Dynastic order of knighthood

A dynastic order of knighthood, monarchical order, house order or family order, is a chivalric order under royal patronage, bestowed by the head of a currently or formerly sovereign royal family as fons honorum. These orders are frequently seen as part of the patrimony of the royal family involved. Unlike military orders, religious orders, and order of merit distributed by sovereign states, dynastic orders were often created to reward service to a monarch or their family. An example of this difference is seen between the Royal Victorian Order, which is a personal gift of the sovereign, thus is a dynastic order, and the Order of the British Empire, which is bestowed by the sovereign on the basis of recommendations by the Prime Minister, and thus a national order.

Personal gift of the sovereign

Dynastic orders are under the exclusive control of a monarch and are bestowed without the advice of the political leadership (prime minister or cabinet). A recent report by the British government mentioned that there is "one remaining exercise that has been identified of the Monarch's truly personal, executive prerogative: that is, the conferment of certain honours that remain within her gift (the Orders of Merit, of the Garter, of the Thistle and the Royal Victorian Order)."

Generally, dynastic or house Orders are granted by the monarch for whatever reason the monarch may deem appropriate whereas other orders, often called Merit Orders, are granted on the recommendation of government officials to recognize individual accomplishments or services to the nation.

The term dynastic order is also used for those orders that continue to be bestowed by former monarchs and their descendants after they have been removed from power. For instance, the website of Duarte Pio de Bragança, a pretender to the throne of Portugal using the title Duke of Braganza, asserts that the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa, "being a Dynastic Order of the House of Bragança and not an Order of State, continued to be conferred by the last King Dom Manuel II, in the exile." On the basis of his succession to King Manuel II, Duarte Pio continues to award those orders of the Kingdom of Portugal which were not taken over by the Portuguese Republic.

The Portuguese Republic views things somewhat differently, regarding all the royal orders as extinct following the 5 October 1910 revolution with some of them revived in republican form in 1918. For official purposes, Portugal simply ignores the orders awarded by the royal pretender, Duarte Pio. Although no one is prosecuted for accepting orders from Dom Duarte, including himself, Portuguese law requires government permission to accept any official award, either from Portugal or foreign powers, and the awards of Dom Duarte simply do not appear anywhere on either list.

A similar situation exists in Italy, where the Republican Government regards the orders of the former kings to have been abolished but the last king's heir continues to award them. The Italian situation differs from that in Portugal in that Italy forbids the public wearing of the former royal orders in Italy. Nevertheless, the last Italian Crown Prince Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia widely distributes the orders that he claims to have inherited from his father. As is the situation in Portugal, the Italian pretender asserts that control of the Savoy dynastic orders exists separate from the Kingdom of Italy so that he retains the right to award the orders, and accompanying privileges, despite his recognition that "the Italian throne was formally abolished by referendum in 1946 and a republic was instituted in its place."

A third situation of mutual co-existence is maintained in Russia, where, since the fall of communism, the orders of Saint Andrew, Saint George, and Saint Catherine have been reinvented as State Orders of Merit of the Russian Federation. However, the "Russian Imperial Orders" of Saint Andrew, Saint George, Saint Catherine, Saint Anna, Saint Vladimir, and Saint Stanislav have continued to be awarded since the revolution by the successive heads of the Imperial House of Romanov Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich, and Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna. In addition, Dynastic Orders of Knighthood were revived and new ones created under Grand Duke Kirill (Order of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker), Grand Duke Vladimir (Order of St. Michael the Archangel), and Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna (Order of St. Anastasia). These "Russian Imperial Orders" are allowed to be worn in Russia, and enjoy semi-official recognition by the church and the state; for example, on 14 December 2001 the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation legalized the wearing of the Order of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker in Russia by military persons on active duty.

Various dynastic orders

There are many dynastic orders of knighthood, which exist primarily in Europe. Today, dynastic orders include those still bestowed by a reigning monarch, those bestowed by a head of a royal house in exile, and those that have become extinct. Although it is sometimes asserted that the heads of former reigning houses retain the right to their dynastic orders but cannot create new ones, that view is challenged by others who believe that the power to create orders remains with a dynasty forever. In a few cases, formerly reigning families are accused of "fudging" the issue by claiming to revive long extinct orders or by changing non-dynastic state orders into dynastic ones. One example of this is the Order of Saint Michael of the Wing which is sometimes described as a revival of a long dormant order last awarded in the eighteenth century but also described as a new order created in 2004. Another example concerns the Royal Order of Francis I of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. One branch of the family (led by Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro) claims that the Order of Francis I was attached to the crown not the state, and thus awards it as a dynastic order. The other branch (led by Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria) regards the Order of Francis I as a state order that became extinct when the Borbon-Two Sicilies royal family accepted the abolition of their monarchy and the state's inclusion in the Kingdom of Italy. Finally, there is the example of a Russian pretender Maria Vladimirovna who published a decree on 20 August 2010 to create the entirely new Imperial Order of the Holy Great Martyr Anastasia.

Bestowed by the Holy See

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Although some former royal families and their supporters claim that Roman Catholic Church formally recognizes their right to award various orders, the Vatican denies all such assertions. On 16 October 2012, the Vatican Secretary of State renewed its formal announcement that it only recognizes the orders issued by the Pope, namely:

• Supreme Order of Christ
• Order of the Golden Spur
• Order of Pope Pius IX
• Order of Saint Gregory the Great
• Order of Pope Saint Sylvester

Protected by the Pope

• Sovereign Military Order of Malta
• Order of the Holy Sepulchre

The Secretary of State declared "other orders, whether of recent origin or mediaeval foundation, are not recognised by the Holy See...To avoid any possible doubts, even owing to illicit issuing of documents or the inappropriate use of sacred places, and to prevent the continuation of abuses which may result in harm to people of good faith, the Holy See confirms that it attributes absolutely no value whatsoever to certificates of membership or insignia issued by these groups, and it considers inappropriate the use of churches or chapels for their so-called 'ceremonies of investiture.'"

Bestowed by a reigning royal head

• The Order of the Garter (United Kingdom)
• The Noble Order of the Golden Fleece (Spain)
• The Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (The Netherlands as well as Luxembourg)
• The Royal Victorian Order (United Kingdom)
• The Order of the Elephant (Denmark)
• The Order of Merit (United Kingdom)
• The Order of the House of Orange (The Netherlands)
• The Order of the Thistle (United Kingdom)

Bestowed by non-reigning head of a house

Grand Cross of the Order of the Eagle of Georgia

• The Order of Saint George (Bavaria-Wittelsbach)
• The Order of St. Hubert (Bavaria-Wittelsbach)
• The Imperial Ethiopian Order of Saint Mary of Zion (Ethiopia)
• The Order of the Holy Spirit (France
• The Order of Saint Michael (France)
• The Order of the Eagle of Georgia (Georgia, Bagrationi Dynasty)
• The House Order of Hohenzollern (Hohenzollern, Germany)
• The Imperial Austrian Order of Elizabeth (Habsburg-Lorraine)
• The Noble Order of the Golden Fleece (Habsburg-Lorraine)
• The Order of the Starry Cross (Habsburg-Lorraine)
• The Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary (Hungary)
• The Order of Prince Danilo I (Montenegro)
• The Order of Petrovic Njegos (Montenegro)
• The Order of Saint Peter of Cetinje (Montenegro)
• The Order of Saint George of Parma (Parma)
• The Order of the Saint Louis for Civil Merit (Parma)
• The Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (Portugal, House of Braganza)*The Order of Saint Isabel (Portugal, House of Braganza)
• The Order of Merit of the Portuguese Royal House (Portugal, House of Braganza)
• The Order of Saint Isabel (Portugal, House of Braganza)
• The Order of Saint Michael of the Wing (Portugal, House of Braganza)
• The Order of Carol I (Romania, order founded in 1906 and discontinued with King Michael's abdication in 1947, and then revived by him on 5 January 2005 as a dynastic order)
• The Order of the Crown (Romania), founded as a state order it was revived by King Michael I as a Dynastic Order in 2011.
• The Order of Saint Andrew (Imperial House of Russia)
• The Order of Saint Catherine (Imperial House of Russia)
• The Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky (Imperial House of Russia)
• The Order of the White Eagle (Imperial House of Russia)
• The Order of Saint Anna (Imperial House of Russia)
• The Order of Saint Vladimir (Imperial House of Russia)
• The Order of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker (Imperial House of Russia, a modern order created in exile on 1 August 1929 by the pretender Kirill Vladimirovich, a cousin of the last Tsar, Nicholas II of Russia)
• The Order of Saint Stanislav (Imperial House of Russia)
• The Order of Saint Anastasia (Imperial House of Russia), a modern order created in exile in 2010 by the Head of the Imperial House.
• The Order of Saint Michael the Archangel (Imperial House of Russia, a modern order created in exile in 1988 by the Head of the Imperial House Vladimir Kirillovich
• The Royal Order of the Intare (Rwanda)
• The Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (Savoy)
• The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Savoy)
• The Order of Parfaite Amitié (Thurn and Taxis)
• The Order of Saint Joseph (Tuscany)
• The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (Two Sicilies)
• The Order of Saint Januarius (Two Sicilies)
• The Royal and Hashemite Order of the Pearl (Sulu)
• The Order of the Rose (Brazil, House of Orleans-Braganza)
• The Order of the Southern Cross (Brazil, House of Orleans-Braganza
• The Imperial Order of Christ (Brazil, House of Orleans-Braganza)
• The Order of Pedro I (Brazil, House of Orleans-Braganza

See also

• Chivalric order
• Military order (monastic society)
• Spanish knights orders