29 Order of the White Eagle.
The breast star to the order of the cross is from the last third of the 18th century. This breast star is partially gilded and features the motto: "PRO FIDE REGE ET LEGE" in separately applied gold letters. The fluted arms of the cross feature silver parts with red enamelled trim in Gold. The background of the enamel features superior guilloche and is fixed to each corner with gold pins. The flaming star bundles feature a steel spring mechanism to the reverse with movable hinges. Each star tip features small eyelets to sew on the blouse or the Uniform. Some star tips are broken off, the enamel with minor age and wear related chipps.
Władysław IV Wasa tried in 1634 to found an order "for the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary". The design of the badge commemorates the later Order of the White Eagle. It refers to the alleged foundation of King Władysław I Ellengang during the 14th century. As a violation of the principle of equality among the nobility, the project met with fierce resistance from the smaller nobility and was abandoned. King Augustus the strong was crowned by King Charles XII of Sweden in 1704. he was forced to renounce the Polish throne and flee to Dresden and Stanislaus I Leszczyński was elected the new king of Poland. August negotiated a treaty in 1705 in Tykocin, in a castle in the former Central Poland, with Tsar Peter I and a group of Polish opponents of Charles XII. To reward his followers he created the first medal of the White eagle in the form described above, which is presented to eight people, including four Polish magnates, three Russian field marshals (including Peter Lacy ), and an Ataman of the Cossacks out.
When August the Strong dies in 1733, he had only appointed about 40 knights of the White eagle. August III, son of August the strong, ruled from 1733 to 1763. The Almighty Minister Heinrich Graf von Brühl reigns in Poland and Saxony. The order of the White Eagle becomes a commercial object, one can buy the knighthood for 10 000 Polish guilders at Brühl. About 330 Awards are made, 160 of them in the last decade of the government of August III. Only three new Knights were appointed - Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, Prince Michał Poniatowski, brother of the new king, and the Russian Ambassador, Prince Nikolaj Repnin. Under the reign of the last king of Poland, Stanisław II August, the first statutes of the order were created in 1777. The number of knights of the order is limited to 150, except "to us, the grand masters, Lords and princes who rule in foreign lands, deserving and honest foreigners or those specially recommended to us, and finally Knights appointed by our predecessors". The order candidate had to show eight noble ancestors. A chapter of the order with Chancellor, vice-chancellor and treasurer was created. Upon admission to the order, the Knights were to pay 50 Polish guilders (Złoty ), the annual fee for charitable purposes was nine guilders, of which one Guilder was for funeral expenses of the deceased Knights. In 1789 the admission fee was increased to the sum of 100 Polish guilders. In this year the a second class of the White Eagle and the order of Saint Stanislaus was created and was to consist of neck decorations and had no breast star. However, it did not come to realization.
The king of Saxony and Duke of Warsaw Frederick Augustus I appointed two new Knights of the order in 1807, after a twelve-year hiatus. The order was awarded very sparsely in the Duchy of Warsaw, in total there were about ten awards until 1815. Emperor Alexander I appointed in 1815, as king of Poland, eight new, exclusively Polish. From 1819 to 1828, he appointed about 40 knights, of which only two were poles, the remaining 38 were Russians. After the defeat of the Polish November Uprising of 1831, the order was transferred to the Russian order system by Tsar Nicholas I. Until 1916, the order was awarded to a high number of people (around 1200), among them only 66 Polish, Russian and Austrian subjects. In 1920, in the resurgent Poland (Second Republic ), a project of the re-foundation of the White Eagle was presented to the Reich administrator Józef Piłsudski. The award is said to have the usual five classes, the appearance of the order is based on the decorations of its early days, the motto is Pro fide, lege et grege, the sash is said to be white. This project was not realized. The order was re-instituted on 15 April 1863 and from 1921 to 1938, only 24 Polish Knights were appointed. In 1924 a chapter of the order was created. The officers of the order were the chancellor, secretary and treasurer. By virtue of his office, the respective president acts as Grand Master. Until 1945, the Polish government-in-exile in London awarded the White Eagle to some foreign personalities.
No new Polish Knights were appointed, the respective president of Poland in exile holds the order by virtue of his office. In communist-ruled Poland, the order was no longer awarded, but was still listed as a state awards as long as the Knights were still alive. In 1974, after long discussions among the communist authorities about the revival of the order of the White Eagle. Instead, they created the five-Class Order of merit of the Republic of Poland, which is worn on the band of the White Eagle. In December 1990, Lech Wałęsa was elected president in the first free presidential elections after 1945. The last London President in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski, presented him with the old presidential emblem of the insignia of the order of the White Eagle in a solemn ceremony. The order was restored on 16 October 1992.
Highly significant early breast star in fantastic quality and considering its age, in very good condition. A order of the greatest rarity.
Measures 138 x 129 mm.
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