Self-styled order
A self-styled order or pseudo-chivalric order is an organisation which claims to be a
Recognition of orders as genuine
Many countries do not regulate the wearing of decorations, and remain neutral as to whether any particular order is legitimate or not. Other countries explicitly regulate what decorations are accepted as legitimate. For example, in Sweden, decisions about medals and orders worn on a military uniform has been delegated to the General Staff.
The criteria of France provide an illustrative example of those nations which take a more regulatory approach: only decorations recognised by the Chancery of the Legion of Honour may be worn publicly, and permission must be sought and granted to wear any foreign awards or decorations. Dynastic orders are prohibited unless the dynasty in question is currently recognised as sovereign.[1] (For example, the Royal Victorian Order is explicitly recognised, whereas the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus is not.[2]) Failure to comply is punishable by law. A non-exhaustive list of collectively authorised orders is published by the French government.[2]
Another example is the United Kingdom, where legitimacy of any particular order is determined by the Monarch – some societies have permission from the Monarch to award medals, but these are to be worn on the right side of the chest. No UK citizen may accept and wear a foreign award without the Sovereign's permission. Moreover, the government is explicit that permission for foreign awards conferred by private societies or institutions will not be granted.[3][4]
The private organisation
Certain organisations which may appear to have a chivalric character (such as the Augustan Society and the International Fellowship of Chivalry-Now, which state publicly that they are not chivalric orders) carefully distinguish themselves from self-styled orders of chivalry, orders legitimized by countries, and those viewed as genuine by international bodies.
After the medieval era, the exclusive right to confer nobility, titles, knighthoods and membership in Europe's state-recognized orders of chivalry was arrogated by sovereigns,[9][10] exceptions being recorded in such annals as the Almanach de Gotha for dynastic orders granted by royal consorts (e.g., Order of the Starry Cross) or pretenders.
Other characteristics
Self-styled orders may share certain other characteristics:
- They long ago were suppressed by the Holy See, protector of mediaeval Western military religious orders in the Holy Land or on the Iberian Peninsula;[11]
- No sovereign Western state recognises them as legitimate orders of knighthood;[12][13]
- They claim to be under the high protection of or to be headed by Episcopi vagantes or obscure princes;[14]
- They are linked closely to bearers of false titles of nobility.
Freemasonry
Since the 18th century,
None of the masonic bodies are claiming to be orders of chivalry nor are their insignia worn in public (a right accorded orders of chivalry): hence they are not self-styled orders, but merely fraternal organisations.[citation needed]
See also
- Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem
- International Order of Saint Stanislaus
- Knights Hospitaller mimic orders
- Knight of the Golden Spur
- Niadh Nask
- Noble Order of Saint George of Rougemont
- Order of Saint Blaise
- Order of the Crown of Thorns
- Order of the Lion and the Black Cross
- Ordo Sancti Stanislai
- Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Oecumenical Knights of Malta
- Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem
References
- ^ Article R.160, "CODE DE LA LÉGION D'HONNEUR ET DE LA MÉDAILLE MILITAIRE - mars 2015" (PDF). Legiondhonneur.fr. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
- ^ a b "Procédure relative à la constitution d'un dossier de demande d'autorisation de port de décorations étrangères". Archived from the original on 2014-10-27.
- ^ Rules Governing the Accepting and Wearing of Foreign Orders, Decorations and Medals by Citizens of the United Kingdom and Her Overseas Territories (Annex D of the document)
- ^ "House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 24 Nov 2005 (pt 24)". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2014-05-03.
- ^ "Authority and Status of the ICOC". Icocregister.org. Retrieved 2014-05-03.
- ^ "Legitimacy and Orders of Knighthood". Heraldica.org. 2004-02-25. Retrieved 2014-05-03.
- ^ "International Commission for Orders of Chivalry". Icocregister.org. Retrieved 2014-05-03.
- ^ "Register of Orders of Chivalry". Icocregister.org. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
- ^ Mills, Charles (1861). The history of chivalry. Philadelphia: H.C. Carey and I. Lea. p. 34.
- ISBN 9780719023811.
- ^ "Official Statement of the Holy See on Self-Styled Orders". Heraldica.org. 2002-07-24. Retrieved 2014-05-03.
- ^ "French Law and Unofficial Orders". Heraldica.org. Retrieved 2014-05-03.
- ^ Italian Law and Unofficial Orders;
- ^ "Fantasy Royalty". Chivalricorders.org. Archived from the original on 2014-05-14. Retrieved 2014-05-03.
Further reading
- Ordres et contre-ordres de chevalerie by Arnaud Chaffanjon, Mercure de France Paris 1982.
- Faux Chevaliers vrais gogos by Patrice Chairoff, Jean Cyrile Godefroy Paris 1985.
- The knightly twilight by Robert Gayre of Gayre, Lochore Enterprises Valletta 1973.
- Orders of knighthood, Awards and the Holy See by Peter Bander van Duren and Archbishop H.E. Cardinale (Apostolic Delegate in the United Kingdom), Buckinghamshire 1985.
- World Orders of Knighthood and Merit by Guy Stair Sainty(editor) and Rafal Heydel-Mankoo (deputy editor), Burke's Peerage 2006.
- Ephemeral Decorations, Gillingham, H. E. New York, 1935. American Numismatical Society: Numismatic Notes and Monographs 66.
- Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard, Knights of Fantasy: an overview, history, and critique of the self-styled 'Orders' called 'of Saint John' or 'of Malta', in Denmark and other Nordic countries, Turku 2002, ISBN 951-29-2265-7