next »

[Please Support Us!]

Please Support Us!

December Goal: $40.00
Due Date: Dec 31
Gross Amount: $0.00
PayPal Fees: $0.00
Net Balance: $0.00
Below Goal: $40.00
©

 0%

TRAILBLAZERS
for students

ArchaeoFind
Archaeology News
Articles
Browse Attachments
Calendar
Downloads
Forum
Gallery
Links
Member Map
Our News Feeds
Submit Article
Tag Cloud
Video Channel

Odyssey Marine in the media
Trailblazers
Play Phaos
Chat
Trailblazers: Virtual Tours

[Bart]

Below are examples of Fleece in Suspentia in the form of jewelry, but from Bohemia and Austria, which had their own Knights of the Golden Fleece under the Habsburgs. There doesn't seem to be any English Order of the Knights of the Golden Fleece.

The Schwartzenberg Family & the Golden Fleece

   The Administration of the Habsburg Crown lands rested on a long standing and mutually beneficial alliance between the Imperial family and the ancient nobility of all their domains. Some had been allies since the early days on the Swiss border, and more became intimates as the Empire grew. An excellent example of such a family is the Counts, later Princes, of Schwartzenberg. The Schwartzenbergs had their power base in Bohemia and Moravia where large estates of theirs remain today. (Two were just returned to the family a few years back following the fall of the Communist Bloc.) Ultimately they owned 437,000 acres there before the fall of the Empire. As with many other nobles from the Kingdom of Bohemia, their influence grew greatly during the Prague residence of Rudolf and Matthias, when it was the defacto capital of the eastern Habsburg domains.

   They first rose to the highest level of power, and supplied their first Knight of the Golden Fleece, with George-Louis, Count of Schwartzenberg (No. 370), in 1627 during the 30 Year's War. The Imperial commander the Duke of Wallenstein, who also was a Bohemian noble, was made a Knight of the Fleece the next year, and Pappenheim in 1631, emphasising the crucial importance of Bohemia in the early years of the War. Count George-Louis was General of the Windisen Grenz region in Croatia and raised a regiment of Croatian arquebusiers in 1636 for service in Germany. Interestingly, Count Adam of Schwartzenberg was chief minister to George William, Elector of Brandenberg. In this age of universal, non-national nobility we find a Habsburg Catholic advisor to a Calvinist monarch of a Lutheran state. George William's heir, Frederick William, despite being partly raised with his Imperial cousins, distrusted Schwartzenberg and so this strange, bureaucratic alliance came to an end with Count Adam's dismissal just before his death in 1632. The family influence continued to grow thereafter, and when George-Louis died in 1646 Jean Adolphe, Count of Schwartzenberg (No. 430), was made a Knight of the Fleece in 1650. On his death in 1683, Ferdinand, Prince of Schwartzenberg (No. 558), was made a Knight in 1688 and raised in the ranks of the peerage to Prince. They have remained a princely family ever since.

The unique collar of the Golden Fleece shown at left was made c. 1700 for Ferdinand, Prince of Schwartzenberg, in south Germany or Vienna in silver with diamonds, old Austrian emeralds and a chased gold Fleece. It was in the famous Spada collection and is pictured in full in the beautifully illustrated catalog of his personal collection Onori e Glorie. As was true of all the great, ancient families the Schwartzenbergs were proud of their status and capable of affording the most elegant and expensive jewels.
   
   The princen bijou shown at the right was one of a series in this peculiar style of toison made for the family members of the Order between 1712 and 1860 that also belonged to Dr. Spada. Note how vertically stretched the Fleece is, the shape of the head and the peculiar horns which are more like those of a goat or a musk ox than a ram. This style Fleece is only known to the Schwartzenbergs, only in this time period, and they all were likely made by a local Bohemian or Austrian jeweler. There were seven of them with various styles of elements in a leather case in the Spada collection -- four princen and three full size. This example was made c. 1720-1732 for Adam Francis, Prince of Schwartzenberg (No. A-630). Adam Francis was a supporter of the Habsburg Emperor Charles VI in the war of the Spanish Succession and, following the death of Ferdinand of Schwartzenberg in 1703, Adam Francis was made a knight of the Fleece in the first batch of knights created by Charles in 1712.

This soliltary Fleece may be the only Schwartzenberg Fleece of the Bohemian type left as Dr. Spada's were reportedly stolen and melted down some years ago. This one was made for Joseph Adam (No. A-693) c. 1740-1780, more likely near the former year. It is very similar in style and fleece treatment to Dr. Spada's shown above. The gold wire suspension is very old itself and matches those found on some 1813-14 Canon Crosses as replacement suspensions from the 1830-50 period. Joseph Adam was made a Knight in 1732, the same year that Adam Francis died, and when he was only 10 years old. There must have been a pressing State reason to reward the Schwartzenbergs so immediately, as although Imperial Archdukes were often made a Knight when still children, it is rare for any others to be so chosen, and Joseph Adam remained a Knight for 50 years.

   The Fleece at the right, also from the Spada cased set, belonged to one of these two brothers and dates from c. 1810. Note how some careless person has installed the Fleece backward on the Pierre a Fois and has it facing the right. Some 60-70 years after the first Schwartzenberg Fleece shown above, this one is little different in its unique, Schwartzenberg styling. Charles died in 1820 and Joseph-Jean in 1833. On the left is a contemporary engraving of Field Marshal Charles of Schwartzenberg c. 1812-1820 wearing, among other orders, a standard bijou of the Golden Fleece.

   From this time the Schwartzenbergs have been represented in the ranks of Knights of the Golden Fleece up to the present day. Prince Felix of Schwartzenberg commanded the forces that supressed the Hungarian revolt of 1848-49, and was the first Prime Minister of the young Emperor Franz Joseph from 1848 to his death in 1852, so we see the family continuing to fill the most important positions in the Imperial administration. Adolphe (No. A-933) was a Knight in 1836 and died in 1854; Charles (No. A-965) a Knight in 1852 and died in 1858; Edmond (No. A-990) a Knight in 1862 and died in 1873. After a lapse of eight years Charles (No. A-1063) became a Knight in 1881 and died in 1904; Adolphe Joseph (No. A-1092) a Knight in 1889 and died in 1914; and the last pre-WW I member was another Charles (No. A-1161) who became a Knight in 1907 and died in 1913. Crown Prince Rudolf, in his moments of liberal philosophizing, found the conservative nobility of Bohemia, and especially the Schwartzenbergs, unsymphathetic, calling them "feudal and nationless gentlemen". We thus see that the inate conservatism that made the Schwarzenbergs attractive and loyal officials also made them increasingly out of date anachronisms. Nevertheless, they remained a cornerstone of the fashionable nobility and powerful members of the court until the final, whispering end in November, 1918, and were mentioned in the same breath as the Archdukes, the Metternichs and the Hoyos.

   During WW I Jean (No. A-1193) was made a Knight in 1915 and lived until 1938. When Archduke Otto resumed naming members of the Fleece he apointed Joseph of Schwartzenberg (No. A-1252) a Knight in 1951, and later Charles (No. A-1278) in 1960. Over 374 years there have been 17 Schwartzenberg members of the Order of the Golden Fleece, spaning from the 30 Year's War until today. As is true for few other familes, the Schwartzenbergs show the continuing links between our ancient past and today, and the current relevance of such institutions as the ancient Orders of Knighthood.

Source

[Bart]

La Confr�rie Amicale de la Toison d'Or

(SOCIETY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE)

  La Confr�rie Amicale de la Toison d'Or is an association of those interested in the Order of the Golden Fleece, working to preserve its history and further the aims of the Order in bringing the peoples of mankind together for the common good. For Duke Phillip it symbolised the union of Flanders and Burgundy and the rebirth of the central Lotharingian kingdom of Charlemagne's descendants. The Habsburg heirs of Burgundy continued the union of an empire of many peoples spanning the world, with the Golden Fleece as the highest reward for piety, service and loyalty to principles wider than individual gain.

   We especially honor the following of those ideals by Archduke Otto of Habsburg and His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain, the current heads of the two branches of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Through their efforts the Golden Fleece remains the symbol for the highest service of mankind through a life of selfless duty.

   The Confr�rie Amicale de la Toison d'Or is open to any person deeply interested in the order and desirous of furthering its aims and principles. It is organized as a non-profit corporation under the laws of the State of Washington in the United States.\

   The Order of the Golden Fleece was established in 1430 by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy in celebration of the properous and wealthy domaines united in his person that ran from Flanders to Switzerland. Just as with the Danish Order of the Elephant, it is not known why Phillip chose the golden fleece as the sign and symbol of his order. Some point out the great wealth he obtained from the wool trade in Flanders, others to the spread of humanism and classical literature, and yet others point to the symbol of Jason for the archangel Gideon. In his youth Philip always longed to go on crusade to the golden East, and so the choice of Jason journying east to gain the golden reward may be a rememberance of his desires. We must also remember that Jason chose a select crew of the greatest of the Greek warriors, and Philip's "Compaignons" of the Fleece are his crew of dedicated, Christian demi-saints.

   The sovereignty of the order, in hereditary possession of the House of Burgundy, was, in default of a male heir, destined for the husband of the heiress of the Duchy until the majority of her son. In 1477, the Grand Mastership passed, therefore, to the House of Habsburg following the marriage of Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, last Duke of Burgundy, to Archduke (later Emperor) Maximilian of Austria. Following the marriage of Joan (Juana) the Mad of Castille and Aragon with Archduke Phillip of Austria (son of Maximilian and Mary), control of the order passed in 1516 to the Spanish branch ot the House of Habsburg. At that time the Order was enlarged by 10 places for Spanish members, clearly indicating the Habsburgs long-term plans for Spain in their patrimony. The first Spanish investisure came in 1519, the year of Charles' accession. Charles V (I), son of Phillip, willed the Grand Mastership of the order along with the throne of Spain to his son, Phillip II, after having, in 1521, ceded his Austrian possessions to his brother Ferdinand I. This last act was very important years later when both Austria and Spain claimed the order.

   In 1700, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs, Charles II, designated as his heir his grand-nephew, Phillip of France, Duke of Anjou, grandson of Louis XV, who became Phillip V (a designation that led to the War of the Spanish Succession). The legitimate Sovereign Heads of the order, Phillip V and Ferdinand VI, united the Golden Fleece to the Crown of Spain, the Duchy of Burgundy existing only in theory, having been annexed by France in the reign of Louis XI.

   However, in 1712, the Head of the House of Austria reclaimed the order, together with the Spanish crown, appropriated the treasury of the order, and proclaimed himself Soverign Head. The treasury was later brought to Vienna from Bruges when threatened by French revolutionaries (where it remains to this day). Since 1712, therefore, there have been two Orders of the Golden Fleece, the one being confered by the Austrian Monarch, the other by the Spanish Monarch, and each contesting the legitimacy of the other.

   Official language. French (originally "Our noble Burgundian French"). Still used by the Archduke Otto, whereas Spanish is the official language used by King Juan Carlos.

   Austrian Order. It has preserved the original statutes: ritual admission with dubbing by sword and solemn oath. Since the end of the monarchy (1918), Emperor Charles I (1887-1922), then his son, Otto von Habsburg, as Sovereign Heads, have continued to confer the order. It was recognized as a Habsburg family order by the Austrian Republic by decree of 8 September, 1953.

   Spanish Order. Originally recognized only by France, it became a civil royal order by decrees of 1847 and 1851, and has even been accorded to non-Catholics: Soverigns and Princes of: Russia, Great-Britain (also to the Duke of Wellington), Germany, Japan, Turkey, as well as to non-nobles, such as the President of the French Republic, Gaston Doumergue (a Protestant). After the fall of the Spanish monarchy (1931), and until his death, Alphonso XIII (1886-1941) did not make a single nomination. Since 1951, his son, the Count of Barcelona, head of the Royal House of Spain, confered it on six individuals of royal blood. After the Count renounced his rights, King Juan Carlos named several Spaniards and several foreign soverigns.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Origins of the Golden Fleece Symbol

   The choice of the symbol of the Golden Fleece for a Burgundian order is both interesting and a sign of contemporary fashion. As the orders of knighthood proliferated in the later Middle Ages both the knights and the rulers who created the orders looked to the great and noble warriors of the past for inspiration and as a role model to follow. Despite the mean and vicious nature of Medieval warfare, the knights professed the most noble and gentle civilitiy towards women and the oppressed. Starting in the late 13th century and beginning in Italy, there was a rediscovery of the ancient histories and myths and a revival of the "Anticha" style in everything, at least in so far as the Medieval mind could understand it. There was also a great fascination with that which was distant, romantic and obscure. It is in this context that we must consider the use of Jason's Golden Fleece as a symbol.

   Philipp the Good, Duke of Burgundy, was one of the most cultured and well off of all the Medieval lords, and as such he was from an early age exposed to the literature of the past and of romantic fashion. The crusades were just over and the Holy Land lay firmly in the hands of the Islamic infidels, and we know that Philipp desired to go on crusade all his life even though his responsibilities forbade it. In the East lay the golden land of Christ and the apostles, the home of man and the Garden of Eden, and all the great mysteries and riches of the little known east that the crusaders, Marco Polo and many others brought tales of. It is clear from the icon of Jason on the early Golden Fleece insignia that the daring voyage of the Argo to bring back the sacred Golden Fleece from the edge of man's known world touched Philipp deeply and helped inspire his dreams. The Argonauts were few in number, carefully selected for their nobility and talents and dedicated to the most noble of causes that also held religious and humanitarian importance. It is these values that we see in the statutes of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

   There also seem to be some immediate reminders of Jason and the voyage to Colchis in the time of Philipp's youth. Colchis was in the realm of the Trebizond Empire of the Comnena family, whose rule at Byzantium was terminated by the Latin Fourth Crusade -- that perverted venture of 1204 which the Venetians turned from freeing the Holy Land to looting the Christian Byzantine Empire that was Europe's bulwark against the march of Islam. From this time western Europeans had a much more keen knowledge of the East, its places and its mysteries, and Latin kingdoms remained in Greece until the Turkish conquest. Both from moving closer to Trebizond, and from its place as the trade entrepot of the northern trade routes from Persia, the distant city and Empire entered the world and thoughts of Medieval Europe.

   Traders and envoys alike journied through there, and in its later years the powerful Genoese and Venetian fleets established bases and trade centers in the domains of Trebizond. Beside the many official records of Trebizond kept in Genoa and Venice a number of such travelers left accounts that became known to the educated nobility of Europe. These include:

In 1253 Friar G. de Rubriquez wrote of his visit to Trebizond in his "Itinerarium".
Also in 1253 Manuel I, Emperor of Trebizond, sent an envoy to King Louis IX of France at Sidon seeking a daughter in marriage for an alliance between the monarchs. Louis had no bride available, but suggested instead an alliance with the upstart Latin Dynasty in Constaninople.

   In 1291 Pope Nicholas IV wrote to the Emperor of Trebizond inviting him to partake of Catholic baptism and to join a crusade to free the Holy Land from Islam. Nicholas sent a penitent, a minorite and an envoy to the Tartars with his letter.

   In 1292 King Edward I of England sent Geoffrey of Langley as an envoy to Tabriz through Trebizond, and he returned that way in 1293. The details of the journey survive even to the small expenditures for shoe leather (Rot. Pat., 19 Edward I., m. II).

   In 1402 a soldier of fortune from Bavaria named Johann Schiltberger was taken prisioner by Timur during his crushing of the Turkish army. Johann's account of his adventures was later published in Germany.

   In 1404 Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, envoy of Henry III, King of Castile to Timur, passed through Trebizond both going and returning and left a detailed, published account of both his travels in 1403-1406 and his time in Trebizond.

   In 1416, just before the forming of the Order of the Golden Fleece, an envoy from Trebizond was sent to Venice to negotiate trade issues and their presence was the talk of Europe.

   We know of several requests to western European rulers from Trebizond for help against the Turks, up to the fall of the Empire, and there well could be more that we are unaware of. At least one was sent to the Duke of Burgundy.

   Trebizond often appeared in late Medieval romance manuscripts as an icon of a distant, Imperial kingdom. At a somewhat later date it is mentioned in both Rabelais and "Don Quixote".

   We might well expect that these "news" items helped bring the journey of Jason to Philipp's mind and suggest its connection with his new, wool-rich domains in the low countries with their busy sea ports. It has likely been the slender corpus of knowledge about the Empire of Trebizond that has caused its influence in Medieval thought to be left out of scholarly histories, and its actual role in late medieval thought has long been underestimated. In fact, it seems fairly clear that this is a significant element in the origins of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bibliography

For the history of Trebizond as we know there are only two good works in English.
Finlay, History of Greece, IV, 305-439, Oxford, 1877. Although a major work for its time it is now showing its age and does not reflect the last 125 years of scholarship.
Miller, William, Trebizond: The Last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era, 2nd revised edition, Chicago, 1969. This revision of the original 1926 edition by Anastasius C. Bandy updates the bibliography to 1968 and provides a useful introduction.

[Bart]

http://www.antiquesatoz.com/sgfleece/images/linkrt.gif Insignia of the Golden Fleece

   Originally, from the time of Phillip the Bold, only the collar was worn on all occasions. When armor was worn the fleece was often engraved (and sometime gilt) upon the armor itself. This last was fairly common through the eigthteenth century, especialy since so many recipients were soldiers in service of the head of the order. Beginning in the early sixteenth century under Charles V, and by his decree, the Fleece alone was usually worn on ordinary occasions, suspended by a thin red ribbon, but sometimes from a black one. Phillip II of Spain favored black, perhaps originally as a sign of mourning. Gradually, during the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Spanish love of glory and elaborate ceremony led to an elaboration of the bijou. Elements from the collar, the pierre a fois and briquet, were added one above the other. Finally a decorative ribbon knot appeared to complete the final design. Even when the Order was reclaimed by Austria following the extinction of the Spanish Habsburgs these decorative elements were retained.

   Although many of the original Fleeces were made in gold as befitted the status of the noble members, most seem to have been of bronze or brass gilt. Precious metals were much scarcer then than now, and the chance of loss too great for daily wear of a lump of pure gold, not to mention the greater weight of a solid gold Fleece. By the eigteenth century, when the highest nobility displayed their best at court, solid gold Fleeces became much more common. Finally, in the late ninteenth century, silver gilt became the norm. The collar of the Austrian crown prince, dating from the mid eighteenth century, is of silver gilt -- probably to spare the young holder the weight of solid gold.



   With the division of the Order into Spanish and Austrian Orders the nature of the insignia took very different directions in the two lands. In Spain the motto was never used on the briquette and the fleece was seen in full profile showing only one horn and eye. The shapes of the pieces, especially the briquette, became very ornate and abstract -- a mixture of Moorish and Baroque arabesques. In Austria the motto was always used, the pieces kept their traditional shapes and, starting with the late 18th century, the fleece was seen with the head twisted to the front to show both horns and eyes, and by around 1860 this was the rule for Austrian bijous. The c. 1850 fleece seen at the left confounds all this reason as it has essential elements of both Spain and Austria.The fleece is in profile and, almost uniquely, swings loose in its strap, and the briquette and pierre a fois both have turned into a baroque ribbon. The flames are of a well known 19th century Spanish layered style. Yet in contrast it bears the motto in a clear, mid-19th century sans serif style as do Austrian fleeces, and the ribbon ring is in the grooved Austrian style of 1814-1850. The most interesting part is that the pierre a fois is in painted, fired enamel rather than gold sculpture -- I know of no other example thus. How better than to start with an example that transcends the rules.

The Spanish Order



   The insignia of the Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece. The collar is modern and dates from 1900-1965. It is in silver gilt and is the proper Alpohonse XIII type. The neck decoration is c. 1900 with a sapphire in the "pierre a fois". The miniature, in gold and with original ribbon, dates from c. 1860-1890.

Elements of the Spanish insignia to be noted are the fleece being in full profile, the stylized flames turning into a "mass", and the entirely abstract "briquet" that no longer resembles anything this side of the Alhambra. The modern Austrian fleece has the head twisted to show both eyes and horns, even when the fleece as a whole is in profile. The individual flames are more distinct in the Austrian fleece and the "briquet" is clearly the fire steel of the house of Burgundy and shows the motto on full size bijous. There are clear differences in the style of the fleece both in sculpture and in hanging form. The fleece on this bijou and collar are the tight, slender leg toison of the modern Spanish order. The Austrian is a plumper, more substantial beast in the modern form. Anciently all were woolier and more clearly delineated, and many of the original fleeces took the form of the complete ram rather than only its hanging fleece. (Miniature from the chancelier's collection; bijou in a private American collection; collar in a private American collection.)

 Two Jeweled fleeces from Bavaria -- mid 18th century
    An interesting and very early mid-18th to possibly early 19th century brass-gilt bijou of Portugese or Spanish origin. Owing to the dangers of loss and cost of gold, brass-gilt and bronze-gilt fleeces were common in the 16th to early 18th centuries, especially for wear with armor. Often very large (to 9 cm. wide) they saw heavy daily usage and are scarce. The fleece style here, of a life-like ram standing, is seen in pieces worn by Charles V in the mid-16th century and is a Spanish form. The peculiar curving "pierre a fois" flames are also Hispanic in style, as is the stylized firesteel above. The firesteel arabesque contains a decorative "pierre a fois" design similar to printer's fleurons of the late 17th century. The mounts of this piece show long wearing and several old repairs consistent with its age. The flames are set with old mine cut crystal or pastes of a very early and crude brilliant cut, and the central amethyst hints at the Portugese mines in Brasil, as does the overall large and elaborate style. The flat cut of the flames and mounting of the stones matches the Bavarian pieces shown above that date to the mid 18th century. On the left, the entire Bijou; on the right the fine arabesque firestone within the firesteel. (From the chancelier's collection)   

   An interesting and eccentric private Spanish Fleece Collar in gold, synthetic sapphire, enamel and cameos from the early 20th century. The collar has only 18 sets of firestones and paired fire steels and so is short of the usual 28 sets. The cameos are of late 18th century manufacture. From a European Royal House.   

   A late 19th century badge in gold and enamel of the greffier of the Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece. Although fleeces in various forms come to market from time to time, the badges of officials are very rare.From an European Catalog.

   Gold badge of office of the Grand Inquisitor, or head of the Church Council of the Spanish Holy Office, that is an interesting association item with the Golden Fleece. From the last quarter of the 17th century this officer was Balthasar Sarmiento de Mendoza y Sandoval, 5th Marquis of Camarosa, Bishop of Segovia and Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece No. 476.   

Complete list of all of the knights who were awarded the order of the Golden Fleece - Burgundian, Austrian and Spanish.

[Ledgant]

Sorry flea I just realised how pushy I worded my last reply [did'nt mean too]Thanks for all the great info.

[Ledgant]

Thanks Bart!

I had heard a little of the order of the golden fleece but dimissed it because there was no connection to England and because they were an old kentish family,but they did marry into French Huguenots [Gallant,Ledgant,Nepueu?- so maybe.