The ancient Portuguese Military Orders are amongst the oldest in
existence since their origin dates back to the XII th. - XIV th.
centuries. These military religious orders were founded during the severe conditions of
the Reconquest of Iberian Peninsula from the Moorish invaders
which became known as the
Crusades of the West.
- The Order of Christ was created in 1319 by King
Dennis I to replace the extinct Order of the Knights Templars.
-
The Order of Avis, initially known as the Evora Militiae was founded
circa 1170 having later adopted he Rule of the Castilian Order of
Calatrava.
- The Order of St. James of the Sword founded in the Kingdom
of León became active in Portugal by 1172, where it formed a
grand-commandery, till it became autonomous by 1288.
These Orders played an important role in the defence of the Christian faith
and in battling the Moorish invaders. With time the structure and purposes of
these Orders changed as it is depicted on the pages dedicated to the various
specific orders. An overview has been
prepared to serve as an introduction.
Although, formally, not a military
religious order like the above, but rather more like an Order of Chivalry, the Order of the Tower and of the Sword
- re-established in the beginning of the XIXth century - will also be dealt
with, because it still exists being the highest Portuguese decoration.
These orders, however,
were from their creation mere orders of merit without any chivalrious
connotations.
Outside
the scope of this essay, remain the other Portuguese orders of merit still
extant, which were created either in the late XIXth century or in the XXth
centuries:
Order of the Infant D. Henrique
(Prince Henry, the Navigator, as he is known to English-speaking
readers); Order of Liberty (created after the 1974
revolution which overthrew the non-democratic regime);
Order of
Civil Merit; Order of Public Instruction; and
Order
of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Merit.
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