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The
Sacred Military Constantinian Order and the Italian State
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As
everybody knows, in 1860 the Kingdom of Sardinia militarily
occupied the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and annexed
it to the just established Kingdom of Italy. The material
assets of the Constantinian Order – as well as
all other assets of the Bourbon family of the Two Sicilies
– were confiscated by the new State. However,
upon request of the Ministry of Home Affairs on 27 September
1861, an opinion of the State Council said that the
fact that the assets of the Order had become part of
the State Property should not lead to the disappearance
of the Order itself.
Letter of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the authorisation
to the Constantinian Knights to use the insignia (1963)
- Click
on the picture to view full text (italian version).
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decision was strengthened by two well-known judgements
(11 July 1871) of the Supreme Court of Cassation stating
that «the Constantinian
Order is not abolished nor fallen into decline and by
dictatorial decree of Garibaldi issued on 12 February
1860 - which transformed the assets of the Order into
State Property - it is just ruled that the assets of
the Constantinian Order already managed by the Ministry
of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the
Two Sicilies had now become property of the State»
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Decision
n. 1869/’81 of the State Council of the Italian
Republic concerning the Sacred Military Constantinian
Order of St. George, its legal status and the use of
its decorations (1981) - Click on the picture to view
full text (italian version). |
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The
Sacred Military Constantinian Order, therefore, continued
its existence – and it still lawfully exists -
in the Italian State, since, as masterly explained by
Ettore Gallo, «it is a knightly
institution not statutory but dynastic and family institution
completely external to the Italian regulation for its
origin and historical evolution. For this reason it
has been constantly recognised by the canonical system
and therefore qualified as "non national"»
.
Letter
of thanks by the President of the Republic Francesco
Cossiga to HRH Prince Ferdinand of Bourbon Two Sicilies,
Grand Master (1986) - Click on the picture to view full
text (italian version). |
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law n° 178 of 1951 authorises the Italian citizens
awarded with the Constantinian decoration to show them
as authoritatively recognised also by the Italian State
Council in its decision n. 1869/81 .
Therefore those citizens lawfully awarded with Constantinian
decorations can ask to use them on the territory of
the Italian Republic by Presidential Decree or Decree
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Letter
by the Head of the Diplomatic Protocol of the Republic
to H.E. Prince Paolo Boncompagni Ludovisi, President
of the Royal Delegation of the S.M.C. Order of St. George
on the use of the decorations of the Order (2001) -
Click on the picture to view full text (italian version).
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By Decree of the President
of the Republic, in 1973 the National Italian Association
of the Knights of the Sacred Military Constantinian
Order of St. George is elevated to non-profit organisation.
Decree
of the President of the Republic by which the National
Italian Association of the Knights of the Sacred Military
Constantinian Order of St. George is elevated to non-profit
organisation (1973) - Click on the picture to view full
text (italian version). |
The Minister
Dini with HRH Prince Charles of Bourbon Two Sicilies
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