Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary

The order is named after Hungary's most famous king, Stephen I, whose reign (997–1038) was marked by his consolidation of the monarchy, the establishment of the medieval state of Hungary,[4] and his adoption of Christianity as the state religion. His coronation, as recognized in the Church, is dated 1001.[5] He died August 15, 1038, during the Feast of the Assumption. His feast day in Hungary is August 20. Canonized by Pope Gregory VII in 1083 along with his son Imre (who preceded him in death in 1031, after a hunting accident) and Bishop Gerhard of Hungary, St. Stephen is the patron saint of "Hungary, kings, the death of children, masons, stonecutters, and bricklayers." Though its exact provenance is somewhat disputed, the Crown of St. Stephen is said to have been a gift from Pope Silvester II, upon Stephen's 1001 coronation.[6]

Maria Teresa, founder of the Order and first Grand Master, wearing the robes of the Order

Grand Cross breast star

Empress Maria Teresa and her son, Emperor Joseph II, made several political concessions to ease tensions within their empire—most especially between Austria and Hungary, among them being the creation of the Order. Membership was available to various members of the Hungarian nobility. To receive the Order, according to collector and historian Stephen Herold,

one had to have at least four quarterings of arms showing as many generations of noble status. It helped promote her (Maria Teresa's) position as Queen of Hungary and reinforced the quasi independent position of Hungary in the Empire. The original statutes allow for only 20 Grand Crosses, 30 Commanders and 50 Knights who are to be "distinguished for virtue and merit and noble birth". Grand Cross Knights were considered so important that the Emperor was to address them as "Cousin". These insignia were to be returned to the Chancellery of the Order on the death of the holder. There was no military application of this order. It is rare, and even modern awards of St. Stephen are seldom seen. Perhaps more than any other Austrian order, this one approached the ideal character as put forth in its statutes and regulations.

Grand Cross

For ceremonial purposes, a full set of robes were prescribed, following the tradition of other orders, such as the Austrian and Spanish Orders of the Golden Fleece and Great Britain's Order of the Garter. The robes were crimson and green, and were lined with ermine. A collar of gold was worn about the neck and shoulders, with the badge of the Order suspended from the collar. For normal occasions and every-day wear, a sash of crimson, edged with green, was worn over the right shoulder and extended to the left hip, the distinctive badge of the Order suspended from the sash at the hip. An eight-pointed star was worn on the left breast. During the waning days of the monarchy, especially during the Great War, a less formal option was also authorized, whereby a miniature (a so-called “kleine Decoration”) of the breast star was affixed to the center of the ribbon of an ordinary knight's cross, and was worn on the left breast with other orders and military medals, in order of precedence.

Commanders

Wore the badge of the Order at the throat, suspended from the crimson edged with green ribbon about the neck. During the Great War, the informal wear of the miniature, gold, Crown of Saint Stephen kleine Decoration was worn on an ordinary knight's cross, to delineate them from ordinary knights and Grand Cross knights, and worn on the left breast with other orders and military medals, in order of precedence.

Knights

Wore the badge of the Order, suspended from a tri-fold ribbon of crimson, edged in green, on the left breast with other orders and military medals, in order of precedence.

After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, Hungary and Austria could not make a legal agreement on the rights of the Order. The base of the argument was whether Maria Theresa founded the Order de jure as the sovereign of Hungary, or the sovereign of Austria, or as Holy Roman Empress. In 1938, when Austria as a de jure successor state of Austria-Hungary ceased to exist by becoming part of Germany, Horthy issued an addendum to be attached on 4 November 1938 to the statutes of the Order which declared that as long as the Regent was the head of the Kingdom of Hungary, he also held the powers and duties of the Grand Master.

• Military Order of Maria Theresa
• Order of Franz Joseph
• Order of Leopold
• Order of St. George (Habsburg-Lorraine)
• Order of the Iron Crown
• Orders, decorations, and medals of Austria-Hungary
• Order of chivalry
• Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen

• Beatty-Kingston, William (1888). Monarchs I Have Met. New York: Harper and Brothers.
• Weatherly, Cecil (1911). "Knighthood and Chivalry" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 862.
• Gudoy, José Francisco (1910). Porfirio Diaz, President of Mexico, Master Builder of a Great Commonwealth. New York: Putnam.
• "Index of Royal Colonels of Commonwealth Land Forces". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 2008-02-02. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
• Jewison, Glenn; Steiner, Jörg C. (2007a). "Austro-Hungarian Army – Biographies". austro-hungarian-army.co.uk.
• Jewison, Glenn; Steiner, Jörg C. (2007b). "Field Marshals of the Austro-Hungarian Army, 1914 – 1918". austro-hungarian-army.co.uk.
• "Magyar Királyi Szebt István Rend (A complete list of knights, by year, in Hungarian)". tornai.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010.
• Mösslang, Markus; Frietlag, Sabine; Wende, Peter, eds. (2003). British Envoys to Germany, 1816 – 1866. Vol. 2 (1830–1847). Cambridge University Press.
• Payne, Horne (1862). The Address of the Hungarian Diet of 1861. London: Bell and Daldy.
• Schmidt-Brentano, Antonio (2007). Die k.k. bzw. K.u.K. Generalität, 1816 – 1918 (PDF). Vienna: Austrian State Archives. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-28. Retrieved 2008-07-01.

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• 2011 CCII law from njt.hu