Members of Knightly Orders
Ursula Georges
In this article, I collect references to members of knightly orders made prior to 1600. My sources are Darcy Jonathan Dacre Boulton's The Knights of the Crown, a lengthy work on monarchical orders, the Oxford English Dictionary, and the Dictionary of the Scots Language. Though Boulton usually preserves medieval spellings, he may have normalized the title Dame de la Fraternité de St Georges. The other sources use original spellings.
In most monarchical orders, the status of knight was a prerequisite for membership. Thus, one of the most popular ways to refer to a member of a chivalric order was by a word meaning 'knight', such as French chevalier or Latin miles. Other terms, such as companion and the French frere 'brother', emphasized the fraternal nature of the organization; these terms were also used to refer to members of other types of medieval fraternal organizations, such as religious guilds and confraternities.
More information about order names may be found in my companion article, Medieval Names of Some Knightly Orders.
How were members of knightly orders referred to in the Middle Ages?
By words meaning knight:
- Knight (English)
- Eek there be Knightes olde of the garter, That in hir tyme did right worthily
- Flower and Leaf, before 1500
- Knight of the order of saynt Michaell.
- Jehan Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement de la langue françoyse, 1530
- Knight of the Noble Order of S. George, Worthy S. Michael, and the Golden Fleece.
- William Shakespeare, Henry VI, 1591
- Knight (Scots)
- Lord Barnard Stewart, Lord of Aubigny ... consaloure ... to ... Loys, King of France, knight of his ordour
- William Dunbar, late fifteenth or early sixteenth century
- Chevalier (French)
- A cause qil fuist chevalier del gartour
- Ranulf Higden, Polychronicon,1388
- Chevaliers
- Letter on the founding of the Company of the Star, preserved in the register of the Chambre des Comptes, 1351
- Chevaliers
- Statutes of the Company of the Knot, fourteenth century?
- Chevalliers
- Statutes of the Order of the Collar, 1409
- Chevaliers
- Order of the Golden Fleece, 1445
- Miles (Latin)
- Milites
- Statutes of the Fraternal Society of Saint George, Hungary, 1326
- Caballero (Spanish)
- Caballeros
- Statutes of the Order of the Band, fourteenth century
- Cavalero (Italian)
- Cavaleri
- Chapters of the statutes of the Order of the Ermine, 1465
By words meaning companion:
- Companion (English)
- Eche beyng companion of others order: for the king wore the golden Fleece, & the Duke wore the Garter.
- Richard Grafton, A chronicle at large and meere history of the affayres of England, 1568.
- Compagnon (French)
- Compagnons
- Statutes of the Order of the Garter, fifteenth century copy
- Compaignon
- Amendments to the statutes of the Company of the Knot, fourteenth century?
- Freres et compaignons
- Statutes of the Order of the Collar, 1409
- Compagnons
- Order of the Golden Fleece, 1445
- Compaignons
- Order of the Golden Fleece, 1445
- Compagno (Italian)
- Confratri et compagni
- Prologue to the statutes of the Order of the Ermine, 1465
By words meaning lord or lady:
- Lord (English)
- To yow, lordes of the garter ‘flour Of Chiualrie’ as men yow clepe and calle.
- Thomas Hoccleve, Minor Poems, fifteenth century
- Dame (French)
- Dame de la Fraternité de St Georges
- Account book or tomb effigy, before 1495
- Domina (Latin)
- Domina de Secta et Liberatura Garterii
- Account book or tomb effigy, before 1495
By words meaning brother:
- Frere (French)
- Freres et compaignons
- Statutes of the Order of the Collar, 1409
- Freres
- Order of the Golden Fleece, 1445
- Confrere (French)
- Confreres
- Le Bel, Chronicle, 1356-61
- Frater (Latin)
- Fratres
- Statutes of the Fraternal Society of Saint George, Hungary, 1326
- Confratro (Italian)
- Confratri et compagni
- Prologue to the statutes of the Order of the Ermine, 1465
- Confratri
- Chapters of the statutes of the Order of the Ermine, 1465
Bibliography
- Darcy Jonathan Dacre Boulton, The Knights of the Crown. Suffolk: The Boydell Press, 1987.
- Oxford English Dictionary. http://www.oed.com
- Dictionary of the Scots Language. http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/