Appendix III: 
(Volume II)
Contents:
1. Orders of Chivalry of the Two Sicilies
[King Carlos III of Spain, while King of the Two Sicilies] . . . declared the Order of Saint Constantine to be a Royal Order; and annexed it to the Crown of Naples forever. Until the creation of the Order of Saint Januarius in 1738, it was the first [highest], or Sovereign Order of that Kingdom [the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies].[1] (emphasis added)
In the Pragmatic, King Carlos gave to the new sovereign of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies all the "states, estates, claims, rights, titles, and privileges in Italy" and made him emancipated as the independent "supreme and [sole] sovereign" of the territory. King Carlos said the King of the Two Sicilies "is an independent a sovereign in Italy as I myself am in Spain." This gave to the Two Silicies the right to the two orders of chivalry mentioned in the above quote. History clearly shows that King Carlos left these two orders to his son, Ferdinand. Ferdinand I, the newly-minted first King of the Two Sicilies and son of the aforementioned King Carlos III, was specifically recognized as having the Order of Constantine "combined into his Royal person" and being "gloriously united in himself" on 8 March 1796 when he promulgated a new set of Statutes for the Order. He emphasized that although the Order and the Crown were separate, they were nevertheless united as part of the proprietary rights of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George is one of the oldest and most exclusive European orders of chivalry. It had its embryonic beginnings in 313 when Emperor Constantine the Great instituted a guard of 50 men of the Christian faith to guard the Labarum, the banner or standard he designed for the Roman Army after the cross (a Greek cross, fleury, upon the center of which is superimposed Chi-Rho, the monogram XP) was seen in his famous vision before the battle of Ponte Milvio.
The Order eventually fell into the hands of the royal Bourbon House with rights to the Two Sicilies. In their capacity as hereditary Grand Masters of the order, this branch of the Bourbon House continues to bestow the honor today. The Order is composed of Roman Catholics (although Protestants and Eastern Orthodox Christians are occasionally admitted by dispensation of the Grand Master), and the bulk of its membership comes from the legitimist nobility of Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and Austria as well as meritorious persons of distinguished social standing. It is of interest to note that Pope St. Pius X reconstituted the Labarum on 3 December 1913 and entrusted it to the guardianship of the S.M.O. Constantine St. George in keeping with the tradition of the original guard founded by Emperor Constantine 1300 years before.
The Royal Order of St. Januarius was founded in 1738 by King Charles of the Two Sicilies in honor of the patron saint of Naples. The Order was confirmed personally to King Charles as a confraternity by a Bull of Pope Benedict XIV on 30 June 1741. Hence, Charles retained the Grand Magistry of the Order even after he became King of Spain in 1759. However, in 1764, King Charles III of Spain transferred the Order to his third son, Ferdinand (who became the King of the Two Sicilies in 1759 when Charles III became King of Spain) as a dynastic chivalric order relating to the head of the Royal Bourbon House with rights to the Two Sicilies. In its capacity as a confraternity of the Roman Catholic Church, it survived the absorption of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1860 as a private law right. The Order of St. Januarius is a highly coveted honor that is sparingly bestowed to Cardinals and the highest nobility of the Two Sicilies.
2. The Carlists and Infante Alfonso
Following the extinction of the direct Carlist line in 1936, the Carlist claims to the Spanish throne would have passed over to the Neapolitan Bourbons by way of the reversion contained in the Pragmatic. The Carlists always regarded the introduction of female succession by Ferdinand VII in 1832 as invalid in that it was not constitutionally promulgated. Likewise, the Carlists refused to accept the paternity of the descendants of Queen Isabella II by Francisco d'Assisi, the son of the younger brother of the original Carlist claimant. Details on the question of Francisco d'Assisi's paternity can be found in the following standard historical works:
Theo Aronson, The Royal Vendetta;
Edmund B. d'Auvergne, A Queen at Bay;
John D. Bergamini, The Spanish Bourbons;
Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer (later Lord Dalling), Life of Palmerstone, 3 vols.;
H. Butler Clarke, Modern Spain, 1815-1898;
Ghislain de Diesbach, Secrets of the Gotha;
Edgar Holt, The Carlist Wars in Spain;
Martin A. S. Hume, Modern Spain, 1788-1898;
E. W. Latimer, Spain in the Nineteenth Century;
Peter de Polnay, A Queen of Spain, Isabel II; and
Robert Sencourt, Spain's Uncertain Crown.
See also Rachel Challice, The Secret History of the Court of Spain During the Last Century;
John Hall, England and the Orleans Monarchy, and
E. Jones Parry, The Spanish Marriages, 1841-1846.
Some of these works give references to books written by Spanish courtiers of Isabella II that treat the life of her court in detail.
As Prince Carlo had only renounced the Crown and dynastic rights of the Royal House of the Two Sicilies, his son, Infante Alsonso, would be able to claim the Carlist dynastic rights that passed to the Neapolitan Bourbons in 1936. After the death of his father's older brother (Prince Ferdinand (III) Pius, Duke of Calabria, head of the royal House of Bourbon of the Two Sicilies) in 1960, the highest hereditary right to the Carlist claims passed to Infante Alfonso while the chiefship of the royal House of Bourbon of the Two Sicilies passed to his father's younger brother, H.R.H. Prince Ranier, Duke of Castro.
[1] Sir Levett Hanson, Accurate Historical Account of All Orders of Knighthood Present Existing in Europe, 2003, p. 109: originally written in the late 1700’s.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at:
