Order of St. Stephen

Royal Order of St. Stephen; Real Ordem de Santo Estevão
	Chain of the Order of St. Stephen
	Awarded by the; Emperor-King of Karnia-Ruthenia
Type	Dynastic order
Motto	Impavidum Ferient Ruinae; The difficulties do not frighten me
Awarded for	At the monarch's pleasure
Status	Currently constituted
Grand Master	Emperor-King Oscar
Grades (w/ post-nominals)	Knight / Dame
Statistics
Established	2014
First induction	2014
Last induction	25 December 2022
Distinct recipients	52
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of the Edelweiss
Next (lower)	Order of St. Peter
	Ribbon of the Order of St. Stephen

The Order of St. Stephen is a dynastic order of knighthood founded in Persenburg by Emperor-King Oscar of Karnia-Ruthenia in 2014, to celebrate the Hungarian ancestry of his mother and the patron saint of Imperial Family, St. Stephen of Hungary. The current sovereign of the order is also its founder, the Emperor-King of Karnia-Ruthenia.

Origin[edit | edit source]

Established on 25 November 2014, the Order was the first honor created in the kingdom. The idea was to establish a deep connection to the patron saint of the Kingdom of Ruthenia, St. Stephen. Until the creation of the Order of the Ruthenian Eagle and the replacement of it by the Order of the Edelweiss after the proclamation of the Empire, the Order of St. Stephen was the highest award of the country for a short period of time, but it is the most traditional of the awards within the Empire, and is also the oldest. During the period in which Ruthenia was only one kingdom, the award was granted only seventeen times.

When the Empire was founded and immediately after the signing of the Karno-Ruthenian Compromise of 2016, the Order of the Edelweiss was founded to be the highest honor of the micronation. Following, the Order of the Ruthenian Eagle was discontinued along other Ruthenian honors, but the Order of St. Stephen was maintained and became the second most important honor of Karnia-Ruthenia.

Precedence and privileges[edit | edit source]

Knights and Ladies of the Order are assigned positions in the order of precedence, ranking above all others of knightly rank, with the exception of the Knights of the Order of the Edelweiss. Wives, sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights of the Order of St. Stephen also feature on the order of precedence; relatives of Dames of St. Stephen, however, are not assigned any special precedence. Generally, individuals can derive precedence from their fathers or husbands, but not from their mothers or wives.

After the establisment of Karnia-Ruthenia, the prefixes of "Sir" for Knights and "Lady" for the Dames was abolished. When an individual is entitled to use multiple post-nominal letters, "RKSS" or "RLSS" appears before all others, adding an "R" to the old post-nominal "KSS" for Knights and "LSS" for Dames. Knights and Dames may encircle their arms with the circlet of the Order.

Sovereigns of the Order[edit | edit source]

2014 - current[edit | edit source]

His Imperial and Royal Majesty, Emperor-King Oscar of Karnia-Ruthenia

Recipients[edit | edit source]

2017[edit | edit source]

His Illustrious Highness, Wilhelm, Margrave of Hochbach
His Serene Highness, Prince Carlo of Nossia
His Illustrious Majesty, Lord Henry of the Essian Commonwealth
His Excellency, Mr. Jacob Huff, President of the Ashukov Federation
His Excellency, Mr. Edward Jacobs, Vice-President of the Ashukov Federation
His Excellency, Mr. Manolis Afentoulis, Minister of Culture of the Ashukov Federation
His Royal Highness, Prince Nicholas Alexander of Ruritania
His Imperial and Royal Highness, Crown Prince William of North American Confederation
His Serene Highness, Crown Prince Jean-Rosé of Aigues-Mortes
His Royal Highness, Prince Ferdinand of Flandrensis
His Excellency, Mr. Dale Hager of Hagersbourg
His Sovereign Highness, Prince Thomas of Maryen
His Highness, Crown Prince Theodore of Maryen
His Royal Highness, Duke Rubens of Kürzung, Duke in Axvalley
~~His Excellency, Mr. Richard Hoffmann Belvedere, President of the Aristocratic Republic of Porto Claro~~