The Society of the Jesuits (fig. 18), the most influential of all the re ligious orders, was founded in 1540 by Ignatius de Loyola, a nobleman of Guipuzcoa. The Jesuits wear the costume of the secular clergy, and, as the sphere of their activity lies in the outer world rather than within their convent-walls, they are allowed to conform to the costumes of the countries in which they live.
The Nuns of Port Royal (fig. 24) were an influential order in France; this order received chiefly members of the aristocracy into its ranks.
the monkish orders, the medixval Church had military-religious orders, who took the three vows of poverty, chas tity, and obedience, and whose avowed purpose was to combat the infidels both in the East and in the pagan parts of Europe. Their origin was due to the Crusades, and their task was to protect the numerous pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land. They soon reached a high degree of renown.
The Knights Templars. —The oldest of these orders, the Knights Templars, was founded in 1119, and was violently suppressed in 1312 by Philip IV. of France, nominally on account of its vices, but more proba bly on account of its riches. The members wore over the armor of the period a white cloak with a red cross.
The as they were called from their patron, John the Baptist, the Knights of St. John—constituted another order. Their original purpose was to nurse sick pilgrims and to fight against the infidels. They accumulated wealth and possessions, the defending of which against the Turks kept them in good discipline ; but after the loss of Rhodes and the defence of Malta they sank into the indolent enjoyment of what remained.
The Order of Teutonic Knights originated later than either of those just mentioned, acquired dominion over the present Russian Baltic provinces, and aided in laying the foundations of the modern Prussian monarchy.
All these orders were governed by grand masters elected by the mem bers, and their various dependencies, scattered throughout Europe, were governed by commanders appointed by the grand masters.
In later times many other orders of knights were founded after the model of those described, but, though their statutes often included noble purposes, they never attained such prominence. They were merely asso
ciations founded by monarchs, the admission to which, being attended with difficulty and formalities, constituted an exceptional reward or favor. Their organization was for the most pari too complicated and minute to allow us to venture upon a description of it, and, besides, their effect upon the march of civilization was unimportant. Figures 1-6 (pt. 54) illustrate the costumes of sonic of the knightly orders from the fifteenth century down to our own. It should be noted that (with the exception of the last, which was specially designed as a distinctive dress to be worn on gala occasions) all consist of the ordinary garb of the period with the addition of the insignia of the orders.
Insignia, Crosses, and (around the margin) are the crosses, medallions, and insignia worn attached to a ribbon or chain. A few of them belong to the following orders: St. Andrew (fig. 7); St. James 8); the Austrian order of the Dragon 9); the order of the Holy Sepulchre (fig. 4o), said to have been founded by Godfrey of Bouillon in 1o99; the order of Silence (fig. II), founded by Guido of Lusignan in 1195; the order of St. Catharine (fig. 12), the duty of whose members was to protect the pilgrims visiting the relics of that saint on Mount Sinai ; the order of the Annunciation (fig. 13), etc. Over two hundred and thirty different orders are known to have existed, and of these over one hundred still survive.
As already indicated, there has been from the Middle Ages to our own day, besides the monkish and knightly orders, a variety of associations, guilds, and confraternities, the members of which sought by means of statutes and rules, but without relinquishing their social position, to ren der their own lives more holy or to exercise a beneficial influence on the world. In the beginning the tendency of these bodies was toward asceti cism and even self-mortification, but eventually, and particularly toward the close of the last century, charity became their motive. In France especially many societies were organized to compete in works of human ity and enlightenment with the Protestant unions and associations.