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Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
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Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (Italian: Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di San Giorgio; Spanish: Sagrada Orden Militar Constantiniana de San Jorge), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Order of the Constantinian Angelic Knights of Saint George, is a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Currently, the grand magistry of the order is disputed among the two claimants to the headship of the formerly reigning House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies as heirs of the House of Farnese, namely Prince Pedro and Prince Carlo. The order was one of the rare orders confirmed as a religious-military order in the papal bull Militantis Ecclesiae in 1718, owing to a notable success in liberating persecuted Christians in the Peloponnese. Together with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, it is one of a small number of Catholic orders that still have this status today. It is not an order of chivalry under the patronage of the Holy See, but its membership is restricted to practising Catholics.
Although the order is alleged to have been founded in its original form by Constantine the Great in Antiquity and then restored under later Byzantine emperors, the actual origin of the order can be traced to the 16th century, when it was founded by an Albanian noble Engjëlli family. This family, extinct in 1698, claimed to be connected to the Byzantine Komnenos and Angelos dynasties, but such a direct familial connection was referred to several other branches; that lineage does, however, descend from a marriage into the Arianiti family that has several descents from past Byzantine imperial families. Chivalric orders were completely unknown in the Byzantine world, so much of the alleged history of the order was invented much later. Outside the generally recognized line of grand masters from its origin in the 16th century to the present day, there have been many people claiming to be grand masters who have been forgers and title-seekers hoping to gain support for invented lines of descent from ancient and medieval nobility.
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). 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.
The order was actually claimed by Albanian nobles of the Angelo Flavio Comneno family branch (only one of many connected to the Byzantine houses of Angelos and Komnenos) in the 16th century, notably Andrea Angelo Flavio Comneno, and his brother Paolo Angelo Flavio Comneno, in 1545. In 1545, the brothers Andrea and Paolo were acknowledged as descendants of the Angeloi emperors (a claim seen as doubtful today) by Pope Paul III, this recognition being in part due to their familial connections with the Medici, Orsini, del Balzo and Riargo families. The brothers were also guaranteed the right to inherit territory in the former Byzantine Empire, should such territory be recovered from the Ottomans. Their family remained grand masters of the order until 1698 when Giovanni Andrea II, who also claimed the titles of "Prince of Macedonia", "Duke of Thessaly" and "Count of Drivasto, Durazzo etc." as the last male member of his family, transferred the grand mastership of the order to Francesco Farnese, the duke of Parma.
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.
Its incorporation as a religious order of the Catholic Church hereditary in the House of Farnese and its heirs, the Bourbons, dates from the transfer to Francesco Farnese on 11 January 1698, an act confirmed in an imperial diploma, "Agnoscimus et notum facimus", of the emperor, Leopold I, dated 5 August 1699, and the apostolic brief, "Sincerae Fidei", issued by Pope Innocent XII on 24 October 1699.
These confirmed the succession of the grand magistry to the Farnese family and its heirs as an ecclesiastical office (therefore limited to males) and, crucially, did not tie it to tenure of sovereignty of the Duchy of Parma. Among the first major acts of the Farnese grand magistry were revised, amended and expanded statutes, issued on 25 May 1705 and confirmed in a papal brief dated 12 July 1706; both these confirmed the requirement that the grand magistry should pass by male primogeniture. Following the order's contribution to Prince Eugene of Savoy's campaign to drive the Turks from the Balkans between 1716 and 1718, Pope Clement XI, a former cardinal protector of the order, confirmed the order as a religious order of the Catholic Church in the bull, "Militantis Ecclesiae", of 27 May 1718.[citation needed]
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.
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Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (Italian: Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di San Giorgio; Spanish: Sagrada Orden Militar Constantiniana de San Jorge), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Order of the Constantinian Angelic Knights of Saint George, is a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Currently, the grand magistry of the order is disputed among the two claimants to the headship of the formerly reigning House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies as heirs of the House of Farnese, namely Prince Pedro and Prince Carlo. The order was one of the rare orders confirmed as a religious-military order in the papal bull Militantis Ecclesiae in 1718, owing to a notable success in liberating persecuted Christians in the Peloponnese. Together with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, it is one of a small number of Catholic orders that still have this status today. It is not an order of chivalry under the patronage of the Holy See, but its membership is restricted to practising Catholics.
Although the order is alleged to have been founded in its original form by Constantine the Great in Antiquity and then restored under later Byzantine emperors, the actual origin of the order can be traced to the 16th century, when it was founded by an Albanian noble Engjëlli family. This family, extinct in 1698, claimed to be connected to the Byzantine Komnenos and Angelos dynasties, but such a direct familial connection was referred to several other branches; that lineage does, however, descend from a marriage into the Arianiti family that has several descents from past Byzantine imperial families. Chivalric orders were completely unknown in the Byzantine world, so much of the alleged history of the order was invented much later. Outside the generally recognized line of grand masters from its origin in the 16th century to the present day, there have been many people claiming to be grand masters who have been forgers and title-seekers hoping to gain support for invented lines of descent from ancient and medieval nobility.
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). 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.
The order was actually claimed by Albanian nobles of the Angelo Flavio Comneno family branch (only one of many connected to the Byzantine houses of Angelos and Komnenos) in the 16th century, notably Andrea Angelo Flavio Comneno, and his brother Paolo Angelo Flavio Comneno, in 1545. In 1545, the brothers Andrea and Paolo were acknowledged as descendants of the Angeloi emperors (a claim seen as doubtful today) by Pope Paul III, this recognition being in part due to their familial connections with the Medici, Orsini, del Balzo and Riargo families. The brothers were also guaranteed the right to inherit territory in the former Byzantine Empire, should such territory be recovered from the Ottomans. Their family remained grand masters of the order until 1698 when Giovanni Andrea II, who also claimed the titles of "Prince of Macedonia", "Duke of Thessaly" and "Count of Drivasto, Durazzo etc." as the last male member of his family, transferred the grand mastership of the order to Francesco Farnese, the duke of Parma.
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.
Its incorporation as a religious order of the Catholic Church hereditary in the House of Farnese and its heirs, the Bourbons, dates from the transfer to Francesco Farnese on 11 January 1698, an act confirmed in an imperial diploma, "Agnoscimus et notum facimus", of the emperor, Leopold I, dated 5 August 1699, and the apostolic brief, "Sincerae Fidei", issued by Pope Innocent XII on 24 October 1699.
These confirmed the succession of the grand magistry to the Farnese family and its heirs as an ecclesiastical office (therefore limited to males) and, crucially, did not tie it to tenure of sovereignty of the Duchy of Parma. Among the first major acts of the Farnese grand magistry were revised, amended and expanded statutes, issued on 25 May 1705 and confirmed in a papal brief dated 12 July 1706; both these confirmed the requirement that the grand magistry should pass by male primogeniture. Following the order's contribution to Prince Eugene of Savoy's campaign to drive the Turks from the Balkans between 1716 and 1718, Pope Clement XI, a former cardinal protector of the order, confirmed the order as a religious order of the Catholic Church in the bull, "Militantis Ecclesiae", of 27 May 1718.[citation needed]
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.
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