| Military Order of Christ Ordem Militar de Cristo | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the Order | |
| Awarded by thepresident of Portugal | |
| Type | Ancient military order |
| Established |
|
| Country |  Portugal |
| Ribbon | Red |
| Motto | In hoc signo vinces (In this sign thou shalt conquer) |
| Eligibility | Portuguese and foreign nationals |
| Criteria | Relevant services to the country in the exercise of functions related to the government or public administration |
| Status | Active |
| Founder | Denis of Portugal |
| Grand Master | President of Portugal |
| Chancellor | Jaime Gama |
| Grades |
|
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | Military Order of the Tower and Sword |
| Next (lower) | Military Order of Aviz |
 Insignia of the Order  Ribbon bar of the order | |
TheMilitary Order of Christ[a] is aPortuguese honorific order. It is the former order ofKnights Templar as it was reconstituted inPortugal. Before 1910, it was known as theRoyal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ,[b] and theOrder of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ.[c] It was founded in 1318,[1][2] with the protection ofKing Denis ofPortugal, after the Templars were abolished on 22 March 1312 by thepapal bull,Vox in excelso, issued byPope Clement V.[3][4] King Denis refused to pursue and persecute the former knights as had occurred in most of the other sovereign states under the political influence of the Catholic Church.
Heavily swayed byPhilip IV of France, Pope Clement had the Knights Templar annihilated throughout France and most of Europe on charges ofheresy, but Denis revived the Templars ofTomar as the Order of Christ, largely for their aid during theReconquista and in the reconstruction of Portugal after the wars. Denis negotiated with Clement's successor,John XXII, for recognition of the new order and its right to inherit the Templar assets and property. This was granted in a papal bull,Ad ea ex quibus, on 14 March 1319.[5]
There exists also a parallelSupreme Order of Christ of theHoly See, theOrder of Christ of theHouse of Orléans-Braganza, and theOrder of Christ of Kongo.[6]
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The order's origins lie in theKnights Templar, founded circa 1118. The Templars werepersecuted by the king of France and eventually disbanded by the pope in 1312. KingDenis of Portugal created the Order of Christ in 1318 for those knights who survived their mass slaughter throughout Europe[7][8][9] and was confirmed by the papal bullAd ea ex quibus issued byPope John XXII in Avignon in March 1319. The bull was issued at the request of Denis so that the newly created order could succeed the order of the Temple, which had been dissolved in 1311 byPope Clement V.
The Templars' assets were thus assigned to the new order of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which had its first headquarters at the church of Santa Maria do Castelo, inCastro Marim. In 1356, the headquarters moved to thecastle of Tomar, the former seat of the order of the Temple in Portugal. At the time, it was a strictly religious order, with the pope as its sovereign and its grand masters being professed knights bound by a vow of poverty. The first grand master was Gil Martins, who was also master of Avis at the time.
A crucial moment for the order's future came with the appointment ofPrince Henry, duke of Viseu, as "governor and administrator". The Prince, who held much of the kingdom's land, could not take a vow of poverty, which is why this new title was created.
Since the Prince was responsible for administering the order's assets, it is no surprise that it's considerable resources were used in the discoveries. TheCross of Christ, symbol of the order, sailed across the seas, raised on the sails of Portuguese caravels, becoming one of the most recognized national symbols. The Portuguese Crown thus exercised full control over the order of Christ, even though the Holy See continued to treat it as a religious order. For this reason, the order came to exercise not only spiritual administration over the discovered territories but also temporal administration, which gave it remarkable strength.
The order's administration remained tied to the Crown for circumstantial reasons.Prince Manuel of Portugal was governor of the order when he was acclaimed King Manuel I. Through the bullConstante fide, Manuel I became the first king to also be grand master of the order of Christ.
However, it was only during the reign of KingJohn III of Portugal that the masterships of the military orders were grantedin perpetuum to the Portuguese Crown byPope Julius III. The bullPraeclara Clarissimi, dated November 30, 1551, made the administration of the orders hereditary, marking a separation from the Holy See that would be confirmed by future developments. It is common to find portraits of Portuguese kings wearing the insignia of the order of Christ, attesting to the order's significance throughout the centuries. With the reform byMaria I of Portugal, enacted by the royal charter of June 19, 1789, monarchs began to wear theSash of the Three Orders.
As for the order of Christ, the law made it clear that it's members continued to take precedence over those of the orders of Avis and of Saint James of the Sword. There was also a clear concern in stating that this should not lead to the conclusion or claim that the grand crosses of Saint James were inferior to those of Christ.[10]
The royal charter also defined the purposes to which the order of Christ would be associated in the future: "The highest political, military, and civil posts and offices, if merited by service, shall be adorned with the habit of the order of Christ."[11]
The undeniable prestige of the order—as successor to the Order of the Temple and a driving force behind the discoveries—thus continued in its role as an honorary order, bestowing honors upon those holding the highest offices in the country.
Abolished by the decree of October 15, 1910, along with the "ancient noble orders", it was reinstated by the decree of December 1, 1918, then intended "to reward outstanding services rendered by nationals or foreigners to the country or to humanity, both military and civilian." In the 1962 and 1986 legislation, the Military Order of Christ remained associated with sovereign functions, especially in diplomacy, the judiciary, and public administration. Finally, in the 2011 legislation, the wording returned to the broader reference to the "exercise of sovereign functions".
In this context, throughout the 20th century, recipients of the Military Order of Christ included those holding the country's highest offices, such as former presidents of the Assembly of the Republic, former prime ministers and ministers, and former military chiefs.
During state visits, it is often awarded to the spouses of heads of state and occasionally to the heads of state themselves. This was the case with president Michelle Bachelet, honored by president Cavaco Silva in 2009.
The Holy See, claiming that the Portuguese order had lost its religious character, took advantage of the 1905 reorganization of its own orders to claim such a symbolic name for itself. Thus, the grand collar of the Supreme Order of Christ was created, to be awarded to especially worthy catholic heads of state. There is currently no head of state bearing this order. It is worth noting that the grand collar has never been awarded to a Portuguese head of state, despite being granted to figures such as presidentÉamon de Valera of Ireland, French presidentsAlbert Lebrun andCharles de Gaulle, generalFrancisco Franco of Spain, kingBaudouin I of the Belgians, and several grand masters of theSovereign Military Order of Malta.[12]
The Order of Christ, as awarded by the Portuguese government today, comes in six classes:[13]
| Bars of the Military Order of Christ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Grand Collar |  Grand Cross |  Grand Officer |  Commander |  Officer | Knight |
Soon after, Portuguese King Denis cleverly replaced the Knights in his country with the Order of Christ, which inherited the Templar's assets in Portugal.
Founded in Portugal and approved by papal bull in 1319, after the suppression of their Order in 1312, a number of Templars joined the newly established Order of Christ. The knights of this Order became known as the Knights of Christ. They wore a white mantle with a red cross that had a white twist in the middle, which also has been translated as a double cross of red and silver in some medieval documents. Initially, the Order of Christ was located at Castro Marim; later, its headquarters was relocated to Tomar, the location of the castle of the Knights Templar.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Order of the Knights of Christ".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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