Chivalric order

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Chivalric orders are orders of knights that were created by European monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the Crusades. After the crusades, the memory of these crusading military orders became idealised and romanticised, resulting in the late medieval notion of chivalry, and is reflected in the Arthurian romances of the time.

Contents

Distinction

Medieval orders

Heraldist D'Arcy Boulton (1987) classifies chivalric orders in the following manner:

Monarchical or dynastical orders

  1. the Order of Saint George, founded by Charles I of Hungary in 1325
  2. the Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III of England in ca. 1348
  3. the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, founded by Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy in 1362.
  4. the Order of the Stoat, founded by John V, Duke of Brittany in 1381: First order to accept Women.
  5. the Order of the Dragon, founded in 1408 by Sigismund of Hungary
  6. the Order of the Golden Fleece, founded by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430
  7. the Order of St Michel, founded by Louis XI of France in 1469
  1. the Order of Saint Stephen (1561)
  2. the Order of the Holy Spirit (1578)
  3. the Order of the Thistle (1687)
  4. the Order of Saint Joseph (1807)
  1. the Order of the Golden Fleece (Austrian branch)
  2. the Order of the Holy Spirit
  3. the Order of Prince Danilo I of Montenegro
  4. the Order of Saint Peter of Cetinje

Confraternal orders

Confraternal orders are orders of chivalry with the presidency attached to a nobleman:

  1. Order of Saint Catherine, founded by Humbert, Dauphin du Viennois in ca. 1335
  2. Order of Saint Anthony, founded by Albrecht I of Bavaria in 1384
  3. Society of the Eagle, founded by Albrecht von Habsburg in 1433
  4. Society of Our Lady (Order of the Swan), founded by Friedrich II of Brandenburg in 1440
  5. Order of Saint Hubert, founded by Gerhard V of Jülich and Berg in 1444
  6. Order of the Crescent, founded by René d'Anjou in 1448
  7. Society of Saint Jerome, founded by Friedrich II of Wettin in 1450
  1. Order of Saint Hubert (Barrois, (1422)
  2. Noble Order of Saint George of Rougemont, also called Confraternity of Saint-Georges of Burgundy (Franche-Comté, 1440)

Fraternal orders

Fraternal orders are orders of chivalry that were formed ad-hoc for a certain enterprise:

  1. the Compagnie of the Black Swan, founded by 3 princes and 11 knights in Savoy (1350)
  2. the Corps et Ordre du Tiercelet, founded by the vicomte de Thouars and 17 barons in Poitou (1377–1385)
  3. Ordre de la Pomme d'Or, founded by 14 knights in Auvergne (1394)
  4. Alliance et Compagnie du Levrier, founded by 44 knights in the Barrois (1416–1422), subsequently converted into the Confraternal order of Saint Hubert (see above)

Votive Orders

Votive orders are orders of chivalry, temporarily formed on the basis of a vow. These were courtly chivalric games rather than actual pledges as in the case of the fraternal orders. Three are known from their statutes:

  1. Emprise de l'Escu vert à la Dame Blanche (Enterprise of the green shield with the white lady), founded by Jean Le Maingre dit Boucicaut and 12 knights in 1399 for the duration of 5 years
  2. Emprise du Fer de Prisonnier (Enterprise of the Prisoner's Iron), founded by Jean de Bourbon and 16 knights in 1415 for the duration of 2 years
  3. Emprise de la gueule de dragon (Enterprise of the Dragon's Mouth), founded by Jean comte de Foix in 1446 for 1 year.

Cliental pseudo-orders

Cliental pseudo-orders are not orders of chivalry and were princes' retinues fashionably termed orders. They are without statutes or restricted memberships:

  1. Ordre de la Cosse de Genêt (Order of the Broom-Pod), founded by Charles VI of France ca. 1388
  2. Order of the camail or Porcupine, created by Louis d'Orléans in 1394
  3. Order of the Dove, Castile, 1390
  4. Order of the Scale of Castile, ca. 1430

Honorific orders

Honorific orders were honorific insignia bestowed on knights on festive occasions, consisting of nothing but the badge:

  1. the Order of the Stoat and the Ear, founded by Francis I, Duke of Brittany in 1448
  2. Order of the Holy Sepulchre, bestowed to knights who made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, since the 15th century.
  3. Knights of Saint Catherine of Mount Sinai, similar to the above, bestowed from the 11th to the 15th century
  4. Order of the Golden Spur, a papal order (since the 14th century, flourishes in the 16th century)

Some honorific orders are modern foundations, such as the Order of the Bath[1], founded by King George I of Great Britain on 18 May 1725[2]

Modern orders

Current orders

Former orders

Self-Styled Chivalric Orders

Self-styled orders are organisations that claim to be chivalric orders in the same sense as such orders as the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece or the French Order of Saint Michael, which actually are able to convey knighthood. The "self-styled orders" are membership organisations and have not been created by a State or a Monarch.

With few exceptions, self-styled orders began to arise in the middle of the eighteenth century, and they continue to emerge. Some are short-lived and only last a few decades. There are differing opinions about what principles or rules should be applied to distinguish an organisation as a genuine chivalric order or a merely self-styled one.

Most scholars agree that a chivalric order (that is, an order which can bestow knighthood) must have a fons honorum ("fount of honour") which is provided both by its founder and current principal patron in order for it to be considered a true chivalric order. A fount of honour is defined as someone who held sovereignty either currently or formerly at the time of the creation or the order. Further, former holding of sovereignty is considered allowable only for the creation of an order in those cases where the former sovereign did not abdicate his position: for example, an Order of St John of Jerusalem which previously was merely a self-styled "order" came to be supported by the exiled King Peter of Yugoslavia, who had not abdicated; after the king's death in 1970, his successor, Crown Prince Alexander, refused to continue patronage and in fact repudiated the various and competing successor "orders"; thus, without a continuing fons honorum, these orders lapsed back into "self-styled" status. A minority of scholars disagree, arguing that a non-reigning claimant to a throne cannot continue an order of chivalry.

Some organisations have provided a false fons honorum to satisfy the need. In these cases, the founder or patron of the "order" has essentially assumed a false title of nobility in addition to assuming some sort of sovereignty, current or former.

Although not recognised by any international treaty, an organisation exists which seeks to provide criteria against which to judge Orders of Chivalry: the International Commission for Orders of Chivalry. The rules by which the Commission adjudges an order of chivalry to be genuine are listed on the website of the Commission[3].

The International Commission for Orders of Chivalry [4] was created in August of 1960, originally as an instrument of the International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences. However, criticism of the work of the Commission at the time caused the International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences to abandon the work. The Commission continues as an independent organisation, though neither its decisions nor the criteria it employs to reach those decisions are universally accepted. The Commission has no standing in international law and may not be acknowledged by any present government.

There are, however, organisations that appear to have a chivalric character and are seen as being akin to orders of chivalry. Examples of such organisations are listed in Appendix 5, of: Sainty, Guy, World Orders of Knighthood & Merit, Burke's Peerage & Gentry, 2006.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ according to Anstis in Observations p4, knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath
  2. ^ from Statutes of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath 1725, although Risk says the order was founded on 11 May 1725
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ [2]

References

External links