View source for Order of the Band

{{Infobox order
|title= Order of the Band
|image= [[File:Royal Bend of Castile.svg|200px]]
|caption= Emblem of the Order of the Band, the same of the [[Royal Bend of Castile]].
|awarded_by = [[Alfonso XI of Castile]]
|type= [[Chivalric order]] in one class
|established= 1332
|for             = 
|status          = Disestablished
|grades     = Knight
|motto =  
|image2          = 
|caption2        = 
|total awarded = 
}} 
The '''Order of the Band''', '''Knights of the Band''', or '''Equites Bindae''', was a [[Military order (society)|military order]] in [[Spain]], instituted by [[Alfonso XI of Castile|Alfonso XI]], [[List of Castilian monarchs|King]] of [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] in 1332.<ref>''The New Cambridge Medieval History, vol. 6: c. 1300 - c. 1415'', Michael Jones (ed.) (Cambridge, 1998), p. 209.</ref> It took its name from the ''banda'', band, sash or red ribbon which was once worn by knights belonging to the order.

Membership of the order was awarded to certain distinguished knights and squires of the king, and had roots back as far as 1324.<ref name="Members">{{Cite web |url=http://www.zingzang.org/historiaviva/nombres/vanda-ing.shtml |title=Members of the Order of the Band |access-date=2008-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716062843/http://www.zingzang.org/historiaviva/nombres/vanda-ing.shtml |archive-date=2011-07-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This order was only for nobility; the eldest sons of [[grandee]]s were excluded; and a prerequisite to admittance was to have served at least ten years either in the army, or at court. They were bound to take up arms for [[Catholicism]] against infidels. The King himself was Grand Master of the order. After a period of decline it is considered to have been extinct by 1474.<ref name="Members"/>

== See also ==
*[[Female order of the Band]]
*[[Royal Bend of Castile]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110716062843/http://www.zingzang.org/historiaviva/nombres/vanda-ing.shtml Members of the Order of the Band]
{{Cyclopaedia 1728|title=}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dynastic orders|Band]]
[[Category:Orders of chivalry of Spain]]
[[Category:14th-century establishments in Castile]]
[[Category:History of Catholicism in Spain]]
[[Category:Catholic orders of chivalry]]
[[Category:1332 establishments in Europe]]


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