The Order of the Collar of Saint Agatha - Part II

James I, also known as "James the Conqueror" lived between February 2nd 1208 and July 27th 1276. He was the King of Aragon, the Count of Barcelona, and the Lord of Montpellier between the years 1213 and 1276, the year of his death. His long reign coincided with the expansion of the kingdom of Aragon southward as well as into and across the Mediterranean Sea, as far as Naples. His kingdom also expanded to include Valencia to the south and the Balearic Islands, Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples to the east. Through a treaty with the French king Louis IX, he also added Barcelona into the domain of his crown. He played a similar role in the reconquest as his contemporary, King Ferdinand III of Castile.

His successor king Alfonso III founded The Military Order of the Collar of Saint Agatha in 1289 with the aim of defending the island of Minorca. Across the centuries his descendents have been charged with keeping it alive. The Militare Ordine del Collare, as it is called in Italian, today is what is called a "Dynastic Order", which is to say that its office of Grand Master remains attached to the sovereign prince who initially founded the Order, and said office is inherited by the successors of the Grand Master. In addition to any charitable or spiritual aims, members of such Orders are bound by an oath of loyalty to the Grand Master of the Order. Although in the present day, the organization has lost its military character, its members now dedicate themselves chiefly to the carrying out of charitable events or through its Hospital System, which has served across the years to provide the underserved with much needed medical care which they would otherwise be unable to afford.

For many years, the Military Order of the Collar remained almost a Family Order, its membership largely restricted only to relatives and close associates. In recent times, the legitimacy of the Order of the Collar of Saint Agatha has been recognised by the United Court of Bari (in English),as well as by the English Court of Appeals in Pistoia and by the International Court of Arbitration located in Ragusa. The MOC was reconstituted in 1961, when a number of new Statutes were issued and revised on several occasions. Since his accession to the office of Grand Master, HRH Don Francesco, has greatly emphasized works of charity, which he regards as the primary purpose of the Royal House. Over the years, members of the Order of the Collar of Saint Agatha have raised considerable sums of Money for the purpose of charity, and have also performed countless charitable acts aimed at relief of suffering on a world wide scale, activities which are in keeping with the highest aims of the Order.

Members of the Military Order of the Collar (M.O.C.) officially meet at least twice a year; one of those meetings is held in Sicily, while the other meeting is held in a different city, with a different city being chosen every year. In 2007, that other city happened to be Palma.

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