Order of the Russian Empire and medals

The historical value of the insignia, no matter what era or important event they take, will grow steadily over the years, as the number of collectors who choose to collect medals, medals, or all kinds of badges grows. Some private collections amaze the list of exhibits with even the most bold imagination - their total value can be estimated in hundreds of thousands and even millions of American money. Today we will consider one area of interest of collectors - orders and medals from the times of tsarist Russia.

Order as a recognition of merit

According to the chronicles, The first orders of the Russian Empire appeared during the reign of Peter the Great - the reformer of Russia, recognized by historians and political scientists of the entire world community. But the time of appearance of the very first domestic insignia can be safely attributed to the beginning of the second millennium. In historical documents dating from 1100, mention is made of the awarding of a gold mane to a certain Alexander Popovich for the repentance of the Polovtsians during the raid on Kiev. It was under Vladimir Monomakh, he awarded a massive gold hoop (golden hryvnia), worn on the neck, the future, as might be supposed, the hero of the epic tales of Alyosha Popovich.

The appearance of kings in the Russian state changed the age-old foundations, and the celebration of especially distinguished persons was changed. In addition to land allotments, increasing the money allowance, erecting ranks, increasing in rank, gifting with pendants, rings, brooches, what could be worn on bare parts of the body or on clothes as a special difference from others began.

The first orders of the Russian Empire

The appearance of the first full-fledged insignia, having a close resemblance to those that were established in our century, historians, as already mentioned, are attributed to the reign of Peter the Great. Honored and in our days the Order of St. Andrew was founded by Peter in 1698. The exact date of its occurrence is not present, in some sources it is indicated and 1699th. While traveling in Europe, Peter decided that it was time for the world to learn about the Order of the Russian Empire. A photo The Order of St. Andrew the First-Called today is included in all historical catalogs.

On the heavenly patron, the king's choice fell not accidentally. He is explained by the church tradition, which tells of the first Christian preaching of the Apostle Andrew on Russian soil. In 1720, the status of the award was prescribed, in which it was explained that this sign of distinction for the suppression of the ancient Scottish order was based - the subjects of the Emperor of Russia should follow Orthodox Christian traditions.

Knights of the Order of St. Andrew

Claim for the Order of St. Andrew could have been from the military - a general from the cavalry or a general from the infantry. Fyodor Alekseevich Golovin, the diplomat, the adviser of the emperor Peter, the first tsarist admiral, who was Russian by birth, was the first to become his admiral. Before him, foreigners appointed to the tsar were appointed admirals. In those days, orders and medals of the Russian Empire were generously given to foreigners. The St. Andrew's Order and the ribbon were received at different times by Napoleon I and his younger brother Jerome, Marshals Berthier and Murat, Prince Talleyrand and Duke of Wellington.

But even under Peter the second chevalier of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called was Hetman Ivan Mazepa - a rather significant person in the domestic history. In total, in the reign of Peter the Great, about 40 people became Chevaliers of the Order, among them the Tsar himself (he was the seventh possessor of the Order), as well as his loyal subject Alexander Menshikov.

During the reign of Paul I, the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called also began to give priests and clergymen. So, in 1796 Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg Gabriel received Andreev's insignia.

Establishment of some Russian orders

The orders of the Russian Empire, whose collection amazes with beauty and grandeur, were established by all Russian tsars. Before the reign of Paul, who introduced not only some new awards, but also changed the rules for awarding the Order of St. Andrew, much has been done and Catherine the Great. On November 26, 1769, the highest order was instituted for the Order of St. George the Great Martyr and Victorious. Only the highest officers of the Russian army were authorized to wear it. He was awarded for military exploits: neither the high origin, nor the early services to the Fatherland could serve as an occasion for awarding the order - only loyalty to the oath, duty and honor, which brought glory to Russian weapons. He had four degrees.

Another sign of distinction, the highest order of the Russian Empire - "For Faith and Fidelity" - was founded by the same Peter in 1699 and had the status of the highest award. His knights could become both military officials and civilians. It was awarded at especially rare and revered occasions. The color of the ribbon was blue, the degree was only one. Signs of the order were a blue cross and an eight-pointed star. The cross was worn on a ribbon thrown over the right shoulder, the star on the left side of the chest.

In the name and glory of the Order, Russian

In 1725 the Order of Alexander Nevsky was founded. "The Russian empire has someone to be proud of," - believed Peter the First, who conceived the establishment of the Order. In 1710, they founded the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg, where in 1742, on August 30, the relics of the saint were transferred. The award was created as a token of distinction for military merit and was awarded only to military ranks.

The Order of "Freedom" was also conceived by Peter to perpetuate the merits of Queen Catherine - the beloved wife of the tsar, who rescued the sovereign from captivity in 1711 by the Prussians. The order itself appeared in 1714 and was soon renamed the Order of St. Catherine the Great Martyr.

A sign in the name of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir in September 1782 was established by Empress Catherine II. In that year, the 20th anniversary of her reign was celebrated, and Catherine herself became the first knight of the Order of the 1st degree.

The orders of the Russian Empire mostly appeared in commemoration of some important event. So, the memory of Princess Olga decided to perpetuate in the Order already in later times. The year of its foundation is 1913th. He was established by Nicholas II and marked the 300th anniversary of the Romanovs' house.

Order of the Empire as a reflection of the statehood of the church

In tsarist Russia, it was no accident that most of the awards were given to the names of Orthodox saints. The indivisibility of the rule of the state and the church was recognized by the parties and the population of the country at all times of the existence of the empire. Therefore, to perpetuate the three hundredth anniversary of the royal house, St. Olga was awarded, over which in 955 the sacrament of baptism was performed during her journey to Constantinople. Grandson of Olga - Vladimir Svyatoslavovich - after the legendary "test of faith" tried in every possible way to instill true faith in his people and in everything put his grandmother as a worthy example. The princess Olga was canonized, in spite of all her sins and hardness of heart, namely for the true bearing of the faith of the saint.

If you look through the list of awards established in Imperial Russia, it becomes obvious that a rare award did not bear the name of one or another Orthodox saint. And the highest order of the Russian Empire was renamed not only because of Peter's love for his wife.

Jubilee and commemorative medals. Causes of appearance

All the insignia, among which were not so much orders, as medals and badges, can not be remembered and listed - there are thousands of them. Most appeared after memorable events of a political or military nature. If we talk about the progenitor of the imperial award collection, then with a light hand Peter was established a lot of event medals. On them you can learn the history of the Russian state.

So, after the victory in the Battle of Poltava, in the Battle of Gangut, near Borodino, appropriate medals were issued for the awarding of particularly distinguished persons who participated in these military campaigns. The capture of Ishmael, the defense of Sevastopol, the defeat of Napoleon at Austerlitz, the crossing of Suvorov through the Alps. All these are milestones of history, and each of them is told about the established orders and medals of the Russian Empire. Here it is important to note the fact that Russia is the first European power, where not only the highest officer ranks were awarded with medals, but also ordinary soldiers.

Collections of awards: originals and copies

For the manufacture of the imperial orders, precious stones and metals were required: gold, platinum, silver, which was previously valued at an order of magnitude higher than in our time. They were produced by the Mint, materials were recorded with all severity. Of the stones, diamond was very popular, in the price there were also rubies, emeralds, turquoise. Needless to say, the originals and exact copies of the orders of the Russian Empire today do not have a price, except for museums, not every collector can possess such a rarity, and there are many of them all over the world.

It's also insulting that only a few can admire most of them, but everyone has the right to see this beauty personally. This is how the founder of the collection of the Order of the Russian Empire, AiF, judged the weekly, the most popular weekly in the Russian Federation and throughout the post-Soviet space. By that time, "Arguments and Facts" already had experience, and quite successful, in the production of journal series with collections of orders.

Collections of the newspaper "Arguments and Facts"

To date, hundreds of Russians who respect the history of their Motherland have already acquired illustrated magazines and exact copies of the Soviet Union's awards, commissioned by the weekly. There are in their use samples of the highest insignia of a number of foreign states. Collection "Order of the Russian Empire" "AiF" was invented and created only a few years ago - in the spring of 2012, but has already caused considerable stir in the collection circles.

It represents 22 copies of the orders that convey the exact details of the original, but, naturally, made of simple metal decorated with hot enamels. The set includes orders to magazines, which describe in detail the history of the formation of the orders, the award itself, as well as lists all the most prominent and outstanding cavaliers awarded different marks of distinction in different years. In addition to the orders listed above, the collection includes the Sign and the Star of the Order of Military Dignity, the Order of St. Anne, St. Stanislaus, St. John of Jerusalem, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and several other awards. In total, there were twenty-two, as was said.

Signs. Stars. Order

Rewarding the orders meant not only the promotion of merit. No less valuable was the fact that the Order served as some additional advantage in the promotion of service, and until 1826 the possession of the order gave the right to receive hereditary nobility. True, then this privilege was left only to the gentlemen of several higher awards.

The highest orders of the Russian Empire before the revolution numbered eight names, but some of them had several degrees. Distinctive signs were the Cross, Star and ribbon. The Order in the form of the Cross was attached to the order ribbon worn over the shoulder, and was worn on it at the level of the thigh. The star of the same order was worn on the chest. A ribbon of a certain color had the same value as the Cross and the Star itself. Thus, the highest order had at once three distinctive signs, basically they were worn simultaneously. Purely female awards, and there were such, possessed equally with male all relying to the orders of privileges.

Museum exhibits - witnesses to the glory of the empire

The Russian Federation has many respectable museums, in which priceless exhibits reflect the great glory of the Fatherland. In one of them - the museum-treasury "Armory Chamber" - the originals of the royal vestments, crowns, signs of imperial power are kept. Some kind of this is no longer a museum, but a repository of objects that have invaluable artistic and historical significance. The orders of the Russian Empire are worthy of such a museum, but the originals of royal awards are kept mostly in private collections.

Today, the only and most likely opportunity to purchase a real order of the times of the Russian emperors is to attend all kinds of auctions, where scripts often come across. But those who want to buy them should remember: it will be very expensive. Most of us are quite available for their exact copies, made by numerous jewelry shops. Alloys of non-ferrous metals, Swarovski crystals are used for making copies. Products have a very tempting artistic value and are in high demand among collectors.

The legacy of a great power, reflected in our days

As already mentioned, signs of the Orders of the Russian Empire included the medal ribbons. All of them had a color unique for each award. Three of them, relating to the orders of St. George, St. Andrew the First-Called and St. Catherine (formerly - the Order of Liberation), had a special destiny - to become the symbols of our time.

The meaning of the St. George's ribbon is known to each of us - on the Day of the Great Victory over fascism, everything from small to large is pinned to the chest. Blue Andreev ribbon and red Catherine's have their continuation. We know the peculiar signs of the orders of the Russian Empire from infancy.

In the reign of Paul the First, the custom was introduced to assign the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called to the Grand Dukes at the time of the baptism - they were tied with blue ribbon of order immediately after the naming. The Grand Dukes also received orders and ribbons - red with a gold border - signs of the Order of St. Catherine. The highest dignitaries, wishing the daughters the fortunes of court ladies, introduced the custom of bandaging their baptized daughters with a red ribbon. The custom that has come down to our times is the best proof of the greatness and significance of high imperial decorations.