Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the National Infantry Association award, see Order of Saint Maurice

The Commander's Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.

The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus is an order of chivalry awarded by the House of Savoy, the heads of which were formerly Kings of Italy. The order was formed by a union of the Order of St Lazarus and the Order of Saint Maurice in 1572.

1 History of the order
2 Grades
3 Insignia
4 Notable members of the order
5 See also
6 Note
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History of the order

The Order of Saint Lazarus was established as a military and religious community at the time of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem around 1090. From its inception, the order was concerned with the relief of leprosy, and many of its members were lepers who had been knights in other orders. It became very rich, its practices dubious, and its funds much abused. With the fall of Acre in 1291 the knights of St Lazarus fled the Holy Land and Egypt and settled in France and, in 1311, in Naples. In the sixteenth century, the order declined in credit and wealth. The Duke of Savoy took over as Grand Master in 1572.

The Order of St Maurice was founded in 1434 by Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy, who became Antipope Felix V. The order declined, but in 1572 was reestablished by Pope Pius V at the instigation on the then Duke of Savoy.

In 1572 Pope Gregory XIII merged the Italian foundation of the Order of Saint Lazarus with the Order of St Maurice. The new order was charged to defend the Holy See as well as continue to assist lepers. The war galleys of the order fought against the Turks and the Barbary pirates. When leprosy again broke out the order founded, in 1773, a hospital in Aosta.

After the Italian unification, the order became a de facto Italian state award for civilian and military merit, consisted of five classes: Knight of the Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Commander, Officer and Knight.

After Italy became a republic in 1946 the order was effectively replaced by the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. The House of Savoy in exile continues to confer the order. Today it is granted to persons eminent in the public service, science, art, letters, trade, and charitable works.

The Grand Master of the Order is Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, the current head of the House of Savoy. The present Grand Chancellor is Count Gherardo Balbo di Vinadio, who succeeded Count Franco Antamoro in 1993. The Treasurer-General and Vice-President of the Council is Don Piero dei Duchi Caffarelli, while the Grand Prior is Monsignor Giuseppe Muller. However, Vittorio Emanule's new policies as Grand Master have generated controversy. All three of his sisters have resigned from their positions as dames of the order. Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy has criticised her brother for instituting "the payment of membership fees [and] activities such as the sale of objects with the Savoy coat of arms and credit cards of the order"^[1]

[edit] Grades

The Order currently has six classes for gentlemen:

Knight of the Grand Cross, which wears the badge on a sash on the right shoulder, plus the star on the left chest;
Grand Officer, which wears the badge on a necklet, plus the star on the left chest;
Commander "jus patronato", which wears the badge on a necklet, plus the breast cross on the left chest;
Commander, which wears the badge on a necklet;
Officer, which wears the badge on a ribbon on the left chest;
Knight, which wears the badge without crown on a ribbon on the left chest;

as well as three classes for ladies:

Dame Grand Cross, which wears the badge on a bow with golden embroidery on the left shoulder;
Dame Commander, which wears the badge on a bow on the left shoulder;
Dame, which wears the badge without crown on a bow on the left shoulder.

[edit] Insignia

The badge of the Order is in gilt, consists of a white-enameled cross botonny (the Cross of St. Maurice), with a green-enameled Maltese Cross (the Cross of St. Lazarus) placed in saltire between the arms of the cross botonny. The badge for all classes except Knight and Dame are topped by a gilt crown.

The star of the Order is a silver faceted star, with eight points for Grand Cross and four points for Grand Officer, and with the badge (minus the crown) superimposed upon it.