[MR] Wikipedia: Order of the Golden Fleece

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1430, the Duke of Burgundy Phillip the Good (1396-1467)
founded the Order of the Golden Fleece. This order of chivalry imitated
England's Order of the Garter, but also reflected Phillip's ambitions to
unite his French possessions with extensive Burgundian holdings in the Low
Countries into an independent kingdom (seriously, and fatally, blown by his
son Charles the Bold in 1477). Through the marriage of Charles' daughter,
Mary "The Rich", to Maximilian I, the leadership of the Order passed to the
House of Hapsburg. Today Spanish and Austrian branches of the order
continue. Membership in the Order of the Golden Fleece was exclusively
Catholic during the Reformation period, but exceptions have been made in
more recent times, including the Duke of Wellington and Prince Albert of
Saxe-Coburg.

More about the Order of the Golden Fleece is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Golden_Fleece .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆