Honorific orders of Portugal is the attribution of decoration to individuals personal bravery, achievement, or service to Portugal. Portugal has had a long tradition in rewarding its citizens.
The decorations are given by the President of the Portuguese Republic, currently Aníbal Cavaco Silva.
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The Order of Christ is one of the ancient military orders. It was created by request of King D. Dinis to the pope, upon the extinction of the Order of the Temple. The templars had been granted important jurisdictions over the Portuguese territory, as well as being of strategic importance in its protection, in the end of the Christian Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. So, when the Order of the Temple was extinguished, King Dinis requested, and was granted, that all the possessions of this order in Portugal be attributed to a new order, to be created: the order of Christ. Basically, the templars in Portugal simply changed name.
The headquarters of the Order were established in Tomar. The Order had a major role in the Portuguese discoveries. In the course of the subsequent centuries, the King of Portugal became the grand-master of this and all of the military orders, which acquired a simple honorific role.
The Order of Christ is now conferred by relevant services to the country in the exercise of funcions related to the government or public administration (e.g., courts, diplomacy, armed forces)
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