Chivalric order

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Chivalric orders are orders of knighthood that were created by European monarchs after the failure of the Crusades, for which the military orders had been founded. The memory of these crusading military orders became idealized and romanticized, resulting in the late medieval notion of chivalry, and is reflected in the Arthurian romances of the time.

Contents 1 Distinction 2 Medieval orders 2.1 Monarchical or dynastical orders 2.2 Confraternal orders 2.3 Fraternal orders 2.4 Votive Orders 2.5 Cliental pseudo-orders 2.6 Honorific orders 3 Modern orders 3.1 Current orders 3.2 Former orders 4 External links 5 Literature 6 See also

[edit] Distinction

• Chivalric orders by time of foundation:
  • Medieval chivalric orders: foundation of the order during the middle ages or renaissance
  • Modern chivalric orders: foundation after 1789

• Chivalric orders by religion:
  • Catholic chivalric orders: membership exclusively for members of the Roman Catholic church
  • Protestant chivalric orders: membership exclusively for members of Protestant churches
  • Orthodox chivalric orders: membership exclusively for members of Orthodox churches

• Chivalric orders by purpose:
  • Monarchical and dynastical chivalric orders: foundation by a monarch who is a fount of honour; either ruling or not ruling
  • 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
  • Pseudo-chivalric orders: self proclaimed imitation-orders without statutes or restricted memberships

[edit] Medieval orders

D'Arcy Boulton (1987) classifies the chivalric orders into the following categories:

[edit] Monarchical or dynastical orders

• Late medieval monarchical orders (14th and 15th centuries) are orders of chivalry with the presidency attached to a monarch:

1. the Order of Saint George, founded by Charles I of Hungary in 1325/6
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

• Post-medieval foundations of chivalric orders:

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)

• Monarchical orders whose monarch no longer reigns but continue to be bestowed, are called dynastical orders:

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

[edit] Confraternal orders

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

• 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:

1. Order of Saint Catherine, founded by Humbert, Dauphin du Viennois in ca. 1335
2. Order of St. 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

• Baronial orders, founded by noblemen of lower rank:

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)

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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

[edit] 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
5. Knights of the Bath, in England

[edit] Modern orders

[edit] Current orders

• The Order of the Elephant, Denmark, founded by Christian I in 1693
• The Order of St. Andrew, Russia, founded by Tsar Peter the Great in 1698
• The Order of the Seraphim, Sweden, founded by Frederick I in 1748
• The Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary, founded by Empress Maria Theresa in 1764
• The Order of Saint Stanislas, Poland, founded by the last native King of Poland, Stanislas Augustus Poniatowski, on May 8th 1765
• The Order of St. George the Triumphant, founded in 1769 by Catherine the Great of the Russian Empire
• The Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav, founded on 21 August 1847 by King Oscar I of Norway
• The Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau. founded by King-Grand Duke William III of Luxembourg in 1858.
• The Order of Michael the Brave, founded by King Ferdinand I of Romania, on September 26, 1916
• The Order of the British Empire, United Kingdom, founded in 1917
• The Knightly Order of Vitéz, founded 1921, by Miklós Horthy, the Regent of Hungary
• The Order of the Knights of Our Lady (Militia Sanctae Mariae), founded 1945, by Gerard Lafond
• The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, founded in 1985 by King Olav V of Norway

[edit] Former orders

• The Order of the Iron Helmet of Hesse-Kassel (in present-day Germany), founded 1814, abolished ...
• The Wilhelmsorden (Order of Wilhelm) of Hesse-Kassel, founded 1851, abolished 1875
• The Ludewigsorden (Order of Louis) of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, founded 1807, abolished 1918
• The Order of the Norwegian Lion, founded 1904, abolished 1952

[edit] External links

• History of Orders of Chivalry: A Survey
• Fake titles

[edit] Literature

• D'Arcy Jonathan Dacre Boulton, The knights of the crown : the monarchical orders of knighthood in later medieval Europe, 1325–1520, Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, Palgrave Macmillan (February 1987). ISBN 0-312-45842-8. Second revised edition (paperback): Woodbridge, Suffolk and Rochester, NY: Boydell Press, 2000.
• Richard W. Kaeuper, Elspeth Kennedy, Geoffroi De Carny, The Book of Chivalry of Geoffroi De Charny: Text, Context, and Translation, University of Pennsylvania Press (December, 1996). ISBN 0-8122-1579-6.

[edit] See also

• Knight
• Chivalry
• Order (decoration)
• False titles of nobilityet:Rüütliordu

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