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THE CONSTANTINIAN ORDER
OF ST. GEORGE
The Constantinian order of St. George, which owns the Chiesa Magistrale Santa Maria della Steccata, has ancient origins that go back to the Militia of the Emperor Constantine, which was created to defend the labarum with the sign of the cross following the victory over Maxentius at Ponte Milvio (312).
The first official mention of this Order in Italy dates back to 1551, when Pope Julius III, with his "Quod Alias" Bull in favour of the family of Angeli Comneno, granted the dignity of Grand Master to Andrea and Angelo Comneno. They claimed that their dynasty descended directly from Constantine the Great.
It was with the last descendent of this lineage, Giovanni Andrea Angelo Flavio Comneno Lascaris Paleologo, that the local Duke Francesco Farnese began negotiations in 1694 to purchase the Grand Magistery of the Order. In 1697, the "transfer agreement" was reached and later ratified by the "Sincerae Fidei" Bull issued by Pope Innocent XII (1699). After the Statutes were revised in 1706, Duke Francesco wished to win the favour of Pope Clement XI, who was to write the final Bull transferring the Order to the house of Farnese; he therefore wished to honour the mission to defend Christianity, which indeed befitted an Order with a patron Saint who had fought for the church.
So, during the war between the Holy Roman Empire and the Venetian Republic against the Turkish army, Francesco sent what would become known as the "Constantinian Regiment" to Dalmatia. For two years, the regiment fought in the name of Christianity. |
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The Dalmatian campaign had the desired effect, as confirmed by the arrival of the much-awaited "Militantis Ecclesiae" Bull by Clement XI in 1718. In the same year, the Duke chose a church which symbolised collective devotion in Parma as the fitting seat of such a glorious Order. In order to build this church, citizens of every extraction had pulled together to produce a monumental expression of faith in the Holy Virgin: the result was Santa Maria della Steccata, which from then on became known as Chiesa Magistrale. Even today, the historic and artistic wealth of this "people's temple" is indissolubly linked to the illustrious tradition of the Constantinian Order, which drew members from the highest classes and brought such honour and admiration to our city. |
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After the Farnese dynasty died out in 1731, the Duchy passed to Don Carlos of Bourbon, the son of Elisabetta Farnese and Philip V of Spain. However, once the new Duke became King of Naples (1734), he moved there with all the artistic and archival assets of the Farnese Duchy; these included the Constantinian Order, which he continued in Naples despite the protests of his brother Philip, who had succeeded him in the Duchy of Parma, and as King of Naples he took on the Grand Magistery of the Order.
By taking this role upon him, he was in fact going totally against the provisions of the aforementioned Bull of Pope Clement XI, which ratified the indissolubility of the Grand Magistery of the Constantinian Order with the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza.
It was therefore up to Marie Louise of Austria, who had been assigned the Duchy of Parma by the Vienna Congress in 1816, to bring the Order back to its former home in Parma. Upon her death in 1847, the Duchy and the Order returned to the second Bourbon dynasty, firstly in the person of Charles II, then Charles II and finally Duke Robert, who was later deposed in 1859.
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