Medjidie
Encyclopedia
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
and knightly order of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. The Order was instituted in 1851 by Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Abdülmecid I
Abdülmecid I
Sultan Abdülmecid I, Abdul Mejid I, Abd-ul-Mejid I or Abd Al-Majid I Ghazi was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on July 2, 1839. His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the empire's territories...
.
Order of the Medjidie
Instituted in 1851, the Order was awarded in five classes, with the First Class being the highest. The Order was issued in considerable numbers by Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid I as a reward for distinguished service to members of the British ArmyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
who came to the aid of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
during the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
against Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. In Britain it was worn after any British gallantry and campaign medals awarded, but before the Turkish Crimean War medal. The Order was usually conferred on officers but a few enlisted soldiers also received it in a lower class. During World War I it was also awarded to a number of German and Austrian officers.
The Order was often conferred on non-Turkish nationals.
Design of the Order
On the obverse of the star is Sultan Abdul Mejid's royal cipher surrounded by an inscription on a gold-bordered circle of red enamel; all on a star of seven triple quills with small crescents and five-pointed stars between them, suspended from a red enameled crescent and star suspender with green enameled edges.The order has 5 classes. First, second, third and fourth classes are gold. Fifth (lower) class is silver.
Owners of the order:
- First Class Order (Gold) - 50 people (Given by Sultan)
- Second Class Order (Gold) - 150 people (Given by Sultan)
- Third Class Order (Gold) - 800 people
- Fourth Class Order (Gold) - 3,000 people
- Fifth Class Order (Silver) - 6,000 people
Some recipients
- Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri, Algerian Islamic scholar and political and military leader who led a struggle against the French invasion.
- Napoleon III, Emperor of France ;
- Abraham AshkenaziAbraham AshkenaziAbraham Ashkenazi was the Sephardi chief rabbi of Palestine.Ashkenazi was born at Janishar, near Salonica, in 1813. Aged fifteen, he was taken by his father to Jerusalem, where he studied rabbinical literature in the various colleges...
, chief rabbi of Palestine. - Maréchal Vaillant
- Henri de Testa, ministre d'Autriche à Athènes ;
- Alfred de Testa, baron de Testa, avocat ;
- Léopold de Testa, avocat et écrivain ;
- Joséphine Rostkowska, aide-chirurgien ;
- Jean François Jules Herbé, militaire français ;
- Charles Joseph Dumas-Vence, contre-amiral français ;
- Louis Toussaint Doutrelaine, militaire français ;
- Jules Pierre Duhamel Grandprey, militaire français ;
- Pierre Louis Charles de FaillyPierre Louis Charles de FaillyPierre-Louis Charles de Failly was a French general.The son of Count Charles-Louis de Failly , and of Sophie Desmons de Maigneux, he was educated at the Saint-Cyr and entered the army in 1828.In 1851 he had risen to the rank of colonel, and Napoleon...
, militaire français ; - Jules Étienne Marie Forgeot, militaire français ;
- Pierre Joseph Jeanningros, militaire français ;
- Frédéric Labé, militaire français ;
- Auguste Lumière, industriel et biologiste français ;
- Léon-Eugène MéhédinLéon-Eugène MéhédinLéon-Eugène Méhédin was a French archaeologist, architect and photographer.Méhédin's career, a fervent Bonapartist, was greatly facilitated when he erected two triumphal arches in L'Aigle in 1851 to celebrate Napoléon III's French coup of that year...
, architecte et photographe français ; - Charles-Nicolas Michelet, militaire français ;
- Alphonse Nothomb, homme politique belge ;
- Vitalis Pacha, militaire turc ;
- Jules Ernest RenouxJules Ernest RenouxJules Alphonse Ernest Renoux was a French painter working during the height of French Impressionism and the Belle Epoque.-Training and career:Renoux was the son of Jules Alphonse Renoux and Ernestine Veron...
, peintre français; - Pierre-Auguste SarrusPierre-Auguste SarrusPierre-Auguste Sarrus was a French musician and inventor.* He joined the army at the age of 23....
, musicien français ; - Jules-Dominique Brion, militaire français ;
- Stanislaw Graham Bower St. Clair, militaire angleterre