The Imperial Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ ( pt, Imperial Ordem de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo), simply named Order of Christ, is an
order of chivalry
An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is an order (distinction), order of knights, typically founded during or inspired by the original Catholic Military order (religious society), military orders of the ...
instituted by emperor
Pedro I of Brazil
Don (honorific), Dom Pedro I (English: Peter I; 12 October 1798 – 24 September 1834), nicknamed "the Liberator", was the founder and List of monarchs of Brazil, first ruler of the Empire of Brazil. As King Dom Pedro IV, he List of ...
on 7 December 1822, on the basis of the Portuguese
Order of Christ founded by King
Dom Dinis and
Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334.
He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by ...
in 1316–1319.
The order was used to award persons for exceptional services that resulted in notable and proven utility to
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
(
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
), to
human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
ity and the
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
. Knights of the Order of Christ were part of the
untitled nobility of the
Empire of Brazil
The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pe ...
.
On 22 March 1890, the order was cancelled as
national order by the interim government of
United States of Brazil
The First Brazilian Republic, also referred to as the Old Republic ( pt, República Velha ), officially the Republic of the United States of Brazil, refers to the period of Brazilian history from 1889 to 1930. The Old Republic began with the de ...
. However, since the deposition in 1889 of the last Brazilian monarch,
Emperor Pedro II
Dom PedroII (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed "the Magnanimous" ( pt, O Magnânimo), was the second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. He was born in Rio de Janeiro, the seventh child of Empe ...
, the order is claimed as a
house order
A dynastic order, monarchical order, or house order is an order under royal patronage. Such an order is bestowed by, as a legitimate , a sovereign or the head of a once-sovereign ruling family. These are often considered part of the cultural pat ...
, being awarded by the heads of the
House of Orleans-Braganza, pretenders to the defunct throne of Brazil. The current
Brazilian Imperial Family
The Brazilian Imperial Family (Brazilian Portuguese: ''Família Imperial Brasileira'') is a Brazilian Dynasty of Portuguese origin that ruled the Empire of Brazil from 1822 in Brazil, 1822 to 1889 in Brazil, 1889, after the proclamation of indepe ...
is split into two branches, Petrópolis and Vassouras, and the Grand Mastership of the Order is disputed between those two branches.
Origin
After the
Independence of Brazil
The Independence of Brazil comprised a series of political and military events that led to the independence of the Kingdom of Brazil from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves as the Brazilian Empire. Most of the events occurre ...
Emperor
Dom Pedro I Dom or DOM may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Dom (given name), including fictional characters
* Dom (surname)
* Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto
* Dom people, an eth ...
continued his inherent authority as the “
Fount of Honour The fount of honour ( la, fons honorum) is a person, who, by virtue of his or her official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry on other persons.
Origin
During the High Middle Ages, ...
” transmitted by his father King
Dom João VI
, house = Braganza
, father = Peter III of Portugal
, mother = Maria I of Portugal
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Queluz Palace, Queluz, Portugal
, death_date =
, death_place = Bemposta Palace, Lisbon, Portugal
, ...
of Portugal. His right extended to conferring titles of nobility and also the three ancient Portuguese orders of chivalry:
Order of Christ,
Order of Aviz
The Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz ( pt, Ordem Militar de São Bento de Avis, ), previously to 1910 ''Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz'' ( pt, Real Ordem Militar de São Bento de Avis), previously to 1789 ''Knights'' (of ...
and the
Order of Saint James of the Sword
The Military Order of Saint James of the Sword ( pt, Ordem Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada) is a Portuguese order of chivalry. Its full name is the Ancient, Most Noble and Enlightened Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, of the Scientifi ...
. Dom Pedro I became the first Grand Master of the Brazilian branch of the Order of Christ. According to historian Roderick J. Barman, Dom Pedro I stated in a decree that his right originated in: “Sovereign Kings my Predecessors, … and especially by my August and Sovereign Father D. João VI.” After the death of his father, Dom Pedro I also became the Grand Master of the Portuguese Order of Christ as King
Pedro IV of Portugal
Dom Pedro I (English: Peter I; 12 October 1798 – 24 September 1834), nicknamed "the Liberator", was the founder and first ruler of the Empire of Brazil. As King Dom Pedro IV, he reigned briefly over Portugal, where he also became ...
.
Description of the Order of Christ in the ''Almanak Laemmert'',
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...
almanac
An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is an annual publication listing a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and other ...
published in 1889:
''Created by King Dom Dinis, in 1316. Preserved as a Brazilian order by the law of October 20, 1823. Regulated by decree n. 321 of September 9, 1843. Also decree n. 2853 of December 7, 1861. This order has 12 Grand crosses (treatment of Excellency
Excellency is an honorific style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder usually retains the right ...
), not included in these numbers the members of the Imperial family
A royal family is the immediate family of King, kings/Queen regnant, queens, Emir, emirs/emiras, Sultan, sultans/Sultana (title), sultanas, or raja/rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the ...
and the princes and foreign citizens; Commanders and Knights are without a set number. The Emperor is the Grand Master; the heir of the Crown is the Major-Commander.''[ Sauer (1889), p. 94.]
Reform of 1843
In 1834 the Portuguese Order of Christ was reformed by the Liberal government of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and
Queen Maria II (sister of Emperor Dom Pedro II). The order lost its military prerogatives with the reform and became a national order. As such the Brazilian branch of the Order of Christ was the only branch that maintained its military status. In 1843 the Brazilian branch was also reformed by Emperor
Dom Pedro II
Don (honorific), Dom PedroII (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed "the Magnanimity, Magnanimous" ( pt, O Magnânimo), was the List of monarchs of Brazil, second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. ...
and became a national order with decree N. 2853. As such the Order of Christ ended its existence as a
military order Military order may refer to:
Orders
* Military order (religious society), confraternity of knights originally established as religious societies during the medieval Crusades for protection of Christianity and the Catholic Church
Military organi ...
both in Portugal and Brazil; however the order remained highly regarded by the
nobility of Brazil and Portugal as a result of its importance to history and the prestige that it provided to knights. Members of all Brazilian orders of knighthood were part of the
untitled nobility regardless of grade, depending on the knight's grade they also received
military honors
A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards ...
,
salutes
A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Boy Sco ...
and
honorific styles.
Admission
It was considered relevant and extraordinary services for admittance into all imperial orders after 1861 the following services:
* Services provided for the maintenance of the public order and for preservation of the national
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
,
integrity
Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values.
In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. Inte ...
and
dignity
Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable ...
.
* Services provided during public
calamity.
* Services provided for the benefit of the
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
(
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
), roads, waterways and other works or establishments for the
public good.
Basically all services that resulted in notable and proven utility to religion, to
human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
ity and the
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
, that were provided during public,