Miniature red enamel Jerusalem cross on gilt eagle suspension mounted for wear; the face plain; the reverse unenamelled, inscribed ‘TIERRA SANTA TOCADA CRUZ’ (Holy Land touched cross); height 30mm (1⅛ inches) width 17mm (⅝ inch); slight wear to the gilt of the suspension. The Order claims descent from Godfrey de Bouillon and the knights who protected the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem at the time of the first Crusade. Eventually, the knights dispersed under Moslem attack. In 1489 Pope Innocent VIII suppressed the Order and commanded it be merged with the Order of St. John but in 1496 Pope Alexander VI restored its independence, though it subsequently sank into obscurity until the re-establishment of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in 1847. Pope Pius IX restructured the Order and from 1847 to 1867 encouraged its growth worldwide. In 1868 he defined the classes of the Order and in 1888 Pope Leo XIII authorised the admission of ladies to the Order. In 1949 Pope Pius XII again restructured the Order and in 1977 a new constitution was promulgated. The Order is open only to practicing Catholics. The inscription on the reverse indicates the miniature is of Spanish origin.
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