Military Order of Christ

The Military Order of Christ is a Portuguese honorific order. It is the former order of Knights Templar as it was reconstituted in Portugal. Before 1910, it was known as the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was founded in 1318, with the protection of King Denis of Portugal, after the Templars were abolished on 22 March 1312 by the papal bull, Vox in excelso, issued by Pope Clement V. King Denis refused to pursue and persecute the former knights as had occurred in most of the other sovereign states under the political influence of the Catholic Church.

Heavily swayed by Philip IV of France, Pope Clement had the Knights Templar annihilated throughout France and most of Europe on charges of heresy, but Denis revived the Templars of Tomar as the Order of Christ, largely for their aid during the Reconquista and in the reconstruction of Portugal after the wars. Denis negotiated with Clement's successor, John XXII, for recognition of the new order and its right to inherit the Templar assets and property. This was granted in a papal bull, Ad ea ex quibus, on 14 March 1319.

There exists also a parallel Supreme Order of Christ of the Holy See, the Order of Christ of the House of Orléans-Braganza, and the Order of Christ of Kongo.

The order's origins lie in the Knights Templar, founded circa 1118. The Templars were persecuted by the king of France and eventually disbanded by the pope in 1312. King Denis of Portugal created the Order of Christ in 1318 for those knights who survived their mass slaughter throughout Europe and was confirmed by the papal bull Ad ea ex quibus issued by Pope John XXII in Avignon in March 1319. The bull was issued at the request of Denis so that the newly created order could succeed the order of the Temple, which had been dissolved in 1311 by Pope Clement V.

The Templars’ assets were thus assigned to the new order of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which had its first headquarters at the church of Santa Maria do Castelo, in Castro Marim. In 1356, the headquarters moved to the castle of Tomar, the former seat of the order of the Temple in Portugal. At the time, it was a strictly religious order, with the pope as its sovereign and its grand masters being professed knights bound by a vow of poverty. The first grand master was Gil Martins, who was also master of Avis at the time.

A crucial moment for the order’s future came with the appointment of Prince Henry, duke of Viseu, as “governor and administrator". The Prince, who held much of the kingdom’s land, could not take a vow of poverty, which is why this new title was created.

Since the Prince was responsible for administering the order's assets, it is no surprise that it's considerable resources were used in the discoveries. The Cross of Christ, symbol of the order, sailed across the seas, raised on the sails of Portuguese caravels, becoming one of the most recognized national symbols. The Portuguese Crown thus exercised full control over the order of Christ, even though the Holy See continued to treat it as a religious order. For this reason, the order came to exercise not only spiritual administration over the discovered territories but also temporal administration, which gave it remarkable strength.

The order’s administration remained tied to the Crown for circumstantial reasons. Prince Manuel of Portugal was governor of the order when he was acclaimed King Manuel I. Through the bull Constante fide, Manuel I became the first king to also be grand master of the order of Christ.