The historical value of insignia, no matter what era or important event they belong to, will grow steadily over the years, as the number of collectors who have chosen medals, orders or all kinds of badges for collecting grows. Some private collections amaze even the most daring imagination with a list of exhibits - their total cost can be in the hundreds of thousands and even millions of American money. Today we will consider one area of interest for collectors - orders and medals from the times of Tsarist Russia.
Order as recognition of merit
According to the annals, the first orders of the Russian Empire appeared during the reign of Peter the Great, a reformer of Russia recognized by historians and political scientists of the entire world community. But the time of the appearance of the very first domestic insignia can be safely attributed to the beginning of the second millennium. In historical documents dated 1100, it is mentioned that a certain Alexander Popovich was awarded a golden hryvnia for repulsing the Polovtsy inraid on Kyiv. It was under Vladimir Monomakh, he awarded a massive gold hoop (gold hryvnia), which was worn around the neck, the future, as one might assume, the hero of epic tales Alyosha Popovich.
The appearance of the tsars in the Russian state has changed the age-old foundations, the honoring of particularly distinguished persons has also changed. In addition to land allotments, increase in monetary allowance, elevation to rank, promotion in rank, gifts began to be given to worthy pendants, rings, brooches, things that could be worn on bare parts of the body or on clothes as a special distinction from others.
The first orders of the Russian Empire
The appearance of the first full-fledged insignia, having a close resemblance to those established in our century, historians, as already mentioned, refer to the reign of Peter the Great. The Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, revered even today, was established by Peter in 1698. There is no exact date of its appearance, some sources also indicate the 1699th. While still traveling around Europe, Peter decided that it was time for the world to recognize the Order of the Russian Empire. The photo of the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called is included in all historical catalogs today.
The choice of the king fell on the heavenly patron not by chance. It is explained by church tradition, which tells about the first Christian sermon of the Apostle Andrew on Russian soil. In 1720, the status of the award was spelled out, which explained that this distinction was based on the suppression of the ancient Scottish order - subjects of the Emperor of Russia shouldfollow Orthodox Christian traditions.
Chevaliers of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called
The military could apply for the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called - a general from the cavalry or a general from the infantry. His first cavalier was Fedor Alekseevich Golovin, a diplomat, adviser to Emperor Peter, the first tsarist admiral, who was Russian by origin, before him admirals were appointed foreigners in the service of the tsar. Orders and medals of the Russian Empire in those days were generously given away to foreigners. The Order of St. Andrew 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 holder of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called was Hetman Ivan Mazepa - a rather significant personality in Russian history. In total, during the reign of Peter the Great, about 40 people became knights of the order, among them the tsar himself (he was the seventh owner of the order), as well as his faithful subject Alexander Menshikov.
During the reign of Paul I, the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called began to favor clerics. So, in 1796, Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg Gabriel received St. Andrew's insignia.
Establishment of some Russian orders
Orders of the Russian Empire, the collection of which is striking in beauty and grandeur, were established by all Russian tsars. Until the reign of Paul, who introduced not only some new rewards, but alsochanged the rules for awarding the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, a lot was done by Catherine the Great. On November 26, 1769, she established the Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George. Only the highest officer ranks of the Russian army were en titled to wear it. He was awarded for military exploits: neither high origin, nor early services to the Fatherland could serve as a reason for awarding the order - only loy alty to the oath, duty and honor that brought glory to Russian weapons. He had an order of four degrees.
Another insignia, the highest order of the Russian Empire - "For Faith and Loy alty" - was founded by the same Peter in 1699 and had the status of the highest award. Both military ranks and civilians could become his cavaliers. It was awarded on especially rare and revered occasions. The color of the tape was blue, the degree was only one. The badges 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 Russian order
In 1725 the Order of Alexander Nevsky was founded. “The Russian Empire has someone to be proud of,” considered Peter the Great, who planned the establishment of the order. In 1710, he 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 distinction for military merit and was awarded only to military ranks.
The Order of "Liberation" was also conceived by Peter to perpetuate the merits of Empress Catherine - belovedthe wife of the king, who in 1711 saved the sovereign from captivity by the Prussians. The order itself appeared in 1714 and was soon renamed the Order of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine.
The sign in the name of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir in September 1782 was established by Empress Catherine II. That year, the 20th anniversary of her reign was celebrated, and Catherine herself became the first holder of the order of the 1st degree.
Orders of the Russian Empire mostly appeared to commemorate some important event. So, it was decided to perpetuate the memory of Princess Olga in the order in later times. The year of its foundation is 1913. It was established by Nicholas II and marked the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.
Orders of the Empire as a reflection of the statehood of the Church
In tsarist Russia, it is no coincidence that most of the awards were named after Orthodox saints. The indivisibility of the primacy 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, Saint Olga was honored to perpetuate the 300th anniversary of the royal house, over whom in 955 the sacrament of baptism was performed during her journey to Constantinople. Olga's grandson - Vladimir Svyatoslavovich - after the legendary "test of faith" tried in every possible way to instill the true faith in his people and set his grandmother in everything as a worthy example. Princess Olga was canonized, despite all her sins and hardness of heart, precisely for the true bearing of the faith of the saint.
If you look through the entire list of awards established in Imperial Russia, it becomes obvious that a rare award did not bear the name of thator any other Orthodox saint. And the highest order of the Russian Empire was renamed not only because of Peter's love for his wife.
Anniversary and commemorative medals. Reasons for the appearance
It is impossible to remember and list all the insignia, among which were not so much orders as medals and badges - 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 the light hand of Peter, many eventful medals were established. From 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 to reward especially distinguished individuals who participated in these military campaigns. The capture of Ishmael, the defense of Sevastopol, the defeat of Napoleon at Austerlitz, the passage of Suvorov through the Alps. All these are milestones in history, and the established orders and medals of the Russian Empire tell about each of them. Here it will be important to note the fact that Russia is the first European power, where medals were awarded not only to the highest officer ranks, but also to ordinary soldiers.
Collecting awards: originals and copies
For the manufacture of imperial orders, precious stones and metals were required: gold, platinum, silver, which was previously valued an order of magnitude higher than in our time. They were produced by the Mint, the accounting of materials was carried out with all rigor. Of the stones, the diamond was especially popular, rubies, emeralds, and turquoise were also in price. Needless to say, the originals and exact copies of the orders of the Russian Empire today have no price - except for museums, not every collector can possess such a rarity, and there are many of them all over the world.
It's a shame that only a few can admire most of them, and everyone has the right to see this beauty with their own eyes. This is exactly what the founder of the “Order of the Russian Empire” collection, “AiF”, the most popular weekly in the Russian Federation and throughout the post-Soviet space, thought. By that time Arguments and Facts already had experience, and quite successful, in the release of magazine series with collections of orders.
Collections of the newspaper "Arguments and Facts"
Today, hundreds of Russians who honor the history of their Fatherland have already acquired illustrated magazines and exact copies of the awards of the Soviet Union made to order from the weekly. There are in their use samples of the highest insignia of a number of foreign states. The "AIF" collection of the "Order of the Russian Empire" was invented and created only a few years ago - in the spring of 2012, but has already managed to cause considerable excitement in the collection circles.
It represents 22 copies of the orders, conveying the exact detailing of the originals, but, of course, made of simple metal, decorated with hot enamels. The set of orders includes magazines that describe in detail the history of the emergence of orders, the award itself, and also lists all the most prominent and outstanding cavaliers awarded in different years.some kind of distinction. In addition to those orders that were listed above, the collection includes the Badge and Star of the Order of Military Merit, the Order of St. Anna, St. Stanislav, St. John of Jerusalem, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and some other awards. There are twenty-two of them, as was said.
Signs. Stars. Orders
Rewarding orders meant not only the promotion of merit. No less valuable was the fact that the order served as a kind of additional advantage in promotion, and until 1826, the possession of the order gave the right to receive hereditary nobility. True, then this privilege was left only to the holders of several top awards.
The highest orders of the Russian Empire before the revolution consisted of eight titles, but some of them had several degrees. The distinctive signs were the Cross, the Star and the ribbon. The Order in the form of a Cross was attached to a sash worn over the shoulder and worn on it at hip level. 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 Star themselves. Thus, the highest order had three distinctive signs at once, mostly they were worn simultaneously. Purely women's awards, and there were such, equally with men's, all the privileges relying on orders.
Museum exhibits are witnesses of the glory of the empire
The Russian Federation has many museums worthy of respect, which contain priceless exhibits reflecting the great glory of the Fatherland. In one ofone of them - the museum-treasury "Armory" - contains the original royal vestments, crowns, signs of imperial power. In a way, this is no longer a museum, but a repository of items of invaluable artistic and historical significance. Orders of the Russian Empire are worthy of just such a museum, but the original royal awards are kept mainly in private collections.
Today, the only and most likely opportunity to acquire a real order from the times of Russian emperors is to attend all kinds of auctions, where the originals quite often come across. But those who want to buy them should remember: it will cost a lot. For most of us, their exact copies, made by numerous jewelry workshops, are quite accessible. When making copies, non-ferrous metal alloys and Swarovski crystals are used. The pieces have a very attractive artistic value and are highly sought after by collectors.
A legacy of a great power reflected in our day
As already mentioned, the signs of the Orders of the Russian Empire included sashes. All of them had a unique color for each award. Three of them, belonging to the orders of St. George, St. Andrew the First-Called and St. Catherine (formerly the Order of Liberation), were destined for a special fate - to become symbols of our time.
The meaning of the St. George ribbon is known to each of us - on the Day of the Great Victory over fascism, everyone pins it to the chest - from young to old. The blue St. Andrew's ribbon and the red Catherine's ribbon have their continuation. Peculiar signs of orders of the Russianempires are familiar to us 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 baptism - they were tied with a blue sash immediately after the naming. The Grand Duchesses also received orders and ribbons - red with a gold border - signs of the Order of St. Catherine. High dignitaries, wishing their daughters the fate of court ladies, introduced the custom of bandaging their baptized daughters with a red ribbon. The custom, which has come down to our times, is the best evidence of the greatness and significance of the high imperial awards.
