European Royal Orders of Chivalry

Back in 2004, I wrote about the Queen's orders of chivalry in the UK and her other realms. Although the British honours system is probably the best known in the World, most countries have honours systems, some with orders founded centuries ago, and all European monarchies have orders of chivalry of varying complexity.

Two of the European kingdoms have orders which, like the Order of the Garter, were founded in the Middle Ages. The most famous is the Order of the Golden Fleece, of which King Juan Carlos is Sovereign. The Order was not founded in Spain, but in Burgundy, by Philippe III, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430. It passed to the House of Habsburg by marriage, and the Habsburgs then became kings of Spain through marriage. After the death of the last Habsburg Spanish King, Carlos II, in 1700, sovereignty of the order was disputed between the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor and the new Borbsn King of Spain, Felipe V. The dispute was settled by dividing the order in two, with both Emperor and King as sovereign of their respective branches. The Spanish order remained in the hands of the head of the Spanish House of Borbsn even when they weren't on the throne, for example during the Franco era, when Spain was a monarchy without a king.

The King of Spain is also Grand Master and Perpetual Administrator by Apostolic Authority of four religious military orders which were founded between the 12th and 14th centuries, as fraternities of knights dedicated to the defence of the church and Christendom against the Islamic Moors who had occupied much of Spain since the 8th century. The orders of Calatrava, Santiago, Alcantara and Montesa were established by Papal authority, but Spanish monarchs were keen to gain control of them in order to prevent them from becoming an alternative source of power and influence to the crown, particularly after the Moors were finally expelled from Spain in the 15th century. Papal bulls granted the administration of the orders to the Spanish crown between 1495 and 1587. During the political upheavals of the 19th and 20th centuries, beginning with the Napoleonic Wars and ending with the Franco regime, the orders were, at times, suppressed, but after the restoration of the monarchy in 1975 their fortunes have revived, and the admission of new novices to the orders began again in 1982. They are still

Two Spanish orders from the 18th and 19th centuries survive under the present monarchy. The Order of Carlos III was founded in 1771 by King Carlos III as a reward for outstanding services to the fatherland. It suffered a chequered history before being finally re-established in 1942, and is now award in five classes (Grand Cross with Collar, Grand Cross, Commander by Number, Commander, and Knight). The Order of Isabella the Catholic, in memory of Queen Isabella (1474-1504), the patron of Christopher Columbus, was founded by Ferdinand VII in 1815 for civil services to Spain, and is awarded in the same classes as the Order of Carlos III. The later 19th and 20th centuries saw the establishment of a number of further multi-class orders, including the Civil Order of Mercy (1856), Order of Merit (1926), the Military Order of Merit (1864), Naval Order of Merit (1866) and Air Force Order of Merit (1945).

The final medieval order still awarded by a reigning sovereign is Denmark's Order of the Elephant, which developed from a Catholic brotherhood founded by King Christian I in 1462. Like the Garter and Golden Fleece, it is awarded in the single class of knight. Women have been admitted to the order since 1958.

Denmark has just one other order - the Order of the Dannebrog - which has four classes (two of which are sub-divided) and is awarded for merit in all fields of activity. It was founded in 1671 and is named after the Danish national flag, which is probably the oldest in the World.

Outside of British orders, the oldest extant post-medieval orders are Sweden's orders of the Seraphim, Sword and Northern Star, founded by King Frederick I in 1748. The Order of Vasa followed in 1772. In 1975, the orders were designated exclusively for foreign nationals, leaving Swedes ineligible for any of their own national orders. Twenty years later, this condition was relaxed to allow members of the Swedish Royal Family to receive the Order of the Seraphim (along with foreign heads of state and royals).

All other European monarchic orders were established in the 19th and 20th centuries, and all are multi-class orders. Some, such as the Dutch Family Order of Orange and Monegasque Order of the Crown, are awarded for personal service to the monarchy, or as a mark of the monarch's respect, while others, such as the Order of The Netherlands Lion and Belgian Order of Leopold, are for services to the nation or society in general. A full list of orders with their dates of foundation and classes is given at http://jpj.org.uk/european_orders.html.

In addition to Crown or state orders, there are orders which come under royal protection but which are religious or charitable in nature, rather than royal or state orders. The Spanish military orders have been mentioned, but the most significant orders in this category are the Protestant Orders of St. John. They are modelled on the Catholic Order of Malta (under Papal sovereignty, and fully titled the Sovereign Military Hospitillar Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta), which was founded during the Crusades in the 12th century. The three protestant orders which come under royal sovereignty are the Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem in Great Britain, the Order of St. John of Sweden and the Dutch Order of St. John of The Netherlands.

Nearly all the European countries which have become republics have orders, and in some cases have retained or revived the orders of the former monarchies (e.g. the Portuguese medieval orders of the Tower and Sword, Christ and Aviz). At the same time, former reigning dynasties often continue to award orders of their former realms, although these have no official recognition in the modern states which occupy their former territory.

- Paul James