PONTIFICAL EQUESTRIAN ORDERS. – These are the corporations established by the Roman Pontiffs to reward persons who have deserved well of the Church (cf. Pius X, preamble to the brief Multum ad excitandos of 7 Feb. 1905; Acta S. Sedis, 37 [1904-1905], pp. 565-71); they are five in number, namely:
I. SUPREME ORDER OF CHRIST (MILITIA OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST)
The institution of this pre-eminent pontifical decoration (not to be confused with the “Militia of Christ” founded by St. Dominic) is connected with the suppression of the Order of the Templars, when the kings of Portugal, Denis I and St. Elizabeth, decided in 1318 to replace it in their kingdom with a knightly Order under the name of Christ for the defence against the Moors, who were already pressing on the borders of the Algarve. From Avignon, with the constitution Ad ea, ex quibus of 14 March 1319 (cf. Bullarium Romanum, IV, Rome 1644, pp. 277-84), John XXII confirmed it and established its rules, which were then those of the Cistercians; he also decreed that the new Militia of Jesus Christ should follow the same observances as the Order of Calatrava and granted new possessions in addition to those which the “Ordo quondam Templi” possessed in Portugal and the Algarve. The new Order soon spread, extending also into Spain, France, Italy and Germany.Eugenius IV later resolved certain jurisdictional disputes, further limiting with a bull the jurisdiction of the visitors and authorising the knights to levy tithes on the territories conquered from the Muslims. Callistus III invested the Order also with spiritual jurisdiction, with the right to confer benefices in the places dependent on II. In 1499 Alexander VI, and later Julius II, released the knights from solemn vows, allowing them to marry. The Order thus lost its original character, becoming in this way a simple knightly Order, which acknowledged the Pope as its head, represented in Portugal by a perpetual administrator in the person of the Portuguese sovereigns themselves, who were bound by a special formula to swear fidelity to the Popes and to the Church of Rome. Others, however, maintained the duality of the Order, i.e. the co-existence of a pontifical Order and a Portuguese one, because it is certain that the Order of Christ was conferred both by the Pontiffs and by the sovereigns of Portugal; and while the Portuguese knights were numerous, the Pontiffs, on the contrary, used to grant this decoration only to persons of high rank, whereby the Order retained that high prestige which makes it today the highest pontifical decoration. This pre-eminence over all other PONTIFICAL EQUESTRIAN ORDERS was explicitly declared by Pius X in the brief Multum ad excitandos; the Pope also decreed that the insignia proper to this Order should consist of a Latin cross of red enamel with a smaller white cross superimposed, hanging from the neck, recommended, rather than on a red silk ribbon as before, on a gold chain composed of alternating escutcheons, one bearing in enamel the cross of the Order, the other the papal arms, joined together by gold knots; at the same time he made further modifications to the uniform and to the breastplate, within which the cross was framed by a laurel wreath in gold, tied at the bottom with a small red enamel ribbon.
The Supreme Order of Christ is of a single class, reserved to heads of State and sovereign princes, for which reason it does not carry any special noble prerogative attached to it, unlike other supreme Orders. At present, according to the Pontifical Yearbook for 1951, the holders of this Order number eight.
II. ORDER OF THE GOLDEN SPUR (AURATA MILITIA)
The origin of this Order, reformed by Gregory XVI (brief Cum hominum mentes of 31 Oct. 1841; Acta Gregorii PP. XVI, III, Rome 1903, pp. 178-80), is uncertain. The Order was always invested with special privileges, such as the personal title of Count Palatine for the recipient and hereditary nobility for his descendants, already granted by Pius IV. However, beginning with Paul III in 1539, it was granted to high dignitaries of the papal court and to certain princely Roman families the privilege of conferring the Order; this debased its prestige and led to an excessive crowding of its ranks. Gregory XVI restored its standing in 1841 with the cited brief, in which he entitled the Order to St. Sylvester the Pope (who, according to tradition, had consecrated it), while leaving it its ancient name of Aurata Militia; he decreed that it should consist of two classes, one of commanders and the other of knights, fixed their number for the Papal State at 150 and 300 respectively, established its exact insignia and reserved its conferment exclusively to the Holy See, revoking any delegation made by his predecessors.A substantial modification was finally made to the Order of the Golden Spur by Pius X with the brief of 7 Feb. 1905, by which it was detached from the Order of St. Sylvester (q.V. below) and restored as a separate Order. Placed under the patronage of the Immaculate Virgin, Pius X wished it to consist of a single class of one hundred knights throughout the Catholic world, abolishing moreover all privileges of nobility previously attached to II.
The Order is conferred upon those who, by arms, writings and outstanding works, have benefited Catholicism, and its insignia is an octagonal gold cross with yellow enamel and a gold spur hanging from it, bearing on the front a small white plaque with the name of Mary, enclosed in a gold circle, and on the reverse the indication of the year MDCCCXV with the motto “Pius X restituit”. This cross is worn hanging from a red ribbon with white borders, passed around the neck. According to the Pontifical Yearbook for the year 1951, the holders of the Order of the Golden Spur now number thirteen.
III. PIAN ORDER
Intended to reward individual virtue and merit, this Order was instituted by Pius IX with the brief Romanis Pontificibus of 17 June 1847 (cf. Pii P. M. IX Acta, I, 1, Rome 1854, pp. 43-45); and he named it Pian after his own name, renewing at the same time the ancient denomination of the Cavalieri Piani instituted in 1559 by Pius IV. The Order comprised two categories of recipients, namely knights of the first and second class; the former enjoyed the privilege of nobility transmissible also to their sons, while the latter only personal nobility. The insignia of the Order was fixed as a gold star divided into eight blue rays bearing in the centre on the front a small white plaque with the name of the founder Pope Pius IX written upon it, surrounded by the motto Virtuti et merito, and on the reverse: Anno MDCCCXLVI.For knights of the first class, who could also, upon special authorisation, wear the breastplate, the insignia was worn hanging from the neck on a blue silk ribbon edged at the sides with a double red stripe, while the knights of the second class pinned it to the left side of the breast. With a subsequent brief Cum hominum mentes of 17 June 1849, Pius IX confirmed the privileges of nobility attached to this Order, granted to all knights of the first class the use of the breastplate and decreed that for them the insignia should be worn not hanging from the neck but carried across the body from the right shoulder by means of a long silk sash. Finally, with a decree of 11 Nov. 1856, In ipso, Pius IX established that the Order should consist of three categories: knights of the first class or Grand Cross, knights of the second class or commanders and knights of the third class, also decreeing that commanders should wear the insignia hanging from the neck.
Pius X, with the brief *Multum ad excitandos*, cited, confirmed the invalid use among some commanders of wearing a smaller plaque, by which an intermediate grade was established, known as commanders with plaque. Finally, Pius XII, to adapt the "Plan" to the other papal Orders, with the brief *Litteris suis* of 11 Nov. 1939 (cf. *AAS*, 32 [1940], p. 41), abolished the privilege of hereditary and personal nobility attached respectively to the first two grades of this Order, which nonetheless remains the third in importance among the decorations conferred by the popes.
IV. ORDER OF ST. GREGORY THE GREAT. – In 1831, Gregory XVI wished immediately to demonstrate his gratitude to his subjects, faithful during the previous disturbances, by instituting a new chivalric Order, which he dedicated to St. Gregory the Great. The insignia of the Order were established by the brief *Quod summis quibusque* of 18 Sept. 1831, in the form of an octagonal gold cross worked in enamel, red on the surface, in the center of which, as on a small plaque, was finely engraved the image of St. Gregory the Great with the golden dove, surrounded by the inscription *S. Gregorius Magnus*; on the reverse, against a dark blue background, was the motto *Pro Deo et principe*, and in a gold circle the inscription *Gregorius XVI P. M. Anno I*. The Order was divided into four categories, namely knights "grand cross" of first and second class, commanders, and simple knights. The knights "grand cross" were to wear the insignia suspended from a broad red silk sash, edged in yellow, worn from the right shoulder to the left hip; these knights could also display on the chest another, larger cross adorned with rays and gems. Knights of the second class, on the other hand, wore the insignia around the neck and carried the grand cross as a plaque on the chest; commanders wore it around the neck as well, but without the plaque; simple knights wore only a small cross hanging on the left side of the chest. With a subsequent brief of 30 May 1834, *Cum amplissima honorum*, Gregory XVI reduced the categories to three, so that there were only knights grand cross, commanders, and knights, and established that for the Papal States the first should not exceed 30, the second 70, and the third 300. The Order comprised two classes, a civil and a military, distinguished respectively by a laurel wreath in green enamel tied at the bottom by a gold ribbon and by a trophy of arms in gold surmounting the cross. Pius IX provided a uniform for the recipients, and Pius X, with the brief already cited, confirmed the previous provisions.
V. ORDER OF ST. SILVESTER THE POPE. – Under this additional title, Gregory XVI revived in 1841 the ancient Order of the Golden Spur (v. IRCANO II), which had fallen from its former splendor, making of it almost a new Order, composed of only two classes. Pius X, with the brief *Multum ad excitandos* of 7 Feb. 1905, detached from the Golden Militia the Order of St. Sylvester, which remained divided, like the Pian Order and that of St. Gregory the Great, into three grades: knights grand cross, commanders, and knights. The form of the insignia remained the same, except that for the Order of St. Sylvester the Pope, placed last among the papal decorations, it was deprived of the golden spur hanging beneath, and was also enamelled in white, displaying on the front the image, with the name written around it, of Pope St. Sylvester, and on the reverse the papal arms, and printed in gold within a small blue circle the two dates of the Gregorian restoration and the Pian reform, MDCCCXLII–MDCCCXV.
This insignia is worn by knights grand cross on the left side, suspended from a long sash of red and black silk with red edges; by commanders, hanging from a ribbon of the same colors worn around the neck; and by simple knights, hanging instead on the left side of the chest. The plaque of the Order, formed by the cross itself superimposed on the rays of a silver star, is exclusive to the first class, though a similar but smaller one may exceptionally be granted to commanders who have distinguished themselves by particular merits.
The use of papal honors is authorized in Italy by registration of the brief of appointment, which is carried out upon presentation of the brief itself and a written request by the interested party (art. 42 of the Concordat and Royal Decree 10 July 1930, no. 974).