Royal Order of the Garter Is Founded

Royal Order of the Garter Is Founded

On April 23, 1348, King Edward III of England established the Most Noble Order of the Garter, one of the oldest chivalric orders in the world. It was founded on St. George's Day, the feast day honoring the patron saint of England, who is also the patron of the order. Tradition has it that the order's peculiar name comes from a lady's garter that the king picked up from the floor at a court dance. Whoever the owner was, she was apparently too embarrassed to come forward, so Edward fastened the garter around his own leg just below the knee, remarking, “Honi soit qui mal y pense” (Shame on him who thinks ill of it)—a royal reproof to wise-crackers and gossipmongers. Another, more prosaic explanation is that garter refers to the straps that knights used to attach their armor to their bodies, for the original Knights of the Garter were a fighting force, a guard of noblemen chosen for their prowess in battle and their loyalty to the Crown. In this version, the king's words refer to his claim to the throne of France, a claim he had gone to war to make good.

Whatever its derivation, a symbolic garter—deep blue, with a buckle—became the chief token of Edward's select band of knights, and the king's words became the Order's motto. Young and ambitious, Edward wanted his court to be the most splendid in medieval Europe, a place where chivalry and feats of arms would be prized and glorified. Quite possibly he was inspired by the legend of King Arthur and the Round Table. However, there were some practical considerations as well: honors such as the Garter helped cement the loyalty of his nobles, whose support he would need to continue the war with France. Like all the kings of England after the Norman Conquest, Edward III held hereditary fiefdoms on the continent, lands that grew larger or smaller depending on how strong the French kings were. These lands were a constant source of conflict, and now France and England were also competing for influence over each other's neighbors, in Flanders and in Scotland. Competition shaded into war, and in 1337 Edward boldly reasserted his claim to the throne of France, arguing that his direct descent, through his mother, from French royalty made him the rightful heir. Had the French agreed, the two realms would have been united under a single monarch, but the French were far from persuaded. To enforce his right, Edward crossed the English Channel with an army, initiating the long series of invasions and repulsions that historians call the Hundred Years' War (actually 116 years, until 1453). He won a remarkable victory at Crécy and took the French port of Calais during this first round of hostilities, and was probably making plans for a second campaign when he created the Order of the Garter.

The Order is a living relic of those medieval times. Its members have always included the reigning monarch, the heir to the throne (in Edward's day, his son the Black Prince), and two dozen knights called the Knights Companion, who are selected by the monarch. Noble blood, loyalty, and fighting ability were the criteria in the olden days, but in modern times rulers have sometimes used the Order to reward prominent citizens and government officials for peacetime services to the Crown, and to honor foreign dignitaries. A special category, the Supernumerary Knights, allows for such additional appointments. The Order makes its headquarters at the Chapel of Saint George in Windsor Castle, where banners, wood carvings of heraldic beasts, and brass plates recording the successive knights may be seen.