Order of the Golden Fleece

Not to be confused with the Golden Fleece Award.
For the French attempt to unify both branches of the Order of the Golden Fleece, see Order of the Three Golden Fleeces.
For a modern Georgian award, see Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia).

  • Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece
  • Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro
  • Insigne Ordre de la Toison d'Or
  • Orden vom Goldenen Vlies
  • Insignes Ordo Velleris Aurei

Full set of Insignia of a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece of Spain
Awarded by the King of Spain and
the Head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Established10 January 1430; 594 years ago (1430-01-10)
Motto
  • Pretium Laborum Non Vile
  • Non Aliud
StatusCurrently constituted
FounderPhilip III, Duke of Burgundy
Grand Masters
GradesKnight
Precedence
Next (higher)None
Next (lower)

Ribbon of the order

Philip III, Duke of Burgundy, with the collar of the order (portrait in c. 1450 by Rogier van der Weyden)

The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (Spanish: Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro,[1] German: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy,[2] to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal. Today, two branches of the order exist, namely the Spanish Fleece and the Austrian Fleece; the current grand masters are King Felipe VI of Spain and Karl von Habsburg, head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, respectively. The Grand Chaplain of the Austrian branch is Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna.

The separation of the two existing branches took place as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession of 1701–1714. The grand master of the order, Charles II of Spain (a Habsburg), had died childless in 1700, and so the right to succeed to the throne of Spain (and thus to become the Sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece) initiated a global conflict. On one hand, Charles, brother of the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I, claimed the Spanish crown as an agnatic member of the House of Habsburg, which had inherited the Burgundian titles and had held the Spanish throne for almost two centuries. However, the late king of Spain had named Philip of Bourbon, his sister's grandchild, as his successor in his will. After the conclusion of the war in 1714, the European powers recognized Philip of Bourbon as King of Spain, and the old Burgundian Habsburg territories became part of the Austrian Netherlands (1714–1797). Thus the two dynasties, namely the Bourbons of Spain and the Habsburgs of Austria, have ever since continued heading the separate orders of the Golden Fleece.

The Golden Fleece, particularly the Spanish branch, became one of the most prestigious and historic orders of chivalry in the world.[3][4][5] De Bourgoing wrote in 1789 that "the number of knights of the Golden Fleece is very limited in Spain, and this is the order, which of all those in Europe, has best preserved its ancient splendour".[6] Each collar is solid gold and is estimated to be worth around €50,000 as of 2018, making it the most expensive chivalrous order.[7] Current knights of the Spanish order include Emperor Akihito of Japan, former Tsar Simeon of Bulgaria, and Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, amongst 13 others. Knights of the Austrian branch include 33 noblemen and princes of small territories in Central Europe, most of them of German or Austrian origin.

  1. ^ Vellus aureum Burgundo-Austriacum sive Augusti et ordinis torquatorum aurei velleris equitum ... relatio historiaca. Ed.I., Antonius Kaschutnig, Paulus-Antonius Gundl
  2. ^ Weatherly, Cecil (1911). "Knighthood and Chivalry" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 851–867.
  3. ^ Boulton, D'Arcy Jonathan Dacre (2000) [1987]. "The Order of the Golden Fleece: Burgundy and the Netherlands 1430/1–present". The Knights of the Crown: The Monarchical Orders of Knighthood in Later Medieval Europe, 1325-1520 (2 ed.). Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. pp. 395–396. ISBN 9780851157955. Retrieved 15 August 2024. The very limitation on membership [...] combined with the policy of promoting the election of counts, princes, and even kings [...] gave the Order an immense international prestige [...] membership of the Order of the Golden Fleece came to be coveted and sought after by many princes of middle rank, and far from despised even by kings and emperors. The succession of the Orders fifth sovereign, Duke Charles II, to the thrones of the Spains and the Sicilies in 1516 removed the difficulties that had inevitably arisen from the fact that the head of the Order was a mere duke, for thenceforth its Sovereigns were not only kings but kings of many rich kingdoms. That Charles even as Emperor Charles V continued to regard membership in the Order as one of the highest dignities within his disposal is surely an indication of the esteem in which the [...] Order had come to be held by the time of his accession, as well as a sign of the continuing usefulness of the Order as a political instrument.
  4. ^ D'Arcy Jonathan Dacre Boulton (2000) [February 1987]. The knights of the crown: the monarchical orders of knighthood in later medieval Europe. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-45842-8.
  5. ^ Méndez, Daniel (18 February 2012). "Toisón de oro: el collar de los poderosos". XLSemanal.
  6. ^ Jean-François de Bourgoing, Travels in Spain: Containing a New, Accurate, and Comprehensive View of the Present State of that Country, G.G.J. and J. Robinson (London, 1789), p. 110
  7. ^ "Bandera, María: ¿Qué es el Toisón de Oro y quiénes lo han merecido?". COPE. 30 January 2018.