ORDER OF ST. SAVA
(Orden Svetog Save - Орден Светог Саве)
This Order was founded by King Milan I (Obrenovich) in 1883 as the preceding Order of White Eagle.
Originally intended to award those meritorious in the areas of education, literature and fine arts, the Order of St. Sava survived the change of the dynasty and was even extended during the First World War to award military merits.
Magnificent collection of the Order of St. Sava I-IV class insignia
The order was organized in 5 classes, without numerical limitations:
Grand Cross: Sash badge and breast star
Grand Officer: Neck badge and breast star
Commander: Neck badge
Officer: Breast badge
Knight: Breast badge
The Badge of the Order is white enameled 'Maltese' cross, each arm bordered blue. The center medallion bears the portrait of St. Sava in obverse, encircled with the orders' motto "EVERYTHING IS ACHIEVED BY ONE'S OWN EFFORT" in ancient cyrillic. The reverse medallion originally displayed the cipher "MI" encircled with laurel wreath, but this was in changed to the year of foundation ("1883"). Between the arms of the cross are double headed eagles (of the new royal coat of arms) in gilt. The cross is suspended on the heraldic royal crown by a mean of a fleur-de-lys-shaped link. The badge measures altogether 54x50 mm in case of the highest three classes and 43x40 mm in case of the two remaining classes.
Order of St. Sava, Grand Cross set of insignia (type "red sakos")
There are generally three types of the badge. Originally, St. Sava was portrayed in red "sakos" (archiepiscopal coat), with the right hand blessing and holding archbishopric scepter in the left. This type exists with both cipher "MI" and the year "1883" in reverse and were manufactured by Karl Fischmeister and G. A. Scheid, bnoth of Vienna. Arthus Betrand of Paris took over the manufacture of the insignia in 1915 and retained the design. Since 1921 the insignia was manufactured by Huguenin Freres of Le Locle, Switzerland, who introduced St. Sava's portrait in green coat, with scepter in the right and the Gospel in the left hand.
The highest two classes include 8-pointed star displaying greater and lesser badges' obverses respectively, without crowns. Stars were to be worn on the right chest.
The Order of St. Sava was abolished in 1945 with other royal orders, when it became the dynastic order of the royal house of Karageorgevich and it remains today. It should not be confused with the three-class Serbian Orthodox Church decoration of the same name, founded in 1986 and bestowed by the Serbian Patriarch to those meritorious to the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Who was St. Sava?
Saint Sava was in fact Rastko Nemanich (1175-1236), 3rd and youngest son of Stephen Nemania, Grand Duke of Rascia. Rastko took solemn Orthodox monastic vows, changing his name to Sava on the occasion. He retreated to the Orthodox monastic community of Mt. Athos in Greece, where he rebuilt the monastery of Chilandar, making it the strongest spiritual center of Serbian Orthodoxy at the time. Sava was active politically in both lay and ecclesiastical affairs. His brother Stephen Nemanich (d.1228), Byzantine Sebastocrator the first King of the medieval Serbian Kingdom, apparently bounced between the Rome and Byzantinium at the time. Sava, however, insisted in leaning to Orthodoxy rather then on Roman Catholicism and after his long diplomatic struggle, the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Byzantine Emperor recognized the independence (autocephaly) of Serbian Orthodox Church on the level of Archbishopric in 1219 of which Sava was the first Archbishop.
Sava died in 1236. With the time, the cult of his personality grew stronger, especially after the Ottoman invasion and occupation. The Church whose independence he won canonized him in late XIV century.
In attempt to destroy the cult of St. Sava, the Turkish regional administrator Sinan-Pasha ordered St. Sava's mortal remains to be cremated publicly in Belgrade in 1595 and his ashes wasted in the wind. This did not reach the aim; instead it made the cult of St. Sava even stronger among Serbs. On the very place in Belgrade where the actual cremation took place, nowadays rises the monumental Basilica of St. Sava, apparently the largest Orthodox and one of the largest Christian churches worldwide.
Considered founder of the independent Church, apostle of Serbian literacy and education, it would be hard to imagine naming the order for such merits after someone else, especially at the time when Serbia finally won from independence from centuries-hated Ottoman Turks.
NOTES
[1] Dated 23rd January 1883
[2] His actual title "Zhupan" is difficult to translate, but basically represents the high feudal dignitary exercising sovereign rights over a territory. This complies with the status of the sovereign Prince, but this author believes that the translation of the title as "Duke" is more accurate.
[6] Canonization in an Orthodox Church is less formal then in the Roman Catholic.
[7] The choice of this cross type had nothing to do with the Sovereign Military of Malta oraffiliated orders of St. John, but merely folowed the contemporary trends.
[8] Royal Decree of 24th November, 1904
[9] This change in design probably had to do with the fact that this Order now became order of merit of the new, unified Yugoslav state, but as far as this author is informed, had no statutory basis.
[10] Decree of 22nd November 1914, published in the Official Gazette No. 292 of 5th December 1914.
[11] See separate article on the Order of St. Sava of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
