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Order of the Defeated Dragon

- Ordo Draconum
The Order of the Defeated Dragon (Latin: Societas
Draconistarum, lit. "Society of the Dragonists") was a
monarchical chivalric order for selected nobility,
founded in 1418 by Sigismund, King of Hungary (r.
13871437) and later Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1433
1437). It was fashioned after the military orders of the
Crusades, requiring its initiates to defend the cross
and fight the enemies of Christianity, in particular the
Ottoman Turks. The Order flourished during the first
half of the 15th century, primarily in Germany and
Italy. After Sigismund's death in 1437, its importance
declined in Western Europe, but after the Fall of
Constantinople in 1453, it continued to play a role in
Hungary and Croatia, which bore the brunt of the
Ottoman incursions.

Historical background of the Order

Sigismund faced fierce struggles for power leading up
to the foundation of the order in 1418. In 1387, the
Bohemian royal son Sigismund of Luxembourg was
elected King of Hungary and Croatia, a title which he
owed chiefly to his marriage to Queen Mary of
Hungary in 1385, without her consent. During the
next decade, he constantly sought support or
employed ruthless methods to strengthen his unsteady
hold on the throne. His rule was weakened in 1395
when Mary, who was pregnant, died in a horse riding
accident. In 1389, the Ottoman Sultan Murad I fought
Lazar, Prince of Serbia at the Battle of Kosovo Polje,
in which both leaders died, leading to an uncertain
outcome of the battle. Two years later, the Turks had
taken the Bulgarian fortress of Nicopolis.
In 1396, Pope Boniface IX proclaimed a crusade
against the Ottomans, and a campaign was organised
to recapture the fortress and put a halt to the Ottoman
expansion. Sigismund was nominally in charge;
however, in the 1396 Battle of Nicopolis the French
leader, John of Nevers, commanded the French half of
the forces and ignored Sigismund's entreaties by
charging the Turks. About 15,000 crusaders died with

only a few leaders, including Sigismund, escaping.

Sigismund returned to Hungary in 1401 and, facing a
number of revolts, gradually resumed control and reasserted himself as the King of Hungary. This was
achieved by allying himself with the political party of
Stibor of Stiboricz, Nicholas II Garay, and Hermann II
of Celje, in return for their military support, which
enabled him to fight off domestic rivals. Sigismund
campaigned against the Croats and Bosnians, which
culminated in 1408 with the Battle of Doborfought
for the possession of Bosniaand a massacre of noble
families. His pact with Hermann II was secured in
1408, when Sigismund married Herman II's daughter
Barbara of Celje (also called Cilli).

Foundation and purpose of the Order

On December 12, 1408, following the Battle of Dobor
against the Christian heretics called Bogomils in
which Sigismund slaughtered two hundred Bosnian
noblemen, many of whom had fought the
Turks,Sigismund and his queen, Barbara of Celje,
founded the league known today as the Order of the
Dragon. Its statutes, written in Latin, call it a society
(societas) whose members carry the signum
draconis (see below), but assign no name to it.

Contemporary records, however, refer to the order by

a variety of similar if unofficial names, such
as Gesellschaft mit dem Trakchen, Divisa seu Societas
Draconica, Societas Draconica seu Draconistarum,
and Fraternitas Draconum. It was to some extent
modelled after the earlier Hungarian monarchical
order, the Order of St. George (Societas militae Sancti
Georgii), founded by King Carol Robert of Anjou in
1318. The order adopted St. George as its patron saint,
whose legendary defeat of a dragon was used as a
symbol for the military and religious ethos of the
order.
The statute of the Order, which was expanded by
Bishop Eberhard of Nagyvrad, chancellor of
Sigismund's court, survives only in a copy made in
1707. An edition was published in 1841. The prologue
to these statutes of 1408 reports that the society was
created:
in company with the prelates, barons, and magnates of
our kingdom, whom we invite to participate with us in
this party, by reason of the sign and effigy of our pure
inclination and intention to crush the pernicious deeds
of the same perfidious Enemy, and of the followers of
the ancient Dragon, and (as one would expect) of the
pagan knights, schismatics, and other nations of the
Orthodox faith, and those envious of the Cross of
Christ, and of our kingdoms, and of his holy and
saving religion of faith, under the banner of the
triumphant Cross of Christ...
Described in general terms, the "enemy" was any antiChristian political power or group, including
schismatic or actively heretical fellow countrymen or
Europeans (such as the putatively "Christian" Bosnian
Bogomil force alluded to above, immediately before
the Order's foundation); but the primary
representatives of "the perfidious Enemy" remained
the Ottoman Turks, who continued to be a problem for
Sigismund's successors. The Order's outward focus on
foreign threats was also aimed at achieving a level of
domestic cohesion. The statutes go on to describe the
order's symbols of the ouroboros and the red cross,
which were worn by its members and gave the order
its corporate identity (see below). They also list the
mutual obligations of the king and his nobles. The
members were to swear loyalty to the king, queen, and

their future sons and to protect the royal interests.

Boulton argues that "the Society of the Dragon was
clearly intended to serve as the institutional
embodiment of the royal faction its founder had
created". In return for their services, the nobles could
expect to enjoy royal protection, honors, and offices.
The creation of the order was an instance within a
larger fashion of founding chivalric orders during the
14th and early 15th centuries, not infrequently
dedicated to organizing "crusades", especially after
the disaster of the battle of Nicopolis (1396).
Sigismund's order was particularly inspired from the
Order of Saint George of 1326. Another influential
model may have been the Sicilian Order of the Ship,
founded in 1381.

Symbol of the Order of the Dragon

The edict of 1408 describes two insignia to be worn
by members of the Order:
...we and the faithful barons and magnates of our
kingdom shall bear and have, and do choose and agree
to wear and bear, in the manner of society, the sign or
effigy of the Dragon incurved into the form of a
circle, its tail winding around its neck, divided
through the middle of its back along its length from
the top of its head right to the tip of its tail, with blood
[forming] a red cross flowing out into the interior of
the cleft by a white crack, untouched by blood, just as
and in the same way that those who fight under the

banner of the glorious martyr St George are

accustomed to bear a red cross on a white field...

The dragon described here, with its tail coiled around

its neck, bears comparison to the ouroboros. On the
back of the dragon, from the base of the neck to the
tail, is the Red Cross of Saint George, with the entire
image on an argent field. The Order's dragon emblem
has not survived in any original form, but it has been
referenced on coins, art, and in writing.

A University of Bucharest annotation to the original

edict reads "O Quam Misericors est Deus, Pius et

Justus" (O how merciful is God, faithful and just),

which may have been officially part of the
emblem. The various classes of the order had a slight
variation of the dragon symbol. Common changes
included the addition of inscriptions like O Quam
Misericors est Deus ("Oh, how merciful God is") and
"Justus et Paciens" ("Just and patient"). One of the
highest classes may have worn a necklace with a
seal, while a period painting of Oswald von
Wolkenstein depicts another type of class
variation. Few historical artifacts of the Order now
remain. A copy, dating to 1707, of the statutes of 1418
is the oldest known literary artifact of the society.
Today, known materials are archived within the
University of Budapest.

Membership of the Order

Members of the order, known as "Draconists", are
referred to in the statutes as barons (barones,
occasionally socii). They were mostly Sigismund's
political allies and supporters, who were at first
largely confined to the political factions of Stefan
Lazar IV, Nicholas II Garay, and Hermann II of Celje,
including such magnates as Stibor of Stiboricz and
Pipo of Ozora. The initial group of inductees for

Sigismund's Order numbered 21 men, which extended

to about 24 in 1418.
After some time, Sigismund chose to expand the ranks
of the Order. A second group of inductees was
initiated between 1431 and 1437. As membership
grew, the Order of the Dragon came to have two
degrees. There was a superior class, which between
1408 and 1418 wore both the dragon and the cross as
the Order's emblem and a more elaborate version
afterwards. The second degree had a large number of
members, and its symbol was only the dragon.
Following Sigismund's death in 1437, the Order lost prominence.
However, the prestigious emblem of the Order was retained on
the coat of arms of several Hungarian noble families, including
Bthory, Bocskai, Bethlen, Szathmry, Benyovszky, Kende and
Rkczi.

Motto and Mission of the Order of the Dragon

Orders Motto: + "O Quam Misericors est Deus, Pius et Justus"
(O how merciful is God, faithful and just) +
Mission of the Order: + Defend the Holy Cross of Jesus Christ,
Fight the Enemies of Christianity and Protect Christendom from
the Anatolian Hordes and their Ungodly Faith +

Present day status of the Order of the Dragon

The present status of the Order of the Dragon, is that of a Holy
Chivalric Order of the Holy Roman Empire, as such all Rights,
Patrimony and Property (including the usage of all Armorial
Bearings, Signs and Symbols), of the Order of the Dragon come
under the exclusive ownership and protection of the Holy Roman
Empire Association - ASSOCIAZIONI dei NOBILI del SACRO
ROMANO IMPERO. The Present Nominal Grand Master of the
Order of the Dragon is the Chancellor of the Holy Roman
Empire Association. Copyright (C) The Holy Roman Empire
Association, hold full International Copyright to the Order of the
Dragon. Copyright Held 1418-2016 - All Rights Reserved
Protected by European, U.S. and International Copyright Laws.

Founding members of the Order of the Dragon

The original members of the Order of the Dragon in

the founding charters of 1418 were:

1. Stephanus despoth, dominus Rasciae, item
Stefan Lazarevi, known as "the Tall" (137419
July 1427); Serbian Prince (13891402) and
Despot (14021427)
2. Hermannus comes Cily et Zagoriae,
3. comes Fredericus, filius eiusdem,
4. Nicolaus de gara, regni Hungariae palatinus,
5. Stiborius de Stiboricz alias vaiuoda
Transyluanus,
6. Joannes filius Henrici de Thamassy et
7. Jacobus Laczk de Zantho, vaiuodae
Transyluani,
8. Joannes de Maroth Machouiensis,
9. Pipo de Ozora Zewreniensis, bani;
10. Nicolaus de Zeech magister tauernicorum
regalium,
11. comes Karolus de Corbauia, supremus
thesaurarius regius,
12. Symon filius condam Konye bani de Zecheen,
janitorum,
13. comes Joannes de Corbauia, dapiferorum,
14. Joannes filius Georgii de Alsaan pincernarum,
15. Petrus Cheh de Lewa aganzonum regalium
magistri,
16. Nicolaus de Chak, alias vaiuoda Transyluanus,
17. Paulus Byssenus, alter Paulus de Peth, pridem
Dalmatiae, Croatiae et totius Sclauoniae

regnorum bani,
18. Michael, filius Salamonis de Nadasd comes
siculorum regalium,
19. Petrus de Peren, alias siculorum nunc vero
maramorossensis comes,
20. Emericus de eadem Pern secretarius
cancellarius regius
21. et Joannes filius condam domini Nicolai de
Gara palatini.

Members of the Order of the Dragon

Stibor de Beckov or Stibor II, son of Stibor of

Stiboricz

Hrvoje Vuki Hrvatini, Ban of Croatia and

Grand Duke of Bosnia

Vuk Lazarevi, brother of Despot Stefan

Lazarevi, received the title from Sigismund.

Fruzhin, son of Tsar Ivan Shishman of

Bulgaria.

Vlad II Dracul (d. 1447), then Prince of

Wallachia (Father of Vlad Dracul III)

Vlad Dracul III (d.1477) then prince of

Wallachia (Son of Vlad II Dracul)

Benjamin de Beny, Voivod of Liptov.

Oswald von Wolkenstein (d. 1445)

Vladislas II of Bohemia and Hungary (1456

1516)

Foreign allies, who did not swear an oath of

loyalty:
o King Ladislaus II of Poland
o Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania,
Sigismund's former brother-in-law
o King Henry V of England
o members of Italian families, such as
the Carrara, della Scala and leaders of
Venezia, Padova and Verona

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