SAINT HUBERT, ORDER OF

The name given to several knightly or hunting orders since the 15th century. One, the highest order of Bavaria, was founded in 1444 by Gerard V, Duke of Jülich and Berg, in memory of a battle won on the feast day of St. hubert of maastricht. Rules were formulated in 1476 by Gerard's son, William. The badge of the order was the image of St. Hubert, worn by the noble members on a collar of hunting horns. The order went into abeyance at the time of the Reformation but was restored in 1708 by the Catholic, John William, Elector Palatine and Duke of Jülich-Cleve-Berg. The new badge was a maltese cross, white strewn with flames, with rays at the angles, and St. Hubert's image in the center. It was worn either on a collar that alternated the Saint's image with the initials TV, or on a ribbon purple, fimbriated green. The motto was In traw vast. When the Elector Palatine succeeded in 1777 to the throne of Bavaria, the Order of St. Hubert took precedence over other Bavarian orders. It acquired new rules in 1808 as the great order of the Bavarian royal house. It was conferred on princes and titled statesmen and was retained by the royal house after the 1918 revolution. (For an illuminated 15th-century armorial of the order, see Beiträge zur Geschichte der Heraldik, Berlin 1939.)

Another order of the same name was instituted in 1416 by the principal lords of the Duchy of Bar in an attempt to end the perpetual conflicts between the Duchy of Bar and the Duchy of Lorraine. When these two duchies became part of France, King Louis XV confirmed the members in their ancient privileges. The order was ended by the revolution of 1830. The badge of the order was a cross with St. Hubert and a stag on one side and the insignia of the Duchy of Bar on the other.

Bibliography: h. lahrkamp, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 5:503.

[k. schwarzenberg]