The Order, initially called the “Order of the Collar,” was founded by Amadeus VI of Savoy on the occasion of his sister Bianca’s marriage to Galeazzo II Visconti in 1362. The Order of the Collar, whose purpose was to “promote unity and fraternity among the powerful to prevent private wars,” was reserved for the most illustrious and loyal nobles. The statutory rule stipulated that all members be considered equals and address each other as “brothers.” The original insignia consisted of a gilded silver collar with the motto “Fert,” closed by a ring with three Savoy knots. The “Milites Collaris Sabaudiae” were originally limited to 14, under the leadership of Amadeus VI, the first Grand Master of the Order, making a total of 15 members in honor of the Fifteen Joys of the Virgin Mary.

Amadeus VIII of Savoy gave the first official regulation to the Order and its decoration, establishing that the collar should alternate Savoy knots with the inscription “Fert” and 15 roses, in remembrance of the Golden Rose sent by Pope Urban V to Count Amadeus VI in 1364 when he conferred on him the insignia of a crusader knight. Charles III gave the Order new statutes, renaming it the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation. He also introduced a medallion with the image of the Annunciation within the space formed by the three knots. The number of knights was increased to 20. The first statutes of the Order, those given by Amadeus VI, have been lost. The statutes preserved today are those modified by Amadeus VIII of Savoy in 1429. Later, Duke Emmanuel Philibert added the requirement that admission to the Order be conditional upon demonstrating noble ancestry in all four quarters for at least five generations.

Victor Amadeus II secularized the Order. In 1869, Victor Emmanuel II decreed that the Order could be awarded even to individuals without noble origins, provided they had rendered exceptional service to the State or the Crown. Upon investiture, the new member would choose a collar from those available, with the obligation to bequeath it back to the House of Savoy upon their death.

The recipients were exempt from paying taxes, were considered “cousins of the King” (who they could address informally), held the title of “Excellency,” had protocol precedence over all State officials, were entitled to military honors, and automatically became Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy and the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.

The Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation remains the highest honor of the Royal House of Savoy, granting ceremonial and protocol privileges similar to those valid during the Kingdom of Italy. The Italian Republic does not recognize this Order; however, as a dynastic Order predating the Kingdom of Italy, it continues to be conferred—upon members of reigning houses, high nobility, or individuals distinguished by extraordinary merits towards the House of Savoy—and is considered in European heraldic manuals to be on par with the Order of the Garter in terms of prestige.

The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus was officially established by the Papal Bulls Christiani Populi and Pro Commissa Nobis, signed by Pope Gregory XIII on 16 September and 13 November 1572 respectively. Through these acts, the Religious Military Order of Saint Maurice was placed first under the Rule of Saint Benedict of the Cistercian Congregation and later under that of Saint Augustine, and was de jure merged with the Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, one of the four most ancient Crusading Orders (the others being the Knights of Saint John, the Templars, and the Teutonic Knights), dating back to the early Crusades in the Holy Land. For a time, it also exercised jurisdiction over the Knights of Saint John (today the Sovereign Military Order of Malta).

As a result, the two original Orders combined their purposes and assets, integrating them reciprocally. On that same occasion, the new insignia of the Militia was granted, featuring the green cross of the Knights of Saint Lazarus and the white cross of the Order of Saint Maurice, founded in 1434 by Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy, who, after becoming a widower, withdrew with several gentlemen to live a monastic life at the hermitage of Ripaille, near Thonon and Lake Geneva.

The Grand Magisterium of the Order was entrusted to Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, transmissible to his descendants in perpetuity, with the obligation at that time to maintain two galleys in defense of the Holy See and to pay an annual “donation” of 15,000 scudi. Among the aims of the Order were the exercise of hospital hospitality, the liberation of the seas from pirates, the fight against the infidels (that is, Muslims), and opposition to Calvinists and Lutherans.

The Knights of Saint Maurice had already distinguished themselves in 1571, covering themselves with glory at the Battle of Lepanto under the command of the Order’s Grand Admiral, Count Andrea Provana of Leinì. A few years later (1583), the same admiral defeated a Barbary fleet off the Hyères Islands.

Admission to the Order (“Sacred Religion and Military Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus”)—reserved for persons of proven aristocratic rank—was governed by extremely strict regulations that emphasized the impeccable moral conduct of the Knights, ideally comparable to warrior-ascetics. “Savoye bonnes nouvelles” was the motto with which the Herald of the Order joyfully announced the admission of a new candidate.

The Knights of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, on the other hand, were exempt from presenting proofs of nobility and other documentation, as they all held, by right, the rank of Grand Cross, the highest grade of the Order.

The military history of the Order continued in the following centuries, reaching its peak of opulence and prestige around the mid-18th century, also in conjunction with its expansion in Sardinia. After the revolutionary and Napoleonic upheavals, however, profound changes in society and new political and economic conditions made the need for deep reform evident. This reform was courageously initiated—despite strong opposition—by the new King Charles Albert, who, with his Royal Magistral Letters Patent of 9 December 1831, radically modified the Statutes and Regulations to adapt them to the new era. For example, the obsolete distinction between those decorated solely by virtue of nobility and those admitted for particularly eminent merits was abolished.

On 19 July 1839, King Charles Albert signed a Royal Decree establishing a new prestigious decoration for the Royal Army: the Mauritian Gold Medal, created to reward fifty years of service with exemplary conduct in the Royal Armed Forces. Initially reserved exclusively for officers already decorated with the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, this restriction was abolished in 1924 by His Majesty King Victor Emmanuel III, who extended the award to all deserving officers of the Armed Forces.

The reforms of King Charles Albert were only a prelude to the radical renewal of the Order carried out by his son, King Victor Emmanuel II, in 1851. With the Royal Magistral Letters Patent of 16 March 1851, the Order lost its religious-military character and was essentially transformed into an Order of Merit. The further confirmation of the suppression of the class of Knights of Justice with proofs of nobility, already decided on 4 September 1849, removed the exclusively aristocratic character the Order had maintained until then, making it accessible—albeit with traditional restraint—to citizens of all social classes, provided they were distinguished by civil or military virtues, important services rendered to the State, scientific, literary, or artistic merit, or acts of high beneficence.

With minimal variations to its complex body of regulations, the Order continued its fundamental hospital, cultural (including the construction of additional elementary schools and kindergartens), spiritual, and agricultural mission until the institutional referendum of 1946.

With the fall of the Monarchy, the Republic transformed the ancient and glorious Order into a hospital entity, which after a few decades met an inglorious end due to mismanagement, and was replaced by a Foundation tasked with safeguarding the vast architectural and artistic heritage formerly belonging to the Order.

Fortunately, the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, by virtue of its dynastic nature belonging jure sanguinis to a Sovereign House (internationally recognized as such as early as the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713), has preserved its full validity independently of political changes. Indeed, on 30 September 1973, the XVI Grand Master General, His Majesty King Umberto II, officially presided over a solemn celebration at the Abbey of Saint-Maurice d’Agaune in Switzerland for the four-hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the Order.

On the basis of the clear hereditary transmissibility of the Grand Magisterium of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, as established in the Bull of Pope Gregory XIII, his son, H.R.H. Prince Vittorio Emanuele, Duke of Savoy, Prince of Naples and Head of the Royal House of Savoy, is the current XVII Grand Master and Sovereign Head of the Order, and by virtue of these prerogatives has issued new Statutes of the Order, finally opening it also to Ladies.

Today, the Order continues to admit members of the Italian and European nobility, as well as individuals who have particularly distinguished themselves in the fields of science, literature, art, industry, and business, provided they share the humanitarian and philanthropic aims of the Order.

The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus today counts approximately four thousand members, Knights and Ladies, distributed across 33 countries, where it is present through qualified regional and national Delegations led by H.E. the Grand Chancellor, Knight Grand Cross of Nobility Dr. Johannes Niederhauser, and through its Hospital Works presided over by H.R.H. the Princess of Naples.

Normally, two official ceremonies are held each year, to which all members are invited to participate. The first ceremony is celebrated in France, at the Abbey of Hautecombe (Aix-les-Bains), to commemorate the deceased Princes of the House of Savoy. The second consists of the convocation and meeting of the General Chapter (Council) of the Order and is held in Switzerland, usually at the Abbey of Saint-Maurice d’Agaune near Martigny.

The Civil Order of Savoy was founded on 29 October 1831 by Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, with a single class, to reward civil virtues and merit among those who did not belong to the military class (Order of Military Savoy, 1815–1946). The original statutes state that it “may be conferred by the Grand Master of the Order, who is the Head of the House of Savoy.”

The Order was reserved exclusively for Italians, particularly those who distinguished themselves or became renowned for the value of their work among “scientists,” “men of letters,” “administrators,” “engineers,” “architects,” “artists,” “authors and publishers of discoveries,” “professors of sciences and letters,” and “directors of education.”

Members of the Order were entitled to military honors reserved for junior officers. The maximum number of members was seventy.

The decoration consists of a gold Cross of Savoy, enamelled in blue, charged with a white shield bearing the gold initials “C.A.” (Carlo Alberto), later replaced by “V.E.” (Victor Emmanuel II) after the death of Charles Albert, and on the reverse the inscription “For Civil Merit 1831.”

Following the death of H.M. Umberto II, King of Italy, his son H.R.H. Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, Head of the Orders and Arms of the Royal House of Savoy, is the VI Hereditary Grand Master of the Order.

ORDER OF MERIT OF SAVOY

In order to reward various services rendered to the House of Savoy by both Italian citizens and foreigners, His Royal Highness Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy established on 23 January 1988, within the Civil Order of Savoy, a dynastic Order of Merit called the Order of Merit of Savoy, divided—like the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus—into the following classes:

– Knights Grand Cross (maximum 100);

– Ladies Grand Cross (maximum 100);

– Grand Officers (maximum 150);

– Commanders (maximum 300);

– Ladies Commander (maximum 300);

– Officer Knights (number unlimited);

– Knights (number unlimited);

– Ladies (number unlimited).

The decoration of the Order is a solid gold cross, enamelled in white, charged with a round blue enamelled shield bearing on one side the initials “V.E.” and on the other the inscription “Al Merito di Savoia 1988.” The ribbon is blue silk with a broad white central stripe. The mantle is of blue cloth, fastened at the collar by four cords with white and blue silk tassels, and with the cross of the Order embroidered on the left side, in various sizes according to rank.

As with the Order of the Crown of Italy until 1946, the Order of Merit of Savoy is administered by the Chancellery of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.