The Order of Santiago

[MikeyC]

Not something I had come across before. Bonhams auction house is listing a portrait of a Member of the Order of Santiago.
Qualifications make no mention of a Compostela or even walking some of the Camino. Scroll down their page for the footnotes.

Bonhams : Bolognese School, circa 1600 Portrait of a Knight of the Order of Santiago, bust-length, in black costume embroidered with the Order's red cross of Saint James with a white ruff

Portrait of a Knight of the Order of Santiago, bust-length, in black costume embroidered with the Order's red cross of Saint James with a white ruff oil on metal, oval 5.7 x 4cm (2 1/4 x 1 9/16in).

www.bonhams.com

 

[mspath]

For more on the long and eventful history of the Order of Santiago see Wikipedia and
www.ordenesmilitares.es/orden-de-santiago/

 

[Aurigny]

They sound charming.

...a candidate who wished to join the Order of Santiago must have proved in his first four last names that he, his parents, and his grandparents were of noble descent by blood and not by privilege, and had never worked in manual or industrial labour.

Many classes of people were permanently disqualified from membership of the order due to their origins or circumstances. They included the following categories and their descendants: Jews, Muslims, heretics, converts to Christianity, or a mixture of these, no matter how far removed. Also included were people who had been punished for acts against the Catholic faith; had been an attorney, moneylender, notary public, retail merchant, or had worked where they lived or would have lived from their trade; had been dishonoured, had neglected the laws of honour and executed any act not proper for a perfect gentleman, or who lacked means of support.

Ironically, among those who would have been ineligible for membership of the Order are St John the Apostle, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ.

 

[henrythedog]

There are plenty of people where I live who have never worked for a living - at least according to their tax returns - but I wouldn’t want to be in any club that they were eligible to join.

 

[David Tallan]

...the following categories and their descendants: Jews, Muslims, heretics, converts to Christianity, or a mixture of these, no matter how far removed...

Are there any Christians who are not descended from one or more of these, if one goes far enough back? The very first Christians were converts to Christianity. Every Christian since then has either been a convert to Christianity or descended from one. Methinks someone was not thinking things through.

 

[Kathar1na]

Ironically, among those who would have been ineligible for membership of the Order are St John the Apostle, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ.

Yes, amazing, isn't it? To join a club of knights, you had to be a knight and come from a family of knights. Thank you to @mspath for providing the link to www.ordenesmilitares.es/orden-de-santiago/ . It made the text of the auction house more comprehensible for me. ☺

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Careful here.

"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican." ... St. Luke 18:10-11

 

[Kathar1na]

Caballeros de la Orden de Santiago, siglo XVIII, Volume 1 contains the statute of the Order of Santiago from around 1560-1570. Capitulo II-Capitulo V lists the qualifications that were required to become a member in those days and that have been copied into Wikipedia. It was a long time ago.

I don't know which Wikipedia contributor had the brilliant idea of rendering que viven por el trabajo de sus manos into had never worked in manual or industrial labour for a text from the 16th century. These guys just don't live in the past.

 

[Canche]

For more on the long and eventful history of the Order of Santiago see Wikipedia and
www.ordenesmilitares.es/orden-de-santiago/

Really interesting