Part 34 (1/2)
_Feudal Knighthood-- Orders of Knighthood: Knights of St. John; Knights Templars; The Order of the Garter; of the Thistle; of St.
Patrick; of the Bath; of St. Michael and St. George; of The Star of India-- Order of Merit-- Royal Victorian Order-- Imperial Service Order-- The Victoria Cross-- The Albert Medal-- Naval and Military Medals-- Foreign Insignia bestowed on British Subjects._
”The same King would make an Order of KNIGHTS of himself and his Sons, and of the bravest of his land.”
--FROISSART.
”I will say as I have said,-- Thou art a n.o.ble KNIGHT.”
--LORD OF THE ISLES.
KNIGHTHOOD, as that term is generally understood in its comprehensive acceptation, has been well defined to be ”a distinction of rank amongst freemen, depending not upon birth or property, but simply upon the admission of the person so distinguished, by the girding of a sword or other similar solemnity, into an order of men having by law or usage certain social or political privileges,” and also a certain appropriate t.i.tle. It is evident, therefore, from this definition that Knighthood implies the existence of these two conditions: the one, that the man to be admitted to the rank of Knighthood should possess such qualifications as may ent.i.tle him to that distinction; and the other, that Knighthood should be conferred by a personage endowed with a competent power and authority.
In feudal times the qualifications for Knighthood were military exploits of a distinguished character, and eminent services, of whatever kind, rendered to the King and the realm: also, the holding a certain property in land (in the time of EDWARD I., land then of the yearly value of 20, or upwards), whether directly from the King, or under some n.o.ble, by the feudal tenure of personal military service to be rendered under certain established conditions; but it has been disputed whether there was any necessary connection between Knighthood, as such, and the Knight Service of Feudal Tenure. During the first two centuries after the Conquest, Knighthood was conferred by the great Barons and by the Spiritual Peers, as well as by the King himself, or by his appointed representative: but, after the accession of HENRY III., the prevailing rule appears to have been that in England no persons should be created Knights except by the King, or the Prince Royal acting for his Father, or by the King's General-in-Chief, or other personal representative.
The knightly rank, as it gave an increase of dignity, implied also the maintenance of a becoming state, and the discharge of certain civil duties: and, more particularly, all Knights were required to make such a provision for rendering military service as was held to be consistent with their position and their property; and it was expected from them that they should take a dignified part in the chivalrous exercises and celebrations of their times. It followed, that feudal Knighthood was a distinction which, if not conferred for the sake of honour, became obligatory; and fines, accordingly, were imposed upon men qualified for Knighthood who, notwithstanding, were found not to be Knights. In the course of time, as the rigour of the feudal system abated, the numbers of the military tenants of small tenures greatly increased: and, since many of these persons had no inclination for the profession of arms, they gladly accepted the alternative of paying a fine, which enabled them to evade an honour unsuited as well to their means as to their personal tastes and their peaceful avocations. A fruitful source of revenue thus was secured for the Crown, while the military character of Knighthood was maintained, and at the same time a new and important cla.s.s of the community gradually became established.
The Knights of Norman England, who at first were soldiers of the highest order, derived their designation from their warlike predecessors of Anglo-Saxon times, the word ”_cniht_,” in the late Anglo-Saxon tongue, signifying a military attendant. When they had established themselves in the position and in the possession of the lands of the Anglo-Saxons, the Anglo-Norman Knights retained their own original t.i.tle. The Latin equivalent for that t.i.tle of ”Knight” is ”_Miles_,” and the Norman-French is ”_Chevalier_.”
These Knights may be grouped in two cla.s.ses. The first cla.s.s contains all persons who had been admitted into the comprehensive Order of Chivalry--who were Knights by reason of their common Knighthood. The second cla.s.s is formed of Knights who, in addition to their Knightly rank, were members of some special and distinct Fraternity, Companions.h.i.+p, or Order of Knighthood. Every Society of this kind has always possessed Laws, Inst.i.tutions, t.i.tles, and Insignia peculiar to itself.
The peculiar character and object of the Crusades led to the formation of two Orders of _Priest-Knights_--Orders not belonging to any particular nation, but numbering amongst their members men of all nations. These are the Orders of the KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM, or HOSPITALLERS, and of the KNIGHTS TEMPLARS.
The HOSPITALLERS, inst.i.tuted about A.D. 1092, were introduced into England about 1100. In the year 1310 they were established at Rhodes, and in 1530 at Malta, under their forty-third Grand Master, PHILIPPE DE VILLIERS DE L'ISLE-ADAM. Their device is a _silver cross of eight points_, No. 107, charged upon a _black field_, or worn upon a black surcoat or mantle. The Order was finally suppressed in England in 1559.
The TEMPLARS, inst.i.tuted about A.D. 1118, were introduced into England about 1140. In the year 1309 they were suppressed, and in 1312 their Order was finally abolished. They wore _a Cross_ of the same form as No.
107, but of a _red colour upon a white field_. This red cross they charged upon a white banner: and they bore another banner, No. 13, of _black and white_, ent.i.tled ”_Beau Seant_.” The same words, ”_Beau Seant!_” were their war-cry. The Badges of the Templars were the _Agnus Dei_--the Holy Lamb, holding a red-cross banner; and a device representing two Knights mounted on a single horse, intended to denote the original poverty of the Order.[8]
[Footnote 8: The Arms of the Inner Temple of the present day are--_Azure, a pegasus_ (or winged horse) _argent_, or sometimes _or_. This Coat is derived from the early Badge, _the two hors.e.m.e.n_ having been mistaken in later times for _wings_. The Arms of the Middle Temple are--_Argent, on a cross gules_, the Agnus Dei.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 433.--Insignia of the Order of the Garter.]
THE ORDER OF THE GARTER, a military Fraternity under the special patronage of ”ST. GEORGE, the good Knight,” was inst.i.tuted at Windsor by King EDWARD III. in, or about, the year 1350--very probably in the summer of 1348, but the exact time is not positively known. It may safely be a.s.sumed, that the occasion which led to the inst.i.tution of this most n.o.ble and renowned Order, was a Tournament or Hastilude of unusual importance held at his Castle of Windsor by EDWARD III. at the most brilliant period of his reign: and it is highly probable that the Order suggested itself to the mind of the King, as a natural result of his own chivalrous revival of a knightly ”Round Table,” such as flourished in the days of King Arthur. How much of historical fact there may be in the popular legend, which professes to derive from a certain romantic incident the t.i.tle certainly borne by King EDWARD'S Order from the time of its original inst.i.tution, it is not possible to determine: but the legend itself is not in any way inconsistent with the spirit of those times; nor would the Knights Founders of the Garter regard their Order as the less honourable, because its t.i.tle might remind them of the happy gallantry, with which the casual misadventure of a n.o.ble Lady had been turned to so good an account by a most princely Monarch. The Statutes of the Order have been continually modified and altered, and the original military character of the Inst.i.tution has long ceased to exist: still, no changes in the Order of the Garter have affected the pre-eminence of its dignity and reputation. Ill.u.s.trious now as ever, and foremost in rank and honour in our own country, the GARTER is second to no knightly Order in the world.
The MOST n.o.bLE ORDER OF THE GARTER consists of the SOVEREIGN and Twenty-five KNIGHTS COMPANIONS, of whom the PRINCE OF WALES always is one. By a Statute of the year 1805, the Order includes such lineal descendants of GEORGE III. as may be elected: and still more recent statutes have provided for the admission of foreign Sovereigns, and also of certain ”Extra Knights,” who are elected ”Companions” as vacancies occur.
The OFFICERS of the Order are--The _Prelate_, the Bishop of Winchester: the _Chancellor_, the Bishop of Oxford: the _Registrar_, the Dean of Windsor: the _Herald_, Garter King of Arms: and, the _Usher of the Black Rod_.
Knights of the Garter place the initials ”K.G.” after their names; and these letters take precedence of all other t.i.tles, those of Royalty alone excepted.
The Stalls of the Knights are in the choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, where their Garter-plates are fixed, and their Banners are displayed.
The INSIGNIA of the Order of the Garter are--The _Garter_ itself, of a light blue originally, now of a dark blue, with border, buckle, and pendant of gold. On it, in golden letters, the _Motto_--HONI . SOIT . QVI . MAL . Y . PENSE--”Dishonour to him who thinks ill of it;” and not, as it is commonly rendered, ”Evil to him that evil thinks.”
The Badge of the Order is circular, and formed of a buckled Garter enclosing a s.h.i.+eld of St. George, the whole blazoned in the proper tinctures: it is worn on the left shoulder of the blue velvet Mantle.
When irradiated with eight rays of silver or diamonds, a device resembling the Badge in every respect, except that the cross of St.
George is enclosed within the Garter without being charged on a s.h.i.+eld, forms the _Star_ of the Order.
The _Collar_, of gold enamelled, is formed of twelve buckled Garters, each encircling a Tudor Rose, and as many knots of intertwined cords.
Attached to this Collar is the _George_--a mounted figure of the Saint in the act of trampling down the dragon and piercing him with his lance.