Order of Saint Michael (Bavaria)

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This article is about the Bavarian order. For other uses, see Order of Saint Michael (disambiguation).
Order of Merit of Saint Michael
Verdienstorden vom Heiligen Michael
Ridder in de Orde van Verdienste van de Heilige Michaël van Beieren voorzijde.gif
Awarded by Kingdom of Bavaria
Type before 1837: Military Order
after 1837: Order of merit
Royal house House of Wittelsbach
Religious affiliation Roman Catholicism
Motto QUIS UT DEUS
("Who [is] like God")
Status No longer awarded
Grades (w/ post-nominals) Military Order:
Knight Commander
Knight Officer
Knight

Order of Merit:
1st class with Grand Cross
1st class
2nd class with star
2nd class
Cross of Honour
3rd class
4th class
Cross of Merit
Medal of Merit
Statistics
Established Military Order: 29 September 1693
Order of Merit: 16 February 1837
Precedence
Next (higher) Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown
Next (lower) Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art
OrderofSt.MichaelMerit.gif
Ribbon of the order

The Order of Saint Michael (German: Orden zum Heiligen Michael), later Order of Merit of Saint Michael (German: Verdienstorden vom Heiligen Michael), was founded on September 29, 1693 [1] by Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, then Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, as a military order. Its full name was Most Illustrious Military Order of Defenders of Divine Glory under the Protection of the Holy Archangel Michael.[2] Initially, this order was only open to the Catholic nobility. Upon its institution, the order consisted of the Grand Master and three classes: Knight Commander, Knight Officer and Knight, divided in two divisions, spiritual and secular. The Grand Master Knight Commanders were bestowed with a breast star. The Knight Commanders or Knights Grand Cross, officially limited to nine of the spiritual and the secular division each, constituted the chapter. The order had four spiritual Knights Officers: chancellor, honorary chaplain, almoner, and sacristan, and the same amount of secular Knights Officers: marshal, treasurer, equerry, and chamberlain. The third class of Knights was limited to 18 spiritual and secular knights each, so the order ideally should have had 63 members, representing the age of the queen of angels.[3]

The first headquarter on the order was located in the Godesburg in the Electorate of Cologne, from the 1750s in the Electoral Palace. Its Bavarian main church was St. Michael in Berg am Laim, Munich.

In 1808, the order was recognized by Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria as an order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Bavaria, and the grade of Knights of Honour, limited to twelve recipients, mostly Protestants and literary commoners, was added to the third class. In 1813, the order received the official title of the Knightly House Order of St. Michael.

On 16 February 1837, Ludwig I of Bavaria transformed the military order into an order of merit, called Order of Merit of St. Michael, divided into three classes: Knight Grand Cross, Knight Commander, and Knight. The physical appearance of the decorations also changed at this time. In 1855, the classes of Knight Grand Commander and Knight 2nd class were introduced. In 1887, according to a proposal of Crailsheim, the order got reformed and divided into Knights 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th class; a cross of merit and a silver medal were affiliated with the order.[4]

List of grandmasters

  1. 1693–1723: Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne
  2. 1723–1761: Clemens August of Bavaria, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne and Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
  3. 1761–1763: Johann Theodor of Bavaria, Prince-Bishop of Regensburg, Prince-Bishop of Freising, and Prince-Bishop of Liège.
  4. 1763–1770: Duke Clement Francis of Bavaria
  5. 1770–1777: Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria
  6. 1778–1795: Charles II August, Duke of Zweibrücken
  7. 1795–1799: Maximilian Joseph, Duke of Zweibrücken
  8. 1799–1837: Duke Wilhelm in Bavaria

After the death of Duke Wilhelm and the transformation into an order of merit, the King of Bavaria as the fount of honor was de facto Grand Master.

See also

References

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