Order of the ladies of the rope

The order of the ladies of the rope or as it was called, the girdled ladies , was donated in 1498 by the Duchess Anne de Bretagne as an order of women .

Various reasons are accepted as a foundation occasion. So the order should remember the shackles (ropes) of the Savior . According to another view, the order honored the rope of St. Francis of Assisis . The order is also said to have symbolized the bonds of marriage. The latter does justice to the fact that difficulties stood in the way of Anna's new marriage. Charles VIII, who desired Anna, had to release her from his engagement to Archduke Maximilian of Austria , although he was engaged to Maria of Burgundy . The problem was the associated land gain. The peaceful attempt ended after a violent solution with a treaty of December 6, 1491, according to which Brittany fell to France . Anna married Ludwig XII as early as 1499 .

Derived from the marriage shackle, cords and chains in French heraldry for noble women, especially widows, are included in the coat of arms .

literature

• Order book of all orders and decorations that have flourished and died in Europe, by Gustav Adolph Ackermann, Annaberg, Verlag von Rudolph & Dieterici, published 1855