Order of Chivalry under the French Monarchy

The Order of the Holy Spirit, also known as the Order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit, (or, in French: L'Ordre du Saint-Esprit; L'Ordre des Chevaliers du Saint-Esprit ) was an Order of Chivalry under the French Monarchy created in 1578 by King Henri III. It should not be confused with the Congregation of the Holy Ghost or with the 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).

The Order of Saint Michael 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 III founded the Order of the Holy Spirit December 31, 1578, thereby creating the two-tier system.

The new order would be reserved for princes and powerful nobles while the old Order of Saint Michael would be given to less eminent servants of the Crown. This order was dedicated to the Holy Spirit to commemorate the fact that Henry was elected King of Poland (1573) and inherited the throne of France (1574) on two Pentecosts.

There were strict nobility requirements and membership was limited at 100 (for French nationals). Four cardinals and four other prelates were members and were called commandeurs , the other members were called chevaliers . There were no other ranks or distinctions among members. The order also had a number of officers (treasurer, chaplain, etc) who were not subject to the nobility requirements.

The King of France was the Sovereign and Grand Master (Souverain Grand Matre) , 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 ecclesiastic members had to be cardinals, while 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; and foreign royalty could be admitted to the order from the age of 25.

From 1578, the Saint-Esprit was always conferred with the Order du Saint-Michel. An honoree, then, was generally known as Chevalier des Ordres du Roi (i.e. "Knight of the Royal Orders"), instead of the more lengthy Chevalier de Saint-Michel et Chevalier du Saint-Esprit (i.e. "Knight of Saint Michael and Knight of the Holy Spirit"). The order of Saint-Michel continued to be conferred alone, however, especially to artists and writers.

updated by @carlos-iii-de-borbon-y-farnesio: 06 Oct 2016 06:09:29AM