Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/745

 DECORATIONS

667

DECORATIONS

nnly a masterpiece in itself, but is so full of the new n;ituralistic tendency, that it may be said to open the second epoch of sculpture in Nuremberg.

LiBKE, Hisloni of .Vw/p(i(rc (London, 1872); Bode, GcscA. /. r .fcufarAm Ptaxtik (Berlin, 18S7); Nagler, KilnsllcT-Lexicon I Munich, 1836); Mvller. KumUcr-Lexicon (Stuttgart, 1857); Drulsche Bwgraphie (Leipzig, 1877).

M. L. Handley.

Decorations, Papal. See Decorations, Pontif- ical.

Decorations, Pontifical, the titles of nobility,

iinlcrs of Christian knighthood and other marks of

Ihmour and distinction which the papal court confers

11] ion men of unblemished character who have in any

way promoted the interests of society, the Church,

and the Holy See. The titles range all the way from

prince to baron inclusive, and are bestowed by the

pope as temporal sovereign. The title ordinarily con-

j ferred is that of count prefixed to the family name,

i which title is either merely personal or transferable by

I right of primogeniture in the male line. Bishops

I a.ssistant at the throne are de jure Roman counts.

! There is another title which is usually called Count

Palatine, but the true designation is Count of the

S:i( red Palace of Lateran, which is attached to many

I ilicos in the papal court. The papal orders of

knighthood, ranking according to their importance

.ind dignity, are: (1) Supreme Order of Christ; (2)

Onicr of Pius IX; (3) Order of St. Gregory the

(iriat; (4") Order of St. Sylvester; (5) Order of the

Golden Militia, also called of the Golden Spur;

H'l Order of The Holy Sepulchre (semi-official note

of tlie Cardinal Chancellor of Equestrian Orders, "Os-

S( Tvatore Romano", 12 Feb., 1905).

Pius X decreed that the Orders of Christ and the Golden Militia should have only one, the other four on Irrs, three grades or cla.sses ("Multum ad excitan- dos''; 7 Feb., 1905); that occasionally, but very rarely, in matters of special importance and by special papal init;ht be allowed to wear the badge (smaller size than that of the first class) on the left breast. According to critical historians, these orders do not antedate the i iiisades. After the Crusades, the kings of Europe founded .and placed under the protection of the lilcssed Virgin Mary, or the Saints, orders of chivalry. < >f these, some were intended to protect their king- (1 mis from the incursions of the infidel, and were in I ality religious military orders; others were designed ,11 desirable and honourable recompense for eminent >' r\ ices to king and covmtry. The lavish and indLs- criniinate creation of knights of the latter orders led m course of time to a loss of prestige and desire on the part of men of eminent merits to be knighted. The I Ionian pontiffs, in their dual capacity of spiritual and ti niporal rulers, either founded or approved, or re- motielled and restored to their pristine glory, the six papal orders afore-mentioned.
 * iirniission, a commander eminently distinguished

Supreme Order of Christ. — The Supreme Order of Christ is of Portuguese origin (see Christ, Order of THE Knights of). The papal and Portuguese order are one and the same, for a two-fold reason ; the pope is the he.ad of everj' religious order and can admit to solemn profession in any order without the pennission of its superior general, and, further, in the Bull of ap- provals he reserved to himself and his successors the right to create knights of the order, a right which was exercised by the popes and recognized by the kings of Portugal. Tlie decoration is a long red cross, bor- dered with a narrow gold band, whose extremities are of a trapezoidal form, surmounted by a royal crown, which, in turn, is surmounted by a military trophy attached to the ribbon. Upon the centre of the long red cross is superimposed a small, simple, white en- amelled Latin cro.ss. The white upon the red .symbol- izes the triumph of the Immaculate Jjamb of God, by His blood, over the world of sin. Until within a few

years ago, this decoration was worn suspended by a red ribbon which encircled the wearer's neck. Pope Pius X, in memory of the ancient collar composed of alternate swords and tiaras which the knights of old wore, decreed that the decoration should henceforth be worn suspended from a collar composed of shields bearing alternately the cross of the order and the papal emblems connected with golden knots. The "plaque", or badge, worn on the breast, is a silver eight^rayed star ornamented with jewels, bearing on its centre the cross of the order, which is encircled by a crown of gold oak leaves wound with a green fillet. The uniform is of a bright scarlet with facings of white cloth and rich gold embroideries on the collar, breast and cuffs (Moroni, Diz., XVIII, 216). Knee breeches of white smooth silk with gold side stripes, shoes of white silk with gold buckles, hat with white plumes and ornamented with a knot of twisted gold cord terminating in tassels of gold, and a sword with a gold ornamented mother-of-pearl hilt and pendant tassels of twisted gold cord complete this official costume (Pius X, .3 May, 1905). The official dress of a pro- fessed knight of this order when it was a religious military body was white.

Order of Pius IX.— This had for its founder (17 June, 1S47) the pope whose name it bears. Its object is to fittingly reward noble and conspicuous deeds which merit well of Church and society, and to stim- ulate others to follow the illustrious example set them. At first it comprised only two classes, knights of the first cla.ss, who, upon receiving the decoration, were made nobles with hereditary succession, and knights of the second class, whose title of nobility was per- sonal. Shortly after (17 June, 1849, "Cum homi- num mentes") the order was divided into four clas.ses, viz.: (1) Knights of the Great Ribbon; (2) Command- ers with the Badge; (3) Commanders, and (4) Knights. Knights of the Great Ribbon wear a wide ribbon extending from the left shoulder saltier-wise to the right side where from a rosette attached to the ribbon the star of the order is suspended. They also wear on the breast the large badge set with dia- monds. Commanders wear the decoration at the neck. Commanders with the Badge, besides the star at the neck, wear a badge of smaller design than the large plaque on the breast, and simple knights wear the star on the left breast. The decoration is an eight- pointed blue enamelled star. The spaces between the rays are filled in with undulating golden flames. On the centre is a white enamelled medallion on which is engraved the words pius ix and around it, in a golden circle, are stamped in characters of blue, the motto, viUTHTi ET MERiTo. The reverse is identical with the obverse side except that the inscription anno 1847 is used instead of pius ix. There are two forms of badges. One is a large silver medal similar to the star, and the other is of the same design but larger and adorned with brilliant gems. The ribbon of the decoration is dark blue silk bordered with red. The official costume (rarely worn) is a dark blue even- ing dress coat closed in front by one row of gold but- tons. The collar and cuffs and breast of the coat are covered with golden embroideries more or less elab- orate, according to the grade or class of the wearer. Golden epaulettes, white trousers with gold side stripes, a bicornered hat with white plumes, complete the official dress. This order may be conferred also upon non-Catholics.

Order of St. Gregory the Great. — Gregory XVI founded this order to reward the civil and military virtues of subjects of the Papal States by brief " Quod Summis", 1 Sept., 1831, and placed it under the pa- tronage of the great pope whose name it bears. It has two divisions, civil .and military, and each division is divided into four classes, viz.: (l) Grand Cross Knights of the First ("lass; (2) Cirand Cross Knights of the Second Class; (3) Commanders, and (4) simple