order sepulcor: knighthood

The Honorary Knighthoods
of the Church

The honorary Chivalry includes the institutions and the Orders of prevalent honorary nature (mostly instituted by Popes or Sovereigns as a reward for good deeds, without special duties or ties). The already mentioned branches of some religious Chivalry Orders, the “Noble Orders”, and in general the Chivalric Nobility, after their transformation into a pure honorary character; all belong to the Honorary Knighthood whether personal or hereditary. Those accepted in this category, were endowed with the privilege of an aristocratic and honorary rather than strictly chivalric. This means that the title of knighthood in these cases falls under the category and qualification of noble status true and proper.

Whilst the Military and Regular Orders were generally established during the XI and XII centuries, they were regarded as quasi-autonomous but under the protection and vigilance of the Holy See. According to the opinion of most jurists, the Pontifical honorary Chivalry did not start before the XIV century, and was always directly or indirectly conferred by the Holy See. In exceptional cases, some Popes did institute Orders with a Regular and Military Character, but these ceased to exist or, were at a later stage modified to the extent of becoming truly and properly honorary.

The honorary Chivalry of the Church, at first destined to be given only to Kings, Princes, Ambassadors, high dignitaries, generals, etc., was later extended to personalities who distinguished themselves in the Arts and Science fields. In general it was also given to others who had performed special services to the Church or the Pope. During the XVII and XVIII centuries, when the decadence of Chivalry took place, some of the equestrian titles were annexed exjure to special high ranking offices of the Holy Roman See or the Pontifical State, to the college of Jurisconsultants and other similar institutions, and to University Professors (in some cases also to Laureates). These investitures accentuated the difference between the honorary Chivalry from the regular one.

Finally, during our times, some of the equestrian institutions of the Holy See, ceased to exist, others were modified, and some new ones were instituted, with more of a Character of Decorations; to reward persons for services rendered to the Church (e.g. The P.E.P. PRO ECCLESIA ET PONTIFICE).

The distinction between the Regular and the Honorary Chivalry is based on the distribution of the arguments in this dissertation. I will now consider some useful notes about some of the Orders: I will not touch the origins of the history of fetes of the Orders, but I will touch certain valuable information that is pertinent to this work.

Regular Orders of the Holy See Part I: The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta or as is commonly known as The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M), is the only Regular Order of the Church. Its members take the vows as those taken by monks; de facto they are monks. They profess the Rule of St. Augustine. They have also the Order of Cloistered Nuns. They have also Associations whose associate members are both male and female.