Knighthood

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 com munity, 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 the order declined in credit and wealth, until finally the grand master 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 assist ing 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 i8th, and in 1773 a hospital was established by the order at Aosta. 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.

The military Order of Savoy was founded in 1815 by Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia; badge modified 1855 and 1857. The Civil Order of Savoy, founded in 1831 by Charles Albert of Sar dinia, is of one class, and is limited to 6o members. 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.

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. The Order of Adolphus of Nassau, for civil and military merit, was founded in 1858, and the Order of the Oak Crown as a general order of merit in 1841, modified 1858.

Monaco.

The Order of St. Charles 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, was 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, was a general order of merit 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. 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 Order of Pius was founded in 1847 by Pius IX. The Order of St. Gregory the Great, founded in 1831, is in two divisions, civil and military. 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 1 oo. 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.