Knight of the Golden Spur (Holy Roman Empire)

Besides the Holy Roman Emperor himself, an eques auratus could also be a particularly privileged Count Palatine (Comes palatinus Caesareus), entitled to carry (other) noble titles and appoint equites aurati in turn.

In the free imperial cities, this honor was also increased to the families of the bourgeois patriciate consisting of long-distance trade merchants, bankers and the Council members to access as there was no competition on the part of the nobility to this form of giving.

The Order of the Golden Spur had its origins in the title Count palatine of the Lateran Palace, which was in the gift of the Holy Roman Emperor in the 14th century: Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor conferred the title on one Fenzio di Albertino di Prato, 15 August 1357, at Prague.

"Bartolini also received the Knighthood of the Golden Spur, a title that sometimes accompanied the office of count palatinate in the Renaissance", according to the historian of universities Paul F. Grendler;[3] the Order of the Golden Spur, linked with the title of count palatinate, was widely conferred after the Sack of Rome, 1527, by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor; the text of surviving diplomas conferred hereditary nobility to the recipients.

In 1748, Sweden established the Order of the Knights of the North Star, described as "De stella Eques auratus" such as Carl von Linné.