Part 11

ix. _Prussia._ The _Order of the Black Eagle_, one of the most distinguished of European orders, was founded in 1701 by the elector of Brandenburg, Frederick I., in memory of his coronation as king of Prussia. The order consists of one class only and the original statutes limited the number, exclusive of the princes of the royal house and foreign members, to 30. But the number has been exceeded. It is only conferred on those of royal lineage and upon high officers of state. It confers the nobiliary particle _von_. Only those who have received the _Order of the Red Eagle_ are eligible. An illustration of the badge of the order with ribbon is given on Plate IV. fig. 3. The star of silver bears the black eagle on an orange ground surrounded by a silver fillet on which is the motto of the order _Suum Cuique_. The collar is formed of alternate black eagles and a circular medallion with the motto on a white centre surrounded by the initials F.R. repeated in green, the whole in a circle of blue with four gold crowns on the exterior rim. The _Order of the Red Eagle_, the second of the Prussian orders, was founded originally as the _Order of Sincerity_ (_L'Ordre de la Sincerité_) in 1705 by George William, hereditary prince of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. The original constitution and insignia are now entirely changed, with the exception of the red eagle which formed the centre of the cross of the badge. The order had almost fallen into oblivion when it was revived in 1734 by the margrave George Frederick Charles as the _Order of the Brandenburg Red Eagle_. It consisted of 30 nobly born knights. The numbers were increased and a grand cross class added in 1759. On the cession of the principality to Prussia in 1791 the order was transferred and King Frederick William raised it to that place in Prussian orders which it has since maintained. The order was divided into four classes in 1810 and there are now five classes with numerous subdivisions. It is an order of civil and military merit. The grand cross resembles the badge of the Black Eagle, but is white and the eagles in the corners red, the central medallion bearing the initials W.R. (those of William I.) surrounded by a blue fillet with the motto _Sincere et Constanter_. The numerous classes and subdivisions have exceedingly complicated distinguishing marks, some bearing crossed swords, a crown, or an oak-leaf surmounting the cross. The ribbon is white with two orange stripes.

The _Order for Merit_ (_Ordre pour le Mérite_), one of the most highly prized of European orders of merit, has now two divisions, military and for science and art. It was originally founded by the electoral prince Frederick, afterwards Frederick I. of Prussia, in 1667 as the _Order of Generosity_; it was given its present name and granted for civil and military distinction by Frederick the Great, 1740. In 1810 the order was made one for military merit against the enemy in the field exclusively. In 1840 the class for distinction for science and art, or peace class (_Friedensklasse_) was founded by Frederick William IV., for those "who have gained an illustrious name by wide recognition in the spheres of science and art." The number is limited to 30 German and 30 foreign members. The _Academy of Sciences and Arts_ on a vacancy nominates three candidates, from which one is selected by the king. It is interesting to note that this was the only distinction which Thomas Carlyle would accept. The badge of the military order is a blue cross with gold uncrowned eagles in the angles; on the topmost arm is the initial F., with a crown; on the other arms the inscription _Pour le Mérite_. The ribbon is black with a silver stripe at the edges. In 1866 a special grand cross was instituted for the crown prince (afterwards Frederick III.) and Prince Frederick Charles. It was in 1879 granted to Count von Moltke as a special distinction. The badge of the class for science or art is a circular medallion of white, with a gold eagle in the centre surrounded by a blue border with the inscription _Pour le Mérite_; on the white field the letters [reverse F]F. II. four times repeated, and four crowns in gold projecting from the rim. The ribbon is the same as for the military class. The _Order of the Crown_, founded by William I. in 1861, ranks with the Red Eagle. There are four classes, with many subdivisions. Other Prussian orders are the _Order of William_, instituted by William II. in 1896; a Prussian branch of the knights of St John of Jerusalem, _Johanniter Orden_, in its present form dating from 1893; and the family _Order of the House of Hohenzollern_, founded in 1851 by Frederick William IV. There are two divisions, military and civil, divided into four classes. The military badge is a white cross with black and gold edging, resting on a green oak and laurel wreath; the central medallion bears the Prussian Eagle with the arms of Hohenzollern, and is surrounded by a blue fillet with the motto _Vom Fels zum Meer_; the civil badge is a black eagle, with the head encircled with a blue fillet with the motto. There are also for ladies the _Order of Service_, founded in 1814 by Frederick William III., in one class, but enlarged in 1850 and in 1865. The decoration of merit for ladies (_Verdienst-kreuz_), founded in 1870, was raised to an order in 1907. For the famous military decoration, the _Iron Cross_, see MEDALS.

x. _Saxony._--The _Order of the Crown of Rue_ (_Rauten Krone_) was founded as a family order by Frederick Augustus I. in 1807. It is of one class only, and the sons and nephews of the sovereign are born knights of the order. It is granted to foreign ruling princes and subjects of high rank. The badge is a pale green enamelled cross resting on a gold crown with eight rue leaves, the centre is white with the crowned monogram of the founder surrounded by a green circlet of rue; the star bears in its centre the motto _Providentiae Memor_. The ribbon is green. Other Saxon orders are the military _Order of St Henry_, for distinguished service in the field, founded in 1736 in one class; since 1829 it has had four classes; the ribbon is sky blue with two yellow stripes, the gold cross bears in the centre the effigy of the emperor Henry II.; the _Order of Albert_, for civil and military merit, founded in 1850 by Frederick Augustus II. in memory of Duke Albert the Bold, the founder of the Albertine line of Saxony, has six classes; the _Order of Civil Merit_, was founded in 1815. For ladies there are the _Order of Sidonia_, 1870, in memory of the wife of Albert the Bold, the mother (_Stamm-Mutter_) of the Albertine line; and the _Maria Anna Order_, 1906.

xi. The duchies of _Saxe Altenburg_, _Saxe Coburg Gotha_ and _Saxe Meiningen_ have in common the family _Order of Ernest_, founded in 1833 in memory of Duke Ernest the Pious of Saxe Gotha and as a revival of the _Order of German Integrity_ (_Orden der deutschen Redlichkeit_) founded in 1690. Saxe Coburg Gotha and Saxe Meiningen have also separate crosses of merit in science and art.

xii. _Saxe Weimar._--The _Order of the White Falcon_ or _of Vigilance_ was founded in 1732 and renewed in 1815.

xiii. _Württemberg._--The _Order of the Crown of Württemberg_ was founded in 1818, uniting the former _Order of the Golden Eagle_ and an order of civil merit. It has five classes. The badge is a white cross surmounted by the royal crown, in the centre the initial F surrounded by a crimson fillet on which is the motto _Furchtlos und Treu_; in the angles of the cross are four golden leopards; the ribbon is crimson with two black stripes. Besides the military _Order of Merit_ founded in 1759, and the silver cross of merit, 1900, Württemberg has also the _Order of Frederick_, 1830, and the _Order of Olga_, 1871, which is granted to ladies as well as men.

_Greece._--The _Order of the Redeemer_ was founded as such in 1833 by King Otto, being a conversion of a decoration of honour instituted in 1829 by the National Assembly at Argos. There are five classes, the numbers being regulated for each. An illustration of the badge and ribbon of the grand cross is given on Plate V. fig. 1.

_Holland._--The _Order of William_, for military merit, was founded in 1815 by William I.; there are four classes; the badge is a white cross resting on a green laurel Burgundian cross, in the centre the Burgundian flint-steel, as in the order of the Golden Fleece. The motto _Voer Moed, Belied, Trouw_ (For Valour, Devotion, Loyalty), appears on the arms of the cross. The cross is surmounted by a jewelled crown; the ribbon is orange with dark blue edging. The _Order of the Netherlands Lion_, for civil merit, was founded in 1818; there are four classes. The family _Order of the Golden Lion of Nassau_ passed in 1890 to the grand duchy of Luxembourg (see under LUXEMBURG). In 1892 Queen Wilhelmina instituted the _Order of Orange-Nassau_ with five classes. The _Teutonic Order_ (q.v.), surviving in the Ballarde (Bailiwick) of Utrecht, was officially established in the Netherlands by the States General in 1580. It was abolished by Napoleon in 1811 and was restored in 1815.

_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.