Military Order of San Carlos
The Military Order of San Carlos, is an Order of chivalry, of a dynastic-state character of the ancient Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, founded by King Carlos VII of Naples (III of Spain) to reward the services rendered to the Crown by soldiers of the land and sea armies, as well as commemorating the end of the War of the Polish Succession. The King himself drafts, in his own handwriting, the Statutes of this Military Order and signs the Royal Decree of Foundation on October 22, 1738 in the Neapolitan city of Portici, summer residence of the Kings. The Order is since its foundation under the protection of San Carlos Borromeo.
In 1734, Charles of Bourbon, by then Duke of Parma and Plasencia (Italy), son of the King and Queen of Spain Philip V y of Isabel de Farnesio, after defeating the austrians, in the War of the Polish Succession took Naples with Spanish help, recovering the territory for the Bourbons, being recognized very soon by France (under First Family Pact). En 1737 was also recognized by the Papal states and then the rest of the Italian states. In the Treaty of Vienna (1738) Austria recognizes him as King of Naples and Sicily in exchange for his renunciation of the Duchies of Parma and Plasencia.7
With the Treaty of Vienna (1738) the War of the Polish Succession ended. King Carlos VII of Naples to commemorate the end of the war founded the Military Order of San Carlos on October 22, 1738.
On October 23, 1738, the Duke of Sala, Joseph Borgia, by order of King Carlos VII, sent a letter to the President of the Royal Chamber of Santa Clara, Bernardo Tanucci, informing him of the constitution of the Order of San Carlos and requesting its registration in the aforementioned Chamber:
“Having served the King to institute and found, with his Royal Decree dated yesterday, the new Military Order of San Carlos under the Laws and Statutes that he prescribes, to decorate with it the Subjects, who serve him with fidelity, courage, and zelo, in its Armies, both on Land and Sea; and at the same time reward and reward their own merits and service; Your Majesty sends to Your Majesty a copy of the aforementioned Decree indicated by your Royal Hand, and I direct this Chamber of Santa Clara; so that, once it is known, it is published, registered, and kept in the Secretary of the Office of VS, and noted in the other parts, where appropriate, in perpetual memory of this Foundation. And I warn VS so that the Chamber complies with it.
God keep VS for many years, as I wish.
Portici on October 23, 1738
The Marquis of Salas, Mr. D. Joseph Borgia.”
The Royal Decree of the Foundation of the Military Order of San Carlos, signed in the mentioned locality, in the previous explanation Carlos VII says the following:
“We have seen fit and resolved, to reward the merits and services of the Subjects who have served us and will serve us in the future, with fidelity, courage, and zeal, in our Troops, both on Earth and de Mar, to institute and found as by virtue of this Decree sealed by our Royal Hand, with all the fullness of our sovereign power of our certain knowledge, and determined will, we institute and found a Military Order, entitled San Carlos; so that those, who are promoted to it, may under the auspices and glorious name of such a great Saint, use their talents, no less than their strength, in the defense and growth of our Holy Catholic Faith and with their virtuous actions illustrate the glory of this new Order, and the reputation of our souls.”
Carlos VII of Naples and Sicily (III of Spain) at the time of writing the Statutes of the Order made it very clear that the Order that was founded was united to the King and the Crown:“we want it to be perpetually annexed and united to our Crown”
In another section of the Royal Decree founding the Order of San Carlos, the King explains how the knights of this Order had to meet in the royal antechamber to join the Council of Officers and the Sovereign himself to attend to the liturgical acts of the Order that were celebrated in the Chapel of the Royal Palace of Naples, on the festivities of the Patron Saint, Saint Charles Borromeo at first and later joined the Immaculate Conception, Easter, among other solemnities, as well as in crossing acts.
In the Statutes of San Carlos, it is contemplated that the knights must have as their main objective the defense of the Catholic Religion and seek by all means the conciliation of the enmities between the companions and swear inviolable fidelity and defend the King Grand Master.
The prohibitions are curious, that by Statutes, the knights of the Order of San Carlos could not do. They could not challenge or accept duels, for whatever reason, leaving the solution of the problem in the hands of the King. Likewise, the knights of San Carlos were obliged to prevent and avoid duels, especially among those who are not of the Order.
The Royal Decree of Foundation of the Order of San Carlos entered the Chamber of Santa Clara on October 23, 1738. On April 1, 1741 the approval of the same by Pope Benedict XIV is requested. We are not aware of the Papal Bull approving the Order, at the moment.
From its foundation until 1759, the year the King left Naples to take charge of the Crown of Spain, the Order of San Carlos continued to help the military who returned from war and needed financial aid from it, as well as the civilians who had nothing to eat, since one of the mottos of King Carlos VII was that“no subject goes hungry in my domains”
GOVERNMENT OF THE ORDER
Originally, the members of the Order were not divided into categories, but their number was limited, by the King's wish, to one hundred people. All of them had to present their corresponding tests of nobility, unless the Sovereign exempted from such tests those who became worthy for services rendered to the Crown.
The Government of the Order was held by four people: The Chancellor; Master of ceremonies; Treasurer and Secretary.
COUNCIL OF OFFICERS
Carlos VII, Grand Master of the Order of San Carlos, organized the first Council of Officers and appointed the following people:
Chancellor, the Archbishop of Thessalonica, Senior Chaplain of the Kingdom.
Master of ceremoniesMr. José Fieles Collantes, Chief Accountant of the Armies and of the Kingdom.
Treasurerto D. Juan Ángel Goyzuetta, General Treasurer of the King.
Secretaryto D. Felipe Méndez de Castro, Accountant of the Royal House of Naples and Sicily. The Secretary was responsible for issuing all the orders that he communicated to the Secretary of State and the War Office, regarding the administration of the Order; The aforementioned Secretary of State must send the King everything that corresponds to the promotion of the knights and everything that entails the royal resolutions for the government of the Order.
The Secretary of the Order forwarded the queries to the Secretary of State, not within his competence, but also from the rest of the Officers, in order to receive through the same channel the royal resolutions of Carlos VII.
The Council of Officers, in the absence of the King Grand Master, was chaired by the Secretary of the Order. The four Officers swore allegiance and fidelity to HM the King and had the highest decoration of the Military Order of San Carlos, by decision of its Grand Master, the King of Naples and Sicily.
Such was the importance of the Order of San Carlos in the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, that it was attached to the King himself and all activity revolved around the Sovereign who, as Grand Master of the same, ordered what should be done and to whom. admit in the Order. All resolutions had to be sent to the Royal Chamber of Santa Clara for publication, filing and registration.
FINANCING
The financing of the Order of San Carlos was in charge, for the most part, of the contributions that the King himself made to it. Also of the donations that the gentlemen made. We must not forget that to the Order of San Carlos belonged whoever the Sovereign proposed for the deeds done to the Crown or for military deeds.
INSIGNIA OF THE ORDER
The Statutes of the Order contemplate the daily cross, the ceremonial mantle and the gala cross.
The daily insignia of the Order consisted of a cross with lilies at the ends and a round shield in the center with the Image of Saint Charles Borromeo, protector of the Order, bearing three small crosses. The ribbon was purple. This Cross was the same for all the knights, who had to wear it pinned to the coat on their left side.
The ceremonial dress of the knights was the white Moorish cloak with golden fringes. For the wedding of the knights of the Order, the habit was white moorre, with a cape fringed with gold, also white, and the horse track (which will be used in the investiture or function dedicated to the Patron) from which a sword hung. also the same color.
This habit was used in the Solemnities of Easter of Resurrection and of the Immaculate Conception.
The gala insignia, the same for all the knights, was a cross with lilies at the ends and in the center a round shield with the Image of Saint Charles Borromeo, Patron of the Order, having four small fleurs-de-lys.
YoINVESTITURES
The crossings of knights were held in the Palatine Chapel of the Assumption of the Royal Palace of Naples. HM Carlos VII established how the reception of the new knights should be celebrated.
The King stipulated that religious functions, called Chapels (public or private) be held on Easter of Resurrection; Corpus Christi, Immaculate Conception, San Carlos Borromeo and the crossing of knights, The Military Order of San Carlos attended these celebrations in full.
King Carlos VII stipulated that all the knights, both Officials and professed, should attend only with the white mantle. They met in the royal antechamber, where together with the King they moved in solemn procession to the Royal Chapel. Upon arrival at the Chapel, the Chancellor of the Order offered holy water to all the knights and to the King himself. Once the King was seated on his throne, the professed knights sat beside him on cloth-covered, backless benches. In front of them sat the members of the Council of Officers. At the end of the religious act, the Secretary read the Royal Certificate of entry into the Order of the new postulant knights. Knights who had been submitted to the Council of Officers for approval or not. Once accepted by the Council, it was considered fit to belong to the Military Order of San Carlos.
After the reading of the Royal Certificate of Appointments, the knights, one by one, took the oath before the Sovereign Grand Master and in the presence of the Chancellor of the Order who, at the end of the Oath, blessed the knight.
On their knees and with their right hand on the Gospel, the postulants took the following oath:
“I swear to live and die in the Sacred Catholic Religion and to defend the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary; I will not use directly or indirectly in anything contrary to the pure loyalty that I owe to His Majesty the legitimate King/Queen of Naples and Sicily (name of the Sovereign); protect the loyal and take care of the help of the poor, sick and helpless, especially the individuals of the Order that today admits me into its bosom.”
After the oath, the Master of Ceremonies imposed the white mantle on him and accompanied him, together with the godfather, in front of the Chancellor, who gave him the blessing. Later and guided by the Master of Ceremonies and, without the presence of the godfather, he was presented to His Majesty the King Grand Master of the Order who pinned the Cross on him and said: “Be received in this our Order for many years”,They were the only words that the King spoke as Grand Master of the Order throughout the ceremony. After the kiss of the King's ring, he became part of the professed knights.
Once the Investiture Chapel was finished, in the same order of entry, the Military Order of San Carlos proceeded through the galleries of the Palace to the royal antechamber where the Investiture ended and the new knights received congratulations from the rest of the members of the Order.
So far there is no document that certifies whether these Royal Investiture Chapels were public or private
After the deaths without issue of King Luis I and Fernando VI of Spain, the crown fell to the Infante Carlos de Borbón, at that time King of Naples and Sicily, where he reigned as Carlos VII . which led him to renounce the crown of Naples and return to Spain where he would reign with the name of Carlos III
On Saturday, November 6, 1759, just before noon, the Throne Room of the Royal Palace of Naples hosted the solemn act of abdication of His Majesty King Carlos VII (III of Spain) in favor of his son, the Infante Fernando, who would reign like Ferdinand IV. The King on his throne and the infant Fernando to his left, can be seen in the painting in the Prado Museum in Madrid.
In the picture painted by Joly Antonio in 1759, all the main people of the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily appear, headed by Bernardo Tanucci, favorite Minister of Carlos VII and President of the Council of the Kingdom during the minority of King Fernando IV.
The event was attended by HM Queen María Amalia of Saxony, Infante Carlos (future Carlos IV of Spain), el President of the Royal Chamber of Santa Clara, Bernardo Tanucci, as well as several members of the Royal Chamber; Council of Sicily, Princes of the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, including that of San Bartolomeo; Elected officials from Naples; deputies of the Senate and the city of Palermo, the Prothonotary of the Kingdom, the Council of the Regency chaired by Bernardo Tanucci, who was in charge of reading the text of the King's abdication.
With the abdication of King Carlos VII (III of Spain) in favor of his third son, Infante Fernando, a minor, who was 9 years old at the time of the abdication, the King constituted the Council of the Regency chaired by the President of the Chamber of Santa Clara, Bernardo Tanucci, who would direct the destinies of the Kingdom until the coming of age of Fernando IV and his subsequent dismissal by Queen María Carolina of Austria
All the knights of the Military Order of San Carlos from 1738 to 1759 carried out their work in military charity, at the express wish of the Monarch.
Charles VII of Bourbon and Farnese, and his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony they were very loved by their subjects and they worked to earn that affection. Shortly after being crowned, they brought reforms and modernity to their new country, soon achieving the unity of the people and their favor towards their kings. Both he and his descendants managed to govern, reform and modernize the new State, and also achieved what very few rulers could, which is the love of the subjects that no other dynasty had in the course of centuries.
With the abdication of Ss. M. Carlos VII, the Military Order of San Carlos, by express wish of the Monarch passes into the hands of the Prince of San Bartolomeo, who from that moment became Prince Grand Master.
The Order of San Carlos remained in the Oneto House until 1811, when the last Prince of San Bartolomeo and Grand Master of the Order, D. Giuseppe Oneto Lanza, died without issue, he appointed heir to the title and all that it entailed, including the Order, to the Rev. D. Juan Andújar (cleric), thus passing all the Titles to the Andújar Family who possesses them with peaceful existence until D. Rafael Andújar y Vilches who recovers titles and the Order itself.