In June 26th 1770, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart received the Order of the Golden Spur from the Pope Clemens XIV in Rome, a title he never used (in German: Ritter).
Order of the Golden Spur
The Order of the Golden Militia / Order of the Golder Spur is a Papal order of knighthood conferred upon those who have rendered distinguished service in propagating the Catholic Faith, or who have contributed to the glory of the Church, either by feat of arms, writings, or other illustrious acts. It is one of the oldest papal orders, and its membership is restricted to one hundred throughout the world. In 1841 it was absorbed into the Order of Saint Sylvester but Pius X restored it to the status of a separate order and placed it under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin. The decoration consists of an eight-pointed, yellow, enamelled gold cross in whose center is a small white medal on one side of which is the word Maria, and on the other the year MDCCV and Pius X Restituit, and which is suspended from a white-bordered red ribbon. The badge, which is worn on the left breast, is the cross upon the rays of a silver star. The official uniform is a red tunic decorated with gilt buttons, black velvet collar and cuffs embroidered in gold, black trousers with gold side stripes, epaulettes, gold spurs, oblong two-peaked hat trimmed with gold and bearing the papal colors, and a sword.
Notable Receivers
Ventura Salimbeni (1568-1613), a Sienese Mannerist painter.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 18th century classical composer.
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Giacomo Casanova, 18th century adventurer.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Golden_Spur
Note: My primary source:
www.answers.com
For more information about wolfie’s adolescent life, visit
http://mozart.jghome.net/biography/biography2.html
December 3, 2007 at 7:24 pm
[...] Mozart and the Order of the Golden Spur « Classical Music LoungeIn June 26th 1770, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart received the Order of theGolden Spur from the Pope Clemens XIV in Rome, a title he never used(in German: … [...]
June 9, 2009 at 3:16 pm
It confuses me why Mozart received this honour, since he was a devoted Freemason. Why was he decorated with this honour?
June 17, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Hi Gloria, I had the same feeling as you when I read about the Golden Spur. But then he did compose a lot of beautiful sacred music for the Catholic church.
I’ll post and share if I find out more about this. Thanks.