Order of Saint Elizabeth St. Elisabethenorden | |
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Awarded by Electoral Palatine Electorate of Bavaria, Kingdom of Bavaria | |
Type | ladies order |
Royal house | House of Wittelsbach |
Eligibility | Catholic religion, seize quartiers |
Status | defunct |
Founder | Electress Elisabeth Auguste |
Grades | Dame Honorary Dame |
Statistics | |
First induction | 1766 |
Last induction | 1976 |
Total inductees | 191 Dames 31 Honorary Dames |
Precedence | |
Next (higher) | Royal Order of Saint Hubert |
Next (lower) | Royal Order of Max Joseph |
Equivalent | Royal Order of Saint George for the Defense of the Immaculate Conception |
Ribbon bar of the order |
The Order of Saint Elizabeth was an chivalric and charitable order for women in the Electoral Palatinate and the Kingdom of Bavaria.
The Order of Saint Elizabeth was founded by Countess Palatine Elisabeth Auguste of Sulzbach, the first spouse of Charles Theodore, Elector of the Palatinate, in honor of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and as a charitable institution for the poor on 18 October 1766. It was confirmed on 31 January 1767 by Pope Clement XII. Candidates had to proof their and their husbands noble descent until their great-grandparents (seize quartiers). Originally, it was to six ladies, additionally to ladies of prince rly houses, the Hofmeisterin (equals the Mistress of the Robes) and ladies-in-waiting of the Grand Mistress. The nomination took place either on Easter or on Saint Elizabeth’s Day (19 November), the entrance fee was four ducats.
In 1873, the fee was increased to 500 marks for Bavarian ladies and 1.000 marks for foreigners, while the proof of nobility was lowered to the grandparents. Additionally, the Grand Mistress was enabled to appoint Honorary Dames, i. e. princesses consort, who were dispensed from the fee.
The badge was a white enameled cross, representing on one side Saint Elizabeth dispensing charity to the poor, and on the other E A, the initials of the founder. It was worn on the left breast by a blue ribbon with a red border, with inverted colours for Honorary Dames.
The Grand Mistress was appointed by the Elector, later by the King. She had to be a member or the wife of a member of the House of Wittelsbach.
The House of Wittelsbach is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, Holland, Zeeland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Bohemia, and Greece. Their ancestral lands of Bavaria and the Palatinate were prince-electorates, and the family had three of its members elected emperors and kings of the Holy Roman Empire. They ruled over the Kingdom of Bavaria which was created in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918.
Archduchess Gisela Louise Marie of Austria Princess of Hungary, Princess of Bohemia, Princess of Galicia and Lodomeria, Princess of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia was the second daughter and eldest surviving child of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She became a Princess of Bavaria through her marriage to her second cousin, Leopold.
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Sulzbach or Sülzbach may refer to:
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Elisabeth Auguste of Neuburg was the only surviving child of Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine. The Palatinate-Neuburg line became extinct with her father and was succeeded by the Palatinate-Sulzbach line. Her sons with Count Palatine Joseph Charles of Sulzbach would have been the indisputable heirs to the Electorate of the Palatinate, but they all died in infancy. She was the Hereditary Princess of Sulzbach by marriage.
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Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este, was an Electress of Bavaria as the second spouse of Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria.
Elisabeth Auguste of Sulzbach was the eldest granddaughter of the Elector of the Palatinate Charles III Philip, and by her marriage to Elector Palatine Charles IV Theodore, Electress Palatine and later Electress of Bavaria.
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