Order of the White Eagle (Poland)
The Order of the White Eagle ( Polish Order Orła Białego ) is the highest decoration of the Third Republic of Poland and was the highest honor of the First Republic of Poland , the Duchy of Warsaw , Congress Poland (until 1831) and the Second Republic of Poland (1918-1945).
The order was founded in 1705 by the distressed King Augustus the Strong based on the model of the Black Eagle Order .
Incorporated by Emperor Nicholas I into the Russian order system in 1831 as the Imperial-Royal Order of the White Eagle ( Russian Орденъ Белого орла / Ordjen Bjelogo orla ), he was the third highest imperial Russian order and came in rank after the Order of St. Andrew and the Alexander Nevsky Order .
After the overthrow of most of the European monarchies with their ancient orders, the White Eagle (founded in 1705) now ranks eighth in the anciency of the European orders and the orders of the world, behind the Order of Christ from 1319, the British Order of the Garter from 1350, and the Spanish Order from the Golden Fleece from 1429, the Danish Elephant Order (around 1430), the Danish Dannebrogden from 1674, the Scottish Thistle Order from 1687 and the Russian Order of St. Andrew the First Called from 1698.
Insignia of the Order
First Republic of Poland (Elective Kingdom) 1705–1795
The first sign of the order of the White Eagle was an oval medallion. It was enamelled in red, had a picture of the Polish eagle and the inscription Pro fide, rege et lege on the obverse and the royal monogram AR ( Augustus Rex , August II (Poland) ), which was surrounded by a green laurel wreath, on the reverse . The medallion was worn on a narrow blue ribbon around the neck.
Around 1710 the medal was replaced by the red enameled cross, which bore the image of the white eagle on the obverse and hung on a golden royal crown. In the lapel of the cross had a white medallion with the royal monogram AR , and under this a small white cross, which was based on the two crossed swords of the Wettin dynasty . All crosses and stars of the order were brilliant. The suspension on the royal crown was soon abolished. The star of the order, embroidered in silver, had eight rays and carried a silver cross with the inscription Pro fide, rege et lege (for the insignia of the sovereign Pro fide, rege et grege ). The cross was worn on a white sash with two red stripes on both sides, but this was replaced in 1713 by the light blue one that is still in use today. The order existed in this form until the death of King August III. 1763. The Collar ( Collane ) that could only be worn by the king, was white-winning Polish eagles with full regalia and alternating oval medallions with the monogram AR . King Stanislaus II August , who reigned from 1764, removed the monogram AR from the lapel and replaced it with the name Maria in an ornate monogram. The brilliance of the cross and the breast star was abolished. The Wettin monograms on the collar have been replaced by oval, blue enameled medallions with the name Maria . The insignia of the White Eagle retained this appearance until the Third Partition of Poland in 1795.
During this time the order did not enjoy a high reputation in Poland, because the Wettins gave it to political friends in particular.
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Duchy of Warsaw and the Congress of Poland 1807–1831
The obverse of the cross remained unchanged, the lapel was enamelled red, in the center a gold medallion with a white crowned cross, which was entwined with the blue letters FA ( Friedrich August I , King of Saxony and Duke of Warsaw). The arms of the cross in the lapel bore the inscription Pro fide, rege et lege . The insignia of the head of state bore the inscription Pro fide, lege et grege (“ For Faith, Law and Nation ”).
The order star was gold and carried the order cross (without the eagle) with the inscription Pro fide, lay et brge on the arms. For the sash and how to wear it, see above ( from 1921 to today ).
As an Imperial Russian Order 1831–1917
From 1921 until today
The order cross is an eight-pointed, red enamelled cross with a white border and golden rays in the corners, with golden balls on the tips, on the obverse of the cross is the white Polish eagle with a golden beak and golden claws and a golden royal crown on its head . The lapel is not enameled, with a round white medallion in the middle, surrounded by a green laurel wreath, bearing the initial RP ( Rzeczpospolita Polska - “Republic of Poland”). The arms of the cross in the lapel bear the inscription Za ojczyznę i naród (“For fatherland and nation”).
The silver medal star is eight-pointed and has the same cross, but without balls on the tips, without the eagle, with the same emblems and inscriptions that appear on the lapel of the medal cross. There are golden flames in the corners of the cross. The medal is worn on a light blue watered shoulder strap from the right shoulder to the left hip.
Timeline for the history of the Order of the White Eagle
King Władysław IV. Wasa tried in 1634 to found an order “For the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary”. The design of the medal is reminiscent of the later order of the White Eagle. The alleged founding of King Władysław I. Ellenlang from the 14th century is referred to, which should be referred to as a legend . As a violation of the principle of equality among the nobility, the project encounters fierce opposition from the smaller nobility and must be abandoned. King August the Strong was born in 1704 by King Charles XII of Sweden . forced to give up the Polish throne and flees to Dresden . Stanislaus I. Leszczyński is elected the new King of Poland. August 1705 negotiated in Tykocin , a castle in what was then central Poland, with Tsar Peter I and a group of Polish opponents of Charles XII. To reward his followers he creates the first medal of the White Eagle in the form described above, the eight people, including four Polish magnates, three Russian field marshals (u. A. Peter Lacy ) and Ataman of the Cossacks is dealt.
August the Strong died in 1733. Until his death he had only appointed about 40 Knights of the White Eagle. From 1733 to 1763 August III ruled . , Son of August the Strong. The almighty minister Heinrich Graf von Brühl rules in Poland and Saxony. The order of the White Eagle becomes a commercial object; the knighthood can be bought for 10,000 Polish guilders at Brühl. Around 330 awards are made, 160 of them in the last decade of the August III government. On November 25, 1764, the day of Stanisław Poniatowski's coronation, only three new knights were appointed - Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski , Prince Michał Poniatowski, brother of the new king, and the Russian ambassador, Prince Nikolaj Repnin. In 1777, under the reign of the last King of Poland, Stanisław II August , the first statutes of the order were drawn up. The number of knights is limited to 150, with the exception of “Us, the grand masters, lords and princes who rule in foreign countries, deserving and honest foreigners or those who are particularly recommended to us, and finally knights who have been appointed by our predecessors ". The candidate for the order had to show eight noble ancestors on the sword and spindle side. A chapter with a chancellor, vice-chancellor, almsman and treasurer was created. When they were accepted into the order, the knights were supposed to pay 50 Polish guilders ( złoty ), the annual charitable contribution was nine guilders, including one guilder for funeral expenses of the deceased knight. In 1789 the admission fee was increased to the high sum of 100 Polish guilders. In this year the project of the foundation of a second class of the White Eagle and the Order of Stanislaus was born, which should consist of neck decorations and had no breast star. This was no longer realized.
The King of Saxony and Duke of Warsaw Frederick August I appointed two new knights to the order in 1807 after a twelve-year hiatus. The order was very sparsely awarded in the Duchy of Warsaw, with a total of about ten awards by 1815. In 1815, Emperor Alexander I appointed eight new, exclusively Polish, knights as King of Poland. From 1819 to 1828 around 40 knights were appointed, only two of them from Poland, the remaining 38 from Russia. After the defeat of the Polish November Uprising of 1831, the order was incorporated into the Russian order system through an ukase from Tsar Nicholas I (see above). Until 1916 the order was awarded to a large number of people (around 1200), among them only 66 Poles, Russian and Austrian subjects. In the resurrected Poland (Second Republic), a project for the re-foundation of the White Eagle was presented to the imperial administrator Józef Piłsudski in 1920. The award should have five usual classes, the appearance of the order should be linked to the decorations of its early days, the motto should be Pro fide, lege et grege , the sash should be white. This project will not be realized. The order was restored on March 15, 1921 (see above); from 1921 to 1938 only 24 Polish knights are appointed. In 1924 a chapter was created. The order officials are chancellor, secretary and treasurer. By virtue of his office, the respective state president acts as the grand master. Until 1945, the Polish government in exile in London awarded the White Eagle to a number of foreign personalities.
No new Polish knights are appointed, the respective President of Poland in exile has the order by virtue of his office. The medal is no longer awarded in communist Poland, but is in the list of state awards, as many knights are still alive. After long discussions among communist rulers about the revival of the order of the White Eagle, it was finally not renewed in 1974. Instead, one creates the five-class Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland , which is worn on the ribbon of the White Eagle. In December 1990, Lech Wałęsa was elected president in the first free presidential election after 1945 . The last London president in exile Ryszard Kaczorowski hands him the old presidential insignia with insignia of the Order of the White Eagle in a solemn ceremony. The order was restored on October 16, 1992.
Well-known knights of the Order of the White Eagle
literature
- Gustav Adolph Ackermann: Order book of all in Europe flourishing and extinct orders and decorations. Rudolph & Dieterici, Annaberg 1855, pp. 92-93 .
- Wiesław Boncza-Tomaszewski: Kodeks orderowy. Przepisy obowiązujące posiadaczy orderów, odznaczeń, medali i odznak. Główna Księgarnia Wojskowa, Warszawa 1939.
- Arnhard Klenau (Ed.): European medals from 1700. Catalog. Without Germany. Klenau, Fridingen 1978, ISBN 3-921566-05-3 .
- Václav Měřička (text), Jindřich Marco (illustrations): The Book of Orders and Awards. 2nd Edition. Dausien, Hanau 1990, ISBN 3-7684-1680-1 .
- Vaclav Měřička (text), Jindřich Marco (illustrations): Faleristics. A book about religious orders. Edition Artia, Prague 1976.
- Zbigniew Puchalski, Ireneusz J. Wojciechowski: Ordery i odznaczenia polskie i ich kawalerowie. Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, Warszawa 1987, ISBN 83-03-02143-5 .
- Иван Г. Спасский: Иностранные и русский ордена до 1917 года. Государственный Эрмитаж, Ленинград 1963.
