Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message )

Origins

The legendary origins of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George trace its foundation to an apocryphal order founded by Constantine the Great (r. 306–337).^[7] Although it has sometimes been held that the order was restored/created by the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos (r. 1185–1195, 1203–1204), any claimed connection between chivalric orders and the Byzantine Empire are pure fantasy, as chivalric orders in the modern Western sense were completely unknown in the Byzantine world. At best, any connection to some ancient group would be excessively indirect and abstracted.^[8]

The order was actually founded by

Outside the generally recognized line of grand masters from its origin in the 17th century to the present day, there have been various claims to the title of grand master by imposters hoping to gain support for invented lines of descent from various Byzantine dynasties.[1]

Farnese family, male primogeniture

Its incorporation as a religious order of the Catholic Church hereditary in the

Claim by the House of Two Sicilies

With the death of the last male of the House of Farnese on 30 January 1731, the grand magistry was inherited by Charles, eldest son of Elisabeth Farnese and King Philip V of Spain; Charles also inherited the duchies of Parma and Piacenza from the Farnese. After becoming king of Naples and Sicily in 1734, Charles was forced to surrender Parma to Austria in 1736, but he retained the Constantinian grand magistty and continued to exercise control of the Order even after his younger brother became duke of Parma in 1748. On 16 October 1759, Charles abdicated the grand magistry (ten days after abdicating from his Italian realms) to his second surviving son, King Ferdinand IV and III of Naples and Sicily (from 1815 Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies). The administration of the order was transferred from Parma to Naples in 1768.^{[citation needed]} although the Order in Parma continued to be under Neapolitan control until 1797 when the estates of the Order were seized by the French.

With the French occupying the kingdom of Naples from 1806, the Order was confined to Sicily but with the expulsion of the French it was not only restored to its former position but continued to function under Ferdinand I and his successor heads of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies as a religious military Order with an expanding membership and the addition of many new commanderies. The independence of the Order assured its survival after the unification of Italy, confirmed in a declaration of the Procurator-General of the new kingdom of Italy and an 1871 decision of the highest Italian court. A decree of King Ferdinand dated 8 March 1796, stated: "In his (the king's) royal person there exists together two very distinct qualities, the one of monarch of the Two Sicilies, and the other of grand master of the illustrious, royal and military Constantinian Order, which though united gloriously in the same person form nonetheless at the same time two separate independent lordships".

Some of the Parmesan nobility had resented the Order being controlled by an absent monarch but when in 1748, Charles III's younger brother Philip succeeded as duke of Parma, he explicitly recognised his brother Charles and later his nephew Ferdinand as grand master in a series of decrees and official acts. Philip's son Ferdinand, after becoming duke of Parma, sent an emissary to the Spanish court to try to persuade the king of Spain to intervene with the king of Naples and Sicily and persuade the latter to give up the grand mastership, but without success.

Separate Parmesan Order from 1817

The Parmesan Constantinian Order was a new foundation, instituted by

In 1910,

In 1919, new statutes received papal approval and Cardinal Ranuzzi de' Bianchi was appointed cardinal protector, the last to hold this post. Following the intervention of the grand magistry of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus in 1924, whose grand master, the king of Italy, objected to the awarding of the order to leading Italian noblemen, the Holy See felt the close relationship with Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta might prove an obstacle to settling the Roman question. It was, therefore, decided not to reappoint a successor to Cardinal Ranuzzi de' Bianchi at his death in 1927.^{[citation needed]}

Juridical recognition

The Italian Republic recognises the order as an Order of Chivalry under Law n° 178 of 1951; the authorisation to Italian citizens awarded the Constantinian decorations to wear was confirmed in a decision of the Italian State Council (number 1869/81), at first limited to awards made by the junior line claimant, Prince Ferdinand, but in 2004 extended to the awards by the Infante Don Carlos. Therefore those citizens lawfully awarded with Constantinian decorations can request permission to wear them on the territory of the Italian Republic by Presidential Decree or Decree of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. By a 1973 Decree of the President of the Republic, a National Italian Association of the Knights of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George was formed by Prince Ferdinando (whose father Prince Ranieri had died that year) ^[11] The order is on the Orders, decorations, and medals of Italy list.

Disputed succession, further schism of the Order

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (October 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The succession to the grand magistry of this order has been disputed among as many as three branches of Bourbons since 1960. The dispute is rooted in different interpretations of the so-called "Act of Cannes" of 14 December 1900 in which the count of Caserta's second son,

Before Us, Don Alfonso de Borbón, Count of Caserta... Head of the Royal House and Dynasty of the Two Sicilies... His Royal Highness Prince Don Carlos, our beloved Son, appears and declares that, having to marry HRH Infanta María de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias, and assuming by such marriage the nationality and quality of Spanish Prince, understands to renounce as by this Act solemnly renounces, by himself and by his heirs and successors, all the right and reason to the eventual succession to the Crown of the Two Sicilies and to all the assets of the Royal House that are in Italy and elsewhere, and this according to our Laws, constitutions and Family customs, in execution of the Pragmatic Sanction of King Charles III, our Augustus ancestor, of October 6, 1759, the prescriptions of which he freely and spontaneously declares to subscribe and obey. He also declares, in particular, to renounce for himself, his heirs and successors to the assets and values existing in Italy, Vienna and Monaco (Bavaria) and destined by His Majesty King Francis II (may God have welcomed his soul), to the foundation of a majorat for the Head of the Dynasty and of the Family of the Two Sicilies and for the constitution of an endowment fund in favor of the Royal Princesses and granddaughters of our August Father King Ferdinand (may God have welcomed his soul), of marriageable age; but preserving his rights to the part of the assets that were bequeathed to him by his late uncle King Francis II, in the event that the Italian Government, which improperly retains them, makes the due restitution and the same everything that may arrive to him by other testamentary legacies.

— Cannes, December 14, 1900[12]

This act was signed despite an official statement in the Spanish parliament (Cortes) by the minister of justice that no renunciation was necessary and if one was made it would be null and void.

Supporters of the late Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria and his only son and heir, Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria assert that Prince Carlo's renunciation was conditional on his actually inheriting both the Spanish and Two Sicilies crowns and/or that, even in that circumstances, such a renunciation did not include the position of grand master of the Constantinian order, which they regard as separate from the crown. When Charles III of Spain abdicated as king of Naples and Sicily after succeeding to their throne of Spain, he renounced the dignity of "primogeniture Farnese heir" and with it the grand mastership of the Constantinian Order in a separate act, ten days later. Indeed, the Act of Cannes never mentioned the order at all, although most authors argue that even if it had, its grand magistry is by nature a Farnesian family legacy that is not linked to the throne of the Two Sicilies.^[14] The Two Sicilies crown descends by semi-salic law, meaning that in the event of the extinction of the male line descended from Ferdinando II the crown would pass to the nearest princess to the last male, whereas the grand mastership of the Order would pass to the Parma line. This same point is made on official Spanish branch website^[where?], headed by Prince Pedro, which asserts that the renunciation was conditioned on facts that never arose, and that the order and the crown are governed by separate rules. Further, supporters of Infante Carlos argue that the "Act of Cannes" was legally defective and thus void.^{[citation needed]} The Infante Don Carlos died on the 5 October 2015 and was succeeded by his only son, Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria.

Supporters of Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro reject all three positions advanced by Infante Carlos' supporters, and claim that the rival claimant's ancestor validly renounced both the crown of the Two Sicilies and the grand magistry.^[15]

Each branch appoints a Catholic cardinal as grand prior. On 16 October 2012, the Vatican

Spaniards and Italians who have been granted the Constantinian Order by Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria and his heir Prince Pedro have applied for, and received, authorisation to wear the decorations of the order.^[19]

In 1983 King Juan Carlos I instructed the head of the royal household, the Marquess of Mondéjar to request five high Spanish institutions to determine to "whom should descend the Headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies". The first of these to report was the Institute of Genealogy "Salazar y Castro" of the "Superior Council of Scientific Investigation" on 8 March 1983, followed by the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation on 6 May 1983. The next was the Department of Protocol, Chancery and Orders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that reported on 1 June 1983, followed by the Division of Grandeeships and Titles of the Ministry of Justice, on 18 October 1983 that in its conclusions also included the succession to the grand mastership of the Constantinian Order in its mandate. The final and longest report, summing up the other four and detailing its own conclusions was that of the Council of State, dated 2 February 1984. The reports were then conveyed in a letter from the Marquess of Mondejar, to "S.A.R. Don Carlos de Borbón, Duque de Calabria" stating "In the interests of historical truth and with the intention of clarifying the problem of to whom corresponds the Headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and the Grand Mastership of the Constantinian Order of St George, by order of His Majesty the King, and as Head of His Household, I have received the declarations and opinions of (then names the five institutions)... The unanimous agreement of the opinions and reports issued by the highest authorities and corporations of the Spanish State competent in the matter, recognise in the person of Your Royal Highness the title of the Headship of the House of Bourbon Two Sicilies and of the Grand Mastership of the Constantinian Order of Saint George."

In a decree of the

In 1988 a letter dated 19 April 1987[22] was produced by the Neapolitan based chancery of the Franco-Neapolitan Order that purported to be the appointment of Cardinal Giuseppe Siri as personal representative of Pope John Paul II to the Order. Soon after another letter, dated 28 August 1985^[23] was produced which purported to have earlier appointed Cardinal Andrzej Maria Deskur to the same post - it quickly became apparent that neither Cardinal knew anything about this and that these letters were forgeries, although the purported appointment of Cardinal Siri was published in several of the Order's publications. The then Sostituto of the Secretariat of State, Archbishop (later Cardinal) Cassidy wrote to the Nuncio in Great Britain on the 24 October 1988, stating that Cardinal Siri had not been appointed the personal representative of His Holiness, and the Nuncio in Madrid wrote Prince Don Carlos, duke of Calabria, on 31 January 1989 stating that the "pretended" autograph letter from the Pope was false. Since the Cardinal Secretary of State, Cardinal Agostiino Casaroli had written to Prince Ferdinand on 5 November 1987 to explicitly refuse the appointment of Cardinal Siri, it is difficult to understand why the claims regarding Cardinal Siri's status should have been published the following year. At the same time, another publication by the Order claimed that His Holiness had conferred the Supreme Order of Christ on Prince Ferdinand and the Libro d'Oro della Nobiltà Italiana (1988 edition) not only included the name of Cardinal Siri as personal representative of His Holiness in its listing of the royal deputation appointed by Prince Ferdinand, but stated that the then 25 year old Prince Carlo (the only son of Prince Ferdinand) had been granted the collar of the Ordine Piano, a Papal honour awarded only to heads of state (this was denied in a letter from the Nuncio in Madrid in a letter dated 29 April 1988). When asked to explain the source of this information, the editor of the Libro d'Oro (Roberto Colonello Bertini Frassoni) wrote on 5 January 1989 that it had been provided by Achille Di Lorenzo, grand chancellor of the Franco-Neapolitan Constantinian Order. In 1990 Di Lorenzo was asked to resign his post by Prince Ferdinand and two years later was expelled from the Order as a reprisal for having published a highly critical booklet attacking both Prince Ferdinand and his son. No-one has ever been publicly identified as the author of these forgeries.

Other documents circulated included the report of a supposed commission of Cardinals (mimicking the 1950s commission appointed to report on the sovereign status of the Order of Malta) which supposedly recognised Prince Ferdinand, although all the signatures of the supposed members were forged. Another letter dated 15 October 1987 distributed at the same time and supposedly from a Curia official, Archbishop, now Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, also stated that Prince Ferdinand was the grand a master and Di Lorenzo the grand chancellor; this letter was subsequently denounced by Re as a forgery and Cardinal Re has since become a member of the Spanish Order, several times celebrating Masses of the Order.

In the 1990s, under the authority of Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, the organization and activities of his version of the order were "revived" as the so-called "Delegation for Great Britain and Ireland of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George".^{[citation needed]} This version of the Order was formerly led by a British Catholic public relations advisor as its "magistral delegate", and has awarded him other honours.^[24] In August 2016, the Vice-Grand Chancellor of the Hispano-Neapolitan branch, Guy Stair Sainty stated that the order headed by Prince Pedro had no connection with this PR advisor, nor with his business activities, nor with the order of which he is described as “delegate”.^[25]

Italian citizens who have received the Constantinian Order from Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro may apply to the Italian ministry of foreign affairs for authorisation to wear the insignia.^[26]

In 2011, the version of the Constantinian Order headed by the Duke of Castro, became one of the 4000+ (as of 2022) ^[27] NGO's. In 2011-12 some 600 organizations applied for consultative status. On average between 100 and 150 applications are recommended by the Committee in each of its two sessions per year non-governmental organizations to hold consultative status at the Economic and Social Council at the United Nations.^[28] The United Nations recognises the organisation as qualifying for this status without acknowledging its historical claims or any particular character as an Order of knighthood.

In 2016, the branch of the Order led by the Duke of Castro was involved in controversy over the election of Patricia Scotland as Commonwealth Secretary-General.^[29] It was alleged that Scotland used the Order's awards to influence votes in her favour through reciprocal exchanges of honours.^[30] Investigations resulted in a knighthood granted to the Duke of Castro by the Governor General of Antigua being revoked.^[31]

Attempted reconciliation

This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2016)

On 24 January 2014, the day before the Blessed

This act appeared to have ended the longstanding differences over the titles used by the two branches of the House of the Two Sicilies. The signing of the act of reconciliation was done in the presence of the Duchesses of Noto and Castro, the Duke of Noto's mother, the Duchess of Calabria, the Duke of Noto's sisters, Maria and Inés, and their husbands, Archduke Simeon and Michele Carrelli Palombi, their aunt, Princess Teresa, Marchioness of Laserna, the Duke of Castro's sister, Princess Napoleon, Prince Casimiro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and his wife Princess Margherita, and the Duke of Braganza. Owing to his state of health, the Infante Don Carlos, Duke of Calabria was unable to attend the ceremony.^[32]

The Act stated that the two branches will recognize each other's titles for the present holders and their successors; the titles of the senior, Spanish line, being Duke of Calabria, Duke of Noto and Duke of Capua, and of the junior line, being Duke of Castro and Duchess of Palermo and Duchess of Capri which were accorded to the Duke and Duchess of Castro's two daughters. The final intention was to work towards a future where the two branches might co-operate together (although the revival of the Order of Francis I has never been accepted by the senior, Spanish line.)^[33]

Renewed schism

In May 2016 Prince Carlo unilaterally renounced the agreement ^{[citation needed]} and subsequently conferred the titles of Duchess of Calabria and Duchess of Noto on his daughters, declaring the former to be the heiress to the headship of the Royal House and the Constantinian Grand Mastership. This act has not been recognised by members of the branch descended from Prince Gabriel of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. The legality of this has been disputed by Prince Pedro on the grounds that the succession to the Two Sicilies crown was established in two international treaties (Vienna 1737 and Naples 1759) as well as the Pragmatic Decree of 1759 and the nineteenth century Two Sicilies constitutions and therefore could not be changed by a unilateral act, even by an undisputed head of the royal house. The succession to the Constantinian Grand Mastership was confirmed by an Imperial Bull and a Papal Brief, and by the Bull Militantis Ecclesiae, and required that the Grand Mastership, an ecclesiastical office in canon law, could only be held by males and must pass by primogeniture to the heirs of the House of Farnese; the purported change to the succession by Prince Carlo has not been approved by the Holy See.

Ranks of the Order

Grades

In the 18th century, the order was divided into Knights Grand Cross, Knights of Justice (

The name Grace was changed to Jure Sanguinis by Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, when Grand Master.

• Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Justice
• Knight Grand Cross of Justice
• Knight Grand Cross Jure Sanguinis
• Knight Grand Cross of Merit
• Knight of Justice
• Knight Jure Sanguinis
• Knight of Merit
• Knight of Office (cross of merit)
• Chaplain

Franco-Neapolitan branch

Special Class

• Sovereign Knight Grand Cross with Collar
• Knight Grand Cross, Special Class

Justice

• Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Justice with Collar
• Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Justice
• Knight/Dame Grand Cross of Justice
• Knight/Dame Grand Officer of Justice
• Knight/Dame Commander of Justice, jus patronatus
• Knight/Dame Commander of Justice
• Knight/Dame of Justice

Grace

• Knight/Dame Grand Cross of Grace, or Jure Sanguinis
• Knight/Dame Grand Officer of Grace
• Knight/Dame Commander of Grace, jus patronatus
• Knight/Dame Commander of Grace
• Knight/Dame of Grace or Jure Sanguinis

Merit

• Knight/Dame Grand Cross of Merit
• Knight/Dame Grand Officer of Merit, Special Class
• Knight/Dame Grand Officer of Merit
• Knight/Dame Commander of Merit, jus patronatus
• Knight/Dame Commander of Merit
• Knight/Dame of Merit
• Knight/Dame of Office

Medal

• Gold, silver or bronze
• Special Class
• 1st Class
• 2nd Class

Insignia
Collar	Knight sash	Dame ribbon

Ribbon bars
Justice Grand Cross	Grace Grand Cross	Merit Grand Cross	Knight/Dame of Office	Medal

Parma branch

• Senator Grand Cross with Collar
• Senator Grand Cross
• Knight/Dame Commander
• Knight/Dame 1st class
• Knight/Dame 2st class

Recipients

See also

• Order of Saint Januarius
• Order of Saint Ferdinand and of Merit
• Order of Saint George and Reunion
• Royal Order of Francis I

References

Bibliography

• España, Gobierno de (1987). Informes Emitidos por Ministerio de Justicia, Real Academia de Jurisprudencia y Legislación, Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Instituto "Salazar y Castro" (C.S.I.C.) y Consejo de Estado Relativos al Título de Jefe de la Casa Real de Borbón Dos Sicilias y al Gran Maestrazgo de la Sagrada Militar Orden Constantiniana de San Jorge. Gráficas Arias Montano, Móstoles.
• Lecanda Crooke, Íñigo (2012). "Análisis jurídico de la legitimidad en la Jefatura de la Casa Real de Borbón Dos-Sicilias y el Gran Maestrazgo de sus Órdenes" (PDF). Anales de la Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía. Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía.
• Stair Sainty, Guy (2018). The Constantinian Order of Saint George.
  ISBN 978-84-340-2506-6
  .
• de Palacio, José María (1964). La Maison Royale des Deux Siciles, l'Ordre Constantinien de Saint Georges et l'Ordre de Saint Janvier. Altamira Talleres Gráficos.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George.

• Hispano-Neapolitan branch website (Grand Master: Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria)
• Franco-Neapolitan branch website (Grand Master: Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro)
• Sacred Angelic Imperial Constantinian Order of Saint George (Grand Master: Prince Carlos, Duke of Parma)
  • Bourbon-Parma branch's history of the order (PDF file in Italian)