Order of the Holy Spirit
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- Not to be confused with the Order of the Holy Ghost.
The Order of the Holy Spirit, also known as the Order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit, (French: L'Ordre du Saint Esprit; L'Ordre des Chevaliers du Saint Esprit) was an Order of Chivalry under the French Monarchy. It should not be confused with the Papal Order of the Holy Ghost. It was the senior chivalric order of France by precedence, although not by age (the Order of Saint Michael having been created one hundred years earlier).
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[edit] History
Prior to the creation of the Order of the Holy Spirit, the senior order of chivalry in France had been the Order of Saint Michael. This order had originally been created to rival the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece, and to help ensure that leading French nobles remained loyal to the Crown. Its membership was initially restricted to a small number of powerful princes and nobles, but this increased dramatically due to the pressures of the Wars of Religion: at the beginning of the reign of Henry III, the order had several hundred living members, ranging from kings to bourgeois. Recognising that the order had been significantly devalued, Henry founded the Order of the Holy Spirit December 31, 1578- thereby creating a two-tier system: the new order would be reserved for princes and powerful nobles whilst the old Order of Saint Michael would be given to less eminent servants of the Crown. This Order was dedicated to the Holy Spirit for commemorating fact that Henry was elected King of Poland (1573) and France (1574) on two Pentecosts.
During the French Revolution the Order of the Holy Spirit was officially abolished by the French government along with all other chivalric orders from the Ancien Regime, although the exiled Louis XVIII continued to acknowledge it. Following the Restoration, the order was officially revived, only to be abolished again by the Orleanist Louis-Philippe following the July Revolution in 1830. However, the Legitimist pretenders to the French throne have continued to nominate members of the order, long after the abolition of the French monarchy itself.
[edit] Composition
The King of France was the Sovereign and Grand Master ("Souverain Grand Maître"), and made all appointments to the order. Members of the order can be split into three categories:
- 8 Ecclesiastic members
- 4 Officers
- 100 Knights
Initially, four of the ecclisiastic members had to be cardinals, whilst the other four had to be archbishops or prelates. This was later relaxed so that all eight had to be either cardinals, archbishops or prelates.
Members of the order had to be Roman Catholic, and had to be able to demonstrate three degrees of nobility. The minimum age for members was 35, although there were some exceptions:
- Children of the king were members from birth, but weren't received into the order until they were 12.
- Princes of the Blood could be admitted to the order from the age of 16
- Foreign royalty could be admitted to the order from the age of 25
All Knights of the order were also members of the Order of Saint Michael. As such, they were generally known as "Chevalier des Ordres du Roi" (ie "Knights of the Royal Orders"), instead of the more lengthy "Chevalier de Saint-Michel et Chevalier du Saint-Esprit" (ie "Knight of Saint Michael and Knight of the Holy Spirit").
[edit] Officers
The officers of the order were as follows:
- Chancellor
- Provost and Master of Ceremonies
- Treasurer
- Clerk
[edit] Vestments and Accoutrements
The symbol of the order is known as the Cross of the Holy Spirit. This is a Maltese Cross (ie a cross formed by the meeting for the points of four isosceles triangles); at the periphery, the points of each triangle are rounded, and between each triangle there is a fleur-de-lis. Imposed on the centre of the cross is a dove. The eight rounded corners represent the Beatitudes, the four fleur-de-lis represent the Gospels, the twelve petals represent the Apostles, and the dove signifies the Holy Spirit. The Cross of the Holy Spirit was worn hung from a blue riband ("Le Cordon Bleu").
[edit] Cordon Bleu
Due to the blue riband from which the Cross of the Holy Spirit was hung, the Knights became known as "Les Cordon Bleus". Over time, this expression was extended to refer to other distinctions of the highest class - for example, Cordon Bleu cooking and Blue Riband sporting events. It has been suggested that the term Cordon Bleu in cooking has derived from the splendour of feasts held by the Knights and not simply from the term becoming synonymous with prestige; however, this is not confirmed.
