Order of the Dragon

The Order of the Dragon (German: Drachenorden ; Latin: Societas Draconistrarum ) is an order of noble elected officials, according to the model of the Ordre of Saint-Georges of Burgundy. The Order was reactivated at the origin by the Germanic saint Roman Emperor Sigismond of Luxembourg (whereas it still reigned on the Hungary) and his second wife, Barbara Cilie, to protect the royal family.

Origins of the Order

Miloš Obilić, a Serb knight, had created the secret order of the Dragon of holy Georges. Its shield represented the sun with twelve rays, and they were 12 knights (included/understood to him) to belong to the Order. Like distinctive sign, they carried a dragon on their helmet. The objective of the Order was the death of the Othoman Sultan Mourad I.

The June 28th 1389, with the battles of Kosovo, Miloš penetrated in the camp of the Othoman while being made pass for a deserter, forced the tent of the sultan, and a mortal blow carried to him. Miloš Obilic was carried out with all the other Serb prisoners, execution ordered by the son of Mourad, Beyazid I.

Only one of the 12 knights of the Dragon survived. He became tutor of the Serb prince Stefan Lazarević.

The Despote Stefan Lazarević (1374 - 1427) was the son and the heir to Lazar Hrebeljanović, the prince of Serbia which died in the battle of Kosovo against the Turks in 1389. Stefan became vassal of Hungary. He told the history of the knight Miloš Obilić with Sigismond of Hungary. The king of Hungary, Sigismond created the Order of the Dragon in 1408. The despot Stefan Lazarević was the first on the list of the members.

The Order of the renewed Dragon

The December 13rd 1408, the charter of the Order was published, it dedicated the order to the defense of the Cross vis-a-vis its enemies, and particularly vis-a-vis the Othoman . The 24 founding members were established in 1408, among those:

Sigismond of Luxembourg
Stefan Lazarević of Serbia
Alphonse d' Aragon and of Naples
Ladislaus II of Poland
Vitovd de Lithuanie
Ernst of Austria
Christophe III of Denmark
Pippo Spano

Symbol of the order

Like Symbol, the order chooses a badge made up of a dragon with the tail rolled up around the neck. On the back of the dragon, base of the neck to the tail is posed the Croix of saint Georges, with the whole image on a money cloth. The dragon represents the Animal of the Apocalypse, and the Red Cross the victory of the Christ over the forces of the evil. The members were to always carry the symbol (often in the form of a medallion) and were often buried with.

An annotation of the University of Bucharest on the original edict which establishes the order known as O Quam Misericors is Deus, Pius and Justus and can belong to the emblem.

Growth of the order

In 1431, Sigismond decided to extend the order, and it invited many vassal and noble politically and the militarily influential ones to belong to the Order. Among them, there was Vlad Dracul, the father of Vlad Empaleur, which was used as a commander as border, in load of the guard of the passages of the Transylvania towards the Valachie. (The nickname of " Dracul" (Rumanian: dragon, refers to its nomination in the Order of the Dragon).

The addition of novel members was the cause of the creation of many classes inside the Order. Each class comprised a small variation of the symbol of the Order, although the reason for the dragon remained dominating. The common changes included mentions like " O quam misericors is Deus" (" Oh, as God is miséricordieux") and " Justus and paciens" (" Just and paisible"). The Order remained in place until the death of Sigismond in 1437. Without strong support, the Order quickly lost its influence and its prestige.

Modern times

There remain today some historical artefacts of the Order, although the symbol of the Order was adopted per many blazons of European families. A copy of the edict of creation, going back to 1707, is the oldest artefact of the Order, and is preserved at the University of Bucharest.

the Royal and Imperial Court and the Order of the Dragon is a recent and unauthorized re-creation about the original Dragon. Although he is not regarded as a legitimate order of knighthood, its number of members knew a constant increase.

External bonds

Order of the Dragon
and Présentation SGS, including the Order of the Dragon and its members
Presentation about the dragon

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