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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 The Kingdom of Spain
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(Above)
His Catholic Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain .
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THE HISTORY OF KING JUAN CARLOS I OF SPAIN
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Juan Carlos I, King of Spain (baptized as Juan Alfonso Carlos Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias) was born on January 5, 1938 in Rome and is the reigning King (Rey de España) and Head of state of Spain. On 22 November 1975, two days after the death of Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos was designated King according to the law of succession promulgated by Franco. He successfully oversaw the transition of Spain to a democratic constitutional monarchy. For passing on personal power to democratize the country, he is widely revered by Spaniards.
Juan Carlos's titles include that of King of Jerusalem, as successor to the royal family of Naples. He is also a direct descendant of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom through his grandmother, Victoria Eugenie; of Louis XIV of France through the House of Bourbon; of the Emperor Charles V, who belonged to the Habsburg dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire; of the House of Savoy of Italy; etc. His name, when rarely anglicised, is rendered as John Alphonse Charles Victor Maria of Bourbon (and Bourbon-Two Sicilies). He was given these names after his father (Juan de Borbon), grandfather (Alfonso XIII) and maternal grandfather (Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies).
Born as son of H.R.H. Infante Don Juan de Borbon, Count of Barcelona, son of Alfonso XIII of Spain, and Princess Maria Mercedes of Bourbon-Orleans. He has one older sibling, a sister, Infanta Pilar, and two younger ones, Infanta Margarita, and the late Infante Alfonso. He was baptised by Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII.
The future King's early life was dictated largely by the political concerns of his father and Franco. He moved to Spain in 1948 to be educated there after his father persuaded Franco to allow this. He began his studies in San Sebastián and finished them in 1954 at the San Isidro Institute in Madrid. He then joined the army, undergoing officer training from 1955-1957 in Zaragoza.
In 1956, when Juan Carlos was 18, he reportedly shot and killed his younger brother, Infante Alfonso, in a gunplay accident after returning home from Mass. This event occurred in the family residence in Estoril, Portugal (reference: Preston).
Starting in 1957, he spent a year in the naval school at Pontevedra and another in the air force school in San Javier in Murcia. In 1961, he graduated from the Complutense University, majoring in Political and International Law, Economics and Public Administration. He then went to live in the Zarzuela Palace, and began carrying out official duties.
The regime of Francisco Franco had come to power during the Spanish Civil War, which had pitted republicans and socialists against conservatives, monarchists, and fascists, with the latter group ultimately emerging successful. Despite his alliance with monarchists, Franco was not eager to restore the deposed Spanish monarchy once in power, preferring to head a regime with himself as head of state for life. Though Franco's partisan supporters generally accepted this arrangement for the present, much debate quickly ensued over who would replace Franco when he died. Monarchist factions demanded the return of a hard-line absolute monarchy, and eventually Franco agreed that his successor would be a monarch.
The heir to the throne of Spain was Juan de Borbón (Count of Barcelona), the son of the late Alfonso XIII. However, Franco viewed the heir with extreme suspicion, believing him to be a liberal who was opposed to his regime. Franco then considered giving the throne to Juan Carlos's cousin (and proven Francoist) Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz, who had married Franco's granddaughter in 1972. In response, Juan Carlos started to use his second name Carlos to assert his claim to the heritage of the Carlist branch of his family.
Ultimately, Franco decided to skip a generation and name Prince Juan Carlos as his personal successor. Franco hoped the young Prince could be groomed to take over the nation while still maintaining the ultra-conservative nature of his regime. In 1969, Juan Carlos was officially designated heir and was given the new title of Prince of Spain (not the traditional Prince of Asturias).
Juan Carlos met and consulted with Franco many times while heir apparent and often performed official and ceremonial state functions alongside the dictator, much to the anger of hard-line republicans and more moderate liberals, who had hoped that Franco's death would bring in an era of reform. During those years, Juan Carlos publicly supported Franco's regime. However, as the years progressed, Juan Carlos began meeting with political opposition leaders and exiles, who were fighting to bring liberal reform to the country. Franco, for his part, remained largely oblivious to the prince's actions and denied allegations that Juan Carlos was in any way disloyal to his vision of the regime.
During periods of Franco's temporary incapacity in 1973 and 1975 Juan Carlos was acting head of state. Near death, on 30 October 1975, Franco gave full control to Juan Carlos. On 22 November, upon Franco's death, the Cortes Generales proclaimed Juan Carlos King of Spain and on November 27, Juan Carlos ascended the Spanish throne with an anointing ceremony called Holy Spirit Mass which was the equivalent to a coronation at the Jerónimos Church in Madrid.
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THE SPAINISH ORDER OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE
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The succession of Philip V of Spain to the Sovereignty of the Golden Fleece was at first unchallenged by the Habsburgs but after the death of the Emperor in 1712, his younger brother and heir, the Archduke Charles begun to make awards of the Order. The new Spanish King had acknowledged the appointments to the Golden Fleece made by his Habsburg rival before before 1713, but did not accept the latter's pretensions to Sovereignty. Several attempts were made by the Spanish to recover the Order's treasure but without success, and since then it has been divided into two distinct institutions.
Some writers have suggested that Louis XIV's decision in 1711 to change the system of succession to French ducal titles which allowed mixed male and female succession by limiting their succession exclusively to males, included the Duchy of Burgundy and, therefore, the Golden Fleece. The succession to those parts of the Burgundian inheritance which were not part of the French Duché-Pairie, notably the Sovereignty of the Golden Fleece, could not be included in this decree, however, as one writer has proposed. In French law the original Duché-Pairie had long reverted to the Crown and, even if the decree of 1711 could have been applied, the only Duke-Peer of Burgundy in French law was the eldest son of the Grand Dauphin, the father of the future Louis XV. Louis XIV's new law could not be extended to successions outside the apanage of the French Crown and, indeed, no attempt was made to assert any rights over the Golden Fleece on the part of the French who immediately recognized Philip as Sovereign.
In 1724, Philip V abdicated the Spanish Crown to his eldest son Luis. The serious illness of Louis XV had made Philip's own succession to the French Crown an imminent possibility so, at the same time, he declared that the Sovereignty of the Golden Fleece was irrevocably united with the Spanish Crown. This legality of this act has been questioned but, as it did not deprive any living person with an immediate existing right but only affected future generations it may be regarded as valid, although limited within Philip's descendants. Unlike the succession to the Crown itself, the Sovereignty of the Golden Fleece was always a subordinate dignity which the founder had invested as a perpetual inheritance for his heirs. Thus, Philip's decree could not validate the assumption of the Sovereignty by a Spanish Sovereign or Head of State who was not a Burgundian dynast (such as Joseph Bonaparte and Amadeus of Savoy, who both assumed its Sovereignty). With the death of Luis a few months later and Louis XV's recovery, Philip regained the Crown and the Sovereignty of the Golden Fleece, enjoying both until his death in 1746.
Clause XIII of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 (which, among other matters, established the Infant Philip of Spain as Duke of Parma and Guastalla), had proposed that a congress be established to "give a ruling upon the dispute over the Grand Mastership of the Order of the Golden Fleece". Philip's eventual successor, Ferdinand VI, refused to accept this clause in a protest dated 20 September 1748, which his ambassador followed with a declaration of 20 November of the same year, stating that the Sovereignty of the Order was a "right and a possession united inseparably to the Crown of Spain". Had Philip V's descendants become extinct, however, the Sovereignty of the Golden Fleece would have had to have followed the original destination of the Perpetual Burgundian Trust (i.e. it would have probably passed to the descendants of Louis XV before the Habsburgs), rather than passed with the Spanish Crown. After firmly stating the legality of his Grand Mastership, in 1755 Ferdinand VI decided to institute a Junta de Caballeros to assist in the administration of the ceremonial of the Order.
The Spanish Golden Fleece has been criticised for not retaining the same exclusivity during the nineteenth century as that given by the Emperor, even if the claim to its Sovereignty by the Spanish King was a better one and, in 1806, it was conferred on the Emperor Napoleon and his brother Joseph (leading Louis XVIII to return his Collar with a bitter letter). When Joseph Napoleon became King of Spain by courtesy of his brother in 1808, he illegally assumed the Sovereignty of the Order by virtue of his possession of the Spanish Crown. In 1812 the acting government of Spain illegally conferred the Order on the Duke of Wellington, an act confirmed by Ferdinand VII on his restoration, who canceled the awards made by King Joseph. Ferdinand in a royal decree of October 30th, 1817, summoned the first Chapter of the Order to be held since 1559, to solemnly invest him with the Sovereignty of the Order. At the same time he re-established the Junta de Caballeros, under the presidency of his brother, the Infante Don Carlos, assisted by four vocales, the Marques de Ariza, the Conde de Miranda, the Marques de Bélgida and the Conde de la Puebla.
Ferdinand in confirming the nomination of Wellington made the first non-Catholic knight, an appointment soon followed by that of the Russian Minister Dmitri Pavlovitch Tatischev. Not wishing to contravene the terms of the Papal Bulls which had at various times endowed the Order, he wrote in 1817 to the Pope asking permission to admit non-Catholic princes, explaining that as the premier Order of his Kingdom he wished to include the leading non-Catholic European sovereigns among the Companions. The Papal response, dated December 28th, 1817.
And have seen that those non-Catholics who have been declared elected do not form part of the fifty-one Knights who compose the Chapter or Executive of the Order; that they may solely use the insignia of the Order as the actual knights do only as far as external acts are concerned and that always it must be insured that the number of fifty-one which constitutes the Order according to the Papal Bulls, must all be Catholic Knights. Accordingly, Your Majesty may not consider those non-Catholics elected to be members of the Order or Canonical Body that has been sanctioned by the Holy See, although they use the insignia, and you must consequently separate any such concessions or acts entirely from any connection with the aforesaid Body, we also recognize that Your Majesty does not have need of any intervention by our Apostolic authority …..”
This was confirmed in a letter of the Ministry of Grace and Justice directed to the Chancellor of the Order dated June 29th, 1819. Acting on the advice of the Minister, the Chancellor then wrote to the King to confirm that “the non-Catholic Knights, while they cannot be considered members of the Canonical Body that the Holy See has sanctioned, and for whose spiritual privileges and graces they are not eligible, nonetheless …. must use and enjoy the same insignia and temporal privileges as the other Knights”.
With the death of Ferdinand VII in 1833, the de facto succession to the Spanish Crown passed to his daughter Isabel II, under a secret Pragmatic Decree of King Charles IV of 1788, never published but sanctioned by the Cortes, and re-enacted by Ferdinand VII on 29 March 1830. This Decree undid the system of Salic law established by Philip V in the New Regulation for the Succession to these Kingdoms of 10 May 1713 which had replaced the ancient system of succession under which Philip himself had inherited the Crown. Ferdinand's act, however, deprived all the males of the House of a position they enjoyed by birth, by placing before them his daughter Isabel II. Faced with protests by the supporters of his popular younger brother and of his cousins the King of the Two Sicilies, the King of the French and Duke of Lucca, Ferdinand rescinded this act on 18 September 1832, but then reinstated it again on 31 December 1832. Ferdinand VII died on 29 September 1833 and, while his daughter was proclaimed Queen as Isabel II, his next brother, the Infant Charles, having been deprived of his position in the succession, now proclaimed himself King as Charles V, and also Sovereign of the Golden Fleece as Duke of Burgundy.
Although it was claimed by the Carlists, and by some later writers, that Isabel's assumption of the Sovereignty of the Golden Fleece was in contravention of the Statutes, the original terms of the Burgundian succession would have placed her as the heir after the death of Ferdinand VII. [39] This is not the place to argue the complexities of the Carlist claim, but nonetheless it must be pointed out that if Philip V could himself alter the succession, with the consent of the Cortes, so could the succession be altered again provided the same legal requirements were followed. The flaw, which undermined the legality of this reversion to the ancient system, was its consequent deprivation of the existing prior rights of the males of the House. Furthermore, the Spanish House of Bourbon had foregone its rights to France in return for guaranteed possession of Spain by application of Salic Law. Isabel II may be regarded as having a stronger claim than her uncle as heiress to the Golden Fleece under the terms of the original Burgundian succession, however, and she was able to maintain this claim more successfully as the de facto inheritor of the Spanish Crown, to which it had been tied in 1724.
The liberal government of Spain unquestionably abused the Order, removing both King Charles X and his son, the Duke of Angoulême (later titular King as Louis XIX) from the roll and using the gift of the Order as a political tool. Isabel II further amended the character of the Order by decrees of 26 July 1847 and 28 October 1851, in which she declared that it was one of the royal civil Orders to which nominations could not be made without the assent of the Council of Ministers and must be announced in the Gaceta de Madrid within one month. This requirement did not mean that awards of the Order which were not published in the Gaceta were invalid, however, because failure to publish such awards could not deprive Sovereigns of the Order of their statutory right to bestow it at their discretion.
The Isabeline Order was no longer limited to Catholic nobles, being given both to bourgeois politicians and non-Catholics, which in some eyes diminished the prestige of the Order. Nonetheless, the non-Catholic members by virtue of the Papal assent of 1817 were considered extra-numerary members and their appointment did not offend the original statutes. During the course of the century and in the first three decades of the twentieth, it came to be regarded as a great state honor, rather than the personal award of the Sovereign. It was unsurprising, therefore, that following the revolution of 1868, it was conferred, probably illegally, both by the provisional government of the Duke of la Torre (1868-1870) and the short-lived Monarchy of the Duke of Aosta (1870-1872). Until 1936 there were effectively three Orders of the Golden Fleece, two Spanish and one Austrian; although only one could be said to represent the original Order, the other two may be considered to have conformed more strictly with the historic statutes. Awards were generally made according to the political complexion of the recipient, but even within other branches of the family there were differences - while the Duke of Lucca, later Duke of Parma, accepted the Carlist decoration, his son and grandson both accepted the Isabeline Order.
THE WEDDING OF ALFONSO XIII & VICTORIA EUGENIA OF BATTENBERG, The end of the First World War led to a claim being put forward by the King of the Belgians to the Sovereignty of the Order, by virtue of possession of the former Austrian Netherlands, which made up much of the territory of modern Belgium. This claim can be dismissed as having no justification whatsoever, but since Belgium had suffered horribly following the unprovoked German invasion, there was considerable sympathy to its demands on the part of the victorious powers. Most of the other powers that had supported France and Great Britain had gained some territory at the expense of Germany and her allies and the possibility of handing over an Austrian Imperial prerogative along with the treasure of the Order, even on such tenuous grounds, was seriously considered. By the tretay of Saint-Germain it was agreed that the King of the Belgians' claim would be considered by a commission of three jurists, and a determination made thereafter to whose authority the Austrian Republic, although illegally holding the Treasure, promised to submit. While this had no affect on the position of King Alfonso XIII, the Spanish King nonetheless generously offered his assistance to the Emperor Carl. Through the agency of the former Imperial Ambassador in Madrid, the King approached the Emperor, who was outraged at what the Austrian Sovereign of the Order perceived as the perfidy of King Albert in taking advantage of his plight. In his reply of 20 May 1920, the Emperor asked King Alfonso to intervene through diplomatic sources with both the Austrian Republic and the King of the Belgians. The King's interventions immediately bore fruit and the Austrians agreed to consult closely with the Spanish emissary.
Nonetheless, in 1922 the Belgian King once again tried to claim the Treasure from the Austrians and the dispute was immediately before the hastily convened commission of jurists. The Emperor wrote to the King on 4 February 1922 thanking him for his assistance and stating “it is no longer possible for me to be occupied in any effective manner with my Order of the Golden Fleece and of the treasure pertaining to the Order. …. In this situation, I have recourse to You, my dear brother and cousin, as Head of the Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece, and I pray that you, having the same interests of the Order which certainly you do not hold any less dear to your heart than I do, will as I wish take charge of the guardianship and protection of the said Order and its treasure until such time as, by the grace of God, I will be able myself to retake this protection that has been my joy and my burden. My recognition, my dear brother and cousin, also that of all the knights, you will be assured of always. The King then instructed his mission to accept custody of the Treasure of the Order which was preserved for safekeeping in the Spanish Embassy in Vienna. Since King Albert was a member of the Austrian Order and therefore could not receive the Spanish, he later conferred the Collar of the Order on the heir to the Throne, Leopold Duke of Brabant (later Leopold III).
Alfonso XIII was deposed as Spanish King in 1931, and spent the last decade of his life in exile in Rome, not making any further awards of the Order. By the extinction of the senior male line of the House of Bourbon in 1936, Alfonso became both de facto and undisputed de jure Sovereign of the Order and, as head of all the House of Bourbon (France), adopted the plain Arms of France without the difference for Anjou. The King died in 1941 and the claim to the Crown of Spain, along with the Chiefship and Sovereignty of the Golden Fleece passed to his third, but second surviving son, Juan, Count of Barcelona.
DON JUAN DE BORBÓN, COUNT OF BARCELONA, SOVEREIGN OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE , The Count of Barcelona was implicitly acknowledged as Sovereign of the Order by the government of General Franco, whose diplomats returned to him the Collars of deceased foreign knights. Furthermore, the present King, when Prince of Spain, wore the Golden Fleece on his uniform and at state occasions and his official coat of Arms was surrounded by the Collar of the Order. The Count of Barcelona avoided awarding the Order on a political basis, conferring it firstly on his son, the present King, upon his succession in 1941. He made no more awards until he gave it to Baudouin I, King of the Belgians (1960), Charles of Bourbon, Duke of Calabria, (in 1964, twenty-two days after the death of his father, also a member), Robert of Bourbon, Duke of Parma (1964), and Constantine II, King of the Hellenes (1964, six months after the death of his father, King Paul, given the Order in 1962). The Count of Barcelona began the process of restoring the Spanish Order to a premier position and refused to concede it on a political basis.
DON JUAN DE BORBÓN, COUNT OF BARCELONA, with the Collars of the Golden Fleece and Charles III, and the starts of the four military Orders. When Juan Carlos became King in 1975 he did not immediately assume the Sovereignty of the Order of the Golden Fleece, which still pertained to his father as Head of the Royal House of Spain. By an act of 14 May 1977, the Count of Barcelona abdicated as Head of the Spanish Royal House and Sovereign of the Golden Fleece to his son the King, and since that time regular but highly exclusive bestowal of the Order has been resumed. A dynastic Order of the House of Burgundy by origin, its original statutes have not been formally amended or changed, neither have the decrees attaching it permanently to the Spanish Crown or requiring its award to be approved by the Council of Ministers been formally incorporated therein. Today the King awards the Order with the prior knowledge of the Council of Ministers and the recipient is notified in a decree written in Spanish, although the actual conferral is made in a letter written, as Duke of Burgundy, in French. The succession, however, is not limited to those eligible under the modern Spanish Constitution but includes those dynasts who enjoy a right of succession under the earlier 1876 Constitution which incorporated the provisions of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1830/33.
THE COUNT OF BARCELONA ABDICATING AS HEAD OF THE ROYAL HOUSE OF SPAIN, 14 MAY 1977. The King has conferred the Order on four non-royal Spaniards - his former military tutor Torcuato Fernández Miranda (whom he created a Duke and gave the Fleece in 1977), the recently retired head of his household, the Marquess of Mondéjar (who also received it in 1977 and is the only living non-royal knight), the late D. Jose-Maria Peman y Pemartin and, in 1993, on the Duke of Alburquerque (who died in 1994). He has also conferred it on several reigning sovereigns, including the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and King Albert II of the Belgians, although against all precedent both had received the Habsburg Order from the Archduke Otto. The present King has further amended the original constitution of the Order by the admission of three ladies, without promulgating a formal amendment to the statutes, namely Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margarethe II of Denmark and, in 1988, Queen Elisabeth II of Great Britain. As an Order conferred primarily on foreign Monarchs and members of the Royal Family, it is different in character to other great Collar Orders given by reigning Monarchs such as the Garter, the Seraphim or the Elephant, which are awarded more frequently to subjects of those Crowns. Nonetheless, the present Monarch has been well-advised to remove it from the political sphere and refuse to make it an award for senior Ministers and officials of the Crown. In modern Spain, unlike Great Britain, where there is no real Court and the nobility have few privileges and no public responsibilities, it could be considered inappropriate as a distinction offered to the heads of ancient families close to the Sovereign (as with the Austrian Order, and the Garter and Thistle).
JUAN CARLOS I, KING OF SPAIN, The present members of the Order are, in order of their appointment: Juan Carlos I King of Spain, Chief and Sovereign, the Infant Charles Duke of Calabria (1964), Constantine II King of the Hellenes (1964), Felipe Prince of the Asturias (1981), Carl-Gustaf King of Sweden (1983), Jean Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1983), Akihito Emperor of Japan (1985), Beatrix Queen of the Netherlands (1985), Marguerite II Queen of Denmark (1985), Elisabeth II Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1988), Albert II King of the Belgians (1994) and Harald V King of Norway (1995).
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THE ROYAL AND DISTINGUISHED ORDER OF CHARLES III
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The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos III was established by the King of Spain Carlos III by means of the Royal Decree of September 19, 1771, with the motto Virtuti et mérito. Its objective is to reward people for their actions in benefit to Spain and the Crown. Ever since its creation, it has been the most distinguished civil award that can be granted in Spain, despite its categorisation as a military order. It was formally converted to a civil order in 1847.
The Order was later regulated in an Imperial Decree of 1992(in which was set the objective of "rewarding the citizens who, with their effort, initiative and work, have brought a distinguished and extraordinary service to the Nation") and by an Order of May 8, 2000.
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THE ROYAL AND MILITARY ORDER OF ST HERMENGILDO
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The Order was founded in the year 1814 by King Ferdinand VII of Spain, it was dedicated to St Hermenegildus, who was taken prisoner as he led a military insurrection, suffered martyrdom rather than abjure his Catholic faith at Tarragona, in the year 585. His public cult was authorised by Pope Sixtus V, in the year 1585.
Formally abolished during the Spanish Republic in 1931, it was revived by Generalissimo Franco in 1951 to reward outstanding service of members of the Spanish Army and Navy.
The badge consists of a gold-rimmed, white-enamelled Maltese Cross, with the Golden figure of St. Hermenegildus on Horeback on the centre medallion.
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THE ORDER OF ISABELLA THE CATHOLIC
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Order of Isabella the Catholic - Often called the Royal American Order of Isabella the Catholic, was founded on March 24, 1815, by Ferdinand VII, as a reward for loyalty either in the kingdom or in the American colonies of Spain. Later it was awarded for merit. It was placed under the patronage of St. Isabella (1451-1504), surnamed la Catolica, Queen of Castile and wife of Ferdinand of Aragon. It was during the reign of Isabella the Catholic that Columbus discovered America, and during the reign of Ferdinand VII, the founder of this order, that Florida was sold to the United States (1819), and that most of the other American colonies were lost to Spain. One of the objects in establishing this order, apparently, was to reward certain of the American colonial officials and dignitaries. There are five grades: Grand Cross, Commander with plaque, Commander, Chevalier and Chevalier of the Silver Cross. Some authorities state that a silver medal of the order was given to a number of the American Indian subjects, though this is not confirmed. A sixth class was instituted in April, 1907, by Alphonso XIII, consisting of silver and bronze medals, 32mm. in diameter, bearing on the obverse a replica of the cross without the rays, and on the reverse the crowned monogram of Ferdinand VII. To judge from the varieties of this decoration, they were very generously bestowed and not very highly valued.
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THE MILITARY ORDER OF SAINT FERDINAND
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The Order was founded in the year 1811, by Gereral Cortes of The Kingdom of Spain, it was confirmed by Ferdinand, King of Spain, in 1815. It objects is to honour the saintly King Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon, (1199-1252), whose body lies in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Seville, and to reward meritorious service in the army and navy. |Re-confirmed by King Alfonso XIII in 1920 and then suppressed by the Spanish Rpublic in 1931, it was finally revived by Generalissimo Franco in 1940.
The badge of the Order is ball-pointed, with a white-enamelled Maltese Cross, gold-rimmed, with the figure of St. Ferdinand in regal robes portrayed on the centre medallion, surmounted on a green and gold laurel wreath and suspended from a smaller gold and green wreath.
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THE ORDER OF MARIA LUISA
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A Dynastic Order of Chivalry, given by the reigning Sovereign, King Juan Carlos I of Spain. During the reign of Generalissmo Franco, the order was never conferred because he respected its dynastic character. The Order was founded by Carlos IV, King of Spain,(1788-1808) in 1792, so as to furnish his wife the Queen Maria Luisa of Parma, with the means to honour noble ladies for outstandind deeds of charity.
The image of St. Ferdinand, an ancestor of the Royal Family , is portrayed on the centre medallion of the badge as the patron of the order, whose recipents were expected to show their devotion to him by their dedication to works of mercy,. The badge itself consists of a Maltese gold-rimmed, violet and white enamel cross.
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THE HISTORY OF SPANISH MILITARY ORDERS
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The crusade to drive the Moors from Spain, four hundred years of almost constant warfare interspersed with skirmishes and short periods of armed peace, was not only the longest of all European wars but was the only crusade to achieve its objective. The role played by the knights of the Military Orders was a crucial one; their monastic structure, the harsh discipline and the devotion of the knights to the cause of liberating their nation from the invader, gave them an unmatched strength of purpose. By granting key strategic fortresses to the knights, the Iberian Kings of Castille, Aragón, León and Portugal were able to establish border outposts in newly conquered territories whose boundaries were continually pushing back the areas controlled by the Moors. With the success of the Reconquista and the expulion of the Moors, the four Orders lost their independence from secular authorities when they were put under the "perpetual administration" of the Spanish Crown. They then found a new role as an elite corps of the nobility, maintaining their castles and estates as commanderies to provide incomes for those who had distinguished themselves in the service of the Monarch. With the loss of their estates in the nineteenth century their role became purely honorary and the Republic attempted to suppress them entirely, although this was contrary to Canon Law under which they were regulated as Religious-Military Orders founded by Papal Bull. Restored under the present Monarchy, they have been maintained as exclusively Catholic, Noble Orders dependent on the Crown.
They had their origin in the small, local military confraternities founded for self-protection by members of the knightly class. The Moors had conquered almost all of the Iberian peninsular within five years of invading in the year 711 a.d. The Christians, however, advancing gradually southwards, fortifying the small towns in which they settled, steadily regained their lost territories. By the end of the eleventh century northern Spain was divided into a number of small states, León, Castille, Navarre, Aragón, Galicia and Portugal, frequently at odds with each other but united by their religion and the continual concern over a revived threat from the Moorish states to the south.
Although the Moors were relatively tolerant of religious minorities living within their dominions, indeed there was considerable intermarriage between the different communities, Christian, Jewish and Moor, they saw the expanding Christian communities on their borders as ready victims for plunder. The Moorish Kingdom based at Córdoba was itself divided by factionalism and its break-up into smaller taifas (city states) gave the Christian confraternities their chance to consolidate their power and firmly establish themselves in the territories they had captured during two centuries of protracted struggle.By the end of the eleventh century the Christian Kingdoms enjoyed an uneasy truce with the Moors, interspersed with occasional hostilities, but this was disrupted by the appearance of a fanatic Berber sect, the Almohads, in the early twelfth century.
The Almohads, led by Abd al-Moumin, invaded Andalucia in 1147, uniting the Moorish principalities under their rule and menacing the Christian states. The Spanish Christians were forced to put aside their internal conflicts and, with the help of the Templars, who had established themselves in a number of border fortresses, united to defeat this new threat to their security. The example of the Templars, a highly disciplined military confraternity dedicated exclusively to the defense of the Church, proved to be the model which would be followed by the native Spanish Orders. Some of the original defensive fraternities formed in the outlying towns provided the nucleus for the Orders of Chivalry, while others, more modest, later became Maestranzas or Noble Associations, some of which have survived to the present day. The Templars themselves were in gradual retreat in Spain as the local magnates preferred to endow the newly former military Orders rather than further add to the strength of the threateningly powerful Templar Order.
The first Order to be founded, but the second to receive Papal approval, was the Order of Calatrava. The earlier recognition, however, granted to the Order of Santiago by the Holy See, gave the latter precedence before the other three. Santiago was also far more extensively endowed than the other Orders (in the eighteenth century the value of its benefices totaled 40% of the combined value of those of all four Orders together). Once the mission of driving the Moors from Spain was accomplished, the four Orders, like the great crusader Orders elsewhere in Europe, were perceived as over-mighty subjects and it became a priority for the Crown to gain control over them - particularly as the not infrequent quarrels between the rival bodies was a source of dissension at a time when the Crown was struggling to establish its central authority.
The Spanish Kings had frequently obtained the election of close connections of their families as Masters of the Orders and at Calatrava in 1489, Santiago in 1494 and Alcántara in 1495 the administration of the three Magisteries were ultimately granted to King Ferdinand of Aragón, as Sovereign of Aragón and King-Consort of Castille. Finally, by the Bull Dum intra of Pope Adrian VI dated 4 May 1523, the `perpetual administration' of the three Orders was transferred to Charles I (the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V), King of Spain, and his heirs and successors, with the provision that this dignity could be exercised by a future female Sovereign.
The much smaller Order of Montesa was not perceived as such a threat as the other three and it was not until a Bull of Sixtus V, of 15 March 1587, that its perpetual administration was eventually transferred to the Crown of Aragón. By a further Bull of 22 May 1739 (at the request of Philip V) its council was united with that of the other three Orders. The Orders were administered by a `Council and Tribunal' appointed in 1523, but each of the four retained their independent structure, their own statutes, and requirements for noble proofs and ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The exemption from the control of local ordinaries was preserved in the Bull of 1523 and in subsequent Papal dispositions concerning the four Orders, until the first Spanish Republic. By the mid-sixteenth century the Tribunal had authority over two cities, two hundred and twenty small towns and seventy-five villages. Membership of the Council included the Secretary of the Orders, the Treasurer of the Orders (Contador Mayor), the Grand-Usher, three (later four with Montesa) Procurator-Generals, three (later four) fiscals (who inspected noble proofs) and a Treasurer of the Council. The lesser officers of each of the Orders, lawyers, etc were not members of the Council.
Without a military function, the four Orders became a valued means of honoring the nobility and rewarding servants of the Crown who had distinguished themselves. Thus, in the eighteenth century, a number of Jacobite exiles, who had served in the armies of Philip V, were received into the four Orders and rewarded with the grant of valuable commanderies. Several gentlemen of Irish, English, Scots and Welsh descent settled permanently in Spain and between 1702 and 1780 there were forty knights of Santiago of British birth or origin admitted, and a handful to the other four Orders (Santiago attracted more postulants because of the larger number of benefices available). The admission into the four Orders of foreigners who were not in the service of the Spanish crown was almost unknown, and although there is no prohibition against non-Spanish members of the four Orders today, only one - the Duke of Braganza, Head of the Royal House of Portugal - has been admitted. Membership of the Order of the Golden Fleece, which was regarded as having greater prestige both by the Borbón Kings and non-Spaniards, was considered incompatible with membership in any of the four military Orders until a reform of 1773 (before which a Papal Bull was required to leave one to receive the other). The Fleece was therefore the preferred award of the Spanish Kings for foreigners and the greatest nobles, while the four Orders were used to honor service to the Crown, until the establishment of the Order of Charles III, whose lowest rank also could be granted to less illustrious individuals.
The downfall of the Borbón Kingdom in 1808 and the establishment of a Bonapartist Monarchy under Joseph NapoLeón, led to the suppression of the four Orders by the secular authorities (canonically invalid) and the seizure of their benefices. Ferdinand VII re-established them and restored their properties upon recovering his Crown in 1814. Between 1814 and their suspension by the revolutionary government in 1869, there were some three hundred and forty-admissions into the Order of Santiago, one hundred and fifty into Alcántara and eighty-five into Montesa.
The liberal government of the regency of María-Christina attempted to suppress the Orders in 1836, confiscating their benefices, but re-established them shortly afterwards (without restoring their estates). Their exempt ecclesiastical jurisdiction was preserved under the terms of the 1851 Concordat, by which certain of the confiscated properties were restored and concentrated together near Ciudad Real, which was established as a Prelature nullius dioeceseos, under the title Priory of the four reunited Military Orders of Santiago, Calatrava, Alcántara and Montesa. In 1873 the Holy See, acting in disregard of this earlier agreement, suppressed the exempt jurisdiction - to accord with the wishes of the new republican government - but following the restoration of the Borbón Monarchy once again, with Alfonso XII as King, the four Orders regained their independence in 1876. Their ancient prerogatives restored, but with only those benefices situated at Ciudad Real, the status of the four military Orders was primarily honorific - since the Order of Saint John had ceased to require proof of nobility from the mid-nineteenth century they were the only surviving Spanish Orders for which proof of nobility was required.
Once Alfonso XIII attained his majority, he began to take interest in the Orders and their well-being, and attached to his other titles that of "Grand Master" - obtaining de facto Papal approval of his new title of Grand Master and Perpetual Administrator when the Holy See confirmed certain regulations in 1916. The King was accustomed to wear the crosses of the four Orders on all official occasions and actively participated in their ceremonies. Indeed, the white mantle with the four Crosses was taken with him into exile in 1931 and, on his death ten years later, his body was dressed in this mantle when it lay in state. After his exile in 1931, a handful of new knights were admitted whose nominations had been under way before the downfall of the Monarchy - including several knights of Santiago and Calatrava. The Count of Barcelona, who succeeded him as claimant to the Spanish Throne, made only two admissions during the years from 1941 until the restoration of the Monarchy, the Infants Luis-Alfonso and José-Eugenio, Princes of Bavaria, who were received as novices on 23 April 1941. The Republic had declared the four Orders abolished by an act of 29 April 1934 but, although this action was canonically invalid, the nationalist government did not accede to the four Orders request for reestablishment.
The restoration of the Spanish Monarchy in 1975 led to new moves to restore the four Orders. In 1978 the Count of Barcelona, who had abdicated in favor of his son, King Juan Carlos I, as Head of the Royal House of Spain and Chief and Sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece in the previous year, was nominated Dean President of the Council and Tribunal of the Orders of Chivalry of Santiago, Calatrava, Alcántara and Montesa. On May 29 of that year, Don José Fernández-Villaverde y Roca de Togores, Marquess of Pozo Rubio and Grandee of Spain (a novice knight of Calatrava since 1921), was appointed to be "Councilor-Minister" of the four Orders. Three years later on 14 October 1981, in a decree signed by the Count of Barcelona in the name of the King, the Marquess of Pozo Rubio was nominated "Grand Commander" of Calatrava - an appointment which was followed by that of D. Gonzalo García de Blanes as "Grand Commander" of Alcántara on 15 March 1982 (succeeded by the Duke of Calabria on 13 October 1986). On 7 December 1982 the first admissions of novices to the four Orders begun - eight to Santiago, twelve to Calatrava, six to Alcántara and two to Montesa. The first professions were permitted from January 1983 - some of those making profession having been novices for sixty years or more.
Today the four Orders have a total membership of more than two hundred and thirty - the majority in Calatrava - re-establishing themselves rapidly and adopting various humanitarian duties. His Majesty the King retains the title of Grand Master, Perpetual Administrator by Apostolic Authority, the late Count of Barcelona was "Dean President" until the nomination by His Majesty of His Royal Highness the Infante Duke of Calabria as his successor on July 5th, 1993. There is also a Minister Councilor (previously the Duke of Calabria) and two Councilors. The post of Prelate of Ciudad Real, to which the titular Episcopal see of Dora had been attached, has, since 1984, been elevated to the status of Bishop of Ciudad Real (within the Archdiocese of Toledo), and the Priory of the four Military Orders is still attached thereto. The Holy See has not intervened in the re-establishment of the Orders and when a request was made as to the attitude of the Vatican, an informal reply was given that their abolition in 1934 had been unrecognized by the Holy See and that previous privileges (excepting the exempt ecclesiastical jurisdiction) had not been revoked. Each of the four Orders have initiated ceremonies at their ancient seats but the principal ecclesiastical seat is the Church of the four Orders in Madrid.
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THE MILITARY ORDER OF SANTIAGO
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The Order of Santiago (Sant'Iago), more properly the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, was originally a small military brotherhood based near Caceres in Estramadura. Their initial purpose was to provide protection for the pilgrims traveling to and from the tomb of Saint James at Compostella, the most important pilgrimage center in Western Europe, who were frequently harassed by Moorish bandits. Between 1164 and 1170 the thirteen founder knights had attached themselves to the order of regular canons of the monastery of Sant'Eloi at Lugo, on the Mino in Galicia, promising to give them military protection and adopting their rule of Saint Augustine. The knights brought a considerable endowment to the new combined Order, and the monks soon assented to sharing their common revenues and agreed to provide hospital services to the knights, their serving brothers and sick pilgrims. The 1173 concordat between the Master of the knights, D. Pedro-Fernándo de Fuentes Encalada and the Prior of the canons, Dom Fernándo, which regulated the terms of this agreement, was approved by the Papal legate, Hiacinto Cardinal Bubo (later Pope Celestinus III), in early 1175 and later that year Fuentes traveled to Rome, where he was received in audience by Pope Alexander II, who approved the new Order in the Bull Benedictus Deus of 3 July 1175.
The knights made similar vows as the members of the Hospitaller and Templar Orders, although only taKing the lesser vow of "marital chastity". They were not only required to provide hospital services, however, but like the Teutonic knights in Prussia also undertake the evangelisation of the citizens of their new territories. The head of the Order, accorded the title of "Master", ruled with a Council of Thirteen (the Trecenezago), while the religious members (the Canons and Canonesses) were headed by their own Prior. The Master's deputy (a member of the Trecenezago), was accorded the title of Grand Commander (Commendador Mayor) and subsequently the responsibilities of this office were divided between five Grand Commanders, of Castille, León, and Montalbán (or Aragón) - which still exist - and two others, Portugal and Gascony, which have been dissolved. The council of thirteen was replicated in the Order's principal fortress communities (or encomienda), each containing thirteen knight brothers.
The Order had immediately obtained the support of King Ferdinand of Aragón who, in 1171, had granted it title to the original headquarters, the town of Caceres and, over the next two years, they captured Badajoz, Mora (near Toledo), and Fuentiduena (near Aranjuez). In 1174 they were granted the castle of Uclés (between Toledo and Cuenca) by King Alfonso IX of Castille, where they established their principal seat following the loss of Caceres and Badajoz. Within ten years they had founded hospitals at Toledo, Avíla and Talavera and, in 1188, at Cuenca. In 1186 they inaugurated the convent of Santa Eufemia of Cozolos for the Canonesses attached to their Order and soon afterward opened a leper hospital at Villa San Martín, near Carion. They were granted extensive properties in Portugal, including the town of Palmella, and later acquired properties in France, Italy, Palestine, Carinthia, Hungary and England (given them by grateful pilgrims).
Unfortunately, the Christian Kingdoms of Spain were frequently at odds with each other. The loyalty of the military Orders to one or other of the protagonists further weakened the Christian cause, delaying the ultimate victory over the Moors. In 1176 the knights had joined the King of Castille against Sancho VI, King of Navarre, giving the Moors an opportunity to attack Uclés, seriously damaging its defenses. Master Fuentes died in 1184 leading to a schism in the Order - the knights in León electing (at the instigation of King Ferdinand), D. Sancho Fernández while those in Castille (encouraged by King Alfonso), elected D. Fernándo Díaz. The latter is generally regarded as the legitimate Grand Master but Díaz, anxious not to perpetuate the schism, resigned in 1186 and his knights accepted the authority of Fernández.
Like the Templars and Hospitallers, the four Orders rapidly assumed extensive feudal powers and this was never more evident than in the widespread territories of the knights of Santiago. When acquiring new estates, whether by gift or conquest, the Order would typically establish some kind of defensible buildings and, in larger towns, build substantial fortresses. The area around would necessarily be dedicated to the production of food for the garrison and networks of villages and peasant communities would be joined by primitive roads radiating from the center. Each of the principal castles would necessarily have their own administrative systems, subordinate to the local Commander, with groups of knights, sergeants and foot soldiers. Gifts to the Orders from each of Spain's several Monarchies and from individuals meant that their territories were widely scattered and this was particularly true of the heavily endowed Order of Santiago. Unfortunately, the distance from the central leadership contributed to divisions within the Order as poor communications and divergent interests made consensual decision making extremely difficult. The various Crown grants to the Orders tended to be on frontier areas bordering the Moorish settlements and these were sometimes made in exchange for towns or castles now situated well behind the lines. Typical of such grants were the gifts by Sancho IV of Castril in exchange for Libriella in 1282 and Orcera for Amusco (near Monzón) in 1285; both these bordered the Kingdom of Granada. To help support the Order, royal grants were sometimes made of monopolies or other forms of income; in 1246 Santiago's monastery at Segura was given an annual rent of 2,000 maravedís from the salt mines at Belinchón by Ferdinand III. A further aspect of the Order's responsibilities - and one which was likewise consigned to Calatrava and Alcántara - was assisting in resettling land captured from the Moors with Christian populations from the north.
In 1195 the knights, joined with those of Calatrava and Alcántara, suffered a bitter defeat at Alarcos; their Grand Master was fatally wounded and many of their number killed. War broke out soon after between Castille and León and the knights, who owned territories in both Kingdoms, were forced to elect two Masters once again - this second schism ended with the submission of all the knights to Gonzálo Ordóñez in 1203. Over the course of the next century the knights were engaged in war with both Moors and fellow Christians, generally supporting the Kings of Castille and Aragón against Navarre. As the Moors were steadily driven southwards, so the knights of Santiago acquired more extensive territories and increased their numbers - despite a further schism in the Magistery during the 1220's and quarrels between the knights and the religious brothers and sisters headed by the Prior.
In 1312 the knights established a seat at Salamanca and soon after built a convent in Seville. They had signed a formal alliance with the King of Castille in 1226 but the Crown was anxious to further strengthen its control over this powerful, and potentially disloyal, military power. To ensure the loyalty of the Order King Alfonso XI of Castille persuaded the knights to elect one of his natural sons, the ten year old D. Fernándo, as Grand Master, requiring a Papal dispensation. However, on the death of the King and the succession of the Grand Master's half-brother Pedro the Cruel, relations between the knights and Crown deteriorated when the new King, as one of his first acts, ordered the execution of his father's mistress, the mother of the Grand Master. Pedro, faced with revolt by his grandees and the knights of Santiago, commanded the deposition of the Grand Master, which the knights refused and, with the assistance of a small group of knights, obtained the schismatic and illegal election of his own mistress's brother as Master. In 1357, having persuaded the Master that he was prepared to recognize his sole authority over the Order, Pedro summoned him to Seville where he promptly had him murdered, leading to a further schism, only ended by the election of the Infant Henry of Aragón at the end of the century.
In 1445 the Order elected Alvaro de Luna, Constable of Castille, but he too was faced with a rival in the person of Rodrigo Manríquez, the candidate of the King of Aragón, leading to a bloody war between the knights and, in 1453, to the eventual arrest of Luna, who had entered into a secret agreement with the Moors. After a brief period of royal administration and a further disputed succession, the King permitted the knights to elect D. Juan Pacheco in 1467. Pacheco attempted to restore discipline but his death in 1474 led to a further schism, this time with three Masters. With the conquest of Grenada the importance of the knights declined and, within a year of the death of the schismatic Master Alfonso de Cardenas in 1493, Ferdinand V of Aragón obtained the "Administration" of the Order of Santiago in the Kingdoms of Spain by a Bull of the Spanish Pope Alexander VI (Borgia). The knights in Portugal, with their seat first at Alcazar d'Ozal and later at Palmela, had had their own Grand Master since the early fourteenth century, while the administration was annexed to the Portuguese Crown by Pope Julius II. In 1515 Ferdinand's grand-son and eventual successor, Charles I (the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V), the first Habsburg King of Spain, obtained confirmation of the royal administration of the Order, which was permanently conceded to the Crown in 1523 .
To qualify for membership candidates had to prove four noble quarterings, but until 1653 it was only required that the nobility of the paternal line should be of any antiquity. An obligation was imposed on the novices to serve in the galleys for six months and live in the Convent of the Order to study its rule for one month, but these relatively modest duties could be dispensed with by payment of a sum of money and by the eighteenth century was purely nominal. Permitted to marry by the terms of Pope Alexander III's 1175 Bull, although obligated to "marital chastity", they could only do so with royal permission, which had to be transmitted in writing. Without this dispensation they were obliged to a year of penance, or a financial penalty - if members of the Trecenezago they were deprived of their office. The wives of knights were obliged to make the same noble proofs as their husbands - thus the son of a knight need only proof his legitimate birth to qualify. When making profession the knights were required to take the vows of poverty, obedience and marital chastity, and by a decision of the Chapter-General in 1652 (also in Calatrava and Alcántara), they added, with royal approval, a fourth vow to defend and sustain the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.
The knights of Santiago have left an architectural legacy of some considerable importance, indeed in building churches and fortresses and enlarging the towns and cities in their control each of the Orders have left a permanent remembrance of their power. Not suprisingly, some of the greatest such structures were either not begun or were substantially remodeled after the Reconquista was completed, particularly as the defeat of the Moors rendered the defensive character less significant. A recent study of three of Santiago's principal buildings in Uclés, San Marcos and Calera de León illustrates the history of different aspects of the architectural heritage of the Order. Each of the buildings examined by these scholars retained the existing system of cloister and communal buildings attached to a splendid church. They already anticipate the baroque style but combine elements from the gothic and renaissance - each of which post date comparable periods in Italian architectural development. The historic buildings associated with the four Orders mostly now belong to the Spanish state, but several are used today in ceremonies honoring their patrons or commemorating the great events of their history.
By the fall of the Monarchy in 1931 the Order was much reduced in size, with less than thirty professed and thirty-five novice knights. The President of the Trecenezago was the Infant D. Ferdinand of Bavaria, Grand Commander of León and there were several other royal princes among the novice knights - including Prince Adalbert of Bavaria and the Duke of Parma, while in 1941 the Infants Luis-Alfonso and José-Eugenio, sons of the Infant D. Ferdinand, were admitted.
Today the Commendador-Mayor of Castille is the Prince of the Asturias, heir to the Spanish Throne (who entered as a novice knight in 1986, making profession immediately, and was appointed to this post the following year), the Commendador-Mayor of León is a Grandee, the Count of Bornos, and the Commendador-Mayor of Montalbán is now D. Alfonson de Zuleta y Sanchiz, (Secretary of the Order and successor to the late Duke of Alburquerque). There are thirty-five other professed knights and thirty novices. The Cross of the Order is a red latin cross with flory ends to the three upper arms (a cross flory fitchy), and the lower arm being shaped like a sword; the knights wear white robes resembling a monks habit with the cross sewn on the left side; the gold red enameled badge may be suspended from a red ribbon and worn around the neck, or it may be sewn onto the left breast. The historic name of this badge, the Espada (Sword) was nicknamed the Largetto, or Lizard. Novice knights are required to prove the nobility of each of their four grandparents, that they and their parents and grandparents are legitimate and not descended from non-Christians (or heretics, although a protestant ancestor has not been considered an obstacle to membership for many years), and that they are practicing Catholics in good standing. Petition for admission is made to President and Dean of the Council of the four Orders and proofs are examined by the fiscal. Generally only one ceremony admitting new knights is held each year and subsequently novices may make profession, in accordance with the ancient statutes.
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THE MILITARY ORDER OF CALATRAVA
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The slightly earlier Order of Calatrava (the town was originally called Oreto but renamed Calatrava by the Moors in the early seventh century), was the inspiration of Don Diego Velázquez, a Cistercian monk based at the Monastery of Fitero in Navarre. Velázquez persuaded his Abbot, Ramón Sierra, to permit a group of monks to form themselves into a military confraternity to defend this strategically crucial town. After it had been abandoned by the Templars, to whom it had been granted in 1147, King Sancho III of Castille had first offered the city as an hereditary fief to any knight who would be prepared to provide for its defense but none proved willing to take up this challenge. Velázquez had seen that it would provide the perfect site for this new confraternity and the monks of Fitero were granted the town by the King in 1158.
The members of the new garrison were first of all religious brothers but, like all early mediaeval Spanish communities whether lay or religious, had had some military training and soon re-established its fortifications. With the establishment of the new fraternity at Calatrava the brothers immediately obtained the approval of the Archbishop of Toledo, who granted them a substantial sum to assist them in preparing its fortifications. The Moors had not settled extensively in the area, which was sparsely populated, so several hundred peasants were encouraged to move from Navarre to the area surrounding the city, providing a much needed ancillary services. In 1163 Abbot Ramón died and the priests of the new foundation, under their Abbot Rodolfo, now left Calatrava to return to the monastic life at Cirvelos. The knight brothers now adopted a more distinct exclusively military character, paralleling the members of the Templar and Hospitaller Orders but still subscribing to the Cistercian rule.
Ramón's successor as Master, García, obtained a Bull confirming the Order of Calatrava as a Militia from Pope Alexander III on September 26, 1164. This placed the knights under the Cistercian rule but autonomous from the Cistercian Order itself. The teachings of the Cistercian Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, had provided them with an ideal of religious-military life, giving the Order unity and a strong sense of discipline and purpose. Each encomienda of the Order was organized around twelve knight-brothers with a chaplain who owed obedience to the Master at Calatrava.
The new Order was given half of the castles of Almadén and Chillon to garrison but was not yet strong enough to maintain them, also losing their seat at Calatrava in 1193. Like Santiago, as the Order acquired greater possessions in Castille, disputes emerged between different groups of knights. Meanwhile the Cistercians themselves tried to reassert their authority over the Order, demanding successfully in 1187 that the Master of the knights only be elected with the approval of the Cistercian Abbot of Morimond, in Burgundy. The early years saw rapid growth, with estates being acquired in Navarra in 1163, Portugal in 1175, Aragón in 1179 and the acquisition of several estates in León between 1170 and 1218 (when it abandoned any military presence there), including the castle and villa of Alcántara in 1217. The progressive expansion of Calatrava may have been perceived by the Leónese as part of the continuing attempt of the Kingdom of Castille to achieve supremacy and build an Iberian Empire. In 1218 a settlement was reached with the Order of Alcántara and half Calatrava's Leónese estates were acquired by the former, while Calatrava established itself as Alcántara's superior in disciplinary and ecclesiastical matters. At the same time the agreement between the Castillian and Leónese Crowns resulted in an effective union of the two states after 1230.
In the twenty years when the Order was without its formal seat at Calatrava, the Aragónese knights established themselves as an autonomous group under a Grand Commander based at Alcañices, who took the title of Master of Alcañíz of the Order of Calatrava. The Castillian knights had meanwhile captured the castle of Salvatierra, to which they transferred their headquarters, moving in 1210 to Zurita before recovering Calatrava itself in 1212.
Even while the Order was engaged in continual struggles with the Crown, with the other Military Orders, and among its own members, it was still able to build up its economic base. This was founded on the raising of livestock and the production of cereals or grapes for wine. An important recent study has examined these aspects of the Order's history in more detail than is appropriate here, but a brief survey demonstrates the importance of good management of the four Orders agricultural resources. The predominant cereals were wheat and barley with some rye production, while later fifteenth century records document the production of oats and vegetables. Within the patrimony of the Order the production of such crops was concentrated in the Castilian holdings while elsewhere livestock farming predominated. The cereals were used for bread manufacture and for animal food, necessary for the extensive range of livestock, mainly cattle for dairy and beef, oxen and mules as worKing animals for use in farming, particularly pulling the plow, sheep for wool and meat, pigs and horses. There are some references to the production of olives but this was far less importance than their Order's vineyards. Wine production was concentrated along the Tagus river and its tributaries but was also found in the province of Guadalajara, in Fuentelaencina, Zorita, Cogolludo, Cuenca, Canete, Moya and Plasencia. Vegetable and flower farming was an important source of income as well as providing food for local consumption; this was naturally dependent on good water sources and so was concentrated along river plains. Emulating the Moslems, whose skills in devising sophisticated hydraulic and irrigation systems had been perfected in the dry Arab lands from which they originated, the knights almost certainly utilized similar irrigation systems, particularly in more barren Andalusia. It seems that irrigation was subordinated to the use of water power for milling and that surplus water would then be directed to crop production.
The feudal system of ownership and management insured that the very best farming land remained in the hands of the knights. In times of severe drought this land could generally be relied upon to continue to be productive and therefore provide food for the garrisons given the duty of protecting the civilian populations. The peasants were given an area of land equivalent to that which could be worked by one pair of oxen for which both a percentage tribute and manual service would in return be provided to the knights. The Order oversaw the management of their own lands and constructed roads linKing villages and more distant areas of agricultural production. Typically, the land nearest a village would be used for orchards, vegetable production or grasses for animal food - the animals were stabled near the villages both for convenience and safety. Adjacent to these areas were divisions between pastures for grazing and plots available for grazing separated by fencing.
In 1212 the new Master, Don Rodrigo García, obtained the temporary submission of the Portuguese Order of Saint Benedict of Avíz, granting the latter two of the palaces of the knights of Calatrava, on the condition that they reformed their statutes in imitation of Calatrava. In 1219 the Order established an associated order of Nuns at the Convent of Saint Felix, near Amaya, where they remained until the reign of King Philip II. Now firmly entrenched at their new convent at Calatrava, the knights continued to enlarge their territories, until 1296 when there was a four year schism, with two rival Masters. The division was eventually resolved by the Chapter-General of the Cistercian Order but the two rival factions continued to quarrel through the first half of the fourteenth century and intermittently over the succeeding century. The knights were involved on both sides of the ensuing civil wars, which delayed considerably the eventual expulsion of the Moors. Despite these internecine struggles, the Order continued to enlarge its wealth and power prving an increasing threat to royal authority. In 1443 the King John of Castille persuaded some of the knights to depose their Master, Ferdinand de Padilla, and elect Alfonso of Aragón, natural son of the King of Navarre. Although Padilla resisted he was killed in an accident and Alfonso was elected unopposed.
Unfortunately, war broke out once again between Castille and Navarre, and the Master of Calatrava decided to support his father rather than his patron - Navarre was defeated and in 1445 King John assembled a Chapter of the Order which declared the Master deposed. There was now a new schism, some of the knights continuing to support Alfonso of Aragón while others attached themselves to his two rivals, with the Order's castles and towns divided between them. An agreement was eventually reached by which Pedro Girón became sole Master and, in 1446, took the part of the Infant Henry in his rebellion against his father, King John. The latter died in 1454 and Henry was now unopposed, embarKing on a new war against the Moors in which Calatrava and the other Orders all came to his assistance. The grandees rebelled, however, electing the King's brother Alfonso (who died unmarried in 1468) in his place, and the Master of Calatrava joined the rebellion, with some of his knights.
Needing the support of the Order King Henry bought off Master Pedro Girón by promising him the hand of his sister Isabel; in 1464 the Master obtained a dispensation from his vows to marry, hoping one day to place a crown upon his head. After resigning the title of Master, he obtained the election of his bastard son, the eight year old Rodrigo Téllez-Girón and the appointment of the latter's uncle, Don Juan Pacheco, Marquis of Villena, 1st Duke of Escalona (and later Grand Master of Santiago from 1467-1474) as coadjutor. On his way to the marriage in Madrid Pedro Girón was taken ill and died, possibly poisoned. In 1469 the Infanta Isabel married Ferdinand, King of Aragón and Sicily. The death of King Henry of Castille in 1474 caused a further schism, as the Master, who had now attained his majority, and some of the knights gave their support to the claims of the King of Portugal (married to the Infanta Juana, see note above). The Clavero, leading another group, supported Isabel, who was able to secure her succession as Queen of Castille with the help of her husband after the defeat of the Portuguese at the battle of Toro in 1479. The Master now submitted to the now undisputed Monarchs and distinguished himself in the war against the Moors, being killed in 1482 when he was succeeded by the former Clavero, Don García López de Padilla, the twenty-ninth and last Master of the Order.
With the death of Master López de Padilla in 1486, King Ferdinand applied to the Pope for permission to assume the administration of the Order, to which the latter acceded, while reserving to himself the right to nominate a Master in the future. Ferdinand died in 1516 and was succeeded as King of Aragón by his grandson the Archduke Charles; the knights now applied to elect a new Master of their Order but were opposed by the Cardinal Regent (future Pope Adrian VI), who was himself appointed administrator by Pope Leo X on 15 March 1521. With his election to the Holy See he transferred the perpetual administration to King Charles, now also Emperor as Charles V, by the Bull Dum intra of 4 May 1523. The government was now consigned to the Council of the three (later four) Orders with which it has remained. The Order had some sixteen priories and fifty-six commanderies and from 1540 their vows were modified to parallel those of the other Orders, permitting them to marry, while in 1652 a fourth vow was added to defend and sustain the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception (as in Santiago).
The second largest of the two Orders, Calatrava was still smaller than Santiago, in the late 18th century having revenues of 180,000 scudi per annum. Like the other Orders its benefices were confiscated in the nineteenth century and by the time of the reign of Alfonso XIII the duties of the knights were primarily honorific. The Order's head was the Grand Commander, his deputy the Grand Commander of Alcañices (or of Aragón), along with the Clavero, or keeper of the keys, the Obrero, Alférez (Standard-Bearer) and Commander of Almodovar.
With the downfall of the Monarchy in 1931, the titular Grand Commander was the Infant Don Jaime, Duke of Segovia (who died in 1975), the Grand Commander of Aragón was the Count of Almodovar and the Clavero was the Duke of Hijar. There were less than eighty knights, of whom four made profession between 1931 and 1941, and five of the pre-1931 novices were still living and able to make profession with the recent revival of the four Orders. Today the Grand Commander of Calatrava is the Duke of Granada de Ega (whose father, the late Grand Commander of Aragón had joined as a novice in 1930, made profession in 1983 and was appointed to this office in the same year). The Grand Commander of Aragón is D. Juan Ignacio Mac-Crohon y Jarava, the Clavero is D. Ramón Diez de Rivera y de Hoces (former Secretary of the Council and Tribunal), and the Obrero is D. Salvador Rivero y Sánchez-Romate. As of 1998 there were forty-nine professed knights and twenty-four novices, including five Grandees of Spain, and two royal princes, the Duke of Braganza, head of the Royal House of Portugal, and Archduke Andres Salvador. The badge of the Order is a red Greek cross with the letter M (for Mary) in ornate script as fleurs de lys, making the four arms; it is either worn sewn on the left breast or is represented as a gold red enameled cross hung from a red ribbon around the neck. The rules for admission to Calatrava are now identical to those of the Order of Santiago.
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THE MILITARY ORDER OF ALCONTARA
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The precursor of the Order of Alcántara was a small religious-military fraternity formed, in either 1156 or 1176, by two brothers from Salamanca, Suero and Gómez Fernández. Based at the small town of San Julian del Perál (or Pereiro), near Ciudad Real, from which it took its name, it received Papal approval by Bull of Alexander III of 29 December 1177. This, while granting Gómez the title of Prior, did not define either the rule by which the brothers must live or their spiritual obligations although (according to Helyot , they were given permission to receive Chaplains. In 1183 their superior was given the title of "Master" and they were bound to a moderated rule of Saint Benedict, to enable them to fulfill their martial duties.
Gómez died in 1200 and was succeeded by Benedict Suárez, by which time the new Order had acquired several more small towns and fortresses in the south of the Kingdom of León. The fortress-town of Alcántara had been captured by the King of León in 1213, who had granted it to the Order of Calatrava provided the knights established a Convent there. Too far from Calatrava, it was proposed that the Order of Saint Julian should be granted the town, with the Master of Saint Julian having a right to participate in the election of the Master of Calatrava to whom he would be subordinate. It appears that it was at this time that the knights formally adopted the Cistercian rule, although not receiving papal license to abandon their original Bendictine rule. The knights of San Julian duly took over Alcántara, but not being invited to the subsequent election for the Master of Calatrava, repudiated the agreement, declaring themselves autonomous. Agreement was eventually reached with the revived Alcántara acquiring several of the Calatrava estates and the latter becoming its superior in disciplinary and ecclesiastical matters.
Unfortunately, like the other military orders, the knights of Alcántara were inevitably drawn into the civil wars between the Kings of Aragón, Castille, León and Navarre, despite the fact that they were in breach of their vows only to take up arms against the infidel. At the same time there were quarrels within the Order itself and, in 1318, a group of knights petitioned the Master of Calatrava, as "Father" and "Reformer" of their Order, to intervene on their behalf. The Master of Alcántara, Ruiz Velázquez, refused to accept the superior jurisdiction of the Master of Calatrava and prepared his defenses against attack - after a bitter struggle in which many were killed on both sides a truce was declared and each took their complaints to the Chapter-General of the Cistercian Order. The result was the deposition of the Master, Grand Commander and Clavero (who refused to accept this decision), the election of Suer Pérez de Maldonado as Master and a further schism in the Order. With the death of Suer Pérez, his brother Ruiz succeeded him but then resigned, leading to the election of one Master sponsored by Alfonso VII of Castille and León, another elected by the knights at Alcántara (Grand Commander López), while Ruiz Pérez was persuaded by the Superior of the Cistercians (the Abbot of Morimond) to reclaim the Mastership. López died six months later and was succeeded by his nephew, but Ruiz Pérez, with the assistance of some knights of Santiago, laid siege to Alcántara, leading to the submission of the knights led by López to his authority. The King's candidate, Gonzalo Núñez, still claimed the title of Master so the King persuaded Master Pérez to accept a visitation of the Superior of the Cistercians and the Master of Caltrava, who recommended Pérez's resignation and Núñez succession, which duly followed.
Núñez proved to be a brave and capable leader of the Order, distinguishing himself and the Order against the Moors until he fell foul of the King's mistress. Alfonso, wishing to arrest Núñez, ordered him to Madrid but the Master refused and fortified the various castles of the Order. Although the King imposed another Master in the person of Nuño Chamizio, Núñez continued to sustain the support of the majority of the knights at first and allied himself with the King of Portugal (who proved to be an unreliable ally). Unfortunately for him the knights were unwilling to continue to resist the royal authority and when he was declared a traitor by King Alfonso, they abandoned him to his fate; in 1338 he was beheaded and his body burned. Despite a temporary union under one Master, the Order continued to be divided by internal squabbles and once more found itself in conflict with the Crown during the reign of Pedro the Cruel. These divisions continued through the fifteenth century until 1473, when the Duchess of Plasencia obtained a papal brief appointing her son, Juan de Zuniga, Master of the Order, using the pretense that the post was vacant. The knights and two other rival Masters refused to accept this act although eventually King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel forced them to do so. Zuniga became the sole Master from 1473 until 1494, when he resigned in favor of King Ferdinand (who had two years earlier obtained a papal bull granting him the administration of the Order).
At the time of its submission to the Crown the Order had thirty-seven commanderies, these being reduced to a total of twenty-eight by the end of the eighteenth-century, with annual revenues of 120,000 scudi. The administration having been united under the Spanish Crown since 1523, Alcántara shares a common history with the Santiago and Calatrava. With the fall of the Monarchy in 1931 there were less than twenty knights, headed by the Grand Commander, Prince Carlo de Borbón-Dos Sicilias, Infant of Spain (who died in 1949 when he was succeeded by the Marquess of Velada). Among the knights were Princes Philip, Januarius, Rainier and Gabriel de Borbón-Dos Sicilias and also Prince Alfonso de Borbón-Dos Sicilias, Infant of Spain and future (1964) Duke of Calabria, the son of the Grand Commander.
By the time of the recent revival of the Order there was only one survivor of the pre-1931 Order, D. Gonzalo García de Blanes y Pacheco, admitted as a novice in 1925, who on 15 March 1982 was appointed Grand Commander. With his death his successor was Prince D. Carlos de Borbón-Dos Sicilias y Borbón-Parma, Duke of Calabria, the grand-son of the late Grand Commander, who had been appointed Clavero (keeper of the keys) on 8 June 1983 and was appointed Grand Commander on 13 October 1986. The Duke of Calabria was appointed President and Dean of the Council in succession to the Count of Barcelona on 6 July 1993 and was created an Infant of Spain on 16 December 1994. The Clavero (Keeper of the Keys) is the Duke of Santa Cristina, the Alférez (Standard-Bearer) and Commander of Castilnovo is the Count of Cardona, Grandee of Spain, and today there are thirty-one professed and seventeen novice knights (including three Grandees, and also the Duke of Calabria's heir, Prince D. Pedro de Borbón-Dos Sicilias, Duke of Noto).
In 1411 the knights obtained permission from the anti-pope Benedict XIII to adopt an identical badge to that of the Order of Caltrava but in dark green; this has remained the badge of the Order; the cross may be suspended from a ribbon or sewn on the left breast. The requirements for membership of Alcántara are stiffer than Santiago or Calatrava, requiring not only proof of four noble quarters but that all four families were possessed originally of a casa solar.
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THE MILITARY ORDER OF MONTESA
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The much smaller Order of Montesa was not only a later foundation but was also territorially limited to the Kingdom of Aragón. It was founded following the break-up of the Templar Order in 1312, when there was considerable resistance on the part of the Kings of Aragón and Portugal to the amalgamation of the Templar benefices with those of the knights hospitaller. King Jaime II persuaded the Pope to permit him to regroup the Templar properties in Aragón and Valencia and confer them on a new Order, dedicated to Our Lady, and based at Montesa. The new Order received the approval of Pope John XXII on 10 June 1317, when it was given the Cistercian rule. On 22 July 1319 the Master of Calatrava was given the right to visit the Order and regulate disputes, as the first knights to form the new Order had been a group of volunteers from the Order of Calatrava.
The first Master was Guillermo d'Eril and the Order had a total of fifteen Masters, whose military importance was insufficient to bring them into conflict with the Crown and who were not perceived as the same kind of threat as those of the other three Orders. By a bull of 24 January 1401, the anti-Pope Benedict XIII combined Montesa with the earlier Order of Saint George of Alfama. The Order was only marginally involved in the war against the Moors, as by this late date they had been largely confined to the Kingdom of Grenada and seldom threatened the security of Valencia or Aragón. The penultimate Master, Francisco Lanzol de Romani (died 1544), was succeeded by his cousin Pedro-Luis de Borja (died 1592), half-brother of Saint Francis Borja, 4th Duke of Gandia (who was himself a knight of Santiago). Borja resigned in the Mastership in 1586 and it was united in perpetuity to the Crown of Aragón by a Bull of Sixtus V of 15 March 1587. It continued to maintain an autonomous existence under the Crown until its Council was united with that of the other three Orders on 22 May 1739.
In 1931 there were nearly fifty knights, of whom forty per cent were professed. Unlike the other three Orders, the senior officer is not a Grand Commander but a "Lieutenant-General" of the Order. His deputy is the Clavero-Mayor and the third officer is the Alférez (Standard-Bearer) and Commander of Alcalá de Gisbert. When the Order was revived there were five knights surviving from the pre-1931 Order, of whom the Baron de Llauri, Grandee of Spain (who had made profession in 1912), had been appointed Clavero-Mayor in 1960. Today there are twenty-three professed and nineteen novice knights (one Grandee of Spain), the Lieutenant-General is D. Miguel Peman y Medina (formerly the Alférez), the Clavero Mayor, substitute Lieutenant-General, is D. Rafael de la Brena y Sanchiz (also Secretary), and the Alférez and Commander of Alcalá de Gisbert is the Marquess of Bajamar. Requirements for admission are less stringent that in the other four Orders, as only the paternal and maternal of the four grandparents' (all of whom must be legitimate and not descended from non-Christians) families must be noble.
The cross of the Order of Montesa is identical to that of Caltrava but in black, ensigned with a plain red greek cross. It is suspended from a red ribbon or sewn on the left breast.
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"CHRISTUS VINCIT, CHRISTUS REGNAT, CHRISTUS IMPERIT"
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For Further Information
The Correspondence Address is:
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of The Almanach de Chivalry,
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