Some ancient awards and accompanying regalia can be viewed as just another historical item. One really fascinating order is ‘The Order of the Garter’. An English order of knighthood was founded by Edward III in 1348. There is quite a story behind such an enigmatic title.
How did it come about? The words are in a medieval dialect of old Norman French, the language of the English Royal Court, following the Battle of Hastings in 1066 with the invasion of the Normans by William the Conqueror.
The English coat of arms has always been a rather ornate, strong representation of the monarchy. There are two specific phrases. And it may seem strange to some that an English Coat of Arms be highlighted in Norman French rather than English.
The first, ‘Dieu et mon Droit’, translates as ‘God and my right’. The divine right of the monarch to govern.
And specifically relating to the Order to the Garter, ‘Honi soit qui mal y pense’. There are a small number of similar translations into English, but the most accurate perhaps to a degree, enhanced translation is ‘Shame on him who thinks evil of it’.
Evil of what?
The story is one of chivalry. It is said that in 1348 while King Edward III was dancing with the Countess of Salisbury, the garter she was wearing fell to the floor. In all true chivalry and gentlemanly dignity, Kind Edward picked up the garter and placed it on his leg. Courtiers and others were laughing at such a display; The King wearing a garter, typically associated with women. Perhaps courtiers viewed the gesture as over-the-top gallantry. Or just plain ludicrous!
King Edward then addresses this laughing crowd in regal terms. ‘Honi soit qui mal y pense’. ‘Shame on him who thinks evil of it’. The message being, for the King to display such gallantry those present should be shamed if they thought such as act was evil.
Over 650 years, the Order of the Garter has remained a symbol of gallantry.
In Winchester’s Morely Library, there is a portrait of Bishop Morely wearing an Order of the Garter on his robes. The library is where the monks studied dates back to the 1600 and some volumes exhibited are from the 1500s.
