Order of Saint John

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Flag of the Order of St John
Breast star of a Knight of Grace of the Order of Saint John

The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , Order of Saint John for short , is a British order of knights . This Order of St. John was officially recognized in 1888 and exists throughout the Commonwealth , the United States and Hong Kong . Although the members of the order are mostly Anglican Protestants , it is also open to members of other Christian denominations. You can only become a member by invitation.

The Order of Saint John, like the Protestant German Order of St. John , with which it is comparable, emerged from the Catholic Order of St. John ( Order of Malta ). He is best known for his largest service organization, the St. John Ambulance (corresponds to the German Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe ).

history

The order follows the tradition of the Catholic Order of St. John , founded in Jerusalem during the Crusades in 1099 , which is now known as the Order of Malta . On the occasion of the Greek War of Independence , French members of the Order of Malta tried in 1823 and again in 1826 to raise funds with which a mercenary army of demobilized soldiers was set up and a Mediterranean island, e.g. B. Rhodes , should be acquired as a sovereign order territory for the Order of Malta. The efforts to acquire land were ultimately unsuccessful. In England, however, a basic fortune and a few volunteers were able to be brought together, who on January 12, 1831, founded an organization under the direction of a Spanish nobleman, which initially saw itself as the newly founded English tongue of the Order of St. John . A clubhouse in St John's Gate in Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington , the gatehouse of a former Johanniterkloster, was set up as headquarters . On January 29, 1831, the Anglican priest and former court chaplain of George, Prince of Wales , Rev. Sir Robert Peat, was elected interim as the organization's first grand prior in the presence of the agent general of the French tongue of the Order of Malta . However, it was agreed that this new English organization, contrary to the traditions of the order, should be neither monastic nor celibate , but pluriform and secular . After lengthy internal disputes, Sir Henry Dymoke was elected prior in 1838 , and contact was made with the Orders of St. John in France and Germany under his leadership. Attempts to obtain official recognition by the leadership of the Order of Malta failed, and the English priory declared itself the sovereign order in England under the name The Sovereign and Illustrious Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Anglia .

The order was able to win many new members in the following decades, including in 1861 the noble William Montagu, 7th Duke of Manchester , who took over the office of grand prior. Under his leadership, an ambulance corps was founded in the 1860s , with which the real activity of the order as a merciful hospital order began. The Amblanz Corps subsequently opened numerous ambulance stations at train stations and in mining districts, which offered first aid and rescue services with volunteer staff . In 1871 the order was renamed the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England . In 1876 Princess Alexandra of Denmark and in 1877 her husband, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales , was accepted into the order as Lady or Knight of Justice.

With Royal Charter the order received a royal statute from Queen Victoria in 1888 and was officially recognized as a state knightly order in England under the name Grand Priory of the Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem . The order was renamed Grand Priory in the British Realm of the Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem in 1926 and Grand Priory in the British Realm of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem in 1936 and the statutes changed several times. The currently valid constitution was issued with the Royal Charter of 1955 and supplemented by the Royal Charter of 1974.

The British Order of St. John is ecumenical in its membership and has always accepted Catholics , but it is linked to the Reformation tradition through its royal head, since the monarch is also the head of the Anglican Church . In 1963 the Order was recognized by the Sovereign Order of Malta by means of a Concordat .

Mergers

The Order of Saint John is associated with the German, Dutch and Swedish Order of St. John in the Alliance of the Order of St. John . These work together with the Sovereign Order of Malta in the Committee of the Order of Saint John. They recognize each other and dispute the right of other associations that see themselves as the successors of the original Order of St. John ("Hospitaliter") to use names and symbols.

Order structure

Classes

King George V as Sovereign Head of the Order

The Order of Saint John is divided into six classes:

  1. Bailiff / Dame Grand Cross (GCStJ)
  2. Knight of Justice / Dame of Justice (KJStJ / DJStJ) or Knight of Grace / Dame of Grace (KGStJ / DGStJ) (also KStJ / DStJ)
  3. Commander (CStJ)
  4. Officer (OStJ)
  5. Member (MStJ) / Serving Brother (SBStJ) or Serving Sister (SSStJ)
  6. Esquire (EsqStJ)

In contrast to all other British knightly orders , none of the order classes is associated with a rise to the personal nobility ( Knight ).

The monarch of the Commonwealth Realms , currently Queen Elizabeth II , is the head of the order (Sovereign Head). HRH Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester has served as Grand Prior since 1974.

Officers

The order has at least five officers:

  1. Grand Prior (Grand Prior)
  2. Mr. Prior (Lord Prior)
  3. prelate
  4. Deputy Mr. priore (max. Two)
  5. Subprelate

Other officers, such as the genealogist, may be appointed by the Grand Prior on the recommendation of the Grand Council if necessary . A secretary can also be appointed, but his term of office ends at the latest when the grand prior resigns.

List of grand priorities

Prince Richard, 2nd Duke of Gloucester in the regalia of the Grand Prior

The Grand Prior has been appointed by the British sovereign since 1888 and has always been a member of the British royal family .

List of Lord Priorities

From 1888 to 1943 the position was designated as subprior and from 1943 to 1950 as prior.

Subprior
Priorities
Herrprior
Neck medal and breast star of a Knight of Grace
Ribbon buckle of the Order of St. John

Ceremonial clothing and regalia

The members of the order wear their own ceremonial clothing on important occasions, which depends on the class:

  • All members of the order except the Esquires wear an eight-pointed Maltese cross as a sign of the order , which is alternately provided with two leopards and two unicorns in the spaces in between . The cross is silver-plated for Members, Serving Brothers and Sisters , for all others it is enamelled white , the base and decorations are gold-plated for Bailiffs and Dames Grand Cross and Knights and Dames of Justice for the others. The bailiffs wear the medal on the shoulder ribbon , the Knights and Commanders as a neck medal, the transferring wear the badge on the lapel. Bailiffs and Knights also wear a larger version of the badge as a breast star . Women usually wear the medals on a lady's bow.
  • The cape is black and has a white eight-pointed Maltese cross. The sovereign's star is crowned with an image of the Tudor crown. The cloak of the sovereign as head of the order is made of velvet and silk and has a train . The Grand Prior wears an identical cloak, but without a train. All other religious classes wear a cape made of black merino wool , which is bordered with silk.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jonathan Riley-Smith : The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam. Columbia University Press, New York 2008, ISBN 0231517947 , pp. 55 ff.
  2. ↑ Jonathan Riley-Smith: The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam. Columbia University Press, New York 2008, ISBN 0231517947 , p. 58.
  3. ↑ current version of the constitution at stjohninternational.org
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Charles W. Tozer: The Insignia and Medals of the Grand Priory of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem . JB Hayward and Son, London, GBR 1975, p. 78.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Christopher McCreery: The Maple Leaf and the White Cross: A History of St. John Ambulance and the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in Canada . Dundurn Press, Toronto 2008, ISBN 978-1-55002-740-2 , pp. 238-239, OCLC 696024272 .