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The Orders of Christ,
Aviz and St. James were awarded in the Kingdom of Brazil
after the departure of King John VI to Lisbon in 1821, by
Prince Peter under the authority and by delegation of his
father at least, until the declaration of independence of
Brazil, in 1822. From this date
until 1827, the Emperor Peter I of Brazil (18221831)
conferred grades of the Orders of Christ,
Aviz and St. James, although never invoking the quality of
Grand Master, which he was not, but rather as Emperor of
Brazil. Upon the death of King John VI of Portugal, D. Peter I
of Brazil was recognized as his heir to the crown of Portugal
by the liberal current.
Wishing to resolve the question of the
Grandmaster ship of the Portuguese Ancient Military Orders in
Brazil, Peter I (IV of Portugal) asked the Pope, through the
Brazilian Ambassador to the Holy See, to recognize the rights
in Brazil, which once belonged to the Kings of Portugal.
This gave rise to the Bull Praeclara
Portugaliiae Algarbiorumque Regum, of May 15 1827, given
by Pope Leo XII, by which was created a Brazilian branch of
the Order of Christ. Notwithstanding, the Bull provoked a
great political dispute and was never ratified by the Imperial
Parliament.
From this point one might say, following
Marques Poliano, that the Portuguese Orders ceased to exist as
such, in the Empire of Brazil.
In 1843, under Emperor Dom Pedro II, the
Orders of Christ,
Aviz and of St. James were recognized in Brazil as
National Orders having the Emperor as its Grandmaster. The
insignia was basically the same with the addition of the
Imperial Crown to the Star and altering the ribbon to
distinguish it from the Portuguese Orders of the same name.
These Brazilian Orders lasted till the Republican Constitution
of 1891 abolished them.
Even though the order seam to be awarded
over a long period of time, actual decorations are quite rare.
Fred Atlmann points out only 2 known knight cross decorations,
a star and a grandmaster cross, which seamed to be build on
the base of a cross of the Order of the Southern Cross.
Here a knights decoration, front and
back:
And from some different
manufactures:
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with Dom Pedro I crown
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with Dom Pedro II crown |
As all the other Brazilian order with
the exception of the Order of the Southern Cross and the Order
of Aviz the Order of Christ was cancelled March 22, 1890, by
the interim government of the united states of Brazil.
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award document for a knight
cross |
© A. Schulze
Ising, VII/01 | 
