The Order of St George, Szent György Vitézei Lovagrend, was the first secular chivalric order in the world and was established by King Charles I of Hungary in 1326, and continues to exist today.
History of the Order
The Order was founded by King Charles I of Hungary as the Fraternal Society of Knighthood of St George. The precise date of its foundation is not known, but based on the text of its Statutes, it was in existence on St George's Day, 23 April 1326. The order flourished during Charles' reign and achieved greater success under the reign of his son Louis I of Hungary. After the death of Louis, the Hungarian throne became the subject of a violent dispute between his relations, and the Hungarian kingdom dissolved into civil war, destroying the original Society. All that is known about the Order in terms of its mission, composition, obligations and activities has been obtained from the only surviving artifact which describes the Society. Based on the Statutes, although the Society of St George was a political and honorary body, Charles infused the ideals of chivalry into the Society promoting them among the lesser nobles of his kingdom and implementing the classic symbol of chivalry, the knights' tournament, in Hungarian festivals of chivalry. Unlike the ecclesiastical Orders of the period, members of the Society wore a black, knee-length, hooded mantle, bearing not an heraldic device but an inscription: The Statutes were written in Latin, the language of learned writing in Hungary before the 19th century, and are about 1700 words long, in the form of letters patent. Suspended from the document was the great seal of the Society with the classic iconic representation of St George mounted on a horse slaying the dragon under the horse's hooves as shown on the right. The document is currently housed in the Országos Levéltar, DL. 40 483. There are a number of transcriptions and translations of the Statutes, facilitating study. In Hungary, the twentieth century foundation the Order of Vitéz was based upon the Order of St. George, but the Knightly Order Valiant of St George re-emerged in its own right after the fall of communism in 1989. The Order continues to exist today as the International Knightly Order Valiant of St George. The Order has charitable status in the UK as Registered Charity No. 1137397; in the USA as a 5013 non-profit organisation; and with the United Nations as an organisation with Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic & Social Council since 2015.
