Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Award of
Portuguese Republic
Type
Honorific Order
Religious affiliation
Secular
Ribbon
Green
Eligibility
Awarded for
Status
Currently awarded
Grand Master
President of Portugal
Established
1146 (founded)
1789 (secularized)
Precedence
Next (higher)
Order of Christ
Next (lower)
Contents
[hide]
1 Early history 2 The Secularization of the Order 3 Grades 4 Insignia 5 Selected recipients 6 See also
7 Notes 8 References
Early history[edit]
The order, as a monastic military order, was founded in emulation of such military orders as the Knights Templar, which existed in Portugal as early as 1128, and received a grant from Theresa, Countess of Portugal in the year of the Council of Troyes, which confirmed their early statutes. A native order of this kind sprang up in Portugal about 1146. Afonso, the first King gave to it the town of vora, captured from the Moors in 1166, and the Knights were first called "Friars of Santa Maria of vora". Pedro Henriques, an illegitimate son of the King's father, was the first grand master. After the conquest of Aviz a castle erected there became the motherhouse of the order, and they were then called "Knights of St. Benedict of Aviz", since they adopted the Benedictine rule in 1162, as modified by John Ziritu, one of the earliest Cistercian abbots of Portugal. Like the Knights of Calatrava in Castile, the Knights of Portugal were indebted to the Cistercians for their rule and their habita white mantle with a green fleur-de-lysed cross. The Knights of Calatrava also surrendered some of their places in Portugal to them on condition that the Knights of Aviz should be subject to the visitation of their grand master. Hence the Knights of Aviz were sometimes regarded as a branch of the Calatravan Order, although they never ceased to have a Portuguese grand master, dependent for temporalities on the Portuguese King. At the death of King Ferdinand (1383) war broke out between Castile and Portugal. When Joo I, who had been grand master of the Knights of Aviz, ascended the throne of Portugal, he forbade the knights to submit to Castilian authority, and consequently, when Gonsalvo de Guzman came to Aviz as Visitor, the knights, while according him hospitality, refused to recognise him as a superior. Guzman protested, and the point remained a subject of contention until the Council of Basle (1431), when Portugal was declared to be in the wrong. But the right of the Calatravans was never exercised, and the next grand master of the Knights of Aviz, Rodrigo of Sequirol, continued to assert supreme authority over them. The mission of the military orders in Portugal seemed to end after the overthrow of Muslim domination, but the Portuguese expeditions across the sea opened up a new field for them. The first landings of Europeans in Africa, the conquest of Ceuta by King Joo I (1415), the attacks upon Tangier under Joo's son Duarte(1437) were also crusades, inspired by a religious spirit and sanctioned by similar Papal Bulls. The Knights of Aviz and the Knights of Christ from Order of Christ, scions of the Knights Templars, achieved deeds of valour, the former under the Prince Fernando, the latter under Henrique, brother of King Duarte. Fernando displayed a no less heroic forbearance during his six years of captivity among the Muslims, a long martyrdom[citation needed] which after his death placed him among the Blessed (Acta SS.,5 June).
This enthusiasm did not last, and the Crusade in Africa degenerated into mere mercantile enterprise. After the grand mastership of the order had been vested in the King in perpetuity (1551), he availed himself of its income to reward any kind of service in the army or the fleet. If the wealth of the Knights of Aviz was not as great as that of the Knights of Christ, it was still quite large, drawn as it was from some forty-three commanderies. The religious spirit of the knights vanished, and they withdrew from their clerical brothers who continued alone the conventual life. They were dispensed from their vow of celibacy byAlexander VI (1502), who tolerated their marriage to prevent scandalous concubinage; Julius III (1551) allowed them to dispose freely of their personal properties. Nobility of birth remained the chief requirement of aspirants to the mantle, a requirement confirmed by a decree of 1604.
Grades[edit]
The Order of Aviz, as awarded by the Portuguese government today, comes in five classes:
Grand Cross (GCA), which wears the badge of the Order on a sash on the right shoulder, and the star of the Order in gold on the left chest;
Grand Officer (GOA), which wears the badge of the Order on a necklet, and the star of the Order in gold on the left chest;
Commander (ComA), which wears the badge of the Order on a necklet, and the star of the Order in silver on the left chest;
Officer (OA), which wears the badge of the Order on a ribbon with rosette on the left chest; Knight (CavA) or Dame (DamA), which wears the badge of the Order on a plain ribbon on the left chest.
Insignia[edit]
The badge of the Order is a gilt cross with green enamel, similar to the Order's emblem illustrated here, but with a longer lower arm. During the monarchy the badge was topped by the Sacred Heart of Christ.
The star of the Order is an eight-pointed, faceted star, in gilt for Grand Cross and Grand Officer, and in silver for Commander. The central disc is in white enamel, with a miniature of the modern badge in it. During the monarchy the Sacred Heart of Christ was placed at the top of the star.