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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 and Imperial
Orders of Knighthood of France
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(Above)
The Sun King ,
King Louis XIV
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THE ROYAL FRENCH ORDER OF SAINT MICHAEL
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The oldest French Royal Order, Saint Michael was later displaced as the highest honor accorded by the Kings of France following the foundation of the Order of the Holy Spirit. Its creation in 1469 almost coincided with the elimination of the remaining threat to the French Crown from the vassal princes or from England (at least until the Wars of Religion a century later) and may be seen as a significant element in the process of centralizing the authority of the French Monarchy, as well as a further step in the gradual erosion of the power of the nobility. A nobility which is dependent on the Crown for its privileges and prerogatives was less likely to be a threat than the feudal princes who had been responsible for one and a half centuries of conflict. Thus the foundation of the Order of Saint Michael by Louis XI represents the beginning of a new era in the relationship between Crown and subject. Louis's predecessors had preferred to identify their supporters by the distribution of livery badges and uniforms, a pattern that had been imitated by the over-mighty subject princes, the Dukes of Orléans, Berry, Brittany and Burgundy. The enormous prestige which the Dukes of Burgundy had attained with their Order of the Golden Fleece cannot have escaped the notice of the king, and indeed it seems very likely that the new royal Order was intended to counterbalance the Burgundian institution. Charles the Rash of Burgundy had been perceived as a major threat, although within less than a decade Charles would be dead and his French territories recovered for the crown. The Order's foundation was proclaimed at a tournament given in honor of the king's younger brother, the Duke of Berry, whom he was hoping to detach from the Burgundian camp, on 1 August 1469. The statutes provided that the knights should meet annually, on the feast of its patron the Archangel Michael (29 September), at the chapel of the monastery of Saint Michael off the Normandy coast. However, not only were no Chapter-Generals held during Louis' reign but the chapel was never used as the seat of the Order, probably because of the difficulty of gathering the knights at such a remote place (in 1496 the chapel of Saint Michael du Palais in Paris became the seat). Like the other royal Collar Orders, Saint Michael had a limited number of knights (originally thirty-one, then thirty-six including the King, of whom fifteen were nominated in the course of the first year), but was less "collegiate", as the Sovereign had greater power over nominations. Louis himself did go through the motions of requesting the assent of the other knights before making appointments (called "elections") but it does not seem that anyone ever questioned his nominations or those of his immediate successors. Unlike the other Orders the Sovereign undertook certain explicit responsibilities towards the companions, particularly to give them "competent and reasonable pensions ... to prefer them before all others in honors, offices and charges and to increase, augment, and remunerate them duly and liberally according to their merits and services". In 1476 an administrative officer was appointed, the Prévost Maistre de Ceremonies but insufficient funds were provided for any activities to be planned. In 1496, the second Sovereign of the Order, Charles VIII, applied to the Pope to implement the statute establishing a college of priests at the new chapel (twelve canons, twelve chaplains or vicars, six choristers, three clerks, four ushers and five musicians), at which Assemblies or Chapter-Generals could be held and this received Papal approval in a Bull of the following year. Unfortunately the lack of funds meant that this project came to nothing and, following Charles' death in 1498, it was abandoned. The first Assembly was not actually held until the reign of the fourth Sovereign, Henry II, in 1548, and in 1555 the Order's seat was transferred to Vincennes, for the convenience of the court. Henry did not attempt to adhere to the limitation on the number of members and, during his twelve year reign, he appointed between ninety-three and one hundred and one companions.
The first knights of Saint Michael were representatives of some of the most ancient and powerful noble houses, although their selection was more probably due to the position of twelve of them as captains of the royal compaignons d'ordonnance. Apart from the king's brother, the Duke of Berry and his cousins the Duke of Anjou (titular king of Naples) and Duke of Bourbon, other knights appointed by Louis XI included members of the Luxembourg, Laval (2), la Trémouille, Chabannes (2), and Crussol families. Later nominations by Louis XI included three Rohans, the king's cousin the Duke of Orléans (future Louis XII), four Bourbon Princes of the blood, the Count of Dunois (of the bastard Orléans line), Charles de Melun, Charles of Artois (Count of Eu), and the kings of Denmark and Scotland. Two nominees refused the Collar, one out of hostility (the Duke of Brittany), the other because he had the Golden Fleece and would theoretically have been in breach of those statutes (the Duke of Guelders). Charles VIII had increased the number of foreign members by giving the Collar to two members of the House of Stuart (Alexander, Duke of Albany, and Beraud Stuart d'Aubigny, both then in the French royal service), and to the Duke of Savoy, while he also began what came to be common practice, by giving the order to a foreign ambassador (Luca Spinola, representative of the Venetian republic). The increasingly wide distribution of the Order, the number of persons admitted of relatively low estate and the failure of the Sovereign to hold regular assemblies, undoubtedly made it a less prestigious honor when compared to the Golden Fleece and the Garter. Although the formal limit on members was increased to fifty in 1565, this number was vastly exceeded and by the accession of Henri III in 1574 there may have been as many as seven hundred living knights of Saint Michael, ranging from foreign monarchs down to bourgeois of modest origins. Henri III recognized the urgent need to reform the Order and by founding the Order of the Holy Spirit in 1578 established a two-tier system of reward: the new Order would be given to foreign and to French princes, to great nobles and very distinguished servants of the Crown, while Saint Michael would be used to recognize service to the crown by lesser nobles and bourgeois. The number of members was extended formally to a limit of one hundred, plus the one hundred knights of the Holy Spirit who would all receive the Saint Michael at the time of nomination. This remained the maximum number until 1830. Unlike the other great royal Collar Orders, Saint Michael was the only one to be named after the Saint to whom it was dedicated, in this case the Archangel Michael.Furthermore, the badge of the Order was an image of Saint Michael, standing on a rock (to represent Mont-Saint Michel), in combat with the serpent. It was suspended from a gold Collar made of cockles (the traditional badge of pilgrims to the holy places) tied to one another with a double knot; the statutes provided that in certain circumstances the badge could be hung from a simple chain and it was later provided that it could be suspended from a black riband. As with the Golden Fleece, the king had the title of Chef et Souverain (Chief and Sovereign), a dignity which was effectively united to the French Crown.
The Order of Saint Michel did not immediately take on the character it was to be given in the eighteenth century, by which time it became an award for bankers, artists, doctors and others who had distinguished themselves in the royal service outside the military sphere. While Henri IV admitted several non-nobles, he also gave it to some foreign grandees whom he did not perhaps consider eminent enough for the Holy Spirit - such as Adam, Count of Schwarzenberg (in 1609) and the more exotic sovereign Duke of Moldavia (date unknown). However, from the reign of Louis XIII no more peers of France were given the Order (with one exception, and except by virtue of having received the Holy Spirit) and from the foundation of the Order of Saint Louis in 1693 it ceased to be awarded for military service. Louis XIV did permit the maximum number of members to exceed one hundred on occasion but his great-grand son and successor, Louis XV, kept carefully to the limit, while admitting a far higher proportion of non-nobles or newly ennobled gentlemen than any previous Sovereign. The last nominations made by Louis XVI were in 1790, Saint Michael being abolished in that year, along with the Orders of the Holy Spirit and Our Lady of Mont Carmel (although Saint Louis continued to be awarded for military distinction by Louis XVI until 1792, and after the execution of the king by the regency acting in the name of Louis XVII). Louis XVIII, as titular king, made some eleven awards of the Order in 1797 and one in 1798, but did not give the Order again until after the second restoration when, in 1816, he nominated thirteen new knights (of whom eight were doctors or surgeons). The last nominations made under the ancient Monarchy were in 1828 and neither Charles X, not his successors the titular kings Louis XIX nor Henry V made any nominations of the Order. The government of Louis-Philippe purported to abolish all the royal Orders, except that of the Legion of Honour, and subsequent representatives of the legitimist line only ever made nominations to Saint Michael and the Holy Spirit, leaving the Orders of Saint Louis, Military Merit, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Lazarus to remain dormant. The Order of Saint Michael was not awarded for more than one century after Charles X's last nominations, when it was given by Jaime, Duke of Anjou and Madrid (representative of the Carlist line and, as such, the senior male descendant of Louis XIV and legitimist claimant to the French Crown to Jean, Count d'Andigné (2 August 1929) and his son, Amedée, Count d'Andigné (25 August 1930).. The Order was not awarded again until the late 1960's when Jaime (Jacques II), Duke of Anjou and Segovia, nominated six new knights (his secretary, M. Patrick Esclafer de la Rode, Count Pierre de la Forest Divonne, M. Massimo Sciolette, M. Teodoro Constanti Zarifi, M. Charles-Otto Ziesniss, and one knight whose identity has been withheld). The Orléanist claimants to the French Crown have not awarded the Order of Saint Michael although the Duke of Orléans did make one award of the Order of Saint Louis (to General Athanase de Charette in the first decade of this century. The badge of the Order is an oval medallion in gold bearing the image of the Archangel Michael standing on a rock, holding a lance with which he stabbing the serpent. It is suspended from a gold Collar of cockle shells or, more commonly, from a black riband worn over the right shoulder to the left hip.
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(Above)
The Ceremonial Insignia of
The Royal French Order of The Holy Spirit
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THE ROYAL FRENCH ORDER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
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The Order of the Holy Spirit, also known as the Order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit, (French: L'Ordre du Saint Espirt; L'Ordre des Chevaliers du Saint Esprit) was an Order of Chivalry under the French Monarchy. It should not be confused with the Papal Order of the Holy Ghost. It was the senior chivalric order of France by precedence, although not by age (the Order of Saint Michael having been created one hundred years earlier).
History, Prior to the creation of the Order of the Holy Spirit, the senior order of chivalry in France had been the Order of Saint Michael. This order had originally been created to rival the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece, and to help ensure that leading French nobles remained loyal to the Crown. It's membership was initially restricted to a small number of powerful princes and nobles, but this increased dramatically due to the pressures of the Wars of Religion: at the beginning of the reign of Henry III, the order had several hundred living members, ranging from kings to bourgeois. Recognising that the order had been signifcantly devalued, Henry founded the Order of the Holy Spirit December 31, 1578- thereby creating a two-tier system: the new order would be reserved for princes and powerful nobles whilst the old Order of Saint Michael would be given to less eminent servants of the Crown. This Order was dedicated to Holy Spirit for commemorating fact that Henry was elected a King of Poland (1573) and France (1574) during a Pentecost.
During the French Revolution the Order of the Holy Spirit was officially abolished by the French government along with all other chivalric orders from the Ancien Regime, although the exiled Louis XVIII continued to acknowledge it. Following the Restoration, the order was officially revived, only to be abolished again by the Orleanist Louis-Philippe following the July Revolution in 1830. However, the Legitimist pretenders to the French throne have continued to nominate members of the order, long after the abolition of the French monarchy itself.
Composition, The King of France was the Sovereign and Grand Master ("Souverain Grand Maître"), and made all appointments to the order. Members of the order can be split into three categories: 8 Ecclesiastic members ,4 Officers , 100 Knights . Initially, four of the ecclisiastic members had to be cardinals, whilst the other four had to be archbishops or prelates. This was later relaxed so that all eight had to be either cardinals, archbishops or prelates.
Members of the order had to be Roman Catholic, and had to be able to demonstrate three degrees of nobility. The minimum age for members was 35, although there were some exceptions: Children of the king were members from birth, but weren't received into the order until they were 12. Princes of the Blood could be admitted to the order from the age of 16 . Foreign royalty could be admitted to the order from the age of 25 . All Knights of the order were also members of the Order of Saint Michael. As such, they were generally known as "Chevalier des Ordres du Roi" (ie "Knights of the Royal Orders"), instead of the more lengthy "Chevalier de Saint-Michel et Chevalier du Saint-Esprit" (ie "Knight of Saint Michael and Knight of the Holy Spirit"). The officers of the order were as follows: Chancellor ,Provost and Master of Ceremonies ,Treasurer , Clerk.
Vestments and Accoutrements, The symbol of the order is known as the Cross of the Holy Spirit. This is a Maltese Cross (ie a cross formed by the meeting for the points of four isosceles triangles); at the periphery, the points of each triangle are rounded, and between each triangle there is a fleur-de-lis. Imposed on the centre of the cross is a dove. The eight rounded corners represent the Beatitudes, the four fleur-de-lis represent the Gospels, the twelve petals represent the Apostles, and the dove signifies the Holy Spirit. The Cross of the Holy Spirit was worn hung from a blue riband ("Le Cordon Bleu"). Cordon Bleu , Due to the blue riband from which the Cross of the Holy Spirit was hung, the Knights became known as "Les Cordon Bleus". Over time, this expression was extended to refer to other distinctions of the highest class - for example, Cordon Bleu cooking and Blue Riband sporting events. It has been suggested that the term Cordon Bleu in cooking has derived from the splendour of feasts held by the Knights and not simply from the term becoming synonymous with prestige; however, this is not confirmed.
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THE ROYAL AND MILITARY ORDER OF SAINT LOUIS
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The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis ("ordre royal et militaire de Saint Louis") was a military Order of Chivalry founded on April 5, 1696 by Louis XIV and named after Saint Louis. It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, and is notable as the first decoration that could be granted to non-nobles. It is roughly the ancestor of the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour), with which it shares the red ribbon (though the Légion d'honneur is awarded to military personnel and civilians alike)
The King was the Great Master of the order, and the Dauphin was automatically part of it as well. The entire order included 8 Grand-Croix (Grand Cross), 28 Commanders and a variable number of Knights. The Order also had a trésorier (treasurer), a greffier (registrar) and a huissier.
The medal included a portait of Saint Louis surrounded by the motto « LUD(OVICUS) M(AGNUS) IN(STITUIT) 1693 » ("Louis the Great instituted it in 1693"). The general assembly of the Order was held on August 25, the feast day of Saint Louis, in the residence of the King.
Conditions to obtain the medal did not include nobility; however, Catholic faith was mandatory, as well as at least ten years' service as a commissioned officer in the Army or the Navy. Members of the Order received a pension. Hereditary nobility was granted to a knight son and grandson of knights. Another decoration, the Institution du Mérite militaire ("Institution for military Merit') was created for the protestants officers in service of the French king.
Until the death of Louis XIV, the medal was awarded to outstanding officers only, but it gradually came to be an award that most officers would receive during their career. On January 1, 1791, during the French Revolution, a decree changed the name to décoration militaire ("military decoration"). It was subsequently withdrawn on October 15, 1792.
One of the first acts of Louis XVIII was to reinstate the Order of Saint Louis, awarding it to officers of the Royal and Imperial armies alike. In 1830 the new king Louis-Philippe abolished the order, which was never recreated.
Decree by his majesty the king Louis XIV of France
Louis, by the grace of God King of France and Navarre, to all present and yet to come, hail.
The officers of our troops have distinguished themselves by so many actions of considerable virtue and courage, in the conquest which it pleased God to bless the justice of our arms, that, ordinary awards becoming insufficient to the affection and the thankfulness which we have for them, we have deemed it necessary to seek new ways to reward their zeal and fidelity. In this view have we decided to establish a purely military Order to which, in addition to the external marks of honour which are associated to it, we shall guarantee revenues and pensions which shall rise in proportion to them growing more and more worthy through their behaviour.
We have decided that only officers still serving in our troops shall be introduced and that virtue, merit and distinguished service in our armies shall be the only criteria to enter. We shall also in the future give a particular attention to increase the advantages of this order, so that we shall ever have the satisfaction to always be able to grant graces to the officers, and on the other hand, seeing rewards guaranteed by valour, they would every day bear renewed ardour in deserving them by their actions.
In these causes, with the advice of our council, and our certain science, full power and royal authority, we have created, instituted and built, by the present, our military Order with the name of Saint Louis, and with the forms, statutes, ordinances and rules as follow.
Royal and Military Order of St Louis
Founded : King Louis XIV April 1693.
Ribbon : Red.
Grand Master: Duke of Anjou.
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THE ROYAL FRENCH ORDER OF SAINT MICHAEL
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The Order of Saint Michael (French: L'Ordre de Saint-Michel) was the first French chivalric order, founded by Louis XI of France in 1469, in competitive response to the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece founded by Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, Louis' chief competitor for the allegiance of the great houses of France, the Dukes of Orléans, Berry, and Brittany. As a chivalric order, its goal was to confirm the loyalty of its knights to the king. Originally, there were a limited number of knights, at first thirty-one, then increased to thirty-six including the king. An office of Provost was established in 1476. The Order of St Michael was the highest Order in France until it was superseded by the Order of the Holy Spirit.
As would be expected, the first knights were among the most powerful nobles in France, close relatives of the king and a few from other royal houses in Europe. Its membership was strictly under the king's control, but under Louis' successors the Order was less selective: in 1565, during the Wars of Religion, when loyalties were strained and essential, the formal number was increased to fifty but there may have been as many as seven hundred knights under Henry III in 1574 (Sainty).
The Order of St. Michael dedicated to the Archangel Michael conveyed to every member a gold badge of the image of the saint standing on a rock (Mont Saint Michel) in combat with the serpent. It was suspended from an elaborate gold collar made of cockleshells (the badge of pilgrim, especially those to Santiago de Compostela) linked with double knots. The statutes state that the badge could be hung on a simple chain, and later it was suspended from a black ribbon.
When the Order of St Michael was founded, the famous illuminator Jean Fouquet was commissioned to paint the title miniature of the Statutes, showing the king presiding over the knights (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, fr. 19819). The original plan was for the knights to meet yearly at Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, but such an isolated location was impractical and the Order met in a chapel consecrated to its use in the royal palace, Paris.
The Order of St. Michael was abolished by the French authorities in 1830. However, in 1929-1930 Jaime, The Order of Saint Michael (French: L'Ordre de Saint-Michel) was the first French chivalric order, founded by Louis XI of France in 1469, in competitive response to the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece founded by Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, Louis' chief competitor for the allegiance of the great houses of France, the Dukes of Orléans, Berry, and Brittany. As a chivalric order, its goal was to confirm the loyalty of its knights to the king. Originally, there were a limited number of knights, at first thirty-one, then increased to thirty-six including the king. An office of Provost was established in 1476. The Order of St Michael was the highest Order in France until it was superseded by the Order of the Holy Spirit.
As would be expected, the first knights were among the most powerful nobles in France, close relatives of the king and a few from other royal houses in Europe. Its membership was strictly under the king's control, but under Louis' successors the Order was less selective: in 1565, during the Wars of Religion, when loyalties were strained and essential, the formal number was increased to fifty but there may have been as many as seven hundred knights under Henry III in 1574 (Sainty).
The Order of St. Michael dedicated to the Archangel Michael conveyed to every member a gold badge of the image of the saint standing on a rock (Mont Saint Michel) in combat with the serpent. It was suspended from an elaborate gold collar made of cockleshells (the badge of pilgrim, especially those to Santiago de Compostela) linked with double knots. The statutes state that the badge could be hung on a simple chain, and later it was suspended from a black ribbon.
When the Order of St Michael was founded, the famous illuminator Jean Fouquet was commissioned to paint the title miniature of the Statutes, showing the king presiding over the knights (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, fr. 19819). The original plan was for the knights to meet yearly at Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, but such an isolated location was impractical and the Order met in a chapel consecrated to its use in the royal palace, Paris.
The Order of St. Michael was abolished by the French authorities in 1830. However, in 1929-1930 Jaime, Duke of Anjou and Madrid, and in 1960 Jaime II, Duke of Anjou and Segovia, granted membership to their confidants.and Madrid, and in 1960 Jaime II, Duke of Anjou and Segovia, granted membership to their confidants.
Royal Order of Saint Michael (1 Class)
Founded : King Louis XI 1 August 1469.
Ribbon : Black.
Grand Master: Duke of Anjou.
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THE ROYAL FRENCH ORDER OF THE HOLY GHOST
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The Holy Ghost
Founded : King Henri III 31 December 1578.
Ribbon : Blue.
Grand Master: Duke of Anjou.
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THE ROYAL FRENCH ORDER OF SAINT
LAZARUS AND OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL
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The Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem originated as a leper hospital run by hospitaller brothers founded in the twelfth century by the crusaders of the Latin Kingdom. It was originally set up to treat virulent diseases such as leprosy.
Today, a modern revival of the Order has been engaged in a major program to revive Christianity in Eastern Europe. Millions of dollars worth of food, clothing, medical equipment and supplies have been distributed in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Croatia. Because of this experience, the European Community commissioned the Order to transport more than one and a half billion dollars in food to the hungry in Russia, resulting in new laurels for the Lazarus volunteers.
Even before the twelfth century there were leper hospitals in the East, of which the Knights of St. Lazarus claimed to be the continuation, in order to have the appearance of remote antiquity and to pass as the oldest of all orders. But this pretension is apocryphal. These Eastern leper hospitals followed the Rule of St. Basil, while that of Jerusalem adopted the hospital Rule of St. Augustine in use in the West. The Order of Saint Lazarus was indeed purely an order of hospitallers from the beginning, as was that of St. John, but without encroaching on the field of the latter. Because of its special aim, it had quite a different organization. The inmates of St. John were merely visitors, and changed constantly; the lepers of St. Lazarus on the contrary were condemned to perpetual seclusion. In return they were regarded as brothers or sisters of the house which sheltered them, and they obeyed the common rule which united them with their religious guardians. In some leper hospitals of the Middle Ages even the master had to be chosen from among the lepers. It is not proved, though it has been asserted, that this was the case at Jerusalem.
The Middle Ages surrounded with a touching pity these the greatest of all unfortunates, these miselli, as they were called. From the time of the crusades, with the spread of leprosy, leper hospitals became very numerous throughout Europe, so that at the death of St. Louis there were eight hundred in France alone.
However, these houses did not form a congregation; each house was autonomous, and supported to a great extent by the lepers themselves, who were obliged when entering to bring with them their implements, and who at their death willed their goods to the institution if they had no children. Many of these houses bore the name of St. Lazarus, from which, however, no dependence whatever on St. Lazarus of Jerusalem is to be inferred. The most famous, St. Lazarus of Paris, depended solely and directly on the bishop of that city, and was a mere priory when it was given by the archbishop to the missionaries of St Vincent de Paul, who have retained the name of Lazarists (1632).
The Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem is believed to have become a military order in c. 1123. It is known that a contingent of Lazar brethern were present at La Forbie, and in 1253 they were part of the army under St Louis. In 1291 25 brethren were present at Acre, all being killed. It is believed the Order ceased military activities from the early 14th century
The house at Jerusalem owed to the general interest devoted to the holy places in the Middle Ages a rapid and substantial growth in goods and privileges of every kind. It was endowed not only by the sovereigns of the Latin realm, but by all the states of Europe. Louis VII, on his return from the Second Crusade, gave it the Château of Broigny, near Orléans (1154). This example was followed by Henry II of England, and by Emperor Frederick II. This was the origin of the military commanderies whose contributions, called responsions, flowed into Jerusalem, swollen by the collections which the hospital was authorized to make in Europe.
The popes for their part were not sparing of their favours. Alexander IV recognized its existence under the Rule of St. Augustine (1255). Urban IV assured it the same immunities as were granted to the monastic orders (1262). Clement IV obliged the secular clergy to confine all lepers whatsoever, men or women, clerics or laymen, religious or secular, in the houses of this order (1265).
At the time these favours were granted, Jerusalem had fallen again into the hands of the Muslims. St. Lazarus, although still called "of Jerusalem", had been transferred to Acre, where it had been ceded territory by the Templars (1240), and where it received the confirmation of its privileges by Urban IV (1264). It was at this time also that the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, following the example of the Order of St. John, armed combatants for the defence of the remaining possessions of the Christians in Asia. Their presence is mentioned without further detail at the Battle of La Forbie against the Khwarezmians in 1244, and at the final siege of Acre in 1291.
As a result of this catastrophe the leper hospital of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem disappeared; however, its commanderies in Europe, together with their revenues, continued to exist, but hospitality was no longer practised. The order ceased to be an order of hospitallers and became purely military. The knights who resided in these commanderies had no tasks, and were veritable parasites on the Christian charitable foundations. Things remained in this condition until the pontificate of Innocent VIII, who suppressed this useless order and transferred its possessions to the Knights of St. John (1490), which transfer was renewed by Pope Julius II (1505). But the Order of St. John never came into possession of this property except in Germany.
In France, Francis I, to whom the Concordat of Leo X (1519) had resigned the nomination to the greater number of ecclesiastical benefices, evaded the Bull of suppression by conferring the commanderies of St. Lazarus on Knights of the Order of St. John. The last named vainly claimed the possession of these goods. Their claim was rejected by the Parliament of Paris (1547). Leo X himself disregarded the value of this Bull by re-establishing Order of St. Lazarus, (1517). Pius IV went further; he annulled the Bulls of his predecessors and restored its possessions to the order that he might give the mastership to a favourite, Giovanni de Castiglione (1565). But the latter did not succeed in securing the devolution of the commanderies in France. Pius V codified the statutes and privileges of the order, but reserved to himself the right to confirm the appointment of the Grand Master as well as of the beneficiaries (1567). He made an attempt to restore to the order its hospitaller character, by incorporating with it all the leper hospitals and other houses founded under the patronage of St Lazarus of the Lepers. But this tardy reform was rendered useless by the subsequent gradual disappearance of leprosy in Europe.
Finally, the grand mastership of the order having been rendered vacant in 1572 by the death of Castiglione, Pope Gregory XIII united it in perpetuity with the Crown of Savoy. The reigning duke, Philibert III, hastened to fuse it with the recently founded Savoyan Order of St. Maurice, and thenceforth the title of Grand Master of the Order of Sts. Maurice and Lazarus was hereditary in that house. The pope gave him authority over the vacant commanderies everywhere, except in the states of the King of Spain, which included the greater part of Italy. In England and Germany these commanderies had been suppressed by Protestantism. France remained, but it was refractory to the claims of the Duke of Savoy. Some years later King Henry IV, having founded with the approbation of Paul V (1609) the Order of Notre-Dame du Mont-Carmel, hastened in turn to unite to it the Knights of St. Lazarus obedient to French mastership, and such is the origin of the title of "Knight of the Royal Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Knight of the Military and Hospitaller Order St. Lazarus of Jerusalem", which carried with it the enjoyment of a benefice. The King of France was the sovereign head and protector and chose the Grand Master (Concordat 1519). During the reign of Louis XVI the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, not the combined orders, was awarded only to the top three students of the Royal Military School. The orders were separate though they shared the same Grand Master. Although the Order enjoyed a unique relationship with the French Royal House and was officially under the protection of the King of France, it was never a Royal Order.
Louis XVIII with St. Lazarus' Star - Oil painting, 1817The King's titles as Sovereign, Founder and Protector meant that he was Sovereign and Founder of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Protector of Saint Lazarus. During the French Revolution. a decree of 30 July 1791 suppressed all royal and knightly orders. Another decree the following year confiscated all the Order's properties (the Château de Boigny, the Military Academy, the commanderies and hospitals). Louis, Count of Provence, Grand Master of the Order, who later became Louis XVIII, continued to function in exile and awarded the Order, though sparingly. While in exile in the Polish province of Mitawa he awarded the Order to Tsars Paul I and Alexander I of Russia, Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, Count Rostopchine and General de Fersen. When the Count of Provence returned to France from exile to reign as Louis XVIII, he gave up the magistracy of the Order and became Protector, as had his predecessors, but appointed no grand master. Henri, comte de Chambord was the last de jure royal Protector of that branch of the Order. The Order did not enjoy the protection of the new king and from 1830 the Order was governed by a Council of Officers.
To return to the dukes of Savoy: Clement VIII granted them the right to exact from ecclesiastical benefices pensions to the sum of four hundred crowns for the benefit of knights of the order, dispensing them from celibacy on condition that they should observe the statutes of the order and consecrate their arms to the defence of the Faith. Besides their commanderies the order had two houses where the knights might live in common, one of which, at Turin, was to contribute to combats on land, while the other, at Nice, had to provide galleys to fight the Turks at sea. But when thus reduced to the states of the Duke of Savoy, the order merely vegetated until the French Revolution, which suppressed it. In 1816 the King of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel I, established the titles of Knight and Commander of Sts. Maurice and Lazarus, as simple decorations, accessible without conditions of birth to both civilians and military men. Louis XVIII himself died in September 1824, and his successor Charles X, although very nostalgic of the Old Regime, showed no further interest in the defunct order. He was overthrown in 1830, and the Order of Saint-Lazare was abolished along with the Saint-Esprit and Saint-Michel a few months later; not only was it not awarded anymore, but it lost its status as a legal order, and its surviving members could not wear its insignia anymore.
Lazarites claim that in 1841, the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem requested the protection of the Greek Melchite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, Maximos III Mazlûm, and petitioned he become their Spiritual Protector; he reportedly accepted, both for himself and his successors. There is no reliable documentation of this event. Eastern Patriarchs, whether autonomous or in union with the Roman Church, always refer to their patriarchate or religious jurisdiction as ‘a nation’. Arab Sovereigns and Princes accord to them the status of a Head of State, though this must be seen in the light of political expediency, as an Islamic ruler cannot accord any honour to the leader of another religion. Whilst remaining under the spiritual protection of the Greek Melchite Catholic Patriarch, in 1935 the Chapter General of the Order elected as the new Grand Master Don Francisco de Bórbon y de la Torre, 3rd Duke of Seville.
In 1910, the Greek Melchite patriarch of Jerusalem had just been forced to resign as Grand Master of the Supreme Militia of Jesus Christ. This organization had started in 1870 as a group of former soldiers in the Pope's army, discharged after the capture of Rome by Italy. In the mid-1880s, the association tried to turn itself into an order of chivalry; rebuked by the Dominicans to which they were initially connected, they turned in 1900 to the Greek Melchite patriarch of Jerusalem. A stern warning from the Pope quickly decided the patriarch to resign the Grand-Mastership (to use the terms of Bertrand). Then, according to the official historians of the revived order, in 1910, the Patriarch asked "the almoner of the Order of Saint Lazarus", a Polish chaplain named Tansky, living in Paris since 1870, to revive the order; the chaplain being also a member of the Militia of Jesus-Christ, got in touch with a fellow member of that Supreme Militia, a Frenchman by the name of Paul Watrin, who is made "Chancellor" of the Order. Watrin is the key public figure in the revival.
In the 1910s, there were only a handful of members: Tansky, the Polish chaplain and only link to the Order's supposed Oriental period, who died in 1913; Anselme de la Puisaye, a former soldier in the Papal Army, probably another member of the Militia of Christ; Watrin himself; Alexandre Gallery de la Tremblaye, a bank manager at the Crédit Foncier de France and second cousin of Watrin's wife, received in 1911 and made "keeper of the seals"; and Charles Otzenberger, an Alsatian wine dealer, also received in 1911. Otzenberger would come to play a major role in the Order, but it seems to me that he did not do much initially, as he was living in Colmar (Alsace) and Barcelona. In 1913, a much-amused marquis de Jandriac publishes in Rivista Araldica (pp.679-83) the Fundamental Statutes of the Order. The statutes specify that the knights must be Catholics, of noble origin, and must contribute to charitable causes in the Holy Land. All donations are centralized through the Chancelor who (supposedly) funnels the money to the Patriarchate. The Order's activities halted in 1914. This may be due to the war. Possibly, it is due to the fact that Moser and an accomplice named Hans Branco were both arrested in Paris for trafficking in fake orders and decorations. Moser had apparently gone too far and started selling fake Legion of Honor medals. He was sentenced to 4 months in jail, after which he returned to Berlin and committed suicide in 1928. The offices of the Société were searched by the police and many diplomas, crosses and various insignia were found. This probably put a damper on the Order of Saint Lazarus. By a strange coincidence, Fritz Hahn alias Guigues de Champvaus was jailed in 1936 in Paris for illegal sale of order and decorations.
In June 1933, the duke of Seville, who had fled Republican Spain, was hosted at a dinner at the Hotel Iena in Paris. To replace La Science Historique, a new periodical appears in April 1933 under the editorship of Paul Bertrand, La Vie Chevaleresque, to be the official mouthpiece of the order. The new periodical chronicles the fabulous expansion of the Order. In December 1935, the duke of Seville is elected Grand-Master of the Order. Presumably, the duke's royal connections (he is a member of the Spanish royal family) impresses Spanish-speaking applicants, and the Order becomes linked with a number of Latin American diplomats in Paris. Otzenberger is made consul of the Dominican Republic in Mulhouse.
The order's ideological slant was quite visibly inherited from Watrin's original legitimism: the duke of Seville himself is a colonel in the fascist Falangistas. The handing out of crosses confirms the political inclination: between 1933 and 1936, the following individuals become members: Francisco Franco (dictator of Spain 1936-75), Carol II of Romania (king/dictator of Romania 1930-40), Rafael Trujillo (dictator of the Dominican Republic 1930-52), Fulgencio Batista (dictator of Cuba 1933-44, 1952-59), Getulio Vargas (dictator of Brazil 1930-45), and a few other presidents of Latin American countries (Argentina, Peru, Honduras, Guatemala). Whether every one of these distinguished gentlemen was actually aware of his membership is not quite clear: the Order occasionally bestowed its cross on unsuspecting individuals, as happened to the Mexican marquis de Guadalupe, whose protestations were obviously ignored.
In recent years the revival of the Order and its humanitarian activities have taken a new direction. Aid to the handicapped, the sick and to the aged has been added to the Order's pursuit of its traditional mission in the field of leprosy. The primary purpose and activity of the Order is, and always has been, charity. Primarily, St. Lazarus has been world renown as a Hospitaller Order in that its works have always been associated with medical care, primarily through the operation of medical facilities such as hospitals and clinics.
With the personal encouragement of Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Macharski of Krakow, the Grand Priory of Austria, under Archduke Leopold of Austria and Dr. Heinz Peter Baron von Slatin, and their Referendary Prof. Franz Josef Federsel, had constructed the first Polish Hospice for the terminally ill in Poland, the St. Lazarus Hospice, in Nowa Huta the American Grand Priory providing substantial financial assistance to this project.
The Grand Priory of France was particularly active in initiating the relief programmes of the Order in Croatia. The Order strongly backed the relief missions of the Grand Hospitaller throughout Eastern Europe. The trucks, trailers, field kitchens and jeeps that were provided by the Order have continued to be used by the Order’s members for humanitarian purposes only, and they remain the property of the Order. During the Winter of 1991/92, the European Community in Brussels earmarked US$ 125,000,000.00 worth of aid for food for the starving population in Russia. Transport and distribution were to be provided by organisations chosen by the European Community. Apart from the humanitarian aspects, it is a fact that this aid programme also prevented large scale social unrest and political instability in urban centres. Of this sum the European Community allocated half to the International Red Cross, and half to the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem as represented by the Lazarus-Hilfswerk. For this purpose the Order set up by the Lazarus-Hilfswerk (LHW) with it international headquarter in Germany three centres, in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Novgorod from which they operated their distribution system. A letter from H.I.R.H. Archduke Dr. Otto von Habsburg, signed in his capacity as a Member of the European Parliament and addressed to the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem testifies to the high esteem in which the St. Lazarus and his work are held by the European Parliament.
Arms of the St. Lazarus OrderThese jurisdictions have also spent substantial amounts of their own money on charitable works and projects close to the heart of Pope John Paul II, the Polish and other Eastern European members of the College of Cardinals and the Polish and Eastern European Episcopate, as well as in other areas of activity.
For example, the Canadian Grand Priory works extensively in the field of Hansen’s Disease (leprosy), both in the areas of research and of support services. In this and other fields, the Canadian Grand Priory has worked closely with the Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem, and many of the officers of the Grand Priory of the Order of St. Lazarus are also officers in the St. John Order. Similarly, Grand Priories in New Zealand and Australia have been providing support for the victims of Hansen's Disease in their own countries and the islands of Oceania.
When faced with the task of assessing meritorious, chivalrous work on a vast scale instead of simply writing about a Catholic-founded Order of Knighthood in the context of other Orders, there is a danger of compiling an activity report rather than keeping strictly to the criteria upon which the book is based. However, very rarely something catches one’s attention which seems to be so small, but in reality symbolises all that chivalry is about. It's been learned incidentally that part of the contribution several Commanderies of the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem expect their members to make are twelve full days a year given free of charge to work in hospitals and institutions which cater for the mentally or physically sick, the hungry and the needy, or do social work that benefits those who need help. I was particularly impressed by the activities of the nine members of the Order in Liechtenstein: they set up in 1990 an emergency telephone helpline for the children of the Principality, ‘Sorgen-Telefon für Kinder in Liechtenstein’. They give their time freely, answering calls in rotation twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, throughout the year. Posters about this service are displayed in schools, and stickers are displayed in telephone booths and public places throughout the Principality. The members have been professionally trained as counsellors for this particular task, and they receive well over 300 calls from children every year out of a population of 30,000.
Other jurisdictions of the Order in Europe, South America and Africa are active in charitable activities, and the work of the Order in such countries as South Africa and Zimbabwe is remarkable, and some European Grand Priories still work as hospitallers in the way that members of the Order did in the early years of its existence, much of their work still concerned with fighting leprosy Others, such as France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Bohemia, assist the Grand Hospitaller in relief work for the hungry and needy in several Eastern European countries.
In New Zealand the Order is directly involved in Pacific-area programs against leprosy and donates medical supplies to various island leprosaria. The Grand Priory of Finland operates a Special Volunteer Ambulance Corps for young drug addicts and directly supports a medical and religious mission in Mugaea, Kenya. The Grand Bailiwick of Austria also operates a Volunteer Ambulance Corps which is officially recognised by the government as an alternative to compulsory military service. Support for disabled people, the sick and the aged as well as for refugees is provided. The Grand Priory of Alsace supports various dispensaries in Cameroon as well as a leprosarium. The Hungary Priory supports people without lodging and earnings. The Grand Bailiwick of England is raising funds in support of research into the early diagnosis of malignant melanoma, leprosaria in Kenya, and currently the Kosovo Appeal. The Grand Bailiwick of the United States is donating health professions scholarships (physician's assistant and nursing), supporting leprosaria (Mexico, Kenya) and an ambulance/children's hospital program in Romania, assisting the American Organ and Tissue Donation Program and giving financial assistance to Christian churches of various denominations. The German Commandery of Berlin-Brandenburg gives medical aid for the population of Benin, Croatia, Hungary, Russia and Slovenia and relief for people without lodging in Berlin. Maltese members are supporting charities around Malta, also leprosaria (Kenya, Tanzania) and a medical clinic (Bethlehem, Holy Land). The Grand Priory of the Maltese Islands has affiliated two philantrophic organisations: the Special Rescue Group - St. Lazarus Corps that offers first aid services and the Step-by-Step Foundation that offers support to brain-injured children. The Commandery of New Caledonia is giving material and moral support to persons in need and collecting drugs and other medical items, in particular for hospitals and dispensaries of underprivileged Pacific islands. This is an impressive list of charitable activities, and equally impressive are the official acknowledgements of gratitude from governments and especially the Headquarters of the European Community in Brussels.
For a number of years, these jurisdictions have been at the forefront of charitable and humanitarian projects supported by Pope John Paul II, and they were specifically singled out by him for their praiseworthy chivalric activities. As the Supreme Pontiff, John Paul II, joined by members of the College of Cardinals, has on more than one occasion invited a group of people collectively as members of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem to his private apartments in the Vatican, has celebrated Holy Mass with them in his private chapel, and continues to encourage them to undertake charitable projects which he monitors personally.
Among the members ones could be mentioned: King Juan Carlos of Spain, King Carol II of Romania, Former King Michael I of Romania, Former King and Prime Minister Simeon II of Bulgaria, King Kigeli V of Rwanda, Royal Prince Oscar of Prussia, Imperial Prince Wladimire of Russia, Royal Prince Franz of Lippe, Royal Prince of Thurn and Taxis, infant Philip of Spain; Royal Princes Families of Burbon: Spain, Siciles, Parma, France; Royal Princes of Lichtenstein, of Mecklemburg; Imperial Princes of Habsburg, of Romanow, of Bagration, of Hohenzollern; Princes of Orlean, Aleçon, Vendôme, Nemours, Brissac, Westminster, Richmond, Gordon, Santona, Gaeta, Gandia y de Osuna, Medina de Rioseco, Seo de Urgal, San Fernando Luis, Dato, Maille, Bauffremont, Polignac, Fezensac, Luynes, Clermont-Tonnere, Chevrese, Levis-Mirepoix, Gille de Maille de La Tour Landry, Gandolfino, Audiffret-Pasquier, Desmond, Aremberg, Neufchâtel, Vallengin, Thurn and Taxis, Metternich-Winneburg, Radziwill, Hofberg von Pless, Rohan-Rohan, Argoutinsky-Dolgoruki, Schwarzenberg, Capenedolo, Brembilla, Monte-Arara, Santona, Cantacuzino, Odescalchi; Lords of Mowbray, Stourton, Dunsany Kinross, Bossom of Maidstone, Mackenzi-Stuart etc. Members of St. Lazarus Order becomes also "Princes of Church": Patriarchs Antiochia, Jerusalem, Aleksandria; Cardinal Oddi; Cardinal Fagiolo; Cardinal Cerejeira, Patriarch of Lisbon; Ernesto Cardinal Corripio y Ahumada of Mexico; Cardinal Aponte Martinez of Puerto Rico; Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago; Cardinal Gonzales Martin, Primate of Spain; Cardinal Ernesto y Taracón, next Primate of Spain; Cardinal Patrick Hayes of New York; Francis Cardinal Spellman, of New York; George Cardinal Mundelein of Chicago; Cardinal Mindszenthy, Primate of Hungary; László Cardinal Paskai, Primate of Hungary; George Cardinal Pell of Sydney; Archbishop Sheen of Newport; Archbishop Hannan, of New Orlean; Basil Cardinal Hume of Westminster; Dennis Joseph Dougherty of Philadelphia, Cardinal William Henry O'Connell of Boston; Cardinal Lienart of Lille; Cardinal Winning of Glasgow; Archbishop Perrado y Garcia of Valencia; Archbishop Bobadilla of Santo Domingo; Archbishop Magnoni; Archbishop Picha of Hradec Kralove; next Archbishop Otcenasek of Hradec Kralove, Archbishop Pasquier of Garua; Archbishop Fischer of Strasburg; etc. Saint Lazarus knights also became presidents of the states of: Portugal, Mexico, Brazile, Argentina, Cuba, Peru, Honduras, Gwatemala, Dominicana; a regent of Spain; a president of European Tribunal of Justice, many Prime-ministers, and Senators of the US.
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THE ROYAL FRENCH ORDER OF MILITARY MERIT
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Order of Military Merit ( Ordre du mérite militaire ). Established by Louis XV 10.3.1759 as the protestant version of the Order of St. Louis. Abolished 1830.
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Napoleon I , Emperor of the French
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THE ORDER OF THE LEGION D'HONNEUR
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The Légion d'honneur (officially Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur) is a French order established by Napoléon Bonaparte, First Consul of the First Republic, on May 19, 1802. It is the premier order of France, and its award is therefore considered a great distinction. The order’s motto is Honneur et patrie ("Honour and Motherland" Napoleon, the First Consul, felt the need for a reward to commend both civilians and soldiers and instituted a Légion d'Honneur, a body of men (women were first allowed in the legion in 1852 by President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, the later Napoleon III) that was not an order of chivalry. The Légion did and does however show all the characteristics of an Order of Chivalry. Napoleon, in 1802 still a revolutionary, loathed orders of knighthood.
The Légion was loosely patterned after a Roman Legion, with légionnaires (soldiers) officers, commandants and a grand council; and the Emperor angrily rebuked anyone who called this institution an order. The highest rank was not a grand cross but a grand aigle, a rank that wore all the insignia common to grand crosses. The members were paid, the highest of them extremely generously: 5,000 francs to a grand officier, 2,000 francs to a commandant, 1,000 francs to an officier, And 250 francs to a légionnaire. According to some sources Napoleon declared: On appelle ça des hochets, je sais, on l'a dit déjà. Et bien, j'ai répondu que c'est avec des hochets que l'on mène les hommes. — "We call these children's toys, I know, it's been said already. Well, I replied that it's with such toys that one leads men." (The French word hochet means a child's rattle). This has been often quoted as "It is with such baubles that men are led."
The order was the first modern order of merit. The orders of the monarchy were often limited to Catholics and all knights had to be noblemen. The military decorations were the perk of the officers. The légion, however, was open to men of all ranks and professions. Only merit or bravery counted. It is noteworthy that all previous orders were crosses or shared a clear Christian background, whereas the Légion is a secular institution. The jewel of the legion has five arms.In a decree issued on the 10th Pluviose XIII (January 30, 1805) a grand decoration was instituted. This decoration, a cross on a large sash and a silver star with an eagle became known as the Grand Aigle, and later in 1814 as the grand cordon (French for "Large sash"). Napoleon had dispensed 15 golden collars of the legion among his kinsmen and the highest of his ministers. This collar was abolished in 1815.
Although research is made difficult by the loss of the archives, it is known that three women who fought with the army were decorated with the order: Anne Biget (a nun), Virginie Ghesquière, and Marie-Jeanne Schelling. The Légion d'honneur was prominent and visible in the empire. The Emperor always wore it and the fashion of the time allowed for decorations to be worn most of the time. The king of Sweden therefore refused the order; it was too common in his eyes. Napoleon's own decorations were captured by the Prussians and were displayed in the Zeughaus (arms repository) in Berlin till 1945. Today, they are in Moscow.
The President of France is the Grand Master of the Order and appoints all other members of the Order — by convention, on the advice of the Government. Its principal officers are the Chancellor and Secretary-General.
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The Order of The Legion D'Honneur
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THE ORDER OF THE IRON CROWN
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Order of the Iron Crown
( Ordre de la Couronne de fer ).
Established by Napoleon in 1805
for his Italian subjects. Now an Italian order.
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THE IMPERIAL ORDER OF REUNION
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Imperial Order of Reunion
( Ordre impérial de la Réunion ).
Established in 1811 for the territories
annexed to the French Empire. Abolished 1815.
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THE ORDER OF THE THREE GOLDEN FLEECES
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Order of the Three Golden Fleeces
( Ordre des 3 Toisons d'or ).
This order was never realized, but
was intended by Napoleon to unite
the Austrian and Spanish orders with
a new French one that would be reserved
for the most exceptional heros of his armies.
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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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