Order of the Holy Sepulchre
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The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a Catholic chivalric order of Knighthood that traces its roots to Godfrey of Bouillon, principal leader of the First Crusade. According to reliable sources in the Vatican and Jerusalem, it began in historical reality as a mixed clerical and lay confraternity (association) of pilgrims which gradually grew around the most central of the Christian holy places in the Middle East, the Holy Sepulchre or the tomb of Jesus Christ.
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[edit] Origin
Five major orders were formed in the Holy Land in the late 11th century to the early 12th century: the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre (circa 1099), Knights Templar (circa 1118), Knights Hospitaller (circa 1099) (St John), Knights of the Hospital of St Mary of Jerusalem (Teutonic Knights) and Knights of St Lazarus. Templar knights who contracted leprosy were sent to the care of the Order of St Lazarus. These knights trained the brethren of St Lazarus in the military arts and were responsible for transforming the Order into a military one. William, Archbishop of Tyre, as well as other historians of the period, appeared unaware of the difference between the Orders of Saint Lazarus and Saint John, referring to them in their accounts simply as 'Hospitallers'. The latter were, and still are, called Hospitallers as they began as an Order of monks running the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem shortly after the First Crusade. They had become militarised by the 1130s, and went on, with the Knights Templar, to become one of the two largest and most influential Military Orders. Indeed, Godfrey de Bouillon - the uncrowned ‘king’ of Jerusalem - was so impressed with the dedication of these hospital workers under its leader Gerard and with their work toward the sick and the wounded that 'king' Godfrey de Bouillon supported and gave them funds and facilities.
Pilgrimages to the Holy Land were a common if dangerous practice from shortly after the crucifixion of Jesus to throughout the Middle Ages. Numerous detailed commentaries have survived as evidence of this early Christian devotional. While there were many places the pious visited during their travels, the one most cherished was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, first constructed by Constantine the Great in the fourth century AD. A local tradition, begun long before the Crusades, provided for the bestowing of knighthood upon qualified men whose presence, character and devotion were deemed worthy of enoblement by those entrusted to the care of the church. These Cannons of the Holy Sepulchre (circa 400AD - 800AD) became the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.
As it was for the deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre that the First Crusade was organized (Duke Godfrey de Bouillon was the leader of the First Crusade, and the first 'king' of Jerusalum), so for its defence were certain military orders instituted. The Order earlier was called Order of Cannons, which today is now known as the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. It is considered the oldest of the military Orders of knighthood. It is the fourth oldest order in the Catholic Church. As the oldest military order original surviving Orders from Jerusalem, this Order of Knighthood was given a charter by Papal decree in 1099. It is likely much older and dates to well before the time of Charlemagne (circa 800). The practice of bestowing knighthood at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was part of this mediaeval military movement toward reinstating a Christian presence in the Holy Land.
In 1099, Duke Godfrey of Bouillon took no other title than that of "Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre", and other Latin princes, Bohemond I of Antioch and Tancred, Prince of Galilee, (because he said he could not take the title of King in the city where Jesus had died) bound themselves as vassals of the Holy Sepulchre as they would to a king. The ultimate fall of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem to the Muslims in 1291 did not suspend pilgrimages to the Tomb of Christ, or the custom of receiving knighthood there, and when the custody of the Holy Land was entrusted to the Franciscan Order, they continued this pious custom and gave the order its first Grand Master after the death of the last King of Jerusalem. These kings were the Grand Masters of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the Order had a hereditary Grand Master for the next 600 years. The kings had reserved that dignity to themselves previously.
The official arrival of the Franciscan Friars Minor in Syria dates from the Bull addressed by Pope Gregory IX to the clergy of Palestine in 1230, charging them to welcome the Friars Minor, and to allow them to preach to the faithful and hold oratories and cemeteries of their own. In the ten years' truce of 1229 concluded between Frederick II of Sicily and the sultan Al-Kamil, the Franciscans were permitted to enter Jerusalem, but they were also the first victims of the violent invasion of the Khwarezmians in 1244. Nevertheless, the Franciscan province of Syria continued to exist, with Acre as its seat.
The monks quickly resumed possession of their convent of Mount Sion at Jerusalem. The Turks tolerated the veneration paid to the tomb of Christ and derived revenue from the taxes levied upon pilgrims. In 1342, in his Bull Gratiam agimus, Pope Clement VI officially committed the care of the Holy Land to the Franciscans. (The restoration of a Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem by Pius IX in 1847 superseded the Franciscans.) Consequently, as early as 1336, the Franciscans were enrolling applicants among the lay Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, in ceremonies frequently mentioned in the itineraries of pilgrims.
Those pilgrims deemed worthy of the honour were received into the Order with an elaborate ceremonial of ancient chivalry. In the ceremonial of reception, the role of the clergy was limited to the benedictio militis, the dubbing with the sword being reserved to a professional knight, since the carrying of the sword was incompatible with the sacerdotal character.
From 1480 to 1495, there was in Jerusalem a German knight of the Holy Sepulchre, John of Prussia, who acted as steward for the convent and regularly discharged this act reserved to knighthood. It was also of frequent occurrence that a foreign knight, present among the crowds of pilgrims, would assist at this ceremony. However, in default of other assistance, it was the superior who had to act instead of a knight, although such a course was deemed irregular, It was since then also that the superior of the convent assumed the title of Grand Master, a title which has been acknowledged by various pontifical diplomas, and finally by a Bull of Benedict XIV dated 1746.
Pius IX re-established the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in 1847. Pius X ordained that the Order's cape, as worn by the original knights, be a "white cloak with the cross of Jerusalem in red enamel." Pius X assumed the title of Grand Master. The title of Grand Master is now held by a cardinal of the Roman Curia who is resident in Rome at the Palazzo della Rovere, the 15th century palace of Pope Julius II, immediately adjacent to the Vatican. It serves as the Order's international headquarters. The Order remains a Roman Catholic religious Order which along with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (circa 1207) are both international Catholic Orders of Knighthood.
In ecclesiastical heraldry, the Order of the Holy Sepulchre is one of only two Orders whose insignia may be displayed in a clerical coat of arms. (Laypersons have no such restriction.) Knights and Ladies of the Order display their arms in the badge of the order, while Knights and Ladies of the rank Grand Cross surround their shield with a ribbon. Other ranks place the appropriate ribbon below the shield and may also display the red Jerusalem cross behind their shield.
The Order had a hereditary Grand Master for 600 years; from the time of Duke Godfrey de Bouillon (first 'King' of Jerusalem). Many of the Kings of the Royal Houses of Europe were the Order's Grand Master. Later, succeeding popes became the Grand Master of the Order. In 1942 Pope Pius XII, busy with World War II, relinquished a Cardinal Protector as the Grand Master.
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed John Patrick Cardinal Foley as the Cardinal Protector, or Grand Master of the Order.
[edit] Other current officials
- Michel Sabbah (Grand Prior)
- Edward Nowak (Assessor)
[edit] References
- Noonan, Jr., James Charles (1996). The Church Visible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church. Viking, p.196. ISBN 0-670-86745-4.
- Smythe, Colin. Orders of Knighthood and of Merit
- Sainty, Guy Stair. Order of the Holy Sepulchre[1]
