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.*
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, who became the Head of
the Royal House of Savoy on the death of his father.
Both Orders belong now in the category of Catholic Dynastic Orders bestowed by a legitimate successor of a Sovereign in exile.
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.
' 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.