The Knighthoods as a source of inspiration and the background of the distinguished order of the Golden Fleece

Abstract

The distinguished Golden Fleece Order is a knighthood order founded in the Bruges city in 1430 by the Duke of Burgundy, Philip III “The Kind”. The creation of this knighthood Order was consequence of the wedding of Philip III and Elizabeth of Portugal. The Order was put under Saint Andrew’s patronage, something that was very frequent among the different knighthood and dynastic Orders who looked for virgin and saints protection. It cannot be forgotten that the different religious and military Orders that emerged in Order to fight against the Islam. The knights couldn’t profess any other faith than the Roman Catholic Apostolic and their origin had to be noble. The admiration that the Duke of Burgundy professed for the Britain Order called “The Garter”, although he could never access it for not inconveniencing the King of France, inspired him to create his own Order: a dynastic Order with a great part of religion and where its members would be knights whose loyalty would power his military power. The distinguished Golden Fleece Order was inspired for determining the Chapters that governed it in the knight world, whose main paradigm was the King Arthur and his knights. This article tries to explain how the knighthood was born as a military and religious instrument for important princes and feudal nobles who used their Orders to achieve their own glory and status and also to fight against infidels as a consequence of the strong faith that they professed.