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, with the collar of the Order]] The Order of the Golden Fleece ( founded in 1430 by Duke Philip III of Burgundy to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Isabel Of Aviz . ORIGIN It was modelled on the award during the Reformation , though the choice of the pagan Golden Fleece of Colchis as the symbol of a Christian order caused some controversy. The badge of the Order, in the form of a sheepskin, was suspended from a jewelled Collar of firesteels in the shape of the letter B, for Burgundy, linked by flints; with the motto "Pretium Laborum Non Vile" ("Not a bad reward for labour") engraved on the front of the central link, and Philip's motto "Non Aliud" ("I will have no other") on the back (non-royal knights of the Golden Fleece were forbidden to belong to any other order of knighthood). With the absorption of the Burgundian lands into the Habsburg empire, the sovereignty of the Order passed to the Habsburg kings of Spain , where it remained until the death of the last of the Spanish Habsburgs, Charles II , in 1700 . He was succeeded by Philip Of Anjou , a Bourbon . There followed a dispute between the Houses of Habsburg and Bourbon over sovereignty, which resulted in the division of the Order into Spanish and Austria n branches. In either case the sovereign, as Duke of Burgundy, writes the letter of appointment in French. THE SPANISH ORDER The Spanish Order of the Fleece has been a source of controversy in the past, particularly during the Napoleonic period. The award of the Order to Napoleon and his brother Joseph angered the exiled king of France Louis XVIII and caused him to return his collar in protest. These, and other awards by Joseph, were revoked by king Ferdinand on the restoration of Bourbon rule in 1813 . In 1812 the acting government of Spain illegally awarded the order to the Duke Of Wellington , an act confirmed by Ferdinand on his resumption of power, with the approval of the Pope . Wellington therefore became the first Protestant to be awarded the Fleece. It has subsequently also been awarded to non-Christians, like Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Of Thailand . There was another crisis in 1833 when Isabella II became Queen of Spain in defiance of Salic Law . Her right to award the Fleece was challenged by Carlists and the prestige of the Order inevitably suffered due to the political controversies of the period. Sovereignty remained with the head of the Spanish house of Bourbon during the republican ( 1931 - 39 ) and Francoist ( 1939 - 1975 ) periods and is held today by the present king of Spain, Juan Carlos . Members of the Order
AUSTRIAN ORDER in Vienna , Austria .]] of the Order.]] receiving the Spanish Fleece in 1981]] The Austrian Order did not suffer from the political difficulties of the Spanish, remaining an award solely for Catholic royals and nobles. The problem of female inheritance was avoided on the accession of Maria Theresa in 1740 as sovereignty of the Order passed not to herself but to her husband, Francis . Upon the collapse of the Austrian monarchy after the First World War , King Albert I Of Belgium requested that the sovereignty and treasure of the Order be transferred to him as the ruler of the former Habsburg lands of Burgundy. This claim was seriously considered by the victorious allies at Versailles but was eventually rejected due to the intervention of King Alfonso XIII Of Spain , who took possession of the property of the Order on behalf of the dethroned emperor, Karl Of Austria . Sovereignty remains with the head of the house of Habsburg, but the present head, Otto Von Habsburg , has transferred the sovereignty to his eldest son, Karl Habsburg-Lothringen . Members of the Order
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