Chivalric order

See also Orders of Chivalry in the British honours system

After the failure of the crusades, the crusading military orders became idealized and romanticized, resulting in the late medieval notion of chivalry, as reflected in the Arthurian romances of the time. D'Arcy Boulton (1987) classifies the chivalric orders of the 14th and 15th centuries into the following categories:

1. Monarchical Orders, with the presidency attached to a monarch.

   1. the Order of Saint George, founded by Charles I of Hungary in 1325/6
   2. the Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III of England in ca. 1348
   3. the Order of the Golden Fleece, founded by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430
   4. the Order of St Michel, founded by Louis XI of France in 1469
   5. the Order of the Thistle of Scotland

2. Confraternal Orders:

   • Princely Orders, founded by princes; most of these were founded in imitation of the Golden Fleece, after 1430.
     1. Order of Saint Catherine, founded by Humbert, Dauphin du Viennois in ca. 1335
     2. Order of St. Anthony, founded by Albrecht I of Bavaria in 1384
     3. Society of the Eagle, founded by Albrecht von Habsburg in 1433
     4. Society of Our Lady (also known as the Order of the Swan), founded by Friedrich II of Brandenburg in 1440
     5. Order of Saint Hubert, founded by Gerhard V of Jülich and Berg in 1444
     6. Order of the Crescent, founded by René d'Anjou in 1448
     7. Society of Saint Jerome, founded by Friedrich II of Wettin in 1450
   • Baronial Orders, like the Order of Saint Hubert (Barrois, (1422)) and the Noble Order of Saint George of Rougemont (Franche-Comté, 1440)

3. Fraternal Orders, formed ad-hoc for a certain enterprise

   1. the Compagnie of the Black Swan, founded by 3 princes and 11 knights in Savoy (1350)
   2. the Corps et Ordre du Tiercelet, founded by the vicomte de Thouars and 17 barons in Poitou (1377–1385)
   3. the Kappa Alpha Order, a collegiate order of Christian knights.
   4. Ourdre de la Pomme d'Or, founded by 14 knights in Auvergne (1394)
   5. Alliance et Compagnie du Levrier, founded by 44 knights in the Barrois (1416–1422), subsequently converted into the Confraternal order of Saint Hubert (see above).

4. Votive Orders, temporarily formed on the basis of a vow; these were courtly chivalric games rather than actual pledges as in the case of the fraternal orders; three are known from their statutes

   1. Emprise de l'Escu vert à la Dame Blanche (Enterprise of the green shield with the white lady), founded by Jean le Maingre dit Boucicaut and 12 knights in 1399 for the duration of 5 years
   2. Emprise du Fer de Prisonnier (Enterprise of the Prisoner's Iron), founded by Jean de Bourbon and 16 knights in 1415 for the duration of 2 years
   3. Enterprise of the Dragon, founded by Jean comte de Foix for 1 year.

5. Cliental Pseudo-Orders, without statutes or restricted memberships, these were princes' retinues fashionably termed "orders"

   1. Ordre de la Cosse de Genêt (Order of the Broom-Pod), founded by Charles VI of France ca. 1388
   2. Order of the camail or Porcupine, created by Louis d'Orléans in 1394
   3. Order of the Dove, Castile, 1390
   4. Order of the Scale of Castile, ca. 1430

6. Honorific Pseudo-Orders, without statutes, these were honorific insignia bestowed on knights on festive occasions, consisting of nothing but the badge

   1. Order of the Holy Sepulchre, bestowed to knights who made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, since the 15th century.
   2. Knights of Saint Catherine of Mount-Sinai, similar to the above, bestowed from the 11th to the 15th century
   3. Order of the Golden Spur, a papal order
   4. Knights of the Bath, in England. (recreated in 1725)

See also

• Knight
• Chivalry
• Order (decoration)

External links

• History of Orders of Chivalry: A Survey

Literature

• D'Arcy Jonathan Dacre Boulton, The knights of the crown : the monarchical orders of knighthood in later medieval Europe, 1325–1520, Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, Palgrave Macmillan (February 1987). ISBN 0312458428. Second revised edition (paperback): Woodbridge, Suffolk and Rochester, NY: Boydell Press, 2000.
• Richard W. Kaeuper, Elspeth Kennedy, Geoffroi De Carny, The Book of Chivalry of Geoffroi De Charny: Text, Context, and Translation, University of Pennsylvania Press (December, 1996). ISBN 0812215796.ru:Рыцарские ордена