,
> the one in their official place or residency (home world) or the one
> where they happen to be at any given moment. I'm guessing the latter.
> What do you folks think?
>
Well, Jim, I'll presume you're talking about the _Third_ Imperium.

GT: Nobles p 59 does seem to address your question somewhat:

_Fealty_ is defined as "tangible duties owed to the Imperium"

_Homage_ is "the noble's personal loyalty to the Emperor"

"The Imperium insists that loyalties be undivided, so no noble ever
"does homage" to anyone but the Emperor.  On the other hand, when a
noble swears fealty to the Emperor, he is promising to serve the
Imperium in tangible ways under the Emperor's supervision - and the
Emperor can delegate the task of providing that supervision.  In
practice, this means that most nobles report to the Emperor through a
chain of superiors."

The insistence on loyalties undivided would seem to indicate that any
such oath, by noble or commoner, is sworn _to the crown_ in the person
of the current Emperor/Empress and their successors. A single,
standardised pledge of allegiance seems too American, to me, blithely
ignoring local peculiarities, histories, etc.

Alex