Order of the Collar of Saint Agatha
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The Military Order of the Collar of Saint Agatha of Paternò, also called the Military Order of the Collar (M.O.C.) is a family Order of the Royal House of Aragon, Majorca and Sicily. It has recently been transformed in a charitable order with branches all over the world. The authenticity of the order is disputed, e.g. by Guy Stair Sainty[1]. This criticism has been refuted in a lengthy article [2].
The existence of the order is documented in the middle of the 19th century. Professor Dick Harrison has given an expert opinion about the MOC [3].
The Order belongs to the Head of Name and Arms of the Royal House of Aragon, Majorca and Sicily of the dynasty of Paternò Castello e Guttadauro Ayerbe Aragona of the Dukes of Carcaci and of the Princes of Emmanuel, H.R.H. Don Francesco, Duke of Perpignan, who is a subject of international law[4].
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[edit] Legendary origins
As was the case with many other such bodies, the Order of Saint Agatha may originally have had a military objective. According to legend it was founded in the 13th century by the Aragonese Kings of the Balearic Islands, its aim was to subdue the Moorish pirates of North Africa at that time marauding in the Mediterranean and to extirpate the Muslim faith from the area. This tradition can not be verified on the basis of written sources.
It was restored in 1851 with the approval of the reigning Bourbon Kings of the Two Sicilies, as can be seen from documents preserved in the original. It is a non-national Order as defined by the Law of the 3rd March 1951 of the Republic of Italy. The Protectress and Patron of the Order is Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr, whose Feast is celebrated as that of the Order on 5th February. Saint Agatha's heroic defence of Christian principle makes her a very appropriate Protectress for an Order of Knights. The principal aim of the Order as restored is to propagate in the modern world the tradition of chivalry as a way of life. It practices good works principally through its Hospitaller Service.
The main historical source for the history of the Order is “L'Ordine del Collare, Patrimonio della Ser.ma Real Casa Paternò” [5], published in 1851 by the seventh Duke of Carcaci. When reorganising the family archives this distinguished historian had come across a manuscript diary of his ancestor Don Ignazio II Paternò Prince of Biscari [6], who had visited the Balearic Islands at the end of the sixteenth century. While there he discovered an original document concerning the Order in the library of the Convent at Fornelle, as well as a contemporary painting showing the badge and the dress of the knights. Fortunately for posterity Don Ignazio recorded these details and two centuries later his notes were discovered by the Duke, who set about the revival of the Order in 1851 after the publication of his book.
When the last Prince of Cassano died, it was not clear who precisely held the dynastic right to the jus maiestatis of the Lands of the Crown of Aragon that had descended from James I "the Conquerer" through James Count of Urgell, and it became urgently necessary that the question be answered.
[edit] Verified origins
A family conclave, on the initiative of the Duke of Carcaci Don Francesco Paternò Castello e Sammartino, was called on 14th June 1853, and held in Palermo in the palace of the Marchese di Spedalotto, head of one of the more senior branches of the family. After a review of the relevant evidence and a wide-ranging discussion, it was the finding of the conclave that the royal rights, which had been the subject of the debate, should be confirmed as belonging to Don Mario, son of the Duke of Carcaci's younger brother Don Giovanni and his wife Donna Eleonora Guttadauro of Emmanuel Riburdone, the heiress of the House of Guttadauro. This conclusion which had in fact already received the assent of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (in whose realm they resided), subject to ratification by the conclave, was reached on the recognition that Don Mario alone had the royal blood of Aragon in his veins from two sources, through the separate descents of both his mother and his father from King James the Conqueror.
A family pact [7] was then signed, registered on 16 June 1853 and sealed in the Chamber of Seals and Royal Registers of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. It was decreed that during the minority of Don Mario, his father Don Giovanni should be Regent.
As early as 18th May 1851 [8] the Order's legitimacy was recognised by the Bourbon King of the Two Sicilies, whose officials were required to record its conferrals in the Registry Office of the Kingdom. On 30th March 1853 [9] the Governor of the Province of Catania, in the name of the King, allowed only three exceptions to the Royal prohibition on the wearing of orders other than Royal Sicilian Orders, these being Papal Orders, the Order of Malta and the Military Order of the Collar. In 1859 the Royal Commission on Titles of Nobility [10][citation needed]examined the claims of the House of Paternò to confer titles and bestow Orders and it advised the King that such acts, titles and Orders were legitimate. In 1860 the King approved this decision by Royal Decree [11][citation needed]and ordered its execution throughout the Kingdom[12]. The King also recognised Don Mario as hereditary Grand Master of the Order and made various provisions to ensure the succession to the Grand Magistracy.
For many years the Order remained almost a Family Order, largely restricted in its membership to relatives and close associates[citation needed].
[edit] The Order today
A revival of the Order was started in 1961 and new Statutes have been issued and revised on a number of occasions. Since his accession Don Francesco had laid great stress on the works of charity which he regarded as the principal activity of the Royal House. The development of the Hospitaller Service of the Military Order of the Collar has been the main agency for the achievement of these aims. Over the years members of the Order have raised considerable sums for charity and have performed countless charitable acts for the relief of suffering, in keeping with the highest aims of the Order. By a Decree of the Grand Master dated 10th December 1990, thenceforth the Hospitaller Service would be a Charitable Association separate from the Order but associated with it. All candidates for admission to the Order must first have been members of the Service for the required period of time. All Knights and Dames of the Categories of Devotion are ex officio members of the Service and are obliged to support it physically and financially. The Hospitaller Service is divided into various jurisdictions which reflects the jurisdictions of the Order of the Collar, whose heads are ex officio Presidents of the territorial Sections of the Service.
Today the Order is well represented in several countries across Europe, as well as in North America and Australia.
[edit] Structure & Jurisdictions
- THE GRAND MASTER: H.R.H. Prince Don Francesco Paternò Ayerbe Aragona, by the Grace of God and hereditary right Pretender to the Crowns of Aragon, Majorca, Sicily, Sardinia, Prince of Catalonia, Count of Cerdagna, Count of Roussillion, Lord of Valencia, Lord of Montpelier, Count of Urgel, Viscounte of Carlades, etc, etc., Duke of Perpignan and Prince of Emmanuel, Grand Master of the Military Order of the Collar of St. Agatha of Paternò.
- THE GOVERNMENT:
Governor of the Royal House; Grand Hospitaller; Grand Visitor; Grand Commander; Grand Constable;
Magistral House of Professed Knights, Members "In Gremio Ordinis".
- THE TERRITORIAL JURISDICTIONS:
GRAND PRIORY OF ITALY:
Priory of Lombardia; Priory of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia; Priory of Emiiglia-Romagna; Priory of the Abruzzi; Commandery of St. Agatha.
GRAND PRIORY OF ARAGON AND CATALONIA:
Priory of the Pilar; Priory of Ebro; Commandery of Regina Santa; Commandery of the Plate (Argentina).
GRAND PRIORY OF THE ENGLISH TONGUE:
Priory of St. Raymond of Penyafort; Priory of St. Elizabeth of Aragon; Priory of St. Peter Nolasco.
GRAND PRIORY OF TERRA NORDICA:
Priory of St. Erik; Priory of St. Brigid; Priory of St. Ansgar.
HEREDITARY COMMANDERY:
of Derryloughan (N. Ireland).
[edit] Insignia of the Order
The cross of the Order is the Aragonese Cross in gold and enamel, worn on a ribbon of red silk with yellow fringes. In addition, Knights who have already sworn their oath of allegiance to the Grand Master may additionally wear the Cross of Profession -- a smaller specimen of the Aragonese Cross -- on the right (!) lapel.
The mantle of the Order, worn in church only, is plain white, with a sanguine collar and the Aragonese Cross on the left breast (in full colors for Knights, thoroughly golden for Dames) and a golden chain for closing, affixed to two golden lion heads. The usual categories of membership (Justice, Grace, Profession) are distinguished by an additional golden stripe on the collar.
[edit] Sources
- ^ "the self-styled "Order of Saint Agatha of the House of Paternò" which has emerged in the post-war era, founded by don Francesco Maria Paternò Castello, a cadet member of the ancient Sicilian noble family of Paternò Castello, Dukes of Carcaci. Successive heads of the Paternò and Paternò Castello family have refused to have anything to do with this body and the founder's uncle, Frà Ernesto Paternò Castello, Lieutenant of the Grand Magistery of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the 1950's, likewise denounced it. [1]
- ^ http://realaula.homestead.com/Real_Aula_2003-4.pdf
- ^ Opinion of Professor Dick Harrison. "From documents from the middle of the nineteenth century, which are preserved in the original, it can be concluded that the then reigning Royal House of Bourbon of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies recognised the Militare Ordine del Collare di Sant'Agata (MOC) as being on par with their own dynastic orders, and considered it being a part of the patrimony of the Paternò dynasty. The history of the MOC is unknown. There are strong indications that the order, as we know it, began as a dynastic order attached to the Paternó family well before 1850. According to family traditions, the origins of the order are medieval[citation needed]. However, these traditions can not be verified on the basis of written sources. The later development has rather reinforced the position of the House of Paternó, as the Head of the dynasty has had his position as fons honorum and a subject of international law recognised. MOC should therefore be designated a legitimate dynastic order (family order)[citation needed]. As such a dynastic order, it must from a historical point of view be regarded as equivalent to other legitimate dynastic orders, e.g. those belonging to the Royal House of Bourbon of the Two Sicilies and other former reigning royal or princely dynasties."
- ^ Judgment Opinion of Professor Jacob Sundberg. Professor Sundberg ranks him as equal to a Head of State.
- ^ L'Ordine del Collare English translation
- ^ Ignazio II Paternò
- ^ Family Pact English translation
- ^ Letter from the Attorney General English translation
- ^ Decree from the Governor in Catania English translation
- ^ Royal Commission on titles of Nobility English translation
- ^ Decree by H.M. King Francesco IIEnglish translation
- ^ The decree has only been recorded in the shape of a photocopy.
