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His Royal Highness GEORGE AUGUSTUS
Prince of Wales, &c. And Knight of the
most Noble Order of the Garter.
M. V^dr. Gucht Scul.

THE
HISTORY
Of the most NOBLE
Order of the GARTER:
And the several ORDERS of Knighthood extant in EUROPE.

Containing

I. The Antiquity of the Town, Castle, Chapel, and College of Windsor; with their several Officers: The Foundation of the ORDER by King EDWARD III. The Statutes and Annals at large, as they have been altered and amended.

II. The HABITS, ENSIGNS, and OFFICERS of the ORDER. The Ceremonies of Election, Investiture, and Instalment of Knights: The manner of their Feasts; and the Duties and Fees payable on these Occasions. Some Account of the Founders, with an exact List of all that have been installed since the Institution, and their several Coats of Arms emblazon’d.

Written at the Command of King Charles II. By ELIAS ASHMOLE, Esq; Windsor Herald. Now compared with the Author’s Corrections in his Library at Oxford, faithfully digested, and continued down to the present Time.

The Whole illustrated with proper Sculptures.

LONDON: Printed for A. Bell in Cornhill, E. Curll, J. Pemberton, and A. Collins in Fleet-street; W. Taylor and J. Baker in Pater-Noster-Row, 1715.

Price 7 s. 6 d.

TO HIS
ROYAL HIGHNESS
GEORGE-AUGUST,
Prince of WALES, &c.

KNIGHT and COMPANION of the MOST NOBLE ORDER of the GARTER.

PARDON me, Mighty Prince, that in the Crowd of Your Joyful and Devoted Britons, one of an obscure Fame presumes to lay his Humble Offering at Your Feet.

IT is the History of the MOST NOBLE ORDER of the GARTER; which, from its first Institution, has been constantly worn by Persons of the highest Birth, and most illustrious Merit.

IF the Stile and Manner, in which it is treated, were proportionable to the Dignity of the Subject, there would need no Apology for this Dedication. For to whom, next to the Great Sovereign of the Garter, whose true Heir You are, in all manner of Virtue and Honour, could this Treatise have recourse for Protection, but to Your Royal Highness, who are the Premier Knight of this Most Noble Order, and the standing Grace and Ornament of it.

BUT far above all particular Views, are the unspeakable Blessings derived to these Kingdoms, by the SUCCESSION of Your Illustrious Royal House: Every Briton seems new Born, and to have borrow’d fresh influence from its Glorious Presence.

THE Godlike Virtues of Your Royal Father, are not to be excelled; and should we venture to express an Equality, it can only be the Appearance of Your Royal Highness’s imitating so Great a Pattern.

AS He is Wise and Good beyond Praise, so has He a Title to the Hearts of His People beyond Question; which stands Confirmed by the highest Instances of Divine Providence, as well as the incontestible Authorities of Temporal Laws: On these Foundations, what glorious Prospects may we not Build of future Happiness?

IT were easy to dwell on this Subject, were it not wasting Moments of much more concern to Your Royal Highness, than what I am able to Express.

MAY Your Royal Highness long Live to Adorn this MOST NOBLE ORDER, and to support the Crown, by a bountiful and flourishing issue, that there may never want one of Your Royal Line to sit on the Throne of Great-Britain,

Is the Ardent Prayer of,

ILLUSTRIOUS SIR!

Your Royal Highness’s

Most Faithful,

Most Obedient,

and Humbly Devoted Servant.

THE
PREFACE

Those who are acquainted with Mr. Ashmole’s History of the most Noble Order of the Garter, will easily satisfy themselves; that no Pains or Industry was wanting to Perfect and Complete so Voluminous a Work: He had the Encouragement of a very gracious Prince, and the use of publick Records, more particularly the several Books of the Order, with the Assistance of several MSS wrote by the Officers of Arms, who bore Part in the Ceremonies, or went on Embassies to Stranger Kings, Princes, &c. and by their constant Observations, were familiarly versed in all its Laws and Customs.

These were very great helps to him, and it must be confessed his own elaborate Study had not less owing to it. There is nothing that has relation to this most Noble Order, which he has not touched on; and indeed it is a Work so very copious, that he does himself acknowledge he has inserted some things of little importance; which he desires may be considered to be done, to gratify some few who have a more immediate concern therein.

The Reader will in this Treatise find little else omitted: A very painful and exact Abridgment has been made, many Corrections of the Author’s, which he saw before his Death, and left among his other Books in his Library at Oxford, are here carefully altered; some Additions are made, a List continued, of the several Knights-Companions, as well as Officers of the Order, for above forty Years; and the Coats of Arms of abundance of the Knights-Companions visibly corrected from good Authorities; and every distinct Chapter treated of at large; so that this Work has not been compleated but at great Labour as well as Expence, which could not have been supported, but for the Encouragement some of the Knights-Companions of the most Noble Order were pleased to give it; as well in their Subscriptions, as in the good Opinion they seemed to Express of the Design.

THE
HISTORY
OF THE
Most Noble Order
OF THE
GARTER.

IT was, undoubtedly, a good Sentiment in the first Collector of this Learned Work, to introduce, as well as a Discourse of Knighthood in general, a Treatise of all the several Orders that have prevail’d in other Parts of the World; for these in their Rise and Institutions, having a relative Sense to the particular Subject he was to illustrate, seemed to afford him a very good Opportunity of doing it, by building on so convenient a Foundation.

I shall therefore, (tho’ much more confin’d to brevity) follow the same Method, making it serve as a proper Introduction; there being many Things in the voluminous Original, which I conceive may with less Inconveniency be dispenc’d with.

It was a constant Maxim in all well-regulated Governments, to give a just Encouragement to Merit, and this by proportioning Rewards to the Service done; for Merit must be suppos’d to consist in the Performance of some Virtuous or Heroick Action, directed for the publick Good: And as Vertue is either Military or Civil, so the Distribution of Rewards is different; either by bestowing Degrees and Titles of Honour, or by Donations of Wealth; so that in either Construction, Vertue may have its proper and suitable Reward.

But the proper Reward of Military Vertue, is Honour: (to which distinct Head this Work is confin’d.) Honour, which Aristotle calls the Greatest of exteriour Goods: And being an Object of a nobler Ambition than the Accumulation of Wealth, is principally the Aim of that Vertue we understand by Valour; which springs from more generous Spirits, and hath been the constant Foundation of raising Men to the highest Eminence of Glory, and superiour Dignity.

But that Fame might not lose itself in an unbounded Notion, it was at length thought fit to reduce Honour into Form and Order, by investing the Person meriting with some particular Title or Appellation of Excellence, (the Original of all Nobility;) of which Knighthood, as it hath been accounted the most suitable Reward to the greatest Vertue, so it hath been esteemed the chief and primary Honour among many Nations.

The Romans held Honour and Vertue in that Esteem, that they deify’d, and dedicated Temples to them: They made them so contiguous in their Situation, that there was no other Passage to that of Honour, but thro’ the Temple of Vertue, mystically admonishing, that Honour was not to be attained by any other Way.

In several of the Roman Coins we see Honour and Vertue represented together in one Reverse, and in one Medal; the Face of Honour so shadows that of Vertue, that but a little of it appears, Honour being the more illustrious of the two; and where we behold any Person outwardly adorned with it, we are to judge him inwardly endued with Vertue, inasmuch as Honour is his due, and justly bestowed upon him.

§. 2. In tracing the Original of Knighthood, we are not so vain to say, with the French, that S. Michael was the premier Chevalier; yet thus much we may assert, that ’tis near as ancient as Valour and Heroic Vertue, notwithstanding the Ceremonies and Circumstances of it have varied according to several Ages and Nations: And therefore, with much Probability, we may derive the Original of Military Honour from the Trojans and Greeks; among whom, as Knights of great Renown, were Hector, Troilus, Æneas, Antenor, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Peleus, Tydeus, &c. And thus Homer uses the Word ἱππότης, in the same Sense as Eques was afterwards among the Latins.

Τοῖσι δὲ καὶ μετέειπε γερήνιος ἱππότα Νέστωρ,

’Mong whom thus Nestor spake, that honour’d Knight.

§. 3. Upon a more substantial Basis we shall descend to the Romans; among whom, in the very Infancy of their Military Glory, a Society of Knights was instituted, immediately after their Union with the Sabines. Romulus inrolled Centuriæ tres Equitum, three Centuries of Knights, out of the chiefest Families, whom he appointed to be his Life-guard, and called them Celeres, from their Activity and Dispatch in Martial Affairs.

Tarquinius Priscus made an Addition to these Centuries; the like did Servius Tullius, who ordained, that those who should succeed in that Body, should be elected ex censu, viz. from a considerable and certain Valuation of their Estates, who had the greatest Cense, and were of the most Noble Families, says Dyonys. Halicarn. And soon after, the Equestrian Class began to be formed and constituted one of the three Orders of the Commonwealth, which were thus rank’d, according to Livy: Senatus, Ordo Equestris & Plebs; which in the Roman Literal Notes is set down after this Manner: CON. SEN. E. ORD. P. Q. R. And forasmuch as this Degree is placed between the Patricians, or Senators, and the Plebeians, it answers exactly the State of our Knights between the Nobility and Commonalty: And from this Order, to the Height of Nobility which resided in the Senators, was the Way prepared; Junius Brutus being the first who was raised to a Senator from the Equestrian Order.

It was a Constitution, as old as Tiberius’s Reign, that none should be admitted, unless Free-born, or a Gentleman for three Generations; and, indeed, for a long Time none were elected Knights but the best Sort of Gentlemen, and Persons of Extraction, as was the illustrious Mœcenas.

Atavis regibus ortus eques, Mart.

who aspired no higher, not out of any Incapacity of attaining greater Honours, but that he desired them not, says Paterculus: Yet at length, thro’ Corruption of Times, Plebeians and Freedmen being too frequently received into this Degree (too near a Parallel among the Knights of this Age) occasion’d their Power to grow less and less, ’till it shrunk to nothing; so that the Places and Offices of Judges which they before had executed, became conferrable upon the Publicans. And when Cicero was Consul, anno ab urbe conditi 690, the Equestrian Order stood in need of Re-establishment, whereupon they were then incorporated into that Commonwealth in the third Degree, all Acts passing in the Name of the Senate, the People of Rome, and the Equestrian Order.

They often enjoy’d Abroad the Government of several Provinces, whereof Egypt had this peculiar to itself, that none of the Senators were admitted, but only those of the Equestrian Order, whose Decrees Augustus commanded to be had in like Regard, as if the Magistrates of Rome, or Kings, Consuls, or Prætors, had pronounced them.

As a Mark of Eminence, they had the Titles of Splendidi and Illustres bestowed upon them, and sometimes have been called most sacred Knights.

And besides other Privileges, they had Seats with the Senators in the Circus Maximus; and by the Roscian Law, sat next them in the Theatres: They had likewise a College called Collegium Equitum; and Temples were dedicated to the Goddess Fortune, under the Title of Equestri Fortunæ.

Having shewn the Dignity and Honours of the Equestrian Order among the Romans, we shall now touch upon the Degrees of Knighthood which have been Personal, and may be comprehended under the Modern Title of Equites Aurati, or Milites Simplices, (as distinguish’d from the several Orders of Chivalry, instituted in Christendom.) In the Circumstance of whose Creation we confess, nothing in the Roman Ordo Equestris hath place, tho’ that might be the Ground and Original of the Dignity, and one common End in both, namely, the Pursuit of Military Exploits, and Service in the Wars.

§. 4. Of the Degrees of Knighthood. We shall first of the Monozons, i. e. Knights begirt with the Military Girdle, a Custom devolved to the Germans and Gauls from ancient Times, and from them to After-Ages.

Sir Henry Spelman notes, That the late Emperors conferred the Dignity of Knighthood with the Military Girdle instead of all other Arms, because that Part more eminent amongst them girdeth, supporteth, and adorneth the rest; whence Selden calls this Girding the most essential part of the Ceremony. Nor do we find among the various Ceremonies of Knighthood any that have continued so constant in Practice as the endowing with Girdle and Sword, Ornaments proper to the Dignity and Marks of Honour and Vertue, with which the Statues and Portraitures of Knights, on their Grave-stones have been adorned.

For as at this Day Knights are styled Equites Aurati, from the Golden Spurs, heretofore put on at their Creation, so were they more anciently Singulo Miletari donati, in respect, when any one was Knighted, he was not only smitten with the Sword, but invested with Sword and Belt, yet retain’d at the creating our Knights of the Bath, as the old Formulary thus hath it; Then shall the King of great Favour take the Sword, and gird the Esquire therewith.

Secondly, The Baccalaurei or Knights Batchelors, are to be consider’d, who are indifferently styled Chevaliers, Milites, Equites Aurati, and Knights. This Degree is truly accounted the first of all Military Dignity, and the Foundation of all Honours in our Nation, and is derived from, if not the same with that immediately preceding. For as the Ceremony of a gentle Touch on the Shoulder with the flat Side of the Sword hath been since used, instead of girting with the Sword and Belt, (especially in Times of War, or in Haste) as an Initiation into the Military Order; so on the contrary, it is not unusual now-adays, for the Prince, at least Gladio, if not Cingulo donare; for he oftentimes bestows the Sword upon the Person he Knighteth.

Miræus gives them the Epithet Aurati, from the Privilege of wearing Gold upon their Swords and Spurs, omitting Tiraquel’s fanciful Distinction between Miles and Eques Auratus, who allows the former to signify a Knight Noble before, and the other to denote one whom we call a Knight and no Gentleman, or applicable to the Neapolitan Gentlemen, (usually called Cavalieri) who are all styled Equites, tho’ they never have attained the Knightly Dignity.

The third Sort were Knights Banerets, who so well deserv’d in the Wars, that they were afterwards permitted to use Vexillum quadratum, a square Banner, whence they were called Equites vexillarii, or Chevaliers a Buniere from the Dutch Banerheere, Lord or Master of the Banner.

Camden conceives this Title first devis’d by K. Edward 3. in Recompence of Martial Prowess; a Recital of which Dignity is mention’d in a Patent 20 E. 3. to John Coupland, for his Service, in taking David King of Scots Prisoner. But it was much more ancient with us, as well as in France; and they had particular Robes, and other Ornaments given them from the Crown, ad apparatum suum pro militia, tanquam pro Baneretto, a Rege suscipienda, &c. viz. ad unum Tunicam, &c. after which is set down the particular Robes, and other Ornaments appointed for his Creation.

To shew this Dignity yet more ancient, there is the Evidence of a Writ in K. Edw. 3d’s Time, for furnishing Thomas Bardolf with the Robes of a Baneret. It is an Honour esteemed the last among the Greatest, viz. Nobilitum Majorum, or the First of the Second Rank; and is placed in the Middle between the Barons and the other Knights; in which respect the Baneret may be called Vexillarius minor, as if he were the lesser Banner-Bearer; to the End he might be so differenced from the Greater, namely the Baron, to whom the Right of bearing a square Banner doth belong.

But there are some remarkable differences between these Knights and Knights-Batchelors; as in the Occasions and Circumstances of their Creations, the Baneret being not Created, unless at a Time when the King’s Standard is erected, and that he bears his own Banner in the Field; whilst the Knight-Batchelor follows that which is anothers.

This farther difference is observed between them, that the Knight-Baneret had so many Gentlemen his Servants at Command, as that he could raise a Banner, and make up a Company of Soldiers to be maintained at his Table, and with his own Pay: But the Knight-Batchelor had not sufficient for this, and therefore marched under the Banner of another; and the Wages of the Baneret were double.

Next to these, we are to mention Knights of the Bath, which is a Degree that hath the Investiture and Title of Knight, with an additional Denomination, derived from Part of the Ceremony of his Creation. It is the general receiv’d Opinion, that our K. Hen. 4. first instituted these Knights, which is justify’d by Sir John Froisard, who says he created 46 of them at his Coronation, chusing them from such, as were either his Favorites, or had pretensions to it from their personal Merits, or Services.

But if the Ceremonies and Circumstances of their Creation be well consider’d, it may be inferr’d, that he rather restor’d the ancient way of making Knights, than Instituted them; and consequently that the Knights of the Bath, are really no other than Knights-Batchelors; that is, such as are created with those Ceremonies, wherewith Knights-Batchelors were formerly created by Ecclesiasticks: But some of them having been laid aside, were then brought again into Use, and made peculiar to this Degree, and since continued to them upon some solemn and great Occasion.

At the first View they look like a distinct Order of Knighthood; but cannot be so accounted, because they have no Statutes assigned them, nor are in Case of Vacancy, supply’d, (the Essentials of distinct Orders) nor do they wear their Robes beyond the Time of that Occasion upon which they were created; as chiefly, the Coronation of a King or Queen, the Creation of a Prince of Wales, Duke of York, and the like; whereas also their Number is uncertain, and always at the Pleasure of the King.

Favine calls them Knights of the Crown, because, to distinguish them from Esquires, they wore upon their Left Shoulder an Escutcheon of Black Silk embroider’d with three Crowns of Gold; but therein he mistakes, for they never used only a Silk Lace, and the Jewel they wore was made of Gold, containing three Crowns, with this Motto Tria juncta in una, hanging down under the left Arm at a Carnation Ribbon worn cross the Body.

This leads us to the Degree of Baronets, who seem allied to Knighthood, by having granted them the Addition of Sir to be set before their Names: But this gives them not the Dignity of Knighthood; nor can they properly be styled Knights, until they be actually Knighted.

It is a Degree erected Anno 9. Jac. 1. and the Grant made by Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England. It is Hereditary to them, and the Heirs Male of their Bodies lawfully begotten, for ever; and by a subsequent Decree of the said King, Precedence is granted to them before all Banerets, except such as should be made by the King under his Standard, display’d in an Army Royal in open War, and the King personally present, and next to and immediately after the younger Sons of Viscount and Barons.

The Ground for erecting this Degree was partly Martial; for tho’ themselves were not enjoined personal Service in the Wars, yet each Baronet was to maintain thirty Foot Soldiers for three Years in Ireland, after the rate of Eight Pence per Day, for the Defence of that Kingdom, and chiefly to secure the Plantation of Ulster.

They were at least to be descended from a Grand-father, on the Father’s Side, that bore Arms, and had a Revenue of 1000 l. per Ann. or Lands of old Rents of equal Value with 1000 l. per Ann. of improv’d Lands, or at least two Parts of three of such Estate in Possession; the other third in Reversion Expectant upon one Life held only in Jointure.

The Year after, King James I. added some new Privileges and Ornaments, viz. to Knight those already made that were no Knights; and the Heirs hereafter of every Baronet should, at the Age of One and Twenty Years, receive Knighthood; likewise that all Baronets might bear in Canton, or in an Inescutcheon, the Arms of Ulster; and farther, to have place in the Armies of the King in the Gross, near about the Royal Standard.

Since the Institution of Baronets in England, there have been made divers in Ireland after the like Form: And the Knights of Nova Scotia in the West-Indies were ordained in Imitation of Baronets in England by the said King James, A. D. 1622. for the Planting that Country by Scotch Colonies, and the Degree made likewise Hereditary.

These latter wear an Orange Tawny Ribbon as their Badge, to distinguish them from other Knights; and it appears, there was an Intention, 1627. to move his then Majesty, that all Baronets and Knights Bachelors might wear Ribbons of several Colours, some Badge or Jewel, in such Sort as did the Knights of the Bath, to distinguish the one from the other: But that Matter dropt.

§. 5. We shall now observe the Etymology of Eques, Miles, Chevalier, Ritter, and Sir. The Grecians had a Title of Honour equivalent to the Signification of Eques in the Latin, from Equus, an Horse, because one Part of the Ceremony, whereby this Honour became conferred, was the giving of an Horse; or because having an Horse at the Publick Charge, they received the Stipend of an Horseman to serve in the Wars, Horses being Symbols of War, Bello armantur equi. It is to be noted, That the Degree of Knighthood in the Dialects of other Nations hath the same Derivation: For in the French, a Knight is called Chevalier; in the German, Ridder, or Ritter, q. d. Rider; so the Gheslagen Ridder is interpreted, The dubbed Knight; in the Italian, it is Cavagliero; in the old British, Morchog; concerning which, hear one of Jeffery Chaucer’s Scholars.

Eques ab Equo is said of very right,

And Chevalier is said of Chevalrie,

In which a Rider called is a Knight;

Arragoners done also specifie

Caballiero through all that Partie,

Is Name of Worship, and so took his ’ginning

Of Spurs of Gold, and chiefly Riding.

And tho’ the Word Miles signified at first any legally inrolled for the War, which Inrolment was twofold, Honoraria and Vulgaris; yet upon the Decay of the Roman Empire, upon the Irruption of the innumerable Forces of the Alani, Goths, Vandals, &c. which consisted in Horse, their Foot was rendred useless. Miles was no longer said of him that served on Foot in the Wars, but began to be properly spoken of the Horseman; whence it came into Vogue, That among the Titles of Nobility, he who had that of Miles bestowed on him, was understood to be Horseman, or Eques, that is, of the Equestrian Dignity.

Selden observes Miles to be equivocal: and that in the old feodal Laws of the Empire it signify’d a Gentleman, as the Word Gentleman is signify’d in Nobilis; and with us it hath been frequently used to denote both Gentlemen, and Knights; for Milites denotes Gentlemen, or great Freeholders, and not dubbed Knights, viz. such who hold by Knights Service from a Lord of a Mannour, and such who are chosen from the several Counties to serve in the High Courts of Parliament.

Miles, even in the Saxon Times, denoted sometimes a Dignity. But about the Year 1046, becoming a Title of Honour, it is since most generally appropriated to Persons who have received Knighthood correspondent to Eques and Chevalier, tho’ indeed less proper; in regard Knighthood is the Dignity of Horsemanship, and the Tenure of Lands by Knights Fees here in England, anciently called Regale Servitium, is in truth Horse Service; and the Tenants such as served the King on Horseback in Wars, are Gentlemen at least (if not of Noble Extraction.)

Minshew says, the Equites, which heretofore followed and accompanied the Emperor, are, in the German Tongue, called Knechtes, that is, Servitors, or Ministers; but Camden says, Knecht, in Saxon Cniht, was in far more ancient Times accepted as an honorary Title; and, among the old Germans, signify’d a Person arm’d with Spear and Lance, (the Ensigns of their Knighthood) as in After-Times such were, among other Nations, adorned with a Girdle and Belt, since called Equites aurati, and sometimes simply Milites.

The Addition Sir to the Names of all Knights Banerets, Knights of the Bath, and Batchelor Knights, pronounced at the Time when they are created, with this Compellation: Arise, Sir John, or Sir Thomas, &c. is accounted Parcel of their Style, which the Banerets enjoy by virtue of a Clause in their Patent. It is a Contraction of the Old French Sire, taken for Seigneur, or Lord, from the Greek Κύριος. But how it came to be first given, we cannot find; nevertheless, our English Writers have bestowed it upon the major Part of the Nobility, after they had been received into the Order of Knighthood; and in the Life of St. Thomas Becket, written about the Time of King Edw. 1. we meet with the Title prefix’d to the Names of the four Knights, who slew the said St. Thomas.

§. 6. The Ensigns of the Equestrian Order among the Romans, by which they were made, was a Publick Horse, or a Gold Ring; yet still, to those who had Equestrian Cense, the Horse was the ancienter Badge of the two; but when thro’ the Multitude of these Knights no Publick Horses were assigned, but to such who were ready to enter upon Military Service, and to fight in the Legions, such were called Legionary Knights, to distinguish them from the rest, who had only receiv’d the Honour of a Gold-Ring; for they were not all employ’d in Wars.

The Censor (after the Institution of that Office ab urbe condita, 310.) and afterwards the Emperor, were the Persons who bestowed this Equus Militaris, or Publicus, as it was called from the Annual Allowance, to keep him, which they gave unto those of known Vertue and approv’d Life, compelling him to serve in the Wars, tho’ against his Will; (but in the more ancient Method of Election, Constraint was not used.) And upon Negligence in the Care of these Horses, or any Blemish, Reproach, or Infamy, or Loss of Patrimony in the Knights, the Horses were not only taken away, but the Knights wholly disfranchis’d. Rosinus laying down the Manner and Order used in ejecting such Knights, adds, A Recital being made of all the Knights that were inrolled, those whose Names he omitted, were thereby understood to be depriv’d of that Dignity.

When they had served in the Wars the Time appointed by Law, it was the Custom to lead their Horses by the Bridle into the Forum, before the Duumvirs [Censors,] and giving an Account under whom and what Generals or Captains they had served; they were thereupon dismissed from farther Service in the Wars: An Example whereof Plutarch relates to have been given by Pompey himself.

But whereas among the Roman Inscriptions we find Equo publico honoratus donatus, ornatus, and exornatus, such is not to be construed to be of Equestrian Dignity, but only to have received the præmia militaria, with which the Emperors used to recompense some particular Exploit, by the Honour of such a Gift, according to Salmasius. Equus Publicus, by a wondrous, nevertheless an accustom’d Speech, among the Romans, is the Knight, qui equo publico meret. And qui equo publico donatus, the other deserving Person.

As to the Ring: In Genesis we read of Pharoah’s taking off his Ring, and putting it upon Joseph’s Hand. When they came in Fashion with the Romans, the Senators at first wore Iron ones, which were accounted the Ensign of Military Vertue, received upon a Publick Account. Howbeit, in Process of Time, when Gold Rings were drawn into Use, none but Senators and Knights had them. The Difference among the Rings of the three Orders in the State were, as Licetus observes, Gold Rings set with precious Stones were given to the Senators only; Plain Rings without Stones to the Knights, and Iron Rings to the Plebeians, or Free-born-men; insomuch that Equestri dignitate donare and annulo honorare, is a promiscuous Phrase in Tacitus, to give the Dignity of Knighthood; and at the Battle of Cannæ, by the two Measures or Bushels of Gold Rings sent to Carthage, the Number of the Roman Knights there slain was computed.

§. 7. At length Freed-Men being created Knights, the Jus annulorum, the Right of wearing Gold Rings, became promiscuous.

Among the Germans, the Shield and Lance were accounted the grand Badges of Military Honour, or Knighthood. This the Lombards, the Franks, and our Country-men, all descending out of Germany, used, and was to us (in the Opinion of Sir Hen. Spelman) the Foundation of the Knightly Order. Much like the ancient Germans was the Custom of making Knights among the Irish: And Favine notes the Shield and Lance were the proper Arms appertaining to a French Knight, which Esquires, Armigers, carried always after their Masters, Shields and Scutes (as they are vulgarly called) i. e. Equestrian Targets, inclining to an Oval, not Shields or Bucklers of Foot Soldiers.

Another Ensign and Ornament of Knightly Honour is, the Cingulum militare, or Balteus, which, Varro says, is Tuscan, signifying a military Girdle, which were garnished with great Buckles, Studs, and Rings of pure Gold, to shew their Dignity and Power in military Commands; and with such a Belt, set with Pearls and precious Stones, young Athelstan was girded, when he receiv’d Knighthood from his Grandfather King Alfred. Our Knights were no less anciently known by these Belts, than by their gilt Swords, Spurs, &c. Howbeit the Use now only appears in Knights of the Bath.

To this Belt was also added a Sword, not of Ordinary Use; and therefore termed the Sword of a Knight, which was hallowed with great Ceremony.

Another eminent Badge is the Golden Spurs, wherewith, at the Time of their Creation, Knights Spurs were wont to be adorned; and to these, a little after the Conquest, were added far more and greater Ornaments. They were usually put on after the Person had been presented to the Prince who gave the Honour, to signify, that the new-made Knight should not only declare his Valour by his Sword, but also by the Management of his Horse, which he should encourage and excite with his Spurs, to the carrying on his valiant Designs. These Spurs have been of that Esteem, that Knight Batchelors are latinized Equites aurati; among the Germans, Ritter dess Gulden Sporns; and with us heretofore, Knights of the Spurs: And several Families by the Name of Knight, bear for their Arms the Spurs on a Canton.

It is farther certify’d among the Rights of a Knight Baneret, that upon the Account of his Knighthood he may wear gilt Spurs, as well as a gilt Sword; and that the Spurs are essential, may be collected from the Degradation of a Knight, where his gilt Spurs are first cut off with an Hatchet, the Case of Sir Andra Harcla. In the last Place is the Collar, an Ensign of Knightly Dignity among the Germans, Gauls, Britons, Danes and Goths, among whom it was customary to wear them, as denoting such as were remarkable for their Valour. But in later Times, it was the peculiar Fashion of Knights among us to wear Golden Collars composed of S S. or other various Devices; so that those Monuments are known to be erected for Knights on whose Portraitures such Ornaments are found.

§. 8. The Qualifications for Knighthood are principally three. 1. Merit, the bare mentioning whereof shall suffice here. 2. Birth, viz. that the Parties who enter thereinto ought first to make appear they be Gentlemen of three Paternal Descents, bearing Coat Armour; and much the same was the Law of the Empire under Frederick 2. A. D. 1212. Some think it also insufficient, unless descended so by the Mother’s Side; at least she must be a freed Woman. And, 3. Estate, which also serves to support the Dignity.

Thus Wealth was so much regarded among the Chaledonians, that those who were rich, bore the Name of Knights. It was Estate that entitled a Man to this Honour among the Romans; for the Censor might compel any Citizen equal to the Equestrian Cense, whom he thought fit to take that Order: And this consisted of 400000 Sesterces, i. e. 3025 l. of our Money.

And as in Old Rome, so here in England, not long after the Conquest, they who held a Knights Fee, viz. 680 Acres of Land might claim it, says Camden. But it appears from Selden, that no certain Number, or Extent of Acres, made a Knight’s Fee; and Temp. Hen. 3. and Edw. 1. and 1 Edw. 2. the Census militis was measured by 20 l. by the Year, or more; and by the Royal Prerogative, some who held 15, then 20, at other times 30, then 40, and sometimes 50 l. Lands, were required to accept this Honour by Writs directed to the Sheriffs of the Counties, and were excused only by Reason of old Age, irrecoverable Weakness, Loss of Limbs, or being in Holy Orders; and upon all other Causes (if exempted) they paid a Fine, estimated according to the Nature of the Excuse, or length of Time given.

But in the promiscuous Course of Knighthood, where the Men of Wealth and Estate (whether otherwise worthy or not) became dignify’d; yet the Gate of Honour was not then shut against those, who wanting Riches, deserved well of their Country; for when Princes conferr’d such Dignities upon Men of narrow Fortunes, they usually bestowed with them annual Pensions, or Lands, agreeable to the Judgment of the Author of the Division du monde, who saith that the Honour of Knighthood is not to be given any Person who hath not a considerable Estate, unless sufficient Means to support the Honour of the Order be also given with it.

These Pensions are frequently mention’d in our Rolls, sometimes during Pleasure, and sometimes during the Life of the Knight, or till better Provision should be made for their Supports: Examples whereof are, Sir John Atte Lee, Sir Nele Loring, Sir John Walsh, Knights. The like Rewards our Kings gave to such whose Merit raised them to the Degree of a Baneret, express’d in their Patents, ad manutenendum statum Baneretti, Pro sustentatione sua, ut ipse statum Baneretti melius manutenere possit, Pro statu suo manutenendo; or Words to the like Effect: Examples where of are, Sir Reginald Cobham, Sir Thomas de Rokeley, Sir John Lysle, and Sir Roger de Swynerton, Banerets.

It may be next consider’d who can make Knights; wherein it is apparent, that they who never were, and others who never could be Knights, have conferr’d this Dignity; yet ’tis to be understood, that Necessity and Custom hath in this Case the Force of a Law: For anciently, Bishops and Priests made Knights; so also do the Popes, and some Commonwealths; likewise our Queens. For the Sovereign, or the Heir apparent, tho’ they be no Knights, may nevertheless do it, by reason they possess the Kingdom; and are therefore the Head and Chief of Chevalry, and consequent all the Power thereof is contained in their Command. To conclude this Point, Knighthood was always received from the Hands of another Person, either by Ceremony, or Diploma, except only the Kings of Spain, who Time out of Mind made themselves Knights; and this by Vertue of an old Law written in the Arragonian Tongue, as Ambrosias Morales reports. And, to shew that no Man upon Earth hath any Power over him, he shall gird himself with the Sword made after the Form of a Cross; and that Day can no other Man be Knighted.

§. 9. Of the Ceremonies and Formalities used at the Conferring of Knighthood, the most ancient was perform’d by putting the Belt loose over the Shoulder, or girding it close about the Waste. The Bend in Armoury represents the one, and the Fess the other. The first Christian Kings at giving this Belt kissed the new Knight on the Left Cheek, saying, In the Honour of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, I make you a Knight. It was called Osculum pacis, the Kiss of Favour, or Brotherhood, and is presumed to be the Accollade, or Ceremony of Imbracing, which Charles the Great used when he Knighted his Son Lewis the Debonair. It was in the Time of the same Emperor, the Way of Knighting by the Colaphum, or Blow on the Ear, used in Sign of sustaining future Hardships, which is thought to have been deriv’d from the Manner of Manumission of a Slave among the Romans; a Custom long after retained in Germany and France. Thus William Earl of Holland, who was to be Knighted before he could be Emperor, at his being elected King of the Romans, received Knighthood by the Box of the Ear, &c. from John King of Bohemia, A. D. 1247.

In the Time of the Saxons here in England, Knights received their Institutions at the Hands of Great Prelates or Abbots; which, according to their Opinion, render’d them more auspicious. In the accomplishing of which Solemnity, they added many religious Ceremonies, as Watching, Fasting, Bathing, and Consecrating the Sword; an Instance of which we have in Heward Lord of Brune, in Lincolnshire, who received this Honour from Brand, Abbot of St. Edmundsbury. But not long after the Conquest, this Custom was restrained by a Synod at Westminster, A. D. 1102. 3 H. 1. which among other Things ordained Ne Abbates [i. e. all Spiritual Persons] faciunt milites. However the religious Ceremonies for the most part continued, especially Vigils and Bathings, as appears by that grand Solemnity at the Creation of 267 Knights, Sons of Earls, Barons, and Knights, upon Whitsontide, anno 34 Edw. 1. cited by Selden and Camden. And these Formalities the Saxons and Normans, not only here in England, but the French, Spaniards, and other Nations, observ’d, concluding from it, that decency of Habit was as well expected from them, as Integrity of Life, and purity of Manners. And the like religious Ceremony was heretofore observ’d in Spain at the Creation of Knights, whether Cavelleros de Espuela d’Orada, or Amados [our Knights Batchelors,] In this Form, the Person to be Knighted was bathed in the Evening, and presently laid in Bed; then cloathed in rich Robes, and led to the Church to perform his Vigils: That being over, and Mass heard, his Spurs were put on, and his Sword girt about him, then drawn out, and put into his Right Hand; whereupon the Oath was forthwith administred to him; which taken, he that bestowed the Dignity gave him una Pesconade, a Blow, or Stroke on the Neck, saying, God assist you in the Performance of your Promise.

The Oath or Vow the Knights professed, was in general, to relieve and protect Widows, the Fatherless, Oppressed and Miserable, and to defend the Church of God; which to keep and perform was esteem’d as meritorious, as to do all that a Monk, Frier, or Canon Regular should.

There is also mention (by Mr. Selden) of consecrating the Sword, offering it at the Altar, and receiving it again from thence, as an implicit Kind of taking an Oath. But as in Peace and great Leisure these tedious Ceremonies were used, yet it was otherwise in Times of War, or on a Day of Battle, where Hurry and Throng of Affairs would not permit; and therefore, as well before the joining of Battle, as after Victory obtained, it was usual for the Prince or General in the Field, on Sight of the Army, to give those whom he thought fit to advance to that Honour (they humbly kneeling before him) a Stroke with a naked Sword flatwise upon their Shoulders, or else to touch their Heads or Shoulders lightly, without any other Ceremony, except pronouncing Sis Eques in nomine Dei; to which he adds, Rise, Sir —— Knight, or in the French, Sus, or Sois, Chevalier, au nom de Dieu, which we commonly call Dubbing, the old English Word used for Creating [Consecrating] a Knight, from doopen to dip, by Bathing.

Another Manner of creating Knights Abroad was, by Royal Codicils, or Letters Patents (these the Spaniards call Privilegios de Cavelleria) whereupon such Knights are intitled Equites Codicellares; and these were sent to such as dwelt in remote Countries, and sometimes, but rarely, extended so as to make the Degree hereditary. There is one Example, that by the bare signification of Letter, without any Ceremonies or Patents under Seal; Philip IV. of Spain, Jan. 15. 1633. conferr’d upon all the Captains that behav’d themselves valiantly in Defence of Mastricht (then lately besieg’d by the Hollanders) to those that were Gentlemen, the Title of Knights; and to others, that of Gentlemen.

Having thus briefly shew’d the various Forms of Creation of Knights Batchelors, I shall remark what Selden has observ’d of Knights Bannerets in later Times, wherein he that was advanc’d to that Honour in the Field, was inducted between two Senior Knights with Trumpets before them, and the Heralds carrying a long Banner of his Arms, call’d a Penon; in which Manner being brought to the King or Lieutenant, who bidding him good Success, the Tip of the Banner is cut off, that of an Oblong it might become a Square, like the Banner of a Baron: This done, he returns to his Tent, conducted as before. As for the many and various Formularies at the Creation of a Knight of the Bath, see Sir Edward Byshe among his Notes upon Upton and Sir William Dugdale’s Warwicksh. The Knights of the Bath, at the Coronation of King Charles II. watched and bathed; they took an Oath; they were girded with a Sword and Belt; and lastly, dubbed by the King with the Sword of State.

§ 10. In the Dignity, Honour and Renown of Knighthood, is included somewhat of Magnificence more excellent than Nobility it self; which mounting the Royal Throne, becomes the Assertor of Civil Nobility, and sits as Judge at the Tribunal therefore. Knight is noted by Camden as a Name of Dignity, but Baron is not so. For if heretofore a Baron had not receiv’d Knighthood, he was written plainly by his Christian Name, and that of his Family, without any Addition but that of Dominus, a Term attributed to a Knight; and in ancient Charters, the Titles and Names of Knights may be seen set before Barons. It bestows Gentility not only upon the meanly Born, but upon his Descendants, and encreaseth the Honour of those well-descended. Hereunto agrees the Common-Law: If a Villain be made a Knight, he is thereby immediately enfranchised, and consequently accounted a Gentleman; agreeable to the Roman Law, where the Donation of a Gold-Ring ennobled a Slave. Mœcenas dy’d a Companion of that Order; even Kings and Princes look upon it as an Accession to their Honour, their other Titles shewing Dominion and Power, this their Valour and Courage. Geysa, King of Hungary, Leopold, Marquis of Austria, Ottacher, Duke of Stiria, and Frederick, Duke of Austria and Stiria; Godfry, Duke of Brabant, with Henry his Son, Peter, King of Arragon, the Emperor Henry III. our William Rufus, King Edward III. Henry VI. Henry VII. Edward VI. Lewis XI. Francis I. Kings of France, and others, received this Dignity at the Time they enjoy’d their other Titles. And tho’ it is said the Sons of the French King are Knights as soon as they receive Baptism, yet are they not judg’d worthy the Kingdom, unless first solemnly created. And we elsewhere find, that the Royal Heirs of Arragon were suspended from that Crown, until they had received the Honour of Knighthood. And after the Norman Conquest, our young Princes were sent over to the neighbouring Kings to receive this Honour. Thus our King Henry II. was sent to David, King of Scots, and Knighted by him in Carlisle; and Edward I. at the Age of Fifteen Years, to Alphonsus XI. King of Castile, for the same Dignity. In like manner did foreign Princes repair hither, to receive the Honour from our Kings. As Malcolme, King of Scotland, and Alexander, Son of William, King of Scotland, Knighted by our King John, Anno 1212. So was Alexander III. by our King Henry III. at York, Anno 1252. and Magnus, King of the Isle of Man, by the same King. All which sufficiently demonstrate the great Renown of Knighthood, and the Honour and Esteem which was ever had for that Order.

CAP. II.
Of the Religious Orders of Knighthood in Christendom.

§ 1.

THE Grounds and Causes of founding Societies or Knightly Orders, were several and different, tho’ all terminated in one End. Among which, principally were these, First, A sincere Love to Honour, and therein chiefly to excite and promote Vertue by suitable Rewards; such was the Design of King Arthur, when he formed himself and other Martial Men into a Fellowship, which he stiled Knights of the Round Table. Secondly, To repress the Incursions and Robberies of the Saracens and Barbarians, to vindicate the Oppressed, redeem the Enslaved, and to entertain and relieve Pilgrims and Strangers, which were Part of the Duties the Knights Hospitallers and Templars, &c. stood engag’d in. A third Reason was, To Fight in Defence of the Christian Faith, against Pagans and Infidels; to enlarge the Christian Territories, and promote the Service of the Catholick Church: And indeed their Zeal very much advanced Christianity. Lastly, When Sovereign Princes perceived themselves embroiled in Wars or dangerous Factions, the erecting such an Order or Society was, that they might by such a Tye restore Peace, quiet all Jealousies, unite Affections, and secure a lasting Friendship and powerful Assistance, both for their own and their Country’s Safety. And to this End were Badges of several Orders devised, as Pledges of Remembrance to quicken and establish their Friendship.

§ 2. These Orders are of Two Kinds, 1. Religious, or Ecclesiastical; and, 2. Military, or Secular.

§ 3. The Institutions of the latter Sort were after a while thought too weak to continue, if not sustained by Religion and Piety; and too defective without adjoyning Ecclesiastical Persons thereunto. Therefore the Founders, considering Divine Assistance should concur with Military Industry, began to dedicate these Orders to the Honour and Worship of God, or to our Saviour, or to the blessed Virgin, or some other of the Saints, to gain the Protection and Favour of Heaven, more easily, as they thought, obtainable by the Prayers and Offices of the Clergy. Whereupon some in their Institution joyned Sacred Orders to their Military, and made Provision for Sacred Persons to pray for their Prosperity at home, while they were engaged abroad. Hence King Edw. III. at the first Institution of the Garter, appointed Thirteen Secular Canons, and Thirteen Vicars to attend the Celebration of Divine Offices. Upon the same Account certain Foundations of Divine Service were erected at Bugey, for the Order of the Annunciads; at Dijon, for the Order of the Golden Fleece; and at Mont St. Michael in Normandy, for the Order of St. Michael.

§ 4. I shall now deliver a brief Account of the Religious Orders of Knighthood, proceeding according to their Antiquity.

1. The Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem,
are accounted the most Ancient.

Dr. Heylin reports this Order to be instituted A. D. 1099. at such Time as the Temple of Jerusalem was regain’d from the Saracens by Philip King of France. Yet Favin will have it to be by Baldwin the First, King of Jerusalem; for while the Saracens possess’d the City, there were certain Canons Regular of St. Augustin, to whom they permitted the Custody of the Holy Sepulchre. These Canons Baldwin made Men of Arms, and Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, and ordained that they should nevertheless retain their white Habits, and on the Breast bear his own Arms, which were Argent a Cross potent: Or, between four Crosses of the same, commonly call’d The Jerusalem Cross. Their Great Master was the Patriarch of Jerusalem. They were to guard the Sepulchre, fight against the Saracens and Infidels, protect Pilgrims, redeem Christian Captives, hear Mass every Day, recite the Hours of the Cross, and to bear the five red Crosses in memory of our Saviour’s Wounds. Their Rule was confirm’d by Pope Innocent III. Upon the loss of the Holy Land, these Knights retired to Perugia in Italy; but retaining their white Habit, chang’d their Arms to a double red Cross. A. D. 1484. they were incorporated to the Knights Hospitallers of Jerusalem then in Rhodes. But A. D. 1496. Alexander VI. made himself, and the Popes his Successors, Great Masters thereof, and empower’d the Guardian of the Holy Sepulchre (his Vicar General) to bestow the same upon Pilgrims to the Holy Land. Philip II. King of Spain, endeavour’d to restore this Order in some of his Dominions, about the Year 1558. himself being elected Great Master: And another Attempt was made by the Duke of Nevers, 1615. but these Designs took no Effect.

2. Knights Hospitallers of St. John Baptist in Jerusalem.

Before the taking of Jerusalem from the Saracens, certain Christian Merchants of Naples obtain’d leave from the Caliph of Egypt to erect a small and convenient House, for the Entertainment of themselves and Countrymen, which they built before the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, together with a small Oratory. To them repair’d certain Canons of the Order of St. Augustin, who built another Oratory; but the Confluence of Pilgrims growing great, they erected a large Hospital, in the Place where our Saviour celebrated his last Supper, for the better accommodating devout Travellers, who for want of a Place to lodge in were often robb’d and murder’d: So that at length from their Charity and Hospitality, as also for that they took St. John Baptist for their Patron, they obtain’d that Title. It was instituted A. D. 1092. or according to others 1099. by Gerard, a Native of Thoulouse, who came to Jerusalem in the Time of Godfry of Bouillon, and built this Hospital (which became the first Seat of this Order) dedicated to St. John of Cyprus, Bp. of Alexandria, commonly call’d Johannes Eleemosynarius; and King Baldwin I. conferred on them large Privileges, permitting them Arms, and instituted them to be Knights, A. D. 1104. Their Duty was to fight against the Infidels, and they acknowledged Obedience to the Patriarch of Jerusalem; but growing rich, they obtained from Rome to be absolved from that Obedience. Pope Gelasius II. or Calixtus II. A. D. 1120. confirmed their Rule of living; and Adrian IV. receiv’d them under the Protection of the Papal See, being likewise endowed with ample Privileges, and exempted from Payment of Tithes, by succeeding Popes, chiefly by Pius IV.

They took the black Habit of Hermits of St. Augustin, and lived under his Rule by Grant of Honorius II. Anno 1125. vowing Obedience, Poverty, and Chastity; and on the Breast of their Habit wore at first a plain Cross of White Cloth, which was after changed to one with Eight Points; but in time of War they used a Red Cassock, bearing the White Cross upon it. Unto Gerard succeeded Raimund, who digested and enlarged their Laws and Institutions in the Composition whereof his Stile was Raimundus Dei gratia servus pauperum Jesu Christi & Custos Hospitalis Jerusolymitani; but afterwards he and his Successors had the Title of Great Master of the Order given him, to denote his Power and Authority. At this Day he has the Title of Prince of Malta and Goza; among his Privileges he seals in Lead, as doth the Pope and Doge of Venice; he acknowledges the Pope for his Head, and the King of Spain for his Patron; he had under him in several Kingdoms Priors; some of whom had also the Addition of Great with us in England he was stiled Prior Hospitalis; St. Johannis Jerusalem in Anglia, and by that Title was he summoned to the Parliament as a Baron of this Kingdom, and at length for Place and Precedency was ranked the first Baron; and the greatness of these Knights grew to such height that temp. H. 3. they had in Christendom 19000 Mannors.

When Saladine took Jerusalem, these Knights retreated to Acres or Ptolemais, and that being taken they seized upon the Island of Rhodes, A. D. 1308. whence they began to be call’d Knights of Rhodes; but A. D. 1522. being driven, thence by Solyman, they betook themselves to the Island of Malta, which with Tripoli and Goza were granted to them in Fee by the Emperor Charles V. A. D. 1530. under the Tender of one Falcon yearly to the Viceroy of Sicily, and to acknowledge the King of Spain and Sicily for their Protectors. In this Isle they continue a Bulwark to those Parts, and from this their Settlement are called Knights of Malta.

3. Knights Templars.

About the Year 1117, 1118, 1119, or 1120, this Order took Beginning, Baldwin II. then reigning in Jerusalem; when Nine Gentlemen, of whom Two of noble Extraction, Hugh de Paganes and Godfrey de St. Omer, came in Devotion to the Holy Land; they were called Brothers of the Militia of the Temple, ordinarily Knights Templars, from the Habitation assigned them out of a part of the King’s own Palace, adjoyning to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. Their first Undertaking was to guard the most dangerous Ways about that City, against the Violence and Robberies of the Saracens, which made them acceptable to all, and for which they had Remission of their Sins; but for the first Nine Years they were yet so poor that they lived upon the Alms of others, wore Clothes bestowed in Charity upon them, and rode two on one Horse; in memory of which primitive Poverty their Seal had the Impress, which is represented in Math. Paris, A. D. 1127. They had Rules assigned them, drawn up by St. Bernard Abbot of Clairvaux, by the Appointment of Pope Honorius II. and Stephen Patriarch of Jerusalem. They made their Vows of Obedience, Poverty and Chastity, and to live under the Rules of Canons regular of St. Augustin. Their Habit was White, to which, in the Time of Eugenius III. they added the Red Cross, and of the same Form that the Hospitallers wore (Favin says a patriarchal Cross) and sowed it on the left Shoulder of the Maulles. These with the Holy Sepulchre Hospitallers and Teutonicks, principally supported a long time the Kingdom of Jerusalem; but when Riches encreas’d, and their Revenues augmented, they grew proud, fell from the Obedience of the Patriarch to joyn with the Pope; and at last, 1307. all the Knights of this Order in France were, in one and the same Hour, seized and imprison’d by Philip le Bel, King of France, with Consent of Pope Clement V. being charged with most infamous and damnable Crimes. And in England, Anno 1. Ed. 2. they were also apprehended afterwards, rendred Convicts, and all their Possessions seized into the King’s Hands. Howbeit the Bishop of York commiserating their deplorable Condition within his Diocess, charitably disposed of them in Monasteries under his Jurisdiction. Two Years after many of these Knights were burn’d in France, and Jaques de la Maule, the last great Master, suffered the same Fate, having seen, A. D. 1312. his Order by Papal Authority, condemned and perpetually dissolved; after which their Lands were annexed to the Hospitallers, for their Service against the Turks.

Thus they fell, no less famous for Martial Atchievments in the East, than their Wealth in the West; for they enjoyed 16000 Lordships in Europe, and a Spanish Author tells us, their Revenue was Two Millions yearly, and had in possession 40000 Commanderies, which occasion’d divers to think they were falsly accused, and by suborned Witnesses, merely upon the Ambition and covetous Design of Philip King of France.

4. Knights of the Order of St. Lazarus.

These were at the first a Fraternity of Religious Monks, after which they became Ecclesiastick Knights, in Imitation of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. Pope Pius V. 1572. stiles it Antiquissimum Charitatis & Militiæ Christi Ordinem; yet it must be understood as an Order of Monks, founded by St. Basil, about the time of Julian the Apostate, A. D. 366. upon a Charitable Account, viz. to take Care of Leprous Persons (a Malady frequent in the East) by which they became separated, even from the Conversation of Men. At length, through the Incursion of the Barbarians, and Injury of Time, it lay extinguish’d, but was revived when the Latin Princes joyned in a Holy League to recover the Holy Land. And a famous Hospital was erected at Jerusalem, under the Title of St. Lazarus, for the Reception of Lepers: For in that Time the Monks of this Order added Martial Discipline to their Skill in Physick; and for their Services against the Infidels, begat a great Esteem from Baldwin II. King of Jerusalem, and some of his Successors. In process of Time this Order decayed, being suppressed by Innocent VIII. who united it to the Hospitallers at Rhodes, A. D. 1490. Nevertheless Pius IV. restored it A. D. 1565. confirming the old, and granting new Privileges, making his kinsman Don Janot de Chastillon great Master. Pius V. A. D. 1567. enlarged their Privileges, permitting them to take one Wife only, to wit, a Virgin, not a Widow. Lastly, Pope Gregory XIII. A. D. 1572. bestowed the Great Mastership of this Order upon Emanuel Philibert Duke of Savoy, and his Successors, and prescribed them the Cistercian Rule; and accordingly he had the Investiture and Collation of the Commanderies in Spain and Italy.

5. Knights of the Teutonick Order, or Prussia.

In the Time of the Holy War, a wealthy Gentleman of Germany, who dwelt at Jerusalem, commiserating the Condition of his Country-men, coming thither in Devotion, made his House their Receptacle; afterwards he erected a Chapel to the Blessed Virgin, whence they had also the Title of Marian Knights. To him associated other Germans, and in short time encreasing, they professed the Military Employments of the Templars, and followed the Acts of Piety and Charity of the Hospitallers. A. D. 1190. or 1191. they elected Henry Walpott their first Master, and the following Year were confirmed by Celestine III. under the Title of Knights Teutonicks, or Dutch Knights, of the Hospital of St. Mary the Virgin, vowing Poverty, Obedience, and Charity, and following the Rule of St. Augustin. Their Statutes were composed from those of the Hospitallers and Templars, and One Article was, That none but Germans should be of this Order. Their Habit was a White Mantle, on the Breast a plain Black Cross, but some make it a Black Cross voided with a Cross Potent. At Acon they erected another Hospital; but after that City was taken by Saladine, they removed under Hermannus their Master into Germany, on whom the Emperor Frederick II. A. D. 1229. and Pope Honorius III. bestowed Prussia; where having conquer’d that Nation, and reduced it from Paganism, they built the City of Maryburgh, and there, A. D. 1340. fixed the chief Residence of their great Master. This Country they enjoyed till 1525. that Albertus Brandenburgh, the Last great Master, made solemn Renunciation of that Order, and became feudatory to Sigismond I. King of Poland, who created this Albert first Duke of Prussia: However, some of the Knights disrellishing this Action elected another great Master, viz. Albert Wolfang, and leaving Prussia setled in Germany, where they now reside. The younger Sons of the German Princes being, for the most part received into this Order, giving it the greatest Reputation.

6. Knights of Mount-Joy.

These are so called, from a Castle where this Order was instituted, built upon the Point of a Mountain not far from Jerusalem, whence the Pilgrims first view’d the Holy City, and where these Knights lay in Garrison. Their Habit was White, and the Badge thereof an Octogonal Cross Red; they vowed Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience, and followed the Rule of St. Basil; which Pope Alexander III. A. D. 1180. changed to that of Augustine. Upon the Loss of the Holy Land they retired to Spain, and fought against the Moors, and according to the Places they resided, in had other Names, in Catalonia and Valentia, Equites de Mongoia, i. e. Mount Joy; but in Castile, Knights of Monfrac, a Castle there. When Alphonso IX. King of Castile gave them Lands they had won from the Moors, the Donation says, To you Don Rodrigo Gonsales, Master of Monfrac, of the Order of Mount Joy. Upon the Decay of this Order, A. D. 1221. this Castle was given to Don Gonsalionez, Master of the Order of Calatrava, by Ferdinand the Saint; and these Knights were incorporated with them.

7. Knights of St. John of Acon or Acres.

Under the Patronage of this Saint was this Order erected; they exercised all Duties of Charity towards Pilgrims, and assumed Arms in imitation of the Hospitallers; they followed the Rule of St. Augustine; and according to Favina, had a Black Habit, upon which they wore a White Cross patee. After Acon was taken they removed into Spain, and flourished in the Reign of Alphonsus the Astrologer King of Castile, about which time Pope Alexander IV. approved the Order under the conjoined Title of St. Thomas and St. John of Acon. This King gave them by his Will all the Furniture of his House, and much Money; but afterward they dwindled, and at last were united to the Hospitallers. The Ensign was a Red Cross, in the middle whereof stood the Figures of St. John and St. Thomas.

8. Knights of St. Thomas.

Distinct from the former, yet wearing the same Habit, as the Knights of St. John of Acon, making the same Processions, and following the same Rule; their Badge was a Saltire Gules, (or as others are of Opinion) the same with that of St. John of Acon, wanting the Figures in the middle: But Favin reports, this Order was instituted by King Richard I. after the Surprizal of Acon; and that these Knights were of the English Nation, who wore a White Habit and a Red Cross, charged in the middle with an Escallon, and that St. Thomas Becket was their Patron. Howbeit, after the Christians were driven out of the Holy Land, the Knights of this Order were joined to the Hospitallers.

9. Knights of St. Blaze.

These were also called Knights de Sta. Maria; they were Officers and Servants to the Kings of Armenia; their Habit was Sky colour with a Cross Gold on their Breasts; others say a Red Cross, and in the middle the Picture of St. Blaze, their Patron. This Order was at the height, when the Armenian Kings of the House of Luzignan kept their Court in Acon.

10. Knights of the Martyrs in Palestine.

These took their Denomination from an Hospital in Palestine, dedicated to St. Cosmus and St. Damianus, Martyrs; where Acts of Charity were exercised towards Sick Strangers. Their Profession obliged them to other Works of Mercy, viz. to redeem Captives, and bury their Dead. They followed the Rule of St. Basil, which was confirmed to them by Pope John XXII. There Badge was a Red Cross, in the middle whereof, within a Circle, was the aforesaid Two Saints. When they retir’d into Europe they changed into a Red Cross, and St. Augustin’s Rule.

11. Knights of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai.

This Order was instituted, A. D. 1063. under the Patronage of St. Catherine, whose Body was there deposited in the Church of the Monastery erected and dedicated to her Name. Their first Institution was to guard the said Sepulchre, to secure Travellers, defend the Grecian Pilgrims, and to relieve them with Hospitality. Their Habit was White, and they lived under the Rule of St. Basil the Great, vowing conjugal Chastity, and Obedience to the Abbot of this Monastery, who was their Superior. But when the Turks obtained these Countries, these Knights were ill treated and driven away, and the Order almost abolished; nevertheless some Shadow remains for such as travel to visit the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, do now and then pass to this Monastery at Mount Sinai, where in imitation of the Padre Guardian of Jerusalem, the principal Monk in this Covent makes them Knights of St. Catherine over her Tomb, with the like Questions and Formulary as used at the Holy Sepulchre. These Knights now wear upon the left side of their White Habit the Cross of Jerusalem, and Instrument of St. Catherine’s Martyrdom; but according to others, the middle of the Wheel is pierced with a Sword.

12. Knights of St. Anthony in Æthiopia.

After the Death of St. Anthony the Hermite, who dy’d about the Year 357. many of his Disciples remaining near Æthiopia, follow’d his Example and Manner of Life, and their Successors liv’d in great Austerity and Solitariness in the Desart (therefore call’d Anchorites) till the Year 370. when ’tis said John, Emperor of Æthiopia, erected them into a Religious Order of Knighthood, under the Title and Protection of St. Anthony, Patron of his Empire, and bestow’d upon them great Privileges; and being thus instituted, they receiv’d St. Basil’s Rule, and cohabited in Monasteries. Their Habit is black, with a blue Cross Tau. Their chief Seat is in the Isle of Meroe; but in other Parts of Æthiopia they have great Numbers of Convents, and no less than 2000000 of annual Revenue. The eldest Sons of Nobles and Gentlemen cannot be admitted, but the second Sons may; and if a Man (except a Physician) have three Sons, he is bound to assign one of them to be of this Order. Their Vow is to observe conjugal Chastity; to die in Defence of the Christian Faith; to guard the Empire; to obey their Laws and their Superiors; and to go to War when and wheresoever commanded: Moreover, they take an Oath not to fight in Wars between Christians, nor receive Holy Orders, or marry without License. They are of two Sorts: One employ’d in the Wars, the other who being Old are exempted from Military Services, and retire themselves under the Title and Profession of Monks, to the Abbies where they first took their Habit; before which they must serve three Years against the Arabian Pyrates about the Red Sea, three Years against the Turks, and three against the Moors upon the Borders of Borneo. When they come to be admitted into their Abbey, they are introduced in their Military Habit, of which being disrob’d, the Religious one is put on, viz. a black Gown reaching down to the Ground, lined with blue, having a blue Cross fix’d to the Breast, and over that a black Cowle; they are afterwards led to the Church, and there make their Profession. Philip VII. Son to the Founder, enlarg’d their Lands and Privileges, and added a Border of Gold to the Badge of the blue Cross, as observed at this Day.

In Italy, France and Spain, there are a Sort of Monks that have the Title of Knights of St. Anthony, which observe the Rule of St. Augustin, and they wear a plain Cross like that in Æthiopia; but the Principals of these wear a double St. Anthony’s Cross of blue Satin, the one above the other. Their chief Seat is at Vienne in Dauphine, of which Place the General of the Order bears the Title of Abbot, the Monastery being erected into an Abbey 1297. in Honour of St. Anthony, whose Body was translated thither from Constantinople; and all other Places built in Honour of his Name, were made subject to him A. D. 1523. Morœus calls them The Hospitallers of St. Anthony, and says they begun in France A. D. 1121. from Gaston a Nobleman of Vienna. But Baronius and others say, Gaston and Gerin instituted it earlier, making the Letter Thau their Ensign or Badge.

13. The Constantinian Angelick Knights of St. George
in Greece, but now in Italy.

Marquez, a Spanish Writer, makes this one of the first Military Orders in Christendom, and derives a formal Institution, Rules and Laws from Constantine the Great, which appears little better than Fabulous, therefore we shall omit his Account.

The Great Masters have their chief Seat and Convent at Brianno near Venice, and is Hereditary in the Family of Angelus Flavius Comnenus. Among the rest of their Prerogatives, the Masters are Commensales Pontificum, i. e. may sit at the Table with the Pope, who defends them as Benefactors to the Church, and Founders of the Lateran Cathedral at Rome. As Subjects to no Prince, they have Power of coyning Money: They give Titles of Counts and Princes to their own Fraternity, and take upon them the restoring to Honours, of legitimating Bastards, making Doctors, Poets Laureats and Publick Notaries. This Order is under the Protection of the Virgin Mary and Patronage of St. George; and they profess Obedience and conjugal Chastity; they wear a white Habit, on the left Side whereof is sowed a red or crimson Velvet Cross, Flory; in the middle is the Labarum

imbroidered with the Letter A upon one Arm of the Cross, and Ω on the other. The Sides are wrought with Gold and Silk, but the Labarum is all Gold. Amongst these Knights are three Degrees; the first call’d Collered or Grand Crosses, wearing a Collar form’d of Labarums, whereat hangs the Cross and St. George. The second are the Knights, and these wear the Cross above describ’d. The third are Servants, and they bear the Cross only, without the Labarum. The many Grand Priorates or Commanderies belonging to this Order, shew the Power they were formerly endow’d with.

14. Knights of St. James in Galicia or Sanctiago.

This is the principal Order in Spain, and had its Title of Don Raniro, King of Leon, who about the Year 826. at Clavigio, by the Assistance of St. James (said to appear upon a white Horse, bearing a Banner with a red Cross) and gain’d a mighty Victory over a great Army of the Moors. Some place the Institution about the Year 1160. others 1175. whereas it was only then confirm’d, and their Rule of Living prescrib’d by Pope Alexander III. there being a Fraternity of Knights in Spain, A. D. 1030. under a Master and Governor, with Revenues.

And altho’ this Order at first were dispos’d to vertuous Courses, and valiantly to encounter the Moors, Enemies to the Cross of Christ, yet in time they became scandalously perverted, but were afterwards reduc’d to a better Life, and approv’d on by the said Pope Alexander, who receiv’d them into the Protection of the Papal See, and gave them the Rule of St. Augustin, the Form of holding Chapters, of electing their Masters, of Treves, and thirteen Commendadores of Houses, and of the Visitors; and in short very large Privileges, together with the Monastery of St. Lorjo, situate in Galicia near Sanctiago; and the Prior and Canons thereof were incorporated into this Order.

Their Ensign is a red Cross, which the Knights wear upon their Breast, terminating like the Blade of a Sword, the Hilt crosletted and fashion’d after the ancient Manner; whereupon it was call’d La Order de Sanctiago de la Espada.

Their Habit is a white Mantle close before, on the Breast whereon is placed the said Cross, made of Silk or Cloth, and they are obliged to wear it upon their Garments, Coats or Cloaks, tho’ they use Crosses of Gold likewise.

When the Moors were driven out of Spain, and the principal Branch of this Order expir’d, upon a Contest for the Place of Great Master, the Crown of Castile stepp’d in between, and by consent of the Knights, obtain’d it under the Title of Administrator, which was granted to King Ferdinand; and his Son Charles V. annex’d it with all its Rights, &c. to his Successors in the Kingdoms of Castile and Leon. Since which, the Kings of Spain now enjoy the Administration of this Order, and carry that Title and Stile in the Inscription upon the Great Seal thereof, which holds the Royal Arms of Spain, upon a Cross that filleth all the Shield, with a Sword at each of the four Corners.

15. Knights of St. Saviour in Arragon.

These were instituted A. D. 1118. by Don Alphonso, call’d Emperor of Spain, King of Navarre, Arragon, &c. chosen out of the Spanish and French Nobility that assisted in his Wars. He form’d them into a Society, the better to enable him to drive the Moors out of Saragossa, and the whole Territory of Arragon. Their Rule of living was the Cistercian, and somewhat conformable to the Knights Templars. When the Moors were driven out of Spain, their rich Commanderies were at length united to the Crown.

Their Habit was a white Mantle, on the Breast whereof was a red Cross Anchre; but some say it was the Figure of our Saviour.

16. Knights d’Avis in Portugal.

Don Alphonso Henriquez, first King of Portugal, took from the Moors, A. D. 1147. the City of Evora, and to strengthen it, sent thither several gallant Commanders, who assum’d the Title of Knights of St. Mary of Evora, putting themselves under the Protection of our blessed Lady. Not long after they were call’d d’Avis, from a Castle upon the Portuguese Frontiers, conquer’d from the Moors, whither they transplanted themselves. It was confirm’d by Pope Innocent III. A. D. 1204. under the Rule of St. Benedict, and therefore in some Papal Rules call’d of St. Benedict d’Avis. The Knights profess conjugal Chastity and Obedience. Anno 1213. they submitted themselves to the Rule, Statutes and Visitation of the Order of Calatrava; but in the Time of John of Portugal (natural Son to Pedro King of Portugal) seventh Great Master d’Avis, they cast off their Acknowledgments to Calatrava, and never after submitted to them; and afterwards, when the Crown of Portugal fell into the Hands of Philip II. King of Spain, this Order was govern’d according to the Statutes of Portugal.

Their Badge is a green Cross, Flory, (such as the Knights of Alcantara us’d to wear.) They must be Gentlemen by Extraction, both of the Father’s and Mother’s side.

17. Knights of St. Michael’s Wing in Portugal.

About the Year 1165. others say 1171. Don Alphonso, who founded the Order d’Avis, founded this also after his obtaining a notable Victory over the Moors and Albara King of Sevil, in which Battle St. Michael the Archangel is said to appear on the right Side of Alphonso, and fight against them.

Their Investiture, &c. was the same with d’Avis. It is now grown out of Use, but the Mastership remains with the King of Portugal.

18. Knights of St. Gereon.

This Order was establish’d by Frederick Barbarossa the Emperor; others say by Frederick II. and consisted only of the German Nation. They follow’d the Rule of St. Augustin, and wore a white Habit, whereon was sow’d a black Patriarchal Cross, set on a little green Hill.

19. Knights of St. Julian de Pereyro, or of Alcantara.

They had the first Appellation from St. Julian de Pereyro, a Town in Leon, where they had a Monastery built for them by Ferdinand II. King of Leon and Galicia, who in his Diploma of Privileges granted thereunto 1176. stiled himself Protector of this Society of Knights. In the Approbation-Bull of Pope Alexander III. their Chief is called Prior; but in that of Pope Lucius III. he is stiled Master of Pereyro. They used a Secular Habit, modest and grave, and the Ecclesiasticks a Clerical Habit, with a Shred of Cloth and a Scapulary, to distinguish them from other Seculars and Ecclesiasticks. They observed the Rule of St. Benedict moderated, as it was convenient for the Exercise of Arms against the Moors, for which End it was instituted. Their ancient Badge was a Pear-tree Vert, in Allusion to the Name.

The Occasion of altering the first Appellation was upon change of their Habitation. Pope Adrian VI. annex’d this Mastership, together with those of St. James and Calatrava, to the Royal Crown of Castile for ever.

20. Knights of Trugillo or Truxillo in Spain.

This Order is so call’d from the City of Trugillo in Estremadura, but when, or by whom founded, or their Badge, is unknown. Some suppose these Knights the same with that of Alcantara; ’tis evident they were in being A. D. 1227. when ’tis pretended the Master of Alcantara took Trugillo from the Moors, and plac’d there a Brotherhood of Knights. But it seems these Knights of Truxillo, were a distinct Order several Years before, and ’tis not unlikely that they might be incorporated into that of St. Julian de Pereyro, and by this Means the Order of Alcantara acquired the Towns of Trugillo, Sancta Cruz, &c. which Alfonso IX. King of Castile had given them. They were to be of Noble Descent, and make proof of their Gentility; they were obliged to be near the King’s Person, and to attend him in all Martial Expeditions, maintaining always Two Horses and Servants in Readiness.

21. Knights of Calatrava.

This Order was instituted in Castile by Sanchio III. and so called from Calatrava, a Frontier Castle of Castile and Toledo, which the Moors took, A. D. 714. compounded of the Arabick Cala a Castle, and the Spanish Travas Manacles, with which the Moors fettered the Christians; 400 Years after which, upon the Recovery of the Town from the Moors, it was given to the Knights Templars; but they, unable to stop the mighty Conquests of the Moors, the said Sanchio by Proclamation promis’d the Inheritance to any who would undertake the Defence of it, being the Key of the Kingdom of Toledo. At length Raymond of Barcelona (formerly a Knight, then a Cistercian Abbot) by the Perswasion of Velasquez, accepted the Proffer, and had the Donation, A. D. 1158. and fortifying it by the Help of his Associates, this Order arose, call’d at first Militia de Calatrava. Upon the account of the Fertility of the Place, 20000 Men and their Families were drawn from the neighbouring Countries to settle there, so that the Moors never after attempted it. They remain’d under their own Masters till Pope Adrian VI. annex’d it to the Crowns of Castile and Leon.

22. Order of the Holy Ghost at Rome.

Marquez calls them Brothers of the Hospital of the Holy Ghost, who tho’ not invested with Swords and Spurs, are nevertheless reckoned among the Military Orders, because bound to certify their Gentility before Admittance. Their chief Seat is the Sumptuous Hospital of the Holy Ghost, founded at Saxia near the River Tyber at Rome, by Pope Innocent III. A. D. 1198. or 1201. But the Ancient Foundation was the Hospital of the Holy Ghost at Montpelier in France, tho’ this other became the Principal. They profess Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience, living under the Rule of St. Augustine, and have a Master. Their Ensign is a White Patriarchal Cross with Twelve Points, sowed to their Breast, and on the left side of their Black Mantle.

In this Hospital, Care is taken for the nursing and bringing up exposed Children, curing Infirmities, Entertainment of Strangers for Three Days, relieving the Poor, and the like Works. Their Revenue is about 24000 Ducats per Day, having great Commandaries in Italy, Sicily, Spain, France, Burgundy, Germany, and elsewhere.

23. Knights of St. George d’Alfama.

So named from a Town in Tortosa, were instituted, A. D. 1201. received Approbation from the Papal See, A. D. 1363. and A. D. 1399. was united to the Order of our Lady of Montesa.

24. Knights of Christ in Livonia, or of the Sword-bearers.

A. D. 1186. Mainard first preach’d Christianity to the Livonians, and erected the Bishoprick of Riga; but his Successors meeting with many Difficulties, A. D. 1200. Albert, then Bishop of Livonia, instituted this Order in Imitation of the Knights Teutonicks, with design to extirpate Idolatry, and promote the Gospel. He prescribed to these Knights the Cistercian Rule and Habit, viz. a long White Mantle and Black Hood; on the Breast was the Figure of a Red Sword, or rather Two plac’d in Saltire, whence they had the Title of Ensiferi fratres, or Brethren Sword-bearers. Their Statutes were something like the Knights Templars, and they vowed Obedience and Chastity. Pope Innocent III. confirmed this Order, which became fully instituted, A. D. 1203. but because they could not of themselves accomplish their End. About the Year 1237, they were united to the Teutonick Order, and submitted to their Rule and Habit, by whose Help they overcame the Livonians, and brought them to the Christian Faith; thenceforward the Great Master of Livonia acknowledged him of Prussia their Superior, until Walter de Pletemberg, their Great Master, separated this Order from their Obedience to the Teutonick. Finally, A. D. 1561. Gothard de Ketler, the last Great Master, following the Example of the Great Master of Prussia, became subject to the Crown of Poland, surrendering to King Sigismond II. the City and Castle of Riga, and all the Lands, Charters, Privileges, &c. of this Order, receiving in exchange the Dukedom of Curland, to him and his Heirs for ever; so the Order expired after 357 Years continuance.

25. Knights of Jesus Christ in Italy or France.

St. Dominick descended of the Family of the Guzmans in Spain, instituted this Order, A. D. 1206. principally to fight against the Albigenses, then call’d Hereticks. He prescribed to them a White Habit, and for their Badge a Cross flory, quarterly, sable and argent. The Work being done with the Albigenses, they devoted themselves wholly to spiritual Warfare; and afterwards, upon admitting Widows and Virgins into their Order, they became called Fratres seu Sorores de Pœnitentia B. Dominici, whose Rule Pope Innocent VI. confirm’d circa An. 1360.

26. Knights of St. Mary de Merced. in Aragon.

James I. of Aragon, being sometime a Prisoner to Simon Earl of Montfort in France, where he suffered much Hardship, and being moved with the insufferable Miseries the Christians endured under the Slavery of the Moors, made a Vow to the Blessed Virgin, That when delivered himself, he would endeavour the Redemption of such Christians as the Moors had made Captives, and accordingly laid up great Summs for the Performance; and afterwards, by the Council of Raymond de Penafort, his Confessor, and Pedro Nolasco, a Noble Chevalier, he founded in Barcelona this Order of la Nueva Merced, so named by the Virgin, who, as they reported, appeared to them all in one and the same Hour, directing the Institution. In Anno 1358. I find it called also Ordo beatæ Eulaliæ, from St. Eulalia the Virgin and Martyr, buried at Barcelona in the Church bearing her Name. This Order began on the Day of St. Laurence, in August, A. D. 1218. in the Fifth Year of that King, which Day they annually commemorate. They were to gather Alms, and go in Person to redeem Christian Slaves; which Work prospered so well, that Velasco (the first General or Head) set at Liberty 400 within the Space of Six Years after its Foundation. Their Habit was a Coat and Scapular of course white Cloath, garnished with Cordons and Ribbons, wherewith they fast’ned it about their Necks, and from the upper-end thereof issued a Cap that covered half their Head: The Monks wore their Coats and Scapulars reaching down to their Feet; but those of the Knights were much shorter. A. D. 1251. King James, the Founder, granted unto all the Fraternity, that they should wear upon their Scapulars the Arms of Aragon, viz. Or 4 Pales Gules, and above that the White Cross of the Church of Barcelona in a red Field, with Two Coats joined together per fess in one Shield, which came afterwards to be encompassed with a Bordure, which the Knights wore on their Scapulars, but the Monks on their Mantles, and both upon their Breasts. Disputes arising among themselves, they were incorporated with the Knights of Montesa; so that, ever since, the whole Fraternity have been only Priests. The Master General hath his Residence at Barcelona, by the Decrees of Pope Clement V. and John XXII. To conclude, they now collect great Sums of Money, send out their Agents yearly, chiefly to Algiers and Fess, and for the Redemption of Christian Captives, and have from the Time of their Institution followed their proposed Ends with all religious Care and Faithfulness.

27. Knights of the Rosary in Toledo.

Roderick, Bishop of Toledo in Spain, seeing the Country sore oppressed by the Moors, assembled the Noblest of the City, and proposed the Necessity of their Assistance to extirpate the Moors; whereunto they being unanimously inclin’d, he gave Beginning to this Order. By their Statutes, besides fighting against the Moors, they are obliged to say, continually, the Rosary of our Blessed Lady. Their Rule of Living was that of St. Dominick; and their Ensign the Figure of our Lady of the Rosary upon a Cross flory, quarterly, argent and sable.

28. Knights of St. Mary the Glorious, in Italy.

Their Author was Bartholomeo de Vincenza, a Friar Preacher, or Dominican, afterwards Bishop of that City. The End he chiefly designed, was to procure Peace to Italy, then much disquieted by Civil Wars. It was instituted, A. D. 1233. called Generalis Devotionis annus, and approved and confirmed by Pope Urban IV. A. D. 1262. and the Rule of St. Dominick prescribed them, who are obliged to take into their Care Widows and Orphans, and endeavour to beget Concord among such as are at Variance. Their Habit is a White Tunick or Cassock, and a Mantle of Russet; some make their Badge which they wear upon their Breast a purple Cross patee bordered with Gold, others make it a purple Cross patee, with Two Stars in chief; but Marquez, that has writ of the Order of Knighthood, gives it an Octogonal Cross, like that of Malta. They profess Obedience and Conjugal Chastity; but are forbid to wear Spurs or Bridles of Gold: They are commonly called Cavaleri de Madona, and reside at Bolonia, Modena, and other Italian Cities; and because they have no Monasteries, but dwell in their own Houses at Ease and Plenty, they were called Fratres Gaudentes or Hilares.

29. Knights of St. James, in Portugal,

Were instituted, A. D. 1310. by Denys VI. King of Portugal, in honour of St. James, under whose Protection he became victorious in divers Battles against the Moors, and at length quieted his Kingdom by the Assistance of these Knights. It was not long after its Institution ere this Order flourished, through the Privileges the Founder bestowed, and the Approbation of Pope Nicholas IV. and others his Successors. The Knights profess Conjugal Chastity, Hospitality and Obedience, and none are admitted till they make proof of their Gentility by Blood. Their Ensign is a red Sword, formed like that of St. James of Galicia; the Habit White, and the only difference between them lies in a little Twist of Gold which these of Portugal draw about their Sword. At Alcasar de Sul was their Principal Convent, which they afterwards removed to Dalmela, where it yet continues. Their Statutes, &c. are much the same with those of St. James in Galicia, whereupon some erroneously have confounded them.

30. Knights of our Lady, and of St. George of Montesa.

This Order succeeded into the Lands and Possessions of the Knights Templars in Valentia, as the Knights Hospitallers did into those of the Templars in France, Italy, and England; for James II. King of Aragon and Valentia, refusing to give their Revenues to the Hospitallers (which as other Princes had done) gave them to the Convent of Montesa, where had been placed both Knights and Friars of the Order of Calatrava; and excusing himself to Pope John XXII. A. D. 1317. he instituted this Order in the City Valentia (nevertheless subject to that of Calatrava) and made choice of the Town of Montesa, to give the Knights both Name and Habitation, whom he obliged to defend his Kingdom against the Moors. Their College, dedicated to St. George, was built the following Year, and their Statutes confirmed by the said Pope John, who gave them the Cistercian Rule. Upon their Habit is White, and the Badge a plain red Cross, which they wear on their Breasts. A. D. 1399. the Order of St. George d’Alfama was incorporated to it. And the Great Office of Master hereof is in the King of Spain, who hath the Revenue of Thirteen Commandaries belonging thereunto to the Value of 23000 Ducats per annum.

31. Knights of Christ in Portugal.

These sprang also from the Ruin of the Knights Templars, whose confiscated Estates King Denys, sirnamed Penoca, desired of Pope John XXII. might not be disposed out of his Kingdom, in regard of the great Evils the Neighbouring Moors in Algarves, did his Kingdom; and forasmuch as the Town of Castro Marin was a Frontier, and commodious to resist the Enemy, he moved for Licence to institute an Order of Knights therein, and offer’d his Holiness the Rents and Jurisdiction thereof, which accordingly was granted by the Pope, and dedicated it to the Honour of God, and the Exaltation of the Catholick Faith, under the Title of the Military Order of our Lord Jesus Christ, as is alledged from the miraculous Apparition of our Saviour crucified, seen by the King when he went out to fight the Moors.

32. Knights of the Passion of Jesus Christ.

This Order was erected by Charles King of France, (tho’ it made no Progress) and our King Richard II. with a large Design exceeding all other Religious Orders, except those of St. John of Jerusalem and Knights Templars. They were to renew the Memory of our Saviour’s Passion, to extirpate Pride, Covetousness and Luxury, to make way for the Reconquest of Jerusalem and Palestine, and for the Subversion and Confusion of Enemies of the Faith. A MSS. in the Arundelian Library, reckons up Twenty Causes for the Necessity of its Institution, which are too long to be inserted; and altho’ it was dedicated to our Saviour, yet the Blessed Virgin was look’d upon as a principal Mediatress and Advocate of this Holy Chevalry. Their Governments in the principal Convent, were to be debated by Five Councils, in the Presence of the Prince: 1. The Quotidian Council, consisting of Twenty-four: 2. The Particular consisting of about Fourty: 3. The Grand Council consisting of Eighty. 4. The General Chapter held every Year. And, 5. The Universal Chapter to be held every Fourth or Sixth Years, consisting of a Thousand Knights of the Chevalry. The Principal Officer was the Grand Justiciary, the next the Grand Bailiff: In the Chief City, and in every City and Castle of theirs, one was to administer Justice called a Potestate. In the general Chapter was to be an Officer called the Senator, and in the Universal Chapter a Dictator with Coadjutors and Assistants.

In the principal Convent were to be Ten Executers of Justice, and Four styled Charitable Commissaries, whose Office was, to provide for Widows and Orphans; and whereas this Order was made up of Eight several Languages, and as many Notaries, who put on the Habit of the Brothers; for the greater Regularity of their Order, they were to bind themselves by Oath to the Observance of these Three Points, Obedience to Sovereigns, Poverty of Spirit, and Conjugal Chastity. They were allotted for their Maintainance, the Possession of Cities, Castles, &c. Gold, Silver, &c. and all to be in common, &c.

There was to belong to the Castle or Principal Convent a Church of marvellous Structure; it was design’d Fifty Cubits in breadth, without any Pillars, a Hundred Cubits long, and in height Twenty-five; likewise an Hospital, where the Widows of the Holy Chevalry should attend upon the Sick and Infirm; a Baptistery or Font, for the Baptizing the Children of the Knights; a stately Palace, with a great Hall and large Consistories, to contain the Prince and Council with their Retinue; with a large and delightful Cloister for the Canons and Clerks; together with a very spacious Palace, to entertain the Princes of the West when they came that Way, either to War, or upon Pilgrimage: In fine, there was to have been Three chief Halls, wherein they might dine together; with distinct Lodgings and Habitations, Wine-Cellars, Granges, Granaries, Stables for Horses and Cattel, Easements, Mills, Cisterns, Baths, and all other Necessaries for the Chevalry. Their Habit was to denote the Passion of Jesus.

The Dress they were obliged to was a hansome Cloth Coat of a civil Colour, reaching down half way their Legs, and girt with a large Girdle of Silk or Leather Two Fingers broad, the Buckle of Black Horn, the Tongue and Garnishing of the Holes, Tin; to have Red Chaperons or Caps, representing the Blood of our Saviour; over their said Coats, a Mantle of White Cloth or Serge, which from the Shoulders downward was to be open on both Sides along the Arms, and in that Part before the Breast a Cross of red Cloth or Serge Two Fingers broad, extending to the Breadth and Length of that Part of the Mantle; the Cross of the Prince’s Mantle was to be edged round with a Gold Fringe about half an Inch broad; there were to be some other small Distinction as to the Shape of the Cross upon the White Habit to be used by this Holy Chevalry. Their Arms in a Banner were Argent, upon a Cross Gules; a Compass of Four convex semi-circles, conjoyning Four intervening Angles alternately sable (in Allusion to the Agony of our Lord) charged with an Agnus Dei Or, the Compass and Cross both fimbriated Gold, with a little red Bordure.

In Times of extraordinary Danger, and great Battles, they were to have another singular and solemn Banner; every Knight was to have his Esquire armed at all Points, a little Valet for his Lance and Helmet, a bigger to carry his Mail, and a third to lead his Sumpter; Five Horses, and Four Servants were to attend him in all Warlike Expeditions, and Two or Three Horses and Servants in all Times of Peace. The Number of these Knights of the Holy Chevalry was 1000 or 1100.

33. The Order of the Brician Knights in Sweden.

Was founded, A. D. 1366. by an holy and famous Queen of that Kingdom which they repute St. Bridget, the Aim of whose Profession was to oppose Heresy, secure the Confines of the Kingdom, bury the Dead, succour Widows and Fatherless, and to keep up Hospitality. Their chief Ensign was a Blue Octogonal Cross, and under it a Tongue of Fire, the Symbol of Love and Charity.

34. Knights of St. Maurice in Savoy.

This Order took its rise upon the Retreat of Amadeus VIII. Duke of Savoy, into the Desart of Ripaille, near the Lake of Geneva, and was conferr’d by him, A. D. 1434. on Ten of his Courtiers, who retir’d with him, as well as to preserve the Memory of St. Maurice, the Patron of Savoy. Nine Years after its Institution, the Founder was elected Pope, A. D. 1439. and assumed the Name of Felix V. Nine Years after that he resigned the Chair, and retir’d to his Solitude in Ripaille, where he died, Jan. 7. 1451. and lies buried at Lausanna. The Order continued not long after his Death; but Duke Emanuel Philibert restored it, A. D. 1572. and the Dukes of Savoy are their Grand Masters.

35. Knights of the Holy Ghost,

Were instituted by Pope Paul II. A. D. 1468. under the Title of Brethren of the Hospital of the Holy Ghost, They wore upon their Habits a White Cross forme.

36. Knights of St. George in Austria and Carinthia.

The Emperor Frederick III. others say Rudolphus of Hapsburgh, first Founder of the Greatness of the House of Austria, instituted this Order, A. D. 1470. chiefly to guard the Frontiers of Germany, Hungary, Austria, Stiria, and Carinthia, and to suppress the Insolency of the Turks, since which these Knights have gallantly behaved themselves. The Great Master was advanc’d to the Honour of a Prince; and the Castle of Mildstad in Carinthia was given him for his Seat, where was founded a Cathedral Church of Canons, under the Rule of St. Augustin. Their Ensign is the Arms of St. George, a red Cross, and their Habit white; they profess Conjugal Chastity and Obedience, and have the Emperors for their Protectors.

There are also Cavalleros de San Jorge en Alemania, an Order erected by the Emperor Maximilian, 1494. upon the like Design with the former; it was confirmed by Pope Alexander VI. and is under the same Profession and Protection as the other. There Ensign is a red Cross, with a Crown of Gold on the top of it; they were otherwise called crowned Knights; for after they had served a Year, they and their Heirs have a peculiar right of Adorning their Shields and Helms with a Crown; the Occasion was upon a notable Victory obtained against the Turks, who confessed that a Man on Horseback supposed to be St. George, put them into that Fear and Disorder as to quit the Field.

37. Knights of St. George at Rome.

These were instituted by Alexander VI. 1498. or, as others say, by Pope Paul III. at whose Death it became extinct. They dwelt at Ravenna, their Province, and were to secure the Adriatick Sea from Pyrates.

38. Knights of St. Peter at Rome.

Pope Leo X. A. D. 1520. instituted this Order to fight against the Turks, and defend the Sea Coasts. Their Number was Four Hundred; they wore the Image of St. Peter within an Oval of Gold hanging at a Golden Chain.

39. Knights of St. Paul at Rome,

Were instituted by Paul III. 1540. and while he was Pope, he made Two Hundred of them. Their Ensign was St. Paul’s Image hanging at a Golden Chain.

40. Knights called Pios at Rome.

Pope Pius IV. erected this Order 1560. He created of them at first 375. but they encreased to 535. He granted them very considerable Endowments, and preferr’d them before the Knights of the Empire, and Malta, because they were his Courtiers, and had the Charge of carrying his Chair on their Shoulders when he went abroad.

41. Knights of St. Stephen at Florence.

This Order was founded in imitation of the Knights of Malta, 1561. by Cosmo de Medicis II. Duke of Florence, afterwards first Duke of Tuscany, in honour of St. Stephen, Pope and Martyr, the Patron of the City of Florence, and in memory of the Battle on the 6th of August, (St. Stephens-day) at Marciano, where overthrowing the Assertors of Liberty, he laid the Foundation of his Grandeur. Pius IV. confirmed it under the Rule of St. Benedict, which was afterwards enlarged with many Emoluments and Privileges, by the succeeding Popes. The Knights vow’d Conjugal Chastity and Charity, in relieving the Afflicted, Obedience to their Masters the Great Dukes of Tuscany. The chief Place of their Residence was at Pisa, where the Founder erected a Church and Convent, as a Nursery for Persons skilful in Maritime Affairs, but since it is transferred to Cosmopoli in the Isle of Ilva. Their Habit is a long Mantle of White Chamlet trimmed with Red, and on the left part of their Breast a Cross (like that of Malta) of red or crimson Satin border’d with Gold; it is daily worn on their Cloaks, and on their Military Garments, and about their Necks in a Ribbon on Festival Days. This Order (like the Maltese) also consists of Knights, Priests and Servants. The Priests wear the Cross of red Taffaty without a Bordure, the Servants the Cross of St. Anthony only. The Statutes were reformed by Ferdinand Duke of Tuscany, Son to the Founder, and approv’d, 1590.

42. Knights of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus in Savoy.

Pope Gregory XIII. having, at the Request of Emanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, restor’d the Order of St. Lazarus, and the Order of St. Maurice, A. D. 1572. and constituted this Duke Grand Master, the same Year, for their greater Honour, he united them under the Title of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus, and appointed the Dukes of Savoy Hereditaries and Masters, and oblig’d them to furnish out two Gallies for the Service of the Papal See, to be employ’d against Pyrates. Upon this Union, the Knights had assign’d them for Habit a Gown of Crimson Tabby, with wide Sleeves, a long Train, and edg’d with white Taffaty, and a Cordon with a Tassel of White and Green fix’d to the Collar. The Badge is, A green Cross ancree of St. Laurence, plac’d Saltirewise, surmounted with the white Cross pornelle of St. Maurice, which the Knights wear either in a Gold Chain, or any colour’d Ribbon. And the said Duke founded for the Knights two fair Convents, one at Nice, the other at Turin, and bestow’d on them all the Revenues within his Territories, formerly appertaining to the Order of St. Lazarus. The Dukes of Savoy, as Grand Masters, use this Title.

43. Knights of Loretto.

This Order, about the Year 1587. was instituted by Sixtus V. who erected the Church of our Lady at Loretto into a Cathedral and Bishop’s See, and gave the Knights for their Ensign, the Image of our Lady of Loretto, hung in a Gold Chain. This is not quite extinguish’d.

44. Knights of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.

Tho’ the Grand Mastership of St. Lazarus, and its Commandaries in all Dominions, were confirm’d by Pope Gregory XIII. upon the House of Savoy, yet under King Henry III. some Knights in France, of that Order, refus’d to joyn with their Fellows, under the Obedience of the Duke of Savoy. King Henry IV. desirous to have a new order, bearing the Denomination of The Blessed Virgin, &c. apply’d himself to Pope Paul V. and obtain’d what he su’d for A. D. 1608. (besides other Pensions out of certain Ecclesiastical Benefices in France) the Commandaries and Hospitals of St. Lazarus in that Kingdom, and the Knights of St. Lazarus that remain’d in France, were incorporated with them under two Titles; their Seal being inscrib’d, Sigillum Ordinis & Militiæ Mariæ Virginis de Monte Carmeli, & Sancti Lazari in Hierusalem. The Order consists of One Hundred choice French Gentlemen, whose Offices are to attend on the King in every warlike Expedition. They vow Chastity and Obedience, and profess to fight against the Enemies of the Romish See. The Feast of the Patroness is the 16th of July; Philibert Nerestang, a valiant Knight of St. Lazarus, was elected their first Master 1608. Their Badge is a Cross of 8 Points of tawny Velvet or Sattin, with a white Border sow’d on the left Side of their Cloaks, and the Image of the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel plac’d in the Middle, within a Rundle encompass’d with Rays of Gold. They also wear about their Necks, in a tawny Silk Ribbon, the like Cross of Gold; but the Image of the said Knights is enamel’d on both Sides. There Investiture is like that of Malta.

45. Knights of the most Glorious Virgin Mary of Rome.

A. D. 1618. Pedro, John Baptista, and Bernardo, sirnam’d Petrignaneos (three Brethren of Spelta in Italy) invented this Order: To which was added, the Rule of St. Francis d’Assise, whereof the Popes are Great Masters. Paul V. confirm’d them, and gave these Knights the Palace of St. John Lateran for their Convent, and the City and Port of Civita Vecchia to make their Arsenal; with an Island adjacent, together with the Government of his Gallies. Their Institution was for the Exaltation of the Roman Church, and to check or suppress the Turks roving in the Mediterranean. There are three Sorts of this Order, 1. Knights Gentlemen, Laicks. 2. Knights Gentlemen, Priests and benefic’d. 3. Knights Chaplains, or Servants of Arms. All of these wear on the left Side of their Mantles their Badge, which is a blew Cross floree Azure, border’d with Silver, having 4 Mullets, or Stars, at the End of each Flower, to signifie the Four Evangelists; in the Middle is a Circle (extended round underneath the Arms of the Cross) set with 12 Rays for the 12 Apostles, inscrib’d, In hoc signo vincam; and within it (taking up the Center of the Cross) is a Cypher of M. S. i. e. Sancta Maria, crown’d with Chaplets of Flowers, and Stars of Gold set over the Chaplet.

46. Knights of the Annunciade, and St. Michael the Archangel in
Mantua, or of the Christian Militia in Moravia.

By these Names they have been promiscuously called. It was instituted 1618. by Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Nevers, in Conjunction with Adolph, Count of Altham his Brother, and John Baptist Petrignan Sfortia. To give it the greater Lustre, they divided the World among them; Charles took the North and West Parts, Adolph the Eastern, and the other had the South, where they were personally to found Convents and invest Knights. Duke Charles began his Institution of this Order under the Rule of St. Francis, in Olmutz the Metropolis of Moravia, the Year aforesaid, and dedicated it to the blessed Virgin and St. Michael: But what Progress the others made in their pious Resolutions, History is silent. It has been likewise styl’d, Conceptionis Ordo & Militis Virginis annunciatæ. Anno 1612. several illustrious Princes of divers Countries entered themselves into that Order at Vienna. It was approv’d by Pope Paul V. and confirm’d by Pope Paul VIII. 1624. The Design of its Institution was, to establish Peace and Concord among Christian Princes and their Subjects; to release Captives, and deliver the Oppressed out of the Hands of the Infidels.

On some unhappy Difference among the illustrious Founders, in a short time it moulder’d away and became ineffectual, that the Mahometans (for whose Destruction it was design’d) heard only the Report of it.

CAP. III.

§ 1.

HAVING particulariz’d the Religious Orders, I shall proceed to those accounted absolutely Military. Among them,

1. Knights of the Round Table may, for Antiquity,
challenge the first Place.

The Founder was Arthur King of Britain, crown’d in the Year of our Lord 516, at the Age of 15 Years; of whose incredible Courage and Gallantry, tho’ some have stretch’d too far, yet William of Malmsbury is of Opinion, he was worthy to have been celebrated by true and faithful Historians, and not false and spurious Tales. He it was that long prop’d up his declining Country, and inspir’d Martial Courage into his Subjects, the Saxons, in twelve pitch’d Battles having overcome, and conquer’d divers Countries. He liv’d in so great Repute and Renown, that worthy Knights came from all Parts to his Court, as a Seminary of Military Discipline, to demonstrate their Valour in point of Arms. This gave him Occasion to select out of these, and his own Subjects, some say Twenty Four of the most Valiant, which he united in a Fellowship; and to avoid all Controversy upon Precedency, caus’d a Round Table to be made, whence the Order had its Appellation. He admitted not only Britains, but Strangers; and their Qualifications were to be Persons of Nobility, Dignity, and renown’d for Vertue and Valour. The Place where they were instituted was Windsor; and those others of Note, where he and his Knights assembled, were at Caerleon in Monmouthshire, Winchester, and Camelot in Com’ Somerset; and their time of convening was Whitsuntide. In Winchester Castle was a large Round Table, call’d (and affirm’d to be) King Arthur’s; or at least set up in the room of one more ancient, which was destroy’d in the rebellious Times of Forty One, with other Reliques there. The Articles of their Profession (Number 12) are set down by Sir William Segar. We find no authentick Proof what Badge they bore, notwithstanding the Report that King Arthur had a Shield nam’d Pridwin, wherein the Virgin Mary was depicted. His Sword and Lance had also their Names, one being call’d Caliburne, the other Irone or Rone. It’s not remember’d that this Order surviv’d the Founder, but rather that it expir’d with him, most of these Knights perishing with him at the Battle of Kamblan, now Camelsford, in Cornwall, where tho’ he kill’d his Enemy Mordred, yet he dy’d A. D. 542.

It may be noted, that the like Round Table grew in Estimation shortly after the Norman Conquest, being permitted at Haslelades, Tilts and Turnaments, temp. Steph. and R. I. And Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, kept the Celebration of the Round Table (consisting of One Hundred Knights, and as many Ladies) with Tilting at Kenelworth-Castle, in Com’ Worcest’ 7 Ed. I. And King Edward III. designing to restore it, held a Just at Windsor in the 18th Year of his Reign; and in the 19th ordain’d it annually to be kept there at Whitsontide. But it was thought fit upon divers Accounts to forbid these Assemblies, and in particular 16 H. III. at Shrewsbury, when the King went to meet Llewellin Prince of Wales, and in 36 H. III. and at many other times.

2. Knights of the Oak in Navarre,

Were instituted by Garcia Ximenes of the Blood of the Goths, who had formerly retir’d from the World to a solitary Life, but relinquish’d it to command an Army rais’d by the Navarrois, to deliver themselves from the Oppression of the Moors. As he was marching to encounter them, A. D. 722. there appear’d to him from the Top of an Oak the Sign of the Cross, ador’d by an infinite Number of Angels. On giving Battle to the Infidels he gain’d a remarkable Victory, and the People elected him their King; and he in thankfulness to God erected this Order, investing his Nobles therewith, and oblig’d them to defend the Christian Faith, and acknowledge Obedience to his Successors, Kings of Navarre. Time has eclips’d this Order.

3. The Order of the Gennet,

Was Founded by Charles Martel, in Memory of the famous Battle near Tours, A. D. 726. where he overthrew 385000 Saracens and Moors, with their General Abdiramo; and to reward those who had well-behav’d themselves in this Action. The great Number of rich Gennet Furr, (Ermine has since gain’d the better value) as also the Creatures themselves taken alive among the Spoils, was the Occasion of assuming the Name: But others impute it to Gennets, a kind of neat-shap’d Horses, whereof not unlikely a great Part of the Founder’s Cavalry consisted. The Knights were Sixteen in Number, and were accounted the first Order of this Nature among the French, which continu’d till the Institution of the Star, when it was laid aside, tho’ some French Authors question if ever the Order was in being.

4. The Order of the Crown-Flower,

Erected by Charles the Great, Son of King Pepin, A. D. 802. to reward the Frizons, who had behav’d themselves valiantly in his Armies, and to encourage others to emulate their Vertue. It was so call’d from its Ensign, viz. an Imperial Crown embroider’d with Gold. The Knights were invested with the Military Belt and a Box on the Ear.

5. The Order of the Dog and Cock.

That there was such an Order in France is related by several Writers, but they give no certain Account of its Institution.

6. The Order of St. Andrew, or the Thistle, in Scotland,

Is reported by John Lesley, Bishop of Ross, to take beginning from a bright Cross in Heaven, in Fashion of that whereon St. Andrew suffer’d Martyrdom, which appear’d to Hungus, King of the Picts (and to the Scots whom Achaius King of Scotland sent to his Assistance) the Night preceding the Battle with Athelstan King of England; over whom prevailing, they went in Solemn Procession to the Kirk of St. Andrew, to thank God and his Apostle for their Victory, promising that they and their Posterity would ever bear the Figure of that Cross in their Ensigns and Banners. Favin, in his Theatre of Honour, relates it to be instituted upon the famous League, Offensive and Defensive, made between Achaius and Charlemain King of France; to preserve the Memory of which Alliance, Achaius added the Tressure of Flowers de Lys to the Lyon, and took for Device the Thistle and Rue, which he compos’d into a Collar of his Order; and for his Motto, Pour ma Defence: Yet doth Menenius make these the Symbols of two different Orders, one of the Thistle, whence the Knights were so styl’d, and the Motto, Nemo me impune lacessit; the other call’d Sertum Rutæ, or The Garland of Rue: Nevertheless to both these Collars hung one and the same Jewel, viz. the Figure of St. Andrew, bearing his Cross before him. But there are some, saith the same Author, that refer the Institution of the Thistle (the Badge of the Scotch Kingdom from the Times of Achaius) to the Reign of Charles VII. King of France, when the Amity was renew’d between both Kingdoms. Lastly, Others place its Foundation 1500. Their principal Ensign is a Gold Collar, compos’d of Thistles interlink’d with Anulets of Gold, and pendant thereto St. Andrew with his Cross, and this Epigraph, Nemo me impune lacessit. Their solemn Meeting was annually on St. Andrew’s Day, in the Church of the Town dedicated to his Name: During the Festivity, the Knights were richly habited, and wore their Parliament Robes, having fix’d on their left Shoulders an Azure Roundle, charg’d with a Saltire Argent, or St. Andrew’s Cross enfil’d in Centre, with a Crown compos’d of Flower de Luces Or. For the ordinary and common Ensign, the Knights us’d a Green Ribbon, whereat hung a Thistle of Gold, crown’d with an Imperial Crown, within a Circle of Gold, containing the last nam’d Epigraph; and now of late they have sew’d to their left Breast an Irradiation (like that of The Knights of the Garter) over a Saltire Silver, the Irradiation charg’d with a Blew Roundle of St. Andrew’s Cross. Their Number consisted of Thirteen, in Allusion to our blessed Saviour and the Twelve Apostles.

7. Knights of our Lady of the Star,

Owe their Original to Robert the Devout of France, A. D. 1022. to manifest his strict Devotion to the blessed Virgin. They were in Number Thirty, inclusive of the Chief. Their Seat was in the noble and ancient House of St. Owen, call’d de Chichey, near St. Denys in France. This Order was of no long continuance, for being much sully’d and disgrac’d (during the Civil and Foreign Wars) by the Imitation of Persons that had neither Birth nor Merit to recommend them, King Charles VII. took Occasion to efface it A. D. 1455. by delivering up, in a Chapter, the Ensign that he wore to the Chevalier du Guet, Captain of the Night-watch in Paris, the Lords and Princes throwing it off after it had receiv’d that Mark of Infamy; tho’ some alledge it declin’d upon the Erection of The Order of St. Michael, as the Star supplanted that of the Gennet.

8. The Order of the Lilly in Navarre, or of St. Mary of the Lilly,

Was founded A. D. 1048. by Garcius VI. King of Navarre, in Honour of the blessed Virgin Mary, after his Recovery from a languishing Sickness. Others relate, that prevailing against the Moors, he made a Feast in Honour of the blessed Virgin, at which he instituted this Order, electing his Brothers and Sons among the first Knights. It was esteem’d the most Illustrious of all Spain, and consisted of Thirty Eight Knights, extracted out of the ancientest Blood of Navarre, Biscay and Old Castile. The Kings of Navarre were their Chief. They promis’d, at their Institution, to expose their Lives and Fortunes in Defence of the Christian Faith, the Conservation of the Crown, and Expulsion of the Moors.

9. The Order of the Sword in Cyprus,

Was erected 1195. by Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem and Cyprus, after he had purchas’d that Isle of our King Richard I. in Commemoration of so fortunate a Plantation of 15000 Persons whom he brought thither. Some question the Truth of this; however all assent, its Founder was one of the Lusignan Family. The Collar was compos’d of round Cordons of white Silk, woven into Love-Knots, interlac’d with the Letters S and R. Beneath this Collar hung an Oval of Gold, whereon was perfigur’d a Sword, the Blade enamell’d Silver, the Hilt Gold, and about the Oval this Motto, Securitas Regni. Micheli says, Pro Fide Servanda, and Gothofredus, pro integritate tuenda. Their Festivity was Ascension-Day, whereon the Founder gave it (in the Church of St. Sophia, the Cathedral of Nicosia in Cyprus) to his Brother Amaury, and to Three Hundred Barons establish’d in that his new Kingdom. There were Eight Kings of Cyprus of the Lusignan Line, Great Masters; but when this Isle fell into the Hands of the Turks, this Institution ceas’d.

10. The Bear in Switzerland,

Was instituted A. D. 1213. by the Emperor Frederick II. in Favour of the Abbot of St. Gall in Swaben, who had assisted him in gaining the Empire. These Knights wore a Collar of Gold, at the End whereof hung a Bear Gold, mounted on an Hillock enamell’d with Black, in Honour of St. Ursus of the Theban Legion, who was martyr’d before the Temple of the Sun at Soleurre in Switzerland. It was also call’d The Order of St. Gall, from the Name of the Patron (a Scotch Gentleman, and the Apostle of Swaben) of the Place where it receiv’d its Appellation. The Abbot whereof, for the Time being, had Power to confer this Honour, which was done by girding with the Military Belt (the Sword being first consecrated) and putting on the Collar. It continu’d ’till the Switzers became a Common-Wealth; and then the Castles of the Nobles being dismantled, it was laid aside.

11. The Broom-Flower in France,

Took its Original from Lewis of France, to honour the Coronation of his Queen Margaret, A. D. 1234. Their Habits were Cassocks of White Damask, and Violet Chaperons; the Collar compos’d of Broom-Flowers Proper, interlac’d with Flowers de Lys, hanging thereat a Cross Florence Gold, to which was added this Inscription, Exaltat Humiles; the Founder accounting the Broom the Symbol of Humility. Their Number was at the Sovereign’s Pleasure, and this Order continu’d till the Death of King Charles V. Some say Charles VI. instituted it, and others deny the being of any such Order.

12. The Ship and Double Crescent in France.

Such an Order was of Old, in Honour of the great Atchievements of that Nation, tho’ by whom founded is unknown. Favin affirms, St. Lewis erected this after he had instituted the Broom Flower, to animate the Nobility to accompany him in his Expedition to Africa, 1269. Their Badge was alluding to the Name of the Order, the Figure of a Ship Pendant in an Oval of Gold; and expir’d with St. Lewis after the first Class of Knights; but its Honour was kept up by Charles, Brother of St. Lewis, and flourish’d in Sicily with his Successors, until the Kings of Arragon obtain’d that Kingdom.

13. Knights of St. James in Holland.

This Order was erected by Florentius, Earl of Holland and Zeland, and Lord of Friseland; and he, A. D. 1290. bestow’d the Ensigns of it, in his Palace at the Hague, upon Twelve of his chief Nobility, among which was Lancenot Lord Hamilton, Embassador from the King of Scots. They were invested with a Collar of Gold, or Military Belt of Silver gilt, set off with Six Escallops, whereat was hung the Picture of St. James the Apostle.

14. The Order of the Swan in Cleveland.

If ever any such was, it has been effac’d long since. Yet Favin says, the Princes of Cleve have born the Swan for their Order, Devise, Crest and Supporters, to preserve the Memory of the Knight of the Swan, whose Romance he sets down. And further reports, That Charles Gonzaga of Cleve, Duke of Nevers, had a Design to re-establish it.

15. The Knights of Jesus at Rome,

Were instituted by Pope John XXII. at Avignon in France, A. D. 1320. as a Temporal Prince, being Lord Paramount of St. Peter’s Patrimony. Paul V. much augmented it. Their Badge is a plain Cross Gules, inclos’d within a Cross patee Or, hanging at a Gold Chain. Pope Clement IX. 1668-9. treated Three of the Embassadors from the Swiss Cantons with the usual Ceremonies, himself putting on the Chains, and the Captains of his Guards girding their Swords about them.

16. The White Eagle in Poland,

Was instituted by Ladeslaus, King of Poland, to honour the Marriage of his Son Casimire the Great, with Anne Daughter of Gedimer Duke of Lithuania, 1325. The Ensign was a white Eagle crown’d.

17. The Order of Knights de la Banda in Castile,

Was set up by Alphonsus II. King of Leon in Castile, in the City of Victoria, A. D. 1332. (or Palencia 1330. or Burgos 1368. according to others) not long before his Coronation, the better to secure himself against his Enemies. Soon after the Solemnity was celebrated at Burgos, in the Monastery of St. Mary Royal, where the Candidates, conducted by the King to the Altar, and depositing their Arms, spent the Night in Watching and Prayer. The Morrow after Mass, they were invested with a red military Belt or Ribbon, of four Fingers broad, which came a-cross the Body over the right Shoulder, and so under the left Arm, and was the Ensign from whence they took their Denomination. This Order was chiefly to Honour the Nobility; and at first none were admitted but the younger Sons of Noblemen [excluding elder Brothers] or Persons well-descended, or Esquires, who had serv’d in Court or Camp Ten Years at least. It was anciently of great Esteem, and Kings have vouchsafed to take its Ensign; but at length it was disus’d.

18. The Order de la Calza,

Instituted at Venice A. D. 1400. from the Example of the Knights de la Banda, in Honour of the Inauguration of Duke Michele Steno. It consisted of a Society of particular Noblemen and Gentlemen, who voluntarily met together, and elected a Chief among themselves. They took an Oath to observe their Articles, part whereof was, the Honour of the City, where noble and splendid Regales were made; and with such like magnificent Divertisements did they entertain King Henry III. of France, and other noble Personages. It receiv’d the greater Lustre, by the Addition of several Italian Princes; and the most conspicuous Families were receiv’d into it. Their Habit, on Solemn Days, was a Crimson Senator’s Vest appearing very splendid. Their Ensign, a Sun in a Sheild painted in their Banners. It arriv’d to such Profuseness, that in 1590. it was wholly laid aside.

19. The Order of St. Mark in Venice,

Is here reckon’d, because the Knights are dignify’d with a Title and particular Ensign of Honour at their Creation. The Ceremony is after the Manner of Knights Batchelors, by Dubbing with a Sword, and their Title a bare Mark of Honour, having no Laws or Statutes, or particular Obligations enjoyn’d. It had the Denomination from St. Mark the Evangelist, whose Body was translated to Venice, 828. and became the Titular Angel and Guardian of that City, his Picture being display’d in their Banners. The exact Time of its Institution is not certainly determin’d. The Badge that adorns these Knights, is, a Gold Chain put over their Shoulders at their Creation, whereat depends a Medal, on one side whereof is the Symbol of St. Mark, viz. a winged Lyon, holding in his right Paw a drawn Sword, and in his left an open Book, with this Motto, Pax tibi Marce Evangelista meus. On the Reverse, the Duke surviving is beautify’d with a particular Impress. Sometimes represented on his Knee, receiving a Standard from the Hands of St. Mark. This Medal is worn on a Cross enamell’d Blew. The Duke confers this Honour, either privately in his Chamber, or publickly in a full College. The Senate have the Power of creating this Order; and they who receive it by their Sanction, the Dignity is greater than from the Hands of the Duke himself. Absent Persons are invested by Letters Patents; and to aggrandize their Honour and Title, style themselves Knights of St. Mark.

20. The Order of the Seraphims, or Seraphick Knights,
otherwise sirnam’d of Jesus,

Was begun by Magnus IV. King of Sweden 1334. in Memory of the Siege laid to the Metropolitan City of Upsala. The Collar was compos’d of Seraphims and Patriarchal Crosses.

21. The Order of the Sword and Military Belt in Sweden.

By whom or when founded we have no Memoirs. The Collar made up of Swords, with Belts twining round them (the Symbol of Love and Justice) the Swords somewhat inclining towards the Point, and so joyn’d Two and Two, Point to Point, plac’d round in a Circle.

22. The Order of the Knot in Naples.

When Lewis, King of Hungary, warr’d against Joan, Queen of Naples; not so much to dispossess her of the Kingdom, as to revenge his Brother Andrew’s Death, whom this Joan, his Wife, had strangled 1351. On the 26th of May, the Queen and Lewis Prince of Tarantuni, being crown’d King and Queen of that Realm on the same Day, in Commemoration of so pacifick an Union, and to tear up all their Enmities, the Prince instituted this Order; into which enter’d, at that Time, Threescore and Ten Lords. Their Habit was White, and their Ensign a Knot (the Emblem of Love and Friendship) intermixt with Gold. This Order expir’d in a short Time.

23. Knights of the Annunciade in Savoy.

Ame VI. Earl of Savoy, instituted this Order, under the Title of The Collar 1362. in Honour of the Fifteen Divine Mysteries of the Rosary. Favin, on a mistaken Ground, calls it The Order of the Snares of Love, in regard its Founder had receiv’d of his Lady, a Bracelet made of the Tresses of her Hair, plaited in Love-knots, and that the four Letters, afterwards interlac’d by the Founder, should signifie Frappes, Entres, Rompes, Tout. It is conspicuous enough at the first Erection it was call’d of The Collar, and so remain’d till Charles III. or Le Bon Duke of Savoy, bestow’d on it the Title of The Annunciation, from the Picture of the Annunciation which he annex’d to The Collar, 1518. The Founder appointed the Number of his Knights to be Fifteen, among whom Sir Richard Musard, an Englishman, is recorded 1434. and 1568. their Number was encreas’d to Twenty, that being solely lodg’d in the Breast of their Sovereign. Riene Castle, in Buger, was their principal Seat; they had a Chartreuse to entertain Fifteen Priests to celebrate Fifteen Masses to the Honour of the Fifteen Joys of the blessed Virgin, and to the Soul’s Health of these Knights; and here were their Ceremonies and Chapters held, until Charles Emmanuel I. exchang’d it and other Places for the Marquisate of Saluces, 1607. on the Anniversary of the Feast and Celebration of the Order (being fix’d upon the Day of the Annunciation) were translated first to the Church of St. Dominick at Montmeiller, and afterwards by him to the Hermitage of Camaldule, upon the Mountain of Turin call’d l’Eremo Assis. The ancient Collar was of Gold, Three Fingers broad; in barbarous Characters were ingraved these Letters, F E R T, and one Knot (commonly call’d the Savoy Knot) at the end of each Fert; which, with Three other Knots entwin’d one within another, made up the Circumference pendant at the Collar without any Figure. These old Characters were suppos’d to be the Initials of Fortitudo ejus Rhodum tenuit, alluding to Amadeus le Grand, who so valiantly defended Rhodes against the Turks, 1310. But that this was long before the Devise of the House of Savoy, is manifest from the Coins of Lewis de Savoy, Baron de Vaud. who dy’d 1301. the Monument of Thomas de Savoy, who dy’d 1233. whereon was lying at the Feet of his Portraiture a Dog with a Collar about his Neck, inscrib’d Fert, as an integral Word, and from a Brass Coin of the said Earl’s, on the Reverse whereof are Two Knots of the Model before spoke of, and the Word Fert in the midst. There is the Ectype of a Silver Coin of Peter de Savoy, (who erected in England the noble Pile of that Name in the Strand, temp. H. III.) wherein is represented the Devise Fert in Gothick Characters, the true Interpretation of which Word cannot be explain’d. This ancient Collar is still in vogue and daily worn, but now called The little Collar, fashion’d of Gold or Silver gilt, about an Inch broad, and of different weight. The Knights wear it about their Necks, close to the Collar of their Doublet. Duke Charles III. as he much restor’d the Splendor of this Order, Anno 1518. introduc’d the larger one, only worn upon high Days. It weighs about Two Hundred Crowns, and is compos’d of the Word Fert, interwoven with Knots, severed with Fifteen Roses of Gold, whereof Seven are enamell’d with White, and Seven with Red, and border’d with Two Thorns. The Figure of the Annunciation is enamell’d in various Colours, pendant at three Chainets to another Rose-colour’d both White and Red. He first appointed the great Mantle of Crimson Velvet, his own being furr’d with Ermines, but the rest of the Knights with Miniver, fring’d and border’d with Savoy Knots in fine Gold; under this Mantle is worn a Surcoat of fine Damask. Duke Emanuel Philibert, his Son, alter’d the Colour of the Mantle to Azure, and lin’d it with White Taffaty, of which Silk he made the Surcoats. Charles Emanuel chang’d the Mantle into an Amaranthus or Purple Colour, seeded with Roses and Flames in embroidery of Gold and Silver, and lin’d with Cloth of Silver tissu’d Blue, now in use; under which, instead of the White Taffaty Surcoat, is now worn a White Satin Suit embroider’d with Silk, the Hose gather’d upwards in the fashion of Trouses.

24. The Thistle in France,

Was instituted on New-Year’s Day 1370. by Lewis II. Duke of Bourbon, upon his Marriage with Anne, Daughter to the Count Daulphine in Auvergne. The first Solemnities of this Order were perform’d at Nostre Dame de Maulins in Bourbonnois, where he founded a College of Twelve Canons, in Honour of the blessed Virgin; the Intent was, to corroborate his Interest for the Aid of the Duke of Orleans, against the Faction of the House of Burgundy, and by joyning of Flowers de Lys and Thistles (the Symbols of Hope and Courage) emblematically to express the Nobleness of his Spirit against all the Power of Fortune. He ordain’d the Number of Knights to be Twenty Six, comprehending himself and his Successors, Dukes of Bourbon, as Chiefs, and oblig’d them to wear daily a Belt, a Girdle of Watchel coloured Velvet, lin’d with Crimson Sattin embroider’d with Gold, and therein the Word Esperance curiously wrought. The Girdle was fasten’d with a Buckle and Thong of Gold, bearded and chequer’d with Green, enamel’d in Form like the Head of a Thistle. On the Anniversary of the Festival (the Conception of our Lady) the Knights wore Cassocks or Surcoats of Carnation Damask with White Sleeves, girded as before; the Mantle of the Order was sky-colour’d Damask with broad Welts of Gold Embroidered on the Collar, and lined with Red Satin, but the Mantlet of Green Velvet, the Bonnet was also of Green Velvet; at the Point of the Band hung a Tassel of Crimson Silk and Threads Gold, the Lining of Crimson Taffaty, and turn’d up after the antique manner, whereon they had embroided the Golden Shield with the Word Allen; the great Collar was of Gold, of the weight of Ten Marks, enamelled with Green, distended like Network, which was filled with Flowers de Lys (together with the Letters of the Impress) plac’d in a Lozenge of Red Enamel; at the Bottom of the Collar, in an Oval of Gold (the Circle whereof was enamelled with Green and Red) appeared the Figure of the Patroness, the Virgin Mary, irradiated with Gold, and crowned with Twelve Silver Stars, a Crescent of the same under her Feet, enamell’d with Purple and Sky-colour; at the End of the Oval depended the Head of a Thistle enamelled Green, but bearded White. The Founder took an exact Patern for the Order of the Garter, with which he acquainted himself while he was Prisoner in Windsor Castle.

25. The Order of the Dove

Was begun by John I. King of Castile in Segovia, 1390. or, as others, 1379. to encourage his Nobles to prosecute the Noble Acts of his Grandfather King Henry III. but the Founder dying the same Year, before it had taken root, it became of small Continuance.

26. The Order of the Argonauts of St. Nicholas

Was instituted by Charles III. King of Naples, 1382. to preserve Amity among the Nobles, to compose Enmities and suppress Seditions. If any of these Knights, upon a Variance, refused a Reconciliation, the Ensigns were to be forfeited. Others say the Design was to advance Navigation, to which their Ensign alludes, being a Ship floating upon the Waters in the midst of a Storm, having this Motto, Non credo tempori. In the Convent of that sumptuous Church which St. Nicholas, Bishop of Smyrna, erected, was the grand Feast held on the Anniversary of that Saint. This King appointed a White Habit for the Knights, and prescribed them laudable Constitutions; but for want of a settled Revenue, their Splendor expired with their Founder.

27. Knights of St. Anthony in Hainault.

Albert of Bavaria, Earl of Hainault, Holland, and Zeland, designing an Expedition against the Turks and Moors, instituted this Order, 1382. The Ensign thereof was a Golden Collar wrought after the Fashion of an Hermit’s Girdle, at which hung a Walking-Staff, and a little Golden Ball.

28. The Porcupine in France,

Was erected by Lewis of France, Duke of Orleans, 1393. to honour the Solemnization of the Baptism of his eldest Son Charles, by his Wife Daughter to the Duke of Milain. He chose the Porcupine for his Devise, with this Epigraph, Cominus & Eminus; not only out of the aspiring Hopes conceived of this Child, but also to intimate something of Revenge against John Duke of Burgundy, his mortal Enemy; the Porcupine being an Emblem both Offensive and Defensive. Others make Charles aforesaid the Founder of this Order, 1430. in Imitation or Emulation of the Golden Fleece, instituted by Philip Duke of Burgundy. Their Number, including the Founder, was Twenty Five; their Habit, Surcoats of Violet Velvet, and over them Mantles of Watchet Velvet lin’d with Carnation Satin; the Collar was formed of Gold Chains, at the End whereof hung a Porcupine of Gold upon an enamelled Hillock of Grass and Flowers, which Creature was also embroidered on the Knights Belts.

29. The Order of the Lily or Lilies in Arragon or de la Jarra
de S. Maria, of the Vessel of St. Mary,

Was erected by Ferdinand King of that Country, called the infant of Antiquera, 1403. and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. Favin ranges it under the Denomination of the Title of the Looking-glass of the Blessed Virgin in Castile, instituted in Memory of a Victory King Ferdinand obtained in that Kingdom against the Moors, 1410. whence he transplanted them with him into Arragon, 1413. when he received the Crown, where it flourished under the Sons of that King, and then the Line was extinct.

30. The Order of the Dragon overthrown in Hungary,

Was instituted, A. D. 1413. by the Emperor Sigismond the Glorious, 1418. for the Defence of the Christian Religion, and to crush or oppugn all Hereticks and Schismaticks, and for the Satisfaction he receiv’d in conferring Peace to the Churches of Hungary and Bohemia, by the Aid of the Council of Constance. It was in high esteem shortly after in Germany; but the Order and Founder had very near the same Period. The Knights wore daily, as their Ensign, a Green Cross flory, on solemn Days, a Scarlet Cloak, and on the Mantlet of Green Silk a double Chain of Gold (others say a Green Ribbon) at the End of which hung a Dragon dead with broken Wings, in posture of being overcome (the Symbol of Heresy) enamelled with Variety of Colours.

31. The Equites Tusini in Bohemia, or else both in
Bohemia and Austria.

This Order had its Name from Toca, a Cap or Coif. The Archdukes of Austria were its Founders; which they enacted to engage their Subjects in Defence of the Christian Faith against Turks and Hereticks, conferring upon the Knights towards their Support whatsoever they acquired in the Wars, which was a respite to themselves, after almost Two Hundred Years Charges, and Military Expence; indeed the Encouragement proved so good a Bait, that they cleared their Provinces almost of all Turks and Schismaticks that infested them. Their Badge was a plain Green Cross, and their Habit Red.

32. Ordo Disciplinarum,

Was instituted by the Bohemian Kings, or rather the Austrian, to be a Curb upon the Turks and Hereticks, at least to prescribe the Confines of the Kingdom. The Collar of the Order had a White Eagle. These Knights flourished in Germany, in the Reigns of Sigismond and Albert Emperors.