Russian Order of Saint Catherine
Order of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine ( Russian Орденъ святой великомученницы Екатерины / Orden swjatoj vjelikomutschennitzy Jekateriny ) was a two-class order of women in imperial Russia .
history
The order was from the November 25, 1714 Tsar I. Peter founded and was originally named "Order of the Liberation" ( Order Oswoboshdenija wear) and a souvenir of the rescue Peters and his army from encirclement by the Turkish army in Pruthfeldzug of Be 1711. An honorable retreat was only possible because the tsar consort (Zariza) Katharina Aleksejewna (later Catherine I ) "gave" all her jewelry to the Turkish grand vizier Baltaji Mehmed Pasha in order to save Peter from capture. (Back in Constantinople , the Grand Vizier had to pay for it with his head).
The first statutes of the Catherine Order were published in 1713. He should have two classes, "Big Cross" and "Small Cross". The first class cross was available to all Russian grand duchesses (princesses) by birth or by marriage into the family, and 12 noble ladies could also get it. The second class was allowed to have a maximum of 94 carriers. The Grand Master of the Order was always the Tsariza until 1917. During Peter's lifetime it was only awarded to Zariza Katharina. Soon after her accession to the throne, Zariza Katharina I abolished the second class of the order, which was only reintroduced by Paul I in 1797, who also created the definitive version of the statutes. The order received, next to the Alexander Nevsky order, the second place in the ranking of the Russian orders.
insignia
The medal of the Order of St. Catherine, 1st class, is a Ruppert cross set with diamonds with (in the obverse) an oval medallion in the middle, also surrounded by diamonds. The medallion shows the figure of the seated St. Catherine, executed in enamel painting, holding a white anchor cross in front of her. She is holding a palm branch in her left hand and part of a torture wheel can be seen at her feet. The oldest insignia has a small cross made of diamonds in the middle of the anchor cross, symbol of the light of the Gospel. On the top right of the figure of the saint is a small round medallion with the letter "R". The letters “DSFR” (“ Domine, salvum fac regem ”, “God, protect the Tsar”) are located in the corners of the anchor cross . The lapel of the medallion has the image of a tower with an eagle's nest on the top and two eagles with snakes in their beaks at the foot of the tower. The inscription Aequant munia comparis hovers over the picture (for example: “Equal to the husband through works”).
The order was originally worn on a white ribbon with the silver Cyrillic inscription Za Lyubowj i otjetschestwo ("За любовь и отечечество", "For love and fatherland") remained unchanged.
The star of the order (only 1st class) has eight rays and is set with diamonds on its entire surface. The round medallion in the middle is red and has the image of a diadem in its center , which is surrounded by the motto of the order. Above the middle medallion a tsar's crown set with diamonds.
From 1855 austerity measures were introduced: the second class cross was decorated with rhinestones, not diamonds.
After the end of the monarchy in March 1917, the order was no longer awarded. It was donated again in May 2012. Since then the order has only had one class and is no longer a pure ladies' order.
literature
- Arnhard Graf Klenau: European medals from 1700. Catalog. Without Germany. Klenau, Fridingen 1978, ISBN 3-921566-05-3 .
- Václav Měřička : Orders and Awards. 2nd Edition. Artia, Prague 1969.
- Иван Г. Спасский: Иностранные и русский ордена до 1917 года. Государственный Эрмитаж, Ленинград 1963.
Web link
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gustav Adolph Ackermann: Order book of all orders and decorations that have flourished and died in Europe. Rudolph & Dieterici, Annaberg 1855, pp. 95-96 .
- ↑ Carl von Rotteck , Carl Welcker (ed.): Das Staats-Lexikon. Encyclopedia of all political sciences for all classes. Volume 10. New, thoroughly improved and increased edition. Published by Johann Friedrich Hammerich, Altona 1848, p. 158.