Order of Christ
Ordem de Cristo
TypeDynastic Order
Established1607 (National Order)
1914–present (House Order)
StatusDiscontinued as a national order in 1914. Since 1914 order is part of the dynastic house.
Grades
  • Grand Cross
  • Commander
  • Knight
  • Companion


The Order of Christ, is an order of chivalry continued by King Álvaro II of Kongo in 1607 after the Portuguese brought the Order of Christ to the Kingdom of Kongo.[1][2] Álvaro II formed and granted knighthoods for the Order of Christ, with the Vatican ruling that Álvaro II and his successors held the fons honorum for the Order of Christ, thus being able to grant the order.[3][4][5]

The Soba (Chief) is a member of the order in 1965 wearing the mantle of the Order of Christ (Kongo).
The Soba (Chief) in 1914 wearing the mantle of the Order of Christ (Kongo) in a group photo.

Historically, those who were awarded a knighthood in the Order of Christ wore mantles with an embroidered cross.[6] The Order of Christ became a central part of the military life of the Kingdom of Kongo, including many members of the aristocracy.[3][7] A number of local rulers underwent investiture into the Order of Christ. The Order of Christ, as with the Order of Saint James of the Sword, continues to be granted by pretenders to the throne of the Kingdom of Kongo.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku; Gates, Henry Louis Gates (2 February 2012). Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
  2. ↑ Bostoen, Koen; Brinkman, Inge (15 November 2018). The Kongo Kingdom: The Origins, Dynamics and Cosmopolitan Culture of an African Polity. Cambridge University Press. p. 237-238. ISBN 978-1-108-47418-4.
  3. 1 2 Heywood, Linda M.; Thornton, John K. (10 September 2007). Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundation of the Americas, 1585-1660. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-77065-1.
  4. ↑ Ilo, Stan Chu (13 July 2022). Handbook of African Catholicism. Orbis Books. ISBN 978-1-60833-936-5.
  5. ↑ R.A.U. Juchter van Bergen Quast, "The common origin of the five Orders of Christ", Nobiliary law – Adelsrecht – Droit nobiliaire 2 June 2021, accessed 4 March 2023
  6. ↑ Dewulf, Jeroen (20 December 2016). The Pinkster King and the King of Kongo: The Forgotten History of America's Dutch-Owned Slaves. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-0882-0. In the Kingdom of Kongo, the use of shirts with an embroidered cross was a prerogative of those who had been granted knighthood in the Order of Christ.
  7. ↑ Newitt, Malyn (28 June 2010). The Portuguese in West Africa, 1415–1670: A Documentary History. Cambridge University Press. p. 182. ISBN 978-1-139-49129-7.
  8. ↑ Miller, Joseph C.; Havik, Philip J.; Birmingham, David (15 November 2011). A Scholar for All Seasons: Jill Dias: Portuguese Studies Review, Vol. 19, Nos. 1 and 2 (Special Volume in Memory of Jill Dias, 1944-2008) (ISSN 1057-1515). Baywolf Press. p. 122.
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