!!!Goldenes Vlies, Orden vom

Golden Fleece, Order of the, is one of the noblest medieval orders of 
knights that still exist. It was founded in 1430 by Philip of 
Burgundy, in honour of Saint Andrew. When Mary, the last Burgundian 
Duchess married Maximilian I in 1477, the title of sovereignty went to 
the Habsburg family. On the death of Karl V, the sovereignty went, as 
did the rest of the Burgundian heritage, to the Spanish line of the 
Habsburg family. When the Spanish line of the family died out, the 
Austrian line took over the duty to bestow the order on the knights of 
the Golden Fleece. The order nevertheless continued to be awarded in 
Spain as an order of merit. At first, the Order of the Golden Fleece 
counted 31 knights, after 1516, 51 knights. The treasure of the Order 
is kept safe at the Secular Treasury in Vienna, while the archives are 
in the Austrian Archives.

!Literature
Weltliche und Geistliche Schatzkammer. Guidebook, 
illustrated, 1987.


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