Part 11

_Italy._--The _Order of the Annunziata_, the highest order of knighthood of the Italian kingdom, was instituted in 1362 by Amadeus VI., count of Savoy, as the Order of the Collare or Collar, from the silver collar made up of love-knots and roses, which was its badge, in honour of the fifteen joys of the Virgin; hence the number of the knights was restricted to fifteen, the fifteen chaplains recited fifteen masses each day, and the clauses of the original statute of the order were fifteen (Amadeus VIII. added five others in 1434). Charles III. decreed that the order should be called the Annunziata, and made some other alterations in 1518. His son and successor, Emmanuel Philibert, made further modifications in the statute and the costume. The church of the order was originally the Carthusian monastery of Pierre-châtel in the district of Bugey, but after Charles Emmanuel I. had given Bugey and Bresse to France in 1601 the church of the order was transferred to the Camaldolese monastery near Turin. That religious order having been suppressed at the time of the French Revolution, King Charles Albert decreed in 1840 that the Carthusian church of Collegno should be the chapel of the order. The knights of the Annunziata have the title of "cousins of the king," and enjoy precedence over all the other officials of the state. The costume of the order is of white satin embroidered in silk, with a purple velvet cloak adorned with roses and gold embroidery, but it is now never worn; in the collar the motto _Fert_ is inserted, on the meaning of which there is great uncertainty,[65] and from it hangs a pendant enclosing a medallion representing the Annunciation (see Plate IV. fig. 7). An account of the order is given in Count Luigi Cibrario's _Ordini Cavallereschi_ (Turin, 1846) with coloured plates of the costume and badges.

The _Order of St Maurice and St Lazarus_ (SS Maurizio e Lazzaro), is a combination of two ancient orders. The Order of St Maurice was originally founded by Amadeus VIII., duke of Savoy, in 1434, when he retired to the hermitage of Ripaille, and consisted of a group of half-a-dozen councillors who were to advise him on such affairs of state as he continued to control. When he became pope as Felix V. the order practically ceased to exist. It was re-established at the instance of Emmanuel Philibert by Pope Pius V. in 1572 as a military and religious order, and the following year it was united to that of St Lazarus by Gregory XIII. The latter order had been founded as a military and religious community at the time of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem with the object of assisting lepers, many of whom were among its members. Popes, princes and nobles endowed it with estates and privileges, including that of administering and succeeding to the property of lepers, which eventually led to grave abuses. With the advance of the Saracens the knights of St Lazarus, when driven from the Holy Land and Egypt, migrated to France (1291) and Naples (1311), where they founded leper hospitals. The order in Naples, which alone was afterwards recognized as the legitimate descendant of the Jerusalem community, was empowered to seize and confine anyone suspected of leprosy, a permission which led to the establishment of a regular inquisitorial system of blackmail. In the 15th and 16th centuries dissensions broke out among the knights, and the order declined in credit and wealth, until finally the grand master, Giannotto Castiglioni, resigned his position in favour of Emmanuel Philibert, duke of Savoy, in 1571. Two years later the orders of St Lazarus and St Maurice were incorporated into one community, the members of which were to devote themselves to the defence of the Holy See and to fight its enemies as well as to continue assisting lepers. The galleys of the order subsequently took part in various expeditions against the Turks and the Barbary pirates. Leprosy, which had almost disappeared in the 17th century, broke out once more in the 18th, and in 1773 a hospital was established by the order at Aosta, made famous by Xavier de Maistre's tale, _Le Lépreux de la cité d'Aoste_. The statutes were published in 1816, by which date the order had lost its military character; it was reformed first by Charles Albert (1831), and later by Victor Emmanuel II., king of Italy (1868). The knighthood of St Maurice and St Lazarus is now a dignity conferred by the king of Italy (the grand master) on persons distinguished in the public service, science, art and letters, trade, and above all in charitable works, to which its income is devoted. There are five classes. The badge of the combined order is composed of the white cross with trefoil termination of St Lazarus resting on the green cross of St Maurice; both crosses are bordered gold. The first four classes wear the badge suspended from a royal crown. The ribbon is dark green.

See L. Cibrario, _Descrizione storica degli Ordini Cavallereschi_, vol. i. (Turin, 1846); _Calendario Reale_, an annual publication issued in Rome.

The military _Order of Savoy_ was founded in 1815 by Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia; badge modified 1855 and 1857. It has now five classes. The badge is a white cross, the arms of which expand and terminate in an obtuse angle; round the cross is a green laurel and oak wreath; the central medallion is red, bearing in gold two crossed swords, the initials of the founder and the date 1855. The ribbon is red with a central stripe of blue. The _Civil Order of Savoy_, founded in 1831 by Charles Albert of Sardinia, is of one class, and in statutes of 1868 is limited to 60 members. The badge is the plain Savoy cross in blue, with silver medallion, the ribbon is blue with white borders. The _Order of the Crown of Italy_ was founded in 1868 by Victor Emmanuel II. in commemoration of the union of Italy into a kingdom. There are five classes.

_Luxemburg._--The _Order of the Golden Lion_ was founded as a family order of the house of Nassau by William III. of the Netherlands and Adolphus of Nassau jointly. On the death of William in 1890 it passed to the grand duke of Luxemburg; it has only one class. The _Order of Adolphus of Nassau_, for civil and military merit, in four classes, was founded in 1858, and the _Order of the Oak Crown_ as a general order of merit, in five classes, in 1841, modified 1858.

_Monaco._--The _Order of St Charles_, five classes, was founded in 1858 by Prince Charles III. and remodelled in 1863. It is a general order of merit.

_Montenegro._--The _Order of St Peter_, founded in 1852, is a family order, in one class, and only given to members of the princely family; the _Order of Danilo_, or of the _Independence of Montenegro_, is a general order of merit, in four classes, with subdivisions, also founded in 1852.

_Norway._--The _Order of St Olaf_ was founded in 1847 by Oscar I. in honour of St Olaf, the founder of Christianity in Norway, as a general order of merit, military and civil. There are three classes, the last two being, in 1873 and 1890, subdivided into two grades each. The badge and ribbon is illustrated on Plate V, fig. 5. The reverse bears the motto _Ret og Sandhed_ (Right and Truth). The _Order of the Norwegian Lion_, founded in 1904 by Oscar II., has only one class; foreigners on whom the order is conferred must be sovereigns or heads of states or members of reigning houses.

_Papal._--The arrangement and constitution of the papal orders was remodelled by a brief of Pius X. in 1905. The _Order of Christ_, the supreme pontifical order, is of one class only; for the history of this ancient order see _Portugal_ (_infra_). The badge and ribbon is the same as the older Portuguese form. The _Order of Pius_ was founded in 1847 by Pius IX.; there are now three classes; the badge is an eight-pointed blue star with golden flames between the rays, a white centre bears the founder's name; the ribbon is blue with two red stripes at each border. The _Order of St Gregory the Great_, founded in 1831, is in two divisions, civil and military, each having three classes. The _Order of St Sylvester_ was originally founded as the _Order of the Golden Spur_ by Paul IV. in 1559 as a military body, though tradition assigns it to Constantine the Great and Pope Sylvester. It was reorganized as an order of merit by Gregory XVI. in 1841. In 1905 the order was divided into three classes, and a separate order, that of the _Golden Spur_ or _Golden Legion_ (_Militia Aurata_) was established, in one class, with the numbers limited to a hundred. The cross _Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice_, instituted by Leo XIII. in 1888 is a decoration, not an order. There remains the venerable _Order of the Holy Sepulchre_, of which tradition assigns the foundation to Godfrey de Bouillon. It was, however, probably founded as a military order for the protection of the Holy Sepulchre by Alexander VI. in 1496. The right to nominate to the order was shared with the pope as grand master by the guardian of the _Patres Minores_ in Jerusalem, later by the Franciscans, and then by the Latin patriarch in Jerusalem. In 1905 the latter was nominated grand master, but the pope reserves the joint right of nomination. The badge of the order is a red Jerusalem cross with red Latin crosses in the angles.

_Portugal._--The _Order of Christ_ was founded on the abolition of the Templars by Dionysius or Diniz of Portugal and in 1318 in conjunction with Pope John XXII., both having the right to nominate to the order. The papal branch survives as a distinct order. In 1522 it was formed as a distinct Portuguese order and the grand mastership vested in the crown of Portugal. In 1789 its original religious aspect was abandoned, and with the exception that its members must be of the Roman Catholic faith, it is entirely secularized. There are three classes. The original badge of the order was a long red cross with expanded flat ends bearing a small cross in white; the ribbon is red. The modern badge is a blue enamelled cross resting on a green laurel wreath; the central medallion, in white, contains the old red and white cross. The older form is worn with the collar by the grand-crosses. The _Order of the Tower and Sword_ was founded in 1808 in Brazil by the regent, afterwards king John VI. of Portugal, as a revival of the old _Order of the Sword_, said to have been founded by Alfonso V. in 1459. It was remodelled in 1832 under its present name and constitution as a general order of military and civil merit. There are five classes. The badge of the order and ribbon is illustrated on Plate IV. fig 4. The _Order of St Benedict of Aviz_ (earlier of _Evora_), founded in 1162 as a religious military order, was secularized in 1789 as an order of military merit, in four classes. The badge is a green cross _fleury_; the ribbon is green. The _Order of St James of the Sword_, or James of Compostella, is a branch of the Spanish order of that name (see under SPAIN). It also was secularized in 1789, and in 1862 was constituted an order of merit for science, literature and art, in five classes. The badge is the lily-hilted sword of St James, enamelled red with gold borders; the ribbon is violet. In 1789 these three orders were granted a common badge uniting the three separate crosses in a gold medallion; the joint ribbon is red, green and violet, and to the separate crosses was added a red sacred heart and small white cross. There are also the _Order of Our Lady of Villa Viçosa_ (1819), for both sexes, and the _Order of St Isabella_, 1801, for ladies.

_Rumania._--The _Order of the Star of Rumania_ was founded in 1877, and the _Order of the Crown of Rumania_ in 1881, both in five classes, for civil and military merit; the ribbon of the first is red with blue borders, of the second light blue with two silver stripes.

_Russia._--The _Order of St Andrew_ was founded in 1698 by Peter the Great. It is the chief order of the empire, and admission carries with it according to the statutes of 1720 the orders of _St Anne_, _Alexander Nevsky_, and the _White Eagle_; there is only one class. The badge and ribbon is illustrated in Plate IV. fig 5. The collar is composed of three members alternately, the imperial eagle bearing on a red medallion a figure of St George slaying the Dragon, the badge of the grand duchy of Moskow, the cipher of the emperor Paul I. in gold on a blue ground, surmounted by the imperial crown, and surrounded by a trophy of weapons and green and white flags, and a circular red and gold star with a blue St Andrew's cross. The _Order of St Catherine_, for ladies, ranks next to the St Andrew. It was founded under the name of the _Order of Rescue_ by Peter the Great in 1714 in honour of the empress Catherine and the part she had taken in rescuing him at the battle of the Pruth in 1711. There are two classes. The grand cross is only for members of the imperial house and ladies of the highest nobility. The second class was added in 1797. The badge of the order is a cross of diamonds bearing in a medallion the effigy of St Catherine. The ribbon is red with the motto _For Love and Fatherland_ in silver letters. The _Order of St Alexander Nevsky_ was founded in 1725 by the empress Catherine I. There is only one class. The badge is a red enamelled cross with gold eagles in the angles, bearing in a medallion the mounted effigy of St Alexander Nevsky. The ribbon is red. The _Order of the White Eagle_ was founded in 1713 by Augustus II. of Poland and was adopted as a Russian order in 1831; there is one class. The _Order of St Anne_ was founded by Charles Frederick, duke of Holstein-Gottorp in 1735 in honour of his wife, Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great. It was adopted as a Russian order in 1797 by their grandson, the emperor Paul. There are four classes. Other orders are those of _St Vladimir_, founded by Catherine II., 1782, four classes, and of _St Stanislaus_, founded originally as a Polish order by Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski in 1765, and adopted as a Russian order in 1831.

The military _Order of St George_ was founded by the empress Catherine II. in 1769 for military service on land and sea, with four classes; a fifth class for non-commissioned officers and men, the _St George's Cross_, was added in 1807. The badge is a white cross with gold borders, with a red central medallion on which is the figure of St George slaying the dragon. The ribbon is orange with three black stripes.

_Servia._--The _Order of the White Eagle_, the principal order, was founded by Milan I. in 1882, statutes 1883, in five classes; the ribbon is blue and red; the _Order of St Sava_, founded 1883, also in five classes, is an order of merit for science and art; the _Order of the Star of Karageorgevitch_, four classes, was founded by Peter I. in 1904. The orders of _Milosch the Great_, founded by Alexander I. in 1898 and of _Takovo_, founded originally by Michael Obrenovitch in 1863, reconstituted in 1883, are since the dynastic revolution of 1903 no longer bestowed. The _Order of St Lazarus_ is not a general order, the cross and collar being only worn by the king.

_Spain._--The Spanish branch of the _Order of the Golden Fleece_ has been treated above. The three most ancient orders of Spain--of _St James of Compostella_, or _St James of the Sword_, of _Alcantara_ and of _Calatrava_--still exist as orders of merit, the first in three classes, the last two as orders of military merit in one class. They were all originally founded as military religious orders, like the crusading Templars and the Hospitallers, but to fight for the true faith against the Moors in Spain. The present badges of the orders represent the crosses that the knights wore on their mantles. That of St James of Compostella is the red lily-hilted sword of St James; the ribbon is also red. The other two orders wear the cross _fleury_--_Alcantara_ red, _Calatrava_ green, with corresponding ribbons. A short history of these orders may be here given. Tradition gives the foundation of the _Order of Knights of St James of Compostella_ to Ramiro II., king of Leon, in the 10th century, to commemorate a victory over the Moors, but, historically the order dates from the confirmation in 1175 by Pope Alexander III. It gained great reputation in the wars against the Moors and became very wealthy. In 1493 the grand-mastership was annexed by Ferdinand the Catholic, and was vested permanently in the crown of Spain by Pope Adrian VI. in 1522.

The _Order of Knights of Alcantara_, instituted about 1156 by the brothers Don Suarez and Don Gomez de Barrientos for protection against the Moors. In 1177 they were confirmed as a religious order of knighthood under Benedictine rule by Pope Alexander III. Until about 1213 they were known as the Knights of San Julian del Pereyro; but when the defence of Alcantara, newly wrested from the Moors by Alphonso IX. of Castile, was entrusted to them they took their name from that city. For a considerable time they were in some degree subject to the grand master of the kindred order of Calatrava. Ultimately, however, they asserted their independence by electing a grand master of their own, the first holder of the office being Don Diego Sanche. During the rule of thirty-seven successive grand masters, similarly chosen, the influence and wealth of the order gradually increased until the Knights of Alcantara were almost as powerful as the sovereign. In 1494-1495 Juan de Zuñiga was prevailed upon to resign the grand-mastership to Ferdinand, who thereupon vested it in his own person as king; and this arrangement was ratified by a bull of Pope Alexander VI., and was declared permanent by Pope Adrian VI. in 1523. The yearly income of Zuñiga at the time of his resignation amounted to 150,000 ducats. In 1540 Pope Paul III. released the knights from the strictness of Benedictine rule by giving them permission to marry, though second marriage was forbidden. The three vows were henceforth _obedientia_, _castitas conjugalis_ and _conversio morum_. In modern times the history of the order has been somewhat chequered. When Joseph Bonaparte became king of Spain in 1808, he deprived the knights of their revenues, which were only

## partially recovered on the restoration of Ferdinand VII. in 1814. The

order ceased to exist as a spiritual body in 1835.

The _Order of Knights of Calatrava_ was founded in 1158 by Don Sancho III. of Castile, who presented the town of Calatrava, newly wrested from the Moors, to them to guard. In 1164 Pope Alexander III. granted confirmation as a religious military order under Cistercian rule. In 1197 Calatrava fell into the hands of the Moors and the order removed to the castle of Salvatierra, but recovered their town in 1212. In 1489 Ferdinand seized the grand-mastership, and it was finally vested in the crown of Spain in 1523. The order became a military order of merit in 1808 and was reorganized in 1874. The _Royal and Illustrious Order of Charles III._ was founded in 1771 by Charles III., in two classes; altered in 1804, it was abolished by Joseph Bonaparte in 1809, together with all the Spanish orders except the Golden Fleece, and the _Royal Order of the Knights of Spain_ was established. In 1814 Ferdinand VII. revived the order, and in 1847 it received its present constitution, viz. of three classes (the commanders in two divisions). The badge of the order is a blue and white cross suspended from a green laurel wreath, in the angles are golden lilies, and the oval centre bears a figure of the Virgin in a golden glory. The ribbon is blue and white. The _Order of Isabella the Catholic_ was founded in 1815 under the patronage of St Isabella, wife of Diniz of Portugal; originally instituted to reward loyalty in defence of the Spanish possessions in America, it is now a general order of merit, in three classes. The badge is a red rayed cross with gold rays in the angles, in the centre a representation of the pillars of Hercules; the cross is attached to the yellow and white ribbon by a green laurel wreath. Other Spanish orders are the _Maria Louisa_, 1792, for noble ladies; the military and naval orders of merit of _St Ferdinand_, founded by the Cortes in 1811, five classes; of _St Ermenegild_ (_Hermenegildo_), 1814, three classes, of _Military Merit_ and _Naval Merit_, 1866, and of _Maria Christina_, 1890; the _Order of Beneficencia_ for civil merit, 1856; that of _Alfonso XII._ for merit in science, literature and art, 1902, and the _Civil Order of Alfonso XII._, 1902.

[Illustration: PLATE V.

(i) THE REDEEMER (Greece). (ii) THE ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM (English Branch, Badge of the Sovereign and Patron). (iii) THE ST. HUBERT (Bavaria). (iv) THE ST. STEPHEN (Hungary). (v). THE ST. OLAF (Norway). (vi). THE SERAPHIM (Sweden).

_Drawn by William Gibb._

_Niagara Litho. Co., Buffalo, N. Y._]