Order of the Ermine (Naples)

The Order of the Ermine (L’Ordre de l’Hermine) was a chivalric order created in 1464 by king Ferdinand I of Naples. The motto was "Malo mori quam foedari" ("I would rather die than be dishonored").

Recipients Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy Giulio Antonio Acquaviva, 1478 Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, since 1488The ermine in Leonardo's portrait Lady with an Ermine may be a to it.

Sources Gustav Adolph Ackermann, Ordensbuch, Sämtlicher in Europa blühender und erloschener Orden und Ehrenzeichen. Annaberg, 1855, p 254 n° 149. "Orden vom Hermelin"

References