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Order of chivalry
Order, confraternity or society of knights / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is an order of knights,[1] typically founded during or inspired by the original Catholic military orders of the Crusades (c. 1099–1291) and paired with medieval concepts of ideals of chivalry.
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Since the 15th century, orders of chivalry, often as dynastic orders, began to be established in a more courtly fashion[clarification needed] that could be created ad hoc. These orders would often retain the notion of being a confraternity, society or other association of members, but some of them were ultimately purely honorific and consisted of a medal decoration. In fact, these decorations themselves often came to be known informally as orders. These institutions in turn gave rise to the modern-day orders of merit of sovereign states.[2]