Order of Saint Hubert

Furthermore, there is clear written evidence that the Order existed prior to March 1445: The original German statutes were dated immediately after the battle.

[2] It is also possible that Gerhard proclaimed the establishment of the Order immediately after the victory of his knights at Linnich, but the documents were not drawn up until later, leading to discrepancy in the dates of 1444 or 1445.

To further obfuscate the date of founding, Gerhard's son, William III, renewed the Order upon his own succession to the ducal dignities in 1475, in the so-called New Statutes, which were prepared in Latin and German.

[2] Initially the Order was a knightly brotherhood (Rittersbruderschaft), reflecting the overlapping religious and military aspects of medieval court life.

The purpose of these, whether established by monarchs or princes, was to foster loyalty to a sovereign, replacing to the old Chivalric orders developed in the Crusades.

Arnold reasserted his old claim, maintaining that the truce to which he and Adolf agreed was no longer valid, and prepared to take the duchies by force.

[5] The Order remained in collateral branches of the family of the Dukes of Jülich and Berg until 1521, when the male line holding the two duchies and the county of Ravensberg became extinct.

A daughter, Maria von Geldern, remained to inherit the duchies and the county, but, under the Salic law practiced in the northwestern German states, women could only hold property through a husband or guardian.

The couple had three daughters, one of whom, Ann of Cleves, married Henry VIII of England in 1540, and one son, Wilhelm, who subsequently inherited the duchies and the administration of the Order.

By the late 17th century, the Duchy of Jülich passed into the jurisdiction of the Prince-Elector Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Neuberg, who descended from a cadet branch of the Palatine line of the House of Wittelsbach.

He also gave the recipients generous pensions on the condition that a tenth be set aside for the poor, and a significant sum be distributed on the day of their reception into the order.

[8] In 1777, the death of Maximilian III Joseph of Bavaria without a legitimate male heir ended the main line of Wittelsbach; after the War of the Bavarian Succession, a brief and relatively bloodless contest, Charles Theodore inherited his cousin's dignities.

[11] The present head of the House of Wittelsbach, Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria, Duke of Bavaria, is the current Grand Master of the order.

He limited membership to twelve knights from the ranks of counts and barons, excluding himself, as grandmaster, and members (native and foreign), who may be nominated by the sovereign.

[19] The gold-enameled cross lies in a white field, and surmounted by a crown; on one side is represented the conversion of Saint Hubert, with the legend In trau vast (firm in fidelity) in Gothic letters.

[13] On the reverse, lies the imperial orb and the Latin inscription "In memoriam recuperatæ dignitatis a vitæ 1708" ("In remembrance of the restoration of the original dignity, 1708").

In the center of the cross was a large round medallion consisting of a small golden representation of the conversion of Saint Hubert against a green enamel background and surrounded by a wide border in red enamel with the motto the order In trau vast in Gothic letters set with small diamonds.

[21] These recipients of the Order of Saint Hubert attained the rank of General in Austrian military service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

In a forest, a kneeling man holds his hand over his heart. A stag stands in front of him, his horse stands behind him, and his hunting dogs lay near-by.
Hubert of Liège was the patron saint of hunters and knights.
A middle aged man, Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, is sitting at a table. He is dressed in a soft cap that falls to the side of his head. He is wearing fur-trimmed robes, and nestled in the edges of the robes is a chain, with a cross at its nadir. His hands are folded on the table before him. He is wearing several rings, and one hand holds a pair of gloves. The family crest hangs on the chair behind him.
Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, also known as Wilhelm the Rich, grandmaster of the Order at his ascension to the dukedom in 1539. Engraving by Heinrich Aldegrever .
A white whigged man with a crimson coat and an ermine mantle holds a medallion in his hand. The medallion has a bright green stone in the center, and is encircled by a star-burst, and it hangs from a jewel-studded chain around his neck.
Charles IV Theodore, Elector of Bavaria, wearing the collar and medallion of the guardian of the order
Oval portrait of a man in a red coat wearing the Order of Saint Hubert, a star with red enamel.
An unidentified recipient of the Order of Saint Hubert, prior to 1823
Three links from the collar of the Order; the intertwined initials of the motto, in trau vast (firm in fidelity) are intertwined and in alternating links, the relief image of Saint Hubert and the animals.
The links from the collar of the Order
Two jeweled star-burst medallions. One is heavily crusted with carved gold and small gold beads; the other has carved gold, with a central jewel.
Two exemplars of the Order's medallion from the 19th century. The exemplar on the left is similar to the style produced in the 1840s; it is approximately 87 millimeters (3.4 in) in diameter, with silver balls on the tips of the star points. The center is enamel on gold. An exemplar such as this might be worth $8500 US (2010). [ 22 ]
Ludwig II of Bavaria wearing sash and star of the order
A three-quarter length portrait of a brown haired man in black, gold and crimson. He is wearing the medallion and the neck chain of the order, heavily covered in jewels.
Maximillian II of Bavaria (1811–1864), wearing the neck chain and medallion of the Grand Master of the Order of Saint Hubert, and the full dress uniform of the Order.