Commander (order)

Commander (Italian: Commendatore, French: Commandeur, German: Komtur, Spanish: Comandante), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric order and fraternal orders.

The title of Commander occurred in the medieval military orders, such as the Knights Hospitaller, for a member senior to a Knight. Variations include Knight Commander, notably in English, sometimes used to denote an even higher rank than Commander. In some orders of chivalry, Commander ranks above Officier (i.e. Officer), but below one or more ranks with a prefix meaning "Great", e.g. Grand - in French, Grosskomtur in German, Comandante Mayor (using an equivalent suffix) in Spanish, and Groot- in Dutch (Grootcommandeur; "Grand Commander"), Grand Cross.

The rank of commandeur in the French orders comes from the Middle Ages military orders, in which low-level administrative houses were called commanderies and were governed by commandeur. In the Modern Age, the French Kings created chivalric orders which mimicked the military order's ranks.

Both orders were suppressed in 1830 by the new King Louis-Philippe I.

The official title of Commendatore, literally equivalent to the English Knight Commander, is awarded by decree of the President of Italy to individuals who are given this honour in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and other orders of knighthood. The Commendatore, or Knight Commander, rank is a higher award than that of "Ufficiale" (Officer), which in turn is higher than the first level of "Cavaliere" (Knight) in this order of chivalry, which was originally established in Italy by the Royal House of Savoy. The Italian government's orders are exceptional to the international standard in that they do not officially have special ranks or decorations for females (Dames).

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