The Order of SS. Maurice and Lazarus emerged from the fusion of the Order of St. Maurice, founded under Amadeus VIII, first Duke of Savoy, in 1434 and the Order of Lazarus, founded in Palestine, probably around the year 1060, before the first Crusade. Shortly after, Amadeus VIII was elected anti-pope by the Fathers of the Council of Basel in 1439 and took the name of Felix V. He abdicated in 1449 after recognizing the true Pope Nicholas V (1447-1455).
The aims of the Order of St. Maurice were to serve God, leading a monastic life, and to assist the State in its needs. The choice of its members was very meticulous: they had to be irreproachable in every aspect. Having remained dormant for a long time, Gregory XIII recognized it as a military-religious Order in 1572 and in the following year he authorized the fusion of the Order of St. Lazaraus with it under the rule of St. Augustine, already adopted by the Order of St. Maurice.
The specific object of the Order of St. Lazarus was to assist the lepers in the Holy Land wherever there was a particular need of such an apostolate. Its Master was himself always a leper, and many of the Knights suffered from the same disease. The Order enjoyed the protection and help of many Sovereigns and especially Popes, most of all of Clement IV (1265-1268) .
Compelled to leave the Holy Land in 1291, the Order repaired to the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, and of France. Its main seat was the famous St. Lazarus hospital for lepers near Capua from the fifteenth to the sixteenth century. The decline began with the struggle for the Grand Mastership of the Order and the loss of many of its estates. To save the Order from total collapse, Pius II ( 1458-1464) tried to unite it with other Orders in 1459 so as to form the Militia of St. Mary of Bethlehem, but without success. Sixtus IV ( 1471-1484) also tried to fuse it with the Order of St. John at Jerusalem, but likewise in vain. Finally united with the Order of St. Maurice with the full support of the papacy, it assumed a hospitaller and military character adding to its original aim, that of the defense of the Holy See. All attempts to persuade the French branch of the Order of St. Lazarus to join in the fusion having failed, this branch was finally united with the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
The French branch of the Order of St. Lazarus was introduced into Britain by Roger de Mowbray, who was created the First Baron Mowbray in 1283 and who founded a St. Lazarus Hospital for Lepers on his own land near Melton Mowbray. However, the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Lazarus was finally abolished in 1830, and the Holy See does not recognize any Orders operating under the name of St. Lazarus.
The Order of SS. Maurice and Lazarus emerged from the fusion of the Order of St. Maurice, founded under Amadeus VIII, first Duke of Savoy, in 1434 and the Order of Lazarus, founded in Palestine, probably around the year 1060, before the first Crusade. Shortly after, Amadeus VIII was elected anti-pope by the Fathers of the Council of Basel in 1439 and took the name of Felix V. He abdicated in 1449 after recognizing the true Pope Nicholas V (1447-1455).
The Order of SS. Maurice and Lazarus prospered immensely from the fusion and the support it was given by the House of Savoy and the Papacy. It thus became so famous that many European Sovereigns would recommend their most illustrious Knights for admission to it. Over the centuries it continued to progress in many areas for the good of mankind and became powerful and very rich. In 1860 King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (1861-1878) assigned to it the estates belonging to the Sacred- and Military Constantinian Order of St. George, which had been suppressed following the annexation of Parma to the Italian Kingdom. In 1868 he reformed it more on the lines of an Order of Merit without diminishing its prestige. It underwent several other reforms until, having lost his Kingdom, former King Umberto II of Italy took the Order of SS. Maurice and Lazarus with him into exile where he continued to bestow it. Both Orders belong now in the category of Catholic Dynastic Orders bestowed by a legitimate successor of a Sovereign in exile.
On 3 March 1951, the President of the Italian Republic instituted the Order Al Merito della Repubblica Italiana to take the place of the Order of SS. Maurice and Lazarus which had been officially abolished by the legislature and the executive of the Republic. The accepting and wearing of the decorations of the Order of SS. Maurice and Lazarus was outlawed. The Republic of Italy considered the Order as belonging to the former Crown of Italy and therefore to the State and felt justified in abolishing it and substituting it with another Order. Former King Umberto, however, insisted on the dynastic character of the Order, and, when the reign of the House of Savoy ended in 1946 and he went into exile after less than one month as King of Italy, he took the Order of SS. Maurice and Lazarus with him and continued to bestow it abroad. The Holy See never ceased to recognize the former King's Grand Mastership of the Order because of its dynastic nature and historic development.
King Umberto II died in exile on 18 March 1983. The Grand Mastership of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation and the Order of SS. Maurice and Lazarus passed to the King's son, Prince Victor Emmanuel, prince of Naples, who became the Head of the Royal House of Savoy on the death of his father. Today the order is conferred by Prince Victor Emmanuel, to recognize those who support philanthropic causes and have contributed to the benefit of mankind through good works, the arts and letters, sciences and humanitarian disciplines. The Holy See recognizes it as a Dynastic Order, although recipients need not be Roman Catholics. The Chancellery of the Order is based in Geneva. In 2001, the Grand Master appointed his son, H.R.H. Prince Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, whose ancestral namesake had been the first Grand Master of the Order, to serve as Grand Chancellor.
Composed of five classes, the Order's badge consists of its original white enamel cross botonnee combined with the green cross potence of St. Lazarus, and surmounted by a gold crown.
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