Military Order - Other Uses

Other Uses

It is possible for a non-crusading order to be founded explicitly as a military order. This is the case of the Orden Militar de la Constancia ('the Military Order of Loyalty'), founded on August 18, 1946, by the authorities in the Spanish protectorate within Morocco. Awarded to both Spanish and Moroccan military officers and men, the single-class order was abolished in 1956.

It was in the military orders, where the perfect fusion of the religious and the military spirit was realized, that chivalry reached its apogee. It was at this apogee that the secular brotherhood was created.

The Dutch Military Order of William and the Austrian Military Order of Maria Theresa are not military orders although they use that name. They are Orders of Merit, not societies of knights or warrior-monks like the original military orders.

Some self-styled orders claim to be military orders.