Orders of Knighthood in the Gothic Period

The First Chapter of the Order of the Golden Fleece by Albert Frans Lieven de Vriendt

What were the orders of knighthood in the gothic period? They were usually exclusive groups with different values and customs.

Orders of knighthood in the gothic period came in all sorts of forms. A few, like the Knights Templar and Hospitallers, came into existence because the pilgrims going to the Holy Land needed help desperately. Others, like the Order of the Garter and the Order of the Golden Fleece, separated classes among knights and noblemen. Monarchs and other high nobility created them for elite people of the higher classes, and various orders of knighthood in the gothic period had special privileges granted by the Pope or monarch.

Are any orders of knighthood from the gothic period still in use today? What were some of those special orders?

The Order of the Garter

One Order of knighthood was the Order of the Garter. King Edward the third started it. The Order of the Garter was very exclusive because only the king, the prince, and 24 other knights comprised it. No one else could join. The Order’s symbol was a blue garter with gold trimming, and there are many stories about why he may have started the Order of the Garter.

Legends About the Origin of the Order of the Garter

Ceremony of the Garter by Albert Chevallier Tayler

The first legend takes place at a ball. King Edward was dancing with the countess of Salisbury, and during the dance, her garter came off. He kindly returned it to her, and when the people around them started to laugh and make fun of it, he told them to be ashamed if they had evil thoughts. His words became the motto of the Order of the Garter.

Honi soit qui mal y pense!

(Shame on him who thinks ill of it!)
The motto of the Order of the Garter and what Kind Edmund the third supposedly said when the countess lost her garter.

Another story is that King Richard the Lionheart was inspired to give each knight a garter to wear in battle. His knights then won the skirmish. King Edward was said to have remembered the event when he started the Order of the Garter. Yet another thought is that he made it to firm up his claim to the French throne.

The motto supposedly refers to anyone who doubts his claim, and the symbolic garter was blue and gold, the colors on the French royal coat of arms. The Order may have used a garter as its symbol to represent being tightly knit together. He wanted his knights to be a loyal band of friends and supporters.

Coat of Arms of the Order of the Garter. Order members can encircle their own arms with the garter.

They could also tie the garters around their arms in battle. Unlike some knightly orders, women could wear the symbolic garter on their arms and were associated with the Order. That was special because other groups wouldn’t always let women wear their symbol or associate with them in their Order.

The Order of the Golden Fleece

Often thought to be one of the best and most prestigious orders of chivalry to join, the Order of the Golden Fleece came into being on the day that Philip the third, also known as Philip the Good, married Isabella of Portugal. However, for all the honor this order received, it started a bit dubiously.

People didn’t appreciate the Golden Fleece as a symbol, especially for a Christian order. The Golden Fleece came from pagan stories and pointed at Jason and the Golden Fleece. Some people thought that the Golden Fleece was horrible and that taking it was a sin.

Jason and Medea by John William Waterhouse

Therefore, there was some controversy about the Order of the Golden Fleece. However, it still rose to be one of the most prestigious orders in history. Multiple stories claimed that Philip chose the color based on Isabella’s red hair or the blond hair of Mary van Crombrugghe, one of his mistresses.

Portrait of Isabella by Rogier van der Weyden

Eventually, the chancellor of the order, the bishop of Châlons, told everyone that it was the fleece of Gideon, which had dew of heaven placed on it. That both saved the order’s reputation and gave it a Christian foundation to work with. Today, it is split into two orders (Austrian and Spanish orders) because there were two people who felt they had a claim to run the order.

The Order of the Knights Templar

Now on to a different kind of knightly order, a monastic one. The Order of the Knights Templar only existed to protect the pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. They were an unusual group, partially because they were warrior monks. Many pilgrims died on the way by sickness or often murder.

A templar knight in traveling clothes.

The Knights Templar protected and led the pilgrims through the Holy Land to places like Jericho, Jerusalem, and Jordan. As far as duties went, they were some of the most ferocious and effective warriors in history, partly because they weren’t allowed to retreat unless they were really outnumbered.

Feeding a Templar Knight from Tasting History

The Knights Templar had special rights, such as they didn’t have to pay taxes and only had to obey the Pope. They set up their headquarters in the Temple of Solomon, hence the name Templar. Later on, they were disbanded because of a jealous king and terrible rumors.

The Order of Saint John, or the Hospitallers

Another order of warrior monks was the Order of Saint John, also known as the Hospitallers. They were the rivals of the Knights Templar, and when the Templars disbanded, the Hospitallers received their resources. As to duties, they were pretty much the same as their rivals; they protected the pilgrims from bandits and Islamic forces.

Hospitallers

However, before they became warriors, they set up the hospital of Saint John. The hospital took in the severely malnourished and sick pilgrims. Eventually, the order divided into the monks that lived a simple life in the hospital, caring for the unwell pilgrims, and the warrior monks who fought to protect the pilgrims. They couldn’t accept luxuries but partially ran their hospital with donations they received.

Do Orders of Knighthood Still Exist Today?

Knightly orders are still in practice. Being part of the Order of the Garter or the Golden Fleece is as great an honor as it ever was. New knightly orders have also popped up over the years, started by monarchs and nobles in many places. The Order of the Elephant, from Denmark, was created more recently than some others.

The badge of the Order of the Elephant

The Order of the Garter still admits 24 knights, the prince, and the monarch. However, the Order of the Golden Fleece has expanded to allow 50 people instead. Orders like the Knights Templar and Hospitallers have been disbanded.

There were many orders of knighthood in the gothic period, of which I only scratched the surface. Which is your favorite? Let me know in the comments.