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The symbolic roots of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George are shrouded in ancient history and medieval legend. Saint George (left), a Christian born in Asia Minor around 270, became a military officer in the Imperial Army. In 303, he publicly tore down one of the Emperor Diocletian's edicts against Christians, an act which led to his torture and eventual martyrdom. Over the centuries, many legends were told about Saint George. Early Orthodox iconography...
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The Cross of the Constantinian Order of Saint George is a deep crimson Greek Cross Flory superimposed by the XP monogram in gold. At the end of each limb of the Cross is one of the letters I, H, S or V, representing the motto "In Hoc Signo Vinces." The decoration is suspended from a sky blue ribbon of watered silk. The fifty soldiers entrusted to protect the Labarum constituted the "Labarum Guard" represented today by the fifty bailiff knights grand cross of justice of the...
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The Constantinian Order of Saint George as it exists today has been identified as a dynastic institution since 1698, when the last Comnenus Pretender ceded it to Francesco Farnese, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro. Pope Innocent XII confirmed this transfer with his Bull, Sincerae Fide, issued 24 October 1699. The main focus of the Constantinian Order was, and remains, the propagation of the Catholic Faith, although it supports charitable works as well, and today enjoys a...
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Two decades later, when Prince Carlo succeeded his elder half-brother to the Spanish Throne, he ceded the Neapolitan and Sicilian Crowns to his son Ferdinando, who became Grand Master of the Constantinian Order. King Ferdinando I of the Two Sicilies (as his realm was called after 1816) reigned until 1825 and his successors to the Throne, King Francesco I and King Ferdinando II also held the office of Grand Master of the Constantinian Order. The Order was bestowed in the...
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King Francesco II was succeeded as Head of the House of the Two Sicilies by his brother, Alfonso, Count of Caserta. Relations between the Royal Houses of Bourbon Two Sicilies and the Savoy dynasty of Italy remained poor. In 1924 the Italian Minister Boselli, Chancellor of the Order of St Maurice and St Lazarus of the reigning House of Savoy of Italy, launched an unprecedented attack against the Constantinian Order which Pope Pius IX had protected at the time of Italy’s...
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As a prerogative recognised in international law, a dynastic order of knighthood is vested not in the national territory or the headship of a sovereign state, but in the person of the head of a royal dynasty, and various royal decrees issued between 1734 and 1861 make it clear that the Grand Magistry of the Constantinian Order is inseparable from the Headship of the Royal House of the Two Sicilies. For this reason, the Constantinian Order survived the fall of the Kingdom of...
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Today, the Constantinian Order is fully recognised by the Italian Republic. Italian citizens can seek official approval to wear the Order’s decorations, and the Republic’s military officers may wear its insignia on uniform. Many senior Italian state officials, ministers and diplomats have been awarded the decoration including among others the Ambassadors of the Italian Republic to numerous European and Middle Eastern states as well as to the Holy See. In 1973, by Decree...
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The Constantinian Order continues to have an excellent working and spiritual relationship with the Apostolic See, which has never ceased to recognise the canonical standing of the Constantinian Order and the Distinguished Royal Order of Saint Januarius. As an independent dynastic Order of Knighthood, the Constantinian Order should not to be confused with the Holy See's own state Orders of Knighthood, or those religious orders which belong to, or are under the protection of...
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The Constantinian Order enjoys an excellent relationship with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and this dates back to the time when the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies historically enjoyed a close relationship with the island of Malta, with which it maintained a treaty granting military protection. Since 1878, every Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta has been a senior member of the Constantinian Order. The current and 79th Prince and Grand Master, His Most Eminent...
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The Constantinian Order counts among its ranks much of the old aristocracy of the Two Sicilies, royals and nobles, cardinals, statesmen, industrialists, scientists, parliamentarians, clerics, diplomats, scholars, faith leaders, charity workers and volunteers from across the world. The Order has delegations in every region of Italy, as well as in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, United States of America, France, Germany, Portugal, Gibraltar, Spain, Japan, Brazil...
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