Part 12

_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.

_Sweden._--The _Order of the Seraphim_ (the "Blue Ribbon"). Tradition attributes the foundation of this most illustrious order of knighthood to Magnus I. in 1280, more certainty attaches to the fact that the order was in existence in 1336. In its modern form the order dates from its reconstitution in 1748 by Frederick I., modified by statutes of 1798 and 1814. Exclusive of the sovereign and the princes of the blood, the order is limited to 23 Swedish and 8 foreign members. The native members must be already members of the _Order of the Sword_ or the _Pole Star_. There is a prelate of the order which is administered by a chapter; the chapel of the knights is in the Riddar Holmskyrka at Stockholm. The badge and ribbon of the grand cross is illustrated on Plate V. fig. 6. The collar is formed of alternate gold seraphim and blue enamelled patriarchal crosses. The motto is _Iesus Hominum Salvator_. The _Order of the Sword_ (the "Yellow Ribbon"), the principal Swedish military order, was founded, it is said, by Gustavus I. Vasa in 1522, and was re-established by Frederick I., with the _Seraphim_ and the _Pole Star_ in 1748; modifications have been made in 1798, 1814 and 1889. There are five classes, with subdivisions. The badge is a white cross, in the angles gold crowns, the points of the cross joined by gold swords entwined with gold and blue belts, in the blue centre an upright sword with the three crowns in gold, the whole surmounted by the royal crown. The ribbon is yellow with blue edging. The _Order of the Pole Star_ (_Polar Star_, _North Star_, the "Black Ribbon"), founded in 1748 for civil merit, has since 1844 three classes. The white cross bears a five-pointed silver star on a blue medallion. The ribbon is black. The _Order of Vasa_ (the "Green Ribbon"), founded by Gustavus III. in 1772 as an order of merit for services rendered to the national industries and manufactures, has three classes, with subdivisions. The white cross badge bears on a blue centre the charge of the house of Vasa, a gold sheaf shaped like a vase with two handles. The ribbon is green. The _Order of Charles XIII._, founded in 1811, is granted to Freemasons of high degree. It is thus quite unique.

_Turkey._--The _Nischan-i-Imtiaz_, or _Order of Privilege_, was founded by Abdul Hamid II. in 1879 as a general order of merit in one class; the _Nischan-el-Iftikhar_, or _Order of Glory_, also one class, founded 1831 by Mahmoud II.; the _Nischan-i-Mejidi_, the _Mejidieh_, was founded as a civil and military order of merit in 1851 by Abdul Medjid. There are five classes; the badge is a silver sun of seven clustered rays, with crescent and star between each cluster; on a gold centre is the sultan's name in black Turkish lettering, surrounded by a red fillet inscribed with the words _Zeal_, _Devotion_, _Loyalty_; it is suspended from a red crescent and star; the ribbon is red with green borders. The khedive of Egypt has authority, delegated by the sultan, to grant this order. The _Nischan-i-Osmanie_, the _Osmanieh_, for civil and military merit, was founded by Abdul Aziz in 1862; it has four classes. The badge is a gold sun with seven gold-bordered green rays; the red centre bears the crescent, and it is also suspended from a gold crescent and star; the ribbon is green bordered with red. The _Nischan-i-Schefakat of Compassion or Benevolence_, was instituted for ladies, in three classes, in 1878 by the sultan in honour of the work done for the non-combatant victims of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877 in connexion with the Turkish Compassionate Fund started by the late Baroness Burdett-Coutts. She was one of the first to receive the order. There are also the family order, for Turkish princes, the _Hanédani-Ali-Osman_, founded in 1893, and the _Ertogroul_, in 1903.

_Non-European Orders._--Of the various states of Central and South America, Nicaragua has the _American Order of San Juan_ or _Grey Town_, founded in 1857, in three classes; and Venezuela that of the _Bust of Bolivar_, 1854, five classes; the ribbon is yellow, blue and red. Mexico has abolished its former orders, the _Mexican Eagle_, 1865, and _Our Lady of Guadalupe_, 1853; as has Brazil those of the _Southern Cross_, 1822, _Dom Pedro I._, 1826, _the Rose_, 1829, and the Brazilian branches of the Portuguese orders of _Christ_, _St Benedict of Aviz_ and _St James_. The republican _Order of Columbus_, founded in 1890, was abolished in 1891.

_China._--There are no orders for natives, and such distinctions as are conferred by the different coloured buttons of the mandarins, the grades indicated by the number of peacocks' feathers, the gift of the yellow jacket and the like, are rather insignia of rank or personal marks of honour than orders, whether of knighthood or merit, in the European sense. For foreigners, however, the emperor in 1882 established the sole order, that of the _Imperial Double Dragon_, in five classes, the first three of which are further divided into three grades each, making eleven grades in all. The recipients eligible for the various classes are graded, from the first grade of the first class for reigning sovereigns down to the fifth class for merchants and manufacturers. The insignia of the order are unique in shape and decoration. Of the three grades of the first class the badge is a rectangular gold and yellow enamel plaque, decorated with two upright blue dragons, with details in green and white, between the heads for the first grade a pearl, for the second a ruby, for the third a coral, set in green, white and gold circles. The size of the plaque varies for the different classes. The badges of the other four classes are round plaques, the first three with indented edges, the last plain; in the second class the dragons are in silver on a yellow and gold ground, the jewel is a cut coral; the grades differ in the colour, shape, &c., of the borders and indentations; in the third class the dragons are gold, the ground green, the jewel a sapphire; in the fourth the silver dragons are on a blue ground, the jewel a lapis lazuli; in the fifth green dragons on a silver ground, the jewel a pearl. The ribbons, decorated with embroidered dragons, differ for the various grades and classes.

_Japan._--The Japanese orders have all been instituted by the emperor Mutsu Hito. In design and workmanship the insignia of the orders are beautiful examples of the art of the native enamellers. The _Order of the Chrysanthemum_ (_Kikkwa Daijasho_), founded in 1877, has only one class. It is but rarely conferred on others than members of the royal house or foreign rulers or princes. The badge of the order may be described as follows: From a centre of red enamel representing the sun issue 32 white gold-bordered rays in four sharply projecting groups, between the angles of which are four yellow conventional chrysanthemum flowers with green leaves forming a circle on which the rays rest; the whole is suspended from a larger yellow chrysanthemum. The ribbon is deep red bordered with purple. The collar, which may be granted with the order or later, is composed of four members repeated, two gold chrysanthemums, one with green leaves, the other surrounded by a wreath of palm, and two elaborate arabesque designs. The _Order of the Paulownia Sun_ (_Tokwa Daijasho_), founded in 1888, in one class, may be in a sense regarded as the highest class of the _Rising Sun_ (_Kiokujitsasho_) founded in eight classes, in 1875. The badge of both orders is essentially the same, viz. the red sun with white and gold rays; in the former the lilac flowers of the Paulownia tree, the flower of the Tycoon's arms, take a prominent part. The ribbon of the first order is deep red with white edging, of the second scarlet with white central stripe. The last two classes of the _Rising Sun_ wear a decoration formed of the Paulownia flower and leaves. The _Order of the Mirror_ or _Happy Sacred Treasure_ (_Zaihosho_) was founded in 1888, with eight classes. The cross of white and gold clustered rays bears in a blue centre a silver star-shaped mirror. The ribbon is pale blue with orange stripes. There is also an order for ladies, that of the _Crown_, founded in five classes in 1888. The military order of Japan is the _Order of the Golden Kite_, founded in 1890, in seven classes. The badge has an elaborate design; it consists of a star of purple, red, yellow, gold and silver rays, on which are displayed old Japanese weapons, banners and shields in various coloured enamels, the whole surmounted by a golden kite with outstretched wings. The ribbon is green with white stripes.

_Persia._--The _Order of the Sun and Lion_, founded by Fath 'Ali Shah in 1808, has five classes. There is also the _Nischan-i-Aftab_, for ladies, founded in 1873.

_Siam._--The _Sacred Order_, or the _Nine Precious Stones_, was founded in 1869, in one class only, for the Buddhist princes of the royal house. The _Order of the White Elephant_, founded in 1861, is in five classes. This is the principal general order. The badge is a striking example of Oriental design adapted to a European conventional form. The circular plaque is formed of a triple circle of lotus leaves in gold, red and green, within a blue circlet with pearls a richly caparisoned white elephant on a gold ground, the whole surmounted by the jewelled gold pagoda crown of Siam; the collar is formed of alternate white elephants, red, blue and white royal monograms and gold pagoda crowns. The ribbon is red with green borders and small blue and white stripes. Other orders are the _Siamese Crown_ (_Mongkut Siam_), five classes, founded 1869; the family _Order of Chulah-Chon-Clao_, three classes, 1873; and the _Maha Charkrkri_, 1884, only for princes and princesses of the reigning family. (C. We.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _Feudal England_, pp. 225 sqq.

[2] Du Cange, _Gloss._, _s.v._ "Miles."

[3] _History of England_, iii. 12.

[4] Stubbs, _Constitutional History_, i. 156.

[5] _Ibid._ i. 156, 366; Turner, iii. 125-129.

[6] Ingram's edition, p. 290.

[7] _Comparative Politics_, p. 74.

[8] Baluze, _Capitularia Regum Francorum_, ii. 794, 1069.

[9] Du Cange, _Gloss._, _s.v._ "Arma."

[10] Freeman, _Comparative Politics_, p. 73.

[11] Hallam, _Middle Ages_, iii. 392.

[12] Stubbs, _Const. Hist._ ii. 278; also compare Grosse, _Military Antiquities_, i. 65 seq.

[13] There has been a general tendency to ignore the extent to which the armies of Edward III. were raised by compulsory levies even after the system of raising troops by free contract had begun. Luce (ch. vi.) points out how much England relied at this time on what would now be called conscription: and his remarks are entirely borne out by the Norwich documents published by Mr W. Hudson (Norf, and Norwich Archaeological Soc. xiv. 263 sqq.), by a Lynn corporation document of 18th Edw. III. (Hist. MSS. Commission Report XI. Appendix pt. iii. p. 189), and by Smyth's _Lives of the Berkeleys_, i. 312, 319, 320.

[14] J. B. de Lacurne de Sainte Palaye, _Mémoires sur l'Ancienne Chevalerie_, i. 363, 364 (ed. 1781).

[15] Du Cange, _Dissertation sur Joinville_, xxi.; Sainte Palaye, _Mémoires_, i. 272; G. F. Beltz, _Memorials of the Order of the Garter_ (1841,) p. xxvii.

[16] Du Cange, _Dissertation_, xxi., and _Lancelot du Lac_, among other romances.

[17] Anstis, _Register of the Order of the Garter_, i. 63.

[18] Grose, _Military Antiq._ i. 207 seq.; Stubbs, _Const. Hist._ ii. 276 seq., and iii. 278 seq.

[19] Grose's _Military Antiquities_, ii. 256.

[20] Sainte Palaye, _Mémoires_, i. 36; Froissart, bk. iii. ch. 9.

[21] Sainte Palaye, _Mémoires_, pt. i. and Mills, _History of Chivalry_, vol. i. ch. 2.

[22] See the long sermon in the romance of _Petit Jehan de Saintré_, pt. i. ch. v., and compare the theory there set forth with the actual behaviour of the chief personages. Even Gautier, while he contends that chivalry did much to refine morality, is compelled to admit the prevailing immorality to which medieval romances testify, and the extraordinary free behaviour of the unmarried ladies. No doubt these romances, taken alone, might give as unfair an idea as modern French novels give of Parisian morals, but we have abundant other evidence for placing the moral standard of the age of chivalry definitely below that of educated society in the present day.

[23] Sainte Palaye, _Mémoires_, i. 11 seq.: "C'est peut-être à cette cérémonie et non à celles de la chevalerie qu'on doit rapporter ce qui se lit dans nos historiens de la première et de la seconde race au sujet des premières armes que les Rois et les Princes remettoient avec solemnité au ieunes Princes leurs enfans."

[24] There are several obscure points as to the relation of the longer and shorter ceremonies, as well as the origin and original relation of their several parts. There is nothing to show whence came "dubbing" or the "accolade." It seems certain that the word "dub" means to strike, and the usage is as old as the knighting of Henry by William the Conqueror (_supra_, pp. 851, 852). So, too, in the Empire a dubbed knight is "ritter geschlagen." The "accolade" may etymologically refer to the embrace, accompanied by a blow with the hand, characteristic of the longer form of knighting. The derivation of "adouber," corresponding to "dub," from "adoptare," which is given by Du Cange, and would connect the ceremony with "adoptio per arma," is certainly inaccurate. The investiture with arms, which formed a part of the longer form of knighting, and which we have seen to rest on very ancient usage, may originally have had a distinct meaning. We have observed that Lanfranc invested Henry I. with arms, while William "dubbed him to rider." If there was a difference in the meaning of the two ceremonies, the difficulty as to the knighting of Earl Harold (_supra_, p. 852) is at least partly removed.

[25] Selden, _Titles of Honor_, 639.