Chivalric orders are orders of knights that were created by European monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the Crusades. After the crusades, the memory of these crusading military orders became idealised and romanticised, resulting in the late medieval notion of chivalry, and is reflected in the Arthurian romances of the time.
Medieval orders

Heraldist D'Arcy Boulton (1987) classifies chivalric orders in the following manner:

• Monarchical or dynastical orders
• Confraternal orders
• Fraternal orders
• Votive Orders
• Cliental pseudo-orders
• Honorific orders

Monarchical or dynastical orders

• Late medieval monarchical orders (14th and 15th centuries) are orders of chivalry with the presidency attached to a monarch:

1. the Order of Saint George, founded by Charles I of Hungary in 1325
2. the Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III of England in ca. 1348
3. the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, founded by Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy in 1362.
4. the Order of the Ermine, founded by John V, Duke of Brittany in 1381: First order to accept Women.
5. the Order of the Dragon, founded in 1408 by Sigismund of Hungary
6. the Order of the Golden Fleece, founded by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430
7. the Order of St Michel, founded by Louis XI of France in 1469

• Post-medieval foundations of chivalric orders:

1. the Order of Saint Stephen (1561)
2. the Order of the Holy Spirit (1578)
3. the Blood of Jesus Christ (military order) (1608)
4. the Order of the Thistle (1687)
5. the Order of Saint Joseph (1807)

• Monarchical orders whose monarch no longer reigns but continue to be bestowed, are called dynastical orders:

1. the Order of the Golden Fleece (Austrian branch)
2. the Order of the Holy Spirit
3. the Order of Prince Danilo I of Montenegro
4. the Order of Saint Peter of Cetinje

Confraternal orders

Confraternal orders are orders of chivalry with the presidency attached to a nobleman:

• Princely orders were founded by noblemen of higher rank. Most of these were founded in imitation of the Order of the Golden Fleece, after 1430:

1. Order of Saint Catherine, founded by Humbert, Dauphin du Viennois in ca. 1335
2. Order of Saint Anthony, founded by Albrecht I of Bavaria in 1384
3. Society of the Eagle, founded by Albrecht von Habsburg in 1433
4. Society of Our Lady (Order of the Swan), founded by Friedrich II of Brandenburg in 1440
5. Order of Saint Hubert, founded by Gerhard V of Jülich and Berg in 1444
6. Order of the Crescent, founded by René d'Anjou in 1448
7. Society of Saint Jerome, founded by Friedrich II of Wettin in 1450

• Baronial orders, founded by noblemen of lower rank:

1. Order of Saint Hubert (Barrois, (1422)
2. Noble Order of Saint George of Rougemont, also called Confraternity of Saint-Georges of Burgundy (Franche-Comté, 1440)

Fraternal orders

Fraternal orders are orders of chivalry that were formed ad-hoc for a certain enterprise:

1. the Compagnie of the Black Swan, founded by 3 princes and 11 knights in Savoy (1350)
2. the Corps et Ordre du Tiercelet, founded by the vicomte de Thouars and 17 barons in Poitou (1377–1385)
3. Ordre de la Pomme d'Or, founded by 14 knights in Auvergne (1394)
4. Alliance et Compagnie du Levrier, founded by 44 knights in the Barrois (1416–1422), subsequently converted into the Confraternal order of Saint Hubert (see above)

Votive Orders

Votive orders are orders of chivalry, temporarily formed on the basis of a vow. These were courtly chivalric games rather than actual pledges as in the case of the fraternal orders. Three are known from their statutes:

1. Emprise de l'Escu vert à la Dame Blanche (Enterprise of the green shield with the white lady), founded by Jean Le Maingre dit Boucicaut and 12 knights in 1399 for the duration of 5 years
2. Emprise du Fer de Prisonnier (Enterprise of the Prisoner's Iron), founded by Jean de Bourbon and 16 knights in 1415 for the duration of 2 years
3. Emprise de la gueule de dragon (Enterprise of the Dragon's Mouth), founded by Jean comte de Foix in 1446 for 1 year.

Cliental pseudo-orders

Cliental pseudo-orders are not orders of chivalry and were princes' retinues fashionably termed orders. They are without statutes or restricted memberships:

1. Ordre de la Cosse de Genêt (Order of the Broom-Pod), founded by Charles VI of France ca. 1388
2. Order of the camail or Porcupine, created by Louis d'Orléans in 1394
3. Order of the Dove, Castile, 1390
4. Order of the Scale of Castile, ca. 1430

Honorific orders

Honorific orders were honorific insignia consisting of nothing but the badge:

1. the Order of the Stoat and the Ear, founded by Francis I, Duke of Brittany in 1448
2. Order of the Golden Spur, a papal order (since the 14th century, flourishes in the 16th century)

Some honorific orders are modern foundations, such as the Order of the Bath[1], founded by King George I of Great Britain on 18 May 1725[2]

Modern orders

Current orders

• The Order of the Elephant, founded by King Christian I of Denmark in 1693
• The Order of St. Andrew, founded by Tsar Peter the Great of Russia in 1698
• The Order of the Seraphim, founded by Frederick I of Sweden in 1748
• The Order of St. George the Triumphant, founded by Catherine the Great of the Russian Empire in 1769
• The Order of Leopold, founded by King Leopold I of the Belgians on 11 July 1832
• The Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav, founded by King Oscar I of Norway on 21 August 1847
• The Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau, founded by King-Grand Duke William III of Luxembourg in 1858
• The Order of the Crown, founded by King Leopold II of the Congo Free State on 15 October 1897 (became a Belgian order in 1908)
• The Order of Leopold II, founded by King Leopold II of the Congo Free State on 24 August 1900 (became a Belgian order in 1908)
• The Order of Michael the Brave, founded by King Ferdinand I of Romania on 26 September 1916
• The Order of the British Empire, founded by King George V of the United Kingdom on 4 June 1917
• The Knightly Order of Vitéz, founded by Miklós Horthy the Regent of Hungary in 1921
• The Order of Canada, founded by Queen Elizabeth II of Canada in 1967 [the Order of Canada is a national Order of Merit]
• The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, founded by King Olav V of Norway in 1985

Former orders

• The Order of the Iron Helmet of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) (in present-day Germany), founded 1814, abolished ...
• The Wilhelmsorden (Order of Wilhelm) of Hesse-Kassel, founded 1851, abolished 1875
• The Order of the African Star, founded by King Leopold II of the Congo Free State on 30 December 1888, which became a Belgian order in 1908 and has not been awarded since the independence of Congo in 1960
• The Royal Order of the Lion, founded by King Leopold II of the Congo Free State on 9 April 1891, which became a Belgian order in 1908 and has not been awarded since the independence of Congo in 1960
• The Ludewigsorden (Order of Louis) of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, founded 1807, abolished 1918
• The Order of the Norwegian Lion, founded 1904, abolished 1952

Modern ranks of the Orders

Within most Continental European orders, and many other orders, the following rankings (or similar rank structures) exist:

• Grand Cross or Grand Cordon
• Grand Officer
• Commander
• Officer
• Knight or Chevalier

Within the British honours system, and some members of the Commonwealth of Nations, the following rankings (or similar rank structures) exist, of which only the two highest ranks are considered knights:

• Knight Grand Cross
• Knight Commander
• Commander
• Officer
• Member

Consequently to the fact of being not an order of chivalry but an order of merits, some republican orders have created new ranks: e.g. Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Self-Styled Chivalric Orders

Self-styled orders are organisations that claim to be chivalric orders in the same sense as such orders as the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece or the French Order of Saint Michael, which actually are able to convey knighthood. The "self-styled orders" are membership organisations and have not been created by a State or a Monarch.

With few exceptions, self-styled orders began to arise in the middle of the eighteenth century, and they continue to emerge. Some are short-lived and only last a few decades. There are differing opinions about what principles or rules should be applied to distinguish an organisation as a genuine chivalric order or a merely self-styled one.

Most scholars agree that a chivalric order (that is, an order which can bestow knighthood) must have a fons honorum ("fount of honour") provided by its founder and current principal patron for it to be considered a true chivalric order. A fount of honour is defined as someone who held sovereignty either currently or formerly at the time of the creation of the order. Further, former holding of sovereignty is considered allowable only for the creation of an order in those cases where the former sovereign did not abdicate his position: for example, an Order of St John of Jerusalem which previously was merely a self-styled "order" came to be supported by the exiled King Peter of Yugoslavia, who had not abdicated; after the king's death in 1970, his successor, Crown Prince Alexander, refused to continue patronage and in fact repudiated the various and competing successor "orders"; thus, without a continuing fons honorum, these orders lapsed back into "self-styled" status. A minority of scholars disagree, arguing that a non-reigning claimant to a throne cannot continue an order of chivalry.

Some organisations have provided a false fons honorum to satisfy the need. In these cases, the founder or patron of the "order" has essentially assumed a false title of nobility in addition to assuming some sort of sovereignty, current or former.

Although not recognised by any international treaty, an organisation exists which seeks to provide criteria against which to judge Orders of Chivalry: the International Commission for Orders of Chivalry. The rules by which the Commission adjudges an order of chivalry to be genuine are listed on the website of the Commission[3].

The International Commission for Orders of Chivalry [4] was created in August 1960, originally as an instrument of the International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences. However, criticism of the work of the Commission at the time caused the International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences to abandon the work. The Commission continues as an independent organisation, though neither its decisions nor the criteria it employs to reach those decisions are universally accepted. The Commission has no standing in international law and may not be acknowledged by any present government.

There are, however, organisations that appear to have a chivalric character and are seen as being akin to orders of chivalry. Examples of such organisations are listed in Appendix 5, of: Sainty, Guy, World Orders of Knighthood & Merit, Burke's Peerage & Gentry, 2006.