The Ecclesiastical Orders of Knighthood

The Ecclesiastical Orders of Knighthood is by James Herman Van der Veldt. The foreword says widespread interest in the Ecclesiastical Orders of Knighthood has been demonstrated by continual requests for information on the part of libraries and individual persons, particularly those who have been knighted. The foreword says that in the United States this interest lies chiefly in those Orders most familiar to Americans, such as the Order of Malta, the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and the Order of St. Gregory.

The text says that orders of merit are “orders” only in the broad sense of the term. The text says the general development of the Iberian military orders followed very much the same pattern, with the knights living in their convents and castles ruled by their grand masters. The text says that, among the ecclesiastical decorations, those bestowed directly by the Holy See and consequently strictly pontifical are the Cross “Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice” and the Medal “Benemerenti.”