The Most
Noble Order of the Garter
as of May
1461
Edward III
founded the Order to reward close friends who fought with him in France. A
garter is said to have fallen from his mistress's leg while dancing. The King
picked it up and in an act of gallantry to hide the lady's embarrassment, tied
it round his own leg speaking those words that were to become the motto of the
Order: "Honi soit qui mal y pense!" – "Evil be he who thinks
evil!" Garter knights wear an 8-point star bearing the cross of St George
suspended by a blue ribbon. Regarded as a great honour at home and abroad,
France and Burgundy have created rival orders in sincerest flattery.
Investiture is entirely at the King's pleasure, though typically he gives
preference to close relatives, major magnates and great soldiers. It is also an
instrument of foreign policy, used to entice would-be allies, illustrated by
the Portuguese and Gascon appointments in the 1440s, at a time of political and
military crisis abroad.
The Most
Noble Order of the Garter as of May 1461 with dates of investiture; (Gasc. =
Gasconese, Imp. = Imperial, Port. = Portuguese):
1425 Thomas
Lord Scales
1429 Humphrey Duke of Buckingham
1439 William
Lord Fauconberg
1439 Ralph
Lord Sudeley
1440 John
Viscount Beaumont
1445 John
Lord Beauchamp of Powicke
1445 Alvaro
Vasquez d'Almada Count d'Avranches (Port.)
1446 Sir
John de Foix Captal de Buch (Foix)
1447 King
Alphonso V of
1447 Sir
Francois Surienne Sire de Lunée (Gasc.)
1450 Richard Lord Rivers
1450 Henry Earl of Essex
1450 John
Lord Berners
1457 Emperor
Frederick III (Imp.)
1457 Thomas Lord Stanley
1457 Lionel
Lord Welles
1459 James
Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond
1459 John
Lord Dudley
Most recent
deaths: Richard Earl of Salisbury, Henry 'the Navigator' Duke of Viseu (Port.),
John Duke of Norfolk, Richard Duke of York.
It will be noted that the current membership is
20, short of the full complement by 4. One of these vacancies is reserved for
King Casimir IV of Poland, nominated in 1450 for installation when next he
visits England. The other three places are awaiting the King's pleasure. A
glance at the other incumbents indicates the criteria for nomination;
traditionally, personal companions in arms of the King or at least people the
King would like to be his companions, but it’s also an easy and cheap way to
pay a debt of honour. Read Ramon
Lull's book 'Of the Order of Chivalry'
(published Caxton Press) for further information.