{"id":883,"date":"2016-06-09T22:12:46","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T22:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oosj-rgp.org\/?page_id=883"},"modified":"2016-06-09T22:28:33","modified_gmt":"2016-06-09T22:28:33","slug":"history-ii","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oosj-rgp.org\/?page_id=883","title":{"rendered":"History Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Part II The Order in Imperial Russia<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The events leading to the creation of the Russian Grand Priories are as
\ncomplex as they are fascinating. The involvement of Imperial Russia with
\nthe Order of Saint John was of long standing. As early as the end of
\nthe 17th century, Emperor Peter the Great had sent Field Marshall Boris
\nSheremeteff as the head of a delegation to the Grand Master on Malta.
\nThe delegation was successful, as a result of this mission Field
\nMarshall Sheremeteff was honored by the Order and wore their decoration.
\nIt is to be seen still in his official portrait preserved at the
\nfamily\u2019s Moscow seat at Ostankino. Empress Catherine the Great in 1782
\nsent heir apparent, Grand Duke Paul, to Malta on a visit to Grand Master
\nEmanuel de Rohan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Through the counsel of Bailiff Giulio Litta, Emperor Paul created an
\nOrthodox Grand Priory of Russia on an Ecumenical basis, including Roman
\nCatholics and Lutherans. Emperor Paul introduced the Roman Catholic
\nchivalric idea to his Orthodox subjects and nobles. The newly formulated
\nRoman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Priories of Russia were richly
\nendowed with a large treasury, buildings and chapels. Many members of
\nthe Russian nobility including members of the Imperial family, male and
\nfemale, were inducted into the Order. Clerics of the Russian Orthodox
\nChurch, including Bishops and Metropolitans, were admitted into the
\nOrder. The Court Chapel had an Orthodox priest as chaplain and the feast
\ndays of Saint John the Baptist [or popularly called the Forerunner in
\nthe Eastern Church] were given new importance and placed on the Imperial
\ncalendar. Eventually, the relics of Saint John and memorabilia of the
\nOrder were specially housed in Saint Petersburg [eventually these relics
\nsurvived the Revolution of 1917 and are today in Cetinje, Montenegro].<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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During these events, on June 11, 1798, Grand Master von Hompesch soon
\nfaced by Napoleon Bonaparte\u2019s fleet quietly surrendered the impregnable
\ncity of Valletta without a struggle. Malta and the knights treasury
\nbecame part of Bonaparte\u2019s realm. As the Order of the Temple of Solomon,
\nthe Order of Saint John may have passed into history as a relic of the
\nabsolutist past. Its role against the crumbling Ottoman Empire had
\nended, and its place in the newly defined republican Europe was limited.
\nIt is at this point in world history that the Order reinvented itself
\nand in more than one guise. The Western Order was ultimately to split
\nfrom the Eastern one. In the West the Order barely survived. In the
\nRoman Catholic areas it partly was kept alive due to the influence of
\nthe ever waning papacy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After the seizure of Malta by Napoleon, many of the remaining knights
\nfled to their protector Emperor Paul in Saint Petersburg. They
\nrepudiated on August 26 and again on the 29th, 1798 their allegiance to
\nthe then Grand Master von Hompesch. On November 27, the knights in Saint
\nPetersburg elected the Emperor [proclamation<\/a>], a supreme autocrat in his own right, as
\ntheir new Grand Master [acceptance<\/a>]. The Pope, Pius VI, was in in exile if not house
\narrest under Napoleon, in Tuscany till March 29, 1799. During this time
\nhe was extremely ill and dying. He was carried half dead from his final
\nplace of exile, the Certosa of Galluzzo, near Florence and died on
\nreaching France near Valence. During this final illness the pontiff,
\nwhen lucid, counseled through his Nuncio Count de Litta, brother of
\nGuilio, that the Emperor Paul be patient with his dealings with the
\nOrder. Emperor Paul, a married man with a wife and children and the
\nleader of the Russian Orthodox faith, eagerly accepted the office of
\nGrand Master, although by the Order\u2019s own rules he was Russian Orthodox
\nand married. In June of 1799, Grand Master von Hompesch abdicated his
\noffice. Only the knights of Spain, eventually, did not recognize the
\nRussian Emperor as the new Grand Master; instead, they opted for the
\nprotection of their own king.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A new and changed Order was created. The Emperor of Russia through
\nhis absolute powers as autocrat had created an entirely new Order based
\non an ancient foundation. It was from this source that the present Order
\nof Saint John traces its descent.<\/p>\n

The Emperor Paul\u2019s Edict of November 24, 1798 sums up the formation
\nof the new Order while underscoring the continuation of certain elements
\nof the old Order. He declared as Emperor and Autocrat that he accepted
\nthe Grand Mastership and would preserve the Roman Catholic character of
\nthe Order for the Roman Catholic membership. The Emperor started the
\ncreation of his new Order [which in his mind probably was just a
\ncontinuation of the old] by basing it on hereditary privilege and
\ninclusion of both males and females. He established the authority of the
\nOrder in his own person. At that point, the Emperor had created a new
\nOrder. Further edicts established the nature and context of this Order.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Emperor radically changed the Order in the aspect of his newly
\nknighted Russian Orthodox membership. Unlike the traditional character
\nof the Order, the knights were no longer bound by celibacy and instead
\nincluded both male and female members. To prevent extinction, the new
\nEmperor created in 1799 a new degree of knighthood, that is, the
\nHereditary Family Commanders. Simply, Hereditary Family Commanders
\ngovern units which were passed down from one generation to the next. It
\ninsured a perpetual continuation of the Orthodox Order. In addition to
\nthis, the Emperor brought many more individuals of the Russian Court
\ninto the Order as well as Russian Orthodox priests and bishops.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The relics of the Order were eventually sent by Grand Master von
\nHompesch to the Emperor. The principal relics were the revered icon of
\nthe Our Lady [Theotokos] of Philermos, the relic hand of Saint John the
\nBaptist<\/a> and the Cross of Grand Master Jean de la Valette. For the icon a
\nriza in the Russian Church style was created from gold with fine gems
\nas gift adornments. All three relics were entrusted to the Dowager
\nEmpress Marie Feodorovna after the revolution. The icon survives to this
\nday in a monastery in Cetinje, Montenegro<\/a>, while the famed Cross was
\ngifted after the Revolution of 1917 by the Russian \u00e9migr\u00e9 community in
\nParis through the House of Romanoff to the revived powerful and
\ninfluential papal Order in an attempt to a find reconciliation between
\nthe two Orders. Originally, the Order\u2019s relics were specially housed at
\nthe Gatchina Palace and feast days were created for them by the Russian
\nOrthodox Church. The Emperor ordered a state crown as head of the Order
\nto be made for him. He is pictured with this crown, a copy which to this
\nday is proudly displayed in the Roman Catholic headquarters of the
\nOrder, The crown, which became part of the Imperial Russia regalia, was
\nused repeatedly in the remaining century of the Russian Empire. In many
\nRussian Coronation books of 19th century it is depicted along with the
\nother historic crowns of Russia. The emblem of the Order was added to
\nthe Imperial Russian coat of arms, and the Maltese cross became a
\nmilitary decoration for noble Russian officers of the Chevales Gardes Regiment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Order\u2019s history in Russia after the establishment of the new Order
\nis well documented. It became an important social force in the Imperial
\nCourt. Emperor Paul gave the Worontzoff Palace in Saint Petersburg as
\nthe site of the Order. In the palace he established two chapels, one for
\nthe Orthodox knights and dames of the Order and the other for the Roman
\nCatholic membership. Each chapel was lavishly decorated. A throne chair
\nas Grand Master for Emperor Paul was still in suit in the early 20th
\ncentury and survives to this day. By 1800, the Orthodox Grand Priory of
\nRussia had over four hundred knights and dames and the Catholic Grand
\nPriory of Russia had almost two hundred members.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Part II The Order in Imperial Russia   The events leading to the creation of the Russian Grand Priories are as complex as they are fascinating. The involvement of Imperial Russia with the Order of Saint John was of long standing. As early as the end of the 17th century, Emperor Peter the Great had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":878,"menu_order":20,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-883","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oosj-rgp.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oosj-rgp.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oosj-rgp.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oosj-rgp.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oosj-rgp.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=883"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/oosj-rgp.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":963,"href":"https:\/\/oosj-rgp.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/883\/revisions\/963"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oosj-rgp.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oosj-rgp.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}