Origin

The noble Brotherhood of Saint George

Saint George

Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...

 was created in 1390 by two gentlemen of Franche-Comté

Franche-Comté

Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...

 to honor the relic

Relic

In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...

s of the megalomartyr that had been brought back from the Holy Land

Holy Land

The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...

. Philibert de Mollans, squire

Squire

The English word squire is a shortened version of the word Esquire, from the Old French , itself derived from the Late Latin , in medieval or Old English a scutifer. The Classical Latin equivalent was , "arms bearer"...

 to the Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...

, was its main driving force. His second-in-command, Jehan d'Andelot, was the son of Sir Jean of Andelot-les-Sallins, and of Marie of Usier, Lady of Vaudrey and Rougemont, where lived the precursors and was held the annual chapter.

The Confraternity (1430-1484)

By the time Philip the Good created the Order of the Golden Fleece

Order of the Golden Fleece

The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...

, on the 10 January 1430, there were 24 holders: after the Grand-Master came immediately His Majesty William III of Vienna, in order of precedence

Order of precedence

An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance of items. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments...

. The governor gathered around 1435 or 1440 a certain number of Knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

s to honor the relics in a chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 that he owned close to the city of Rougemont

Rougemont

Rougemont may refer to:* Rougemont Castle, a ruined castle in Exeter, Devon* Rougemont, Switzerland, a town in Switzerland* Rougemont, Quebec, a town in the province of Québec, in Canada* Rougemont, North Carolina, an Unincorporated area in North Carolina...

. Then he decided to celebrate every year the day of the St. George, patron saint

Patron saint

A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...

 of the nobility because he had also been a knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

, and was often represented riding his horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

 with a spear

Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...

.

The qualities required were sixteen quarterings

Quartering (heraldry)

Quartering in heraldry is a method of joining several different coats of arms together in one shield by dividing the shield into equal parts and placing different coats of arms in each division....

 of nobility, catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 religion, birth in "Franche Comté", to be sixteen years of age and to donate 300 livre

French livre

The livre was the currency of France until 1795. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of both units of account and coins.-Etymology:...

.

The governor general was elected for life by the knights. The other officers were a prelate

Prelate

A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...

, a chancellor

Chancellor

Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...

, a treasurer

Treasurer

A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...

 and two secretaries

Secretary (club)

Secretary is a title commonly held by a member of an organization, club, or society. Common duties of the Secretary include taking minutes, notifying members of meetings, contacting various persons in relation to the society, administrating the day to day activities of the organization and...

.

Since then, the most important lords of the region wanted to be accepted in the confraternity and gathered every year at the Chapel of Rougement on April 22, to celebrate the Day of the Saint.

At that time their insignia

Insignia

Insignia or insigne pl -nia or -nias : a symbol or token of personal power, status or office, or of an official body of government or jurisdiction...

 was a medal

Medal

A medal, or medallion, is generally a circular object that has been sculpted, molded, cast, struck, stamped, or some way rendered with an insignia, portrait, or other artistic rendering. A medal may be awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for athletic, military, scientific,...

 of St. George killing the dragon

Dragon

A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...

, suspended from a gold chain.

Philip the Good authorised the confraternity to wear the medal suspended from a red ribbon identical to the one of the Golden Fleece.

The Equestrian Order (1485-1788)

The Confraternity was an association of gentlemen of good will who formed at the beginning a "pie Union" but on the request of Philip the Good, in 1485 the pie Union was made canonically into an equestrian order, immediately approved by Pope Innocent VIII

Pope Innocent VIII

Pope Innocent VIII , born Giovanni Battista Cybo , was Pope from 1484 until his death.-Early years:Giovanni Battista Cybo was born at Genoa of Greek extraction...

.

Already granted prerogatives by Philippe l'Asseure, then by all the Kings of France from Louis XIV

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

 to Charles X

Charles X of France

Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...

, the order benefited from special spiritual favours bestowed as much by the Roman pontiffs than by the oriental hierarchs.

In 1648, the Confraternity sat up in the Imperial city of Besançon and not at Dole

Dole, Jura

Dole is a commune in the Jura department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France, of which it is a subprefecture ....

, then capital of Burgundy. In fact the confraternity took a political

Politics

Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

 position, opposing itself to the Parlement of Dôle.

A room was dedicated to the confraternity in the tower of Montmartin after a decree of the town of Besançon. The Knights of Saint-Georges were the only nobles of the city to benefit from this privilege. Nevertheless, the confraternity also seemed to gather many times at Vesoul

Vesoul

Vesoul is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Franche-Comté in eastern France.The town is the capital of the department, its inhabitants are known in French as Vésuliens.-Notable people:...

, which has St. George for its patron saint.

On the 25 of April 1661, the confraternity gathered at Salin and decided to meet at the convent of the Grands Carmes (Besançon) founded my a fellow member: Jean de Vienne.

After the French conquest in 1668 and the annexation

Annexation

Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...

 of the Franché-Comte to France, with the Treaty of Nijmegen

Treaties of Nijmegen

The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and December 1679...

 in 1678, Louis XIV decided to tolerate the confraternity, despite their resistance to the invaders. The king authorized the knights to wear their medal of St. George suspended this time from a blue moiré

Moiré pattern

In physics, a moiré pattern is an interference pattern created, for example, when two grids are overlaid at an angle, or when they have slightly different mesh sizes.- Etymology :...

 (watered) ribbon, identical to the Order of the Holy Spirit

Order of the Holy Spirit

The Order of the Holy Spirit, also known as the Order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit, was an Order of Chivalry under the French Monarchy. It should not be confused with the Congregation of the Holy Ghost or with the Order of the Holy Ghost...

; this in order to obtain the support of the local nobility who provided him with soldier

Soldier

A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

s for his army

Army

An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...

.

Louis XV

Louis XV of France

Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...

 and Louis XVI

Louis XVI of France

Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....

 maintained the same privileges and even gave their own portrait

Portrait

thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...

 to the confraternity with the mention "Given by the King to the Knights of Saint-George". The portraits decorated the room of the convent of the Grands Carmes with the portrait of the Prince of Condé, protector of the order, unfortunately the room was destroyed during the revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

.

The coat of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 were registered in 1696 and during the general assembly on the 25 of April 1768 new statute

Statute

A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...

s were written.

From the French Revolution to the Abolition (1789-1824)

Most of the members were killed during the revolution and the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

, they were only 25 members left in 1814.

In 1816, at the end of the war, the survivors gathered under the control of a Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 of the dragoon

Dragoon

The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...

s, Charles-Emmanuel, marquis

Marquess

A marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent oriental styles, as in imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam...

 of Saint-Mauris (1735–1839), baron

Baron

Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...

 de Chatenois et de la Villeneuve, comte

Comte

Comte is a title of Catalan, Occitan and French nobility. In the English language, the title is equivalent to count, a rank in several European nobilities. The corresponding rank in England is earl...

 de Saulx et Genevrey, then Maréchal

Maréchal

Maréchal is the French equivalent of English Marshal. It can also be:*Ambrose Maréchal , archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland, USA*André Maréchal Maréchal is the French equivalent of English Marshal. It can also be:*Ambrose Maréchal (1764-1828), archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland, USA*André Maréchal...

 of the camps and armies of the king and inspector general of the national guard.

The statutes written on the 25 of April 1768 were changed and new knights were made for a total of 78 in 1817, year of the last dubbing ceremony.

Unfortunately due to political pressure, a decree

Decree

A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...

 from the king on the 16th of April 1824, forbade the wearing of the insignia of the order. The last knight was the marquis Jouffroy d'Alban who died in 1869. After this date the Confraternity of St. Georges survived, as at the time of its origins, as a private association of gentlemen of good will.

From the private association to the Apostolic association (1825~2004)

In the most recent period the association of the Knights of Saint-George, pursued its mission, adapting itself to the conditions of the apostolate and following the bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 through the spirit of Knighthood.

On 14 of March 1929 the association of the Knights of St. George was registered as a non-profitable association under the French law of 1901.

The nobility condition to enter in the order, was replaced by the necessity of belonging to an elite

Elite

Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...

. This change was made under the impulsion of Cardinal Lorenzo Lauri. Therefore new entrants came mostly from Catholic countries, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

.

These inductees were all confirmed in 1929 by Ignace Gabriel I st Tapouni (1879–1968), Patriarch of Antioch

Patriarch of Antioch

Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch. As the traditional "overseer" of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period...

 and of all the Orient; then in 1930 by Cardinal

Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...

 Lorenzo Lauri (1864–1941), titular archbishop

Titular bishop

A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.By definition a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches is that he be ordained for a specific place...

 of Ephesus, Major Penitentiary

Apostolic Penitentiary

The Apostolic Penitentiary, formerly called the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, is one of the three tribunals of the Roman Curia. The Apostolic Penitentiary is chiefly a tribunal of mercy, responsible for issues relating to the forgiveness of sins in the Catholic Church.The...

 and Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church.

It was with the papal bull

Papal bull

A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....

 of the 11th October 1929 that Patriarch Tappouni raised the sodality

Sodality

In Christian theology, a sodality is a form of the "Universal Church" expressed in specialized, task-oriented form as opposed to the Christian church in its local, diocesan form . In English, the term sodality is most commonly used by groups in the Catholic Church, where they are also referred to...

's prestige by confirming its privileges and by bestowing upon it the prestigious name of "Apostolic Order". Shortly afterwards, by autograph letter dating 23 April 1930, Cardinal Lauri also accepted the title of High Protector and, on the 14th June of the same year, he received in the Vatican

Vatican City

Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...

 a deputation of Knights of Saint-George, along with Cocchi.

On 17 May 1933 another delegation was invited to a solemn reception by Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...

. It was seated on the place of honor, to the right of the pope. During the closing of the holy door

Holy door

Each of the four papal basilicas in Rome has a Holy door . The doors are normally sealed shut from the inside so that they cannot be opened...

, the order was also authorized to lay a symbolic brick

Brick

A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...

, alongside its counterparts (Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Order of the Holy Sepulchre

Order of the Holy Sepulchre

The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a Roman Catholic order of knighthood under the protection of the pope. It traces its roots to Duke Godfrey of Bouillon, principal leader of the First Crusade...

, Teutonic Knights

Teutonic Knights

The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...

, ...)

The Confraternity of the Knights of Saint-George of Burgundy (2004 - present)

After the election in June 2004 of a new governor general, Louis-François Saumon, the confraternity took a new turn in its history.

The governor general established an international network of delegations, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

, Kyrghyzstan, 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...

, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 and others.

Internationally the Confraternity works under the" NPO-Confraternity of the Knights of Saint-George of Burgundy".

These efforts are supported by many prelates of the Catholic Church and already two catholic bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

s joined the confraternity.

The confraternity has been registered as a Faithful Association in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

accordingly to canonic law.

Sources

• La Chevalerie de Saint-Georges en Franche-Comté, par M. Ch. Thuriet; suivie du Role politique et militaire de la Chevalerie de Saint-Georges, par M. Charles Bâille. Poligny, 1878
• Jürgens G. , « Storia dell'Ordine equestre di San Giorgio di Borgogna » , Rome, 1935.
• Thiou É . ,, « La noble Confrérie des Chevaliers de Saint-Georges au comté de Bourgogne ».
• Uyttenhove J., « Ordre souverain de Saint Georges de Bourgogne », Gent, 1960.
• http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Provinces/Franche-Comte.shtml]]
• Confraternity of the Knights of Saint-Georges of Burgundy: http://www.confreriedesaintgeorges.org