Military Order of Saint James of the Sword

Order of Saint James of the Sword Ordem de Sant'Iago da Espada
Badge, collar and star of the order
Awarded by Portuguese Republic
Type	Order
Motto	CIENCIAS, LETRAS, E ARTES
Eligibility	Portuguese and foreigners; military and civilian
Awarded for	Awarded for exceptional and outstanding merits in literature, science, and the arts
Sovereign	President of the Portuguese Republic
Grades	Grand Collar Grand Cross Grand Officer Commander Officer Knight
Statistics
Established	1172 (founded) 1789 (secularized)
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of Aviz
Next (lower)	Order of Prince Henry
Ribbon bar of the Order of Saint James of the Sword

The Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (Portuguese: Ordem Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada) is a Portuguese order of chivalry.

The Order of Saint James was founded in León-Castile circa 1170. It was probably originally founded as an order of Augustinian canons regular to escort pilgrims to the shrine of St. James the Greater in Santiago of Compostella in Galicia. But King Ferdinand II of León soon set it to garrison the southern frontiers of León against the Almohads of al-Andalus. In 1170, Ferdinand II granted the new order the castles of Cáceres and Monfragüe, which had been confiscated from Gerald the Fearless in 1169, and would make further donations thereafter. The new Leonese order was soon operating in neighboring kingdoms. His nephew, King Alfonso VIII of Castile granted them the castles of Mora and Oreja in 1171, and merged the arriving knights of Santiago with the older Castilian brotherhood of knights of Ávila in 1172. In January 1174, Alfonso VIII granted them the citadel of Uclés, which would later serve as the headquarters of the Order of Santiago as a whole after the reunification of the León and Castile in 1230.