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Since the restoration of Polish freedom, the old Order of the White Eagle has been set up again. It is given only for exceptional service : the ribbon is light blue. The origin of the Order of Polonia Restituta needs no explanation. There are five classes ; the badge is a white cross with the eagle of Poland on it ; the ribbon consisting of the Polish national colours, red with white edges.
The Order of Christ was founded on the abolition of the Templars by Diniz of Portugal 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 had to be of the Roman Catholic faith, it was entirely secularized. The Order of the Tower and Sword was founded in i8o8 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 later name as a general order of military and civil merit. 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. The Order of St. James of the Sword, or James of Compostella, was a branch of the Spanish order of that name (see below under Spain). It also was secularized in 1789, and in 1862 was constituted an order of merit for science, literature and art. In 1789 these three orders were granted a common badge uniting the three separate crosses in a gold medallion; to the separate crosses was added a red sacred heart and small white cross. There were also the Order of Our Lady of Villa Vicosa (1819), for both sexes, and the Order of St. Isabella, i8or, for ladies.
The Order of the Star of Rumania was founded in 1877, and the Order of the Crown of Rumania in 188r, for civil and military merit; the ribbon of the first is red with blue borders, of the second light blue with two silver stripes.
The Order of St. Andrew was founded in 1698 by Peter the Great. It was the chief order of the empire, and ad mission carried with it according to the statutes of 1720 the orders of St. Anne, Alexander Nevsky, and the White Eagle; there was only one class. The Order of St. Catherine, for ladies, ranked 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. The Order of St. Alexander
Nevsky was founded in 1725 by the empress Catherine I. The Order of the White Eagle was founded in 1713 by Augustus II. of Poland and was adopted as a Russian order in 1831. 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. Other orders were those of St. Vladimir, founded by Catherine II., 1782, 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. [These orders were naturally ended by the Soviet revolution which has given rise to the Order of the Red Flag, for service to the international revolution, an order which perhaps does not come under this heading.] Spain.—The branch of the Order of the Golden Fleece has been dealt with above. The three most ancient orders of Spain— of St. James of Compostella, or St. James of the Sword, of Alcan tare and of Calatrava—still exist as orders of merit, the last two as orders of military merit. 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—Alcan tara red, Calatrava green, with corresponding ribbons. A short his tory of these orders may be here given. Tradition gives the foundation of the Order of Knights of St. JaMes of Compo stella to Ramiro II., king of Leon, in the loth century, to com memorate 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.