![Stanislaus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Stanislaus.jpg)
The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish
order of knighthood
An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is an order of knights, typically founded during or inspired by the original Catholic military orders of the Crusades ( 1099–1291) and paired with medieval concept ...
founded in 1765 by King
Stanisław August Poniatowski of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...
. It remained under the
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to:
Historical political entities
* Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031
* Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...
between 1765 and 1831. In 1831 it was incorporated under the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
until the
Russian revolution (1917).
Today, there are two recognised orders that claim descent from the original Order of Saint Stanislaus: the Russian
dynastic
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...
Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov)
pl, Order św. Stanisława
, image =
, caption =
, image2 =
, caption2 = Ribbon of the order
, awarded_by = Head of the House of Romanov
, type = Dynastic order of knighthood
, motto ...
, awarded by the head of the
House of Romanov
The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastacia of Russia, Anastasi ...
as former sovereigns of the Russian Empire, and the Polish
Order of Polonia Restituta
The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...
, a governmental
order of merit
The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...
awarded by the
President of Poland
The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Polan ...
and considered by some as a type of successor.
History
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Stanisław August Poniatowski, King of Poland, established the ''Order of the Knights of
Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr'' on 8 May 1765
Initially, the order was limited to 100 members who were required to prove four generations of nobility.
The knights were required to pay for donations to poor people and to adhere to various rules of
chivalry
Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It was associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood; knights' and gentlemen's behaviours we ...
.
Due to the rising influence of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
on
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
an affairs, the rules of awarding of the order were broken. After the
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
, the order was resurrected in the
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...
, bestowing upon its recipients the title of hereditary
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...
and requiring donations to a
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
hospital. Since 1815 in the
Polish (Congress) Kingdom, the order, originally in a single class, was retained and divided into four classes.
Russian Empire
On 25 January 1831, the
Polish Parliament
The parliament of Poland is the bicameral legislature of Poland. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the Sejm). Both houses are accommodated in the ''Sejm'' complex in Warsaw. The Constitution of Poland does not ref ...
deposed Emperor
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , group=pron ( – ) was List of Russian rulers, Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He was the third son of Paul I of Russia, Paul I and younger brother of his predecessor, Alexander I ...
from the throne of Poland, while he was also
Grand Master (order) of the Order of Saint Stanislaus. Yet, after the downfall of the
November Uprising
The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution,
was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...
the
Imperial House of Romanov established the
Royal and Imperial Order of Saint Stanislaus, incorporating it into the
honours system
An order is a visible honour awarded by a sovereign state, monarch, dynastic house or organisation to a person, typically in recognition of individual merit, that often comes with distinctive insignia such as collars, medals, badges, and sashes ...
of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
in 1832, where it remained officially until the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
1917.
The order was abolished with the fall of the Romanovs in 1917 but, unlike other Polish orders awarded by the Tsars, the Order of Saint Stanislaus was not revived by the newly independent
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
(possibly because in its Russian form it was often awarded by the imperial government to those Poles who co-operated with Russian rule making the order a symbol of subservience to an occupying power).
Instead, the newly founded
Order of Polonia Restituta
The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...
was created as an attributed Polish successor to the order.
Insignia
Both the Polish and Russian badges hung from a red ribbon with white strips near its borders (i.e., the colors of the Polish coat of arms and flag), a ribbon which they share with the modern
Order of Polonia Restituta
The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...
.
The order also had an eight-pointed star with straight rays with a central medallion bearing the letters "SS" surrounded by the Latin words "Praemiando incitat", which is in turn surrounded by a laurel wreath. The star has essentially the same design in both its Polish and Russian forms.
Polish
The original Polish badge of the order was a red enameled
Maltese cross
The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically.
It is a heraldic cross variant which developed f ...
with white enameled Polish eagles between its arms and with a central medallion bearing an enameled image of
Saint Stanislaus in his episcopal vestment surrounded by a gold
laurel wreath
A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a sy ...
.
In its original Polish form the knights of the Order wore a red, white and silver habit modelled on the traditional dress of a Polish nobleman (i.e.,
zupan,
kontusz
Kontusz (Polish plural ''kontusze''; uk, кунтуш, Lithuanian: ''kontušas''; originally from Hungarian ''köntös''- "robe") - a type of outer garment worn by the Hungarian and Polish-Lithuanian male nobility. It became popular in the ...
,
pas kontuszowy
Kontush belt ("kontusz sash" or the ''Slutsk sash''; lt, kontušo juosta, be, слуцкi пояс) was a cloth sash used for girding a kontusz (a robe-like garment). It was one of the most distinctive items of male dress of Polish and Lithua ...
and
delia).
Russian
In the Russian version of the badge, the Polish white eagles were replaced with gold Russian double-headed imperial eagles, their wings partially overlapping the arms of the cross and the central medallion bearing the letters "SS" in red on a white enamel background instead of the original image of the saintly bishop, surrounded by a green enamel laural wreath. There is also a semi-circle of gold rays between each of the points of arms of the Maltese cross.
Legacy
Today, there are two main competing claims to the represent the Order of Saint Stanislaus: the Russian
, awarded by the head of the
House of Romanov
The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastacia of Russia, Anastasi ...
, and the Polish
Order of Polonia Restituta
The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...
, a governmental
order of merit
The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...
awarded by the
President of Poland
The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Polan ...
and considered by some as a type of successor.
Two other organisations in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, the
Ordo Sancti Stanislai and the
International Order of Saint Stanislaus, contemporarily describe themselves as merely private charitable organisations.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Order Of Saint Stanislaus
Awards established in 1795
ru:Орден Святого Станислава