An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is a society, fellowship and college of knights, typically founded during or inspired by the original Christian military orders of the Crusades ( 1099–1291) and paired with medieval concepts of ideals of chivalry.
Since the 15th century, orders of chivalry, often as dynastic orders, began to be established in a more courtly fashion than could be created ad hoc. These orders would often retain the notion of being a confraternity, society or other association of members, but some of them were ultimately purely honorific and consisted of a medal decoration. In fact, these decorations themselves often came to be known informally as orders. These institutions in turn gave rise to the modern-day orders of merit of sovereign states.
Overview An order of knights is a community of knights composed by order rules with the main purpose of an ideal or charitable task. The original ideal lay in monachus et miles (monk and knight), who in the order – – is dedicated to a Christian purpose. The first orders of knights were religious orders that were founded to protect and guide pilgrims to the Holy Land. The knightly orders were characterized by an order-like community life in poverty, obedience and chastity, which was linked with charitable tasks, armed pilgrimage protection and military action against external and occasionally internal enemies of Christianity. Examples are the Knights Templar, Knights of the Holy Sepulchre officially called The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, founded in 1090, the Order of St. John and the Order of Malta. These communities only became orders in the sense of canon law through papal recognition of their own binding rules of order and through the dissolution of ecclesiastical diocesan organizations.
In addition to the religious orders of knights, courtly orders of knights emerged in many European royal houses from the middle of the 14th century. This enabled the monarchs and princes to create a reliable household power independent of the church and to combine their court life with knightly virtues. During this time, the Burgundian court culture was leading and so the Order of the Golden Fleece, founded there in 1430, was for many a model in the sense of a princely order based on the ideals of Christian chivalry.See also: Johannes Fried "Das Mittelalter. Geschichte und Kultur." (2011), p 460.
In the course of time, many orders of knights have been dissolved due to a lack of people or the field of activity has changed. So in many areas the charitable aspect and nursing came to the fore. There were also dissolutions for political reasons, such as the Knights Templar in 1312 or many orders of knights as opposition by Nazi Germany. While the Knights Templar was not re-established, some orders were reactivated after the end of World War II and the fall of the Iron Curtain. As the bestowal of knighthoods or damehoods are considered prestigious, the German loanword ordenshunger ("hunger for orders") became used to describe those who desired membership in multiple orders of chivalry.
There are repeated attempts to revive or restore old orders of knights. Often, old knight orders are used today to honor personalities. For example, the British Queen Elizabeth II regularly appointed new members to the Order of the British Empire in the 21st century. In Central Europe, for example, the Order of St. George, whose roots also go back to the so-called "last knight" Emperor Maximilian I, was reactivated by the House of Habsburg after its dissolution by Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, to this day, deserved personalities in republican France are highlighted by being awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour."What is the Legion d'Honneur?". BBC News. 24 May 2004. In contrast, the knights of the ecclesiastical orders of knights such as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Order of Saint John mainly devote themselves to social tasks, medicine, nursing and care.Jürgen Sarnowsky "Die geistlichen Ritterorden" (2018), pp 221.
Terminology
Holy See The Secretariat of the State of the Holy See – medieval pioneer of the original military orders – distinguishes orders in the following manner: State orders or orders of merit: order of a sovereign state, rewarding military or civil merits of citizens, legally based on the sovereignty of their states Pontifical equestrian orders collazioni diretti: conferred by the Pope subcollazioni: under the protection of the Holy See (Teutonic Order and Order of the Holy Sepulchre) Sovereign orders: the only extant one in this category is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, an international sovereign entity Dynastic orders of a sovereign royal dynasty, either an active "dynastic state order" (e.g. Order of the Garter), otherwise a "non-national dynastic order", as the head of a formerly reigning royal house operating under ius collationis (right to confer), typically approved by Papal bulls in the case of older origins (e.g. Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus)
Sansovino In Dell'origine dei Cavalieri (1566), the Italian scholar Francesco Sansovino (1521–1586) distinguished knights and their respective societies in three main categories: "Knights of Collar", i.e. dynastic orders of knighthood "Knights of the Cross", i.e. religious military orders "Knights of Spur", i.e. knighted by the sovereign, later also by feudal lords and knights elderly (e.g. Knight Bachelor)
Over time, the above division became no longer sufficient, and heraldic science distinguished orders into: hereditary, military, religious and fees.
Boulton In a more generous distribution proposed in The Knights in the Crown: The Monarchical Orders of Knighthood in Late Medieval Europe (1987), the Canadian heraldist D'Arcy Boulton classifies chivalric orders as follows: Monarchical orders (i.e. dynastic orders of knighthood) Confraternal orders (as seen in military orders) Fraternal orders Votive orders Cliental pseudo-orders Honorific orders
Based on Boulton, this article distinguishes: Chivalric orders by time of foundation: Medieval chivalric orders: foundation of the order during the Middle Ages or the Renaissance Modern chivalric orders: foundation after 1789 Chivalric orders by religion: Catholic chivalric orders: membership exclusively for members of the Catholic Church Orthodox chivalric orders: blessed by the heads of Orthodox churches Protestant chivalric orders: blessed by the heads of Protestant churches Chivalric orders by purpose: Monarchical chivalric orders: foundation by a monarch who is a fount of honour; either ruling or not Confraternal chivalric orders: foundation by a nobleman, either high nobility or low nobility Fraternal chivalric orders: founded for a specific purpose only Votive chivalric orders: founded for a limited period of time only by members who take a vow Honorific chivalric orders: consist only of honorific insignia bestowed on knights on festive occasions, consisting of nothing but the badge Self-styled orders: self-proclaimed imitation-orders without statutes or restricted memberships
Military orders by time Another occurrent chronological categorisation is into: Military-monastic orders (–1291), beginning with the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem Monarchical orders (), beginning with the Order of Saint George (Kingdom of Hungary). Most military-monastic orders (except the Teutonic Order and the Order of Saint John) became parts of this category during the 15th and 16th century (e.g. the Order of Santiago) Honorific orders (–present), beginning with the Order of Saint Stephen (despite its military obligations) and the Order of the Holy Spirit. With the Order of Saint Louis, the time of proper orders of merit begun. The monarchical orders became de facto honours during the shift from feudalism to absolutism.
Medieval orders
Monarchical orders
Late medieval monarchical orders (14th and 15th centuries) Late medieval monarchical orders (14th and 15th centuries) are orders of chivalry with the presidency attached to a monarch. Order of Montesa founded by James II of Aragon (Spain) in 1317 Order of Saint George, founded by Charles I of Hungary in 1325 Order of the Band, founded by Alfonso XI of Castile in Order of the Sword (Cyprus), founded by Peter I of Cyprus in 1347 (allegedly) Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III of England in 1348 Order of the Star, founded by John II of France in 1351 Order of the Knot, founded by Louis I of Naples in 1352 Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, founded by Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy in 1362 Order of the Ermine, founded by John V, Duke of Brittany in 1381: First order to accept women. Order of the Ship, founded by Charles III of Naples on 1 December 1381 Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund, as king of Hungary in 1408 Order of the Golden Fleece, founded by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430 Order of the Tower and Sword, founded by Afonso V of Portugal in 1459 Order of Saint Michael, founded by Louis XI of France in 1469
Post-medieval foundations of chivalric orders Order of Saint Stephen (1561) Order of the Holy Spirit (1578) Blood of Jesus Christ (military order) (1608) Order of the Thistle (1687) Order of the Elephant (1693) Order of Saint Louis (1694) Order of the Seraphim (1748) Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary (1764) Order of St. Patrick (1783) Order of Saint Joseph (1807) Order of Guadalupe (1821) Order of the Mexican Eagle (1865) Order of Saint Charles (1866)
Monarchical orders whose monarch no longer reigns but continues to bestow the order Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Italian House of Savoy) Order of Merit of Savoy (Italian House of Savoy) Order of the Golden Fleece (Austrian branch) Order of St. George (Habsburg-Lorraine) Order of the Holy Spirit Order of Prince Danilo I of Montenegro Order of Saint Peter of Cetinje Order of Skanderbeg Royal Order of Saint George for the Defense of the Immaculate Conception (Bavaria) Order of the Crown (Romania) Order of Carol I (Romania) Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (Portugal) Order of Saint Michael of the Wing (Portugal) Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (Two Sicilies) Royal Order of Francis I (Two Sicilies) Order of the Eagle of Georgia (Georgia) Order of Queen Tamara (Georgia) Order of the Crown of Georgia (Georgia) Royal Order of the Crown of Hawai'i (Hawai'i) Royal and Hashemite Order of the Pearl (North Sulu Bornéo) Imperial Order of Solomon (Imperial House of Ethiopia)Imperial Order of Solomon (Imperial House of Ethiopia) on ethiopiancrown.org Imperial Order of Solomon's Seal (Imperial House of Ethiopia) Imperial Order of the Queen of Sheba (Imperial House of Ethiopia) Imperial Order of the Holy Trinity (Imperial House of Ethiopia) Imperial Order of Menelik II (Imperial House of Ethiopia) Imperial Order of Emperor Haile Selassie I (Imperial House of Ethiopia) Imperial Order of the Ethiopian Lion (Imperial House of Ethiopia) Imperial Order of the Star of Ethiopia (Imperial House of Ethiopia) Imperial Order of Saint Anthony (Imperial House of Ethiopia) Imperial Order of the Lion of Mandé (Imperial House of Mandé)Imperial Order of the Lion of Mandé (Imperial House of Mandé) on lamaisondumande.wixsite.com
Confraternal orders Confraternal orders are orders of chivalry with the presidency attached to a nobleman: Princely orders Princely orders were founded by noblemen of higher rank. Most of these were founded in imitation of the Order of the Golden Fleece, after 1430. Order of Saint Catherine, founded by Humbert II, Dauphin du Viennois around 1335 Order of Saint Anthony, founded by Albrecht I of Bavaria in 1384 Order of the Rüdenband, founded in Silesia, Upper Lusatia and Bohemia before 1389 Society of the Eagle, founded by Albrecht II von Habsburg in 1433