Regla de la orden y cavalleria de S. Santiago de la Espada / co(n) la glosa y declaracion del Maestro Ysla (1547).
The Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (Portuguese: Ordem Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada) is a Portugueseorder of chivalry. Its full name is the Ancient, Most Noble and Enlightened Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, of the Scientific, Literary and Artistic Merit (Portuguese: Antiga, Nobilíssima e Esclarecida Ordem Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada, do Mérito Científico, Literário e Artístico).
The establishment of the Order of Santiago was endorsed by papal legate Cardinal Hyacinthus of Acardo on a visit to Iberia in 1172–73.[2] The approval of the Order was confirmed three years later by Pope Alexander III in a bull issued July 1175.
In January 1174, Alfonso VIII granted them the citadel of Uclés, which would later serve as the headquarters of the Order of Santiago as a whole after the reunification of the León and Castile in 1230.
The Order expanded into Portugal when King Afonso I of Portugal donated Arruda dos Vinhos in June 1172. This was followed up by donations of the Castle of Monsanto in September 1173 and Abrantes in September 1174. Given the poor relations between Afonso and Ferdinand II, the arrival of the Leonese order in Portugal is a little surprising. Some historians have conjectured Afonso was trying to exploit a quarrel between order's grand master Pedro Fernández and king Ferdinand II, but it is likely that the Order's entry was part of some diplomatic agreement between the two kings.[1] Nonetheless, the donation documents explicitly name Rodrigo Álvarez as the administrator of all three Portuguese donations.[3] Although a founding knight of Santiago, Rodrigo Álvarez was known to be dissatisfied with its rules (Álvarez would resign shortly after and found his own separate Order of Mountjoy in Aragon). So it is possible Afonso may have been trying to encourage a switch or schism in the Order already at this stage. The foundation of the Order of Évora (future Order of Aviz) in 1175/76 reveal Afonso's keen interest in a native Portuguese order.
Expulsion from Portugal
Whatever the intentions of the original invitation, the knights of Santiago evidently did not meet Afonso's expectations. The Crown took back Monsanto in 1174, and in 1179, Afonso expelled the Order of Santiago from Portugal and cancelled all their donations, as a consequence of a war that erupted between Portugal and León that year.[4]
Return to Portugal
In 1186, after the death of Afonso I, King Sancho I of Portugal donated to the Order of Santiago the Portuguese dominions of Palmela, Almada and Alcácer do Sal, all in the Setúbal District, south of Lisbon), thus marking their return. But in 1190–91, all three citadels were conquered in an offensive led by the Almohad caliph Yaqub al-Mansur. They were recovered sometime between 1194 and 1204. The Order of Santiago established its Portuguese headquarters at Palmela shortly before 1210, and definitively by 1212.
One of the most notable of Portuguese knights of St. James was Paio Peres Correia. Between 1234 and 1242, Correia led the conquest of much of the southerly Moorish dominions of Baixo Alentejo and the Algarve. In 1242, Paio Peres Correia was elevated to Grand Master of the Order of St. James, the only known Portuguese to have held the supreme title of the Castilian-based Order.
In 1249, Paio Peres Correia and the Order of Santiago helped Afonso III of Portugal sweep up the final Moorish possessions in the Algarve. The possessions of the Order in Portugal were expanded and confirmed by Afonso III in 1255.
Portuguese Order of Santiago
After the death of Correia in 1275, the Order of Santiago returned firmly into Castilian hands. Thus, in 1288, King Denis of Portugal separated the Portuguese branch from the Castilian-Leonese Order. This was confirmed by Pope John XXII in 1320.[5]
During the 1383–1385 Portuguese succession crisis, D. Fernando Afonso de Albuquerque, master of the Order of Santiago in Portugal, backed the candidacy of John, Master of Aviz, and served briefly as John's ambassador to the English Court.
Upon becoming king, having distributed much royal and seized land to reward his supporters, King John I of Portugal was left with a slim royal demesne, insufficient to maintain his many sons with princely households. But the vast wealthy domains of the military orders were an alternative option. John promptly set his mind on acquiring the masterships of all the principal military orders in Portugal for his family.
In 1418, John secured the mastership of the Order of St. James for his son, John of Reguengos, the future Constable of Portugal. In 1420, he secured the mastership of the Order of Christ (ex-Templars) for another son, Henry the Navigator. After his death in 1433, John I's own Order of Aviz (ex-branch of Calatrava) was passed to a third son, Ferdinand the Saint.[6] The mastership of the three major orders – St. James, Christ and Aviz – would remain in the hands of princes of the royal family (infantes) for much of the next century.
After the death of John of Reguengos in 1442, his brother, the regent prince Peter of Coimbra appointed John's son Diogo as master of Santiago. But Diogo died within a year, so Peter passed the mastership on to his nephew, Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Beja, the younger brother of King Afonso V of Portugal. This was confirmed by Pope Eugene IV in 1444.[7] In the 1452 bull Ex apostolice sedis, Pope Nicholas V confirmed once more Ferdinand's appointment and put a definitive end to questions (up to then still being raised by Castile) about the autonomy of the Portuguese branch of Santiago.
João Fernandes, Lord of Lourinhã, the first Grand-Master of the order
At the death of Henry the Navigator in 1460, his title of Duke of Viseu and the mastership of the Order of Christ passed on to Infante Ferdinand, Henry's designated heir. Ferdinand was in an unusual position of holding two major military orders, but this was ratified by Pope Pius II in 1461.[7]
At Infante Ferdinand's death in 1470, all his titles, including both the orders of Christ and Santiago, were inherited by his eldest son, João, Duke of Viseu. But the sickly João died just two years later, in 1472. The mastership of the orders was subsequently separated again: João's younger brother, Diogo, Duke of Viseu became master of the Order of Christ, while the Order of St. James passed to his brother-in-law, Infante John, the eldest son and heir of Afonso V of Portugal. (John had recently married Infante Ferdinand's daughter, Eleanor of Viseu).
With the ascension of Infante John as King John II of Portugal in 1481, the fortunes of the Order of St. James rose with him. At the time, the Order of Christ, with their vast possessions (including the Atlantic islands), was the richest and most powerful military order in Portugal. To combat their influence, John II, a centralizing prince, doted on and deployed his Order of St. James at their expense.
The Order of Christ had been out of the explorations business since the death of Prince Henry in 1460. As A result, the Order of St.James supplied a greater share of the knights for the slate of new expeditions organized by John II in the 1480s.
The death of John II's only legitimate son and heir Prince Afonso in 1491 threw the kingdom into a succession crisis, as it left John II with only one legitimate successor, his cousin and brother-in-law, Manuel, Duke of Beja. Manuel of Beja had become the master of the Order of Christ in 1484 (following the death of his brother, Diogo of Viseu). John II did not trust Manuel, and suspected he might fritter away his hard-won gains. As a result, John II launched a campaign to legitimize his natural son, Jorge de Lencastre, as royal heir. From Pope Innocent VIII, John II received authorization to appoint Jorge de Lencastre as the Master of the Order of St. James in April 1492 (and also administrator of the Order of Aviz). However, the Pope refused to legitimize his birth, and as a result, at the death of John II in 1495, Duke Manuel of Beja ascended as King Manuel I of Portugal.
In the first decade of Manuel's reign, D. Jorge de Lencastre was the leader of what might be called the political opposition to Manuel, composed mostly of loyalists of the late King John II. The Order of St. James was his power base, and its castle in Palmela served as something akin to an 'alternative' royal court.
Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese Governor of the Indies (1509–1515), wearing a cloak with the cross of the Order of Santiago
It is reported by chronicler João de Barros (p.274) that just before his departure for India in 1497, King Manuel I of Portugal presented Vasco da Gama with his personal standard – not the familiar armillary sphere flag later associated with Manuel, but rather the banner of the Order of Christ, of which Manuel was the grand master. But chronicler Gaspar Correia (p.15) reports that as soon as the ships left sight of Lisbon harbor, Paulo da Gama pulled 'the royal standard' down from the mast. Evidently the Gamas took the king's gesture as a calculated slight against their beloved Santiago.
Nonetheless, in subsequent years Manuel I would set his Order of Christ to poach the knights of the Order of St. James. In January, 1505, Manuel managed to coax D. Francisco de Almeida to abandon Santiago and move over to the Order of Christ. Vasco da Gama himself eventually did the switch in 1507. Afonso de Albuquerque, by contrast, refused; he was buried in his Santiago vestments.[9]
Master Jorge de Lencastre spent much of his career trying to defend the Order of Santiago against Manuel's encroachments. In May 1505, he actually managed to secure a royal order prohibiting knights from leaving his orders without his express permission. But Manuel soon obtained from Pope Alexander VI two bulls to undermine him – one from July 1505, giving the King of Portugal the right to dispose of the property of all three Orders; another in January, 1506, authorizing knights to move freely from other Orders to the Order of Christ.
In 1509, D. Jorge de Lencastre introduced a new set of rules for the Order of Santiago, overhauling its administration in a centralized fashion, bringing it closer in line with the rules of their Spanish brethren. This was done perhaps to gain the support of the Spanish monarchy and the Pope, but to no avail. In 1516, Manuel secured from Pope Leo X the authority to appoint Jorge's successor as grand master of Santiago.
As a royal order
Manuel died in 1521, and he was succeeded by his son John III of Portugal. When Jorge de Lencastre died in July 1550, John III received a bull from Pope Julius III a couple of weeks later appointing him personally as the master of both the Order of Santiago and the Order of Aviz. This was followed by a second bull, Praeclara carissimi, issued by the pope under great diplomatic pressure by John III in December 1551, appointing the Kings of Portugal as masters in perpetuity of all three military orders (Christ, Santiago and Aviz), thus bringing an end to the independence of the military orders in Portugal.
Secularization
Insignia of the order
Pope Pius VI (1789) and Queen Maria I reformed the order into a secular institution.
As an order of merit
In 1834, when the civil government of Portugal became anti-clerical after the defeat of King Miguel in the Civil War, under the constitutional monarchy, the order lost its properties. The ancient military orders were transformed by the liberal constitution and subsequent legislation into mere orders of merit. The privileges which once had been an essential part of the membership of the old military orders also ceased.
In 1917, at the end of World War I, some of these Orders were re-established to reward outstanding services to the state, the office of Grand Master belonging to the Head of State – the President of the Republic. The Military Order of St. James, together with the other Portuguese Orders of Merit, had its statutes revised on several occasions, during the First Republic (1910–1926), then in 1962, and again in 1986.
The Military Order of Saint James, together with the Military Orders of Christ and of Aviz, form the group of the "Ancient Military Orders", governed by a Chancellor and a Council of eight members, appointed by the President of the Republic, to assist him as Grand Master in all matters concerning the administration of the Order. The Order, despite its name, can be conferred to Portuguese and foreigners for outstanding services to science, literature or art. The highest grade of the Order, that of Grand Collar, is a special award, conferred only to foreign heads of state.
Domains
The Order of Santiago possessed many domains granted by the Portuguese Crown, almost all of them south of the Tagus river, clustered in the Sado region and lower Alentejo. As the most southerly of the four Portuguese military orders, the Santiago knights were the first frontline against incursions from the Moorish Algarve in the 13th century. These domains were partitioned into comendas, and granted by the Order in commendam to a Santiago knight (comendador) entrusted with the obligation of defending them. After the completion of the conquest of the Algarve, the comendas continued to be a source of revenue for the Order, granted to distinguished individual knights of the Order, still contingent on military service, and run according to the Order's regulations. In principle, the comendador was just a temporary manager of the Order's property, although over time some comendadors treated the comenda as their own property.
The vast size and compactness of the domains of the Order of Santiago, its self-contained system of knights and comendas, and the extensive privileges of the Order, including civil and criminal jurisdiction, over these domains, has led some commentators to refer to it as a "state within a state". The grand masters of the Order were among the most powerful men in Portugal, and comendadors stood at the peak of rural society in their districts.[10]
The Order of St. James of the Sword, as awarded by the Portuguese government today, comes in six classes:
Grand Collar (GColSE), which wears the badge of the Order on a special collar (chain), and the star of the Order in gold on the left chest;
Grand Cross (GCSE), which wears the badge of the Order on a gilt collar (chain), or on a sash on the right shoulder, and the star of the Order in gold on the left chest;
Grand Officer (GOSE), which wears the badge of the Order on a gilt collar (chain), and the star of the Order in gold on the left chest;
Commander (ComSE), which wears the badge of the Order on a gilt collar (chain), and the star of the Order in silver on the left chest;
Officer (OSE), which wears the badge of the Order on a gilt collar (chain), and on a ribbon with rosette on the left chest;
Knight (CavSE) or Dame (DamSE), which wears the badge of the Order on a silver collar (chain), and on a plain ribbon on the left chest.
The badge of the Order is a gilt cross with red enamel, similar to the Order's emblem illustrated here, but with a longer lower arm, and is surrounded by a wreath of green-enamelled palm leaves; a white-enamelled scroll, bearing the legend "Ciência Letras e Artes" (Science Literature and Art), is located at the bottom of the badge. (The Grand Collar badge has no scroll, and a laurel wreath instead of palms.) During the monarchy the badge was topped by the Sacred Heart of Christ.
The star of the Order has 22 asymmetrical arms of rays, in gilt for Grand Collar, Grand Cross and Grand Officer, and in silver for Commander. The central disc is in white enamel, with a miniature of the modern badge in it. During the monarchy the Sacred Heart of Christ was placed at the top of the star.
The House of Aviz, also known as the Joanine Dynasty, was a dynasty of Portuguese origin which flourished during the Renaissance and the period of the Portuguese discoveries, when Portugal expanded its power globally.
The Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz, previously to 1910 Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz, previously to 1789 Knightsof Saint Benedict of Aviz or Friars of Santa Maria of Évora, is a Portuguese order of chivalry, founded in Portugal in 1146. It gave its name and coat of arms to the Aviz Dynasty that ruled Portugal between 1385 and 1580.
The Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ is the former order of Knights Templar as it was reconstituted in Portugal. Before 1910, it was known as the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was founded in 1319, with the protection of King Denis of Portugal, after the Templars were abolished on 22 March 1312 by the papal bull, Vox in excelso, issued by Pope Clement V. King Denis refused to pursue and persecute the former knights as had occurred in most of the other sovereign states under the political influence of the Catholic Church.
The Order of Calatrava was one of the four Spanish military orders and the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Order of Calatrava was given by Pope Alexander III on September 26, 1164. Most of the political and military power of the order had dissipated by the end of the 15th century, but the last dissolution of the order's property did not occur until 1838.
The Order of Santiago is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, Santiago. Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of St. James, to defend Christendom and to remove the Muslim Moors from the Iberian Peninsula with the Reconquista. Entrance was not restricted to nobility of Spain exclusively, and some members have been Catholic Europeans from other parts of Europe. The Order's insignia is particularly recognisable and abundant in Western art.
Infante John, Constable of Portugal was a Portuguese infante (prince) of the House of Aviz, Constable of Portugal and master of the Portuguese Order of St. James (Santiago). In Portugal, he is commonly referred to as the O Infante Condestável.
Jorge de Lencastre was a Portuguese prince, illegitimate son of King John II of Portugal and Ana de Mendonça, a lady-in-waiting to Joanna la Beltraneja. He was created the second Duke of Coimbra in 1509. He was also master of the Order of Santiago and administrator of the Order of Aviz from 1492 to 1550.
An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is an order of knights, typically founded during or inspired by the original Catholic military orders of the Crusades and paired with medieval concepts of ideals of chivalry.
Estêvão da Gama was a wealthy Portuguese knight of the fifteenth century, best known as the father of explorer Vasco da Gama.
Ana de Mendonça (1460-1542) was a maid of A claimant of Castile, Joanna la Beltraneja, and a mistress of King John II of Portugal, who was also Master of the Order of Saint James 1470-1492. They had one son, Jorge de Lencastre, Duke of Coimbra and Master of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword. He married D. Isabel Colón's sister-in-law.
A collar, also known as collar of an order, is an ornate chain, often made of gold and enamel, and set with precious stones, which is worn about the neck as a symbol of membership in various chivalric orders. It is a particular form of the livery collar, the grandest form of the widespread phenomenon of livery in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. Orders which have several grades often reserve the collar for the highest grade. The links of the chain are usually composed of symbols of the order, and the badge of the order normally hangs down in front. Sometimes the badge is referred to by what is depicted on it; for instance, the badge that hangs from the chain of the Order of the Garter is referred to as "the George".
The Royal Equestrian and Military Order of Saint Michael of the Wing is a Portuguese Roman Catholic dynastic order that is believed to have been founded in 1147 in the Alcobaça Monastery in Alcobaça, Portugal, by King Afonso I of Portugal, in commemoration of the Conquest of Santarém from the Moors in 1147. The name was chosen in honour of the military Saint Archangel Michael, who assisted in the victory in the shape of a wing in the sky.
The Imperial Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ, often simply named Order of Christ, is an order of chivalry instituted by emperor Pedro I of Brazil on 7 December 1822, on the basis of the Portuguese Order of Christ founded by King Dom Dinis and Pope John XXII in 1316–1319.
The Ínclita Geração is a term commonly used by Portuguese historians to refer to a group of 15th-century infantes (princes) of the House of Aviz, specifically the sons of King John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster : the future king Edward of Portugal; the future regent Peter of Coimbra; Prince Henry the Navigator; the constable John of Reguengos; and the martyr Ferdinand the Holy Prince.
The Military Order of Christ was founded in 1318. The order, in every sense of the term, were Knights Templar who continued their operations from their headquarters in Tomar, Santarém Portugal. Contrary to the belief that the Templar Order was renamed and established by King Denis of Portugal, the Templars merely moved backed to their original headquarters in Tomar Castle which was an autonomous zone granted to the Templar Order. Reasons for this move and change of name were to protect the vast assets of the order from repatriation by the Catholic Church. The Templar assets were then transferred over to the Cavaleiros de Cristo, all with the blessing of King Diniz who helped pull off the deal with the Church.
The Kingdom of Portugal was established from the county of Portugal in the 1130s, ruled by the Portuguese House of Burgundy. During most of the 12th and 13th centuries, its history is chiefly that of the gradual reconquest of territory from the various Muslim principalities (taifas) of the period.
The Sash of the Three Orders is a decoration that combines the insignia of the Grand Crosses of the Military Orders of Christ, Aviz and St. James of the Sword. It is the symbol of the Portuguese presidential magistracy, in their capacity as the fount of the Portuguese honours system; therefore, it cannot be conferred on nationals or foreigners, nor can it be used outside the exercise of office of the President.
The siege of Faro occurred when Portuguese forces, under the command of King Afonso III of Portugal, captured the city of Faro in 1249 from the Taifa of Niebla. The event marked the end of Portuguese Reconquista efforts in the Iberian Peninsula.
The Portuguese conquest of the Algarve, the southern-most region in modern-day Portugal, occurred between 1238, when the castle of Estômbar was captured by the Order of Santiago, and 1249, when king Afonso III of Portugal captured Faro, Loulé, Aljezur, Porches and Albufeira.
de Albuquerque, Afonso (1557). Commentarios Dafonso Dalboquerque, capitam geral & gouernador da India (in Spanish). 1774 Port. ed. trans. 1875–84 by Walter de Gray Birch, as The Commentaries of the great Afonso Dalboquerque, second viceroy of India, 4 volumes, London: Hakluyt Society
de Barros, João. Décadas da Ásia: Dos feitos, que os Portuguezes fizeram no descubrimento, e conquista, dos mares, e terras do Oriente (1552–59).
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