Order of Saint Louis

The Order of Saint Louis ("ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis") was a military Order of Chivalry founded on the 5 April 1696 by Louis XIV. It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, and is notable as the first decoration that non-noble could be granted. It is roughly the ancestor of the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour), with which it shares the red ribbon (though the Légion d'honneur is awarded to military and civilians alike)

Related Topics:
Order of Chivalry - Louis XIV - Légion d'honneur

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The King was the Great Master of the order, and the Dauphin was automatically part of it sa well. The entire order included 8 Grand-Croix (Grand Cross), 28 commandors and a variable number of Knights. The Order also has a trésorier, a greffier and a huissier.

Related Topics:
Dauphin - Huissier

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The medal included a portait of Saint Louis surrounded by the motto « LUD(OVICUS) M(AGNUS) IN(STITUIT) 1693 » ("Louis the Great instituted it in 1693"). The general assembly of the Order was held on the 25 August, day of Saint Louis, in the residence of the King.

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Conditions to obtain the medal did not include nobility; on the other catholic religion was mendatory, as well as at least ten years serving in the Army or the Navy. Members of the Order received a pension.

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Until the death of Louis XIV, the medal was awarded to outstanding officers only, but it gradually came to be an award that most officers would receive in their career. On the 1st of January 1791, during the French Revolution, a decree changed the name to décoration militaire ("military decoration"). It was subsenquently removed on the 15 October 1792.

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On of the first acts of Louis XVIII was to restaure the Order of Saint-Louis, awarding it to officers of the Royal and the Imperial armies alike. The medal is not awarded by the Republic, but the Duke of Anjou is still, by tradition, Great Master of the order.

Related Topics:
Louis XVIII - Duke of Anjou

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