Ordre du Croissant

The Ordre du Croissant (Order of the Crescent; Italian: Ordine della Luna Crescente) was a chivalric order founded by Charles I of Naples and Sicily in 1268.

It was revived in 1448 or 1464 by René I, king of Jerusalem, Sicily and Aragon (including parts of Provence), to provide him with a rival to the English Order of the Garter.

René was one of the champions of the medieval system of chivalry and knighthood, and this new order was (like its English rival) neo-Arthurian in character.

The order, which united itself, features from knighthood and spiritual orders, and counted up to 50 knights, of which can be dukes, princes, marquises, viscounts and knights with four quarters of nobility.

The Knights committed themselves to mutual assistance and loyalty to the order which, after the Provence became part of France in 1486, was soon forgotten.