Christ, Order Of, Knights Of The
After the abolition of the order of Knights Templars, in 1312, king Dionysius of Portugal left to such as resided in his dominions a large share of their estates, and in 1317 reconstituted them into a new spiritual order of “Knights of Christ.” It was sanctioned by Pope John XXII on condition of obedience to the papal see. He also instituted a branch of the order in the Papal States. The knights were secularized in Portugal in 1789, and divided into three classes: “great crosses,” of which there were 6; “commanders,” numbering 450; and knights, the number of which was unlimited. The distinctive marks of the order are a golden cross, carved and ornamented with red enamel, the ends terminating in two points; a scarlet band, which, by the papal knights, is carried around the neck. The Portugal grand crosses wear a particular dress on great occasions, with a golden chain wound three times around the neck, but which is usually thrown across the shoulder from right to left; a band; and on the breast a star, containing in its center the cross of the order. The commanders and knights wear a similar but smaller cross, the former in a star and on the breast, with the band; the latter pending from the button-hole, and without the star. As a religious order, they have been suppressed, with all such orders, in Portugal. Pierer, Universal-Lexikon, s.v.; Chambers, Encyclopaedia, s.v.