The Golden Fleece It is the highest distinction that the King of Spain can award, although curiously it is an order of chivalry with an origin that has nothing to do with Spain. The Order of the Golden Fleece was created in 1429 by Philip the Good of Burgundy, the Grand Duke of the West, to commemorate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal. The animal selected as the emblem of the order was the golden ram, with which reference is made to the golden fleece from the legend of Jason.
The members designated to integrate the Order of the Fleece were chosen among those European monarchs and nobles who had distinguished themselves in the fight against Ottoman power and the liberation of the Holy Places. However, the Duke of Burgundy, who was Sovereign Grand Master, was directly in charge of selecting the knights based on their dynastic needs. Through the marriage of the House of Burgundy with the Habsburgs, the sovereignty of the order passed to Emperor Maximilian of Austria and later to his grandson Charles V, who had Spain as the head of his empire. Since then, the Kings of Spain became the Sovereigns and Grand Masters of the Order.
It is one of the few orders of its kind linked to a ruling family and not to a country or territory. Therefore, it is not a State decoration, like the Order of Carlos III, the Royal Order of Isabel la Católica or that of Civil Merit, but a distinction linked to the House of Bourbon in Spain.
Jason’s Golden Fleece
A golden ram –an animal closely linked to the city where the order was born, Bruges– is placed at the bottom of the necklace that all knights of the order receive. With the choice of the ram, the Duke of Burgundy wanted to refer to the golden fleece from the legend of Jason and the ship Argo. According to legend, Jason went to Colchis, present-day Georgia, where the Thracians hung sheepskins in the gold-bearing rivers to cover them with gold flakes and then left them on a tree to dry. Jason had to rescue the golden fleece from a cypress to return it to Hellas and justly occupy the throne of Iolcos.
For its part, the links of the Grand Master’s necklace have the letter B, in reference to Burgundy. Between the links is the flame, symbol of Prometheus, ultimate guarantor of the fleece, but also the symbol that appears on the Duke’s badge labeled with the motto: “Ante ferit quam flamma micet” (“Hit before the flame is seen” ).
Who is part of the order?
Following the model of other orders, the number of knights was originally restricted to 24 members; at 30, in 1433; already 51 in 1516. With the arrival of the Protestant Reformation, the number of knights dropped momentarily by withdrawing the distinction to those who were not Catholics. During the history of the order, more than 1,200 necklaces have been awarded among the great nobles of Europe. In the reign of Don Juan Carlos, 24 necklaces were delivered, including Torcuato Fernández-Miranda, the writer José María Pemán, Emperor Akihito of Japan, King Hussein of Jordan, Queen Elizabeth of England, Adolfo Suárez, to Javier Solana or Nicolas Sarkozy, being president of France.
The first King was Spanish
The first European monarch to wear the Golden Fleece was Alfonso the Magnanimous, King of Aragon from the House of Trastámara, during the 15th century. Both the successors of Felipe III of Burgundy and those of the Magnanimous strove to maintain the ties that united them under the order. The necklace would also be worn by the Kings of the Crown of Aragon, Juan II and Fernando II, as knights of the order before the Spanish monarchs themselves raised their heads.
The Austrian cleavage of the Golden Toison
With the Succession War, the Order was divided. Both Felipe V de Borbón and Archduke Carlos of Austria were crowned Kings of Spain, attributing to themselves the dignity of Grand Master of the Order. And although the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 recognized Felipe de Bourbon as Grand Master of the order, Charles of Austria began to award fleeces on his own from 1711. In this way, the Austrian branch of the order was born, separated from the Spanish, which until then was the main one.
Many knights have come to wear both the Spanish and the Austrian collar, as is the case of King Albert II of Belgium
After the disappearance of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, King Alfonso XIII of Spain took possession of the order’s properties in the name of the dethroned Emperor Charles I of Austria and IV of Hungary. It would be for a short time. In 1957, the Government of the Republic of Austria resumed the legal status of the Order in Austria, assigning the dignity of Grand Master to Archduke Otto, head of the former Imperial House. Not surprisingly, relations between the heads of both branches are currently very good and many knights have come to wear both the Spanish and the Austrian collar, as is the case of King Albert II of Belgium.
A Golden Fleece was lost on its way back from Japan
Many Fleece necklaces have disappeared throughout history. The most famous was the one that was lost in 1994 with the luggage of Emperor Akihito of Japan. The Japanese monarch had traveled to Spain on an official visit and was to attend a gala dinner at the Royal Palace, where he planned to wear the Fleece Collar. Realizing that the distinction had been forgotten in Japan, officials from the Imperial House prepared a flight to bring it urgently. However, the plane of the Iberia company had to make a stopover in Moscow. Forgotten by the company, the Fleece never made it to Madrid.
Collar of the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece, kept in the Treasury Chamber in Vienna.
To remedy the Emperor’s displeasure, the King and Queen of Spain made an official trip to Japan in 1998 and brought Akihito a second Fleece. Curiously, the Emperor’s father, Hirohito, also needed two fleeces, since the first, granted by Alfonso XIII, disappeared during World War II.
There are 60 necklaces and they are returned upon death
Each Fleece Collar is numbered and there are officially 60, although throughout history some have disappeared forever. It is not hereditary or transferable, so each jewel, valued at around 50,000 euros, must be returned when the owner dies. Leonor de Borbón is the last person to have received it in the Spanish branch. Felipe VI has not elected anyone else in seven years
Can be removed for certain crimes
Entering the Order of the Golden Fleece is an honor for life, although this distinction can be withdrawn, according to the rules of the order, in the event of the commission of an intentional crime or because clearly “he has incurred in acts contrary to the determining reasons of the granting of the distinction may, by virtue of a file initiated ex officio or by reasoned complaint, and with the intervention of the Prosecutor of the Royal Order, be dispossessed of the title corresponding to the distinction granted, a decision that corresponds to whoever granted it.
very few women
Of the 1,200 necklaces, only five have hung around the neck of women. The first of these was Queen Elizabeth II of England and, since 1985, it has been worn by Queen Margrethe of Denmark, Queen Elizabeth II of England and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. The Princess of Asturias, Leonor, closes the exclusive list in the 500 years of the order.
Franco ran out of Fleece
Francisco Franco rejected the Golden Fleece on two occasions: the first in 1961, when Don Juan offered him the award to improve relations with the regime with a view to a future succession; The second opportunity, after the rejection of the first, arose in 1972, on the occasion of the marriage of the dictator’s granddaughter, Carmen, with Alfonso, son of the Infante Jaime de Borbón. Before the marriage, the son of Alfonso XIII presented the award to the dictator, attributing his royal legitimacy as head of the House of Bourbon. The acceptance of the Fleece by Franco would have meant recognition to this branch when the succession was already on its way to Juan Carlos, so the dictator limited himself to accepting the case of the precious decoration and, without opening it, returned it courteously after the days.