THE
PROLIFERATION OF RUSSIAN AND OTHER 'ORDERS' OF St.JOHN
by
James J. Algrant, C.St.J
Copyright 1995
A remarkable burgeoning of
chivalric "orders" of all kinds on both sides of the Atlantic began in
the late nineteenth century and continues to this day. Many of these orders took
on the appellation "of St.John", claiming to be continuations of
various alleged offshoots of the Russian Orthodox priory, which was broken up in
the early 1800s. First its property was seized by imperial ukase in 1810 and
then in 1817 another decree proscribed the wearing of the insignia "of an
order which does not exist in Russia." Others claim to be revivals of
extinct priories of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M.). Still
others opted for the appellation "of St.John the Baptist".
For some, the attraction
of these orders may simply be a nostalgia for aristocratic tradition in an
increasingly materialistic world or a desire to serve a special charitable cause.
For others, however, they provide a venue for a lucrative trade in false titles
and distinctions. Those interested in further reading on the subject will find a
partial list of useful works in the bibliography.
Many of these orders claim
to be dynastic or hospitaller or a combination thereof but they impose neither
responsibilities on their members nor perform any services. While some of these
groups are headed by genuinely titled individuals, others are created by
imaginary Byzantine "Imperial and Royal Highnesses" whose names are
nowehere to be found in the Almanach de Gotha or in any other reputable lists of
the nobility. These individuals waste no time in divulging their pedigrees to
gullible people willing to listen which ought to be the first clue that these
notables and their "orders" may not be quite what they represent
themselves to be.
The question most often
raised is: how to distinguish between the genuine and false orders of St.John.
The answer is simple. The genuine orders are in the order of their
establishment: The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, headed by its 78th Prince
Grand Master His Most Eminent Highness Fra' Andrew Bertie; The Bailiwick of
Brandenburg of the Knightly Order of St.John of the Hospital in Jerusalem, known
as the Johanniter Order, headed by its Herrenmeister, H.R.H. Wilhelm Karl,
Prince of Prussia; the Grand Priory of the Most Venetrable Order of the Hospital
of St.John of Jerusalem, of which H.M.Queen Elizabeth II is Sovereign Head and
H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester is Grand Prior; the Johanniterorder I Sverige,
which is under the high protection of the King of Sweden and the Johanniter Orde
in Nederland, under the protection of H.M. Queen Beatrix. All other self-styled
chivalric groups which use the name of St.John in their appellation are, in my
view spurious.
The next question most
frequently asked concerns the criteria used to determine the authenticity of an
order of St.John. One of the reasons why the question is difficult to answer is
that the United States has no chivalric tradition and maintains no official
government entity empowered to set criteria to determine the historicity and
validity of orders of chivalry. The IRS can and does grant tax-exempt status to
bona-fide charitable and non-profit organizations. Thus, in the United States
any legally-constituted, but not necessarily historically authentic association
or sodality can take on the trappings of chivalry, add St.John to its name and,
so long as it is not involved in fraudulent activity, obtain tax-exempt status
if it meets the relatively simple requirements. Thus, it is up to the Most
Venerable Order to set its own guidelines to evaluate the authenticity of an
order of St.John. These guidelines are:
1)
The order maintains a proven uncorrupted historical and traditional link with
the original Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem founded in A.D. 1099
or
2)
The Order is under the protection of a reigning sovereign and/or is recognized
as a chivalric order by the ruling government of the country where it is seated.
Note: In addition to
fulfilling the two criteria mentioned above, the Sovereign Military Order of
Malta is a case apart as it is itself a sovereign entity in international law
which maintains diplomatic relations with fifty-one countries. It is also a
religious order of the Roman Catholic Church under the Holy See.
Many of the groups cited
herein claim either "royal" or "spiritual" protection. It
must be stated that for protection to have any validity under international law
it must be offered by a sovereign state or by a reigning monarch. Some scholars
extend the privilege of granting protection to an ex-reigning monarch whose
rights of. fons honorum, they affirm, are permanent and valid even in
exile. The point is highly contested. Reputable experts agree that a junior
prince of a former sovereign house who has not reigned cannot provide valid
protection. Neither does "spiritual protection" offered by the primate
of an autocephalous church have any validity under international law.
This exposition of the
proliferation of make-believe orders is offered in the hope that it may be of
value to readers and to their friends in case they should be approached to join
any of these non-recognised bodies. In view of the rapid spread of these groups,
a few more may see the light of day between the time this is written and its
publication. Please accept my apologies.
LIST
OF NON-RECOGNIZED ST. JOHN’S ORDERS
I. The Hospitaller
Knights of St.John the Baptist (ca. 1875); Sovereign Order of St.John the
Baptist (ca. 1975); Order of St.John the Baptist in America (ca.1975)
The
Order of St.John the Baptist in America attracted
some attention at about the same period. According to Robert Formhals(2) this
organization appears to be an offshoot of a Masonic Templar body which allegedly
received its charter from the Congress of the United States in 1923. Formhals
has some doubts as to the continued validity of its original charter but adds
that since 1939 it has been active in Souther n California and is restricted to
citizens of the Western Hemisphere.(3) At the outset and until 1939, its head
was Dr. Francis Nicholas. Lieut.Col. Federico M. Dimas-Aruti followed as Grand
master from 1939 to 1945. Alan Weaver-Hazleton from 1945 to 1974 and finally by
Robert Gamble. Some evidence indicates that this institution may be connected to
that of Colonel Count Poziemski, since both he and Dimas-Aruti have served on
the "Supreme Council" of an "Interallied Military Organization
Sphinx (I M.O.S.)
II. The Grand Priory of
America of the Sovereign Order of St.John of Jerusalem (1908)
In
1908 its adherents claimed a number of Russian émigrés residing in New York
said to be descendants of titulars of "hereditary commanderies" of the
Russian Grand priories along with some American friends created this group. The
promoter was William Lamb who pretended to be of Russian origin and a "general"
.
In
1911 this group incorporated itself in New York as "The Association of the
Sovereign Order of St.John of Jerusalem." (In 1936 the seat of the
association was transferred to the residence of Charles Louis Thourot-Pichel,
its "Grand Chancellor" and de facto head in Shickshinny, Pa. Pichel
used the styles of "Baron de Thourot, Lord of Estagel" and officiated
in a number of independent "orders of chivalry").
Allegedly
"Grand master" from 1913 to 1933: Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of
Russia. Lieutenants of the grand magistery : William Sohier Bryant (1933-1951),
Baron von Engelhardt-Schnellenstein (1951-1955), Count von Zeppelin (1956-1960),
Paul Granier de Cassagnac, residing in France (1960-1962), Count Felix von
Luckner (1962-1966).
Grand
master since 1966: Crolian William Edelen, who styled himself "Count de
Burgh, descendant of Frankish kings of Jerusalem, of the emperors of Byzantium,
of Charlemagne, etc.etc." an officer of various independent "orders of
chivalry". He left this group in 1962 but was later reintegrated into its
ranks. Edelen passed on in the early 1990s.
We
recently came across a most interesting and important exchange of correspondence
between a disgruntled Crolian William Edelen and a disillusioned Prof. Harrison
Smith, a one-time professor of history at the University of Maryland and a
long-time strong proponent of the legend of the authenticity of the
Russian-American Priory. Edelen writes:
"My
problem with the history is that all seems to be false from 1908 to 1932 as
published by Pichel. I know his minutes are false. Dr. Bulloch was never Grand
Chancellor of the Order. He was the archivist of the old Scottish-American Order
of St.John and he kept those records at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When he was old
and blind, in the early 1950s, Pichel went to him with a story that he was
writing a history of the Knights of Malta and needed some records from the
archives. Dr. Bulloch let him borrow whatever he fancied and then obligingly
died while Pichel had the most important records. He took the material, twisted
it around, took names of noblemen from the Times index and created an order
stemming from the Grand Priory of Russia, all a hoax. The Scottish-American
order went out of business in new York in about 1909 following the suicide of
the Grand Chancellor, as well as a scandal involving payment (or non-payment) of
life insurance policies on the lives of the members. Some members in New Jersey
tried to save the situation by securing a charter as "The Knights of
Malta" n Trenton in 1911. Their effort failed and by 1912 was abandoned.
Then Pichel came along in the 1950s and claimed to be the duly-elected officer
of that corporation to give his order some evidence of antiquity and to
substantiate the false minutes from 1908 to 1932."
Smith
replied on 20 February 1980:
"I
am somewhat puzzled by the information about Pichel. I remember his ways well,
and you will note a sense of caution in my using his sources, but I think the
question you raise is: Is everything he writes about the Foundation in America,
the role of Grand Duke Alexander, and the role of his successors down to the
arrival of Pichel on the scene - is all that a total fabrication? I can conceive
of distortion, twisting and misuse of facts, but are we conclude there is no
foundation whatsoever to an American Grand Priory of Order coming out of the
successors to Czar Paul in the time of Nicholas II!!??
If
this is true, then the revived modern order has no descent to fall back on in
historical evolution other than to cling to, merge with the Hereditary Knights
in Paris after the fall of the Czar."
It
would appear that Prof. Harrison Smith finally saw the light although he still
appeared to be laboring under the misapprehension that the Union of
Descendants of Hereditary Commanders and Knights of the Russian Grand Priory of
the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (see III below) was itself an order. If
nothing else, this exchange of correspondence should put an end to the myth, so
long-maintained by its proponents, of the survival in America of the Russian
Grand priory.
Among
the "dignitaries" of this association were: Prince Serge Troubetzkoy
(Grand prior of the Russian Langue) ca 1967; "Baron K. Vella-Haber
d’Alaro (Prior ca.1967); Otto Adrian Schobert, a.k.a. "Baron de Choibert"
(Prior and Ambassador in 1958). "Hereditary High Protector since 1973:
Roberto Paterno, self-styled "H.R.H. Prince Paterno d’Emmanuel, Duke of
Perpignan, pretender to the thrones of Aragon and the Balearics",
"Grand Master of the Order of St. Agatha of the Paternos" and of the
"Royal Crown of the Balearics", who left the association in 1971 to
join the "International Grand priory" of Baron K. Vella-Haber
d’Alaro (see XIV). He subsequently reconciled with Thourot-Pichel. Later he
created his own "Royal Order of the Hospital of Jerusalem in Aragon"
(see under Miscellany).
III. Union of
Descendants of Hereditary Commanders and Knights of the Russian Grand priory of
the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (1928)
In Paris on 24 June 1928 a
group of twelve exiled Russian noblemen, descendants of "family commanders"
of the Russian Orthodox Grand Priory formed this union. Grand Duke Alexander
Mikhailovich, in exile in France, agreed to be the union’s "Grand
Prior". When the Union of Descendants was formed, he accepted to become its
head and soon tried to effect a rapprochement with the S.M.O.M. The conditions
offered by the S.M.O.M. that the Union subject itself to the via Condotti (4)
and receive only Roman Catholic members was unacceptable to the Grand Duke and
the reconciliation never took place. Thus, the Grand Duke remained Grand Prior
of the Union until his death in 1933. After his death, the presidency of the
Union passed to Grand Duke Andrei Wladimirovich (brother of Grand Duke Kyrill
Wladimirovich, head of the imperial house of Russia who also became its
"protector".) Following Grand Duke Andrei’s death in 1956, the Union
was directed by its Secretary General Georges de Rticheff. In 1962 the latter
petitioned Grand Duke Wladimir Kyrillovich , head of the imperial house to
become the Union’s "protector". We personally asked H.I.H. Grand
Duke Wladimir in August 1988 about his protection of the Union. He confirmed
that both he and his father had indeed been its protector but that it never was
or was ever meant to be a revival of the Russian Grand priory. Rather it was,
what its name implied, merely a union of descendants of the original "family"
or "hereditary" commanders. After de Rticheff’s death the group
virtually disappeared from the scene in France, but a new "Sovereign
Order of the Orthodox Knights Hospitaller of St.John of Jerusalem" (see
XVII) claiming to be descended from this Union was created in the United States
in 1977 in close cooperation with the Association of the Russian Nobility.
IV. a) Sovereign Order
of the Hospital of St.John of Jerusalem of Denmark(1934) b) The Ecclesiastical
Knightly Order of Malta of St.John of Jerusalem, the Priory of St.Andrew (1939)
later called The Autonomous Priory of Dacia of the Order of Malta(1983); c) The
Grand priory of the Sovereign Order of St.John of Jerusalem in Denmark (1946);
Sovereign Imperial Russian Order of Knights of Malta (1948)
a) This order was created
as a private non-political Christian ecumenical charitable initiative in
Copenhagen on 31 August 1934. It makes no claim to being an "order of
chivalry". The group, has, however through the years concluded and broken
alliances with various of the groups mentioned in this paper. For a brief period
the "Grand Chancellor" of this group was H.R.H. Prince Peter of Greece
and Denmark.
Paul de Granier de
Cassagnac, "Lieutenant of the Grand Magistery" of the American
organization (see II) claimed the grand magistery but was defeated and decided
to go it alone by establishing his association . He called upon the deposed King
Peter II of Yugoslavia to be the "Hereditary High Protector".Grand
Masters: Paul de Granier de Cassagnac from 1962 to 1965, followed by King Peter
II, and once again in 1965 until his death in 1966 by de Cassagnac. Then in 1967
by Mircea Carol von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (son of King Carol of Roumania and
Madame "Zizi" Lambrino) who styled himself "H.R.H. Prince Carol
of Roumania", and finally in 1973 by Pierre de Rémond du Chélas. The
"Lieutenant of the Grand Magistery" from 1966 to 1968 was Louis
Espinasse. The"Grand Chancellors" were Otto Adrian Schobert, a.k.a.
"Baron de Schobert"; in 1961, C.W. Edelen a.k.a. "Count de Burgh
etc." in 1962 and the ubiquitous K. Vella Haber d’Alaro in 1965.
King Peter, although
"Hereditary High Protector" of Cassagnac’s group, came to oppose the
latter and created his own order in new York with the help of Otto Schobert and
a Maltese French teacher, Gasto Thona-Barthet, both defectors from the original
Shickshinny group (see II) and that of de Cassagnac.(see VI).
In 1968, while remaining
"High Protector", Peter turned over the grand magistery to Prince
Serge Troubetzkoy, formerly "Prior of the Russian Langue" of the
original Shickshinny group (see II) but Troubtezkoy now calls himself "Lieutenant
of the Grand Magistery".
In 1970 following the
denmise of King Peter, the latter’s younger brother Prince Andrei of
Yugoslavia, lent his own name to the group, which he later abandoned in order to
become "High Protector", first of Sanguzko-Formhals (see XV) then of
that of Thona-Barthet (see XII).
During the same year,
Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark became "Grand Prior" of this order
but left it in 1971 to become "Grand Chancellor" of the "Order of
the Hospital of St.John of Jerusalem of Denmark (see IV a).
From 1966 to 1970 the
"Chancellor" of this assemblage was "Prince Robert M.N.G.
Bassaraba von Brancovan". He was expelled and then created the "Ecumenical
Knights of Malta" (see XI)
A commandery of San
Francisco was established in 1988 allegedly under the protection of the late
"Grand Master" H.R.H. Prince Andrei of Yugoslavia by Mr. Antonio
Cortese.(6) It is currently under the "protection" of H.R.H. Princess
Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, mother of the actress Catherine Oxenberg.
This organization, the
French jurisdiction of the Pichelian order, emerged during the conflict between
Peter II of Yugoslavia and de Cassagnac (see VI) Its seat was the medieval abbey
of Vaucelle in Northern France. Its "Spiritual Head" was "Father
Delecambre", a defrocked Catholic priest. Among its stated objectives was
the study and propagation of gnostic philosophy.
This group appeared in
France shortly after the death of Paul de Granier de Cassagnac. Its seat was in
the castle of La Valouze in La Roche Chalais, France. The enterprise was a
creation of "His Imperial and Royal Highness Henri III de Vigo Aleramico
Lascaris Paleologue". It is alleged to have died out in 1974 for a lack of
membership but was revived in 1986 as "The Dynastic Order of St.John"
by the same "imperial and royal highness".
X.
Order of St.John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta (1968-69)
Mircea Carol von
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a.k.a. "prince Carol of Roumania" left the
Cassagnac group of which he was "Grand Master" (see VI) and created
this short-lived entity in Rome.
XI.
Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta,
a.k.a. Ecumenical Knights of Malta (1970); The Imperial Russian Order of St.John
of Jerusalem, Ecumenical Foundation (199?)
"Prince" Robert
M.N.G. Bassaraba von Brancovan (whose right to the name is vigorously denied by
the Transylvanian princely house of Brancovan) was a member of the de Cassagnac
body (see VI) in 1960. In 1966 he became "Chancellor" of King
Peter’s and Prince Troubtezkoy’s group (see VII), which expelled him in
1970. He founded this body that same year with the help of Otto Adrian Schobert,
a.k.a. "Baron de Choibert" and Heymie Eissenstätter, a.k.a. Henry
Erdesz. He initially appointed himself "Lieutenant of the Grand Magistery"
then ca. 1974 "Grand Master". He claimed to be the successor of Peter
II of Yugoslavia and to maintain fraternal relaions with Prince Serge
Troubtezkoy. In 1975 he proclaimed the union of his group with "The Priory
of the Holy Trinity of Villedieu (see XVI).
In 1978 "von
Brancovan" and some associates said they had obtained the "sovereignty"
of an archipelago situated in the South China Sea consisting of uninhabited
islets, atolls and reefs and covering an area of approximately 46,000 square
miles. This state was known as Freedomland and was ruled by a king and allegedly
represented in the United Nations by a minister plenipotentiary. Needless to say
no state by this name obtained independence in 1978 or after or has ever been
known to the United Nations. Brancovan claimed that after negotiations between
himself and the ruler of Freedomland an accord was signed according to which the
state would henceforth be known as "Colonia St.John" and "King
John I" would take the order under his protection. Diplomatic passports
were issued at $20,000 a piece. Each of these bore the notation : "This
passport is valid by the terms of the governmental charter of the Constitutional
Monarchy of the Kingdom of Colonia St.John (formerly Khalayan). By the terms of
this governmental charter the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St.John
of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta, Ecumenical under the reigning Sovereign and 74th
Grand master, H.I. & R.H. Prince Robert von Brancovan Khimchiachvili, Prince
of Thrace is possessor of an integral sovereignty." Four of these passports
were sold in 1981 for $80,000 to some members of a Corsican drug ring who were
later arrested in Beirut.
As if this were not enough,
in 1981 Brancovan sought and obtained the "protection" of "Prince
Alexis d’Anjou Romanov Dolgorouki, Duke of Durazzo", pretender to the
Russian throne who resided in Spain until his death in Madrid in 1995. His true
name was Alexis Brimeyer.
The Brancovan order,
probably the wealthiest of all independent orders is now called "The
Imperial Russian Order of St.John Ecumenical Foundation." Its seat is
located at 117 East Fifty Seventh Street in New York City. It is currently
active and recruiting members of all faiths for a (negotiable) passage fee of
$10,000.
Gaston Thona-Barthet who
jumped from one O.S.J. to another proclaimed the independence of this order of
which he was "Grand Bailiff". In 1976 he proclaimed Prince Andrei of
Yugoslavia "74th Grand Master of the Grand priory of Russia of
the O.S.J.. Prince Andrei had been formerly "High Protector" of the
Sanguszko-Formhals group (see XV) as well as that of Prince Troubtezkoy (see VII).
The "Grand
Prior" of the "American Grand Priory" which was seated in Houston,
Texas was a certain John Wilkinson, sometimes known as "Prince Battenburg".
He was also "ambassador" of a number of "princes" with
pretensions to equally imaginary thrones.
Otto Adrian Schobert, the
self-styled "Baron de Choibret" and Henry Erdesz who either defected
or were expelled from various O.S.J. bodies brought their talents to this
organization which was created in Rome by Vittorio Busi and Basilio Petrucci
"de Vaccone e Siena". The Latter was "Grand Master" until
his death in 1977. The Petrucci sons took up and continue the paternal chivalric
enterprise.
"Baron" Kellinu
Vella-Haber "d’Alaro", after a brief adherence to the Cassagnac
group (see V) went back to the Shickshinny body of which he became the
"Prior of the Priory of Malta", a sub-jurisdiction of the "Autonomous
Priory of Sicily-Aragon", which was created by Roberto Paternó, a.k.a.
"H.R.H. Prince Paternó-d’Emmanuel, Duke of Perpignan, etc.,etc." (see
under Miscellany). Vella-Haber and Paternó formed this "International
Grand Priory" which the latter abandoned in 1973 to rejoin the original
Shickshinny order.
In order to enhance the
"quality" of his order Vella-Haber managed to find a
"pretender" to the Russian throne in the person of "H.I.& R.H.
Grand Duke Dimitri of Russia, Prince Assistant to the Throne of the National
Indian Church and to the Throne of the Orthodox Jacobite Antiochan Church, Grand
prior of the Order of St. Peter of Antioch, Grand master of the Sovereign
Imperial Muscovite Church of St. George and Rector Magnificus of the Imperial
Academy of St. Kyrill". This "Grand Duke" is not to be confused
with the authentic Prince Dimitri Romanoff who lives in Copenhagen.(7)
A North-American Masonic
group which emerged toward the end of the XIXth century as "The Knights of
St.John and Malta" in Toronto, Canada . In 1882 it moved to New York.(8) It
maintained friendly relations with "The Sovereign Order of St.John of
Jerusalem" (seeII) from the early 1900s until it merged with it in 1953. In
1962, it followed the Cassagnac faction (see VI) from which it seceded in 1965
in order to join up with King Peter’s "order" (see VII) before
seceding from it ca. 1972.
This "priory"
was created originally in Italy immediately after WWII by one of the many
self-styled princes of Byzantium, H.S.H. Prince Don Alessandro Licastro de la
Chastre Grimaldi Lascaris Ventimiglia, Sovereign Prince of Deols, Duke and
Marquis de ls Chastre, etc." who in reality was Alessandro Licastro, a
citizen of Milan. The life of this imaginary priory which he claimed had been
founded in 1245 in central France was short and was dissolved as a result of
pressure applied by the Ministry of Justice. The "prince" resurfaced
on Malta in 1975 and renamed his organization "The Sovereign Military Order
of St.John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta, Priory of the Holy Trinity of
Villedieu, Malta Headquarters ". He joined up with a Maltese entrepreneur,
Carlo Stivala, a.k.a. "Marquis de Flavigny" and the group was
eventually integrated into the Brancovan organization. (see XI)
Seven descendants of
Russian titulars of "family commanderies" of the Orthodox St.
Petersburg Grand Priory of the Order of St. John who reside in the United States
followed the example of the Union of Hereditary Commanders created in Paris in
1928 (see II). Unlike the Paris association, this group claims to be an
"Order of St.John". Its "protector" until his death was
Prince Vassili of Russia, Honorary Curator of the Imperial Russian Collection of
the Hoover Institution. This group has close ties to the Russian Nobility
Association and its seat is in upstate New York. It has placed itself under the
"High Spiritual Protection" of his Beatitude Metropolitan Theodosius,
Primate of the Orthodox Church in America and Canada. It now states that it is
under the spiritual protection of His Holiness Aleksei II, the Most Holy
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Its Grand Prior is Count Nicolas Bobrinskoï.
This mail order operation
whose address is c/o P.O. Box 867, Benton, Arizona, 72015 is run by one George
Cook Lyon, Archbishop of the Holy Episcopal Church in America who actually
resides in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Archbishop is a retired psychiatrist
who appears to have been elected to office by a separated group of former
Episcopalians and is not in apostolic succession. According to his own
information: "We will accept application for ordination from any who feel
that they are qualified and render all the information that they will need to
carry out their works rightly, orderly and lawfully. We ask for a small
donmation $100.00 to cover our costs, etc." The Order of St. John is also
available by mail and for a $100.00 minimum donation.
This "priorate"
appeared on the New York scene in mid-1989. Its patron in the United States was
one "Titular Archbishop of Ephesus" whose name is Lorenzo Michel de
Valitch. His church is not identified. We not certain of this group’s origina
but believe it has ties with XVI above. Monsignor Valitch is also associated
with another order of unverified authenticity known as the Sovereign Order of
Cyprus.
This is one of five orders
sold by "H.R.H. Prince" Yves-Amaury de Lusignan through the good
offices of Queensgate Associates, a nobiliary mail-order house which operates
out of London post office box. The order claims to be an autonomous offshoot of
the "Yugoslav Langue of the Order" which recognized King Peter II as
Grand master. Fees range from $1000 for the grade of Knight to $3200 for the
Grand Collar.
MISCELLANY
This
is the dynastic order of the "House of Paternó of Aragón. Its "Grand
Master" is "H.R.H. Don Roberto II Paternó Ayerbe Aragona, Prince of
Emmanuel, Duke of Perpignan and head of the Royal House of Aragón". Don
Roberto does not recognize the survival of the S.M.O.M. outside of his "realm".
He is also head of the "Dynastic Order of the Collar of St. Agatha of
Paternó" which is internationally distributed.
Royal
Archconfraternity of the Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist of the
Knights of Malta, ad honorem of Catanzaro (Barcelona chapter).
This
order existed in 1977 and may still exist today. Its "grand master"
claimed to be the Prince de Condé. (The last Condé died in 1830)
Order
of St.John of Jerusalem of Antioch (10)
Melchior
d'Epinay, "Revue des Oeuvres Hospitalières Françaises de l'Ordre de Malte",
Paris 1977.