The Order of Theresa was an order for noble ladies in the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

. It continues to function today as an honorary society to which belong the princesses of the House of Wittelsbach as well as other ladies from Bavarian noble families.

History

The order was founded on 12 December 1827 by Queen Therese of Bavaria, wife of King

Ludwig I of Bavaria en, Louis Charles Augustus , image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg , caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825 , succession=King of Bavaria , reign = , coronation ...

.Tagore, Rajah Sir Sourindro Mohn. ''The Orders of Knighthood, British and Foreign''. Calcutta, India: The Catholic Orphan Press, 1884. She established an endowment which paid an annual pension to twelve unmarried noble ladies, six of whom received 300

guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' " gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Emp ...

s and six of whom received 100 guilders. The pension ceased when a member married; if, however, the marriage was according to the rank of the member, then the lady was permitted to continue to wear the insignia of the order and be known as an ''Ehrendame'' (Lady of Honour). Various other ladies also held the rank of ''Ehrendame'' including all the princesses of the House of Wittelsbach. Bavarian ladies paid a reception fee of 55 guilders while foreign ladies paid 220 guilders. The insignia of the order is worn on the left breast and consists of a blue-enameled Maltese cross with a wide white edge, over which is placed a gold royal crown. In the four angles of the cross are lozenges with the blue-and-white arms of Bavaria. At the centre of the cross is a gold bordered white circular medallion decorated with the letter T. On the back of the medallion is the year 1827 and the motto of the order “Unser Leben sey Glaube an das Ewige” (Our life is Faith in Eternity). The ribbon of the order is white with two sky-blue stripes at the edge, the inner stripe being narrower than the outer stripe. The sash of the order is a similarly-coloured broad ribbon, worn diagonally from the right shoulder to the left hip. Among the current Ladies of Honour of the order is the Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein.

Recipients

Grand Mistresses

* Queen Therese of Bavaria (1827-1854) * Queen Marie of Bavaria (1854-1889) * Princess Ludwig of Bavaria, later Queen Maria Theresia of Bavaria (1889-1919) * Crown Princess Antonia of Bavaria (until 1954) * Duchess Maria of Bavaria, first wife of Duke Albrecht of Bavaria (until 1969)

Dames

Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia (born Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg, 8 July 1830 – 6 July 1911) was the fifth daughter of Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and Duchess Amelia of Württemberg. She is an ancestress of the British, ...

Princess Alexandrine of Baden Princess Alexandrine Luise Amalie Friederike Elisabeth Sophie of Baden (6 December 1820 – 20 December 1904) was Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 29 January 1844 to 22 August 1893 as the wife of Duke Ernest II. She was the eldest child of ...

Princess Amalie of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , title = Duchess Maximilian Emanuel in Bavaria , image =Princess Amalie of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.jpg , caption = Princess Amalie during the 1870's , spouse = Duke Maximilian Emanuel in Bavaria , issue ...

Infanta Amalia of Spain Infanta Amalia of Spain ( es, Amalia de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 12 October 1834 – 27 August 1905) was the youngest daughter of Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain. Her eldest brother, Francisco de Asís married Queen Isabella II of Spai ...

Amélie of Leuchtenberg Amélie of Leuchtenberg ( pt, Amélia Augusta Eugénia Napoleona de Leuchtenberg; french: Amélie Auguste Eugénie Napoléonne de Leuchtenberg; 31 July 1812 – 26 January 1873) was Empress of Brazil as the wife of Pedro I of Brazil. She was the ...

Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Altenburg Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Altenburg (17 April 1838 – 13 October 1908) was a princess of Saxe-Altenburg by birth and Duchess of Anhalt by marriage. Biography Antoinette was the second child of Prince Eduard of Saxe-Altenburg (1804-1852) from ...

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen , house = Saxe-Meiningen , father = Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen , mother = Princess Marie Frederica of Hesse-Kassel , birth_date = , birth_place = Meiningen, Saxe-Meiningen , death_date = , death_place = Al ...

* Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein * Princess Cecilia of Sweden *

Daisy, Princess of Pless Daisy, Princess of Pless (Mary Theresa Olivia; ''née'' Cornwallis-West; 28 June 1873 – 29 June 1943) was a noted society beauty in the Edwardian period, and during her marriage a member of one of the wealthiest European noble families. Daisy an ...

Elena of Montenegro Elena of Montenegro (; 8 January 1873 – 28 November 1952) was a Montenegrin princess as the daughter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro and his wife, Queen Milena. She was Queen of Italy from 1900 until 1946 as wife of King Victor Emmanuel ...

Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium Elisabeth of Bavaria (Elisabeth Gabriele Valérie Marie; 25 July 187623 November 1965) was Queen of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 to 17 February 1934 as the spouse of King Albert I, and a duchess in Bavaria by birth. She was the mother ...

Giovanna of Italy , house = Savoy , father = Victor Emmanuel III of Italy , mother = Elena of Montenegro , birth_date = , birth_place = Rome, Kingdom of Italy , death_date = , death_place = Estoril, Portuguese Riviera , burial_ ...

Archduchess Gisela of Austria Archduchess Gisela Louise Marie of Austria (12 July 1856 – 27 July 1932) was the second daughter and eldest surviving child of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Although christened ''Gisella'', she only ever wro ...

* Princess Hildegard of Bavaria *

Princess Irmingard of Bavaria Princess Irmingard of Bavaria (29 May 1923 – 23 October 2010) was the daughter of Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria and his second wife, Princess Antonia of Luxembourg. She was a half-sister of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria. Life Irmingard was ...

Isabella II of Spain Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868. Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successi ...

Infanta Isabel, Countess of Girgenti Infanta Isabel of Spain ( es, María Isabel Francisca de Asís Cristina Francisca de Paula Dominga; 20 December 1851 – 22 April 1931), was the eldest daughter of Queen Isabella II and her husband Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz. She was rec ...

Princess Isabella of Croÿ , house = Croÿ , father = Rudolf, 11th Duke of Croÿ , mother = Princess Natalie of Ligne , birth_date = , birth_place = Dülmen, Province of Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia , death_date = , death_place = Budape ...

Julia, Princess of Battenberg Julia, Princess of Battenberg (previously Countess Julia Therese Salomea von Hauke; – 19 September 1895) was the wife of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, the third son of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse. The daughter of a Polish general o ...

* Princess Louise d'Orléans *

Princess Louise of Prussia Princess Louise Marie Elisabeth of Prussia (; 3 December 1838 – 23 April 1923) was Grand Duchess of Baden from 1856 to 1907 as the wife of Grand Duke Frederick I. Princess Louise was the second child and only daughter of Wilhelm I, German ...

Infanta María de la Paz of Spain Infanta María de la Paz of Spain (23 June 1862 – 4 December 1946) was a Spanish infanta. A daughter of Queen Isabella II, she married her cousin Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria. She lived the rest of her life in Germany, dedicating her tim ...

Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria , house = Wittelsbach , father = Prince Franz of Bavaria , mother = Princess Isabella Antonie of Croÿ , birth_date = , birth_place = Nymphenburg Palace, Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire , death_date = , de ...

* Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal *

Maria Sophie of Bavaria Maria Sophie Amalie, Duchess in Bavaria (4 October 1841, Possenhofen Castle – 19 January 1925, Munich) was the last Queen consort of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. She was one of the ten children of Maximilian Joseph, Duke in Bavaria and ...

* Infanta María Teresa of Spain * Duchess Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria *

Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, later Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna "Miechen" of Russia ( Russian: Мари́я Па́вловна; 14 May Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._2_May.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"tit ...

* Empress Shoken *

Duchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria Duchess Sophie Charlotte Augustine in Bavaria (23 February 1847 – 4 May 1897) was a granddaughter-in-law of King Louis Philippe of France, the favourite sister of Empress Elisabeth of Austria and fiancée of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. ...

* Princess Sophie of Sweden *

Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein, Countess of Rietberg (born Duchess Sophie in Bavaria; 28 October 1967) was born a member of the House of Wittelsbach, with the courtesy title of Duchess in Bavaria, and second in line for the Jacobit ...

* Princess Tatiana Alexandrovna Yusupova

Notes

External links