Thursday, November 1, 2012

Sejarah Gelar 'Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Bath'

Pada hari rabu kemarin, tanggal 31 Oktober 2012, Presiden RI Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) telah menerima gelar  'Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Bath'.  Gelar ini cukup prestise di kalangan pemimpin negara. Bagaimanakah sejarahnya? Dalam situs resmi kerajaan Inggris royal.gov.uk, tertera informasi soal sejarah gelar tersebut. Pemimpin asing yang telah menerima penghargaan tersebut antara lain Presiden AS Ronald Reagen, Presiden Prancis Jaques Chirac dan Presiden Turki Abdullah Gul.

Informasi dalam situs tersebut menyebutkan, gelar the Order of Bath pada awalnya diberikan pada para tentara dan beberapa masyarakat sipil. Penerima gelarnya selalu pria. Baru pada tahun 1971, ada seorang wanita yang diberi penghargaan tersebut untuk pertama kalinya. Susunan pemberi gelar terdiri dari pemangku kedaulatan (ratu), seorang Great Master (Pangeran dari Wales) dan tiga anggota dari kelas berbeda.

Gelar 'Bath' sebetulnya berasal dari ritual mandi atau membersihkan diri, terinsipirasi dari mandi dalam proses pembaptisan. Ini adalah simbol dari upaya penyucian diri, sebuah proses persiapan seorang ksatria Inggris sebelum bertugas. Penghargaan ini tak akan diberikan sebelum para kandidat sudah mempersiapkan diri dengan berbagai ritual seperti puasa, berdoa, dan membersihkan dirinya dengan mandi.

Kisah seremoni mandi untuk menciptakan seorang ksatria tercatat dilakukan oleh Raja William I. Saat itu dia memandikan bocah 15 tahun bernama Geoffrey Count of Anjou di tahun 1128 yang belakangan menjadi ksatria. Pada saat pengangkatan Henry V sebagai raja tahun 1413, dia juga melakukan ritual yang sama untuk para ksatria.

Namun akhir abad ke-15, ritual mandi ini mulai hilang. Namun seremoni pemberian gelar dengan sebutan 'Knights of the Bath' masih dilakukan. Pada tahun 1725, saat George I menjadi raja, pemberian gelar dihidupkan kembali untuk memenuhi keinginan Perdana Menteri Inggris pertama Sir Robert Walpole yang menginginkan adanya tambahan penghargaan politik.

Tahun 1815, saat era perang Napoleon berakhir, Pangeran Regent (Raja George IV) membuat dua divisi dalam penghargaan ini, militer dan sipil. Lalu sejak tahun 1825, ritual mandi dalam pemberian penghargaan ini resmi dihilangkan. Begitu juga dengan ritual puasa.

SBY  menerima penghargaan ini diberitakan Ratu Elizabeth II atas jasa SBY yang mempererat hubungan kedua negara. Inggris merupakan investor nomor dua di Indonesia. [1]


Order of the Bath
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath
(formerly The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath)[2] is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725.[3] The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath.[4] George I "erected the Knights of the Bath into a regular Military Order".[5] He did not (as is often stated) revive the Order of the Bath,[6] since it had never previously existed as an Order, in the sense of a body of knights who were governed by a set of statutes and whose numbers were replenished when vacancies occurred.[7][8]


The Order consists of the Sovereign (currently Elizabeth II), the Great Master (currently H.R.H. The Prince of Wales),[9] and three Classes of members:[10]

  • Knight Grand Cross (GCB) or Dame Grand Cross (GCB)
  • Knight Commander (KCB) or Dame Commander (DCB)
  • Companion (CB)
Members belong to either the Civil or the Military Division.[11] Prior to 1815, the order had only a single class, Knight Companion (KB), which no longer exists.[12] Recipients of the Order are now usually senior military officers or senior civil servants.[13][14] Commonwealth citizens not subjects of the Queen and foreigners may be made Honorary Members.[15]

The Order of the Bath is the fourth-most senior of the British Orders of Chivalry, after The Most Noble Order of the Garter, The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, and The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick.[16] The last of the aforementioned Orders, which relates to Ireland, still exists but has been in disuse since the formation, in December 1922, of the Irish Free State.[17]

Knight of the Bath

The title of the Order is late medieval in origin. It arose from the ritual washing (inspired by the washing of baptism), a symbol of spiritual purification, which formed part of a knight's preparations for the conferment of knighthood. The honour was not conferred until the candidates had prepared themselves by various rituals designed to purify the inner soul by fasting, vigils and prayer, and cleansing themselves by bathing. The earliest mention in an official document, after the crowning of William I, of the ceremony of bathing at the creation of a knight was that of 15 year old Geoffrey count of Anjou (later husband of Matilda) in 1128. It is recorded that 'after the customary religious ceremonies, Geoffrey immersed his body in a bath and was afterwards habited by the attendants in crimson robes, while a sword was girded about his body and golden spurs placed upon his heels'. 

A 1306 document refers to the king 'meditating an expedition against the Scots and being desirous of increasing his retinue, conferred 'Knighthood of the Bath on three hundred youths at Westminster'. At Henry V's Coronation in 1413 'fifty gallant young gentlemen, candidates for Knighthood of the Bath, according to custom went into the baths prepared severally for them'. By the end of the fifteenth century, many of the ceremonial rituals were beginning to disappear, although 'Knights of the Bath' were still made at Coronations - the court goldsmith made 75 badges for Charles II's Coronation. The Order was revived by George I in 1725 as a regular military order, to serve the purposes of the first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, who required an additional source for political rewards. The revived order consisted of the Sovereign, a Great Master and 36 Knights Companions. George I's statutes stated that 'Whereas in case of a war in Europe we are determined that this Realm should be in a posture of defence against the attempts of our enemies, We do hereby ordain that from henceforth every Companion of the said Military Order in case of any danger of invasion from foreign enemies or from rebellion at home shall maintain at his own cost four men-at-arms for any number of days the Sovereign shall think proper'. 

The Order now consists of the Sovereign (The Queen), the Great Master (The Prince of Wales) and three classes of members. The statutes provide for 120 Knights and Dames Grand Cross (GCB), 295 Knights and Dames Commander (KCB and DCB) and 1,455 Companions (CB). The Order is principally awarded to officers of the Armed Services, as well as to a small number of civil servants. In 1971 women were admitted to the Order for the first time. Numbers may be increased in times of war or in the event of any military or civil action or service which merits 'peculiar honour or reward'.

The Star of the military knights and Dames Grand Cross is composed of rays of silver, charged with an eight-pointed (Maltese) cross. In the centre, on a silver background, are three imperial crowns within a band of red enamel inscribed with the motto of the Order. This central device is surrounded by two branches of laurel; where the stems cross is placed a blue scroll inscribed Ich Dien ('I serve'). The Star of the civil Grand Cross is similar, but does not have the superimposed Maltese cross, laurel wreath and scroll. The motto is 'Tria juncto in uno' ('Three joined in one'), a motto first used in James I's (and VI of Scotland) reign. The motto was historically thought to refer either to the Union of England, Scotland and France, or to the Union of England, Scotland and Ireland. [18]

Referensi :

[1] news.detik.com/2012/10/31/mengenal-sejarah-gelar-ksatria-inggris-yang-diberikan-pada-sby

[2] The word "Military" was removed from the name by Queen Victoria in 1847. Letters Patent dated 14 April 1847, quoted in Statutes 1847.
[3] Statutes 1725, although Risk says 11 May
[4] Anstis, Observations, p4
[5] Letters patent dated 18 May 1725, quoted in Statutes 1725
[6] The purely legendary pre-history was associated with Henry IV.
[7] Wagner, Heralds of England, p 357, referring to John Anstis, who proposed the Order, says: "He had the happy inspiration of reviving this ancient name and chivalric associations, but attaching it, as it never had been before, to an Order or company of knights."
[8] Perkins, The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, p1 "It can scarcely be claimed that a properly constituted Order existed at any time during the preceding centuries [prior to the reign of Charles II]"
[9] London Gazette: no. 46428. p. 12559. 10 December 1974. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
[10] Statutes 1925, article 2
[11] Statutes 1925, article 5
[12] London Gazette: no. 16972. pp. 17–20. 4 January 1815. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
[13] "Order of the Bath". Official website of the British monarchy. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
[14] Statutes 1925, articles 8–12
[15] Statutes 1925, article 8
[16] See, for example, the order of wear for orders and decorations, the Royal Warrant defining precedence in Scotland (London Gazette: no. 27774. pp. 2012–2014. 14 March 1905. Retrieved 2007-12-21.) or the discussion of precedence at http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/order_precedence.htm
[17] "Order of St Patrick". Official website of the British monarchy. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
[18] http://yeomenoftheguard.com/glossary.htm#knighofthebath 

postingan selanjutnya tentang pidato Ratu Elizabeth II pada perjamuan Negara Indonesia, 31 Oktober 2012
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