The Legitimacy of Non Reigning Royal Families

by Salvatore Caputo

  It is clear that henceforth, as it has been for some time, modern states will not recognize either Pretenders or non-national Orders of chivalry. That does not mean to say in the case of many Orders or of formerly reigning Sovereign Houses that they are condemned to a limbo of parchment and tinsel.

  Although not an international court, the following legal conclusion reflects knowledge of perpetual sovereignty. The learned Italian judge officially recognized that:

  “Among those rights [of a former ruling house inherited by the successors is] the faculty to ennoble, to grant and confirm coats of arms, to bestow titles drawn from places over which their ancestors had exercised their sovereign powers, and also the right to found, re-establish, reform and exercise the Grand Magistracy of the Orders of Chivalry conferred by their family, which may be handed down from father to son as an irrepressible [or unending] birthright." (The United Court of Bari, The Republic of Italy, Sig. Dr. Giovanni de Gioca, March 13, 1952”

  http://www.mocterranordica.org/BariEng.pdf The legitimate claimants to the Headship of formerly reigning families can assume the prerogative to award their Royal or Dynastic Orders. These may, for example, include the right to create or confirm titles of nobility, provided such creations conform to the legal requirements established before the fall of the Monarchy. It may not always be possible for a Head of a Dynasty to comply with the precise requirements of the Monarchical law because of the disappearance of an historic office or position.

  Whether these awards have any validity outside the realm of private law would depend on the attitude of other Sovereign states. As several reigning Heads of State having accepted the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece, it is recognized by the Austrian Republic, the exercise of that particular prerogative can be considered as having been recognized in public law.

  German Law seems to acknowledge the right of the heads of formerly reigning families to award their Orders and several states have recognized, in the past, titles created by exiled Sovereigns whom they accorded some form of recognition.

  Old Dynastic Orders Several orders bestowed today by non-regnant dynasties, though regarded as "dynastic," have military-religious origins. The Savoy’s Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus is the union of a twelfth-century order (Saint Lazarus) founded by lepers and a later order of a quasi-monastic nature (Saint Maurice), which in their new unified form fought marauding pirates menacing Piedmontese commerce in the Mediterranean. The Order of Saint Stephen (Tuscany) served a similar purpose. The Constantinian Order of Saint George (Naples and Parma) was founded by some Byzantine exiles in Venice to combat Turkish expansion into the Balkans and especially Albania. These three orders were eventually enlisted in the ideological struggle later called the Counter Reformation. In Spain the older "monastic-military" orders are in a similar category; the orders of Alcantara, Calatrava and Montesa were founded as military forces to fight the Moors, and the Order of Saint James (Santiago) was established to protect pilgrims to the shrine of Saint James from attacks by the Moors.

  The origins of knighthood

  The origins of knighthood are said to date back to ancient Rome, where there was a knightly class Ordo Equestris (an order of mounted nobles).

  Ordo is applied to any body of men, who form a distinct class in the community, either by possessing distinct privileges, pursuing certain trades or professions, or any other way. Thus whole sacerdotal body at Rome is spoken as an Ordo.

  A knighthood (or a damehood, its female equivalent) is one of the highest honors an individual in the United Kingdom can achieve. While in past centuries knighthood used to be awarded solely for military merit, today it recognizes significant contributions to national life. Recipients today range from actors to scientists, and from school head teachers to industrialists.

  A knighthood cannot be bought and it carries no military obligations to the Sovereign. The Queen (or a member of the Royal Family acting on her behalf) confers knighthood in Britain, either at a public Investiture or privately. The ceremony involves the ceremonial dubbing of the knight by The Queen, and the presentation of insignia.

  By tradition, clergy receiving a knighthood are not dubbed, as the use of a sword is thought inappropriate for their calling. Foreign citizens occasionally receive honorary knighthoods; they are not dubbed, and they do not use the style 'Sir'. In ceremony of knighting, the knight-elect kneels on a knightingelect kneels on a knighting-stool in front of The Queen, who then lays the sword blade on the knight's right and then left shoulder. After he has been dubbed, the new knight stands up, and The Queen invests the knight with the insignia of the Order to which he has been appointed.

  Contrary to popular belief, the words 'Arise, Sir ...' are not used. http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Honours/Knighthoods.aspx Contemporary Pontiff Knighthood Orders The Holy See has awarded the distinction of knighthood since the early medieval period. Such honors originally conferred nobility, personal or hereditary according to the rank, but today the Papal Orders are a means by which the Holy Father might personally distinguish those who have particularly served the Church and society.

  The Papal Orders are awarded in the name of the Supreme Pontiff and are given both as awards of His Holiness of the Roman Catholic church and also as Sovereign of the Vatican city State. Membership at one time was conferred by Papal Bull, or by Apostolic Letter, signed by the Pope himself, but since the reforms made in the structure of these Orders at the beginning of the 20th century, the diplomas have been signed by the Cardinal Secretary of State.

  The contemporary Pontiff Knighthood Orders are subdivided between civil and military Orders. Those Military are: The Supreme Order of Christ and that of The Golden Spur. Those Civil are: The Order of Piano, Saint Gregory The Great and Pope Saint Sylvester, who don’t have a military tradition, in fact the uniform has no military insignia, and resembles a diplomatic uniform.

  The first two mentioned: The Supreme Order of Christ and that of The Golden Spur are awarded by The Pope himself, the others are awarded by the Apostolic Delegate.

  The bestowing of Pontiff Honor is in the role of the Pope, as he is the supreme Head of The Vatican State in a territorial, spiritual and international nature. Between 1870 and 1929 The Holy See had no control over territory but maintained the international spiritual nature has and the tradition of giving honor.

  The Honors given by the Pope himself include: The Supreme of Christ, The Golden Spur, The Order of Piano, The Orders of Saint Gregory The Great and of Pope Saint Sylvester.

  The Honors given by the Apostolic Delegate are: The Order of The Equestrian Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and The Order of the Teutonic Knights of Saint Maria.

  Legitimate Order of Chivalry The authenticity or legitimacy of an order of chivalry and knighthood stems from its fons honorum (fount of honor). To be considered as legitimate, such an order must not only have a fons honorum, but that fons honorum must meet certain criteria in order to have the historical authority to “make knights” as it were.

  In actuality most of the old orders are in fact revivals of previous orders, or were founded in the 19th and even 20th centuries. For example, the British Order of St. John of Jerusalem Knights of Malta was driven from Malta by Napoleon in the late 1700s only to splinter and reconstitute themselves in the 19th century. The Order of St. Lazarus was abolished on July 31, 1791, by a decree of the National Assembly signed by the King of France, and was only revived in the early 20th century and was only officially granted its charter in 1888 by Queen Victoria.

  From the Middle Ages onwards, the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) was divided into about 300 entities each with practically sovereign rights, which were represented in the imperial parliament (Reichstag), and some 1500 minor lordships that had no other sovereign than the emperor.

  The territories of the Imperial Knights (Reichsritterschaft) were immediately depending from the emperor (as kind of a protector). The Imperial Knights were divided into several chapters (Kreise): Swabia, Franconia, Rhenish, Alsatian chapter, t
he chapters were divided into cantons (Kantone).

  In addition, there were many ecclesiastical institutions with limited sovereignty within the secular territories; they practiced jurisdiction and collected taxes in their small territories.

  In the Italian peninsula coexists four different sovereign states, that is, the Italian Republic, the State of Vatican City, the Republic of San Marino and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The honors awarded by these three institutions, together with the Orders of the House of Savoy and the Houses of pre-unification states are part of the chivalrous and noble heritage of the Italians and represent the only legitimate Chivalric Orders historically and legally.

  Bogus Order? The term "bogus" was so abused by Arthur Fox-Davies, who thought that any arms which were not delivered on parchment by a royal official were "bogus"; thus relegating 90% of heraldry into inexistence. Only people who would reject as "bogus" any such organization might be offended by the choice of certain orders. It is considered valid and undisputable from a legal point of view only a grant of honors or nobiliary titles coming from a Sovereign or non Reigning Sovereign on the throne or a State sovereign.

  Arthur Charles Fox-Davies (28 February 1871 – 19 May 1928) was a British author on heraldry. By profession, he was a barrister but he also worked as a journalist and novelist. Born in Bristol, he was the second son of Thomas Edmond Davies (later Fox-Davies) of Coalbrookdale, Shropshire.

  Heraldic writings. Fox-Davies' writing on heraldry is characterized by a passionate attachment to heraldry as art, history and also as law. He was something of a polemicist, and issued one of his most controversial works, The Right to Bear Arms, under the pseudonym X. However, he always supported his arguments with specific

  historical and manuscript evidence. He was the editor of the Genealogical Magazine from 1895-1906. "It should also be clear that, whereas national laws aim to provide clear-cut definitions or criteria, their validity extends only to their own borders. One country may well be indifferent to, or even recognize, what another calls bogus. A case in point is the various orders of Saint John recognized by their national governments (Britain, Germany, and Netherlands) but not by others (France) or, until the early 1960s, by the Catholic Order itself.

  http://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/legitim.htm

  The Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem. Mons. Cardinale decided in 1981 that it would be in the interest of all concerned to declare the Order of St. Lazarus non existent. He was provoked into doing so by one person who claimed to be a leading figure in the Order, and whose conduct towards Archbishop Cardinale and the Holy See was objectionable.

  The criteria upon which chivalric orders are judged are being questioned inside the Roman Curia. The fact that the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem has members belonging to various Christian denominations, makes it impossible to judge it solely on Catholic criteria, in spite of the fact that the Order has had a Catholic Patriarch as its Spiritual Protector since 1841, and today a number of Cardinals and high dignitaries of the Roman Curia are Spiritual Counselors to various Grand Priories.

  One of the arguments brought forward to bolster the claim of authenticity of an 'order' is the importance of its Hospitaller works throughout the world. Is it necessary to state that support given to charitable activities, as worthy as that may be, does not constitute in any way proof of the historical legitimacy of an order of chivalry. Should philanthropy be a criterion of legitimacy, then the Shriners7, The Independent Order of Odd Fellows or the Knights of Columbus8 and others could also raise the same pretensions.

  There are a number of orders of knighthood, such as the Knights of Columbus, which have no background in chivalry, but are nonetheless worthwhile organizations. These are usually fraternal organizations. People in these organizations can be called knights, but it is not quite the same thing as being granted a title by monarch or historical order of chivalry.

  The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in the United States in 1882, it is named in honor of Christopher Columbus.

  There are more than 1.8 million members in 15,000 councils, with nearly 200 councils on college campuses. Membership is limited to "practical Catholic" men aged 18 or older.

  The Shriners . The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, also commonly known as Shrinersand abbreviated A.A.O.N.M.S., established in 1870, is an appendant body to Freemasonry, based in the United States. In 2010, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, as well as Shriners North America, changed its name to Shriners International, now covering nearly 200 temples (chapters) across the North America, South America, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

  In the United States, as in other republics, the government awards decorations for valor and meritorious service but has no legal provision for orders of knighthood as such. Chivalric bodies are treated as private associations, registered as such with the state in which they have headquarters. The most sought-after status for American groups is that of a non-profit, tax-exempt charitable institution. Such status ignores whether or not a body is an authentic chivalrous order. In these circumstances it is easy to see why there has been indiscriminate use and abuse of the term, order of knighthood.

  7http://www.shrinersinternational.org/ 8http://www.kofc.org/en/index.html

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