History · Most Noble Equestrian Order of Saint James

The Most Noble Equestrian Order of Saint James was instituted in 1290 by Floris V, Count of Holland. Its early history survives through the chronicles of Holland and Zeeland and the works of later antiquaries; the earliest surviving mention is a chronicle from the beginning of the fourteenth century.

The foundation, 1290

The Chronicle of Holland, written by the clerk of the low countries by the sea, records the foundation as follows.

Grave Florys, deze eedele vorste, als hy die Vlamingen wederstaen hadde, besette hy Zeelant, ende tooch in Hollant. Ende als hy daer een tyt vredelick geweest hadde, dochte hy over, hoe dat hy in zynre tyt alsoe veel gheoorloocht ende zoe merlgen bloedigen stryt gestreden ende gestormt hadde, ende oick in eenre sterfte zoe veel gestorven dat hy al te luttel ridderscaps in zynen lande hadde, des hy qualiken te vreeden was. Ende om zyn ridderscap te meeren zoe ontboet hy, op enen heiligen kersdach by hem te hove te comen veertich, die ryckste ende oirbaerste huysluyden, die hy in den lande van Hollant bevinden conde, ende die wel gegoet waren ridders staet te houden. Mit dese XL. goede mannen hylt hy hoegen hof, ende int eynde van den maeltyt zoe sloech hy se ridder, ende gaf hem wapen, ende beval hem voirtaen ridderscap te oeffenen, ende wel te doen ende varen elc hoers weeghes. … Aldus soe eerde dese eedele grave syn goede luden, die eerbaer en duegende waren van weldaden ende van rycheeden, ende en sach die coemst nyet an; maer hy meerde zyn ridderscap ende zyn eedel lude, daer hy hem zelven ende zun lant meede eerde; wanttet immer eerlick is, dat veel ridders in eenen lant syn. Hier om ende omdat hy zyn goede huysluden alsoe dueen te beroemen plach ende lief hadde, soe haddens die oude ridderscap sommigen groten nyt, ende plagen desen grave te noemen der keerlen God. Chronyk van Holland, van den klerk uit de laage landen by der zee — early fourteenth century

TranslationCount Floris, this noble prince, having withstood the Flemings, occupied Zeeland and then went into Holland. When he had lived there for a time in peace, he reflected that in his reign he had waged so much war and fought so many bloody battles and assaults, and that in an epidemic so many had died, that he had far too few knights left in his land, with which he was ill content. And to increase his knighthood he commanded, on a holy Christmas Day, forty of the richest and most respectable householders to be found in the land of Holland — men of sufficient means to maintain the estate of a knight — to come to him at court. With these forty good men he held high court, and at the end of the meal he knighted them, gave them arms, and charged them henceforth to practise knighthood, to do well, and each to go his way. … Thus this noble count honoured his good subjects, who were honourable and excelled in good deeds and in wealth, and he looked not to their descent; but he increased his knighthood and his nobility, whereby he honoured himself and his land; for it is ever honourable that there be many knights in a land. For this reason, and because he was wont so to praise and to love his good householders, some of the old knighthood bore him great envy, and were accustomed to call this count der keerlen God — the god of the common people.

The Order later received its present name, Order of Saint James, as recorded in the collection of Mr. A.C. baron Snouckaert van Schauburg (1803–1878), held by the Hoge Raad van Adel (inv. no. 147).

Development

After the Middle Ages, when many orders of knighthood fell into oblivion, the Order of Saint James continued quietly. Though power and prominence had passed, and other orders came to the fore, the Order is consistently recorded in the historical literature — by Boxhorn, Van Gouthoven, Schoonebeek, Butkens, De Rouck and Le Petit, among others.

A notable change of this period is the introduction of the eight-pointed cross, worn upon the mantle. This reflects a broader development of the sixteenth century, in which many orders of knighthood exchanged the Latin cross for the Maltese cross. The image of Saint James was retained in a round medallion upon the chain.

A knight of the Order of Saint James in Holland, engraving by Jacques-Charles Bar, 1778/79 — **Chevalier de St. Jaques en Hollande.** Jacques-Charles Bar, Paris, 1778/79. Musée du Louvre, Collection Edmond de Rothschild.

The nineteenth century

In 1814 King William I considered reviving the Order of Saint James as a national order of knighthood. In the end he chose to name his new order the Order of the Netherlands Lion (J.A. van Zelm van Eldik, Moed en deugd. Ridderorden in Nederland, Zutphen, 2003, p. 164 ff.).

In 1845 the students of Leiden University devoted their masquerade, on the 270th anniversary of the university, to the procession of Count Floris V with the newly created Knights of Saint James to the tournament given at 's-Gravenhage upon the institution of the Order.

The modern era

In modern times the Order has continued within Catholic circles, where it has been passed on to new knights. A portion of its documentation has been lost, particularly during the Second World War; fragments of the membership lists survive.

With a growing membership, the Order devotes itself at present to charitable work, while the writing of its history and the care of its historical archive remain central. The Order of Saint James is an historic institution in the history of the Netherlands.