Hereditary Commander - Hereditary Commanders of The Russian Tradition

Hereditary Commanders of The Russian Tradition

Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller was officially launched by Paul I of Russia in January 1797. The original 1797 statute allotted ten revenue-producing estates, the commanderies, to be issued to the most deserving knights of the Order. The award was not hereditary; the recipients (commanders) were obligated to contribute a share of commandery revenue to the Order. In November-December 1798 Paul assumed the title of Grand Master of the Order and expanded its operation in Russia, increasing the number of non-hereditary commanderies to 99. In 1799 Paul decreed the statute for hereditary commanderies (Russian: родовые командорства, also translated as ancestral or familial commanderies). Unlike ordinary commanderies that provided direct financial benefits to their commanders, hereditary commanderies were financed by the applicants themselves. An eligible applicant needed to pledge his own real estate to the order, provided that it was sufficiently large to generate 3,000 roubles annual income. Hereditary commanderies remitted 10% of their revenue to the Order.

Two examples within the Order of St John of Jerusalem of Ancestral Commanderies before the creation of the Russian Grand Priory are the Priory of Bohemia and the Priory of Poland prior to its absorption into the Russian Priory. One early precedent is that of Grand Master Jean de Lascaris-Castellar (1636–1657) granting an hereditary knighthood to the Vicomte d'Arpajon for assisting in checking a Turkish attack on Malta.

Ancestral Commanderies during the reigns of Paul I and Alexander I of Russia were:

1. Narychkine, 2. Count Chéréméteff, 3. Prince Youssoupoff †, 4. Stroganov †, 5. Count Samoiloif ‡, 6. Prince Belosselsky, 7. Prince Dolgoroukov, 8. Davydov, 9. Prince Barytinsky, 10. Démidoff, 11. Prince Troubetzkoy, 12. Count Worontzoff, 13. Maruzzi †, 14. Beklechev †, 15. Prince Tioufiakine †, 16. Count Olsoufieff, 17. Gerebtzoff, 18. Count Strogonoff †, 19. Boutourline, 20. Potemkine †, 21. Tchirikoff †, 22. Prince Khilkoff ‡, 23. Prince Odoevsky †, 24 Prince Youssoupoff †.

Key. † Direct Male line from the first Commander extinct. ‡ Direct Male line is extinct, but the family was reinstated via the female line by the Imperium.

There were originally 24 Commanders of Families registered in 23 families (with two Commanderies in one family). Under the Imperial Ukase 19.044 of 1799 (July 21 Old Style) it is clear that there can be only one Commander per Commandery. Thus only 24 Hereditary Commanders could ever have existed. In Article XI, it is also true that more than one Commandery per family could be founded, and this happened (Youssoupoff). However all such Commanderies were created under the regulations given in the Ukase “Ancestral Commanderies of Jus Patronatus” of 1799. Furthermore, pluralities were listed separately.