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THE INTERNATIONAL AND ROYAL
COUNCIL FOR ORDERS OF CHIVALRY
THE ALMANACH DE CHIVALRY 2008
( Founded 2002 by Royal Charter )
The Register of Orders of Chivalry
Registre des Ordres de Chevalerie
The Official Listing of The Imperial
and Royal European Orders of Chivalry
The Royal Orders of Chivalry
of The Kingdom of Italy
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(Above)
His Royal Highness Prince Vittorio Emanuele
Alberto Carlo Teodoro Umberto Bonifacio Amadeo
Damiano Bernardino Gennaro Maria of Savoy,
Prince of Naples, Head of The House of Savoy
and Heir to The Italian Throne.
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HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE VITTORIO EMANUELE OF SAVOY
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Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples (Vittorio Emanuele Alberto Carlo Teodoro Umberto Bonifacio Amadeo Damiano Bernardino Gennaro Maria di Savoia) (born February 12, 1937) was the last Crown Prince of Italy and is considered to be a pretender to the defunct Italian throne.
Although the titles and distinctions of the Italian royal family have not been legally recognised in Italy since 1946, the titles are still legaly recognised in many other countries such as Belgium, and he is often styled Prince of Naples out of courtesy, particularly by supporters of the former monarchy.
Vittorio Emanuele claims to be Duke of Savoy and head of the House of Savoy. These claims are disputed by supporters of his cousin, Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta. He is also a claimant to the title of King of Jerusalem. He is known to some Italian monarchists as Vittorio Emanuele IV. He has lived for most of his life in exile – following a referendum in 1946 in which a majority of the Italian people voted for Italy to become a republic.
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THE ORDER OF THE MOST HOLY ANNUNCIATION
( Ordine Supremo della Santissima Annunziata )
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The Order of the Most Holy Annunciation is among the most ancient of the surviving royal collar Orders; although it cannot claim perfect continuity from its original foundation this early date would make it the second oldest of the surviving collar Orders. It is given by the Head of the Royal House of Savoy, as direct heir of the founder. Today the membership is limited almost entirely to members of reigning and formerly reigning royal houses.
The traditional foundation date was 1350 when Amadeus VI of Savoy, known as the Green Count, instituted the Order of the Companions of the Black Swan on the occasion of the marriage of his sister Bianca to Galeazzo II Visconti. The first members were called upon to “defend one another against all adversaries, to settle any differences they might have, not with force of arms but with the arbitration of the other companions, and not make war against anyone else without the authorisation of the other companions”. Membership of the Order included knights from five provinces or marches: Savoy, Genevois, Bresse, Burgundy and Vienne. The insignia of the Order worn by the companions was a circular silver medallion with a black swan, beaked gules.
A more certain date of foundation, however, is 1362, during the conflict the Green Count waged against Frederick II, Marquis of Saluzzo, with the noble aim of “leading the powerful to union and fraternity so that private wars might be avoided”. The first knights were described as Milites Collaris Sabaudie (“knights of the Collar of Savoy”), who, among themselves, were called brothers and companions. It was Amadeus VI, as head of the Order, who was the first to wear the collar “not as their Lord, but rather as a brother and companion of those who join the Order, as it is an Order of brothers”. The initial membership was limited, excluding the Grand Master, to fourteen members all “at the service of the Church, the Monarchy, and Honour” in homage to the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary. The original insignia consisted of three love-knots forming a circlet, hanging from a silver-gilt collar. Antonio Maillet, the Court cleric, in various accounts, noted the expenses for the Count of Savoy “item pro quindecim colarijs argenti deaurati factis ad divisam domini CCXIV florenos boni poderis”. Contemporary chronicles mention the solemn investiture ceremony of the knights held in Avignon, and the festivities in 1364 in the then Savoy capital of Chambéry.
In his will of 21 February 1383, Amadeus VI ordered the foundation of the Pierre-Châtel Charterhouse, which was to become the first church of the company and building work began just ten years later, under Countess Bona of Bourbon, then Regent of Savoy. The fifteen Carthusian brothers who administered the church together with fifteen chaplains (these numbers paralleling the fourteen companions and Grand Master) had to celebrate fifteen Holy Masses for the souls of the founder and members of the Order. After Bresse and Bugey were ceded to France by Charles Emanuel I of Savoy in 1601, in exchange for the Marquisate of Saluzzo, the Order was conceded the Camaldolese Hermitage on the hills near Turin (3 December 1607). With the destruction of the congregation following the French Revolution, King Charles Albert, by royal warrant of 15 March 1840 gave the Order the Collegno Charterhouse, in which some knights were later buried. Collegno remained the Order’s church until 1855, when it was transferred to the Palatine Chapel in the Royal Palace in Turin.
With the death of the founder, however, the original Order became extinct until, shortly before leaving for Paris in 1409, Amadeus VIII (reigning from 1391-1434 as the first ruler of Savoy to bear the title of Duke conferred upon him by the Holy Roman Emperor), recreated the Order and confirmed its original aims. The original statutes given by the Green Count have long been lost, and we cannot be certain of the extent to which those given by Amadeus VIII, dated 30 May 1409, depended upon those of the earlier foundation. The number of members remained unchanged, but the collar decoration was modified to include roses between the word FERT, the oldest motto of the House of Savoy. Shortly before his death in 1434 Amadeus VIII made further modifications to the statutes, emphasising the religious character, but with his death the Order once more fell into disuse although its church and canons were maintained.
Almost a century passed before, in 1518, Duke Charles III, “the Good” (reigned 1504 -1553) wishing to return the Order to its “ancient prestige”, extended the statutes to fifty-three articles, declaring that any member found guilty of dishonourable acts would forfeit all rights to membership, that the knights should wear the insignia of the Order at all times and that they would not be permitted to join any other knightly body. These statutes also detailed the ceremonial procedures, which closely imitated those of the Order of the Golden Fleece, as did the provision granting the knights a pension of twelve hundred “low weight” gold florins. Charles III also increased the number of knights to twenty, the extra five in honour of Christ’s wounds. The collar was formed of fifteen knots with the motto FERT, and fifteen red and white enamelled roses with a border of thorns in honour of the joys of the Virgin Mary. The image of the Annunciation was placed in the middle of the three love-knots suspended from the collar, giving the Order of the Collar its new denomination, the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation. Under the new statutes, the Chapter of knights, chosen from the highest ranking and most trustworthy nobles of the duchy, took on the role of a Council of State with which the Duke would meet frequently.
These statutes named the officers of the Order as the Secretary, the Master of Ceremonies, the Treasurer and the Chancellor, who was to be a bishop or prelate, accorded the title of “Excellency” so that the Order would preserve its original religious character – in later times the Archbishop of Turin held this post with the title of Grand Chancellor. A Herald-of-Arms, with the title Bonnes Nouvelles, was also assigned to the Order. The officers wore the badge of the love-knots and the image of the Annunciation suspended from a blue neck ribbon and on the breast a smaller star than that worn by the knights. The Herald, considered of lower rank, was given a small gold roundel with the image of the Annunciation suspended from a blue ribbon as the insignia of his post. The first Herald, who shared the name Savoye with his royal master, carried an enamel painting on which were depicted the armorial bearings of all the knights of the Collar.
Duke Emanuel Philibert (reigned 1553-1580), recognising the value of this loyal body of adherents, shortly before his death in 1580 granted further important privileges, including exemption from all taxes and the burdensome duty of membership of the Senate, while requiring that candidates for admission prove five generations of nobility. He also changed the colour of the knights’ mantle from crimson velvet, to blue, the favourite colour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and in honour of Amadeus VI, the illustrious founder who used to raise a pale blue war flag sewn with stars with the image of Our Lady. This light blue colour later became the national colour of the States of the House of Savoy. The colour of the mantle underwent a further change under Charles Emanuel II in 1639 and in 1675, it became amaranth velvet, with a flowery silver-blue cloth lining, all richly embroidered with roses and flames in gold and silver and a border of love-knots, the badge of the Order, and the motto FERT. The mantle was worn over an elaborate uniform of white satin with silk embroidery.
By the reign of Charles Emanuel III (King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy 1730-1773), the knights of the Annunciation had adopted the blood-red uniform of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, to which Order they almost always belonged and upon which they would wear their collar. Having become common usage the kings of the House of Savoy were buried in this uniform. At funerals of princes of the blood or of reigning sovereigns, the knights of the Annunciation were required to wear a mantle of black wool. At the Chapter of the Order held 24 March 1680, Duchess Marie-Jeanne Baptiste, Regent of Savoy, permitted the knights to wear a gold breast star with the image of the Annunciation in addition to the collar, but the badge was never suspended from a coloured riband, as in other collar Orders. Each knight could choose the collar he preferred from among those available and was obliged to arrange for his heirs to return the insignia to the king after his death. The collar was worn on the day of the Holy Annunciation, on all national feast days and at major court ceremonies. On other occasions the lesser collar owned by the knight himself would be worn.
With the extinction of the senior male line of Savoy in 1831, their sovereign possession passed to the liberal branch of Savoy-Carignano under Carlo Alberto who, in 1834, introduced a constitution. His son, Victor Amadeus II, King of Sardinia (1849) and later first king of united Italy (1859-1878), secularised the Order, declaring it the first of his kingdom. The tradition that knights had to be “of certain proven ancient nobility” was broken by Victor Emanuel II in 1860 when he bestowed the Order on Carlo Farini, a distinguished scientist and politician who had played a major role in Italian unification. With the formal proclamation of the new Kingdom of Italy on 3 June 1869 (a decade after all but Rome of the pre-unity states had been occupied), the King removed the requirement for nobility altogether, reserving it for those who had rendered outstanding services in the highest offices of the state, both military and civil, and that they were known for their name and distinction.
In 1878 King Umberto I conferred upon the President of the Council of Ministers the office of Secretary of the Order, uniting it more closely to the state, and on 7 April 1889 he ordered that the collars of deceased knights be held in the custody of the Treasurer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, while the original diplomas and Register of Knights were deposited in the archives of the President of the Council of Ministers. King Victor Emanuel III established on 14 March 1924 that the number of twenty knights would not include princes of the Royal House in male line to the fourth degree, ecclesiastics and foreign knights. Knights automatically received the grand cordon of the Orders of Saints Maurice and Lazarus and of the Crown of Italy (thus on occasions when collars could not be worn, they were nonetheless entitled to wear a grand cross riband and were required to be witnesses at the registrations of births, marriages and deaths of members of the Royal House of Savoy.
The knights were accorded the style “cousins of the king”, with whom they could use the second person singular, and they also took precedence before all other state office holders. The Order ennobled those knights who were not already noble; they also had the title of “Excellency”. King Umberto II left the statutes of the Order unchanged during his exile and only very rarely bestowed the Order. His son, Victor Emanuel, Prince di Naples and Duke of Savoy, on 11 June 1985 made some changes to the statutes where reference was made to the existence of the Kingdom of Italy.
Among those who received the high honour of the Order of the Annunciation were: among the military, Alfonso Ferrero della Marmora, Armando Diaz, Gaetano Giardino, Enrico Caviglia, Guglielmo Pecori Girardi, Pietro Badoglio, Paolo Thaon di Revel, Carlo Calvi di Bergolo; among politicians, Camillo Benso di Cavour, Giuseppe Lanza, Francesco Crispi, Domenico Farini, Costantino Nigra, Antonio Starabba di Rudinì, Giuseppe Pacifico Manfredi, Giovanni Giolitti, Antonio Salandra, Ivanoe Bonomi, Victor Emanuel Orlando, Charles Sforza, Benito Mussolini, Galeazzo Ciano, Dino Grandi; and among the men of the Church, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, later to become HH Pope Pius Pio XII. Among the British knights of the Order were Field Marshal The Duke of Wellington, HRH Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (consort of HM Queen Victoria), HM King Edward VII, HM King George V, HM King Edward VIII.
A Law of the Italian Republic of 3 March 1951, n. 178, art. 9 reads: “The Order of the Most Holy Annunciation and the relative insignia are suppressed. The Order of the Crown of Italy is suppressed and the award of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus ceases. Awards which were already bestowed may, however, continue to be worn, but with all precedence in public ceremonies now excluded. There will be a separate law for other Orders and awards instituted before 2 June 1946”. This law of the Republic could not in fact suppress the Order, since its original creation and the papal bulls confirming it placed it outside Italian jurisdiction; the authority of the Italian Republic could not extend beyond prohibiting it from being worn in Italy by Italian citizens. In 1962, the Italian Court of Cassation dismissed a prosecution brought against King Umberto II (who was in any case living in a permanent exile, imposed by the Italian republican constitution), on the grounds that Italy could not legally prevent the King from conferring the Order.
The insignia – which had to be returned by the heirs of knights – consisted of the gold collar, formed of love-knots between the word FERT and roses on links and the image of the Annunciation on a pendant of three knots. The accompanying breast star also bore the scene of Our Lady of the Annunciation, surrounded by Savoy knots and the motto FERT. The ribbon was amaranth, and the uniform blood-red.
Knights of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation may encircle their armorial bearings with the great collar of the Order.
Since 7 July 2006 the succession has been disputed between the only son of the late King Umberto II, Prince Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, and his cousin, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta. See Disputed Succession and www.casarealedisavoia.it
Roll of Knights [ appointed by King Umberto II ]: HIM the Emperor Akihito of Japan; HI.and RH Franz Joseph Otto of Habsburg-Lorraine, Archduke of Austria; HRH Landgrave Maurice (Moritz) of Hesse-Cassel; HRH Prince Ferdinand of Bourbon Two-Sicilies; HM King Simeon II, King of the Bulgarians; HM King Constantine II, King of the Hellenes; HRH Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia; HRH Jean of Nassau, Grand Duke of Luxembourg; HM King Michael I of Romania; HRH Prince Amadeus of Savoy Aosta, Duke of Aosta; HRH Prince Aimone of Savoy Aosta, Duke of Apulia; HRH Carl Duke of Würtemberg.
Knights appointed by HRH Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, Prince of Naples: HMEH Fra Andrew W.N. Bertie, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta; HM Don Juan Carlos I of Bourbon, King of Spain; HRH Prince Emanuel Philibert of Savoy, Prince di Venice; HE Cardinal Angelo Sodano; HRH Prince Serge of Yugoslavia; Prince Ugo Windischgraetz.
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THE ORDER OF SAINTS MAURICE AND LAZARUS
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The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus tIS an Order of Chivalry of the Royal House of Savoy, founded as a religious-military Order and then adapted by the Savoy Kings as a Royal Order of Merit. The conditions which had led to it being given as a reward for service to the Italian State ceased with the decision of the late King Umberto II to leave Italy for permanent exile. The decree of the Italian Republic which purported to suppress its continued award was illegal, as the Order was originally a Papal foundation, entirely outside republican jurisdiction.
Saint Maurice, Duke of Thebes, was the patron Saint of the House of Savoy and a Society of noble monks of that name had been founded on 13 February 1434, by Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy, to accompany him on his retreat from secular life to that of a hermit. Some writers have suggested that this association was a military Order, the precursor of the later Order of Saint Maurice, and that it survived until the period 1536-1559, when the territories of the Duke of Savoy were occupied by the French. This "Order" (more properly "Noble Association"), however, was suppressed in 1439, shortly after the Duke's election as (anti) Pope Felix V. The Religious Military Order of Saint Maurice, which was created on 16 September 1572 by the Bull Christiani populi corpus of Pope Gregory XIII, at the request of Duke Emanuele-Filiberto of Savoy, was named to commemorate this more ancient association. As an Order of the Church under the Cistercian rule, it had nothing other than its name in common with the earlier institution. Indeed, while the original military confraternity was the creation of the Duke of Savoy, the new Order was a Papal foundation, with the Duke of Savoy and his successors invested by the Supreme Pontiff as "Magistrum Magnum" (Grand Master) in perpetuity. This Bull also granted the Grand Master the right to interpret, amend or correct the Statutes, thus legitimizing its use as an award for meritorious service and its recent restoration as an Order of Chivalry.
Within less than two months the Order's character was amended once more, by the concession to Duke Emanuele-Filiberto of the dignity of Master-General of the "militiam Sancti Lazari" and the union of the two institutions as one Order, by the Bull Pro commissa Nobis of 13 November 1572. Duke Emanuele-Filiberto had earlier entered into negotiations with the Prior of Capua (titular Master-General of the Order) of Saint Lazarus, to acquire the title of Master-General, along with the benefices of the Order and the adherence of its two hundred knights, but these discussions had proved abortive, so the Duke had approached the Holy See directly. The new "Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus of Jerusalem" acquired rights to all the Commanderies of the Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus situated in Italy and elsewhere (excluding those former possessions of the Order situated "in the Kingdoms and Dominions of" Philip II of Spain), effectively abrogating those provisions of the Bull of 1489 which had granted them to the Order of Saint John. The new foundation did not only acquire the ancient properties of Saint Lazarus but also its hospitaller mission and duty to provide naval protection against Moslem incursions in Italy. Despite the Papal direction that the knights of Saint Lazarus taking the Cross of the new Order should abandon the rule of Saint Augustine for the Cistercian, the new Order adopted the Augustinian rule, which was more appropriate to its functions. By an Apostolic Brief of 15 January 1573, the Pope provided that the Cross of Saint Maurice could be superimposed on that of Saint Lazarus - the green arms of the latter being placed between those of the white cross of Saint Maurice. By Magistral Letters Patent of 10 November 1619 and 2 June 1643 the knights were obliged to wear their badge whenever they appeared in public, as well as undertake various other religious observances; the knights had to attend confession and communion at Easter and on the Order's Saints days - that of Saint Maurice being 22 September, that of Saint Lazarus being 17 December.
The history of the Order of Saint Lazarus has been the object of much speculation and invention, particularly among the proponents of its modern independent survival. The suggestion that it was founded in the second century, or by Saint Basil in the seventh (claims which appear for the first time in the seventeenth century), are fantastic theories with no contemporary documentary support and no basis in fact. The original institution was of relative unimportance, established as a leper hospital associated with and probably subordinate to the much larger and more significant Order of the Hospital of Saint John in Jerusalem; it was not included among any of the other crusader institutions named by the contemporary historians William of Tyre or Jacques de Vitry. The first brothers who served in this hospital did not have any military responsibilities, as is proven by an act of King Louis VII of France granting the Order the Barony of Boigny in 1154, which says nothing of a military character. The first such functions were assumed in about 1200, for self-protection, but the small number of brothers, most of whom themselves suffered from leprosy, gave them little strategic value. It has been claimed that the Order's size eventually matched that of Saint John but this assertion is without merit and very little mention is made of the Hospitallers of Saint Lazarus in thirteenth century records. Its wealth was also greatly over-stated because of the mistaken belief that every institution bearing the name "Saint Lazarus" was connected with the Order.
The first instance of Papal recognition of the status of the brethren as members of an Order of Chivalry can be found in the Bull Cum a nobis petitur of 11 April 1254, which confirmed it as an Hospitaller and Military Order, under the rule of Saint Augustine. Of greater importance was the Bull Venerabilibus fratribus of 5 August 1265, which required that all leper hospitals should be put under the authority of the Order of Saint Lazarus and that they should be responsible to the Master-General of the Order ("Privilegium Fratrum Militum Hospitalis S. Lazari Hierosolymitani"). Over the next two centuries the Order benefited from several Papal Bulls confirming its status and privileges. The Order's work on behalf of lepers was unquestionably of importance, particularly at its Priory of Capua, as this disease was greatly feared and little understood during the middle ages. Although the Priory of Capua and the Commandery at Boigny maintained the ancient hospitaller mission, by the mid-fifteenth century the Order had become less effective elsewhere. By the Bull Cum solerti of 5 April 1489, Pope Innocent VIII ordered the suppression of the Order and its amalgamation into that of Saint John, returning it to the institution which had first nurtured it. This was confirmed in a further Bull (Laudibus et honore) dated one day later, giving the Grand Master of the Order of Saint John the authority to collect together the benefices and properties of Saint Lazarus.
These two Bulls proved difficult to enforce and, at the petition of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Aragon and Castille, the properties of the Order in Spain were absorbed into the territories of the Episcopal Sees in which they lay or, when adjacent to properties of the Orders of Saint John, Santiago, and Calatrava, were granted to those Orders. Resistance in France to the Bull was particularly forceful and was supported at first by the Crown, King Charles VIII confirming the rights and privileges of the Order in disobedience to the Pope in 1490. Pope Julius II confirmed the union with Saint John by the Bull Romani Pontificis of 5 July 1505, as did Pope Leo X in the Bull Dum continuus of 16 April 1514. In 1517, however, the latter partially reversed himself by re-establishing the Priory of Capua as the "Order of Saint Lazarus", naming the Prior as "Master-General" and granting him responsibility for the Hospital of Saint John of Leprosy in Palermo and the Hospital of Saint Agatha in Messina. The Emperor Charles V, in whose territories the newly restored Order lay, now attempted to recover the lands at Boigny for the Order, leading to a lengthy dispute which the French attempted to terminate in their favor by having the Parliament of Paris declare in 1547 that the Bull of 1489 did not have any effect in France (although it was clearly intended to have such effect). The Papacy was unwilling to submit to this attack on its powers and, by a further Bull Circumspecta Romani Pontificis of 1 July 1560, confirmed the extinction of the Order and its amalgamation into Saint John.
The failure of the siege of Malta did not mark the final defeat of the Turks but was perceived as another event in the ongoing struggle against them. The Papacy continued to be seriously concerned about the Moslem threat to Southern Italy which was not removed until after the victory of Lepanto in 1571 while Barbary pirate raiders harrassed Christian shipping into the nineteenth century. Seeing the priory of Capua as more effective when independent from the knights of Saint John, who had suffered serious depredations in the defense of Malta, Pope Pius IV was persuaded to reinstate the Order of Saint Lazarus in Italy, appointing the Prior of Capua "Master-General of the Hospital and Militia of Saint Lazarus", with the seat of the Order at Capua, and giving him the authority to defend the Hospital and its territories against the incursion of the enemies of Religion in the Bull Inter assiduas of 15 June 1565 ("contra Piratarum et infidelium Christianae Religionis incursionem"). Numerous new privileges were granted along with revised Statutes and reforms made of the habit and the cross.
While the position and authority of the Sovereign of Naples and Sicily, Philip II, was acknowledged, this Bull attempted to return to the control of the new Master-General all the properties situated in England (which had been confiscated during the reformation), Spain and Flanders. Philip strongly objected, pointing out that there were no longer benefices of the Order of Saint Lazarus but properties attached to other Orders and institutions which would be deprived by the implementation of this Bull. The new Master-General, Giannotto Castiglione (Jeannot de Castillon), took such little interest in his new responsibility that he attempted to sell the Order, along with the two hundred knights and its possessions, to the Knights Hospitaller, but they refused as his price was too high, whereupon he entered into negotiations with the Duke of Savoy. Before any action could be taken the Pope died and was succeeded by (Saint) Pius V who, in Sicuti bonus Agricola of 7 February 1567, revoked the passages of the Bull concerning the properties in Spain and Flanders to which the Spanish King objected and many of the other privileges granted by his predecessor. Nonetheless he did confirm much of the Order's history and the titles of Master-General of the Prior at Capua. He did not submit to the King's demands to suppress Saint Lazarus altogether and Philip continued to protest to the Holy See until Pius's death in 1572.
The new Pope, Gregory XIII, by uniting the Order of Saint Maurice with that of Saint Lazarus in 1572, substantially endowed the new Order but also left it with the legacy of a continuing dispute with the King of Spain. Although the Bull Pro commissa Nobis had excluded the benefices of the Order in the Spanish Dominions, it is apparent from a Bull of Pope Clement VIII of 9 September 1603 (Decet Romanum Pontificem) that Pope Gregory had subsequently included those properties under the rule of Philip II in a later grant to the new Order, and the reaction of Philip II was to forbid the wearing of the Order's habit within his territories. This prohibition was reinforced by Philip V in 1707. In return for these Papal privileges, the Grand Master was required to maintain two trireme galleys to defend the Church and, in 1573, he duly endowed the Order with 15,000 scudi raised on various of his personal estates and properties. The Grand Master of the new Order was given the right to invest those knights of Saint Lazarus who were prepared to submit to his obedience with the habit and cross of the new Order, thereby furnishing the Order with two hundred potential candidates for admission.
Emmanuel-Filiberto's first act as Grand Master was to call a Chapter-General of the Order at Nice, where in April 1573 he received an oath of loyalty from the knights of Saint Lazarus who were joining the new Order and from his own nominees. The full title of the Grand Master was now designated, fulsomely in Latin, as Totius Religionis et Militiae Sanctorum Mauritii et Lazari, Bethleem, Nazareth, Hierosolymitani, Ordini Sancto Augustini, Conventium; Hospitalium; domorum, praeceptorium atque priorum locorum omnium citra et ultra mare, cis et trans Alpes, per universum Orbem, Humilis et Generalis Magnus Magister. This style was later modified to (in 1714), His Sacred Royal Majesty General Grand Master of the Sacred Religion and Military Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus. Two years later, by letters patent of 13 and 25 October 1575, he declared the patrimony of the Order separate from the Duchy estates, a separation which was maintained until 1946. This patrimony was added to by various Popes: by a Bull of 15 June 1604 (Superna dispositione), in which twenty-four benefices, to be called Commanderies, were conceded to the Order. It later acquired the Abbey of Staffarda with one thousand three hundred and eighty-six hectares in 1750, the benefices attached to the Prebendary of San Michele and San Bernardino of Aosta (with the obligation to maintain a hospital there) in 1752, the benefices of the defunct Order of Saint Anthony of Vienne situated in Savoy in 1776 (with five hundred and ten hectares), the Abbey of Lucedio in 1784, and other properties across Northern Italy. One of the most valuable endowments was the peninsula of S. Antioco, in the south-west of the island of Sardinia, granted to the Order by Charles Emmanuel III in 1758 - this was rich in minerals and extremely fertile and from 1776 had the exclusive right to a percentage of the tuna catch.
The ecclesiastical prestige of the Order was enhanced by an act of 15 February 1729, in which the Church of Saint Paul (called Santa Croce) in Turin became a Magistral Basilica, a distinction also extended to the former Church of the Jesuits in Cagliari by a decree of 24 August 1809. While possession of these churches have been lost the knights gather annually at the Monastery of Saint Maurice in the presence of the Grand Master, retaining that ancient connection. Thus, by the end of the 18th century, the Order was an immensely wealthy and prestigious organization, described as a "State within a State", an autonomous institution enjoying virtually complete exemption from civil jurisdiction and administration.
As a Religion of the Church, it also enjoyed its own internal ecclesiastical jurisdiction under the authority of the Grand Prior, who shared the government of the Order with its other high functionaries, the Grand Admiral (who commanded the trireme galleys - the Piemonteisa and the Margarita), the Grand Marshal (who commanded the armed forces of the Order), the Grand Conservator (who administered the patrimony of the Order), the Grand Chancellor (who was responsible for the legal and juridical affairs), the Grand Treasurer (who administered the Treasure) and Grand Hospitaller (who dealt with the charitable and hospitaller work).
The Order was divided into two classes; knights of Justice and knights of Grace, the former being required to prove various qualifications including nobility in each of the four quarters, with the applicant's ancestry presented and certified showing fourteen noble antecedents. Knights of Grace had to prove that they were Catholic, of "onesta famiglia", born of legitimate marriage and of good manners. The professed knights, who alone could enjoy Commanderies of the Order, were required to make a promise of marital chastity (i.e. that they would not take a mistress and would remain faithful to their wives), and of obedience to the Grand Master, and all were required to offer service to the hospitals of the Order and to defend Catholic civilization. These requirements were clearly laid out in the Instruction of 8 January 1714, which regulated how application to join the Order should be made and required that the noble proofs should include a genealogical tree in which the postulant would give the surname and forenames of his parents, his four grandparents and eight-great grandparents with paintings of the arms of four of the eight great-grandparents (thus slightly modifying the original requirements). The grades of the Order were grand cross and knight, although both grades were entitled to enjoy the usufruct of the Commanderies of the Order with the title of commander.
The Napoleonic administration, by a law of the Piedmontese Council of 21 August 1800, confiscated the mainland benefices of the Order (excluding those in Sardinia, which remained under the rule of the Duke of Savoy as King). To avoid alienating the nobility the Commanderies giuspatronato were returned to the families who had endowed them. On 9 February 1801 the newly appointed Republican Commission suppressed the Hospital in Turin, leaving the Order in mainland Italy without properties or purpose. Following the fall of the Bonapartist regime, King Victor Emmanuel I concentrated first on recovering all the Order's benefices and Commanderies. Then, by Royal Magistral letters patent of 27 December 1816, he proposed a new, revised body of Statutes for the Order, slightly modifying the requirements for entry into the two classes but confirming the requirement for marital chastity on the part of the professed knights, humble and faithful obedience to the Grand Master, and the practice of charitable and hospitaller works, particularly for the relief of leprosy. The statutes were modified again by Carlo Alberto I, in Magistral letters patent of 9 December 1831, laicising the Order and abolishing the internal legal jurisdiction that had been established by the first Grand Master; ten days later he introduced the grade of commander as an intermediary rank between grand cross and knight, no longer associating it with the tenure of a Commandery. A further reform of 19 July 1839 introduced the Maurizian Medal for military service - however recipients did not become members of the Order.
All these changes had the affect of modifying the character of the Order, which was transformed from a primarily noble Order (as in the eighteenth century), to one in which merit was the principle reason for admission - of the one thousand three hundred and twenty-eight admissions made between 1814 and 1851, only two hundred and ninety-five were in the category of Justice and one thousand and thirty-three in that of Grace. This change was formalized by two decrees of Victor-Emmanuel II, of 1851 and 1860, uniting as one the two separate classes of Justice and Grace and abolishing the ancient dignities of Grand Admiral and Grand Marshal, redundant now the Order no longer maintained a fleet or army. By separate provisions of 1855 and 1857 two further intermediary grades of Officer and Grand Offcer were introduced between those of Knight and Commander, and Commander and Grand Cross respectively. The government was placed in the hands of the Grand Master directly, who delegated the administration of its affairs to the First Secretary of the Order. The ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Grand Prior was also abolished and the churches of the Order put under the jurisdiction of the local Ordinaries, although the rights of the Order to utilize the Magistral Basilicas in Turin and Cagliari and the Priory of Torre Pellice remained unaffected.
None of these reforms affected the dynastic status of the Order, which continued to be awarded by the Duke of Savoy, not as King of Italy but as Grand Master of the "Sacra Religione ed ordine militare gerosolomitano dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro, sotto la Regola di S. Agostino". When the last reforms to the statutes made during the Italian kingdom were published in 1907, the decree still stated that it was the intention to conserve "glorioso Istituto Mauriziano il particolare complesso di ordinamenti quale fu determinato dalla saggezza dei nostri Augusti predecessori e Sovrani Gran Maestri". These decrees continued to be described as Royal Magistral Patents and were executed by Royal Magistral authority (rather than as King of Italy). Victor-Emmanuel added considerably to the patrimony of the Order by granting it the estates and benefices confiscated from the Constantinian Orders in Parma and the Two Sicilies. The Order was exempted from the requirement of every other charitable or pious institution to present details of the accounts of its ecclesiastical benefices to the local Provincial Councils, retaining most aspects of its internal jurisdiction. Its varied humanitarian activities were still maintained, with the administration of hospitals in Turin (founded in 1573), Aosta (founded 1773), Valenza (founded 1776), Lanzo (founded 1769) and Lucerne and elementary schools in Torre Pellice, Stupinigi and Staffarda, an institute for the study of alpine flora in Scarnafagi and, finally, religious and spiritual activities through the maintenance of various churches. The recent confiscation and secularization of these activities and benefices by the Italian Republic, properties conferred on the Order by the Dukes of Savoy in their separate role as Grand Master and, as religious benefices, under the ultimate jurisdiction of the Holy See, was contrary to the legal protection to which every institution in the modern Italian democracy should have been entitled. It may also have infringed the Sovereign jurisdiction of the Holy See over religious institutions defined in the Lateran treaty of 1929. Decorations of a Commendatore jus patronato (Neck Badge, Star, Miniature, Rosette and Medal Ribbon)
During the eighty-six years of the Savoy Kingdom of Italy, the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus was awarded as the second highest Order of the Kingdom, after the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation. By a decree of 20 February 1868 the grades were reorganized into grand cross decorated with the grand cordon, which all knights of the Annunciation received automatically, grand officer, commander, officer and knight. These reforms were confirmed by a decree of 17 November 1907 and a further provision of that year stated that members were not automatically entitled to use the uniform of the Order but had to receive Grand Magistral permission so to do. During the period from 1860 and 1946 the Order became increasingly closely linked with the Italian State. By a royal decree of 30 December 1929, a decree issued by Victor Emanuel III as "General Grand Master" stated the Order would be continued "in accordance with the Statutes" as a reward for special meritorious civil or military service to the state, in the fields of sciene, literature, the arts, industry and anything else which served to "bring honor and grandeur to the Italian Nationa" (article 1). No-one who had not already received the Order of the Crown of Italy more than a year before could receive the Order (article 4) which would be given by "sovereign motu proprio" on the recommendation of the National Government (article 2).
Nonetheless, the Order maintained its historic endowment, its status as an institution founded by Papal Bull, and was awarded by the King as "Grand Master". Thus it cannot be equated with a purely state Order such as the Order of the Crown of Italy, an unendowed foundation established solely for the purpose of awarding meritorious service (and which has been replaced today by the Ordine al Merito of the Republic).
King Umberto II continued to award the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus during his exile and following his death in 1983 when Prince Victor-Emmanuel, Prince of Naples was proclaimed Duke of Savoy and Grand Master. The latter has instituted several considerable reformation. Revised Statutes were granted by letters patent of 11 June 1985, which defined the Order as an award for gentlemen and ladies to recompense distinguished civil and military service, for distinction in science, literature, the arts, commerce, industry, education, humanitarian and other good works. The grades were amended to introduce the grades for ladies of the first class (limited to fifty), second class (limited to two hundred) and third class (unlimited); these classes were renamed dame grand cross, dame commander and dame by a decree of 23 June 1988. The 1985 reforms also introduced a new grade for knights, that of honorary commanders giuspatronato to rank between commander and grand officer. The grades for gentlemen were limited to a total of fifty grand crosses decorated with the grand cordon, one hundred grand officers, fifty commanders giuspatronato, two hundred commanders, four hundred officers and an unlimited number of knights.
Grande Croce e Grande Ufficiale
The Statutes provided for the appointment of a Council of the Order composed of the Grand Charges of the Order (entitled to the title of Excellency): the Grand Chancellor, the Grand Prior, and the Treasurer-General, with six Councilors (of the rank of Commander or above and who serve for three years), of whom one is appointed President of the Council, while the Vice-President is the Treasurer-General. The Order has established an Italian national charitable association, to which all members subscribed until 1991, when a separate International Association of Knights of the Royal House of Savoy was formed and in which all non-Italian members are enrolled. In the United States a not-for-profit ciorporation has been registered and accorded tax-exempt status by the US Internal Revenue. Knights and dames of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, in common with the members of the Civil Order of Savoy and the Civil Order of Merit of Savoy, are expected to make an annual donation to the Order and contribute a passage fee following their nomination to membership of the Order. These sums are employed to further the charitable and humanitarian aims of the Order. Delegates have been appointed in each of those countries in which there are groups of knights, including Argentine, Belgium, France-Savoy, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland and the United States, while Italy is divided into ten regions.
Commendatore jus patronato e commendatore
The badge of the Order is a white enameled cross botonny set in gold, with the arms of the cross of Saint Lazarus, an eight-pointed maltese green-enameled cross set in gold, placed between each arm; the ribbon is apple green. Grand crosses decorated with the grand cordon wear the badge 67 mm in diameter below a royal crown suspended from the riband or cordon; they also wear the cross of the Order ensigned on an eight-pointed silver breast star 85 mm in diameter. Grand officers wear the cross 50 mm in diameter below the royal crown suspended from a neck ribbon, with a four pointed breast star 75 mm in diameter. Commanders giuspatronato wear the same neck decoration as grand officers with the plain cross of the Order worn as a breast star. Commanders wear the same neck decoration as the preceding grades. Officers wear a smaller cross 35 mm in diameter below the crown, suspended from a ribbon worn on the left breast. Knights wear the same cross as officers but without the royal crown. Dames grand cross wear the cross 37 mm in diameter ensigned by the crown and suspended from a bow decorated with gold embroidery on the ribbon bow; dame commanders wear the same decoration without the embroidery; ladies of the third class the same but without the crown. There is an elaborate dark green military uniform with white breeches and the knights may wear church robes on suitable occasions, these are a cassock in deep purple silk with the cross embroidered on the left side.
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THE MILITARY ORDER OF SAVOY
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Military Order of Savoy (Ordine militare di Savoia). Established by King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia 14.8.1815 . Renewed by King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia (later King Victor Emmanuel I of Italy) in 1855. Reorganized by the Italina Republic 9.1.1956 as the Order of Military Merit of Italy (Ordine del Merito militario d'Italia). 5 classes: Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Commander, Officer, Knight.
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THE CIVIL ORDER OF SAVOY
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It was founded October 29 th, 1831 by Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, with an only class to reward the civil virtues and the worth of whom didn't belong to the military class (Military Order of Savoy 1815-1946). The original statutes attest that it can be conferred only by the Gran Master of the Order, who is the Head of House Savoy.
The order was reserved only to Italians, and particularly to those people who were distinguished or were famous among the " scientists ", "lettered, "administrators ", " engineers ", " architects ", " artists ", "authors and publishers of discoveries", "to the teachers of sciences and letters", "to the managers of education".
The maximum number is seventy members. After the death of H.M. Umberto II, King of Italy, his son H.R.H. Vittorio Emanuele IV, Prince of Naples, Head of Orders and Arms of the Royal House Savoy, is the Hereditary Grand Master of the Order.
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THE ORDER OF MERIT OF SAVOY
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Since 1988 the Order of the Merit of Savoy has been organized by H.R.H. Prince Victor Emmanuel IV in eight classes: Cavalieri di Gran Croce (Knights Grand Cross) ; Dame di Gran Croce (Ladies Grand Cross) ; Grandi Ufficiali (Grand Officiers) ; Commendatori (Commanders); Dame di Commenda (Lady Commanders); Ufficiali (Officiers); Cavalieri (Knights); Dame (Ladies). The ribbon is blue, crossed by a white central line.
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THE ORDER OF THE CROWN OF ITALY
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The Order of the Crown of Italy (Ordine della Corona d'Italia) was an Order (decoration) conferred by the Kingdom of Italy. Established by King Victor Emmanuel II on 20 February 1868 to commemorate the Italian unification, the Order was awarded for civilian and military merit. Compared with the older Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, the Order of the Crown of Italy was awarded more liberally, and could be conferred to non-Catholics as well; eventually, it became a requirement for a person to have already received the Order of the Crown of Italy before receiving the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus. After Italy became a republic in 1946, the Order was effectively replaced by the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic; the House of Savoy in exile continued to confer the Order for many years, although it is no longer conferred following the death of King Umberto II on 18 March 1983. It was replaced by the Order of Civil Merit of Savoy (Ordine del Merito civile di Savoia).
The Order had five classes: Knight of the Grand Cross, which wore the badge on a sash on the right shoulder, plus the star on the left chest; Grand Officer, which wore the star on the left chest; Commander, which wore the badge on a necklet; Officer, which wore the badge on a ribbon with a rosette on the left chest; Knight, which wore the badge on a ribbon on the left chest.
The badge of the Order was a gilt cross with curved edges, enamelled in white, with the so-called Savoy knots between the arms of the cross. The obverse central disc featured the Iron Crown (as appeared on the Austrian Order of the Iron Crown) on a blue enamel backbround. The reverse central disc had a black-enamelled eagle bearing the coat-of-arms of Italy on a golden background.
The star of the Grand Cross was an eight-pointed faceted silver star; the central disc featured the Iron Crown on a blue enamelled background, surrounded by a white enamel ring bearing the legend "VICT. EMMAN. II REX ITALIA MDCCCLXVI" (Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy, 1866).
There was a black-enamelled eagle bearing the coat-of-arms of Italy at the top of the star.
The star of the Grand Officer was an eight-pointed faceted silver star with ball tips at each point, and with the obverse of the badge superimposed upon it. The ribbon of the Order was red-white-red.
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"CHRISTUS VINCIT, CHRISTUS REGNAT, CHRISTUS IMPERIT"
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For Further Information
The Correspondence Address is:
The Imperial and Royal Society
of The Almanach de Chivalry,
Royal Mail Post Office Box 276,
Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 0UL,
United Kingdom.
Telephone: +44 (0) 208 943 4520
Fax: +44 (0) 208 943 4520
E-mail: almanachdechivalry@msn.com
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