View source for Order of the Golden Spur

{{short description|Papal order  of knighthood}}
{{For-multi|the United States Cavalry tradition|Order of the Spur|the elite of the Holy Roman Empire|Knight of the Golden Spur (Holy Roman Empire)|the Hungarian knights|Knight of the Golden Spur (Hungary)}}

{{Infobox order
|title            = Order of the Golden Spur<br>''Ordo Militiae Auratae''
|image           = [[File:Orden vom Goldenen Sporn.jpg|200px]]
|caption         = Badge of the order
|awarded_by      = {{flag|Holy See}}
|type            = [[Papal order of knighthood]]
|motto           = 
|day             = 
|eligibility     = 
|for             = 
|status          = ''Dormant order''
|head_title      = Sovereign
|head            = {{Incumbent pope 2}}
|chancellor      = 
|commander       =
|former_grades   = 
|grades          = Knight
|date            = c. 332?
|first_induction = 
|last_induction  = 
|total           = 
|recipients      = 
|individual      =
|higher          = [[Supreme Order of Christ]]
|lower           = [[Order of Pius IX]]
|image2          = [[File:Ordo Militia Aurata or Ordine dello Speron d'Oro o Milizia Aurata.png|85px]]
|caption2        = Ribbon bar of the order
}}
[[Image:Keten van de Sylvesterorde en de Militia Aurata van voor 1905.jpg|thumb|[[Collar (order)|Collar]] of the Order of Saint Sylvester and the Golden Militia prior to 1905]]
[[Image:Silvesterorden.jpg|thumb|
Cross of the Order of Saint Sylvester and the Golden Militia, 1841]]
[[File:Eques Calcaris aurei, Bonanni 1724. p. XVI.png|thumb|]]
The '''Order of the Golden Spur'''<ref>[[Heraldry|Heraldically]] gold, it is to be understood: "Throughout the Middle Ages gold was far too rare to permit spurs being made of solid gold, despite the importance with which spurs were regarded. They were usually made of iron, brass, or copper, silvered or gilded, and often of iron tinned". (Stephen V. Grancsay, "A Pair of Spurs Bearing the Bourbon Motto" ''The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin'' '''36'''.8 (August 1941:170&ndash;172) p. 171).</ref> ({{langx|it|Ordine dello Speron d'oro}}, {{langx|fr|Ordre de l'Éperon d'or}}), officially known also as the '''Order of the Golden Militia''' ({{langx|la|Ordo Militia Aurata}}, {{langx|it|Milizia Aurata}}),<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2012'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2012 {{ISBN|978-88-209-8722-0}}), p. 1272</ref> is a [[papal order of knighthood]] conferred upon those who have rendered distinguished service in propagating the Catholic faith, or who have contributed to the glory of the Church, either by feat of arms, by writings, or by other illustrious acts. With the death in 2019 of the last remaining knight, [[Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg]], the order is considered dormant.

==History==

===Before 19th century: a noble order===
It is accounted the earliest papal chivalric institution.<ref>{{Citation
 | last =Sainty
 | first =Guy Stair
 | contribution =History of the Papal Orders
 | title =Alamanch de la Cour
 | publisher =chivalricorders.org
 | url =http://www.chivalricorders.org/vatican/papal.htm
 | access-date =2007-08-18
 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070813144855/http://www.chivalricorders.org/vatican/papal.htm
 | archive-date =13 August 2007
 | url-status =dead
 }}</ref>
The Order of the Golden Spur had its origins in the title ''[[Count palatine of the Lateran Palace]]'',<ref>''Comes palatini Lateranensis''.</ref> which was in the gift of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] in the fourteenth century: [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor]] conferred the title on one Fenzio di Albertino di Prato, 15 August 1357, at Prague.<ref>Paul F. Grendler, ''The Universities of the Italian Renaissance'' (2004), p. 184, note 130; the title empowered Fenzio to confer the license of doctor of civil law.</ref> The Order began to be associated with the inheritable [[patent of nobility]] in the form of [[count palatinate]] during the Renaissance; [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Frederick III]] named Baldo Bartolini, professor of civil law at the [[University of Perugia]], a count palatinate in 1469, entitled in turn to confer university degrees.  "Bartolini also received the Knighthood of the Golden Spur, a title that sometimes accompanied the office of count palatinate in the Renaissance", according to the historian of universities Paul F. Grendler;<ref>Grendler 2004:184 note 134.</ref> the Order of the Golden Spur, linked with the title of count palatinate, was widely conferred after the [[Sack of Rome (1527)|Sack of Rome]], 1527, by [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]]; the text of surviving diplomas conferred hereditary nobility to the recipients. Among the recipients was [[Titian]] (1533), who had painted an equestrian portrait of Charles.<ref>C Hope, "Titian as a Court Painter", ''Oxford Art Journal'', 1979.</ref> Close on the heels of the Emperor's death in 1558, its refounding in Papal hands is attributed to [[Pope Pius IV]] in 1559.<ref>Thomas Robson, ''The British Herald; or, Cabinet of armorial bearings of the nobility...'' (1830) ''s.v.'' "Golden Spur, in Rome" and plate 4 (fig. 21) and 5 (figs 3 and 7).</ref>

By the mid-18th century the Order was being so indiscriminately bestowed that [[Giacomo Casanova|Casanova]] remarked "The Order they call the Golden Spur was so disparaged that people irritated me greatly when they asked me the details of my cross;"<ref>"L'ordre qu'on appelle de l'Éperon d'Or était si décrié qu'on m'ennuyait beaucoup quand on demandait des nouvelles de ma croix." (''Histoire de ma vie'', 8;ix);.</ref> he had the grace to add that he would have been pleased if he had been able to answer "mon [[Order of the Golden Fleece|Toison]]", and he did habitually wear it, nevertheless, on its scarlet riband. In 1777 [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] had his portrait painted with the star-encircled cross of the order on his coat,<ref>[https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/56458998/Hulton-Archive Hulton Archive]</ref> and the Order granted to [[Giovanni Battista Piranesi]] permitted him to sign his etchings ''Cav. G.B. Piranesi''. The Order was granted to "those in the pontifical government, artists, and others, whom the pope should think deserving of reward. It is likewise given to strangers, no other condition being required, but that of professing the catholic religion."<ref>Robson 1830.</ref>

===19th century: decline of the order===
In the 19th century, members of the [[Curia]], prelates and [[papal nuncio]]s had the privilege of nominating recipients. The Order was given out liberally upon payment of a small fee, and some scandal arose in Paris concerning the sale of forged letters patent claiming to confer this title,<ref>"Scrutator" in ''Notes and Queries'' 3rd Series, '''3''', p. 254.</ref> formerly linked with the purely honorary designation ''Count Palatine of the Sacred Palace of the Lateran''.<ref>Robson 1830; the language used in the patent was French, the international diplomatic [[lingua franca]] of the era.</ref> [[Honoré Daumier]] included the "Knight of the Golden Spur" among his series of lithographs "[[Bohemianism|Bohemian]]s of Paris" (1842); its satirically mocking legend reads "This so-called former Colonel of the [[Swiss Guard|Papal Guard]], later aide-de-camp to the [[Honoré V, Prince of Monaco|Prince of Monaco]],<ref>The bachelor [[Honoré V, Prince of Monaco]], had died the previous year, during which the pope had included the Order within the Order of Saint Sylvester and the Golden Militia.</ref> awaiting as a prize for his services a distinguished post in the Government!... he would, however, willingly accept a tobacconist's shop or a position as an inspector of [street] sweeping; besides, he is a gallant man like all knights of his order, for a trifle demanding satisfaction from five-year-old children, perfectly making excuses from the moment you look at him in the face."<ref>[https://collection.nmwa.go.jp/en/G.2000-0936.html The National Museum of western Art: Daumier, "Bohemians of Paris", 24 (illustrated)].</ref>

The badge, as described by Robson in 1830, was an eight-pointed gold cross with a ray point between each arm and the legend <small>BENE MER•ENTI</small>. On the reverse was ''Ex dono'' with the name and date when presented. On top of the cross, an imperial crown, and at the base a small spur.

In 1841, [[Pope Gregory XVI]], in the [[Papal Brief]] ''Quod Hominum Mentes'', reformed and renamed the order as the ''Order of Saint Sylvester and the Golden Militia''. He withdrew all faculties to whom and by whomsoever given, and forbade the use of the title or the decoration to all knights created by any means other than a Papal Brief. To restore the Order to its ancient glory, he limited the number of Commanders to 150 and knights to 300 (for the Papal States only), and appointed the Cardinal of Apostolic Briefs as Chancellor of the Order, with the duty of preserving the name, grade, number and date of admission of each knight.<ref>[http://www.papalknights.org.uk/page2.html Papal knights]{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===20th century till present===
On 7 February 1905, in commemoration of the [[golden jubilee]] of the [[dogmatic definition]] of the [[Immaculate Conception]], [[Pope Pius X]] in his motu proprio ''Multum ad excitandos'', divided the order into two, one taking the name of [[Order of St. Sylvester]] and the other taking the older name of the Order of the Golden Spur, and placed it under the patronage of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]].<ref>{{Citation
 | last =Rock
 | first =P.M.J.
 | contribution =Pontifical Decorations
 | year =1908
 | title =The Catholic Encyclopedia
 | volume =IV
 | place=New York
 | publisher =Robert Appleton Company
 | contribution-url = https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04667a.htm
 | access-date = 2007-08-18| title-link =The Catholic Encyclopedia
 }}
</ref>
In modern times the order has only one class, Knight, and its membership has been restricted to one hundred [[knight]]s throughout the world. The honour is conferred by a ''[[Motu Proprio]]'' of the Pope. It is used to award merit, without any consideration of noble birth, and no longer confers [[nobility]], as it did before 1841. It is the second highest of the papal orders (the first being the [[Supreme Order of Christ]]).

With the death of [[Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg]] on 23 April 2019, there are no living members of the Order of the Golden Spur.

==Insignia==
The emblems of the order after the 1905 reorganization consists of:
*The ''badge'', an eight-pointed, enamelled gold cross, in whose center is a small white medallion on one side of which is the word "Maria" surrounded by a golden circle, and on the other the year MDCCCCV and in its surrounding circle the words "''Pius X Restituit''". Pendant from the bottom of the cross is a small golden spur. The decoration is suspended from a red ribbon with white borders.
*The ''star'', which is worn on the left breast, is the same cross centered upon the rays of a silver star.
The official uniform is a red tunic decorated with two rows of gilt buttons, black velvet collar and cuffs embroidered in gold, black trousers with gold side stripes, epaulettes ornamented with gold fringes and surmounted on top with the emblem of the order, gold spurs, oblong two-peaked hat trimmed with gold and bearing the papal colors, and a sword whose hilt forms a gilt cross in a black scabbard, held in place with a gold sword belt with red fringe.

In the early days of the order its members were entitled to wear a gold [[livery collar]] (chain), but when the order was revived in 1905 this was not resumed, though the collar remains a symbol of the order.

In [[ecclesiastical heraldry]], individuals awarded this Order may depict the gold livery collar completely encircling the [[Escutcheon (heraldry)|shield]] on their [[coat of arms]].<ref>{{Citation | last=Noonan, Jr. | first=James-Charles | title=The Church Visible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church | year=1996 | publisher=Viking | isbn=0-670-86745-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/churchvisiblecer0000noon/page/196 196] | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/churchvisiblecer0000noon/page/196 }}</ref>

== Notable recipients ==
[[Image:Knight of the Golden Spur by Jacob Andreas Fridrich.jpg|thumb|250px|A Papal Knight of the Golden Spur, copper engraving by Jacob Andreas Fridrich, 1756]]
*[[Diego García de Paredes]] (1466–1534), Spanish soldier{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}
* [[Raphael]] (1483–1520), artist{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}
*[[Giorgio Vasari]] (1511-1574), artist and biographer{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}
*[[Orlande de Lassus]] (1532-1594), composer, conferred by [[Pope Gregory XIII]]<ref>''Catholic Encyclopedia'', 1913, ''s.v.'' "Orlandus de Lassus".</ref>
* [[Domenico Fontana]] (1543 – 28 June 1607)<ref>[https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06126c.htm Sauer, Joseph. "Domenico Fontana." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 7 December 2022 {{PD-notice}}</ref>
*[[Giorgio Basta]] (1544-1607), conferred by [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor|Rudolf II]]<ref>Dr. Veress Endre, ''Basta György, Hadvezér Levelezése és Iratai (1602—1607)'', T. 2, Budapest, 1913, pp. 779 and 782.</ref>
*[[Ventura Salimbeni]] (1568–1613), Sienese [[Mannerism|Mannerist]] painter and [[printmaker]]
*[[Bonifazio Bevilacqua Aldobrandini]] (1571–1627), Italian [[Cardinal (RC)|Cardinal]] and uncle of [[Pope Gregory XIV]]
*[[Nicholas Plunkett]] (1602–1680), Irish lawyer and Confederate leader{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}
*[[Antonio Latini]] (1642–1692), steward to [[Antonio Barberini|Cardinal Antonio Barberini]], cardinal-nephew of [[Pope Urban VIII]]
*[[Christoph Willibald Gluck]] (1714–1787), German classical composer{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}
*[[Bartolomeo Cavaceppi]] (c. 1716–1799), Italian sculptor{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}
*[[Giacomo Casanova]] (1725–1798), adventurer<ref>Casanova, ''Histoire de ma vie'', 7:ix, 8:ix.</ref>
*[[Giovanni Gallini]] (1729–1805), dancer and impresario in London 1760–1800{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}
* [[Georg Joseph Vogler]] (1749–1814), German composer, conferred by [[Pope Clement XIV]]<ref name="Chisholm">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Vogler, Georg Joseph|volume=28|pages=171–172}}</ref>
*[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] (1756–1791), classical composer, at the age of fourteen<ref>Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, ''Mozart's Letters, Mozart's Life: Selected Letters'', transl. Robert Spaethling, (W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 2000), 17.</ref>
*[[Anton Raaff]] (1714-1797), tenor, conferred by [[Pope Pius VI]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lipowsky |first=Felix Joseph |title=Baierisches Musik-Lexicon |publisher=Giel |year=1811 |location=Munich |pages=261-262 |language=}}</ref>
*[[Niccolò Paganini]] (1782–1840), Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer<ref>"... culminating with a brilliant season [1821] in Rome, during which he was, by Pope Leo XII, decorated with the Order of the Golden Spur..." Nicolo Paganini and His Guarnerius: A Reminiscence of Genoa,The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular,Vol. 27, No. 519 (May 1, 1886), pp. 266-270</ref>
*[[Miklós Horthy]] (1868–1957), Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1944){{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}
*[[Benito Mussolini]] (1883–1945)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kertzer |first1=David I. |title=The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe |page=182 |date=2014 |publisher=Random House}}</ref>
*[[Prince Paul of Yugoslavia]] (1893–1976), Regent of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1934–1941)
*[[Hussein of Jordan|Hussein bin Talal]] (1935-1999), [[List of kings of Jordan|King of Jordan]] (1952-1999)
*[[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] (1919–1980), [[Shah of Iran]]<ref>''Annuario Pontificio'', 1954, p. 998</ref>
*[[Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg]] (1921–2019)
*[[Sukarno]] (1901–1970), [[President of Indonesia]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kepustakaan-presiden.perpusnas.go.id/en/award/?box=list&presiden_id=1&presiden=sukarno| access-date=2022-11-09|publisher=[[National Library of Indonesia]]|title=List of All Award}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[https://papalorders.org.uk/ Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain]

{{Papal Orders of Knighthood}}
{{Orders of Italian States before unification}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Order of the Golden Spur}}
[[Category:Orders of chivalry of the Holy See|Golden Spur]]
[[Category:1905 establishments in Vatican City]]