[citation needed] Established as a military order to advocate the Christian faith, its original implicit goal was to combat the Ottoman incursions into the Inner Austrian lands of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola.

[1] While barricaded within the palace, Frederick made a vow that if he were to overcome the siege, he would undertake a pilgrimage to Rome, found a diocese, and establish a chivalric order in honour of Saint George.

The Order received further Carinthian estates at the strategically important Seeberg Saddle (Rechberg) and the Maria Wörth Provostry, as well as the Styrian lordships of Pürgg in the Enns valley and Sankt Lorenzen im Mürztal.

Maximilian called for a Christian campaign against the Ottoman intruders, which however failed due to the Habsburg quarrels with King Charles VIII of France and the Republic of Venice.

Maximilian thought about assuming the title of Grand Master himself, as he had had do cede the rights of Sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece to his son Philip I of Castile in 1482, and Geumann did not receive his investiture until Maximilan's death on 1518.

The next year, he acted as the late emperor's executioner of will and designated tomb guard at Wiener Neustadt Cathedral, after the Salzburg archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach had thwarted Maximilian's plans for a grail's fortress near St. Wolfgang.

Numerous artworks from the estate of the emperor referred to the Order of Saint George, such as the Triumphal Arch, the Theuerdank and Weißkunig publications, as well as his prayer book printed in 1513 with drawings by Albrecht Dürer (kept at the Bavarian State Library).

A 17th century re-establishment of a knightly brotherhood (Italian: Imperiale Ordine Militare Capitolare Di S. Giorgio In Carinzia) at the Augustinian Church in Vienna is mentioned in a 1974 guide to Austrian chivalric orders; the priory is said to be confirmed by Emperor Francis Joseph I of Austria in 1848 and his successor Charles I in 1917.