816 KNIGHTHOOD. 
in a coat which he u'fed to wear in battle, and whereon 
was embroidered the Burgundian crofs ; and, wiffiing to 
remunerate the bravery of the officers and commanders 
who had diftinguiftied themfelves on this occafion, he in¬ 
ftituted this order, in 1535, on the 22d of July, the feaft 
of St. Mary Magdalen. To this crofs he added a fteel 
emitting fparks of fire, part of the infignia of the order of 
the Golden Fleece, and the motto, Barbaria. The collar was 
merely a gold chain. On the other fide of the badge was 
^ , the-aftronomical character of Mercury ; moft likely be- 
caufe the inftitution took place on a Wednefday, die Mer- 
curii. 
LXXXVIII. The Order of the Lame of God. John 
fnrnamed the Great, king of Sweden, in order to give 
eclat to the folemnity of his coronation, inftituted this 
order on the 10th of July, 1564. The metropolis ofUp- 
fal, where the ceremony took place, was ordained to be 
the chief place of the order. The collar confifted of 
wreaths of laurel furmounted by regal crowns, fupported 
by lions and lizards, and intermixed with columns and 
cherubims upon them in the centre ; and at the bottom of 
the collar hung a medal, upon whidh was the image of the 
■ Saviour of the world fupported by two angels kneeling. 
The motto was Deus proteBor nojler, “God our protestor.” 
Badge, the pafchal lamb enamelled in its proper colours. 
LXXXIX. The Order of St. Maurice and St. 
Lazarus, in Savoy. This order was inftituted in 1440 
by Amadeus VII. duke of Savoy, afterwards pope Felix V. 
he diredled the ftatutes and laws, and affigned for the 
badge a crofs pommetee of white taffeta to be worn em¬ 
broidered on the brealt of the knight. Pope Gregory 
XIII. having, at the lolicitation of Emanuel Philibert 
duke of Savoy, reftored and inftituted anew the order of 
St. Lazarus, as alfo of St. Maurice, in 1572, he united them 
for their greater honour and dignity : be conftituted this 
duke of Savoy and his luccefi'ors hereditary grand-maf- 
ters, and obliged them to futnifh two galleys for the fer- 
vice of the papal fee, in order to be employed againft the 
pirates. The badge was a crofs pommetee argent upon 
a crofs of eight points vert, pendent to a green ribbon. 
The king of Sardinia, uniting the dignity of duke of Sa¬ 
voy, had the grand mafterlhip inverted in him. See 
Plate IV. 
XC. The Order of the Holy Ghost was in¬ 
ftituted by Henry III. in 1579, on account of three prin¬ 
cipal events of his life having taken place on Whit Sun¬ 
day, the day confecrated to celebrate the defcent of the 
Holy Ghoft ; namely, his birth, in 1550; his elebtion to 
the crown of Poland, in 1573 ; and his acceffion to the 
throne of France, in 1574- But his principal objeft was 
to unite the nobility and clergy more firmly to their obe¬ 
dience and to the 1‘overeign ; to encourage them, by this 
military aftociation, to adhere to, and perlevere in, the or¬ 
thodox faith, at a time when the kingdom of France was 
divided by religious factions; and finally to illuftrate the 
nation, and reltore its original fplendour and priftine dig¬ 
nity. The number of the knights was a hundred, befides 
the grand-mrfter, whofe office was infeparable from the 
crown of France. The anniverfary fealt.was held in the 
church of the Auguftine friars, on the banks of the river 
Seine, at Paris, on New Year’s day. The collar was com- 
pofed of fleurs-de-lis or, cantoned with flames of the fame 
enamelled gules, intermixed with ciphers or monograms 
of gold compofed of the letters H and L in white enamel. 
Henry IV. changed it into a trophy of arms in commemo¬ 
ration of his vibtories ; but fince it is compofed of fleurs- 
de-lis cantoned with flames and of trophies, or helms ; at 
the bottom hangs a gold crofs of eight points enamelled 
white on the edges, with a fleur-de-lis within each inte¬ 
rior angle, and in the middle a dove defcending with open 
wings. In an oval on tlie back is reprefented St. Michael 
trampling on the dragon ; the whole enamelled in its pro¬ 
per colours. The knights wear conftantly the crofs hang¬ 
ing to a Iky-blue ribbon, which is borne fcarfwife, and the 
jkme is embroidered on the coat and upper garments. The 
motto confifted in thefe words from Horace : Duct et an- 
fpice. See Plate IV. 
XCI. The Order of Our Lady of Loretto. This 
feems to have been a military aftociation inftituted by 
pope Sixtus V. in 15S7, in order to ftirrtulate the Italian 
nobility to defend the territory of St. Peter againft the 
enemies of-the papal fee. Confcious of its utility, Paul 
III. confirmed it; but Gregory XIII. having'other means 
of fecuring his fubjefts, thought proper to abolilh it en¬ 
tirely. The badge, which the knights wore at a button¬ 
hole, confifted of a fmall medal of gold enfigned with the 
image of the Virgin Mary of Loretto in enamel. 
XCII. The Order of the Yellow String, or Cor¬ 
don Jaune, in France, was inftituted by the duke of Ne- 
vers in 1606, and abolilhed in the fame year by Henry IV. 
It was, therefore, but an ephemerous inftitution. 
XCIII. The Order of Our Lady of Mount Car¬ 
mel, and of St. Lazarus. Henry the IV. of France, 
after his converfion to the Roman-catholic faith, being de- 
firous to have an order of knighthood which fliould take 
its origin from hiS royal will, inftituted this order, and 
ordained to it the rule and denomination of the Blefted 
Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. He had, for that pur- 
pofe, applied himfelf to pope Paul V. who, in 1608, con¬ 
firmed the laid order, and *,refcribed feveral things'necef- 
fary for the inftitution, according to the mind and* inten¬ 
tion of the king ; ordaining alfo penfions for the grand- 
mafter and knights of the order out of certain eccleliafti- 
cal benefices within the kingdom of France. The order of 
St. Lazarus being then on its decline, the comraanderies be¬ 
longing to it were annexed to this new order, as we have 
mentioned before; (fee p. 796.) fo that the order of St. 
Lazarus was divided into two branches,’one uniting itfelf 
to the Item of the order of St. Maurice in Savoy, and the 
other to that of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in France. 
The order confifted of one hundred gentlemen, all natives 
of France, and all appointed to attend on the king’s per- 
Ibn upon any warlike expedition. According to cuftom, 
they were under the obligation of three vows ; obedience, 
chaftity, and fidelity in fighting againft the enemies of the 
Roman church. The anniversary feaft was celebrated on 
the 16th of July. The firft mafter or fovereign of the order 
was Philibert Nereftan, of the noble and ancient houfe 
of Lufignan : he was one of the knights of St. Lazarus, 
and a man diftinguifhed for his valour and knowledge in 
military difeipline ; and in the year 1608 he took the oath 
as grand-mafter, and of fidelity to the king of France, 
Henry IV. The badge confifted of a crofs of eight points, 
of tawny velvet or latin with a white bordure, embroi¬ 
dered on the left fide of cloak; and in the middle was a 
circle containing the image of the Virgin Mary of Mount 
Carmel, encompafled with gold rays. The knights alfo 
wore round their neck a tawny ribbon of filk, and pendent 
therefrom the fame kind of crofs in gold, and the image 
of the Virgin enamelled on both fides. 
XCIV. The Order of the Precious Blood of 
our Saviour Jesus Christ, at Mantua. Vincenzio de 
Gonzagua inftituted this order anno 1608, in honour of 
the three drops of the blood of our Saviour faid to be 
preferved there in a moft elegant and coftly reliquaire, or 
Ihrine; but it feems that he had alfo in view to fet forth, 
by the folemnity of this creation, the nuptials of his eldell 
foil Francis (who afterwards fucceeded him) with Mar¬ 
garet of Savoy, daughter to Charles Emanuel duke of Sa¬ 
voy. The order was allowed and approved by Paul V. 
and confifted of twenty knights. The collar was com¬ 
pofed of ovals of gold alternately placed vertically and 
horizontally, and interlinked with fmall annulets ; on the 
horizontal ones were enamelled the words, Domine, probaf- 
ti me, from the 139th Pfalm. On the others was reprefent¬ 
ed a tripod fable l'upporting a crucible of a grey colour, 
filled with fmall rods of gold, to intimate that a purity 
of mind and of heart, fimilar to that of refined gold, ought 
to be the diftinftive charafteriftics of good and worthy 
knights. Badge, on an oval of gold two angels kneeling, 
1 SWI* 
